Potential marketing ideas Marvel can use to milk more money out of Captain America's death.

Sorry to anybody who this blog entry's title spoiled the recent developments in the Captain America comic book. But if I did spoil the book for you a week and a half after the comic hit shelves, you're probably Amish. Not that ther's anything wrong with that, mind you. It's just the event was spoiled as soon as I logged on the Internet last Wednesday. THE EXACT SECOND!! You would have to shun anything electronic not to know what happened.

Well, Anyway...

Thanks to a remarkably slow news day in the mainstream media and comic collectors passion for death stories, Marvel sold loads of copies of Captain America #25. Copies were even selling for around $60 on eBay, bought by impatient fans who could wait a week before the rest of the First Printing back orders were sent to comic stores a week later. Patience would have saved them $57 dollars. Schmucks.

But I feel that Marvel has yet to properly capitalize on the rabid collector mania surrounding the event. So, I offer some purely sarcastic suggestions on how they can make even more money of this thing before they bring Cap back.

1. More Variant Covers: What? They only had one? And boring one at that? Just the sure to be numerous future printings to crank out Holografic, Die-Cut, Sketch covers. How about one that has heat sensitve red ink that only appears when comic fans rub their grubby little hands over it. They have the technology, Image used it in the '90s. This way rabid fans will have to buy two books--one to rub and one to save!
2. Slabbed Copies: I'm not talking about having them graded by CGC and encased in plastic. No, this time they should be encased in concrete and made to look like a tombstone. Carve the birth date and death date of Steve Rogers on the front. For the high end collector, encase it in fine Italian marble. Sure, fans won't be able to read it (or even be sure the issue is in there, hint hint) but they never open the CGC versions either.
3. The "Captain America Autopsy" board game: Time this to coincide with Cap Am #26 (the autopsy issue). Basically, it would be a version of the classic "Operation" game, only with Mike Zeck's famous drawing of Cap from the Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe. Rename the organs "Bleeding Heart", "Patriotic Mindset", "Left Wing",  "Right Wing" etc. And instead of buzzing when someone touches the side, use the sound of a gunshot (I'd also suggest replacing the red, light-up nose with a bladder that sprays blood in the faces of the people who play the game, but that might be a bit over the top. Although, no one says you can't have variants to games!)

And if any of these ideas are used, I expect a cut, Marvel.

 

Bill