Top 10 Comics of 2008

Jan 14

Well, sales-wise anyway.

Newsarama have put up Diamond’s end-of-year sales figures, which show that Marvel, and specifically Secret Invasion really handed out kickings all round, with 8 of the top ten sellers being the Secret Invasion issues.

I suppose this shouldn’t really be a surprise. Secret Invasion was hugely popular, and despite sagging in the middle (IMO) was still a very enjoyable event. I guess its just a surprise seeing it there so starkly, that aside from Final Crisis #1 and Uncanny X-Men #500 nothing could top Marvel’s big event. Not even DC’s own, much-publicised event.

I’ve talked about my feelings towards Final Crisis and Secret Invasion in length here, so its not really worth going over all that again, but I find it a shame that the sales are so easily grabbed by Marvel. I mean, what did DC do wrong? Final Crisis was hyped at the cons, features one of DC’s best writing talents, includes the all-important Crisis name, and a recognisable big-bad in terms of Darkseid. The fact that only its first issue cracked the top 10 is disappointing.

So how did Secret Invasion prove so popular and outdo all competition? As I’ve said (and read online other people saying the same thing), I felt the series itself sagged badly in the middle, but it still dominated the sales charts none-the-less.

Was it down to the simplicity of the idea (Skrulls can be anyone and have invaded. Queue fight scene)?
Was it down to the instant pull of that first issue with all its shocks, and that was enough to ensure the remaining 7 issues were top sellers (versus Final Crisis’ slow burn approach)?
Was it simply down to the popularity and strong market position of the Marvel Universe as a whole, meaning any event they put out was going to dominate?
Is this a vote for the all encompassing summer event, with lots of tie-ins? Certainly more books in a month adds to the epic feel of the event. While costing the reader a fortune, there’s no doubt it adds some weight to what’s happening in the main mini-series.
Am I wrong about the mini-series and was it simply the best book on the market all last year (I find that hard to believe. Captain America for a start).

Not sure quite where I’m going with this train of thought, but are we simply in a situation where Marvel could come up with any old rubbish, tack “Big Summer Event” on the cover, and be guaranteed a mammoth seller?

I know for me, it was probably the killer twists in the first issue that really suckered me in and made me want to see how it was all going to end. After the gut-punch of Jarvis being a Skrull, I was really waiting for further twists, and finding out what had happened to the originals and how they would come back. In those respects I was largely let down, with no real further shock reveals as to who was a Skrull, and the matter of the originals being rushed in the final issue. I’ve said elsewhere (and possibly here) that I frequently felt that Secret Invasion (the mini-series) peaked with its first issue. That book was easily one of the most exciting comics of the year as the scope of the Skrull plans was revealed, and what followed never quite seemed to live up to the promise of that initial issue.

Another aspect that kept me buying the series was the event as a whole more than the series itself. I was really enjoying the idea of the world-spanning invasion and tie-ins like Captain Britain and The Initiative really helped sell the idea that the Skrull invasion was having a big impact. This momentum kept me interesting in Secret Invasion The Event, more than Secret Invasion The Series.

Can DC turn things around next year? Final Crisis is wrapping up and we’ve got Blackest Night to look forward to. Sinestro Corps was a huge success for DC, so Blackest Night is going to have a lot of good feeling behind it. Blackest Night is also sounding like its going to have much larger scope than Final Crisis. Whereas DC have tried to keep Final Crisis contained to just a few core books, there’s a vibe from various interviews that we’re going to see a lot more tie-ins with Blackest Night, and I must say I’m ok with this. Prior to 2008 I’d have argued more for what Final Crisis has done, but I do think that the tie-ins helped give Secret Invasion a weight that Final Crisis (as an event, not a story) has lacked. Kudos for DC trying something more contained though.

And what about the other companies? While I admit I (like so many others) don’t buy a lot from non-DC or Marvel companies, it’d be nice to see one or two of them crack the top 10.

Of course, its worth noting that one area DC did very well in is the top 10 trades, with stalwarts Watchmen, Dark Knight Returns and Killing Joke all still selling well. Y The Last Man also appears heavily (and I must admit to buying the first 4 trades of that series myself last year).

Blackest Night, Comics, DC Comics, Final Crisis, Marvel Comics, Secret Invasion

Comments

David

January 14th, 2009 at 1:24 PM

I have yet to read Y The Last Man.

Worth reading?
Pie Man 70

January 14th, 2009 at 2:28 PM

Wel, at tiem of writing Marvel are testing your theory. Next summer will see all heroes put through the wringer in the Dissasembled World War House of CivilInvasions. Ok, its not, but Its a great title for a comic.

No idea why SI was such a success, it was Ok to middling as far as events go, and on a re-read, it sags not just a bit, but horrendously in the middle and the final two issues use splash pages in a way only previously done by nextwave. It was Epic, and I suppose had the fun of being basically everyone in the MU vs an army. It is a shame though, as it will add fuel to doing more big events that I can neither afford nor stomach. I am actually enjoying teh Dark Reign idea, and hope like the Civil War aftermath it actually gets to hang aroudn for a bit. SPecifically I want it to be aroudn long enough to create some conceivable remaining public support for osbourne.
Alan

January 14th, 2009 at 6:50 PM

I definitely enjoyed Y The Last Man, but I wasn’t as pulled into it as I was expecting.

Its a series that I’m meaning to get the rest of one of these days, but I had been expecting something with the wow level of Dark Knight Returns or Watchmen from the hype, which it didn’t quite have. Well written though, and worth a look.

I’d buy Dissasembled World War House of Civil Invasions in a heartbeat. Someone needs to write that. What’s Keith Giffen up to after Ambush Bug?

Is it true that Secret Invasion will add fuel to events people can’t afford though? One thing I thought Marvel did right was in having the Civil War and Secret Invasion mini-series largely stand-alone. Unlike Infinite Crisis which I thought really suffered without the tie-ins, I always thought those series held up as perfectly readable on their own.

I think my main problem with the Secret Invasion series owning the top 10 the way it does, is that it really felt like 4 issues worth of content spread over 8 issues. While I’ve got no problem with event books making the top 10 (and indeed, its inevitable), I find it a real shame that a largely disappointing (again, IMO), mini-series blocked the likes of Captain America out of the running.

Of course, this isn’t Secret Invasion’s fault. Its more a comment on what people will buy. Look at the Supergirl title. Largely considered a disaster area until the recent New Krypton issues (although there were individual issues I picked up that I enjoyed), but it still sold bucketloads thanks to that S-logo she wears.

As we frequently joked throughout Secret Invasion, Marvel’s next big event could consist of 20 pages of Norman Osbourn (just to keep the Dark Reign theme going) holding your money and laughing at you, and it’d shift copies no problem.

I should say at this point, I’m including myself in amongst this demographic, since I was one of the many who bought every issue of Secret Invasion. I’ll probably be less forgiving with Marvel’s next event though (I hope).

And just to wrap up this monster-length comment, I completely agree about Dark Reign. Norman running things has been great fun so far, and I’d like to see it stick for a while before the next big event comes along. I personally felt the Civil War/Initiative era of the Marvel U had a year or two still in it.
Pie Man 70

January 15th, 2009 at 8:59 AM

Yeah, it was a shame, I was enjoying the Initiative Status Quo. Lets keep norm in charge for the time being. I liked Tony’s description of the situation, that most people who get in power and do loads of bad things are pretty mundane, so when we’ve got a full on loony running things you know we’re in trouble.
Alan

January 15th, 2009 at 10:17 AM

The only thing I see is that Dark Reign has a much more definite shelf-life than the Initiative. While the Initiative would’ve run its course eventually, and had to alter its form (although technically it still exists, presumably its just that being unregistered now is a heck of a lot more dangerous than being registered), the idea of someone as unstable as Norman running things can only go on so long before Norman snaps.

I do like how they’re being specific about not retconning Norman though. It would’ve been easy to just write him as Lex Luthor for the Marvel universe, so scenes such as him killing Swordsman, or losing it after releasing Tony’s set him up over the SRA database are very welcome. It’ll be fun seeing Norman running the Marvel Universe, and then it’ll be fun when he completely looses the plot and his mask slips.

Reilly2040's Blog