That's an interesting point, NL. *Does* co-branding mean that newcomers will feel they will need to get all the stories? I'm not sure that's a foregone conclusion.

Decimation: Son of M
Decimation: The 198
Decimation: Whatever

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I understand your premise is that a newcomer will feel that they will need to collect everything titled Decimation to read the whole thing.

Let's look at the major entertainment industry, television.

CSI
CSI: Miami
CSI: New York

Do you think newcomers to TV will feel like they will need to watch all three in order to watch one?

Transformers: Generation 1
Transformers: Takara
Transformers: Armada
Transformers: Beast Wars

Do you think newcomers to TV will feel like they will need to watch all four in order to watch one?

Stargate
Stargate: Atlantis
Stargate: Infinity
Stargate: The Ark of Truth
Stargate: Continuum

Do you think...well, you get my point.

As I understand it, co-branding is widely used in the entertainment industry without the implication that you need to consume *all* of the products. It seems co-branding is more used in the sense of, "if you like this theme and style, here's some more products you might be interested in, but don't have to get unless you want to".

Do you have counterexamples to show the opposite, that co-branding is understood by the general public to mean that you have to read *all* the different titles to get a complete story?
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