Deathmatch #1 Sells 37,000, Goes To Second Print, But #2 Orders Are Under 10,000

[Rich Johnston]

Deathmatch #1 came out on Boxing Day and seems to have done rather well. Indeed, it's sold more than any non-licensed Boom! comic to date. Selling 37,000 copies to retailers (and retailers selling them to customers for a dollar), it has now gone to second print. Hence the new cover above by Tom Derenick.

Issue 2 will be Boom!'s first book eligible for FOC - where retailers can increase or decrease orders closer to the date it comes out. Apparently orders are currently around a quarter of issue 1, which means under 10,000.

Could be have a Speculator Corner item in the making here? Or will retailers use FOC and up their orders?

[Zach Adams]

I wouldn't be surprised if retailers upped their #2 orders a LITTLE based on the strength of #1, but not too much. The general crassness of the marketing, focusing everything on the "who will win?" angle and the fights themselves, which take up so little space in #1 as to be almost a sideshow, was IMO a mistake. It led me (and a lot of other people I've talked to) to believe that it was going to be nothing more than "Watch clones of all your favorite superheroes fight to the death!" The actual book was much more interesting than that...but I can guarantee you that even at $1, I would not have bought it had I not been exceptionally bored on lunch break the day it came out and decided to give it a try via Comixology despite expecting it to be creepy bullshit. I'll be getting #2, but not at a retailer and not on the day it comes out (I have a policy against $4 digital comics. Avengers and TF: More Than Meets the Eye get a pass, but everything else I wait for a price drop--even if it takes a year, as it seems to with Marvel--or sale.)

[JimShelley]

Totally passed on this the first week it came out, but heard on a comics Podcast (iFanboy I think) that it was Secret Wars done right and was intrigued.

I agree with Zach. This series is much more than just a senseless gladiatorial slug fest. In many ways, it reminds me of Irredeemable in the potential it hints at.

[irrg]

At what point does BC lose it's objectivity, if there ever was such a thing, when reporting on a comic book that probably tied directly into it's advertising bottom line for TWO MONTHS? ("For the last two months, Bleeding Cool has been spotlighting DEATHMATCH and each individual character." etc etc)

If there's ever been a campaign that'd keep me away from a book by a writer whose work I generally enjoy, it's the 30+ posts about the book on BC.

[Paul Nolan]

Can I still have a chip on my Shoulder about Paul Jenkins turning Speedball into Penance while loving the hell out of Deathmatch #1?

Oh well, Deathmatch was added to my online Standing order, so my retailer should be upping his orders accordingly.

[DarthEwok]

Jenkins is a damn fine writer. His Inhumans, Sentry, and Spider-Man are some of my favorite comics of the last 15 years

[Matt D]

Or hey! Maybe people were willing to try it but no more than 10K want to buy it when it's not $1.

That is, you know, a possibility, Rich?

[Clavius]

Depending on what the issue #2 price is I might consider picking this series up. I liked Issue 1 had enough action and mystery to lure you in but sadly in this day and age price is key. If its $3.99 meh I'll most likely wait for the trade and save a few dollars.

[db8coach]

1. Issue one was a good comic with a compelling story and great art.
2. Issue one was one dollar. If the comic could make money at that price point, I would love for them to keep it there.

[JKromer]

Rich declines to mention that issue #1 had an ordering promotion that allowed you to double your order if you hit a minimum. You could order X amount of the standard cover and then the same amount of the "Morgue Variant" at no additional cost as long as you hit a number that was tied to, I think, Hypernaturals #1.