Once more unto the breach, dear friends...
Marvel Comics recently announced that they plan to cancel The Amazing Spider-Girl after the 30th issue, scheduled to be released in March of 2009. It seems that this character has been under the threat of cancellation since her inception in her original book, Spider-Girl. Yet, time and again, the fans of Spider-Girl have banded together to stave off cancellation and this time is no different. There are many ways for us to save our webbed heroine.
SPIDER-GIRL NEEDS YOUR HELP!
The most important action we can take is one that increases sales. According to some people at Marvel, if sales increase by just a 1,000 or so, then we're likely to keep seeing this book. We can increase sales DIRECTLY in 1 of 2 ways: get an extra copy sold (either by buying it yourself or convincing someone to start reading the book) OR order a new subscription (renewing a current one might help, but probably not as much as getting someone NEW to order one). Obviously, getting an extra copy sold to a new reader is probably THE best. However, if you were to buy an extra copy and share it with someone, then you might get them "hooked" enough to buy.
It is also very important to petition both Marvel and local comic book stores. You can write to Marvel at:
Marvel Entertainment, Inc.
417 5th Avenue
New York, NY 10016
Letters can be addressed to any of the following people at Marvel:
- Dan Buckley (Publisher)
- Joe Quesada (Editor in Chief)
- Tom Brevoort (Executive Editor)
- David Gabriel (Senior Vice President of Publishing Sales and Circulation)
- Isaac Perlmutter (Chief Executive Officer)
- Michael Pasciullo (Vice President of Merchandising)
- David Maisel (Executive Vice President)
- John Turitzin (Executive Vice President)
- Alan Fine (Publishing Division CEO)
- Kenneth P. West (Chief Financial Officer)
- Morton E. Handel (Chairman of the Board)
- F. Peter Cuneo (Vice Chairman of the Board)
- James W. Breyer (Board of Directors)
- Laurence N. Charney (Board of Directors)
- Sid Ganis (Board of Directors)
- James F. Halpin (Board of Directors)
- Richard L. Solar (Board of Directors)
Also, write to comic book stores in the area. Write a cover letter and then include a flier/poster in with the letter that the store owner can post. For your convenience, we've included a sample cover letter from our own Daniel Welsh that you can download here (Microsoft Word 2003 format). John Koerner (AKA Spider-Girl Fan # 1) has also gone to the trouble of putting together these beautiful flyers. Click on the thumbnails to get a full-size view:
More letters and fliers can be found on the Spider-Girl message board at http://www.comicboards.com/spidergirl.
There are THOUSANDS of comic book stores in America! One flier posted in one store can reach a hundred readers, but maybe only give us 2 or 3 new readers. So send fliers to as many comic book stores as you can! This is for Spider-Girl. Go to this website....
http://www.comicshoplocator.com/...enter a zip code, and then copy down the address. Print off a flier and a cover letter, and mail it to each of the stores you come across. One fan back in 2006 sent out 200 fliers by himself, but of course you don't have to go to such Herculean lengths. Every little bit helps, and the more people that participate, the greater effect the campaign will have. You can do your part now!
Lastly, spread the word. Again, sharing an extra copy would be ideal and would have a two-fold impact: it increases sales and introduces new, potential readers to the book. However, simply telling people about the book, BOTH online and in your daily life, can serve to intrigue and entice new readers to check out the book. So, the bottom line is this- there are MANY ways for you to help. Some are more important than others, obviously, but they ALL can play a role and have an impact. If we don't do something, we will lose this book. However, if we DO do something, we have a very good chance of saving it given that this same strategy has worked about a half dozen times in the past already. Even a few postage stamps CAN make a difference. We DO need to act ASAP, though... time is not our friend.
