The Walking Dead #163 Pre-Order Exceeds 730,000
The Walking Dead #163 is the Direct Market’s highest ordered comic in nearly 20 years. Image Comics has announced The Walking Dead #163 by Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard has a pre-order exceeding 730,000 copies—without the aid of subscription box numbers to bolster the overall total—making the goal of expanding readership through a promotional 25¢ price point an overwhelming success.
The Walking Dead #163’s orders overtake every other high-charting comic in print today and surpass the orders of the Batman: The 10-Cent Adventure one-shot that topped Diamond’s unit sales charts in January 2002.
Coming on the heels of the bestselling “The Whisper War” storyline, this issue marks the beginning of the “Conquered” story arc in the long-running blockbuster series and provides the perfect opportunity for discovery for new readers or fans of the hit AMC TV show to get hooked on the comic series.
Image Comics’ 25¢ initiative has a goal of encouraging consumers to visit their local comic shop and beyond a temporary boost of sales its hope is to increase the exposure of some of Image’s best-known titles. The initiative begins with The Walking Dead #163 and includes Invincible #133 and Outcast by Kirkman & Azaceta #25. The company is looking for the “long-term benefits of getting more readers into stores and more of the world’s best creator-owned comics into those readers’ hands.”
This initiative is part of Image’s 25th-anniversary celebration.
The Walking Dead #163 will be available in stores on Wednesday, February 1st—just in time for fans to celebrate “Image Day”.
Invincible #133 (Diamond Code DEC160639) will be available in stores on Wednesday, February 15th. Final order cutoff is Monday, January 23rd.
Outcast by Kirkman & Azaceta #25 (Diamond Code DEC160664) will be available in stores on Wednesday, February 22nd. The final order cutoff for comics retailers is Monday, January 30th.
The Walking Dead #164 (Diamond Code DEC160746) will hit stores on Wednesday, February 15th. Final order cutoff for comics retailers is Monday, January 23rd.
