billypilgrimscoffee
asked:
PART 2- Events seem designed for the audience that NEEDS stories to "count", that value shared universe continuity over consistency of characterization. it would appear to be the same audience viewed as the "vocal minority", the internet people concerned with stories from 25 years ago not perfectly lining up with stories now. Do events attract new readers? I clearly don't have access to the inner workings of companies, I just wonder if the sales=justified aspect is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Maybe our three retailer friends can chime in on what I;m about to say a little bit here.

The one constant about Event storylines is that they bring readers into the stores. The week a big book is about to drop–and that needn’t be a big crossover, it could be something like AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #1 or SUPERMAN UNCHAINED #1–people show up. And typically, they don’t just show up, grab that one title, and go. There’s at least the opportunity to sell them something else.

Getting people into the stores on a regular basis is vital, obviously.

And sure, Events attract new readers. Think about it, when you were a young comic book reader, what sorts of stories were the most attractive to you? Depending on your age, I would guess that SECRET WARS and CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS would be on that list. And no wonder–they were huge stories with dozens of characters doing earth-shattering things. If you only had the cash for one book as a prospective new reader, aren’t the odds pretty good that this might be where you’d start?