June 2019 Sales: Black Cat #1 at #1

[Zeitgeist]

Can anyone explain why BC is so hot? There’s no movie property with her, and while she’s relatively popular within Spidey fandom, the character is mostly unknown outside of it.

You'd think that, but try finding a cosplayer who hasn't slapped on a white wig and a black corset.

[Batman Begins 2005]

That it does. I've been a fan of the character since her creation and I have zero interest in her current book/direction.

Like you, I'm a Spider-Gwen fan since her arrival in Edge of Spider-Verse #2. I gave the new team a chance after Latour/Rodriguez two volumes but dropped the book with Spider-Gwen: Ghost Spider #4.

[Frontier]

It's funny that just a short while ago Marvel was all in on removing all the "sexy" female attire and characters in their books, but when they want to actually sell comics, it's "bring in the dozens Scott Campbell variant covers!"

I mean, I guess I could argue that it's appropriate for the character, but this is Marvel. They always flip flop when convenient .

[Agent Z]

It's funny that just a short while ago Marvel was all in on removing all the "sexy" female attire and characters in their books, but when they want to actually sell comics, it's "bring in the dozens Scott Campbell variant covers!"

I mean Emma Frost was still around and most of the female characters were still wearing skin tight costumes.

[myownlittleusername]

And variants. Never forget about the variants .

https://www.cbr.com/mayo-report-june...les-explainer/

Black Cat #1 took its place at the top of the list, thanks mainly to its variant covers. The first issue had a regular cover, four open-to-order variants, one of which was an Artgerm cover, a 1-in-10 cover, a 1-in-25 cover, a 1-in-50 cover, a 1-in-100 cover and a 1-in-200 cover. The second issue has a regular cover, a single open-to-order cover with a Carnage-ized theme, a 1-in-25 cover, a 1-in-50 cover and a 1-in-100 cover. With only half the variant covers, sales will drop but since there is still a 1-in-100 cover, sales should plummet. Black Cat #3 has a regular cover, a single open-to-order cover, a 1-in-25 cover, a 1-in-50 cover and a 1-in-100 cover.

The drop from the second to third issues won't reflect a change in the promotional push from the variant covers, since they have equivalent cover gimmicks with the only real difference being the art itself. Sometimes that can make a big difference, such as we see with Stanley "Artgerm" Lau's covers. Other times, the art itself matters far less than the ratios and other aspects which make the cover rarer. Black Cat #4, however, only has a regular cover, so this is when we'll likely see a drop caused by the lack of variant covers.

[JGC]

I'm curious how Black Cat is doing by #4 and #5. That's when we'll really have an idea of how the title is doing.

Black Cat will be cancelled by issue 10. Read issues 1 and 2 and there’s nothing new to hook me to this character who I’ve loved for 30 years. And if I can’t be sold on it... that’s bad for the title. Unless of course JSC draws cover variants for every single issue?!

[Hugo Strange]

Black Cat will be cancelled by issue 10. Read issues 1 and 2 and there’s nothing new to hook me to this character who I’ve loved for 30 years. And if I can’t be sold on it... that’s bad for the title. Unless of course JSC draws cover variants for every single issue?!

It's selling too much to be canceled so fast.

[bob.schoonover]

It's selling too much to be canceled so fast.

Sales can be fickle. FNSM went from 78K to 28K between issues 1 and 2. Once the variant covers stop, we'll be able to see Black Cat's true level. That is not to say her new level won't be robust and capable of sustaining for a couple years or anything, but it's incredibly unlikely that it'll maintain as a top 10 book when the variants stop.

[Frontier]

Sales can be fickle. FNSM went from 78K to 28K between issues 1 and 2. Once the variant covers stop, we'll be able to see Black Cat's true level. That is not to say her new level won't be robust and capable of sustaining for a couple years or anything, but it's incredibly unlikely that it'll maintain as a top 10 book when the variants stop.

Yeah, at this points the variants might be a good buffer to maintain the title and hopefully net it enough of an audience to keep it going once the large swath of variants stop.

[Vortex85]

I was iffy on whether to continue but I picked up issue 3 and REALLY enjoyed this one. I found myself smiling when I finished. Bats the talking ghost dog thinking Felicia was Silver Sable / Felicia pretending to be Sable was really cute. I really liked Felicia in this issue she was really fiesty and fun. The idea of Felicia taking on magic with her bad luck powers was interesting and actually pretty cool to see.


I’m going to continue the series for now based on this issue. Great stuff!