Comments on: DC Month-to-Month Sales September 2007

By: The Four Color Media Monitor

The Four Color Media Monitor — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 21:19:41 +0000

I wonder if Vertigo is destined to go the way of M…

Looking at more news on today’s sales figures, including this Tilting at Windmills article (via The Beat blog), I discovered that Vertigo’s sales have dropped considerably in the past three years. The observation that the editors of this line ended u…

By: Frank Rook

Frank Rook — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 10:02:12 +0000

Don’t feel so bad, Bill. I just started buying Checkmate. Almost two years after “One Year Later”, and so many of the books launched are hovering amid six feet under…

By: Bill D.

Bill D. — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 21:24:48 +0000

I just discovered Blue Beetle… I hope I didn’t show up just in time for the funeral.

By: Daniel Trogdon

Daniel Trogdon — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 22:13:35 +0000

And a Mark Evanier column that has some insight.

By: Daniel Trogdon

Daniel Trogdon — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 22:11:31 +0000

Here's an interview with Tom Brevoort everyone here should find relevant.

By: Leigh Walton

Leigh Walton — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 20:59:18 +0000

Once again, I had a comment that turned into a blog post.

By: Growing out of the magazine business model, part 876534 « Picture Poetry

Growing out of the magazine business model, part 876534 « Picture Poetry — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 20:58:55 +0000

[...] Growing out of the magazine business model, part 876534 Published October 26th, 2007 comics , economics , serialization , vertigo The latest meme is that Vertigo and (especially) Wildstorm are losing single-issue sales, and therefore in danger. [...]

By: Alan Coil

Alan Coil — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 20:35:17 +0000

AndyD asked:
“Both books had to be pre-ordered, right, three months in advance? So retailers can´t have any data whatsoever how much they would actually sell of the no.1, when the time came to order no.2. No.1 wasn´t actually on the shelves.”
—–
With the Final Order Cutoff system now in effect for Marvel and DC, retailers can change the number of issues ordered for the next issue after the current issue has been on sale.

I don’t know the exact date for sure, but I think the retailer can change his order number about 3 weeks before the issue comes out. The previous issue has been on the shelf a week or two when he finalizes his order.

At my LCS, if it hasn’t sold by Saturday night, it probably isn’t going to sell.

By: alan brown

alan brown — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 18:34:07 +0000

It seems reasonable that, instead of cutting off badly selling vertigo series before they get through the second storyline, they are letting them progress to a point where they can let the story come to some kind of reasonable conclusion, allowing for the possibility of significant collected editions sales down the road.

By: Marc-Oliver Frisch

Marc-Oliver Frisch — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 18:24:26 +0000

“What about a book like 100 Bullets, which has not been selling well in single issues for years but has managed to survive for nearly nine years and almost ninety issues?”

As I understand it, unlike most of Vertigo’s more recent titles, 100 BULLETS has never dropped to a level where it would cease being profitable as a periodical.

“I am merely suggesting that perhaps the single-issue sales don’t represent the same thing for Vertigo titles as they do for DCU titles.”

I agree.

By: Sphinx Magoo

Sphinx Magoo — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 16:48:26 +0000

I don’t think DC needs to lose Wildstorm. Wildstorm’s still the home of Astro City and Alan Moore’s ABC stuff. But I do wish they’d be more cutting edge and offer their new books online. It’s tough to read Wildstorm books when stores don’t order enough copies. Wildstorm seems to put out some interesting books but I only find out about them if they make it to tpb form at Border’s. If they went online (ala, say, “Girl Genius”) they’d probably gain greater access to the public. And to me, especially! ;P

By: Bill Williams

Bill Williams — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 15:44:49 +0000

Once upon a time, I had the good fortune of writing an issue of JLU and different rules apply on the creative end. One- It is a good place for a new guy to get a gig because, Two- It is out of continuity and no one in the DCU cares about the content. Because of that, JLU has some interesting fresh stories that manage to wrap up in 20 pages. Contrast that to the six issues it takes character X to get a new costume in the ‘mainstream’ books.

I do enjoy reading the monthly numbers and enjoy the occasional snide tone, but all of this is done outside of the info bubble. While all businesses have a proprietary right to certain information, either Diamond or DC or Marvel could solve the mystery of the short numbers with a wave of a magic wand. They choose not to, so we are left to wonder about their continued profitability. Does the occasional in-house movie option money still make Vertigo viable? Aside from keeping Jim Lee happy and penciling All Star Batman, is there a reason to continue the Wildstorm line? And what if anything can be done to stop the sales erosion?

By: Paul O'Brien

Paul O'Brien — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 15:24:38 +0000

Well, they outsell Marvel in the direct market. It doesn’t follow that they outsell Marvel overall.

By: Nate Linley

Nate Linley — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 14:59:45 +0000

It seems strange that the best selling Johnny DC title is JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED and that may be canceled soon.You’d think the other Johnny DC books would be canned first. JLU seems to have some appeal to older audiences so maybe that’s a negative?
In fact, the Johnny DC titles seem to be the one category of books that outsell the Marvel equivalent, and yet DC seems to give them little support. Shouldn’t they be pushing it more?

By: Ray Cornwall

Ray Cornwall — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 14:31:33 +0000

Heidi- thanks for the update on PW and reviews of Vertigo titles. (Interesting how a former DC/Vertigo editor now reviews their books, actually.)

Jimmy- Brian Hibbs occasionally gets numbers from Bookscan, but there really doesn’t seem to be any reliable way of getting out-of-DM trade sales. The best way I would think to do it would be to track the Amazon rankings and apply the formula listed here, but it would by no means be exact:

http://www.webpronews.com/expertarticles/2006/06/15/navigating-the-amazon-sales-ranking