April 2019 sales

[MajorHoy]

At least it is safe to say that the numbers keep going down. During Snyders Run Batman sold usually more than 100K copies. Last month the Batman issues sold only 84,463 and 83,102 copies.

Also don't forget: Snyder's run only lasted until issue #52.
King's run is now up to issue #71 (due out this coming Wednesday).

[Lee Stone]

I think the difference is with the current iniative is Bendis still seems very involved and is more of a creative director, so unless DC deliberately downplays him I'm not sure his initiatives are going to just peter out very quickly.

True.
I think it depends on how Bendis gets treated at DC.

If he's made welcome (and kept happy), Young Justice could last as long as Johns' JSA did.
But if not... and if he left, DC would shut down the line and never look back.

I think my main beef is that when DC stumbles upon a strong franchise they just squander it instead of taking hold of what leverage the property gains them and give them the same care and treatment that Batman gets.
And some could say that the franchises lost reader interest, but DC had a hand in not only neglecting them until they fizzle but also routinely devaluing the franchises with retcons and character assassinations, until even celebrated runs lose their value.

[Jekyll]

Hulk outsold Batman? Damn. Reminds me when GL used to outsell almost anything Marvel put out. Good times.

This new run on the Hulk is phenomenal! Highly recommend and this is coming from someone who has never picked up a solo hulk series before.

[Comic-Reader Lad]

I think Tom King's sales are ok given that the story is controversial and you have to commit to it 2x a month.

It shows how Batman is basically bulletproof.

But, of course DC would have loved it if TK could deliver 100k 2x a month, but only the 52 miniseries was able to deliver that level of sales more than once a month post-90s bust. Even 52 fell below 100k in the last few months.

[skyvolt2000]

Do you mean that people are just so disinterested in DC that even popular stuff doesn't sell as well?

Although I think these sales are a little skewed with the #1's on Marvel's side.

I think folks are fed up with investing in books and seeing that support tossed away.

Hulk outsold Batman? Damn. Reminds me when GL used to outsell almost anything Marvel put out. Good times.

If you look at trade sales-you would be SHOCKED at who else beats Batman. Carol Danvers, Ms Marvel & Jane Foster have been doing it for the last 5 years. The women of Marvel have done it way more consistently than the men.

[married guy]

I think Tom King's sales are ok given that the story is controversial and you have to commit to it 2x a month.

It shows how Batman is basically bulletproof.

But, of course DC would have loved it if TK could deliver 100k 2x a month, but only the 52 miniseries was able to deliver that level of sales more than once a month post-90s bust. Even 52 fell below 100k in the last few months.

Which is STILL incredible as 52 shipped WEEKLY at $2.50 an issue!

[MajorHoy]

Which is STILL incredible as 52 shipped WEEKLY at $2.50 an issue!

A price that seems like a true bargain these days . . .

[married guy]

A price that seems like a true bargain these days . . .

Unfortunately!
It still cost me over $300.00 (Australian) for the story (including the 4 tie-in issues)

[SebastianS]

Reminds me of the 90s when Batman was DC’s only marketable character. Morrison on GL, Bendis on Superman, and Johns on Shazam and none of them can break the top 10.

This is nothing like the 90s. In fact, DC could learn a lot from the 90s. Heck, sales-wise, DC can only wish it would be the 90s.

But going back to those writers... I feel a big, big "Meh". Morrison has always been associated with Kyle Rayner, not Hal Jordan, and even though his GL run has been a massive improvement over the previous volumen, I think it is still far from what most readers are interested in a GL title. Johns is way past his primer, and Bendis is a miss more often than a hit (but when he hits, oh boy...).

[Godlike13]

Endgame fever.

[Konja7]

If you look at trade sales-you would be SHOCKED at who else beats Batman. Carol Danvers, Ms Marvel & Jane Foster have been doing it for the last 5 years. The women of Marvel have done it way more consistently than the men.

The thing is that is pretty weird Hulk (or other solos) outsold Batman in floppies.


That said, it is interesting characters like Ms Marvel or Carol Danvers sell trades better than Batman. Do you have a source for this information? I guess I can look for these numbers, but it would be more difficult to compare, since they are released in different months.

If Carol Danvers and Ms Marvel has so good sales, why Marvel constantly relaunch their books?

[Johnny]

This is nothing like the 90s. In fact, DC could learn a lot from the 90s. Heck, sales-wise, DC can only wish it would be the 90s.

But going back to those writers... I feel a big, big "Meh". Morrison has always been associated with Kyle Rayner, not Hal Jordan, and even though his GL run has been a massive improvement over the previous volumen, I think it is still far from what most readers are interested in a GL title. Johns is way past his primer, and Bendis is a miss more often than a hit (but when he hits, oh boy...).

I don't see how Morrison writing Kyle in a team book 20 years ago could have an effect on his current GL run. From what I've seen "most readers" can't agree on anything if their lives depended on it, so what could they be more interested in reading in a GL title. People complained for years about non-stop crossovers and rainbow wars or having a bunch of characters stuck in one book with no character development. Morrison writes a character-driven GL book and takes it in a completely different direction from what we've been getting for the past 15 years and that's not good enough too? Or is that supposed to be a "Hal Jordan problem" all over again.

All 3 writers are past their prime, though ironically Johns is the youngest and yet he seems to have lost the most steam.

[SebastianS]

I don't see how Morrison writing Kyle in a team book 20 years ago could have an effect on his current GL run. From what I've seen "most readers" can't agree on anything if their lives depended on it, so what could they be more interested in reading in a GL title. People complained for years about non-stop crossovers and rainbow wars or having a bunch of characters stuck in one book with no character development. Morrison writes a character-driven GL book and takes it in a completely different direction from what we've been getting for the past 15 years and that's not good enough too? Or is that supposed to be a "Hal Jordan problem" all over again.

All 3 writers are past their prime, though ironically Johns is the youngest and yet he seems to have lost the most steam.

Oh, it is definitely not a Hal Jordan problem, but I don't see how this is a character-driven GL book. Is it less plot-driven than the previous runs? Sure, but it is not quite character-driven, or at least, not my personal definition of character-driven.

And yes, Morrison writing Kyle 20 years ago, when both writer and character were at their prime, is what I think people associate the most. The fact that Morrison decided to tell this particular story also doesn't help. It is quite interesting and much better than the previous run, but the bar was pretty low, to begin with.

[kjn]

That said, it is interesting characters like Ms Marvel or Carol Danvers sell trades better than Batman. Do you have a source for this information? I guess I can look for these numbers, but it would be more difficult to compare, since they are released in different months.

If Carol Danvers and Ms Marvel has so good sales, why Marvel constantly relaunch their books?

Ms Marvel has only been relaunched once, when Saladin Ahmed replaced G Willow Wilson as writer.

Trade sales are also different to compare since they are sold using many more channels. On the other hand, I remember a video from Aaron Bishop (Professor Thorgi) where he mentioned being absolutely stunned over the amount of trades that Ms Marvel was moving.

In a way, when I look at DC's strategy with floppies, it seems to focus on selling more to their already established customers. Titles like Batman Who Laughs or Heroes in Crisis have I imagine very little ability to reach new readers. There Marvel has succeeded much better, thanks to Ms Marvel and Miles Morales.

[Lee Stone]

One reason trades sell better for some characters, I believe, is because relaunches are almost invisible to trade readers.
To them, it's just another story.