How to define the better selling comic? 0

[shadroch]

If comic A is a quarterly that sells 750,000 copies per issue while comic B sold 500,000 copies per issue but was monthly, which would you say was the better selling comic?

I think it should be the one that sells the most issues on an annual basis, not the per issue basis.  However, that depends on the distributors and the news stands.  Did quarterly comicbooks have a three month window on the stands or were they sent back as soon as they weren't brand new looking.  With the number of books being published, there must have been tremendous competition for limited space.

Edited July 29, 2022 by shadroch

[MattTheDuck]

On 7/29/2022 at 9:17 AM, shadroch said:

If comic A is a quarterly that sells 750,000 copies per issue while comic B sold 500,000 copies per issue but was monthly, which would you say was the better selling comic?

I think it should be the one that sells the most issues on an annual basis, not the per issue basis.  However, that depends on the distributors and the news stands.  Did quarterly comicbooks have a three month window on the stands or were they sent back as soon as they weren't brand new looking.  With the number of books being published, there must have been tremendous competition for limited space.

Cover price of the issues - and therefore total gross sales - should probably be considered IF they are different.  I'm assuming you're asking about two books that sell concurrently so nobody has to worry about adjusting for inflation or anything to compare them.

So in your example, Comic B sells about twice Comic A's sales over a 3-month period.  If Comic A is twice the cover price of Comic B, their sales could be seen as equal.  

You could also say - without worrying about price - that Comic B has 500,000 readers (assuming the same people buy a copy each month as opposed to 500,000 unique buyers each month) whereas Copy A has 750,000 readers and is therefore "more popular."

[Cat-Man_America]

On 7/29/2022 at 11:17 AM, shadroch said:

If comic A is a quarterly that sells 750,000 copies per issue while comic B sold 500,000 copies per issue but was monthly, which would you say was the better selling comic?

I think it should be the one that sells the most issues on an annual basis, not the per issue basis.  However, that depends on the distributors and the news stands.  Did quarterly comicbooks have a three month window on the stands or were they sent back as soon as they weren't brand new looking.  With the number of books being published, there must have been tremendous competition for limited space.

There was probably a lot of inconsistency in reported numbers, which likely missed returns against sale.  It's also probable that numbers reporting on sales was sketchy as publishers strategically tried to hide the actual sales numbers of popular titles by combining with weaker sales of returned titles (basket accounting).  I suspect all books had about the same window of opportunity on the newsstand, my best guess being around a couple of weeks regardless of monthly, bi-monthly or quarterly status.  Competition for space meant books which didn't sell quickly had their titles stripped and returned making way for subsequent deliveries. 

[shadroch]

If a book is published every three months but has most of its 800,000 sales in the the first four weeks, why wouldn't they publish it more frequently? Were publishers hoodwinking the advertisers offering three months of advertising but knowing the books only had a few weeks of shelf life. I wish more was known about the distribution of these books.  The competition for space must have been insane, and bloody.  I assume DC and Fawcett must have had seperate distributors but did that mean stands used more than one distributor or were some stands DC and other stands would carry Fawcett?  

[Cat-Man_America]

On 7/29/2022 at 11:04 PM, shadroch said:

If a book is published every three months but has most of its 800,000 sales in the the first four weeks, why wouldn't they publish it more frequently? Were publishers hoodwinking the advertisers offering three months of advertising but knowing the books only had a few weeks of shelf life. I wish more was known about the distribution of these books.  The competition for space must have been insane, and bloody.  I assume DC and Fawcett must have had seperate distributors but did that mean stands used more than one distributor or were some stands DC and other stands would carry Fawcett?  

Other factors: If the comic wasn't already being produced more often or in increased number before the war started the publisher was restricted by Federal law rationing pulp paper resources for the war effort. It didn't eliminate the introduction of new titles, but forced publishers into making strategic choices and violators were prosecuted.  This is also why comics were published with single staples by late '42 until some months after the war ended.

Edited July 30, 2022 by Cat-Man_America

[MrBedrock]

You asked which "comic" - singular - was better selling. 

[jimbo_7071]

On 7/29/2022 at 10:35 PM, Cat-Man_America said:

I suspect all books had about the same window of opportunity on the newsstand, my best guess being around a couple of weeks regardless of monthly, bi-monthly or quarterly status.  Competition for space meant books which didn't sell quickly had their titles stripped and returned making way for subsequent deliveries.

I'm not sure about that. I haven't dug into the numbers—and won't have time to any time soon—but it sure seems like the quarterly Batman comics from the '40s are more common than the monthly Tecs. I would have to think that the Batmans enjoyed more time on the stands.

[shadroch]

On 7/30/2022 at 11:38 AM, MrBedrock said:

You asked which "comic" - singular - was better selling. 

If Captain Bedrock sells 500,000 copies four times a year, and  The Adventures of Bugabooboo sells 400,000 12 times a year, which is better selling?  Is it the one who sells 20% more per issue or is it the one that sells twice as many copies per year. Would you go by units per issue or units per year?

 

[MrBedrock]

On 7/31/2022 at 10:04 AM, shadroch said:

If Captain Bedrock sells 500,000 copies four times a year, and  The Adventures of Bugabooboo sells 400,000 12 times a year, which is better selling?  Is it the one who sells 20% more per issue or is it the one that sells twice as many copies per year. Would you go by units per issue or units per year?

 

+1!

I agree with all of this.

[Cat-Man_America]

On 7/31/2022 at 8:31 AM, jimbo_7071 said:

I'm not sure about that. I haven't dug into the numbers—and won't have time to any time soon—but it sure seems like the quarterly Batman comics from the '40s are more common than the monthly Tecs. I would have to think that the Batmans enjoyed more time on the stands.

This is a fair point, but sales against return may still factor in.  Maybe Batman sold better and quicker than 'Tec and had fewer returns.  It's hard to say just based on available records.  But amount of time on the stands was likely limited in both cases by a "revolving door" new comics coming in and available space on the racks.

[shadroch]

On 7/31/2022 at 11:53 AM, Cat-Man_America said:

This is a fair point, but sales against return may still factor in.  Maybe Batman sold better and quicker than 'Tec and had fewer returns.  It's hard to say just based on available records.  But amount of time on the stands was likely limited in both cases by a "revolving door" new comics coming in and available space on the racks.

In the GA, a comic took up less space than Life or Look and sold for the same amount. It wasn't until much later that comics sold for significantly less per unit than most magazines.  There are just so many unknowns about how this books were distributed and promoted.

[sfcityduck]

On 7/31/2022 at 8:04 AM, shadroch said:

If Captain Bedrock sells 500,000 copies four times a year, and  The Adventures of Bugabooboo sells 400,000 12 times a year, which is better selling?  Is it the one who sells 20% more per issue or is it the one that sells twice as many copies per year. Would you go by units per issue or units per year?

 

Better selling is different than highest revenue or biggest profit. The comic which sells the most copies per issue is the best selling. The comic which generates the most money per issue is the highest revenue and the comic which generates the most money net of costs is the biggest profit.

[Cat-Man_America]

On 7/31/2022 at 2:40 PM, shadroch said:

In the GA, a comic took up less space than Life or Look and sold for the same amount. It wasn't until much later that comics sold for significantly less per unit than most magazines.  There are just so many unknowns about how this books were distributed and promoted.

Life was weekly and Look was bi-weekly; the turn-around on those had to be very quick.  You're right about the space taken up by oversized magazines which sold for a dime. These competed for the same shelf space, in a wide range of markets with some crossover. Magazine competition for attention was fierce so I suspect time sensitivity was a factor.  Some publishers may have felt that having no publishing date of a seasonal date might keep their comics on the stands a bit longer, but that's a gamble.  There was probably a fairly rapid decline in sales after distribution, so it's reasonable to assume publishers wanted new product out pretty quickly for fans of recognizable characters and art style. 

Vintage newsstand images may shed a little more light on this (link below)...

https://boards.cgccomics.com/topic/118924-1939-newsstand-pic-time-machine-journey-into-the-past/

 

[jimbo_7071]

On 8/1/2022 at 1:30 AM, Cat-Man_America said:

Life was weekly and Look was bi-weekly; the turn-around on those had to be very quick.  You're right about the space taken up by oversized magazines which sold for a dime. These competed for the same shelf space, in a wide range of markets with some crossover. Magazine competition for attention was fierce so I suspect time sensitivity was a factor.  Some publishers may have felt that having no publishing date of a seasonal date might keep their comics on the stands a bit longer, but that's a gamble.  There was probably a fairly rapid decline in sales after distribution, so it's reasonable to assume publishers wanted new product out pretty quickly for fans of recognizable characters and art style. 

Vintage newsstand images may shed a little more light on this (link below)...

https://boards.cgccomics.com/topic/118924-1939-newsstand-pic-time-machine-journey-into-the-past/

 

It would have also depended on which newsstand, right? The operator of a street-corner newsstand in downtown Manhattan would have had to pack in the comics. The owner of a general store in Podunk, Iowa, might have had room to spare and might not have needed to worry about pulling old issues from the racks.

When I was buying comics off of spinner racks in the 80s, there were often two or three issues of the same title. They would just stick the new ones in front of the old ones. There's no reason to think that the same thing didn't happen in the '40s, at least at some vendors.

[Cat-Man_America]

On 8/1/2022 at 12:28 PM, jimbo_7071 said:

It would have also depended on which newsstand, right? The operator of a street-corner newsstand in downtown Manhattan would have had to pack in the comics. The owner of a general store in Podunk, Iowa, might have had room to spare and might not have needed to worry about pulling old issues from the racks.

When I was buying comics off of spinner racks in the 80s, there were often two or three issues of the same title. They would just stick the new ones in front of the old ones. There's no reason to think that the same thing didn't happen in the '40s, at least at some vendors.

There's a lot of room for speculation.  You're right, a lot would depend on the newsstand, drugstore or grocery and available space. In the case of monthly and bi-weekly comics unsold copies were probably displayed until the next issue.  Bi-monthly, quarterly and one-shot comics are anybody's guess. 

Precise dating may be possible utilizing certain photos in the "Newsstand Time Machine" thread, cross referencing comics in photos against the street dates listed in Mike's Amazing World of Comics (where the street-dates of published comics are known).  Comics pictured in Mike's Newsstand section usually have street dates, cover artist, page count, etc. when available under the clickable images.  This makes date sleuthing feasible.

Your mission Jim, should you choose to accept it, is to establish the rack longevity of comics in photos from the 1940's.  This recording will self-destruct in 5 seconds.  

Edited August 3, 2022 by Cat-Man_America
ale added!