Is It Time To Get Rid Of Annuals Week?
Comic Reviews for the week ending 8/4/2024
Good morning, my friend,
Another Annuals Week has come and gone.
If you don’t know what that is, Annuals Week is a calendar period during the last New Comic Book Day of the month if there are five Wednesdays.
What happens during Annuals Week? Depending on the publisher, some take a break and don’t release anything. Some publishers publish Annuals issues (hence, the name) that are one-shots or side stories for the ongoing titles just to fill LCS shelf space. Some publishers carry on as usual.
Yes, there are logistical reasons for Publishers disrupting their schedules. A fifth Wednesday in the month means more printing and shipping costs. The financial books take a hit, but here’s the rub…
The financial books take a hit if a publisher isn’t producing anything that comic readers crave with the white-hot intensity of a thousand suns.
Readers don’t take off the fifth Wednesday of the month, and LCSs don’t shut down the fifth Wednesday. Publishers take off or slack the fifth Wednesday of the month if they’re not producing anything worth your time and attention.
Looking back at this past week, DC Comics put out one… just one… comic related to their main titles, and it’s a tie-in related to their big Summer event (Absolute Power: Task Force VII #3). The world’s second most recognizable comic publisher, who owns the world’s most recognizable characters, could only muster enough time, money, and effort to publish a tie-in comic.
This situation may sound like a chicken-or-egg scenario, but it’s not.
From DC’s perspective, the challenge looks like this: “We can’t afford the extra week because we don’t have any titles that would offset the cost.”
From the reader and LCS perspective, the response looks like this: “Make better comics and we’ll buy them so you CAN offset those costs.”
Which perspective is right? The readers and LCSs, of course. The fundamental function of a business is to sell to customers. Make what people want, and they’ll buy it.
If DC or any other publisher can’t afford the extra cost of a fifth Wednesday, a limitation that has no bearing on the readers or the Direct Market, that’s a sign that they’re doing something terribly wrong in their business models.
It’s time to stop buying into the Annuals Week excuse. Make great comics, all day, every day, and the costs will take care of themselves.
What do you think about Annuals Week? Do publishers lean on it too much to take a break or publish junk they have to get off the books?
Leave a comment below with your opinions.
-Gabe, Publisher & EIC
Next, our Pick of the Week for the most entertaining comic is…
Nottingham #14 (Read the review)
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Now, let’s get on to this week’s reviews (and a little catch-up)
FINAL FIGHT #1 – New Comic Review
GATCHAMAN #2 – New Comic Review
BLADE RUNNER: TOKYO NEXUS #1 – New Comic Review
KOSHER MAFIA #1 – New Comic Review
SAM AND TWITCH CASE FILES #5 – New Comic Review
GRIMM FAIRY TALES (VOL. 2) #86 – New Comic Review
[Pick of the Week] NOTTINGHAM #14 – New Comic Review
SANCTION #3 – New Comic Review
PERMADEATH #1 – Advance Comic Review
Ultimate Spider-Man #7 - New Comic Review
Absolute Power: Task Force VII #3 - New Comic Review
Did you see a comic review for a title you didn’t know existed?
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Space Ghost #4 (Dynamite Comics)
Vampirella: Dark Reflections #3 (Dynamite Comics)
Gun Honey: Collision Course #4 (Titan Comics)
Prodigy: Slaves of Mars #1 (Dark Horse Comics)
Fairy Tale Team-Up: Robyn Hood & Jasmine (Zenescope Entertainment)
Ain't No Grave #4 (Image Comics)
Scarlett #3 (Image Comics)
The Scorched #32 (Image Comics)
GunSlinger Spawn #34 (Image Comics)
Marvel Viewers’ Choice Review (Subscribe to our YT channel to vote)
DC Comics Viewers’ Choice Review (Subscribe to our YT channel to vote)
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