Reacting to an onslaught of feedback on its incentive program for the Ultimates 2 #1, Marvel has altered its original plan, which would have given retailers a 50/50 split between the regular full color edition and a black-and-white sketch variant, created to demonstrate Bryan Hitch's superb pencils.  Numerous retailers objected to the plan, feeling that their regular customers would have to have the full color version. 

ICv2 contacted Marvel concerning the situation and Marvel's Sales and Marketing Manager David Gabriel provided the following statement concerning the situation: 'Marvel announces an updated variant incentive for Ultimates 2 #1.  Thanks to an incredible outpouring of input from retailers, Marvel has decided to alter its previously announced 50/50 black and white (cover and interior) sketch variant to heed the demands of not only retailers, but of customers.  The revised incentive will simply be a 1 in 10 ratio with the same black and white sketch variant.  So for every 10 books retailers order, 1 will be the variant.  This will give retailers a reasonable percentage of the variants to sell off to customers who enjoy the sketch books, while also keeping the quantity fairly limited. 

Dan Buckley, Publisher of Marvel Comics said, 'It was obvious to us right from the start that we miscalculated the 50/50 variant.  For the first time that I can remember, we heard from multiple retailers expressing their concern for how this type of incentive would hurt the sales of the books in their stores.' 

We would like to thank our retail partners for communicating their concerns to us so quickly and concisely.'  Said David Gabriel Marvel's Sales and Marketing Manager, 'While we were going to wait until Tuesday afternoon in the weekly Marvel Mailer, it seemed that some folks just had to hear about the revised incentive right away.  That tells me that this book is absolutely going to be one of the biggest events of the year.  Thanks to the retail community and their quick response we were able to solve this problem in record time.  As I mentioned to retailers at the recent Diamond Summit, I am extremely open to hearing feedback (both positive and negative) from retailers and to make myself available to help solve problems and avoid any crisis situation in the future.'