Daredevil Message Board

[jumonji]

I have a few questions regarding DD sales numbers in particular, and comic book sales generally. Since virtually everyone on this board probably knows much more about the business than I do, with a couple of people even being in the business (one way or another), I thought this would be a good place to ask and throw around some numbers.

1) With the exception of issue #100, most issues since Bru took over the book seem to be selling somewhere in the mid to high 40K (not counting subscriptions, TPB and international sales). This is pretty consistent with the level of the last year and a half of Bendis's run as well, but the latter seemed to hover between 50K to 60K for the first few years. Early volume 2 sold even better, which probably had a lot to do with the hype of the new imprint and everything (still can't get over the sad fact that Smith had almost twice as many readers as Bru is currently having...). I know that many Marvel books are selling much better than DD, while some have significantly lower sales numbers without exactly being at risk of cancellation. Personally, I don't know whether DD is selling "well" or not since I don't know what constitutes good sales. So, to those who know better than I do, would Marvel be pleased with the current sales numbers (which are at least quite steady)?

2) How are the TPBs selling? Quite a few people, it seems, are following DD through TPBs only. Would this proportion be higher for DD than for some other books?

3) Why isn't DD selling better than it is and why is the book in slow decline (when you look at the last decade)? Are fewer people following DD or are more people buying the TPBs? At what point do you start to worry? The book is selling much better than during the last few years of Volume 1, despite the addition of TPBs to the regular comics market, but I still don't understand why more people aren't enjoying the book and the character. Are they nuts?

4) How strong is the hardcore DD fan base? How many people do you think are willing to stick with the character no matter what (within reason)? It seems to me, and correct me if I'm wrong, that different characters have fans that are more or less fanatic about their character of choice. Apparently, Amazing Spider-girl was brought back from the brink of cancellation (currently sells around 20K issues per month) due to a vocal and quite passionate fanbase. DD seems to be in this category as well, with many readers rating the character as a favorite while following other books as well.

5) What do you think should be done to increase the popularity of the book? Should this be done at all? Should we be happy that it is a solid, healthy, high-quality book that is allowed to continue to showcase good storytelling because it's fairly low-profile? Does Marvel give DD enough respect in you opinion and would fans even want the kind of "respect" Marvel gives to some of its other characters, like Spider-man?

6) How is DD selling internationally? Looking at all the people from all around the world who post on this board, he would seem to have pretty broad appeal. On the other hand, this may be typical of the comic book industry generally. I don't know.

Okay, those were some of my questions. What are your answers? While I'm not exactly worried about the health of the book, I can't understand why an award-winning book, penned by an award-winning writer backed by an amazing art team (while also being a favorite of both fans and critics) isn't selling better. Or is this simply the comic book version of people preferring trashy reality TV over more cerebral entertainment?
_________________
The Other Murdock Papers

[Blind Alley]

My two cents :

I also think DD is "a solid, healthy, high-quality book that is allowed to continue to showcase good storytelling because it's fairly low-profile"
You want DD to be as popular as Spidey ? Are you ready to get the One More Day treatment ?

How is DD selling internationally?

In France, DD has been published under different forms :
- From the 70s to the mid 80s : in a magazine called Strange, with other series (Spider-Man, Iron Man, ROM)
- End of 80s and early 90s : in his own mag (published every two months, two issues in a mag : nearly all the Nocenti Run was covered in this format)
- Most of the 90s until end of V1 : rather randomly in some magazines
- Since V2 : TPB (twice per year) + Hardcover (for minis like Father)
In France, DD is a popular character with a strong fanbase but not as popular and not as well known as Batman, the X-men or Spider-Man.
The minis Redemption, Daredevil/Punisher by Lapham haven't been translated. It seems the publisher doesn't tag DD as a strong seller.

Unfortunately, a lot of french people got to know DD through the movie...
_________________
Visit the Red Shaker

[Francesco]

I'm afraid I'm not entitled enough to answer the first two questions. Anyway here are my answers to the remaining ones.

[harryhausen]

These are all good questions and I have wondered about a few of them, too. I can’t answer all of them – and others are covering them well, but I thought I’d throw in my 2 US cents (before they’re completely devalued).

1. I think that there is some sort of maxim about “pass-on readership” assering that there are three readers for every one purchased comic. At least, that used to be the case. I need a citation for this, but it’s anecdotal evidence from comic shops and the internet. So, maybe 100k-130k readers are getting a monthly dose of DD?

2. I tend to think that DD is in a world all its own in a good way. It has a tradition of being an interesting, innovative book with a devoted and somewhat unique readership. I can’t imagine that it would be canceled or otherwise tampered with by Marvel for years to come. Plus, as long as Quesada’s up there, I bet we’re completely safe. Despite the Amazing Spider-Mess (three times a month!), Joey loves DD and wouldn’t screw him up from a publishing standpoint (maybe he’d, you know, “write” or draw it and ruin it for me temporarily). In the two LCSs that I frequent, they report lots of DD readers and lots of folks who come in on those special Wednesdays and buy DD only. It’s a little cult in the larger Marvel world.

[Ed Brubaker]

Don't worry about sales figures. We do very good numbers month-in and month-out and Marvel is very happy. It's better to consistently sell 50K or so then to be forced to tie-in to big events that make no sense in DD's world.
_________________
www.edbrubaker.com

[Ed Brubaker]

Don't worry about sales figures. We do very good numbers month-in and month-out and Marvel is very happy. It's better to consistently sell 50K or so then to be forced to tie-in to big events that make no sense in DD's world.

Also, online numbers are always wrong. Sometimes by a lot, sometimes by a whole lot. But they've never been right for a single book I worked on.
_________________
www.edbrubaker.com

[Lundonj]

I co-own a comic shop and DD does very well. It has an extremely consistent audience, with more people adding the series than dropping it over the last year plus. And it is fairly rare for titles to be that steady for that span of time.

It is a good time to be a DD fan and a retailer. To have a story I like and be able to talk about with so many of our regular customers.

In other words, it is very easy to pimp.

Same with Criminal, Iron Fist and Cap. X-Men comics seem to sell themselves.


-Don

[MarcWagz]

why dont they include subscriptions in this?

I would figure subscrips number above 20k!