by Shaun Hatton - 01.26.10
Special events are nothing new in the world of comics. But we sure are seeing a lot of them lately. Following the success of Blackest Night, DC is set to unleash Brightest Day along with yet another ring promotion. I’m not complaining. The Lantern rings from the last promotion were solidly constructed and made for adult-sized fingers, and these new rings should be just as awesome.
Be sure to call up your local comic shop to make sure they’ll be getting the rings in. Retailers who order ten or more copies of The Flash #1 will also be eligible to receive Flash rings, while those that order ten or more copies of Green Lantern #53 will be able to order Green Lantern rings. Flash rings will be available on April 14 while the Green Lantern rings should be in stores April 21.
Blackest Night and the GL books have been great, the tie-ins to the Blackest Night have been garbage. Comic shops have been getting stuck with the crappy tie-ins that they ordered to obtain the different color rings and Marvel’s response to the rings is hilarious:
http://io9.com/5454642/marvels-dc+slap-gets-slappier
MAL - 01.26.10 9:15 pm
Actually a lot of those tie-ins went into second printing because shops couldn’t keep up with the demand.
And Marvel’s gimmick isn’t hilarious, it’s disgraceful. Maybe Marvel should offer the retailers variants for unsold Marvel stuff, like all those Wolverine one-shots and Dark Reign minis.
DC’s ring promo was fun and successful, and this time around they’ve lowered the orders so that you only have to order 10 issues to get a bag of rings.
Shariq - 01.26.10 10:38 pm
REBELS and Doom Patrol tie ins were great.
Squashua - 01.27.10 12:12 am
I agree with Shariq here. Marvel’s promo is a pretty dirty tactic. I’m not sure of the exact numbers, but a retailer would have to give in approximately $100 worth (their cost, not what they would sell it for) of Darkest Night books to get the privilege to buy one variant. Totally disgraceful. I could not respect a retailer that participated in that.
Shaun Hatton - 01.27.10 12:20 am
If anything, this brought attention to a struggling industry (at least according to my local comic shop owner). I found it funny, and I don’t see it any more disgraceful than one company poking fun at another like so many commercials do, lighten up guys.
There are some great tie-ins to the major events but most of them, sold by both DC and Marvel, are horrible. Marvel is not giving the privilege to sell a variant, they are giving them away (at their own expense), comic shops will be able to sell the variants and at the very least regain the money they lost with the overstocking of unsold books. Unsold comics usually get trashed, donated or sold for pennies on the dollar. Variants are popular right now and they sell for a hefty sum.
The unsold tie-ins will be trashed, donated or sold for pennies on the dollar.
MAL - 01.27.10 2:26 am
I just wish, you know, they would make good stories instead of pulling all their talent off individual books and doing these huge mediocre crossover events. Sure, they are successful, but man, they make a lot of mess in the universes. (As if it wasn’t already there.)
Stop doing this begging for your dollar stuff and make things that sell. I don’t want to walk into Kay Jewelers and see a cardboard cutout of Batman.
Nat - 01.27.10 12:04 pm
I think the flash ring is awesome! The G.L. ring is cool to, but its just the same as the one that came with the Blackest night ring set. Wheres the White Ring with the new Brightest Day logo on it? Thats what I want to see.I even made up a new oath to go with it. ( From darkest night comes brightest day. now is evils time to pay. let those who worship evils might now be judged by White Lanterns light!) Hows that for an oath? let all get together and tell D.C. we want to see a White Ring.
David Chiason - 02.04.10 5:15 pm