Following the sell-out of the first issue of Warren Ellis and Jason Howard’s new series Trees, Image Comics has announced that a digital edition of the issue will be available for free ahead of the release of the series’ sophomore effort.
“We started off by doing a massive overprint to make sure the book would remain in print over the course of the first few issues,” Image publisher Eric Stephenson said in a statement announcing the digital promotion. “We overprinted by one third of total orders—and now, based on not just incredible post-release sales, but near-unanimous praise, we are sharing the first issue with straggling non-believers for free.”
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Hard sales figures are generally a rarity in the comic industry, but Ellis himself revealed in April via his Orbital Operations email newsletter that the first issue of Trees had a print run of 50,000 copies following initial orders from comic stores totaling 38,500. At the time, he wrote that selling through all 50,000 copies within the first month of release would be his “victory condition” for the series.
Trees will be available at no cost on the Image Comics website, Image Comics iOS app and ComiXology platforms until Tuesday, June 24. The second issue of the series will be released digitally and in comic book stores June 25.
