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Registered: 02/28/05
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Originally Posted By: valiantman
Originally Posted By: Chuck Gower
Are there really enough 'readers' left in the market to make this work?
How many are required? Books are making the Top 100 in sales with 25,000 copies. Invincible, Spawn, and Chew are cruising along every month with 15,000. Hellblazer's under 10,000.
The ValiantFans.com messageboard has 2,200 members and there hasn't been a new Valiant comic book in 15 years.
To be fair, the Image books you've listed can succeed at those levels due to Image having a far different business model than any other publisher. It's one that can really only work where the creators have full rights / control over their characters.
Vertigo is a vastly different model than other publishers as well.
New Valiant books could possibly survive around 25K if the properties are being used in other media as well. I'm sure they've done the numbers and know their targets. I don't know about all the dudes they've hired, but I have faith in Warren Simons to not allow *spoon* books to come out.
Are there really enough 'readers' left in the market to make this work?
How many are required? Books are making the Top 100 in sales with 25,000 copies. Invincible, Spawn, and Chew are cruising along every month with 15,000. Hellblazer's under 10,000.
The ValiantFans.com messageboard has 2,200 members and there hasn't been a new Valiant comic book in 15 years.
To be fair, the Image books you've listed can succeed at those levels due to Image having a far different business model than any other publisher. It's one that can really only work where the creators have full rights / control over their characters.
Vertigo is a vastly different model than other publishers as well.
New Valiant books could possibly survive around 25K if the properties are being used in other media as well. I'm sure they've done the numbers and know their targets. I don't know about all the dudes they've hired, but I have faith in Warren Simons to not allow *spoon* books to come out.
25K seems extremely generous. 15K or less is a more realistic number based on current market conditions. Initial numbers should be good and as long as they don't kill the audience's anticipation with late books (Dark Key and Atlas Comics comes to mind here), they should be able to retain a decent audience.
As long as the publisher is not seeking to publish "collectibles" with variant covers like too many of today's indy publishers (IDW, Dynamite Entertainment, and Boom!), I will remain excited about these character's return to the stands. Concentrate on what matters, the story, and I'll support the effort.
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Registered: 07/18/05
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I hope it succeeds but might be tough to catch lightning in a bottle again. If these were DC books or Marvel books putting out the possible #s they wouldn't last long, but this is an independent publisher trying to do what is best. We can only hope they do sell and do well, but most importantly for Valiant fans, they produce good quality stories for their long time readers. Again, I will not be buying, but I have no interest in Valiant, but there are a lot of people that will buy for sure and I hope it lives up to their expectations based on their past love for the publisher...
Registered: 12/24/08
Posts: 739
Loc: Santa Rosa, CA
Interestingly, just a day before this was announced, I went to my LCS and picked up several Valiant and Image books. I never was into them when they came out (my early post-college years), but thought I would pick them up for the future. Anyhow, I don't know if they are really worth anything, but thought the group would enjoy seeing a few of them. I'll post some interesting Image finds a little later.
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I'm totally stoked for fcbd this upcoming year because of the x-o book. Yes, he looks different, but sometimes different can still be good.
I think if the new valiant can produce solid stories and ensure that book ship on time, I think they will do fine. As long as they think like a small independent publisher with no visions of toppling the big 2 I think they can sustain.
There is one huge advantage that Valiant has over Image,Boom,IDW and Dynamite. They own their characters and don`t have to pay huge licensing fees. Valiant could be a sleeper,and challenge Marvel and DC a lot quicker than people think.
Edited by ComicConnoisseur (12/11/1110:56 AM)
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“Every positive value has its price in negative terms... the genius of Einstein leads to Hiroshima.” - Pablo Picasso
“I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member.” - Groucho Marx
There is one huge advantage that Valiant has over Image,Boom,IDW and Dynamite. They own their characters and don`t have to pay huge licensing fees. Valiant could be a sleeper,and challenge Marvel and DC a lot quicker than people think.
I hope they do well, but lets not kid ourselves they are years away from being a challenge even if everything works. Right now I would settle for well written blip that I can tell my friends to go read.
