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Bleeding Cool Bestseller List – 25th June 2017 – So Close, Batman, So Close…

Published Sun, 25 Jun 2017 09:00:36 -0500

Last updated Sun, 25 Jun 2017 09:57:29 -0500

This is the Top Ten Bleeding Cool Bestseller List, as compiled by a number of comic stores from their sales on Wednesday and Thursday. It measures what are known as the "Wednesday Warriors", those who can't wait to the weekend to get this week's comics. We salute you, and the keenness you bring to your passion.

Only one store stood between Batman #25 getting a full No 1 sweep of all the surveyed stores this week, Peter Parker denied Bruce Wayne a full house. Still, it dominated every store, with Superman close behind. Do you remember once when Joe Quesada criticised DC Comcis for not knowing what to do with Batman and Superman, "like a porn star who can't get it up"? Well, DC Comics do seem to be standing erect now, leaving Marvel's little Petey in third place.

Batman #25
Superman #25
Peter Parker, Spectacular Spider-Man #1
All Star Batman #11
Darth Vader #2
Justice League #23
Mighty Thor #20
Darth Maul #4
Nightwing #23
Super Sons #5

Thanks to the following retailers

Dr. No's Comics & Games Superstore of Marietta, Georgia
Fat Jack's Comicrypt of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Comix Experience Outpost, San Francisco, CA
Rodman Comics of Ankeny, Iowa
Famous Faces & Funnies of West Melbourne, FL
Geek Out, Burleson, Texas
Comix Experience, San Francisco, CA
Velocity Comics, Richmond VA
Ssalefish Comics of Winston-Salem & Greensboro, NC
Alter Ego Comics of Lima, Ohio
Graham Crackers Comics – 11 shops in Illinois/Wisconsin
Jesse James Comics of Glendale, Arizona

Who had this to say,

DC takes the top nine positions in this week's Top Ten list at our store, with Batman #24 2nd Printing actually placing in the top ten. (One would think that all those copies of the first printing we sold would have satisfied the demand, but apparently not!) Peter Parker #1 grabs tenth place, but Marvel did manage to place five titles in the 11th-20th place positions in our store, which is good sign.

Lots of interest in classic (pre-Hydra) Captain America–both bargain-priced 80s and 90s issues and key Silver Age appearances.

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Not a bad week. Both the Darths made it in the top ten for Marvel. No Marvel super hero titles made it. All New Guardians of the Galaxy has dropped way badly. And of course Marvel over shipped copies of it. The Secret Empire spin offs are D.O.A. Peter Parker Spectacular Spider-man 1 outsold Amazing Spider-man but not by much for a first issue. Hope the title has some legs.

I was stunned. Watchmen material all the sudden became in demand. Before Watchmen back issues seen the most action this week.

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Batman #25 was our top seller, overtaking All-Star Batman #11 by a tiny margin. Jonathan Hickman and Tomm Coker's high-concept Black Monday Murders and Andrew MacLean's perpetually satisfying Head Lopper, weren't far behind, though. Chip Zdarsky's new-reader friendly Spider-Man showed up around the middle of our list, not making too big of a splash. Darth Vader #2 finished off the list of bestsellers this week, losing a bit of steam from its strong start but still doing pretty well for us.

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Best showing from Marvel in a while, but DC still took the top 2 spots with Batman & Superman. We're starting to see some attrition on Dr. Strange with Jason Aaron's departure… not sure if forcing Secret Empire tie-ins right out of the gate instead of letting Dennis Hopeless & Niko Henrichon hit the ground running with their own ideas was the best move. Peter Parker #1 was the best Spidey comic I've read in a few years, and and people were ready for it.

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Looks like another DC heavy week. Wonder Woman Tasmanian Devil #1 was a huge hit at our newly opened Greensboro store thanks to an in-store signing with inker John Floyd who lives nearby.

Just outside the top 10 is the best titled book of the week: Shirtless Bear Fighter #1.

Darth Vader 2 sold just was well as issue #1 and we can tell that fans love it.

Sales overall have been strong this week and I think the DC/looney Tunes crossovers will be the surprise hit of the summer.

Batman #25 was our top seller but there were some grumbles about the Catwoman cliffhanger

We vendored at Heroes con last weekend so most back issues were in disarray for this week. We did BUY Fantastic Four #1, Avengers #4, Avengers #87 CGC 9.4 along with get this- a single page from Superman #1 1940.

Our in-store back issue sales seemed to focus on DC books from the past 5 years. We did have a customer asking for Leonard Nemoy's Primortals but I consider this to be a one-time thing.

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Batman steamrolled every other book again this week at FFF by selling almost twice as many copies as our second best selling book, Justice League. The only Marvel book in our Top Ten was Star Wars Darth Vader at #4 which is no surprise as Star Wars usually sells itself. God Country #6, the last issue of an amazing series, crept in at #10. The series saw a little bit of drop off with this last issue, but Donny Cates definitely still has his fans with his other books that he cranks out.

Only three other Marvel books managed to crack the Top Twenty. One more Star Wars book and two X-Men adjacent titles. Weapons of Mutant Destruction was #13 which owes more to its ties to Weapon X than Totally Awesome Hulk (the latter of which is only subbed by a few customers who get every Marvel book). Darth Maul was #16 and X-Men Gold barely made the cut at #20. Dark Days: The Forge in it's second week actually outsold X-Men Gold. Secret Empire on the other hand is rapidly losing readers' interests and it seems like nobody is going out of their way to get the tie-ins.

On the indie side of things, Crosswind and Plastic sold well, but not stellar. Gail Simone has her fans and sales wise Crosswind was split down the middle with half sold off the shelf and half sold from subs which is a good sign that I hope the series can maintain. Plastic has a small following and is both a customer and employee favorite. We try to push indie stuff as much as we can and we have a handful of customers who are always into reading something new and different, but DC is definitely dominating our sales with no sign of slowing down. I'd be upset if they weren't putting out quality work.

We have a signing with Kyle Starks this weekend so we've been selling a good chunk of his Rick and Morty issues as well as a handful of Rock Candy Mountain. We also sold a good bit of Tony Daniels's Deathstroke and Detective Comics in preparation for the Orlando Toy and Comic Con also this weekend. Wonder Woman has slowed down a bit, but a few people still come in looking for a graphic novel or two that are like the movie. On top of that, we sold the usual Batman, Spider-Man, and X-Men from the 90s.

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Batman, of course, took the top spot, followed by Darth Maul. Spider-Man, who would have been a shoe-in for the top spot a few years ago is just another sign of the downward slide Marvel is on, only reaching the 6th spot on our top 10. The only other Marvel title of note (outside of the Star Wars titles) is Daredevil, which continues to see new readers every month.
Indies, God Country, The Chair, Destroyer, and Bill & Ted all claimed a spot this week, with Power Rangers just missing out and coming in at #11. DC #25 issues with all of their Rebirth titles held the next couple of spots just out of the top 10. Word of mouth is really spreading about the DC Metal series and tie-ins, and customers are adding these titles faster than any other to their sub lists.

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Shirtless Bear Fighter shocked us with almost everybody had it in there stacks. Though, we thought we had maxed out on Batman, we still need more. The industry is really becoming stronger each week on selling out of our product. Across the board Publishers are really marketing their product well.

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