Most Successful Crossover Event?

[paddyo]

Which DC events have been the most successful, in terms of both sales and critical acclaim?

I know Death of Superman got a lot of press and knightfall also? is it one of those?

Anybody have an idea?

[Calvin Government]

52 got a fair bit of critical love, sold really well, and was just overall a quality series on almost all fronts. Except for the culmination of the Black Adam story. That was bad.

[THEDOC]

Any crossover that doesn't have to be explained or redone down the road is successful, unfortunate that DC really hasn't passed that test..well maybe Legends and Millenium.

[Will.S]

I guess it would be fair to say the original Crisis on Infinite Earths and 52.

[Karl O'Neill]

52. Nuff said. it's fab.

Sinestro corps war. As it was a sleeper hit that took the internet by storm. I know this because i used to post at newsarama, Back when it was cool to post there. people went bonkers about the sinestro corps war. It sold out tons of times and fans only had great things to say about it.

[Patryn]

What about DC One Million? I think that sold kind of well, and I haven't read a lot of negativity about it.

It's still my favorite major crossover.

[Thok]

Is 52 actually a crossover, rather than just an event?

If not, I'll put in a vote for Legends. Anything that launched JLI and Suicide Squad has to be fairly solid.

[Karl O'Neill]

52 launched a mini crossover towards the end, An audio book, A novelization, 4 new ongoings and minis--Booster gold, Infinity inc, Four horsemen, Black adam.A book with all the covers collected. and 2 or 3 series of toys.

They never expected that kind of success.

In a way. It surprized us all.

[Gitaroo_Dude]

52. Nuff said. it's fab.

Sinestro corps war. As it was a sleeper hit that took the internet by storm. I know this because i used to post at newsarama, Back when it was cool to post there. people went bonkers about the sinestro corps war. It sold out tons of times and fans only had great things to say about it.

Yeah, I wasn't even into comics at the time it was out, but even in the gaming magazines I read the editors were talking about how much they loved the Sinestro Corps War. Probably the best example of word of mouth I've seen for a comic.

[Ilash]

Sinestro Corps War, which is a great crossover event probably because it was restricted to two related books. On the same front, Dead Heat from Waid's first run on the Flash crossed over with Impulse, which he was also writing and was thoroughly terrific. Also, from what I've read of it, No Man's Land was a great crossover between all the Bat-titles.

Seriously, are you seeing a pattern here?

[Karl O'Neill]

Yeah, I wasn't even into comics at the time it was out, but even in the gaming magazines I read the editors were talking about how much they loved the Sinestro Corps War. Probably the best example of word of mouth I've seen for a comic.

What mags? I would be interested in reading them?

[Gitaroo_Dude]

Sinestro Corps War, which is a great crossover event probably because it was restricted to two related books. On the same front, Dead Heat from Waid's first run on the Flash crossed over with Impulse, which he was also writing and was thoroughly terrific. Also, from what I've read of it, No Man's Land was a great crossover between all the Bat-titles.

Seriously, are you seeing a pattern here?

To counter that, the recent crossover between Deadpool and Thunderbolts was restricted to just two books, and still sucked.

I think it just matters what talent is involved and how much editorial interference there is.

What mags? I would be interested in reading them?

Game Informer, off the top of my head. It was just a small nod to it though. Every month each editor lists what they're loving and hating at the moment, and during that period a lot of editors were mentioning how much they loved Sinestro Corps War. And in the normal photo section of them with guys in the gaming industry, they had pics of them in a comic shop picking up Green Lantern issues iirc.

[dancj]

Any crossover that doesn't have to be explained or redone down the road is successful, unfortunate that DC really hasn't passed that test..well maybe Legends and Millenium.
Interesting criteria considering Millenium is the worst crossover DC have ever done (with the possible exceptions of War of the Gods and that John Byrne New gods one which I haven't read).

Personally I'd go with Crisis on Infinite Earths. That set the whole ball rolling back in the day and is the one that half of the modern ones are still trying to replicate.

[Superbeast]

Most successful critically or in terms of sales?

In terms of sales I'm guessing Crisis On Infinite Earths.

[dumbstruck]

Crisis on Infinite Earths. It's the only large-scale crossover that told a cohesive story that actually mattered. Until DD and company decided to undo virtually everything COIE accomplished.

[Superbeast]

Crisis on Infinite Earths. It's the only large-scale crossover that told a cohesive story that actually mattered. Until DD and company decided to undo virtually everything COIE accomplished.

It also came at the tale end of the eighties when weekly periodicals were still available at news stands and sold very well.

[Dard]

There is only one DC crossover that satisfied me almost fully and that was "No Man's Land".

[KYLeo71]

It also came at the tale end of the eighties when weekly periodicals were still available at news stands and sold very well.
Actually, the original Crisis came out in the mid-1980s (early 1985-early 1986, actually). It was originally conceived as a means of a company wide event to celebrate DC's 50th anniversary and the event was being discussed in letter columns and blurbs as early as 1982 (heck, the Moniter first appeared in New Teen Titans as an information & weapons broker in 1982).

[Carter Hall]

Crisis on Infinite Earths. It's the only large-scale crossover that told a cohesive story that actually mattered.

I agree. Crisis sold insanely well, was a massive crossover and was also very critically acclaimed. Many have tried to replicate it and failed in terms of the level of success the original achieved.

52 had positive response and sold positively all the way through (it's sales per issue were in the neighborhood of a hit, albeit not a smash hit), but I wouldn't describe it as a crossover, unless you're referring to the bazillion little storylines taking place that the book was about.

Still, the original Crisis was monumental and the company has based much of its universe since 1986 around it. I don't think anyone can say DC has ever had a bigger hit than the original Crisis.

[Superbeast]

Actually, the original Crisis came out in the mid-1980s (early 1985-early 1986, actually). It was originally conceived as a means of a company wide event to celebrate DC's 50th anniversary and the event was being discussed in letter columns and blurbs as early as 1982 (heck, the Moniter first appeared in New Teen Titans as an information & weapons broker in 1982).
86 is the latter half of the decade, gimme a break. It was still a period when you could pick up comics at the news stand which meant comics were readily available and thus sold in greater numbers without the kind of competition they get today from video games and other kinds of entertainment.

[dumbstruck]

86 is the latter half of the decade, gimme a break. It was still a period when you could pick up comics at the news stand which meant comics were readily available and thus sold in greater numbers without the kind of competition they get today from video games and other kinds of entertainment.


I know this is just semantics, but I think most people would consider 81-83 to be early, 84-86 mid, and 87-89 as end. Just saying.....:wink:

You're right though. Being open to the newstand would have helped sales. The modern trend of restricting distribution to direct market has only helped to kill comic sales.

[KYLeo71]

Well, not to split frog hairs, but there is a bit of a difference between 'latter half' and 'tail end'. However, I whole heartedly agree with you about the readily availableness due to newstand sales. It was only when everything started going Comic Shop only (especially nearly all the series I was really into - Legion, Outsiders, Teen Titans) that I started sliding out of regular comic reading (save for Justice League which quickly began to over-extend its bwahahaha welcome and Wonder Woman which couldn't hold my interest after Perez left because he was the only reason I continued to read WW to begin with since I didn't particularly care for all the changes with the reboot).

[Superbeast]

Well, not to split frog hairs, but there is a bit of a difference between 'latter half' and 'tail end'. However, I whole heartedly agree with you about the readily availableness due to newstand sales. It was only when everything started going Comic Shop only (especially nearly all the series I was really into - Legion, Outsiders, Teen Titans) that I started sliding out of regular comic reading (save for Justice League which quickly began to over-extend its bwahahaha welcome and Wonder Woman which couldn't hold my interest after Perez left because he was the only reason I continued to read WW to begin with since I didn't particularly care for all the changes with the reboot).

Alright, poor phrasing on my part, point conceded. Can we move on rather than continue arguing a fairly minor point?

I still reckon COIE probably has the highest numbers per issue for a crossover. Fall Of The Mutants might run close to it.

[hotrodimus]

i loved Infiinte Crisis from starting from Identity Crisis. to me that was DC's highest point ever. the aftermath was great too. but eversince countdown to final crisis, ive since completely abondoned DC..

[AllisterH]

Neither 52 or Sinestro corps war would I consider a "crossover" (A crossover between two sister titles? not really what people think "crossover" otherwise "No Man's Land" or another Batcrossover wouls surely take the title)

Thus, since the original Crisis, it would be have to be one of the following...

DC 1 million or Legends....

Now, "Blackest night"....depending on how it goes, this may be the best one yet...

[Reptisaurus!]

Which DC events have been the most successful, in terms of both sales and critical acclaim?

I know Death of Superman got a lot of press and knightfall also? is it one of those?

Anybody have an idea?

In terms of sales?

Yeah, Death of Superman. By a landslide.

Critical Acclaim? No idea. I personally liked No Man's Land. :)

[Babylon23]

Crisis on Infinite Earths sold incredibly well, was critical acclaimed and set the standard for what company-wide crossovers should be. Every major crossover owes something to CoIE. It also had lasting impact, recreating a streamlined DCU. Unfortunately DC didn't really manage their new universe very well and created more confusing continuity problems than Crisis eliminated, but the series itself achieved excatly what it set out to do.

[Infinity Man]

I am still pretty new to comic books and have not gotten a chance to read it yet, but 52 seems very popular.