Posted in: Comics, Comics Publishers, Current News, Vault | Tagged: Chris Yost, Unnatural Ordet, vault
Vault Comics has announced that orders for Unnatural Order #1 from Chris Yost and Val Rodrigues have exceeded 137,000 copies.
Vault Comics has announced that orders for Unnatural Order #1 from writer Chris Yost and artist Val Rodrigues have exceeded 137,000 copies at the time of the issue’s final order cutoff. Vault Comcis says that this “makes Unnatural Order #1 one of the best-selling new independent comics of 2023 and of the last decade.” Which is not exactly true. Most-ordered, certainly. But in order to sell someone something, you do have to get some money for it.
Because last month, Vault delayed the release of Unnatural Order #1 from July to October and made it completely free to retailers while maintaining its $4.99 cover price, which might just help a vulnerable direct market of comic book stores right now. And turned a comic book that might have had 20,000 copies out there if it was lucky, to one that has 117,000 more copies on retailers’ shelves. Whatever happens, that is bound to increase the orders for the full price Unnatural Order #2.
And Vault Comics is claiming this as their completely new model for launching new titles in the comic book direct market. “Unnatural Order #1 comes out in October from Vault Comics,” said Yost known for a long history writing comics for Marvel, including co-creating X-23, now the current Wolverine and Talon, as well as writing movies Thor: Ragnarok, and Star Wars shows The Mandalorian and Rebels. And maybe Vault Comcis thinks the market may react differently than some conservative retailers may have banked on. “It’s 30 pages of fantasy/sci-fi/action with a story by me and art by the amazing Val Rodrigues. We’re all very excited about it… I’ve loved comics all my life, but I haven’t had a comic in stores in a while… I was just psyched to be back. And then the gang at Vault ran an idea by me. ‘What if we gave away the first issue to retailers for free?’ I laughed at the obvious joke, because certainly our Corporate Overlords wouldn’t allow that. But this is Vault. They don’t do Corporate Overlords. Vault really wants to do something BIG for the retailers who support all of our work. I don’t pretend to understand the business of it, but they LOVE comics. They love their partners. They want all of us to succeed, to celebrate comics.”
Not that it will be free to readers, of course. Comic book retailers still have to eat. But it will give stores more confidence in ordering copies -lots of copies – as well as the ability to run targeted promotions to get customers to trial the launch issue of the Unnatural Order series that “blends fantasy, science fiction, and high-stakes action. In ancient Britain, an unstoppable evil known only as the Druid plunged the world into an age of horror, fire, and sacrifice. But there is one man even the Druid fears. A soldier from another time, who alone knows the Druid’s secret: this is not how the world is supposed to be.”
“I was stunned by the orders on Unnatural Order (pun intended!) I still can’t even wrap my head around it,” said Yost. “I’m truly overwhelmed and honored by the support retailers have shown for the book, for me, Val, Dearbhla, Andworld and all the team at Vault… This is a story I’ve wanted to tell for a very long time and it’s one that I wanted to tell here in comics. To see UO welcomed like this means the world to us. To every comic book store out there, THANK YOU! For real, from the bottom of my heart. We couldn’t do this without you, and I’m excited to have you alongside us for the journey that is Unnatural Order. I can’t wait for you to see where we’re going.”
Vault CEO and Publisher Damian Wassel offered the following: “Anyone who works in comics knows that new series live or die by their orders on #2, #3, and so on. The best way to get readers to show up in droves for a second issue is to make sure you got the first issue into as many hands as humanly possible. Traditionally, that’s not easy. You have to start with a great book from a great team. You have to market the heck out of it. You have to get retailers to rally around you. And, then you hope you get lucky.
“Well, we set out to do something wild with Unnatural Order #1. We decided to take a gamble and break that traditional model by making it free to retailers. Yes, we started with a great book, but then asked ourselves, how do we give retailers something to fight for, give ourselves a path to break through the noise, and turn that all into a huge reason for readers to show up for the book. The results have exceeded even our most optimistic thinking. The numbers are a little staggering. They blow Free Comic Book Day numbers out of the water. They set this series up to have one of the biggest readerships of any independent book in the market. It’s an incredible position to be in. Naturally, we couldn’t have pulled this off without the support of the incredible comic book retail community. So, we extend our heartfelt thanks to the retailers who helped make this happen. And, this is just the beginning.”
Could this be the beginning of the Fremium model coming to comics? What certain webtoon publishers have found a way to do? The standard cover of Unnatural Order #1 was offered to retailers in free bundles of 25 copies. Retailers are free to sell, discount, or freely distribute copies to their customers. In addition to the standard cover, Vault will offer net-priced, open-order premium variant covers from Tula Lotay and Maria Wolf for prices of $10, $15 and $25 cover prices.”
“Local comic shops are the reason we still have comics,” said Damian Wassel. “They’re the reason we have an MCU. It’s not just fans, creators, and publishers who are indebted to comic shops; it’s the whole entertainment industry. We know this has been a tougher-than-expected year for retailers. So, we’re making a game-changing move. We’re taking our biggest book of the year and giving it to you for free. Give it away or sell it. It’s up to you. What do we ask in return? Simple. Make this the best-selling comic of 2023. Get every copy you order in the hands of a customer within a week. And then, heck, maybe we’ll keep up this crazy gambit with all our new comics.”
However, Bleeding Cool understands that initial orders were lower, way lower than Vault were expecting, and they decided that something like this might jolt the market into reacting differently to the series. And it seems to have worked.
UNNATURAL ORDER #1 CVR A RODRIGUES (25 BUNDLE) (NET)
VAULT COMICS
JUN238820
(W) Chris Yost (A/CA) Val Rodrigues
Chris Yost, co-creator of X-23, writer of hundreds of X-men issues and films and shows like Thor: Ragnarok and The Mandalorian, returns to comic books with Val Rodrigues to weave together Dark Fantasy and action-packed SciFi in UNNATURAL ORDER! After the fall of the Britons and the Roman invasion of Hibernia, the captive known only as the Druid is released, sending a darkness across the world…an age of horrors, of fire and entrails. As the innocent burn in the Wicker fields, those who would resist learn of the existence of a man who even the Druid fears. For it is this prisoner, a soldier from a different time, who alone knows the Druid’s secret: this is not how the world is supposed to be.In Shops: Oct 11, 2023
Final Orders Due: Sep 04, 2023 SRP: $4.99
UNNATURAL ORDER #2 CVR A RODRIGUES
VAULT COMICS
JUN232194
(W) Chris Yost (A/CA) Val Rodrigues
In a world of blood, magic, and monsters, a second sun rises in the sky. Here, Iodoc the Druid rules all. But, despite his power, one man threatens Iodoc’s reign: a prisoner named Murchadh. Freed from the Burning Fields by the Druid’s enemies, Murchadh is on the run and marked for death…because, in a world turned inside out, Murchadh has another name, a secret that could change everything.In Shops: Nov 22, 2023
SRP: $4.99
UNNATURAL ORDER #3 CVR A RODRIGUES
VAULT COMICS
JUL232097
(W) Chris Yost (A/CA) Val Rodrigues
Powered by CERN’s Large Hadron Collider, the Druid unleashed his spell, changing everything. Navy Seal John Murphy was at ground zero and is the only one who remembers how the world used to be…or is he? Murphy’s intent on killing the Druid and setting things right, but another player has entered the game, and now Murphy and his team have a surprising new threat to deal with.In Shops: Dec 27, 2023
SRP: $4.99
UNNATURAL ORDER #4 CVR A RODRIGUES
VAULT COMICS
SEP232046
(W) Chris Yost (A/CA) Val Rodrigues
Unnatural Order’s first arc races to its conclusion as three factions face off to change the world…whether to destroy it, save it, or transform it forever. Navy Seal John Murphy is determined to kill Iodoc the Druid, he just has to get past a dragon, a vampire, and the Grey Queen first. But beyond the Sun Gate, Murphy’s allies are truly different people…and one of them is about to betray all of humanity.In Shops: Nov 29, 2023
SRP: $4.99
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