"Archie" Debuts in Top Ten, But "Star Wars," Secret Wars" Fuel Marvel to Top of July Sales

[Spike-X]

How'd you get that picture? You been stalking me?

[PretenderNX01]

Stars Wars was handled by a different comic company before but didn't sell well. Marvel just did better so even if Star wars is not originally from comics, we give credit to marvel for making great stories on their Star Wars comics.

They aren't any greater stories at Marvel than they were at Dark Horse, it's just that Marvel and Star Wars are both owned by Disney so they can sell these as official stories in continuity.

[Teste]

It's not DC that is selling LESS, they're doing good, thank you! It's Marvel that is selling MORE.

I'm not that sure DC is doing well. Many of their new #1s are selling poorly, considering that they are first issues and thus their sales will likely fall even more. What buzzworthy DC book do we have right now? Superman due to TRUTH, Batman because Batman, a bit of Justice League... And that's it.

Not that I think Marvel will do any better on the long run. Right now they have insane sales because of Star Wars and Secret Wars, but once the relaunch happens, I doubt very much they will keep current numbers.

Many great talents have left both Marvel and DC to work on their own books. Hickman is the main example - he's the one behind Secret Wars, but once that very successful run ends, he will be gone. Who will be left of importance in the big two? Bendis? HAH! Geoff Johns? He has basically a single book. Pak? He's doing great with Action Comics, but that's pretty much it. Most of the DC and Marvel writers will soon be nobodies; we may get a few successful ones, but we may also end without any great one.

[Michael P]

It's not what happened to DC, but what happened to Marvel. And the answer is:
- Star Wars and its speculators
- Event after event after event
- Dozens of tie-ins and variants covers
- Constant relaunch of books, with a new #1 almost every month

The only one of these DC doesn't also do is Star Wars.

[Thomas Crown]

The only one of these DC doesn't also do is Star Wars.

Not on the same level as Marvel does. Not even close.

[jeanvaljean]

Not on the same level as Marvel does. Not even close.

What percentage of their line got a new #1 with the Nu52 stunt?
How many new #1s come out since?

[Teste]

What percentage of their line got a new #1 with the Nu52 stunt?
How many new #1s come out since?

Very few.

They probably regret it, too. The new "DCYou" initiative was not followed by a relaunch of all the DC books. If it had been, DC would probably be selling more than they are right now.

Meanwhile, the new post-Secret Wars Marvel initiative will see a relaunch of ALL their books. That's something DC has never done after the 52.

[jeanvaljean]

Very few.

They probably regret it, too. The new "DCYou" initiative was not followed by a relaunch of all the DC books. If it had been, DC would probably be selling more than they are right now.

Meanwhile, the new post-Secret Wars Marvel initiative will see a relaunch of ALL their books. That's something DC has never done after the 52.

It's also something that Marvel, unlike DC, has not done before. I don't see the difference.

[Thomas Crown]

What percentage of their line got a new #1 with the Nu52 stunt?

You mean, almost four years ago? And a lot of DC books will reach the 50 issues mark. But the same can't be said about almost all Marvel books.

How many new #1s come out since?

Some books were cancelled due to poor sales and replaced with other books. It's not the same thing as relaunching a book over and over again almost every year as Marvel does.

[jeanvaljean]

You mean, almost four years ago? And a lot of DC books will reach the 50 issues mark. But the same can't be said about almost all Marvel books.



Some books were cancelled due to poor sales and replaced with other books. It's not the same thing as relaunching a book over and over again almost every year as Marvel does.

Didn't they relaunch Justice League 3000, Earth 2 as Earth 2, Justice League of America, Deathstroke, Batman Beyond, Constantine, Night Wing, Suicide Squad, Red Hood and Teen Titans with new #1s (sometimes with changed titles, as Marvel does) after the new #1s those books received during or after the Nu52?

[Thomas Crown]

Didn't they relaunch Justice League 3000, Earth 2 as Earth 2, Justice League of America, Deathstroke, Batman Beyond, Constantine, Night Wing, Suicide Squad, Red Hood and Teen Titans with new #1s (sometimes with changed titles, as Marvel does) after the new #1s those books received during or after the Nu52?

I didn't said that DC has not done any relaunches (or any other gimmick) since the start of the New 52.
I said "Not on the same level as Marvel does. Not even close".

[MRP]

I didn't said that DC has not done any relaunches (or any other gimmick) since the start of the New 52.
I said "Not on the same level as Marvel does. Not even close".

DC has also done special event months where their entire publishing output was based on an event interrupting the ongoing stories they were telling not once (Zero Month), not twice (Villains month also screwing retailers and consumers out of access to copies because it was poorly planned and resulted in allocations because they couldn't or wouldn't produce enough copies and created more hype with the artificial demand) but three times (two months of Convergence) and, while not all titles got new #1, 24 of the 40 something titles they published coming out of Convergence with the DCU were shiny new #1s, they do event themed cover variants plus regular variants on a regular basis (Lego month, Bombshell month, Selfie month, Monster month, Batman anniversary month, Flash anniversary month, Darwyn Cooke month, etc. etc. so they are every bit as guilty of using marketing tactics and ploys as Marvel. Their results just aren't as good when they do it.

I don't like or dislike either company more than the other, they are both using artificial means to prop up sales and the best selling titles these days are selling at the level that their mid-to low tier titles that were bi-monthly or on the edge of cancellation sold in their heydey 20-30 years ago, so neither is in good shape despite all the rosy spin of reaching sales levels of the past (hey we sold enough $3, $4 and $20 products now to generate as much revenue as we did when we were selling 75 cent-$1 products, meaning we are selling a third to half as much actual product, so let's celebrate!) because they are measuring sales in dollars not in units sold. There are good books being produced by both, there are terrible books being produced by both. Each have their fans who see things through rose colored glasses, the world turns and it's not going to change. But neither are doing things "right" and neither is doing things "wrong"-they are selling the books the way they need to do so to survive in the current market. If fans/customers weren't buying #1s and events in greater quantities than ongoing series later issues, they wouldn't be on the market, so while you point fingers at one company or the other for doing things, realize it is the customer base buying those things (the three fingers pointed back at you) that is driving those things happening by making them more profitable than other business models at this time. That's true of both the Marvel customer base and the DC customer base. When books, even those getting positive word of mouth from critics and customers, have attrition rates to 25-33% percent on average from the 1st to 5th issue of a series and even higher attrition rates from year one to year two of a run, etc., it makes absolutely no business sense to have long running series anymore for either publisher. If customer buying patterns made it profitable to have long running series, there would be more of them than new #1, relaunches and events. But its not. And that is on the customer base, not the publishers. They have to respond to the shape of the market.

-M

[Lee Stone]

What percentage of their line got a new #1 with the Nu52 stunt?
How many new #1s come out since?

And let's not forget the one of the most massive of all events, Blackest Night.

[Lee Stone]

You mean, almost four years ago? And a lot of DC books will reach the 50 issues mark. But the same can't be said about almost all Marvel.

This is subjective, as DC and Marvel don't orchestrate things to relaunch their entire lines at the same time.
When DC did theirs in 2011, Marvel had:

THUNDERBOLTS #163
NEW MUTANTS #31
INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #508
BLACK PANTHER: THE MAN WITHOUT FEAR #523
JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #627
UNCANNY X-MEN #543
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #669
CAPTAIN AMERICA AND BUCKY #622
HULK #40
ASTONISHING X-MEN #42
X-FACTOR #225
X-MEN LEGACY #255
DEADPOOL #43

Note that most of these were renumbered to build on their original series, from back when it was en vogue to do so. Both DC and Marvel did this back then.
Currently, it's more fashionable to constantly renumber.

The next trend may be longevity, with DC ahead by four years.
But then when the next renumbering trend occurs, it'll be the one with the higher numbers doing it first, which would be DC. And then Marvel will carry on with the higher number books for a while and then follow suit.

Or the next trend could be renumbering for anniversary issues. Something I would expect DC to do first, especially in 2018. Which in turn could start a new cycle where DC and Marvel renumber their books to reflect their legacies. Followed by a new cycle of #1s a few years later.

[Lee Stone]

For those interesested, July 2015 vs. July 2014

Dollar Share:
2014 listed first, then 2015
Marvel ------ 35.09 ----- 38.43 ----- change: +3.34
IDW ------------ 5.21 ------- 6.60 ----- change: +1.39
Other ------- 11.28 ------ 11.80 ---- change: +0.52
Archie ------- 2.04 -------- 2.28 ----- change: +0.24
Image --------- 9.25 ------- 9.48 ----- change: +0.23
Dynamite -- 2.18 -------- 1.83 ----- change: -0.35
Dark Horse- 5.02 ------- 3.77 ----- change: -1.25
DC ------------ 28.18 ----- 23.94 ----- change: -4.24

Unit Share:
2014 listed first, then 2015
Marvel ------ 38.39 ----- 41.59 ----- change: +3.20
Other --------- 6.73 ------- 8.51 ------ change: +1.78
IDW ------------ 4.11 ------- 5.28 ----- change: +1.17
Image --------- 9.82 ---- 10.72 ----- change: +0.90
Archie -------- 1.88 ------- 2.62 ----- change: +0.74
Dark Horse- 3.80 ------- 3.36 ----- change: -0.44
Dynamite --- 2.16 ------- 1.65 ----- change: -0.51
DC ------------ 31.32 ----- 24.30 ----- change: -7.02