Comic Book Resources

Well, CBR’s distinguished competitionarama had a retailer round table/exit poll, where different store owners talked about their OMD experiences, etc.

The two things that I remember the most were:

1- That they were all cautious and felt that more customers were leaving the book, than picking it up.

2- That they all, to some extent, played the role of “Bartender” and had to listen to their customers complain, etc.

Your article kinda reminds of my store’s situation; which is basically that the owner has asked her employee’s to refrain from commenting on OMD/OND; at least until they can rid themselves of 3/4 of their inventory.

As you can imagine, hilarity ensues…

“I’m sorry, I haven’t read OMD.”

“Nope, I haven’t been online in two weeks. I don’t know what people are saying.”

Of course, the moment the owner leaves…

TOTAL UNBRIDLED EXTREME UTTER CHAOTIC CHAOS.

So for her sake, and her employee’s sake, I hope she doesn’t order any more copies.

“It’s gold, Jerry. GOLD!”

The most important point in the press release to me is the little bit in parentheses, “(comics may still be available at the local level)”. All that’s been said here is that stores ordered more copies of ASM #546 than Marvel printed, and that Marvel is going back to press and allowing stores to re-order if they so desire.

It does not mean that people are buying the issue in great quantities, or that stores are selling out of the issue, and in fact, it doesn’t even mean that sales are good on the issue; the article omits data on how many copies the original print run was, making it impossible to know whether this was a case of high demand or deliberate underprinting. And given that Marvel is, well, pretty desperate to sell ‘One More Day/Brand New Day’ as an unparalleled success with the “silent majority” of comics fans, disliked only by a carping few on the World Wide Web, my inner cynic says that they might very well have been looking to engineer a “sell-out” to get a little good press.

At my personal local comics store, they had a stack of ASMs sitting on the shelf that I couldn’t pick up with one hand, and that was at closing time on Thursday (2 full sales days after new comics came out.) Obviously, this is just anecdotal evidence, but I certainly don’t think they’ll be taking advantage of the “2nd printing” offer.

The most important point in the press release to me is the little bit in parentheses, “(comics may still be available at the local level)”. All that’s been said here is that stores ordered more copies of ASM #546 than Marvel printed, and that Marvel is going back to press and allowing stores to re-order if they so desire.

It does not mean that people are buying the issue in great quantities, or that stores are selling out of the issue, and in fact, it doesn’t even mean that sales are good on the issue; the article omits data on how many copies the original print run was, making it impossible to know whether this was a case of high demand or deliberate underprinting. And given that Marvel is, well, pretty desperate to sell ‘One More Day/Brand New Day’ as an unparalleled success with the “silent majority” of comics fans, disliked only by a carping few on the World Wide Web, my inner cynic says that they might very well have been looking to engineer a “sell-out” to get a little good press.

At my personal local comics store, they had a stack of ASMs sitting on the shelf that I couldn’t pick up with one hand, and that was at closing time on Thursday (2 full sales days after new comics came out.) Obviously, this is just anecdotal evidence, but I certainly don’t think they’ll be taking advantage of the “2nd printing” offer.

That would be a good rebuttal to a piece titled “It Means a LOT!”

I think it probably means something.

Remember, orders for this issue were placed before One More Day went from a kind of iffy idea to a historically reviled one. There wasn’t any time for adjustment between the end of OMD and the beginning of BND.

So this announcement, like every other, means that Marvel has filled all their initial orders, plus whatever overprint they did. The fact there’s a second printing coming means there is still demand for the issue even after all their orders were filled. Which would suggest, at the very least, that not everyone stopped buying the book in protest of the fact that Joe Quesada is a Big Mean Stupid Head.

Someone is buying the book, even if no one is admitting to it on the internet.

Oh, like I said, it’s always better to sell out than to NOT sell out.

I just mean that it is not a clear sign of “SEE! It’s a HIT!”

That clear sign, for me, would be the initial orders for #549. If those numbers are high, then yeah, this is a hit.

That clear sign, for me, would be the initial orders for #549.

Can retailers still adjust their orders for #549?

You know, ’cause #547 comes out today and #549 may be out in two or three weeks; so I would think that any significant impact from the retail side won’t be felt until the March ordering deadline.

Maybe the magic number is 552. (Kinda makes me feel sorry for Bob Gale’s riveting issue about Spidey doing his own laundry)

But, I may be wrong. Right? I mean, trust me, I don’t know about these things.

Can retailers still adjust their orders for #549?

Yup, this week.

Although, your point certainly holds that retailers might want to see how #547 does before adjusting their orders (also note that Marvel conveniently gave #549 a special cover incentive).

Didn’t Ultimates 3 #1 just sell out? Anything with sufficient hype will sell out, no matter what’s inside. If they hyped up a blank piece of paper, that would sell out too.

If they hyped up a blank piece of paper, that would sell out too.

You are making fun of my “Wisdom of Lobo” trade-paperback, aren’t you?

Well, in my defense…

It was a series of WELL HYPED BLANK PIECES OF PAPER!!!

Didn’t Ultimates 3 #1 just sell out? Anything with sufficient hype will sell out, no matter what’s inside. If they hyped up a blank piece of paper, that would sell out too.

I do basically agree with the concept that a book “selling out” means little, however, in the case of Ultimates, I think the book is just plain popular – whether it is a good comic book or not.

I mean, come on, Countdown is still regularly in the Top 20, so there has to be an audience out there that just thinks differently from us, ya know?

Brian Cronin said:

“That would be a good rebuttal to a piece titled “It Means a LOT!” ”

Well, yeah, but just saying ‘Ditto!’ is so crass.

You know,

This may not mean much, but Trouble #1 got a second printing.

Just sayin’.

My store is more of a record store than a comic store, and they always have second (and seventh) printings sitting right next to first printings. I’m not sure why they do it, but they enver seem to sell out of anything (except Captain America #25), but they always order additional printings. Maybe for completists who need the different covers? Regardless, they will order copies of this no matter how many printings it gets; but it doesn’t mean anyone is buying them from the store.
I think that John Seavey is on to something with Marvel engineering a sell out. They were so prepared for the bad press (and they still handled it with a superior, I-know-what-you-want attitude), that I wouldn’t be surprised if they made sure that this sold out. I gurantee the next time someone does an interview with a creator involved about the controversy, they will site the sell out but say little about actual sales numbers.
Also, it’s the first issue. People will buy it. I bought it to give it a fair chance. But I wonder when all of these new mythic fans, clamoring for a thirty-something, jobless, homeless Parker suckling off his elderly aunt, will show up.

I was shocked that I actually saw three people pick up the first part of Brand New Day while I was at the comic store last week.

Had to fight the the urge to pull the book from their hands and ask “What the #*ck is wrong with you??!”

I purchased a copy of the last chapter of One More Day because I didn’t feel it was fair to the shop owner for me to flip through it to find out the resolution and then put it back. He already ordered it, so he was stuck no matter what. But I made sure he knew I wasn’t happy with the story itself.

Brand New Day? Still undecided. I like a lot of the talent lined up, and it’s not like I dropped Superman when John Byrne killed off Kandor, Krypto and all sorts of other characters. Heck, some darn good stories even wound up coming out of the Superman revamp. Total distaste for the set-up notwithstanding, that could happen here, too.