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Why are most image titles have not seen increasing their print runs

Started by aaronc,

21 posts in this topic

aaronc

aaronc

Posted
Posted

One thing that I noticed from the print run data that is not discussed as intensively as the 2nd issue drop off rate is this: most image titles are not seeing increases in their print runs. Only Saga has seen an increasing trend. Why is that so?

 

These titles have seen lots of positive reviews, won awards and have strong community support. Why are their print runs either stagnant or declining?

 

Is it because

 

1) Core comic readers are not growing?

2) Sales of these titles are taking place outside of floppies i.e. digital/trades?

3) Readers tend to drop titles after the initial hype and move on to the next HOT title?

 

Views?

 

Some print runs numbers for your reference. NO GRAPHS this time pls!

 

MP

17,955

15,697

18,001

18,544

18,398

17,981

17,543

17,028

17,229

17,517

 

Revival

18,039

10,486

13,943

15,251

14,098

17,396

16,639

17,082

16,977

 

Fatale

20,515

20,315

20,222

22,804

22,484

21,828

21,396

20,542

19,345

18,819

18,055

17,999

17,662

 

ToT

17,877

14,286

13,644

17,774

19,833

19,733

18,266

17,070

16,645

16,424

15,605

14,974

15,201

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comix4fun

comix4fun

Posted
Posted

Serious answer: There are a lot of new books out there, all competing for the same bucks. If they can maintain steady readership, that's a good thing. It took the Walking Dead quite a while, when there was far less competition in the Image/Indy market to build a base that was consistently above 30,000.

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the authority

the authority

Posted
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I am not positive but I would guess that shops order heavy on number 1 issues so people can try them out. Then it looks like the majority of readers are sticking around. Dropping less than 500 copies on MP 1 to 10 is awesome and their trend or stagnation shows a strong base of readers. The drop from Revival 1 to 2 is bizarre. I guess retailers having to order 2 before having a reaction from readers to number 1 played a part. Still it picked back up to very good levels.

 

TPBs or digital could be having some impact on the numbers but I have my doubts that digital readers and floppy readers are the same people. I think there is a generational gap there.

 

I think Marvel and DC have an advantage in sporadic increases because of tie ins like movies, video games, toys, etc. and Image does not have this yet. Watch what happens to Superman sales when the movie comes out this year.

 

Mainly I believe it is due to readers liking to get in on the ground floor of a book. Having a number 8 isn't as cool as having a number 1. For example, New Avengers was new in roughly the last decade. New Avengers is currently on it's third volume, or has three seperate number 1s. Sales on the new volume's number 1 are always higher than the last issue of the previous volume excluding huge events that end volumes of certain characters.

 

At any rate, I think Image is doing great and I think they have a real core readership that in itself is growing. I also believe they are opening the door for companies like Oni, Dark Horse, Boom, Avatar, IDW, and others to grow.

 

 

 

 

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the authority

the authority

Posted
Posted
Also they don't want to print too many ala GOTG current run at marvel. Too many prints is not always a good thing

 

True. I like this book but there is no way that anybody who wants a number 1 can't get it. Overproducing can deflate values which in turn can frustrate people who sought to at least retain some of their initial investment.

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500Club

500Club

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Also they don't want to print too many ala GOTG current run at marvel. Too many prints is not always a good thing

Image doesn't think on these lines at all. Standard printing approach at Image is pre-orders plus about ten percent.

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aaronc

aaronc

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:gossip: If CBT were here, he'd know what to do...

 

yes yes, I missed him already. :cry:

 

Remember, I was the guy who copied his posts into a blog post.

(Btw, that doesn't mean I am a stalker! Just putting everything I find useful into a single place to read!)

 

Actually, even after reading the april sales data thread, I don't understand why was CBT getting a strike out. What did he say before he got the strike?

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Beige

Beige

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Yeah I wasn't sure about what he did to earn the strike either. :tonofbricks:

 

It was along the lines of:

 

"The Gunfight at Phils Parking Lot" from CG.

 

 

Go see. Mark 1 and Sufunk died at the end......very sad indeed. :cry:

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