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In the macrocosm of bothMarvelandDC Comicssales , certain style appear to be inviolate : conversant type on cover sell well , beleaguer the death of say characters trade better , but nothing move merchandise like the 1st issue of a brand - new series . The vast majority of the considerably - selling issues in laughable account are almost always new Issue # 1 ’s , either for new characters or for existing brands and/or teams . Fitting , then , that DC editor would capitalise on this trendand create a serial in whicheveryissue was a new # 1 … but unfortunately , fans saw aright through the charade .
First issues dominate sales charts , particularly the overall easily - selling strip of all time . Ultimate Spider - Man # 1 in 2002 sold over 600,000 copies , andStar Wars # 1 in 2015 sell over one million copies ( a much unheard - of number in the eld of digital distribution and wane comics sales agreement overall ) . But the exclusive best - selling issue of all time is undisputedlyX - adult male # 1released in 1991 . With over eight million transcript sold , X - Menand the serial publication as a wholehas yet to be trump in sales . While the surmise gold rush of the former 90s sure enough played a part , reviewer overall sought out new # single as collectors token or simply to start reading a new and exciting serial .
touch : Comics Publishing Plagued By Distribution and Printing Problems
Publisher Carmine Infantino comment this trend in 1975 , and substantiate that first books of new series sell noticeably better than subsequent issues . Thus , he decide to spearhead the conception of a monthly serial calledFirst Issue Special , containing nothingbutfirst issues . DC writer immediately see numerous flaws with the idea , starting with the fact that readers see the " First Issue Special " was the name of aseriesand not actually denoting a first egress . Writer Gerry ConwayofThe Night Gwen Stacy Diedfameassumed Infantino ’s pitch was a joke , but it was not , andFirst Issue Special # 1arrived on entrepot shelf in April 1975 .
approximately one-half of the issue hold story about existing characters , such as Doctor Fate , Starman , and eventually the New Gods(for Issue # 12 ) . Others bear unexampled characters created specifically forFirst Issue Special , but regrettably none of them lasted beyond the series , mostly because of the flaw of the book : even if a graphic symbol was well - received , they would n’t appear in a subsequent takings . Fans ascertain mightily through the artifice andFirst Issue Specialwas unceremoniously scratch after 12 issues .
Perhaps unbeknown to him , Carmine Infantino had simply create an anthology series with an added selling gimmick . First Issue Specialwas always destined to be forget because laughable book fans are much more savvy than publisher realize . study reward of rooter tendencies to grease one’s palms first yield can onlyget one so far in the comic Word industriousness , asDC Comicsand Infantino found out withFirst Issue Special .
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