diablo2
Innocent Bystander
Posts: 4
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Post by diablo2 on Mar 8, 2008 18:56:17 GMT -5
They haven't invented a comic book that doesn't see sales decline over the first year, I don't think (possible exception for miniseries, like "Gunslinger Born"). I think on average I read that most comics that fail, fail in the first nine issues? But it's like movie box office -- it's going to fall off every week, the question is just how much and how quickly. I think, at least late last year, Season 8 looked like it was well ahead of the curve, not dropping at or faster than average. I don't think it was a "marketing ploy" -- but I did say on Whedonesque that I thought it was *very* significant that this was the first storyline that had really opened the door for that question in the Buffyverse, which on its own is reason to wonder if it was executed as well as it might have been. Dark Tower/Gunslinger fell off with each issue, but brought in all of its issues (Seven total) inside the top 50 in sales the weakest coming in at 41st out of a 100 for 2007. What I find most interesting is the multiple printings of the original four issues. So many printings each with their own unique cover really could have artificially boosted the sales numbers of those issues just because collectors will buy multiple cover of the same issue. Beginning with issue #5 ("the Chain"), which had no multi-prints, we see a HUGE plunge in sales down into the mid 80s and issue 6 in the 90s. And as I posted before issues 7, 8, and 9 were also released in 2007, but failed to make the top 100.
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diablo2
Innocent Bystander
Posts: 4
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Post by diablo2 on Mar 8, 2008 16:57:08 GMT -5
It seems simple to do that. However, the initial story had multiple printings that were released in different weeks/months so it difficult to say if those sales were based on new readers or collectors picking up new covers.
Another issue is the fact that many comics don't trend downward in year long sales records, for instance, JLA issue #7 (13th in sales) sold better than issues #6 (32nd) and #8(33rd).
Obviously issue 6 of JLA was "technically" on the shelf for a month longer than #7 in 2007, but it didn't help it in sales for the year.
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diablo2
Innocent Bystander
Posts: 4
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Post by diablo2 on Mar 8, 2008 16:40:18 GMT -5
Best sellers in the top 100 list are based on actual sales of products invoiced to comic shops between January and December 2007. Each issue of Buffy s8 has arrived the first Wednesday of each month.
However, the first 4 issues had multiple editions so that could also be artificially inflating the numbers for that story line ("The Long Way Home"). The largest drop in sales was between issue#4 (54th) and issue 5 (84th).
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diablo2
Innocent Bystander
Posts: 4
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Post by diablo2 on Mar 8, 2008 16:26:05 GMT -5
It’s a publicity stunt to boost sales, imho.
Here are the numbers for the 2007 best sellers from the latest previews magazine (available for $4.50 at your local comic shop):
Buffy S8 #1 - 15th
Buffy S8 #2 - 29th
Buffy S8 #3 – 41st
Buffy S8 #4 – 54th
Buffy S8 #5 – 84th
Buffy S8 #6 – 91st
Anyone notice a trend? Issues 7, 8 and 9 were also released in 2007, but either didn’t make the top 100 or the sales numbers weren’t available in time to make this list.
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