Alpha Flight #2 Sales Position & Sales Figure *UPDATED*

Considering how many of us are buying multiple copies...that is an astronomical drop-off.

thats kind of a bummer, but its still in the top 100. i don't see alot of titles on there. herc, heroes for hire........

i think it may level off there if not a touch higher. maybe the maxi series is hurting more than helping. i know some people may be waiting for the trade. i still am optimistic that a ongoing will come, there is a strong word of mouth on the series. top 20 was a little unrealistic, and all the books ahead of it are either x titles, spider man or avengers, right around where the hulk titles are selling.


i didn't realize how poorly the comic industry is doing these days, titles are not selling anywhere near where they used to.

Yesh! Not good at all.

Let's just hope we get mini series once in a while at least! Once a year would be nice

the way comic sales are calculated always seemed odd to me, they go by pre-orders if i'm not mistaken, so your at the mercy of your lcs to order enough. so if i'm a new reader and i don't go on the internet to get my information, i walk in and theres not any spare issues of alpha flight laying around because only those who pre-ordered it or the couple extra that the lcs owner ordered are gone?

i know its not on sell through because half the lcs i go into use the old school registers that don't scan the bar codes.

i think dc really has it right with the same day releases digitally, its a way to hit a expanding market, i love reading comics on my ipad.

anyways, as bummed as i am about this i suspect this is where the series will level out, right around the hulk series and thunderbolts. everything above it either has a x in the title or is avengers related.

There are a lot of double shipping titles in that list, so #3 may see a slightly higher placement.

Now that is a more realistic postion.

The problem is that the Big Two have diluted the market so badly with numerous titles based on the same character or team. In the process they've lost some of the quality in their story telling and art. How many Avengers, Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America, Thor, X-Men, Wolverine, Deadpool, Batman titles do we actually need. The market was definitely healthier when we had one or two titles of each of these, when 100,000 copies was an average, not a high.

Good quality books have a hard time moving up the list, when they have this diluted market to contend with.

On an up note, I probably added two more readers to our ranks of Alpha Flight fans. While at my local LCS last Wednesday, a father an his yound son came in. They were looking at all the new books and I overheard the son mention Fear Itself. They come up to the counter with only a couple of books and asking when the next issue of Fear Itself was coming out. As they seemed open to getting another title, I quickly upsold them on Alpha Flight, mentioning that it was only a limited series and that it featured Canadian characters. They quickly picked up both issues #1 & #2.

I really think that stores could sell many more issues if they took a more hands on approach being out in the aisle interacting with all of their customers, rather than being back behind the counter. I actually sold 3 books for the LCS in the time I was there to get my books.

Well done!

Though I am used to LCSs being fairly interactive. Though one of my two is usually a little too crowded for that to work.

Even after Godzilla trod on it.

- Le Messor
Sign on bank: "FREE BOTTLE OF CHIVAS WITH EVERY MILLION-DOLLAR DEPOSIT."