Finally, initial orders for The Path #1 rose by 9.5 percent above the initial orders for The Path Prequel. In relation, the increase in initial orders between Sojourn Prequel and Sojourn #1 was only 2.3 percent.
In addition, particular runs of CrossGen's backlist that were represented in the initial free launch of Comics on the Web on February 22, 2002, all jumped in reorders, with some doubling up over the previous week. Sales of CrossGen's volume one trade paperbacks increased by 26 percent, reorders for the Sojourn Collected Edition more than doubled.
Robert Scott, owner of Comickaze Comics and forum leader for the Comic Book Industry Alliance forum on Delphi, said that the release of Comics on the Web sparked a run on CrossGen Comics in his store.
"We've seen customers abandon comics in droves over the last decade and yet most publishers are content to practice business as usual, looking for ways to steal bigger chunks of a shrinking pie from their competitors," Scott said. "This again is important to me because if customer A moves his $20 a week from Publisher A to Publisher B, there is no growth for the Direct Market. What we need is a Publisher who is capable of creating an awareness and demand for their product and that is precisely what CrossGen has done since Day One. CrossGen has earned a great deal of respect from Comickaze and our customers due to their innovative business practices, quality product line and their willingness to work with retailers and outside of industry norms. Now with their Comics on the Web and announcements of their new Compendia Series, I am seeing something even more amazing. New customers, even customers who are not ordinarily comic readers, are coming to Comickaze and asking for CrossGen books and because of our participation in the CrossGen Premier Retailer Program and our agreement to maintain at least five copies of all in print titles, these customers are leaving with entire runs of CrossGen titles.
In addition, Scott even offered up some statistics from his own store's performance with CrossGen's line over the last few months. In January, CrossGen comic sales had a modest increase to 6.2% of Comickaze's overall sales but after the announcement of the Compendia Series, Comics on the Web and the interest Hollywood has in their line-up, the February CrossGen sales rose to 8.5% and in March they currently account for 16.8% of all store sales. In fact, their CrossGen March dollar sales already exceed Comickaze's 2001 monthly average and year-to-date CrossGen is their number 3 publisher, exceeding the next two publisher's sales combined.
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