Marvel Comics soon celebrates the 30th anniversary of the character known as Venom. With Tom Hardy starring in a live-action Venom movie, Marvel has a lot to celebrate. The one-time Spider-Man villain turned out to be a colossal success for Marvel Comics. New heroes and villains don’t always make much of a dent in sales. Venom helped fuel large sales in various Spider-Man titles while also carrying his own series at times.
Granted, Marvel Comics’ sales figures aren’t exactly hot right now. October’s Venom sales figures, however, look good. Issue #155 sold around 76,000 copies. A 30th-anniversary issue should deliver even better sales numbers.
Plans exist for releasing backing boards bearing the title “Venom 30th Anniversary: Web of Venom.” This follows the hype behind the release of Venom Inc.
Yes, the character’s name does mean things to comic fans. Originally, Venom debuted in Amazing Spider-Man #300. The character was born of Spider-Man “symbiote suit” that the wall-crawler wore for a short period of time in the aftermath of the 1984 Secret Wars mini-series. Eventually, the suit developed an evil side and affixed itself to someone other than Peter Parker. Eddie Brock was that person. Venom/Brock didn’t stay villains forever proved popular enough that the character took a turn similar to The Punisher. The villain became an anti-hero.
Marvel Comics seems to address problems with sales by following two strategies. First, the company released variant covers and issue one reboots to capture those interested in buying a comic solely for collectible purposes. Thousands of buyers who don’t purchase titles regularly may opt to pick up a new or special issue. Marvel Comics rides the added sales these customers deliver.
The other strategy is hype characters appearing in recently released movies or movie-related hype. While the Venom feature film may not be appearing in theaters for some time, news reports have come out detailing aspects of the film. Marvel Comics seems to be interested in getting out in front of the buzz. This is done to move Venom titles and merchandise.
