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Captain America’s Death was a Publicity Stunt!
— March 8, 2007 2 Comments
Okay, Marvel is really trying to pull a fast one on comic books fans here. It’s really nothing new if you are a comic book fan however. If this is news for you, on Wednesday, Marvel released Captain America #25 where Cap is shot on the steps of a court house.
The result of this is that it is being reported that Captain America is dead. This has created a media and collector frenzy. The media jumped all over the story, which is why Marvel did this in the first place, and the issue was impossible to find in comic book stores yesterday, except on eBay.
Marvel knew this was coming, but retailers did not know, so they did not prepare for this. As a result, comic book stores all over the US immediately sold out of the book once this story hit the press. The problem is comic fans are not buying the book. Instead, speculators are buying the book in hopes that it will bring them a nice return on investment.
As of last night, there were 300 results on eBay for “captain america 25″ and there was not one auction available for less than $10. Most were between $30 and $60 with the highest auction I saw at $66 for both books ending soonest. Oh yes, that’s right, I forgot to mention there are 2 covers for this book, making 2 collectibles, not one. Not to mention, that Wizard already has another variant issues planned as a Wizard World LA exclusive which starts next weekend!
SPOILER ALERT!
There is a spoiler alert coming. If you are reading this, you have been warned. The clincher in all this has to be the fact that CAP IS NOT DEAD YET! In the “Civil War: The Initiative” which was also released yesterday, readers find out that Cap is not dead, but he survived the shooting and they are keeping him alive in a hidden location.
Is anyone shocked yet? I am not. I did not know about any of this until yesterday, but as a comic book reader and a skeptic, I know that comic books deaths are rarely final. They do them from time to time to generate sales and publicity as they have done here. These characters are money machines for them and they cannot kill them off permanently. Instead they will bring them back after a while and generate more sales and publicity. So yes this is nothing new, but seems that Marvel is sinking to a new low here. The truth is though this is not the end. This is only part of the cycle of life as a superhero. So to that I say, Cap, Rest in Peace?
Update: It gets better. Diamond Comic Distributors issued a press release to comic book retailers today. It turns out that creating a national media frenzy was Marvel’s plan all along, in order to drive demand for Marvel books. According to the press release:
“While Marvel regrets having to withhold any solicitation information from retailers, we had no choice,” said Marvel Comics Senior Vice President of Sales David Gabriel. “The media would never have picked up the story unless it was an absolute secret… so we had no choice. Instead, we made sure to have the healthiest overprint ready to fill reorders for as long as possible.”
To ensure maximum exposure in the media, secrecy about Captain America’s fate had to be ironclad. Many retailers were understandably caught off-guard by the surprising developments of Captain America #25, resulting in rapid sell-outs at the retail level and quickly escalating prices in the aftermarket. However, as Gabriel stated, a significant overprint of this hot issue is now being shipped to Diamond, which will fill all backorders placed as of press time. Marvel fully supports the specialty market, and appreciates storeowners’ patience in this unusual circumstance.
So it appears that Marvel planned for the book to be scarce initially, but overprinted so that the book would be widely available later. Well, at least they were smart about that. Take that people paying $60 on eBay! But wait, there’s more!
The aftermath of Steve Rogers’ assassination continues in a number of upcoming comics, many of which are undergoing title changes to reflect the hero’s death. To keep the incredible ending of Civil War a secret, Marvel solicited five Jeph Loeb-written books in the February and March Marvel Previews with bogus titles and partial information.
Well, at least it’s only 5 more new books about Captain America’s death. What’s that, another one?
In addition to these five Fallen Son specials, Marvel also revealed that the March-solicited Marvel Spotlight: Civil War Remembered would be retitled Marvel Spotlight: Captain America Remembered. Looking back on Steve Rogers’ storied career and paying tribute to the life and legend of The Star-Spangled Avenger, this 32-page, full-color issue carries an FOC date of Thursday, May 10 and arrives in shipments May 30.
Be sure to see your local comic book retailer of choice to get both covers of Captain America #25 that you missed this week because of scalpers, as well as both covers of all five new books remembering Captain America, plus the Marvel Spotlight: Captain America Remembered book.
And don’t forget, Cap’s probably not all dead. He’s only mostly dead.
[...] death of Captain America. Now, I haven’t verified this with my own two beady eyes, but Hero Hunt News is reporting that issue #1 of Marvel’s Initiative–also released yesterday–reveals that Cap [...]
Wow, Marvel has officially sold its soul, especially after having pimped the “Death of Cap” story to the mainstream media so enthusiastically. I’d say this news is worth Digging.