Sales Review: September 2019

The sales number for September sales have come out and as usual, ICv2 is a great place to go for a breakdown. Here is a link: https://icv2.com/articles/markets/view/44317/top-500-comics-september-2019

It was an interesting month overall. Spawn #300 came out and broke the 250K number. Spider-Man #1 came out and broke 150K. The Hickman X-titles all came close to 140K. Those are healthy numbers. And Doomsday Clock #11 finally hit the stands and cracked 115K. For comics, which always seem to be fading, that is a solid top 10.

As for Supergirl, it was a rare calendar month where 2 issues hit the stands. Due to some delays to recolor and redraw some Legionnaires, Supergirl #33 was put on pause until the pages were fixed.
And it was an interesting month storywise for the Girl of Steel. Supergirl #33 was the end of the Rogol Zaar epic and tied in closely to the Unity Saga. Supergirl #34 had Supergirl return to Earth and be suddenly thrust into the Event Leviathan and Year of the Villain arcs. Suddenly Kara was plugged into the main DCU again.

Since both issues were tied into bigger events, I wondered if sales would show a bump. Both issues also had 'card stock' covers.

Let's look.

Event Leviathan Clue Review: Supergirl #34

I know that the reveal of 'Who is Leviathan?' is going to happen as the cliffhanger of Event Leviathan #5.

That's only a couple of weeks away.

That also means I don't have much more time to show my insanity and review clues which may or may not be there.

As you know, I have a Leviathan Theory and I am sticking to it. And part of that theory is that we are dealing with some Watchmen overlay. And as such, I am always looking closely for such clues.

So let's look at Supergirl #34.

At The Block, Shay Gravitas  pings Eliza's robot hand as a way for Supergirl to track her adoptive mother.

When the signal comes in, we see a dot within a circle on a light blue field.

Hmmm ...

Review: Supergirl #34

Supergirl #34 came out this week and was the first issue since the Rogol Zaar storyline ended. It also was a strong tie-in to Event Leviathan, a book that I am loving and also enmeshed in the the Superman books. And on top of that, it also had a strong 'Year of the Villain' JLA hook as well. More than ever, Supergirl felt like a DCU book, involved in the events of the entire universe. Yes, it will be nice when this book is solely Supergirl's adventures. But this issue made it seem like Kara matters in the universe writ large.

All that said, this was also an opportunity for writer Marc Andreyko to bring Supergirl back to Earth and try to re-establish her here. There was plenty of stuff happening in the book before the Zaar arc, back when Steve Orlando and Jody Houser were guiding the ship. Thankfully, Andreyko picks up some of those plots. There are plenty of stories still waiting to be mined there.

Eduardo Pansic remains on art here and brings a certain scratchy feel to the proceedings. The issue runs the gamut of science fiction, character conversation, and street fighting, showcasing Pansica's range. There is even a sort of gratuitously grotesque scene in the middle making me think Pansica would be perfect should DC restart a horror anthology book.

Overall, this felt like a big step up from the prior angtsy, angry, axe-y books which preceded it. Hopefully, this means the tone of the book will be better. Just in time for infected Dark Kara?

DC Comics September Solicitations

The DC solicits for September have come out and it is a little bit heavy with new books and exciting news all happening. I won't comment on all the Harley love that is coming out but there is plenty. So head over to Newsarama to take a peek at everything:
https://www.newsarama.com/45611-dc-comics-september-2019-solicitations.html

In the meantime, I'll do my usual review of the super-books that are coming out.


SUPERGIRL #34
written by MARC ANDREYKO
art by EDUARDO PANSICA and JULIO FERREIRA
cover by JESUS MERINO
card stock variant cover by DERRICK CHEW

After months on the outer edges of the universe, Supergirl is back on Earth! But things are not as she left them—her adoptive parents have disappeared without a trace, Leviathan’s plans are in motion and a Brainiac lurks in the shadows with its sights set on Kara! Oh, and what about that grave? The truth of who is in it will shake Supergirl to her very core!

I am thrilled that Supergirl is back on Earth again. And a mystery of finding her parents is a good hook. I wonder if, based on Leviathan Rising, if Eliza has been recruited to Leviathan's ranks. As for the Brainiac on the loose, we have already seen Kara fight Indigo in the Fatal Five arc. But news coming out this month makes me wonder if there is another Dox Kara will be meeting.

With all these arcs mentioned in the solicit, too bad the cover is (of course) gritty angry Kara immolating a Leviathan crony.

 What else is coming out?