Why no reprints anymore...?

[anarky]

Remember back in the 80s, when there were tons of reprint comics, mostly from Marvel? Okay, maybe not tons, but Marvel Tales and Classic X-Men did quite well, considering how old the material was.

So why don't they revisit this idea?

I'm serious. Both companies say that the lack of new readers is due to the backstory being so daunting. Readers say that there are issues with newbies getting into comics to begin with because they're simply not around in most places. And it's obvious that both writers and fanboys keep turning things into a weird, hyperviolent pastiche of the Silver Age. Very little changes, and it all reverts back when the next movie rolls along.

So keep the "normal" comics in the comic shops. And put reprint series in the other stores. They own the rights; there won't be much cost in paying creators. (Not saying that's the way it should be, but it is the way it is.) Stick ads in those things to offset the costs. Both Disney and Warner have ways of getting magazines out to the public, so distribution should not be an issue. Put them out monthly or bi-monthly, with as many classic issues as possible (I'm thinking 4-5) jammed in, in chronological order. Use simple names like Classic Avengers or names used in the past, like Marvel Tales featuring Spider-Man.

Sure, from 1960 to the mid-80s, there'd be one title per month for X-Men and Spidey (and only a couple more for the Avengers), but then it snowballs. Hard. You'd never run out of material, even without having to add new features like some of the books did. Oh, and so much of it would be stand-alone, or simply not bogged down in continuity because there wasn't much continuity yet when they were made.

So this line would be accessible, kid-friendly, using material they own outright and aren't making a dime on, and would appeal to people who don't want to read comics on screens (or let their kids do that), and cheaper for the reader than buying huge collections. They wouldn't even need to worry about recycling; it would be far cheaper to find a copy of Marvel Tales #2 than Amazing Spider-Man #4.

Am I missing something, or is this a no-brainer?

[Tom Foolery]

Cramming 4-5 issues into one. They already do that. They're called TPBs.

[anarky]

True, Marvel does have thin TPB's compared to DC. Still, why not two issues, or three? Don't go all glossy and fancy, just the stories on the cheapest paper possible, with a few ads, in magazine format. Maybe a page of editorial notes if they deem it necessary, and a blurb telling readers how to get the latest adventures of whatever character the mag is about. (And they're also way the hell inconsistent with trade paperbacks of really old stuff, with much of it only available in black-and-white, which most people don't want.)

I'm just thinking this seems like a cheap way to get new readers, and to make money off film releases.

[RoIIo Tomassi]

I think Marvel just announced a new Trade Paperback initiative that's going to be all-inclusive. Moreso than the current Marvel Mastereworks and the B/W "Essential" series. But they'll be pricey.

In today's market, I don't think a 4-5 issue reprint comic would be that cheap. Even IF it was a cheaper paper like newsprint. The difference in cost between newsprint and the higher costing glossy stuff is negligible. You'd be looking at $7-8 per issue. DC has been(or was) doing something like this called DC Presents over the last few years.
And reprinting EVERY issue in chronological order just isn't feasible. There's a lot more "crap" issues than there are "essential" ones. You might get a kid interested in Simonson's Thor issues, but would you "need" the five previous issues? Or the 4-5 issues before Miller took over on Daredevil? Not for impulse buys aimed at kids who are Luddites and technophobes(do those kids exist?)

And then there's the issue of "demand". Who's your target audience?
People who wouldn't be satisfied with TPBs? Or wouldn't want digital downloads of back issues?
Or people who can't find the original floppies on eBay or at flea markets or garage sales for cheap?
These would be, splurge/impulse purchases for young kids?
Would young kids be interested in stories from the 60s and 70s?

The target audience is just too isolated. Reprint books worked back in the 60s thru 80s because the circulation on books was so much larger. And the reprint books faded out in the early 90s because the demand was no longer there.

You'd be better off just finding cheap Trades or floppies at Cons or dealer shows and giving those to your kids. If they're at all interested in the medium, they'll find the collecting paradigm they're most comfortable with, be it digital, trades, or new stuff.
If not, you wouldn't have to worry about the books taking up space either way.

[RoIIo Tomassi]

Doing some research on more recent attempts at reprint issues.
It looks like Quesada attempted some reprint books when he started as EiC back in 2000. There was a "Universe" line that collected 3-4 semi recent issues in one book. But they didn't last very long. Avengers Universe only lasted 3 issues, Spider-Man Universe lasted 7. And X-Men Universe made it all the way to 15.
After that, later on they tried "Marvel Must Haves" which reprinted recent Hot issues that had sold out. Usually it was two issues reprinted in one book, but sometimes it was 3. This has continued sporadically ever since, but usually with less frequency.
They also revived the "Marvel Milestone" series in 2005, with each issue containing 3 "important" back issues such as Character X's first appearance. Or the first meetin between Y and Z. To date, there've about two dozen of those.
And in the Quesada/Alonso era they often add an extra 'reprint' story in the backs of new issues featuring a classic Silver Age tale of whichever hero is featured in that issue. But that's usually done to pimp a TPB or whatever.

Also, the kid friendly 'Marvel Adventures' line (they with red banner at the top) brought back Marvel Two-in-One. Which took two previous Marvel Adventures issues and reprinted them in one book.

By the way, if you're looking for fun reads for kids unburdened by heavy continuity and all that drudge of the last decade or so, the Marvel Age books and later on the Marvel Adventures books would be right up your alley. Eventually both lines gave way to the current 'all ages' line which is just the Ultimate Spidey and Avengers books based on the cartoons.
But between 2004 and 2010 Marvel produced a lot of great stories. Most of which were done-in-one reads.

[anarky]

I wasn't thinking so much for myself, being an old-school comic addict, but for people who see all the Iron Man shit in stores. Just seems like there should be some easily-accessible, cheap way to get some kid-friendly comics not burdened by the continuity. Yeah, I know there are TPB's, but a parent would probably rather drop five bucks than twenty; and there are digital comics, but there are actually parents who don't keep their kids glued to a screen.

[RoIIo Tomassi]

Speaking of the Iron Man movie and comic tie-ins, remember when Thor and Cap movies came out and they went apeshit with like a dozen mini series right around the release of the movies (or actually a few months before, so the collected trades would coincide with the films' releases). Anyway, that led to a bunch of series tanking and retailers getting pissed at the carpet bombing strategy that they then had to eat.
So this time around there's only a couple Iron Man books coming out this and next Wednesday. One is a oneshot titled Iron Man:Coming of the Melter, which looks to be a reprint issue of a bunch of early Tales of Suspense stories. And then there's issues 258.1 and 258.2. Or something close to that. But I looked up whatever issue it is, and its right around Byrne/Romita Jrs 'Armor Wars II' story arc.

Neither the Melter or Armor Wars II have anything to do with the plot of IM3 as far as I know. Those seem like weird choices to release to coincide with the movie, no? Wasn't the villain in AW2 an amped up Living Laser?

[jjreason]

One anthology series like a Marvel Premiere or Marvel Spotlight could be used for classic reprints. You might not get a big run of any character, but who wouldn't buy a cheap reader of spider man 121 one month and 122 the next? There are so many reprintable issues, including tons of excellent 2-3 issue arcs from classic series that folks might like to see again. Heck they could even sweeten the pot with original covers or a few new pages a la X-Men Classics.