Aren't licensed properties comics selling well anymore?

[Zauriel]

https://www.comichron.com/monthlycom...0/2020-01.html

In January 2020, Star Wars #1 is in the 3rd slot and reaches over 97,000 copies sold.

I recall, years ago, another Star Wars Comic issue 1 sold close to 1 million copies in a month.

Star Wars is the most popular comic book series based on a movie franchise. Even #1 didn't sell over 100,000 copies.

The thirdhighest selling comic book based on a licensed property after the Star Wars #1 and #2 is Power Rangers/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #2 that sold only 29,526 copies and is in the Number 54 slot.

So the superhero genre is still the dominant genre in the American comics market. Comics based on licensed properties, including even Star Wars cannot beat the Superheroes.

Star Trek, Gi.Joe, Transformers, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Uncle Scrooge and Red Sonja comics are not selling well.

Uncle Scrooge comic book issues 52 and 53 both sold only over 2,900 copies each.

[SquirrelMan]

I'm wondering if the Disney stuff still does well in other parts of the world.

[Steel Inquisitor]

How are the numbers compared to non licensed books?

[DanMad1977]

I'm wondering if the Disney stuff still does well in other parts of the world.

Years ago Mickey Mouse alone sold more copies in Germany than any Super Hero book in the U.S. If I recall that right, they sold triple the amount of the best selling Superhero book out there. But I guess they are not selling so good anymore. Who reads comics these days?

[Gaastra]

Disney comics still sell well overseas. In a few counties woody woodpecker and looney tunes still sell well.

Japan cartoon/ manga stars like doraemon still sell well.

[williamtheday]

Disney comics still sell well overseas. In a few counties woody woodpecker and looney tunes still sell well.

Japan cartoon/ manga stars like doraemon still sell well.

I've heard Woody Woodpecker is really popular in Cuba, which has nothing to do with politics

[GOLGO 13]

https://www.comichron.com/monthlycom...0/2020-01.html

In January 2020, Star Wars #1 is in the 3rd slot and reaches over 97,000 copies sold.

I recall, years ago, another Star Wars Comic issue 1 sold close to 1 million copies in a month.

Star Wars is the most popular comic book series based on a movie franchise. Even #1 didn't sell over 100,000 copies...

Disney Star Wars is full-blown woke & the masses have found Disney SW...unacceptable.

[Steel Inquisitor]

Disney Star Wars is full-blown woke & the masses have found Disney SW...unacceptable.

Disney Star Wars has made numerous billion dollar films and crucially acclaimed cartoons and tv shows from the brand. They love this Star Wars.

[Zauriel]

Disney Star Wars is full-blown woke & the masses have found Disney SW...unacceptable.

I guess the hype died. That explains the lower sales of the new Star Wars #1 than the previous volume of Star Wars #1

[MRP]

I guess the hype died. That explains the lower sales of the new Star Wars #1 than the previous volume of Star Wars #1

Well the previous series did have something like 68 different variant covers and was included in a Loot Crate subscription box to help boost its sales numbers, which the most recent series did not have (much fewer variants, no Loot Crate bump), so the disparity is to be expected.

The problem is that the direct market caters to die-hard comics fans-some, but not all of whom may be fans of the various licensed properties (however most of the customer base in the direct market is super-hero oriented). Fans of those properties may not be comic fans, and if they are not, they are never going to see individual issues of comics featuring them because they are only available in direct market comic shops or online specialty comics sellers, which if you's not already a comic fan, you are not going to look at. Those non-comic fans of licensed properties may happen upon collected editions in book form of those comics sold in the book trade, not in the direct market, but those numbers will not be reflected in the sales numbers from Diamond that Comichron features. Many of the licensed comics do much better in collected form in the book trade, but you would never know it from looking at the data on Comichron. To get that info, you would really need to pore through the data that Brian Hibbs highlights each year from Bookscan tracking sales of comic material in the book trade.

So what the Diamond/Comichron numbers show is is what fraction of the die-hard comic book customer is also buying licensed comics, not how well licensed comics are doing overall. Comichron numbers are good for tracking how comics sell in the direct market i.e. to customers in the niche hobby market, but the direct market is not always indicative of how something is selling overall in the mass market, particularly with non-superhero material which finds it way into the hands of the mass-market audience via the book trade.

-M

[Zauriel]

Well the previous series did have something like 68 different variant covers and was included in a Loot Crate subscription box to help boost its sales numbers, which the most recent series did not have (much fewer variants, no Loot Crate bump), so the disparity is to be expected.

The problem is that the direct market caters to die-hard comics fans-some, but not all of whom may be fans of the various licensed properties (however most of the customer base in the direct market is super-hero oriented). Fans of those properties may not be comic fans, and if they are not, they are never going to see individual issues of comics featuring them because they are only available in direct market comic shops or online specialty comics sellers, which if you's not already a comic fan, you are not going to look at. Those non-comic fans of licensed properties may happen upon collected editions in book form of those comics sold in the book trade, not in the direct market, but those numbers will not be reflected in the sales numbers from Diamond that Comichron features. Many of the licensed comics do much better in collected form in the book trade, but you would never know it from looking at the data on Comichron. To get that info, you would really need to pore through the data that Brian Hibbs highlights each year from Bookscan tracking sales of comic material in the book trade.

So what the Diamond/Comichron numbers show is is what fraction of the die-hard comic book customer is also buying licensed comics, not how well licensed comics are doing overall. Comichron numbers are good for tracking how comics sell in the direct market i.e. to customers in the niche hobby market, but the direct market is not always indicative of how something is selling overall in the mass market, particularly with non-superhero material which finds it way into the hands of the mass-market audience via the book trade.

-M

I see. So the variant covers played a role in the sales. And the gimmick worked for the publishers. After all X-Men #1 sold 3 to 8 million copies because of variant covers in the nineties.

No comic book has sold a million copies since the speculator market bubbled and collapsed. Although a few books did come close to the mark.