Mayo Report

[NDHorse]

Hey guys, I just listened to the October Trades Mayo Report and you can probably guess what I am going to comment on....Comic Bento. A bunch of things you were pointing out in the podcast were due to Comic Bento. Comic Bento is estimated at around 2,500 sales a month.

On the top was the Champions: No Time For Losers #1. This was included in the November box that I just got yesterday. This was a floppy that collected 5 issues of the 70s series. (Side note, I am currently reading Marvel Comics: The Untold Story by Sean Howe. Great book about the behind the scenes history of Marvel Comics from the view point of the editors, writers, artists, and businessmen. Champions was pretty much an editorially mandated book that ended up being made up of the characters that were available at the time, not because they made any story sense.)

You also mentioned a few different Valiant Masters books reprinting 90s Valiant Series. My October box came with the Shadowman book, but others came with the Rai or Ninjak books in the same Masters line. This was a nice hardcover reprinting the first 7 or 8 issues of the 90s series.

Another book on the October Diamond list that was in Comic Bento was Doctor Strange: Flight of the Bones. This was in the October box. The cool thing about this was that it was a brand new book that also was released in stores in October, so you really got a deal in the Comic Bento. (Overall, the October 2016 box was one of the better ones). This Doctor Strange book reprinted a mini-series from the 90s by Tony Harris, so it was beautiful stuff.

Other Comic Bento books that were on the October 2016 Diamond trade list were:
#26 - Warlord of Mars: Dejar Thoris v1: Colossus of Mars (November box)
#27 - Turok Dinosaur Hunter v1: Conquest (October box)
#29 - Mask Strikes Back (October box)

Quick interesting note about that Mask Strikes Back book. It was in the October box, whose theme was the Gnarlly 90s. Sometimes it comes up in conversation that these books that have a very low retail ranking relative to their sales rank is due to someone finding a box stuck in a back corner at the warehouse and Diamond or the publisher just want to blow them out quickly at a cheap price. That is definitely the case here because when I opened up the Mask book and looked inside the front cover, it was a first printing of the trade from 1996 and this thing was in pristine condition. Someone overprinted after The Mask movie came out. But don't let that fool you though. It was a decent read that had some very early Doug Mahnke art.

Hope that brings some interesting details to the Trades discussion.

[MisterFerro]

The Top 10 Comics for November is out now.

Everyone remembers these 2 posts I made several months ago?

Marvel plans on winning retail & unit market share during October & November with retailer exclusive variants:

Joining Champions #1 (Oct 16) in retailer exclusive variant covers are these books out in November:

• Avengers #1
• Black Panther: World of Wakanda #1
• Venom #1 -- also gets a 1:1000 cover
• Ghost Rider #1
• Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows #1
• Unworthy Thor #1
• Thanos #1

Bleedingcool just ran an "article" on How Marvel will claw back that marketshare come December:

• Order IvX #1 at 300% of Extraordinary X-Men #11 to get the party promotional package.
• Get smaller discounts off IvX #1 by exceeding 250%/300% of Extraordinary X-Men #11.
• Get massive discounts off IvX #1 by exceeding 350% of Extraordinary X-Men #11.
• Avengers #1 exceed orders by 150%/200% of ANAD Avengers #10.
• Foolkiller #1 exceed orders by 100%/125% of Deadpool #14.
• Occupy Avengers #1 exceed orders by 125%/150% of Moon Knight #2.
• The Unworthy Thor #1 exceed orders by 125%/175% of Mighty Thor #8.
• ASM:Renew Your Vows #1(now $4.99) exceed orders by 125%/150% of ASM #14.
• Avengers #1.1 exceed orders by 175%/200% of ANAD Avengers #10.
• Black Panther: WoW #1 exceed orders by 125%/150% of Black Panther #3.
• Invincible Iron Man #1 exceed 200%/250% of Invincible Iron Man #10.
• Venom #1 exceed orders by 125%/150% of Moon Knight #3.
• Ghost Rider #1 exceed orders by 125%/150% of Punisher #2.

Or how Marvel gave retailers free copies of IvX #0?

Retailers have now been informed that they will receive an extra 50% of the amount they ordered of IvX #0 for free, in addition to their normal order.

This was the Shares breakdown between the Big 2:

Retail Dollar

• Marvel - 38.08%
• DC - 26.17%

Unit

• Marvel - 39.46%
• DC - 31.30%

Did any of Marvel's shenanigans top the #1 spot? Answer = Nope!

• 1 - Batman #10
• 2 - Batman #11
• 3 - Civil War II #7
• 4 - All Star Batman #4
• 5 - Invincible Iron Man #1
• 6 - ASM: Renew Your Vows #1
• 7 - Batman Annual #1
• 8 - Venom #1
• 9 - Walking Dead #160
• 10 - IvX #0

[erickowabunga]

Or how Marvel gave retailers free copies of IvX #0?

Retailers have now been informed that they will receive an extra 50% of the amount they ordered of IvX #0 for free, in addition to their normal order.

We got more than just IVX doubled for free ... And all those issues are still sitting on the rack.

This appears to be a clever way to "win" the market share, without having an '*' next to the title for returnable. Now we have shenanigans to shenanigans

[doctormo]

Todd Allen at the Comics Beat has an interesting run about current issues retailers are facing. The discussion touches about some of the things (such as pricing, variants, trades, and the current crop of Marvel product) John, Sam, and TJ touched upon in recent Mayo Reports. There is some great back-and-forth in the comments section by individuals such as Brian Hibbs and John Jackson Miller.

http://www.comicsbeat.com/why-are-the-c ... -closings/

[MisterFerro]

Marvel heard we all love retailer exclusive variants and announced more for January and February!!!

At this point in time Marvel will probably do anything to win the dollar and unit market share.

January

• Monsters Unleashed #1
• Avengers #1.MU
• Spider-Man/Deadpool #1.MU
• U.S.Avengers #1 (delayed from December)
• Deadpool the Duck #1
• Unstoppable Wasp #1
• Mighty Captain Marvel #1 (so many relaunches in a few years makes Marvel crazy!!!)

February

• Elektra #1
• Kingpin #1
• Bullseye #1
• Darth Maul #1
• Daredevil #17
• Champions #5 (Marvel mustn't have liked that 85% drop from #1)
• Captain America #11

At this point Marvel drank too much of Charlie Sheen's kool-aid and now thinks they got that Tiger's Blood which causes all the WINNING!!!!!

[doctormo]

At this point Marvel drank too much of Charlie Sheen's kool-aid and now thinks they got that Tiger's Blood which causes all the WINNING!!!!!

Marvel's supply of Tiger's Blood will apparently last through March 2017. The have announced 25 Venom covers to promote the new series - http://www.cbr.com/marvel-releases-over ... nt-covers/.

[JohnMayo]

I really need to do an analysis of how many variants have been offered in each Previews by each publisher over the years.

[SpideySavestheDay]

Todd Allen at the Comics Beat has an interesting run about current issues retailers are facing. The discussion touches about some of the things (such as pricing, variants, trades, and the current crop of Marvel product) John, Sam, and TJ touched upon in recent Mayo Reports. There is some great back-and-forth in the comments section by individuals such as Brian Hibbs and John Jackson Miller.

http://www.comicsbeat.com/why-are-the-c ... -closings/

This article along with Bleeding Cool's interest in LCS closings seems to contradict this year's record breaking sell in numbers. Distribution of the comic wealth seems distorted (as heard from recent discussions on the Mayo Report). I know from Phoenix's market one local chain dropped comics and we lost a midsize con. But on the other hand, two stores are displaying confidence in the market by attempting to organize new cons.

[JohnMayo]

This article along with Bleeding Cool's interest in LCS closings seems to contradict this year's record breaking sell in numbers.

Not really. Those record breaking sales are sales to retailers, not consumers. That means it was a good year for publishers. If retailers order more than they can sell, it can put them in a very bad financial position. Essentially, those record breaking sales could have been a contributing factor for retailers on the edge depending on how well they were able to estimate what their customers were going to buy.

[SpideySavestheDay]

At this point Marvel drank too much of Charlie Sheen's kool-aid and now thinks they got that Tiger's Blood which causes all the WINNING!!!!!

Marvel's supply of Tiger's Blood will apparently last through March 2017. The have announced 25 Venom covers to promote the new series - http://www.cbr.com/marvel-releases-over ... nt-covers/.

A LCS I visit, Jesse James Comics, has announced a change in variant policy. Something I hope becomes a trend. The following is the announcement.

After a very careful and thoughtful review of 2016's business. We have decided the following;
We had a tremendous year both in store (25%+) and online sales (200%+). However, that said, it doesnt mean we shouldn't be Fiscal responsible in 2017.
I have made the following steps to insure, not only a better sales performance, but a higher sale through and bottom line profit.
We will be dropping all Marvel and Dc Variants from our orders. This will include B covers on all rebirth titles. Anything that has a "Beat sales by a % of a book to order a variant from Marvel" will no longer be entertained. *
We will no longer be carrying any genre or themed covers from either company as well.
The exception would be Deadpool, Star Wars, and Harley Quinn.
We will also be dropping all variant cover from all other Publishers Excluding Black Mask, Coffin Comics, Image and Sky-bound.
The exceptions;
Rick and Morty
Bob's Burgers
Power Rangers
Invaders Zim
Zombie Tramp
Lady Mechanika
Our goal in 2017 is to sell relevant and readable content and not focus on covers as a purpose to sale a comic.
We will continue to do our Exclusives. This is a great turn rate product and we feel its great for our Brand's exposure. After doing over 140+ Exclusives we have extreme faith in this part of our business.
*Now, If you have a box with us we will continue to order these variants for you. If they are affordable and dont have to over order for the variant. However, these will no longer to be available on our floor. Also, to make sure we uphold our Award Winning Customer service, we will find ways to get the product for you (if you dont have a box) through other stores in our network, if you so desire.
It is important that this isn't considered a stance against variants. This is our Brand insuring that our 2017 is prosperous and we are able to purchase more relevant product for your enjoyment.
We want to thank everybody who takes time to come to the store, shops on our online store, or follows us on Facebook. It was our Honor and privilege to serve you in 2016.
High Regards
Jesse James

[JohnMayo]

Very interesting. Please keep us informed on how it works out for them.

[drew]

TJ-heard anything on the DC Rebirth TPB schedule, frequency, number of issues, pricing? also - I assume wonder woman will be split (even/odd) into every other issue and collected separately? it may have been in previews and I missed it

[MisterFerro]

John,

There is a mistake on the December analysis that just came out this morning.

The title with the smallest drop was “Mosaic” #3 which sold an estimated 31,671 units — a drop of only 0.31%, roughly 97 units.

Mosaic did indeed have 31.6k units but earned less dollars (rank 176) than Scarlet Witch at unit ranking 168 (dollar rank 174) of 12.4k units.

Mosaic #3 had big overships and or massive discounts to help it stay over 31.6k units.

That got me think if #2 had any overships/massive discounts. According to comichron's new table that includes dollar ranks, Mosaic #2 was dollar rank 148 which is below X-Men 92 #9 which sold 16.4k units.

Marvel is doing all they can to create the illusion that Mosaic is an stable seller.

But then again Marvel is doing overships for all their titles this month.

[JohnMayo]

John,

There is a mistake on the December analysis that just came out this morning.

The title with the smallest drop was “Mosaic” #3 which sold an estimated 31,671 units — a drop of only 0.31%, roughly 97 units.

Mosaic did indeed have 31.6k units but earned less dollars (rank 176) than Scarlet Witch at unit ranking 168 (dollar rank 174) of 12.4k units.

Mosaic #3 had big overships and or massive discounts to help it stay over 31.6k units.

That got me think if #2 had any overships/massive discounts. According to comichron's new table that includes dollar ranks, Mosaic #2 was dollar rank 148 which is below X-Men 92 #9 which sold 16.4k units.

Marvel is doing all they can to create the illusion that Mosaic is an stable seller.

But then again Marvel is doing overships for all their titles this month.

The data I released at CBR.com has the retailer rankings and I pointed out how they can be used to spot over-shipping.

Based on the units invoiced, Mosaic #3 dropped by only about 97 units. Are you suggesting that statement is wrong?

I don't think it is.

Is it misleading because of the over-shipping? Sure. And, as I stated in the article, hopefully Marvel is over-shipping to get titles in the hands of more readers and not to game the sales reporting.

Please clarify the mistake you think I made in the article.

[MisterFerro]

Mistake was probably the wrong word to use.

I was thinking maybe that line should have an asterisk and mention that it was overshipped and that is why the issue drop only 97 units.

I must have hit submit without adding the above into my post.