First off, we're back to regularly scheduled programming. The move went swell, the interwebs is connected once more, and here I am. Secondly, go read this. It's a post by Carla Hoffman for Robot 6 over at CBR. Insightful, if a bit thin in places, and generally I get what she's saying. I don't necessarily agree with her, but I'm not disputing her point. At least not here and now.
It did get me thinking, however, about mascots and market brands and identifiers and all that Business 101 jazzola. Spider-Man is, unequivocally, THE brand at Marvel. He's the mascot, he's the 'spokesperson', he's the character with the greatest name brand recognition in the company's creative holdings (you could argue that Wolverine has usurped that position, to some extent, but that's another post for another time). What Superman is to DC, Spider-Man is to Marvel.
So why don't they market him more effectively?
In terms of issue sales, beyond the odd spike, Spider-Man is on the mid-list. Neither the worst or the best. He's popular with the fans, but that doesn't necessarily translate to sales. He's marketed to children, but badly, with several cancelled cartoon series and no animated films to speak of, a lethargic toy line and a string of so-so video-games (though SHATTERED DIMENSIONS does look cool). As a film franchise, he's getting rebooted for reasons which are, at best, an attempt to capture the Zeitgeist of twenty minutes ago and at worst a delaying action for the inevitable FURTHER reboot which will come when Marvel gets the film rights back.
Oh, and the musical, of course, which is already being heralded as a flop in some places.
My question is why? Why, as a flagship brand, isn't Spider-Man pushed harder? Why do the attempts to expand the brand into other media seem to fall flat, even as the comic book series itself varies between popularity and 'also-published'? Why push Deadpool or Wolverine more than the flagship character? Is it all really down to sales? And if so, why not simply work to improve the sales by diversifying and testing the brand (Spider-Man/Wolverine, Spider-Girl, Spider-Man: Noir, Spider-Woman are all existing properties. Why not add new ones? Spider-Man: Pulp, Spider-Man and the Marvel Knights, Spider-Man Team-Up, Green Goblin, The Sinister Syndicate, Kingpin, etc.) as they do with both of those characters?
Granted, there are quite likely a dozen solid reasons for most of these things that have nothing to do with the brand itself so much as the media type in question that its been licensed for. However, it would seem to me that Marvel would benefit by pushing the brand harder than they seem to be interested in doing. Why focus so much attention on the existing (and dwindling) market-base, when you could be building a new one?
Where's Spider-Man's Smallville? If you want to capture the tween-teen market, why not take a page out of Time-Warner's playbook and do a show based on Spider-Man's early high-school years as he comes to terms with his newfound abilities and navigates sudden popularity (or continued unpopularity)? Heck, use the first twelve issues of Ultimate Spider-Man as a template, and there you go.
If a Saturday morning cartoon isn't working (and if it's not, why haven't you gone to Cartoon Network yet?), why not market a line of direct to video animated films, each focusing on a particular storyline with all that Disney magic backing you up (they've done it for everybody but Spider-Man, seemingly)? Where's the all-ages Spider-Man comic digest that gets stocked at the grocery store check-out lines like Archie? Where's the subscription magazine that includes puzzles, games and comic strips? Where're the tie-in novels for young readers (and older readers)? Where's the damn toy line?
These are the questions that occur to me, when I read articles like Ms. Hoffman's, or when I read about dwindling sales or failing franchises. Unfortunately, I don't actually have any answers, or even any opinions, really. Nor, indeed, criticisms. Ultimately, responsibility for the brand rests with its owners, who can wield it as they see fit.
Still, sometimes I simply feel like asking the question, even if I don't get an answer.
4 comments:
Huzzah! You're back. I hope all is well and settled at your end of the intrablognet-sphere.
On Spider-Man, I'd suggest just two issues. Firstly, Marvel editorial had the courage to annoy a great many fans and alienated a fair degree of their hardcore readership for Peter Parker with the Mephisto story, a process that surely won't be reversed by last week's Mary Jane is a rotten lil'coward story.
And secondly, they didn't dare to return the character back to high school, where he belongs. (Opinion, I know.) Certainly, the current Peter Parker as a hig-shagging character from "Friends" seems doomed to mid-ranking failure.
But what do I know?
Thanks, good to be back.
See, I actually agree with you there, to a certain degree...I think the character DOES belong in HS. However, I also think he needs to be a bachelor and a married man.
Spidey is the average joe super-hero, which means he needs to be accessible to everyone. So, I'd simply have three different series, each following him from a different point.
Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man would be a Marvel Adventures/Ultimate take on the character's HS years. This would basically be in-continuity with things like Avengers: Origin and Thor: First Thunder, X-Men: First Class and such.
Amazing Spider-Man would follow his years in college or just after, as a swinging bachelor. Basic 616 Spidey.
Spectacular Spider-Man/Web of Spider-Man (whichever name fits better) would be him married to MJ, with little May newly born. Not necessarily the MC2 universe, but not 616 either. It'd function the way Legion of Superheroes does for DC, as a look at a possible future, without any real need to tie-in.
Then, as you said, what do I know?
The three series would run independently, without needing to synch up, and each would offer something unique to the table.
Beyond the fact that the continuity minded would experience their heads exploding, I think it's a fine idea. And in fact, I'd go further; I'd have one core book set in high school and then allow everyone else to have their own take in a series of formats. Your approach, however, would have the advantages, I can see as I type, of "locking" certain markets into reading a particular Spider-man, so that's certainly an important factor, and as folks aged, they'd have their own Peter still. Hhhhmmmm ...
Last thought: you do realise a Legion Of Cross-Time Spider-Men would inevitably result from your proposal?
Realize? I'm counting on it!
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