Report: Star Wars #1 Will Be The Best-Selling Comic Book In Over 20 Years

The return of Star Wars to Marvel Comics is a big deal. That’s not news. What could raise an eyebrow or two is just how big Star Wars #1 is poised to be when it hits stores next month. We’re talking possible history here, as in the best-selling comic book since the early 1990s.

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Though not yet confirmed by Marvel, Comicbook.com is reporting that Star Wars #1 is set to sell over a million copies. No regular issue of any comic has hit that mark since Batman #500 in 1993, and the top seller of this century, Amazing Spider-Man #1, sold roughly half a million copies earlier this year.

Why is the Force so strong with this comic? There are a few things going on here:

The timing is perfect

With the hype machine cranking up for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, it’s the best possible time to be launching a new Star Wars comic, and the fact that it’s at Marvel for the first time in decades only adds to the curiosity factor. It helps a lot that Disney owns both Marvel and the Star Wars brand, making it much easier to fit all the pieces together.

Variant covers matter

Star Wars #1 is shipping with a lot of variant covers. Those helped Amazing Spider-Man #1 a lot too, and the top-selling comic of all time, X-Men #1, was famously assisted in its record-setting sales mark by having multiple covers. I know I bought every cover for that one, and some Star Wars fans are likely to grab more than one this time out.

Marvel has top talent on the book

This might be the factor that translates directly into sales numbers the least, but it certainly doesn’t hurt that Marvel is reinforcing the idea that the return of the Star Wars franchise is a significant event by featuring top talent. Jason Aaron and John Cassaday are kicking off the main series, and there are notable names on some of the other books as well. That can’t hurt.

Some extra ways of selling the issue might be in play

Recently, several comics have cracked six-digit sales marks by partnering with Loot Crate, the subscription service that packed said comics in its monthly crates. Guess what? Those still counted as copies “sold.” Comic Book Resources has a few ideas on how Disney and Marvel might be working to get Star Wars #1 to more people through alternative means, including events held at the Disney Parks. Depending on how you feel, that could be gaming the system in a way, but it’s a sign of the times.

Inevitably, a story like this is likely to only increase the chances that people who were on the fence about picking up Star Wars #1 will want to see what all the fuss is about. We’ll have to wait and see if Marvel comments publicly on hitting the million mark, maybe as soon as next week. The comic itself hits stores on January 14.

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