Disclaimer: obsessing over Diamond Sales Figures is bad for your health, bad for comics, and most likely contributes to global warming.
Lost in all the hubbub over the fact that Final Crisis #1 fell short of Secret Invasion #2 (though I'll get to that in a moment...) is that fact that the first 2 chapters of "Batman R.I.P" sold surprisingly well, right up at the 100,000 mark. Whatever disappointment DC might be feeling over Final Crisis numbers should be tempered a bit by this fact.
I'd chalk up the good sales on "Batman R.I.P." to the confluence of: Batman fans + Morrison fans + Tony Daniel fans + Big-ish Event fans + pre-Dark Knight movie excitement. "Batman R.I.P." could trn out to be this year's "Sinestro War"; maybe DC will learn that these minor-sized big-ish events will work for a better long-term strategy than the massive Crisis crossovers.
The other big sales surprise was the strong showing for Avengers/Invaders #1, proving that just about anything that Alex Ross is involved in is Direct Market gold.
As for the Final Crisis numbers: it's debuting at about 100,000 units less than Infinite Crisis did, which has to be disappointing. This is the first time that Marvel & DC have had their big event crossovers go head-to-head, so there was bound to be an effect. (We should also note that FC came out the last week of the month, so there are no re-order numbers included in the total, while SI came out the first week of the month so there is like a boost from re-orders there.)
It will be interesting to see the June figures: will Final Crisis take the same size drop that Secret Invasion did? Will Batman remain strong? How will Trinity do? (I think it was a mistake to start the weekly Trinity at the same time as Final Crisis; they each draw attention away from the other, and an eight-month break between weekly series was warranted.)
3 comments:
That's just great! Batman RIP sales our hitting the roof as it should I guess. I haven't read it yet so I can't say if it's good or not. Most Batman stories are good though. I guess that means Batman is dead or going to die. I see ressurection like Superman's death if it goes that far. Boooooo!
I haven't read it yet either, but I ordered it. Good to see that Batman's doing well.
Are you a DC guy, Marvel guy, or neutral?
I'm more of a Marvel guy. I guess becuase I related well to Spiderman growing up. I collect DC too but I have a short list. Superman, only if Jim Lee or another high profile artist is doing him. In the wrong hands Superman can be lame and predictable story. Good story tellers try to push Superman to the limit with villans like Darkside. Batman stories I'm way more flexable. The art work can be dark and gritty for best results. Wonder woman if she's well drawn, flash and maybe Green latern. Justice League if they have some event going on. Most super team stories by ether DC or Marvel can become boring if they have no undercurrent drama. Only X-men titles have been able to consistantly pull this off without becoming boring. I have published my own comic book you can check out if you like.
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