July 2014 Sales Discussion

[Keith]

Numbers are starting to roll in.

Looks like Valiant did not crack the top ten this month, though Newsaram shows them in the top ten for Unit Market Share:

PUBLISHER - UNIT MARKET SHARE
MARVEL COMICS - 38.39%
DC ENTERTAINMENT - 31.32%
IMAGE COMICS - 9.82%
IDW PUBLISHING - 4.11%
DARK HORSE COMICS - 3.80%
DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT - 2.16%
ARCHIE COMICS - 1.88%
BOOM! STUDIOS - 1.78%
TITAN - 1.03%
VALIANT ENTERTAINMENT LLC - 0.89%
OTHER NON-TOP 10 - 4.81%

[Tim]

Titan is coming with some pretty aggressive marketing. Doctor Who license isn't hurting either.

[leonmallett]

Honestly, I cannot see them improving significantly from around the one percent mark (give or take a little) without having more than 9-10 books each month.

I hope VEI do bite the bullet and go for it, but until they do they will be where they are IMHO.

[JonesyAZ]

AAARGH! I wanna see them get bigger and bigger!!! These comics are SO freakin' good! More people should be reading! What do we need to do, gentlemen(women)?

[leonmallett]

AAARGH! I wanna see them get bigger and bigger!!! These comics are SO freakin' good! More people should be reading! What do we need to do, gentlemen(women)?

They are selling fairly well for books not from the big two; without a breakout hit i am not sure what can change that other than adding to the line.

[Bone-A-Fach-ee]

Wow! Look at Archie climbing past Boom! And is 3.8% really low for DH? Did they stop selling Star Wars stuff already? Oof.

[BugsySig]

Numbers are starting to roll in.

Looks like Valiant did not crack the top ten this month, though Newsaram shows them in the top ten for Unit Market Share:

PUBLISHER - UNIT MARKET SHARE
MARVEL COMICS - 38.39%
DC ENTERTAINMENT - 31.32%
IMAGE COMICS - 9.82%
IDW PUBLISHING - 4.11%
DARK HORSE COMICS - 3.80%
DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT - 2.16%
ARCHIE COMICS - 1.88%
BOOM! STUDIOS - 1.78%
TITAN - 1.03%
VALIANT ENTERTAINMENT LLC - 0.89%
OTHER NON-TOP 10 - 4.81%

Titan is a newcomer on the list. Their Dr. Who license obviously helps. If Boom! Didn't have the Cartoon Network books, they'd be well below VEI.

Archie jumps in and out, usually because of one big seller (afterlife with Archie, Kevin Keller wedding, death of Archie, etc.).

You can't judge top ten just from these, though, because some get left off the initial list with higher shares because they shipped fewer books. Either last month or the month before, VEI wasn't on the top ten list but had hire shares than two companies that were.

[Bone-A-Fach-ee]

JUNE'S NUMBERS FOR UNIT SHARE (To compare to July)
Unit Share:
MARVEL COMICS 35.68%
DC ENTERTAINMENT 33.20%
IMAGE COMICS 10.51%
IDW PUBLISHING 4.45%
DARK HORSE COMICS 4.89%
DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT 2.30%
BOOM! STUDIOS 2.52%
VALIANT ENTERTAINMENT 1.27%
AVATAR PRESS 0.81%
ARCHIE COMIC PUBLICATIONS 0.64%
OTHER NON-TOP 10 3.74%

JULY UNIT SHARE
PUBLISHER - UNIT MARKET SHARE
MARVEL COMICS - 38.39%
DC ENTERTAINMENT - 31.32%
IMAGE COMICS - 9.82%
IDW PUBLISHING - 4.11%
DARK HORSE COMICS - 3.80%
DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT - 2.16%
ARCHIE COMICS - 1.88%
BOOM! STUDIOS - 1.78%
TITAN - 1.03%
VALIANT ENTERTAINMENT LLC - 0.89%
OTHER NON-TOP 10 - 4.81%

[BugsySig]

JUNE'S NUMBERS FOR UNIT SHARE (To compare to July)
Unit Share:
MARVEL COMICS 35.68%
DC ENTERTAINMENT 33.20%
IMAGE COMICS 10.51%
IDW PUBLISHING 4.45%
DARK HORSE COMICS 4.89%
DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT 2.30%
BOOM! STUDIOS 2.52%
VALIANT ENTERTAINMENT 1.27%
AVATAR PRESS 0.81%
ARCHIE COMIC PUBLICATIONS 0.64%
OTHER NON-TOP 10 3.74%

JULY UNIT SHARE
PUBLISHER - UNIT MARKET SHARE
MARVEL COMICS - 38.39%
DC ENTERTAINMENT - 31.32%
IMAGE COMICS - 9.82%
IDW PUBLISHING - 4.11%
DARK HORSE COMICS - 3.80%
DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT - 2.16%
ARCHIE COMICS - 1.88%
BOOM! STUDIOS - 1.78%
TITAN - 1.03%
VALIANT ENTERTAINMENT LLC - 0.89%
OTHER NON-TOP 10 - 4.81%

Also, unit share is a ratio to total units. So we have to wait until we see the total sales of VEI books. They could have sold a similar number of issues in July to June (though likely less given Armor Hunters #1 was in June) and have a much lower market share if the market overall was higher.

And looking at Comichron, sales in July were significantly higher than June. The highest int he Diamond exclusive era to be exact. A 30% increase.

[kjjohanson]

Titan is coming with some pretty aggressive marketing. Doctor Who license isn't hurting either.

July also had Alien Legion #1 and the Death Sentence HC. All of those probably combined for a bump. I don't think we've seen them in the top 10 before.

[Carson]

And looking at Comichron, sales in July were significantly higher than June. The highest int he Diamond exclusive era to be exact. A 30% increase.

Whoa... why? That's a big increase.

[rjrjr]

And looking at Comichron, sales in July were significantly higher than June. The highest int he Diamond exclusive era to be exact. A 30% increase.

Whoa... why? That's a big increase.

The Loot Crate deal with Marvel helped and a 5th week in July also helped. I cannot imagine we'll see any huge gains in any existing comic sales though.

[Carson]

Gotcha, thanks

[BugsySig]

And looking at Comichron, sales in July were significantly higher than June. The highest int he Diamond exclusive era to be exact. A 30% increase.

Whoa... why? That's a big increase.

The Loot Crate deal with Marvel helped and a 5th week in July also helped. I cannot imagine we'll see any huge gains in any existing comic sales though.

Yeah. An extra 100k of Rocket Racoon purchased by Loot Crate definitely helped along with a 5th week of sales, the middle of the Summer Event season (two Original Sin issues) and the release of Walking Dead Vol. 21. There were also several other highly hyped #1 issues: Grayson, StarLord and Spider-Man 2099 were all in the top ten along with RR.

[Dallow Spicer1]

AAARGH! I wanna see them get bigger and bigger!!! These comics are SO freakin' good! More people should be reading! What do we need to do, gentlemen(women)?

Jonesy - maybe if you and the OTV crew reach out and do some 'cross over podcasting' with some of the shows which focus on Marvel, DC and Image it might get the Valiant word out to a new audience. I listen to a bunch of podcasts and Valiant is rarely mentioned and when it is they still seem 'in the dark' somewhat about the Valiant universe!

Some Jonesy enthusiasm might do the trick!

[ShadowTuga]

AAARGH! I wanna see them get bigger and bigger!!! These comics are SO freakin' good! More people should be reading! What do we need to do, gentlemen(women)?

Jonesy - maybe if you and the OTV crew reach out and do some 'cross over podcasting' with some of the shows which focus on Marvel, DC and Image it might get the Valiant word out to a new audience. I listen to a bunch of podcasts and Valiant is rarely mentioned and when it is they still seem 'in the dark' somewhat about the Valiant universe!

Some Jonesy enthusiasm might do the trick!

This.

Also, I've been thinking on something these days: crossover a la X-O/Iron Man with one of the big 2. That would bring attention to VEI's line, and some of those Big 2 fans could give the books a try. And, it kinda "legitimates" VALIANT to the eyes of those fans.
I think this would be great, even if it was out-of-continuity.

Who would not want to see Gilad vs Logan?

[kjjohanson]

AAARGH! I wanna see them get bigger and bigger!!! These comics are SO freakin' good! More people should be reading! What do we need to do, gentlemen(women)?

Jonesy - maybe if you and the OTV crew reach out and do some 'cross over podcasting' with some of the shows which focus on Marvel, DC and Image it might get the Valiant word out to a new audience. I listen to a bunch of podcasts and Valiant is rarely mentioned and when it is they still seem 'in the dark' somewhat about the Valiant universe!

Some Jonesy enthusiasm might do the trick!

This.

Also, I've been thinking on something these days: crossover a la X-O/Iron Man with one of the big 2. That would bring attention to VEI's line, and some of those Big 2 fans could give the books a try. And, it kinda "legitimates" VALIANT to the eyes of those fans.
I think this would be great, even if it was out-of-continuity.

Who would not want to see Gilad vs Logan?

I'm not sure that I can recall any recent company crossovers from Marvel or DC recently. The big question is what is in it for them? I think they're both going to stay focused on promoting their own IPs and turning them into something that they can profit from in other media or with merchandise. There's not a whole lot for either to gain from a crossover with Valiant.

[ShadowTuga]

AAARGH! I wanna see them get bigger and bigger!!! These comics are SO freakin' good! More people should be reading! What do we need to do, gentlemen(women)?

Jonesy - maybe if you and the OTV crew reach out and do some 'cross over podcasting' with some of the shows which focus on Marvel, DC and Image it might get the Valiant word out to a new audience. I listen to a bunch of podcasts and Valiant is rarely mentioned and when it is they still seem 'in the dark' somewhat about the Valiant universe!

Some Jonesy enthusiasm might do the trick!

This.

Also, I've been thinking on something these days: crossover a la X-O/Iron Man with one of the big 2. That would bring attention to VEI's line, and some of those Big 2 fans could give the books a try. And, it kinda "legitimates" VALIANT to the eyes of those fans.
I think this would be great, even if it was out-of-continuity.

Who would not want to see Gilad vs Logan?

I'm not sure that I can recall any recent company crossovers from Marvel or DC recently. The big question is what is in it for them? I think they're both going to stay focused on promoting their own IPs and turning them into something that they can profit from in other media or with merchandise. There's not a whole lot for either to gain from a crossover with Valiant.

I totally agree with you there, and maybe that crossover actually happened because of personal connections, more than anything? I have no idea, just speculating here.
Maybe starting a little lower, this time- IDW have pretty much crossovered everything in their line.

[kjjohanson]

AAARGH! I wanna see them get bigger and bigger!!! These comics are SO freakin' good! More people should be reading! What do we need to do, gentlemen(women)?

Jonesy - maybe if you and the OTV crew reach out and do some 'cross over podcasting' with some of the shows which focus on Marvel, DC and Image it might get the Valiant word out to a new audience. I listen to a bunch of podcasts and Valiant is rarely mentioned and when it is they still seem 'in the dark' somewhat about the Valiant universe!

Some Jonesy enthusiasm might do the trick!

This.

Also, I've been thinking on something these days: crossover a la X-O/Iron Man with one of the big 2. That would bring attention to VEI's line, and some of those Big 2 fans could give the books a try. And, it kinda "legitimates" VALIANT to the eyes of those fans.
I think this would be great, even if it was out-of-continuity.

Who would not want to see Gilad vs Logan?

I'm not sure that I can recall any recent company crossovers from Marvel or DC recently. The big question is what is in it for them? I think they're both going to stay focused on promoting their own IPs and turning them into something that they can profit from in other media or with merchandise. There's not a whole lot for either to gain from a crossover with Valiant.

I totally agree with you there, and maybe that crossover actually happened because of personal connections, more than anything? I have no idea, just speculating here.
Maybe starting a little lower, this time- IDW have pretty much crossovered everything in their line.

It was probably put together as a tie-in to the video game, which probably started production when Valiant was still a pretty heavy hitter in the industry.

[Sven the Returned]

Wow! Look at Archie climbing past Boom! And is 3.8% really low for DH? Did they stop selling Star Wars stuff already? Oof.

I don't know but the continuity was nuked so nothing is the same.

[Keith]

Title Breakdowns:

208 Armor Hunters #2 11,224
213 Rai #3 10,665
236 X-O Manowar #27 9138
245 Harbinger #25 8766
247 Unity #9 8485
264 AH: Harbinger #1 7518
271 AH: Bloodshot #1 7334
285 Archer & Armstrong #22 6883

162 Unity v2: Trapped By Webnet 868

Odd, they don't list Quantum & Woody #12 in the list, far as I could see. Wonder what happened there?

[iggy101us]

Title Breakdowns:

208 Armor Hunters #2 11,224
213 Rai #3 10,665
236 X-O Manowar #27 9138
245 Harbinger #25 8766
247 Unity #9 8485
264 AH: Harbinger #1 7518
271 AH: Bloodshot #1 7334
285 Archer & Armstrong #22 6883

162 Unity v2: Trapped By Webnet 868

Odd, they don't list Quantum & Woody #12 in the list, far as I could see. Wonder what happened there?

Probably means it's not in the Top 300. Q&W sold 6888 copies so I am guessing Q&W #12 sold less than that and it fell out of the Top 300.

[FormerReader]

Title Breakdowns:

208 Armor Hunters #2 11,224
213 Rai #3 10,665
236 X-O Manowar #27 9138
245 Harbinger #25 8766
247 Unity #9 8485
264 AH: Harbinger #1 7518
271 AH: Bloodshot #1 7334
285 Archer & Armstrong #22 6883

162 Unity v2: Trapped By Webnet 868

Odd, they don't list Quantum & Woody #12 in the list, far as I could see. Wonder what happened there?

June Numbers.

And the rest of the numbers:

130 Armor Hunters #1 16,484
149 Rai #2 13,448
181 X-O Manowar #26 10,083
189 Unity #8 9,442
229 Harbinger #24 7,256
233 Archer & Armstrong #21 7,120
239 Quantum & Woody #11 6,888
244 Bloodshot & HC #23 6,783
270 Shadowman: End Times #3 5,826

118 Archer & Armstrong Vol. 5 Mission Improbable 910
120 Eternal Warrior Vol. 2 Eternal Emperor 901

[bygranddesign]

The AH: Harbinger #1 and AH: Bloodshot #1 numbers are disappointing, IMO.

I think the mini-series strategy (#1 initiative) is an ok strategy ... but I think it works better for Marvell and DC where the Fan Boy Zombies will gobble them up no matter what.

Some Hardcore Valiant fans, casual Valiant fans and potential fans ... might see it as a bit of a marketing ploy and get turned off.

For myself ... i'd rather put my money behind a long term ongoing series than the constant reboots and mini's. Eventually you get hype fatigue... building a long term legacy with an ongoing series can potentially draw in those potential fans that are sitting on the sidelines because they will be curious about what they have been missing and with TPB and Hard covers .. its easier than ever for a fan who is 30+ issues behind to get into a long running title.

I know VEI will try to be balanced ... I hope they swing the emphasis towards more ongoing/expanding the line in 2015

[bygranddesign]

Title Breakdowns:

208 Armor Hunters #2 11,224
213 Rai #3 10,665
236 X-O Manowar #27 9138
245 Harbinger #25 8766
247 Unity #9 8485
264 AH: Harbinger #1 7518
271 AH: Bloodshot #1 7334
285 Archer & Armstrong #22 6883

162 Unity v2: Trapped By Webnet 868

Odd, they don't list Quantum & Woody #12 in the list, far as I could see. Wonder what happened there?

Probably means it's not in the Top 300. Q&W sold 6888 copies so I am guessing Q&W #12 sold less than that and it fell out of the Top 300.

Hmm.. They do list comics after the top 300 .. but it starts to skip numbers.

http://www.comichron.com/monthlycomicss ... 14-07.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

They don't list the comics between 302-320 ... I bet you thats where Q&W ended up (probably between 6,000-6,500 sold).