Stranger things have happened in the comics world than C-list superheroines suddenly selling an unprecedented number of books. But when that character is The Huntress, whose collected mini-series "Huntress: Year One" shot up to #10 in overall book sales on Amazon.com Monday, there are a few possible explanations that come to mind -- several of which are very enticing.
Initially reported by comics blog The Beat, the "Huntress" sales spike has prompted a lot of chatter around the comics scene lately. With Batman and the Frank Miller-coined term "Year One" both hot commodities in Hollywood these days, a massive sales spike for a character who could easily be marketed as a "female Batman" is, well... it's pretty much an open invitation to speculation.
While DC Comics' publicity department declined to comment Tuesday on what might have sparked the surprise sales numbers, there are several possible scenarios that could explain it -- again, all completely speculative, but conceivable nonetheless.
1. The Random Factor: Sporadic bulk orders of a book can certainly happen, in which case the bundle of orders might just have been a product of some day-to-day marketing hitting a sweet spot with its audience. But such a sequence of events generating enough orders to catapult "Huntress: Year One" to the #10 spot in Amazon's general "Books" category? Well, that would be quite a feat.
2. The Solo Pitch: Could there be a studio somewhere that is very interested in making a "Huntress" movie? A large, bulk order of a "Year One"-style story friendly to new readers would seem to be exactly the kind of event that would take place if a lot of people needed to be educated quickly on a character.
3. The Batman Connection: Could Huntress be a candidate to appear in the next Batman movie? We already know that Christopher Nolan is working on his follow-up to "The Dark Knight," but we don't know who's going to be in the cast. Warner Bros. has legions of marketing personnel who would need to learn about the Huntress if she were to play a major role, since she is significantly less familiar to the public than Joker or Two-Face. What better way to learn about the character than a bulk order of her origin story?
While all of these notions are purely speculative, the sheer amount of Batman movie-related buzz around the 'Net these days lends a little more significance to such strange happenings in the comics world -- and certainly makes it a conversation starter.
Could the "Huntress" sales simply be a fluke? Sure. But considering what might happen if it isn't -- well, that's the fun part.
What do you think caused the sudden influx of "Huntress: Year One" orders? Would you like to see her show up in the sequel to "The Dark Knight"? Share your thoughts in the comment section below!
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