Miracleman 5 5

[Jimmy Linguini]

I know it's a reprint, but it's still sad to see a comic defaced in this way.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Miracleman-1-PGX-9-8-SS-NEAL-ADAMS-Auto-Wizard-World-Portland-Variant-like-CGC-/171233360724?pt=US_Comic_Books&hash=item27de4dbb54

 

That is the ugliest Neal Adams signature I have ever seen!

Edited February 3, 2014 by Jimmy Linguiniii

[Mr 9.8]

I wonder if this is a strategy by MARVEL to get people to buy the uncensored physical copies?

 

MARVEL'S DIGITAL EDITION EDITS RAISE QUESTIONS ABOUT FUTURE "MIRACLEMAN" ISSUES

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=50632

[Mr 9.8]

Just got these 2 beauties.

 

 

 

Thanks to Topnotch for these.

[heartened]

Very nice!!

 

[Mr 9.8]

Very nice!!

Thanks.

 

Miracleman #5 To Include Marvelman Summer Special And Warpsmith Stories From A1

 

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2014/02/14/miracleman-5-to-include-marvelman-summer-special-and-warpsmith-stories-from-a1/

[heartened]

Thanks for posting that. It's nice that the new series is pretty comprehensive in terms of all the relevant stories.

 

[Neeidea]

Don't know if this has been covered in this thread or is common knowledge, but there was a U.K. variant of Miracleman #1. I've read an estimated print run of 1,000-2,000, making it much rarer than the normal U.S. edition (with approx. 135,000 print run). The U.K. variant has a yellow back cover with a Quality Comics advertisement, not the black Zot! advertisement. With the probable increased interest in Miracleman coming in a couple months, it might be something to keep an eye out for.

 

Hi, this was discussed back in the mid to late 40s (pages of this thread!) - one fellow MM collector has an enviable CGC 9.6 of the UK no.1

 

The indicia and inside front cover (as well as the yellow back cover) are also different. The 135k print run for MM no.1 is accurate, and I've no reason to disbelieve the 1-2k UK print run, particularly as Dez said Titan had to import American versions to the UK when it launched.

 

I still have the UK version I bought as a 13 year old in August 1985

 

I recall it being super HOT at the time. Everyone was talking about it.

 

By contrast, Warrior no.1s print run was only 44,000.

 

Does anyone know what modern print runs are likely to be? i.e. the newly launched Marvel Miracleman?

 

MarvelMiracleman !

 

 

The most popular titles can break 100,000 but this is restricted to only a handful, the odd issue can break 120,000 and, in rare cases, can hit 200,000 or, in very rare cases, 300,000. I can see Marvel Miracleman #1 being one of these rare cases and I would guess it would hit at least 200,000 but this is just a guess.

 

Hmmm....looks like Marvel Miracleman #1 only hit around 60,000 paper copies world-wide...disappointing...less than half the original #1 by Eclipse which had a print run of around 135,000! Mind it is the digital age and maybe many digital copies were also sold (both variants: with or without knickers).

[mschmidt]

With the number of variants for issue #1, a 52k print run (which is what comichron reports) is definitely a disappointment for Marvel - looks like it dropped to 37k for issue #2 as well.

 

My LCS said the book just wasn't selling for them :shrug:

[Neeidea]

With the number of variants for issue #1, a 52k print run (which is what comichron reports) is definitely a disappointment for Marvel - looks like it dropped to 37k for issue #2 as well.

 

My LCS said the book just wasn't selling for them :shrug:

 

Shame it's not selling so well - lets hope it doesn't get cancelled before #25

 

Note that comichron only covers North America (US and Canada); you need to add at least 10% to their figures to cover distribution to other English speaking countries (UK & Ireland in particular but also Australia etc.).

 

[heartened]

I think they are doing a disservice by not just letting the story sell itself. There is not enough story in each issue, and so people are not getting hooked. It may have to build some momentum and word of mouth.

[RockMyAmadeus]

Is this being distributed on newsstands (ie, bookstores).......?

 

[Neeidea]

Is this being distributed on newsstands (ie, bookstores).......?

 

 

Only one that I have seen with a bar-code is the Wizard World exclusive, unless they are on the back cover. I don't think this would be suitable for the newsstand markets anyway with Liz baring her arse

 

Newsstand is probably well below 5% total comic sales now (around 1978 the figure was about 95% and this has been in a steady decline ever since). It is certainly another factor in print run though: as well as excluding sales outside the US and Canada, comichron does not include newsstand in their figures either hence print runs would be 22-25% larger than their stated figures in the mid-1990's as an example (if the comic in question was available to newsstand).

[Vikingreed]

With the number of variants for issue #1, a 52k print run (which is what comichron reports) is definitely a disappointment for Marvel - looks like it dropped to 37k for issue #2 as well.

 

My LCS said the book just wasn't selling for them :shrug:

 

Shame it's not selling so well - lets hope it doesn't get cancelled before #25 :sick:

 

Note that comichron only covers North America (US and Canada); you need to add at least 10% to their figures to cover distribution to other English speaking countries (UK & Ireland in particular but also Australia etc.).

 

The thought of that makes me want to cry...

[RockMyAmadeus]

Is this being distributed on newsstands (ie, bookstores).......?

 

 

Only one that I have seen with a bar-code is the Wizard World exclusive, unless they are on the back cover. I don't think this would be suitable for the newsstand markets anyway with Liz baring her arse

 

Newsstand is probably well below 5% total comic sales now (around 1978 the figure was about 95% and this has been in a steady decline ever since). It is certainly another factor in print run though: as well as excluding sales outside the US and Canada, comichron does not include newsstand in their figures either hence print runs would be 22-25% larger than their stated figures in the mid-1990's as an example (if the comic in question was available to newsstand).

 

You might be surprised about those newsstand numbers.....

 

Here is an interesting article that discusses newsstand distribution. Granted, it discusses the publisher with the most newsstand sell-through (Archie. Yes, Archie), but it might not be "well below 5%" for the other publishers, even with Marvel's newsstand presence being "severely diminished in 2012."

 

http://comicsworthreading.com/2012/03/09/archie-sales-figures-for-2011/

 

Archie's best selling titles have a whopping 43% sell through, resulting in the vast majority of their sales being on the newsstand (as opposed to a random Archie, #650, which had a direct order of 4,829 copies for December of 2013.)

 

Archie is still selling 15,000 copies on the newsstand. That's three TIMES the amount they sell on the direct market.

 

And their double digests are still killing the market...nearly 100k issues sold in some instances, beating pretty much everything....all on the newsstand.

 

The argument is moot if there's no newsstand presence for MM, but Liz' naked behind is no big deal anymore. #9 would have to be edited, and probably #15, but other than that, there's really not anything much objectionable.

 

Lots of people throw around the dm numbers, and I suspect most people never even give a thought to newsstand numbers...that's a mistake.

 

That is the big flaw with JJM's (comichron) numbers: they ONLY include the direct market numbers under the monopoly that is Diamond. There is a (sometimes quite substantial) newsstand presence for many books around the English speaking world.

[chrisco37]

I think they are doing a disservice by not just letting the story sell itself. There is not enough story in each issue, and so people are not getting hooked. It may have to build some momentum and word of mouth.

 

That's the thing that I didn't like about the first two issues. The extras are nice and all, but the actual Moore story is short. That's the whole reason I'm buying the thing.

 

It's been a long time since I read the original books, so I don't recall if the first two issues were that short. I don't think they were.

[Neeidea]

Is this being distributed on newsstands (ie, bookstores).......?

 

 

Only one that I have seen with a bar-code is the Wizard World exclusive, unless they are on the back cover. I don't think this would be suitable for the newsstand markets anyway with Liz baring her arse

 

Newsstand is probably well below 5% total comic sales now (around 1978 the figure was about 95% and this has been in a steady decline ever since). It is certainly another factor in print run though: as well as excluding sales outside the US and Canada, comichron does not include newsstand in their figures either hence print runs would be 22-25% larger than their stated figures in the mid-1990's as an example (if the comic in question was available to newsstand).

 

You might be surprised about those newsstand numbers.....

 

Here is an interesting article that discusses newsstand distribution. Granted, it discusses the publisher with the most newsstand sell-through (Archie. Yes, Archie), but it might not be "well below 5%" for the other publishers, even with Marvel's newsstand presence being "severely diminished in 2012."

 

http://comicsworthreading.com/2012/03/09/archie-sales-figures-for-2011/

 

Archie's best selling titles have a whopping 43% sell through, resulting in the vast majority of their sales being on the newsstand (as opposed to a random Archie, #650, which had a direct order of 4,829 copies for December of 2013.)

 

Archie is still selling 15,000 copies on the newsstand. That's three TIMES the amount they sell on the direct market.

 

And their double digests are still killing the market...nearly 100k issues sold in some instances, beating pretty much everything....all on the newsstand.

 

The argument is moot if there's no newsstand presence for MM, but Liz' naked behind is no big deal anymore. #9 would have to be edited, and probably #15, but other than that, there's really not anything much objectionable.

 

Lots of people throw around the dm numbers, and I suspect most people never even give a thought to newsstand numbers...that's a mistake.

 

That is the big flaw with JJM's (comichron) numbers: they ONLY include the direct market numbers under the monopoly that is Diamond. There is a (sometimes quite substantial) newsstand presence for many books around the English speaking world.

 

I don't think we can really trust any print run data but by considering all the distribution channels such as Diamond North America, Diamond Europe, newsstand sales plus other markets e.g. other countries and other channels such as toy shops (Western distributed to a number of non-newsstand outlets) you can at least get closer to the real figures.

 

Sometimes there are also estimates of surviving copies, this is even more impossible - Newsstand copies are usually returnable if unsold (where they would be pulped) and then there is also an attrition rate for those left in circulation. The rare Whitman multi-pack comics are a case in point - there have been at least three different comics touted as the rarest over time - nobody real knows the print run on any of them and estimates of surviving numbers are educated guesses at best.

 

 

 

[Vikingreed]

Hopefully the collected editions have big sales.

 

It reads so much better when it is all right together (obviously).

[Mr 9.8]

I think they are doing a disservice by not just letting the story sell itself. There is not enough story in each issue, and so people are not getting hooked. It may have to build some momentum and word of mouth.

 

That's the thing that I didn't like about the first two issues. The extras are nice and all, but the actual Moore story is short. That's the whole reason I'm buying the thing.

 

It's been a long time since I read the original books, so I don't recall if the first two issues were that short. I don't think they were.

Wait till they reach the later issues, I think there are as few as 15 story pages per issue at some point after #9.

[Neeidea]

I think they are doing a disservice by not just letting the story sell itself. There is not enough story in each issue, and so people are not getting hooked. It may have to build some momentum and word of mouth.

 

That's the thing that I didn't like about the first two issues. The extras are nice and all, but the actual Moore story is short. That's the whole reason I'm buying the thing.

 

It's been a long time since I read the original books, so I don't recall if the first two issues were that short. I don't think they were.

Wait till they reach the later issues, I think there are as few as 15 story pages per issue at some point after #9.

 

The originals in Warrior were even shorter, the Eclipse Miracleman #2 collects/reprints Marvelman from Warrior #5, #6, #7 & #8. But at least there were lots of other stories to read in each Warrior, including V for Vendetta. I have an original Moore script for Warrior #8 "Blue Murder" (which will likely be a third of the story in #3 of the Marvel reprint) - the script has more pages than the comic strip

 

Marvel Miracleman #2's main story ended with the reprint from Warrior #5

Eclipse Miracleman #2 ended with the reprint from Warrior #8

 

Maybe they are saving up the Moore stuff for #8 (Eclipse #8 was just fill-in stuff) and then keep the issues in line with the Eclipse editions from #9?

 

 

[Nexus]

IMO, the $5.99 price tag for the first issue was a mistake. Too pricey and diminishes the possibility of an impulse buy by casual readers. Eclipse had the right idea back in 1985: Sell the first issue CHEAP and hook 'em! As it is, I believe there's a good chunk of the audience that's waiting for the trade. And it's the trade format where this series should flourish. Marvel finally has their evergreen title (a la DC's WATCHMEN, DKR, V FOR VENDETTA, et al)...MIRACLEMAN should become a mainstay on LCS' shelves like those titles. Hope Marvel can build off of this, as their handling of their back catalog has been painfully inept.