Originally Posted by
Restingvoice
ALRIGHT, I CHECKED THE SALES. Note that this is based on sales to comic book stores, meaning this is what people decided to preorder plus estimates from the comic shops on how many they should have left at the store. Preorder determined from 2 months in advance while afterthought buyers have undetermined limited time after the release date.
The sales of Nightwing has been steadily declining. It started at 125K per issue the first month of Rebirth, to 90K to 80K per issue next month, where we can eliminate the collectors and people trying out... to 65K, then got a boost to 70K with the help of Monster Men tie in.
Once on his own again, it dipped deeper to 60K, then to 55, then it got steady at around 50K per issue for 2 issues. These are the only steady issues so far, and it's the Superman guest star and Nightwing moving to Bludhaven following the conclusion of Raptor arc. Then it dipped to 45K but held it steady there for 2 issues while he's in Bludhaven.
Then to around 40K. Now for 6 issues, the dipping rate is slowing from 1K per issue to 1K per month. This is the Damian arc and Wally also guest star in the middle. Considering the slowing down of the dip this should be considered what Seeley's does best on his own without tie-in or Rebirth hype.
It's still declining at 1K per month as we returned to Bludhaven for Blockbuster introduction. I think it's safe to say the people who're only trying out Nightwing are completely out by this point. Still, by the end of this arc, it's dipped to almost 35K
Then it's back to 1K per issue in the middle of the Blockbuster arc, stabilize for 2 issues as it transition to Spyral arc, then back to dip at 1K per issue for Spyral arc. We're below 35K now. So while it's clear that Damian helps a lot at slowing down the dip, Blockbuster didn't help as much and it's safe to say preorder people don't like Spyral.
Then it got a boost to 50K with Dark Knights Metal Resistance, not surprising considering the characters involved. Not counting Metal, from Spyral to the next arc it dips 1K again, stabilizes at 31K for 2 issues, dipping 1K per issue again twice at the end of the arc. This is Raptor's Revenge arc.
Sam Humphries enter now. We're below 30K now but from Raptor's Revenge to The Judge there's no change. After that the dipping rate slows to 1K per month instead of bi-weekly, stabilizing at 27K for 3 issues. Not as enthusiastic as Damian but people are ok with the Judge or Humphries. Until they finally had enough and it dipped 1K again at the final act. We're at 26K. Damian's back to keep the number stay at 26K. Also Roy.
At this point, they decided to go monthly. Makes sense. The number is still at 26K. The beginning of Dark Web. Nightwing vs Hush gets 55K but Nightwing Dark Web still at 26K. Now flatlining at 26K, with Annual only selling at 22K.
There it is.
PS: The monthly dip maybe caused by people already started preordering both issues but don't follow up the next month.
So. Simplest Conclusion Without Much Thought.
Without Rebirth hype, Nightwing is dipping at 10-15K per issue rate. People are either not interested in Raptor or The Parliament or the art or the writing.
With Bludhaven, the dip slowed at 1K per issue, but it lost 5K that's still interested in Raptor or Parliament type story.
With Damian, the dip slowed at 1K per month.
Without Damian, The Judge or Sam Humphries has been the best stabilizer for 3 issues
Followed by Raptor and Blockbuster who stabilize for 2
So since people are okay with Raptor, seems like The Parliament and the story involve them factor in losing 10-15K per issue.
People don't like Spyral.
The 22K is the hardcore fans.
So fans who pre-order at comic stores like Damian, okay with the main villains especially Raptor, but not interested in Spyral. I don't know what the digital or trade buyers think.
I don't blame anyone who loses interest over the course of the run. That's personal preference. I don't blame DC for trying out different writers. Nightwing is losing 1K per issue/month until only the 26K hardcore fans are left.
Injecting Nightwing with events or guest stars, however, is just band-aid. It's not permanent. Once the band-aid lift, it's leaking 1K again. What they need is change Nightwing fundamentally. We saw that returning to Spyral didn't work. So they decided to go with amnesia.
Nightwing #50 will sell high because it ties with Batman and people want to see what happens, but there's no guarantee that changing a character fundamentally will work well with hardcore Dick Grayson or Nightwing fans, especially since these are the preorder guys. I think people will stay interested in where this goes, but I don't know how many new readers and curious old readers compared with the others.
Since I only have data on preorder sales, I don't have any legit suggestion. The only suggestion I have right now to help stabilize sales for preorder crowd but not improving it is to always partner Dick with Damian and keep producing villains with personal ties to Dick Grayson
Oh but for improvement maybe get him out of Bludhaven since we lost that 5K in the month he decided to get in.