BID Mailbag: Marvel’s Slashback program (continued)

Originally published March 23, 2001, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1427

Before we continue with retailer feedback regarding Marvel’s (possibly aborted) Slashback program, this just in:

Dan DeCarlo, creator–let me repeat that word, creator–of “Josie and the Pussycats,” soon to be a film for which he’ll likely get nothing, has been hospitalized with triple pneumonia. I never even heard of triple pneumonia before this.

One of Dan’s close friends opined, “I can’t help but think all the stress of the Archie business has helped weaken him.”

Hear that, Archie guys? You may have helped put an old man in the hospital, rather than give him a share of the money you’ve got coming in off his creation. Feeling proud? Feeling tough? Pat yourselves on the backs, blackball an employee of nearly half a century, and call it time well spent. Typical day at the offices of those fun providers of harmless Riverdale antics.

* * *

With the above example in this column of how a publisher has managed to endear itself to its public, let’s move on to Marvel and its ongoing love affair/dance of death with comic book retailers.

I will also make mention, before we go on, that yes, despite what I said a couple weeks back, Captain Marvel is indeed $2.50 rather than $2.25. Which undercuts the retailer assertion that a one month price cut of a mere twenty five cents won’t be noticed, because now we’re talking a cut of a less mere fifty cents. Would that register on customer radar? Hard to say. Let’s see what the retailers have to say. I will note that letters may be edited for space, profanity, or sadistic whim on my part.

Let’s start with C. Erbele at—you’ve gotta love this name—Wildpig Comics in Central New Jersey:

I am very much in favor of the “Slashback” program, not to mention any initiative that makes an effort to draw new readers to worthwhile titles. Considering the seemingly endless ascent of comic book prices (which only discourages new, younger readers from participating in the hobby), Marvel, or any company, should be encouraged to do whatever they can to relieve pressure on the consumer’s wallet.

While the incentive passed on to me is appreciated, the fact that Marvel acknowledges the need to encourage a growing readership, especially for its superior titles, is far more important. That being said, any store worth its salt makes every effort to give discounts to its regular customers, regardless of the cover price. Nobody “needs” comic books, so any retailer who doesn’t make every effort to cut a break to regular customers is only contributing to the decline in this industry. A solid reservation system, replete with discounts, is essential to any good comic book store.

Then there are the comments from Ray at Comics Galore in the heart of Chicagoland…

I would be one of the retailers that would be pro slashback program. I was very surprised to hear that the polled retailers opposed the program so much. I had no problem with the lower cover price. I think the program could have been a positive tool, if Marvel ran it properly. Marvel’s promotion for this program was nonexistent. No promo posters, no header cards and at least to my knowledge, no ads in the comics. 99% of my customers had no idea of the Slashback program until I told them about it or until they saw the signs that I personally made about the $1.99 Hulk & Avengers issues.

I do think Marvel is unfairly blaming retailers for the death of this program.

D. Seigler at Ground Zero Comics in Texas writes:

Any attempt to get more comics in front of people is a good thing (duh!). While I actually like either method (Slashback program VS an increased discount), I probably prefer the Slashback. If I am given an increased discount, I will probably not pass it on to the consumer, but rather take the extra profit and apply it to taking a chance on other titles. In my past experience, offering an extra discount on certain issues to customers has not worked very well.

For a number of years, I had a “Comic of the Week” program here where I drastically discounted the price on comics that I felt needed a push. It simply didn’t work for me. For the most part, very few extra people picked up the book and it didn’t justify my expense. I face a smaller version of the same problems that Marvel and DC face: My customers tell me that they want one thing, and their buying habits indicate that they want something else.

While I like the idea of “being the hero” and offering an extra discount on the issue (instead of the Slashback program), my customers are more likely to pick it up if they know that Marvel is the one offering the cutback in price, as they realize that it is a self contained story and perhaps a good jumping on point. Sad and confusing, but that has been my experience (don’t ask me to explain customers, I just serve ‘em as best I can).

You’ve heard of stores with everything in stock? Here’s a store with stock in everything… specifically P. Stock, from the Librairie Astro in Montreal (which I actually shopped at back when I was up in Montreal doing Space Cases):

I don’t think the slashback’s made one bit of difference in saleability to the reader. They pick up a comic, browse, and if they’re interested, buy it. No-one buys reading based on price. The only place where price points come into play are with prestige projects, the $5.95/$6.95 (and up) books. Slashbacks should not make a pinch of difference to the retailer. Using a standard 50% discount, a retailer grosses $1.125 on a $2.25 book, $0.995 on the same book “slashed” to $1.99. Thirteen cents per book. Presuming that book sells 30,000 copies, that’s a big $3,900 spread across all retailers. So what does it cost us on the average- a buck a store?

I like Slashbacks because they’re something I can show my customers that says Marvel is NOT the same company as it was in 1993.

I can tell them that a quarter slashback takes a dime out of Marvel’s pocket for each and every book shipped. It may cost ME $2-3 on my order of Marvel Boy, but it costs THEM four grand, and we all know they NEED that money. Money that they’re “spending” to try to get people interested in their books.

They can complain about Jemas’ “collectability” and “fanboy in Queens” statements with all the outrage that we’ve become accustomed to from comic fans. They can gripe about “two for two” covers and a glut of X and Spider titles, and their favorite book being cancelled, and I can counter with yes but….

Look at the slashback program–they’re putting their money where their mouth is. It may not be an effective selling point for an individual book, but it shows that they’re trying to please you.

Look at the editorial changes–you may hate what Quesada is doing, but it shows that Marvel recognizes that they needed a content “fix”. It showed that they actually did hear what people were saying about the need for a new direction, and they responded. If you enjoy the new line or not is irrelevant -taste being subjective – and if Marvel’s new look doesn’t suit your taste, DC or Image’s might, but you can no longer write off Marvel en bloc, because it no longer IS a bloc. It’s trying to reach fans, it’s trying to get them interested in trying Marvel titles.

Look at the Ultimate line–not so much for the “quality” of writing, because once again, taste is subjective. Rather look at it for the $3.99 reprints of USM and UXM #1-3. Eight bucks in content for $3.99. Non-collectable reprints. Stuff to read.

That’s where we should look for the big news at Marvel. They’re printing stuff to read, and when they can, they knock off a quarter, or a buck, in the hopes it might entice you to try it.

Cutting the slashback program gives me one less reason why my customers should reconsider the prevalent attitude that equates Marvel with evil.

This isn’t WAM. This isn’t polybagged with five different cards. This isn’t embossed. This isn’t use up all the rack space. This isn’t ram it down the fanboys’ throats Marvel, this is a Marvel that’s reaching out – groping out – to try and get back in sync with the readers. If one of the gropes is an ineffective and spotty little twenty five cent slashback it doesn’t matter. It’s all the gropes added up that amount to a fondle. Enough fondles add up, and we’ve got a love affair with Marvel again. Then they get big again, and, if past performance is any indication, once again they’ll find a way to screw us.

Ah well

That’s the biz, sweetheart.

And on that slightly Bogie-esque note, we close out this utterly unscientific and nonbinding survey of retailer opinions. I appreciate everyone who took the time to write in, and it will be interesting to see if Marvel was paying the slightest bit of attention to any of this.

(Peter David, writer of stuff, can be written to at Second Age, Inc., PO Box 239, Bayport, NY 11705.)