Sales Review: December 2016

The sales for December 2016 were posted over on ICv2 and I highly recommend heading over there for great insight. Here is a link: http://ift.tt/2iQ2VcL

But I was very interested in seeing the hard numbers because this was the first month in a long time that two dedicated Supergirl comics were on the rack at the same time. Has Supergirl reached a level of popularity that she can support two series? Or, from a print viewpoint, is she still a steady 'middle of the pack' seller.

Suffice it to say, as an eternal pessimist, my glass is half empty.

Supergirl #4 continued the Cyborg Superman/Argo City storyline. In this issue, Supergirl breaks out of her prison and breaks through to her mother that Earth must live and Krypton has already died.

This issue also had one of my favorite covers in recent memory, Bengal's variant of Kara saving Streaky from a truck accident.

So how did it sell?

Supergirl #4 ranked as the 92nd best selling title, with orders numbering just over 31K.

When you consider that the first issue sold over 100K, I still worry about this plummet in sales. I have heard grumblings in some of my posts here as well as elsewhere in social media that people have been underwhelmed or put off by the Cyborg Superman arc. Others have worried that Ching's art might have driven some people away.

As for me, all prior Supergirl titles have tended to hover around 25K in sales so I anticipate more attrition until we get there. That said, all bets are off when the Superman/Legion crossover happens. Maybe more people will come by and stick around.

And Supergirl Being Super was released in the last week of December.

This book was touted for any number of reasons. Writer Mariko Tamaki is a big deal in young adult literature. Joelle Jones is growing in prominence in comics. It is a prestige format book, rare these days! And it is a book aimed at young women.

I thought this would be a bigger deal but it only 21.5 K were ordered. Maybe comic stores were worried about the price point? Maybe they also were gauging what other Supergirl books have sold and trying to make the best guess.

I also remember that these books were going to be sold at brick and mortar book stores like Barnes and Noble. So maybe sales were better overall? Does B&N need to order through Diamond as well?

Anyways, I am hoping sales stabilize and remain solid enough for DC not to pull the plug!

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