Comments on: PR: What Not to Do: Archie Aiming at Marvel

By: Bill Galvan

Bill Galvan — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 23:48:09 +0000

Yeah, I don’t see this as a “Stupid Publisher Trick”, either. Archie has a history of parodying the superhero genre, and I think that this is just another story in that tradition. I think that if a mainstream comic buyer sees this in a supermarket, they’ll get the reference and maybe check it out. If they aren’t in that group, it looks like an interesting story anyway.

By: Johanna

Johanna — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 14:30:51 +0000

I’m seeing several indications that Archie is trying to pursue the direct market more than they have in the past, and I’m not sure at all it’s a good idea for them. They have strength in a market that no other comics have access to (with their digests, whose only other competition was Disney Adventures, and I don’t think they do many comics any more). I’d rather see them trade on that strength (such as “hey, Mr. Direct Market Retailer, we sell to this audience quite well, let’s work together to get them into your stores”) than trying to ride the coattails of the latest DM fad.

Although I suspect you’re right, in that the story may have little to nothing to actually remind readers of the Marvel marketing ploy.

By: Tommy Raiko

Tommy Raiko — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 14:22:46 +0000

Oh, I dunno. This may be a silly publisher trick, but I don’t know that it’s cringeworthily stupid like some other things you hear about.

Despite all the references to Marvel’s Civil War in this (far too detailed) copy, the story seems to be fairly typical Archie fare that doesn’t require a foreknowledge of the Marvel story (Certainly the pun “Civil Chore” is understandable whether or not you follow what Iron Man and Captain America are up to.) And if Archie thought they could drum up a little more interest from the traditional comics market by drawing comparisons to the Marvel story, that’s understandable too (and, heck, might even work!)