Not a good month for lantern comics. Nope. May was not nice this section of the DC Universe. Probably because Batman and those fighting heroes over at the house Mickey built are running rampant all over the top ten. Though, when 3 of the top 11 books are starring a Green Lantern, how bad can things really be?
May saw the debut of the Green Lantern Alan Scott featured, universe creating, Earth 2 by James Robinson and Nicola Scott. That first issue comes in at #11 on the charts. While above it lies Justice League #9 at #4 which is just one spot lower than last month. Directly above Earth 2 was Geoff Johns’ Green Lantern #9 which took a four spot tumble.
In a bit of a surprise, Peter Tomasi and Fernando Pasarin jump ahead a few spots with Green Lantern Corps #9. GLC comes in at #35, which is three spots higher than last month. Lantern fans must really love those Alpha Lanterns! Unfortunately, while GLC jumps, Green Lantern: New Guardians from Tony Bedard and Tyler Kirkham falls hard. In April, the title was at #28, and now that New Guardians is slightly crossing over with Bedard’s Blue Beetle, they now rank at #38. A ten spot drop in the rankings! Ouch. Big ouch. Red Lanterns #9 also drops the title down four spots to #54. Though with a new consistent artist coming onto the title, it’ll be interesting to see if that book hits a new trend upward.
On the trade side of things, Green Lantern: Sinestro Vol. 1 hits the top ten…at #10. On the digital side of things, Green Lantern #9 comes in at #4 on DC’s list of digital titles.
CBR spoke with SVP of Sales Bob Wayne and SVP of Marketing John Cunningham (joined by DC Publicity Director Brandy Phillips) who also shared the rankings for DC’s digital performance in the month. There, the pair discuss the surprises held in May’s strong performance from collections that will help balance periodical sales to digital series marketed towards non-traditional comics fans to how the marketing machine built for the New 52 still serves the line heading towards its September “Zero Month.”
*UPDATE: Actual Sale Numbers*
