92615_RAA_LooseCannon_Text_R1_PROOF

sibly have been cooler than Hugh Jackman and you go home satisfied with your purchase and your shopping trip and you can’t wait to read more adventures of those guys you saw in the film and you get home and open the comic…

…and it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

Marvel didn’t have the wherewithal to predict that maybe some of the movie audience might seek out the on-going comic adventures. They did n’t foresee that maybe people might want to amplify their movie-going experience with a little four-color fun.

This doesn’t have to happen with the Spider-Man movie, and here’s one I’ll give ‘em for free:

All Marvel has to do is produce a sixteen page introduction to the Spider Man mythos, drawn in a clear style, and reminiscent, at least somewhat, of the characters and situations as portrayed in the film… to give away for free at every single movie theater showing the film. To the kids and their parents. As. They. Go. In. If I were Marvel, I'd have half a story inside, the last page of which says, "Want to find out what happens to Spidey? Call 1-888-266-4226 or point your web-browser to www.the-master-list.com to find a comic shop nearest you." And then have the sixteen-page end of the story waiting there at the shops for free. Any retailer worth his salt can turn those folks coming in into repeat cus tomers, even after he runs out of the Marvel-supplied freebies. He can say, "Sorry, the demand has been more than we thought... but here's a good Spidey comic from the past (out of his quarter box) and a coupon good for one comic free with your next ten dollar purchase. And Marvel has the rest of the story online, so you can find out what happens… Don’t have a com puter? Well… you can read this print-out of it I have here, if you REALLY want to know how Spidey gets out of that jam.” I’ll bet you a dollar more than half of those folks come in the next week end, looking for Spider-Man , and Superman , and Jimmy Corrigan , and Maus , or anything else they’ve heard of, and, in fact, are open to the whole damn field of comic books, because once you get a taste of the entertain ment that only comics can provide...

…well, I don’t have to tell you , now, do I?

And the beauty of this is that the budget for the production and printing of this Spidey out-reach comic could be tied to promotion of the film. The

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