Posted in: Boom, Comics, Comics Publishers, Current News | Tagged: comic shop, Hello Darkness

Hello Darkness Sells Almost 50,000, Gets Butt One-Per Store Variant

Hello Darkness Sells Almost 50,000 of its first issue, gets a Butt One-Per Store Variant of issue 3

Published Mon, 26 Aug 2024 21:09:08 -0500

Article Summary

Hello Darkness #1 sells almost 50,000 copies, leading to multiple reprints by Boom Studios.
#3 issue features a "Butt Variant" cover, making it a rare one-per-store collectible.
Annie Wu's SIKTC variant boosts issue #3’s pre-order numbers, following Erica Slaughter Cover Month.
Previous rare variants like Jenny Frison, Peach Momoko, and Jae Lee covers fetch high resale prices.

The summer of horror anthologies seems to be heating up even more. As Bleeding Cool previously reported, Boom Studios' Hello Darkness and Oni Press's EC Comics revival infused the market with over 120,000 copies of horror content from an impressive slate of high-profile creators. While Oni has vowed not to reprint Epitaphs from the Abyss #1, Boom has gone the other direction, racing to get more copies on shelves following a sell-out at the distributor level with a second printing that dropped last week, and again with a third printing that goes on sale next Wednesday, August 28th, along with Hello Darkness #2.

So far, the first two issues of Hello Darkness have sold over 78,000 copies, which means that issue #2 has sold in over 20,000 copies, and there are no ratio variants. And from what I'm hearing, Hello Darkness #3 is already tracking to sell more copies than issue #2. Part of that is likely because it has a SIKTC variant cover by Annie Wu that as part of Boom's Erica Slaughter Cover Month. But now Boom is getting extra cheeky with an Unlockable Variant by Paolo Rivera that is already being dubbed the "Butt Variant".

Not only does this cover depict a full peek at a mysterious woman's backside that's hidden behind the trade dress on the main cover, it is also limited to one-per-store, which will likely make it one of the rarest Hello Darkness covers out there. The issue #1 surprise 1-per-store "Thank You" variant by Jenny Frison has sold for $19 and the SDCC exclusives continue to be on fire with the Peach Momoko Glow in the Dark Variant fetching $100 or more, and multiple sales of $80-100 for the Jae Lee Foil Variant (that ironically is a homage to EC Comics) and $30-40 for the Rebeca Puebla Diamond Foil Variant. The question is: how much will people pay for the Butt Variant?

It might be worth making sure your local comic shop secures their one copy ahead of FOC on Monday, September 2nd.

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