August 2019 sales

[MichelleDiMera]

Glad Carnage did well..one of my favorite villains.

[Meras]

Why are the Diamond Comics numbers (https://www.diamondcomics.com/Home/1...ticleID=234916) always higher than the Comichron ones ? Which ones are the most accurate ? It is even more intriguing since I think I read somewhere that Diamond was one of the sources for the Comichron numbers...

[comicscollector]

I am intrigued to see the next months sales in regards of the History of the Marvel Universe because issue three and the rest will be about better known history of the Marvel Universe the more recent history of Marvel.
So i would guess the next issues will be better ranked in the next months that the previous two because those were from older stories
And speaking of Limited series,Symbiote Spider-Man#5 not being even in the Top 50 was odd to me,that limited series was quite good imho.

[cranger]

Why are the Diamond Comics numbers (https://www.diamondcomics.com/Home/1...ticleID=234916) always higher than the Comichron ones ? Which ones are the most accurate ? It is even more intriguing since I think I read somewhere that Diamond was one of the sources for the Comichron numbers...

I think you are seeing the 287.11 for Carnage #1 and thinking it means 287,110, which it does not. It is a multiplier based on what some other book sold, usually Batman. So if Batman sold 80K you would multiply that by the index and divide by 100 for whatever book you want to know the sales for.


Batman 77 has an index of 100, so it is the key.

Oddly enough, Comichron has Batman 77 at 81,215 and Absolute Carnage 1 at 233,173 but when I multiply

81,215 x 2.8711 I get 233,176. Sure it is only 3 books, but I think it shows they are taking a total units sold and adding up all the indexes and figuring each book out as a percent.

[Meras]

Thank you very much for the explanation ! I should have noticed the "index" thing before, but I think the similarity between the numbers got me wrong. (And maybe I subconsciously wanted comics to sell better lol)

[skyvolt2000]

The problem with this is if a shop orders 10 copies, maybe 7 subs and 3 shelf copies, and Marvel sends an extra 5, which ones do they give away for free? Sure, 7 people are already 'locked in' so screw them if they wonder why someone else is getting that issue for free, but how do you sell the 3 copies you paid for if you are giving away 5 for free. Especially if the 3 people who might have bought it for cover price are the ones to grab the free issues?

Are those regular cover or variant?

I have a subscription for Miles Morales. I get the books a week after they come out. ONE little issue...... I get the regular covers. If I want the variant-I have to buy them from the store.

Also from what I have seen from my store those extras end up in bins or blind grab bags.
Or from what I have seen from Movie Trading Post-comic book stores sell those extra to THEM.

No, there are plenty of ways to market books, extended previews inserted in books, 25 cent specials, events. Maybe also by not having 100 other books competing against each other. But, if Marvel thinks demand is being underestimated than (and while I do think they abuse this sometimes) sending free copies to retailers that retailers can sell (so that people don't come to the store with cash in hand but nothing to spend it on) is the best thing so those people will buy the next book instead of giving up. Someone being given a free book is less likely to buy the next one than someone who paid for it.

Also Marvel did they that and got PUSH BACK. Remember Mosaic? Free sampler. At Barnes & Nobles?

It was a smart thing to do but if folks are going to be ungrateful and take issue with it-why do it?


Maybe doing an online zero issue or RESTRICTING every first issue to be a COMPLETE story would help.

[Raye]

the overships are the regular cover. They are just trying to get the books into more readers hands so they can see if they like the book, not give collectors more chances to get variant covers. Likewise, subscriptions are more for reading than they are collecting.

But on that note, though I am usually a digital reader, i do get my nieces subscriptions to some comics. Recently I switched them over to Loki and Valkyrie (their choice, tho they do know i am rather fond of Loki) because their other books had been cancelled, but the sub missed the first 2 issues of each. So i went to the shop to get them, and my store orders fairly heavily for the shelf, it's a big, busy store, so they do usually have a thick stack of every book. But Loki and Jane's books stacks (Loki #1 and Valkyrie #2 specifically, since those were the ones with overships) weren't all that much thicker than other books, and the Valkyrie #1 stack was thinner than most, it appeared to me like they actually had under-ordered those books, and some of the extra copies were actually being sold, or at least would in the next little while. And though every store won't be in the same position, having actually ordered what their customers would buy, and will end up with some unsellable copies as a result, hey, they were free. And for the stores that really did order too few, it's great. And I don't think Marvel cares if they end up in bins or sold on to a third party if the stores can't sell them - it still means a new reader may pick them up, even if it's at a discount, and may continue getting the other issues of the series. But the point made by cranger remains, that they can't just make some copies of a book free to customers at release, it's not fair. Why would anyone buy a copy if a store is giving them out for free?

And I don't see how restricting the first issue to being a done in one would help. for one, people are buying these based on the cover and maybe solicit, the actual contents of the book won't come into play much for the initial purchase of first issue. (unless the art is particularly good or bad) And say it is a done in one, why come back for issue 2 if there is no hook for a continuing story?