Are you branded?

In the latest edition of his column, Busted Knuckles, writer Beau Smith tackles the subject of brands in comics; particularly those of the "Big Two" (Marvel/DC) versus other companies in the market. In a conversation with a friend and fellow comic creator, the idea that the company that a given title is published under makes a big difference on whether or not it would sell. We're not talking about company-owned characters like Superman, but the difference it would make if, for example, Robert Kirkman's Invincible were to be published by Marvel; everything content-wise remained the same, but it had the Marvel logo and it's weight behind it.

This "brand effect" has been proved just this past year, when Brian Michael Bendis & Michael Avon Oeming's Powers jumped from Image to Marvel's Icon imprint. Comparing the sales between their Image run and what they're getting now, and you can see at least a 7,000 to 9,000 sales lead. What you have to ask if this is a reaction from the retailers who order copies for the store, or readers ordering to their stores exceeding the previous demand for the title under the Image banner. From the released figures, it seems that there weren't tremendous amounts of re-orders on the Marvel relaunch, no was there a significant decrease in the orders of the Marvel Powers once the newness of a new #1 wore off.

Beau leaves the comment open ended so his readers can chime in with their opinions, which I hope Beau will talk about in the next installment. Do yourself a favor and check out his column, and tell him what you think!