Marvel has undervalued its graphic novels for a while now. The House of Ideas has forgone many quality-of-life aspects of graphic novels, including higher paper quality and hardcovers. The slowdown of quality in Marvel’s books has been part of a worrying trend within the company, in that Marvel is choosing to cut corners to reduce costs and maximize profits. Marvel has received a reputation for underpaying staff, with multiple artists criticizing the company for its low-paying commissions. The penny-pinching attitude has reached graphic novel production, yet there are hopeful signs Marvel may want to go back to better-produced novels.
At the moment though, Marvel’s softcover graphic novels are flimsy and thin whereas its hardcovers have nearly disappeared other than for Omnibuses. In contrast, DC Comics continues to release comic books in pristine hardcovers, making them ideal collector’s items for fans to put on their bookshelf. Even though Marvel has the bigger market share, DC still gives you more value for your wallet. Furthermore, DC has stronger marketing for its graphic novel lines, giving specific books memorable titles that make them desirable. Marvel does not have the same instinct for eye-catching titles, and if you want your favorite Marvel comics in nice hardcover, you must pay extra for an Omnibus. It’s unfortunate for those who love collecting graphic novels of their favorite comic book storylines.
Marvel
In the 2000s Marvel released premier hardcovers, first-run prints of collected Marvel comics. While the interior paper was thin, these premier hardcovers offered plenty of bonus materials, including extra quotes and interviews. Eventually, premier hardcovers evolved into standard hardcovers before becoming deluxe hardcovers, larger books with more content. A traditional graphic novel and hardcover would have one comic book arc, which ranges from four to eight issues, with the standard typically being six issues. Deluxe hardcover would contain at least two story arcs, maybe even three depending on the amount. Deluxe hardcovers were premium and priced higher than normal hardcovers.
Omnibuses were extremely thick hardcovers that Marvel and DC would sell alongside their traditional trade paperbacks. Omnibuses contained reprints of dozens of comic book issues, generally themed around one character, team, or story arc. For example, the Spider-Man Clone Saga Omnibuses Vol. 1 contains over 1200 pages of comic books from the famous Clone Saga storyline from the 90s. Omnibuses have higher prices than normal trade paperbacks but this was understandable since the books had so much material. Marvel was already selective in which comic series received a deluxe hardcover before abandoning the line sometime in 2024. The company has doubled down on its Omnibuses, producing Omnibuses of more recent comic book stories.
Marvel
Unfortunately, this became the only way to read Marvel comics in pristine hardcover, and Omnibus prices remained high. The prices for Omnibuses range from 75 dollars to 150, depending on the page count. Some Marvel Omnibuses are not much larger than a deluxe hardcover. For instance, the Hulk by Cates & Ottley Omnibus is only 424 pages thick, nearly a third of the size of the Clone Saga Omnibus, and is priced at 75 dollars in retail. While you could still get a good price for Omnibuses during sales or buying from a third party, it’s still bad that is the only way to enjoy a Marvel story in hardcover. Furthermore, Omnibuses are sometimes too thick for certain readers. A slimmer hardcover works better for most people who want to read holding a book in their hands.
While Marvel never officially stated why it was moving away from affordable hardcovers, it’s speculated that paper shortage during the pandemic has caused the company to restrategize its graphic novel production. Given Marvel’s track record for cutting corners and underpaying talent, the loss of standardized hardcovers was probably one of the things the company forgone to maximize profits. Hardcovers are more expensive to produce than trade paperbacks, so deciding to stop making hardcovers was probably an easy decision in Marvel’s eyes.
Image courtesy of DC Comics
Marvel has been using lower-quality paper for its graphic novels for years. Most other comic corporations, specifically DC Comics and Boom Studios, have produced much higher-quality books. DC overall has a much stronger branding for its graphic novels, releasing high-quality hardcovers that are still pricey yet much more affordable comparatively. DC Comics also understands the value of giving a book a memorable title, like Batman Hush and All-Star Superman. Those titles pop out and give the impression they tell a complete story. In contrast, Marvel releases most graphic novels of ongoing comics as volumes with generic names. Fewer people will want to read2005’s Marvel Knights Spider-Man Vol. 1 because it doesn’t have a great title with a hook and gives buyers the impression they’re only purchasing part of a story.
Marvel has attempted in other ways to short-change customers with its graphic novels. Traditionally, a graphic novel should reprint five issues worth of comics. Depending on the story, a book could have fewer issues, but most ongoing comics would aim for the five-issue goal when collected into graphic novels. Marvel attempted to make four-issue graphic novels the new norm, giving customers less material to read for each book purchased.
Fortunately, there is some hope for the Marvel graphic novel line. The company will release hardcovers for Deadpool: Bad/Badder Blood and the uncensored version of the Blood Hunt event. The corporation also appears to be moving away from the four-issue standardization of graphic novels, giving mini-series five issues rather than four like in 2023 and 2024. Marvel needs to make higher-quality graphic novels again; fans love collecting books of their favorite comic book run, yet they don’t like it when it’s on cheap material. Even as society continues moving forward to all digital, graphic novels still have a place among fans. Marvel shouldn’t let go of its books and aim to make them as good as DC’s.
Marvel’s graphic novels aren’t the same as they used to be. The house of ideas should take page from DC and deliver higher quality material. Read More