A new hardcover printing of Neil Gaiman’s The Eternals (a compilation of the 2006 mimi-series) hit the comics shops recently, with a $29.99 price tag. My local comics shop is selling it for ten bucks. Another shop, across the river, gave away copies as door prizes for a promotional event. Is demand for this title soft everywhere, or did distributors just dump too many copies in the Washington DC area? Are regular bookstores selling it in the remainder bin?
Given Gaiman’s name, it seems likely that it’s a good candidate for a loss leader to lure people into the stores. Gaiman is probably the comics industry’s biggest prose success, and Sandman is far and away the biggest comic book in the mainstream market. It’s just the work you’d want to bring non-readers into your shop. (Well, if it were as good as Sandman, which it definitely isn’t.) I think demand is probably somewhat soft given the book’s lukewarm critical reception, but you figure the smart LCS knew that going in.
–Cliffy
Damn it, I paid full price for the hardcover but it was worth it to me. Definitely could have been longer and more fleshed out though.
I just started The Sandman a couple of weeks ago and I just started “Fables and Reflections”. Man this stuff is good. “Season’s of Mist” and “A Game of You” has made me a Gaiman fan for life
As I understand The Eternals it was not a big success so over ordering based on Gaiman’s name is definitely possible.
Ooh, just you wait. It gets even better (though A Game of You is still my own favorite part). It’s the last four books–especially Brief Lives and The Kindly Ones–where the main story that ties everything together really kicks into gear.