Some X-Men comics now include a QR code on the back of the book that hides a “bonus page.” These recent hidden pages have sparked a huge online debate among comic book readers and fans about what is considered bonus content and the behavior of comics.
If you search the internet nowyou’ll find people suggesting that Marvel is going to lock the last page of all future comics with a QR code. That’s a pretty crazy claim! As such, some of these tweets went semi-viral among comic book fans, leading many to assume that this was the case. However, that’s not the whole story, even if the truth is still a controversial mess that led to a lot of debates online.
Earlier this month, Marvel started doing something different with some recent ones X-Men-related comics. At the end of July 10th X-Men #1 by Jed MacKay and Ryan Stegman, readers came across a immense QR code printed on one of the last pages. If you scan the code, you unlock an additional comic book page that foreshadows future events or villains. (In the case of X-Men #1 revealed more information about the recent group of villains introduced in the comic.) This QR code bonus page has appeared in several other recent X-Men comics.
Why Marvel Creates Bonus Pages With Hidden QR Codes X-Men
According to Marvel Comics Vice President and Editor-in-Chief Tom Brevoort, this isn’t about the comic book company cutting content from the books, but adding a little extra content, without spoilers, as he explained on his personal Substack.
The editor also confirmed that Marvel intends to create similar bonus pages with QR codes in the future. X-Men the comic book is being published as a kind of “modern equivalent of the “Things to Come” page that appeared in the first issue of Claremont/Lee X-Men “#1.”
So it’s not a coincidence Marvel cuts out the last page of the book and hiding it behind a QR code —as confirmed by the comic book creators—instead it’s a bonus page, something additional.
However, some fans disagree. They consider these bonus pages to be vital to the overall story and as such, they are effectively the last pages of the comic. It doesn’t support that one of these QR code pages was not available when the comic was first sold. I also understand that people don’t want to read comic book pages on their petite phone screens when they’ve spent money on a physical comic to add to their collection. That’s weird and not ideal.
There’s some good news. According to Brevoort, when these issues are put together for a later release — as Marvel always does with comics — the bonus pages will be included, rather than hidden behind a QR code.
This means that decades from now, people won’t have to count on the URL still working to see the next page of a printed comic. A Marvel editor even suggested that if they do a second printing of the comic with the QR code page, they might include that extra page in the comic instead, because in that case the spoilers won’t matter.
That’s good to hear, and it should mean comic book preservationists won’t have to print out a digital version from a website to preserve history.
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