The sales figures for last month are out and, as usual, ICv2 provides the coverage that I like. Here is a link: https://icv2.com/articles/markets/view/44696/top-500-comics-november-2019
Now in October, Supergirl #35 had one cover. Despite being an Event Leviathan crossover, it was only ordered just above 19K. I, foolishly I suppose, think that content matters most for sale. But I don't think I am right.
Supergirl #36 was Marc Andreyko's swan song on the book. It also was a Year of the Villain crossover, directly linked to the Batman Who Laughs and The Infected storyline. It also sported a second cover, a card stock painted cover by Derek Chew.
I don't like the idea of Supergirl becoming a villain ... again! But I suppose her being a big part in a big DCU story could be considered a good thing.
So how did it sell?
Between the two covers, 29738 issues were ordered by stores.
Was that because of the covers? Because of the content? Both?
But that was a bump of nearly 1/3 from the prior issue. Incredible.
There was also Supergirl Annual #2 which was also linked to the same arc.
This was a good issue showing a nice look into Supergirl's past.
17134 were ordered, almost exactly the same amount as Supergirl Annual #1. That makes me think that the Supergirl market is a small but dedicated and stable market.
I wonder if this Batman Who Laughs story is bringing in new readers.
Supergirl #35 did have 2 covers, but both were $3.99 - regular stock paper - so they got counted together. The variant was part of a variant cover theme DC was running that month - the DCeased homages. (They all say "DCeased Variant Cover" in one corner.)
ReplyDeleteThat variant was drawn by Drew Johnson, and apart from the belt and boots being the right color, there's not much else to say about it. Obviously it didn't do anything for sales.
The main cover, meanwhile, didn't even feature Supergirl! It was Leviathan tearing a cape. Who greenlit that?!
Given the similar sales number for the Annual, #35 actually sold quite poorly, because Annuals, for some reason, virtually NEVER sell as well as the monthlies.
Derrick Chew has drawn the variants for #33, #34, #36, and #37 so far, and his variants for #38 (Jan), #39 (Feb), and #40 (Mar) have all been solicited. I'm convinced his covers really do make a difference.
And, given these are all $4.99 card stock covers, DC has got to be pleased, because it doesn't cost them $1.00 more to produce these covers. So their profit is higher than the unit sales would suggest.
T.N.