August 23, 2011: DC Pre-Order Sales Rise as Comic Stores Die

Action Comics #1 (Variant Cover) The LA Times has revealed that pre-orders on the relaunch of the new DC Universe comic books is through the roof...

    In the short run, it seems everyone in the comic-book industry will benefit. DC's flagship title, "Justice League No. 1," has pre-orders for more than 200,000 print copies, which would make it the bestselling title of 2011. Six other new DC No. 1's already have more than 100,000 pre-orders.

DC Comics co-publishers Dan DiDio and Jim Lee discuss the importance of the relaunch of the DC Universe and how they hope digital comics will put comic books in the hands of a new generation of readers.

    Some of the biggest changes are being made to DC's 73-year-old icon Superman, and they go beyond replacing the red Speedo part of his costume with jeans. The hero will be "aged back" to his 20s, and Clark Kent's marriage to Lois Lane, which happened 15 years ago in the comic books, has been erased.

    Supergirl #1 (Interior Art) "We want to return to that classic love triangle of Lois, Clark and Superman that people know so well," Lee said.

    More accessible stories are one part of DC's game plan. The other is getting comics into readers' hands. In the 1990s, there were 7,000 to 9,000 retailers that sold comic books, including newsstands and drugstores. Today there are a little more than 2,000, most of which are specialty shops.

Sales of comic books have been in a long-term decline. They have dropped steadily for the past three years, and are down an additional 7% so far this year. DC has found a way to reverse that slump for a month, but the big question is whether it can bend the declining sales curve or if it will find itself in the same difficult position next year.

Source: LA Times.


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