And Why This Doesn’t Really Matter

It’s been reported recently that DC Comics has, for the first time in a while, beaten Marvel in comic book sales. As a DC Comics fan, this sounds like great news. I like DC, I like their characters, and I am certainly happy if they are doing well, sales wise. I actually don’t care if they beat Marvel in sales – I also, on occasion, read Marvel comics even if not with the regularity with which I read DC – because, far as I’m concerned, a robust and healthy comics environment is good for all involved. But that is the rub, because realistically neither DC nor Marvel are doing that well and they’re both fighting over a tiny slice of the pie.

First, let’s address the fact that DC is finally selling better than Marvel. This comes on the back, in large part, of the new line of comics DC has put out, their Absolute Comics. This line is a reinvention of DC’s main heroes, plopping versions of them into a world fueled by Darkseid’s energy. It’s a darker, grittier world and the heroes in that world, like Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, are underdogs instead of, in effect, costumed gods. It’s a solid launching point and a fresh way for writers to tell stories, making it an ideal line for readers to get into. You can think of it like Marvel’s Ultimate Comics, just with a DC multiversal twist.

Thing is, though, this isn’t the first time DC has surged ahead of Marvel due to having a solid jumping on point. They had it when they published (for a brief span) their Earth One comics line. They had it when they did The New 52. Hell, go back far enough and DC was able to surge ahead of Marvel during Crisis on Infinite Earths. Each time DC has managed to steal some of Marvel’s thunder, but eventually the status quo comes back, with DC sliding back into the Number Two slot.

Why? Because comics, by their very nature, tend to bleed readers. The hardcore readers are the ones that keep the companies afloat, long term, and they already have their lines in the sand, which books they’re going to buy all the time and which are just passing fads. Comics struggle to get and keep new readers because comics are ongoing stories that, naturally, will see attrition. Authors change and readers jump off. Characters go on past their sell-by date and readers leave. Even a new universe, like the Absolute Comics line, will eventually see attrition as the bright and shiny new stories go on for two, three, four years and readers get bored of seeing a continuing story that can’t ever, truly end. That’s the nature of the beast.

I do hope DC is able to keep Absolute Comics going, and that their sales continue to stay up because of it. And even if the Absolute Comics line does eventually come to an end, it would be nice to see the readers that came on board for it come over to the main DC continuity and help its sales as well. I want to see DC succeed because I like their comics and their characters. But it does help to be realistic about how likely this is to keep the comic in the Number One slot for any real length of time.

Except, when we talk about DC and Marvel vying for Number One and Number Two, that’s really a bit of a lie. Among a certain segment of the comic market they are One and Two. But that ignores the wider market beyond their simple slice. There’s the Manga market, for example, which by all accounts is larger (both in the East and here in the West) than traditional cape-and-cowl comics. And then there’s Scholastic, who got into the comics game with Bone and have become the largest comics publisher in the world (with their constant book fairs and ability to sell directly to students certainly helping matters there). The conversation we’re having is very specific and really ignores wider market trends.

Also, comics are a tiny slice of the business for these two comic titans at this point. The real money for both DC and Marvel is in films and television now. Marvel grew to a multi-billion dollar juggernaut for a number of years making their Marvel Cinematic UniverseWhen it first began in 2008 with a little film called Iron Man no one suspected the empire that would follow. Superhero movies in the past, especially those not featuring either Batman or Superman, were usually terrible. And yet, Iron Man would lead to a long series of successful films, launching the most successful cinema brand in history: the Marvel Cinematic Universe. films. DC saw that and wanted a piece of that pie because films didn’t just make money on their own; they also led to a lot of ancillary revenue afterwards. Home video sales, broadcast licensing, streaming licensing, plus toys, games, merchandise, and more. Amusingly, about the only thing that films don’t help boost are comic sales. Still, these two titans want their heroes in films so they can make mad bank there, unlike over in the comics world.

All things considered, the comics market has been slowly bleeding, and that’s in large part because both comic titans, DC and Marvel, have abused their readers over and over again for the last forty years. Comics relaunches, new numbers one issues, special collectible covers and variants, new crossovers every year, big events that lead to big events… In the 1990s all of this was hugely successful for the comic industry, but it was also an unsustainable business that bled the readers dry. Many of those readers left, getting rid of their comics, and never looked back. Comics have struggled ever since to have the same relevance they once found.

This is all to say that it’s great that DC is beating Marvel right now, if you care about that kind of thing. If this means more comics are being sold then that’s a net-win for the industry as a whole. Hopefully that continues and DC is able to treat their new, successful Absolute Comics line right. But long term it’s unlikely this will amount to big change. At some point it’s likely that DC’s fortunes will fade, the new readers will go elsewhere, and they’ll sink back to the Number Two spot among the two comics leaders. All while the movies will succeed or not, the toys will sell or not, and Scholastic will watch it all, laughing all the way to the bank.

But seriously, Absolute Comics are good. You should read them, if nothing else, just because. Just don’t get caught up in the sales for the titles. That’s fanboy thinking and no good can come from it.