And now, more focus on DC's sales again
Published by Avi Green on Tuesday, January 01, 2008 at 4:17 AM.
From Marvel sales we now move to DC sales, with the latest analysis from The Beat now up, and while there may have been 3-4 things that went up in numbers, plenty of other things are going down again. This includes, for example, the Infinity Inc. series that bears no resemblance whatsoever to the original team bombing in sales, and even Countdown isn't doing too well either, it's being above 70,000 copies sold notwithstanding. And if Death of the New Gods was supposed to a "spectacular" event, it sure hasn't burned up the charts to that effect. It may have sold even less than Amazons Attack. The writer here says:
Speaking of which, this brings to mind Teen Titans, which has also been declining in sales. The writer says:
And another reason why their sales are tanking? Well, "event fatigue" as some call it, is another leading problem that's led to this. When these ludicrous stunts start to take the place of real storytelling, people will eventually tire of it all. Perhaps by turning things around a bit and focusing on good writing instead of crossovers and politically-correct replacements for older heroes like Firestorm, Atom and Blue Beetle, they could improve. They'd better hurry though, because, as evidenced by slowly declining sales, time may be running out.
Update: the entry at The Beat also gives mention to DC's use of variant covers as a way of trying to get more people to buy. But variant covers are no substitute for good writing either, and that's another thing that DC and Marvel both need to stop doing, since it actually costs more money for them than need be.
Many of DC Comics’ ongoing problems throughout 2007 persisted in November. With Justice League of America, Justice Society of America and Green Lantern, the publisher’s three best-selling titles on the October chart all failed to come out. The year-long, weekly Countdown to Final Crisis, dragging along a deluge of spin-off titles and producing another major commercial dud with the debut of the Salvation Run limited series, continues to underwhelm as the “spine” of the DC Universe line. And, once again, the most favorable thing you can say about the majority of periodicals released under the publisher’s Vertigo and WildStorm imprints is that they exist.Considering the damage done to the Rogues Gallery from the Flash, after they kicked the hell out of Bart Allen and may have killed him, I can't say I'm surprised at the failure of Salvation Run to salvage itself.
Speaking of which, this brings to mind Teen Titans, which has also been declining in sales. The writer says:
The numbers are bottoming out again, significantly below the 60k mark. The departure of writer Geoff Johns back in May has visibly hurt Teen Titans sales.Two things to note: first, Dan DiDio, if memory serves, appointed himself as the series' very own main editor, in a stunt-like move that may have alienated readers put off by his disrespect for fans. Second, let's note that the latest series, launched in 2003, fell apart very quickly, most definitely when Identity Crisis came around the corner. Those who find Johns an overrated writer have a point, certainly regarding his questionable use of violence in his scriptwriting.
And another reason why their sales are tanking? Well, "event fatigue" as some call it, is another leading problem that's led to this. When these ludicrous stunts start to take the place of real storytelling, people will eventually tire of it all. Perhaps by turning things around a bit and focusing on good writing instead of crossovers and politically-correct replacements for older heroes like Firestorm, Atom and Blue Beetle, they could improve. They'd better hurry though, because, as evidenced by slowly declining sales, time may be running out.
Update: the entry at The Beat also gives mention to DC's use of variant covers as a way of trying to get more people to buy. But variant covers are no substitute for good writing either, and that's another thing that DC and Marvel both need to stop doing, since it actually costs more money for them than need be.
Labels: crossoverloading, dc comics, sales
