Is Sonic in trouble or something? Posted by Kat-chan on June 29, 2000 Forgive my ignorance, but I must know...are the Sonic comics NOT selling NEmore? THREE comic shops around here have stopped ordering them...I don't know about two of them, but one said the reason was that it "didn't sell". Hmm, maybe it's just a problem in this stupid state. o_o I swear, nobody at my school likes Sonic...I shouldn't be surprised about this, but I am. Has anyone else had this problem? o.O; Odd... meh... it seems as though this comic isn't getting as much circulation as it used to...at least not in my area. o.O; --- State of the Industry Posted by Ken Penders This is really hard to answer, as any one point I bring up could be valid to a given situation. In some cases, SONIC is as popular as ever and sells out almost immediately. In other cases, there are problems with distribution. Translation: The store may have space for only fifty-two titles, and have a selection of over 200 to pick from. If they don't keep track of what sells, there's a good chance SONIC doesn't make it to the shelves. In yet another scenario, SONIC might not sell well at some stores because it's intended audiences don't shop at that particular store. In regards to most comic shops, the retailers are uncomfortable carrying a book like SONIC, and feel they wouldn't get enough business to have it make a difference. SONIC must be doing well enough, because the publishers at Archie pay Sega a fee every time an issue is published, and I just can't see them doing so if they weren't making money on it. As for SONIC SUPER SPECIAL, that might be a whole 'nother kettle of fish, part of whose problems are a result of only showing up four times a year. ------ Re: Is Sonic in trouble or something? Posted by Double‡Cross Same thing where I'm at... there isn't a comic shop within 40 miles of where I live, and all the stores that used to carry Sonic comics (CVS, Eckerd, etc.) stopped carrying them. O.O In my opinion, you're right; the comics aren't selling anymore. Nobody that I know likes Sonic or anything that has to do with him... plus, the comic stories (Sonic's stories) do kinda suck, maybe mostly because Knuckles' stories being so small... and I know that people buy the Sonic comic just to read the Knux story. If they brought back the Knux comic, I'll bet that the sales would be through the roof. O.O ~Double‡Cross~ --- No more so than comics in general Posted by BobR : Same thing where I'm at... there isn't a comic shop within 40 miles of where I live, and all the stores that used to carry Sonic comics (CVS, Eckerd, etc.) stopped carrying them. O.O In my opinion, you're right; the comics aren't selling anymore. As Ken related in his on-line talk, the general malaise of comic sales isn't just relative to Sonic, but is affecting the entire comic industry. Stores like Eckerd, CVS, and even Giant Eagle, just don't want to take the time to have to sit down and order from an ever increasing number of mediocre comics that sell for under $3.00...they just don't get enough R.O.I. on the amount of time it takes them to manage the rack. The comic industry has itself to blame. Look how many X-Men comic titles there are each month...Superman, Spiderman, Batman. Or the number of scantily clad, buxom females with some special power or ability. Instead of concentrating on one good story, they shotgun everything under the sun, all under the same basic title. Quantity instead of quality. Once publisher's start to realize there isn't an unlimited market out there, and concentrate on writing one GOOD comic instead of a half-dozen pulps, they might start seeing a turn-around in the industry. Monopolizing the rack with dozens of identical titles also prevents those with great stories from ever seeing a store shelf. Ken's "The Lost Ones" is proof of that. A great story without the spandex and latex superhero. Yet it will never make it to a comic rack in general sales because of the 37th concurrent sequel to the X-Men. If you like furry comics (anthropomorphic animals, like Sonic and Knuckles), then another I just happened to luck into is called "Tellos." Good sword and sorcery epic tale of a quest to save a kingdom, possibly the world, set in a combination furry/human universe. And the writing is pretty fun, too. Yet "Tellos" has just switched over to Gorilla Comics, because it's sales were too low for Image's mainstream division. And "The Lost Ones" #2 is still up in the air for printing. Look how many pages in a typical magazine are devoted to advertising, and then look how many are in a stndard comic. Don't count pages advertising other comics from the same publisher...that's free space. SSS #14 had the most I've seen in ANY comic in a long while...8 pages worth! Yet look at any other standard magazine, and the number of ads they run. Those magazines don't make money off their sales. They make their money selling advertising space. If comics are to continue, and keep a low price, they either need to bulk up their advertising revenue...or create an alternate form of delivery, such as the web. Otherwise even Sonic will be lucky to make it to its 100th anniversary issue. --- Truth be told... Posted by Ixe Truth be told and all, down where I'm from (Miss-oo-rah! Yee-haw! ^^), Sonic sales are rather good. When I went to get SSS #14 the other day from Hastings, they said it was sold out. But that may be just my area. I suppose the sales figures don't lie, but here's something. The last issue of Sonic sold pretty well, I heard. I think I saw that at Sonic HQ or somethin... I need more sleep... bye ppl. -Bye --- Posted by Dr. Robotnik The Sonic stories could use some stories. Currently, it seems like no one cares about each other at all. The stories are flat and the character Nate Morgan has always acted as a plot escape. Everytime it looks like something might not work, or Karl has limited room to tell the story, in comes the walking plot device. It makes the story boring, and if people are bored by something, they'll stop buying it. For the record, the last 2 Sonic comics that I liked were #52 and #85, that's not a good score. As for Knuckles, I've been critical of any decision to run a complex story in the back-up slot, especially if the story requires a lot of room to tell it well. A 66 page story in a 24 page total(and broken up to span several issues when it's not the lead story)absoultely ruins a story, IMO. Look at "Tales of the Great War", "The Wolfpack", "On His Majesty's Secret Service", the "Sonic Arcade" related story. They all suffered having not enough space and the multi issue span. Tales of the Great War even had a month with no story so the origin of Naugus(something I personally didn't care about since it didn't matter to the lead story and wasn't referred to in the lead story) could be told. --- well... Posted by Allytha At one comic book store it was stated that it was rather unpopular with costomers and that it failed to sell... When I went to another place, however, they said they didn't have any because it was impossible to keep it on the shelves. I think it's all a matter of location and what type of costomer goes where.. *shrugs* ---