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Patrick Mallon
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 05 August 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 512
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| Posted: 21 October 2005 at 12:20pm | IP Logged | 1
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IIRC, JB wrote about the "faithful fifty" in a JBNM letter col years ago.
The "faithful fifty" being the 50,000 fans who followed him from title to title.
Around the time of JBNM, that number grew to about 70,000.
JB came up with the name "Byrne victims" to name his fan base.
What is the current population of "Byrne victims"? Any idea?
(I am remembering all of the above from memory, so any mistakes are my own).
Edited by Patrick Mallon on 21 October 2005 at 12:32pm
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
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| Posted: 21 October 2005 at 12:31pm | IP Logged | 2
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12
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Matt Hawes
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 16591
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| Posted: 21 October 2005 at 12:31pm | IP Logged | 3
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Well, there are over 1,800 members on this board, alone.
Not everyone has a computer, and not everyone who has a computer posts on message boards, and not everyone who posts on message boards know about this board, even if they are fans of JB's work, so it's hard to say how many faithful fans there are. In fact, there are probably many lurkers that come here who are fans, but they haven't registered to participate.
We know, just by the nature of the comic book industry, that it probably isn't 50,000 these days. I say you go by the number of books sold of "Uncanny X-Men," comparing its' sales from the period when JB spoke of the "faithful fifty" with the sales of that title today, and then use the difference to determine how many faithful followers of JB's work there are out there buying the comics.
That's just trying to figure out how many JB fans are buying his NEW books. Remember, there are many, many fans out there that don't buy any new books at all, but are still collecting JB's old books and/or artwork. They still count as "Byrne Victims," in my opinion.
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Brian Miller
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 28 July 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 31524
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| Posted: 21 October 2005 at 12:36pm | IP Logged | 4
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Right here's one.
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Patrick Mallon
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 05 August 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 512
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| Posted: 21 October 2005 at 12:41pm | IP Logged | 5
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Only 12?
Well, about 2000 years ago, a 30 year old carpenter (who lived with his
mother, tho not in the basement) had 12 fans, and looked at how that
turned out.
Which one of the 12 will betray you for 30 pieces of silver?
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Matt Hawes
Byrne Robotics Member
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Location: United States
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| Posted: 21 October 2005 at 12:41pm | IP Logged | 6
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I should add that the "Faithful Fifty" and "Byrne Victims" can be, but aren't necessarily the same entire group.
Above, when I spoke of sales on new comics, I noted that we can be sure there aren't 50,000 people following JB (or really any other creator) from title to title these days. BUT, I do think there's still more than 50,000 fans of JB's work, past and present, out there. Again, not all the fans are buying the new comics.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
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| Posted: 21 October 2005 at 12:47pm | IP Logged | 7
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The "Faithful Fifty" first started to show themselves around the late 70s, when any title I took on tended to show a jump in sales of about 20%, usually working out to around 50,000.Of course, there has never been a way to tell if that represented 50,000 warm bodies, or 10,000 people each buying five books. Whoever they were or are, they were a loyal bunch, and most stuck around even after the industry collapsed. It was not, in fact, until I started to learn, via the internet, that there were actually some idiot retailers who refused to order my books for paying customers, that I noticed a steep decline in the numbers. So obviously, however many there were left of the Faithful 50, some of them were not being allowed to buy my stuff, even when they wanted to. No one has yet been able to explain to me how, in this radically diminished marketplace, it makes sense for any retailers to actually turn away customers. Usually with the oxymoronic "Byrne's stuff doesn't sell any more." Can you imagine saying that to someone with cash in their hands? It would be like somebody at a Con asking me for a Wolverine sketch, and me saying no because "Nobody wants Wolverine sketches." Whatever the sense -- or lack thereof -- the result was a self-fulfilling prophecy.
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Bill Wiist
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 17 April 2004
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| Posted: 21 October 2005 at 12:53pm | IP Logged | 8
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Weird, I was just thinking about the Faithful 50,000
last night on the looooooooonnnng commute home
and wondering this very thing.
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James C. Taylor
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
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| Posted: 21 October 2005 at 1:15pm | IP Logged | 9
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I'm number seven.
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Wallace Sellars
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 01 May 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 17724
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| Posted: 21 October 2005 at 1:23pm | IP Logged | 10
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I'm six.
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Bill Wiist
Byrne Robotics Member
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| Posted: 21 October 2005 at 1:26pm | IP Logged | 11
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Make me 9!
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Kevin Hagerman
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 15 April 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 18175
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| Posted: 21 October 2005 at 1:29pm | IP Logged | 12
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I'm thirteenth, and feeling a little neglected.
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