Marvel Asks Fans To Keep Buying Secret Empire

Marvel Comics has been in the hot seat as of late.

Sales are down.

The vp of sales blames fans for not buying comics.

The EIC says artists don’t sell books.

The company wants retailers to dress as Nazis.

As we’re Cosmic Book News, I’ll even thrown in they cancelled Nova and Guardians of the Galaxy back in 2011, two titles which had a super loyal fan base and also rock solid sales–sales that were better than what the replacement series get nowadays.

Now the latest is in regards to their Secret Empire event, which sees Captain America as a bigwig in the HYDRA organization–something that also has ticked off readers, with some boycotting it altogether (such as our own comic book reviewer Chris Bushley whom Marvel has quoted in press releases and cover blurbs).

Apparently word of Secret Empire ticking off the fans has finally made its way up the Marvel chain-of-command – or more than likely they just saw the sales numbers – as Marvel Comics has released a statement to their (Disney-owned) ABC news outlet.

Marvel Comics asks that you keep buying Secret Empire, with the article also asking fans to “be patient”:

“With Marvel Comics’ ‘Secret Empire,’ the forces of Hydra have taken over and, due to the villainous actions of the Red Skull, have manipulated Marvel’s greatest hero, Captain America, and forced him to adopt their cause,” the statement to ABC News reads. “At Marvel, we want to assure all of our fans that we hear your concerns about aligning Captain America with Hydra and we politely ask you to allow the story to unfold before coming to any conclusion.”

The article further notes and even includes a spoiler by mentioning “good will always triumph over evil,” obviously meaning Captain America will win over HYDRA and be back to his good ol’s self:

The statement continues that the “passion” of fans is what keeps the company moving forward and that “Captain America, will always be a cornerstone of the Marvel Universe who will stand up for what is right, and ‘Secret Empire’ will be the biggest challenge Steve has ever faced.”

“What you will see at the end of this journey is that his heart and soul — his core values, not his muscle or his shield — are what save the day against Hydra and will further prove that our heroes will always stand against oppression and show that good will always triumph over evil,” it concludes.

My own two cents:

Secret Empire is just another example of the “Axel Alonso era” of Marvel Comics, which sees the Marvel execs (Quesada, Buckley, Gabriel, Alonso, Brevoort, Loeb, Bendis) not give a hoot about what fans think or want. It’s finally hitting their pocket books, so now they are trying to change things around. Their MO for the last few years has been to basically force feed fans garbage and have the audacity to think that fans should accept anything Marvel puts out–just because it’s “Marvel.”

I’ve been arguing against that train of thought, literally for years; Marvel should be giving the fans what the fans want, not the other way around.

I’m glad to see the Marvel fans have finally seen the light. I’m wondering how many Marvel Comics fans are still around, though.