No One Tell Sean Delonas About This



I noted yesterday how President Obama's appearance on the cover made an issue of Amazing Spider-Man the #1 comic book for two months in a row. Jason Green of Playback says I've only got the half of it.

Your joke that "Obama is the new Wolverine but even better at what he does and what he does is move books" made me chuckle, but it's definitely true if you look not only at Spidey, but at what affect his appearance has had in sales of Erik Larsen's Savage Dragon. SD usually hovers around the #200 spot on the monthly sales chart.

The latest issue, #145 (which featured not only an Obama alternate cover and appearance but also the character's return to the police force, a status most people identify with the character) sold over 22,000 copies and hit #86 on the chart. The previous issue, #144, was at #206 on the chart and 5646 copies sold. The Obama appearance virtually quadrupled sales... that's unreal.

I've typed ten different snappy comments here before writing this sentence, but none of those jokes really communicated the real but very slight discomfort I feel with this story. Ten years of increasingly prolific, high-quality graphic novels being made and all it takes is two comic books and we're collectible plates again. At the same time, it sold a lot of copies for a lot of retailers that move the comics for which I have a higher regard. It's impossible to begrudge them any sales success, even what seems like a cynical one.

Update: The official CR over/under on Wizard running consecutive Obama covers is currently at five, that low only in that they may have missed the opportunity to do with #212 because of the time lapse between noticing a trend and trying to capitalize on one.
 
posted 8:00 am PST | Permalink
 

---

 
Daily Blog Archives
November 2019
October 2019
September 2019
August 2019
July 2019
 
Full Archives