Hey, GA/BC's gone for like 30 issues, even though it's never been good.
DC also has a lower sales threshold for cancellation than Marvel does. Marvel will can a book once sales hit below about 18-17k an issue with no end in sight (and sometimes even 20k sellers have hit the axe in years past). DC usually waits until a series falls to perhaps 10-14k an issue with no end in sight, at least for a non Vertigo or Wildstorm comic (both imprints that usually sell lower than mainstream DC). Also, due to Vertigo, I think DC has an idea that if a series is getting some kind of positive buzz, to let it linger even if the sales are not the best, because DC realizes trades are eternal and their Vertigo titles are common at bookstores. Compare this to Marvel, who has all but demonized "trade waiters", done everything in their power to make trades just as expensive, if not more so, than collecting monthly issues, and insists on using Diamond to sell trades to BOOK stores, rather than distribution companies that sell books to book stores, as DC has. To be fair, Image and other companies have the same trade problem, and the fact that DC's parent company is WB likely helps.
In Feb. 2010, GREEN ARROW AND BLACK CANARY #29 sold 16,600 copies, listing at #100 of the Top 100 list (and likely only there because comic sales as a whole were down 3%). All Marvel ongoing titles that sell at or below that level have been canceled. X-MEN FOREVER sells barely above it, but at $4 twice a month, it likely has a higher threshold than some titles.
My point is that Green Arrow and Black Canary are not commercially successful characters for DC right now, nor has pairing them together in a book really produced much of a result. Why rip off an idea that is clearly failing?
Hawkeye has sold some solo comics in the past, but...so has Sleepwalker. It isn't 1987 anymore. Whether good or bad, the odds of this lasting 12 full issues has to be at best 10%, especially with a $3.99 debut issue. I genuinely believe Marvel is underestimating how few people want to risk $4 on a number one issue for a franchise that is NOT a big name, tested, "important" comic. They are unaware of the market they have spent the last half decade creating in which only "important" books sell, and not all comics can be "important"; even being of GOOD QUALITY is not comparable to "important", sadly. The HEROIC AGE looks to be an attempt to undo some of his mindset in the readership, but will it work, or be too little, too late?
Hopefully Marvel will support this title with good artist and writer, because this power couple could be the next big thing in Marvel.
