Newsarama reports that the final two issues of Civil War, the “Marvel Comics event” that pits superheroes against each other over issues of personal liberty, will reach shops two weeks later than originally planned. Marvel editor-in-chief Joe Quesada explained the “a strategic and cautious decision” as a combination of several factors, including a bad case of strep on the part of artist Steve McNiven and a request from shop owners to move the penultimate issue’s release date away from the last week of December, when their retail cycle takes a hit.
Civil War has experienced delays before, though the first hiatus was much longer and wound up affecting several tie-in issues from other comics. After #5 finally shipped earlier this month, San Francisco shop owner Brian Hibbs reported that he’d seen a 20% drop in sales from the previous issue, speculating that “a lot of people seemed to have jumped off this one.” Some more retailers report similar declines, and even fans who bought it thought it stank, and “never really makes a case for why we need it at all.” Unless you think it’s cool that the Punisher is interacting with the rest of the Marvel Universe again, I suppose. I’m definitely curious to see the actual numbers when they come out in a few weeks.