DC Sales & Estimates

[The Darknight Detective]

I think the main difference is that DC wouldn't put A-list talent on a licensed book over Batman or Justice League.

Which is another reason, potentially, why it wouldn't have Marvel numbers. That doesn't mean it would be in the 40,000 range, however.

[Mister Ferro]

Maybe they would have put A-list talent on the book, especially with the new movie coming out and fan fervor at an all time high for WB's Star Wars.

If not a Snyder/Johns caliber writer they would have put top level artists ie. Manapul to make the book beautiful as hell.

[Paul Newell]

Without Secret Wars, Star Wars, and the relaunch, they probably would have still sold 30 million, which is still 6,000,000 more than what DC sold...

I disagree, I did a quick analysis 3 months in, and without the Star Wars issues existing at that point, (About 10), The Marvel Universe sales were very close to DC's. My feeling is that the MU titles alone would be approx. two million to two and a half more.....Even with Secret Wars.

The Star Wars issues sell a lot.

[Lee Stone]

I disagree, I did a quick analysis 3 months in, and without the Star Wars issues existing at that point, (About 10), The Marvel Universe sales were very close to DC's. My feeling is that the MU titles alone would be approx. two million to two and a half more.....Even with Secret Wars.

The Star Wars issues sell a lot.

I don't disagree with you, but people forget that if there were no Star Wars books, then...
A. Marvel would've most likely had something else with those creators.
B. Retailers would've had a lot of free money to throw on other books. And I doubt that money would've been split evenly between DC and Marvel.

[GlennSimpson]

I don't disagree with you, but people forget that if there were no Star Wars books, then...
A. Marvel would've most likely had something else with those creators.
B. Retailers would've had a lot of free money to throw on other books. And I doubt that money would've been split evenly between DC and Marvel.

A. But those books still wouldn't have sold Star Wars numbers.
B. And that money could have been spent all over the place (Marvel, DC, Image, Valiant, etc.), or not spent at all.

[RobinFan4880]

A. But those books still wouldn't have sold Star Wars numbers.
B. And that money could have been spent all over the place (Marvel, DC, Image, Valiant, etc.), or not spent at all.

Exactly. If Marvel didn't give us Star Wars, there is a strong possibility that the extra money spent on it would not have been spent at all.

That's what I believe, also. DC might not have Marvel's magic, but their mojo is still significantly better than Dark Horse's.

And yet Dark Horse created and nurtured some of my favorite stories and characters in all of comics-dom via their Star Wars license.

The difference is that Disney, the parent company, bought Star Wars, and pretty much dropped it in the laps of Marvel. Sales of "Star Wars" are not due to any publishing savvy on the part of pretty much anyone at Marvel.

It also has a built-in audience that can hardly be attributed to anything Marvel has ever done (other than MAYBE the first Marvel Star Wars series). At least DC created Batman/Dark Knight.

Marvel does deserve some credit. They didn't half arse the launch, they gave use tier 1 creative teams that did not fail to disappoint.

Well, Rogue One is just 11 months away. In 2017 we'll have episode VIII. And later, I don't know, trilogies and trilogies and Avengers-related movies and so on.

I don;t think there is going to be that much hype for Rogue One. It will just be a good film that people will enjoy. It is clearly a side dish to the main dish that is Episode VIII in May 2017.

[The Darknight Detective]

And yet Dark Horse created and nurtured some of my favorite stories and characters in all of comics-dom via their Star Wars license.

Oh, I wasn't saying Dark Horse didn't do a fine job, only that they just don't have the "megaphone" the Big 2 have.

[Bruce Wayne]

Part of the problem with DC is that they don't have a megaphone compared to Marvel. Remember Marvel could hype the product like no one else as a legacy of Stan and Quesada. Remember how they nearly announced A-Force on GMA or how Hickman's SHIELD book was announced and hyped.

And DC doesn't have the megaphone (or the ability to use it) and because honestly it's hip to hate on DC.

And yet Dark Horse created and nurtured some of my favorite stories and characters in all of comics-dom via their Star Wars license.

Exactly. Dark Horse had a lot of good will and outreach with the SW fan community. Which shows that this stuff doesn't count for much. What mattered ultimately was how the product was promoted and ultimately Dark Horse didn't have the reach that Marvel-Disney had.

[Myskin]

Part of the problem with DC is that they don't have a megaphone compared to Marvel.

Look, I realize that these days WB is collecting a tons of flop, but come on, no megaphone? They're the second greatest comic company in the US! If they did something remarkable and wanted everyone to know about it, I seriously doubt that they wouldn't succeed in promoting it.

[Bruce Wayne]

They are pretty horrible at both marketing and messaging. Not even comparable how Marvel goes out to appeal to the mainstream. Marvel at least had the Spider-Man reveal for Civil War, the Death of Captain America or the Spider-Man Obama issue. DC? Superman gives up his citizenship (which got wrapped up in horrible culture wars) and Nu52 (which I think was more propagated by the fan press) and how everyone thinks they are deliberately screwing the families of Bill Finger (with Bob Kane) and Siegel/Shuster.

[RobinFan4880]

Part of the problem with DC is that they don't have a megaphone compared to Marvel. Remember Marvel could hype the product like no one else as a legacy of Stan and Quesada. Remember how they nearly announced A-Force on GMA or how Hickman's SHIELD book was announced and hyped.

And DC doesn't have the megaphone (or the ability to use it) and because honestly it's hip to hate on DC.



Exactly. Dark Horse had a lot of good will and outreach with the SW fan community. Which shows that this stuff doesn't count for much. What mattered ultimately was how the product was promoted and ultimately Dark Horse didn't have the reach that Marvel-Disney had.

I think there is more playing into this than just megaphones. There is an extraordinary amount of hype surrounding Episode VII. Everything branded Star Wars is selling, even a month after it the film came out. Disney also obliterated the EU, which means every hardcore Star Wars fan, like myself, has been gobbling up every piece of media they can get their hands on to learn about the new canon and watch the universe grow and develop. Then you have old and lapsed fans lured in by the fact that Star Wars is going to be "good" again and, it makes for an environment that comics are easily sold within. Especially comics that have a-list creative teams (which full draw otherwise disinterested comic fans in).

Oh, I wasn't saying Dark Horse didn't do a fine job, only that they just don't have the "megaphone" the Big 2 have.

Gotchya. It is quite a shame. I think Legacy had the chops to be one of the top selling comics. Such a great comic.

[Myskin]

They are pretty horrible at both marketing and messaging. Not even comparable how Marvel goes out to appeal to the mainstream. Marvel at least had the Spider-Man reveal for Civil War, the Death of Captain America or the Spider-Man Obama issue. DC? Superman gives up his citizenship (which got wrapped up in horrible culture wars) and Nu52 (which I think was more propagated by the fan press) and how everyone thinks they are deliberately screwing the families of Bill Finger (with Bob Kane) and Siegel/Shuster.

well, that makes simply rather incompetent, but they have a megaphone after all.

[d.w washburn]

The travesty that was the lobo book got cancelled. That's all I needed to make me happy.

[Mister Ferro]

Part of the problem with DC is that they don't have a megaphone compared to Marvel. Remember Marvel could hype the product like no one else as a legacy of Stan and Quesada. Remember how they nearly announced A-Force on GMA or how Hickman's SHIELD book was announced and hyped.

Oh how could we all forget that Marvel could have announced a comic book on a morning news show run by a network channel that Disney owns!!!!!!!!!

But in the end, Marvel couldn't even pull that off and instead went to a website to announce the book.

[Bruce Wayne]

There is an extraordinary amount of hype surrounding Episode VII.

Which I think is due to marketing and hype generated artificially by Disney. Story wise there really nothing unique in what the SW and DV ongoing have done, they are selling entirely due to the hype from the Sequel Trilogy like all the action figures and other merchandise. There is nothing qualitative about this. My more toy inclined SW friends have explained to me for example the dramatic loss of quality from the newer toys for TFA. So they are riding a SW fever due to largely for the nostalgia of the OT cast.

I
Gotchya. It is quite a shame. I think Legacy had the chops to be one of the top selling comics. Such a great comic.

I liked Legacy better than TFA.