Rann/Thanagar War Talkback

[reideen1313]

Once again, another Countdown to Crisis book is sold out prior to being shipped.

Press Release

GALACTIC BATTLE EXPLODES IN NEW PRINTING OF SOLD-OUT RANN-THANAGAR WAR #1

Two planets erupt in battle in RANN-THANAGAR WAR #1, which sold out on April 25, over two weeks before the issue's in-store date of May 11.

DC Comics sends this issue back to press for a new printing with a recolored version of the original cover by Ivan Reis & Marc Campos.

RANN-THANAGAR WAR #1 Second Printing (MAR058071) reprints the story by Dave Gibbons with art by Reis & Campos. This new printing is scheduled to arrive in stores on May 18.

"It's a blast for me to be working on such long-time favorite characters with such wonderful artists, " says Gibbons. " I'm really happy there's such a buzz out there, too! "

"Like the three other miniseries spinning off from COUNTDOWN TO INFINITE CRISIS, it's no surprise that RANN-THANAGAR WAR sold out, " says Bob Wayne, DC's VP - Sales. " We recommend that retailers order this new printing as soon as possible and increase their orders on upcoming issues. "

RANN-THANAGAR WAR #1 Second Printing (MAR058071) is available for order now and is scheduled to arrive in stores on May 18 with a cover price of $2.50 U.S. To ensure delivery on that date retailers must place orders by Sunday, May 8; please note that quantities will be limited and may sell out before May 8. DC recommends that retailers place orders as soon as possible to avoid missing out.

Retailers may order the issue by contacting their Diamond Customer Service Representative or DC Sales Representative, or by email at [e-mail].

Upcoming issues are available as follows:

* RANN-THANAGAR WAR #2 (APR050356) is solicited in the April Previews (Volume XV #4) and is scheduled to arrive in stores on June 8.

* RANN-THANAGAR WAR #3 (MAY050245) is solicited in the May Previews (Volume XV #5) and is scheduled to arrive in stores on July 13.

[reideen1313]

Here's the cover to the 2nd printing:

[BlackBat]

So if it's no surprise to them the issues sold out, why didn't they take a clue after the sales were in for the Omac series and print more 1st issue copies for the following series. Did DC not learn it's lesson from the overinflation of comic printings and multiple issues that almost destroyed the industry in the 90's?

~Tim

[/\/\att]

BlackBat said:

So if it's no surprise to them the issues sold out, why didn't they take a clue after the sales were in for the Omac series and print more 1st issue copies for the following series. Did DC not learn it's lesson from the overinflation of comic printings and multiple issues that almost destroyed the industry in the 90's?

~Tim

Not only did they not learn the lesson, they seem intent on creating another 90s fiasco anymore! Its the Crisis on Infinite Variants!

[reideen1313]

Because the orders were already in by the time Omac shipped and sold out.

DC prints based on the orders they receive. There's no profit for them in over printing a book just because they think it will sell. They need orders to justify printing X number of copies. The fault lies with the retailers that didn't order enough copies. It's all about knowing your customers and obviously many direct market retailers don't know what the buying public is interested in.

[BlackBat]

Thanks for the info reideen!

How does that play into retailers that got shorted on their orders of first printings, because they were told the series had sold out? I was curious because I have a friend that runs a small shop, and was just sort of wondering.

~Tim

[reideen1313]

BlackBat said:

Thanks for the info reideen!

How does that play into retailers that got shorted on their orders of first printings, because they were told the series had sold out? I was curious because I have a friend that runs a small shop, and was just sort of wondering.

~Tim

The way it works (and I'm sure your friend can attest to this if he's been in the biz very long) is, Diamond says their policy is to allocate a certain number of books for each order if they don't have enough to fill all orders that were placed. In my experience, it is usually the smaller shops that get the short end of the stick in these situations. The larger shops that place bigger orders usually get their entire order 9 times out of 10.

[BlackBat]

Ok, so I think what you're saying is that even though a shop may be diligent enough to order the number of books they need, if a shop with a larger volume of business doesn't order the proper amount, then Diamond will bump partial orders from smaller shops to cover the a$$es of the larger shop that screwed up.

That doesn't surprise me all that much. I've know two small shops to go out of business in this area over the past 15 years because the representative from Diamond continually dropped parts or all of their monthly shipment.

~Tim

[reideen1313]

BlackBat said:

Ok, so I think what you're saying is that even though a shop may be diligent enough to order the number of books they need, if a shop with a larger volume of business doesn't order the proper amount, then Diamond will bump partial orders from smaller shops to cover the a$$es of the larger shop that screwed up.

Exactly correct - and it's been going on for years. When I was running my store, it was at the time of the Death of Superman storyline. I had stopped ordering from my normal distributor (back then there were more than just Diamond) and turned my business over to Diamond, so that I could get a larger discount. Knowing that Superman was going to be a big "event" I bumped my orders up to take care of the walk in traffic that I got every weekend during Husker home games. Unfortunately, due to the "allocation" system I only got a few copies of each issue, and I didn't get any copies of the GL issue that crossed over with Supes. I called my previous distributor, Friendly Franks (sheds a tear in mourning..), and they hooked me up with a couple of issues, but really they couldn't do much to help me at that point. I sold all my copies and ended up going to another store to buy one for myself.

I can't believe that things have gotten any better since Diamond became the sole player in the direct market game. From what I've heard, if you don't like Diamond's practices, too bad. What are you going to do? It's not like DC or Marvel have another outlet to sell their books.

[reideen1313]

I read this today - one of the advanced copies - and it was GREAT! Of course, I really enjoy the DC sci-fi/space type of heroes, so I expect this series to quickly move to the top of my montly list of must haves.

[Arkham16]

Yeah, i picked this up today and it was great. I loved the artwork in this. The scene between Kilowag and Kyle were cool. One month till issue 2.

[reideen1313]

I read the final issue of Adam Strange and then this one back to back - I must say, it's one heck of a great story! If you're reading Rann/Thanagar War alone, you're missing a chunk of how events got to the point that they are. Not to mention Pascal Ferry's AMAZING art on the Adam Strange book.

[/\/\att]

I wasn't too sure about this book going in, but I REALLY enjoyed it!

[jlavaia]

ok, i figured i had to at least attempt to get discussions moving on this, as no one has posted since issue # 1. i think this is a fantastic story. finally Shayera and Prince Gavyn are back. cant wait to see how Kyle fairs against Onimar Synn. it was also great when Blackfire sliced the head fanatic in half. all in all a great series. i've been wondering what kind of huge crisis could come out of this, and its basically if Onimar Synn gets a Zeta Beam, that'll most likely do it. just have to wait and see.