Do we know how long Tom King is hanging around?

[tib2d2]

I think he mentioned he has the story ideas to take it through issue #75, but beyond that has there been any indicator how long he might stick around for as writer?

[Korath]

He's supposed to write 100 issues, so he should be here until issue 105 (since five issues are scheduled to not be written by him, actually).

[Inversed]

He's supposed to write 100 issues, so he should be here until issue 105 (since five issues are scheduled to not be written by him, actually).

Technically the five issues not written by him have already come out/coming out, Night Of The Monster Men, the 2nd Button part, and now The Last Cold Case. But yeah, he'll be writing 100 issues, so his run will conclude with #105, which looks to be out around October 2020.

[oasis1313]

Technically the five issues not written by him have already come out/coming out, Night Of The Monster Men, the 2nd Button part, and now The Last Cold Case. But yeah, he'll be writing 100 issues, so his run will conclude with #105, which looks to be out around October 2020.

If he likes the paycheck and can still cough up some sort of idea, he's on the book for as long as he pleases. Unless someone with more clout like Bendis wants it.

[Inversed]

If he likes the paycheck and can still cough up some sort of idea, he's on the book for as long as he pleases. Unless someone with more clout like Bendis wants it.

He's said from the beginning he wants his story to be 100, even adding 5 issues just so he can get the magic 100 number for himself, so I'm pretty sure he'll be definitively concluding there.

Plus I can imagine after finishing this he'll have a blank check from DC to do literally whatever he wants, which is saying alot considering he's basically already doing that now.

[Arctic Cyclist]

If he likes the paycheck and can still cough up some sort of idea, he's on the book for as long as he pleases. Unless someone with more clout like Bendis wants it.

Mhmm, I doubt that. His Batman is still a solid seller, but it's been regularly dropping below the 100,000 in hard copies since Selina said yes.

Or to put in perspective, more people wanted to read about Beard!Bruce engaged to Julie Madison and Jim!Bats than they did BatCat. I know that the sales fluctuationed dramatically during that period, but that was when there were guest villains who put the entire wedding happening in doubt.

He's a star at the moment, but Snyder apparently has been making snide comments on his Twitter and in interviews about low sales. Probably because he's butt hurt that his OCs have been quietly (or in Harper's case, loudly) put on the bus to limbo. It'll be interesting to see the January sales and how much of an impact having Damian and Selina show up had.

[Vordan]

Mhmm, I doubt that. His Batman is still a solid seller, but it's been regularly dropping below the 100,000 in hard copies since Selina said yes.

Or to put in perspective, more people wanted to read about Beard!Bruce engaged to Julie Madison and Jim!Bats than they did BatCat. I know that the sales fluctuationed dramatically during that period, but that was when there were guest villains who put the entire wedding happening in doubt.

He's a star at the moment, but Snyder apparently has been making snide comments on his Twitter and in interviews about low sales. Probably because he's butt hurt that his OCs have been quietly (or in Harper's case, loudly) put on the bus to limbo. It'll be interesting to see the January sales and how much of an impact having Damian and Selina show up had.

I have not seen any tweet of Snyder’s that could be seen as a shot at King. Far from it, the two are buddies. Snyder was the one who finally got the message and stopped pushing his characters besides Duke whom Johns convinced him not to abandon.

@OP he’s on for 100 issues. So anytime someone has to fill in for him like Williamson is doing with this upcoming crossover doesn’t count for his 100 issue total.

[Aahz]

Mhmm, I doubt that. His Batman is still a solid seller, but it's been regularly dropping below the 100,000 in hard copies since Selina said yes.

Batman #61 sold even below 90K.

[MajorHoy]

Do we know how long Tom King is hanging around?

Too long?

Mhmm, I doubt that. His Batman is still a solid seller, but it's been regularly dropping below the 100,000 in hard copies since Selina said yes.

Batman #61 sold even below 90K.

However, from Diamond's Top 500 Comics list for December 2018,

* 1st - BATMAN WHO LAUGHS #1 - 220,055 copies
* 2nd - BATMAN DAMNED #2 (MR) - 138,719 copies
* 3rd - DOOMSDAY CLOCK #8 - 123,768 copies
* 4th - BATMAN #60 - 91,275 copies
* 5th - BATMAN #61 - 88,428 copies
* 6th - AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #11 - 79,799 copies
* 7th - FANTASTIC FOUR #5 - 78,322 copies
* 8th - AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #12 - 75,155 copies
* 9th - BATMAN ANNUAL #3 - 68,207 copies
* 10th - SHAZAM #1 - 66,950 copies

Batman #60 and #61 were the two most heavily-ordered issues for regular on-going series by comic book shops in the month of December.
And, again, those numbers are only for what comic book shops (in USA/North America?) ordered through Diamond. We don't know how many copies were bought by individual consumers, nor do we know how many people buy/read digital copies or tpb/collected edition-wait.

[Inversed]

I have not seen any tweet of Snyder’s that could be seen as a shot at King. Far from it, the two are buddies. Snyder was the one who finally got the message and stopped pushing his characters besides Duke whom Johns convinced him not to abandon.

@OP he’s on for 100 issues. So anytime someone has to fill in for him like Williamson is doing with this upcoming crossover doesn’t count for his 100 issue total.

Exactly, I have no idea where these Snyder comments are coming from, they're clearly still good friends, and its not even like he has no reason to be bitter because he's STILL writing Batman.

Also despite all these worries about "sales dropping", King's Batman is still basically the highest selling book every single month. And whether you take that as just "Oh Batman always sells", if he was really doing such a bad job that nobody liked, wouldn't you think it would be much lower than #1?

[Batman Begins 2005]

Too long is my answer.

[MajorHoy]

Too long is my answer.

Beat you to it by about 15 minutes.

. . . Also despite all these worries about "sales dropping", King's Batman is still basically the highest selling book every single month . . .

We don't know if it's the "highest selling"; only that it's the most-ordered title by comic book shops according to information from Diamond.
We have no idea of how many of those issues sell-out at the stores or if shops may be more willing to hold on to unsold issues for possible future sales.
And we don't know what people may be buying in terms of digital copies or collected edition-waiting.

[Inversed]

We don't know if it's the "highest selling"; only that it's the most-ordered title by comic book shops according to information from Diamond.
We have no idea of how many of those issues sell-out at the stores or if shops may be more willing to hold on to unsold issues for possible future sales.
And we don't know what people may be buying in terms of digital copies or collected edition-waiting.

The comic shops are still ordering them all in, so no matter how much they end up selling in store, DC's still getting that money, and they're still seemingly ordering Batman more than any other ongoing, so that must account for something. Also at least from my experience, every comic shop near me almost sells out Batman and is the book most people pre-order.
And I remember seeing that the trades have been doing very well too.

No matter exactly how much its actually making, to say that his Batman run sale wise has been "disappointing" or "failing" is just a complete exaggeration. The run itself may be divisive by alot, but its got a huge portion of devoted fans.

[Noodle]

Beat you to it by about 15 minutes.

We don't know if it's the "highest selling"; only that it's the most-ordered title by comic book shops according to information from Diamond.
We have no idea of how many of those issues sell-out at the stores or if shops may be more willing to hold on to unsold issues for possible future sales.

His run is 60+ issues in by now. At this point, I think it's safe to assume that shops know how many copies sell for them and order around that much, maybe slightly more in case it ends up being a big issue. If stores had stacks of unsold issues of his run by now I highly doubt they would still be ordering that number by now. It'd be a terrible business decision.

[Coal Tiger]

Beat you to it by about 15 minutes.

We don't know if it's the "highest selling"; only that it's the most-ordered title by comic book shops according to information from Diamond.
We have no idea of how many of those issues sell-out at the stores or if shops may be more willing to hold on to unsold issues for possible future sales.
And we don't know what people may be buying in terms of digital copies or collected edition-waiting.

Stores know how much they sell. And they make their orders accordingly.