Diamond's July Sales Report

[CompleteRunComics]

AVENGERS FINALE #1 $3.50 = $

 

Avengers Finale...I can't even comment.

 

IRON MAN #1 $3.50

 

IM #1?

 

 

CRC

[Kevin Boyd]

 

 

 

IM #1?

 

That's the new series by Ellis and Adi Granov that spins out of the Avengers finale, same with Cap #1

[delekkerste]

Strange, there doesn't appear to be any issues of Hulk shipping in November.

 

It's going on a 4-month hiatus while they do that Hulk and Thing: Hard Knocks mini-series (so you can have the privilege of paying $3.50 to get your Hulk fix instead of $2.25 ).

[awe4one]

I weighed in on most of what we've been talking about here last May on my website. You all may find it interesting....or just full of it....

 

"Call me an old-time Marvel collector. I fondly remember the days in the mid-70s when the Marvel Universe used to have a unified universe where repercussions in one title was felt in another, totally different title. When villains, after apparently dying in their last appearance, would re-emerge to threatened the day with a full explanation on how they cheated death the last go around. Storylines were seamless in such a way that little notes had to be added to highlight readers to prior issues where an event was impacting the story they were reading. And, most importantly, knowing that these storylines were only released in a limited number of titles each month. If I wanted to read the Fantastic Four, I had one title a month to search for. If I wanted to read Spider-Man, I had three, to include the monthly team-up. Things were much simpler and that's the way I liked it.

 

Fast forward to today. No two titles relate to each other whatsoever. Even those featuring the same character. Villains reappear with no explanation on how they returned. Previous storylines are forgotten and frequently contradict what happened before. And so many titles are released on a monthly basis it's mighty difficult to keep up on what's going on much less what's being released at any given time.

 

The result of all these changes? I think it's slowing killing Marvel as a major publisher of comics. And with the fortunes of Marvel goes the future of comics in their current form in my opinion.....

 

The changes have alienated the readership to a certain extent. Readers, or more aptly put "Marvel Zombies", used to buy every Marvel comic they could get their hands on. One of the reasons was the coherent universe that was offered. Titles used to co-exist even if the storylines never merged. Spider-Man would reflect in Marvel Team-Up on the beating he received by "insert villain here" last month in Amazing for example. It was great serial fiction with a whole universe as the back drop. Now readers don't need, or feel compelled, to pick up any title other than the one they're reading each month because frankly, that other title might as well be a whole other universe in itself. Including those featuring the same character. Also, the range of titles featuring a single character or team in any given month can put a serious dent in the pocket book. For example, if someone wanted to buy every Spider-Man related title released in May/June, this is what they're looking at:

 

Amazing Spider-Man

Spectacular Spider-Man

Spider-Man

Ultimate Spider-Man

Marvel Age Spider-Man

Marvel Knights Spider-Man

Spider-Man Unlimited

Spider-Girl

Venom

Venom-Carnage

Spider-Man/Doc Ock: Year One

Mary Jane

Amazing Fantasy

Secret Wars

Pulse #3

 

Fifteen titles. And I'm sure I missed a couple SM guest appearances in other titles. That's overkill by any stretch of the imagination. Reminds me of the early 1990s when Marvel overexposed the Punisher and Venom to the point that both characters disappeared for years afterwards. I realize that the number of titles also reflects the build up to the movie this summer but the number of Spider-Man titles or appearances offered in any given month has exceeded 7 for a couple of years now. Still too many in my opinion. And the same, or better, case could be made with the proliferation X-Men titles on the racks in any given month.

 

This over saturation of the market has resulted in two things. One, readers can't afford to follow all their favorite character's adventures each month so they don't even try anymore. And two, Marvel has become lazy and abandoned trying to tie all these storylines into a coherent universe. In fact, Marvel seems to endorse the telling of singular stories with the excuse that Marvel continuity is too limiting on writers and too overwhelming on readers.

 

My answer to that:

 

Good writers can -script a decent comic book story. Great writers can take what's gone on before and expand on the mythos. If current writers can't handle writing in someone else's universe then bring in the pros from the past who have excelled at it.

 

Stop being disingenuous to readers. A unified continuity did not stop generations of readers from jumping on the Marvel bandwagon in the past.

 

My answer to this situation? Totally revamp the entire Marvel line. Get rid of all the various imprints. Family of titles (i.e. SM, X-Men, Fantastic Four, etc) will have no more than 3 core titles per month. Events in each of these titles will relate to the others. I'm not implying they should crossover. I'm saying if SM got beat to a pulp in one title, he should feel the effects in the others. In addition to the core titles, add a family title similar to DC's "Elseworlds" concept if a storyline has to be told outside established continuity. But these "Elseworlds" titles should be limited to one title and should be the exception not the norm.

 

The one exception to all this is the Ultimate line. It should be kept as it has proven to be popular with readers. But keep it limited to one title per family as it is currently.

 

Limited series are a whole different animal altogether and one shouldn't be released unless it meets two criteria:

 

(1) It is a truly special story that cannot fit into the core titles

 

(2) It's importance to the ongoing titles is of such a degree that it deserves it's own title.

 

And that's it. Full stop. One of the reasons that so much junk is released in any given year is the influx of [!@#%^&^] limited series to the market. Make the limited series special again and fans will flock to the issues.

 

As you can probably tell, I'm not too happy with the current state of Marvel. Current Marvel stories remind me a lot of DC in the 1970s. Singular stories that really don't have much in common. There's a reason Marvel overtook DC during this time. Marvel was perceived as special in the eyes of readers with a universe they could immerse themselves into. Marvel has lost their way since the early 90s but all is not lost. They could mend their ways if they hurry though I suspect it would take a story of "Crisis on Infinite Worlds" magnitude for it to be successful. And that's OK with me. I just want the Marvel I've enjoyed back....."

 

Jim

[Kevin Boyd]

Great report Jim.

 

Ultimately I wish that they would streamline and focus on cohesion. Quesada said at the X-Men panel in Chicago last weekend that there is a movement in Marvel editorial to return to a stronger cohesive continuity across the core books, and that he's willing to go along with that. But how do you do that across a line of 70-80 individual comics/month?

 

Short answer? You can't.

 

Not without cutting the line in half (or preferrably down to 1/3 of it's current size). And they won't do that as long as sellers and buyers keep supporting these 70-80 issues/month. Cutting the line in half means a loss in potential profits. Would a 35-40 book/month Marvel see sales spikes on the remaining titles in the absence of the cut books? They probably would, but nowhere near as many as the lost revenue

 

For example. Amazing and Spectacular. Amazing sells 80-90,000 copies. Spectacular 65-75,000 copies. If they cancelled Spectacular, would Amazing suddenly sell 145-165,000 copies? Of course not, as Spectacular is mostly drawing from the same pool of buyers as Amazing is.

[delekkerste]

 

I think the sheer overload of titles is a bigger detriment than the loss of continuity, out of the two problems that you focused on. I do think, though, that the "decompressed" storytelling style is an even bigger problem - I really think that people feel ripped off paying $2.99 for a book that takes them a fraction of the time to read as a book from the '70s or '80s (and thus providing only a fraction of the enjoyment).

 

When you look at all of these original art pages for sale on eBay and elsewhere from recent Marvel books, it's plain to see why more and more people like myself are getting fed up with the current state of the new issue market. It seems as though the typical page these days has 3 mediocre-drawn panels, of which 2 have narration of 10 words or less and the other has one short sentence of dialogue (of course, you don't see these on the original art because all the lettering is digital now). Oh, and of course, nothing memorable happens in those 3 panels. Total reading time: 15 seconds (average) per page, 5 1/2 minutes (average) per book. You have to buy about $25-30 worth of books to fill up an hour of your time.

 

If I was 13 again and on an allowance, I'd be spoiled for choice when it comes to affordable entertainment in today's world. I highly doubt that I would take up comic reading or collecting as a hobby again - Marvel is lucky to have roped in people like me back when they were publishing books that offered both high quality and good value for money. They still do publish some books of high quality, but even most of those, at $2.99 a pop, cannot be called good value anymore.

[delekkerste]

Short answer? You can't.

 

Not without cutting the line in half (or preferrably down to 1/3 of it's current size). And they won't do that as long as sellers and buyers keep supporting these 70-80 issues/month.

 

Sadly, that is the case. With the size of the overall pie not growing, it's clear that MVL is hell-bent on growing through market share gains and they can't do that by cutting back on titles. Woe to the other publishers fighting for shelf space.

[valiantman]

If I was 13 again and on an allowance, I'd be spoiled for choice when it comes to affordable entertainment in today's world. I highly doubt that I would take up comic reading or collecting as a hobby ... at $2.99 a pop, cannot be called good value anymore.

Interestingly, a rental of a video game (pick your platform) is about $2.99.

Many hours of interactive "flat screen story" for $2.99... or...

15 minutes of non-interactive "flat page story" for $2.99.

 

13 year olds may be young, but they're not stupid.

[Kevin Boyd]

Interestingly, a rental of a video game (pick your platform) is about $2.99.

Many hours of interactive "flat screen story" for $2.99... or...

15 minutes of non-interactive "flat page story" for $2.99.

 

13 year olds may be young, but they're not stupid.

 

That's assuming that they have a gaming platform to play them on. There are still some parents out there that don't buy gaming systems for their kids. Some parents don't even (perish forbid) allow their kids to watch television on a weeknight! They are mere steps from joining the Amish!

 

No, really, that's what my house was like growing up. Times are different today, but my nephew isn't allowed to have video games (because they won't buy a system for him) or watch television on a school night. He is allowed to play a computer game or two from time to time. Things may get different as he gets older, but that's the way it is now.

[Darthdiesel]

That's assuming that they have a gaming platform to play them on. There are still some parents out there that don't buy gaming systems for their kids. Some parents don't even (perish forbid) allow their kids to watch television on a weeknight! They are mere steps from joining the Amish!

 

No, really, that's what my house was like growing up. Times are different today, but my nephew isn't allowed to have video games (because they won't buy a system for him) or watch television on a school night. He is allowed to play a computer game or two from time to time. Things may get different as he gets older, but that's the way it is now.

 

That's exactly how I'm raising Logan now...

[Silver Surfer]

Interesting that sales of modern issues continue to decline but yet big Dealers like Chuck are achieving all-time record sales for their back issues month over month. Sure the up to 80% discounts are a big reason for this as he has extended this current sale about 3 or 4 times now but there still is some considerable interest. I have bought over 400 modern back issues in the past 3 months mainly because most of them were going for only a $1.00 and free shipping. Hard to beat that kind of deal.

 

I'm willing to buy only select modern issues as they come out, wait for these kind of sales to kick in, and just buy recent moderns in bunches.

[Kevin Boyd]

That's a smart way to play it SS if you want to save cash. Paradise sells a lot of inventory when Peter has his regular 50-70% off sale on modern books.

 

Only thing you will need to concern yourself with is the lower print runs on some books published between 1996 and today.

 

Of course, since you are buying new issues I won't say anything, but people that don't buy new issues because they figure they will get them discounted later are a big problem facing the new book market. By not supporting the title up front, the fan has no right to complain if the books they do like get cancelled or "disassembled".

[Silver Surfer]

That's a smart way to play it SS if you want to save cash. Paradise sells a lot of inventory when Peter has his regular 50-70% off sale on modern books.

 

Only thing you will need to concern yourself with is the lower print runs on some books published between 1996 and today.

 

Of course, since you are buying new issues I won't say anything, but people that don't buy new issues because they figure they will get them discounted later are a big problem facing the new book market. By not supporting the title up front, the fan has no right to complain if the books they do like get cancelled or "disassembled".

 

I still support my regular titles even though some of them have been tough to come by lately (Avengers, Thor) but unfortunately I think alot of people are taking a wait and see attitude. As a fan I think Chuck's sales figures are very encouraging.