Unfortunately, the week of May 13 is a little light as it's a skip month for Gen13 (/cries) but at least we get Stormwatch PHD #21, Storming Paradise #5 (of 6) and Resident Evil #2 (of 6).
The following week (Week of 5/20) is packed as we get Ex Machina #42, Gears of War #7, the much anticipated Killapalooza #1 (of 6), Mysterius the Unfathomable #5 (of 6), World of Warcraft #19 and Heroes vol. 2 finally gets the trade paperback treatment for all those Heroes fans out there that can't or won't pony up for the hardcover edition.
The month will wrap up on May 27 as we kick the week off with Wildcats #11, Fringe #5 (of 6), Resistance #6 (of 6), Starcraft #1 (if this doesn't sell a bazillion issues in Korea I don't know what will!) and World of Warcraft: Ashbringer is coming out in a hardcover collection.
Although I don't plan to get it, I don't see how Starcraft #1 can't be a big hit. There's so much anticipation behind the new game that unless it's just an absolute dreadful book it's bound to be successful. My thoughts with these solicitions is we continue to have way too many six issue mini series out there and probably one or two more licensed properties than I would like. I wouldn't mind all the licensed properties if they were more in proportion with the Wildstorm proper books.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, I totally get that Wildstorm counts on these licensed property books to pay the bills but I maintain the point that we need at least one more ongoing book for Wildstorm proper to follow. After the switch to bi-monthly for Gen13 and Stormwatch I'm sticking to my guns now more than ever. We need at least one title a week to follow World's End and right now we're only getting three. Not only do I feel that we need another title for the sake of story but I also think a brand new book could launched properly with quality creator talent could honestly spark sales for the other World's End titles.
Due to the recession and less than stellar sales numbers, if it's too big of a commitment or maybe if the creator talent isn't there to stick on a new book there needs to be either an Anthology book or one-shots coming out regularly. Have a new one-shot come out every two to three months focusing on a character or set of characters currently being left out of the big picture. We have plenty of heroes out in limbo that could use a 22 page story for 2.99. Let's say you do six of these one-shots and then you can collect them in one nice pretty trade paperback. The same could hold true for an Anthology book except you send it straight to trade. The principle is the same it's just you tell shorter stories (but more of them) with more creators.
With Planetary ending, Ex Machina starting to close up shop and two titles (Gen13 and Stormwatch) needing a major bump in sales I really don't see the harm in trying a couple one-shots or an Anthology book. Sometimes less is more and this is one of those times and I appreciate the editorial group out in La Jolla not throwing fifty new random titles at us every week (my wallet appreciates this as well) but there needs to be something to spark excitement in the community and a chance to try and grab some new sales.
With the recent Gen13 and Stormwatch editorial changes I'd like to think that was a step in the right direction and we shall see what the cards hold for the future. What are your thoughts on what you would like to see to help grow sales for the Wildstorm proper books? Have any comments on the new editorial change for Stormwatch and Gen13? Will the shift help sell more books? And finally, will the upcoming World's End trade paperbacks be enough to bring in some fresh blood to make this thing a success?
I think the World's End trades will be an important factor in giving the line a shot in the arm. The Jack Hawskmoor TP sold just under 1000 copies and I think the 3 Armageddon trades sold a little more than that.
ReplyDeleteBut we need some bigger trade numbers for the World's End books.
Also, once these 4 creative teams are done, the next batch of creative teams will be critical too. People seem to follow creative teams more now-a-days than they do a certain comic.
I wasn't surprised when I noticed the Hawksmoor trade wasn't really selling but I don't think anybody thought it would sell a lot of copies.
ReplyDeleteLet's hope that if the World's End trades sell some folks will be looking to go back to where this whole thing started and pick up some copies of Armageddon, Revelations and Number of the Beast.
Yeah, I know what you mean but 1000 copies seems to be decent for Indie-titles (I realize Wildstorm isn't Indie but it might as well be at this point). But Armageddon, Revelations and Number of the Beast sold 1300, 1300, and 1500 copies respectively when they came out. And currently all 3 are sold out at mycomicshop.com but I don't know how to interpret that.
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