DC, MAR-05

Well, the sickness continues... and I double posted the Marvel piece, so I'm editing over it rather than deleting it with the DC POV... meh (fuck I hate runny noses... amongst many, many other things).


DC

Another weak month for the distinguished competition, with 2 core titles not seeing their ways to the shelves, again made for easy pickings by the big dog on campus, Marvel, HOWEVER, they did nab the #1 spot and I for one think they will be very competitive through the summer and intot the fall... I'd expect a very different landscape come this time next year... but we'll see... -- gotta love cut 'n' paste!

Topping the charts this month is the 80-page $1 "give-away", DC Countdown To Infinite Crisis -- if you read DC and haven't read this, stop reading now and go do so. OK? Moving on, it's a fun read, and the set-up for the next 6~8 months at DC, I'd reckon. I'm definitely along for the ride, and apparently so are many others(sales were just below 200,000... I would've figured they'd be even higher given the low price point, but I guess few actually see this as a "collectible"... meh).

Coming in at #7 is the penultimate issue of Jim Lee's run on Superman. Just over 100,000 sold, which is awesome when compared to recent years(44+,39+,34+,83+ -- that 83 being the issue before Lee took over, when sales ballooned to 230+) ... where it goes post-Lee is the kicker... (I like me good art, but I'm more a story than art guy when you come right down to it, and the story here... only so-so...)

Teen Titans continues to rise... small increments, and continually "Crisis" influenced... but good signs none the less... this is the consistency benchmark for DC... and it's an awfully fun read!

JLA #112 continues the CSA-arc... a bit confusing at times, but Busiek can bring just about anything together... as the sales figures show ;-) 5 year: 67+, 61+, 61+, 77+/73+, 64+ ... good numbers, and at DC you gotta take into consideration re-order impact on old numbers... this title is doing fine.

Batman #638 hovers just below 60,000... expect re-orders through the roof! Read it if you don't know why :-) 5 Year: 40+,48+,135+(Jim Lee),83+,59+ ... not great, but acceptable... considering that Batman is the DC equivalent to Spidey/Wolvie... (Supes is in a league all of his own, imo -- ICON).

JLA Classified saw some post-Morrison drop-off(it happens wherever he goes), but is still strong at 50,000+, thanks in no small part to "current" happenings... due to the FKATJL follow-up that is the lead in this anthology of late, I've fallen behind a bit... it happens... meh.

Flash #220 sees a good sales bump... I'm a fan. 5 year: 26+,26+,28+,42+,46+ ... somebody's doing something right! I prefer the JLA'r's(???) in their solo titles over the team title, for the most part... the opposite is true with the Marvel counterpart(that being, New Avengers and/or X-Men)

Lex Luthor: Man Of Steel #1 debuts at #38 on the list with 46,000+ in sales... pretty damn good -- I need to get off(or is that on) my lazy kiester and read #2 already!!

JSA #72 hangs steady, as is the norm here... 5 year: 35+,40+,43+,42+,42+ ... I'm still getting acquainted with a lot of the characters(as is the case with most of the team-oriented titles in the DC-verse), but so far it's been a fun ride...

Legion #4 saw a bump, of sorts... can't be a bad thing is all I can say... great writer... good fun... 4 year(scattered...): 24+,23+,24+,41+ ... and it appears to have levelled already!

"Seven Soldiers" ... 2 debuts this month: Shining Knight with 41+ and Guardian, just under 40... the alpha bookend did 53+ last month, with re-orders bringing it close to 60... considering the obscurity going on, I'd say this is pretty damn impressive!

Action Comics #825 was, apparently, an anniversary issue of sorts... who knew? ... meh. I've read #826, and it's a great start for some "Crisis" related stuff, so I'd expect more upward momentum... I think? ... 5 year: 33+,34+,32+,66+,40+ -- not sure what was going on a year ago, but whatever "bump" happened, the difference v. the longer term past is still significant... LEGACY TITLE.

Detective #804 comes in at #51 on the list -- another title that is beginning to get pushed back on my reading list... I'd say this title is steady... 5 year: 43+,41+,39+,34+,39+ ... another LEGACY TITLE.

Some stuff I'm not reading(yet?) starts popping up from this point on, so I'll be bypassing a lot, if not all, of that...

Outsiders #22 -- lowest sales to date(I think)... but some interesting stuff going on, storyline wise... another title where I'm still getting to know many of the characters... but I enjoy it!

Adventures Of Superman #638 -- one too many core Supes titles, in my opinion, particularly when Supes/Bat(aka World's Finest for the 21st Century) is out there... when this one is good, at least one of the others is not, and vice-versa... Five year: 31+,33+,30+,66+(again, what was happening last year??),34+ ... meh -- looks like the old "1 story, 3+ titles" approach is coming back, at least in the short term... good call.

I read an issue of Robin recently, and was not impressed(it's like reading Gambit because you enjoy X-Men in general). The art sucked. The story was ok, but nothing special. If not for the "crisis" connection, it wouldn't have happened... yet. Won't be going back, outside of "crisis", anytime soon, I'd wager...

Flash x-over gives Wonder Woman a huge bump! Highest it's been in ages, I'd wager... 5 year: 25+,27+,25+,28+,30+ -- c'mon, it's Wonder Woman!! I just don't get why 3+ supes titles all warrant better numbers than this!! ... it's SHE-THOR!!! ... only better... right?

I've got an issue of Batgirl on my "crisis" read list... I fear it will be a similar experience to Robin...

I've read some Firestorm of late as well... meh. No big surprise sales have dipped below 20,000.

I've also read an issue or 2(I think it's 2) of Manhunter... better than I would've thought... I might just back-issue it at some point... abominable sales though... under 15,000... clearly DC and Marvel draw different "lines"... meh.

Last, and most definitely least, was an issue of Breach. Blech. That's what they should've named it. Dreadful. Just over 10,000 sold.

So there you have it. Likely so re-hashed opinions mixed in with some new stuff... whatevs... it was fun for me to do and if your bored it might be worthwhile for you to read...

Onto more cut 'n' paste:

Re-orders: GL-Rebirth #4, Seven Soliders #0, LOSH #3, GL-Rebirth #3, #1, Batman #637(watch out next month!), Flash #219, Outsiders #21(see, it is that good), Teen Titans #21, Space Ghost #4(still gotta get around to this one), Supes/Bat #17 and LOSH #2.

Big winners for DC are: Wonder Woman(lets hope it continues), LOSH, Nightwing(I really should be reading it) and Superman(I doubt it'll continue).

Big losers(of note): Catwoman(BM-curse), LOTDK(ditto), Robin(again), Manhunter(just isn't what folks are looking for, I guess), JLE(you can over-do it), B:GK(back to teh curse), Batgirl(see), Firestorm(I prefer my childhood memories), Adam Strange(that is strange), Plastic Man(still should be cancelled), Adventures of Supes & Action Comics(see prior comments), Hawkman(meh?) and Batman(see Superman ;-) ... or is this also the curse)

In the special 2 year comparison, Superman, LOSH, Flash, Robin, Nightwing, Action and Birds Of Prey all look strong while Batman, Aquaman, Green Arrow and Hawkman are looking week -- so the curse I speak of is more recent than historical... I guess... this actually brings some interesting thoughts to mind... but I'll save 'em for another time...

Not sure if this was available and I just missed it when looking at Marvel, but we have 3 and 4 year comparisons available too...

3 year: Up = Supes, Flash, LOSH, Batman ... Down = Hawkman, Green Arrow, Catwoman

4 year: Up = Supes, Flash, Batman, Birds Of Prey, Action, Robin, Wonder Woman, JSA ... Down = Green Arrow, Batgirl

I'm too lazy to think about 'em much though, right now... the day is coming though, where I'll rip on DC like I do on Marvel... unless they really shock the shite outta me...

It would look as if DC were in a free-for-all, but I think this is just housekeeping stuff mostly... I look forward to where DC takes things in the coming months... I just have this feeling they're gonna shake the industry up... which would definitely be a good thing!