I'm not saying it was just the cover to Red Hood And The Outlaws #12 that led it to sell out. But it may have been enough for many folk to pick it up, have a flick through, then add it to this week's purchases. Either way, it has been reordered enough by retailers from Diamond Comic Distributors to see it sell out on the week of release. The cover reprises the famous Death Of Superman #75 black bag cover, though reversed to indicate the subject matter as Bizarro Superman instead. With the story titled "The Life Of Bizarro". A poignant and heroic story, it has also resonated quite a degree with readers, and is DC Comics' highest rated title this week on Comic Book Round Up, an average score of 9.1 from 111 reviews.

Normally this would be enough to see a second printing whipped up. But DC Comics prefer to use those on titles that they are more keen to promote. And Red Hood And The Outlaws has never really been one of those. Even when the current iteration of the book was announced in DC Rebirth with the stage presentation, even though the writer Scott Lobdell was in the room, he wasn't invited on stage as other creators were, and the book was skipped over with a series of "and other books coming out" slides rather than the on-stage interviews and announcements.

It also comes at a time when Scott Lobdell's star hasn't been higher, with his movie Happy Death Day out for Friday the 13th in October, with its official trailer knocking up over 3.5 million views on YouTube.

Though I prefer to refer to it as Groundhog Slay.

But the whole situation reminds me a little of the film Moneyball. The idea that if you crunch the numbers you can find unappreciated talent whose work outperforms the appreciation that the employers and commissioners have for them. I think Red Hood And The Outlaws may have the potential to be one of those comic books.