The sales numbers for August 2013 came out earlier this week and, as always, I headed to ICv2 to get the nitty-gritty details. Here is the link: http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/26668.html
I will say it makes me happy to see a Superman book near the top of the chart. Superman Unchained #3 came in at #2 selling 136K. But I have to assume that part of that is false elevation from the many variant covers that the book has.
I also think that water seems to find its own level. Action Comics and Superman, now both written by Scott Lobdell, are selling 42K. Will Greg Pak/Aaron Kuder give Action Comics a bump once they come on board?
Supergirl #23 was a turning point in the Cyborg Superman storyline. It ends with Supergirl vaporized and the villain being revealed as Zor-El.
It was about as downbeat an issue for the character that I can imagine - Supergirl scared, crying, powerless, and ultimately dismantled.
The book ranked #83 in sales and dropped about 4% in sales. There has been a pretty steady decline in sales over the last several months. It is interesting to see Catwoman and Worlds' Finest right nearby in sales.
So with 2 more issues to come out in the Michael Alan Nelson era, will sales plummet? Will the Bedard/Cinar issue get publicity and a push in sales? Given the new direction and Lobo, this would have been a perfect issue to have a variant to help move the book as well.
I am not surprised to see the book slide in sales.
And my underdog book Vibe is starting to sadly look terminal. I have applauded this book for being different from the usual New 52. It is positive, with someone working hard to be a hero.
Vibe #7 sold just over 11K. Just below it are Dial H and Demon Knights, both canceled.
It will be interesting to see what happens to The Movement, the political book by Gail Simone. Will it somehow be spared the axe?
6 comments:
So sad to see Vibe fighting a losing battle. I was probably one who thought DC was making this a Justice League title just for sales. But even though I'm only a few issues in I can tell its a great book. Like Bleu Beetle it showed the younger brighter side of DC. So many books that I enjoyed Ravagers, Legion Lost, Blue Beetle, Team 7 all cancelled to only be replaced with another carbon copy Batman, Superman, Justice League title.
So sniveling and begging don't sell? Who knew??
JF
I think villains month will ultimately turn out to be a really bad idea for sales. It's much more confusing than zero month, with lots of titles (e.g. Supergirl, Batwoman) completely vanishing.
It will give more casual buyers a perfect jumping off point for several titles. I'm interested in seeing the effect on issue #24 sales across all the DC books.
I think villains month will ultimately turn out to be a really bad idea for sales. It's much more confusing than zero month, with lots of titles (e.g. Supergirl, Batwoman) completely vanishing.
It will give more casual buyers a perfect jumping off point for several titles. I'm interested in seeing the effect on issue #24 sales across all the DC books
I think you will be proved correct to a degree. The decision to put so many Villain titles out, and many of them B/C listers, makes little sense in commercial terms. Some of these titles do have a strong bearing on events in the ongoing books but for the most part the contents have been average at best. Too few interesting enough Villains to appeal to the audience on this scale...
The sliding sales on Supergirl at the moment aren't a great surprise, the title oozes insecurity.
An insecure and petty central character, an insecure and unstable creative team, and an increasingly aimless sense of a direction.
If the creative team isn't stable and keeps shifting every six issues then the perception of a book like this and Superboy becomes one of desperation, of a book the publisher has little confidence in.
Writers like Nelson, Bedard and Marv Wolfman can't bring much to these books as they have little reason to think or plan beyond their initial storyline. So you get a book with no sense of a firm direction or of a writer with a strong vision and investment in the character as they have to work under the knowledge their stay will probably be shortlived on the book... and so the problems with these books get worse and worse.
Does it look like Bedard's not permanent either? I don't recall anything in Nelson's initial interviews indicating that he was only a caretaker for the book. I'm a little confused by what DC are doing here.
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