For those beating the DC drums...

[drice6900]

... you might not want to look at the January sales list. DC doesn't show up until #14!

 

CBR Jan 2005 Sales

[rjpb]

I buy half a dozen or so DC titles a month and none ranked higher than #101, I buy 2 Marvel titles and the highest ranked is #21. While there are the occassional exceptions - when it comes to popular culture there is little relationship between quality and popularity.

 

There is a silver lining to being a fan of slower selling books - they usually get cancelled before they start to suck, making the decision of when to stop buying them easier.

[Kevin Boyd]

Interesting, I'm going to wait for the icv2 analysis next week compared to last year, but looking at that list the absence of DC's "big guns" (Superman/Batman, Jim Lee's Superman, Green Lantern: Rebirth) in January hurt their presence.

 

And yes, there's no accounting for taste. The rancid X-Men/Fantastic Four mini-series placed ahead of every DC book except for JLA and Teen Titans? That's really quite sad.

 

If you look at the books in blocks of characters... you know, the people that are blindly devoted to buying every x-book under the sun make me quite sick... and Astonishing the "hot" x-book didn't even ship in January.... 10 of the top 20 comics in January were X-Men related. 3 were Spider-man, 2 were Avengers, 2 were JLA.

 

Or if you want to look at the Ultimate line separately, there are all 5 Ultimate titles in the top 20, 8 X-Men titles, 2 Spider-Man, 2 JLA, plus Avengers, Teen Titans and Batman.

[uclapeterg]

I'm a Fantastic Four fan and I don't plan to buy the X-Men/FF miniseries.

[Kevin Boyd]

Would you have bought it if it was any good?

 

Obviously, whoever is ordering (and let's remember these are books ordered by comic shops not actual sales) this turd felt that it was going to sell. They probably thought that Pat Lee on X-Men was a home run.

 

Instead they got a half-done, rushed job by a studio that had a lot of troubles. It should have been cancelled by Marvel editorial when the pages started coming in. Obviously the need for green influenced their decision to release it as is and give retailers fodder for their quarter bins.

[awe4one]

Really no way to put the rankings in context without the supporting circulation numbers. Anyone know where you can find how many units of Batman sold in Jan?

 

Jim

[uclapeterg]

Would you have bought it if it was any good?

 

Obviously, whoever is ordering (and let's remember these are books ordered by comic shops not actual sales) this turd felt that it was going to sell. They probably thought that Pat Lee on X-Men was a home run.

 

Instead they got a half-done, rushed job by a studio that had a lot of troubles. It should have been cancelled by Marvel editorial when the pages started coming in. Obviously the need for green influenced their decision to release it as is and give retailers fodder for their quarter bins.

 

Umm, I realized chances are it wouldn't be any good.

[Underdog]

All I know is that the great Simpsons/ Futurama crossover is gonna be a hot item one day! (tongue firmly in cheek)

 

114 110 23.91 ** NOV042510 FUTURAMA SIMPSONS CROSSOVER CRISIS PART 2 #1 (OF 2) $2.99 BON

[Deathlok]

I'm a Fantastic Four fan and I don't plan to buy the X-Men/FF miniseries.

 

The art in it is really horrid. I wish I could undo my purcahse of the first 3 issues.

[jordanscott]

I'm a Fantastic Four fan and I don't plan to buy the X-Men/FF miniseries.

 

The art in it is really horrid. I wish I could undo my purcahse of the first 3 issues.

 

didn't they learn their lesson from the x-men/ff mini from the early 90s....

 

ugh...still makes me shudder....

[Deathlok]

I'm a Fantastic Four fan and I don't plan to buy the X-Men/FF miniseries.

 

The art in it is really horrid. I wish I could undo my purcahse of the first 3 issues.

 

didn't they learn their lesson from the x-men/ff mini from the early 90s....

 

ugh...still makes me shudder....

The earlier corssover was much better than this one. I mean the art is REALLY bad.

[Silver Surfer]

... you might not want to look at the January sales list. DC doesn't show up until #14!

 

CBR Jan 2005 Sales

 

Yeah the "Crisis" is over so to speak. It has been a tad tiresome listening to DC dudes bang their drum these past 6 months but I can sympathize with their need to feel appreciated after years of taking a beating. Usually hardcore DC fans acknowledge that SA and BA era were owned by Marvel but they make it sound like it was only a year or so, not 20+ years. Rebirth is excellent and even I feel that Marvel could greatly improve on some of their concepts and leadership but if this is the "dark ages" for Marvel, DC might as well tap out now.

[uclapeterg]

I'm a Fantastic Four fan and I don't plan to buy the X-Men/FF miniseries.

 

The art in it is really horrid. I wish I could undo my purcahse of the first 3 issues.

 

Thanks for reinforcing my belief. Can you get a credit back from Marvel?

[Illiterati-migration]

... you might not want to look at the January sales list. DC doesn't show up until #14!

 

CBR Jan 2005 Sales

 

Yeah the "Crisis" is over so to speak. It has been a tad tiresome listening to DC dudes bang their drum these past 6 months but I can sympathize with their need to feel appreciated after years of taking a beating. Usually hardcore DC fans acknowledge that SA and BA era were owned by Marvel but they make it sound like it was only a year or so, not 20+ years. Rebirth is excellent and even I feel that Marvel could greatly improve on some of their concepts and leadership but if this is the "dark ages" for Marvel, DC might as well tap out now.

 

Marvel, for the most part, has been virtually unreadable for about 15 years now. Utter rubbish. Thankfully, DC has provided those of us who have more refined, adult tastes and sensibilities a refuge from "stunt" storytelling, reboots, retcons, and tired, go-nowhere storylines (see all X-titles).

 

 

 

(But "Runaways" is still awesome.)

[Silver Surfer]

"more refined, adult tastes and sensibilities"

 

I don't disagree that the 90's was basically junk (mainly due to ownership uncertainty) but spare us the pompus attitude. Is this your way of making excuses for DC because they don't have as strong a character base as Marvel (never did) then I agree. If I want to read about social issues and other current day serious topics on a regular basis I'll just pick up an issue of Time magazine or the local newspaper. These are comics and "superhero's" we are talking about.

 

DC has come a long way from the Bathound and Jimmy Olsen drivel they pumped out for decades.

[Illiterati-migration]

If I want to read about social issues and other current day serious topics on a regular basis I'll just pick up an issue of Time magazine or the local newspaper. These are comics and "superhero's" we are talking about.

 

 

 

Perhaps you don't understand why these "icons" and "archetypes" are so "iconic" and "archetypical"...

[Kevin Boyd]

Since when did high sales ever equal good comics?

[Silver Surfer]

Since when did high sales ever equal good comics?

 

Never said that but the numbers are pretty hard to ignore or discount especially when all I have been hearing for months is how DC has taken over. If I used your statement 6 months ago in Marvel's defense I would have been laughed off these boards. I let the pro DC bunch have their day in the sun never discounted what they have accomplished even though it was annoying and repeative (hey I'm a Marvel fan what can I say) topic lately, so when I saw these latest figures and the title of this thread I just had to laugh.

[Zonker]

and Rave much?

 

Seriously, if we're talking quality, I think most objective observers would say that from 1962 to 1967 Marvel largely ruled. But that ignores the founding of the Silver Age from 1956 up until right before FF #1 hit.

 

But I'll concede nothing to Marvel vs. DC quality-wise in the 1968-1974 period.

 

I think the early Jim Shooter era from say 1977 to 1980 was also a high-water mark for Marvel, at a time when DC was really struggling, apart from a handful of series scripted by (Marvel-guy ) Steve Englehart at DC. Then in the 1980s both companies did some very very good quality stuff.

 

Now sales are another story, as Marvel steadily began eating DC's lunch from the late 1960s to the early 1980s. But if we're talking sales-- and those January sales reports were what launched this thread in the first place-- can you really say as a Marvel fan it is a good thing that so much of Marvel's dominance is built upon X-Men and Ultimate re-treads?

[Ron_Nasty]

Are those actual sales or books retailers will be eating?