January PREVIEWS Pre-Order Picks: Our PRIORITY ONE suggestion

EDITOR’S NOTES:  As we have been suggesting for some time now, it’s extremely helpful to your local comic shop that you use the PREVIEWS catalog or website and pre-order books each month.  It helps the store from having to deal with surplus and un-returnable inventory; and ensures that the books you want will be there.  We’ve been reviewing the debut titles each month and offering some pre-order suggestions.  We’re going to fine tune that further this month and pick only those books that are both #1 issues as well as books that we feel may be under-ordered and not necessarily available when you decide to make it an impulse buy. In other words, we’re trying to pre-determine what books will sell out at the local level and go into second and/or third printings. We don’t claim to have a crystal ball , so the coming months will reveal how accurate our picks are.  We kick things off this month with the book at the top of our list, the one that we feel everyone should be pre-ordering . . . . . . . .

 

X-O MANOWAR #1  (Valiant Entertainment)  Writer: Matt Kindt.  Penciler: Tomas Giorello.  Cover Artists: Lewis LaRosa, Kenneth Rocafort, Mico Suavan, J. G. Jones, Monika Palosz.

 

XO2017 001 COVER A LAROSA2

     The first 50-issue run of X-O MANOWAR scripted by Robert Vendetti was an incredible journey, as readers watched Aric of Dacia mature from a barbarian in a symbiotic alien tech armored suit to a leader, team builder, and diplomat. The very capable Matt Kindt takes over the writing as Aric begins a new life, without dependance on the armor, on a new world.  The storyline has been plotted out well in advance, with story arcs that hint at the future development of the character from Solider to General to Emperor to Visigoth. 

 

   That’s not the only reason we’ve selected this book as our Number One Pick for January Pre-Orders.  Valiant is alsXO2017 001 VARIANT ICON JONESo offering the first three issues as a pre-order set - - - the X-O MANOWAR #1-3 PRE-ORDER EDITIONS.  It’s a different approach to marketing, and one that should benefit publisher, distributor, comic shop, and most importantly the readers. 

 

     Valiant released several new series last year, most of which went to second and third printings for their opening issues and first story arcs - - - with FAITH being the best example of this trend.  Good for sales, but it plays havoc with the printing schedules and can sometimes slow down production on their other books.  By offering a bundle of the first three issues, it helps Valiant to better schedule the appropriate number of issues during the first printing. Distributors have enough copies to satisfy orders. Comic shops have enough copies to meet reader demand.  Readers get extra content at no extra charge as an incentive to order in advance. 

 

    From the PREVIEWS catalog:  “Available only as a pre-order set, the X-O MANOWAR #1-3 PRE-ORDER EDITIONS — three 48-page, massively expanded editions of X-O Manowar’s colossal opening story arc - can only be ordered as a set and must be ordered with your local comic shop by the initial order date of January 26, 2017.

 

     Released monthly from March through May, each PRE-ORDER EDITION comes packed with trade paperback-style extras and bonus content, including creator commentary, behind-the-scenes looks at the creation of the comics, process character designs and artwork, and first looks at upcoming issues.


 

XO2017 001 COVER B ROCAFORT

   








The only way to obtain these exclusive items is to pre-order all three issues with your local comic shop by the initial order date of January 26,2017. 


No more copies will be made available beyond that date and subsequent issues will not be offered in later solicitations.”

 

So, our Number One Pick for January pre-order is this special bundle. 


Why settle for a single issue, only to decide you want to keep going?  Get the first three issues as a set and get the bonus content.  

 

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