DC Comics Announces April 2013 Cancellations

DC has gained and lost several books like clockwork since they re-launched all of their books with the New 52. We've lost titles before that had the potential to be great, like Blackhawks and Static Shock during an initial cancellation of six books. Now, several more titles are being axed by DC. A couple of books both in and out of the New 52 are being cancelled this April, 2013. The titles I, Vampire and DC Universe Presents will be canceled with their 19th issues and Saucer Country will be ending with issue 14. Superman Family Adventures, a DC comics title for all-ages, will also be ending with Issue 12. A lot of these series are ending seemingly because of a huge drop in sales. I, Vampire was one of the first waves released by the New 52. It was one of its darker titles written by Hale Fialkov and drawn by Andrea Sorrentino. The series was a revival of horror-romance serials from 1980 to 1983 from the House of Mystery anthology. I've been tired for quite awhile of our fanged fiends – even the ones who don't sparkle – so I haven't been following the series, but it began as a success story with the first issue selling almost 36,000 copies. By the 14th issue, however, less than 14,000 were sold. Another title I unfortunately haven't been picking up but am still sad to see go is DC Universe Presents. The series showcases several DC characters who are rarely given their time to shine. I love the idea of a book that will look at multiple characters like the Challengers of the Unknown, Vandal Savage, Kid Flash, Blue Devil and Blue Beetle. It seems like it could feed a diverse audience and keep stories fresh with the addition of completely new characters. Like I, Vampire, the book initially sold well – more than 41,000 copies – then dropped to below 14,000 by issue 14. Saucer County is a Vertigo title also mentioned alongside the slew of DC comics that were cut. It is a creator-owned series by Paul Cornell and Ryan Kelly about the governor of New Mexico, Arcadia Alvarado. She is abducted by aliens the day she announces she will be running for President of the United States. Saucer County was released back in March 2012 and sold nearly 16,000 copies (a strong number for a creator-owned series) but by November the number of copies being sold was cut by more than half and was the book's death sentence. Interestingly enough, while creator Paul Cornell is devastated with the end of Saucer County, especially because not all the mysteries of the series will be uncovered, Cornell says (according to Comic Book Resources): "So I make this promise to you: I will, one day, finish Saucer Country, in one way or another, in a dramatically satisfying way... That is to say, I won't just put up the remainder of the plot on my blog or something, I'll find a professional means to actually complete the story, ideally in comic book form, or as a novel or, hey, go on, a movie. The rights revert to me reasonably soon. We'll work from there. " I personally wasn't impressed by Saucer County's debut issue to pay for another but I am impressed by Cornell's will to continue his series and answer the questions fans of the series are upset to go without. Superman Family Adventures is the all-ages comic the kids title by Alt Baltazar and Franco, the team behind Tiny Titans, an Eisner-winning title I have read once before which was a lot of fun and a great way to get kids into comics. It's a shame to lose a title kids can enjoy considering the low number of kids reading comics these days. It's also interesting because according to Supergirl Comic Box Community one issue of the series sold 7,500 issues, over 900 more than the other popular kids comic My Little Pony. While I can't say I had any connection to these books, it's almost always sad to see titles go. I like to think any title has the potential to succeed... unfortunately, in these cases, they didn't make enough money to reach that potential.