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Marvel's X-Men QR Code controversy is a MASSIVE fail
Why Marvel?
Liam McGuire
July 24, 2024
RANT: For those who have read any of the From The Ashes relaunch of the X-Men from Marvel Comics, you’ll notice one major change: There’s a QR code at the end of every story for an all-new page not printed in physical copies. But why? Here’s what Tom Brevoort said on his Substack.
"It was a bonus page to begin with, an extra page — we didn't scale back the contents of X-Men #1 in order to do it," the Marvel Comics VP Executive Editor explained on Substack. "And it gave us a page whose contents we could conceal until the day of release, thus avoiding any early spoilers. You'll find that we're doing similar pages in most of the new X-launches."
"They're a little free bonus, a little extra — sort of a modern day equivalent of that 'Things To Come' page that ran in the first issue of the [Chris] Claremont/[Jim] Lee X-Men #1," the editor added, referring to the single splash page that ended the X-Men's '90s relaunch.
The problem is that it’s not just a little bonus page. It’s content that seems extremely important to the plot. In NYX #1, the post-credit picks up with what happened to Fauna. X-Men #1 teased the arrival of a major threat to the X-Men.
Phoenix #1 might be the worst offender of all, as it sets up a major villain.
Adding the QR code cheats readers from getting the entire story. Yes, everyone has a phone, but not everyone knows how to use QR codes. It’s a complicated extra step—nothing more. More frustrating is Marvel charging 4.99 USD per issue and not giving you a complete story.
The QR code concept should be killed immediately. These pages matter. Brevoort can say it’s just bonus content, but when the bonus content affects the story and makes readers feel a bit ripped off, then it’s antithetical to what Marvel is trying to accomplish, including them in the first place. If Marvel wants to include the bonus stories in trade paperbacks, then isn’t that indicative that it’s important to include them in the first place? It decentivizes buying the issue in the first place. The reaction has been understandably negative.
I enjoyed NYX (new X-Men comic featuring Ms. Marvel), but I have just now learned rather than just… printing the final page of the book, there’s a QR code to take me to the page online. That may or may not work when I’m reading the comic. Why.
— Jay Annelli 🔜 SCG Con Baltimore (@jay13x)
10:15 PM • Jul 24, 2024
marvel doing qr codes in the back of issues that leads to a bonus page is just like the ar gimmick marvel did back in 2013-ish except the ar gimmick was actually kind of cool
— Zee (@GOTHAMN0CTURNE)
9:00 PM • Jul 24, 2024
Really hate this QR code stuff in the new X-books. Just makes reading it more annoying for no real reason. Especially since they don't seem to even be releasing the QR page until morning in the US, because fuck the rest of the world
— Adam (@krakoa_customs)
10:15 AM • Jul 24, 2024
Follow up to Marvel removing the last page of comics to force you to use a QR code and read it on your phone (so very very dumb). From the Reddit comic book community it is pretty much universally considered the dumb without measure - but we finally have memes
— Andrew Bills (@EvilSpyBoy)
12:00 AM • Jul 25, 2024
#xSpoilers
Did the QR code page in NYX take anyone else to an error page?
I tried several times and it just...doesn't work.
— Jonathan Loves X-Men (@jonathan_eff)
12:38 PM • Jul 24, 2024
It would make sense if the QR code led to some legitimate bonus content, such as sketches or more information on the series, but full-ass pages that matter in the grand scheme of things? Unacceptable.
Part of relaunching the X-Men was making these new stories stand on their own. The QR codes are a horrible idea that makes getting a complete story even harder. Marvel needs to admit its mistake and throw this concept out the window.
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