Robot 6
Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes
New Avengers #53
Sales charts | Retailer-oriented ICv2.com trumpets that “Comic Sales Crash in May” as periodicals plummeted 19 percent from May 2008′s direct-market figures. That’s “the biggest year-over-year monthly decline” since the website began tracking sales. Graphic novels fell 13 percent, for a combined 18-percent drop.
Once again, no titles cracked the 100,000 mark; New Avengers #53, the top-selling monthly, moved an estimated 94,367 copies (and that’s with a variant cover). The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century — 1910 #1 led the graphic-novel chart with an estimated 36,546 copies. John Jackson Miller has additional analysis. [ICv2.com]
Spider-Man #1
Fandom | Jason Notte turns to Wizard Entertainment’s Gareb Shamus, among others, for advice on comics as financial investments. The headline pretty much says it all: “Looking to Beat Stocks? Buy Comics Books.” Sigh. [TheStreet.com]
Conventions | Tom Spurgeon previews this weekend’s HeroesCon with a list of his favorite things about the convention. [The Comics Reporter]
Events | Today is Winsor McCay Day in Spring Lake, Michigan, celebrating the 1867 birth of the legendary cartoonist and animator. [Grand Haven Tribune, via Sean Kleefeld]
Awards | David Welsh plays odds-maker with the Eisner Awards’ manga category. [The Comics Reporter]
The Cowl
Publishing | Best-selling novelist Joseph Finder has collaborated with comics writer Brian Azzarello and artist Benito Gallego on an 11-page comic book called The Cowl that will be used to supplement and promote his upcoming thriller Vanished, which centers on an alienated teen who creates his own comic. [Publishers Weekly]
Publishing | Actor/author/talk-show host William Shatner will appear on The Tonight Show on Wednesday to promote the release of William Shatner Presents: Tekwar #1, from Bluewater Productions. [Bluewater Productions]
Creators | Longtime X-Men writer Chris Claremont continues his discussion about X-Men Forever, and drops a few names: “… we’ve got Paul Smith and Terry Austin doing an arc that picks up with Issue 6. We have feelers out to a number of top notch artists who might not be the ‘A’ list of people in the 21st century but, you know, we’ve got some classic surprises going on here. Imagine an arc by Mike Grell. That could be fun.” [BIFF BAM POP!]
Creators | Brian Heater wraps up his two-part interview with Bizarro creator Dan Piraro. [The Daily Cross Hatch]
The Unwritten #3
Creators | Writer Mike Carey discusses his new Vertigo series The Unwritten, as well as his Marvel work. [Examiner.com]
Manga | Deb Aoki recommends 12 kid-friendly books for summer reading. [About.com]
Manga | I love that The Toronto Star’s restaurant critic reviewed the food manga Oishinbo. [The Star]
Weirdness | Bill Jemas, purveyor of fine … hippie clothing? Promoter of … world peace? Eh, I don’t know. [Email message, PeacePaint]
Pop culture | Today marks the 50th anniversary of the death of Superman actor George Reeves. [Wired.com]
- June 16, 2009 @ 07:36 AM by Kevin Melrose
10 Comments
artiepants
June 16, 2009 at 9:10 am
Gee, maybe cranking the cover price up 33% in the middle of a recession/depression when people are dramatically lowering their discretionary spending wasn’t such a smart move, eh there, Marvel (and DC)?
(i know my pulls about 1/2 what it was last year and dwindling)
David
June 16, 2009 at 9:22 am
Kevin,
Thanks for linking to the Examiner.com interview.
Best,
David
ejulp (john)
June 16, 2009 at 9:32 am
Did units sold plummet, or the actual number of money sales?
Dan T
June 16, 2009 at 10:03 am
As small retailers are being driven out of business and sales decreasing Marvel (especially) are increasing the cost of their books. It makes me hesitant to add any new title to my regular monthly list.
Retailers now face the increasing costs if they order too many of something. “Do I order just enough and risk losing an off the street sale, or do I order extras and risk seeing the books in the back issue bins for a long time,” is now a more expensive question to make.
I find it ironic in a variant loaded incentive age, where every other comic book seems to have a cover variant that sales are falling. Are the collectors tired of this lame attempt at boosting sales? I know I am.
Michael Martucci
June 16, 2009 at 10:27 am
PeacePaint is so much more than world peace. Check it out!
Michael Martucci
June 16, 2009 at 10:30 am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-1QQuH4lGc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKYbs5msGw4&feature=channel_page
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OM9zULer0MQ&feature=channel_page
TonyJazz
June 16, 2009 at 10:32 am
Marvel is killing the golden goose. Too many X-Men and Ultimate titles going nowhere, outrageous price hikes, poor choice of direction (bringing back Steve Rogers in less than 2 years—no wonder the press ignored Batman’s “death”), and market dumping.
Marvel needs to changes its direction or this business is dead!
artiepants
June 16, 2009 at 1:23 pm
@TonyJazz ~ while your X-men comment is obviously true, in the interest of fairness i don’t think there’s EVER been more than 5 Ultimate Titles at any given time ~ the 4 core series and a miniseries. and given Ultimates shipped erratically at best, it’s really more like 4-1/2…
Alan Coil
June 16, 2009 at 5:04 pm
“Marvel needs to changes its direction or this business is dead!”
Doesn’t matter. The business will die anyway, given time.
Hunter L
June 16, 2009 at 8:36 pm
Marvel as a business is far from dead. They now own all the rights to their films and every time one is released it is a blockbuster. X-Men the Last Stand is in the top 30 of all time for film gross. They are taking these movies seriously and it also means serious money. Marvel is far from dead.