The Internets are a blazing over something comic book writer Mark Waid said in an interview posted on Comic Book Resources. He was talking about how sales for BRAVE AND THE BOLD dropped between issue #1 and issue #2. In fact, they dropped about 30%.
He blamed this drop in sales on people not wanting to read it after reviewers used the word “fun” to describe the book.
Seriously, that’s what he said:
“Fun, fun, fun” being our rap makes me worried. Sales were strong on the first issue, but the second issue drop-off was a little steeper than we’d predicted. And I honestly think that was because every reviewer said it was “fun.”
“Fun” automatically kills off a lot of your sales. Don’t get me wrong; the book’s still a success in the current market, and no one at DC has expressed anything but enthusiasm. We certainly seem to have a hit on our hands, George and I. I just hope that the “fun” label doesn’t hit us too hard. If so, it’s just another sign that current readers don’t want “fun” comics.
I have a hard time believing that sales dropped simply because reviewers used the word “fun” to describe the book.
Issue #2 of BRAVE AND THE BOLD came out March 22, but retailers had to decide back in December of 2006 how many copies they wanted sent to them by the distributer. Retailers typically order books three months ahead of time. That means they placed their orders for issue #2 a couple of months before reviewers ever referred to the book as being fun.
What then caused the drop? Maybe it’s because DC Comics employed a sales gimmick to increase orders for the first issue. The first issue of BRAVE AND THE BOLD had a 1:10 variant cover. For every ten copies retailers ordered of issue one, they were shipped one variant cover version. The second issue did not have a variant cover. There was no incentive for retailers to over-order the second issue.
Most retailers will bump up orders for comics that have a variant cover to they can turn around and charge customers more money for the variant cover comic. The higher the ratio between regular covers to variant covers, the higher the retailer mark up.
Since the second issue of BRAVE AND THE BOLD didn’t utilize any type of variant cover gimmick, retailers only ordered what they actually needed.
Imagine that.
Mark Engblom
/ May 15, 2007Great point, Rick. I’ll be sure to work it into my own take on Waid’s bizarre comments.
Rick
/ May 16, 2007I have to re-read issue one. I picked it and read it, but I remember thinking that I didn’t want to read any of the continuing issues. The thing is, I don’t really remember *why*. I do know it wasn’t because I thought it was “fun”.
Sloofus
/ May 16, 2007It sure wasn’t any “fun” plunking down hard earned money for this turd. I bought the first issue solely because it was 75% off the cover price over at DCBService.com. Even at 75 cents, I felt a little ripped. Perez’s artwork is by-the-books and decent, but all in all the comic was just boring.