Salutations Speed Readers,
For those that haven’t heard yet there were some pics shown off at New York Comic Con this past weekend of the “New 52” action figures coming up from DC Direct next year. As expected there were a few pictures shown of the new Flash action figure; TNI and Toy Ark have the goods:
“It’s a reboot” explains the existence of continuity changes. It doesn’t justify them. Good or bad, those new or altered characters, settings and concepts have to be judged on their own merits, not on whether there was an editor’s note explaining why it doesn’t line up with older stories.
Flash #1 Sells Estimated 129K in US, Over 150K Worldwide
ICv2’s September sales estimates are out, and The Flash #1 is ranked #4 on the charts with 129,260 units sold. Those are US-only numbers, based on sales through Diamond, and DC states that the book has sold over 150,000 copies worldwide. Let’s stick with the ICv2 numbers for now, though, because they’re the ones I’ve been tracking over the last few years, which means we can compare trends over time.
The new Flash #1 does in fact beat the previous record-holder, Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #1 (2006, starring Bart Allen), which sold an estimated 126,741 copies after reorders.
| Issue | Rank | Month | Units Sold |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flash:TFMA #1 | 7 | June 2006 | 126,741 |
| All-Flash #1 | 22 | July 2007 | 78,955 |
| Flash v.2 #231 | 26 | August 2007 | 72,898 |
| Flash: Rebirth #1 | 2 | April 2009 | 102,429 |
| Flash v.3 #1 | 2 | April 2010 | 100,903 |
| Flashpoint #1 | 2 | May 2011 | 95,845 |
| Flash v.4 #1 | 4 | September 2011 | 129,260 |
I’m only listing the launches here, since none of the series lasted long enough to find its level and start building back up. Flash: TFMA (Bart) dropped to around 46K before experiencing a Countdown-powered uptick. The relaunched Flash vol.2 (Wally) dropped into the 20s, about half the numbers it was pulling in before Infinite Crisis, when it peaked at 50K for the final issue of Geoff Johns’ first run. Flash: vol.3 (Barry) seemed to level out around 54K over its last few issues.
It’s obvious that a lot of the success of this issue is due to the massive relaunch. But at the same time, while DC’s 52 #1s sold phenomenally well overall, they didn’t all sell over 100,000 copies. This has driven home the fact that the Flash really is one of DC’s top-tier characters. Even if half the general public thinks his name is Gordon, they at least know he’s the guy in red who runs fast. He really is cancellation-proof.
The real question now, of course, is how many of those readers who picked it up to try it out will stick around. Based on the last six years, I think if the book is still selling well over 55K a year from now, DC can count this Flash relaunch a success. If not, well…fifth time’s the charm, right?
A few key articles covering past sales (with lots of numbers):
As an artist working on DC Comics’ New 52, Brett Booth regularly deals with speed in the form of Kid Flash in Teen Titans. Written by Scott Lobdell, Titans features Booth on both covers and interiors. as well as character designs. The veteran artist is next featured in issue #2, due October 26th.
Booth has also received attention recently for his unofficial portrayals of Wally West, the third and now erstwhile Flash, as posted on his blog. Starting with a post on August 24th, Booth has given his fans a couple of different looks at his redesign of West as Flash, including finished versions with colors by Andrew Dalhouse.
We caught up with Booth via email and talked about what makes a Flash costume, his take on Wally West and his favorite Flash stories.
Brian Buccellato, co-writer and colorist of the new Flash series, is featured in a new video at Comic Book Resources. In it, creators from DC’s New 52 talk about the villains in their books, and provide some insight to their portrayal.
Buccellato, up first in the video, describes how it was important to he and co-writer Francis Manapul that Mob Rule be someone close to Barry Allen. He also reveals that the character’s actions, not his motivations, classify him as a super-villain.
Head on over to CBR to check out the video, or click on the following image of Brian Buccellato spitting knowledge.
Diamond has released its September sales charts, and The Flash #1 takes the #4 spot on the chart. DC dominated the charts with 9 of the top 10 comics, and Flash was beat only by Batman #1, Action Comics #1, and Green Lantern #1.
From what DC has said before, we know that The Flash sold somewhere between 126K and 200K copies (more links in that article to older sales figures). And if three of DC’s books sold over 200K, and Flash is #4, it’s probably at the high end of that range.
Detailed sales estimates will no doubt be available soon at Comic Chronicles & ICv2.
Update: I had an interesting thought. Is this the first time sales have gone up with the next issue after Geoff Johns has left a series? Obviously the circumstances are unusual, but still…