DC takes down Marvel

[the blob]

I haven't seen the re-boots in the cheapo box yet, but yowzers, my main LCS got stuck with a TON of extra copies of various $4.99 (the retros) and $5.99 cover price DCs from the last 6 or whatever months. I don't know if the variants made up for it, but easily a couple of hundred bucks lost right there.

[the blob]

thing is, weren't several of these titles rebooted not too long ago like WW, Flash, GL, BOP, etc?

[ComicConnoisseur]

I haven't seen the re-boots in the cheapo box yet, but yowzers, my main LCS got stuck with a TON of extra copies of various $4.99 (the retros) and $5.99 cover price DCs from the last 6 or whatever months. I don't know if the variants made up for it, but easily a couple of hundred bucks lost right there.

You can pick up most of these below cover price on Ebay,Atomic Avenue and Comic Collector Live. The interesting thing is it`s the final issues before the reboots that will have some value.

I see that DC used the LCS to get people to eventually buy the digital comics on the Kindle and Ipad. This reboot will be known for being more significant for creating interest for the digital side of things. DC used the lcs`s as a gateway to get digital readers. I love for somebody to bump this thread in a year to see what the DC reboot was really about. My money is on DC will have converted many more digital readers than newbies going into LCS`s to get their fix.

[ComicConnoisseur]

http://www.comichron.com/monthlycomicssales/2011/2011-09.html

 

According to this chart, Justice League #1 is not anywhere NEAR the top 10 in terms of sales. It sold 46,650 copies in September.

For October, it's ranked 104% of Batman's relative sales as Batman is the baseline. So whatever Batman sold in October, Justice League #2 did slightly better in October with an index of 104.80 to Batman's 100.00

Which means that Justice League is the only title that did better than Batman in terms of comparative sales.

 

IT DOES NOT MEAN that Justice League #2 sold more than Batman #2 I think.

 

 

EDIT:

 

Justice League #1 actually came out in AUGUST 2011 with 171,344. I assume the the 46,650 copies in Sept were re-orders. So it had a total of 200,000+ sales.

 

http://www.comichron.com/monthlycomicssales/2011/2011-08.html

 

 

 

You may have to consider that even though the stores bought these that is doesn't necessarily mean that collectors/buyers bought that many when you factor in the fact that a lot of the sales were for the purposes of getting the alternate covers. A few issues down the road sales can drop drastically when DC stops offering the alternate covers as an incentive. This means that quite a few stores could have stock that isn't selling and will wind up at a convention in a discount bin. One of my local stores still has a lot of some of these issues and a nice display of the alternate covers.

Let`s see what the sales average on issues 5 and 6.

[MrBedrock]

 

You may have to consider that even though the stores bought these that is doesn't necessarily mean that collectors/buyers bought that many when you factor in the fact that a lot of the sales were for the purposes of getting the alternate covers. A few issues down the road sales can drop drastically when DC stops offering the alternate covers as an incentive. This means that quite a few stores could have stock that isn't selling and will wind up at a convention in a discount bin. One of my local stores still has a lot of some of these issues and a nice display of the alternate covers.

Actually DC did a couple of cool things as incentive to allow dealers to keep the books available on their shelves. A huge percentage of the print runs of each new title were and are returnable. So the dealers have very little exposure in terms of unsold product. Second, on most of the titles DC took a gamble and did very large print runs, thus making reorders available in case of quick sell-outs. Retailers went through these overprints. DC then made second prints available. I saw that someone said they had a hard time finding any available at their LCSs. There really is no reason for that, unless the retailer just didn't take the time.

 

Too many times in the past a book has come out to great hoopla and acclaim, only to have prints runs such that everything is sold out before the general public gets wind of it. And when they go into a store to buy one they find that everyone is sold out, or worse that the comic is available at a vastly inflated price as a collectible. It is a wonder that anybody would ever go back to a comic shop a second time. But on a few occasions the publishers (and here I give big kudos to DC for being an innovator and friend of the LCS) go out of their way to assure that copies of a new project will be available not only to the regular comic crowd but also to any curious newcomer who may hear about it. The 52 relaunch has been one of those projects. And that is why DC has such a big success on their hands. Sure, sales will probably come down to a slightly more realistic level over the next six months. But, without crunching the exact numbers, I suspect that even if they drop by forty percent we would still be selling significantly more overall units of new DC comics than we were prior to the change.

[Gatchaman]

 

You may have to consider that even though the stores bought these that is doesn't necessarily mean that collectors/buyers bought that many when you factor in the fact that a lot of the sales were for the purposes of getting the alternate covers. A few issues down the road sales can drop drastically when DC stops offering the alternate covers as an incentive. This means that quite a few stores could have stock that isn't selling and will wind up at a convention in a discount bin. One of my local stores still has a lot of some of these issues and a nice display of the alternate covers.

Actually DC did a couple of cool things as incentive to allow dealers to keep the books available on their shelves. A huge percentage of the print runs of each new title were and are returnable. So the dealers have very little exposure in terms of unsold product. Second, on most of the titles DC took a gamble and did very large print runs, thus making reorders available in case of quick sell-outs. Retailers went through these overprints. DC then made second prints available. I saw that someone said they had a hard time finding any available at their LCSs. There really is no reason for that, unless the retailer just didn't take the time.

 

Too many times in the past a book has come out to great hoopla and acclaim, only to have prints runs such that everything is sold out before the general public gets wind of it. And when they go into a store to buy one they find that everyone is sold out, or worse that the comic is available at a vastly inflated price as a collectible. It is a wonder that anybody would ever go back to a comic shop a second time. But on a few occasions the publishers (and here I give big kudos to DC for being an innovator and friend of the LCS) go out of their way to assure that copies of a new project will be available not only to the regular comic crowd but also to any curious newcomer who may hear about it. The 52 relaunch has been one of those projects. And that is why DC has such a big success on their hands. Sure, sales will probably come down to a slightly more realistic level over the next six months. But, without crunching the exact numbers, I suspect that even if they drop by forty percent we would still be selling significantly more overall units of new DC comics than we were prior to the change.

 

That's good to hear, but doesn't that create a false census if say 30% of them get returned because store owners knew about this return policy, but over ordered anyway?

 

 

[Boba]

 

You may have to consider that even though the stores bought these that is doesn't necessarily mean that collectors/buyers bought that many when you factor in the fact that a lot of the sales were for the purposes of getting the alternate covers. A few issues down the road sales can drop drastically when DC stops offering the alternate covers as an incentive. This means that quite a few stores could have stock that isn't selling and will wind up at a convention in a discount bin. One of my local stores still has a lot of some of these issues and a nice display of the alternate covers.

Actually DC did a couple of cool things as incentive to allow dealers to keep the books available on their shelves. A huge percentage of the print runs of each new title were and are returnable. So the dealers have very little exposure in terms of unsold product. Second, on most of the titles DC took a gamble and did very large print runs, thus making reorders available in case of quick sell-outs. Retailers went through these overprints. DC then made second prints available. I saw that someone said they had a hard time finding any available at their LCSs. There really is no reason for that, unless the retailer just didn't take the time.

 

Too many times in the past a book has come out to great hoopla and acclaim, only to have prints runs such that everything is sold out before the general public gets wind of it. And when they go into a store to buy one they find that everyone is sold out, or worse that the comic is available at a vastly inflated price as a collectible. It is a wonder that anybody would ever go back to a comic shop a second time. But on a few occasions the publishers (and here I give big kudos to DC for being an innovator and friend of the LCS) go out of their way to assure that copies of a new project will be available not only to the regular comic crowd but also to any curious newcomer who may hear about it. The 52 relaunch has been one of those projects. And that is why DC has such a big success on their hands. Sure, sales will probably come down to a slightly more realistic level over the next six months. But, without crunching the exact numbers, I suspect that even if they drop by forty percent we would still be selling significantly more overall units of new DC comics than we were prior to the change.

 

Yay DC, and the LCS

[Hibou]

Went to my LCS yesterday and picked up a bunch of DC52 titles... Action, Detective, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Swamp Thing, Animal Man, Batwoman and some others.

 

Mainly I was playing catch up because I hadn't been there in about 3 weeks or more. So when I cashed out and my total came to something like $58.00, I joked with the cashier telling him that DC was going to kill me with this new 52 stuff. I told him that I didn't think I was going to be all that into the new titles but kept being surprised at how much I like the stories so far.

 

He kept shaking his head affirmatively and then told me that in the store the books are doing very, very well and some titles were selling three times what they were prior to the reboot.

 

Go figure...

 

 

[Kal-El]

When the New 52 was first launched I had a ton of titles on my pull list but now I'm down to about 8; Action Comics (thumbs u , Aquaman, Batman , Flash, Green Lantern, Justice League, Superman (this title may be dropped soon) and Wonder Woman. There are more titles that are very well written but I just don't have any interest in the characters’ (Batwoman, Swamp Thing, etc.)

[Kal-El]

Went to my LCS yesterday and picked up a bunch of DC52 titles... Action, Detective, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Swamp Thing, Animal Man, Batwoman and some others.

 

David, you didn't have to go and spend your hard earned money on these books. I've got all the issues for the titles you bought and I'm sure we could have worked out a trade for that Action Comics 252 in you sig line

[Hibou]

...

 

Um, I don't think I would want to do that!

 

Wait, did you say Action 522?

 

Yeah we could do that!

 

I think The Clockwork Man might just be the secret villian in the upcoming Superman movie!

 

[MrBedrock]

 

You may have to consider that even though the stores bought these that is doesn't necessarily mean that collectors/buyers bought that many when you factor in the fact that a lot of the sales were for the purposes of getting the alternate covers. A few issues down the road sales can drop drastically when DC stops offering the alternate covers as an incentive. This means that quite a few stores could have stock that isn't selling and will wind up at a convention in a discount bin. One of my local stores still has a lot of some of these issues and a nice display of the alternate covers.

Actually DC did a couple of cool things as incentive to allow dealers to keep the books available on their shelves. A huge percentage of the print runs of each new title were and are returnable. So the dealers have very little exposure in terms of unsold product. Second, on most of the titles DC took a gamble and did very large print runs, thus making reorders available in case of quick sell-outs. Retailers went through these overprints. DC then made second prints available. I saw that someone said they had a hard time finding any available at their LCSs. There really is no reason for that, unless the retailer just didn't take the time.

 

Too many times in the past a book has come out to great hoopla and acclaim, only to have prints runs such that everything is sold out before the general public gets wind of it. And when they go into a store to buy one they find that everyone is sold out, or worse that the comic is available at a vastly inflated price as a collectible. It is a wonder that anybody would ever go back to a comic shop a second time. But on a few occasions the publishers (and here I give big kudos to DC for being an innovator and friend of the LCS) go out of their way to assure that copies of a new project will be available not only to the regular comic crowd but also to any curious newcomer who may hear about it. The 52 relaunch has been one of those projects. And that is why DC has such a big success on their hands. Sure, sales will probably come down to a slightly more realistic level over the next six months. But, without crunching the exact numbers, I suspect that even if they drop by forty percent we would still be selling significantly more overall units of new DC comics than we were prior to the change.

 

That's good to hear, but doesn't that create a false census if say 30% of them get returned because store owners knew about this return policy, but over ordered anyway?

 

It's so hard to please the public. If DC guesses wrong and under prints and they all sell out everyone gets upset that they can't find one. If DC decides to hedge their bet and overprint to keep them available folks get some weird notion that they aren't selling. And if DC guesses exactly right and prints the perfect amount then folks get upset that their comics aren't collectible.

[USArmyParatrooper]

It's so hard to please the public. If DC guesses wrong and under prints and they all sell out everyone gets upset that they can't find one. If DC decides to hedge their bet and overprint to keep them available folks get some weird notion that they aren't selling. And if DC guesses exactly right and prints the perfect amount then folks get upset that their comics aren't collectible.

 

I don't think it's a matter of not being pleased. It's a matter of having accurate sales data. Reported sales numbers should reflect actual sales less returns.

 

I'm a Marvel fan and truth be told I would like to see Marvel beat out DC. It shouldn't really matter, but I guess it's analogous to the Ford vs Chevy rivalry. Still, I cannot deny that DC's relaunch has been a huge success. But with that being said, I would like to see data that reflects returns as well as sales. It will also be interesting to see the market share data six months and a year from now.

[MrBedrock]

It's so hard to please the public. If DC guesses wrong and under prints and they all sell out everyone gets upset that they can't find one. If DC decides to hedge their bet and overprint to keep them available folks get some weird notion that they aren't selling. And if DC guesses exactly right and prints the perfect amount then folks get upset that their comics aren't collectible.

 

I don't think it's a matter of not being pleased. It's a matter of having accurate sales data. Reported sales numbers should reflect actual sales less returns.

 

I'm a Marvel fan and truth be told I would like to see Marvel beat out DC. It shouldn't really matter, but I guess it's analogous to the Ford vs Chevy rivalry. Still, I cannot deny that DC's relaunch has been a huge success. But with that being said, I would like to see data that reflects returns as well as sales. It will also be interesting to see the market share data six months and a year from now.

There is no way to accurately present sell through numbers at the retail level because, unlike music stores with Soundscan or bookstores, a vast majority of comic shops do not have interactive inventory management systems in place to report their sales. And books and cds are ordered almost completely returnable. The closest the comics industry can get is to report issues ordered.

[USArmyParatrooper]

There's no way to track inventory that ends up in the dollar bins later, but they can certainly track returns, can't they? DC essentially offers returns (unless I'm mistaken) so shops feel safe ordering in bulk, knowing they can return what doesn't sell. Shouldn't their buy backs be subtracted from total sales?

[MrBedrock]

There's no way to track inventory that ends up in the dollar bins later, but they can certainly track returns, can't they? DC essentially offers returns (unless I'm mistaken) so shops feel safe ordering in bulk, knowing they can return what doesn't sell. Shouldn't their buy backs be subtracted from total sales?

I think you should call DC and request that they take care of that (thumbs u

[USArmyParatrooper]

There's no way to track inventory that ends up in the dollar bins later, but they can certainly track returns, can't they? DC essentially offers returns (unless I'm mistaken) so shops feel safe ordering in bulk, knowing they can return what doesn't sell. Shouldn't their buy backs be subtracted from total sales?

I think you should call DC and request that they take care of that (thumbs u

 

I'm not a major TWX share holder, but being that DC is a subsidiary of a publicly traded company I would think such information would be readily available. Or at least when Diamond reports their sales data they include a big, fat asterisk next to DC's numbers.

[MrBedrock]

There's no way to track inventory that ends up in the dollar bins later, but they can certainly track returns, can't they? DC essentially offers returns (unless I'm mistaken) so shops feel safe ordering in bulk, knowing they can return what doesn't sell. Shouldn't their buy backs be subtracted from total sales?

I think you should call DC and request that they take care of that (thumbs u

 

I'm not a major TWX share holder, but being that DC is a subsidiary of a publicly traded company I would think such information would be readily available. Or at least when Diamond reports their sales data they include a big, fat asterisk next to DC's numbers.

All comics are reported the same way. Marvel does overprints and has returnability on certain books. So do Image, Dark Horse, IDW, etc. etc. etc. It allows for the books which could use the rack space and exposure to be readily available for sale. It helps retailers on new projects that are unknown properties. It is a good thing, really. And I'm sure that share holders get a full report of the profits.

[TeddieMercede]

There's no way to track inventory that ends up in the dollar bins later, but they can certainly track returns, can't they? DC essentially offers returns (unless I'm mistaken) so shops feel safe ordering in bulk, knowing they can return what doesn't sell. Shouldn't their buy backs be subtracted from total sales?

I think you should call DC and request that they take care of that (thumbs u

 

I'm not a major TWX share holder, but being that DC is a subsidiary of a publicly traded company I would think such information would be readily available. Or at least when Diamond reports their sales data they include a big, fat asterisk next to DC's numbers.

All comics are reported the same way. Marvel does overprints and has returnability on certain books. So do Image, Dark Horse, IDW, etc. etc. etc. It allows for the books which could use the rack space and exposure to be readily available for sale. It helps retailers on new projects that are unknown properties. It is a good thing, really. And I'm sure that share holders get a full report of the profits.

 

No it's just DC. They'll do anything to compete with Marvel and their comics for 8 year olds (but they'll never win.)