ArchfiendBobbie
First Post
But none of those characters were changed, replaced or re-mantled for diversity. The big names that people complain about (Jane Foster Thor, Miles Morales Spiderman, Carol Danvers Captain Marvel and Kamala Khan Ms Marvel) are all doing quite well. GotG, She-Hulk, Iceman, Gwenpool, these were niche comics to begin with, and NONE of them were altered for diversity.
That said, I think the comic industry has decidedly failed to provide interesting, new and refreshing stories for a long time. Worse, they stretch out the dull, the dry and the reused into endlessly running series with OVER 9000 issues of the same dry, boring, rehashed characters and concepts. The fact that a comic gets canceled after 12 issues or so should, IMO be the norm, not the exception.
But in any case, the VP of sales more likely misstated what we all know to be true: they overused the same strategy and it backfired. But where it was executed property, it has succeeded. You can overdo anything, but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't do it at all. It's not an absolute either way.
Oh, I just want to add, as a long-time reader of She-Hulk, I have thoroughly enjoyed the Gray She-Hulk run, and it's covers are some of my favorites.
They cancelled that She-Hulk, last I checked. But, hold on, let me comment to you and another person at the same time...
Only he clarified his statement and thus his stance and what he claimed was that some retailers were claiming the push for diversity hurt their sales (with other claiming it helped theirs)
Ok you list 2 female led books that were canceled and I can list 7 that haven't been... Captain Marvel, Squirrel Girl, Spider-Gwen, Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, Ms. Marvel, and the still female-led Thor and Iron Man. Moreso books are cancelled and rebooted all the time by Marvel and DC so I'm not sure these cancellations can wholly be attributed to too much diversity. In fact here's a Marvel Exec saying it was all about sales and not diversity...
https://www.polygon.com/comics/2017...ancellations-not-motivated-by-books-diversity
The clarifications came after an internet firestorm over the initial statement over diversity being the cause. I'm inclined to question it, entirely because it seems almost like they are just trying damage control. Especially since the company itself has been having a lot of problems with gaining sales and really doesn't want to end up in the middle of another flame war.
Basically... It almost looks to me like the vice president of sales spoke without thinking, they finally realized they can't win by choosing either side, and they decided to extract themselves from the whole thing. The timing of when those clarifications came looks too much like damage control to be entirely trustworthy.