EVERYTHING BUT IMAGINARY #184: "GUIDING" YOUR WAY TO MARVEL?

[Blake Petit]

I’ve been unhappy with a lot of the moves Marvel Comics has made of late – cancelling The Thing, Iron Spider-Man, 95 percent of all titles that have included the phrase “The End” in the title… but there’s one thing they’re doing that, while it may seem ridiculous on the surface, may actually be worth a shot. I refer, of course, to the Ultimate Power miniseries. But that’s another column. Today, though, I’m talking about a crossover between Marvel Comics and the CBS soap opera, Guiding Light.

I’ve never watched the show myself. (My mother could recite the names and histories of the characters by rote for three hours and then follow up with the URL name of the Proctor and Gamble website, but as she probably couldn’t even name one member of the Green Lantern Corps, I consider us even.) From what I gather from Marvel’s announcement, a character on the TV show will be gaining some sort of supernatural powers. This will somehow lead into an 8-page story that will run in several Marvel titles in the month of November. The story will be promoted on the TV show, and characters from the show will interact with Marvel characters (specifically members of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the New Avengers) in the comic. Pure cross-promotion.

Since the announcement was made, I’ve heard a lot of people call it a stupid idea, a ridiculous crossover… but is it really? Although the demographics are vastly different, I’ve often thought the format of daytime soap operas and superhero comic books to be quite similar. These are the only two storytelling forms that exist that follow the same characters for years – even decades – in a completely open-ended series of regular installments, with different creators and characters rotating in and out over time, changing the product to meet the times, often (usually, even) with no final “end” ever intended. Some soap operas – including Guiding Light – have even been around since our own Golden Age. GL, in fact, premiered as a radio drama in 1937, one year before the superhero genre was invented with Action Comics #1, before making the leap to television in 1952.

The two mediums share several story elements as well – angst is a must, plus you’ve got your dastardly villains (Dr. Doom’s got nothing on some of those soap opera baddies), nefarious plots, torrid love affairs and impossible resurrections from the dead, all staples of both genres. The audiences couldn’t be farther apart, but upon closer examination, comics and soaps actually have an awful lot in common.

The reason I’m willing to give Marvel the benefit of the doubt on this one is simple: it’s a rare, honest-to-God effort to make contact with a demographic that doesn’t usually read comic books. I talk about looking for new readers all the time. It is, in fact, one of the primary purposes of this column. It’s necessary – it’s absolutely vital –if our favorite art form is ever going to have a chance to grow.

For a few years now, comics have enjoyed a slow but steady increase in sales in terms of dollar amounts and individual units, but there’s really no hard data to indicate whether this is the result of new readers coming in or old readers simply buying more than they used to. Either way, there’s a lot of room for comics to try to grow beyond the usual, “safe” little demographic we spend most of our time toying with.

Marvel is also making the smart choice in putting the comic as a back-up for comics that are very new-reader friendly. The list of titles that will include the story are:

Civil War: Choosing Sides
Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane #11
Marvel Select Flip Magazine #18
Marvel Tales Flip Magazine #17
Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #21
Spider-Man And Power Pack #1
Marvel Adventures Flip Magazine #18
Marvel Heroes Flip Magazine #18
Amazing Spider-Girl #2
Franklin Richards: Happy Franksgiving!
Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four #18

As the “Marvel Adventures” comics are aimed primarily at younger readers, this may seem a strange choice. However, look at it this way – a lot of the Guiding Light fans are mothers. So if they hear about a soap story in a comic book and go out and pick it up just for that, it’s a good idea to have it in a comic book they may find suitable for their children. Even if they don’t keep reading comics, this very well may lead to some younger readers picking up the slack. And those comics that aren't specifically for kids – the flip magazines, Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane and Amazing Spider-Girl -- are books that should be pretty accessible for new readers. The Civil War special is the only really odd choice, but as that will likely be a gateway into Marvel’s big “event” series of the moment, I’ll even give that one a pass.

I’ve heard some suggest this is a blatant attempt to get “women” to read comics – some even sounding insulted by the concept. To a degree, I can understand that – if the suggestion is taken to mean all women watch soap operas, it would be insulting to classify an entire gender that way. Plus, there are women who read comics already, and lots of them. Some of them may even watch soap operas. Some of the guys who read comics may watch them too.

But the undeniable fact is that, while it may not be true that most women watch soap operas, most of the people who watch soap operas are women. And I’d lay odds that the vast majority of them never pick up a comic book. So if you believe (as I do) that there does exist a comic book for every taste, if you only know where to look, then it follows that soap opera fans are, for the most part, a vast, untapped potential audience.

Do I think Marvel’s Guiding Light trick will work? Do I think the viewers will suddenly inundate comic shops, as desperate for the monthly adventures of the Fantastic Four as they are for their daily fix of Days of Our Lives? Will millions of housewives and soccer moms spontaneously transform into Wednesday afternoon regulars?

Let’s be honest here. Probably not.

But Marvel is at least making an effort to appeal to people outside of their usual sandbox, and that’s more than can be said for most publishers. At least it’s an idea. And so what if it doesn’t create a million new readers? Even if it generates a few, it’s an idea worth trying. Then the next idea may get a few more. Then a few more.

Sometimes, friends, that’s the only way to change the world. One person at a time.

Favorite of the Week: September 27, 2006

I feel like I should just rename this “The Brad Meltzer Award,” I swear. After two knockout issues (including #0), Justice League of America #2 continues the track record of blowing me away. Meltzer is still assembling his team, and this issue is chock full of rich character moments that really help to move the story along as well. Red Tornado fans rejoice, your day has come.

Blake M. Petit is the author of the superhero comedy novel, Other People's Heroes, the suspense novel The Beginner and the weekly “Think About It” humor column at Think About It Central. His new comic, Evertime, is coming soon from Tightlip Entertainment. E-mail him at Blake@comixtreme.com and visit him on the web at Evertime Realms.

[Jason Kanno]

Even if this crashes and burns... it'll be a heck of a disaster to watch.

[cv_otaku]

I commend Marvel for making the effort. I know that back when I was a kid, I saw a similarity between my comics and my sister's Young and the Restless. Of course, being 12, mine was WAY cooler. But, they are definately going to reach a new demographic, with a marketing strategy that could work. I can only give Marvel props for having the brass to try it.

Of course...this might just be placing a band-aid on a knife wound. I'm not terribly sure that exposure is the problem. Any new reader is definately a step in the right direction, but what about other problems with the industry. Price being one of them. What happens when that mother buys that comic and has to pay three-fifty for it. And again, what happens when she realizes that, that three-fifty just went to pay for a 22-page comic, 21 of which contain splash pages with fifteen words of dialogue. The whole thing takes five minutes to read.

Now, I'm not ripping on Marvel for what they're doing. I completely support this move. Marvel is dipping their toe into uncharted waters, and it's definately refreshing to see, especially in the comic book market, which is, more often than not, completely stagnant. As I said, I just wonder if we aren't taking the wrong approach to fixing a much larger problem.

[Blake Petit]

I completely agree -- a lack of new readers is by no means the only problem comics have. But its a big one, and like converting new readers, sometimes you've got to tackle these things one at a time.

[cv_otaku]

Originally Posted by Blake Petit

I completely agree -- a lack of new readers is by no means the only problem comics have. But its a big one, and like converting new readers, sometimes you've got to tackle these things one at a time.

Fair enough. I guess what I'm really worried about is that this won't work to the extent they're expecting and they'll think "Oh, well I guess that new readers aren't out there waiting to be recruited." And then we enter into another two or three decades with the same fanbase growing older and older.

As I said, I commend Marvel for doing this. I think it's a great idea. I definitely think this is a step in the right direction and I really do hope it succeeds. However, I also hope that if it doesn't, they spend some time looking at the industry and trying to figure out if the idea is to blame, or if the industry is to blame. I hope they don't just pass it off as a failed marketing venture.

On the other hand, we are dealing with corporations here...

[Jason Kanno]

Originally Posted by cv_otaku

Fair enough. I guess what I'm really worried about is that this won't work to the extent they're expecting and they'll think "Oh, well I guess that new readers aren't out there waiting to be recruited." And then we enter into another two or three decades with the same fanbase growing older and older.

As I said, I commend Marvel for doing this. I think it's a great idea. I definitely think this is a step in the right direction and I really do hope it succeeds. However, I also hope that if it doesn't, they spend some time looking at the industry and trying to figure out if the idea is to blame, or if the industry is to blame. I hope they don't just pass it off as a failed marketing venture.

On the other hand, we are dealing with corporations here...

I doubt if this fails, Marvel will simply give up trying to bring in new readers. A successful business requires growth and must always search for creative ways to sell more goods. Comics may be a real up and down business, but that doesn't mean it can't expand.

[Blake Petit]

I'd like to think that a single failed attempt won't make them decide there aren't any readers out there to be reached. That's just incredibly poor logic. But then, you never know.