This week's guest Avenger Columnist is Scott Harris, the current author 
of the AVENGERS ongoing series on this site's FanFiction page.  Scott
originally wrote this editorial prior to the end of HEROES REBORN, 
when it was uncertain exactly what would happen.  His message,
however, endures.    --Van Plexico

:From Avenger harris00@ix.netcom.com (Scott Harris):

    The idea that the post-Reborn issues will be numbered anything but 
#403 and up is disgusting. The basic issue here is one that few people 
but myself seem to have much concern over, but in fact it sits at the 
heart of the entire comic collecting culture.

    To put it succinctly: the number that appears on the cover of a 
comic is more than a handy guide allowing you to figure out what order 
the issues go in. It is a sign of respect. It both shows respect to the 
issues that has gone before and gains respectability for a title. And 
respect is a strong undercurrent that Marvel would do well to notice. 

    While it is true that the big splash of a number 1 gives a 
momentary boost in sales, I would argue that in the long run sales are 
boosted by having a higher number.The reason for this is, as I said, 
respect. Studies have shown that as a younger generation of consumers 
is bombarded with dozens of new products, hip pitches and 
fad-of-the-moment gizmos, they are turning to the proven. One example 
is Converse's Chuck Connors. Every year Reebok and Nike come out with a 
dozen dozen new shoe lines, which sell well for a month or two then get 
pushed out by the next thing. Chuck Connors, though, have been solid 
for over 75 years, and everyone knows it. So year after year people buy 
them, and the sales figures just keep growing.

[Editor's note:  I think that should have been "Chuck Taylors"]

    It's the same way with comics. When I first started collecting 
comics, there were alot of them out (though not nearly as many as there 
are today). I would leaf through the issues, without having any idea at 
all who any of the writers or artists or characters were. And I'd look 
at the front cover. Sometimes I'd buy a book because it had a nice 
cover, or a cool looking character (can you say Micronauts, Atari 
Force, Rom, Alpha Flight...?). But alot of times I'd look and think 
"Hmmm, these both look okay, but this one is issue 285! This comic is 
so cool it's been going for 20 years!" And I'd buy it.

    That's just the monetary justification for Marvel to look at, since 
I know Marvel cares about nothing but the bottom line any more. After 
all, another issue one so soon after the last would reduce these titles 
to Youngblood status, where they can't even sustain a title but have to 
rely on dozens of 4 issue limited series.On the other hand, there's no 
sales benefit to having the blurb "Big 13th issue!". To the average 
collector, the numbers 13 and 403 have the same basic inherant value: 
none. Except that 403 denotes durability and consistancy, while 13 
denotes nothing.

    All that aside, the more important aspect is that of respect for 
the title itself. By renumbering a title the company is basically 
tossing out all that has gone before. #13 says that there were 12 
issues before it, obviously, but it is not so obviously saying that 
there weren't 402 issues before it. They are wiped away, and when they 
do that, they wipe away the efforts of 33 years of writes, artists, 
inkers, editors, letterers, colorists and, most importantly, readers. 
They are saying that the last 402 issues meant, basically, nothing; 
they were so unimportant that we'd just as soon forget them and put a 
13 or a "#1!" on the cover.

    The fact that this has been a policy at DC over the last 10 years 
doesn't excuse it. Flash legitimately could be renumbered, since it was 
in effect an entirely different person. Wonder Woman I would argue 
about; Green Lantern shouldn't have been renumbered. But the biggest 
travesty was the Renumbering of Justice League of America. This title 
should be recognized as one of the longest running, most important 
title in the DC universe, but again and again it gets stomped on. if 
you add up the runs of the different series (the main title, not 
quarterly or europe) you'll see that they should be on about 378 right 
now, which seems a hell of alot more impressive and interesting that 4. 

     Not only does maintaining the original numbering acknowledge that 
these stories happened, that they were vital and interesting, but it 
also gives a sense of connection to the past. It immediately gives one 
a sense that the events of the past have some sort of meaning beyond a 
10 minute read; that they are a part of the lives of the characters 
that ultimately make up the comic. It provides the characters with a 
past that both the character and the reader can tap into, and this 
makes the character seem more real and more important. What happens to 
the character this month can be important because 10 years from now it 
will still be with them every issue. Unspoken perhaps, but in the 
unconcious memory displayed by a little number on the cover...like 403.

-Scott Harris