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Printheads: Five Image Comics Sell Out On Release

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  1.  (9730.1)
    Doesn't that just warm your bits?

    Five of this week’s Image books have sold out at Diamond and are going back to press. PR below and 2nd printing cover roughs scattered throughout this post. Please note, just because these are sold out at Diamond doesn’t mean you can’t still buy them in your local comics shop...
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      CommentAuthorPaul Sizer
    • CommentTimeApr 7th 2011
     (9730.2)
    One more voice to add to the crowd, but NONPLAYER lives up to every last bit of hype it garnered. Stunning, so glad to see that level of artistry rewarded so well.
  3.  (9730.3)
    the nice thing for me is that lately i have been able to sample a bunch of image comics #1s, and if i dont like them i make my money back on it.

    i personally liked BLUE ESTATE quite a bit, and thought NONPLAYER was unbelievably gorgeous. especially that two page spread!
  4.  (9730.4)
    Green Wake deserves a look. Creepy good art and an interesting story.
    Nonplayer's color palette is incredible, if you love color, check it out.
    Undying Love sounds like a great concept, I will have to go and pick that one up.

    It is great to see titles like this whipping through their initial print run. What are the numbers on these books? 5k? 10k?
  5.  (9730.5)
    Hitting the shop tomorrow, hopefully my guy has pulled what I've requested.
  6.  (9730.6)
    I really like the way Image has become the new, more successful and interesting Vertigo. Chew and Walking Dead in particular feel like something from Vertigo in its prime, when Preacher and Transmetropolitan shared the shelves. It's great to see this direction of original, creator-driven content working out for them so well.

    Now if you'll excuse me, I need to be mesmerized by Nonplayer's art again for a while, and then soak in the background details of Orc Stain.
    • CommentAuthorOwen
    • CommentTimeApr 7th 2011 edited
     (9730.7)
    Really good news at present when it feels (totally subjective I know) the superhero stuff is leaking out of every pore.
    After the coverage of Nonplayer here and at Warrenellis.com I knew what to expect but it was still breath taking, Green Wake and Blue Estate were talked up on CBR and other places so I picked those up aswell. I think Green Wake is stronger but Blue Estate was fun. Didn't see Undying Love and already have a copy of Infinite Vacation which was awesome, concept and execution. Hopefully they'll get enough return business to keep all our bits warm for a while.
  8.  (9730.8)
    Fuck, but I do want Nonplayer. It looks gorgeous, and I can remember following the Project Waldo blog when it was mentioned in ImagineFX. Now I just need to wait for pay-day...
    • CommentAuthortruffaut
    • CommentTimeApr 9th 2011
     (9730.9)
    I really like the way Image has become the new, more successful and interesting Vertigo. Chew and Walking Dead in particular feel like something from Vertigo in its prime, when Preacher and Transmetropolitan shared the shelves. It's great to see this direction of original, creator-driven content working out for them so well.


    My thoughts exactly.

    All five of the re-released comics are great; Image is really having a fantastic year.
    • CommentAuthorGordon
    • CommentTimeApr 16th 2011
     (9730.10)
    I've been thinking a lot about this. My main belief is that it's great to see a big publisher putting so much focus on new, original titles and generating so much publicity and sales.

    However, the fact that sales are based in part on people wanting to sell their copies on at a profit through Ebay etc makes me wonder about the sustainability of the titles. Will sales drop off once they're no longer hot titles and make them "look bad" in the sense that they couldn't sustain the initial high numbers (something completely outside the control of the creative team because it was not them that marketed their title as something guaranteed to increase in value and thus attract the attention of those interested in making money rather than the comic itself)? Or is it a necessary evil that can be overcome and any sale is a good sale?
  11.  (9730.11)
    I'm positively scratching at the door for Nonplayer.

    What's a typical print run for these kinds of books? I mean, the news is only as good as the supply allows. If they were tiny runs, then it could be a non-headline.
  12.  (9730.12)
    one thing that bums me out is seeing creators not involved with these books complain that these are 'bleeding cool sellout' books.

    who cares how the numbers get bumped??? im sure if it was my cash flow i wouldnt. and im pretty sure these same folks would like to have that kind of $$ bump on their early creator owned stuff...the internet has been making things a little TOO transparent for me these days
  13.  (9730.13)
    @ Joe:

    I think it's not just complaining because they're sellouts. I agree with Gordon's criticisms mainly in that it sucks that good books get started on a high, then get dropped because of the ebayer bubble doesn't support them long enough. The publishers and distributors shake their heads and say, "well, they don't put up the numbers they used to, cut 'em off!" So the story doesn't get told, despite there having been a real fan base.

    Yes, creators like to get that initial shot of cash from a sellout book, but I think all of them would prefer that their books continue on for an entire run, an entire story, month-in, month-out. Sustainability is the key.
  14.  (9730.14)
    yeah but if these books werent going to have higher numbers anyway, how does it hurt to get more sales up front to keep the books going longer?
  15.  (9730.15)
    What's a typical print run for these kinds of books

    No such animal. It's the total orders + a percentage of that tacked on as overprint, and that overprint percentage can vary wildly. Especially at Image, because the overprint will directly affect what the creator earns. In this case, I would be surprised to learn that the overprint was more than 20 or 25% of total orders, and would guess it to be around 15%.

    The publishers and distributors shake their heads and say, "well, they don't put up the numbers they used to, cut 'em off!"

    That's not how Image works.
  16.  (9730.16)
    @warrenellis Those are both heartening statements. My cynical brain wants to believe that there's more market stress on these decisions.
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      CommentAuthorCharlene
    • CommentTimeApr 23rd 2011
     (9730.17)
    Image has totally upped their game recently. There are so many great books coming out of there and what's even greater is that they are 'new' creators for the most part. These books are selling because of quality content and not because of a big name on the cover - not that there's anything wrong with that, but the more new creators that get a break telling new original stories the better. I hope it's a sign of the times! :D
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      CommentAuthorBeamish
    • CommentTimeApr 23rd 2011
     (9730.18)
    My lcbs didn't stock nonplayer so I missed it. Emails shall be sent.
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      CommentAuthorCharlene
    • CommentTimeApr 23rd 2011
     (9730.19)
    Preeeee order!
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      CommentAuthorruzkin
    • CommentTimeApr 28th 2011
     (9730.20)
    Very happy to see Green Wake selling out - the author is not just a lovely fellow, but he's been toiling away at the bottom rungs of the comic industry for years and out of the blue, three different titles of his have found publishers almost simultaneously (Green Wake, The Intrepids, and Snow Angel).

    For anyone who read Green Wake and enjoyed it, more good news - it's been extended from the original 6 issue run into an ongoing series.

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