Green Lantern Sales Numbers

[Hypo Lil' Leaguer Find all posts View Profile Close Hypo]

Besides your theory, I wonder if it can be due to the title. Maybe people who buy only one lantern book feel like that's the flagship because of the title. Sure, the other has GLC in the title, but if you're looking at it quickly, it looks like Hal Jordan.

I feel like this theory falls apart once people actually open the book and realize Hal isn't in it.

[buffalorock Star Sapphire's Love Slave Find all posts View Profile Close buffalorock]

I think more of the younger crowd likes the Green Lanterns book than HJ/GLC, as in its more of a generational thing.

Even though Hal's book has been a better read in my opinion, keeping the same writer that caused so many to jump ship didn't help bring in new people, which is probably what helped prop up Green Lanterns (being more of a clean slate).

I still like the Hal book more, but we're on issue 6 and I'm finding myself reminded that Venditti's decompression is a big part of why I didn't like a lot of his previous run.

I doubt any this is why the GLs book sells more, just my personal thoughts.

[Star-Lantern Weaponer of Qward Find all posts View Profile Close Star-Lantern]

I was going to say that too but was afraid people would read it the wrong way. I have heard it theorized that Batman always sells more than Detective because Batman is considered the primary and Detective the secondary, just like with Superman and Action. The only times that this hasn't seemed to be the case is when a clearly more popular writer/artist is on the secondary title and even then the margin would be much greater if the names of the books were reversed. HJ&tGLC might have been better served being called Green Lantern, and let Green Lanterns keep its name. Or the tried and true Green Lantern Corps featuring Hal Jordan. Even with Byrne writing and drawing it, I have no doubt Alpha Flight would have sold better if was intitled X-Men featuring Alpha Flight. A person that is not keeping up would go to the G's for a Green Lantern book not necessarily think to look under the H's.
Not worried though eventually superior art and storytelling will win out and cream will rise to the top. Justice League is still one of the top titles because it is Justice League but I am very look warm on the book right now. It is still riding that Johns/Fabok momentum.

A few months ago I predicted Green Lanterns would outsell Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps, and having taken a look at the content of both books, I can give you my impression of why that is happening.

In my opinion, neither book is especially good, and outside of Green Lantern fans, I don't think many people will care that much for either of them. For some, all they really need to see is Hal Jordan kicking butt and not looking like a goon, and I think they'll more or less be satisfied with the Hal Jordan book. People less invested in the character will actually need compelling stories that they can easily follow in order for them to stick around, and this is where the Hal Jordan book falters.

Having looked at other people's reviews, there were a few common complaints I noticed. From the start, some readers had no idea what was happening or why. They didn't know why Sinestro was old, they didn't know where the Green Lantern Corps went or why they disappeared (I suspect readers may never know at this point), and they didn't know why Hal Jordan was turning into an energy being, and again, even at this point, the story hasn't really told readers any of that. Thus, readers came into this story lost and confused, and not really by design, as was the case with Lost Army.

Next, the story itself is just not that great and is a retread of something that happened, like, nine years ago? It's less attention grabbing to boot (Geoff Johns pulled some of the biggest villains in the DCU together [like Anti-Monitor] to get shocking attention).

I don't have anything personal against Robert Venditti, but I find his writing slow and bland. I don't think another Sinestro Corps War was his idea, but he's not making lemonade out of the lemons he's been given. So on top of the plot being tired, the quality of the book in general is middling, in my opinion.

Unfortunately, it looks like the aim of the Hal Jordan book is to retread color wars in hopes of replicating the popularity of the Green Lantern title back in the 00s. Months ago I said that was the wrong approach and I still believe it to be so. Instead of retreading beaten ground that's been well beaten, Green Lantern needs to find something fresh and new that isn't afraid to break away from Geoff Johns' stuff in order to stay relevant. Next month I won't be surprised if the Hal Jordan book is in or very close to the 30,000s in sales, and I don't suspect we will see a plethora of Green Lantern books coming out of this, like Ethan Van Sciver hoped. They'll have to put out better quality books with fresher concepts that people actually respond to well in order to cause that to happen. I don't think they'll see another renaissance retreading ground that some were already getting very tired of.

As for the Green Lanterns title, I believe it, too, is bad, but at least it's something people haven't seen before... Kinda'. Its goal also seems to be doing things Geoff Johns did, but I think people are more willing to give the Green Lanterns book a shot out of curiosity. I think the Green Lanterns book is worse, but when you take a look at the Hal Jordan book, there's nothing to be curious about over there. It's just another Corps war, but weaker this time around. I personally think the sales of both books will wind up being not very impressive.

That's my take on why one is selling better than the other.

["Chosen" NOT his black friend Find all posts View Profile Close "Chosen"]

TLDR.

["Chosen" NOT his black friend Find all posts View Profile Close "Chosen"]

I'm wondering about this too. I don't think I've heard anyone who prefers GLs to HJ&GLC. I'm sure they're out there, but I figured they were a minority.

Besides your theory, I wonder if it can be due to the title. Maybe people who buy only one lantern book feel like that's the flagship because of the title. Sure, the other has GLC in the title, but if you're looking at it quickly, it looks like Hal Jordan.

I enjoy them equally. Probably would enjoy Hals more if not for Ethan on art.

[Big Daddy Dave Skywalker Moisture Farmer Find all posts View Profile Close Big Daddy Dave Skywalker]

10 HAL JORDAN AND THE GREEN LANTERN CORPS REBIRTH #1[*] 113,965
11 HAL JORDAN AND THE GREEN LANTERN CORPS #1[*] 108,708
28 Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps 2* $2.99 DC 77,972
42 Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps 3* $2.99 DC 64,737
41 Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps 4* $2.99 DC 54,815
46 Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps 5* $2.99 DC 50,935


-----------------------------------------------

12 Green Lanterns Rebirth 1* $2.99 DC 99,504
18 Green Lanterns 1* $2.99 DC 84,910
28 GREEN LANTERNS #2[*] 82,062
29 GREEN LANTERNS #3[*] 78,708
37 Green Lanterns 4* $2.99 DC 71,140
44 Green Lanterns 5* $2.99 DC 64,252
36 Green Lanterns 6 $2.99 DC 58,346
38 Green Lanterns 7 $2.99 DC 55,367

Man, putting aside that I'm still shaking my head over the fact that retailers are ordering more units of GLs than HJ&TGLC, did you notice the drop off both titles had in the same MONTH? GLs 6/7 and Hal 4/5 were ordered by retailers at the same time, and before they even had a chance to sell them, they ordered 3 to 4 thousand copies fewer of the next issue at the same time. Which says retailers are expecting it to keep dropping off. Not a good sign.

[Space Cop The Dandy Find all posts View Profile Close Space Cop]

Man, putting aside that I'm still shaking my head over the fact that retailers are ordering more units of GLs than HJ&TGLC . . .

Well, if it happens again next month, I'm challenging the results.

[Big Daddy Dave Skywalker Moisture Farmer Find all posts View Profile Close Big Daddy Dave Skywalker]

Well, if it happens again next month, I'm challenging the results.

And by next month one, and likely BOTH titles, will have slipped into the 40K range.

[Big Blue Lantern Corps Honor Guard Find all posts View Profile Close Big Blue Lantern]

Man, putting aside that I'm still shaking my head over the fact that retailers are ordering more units of GLs than HJ&TGLC, did you notice the drop off both titles had in the same MONTH? GLs 6/7 and Hal 4/5 were ordered by retailers at the same time, and before they even had a chance to sell them, they ordered 3 to 4 thousand copies fewer of the next issue at the same time. Which says retailers are expecting it to keep dropping off. Not a good sign.

And by next month one, and likely BOTH titles, will have slipped into the 40K range.

I'm perplexed by how books lose steam so quickly? I don't confine this question only to the GL titles. It seems like just about every ongoing series loses 25%-50% of its readership within a year, even in the cases of monoliths like Batman and Spider-man. Are there still people who collect everything with a low issue number without caring about the story?

[Star-Lantern Weaponer of Qward Find all posts View Profile Close Star-Lantern]

I'm perplexed by how books lose steam so quickly? I don't confine this question only to the GL titles. It seems like just about every ongoing series loses 25%-50% of its readership within a year, even in the cases of monoliths like Batman and Spider-man. Are there still people who collect everything with a low issue number without caring about the story?

Despite DC and Marvel making a lot more money, when you get past the smoke and mirrors of their gimmicks, I think Image is a lot healthier of a company, where new and fresh ideas thrive instead of being shunned, where creators are actually willing to showcase new ideas and their best ideas (because they own them), and where things succeed and fail based on their own merits.

This is incredibly ironic when considering that Image and its founders are the ones who were initially very associated with the tactics that DC and Marvel are still employing today, which Image has pretty much abandoned.

I also think Image is where the industry is headed/needs to go, with its strong trade paperback sales. I think one of the things that makes Image not reliant on the quick fix gimmicks Marvel and DC have to pull to survive is that I think it actually has penetrated a new/different audience, which isn't nearly as crotchety as Marvel and DC's fans generally are. Meaning they aren't set in their ways and resistant to change. At least not when change is practical, makes sense, and is a good idea.

For example, it makes a lot of sense to move away from monthly physical floppies and concentrate more on digital and trades, but many of Marvel and DC's fans would likely blow a gasket if that happened with their favorite books. This makes it so the company's are stuck in outmoded ways of doing things and being overly reliant on completely outmoded models, like the Direct Market, which ultimately makes it so they have to pull dumb stuff that only appeals to their dwindling audience while alienating 'regular' people. Only superhero comics fans care to understand things like the many versions of Superman and their differences, or what happened in which Crisis.

I think the only things DC can really rely on without some kind of eventual story interrupting gimmick for support are Batman, Harley Quinn, and Justice League.

[Space Cop The Dandy Find all posts View Profile Close Space Cop]

Well, I'm one of those outmoded guys because if DC got rid of floppies or replaced the established capes with all creator-owned books, I'd be out of comics for good.

[Space Cop The Dandy Find all posts View Profile Close Space Cop]

October Comic Sales


[Items marked with * had their reported orders slightly reduced due to returnability.
Items marked with † include between 300,000 and 400,000 copies shipped to Loot Crate.]

1 Big Trouble in Little China/Escape From New York 1† $3.99 Boom 421,625
2 Champions 1 $4.99 Marvel 328,165
3 Doctor Strange Sorcerers Supreme 1 $3.99 Marvel 149,710
4 Dark Knight III Master Race 6 $5.99 DC 133,642
5 Batman 8 $2.99 DC 129,837
6 Batman 9 $2.99 DC 126,090
7 Civil War II 6 $4.99 Marvel 118,625
8 Darth Vader 25 $5.99 Marvel 111,381
9 All Star Batman 3* $4.99 DC 106,905
10 Walking Dead 159 $2.99 Image 91,291
11 Clone Conspiracy 1 $4.99 Marvel 90,285
12 Justice League 6 $2.99 DC 89,073
13 Justice League 7 $2.99 DC 85,789
14 Detective Comics 942 $2.99 DC 81,432
15 Deadpool Back In Black 1 $3.99 Marvel 78,653
16 Star Wars 24 $3.99 Marvel 78,160
17 Flash 8 $2.99 DC 76,749
18 Death of X 1 $4.99 Marvel 75,825
19 Reborn 1 $3.99 Image 74,967
20 Detective Comics 943 $2.99 DC 74,340
21 Flash 9 $2.99 DC 74,311
22 Jessica Jones 1 $3.99 Marvel 74,291
23 Infamous Iron Man 1 $3.99 Marvel 73,735
24 Amazing Spider-Man 19 $4.99 Marvel 73,215
25 Doctor Strange 12 $3.99 Marvel 72,990
26 Superman 8 $2.99 DC 69,905
27 Suicide Squad 4* $2.99 DC 69,385
28 Nightwing 6 $2.99 DC 69,246
29 Amazing Spider-Man 20 $3.99 Marvel 67,530
30 Superman 9 $2.99 DC 67,321
31 Wonder Woman 8 $2.99 DC 66,405
32 Trinity 2* $2.99 DC 65,106
33 Teen Titans 1* $2.99 DC 64,963
34 Wonder Woman 9 $2.99 DC 64,555
35 Suicide Squad 5* $2.99 DC 63,472
36 Star Wars Han Solo 4 $3.99 Marvel 63,030
37 Harley Quinn 5* $2.99 DC 62,943
38 Black Panther 7 $3.99 Marvel 60,857
39 Batman Beyond 1* $2.99 DC 60,537
40 Death of X 2 $3.99 Marvel 59,427
41 Harley Quinn 6* $2.99 DC 58,827
42 Nightwing 7 $2.99 DC 58,402
43 Titans 4 $2.99 DC 58,342
44 Action Comics 965 $2.99 DC 55,678
45 Action Comics 966 $2.99 DC 53,467
46 Spider-Man Deadpool 10 $3.99 Marvel 52,468
47 Green Lanterns 8 $2.99 DC 52,025
48 Deadpool 21 $9.99 Marvel 51,351
49 Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps 6 $2.99 DC 49,988
50 Green Lanterns 9 $2.99 DC 49,434
51 Captain America Steve Rogers 6 $3.99 Marvel 49,111
52 Green Arrow 8 $2.99 DC 48,904
53 Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps 7 $2.99 DC 48,064
54 Star Wars Poe Dameron 7 $4.99 Marvel 47,878
55 Saga 39 $2.99 Image 46,749
56 Green Arrow 9 $2.99 DC 46,606
57 Deadpool 20 $3.99 Marvel 46,109
58 Supergirl 2* $2.99 DC 45,692
59 Old Man Logan 12 $3.99 Marvel 45,384
60 Aquaman 8 $2.99 DC 44,551
61 Mosaic 1 $4.99 Marvel 44,354
62 Cage 1 $3.99 Marvel 44,178
63 Deadpool Back In Black 2 $3.99 Marvel 44,047
64 Invincible Iron Man 14 $3.99 Marvel 43,888
65 Aquaman 9 $2.99 DC 42,695
66 Deathstroke 4* $2.99 DC 42,521
67 Red Hood and the Outlaws 3 $2.99 DC 41,971
68 Doctor Strange 13 $3.99 Marvel 41,290
69 Batgirl 4 $2.99 DC 40,778
70 Mighty Thor 12 $3.99 Marvel 40,326
71 Great Lakes Avengers 1 $3.99 Marvel 40,300
72 Batgirl and the Birds of Prey 3 $2.99 DC 40,041
73 Serenity No Power in the Verse 1 $3.99 Dark Horse 39,492
74 Star Wars Force Awakens Adaptation 5 $3.99 Marvel 39,329
75 Deathstroke 5* $2.99 DC 39,144
76 Uncanny X-Men 14 $3.99 Marvel 38,685
77 All New Wolverine 13 $3.99 Marvel 38,297
78 Uncanny Avengers 15 $3.99 Marvel 38,058
79 Doom Patrol 2* $3.99 DC 37,856
80 Cyborg 2* $2.99 DC 37,797
81 All New All Different Avengers 15 $3.99 Marvel 37,209
82 Prowler 1 $3.99 Marvel 37,177
83 Extraordinary X-Men 15 $3.99 Marvel 36,941
84 Superwoman 3* $2.99 DC 36,867
85 Deadpool Too Soon 1 $4.99 Marvel 36,406
86 Kiss 1 $3.99 Dynamite 36,404
87 Wonder Woman 75th Anniversary Special 1 $7.99 DC 36,096
88 Punisher 6 $3.99 Marvel 35,344
89 Cave Carson Has A Cybernetic Eye 1* $3.99 DC 35,204
90 Moonshine 1 $2.99 Image 34,544
91 Gwenpool 7 $3.99 Marvel 34,365
92 Daredevil 12 $3.99 Marvel 34,297
93 Moon Knight 7 $3.99 Marvel 33,866
94 Hellblazer 3 $2.99 DC 33,596
95 Blue Beetle 2* $2.99 DC 33,454
96 He Man Thundercats 1 $3.99 DC 32,936
97 All New X-Men 14 $3.99 Marvel 32,629
98 Cyborg 3* $2.99 DC 32,505
99 Paper Girls 10 $2.99 Image 32,119
100 Shade The Changing Girl 1* $3.99 DC 32,081

. . .

147 Earth 2 Society 17 $2.99 DC 16,822
178 Injustice Gods Among Us Year Five 20 $2.99 DC 12,313
180 Injustice Gods Among Us Year Five 19 $2.99 DC 12,262
237 Justice League 1 Dir. Cut $5.99 DC 6,992

[Big Daddy Dave Skywalker Moisture Farmer Find all posts View Profile Close Big Daddy Dave Skywalker]

Damn. Flash, which has always been kind of a peer title to GL, is selling WAY better than either GL title. and now both GL titles are in the 40Ks.

[Big Daddy Dave Skywalker Moisture Farmer Find all posts View Profile Close Big Daddy Dave Skywalker]

10 HAL JORDAN AND THE GREEN LANTERN CORPS REBIRTH #1[*] 113,965
11 HAL JORDAN AND THE GREEN LANTERN CORPS #1[*] 108,708
28 Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps 2* $2.99 DC 77,972
42 Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps 3* $2.99 DC 64,737
41 Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps 4* $2.99 DC 54,815
46 Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps 5* $2.99 DC 50,935
49 Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps 6 $2.99 DC 49,988
53 Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps 7 $2.99 DC 48,064
51 Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps 8 $2.99 DC 45,194
55 Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps 9 $2.99 DC 43,485

-----------------------------------------------

12 Green Lanterns Rebirth 1* $2.99 DC 99,504
18 Green Lanterns 1* $2.99 DC 84,910
28 GREEN LANTERNS #2[*] 82,062
29 GREEN LANTERNS #3[*] 78,708
37 Green Lanterns 4* $2.99 DC 71,140
44 Green Lanterns 5* $2.99 DC 64,252
36 Green Lanterns 6 $2.99 DC 58,346
38 Green Lanterns 7 $2.99 DC 55,367
47 Green Lanterns 8 $2.99 DC 52,025
50 Green Lanterns 9 $2.99 DC 49,434
50 Green Lanterns 10 $2.99 DC 46,306
53 Green Lanterns 11 $2.99 DC 44,703

[Big Daddy Dave Skywalker Moisture Farmer Find all posts View Profile Close Big Daddy Dave Skywalker]

GLs..es,...is still selling better than the main GL title, but again that weird drop in the SAME ordering month. why would retailers order 2,600 copies less of one and 1,900 copies less of the other for the next issues when they place the order for both at the same time? Still seeing copies on the shelf and assuming there will be less, which means the titles aren't done settling in yet.