The confusion over when The Flash #4 is shipping has been resolved! A few weeks ago, Diamond listed an update changing from July 28 to August 4, but DC never changed the date on their website. Now, Diamond lists a change from August 4 to July 28. Presumably the initial update was an error.
I usually wait for ICv2 to post their sales figures so that I can be sure the month-to-month numbers are comparable, but I don’t see them yet, and I believe these CBR estimates for June are based on the same numbers.
So: The Flash #3 climbed from #12 to #11 in sales rank, while the number of comics sold dropped 10.1% to 68,799 copies.
Let’s compare that to the other recent Flash relaunches again:
| Issue | Rank | Month | Units Sold | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flash:TFMA #1 | 7 | June 2006 | 120,404 | |
| Flash:TFMA #2 | 25 | July 2006 | 77,487 | (-35.6%) |
| Flash:TFMA #3 | 30 | August 2006 | 70,633 | (- 8.9%) |
| All-Flash #1 | 22 | July 2007 | 78,955 | |
| Flash v.2 #231 | 26 | August 2007 | 72,898 | |
| Flash v.2 #232 | 32 | Sep 2007 | 56,969 | (-21.9%) |
| Flash v.2 #233 | 41 | Oct 2007 | 51,152 | (- 10.2%) |
| Flash: Rebirth #1 | 2 | April 2009 | 102,429 | |
| Flash: Rebirth #2 | 4 | May 2009 | 86,183 | (-15.9%) |
| Flash: Rebirth #3 | 10 | June 2009 | 83,086 | (-3.6%) |
| Flash v.3 #1 | 2 | April 2010 | 100,903 | |
| Flash v.3 #2 | 12 | May 2010 | 76,560 | (-24.1%) |
| Flash v.3 #3 | 11 | June 2010 | 68,799 | (-10.1%) |
It’s still selling less than Flash: The Fastest Man Alive and dropping as quickly as “The Wild Wests.” That’s kind of disappointing. Though the real test is still going to be looking at orders for #4, because that’s where retailers will have had a chance to react to the way #1 actually sold, and how their customers actually liked it.
On the plus side, it did a lot better than Velocity, which clocked in at 8,171 copies sold. But then, Velocity was Top Cow’s #2 title, just behind The Magdalena at 8,326.
The size difference between the Marvel/DC superhero audience and the indie superhero audience is just astonishing. Numbers that would signal immediate cancellation (like, say, cutting off Magog in the middle of a storyline before part 1 goes on sale) from DC can be respectable successes for smaller publishers. If you want an eye opener, check out The Beat’s indie sales analysis series sometime.
DC announced that Marc Guggenheim (Flash: The Fastest Man Alive — Full Throttle) will be taking over Justice Society of America after its crossover with the Justice League finishes. In an interview with CBR, Guggenheim says:
Jay Garrick will be the center of the universe here. Whether he turns out to actually be mayor, well, you’ll have to continue to read the book. I think it will be interesting to watch Jay evolve and grow as a character.
Shane Davis will provide the covers. The interior artist hasn’t officially been announced, but Guggenheim tells Newsarama, “I’m equally thrilled to be working with Scott Kollins.”
Update: Newsarama interviews Guggenheim on the move: He’d been in talks to do an “inventory arc” for JSA, and then Bill Willingham left and the editor asked him if he wanted to take over the series. (I find it interesting that where, in the old days, they’d do an inventory story, or an inventory issue, in case the book was running behind…now they seriously talk about an “inventory arc.”)
Update (July 19): DC’s October solicitations confirm Scott Kolins as the new artist.
Tip of the shiny hat to Wayne Lippa for spotting the Kolins reference.
DC is teaming up with Capstone to produce a series of children’s books, DC Super-Pets. Super-heroes have pets just like we do…but what if their pets also fought crime? (Krypto would be the classic example of this concept.)
Writers at Capstone imprint Picture Window Books will provide the stories, and Tiny Titans artist Art Baltazar will provide the art. The 24-book series launches in January 2011 and will run through 2012.
Among the first few books in the series is The Fastest Pet on Earth.
I certainly wouldn’t expect these to worry about continuity, but Bart Allen used to have a pet dog named Dox during his days as Impulse…
The Source has posted more detail on Spring 2011 collections.
We already knew that the hardcover edition of The Flash: The Dastardly Deaths of the Rogues was coming out next February, but there’s been a slight change. Earlier reports showed it featuring The Flash #1-7 and The Flash Secret Files 2010, but now DC is saying that it collects The Flash #1-6 and The Flash Secret Files 2010. This makes more sense, because it lines up exactly with the first story arc instead of extending one issue beyond it. On the other hand…
The Flash: Rebirth paperback is scheduled for April, and someone forgot that the miniseries was six issues long and not five! I guess we shouldn’t rely too much on the numbers here.
Additionally, the Justice League International trade paperbacks start collecting Justice League Europe with volume 5. Flash Wally West was a founding member of that branch of the League, based at first in Paris and later in London. This volume features two JLI annuals and the first six issues of JLE. The next two issues are actually part of a JLA/JLE crossover, “The Teasdale Imperative,” which picks up where the previous volume left off collecting Justice League America. I’d guess that volume 6 will feature that crossover and some mix of the two series.
Justice League of America: The Rise and Fall collects the “Fall of Green Arrow” and “Rise of Arsenal” storylines spinning out of JLA: Cry for Justice. Barry Allen appears in the Green Arrow story.
There’s a new Showcase volume of Justice League of America.
I think Kid Flash Bart Allen is in Teen Titans: The Hunt for Raven.
Flash Barry Allen appears in at least the opening chapters of Brightest Day Vol.1.
Justice League of America: Dark Things covers the JLA/JSA crossover that just started, featuring Flash Jay Garrick and Jesse Quick.
Francis Manapul reported on Twitter, and then The Source confirmed that The Flash #1 and 10 other recent launches are getting second printings.
No word yet on when it will ship, or what cover DC will use. They already used an uncolored sketch version of the original cover as a 1:100 variant, but with the number of random Flash covers they seem to have stocked up by various artists, I’m sure they could simply reassign the variant for, say, The Flash #7, or another issue that hasn’t been solicited yet. They could also put out a variation on Tony Harris’ variant cover for the first printing, or use an interior splash page, or take the black-and-white with spot color approach to either of the original covers.