Comichron March 2021 estimated sales chart

[FFJamie94]

Hopefully Excalibur is already cancelled but it just wasn't announced.

Why would you hope a book is cancelled?
If you don't like it, you don't have to read it.
But some of us do like it.

[Kingdom X]

Comment deleted.

[cranger]

I saw and i was just analyzing it. by the logic in here marvel had 25 books under 100 from the other line. And if we assume the units are selling as much as they were then which it seems people are doing, Hickman books are overall selling far more units and bringing in more money than the 2014 chart Actually he is probably covering a few of those 25 unneeded books that the funds could then shift elsewhere.

Eyes playing tricks on me the issue numbers are mainly comparable for the x-books but look at the titles and remember who were in those books. Cota debuting to better numbers than Uncanny Xmen with pretty much all unknown characters.

There really is not much you can get from the current 'numbers'. It is not even that the rankings don't have quantities, because they do not know those numbers, it is that the rankings might not even be anywhere close. The current Comichron numbers are practically useless, at least when trying to get the kind of numbers we used to. These numbers are true of some sample of shops, but the problem is we don't have the same pre-covid numbers for those same shops to do a comparison with.

All I was trying to point out is that the X-Line has done just as well by any reasonable examination in prior years.

As for COTA, something else we won't see anymore is the fall of from #1s. #2 will probably lose half the numbers, and #3 maybe a quarter of those. It would not be unusual for #4-#6 to be about %25 of those initial sales, unless the book really catches on then it will level off after #3 and maybe see a slow upward trend. COTA was the first appearance of all of these characters, which alot of people figure $4 and maybe at some point those characters end up in the MCU and that book is worth $100.

[Omega Alpha]

Too true. Not to mention there are likely fewer comic shops now than before the pandemic.

One only needs to compare the box office numbers of last weekend and compare to the movies in the same positions in 2019. According to some posters here (always the same ones), that has nothing with pandemic, it's just that America hates Godzilla vs Kong. It is a flop.

[Kingdom X]

One only needs to compare the box office numbers of last weekend and compare to the movies in the same positions in 2019. According to some posters here (always the same ones), that has nothing with pandemic, it's just that America hates Godzilla vs Kong. It is a flop.

Ok I deleted my comment earlier because I didn't want to just continue meaningless discussion, but YES. Like why are we pretending like comic shops haven't closed, like consumers aren't spending less, and like more people haven't moved to digital for safety purposes?

[ChronoRogue]

Why would you hope a book is cancelled?
If you don't like it, you don't have to read it.
But some of us do like it.

To be fair, I think they more a want a book reshuffle and for certain characters to move on. Some fans (including me) have been very vocal about not liking Excalibur's focus or direction, with more than half of the cast feeling like window dressings. Tini seems to struggle balancing character focus.

I'm glad Rogue's moved onto to X-Men, if at least temporarily, because her being on Excalibur for two years was not a fun reading experience as fan. while duggan has struggled with this same issue in marauders, he's proven that he's able to write rogue before in UA

[jwatson]

There really is not much you can get from the current 'numbers'. It is not even that the rankings don't have quantities, because they do not know those numbers, it is that the rankings might not even be anywhere close. The current Comichron numbers are practically useless, at least when trying to get the kind of numbers we used to. These numbers are true of some sample of shops, but the problem is we don't have the same pre-covid numbers for those same shops to do a comparison with.

All I was trying to point out is that the X-Line has done just as well by any reasonable examination in prior years.

As for COTA, something else we won't see anymore is the fall of from #1s. #2 will probably lose half the numbers, and #3 maybe a quarter of those. It would not be unusual for #4-#6 to be about %25 of those initial sales, unless the book really catches on then it will level off after #3 and maybe see a slow upward trend. COTA was the first appearance of all of these characters, which alot of people figure $4 and maybe at some point those characters end up in the MCU and that book is worth $100.

I guess in most senses try to ignore something that can be easily manipulated. For instance like diverse books, it's not above people to purposefully put in less orders or extreme fanboys running shops ordering one for more and less for the other. so iwhen a book is here it's here when it's gone it's gone.

But overall if we were holding things equal based on the numbers not only are the x-books doing better overall they are doing better with more obscure books so imagine when the heroing starts. My main point was if the main line can support 25 books under 100 why can't the x-line support the same amount over it. No one knows what the budgets are.

[cranger]

One only needs to compare the box office numbers of last weekend and compare to the movies in the same positions in 2019. According to some posters here (always the same ones), that has nothing with pandemic, it's just that America hates Godzilla vs Kong. It is a flop.

Ok I deleted my comment earlier because I didn't want to just continue meaningless discussion, but YES. Like why are we pretending like comic shops haven't closed, like consumers aren't spending less, and like more people haven't moved to digital for safety purposes?

The rankings would be indifferent to overall market size. If a book is in the top 10 now or the top 10 two years ago, why would the number of stores being opened matter to whether that book was in the top 10 or not.

Besides, the Comichron 'numbers' say initial order were between 7 and 8 million in March of 2021 in the Era of Covid, with dollar sales between $32 and $34 million.

https://www.comichron.com/monthlycom...8/2018-07.html

July 2018, in the Era of Prosperity, Diamond shipped 7.68 million books for a total dollar amount of around $30 million. That means sales are higher now than before.

The comic market is not the the movie theatre industry.

[Grey]

It's way too soon to move away from Krakoa there are still to many plot threads as well as the covid 19 that pushed many of the books back.


Sales =/= quality of books

Just interest in the books and based on the complaints of people thinking the mutants are supremist (a silly argument) that has more of a pull than if the story being told is good

This thread is about sales. All we can do is speculate why the numbers are what they are. Clearly there is something uninteresting, deterring, unfun, or whatever (to current marvel comic book readers) about the current line, even if one assumes that they are quality books.

Simple as that.

[jwatson]

One could also assume shop owners as unhappy and determined as some on this board are in dislike for the new era could be purposefully not ordering the books. I can't do a study but i know several stores in the south didn't have the Hickman books and post launch but did have plenty when the Xmen gold launch happened and beyond. So what's to say some aren't ordering just the minimum on purpose.

Can be a simple as that too.

[cranger]

I guess in most senses try to ignore something that can be easily manipulated. For instance like diverse books, it's not above people to purposefully put in less orders or extreme fanboys running shops ordering one for more and less for the other. so iwhen a book is here it's here when it's gone it's gone.

But overall if we were holding things equal based on the numbers not only are the x-books doing better overall they are doing better with more obscure books so imagine when the heroing starts. My main point was if the main line can support 25 books under 100 why can't the x-line support the same amount over it. No one knows what the budgets are.

That is a slightly different topic and a bit of a what if. I mean, if they could publish 25 X Books that all stayed in the top 100 (I will accept this as a shorthand for above losing money level) then of course they could and should do it. I am not saying they should not be selling 10 X titles, the only thing I offered is that they have sold 10 X titles like this before, the X Line is actually known for being bloated.

But to many readers, it does not matter to them if 25 books are selling in the Top 100 if none (or at least more than one) of those books is singularly exciting enough to sell in the Top 25 or Top 10 even. While on one hand it should not matter if other people don't read a book and only matters if the person buying it likes it, but often it is a sign of something, and even if it shouldn't, eventually it is a sign of something to the execs. When they get the reports and see Spider-Man, Avengers, Thor, Daredevil and Venom as the top sellers, they will start saying sell more of those, and eventually they start replacing those 25 X books, because even though they are selling alright, they can replace them with something that can sell more.

[Grey]

X-Men is a plotless book. That's inexcusable in the flagship.



Too soon? Even with Covid this status quo has lasted too long - they didn't need to abandon Krakoa but they should've branched out sooner.



I agree about sales not correlating to quality.

I don't think Krakoa having a tinge of Mutant Supremacy is a silly argument just because you disagree with it.

Agreed regarding the last statement. Someone seeing the books differently than you doesn’t make them silly or wrong.

Also regarding the tinge of supremacy, if I felt like doing a psych analysis I’d ask the question what is Hickman drawing on from within his creative reservoir to write what he is writing, but I simply don’t care for the books enough to go there. (In case it isn’t clear, I’m not suggesting he has a certain subconscious point he’s trying to make- I’m just thinking out loud).

[Grey]

One could also assume shop owners as unhappy and determined as some on this board are in dislike for the new era could be purposefully not ordering the books. I can't do a study but i know several stores in the south didn't have the Hickman books and post launch but did have plenty when the Xmen gold launch happened and beyond. So what's to say some aren't ordering just the minimum on purpose.

Can be a simple as that too.

Yes, this is a valid speculation, which falls within the realm of the simplicity that is “speculating why the rankings are low.”

[Rang10]

The rankings would be indifferent to overall market size. If a book is in the top 10 now or the top 10 two years ago, why would the number of stores being opened matter to whether that book was in the top 10 or not.

Besides, the Comichron 'numbers' say initial order were between 7 and 8 million in March of 2021 in the Era of Covid, with dollar sales between $32 and $34 million.

https://www.comichron.com/monthlycom...8/2018-07.html

July 2018, in the Era of Prosperity, Diamond shipped 7.68 million books for a total dollar amount of around $30 million. That means sales are higher now than before.

The comic market is not the the movie theatre industry.

I have seen many articles saying that sales to comic shops are still good and strong, many stores were abrle to thrive on these pandemic times.
Comichron manager even said that this March sales are bigger than last March 2020.

[Grey]

I said this to BP fans hating on Coates and now I will say it here. These poor comic sales are probably more reflective of the comic market in general as opposed to readers liking or not liking the story. With pirating and now covid there are a lot of factors that can adversely impact sales numbers.

Well, these are rankings not sales numbers. At least what the OP posted. So unless pirating and covid is only affecting readers of certain books, the rankings should proportionally be the same.

I do agree though that there are a lot of factors that make numbers harder to interpret than usual.