With the New Year celebrations behind us, it is time for me to pick up all the news I haven't been able to cover in a timely fashion.
The sales numbers for November came out nearly a month ago and the news for Supergirl continues to flourish. In fact, it amazes me how much better her book has been selling in the last several months, a sharp uptick. Between Artgerm variants, Robson Rocha on art, and a new, better defined path for the book, things are looking up.
To view all the sales numbers, head to ICv2, here:
https://icv2.com/articles/markets/view/39180/top-300-comics-november-2017
Supergirl #15 continued the arc of Supergirl on the run from the DEO. I love how the cover is basically a propaganda poster for the DEO, painting Supergirl as a scary figure that needs to be reported. It is such an interesting take on 'Dark Supergirl' give we saw so many 'angry Kara' covers in past incarnations.
So how did it sell?
34,314 issues were ordered, ranking the book at number 56, just behind mega-star Harley Quinn!!
That's incredible.
I mean this isn't an insignificant jump.
Issue 11 sold 21319. The book has jumped 50% in sales.
You just don't see this anymore.
Action Comics #992 was also out that month, wrapping up The Oz Effect storyline.
I have to be honest, I was a bit crestfallen by the Jor-El reveal. I thought Oz was going to be someone bigger ... or more innovative.
Action #992 sold 41,955.
I thought for sure that this would be a bigger seller given the presumed tie-in with Doomsday Clock. Maybe some cover dress saying that would have helped?
Still, exciting news for Supergirl!
The variant cover for the forthcoming Supergirl #18 is now available and looks spectacular.
ReplyDelete"34,314 issues were ordered, ranking the book at number 56, just behind mega-star Harley Quinn!!"
ReplyDeleteAnd just above a Spider-Man book. Okay, not the main Spidey book, but yet...
Obviously, Artgem's covers have a lot to do with it, but since sales are up compared with issue #14, I'd like to believe a number of buyers are actually reading the storyline rather than bagging the issue unread and are liking it.
"I thought for sure that this would be a bigger seller given the presumed tie-in with Doomsday Clock. Maybe some cover dress saying that would have helped?"
Maybe a lot of fans found the story a letdown or weren't interested in the immediate outcome? I know I'm not happy with the book's current direction.
"The variant cover for the forthcoming Supergirl #18 is now available and looks spectacular."
Indeed.
Yes, I would have to concur that Artgerm's covers have sparked a lot of interest in Supergirl's solo series. fans really enjoy the style, and I usually see them getting pasted around on all sorts of social media. DC Comics has finally found a way to connect this comic to potential readers.
ReplyDeleteKET
I would also suggest that an change of artist and creative direction, one that generally tracks with the TV show, seems to have given the sales a bump....
ReplyDeleteJF
Good to see Supergirl doing so well. It looks like another personnel change is coming in issue 19. A new co-writer (Vita Ayala) and a new artist (Jamal Campbell). Don't know if this is permanent or just a break for Houser and Rocha, but it is the start of a new storyline.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, Artgerm's cover for Supergirl 18 (up on his Facebook and Instagram pages) is another winner-a "one second later" companion to the cover of "The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl" number 1!
Is Batman the Richie Rich of the 2010s? So many Batman titles: "Batman Who Laughs", "Batman the Devastator", "Batman White Knight", "Batman Teen Age Brain Surgeon", "Batman Meets Abbott and Costello". It's enough to drive a person-well, you know...
As for Action Comics, I'm going to wait until issue 1000, when we see it all come together before I decide whether I like this story or not. If it ends with a positive re-affirmation of who Superman is and what he stands for (along with the revelation that Oz was never the real Jor-El), I'll be satisfied.
I think it was the lenticular variant covers that got Action Comics its high sales during The Oz Effect arc. No more lenticulars, fewer sales. Action Comics #1000 is guaranteed to break 100,000 easily, maybe even 200 or 300K if we're lucky.
ReplyDeleteLouis
Are breakdowns ever published for sales of variant covers?
ReplyDeleteFor some reason the first Artgerm cover (12B) was, and remains, hard to find. The only copy at mycomicshop.com is a CGC 9.8 consignment item selling for $99.99. There's another 9.8 on eBay for $120! But there are plenty of ungraded ones available for $12. Still, a premium price.
Did DC publish fewer copies of the 12B covers? I thought they were 1:1.
Mycomicshop has no copies of 13b on hand, but 14B, 15B and 16B are available at essentially regular prices.
But I do think 15A is itself an excellent cover. As a close-up, it reminds me somehow of PAD's Supergirl #1. While burning eyes vs. holding a skateboard are very different things, it's a prominent S shield that they have in common.
In the early run of Supergirl Rebirth, I preferred the Bengal B covers- something very clean and iconic about them. I guess 6B (breaking the chain) is most classic of them, but so many are great. 3B makes me think of the famous Amazing Spider-Man issue 31, "If This Be My Destiny," and 4B is almost a continuation of that. But they are all amazing: 1B, 2B, 8B, 9B, 10B - they are all so good maybe I should rank them.
Regarding 16B: I saw an article at Newsarama from Dec. 20th that 16B has been reprinted due to defects, to be distributed to anyone requesting a replacement, while the originals are to be destroyed. So I checked mine out (it was still bagged and boarded, while I read 16A.) Sure enough, the cover has ripples and splotches and all kinds of defects.
Does this make the defective copy more, or less, valuable?Oh, I never expect any of these to have any special collectible value per se. But someday I may sell the series for some marginal price, and wonder if a future buyer would prefer a first printing, warts and all, or a clean printing.