Food for thought:
The Flash has been consistently selling about 38-39,000 copies of each issue since May (with a spike for Villains Month). And that’s a typical mid-range book, successful enough that DC is putting the creative team on Detective Comics. Digital figures aren’t available, but articles typically estimate digital sales at about 15% of print sales across the board. So let’s say around 44K between print and digital.
“Arrow” reportedly pulled in 3.17 million viewers for “The Scientist” guest-starring Barry Allen.
A lot more people watch TV than read comics.
39,000? Doesn’t that mean it’s time to kill the current Flash and replace him with the next model?
All I needed to watch Arrow was an internet connection and an (already paid for) internet-able device (laptop, desktop, tablet, i-TV.)
For a comic book I’d need either to drive my (nonexistent) car to a store and hope they had a copy of what I wanted, pay for at least two bus rides to a spot reasonably close to a store that had what I wanted, or get on the internet and purchase a digital copy.
It’s also a motion medium and motion tends to win out over static like colorwon out over black & white movies.
Yep, TV has more viewers. 🙂
This isn’t a scientific consensus of course, but from personal observations from comments that I have read on various forums, most people who seem to enjoy reading the (current run) on the Flash do so because of the art work more than the writing itself. Nothing wrong with that of course there are plenty of books that I have picked up (ie. anything drawn by Jim Lee) solely based on the art work.
As for the rise in the raitings of Arrow. I am sure that many comic/Flash fans who had not been watching the show did so due to the introduction of ‘Barry Allen’. The question going forward is. 1. Should they go forward with the show will they stick with the potrayal Gustin did on Arrow. 2. If they stick with that interpretation how long will the show last.
I watch Arrow, but the main draw for me is not the superheroics. It’s mostly the intrigue and the personal dynamics of the characters. I like it that most of the characters are not perfect and have issues. Yet they still struggle to be better people.
That’s probably why I’m not watching Arrow: I’m into superheroes, science fiction, and other ‘quirky’ shows like Forever Knight and Eureka for the fantasy. Vigilante stories (like, yes, including Batman ones) don’t interest me at all even when with good character development.
Plus despite a personal preference for dark hair… okay, okay! I miss *blond* Green Arrow who lived in *Star City* and hung out with florist (and a better screamer than Fae Wray) Black Canary. What is with Hollywood and their seeming blacklisting of light-haired actors and need to change comic book things that didn’t need changing?