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<DIV>Everyone,</DIV>
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<DIV>I've posted a line graph of Kneon's data at my "News and Views" blog. I think that Kneon makes an excellent point regarding the sheer amount of material that Boom! has released... in particular, the decision to release all of the continuing stories -- good, bad, and indifferent -- in collected form. I wonder whether the drops in sales in later months might not have something to do with people waking up to the fact that the material in the monthlies will be reprinted fairly soon in any event, so why not wait to purchase it in that more convenient, reader-friendly format? If we see an uptick in the sales of the collections while the sales of the monthlies continue to go down, I'm going to get very suspicious.</DIV>
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<DIV>Boom! has done a very good job with the "classics" collections, and I'm sorry to see how poorly they've sold to comic-book stores. The x factor is, what kind of distribution do they have in book stores and the like? I haven't seen any Boom! works in the stores I visit.</DIV>
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<DIV>Chris<BR><BR><BR>Apr 16, 2010 12:14:27 AM, dcml@nafsk.se wrote:<BR></DIV>
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<BR>Today's Topics:<BR><BR>1. Gemstone Sales (Gary Leach)<BR>2. More on those U.S. sales numbers... (Kneon Transitt)<BR>3. Geppi: From bad to worse? (Kneon Transitt)<BR><BR>
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<DIV>Leo,</DIV>
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<DIV>Thanks to Kneon Transitt for the figures on sales: it is interesting to see that Gemstone's <I>Uncle Scrooge</I><SPAN class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN>#623 had sales of over 7,000, but then immediately a decline took place, stabilizing to around 4,000 per issue.</DIV>
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<DIV>Anybody have any deductions (or de-duck-tions) as to why that happened? Not enough Rosa stories, too many reprints,...?</DIV></SPAN></SPAN></BLOCKQUOTE><BR></DIV>
<DIV>I got no deductions, sorry to say. I just know that I went into the Gemstone project with cautious optimism and came out disillusioned, yet again, about the standard Disney characters getting any traction in today's US comics market.</DIV>
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<DIV>My biggest personal regret is that a couple of Duck scripts I arranged for Gemstone from two of my favorite pro writers never wound up being drawn. I like to think they would've paid off, modestly at least, but now we'll never know.</DIV>
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<DIV>Gary </DIV><BR>
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<BR>I don't have an easy answer, either. I do see that Boom's numbers are dropping faster than Gemstone's, and in a much shorter period of time. We've gone from WDC&S selling close to 7,000 books in October to dipping under 4,000 copies last month. DDF and Hero Squad have fallen off the Diamond Top 300 completely at this point.<BR><BR>I think part of the problem is that while Boom has been going after kids with these titles, the genre-specific content and format has also alienated the hardcore collectors who supported the Gemstone books. It could also be that there are just too many Disney books on the shelf now, and that each new book dilutes the readership for one of the other books. It could be that the direct market isn't the place to peddle standard character Disney books, as kids don't spend a lot of time in comic book shops in 2010. It could be any of the above... it could be all of the above... and it could be some other reason we're just not aware of. One thing is for certain, however, it's *not* because the characters aren't worth reading.<BR>
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<DIV>Another theory being kicked around in that thread is that maybe more American creators could create stories with the characters to appeal more to today's American kids, vs. simply using reprints of stories written for overseas markets. (I'm in that camp myself, but want to stress that I'm in no way belittling European or Italian produced stories... just pointing out that those stories are targeting kids in a totally different market.)</DIV>
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<DIV>I think Darkwing Duck will do well. But again, it's going for nostalgia, and I have to wonder how many kids will latch on to a comic book sequel to a 20-year-old cartoon show that's been off the air for a decade or longer. If it's written under presumption that readers are already familiar with the cartoon show, then, well... it'll have limited appeal. But nostalgia sells in the direct market, and I predict some good numbers.</DIV>
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<DIV>But that's just a mini-series, isn't it? And it doesn't help the other books any.</DIV>
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<DIV>Frankly, I don't have any answers. Just pointing out some numbers, and wondering how long it'll be until the Disney comics rug gets pulled out from underneath us Americans again. :-/</DIV>
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<DIV>Peace,</DIV>
<DIV>Kneon</DIV>
<DIV><A href="http://kneontransitt.blogspot.com" target=_blank>http://kneontransitt.blogspot.com</A></DIV><BR>
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<BR>According to this, Steve Geppi's house has been repossessed and his wife is filing for divorce. That's news to me. Yikes!<BR><BR><A href="http://www.comiclist.com/index.php/news/checker-explains-separation-from-diamond-distribution" target=_blank>http://www.comiclist.com/index.php/news/checker-explains-separation-from-diamond-distribution</A><BR><BR>The Gemstone freelancers who haven't been paid for everything have an even slimmer chance of getting paid now. :(<BR><BR>Peace,<BR>Kneon<BR><A href="http://kneontransitt.blogspot.com" target=_blank>http://kneontransitt.blogspot.com</A><BR><BR>
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