So...The XII #3, right? It's one of the six Alterna Comics comics I bought when I went back to Books-a-Million. And I just finished reading it...and the two issues which preceded it. Which I'll get to in a mo, but first, let's just look at this issue #3.
Cover price: $1.50. I got it for $1, and you can, too, since it's up on Comixology right now for 99¢. It's 32 pages long. Story and art, that is. There are another 9 ad pages...none of them obnoxious. And it's in color. -ish. It's black and white and orange all over. Which is actually kind of cool, and fits the story quite well. As I mentioned previously...maybe, I can't remember if that post made it to Publish or not...well, just in case it didn't...the art reminds me of Michael Avon Oeming. A lot. And that's a high compliment, because I love Michael Avon Oeming's work. And the story...well, let's just say this: I didn't find issue #4 on the stands when I bought issues 1 through 3, but I'm not going to wait: I'm going to buy it and #5 from Comixology as soon as I get finished here. Because I actually want to know what happens next. I actually care about the characters in this story. And the story.
But here's the thing. I did a little poking around on Comichron, and according to it, this third issue of The XII sold a grand total of 995 copies. That is not a typo. 995 fuckin' copies. For a good comic book. A very good comic book. A comic book that gives you 90% more story than most of The Big Boys...and at less than 40% of the price. For fuck's sake.
Okay. Now that I've got that off of my chest, here's the rest of the story so far.
Comichron Says:
The XII #1 03/07/18 Alterna 1,943 (29 pages)
The XII #2 04/25/18 Alterna 1,062 (25 pages)
The XII #3 07/11/18 Alterna 995 (32 pages)
The XII #4 09/12/18 Alterna 919 (? pages)
The XII #5 Sir Not Appearing In This Film
So those first three issues gave me 86 pages of story for $3 ($4.50 cover price, $2.97 Comixology price). And I have to say it again: this was a really good story, with top-notch art. (By Luis Suarez, about whom I can find no information whatsoever...though there is quite a bit about a fellow with the same name who plays soccer. I found a little bit more information about the writer, Patrick Trahey, but it looks like The XII is his first comic book work. Sorry to say that I found out that I just missed the window for his Kickstarter campaign to fund a collection of this series. I would definitely have laid down some $ for that. ANYway....)
But take a look at those Comichron sales figures, man. Those are some very bad numbers. I was once penpals with a comic book writer whose most excellent book sold around 3,000 copies an issue. He told me that he had never made a dime from the book. So imagine what The XII does for its creators.
So far as I can tell, the 5th issue of The XII hasn't seen physical print yet, so I will be on the look out for it and for #4 as well. And even though I'm about to go buy both of them in e-form...and probably 1 - 3 as well...I'm still going to buy the physical copies if I can find them. And the graphic novel, too.
I really think these boys deserve some support.
Try it. You'll like it.
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