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Post by peterh on Oct 28, 2005 14:29:36 GMT
www.newsarama.com/marvelnew/King/stephen_king_marvel.htmMajor major coup for Marvel. King is definetly the biggest name to write a comic book in quite a while. I burned out on King years ago but this does sound tempting. Will this be the project that finally brings in new readers or will they wait for the hardcover to hit the bookstores? Thoughts, comments?
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BJC
Apprentice
We Own The Night
Posts: 301
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Post by BJC on Oct 28, 2005 15:24:29 GMT
Should be big, King is a MAJOR writer. Personally Im not a fan, but by the look of this book, it should get alot of his novel fans attention. Suprisingly this story DOES interest me. Has he ever written comics before?
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Post by Elliot Kane on Oct 28, 2005 15:28:03 GMT
Joss Whedon, Anne Rice & Michael Moorcock have all written comics - and all failed to pull new readers in in significant numbers.
I suspect the lack of advertising outside of the normal comic channels is mainly at fault, and IF Marvel advertise outside, they should do well.
The big question is - WILL they?
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Post by Gray Lensman on Oct 28, 2005 15:40:33 GMT
This is Marvel. I think that kind of implies the answer there. ;D
Anyway, it's a good move for Marvel... but I can't say that I'm personally interested. It'll be good for Dark Tower fans, though...
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Post by Gray Lensman on Oct 28, 2005 15:48:45 GMT
BJC, I think King has written for comics in the past. Very obscure issues here and there, I believe. IIRC, he did a Batman issue and things like that. Probably not worth tracking down unless you're a serious fan, but he does have some history with the medium.
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Post by peterh on Oct 28, 2005 15:58:42 GMT
Joss Whedon, Anne Rice & Michael Moorcock have all written comics - and all failed to pull new readers in in significant numbers. I suspect the lack of advertising outside of the normal comic channels is mainly at fault, and IF Marvel advertise outside, they should do well. The big question is - WILL they? No offense to any of the mentioned writers but they are not in King's caliber when it comes to public perception. Furthermore this is not a random Marvel project, which would probably interest less people, but a prequel of sorts to a, as I understand, highly popular book series. That's a good reason for mass marketing and I think Marvel will do that. Question is, wether they'll wait til the collected edtion, around christmas, to really advertise this outside of comics. |
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Post by Gray Lensman on Oct 28, 2005 16:08:32 GMT
Moorcock did an Elric prequel project for DC. It likewise had no real promotion, and was aimed at comic fans. The book did abysmally, for all that the quality was good.
King's reputation is important, yes, and that will help. I just don't think name recognition alone is going to be enough. If Marvel doesn't market this properly, I doubt the novel-buying market will even know it exists.
The biggest problem right now is that the US comics market is so insular. Poor marketing and distribution makes it very difficult to get anyone involved in the hobby anymore. They could get the biggest name on the biggest project and still end up with a drop in the bucket compared to sales in the early 90's. I don't see things getting better until this improves, sadly.
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Post by Elliot Kane on Oct 28, 2005 16:15:14 GMT
Peter...
I'd say King was still very popular, but past the height of his fame. Right now, Joss Whedon is bigger, IMO, especially with his Buffyverse stuff... And look how that well doesn't sell for Dark Horse...
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Post by sps1000 on Oct 28, 2005 16:16:07 GMT
King wrote a three page story in X-Men Heroes for Hope which was to raise money for a charity or something. Also notable about that one shot is that Alan Moore wrote a sequence with Magneto in it. This one shot is hard to find and be prepared to shell out a pretty penny for it. Might be cool if Marvel reprinted it as a special bonus for fans.
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Post by peterh on Oct 28, 2005 16:29:42 GMT
Peter... I'd say King was still very popular, but past the height of his fame. Right now, Joss Whedon is bigger, IMO, especially with his Buffyverse stuff... And look how that well doesn't sell for Dark Horse... Well, how many people knows who's the mastermind of Buffy?  I've never heard the name Whedon before he wrote comics, really. Maybe it's just me but there very few tv writers I actually know of.. |
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Post by Elliot Kane on Oct 28, 2005 16:38:27 GMT
Errr... Every single Buffy & Angel fan would be my guess there, Peter...
Joss is as well known as SMG herself in connection with the series.
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Post by peterh on Oct 28, 2005 16:50:53 GMT
Errr... Every single Buffy & Angel fan would be my guess there, Peter... Joss is as well known as SMG herself in connection with the series. Yeah, but it's still a limited crowd compared to those who know the name Stephen King, I think. Not that everyone who knows him might buy the comic, of course, but I still think there's bigger posibilities with King involved. It might be a generational thing, though. Back when King was the biggest author. Now it's rowling or that Da Vinci Code guy |
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Post by Elliot Kane on Oct 28, 2005 16:54:10 GMT
Limited to several million people around the world... In the last decade, Buffyverse stories have been amongst the most popular shows on TV across the world. It's NOT a small audience.
By contrast, in the last decade King has released... one book? Two, maybe? He's simply been eclipsed by other authors.
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dominiccarr
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You're a bloody puppet!...You're a wee, little puppet man!
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Post by dominiccarr on Oct 31, 2005 1:29:34 GMT
Nice coup for marvel, and damn does that Jae Lee art look amazing!
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Dr. Doom
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I will not eat cat poop.
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Post by Dr. Doom on Nov 7, 2005 17:30:43 GMT
I would agree with Peter, Stephen King is known highly outside his novel fan base. He's helped make several movies, or at least his name has been associated with many. I guarantee my whole family knows Stephen King (and they're not fans in the least), but only myself and thestonesfan (or Herr Mike, whichever you know better) would know of Joss Whedon. My point is, ask a random person and I would say they are much more likely to know King than Whedon. Of course, I could be wrong. I think I was once before.  |
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Post by Elliot Kane on Nov 7, 2005 17:35:30 GMT
I agree more people will likely know King, but I think his active fanbase is smaller than Joss' right now. Knowing the name does not always translate into active interest, after all |
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Post by fourleafclover on Nov 26, 2005 4:50:51 GMT
Someone at Marvel is perceptive.... Jae Lee is an excellent choice to team up with King. I loved Lee's Namor run. So raw and gritty! |
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