Nice

I'll probably go ahead and at least give the first 3-4 issues a chance and see if it hooks me.

Green Arrow writer says Green Arrow: Rebirth sold over 90,000 copies. CBR story

New 52 Green Arrow #1 debuted at about 55,000 copies in 2011.

Take this with a giant boulder of salt as it will be a while before "official" numbers are released, but maybe things are off to a good start sales wise.

I definitely thought it was Imra, as Nura never had a strong connection with Superman.

I thought it was Saturn Girl as well.

Bought Action 957 and Wonder Woman Rebirth 1 yesterday, enjoyed them both. My store sold out of all the Rebirth titles yesterday.

I bought Aquaman Rebirth yesterday, because he is one of the few DC heroes I like and because I'm an Abnett fan, even though his recent work on Hercules for Marvel sucked. It was OK for what it was, although it felt very similar to the first issue of the last Aquaman series, right down to going completely meta about how Aquaman is viewed by the public. Once again, however, they are setting up Black Manta as the main antagonist, which is both predictable and repetitive. I'll give it a few issues to see where it goes, but I was not blown away from the get-go.

I was thinking about picking up the Flash book as well, primarily because I have come to really like the TV show and I am working on buying some back issues of the two previous series, but I did not like the artwork at all.

Wonder Woman looked OK as well (at least artwise), but I've never been a huge fan, so I held off. I may pick it up next week if the mood strikes me and they still have copies.

Well DC already got their money on those Rebirth specials when Diamond bought them from DC, so what the retailers do with those won't impact DC's sale son the specials-where it might impact is if people pass on the special and don't pick up the series, but DC won't see those sales impacts until issue 7 or 8 of the series on the doubleshipping issues because retailers are ordering issues 5 and 6 this month for those most likely and won't see the fall off of sales caused by overpricing until they see books sitting on their shelves (if they are) down the line, of course people buying up these books to flip the books will keep sales afloat fo a few issues as well, so it might not come back to bite DC on the ass for 6 months or so, but once the speculative flurry and flippers tap out, and if any regular readers tap out because of double shipping or lack of interest after sampling the series, the attrition/drop-off could hit hard after the first arcs wrap up, especially since trade waiters won't have seen any of the issues yet.

So the line is off to s good sales start and interest is high, but predatory practices and double-shipping may take their toll after that initial burst of enthusiasm-the line won't prove itself with sales on issues 1-6 or the specials, the real test will be issues 6-18 and if they can maintain the ground they got from the initial surge of interest and speculation. Retailers are grabbing the money where they can because they already saw the new52 lose steam towards the end of its first year and are skeptical of the long term sales strength of any big 2 book right now, so it's strike while the iron is hot and screw trying to build long term repeat sales and customers. Because again, this is what the direct market is right now and it is all front loaded, sales of variants, reboots and events propping up the sales figures for the industry as a whole where interest tails off quickly and 33-50% sales attrition within 6 months of any titles launch is the norm not the exception. It's why there is a steady flow of events, #1a and variants, because that is what is propping up the sales of the industry as a whole right now.

-M

And yet all those new52 #1s sold well enough to get 2nd (and sometimes 3rd and 4th printings) so DC still made their money, until sales dropped off after first arcs when retailers corrected their orders to what was selling after the speculation and initial sales surge wore off. Then DC started doing variant sto prop up sales and that surge lasted a while, then interest fell off and they tried events , and finally reboot. Wash, rinse, repeat. This is the direct market today. It's all about market share this month for publishers and profit now for retailers, there is no building for the long term or building readership, those things aren't the priority and in some cases aren't even on the radar. That's the way a collectible niche market works and that is what the comic direct market is these days. No one wants to admit it, but the proof is in the pudding. It's not about readership or reading, it's about sales numbers and collecting/collectibility and books that "matter" anything else is not a concern. It's a vicious circle and Rebirth will do nothing to change that.

-M