DC Sales & Estimates

[RobinFan4880]

Do you guys think DC needs to stick to printing 52-ish issues a month? I sort of wonder sometimes if it wouldn't be better to trim some of the fat off of DC publishing schedule.

[GlennSimpson]

Do you guys think DC needs to stick to printing 52-ish issues a month? I sort of wonder sometimes if it wouldn't be better to trim some of the fat off of DC publishing schedule.

I personally would be fine with a lineup of about 20 books featuring just the best-known characters.

[Lee Stone]

Comics for September 9th print & digital comparison.
Keep in mind that these are the July print issues (the most recent Diamond chart) and September digital issues, so variances due to specific issues can occur.
Books that were released only in one month or the other, and not both, are not counted.

Note: I didn't count Scooby Doo or Suiciders because they weren't on Diamond's July or August charts, and I wasnt sure if they missed that month or just didn't rank.
If you're interested though, digitally they both ranked last under All-Star Section Eight. Suiciders first with 10 ratings (confirmed sales) then Scooby Doo with 1.

Last week's titles in their Diamond ranking order from July:

1. BATMAN
2. BATMAN/SUPERMAN
3. ACTION COMICS
4. NEW SUICIDE SQUAD
5. STARFIRE
6. EARTH-2: SOCIETY
7. RED HOOD/ARSENAL
8. JUSTICE LEAGUE UNITED
9. GOTHAM ACADEMY
10. CATWOMAN
11. ALL-STAR SECTION EIGHT

And their Diamond ranking order from August:

1. BATMAN
2. BATMAN/SUPERMAN
3. ACTION COMICS
4. NEW SUICIDE SQUAD
5. STARFIRE
6. EARTH-2: SOCIETY
7. CATWOMAN
8. JUSTICE LEAGUE UNITED
9. RED HOOD/ARSENAL
10. GOTHAM ACADEMY
11. ALL-STAR SECTION EIGHT

Last week's titles in their Comixology ranking order, along with number of ratings (confirmed sales):

1. BATMAN (345 confirmed sales)
2. ACTION COMICS (136)
3. BATMAN/SUPERMAN (88, adjusted to 92 due to ranking)
4. EARTH-2: SOCIETY (91)
5. GOTHAM ACADEMY (69)
6. STARFIRE (66)
7. HARLEY QUINN: ROAD TRIP SPECIAL (36, adjusted to 44) (note: included here for comparisons)
8. RED HOOD/ARSENAL (43)
9. NEW SUICIDE SQUAD (29, adjusted to 33)
10. JUSTICE LEAGUE UNITED (32)
11. CATWOMAN (24, adjusted to 30)
12. ALL-STAR SECTION EIGHT (29)

Although Harley's special wasn't on the July or August Diamond chart, I went ahead and included it, since it's a #1 issue.

Initial thoughts: The top three and bottom two match up rather closely when compared to July. The middle ground is where we're seeing more differences between print and digital. New Suicide Squad is the print favorite, while Gotham Academy is more popular in digital. And Earth-2: Society tops the middle ground digitally, even having more unadjusted confirmed sales than Batman/Superman, which placed directly above it.

What's interesting about August is the sudden boost for Catwoman in print, while she's the lowest selling ongoing series digitally for this week. Was there a variant cover that caused her sales to go up 5k?

Meanwhile, Harley's Road Trip Special didn't do so hot, coming in at the halfway point this week.

[cranger]

Do you guys think DC needs to stick to printing 52-ish issues a month? I sort of wonder sometimes if it wouldn't be better to trim some of the fat off of DC publishing schedule.

While I think the industry would be healthier if publishers were not putting out so many books that they are just competing with themselves, everyone is going wider. Marvel is boasting that they will have around sixty books launching this fall. If DC cuts a bunch of books and does not replace them then a lot of those customers end up buying something from another publisher or nothing at all.

[Tayswift]

Do you guys think DC needs to stick to printing 52-ish issues a month? I sort of wonder sometimes if it wouldn't be better to trim some of the fat off of DC publishing schedule.

I owuld be ok with 30-40 books, with the best creative teams and concepts for a while

[RobinFan4880]

While I think the industry would be healthier if publishers were not putting out so many books that they are just competing with themselves, everyone is going wider. Marvel is boasting that they will have around sixty books launching this fall. If DC cuts a bunch of books and does not replace them then a lot of those customers end up buying something from another publisher or nothing at all.

Most of those titles are going to be canceled within 8 issues though. Even if they are good, they will only get 12 issues. Is that better or worse than a tighter, more focused line of books?

I owuld be ok with 30-40 books, with the best creative teams and concepts for a while

That is my thought as well. Put all your effort into making 30-40 amazing books that get all the publicity rather than diluting the talent and character pool down with 50 books.

[rightsuperhero]

That's a lot of books. I wonder if DC and Marvel are using robots to write some of their material like the Associate Press.

[cranger]

Most of those titles are going to be canceled within 8 issues though. Even if they are good, they will only get 12 issues. Is that better or worse than a tighter, more focused line of books?

I guess it depends on what exactly is better or worse? I am only talking about the market share the first month after those books stop shipping.

For what it's worth, it was only a few years ago that Marvel trimmed the fat in order to make the core titles perform better and that did not help much or last too long.

[dan12456]

Do you guys think DC needs to stick to printing 52-ish issues a month? I sort of wonder sometimes if it wouldn't be better to trim some of the fat off of DC publishing schedule.

I've never understood what the benefit to the customer is of reducing the line. In the end you get the exact same books for the main characters you would've gotten either way but now you lose out on anything about B characters etc. And you gain nothing, I mean if you have good creators for 40 books you get that either way and maybe you find a gem new writer with the other 12 who wouldn't get a chance otherwise.

[joybeans]

If you trim the line of books, then you get 30 books about Batman, Superman, Harley Quinn, and Justice League.

[Tayswift]

If you trim the line of books, then you get 30 books about Batman, Superman, Harley Quinn, and Justice League.

more like batman related

[GlennSimpson]

I've never understood what the benefit to the customer is of reducing the line. In the end you get the exact same books for the main characters you would've gotten either way but now you lose out on anything about B characters etc. And you gain nothing, I mean if you have good creators for 40 books you get that either way and maybe you find a gem new writer with the other 12 who wouldn't get a chance otherwise.

If you trim the line of books, then you get 30 books about Batman, Superman, Harley Quinn, and Justice League.

Thing is, in that situation you get the best writers and artists on those books, rather than spreading them out among so many other books/characters.

[dan12456]

Thing is, in that situation you get the best writers and artists on those books, rather than spreading them out among so many other books/characters.

Those characters already get the best writers. It's part of why the B level books never take off. Snyder on Red Hood and Arsenal is instantly a talked about book, but it'll never in a million years happen. The only time B level books ever get good writers is when it's someone new to the industry (King), they request the project, or it's a priority character because of tv or something (Lemire and Green Arrow).

[Dolores - The Worst Poster Ever]

The numbers for August are out. I've only taken a glance at them, and I noticed that Superman was up by a few thousand copies, due I'm sure to #43 as the issue where his identity is exposed, but I also noticed that Action Comics saw a bigger bump in sales than Superman.

Action Comics increased by 3927, while Superman increased by 3134. Action Comics is generally considered to be the stronger book, so it'd be nice to see some of the people that picked it up in August stick with it.

Grayson went from 33,990 in July to 36,538. Batgirl decreased by about a thousand copies.

[Lee Stone]

The numbers for August are out. I've only taken a glance at them, and I noticed that Superman was up by a few thousand copies, due I'm sure to #43 as the issue where his identity is exposed, but I also noticed that Action Comics saw a bigger bump in sales than Superman.

Action Comics increased by 3927, while Superman increased by 3134. Action Comics is generally considered to be the stronger book, so it'd be nice to see some of the people that picked it up in August stick with it.

I think this is the reason for both Action Comics and Catwoman's boost.

The Bombshell variants.