IDW net income down 91% in 2017

[ChosenOne]

I read the title as meaning that the net income was down TO 91% at first, then had a closer look. Oh, man...

[CyberCubed]

After the Nick TMNT cartoon just recently ended, (in fact the final eps air Sept. 22nd), I'm getting worried for IDW's TMNT's future.

It seems like everything since the Viacom revival is being concluded. The movies bombed (although we're happy about that), the Nick TMNT cartoon is ending, of course Amazing Adventures is ending with it, and now IDW is experiencing a downturn.

We'll surely make it to issue #100, I have no fears there. But now I wonder how much longer we'll go after that.

[DrSpengler]

Well, if TMNT is indeed IDW's best seller, then I imagine it's the LAST title on the chopping block if budget cuts come down the line.

So TMNT fans probably have the least recourse to be concerned. It's just Ghostbusters fans who need to be worried...

[ChosenOne]

Originally Posted by DrSpengler

Well, if TMNT is indeed IDW's best seller, then I imagine it's the LAST title on the chopping block if budget cuts come down the line.

The main ongoing, yes. But Universe (and possibly all the extra material like we got this year) will be sacrificed for sure.

[myconius]

Originally Posted by CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy

It's not that IDW TMNT is failing, it's that comics as a whole and across the board (Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, IDW, Image, et al) are on a decline... mostly caused by Marvel and DC, thanks guys.

Originally Posted by dl316bh

I'd say it's mostly Marvel. Being the industry leader sounds nice and all, but when you screw up and tank yourself, you end up hurting the industry at large, because a lot of people who largely deal in those titles stop going. It seems like the constant relaunches and events finally caught up to them and they know it, which is why they're going in hard on the Generations thing and promised no events for at least a year and a half. Probably doesn't help that their last two events were not well received and the most recent was so uncomfortable in the wake of real life that Marvel saw the writing on the wall and rushed through it in, like, three months.

i'd say it's both DC as well as Marvel.
on top of all the retcons and reboots, both companies are pushing the as many 'Events' as they can on their customers. long gone are the days when you can buy and enjoy just one comic title.
and now that most of DC's titles are bi-weekly that even more money to have to spend on the multitudes of cross-overs.

[CyberCubed]

Originally Posted by ChosenOne

The main ongoing, yes. But Universe (and possibly all the extra material like we got this year) will be sacrificed for sure.

I imagine if Universe ends they'd just replace with mini's and specials like we've gotten before it existed (or even now with the Dimension X 5-parter), just not as frequently.

[myconius]

i say if you aren't actually purchasing 'said comics', then you really shouldn't be concerned about what happens to them.

i'm not going to call out names, but you know who you are.

[CyberCubed]

Just curious, how is Dark Horse doing since they lost the Star Wars license to Marvel? I imagine that would have taken a heavy toll on them due to how popular Star Wars is?

[Erik Burnham]

Guys, I appreciate the concern.

And we always hope for more readers, Y'know? There is a downturn, no question.

Just beware of influencing further downturn from doom+gloom talk.

I say that because I know you don't have all the information. (I don't, either, but I know some of the other streams that are taken into account.)

Digital, reprints, collections (tpb, hc, and other), cost to profit, the license fees, convention sales, even. It all factors in. You see estimates of direct market sales. It's a great predictor, don't get me wrong, but don't let it influence too much, just buy what you dig and spread the word.

That said, I'd be happy if GB sales were higher, too. See you folks in November. 😘

[PApagreg]

Originally Posted by snake

The hasbro universe IDW fans basically hate the company. Pretty sure TMNT is the only thing they're doing right.

Actually IDW does really good Godzilla comics

[dl316bh]

Originally Posted by myconius

i'd say it's both DC as well as Marvel.
on top of all the retcons and reboots, both companies are pushing the as many 'Events' as they can on their customers. long gone are the days when you can buy and enjoy just one comic title.
and now that most of DC's titles are bi-weekly that even more money to have to spend on the multitudes of cross-overs.

I don't pay close attention to sales anymore, because it's stressful and does nothing to help enjoyment of comics, so I don't really know what DC's doing right now on that front. I mostly just know some retailer reports I've read that suggest they're mostly happy with how Rebirth has been performing even this far out. Other than that, I don't know much, though it's probably a good sign they've only had to cancel one ongoing a year and a half in. If you remember the New 52, they were forced to cancel, like, six of them eight months in, with a couple more following a few months later.

As for the events, though, eh, I really disagree on that. I've read DC for a long time, mainly in trade, and man, their event's are stupid easy to ignore these days. They seemed to figure out that excessive tie-ins pissed people off around when Countdown bombed, because from Final Crisis on, the vast majority of tie-ins were their own dedicated thing. Which is good, because I remember Infinite Crisis and how that went and screw that noise. That period of DC was a chore in singles or trade. I still haven't read Convergence. Skipped it entirely. Rarely remember it was a thing. Never felt forced into it.

I don't know why Marvel never aped that approach. Well, aped it entirely. They occasionally do a special "point one" issue as a tie-in, rather than swiping an actual issue of the comic, but they never seem to make it a linewide thing.

Just beware of influencing further downturn from doom+gloom talk.

I noticed this was definitely a thing that happens back when I still kept up with sales and talked about them with others. Too much talk about how something is near dead, and people start to wonder why they bother.

[TurtleWA]

Are market leaders only acknowledged when revenue drops or are they also acknowledged when companies have a revenue increase. Seems like scapegoating. At least that was my first thought after reading the title. "IDW Blames “Market Leaders” (I.E. Marvel) For Revenue Drop In Financial Report." But then I read some more and it seems like several business decisions contributed to the revenue drop.

[ChosenOne]

Originally Posted by Erik Burnham

Just beware of influencing further downturn from doom+gloom talk.

A little positivity always goes a long way!

[Redeemer]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

Bobby said before there is an industry wide downturn happening, and that IDW rejected projects or proposals from well established franchises or writers in the industry because things had gotten so bad.

But yeah, I think Sonic the Hedgehog franchise should help them a lot. The Archie Sonic comic went on for like for 20 years.

I literally just said that why did you quote me and say they same thing ? But Yeah I agree Sonic should definitely help sales. Hopefully the sales will start to tick back up.

Originally Posted by dl316bh

I'd say it's mostly Marvel. Being the industry leader sounds nice and all, but when you screw up and tank yourself, you end up hurting the industry at large, because a lot of people who largely deal in those titles stop going. It seems like the constant relaunches and events finally caught up to them and they know it, which is why they're going in hard on the Generations thing and promised no events for at least a year and a half. Probably doesn't help that their last two events were not well received and the most recent was so uncomfortable in the wake of real life that Marvel saw the writing on the wall and rushed through it in, like, three months.


It'll be another decently selling comic once the sales even out, but I don't know about helping "a lot". The Archie title wasn't doing amazing numbers by the end.

I am wondering how consistently Sonic will sell at IDW, bc correct me if I am wrong, but I believe Sonic was one of Archies biggest sellers?

[dl316bh]

Originally Posted by Redeemer

I am wondering how consistently Sonic will sell at IDW, bc correct me if I am wrong, but I believe Sonic was one of Archies biggest sellers?

It was a very consistent seller for them for decades and I'm pretty sure it was their best seller for a long time prior to the Archie lines modernization and relaunch, but by the last issue it barely pushed five and a half thousand in the direct market. Granted, at that point solicits had been sans Sonic for a bit, so people knew something was up and some probably dropped it, but even if you go back to before that point its best in the final year clocked in at six to seven thousand. Pretty much everything in the actual core Archie line had been outselling it.

That's not an indicator of how IDW will do, though. It's worth keeping in mind that with Archie we're talking about a comic that held on to characters and a world that hadn't been featured outside its pages in decades and was completely divorced from the main franchise. Nobody talked about it and it felt like it was never promoted, yet it held on for a long time despite all that, so who knows. I'm just saying, I wouldn't expect it to be a dynamo that props the whole company up.

[CyberCubed]

In the other thread a lot of people are saying their comic shops aren't even ordering Universe in anymore, and they have to ask to put it on their pull list.

[plastroncafe]

People should be doing this anyway, since pull lists are how the retailer knows how many books to order in the first place.

[Candy Kappa]

I can't do a pull list with my LCS, they don't import floppies. And especially since they've changed owner and Diamond is a bitch-ass to deal with when it comes to comics, when the old boss actually managed to get floppies I'd only get every second TMNT issue.

I'm all digital.

[plastroncafe]

Originally Posted by Candy Kappa

I can't do a pull list with my LCS, they don't import floppies. And especially since they've changed owner and Diamond is a bitch-ass to deal with when it comes to comics, when the old boss actually managed to get floppies I'd only get every second TMNT issue.

I'm all digital.

Wow. Okay that sucks. Like, all of it.
Do you use a subscription to buy your online comics?
I'm curious if publishers are using those the way Diamond does pull lists..

[Candy Kappa]

I used to use Comixology, but after the app was changed I went on using the company specific apps for Marvel, IDW and DC which still uses the older Comixology setup. Of what I've read and heard, sales goes through Diamond's control and digital is not included since it's not through Diamond.

My LCS still got trades, but they're very pricey so it's more of a rare treat, especially when digital trades can be as 1/3rd of the price or lower.