posted March 17, 2003 05:14 PM               

I mean, 12 volumes for the LSH seems excessive, especially when you consider 2nd place is 8 volumes for All-Star and 7 (soon to be 8) for JLA.

posted March 17, 2003 07:18 PM               

I really don't know how you came to that conclusion.

I'm asking a simple question: are Legion archives actually the best selling ones?

posted March 17, 2003 07:58 PM            

What was the competition? I no longer remember. However, GA Superman, Batman, and All-Star are more acquired tastes than Legion (ever notice how many Weisinger-era fans are on this board and how many people complain about the crudeness of most Golden Age comics?)

How many Archive lines existed during the lean years? Again, I don't remember. However, most Archive lines are from after this time period.

posted March 17, 2003 09:38 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by vze2:
Chris posted while I was writing mine. Notice how both of us called Legion fans rabid.

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posted March 18, 2003 07:27 AM               

quote:

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Originally posted by vze2:
I think PeterCool, the original poster, is just curious. If you look at nothing but the total number of volumes, it does seem strange that Legion sells well enough to warrant 12, but Doom Patrol, Hawkman, and Atom only have 1. Based on volumes alone, it looks like Doom Patrol, Hawkman, and Atom tanked, and we know that didn't happen.

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VRE2:

Thanks. Yeah, I was just curious.

I didn't expect to get such... odd responses to a straightforward question.

So far, it seems obvious that no one who has posted here knows the answer to my question: how well do the Legion Archives sell?

It was really just a simple question...

posted March 18, 2003 07:30 AM               

I just find it incredible that the Legion Archives outsell all of the other archives to the extent that Legion would have 50% more archives printed than those in 2nd place (All-Star and JLA).

posted March 18, 2003 10:09 AM            

I don't think the responses were quite odd. The Archive publishing schedule isn't as simple as you might think. It's not strictly more archives = higher sales on earlier editions, as you might think.

And, as mentioned before, they started the Legion before All-Star or JLA. And with a limited number of Archives published every year, All-Star and JLA won't catch up until DC stops publishing Legion Archives.

posted March 18, 2003 05:56 PM            

I'm using the back flaps for my info. I'm not taking the time to get the actual publication order.

Superman and Batman were first. All-Star, JLA, and Legion followed. I think in that order. I can easily see Legion 1 being the best selling Archive that year.

Dark Knight and Shazam! were out by the time Legion 2 was published. Green Lantern was announced. Again, I have no problem believing that Legion was the top seller that year.

By Legion 5, no new lines were added or announced.

When Legion 6 was published, here were the totals, including announced titles.

3 All-Star (smaller fan base, cruder art and story)
Batman 3 + Dark Knight 2 = 5
Flash 1 (4 total if you count JLA)
Green Lantern 1? (not on the back flap of Legion 6)
3 JLA (a lot of people hate Sekowsky)
Superman 4 + Action 1 = 5

By the time 8 arrived, only Wonder Woman and Plastic Man had been added.

posted March 18, 2003 06:19 PM               

One response was: "Paul Levitz started his Legion career the issue after Mike Grell left, so he's not in 11, and he's not going to be in the upcoming 12, either. His run would start being archived either a couple or a few issues into 13."

This made my natural cynicism kick in and wonder if a honcho at DC would fast-track a marginal archive and keep it going just to get it to where he could start receiving roylties from it.