Green Lantern Sales Numbers

[Ωmega Man Guardian of the Universe Find all posts View Profile Close Ωmega Man]

Anyone can tell DC that they'd rather the company not publish a comic or produce a television show than to make a few changes that will sell it. And they'll listen to that, right?

Sure they will. Because it's all about the person who is raising that objection.

DC produces comics, sir.... not television shows.

And none of your proposed changes are a guaranteed sell. If you can't sell ideas to a handful of us on these forums you think another thirty thousand fans won't disagree with them? You can't make chicken salad out of chicken shit.

~//V\\~

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

The first principle of business:

Some money > no money.

[Ωmega Man Guardian of the Universe Find all posts View Profile Close Ωmega Man]

Then instead of insisting they change one concept that's already making 'some money', propose they use another not being used without completely butchering it. When's Zatanna gonna get an ongoing? How bout bringing back Shadowpact? Or IDK, finally get around to giving Capt. Marvel a book [and I'd rather call the book Power of Shazam than have his superhero alias be Shazam].

~//V\\~

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

For a network show to work, you initially need an attention-grabber and a wow factor to lure people in. Constructs accomplish that. When you think GL, you think constructs, not hot shot pilot, not swanky artist and not Marine Corps. It's what GL has been about since the development of the franchise (Hal Jordan at least). They don't have to be exceedingly imaginative, but you need constructs for GL to work, otherwise it's a green Supergirl- a character that makes poor decisions, flies around and shoots lasers. For longevity, "it ain't about the powers," it's about good writing, but when you're establishing a superhero and trying to gather a new audience, it kind of is.

I can see where you're coming from by vanquishing the constructs because you've done that in your fan fiction, but I don't think it'll work for tv. Getting the audience's attention is paramount, then establishing solid, likeable characters. I do agree that aliens and off-world stuff would have to be extremely limited or not shown/done at all.

CW's Green Arrow is nothing more than a cheap copy of Batman. They've even ripped off some of his rogue's gallery. Don't get me started on that show.

You make some good points there. I would say though that three or four strongly written episodes, front-loaded at the beginning to kick off a television series, should get people watching Green Lantern on the telly. You don't need any gimmicks or any budget busters to do it.

I won't argue too much about Arrow, but hell, people do watch it. I think DC sees Batman as their street-level movie property, and Arrow as their street-level television property. There's a logic to that, and it works. I think they're taking the same approach to Supergirl. I don't care for it, but as the television counterpart to the Superman movies, it's popular.

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

Why can't they put Green Lantern on television? One reason. The ring constructs! They would blow the budget through the roof.

That's not true, and the Flash TV show is proof positive. We've seen numerous episodes dominated by completely CGI characters and Speed Force effects. They look just as good, if not better, than the GL '11 movie effects. Bringing the constructs to life would just come down to proper planning.

Thing is, if you eliminate the constructs, you remove what makes Green Lantern unique; it's partially why Firestorm on LoT sucks so badly. Take away the GL's uniqueness and all you have is a lesser, green version of Superman that flies and shoots beams. Boring.

If there is ever a GL appearance on Flash/Arrow/Supergirl, a central focus should be exploring all of the ring's facets. For Green Lantern to work on TV or film, it's producers must approaching it, quite fittingly, without fear.

And I'm just gonna throw this out there.... when a film company spends NEARLY THE EXACT same amount of cash on promoting the film as they do making the film itself... can you blame the filmmakers? That's just a horrible decision somebody should've stopped. It's not Green Lantern's fault the film lost money, it's the idiots behind the marketing at WB.

~//V\\~

I'm still trying to figure out where that marketing budget went. Outside of a brief period where the GL trailers were on TV and a meager selection of merchandise hit stores, WB was inexplicably quiet with their promotion. While I'm grateful that GL got the live-action treatment (I really am), I'm still baffled at how so much money was spent with so little to show for it.

[Ωmega Man Guardian of the Universe Find all posts View Profile Close Ωmega Man]

I'm still trying to figure out why the big wigs don't put their characters on more than just Dr Pepper cans and bottles. I know GL was in milk ads and other stuff around the time but like you, I wonder where all the money went. Surely THEY didn't have to pay Mattel or whoever did all those crappy toys [there were a few diamonds in the rough, but you had to know what they were], Hot Wheels certainly couldn't take that kinda bank from somebody. It couldn't have used that kinda budget printing movie ads in multiple books and magazines either.

Wouldn't surprise me if Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively's wedding didn't come out of that cash LOL. Them becoming a couple and having a kid has been like the ONLY positive thing from that movie. And Ryan sounds like a great dad and husband too.

~//V\\~

[JohnMc Senior Corps Member Find all posts View Profile Close JohnMc]

With GL, Johns didn't even make it through ONE run of GL without it turning to shit by the end. .

Johns is an overrated sack of crap who benefited have good artists during his runs. The only thing memorable about his GL run is Ethan's artwork.

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

Well, I doubt anyone will care at this point, but here's my usual report. The main additions to what you've already seen would be my usual highlighting of books that feature one or more GL and all top 100 books for a sense of the market and GL's competition. For those who seem to still think DC is being left behind, you can note that they had 4 books to Marvel's 5 in the top 10 (with Image's Walking Dead predictably rounding it out). The Button crossover seems to have gotten the attention it was meant to.

April Comic Sales

1 1 Secret Empire 0 $4.99 Marvel 162,718
2 4 Batman 21 Lenticular Ed. $3.99 DC 130,216
3 3 X-Men Gold 1 $4.99 Marvel 114,332
4 2 X-Men Blue 1 $4.99 Marvel 108,839
5 5 Flash 21 Lenticular Ed. $3.99 DC 107,037
6 8 Batman 20 $2.99 DC 97,544
7 12 Batman 21 $2.99 DC 89,256
8 10 Star Wars 30 $3.99 Marvel 70,175
9 11 Weapon X 1 $3.99 Marvel 68,874
10 19 Walking Dead 166 $2.99 Image 68,205
11 20 Flash 21 $2.99 DC 67,766
12 6 All Star Batman 9 $4.99 DC 67,632
13 7 Star Wars Rogue One Adaptation 1 $4.99 Marvel 64,518
14 9 Venom 6 $3.99 Marvel 62,747
15 13 Amazing Spider-Man 26 $3.99 Marvel 62,515
16 15 X-Men Gold 2 $3.99 Marvel 62,283
17 26 Justice League 18 $2.99 DC 58,737
18 27 Detective Comics 954 $2.99 DC 58,187
19 30 Detective Comics 955 $2.99 DC 57,666
20 29 Justice League 19 $2.99 DC 57,647
21 16 All New Wolverine 19 $3.99 Marvel 57,526
22 14 Batman The Shadow 1 $3.99 DC 55,920
23 17 Star Wars Darth Maul 3 $3.99 Marvel 54,949
24 21 X-Men Blue 2 $3.99 Marvel 54,074
25 33 Flash 20 $2.99 DC 53,828
26 35 Superman 20 $2.99 DC 53,373
27 18 Ben Reilly Scarlet Spider 1 $3.99 Marvel 53,240
28 38 Superman 21 $2.99 DC 51,373
29 23 Deadpool Vs Punisher 1 $3.99 Marvel 45,509
30 53 Wonder Woman 20 $2.99 DC 45,266
31 25 Old Man Logan 21 $3.99 Marvel 44,806
32 55 Wonder Woman 21 $2.99 DC 44,597
33 28 Old Man Logan 22 $3.99 Marvel 44,026
34 57 Action Comics 977 $2.99 DC 43,865
35 60 Action Comics 978 $2.99 DC 43,555
36 49 Justice League of America 4* $2.99 DC 43,360
37 59 Harley Quinn 17 $2.99 DC 43,263
38 37 Weapon X 2 $3.99 Marvel 42,471
39 61 Suicide Squad 16 $2.99 DC 41,929
40 62 Harley Quinn 18 $2.99 DC 41,645
41 51 Justice League of America 5* $2.99 DC 41,543
42 31 Royals 1 $3.99 Marvel 40,941
43 67 Suicide Squad 15 $2.99 DC 40,940
44 32 Titans 10 $3.99 DC 40,893
45 24 Super Sons 3* $3.99 DC 40,510
46 34 Spider-Man Deadpool 16 $3.99 Marvel 40,484
47 36 Star Wars Doctor Aphra 6 $3.99 Marvel 40,458
48 69 Nightwing 18 $2.99 DC 38,858
49 71 Nightwing 19 $2.99 DC 38,230
50 41 Mighty Thor 18 $3.99 Marvel 37,505
51 43 Captain America Steve Rogers 16 $3.99 Marvel 37,366
52 45 Star Wars Poe Dameron 13 $3.99 Marvel 36,994
53 44 Trinity 8 $3.99 DC 36,803
54 46 Deadpool 29 $3.99 Marvel 36,482
55 48 Teen Titans 7 $3.99 DC 36,056
56 50 Deadpool Vs Punisher 2 $3.99 Marvel 35,977
57 47 Black Panther Crew 1 $3.99 Marvel 35,604
58 52 Captain America Steve Rogers 15 $3.99 Marvel 34,863
59 79 Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps 18 $2.99 DC 34,507
60 80 Green Lanterns 20 $2.99 DC 34,224
61 81 Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps 19 $2.99 DC 34,140
62 54 Spider-Man 15 $3.99 Marvel 34,013
63 82 Green Lanterns 21 $2.99 DC 33,556
64 58 Doctor Strange 19 $3.99 Marvel 33,246
65 42 Batwoman 2* $3.99 DC 33,239
66 39 Neil Gaiman American Gods Shadows 2* $3.99 Dark Horse 33,091
67 56 Seven to Eternity 5 $3.99 Image 32,667
68 63 Nick Fury 1 $3.99 Marvel 31,683
69 64 Invincible Iron Man 6 $3.99 Marvel 31,561
70 65 Avengers 6 $3.99 Marvel 31,461
71 68 Black Panther 13 $3.99 Marvel 30,509
72 91 Green Arrow 20 $2.99 DC 30,216
73 40 Guardians of the Galaxy 19 $4.99 Marvel 30,028
74 93 Green Arrow 21 $2.99 DC 29,993
75 70 Amazing Spider-Man Renew Your Vows 6 $3.99 Marvel 29,131
76 72 Daredevil 19 $3.99 Marvel 28,867
77 84 Iron Fist 2 $3.99 Marvel 28,649
78 99 Aquaman 20 $2.99 DC 28,452
79 85 Royals 2 $3.99 Marvel 28,370
80 100 Paper Girls 13 $2.99 Image 27,993
81 73 Thanos 6 $3.99 Marvel 27,840
82 101 Aquaman 21 $2.99 DC 27,837
83 66 Wild Storm 3* $3.99 DC 27,814
84 74 Champions 7 $3.99 Marvel 27,734
85 75 Uncanny Avengers 22 $3.99 Marvel 27,438
86 76 Monsters Unleashed 1 $3.99 Marvel 27,317
87 77 Infamous Iron Man 7 $3.99 Marvel 27,032
88 382 Sovereigns 0 $1.00 Dynamite 26,441
89 78 Red Hood and the Outlaws 9 $3.99 DC 26,410
90 94 Guardians of the Galaxy Dream On 1 $3.99 Marvel 26,307
91 249 True Believers Giant-Size X-Men 1 $1.00 Marvel 25,346
92 83 Batman Beyond 7 $3.99 DC 24,789
93 87 Moon Knight 13 $3.99 Marvel 24,287
94 86 Batgirl 10 $3.99 DC 24,117
95 104 America 2 $3.99 Marvel 23,987
96 89 Punisher 11 $3.99 Marvel 23,863
97 88 Supergirl 8 $3.99 DC 23,814
98 114 Deathstroke 16 $2.99 DC 23,712
99 117 Deathstroke 17 $2.99 DC 23,449
100 90 Jessica Jones 7 $3.99 Marvel 23,273
. . .
181 212 Injustice Ground Zero 9 $2.99 DC 10,669
186 216 Injustice Ground Zero 10 $2.99 DC 10,466

[Ωmega Man Guardian of the Universe Find all posts View Profile Close Ωmega Man]

Some of the titles ahead of Green Lantern surprise me when at one time the franchise was the third biggest seller outside of JLA and stuff featuring Superman or Batman. The Flash is in the top 25 comics, which is awesome. Some of the other stuff ahead of GLC in no order: Action Comics, Wonder Woman, Harley Quinn, Titans, Justice League, Suicide Squad, Teen Titans, Batman's politically correct JLoA, Super Sons, and Nightwing.

The only big names doing worse off than Hal and the GLC are Green Arrow, Aquaman, and a few Bat-titles like Red Hood & the Outlaws, Batman Beyond, as well as broader DCU stuff like Supergirl and Deathstroke.

Seventeen years ago Marz was ending his initial Kyle Rayner run with issue #125 of volume 3. This wasn't an ending to a huge storyline like we're seeing today, rather a bit of a fill in issue and a sendoff of the writer. The enemy was just some random alien race buried on the moon, nothing too fancy. And the artist was somebody most of you probably don't even remember.

This issue sold just under 40,000 units and was in the top 50 comics of April 2000. Compare that to Hal and the GLC, currently grasping at just under 35,000 units.

Long story short... the CHARACTER sold the comics. Not the concept. Not the star power of the creative team. DC needs to really get back to it's roots with more characters and focus on character driven stories over plot driven stories.

~//V\\~

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

If they fixed Green Lantern, I'd certainly come back. The sales dipping more and more every month show that other people probably feel the same. I don't want to buy or read what they are doing at this time. In either title.

[Ωmega Man Guardian of the Universe Find all posts View Profile Close Ωmega Man]

I'm only keeping up because Kyle is finally involved. I don't agree with the GLC/Sinestros joining forces, Arkillo being Guy's new BFF, or [SPOILERS, highlight] the idea of the Sinestros eventually being inducted into the GREEN Lantern Corps proper. And I don't bother with GLs but my wife will pick it up depending on how much panel time Cruz is in the issue.

An Earth based title featuring Hal and Kyle would get the numbers they're looking for, and a better quality GLC with returning elements like the Guardians, maybe a fleshed out role for Honor Guards, etc. would be better than what we're getting even with EVS pencils every so often.

It should be top priority for the expanded DCU stuff being developed for film to be getting better numbers. Aquaman, Cyborg, and GL/GLC need a shot in the arm. Cyborg sold less than 14,000 units in April... AND HE'S GETTING A FREAKING MOVIE?!? He's barely doing better than the latest attempt at making Jaime Reyes/Blue Beetle sell...

~//V\\~

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

Cyborg sold less than 14,000 units in April... AND HE'S GETTING A FREAKING MOVIE?!? He's barely doing better than the latest attempt at making Jaime Reyes/Blue Beetle sell...

~//V\\~

That sounds ridiculous when you put it right out there like that. I get why DC replaced Martian Manhunter with Cyborg as the 7th founding JLA member, but was it worth it? It might have been better to just make J'Onn black, which is really what it was all for anyway.

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

That's not true, and the Flash TV show is proof positive. We've seen numerous episodes dominated by completely CGI characters and Speed Force effects. They look just as good, if not better, than the GL '11 movie effects. Bringing the constructs to life would just come down to proper planning.

The GL movie wasn't the 11th biggest money loser of all time because its take at the box office was so bad. What made it a financial disaster was its outlandish budget for CGI. And that kind of presentation is far more infeasible for television.

The movie grossed $220M, but the production budget was $200M, and that doesn't even count the marketing budget.

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

You are right about GL being a huge budget movie. 200m seems awfully high to us now for a GL movie, but at the time, WB was probably thinking GL would bring in enough at the box office to get it into the billion dollar club. If it had, nobody would be questioning the budget. Hindsight is 20/20 and all that, but who knew at the time it was going to flop like it did? Bad word of mouth killed it. Most people that saw it once didn't want to see it again, and they told people who passed on it altogether.

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

Overconfidence was what made them spend all that money.