It's something I've been hearing from a number of retailers, but it seems to have momentum now. As a result of the sellouts, the second printings and the availability of day-and-date digital purchases for those whose shops had no print copies of the first issues available, I understand that it is quite possible that, in a reversal of usual practice, orders for DC comic books in October, pretty much across the board, may be increased on initial orders from September.

For large launches, publishers can usually expect retailers to order around 50-60% of their issue one orders for the subsequent issue, in the knowledge that speculators, the curious, those who didn't like the comic and those who are now waiting for a collection won't return. It's why a second issue can be rarer and more valuable than that the first and it's built into sales expectations. But in this case, the opposite is happening.

Returnability is also a helpful factor, retailers have been able to order high in the knowledge that for a relatively small fee, the comics can be returned to DC. Of course, this didn't stop many of the books vanishing from the shelves.

Nevertheless the implication is that, just as DC are now expected to take the market share top spot away from Marvel in September, so they may well keep it in October…