DC Announces SUPERMAN: EARTH ONE Sequel

It would appear that this Earth One thing paid off for DC Comics.

According to Diamond's October sales numbers, Superman: Earth One was the top selling collected edition, moving an estimated 16,260 units through the direct market. That's a ton of direct market sales (it's more than double the third ranked book, Richard Starks' Parker: The Outfit) for an out-of-continuity hardcover original graphic novel starring a character tha much of comic book fandom considers uncool.

What do sales like that mean? Sequel, baby.


Announcement over on the DC Blog.

Comments

  1. What was appealing about Superman: Earth One was that it was out of continuity, an origin story, and standalone. A sequel to me would lose a lot of the appeal. But of course I’ll probably still buy it unless reviews are absolutely terrible, grrr.

  2. @s1lentslayer: There is no reason a sequel could not be stand alone as well. This was also the plan all along with the Earth One line – a series of OGN for each character.

  3. I’m all for it. I hope this Earth One idea gets to be a real thing like the ultimate line. i would love two Earth One hardcovers a year featuring superman, batman or whoever, reimagined for today

  4. I personally think the last we needed was yet another Superman Origin story, but since we’ve got that out of the way, I’m curious to see where Earth One can go.

  5. Did anyone not expect a sequel? Wasn’t that the plan all along?

  6. @NawidA: It was, but everything is based on sales. No one really knew how that book was going to sell. It had been a topic of great debate.

  7. Woohoo for JMS, but I think I’m going to pass on the second one.  Wasn’t a huge fan of the Shane Davies art.  Also I still can’t get over the fact that the villain looks like he’s from ICP.

  8. its also fascinating how much press it got from mainstream news circles….even if they were spinning at as "a new look brooding Superman for Twilight Fans" (yes i actually saw that)

  9.  I think a lot of the sales had to do with the fact that Amazon.com and Instocktrades.com were selling it for 50% off…of course, I could be stupid and those places aren’t a part of the direct market.  Either way, it’s good to see something take hold like that, and kudos to DC.

  10. @Neb: They’re not a part of the Direct Market. This is just comic stores.

  11. You know, i really don’t get this format. I mean, i get it in so far as they can sell an extra book to the readers but do you seriously think getting a trade every few months would be a more enjoyable way to read comics than the monthly releases? 

    Having said that My store owner was peeing himself with excitement by how quickly the first sold out. I got to the store a 5.20pm and they were gone, baby! 

  12. edward: It’s a good aim at the folks who don’t go into comic stores and check out the comics at places at B&N or another bookstore like that. 

  13. the really story is that JMS could not keep up with a monthly so this is the best PR move to make right now.

    he is going to focus on earth one

    not that he couldn’t keep up with a monthly book or anything!!!!!

  14. on yeah sorry to double post but those 16,260 units were just comic book stores. 

     

    online and bookstores number are unknown but earth one reach #13 in total book sales and this is the second time its sold out 

     

     http://www.amazon.com/Superman-Earth-J-Michael-Straczynski/dp/1401224687/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1289427821&sr=8-1

  15. @edward: I think that a few trades a year (each with its own complete arc) is a FAR more enjoyable way to read comics than 22 page monthly chapters. But that’s me.

    But that’s sort of irrelevant because, as comicBOOKchris said, even though this sold well in comic stores these EARTH ONE books are meant for bookstores (and their customers), not comic stores (and their customers).

  16. @conor:  you couldn’t do a pick of the week podcast if that happened. looking for a way out, eh? 

  17. @edward: Not at all, and yes I’m aware that we couldn’t do the show anymore. I’ve said many, many, many times over the last five years that if we weren’t doing the show I’d be off monthlies.

  18. I never got the appeal of Shane Davis’ art. Always seemed a bit 90’s for my taste. Interested in seeing where the sequel could go storywise.

  19. Cool. Here’s hoping Batman E1 gets a similarly positive response.

  20. Very excited about this news.

  21. @Conor~  Thanks for the clarification.  That makes the success of the book even more awesome because when adding in those numbers, the book had to do super duper well.

    You know, what makes this news exciting as well, is the possibility of the same thing happening with Batman: Earth One when that drops.  If that sells just as well, could you imagine a yearly-ish graphic novel from Geoff Johns and Gary Frank?  Drool…

  22. I bought mine at Barnes & Noble online.  Can’t beat online discounts.  I go where it’s cheapest, always. 😉

  23. I just hope they don’t overdo it and treat it like it’s regular comic books and release it bi-monthly or something like that…I’ll burn my pocket in a major way. 1 earth one OGN every 6-9 months would be ideal.

  24. Love the format, not so hot on the creators but im glad this did well

  25. its interesting that so many units sold at full price through the direct market LCS system. I’m actually surprised that anyone buys any full priced hardcover at an LCS when its so easy to shop online. A testament to the support your LCS movement. Bad Economy where?

  26. The book was good, but not great. Although the little tweaks in the mythos he put in were pretty good. Let’s hope someone else then Shane Davis does the art….he wasn’t that good.

  27. If this comes out before we see the first Johns on Batman OGN, I’m going to be pissed!!  That was the one I wanted to read more from the time they were both announced 11 months ago!!

  28. I’m assuming that DCBS is considered part of the Direct Market. I wonder how many people ordered through that retailer (or others with a similar business model) and received their copies at steep discounts but still had the sale count as the Direct Market? DCBS was selling SUPERMAN: EARTH ONE via preorder only for $10, which is how I bought it. I wonder if that’s slightly skewing the results.

  29. I loved the format, but didn’t buy it because it was yet another Superman origin and the Davis art made Supes look like RPatz (as has already been stated above). However, the serial OGN is too good an idea to ignore.