NIGHTHAWK was one of Marvel’s boldest recent titles. Written by David F Walker with art by Ramon Villalobos and covers by Denys Cowan, it was torn from the headlines, with the violent vigilante Nighthawk coming to Chicago to confront that city’s grim gang violence (more than 400 murders this year thus far) and long standing corruption. But despite widespread acclaim, sales were not strong, with the latest issue sliding to 16,000 copies,. well below the cancellation line at Marvel. The October issue, #6, will be the last one.
It’s a sad comment on the economics of comics. However, the collection is coming out in January, and you can order it RIGHT NOW to show your support for the book.
That’s a link to Amazon through my own affiliate but if you object to that, here’s a clean link.
The point is, order it.
Walker and Villalobos were gracious on social media, thanking Marvel for giving them a shot. And Walker is coming back with a book called “Occupy: Avengers” which sounds pretty explosive. But he also went on Twitter to talk about the hows and whys.
Part 1 – Here is the problem: often times the best reviewed comics are also among the worse selling. Personal case in point: SHAFT.
— David F Walker (@DavidWalker1201) August 27, 2016
Part 2 – The first SHAFT series was one of the best reviewed titles of 2015. Sales were mediocre at best.
— David F Walker (@DavidWalker1201) August 27, 2016
Part 3 – The 2016 sequel to SHAFT also got great reviews. The sales were even worse, even though it was out along side POWER MAN & IRON FIST
— David F Walker (@DavidWalker1201) August 27, 2016
Part 4 – When a well reviewed book does poorly in sales, and fails in the marketplace, we have to look at everyone involved in the industry.
— David F Walker (@DavidWalker1201) August 27, 2016
Part 5 – We can throw blame around for good books that fail, but what are WE going to do about it?
— David F Walker (@DavidWalker1201) August 27, 2016
Part 6 – But I want to be clear about both SHAFT and NIGHTHAWK, I'm eternally grateful to everyone who made those books happen & showed love
— David F Walker (@DavidWalker1201) August 27, 2016
Part 7 – Dedicated fans of comics need to better understand the industry. Know why pre-orders are important. Recognize your $$$ power.
— David F Walker (@DavidWalker1201) August 27, 2016
But the book is being published by Marvel, not ignored. It is being ignored by retailers and readers. https://t.co/U9zmtn4Y52
— David F Walker (@DavidWalker1201) August 27, 2016
Bottom line — sales figures on NIGHTHAWK were low. Books with low sales often face a grim fate. That's the nature of the business.
— David F Walker (@DavidWalker1201) August 27, 2016
He also promoted the upcoming issues, which you can still order.
NIGHTHAWK #5 comes out Sept. 28th. Still time to pre-order. pic.twitter.com/uRy96Fe76n
— David F Walker (@DavidWalker1201) August 28, 2016
NIGHTHAWK #6 comes out Oct. 26th. Still time to pre-order. pic.twitter.com/OC0Xo7Uc6Y
— David F Walker (@DavidWalker1201) August 28, 2016
It is what it is. Maybe we made pie, when everyone was in the mood for cake. https://t.co/FSZ3tc66WD
— David F Walker (@DavidWalker1201) August 28, 2016
And some other books that are critically acclaiemd and could use some support.
Check out The Adventures of Wally Fresh on @comixology https://t.co/vsqqkyVTyw
— David F Walker (@DavidWalker1201) August 28, 2016
Check out Warp Zone on @comixology https://t.co/b0JK3B6Ope
— David F Walker (@DavidWalker1201) August 28, 2016
Check out Amelia Cole on @comixology https://t.co/L21Iq4dml1
— David F Walker (@DavidWalker1201) August 28, 2016
Check out Edison Rex on @comixology https://t.co/BGk8Cf2p3O
— David F Walker (@DavidWalker1201) August 28, 2016
Check out Hex11 on @comixology https://t.co/MxjqYL4Fje
— David F Walker (@DavidWalker1201) August 28, 2016
Check out DayBlack on @comixology https://t.co/tyS7nWfRj9
— David F Walker (@DavidWalker1201) August 28, 2016
Check out Malice in Ovenland on @comixology https://t.co/XBVwZVQVY2
— David F Walker (@DavidWalker1201) August 28, 2016
Check out Kid Code on @comixology https://t.co/TlJNXsDHsS
— David F Walker (@DavidWalker1201) August 28, 2016
Villalobos also tweeted about the end of the book.
Fun fact, at one point i considered writing a concerned letter to fox news about a comic my five year old read. Decided that was a bit much
— Ramon Villalobos (@RamonVillalobos) August 27, 2016
I really hate this sort of logic. We are the customers. We don’t have to pre-order anything. It is the industry’s job to sell us products we want to buy. It is not the job of the consumer to prop up an industry that’s surviving largely on various sales tricks to bilk retailers into order enormous amounts on number 1s.
If you want me to buy your book, make it available at the book store when I walk in the door. Frankly, the onus of doing that falls on the billion dollar corporations producing and selling the books, not the direct market stores extending lines of credit trying to sell the books they can’t return.
Chris Hero,
Hear, hear!
Don’t tell me what to do, you’re not my dad.
What a shame! Bring back spinner racks, I say!
…
And lower the price of digital already!
I was literally just about to check out Nighthawk #1…boy, was that quick.
I think if Marvel really wants to expand its market, they need to promote books outside the usual avenues. Does anyone outside of the usual weekly comics universe even know who Nighthawk is? I doubt it.
Books with 4th-tier characters at $4/issue for 20 pages do not survive in this market of twice-monthly and otherwise event-driven-tie-in books? Color me shocked!
Lower the prices for these books and you might have a better shot at making them succeed.
How about making books like this returnable? If the critical acclaim is THAT great, and the only problem is that people aren’t pre-ordering it, how about just flooding the market with copies that retailers can send back if they don’t sell? Or do what Valiant is doing with Faith and just send out thousands of free copies to help build that word of mouth.
You can’t really blame the market if it doesn’t respond to your book. Retailers aren’t ignoring it, they just don’t see a market for it… and too few of the readers who tried the first couple issues were interested enough to keep buying it. You can’t blame them if they’re not into what you’re doing.
To be honest, I visit a local comics shop about once a month, I have a social network comprised of 95% comics fans, and I read two or three comics websites a day… and this is the first I’ve heard of the book’s great acclaim. (What I heard about the first issue of Nighthawk was that it was a Batman knockoff, and that’s the last I’d heard of it.)
The price point is the main problem. I bought the first issue to help sales because I already knew Walker and Villalobos did great work but the book would go underappreciated. But I was waiting for the collection like I do with ALL comics now. $3.99 for a 10 minute experience of 1/6 of a story is not worth it. As long as the continued publcation of good comics is dependent on the sales of overpriced monthly rags, we will continue to be robbed of great books. I bet Walker and Villalobos had 50 good Nighthawk issues in them.
DC just got done cancelling their gay Batman analog not too long ago. Granted that went for 12 issues.
#supportBatmananalogs
I was und the impression that this was a mini-series, seeing as how Hyperion had just ended at issue 6.
At least we still have Walker’s rambunctious version of Power Man & Iron Fist to play around with.
~
Coat
Where exactly was this comic “well reviewed”? – I know this is anecdotal, but I had no idea Marvel was even publishing a Nighthawk coming, let alone that it was “well reviewed”
Whereas recent critical (but low sales) darlings like Omega Men, Prez, and Sherif of Babylon have been all over my internet browsing and comics news sites reading.
Mr. Walker may want to prove his comic was well reviewed before blaming the very customers he’s supposedly trying to appeal to.. The customers are the problem? Really?
The book is being “ignored” by readers and retailers?
A competing theory – maybe retailers and readers just don’t want the book.
You can’t force people to buy shit they don’t wnat to buy – unless you’re the government unfortunately. But i mean jesus – The customers are the problem? Really? Name and industry,. business, or seller, that survives with that kind of failed thinking.
Maybe if Walker expects the good will of his audience, he would waste his time on Twitter telling white conservatives to “eat a bag of dicks,” just a theory. But it can’t be good for business when you’re prone to insulting 40%+ of your potential fan base.
And the book was not “well-received” whatever that means these days, it didn’t translate into sales. Marvel’s recent penchant for promoting C-list characters hasn’t worked since Superior Foes of Spider-Man which barely scraped out 18 or so issues.
Sorry Marvel, but you need to do better than this. Make the books returnable and then stores will try harder to push your books.
I know this will confuse everyone – but in addition to the fact that I had no idea a Nighthawk book was coming out – I also will never buy a book by Brad Walker.
His twitter presence is vile. He does not promote comics so much as spew constant streams of hate at everyone he disagrees with (and there are lots of people he disagrees with) – it’s just unpleasant.
Sorry – got my “Walker” DC creators confused. David Walker i mean. was thinking of Aquaman and mixed up my first names. my bad!
From his Twitter – “2/2 – Quality is not always enough to guarantee success. Comic books are an industry that is driven by money and sales. Sad but true.”
To this guy Quality is like Milehouse on the Simpsons. “My mom says I’m cool.”
“I say it’s quality so it’s quality!”
What industry isn’t driven by money and sales? What does he expect? His mommy to come tell him he’s good? Jesus.
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