|
|
Post by Action Ace on Jul 8, 2015 21:01:27 GMT -5
Let's see how the push for new ideas worked out for DC in the month of June All sales figures from this article... linkJustice League of America: #4 overall rank, 150,845 sales It's the big guns and Hitch, that gets you DC's #1 book of the month. Harley Quinn and Power Girl: #23, 64,911 It's only 6 spots and 4,000 copies below the main Harley book. Pretty good for DC's second most popular solo character at the moment. In singles, she's doing Walking Dead numbers. Robin: Son of Batman: #24, 64,095 Damian Wayne is another popular newish Bat character that's producing sales for DC. Batman Beyond: #31, 53,774 Another Bat title off to a solid start, one spot above the big new event in Superman. We Are Robin: #34, 51,943 Even completely new Bat characters are off to a good start, I guess just the name Robin is enough. Starfire: #46, 46,298 Our first debut without a member of the Bat family. Her debut is just ahead of Green Lantern and Wonder Woman. Green Lantern: The Lost Army: #52, 42,945 This one debuts just below Green Lantern. Earth 2 Society: #57, 41,002 Like the one above, if it's thought of as more of a continuation of the last series than a debut of something new, then it's downward slide should be slower. Black Canary: #58, 40,786 Debuts about where Batgirl normally is. Red Hood/ Arsenal: #60, 40,071 Of the new books, this is the lowest selling one that I have enough confidence to see it reach issue #13. Martian Manhunter: #69, 36,581 Lose half the audience and it is right at the cut line. Dr. Fate: #70, 35,962 At this level, a good reaction to #1 will be needed. Bizarro: #71, 35,010 How bizarre? The Superman humor title edged out the Bat one. Bat-Mite: #72, 34,731 Like Bizarro it's a mini series. Both are doing decent, but I'm not sure if this will lead to DC producing more humor titles. Doomed: #82, 32,259 Now we reach the level of ongoings that I doubt will see issue #13. Midnighter: #83, 32,200 Another Wildstorm title that fails to be a hit. Justice League 3001: #84, 32,174 It should be back at the cut line where JL3000 was soon. All-Star Section 8: #85, 31,099 This might be enough of a critical darling to not lose as many sales. We'll see. Omega Men: #86, 30,158 Still a spot ahead of Green Arrow. Where will it be in July? Prez: #94, 28,309 The odds on favorite to be the worst seller comes through. I do think it will be allowed to get to its planned issue #12. |
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 8, 2015 22:03:46 GMT -5
I'm kind of disappointed in Martian Manhunter and that's why I dropped it a couple weeks ago. I'm torn apart of the direction of this book has taken and most of all many of my Manhunter fans feels the same way. In some ways, the art is that goood and some times the writing too. I feel that the book was rushed and appeared to me a bit sloppy at times.
|
|
|
|
Post by wildfire2099 on Jul 8, 2015 22:13:42 GMT -5
Those numbers don't bode well for diversity... not at all.
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 8, 2015 23:51:16 GMT -5
At least three of the books are going to 2nd printings, so for some those orders may not actually reflect demand or word of mouth buzz after they were released. BC articleRetailers are ordering blind on #1 and 2. They have some flexibility to adjust on #2 because of FOC but not a lot, but initial orders are due before #1 hits the shelves, so it's a best guess based on pull list pre-orders and track record of characters. Look at orders on #3 if you want to get a real sense of how the books' sales are going to be. Retailers are ordering/doing FOC for #3 this month, so they will have a sense of how many they actually sold, which titles they had to reorder on, which ones got dropped or added to pulls, etc. Diamond orders for #1's are more what retailers think they can sell than what actual demand/sales are because of the way solicitations and Diamond's ordering system works. There is also the first issue bump, which has lessened to a large degree in recent years (i.e. the type of pull customer who has all #1s on their pull list or the types who bought extra copies of #1 just in case it became a hot book etc.) that can inflate those numbers and cause the severe drops we see often, but then variant minimums can cause those bumps too. By #3 we will see what the book is actually doing for retailers and the numbers should normalize and then have standard attrition. The bigger picture for DC however, is not so rosy. Marvel's market share has ballooned back over 40% and Image's is up over 10% leaving DC under 30% of the market share (only 25% of the dollar share) and they have fallen to #3 in trade market share in the direct market behind Marvel and Image. With only 15 of the top 50 comics and 4 of the top 20 trades, they are continuing their trend of being top heavy with most of their sales concentrated into a small number of titles meaning those a handful of titles end up carrying the line. This has been true for DC for a while, but the new52 launch exacerbated it, and the trend seems to be continuing. So it's not just these numbers that don't bode well for market diversity for DC, wildfire, it's been their albatross for a while. Though it is interesting that the top seller for them is the out of continuity Justice League book by Hitch. -M |
|
|
|
Post by Dr. Poison on Jul 9, 2015 5:36:22 GMT -5
Those numbers don't bode well for diversity... not at all. Especially not when Marvel beat DC by almost 15% in marketshare this month. Hopefully several of these new DC books keep the majority of their readership. I think part of the problem is that DC is relying a little too much on new talent for their books while letting folks like Phil Jimenez, Charles Soule, Greg Land, Alex Ross, and Terry Dodson do work for Marvel. I think DC needs to lure more top talent back and give us a better mix of established and new creators. |
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 9, 2015 9:39:06 GMT -5
Those numbers don't bode well for diversity... not at all. Especially not when Marvel beat DC by almost 15% in marketshare this month. Hopefully several of these new DC books keep the majority of their readership. I think part of the problem is that DC is relying a little too much on new talent for their books while letting folks like Phil Jimenez, Charles Soule, Greg Land, Alex Ross, and Terry Dodson do work for Marvel. I think DC needs to lure more top talent back and give us a better mix of established and new creators. It is not so much that DC is letting them do work for others, like some kind beneficent overlord granting permission for them to go elsewhere, these creators are actively choosing to do work for others and not for DC, and it is either because a) Marvel is making a better offer b) Marvel is selling better so residuals are more likely down the road or c) DC's editorial shenanigans since the new52 launch have alienated a lot of talent who don't want to work for DC anymore. The pre-Burbank editorial regime caused a lot of bad blood with a number of creators. DC seems to be trying to mend fences in some cases, but some bridges may already be burnt beyond repair. Sometimes all the money in the world isn't enough to entice someone back after they have been burnt by an employer. -M |
|
|
|
Post by Dr. Poison on Jul 9, 2015 13:38:49 GMT -5
Especially not when Marvel beat DC by almost 15% in marketshare this month. Hopefully several of these new DC books keep the majority of their readership. I think part of the problem is that DC is relying a little too much on new talent for their books while letting folks like Phil Jimenez, Charles Soule, Greg Land, Alex Ross, and Terry Dodson do work for Marvel. I think DC needs to lure more top talent back and give us a better mix of established and new creators. It is not so much that DC is letting them do work for others, like some kind beneficent overlord granting permission for them to go elsewhere, these creators are actively choosing to do work for others and not for DC, and it is either because a) Marvel is making a better offer b) Marvel is selling better so residuals are more likely down the road or c) DC's editorial shenanigans since the new52 launch have alienated a lot of talent who don't want to work for DC anymore. The pre-Burbank editorial regime caused a lot of bad blood with a number of creators. DC seems to be trying to mend fences in some cases, but some bridges may already be burnt beyond repair. Sometimes all the money in the world isn't enough to entice someone back after they have been burnt by an employer. -M
When I said "letting" didn't mean "allowing", I meant "letting" as in "letting them slip through their fingers". That's why I said that DC needs to "lure" more established creators back.
|
|
|
|
Post by Action Ace on Jul 9, 2015 21:06:50 GMT -5
The bigger picture for DC however, is not so rosy. Marvel's market share has ballooned back over 40% and Image's is up over 10% leaving DC under 30% of the market share (only 25% of the dollar share) and they have fallen to #3 in trade market share in the direct market behind Marvel and Image. With only 15 of the top 50 comics and 4 of the top 20 trades, they are continuing their trend of being top heavy with most of their sales concentrated into a small number of titles meaning those a handful of titles end up carrying the line. This has been true for DC for a while, but the new52 launch exacerbated it, and the trend seems to be continuing. So it's not just these numbers that don't bode well for market diversity for DC, wildfire, it's been their albatross for a while. Though it is interesting that the top seller for them is the out of continuity Justice League book by Hitch. -M And the hurricane is still a ways off. The real test for DC is October when Marvel's "New52" launches. (how does 55/18/8 sound?) Right now DC has two pillars to stand on, Batman and Geoff Johns. Geoff is down to writing just one book and I have my doubts that will go past issue #50. Batman's empire still seems to be going strong. Superman can't be fixed and Green Lantern is about done drifting back down to his former station. DC is almost out of gimmicks and ideas. People will always say that quality and good stories will bring in sales eventually, but I've always been a bit doubtful on that. I'm not sure the bean counters at Time Warner will go for it either. I've got a bad feeling the tourniquet method is up next. |
|
|
|
Post by Action Ace on Jul 14, 2015 17:07:36 GMT -5
Prez: #94, 28,309 The odds on favorite to be the worst seller comes through. I do think it will be allowed to get to its planned issue #12. Correction: DC's October solicitations state that this series is down to six issues. Enjoy it while you can folks. |
|
|
|
Post by thwhtguardian on Jul 14, 2015 17:55:17 GMT -5
Prez: #94, 28,309 The odds on favorite to be the worst seller comes through. I do think it will be allowed to get to its planned issue #12. Correction: DC's October solicitations state that this series is down to six issues. Enjoy it while you can folks. That makes me sad. |
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 14, 2015 19:15:39 GMT -5
Prez: #94, 28,309 The odds on favorite to be the worst seller comes through. I do think it will be allowed to get to its planned issue #12. Correction: DC's October solicitations state that this series is down to six issues. Enjoy it while you can folks. Was it announced as an ongoing or as a mini? I know Bizarro and Bat-Mite were minis, but I thought a couple of others were too. The Hitman spinoff Section Eight was a mini too, right? -M |
|
|
|
Post by Action Ace on Jul 14, 2015 20:40:48 GMT -5
Correction: DC's October solicitations state that this series is down to six issues. Enjoy it while you can folks. Was it announced as an ongoing or as a mini? I know Bizarro and Bat-Mite were minis, but I thought a couple of others were too. The Hitman spinoff Section Eight was a mini too, right? -M Yes, all three of those were listed at six issues. Harley Quinn & Power Girl is also listed at six issues. Prez was originally solicited as a twelve issue limited series. |
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 14, 2015 20:43:18 GMT -5
Was it announced as an ongoing or as a mini? I know Bizarro and Bat-Mite were minis, but I thought a couple of others were too. The Hitman spinoff Section Eight was a mini too, right? -M Yes, all three of those were listed at six issues. Harley Quinn & Power Girl is also listed at six issues. Prez was originally solicited as a twelve issue limited series. Ah, I thought it was a mini but wasn't sure how long. Of course, a 12 issue mini used to be called a maxi-series, but those days are long gone. -M |
|
|
|
Post by Action Ace on Jul 14, 2015 20:52:25 GMT -5
Yes, all three of those were listed at six issues. Harley Quinn & Power Girl is also listed at six issues. Prez was originally solicited as a twelve issue limited series. Ah, I thought it was a mini but wasn't sure how long. Of course, a 12 issue mini used to be called a maxi-series, but those days are long gone. -M Gone with the full length 17 page novella  |
|
|
|
Post by The Cheat on Jul 15, 2015 5:14:26 GMT -5
Apparently Prez is two 6 issue minis, a series 1/series 2 type of thing, so there'll still be the promised 12 issues overall.
|
|
