Keeping track of Post-Rebirth Superman sales

[Vordan]

EB126216-8C23-4BCD-8E24-078691A78AA2.jpg

Cool if more people are checking out Action now, be nice if both of the Superbooks could stay in the top 50.

[Vordan]

Action Comics #1062 was #6 of the week per Bleeding Cool

[Frontier]

Guess Aaron really does still have some pull.

[TheKryptonMan]

Guess Aaron really does still have some pull.

I think it's great that Action Comics was #5 or #6 , but did Aaron really have to use Batman on the book ?
Don't get me wrong , I love Batman but I think that Supes is capable of handling his problems in his book .
Also we have a World's Finest which is a great book , for when the two team up .

[Laser_Man]

I think it's great that Action Comics was #5 or #6 , but did Aaron really have to use Batman on the book ?
Don't get me wrong , I love Batman but I think that Supes is capable of handling his problems in his book .
Also we have a World's Finest which is a great book , for when the two team up .

Considering Aaron is also writing a Batman book currently, I feel a lot of comic writers just want to write Batman and take up other characters only in the hopes of inserting Batman in those stories. Not only did he use Batman, but now it seems Joker will be star of the next issue and will be saving the day.

Same thing I felt with Mark Russell's Superman: Space Age. Batman was basically the co-lead of the story and had nearly as much of a role as Superman. Now Russell is writing Batman: Dark Age but I highly doubt Superman will be appearing in this story.

[Vordan]

Cover seems to be setting up Superman to appear in Dark Age:

I think it's great that Action Comics was #5 or #6 , but did Aaron really have to use Batman on the book ?
Don't get me wrong , I love Batman but I think that Supes is capable of handling his problems in his book .
Also we have a World's Finest which is a great book , for when the two team up .

Bruce doesn’t solve anything or even point Clark towards the solution, with his presence merely setting up Superman fetching the Joker to help. I’m fine with it because I liked seeing that even Joker had not been able to hold out against Bizarro’s spell while Superman did. Aaron used Batman characters to make Superman look good which is refreshing.

[Laser_Man]

Cover seems to be setting up Superman to appear in Dark Age:

I hope he's not presented as being brainwashed again so Batman can fight him. Or worse, as a government stooge.

[Reddead]

Considering Aaron is also writing a Batman book currently, I feel a lot of comic writers just want to write Batman and take up other characters only in the hopes of inserting Batman in those stories. Not only did he use Batman, but now it seems Joker will be star of the next issue and will be saving the day.

Same thing I felt with Mark Russell's Superman: Space Age. Batman was basically the co-lead of the story and had nearly as much of a role as Superman. Now Russell is writing Batman: Dark Age but I highly doubt Superman will be appearing in this story.

Well, leaving aside that Batman is a gigantic pop culture icon, what also happens is that writers know Batman sells, so they end up writing Batman quite a lot to build an audience and push their own careers forward. Once you have an established audience it's easier to write whatever you want.

Take Geoff Johns for example. It's quite obvious he doesn't like Batman much (his appearances in his early books were pretty much always portrayed him in an antagonistic role), yet he ended up writing Batman quite a lot between JL, Earth-One and Three Jokers simply because he knows that's where the money is. Tynion used Batman to create an audience for his indie books. Tom King uses Batman to convince DC to greenlight his niche books like Human Target and Mister Miracle.

[TheKryptonMan]

Well, leaving aside that Batman is a gigantic pop culture icon, what also happens is that writers know Batman sells, so they end up writing Batman quite a lot to build an audience and push their own careers forward. Once you have an established audience it's easier to write whatever you want.

Take Geoff Johns for example. It's quite obvious he doesn't like Batman much (his appearances in his early books were pretty much always portrayed him in an antagonistic role), yet he ended up writing Batman quite a lot between JL, Earth-One and Three Jokers simply because he knows that's where the money is. Tynion used Batman to create an audience for his indie books. Tom King uses Batman to convince DC to greenlight his niche books like Human Target and Mister Miracle.

I find it really amazing how Batman became this gigantic culture icon .
Maybe it has all to do with obviously the comics for the past 30 years , and the Burton movies that put him on the Big Screen really first .( I know that Superman with Chris Reeve was Big at the time , but then just stalled ) .
Maybe the fact that Batman is just a human without any powers and is portrayed as capable of defeating anyone .

I guess that a close 2nd would be Spider-Man as he's looked upon as an everyday Joe who got bitten by the Spider .

[Mantis-Ray]

I hope he's not presented as being brainwashed again so Batman can fight him. Or worse, as a government stooge.

Focusing on the worst possible conclusions sure is a good way to get you filled with needless stress.

If's like that aren't worth giving any thought.

[Vordan]

ICV2 sales for Jan:

18 Action Comics #1061

23 Batman Superman Worlds Finest #23

24 Superman #10

64 Kneel Before Zod #1 (Of 12)

66 Batman Superman World’s Finest 2024 Annual #1 (One-Shot)

92 Superman Lost #10 (Of 10)

112 Power Girl #5

140 Power Girl Uncovered #1 (One-Shot)

163 Superman 78 The Metal Curtain #3 (Of 6)

198 Action Comics 2023 Annual #1 (One-Shot) (Resolicitation)

Kneel Before Zod deserved a better debut, least Casey is going to get 12 issues to tell his story.

[skyvolt2000]

Well, leaving aside that Batman is a gigantic pop culture icon, what also happens is that writers know Batman sells, so they end up writing Batman quite a lot to build an audience and push their own careers forward. Once you have an established audience it's easier to write whatever you want.

Take Geoff Johns for example. It's quite obvious he doesn't like Batman much (his appearances in his early books were pretty much always portrayed him in an antagonistic role), yet he ended up writing Batman quite a lot between JL, Earth-One and Three Jokers simply because he knows that's where the money is. Tynion used Batman to create an audience for his indie books. Tom King uses Batman to convince DC to greenlight his niche books like Human Target and Mister Miracle.

He already had an audience before he even got Batman and dispelled the notion books with POC, women and LGBTQA couldn't make it in the market. Along with some of his indie books being used outside of comics.

The issue with tossing Batman in everything is how does that help the actual character whose book it is?

Not everyone likes Batman. Sure we got some sales charts that want to say everyone does but actually WALKING into a store and seeing the large piles of books he leaves behind tells another story.

If Batman has to whored out to get books like Human Target and Mister Miracle there is a HUGE issue within the company. You are begging for the indies to bypass you.

Batman at the top doesn't help a Green Lantern or Flash book looking up at Spawn, Power Rangers and Dynamite books.

[Jeffrey2]

I find it really amazing how Batman became this gigantic culture icon .
Maybe it has all to do with obviously the comics for the past 30 years , and the Burton movies that put him on the Big Screen really first .( I know that Superman with Chris Reeve was Big at the time , but then just stalled ) .
Maybe the fact that Batman is just a human without any powers and is portrayed as capable of defeating anyone .

I guess that a close 2nd would be Spider-Man as he's looked upon as an everyday Joe who got bitten by the Spider .

Batman moved to the top in the 90s. The Death of storyline made Superman comic sales huge but a few years later those sales drifted down and never recovered consistent top 20 status. The numbers have been relatively strong very recently after years of stagnation - not just for Supes but most of the comic book industry. Lois and Clark did well its first 2 seasons but tanked in season 3 once they got engaged - there's a lesson in that. Smallville was huge but really wasn't a Superman series. Still Superman has always done well on live action TV from the Superboy series through Superman and Lois. Other than the first 2 Reeve films Superman have not done well in film.

The shift to Batman was after his films that followed the Reeve films. Plans for a Brainiac Superman 5 in the early 90s stalled out then the character went into development hell for more than a decade. Meanwhile Batman was there but more importantly Marvel came to dominate. Spiderman is a bigger franchise than Batman today by quite a bit but Ironman, a C list character, pulled in a billion by his 3rd film which in today's dollar's is closer to 1.5 billion.

The thing favoring Batman, and Spiderman, over Supes is that they are human and more relatable for most. Batman has the added advantage of his gadgets which make for a boatload of toy sales/revenue. Still Spiderman beats Batman but that is because he's more kid friendly. Another factor is IMO that Batman and Spiderman fans are more accepting of different adaptations of those characters than are Superman fans - look at the debate over MOS which continues to this day.

Still, if done right, Superman can prosper as seen by the uptick is comic book sales and by Superman and Lois which was a great vehicle for introducing Superman to a new generation which is critical to sustain the viability of the franchise. .

[Vordan]

[Frontier]

It's funny seeing Superman on the same list as Spy x Family, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Transformers, and My Happy Marriage.