Publishers

Straight from the offices of Publishers Weekly, it’s More to Come! Your podcast source of comics news and discussion starring The Beat’s own Heidi...

By Jason Enright

Hi everyone! My name is Jason Enright and I am going to be analyzing the Marvel sales charts for you. I have a background as a comic book retailer and now a comic book marketing specialist. As we go along I’ll be adding in my thoughts as to why we may be seeing these numbers and what they tell me as a fan, retailer, and marketing guy. A few things to keep in mind about these charts: 1. The direct market (comic book shops that order through Diamond) does not track sell-through. So these numbers don’t represent what actually sold, but instead represent what retailers ordered. A book can get high orders and sit on the shelf (which often leads to lower orders in later months) and a book can be under-ordered and sell out (see Black Widow further down this chart). These numbers are what retailers estimated would sell in their shops. 2. We currently don’t have any digital sales data so this is only a look at what is selling in stores. Until we somehow convince Marvel and all the other publishers to release their digital sales numbers, we have no clue how well most of these books are really doing, as digital is a very quickly growing marketplace which sees a lot of new first-time comic readers.

As announced yesterday, Skottie Young, Eisner winning artist, will be writing and drawing a ROCKET RACCOON ongoing series in July. And here's some interior...

Jim Zub's 2014 is picking up some real speed right now. Most well-known for his series Skullkickers with Edwin Huang and Misty Coats, which is soon heading towards the penultimate arc, he's building up a head of stream to take him straight through into 2015. Alongside his creator-owned fantasy sword-swinging monster-kicking fighty fight series, he's also now writing various projects for DC, Marvel, Dynamite and many others. One of the most interesting things about Zub as a creator, and what first caught my attention, is his openness about his career and creative process. The extensive comic book tutorials on his website offer some brilliant advice on a range of topics, from publicity to building a creative team, and right through to the tricky stuff nobody else talks about - like, for instance money. Which means there's a lot to talk to him about! Ahead of issue #25 of Skullkickers - which you'll get to see preview pages from below - he spoke to me about building Skullkickers, assembling the team, and how he's managed to keep interest in the series so high.

Titan were announced as the new owners of the Doctor Who license last year, spurring many to wonder what their plans with the franchise...

Image Publisher Eric Stephenson delivered a speech to retailers this morning and here's the text, courtesy of Image comics: I hope you don’t mind if...

Contrary to the reports from this past week, writer Jimmy Palmiotti has taken to Twitter - and The Beat's comment section - to state...

Hi everyone! New guy, Dave Carter, here with the first DC sales charts of 2014. I have an introductory write-up down at the end of this column, but since you're all really here for the sales numbers, commentary and snark, let's get to it: On the surface DC seemingly does well to start off the year, with their two premier Batman-starring titles in the #1 & #2 slots, and five of the top ten. But once you start looking a little deeper there is much to cause concern… Three of DC's top selling titles, Forever Evil, Superman Unchained, and Sandman Overture, did not ship this month, contributing to the overall sales decline.

DC has announced its September stunt for the year at the ComicsPRO meeting down in Atlanta and it's the return of those new-fangled lenticular...

With the final part of his 'Zita the Spacegirl' trilogy hitting stores in May, you might have been wondering what Ben Hatke's next project...

That Rocket Raccoon exploitation we told you about is well underway, but when the exploitation takes the form of a series written and drawn by Skottie Young, it's really really hard to complain. And note well: this is an ONGOING series, not a one-shot or mini. It's Young's first gig writing AND drawing for Marvel.

Today's Lois Lane one-shot comic by Marguerite Bennett and Emanuela Lupacchino is not only the first Lois Lane solo book in a long...