It's come to my attention that several standard volumes of the Dark Horse editions are currently out of stock at major online retailers.
I cross-referenced Amazon and RightStuf's current stock, concluding that about 1/3 of the series' standard volumes are out of stock: 1, 21, 23, 24, 25, 27, 29, 30, 32, 33, 34, 35. Also out of stock is Berserk Deluxe Vol 1 (an edition that's only 2 years old). Although you can find it being sold for +$60-100 in aftermarkets.
Based on Dark Horse's history, it will likely be months before reprints hit store shelves. The Deluxe Edition is confirmed to be getting a reprint later this month, but it will be a few more weeks before they appear at retailers. The best advice I can offer is to check the stock at major retailers (ex: Amazon, RightStuf) every few weeks, and call your regional comic shops to see if they have what you're looking for. They might even be able to help you track down the volumes you're missing.
This has become a recurring issue for Dark Horse over the years, so I wanted to provide a brief history about this puzzling, frustrating problem, because we do have some answers—they're just not very satisfying.
Back in 2013, more than half the series was out of stock, making it virtually impossible for new fans to start down the path of collecting the series. It had already dragged on for months before someone on our forum brought it to our attention in a detailed way. And at the time Dark Horse had its own forum, so using the name BigRock, I asked them directly what the situation was, and was surprised that I got a very informed response about the business realities of publishing comics:
Two big takeaways from this:
1) Reprinting is a substantial long-term investment for their company, resulting in a decade's worth of stock they have to maintain and sell.
2) Even when stock wasn't a concern, volume sales were only between 1-20 each month, and 80-170 for a year.
What’s indirectly addressed in this accounting is that sales and stock are disproportionately weighted towards the first few volumes. That’s not unique to Berserk. It’s a common trend in every series that buying habits drop off as a series progresses. Why? People lose interest. Just like for every book you started but never finished, not every customer will buy all the volumes. Most will buy the first few and then drop it. DH has likely spun up reprints several times to meet demand for the first few volumes, making stock fluid relative to the middle volumes, where demand is lower, and they can coast on far fewer reprints (let’s say, 10 years worth!). I’m guessing, but it’s likely what we’re seeing right now is the 2013 reprints being extinguished a few years ahead of schedule. It might even be a result of Deluxe Edition fans jumping over to standard volumes.
Anyway, back to the history lesson. About 6 months after the forum reply above, Dark Horse announced they were issuing a reprint, which would take a few months before they hit store shelves. In the same announcement, they also said that sales for the series had hit a milestone (750,000 sold). That represents 10 years of sales, since the series started selling in the US in 2003.
Fast forward 4 years to 2017, and Berserk hits 1.2 million sold. Around that time, Dark Horse's Director of International Publishing and Licensing, Michael Gombos, did an interview with Crunchyroll where he said:
This incredible claim means Berserk has outsold their other big series like Umbrella Academy, Aliens, even Star Wars. It's honestly hard to believe, but he's quite specific. Gombos goes on to say that Berserk has experienced an uptick in sales ever since the game announcement (Berserk and the Band of the Hawk) and the new anime (the 2016-17 travesty). That's great. But ... if that's truly the case, then shouldn't that mean they care enough about the series' success that they're willing to bite the bullet and keep reprints running?
This whole circumstance is pretty infuriating to me, because the natural inclination is to think, hey it's sold out, that means demand is high. Awesome! But in reality, it reveals the precarious balance Dark Horse keeps Berserk’s stock in. And when that balance tips too far, it ends up hitting the series in a particularly vulnerable spot: the avenue for fans to legitimately support it. Not keeping Berserk in stock gives those on the fence just one more excuse not to support it. Why invest in physical editions when there's a gaping hole in the middle? Why buy them at all?
There is of course one fortunate difference for this moment versus what has happened in the past: In 2018, Dark Horse finally adopted a digital model for Berserk's volumes. From now on, there will always be a digital solution to the problem of physical stock issues. I know that's not ideal for everyone, particularly for collectors. But it's a huge improvement to the overall predicament of being a new fan of the series. These digital editions also go on sale, often half price, fairly regularly. I try to update the threads when I see these sales happen. And even without a sale, you can get 4 volumes at a time for $30, which isn't bad!
I cross-referenced Amazon and RightStuf's current stock, concluding that about 1/3 of the series' standard volumes are out of stock: 1, 21, 23, 24, 25, 27, 29, 30, 32, 33, 34, 35. Also out of stock is Berserk Deluxe Vol 1 (an edition that's only 2 years old). Although you can find it being sold for +$60-100 in aftermarkets.
Based on Dark Horse's history, it will likely be months before reprints hit store shelves. The Deluxe Edition is confirmed to be getting a reprint later this month, but it will be a few more weeks before they appear at retailers. The best advice I can offer is to check the stock at major retailers (ex: Amazon, RightStuf) every few weeks, and call your regional comic shops to see if they have what you're looking for. They might even be able to help you track down the volumes you're missing.
This has become a recurring issue for Dark Horse over the years, so I wanted to provide a brief history about this puzzling, frustrating problem, because we do have some answers—they're just not very satisfying.
Back in 2013, more than half the series was out of stock, making it virtually impossible for new fans to start down the path of collecting the series. It had already dragged on for months before someone on our forum brought it to our attention in a detailed way. And at the time Dark Horse had its own forum, so using the name BigRock, I asked them directly what the situation was, and was surprised that I got a very informed response about the business realities of publishing comics:
http://boards.darkhorse.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=19979 said:
Two big takeaways from this:
1) Reprinting is a substantial long-term investment for their company, resulting in a decade's worth of stock they have to maintain and sell.
2) Even when stock wasn't a concern, volume sales were only between 1-20 each month, and 80-170 for a year.
What’s indirectly addressed in this accounting is that sales and stock are disproportionately weighted towards the first few volumes. That’s not unique to Berserk. It’s a common trend in every series that buying habits drop off as a series progresses. Why? People lose interest. Just like for every book you started but never finished, not every customer will buy all the volumes. Most will buy the first few and then drop it. DH has likely spun up reprints several times to meet demand for the first few volumes, making stock fluid relative to the middle volumes, where demand is lower, and they can coast on far fewer reprints (let’s say, 10 years worth!). I’m guessing, but it’s likely what we’re seeing right now is the 2013 reprints being extinguished a few years ahead of schedule. It might even be a result of Deluxe Edition fans jumping over to standard volumes.
Anyway, back to the history lesson. About 6 months after the forum reply above, Dark Horse announced they were issuing a reprint, which would take a few months before they hit store shelves. In the same announcement, they also said that sales for the series had hit a milestone (750,000 sold). That represents 10 years of sales, since the series started selling in the US in 2003.
Fast forward 4 years to 2017, and Berserk hits 1.2 million sold. Around that time, Dark Horse's Director of International Publishing and Licensing, Michael Gombos, did an interview with Crunchyroll where he said:
This incredible claim means Berserk has outsold their other big series like Umbrella Academy, Aliens, even Star Wars. It's honestly hard to believe, but he's quite specific. Gombos goes on to say that Berserk has experienced an uptick in sales ever since the game announcement (Berserk and the Band of the Hawk) and the new anime (the 2016-17 travesty). That's great. But ... if that's truly the case, then shouldn't that mean they care enough about the series' success that they're willing to bite the bullet and keep reprints running?
This whole circumstance is pretty infuriating to me, because the natural inclination is to think, hey it's sold out, that means demand is high. Awesome! But in reality, it reveals the precarious balance Dark Horse keeps Berserk’s stock in. And when that balance tips too far, it ends up hitting the series in a particularly vulnerable spot: the avenue for fans to legitimately support it. Not keeping Berserk in stock gives those on the fence just one more excuse not to support it. Why invest in physical editions when there's a gaping hole in the middle? Why buy them at all?
There is of course one fortunate difference for this moment versus what has happened in the past: In 2018, Dark Horse finally adopted a digital model for Berserk's volumes. From now on, there will always be a digital solution to the problem of physical stock issues. I know that's not ideal for everyone, particularly for collectors. But it's a huge improvement to the overall predicament of being a new fan of the series. These digital editions also go on sale, often half price, fairly regularly. I try to update the threads when I see these sales happen. And even without a sale, you can get 4 volumes at a time for $30, which isn't bad!
