Marvel Cancels Daken

Okay, I can't say I blame them on this one. The title has been pretty directionless since Liu and Way have left. It's even ignoring the main story fans want. That being the story of Bucky and Daken facing off finally over Daken's mother's death. You know, the real person Daken hates more than even Wolverine.

This news comes via CBR again.

Marvels new EIC has said:

It's always disappointing when a title comes to an end. I'll bet everyone reading this column still mourns the death of a title or two they loved -- and wonder why the book didn't stick. And I guarantee you that as frustrated as a fan might be, there's a writer, artist and an editor who are even more disappointed. That's just the way things go sometimes. The market won't support it.

That said, I'm proud of X-23's run. Two successful limited series and an ongoing series ain't bad. Ditto for Daken [who is also ending his series.] From a supporting role in "Wolverine: Origins” to the lead of ongoing series that included him slicing Frank Castle to bits -- enter Franken-Castle. Both were characters that gained traction in a market that, well, doesn't really have a great track record of supporting new stuff. And both characters anchored legitimate monthly titles. We don't do R&D at Marvel. We'll stick by a title for a while -- like we did with "Spider-Girl" -- but there comes a point where that title has to earn, usually sooner than later.

There's also a lot of other double speak and market speak in there that's hiding some facts like why keep books that are underperforming compared to the ones axed. Shouldn't those be axed first? Or how about why introduce a new ongoing for a character that's literally just Spider-man who isn't afraid to kill that the scarlet spider/Kaine is at a time that readership is low? That is formulaic right there. Hmm Uncanny X-Force sells, let's try it with Spider-man! One of our cornerstone franchises! (To be fair, Uncanny X-Force turned out amazing, so maybe it is worth a shot.)

Another question not asked, why cancel a title that's starting to earn when numbers are rebounding back upwards? That seems to have been avoided. The numbers show X-23's title was just starting an upswing while other titles continually sell lower and still stick around. Something smells fishy with these responses. It reads like a publicity piece on saying "hey we tried at least" when really the numbers reflect that's not the case. It's another bit of bait and switch or scapegoats to avoid the real questions and genuine answers.

He continues on bemoaning formulas, yet that's also exactly what Marvel is doing with the events that are causing event fatigue to the fans and derailing many books to keep them from getting traction. These answers just don't add up compared to what they are doing. It's a big instance of look at what I'm saying not what I'm doing. As the old saying goes, actions speak louder than words.