Comicbook.com claims today that Marvel’s new Star Wars #1 will sell over a million copies. Or rather, that comic retailers have ordered a million copies – who knows how many will find themselves in the hands of readers.
According to the story, no comic has broken the 1M mark since 1993’s Batman #500, and “fewer than fifty comics have sold more than 200,000 copies” in the last 15 years. The bestselling comic book in that period sold only about 530,500 copies, per Comichron. (Though it’s worth noting those numbers, through the comic shop distributor Diamond, don’t include digital sales – everything here reflects the ‘direct market,’ aka actual comic shops.)
Dark Horse’s Star Wars comics sold steadily, but they weren’t exactly topping the charts regularly. Their 2013 Star Wars #1 clocked in at nearly 100,000 copies, per writer Brian Wood, and was reprinted multiple times. Marvel has the benefit of heightened interest in the franchise due to The Force Awakens. But will it bring people into the shops? The retailers seem to think so…
In any case, StarWars.com just posted a preview of Star Wars #1. The comic will be on sale January 14 – and I doubt you’ll have a hard time tracking down a copy.