Kate Spencer, the star of DC Comics' Manhunter, is a divorced mother with a smoking problem who kills supervillains.
Sounds like a pretty interesting character, right?
Unfortunately, sales haven't been great. Although DC is promoting Manhunter by having Kate appear in an Infinite Crisis spinoff and two licensed games, writer Marc Andreyko is worried about being canceled.
"DC is really behind the book," he said by phone from Los Angeles, "but they can only be firmly behind the book for so long."
Manhunter has been averaging about 16,000 copies sold a month, and Andreyko said 20,000 is generally the cutoff for profitability. So, in an effort to boost sales, he has a standing offer to people who aren't reading the book: If you buy Manhunter and don't enjoy it, he'll refund your money.
He has a similar offer for retailers: Order five extra copies of any issue through #24, and he'll buy back any that don't sell.
So where do you go if you want a refund? Look for him on online comics forums, such as comicsbloc.com. "I'm pretty easy to find on the Internet," he said.
Dan is also pretty easy to find on the Internet. He's at dkoller@quickdfw.com.
Manhunter has averaged 129th place on the sales charts over the last five months. Here's how its sales compare to the industry's top-ranked comics:
August
Manhunter #13 22,110
Justice #1 190,424
September
Manhunter #14 17,162
All Star Batman and Robin #2 178,952
October
Manhunter #15 14,345
Infinite Crisis #1 249,265
November
Manhunter #16 14,257
Infinite Crisis #2 207,564
December
Manhunter #17 13,615
Infinite Crisis #3 188,853
SOURCE: www.icv2.com
Marc Andreyko said a longtime DC superhero will be outed as gay in Manhunter #18, which comes out today.
