Sep 23, 2026 · 1 hr 44 min · 14 segments
This week we discuss Kevin's non-nerdy Japan trip, Marvel tying to improve, Alan Moore's Swamp Thing omnibus, Miracleman joins the Avengers, the state of comic book news sites, Ed Brubaker, Netflix…
Kevin SharpHostToby SidlerHostBrock SagerHostLane TerasakiPanelistIf you remember a little while ago when Marvel Comics announced a bunch of layoffs and then moved to California and new people coming in, I was not too torn up by some of the people that got let go from Marvel because I've felt that Marvel's kind of managerial decisions when it comes to
and the last couple decades of their engagement with retailers have been, uh, uh, poor to say the least.
Um, there are a number of reports, uh, that, that, uh, and, and personal for myself that I've seen that Marvel has, um, actively been trying to change, uh, with the new people involved, um, how it engages with comic retailers and, uh, taking, uh, Listening to comic retailers and listening to advice given by retailers and members of the press and the fans and making decisions based on, you know, interest in their products, not coming up with their own bizarro way to do something that doesn't work.
right? Yeah, if you remember their Marvel premiere line that was sort of their, like, not really attempt at doing the DC Compact comics, which were a big, big hit, they have actually announced a new line that will be...
So there's going to be more coming after that, but the first batch of Ultimate Comics, Ultimate Spider-Man, Ultimate X-Men, Ultimate Black Panther will be available in that format.
They're starting to list on upcoming titles, cover A, cover B, cover C, in the title of the book to signify the A cover and what's variant.
This is a pretty standard practice across pretty much the entire industry, except for Marvel.
Sometimes I'll put a defining thing like Rivals or Magic the Gathering, and you can tell what it is, but the other ones are...
The cover A, if it actually sang cover A, cover B, cover C, as long as there's a signifier, like the creator, the artist is fine, but pretty much the entire industry has moved to... cover a is yeah the main cover and that is how it is listed in the title like i mean like the actual data files that we are getting the the the way they're being listed in the catalogs like it's not just this random name or sometimes they'll say like artist variant artist variant because they don't know who the fuck it is at least now we know it's cover b cover c cover d um uh, they're, uh, including additional discounts for, uh, uh, for ordering more.
If you remember a little while ago when Marvel Comics announced a bunch of layoffs and then moved to California and new people coming in, I was not too torn up by some of the people that got let go from Marvel because I've felt that Marvel's kind of managerial decisions when it comes to
and the last couple decades of their engagement with retailers have been, uh, uh, poor to say the least.
Um, there are a number of reports, uh, that, that, uh, and, and personal for myself that I've seen that Marvel has, um, actively been trying to change, uh, with the new people involved, um, how it engages with comic retailers and, uh, taking, uh, Listening to comic retailers and listening to advice given by retailers and members of the press and the fans and making decisions based on, you know, interest in their products, not coming up with their own bizarro way to do something that doesn't work.
right? Yeah, if you remember their Marvel premiere line that was sort of their, like, not really attempt at doing the DC Compact comics, which were a big, big hit, they have actually announced a new line that will be...
So there's going to be more coming after that, but the first batch of Ultimate Comics, Ultimate Spider-Man, Ultimate X-Men, Ultimate Black Panther will be available in that format.
They're starting to list on upcoming titles, cover A, cover B, cover C, in the title of the book to signify the A cover and what's variant.
This is a pretty standard practice across pretty much the entire industry, except for Marvel.
Sometimes I'll put a defining thing like Rivals or Magic the Gathering, and you can tell what it is, but the other ones are...
The cover A, if it actually sang cover A, cover B, cover C, as long as there's a signifier, like the creator, the artist is fine, but pretty much the entire industry has moved to... cover a is yeah the main cover and that is how it is listed in the title like i mean like the actual data files that we are getting the the the way they're being listed in the catalogs like it's not just this random name or sometimes they'll say like artist variant artist variant because they don't know who the fuck it is at least now we know it's cover b cover c cover d um uh, they're, uh, including additional discounts for, uh, uh, for ordering more.
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