Green Lantern: Rebirth #1 1st printing sold out at DC

[Kevin Boyd]

Press Release

 

With the first issue of the red-hot miniseries GREEN LANTERN: REBIRTH (AUG040383) sold out at DC Comics days before its in store date of October 27, the publisher has rushed the issue back to press. Written by Geoff Johns with art and cover by Ethan Van Sciver, GREEN LANTERN: REBIRTH #1 Second Printing (SEP048097) is scheduled to arrive in stores on November 17 with a new cover by Van Sciver.

 

Please note that "SOLD OUT" means that DC's overprint of the issue has been completely depleted by early reorders (ordered after the final order date). It does not mean that there are no copies of the book available at comics shops - the books ships tomorrow (OCT 27) and should be easily obtainable. This means that if your comic shop does sell out, they can't get any more copies from DC - they will have to order the 2nd printing.

 

" I couldn't be more proud of the work we've all done on Hal Jordan's return, " says Johns. " Ethan Van Sciver is about to be the artist everyone is talking about. Thanks to everyone at DC and the retailers for their support! "

 

" Both consumer and retailer anticipation for GREEN LANTERN: REBIRTH is very high, " says Bob Wayne, DC ' s VP - Sales & Marketing. " By getting the new printing into stores as quickly as possible, we ' re doing everything we can to sustain the project ' s momentum. "

 

GREEN LANTERN: REBIRTH #1 Second Printing (SEP048097) is available for order now and is scheduled to arrive in stores on November 17 with a cover price of $2.95 U.S. This new printing has an order increase cut-off date of Sunday, November 7. Retailers may order the issue by contacting their Diamond Customer Service Representatives or DC Sales Representatives, or by email at reorders@diamondcomics.com.

 

Upcoming issues of GREEN LANTERN: REBIRTH are available as follows:

 

* GREEN LANTERN: REBIRTH #2 (SEP040317) is available for reorder and is scheduled to arrive in stores on November 24.

 

* GREEN LANTERN: REBIRTH #3 (OCT040283) is solicited in the October issue of Previews (Volume XIV #10) and is scheduled to arrive in stores on December 22.

 

* GREEN LANTERN: REBIRTH #4 (NOV040272) is solicited in the November issue of Previews (Volume XIV #11) and is scheduled to arrive in stores on January 24.

 

[deathlok]

Hey kev

 

I was talking with my LCS owner and he was saying that just because press realeases say a book is sold out by the publisher does not mean anything. He cited an example like this:

 

Suppose on Wednesday an issue is due. If a LCS gets a shipment of that issue. They arrive damaged for some reason. The LCS owner can go back to Diamond and get a replacement order. Which suggests that Diamond has back issue stock for this type of situation.

 

Which makes me wonder what Diamond does with this back stock once no replacement orders are needed. Are they destroyed or stored somewhere? What do you think?

[Kevin Boyd]

Good question, usually they do have a slight overprint to deal with issues related to damaged books or unintentional/intentional account shortings.

 

I think they probably do have a certain percentage of copies "held back" for this purpose. I don't doubt that DC has sold out of their overprinting due to reorders, but there probably is an "emergency" stash of copies held aside from the overprint for problems like the ones your LCS mentioned.

 

And if there aren't enough problems to deplete the emergency stash? What then?

 

Your guess is as good as mine. My guess is they sell them to whoever asks after the fact, or they make a release saying they found some additional copies.

 

And if they don't go then... not sure. What does Diamond do with all of the extra overprint copies? My guess is they sell them to whoever wants 'em at a highly discounted rate until they are gone. If they don't go after all of that? Recycling maybe? Landfill?

[jduran1]

So what. DC shorts the 1st print run just to do second prints that are basically artificial since if they printed a normal print run they wouldn't need a second. Creats buzz, appearance of popularity . etc and as a marketing scheme it works. Now the good news. What an awesome cover and story.

[Kevin Boyd]

I just passed along the info, but I've got to say, to quote Darth Vader, I find your lack of faith disturbing.

 

Why would you think that they would do a short print run, when they said they overprinted to begin with? Sure, announcing it the day before the book comes out could be considered a means of fanning the speculator flames.

 

Hence my disclaimer:

 

Please note that "SOLD OUT" means that DC's overprint of the issue has been completely depleted by early reorders (ordered after the final order date). It does not mean that there are no copies of the book available at comics shops - the books ships tomorrow (OCT 27) and should be easily obtainable. This means that if your comic shop does sell out, they can't get any more copies from DC - they will have to order the 2nd printing.

 

What that says to me is that three months ago dealers were ordering cautiously on Green Lantern: Rebirth, expecting a modest hit and DC based their print run around those initial orders with a usual % overprint. Buzz has been building on it and dealers have been getting more requests than expected and they've been placing reorders so as not to be caught short, and DC has run out of the overprint copies.

 

A second print was inevitable, but that they decided to do it so quickly comes as a but of a surprise.

[Silver Surfer]

The art looks pretty solid and the Lantern is one of the coolest DC characters going. Looks like this will be my first regular DC pick up each month.

[lou_fine]

Press Release

 

With the first issue of the red-hot miniseries GREEN LANTERN: REBIRTH (AUG040383) sold out at DC Comics days before its in store date of October 27, the publisher has rushed the issue back to press. Written by Geoff Johns with art and cover by Ethan Van Sciver, GREEN LANTERN: REBIRTH #1 Second Printing (SEP048097) is scheduled to arrive in stores on November 17 with a new cover by Van Sciver.

 

Please note that "SOLD OUT" means that DC's overprint of the issue has been completely depleted by early reorders (ordered after the final order date). It does not mean that there are no copies of the book available at comics shops - the books ships tomorrow (OCT 27) and should be easily obtainable. This means that if your comic shop does sell out, they can't get any more copies from DC - they will have to order the 2nd printing.

 

Sounds to me like the publishers are starting to crank up their hype machine into overdrive sooner and sooner. This press release sounds almost like the one they had for Identity Crisis #1 approx 6 months ago.

 

Well, guess what! You can STILL find first prints of IC #1 on the newsstand if you look above issues #2, #3, #4 and #5.

[Aman619]

Kevin, thats my understanding too. Preorders were placed 2 months ago. This total plus an overrun became the print run placed by DC. And reorders by retailers must have kept coming in since then, perhaps enough in this last week (after it was too late to increase the print order) such that a second print was demed viable.... and not too shabby a press release!

[Kevin Boyd]

This press release sounds almost like the one they had for Identity Crisis #1 approx 6 months ago.

 

Baloney. The press release indicating they ran out of the overprint and were doing a second printing on Identity Crisis #1 came in September, three months AFTER issue 1 hit the stands. And as I said in the general forum, if there are so many copies of number 1 on every store rack then who the [#@$%!!!] was reordering it in June, July, August and September?

 

Then they sold out of the second print almost immediately and are doing a third. The second print, however, sold out faster for reasons other than reader demand. Every speculator and his third cousin seems to have the need to possess all of the different covered printings of every DC title. It started with Lee's Batman, Superman/Batman 1, continued with Teen Titans 1, Turner's Superman issues, Identity Crisis 1 and now Green Lantern Rebirth 1

[12c_Comic]

I would not be to surprised to see in about a few week a graded copy cgc at a 9.9 or higher on Ebay with Rebirth #1....

[OldGuy]

FWIW....

Beware Their Power

Here's one of those comics business stories that by virtue of the way mainstream comics is set up has dubious legitimacy as news.

The return of original Green Lantern alter-ego Hal Jordan in a DC Comics mini-series has been announced as sold out in advance of being put on sale.

What this means is that DC has received early re-orders from comic shop retailers who want to fortify their original order on the book. These orders are enough to wipe out the stockpiles of copies in reserve with which DC planned to fill such orders as the title rolled out. On the surface of it, this sounds noteworthy. And might be. On the other hand it's hard to prove how noteworthy because:

1) The system can be easily manipulated for just such a press boost2) DC never releases actual figures so there exists nothing to quantify the numbers involved3) In the North American comics industry orders are tracked in terms of retailer purchases for stores rather than customer sell-through. So the news indicates high retailer confidence in the title, but whether it really sells out in the way people generally think of something selling out remains to be seen.4) The Hal Jordan as Green Lantern plot featured in the mini-series has its own fan base, who in this day of generally modest comic book sales are capable of distorting the breadth of interest in the mini-series by ordering and buying multiple copies. They might do this to encourage DC to continue their preferred storyline.

It's likely that there will be a bump of interest in the character for the "old-fashioned" reasons of icon manipulation and flat-out nostalgia. For now, it's good to remember some of the peculiarities of the modern comics market when reading the "news."

Source = http://www.comicsreporter.com/

[Kevin Boyd]

We live in a skeptical age.

 

-----------------------------------------

 

I just got back from my LCS, having helped them with the files and getting my books for the week.

 

They ordered 50 copies of Green Lantern: Rebirth #1, basing their orders on the previous Green Lantern orders, where they usually ordered 15 copies. They figured that a little over 3X their normal order would cover additional interest.

 

They were wrong.

 

Those 50 copies were gone after member files were covered. In fact, they were short because of increased demand from members who asked for one copy to be added to their pull file. Not everyone who asked for a copy got one, only those that pre-ordered were guaranteed one.

 

Since they didn't place a reorder on #1 before Tuesday, when it was announced by DC and Diamond that the first printing was sold out, they are out of luck and people will be looking to find a copy elsewhere.

 

Normally they would just place an instant reorder, as they did with Flash #215, which also sold out.

 

So in order to meet demand they had to order copies of the 2nd printing today.

 

--------------------

 

I don't think they are unique. I think a lot of stores didn't anticipate that people would be interested in this book they way that they seem to be, and a lot of people went scrambling. The liucky ones who could see the wave before it hit got their preorders in.

[awe4one]

I don't think they are unique. I think a lot of stores didn't anticipate that people would be interested in this book they way that they seem to be, and a lot of people went scrambling.

 

I find it exceedingly hard to believe DC didn't think the return of Hal would be huge. Their wide ad campaign alone shows how confident they were. This shortage is clearly manufactured as DC obviously printed to initial orders, with maybe a very small overprint run, knowing beforehand there would be secondary interest. A'la the necessity for a 2nd printing. Thinking otherwise does a great disservice to DC's publicity folks. Having a second printing does two things...it sells to those who didn't get a 1st printing and also sells to those who want both. Overall, more sales for #1...

 

You can say I sound skeptical but I'd rather call it respect for the DC Publicity Department. They have done a fabulous job here and are plainly starting to catch up with the Marvel hype machine...

 

Jim

[tilleycs]

I'm not skeptical regarding their press release (mostly because I could care less), but I'm skeptical enough about the story itself to wait for the TPB. Seeing how badly they screwed things up killing his title (back when they changed it to the GL Corps, and then canceled it, relegating him to Action Comics Weekly) and then Hal himself, they'll have to excuse me if I don't wait drooling outside my LCS for the Rebirth issues to arrive.

[Kevin Boyd]

I find it exceedingly hard to believe DC didn't think the return of Hal would be huge. Their wide ad campaign alone shows how confident they were. This shortage is clearly manufactured as DC obviously printed to initial orders, with maybe a very small overprint run, knowing beforehand there would be secondary interest. A'la the necessity for a 2nd printing. Thinking otherwise does a great disservice to DC's publicity folks. Having a second printing does two things...it sells to those who didn't get a 1st printing and also sells to those who want both. Overall, more sales for #1...

 

I'm sure that DC DID feel that the return of Hal would be huge.

 

The ones who didn't think it would be as huge as it seems to be are the people that made the initial orders for the book. Certainly DC have a formula for how they print a book to ensure that there are sufficient copies available for reorders, and in this case the formula was not correct.

 

But it's a credit to DC's publicity folks that they created demand for the book AFTER the initial orders had to be placed - not before, when it was really needed to give retailers a sense of how many copies to order. The fact that the same retailers went back to the trough to get more copies before the book shipped is testament to their marketting department's ability to create buzz and interest.

[nearmint]

Any of you right-coasters picked it up yet?

[Foolkiller]

I got it... it's good for beginning story, but not great. I know it's heading for big things though, so I'm looking forward to it. Flash 215 was also pretty damn interesting.

[helionaut]

I flipped through it, and I thought it looked pretty good. The art was solid and I liked the ending. I may yet go back and pick it up (the shop had at least 100 copies at 9AM, and the owner usually orders heavy on books like this), but it looks like a TPB-to-be for me.

[Kevin Boyd]

I just took a quick break and read the issue. Fantastic set-up, and Ethan has outdone himself on the artwork (which at times reminds me of Phil Jimenez), lots of little touches and mysteries.

 

As usual, great characterization by Geoff Johns. Nearly everyone in the story gets their own "moment" to shine.

 

And the confrontation between Batman and John Stewart was a real highlight. Batman loves to diss Hal Jordan, and he delivers another great anti-Hal speech.

[mrwoogieman]

I just picked up a copy from my LCS; the guy has a one per customer sign on it, but he had about twenty copies sitting there.