Posted in: Boom, Comics, Comics Publishers, Current News | Tagged: comicspro, filip sablik

There Must Be More Than Batman & Spider-Man- Filip Sablik at ComicsPro

There must be more than Batman and Spider-Man, according to Boom Studios publisher Filip Sablik at ComicsPro Summit.

Published Thu, 22 Feb 2024 10:30:08 -0600

Article Summary

Filip Sablik emphasizes the need for new franchises at ComicsPro.
Batman & Spider-Man still dominate the market per ICv2 stats.
Boom Studios invests in titles like Brzrkr and Something Is Killing The Children.
Sablik unveils new series with potential during ComicsPro Summit.

Boom Studios has shown up in force in Pittsburgh for ComicsPro's Annual Industry Meeting, alongside Marvel, DC, Lunar, Diamond, PRH and the like.. Not only did they bring their entire direct market sales team, but Boom also showed up with their largest ever contingent of creators, including the original Pink Power Ranger Amy Jo Johnson, Coheed and Cambria frontman Claudio Sanchez along with his wife and co-writer of The Amory Wars, Chondra Echert, and Ed Brisson, Pornsak Pichetshote, Jesse Lonergan, Tony Fleecs, and Dave Wachter.

This morning, President of Publishing and Marketing Filip Sablik closed the morning session with one of his trademark aspirational presentations. In addition to calling on all aspects of the industry to rally around and work together for a more positive future for the direct market after some of the setbacks of the last 18 months, Sablik made a strong case for publishers, distributors, and retailers investing in new, modern franchises.

In a portion of the presentation that might get overlooked amidst the new title announcements coming out of ComicsPRO, he pointed out the double-edged sword that is the direct market's dependence on a handful of reliable (but ageing) "star players" illustrated by the fact that for decades the market used a single comic Batman as a barometer for success for every title in the industry. We'll put a finer point on it. After all, ICv2 and ComicHub's recently released top 50 issues of 2023 reflect the market didn't change much in 2023, with thirty of the titles on the list published by Marvel, of which eighteen are one character, Spider-Man, while DC Comics has sixteen of the remaining titles… and thirteen of those were Batman. This means that out of the top 50 titles of last year, 92% were published by two publishers and 62% of the list of two characters. The strength of the current market is that fans of those characters make for a very reliable base on which a comic shop can build its business around… until fans aren't responding to what one or both of these characters or publishers are putting out, at which point the entire market is impacted. It was a salient point given some retailers' concerns about quality and sales in 2023, and the general consensus that the market was down.

Sablik and Boom made the case that in order for the market to be healthier and more stable in the long term, it needs more modern franchises that drive fans into stores every week. To that end, Boom is investing heavily in 2024 in its biggest franchises like Keanu Reeves' Brzrkr, James Tynion IV and Werther Dell'Edera's Something Is Killing The Children, and Lumberjanes (and more broadly, its Boom Box imprint). They promised that 2024 would be a big year for each of these modern franchises and encouraged retailers to invest in them as well. At the same time, Sablik laid out an lineup of new series with the potential to turn into the next modern franchise. Stay tuned to our ongoing coverage of ComicsPRO 2024 with this handy tag.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!