Let's examine the last few issues of the DC "World of Warcraft" comic series.

WoW #23 - 11,949 (176 in September 2009)
WoW #24 -10,436 (173 in October 2009)

(Issue #25 is a double issue).

With a cover price of $2.99 and Diamond paying 40% of cover price, DC will see $1.196 per copy. For issue #24, DC will see $1.196*(10,436) = $12,481.46 revenue.  For issue #23, DC will see $1.196*(11,949) = $14,291.00 revenue.

Assuming that DC wants too see at least a $6000 margin, then the Blizzard WoW license fee could be less than $6481.46 per issue.

Perhaps the Blizzard WoW license fee could be $6000 per issue.

Quote from: RPGPundit;437715The OP guy isn't nearly talented enough as a writer to be the comic world's RPGPundit.

Yeah, he didn't use the word "cunt" at all!

Seanchai

Another IDW licensed property is "Army of Two" and "Dragon Age".  It's a partnership between video game company Electronic Arts (EA) and IDW.

http://www.ea.com/news/ea-and-idw-army-of-two-and-dragon-age-comics


Searching through sales figures, there's the following data of the issues released:

Army of Two #1 - 4,177 (257 in January 2010)
(issues #2 - #6 did not show up in Diamond's monthly top 300+ list)

Army of Two omnibus - 555 (September 2010)

Dragon Age #1 - 4,984 (270 in March 2010)
Dragon Age #2 - 4,760 (296 in June 2010)
Dragon Age #3 - 4,467 (253 in August 2010)
(issues #4 - #6 did not show up in Diamond's monthly top 300+ list)

With a $3.99 cover price and Diamond buying them at 40% of cover price, IDW sees $1.596 per copy.  For Army of Two #1, IDW would have seen $6666.49 in revenue.  For Dragon Age #3, IDW would have seen $7129.33 in revenue.

(For a $19.99 cover price for an omnibus and Diamond buying them at 40% of cover price, IDW sees $7.996 per copy.  For the Army of Two omnibus, IDW would have seen $4437.78 in revenue).  Not quite sure how these comic companies handle their omnibus books.

If we assume IDW wants at least $5000 margin per issue, then the EA license fee would be less than $1666.49 for Army of Two, or less than $2129.33 for Dragon Age.

If the EA license fee is $1000 to $2000 per issue, it appears EA didn't get much out of it.

Another license is the Doctor Who series by IDW.

Searching through sales figures, here's the following data of the Doctor Who Ongoing issues released over 2010:

16 - 6,198 (239 in October 2010)
15 - 6,620 (247 in September 2010)
14 - 6,492 (205 in August 2010)
13 - 6,636 (217 in July 2010)
12 - 6,754 (224 in June 2010)
11 - 6,743 (204 in May 2010)
10 - 6,784 (201 in April 2010)
9 - 6,990 (223 in March 2010)
8 - 7,014 (185 in February 2010)
7 - 7,239 (193 in January 2010)
6 - 7,448 (214 in December 2009)
5 - 7,954 (198 in November 2009)
4 - 8,349 (206 in October 2009)
3 - 8,704 (218 in September 2009)
2 - 8,899 (187 in August 2009)
1 - 10,942 (180 in July 2009)

It appears the number of copies sold per issue, plateaued out around 6700 in mid-2010.

With a $3.99 cover price and Diamond buying at 40% of cover price, IDW sees $1.596 per copy.  At the plateaued 6700 copies sold per issue over mid-2010, IDW would have seen $1.596*(6700) = $10,693.20 revenue per issue over mid-2010.

If we assume IDW wants at least a $5000 margin, then the Doctor Who license fee could be less than $5693.20 per issue during mid-2010.

Perhaps the Doctor Who license fee is a flat $5000 per issue.

In summary.  We make the following (questionable) assumptions:

- The number of copies sold per issue drops by around 25% from issue #1 to issue #2.

- After issue #2, the number of copies sold per issue drops by around 5% from one issue to the next.

- IDW wants at least a $5000 margin per issue each month (after the licensing fee is subtracted out).

- The licensing fee per issue is anywhere from $2000 to $7000 per issue.
(The lowball $2000 figure is from Dragon Age, while the $7000 figure is from the "poorest" selling G.I. Joe title).

Hence the minimum viable total revenue per issue is between $7000 and $12000, for a licensed property.

For a comic book cover price of $3.99 and Diamond buying at 40% of cover price, IDW sees $1.596 per copy sold.  So to produce a minimum revenue of $7000 or $12000 per issue, the minimum number of copies sold would be 4386 ($7000 revenue) or 7519 ($12000 revenue).


Taking a time series starting from the IDW D&D issue #2 figure of 11,623 copies sold, along with a 5% drop from one issue to the next, we get for the possible number of copies sold for successive issues:

2 - 11,623
3 - 11,042
4 - 10,490
5 - 9965
6 - 9467
7 - 8994
8 - 8544
9 - 8116
10 - 7711
11 - 7325
12 - 6959
13 - 6611
14 - 6280
15 - 5967
16 - 5668
17 - 5385
18 - 5116
19 - 4860
20 - 4617
21 - 4386
22 - 4167
23 - 3958
24 - 3760
25 - 3572
26 - 3393
27 - 3224
28 - 3063

If the WotC licensing fee is $2000 per issue ($7000 revenue), in principle the IDW D&D comic series could last until issue #20 or #21.

If the WotC licensing fee is $7000 per issue ($12000 revenue), in principle the IDW D&D comic series could last until issue #10.

If the WotC licensing fee is around $5000 per issue ($10000 revenue), in principle the IDW D&D comic series could last until issue #14 or #15.

Quote from: Tommy Brownell;437490Hence my point about how they will wait for TPB numbers before the series is pulled.

Examining the TPB sales numbers over 2010, many IDW TPB titles only moved around 500 to 600 copies.  This is including many TPB ominibus compilations of big licenses like:  Transformers, G.I. Joe, Star Trek, Doctor Who, etc ...

Several IDW omnibus compilation TPB titles even moved less than 500 copies (ie. in the 300's).


IIRC, Diamond requires something like a minimum of $2500 in pre-orders for a particular title from direct channel comic stores, or else Diamond will not even carry the title or even outright cancel it (ie. it will never be seen in comic stores).

http://www.icaruscomics.com/wp_web/?p=2354

So for a $19.99 omnibus TPB, Diamond will pay 40% of cover price which is $19.99*(0.40) = $7.996 per copy.  In order to make the minimum $2500 threshold, a particular $19.99 omnibus TPB has to have at least 2500/7.996 = 313 copies pre-ordered through the Diamond direct market.

I suspect if the first IDW D&D volume 1 omnibus book, sells significantly less than 500 copies through Diamond, most likely they will make a decision to cancel the D&D series at issue #10 or #15 (depending on the WotC license fee per issue).

Most likely IDW will be watching how well the upcoming DC AD&D and Forgotten Realms omnibus compilations will sell.

The DC Forgotten Realms volume 1 omnibus reprints is being released next month (March 1, 2011), by IDW.

http://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Dragons-Forgotten-Realms-Classics/dp/1600108636

The DC AD&D volume 1 omnibus reprints is being released May 3, 2011, by IDW.

http://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Dragons-Classics-Dan-Mishkin/dp/1600108954

If these omnibus TPB compilations of the old DC AD&D and Forgotten Realms comics, end up selling as low as 300 or 400 copies each through Diamond, most likely IDW will make a decision soon about whether to can the IDW D&D series.  The sales of the upcoming IDW D&D volume 1 omnibus in July, will most likely confirm what they already know.

You're assuming the bulk of their TPB sales are going through Diamond. If I recall correctly (and I may not be), Diamond only covers the direct market and not bookstores (Barnes & Noble, Borders and even Amazon).

Quote from: Tommy Brownell;437905You're assuming the bulk of their TPB sales are going through Diamond. If I recall correctly (and I may not be), Diamond only covers the direct market and not bookstores (Barnes & Noble, Borders and even Amazon).

IDW deals exclusively with Diamond.

http://www.comicsbeat.com/2010/03/18/idw-become-premier-publisher-with-diamond/

QuoteAnd then there were…five. Diamond has just announced that IDW will join Marvel, DC, Image, and Dark Horse as a “premier publisher,” the first company to rise to that rank since the whole system was set up in 1996. Diamond will continue to act as IDW’s exclusive distributor to comics shops, and also to the book trade via Diamond Book Distributors.

QuoteBook Market Distribution

Diamond remains the exclusive book market distributor of IDW’s publishing efforts. “We’re extremely proud of the progress we’ve made in helping IDW grow its sales in the book store market over the last five years,” said Diamond Book Distributors VP Sales & Marketing, Kuo-Yu Liang. “From their strong licensed properties to their successful launch last year of the Worthwhile Books line for kids, IDW has adeptly shown what products will sell into the book market channel.

Let's examine more closely how IDW handled the EA license for "Army of Two" and "Dragon Age".

According the original press release, "Army of Two" and "Dragon Age" were originally suppose to be monthly series.

QuoteEA announced today that it has signed a deal with IDW Publishing to expand two of its intellectual properties, Army of Two and Dragon Age, into comics under a new EA Comics imprint with IDW beginning in January. EA and IDW will launch monthly, ongoing series for both Army of Two and Dragon Age.

In the end, it turned out both "Army of Two" and "Dragon Age" ended up being limited series of six issues for each.  After the first issue of "Army of Two" and the first three issues of "Dragon Age", they essentially fell off of Diamond's monthly top 300+ list of best selling comics.


If one examines the original pre-order solicitations for IDW's "Army of Two", none of them indicated it was a limited series of six issues.  (Pre-order solicitations are usually done two months prior to a particular issue's release date, for many comic titles).

http://www.comiclist.com/index.php/lists/idw-publishing-january-2010-solicitations

QuoteArmy of Two #1

Peter Milligan (w) • Dexter Soy (a) • Chester Ocampo (c)

Coinciding with the release Army of Two: The 40th Day, this new ongoing monthly series, written by comics veteran Peter Milligan (X-Statix, Greek Street), follows ex-Army Rangers Salem and Rios as they form their own Private Military Corporation: Trans World Operations. But the pair get more than they bargained for as they are unexpectedly caught in a brewing war between the Mexican Army, drug cartels, and The Maras-one of the most powerful street gangs in Mexico!

FC • 32 pages • $3.99

http://www.comiclist.com/index.php/lists/idw-publishing-february-2010-solicitations

QuoteArmy of Two #2

Peter Milligan (w) • Dexter Soy (a) • Chester Ocampo (c)

ACROSS THE BORDER: Part 2: Trans World Operations' first mission is off to a bad start. With one operative dead, Salem and Rios find themselves in the middle of what looks like a civil war. Now, with trust eroding between them, Rios and Salem have to put their lives on the line as they're drawn deeper into the violent world of a murderous Mexican street gang known as the Maras.

FC • 32 pages • $3.99

http://www.comiclist.com/index.php/lists/idw-publishing-march-2010-solicitations

QuoteArmy of Two #3

Peter Milligan (w) • Dexter Soy (a) • Chester Ocampo (c)

"Across the Border: Part 3." Tyson Rios and Elliot Salem have been framed for smuggling cocaine. These tough soldiers might have faced just about every danger in the world-but will it prepare them for the hell that waits in the Mexican Jail, where they must fight for their lives against corrupt guards as well as the sadistic criminals locked in with them? Meanwhile, Jaime tightens his bloodthirsty grip on the local underworld.

FC • 32 pages • $3.99

http://www.comiclist.com/index.php/lists/idw-publishing-april-2010-solicitations

QuoteArmy of Two #4

Peter Milligan (w) • Dexter Soy, Jose Marzan Jr. (a) • Chester Ocampo (c)

Stockholm Syndrome and Mexican Mayhem, as Jaime's bid for power over the Maras reaches its most murderous. Meanwhile, Rios is a marked man after killing Borges, the leader of the prison gang. Can Salem rescue Rios before the prisoners exact revenge? Or has being in prison changed Rios into a gangster?

FC • 32 pages • $3.99

http://www.comiclist.com/index.php/lists/idw-publishing-may-2010-solicitations

QuoteArmy of Two #5

Peter Milligan (w) • Dexter Soy, Jose Marzan Jr. (a) • Chester Ocampo (c)

Escaped prisoners on the run, Rios and Salem are hell-bent on getting back to America. After their chopper goes down in the Mexican desert, the Army of Two are on foot. With a price on their heads and their faces plastered across television everyone in Mexico wants them dead! Meanwhile, Jaime's lust for power has reached the upper levels of the Mexican government and may ignite a civil war!

FC • 32 pages • $3.99

http://www.comiclist.com/index.php/lists/idw-publishing-june-2010-solicitations

QuoteArmy of Two #6

Peter Milligan (w) • Dexter Soy, Jose Marzan Jr. (a) • Chester Ocampo (c)

Jaime's rise from street kid to leader of the Maras street gang to power over the political machine in Mexico is complete! As terror and murder grips the streets, Jaime calls for the death of the two men who could possibly stop him: Rios and Salem! But this Army of Two won't go down without a fight, and in a final bloody confrontation will Rios and Salem be able to stop Jaime before Mexico is torn apart?

FC • 32 pages • $3.99

In the case of IDW's "Dragon Age", it's a different story.  Issue #1 was released in March 2010, but issue #2 was delayed to a June 2010 release date.

The pre-order solicitations for the first three issues did not indicate it was a limited series.  But issues #4 - #6 mentioned explicitly it was going to be a limited series.  

http://www.comiclist.com/index.php/lists/idw-publishing-march-2010-solicitations

QuoteDragon Age #1

Orson Scott Card & Aaron Johnston (w) • Mark Robinson (a) • Humberto Ramos (c)

Hailed as "the RPG of the Decade" by PC Gamer magazine, Dragon Age: Origins has redefined the modern fantasy roleplaying game. Now, the innovative game from BioWare becomes the latest hit comic from EA Comics!

In a time lost to history, a war ravaged the land. Mages, incredibly powerful wielders of magic, ruled the world through mastery of dark arts and forbidden spells. Their lust for power almost destroyed all existence, and unleashed an unholy pestilence, the Darkspawn, to plague mankind, trolls, faeries, and all the inhabitants of the realm. Now magic is carefully controlled, taught behind the sacred walls of the Circle of Magi, and monitored by the ever-vigilant Templars. It is in this arena that a new generation of Mages in training will arise, warriors of sorcery who will defy the rules of the Templars and change the course of the world forever.

FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Written by multiple award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Orson Scott Card (Ender's Game, Ultimate Iron Man) and Aaron Johnston (Ender's Game: Mazer in Prison) with art by breakout artist Mark Robinson (Skrull Kill Krew) and covers by superstar artist Humberto Ramos, DRAGON AGE will take you to a world beyond imagination!

http://www.comiclist.com/index.php/lists/idw-publishing-june-2010-solicitations

QuoteDragon Age #2

Orson Scott Card, Aaron Johnston (w) • Mark Robinson (a) • Humberto Ramos (c)

From the game called "the best story-driven RPG in the world" (PC Gamer) and bestselling author Orson Scott Card (Ender's Game, Ultimate Iron Man) and Aaron Johnston, the epic tale of Dragon Age continues! Gleam, child of a powerful mage and a ruthless templar, is now grown with powers of her own. Can she stop the Darkspawn from murdering her adopted family?

FC • 32 pages • $3.99

http://comicnewsi.com/article.php?catid=208&itemid=13033

QuoteDragon Age #3

Orson Scott Card, Aaron Johnston (w) • Mark Robinson (a) • Humberto Ramos (c)

Their family dead, Gleam and her brothers Agmo and Datlin strike out on the road to find the killers. But after magically healing her brother Agmo during a fight Gleam draws some unwanted attention, from the dwarf Minderel as well as a group of murderous blood demon disciples of the Man of Light!

FC • 32 pages • $3.99

http://www.comiclist.com/index.php/lists/idw-publishing-august-2010-solicitations

QuoteDragon Age #4 (of 6)

Orson Scott Card, Aaron Johnston (w) • Mark Robinson (a) • Humberto Ramos (c)

Gleam had always been careful to hide her magical abilities, but when her brother is injured in a fight she has no choice but to use her powers to save him in public. That draws the attention of the templars, and one knight in particular: Duty, who was once known as Sadatt-her father. Will this reunion bring joy or death to both?

FC • 32 pages • $3.99

http://www.comiclist.com/index.php/lists/idw-publishing-september-2010-solicitations

QuoteDragon Age #5 (of 12)

Orson Scott Card, Aaron Johnston (w) • Mark Robinson (a) • Humberto Ramos (c)

Captured by the templars and revealed to be a mage, Gleam finds herself bound for the Circle Tower, the last place a wielder of magic would want to go. But templars aren't the only danger in the woods, as Gleam must confront a monstrous spider whose venom can kill in an instant!

FC • 32 pages • $3.99

http://www.comiclist.com/index.php/lists/idw-publishing-november-2010-solicitations

QuoteDragon Age #6 (of 6)

Orson Scott Card, Aaron Johnston (w) • Mark Robinson (a) • Humberto Ramos (c)

Having escaped the templars, Gleam, Agmo, and the dwarf Minderel exit the Deep Roads in a camp under siege by a group of bandits. As the village burns Gleam must use her magic to put out the fires, as her father, the templar named Duty, is close on her heels. Having escaped, her fate is sealed—she must be killed. But can her father kill her as he did her mother?

FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Note that the pre-order solicitation for Dragon Age issue #4 mentioned it was a six issue limited series.  Dragon Age issue #5 mentioned it was a twelve issue limited series, while Dragon Age issue #6 went back to saying it was a six issue limited series.

Assuming the "twelve issue limited series" thing isn't a misprint, the change to an explicit limited series and this hemming and hawing over whether whether it should be 6 or 12 issues, along with an erratic release schedule, suggests they (EA and IDW) didn't know what to do with the Dragon Age series after lackluster initial sales.

IDW's Dragon Age ended up having a somewhat erratic release schedule:

Issue #1 - March 31, 2010
Issue #2 - June 30, 2010
Issue #3 - August 18, 2010
Issue #4 - September 9, 2010
Issue #5 - September 29, 2010
Issue #6 - December 8, 2010


IDW's "Army of Two" had a regular release schedule over January -> June 2010.

The only explanation I can think of offhand for such an erratic release schedule for the IDW "Dragon Age" comic issues, would be something mentioned by Chris Pramas (of Green Ronin) about the approvals process with EA/Bioware which went on with the "Dragon Age" rpg.

http://www.greenronin.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=8518&p=86642#p86642

QuoteIf there's one thing I hate doing, it's lying to my customers, even when it's inadvertent. The nature of licensed products is such that they can move around on the schedule wildly depending on how the approvals process goes. This is why we haven't announce a release date for Set 2 yet. The GM's Kit is imminent and Blood in Ferelden is close. I know it appears like little is going on, but a lot is happening behind the scenes. We are committed to the Dragon Age game and it will be one of our major lines for the next several years.

_________________
Chris Pramas
Green Ronin Publishing

By sheer coincidence, the release dates of the Green Ronin "Dragon Age" rpg titles almost correlates with the erratic release schedule of the IDW "Dragon Age" comic issues.

- PDF of Dragon Age box set (December 9, 2009)
- 1st Dragon Age box set (February 8, 2010)
- Dragon Age GM's Kit (August 17, 2010)
- Dragon Age: Blood in Ferelden (December 7, 2010)

Perhaps IDW got sick and tired of EA/Bioware taking forever to go through the approvals process for each issue.

So IDW possibly decided to cut their losses in April or early-May 2010, by abruptly changing the "Dragon Age" comic into a limited series as of issue #4 and ending the "Army of Two" series.  (May 21, 2010 is when the pre-order solicitations list for August 2010 issues first appeared online, which "Dragon Age" issue #4 appeared in).

Going back earlier to March 24, 2010, the pre-order solicitation list for June 2010 issues first appeared online, which "Army of Two" issue #6 and "Dragon Age" issue #2 appeared in.  "Army of Two" did not appear at all in the next month's pre-order solicitation list which first appeared online on April 20, 2010.

Another recent DC Comics license is the video game Assassin's Creed by Ubisoft.

Looking through recent sales figures for the Assassin's Creed 3-issue limited series, we have:

1 - 6,941 (208 in November 2010)
2 - 5,915 (251 in December 2010)

Issue #3 was originally suppose to be released in January 2011, but was delayed and is now being released this week (February 9, 2011).

With a cover price of $3.99 and Diamond paying 40% of cover price, DC only sees $1.596 per copy.  For issue #1, DC saw $11,077.84 in revenue.  For issue #2, DC saw $9440.34 in revenue.

Assuming DC wants to see at least a $6000 margin, the Ubisoft license fee could in principle be less than $3440 per issue (using the issue #2 revenue figure).

Perhaps the Ubisoft license fee is around $3000 (or less) per issue.

Quote from: ggroy;437435For D&D issue #0, the cover price was $1.  So IDW sells it to Diamond for $0.40 per copy.  If the 23,657 copies sold figure for D&D issue #0 is reliable, then IDW made a total revenue of $0.40*(23,657) =  $9462.80

Thinking in terms of printing costs, if the printing + shipping costs per copy was more than 40 cents per copy, then this D&D issue #0 would not have made a penny for IDW.

Quote from: ggroy;438051Perhaps IDW got sick and tired of EA/Bioware taking forever to go through the approvals process for each issue.

So IDW possibly decided to cut their losses in April or early-May 2010, by abruptly changing the "Dragon Age" comic into a limited series as of issue #4 and ending the "Army of Two" series.  (May 21, 2010 is when the pre-order solicitations list for August 2010 issues first appeared online, which "Dragon Age" issue #4 appeared in).

I think I found a less sinister possible reason for this abrupt change of the IDW "Dragon Age" comic into a limited series.


There was an official announcement of an upcoming "Dragon Age II" video game on July 8, 2010.

Previously there was some innuendo hinting at a possible "Dragon Age II" video game, in January and March 2010.

Most likely IDW was aware of this innuendo, and probably asked Bioware about it.  They agreed to officially change the "Dragon Age" comic series into a limited series (if it wasn't one to start off with).


Perhaps IDW is working on a "Dragon Age II" comic series right now.

(Scroll down to the bottom of the screen)
http://www.idwpublishing.com/news/article/1543/