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Sales of IDW Comics

No, just me. Stuart Moore's Captain Pike and KRAD's one-shots will come out as schedule.

Crap. Well, here's hoping that one-shot sales increase and we will see Garrett's story after all.

Waitaminute. DeCandido's one-shots? Explain, please?

Also, I just read in another thread that Margaret Clark is no longer sole editor...does that mean they brought Marco back, or let Margaret go? Who's running the show now?
 
No, just me. Stuart Moore's Captain Pike and KRAD's one-shots will come out as schedule.
Waitaminute. DeCandido's one-shots? Explain, please?
I think what Bob means is that there are multiple one-shots coming out as part of the Captain's Log series -- Stuart Moore's (which is Pike) and Keith's (which is Jellico) -- not that Keith is writing multiple issues.

Outstanding article and discussion, fellas. I, too, thought Trek comic sales were probably in the tens of thousands, compared to, say, X-Men sales in the high hundreds of thousands.
Nothing hits the "high hundreds of thousands" now. X-Men has seriously fallen since its sales peak in the late-80s/early-90s.

And compared to where the industry is today, IDW's Star Trek comics aren't poor sellers. They are declining in sales, true, but comics sales across the board are declining.

And I am also now wondering if the "wait for the trade paperback" crowd has anything to do with the reduction in single-issue sales (and if that crowd, incidentally, doomed the Garrett one-shot...).
It can, yes. When it's cheaper to buy the trade paperback collection on Amazon than it is to buy the individual issues, then why would a collector buy the individual issues? IDW's business model, which encourages the "wait for the trade" behavior because everything gets collected near-immediately, can drive readers away from the individual issues.

IDW's publishing strategy for Star Trek -- wildly disconnected mini-series -- could also be a contributing factor in declining sales, as they're not targeting a consistent and continuing audience.

Also, I just read in another thread that Margaret Clark is no longer sole editor...does that mean they brought Marco back, or let Margaret go? Who's running the show now?
Margaret was laid off last year. Jaime Costas is the person overseeing the Star Trek line at Pocket now.
 
Margaret was laid off last year. Jaime Costas is the person overseeing the Star Trek line at Pocket now.

But Margaret has returned to work on a freelance basis, at least she is the editor for Michael A. Martin's Typhon Pact novel (Quote from my interview with him: "While I don’t know yet whether or not Margaret and I will work together on future Enterprise volumes, we are working together on my forthcoming U.S.S. Titan novel, Seize the Fire") and the SotL calender.
 
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Margaret was kept on freelance to handle the books she already had in progress at the time of her layoff. I'm not sure if she's still around now.

And it's Typhon, not Typhoon.
 
And I am also now wondering if the "wait for the trade paperback" crowd has anything to do with the reduction in single-issue sales (and if that crowd, incidentally, doomed the Garrett one-shot...).

If so, I'm truly sorry. Because I only by the trade paperbacks. Though I gotta admit that only a few IDW comics have impressed me much. "Nero" wasn't among them, unfortunately.
 
Thanks for the kind words, all!

And whatever happened to the "Mirror Images" series?
We got a whole five issues of this-- that's pretty normal for IDW. Were you expecting more?

Where is a decent place to go other than eBay that I might find some back issues from late 80s-onward? I've pretty much plundered all of the comic stores in my geographical area. I have heard of Mile High Comics and a tremendous backstock there, but know nothing of their customer service and pricing.
Well, you can see the pricing on their site! I bought from them ages ago now, and didn't have a problem. (What's wrong with eBay?)

No, just me. Stuart Moore's Captain Pike and KRAD's one-shots will come out as schedule.
Hm, that leaves four issues-- enough for a trade paperback. Sucks that it was yours that bit the dust; I was looking forward to seeing the folks from Well of Souls again.

IDW's publishing strategy for Star Trek -- wildly disconnected mini-series -- could also be a contributing factor in declining sales, as they're not targeting a consistent and continuing audience.
I dunno-- sales on their Doctor Who ongoing have declined as well, though I haven't looked at it closely enough to see if it's faster or slower than their Trek decline. In a future feature, hopefully!

Margaret was kept on freelance to handle the books she already had in progress at the time of her layoff. I'm not sure if she's still around now.
I know that Margaret was doing editing on some of the stories in Myriad Universes: Shattered Light (though not ours), which isn't a project she actively worked on during her original time at Pocket. (It was put under her aegis, but she didn't have a chance to do anything other than collect the manuscripts before she was laid off.)
 
IDW's publishing strategy for Star Trek -- wildly disconnected mini-series -- could also be a contributing factor in declining sales, as they're not targeting a consistent and continuing audience.
I could agree with this. I prefer evolving growing storylines when I read comics rather than self-contained stories.

I've read the opinion of some that continued story-lines are less conducive to the trade format than self-contained stories, but I disagree. The trades that I buy tend to be "catch-up reading" for titles that I'm jumping into mid-story. Star Wars: Knight of the Old Republic, Ed Brubaker's Captain America, The Incredible Hercules, Runaways and Spider-Girl among others are all titles that I jumped into mid-run and caught up with by buying trades and digest editions.
 
I refrained from editorializing in the article, but as far as I'm concerned, IDW's best stuff had been Byrne's work. Romulans: Pawns of War was my favorite full stop, and I also really liked Crew and Assignment: Earth. Alien Spotlight and Klingons: Blood Will Tell have been the other highlights.

Haven't read the Romulans yet, but otherwise I agree. Crew is probably my favourite so far.
 
I've read the opinion of some that continued story-lines are less conducive to the trade format than self-contained stories, but I disagree. The trades that I buy tend to be "catch-up reading" for titles that I'm jumping into mid-story. Star Wars: Knight of the Old Republic, Ed Brubaker's Captain America, The Incredible Hercules, Runaways and Spider-Girl among others are all titles that I jumped into mid-run and caught up with by buying trades and digest editions.
I can't speak for the others, but Dark Horse knows how to do trades. Their titles don't cross over much, so it's not very complicated, and Knights of the Old Republic awas designed to have story breaks every six issues to make it perfectly fit into trades. Plus, their trades just look nice in a way that Marvel's or IDW's rarely do. They know how to hit both markets well!
 
SicOne, you may have luck with a subscription to Marvel or DC's digital comics online. The drawback is that you cannot keep the issue forever, but if all you want to do is read the story, it's a great resource that won't break the bank.
 
I can't speak for the others, but Dark Horse knows how to do trades. Their titles don't cross over much, so it's not very complicated, and Knights of the Old Republic awas designed to have story breaks every six issues to make it perfectly fit into trades. Plus, their trades just look nice in a way that Marvel's or IDW's rarely do. They know how to hit both markets well!
Oh, yes. I don't know their SW stuff, but I have most of their Hellboy and B.P.R.D. trade compilations (also some ancillary stuff like Abe Sapien and Lobster Johnson), where the stories are equally well divvied up.
 
Thanks for the kind words, all!

And whatever happened to the "Mirror Images" series?
We got a whole five issues of this-- that's pretty normal for IDW. Were you expecting more?

Where is a decent place to go other than eBay that I might find some back issues from late 80s-onward? I've pretty much plundered all of the comic stores in my geographical area. I have heard of Mile High Comics and a tremendous backstock there, but know nothing of their customer service and pricing.
Well, you can see the pricing on their site! I bought from them ages ago now, and didn't have a problem. (What's wrong with eBay?)

I just would have enjoyed more, that's all. But you're right, Steve; that is pretty normal for IDW.

If you didn't have a problem with Mile High, then they should be fine for my purposes. There's just a lot to fill in, one or two issues missing from four- or six-issue miniseries, etc. My problem with eBay is more with shipping; why it costs $3.99 to ship something I can "Buy It Now" for $2.99 I have no idea. When half my purchases comprise shipping, Mrs. SicOne tends not only to grumble but also to edge up her purchasing on eBay, and that leads to a vicious circle in which no one is happy.

Are there other places than Mile High that you fine folks recommend, who do a good online business? I utilize Mail Order Comics, right down the road from me, for new releases (shameless plug...30% off and bagged and boarded for free); their backstock is pretty extensive, but I looted and pillaged it months back.
 
SicOne, you may have luck with a subscription to Marvel or DC's digital comics online. The drawback is that you cannot keep the issue forever, but if all you want to do is read the story, it's a great resource that won't break the bank.

Thanks, Smiley, for the digital comics tip. That's a great resource for a lot of folks on a tight budget these days who still want to get their comics jones.

In my chosen profession, we frequently sit for long hours with nothing to do so there is great satisfaction in sitting with a stack of new releases at hand along with some snacks. And most of the older stuff I'm looking for are from independents, many of which are no longer in business.

Speaking of which, someone in this forum turned me onto the Comic Book Database website several months ago...but I've noticed that the CBDB isn't always complete and accurate, and there were some discrepancies between the site and listings in a few comic price guides from four years back. Does anyone have a link to a more comprehensive site?
 
I've never actually bought anything from the site, but Things From Another World seems to be a pretty good place to go for comics. I use it just to see what's going on in the series I've been reading or will read in the future.
 
A good article. Thanks for the link.

I've not ever been a comic readers. Mostly because I prefer a mass-market paperback. I picked up a graphic novel here and there over the years. I was intrigued when I stumbled upon Leonard McCoy: Frontier Doctor (by Byrne). I found the niche of the time-period chosen was what made me curious. Luckily, I did this as #2 was released and managed to grab it, along with the last copy of #1 my comic dealer had.

As I was buying #3, I asked the comic dealer about the prospects for more in this series? It was suggested it might likely be a 5 or 6 issue run. I am hopeful it continues that long and that I manage to complete the series.

And since I am a fan of Dr. McCoy, I really enjoyed Captain's Log: Harriman (by Guggenheim). The story, IMO, captured the characters nicely. And artist (Currie) render of the familiar faces was impressive.

This article was helpful to understand what I have tapped into.
 
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