This is not the porn I requested.
Something I’ve been kinda thinking about over the last couple of days is comics sales charts…no, no, come back, I’m not gonna be doing any analysis on current direct market numbers and their validity or lack thereof. I was just sorta pondering them in more general terms.
A couple days ago I was looking at a Top 50 chart for, I think, this past August, and it seemed like the entire list was this: “Hulk Event Book, X-Men, X-Men, Licensed Book, Avengers, Avengers, Countdown, Countdown, Countdown, X-Men, Avengers, X-Men, Hulk Event Book” and so on. Basically, a lot of sameness…primarily from publishers releasing multiple books that are all event tie-ins or featuring characters from the same franchise pools.
That’s a bit of an exaggeration, but not too much of one. But it got me to think back to the “Top 100” lists Amazing Heroes used to run in their back pages in the mid-’80s. So, I whipped out my copy of Amazing Heroes #53 (the August 15th, 1984 issue) and thought I’d take a look. AH’s lists, by the way, were based on actual sales from reporting stores, and not just initial orders by retailers.
The first thing I noticed is Marvel’s domination of the top slots. I don’t intend to reprint the entire list, but here’s at least the top ten:
1. Secret Wars #4
2. X-Men #184
3. New Teen Titans #1
4. New Mutants #18
5. Alpha Flight #13
6. Tales of the New Teen Titans #45
7. Amazing Spider-Man #255
8. Fantastic Four #269
9. Thor #346
10. Power Pack #1
Only two DCs in the top ten, which were essentially the same title. And the only other DC in the top twenty is Camelot 3000 #11 at slot #12.
Which brings up the second thing I noticed. Here are the DCs on the list past the top twenty:
25. Vigilante #9
27. Batman and the Outsiders #13
30. Star Trek #7
31. Sun Devils #1
35. Blue Devil #2
37. Fury of Firestorm #26
38. Atari Force #8
43. Warlord #84
44. Justice League of America #229
48. Batman #374
49. Saga of the Swamp Thing #27
53. Green Lantern #179
56. DC Comics Presents #72
58. Flash #336
60. Arak #36
62. Superman #398
64. New Talent Showcase #8
68. Supergirl #22
71. Wonder Woman #318
79. Sgt. Rock Annual #9
81. Sgt. Rock #391
82. Blue Ribbon Special #10
(No Action or Detective on this list, but judging from other AH Top 100 lists, they don’t fare better than their sister titles.)
What strikes me about DC’s entries is that the traditional titles, the ones that have been around since the Golden and Silver ages, are far lower on the list. You don’t get to any of DC’s mainstays ’til JLA at #44. I mean, Warlord, even as late in the series as it was, long past the Mike Grell heyday, was DC’s 11th highest selling book for the month. Go figure.
I imagine newsstand sales on the “name” books, like Superman or Batman, were much higher than these charts would indicate. But, if I recall the state of things at the time properly, the older books were seen as stodgy and uninspired (fairly or unfairly), while there was more interest in titles that were slightly edgier and slightly more experimental. And by “slightly,” I mean “very slightly” — Vigilante was a superhero book that was just a hair more racy than its Comics Code-approved cousins, and Batman and the Outsiders…wha…? Batman…the dark avenger of the night…leading a super team? (But that may have been riding the success of New Teen Titans, as fans wanted to get in on the ground floor of DC’s Next Big Team Book That’s Sorta Like X-Men. The nice Jim Aparo art didn’t hurt, either.)
What does surprise me is the good showing of Atari Force, which was a critically-acclaimed comic, and rightfully so (just plain good ol’ fashioned space opera, with wonderful Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez art), but my memory was that the very title of the book was a hinderance to its acceptance. Kinda like trying to convince people now that Steve Gerber’s Howard the Duck is actually good, when all they can remember is the movie. Trying to convince people that, yes, this comic book inspired by a video game company is actually very, very good was an uphill battle. Still is, frankly.
Where DC’s older titles suffered in the direct market, Marvel’s tended to flourish, with the lowest of their mainline titles being Incredible Hulk #298 at 34. Well, unless you wanted to count Conan the Barbarian#161 at 40, or the Spider-Man reprint book Marvel Tales #166 at 61 (where it outsold Superman, Supergirl, Sgt. Rock, and Wonder Woman).
The high-ranking Marvel titles that surprise me are Alien Legion #2 at slot 16 (I forgot how popular this title once was), and Rom…Rom…freakin’ Rom #57 at position 18. Rom outsold Captain America (at 29) and Dr. Strange (at 22), and all but 3 DC titles. Such is the power of Rom.
Highest ranking indie title on the list is Grimjack #1 at position 21, followed by American Flagg! #11 at 28.
Bottom 10 entries of the list are the Whitman Disney/Warner Brothers titles. And, because you’re gonna ask, Dazzler issue #33 ties at position #41 with Indiana Jones #20.
Overall, though, comparing this top 100 list to the modern top 50 list, there’s just more variety…okay, the old list is mostly dominated by superheroes, too, but at least it was a lot of different superhero books, and not just fourteen variations on the X-Men. A small comfort, I realize, but it amuses me to see that, at one point, Dazzler could outsell half of DC’s output, and something as goofy-ass as Rom could securely occupy the Top Twenty.
It was a different world, wasn’t it?
In other news:
- There’ve been some shenanigans and goings-on in regards to the forthcoming Star Trek movie.
First, Harlan Ellison ain’t happy that the leaked plot features elements created by him for his one script for the original series.
Second, some pics got out of Heroes‘ Zachary Quinto in costume as Spock. Take a look before the cease ‘n’ desists start flying.
- Marvel has just started a subscription service for an online library of digitized comics, which, while I’m tempted by the access to the Golden Age books, I’m just still not used to reading traditional funnybooks on a computer screen. I’m too old, too set in my ways, too used to thumbing through dead trees. GO TO BED, OLD MAN.
I’d be more tempted by an online DC library, but I’d bet Paul Levitz still wouldn’t kick down any Sugar and Spike, the big meanie.
- Sweet Mother McCrea, we’re getting a lot in from Diamond this week. Do us a favor (or maybe your local store a favor)…BUY LOTS OF STUFF. SPEND EVERY PENNY.
Of note:
Mike Baron’s Badger finally returns in Badger: Bull, a one-shot story reintroducing the character to everyone, since this is the character’s first appearance since that Image series nobody but me read. Not sure that I need a regular diet of Badger, but it’ll be nice to see the character again.
Batman and the Outsiders #1 – a comic that had been building some buzz, until the creative team changed and now, suddenly, no one’s interested. Was it just us?
Gene Simmons’ Zipper #1 – Well, you can’t fault ’em on the titles, at least. Hopefully it’ll sell better than Gene Simmons’ Dominatrix (i.e. “at all”).
Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan 25th Anniversary Kirk and Khan Action Figure Assortment – Don’t look at me like that. Dude…Khan action figure. KHAAAAAAN!!!
Scott Pilgrim volume 4 – Some of you people are really, really excited about this.
All Star Superman #9 – The newest installment of the second best All Star book.
World War Hulk #5 – YES, IT’S FINALLY OUT, STOP ASKING ME. Hey, a Marvel event book that was actually readable…it’s been a while. Here’s hoping they don’t botch the ending, but since we already know it’s “spin-off ahoy!” I think we know the answer to that.
Captain Carrot and the Final Ark #2 – I thought the first issue was okay, but it didn’t sell worth beans. Ah, well.
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Black Dossier hardcover – Crunching some numbers at the shop on Tuesday…I think the employees are going to have to forego their copies ’til the reorder comes in, since we’re gonna need them for subscribers and the shelves. Sorry, Aaron and Jeff! And me. Sigh. Thought I had enough coming in, but I guess not.
Plus, here are some annotations for the Black Dossier for all those things you weren’t smart enough to get.
Amory Wars #4 – So that guy that’s been calling us every week for this comic? Bet he doesn’t call now that it’s in.
- The Geek Phrasebook – For your translating Fandom-to-English needs. Add your own!
- THIS IS NOT THE PORN I REQUESTED. (NSFW, maybe, if your boss is uptight.)
- And because only one person demanded it…Deadman possessing Swamp Thing’s body:
from Challengers of the Unknown #85 (Feb/Mar 1978)
by Gerry Conway, Keith Giffen, and John Celardo
You see, Deadman had to enter Swamp Thing’s body so he could accompany the Challs on their trip in Rip Hunter’s Time Sphere to the year 12,000,000 AD. So surely you can see the logic in that.
