Towards the end of November, DC Comics made an announcement surrounding their upcoming "Justice League of America" launch that made headlines both for its novelty and the perception that it may be the nadir of the current variant cover sales trend.
Namely, when the first issue of the series by Geoff Johns and David Finch ships in February it will carry 53 different covers. The majority of these variants will feature different state flags that retailers can order individually.
Today, capitalizing on the reaction to the move, the publisher released a ranking of state variants with the most orders so far-recasting the promotion as a contest between states in an effort to boost a few more sales between now and its final order cutoff date. Still, the results of the rankings reveal some facets of the comic book Direct Market that don't always see the light of day. Unsurprisingly, the top three states of Texas, California and New York are the population and media anchors of the country. But with the commonwealth of Puerto Rico coming in fourth, it appears that the heavy-hitting New York City retail community is ordering up on the book with hopes of catching the attention of the city's large Puerto Rican population.
The rest of the top ten is filled in with the kinds of states one would suspect -Midwestern and East Coast locations that make up the brunt of Diamond's network of comic and hobby stores. But perhaps the bottom of the list tells the most about where gaps in comics retail exist as flyover states hold the smallest sway since there are precious few comic shops serving potential fans in those areas.
Check out the full ranking list below, and stay tuned to CBR for more on "Justice League of America" and the retail perspective.
1. Texas
2. California
3. New York
4. Puerto Rico
5. Ohio
6. New Jersey
7. Pennsylvania
8. Michigan
9. Illinois
10. North Carolina
11. Florida
12. Virginia
13. Massachusetts
14. Washington
15. Tennessee
16. Indiana
17. Maryland
18. Alabama
19. Washington, D.C.
20. Hawaii
21. Arizona
22. Wisconsin
23. Colorado
24. Kentucky
25. Minnesota
26. Georgia
27. Oklahoma
28. Iowa
29. New Hampshire
30. Alaska
31. Missouri
32. Connecticut
33. South Carolina
34. New Mexico
35. Nebraska
36. Louisiana
37. Oregon
38. Rhode Island
39. Maine
40. Arkansas
41. Kansas
42. Delaware
43. West Virginia
44. Nevada
45. Mississippi
46. Utah
47. Montana
48. Idaho
49. North Dakota
50. South Dakota
51. Vermont
52. Wyoming