Spider-Gwen Returns With New First Issue And Variant Covers

[Nazrel]

It's not that I love Ms. Marvel, I think it's just an okay book; it's that I think your basis for evaluation is flawed.

I don't see how you can say that at all. If you look at the retail orders, it stands to reason that they would be ordered in terms of popularity from MOST POPULAR to LEAST POPULAR. Ms. Marvel falls in the bottom middle of that list every single month.

This has got to be the most objective way of determining a characters popularity. Nothing you've provided really runs counter to anything I've said. Just because a trade paperback sells well only means that there were a lot of people who wanted to buy the trade paperback, it has nothing to do with how popular the material is relative to other titles since not every title would have had a trade paperback released at the same time.

Surely this should be common sense, right?

Did you miss the part about the single issues being an annoying anachronism that most people getting into comics wouldn't want to bother with?

There are three ways comics can now be consumed.

The single issues, the trades, and the digital issues; to properly evaluate the popularity of a character you'd have to take into account all of this, otherwise it'd be like doing an election poll but only canvasing the rich.

I suppose a proper comparative analysis of the trade paperbacks would involve comparing the first month of each trades release and each successive month after against each other regardless of when they were released (so long as they're released within a reasonable margin of time of each other.) though my point had been it's Vol 1 had been selling consistently in the top 50 for the last year, regardless of anything released in the interim.

Getting ahold of statistical data for the digital sales is next impossible though, they only ever give you the top sales not the numbers involved.

 

[Something Amyss]

I don't know, maybe the less practicality makes it less cool with me. I am just imagining her doing acrobatics and that hoodie gets caught on a lamp post

I have trouble getting caught up in the practicality of comic book costumes.

 

[Fanghawk]

Isn't what you posted kind of the reason why we are dubious? A couple of issues selling out is interesting. Seeing how this actual book does will be more interesting.

A press release from Nick Lowe and coverage by the Escapist sort of makes us go, "Oh hey - that's interesting" but for different reasons. I realize it might be frustrating for some people, but many of us are highly skeptical about the nature of press releases and the press. They have this tendency to distort and lie you see...

To put it succinctly: Everything you linked more or less could be viewed as an advertisement. Wouldn't it stand to reason that with that much advertising, stuff MIGHT sell better. At least so long as it's still being advertised heavily.

Seriously?

Spider-Gwen's first volume had five issues. Each of those issues were among the top-selling comics of each month. (The lowest was Issue 5, at #20, still insanely good for a mainstream comic.)

That's a major success story for any new comic. If it wasn't doing well, Marvel would cancel it - which is what DC just did for many of its own failing books. Whether that success continues remains to be seen, but given how many people are into this book right now:

(a) Marvel would be stupid not to market a new first issue.

(b) Comics news writers like myself would be stupid not to cover it.

If YOU don't get the appeal of Spider-Gwen that's completely fine. But let's not make up a conspiracy where one doesn't exist.