Champions Appreciation 2021

[Jaychance]

Looks like new series are coming next year, She-Hulk and Moon Girl & Devil Dinosaur feb 2022, so they might bring back others because those two have shows coming.

[Frontier]

But that's just the thing: why aren't the sales there anymore for a character like Kamala when Marvel literally used to brag about how much she was selling only a few years ago? Are we supposed to believe the character just stopped being popular in such a short period of time, specially now that she's about to headline her own tv series? Or is it possible that the market that Kamala is more popular with is simply not being explored enough by Marvel anymore? Even back on GWW's run, we were told that the trades and graphic novel format were pretty much what kept Kamala going for so long. But if Marvel is focusing on single-issue, monthly sales for the Direct Market, then no wonder they're gonna consider her a ''flop''. Except that was never her forte. And it's not just Kamala. Notice how we don't have books like The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl and Moon Girl And Devil Dinosaur anymore, either; books that sell poorly in the Direct Market but manage to keep going for long without cancellation because they are a hit through Scholastic. So it's not just about what sells, but what sales metric they're using, and how it seems they are regressing to old formats instead of branching out.

As for Miles... well, sharing a name with the best selling solo hero of the entire publisher probably doesn't hurt.

Well, it seems like her main comic sales started tanking after the CWII tie-in (and relaunching so soon might have also been a factor).

[ZuLuLu]

But that's just the thing: why aren't the sales there anymore for a character like Kamala when Marvel literally used to brag about how much she was selling only a few years ago? Are we supposed to believe the character just stopped being popular in such a short period of time, specially now that she's about to headline her own tv series? Or is it possible that the market that Kamala is more popular with is simply not being explored enough by Marvel anymore? Even back on GWW's run, we were told that the trades and graphic novel format were pretty much what kept Kamala going for so long. But if Marvel is focusing on single-issue, monthly sales for the Direct Market, then no wonder they're gonna consider her a ''flop''. Except that was never her forte. And it's not just Kamala. Notice how we don't have books like The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl and Moon Girl And Devil Dinosaur anymore, either; books that sell poorly in the Direct Market but manage to keep going for long without cancellation because they are a hit through Scholastic. So it's not just about what sells, but what sales metric they're using, and how it seems they are regressing to old formats instead of branching out.

As for Miles... well, sharing a name with the best selling solo hero of the entire publisher probably doesn't hurt.

I am mainly guessing based on the data I've seen but I don't think they stop being popular, even though I always felt they were more niche, I think the problem may be how these consumers buy books in comparison to regular comic book buyers.

When Ms. Marvel, The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, and Moon Girl And Devil Dinosaur were being pushed Marvel was making an effort to sell these books through new markets, and by all accounts, they did have some success with these books, for example, if one just looks at Marvel's Barnes and Noble bestseller list they are constantly in the top 100 and they still sell relatively well on Amazon.

I think what happened is that while these books attracted new customers who mainly buy trades and graphic novel format, however, they were not the type of customers that were willing to buy 2 to 3 books a year that would be needed if these books are to be viable as ongoing. For example Ms. Marvel and Moon Girl, their first trade volumes were very strong sellers but later volumes sales were not as strong but build slowly over time, which likely means that these customers didn't rush to buy these books every 6 months when a new trade volume was released but they pick them up about a year or so later, so it didn't make sense for Marvel to continue to publish new volumes of the books as quickly.

That is why I think recently Marvel has shifted to making a lot of their YA books towards minis instead of ongoing if the book sells well in the trades and graphic novel format market they can produce another mini in 1 year or 2 later, this keeps new volumes in the market but not oversaturate it.

[Dipter]

Would it be fair to say that the Champions team has been detrimental to Kamala’s career in the long run?

[ZuLuLu]

Looks like Champion Reinforcement member Lunella Lafayette, Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur will have a new book in 2022, most likely to coincide with her TV show, so there is hope for Ironheart.

Moon Girl.jpg

[Will Evans]

Would it be fair to say that the Champions team has been detrimental to Kamala’s career in the long run?

No. But the Inhumans have.

[Jaychance]

I've been in a few comic groups and readers of Kamala are volume readers and would sometimes wait for a sale be it digital or physical like black Friday
as they weren't in a hurry to read the latest volume, also less book stores around and comic shops not carrying volumes don't help either.

[Frontier]

Looks like Champion Reinforcement member Lunella Lafayette, Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur will have a new book in 2022, most likely to coincide with her TV show, so there is hope for Ironheart.

Moon Girl.jpg

Be interesting to see how this book fairs compared to the last run. Will they tone Lunella down a tad?

[Digifiend]

Writer's name obscured, almost. Whose name begins with L and ends with E? And does the artist's name end in K or R?

EDIT: Her cartoon's showrunner is Lawrence Fishburne, who apparently is a big Devil Dinosaur fan. Looks like he's writing this too.
https://bleedingcool.com/comics/marv...nce-fishburne/

[Huntsman Spider]

Writer's name obscured, almost. Whose name begins with L and ends with E? And does the artist's name end in K or R?

EDIT: Her cartoon's showrunner is Lawrence Fishburne, who apparently is a big Devil Dinosaur fan. Looks like he's writing this too.
https://bleedingcool.com/comics/marv...nce-fishburne/

Laurence Fishburne trying out writing comics? This should be interesting, hopefully in a good way.

[Will Evans]

Writer's name obscured, almost. Whose name begins with L and ends with E? And does the artist's name end in K or R?

EDIT: Her cartoon's showrunner is Lawrence Fishburne, who apparently is a big Devil Dinosaur fan. Looks like he's writing this too.
https://bleedingcool.com/comics/marv...nce-fishburne/

I believe you’ve nailed it my friend

[ZuLuLu]

I've been in a few comic groups and readers of Kamala are volume readers and would sometimes wait for a sale be it digital or physical like black Friday
as they weren't in a hurry to read the latest volume, also less book stores around and comic shops not carrying volumes don't help either.

That's the pattern I've seen with the sales of these books.

Writer's name obscured, almost. Whose name begins with L and ends with E? And does the artist's name end in K or R?

EDIT: Her cartoon's showrunner is Lawrence Fishburne, who apparently is a big Devil Dinosaur fan. Looks like he's writing this too.
https://bleedingcool.com/comics/marv...nce-fishburne/

That's a good guess.

[LAWtoyoto 432]

I think Moon Girl's successs run is fine but she is mostly a child and her demographic audience is pretty much aim for children. Asking a grow men to buy the run is considering underage.

Riri Williams on the other end could work, but because she is Bendis's puppet. People obvious won't support anything with Bendis in it. It's pretty much tarnish her reputation as a rising star if her role purpose is not to become her own Iron Man.

[skyvolt2000]

No. But the Inhumans have.

No they have not.

The things messing with Kamala are-

The gators
The faction of folks who hate not just her but her creator who is NOT named G Willow Wilson.
The youtuber who use HER to try to debunk diverse books sales. We seen some of those videos here.
Stores not stocking her book.
At times access to any merchandise she has. Aside from that Gamer Avenger figure-I don't see much solo stuff with her on shelves.

That's the pattern I've seen with the sales of these books.

No that is generally every book. Look at how many sales Midtown Comics have.
If you did not care for what cover you got-a person could save 50-90% off of some books.


Also in the case of Ms Marvel there are OTHER editions of her book. That we don't know about. In my case I trip up on them by accident either at the library or Half Price Books.

Hardcover Ms marvel book that takes up her first 2 trades.

Moon Girl has some that cost $10 and collect 2 trades as does Shuri.

Library editions that collect 2-4 trades.

In Star Trek's case (and Archie) there were DVD collecting every Star Trek book made (before the 2009 movie). Circuit City had them. Archie had some that collected an entire year of the main title.

[Digifiend]

Laurence Fishburne trying out writing comics? This should be interesting, hopefully in a good way.

I'd expect synergy with the upcoming cartoon (the logo matches) - and isn't Lunella going to be older in that? If she's aged up, that might break continuity by changing her age relative to other kid/teen heroes.