DC suffering record lows in dollar & market share? I'm not surprised. Marvel is jolly stomping on them. If anything proves that DC pre-IC was better than post-IC, look at the hard figures. No, I am not one of those people who goes, "DC is on the way out!" because it will always be here. But after all the big talk in 2005-2006 and the steady competition for sales, to see DC tank so much since should be appalling to DC management. DiDio seems to be trying to pull DC versions of Joe Q's reign, and it just doesn't work.
Obviously, the high sales for WWH stuff and FALLEN SON prove that while some of us on the 'net may be wary of so many events, retailers and the silent majority of readers aren't. Except when it comes to DC, where 52 ended on a whimper and COUNTDOWN hasn't started with a bang. Maybe the reason is simple; Marvel's events at least have a different theme, but DC has been stuck on either reorganizing the universe/multiverse/cluster-****, or threatening to, for the last 2 years and it is getting old. That's another problem. Joe Q can draw inspiration from the status quo of the Silver Age, but the stories don't actually go about it without trying to do it in a modern way, for better or worse (the one event that hasn't bred new ground was Decimation, which returned the X-Men to the status quo of the 60's, when they got cancelled and spat out reprints for about 3 years before the Claremont/Byrne/Cockrum/Wein revolution). DC on the other hand has been strip-mining their Silver Age but in not as modern a way, to the point where titles just trying to do standalone stories are lost in the dust and titles trying to tie in never link up. Plus, DC has lost the mainstream media appeal of the 90's; sure, they can get shows on TV, if only because of the WB, but aside for their Vertigo line and Batman, they can't get anything on the big screen, while Marvel films saw profits from even B-List franchises like DAREDEVIL or GHOST RIDER (while WONDER WOMAN can't get made and SUPERMAN is floundering). Marvel even struck first blood on the "original animated DTV" market, spitting out 3-4 before DC can even get in 1. DC is chasing Marvel's trends, but it isn't working.
Darthphere said:
Now to something more important at #9 All Star Batman and Robin and at #13 Ultimates. I don't want to see anyone who bought these titles, ***** about late books, ever. kthanxbye.
Interesting that you didn't mention ASTONISHING X-MEN, which has been behind schedule for ages and outsold both at #8. It hogs certain characters from the other X-books and can't link up because it is so behind, so the book's only real purpose is sales for the rare month it comes out, and Whedon. The core X-books have lacked a flagship or a direction for a while, which is why ENDANGERED SPECIES better work out for them. However, it is poetic justice that after recieving the brunt of Marvel's attention for a decade and pushing most non-Spidey Marvel books into B-List status, that fortunes have reversed with the Avengers and associated books now recieving more focus & direction than the X-line.
In my defense, I bought ULTIMATES 2 #13 because I wanted to have the ending after getting that far. I skipped ALL-STAR BATMAN not only due to lateness, but because it was B-Movie territory; the type of horrid thing that is so bad you can laugh at it, but not to pay for.
Anyway, onto sales comments:
- The fact that MIGHTY AVENGERS, which in every solict brags about "Cho on boobies" is being outsold by it's prior title NEW AVENGERS (as well as FALLEN SON, ASM, and ASTONISHING) perhaps shows that the "bad girls" craze really is dead and cheesecake, soft-core porn art doesn't sell by itself anymore. I mean, long before any controversay, HEROES FOR HIRE has been using cheesecake art for a while now and has hit the skids.
- AVENGERS: INITIATIVE #2 saw a dip in sales; falling from #6 to #14, but still within the Top 15. Slott definately has scored his first ace, now hopefully it can remain in the Top 20 or so for the next few months; WWH should give it a boost.
- Surprised to see MOON KNIGHT slip out of the Top 35 where it has perched for a while and dip into the 40's. It could be the loss of Finch on interiors, or it could be a hectic month, or it could be it's erractic schedule finally catching up with it.
- USM and the ULTIMATE POWER mini continue to be the best selling titles of the Ultimate line (not counting ULTIMATES 2, because it was more of a rarity than an ongoing). UFF shipped two issues this month and couldn't overcome the Top 50, and Ult. XM has been in quiet decline for about a year. It's due to losing A-List talent and being strip-mined of most of it's innovations, for better or worse (worse being the more crude depiction of 616 SHIELD ever since).
- OMEGA FLIGHT #2 is still within the Top 45 and if it can remain above the Top 70 by the end of the last issue I don't see why Marvel wouldn't make it an ongoing, especially considering that X-MEN: FIRST CLASS is an ongoing now despite the SPECIAL only selling at #97.
- GHOST RIDER is continuing to slip after hype from the movie died down at #60, outside of the Top 50. Or it could be the rather useless retcon of the origin that reeks of something DC might have done. I can easily see why of all books, this ties in with WWH. But Marvel needs to remember that in the 90's, books that only existed for crossovers were dead weight. I read GR but I would rather it end than just be an endless shill for crossovers. If a book can't stand on it's own, then it never will.
- The fact that ANNIHILATION SAGA, which was basically a summary of ANNIHILATION that had info on it that most people could have read for free on wikipedia, sold within the Top 100 at all is somewhat interesting.
- NEWUNIVERSAL is skidding down the Top 70. It's obviously the slow pacing, least to me. It's been 6 issues and things are only starting to come together, and even in the 6-issue-or-bust format, you need to have some resolution after 6.
- IRON FIST & NOVA should still be selling better than the Top 55-70, but these are still moderate sales for non A-list characters. Plus, at this point, every new book launched from Marvel gets at least 12 issues, showing that their success has bred more patience. NEXTWAVE got 12 issues, BLADE, which has been canned, will get 12, and HEROES FOR HIRE and IRREDEEMABLE ANT-MAN will both likely see a #12 too. It still is a shame ANT-MAN doesn't sell better, but it just shows how hostile the market is to innovation within the Big Two sometimes. Even the universally lambasted SINS PAST sold leagues better.
- Whedon's second issue of RUNAWAYS took quite a dip, almost into the Top 60 at #58. That's still way better than BKV was doing, but may show that Whedon alone many only be able to boost sales so much, and once he leaves at the end of the year the book may be in real danger unless an equally popular A-Lister comes aboard, but I can't think of any who would fit.
- THE LONERS has dropped off the Top 100, which kills any shot of it becoming an ongoing. Boo!
- THE SPIRIT is DC's best book (to me, at least) and it sells so low. Double Boo!
- Considering that it is a random, continuity-lax old-school adventure, the fact that SPIDER-MAN AND THE FANTASTIC FOUR is selling above the Top 90 at all is interesting. CW/Initiative/WWH tie-in's are hot, but they increase sales of low selling books very nominally, showing a healthy limit to the ability to boost that may keep Marvel's editorial dept. wise for the next year, one hopes.
