Why, oh why, do comic book companies get excited and brag about this sort of thing? From the latest (unsolicited) Moosletter in my inbox:

Hunter-Killer Hardcover Allocated!

Hey, Moo!Nation! Just a quick word of warning for all you Hunter-Killer aficionados, the Hunter-Killer hardcover edition has sold through its entire print run at the distributor level. We limited this cool six issue edition to only 750 copies worldwide. When word of the incredible demand for a collected edition reached Top Cow HQ, we bumped the print run to 1000 copies and even then we end up having to allocate orders by over 30%. What does that means? It means that retailers won’t be able to get additional copies on reorder once the hard covers are in stores on January 17th. So if you want to make sure you get a hardcover edition, make sure you reserve a copy with your local retailer today! And if your retailer didn’t order any of the hardcover editions, fear not, for the softcover trade collection for all 12 issues will be out in February!

Allocating orders by over 30% indicates to me that the final order number for this was about 1300 copies, yes? Why is this a good thing, and who exactly does this help? Top Cow doesn’t benefit because all they’re left with is ill-will from fans who aren’t going to get their copy, not to mention the lowered amount of income TC will generate from the HC. The creators surely won’t benefit, seeing as how their royalties are 30% lower than they could have been. Stores won’t benefit because they’ll also suffer - even more directly - from the ill will and loss of potential profits.

Sure TC gets to hype about a sell-out, talking about how demand was all this that and the other, but really - is selling 30% less of any product than they could have considered “good business”? Or am I just missing the obvious upside to this?

Comics