At The Counter #6: Crossover Chaos

It’s that time again, when Comicon.com Features Editor Tony Thornley sits down with comics retailer Greg Gage of Black Cat Comics in Salt Lake City’s Sugarhouse neighborhood. After a few sort of heavier topics, we decided to look at something a bit more fun.

In March, the third crossover in Marvel and DC’s newly re-amicable relationship hits shelves — Superman/Spider-Man. But it’s far from the only crossover in the last couple of years, and the duo decided to talk crossover.

Tony Thornley: Greg, it sure seems like the comics industry is driven by trends and fads and many of them are cyclical. It seems like the big one right now is the crossover. 

Why is the crossover the fad that won’t die? 

Greg Gage: I think it’s because it’s more rare than the other fads. A big barrier to crossovers is cooperation between publishers, and the bigger they get (corporate, etc.), the harder it is for them to get along. They also have to basically split profits, and the comic industry is famously short term. They want all the money fast, but I always think a little money now is better than no money later. It’s a lot of fun to see characters that wouldn’t usually interact go on an adventure together (or fight, or whatever).

Tony: Obviously the big crossover news right now is the return of DC and Marvel’s crossover wars. What has the reaction been to last year’s Batman/Deadpool crossovers? 

Greg: Mostly positive. That fun aspect is there with this. I don’t think there’s been anyone that has enjoyed all of the stories, but everyone has enjoyed at least one. It’s good that they’re keeping them in print, too. With the hype around this stuff, there’s no reason for them to not be reprinting them. 

Tony: Definitely. As far as enjoying them, that goes for you and I as well. I mean, I think we both leaned towards disliking Grant Morrison’s story in Batman/Deadpool, for example, but we both mostly enjoyed the rest of the special.

Are the newly announced Superman/Spider-Man crossovers getting the same traction? 

Greg: More so. That’s another meeting, the first in many decades, of perhaps the most important, but definitely the flagship characters for both companies.

Tony: One big difference in today’s market is the variant cover. The Marvel/DC crossovers have seen some excellent covers, but is that to its benefit or detriment? 

Greg: Probably both. Not to sound like I’m playing both sides of the fence on it, but I’m going to! The many, many covers are important to the completist that lives in us all. It is fun to make sure you have everything. You go through your long boxes later and think to yourself, “This is so cool! I’ve got them all!” But there’s also a negative. The cover prices are so high now, only a few people can afford to get them all. It would obviously be better to lower those prices so more collectors could Pokemon them and catch them all. 

Tony: Absolutely. I tend to be one that only gets one cover unless there’s just more than one I have to have.

Do you think the pace has been too much? Or are they just trying to catch up for the last twenty years with these four one shots in a seven month span? 

Greg: It started, I believe, as desperation. Comics are not the powerhouse they once were, and anything that can jumpstart those sales again is fair game. After the initial success, though, there’s been maybe too many. Comics are infamous for creating too much of a good thing. I think they should be a little more spaced out between them so as not to create fan burnout. 

Tony: So it hasn’t just been Marvel and DC. The big one right now outside the big two seems to be Godzilla. The big G is crossing over with Marvel, the JLA, the Ninja Turtles, even Romeo and Juliet! Hell there was a Godzilla crossover in a Sonic the Hedgehog mobile game last month so it seems like a comic is inevitable. 

Why is Godzilla getting such a focus? 

Greg: Godzilla is weird. There are 3 separate versions of him. The Toho, the Legendary Films, and the Marvel. They’re all fair game as far as crossovers go. See above about burnout. If 3 companies can do all the crossovers they want, it becomes too much sometimes. At one point, there were 8 different Godzilla titles on my shelf. That’s way too many, and the diminishing sales can attest to that, at least in my store.

Tony: There have been tons of others lately too. I think last year we got Gargoyles/Fantastic Four, Powerpuff Girls/Thundercats and Turtles Of Grayskull on top of the others I just mentioned and we know of Darkwing Duck/ Gargoyles and Thundercats/Silverhawks this year beyond the others we’ve talked about. Are you starting to see fatigue or are they driving sales? 

Greg: See above and also above! The Gargoyles crossovers just didn’t move that well. Neither did the Thundercats. That’s more about Dynamite flooding the market with licensed titles and covers. If there was only one ongoing title for those books, I think the crossovers would’ve felt a little more special to consumers. As it was, there were so many choices, people had to rule out some to get the others, and that hurt sales across the board.

Tony: What do you personally hope to see from here? A more thoughtful approach? Just generally fewer? Or are you a big fan and want more?

Greg: Fewer, but with greater quality. Not that most of them haven’t been good, or at least enjoyable, but the overkill has made them a little less special. There are so many titles that are crossovers, or as the kids say, X, the originals seem a little less unique. It’s really the same thing across the entire industry: less books, more quality. Please. Pretty please? (That being said, I can’t wait for Army of Darkness vs. Archie. How hypocritical is that?)

Black Cat Comics is on the web at https://blackcat-comics.com/ and via all the usual social media channels. If you live in or are visiting the Salt Lake City area, you can visit the store at 2261 Highland Dr, Salt Lake City, UT 84106, or call Greg and his team at (801) 461-4228.