As a side-note, DC should just close Wildstorm and move any title which is selling (are there any?) to Vertigo. Having just one which ISN’T a crappy version of the DC Universe will probably save money in the long run.

I am somewhat surprised Batman Confidential (the only Batman title with Bruce Wayne still in it) & Superman/Batman aren’t doing better. I love them both! I also love Superman…..but I want to read Superman stories, NOT 2nd-rate characters with His name on the cover!

Green Arrow and Black Canary need to divorce! The title is horrible since the “re-tooling”…….Outsiders & Booster Gold need cancelled, it will save ink and show DC is trying to go “green”…..

Kevin Smith is such a Great Writer, and I’m elated that he was on time (for him) with Batman Cacophony!!! They should have him take over Green Arrow and make it great like he did before!

Question instead the decision to make the *set up* story arc run 10 issues.

Honestly, it feels like the book was expected to last less than a year, and was plotted accordingly. Rather than bothering to invest in a second and continuing storyline that might be cut short, it spent that first year as one long episodic character set up that could be ended with a month’s notice.

The real problem with Wildstorm at this point isn’t so much that it’s *bad* as it’s “More of the same” It’s not altogether distinguishable from some random mid-range DCU title. And when DC is putting out stuff like Final Crisis, which feels more Wildstorm than Wildstorm while also working within the DCU and being incredibly well written…well, Wildstorm just starts to feel superfluous.

Basically, Wildstorm used to be about cutting edge superhero books. Now it’s just about superhero books. No wonder people stopped caring, really.

Independence, Ohio?

You should tell DC they seem to think it’s an on-going:

http://www.dccomics.com/dcu/comics/?cm=11139

As for Wildstorm it’s done - the Mad Max direction was a mistake as was running back-up stories across titles. If you only pick up (for example) The Authority, you get a confusing mish-mash of the start or end of some story but nothing complete - which is as much use as a chocolate teapot.

They need to hire editors who aren’t afraid to shut down stories that are little more than continuity exposition.

They need to stop having a new creative vision every three months and they need to stop having one or two minds responsible for the creative vision of every book.

They need to make sure that the primary Batman and Superman books are in the top 20, as well as the Justice League and SupermanBatman. If your flagship titles are not your best sellers, you are not doing things right.

They need to give interesting, but offbeat characters to interesting but offbeat creators. The Creeper, Metamorpho, Plastic Man, the Demon, Ragman (the way Kanigher envisioned him) need to offered up to folks like Ellis, Ennis, Niles, Milligan, Allred etc

They need to get Darwyn Cooke back to DC.

They need to leave Grant Morrison alone and stop trying to market him. Grant’s output markets itself. Sales numbers do not lie.

They need a new E-I-C.

That’s about the only way to save it. Give it over to a big name, like you and Justin Gage or Abnett and Lanning and give them time to completely rebuild the line.

I recently reread the early Authority books. Recapture that vibe and it would be hugely successful. At his point they have little to lose. They are on life support anyway.

I’ve been feeling for a while now that they haven’t been launching books at the same pace as they’ve been cancelling them. It’s interesting to know my gut feeling was right.

I never thought I’d see the day when GREEN LANTERN CORPS is DC’s top third selling title in a month, outselling Kevin Smith Batman. Brings a happy tear to my eye. With the increasing revenue, can we finally get a better artist than Gleason? I’ve been waiting for so long.

@Cat - there’s no constant $profit that DC makes per 10k issues. It all depends on whether it’s a 10k title or a 100k title (bigger titles have cheaper printing costs per page), how much they’re paying the talent doing the book (which varies widely book to book) and so on. Every single comic book’s economics are different and there’s no universal answer.

“Wonder Woman sales go up for the third month in a row. Looks like I underestimated the drawing power of a villain with green spikes for eyes. The last three issues were promoted through variant-cover editions.”

As Jason said, I should be inclined to think that the sales have gone up due to the variant-cover editions.

Re: REBELS — it was doomed from the start. No matter how much I might enjoy Bedard’s work, his name simply isn’t a selling brand yet and, much as I might have wished otherwise, Dox doesn’t appear to be a selling brand either. So the book’s got nothing. Lobo might have helped, but now it would be too little, too late. I’ll be surprised if the book makes it to #12. The smart money might be to cancel the book asap and let Bedard finish the story with a four-issue LOBO LS, which might at least sell a little better.

Re: Superman - I agree with Matt in that DC’s clearly thinking long-term here in pushing new IPs. If they can use the ACTION run to later spin-off Nightwing and Flamebird into their own series when Superman returns to ACTION, there’s much to be said for building new IPs. And preboot Mon-El starring in SUPERMAN may be bringing a boost to the new Legion book when it launches. So it’s overly simplistic to consider the numbers in a vacuum when DC’s clearly thinking more along marketing/promotional lines.

Re: Wildstorm - the only thing I’m interested in over there is seeing what Threshold, Bliss and the DV8 have been up to in the last 10 years or so since I looked in.

Mighty is 12 issues limited series.

then give me 8 months. you know its the only thing they can do at this point.

its not that the books arent good, its just the focus, branding, design and grouping need help.

but what do i know…i wish well for everyone. really.

As for Madame Xanadu I am hoping that the trades can keep it going…

Biff

As for Madame Xanadu I am hoping that the trades can keep it going…

Biff

“Face it, Wildstorm is a dead imprint.”

With sales so low it’s hard to argue… but what about rebranding as “DC West” and realigning the company in a different direction? I could see that working…

Rough estimates I’ve read is that Marvel and DC probably make about $.80-$1.00 per $2.99 book sold. After printing, shipping, advertising, and paying creators and editors, who knows, maybe $.10 per book goes into the bank? Less?

“Air #7 had a cover price of $ 1.00 to encourage potential readers, resulting in a couple thousand more sales. It’ll be interesting to see if any of them stick.”

It implies the increase in reorders were then sold through to people who may or may not purchase more issues when in actuality it was just retailers ordering more. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love Air, but I’m not getting my hopes up anyone else bought it! lol

Just how much does DC make off say 10,000 units selling? Do they make money on sales oda WIldstorm totle even at say 7,000 units? Hell, I know major publishers who make a fat profit on hardcover sales of genre fiction when their epecting sales of less than 1,000 units! So what does DC need to make a title viable? And do they factor in anticipated trade paper sales?

I rarely buy single issues but follow a number of titles by buying the trades.

Would you suggest they split the initial story into 2 trades?

The launch frustrated me to no end because I KNEW it was going to be a massive, brutal, hopeless failure and I’ve wanted to see Bedard on this one, single property since I read Negation. Ah well.

Those numbers for R.E.B.E.L.S. are terrible. I guess this title falls into the same category that Agents of Atlas is in. Great story, great art, but no recognizable characters.