The comic sales figures for March 2019 came out recently and as always they are fascinating to look at. And, as always, I'd recommend heading to ICv2 for the breakdown here:
https://icv2.com/articles/markets/view/43079/top-500-comics-march-2019
It was a very interesting month because it included Detective #1000 and several other major DC books which made it a great month for DC. And the Superman books continue to move along at similar numbers. It will be interesting to see if Event Leviathan ends up raising those numbers as that crossover seems to be born in the super-books.
Supergirl #28 came out last month. It was another chapter in this quest. We had her fighting evil clones and squeezing off hands.
So how did it sell?
Now you may remember that last issue sold less than 20K, a concerning number always.
So I was pretty surprised to see this book had an order number of 32,720. That is an impressive lift.
The only thing different?
An Artgerm variant.
You cannot live by the variant.
So I guess I am still a little worried. That said, on Twitter, Brian Michael Bendis did say that Supergirl has a good role in Event Leviathan and the Danvers and the DEO are involved. So maybe there will be a lift.
All that said, DC scooped the top 6 slots in orders. That's impressive.
8 comments:
"Supergirl #28 came out last month. It was a turning point of the story where all the Appa Ali Apsa stones were united and the story of the Circle and Rogol Zaar was fleshed out. It also felt somewhat rushed as the stones unification seemed a bit deus ex machina and then we got a big exposition dump.
We also got Supergirl as being called 'Queen of the Axe', nothing I can truly get behind."
I'm sorry, but you have made a mistake. Those events happened in SG #29. SG #28 was the issue where Supergirl's clones fell apart, Starfire's brother kissed Supergirl, and Harry Hokum lost one hand.
Nevertheless, yes, it's obvious those sales are driven by Artgem's cover. You can't live forever on variant covers, they are bought by thousands of people who will not even read the story.
I hope things improve during Leviathan.
Got ahead of myself.
Post fixed.
Surely DC has to be looking at a new writer and direction? Kara divorced from her family and friends isn't working... somehow Red Lanterns worked, at least creatively, but this? Time to try something new.
I'd love a 21st-century version of the Daring New Adventures of Supergirl - a college student living in a fun boarding house negotiating the life of a young super-woman. You're gonna make it after all, Supergirl!
If Supergirl appears in the actual Event Leviathan mini-series, then I look forward to Alex Maleev's take on her. The Batgirl he drew in DC's Year of the Villain #1 is a street smart, gritty and tough-looking Babs. A very different treatment than I am used to.
We'll see what the sales numbers are when the Conner variants resume. And yikes, so many July variants are overpriced card stock closeups of villains. How is a $4.99 Brainiac portrait going to juice Supergirl sales in July? (The variants for Catwoman and Harley Quinn are at least interesting, because, as anti-heroes, they themselves are the quasi-villains Luthor will be approaching. But those are exceptions.)
T.N.
Sometimes I think DC could publish 32 blank pages of any comic behind an Artgerm cover and still sell 10 to 15 thousand copies!
"Surely DC has to be looking at a new writer and direction?"
If not, maybe they should be. SOMETHING needs to be done to improve sales. But considering Supergirl's history, that can be a good thing or a bad thing. A new writer is needed, but do we get a Sterling Gates or a Joe Kelly? It's all potluck.
Supergirl needs a writer and a direction that respects and builds on her history. She needs a steady supporting cast that would be identified with Kara the same way that Perry White, Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen are identified with Clark/Superman. I'd like to see some of the characters and settings that Orlando introduced return and go from there. Let's see a 2019 version of Dick Malverne. Keep Krypto around, and have Supergirl visit Midvale Orphanage from time to time, as she did in issue 25.
I may have suggested it once before, but I'd like to see G. Willow Wilson get a shot at Supergirl. She's writing Wonder Woman, and before that created the Kamala Khan Ms. Marvel. In Wonder Woman she created a supporting cast (of demi-gods or whatever they are) that immediately added warmth and humor.
But I am also very open to seeing where Marc Andreyko takes Supergirl once this Rogol Zaar endeavor is resolved, which will apparently be quite soon.
T.N.
Maybe cancellation isn't around the corner, but Artgem Covers are awfully thin reeds from which to cling...
I revise my estimate, we might hang in there until the end of the year but defeat is in the air...
JF
Decent sales numbers for Supergirl but I still worry that this current Supergirl series will be canceled once it is finished tieing with Rogol Zaar and Bendis's Superman and Action Comics runs. While I have not disliked Marc Andreyko's take on Supergirl / Kara it does not feel how Supergirl should be yes the artwork and variant covers are amazing but the stories need to be better. Hopefully once Leviathan is done we can get a Supergirl is not angry all the time. I'm tried of stories an angry Kara we had that in Pre New 52 at the start of her 2005-2011 run and through out The New 52 and some of this current run of Supergirl. I hope a new writer comes in either bring back Sterling Gates or have either Tom Taylor or G Willow Wilson take a chance a writing Supergirl plus give her a good supporting cast and keep Krypto around. Also have Kara visit midvale from time to time. Have some sort of direction for Kara Supergirl sometime in the future. I hope DC does do that once Bendis is done with tieing in Supergirl with his runs on Superman. We need good Supergirl stories written again and right now their ok but could be so much better.
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