Best Dressed

When you want to make a splash, you need to dress for success.

While The New 52 really started last week, this week is the first big "test" as the first set of new books start. Looking at the list, you could almost call this a "safe week" as this week primarily sees the restart of already established characters or previously published series. Batwing is the only book that is truly unique, so is the one to really watch sales wise. DC has released previews of several of the new comics. Joining the ranks of Batgirl from a couple of weeks ago, we also get an Action Comics preview and Justice League International.

DC did the relaunch as a way to boost sales and build new interest in comics. So far, the strategy seems to be working as last week's launch of Justice League was the best ever sales week for some comic shops. Several shops are even raising order numbers for the DC titles based on last week's strong sales. Justice League is going into its third print run and the highly anticipated Action Comics and Batgirl will already receive a second printing before their first run has even gone on sale. We'll have to watch the Diamond numbers to see if the hype pushes DC over Marvel. If they can sustain the pre-launch excitement into long term momentum, there is a good chance this could actually revitalize the industry as desired.

What I have not seen yet is the digital sales numbers for Justice League. Jim Lee has said the digital sales broke records, but didn't report actual numbers. Unfortunately, I don't think ComiXology will report sales numbers like Diamond does, so we have to rely on DC to let us know how digital sales go. I'm betting that means we won't hear anything too specific for a while.