 Here
are some common questions about archives:
How well do these books
sell?
How long will they
be published?
When
did each volume come out?
Why doesn't DC release
them in TPB form, or like Marvel's Essentials?
Where do you guys get
your information for the "maps" of future DC Archives? Do you own all the
original issues?
Why isn't there a "future
Archives" page for my favorite character?
How do you two find
the time to do all this? Don't you have lives? You two are the world's
biggest nerds! Losers!
Have any other questions?
Think some other piece of information should be included on this page?
Be sure to e-mail us at either one of the addresses on the home page!
How well
do these books sell?
Short answer, they sell well enough
for DC to be expanding the line, and there have been no volumes that sold
poor enough for DC to discontinue their series. Long answer, well the most
accurate answer I can give anyway, are the Diamond preorder numbers (for
books going back to 2000). These don't give a 100% accurate account of
sales, but they're the best we've got. Keep in mind that numbers decline
through 2003, likely due to places like Amazon.com who don't, or rather
didn't, order from Diamond. Linked to the right, are the numbers organized
by date published, number of volumes ordered, and by series. |
Diamond Preorder Numbers
(Coming Soon!)
Ranked chronological by date
shipped.
Ranked by number ordered.
Ranked by series. |
Back to top.
How long
will they be published?
As long as they continue to make
DC money. But the following is just an estimate of how many volumes of
"essential material" DC might have (mainly superhero, Golden Age through
Crisis). I tried to estimate toward the high side to allow for mistakes,
missed series, and any wild card volumes DC might throw our way. A more
accurate count will hopefully be given once we've mapped more.
Superman (GA to Byrne; Action, Superman,
and solo WFC): 80 (estimate)
Superboy: 42
Supergirl, Jimmy, and Lois: 58
Batman (GA to New Adventures of
Batman; Detective, Batman, and solo WFC): 80 (estimate)
Robin and Batgirl: 10
World's Finest: 20
Wonder Woman (GA to reboot): 50
(estimate)
Legion: 35
JSA/JLA: 30 (estimate)
Green Lantern (GA to current series):
25 (estimate)
Flash (GA to Crisis): 39
Misc. JLA (Green Arrow (starting
with GA), Hawkman, Aquaman (GA and SA), Martian Manhunter and Atom): 60
(estimate)
Misc. Silver Age (Metamorpho, Teen
Titans, Challengers, etc. [all hero/superhero]): 60 (estimate)
Misc. JSA (GA Hawkman, Sandman,
Dr. Mid-Nite, etc.): 40 (estimate)
Misc. GA (DC; all hero/superhero):
60 (estimate)
Marvel Family (GA-70's): 78
Misc. Fawcett (all hero/superhero):
40 (estimate)
Blackhawk (GA to end): 50 (estimate)
Plastic Man and Doll Man: 22
Misc. Quality (hero/superhero):
30 (estimate)
Charlton (hero/superhero): 10 (estimate)
Total: 919
Using this estimate, and an estimated
optimum publication rate of 24 volumes (plus non-DC extras) per year, it
would take 38.29 years total to complete the superhero (and quasi superhero)
essentials. I tried to be as liberal as I could with the estimated numbers
to allow for errors, so it could be less (or it could be more), but even
if DC increased production to 24 per year, we're looking at at least 35
more years of prime material, 60 more years with the 14/year schedule we're
on now. By that time, the post crisis material would be more than ripe
for the picking, meaning Archives could continue indefinitely.
Back to top.
Why doesn't
DC release them in TPB form, or like Marvel's Essentials?
Restoration of these stories is
expensive. DC's feeling is that sales from paperbacks would eat into those
of the hardcover books, and that overtime, the health of the line would
suffer.
Back to top.
Where do
you guys get your information for the "maps" of future DC Archives? Do
you own all the original issues?
We wish! Actually, there's a wealth
of reference material available on the web. The web sites we consult are
found on the links page under "Comic Book Indexes."
Back to top.
Why isn't
there a "future Archives" page for my favorite character?
Because we haven't added it yet.
Send your requests to the e-mail addresses at the top of the page!
Back to top.
How do
you two find the time to do all this? Don't you have lives? You two are
the world's biggest nerds! Losers!
That's not nice. :(
Back to top.
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