I see what you are saying Jason, and that makes sense.  Heck, even if they cross promoted and put a house ad in a Vertigo book for BotD might have helped.

I think JB has expressed a disinterest in doing a Vertigo book before.  But, again instead of cancelling, if DC wanted this type of direction they could have moved that way and turned it into a Vertigo book under a different creator rather than cancelling it outright and starting it over.
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I think there's something a bit wrong with turning a "mainstream" DC book into a Vertigo book the next month. Changing imprints like that probably justifies at the very least a relaunch.

I too think that the cancellation of Blood of the Demon is a real bummer. However, to look to the positive it frees JB up to do yet another book, besides the All-New Atom.
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This is an aside, but I'd love it if Byrne were to draw a few Detective Comics stories. I believe upcoming artist JH Williams (Promethea, Seven Soldiers, Desolation Jones) has admitted he will not be able to (or try to) draw twelve issues a month, and since every issue's meant to be self-contained, it doesn't matter as much when artists are rotated. I honestly can't think of a better choice than John Byrne, who has worked with/ shown a tremendous respect for writer Paul Dini.
But since Byrne can draw three books a month, even after Atom/ JLA Classified/ half the Detective Comics arcs, he'd still have an open slot for another monthly.
I'd love to see Vertigo/ Marvel work from him, but since it doesn't seem like it's going to happen, I wouldn't mind seeing him on a big DC book (anything Superman related, any of the team books, Green Lantern, etc.)

Are there any "third tier" DC character comicbooks doing big numbers?
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I'm assuming Superman/ Batman/ JLA (as a team) are first tier.
And Green Lantern/ Green Arrow/ Flash/ Wonder Woman/ Teen Titans/ JSA/ Robin/ Nightwing/ Legion of Superheroes are second tier.

Looking at the list of March's comic book sales
http://www.newsarama.com/marketreport/mar06sales.html
The Green Lantern Corps mini series finished at #29.
Blue Beetle debuted at #38
Birds of Prey is at 60
Hawkgirl is at 65
The Seven Soldiers books are at 77/78
And Supergirl regularly sells in the Top Ten.

The Green Lantern Corps mini series finished at #29.
Blue Beetle debuted at #38
Birds of Prey is at 60
Hawkgirl is at 65
The Seven Soldiers books are at 77/78
And Supergirl regularly sells in the Top Ten.

Thanks for the list, but i'm still looking for something comparable to BotD or DP.

GLC is an offshoot of Green Lantern.  Blue Beetle is close to what I was thinking, but the "mantle" of the title character has strong ties to the JLA and the new series springs out of major event Infinite Crisis, so even it isn't quite the same.  BIRBirds of Prey is part of the Batman Family of titles, right?  I think both of the Hawks regularly appear in JSA.  The Seven Soldiers books are a group of some sort of imaginary alternate reality mini-series.  Supergirl is part of the Superman Family.

Maybe the Outsiders fit the bill.

Seven Soldiers would probably be the closest but it is a series of mini-series with something of an event to it.

I've long thought some of the things Wallace mentions was the problem with DP and BOTD. Although they did have some guest stars, they weren't really tied to anything at all, were not effected much by the big events, were never really referenced by any other titles.They were like islands alone. If they had at least appeared in someone elses work, been closer to the crossovers-say the Demon somehow was in the Days of Vengeance book, things might have been different for awhile, although long term, such low level characters just don't seem to sell.

A Wolverine cross-over or two couldn't have hurt either ;)

That is a problem

I think the good thing for the readers was that it avoided all that but all that could have given some attention to other people for whom JB or these characters aren't on their radar.

I thought about subscribing to the Atom but can't find it on DC's website.