December sales numbers for comics have been released and, as always, I turn to ICv2 for my information. Here is a link to their recent coverage of sales:
https://icv2.com/articles/markets/view/42289/top-500-comics-december-2018
I have been watching sales closely since the beginning of the Marc Andreyko run on the Supergirl book. This was a 'bold new direction', glomming onto the Bendis Superman storylines and removing Supergirl from the environment that was nurtured since Rebirth.
I have tried to remain optimistic but each issue has seemed to walk me closer towards disappointment.
Supergirl #25 continued the space adventure of Supergirl trying to track down information on Rogol Zaar. This was a super-sized 'Anniversary' issue. It had Emanuela Lupacchino art. It had a Dan Jurgens holiday story. It sported another nifty Kara/Krypto variant by Amanda Conner.
So how did it sell?
It sold 21,546 units. Or it was shipped to stores that many times.
I worry about the 20K mark as a death knell and we are hovering there.
But Supergirl #24 sold 21,295.
Perhaps this is the steady state. But my suspicion is we'll dip again. Can a one-time Artgerm variant change sales briefly?
On Twitter, Brian Michael Bendis did hint that Supergirl was going to be part of the Superman books again which means she has to return.
I just want a Supergirl on Earth, learning to be a hero. This arc can't wrap up fast enough.
Just wanted to sat that Adventures of the Super Sons #5 sold just about the same, 20,965.
I like this title for what it is. Glad it is selling like this.
I really don't understand the appeal of variant covers. They don't have any effect on the quality of the story, and it's not like the artist on the cover is doing alternate art for the whole book. It feels like a throwback to the speculator boom, and that can't go anywhere good. Can anyone explain why they give sales such a bump for something so minor?
ReplyDelete"I just want a Supergirl on Earth, learning to be a hero. This arc can't wrap up fast enough."
ReplyDeleteIt must be noted that SG #25 was also more expensive than the non-anniversary issues, and ALL Superman books have dipped. Comic sales have been generally awful.
Otherwise... yes. This direction where Kara is suffering through issues she long overcame and living someone else's adventures as lacking her supporting cast and backstory isn't working, and let's hope Supergirl goes back to National City, her supporting cast and her family soon -and maybe she joins a team- soon.
Seriously, can we have Sterling Gates back in the book? I know "Creator X returns to Character Y" second runs rarely work. See: Geoff Johns in Superman, Paul Levitz in the Legion... but I'm convinced that Gates had many stories left to tell. And we KNOW he KNOWS the character.
Can anyone explain why they give sales such a bump for something so minor?
ReplyDeleteBecause those sales numbers are based on shop owner orders. They order the regular number for box subscribers, a couple extra for the shelf, then they add the number of variants they think they can sell. It’s usually an extra that’s added to the regular order.
Disappointing sales, but kind of what I expected when people have been posting that Supergirl just makes the top 25 at Comixology each week. That would bring it in around #100 for the month.
ReplyDeleteIssue #25 had some good material, but at $4.99 might not have been attractive enough to grab extra readers.
This is scary, since there isn't much in the way of DC/Marvel good superhero comics selling less.
For some reason Titans, with much better sales at 24,870, is being cancelled - per CBR. The April issue is NOT listed as FINAL at previewsworld.com. But I think it really is kaput.
DC tried something different with variant covers for April: usually they release the cover previews so late that it's well past the cutoff for ordering them through your LCS. Buyers have to go by their gut or make an educated guess when placing an order. Most stores order few variants unless a subscriber requests one, or if they do order a few for the shelves, they mark them up, sometimes substantially, if there's a demand for them.
But for April, for the first time almost all the variant covers are previewed in the solicitations and at previewsworld.com. I guess DC is trying an informative rather than secretive form of marketing?
T.N.
"Because those sales numbers are based on shop owner orders. They order the regular number for box subscribers, a couple extra for the shelf, then they add the number of variants they think they can sell. It’s usually an extra that’s added to the regular order."
ReplyDeleteOkay, that makes sense from a business perspective. But I don't really understand the appeal to buyers/readers. The content doesn't change in any significant way; if we were promised a different (and, IMO, possibly better) Supergirl story with a different cover, it'd be a reason to buy it. It just seems pointless to me.
It seems pointless to me too, but some collectors approach comics differently. There are people who buy the variants, bag ‘n’ board them, and may never read the contents. Variant covers are in part aimed at them.
ReplyDeleteI think we might be looking at cancellation within a year, or whenever this storyline wraps up...what next for Kara I can't say, she rules the airwaves and yet DC can't figure her out in print. We don't even have a team book to succor us...
ReplyDeleteJF
I like variant covers. I'm not a collector, but it gives me the opportunity to add double support to a comic that I want to keep on the shelves, and still get something extra out of it.
ReplyDelete"I think we might be looking at cancellation within a year, or whenever this storyline wraps up..."
ReplyDeleteI would sadly have to concur with this view, as it's become pretty clear that sales of Supergirl comics haven't really been dependent on the story inside, at the moment. The publisher might be better served with a all-star artist sketch book instead.
"...what next for Kara I can't say..."
She'll probably get folded into the Bendis-penned Superman titles, since it's apparent that his arrival didn't work out as planned. DC currently going through reorganization usually means that all bets are off for many of the lower selling titles to continue as is.
KET
It was a weird transition.
ReplyDeleteOrlando’s run ended, we get a hiatus, then the book starts up again with a new creative team, direction, setting, and what feels almost like a reboot due to Kara acting different from before and no recognition that anything that happened previously was still in continuity. And yet with everything being new the book doesn’t get a new number #1 to generate interest and sales, there’s little promotion by DC, and the creators are talking about everything on Twitter except Supergirl. The big Rogol Zaar crossover storyline is mostly abandoned in Superman where it started, and the Supergirl book is bogged down in a swampy mess of tail chasing and guest stars.
These numbers are no surprise.
No idea what universe(s) it exists in, but I think I read that lots of characters would appear in Young Justice. Is this Kara too old for her old friends Cassie and Connor? And if Titans is relaunched she can have a reunion with old friend Ben Rubel.
ReplyDeleteJustice League Odyssey is also in space and seems to be much too small a team that could use some assistance.
Joining a team would be a consolation prize if title is cancelled.
Trying to remember if Supergirl's tenure on Justice League United continued after her own book ended. That was a nice short lived team.
T.N. Has