Green Lantern Sales Numbers

[Trey Strain Guardian of the Universe Find all posts View Profile Close Trey Strain]

Well it's only been 7 months and a lot of those books are getting close to where they were before Rebirth, so the bump has been short lived. Even the 52 bump lasted much longer.

True, but the bumps for Titans, Wonder Woman and Suicide Squad have been HUGE!

Now that you mention the New 52 vs Rebirth, it's funny to recall how many people at CBR ranted for YEARS that the New 52 was somehow a disaster, but that with Rebirth DC was finally getting it right. Even though the New 52 sold a fortune's worth of comics!

One thing I've learned in life is that a person's stated complaint is often not his real complaint, because he'd be ashamed to admit what his real complaint is. These guys' real complaint about the New 52 was that they were no longer the experts on DC lore, and that any newcomer could pick up a few comics and know as much as they did.

(What was actually wrong with the New 52 was that they tried to reboot 52 comics at once, and there's no way to do that very thoughtfully.)

In 2015 I began to argue on CBR that DC should go to twice-monthly publishing, and some people argued that that was a bad idea because it would create "artistic inconsistency." Their real complaint was that they didn't want to shell out more money for the comics they were collecting, but they were ashamed to admit that.

DC listened to me and not to them, which of course is what it should have done. My argument was that any comic that would sell one issue a month would sell two, and that's been borne out.

[Trey Strain Guardian of the Universe Find all posts View Profile Close Trey Strain]

Beyond that, at the end of the New 52, DC's sales were still a bit higher than they were before it was launched. It was an enormous financial success.

It seems likely that Rebirth will give at least a few of DC's titles a permanent boost in popularity too.

The biggest gain though will likely come from bimonthly publishing. Just printing Batman twice as often has brought in a geyser of money for DC.

Now, as to Green Lantern -- it seems that once again DC has screwed the pooch with this property. They had too many Earth Lanterns to start with, so they "solved the problem" by pushing two more into the market and cluttering things up even more. In the interest of "diversity," of course, which as usual meant they just assumed that it would work, and had no Plan B in case it didn't.

And the fact that putting Hal's name on a comic didn't make it sell should tell them that he isn't as popular as he's been made out to be. Comics buyers have surely noticed that, which has done no good for the character.

GL is on a long-term downward track, and no sort of rebirth or gimmick will reverse that trend for long. It badly needs a reboot, with an emphasis on returning to the classic pre-Kyle Lanternverse. (Which doesn't mean that Kyle should be eliminated.)

That means that Geoff should stay out of it. There are many other projects he can make better contributions to. He has been Lanterned out for a while now.

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

. . . For the other Bat books, it's a wash. I think they may have maxxed out in terms of popularity, but they seem to be in no danger of declining.

I think 'Tec got a boost because it was the rebirth spot for Batwoman and the story had the apparent death of Tim. But now Kate has her own book again and it will level off. I've been getting Action and Detective for years anyway, but I saw that they were building the latter for Kate's rebirth.

[EmeraldGladiator Manhunter Repairman Find all posts View Profile Close EmeraldGladiator]

Cop actually for me Tec's appeal is it is the only place you can get certain itches scratched. My two favorite supporting members of the bat family are JPV (Azrael) and Cass (once Batgirl now Orphan). Tec is the only place I can see those characters, I also like the character of Batwing, and don't mind Batwoman in limited doses. In fact my enjoyment of the title has only increased after Spoiler and Red Robin's leaving since it means more face time for the before mentioned characters. I bought the Batwoman book back in the day but mostly because of the Williams art and while I like Epting I am not adding it to my pull list yet. The Tec team interests me more than any other street level team ever has, New Avengers, this New Defenders, Marvel Knights, Suicide Squad type books. You can get your fill of Bruce in numerous titles but some characters you can only get in Tec. That is why it is neck in neck with HJ&tGLC for my favorite DC comic right now.

[Trey Strain Guardian of the Universe Find all posts View Profile Close Trey Strain]

Never let a past writer of a comic do a reboot of it. Why would you do that? Especially in Geoff's case, since he already did a slow-motion reboot of GL over a period of years, by changing everything about it.

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

Cop actually for me Tec's appeal is it is the only place you can get certain itches scratched. My two favorite supporting members of the bat family are JPV (Azrael) and Cass (once Batgirl now Orphan). Tec is the only place I can see those characters, I also like the character of Batwing, and don't mind Batwoman in limited doses. In fact my enjoyment of the title has only increased after Spoiler and Red Robin's leaving since it means more face time for the before mentioned characters . . .

I've been digging 'Tec lately too (hopefully my previous post didn't imply otherwise), though probably not quite as much as you. Backgrounding Batman (who appears in enough other books) works well here.

I also could take or leave Kane. But I too like both Cassies, which is cool since she doesn't seem to have many fans here (West is an outright Cassandra hater).

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

In my opinion, the problems with the Green Lantern franchise are:

Two new, useless protagonists occupying a book in a franchise that REALLY didn't need new protagonists. This means that panel time between the characters that loyal fans are coming to see is hugely diminished.

Same old stories and style of storytelling. The Lantern franchise has been taken over by incredibly redundant color wars that have diminishing returns each time. Also, the Geoff Johns style of writing is still there, which is being reliant on plot heavy events that don't do much for the characters, which leads us to...

Lack of character development. The characters are action figures to deal with whatever threat is apparent, and nothing else. Rather than plots being formed around them, they are usually slaves to the plots, and simply there to facilitate the plot. And if they do have some character development, it always hits the same limited notes, like with Jessica Cruz. Aside from Cruz lately, who only really has one notable attribute as a character, they do not seem like people who have concerns people have, and in this, they do not seem like three dimensional characters. Because there are so many of them, and because of the diminished panel time, they are also one note.

Hal Jordan's only real quality as a character is his reckless abandon that he somehow manages to make work for him every time.

Guy Gardner's only real quality as a character is that he's an aggressive big mouth rabble rouser with a heart of gold.

John Stewart's only real qualities as a character are that he can think of a plan and he was a marine.

Kyle Rayner is sensitive and in touch with his feelings.

Jessica Cruz is practically always dealing with panic attacks.

Simon Baz, I don't know.

And most of these characters don't seem to have much of a life outside of their super heroing and their only concerns are about super heroing. Even if they are in space all the time, they could have interesting interpersonal relationships with other characters that are concerns. This leads us to...

The relationships between the characters are not interesting. None of them seem like they're close with each other, even when they're supposed to be. There's something hollow about the relationships, probably because the characters themselves are rather hollow. This makes it so I have no interest in being invested in any of the characters or their relationships. Like... Hal Jordan and John Stewart really don't seem to have much of a relationship at all. The only notable thing between Hal Jordan and Guy Gardner is they engage in fisticuffs from time to time. Guy Gardner and John Stewart are supposed to be best friends, but I dunno'. I only feel that way because the text says so, not because of a really convincing bond that showcased in the stories. None of those characters seem to have much to do with Kyle Rayner. Kyle Rayner seems to have a relationship with Carol Ferris, which I'm not even sure is still going on, and which seems to have sprung up kinda' out of nowhere. Kilowog seems to be everyone's friend, and that's essentially all he is. Arisia barely talks or does anything of note. I think Venditti doesn't care for her, because he seems to have intentionally relegated her to total background fodder, while characters like Two-Six, Kilowog, and Tomar-Tu still get to speak and do things. And I personally wouldn't put Arisia behind characters like Two-Six, Iolande, Tomar-Tu and so forth. Soranik is actually kinda' interesting and grows... at least compared to the other characters.

Moving on, aside from some of the key characters, pretty much everything pre-Geoff Johns has been abandoned, and on the rare occurrence something does resurface, it never really seems genuine or thought out. For example, Sonar was there for a short arc and now he's gone, and there was probably no plan for him to come back set into place, and if there was, it was likely nixed by now.

Also, Geoff Johns Green Lantern is played out and the franchise really needs to do something else that's drastically different with a much different flavor. It won't be able to move forward until the powers that be realize that and do something about it.

[Trey Strain Guardian of the Universe Find all posts View Profile Close Trey Strain]

In my opinion, the problems with the Green Lantern franchise are:

Two new, useless protagonists occupying a book in a franchise that REALLY didn't need new protagonists. This means that panel time between the characters that loyal fans are coming to see is hugely diminished.

Same old stories and style of storytelling. The Lantern franchise has been taken over by incredibly redundant color wars that have diminishing returns each time. Also, the Geoff Johns style of writing is still there, which is being reliant on plot heavy events that don't do much for the characters, which leads us to...

Lack of character development. The characters are action figures to deal with whatever threat is apparent, and nothing else. Rather than plots being formed around them, they are usually slaves to the plots, and simply there to facilitate the plot. And if they do have some character development, it always hits the same limited notes, like with Jessica Cruz. Aside from Cruz lately, who only really has one notable notable attribute as a character, they do not seem like people who have concerns people have, and in this, they do not seem like three dimensional characters. Because there are so many of them, and because of the diminished panel time, they are also one note.

Hal Jordan's only real quality as a character is his reckless abandon that he somehow manages to make work for him every time.

Guy Gardner's only real quality as a character is that he's an aggressive big mouth rabble rouser with a heart of gold.

John Stewart's only real qualities as a character is that he can think of a plan and he was a marine.

Kyle Rayner is sensitive and in touch with his feelings.

Jessica Cruz is practically always dealing with panic attacks.

Simon Baz, I don't know.

Also, the relationships between the characters are not interesting. None of them seem like they're close with each other, even when they're supposed to be. There's something hollow about the relationships, probably because the characters themselves are rather hollow.

Moving on, aside from some of the key characters, pretty much everything pre-Geoff Johns has been abandoned, and on the rare occurrence something does resurface, it never really seems genuine or thought out. For example, Sonar was there for a short arc and now he's gone, and there was probably no plan for him to come back set into place, and if there was, it was likely nixed by now.

Also, Geoff Johns Green Lantern is played out and the franchise really needs to do something else that's drastically different with a much different flavor. It won't be able to move forward until the powers that be realize that and do something about it.

You took all those words right out of my mouth!

The Lanterns are indeed one-note characters, made even more so by their decreased panel time, and the stories are plot-driven rather than character-driven.

The only solution to all these long-term problems and the franchise's resulting decline is a reboot.

Kyle needs to go to Titans as a GL, younger and depicted more as he was in his early days, and Green Lantern should be about Hal, Guy and John. Guy and John should be depicted the way they were in the 90s, and Hal needs a full makeover with a new direction. At least one Lantern title should be based on Earth. And the emotional spectrum has got to go. Make it a recurring mini and get it out of Green Lantern.

If Geoff wants to get involved, let him figure out something different to do with Baz and Cruz. They're his characters.

[Trey Strain Guardian of the Universe Find all posts View Profile Close Trey Strain]

Many thanks for writing that post, S-L. You summed it all up very well and also helped me sum up my solutions very succinctly.

Let me add that teams and team-ups are supposed to be about the dynamics between the characters, and there are no such dynamics in the GL titles.

And yes, when a pre-Johns character is brought back, it seems to be done just for a brief and meaningless show before the writers get back to what "really matters."

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

I agree. That was an excellent post by Star-Lantern.

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

This month, they're pretty early. By the way, if I never explained the two numbers: the first ranking is the usual one (units sold). The second is by dollar value (because not all comics are the same price).

February Comic Sales

1 1 Star Wars Darth Maul 1 $4.99 Marvel 105,177
2 5 Batman 16 $2.99 DC 102,096
3 7 Batman 17 $2.99 DC 99,637
4 4 Justice League of America 1* $2.99 DC 93,494
5 3 Super Sons 1* $2.99 DC 90,345
6 8 Walking Dead 164 $2.99 Image 83,999
7 2 All Star Batman 7 $4.99 DC 77,096
8 6 Star Wars 28 $3.99 Marvel 74,002
9 11 Justice League of America Rebirth 1* $2.99 DC 73,397
10 16 Justice League 14 $2.99 DC 65,458
11 17 Justice League 15 $2.99 DC 64,230
12 9 Detective Comics 950 $3.99 DC 62,628
13 10 Amazing Spider-Man 24 $3.99 Marvel 61,953
14 22 Detective Comics 951 $2.99 DC 59,630
15 25 Flash 16 $2.99 DC 57,039
16 12 IVX 4 $3.99 Marvel 56,969
17 26 Superman 16 $2.99 DC 56,105
18 28 Flash 17 $2.99 DC 55,234
19 29 Superman 17 $2.99 DC 54,561
20 15 IVX 5 $3.99 Marvel 53,348
21 23 Batwoman Rebirth 1* $2.99 DC 52,650
22 37 Wonder Woman 16 $2.99 DC 49,921
23 13 Wild Storm 1* $3.99 DC 49,493
24 18 Clone Conspiracy 5 $3.99 Marvel 48,780
25 40 Suicide Squad 11 $2.99 DC 48,723
26 41 Wonder Woman 17 $2.99 DC 48,662
27 45 Suicide Squad 12 $2.99 DC 46,860
28 21 Unworthy Thor 4 $3.99 Marvel 46,006
29 48 Harley Quinn 13 $2.99 DC 45,400
30 20 Elektra 1 $3.99 Marvel 44,310
31 51 Titans 8 $2.99 DC 44,028
32 50 Harley Quinn 14 $2.99 DC 43,798
33 24 Star Wars Doctor Aphra 4 $3.99 Marvel 43,475
34 14 Monsters Unleashed 2 $4.99 Marvel 43,355
35 54 Action Comics 973 $2.99 DC 43,047
36 56 Nightwing 14 $2.99 DC 42,656
37 62 Trinity 6 $2.99 DC 42,001
38 63 Action Comics 974 $2.99 DC 41,712
39 64 Nightwing 15 $2.99 DC 41,423
40 31 Star Wars Poe Dameron 11 $3.99 Marvel 40,235
41 32 Mighty Thor 16 $3.99 Marvel 40,175
42 188 True Believers Wolverine Vs Hulk 1 $1.00 Marvel 39,177
43 72 Teen Titans 5 $2.99 DC 39,028
44 33 Old Man Logan 17 $3.99 Marvel 38,851
45 35 Old Man Logan 18 $3.99 Marvel 38,679
46 34 Deadpool 26 $3.99 Marvel 38,560
47 30 Venom 4 $3.99 Marvel 38,337
48 36 Spider-Man Deadpool 14 $3.99 Marvel 38,307
49 19 Monsters Unleashed 3 $4.99 Marvel 38,205
50 75 Green Lanterns 16 $2.99 DC 37,845
51 38 Doctor Strange 17 $3.99 Marvel 37,686
52 76 Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps 14 $2.99 DC 37,504
53 39 Avengers 4 $3.99 Marvel 37,383
54 78 Green Lanterns 17 $2.99 DC 36,626
55 42 Captain America Steve Rogers 11 $3.99 Marvel 36,610
56 43 Invincible Iron Man 4 $3.99 Marvel 36,600
57 80 Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps 15 $2.99 DC 36,331
58 44 Kingpin 1 $3.99 Marvel 36,095
59 46 Black Panther 11 $3.99 Marvel 35,492
60 47 Uncanny X-Men 18 $3.99 Marvel 34,948
61 49 Spider-Man 13 $3.99 Marvel 34,195
62 27 Bullseye 1 $4.99 Marvel 33,511
63 86 Green Arrow 16 $2.99 DC 33,371
64 53 Deadpool 27 $3.99 Marvel 32,836
65 52 Justice League Power Rangers 2 $3.99 DC 32,835
66 55 Captain America Steve Rogers 12 $3.99 Marvel 32,567
67 87 Green Arrow 17 $2.99 DC 32,392
68 57 Extraordinary X-Men 19 $3.99 Marvel 32,328
69 58 Thanos 4 $3.99 Marvel 32,032
70 60 Daredevil 17 $3.99 Marvel 31,794
71 61 Amazing Spider-Man Renew Your Vows 4 $3.99 Marvel 31,750
72 90 Aquaman 16 $2.99 DC 31,408
73 65 Champions 5 $3.99 Marvel 31,344
74 68 Guardians of Galaxy 17 $3.99 Marvel 31,093
75 66 Uncanny Avengers 20 $3.99 Marvel 31,089
76 92 Aquaman 17 $2.99 DC 30,584
77 91 Paper Girls 11 $2.99 Image 30,562
78 69 All New X-Men 18 $3.99 Marvel 30,334
79 71 Infamous Iron Man 5 $3.99 Marvel 29,685
80 73 All New Wolverine 17 $3.99 Marvel 29,255
81 74 Spider-Gwen 17 $3.99 Marvel 29,168
82 97 Red Hood and the Outlaws 7 $2.99 DC 28,753
83 77 Hulk 3 $3.99 Marvel 27,968
84 101 Batman Beyond 5 $2.99 DC 27,495
85 79 Punisher 9 $3.99 Marvel 27,448
86 102 Deathstroke 12 $2.99 DC 27,226
87 59 Doctor Strange 1.MU $4.99 Marvel 27,212
88 105 Batgirl 8 $2.99 DC 26,539
89 82 Moon Knight 11 $3.99 Marvel 26,467
90 107 Deathstroke 13 $2.99 DC 26,328
91 81 Kill or Be Killed 6 $3.99 Image 26,312
92 108 Supergirl 6 $2.99 DC 26,240
93 84 Jessica Jones 5 $3.99 Marvel 25,769
94 67 Batman TMNT Adventures 4* $3.99 IDW 24,927
95 117 Batgirl and the Birds of Prey 7 $2.99 DC 24,466
96 70 All New X-Men 1.MU $4.99 Marvel 24,202
97 89 Mighty Captain Marvel 2 $3.99 Marvel 24,172
98 88 Old Guard 1 $3.99 Image 23,867
99 93 Avengers 4.1 $3.99 Marvel 22,810
100 85 Planet of Apes Green Lantern 1 $3.99 Boom 22,712

. . .

155 125 Star Trek Green Lantern Vol. 2 3* $3.99 IDW 14,526
161 182 Earth 2 Society 21 $2.99 DC 13,761
178 205 Injustice Ground Zero 6 $2.99 DC 11,110
230 196 Justice League Power Rangers 1 $3.99 DC 6,854

[Trey Strain Guardian of the Universe Find all posts View Profile Close Trey Strain]

Aquaman and Supergirl are headed toward the same fate as always. It's time to put them on a team like the one I suggested at this link.

When I said at CBR that Aquaman can't carry an ongoing and that he belongs on a team and out of Atlantis, his fanboys went ape-shit with outrage. Well, look who was wrong about his ongoing's inevitable collapse, and who was right. That dumb-assed orange shirt that makes him like a goldfish needs to go too, and the trident with it. That stuff just isn't ever going to sell. It's flopped enough times that everyone needs to admit it at long last.

http://www.thegreenlanterncorps.com/...t=24494&page=2

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

Damn! That WAS fast!! Thanks for getting that up so quick Space Cop.




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
54 Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps 10 $2.99 DC 41,234
57 Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps 11 $2.99 DC 40,111
60 Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps 12 $2.99 DC 39,148
63 Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps 13 $2.99 DC 38,053
52 Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps 14 $2.99 DC 37,504
57 Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps 15 $2.99 DC 36,331








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

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
51 Green Lanterns 12 $2.99 DC 42,241
55 Green Lanterns 13 $2.99 DC 41,090
59 Green Lanterns 14 $2.99 DC 39,854
62 Green Lanterns 15 $2.99 DC 38,571
50 Green Lanterns 16 $2.99 DC 37,845
54 Green Lanterns 17 $2.99 DC 36,626


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100 Planet of Apes Green Lantern 1 $3.99 Boom 22,712

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116 Star Trek Green Lantern Vol. 2 1* $3.99 IDW 20,853
156 Star Trek Green Lantern Vol. 2 2* $3.99 IDW 15,595
155 Star Trek Green Lantern Vol. 2 3* $3.99 IDW 14,526


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

Damn! That WAS fast!! Thanks for getting that up so quick Space Cop.

Well, I appreciate what you do too, putting it in perspective (especially since you don't care about the books).

The drop off hasn't been horrible, but it is steady. I'll be curious if one or both can hold above 30k at the one-year mark.

Funny enough, the numbers were up yesterday, but I didn't notice until a little before midnight and didn't want to take the time on the way to bed.

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

Only 295 copies ordered separates the two GL titles, which is essentially a dead heat. People that are buying one are also buying the other.

Mid 30k range now and still sinking. Perhaps there will be a small bump in the next few months from the Kyle Rayner developments? DC needs to do something to get these two titles to level off and keep what readers are remaining. And they need to do it fast. The GL franchise cannot be allowed to have both titles sitting in the 20k range.