Official : Bendis gets both books

[DragonPiece]

Does anyone believe that?

https://www.bleedingcool.com/2018/07...dis-dc-comics/

I mean it's clear man of steel sales weren't gangbusters with how much marketing DC did, so they may be disappointed about that. But I doubt they are so disappointed they are cancelling his imprint or changing his story plans. He even just tweeted sales for his new book Pearl have been really good..

[manofsteel1979]

It's probably true they hoped MOS sales would be stronger, but aside from a few loud dissenters, the sales and critical praise for Superman has remained consistent overall with the previous era. I'm sure overall DC is pleased.

[manofsteel1979]

It's probably true they hoped MOS sales would be stronger, but aside from a few loud dissenters, the sales and critical praise for Superman has remained consistent overall with the previous era. I'm sure overall DC is pleased.

[HeroVladimir93]

It's probably true they hoped MOS sales would be stronger, but aside from a few loud dissenters, the sales and critical praise for Superman has remained consistent overall with the previous era. I'm sure overall DC is pleased.

Yeah. It's not like Bendis is going to get the boot or something.

[HeroVladimir93]

It's probably true they hoped MOS sales would be stronger, but aside from a few loud dissenters, the sales and critical praise for Superman has remained consistent overall with the previous era. I'm sure overall DC is pleased.

Yeah. It's not like Bendis is going to get the boot or something.

[Lvenger]

It's probably true they hoped MOS sales would be stronger, but aside from a few loud dissenters, the sales and critical praise for Superman has remained consistent overall with the previous era. I'm sure overall DC is pleased.

Mostly true but on the other hand it must be disappointing after DC spent all that ad money and social media posts promoting Bendis coming on to write Superman only to get a 20K sales increase compared to the Rebirth comics. You can understand why some at DC could feel let down with the impact Bendis has had.

[Ascended]

Mostly true but on the other hand it must be disappointing after DC spent all that ad money and social media posts promoting Bendis coming on to write Superman only to get a 20K sales increase compared to the Rebirth comics. You can understand why some at DC could feel let down with the impact Bendis has had.

I'm sure there are some who are disappointed in the gains, but I'd argue their expectations were off.

Bendis has always been "the street level guy" and has become a rather divisive writer in recent years. We're long removed from the time when his name was a sure sign of quality and fan confidence. And DC hasn't done Superman, or his popularity, any favors for three decades.

But social media marketing is cheap as hell, and house ads in your own product line are too.

Sure, Bendis certainly gets paid more than Tomasi or Jurgens, and there's marketing costs (as well as the loss of potential revenue by running those ads instead of another company's product) but if Superman has seen a gain of 20K per issue (that *is* per issue right?), then that's an extra $480 K over the last two months. Half a million dollars in extra revenue just this fiscal quarter. Whatever DC's extra costs, it doesn't come close to equaling the additional profit Bendis has already brought in.

DC has made solid gains here. If they were expecting more, then they weren't paying attention to what Bendis' or Superman's reputations are like now.

[Sacred Knight]

Mostly true but on the other hand it must be disappointing after DC spent all that ad money and social media posts promoting Bendis coming on to write Superman only to get a 20K sales increase compared to the Rebirth comics. You can understand why some at DC could feel let down with the impact Bendis has had.

Its understandable. Its also their fault for having such unrealistic expectations.

[Miles To Go]

Its understandable. Its also their fault for having such unrealistic expectations.

Or rather they banked too much on the weary "controversy creates cash" mentality assuming Bendis' polarising reputation sells.

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[RepHope]

There’s some pretty suspect info there. Dido and Johns are the ones who poached Bendis, not Nelson, so who are these “higher-ups”? Second Bendis has tweeted that Dido called to congratulate him on how good Pearl preorder sales have been.

But I can totally believe that given the marketing hype DC was running for Bendis, his sales haven’t really proved worth it. I don’t get the sense that he’s selling Batman numbers which may have been what DC was expecting. If that was what they were expecting, they’re idiots. Bendis is not the powerhouse he once was, and hasn’t been in years. All you needed to do was look at sales of his monthlies to see that. For that matter neither is Superman, he’s selling fine but Flash is the number two solo seller behind Batman.

It was idiotic of DC to give Bendis the entire Superline before testing him out. I would’ve given him Action, because Tomasi’s Superman was more popular and a better seller, plus Bendis could focus on his street level stuff without also writing cosmic level plots which he’s struggled with in the past. The Invisible Mafia And Red Cloud are way more interesting than Rogal. But they put all their eggs in one basket so now I hope they just let him tell his stories for at least a year. I’m enjoying the plots so far. If they’re unhappy then maybe replace him on Superman since that will be the weaker book I’d wager, and let him focus on Action.

[Sacred Knight]

Or rather they banked too much on the weary "controversy creates cash" mentality assuming Bendis' polarising reputation sells.

.

Unlikely that's the issue. The report doesn't indicate any concern with content, its always been about their expectations over what just his name would bring, which were always out of whack. Indeed looking at the content itself and going by critical analysis, fan reaction, and sales, the run thus far is a hit. It didn't come out of the gate as hot as Rebirth did, though, so yeah I can see that being disappointing to them. But that's where illogical expectations come into play. Rebirth had line-wide restructure machine behind it. This was just new creative teams and directions for a singular franchise. Thus they if any of this is true they just thought way too much of the name alone.

However, like Rep said, there's some glaring inconsistencies in regards to specific details of this report anyway that make one raise a brow.

[Superlad93]

Does anyone believe that?

https://www.bleedingcool.com/2018/07...dis-dc-comics/

There's a very real vocal minority of salty-ass people actively rooting against Bendis in all his endeavors, and because of that I can't take this the least bit serious.

[Kuwagaton]

I've seen a number of open minded and very thoughtful people bash these books, in fairness. Which is a bummer although I don't care for some of the more knee jerk reactions to what he is putting down.

The site in question seems to have a bit of a slant so I dismiss their stuff outside of at least paraphrasing. Sales so fine are nothing to worry about. And no offense to King or Spencer, but those are not "their" sales on Spider-Man and Batman.

Bendis has always been "the street level guy" and has become a rather divisive writer in recent years. We're long removed from the time when his name was a sure sign of quality and fan confidence. And DC hasn't done Superman, or his popularity, any favors for three decades.

If we go back thirty years, Superman could have been a lot less popular. Like not selling hundreds of thousands unpopular, not having the best selling comic record next to X-Men #1, etc. Look at the Fantastic Four. Right now for all time Superman is actually still ahead of Batman in sales even with a huge disadvantage in sales for the last 20.

[Superlad93]

Never said otherwise, and I'm always a firm believer in respectful disagreement and critique, but that vocal minority knows who they are. And like you say said site has a clear slant to it.

Regardless, my point is I'm not pressed bout it.

[Flash Gordon]

I've loved Bendis' Superman so far...but you can't expect sales similar to Tom King's BATMAN. At least not yet.

Superman hasn't been in very good shape for a while now. The Rebirth books had their fans, but that was a vocal minority. Honestly they spilt the readership with the whole doppelganger thing and how it was played. Very messy stuff indeed.

I think sales will catch up. Contrary to what you read online, Bendis has fans.