Sales Review: June 2016

From the beginning, I have been behind the #Rebirth idea. When Geoff Johns publicity piece streamed onto my iPad and he talked about bringing back a feeling legacy and heroism to the DCU, I was thrilled. Because I feel, for the most part, I suffered through the New 52 era. Take a moment and think if there is any arc or title from the last 5 years that will be considered classic or will be a run that you will go back and reread every couple of years.

I guess I would say Morrison's early Action and Supergirl from Red Lantern on. Maybe the Azzarello/Chiang Wonder Woman because it was daring. But besides that ....

So I wondered and worried if #Rebirth would stumble out of the gate. Would it be a jumping off point? Or would the new tone, new titles, and better price point bring readers (both old and new) to the DCU.

Well, the numbers don't lie and in June, DC sales looked fantastic. As always, I find the coverage on ICv2 to be the best. Here is a link:http://ift.tt/2a8vkICmarkets/view/34914/top-300-comics-actual-june-2016

Eleven books sold over 100K. Civil War 2 #1 sold a staggering 381K (amazing). But DC had 8 of those books.

For me the thing that struck me was the brisk sales of the Superman books.

A tonal change was evident in the post-Truth arcs. We saw a heroic Superman. One who sought out family and friends. One who was trying to set the world right.

And then, we saw the #Rebirth book and the opening issues of the new titles. In the Superman book, Peter J. Tomasi has focused on the family life of Clark, Lois, and Jon.

Superman Rebirth #1 sold 118K.

Superman #1 sold 109K.

That's just fantastic. It is amazing. And I hope that people who bought these books and saw an optimistic Superman and a wonderful Lois stick around and keep the sales high.

Action Comics, by Dan Jurgens and Patrick Zircher, focused on Lex and Metropolis. I wondered if bringing Doomsday into the mix so early was a misstep. But this title has been unbelievably good so far. I am not a big 'Lex is the lead character' fan. But so far so good.

Action Comics #957 and #958 sold over 75K.

I do find it a little interesting that more folks went to the Superman book than the Action book headed by a tried and true Super-creator like Jurgens.

Still, pretty amazing way for the #Rebirth books to come out of the gate.

I have really been impressed with the books I have bought so far. There is a different feeling to these titles in comparison to the New 52 new titles. There seems to be more direction already!

The one Supergirl book on the shelves is the print version of the digital first Adventures of Supergirl by Sterling Gates and rotating artists.

June's issues included the Emanuela Lupacchino lush pages showing an incredible dream sequence. These issues are just beautiful. And Gates slips in a ton of Supergirl historic references into the dreams.

Who knows how to evaluate these sales knowing that there is a chunk of folks who buy the digital version.

Adventures of Supergirl #3 sold over 20K.
Interestingly enough, Adventures of Supergirl #4 sold over 13K. That is a pretty big drop between issues, especially ones just 2 weeks apart.

Still, 13K for a digital first comic has to be considered a success.

Will these sales be enough to spur DC to give us a 'second season'? I can only hope.

Overall, not a bad month for DC though. And as a reader, I am not complaining.

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