Feb 10 2014
Batman Beats the Marvel Universe
by J.D. Cook
Alright so maybe the title isn’t exactly accurate. According to numbers released byDiamond Comic Distributors, Inc. last Friday, Batman #27 by Scott Snyder with art by Greg Capullo was the top selling single comic book issue for the month of January. As a big fan of Snyder and Capullo’s run on the series I am not surprised the issue sold as well as it did considering issue 26 ended in a monumental cliffhanger with the Dark Knight ambushed and fired upon by the Gotham City Police Department. The ‘Zero Year’ story arc has been some of the most compelling and psychological work the duo has published to date. The second highest selling single issue belonged to Batman as well with Detective Comics #27.
That said Marvel still took home the biggest prize of the month by being the top selling Comic Book Publisher. Marvel took home 37.39 % of the industries unit share while D.C. only claimed 30.77%. The two major companies actually split the list of top ten single issues as Marvel had 5 issues which charted while D.C. also had 5 issues. A person has to wonder how much of Marvel’s current comic book success comes directly from their success at the box office. They have built a huge brand through various media. In the 1990’s their characters were a stable of Saturday Morning Cartoon shows and in the 2000’s their characters became a staple of summer movie blockbusters. Marvel has even brought obscure characters into the spotlight with the upcoming release of the Guardians of the Galaxy. Unfortunately they did loose the rights to Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four and the X-Men’s portrayal on the big screen in the early days of turning their character’s into film franchises.
In the meantime D.C. has focused almost solely on developing Batman and Superman movies. As a result the mainstream public really has very little knowledge of their extended universe. Looking at Marvel’s success with brand building throughout different medias it is bizarre that D.C. has not adopted a similar technique and applied it to their own characters. They have a good foundation with the success of the show Arrow, and the recent Man of Steel film but they do not seem to be able to put their pieces together in quite the right order. Maybe Man of Steel’s sequel, Batman vs Superman, will change things for D.C. but it seems they are stuck behind Marvel as the top Comic Company until that happens.
Lastly Image Comics claimed 10.10% of the comic market’s unit share. It’s great to see the creator driven company succeeding. Image is where the most interesting and unique stories are being developed free of shared Universe constraints like the ones writers at Marvel and D.C. must deal with. Their continued success with titles such as Saga and Black Science will hopefully give rise to even more fresh stories and creators.
Check out the Full Unit Share Pie Chart and List of Top Selling Comics Below.
Full Unit Share of Comic Industry
Top Ten Selling Single Issues of January 2014
|
1 |
BATMAN #27 |
|
2 |
DETECTIVE COMICS #27 |
|
3 |
AVENGERS WORLD #1 |
|
4 |
JUSTICE LEAGUE #27 |
|
5 |
SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #25 |
|
6 |
ALL NEW X-MEN #22.NOW |
|
7 |
SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #26 |
|
8 |
HARLEY QUINN #2 |
|
9 |
AVENGERS #25 |
|
10 |
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #11 |
Other Articles About Comic Books
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Astonishing X-Men Got it Right
The Dark Knight Falls to Batman Begins
The Top 4 Comic Stores in Eastern Pa.
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Other Articles Around the Web
Nov 21 2013
Legends of Batman Collectors Editions
J.D. Cook
Ok so for the second week in a row I won’t be directly discussing the comic book industry. I’d like to but I’ve been so busy and sick I haven’t had time to get new comics in a few weeks. Rest assured I will be catching up when I visit family who live near Brave New World Comics in Philadelphia. That said I’ve decided to do another review to fill out this week’s Comic Book Commentary and what’s a better subject than the Batman: Arkham Origins Collectors Edition material?
I was a huge fan of both Arkham Asylum and Arkham City so I managed to convince myself to purchase the Collector’s Edition of Origins. I usually don’t spring for such things but I can tell you from the experience it was extremely worth it. The Joker stature is amazing and lights up
with LCD screens. Not to mention the secret hidden inside it which I found almost as soon as I opened it. I guess that means I’m not a bad detective myself! Eat your heart out Batman! Every piece of the collection is well put together. My favorites were Black Mask’s dossier on the Assassins and the Art Book. I love things that tie the fictional universe into ours and nothing does that better than the two pieces of evidence. Really everything was awesome and I have no complaints. I even have my new Batman figure watching over the Joker statue ready to take him out. The real icing on the cake is a documentary called Necessary Evil focusing on the villains of the D.C.Universe. It’s awesome so far and Christopher Lee does the narration for it!
Oh yeah and there was also the game itself with all of this! Well I pretty much loved everything about it. There was a lot that could have went wrong when a new studio took over the Arkham Franchise but Warner Brothers Montreal did a good job. The plot was especially well done and probably my favorite part of the game. There is an obvious twist that happens very early that completely throws you off because you expect it to be at the climax of the game. Troy Baker fills in so well for Mark Hamill as the Joker that you could swear he was actually speaking in certain spots. The game play feels about the same as Arkham City which is great and the addition of the electric gauntlets makes free flow fighting much easier to handle.
The writers said they were inspired by a few different sources for the game’s story, the two biggest being Batman: Year One and the ongoing comic series Legends of the Dark Knight. Sadly Legends of the Dark Knight was recently canceled in print form after something like twenty years. I was interested from playing the game so I went and picked up a couple of issues. I just happened to grab one all about Cyrus Pinkney, who plays into the plot of Arkham Origins. The other story arc involved some circus freaks and Two-Face. It was odd but that is what was cool about Legends of the Dark Knight. It told standalone stories about Batman that didn’t have to be tied to D.C.’s continuity. I hope I can one day publish a Batman story in the online only form of Legends of the Dark Knight. Now I’ve officially tied comic books into this comic book commentary!
I will be doing a more in depth review of just the game itself soon but for now I will leave you with those few words. Always leave them hanging? That’s what the Joker always says…but his definition of hanging is a little more twisted than mine.
Past Comic Book Commentaries
Laying the Hammer Down on ‘Thor’s Day’
Boycott X-Men: Days of Future Past
Uncanny Venom, Hilarious Captain America
Batman Still the Crown Jewel of the New 52
The Superior Spider-Man
The 1st Comic Book Commentary
By J.D. Cook • Comic Book Commentary, Comic Books, Fall 2013, Games • 0 • Tags: 2013 Games, Articles by J.D.Cook, Comic Book Commentary, Comic Books