X-O Manowar Hardcover Sales Ranking

[greg]

I've edited the original post... 1,786 copies according to ICV2.com.
http://www.icv2.com/articles/home/12593.html
(posted by Draco)

We don't need to be starting any rumors with horribly mistaken print runs
(either too high or too low).

[yardstick]

VEI needs to realize that the 10-20 yr. old demographic doesn't have $25 to drop on a book. They would see more interest (= more $), if they were to publish something UNDER $5. They need someone in marketing that actually knows what they're doing. They blew off Free Comic Day, which is the BEST time of year to introduce yourself to the comic-buying public. Hope things get better...

unless they are planning a "Unity 0" for next year's free comic book day....

[greg]

VEI needs to realize that the 10-20 yr. old demographic doesn't have $25 to drop on a book. They would see more interest (= more $), if they were to publish something UNDER $5. They need someone in marketing that actually knows what they're doing. They blew off Free Comic Day, which is the BEST time of year to introduce yourself to the comic-buying public. Hope things get better...

unless they are planning a "Unity 0" for next year's free comic book day....

Why would you get everyone excited about a free comic when you don't have an
inventory for them to go and buy from? These $25 books aren't going to appeal
to many new readers, and I'm pretty sure that's not the goal at this point.

No one is profitable from comic books. Not Marvel. Not DC. Not the independents.
Making a profit on comics is not a realistic goal.

The business/profits/goal relates to other media. It has to.

When a Valiant property gets picked up by a major studio,
and a big budget director shows interest in Valiant,
that's when we know things are moving along well.

Oh wait, that's already happened.

[Draco]

I've edited the original post... 1,786 copies according to ICV2.com.
http://www.icv2.com/articles/home/12593.html
(posted by Draco)

We don't need to be starting any rumors with horribly mistaken print runs
(either too high or too low).

cheers dude.

As these figures are what Diamond themselves put out for pre orders through Diamond US, they are pretty handy to look at each month for both comics and TPB's.

I know Diamond UK are roughly 10% of US orders, but im not 100% sure who deals with international orders such as Australia etc. I think its Diamond US.

So even when the smaller percentages are added its not huge, but if you look at the chart they do sit well against some big names.

[cobra_commander]

I don't think you can say they "blew it off." Most likely, it's just not the right timing.

Say they rush together a book for Free Comic Day. They follow that up with nothing for months and months while they are still building their universe and developing their marketing and publishing plan. They haven't even named (and for all we know don't even have) their Director of Marketing, Creative Director, or EIC. For all we know, it may be another year before we actually see new books on the stands. So what good would rushing together something for FCBD do them if they're not ready to follow that up with anything yet? What kind of impression would that give?

Saying they "blew it off" because they "don't know what they're doing" is un-informed, knee-jerk reaction. Personally, (and this is just as big of a guess) I think they know exactly what they are doing and they're taking their time to do it right and not letting something like FCBD get them off course. I hope I'm correct, but we certainly can't go making judgments right now.

I agree with this

[cobra_commander]

Personally, (and this is just as big of a guess) I think they know exactly what they are doing and they're taking their time to do it right and not letting something like FCBD get them off course. I hope I'm correct, but we certainly can't go making judgments right now.

I'm with you on this one!

Part of me says "Look what VEI has accomplished in the past 3+ years."

The other part says "What have they done in the past 3+ years?"

But I'd agree with this as well

Still.. it was the turtle that beat the hare...

[Draco]

Personally, (and this is just as big of a guess) I think they know exactly what they are doing and they're taking their time to do it right and not letting something like FCBD get them off course. I hope I'm correct, but we certainly can't go making judgments right now.

I'm with you on this one!

Part of me says "Look what VEI has accomplished in the past 3+ years."

The other part says "What have they done in the past 3+ years?"

But I'd agree with this as well

Still.. it was the turtle that beat the hare... :hm:

which i think is exactly how this race will be ran and won.

[Heath]

The other part says "What have they done in the past 3+ years?"

They won a drawn out legal battle without going bankrupt.

[ManofTheAtom]

The other part says "What have they done in the past 3+ years?"

They won a drawn out legal battle without going bankrupt.

um... they commisioned a kick *SQUEE* wiki?

[Draco]

The other part says "What have they done in the past 3+ years?"

They won a drawn out legal battle without going bankrupt.

um... they commisioned a kick *SQUEE* wiki?

which just goes to show you how damn smart these guys are.

[ManofTheAtom]

The other part says "What have they done in the past 3+ years?"

They won a drawn out legal battle without going bankrupt.

um... they commisioned a kick *SQUEE* wiki?

which just goes to show you how damn smart these guys are.

[jedimarley]

VEI needs to realize that the 10-20 yr. old demographic doesn't have $25 to drop on a book. They would see more interest (= more $), if they were to publish something UNDER $5. They need someone in marketing that actually knows what they're doing. They blew off Free Comic Day, which is the BEST time of year to introduce yourself to the comic-buying public. Hope things get better...

Why not offer the "Rise of Lydia" at Free Comic Day????

Could have still had it it the HC but also as a stand-alone comic to attract new readers that would not have dropped the $25 on the HC.

If I could have gotten Rise Of Lydia for free, I wouldn't have bought the HC. If they offered Rise Of Lydia for free, I could have gotten it, plus the original XO TPB for $5 off the discount rack and still had $20 left over.

I'm sure I'm not the only one. And I'm sure that's why they didn't do it.

Why buy any of the HC's when we have access to the free wiki??

[ManofTheAtom]

VEI needs to realize that the 10-20 yr. old demographic doesn't have $25 to drop on a book. They would see more interest (= more $), if they were to publish something UNDER $5. They need someone in marketing that actually knows what they're doing. They blew off Free Comic Day, which is the BEST time of year to introduce yourself to the comic-buying public. Hope things get better...

Why not offer the "Rise of Lydia" at Free Comic Day????

Could have still had it it the HC but also as a stand-alone comic to attract new readers that would not have dropped the $25 on the HC.

If I could have gotten Rise Of Lydia for free, I wouldn't have bought the HC. If they offered Rise Of Lydia for free, I could have gotten it, plus the original XO TPB for $5 off the discount rack and still had $20 left over.

I'm sure I'm not the only one. And I'm sure that's why they didn't do it.

Why buy any of the HC's when we have access to the free wiki??

The wiki is not a replacement for the comics, it's a bonus

[jedimarley]

VEI needs to realize that the 10-20 yr. old demographic doesn't have $25 to drop on a book. They would see more interest (= more $), if they were to publish something UNDER $5. They need someone in marketing that actually knows what they're doing. They blew off Free Comic Day, which is the BEST time of year to introduce yourself to the comic-buying public. Hope things get better...

Why not offer the "Rise of Lydia" at Free Comic Day????

Could have still had it it the HC but also as a stand-alone comic to attract new readers that would not have dropped the $25 on the HC.

If I could have gotten Rise Of Lydia for free, I wouldn't have bought the HC. If they offered Rise Of Lydia for free, I could have gotten it, plus the original XO TPB for $5 off the discount rack and still had $20 left over.

I'm sure I'm not the only one. And I'm sure that's why they didn't do it.

Why buy any of the HC's when we have access to the free wiki??

The wiki is not a replacement for the comics, it's a bonus

But a free comic isn't a bonus??

[jedimarley]

Free comic. Bonus

Free wiki. Bonus

Buy the HC when the material is available for free elsewhere. Bonus for VEI.

[ManofTheAtom]

VEI needs to realize that the 10-20 yr. old demographic doesn't have $25 to drop on a book. They would see more interest (= more $), if they were to publish something UNDER $5. They need someone in marketing that actually knows what they're doing. They blew off Free Comic Day, which is the BEST time of year to introduce yourself to the comic-buying public. Hope things get better...

Why not offer the "Rise of Lydia" at Free Comic Day????

Could have still had it it the HC but also as a stand-alone comic to attract new readers that would not have dropped the $25 on the HC.

If I could have gotten Rise Of Lydia for free, I wouldn't have bought the HC. If they offered Rise Of Lydia for free, I could have gotten it, plus the original XO TPB for $5 off the discount rack and still had $20 left over.

I'm sure I'm not the only one. And I'm sure that's why they didn't do it.

Why buy any of the HC's when we have access to the free wiki??

The wiki is not a replacement for the comics, it's a bonus

But a free comic isn't a bonus??

The point of FCBD is to use it as a tool to promote an upcoming comic, not a one-off story, like the Rise of Lydia.

VEI has already stated that they plan to publish comics by the end of the year, so hopefully that means that we'll see a VALIANT line of titles by next year, at which point they'll release a FCBD comic that will help them promote it.

So far, VEI has delivered on what they've promised in their public statements. They said that they were going to return the characters to their pre-Acclaim state and delivered. Now they said that they would release comics by year's end... you just gotta be patient. We're still a ways off from then.

[ManofTheAtom]

You know when you look at comic sales overall (and say compare them to some other countries markets) it really is amazing (or a bit sad to me, more like) how many people aren't reading comics to me (in the U.S.)

Definitely.

It is a mystery, specially giving how successful comic book-based movies and comic book-inspired TV shows have been lately.

[jedimarley]

The point of FCBD is to use it as a tool to promote an upcoming comic, not a one-off story, like the Rise of Lydia.

Promote the XO HC????

Face it. There is a whole generation of readers that know sh!t about Valiant and XO.

[jedimarley]

You know when you look at comic sales overall (and say compare them to some other countries markets) it really is amazing (or a bit sad to me, more like) how many people aren't reading comics to me (in the U.S.)

Definitely.

It is a mystery, specially giving how successful comic book-based movies and comic book-inspired TV shows have been lately.

For what it costs to go see a movie now-days, it's cheaper to buy the comics.

[Second_Death]

You know when you look at comic sales overall (and say compare them to some other countries markets) it really is amazing (or a bit sad to me, more like) how many people aren't reading comics to me (in the U.S.)

Definitely.

It is a mystery, specially giving how successful comic book-based movies and comic book-inspired TV shows have been lately.

Agreed.

Has anyone noticed how few young males are seen at book stores of any kind? Most of them I see are there strictly to accompany their female companions who are actually shopping for books.

[ManofTheAtom]

The point of FCBD is to use it as a tool to promote an upcoming comic, not a one-off story, like the Rise of Lydia.

Promote the XO HC????

Face it. There is a whole generation of readers that know sh!t about Valiant and XO.

FCBD is not used to promote reprints, it's used to promote upcoming titles or new stories in current titles.

Producing comics for FCBD is an investment in itself. It costs the same thing to produce a comic for FCBD than it does to produce a regular comic, but the return is not the same as FCBD comics don't sell for the same as a regular comic does (retailers pay less for a FCBD comic than they do for a regular comic, which means that the publisher sees less money or no money for their investment).

VEI has to be smart and know when to spend money and when to use word of mouth and other forms of free publicity.

Spending money on FCBD to promote a single hardcover makes no sense, while spending money on FCBD next year to promote a line of comics does.

[ManofTheAtom]

You know when you look at comic sales overall (and say compare them to some other countries markets) it really is amazing (or a bit sad to me, more like) how many people aren't reading comics to me (in the U.S.)

Definitely.

It is a mystery, specially giving how successful comic book-based movies and comic book-inspired TV shows have been lately.

Agreed.

Has anyone noticed how few young males are seen at book stores of any kind? Most of them I see are there strictly to accompany their female companions who are actually shopping for books.

Interesting reversal... and an ironic one.

So young males have turned their focus on women, only for the women to be into comics... weird, lol

[jedimarley]

The point of FCBD is to use it as a tool to promote an upcoming comic, not a one-off story, like the Rise of Lydia.

Promote the XO HC????

Face it. There is a whole generation of readers that know sh!t about Valiant and XO.

FCBD is not used to promote reprints, it's used to promote upcoming titles or new stories in current titles.

Producing comics for FCBD is an investment in itself. It costs the same thing to produce a comic for FCBD than it does to produce a regular comic, but the return is not the same as FCBD comics don't sell for the same as a regular comic does (retailers pay less for a FCBD comic than they do for a regular comic, which means that the publisher sees less money or no money for their investment).

VEI has to be smart and know when to spend money and when to use word of mouth and other forms of free publicity.

Spending money on FCBD to promote a single hardcover makes no sense, while spending money on FCBD next year to promote a line of comics does.

Sometimes you need to spend money to make money.

[Elveen]

I would rather them take their time and have a long term plan.

I don't want VEI in 3-4 years turn into VE-bye-bye.

I am hoping I will be reading Valiant stories for the next 20-30 yrs.


So it's lilke Mr. Miyagi told Daniel-san....... "Do or do not, there is no try."

[jedimarley]

So it's lilke Mr. Miyagi told Daniel-san....... "Do or do not, there is no try."

That was Yoda.