The Odyssey of The Dark Knight’s Universe

Batman can escape any situation, he can beat any problem no matter how tough, but there is one opponent the dark knight cannot defeat. Renumbering. With DC’s line wide relaunch all the Batman books will be getting new number one’s, and it may be just in time to save two books from ending all together.

How many number ones can a fan put up with and when is the breaking point? This is a question we ask ourselves many times when I book renumbers to tie into some big event, or spinning out of said event, movie tie in and any other “logical” reason we are told is causing the renumbering to occur. But it is rare for books to be renumbered mid storyline or after only shipping a handful of issues that suffered massive delays. Unfortunately these issues are effecting two books staring the sales powerhouse of DC, Batman.

Batman has been DC’s biggest selling franchise for roughly two years now, so much so that amidst all these relaunches and revamps that the only thing changing is Bruce being the only Batman again and a few creative team changes. The main direction of all the books will remain the same, and some fringe books have been adjusted to tie into the greater batverse a little more, or in Birds of Prey’s case a little less.

But as mentioned before there are two books from the batverse that are having a few noticeable changes. Batman: The Dark Knight and Batman Odyssey. Both books started out strong but soon declined in sales. Batman: The Dark Knight #1 sold 89,985 in December while #2 sold 71,108 in March, that is a sharp decline in sales, and I assume that if the data was available there would be an even sharper drop between 2 to 3 and 3 to 4. While Batman: Odyssey #1 sold 61,827 copies in July 2010, but #6 sold 29,093 copies in February 2011. That is over a 50% drop in sales, and why many people say DC pulled the book while they tried to decide what to do.

In the comic shop I work at interest in both books has gone down because of the numerous and heavy delays in the titles, and some are saying they are done with Dark Knight when the books restart. Oddly enough thought about 90% of the people who read Batman: Odyssey will be picking the book up again when it relaunches. I find this interesting because they both have had such a similar life on the shelf. Both were pushed by DC when they launched, both were to be written and drawn by A-List top talent and both were to be side adventures of Bruce Wayne as Batman. They both had delays and while Odyssey lost Frank Miller as a writer, Dark Knight will be gaining Paul Jenkins as a writer. But when we break it down we might be able to see why one book may still get some support from the readers and the other may see its sales keep slipping.

Recently The Dark Knight has started shipping on time with fill in artist Jay Fabok,who will also be at the helm when it restarts this September, and it has had two issues ship in 3 weeks time, with its last issue of volume one scheduled to ship at the end of the month. It has gained a writer to help out behind the scenes so David Finch and Fabok can focus on the art and make the book ship monthly. The book sold huge numbers when it launched, almost 90k in a typically slow month. But it was a number one by a high-profile artist whose name alone can sell books, I know people who put up with Ultimatum just for his art. But will there be a huge bump in orders when a second #1 ships within only 5 issues of the first volume? Will the book break 90k this time? Can we just lump it under the gotta have ’em all mentality of fans regarding the new 52 and the batbooks? Are fans who bought the first run going to sign up again when they don’t know if the books will ship on time?

This is an issue that is affecting another Batbook, Batman: Odyssey. Launched by Neil Adams in 2010, under seven issues have been released since the books launch and it too will be starting over after the reboot. It has been an interesting journey for the book since we first learned about it a few years ago, originally Miller was to write the book and Adams was going to draw it. It would be a year before it was officially announce, without Miller attached, and when it launched fans were taken aback by how “out there” the book has been. But soon it hit a delay, issues were delayed and re solicited then finally pulled all together from DC’s website. To say there have been issues would be an understatement, behind the scenes the book has been a train wreck from what little info has slipped out.

It’s okay to be fooled once, but can fans accept being fooled twice? Or do they even care? How will Finch’s Batman book tie into the larger batverse? While Batman is the main batbook, Detective shows the mystery side and Batman and Robin shows Bruce and Damien working together, fans are not sure what role Dark Knight will have in the larger scheme of things. Let alone wondering if Odyssey will even finish. Adams has said (and his son has vouched for) the issues are finished on his end; all they need to do is be solicited, printed and shipped.

These were marketed as two major books for Batman by DC. They have A-Listers behind them: Finch joined DC to do his book; Adams is a living legend, but can they regain the fan’s favor? When the books relaunch with fresh, market favorable and new reader drawing #1’s will they reclaim their spots or will they just fall lower than they have before? Fans are becoming more cautious and truly voting with their money, if they don’t like a book or feel betrayed they will drop the books. I guess there are really two enemies Batman can’t beat, renumbering and fans.