Q: Spidey616 03-19-2007 04:19 PM
Do you believe that sales reports are an accurate way of determining whether or not an issue is a quality one? We already know that box office sales don’t determine whether a film is good or not, so can the same logic be applied to comics. I ask, because all seven issues of Civil War have been #1 each month according to Diamond, so I was wondering if you as the E-i-C believe CW is a success because of its sales or how it shakes the Marvel U.
JQ: See to me, Spidey616, that’s a completely subjective question requiring an even more subjective answer. Sure sometimes I’ll walk out of a hit movie or read a hit comic and wonder why it’s so popular, but in the end there are obviously a lot of people that dig enough to support it, maybe it just wasn’t for me. Ultimately we’re in the business of making money, but we also try to give our fans the best comic book we can humanly put out there and if we’re able to provide both, a compelling read that everyone wants, then we’ve managed to do something very cool. I think the ultimate arbiter of quality vs. sales is time. How do certain stories and comics, movies, etc. stand the test of time and how do we remember them or do we remember them at all.