DC Sales & Estimates

[Dolores - The Worst Poster Ever]

I think the combination of Gail Simone writing, the novelty of Babs's return to the mantle, and the curiosity to know how the recovery of her legs played out, all helped buoy the sales.

That, and it got a bump when it got involved in Bat crossovers.

Issue #8 moved an estimated 43,990 units, then issue #9 moved an estimated 58,710 units. Simone's run was definitely doing a lot better, even without help from crossovers/Bat events and the like, but there's more going on with the drop in sales than the change in direction, because the Burnside direction saw an increase in sales at first, with issue #35 moving 62,644 copies, and #36 moving 50,247 copies, plus the book charting better digitally.

It was heading towards stabilizing in the mid 30, 000 range, but it just fizzled out after the Convergence break.

Did people just get tired of the direction? Did new readers lose interest after going two months without a new issue from the book?

The Rebirth book is doing about 5000 copies less than the Stephanie Brown run, and is probably performing the same when you take digital sales into account, but as evidenced by both the Simone run and the Burnside run, Batgirl can sell quite a bit better than it is now.

[Panfoot]

Sad to see New Super-Man not doing great, it's been one of my favorites from the Superman line, right behind the main Superman book itself.

[Aahz]

but there's more going on with the drop in sales than the change in direction, because the Burnside direction saw an increase in sales at first, with issue #35 moving 62,644 copies, and #36 moving 50,247 copies, plus the book charting better digitally.

The new direction and artstyle might have generated some interest, but 5 issues in the numbers were back to pre Burnside level. ANd keep in mind that these numbers just say how much the stores ordered and not how much they actually sold.

The Rebirth book is doing about 5000 copies less than the Stephanie Brown run, and is probably performing the same when you take digital sales into account, but as evidenced by both the Simone run and the Burnside run, Batgirl can sell quite a bit better than it is now.

The first rebirth Issue also sold arround 96K copies, that why I said that the there is defniatlly potential for igher sales, but not with er current direction and treatment.
Imo the Bat Writers should put more energie in pushing Batgirl and Red Hood instead of Guys like Azrael, Batwing and Duke.

[ayanestar]

The first rebirth Issue also sold arround 96K copies, that why I said that the there is defniatlly potential for igher sales, but not with er current direction and treatment.
Imo the Bat Writers should put more energie in pushing Batgirl and Red Hood instead of Guys like Azrael, Batwing and Duke.

...well why not both? Because I care way more about Azrael and Batwing than the current Batgirl or Red Hood lol
Anyway I think the new direction isn't helping Batgirl. No matter how many new fans she might have gained I do think it is obvious that a lot of her fans dropped the book and the casual fans are more interested in Oracle kind of stories. Batgirl used to sell around the same as Nightwing so she has indeed the potential to sell more however if DC want to push the new direction I would suggest to use another Batgirl or at least tie her book in some popular events or something. It would have been a lot easier to fix this if DC had done it starting Rebirth now it seems too late. I have dropped the book long time ago so who knows maybe a new writer could help.

[Aahz]

...well why not both? Because I care way more about Azrael and Batwing than the current Batgirl or Red Hood lol

Batgirl and Red Hood have allready a decent fanbase, therefore it would be imo, much easier generate solid sales with their series, than to get Azrael and Batwing to a level that they can carrie a series.
But at the moment Batgirl and Red Hood are imo kind of treated like second or third rate Batfamily members.

[Mace Dolex]

Why are readers even bothering to buy new comics every Wednesday, if they just wait some 6-12 months those very same unsold comics will wind up in the discount longboxes.

[Caivu]

Why are readers even bothering to buy new comics every Wednesday, if they just wait some 6-12 months those very same unsold comics will wind up in the discount longboxes.

...because we want the series we like to do well? So they, y'know, don't run the risk of getting cancelled?

Yeah, some titles are big enough that even a large number of readers could do that and there'd not be a blip. But most can't.

[Caivu]

The other Rebirth Titles had also similar numbers for the Rebirth Issue and the #1 issue. The drop from #1 to #2 might be smaller than Super Sons and JLA (that strated really very high) but after #3 or #4 issues it will probaly still end in the 20s, a drop of 50% from the #1 to where the series stabilies is iirc quite normal.

At least, I don't expect this book to be a really big seller.

That seems overly pessimistic. Why on earth would it drop that fast? I've heard a typical drop from a #1 to #2 is ~20%, so that would mean this issue #2 stabilizes at around 44k. Seriously, 50% drop four issues in?

[JasonTodd428]

Anyway I think the new direction isn't helping Batgirl.

Judging by the numbers I would say not. I may not have cared that much for Simone's run because it was too grim dark for my tastes but at least her Barbara came across to me as a veteran hero on par with Nightwing and her run felt as if it could have followed up on Barbara's time as Oracle. At least that's how I felt at the time. Once Burnside hit I felt like all that maturity and her being a veteran hero was thrown out the window and that in an effort to get away from the grim dark tone of the previous run the new creative team moved to far the other direction. That was when I threw in the towel and I haven't bothered with Batgirl since. I don't think we really need a new person under the cowl so much as we need a balance between the what Simone was doing and what the later creative teams have been doing.

[skyvolt2000]

...because we want the series we like to do well? So they, y'know, don't run the risk of getting cancelled?

Yeah, some titles are big enough that even a large number of readers could do that and there'd not be a blip. But most can't.

We have seen books with sales get axed because someone didn't care for the lead in the book. Be it John Stewart, real Wally West, Tim Drake and so on.

It's not your job to keep a book alive when they can get rid of that book for any reason.



What Mace said is VERY true.

I don't have to wait 6-12 months some books are 12-36 hours before they hit a bin or get marked down. Because I have other stores that sell comics besides comic book stores.

Yes I have seen books just released in a dollar bin in 3-4 days and NO-it was not Image or Valiant books-they were DC & Marvel books.

I have seen Batman Rebirth 1-19 in bins ranging from 25 cents to $1.50. I won't discuss Justice League, Cyborg, Green Lantern, Action Comics, Detective Comics and the mess known as Civil War 2.

Now for a book like Batman-I can wait till it's cheap on Ebay or in the bins. Like I did with All Star Batman 1-5 & Cyborg 1-9.

I can't do that with say Ms Marvel, Miles, All Star Batman and any book not called Dr Who at Titan Comics.

A lower seller will ALWAYS need your support. I would say if a book is above 30K-you can wait.

You also have to know your stores. Mine has 40% sales 2-4 times a year. 25 cent at the end of the year. Another has buy one get one free 4 times a year including this weekend. Where I can get all of the Hanna Barberra runs & Unfollow cheap.

[skyvolt2000]

Judging by the numbers I would say not. I may not have cared that much for Simone's run because it was too grim dark for my tastes but at least her Barbara came across to me as a veteran hero on par with Nightwing and her run felt as if it could have followed up on Barbara's time as Oracle. At least that's how I felt at the time. Once Burnside hit I felt like all that maturity and her being a veteran hero was thrown out the window and that in an effort to get away from the grim dark tone of the previous run the new creative team moved to far the other direction. That was when I threw in the towel and I haven't bothered with Batgirlsince. I don't think we really need a new person under the cowl so much as we need a balance between the what Simone was doing and what the later creative teams have been doing.

What is it about that run that irks folks?

I have see that book in bins for 50 cents way too much.

[JasonTodd428]

What is it about that run that irks folks?

I have see that book in bins for 50 cents way too much.

If you're talking about the Burnside book I can't speak of anyone else but I was put off by the scene in the first issue where Babs was getting drunk. Frankly I found it very off putting. I get what the writers were going for there. They wanted to have her feel like a legitimate twenty-something by showing her doing things that they would do. The thing is there were loads of ways they could have done that but they chose this particular way and it just was so out of character to me that I decided not to bother with the rest of the run.

[Dolores - The Worst Poster Ever]

The new direction and artstyle might have generated some interest, but 5 issues in the numbers were back to pre Burnside level. ANd keep in mind that these numbers just say how much the stores ordered and not how much they actually sold.

And those are same kind of numbers we get for the Pre-Burnside runs. Everything is shipped order estimates.

Issue #40 moved an estimated 41,729 units. That's still higher than what the Pre-Burnside run was doing at times. Issues #24 to #31 all had smaller numbers.

The book was heading towards stabilizing in the same range as Pre-Burnside, but with issue #41, the 1st issue after the Convergence break, there was a massive drop. The Pre-Burnside run tended to get boosts that kept it from dropping below 30k. Issue #31 moves an estimated 31,552 units, then issue #32 sees a spike with 47,304 units, which leads to #33 doing 37,186 units.

I don't think the Burnside direction is more popular, except for digitally, but I do think the Pre-Burnside run would have eventually done similar numbers had it not gotten boosts once in a while.

The New 52/Burnside/Rebirth launch shows us that Batgirl can do good numbers, but the question is how can they consistently maintain those numbers.

[rui no onna]

That seems overly pessimistic. Why on earth would it drop that fast? I've heard a typical drop from a #1 to #2 is ~20%, so that would mean this issue #2 stabilizes at around 44k. Seriously, 50% drop four issues in?

That 50% drop seems normal from what I've seen on Comics Beat. From issue #2 to #3 is typically another 20-30%. Besides, iirc, #1 had at least 27K in sales due to retailer exclusive variants.

Why are readers even bothering to buy new comics every Wednesday, if they just wait some 6-12 months those very same unsold comics will wind up in the discount longboxes.

If everyone did that, the comics will have been cancelled and the comic shops will be gone probably before the 6 months are even up.

Also, there are some titles I don't want to wait on. Just like how I watch some movies in theaters while some, I just wait for on Netflix or Amazon Prime (if I even bother seeing it).

Besides, I get 23% off after taxes by preordering from my LCS.

[rui no onna]

And those are same kind of numbers we get for the Pre-Burnside runs. Everything is pre-order estimates.

Nope. Final orders shipped to comic shops.

http://www.comichron.com/vitalstatistics/alltime.html

Another caveat: Before February 2003, Diamond was reporting preorders of comics sold in its Top 300 list, rather than the actual final numbers of copies shipped. This means that the pre-2003 figures shown could be higher than they actually were (since many comics were ordered that never came out) or lower (since reorders were not made public). The margin of error plummets in the Final Order era; the figures for 2003 and later are much more reliable.