I walked out of my comic book store yesterday with my usual amount of books. But the store was pretty barren, perhaps due to the current social distancing people are doing. The store owner said they would be taking it day by day but were planning to stay open.
I came home and checked ICv2 for their sales coverage knowing it was about the time they review things. The news was as dismal as the empty store. Here is a link to their coverage.
https://icv2.com/articles/markets/view/45423/top-500-comics-february-2020
Most of the comics I read are struggling, selling in the mid-30K. And, of course, by the time Supergirl #39 came out the news had broken that the series was cancelled.
You might remember Supergirl #39. In it, Supergirl fought Wonder Woman. She battled the US government. And in the end, she is twisted even more by the Batman Who Laughs virus, becomingless Eric Draven Crow and more of a grinning ghoul.
It's hardly a Supergirl comic.
So you can guess how it sold.
The book landed at #159 (standard cover) and #218 (cardstock) selling just north of 18K.
What can I say?
The book has been going in a mostly wrong direction since the advent of the Bendis Superman run. From Mistress of the Axe to Xenobite from Hellraiser, this just isn't Supergirl. So of course it didn't sell.
Hard to know just what DC was thinking here. But there thinking was off.
Hoping one day we'll get the Supergirl book her fans deserve on the shelf.
It seems that based on this month's ICv2 data, DC Comics was probably wise to hold off on the cancellation notice as long as they could. Ouch....looks as if comic shops cut their Supergirl comics orders as soon as they heard.
ReplyDeleteProbably will also be a smart idea to hold off on reintroducing the character and a solo book at the moment. With COVID-19 presently rampaging through all walks of life (and closing up large amounts of retail outlets in its wake), there may another culling of brick and mortar comics shops on the horizon before the dust eventually settles on the aftermath of the pandemic.
KET
Who knows if floppies are even going to be printed & distributed ere' long? Otherwise, am I the only unabashed Supergirl fan on Earth who has come to the conclusion that DC Corporate hates the character and the character's fans? Maybe they like the $$ they make off of us, but that doesn't seem to inspire them to write and publish a character worth celebrating.
ReplyDeleteStay Hygienic My Friends...
JF
If you removed the cover from the last comic, most people would assume that it was a wonder woman comic.
ReplyDeleteIt was a wonder woman comic. She is the protagonist. Kara isn't even in the comic.
If they had put a wonder woman cover on the comic it would have sold at least twice those numbers. I don't know why they didn't do that.
WW readers might even have enjoyed it.
Selling this to Supergirl readers isn't good for the fans and it isn't good for DC.
As Doofenshmirtz once said:
Speaking of wishes, you know what I never understood? Genies! They tell you to wish for anything you want, and then they add some terrible twist. Like you wish to jump high so he turns you into a frog. What? Why? Who gains from this? The genie? Where's the benefit? You should be fighting genies, man, not me. I'm not the problem. Genies. Genies are the problem.
Who gains from this? Not the fans, not DC.
What was the elevator pitch for this arc?
ReplyDeleteAside from the fact that Kara isn't part of the story which is the hugest problem, is it me or is NOTHING happening in this arc. It's just a 6 issue fight.