April sets some sales highs

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Q99
April set some records, in both units and dollars (sales list). Most units since Dec '97, which was way back in the 'tons of variant covers' day.

Graphic novels reached an all-time dollar record.


And even though it was a big event for DC, Convergence, Marvel still came out on top. Not that either company has reason to complain! 11 titles over 100k, most since '07.

Q99
Aw, no sales discussion?

Golgo13
Marvel has Star Wars to thank. It's doing extremely well.

Q99
Oh yes, that's a gold mine for them.

I find it interesting that it does so well, as it's not like there wasn't SW around before, Dark Horse SW was solid stuff. Strength of being put out by the big two and attached to the new continuity, I guess!

Golgo13
Secret Wars will be big for Marvel this month. It won't be close. June will be interesting. I can see DC taking that month.

It's basically whoever has the events going that wins. Not a big surprise, actually.

Golgo13
Originally posted by Q99
Oh yes, that's a gold mine for them.

I find it interesting that it does so well, as it's not like there wasn't SW around before, Dark Horse SW was solid stuff. Strength of being put out by the big two and attached to the new continuity, I guess!

I think it's also because SW movie is coming out soon. Makes people more aware and easy to market.

Q99
Originally posted by Golgo13
I think it's also because SW movie is coming out soon. Makes people more aware and easy to market.


Also a good point.


Originally posted by Golgo13
Secret Wars will be big for Marvel this month. It won't be close.

Yea.



Hm, relaunches vs month 2 of SW...? Should be interesting.



With no-event months going to Marvel, and the Star Wars books counting as an 'event' at the moment smile

Kazenji
Originally posted by Q99

I find it interesting that it does so well, as it's not like there wasn't SW around before, Dark Horse SW was solid stuff. Strength of being put out by the big two and attached to the new continuity, I guess!

I think its more to do with the comic company that its at, As you said Dark Horse had the property so why didn't it sell as good then.

Q99
And probably the important thing is, pretty much everyone's doing well.

Well, Dark Horse could use something to take Star War's place in their lineup, but numbers across the board are good.

Heck, Image is now cracking the 10% market share level most months.

Q99
Deeper analysis of April, Marvel

The Star Wars books actually went *up* in sales in the 4th issues, which is almost unheard of, especially at such a high starting level.

Kazenji
Lol at people jumping ship from Marvel with their current event

reading this rant from someone through the Comic Book Resources news feed on Facebook, Disliking the changes etc.

Q99
Originally posted by Kazenji
Lol at people jumping ship from Marvel with their current event

reading this rant from someone through the Comic Book Resources news feed on Facebook, Disliking the changes etc.

The event hasn't ended yet, we don't even know what most of the changes are yet ^^;

Of course, it could be that the known ones are enough to make him personally jump ship (Peter's going to be more focused on running his company, Logan will be old, etc.), but I don't think that's sign of any mass exodus.


Overall, the year has been up 13% over last year so far.

Last year was, itself, a good year for comics, where comics reached 935 million dollars in total.

Market share is, 40% marvel/25% DC/10% Image/5% IDW/etc..

Zack M
Originally posted by Kazenji
Lol at people jumping ship from Marvel with their current event

reading this rant from someone through the Comic Book Resources news feed on Facebook, Disliking the changes etc.

It's a combo of their relaunches and events, not to mention Star Wars is still hot. I wonder if Kirkman's prophecy of Marvel killing the industry will come to fruition one day. Their relaunches are less and less as time goes by. According to the Mayo report. Plus, they're are doing ANOTHER relaunch this October. Overkill.

Man, it wasn't even close. DC You has been crazy good, IMO. Especially books like Omega Men, Midnighter, Constantine, etc... DC is following more relaunches this January as well.

Q99
Originally posted by Zack M
It's a combo of their relaunches and events, not to mention Star Wars is still hot. I wonder if Kirkman's prophecy of Marvel killing the industry will come to fruition one day.

I think the Kirkman prophecy isn't very good foretelling, and/or Marvel's taken steps to avoid it, depending on how you read it. A number of their currently really-popular books, like Ms. Marvel, have a lot of younger readers, which is the crux of his criticism of them aiming too much for the older audience.

Marvel's been steadily growing for awhile now, I've been fairly impressed. Especially since they've avoided gimmicky tricks like 3-d covers.




What do you mean 'relaunch'? I don't think they've done one since Marvel One, unless you mean individual title relaunches, which tend to coincide with new directions and have been pretty good at helping books build audience. Right now the 'season' model is their modus operandi.

Zack M
Originally posted by Q99
I think the Kirkman prophecy isn't very good foretelling, and/or Marvel's taken steps to avoid it, depending on how you read it. A number of their currently really-popular books, like Ms. Marvel, have a lot of younger readers, which is the crux of his criticism of them aiming too much for the older audience.

Marvel's been steadily growing for awhile now, I've been fairly impressed. Especially since they've avoided gimmicky tricks like 3-d covers.




What do you mean 'relaunch'? I don't think they've done one since Marvel One, unless you mean individual title relaunches, which tend to coincide with new directions and have been pretty good at helping books build audience. Right now the 'season' model is their modus operandi.

Marvel has their own gimmicks, though. It's hardly just DC. some of their practices like double shipping, more 3.99 books, constant relaunching, etc..have off put some readers.

Yes, I mean individual titles. I know a lot of people who are turned away by Marvel's season approach.

Kazenji
Seriously people are complaining about the $3.99 price, That's ****en cheap compared to what we have to pay here.

Q99
Originally posted by Zack M
Marvel has their own gimmicks, though. It's hardly just DC. some of their practices like double shipping, more 3.99 books, constant relaunching, etc..have off put some readers.

Yes, I mean individual titles. I know a lot of people who are turned away by Marvel's season approach.


They have their own sales strategies, yes, but their 'season' model of relaunches tied to actually new story directions and/or creators is a lot less gimmicky than 3-d covers. I mean, the last time 3d was big, was back in the 90s and tied directly into the specular market that crashed the industry.

Personally I'm pretty surprised DC hasn't picked up on the model, what with their tendency to change direction between creators even more than Marvel does. Batgirl really seemed like it should've had a new number one with it's radical change of direction. They aren't actually renumbering but they're even more radical with their direction shifts, so I'd have expected them to get the benefit of it....

Not everyone likes it, of course- Heck, I very much love a long continuing comic. The Transformers books are great for that right now, and one of my long-time favs, Gold Digger, is in the triple digits- but telling the stories in pre-planned chapters makes a lot of sense. And it doesn't prevent fairly long runs, like Waid's Daredevil.

---


3.99 is the industry standard price point at this point nowadays. I think only Image regularly does 2.99, plus some 3.50s. DC does it on a *few* books but it's mostly 3.99. Archie and IDW are all 3.99, Dark Horse is 3.50 or 3.99, etc..

Zack M
Originally posted by Q99
They have their own sales strategies, yes, but their 'season' model of relaunches tied to actually new story directions and/or creators is a lot less gimmicky than 3-d covers. I mean, the last time 3d was big, was back in the 90s and tied directly into the specular market that crashed the industry.

Personally I'm pretty surprised DC hasn't picked up on the model, what with their tendency to change direction between creators even more than Marvel does. Batgirl really seemed like it should've had a new number one with it's radical change of direction. They aren't actually renumbering but they're even more radical with their direction shifts, so I'd have expected them to get the benefit of it....

Not everyone likes it, of course- Heck, I very much love a long continuing comic. The Transformers books are great for that right now, and one of my long-time favs, Gold Digger, is in the triple digits- but telling the stories in pre-planned chapters makes a lot of sense. And it doesn't prevent fairly long runs, like Waid's Daredevil.

---


3.99 is the industry standard price point at this point nowadays. I think only Image regularly does 2.99, plus some 3.50s. DC does it on a *few* books but it's mostly 3.99. Archie and IDW are all 3.99, Dark Horse is 3.50 or 3.99, etc..

It's only one month out of the year and is much less annoying than relaunching every 8-12 issues or so plus, they didn't even do it this year. People seemed to enjoy the 3-D covers.

I much prefer DC's tactics of less relaunching. The month of September is annoying, because it puts the current story on hold for one month, but I can at least live with that.

Like the Mayo report stated, relaunching is a sign of weak sales. Marvel's units are down (although more up this year than previous) compared to a decade ago.

Juntai
Originally posted by Q99
April set some records, in both units and dollars (sales list). Most units since Dec '97, which was way back in the 'tons of variant covers' day.

Graphic novels reached an all-time dollar record.


And even though it was a big event for DC, Convergence, Marvel still came out on top. Not that either company has reason to complain! 11 titles over 100k, most since '07. The variant cover era was 91-94.

quanchi112
Originally posted by Q99
Oh yes, that's a gold mine for them.

I find it interesting that it does so well, as it's not like there wasn't SW around before, Dark Horse SW was solid stuff. Strength of being put out by the big two and attached to the new continuity, I guess! Marvel is just absolutely shredding it anymore in all phases.

quanchi112
Originally posted by Kazenji
Seriously people are complaining about the $3.99 price, That's ****en cheap compared to what we have to pay here. Marvel is handing do their asses so the numbers speak for themselves. Golgo is crying that marvel and the people at Disney have well thought out plans just booming on all phases. They bought Star Wars and are absolutely hammering because of it. I look at this as marvel as the big one and dc the little annoying brother.

Q99
Originally posted by quanchi112
Marvel is handing do their asses so the numbers speak for themselves. Golgo is crying that marvel and the people at Disney have well thought out plans just booming on all phases. They bought Star Wars and are absolutely hammering because of it. I look at this as marvel as the big one and dc the little annoying brother.


And they'd have a big advantage even without star wars.


Though I think the more important number is the total industry sales, and how they continue to rise.


Originally posted by Juntai
The variant cover era was 91-94.

As the analysis notes, '97 had the first place book with 11 variants.



Originally posted by Zack M
It's only one month out of the year and is much less annoying than relaunching every 8-12 issues or so plus, they didn't even do it this year.


Length tends to be based on story length. Often it's more like 2-3 years.

If a book lasts 8, that's probably it, no relaunch for it, unless it's a case where the book just started before a line-wide, which is more luck than normal policy, and quite often in that case they don't renumber (like Daredevil, it's mid-Waid run relaunch came *well* after Marvel One).

And even '12 issues, then relaunch with new direction,' doesn't strike me as particularly annoying. I mean, it means the ones before the relaunch are a complete story arc, and the ones after are the beginning of a new one. And often, it's significantly longer, they have a pretty good number of books in the 20s and 30s.


In my experience, plenty of people have wanted books with beginnings, middles, and ends, so it makes sense to me.





Relaunch *can* be, but their sales are way up over a decade ago, and they've got tons of healthy mid and high selling books. They changed what used to be a sign of flagging sales into a mere component in a strategy, and it worked.


I mean, they're up in the double digits from 10 years ago.

The industry as a whole is +39% from 10 years ago (using the same chart I linked), and on that month, Marvel was +4% over DC in units, and now they're +15%.

In other words, DC is up in units from 10 years ago, Marvel's just even more-so, significantly.

The narrative of a flagging industry is pretty much done with, comings are killing.

Zack M
Originally posted by Q99
And they'd have a big advantage even without star wars.


Though I think the more important number is the total industry sales, and how they continue to rise.




As the analysis notes, '97 had the first place book with 11 variants.






Length tends to be based on story length. Often it's more like 2-3 years.

If a book lasts 8, that's probably it, no relaunch for it, unless it's a case where the book just started before a line-wide, which is more luck than normal policy, and quite often in that case they don't renumber (like Daredevil, it's mid-Waid run relaunch came *well* after Marvel One).

And even '12 issues, then relaunch with new direction,' doesn't strike me as particularly annoying. I mean, it means the ones before the relaunch are a complete story arc, and the ones after are the beginning of a new one. And often, it's significantly longer, they have a pretty good number of books in the 20s and 30s.


In my experience, plenty of people have wanted books with beginnings, middles, and ends, so it makes sense to me.





Relaunch *can* be, but their sales are way up over a decade ago, and they've got tons of healthy mid and high selling books. They changed what used to be a sign of flagging sales into a mere component in a strategy, and it worked.


I mean, they're up in the double digits from 10 years ago.

The industry as a whole is +39% from 10 years ago (using the same chart I linked), and on that month, Marvel was +4% over DC in units, and now they're +15%.

In other words, DC is up in units from 10 years ago, Marvel's just even more-so.

The narrative of a flagging industry is pretty much done with, comings are killing.

I guess I'm just used to the old school way.

Also, the unit sales are down. I showed you the list before. If it weren't for the relaunching the sales would look worse.

Q99
Originally posted by Zack M
I guess I'm just used to the old school way.

Also, the unit sales are down. I showed you the list before. If it weren't for the relaunching the sales would look worse.


You said 'according to the mayo report,' you didn't actual link or show anything.


I posted a link that noted how this was the highest units since '97.


And duh, 'if it wasn't for the successful strategy that boosted sales it'd be worse,' but it'd still be quite good. Very good even, just maybe not as record breaking.


From the same article I posted on April,

"Retailers ordered 8.39 million copies of the Top 300 comic books in the month. That bests any figure since December 1997, "

"Comics unit sales are up by more than 50% over the same month five years ago."

"TOP 300 COMICS UNIT SALES
April 2015: 8.39 million copies
Versus 1 year ago this month: +20%
Versus 5 years ago this month: +51%
Versus 10 years ago this month: +39%
Versus 15 years ago this month: +45%
YEAR TO DATE: 29.16 million copies, +15% vs. 2014, +29% vs. 2010, +24% vs. 2005, +29% vs. 2000"


So yes, number of units sold, the industry is up 39% since ten years ago. And with it's 43% market share in units, much greater than it's market share back then, Marvel is, as they say, 'shredding it.'



You may not likely the tactic, but I'm strictly talking the numbers here.

Zack M
Originally posted by Q99
You said 'according to the mayo report,' you didn't actual link or show anything.


I posted a link that noted how this was the highest units since '97.


And duh, 'if it wasn't for the successful strategy that boosted sales it'd be worse,' but it'd still be quite good. Very good even, just maybe not as record breaking.


From the same article I posted on April,

"Retailers ordered 8.39 million copies of the Top 300 comic books in the month. That bests any figure since December 1997, "

"Comics unit sales are up by more than 50% over the same month five years ago."

"TOP 300 COMICS UNIT SALES
April 2015: 8.39 million copies
Versus 1 year ago this month: +20%
Versus 5 years ago this month: +51%
Versus 10 years ago this month: +39%
Versus 15 years ago this month: +45%
YEAR TO DATE: 29.16 million copies, +15% vs. 2014, +29% vs. 2010, +24% vs. 2005, +29% vs. 2000"


So yes, number of units sold, the industry is up 39% since ten years ago. And with it's 43% market share in units, much greater than it's market share back then, Marvel is, as they say, 'shredding it.'



You may not likely the tactic, but I'm strictly talking the numbers here.

No, this is the numbers I was talking about:



Another poster gathered the estimated units sold throughout the years. Marvel is up some years, but down on others. Without the constant relaunches, the numbers would be lower.

And this is the mayo report link I was talking about:

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=52488

Q99
Originally posted by Zack M
No, this is the numbers I was talking about:


And this is the mayo report link I was talking about:

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=52488

Ah, yes, those weren't posted before. Note how those are a year old, Marvel was only somewhat ahead last year, it's expanded it's lead considerably this year..

Personally, I consider Comichron the most reliable source, it shows it's numbers in depth. It strikes me as somewhat questionable that Marvel's rising in market share at the same time the industry is expanding, both talking units sold, yet it's not supposed to have gained much ground at that point.




Of course, again, it is a sales strategy that has helped bring in readers, and it's been working for years now, company sales are up, their average title is doing great.

The purpose of a sales strategy is to build sales, after all.

I will also note that it's not just about the relaunch. Plenty of books simply end, and then a new, possibly-related but maybe not, book gets launched. Which is something I think some may miss- beginning/middle/ends to 12 issue comics means readers get satisfying experiences even if things end, unlike many normal cancelations. This leaves readers more likely to jump ship to something similar. They liked Young Avengers? They're probably going to jump to Loki and Hawkeye, and so on.

Zack M
Originally posted by Q99
Ah, yes, those weren't posted before. Note how those are a year old, Marvel was only somewhat ahead last year, it's expanded it's lead considerably this year..

Personally, I consider Comichron the most reliable source, it shows it's numbers in depth. It strikes me as somewhat questionable that Marvel's rising in market share at the same time the industry is expanding, both talking units sold, yet it's not supposed to have gained much ground at that point.




Of course, again, it is a sales strategy that has helped bring in readers, and it's been working for years now, company sales are up, their average title is doing great.

The purpose of a sales strategy is to build sales, after all.

I will also note that it's not just about the relaunch. Plenty of books simply end, and then a new, possibly-related but maybe not, book gets launched. Which is something I think some may miss- beginning/middle/ends to 12 issue comics means readers get satisfying experiences even if things end, unlike many normal cancelations. This leaves readers more likely to jump ship to something similar. They liked Young Avengers? They're probably going to jump to Loki and Hawkeye, and so on.

I'd like to know how many new readers they actually brought in. Month to month sales don't really indicate that, because it's how many copies the store bought, not how many the customers bought. I used to work at a comic shop and I'd always see tons of copies not sold and go into the 25 cent bin.

Supposedly, the Trade sales are the ones to look at and DC generally does extremely well.

Q99
Originally posted by Zack M
I'd like to know how many new readers they actually brought in. Month to month sales don't really indicate that, because it's how many copies the store bought, not how many the customers bought. I used to work at a comic shop and I'd always see tons of copies not sold and go into the 25 cent bin.

Leftovers are just the difference between sold and not-sold, if you sell a whole ton of a title and have 5 left, that's better than selling a few of the title and having none left. I see copies of Star Wars #1 around, but that's just because people are still buying them so stores bought more.

One important thing is the number of comic stores has risen. Diamond has 2,638 stores with accounts with them as-of 2013, when back in the 90s it was sub-2k after the speculator crash. I think you'll agree that more stores is a good indicator of more readers, and I'd bet it's continued to improved.

I get my comics from a gaming store that used to have only a small selection of comics, but gradually expanded as they've been selling better in recent years, and now has a fairly good selection of big 2 plus even a few other companies' titles. Anecdotal, but I've taken that as a good sign.

It's hard to say precisely how many readers that translates into, but one other notable thing is female-focused/appealing books have been doing a good deal better. Ms. Marvel and Batgirl, either company, it seems like a threshold has been crossed. So there's expansion of type of reader at least.



Yes, I'm not sure what the ratio between the two companies in TPB is, I expect it to be different than the floppy ratio since DC has it's evergreen characters, but that's another segment that has expanded so I expect both are up.


Of note there, every Barnes & Noble in my area just expanded the size of their graphic novel section significantly.

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