Despite Rumors, DC Comics Stands Behind "DC You" Initiative Moving Forward

[Thomas Crown]

Ant-Man has had 6 issues, with a 7th coming out this month and is rebooting to a new numbering, despite having the same creative team, just to get those #1 sales. That's definitely not something DC has been milking as much as Marvel.

Add to that the bad luck of having Secret Wars confirmed as being Marvel's reboot and Star Wars' massive success. It's a number of factors.

Be careful when stating some obvious facts or you will be called "fanboys" by people here who think that DC Comics exists in some kind of vacuum and all that doesn't work is entirely their fault.

[beetle_booster]

Be careful when stating some obvious facts or you will be called "fanboys" by people here who think that DC Comics exists in some kind of vacuum and all that doesn't work is entirely their fault.

Marvel's continuous gimmicks and line-wide events may be the reason for DC not selling great. But the problem with that is that Marvel will NEVER stop putting out these #1's and events. It's bringing them the money and it's understandable for them to keep on doing it.

It's now up to DC to increase their sales DESPITE of these Marvel stunts. They can't keep on using the "Marvel's got multiple events right now" excuse for not selling well... They have to come up with something. Which is what they're reportedly doing.

[Thomas Crown]

Marvel's continuous gimmicks and line-wide events may be the reason for DC not selling great. But the problem with that is that Marvel will NEVER stop putting out these #1's and events. It's bringing them the money and it's understandable for them to keep on doing it.

And despite that being obvious, some people here think it's all DC's fault for launching DCYOU during a Marvel event, as if DC should have waited a "permission" from Marvel. After Secret Wars comes ANOTHER relaunch, and after that comes who-knows-what. Not to mention the Star Wars books. If DC were to wait for a "opening", DCYOU would never leave the drawing board.

It's now up to DC to increase their sales DESPITE of these Marvel stunts. They can't keep on using the "Marvel's got multiple events right now" excuse for not selling well... They have to come up with something. Which is what they're reportedly doing.

I just hope that "something" is not trying to play the game using the same gimmicks as Marvel.

[trooper_thorn]

When the new team taking over, Batgirl's direction drastically changed and became significantly more light-hearted and "fun". The editor that Gail Simone had to work with had left DC, and the new editor allowed the new team to have more freedom with the book.

The new direction was a hit, especially digitally (issue #43 is currently the 8th best selling comic of the week on Comixology), and was positively received overall.

Actually her numbers have been fairly mediocre (from Comics Beat):

07/2014: Batgirl #33 -- 37,186 (- 21.4%)
08/2014: Batgirl #34 -- 34,590 (- 7.0%)
09/2014: Futures End #1 -- 67,933 (+ 96.4%)
10/2014: Batgirl #35 -- 62,644 (- 7.8%)
11/2014: Batgirl #36 -- 50,247 (- 19.8%)
12/2014: Batgirl #37 -- 45,060 (- 10.3%)
01/2015: Batgirl #38 -- 45,096 (+ 0.1%)
02/2015: Batgirl #39 -- 40,880 (- 9.3%)
03/2015: Batgirl #40 -- 41,729 (+ 2.1%)
04/2015: --
05/2015: --
06/2015: Batgirl #41 -- 33,220 (- 20.4%)
07/2015: Batgirl #42 -- 33,168 (- 0.2%)


Over the past year Batgirl peaked around 67k due to Future's End but it has steadily dropped since, as it currently stands she was ranked 71st on Diamond in July. So unless you really think the digital numbers are greatly disconnected from the traditional sales, her book isn't performing that well.

[Herowatcher]

Rebooting the whole line again this soon just makes them look really clueless. Ride it out, people.

LOL...DC looks that way now....IMO....clean up/order is needed.

I feel that Didio is saying that new fans can't enjoy the characters like the older fans.
Instead of good stories they have to change the foundation of the characters to make new fans like them.

Makes me feel like my business isn't wanted anymore.

[ilovelocust]

Actually her numbers have been fairly mediocre (from Comics Beat):

07/2014: Batgirl #33 -- 37,186 (- 21.4%)
08/2014: Batgirl #34 -- 34,590 (- 7.0%)
09/2014: Futures End #1 -- 67,933 (+ 96.4%)
10/2014: Batgirl #35 -- 62,644 (- 7.8%)
11/2014: Batgirl #36 -- 50,247 (- 19.8%)
12/2014: Batgirl #37 -- 45,060 (- 10.3%)
01/2015: Batgirl #38 -- 45,096 (+ 0.1%)
02/2015: Batgirl #39 -- 40,880 (- 9.3%)
03/2015: Batgirl #40 -- 41,729 (+ 2.1%)
04/2015: --
05/2015: --
06/2015: Batgirl #41 -- 33,220 (- 20.4%)
07/2015: Batgirl #42 -- 33,168 (- 0.2%)


Over the past year Batgirl peaked around 67k due to Future's End but it has steadily dropped since, as it currently stands she was ranked 71st on Diamond in July. So unless you really think the digital numbers are greatly disconnected from the traditional sales, her book isn't performing that well.

Some of that is the whole kerfluffle Batgirl fans had with variants. That's going to make her sales lower than they would be otherwise. Still your right, there's a downward trend going on. Wonder what's driving people off.

[Dolores - The Worst Poster Ever]

Actually her numbers have been fairly mediocre (from Comics Beat):

07/2014: Batgirl #33 -- 37,186 (- 21.4%)
08/2014: Batgirl #34 -- 34,590 (- 7.0%)
09/2014: Futures End #1 -- 67,933 (+ 96.4%)
10/2014: Batgirl #35 -- 62,644 (- 7.8%)
11/2014: Batgirl #36 -- 50,247 (- 19.8%)
12/2014: Batgirl #37 -- 45,060 (- 10.3%)
01/2015: Batgirl #38 -- 45,096 (+ 0.1%)
02/2015: Batgirl #39 -- 40,880 (- 9.3%)
03/2015: Batgirl #40 -- 41,729 (+ 2.1%)
04/2015: --
05/2015: --
06/2015: Batgirl #41 -- 33,220 (- 20.4%)
07/2015: Batgirl #42 -- 33,168 (- 0.2%)


Over the past year Batgirl peaked around 67k due to Future's End but it has steadily dropped since, as it currently stands she was ranked 71st on Diamond in July. So unless you really think the digital numbers are greatly disconnected from the traditional sales, her book isn't performing that well.

She's charting much higher digitally now than she did prior to the new direction, so yes, I do think digital sales have a lot to do with the book's success. This is the closest DC has to a Ms. Marvel situation (which charts lower than Batgirl on the Diamond chart), where a book has mediocre retail sales, but strong digital sales.

For comparison, in July Batgirl came in at 71 on the Diamond chart, and the annual came in at 84. For the week they came out, the books were 6th and 7th on Comixology's best sellers list and remained in the top 20 the following week. Then just take a look at the books outselling this week, an Injustice comic that's just 99c, two of the more popular Secret Wars tie-ins, the issue of Superman where his identity is revealed (since Truth started, the Superman books have been charting better on Comixolgy), a JLA comic with art by Bryan Hitch, East of the West and Grayson, both of which are big sellers digitally, with the former also selling big when it comes trades.

Now, we don't have actual numbers for digital sales, but when considering that one of the things that motivated DC to launch the DC You initiative was the success of Batgirl, and that even the Bleeding Cool story about how DC was pulling back the DC You stated that Batgirl was safe due to its strong (digital) sales, I'm inclined to believe it's a big seller digitally.

I don't even think that a lot of the people that picked up issue #35 left the book, but that a lot of them just switched to getting it digitally. All speculation of course, but the book's got to be doing something right for DC to be considering it a success.

[Tayswift]

Actually her numbers have been fairly mediocre (from Comics Beat):

07/2014: Batgirl #33 -- 37,186 (- 21.4%)
08/2014: Batgirl #34 -- 34,590 (- 7.0%)
09/2014: Futures End #1 -- 67,933 (+ 96.4%)
10/2014: Batgirl #35 -- 62,644 (- 7.8%)
11/2014: Batgirl #36 -- 50,247 (- 19.8%)
12/2014: Batgirl #37 -- 45,060 (- 10.3%)
01/2015: Batgirl #38 -- 45,096 (+ 0.1%)
02/2015: Batgirl #39 -- 40,880 (- 9.3%)
03/2015: Batgirl #40 -- 41,729 (+ 2.1%)
04/2015: --
05/2015: --
06/2015: Batgirl #41 -- 33,220 (- 20.4%)
07/2015: Batgirl #42 -- 33,168 (- 0.2%)


Over the past year Batgirl peaked around 67k due to Future's End but it has steadily dropped since, as it currently stands she was ranked 71st on Diamond in July. So unless you really think the digital numbers are greatly disconnected from the traditional sales, her book isn't performing that well.

maybe some become trade waiters (cheaper than buy floppies).

she is doing well, just isn't much better than what Simone grimdark left her.

I really wish we could konow the digital sales, I saw some from convergece. Batgirl can be doing 10-20k digital

batgirl also attracted lots of good marketing for DC

[trooper_thorn]

Now, we don't have actual numbers for digital sales, but when considering that one of the things that motivated DC to launch the DC You initiative was the success of Batgirl, and that even the Bleeding Cool story about how DC was pulling back the DC You stated that Batgirl was safe due to its strong (digital) sales, I'm inclined to believe it's a big seller digitally.

I don't even think that a lot of the people that picked up issue #35 left the book, but that a lot of them just switched to getting it digitally. All speculation of course, but the book's got to be doing something right for DC to be considering it a success.

Well as it stands until they start releasing digital sales numbers we have nothing to go by but their word, but unless the digital numbers are particularly strong I don't see it as offsetting the significant drop in traditional sales. As for DC considering it a success, that may very well be true or it may be simply a company unwilling to speak poorly of its products. The problem with their response is that they gave no definitive statements and used language that was vague enough to allow for pretty much anything (as businesses are wont to do).

All that said I don't actually expect them to kill the book, it's numbers may be diminished but they're still strong enough to keep it alive on traditional sales alone.


I am curious though, why doesn't anybody release sales numbers for digital comics?

[Dolores - The Worst Poster Ever]

I am curious though, why doesn't anybody release sales numbers for digital comics?

I suspect it's because digital sales aren't that strong for the most part. Ms. Marvel usually tops the digital charts when a new issue is released, and we know that it sells at least 30, 000 copies digitally. If we are to assume that it sells 45, 000 copies digitally, and is Marvel's best seller, then books with a lot of name recognition that rank much lower might be selling as low as just a few thousand copies per issue, and that doesn't look good.

Digital sales are on the rise, but they still comprise of just 10% of all comic sales. We'll likely start getting digital sales numbers when more than just a few comics are selling extremely well digitally.

[trooper_thorn]

I suspect it's because digital sales aren't that strong for the most part. Ms. Marvel usually tops the digital charts when a new issue is released, and we know that it sells at least 30, 000 copies digitally. If we are to assume that it sells 45, 000 copies digitally, and is Marvel's best seller, then books with a lot of name recognition that rank much lower might be selling as low as just a few thousand copies per issue, and that doesn't look good.

May I ask where you got those numbers from?

[Dolores - The Worst Poster Ever]

May I ask where you got those numbers from?

The 30, 000 figure is based on Ms. Marvel selling better digitally than it does in retail. On average Ms. Marvel sells in the 30, 000 range in retail, so digital sales will have to be at the very least more than 30, 000. The 45, 000 number is generous estimate of just how much better it may be selling digitally.

The 10% figure comes from here.

[RobinFan4880]

I suspect it's because digital sales aren't that strong for the most part. Ms. Marvel usually tops the digital charts when a new issue is released, and we know that it sells at least 30, 000 copies digitally. If we are to assume that it sells 45, 000 copies digitally, and is Marvel's best seller, then books with a lot of name recognition that rank much lower might be selling as low as just a few thousand copies per issue, and that doesn't look good.

Digital sales are on the rise, but they still comprise of just 10% of all comic sales. We'll likely start getting digital sales numbers when more than just a few comics are selling extremely well digitally.

Comixology and Marve;/DC do not release digital sales numbers, so I am interested in seeing where you go your numbers from.

Additionally, creators have said many times that digital is about 10% of total sales. 10% of Batman's sales would be 10,00 to 13,000 units, no where near your 30,000 units.

We won't get digital sales numbers. We don't even have print sales numbers. We have sales estimates but those are not the same as real numbers. Many creators say the Diamond charts give you a good ballpark but they can be off by a sizable margin.

[skyvolt2000]

Well, I suspect we will be seeing more of an emphasis on crossovers and events. Although reviewers and internet commentators often decry them, the fact is they are the things that sell, along with big movie tie-ins. If DC needs to get sales up quickly, then crossing over their lower-selling titles with Batman and Justice League while pressing toward big events like Forever Evil or Flashpoint is the way to do it.

Well the issue with most events is a lot of characters do get screwed. If their book is held hostage by an event that takes away from the character or that character is left out.

If there was a big event now at DC-we already know who will not be around (aside from a crossover issue) any person of color, certain females and fringe guys like Midnighter.

You won't see Midnighter save the Universe nor John Stewart or the Gotham Academy kids.

That's the trouble with events. Yes they are a quick sale gimmick but they hurt various characters in the long run.

They should just let the cream rise to the top and cut the titles that dont work. I praise them for the initiative especially since they are making new characters and not just gender/race alternatives like marvel is. But lets just remember there is no room for diversity quotas in art.

Now who at Marvel had their race or gender changed?

We have some new folks in costumes but the person who originally worn those outfits are still around.

We have had some different versions from a now dead universe.

Yet at DC we have a black Wally West.

To be fair when both tried new characters-especially those of color-we saw backlash towards them.

DC did the costume changes like Marvel and what did we see?

"We want Ted Kord!"

"We want Jason Rusch!"

"We want Hal Jordan!"

This marks the first time fans at DC have openly tried books and not throw fits. Sales might not be where they want but at least you now they are based on folks trying the books.

THis has probably been the least hostile period on this DC board because no one is screaming agenda, SJW, Pandering or all that mess. We are finally seeing conversations about the content of the book.

Could it be better-sure but it's very peaceful.

[Dolores - The Worst Poster Ever]

Comixology and Marve;/DC do not release digital sales numbers, so I am interested in seeing where you go your numbers from.

Additionally, creators have said many times that digital is about 10% of total sales. 10% of Batman's sales would be 10,00 to 13,000 units, no where near your 30,000 units.

We won't get digital sales numbers. We don't even have print sales numbers. We have sales estimates but those are not the same as real numbers. Many creators say the Diamond charts give you a good ballpark but they can be off by a sizable margin.

The 30, 000 figure is from Marvel stating that Ms. Marvel sells better digitally. The rest are estimates based on that figure.

Ms. Marvel obviously doesn't sell just 10% of what it sells in comic shops, because that would mean it sells in the 3000 range digitally.

This would also mean that most comics don't match the 10% figure, as if Ms. Marvel tops digital sales with just 3000+ digital copies per issue, then that would mean the comics that sell significantly more than it in comic shops, are selling in the 3000 range or below digitally,failing to meet the 10% figure.

Ms. Marvel is the exception, not the rule, but there's precedent for some comics selling very well digitally.