Marvel’s Senior VP of Sales Talks Publishing Plans for 2016

Feb 11, 2016

Diamond Comic Distributors' retailer e-newsletter Diamond Daily talked with Marvel’s Senior VP of Sales, David Gabriel about what the publisher has planned for 2016.

Here's some highlights of what David said in the interview that fans will most certainly be interested to know:

On the long term plan for Marvel's core titles:

"Well we’ve never really done a reboot or relaunch, just more of a refresh, but the internet pundits will decide to call it whatever they want, and we’re okay with that. However, there’s no relaunch or reboot in sight as we would only approach that in the most dire of circumstances. We learned a lot from Marvel NOW!, All-New Marvel NOW! and Secret Wars. Those programs were always dictated by the creative we had at the time and never a result of flagging sales. Whether it was Jonathan Hickman coming to the end of his Avengers saga, or the fact that a number of creators were wrapping up their runs simultaneously around Marvel NOW!. We have the most popular and recognizable superheroes in the world, and we’re going to keep putting our best talent behind them and our stories to produce the absolute best books we can, much as we’ve done for over 75-plus years."

On the marketing plans for Civil War II:

"We learned a lot from Secret Wars and other past events and with the promotion of Free Comic Book Day and Civil War II we are working closely with Marvel TV and Disney to have our television and cinematic talent to mobilize fans on May 7th for their free Marvel comics. Also lookfor a teaser campaign to crop up in the next few weeks and we’ll have some exciting announcements as we hit the convention circuit. We had a lot of fun with the Build Your Own figures we’ve done since Invincible Iron Man #1. With Civil War we’ll be supplying a Build Your Own Captain Marvel based on Kris Anka’s new costume design. There’s a bunch of other stuff up our sleeves we can’t talk about just yet but you can also expect lots of marketing and promotional materials to help retailers sell through in their stores. I think we’re the only comics publisher that provides free promotional material on a regular monthly basis to all retailers, and we’ve definitely seen how it works, and we’ve seen others now getting into that game a bit. That’s a big win for the overall industry."

On additional Star Wars titles taking place between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens:

"It’s always a possibility. Right now we’re focusing on Poe Dameron and the C-3PO one shot. Fans leaving Star Wars: The Force Awakens were clamoring for more Poe Dameron and we’re very excited to be able to tell some of his story. There will also be some new Star Wars announcements in the next few weeks that fans will be very excited about."

On some small teases for 2016:

"Keep an eye on the upcoming “Last Days of Magic” story in Doctor Strange. When the Ant-Man and Guardians of the Galaxy films hit, fans couldn’t get enough of the comics. This series is the perfect gateway to the character before his upcoming movie. Be on the lookout for dead characters returning to life in the pages of Amazing Spider-Man. The first issue of Captain America: Steve Rogers is sure to turn lots of heads in May. Lastly, don’t underestimate the trouble brewing in the Marvel Universe over the Terrigen Mists."