In this afternoon's Marvel Press Conference, COO Bill Jemas confirmed what ICv2 reported yesterday (see 'Quesada Promises MMMH Reprint...') -- that The Call of Duty: The Brotherhood #1 has sold out in most stores in its first day of release, and that Marvel will reprint the book in a Mighty Marvel Must Have Edition, which will ship to retailers on Wednesday, June 26. 

Retailers Chuck Rozanski of Mile High Comics and Gerry Gladston of Midtown Comics participated in the conference call.  Both retailers praised The Brotherhood, noted that it was selling well and bringing 'civilians' into their stores.  

Although Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada mentioned that he was 'perturbed that the The Brotherhood #1 was so under-ordered by retailers,' Jemas thanked retailers for taking a chance and investing in a new and different kind of comic.  Jemas noted that Marvel printed about 60,000 copies of the comic with over 40,000 going to the direct market (ICv2's estimate of the pre-orders, which doesn't include advance reorders or UK orders was 37,558, which jibes with the figures Jemas announced).  Since The Brotherhood #1 was not a newsstand book, one can infer that approximately 25% of books were sold through Ingram and other channels.  Jemas also noted that 40,000 readers have read the first 25-pages of the book on-line, giving the title a readership of around 100,000 (assuming no crossovers from the on-line readers to those who have purchased the book).

Jemas also mentioned that Marvel does have a 'kitchen cabinet' of retailers that it looked to and consulted for advice on issues such as creating a Mighty Marvel Must-Have edition.  'I know that there is a feeling that it's Marvel versus the retailers, but the reality of the situation has been that for a long time, it's Marvel doing our corporate policy hand-in-hand with a handful of retailers whose opinions we respect and trust. It doesn't matter if you are a big store or a little store.  If you can give input that is valuable we listen.  It's not majority rules or the majority of sales rule.  The cabinet is made up of people we trust, because we trust their opinions, and more importantly because the things that they told us to do two years ago are bearing fruit today.' 

To retailers who feel whipsawed by Marvel's policies, which on the positive side drive new customers into stores, but which, by not reprinting key issues can frustrate these potential new customers, Jemas noted that Marvel had announced that it was creating a media blitz for The Brotherhood #1 over a month ago -- in plenty of time for retailers to up their orders (see 'Marvel's New Reality Series')--and the publisher had demonstrated its faith in the project by printing Brotherhood preview inserts in over a million-and-a-half comics.

Joe Quesada then chimed in to say that Marvel's next big media program would be aimed at boosting sales of the new Kevin Smith mini-series Spider-Man/Black Cat: The Evil That Men Do.  In addition to plethora of press coverage, Kevin Smith will plug the book on the Tonight Show (where he is a regular contributor) on Monday, June24 (see 'Kevin Smith To Appear on NBC's Tonight Show').  Quesada also promised that a publicity barrage would accompany the launches of the two other 'reality-based' books in the Call of Duty Series -- The Precinct #1, which ships in July, and The Wagon, which bows in August.

The Must-Have edition will include the 48-page Call of Duty: The Brotherhood #1 along with two issues of the current Daredevil saga written by Brian Michael Bendis and illustrated by Alex Maleev.  The price for the 96-page Must-Have is just $2.99, a dollar less than previous Must-Have reprints. Marvel is including the 2 Daredevil issues because, in addition to being, according to Joe Quesada, among 'the finest, most under-appreciated work being done in comics today,' the storyline has a real world approach that should resonate with those readers who enjoy The Brotherhood. Retailers who are interested in ordering the Must-Have edition of The Brotherhood should contact their Diamond representative as soon as possible (the Diamond order number is May025027D).