DC Month-to-Month Sales: February 2011
by Marc-Oliver Frisch-- Unit and dollar sales of DC Comics' periodical business remained at the lower end of the spectrum in February, despite a slight recovery from January's all-time low in average unit sales. However, the direct market as a whole has seen better days, and so DC still managed to snatch the three top spots of the chart and six out of the Top 10 in February, regardless of the company's lackluster sales. For the publisher's mainstream DC Universe line, the absence of major titles Batman Incorporated and Batman: The Dark Knight continued to be a problem, while the hangover from the discontinued WildStorm imprint kept dragging down the average. Average comic-book sales of DC's Vertigo imprint were still hovering above the 10k mark, meanwhile. See below for the details, and please consider the small print at the end of the column. Thanks to Milton Griepp and ICv2.com for the permission to use their figures. An overview of ICv2.com's estimates can be found here.
Continue ReadingMarch sales: Comics blah, GNs more blah
Okay, so comics sales were kinda crap in March, based on year-to-year comparisons, although better than February. Plus, the top book popped its head above the 100,000 mantle. But ICv2 reports that GN sales were even more problematic:
Continue Reading
Ghost Throat rules
No one really knew what the GHOST THROAT postcards around MoCCA meant, but everyone thought it was indeed fresh.
Continue Reading
Super MoCCA Laff Times
Been too busy with my regular Monday duties for a full MoCCA Festival wrap-up -- look for more photos and observations tomorrow, but in the meantime, as usual, it was a fun filled festival of comics and camaraderie. All of the many social events were great; the turnout at Saturday's Strange Tales/Beat/CBLDF fundraiser party was fantastic and we kept hearing all about what a great time everyone had. The same night there was a Comics Journal party at an LES bar which was also off the hook with great cartoonists, conversation, dancing and carrying on. As for the show itself, the crowd was perhaps a bit lighter than last year and the Law Of The Show came down from the mountain again: people with lots of great new books like D&Q and Fantagraphics did great. People without a lot of new material didn't do as well. More in the full report.
Continue ReadingWarren Ellis gets two-book deal at Mulholland
Warren Ellis has signed up for a couple more novels. His new publisher is Mulholland Books and the first novel will be something called Gun Machine.
Continue ReadingMEANWHILE: DC confirms Retroactive teams — UPDATED
Over at The Source, DC is releasing more info on Retroactive, a series of retro one-shots by classic teams starting in July. No final art has been released yet -- the image of Superman below is just style guide art.
Continue ReadingCasey and Dragotta team for Marvel VENGEANCE event
With comics periodical sales slogging along, many have said it's time to throw things against the wall and see what sticks -- Marvel is at least giving a nod towards this by announcing an event called VENGEANCE by Joe Casey and Nick Dragotta. Launching as a six-issue miniseries in July, VENGEANCE will take on the Marvel U's bad guys in a fresh fashion, introducing both revamped versions of younger evil-doers along with classic Marvel villains. "We're going to the Sixth Dimension, Hitler's Germany, an insane nightclub, and a homeless shelter," Dragotta said—of the first eight pages.
Continue ReadingMarvel Month-to-Month Sales: February 2011
February sees Marvel's "Point One" programme get under way, with issues of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, WOLVERINE and IRON MAN. The Age of X crossover starts in X-MEN LEGACY and NEW MUTANTS. And there's a new ongoing series, IRON MAN 2.0. As usual, Marvel had the largest share of the North American direct market. It's a pretty wide margin over DC this month - 45% to 31% in unit terms, 41% to 28% in dollars. Thanks as always to ICV2.com for permission to use these figures.
Continue ReadingMarvel to publish Langridge’s Muppet comics
With Marvel picking up most of the licensed Disney material that BOOM! Studios had published, it's no surprise that they'll be publishing the much-loved Muppets comics by Roger Langridge in a 96-page collection called "MUPPETS PRESENTS: MEET THE MUPPETS" -- previously collected by BOOM! in 2009. Bringing back Langridge's great comics is a no-brainer, but there is still the question of the Langridge comics that were left in publishing limbo. On his blog, Langridge suggested that the material in question was in a contractual limbo, with DIsney unable to publish it until it had been published by BOOM!. Asked whether the lost material would be showing up at Marvel, a spokesman had only a "No comment."
Continue ReadingWhat the critics are saying about Paying For It
Chester Brown's PAYING FOR IT is destined to be one of the most talked about graphic novels of the year -- we'd suspect it may be THE most talked about. It's a great work of comics that is nonetheless problematic for the views it espouses about human relationships and commerce. Just in case you aren't sitting on the edge of your seat waiting for the book to come out, PAYING FOR IT is a memoir by Chester Brown about his experiences employing prostitutes. Brown's previous works include such masterworks as I NEVER LIKED YOU, ED THE HAPPY CLOWN and the historical narrative LOUIS RIEL, which is considered an important political work in Brown's native Canada. As one of the pioneers of the most successful schools of autobiographical comics, Brown is a major figure of the art comix era.
Continue ReadingThe Tripwire Report: Joel Meadows on Kapow!
So after months of hype and bluster, Kapow Comic Con 2011 came to London at the weekend. Promising San Diego in London (overpriced hotels, restaurants you can't get into and panels you can't get near;) at last there was the chance to see what all of the fuss was about.
Continue ReadingNice art: DIAMOND anthology
Moving on to the fast approaching Stumptown, Floating World is debuting a new issue of DIAMOND, with a cover by Paul Pope and other good stuff. Jason Leivian writes:
Continue ReadingWeekend roundup: Kapow!; Millar has four new titles
It was another busy weekend for comics around the globe, as the MoCCA Fest in NYC saw indie crowds gathering to buy the latest literary comics. Meanwhile in London, it was the inaugural Kapow! festival, organized by Mark Millar and his friends. From all accounts, although the show sold and had a capped attendance of only around 5000 people, it did achieve some of that "Movie-con magic":
Continue ReadingOur Sponsors
CLASSIFIEDS
RECENT COMMENTS