And while I’m talking about The Engine, this thread about DC’s sales figures turns into something much more interesting when (Vertigo book, The Exterminators) artist Tony Moore shows up:
“it’s looking rough out there. At Vertigo, i watch Exterminators clinging to the 10K mark, sinking slowly, with some of us taking heavier hits than others (American Splendor, ouch!), but it feels like we’re almost all on a downward trend. i dunno. watching this really gets to me. I believe in the work we’re doing. i think todays comics are some of the most engaging and well-drawn that have been made… but yeah, it feels like we’re all on a sinking ship. shouldn’t this signal that it’s time to start reconsidering the options and make ready for a big change?”
The thread then starts to focus on whether Vertigo’s shrinking readership is due to DC not providing enough promotion for Vertigo books, readers waiting for the trade, or just the doom of the entire industry.
Brian Wood:
“seems like this recent crop of books has been getting a ton of press, both within the industry and on the outside, and marketing’s been pretty on the ball from what I can see. I suspect everyone’s tpb sales are doing well. DMZ’s sure are.”
Cameron Stewart:
“For THE OTHER SIDE, the marketing people at DC arranged interviews/promotion in the mainstream press, such as the New York Times and The Chicago Tribune. Our final issue isn’t out yet (next week, fact fans!) but we were promised a trade paperback collection before I’d drawn a single page; in fact Karen Berger even mentioned the trade at the book’s announcement at the NYCC Vertigo Panel last year. I think, in our case at least, the book’s potential greater success in the ‘mainstream’ was recognized from the outset. I would have preferred the book to have been an OGN dropped directly into bookstores, if for no other reason than to more easily capitalize on the newspaper articles when they were published, but I know that the single issues help recoup some of the costs. Anyway, I’ve been pretty pleased with DC’s treatment of THE OTHER SIDE – it’s plain that they’ve been very supportive of the book and will continue to be after the trade is released.”
Jock:
“When THE LOSERS came out I think DC were hoping it would be their next Y THE LAST MAN or FABLES, but by the end of the run we were struggling to find even 10K readers too. I don’t think that’s the state of the industry, I think that’s the fact that not as many people liked LOSERS as they did Y or FABLES. A little bit of a bitter pill to swallow, but it’s clearly the case, as those two books still sell what they were when LOSERS launched. DC put a lot into marketing LOSERS at the time too – just as Cameron and Brian are noting here with their books… I think the best thing to do – as Tony says – is to produce work you’re passionate about and believe in, and the appropriate market will find you. Sometimes that’s a marginal market, but it can be a great place to be as it can allow for longevity and quality – backed up by good TBB sales for the company publishing the work in the first place.”
Moore again:
“i dunno about this ‘wait and see’ mentality. Sure, in many cases the market will find you, but our general readership isn’t exactly blowing up, and is more focused on a handful of super-events, and increasingly less interested in anything else. I’m all for remaining a marginal success. in fact, i rather like the idea of burning as long as possible, even at the cost of never burning as bright as others. I do know that 100 Bullets was kinda the sitting mark for retailer orders on Vertigo books for a long time hanging in at the 15-18K range. On ICV2, the only books above 15K last month were Y, Fables, and Sandman Mystery Theatre. I know that taste is subjective, but Christ, look at the top GN/TPBs and what really moves in the bookstores, versus the stunted direct market.”
From there, the conversation moves to exactly what the “stunted direct market” is looking for, and whether illegal downloading of comics affects sales, with Brian Hibbs and others joining the fray. Go and read; it’s worth paying attention to.
February 1st, 2007 at 10:01 am
Maybe Vertigo’s strained “too cool for the room” button pushing and taboo flaunting got old and predictable after awhile. They’ve got a few honest to goodness gems (“Fables” and “Y: The Last Man”), but most of their output looks like it cobbled together based on the feedback of an indie rock/coffee shop/activist class consumer testing survey.
February 1st, 2007 at 10:34 am
With something like The Exterminators, where you have to follow storylines over several issues (as with most Vertigo books that you generally can’t just “pick up”), I truly believe the majority of readers are waiting for the trade and that’s where DC will make up the sales.
Trades are sold major book chains, but single issues generaally are not.
February 1st, 2007 at 10:59 am
A few years back, I picked up the first volume of The Sandman in a store. You read about something so much and eventually you just have to grab it. But After that I grabbed all of the trades and got Endless Nights right when it came out. So I decided to expand my basic collection past the superheroes and walk to the other side of the store (that’s the layout at my LCS) and I grabbed the first volume of Y and Fables. I was so taken with the stories that I got the remaining trades when I could afford them. Over time, I was too into the third storyline (Storybook Love) that I picked up the individual issues of Fables. I still collect Y in trades and wish I at one point picked up the issues.
However, when this line of new Vertigo books came out (Exterminators, American Virgin, Testament, Loveless and DMZ), I picked up all the individual issues. They have become three of my favorite serieses. Testament, though really a good read, didn’t transfer from issue to issue and I lost the flow. And Loveless is similar to me that way. I still buy it but I have to really look back and remember. I want to sit down and reread the entire serieses and may jump back on the bandwagon.
I think the problem that Vertigo has right now is that feel of “waiting for the trade” as they discussed. As I found with Testament, it can be hard to really remember the little details of a story over a month (especially if you read over 30 comics) and are in school.
Vertigo is still putting out some of the best stories in comics, especially mainstream comics. And this is coming for your traditionally square 20-something who doesn’t like coffee or activists.
February 1st, 2007 at 1:24 pm
I agree that the trade paperback transition is a major cause of this. It’s not impossible to write and draw something that is exciting both from chapter to chapter and as a whole, but it is more difficult, even for talented writers.
As a longtime Vertigo fan, another thing that keeps me out of some of their comics, even good ones, is the art. It’s just too murky a lot of the time, making it difficult to understand simple storytelling elements and identify characters…this is a big problem I have with Loveless, which seems like it would be good if I could tell who is who sometimes. Vertigo would do well to get some artists who draw more like Steve Dillon…it’s not like he’s the greatest, and Preacher had its flaws, but it was accessible in ways that some current series are not because you knew instantly who Tulip, Jesse, Cassidy, and Starr were.
February 1st, 2007 at 11:03 pm
Frankly, I find that most of the new crop of Vertigo books just aren’t that compelling or exciting. I still get Exterminators, but it isn’t a must read book for me like Y – The Last Man or Fables. I tried Loveless, Crossing Midnight, and American Virgin and became bored with all of them after a few issues. DMZ and Testament didn’t even look interesting enough for me to want to try them.
February 3rd, 2007 at 6:06 pm
I think waiting for the trade is causing these low numnbers, too.
I also think that waiting for the trade will eventually kill the Local Comics Shops.
Without the need for the weekly fix, customers will eventually stop buying from the direct market. I figure about 9 more years before the end.
.