Irish
10-11-2012, 07:07 AM
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In 1991, Marvel Comics was enjoying unprecedented success. The company went public in July; the stock went from $16 1/2 to $18 on the first day, trading at a volume of 2.3 million shares. In August, a rebooted X-Men #1, available in five variant-cover versions, sold nearly 8 million copies—doubling the record that had been set by X-Force #1, only four months earlier. Given a mandate to top the sales of each previous quarter, Marvel ramped up production of its foil stamp covers, embossed covers, and glow-in-the-dark-ink covers on other titles. The company hired as a consultant Richard T. Rogers, a marketing superstar who’d masterminded the introductions of red- and green-colored holiday season M&Ms and king-size bags of candies—in other words, getting people excited to buy the same old thing in a new package, and getting them to buy in bulk.
But in the final weeks of the year, a group of popular artists—including Jim Lee (X-Men), Rob Liefeld (X-Force), and Todd McFarlane (Spider-Man)—informed Marvel that they would be leaving the company to start their own line of comics, in which they would retain ownership of characters.
The book is a history of Marvel over the last few decades. If you're at all interested in comics, history, or backroom stories this'll probably work for you.
I've only had a passing and minimal interest in Marvel, but I think I might pick this up. The stuff around the mid 1990s is sure to be interesting.
Two excerpts:
- http://www.tcj.com/sean-howe/
- http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8433000/an-excerpt-sean-howe-marvel-comics-untold-story
See also author's website with a ton of photos & more info:
- http://seanhowe.tumblr.com/
In 1991, Marvel Comics was enjoying unprecedented success. The company went public in July; the stock went from $16 1/2 to $18 on the first day, trading at a volume of 2.3 million shares. In August, a rebooted X-Men #1, available in five variant-cover versions, sold nearly 8 million copies—doubling the record that had been set by X-Force #1, only four months earlier. Given a mandate to top the sales of each previous quarter, Marvel ramped up production of its foil stamp covers, embossed covers, and glow-in-the-dark-ink covers on other titles. The company hired as a consultant Richard T. Rogers, a marketing superstar who’d masterminded the introductions of red- and green-colored holiday season M&Ms and king-size bags of candies—in other words, getting people excited to buy the same old thing in a new package, and getting them to buy in bulk.
But in the final weeks of the year, a group of popular artists—including Jim Lee (X-Men), Rob Liefeld (X-Force), and Todd McFarlane (Spider-Man)—informed Marvel that they would be leaving the company to start their own line of comics, in which they would retain ownership of characters.
The book is a history of Marvel over the last few decades. If you're at all interested in comics, history, or backroom stories this'll probably work for you.
I've only had a passing and minimal interest in Marvel, but I think I might pick this up. The stuff around the mid 1990s is sure to be interesting.
Two excerpts:
- http://www.tcj.com/sean-howe/
- http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8433000/an-excerpt-sean-howe-marvel-comics-untold-story
See also author's website with a ton of photos & more info:
- http://seanhowe.tumblr.com/