Your 2019 Predictions, Part Four: Prodigy.
We’re back for more coverage of your predictions for the comics industry of the far-flung future of 2019! You can see parts one, two and three at the links attached to those very numbers. Also, a tip o’the ProgRuin toupee to reader Allan who was the first to identify the source of the “chapter titles” for these prediction posts.
Anyway, let’s get started on this new, hopefully correctly-formatted, pile of prognostications!
Turan, Emissary of the Fly World, buzzes in with
“1. There will be no increase in Aquaman comic book sales.”
Oof, forgot there was actual research involved in this one. Okay, and by “research” I mean “clicking a lot over on the indispensable Comichron website and lookin’ at their numbers there. This is all based on sales through Diamond, and doesn’t seem to include newsstand or digital sales, but I think one can likely extract relative activity from the numbers we are given.
Okay, first off, ye olde Aquaman. Starting with issue #44 in January 2019, we have sales i the 26,000 range. By December, they’d fallen to around 18,000. Now personally, at my shop, the sales fluctuated a tiny bit, but by and large remained mostly stable. I think maybe I’m up, but only by the slightest margin.
The movie’s release in December of 2018 seemed like it gave the title a little boost…just picking a couple of random months earlier in 2018, sales eeemed to be around 25,000, but that movie bump didn’t last very long, it looks like.
“2. There will be no increase in Shazam! comic book sales.”
Started about 46,000 in January, with sales figures still inflated by its relative newness. Ended out the year at about 26,000, which is probably a more realistic “stable” sales figure. In March, the month the film was released, sales for the fourth issue were at about 38,000…probably a combo of the film’s influence on orders, if any, with again, the relative newness of the book. By the beginning of summer it was down to about 34,000.
Sales on the book at my shop have, again, been pretty steady, though there was high demand for the first two or three issues. It’s been pretty stable saleswise for me for the last several months (whenever an issue is actually released).
“3. There will be an increase in Captain Marvel sales. Maybe only a small one, and probably more for the trade paperbacks rather than the regular comics, but still, an increase.”
This one is a little tricky, as Captain Marvel started out the year with a new #1 (of course, it’s Marvel). It was at about 111,000 copies, In December, with issue #13, it’s down to a more-likely regular sales figure of 36,000. Sales fluctuated a bit in the middle of the year, with reorder activity and such, as speculators chased after those early appearances of the character Star.
Sales at my store remained steady throughout the year…big sales on #1, sure, but settling down the rest of the year (those Star issues aside).
Overall I don’t the movies had a huge influence…sales on the title seemed to ebb and flow as expected, outside aberrations like perceived investment opportunity and the like. But however you slice it…man, those numbers look super low to me. Gone are the days of “sell over 100,000 or you’re canceled,” I guess.
Adam Farrar comes close with
“1. DC Black Label will be quietly abandoned/forgotten. If any of the other announced new books do come out, they’ll have a different label. Older books set to be reprinted with that label, won’t be.”
Still going strong! The 32nd Batman Black Label series should be out soon!
“2. Neil Gaiman & Mark Buckingham’s Miracleman comics start coming out again. (Rocky: But that prediction never works. Bullwinkle: This time for sure!)”
Well, technically you’re correct…we got one Miracleman page by them in Marvel Comics #1000. But for the actual series…I want it as bad as you do, my friend.
“3. Avengers: Endgame will have a post-credit scene hinting at Fantastic Four or X-Men characters as the Disney/Fox merger will have been finalized. Spider-Man: Far From Home will have a post-credit scene that ties it to Into the Spider-Verse at Sony’s instance.”
NEIN! NEIN ON BOTH which is too bad because I would have liked to have seen something like this…probably would have been too soon for anything but a minor reference or glimpse of something-or-other anyway.
Jason Sandberg bags us with
“1. HBO will acquire the rights to Jim Starlin’s dormant ‘DREADSTAR’ film project. The resulting series will replace and eclipse ‘GAME of THRONES’ as a critical and pop culture phenomenon.”
Would subscribe to HBO in a hot minute if this happened. Alas, ’tis but a dream.
“2. DC will release a SUPERMAN by John Byrne omnibus.”
In the November 2019 order forms! The Superman The Man of Steel Omnibus by John Byrne HC Vol. 1 “collects Action Comics #584-593, Action Comics Annual #1, Adventures of Superman #424-435, Adventures of Superman Annual #1, Legion of Super-Heroes #37-38, Superman #1-11, Superman Annual #1, and The Man of Steel #1-6” it says here.
“3. Marvel Comics and Kulan Gath will bring us a late 2019 announcement of a future Deadpool vs Conan mini-series.”
Not yet, but really, it’s only a matter of time. …I don’t know, has Deadpool popped up in Sacage Avengers yet?
Andrew-TLA truly ventures in with
“1. A trend that began with Star Wars and has continued with Conan, the Buffyverse, and Firefly/Serenity, Dark Horse will lose another of their big licenses to another publisher. My bet’s on Aliens, Predator, or both.”
If you count “Usagi Yojimbo” as a “big license,” then yes, that moved over to IDW. …I can’t recall if aany of the Big Movie/TV ones slipped away. If anyone else can some up with one, please let me know. But Dark Horse is still holding onto Alien and Predator with both hands right now, I’m sure. They were the last to publish Terminator so that’s likely still with them too.
“2. Disney+ launch brings a mixed bag of reviews. Their Star Wars and Marvel programming is praised, but the lack of such 70’s-80’s classics as The Apple Dumpling Gang and Condorman is a point of criticism.”
There’s always someone who’s going to be disappointed in something lilke this (“HOW DARE THEY LEAVE OUT UNIDENTIFIED FLYING ODDBALL!”) but overall people who have it (like I know I do) seem pretty happy with it. Most of the ire has been with technical glitches, like the artificially-widescreened early seasons of The Simpsons.
But they did have The Cat from Outer Space at launch, so all other sins are forgiven.
“3. Bendis will still be writing at least one of the Superman titles.”
You are correct! In fact, he’s writing two! Can that man do everything?
Okay, cutting it a tiny bit short this time because I had a late night and I’ve got New Funnybook Day to contend with tomorrow. I’ll be back Friday with more of your preditions! Thanks for reading, pals!
>The movie’s release in December of 2018 seemed like it gave the title a little boost…just picking a couple of random months earlier in 2018, sales eeemed to be around 25,000, but that movie bump didn’t last very long, it looks like.
It sounds like there was a rising tide and they briefly rode the crest of the wave but ultimately there was no sea change.
I’ll walk the plank now.
Man of Steel Omnibus is cancelled.
https://www.bleedingcool.com/2019/12/15/dc-cancelled-collections-absolute-fables-john-byrne-man-of-steel-golden-age-batman-omnibus-road-to-legion/
“While orders for Superman: Man Of Steel Omnibus By John Byrne Volume 1 have also been cancelled and will be will be made available in a different format.”
Personally, I draw a distinction between Dark Horse’s licensed titles and their creator-owned lines. That said, Usagi may not be nearly as big a deal as he should be, but the book had become a DH mainstay, and Stan Sakai jumping ship for IDW is a pretty big deal. Especially combined with Eric Powell taking The Goon back to self-publishing.
If I’m Mike Richardson, I’m doing whatever I can to make sure Mike Mignola stays happy. And maybe trying to squeeze more Umbrella Academy and Groo from Way and Aragones.
Condorman is #1 on my Disney+ wishlist.
I think you’re avoiding the next part of this because you know I’ll be crushed by your mockery for being a LOT wrong this time around.