Please read this before continuing… I’ll wait.

Gwenpool add on.

How about, no.

Sure, cross-play and character mashups are all the rage. They can be fun and fanciful. They can even bring us new characters that we might have wondered how we ever lived without. This, though, is just a dick move.

It’s not unprecedented either. Remember the rebirth of Miracle Man last year? No? Well the same deal. A bunch of repackaged golden age comics gussied up and delivered with the new one. The staples strained the bindings as much as the price strained my common sense.

What’s the logic in adding this to Howard the Duck? Does Howard the Duck fandom naturally lead to this new character? Will character clusterfuck fans beat down their comic shops stores to acquire this comic?

No.

This is a simple cash grab. Comics labled as “#1” sell really well. There are allot of reasons for this; most of them hinging on us stupid consumers. If you can increase the price by adding some filler you are guaranteed larger margins. People who are Howard the Duck fans will not be deterred by a one issue price increase.

But this is still a dick move. If you think you got a good idea for a comic there is still the possibility of a “one-shot”; a medium that seems to have all but disappeared. You might even be able to wrap it up in a weekly. DC has had luck doing this, and even the company I work for has a weekly print magazine (White Dwarf) that is published the world over and they still make money. You telling me Disney can’t do this?

Dick move Marvel.

Dick move.