I think that saying that Marvel regularly outsells DC is a misconception. While Marvel leads in unit and dollar share, that usually has to do more with the plain and simple fact that Marvel puts out a lot more product than DC and releases more comics at higher price points than DC.
But if you take a look at the sales charts, DC has been dominating the top 10 recently thanks to Batman, Green Lantern, and the Flash. And books like Superman, Wonder Woman, and Justice League of America would be much higher on the charts if they had better creative teams on them instead of being the mess they are right now.
DC's lower selling books are a lot more healthier than Marvel's lower selling books, a lot of DC's lower selling books are actually quite stable as opposed to Marvel's where they just consistently keep dropping to horrific levels, hence why we see titles such as Young Allies, Spider-Girl, S.W.O.R.D., Vengeance of the Moon Knight, and Doctor Voodoo canceled early while we see Blue Beetle last 36 issues, Manhunter last 38 issues, and R.E.B.E.L.S. last 28 issues before cancellation and seeing Secret Six (above 30 issues), Power Girl (above 20 issues), and Booster Gold (above 40 issues) still alive. And dare I say I have a lot more faith in DC's inevitable Aquaman, Firestorm, Hawkman, and Justice League International books selling healthier than I do in Herc, Journey into Mystery, Hulk, Black Panther: The Man Without Fear, and Ghost Rider. I would have more faith in a new Blue Beetle ongoing selling healthier than those books, and that book has already been cancelled.
It is true that DC has been dominating the Top 10 list for a few months now; since about the end of 4th quarter 2010 into the first quarter 2011. On the other hand, there were no "big" launches or crossovers during that time, unless you count BRIGHTEST DAY. DC also has some problems with lateness. Months when FLASH, or BATMAN & ROBIN or some other books fail to ship, it shows. It is easy to criticize some of Marvel's moves, but commercially, the "Three" arc on FANTASTIC FOUR is doing well. Reprints of the death issue are selling so well, the REPRINT sells within the Top 80. Every issue in that arc has seen 2-3 reprints. Shops likely will over order it, but in the short term this looks to be a success for the Four. Whether that holds for the relaunch as FF remains to be seen, but sales for #588 were about twice what they were for #586. Besides, we all know they'll return to the old number in time for a 600th issue, so FF only has to tick upwards or hold steady for about a year.
On the flip side of DC's "stability" is they have a SLEW of titles that don't sell very highly. Nearly half their DCU titles sell below 40k copies, and many tread around 35k-25k. While the monthly drops of many DC books are in the "standard attrition" rate of about 1-3%, you still have some books that are still falling over 4-5% in sales from DC, which isn't healthy. Of course, many Marvel titles would likely kill for such small drops. DC has eked out a stronger relationship with trade sales, and via their VERTIGO line. They also likely cut a lot of fat by closing down shop with JINX and WILDSTORM. DC is willing to can a title after a year or so if sales are horrific, although their threshold for doing so is lower than Marvel's. Marvel will can an ongoing title once sales fall below about 18k-19k with no end in sight; DC usually wait until sales fall below 15k. It is worth noting how there has been no real sales boost for DC since their "HOLDING THE LINE AT $2.99" promotion, which is a bit of a shame.
DC may have a more stable audience for a lot of their lower tier titles; the dilemma for them is it is a small audience. On the other hand, without crossover shenanigans, the "midlist" titles have actually been the ones weathering the storm better than, say, Bendis Avengers titles. I will be curious how well FLASHPOINT and FEAR ITSELF do. Part of me feels even matching sales numbers for SIEGE or FINAL CRISIS may be a feat.
Although it must be obvious that DC's plan to have JMS boost WONDER WOMAN and SUPERMAN has been a complete editorial failure. Their insistence on finishing out a run not even JMS sought to is also a bad idea, and feels like when Marvel could have cut bait on the Clone Saga but insisted on dragging it out a year or so for "integrity". It can just seem like trying to dig yourself OUT of a hole. "Dig UP, stupid!" Given that SUPERMAN will have a film sooner than WW, they may want to try to fix it up. Right now he is selling C-List to FLASH. That's like if at Marvel, WOLVERINE was selling less than SPIDER-MAN. Oh, wait, that's now.
I've been thinking about it and I think that 2011 is going to see a lot of cancellations from both DC and Marvel simply because the market really can't handle smaller titles anymore. I don't see Titans, Black Panther, Hulk, Journey into Mystery, Gotham City Sirens, Ghost Rider, and a lot of the various Flashpoint and Fear Itself minis not doing all that well.
Marvel has canceled quite a few titles lately for that reason. SPIDER-GIRL just got the axe now. In the solicits I am seeing a lot fewer random new launches of ongoing titles and more extra issues of regular titles. There still are $3.99 debut issues into 2011, which I feel is very bad and certainly hasn't helped any book that wasn't already going to be big, such as a Bendis or Brubaker Avengers title.
While I will probably enjoy some of the FEAR ITSELF mini's, it may be a bad idea to create new material for a crossover to tie into, versus having it tie into pre-existing titles. I do like that not all those mini's are $3.99 an issue anymore (such as POWER MAN & IRON FIST), but the era when people buy up everything is over.
I also think all the years of crossovers and promotions and "events" have basically done to comics what many accuse the Republicans of doing to the economy - destroying the middle class. In the market Marvel and DC have spent 5 years creating for themselves, they have created a place in which books either sell great or sell poorly, with few hanging onto "average" or "modest hit" territory long. Heck, the fact that AVENGERS ACADEMY, a book starring new characters trained by B and C Listers, has not only lasted beyond a year but is intended to see a 20th issue is a feat unto itself.
Marvel really really needs to calm down on their output. There's just too much stuff man. Marvel should really just focus on their core titles for a while and every now and then test a mini-series with smaller known characters. But all these many mini-series and one shots are just overkill and no ones buying them apparently. I get that their trying to give people as many choices as possible, and in theory thats not a bad idea, but sometimes less is better i think.
I do agree they need to trim their line. On the other hand, if they have low sales expectations for a mini series, it may be seen as harmless.
I agree. If you thumb through an old issue from the 80's or 90's and see the checklists they would have on the Bulletins page, then compare it to the solicits for any given month now, the latter is about 3 times the size. And that's not including the trades.....
Indeed, which is sad since the 90's were the era of excess. SLEEPWALKER lasted two years, for heaven's sakes.
Both Marvel and DC may probably have to consider retrenching their comics, having less spin offs and less "nobody asked for this" stuff. Of course, there is always somebody who asked for it. I imagine someone out there thinks that a series called MYSTERY MEN about heroes of the 1920's and 30's is a brilliant idea.
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