( Sorta OT ) U.S. Comics Sales

WL Lilly liljerryandtheyadayadakiddz at yahoo.com
Thu Jul 26 19:35:40 CEST 2001


  I just , yesterday , picked up a few-months-old copy
of an Archie , 32-pages/$1.99 , comic , " ARCHIE &
FRIENDS " #46 , Mar. 2001 cover date . It has a
Publisher's Statement in it , which lists the paid
circulation , of the most recent issue , over a
one-year period , as...27,256 copies !!!!! That's all
.  For ALL of the U.S. ( inc. possesions , military
bases  , etc. ) , Canada , and , I suppose , whatever
additional exporting of it there might be .
  That's , actually , a considerable IMPROVEMENT over
the whole year - the average per issue for the last 12
 months is 21,488 !!!!! Oy . Oy . Oy , oy , oy , oy ,
oy !!!!!!!!! Oy vey .
  Likewise , the ratio of copies printed against
copies sold ( With the unsold copies - traditionally ,
anyway - being pulped/junked/destroyed , I hope
they're recycled but I'm not sure that they are . ) ,
though , again , it's actually improved , there - the
twelve-month average is 62,191 copies printed , while
the most recent issue's 65,244 - the percentage of
copies sold has gone up , in other words . 
  Perhaps Archie sees the 32-pagers as a " Broadway
"/" hard ticket "/" hardcover " first run to provide
material for their digest titles ( They're the only US
comics publisher that , particularly , does digests !
) , which are very widely distributed - Their
comics-shop sales aren't , as you might expect ,
particularly great . This DOES have relevance for the
question of " how/can little child-oriented comic
books/magazines sell , enough to make a profit , in
the US/Canadian market of today ? , so this is , I
would say , relevant to Disney - Are Archies
distributed/reprinted very much in mainland Europe ,
anyway ? Perhaps they're a little too , peculiarly ,
American , or English-speaking culture-rooted , anyway
.
  As I've mentioned , DC publishes a small number of
kid-oriented comics , Cartoon Network?Warner Bros.
cartoons-oriented titles like " SCOOBY DOO " , "
DEXTER'S LABRATORY " , , the " POWDERPUFF GIRLS " ,
and " LOONEY TOONS " , plus , you may , or may not ,
want to count these TV cartoon-connected " simpler "
versions of DC's superheroes , " SUPERMAN ADVENTURES "
and " BATMAN GOTHAM ADVENTURES " , ( Probably to be
joined soon by a Justice League title ! ) along with
these . Viz , and Dark Horse , have some kid-oriented
manga titles , " DRAGONBALL Z " , and " DIGIMON " ,
and the like , but , I'm not sure how widely
distributed they are . 
  Hey , aren't these " good paper...
U.S. Disney comics " that have been referred to the
Gladstone black and white album editions ? I've seen
them listed in ( U.S. comics shops catalogue )
Previews , but haven't ordered them - No doubt ,
they're lovely for adult collectors/fans , but ,
that's hardly what would sell to little kids/their
parents , and that is the economic base , at least in
part , that would be needed for North American
Disney traditional 
" comic-book " size ,
color , comics to be economically viable ! 
  Re English-languaqge DisComics in general : I'd been
told , at this board , or over at Yahh! , that it was
not just the US/Canadian Mmarket , but the UK/Eire ,
and AU/NZ markets , that were all without Dis. comics
at the moment !!!!!!! The entire " English-speaking ,
industrial , West " , in other words - It seems to
have been indicated to me that the mainland European
Disney publishers did some limited English publishing
- I must go now , more later !!!!! 

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