UNITY Is Valiant’s big BIG book of the year and they’ve just announced the first issue will have a 68,500 copy print run. The first issue—which feature a line wide crossover written by the man of the moment Matt Kindt with art by Doug Braithwaite—is returnable, and they’ve just announced that issues 2 and 3 will be returnable as well. CBR has a spotlight on the Valiant team, and asked Freed Pierce about the move:
It’s the first time that we’ve had a returnable book, and we wanted to make it as easy as possible for the retailers to take a position. We believe that once the book is in the stores — and many of the retailers are very good about hand-selling our books — we’ll get into the hands of consumers. There’s no easier way for a retailer to take a chance on a book then if the book is fully returnable. Once you make #1 fully returnable, it makes sense to make #2 and #3 fully returnable, because they’re making decisions on #2 and #3 really before they have the full story about #1. So we really want them to be confident that we’re putting great talent behind it, and we’re so confident in the book that we’ll make it returnable. We’ll take the risk.
as we’ve noted previously, returnability is the hot trend in comics, and Valiant is smart to take advantage of it. Another hot trend is announcing print runs. In the pr below Valiant compares UNITY to other success stories of the year like East of West #1 Hawkeye #1, Lazarus #1, Manhattan Projects #1, Pretty Deadly #1, Saga #1, Satellite Sam #1, Sex Criminals #1, Ten Grand #1, Trillium #1, Velvet #1, The Wake #1 — Hm it has been a pretty good year for the pamphlets hasn’t it.
Here’s the PR on the release and more preview art:
With more than two weeks to go until the first issue hits stores on November 13th, UNITY #1 is already making waves as one of the best-selling comic book launches of 2013!
As revealed today at Comic Book Resources, Valiant has announced that UNITY #1 – the oversized, 40-page first issue of Valiant’s next landmark monthly series by Matt Kindt and Doug Braithwaite – will debut with initial orders of more than 68,500 copies, cementing its status as one of 2013’s highest selling new series debuts.
Valiant is also proud to announce that the subsequent two issues of UNITY’s first story arc – December’s UNITY #2 and January’s UNITY #3 – will be 100% returnable for retailers who match or exceed 50% of their orders for UNITY #1. As previously announced, UNITY #1 will be limited to a first printing only and will not go back to press following the issue’s November 13th release.
“Based on pre-orders alone, UNITY #1 has already outranked a slew of other recent success stories including East of West #1 Hawkeye #1, Lazarus #1, Manhattan Projects #1, Pretty Deadly #1, Saga #1, Satellite Sam #1, Sex Criminals #1, Ten Grand #1, Trillium #1, Velvet #1, The Wake #1, and the list goes on,” said Valiant Sales Manager Atom! Freeman. “That’s incredible company to keep, and all of us at Valiant would like to thank the fans and our retail partners for their confidence and support. UNITY #1 is a major milestone for us as a publisher and our biggest launch to date. This sales figure only affirms that big things are on the horizon for this series, and that Valiant isn’t slowing down one iota.”
“UNITY #1 could be our most important single issue to date, and we couldn’t be happier with the sales and excitement leading up to its debut. Matt Kindt and Doug Braithwaite are delivering something truly magical with this series and issue #1 is a pitch perfect first step. It’s innovative, powerful and brilliant – there’s simply nothing like it on the stands today, ” said CEO & Chief Creative Officer Dinesh Shamdasani. “Moreover, we’ve gone all out to ensure the series delivers to both fans and retailers. We’ve added returnability for issues #2 and #3, and have even bigger plans for the second arc of UNITY beginning with issue #5 next March. Keep your eyes peeled – we’ve even included a top secret teaser of things to come at the end of the first issue.”
From New York Times best-selling writer Matt Kindt (Justice League of America, Mind MGMT) and superstar artist Doug Braithwaite (Justice, Journey into Mystery), UNITY #1 is the FIRST ISSUE of an all-new ongoing series launching Valiant’s first ever super-team into battle against X-O Manowar!
To kill a king…he has created an army. The world’s most dangerous man, Toyo Harada, has been struck by the one thing he never thought possible – fear. Halfway across the globe, a new power threatens to topple modern civilization and, to preempt the cataclysm that is to come, Harada will unite the most unforgiving team the world has ever known – UNITY. Their mission: defeat the threat responsible for the destruction of MI-6, the decimation of an alien world, and the occupation of Eastern Europe… Unseat the warrior king armed with the universe’s most powerful weapon… Kill X-O Manowar!
You’ve heard the buzz… You’ve seen the reviews… On November 13th, discover the most acclaimed universe on the stands today in UNITY #1 – a perfect entry point for new readers and one of the year’s best-selling new series debuts!
