It's a Numbers Game
The Rise of the Relaunch and How I Royally Screwed Up the Numbering on The SIRE
Howdy folks! I promised you an interview with Fabian Nicieza, but ended up working diligently to get the latest issue of The Sire: Lost in Time #4 prepped for the printer this week. As I did that, I realized what a mess the numbering is for SIRE and thought it might be interesting to give you a little B-T-S into how it got so confusing…and how I intend to fix it.
Bonus: The answer is part of a much larger conversation fans are having about the way the Big Two operates these days and why it’s turning away new and old fans alike.
But first, if anyone missed out last week, we’re offering a very special digital deal right now on sirestudiosinc.com: get SIRE Chapters 1-5 for FREE! That’s right, no strings attached you can pick up the first five chapters of The SIRE for nada.
As I mentioned above, the hot topic on the interwebs these days is the way comic books ARE numbered, the way comic books USED to be numbered and how retailers WANT them to be numbered today. A way back in the 2000s, a new way of numbering books was introduced by several major and independent companies. It was the rise of the RELAUNCH… a.k.a Make Everything a Mini-Series.
The theory went as follows: number 1’s sell way more than any other issue. Number 2’s sell half that and number 3’s sell half of that. If you’re lucky, you’ll see an increase by the time you hit number 4, but by that time it might be too late. So, the prevailing thought became instead of starting at number one and continuing as was the tradition, companies would release the first story arc or two or three (however many that would be) as a mini-series. Then they would cancel said mini-series and RELAUNCH with a new series starting again at number one.
When I first released The Sire back in 2006, I saw the logic in this move. I was self-published and not confident my book would catch-on in time to be a success. That’s why The Sire starts with issues 1-3 and continues with The Sire: Revelations, which is basically issues 4-6, renumbered as a 1-3 for sales purposes.
Now, some ten years ago, when I decided to relaunch The Sire on Kickstarter, I figured I’d finally had my chance to make amends. See, I always HATED the mini-series approach and wanted my books numbered the old-fashioned way, so I boldly went ahead and put out the newest issue calling it Sire #7.
I also figured The Sire’s run in stores were at an end so what the hey, let’s go crazy. People will figure it out.
Upon attending New York Comic Con that year, I immediately regretted my decision. Having to explain what happened to issues 4-6 and that Sire: Revelations is indeed 4-6 has been a minor pain in my side ever since. Undeterred however, I made my peace with it and so, going forward, I simply continued the numbering as is and lived with the consequences.
Until sometime in late 2022, Dren Productions came calling and wanted The Sire back in stores under their umbrella. Here was my chance to get issues 7-13 – never before released outside of Kickstarter and cons – back into stores.
But what to do about the numbering? Could I be so bold as to put out an issue #7 in Diamond and hope to get decent sales? No way! So once again, I relaunched the book under a new mini-series title “Lost In Time”. And with each new volume, I’d start back with a new number one.
Done. Simple.
That is, until I watched the Mark Millar retailer round-up on YouTube.
“We need consistent long-term runs on books,” John Robinson of Graham Cracker Comics said. “We need people that stick with the title, and I need Publishers to stick with the title.”
Doh!
I asked our Diamond rep about it as well. And he basically echoed what Robinson and the rest of the retailers said. Relaunching a new number one over and over wasn’t going to help like it had in the 2000s. In fact, it could end up hurting the long term growth of the book
So now what? I had a plan. I had the best of intentions. That plan and those intentions imploded. It was back to square one.
So here’s what I’m doing to fix this:
I’m labeling each SIRE issue by CHAPTER on the Sire Studios web site (and on the inside front cover of each book) for clarity. See my nifty graphic above.
Following the conclusion of LIT #5 (in stores in March) and the release of the Volume 2 TPB in stores, I’m dropping Lost In Time from the title and steamrolling right into issue #6.
I’m also phasing out the Kickstarter numbering on the web site as each new issue is released into the Direct Market (so get your hands on any of those Kickstarter copies now while you still can!) We’re sticking with The Direct Market numbering from here on out.
Going forward, any new SIRE material we release on Kickstarter will be part of a series of deluxe one-shots. No more numbering. Nothing confusing. These one-shots will be Kickstarter exclsuive books that can then be broken up for sale on the Direct Market, with ongoing numbering intact. My hope is that if I put out enough of those, we’ll eventually line up both CHAPTERS and NUMBERS on Kickstarter and the Direct Market.
So, what do you think? Does it all makes sense?
And what’s your take on the current numbering sitauation in comics? What would you prefer the Big Two and even companies like Image do about their numbering? Leave a comment and I’ll be sure to check it out.
Oh, and don’t forget to Download your FREE digital copies of The Sire 1-5. The offer goes until the end of the month.
NEXT WEEK: Fabian Nicieza. I promise. Really. Best of intentions right??
-Mike