Marvel's "Seasonal" Future

[Fannymac]

Looks like Marvel will be adopting a "seasonal" numbering system with this new relaunch, where, much like a TV show, a book may run 12-24 "episodes".....then start over with a new "season".....and another new #1.
Thoughts? (Personally, I think it's pretty stupid!)

[kal-el]

Thats the way Marvel has been doing it the past 5 years anyway on most titles anyway. A few books reaching the 30-40 issue mark but most renumber in the 13-25 issue mark. Just makes it easier to stop buying books in my opinion. If it's a concept you don't like maybe try it again the next go around.
It does take the whole collecting out of comics for me. When you have 10 volumes of Captain America and only the 1st 2 really matter for example.

[Fannymac]

When discussing it, Axel Alonso said the continuous high numbering system was a "marketing tool from the 30's" that had no relevance in today's market.

I totally disagree. By stopping and starting books every 2-3 years, there's no foundation for them, nothing to build on. I applaud DC for letting the remaining 12 New 52 books stick with their original numbering (along with 13 other books).....we may actually see 50th issues from most, if not all, of those 12!

[Kicksplode]

I think there are three valid approaches. Either stick to a consistent numbering scheme, relaunch the series when there's a new writer, or follow the Hellboy model and publish each story arc as a separate mini-series. Relaunching books every year or two is just arbitrary and confusing. It gets ridiculous when you have books like Brubaker's Captain America that started out with Cap Vol. 5, reverted to the Vol. 1 numbering, and then relaunched as Cap Vol. 6.

[ratchet]

I agree that there is a good way to do it - but marvel's system is not it. They just want to relaunch or renumber just to hype up a new #1. The whole system is broken and instead of figuring a way to fix it Marvel seems to have embraced it. The only way to stop this is to stop buying the books... Looks like that's where I'm at.

[XSE]

I think Dark Horse has it figured out with the Buffy books. The run in long arcs 30 or so issues, tell a seasonal story and then end for a few months and then start again. But Marvel with their ridiculous and constant remembering are really losing me, especially if the XMen really are about to take a huge backseat to everything else.

[ALEX23]

Originally Posted by Fannymac

When discussing it, Axel Alonso said the continuous high numbering system was a "marketing tool from the 30's" that had no relevance in today's market.

I totally disagree. By stopping and starting books every 2-3 years, there's no foundation for them, nothing to build on. I applaud DC for letting the remaining 12 New 52 books stick with their original numbering (along with 13 other books).....we may actually see 50th issues from most, if not all, of those 12!

Yeah, I much rather have issue 480 of something than 1-20 followed by another 1-20... etc. It just feels more like a sense of accomplishment to me when you manage to collect all the issues!

[Jack8022]

I wish they'd go the route of showing the current volume's number and then the continuous number below. They did it for a while but stopped.

[VaultMan]

Not a big fan of this at all. But since I've all but let Marvel books go, this just confirms my head was in the right place.