Mighty Thorion

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Mighty Thorion

918

Forum Posts

80821

Wiki Points

126

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Reviews: 15

User Lists: 34

#1  Edited By Mighty Thorion
Zatanna - by Dave Hoover
Zatanna - by Dave Hoover
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Mighty Thorion

918

Forum Posts

80821

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Reviews: 15

User Lists: 34

#2  Edited By Mighty Thorion

@kingsloth said:

@Sharkbite said:

@Brazen_Intellect

January 2012 Sales numbers (just DC)

#2. Batman 16
#3. Justice League 16
#8. Detective Comics 16
#12. Batman & Robin 16
#16. Green Lantern 16
#17. Batgirl 16
#20. Nightwing 16
#21. Teen Titans 16
#22. Aquaman 16
#24. Red Hood & the Outlaws
#26. Action Comics 16
#27. Batman: The Dark Knight 16
#29. Batman & Robin Annual
#32. Earth 2 8
#33. Superman 16
#36. Batman Incorporated 7
#39. Green Lantern Corps 16
#42. Flash 16
#43. Minutemen 6
#46. Green Lantern New Guardians 16
#47. Ozymandius 5
#48. Dollar Bill 1
#49. Green Lantern Corps Annual

There is the books that placed in the top 50 for sales. This is the hard data, the facts, not some sort of subjective wishful thinking.

Fact #1: Of DC's top 10 selling books (ignoring all competition from other brands), 6 are books which follow Batman or members of the Batman family. Additionally, Teen Titans stars Red Robin and Justice League co-stars Batman, meaning that only 2 books (Green Lantern and Aquaman) make it into the top 10 without the presense of the Bat-family.

Fact #2: Raw sales of books. Total the sales of 521,451 books were sold under the DC: Batman heading for DC's titles appearing in the top 25 (Batman, Batman & Robin, Detective Comics, Nightwing, Batgirl, and Red Hood). Total sales of books sold under all other headings appearing in the top 25 total 316,068 books (Green Lantern, Aquaman, Justice League, and Teen Titans). Batman titles are out-selling non-Batman titles at rates beginning to approach 2 to 1. Facts are facts: Batman makes DC more money than everyone else combined.

Fact #3: Just the actual "Batman" title, not counting any of his other appearances, sold more books than Action Comics and Superman combined.

The argument to "give other characters a chance" is a noble claim of optimism. There have been some really good non-Batman books. Some of my favorite DC books (like Secret Six) are not Batman books. I do not at any point say that cutting back on non-Batman and putting more emphasis on Batman will be what I would like personally. But the facts stare us right in the face, and DC is a business which creates a product only because it is profittable. The more money DC makes, the more stuff they can do, the more books they can run, the more films they can make, etc. And that money, according to the numbers month after month, comes from emphasizing Batman and his supporting cast.

There is still a place for characters like Superman in the DC Universe; the Justice League book, for example, sells quite well. Superman has been able to be successfully implemented as a part of an ensemble cast title (with Batman), and the past year's sales all support the same sales information that Superman as a member of the Justice League sells 2-3 times as well as Superman as a solo title.

In contrast, the Gotham characters outsell him in almost every way. So why is it that Superman has two solo titles per month, both of which are regarded as generally a commercial failure, while Tim Drake on the other hand is only permitted to appear in the Teen Titans ensemble cast book. Robin/Red Robin did well prior to the New52 refusing to relaunch it; all the sales data says that it makes perfect sense: cancel one of the Superman titles (Superman consistantly sells worse than Action Comics, so I'd recommend actually cancelling Superman) and re-launch Red Robin.

That same premise could hold true with a lot of DC's failing books. When a "popular" character is not selling well, perhaps they would be better served as a part of a team book, and that solo spot could be given to someone else. As much as I hate Damien Wayne, I'm certain a Robin solo title would sell well (if Red Hood can be in DC's top 10, then apparently being hated doesn't stop the book from selling).

Following the numbers, the money, DC could overtake Marvel for sales once again if they followed what was popular instead of trying to stick with what used to work 50 years ago. There is nothing wrong with shifting towards team books, or pushing guys like Nightwing into the A-lister status while Green Arrow takes a back seat for a while.

While I am not arguing any of your facts all the books you listed make money when they fall out of the top 100 they are losing money and DC is subsidizing the books, as such to cancel any of these books would be bad for business. There is a reson DC cancels books in the 100s its because they hemorrage money. DC should just write the best stories it can and fans will follow, as a comic fan thats all I want from DC or any other publisher. While I love batman he is not the answer good thought out stories is the answer.

I thought it was when a book sold fewer than 20 thousand copies that it was being subsidised, not whether it was in the top 100 or not

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Mighty Thorion

918

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80821

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Reviews: 15

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#3  Edited By Mighty Thorion

I'm enjoying reading Superior Spider-Man and despite the fact that it seems lots of people hate the book, it was the top selling comic in January

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Mighty Thorion

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#4  Edited By Mighty Thorion

If you don't enjoy a title, don't read it. I'm actually enjoying reading Spider-Man for the first time in many years.

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Mighty Thorion

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#5  Edited By Mighty Thorion

@The Stegman said:

Batman

...and Superman apparently. A new title exploring how they first met in the New 52 Universe is on the way

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Mighty Thorion

918

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#6  Edited By Mighty Thorion

@joshmightbe said:

DC just needs to go ahead and change their name to Batman and Associates

Not really - this is just a modern version of the long standing Worlds Finest magazine which ran from the 1940's and featured Superman + Batman. Also if sales are anything to go by then one of the books it may well be replacing is Batwing. So in that case it would be 1 Bat title for another.

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Mighty Thorion

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#7  Edited By Mighty Thorion

I don't think DC need more "events." I think they've been down that route before and to be honest fans a) get fed up of having to and b) cannot afford to buy all of the tie in issues to a particular event. What DC does need is to concentrate on keeping its top creators on its iconic characters and titles. Look at what Geoff Johns has done on Green Lantern over 9 years to create a legacy for those now taking those books forward.

By the way, I though the latest Marvel event - AvX - was probably the worst they have ever produced and was nowhere near the quality of events like Secret Invasion, House of M, or Civil War.

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Mighty Thorion

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#8  Edited By Mighty Thorion

How does cancelling one of the Superman titles make any sense? Action sold 58,000 copies and Superman 50,000 copies in January. If DC were to launch a Red Hood solo series, then to accommodate such a title then surely they should cancel a poor seller like Batwing (13,000 copies)?

A poor selling book will no doubt be making way for the Scott Snyder / Jim Lee Superman book we heard about recently - and I wonder if there is something to be said for keeping top talent on major characters for as long as possible?

Apart from Batwing, which seems to have a stay of execution because it has the word "Bat" in the title, the next title that is looking vulnerable is Legion of Super Heroes (16,000 copies).

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Mighty Thorion

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#9  Edited By Mighty Thorion

Katana V Wonder Woman = No chance. Same for Vibe V Flash. Hal is too experienced a GL to be taken down by a novice and Batman is able to keep his emotional and professional side separate. Superman V MM could be a tie and in certain circumstances (but nowhere near water) I can see Hawkman getting the better of Aquaman. Cyborg V Stargirl maybe another tie.

If this is the whole premise of the book then either the "Big Hitters" have lost some of their power or the "2nd string" have had some major upgrades

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Mighty Thorion

918

Forum Posts

80821

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Reviews: 15

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#10  Edited By Mighty Thorion

@HubrisRanger said:

@Mighty Thorion said:

How much longer can books like Batwing and Legion Lost survive? Sold less than Team 7, Ravagers, Dial H, Demon Knights and Sword of Sorcery in January

That actually was the last issue of Legion Lost in January. The continued existence of Batwing is a bit more confounding.

Didn't realise LL had gone - but i was surprised to see how few copies Batwing sold.