aerischan

DC has recently reduced their overprints (line-wide). Probably trying to save money. They have slimmer profit margins than Marvel considering they're sticking to $2.99 on their double shipped books so they have to count their pennies more carefully. I wouldn't be surprised if the reason DC solicited reprints at the same time for all of the Batman one-shots that were already past final order cutoff (FOC) was because they were trying to save money with a bigger batch order. The non-foil 2nd print probably costs DC less per copy than the foil 1st print, too. Marvel has, for a long time, barely been doing any overprints and they're actually quicker to go to multiple printings compared to DC. I don't think retailers expected Metal one-shots to do quite as well as they did given event fatigue over on the Marvel side. The big event prior was Secret Empire and there are plenty of retailers complaining about the SE one-shots not selling so I'm not actually surprised if retailers underestimated demand. From Brian Hibbs' Tilting at Windmills: Just to give an idea of the required lead time for retailer orders, Dark Nights Metal #5 (Foil) has FOC of 11/06/17 and release date of 01/10/18. Most books with 11/06/17 FOC would be released 11/29/17. Most books released on 01/10/18 would have FOC of 12/18/17. By my estimates, FOC for Batman: The Merciless 1st print was 08/21/17 which was before Batman: Red Death was released.

What's the indicia/who's the printer for the first print? I've actually wondered if they're printing special covers in China. http://www.printninja.com/printing-resource-center/printing-academy/advanced-concepts/foil-stamping-process Anyway, DC did give advance notice that the special covers have earlier FOC. At least this was less confusing than what they did for Batman/Flash: The Button lenticulars.

Iirc, DC replaces books with printing errors free of charge so doing that deliberately just costs them money. I'm curious, where are DC's foil covers being printed? China?

Netflix - $10.99/mo for hours of entertainment YouTube - free smartphone apps/games - around $0.99-$9.99 for hours of entertainment manga - around $9.99-12.99 for around 200 pages, or $15 for a 600-page omnibus Single issue comics have priced themselves out of the casual market. No doubt part of the appeal of buying graphic novels through mass market are the hefty discounts lowering the cost per issue to $2 or so. The Walking Dead Compendiums are an easy way to catch up with the series and comes out to less than $1/issue with discounted pricing. Even at full MSRP, it's just $1.25/issue. Quality drives sales to a point. However, the quick turnaround for single issues doesn't really allow time for word of mouth to help. Hot/buzzed about books getting cleaned out from store shelves the day of release (for a quick flip on ebay at more than double the cover price) makes floppies even less attractive for someone who just wants to read. Needing to put comics on a pull list just so you're guaranteed a copy sucks.

The stupid thing there is pricing and distribution. Who else but the already addicted/dedicated would bother buying 20-page floppies at $3-4 a pop? Comics getting caught up in events and crossovers makes the pricing problem even worse. DC Super Hero Girls was an unexpected hit for DC. What DC did right is they made it very affordable ($0.99 digital first chapters and $9.99 trade once or twice a year) and distribution that actually reached the target demo.

Wasn't 2014-15 also when Image speculation was rampant? I think the breadth of offerings did attract some new blood. However, I do wonder if the increase in direct market floppy sales is a result of new readers or is it primarily thanks to variant collectors. I counted at least 120K worth of store exclusive variant orders each for Batman #1 and Harley Quinn #1 (Rebirth).

I expect the big diversity push is because Ms. Marvel sold unexpectedly well and managed to reach new audiences. Marvel went all in on diversity trying to catch lightning in a bottle. Same reason they've been doing events, variants and renumberings to distraction. If something sells, they'll reuse the concept over and over and over again until it stops selling. One caveat with diversity is Marvel expects the books to sell as single issue floppies and immediately cancels underperforming titles before they can even make their way into book channel where the new audience consumes their comics.

Unfortunately, this. Most Image titles work better if you're trade waiting. That way, a year or two in between books doesn't seem so bad.

Schedule can be frustrating for me with Image so I don't even bother with floppies now for new series. At least when you get a complete story arc each time, the wait isn't as bad.

I was listening to an Off Panel podcast interview with Jonathan Hickman. It was interesting to note that he mentioned Wicked+Divine, Sex Criminals, etc. sell a hundred thousand copies as trades. Perhaps that's where the actual (new) readership is coming from. DC's made some very interesting moves of late. They're going aggressively after the young readers' market and I think they're probably trying to find some new evergreens. They also seem to be experimenting with formats. I'm definitely looking forward to Enrico Marini's Batman: The Dark Prince Charming.

I enjoyed it granted, paying just $4 for it probably helped. Feels more like a setup issue though.

#1 - 12,117 #2 - 7,308 #3 - 5,834

Cool short box.

That was the point, I think... Still needs trading card and polybag. Maybe a bullet hole. Also not glow in the dark. Maybe they can hit two birds with one stone and include that via the stickers?

Thanks!

Note, Marvel Unlimited is 6 months delayed so I don't think the new X books are available on the service yet.

Question, where is the left artwork from? Store exclusive variant?

Stay safe!

Iceman (AUG17 Previews) and Mighty Captain Marvel (SEP17 Previews). For Iceman, she's specifically mentioned in the solicit (original Champions reunion). As a Black Widow fan, the confusion regarding her current status is annoying. Supposedly, that panel with Rick, Tasha and Las Vegas is a symbolism of the things that Kobik didn't restore. They even showed her funeral. However, the solicits for upcoming issues are pretty contradictory. I dunno if this is gonna be similar to Bucky's "death" in Fear Itself and whether I should preorder Iceman or not.

I guess? I just read Standoff via Marvel Unlimited and only got started on Steve Rogers during the Black Friday comiXology sales, iirc.

Captain America: Sam Wilson #7

Yeah. Just look at that cute face.

I can't even begin to predict what comic will be hot tomorrow let alone what would remain valuable in 10-20 years. My point isn't so much regarding comic collecting as a hobby. Rather, it's that comics as a medium are regaining widespread acceptance and readership. Sure, you can't buy them from the newsstand around the corner anymore. However, I can buy/borrow comics on comiXology or Marvel Unlimited or Hoopla at 1am on a whim using my tablet when I'm already in my jammies. If I enjoy what I read enough to want a copy for archival, I can easily order either the graphic novel from InStockTrades or perhaps the single issues from Midtown or MyComicShop or ebay even at 2am. There's actually broad interest in comics now. People just don't need to visit a (sometimes unwelcoming) specialty store and buy 8 sheets of stapled paper in order to read comics.

Wow, lucky. The omnibus hardcovers are out of print and fetch a pretty penny off ebay ($150-250 each for first three). Been looking for more affordable prices on those.

Renaissance is probably a more apt term. That said, looking solely at floppy sales is myopic unless your primary concern is comic valuation in which case, yes, modern speculation looks like the wild west. Graphic novel sales figures through book channels (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Walmart, etc): Year - Units Sold - Retail Value 2012 - 9,562,236 - $164,415,366 2013 - 10,153,628 (+6.18%) - $176,419,370 2014 - 11,820,324 (+16.41%) - $207,598,355 2015 - 15,269,550 (+29.18%) - $259,807,532 2016 - 17,302,891 (+13.32%) - $293,583,180 Graphic novels sold through/to indie book stores, book fairs, comic book stores, libraries or digital are not included in the above. I do have to say, comics/graphic novels seem to be more accepted now by librarians compared to what it was like even in the recent past. And really, the value of Golden Age comics is what it is because there were few collectors at the time while having a lot of readers. Nowadays, my guess is almost all the floppy buyers are collectors that keep their floppies bagged and boarded.