People are congratulating me over the press release about TMNT #1 selling out.
Except I’m not happy about it. Once again, it’s the Santayana quote: “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”
When I first started writing “Captain Marvel,” what did I hear from fans? “I can’t find it in my store!” “It’s sold out!” Fans seemed to think this was a good thing. Month after month this continued, and then Marvel suddenly announced that the book was in trouble.
Supergirl #75 sold out. Supergirl #76 sold out. “Great!” quoth the fans. “Cancelled!” quoth DC.
Does everybody get it yet? When retailers don’t support my books (because I’m not, y’know, the New Hot Thing), they don’t order enough. When they don’t order enough, the books sell out. When the books sell out and the early issues are unobtainable, people won’t buy the subsequent issues, which causes orders to drop even more.
When you see future sellout announcements on–for example–“Fallen Angel”…don’t say “Hurrah!” Don’t say “Congrats!” Say “Uh oh.”
PAD
• 
Recent Comments