Why Not DARK REIGN "???????"

[Tron Bonne]

I think he meant the newer one, Merc With A Mouth, it's an ongoing I believe. It's first issue came out recently I believe

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Deadpool's got two series now?

 

[Tron Bonne]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure Merc With A Mouth is an ongoing

 

[Spider-ManHero12]

^^ Yep, although, if you count the mini-series (suicide Kings) then there's 3.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Geez, even a s***ty side role in an X-Men movie is enough to take a character to the big leagues, it seems.

 

[Spider-ManHero12]

^^ What do you mean?

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Deadpool's always been something of a cult character. He's funny and people like him, but he could barely support a series with middling sales before. Now he's got two ongoings. I doubt it's a coincidence that this is happening in the wake of the Wolverine movie and rumors that Deadpool's up for his own movie.

 

[Spider-ManHero12]

^^ Well, I'm really not too sure that it's not a coincidence. I mean, Deadpool is a very popular characters, as you said, but I don't think it ties to why he's got 2 on gonoing series now. What i think is pushing it though is having numerous titles for just one character. I mean, look at Wolverine. I buy Wolverine: Origins, Wolverine: Old man Logan, and Wolverine (that's the title). Isn't there more than just those 3? That's all I'm buying for Wolverin now. I mean, I'm buying tons of other Marvel titles. This isn't happening to Spider-Man or HLuk or Thor. Yeah, Spidey did have Sensational and Friendly neighborhood at one point, but those stopped.

 

[hippie_hunter]

Deadpool's always been something of a cult character. He's funny and people like him, but he could barely support a series with middling sales before. Now he's got two ongoings. I doubt it's a coincidence that this is happening in the wake of the Wolverine movie and rumors that Deadpool's up for his own movie.

The thing is that Deadpool has a rather consistent fanbase that will pretty much gobble up anything he's in.

 

[GyLocke]

Deadpool's rise to cash cow status started before Origins. It didn't hurt though.

 

[Spider-ManHero12]

The thing is that Deadpool has a rather consistent fanbase that will pretty much gobble up anything he's in.

That is true. I'm still curious as to whether or not I should pick up the new on going Deadpool series. I'm reading the regular on going series as well as the mini series, but I don't know if I should add another one in.

 

[hippie_hunter]

Deadpool's rise to cash cow status started before Origins. It didn't hurt though.

Exactly. While Deadpool isn't a mega cash cow like Hulk, Spider-Man, or the X-Men, he is a consistent money maker.

While the people who are picking up Deadpool for Dark Reign aren't going to buy this title, the Deadpool fanboys certainly will because, we're absolute suckers.

 

[hippie_hunter]

That is true. I'm still curious as to whether or not I should pick up the new on going Deadpool series. I'm reading the regular on going series as well as the mini series, but I don't know if I should add another one in.

I say pick it up because Suicide Kings will end in a couple of issues.

 

[Spider-ManHero12]

I say pick it up because Suicide Kings will end in a couple of issues.

Yeah, that's true. I'll probably pick it up.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Exactly. While Deadpool isn't a mega cash cow like Hulk, Spider-Man, or the X-Men, he is a consistent money maker.

While the people who are picking up Deadpool for Dark Reign aren't going to buy this title, the Deadpool fanboys certainly will because, we're absolute suckers.

I get that, but Deadpool's sales were consistently somewhere around the middle of the top 100 for the past decade or so, weren't they? He rarely rose higher than that. His comic got canceled and he got stuck sharing a series with Cable, which generally doesn't happen to characters Marvel has a lot of faith in. It seems like his appearance in Wolverine and the talk of making a movie for him are finally getting Marvel to see how far they can milk DP's fanbase.

 

[hippie_hunter]

I get that, but Deadpool's sales were consistently somewhere around the middle of the top 100 for the past decade or so, weren't they? He rarely rose higher than that. His comic got canceled and he got stuck sharing a series with Cable, which generally doesn't happen to characters Marvel has a lot of faith in. It seems like his appearance in Wolverine and the talk of making a movie for him are finally getting Marvel to see how far they can milk DP's fanbase.

They cancelled Deadpool to make way for Agent X, the same way Cable was relaunched as Soldier X and X-Force was relauched as X-Statix. When Deadpool was cancelled it was selling almost 29,000 issues. It wasn't cancelled due to low sales, it was done to reinvigorate the sales of that set of books. Relaunches like that happen all the time.

Of course then they launched Cable & Deadpool because well, it's pretty obvious that both characters while still having a loyal fanbase, peaked in the 90's and it was still a consistent seller usually selling above 25,000. Again this book wasn't cancelled due to low sales, which for Marvel is around 20,000, it was cancelled to make way for Messiah Complex and the Cable ongoing.

Deadpool's current series so far has been doing pretty damn good in sales and his one shot Games of Death and miniseries Suicide Kings are doing well too. Not mega hits, but something where Marvel can essentially milk 30,000 fans, because Deadpool fans so far seem to be gobbling up everything he's in. If there's anything that sales of Deadpool related comics are showing so far, is that they're consistent. It doesn't need to be a top 10 comic at all. It just needs to take advantage of the suckers that are Deadpool fans. You're not going to make the big bucks, but you're still going to make a decent amount of change.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

You're just proving my point: Deadpool's had a consistent streak of middling sales. Enough to support an ongoing but not enough to be franchise-worthy without an additional push from something. Maybe it's the movies, maybe it's just a strong appreciation for the character within Marvel; I don't know. But what other books with a consistent sales record of 25-30k are being considered for franchises? By and large, those books are the ones that get launched as part of a franchise attached to a much bigger seller.

 

[prince_dylan]

In the latest Amazing Spider-Man letter pages, they hinted that Joe Kelly might write a Deadpool guest spot for ASM in October.

 

[hippie_hunter]

You're just proving my point: Deadpool's had a consistent streak of middling sales. Enough to support an ongoing but not enough to be franchise-worthy without an additional push from something. Maybe it's the movies, maybe it's just a strong appreciation for the character within Marvel; I don't know. But what other books with a consistent sales record of 25-30k are being considered for franchises? By and large, those books are the ones that get launched as part of a franchise attached to a much bigger seller.

While books in the 25-30k range tend to continually drop and eventually get cancelled due to low sales, Deadpool sales tend to stay there, meaning he has a devoted fanbase that shells out their money. Add in the success of the current Deadpool ongoing which ranges from 40-50k per month, plus the sales of Games of Death and Suicide Kings which are in the 35k range, just shows that you have an audience that you can completely milk dry. You don't need a massive promotion for it, you just have to let the Deadpool audience know that there's another book. You don't need a Bendis, Brubaker, Fraction, or Slott, you can get a small time writer like Way, Barberi, or Gischler. You don't need a Djurdjevic, McNiven, Finch, or Yu, you can get small time artist like Media or Dazo.

Deadpool is a small, cheap, and safe investment and that is why he is getting a lot of attention. He isn't going to bring in the bucks like Marvel's bigger characters are going to, but he's going to bring in something. He isn't like Marvel's other characters like Spider-Man where the fanbase goes off deciding to get Amazing Spider-Man, Amazing Spider-Man Family, or Ultimate Spider-Man and tend to forget the rest or the X-Men where the fanbase ignores most of the minis that come out. Deadpool fans just tend to get it all, unlike Spider-Man or X-Men, Deadpool really doesn't compete with himself to get attention for his books.

And that is my point, this is strictly a business decision designed to capture the very, very, very devoted cult audience of the character.