VALIANT August 2013 Sales Discussion

[rkjock1]

Well, we have 2 titles under 10,000 sold this month. Can't believe A&A is one of them. Let the gnashing of teeth and the wailing commence. I'm still sure that VEI is doing fine though.

I'll wait to see the projections for next month, but is it possible 4 Valiant titles will be selling below 10,000 next month? Bloodshot undoubtedly got a boost from the #0 and Quantum and Woody will probably get the standard 3rd issue drop. It is nice to see Harbinger get a well deserved bump. Why did X-O Manowar drop so much after hold steady for so long? The leaving of Cary Nord? I wouldn't think the artist on a Valiant book would make that big of a difference since the incoming artist is competent.

Unity is shaping up to be a big deal for Valiant. I'm not proposing Valiant's demise is coming (or even close to coming) but when you have a big push like Unity, as a publisher, you have to hope this will raise the numbers for your entire line, not just in the short term, but for the long term. I'm sure Valiant has some more ammo they are holding back, but you have to admit, Valiant publishing Unity is a huge deal. I hope the approach they are taking pays off.[/quote]


The drop in numbers on XO is due to a jump caused by issue #15, the beginning of the EW story. Issue #16 returned to XOs more standard sales numbers.

While I too would hope for a line-wide increase in sales as a result of Unity, realistically only XO, and possibly Harbinger, will be effected by the opening arc. The only way other titles will get to share in any significant sales bump would be if someone new to the line thought the quality of the issue was good enough to prompt them to seek out titles with no direct connection. I'm hopeful that happens on a large scale, but I'm realistic enough to anticipate it being unlikely.

[rkjock1]

My only question is where did those extra 5000 Q&A copies.go? I know about standard first issue attrition, but I genuinely hoped to see new readers come in from that entry point. I don't get the impression that happened.

Maybe they read the issue? I know I'm in the minority here, but I wasn't impressed. I may give the second arc a chance, but if I don't see an improvement I'll probably drop it.

I agree with you that I was seriously underwhelmed by issue #1. I think they needed to get some setup out of the way that just wasn't firing on all cylinders for me. Issue #2 did the job though. I finally get why people like this book so much.

[Chiclo]

Speaking of image - 8.51%, wow! Slowly, and steadily, closing the gap.

5 to 7 years ago, their market share was closer to 3%. They were well behind Dark Horse and often in fifth place in what should easily be a four-way race.

[rkjock1]

Speaking of image - 8.51%, wow! Slowly, and steadily, closing the gap.

5 to 7 years ago, their market share was closer to 3%. They were well behind Dark Horse and often in fifth place in what should easily be a four-way race.

Almost 100% of the increased Market Share that Image has these days is due to Walking Dead. According to a recent report, WD accounts for some 40% of Image's overall revenue.

[Phoenix8008]

My only question is where did those extra 5000 Q&A copies.go?

My only question is: Is this new title you're talking about Quantum & Armstrong, or Quantum & Archer???

[MarkRoseHFX]

Speaking of image - 8.51%, wow! Slowly, and steadily, closing the gap.

5 to 7 years ago, their market share was closer to 3%. They were well behind Dark Horse and often in fifth place in what should easily be a four-way race.

Almost 100% of the increased Market Share that Image has these days is due to Walking Dead. According to a recent report, WD accounts for some 40% of Image's overall revenue.

The sales of Saga don't hurt either

[lorddunlow]

While reading through TWD and Invincible, it's really funny to see the progression of Kirkman's status with the company in the indicia.

[swtor1091]

Wait!? Now I'm worried is valiant I. Trouble or not? There not right?

[MarkRoseHFX]

Wait!? Now I'm worried is valiant I. Trouble or not? There not right?

I think we'd be seeing some real desperation type moves if they were in trouble.

[lorddunlow]

Dinesh and crew certainly have great poker faces if they are in trouble. They are also lying a lot if they are in trouble, as many in charge of VEI keep stating how well they are doing. Like I said, I think trades will make up for any drops in monthlies. Just look at our brood here. We are a bunch of rabid loyalist fans, and how many of us have mentioned dropping monthlies and going to trades (or HCs)? It still puts money in VEI's pockets. And every trade sold is a lot more profit for VEI than each monthly since there is less work and money in the trade (as it's a reprint) and every successive reprint makes even more profit vs. cost.

[BugsySig]

The only realy worrying number for me is the overall units sold. that number was steadily climbing for some time and has started to dip. EW and Unity will bring it back up, but you have to wonder if the market is drying up for monthlies.

Now that all the titles are in double digits, we are bound to see some who were buying monthlies switch to trades, and new readers ordering trades as well. Eventually the latter may lead to monthly sale increases.

More titles also mean less sales per book because retailers will cut from the other VALIANT books. This is something the Big 2 don't really need to worry about.

Also, as VEI puts out more trades and hardcovers, we should start looking at the dollar share. This is where Image makes huge strides as their dollar share is often far larger than their unit share because of trade sales.

I wouldn't worry about an individual book unless it dips below 7k. That's the point where many Indy titles from Dynamit, Boom, etc start to get the axe.

[lorddunlow]

Agree with Bugsy, but would add the following:

As much as I hate to bring it up, I think these dips may be the boost from variant sales coming to an end. Many on here have posted that they can no longer keep up with buying variants or they are now picking an choosing more. It was inevitable. I actually think VEI has anticipated this, as both Dino and Warren have stated they will keep doing the variants until they no longer help book numbers. I think we might be getting there. I foresee less variants for every issue and more variants (a la Unity #1) for #1 and key issues. I for one am all for it.

If these are closer to the real numbers and don't drop anymore if VEI stops making a bunch of variants for each issue, then I think VEI is poised to become the major player we all know they can be.

[Phantom]

If I wasn't a board member here, I wouldn't even know valiant had relaunched.
The board got me back into comic shops ready for the relaunch.

If I was not a fan trying to promote and push valiant, I would by the hardcovers. They bare a great deal, extras, cheap, and easy to read and store. Yes, I could wait for the story - I love comics but their is more in my life.

I buy individual issue to hopefully insure they keep putting out more issues..

[AnthonyF]

I may be in the minority, but I get my Valiant comics digitally.
I wonder how those sales get factored in?

[Dallow Spicer1]

A positive indicator from recent months is that the books are getting more advertising revenue, for example the film 'Kick *SQUEE* 2' and an Image book (or was it Dark Horse) both had full page ads. Initially the books only had in house ads so surely this is a good thing?

[kjjohanson]

A positive indicator from recent months is that the books are getting more advertising revenue, for example the film 'Kick *SQUEE* 2' and an Image book (or was it Dark Horse) both had full page ads. Initially the books only had in house ads so surely this is a good thing?

I've been seeing ads for Joe's Comics (JMS's Image imprint) in other Indy books (Dynamite or Boom?); I'm guessing that seeing those ads in Valiant books is more due to a marketing strategy on the part of Image for those books.

[jedimarley]

Wait!? Now I'm worried is valiant I. Trouble or not? There not right?

I think we'd be seeing some real desperation type moves if they were in trouble.

Some might say that Unity is a desperation move to over inflate their sales numbers for whatever month Unity #1 comes out.