Why are sales of Amazing Spider-Man so low in comparison to Batman?

[Dolores - The Worst Poster Ever]

You're treating Amazing Spider-Man as if it were just another regular book. This is the premiere title of the premiere American comic book publisher. Having high expectations for it is not something I consider out of the question.

Which is why it's still among the best selling comics in today's market.

[Kevinroc]

Which is why it's still among the best selling comics in today's market.

Not in comparison to Batman. Which is why I ask what is this book doing wrong? Why is it not living up to its potential?

(We've just gone in a big old circle.)

[Green Goblin of Sector 2814]

He got it over 100k for one story, and sales had fallen well below the 100k mark before Snyder took over. Snyder then maintained sales over 100k, higher than what Morrison achieved, for five years.

Snyder took a book that was doing a little more than 50k, and maintained sales of over 100k for 5 years.
King took over a book that was doing more than 100k per issue, and in a year the book is close to dropping below the 100k mark.



And then by issue #6 it was doing less than 100k. By its 6th issue, it was selling less than any of Snyder's 51 issues.

Snyder maintained sales over 100k for five years. Who was the last writer that did that with Batman?

Okay, but is your argument that Snyder was able to do so because of the quality of the run? Because there are quite a lot of people who'd say that his run was absolute garbage. I'm not saying it was, I'm just saying that is up for debate. And Morrison's run is still one of the most critically acclaimed and the Batman marketing machine truly picked up steam around the time Morrison was on the book and continued on while Snyder was there as well. I'm not even that big a fan of Morrison's work, but I'd say the pimping out of Batman that was there during the Morrison era continued on into the Snyder era and helped the book sell. The push that Batman got once the Nolan movies became big was really a more concerted marketing push than I'd seen Batman get before. It wasn't just "Snyder made it sell well." It was more like, "DC has put everything they have behind marketing Batman for a number of years and Snyder's a competent enough writer."

I mean, if its the case that Snyder was the main factor behind Batman's gargantuan sales, then why is it that All Star, the title that Snyder is still on, is selling so poorly compared to the main title? Shouldn't it be selling 100k while the main title is doing 60k? The answer is: DC mainly focuses its effort on marketing the main titles and Batman's franchise has been so big for so long, Batman fans will continue to buy the flagship title even when the stories are not so good.

[Dolores - The Worst Poster Ever]

Okay, but is your argument that Snyder was able to do so because of the quality of the run?

Quality is subjective.

I'm not a fan of Snyder's run, but there's no denying that it was a commercial hit. Commercially, it's the most successful Batman run in decades.

I mean, if its the case that Snyder was the main factor behind Batman's gargantuan sales, then why is it that All Star, the title that Snyder is still on, is selling so poorly compared to the main title? Shouldn't it be selling 100k while the main title is doing 60k? The answer is: DC mainly focuses its marketing effort on marketing the main titles and Batman's franchise has been so big for so long, Batman fans will continue to buy the flagship title even when the stories are not so good.

Snyder was a big factor, but that Batman was a flagship book was also a big factor. It's a combination.

On his own he can't get a book to do 100k every issue, but pair with the right title and he can. There's a reason why he was able to keep a book selling over 100k for 51 issues in the span of five years, when other writers couldn't.

When was the last time someone had Batman sell over 100k for even 20 issues?

[theoneandonly]

I would argue batman also has a new 52 event which erased some storylines and events. I stopped being interested in DC after new 52 for a long time and only recently started rereading. Anyway if I had to guess why he is outselling the competition then there is a simple reason.,....
HE IS THE GODDAMN BATMAN which is batman explanation for everything much like darkseid who isn't going to provide any definitions of himself but simply declares darkseid IS not darkseid is...? LOL

[DanMad1977]

I thought about that, too for some time now.

Is it because Batman is more mature for the casual reader? I mean Spidey is beloved by kids and women even more than Batman, but kids and woman dont buy comics anymore.
Is it because Batman is Batman?

Or is it because Chuck Norris is Batman?

[Mister Mets]

I don't think it's a matter of what Spider-Man's doing wrong, since it is the best-selling Marvel Universe ongoing, but what Batman's doing right. The success of Batman isn't a knock on other books.

Batman's been on a hot streak for about the last decade, due to some smart hiring decisions and luck.

Part of it is that the Batman brand is very strong. The best regarded superhero movie is a Batman film that came out less than a decade ago. The best regarded comic book video game is the Arkham series (at least the first two.)

The title's brand has held up too. Grant Morrison was one of the biggest writers in comics, and his run on Batman was acclaimed.

When Morrison left the book, DC replaced him with Scott Snyder, just as his reputation was taking off. When Snyder left the title, they did the same thing with Tom King. In terms of luck with getting writers at just the right moment, this is on the level of Marvel getting Bendis and Millar on the Ultimate books just when they were exploding.

They've also done quite well with artists. Greg Capullo was under the radar for many when he was on Spawn (although the book was a top ten hit when he was drawing it.) Dave Finch had drawn the character on satellite books, but hadn't had scripts on that level.

The stories have also been pretty big.

Snyder's first arc introduced a secret society in Gotham City. His follow-ups were the return of the biggest villain in comics, his take on Batman's first year, a fight against the Justice League involving the biggest villain in comics, and a one-year arc about someone else taking over as Batman. Tom King introduced superheroes to Gotham City, had Batman lead a group of supervillains (including some iconic characters) against Bane (one of the most popular villains in comics), had a well-paced rematch with Bane, a proposal with Catwoman, and his take on Batman's early years, with a war between two of the biggest characters in the rogues gallery.

In both Snyder and King's case, they were in a position to get a reader's attention for one issue, and they made the most of it. King's first issue is particularly impressive, with one of the most ingenious challenges Batman has ever faced.

While there's stuff to learn from the success of DC's biggest title, it doesn't mean the biggest Marvel ongoing is doing something wrong. The box office success of Beauty and the Beast doesn't reflect badly on Spider-Man Homecoming.

[Mister Mets]

Yes, the entire market is not in the best shape. This is not a mystery.

But I don't think it's unfair to compare Amazing Spider-Man to Batman. These are the biggest characters of their respective companies (sorry, Superman!) Merchandise out the wazoo! Multiple multi-million dollar film series that gross hundreds of millions of dollars (despite the disappointment the "ASM" films had, there has yet to be a single Spider-Man film that didn't have a box office take of less than $700 million world wide), multiple animated series, multiple video game appearances...

These are big, huge characters that are big, huge draws for their companies.

Amazing Spider-Man isn't JUST another title. So I am comparing him to Batman. And the sales on his premiere title come up short. I'm asking why.

Are Spider-Man sales coming up short? It is the most successful Marvel Universe ongoing title. In that context, can it be expected to do better?

[Prof. Warren]

I think it's just because Batman's Batman.

It's the one comic that just about everyone follows, whether they're a DC person or a Marvel person.

It's probably the one comic that people who follow only one comic follow.

Batman as a brand is very strong. He crosses over a lot of lines.

That's not to say that Spidey is in bad condition in any way. ASM is a consistent top seller and has been for ages.

There's nothing that says ASM should or has to sell more than Batman or any other title. It only has to do well on its own terms and it does.

[Miles To Go]

While there's stuff to learn from the success of DC's biggest title, it doesn't mean the biggest Marvel ongoing is doing something wrong.

Parker Industries (or "Worldwide" as Marvel prefer to call it in trade) felt like Slott trying to ape Batman Inc just a little.

Things that were developed by the Spider-Man brand during the pinnacle of the competition offered up by Snyder at the time (like Superior and Spider-Verse) are indicators that the title could certainly "hang".

King's mastery of basic action set piece mixed in with a touch of the psychological and playing on the history of generations-old on/off relationships keeps readers young and new hooked also. Worldwide/Parker Industries was missing a lot of elements that could have elevated it, as the story it was mirroring, Batman Inc, had plenty of that

[Kevinroc]

Are Spider-Man sales coming up short? It is the most successful Marvel Universe ongoing title. In that context, can it be expected to do better?

I believe so. Brand awareness is high. Merchandise sales are very high. And we've seen the title do better even relatively recently.

It is so fascinating to me that so many people seem to brush aside Batman's success just by saying "it's Batman."

[DanMad1977]

Yeah, because i read Batman no matter what. So...its Batman. Its like you have to read it, even if thats rubbish.

Same with Spider-Man here, i read it no matter what. If its good or bad doesnt matter for me. Its not healthy i know that but iwouldnt do that with any other character...

[Mister Mets]

I think it is really relevant that Spider-Man is the best-selling Marvel Universe ongoing. That suggests that is there is a problem it's largely with the company, rather than with this one title.

We should be having a different discussion about Spider-Man sales now than if the book sold as many copies, but was regularly outsold by the Avengers, the X-Men and some surprise hit.

The current focus on things unique to Spider-Man (One More Day, Slott, Parker Industries) doesn't explain why it's doing better than other Marvel Universe ongoings.

[Scarlet Spider-Man]

Batman is currently a more popular character than Spider-Man.

Batman books are currently much better than ASM.

Spider-Man fans that were chased off by OMD haven't come back.

[LK3185]

I was amused reading this thread halfway through and Kevin kept (or keeps asking I skimmed the rest) asking why Batman is outselling Amazing by such a large amount, when the answer is quite simple. Marvel screwed up. You could say its a bunch of factors but everywhere i've been reading, very few people are happy with ASM or Spidey in general... Heck, if it wasn't for Star wars selling well, I think you could call the whole Marvel line a failed direction. Events that don't resonate with the fanbase. You can't point at one thing and say that's it though.... I think it starts at the top of business. You can have the most talented writers and artists but if you're pushing for storylines people don't want...then you'll pay for it.

Meanwhile, Batman and DC are giving people what they want apparently.