Meanwhile, on set of the Doctor Who 50th anniversary special….
(Source: professorxisajerk, via brianmichaelbendis)
These DC newsstand numbers from the mid-80s are fascinating. They come from Jim Shooter’s blog (and were pointed out by a post here). And the pertinent bit here is the “sale” figure, which represents the sell through. That is, the number of issues that actually sold, versus the “draw,” which was the total print run. My whole life I’ve heard that comics in the newsstand days routinely sold hundreds of thousands of copies, compared to the few dozen thousand that they sell now. And it might well be true that comics did indeed sell those kinds of volumes in earlier eras. But by 1985, though the PRINT RUNS were still in the 100+ thousand copy range, the actual copies SOLD came in between 20 and 80 thousand copies, at least for DC Comics. Which is, surprisingly, not too far off from what comics sell through the direct market today. So sales have certainly slipped from the heyday of the “golden age,” when comics were truly a mass medium, but maybe the fall hasn’t been as far or as dramatic in recent decades than popular thinking suggests. An interesting point, that will bear investigation.
And too — they were returnable outside of the DM. So they were eating that 70%…
Christ, Wonder Woman was the rock bottom of the bunch…it was bi-monthly and it still only sold 2/3rds of Ambush Bug.
Can’t make heads or tales of the newsstand audience — Who’s Who is the second highest selling, even across a 2-year average? It’s a reference book that’s too nerdy even for some hardcore nerds. Batman and the Outsiders outselling Batman by a comfortable margin? Both books selling less than Tales of the Legion?
There’s probably some historical factors I’m missing here, but wasn’t the newsstand supposed to represent the casual, “mainstream” audience that was lost in the transition to the direct market?
(Source: chrisroberson)
Annoying press release thing: APPLE vs. SAGA #12
As has hopefully been clear from the first page of our first issue, SAGA is a series for the proverbial “mature reader.” Unfortunately, because of two postage stamp-sized images of gay sex, Apple is banning tomorrow’s SAGA #12 from being sold through any iOS apps. This is a drag, especially because our book has featured what I would consider much more graphic imagery in the past, but there you go. Fiona and I could always edit the images in question, but everything we put into the book is there to advance our story, not (just) to shock or titillate, so we’re not changing shit.
Apologies to everyone who reads our series on iPads or iPhones, but here are your alternatives for Wednesday:
1) Head over to you friendly neighborhood comics shop and pick up a physical copy of our issue that you can have and hold forever.
2) While you’re at it, don’t forget to support the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, which helps protect retailers who are brave enough to carry work that some in their communities might consider offensive. You can find signed copies of Saga at the CBLDF site right now.
3) Download the issue directly through sites like https://comics.imagecomics.com or on your non-Apple smartphone or tablet.
4) If all else fails, you might be able to find SAGA #12 in Apple’s iBookstore, which apparently sometimes allows more adult material to be sold than through its apps. Crazy, right?
Anyway, special thanks to Eric Stephenson and everyone at Image for supporting our decision, and for always being so supportive of creators. Sorry again to readers for the inconvenience, but I hope everyone will be able to find an issue that Fiona and I are particularly proud of. And after you do, please check out PanelSyndicate.com, the new digital comics site I own with artist Marcos Martin, which remains 100% uncensored by corporate overlords.
Your pal,
Brian
—(via fionastaples)
NSFW imagery beyond the cut. Graphic, non-consensual oral sex from a severed head; and an image of a man with a TV set for a head, and a picture on that TV set of a man giving a blow job. Obviously not for everyone.
EXCLUSIVE! cover pencils to All-new X-Men 13!!
you guys have been so nice about all new X-Men and the brand-new issue that came out today that I asked for special permission to post this. because I think this is stuart immonen at his very best.
and this image should get you X nerds heads a’spinning :-)
(via noliart)
