Originally Posted by
Iggy Langridge
Well,
ICv2 had THE STAR WARS #1 at about 78,000 last September, and I believe Randy Stradley said that was the highest selling Star Wars comic ever at Dark Horse. Brian Wood's STAR WARS did well, too. All of the other Star Wars titles sold in the 20k and lower range throughout the history at Dark Horse.
So THE STAR WARS is the high-water mark at Dark Horse. I'm going to assume Jason Aaron and John Cassaday's STAR WARS will do better than 78,000. I'm guessing it'll do at least 100,000 (and I'll come back to this post when the January 2015 numbers come out). And then it'll of course drop, like all comics do. In all though I don't think any of the new Marvel Star Wars comics will sell as low as Dark Horse's Star Wars comics did, and that's simply because Marvel will cancel it before it gets that low.
And as for what Marvel did last time with Star Wars...
It was good for the industry, wasn't it?:
How Star Wars Saved Marvel and the Comic Book Industry
Marvel won't necessarily cancel a series doing 20k. But they might end that run of numbers to start up another #1.
I've never been convinced that the Star Wars adaptation "saved" Marvel. It certainly helped them. Despite what Thomas and Shooter says, Marvel was still making more money than DC (which just went through its embarrassing "DC Implosion"). The legacy of its success was, for me, years of loved comics. And by that I mean all the other adaptations and licenses that Marvel was doing. It led to Shooter agreeing to Rom and the Micronauts. (Even today, half my pull-list of comics is licensed properties.)
I hated Marvel's SW adaptation and subsequent stories and art. They're pure junk. Chaykin took a big dump on those pages, lack of reference or not. (Note Marvel's later apology on the letters page saying Chaykin was "trying something new." Baloney.) And Infantino didn't care if he drew anything right or not.
I'd be lying to say I didn't relish each issue, tho, but that was only because I was totally Star Wars starved. By 1985, I was glad the series died. It began bad and ended bad (kinda good in the middle, around ESB).
Nostalgia might make the original Marvel series seem fun or whatever, but other than issues done by Al Williamson, I don't think any of them are as good as what Dark Horse has done.
If you want to enjoy a great Star Wars comic from this time period, check out Dark Horse's reprint of the Star Wars newspaper strip (by Al Williamson). Leaps and bounds better than anything Marvel came up with.