@kingsloth said:
@Sharkbite said:
@Brazen_IntellectJanuary 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 AnnualThere 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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