by Jason Enright
This was a tough month for Marvel. Original Sin is ending and none of their other events have really started yet. They also don’t have any real high profile series launches. So there are no books that really pop. There is a lot of attrition this month. Of the 72 books that also had an issue last month, only 12 saw growth in their numbers. That leaves 60 books that dropped in sales. 39 books dropped more than 5% or what might be considered a standard attrition. Luckily there are several major events coming soon which will drive sales up and a lot of books will be relaunching after these events which always bumps up the numbers at least temporarily. It is worrying however, that there are several series that just relaunched a year or for some 6 months ago and are already in trouble again. Let’s look at a breakdown of what came out this month:
76 books in total
11 double shipped books
5 X-Men books (7 if you count X-Factor and X-Force)
7 Avengers books (8 if you count the Ultimates)
5 100th Anniversary specials
11 Original Sin and Original Sin Tie-In books
1 titles over 100,000 copies
2 titles between 75,000 and 100,000 copies
9 titles between 50,000 and 75,000 copies
35 titles between 25,000 and 50,000 copies
29 titles under 25,000
2 $5.99 books
4 $4.99 books
64 $3.99 books
6 $2.99 books
Now let’s dive into the deep end with these numbers.
Thanks as always to ICV2.com and Milton Griepp for their permission to use these figures.
—
2. Amazing SPIDER-MAN
08/04 Am Spi #511 – 88,120
08/09 Am Spi #603 - 70,976
08/11 Am Spi #668 - 57,533
08/12 Am Spi #692 - 91,071
---
08/13 Superior #15 - 78,636 ( -2.7%)
08/13 Superior #16 - 78,087 ( -0.7%)
09/13 Superior #17 - 89,118 ( +14.1%)
09/13 Superior #18 - 80,178 ( -10.0%)
10/13 Superior #19 - 83,671 ( +4.4%)
10/13 Superior #20 - 85,309 ( +2.0%)
11/13 Superior #21 - 74,940 ( -12.2%)
11/13 Superior #22 - 81,250 ( +8.4%)
12/13 Superior #23 - 77,105 ( -5.1%)
12/13 Superior #24 - 76,131 ( -1.3%)
01/14 Superior #25 - 77,311 ( 1.5%)
01/14 Superior #26 - 72,591 ( -6.1%)
02/14 Supr #27.Now - 86,405 ( 19.0%)
02/14 Superior #28 - 75,477 ( -12.6%)
03/14 Superior #29 - 76,568 ( 1.4%)
03/14 Superior #30 - 75,431 ( -1.5%)
04/14 Superior #31 – 135,484 ( 79.6%)[13,234]
04/14 Amazing v3 #1- 532,586 ( 293.1%)[23,871]
05/14 Amazing v3 #2- 123,945 ( -76.7%)
06/14 Amazing v3 #3- 109,029 ( -12.0%)
07/14 Amazing v3 #4- 117,917 ( 8.2%)O.S. Tie-In
08/14 Amazing v3 #5- 101,655 ( -13.8%)O.S. Tie-In
---
6 mnth ( 17.6%)
1 year ( 30.2%)
2 year ( 12.0%)
3 year ( 76.7%)
5 year ( 43.2%)
10 year ( 15.4%)
Spider-Man drops 16k despite being an original sin tie-in. However, the wall-crawler stayed above 100k which is still good. This is really good considering that Spider-Verse is coming soon, which will likely help keep this book’s numbers high for the next few months.
3. Original Sin #0
04/14 Original Sin #0 - 73,024 [6,166]
05/14 Original Sin #1 - 147,045 (101.4%)
05/14 Original Sin #2 - 92,643 (-37.0%)
06/14 Original Sin #3 – 93,351 ( 0.8%)
06/14 Original Sin #4 - 88,508 ( -5.2%)
07/14 Original Sin #5 - 91,420 ( 3.3%)
07/14 Original Sin #6 - 89,324 ( -2.3%)
08/14 Original Sin #7 - 91,291 ( 2.2%)
Original Sin 8 was also solicited for this month but got pushed into the first week of September. This event series has stayed very steady around 90k and bodes well for Marvel’s next event Axis, which is right around the corner.
5. SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN
---
08/13 Superior #15 - 78,636 ( -2.7%)
08/13 Superior #16 - 78,087 ( -0.7%)
09/13 Superior #17 - 89,118 ( +14.1%)
09/13 Superior #18 - 80,178 ( -10.0%)
10/13 Superior #19 - 83,671 ( +4.4%)
10/13 Superior #20 - 85,309 ( +2.0%)
11/13 Superior #21 - 74,940 ( -12.2%)
11/13 Superior #22 - 81,250 ( +8.4%)
12/13 Superior #23 - 77,105 ( -5.1%)
12/13 Superior #24 - 76,131 ( -1.3%)
01/14 Superior #25 - 77,311 ( 1.5%)
01/14 Superior #26 - 72,591 ( -6.1%)
02/14 Supr #27.Now - 86,405 ( 19.0%)
02/14 Superior #28 - 75,477 ( -12.6%)
03/14 Superior #29 - 76,568 ( 1.4%)
03/14 Superior #30 - 75,431 ( -1.5%)
04/14 Superior #31 – 135,484 ( 79.6%)[13,234]
08/14 Superior #32 - 87,604 ( -35.3%)
---
6 mnth ( 1.4%)
1 year ( 12.2%)
Continuing the numbering from the Doc-Ock-as-Spidey run that ended in in April, this series serves as the starting point for Spider-verse the upcoming event which will run across several Spider-man books. It pulls in good numbers compared to its second to last issue from March. This concept continues to sell very well for Marvel.
8. Amazing Spider-Man #1.X
05/14 Amazing Spi #1.1 - 116,555
06/14 Amazing Spi #1.2 - 86,315 (-25.9%)
07/14 Amazing Spi #1.3 - 74,285 (-13.9%)
08/14 Amazing Spi #1.4 - 66,431 (-10.6%)
This Spider-Man year one type story sees another 10% drop. One issue to go and it will probably sell around 55k.
9. GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY
08/09 Guardians v2 #17 - 27,864
---
08/13 ---
09/13 Guardians v3 #6 - 69,030 ( -37.5%)
10/13 Guardians v3 #7 - 68,647 ( -0.6%)
10/13 Guardians v3 #8 - 63,494 ( -7.5%)
11/13 ---
12/13 Guardians v3 #9 - 57,665 ( -9.2%)
12/13 Guardians v3 #10 - 53,527 ( -7.2%)
01/14 Guardian #11.NOW - 61,111 ( 14.7%)
02/14 Guardians v3 #12 - 55,454 ( -9.3%)
03/14 Guardians v3 #13 - 56,764 ( 2.4%)
04/14 Guardians v3 #14 - 53,976 ( -4.9%)
05/14 Guardians v3 #15 - 54,332 ( 0.7%)
06/14 Guardians v3 #16 - 54,827 ( 0.9%)
07/14 Guardians v3 #17 - 62,986 ( 14.9%)
08/14 Guardians v3 #18 - 60,657 ( -3.7%) O.S. Tie-In
---
6 mnth ( 9.4%)
5 year ( 117.7%)
Guardians stays above 60k for a second month thanks to help from a cool Alex Ross variant and its tie-in to Original Sin. Plus there’s a little Guardians movie that may be driving increased interest.
12, 22. ALL-NEW X-MEN
---
08/13 All-New X-Men #15 - 73,035 ( -2.4%)
09/13 All-New X-Men #16 - 84,218 (+15.3%)
10/13 All-New X-Men #17 - 82,843 ( -1.6%)
11/13 All-New X-Men #18 - 82,365 ( -0.6%)
11/13 All-New X-Men #19 - 71,044 (-13.7%)
12/13 All-New X-Men #20 - 68,189 ( -4.0%)
01/14 All-New X-Men #21 - 62,876 ( -7.8%)
01/14 All-New #22.NOW - 76,565 (+21.8%)
02/14 All-New X-Men #23 - 64,625 (-15.6%)
03/14 All-New X-Men #24 - 63,739 ( -1.4%)
04/14 All-New X-Men #25 - 63,827 ( 0.1%)
04/14 All-New X-Men #26 - 58,918 ( -7.7%)
05/14 All-New X-Men #27 - 62,269 ( 5.7%)
06/14 All-New X-Men #28 - 57,135 ( -8.2%)
07/14 All-New X-Men #29 - 58,817 ( 2.9%)
08/14 All-New X-Men #30 - 54,882 ( -6.7%)
08/14 All-New X-Men #31 - 58,535 ( 6.7%)
---
6 mnth ( -9.4%)
1 year ( -19.9%)
This issue had an Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. variant cover that maybe boosted sales a bit, but it also just seems to be pretty steady around 57k. There’s also an upcoming foray into the Ultimate Universe to meet Miles Morales. We’ll see if that helps boost sales.
17. ROCKET RACCOON
07/14 Rocket Raccoon #1 - 293,913 ( --- )[7,738]
08/14 Rocket Raccoon #2 - 56,597 (-80.7%)
So this reads like a huge drop, but it was also because the #1 issue did so well. Remember as well that 100k issues of #1 were ordered by LootCrate as a one-time offer. So really this should read as a 70% drop instead of 80%. There were re-orders on issue 1, so some stores sold out as well. It will be interesting to watch this series over the next few months, will it drop quickly, or will it steady out around 40-50k?
23. AVENGERS
08/11 Avengers v4 #16 – 60,295
08/12 Avengers v4 #29 - 61,653
---
08/13 Avengers v5 #17 - 68,962 ( -5.3%)
08/13 Avengers v5 #18 - 74,697 ( +8.3%)
09/13 Avengers v5 #19 - 92,489 ( +23.8%)
09/13 Avengers v5 #20 - 74,388 ( -19.6%)
10/13 Avengers v5 #21 - 71,751 ( -3.5%)
10/13 Avengers v5 #22 - 70,735 ( -1.4%)
11/13 Avengers v5 #23 - 66,501 ( -6.0%)
12/13 Avengers#24.NOW - 127,466 ( +91.7%)
01/14 Avengers v5 #25 - 65,591 ( -48.5%)
02/14 Avengers v5 #26 – 59,775 ( -8.9%)
03/14 Avengers v5 #27 - 53,966 ( -9.7%)
04/14 Avengers v5 #28 - 52,808 ( -2.1%)
05/14 Avengers v5 #29 - 58,661 ( 11.1%)
05/14 Avengers v5 #30 - 57,099 ( -2.7%)
06/14 Avengers v5 #31 - 53,933 ( -5.5%) O.S. Tie-In
07/14 Avengers v5 #32 - 56,595 ( 4.9%) O.S. Tie-In
07/14 Avengers v5 #33 - 51,874 ( -8.3%) O.S. Tie-In
08/14 Avengers v5 #34 - 54,413 ( 4.9%) O.S. Tie-In
---
6 mnth ( -9.0%)
1 year ( -27.2%)
2 year ( -12.0%)
3 year ( -9.8%)
So this is the last issue before the Avengers jump forward 8 months into the future and not only wraps up many current storylines but tees up Axis and the 8-month time jump. Also this issue was an Original Sin Tie-in. Also this help boost the book’s sales up and position it nicely for the next arc to do well.
***This is normally where Uncanny X-men would rank, but this month’s issue got pushed back to the first week of September so there are no numbers this month. However, issue 23 did get 5,627 re-orders this month.
25. UNCANNY AVENGERS
---
08/13 Uncanny Avengers #11 - 65,447 ( -4.8%)
09/13 Uncanny Avengers #12 - 73,357 (+12.1%)
10/13 Uncanny Avengers #13 - 60,597 (-17.4%)
11/13 Uncanny Avengers #14 - 60,750 ( +0.3%)
12/13 Uncanny Avengers #15 - 57,035 ( -6.1%)
01/14 Uncanny Avengers #16 - 54,670 ( -4.1%)
02/14 Uncanny Avengers #17 – 53,181 ( -2.7%)
03/14 U Avengers #18.NOW - 63,516 ( 19.4%)
04/14 Uncanny Avengers #19 – 52,381 (-17.5%)
05/14 Uncanny Avengers #20 – 51,886 ( -0.9%)
06/14 Uncanny Avengers #21 – 49,762 ( -4.1%)
07/14 Uncanny Avengers #22 – 50,253 ( 1.0%)
08/14 Uncanny Avengers #23 – 50,974 ( 1.4%)
---
6 mnth ( -4.1%)
1 year ( -22.1%)
This issue had an Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. variant cover and tees up AXIS, which leads to a bit of a sales bump. Interestingly, the next two months will be Axis set-up stories, and then this book goes on hiatus and is essentially replaced by Axis in October.
26, 29. WOLVERINE
08/04 Wolverine v3 #18 – 65,306
08/09 Wolverine v3 #77 - 68,521
08/11 Wolverine v4 #14 - 38,869
08/12 Wolverine #312 - 41,030
---
08/13 Wolverine v5 #8 - 39,830 ( -3.2%)
09/13 Wolverine v5 #9 - 35,920 ( -9.8%)
10/13 Wolverine v5 #10 - 34,651 ( -3.5%)
11/13 Wolverine v5 #11 - 35,394 ( +2.1%)
12/13 Wolverine v5 #12 - 32,274 ( -8.8%)
01/14 Wolverine v5 #13 - 31,164 ( -3.4%)
02/14 Wolverine v6 #1 - 88,923 ( 185.3%)
02/14 Wolverine v6 #2 - 47,339 ( -46.8%)
03/14 Wolverine v6 #3 - 40,735 ( -14.0%)
04/14 Wolverine v6 #4 - 37,732 ( -7.4%)
04/14 Wolverine v6 #5 - 37,563 ( -0.4%)
05/14 Wolverine v6 #6 - 35,571 ( -5.3%)
05/14 Wolverine v6 #7 - 35,039 ( -1.5%)
06/14 Wolverine v6 #8 - 40,491 ( 15.6%)
06/14 Wolverine v6 #9 - 32,333 ( 4.5%)
07/14 Wolverine v6 #10 - 47,813 ( 12.9%)
08/14 Wolverine v6 #11 - 49,181 ( 2.9%)
08/14 Wolverine v6 #12 - 50,570 ( 2.8%)
---
6 mnth ( -43.1%)
1 year ( 27.0%)
2 year ( 23.0%)
3 year ( 30.1%)
5 year ( -26.2%)
10 year ( -22.6%)
These were the last two issues before September’s Death of Wolverine and the increase in sales and interest has pushed this title back above 50K.
28. DEADPOOL
08/09 Deadpool v3 #14 - 50,210
08/11 Deadpool v3 #42 - 26,794
08/12 Deadpool v3 #59 - 28,507
---
08/13 Deadpool v4 #14 - 45,870 ( -2.4%)
08/13 Deadpool v4 #15 - 46,169 ( +0.7%)
09/13 Deadpool v4 #16 - 45,675 ( -1.1%)
09/13 Deadpool v4 #17 - 45,348 ( -0.7%)
10/13 Deadpool v4 #18 - 47,096 ( +3.9%)
11/13 Deadpool v4 #19 - 44,184 ( -6.2%)
12/13 Deadpool v4 #20 - 43,653 ( -1.2%)
12/13 Deadpool v4 #21 - 43,066 ( -1.3%)
01/14 Deadpool v4 #22 - 41,765 ( -3.0%)
02/14 Deadpool v4 #23 - 41,204 ( -1.3%)
02/14 Deadpool v4 #24 - 41,130 ( -0.2%)
03/14 D'pool #25.NOW - 48,775 ( 18.6%)
03/14 Deadpool v4 #26 - 44,141 ( -9.5%)
04/14 Deadpool v4 #27 - 62,037 ( 40.5%)[1,992]
05/14 Deadpool v4 #28 - 45,858 ( 26.1%)
05/14 Deadpool v4 #29 - 52,403 ( 14.3%) O.S. Tie-In
06/14 Deadpool v4 #30 - 54,072 ( 14.3%) O.S. Tie-In
07/14 Deadpool v4 #31 - 49,930 ( -7.7%) O.S. Tie-In
07/14 Deadpool v4 #32 - 46,829 ( -6.2%) O.S. Tie-In
08/14 Deadpool v4 #33 - 50,023 ( 6.8%) O.S. Tie-In
---
6 mnth ( 21.6%)
1 year ( 8.3%)
2 year ( 75.0%)
3 year ( 86.7%)
5 year ( -0.4%)
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. variant cover and Original Sin Tie-in equate to a nice bump in sales for this already very popular title.
30. SPIDER-MAN 2099
07/14 Spider-Man 2099 #1 - 90,690 ( --- )[6,461]
08/14 Spider-Man 2099 #2 - 47,512 (-47.6%)
So normally, a title is expected to drop 40% from issue #1 to #2, so this is a bit bigger drop, but there was decent re-order activity on #1 this month, so basically the jury is still out on this book. Plus in a few months it will tie-in with Spider-verse which should boost its sales anyway.
33. ORIGINAL SIN #5.X
---
07/14 Original Sin #5.1 – 48,596
07/14 Original Sin #5.2 – 46,110 ( -5.1%)
08/14 Original Sin #5.3 – 44,139 ( -4.3%)
08/14 Original Sin #5.4 – 42,665 ( -3.3%)
This Original Sin tie-in followed Thor, Loki, and Angela. It ended up selling better than the Thor or Loki books normally do and will hopefully serve as a good lead-in to the new Angela series starting in a few months.
35, 43. NEW AVENGERS
08/09 New Avengers v1 #56 - 89,901
08/11 New Avengers v2 #14 - 56,035
08/12 New Avengers v2 #24 - 59,441
---
08/13 New Avengers v3 #9 - 60,534 ( 4.3%)
09/13 New Avengers v3 #10 - 60,682 ( 0.2%)
10/13 New Avengers v3 #11 - 63,231 ( 4.2%)
11/13 New Avengers v3 #12 - 58,807 ( -7.0%)
12/13 N Avengers #13.INH - 56,624 ( -3.7%)
01/14 ---
02/14 New Avengers v3 #14 - 50,668 (-10.5%)
03/14 New Avengers v3 #15 - 47,178 ( -6.9%)
03/14 N Avengers #16.NOW - 48,731 ( 0.0%)
04/14 New Avengers v3 #17 - 45,885 ( -5.8%)
05/14 New Avengers v3 #18 - 43,668 ( -4.8%)
06/14 New Avengers v3 #19 - 41,989 ( -3.8%)
06/14 New Avengers v3 #20 - 43,962 ( -0.1%)
07/14 New Avengers v3 #21 - 42,699 ( 1.8%)
08/14 New Avengers v3 #22 - 42,797 ( 0.2%)
08/14 New Avengers v3 #23 - 40,018 ( -6.3%)
---
6 mnth ( -21.0%)
1 year ( -33.9%)
2 year ( -33.0%)
3 year ( -28.6%)
5 year ( -55.5%)
Final 2 issues before this book jumps 8 months into the future, which will hopefully give a nice boost to this book’s sales figures.
45. ORIGINAL SIN #3.X
---
06/14 Original Sin #3.1 – 45,338
07/14 Original Sin #3.2 – 41,756 ( -7.9%)
07/14 Original Sin #3.3 – 40,402 ( -3.2%)
08/14 Original Sin #3.4 – 38,899 ( -3.7%)
This O.S. tie-in was a crossover between Hulk and Iron and sold slightly better than either of them would have on its own.
48. DEADPOOL vs.
04/14 Dpool vs. Carnage #1 – 57,275 [4,497]
04/14 Dpool vs. Carnage #2 – 49,374 (-13.8%)[2,757]
05/14 Dpool vs. Carnage #3 – 46,688 ( -5.4%)
06/14 Dpool vs. Carnage #4 – 47,228 ( 1.2%)
07/14 Dpool vs. X-Force #1 - 54,762 ( --- )
07/14 Dpool vs. X-Force #2 - 45,047 (-17.7%)
08/14 Dpool vs. X-Force #3 - 38,471 (-14.6%)
This book is not doing as well as the Carnage series that preceded it. Next month this book wraps up and the Deadpool versus Hawkeye series starts. It will be interesting to see if the downward trend continues.
49. MOON KNIGHT
08/11 Moon Knight v4 #4 - 30,237
---
03/14 Moon Knight v5 #1 - 58,022 ( --- ) [7,266]
04/14 Moon Knight v5 #2 - 40,885 (-29.5%) [3,621]
05/14 Moon Knight v5 #3 - 42,607 ( 4.2%)
06/14 Moon Knight v5 #4 - 40,348 ( -5.3%)
07/14 Moon Knight v5 #5 - 38,630 ( -4.3%)
08/14 Moon Knight v5 #6 - 37,646 ( -2.5%)
---
3 year ( 24.5%)
Last issue of the critically acclaimed Ellis/Shalvey/Bellaire run on Moon Knight and the sales are still remarkably high. As Ellis and Shalvey move on to their new Image book, this series will be taken over by Brian Wood and Greg Smallwood. Next month should be interesting, will the numbers drop with the new team?
51, 63. INHUMAN
04/14 Inhuman #1 - 58,309
05/14 Inhuman #2 - 41,810 ( -28.3%)
08/14 Inhuman #3 - 37,159 ( -11.1%)
08/14 Inhuman #4 - 34,215 ( -7.9%)
After a 3 month delay Inhuman returns and honestly the drops aren’t that bad. Still, if Marvel has plans to make the Inhumans as popular as the Guardians of the Galaxy, a book plagued by creative changes and art delays was probably not the way to do it.
53. LEGENDARY STAR LORD
07/14 Leg. Star Lord #1 - 78,501 (---)[6,054]
08/14 Leg. Star Lord #2 - 37,109 (-52.7%)
Pretty big drop for Star Lord issue 2, but there were re-orders on issue 1, so retailers may be making adjustments to their orders still as this books finds its level.
54. DAREDEVIL
08/04 Daredevil v2 #63 – 52,091
08/09 Daredevil #500 – 73,409
08/11 Daredevil v3 #2 – 40,990
08/12 Daredevil v3 #17 - 38,149
---
08/13 Daredevil v3 #30 - 35,240 ( +0.9%)
09/13 Daredevil v3 #31 - 36,666 ( +4.0%)
10/13 Daredevil v3 #32 - 34,957 ( -4.7%)
11/13 Daredevil v3 #33 - 32,966 ( -5.7%)
12/13 Daredevil v3 #34 - 32,331 ( -1.9%)
01/14 Daredevil v3 #35 - 32,067 ( -0.8%)
02/14 Daredevil v3 #36 – 31,494 ( -1.8%)
03/14 Daredevil v4 #1 - 76,006 (141.3%)[1,948]
04/14 Daredevil #1.50 - 48,462 (-36.2%)
04/14 Daredevil v4 #2 - 42,811 (-11.7%)
05/14 Daredevil v4 #3 - 39,316 (-8.2%)
06/14 Daredevil v4 #4 - 37,902 (-3.6%)
07/14 Daredevil v4 #5 - 36,825 (-2.8%)
07/14 Daredevil v4 #6 - 37,959 ( 3.1%)
07/14 Daredevil #0.1 - 33,437
08/14 Daredevil v4 #7 - 36,785 (-3.1%)
---
6 Mnth ( 16.8%)
1 Year ( 4.4%)
2 Year ( -4.0%)
3 Year ( -10.3%)
5 Year ( -49.9%)
10 Year ( -29.4%)
Daredevil has a small drop from last month. This book has stayed right around his 36k level for a long time now.
55. AMAZING X-MEN
08/04 Astonishing X-Men #3 - 145,546
08/11 Astonishing X-Men #41 - 33,470
08/12 Astonishing X-Men #53 - 32,268
---
08/13 Astonishing X-Men #65 - 22,010 ( -2.8%)
08/13 Astonishing X-Men #66 - 21,757 ( -1.1%)
09/13 Astonishing X-Men #67 - 21,044 ( -3.3%)
10/13 Astonishing X-Men #68 - 21,023 ( -0.0%)
11/13 Amazing X-Men v2 #1 - 112,337 (+434.4%)
12/13 Amazing X-Men v2 #2 - 60,870 ( -45.8%)
01/14 Amazing X-Men v2 #3 - 51,431 ( -15.5%)
02/14 Amazing X-Men v2 #4 - 48,161 ( -6.4%)
03/14 Amazing X-Men v2 #5 - 46,242 ( -4.0%)
04/14 Amazing X-Men v2 #6 - 45,095 ( -2.5%)
05/14 Amazing X-Men v2 #7 - 42,512 ( -5.7%)
06/14 Amazing X-Men v2 #8 - 41,613 ( -2.1%)
07/14 Amazing X-Men v2 #9 - 40,562 ( -2.5%)
08/14 Amazing X-Men v2 #10 - 36,405 ( -10.2%)
---
6 mnth ( -43.7%)
1 year ( 67.3%)
2 year ( 13.0%)
3 year ( 8.8%)
10 year ( -75.0%)
This is a pretty big drop for the Amazing X-men as they hit the mid-way point of their second arc. This is when a book should be stabilizing, which makes me wonder if stores saw a lot of people dropping the series after the initial arc ended.
56. WOLVERINE ANNUAL
---
08/14 Wolverine Annual #1 – 36,210
This annual sells about as many copies as Wolverine was selling before the countdown to his death started.
57. X-MEN
08/04 X-Men v2 #160 - 91,792
08/11 X-Men v3 #16 - 43,161
08/12 X-Men v3 #34 - 33,354
---
08/13 X-Men v4 #4 - 64,010 ( -1.9%)
09/13 X-Men v4 #5 - 73,357 ( +14.6%)
10/13 X-Men v4 #6 - 71,990 ( -1.9%)
11/13 X-Men v4 #7 - 56,968 ( -20.9%)
12/13 X-Men v4 #8 - 53,201 ( -6.6%)
01/14 X-Men v4 #9 - 49,412 ( -7.1%)
02/14 X-M #10.Now - 52,486 ( 6.2%)
02/14 X-Men v4 #11 - 47,498 ( -9.5%)
03/14 X-Men v4 #12 - 44,135 ( -7.1%)
04/14 X-Men v4 #13 - 42,065 ( -4.7%)
05/14 X-Men v4 #14 - 39,499 ( -6.1%)
06/14 X-Men v4 #15 - 38,271 ( -3.1%)
07/14 X-Men v4 #16 - 38,937 ( 1.7%)
07/14 X-Men v4 #17 - 36,255 ( -6.9%)
08/14 X-Men v4 #18 - 35,543 ( -2.0%)
---
6 mnth ( -28.1%)
1 year ( -44.5%)
2 year ( 7.0%)
3 year ( -17.7%)
10 year ( -61.3%)
This issue was the first from a new creative team that didn’t really get much press at all, so it doesn’t really see any kind of sales boost.
58. HULK
08/04 Incred Hulk v3 #76 - 42,499
08/09 Incred Hulk #601 - 64,053
08/11 Incred Hulks #635 – 38,223
08/12 Incred Hulk v4 #12 - 36,860
---
08/13 Indestructible #12 - 43,673 ( -3.5%)
09/13 Indestructible #13 - 41,805 ( -4.3%)
10/13 Indestructible #14 - 40,963 ( -2.0%)
11/13 Indestructible #15 - 37,025 ( -9.6%)
11/13 Indestructible #16 - 35,871 ( -3.1%)
12/13 Hulk #17.INH - 35,679 ( -0.5%)
01/14 Hulk #18.INH - 33,056 ( -7.4%)
02/14 Indestructible #19 - 31,192 ( -5.6%)
03/14 Indestructible #20 - 30,042 ( -3.7%)
04/14 Hulk v3 #1 - 73,551 ( 144.8%)
04/14 Hulk v3 #2 - 40,590 ( -44.8%)
05/14 Hulk v3 #3 - 37,639 ( -7.3%)
06/14 Hulk v3 #4 - 35,377 ( -6.0%)
08/14 Hulk v3 #5 - 34,903 ( -1.3%)
---
6 Mnth ( 11.9%)
1 Year ( -20.1%)
2 Year ( -5.0%)
3 Year ( -8.7%)
5 Year ( -45.5%)
10 Year ( -17.9%)
Gerry Duggan takes over for Mark Wait this issue and sales stayed relatively stable. Over the next few months it will be interesting to see how this affects sales for better or worse.
59. MILES MORALES ULT SPIDER-MAN
08/04 Ult. Spider-Man v1 #64 – 94,684
08/09 Ult. Spider-Man v2 #1 – 85,917
08/12 Ult. Spider-Man v3 #12 - 42,642
---
08/13 Ult. Spider-Man v3 #26 - 32,932 ( -1.0%)
09/13 Ult. Spider-Man v3 #27 - 32,200 ( -2.2%)
10/13 Ult. Spider-Man v3 #28 - 31,462 ( -2.3%)
11/13 Cataclysm USM #1 of 3 - 36,541 (+16.1%)
12/13 Cataclysm USM #2 of 3 - 30,293 (-17.1%)
01/14 Cataclysm USM #3 of 3 - 27,650 ( -8.7%)
02/14 ---
03/14 ---
04/14 Ult. Spider-Man #200 - 41,608 ( 50.5%)
05/14 M.M. Ult Spider-Man #1 - 45,864 ( 10.2%)
06/14 M.M. Ult Spider-Man #2 - 38,231 (-16.6%)
07/14 M.M. Ult Spider-Man #3 - 37,240 ( -2.6%)
08/14 M.M. Ult Spider-Man #4 - 34,836 ( -6.5%)
---
1 year ( 5.8%)
2 year ( -18.0%)
5 year ( -59.5%)
10 year ( -63.2%)
The flagship book of the Ultimate line drops a big but is still pretty health compared to its fellow Ultimate books.
62. KICK-ASS 3 [Icon]
08/11 Kick-Ass 2 #3 of 8 - 54,270
---
06/13 Kick-Ass 3 #1 of 8 - 78,035
07/13 ---
08/13 Kick-Ass 3 #2 of 8 - 50,102 (-35.8%)
09/13 Kick-Ass 3 #3 of 8 - 44,540 (-11.1%)
10/13 Kick-Ass 3 #4 of 8 - 40,412 ( -9.3%)
11/13 Kick-Ass 3 #5 of 8 - 38,639 ( -4.4%)
02/14 Kick-Ass 3 #6 of 8 – 39,534 ( 2.3%)
03/14 ---
04/14 Kick-Ass 3 #7 of 8 – 38,818 ( -6.9%)
08/14 Kick-Ass 3 #8 of 8 – 34,322 (-11.6%)
---
6 Mnth ( -13.2%)
1 Year ( -31.5%)
3 Year ( -36.8%)
Kick-Ass 3 ends with sales at about half of where it debuted.
64, 67, 68. DEADPOOL DRACULA’S GAUNTLET #1
---
07/14 Deadpool Dracula’s Gauntlet #1 – 40,790
07/14 Deadpool Dracula’s Gauntlet #2 – 38,683 ( -5.2%)
07/14 Deadpool Dracula’s Gauntlet #3 – 37,449 ( -3.2%)
07/14 Deadpool Dracula’s Gauntlet #4 – 36,581 ( -2.3%)
08/14 Deadpool Dracula’s Gauntlet #5 – 33,774 ( -7.7%)
08/14 Deadpool Dracula’s Gauntlet #6 – 32,117 ( -4.9%)
08/14 Deadpool Dracula’s Gauntlet #7 – 31,568 ( -1.7%)
Not bad sales for a reprint of a digital first comic. Plus they are going to be selling the 280-page hardcover for $35. Deadpool is just printing money for Marvel these days.
66. MS. MARVEL
02/14 Ms. Marvel #1 - 50,286 ( --- ) [15,155]
03/14 Ms. Marvel #2 - 38,357 (-23.7%) [3,440]
04/14 Ms. Marvel #3 - 37,140 ( -3.2%)
05/14 Ms. Marvel #4 - 34,839 ( -6.2%)
06/14 Ms. Marvel #5 - 33,795 ( -3.0%)
07/14 Ms. Marvel #6 - 36,041 ( 6.6%)
08/14 Ms. Marvel #7 - 32,866 ( -8.8%)
---
6 Mnth ( -34.6%)
8% drop for this issue but since it had growth last month that means it is very stable. Plus look at this 6-month drop percentage. That is less than most books drop on their second issue. This is one of the most successful new series launches I’ve seen from Marvel. This brand new character sells in the same range as books like Captain America, Iron Man, Hulk, and Thor and those books have a huge history with the company and several movies backing them up.
69. SILVER SURFER
08/04 Silver Surfer v5 #12- 20,776
---
03/14 Silver Surfer v7 #1 - 64,919 ( --- )[2,757]
04/14 Silver Surfer v7 #2 - 39,132 (-39.7%)
06/14 Silver Surfer v7 #3 - 36,075 ( -7.8%)
07/14 Silver Surfer v7 #4 - 32,747 ( -9.2%)
08/14 Silver Surfer v7 #5 - 31,125 ( -5.0%)
---
10 year ( 49.8%)
The drops on Silver Surfer are shrinking. Hopefully it will level out soon.
70. CAPTAIN AMERICA
08/04 Captain America v4 #30 - 38,465
08/09 Cap America Reborn #2 –125,234
08/11 Captain America #2 - 54,384
08/12 Captain America v6 #16 - 35,155
---
08/13 Captain America v7 #10 - 39,356 ( -3.5%)
09/13 Captain America v7 #11 - 38,521 ( -2.1%)
10/13 Captain America v7 #12 - 38,684 ( +0.4%)
11/13 Captain America v7 #13 - 36,147 ( -6.6%)
12/13 Captain America v7 #14 - 34,532 ( -4.5%)
01/14 Captain America v7 #15 - 33,433 ( -3.2%)
02/14 Capt AmericaV7 #16.Now – 36,534 ( 9.3%)
02/14 Captain America v7 #17 – 33,312 ( -8.8%)
03/14 Captain America v7 #18 – 33,642 ( 1.0%)
04/14 Captain America v7 #19 – 34,420 ( 2.3%)
05/14 Captain America v7 #20 – 30,341 ( -9.3%)
06/14 Captain America v7 #21 – 30,427 ( 0.3%)
07/14 Captain America v7 #22 – 34,563 ( 13.6%)
08/14 Captain America v7 #23 – 30,927 ( -10.5%)
---
6 Mnth ( -7.2%)
1 Year ( -21.4%)
2 Year ( -12.0%)
3 Year ( -43.1%)
5 Year ( -75.3%)
10 Year ( -19.6%)
Last month’s boost was due to a few variants, so this series is back to where it has stayed the last few months. Cap relaunches in November with a new #1 and a different hero wielding the shield and should see a nice boost to sales.
71. FANTASTIC FOUR
08/04 Fantastic Four #517 – 50,248
08/09 Fantastic Four #570 – 62,335
08/12 Fantastic Four #609 - 36,496
---
08/13 Fantastic Four v5 #11 - 32,665 ( -4.0%)
09/13 Fantastic Four v5 #12 - 31,426 ( -3.8%)
10/13 Fantastic Four v5 #13 - 31,561 ( +0.4%)
11/13 Fantastic Four v5 #14 - 28,679 ( -9.1%)
12/13 Fantastic Four v5 #15 - 27,610 ( -3.7%)
01/14 Fantastic Four v5 #16 - 28,045 ( 1.6%)
02/14 Fantastic Four v6 #1 - 65,775 ( 134.5%)
03/14 Fantastic Four v6 #2 - 37,569 ( -42.9%)
04/14 Fantastic Four v6 #3 - 34,930 ( -7.0%)
05/14 Fantastic Four v6 #4 - 33,263 ( -4.8%)
05/14 Fantastic Four v6 #5 - 33,336 ( 0.2%)
06/14 Fantastic Four v6 #6 - 33,177 ( -0.5%) O.S. Tie-In
07/14 Fantastic Four v6 #7 - 33,687 ( 1.5%) O.S. Tie-In
08/14 Fantastic Four v6 #8 - 30,674 ( -8.9%) O.S. Tie-In
08/14 Fantastic Four v6 #9 - 28,827 ( -6.0%)
---
6 mnth ( -56.2%)
1 year ( -11.7%)
2 year ( -21.0%)
5 year ( -53.8%)
10 year ( -42.6%)
This series continues to drop and now 6 months after its relaunch is right back at nearly the same number it was at before. It is still solicited for an issue 13 in November with the return of the old costumes. Maybe that will help the sales?
72, 73. WOLVERINE & THE X-MEN
08/12 Wolverine/X-Men #12 - 58,441
---
08/13 Wolverine/X-Men #34 - 38,473 ( -9.0%)
08/13 Wolverine/X-Men #35 - 38,046 ( -1.1%)
09/13 Wolverine/X-Men #36 - 59,684 (+56.9%)
10/13 Wolverine/X-Men #37 - 57,434 ( -3.8%)
11/13 Wolverine/X-Men #38 - 39,098 (-31.9%)
12/13 Wolverine/X-Men #39 - 39,063 ( -0.1%)
01/14 Wolverine/X-Men #40 - 36,855 ( -5.7%)
02/14 Wolverine/X-Men #41 – 35,800 ( -2.9%)
02/14 Wolverine/X-Men #42 – 35,392 ( -1.1%)
03/14 Wolver/X-Men v2 #1 - 54,675 ( 54.5%)
03/14 Wolver/X-Men v2 #2 - 40,386 (-26.1%)
04/14 Wolver/X-Men v2 #3 - 36,407 ( -9.9%)
05/14 Wolver/X-Men v2 #4 - 33,521 ( -7.9%)
06/14 Wolver/X-Men v2 #5 - 32,511 ( -3.0%)
07/14 Wolver/X-Men v2 #6 - 32,995 ( 1.5%)
08/14 Wolver/X-Men v2 #7 - 30,409 ( -7.8%)
08/14 Wolver/X-Men v2 #8 - 29,795 ( -2.0%)
---
6 Mnth ( -16.8%)
1 Year ( -22.6%)
2 Year ( -49.0%)
This book drops a little but for the most part is relatively stable. It was recently announced that after Death of Wolverine, this series will be replaced by a new book called Spider-Man and the X-men where the wall crawler takes on a guidance counselor role at the Jean Grey School. Wolverine and the X-Men wraps up in November with issue 12.
74. Magneto
---
03/14 Magneto #1 – 55,337
04/14 Magneto #2 – 35,772 (-35.4%)[2,297]
05/14 Magneto #3 – 35,504 ( -0.7%)
05/14 Magneto #4 – 33,070 ( -6.9%)
06/14 Magneto #5 – 32,837 ( -0.7%)
07/14 Magneto #6 – 32,675 ( -0.5%)
07/14 Magneto #7 – 31,001 ( -5.1%)
08/14 Magneto #8 – 29,727 ( -4.1%)
This series should hopefully get a boost with some Axis tie-in issues coming up soon. It is not in trouble but could use help leveling out before it gets too low.
77. ORIGINAL SINS
---
06/14 Original Sins #1 – 39,660
06/14 Original Sins #2 – 36,099 ( -9.0%)
07/14 Original Sins #3 – 34,686 ( -3.9%)
07/14 Original Sins #4 – 32,076 ( -7.5%)
08/14 Original Sins #5 – 29,250 ( -8.8%)
This book was a Young Avengers tie-in to Original Sin, but wasn’t solicited as one until issue 3 to preserve its secrets. I for one would have bought it if I knew it was Young Avengers. Still it sold pretty decently.
83. NOVA SPECIAL
---
08/14 Nova Special #1 – 26,743
This special is a crossover with Uncanny X-men and Iron Man and it sells a bit better than the main Nova book.
86. PUNISHER
08/04 Punisher v7 #10 – 45,397
08/09 Punisher v8 #8 – 33,022
08/11 Punisher v9 #2 - 42,459
08/12 Punisher v9 #14 - 22,046
---
09/13 Trial #1 of 2 - 22,626
10/13 Trial #2 of 2 - 20,143 (-11.0%)
11/13 ---
12/13 ---
01/14 ---
02/14 Punisher v10 #1 – 54,558 ( --- )
02/14 Punisher v10 #2 – 31,709 ( -41.9%)
03/14 Punisher v10 #3 – 29,636 ( -5.6%)
04/14 Punisher v10 #4 – 28,435 ( -5.0%)
05/14 Punisher v10 #5 – 27,471 ( -3.4%)
06/14 Punisher v10 #6 – 26,606 ( -3.1%)
06/14 Punisher v10 #7 – 26,192 ( -1.6%)
07/14 Punisher v10 #8 – 25,957 ( -0.9%)
08/14 Punisher v10 #9 – 25,876 ( -0.3%)
---
6 mnth ( -52.6%)
2 year ( 17.0%)
3 year ( -39.1%)
5 year ( -21.6%)
10 year ( -43.0%)
Punisher has been pretty stable since June, which is great.
87. Nightcrawler
04/14 Nightcrawler #1 – 49,426
05/14 Nightcrawler #2 – 35,356 (-28.5%)
06/14 Nightcrawler #3 – 31,743 (-10.2%)
07/14 Nightcrawler #4 – 27,990 (-11.8%)
08/14 Nightcrawler #5 – 25,627 ( -8.4%)
Continued drops like this are not good for Nightcrawler.
88. STORM
---
07/14 Storm #1 – 47,566
08/14 Storm #2 – 25,268 ( -46.9%)
That is a big drop for Storm, which is pretty troubling.
90. BLACK WIDOW
01/14 Black Widow #1 - 53,879
01/14 Black Widow #2 - 31,260 ( -42.0%)
02/14 Black Widow #3 – 28,127 ( -10.0%)
03/14 Black Widow #4 – 27,378 ( -2.7%)
04/14 Black Widow #5 – 27,055 ( -1.2%)
05/14 Black Widow #6 – 26,136 ( -3.4%)
06/14 Black Widow #7 – 25,423 ( -2.7%)
07/14 Black Widow #8 – 24,555 ( -3.4%)
08/14 Black Widow #9 – 24,885 ( 1.3%)
---
6 Mnth ( -11.5%)
Black Widow has actually very stable around 24-25k since June, which is pretty good.
91. SAVAGE HULK
---
06/14 Savage Hulk #1 – 44,177
07/14 Savage Hulk #2 – 31,194 ( -29.4%)
08/14 Savage Hulk #3 – 24,774 ( -20.6%)
There just doesn’t seem to be a lot of interest in these anthology books from Marvel.
94. NOVA
08/09 Nova v4 #28 - 27,010
---
08/13 Nova v5 #7 - 31,937 ( -6.7%)
09/13 Nova v5 #8 - 37,767 (+18.3%)
10/13 Nova v5 #9 - 32,323 (-14.4%)
11/13 Nova v5 #10 - 32,716 ( +1.2%)
12/13 Nova v5 #11 - 27,982 (-14.5%)
01/14 Nova v5 #12 - 25,043 ( -10.5%)
02/14 Nova#13.Now – 26,147 ( 4.4%)
03/14 Nova v5 #14 – 23,459 ( -10.3%)
03/14 Nova v5 #15 – 22,996 ( -2.0%)
04/14 Nova v5 #16 – 22,020 ( -4.2%)
05/14 Nova v5 #17 – 21,652 ( -1.7%)
06/14 Nova v5 #18 – 25,875 ( 19.5%) O.S. Tie-In
07/14 Nova v5 #19 – 24,580 ( -5.0%) O.S. Tie-In
08/14 Nova v5 #20 – 24,377 ( -0.8%) O.S. Tie-In
---
6 Mnth ( -6.8%)
1 Year ( -23.7%)
5 Year ( -9.7%)
The Original Sin tie-in has helped this book a lot. It will be interesting to see if it drops a lot next month or if the tie-in helped it find new readers.
95. Iron Fist: Living Weapon
08/04 Iron Fist #5 - 17,985
---
04/14 Iron Fist LW #1 - 53,613 ( --- )[2,350]
05/14 Iron Fist LW #2 - 33,643 ( -37.2%)
06/14 Iron Fist LW #3 - 29,816 ( -11.4%)
07/14 Iron Fist LW #4 - 26,147 ( -12.3%)
08/14 Iron Fist LW #5 - 24,178 ( -7.5%)
---
10 year (34.4%)
This series continues to drop and could be in trouble in a few months.
99. AVENGERS WORLD
01/14 Avengers World #1 - 86,727
01/14 Avengers World #2 - 53,693 (-38.1%)
02/14 Avengers World #3 – 39,999 (-25.5%)
03/14 Avengers World #4 – 34,397 (-14.0%)
04/14 Avengers World #5 – 31,110 ( -9.6%)
05/14 Avengers World #6 – 28,969 ( -6.9%)
06/14 Avengers World #7 – 27,854 ( -3.8%)
06/14 Avengers World #8 – 26,912 ( -3.4%)
07/14 Avengers World #9 – 24,771 ( -8.0%)
07/14 Avengers World #10– 24,196 ( -2.3%)
08/14 Avengers World #11– 23,493 ( -2.9%)
---
6 Mnth ( -41.3%)
Not a huge drop but still falling and still solicited through issue 15 in November.
100. CYCLOPS
---
05/14 Cyclops #1 – 47,468
06/14 Cyclops #2 – 31,132 ( -34.4%)
07/14 Cyclops #3 – 25,925 ( -16.7%)
08/14 Cyclops #4 – 23,305 ( -10.1%)
Cyclops continues to drop a lot of issues each month, which is very troubling. It needs to stabilize soon.
102. SHE-HULK
08/04 She-Hulk v1 #6 - 24,752
---
02/14 She-Hulk #1 - 41,921 ( --- )[3,270]
03/14 She-Hulk #2 - 26,675 (-36.3%)
04/14 She-Hulk #3 - 27,398 ( 2.7%)
05/14 She-Hulk #4 - 25,543 ( -6.8%)
06/14 She-Hulk #5 - 24,736 ( -3.2%)
07/14 She-Hulk #6 - 23,562 ( -3.2%)
08/14 She-Hulk #7 - 22,883 ( -2.9%)
---
6 Mnth (-45.4%)
10 Year ( -7.6%)
She-Hulk’s drops are shrinking but it is already pretty low, which stinks as this is actually a very entertaining book.
104. MIGHTY AVENGERS
08/09 Mighty Avengers #28 - 61,258
---
09/13 Mighty Avengers v2 #1 - 101,921
10/13 Mighty Avengers v2 #2 - 54,862 (-46.2%)
11/13 Mighty Avengers v2 #3 - 42,210 (-23.1%)
12/13 Mighty Avengers v2 #4 - 35,740 (-15.3%)
01/14 Mighty Avengers#5.INH - 30,251 (-15.4%)
02/14 Mighty Avengers v2 #6 - 27,195 (-10.1%)
02/14 Mighty Avengers v2 #7 - 26,512 ( -2.5%)
03/14 Mighty Avengers v2 #8 - 24,933 ( -6.0%)
04/14 Mighty Avengers v2 #9 - 23,903 ( -4.1%)
05/14 Mighty Avengers v2 #10 - 28,711 ( 20.1%)
06/14 Mighty Avengers v2 #11 - 26,221 ( -8.7%) O.S. Tie-In
07/14 Mighty Avengers v2 #12 - 24,851 ( -5.2%) O.S. Tie-In
08/14 Mighty Avengers v2 #13 - 22,490 ( -9.5%)
---
6 Mnth ( -15.2%)
5 Year ( -63.3%)
This is going to be relaunched in November to include the new Captain America which will hopefully help its sales.
106. X-FORCE
08/04 X-Force v2 #1 - 66,621
08/09 X-Force v3 #18 - 56,362
08/11 X-Force v4 #14 - 50,770
08/12 X-Force v4 #30 - 44,918
---
08/13 X-Force v5 #10 - 35,329 ( -4.5%)
09/13 X-Force v5 #11 - 36,186 ( +2.4%)
10/13 X-Force v5 #12 - 32,559 (-10.0%)
10/13 X-Force v5 #13 - 30,567 ( -6.1%)
11/13 X-Force v5 #14 - 28,885 ( -5.5%)
12/13 X-Force v5 #15 - 27,567 ( -4.6%)
01/14 X-Force v5 #16 - 27,701 ( 0.5%)
01/14 X-Force v5 #17 - 27,319 ( -1.4%)
02/14 X-Force v6 #1 - 47,427 ( 73.6%)
03/14 X-Force v6 #2 - 33,079 (-30.3%)
04/14 X-Force v6 #3 - 29,541 (-10.7%)
04/14 X-Force v6 #4 - 28,067 ( -5.0%)
05/14 X-Force v6 #5 - 26,215 ( -6.6%)
06/14 X-Force v6 #6 - 24,358 ( -7.1%)
07/14 X-Force v6 #7 - 23,675 ( -2.8%)
08/14 X-Force v6 #8 - 22,299 ( -5.8%)
---
6 mnth ( -53.0%)
1 year ( -36.9%)
2 year ( -50.0%)
3 year ( -56.1%)
5 year ( -60.4%)
10 year ( -66.5%)
X-Force continues to drop and is now 5k below where it was last time it was relaunched only 6 months ago.
110. ALL-NEW X-FACTOR
08/09 X-Factor #47 - 33,017
08/11 X-Factor #224 - 23,681
08/12 X-Factor #242 - 22,782
---
08/13 X-Factor #260 - 19,982 ( -0.4%)
08/13 X-Factor #261 - 19,781 ( -1.0%)
09/13 X-Factor #262 - 20,382 ( +3.0%)
10/13 ---
11/13 ---
12/13 ---
01/14 X-Factor v4 #1 - 45,727 (
01/14 X-Factor v4 #2 - 32,228 ( -29.5%)
02/14 X-Factor v4 #3 - 29,915 ( -3.2%)
03/14 X-Factor v4 #4 - 27,337 ( -8.6%)
03/14 X-Factor v4 #5 - 26,656 ( -2.5%)
04/14 X-Factor v4 #6 - 26,029 ( -2.4%)
05/14 X-Factor v4 #7 - 24,873 ( -4.4%)
05/14 X-Factor v4 #8 - 24,283 ( -2.4%)
06/14 X-Factor v4 #9 - 23,720 ( -2.3%)
07/14 X-Factor v4 #10 - 22,563 ( -4.9%)
07/14 X-Factor v4 #11 - 22,428 ( -0.6%)
08/14 X-Factor v4 #12 - 21,352 ( -4.8%)
---
6 Mnth ( -28.6%)
1 Year ( 7.9%)
2 Year ( -6.0%)
3 Year ( -9.8%)
5 Year ( -35.3%)
X-Factor continues to drop as well.
111. CAPTAIN MARVEL
08/09 Ms. Marvel #44 - 25,523
08/12 Captain Marvel #3 - 27,649
---
08/13 Captain Marvel v6 #15 - 23,511 (+21.7%)
09/13 Captain Marvel v6 #16 - 22,845 ( -2.8%)
10/13 ---
11/13 Captain Marvel v6 #17 - 18,173 (-20.5%)
12/13 ---
01/14 ---
02/14 ---
03/14 Captain Marvel v7 #1 - 44,248
04/14 Captain Marvel v7 #2 - 28,008 (-36.7%)
05/14 Captain Marvel v7 #3 - 26,057 ( -7.0%)
06/14 Captain Marvel v7 #4 - 24,062 ( -7.7%)
07/14 Captain Marvel v7 #5 - 23,666 ( -1.6%)
08/14 Captain Marvel v7 #6 - 21,221 (-10.3%)
---
1 year ( -9.7%)
2 year ( -23.0%)
5 year ( -16.9%)
Captain Marvel drops a bit over 2000 issues this month and creeps towards that 20k mark.
112, 113. THUNDERBOLTS
08/11 Thunderbolts #162 - 25,990
---
08/13 Thunderbolts v2 #14 - 30,620 ( +7.3%)
09/13 Thunderbolts v2 #15 - 29,703 ( -3.0%)
10/13 Thunderbolts v2 #16 - 29,334 ( -1.2%)
10/13 Thunderbolts v2 #17 - 28,324 ( -3.4%)
11/13 Thunderbolts v2 #18 - 26,502 ( -6.4%)
12/13 Thunderbolts v2 #19 - 24,959 ( -5.8%)
01/14 Thunderblts #20.NOW - 28,994 ( 16.2%)
01/14 Thunderbolts v2 #21 - 24,293 (-16.2%)
02/14 Thunderbolts v2 #22 – 23,629 ( -2.7%)
03/14 Thunderbolts v2 #23 – 22,701 ( -3.9%)
04/14 Thunderbolts v2 #24 – 22,619 ( -0.4%)
04/14 Thunderbolts v2 #25 – 22,092 ( -2.3%)
05/14 Thunderbolts v2 #26 – 21,771 ( -1.5%)
06/14 Thunderbolts v2 #27 – 21,778 ( 0.0%)
07/14 Thunderbolts v2 #28 – 21,652 ( -0.6%)
08/14 Thunderbolts v2 #29 – 21,144 ( -2.3%)
08/14 Thunderbolts v2 #30 – 21,016 ( -0.6%)
---
6 Mnth ( -11.1%)
1 Year ( -31.4%)
3 Year ( -19.1%)
Cancelled with issue #32.
115. ALL NEW GHOST RIDER
08/11 Ghost Rider #1 - 24,440
---
03/14 All New Ghost Rider #1 - 50,072 ( --- )[2,567]
04/14 All New Ghost Rider #2 - 29,429 (-41.2%)
05/14 All New Ghost Rider #3 - 27,756 ( -5.7%)
06/14 All New Ghost Rider #4 - 24,627 (-11.3%)
07/14 All New Ghost Rider #5 - 21,820 (-11.4%)
08/14 All New Ghost Rider #6 - 20,679 ( -5.2%)
---
3 year (-15.4%)
Ghost Rider gets a new creative team and only a slight drop.
118. SECRET AVENGERS
08/11 Secret Avengers #15 - 46,712
08/12 Secret Avengers #29 - 41,653
---
08/13 Secret Avengers v2 #7 - 27,222 ( -5.8%)
08/13 Secret Avengers v2 #8 - 26,150 ( -3.9%)
09/13 Secret Avengers v2 #9 - 24,870 ( -4.9%)
10/13 Secret Avengers v2 #10 - 29,134 ( +17.1%)
11/13 Secret Avengers v2 #11 - 25,326 ( -13.1%)
12/13 Secret Avengers v2 #12 - 23,863 ( -5.8%)
12/13 Secret Avengers v2 #13 - 23,172 ( -2.9%)
01/14 Secret Avengers v2 #14 - 21,372 ( -7.8%)
02/14 Secret Avengers v2 #15 – 20,059 ( -6.1%)
02/14 Secret Avengers v2 #16 – 20,022 ( -0.2%)
03/14 Secret Avengers v3 #1 - 34,036 ( 70.0%)
04/14 Secret Avengers v3 #2 - 24,724 ( -27.4%)
05/14 Secret Avengers v3 #3 - 22,860 ( -7.5%)
06/14 Secret Avengers v3 #4 - 21,335 ( -6.7%)
07/14 Secret Avengers v3 #5 - 20,088 ( -5.8%)
07/14 Secret Avengers v3 #6 - 19,435 ( -3.3%)
08/14 Secret Avengers v3 #7 - 20,017 ( 3.0%)
---
6 Mnth ( 0.0%)
1 Year ( -26.5%)
2 Year ( -48.0%)
3 Year ( -56.8%)
The only thing different about this issue from the last was that Deadpool guest-starred in it. No variants, or creative team changes… just Deadpool. Apparently, that is enough to boost sales by 3%. This will now be called the Deadpool effect.
120. SAVAGE WOLVERINE
08/13 ---
09/13 Savage Wolverine #8 - 38,208 ( -6.7%)
10/13 Savage Wolverine #9 - 36,451 ( -4.6%)
10/13 Savage Wolverine #10 - 33,627 ( -7.7%)
11/13 Savage Wolverine #11 - 30,338 ( -9.8%)
11/13 Savage Wolverine #12 - 29,739 ( -2.0%)
12/13 Savage Wolverine #13 - 27,490 ( -7.6%)
01/14 Savage #14.NOW - 30,370 ( 10.5%)
02/14 Savage Wolverine #15 - 25,190 (-17.1%)
03/14 Savage Wolverine #16 - 24,008 ( -4.7%)
04/14 Savage Wolverine #17 - 22,350 ( -6.9%)
05/14 Savage Wolverine #18 - 21,599 ( -3.4%)
05/14 Savage Wolverine #19 - 21,144 ( -2.1%)
06/14 Savage Wolverine #20 - 20,725 ( -2.0%)
07/14 Savage Wolverine #21 - 20,050 ( -3.3%)
08/14 Savage Wolverine #22 - 19,124 ( -4.6%)
---
6 Mnth ( -24.1%)
Savage doesn’t tie in to the Death of Wolverine at all, so it doesn’t get a sales boost from the extra attention that series is giving the ol’ Canucklehead. Instead it continues its steady decline.
122. ALL-NEW INVADERS
08/04 Invaders #1 - 42,578
---
01/14 All-New Invaders #1 - 55,167
02/14 All-New Invaders #2 – 32,293 (-41.5%)
03/14 All-New Invaders #3 – 27,329 (-15.4%)
04/14 All-New Invaders #4 – 22,927 (-16.1%)
05/14 All-New Invaders #5 – 21,843 ( -4.7%)
06/14 All-New Invaders #6 – 23,470 ( 7.4%) O.S. Tie-In
07/14 All-New Invaders #7 – 22,332 ( -4.8%) O.S. Tie-In
07/14 All-New Invaders #8 – 19,865 (-11.0%)
08/14 All-New Invaders #9 – 18,666 ( -6.0%)
---
6 Mnth ( -42.2%)
10 Year ( -56.2%)
As soon as this series O.S. Tie-In issues ended, it dropped right back to the sales decline it had before, completely erasing any good that tie-in did. Invaders is still solicited through issue 12 in November and by that point I imagine it will be around 16k and we’ll be discussing its cancelation or relaunch.
131. Elektra
---
04/14 Elektra #1 - 47,676 ( --- )
05/14 Elektra #2 - 26,612 (-44.2%)
06/14 Elektra #3 - 22,773 (-14.4%)
07/14 Elektra #4 - 19,125 (-16.0%)
08/14 Elektra #5 - 17,209 (-10.0%)
This series was really cool, but just never found its audience in the direct market. It is solicited through November with issue 8 at this point. It will be interesting to see if they give it some wiggle room and see if the first trade helps it find an audience or if they cancel it.
133, 134. All NEW ULTIMATES
08/11 Ult comics Ultimates #1 - 47,630
08/12 Ult comics Ultimates #14 - 30,311
-
08/13 Ultimates v5 #29 - 19,657 ( -1.0%)
09/13 Ultimates v5 #30 - 19,420 ( -1.2%)
10/13 ---
11/13 Cataclysm #1 of 3 - 28,422 (+46.4%)
12/13 Cataclysm #2 of 3 - 24,819 (-12.7%)
01/14 Cataclysm #3 of 3 - 21,705 (-12.5%)
02/14 ---
03/14 ---
04/14 All-New Ult #1 - 30,308 ( 39.6%)
05/14 All-New Ult #2 - 24,165 (-20.3%)
06/14 All-New Ult #3 - 21,898 ( -9.4%)
06/14 All-New Ult #4 - 20,561 ( -6.1%)
07/14 All-New Ult #5 - 18,199 (-11.5%)
08/14 All-New Ult #6 - 16,605 ( -8.8%)
08/14 All-New Ult #7 - 16,654 ( 0.3%)
---
6 Mnth ( -35.3%)
1 Year ( -15.3%)
2 Year ( -45.0%)
3 Year ( -57.4%)
This series (and some could say the Ultimate Universe) has been in trouble sales wise for a while. According to the November solicits, issue #10 begins a 3-issue climax, but the wording is unclear for sure if that means the cancellation of the series.
135. SUPERIOR FOES OF SPIDER-MAN
07/13 Superior Foes #1 - 61,413
08/13 Superior Foes #2 - 34,300 (-44.1%)
09/13 Superior Foes #3 - 30,081 (-12.3%)
10/13 Superior Foes #4 - 26,884 (-10.6%)
11/13 Superior Foes #5 - 23,694 (-11.9%)
11/13 Superior Foes #6 - 21,367 ( -9.8%)
12/13 Superior Foes #7 - 20,858 ( -2.4%)
01/14 ---
02/14 Superior Foes #8 – 19,193 ( -8.0%)
03/14 Superior Foes #9 – 18,620 ( -3.0%)
03/14 Superior Foes #10- 18,437 ( -1.0%)
04/14 Superior Foes #11- 18,143 ( -1.6%)
05/14 ---
06/14 Superior Foes #12- 17,826 ( -1.7%)
07/14 Superior Foes #13- 16,903 ( -5.2%)
08/14 Superior Foes #14- 16,604 ( -1.8%)
---
6 Mnth ( -13.5%)
1 Year ( -51.6%)
Issue 17 will be the final issue.
136. MIRACLEMAN
01/14 Miracleman #1 - 52,313
01/14 Miracleman #2 - 36,927 ( -29.4%)
02/14 Miracleman #3 – 25,970 ( -32.6%)
03/14 Miracleman #4 – 23,557 ( -9.3%)
04/14 ---
05/14 Miracleman #5 – 22,399 ( -4.9%)
05/14 Miracleman #6 – 20,598 ( -8.0%)
06/14 Miracleman #7 – 19,123 ( -7.2%)
07/14 Miracleman #8 – 17,654 ( -7.7%)
08/14 Miracleman #9 – 16,466 ( -6.7%)
---
6 Mnth ( -36.6%)
Since this is just recolored reprints, I guess Marvel can afford to have it not sell very well.
138. NEW WARRIORS
---
02/14 New Warriors #1 - 45,765 ( --- )
03/14 New Warriors #2 - 26,006 (-43.2%)
04/14 New Warriors #3 - 23,105 (-11.2%)
05/14 New Warriors #4 - 19,900 (-13.9%)
06/14 New Warriors #5 - 18,576 ( -6.7%)
06/14 New Warriors #6 - 18,156 ( -2.3%)
07/14 New Warriors #7 - 17,304 ( -4.7%)
08/14 New Warriors #8 - 16,081 ( -7.1%)
---
6 Mnth ( -64.9%)
Cancelled with issue 12 in November
139, 140. AVENGERS UNDERCOVER
08/11 Avengers Academy #18 - 24,538
08/12 Avengers Academy #35 - 26,381
---
08/13 Avengers Arean #13 - 22,955 ( -4.2%)
08/13 Avengers Arena #14 - 23,204 ( +1.1%)
09/13 Avengers Arena #15 - 22,180 ( -4.4%)
10/13 Avengers Arena #16 - 22,179 ( -0.0%)
11/13 Avengers Arena #17 - 20,744 ( -6.5%)
11/13 Avengers Arena #18 - 20,712 ( -0.2%)
12/13 ---
01/14 ---
02/14 ---
03/14 Avengers Undrcvr #1- 31,936
04/14 Avengers Undrcvr #2- 23,746 (-25.65)
04/14 Avengers Undrcvr #3- 21,830 ( -8.1%)
05/14 Avengers Undrcvr #4- 19,696 ( -9.8%)
06/14 Avengers Undrcvr #5- 18,115 ( -8.0%)
06/14 Avengers Undrcvr #6- 17,771 ( -9.8%)
07/14 Avengers Undrcvr #7- 16,705 ( -6.0%)
08/14 Avengers Undrcvr #8- 15,864 ( -5.0%)
08/14 Avengers Undrcvr #9- 15,715 ( -0.9%)
---
1 year ( -32.3%)
2 year ( -40.0%)
3 year ( -36.0%)
Cancelled with issue 10 in September, no word yet if there will be a relaunch or where these characters might appear next.
159. FIGMENT
---
06/14 Figment #1 - 12,735 ( --- )
07/14 Figment #2 - 11,929 ( -6.3%)
08/14 Figment #3 - 13,105 ( 9.9%)
Apparently issue 1 sold out and drove retailers to order more issue 3. Cool. Marvel could use more all-ages fare.
183. Ultimate FF
---
04/14 Ultimate FF v2 #1 - 23,316 ( --- )
05/14 Ultimate FF v2 #2 - 17,059 (-26.8%)
06/14 Ultimate FF v2 #3 - 14,413 (-15.5%)
07/14 Ultimate FF v2 #4 - 12,187 (-15.4%)
07/14 Ultimate FF v2 #5 - 11,778 ( -3.4%)
08/14 Ultimate FF v2 #6 - 10,617 ( -9.9%)
Final issue.
186. UNITED STATES OF MURDER INC
---
05/14 Murder Inc #1 - 18,474 ( --- )
06/14 Murder Inc #2 - 13,561 (-26.6%)
07/14 Murder Inc #3 - 11,444 (-15.6%)
08/14 Murder Inc #4 - 10,419 ( -9.0%)
These numbers seem pretty low for a Bendis book, but I know a lot of creator-owned books that would kill for these kind of sales.
205. DEADLY HANDS OF KUNG FU
---
05/14 Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #1 - 19,315 ( --- )
06/14 Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #2 - 13,093 (-32.2%)
07/14 Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #3 - 10,221 (-21.9%)
08/14 Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #4 - 8,563 (-16.2%)
Final issue.
—
6-Month Comparisons
---
21.6% Deadpool #33 (O.S. Tie-In)
17.6% Amazing Spider-Man #5 (O.S. Tie-In)
16.8% Daredevil #7 (O.S. Tie-In)
11.9% Hulk #5
9.4% Guardians o/t Galaxy #18 (O.S. Tie-In)
1.4% Superior Spider-Man #32
0.0% Secret Avengers #7
-4.1% Uncanny Avengers #23
-6.8% Nova #20 (O.S. Tie-In)
-7.2% Captain America #23
-9.0% Avengers #34 (O.S. Tie-In)
-9.4% All New X-Men #31
-10.5% Thunderbolts #29
-11.1% Thunderbolts #30
-11.5% Black Widow #9
-13.2% Kick-Ass 3 #8
-13.5% Superior Foes of Spider-Man #14
-15.1% Wolverine And X-Men #7
-15.1% All New X-Men #30
-15.2% Mighty Avengers #13
-15.5% New Avengers #22
-16.8% Wolverine And X-Men #8
-21.0% New Avengers #23
-23.2% Original Sin #3.4
-24.1% Savage Wolverine #22
-28.1% X-Men #18
-28.6% All New X-Factor #12
-34.6% Ms. Marvel #7
-35.3% All New Ultimates #7
-35.5% All New Ultimates #6
-36.6% Miracleman #9
-41.3% Avengers World #11
-42.2% All New Invaders #9
-43.1% Wolverine #12
-43.7% Amazing X-Men #10
-44.7% Wolverine #11
-45.4% She-Hulk #7
-52.6% Punisher #9
-53.0% X-Force #8
-53.4% Fantastic Four #8 (O.S. Tie-In)
-56.2% Fantastic Four #9
-64.9% New Warriors #8
—
1 Year Comparisons
---
67.3% Amazing X-Men #10
30.2% Amazing Spider-Man #5 (O.S. Tie-In)
27.0% Wolverine #12
23.5% Wolverine #11
12.2% Superior Spider-Man #32
8.3% Deadpool #33 (O.S. Tie-In)
7.9% All New X-Factor #12
5.8% Miles Morales Ultimate Spider-Man #4
4.4% Daredevil #7 (O.S. Tie-In)
-6.1% Fantastic Four #8 (O.S. Tie-In)
-9.7% Captain Marvel #6
-11.7% Fantastic Four #9
-15.3% All New Ultimates #7
-15.5% All New Ultimates #6
-19.9% All New X-Men #31
-20.1% Hulk #5
-21.0% Wolverine And X-Men #7
-21.4% Captain America #23
-22.1% Uncanny Avengers #23
-22.6% Wolverine And X-Men #8
-23.7% Nova #20 (O.S. Tie-In)
-24.9% All New X-Men #30
-26.5% Secret Avengers #7
-27.2% Avengers #34 (O.S. Tie-In)
-29.3% New Avengers #22
-30.9% Thunderbolts #29
-31.4% Thunderbolts #30
-31.5% Kick-Ass 3 #8
-31.6% Avengers Undercover #8
-32.3% Avengers Undercover #9
-33.9% New Avengers #23
-36.9% X-Force #8
-44.5% X-Men #18
-51.6% Superior Foes of Spider-Man #14
—
2 Year Comparisons
---
75% Deadpool #33 (O.S. Tie-In)
23% Wolverine #12
20% Wolverine #11
17% Punisher #9
13% Amazing X-Men #10
12% Amazing Spider-Man #5 (O.S. Tie-In)
7% X-Men #18
-4% Daredevil #7 (O.S. Tie-In)
-5% Hulk #5
-6% All New X-Factor #12
-12% Avengers #34 (O.S. Tie-In)
-12% Captain America #23
-16% Fantastic Four #8 (O.S. Tie-In)
-18% Miles Morales Ultimate Spider-Man #4
-21% Fantastic Four #9
-23% Captain Marvel #6
-28% New Avengers #22
-33% New Avengers #23
-40% Avengers Undercover #8
-40% Avengers Undercover #9
-45% All New Ultimates #7
-45% All New Ultimates #6
-48% Secret Avengers #7
-48% Wolverine And X-Men #7
-49% Wolverine And X-Men #8
-50% X-Force #8
—
3 Year Comparisons
---
86.7% Deadpool #33 (O.S. Tie-In)
76.7% Amazing Spider-Man #5 (O.S. Tie-In)
30.1% Wolverine #12
26.5% Wolverine #11
24.5% Moon Knight #6
8.8% Amazing X-Men #10
-8.7% Hulk #5
-9.8% Avengers #34 (O.S. Tie-In)
-9.8% All New X-Factor #12
-10.3% Daredevil #7 (O.S. Tie-In)
-15.4% All New Ghost Rider #6
-17.7% X-Men #18
-18.6% Thunderbolts #29
-19.1% Thunderbolts #30
-23.6% New Avengers #22
-28.6% New Avengers #23
-35.3% Avengers Undercover #8
-36.0% Avengers Undercover #9
-36.8% Kick-Ass 3 #8
-39.1% Punisher #9
-43.1% Captain America #23
-56.1% X-Force #8
-56.8% Secret Avengers #7
-65.0% All New Ultimates #7
-65.1% All New Ultimates #6
—
5 Year Comparisons
---
117.7% Guardians o/t Galaxy #18 (O.S. Tie-In)
43.2% Amazing Spider-Man #5 (O.S. Tie-In)
-0.4% Deadpool #33 (O.S. Tie-In)
-9.7% Nova #20 (O.S. Tie-In)
-16.9% Captain Marvel #6
-21.6% Punisher #9
-26.2% Wolverine #12
-28.2% Wolverine #11
-35.3% All New X-Factor #12
-45.5% Hulk #5
-49.9% Daredevil #7 (O.S. Tie-In)
-50.8% Fantastic Four #8 (O.S. Tie-In)
-52.4% New Avengers #22
-53.8% Fantastic Four #9
-55.5% New Avengers #23
-59.5% Miles Morales Ultimate Spider-Man #4
-60.4% X-Force #8
-63.3% Mighty Avengers #13
-75.3% Captain America #23
—
10 Year Comparisons
---
49.8% Silver Surfer #5
34.4% Iron Fist Living Weapon #5
15.4% Amazing Spider-Man #5 (O.S. Tie-In)
-7.6% She-Hulk #7
-17.9% Hulk #5
-19.6% Captain America #23
-22.6% Wolverine #12
-24.7% Wolverine #11
-29.4% Daredevil #7 (O.S. Tie-In)
-39.0% Fantastic Four #8 (O.S. Tie-In)
-42.6% Fantastic Four #9
-43.0% Punisher #9
-56.2% All New Invaders #9
-61.3% X-Men #18
-63.2% Miles Morales Ultimate Spider-Man #4
-66.5% X-Force #8
-75.0% Amazing X-Men #10
—
It is always interesting to look at these normal months where there aren’t any giant launches or major events, because you see more the real sales numbers when they aren’t inflated by other factors. We often talk a lot about Marvel’s top books, the ones that sell over 50k. What really keeps Marvel on top are those mid-tier books, the 25k to 50k books which make up 47% of Marvel’s units sold. This month we saw quite a few of those books drop below 25k, some of which are very new series. So the question then becomes why have some of these new series dropped so fast? Is it just that people aren’t interested in She-Hulk or Cyclops or Ghost Rider? Is it due to poor marketing, too many new launches? Which of these mid-tier books have caught your interest? Which ones failed to catch your eye? What should they do with future mid-tier book launches to catch reader interest and boost their sales?
Think about those questions and discuss below in the comments. Then prepare yourself for next month as the March to Axis begins, we visit the Edge of Spider-Verse, and we say goodbye to dear old Logan.
by David Carter
Greetings, sales charts fans! It’s time once again to look at DC’s sales figures.
It’s month three of DC’s new variant cover ordering scheme, where retailers can order as many of the month’s themed variant covers as they want at the regular price. As previously suspected, the Selfie variants do not attract as many additional orders as the Bombshell or Batman 75th variants did. It’s hard to tell if that is because of a perceived lack of interest in the covers, or an adjustment based on the previous months, or a combination of factors. Next month DC will have round two of the 3D motion covers, hoping to recapture some of the magic of last year’s 3D cover stunt.
This was a down month for DC. Several of their top sellers did not ship in August: Justice League, Superman Unchained and Sandman Overture. Vertigo sales are particularly moribund: the average Vertigo sales of 9,082 per title is the second lowest since Diamond started reporting actual sales back in 2003. (The lowest month was November 2010, at 9,034.) With The Wake over and Sandman Overture shipping sporadically, Vertigo’s top seller this month is short-timer Fables.
DC is having some amount of luck with recent relaunches; so far Grayson, New Suicide Squad and Teen Titans are doing decently. But besides Harley Quinn, they are not having much of a go with regular series launches. Two of their most recent, Infinity Man and the Forever People and Star-Spangled War Stories featuring G. I. Zombie, are already in the cancellation zone on their third and second issues respectively.
Next month is the third anniversary of The New 52, so this month gives us an opportunity to look at the state of sales compared to the final pre-New 52 month, August 2011. For several of the books below you’ll see a special, one-time only statistic, the New 52 Differential. For comics that existed pre-New 52 and were relaunched in September 2011, and that have survived all the way to issue #34 in August 2014, you’ll see a comparison of how well they are selling three years out compared to how they sold just before being relaunched (rounded off). They range from a whopping +60K increase for Batman (which has never sold below 100K for the entirety of its New 52 existence!) to a depressing -30K for Green Lantern, and pretty much the gamut in between. In both of those extreme cases you could say that it was the creative teams that played as much of a role: the Snyder & Capullo combination on Batman has been extremely popular, and the departure of Geoff Johns from writing Green Lantern has resulted in a marked decrease over the entire line of Green Lantern comics.
It would be foolish to say that The New 52 was anything but a sales success for DC; especially in its debut months DC sold many many copies of comics that they in no way would have been able to sell otherwise except for the huge marketing push that the line-wide reboot afforded them. And three years out the average sales for the DCU are about 9K higher than they were back in August 2011. But it does kind of feel like we’re back to where we started from, and the only ways that DC can boost sales are by crossover events, variant covers, and individual title relaunches. It is extremely rare for a book to grow steadily because of reader interest in the comic. (This is a problem that comics in general have, not just DC.)
There one arena that this fretting leaves out is one that is invisible to us, sales wise: digital. Along with the New 52 relaunch, DC also went day-and-date with digital releases, and over the past three years have instituted a robust digital-first program as well. While an (assumed) average of digital sales being 15% of print sales means that we are a long way from the day that digital will replace print for DC (though compare to the early days of direct sales vs. newsstand…), that’s still a nice bonus layered on top. And digital makes for a possibility of a nice long tail, without the need to keep comics in print and warehoused.
Warning: The commentary below may contain reasoned analysis, speculation (unfounded and otherwise), opinion, and/or snark. Those looking for a more straightforward analysis are directed to John Jackson Miller’s excellent Comichron analysis, posted earlier this month right here at The Beat!
Please consider the fine print at the end of the column. Thanks to Milton Griepp and ICv2.com for the permission to use their figures. An overview of ICv2.com’s estimates can be found here.
(Note that the percentage comparisons are now done with total orders including reorder activity, as opposed to initial orders as was the practice of this column under the previous administration.)
—
1 - BATMAN ($3.99)
08/2004: Batman #631 -- 72,287 [74,830]
08/2009: Batman #689 -- 78,392
08/2010: Batman #702 -- 73,414
08/2011: Batman #713 -- 51,760
08/2012: Batman #12 -- 125,249
-------------------------------
08/2013: Batman #23 -- 128,230 (- 2.9%)
09/2013: #23.1: Jkr -- 151,351 (+ 18.0%)
09/2013: #23.2: Rdlr -- 140,065 (- 7.5%)
09/2013: #23.3: Pngn -- 120,026 (- 14.3%)
09/2013: #23.4: Bane -- 124,382 (+ 7.6%) [129,156]
10/2013: Batman #24 -- 124,652 (- 3.5%)
11/2013: Batman #25 -- 125,602 (+ 0.8%)
12/2013: Batman #26 -- 119,443 (- 4.9%)
01/2014: Batman #27 -- 115,492 (- 1.7%) [117,395]
02/2014: Batman #28 -- 114,089 (- 1.3%) [115,891]
03/2014: Batman #29 -- 116,926 (+ 0.9%)
04/2014: Batman #30 -- 108,998 (- 6.8%)
05/2014: Batman #31 -- 107,499 (+ 0.2%) [109,170]
06/2014: Batman #32 -- 130,077 (+ 19.2%)
07/2014: Batman #33 -- 117,996 (- 9.3%)
08/2014: Batman #34 -- 112,186 (- 4.9%)
-----------------
6 months: - 3.2%
1 year : - 12.5%
2 years : - 10.4%
5 years : + 43.1%
10 years: + 49.9%
Since #1: - 49.8%
New 52 Diff: +60K
Once again, Batman is DC’s #1 comic in units sold. “Zero Year” ended last month so this was a transition issue tying in to the ongoing Batman Eternal story. The Self-Bat variant cover differential issomewhat less than 6K, some of which may be attributable to the interim-ness of this issue.
—
4 - THE MULTIVERSITY ($4.99)
08/2014: The Multiversity #1 -- 90,551
The new Grant Morrison series-of-one-shots exploring DC’s multiverse opens under 100K, but due to its $5 cover price it is the top revenue-generating comic of August. Each issue will be a #1 with a different subject and different artist, making it hard to predict what will happen to sales numbers over the coming months. (There were a plethora of order incentive covers, but no standard Selfie variant.)
—
7, 13 - HARLEY QUINN ($2.99)
11/2013: Harley Quinn #0 -- 114,212 [141,580]
12/2013: Harley Quinn #1 -- 92,153 (- 10.8%) [120,312]
01/2014: Harley Quinn #2 -- 66,363 (- 26.9%) [ 82,031]
02/2014: Harley Quinn #3 -- 63,967 (- 18.6%) [ 72,820]
03/2014: Harley Quinn #4 -- 63,120 (- 5.5%)
04/2014: Harley Quinn #5 -- 63,155 (+ 0.1%)
05/2014: Harley Quinn #6 -- 62,467 (- 1.1%)
06/2014: Harley Quinn #7 -- 93,266 (+ 49.3%)
07/2014: Harley Quinn #8 -- 76,827 (- 17.6%)
08/2014: Harley Quinn #9 -- 71,522 (- 6.9%)
08/2014: Harley Quinn #10 -- 58,500 (- 18.2%)
-----------------
6 months: - 10.7%
Since #0: - 58.7%
DC ships two issues of one of the best-selling books this month–because hey, why not?–and the results are highly illustrative. Issue #9 had a freely-orderable Selfie variant (for a Self-Bat differential of more than 5K), while issue #10 had a 1:25 order incentive variant but no Selfie cover. The difference? 13K! Issue #10’s sales of 58.5K are just about exactly where we’d expect them to be given standard attrition based on what the title was selling before DC started their new variant ordering scheme.
—
10, 14, 15, 16 - BATMAN ETERNAL ($2.99)
04/2014: Batman Eternal #1 -- 105,754 [110,916]
04/2014: Batman Eternal #2 -- 84,566 (- 20.2%) [ 88,468]
04/2014: Batman Eternal #3 -- 79,703 (- 4.8%) [ 84,183]
04/2014: Batman Eternal #4 -- 78,009 (- 1.7%) [ 82,743]
05/2014: Batman Eternal #5 -- 73,475 (- 11.2%)
05/2014: Batman Eternal #6 -- 70,983 (- 3.4%)
05/2014: Batman Eternal #7 -- 68,251 (- 3.8%)
05/2014: Batman Eternal #8 -- 68,523 (+ 0.4%)
06/2014: Batman Eternal #9 -- 68,295 (- 0.3%)
06/2014: Batman Eternal #10 -- 67,203 (- 1.6%)
06/2014: Batman Eternal #11 -- 65,770 (- 2.1%)
06/2014: Batman Eternal #12 -- 65,374 (- 0.6%)
07/2014: Batman Eternal #13 -- 63,828 (- 2.4%)
07/2014: Batman Eternal #14 -- 63,138 (- 1.1%)
07/2014: Batman Eternal #15 -- 62,137 (- 1.6%)
07/2014: Batman Eternal #16 -- 61,149 (- 1.6%)
07/2014: Batman Eternal #17 -- 60,013 (- 1.9%)
08/2014: Batman Eternal #18 -- 58,998 (- 1.7%)
08/2014: Batman Eternal #19 -- 58,368 (- 1.1%)
08/2014: Batman Eternal #20 -- 57,906 (- 0.8%)
08/2014: Batman Eternal #21 -- 57,525 (- 0.7%)
-----------------
Since #1: - 48.1%
Batman Eternal numbers drop below 60K. There are a couple of ways to look at these figures. On the one hand, they’re dropping an average just a bit over 1% per issue, which is a very light attrition. On the other hand, that works out to a little over 4% per month, which is a bit on the high side. If it keeps up at the current rate, Batman Eternal will drop to around 40K by the time it ends in March.
—
11 - DETECTIVE COMICS ($3.99)
08/2004: Detective Comics #797 -- 50,695 [52,811]
08/2009: Detective Comics #856 -- 58,859
08/2010: Detective Comics #868 -- 38,682
08/2011: Detective Comics #881 -- 39,729
08/2012: Detective Comics #12 -- 75,998
-----------------------------------------
08/2013: Detective Comics #23 -- 61,448 (- 3.9%)
09/2013: #23.1: Poison Ivy -- 78,522 (+ 27.8%)
09/2013: #23.2: Harley Quinn -- 89,636 (+ 14.2%)
09/2013: #23.3: Scarecrow -- 73,043 (- 18.5%)
09/2013: #23.4: Man-Bat -- 68,110 (- 6.8%)
10/2013: Detective Comics #24 -- 59,310 (- 12.9%)
11/2013: Detective Comics #25 -- 64,392 (+ 8.6%)
12/2013: Detective Comics #26 -- 56,538 (- 12.2%)
01/2014: Detective Comics #27 -- 88,702 (+ 59.8%) [90,335]
02/2014: Detective Comics #28 -- 56,619 (- 37.3%)
03/2014: Detective Comics #29 -- 55,486 (- 2.0%)
04/2014: Detective Comics #30 -- 56,149 (+ 1.2%)
05/2014: Detective Comics #31 -- 54,518 (- 2.9%)
06/2014: Detective Comics #32 -- 72,988 (+ 33.9%)
07/2014: Detective Comics #33 -- 62,856 (- 13.9%)
08/2014: Detective Comics #34 -- 58,812 (- 6.4%)
-----------------
6 months: + 3.9%
1 year : - 4.3%
2 years : - 22.6%
5 years : - 0.1%
10 years: + 11.4%
Since #1: - 62.7%
New 52 Diff: +19K
A Self-Bat differential of about 4K.
—
18 - SUPERMAN ($3.99)
08/2004: Superman #208 -- 129,256
08/2009: Superman #691 -- 39,106
08/2010: Superman #702 -- 50,023
08/2011: Superman #714 -- 35,919
08/2012: Superman #12 -- 53,326
---------------------------------
08/2013: Superman #23 -- 42,155 (- 1.9%)
09/2013: #23.1: Bzarro -- 59,589 (+ 41.4%)
09/2013: #23.2: Brniac -- 58,197 (- 2.3%)
09/2013: #23.3: H'el -- 55,069 (- 5.4%)
09/2013: #23.4: Prsite -- 59,811 (+ 8.6%)
10/2013: Superman #24 -- 39,580 (- 33.8%)
11/2013: Superman #25 -- 39,295 (- 0.7%)
12/2013: Superman #26 -- 36,877 (- 6.2%)
01/2014: Superman #27 -- 35,266 (- 4.4%)
02/2014: Superman #28 -- 34,296 (- 2.8%)
03/2014: Superman #29 -- 33,633 (- 1.9%)
04/2014: Superman #30 -- 37,316 (+ 11.0%)
05/2014: Superman #31 -- 40,534 (+ 8.6%)
06/2014: Superman #32 -- 89,140 (+136.8%) [95,972]
07/2014: Superman #33 -- 62,998 (- 34.4%)
08/2014: Superman #34 -- 56,568 (- 10.2%)
-----------------
6 months: + 64.9%
1 year : + 34.2%
2 years : + 6.1%
5 years : + 44.7%
10 years: - 56.2%
Since #1: - 62.3%
New 52 Diff: +21K
A 10% drop is pretty typical for a third issue, but then that also includes the Self-Bat differential (6K), so actual reader interest may be holding stronger. The variant cover effects are really messing up any cogent analysis of the effect of the new creative team.
—
19 - GRAYSON ($2.99)
08/2004: Nightwing #95 -- 44,558 [47,479]
08/2012: Nightwing #12 -- 47,484
---------------------------------
08/2013: Nightwing #23 -- 40,522 (- 3.7%)
09/2013: --
10/2013: Nightwing #24 -- 39,853 (- 1.7%)
11/2013: Nightwing #25 -- 44,039 (+ 10.5%)
12/2013: Nightwing #26 -- 38,452 (- 12.7%)
01/2014: Nightwing #27 -- 38,325 (- 0.3%)
02/2014: Nightwing #28 -- 36,940 (- 3.6%)
03/2014: Nightwing #29 -- 36,814 (- 0.3%)
04/2014: --
05/2014: Nightwing #30 -- 43,923 (+ 19.3%)
06/2014: --
07/2014: Grayson #1 -- 81,433 (+ 85.4%)
08/2014: Grayson #2 -- 56,486 (- 30.6%)
-----------------
6 months: + 52.9%
1 year : + 39.4%
2 years : + 19.0%
10 years: + 19.0%
Since #1: - 30.6%
Thirty percent is a bit on the high side for a second issue drop, but since that also includes the Self-Bat differential it is pretty much in line with what is typical. Grayson will likely end up as a decent-performing mid-list book for DC.
—
20 - BATMAN/SUPERMAN ($3.99)
08/2004: --
08/2009: Superman/Batman #63 -- 37,467
08/2010: Superman/Batman #75 -- 34,324
08/2011: Superman/Batman #87 -- 26,425
---------------------------------------
08/2013: Batman/Superman #3 -- 87,337 (-13.6%)
09/2013: #3.1: Doomsday -- 92,290 (+10.4%) [96,453]
10/2013: Batman/Superman #4 -- 82,990 (-14.0%)
11/2013: Batman/Superman #5 -- 77,198 (- 7.0%)
12/2013: Batman/Superman #6 -- 68,857 (-10.8%)
01/2014: Batman/Superman #7 -- 61,074 (-11.3%)
02/2014: Batman/Superman #8 -- 59,138 (- 3.2%)
03/2014: --
04/2014: Batman/Superman #9 -- 56,223 (- 4.9%)
05/2014: Batman/Superman #10 -- 54,844 (- 4.9%)
05/2014: Batman/Superman #11 -- 53,504 (- 4.9%)
06/2014: --
07/2014: Batman/Superman #12 -- 68,345 (+27.7%)
08/2014: Batman/Superman #13 -- 55,954 (-18.1%)
-----------------
6 months: - 5.4%
1 year : - 35.9%
5 years : + 49.3%
10 years: n.a.
Since #1: - 63.0%
Somehow last month I neglected to include Batman/Superman in the analysis. I swear I proofed that puppy, but I was running so late with the column that I must have rushed and just missed my skipping it. And in my defense, Batman/Superman ‘s schedule has been kind of erratic as of late. Mea culpa, and I’ll recommend to Heidi that she dock my pay for this error.
Anyway, like Justice League (which did not ship in August due to yet more lateness), Batman/Superman is running behind and thus in August had its Batman 75th variant cover, with a Bat-Bomb differential of over 14K.
—
24 - BATMAN AND... ($2.99)
08/2009: Batman and Robin #3 -- 110,594
08/2010: --
08/2011: Batman and Robin #26 -- 52,704
08/2012: Batman and Robin #12 -- 63,993
----------------------------------------
08/2013: and Nightwing #23 -- 55,707 (- 3.6%)
09/2013: #23.1: Two-Face -- 77,073 (+ 38.4%)
09/2013: #23.2: Court of Owls -- 75,546 (- 2.0%)
09/2013: #23.3: Ra's al Ghul -- 73,746 (- 2.4%)
09/2013: #23.4: Killer Croc -- 69,428 (- 5.9%)
10/2013: and Two-Face #24 -- 52,060 (- 25.0%)
11/2013: and Two-Face #25 -- 53,374 (+ 2.5%)
12/2013: and Two-Face #26 -- 46,611 (- 12.7%)
01/2014: and Two-Face #27 -- 45,462 (- 2.5%)
02/2014: and Two-Face #28 -- 43,380 (- 4.6%)
03/2014: and Aquaman #29 -- 43,295 (- 0.2%)
04/2014: and Wonder Woman #30 -- 44,832 (+ 3.6%)
05/2014: and Frankenstein #31 -- 42,150 (- 6.0%)
06/2014: and Ra's al Ghul #32 -- 56,311 (+ 33.6%)
07/2014: Batman and Robin #33 -- 56,269 (- 0.1%)
08/2014: Batman and Robin #34 -- 53,403 (- 5.1%)
----------------
6 months: + 23.1%
1 year : - 4.1%
2 years : - 16.5%
5 years : - 51.7%
Since #1: - 54.0%
New 52 Diff: +0.7K
A Self-Bat differential of just under 3K.
—
27 - SUPERMAN/WONDER WOMAN ($3.99)
10/2013: Superman/Wonder Woman #1 -- 94,859
11/2013: Superman/Wonder Woman #2 -- 60,185 (- 36.6%)
12/2013: Superman/Wonder Woman #3 -- 51,357 (- 14.7%)
01/2014: Superman/Wonder Woman #4 -- 47,350 (- 7.8%)
02/2014: Superman/Wonder Woman #5 -- 44,847 (- 5.3%)
03/2014: Superman/Wonder Woman #6 -- 43,308 (- 3.4%)
04/2014: Superman/Wonder Woman #7 -- 45,157 (+ 4.3%)
05/2014: Superman/Wonder Woman #8 -- 47,803 (+ 5.9%)
06/2014: Superman/Wonder Woman #9 -- 62,659 (+ 31.1%)
07/2014: Superman/Wonder Woman #10 -- 50,254 (- 19.8%)
08/2014: Superman/Wonder Woman #11 -- 50,550 (+ 0.6%)
-----------------
6 months: + 12.7%
Since #1: - 46.7%
Actually gains a few sales this month, no doubt due to the continuing strength of the “Superman Doomed” crossover story. The only title this month with a positive Self-Bat differential.
(I suspect that we’re missing some amount of re-order activity on all of the “Superman Doomed” installments, due to Diamond not reporting beyond the top 300 and that threshold being relatively high over the past couple of months.)
—
31 - ACTION COMICS ($3.99)
08/2004: Action Comics #818 -- 43,257
08/2009: Action Comics #880 -- 37,588
08/2010: Action Comics #892 -- 36,401
08/2011: Action Comics #904 -- 39,323
08/2012: Action Comics #12 -- 71,203
--------------------------------------
08/2013: Action Comics #23 -- 42,603 (- 5.0%)
09/2013: #23.1: Cyborg Smn -- 69,796 (+ 63.8%)
09/2013: #23.2: Zod -- 69,356 (- 0.6%)
09/2013: #23.3: Lex Luthor -- 67,621 (- 2.5%)
09/2013: #23.4: Metallo -- 51,807 (- 23.4%)
10/2013: Action Comics #24 -- 39,620 (- 23.5%)
11/2013: Action Comics #25 -- 46,550 (+ 17.5%)
12/2013: Action Comics #26 -- 37,489 (- 19.5%)
01/2014: Action Comics #27 -- 36,042 (- 3.9%)
02/2014: Action Comics #28 -- 35,305 (- 2.0%)
03/2014: Action Comics #29 -- 34,231 (- 3.0%)
04/2014: Action Comics #30 -- 37,809 (+ 10.5%)
05/2014: Action Comics #31 -- 41,081 (+ 8.7%)
06/2014: Action Comics #32 -- 55,400 (+ 34.9%)
07/2014: Action Comics #33 -- 49,457 (- 10.7%)
08/2014: Action Comics #34 -- 46,746 (- 5.5%)
-----------------
6 months: + 32.4%
1 year : + 9.7%
2 years : - 34.3%
5 years : + 24.4%
10 years: + 8.1%
Since #1: - 76.7%
New 52 Diff: + 7K
But then Action Comics is in the same boat crossover-wise as S/WW , but it takes a more typical Self-Bat drop of 2.5K. So maybe something else is going on with S/WW ?
—
34 - GREEN LANTERN ($2.99)
08/2004: Green Lantern #180 -- 36,425
08/2009: Green Lantern #45 -- 102,431
08/2010: --
08/2011: --
08/2012: Green Lantern #12 -- 77,187
--------------------------------------
08/2013: Green Lantern #23 -- 59,176 (- 5.2%)
09/2013: #23.1: Relic -- 66,495 (+ 12.4%)
09/2013: #23.2: Mongul -- 63,731 (- 4.2%)
09/2013: #23.3: Black Hand -- 62,753 (- 1.5%)
09/2013: #23.4: Sinestro -- 70,893 (+ 13.0%)
10/2013: Green Lantern #24 -- 57,109 (- 19.4%)
11/2013: Green Lantern #25 -- 54,322 (- 5.2%)
12/2013: Green Lantern #26 -- 51,420 (- 5.0%)
01/2014: Green Lantern #27 -- 48,831 (- 5.0%)
02/2014: GL/Red Lanterns#28 -- 49,200 (+ 5.6%) [51,548]
03/2014: Green Lantern #29 -- 45,797 (- 11.2%)
04/2014: Green Lantern #30 -- 44,483 (- 2.9%)
05/2014: Green Lantern #31 -- 43,769 (- 1.6%)
06/2014: Green Lantern #32 -- 56,315 (+ 28.7%)
07/2014: Green Lantern #33 -- 47,279 (- 16.0%)
08/2014: Green Lantern #34 -- 43,846 (- 7.3%)
-----------------
6 months: - 14.9%
1 year : - 25.9%
2 years : - 43.2%
5 years : - 57.2%
10 years: + 20.4%
Since #1: - 74.1%
New 52 Diff: -30K*
I am amused that issue #34 ranks at #34 this month. (It does not take much to amuse me‚Ķ) A Self-Bat differential of over 3K. (The New 52 differential uses the July 2011 figures, as GL didn’t ship in August 2011.)
—
37 - JUSTICE LEAGUE UNITED ($3.99)
04/2014: Justice League United #0 -- 68,431
05/2014: Justice League United #1 -- 64,209 (- 6.2%)
06/2014: Justice League United #2 -- 62,928 (- 2.0%)
07/2014: Justice League United #3 -- 47,919 (- 23.9%)
08/2014: Justice League United #4 -- 42,504 (- 11.3%)
-----------------
Since #0: - 37.9%
A Self-Bat differential of over 5K.
—
38 - SUPERMAN/WONDER WOMAN ANNUAL ($4.99)
08/2014: Superman/WW Annual #1 -- 42,094
One of two annuals that slipped from last month. Another chapter in “Superman Doomed.” Comes in over 8K below the parent title, but that’s without the benefit of a Selfie cover.
—
39, 41, 42, 44 - The New 52 – Futures End ($2.99)
05/2014: Futures End #0 -- ??????
05/2014: Futures End #1 -- 77,867
05/2014: Futures End #2 -- 62,862 (- 19.3%)
05/2014: Futures End #3 -- 59,148 (- 5.9%)
05/2014: Futures End #4 -- 58,496 (- 1.1%)
06/2014: Futures End #5 -- 53,645 (- 8.3%)
06/2014: Futures End #6 -- 51,543 (- 3.9%)
06/2014: Futures End #7 -- 50,266 (- 2.5%)
06/2014: Futures End #8 -- 49,138 (- 2.2%)
07/2014: Futures End #9 -- 52,083 (+ 6.0%)
07/2014: Futures End #10 -- 46,001 (- 11.7%)
07/2014: Futures End #11 -- 45,222 (- 1.7%)
07/2014: Futures End #12 -- 43,228 (- 4.4%)
07/2014: Futures End #13 -- 42,803 (- 1.0%)
08/2014: Futures End #14 -- 41,185 (- 3.8%)
08/2014: Futures End #15 -- 40,541 (- 1.6%)
08/2014: Futures End #16 -- 40,077 (- 1.1%)
08/2014: Futures End #17 -- 39,750 (- 0.8%)
-----------------
Since #1: - 49.0%
The previous three month’s worth were returnable, but this month was not. And lo and behold the non-adjusted figures for August fall right in line with the adjusted numbers for the previous months.
Falls below 40K for the first time, which must be a bit worrying since next month’s big Futures End stunt is tying in to this series. This has not turned into the linchpin series that DC was probably expecting it to be. If I were running DC, I’d take this as a sign that readers are becoming increasingly weary of the top-down imposition of cross-title continuity, and that multiple weekly titles may not be the best publishing strategy.
—
40 - TEEN TITANS ($2.99)
08/2004: Teen Titans #14 -- 63,894
08/2009: Teen Titans #74 -- 30,380
08/2010: Teen Titans #86 -- 24,971
08/2011: Teen Titans #99 -- 23,756
08/2011: Teen Titans #100 -- 27,459
08/2012: Teen Titans #12 -- 42,817
-----------------------------------
08/2013: Teen Titans #23 -- 31,742 (- 4.0%)
09/2013: #23.1: Trigon -- 48,974 (+ 54.3%)
09/2013: #23.2: Dthstroke -- 49,920 (+ 1.9%)
10/2013: Teen Titans #24 -- 34,536 (- 30.8%)
11/2013: Teen Titans #25 -- 32,395 (- 6.2%)
12/2013: Teen Titans #26 -- 29,149 (- 10.0%)
01/2014: Teen Titans #27 -- 27,558 (- 5.5%)
02/2014: Teen Titans #28 -- 26,732 (- 3.0%)
03/2014: Teen Titans #29 -- 25,969 (- 2.9%)
04/2014: Teen Titans #30 -- 25,709 (- 1.0%)
05/2014: --
06/2014: --
07/2014: Teen Titans #1 -- 52,358 (+103.7%)
08/2014: Teen Titans #2 -- 40,687 (- 22.3%)
-----------------
6 months: + 52.2%
1 year : + 28.2%
2 years : - 5.0%
5 years : + 33.9%
10 years: - 36.3%
A typical second issue drop.
—
46 - ACTION COMICS ANNUAL ($4.99)
10/2012: Action Comics Annual #1 -- 50,485
10/2013: Action Comics Annual #2 -- 34,668 (- 31.3%)
08/2014: Action Comics Annual #3 -- 38,504 (+ 11.1%)
An increase of nearly 4K more than last year’s Annual, due no doubt to interest in the “Superman Doomed” crossover.
—
47 - NEW SUICIDE SQUAD ($3.99)
08/2012: Suicide Squad #12 -- 28,302
-----------------------------------------
08/2013: Suicide Squad #23 -- 22,166 (- 1.3%)
09/2013: --
10/2013: Suicide Squad #24 -- 27,762 (+ 25.3%)
11/2013: Suicide Squad #25 -- 27,067 (- 2.5%)
12/2013: Suicide Squad #26 -- 25,346 (- 6.4%)
01/2014: Suicide Squad #27 -- 24,175 (- 4.6%)
02/2014: Suicide Squad #28 -- 22,882 (- 5.3%)
03/2014: Suicide Squad #29 -- 22,162 (- 3.1%)
04/2014: --
05/2014: Suicide Squad #30 -- 22,063 (- 0.4%)
06/2014: --
07/2014: New Suicide Squad #1 -- 49,260 (+123.3%)
08/2014: New Suicide Squad #2 -- 38,477 (- 21.9%)
-----------------
6 months: + 68.2%
1 year : + 73.6%
2 years : + 36.0%
A typical second issue drop.
—
50 - EARTH 2 ($3.99)
08/2012: Earth 2 #4 -- 67,393
------------------------------
08/2013: Earth 2 #15 -- 40,845 (- 2.8%)
09/2013: #15.1: Desd -- 51,850 (+ 26.9%)
09/2013: #15.2: SlGr -- 52,369 (+ 1.0%)
10/2013: Earth 2 #16 -- 38,389 (- 26.7%)
11/2013: Earth 2 #17 -- 39,846 (+ 3.8%)
12/2013: Earth 2 #18 -- 37,130 (- 6.8%)
01/2014: Earth 2 #19 -- 36,103 (- 2.8%)
02/2014: Earth 2 #20 -- 35,732 (- 1.0%)
03/2014: Earth 2 #21 -- 35,295 (- 1.2%)
04/2014: Earth 2 #22 -- 34,970 (- 0.9%)
05/2014: Earth 2 #23 -- 34,531 (- 1.3%)
06/2014: Earth 2 #24 -- 47,277 (+ 36.9%)
07/2014: Earth 2 #25 -- 39,726 (- 16.0%)
08/2014: Earth 2 #26 -- 37,396 (- 5.9%)
----------------
6 months: + 4.7%
1 year : - 8.4%
2 years : - 44.5%
Since #1: - 63.5%
A Self-Bat differential of under 3K.
—
52 - FLASH ($2.99)
08/2004: Flash #213 -- 41,363
08/2009: Flash Rebirth #4 -- 78,107
08/2010: --
08/2011: --
08/2012: Flash #12 -- 51,779
-----------------------------------
08/2013: Flash #23 -- 38,860 (- 0.3%)
09/2013: #23.1: Grodd -- 52,901 (+ 36.1%)
09/2013: #23.2: RvrsFlsh -- 53,359 (+ 0.9%)
09/2013: #23.3: Rogues -- 51,072 (- 4.3%)
10/2013: Flash #24 -- 38,190 (- 25.2%)
11/2013: Flash #25 -- 41,838 (+ 9.6%)
12/2013: Flash #26 -- 36,601 (- 12.5%)
01/2014: Flash #27 -- 34,902 (- 4.6%)
02/2014: Flash #28 -- 33,853 (- 3.0%)
03/2014: Flash #29 -- 33,241 (- 1.8%)
04/2014: Flash #30 -- 33,300 (+ 5.8%) [35,157]
05/2014: Flash #31 -- 34,240 (- 2.6%)
06/2014: Flash #32 -- 47,188 (+ 37.8%)
07/2014: Flash #33 -- 39,669 (- 15.9%)
08/2014: Flash #34 -- 37,109 (- 6.5%)
-----------------
6 months: + 9.6%
1 year : - 4.5%
2 years : - 28.3%
5 years : - 52.5%
10 years: - 10.3%
Since #1: - 74.9%
A Self-Bat differential of around 2.5K.
—
60 - BATGIRL ($2.99)
08/2004: Batgirl #55 -- 39,469 [43,494]
08/2010: Batgirl #13 -- 27,247
08/2011: Batgirl #24 -- 22,695
08/2012: Batgirl #12 -- 43,804
----------------------------------
08/2013: Batgirl #23 -- 37,707 (- 3.9%)
09/2013: --
10/2013: Batgirl #24 -- 36,666 (- 2.8%)
11/2013: Batgirl #25 -- 40,752 (+ 11.1%)
12/2013: Batgirl #26 -- 34,885 (- 14.4%)
01/2014: Batgirl #27 -- 37,226 (+ 6.7%)
02/2014: Batgirl #28 -- 34,567 (- 7.1%)
03/2014: Batgirl #29 -- 33,223 (- 3.9%)
04/2014: Batgirl #30 -- 32,698 (- 1.6%)
05/2014: Batgirl #31 -- 31,522 (- 3.6%)
06/2014: Batgirl #32 -- 47,304 (+ 50.1%)
07/2014: Batgirl #33 -- 37,186 (- 21.4%)
08/2014: Batgirl #34 -- 34,590 (- 7.0%)
-----------------
6 months: + 0.1%
1 year : - 8.3%
2 years : - 21.0%
10 years: - 20.5%
Since #1: - 67.7%
New 52 Diff: +12K
A Self-Bat differential of about 2.5K. The new creative team arrives in October with issue #35.
—
65 - AQUAMAN ($2.99)
08/2004: Aquaman #21 -- 23,486
08/2012: Aquaman #12 -- 61,210
------------------------------
08/2013: Aquaman #23 -- 44,140 (- 3.3%)
09/2013: #23.1: BMta -- 58,207 (+ 31.9%)
09/2013: #23.2: OMtr -- 53,679 (- 7.8%)
10/2013: Aquaman #24 -- 42,248 (- 21.3%)
11/2013: Aquaman #25 -- 41,264 (- 2.3%)
12/2013: Aquaman #26 -- 38,841 (- 5.9%)
01/2014: Aquaman #27 -- 36,610 (- 5.7%)
02/2014: Aquaman #28 -- 34,939 (- 4.6%)
03/2014: Aquaman #29 -- 33,907 (- 3.0%)
04/2014: Aquaman #30 -- 32,859 (- 3.1%)
05/2014: Aquaman #31 -- 32,076 (- 2.4%)
06/2014: Aquaman #32 -- 44,853 (+ 39.8%)
07/2014: Aquaman #33 -- 36,140 (- 19.4%)
08/2014: Aquaman #34 -- 33,380 (- 7.6%)
-----------------
6 months: - 4.5%
1 year : - 24.4%
2 years : - 45.5%
10 years: + 42.1%
Since #1: - 69.2%
A Self-Bat differential of under 3K.
—
75 - SENSATION COMICS FEAT WONDER WOMAN (Digital-First) ($3.99)
08/2014: Sensation Comics #1 -- 29,640
The debut print version of the digital-first comic featuring Wonder Woman comes in a just under 30K, which this month is good enough to make it the highest-selling non-DCU title. That debut is just over 1K fewer that what its brother title, Adventures of Superman , debuted at, and AoS has its final issue next month with #17. Can Sensation stick it out longer? It will likely depend on how well the digital version sells, and if DC can effectively drum up publicity on a continuing basis for the title’s constantly changing creators.
—
76 - GREEN LANTERN CORPS ($2.99)
08/2009: Green Lantern Corps #39 -- 82,241
08/2010: Green Lantern Corps #51 -- 67,124
08/2011: Green Lantern Corps #63 -- 53,372
08/2012: Green Lantern Corps #12 -- 41,778
------------------------------------------
08/2013: Green Lantern Corps #23 -- 36,229 (- 14.1%)
09/2013: --
10/2013: Green Lantern Corps #24 -- 37,312 (+ 3.0%)
11/2013: Green Lantern Corps #25 -- 38,369 (+ 2.8%)
12/2013: Green Lantern Corps #26 -- 32,797 (- 14.5%)
01/2014: Green Lantern Corps #27 -- 31,447 (- 4.1%)
02/2014: Green Lantern Corps #28 -- 29,142 (- 7.3%)
03/2014: Green Lantern Corps #29 -- 27,754 (- 4.8%)
04/2014: Green Lantern Corps #30 -- 26,640 (- 4.0%)
05/2014: Green Lantern Corps #31 -- 28,449 (+ 6.8%)
06/2014: Green Lantern Corps #32 -- 40,734 (+ 43.2%)
07/2014: Green Lantern Corps #33 -- 32,877 (- 19.3%)
08/2014: Green Lantern Corps #34 -- 29,471 (- 10.4%)
----------------
6 months: + 1.1%
1 year : - 18.7%
2 years : - 29.5%
5 years : - 64.2%
Since #1: - 68.9%
New 52 Diff: -12K
A Self-Bat differential of over 3K, and just 1K more than the pre-variant sales. A new line-wide crossover begins in October.
—
82 - SINESTRO ($2.99)
04/2014: Sinestro #1 -- 46,480
05/2014: Sinestro #2 -- 34,640 (- 25.5%)
06/2014: Sinestro #3 -- 30,422 (- 12.2%)
07/2014: Sinestro #4 -- 28,095 (- 7.6%)
08/2014: Sinestro #5 -- 26,867 (- 4.4%)
-----------------
Since #1: - 42.2%
No variant covers here…
—
85 - SUPERGIRL ($2.99)
08/2009: Supergirl #44 -- 33,819
08/2010: Supergirl #55 -- 25,891
08/2011: Supergirl #67 -- 19,764
08/2012: Supergirl #12 -- 30,420
---------------------------------
08/2013: Supergirl #23 -- 24,747 (- 3.0%)
09/2013: --
10/2013: Supergirl #24 -- 23,321 (- 5.8%)
11/2013: Supergirl #25 -- 25,377 (+ 8.8%)
12/2013: Supergirl #26 -- 22,646 (- 10.8%)
01/2014: Supergirl #27 -- 21,954 (- 3.1%)
02/2014: Supergirl #28 -- 23,567 (+ 7.3%)
03/2014: Supergirl #29 -- 22,883 (- 2.9%)
04/2014: Supergirl #30 -- 23,410 (+ 2.3%)
05/2014: Supergirl #31 -- 22,783 (- 2.7%)
06/2014: Supergirl #32 -- 22,481 (- 1.3%)
07/2014: Supergirl #33 -- 22,802 (+ 1.4%)
08/2014: Supergirl #34 -- 26,510 (+ 16.3%)
-----------------
6 months: + 12.5%
1 year : + 7.1%
2 years : - 12.9%
5 years : - 21.6%
Since #1: - 64.3%
New 52 Diff: + 7K
Supergirl gets a nice boost by joining the “Superman Doomed” crossover, which is working out better than crossing over with Red Lanterns . One has to wonder why there wasn’t a Selfie variant this month, as a Selfie cover would seem to make perfect sense for a comic starring a teenage girl‚Ķ
—
89 - JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK ($3.99)
08/2012: Justice League Dark #12 -- 30,754
-------------------------------------------
08/2013: Justice League Dark #23 -- 71,157 (+ 4.2%) [75,782]
09/2013: #23.1: Creeper -- 46,326 (- 34.9%)
09/2013: #23.2: Eclipso -- 45,138 (- 2.6%)
10/2013: Justice League Dark #24 -- 45,401 (+ 0.6%)
11/2013: Justice League Dark #25 -- 38,760 (- 14.6%)
12/2013: Justice League Dark #26 -- 36,353 (- 6.2%)
01/2014: Justice League Dark #27 -- 32,576 (- 10.4%)
02/2014: Justice League Dark #28 -- 30,519 (- 6.3%)
03/2014: Justice League Dark #29 -- 29,202 (- 4.3%)
04/2014: Justice League Dark #30 -- 27,695 (- 5.2%)
05/2014: Justice League Dark #31 -- 25,337 (- 8.5%)
06/2014: Justice League Dark #32 -- 38,219 (+ 50.8%)
07/2014: Justice League Dark #33 -- 28,297 (- 26.0%)
08/2014: Justice League Dark #34 -- 25,258 (- 10.7%)
-----------------
6 months: - 17.2%
1 year : - 66.7%
2 years : - 17.9%
Since #1: - 69.2%
A Self-Bat differential of 3K, which is enough to bring sales down below issue #31, before DC’s new variant program.
—
92 - BATMAN '66 MEETS THE GREEN HORNET (Digital-First) ($2.99)
06/2014: Batman 66/GH #1 of 6 -- 32,983
07/2014: Batman 66/GH #2 of 6 -- 25,392 (- 23.0%)
08/2014: Batman 66/GH #3 of 6 -- 24,409 (- 3.9%)
That’s a drop of under 1000, which at this stage is a very light drop indeed.
—
96 - SECRET ORIGINS ($4.99)
04/2014: Secret Origins #1 -- 38,742
05/2014: Secret Origins #2 -- 32,966 (- 14.9%)
06/2014: Secret Origins #3 -- 28,351 (- 14.0%)
07/2014: Secret Origins #4 -- 37,181 (+ 31.1%)
08/2014: Secret Origins #5 -- 24,126 (- 35.1%)
-----------------
Since #1: - 37.7%
Without Harley Quinn headlining, sales drop right back down.
—
98 - CATWOMAN ($2.99)
08/2004: Catwoman #34 -- 37,033 [42,098]
08/2012: Catwoman #12 -- 34,117
-------------------------------
08/2013: Catwoman #23 -- 24,262 (- 1.9%) [38,290]
09/2013: --
10/2013: Catwoman #24 -- 35,134 (+ 44.8%)
11/2013: Catwoman #25 -- 29,471 (- 16.1%)
12/2013: Catwoman #26 -- 26,482 (- 10.1%)
01/2014: Catwoman #27 -- 24,956 (- 5.8%)
02/2014: Catwoman #28 -- 23,974 (- 3.9%)
03/2014: Catwoman #29 -- 22,236 (- 7.2%)
04/2014: Catwoman #30 -- 20,968 (- 5.7%)
05/2014: Catwoman #31 -- 20,144 (- 3.9%)
06/2014: Catwoman #32 -- 33,694 (+ 67.3%)
07/2014: Catwoman #33 -- 18,945 (- 43.8%)
08/2014: Catwoman #34 -- 23,497 (+ 24.0%)
-----------------
6 months: - 2.0%
1 year : - 38.5%
2 years : - 31.1%
10 years: - 44.2%
Since #1: - 68.9%
Exhibit N in the effects of DC’s new variants program: After skipping the Batman 75th variant last month, Catwoman returns with a Selfie variant and sales pop up another 4.5K.
—
101 - GREEN ARROW ($2.99)
08/2004: Green Arrow #41 -- 32,269
08/2009: Arrow/Canary #23 -- 19,452
08/2010: Green Arrow #3 -- 46,308
08/2011: Green Arrow #15 -- 23,883
08/2012: Green Arrow #12 -- 23,126
-----------------------------------
08/2013: Green Arrow #23 -- 25,449 (- 2.8%)
09/2013: #23.1: CtVertigo -- 43,234 (+ 69.9%)
10/2013: Green Arrow #24 -- 24,620 (- 43.1%)
11/2013: Green Arrow #25 -- 29,591 (+ 20.2%)
12/2013: Green Arrow #26 -- 24,687 (- 16.6%)
01/2014: Green Arrow #27 -- 23,785 (- 3.7%)
02/2014: Green Arrow #28 -- 26,725 (+ 12.4%)
03/2014: Green Arrow #29 -- 23,698 (- 11.3%)
04/2014: Green Arrow #30 -- 23,577 (- 0.5%)
05/2014: Green Arrow #31 -- 23,475 (- 0.4%)
06/2014: Green Arrow #32 -- 23,602 (+ 0.5%)
07/2014: Green Arrow #33 -- 23,452 (- 0.6%)
08/2014: Green Arrow #34 -- 22,927 (- 2.2%)
-----------------
6 months: - 14.2%
1 year : - 9.9%
2 years : - 0.9%
5 years : + 17.9%
10 years: - 29.0%
Since #1: - 68.3%
New 52 Diff: -0.2K
Dips just a few hundred copies, but that’s enough to push sales under 23K. The new creative team arrives in October.
—
103 - RED LANTERNS ($2.99)
08/2012: Red Lanterns #12 -- 35,070
-----------------------------------
08/2013: Red Lanterns #23 -- 29,623 (- 15.9%)
09/2013: --
10/2013: Red Lanterns #24 -- 30,771 (+ 3.9%)
11/2013: Red Lanterns #25 -- 27,786 (- 9.7%)
12/2013: Red Lanterns #26 -- 26,242 (- 5.6%)
01/2014: Red Lanterns #27 -- 24,477 (- 6.7%)
02/2014: Green Lant/RL#28 -- 49,200 (+110.6%) [51,548]
03/2014: Red Lanterns #29 -- 25,153 (- 51.2%)
04/2014: Red Lanterns #30 -- 24,350 (- 3.2%)
05/2014: Red Lanterns #31 -- 24,307 (- 0.2%)
06/2014: Red Lanterns #32 -- 23,720 (- 2.4%)
07/2014: Red Lanterns #33 -- 23,355 (- 1.5%)
08/2014: Red Lanterns #34 -- 22,761 (- 2.5%)
----------------
6 months: - 55.8%
1 year : - 23.2%
2 years : - 35.1%
Since #1: - 74.5%
107 - GREEN LANTERN: NEW GUARDIANS ($2.99)
08/2012: New Guardians #12 -- 42,479
---------------------------------------
08/2013: New Guardians #23 -- 34,473 (-15.5%)
09/2013: --
10/2013: New Guardians #24 -- 35,417 (+ 2.7%)
11/2013: New Guardians #25 -- 32,069 (- 9.5%)
12/2013: New Guardians #26 -- 30,489 (- 4.9%)
01/2014: New Guardians #27 -- 28,346 (- 7.0%)
02/2014: New Guardians #28 -- 27,212 (- 4.0%)
03/2014: New Guardians #29 -- 25,296 (- 7.0%)
04/2014: New Guardians #30 -- 24,727 (- 2.2%)
05/2014: New Guardians #31 -- 23,886 (- 3.4%)
06/2014: New Guardians #32 -- 23,142 (- 3.1%)
07/2014: New Guardians #33 -- 22,797 (- 1.5%)
08/2014: New Guardians #34 -- 22,052 (- 3.3%)
----------------
6 months: - 19.0%
1 year : - 36.0%
2 years : - 48.1%
Since #1: - 77.2%
The line-wide crossover starts in October.
—
109 - BATMAN '66 (Digital-First) ($3.99)
08/2013: Batman '66 #2 -- 37,113 (-26.4%)
09/2013: Batman '66 #3 -- 32,954 (-11.2%)
10/2013: Batman '66 #4 -- 30,099 (- 8.7%)
11/2013: Batman '66 #5 -- 26,785 (-11.0%)
12/2013: Batman '66 #6 -- 24,374 (- 9.0%)
01/2014: Batman '66 #7 -- 21,802 (-10.6%)
02/2014: Batman '66 #8 -- 19,795 (- 9.2%)
03/2014: Batman '66 #9 -- 18,802 (- 5.0%)
04/2014: Batman '66 #10 -- 17,917 (- 4.7%)
05/2014: Batman '66 #11 -- 18,642 (+ 4.0%)
06/2014: Batman '66 #12 -- 17,286 (- 7.3%)
07/2014: Batman '66 #13 -- 17,264 (- 0.1%)
08/2014: Batman '66 #14 -- 21,456 (+24.3%)
-----------------
6 months: + 8.4%
1 year : - 42.2%
Since #1: - 57.5%
There was a selfie variant this time out, and it appears to work just as well for the digital-first titles as it does for the DCU books. I wonder when Vertigo will start to get freely-orderable variants?
—
114 - JUSTICE LEAGUE 3000 ($2.99)
12/2013: Justice League 3K #1 -- 57,726
01/2014: Justice League 3K #2 -- 41,423 (-28.2%)
02/2014: Justice League 3K #3 -- 33,308 (-19.6%)
03/2014: Justice League 3K #4 -- 30,127 (- 9.6%)
04/2014: Justice League 3K #5 -- 27,529 (- 8.6%)
05/2014: Justice League 3K #6 -- 25,738 (- 6.5%)
06/2014: Justice League 3K #7 -- 24,172 (- 6.1%)
07/2014: Justice League 3K #8 -- 22,604 (- 6.5%)
08/2014: Justice League 3K #9 -- 20,974 (- 7.2%)
-----------------
6 months: - 37.0%
Since #1: - 63.7%
Continues to shed readers at an unsustainable rate.
—
117 - RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS ($2.99)
08/2012: Red Hood #12 -- 34,439
-------------------------------
08/2013: Red Hood #23 -- 28,821 (- 5.6%)
09/2013: --
10/2013: Red Hood #24 -- 27,128 (- 5.9%)
11/2013: Red Hood #25 -- 30,632 (+ 12.9%)
12/2013: Red Hood #26 -- 25,382 (- 17.1%)
01/2014: Red Hood #27 -- 24,813 (- 2.2%)
02/2014: Red Hood #28 -- 23,236 (- 6.4%)
03/2014: Red Hood #29 -- 22,316 (- 4.0%)
04/2014: Red Hood #30 -- 21,718 (- 2.7%)
05/2014: Red Hood #31 -- 21,257 (- 2.1%)
06/2014: Red Hood #32 -- 33,081 (+ 55.6%)
07/2014: Red Hood #33 -- 20,669 (- 37.5%)
08/2014: Red Hood #34 -- 20,069 (- 2.9%)
----------------
6 months: - 13.6%
1 year : - 30.4%
2 years : - 41.7%
Since #1: - 71.4%
Drops just 600 copies.
—
119 - WORLDS' FINEST ($2.99)
08/2012: Worlds' Finest #4 -- 39,629
-------------------------------------
08/2013: Worlds' Finest #15 -- 24,159 (- 3.9%)
09/2013: --
10/2013: Worlds' Finest #16 -- 22,987 (- 4.9%)
11/2013: Worlds' Finest #17 -- 21,920 (- 4.6%)
12/2013: Worlds' Finest #18 -- 21,039 (- 4.0%)
01/2014: Worlds' Finest #19 -- 20,998 (- 0.2%)
02/2014: Worlds' Finest #20 -- 25,585 (+ 31.5%) [27,613]
03/2014: Worlds' Finest #21 -- 25,676 (- 7.0%)
04/2014: Worlds' Finest #22 -- 21,485 (- 16.3%)
05/2014: Worlds' Finest #23 -- 21,118 (- 1.7%)
06/2014: Worlds' Finest #24 -- 20,900 (- 1.0%)
07/2014: Worlds' Finest #25 -- 19,957 (- 4.5%)
08/2014: Worlds' Finest #26 -- 19,772 (- 0.9%)
-----------------
6 months: - 28.4%
1 year : - 18.2%
2 years : - 50.1%
Since #1: - 71.6%
Drops fewer than 200 copies.
—
123 - AQUAMAN AND THE OTHERS ($2.99)
04/2014: Aquaman & Others #1 -- 34,056
05/2014: Aquaman & Others #2 -- 26,198 (- 23.1%)
06/2014: Aquaman & Others #3 -- 23,109 (- 11.8%)
07/2014: Aquaman & Others #4 -- 20,520 (- 11.2%)
08/2014: Aquaman & Others #5 -- 18,639 (- 9.2%)
-----------------
Since #1: - 45.3%
Drops below 19K.
—
124, 126 - INJUSTICE: YEAR TWO (Digital-First) ($2.99)
08/2013: Injustice #8 -- 25,223 (- 2.0%)
09/2013: Injustice #9 -- 24,333 (- 3.5%)
10/2013: Injustice #10 -- 24,788 (+ 1.9%)
11/2013: Injustice #11 -- 22,704 (- 8.4%)
12/2013: Injustice #12 -- 21,871 (- 3.7%)
01/2014: Injustice Y2 #1 -- 24,700 (+12.9%)
02/2014: Injustice Y2 #2 -- 22,703 (- 8.1%)
03/2014: Injustice Y2 #3 -- 20,693 (- 8.9%)
04/2014: Injustice Y2 #4 -- 20,310 (- 1.9%)
05/2014: Injustice Y2 #5 -- 19,834 (- 2.3%)
06/2014: Injustice Y2 #6 -- 19,353 (- 2.4%)
07/2014: Injustice Y2 #7 -- 19,811 (+ 2.4%)
07/2014: Injustice Y2 #8 -- 18,931 (- 4.4%)
08/2014: Injustice Y2 #9 -- 18,397 (- 2.8%)
08/2014: Injustice Y2 #10 -- 18,068 (- 1.8%)
----------------
6 months: - 19.7%
1 year : - 27.8%
Since #1: - 26.9%
DC’s best-selling-in-digital-form digital-first title is still above 18K in its print incarnation. Year Three starts in October.
—
128 - SWAMP THING ($2.99)
08/2004: Swamp Thing #6 -- 19,973
08/2012: Swamp Thing #12 -- 36,696
----------------------------------
08/2013: Swamp Thing #23 -- 22,695 (- 5.0%)
09/2013: #23.1: Arcane -- 40,390 (+78.0%)
10/2013: Swamp Thing #24 -- 21,724 (-46.2%)
11/2013: Swamp Thing #25 -- 21,141 (- 2.7%)
12/2013: Swamp Thing #26 -- 20,247 (- 4.2%)
01/2014: Swamp Thing #27 -- 19,755 (- 2.4%)
02/2014: Swamp Thing #28 -- 19,146 (- 3.1%)
03/2014: Swamp Thing #29 -- 18,837 (- 1.6%)
04/2014: Swamp Thing #30 -- 18,458 (- 2.0%)
05/2014: Swamp Thing #31 -- 18,249 (- 1.1%)
06/2014: Swamp Thing #32 -- 18,483 (+ 1.3%)
07/2014: Swamp Thing #33 -- 17,905 (- 3.1%)
08/2014: Swamp Thing #34 -- 17,570 (- 1.9%)
----------------
6 months: - 8.2%
1 year : - 22.6%
2 years : - 52.1%
10 years: - 12.0%
Since #1: - 76.2%
Writer Charles Soule announced that he’s going Marvel exclusive; will DC use his departure as an opportunity to revamp Swamp Thing , or just put it to bed?
—
129 - BATMAN ESSENTIAL DARK KNIGHT RETURNS SPECIAL EDITION #1 ($1.00)
08/2014: Batman Essential DKR #1 -- 17,518
A bargain-priced reprint of the first issue of Frank Miller’s mid-80s classic sells a good deal more than other recent DC Essentials.
—
132 - BATWOMAN ($2.99)
08/2012: Batwoman #12 -- 38,980
--------------------------------
08/2013: Batwoman #23 -- 26,223 (- 4.3%)
09/2013: --
10/2013: Batwoman #24 -- 25,609 (- 2.3%)
11/2013: Batwoman #25 -- 25,987 (+ 1.5%)
12/2013: Batwoman #26 -- 23,311 (- 10.3%)
01/2014: Batwoman #27 -- 22,461 (- 3.6%)
02/2014: Batwoman #28 -- 20,672 (- 8.0%)
03/2014: Batwoman #29 -- 19,750 (- 4.5%)
04/2014: Batwoman #30 -- 19,204 (- 2.8%)
05/2014: Batwoman #31 -- 18,463 (- 3.9%)
06/2014: Batwoman #32 -- 33,538 (+ 81.6%)
07/2014: Batwoman #33 -- 23,922 (- 28.7%)
08/2014: Batwoman #34 -- 16,909 (- 29.3%)
----------------
6 months: - 18.2%
1 year : - 35.5%
2 years : - 56.6%
Since #1: - 80.8%
No variant this time, and sales drop to their lowest level yet. This was the ‘break-up’ issue. In an alternate universe, the highly-publicized wedding issue includes an awesome Selfie variant of all of the wedding guests, and sells much, much better.
—
141 - CONSTANTINE ($2.99)
08/2004: Hellblazer #199 -- 14,768
08/2009: Hellblazer #258 -- 10,665
08/2010: Hellblazer #270 -- 9,928
08/2011: Hellblazer #282 -- 9,372
08/2012: Hellblazer #294 -- 9,396
----------------------------------
08/2013: Constantine #6 -- 25,174 (- 28.1%)
09/2013: --
10/2013: Constantine #7 -- 22,954 (- 8.8%)
11/2013: Constantine #8 -- 20,981 (- 8.6%)
12/2013: Constantine #9 -- 22,403 (+ 6.8%)
01/2014: Constantine #10 -- 20,729 (- 7.5%)
02/2014: Constantine #11 -- 20,385 (- 1.7%)
03/2014: Constantine #12 -- 20,051 (- 1.6%)
04/2014: Constantine #13 -- 18,454 (- 8.0%)
05/2014: Constantine #14 -- 17,422 (- 5.6%)
06/2014: Constantine #15 -- 16,704 (- 4.1%)
07/2014: Constantine #16 -- 16,235 (- 2.8%)
08/2014: Constantine #17 -- 15,647 (- 2.8%)
-----------------
6 months: - 23.2%
1 year : - 37.8%
2 years : + 66.5%
5 years : + 46.7%
10 years: + 6.0%
Since #1: - 58.3%
The TV show is scheduled to debut on October 24.
—
145 - BIRDS OF PREY ($2.99)
08/2004: Birds of Prey #71 -- 32,298
08/2004: Birds of Prey #72 -- 31,835
08/2010: Birds of Prey #4 -- 46,149
08/2011: Birds of Prey #15 -- 26,043
08/2012: Birds of Prey #12 -- 26,587
-------------------------------------
08/2013: Birds of Prey #23 -- 19,364 (- 4.2%)
09/2013: --
10/2013: Birds of Prey #24 -- 18,382 (- 5.1%)
11/2013: Birds of Prey #25 -- 22,751 (+ 23.8%)
12/2013: Birds of Prey #26 -- 17,497 (- 23.1%)
01/2014: Birds of Prey #27 -- 19,387 (+ 10.8%)
02/2014: Birds of Prey #28 -- 18,092 (- 6.7%)
03/2014: Birds of Prey #29 -- 16,795 (- 7.2%)
04/2014: Birds of Prey #30 -- 16,358 (- 2.6%)
05/2014: Birds of Prey #31 -- 15,947 (- 2.5%)
06/2014: Birds of Prey #32 -- 16,397 (+ 2.8%)
07/2014: Birds of Prey #33 -- 15,379 (- 6.2%)
07/2014: Birds of Prey #34 -- 15,397 (+ 0.1%)
-----------------
6 months: - 14.9%
1 year : - 20.5%
2 years : - 42.1%
10 years: - 52.0%
Since #1: - 76.8%
New 52 Diff: -11K
Adds 18 copies for the final regular issue.
—
146 - INFINITE CRISIS: FIGHT FOR THE MULTIVERSE (Digital-First) ($3.99)
07/2014: Infinite Crisis FftM #1 -- 26,096
08/2014: Infinite Crisis FftM #2 -- 15,340 (- 41.2%)
Ouch, that’s a very hefty second issue drop.
Oh, while I’m at it (and since perhaps someone is wondering), a typical 2nd issue drop is around 25%, while a typical third issue drop is around 10%. Standard attrition, once a title has settled in, is around 2-3%.
—
150 - BATMAN BEYOND UNIVERSE (Digital-First) ($3.99)
08/2012: Unlimited #7 -- 21,219
---------------------------------
08/2013: Universe #1 -- 23,358 (+52.9%)
09/2013: Universe #2 -- 18,332 (-21.5%)
10/2013: Universe #3 -- 17,658 (- 3.7%)
11/2013: Universe #4 -- 16,889 (- 4.4%)
12/2013: Universe #5 -- 15,857 (- 6.1%)
01/2014: Universe #6 -- 15,070 (- 5.0%)
02/2014: Universe #7 -- 14,435 (- 4.2%)
03/2014: Universe #8 -- 14,097 (- 2.3%)
04/2014: Universe #9 -- 13,807 (- 2.1%)
05/2014: Universe #10 -- 13,869 (+ 0.4%)
06/2014: Universe #11 -- 14,068 (+ 1.4%)
07/2014: Universe #12 -- 14,419 (+ 2.5%)
08/2014: Universe #13 -- 14,215 (- 1.4%)
----------------
6 months: - 1.5%
1 year : - 39.1%
2 years : - 33.0%
Since #1: - 39.1%
After three straight months of small growth, BB drops down again.
—
154 - SUPERBOY ($2.99)
08/2011: Superboy #10 -- 20,563
08/2011: Superboy #11 -- 20,317
08/2012: Superboy #12 -- 27,518
--------------------------------
08/2013: Superboy #23 -- 20,235 (+ 1.3%)
09/2013: --
10/2013: Superboy #24 -- 18,341 (- 9.4%)
11/2013: Superboy #25 -- 21,449 (+ 16.9%)
12/2013: Superboy #26 -- 17,690 (- 17.5%)
01/2014: Superboy #27 -- 17,392 (- 1.7%)
02/2014: Superboy #28 -- 16,448 (- 5.4%)
03/2014: Superboy #29 -- 15,776 (- 4.1%)
04/2014: Superboy #30 -- 15,382 (- 2.5%)
05/2014: Superboy #31 -- 14,795 (- 3.8%)
06/2014: Superboy #32 -- 14,451 (- 2.3%)
07/2014: Superboy #33 -- 14,004 (- 3.1%)
08/2014: Superboy #34 -- 13,785 (- 1.6%)
-----------------
6 months: - 16.2%
1 year : - 31.9%
2 years : - 49.9%
Since #1: - 80.1%
New 52 Diff: -16K
The final regular issue drops below 14K.
—
155 - FABLES (Vertigo) ($2.99)
08/2004: Fables #28 -- 25,076
08/2009: Fables #87 -- 21,876
08/2010: Fables #97 -- 19,625
08/2011: Fables #108 -- 18,390
08/2012: Fables #120 -- 16,704
------------------------------
08/2013: Fables #132 -- 14,893 (- 1.4%)
09/2013: Fables #133 -- 14,639 (- 1.7%)
10/2013: Fables #134 -- 14,575 (- 0.4%)
11/2013: Fables #135 -- 14,383 (- 1.3%)
12/2013: Fables #136 -- 14,220 (- 1.1%)
01/2014: Fables #137 -- 14,172 (- 0.3%)
02/2014: Fables #138 -- 14,109 (- 0.4%)
03/2014: Fables #139 -- 13,936 (- 1.2%)
04/2014: --
05/2014: Fables #140 -- 13,977 (+ 0.3%)
06/2014: Fables #141 -- 13,997 (+ 0.1%)
07/2014: Fables #142 -- 13,831 (- 1.2%)
08/2014: Fables #143 -- 13,672 (- 1.1%)
----------------
6 months: - 3.1%
1 year : - 8.2%
2 years : - 18.2%
5 years : - 37.5%
10 years: - 45.5%
Since #1: - 37.9%
With The Wake now over, Sandman Overture not shipping this month, and American Vampire on a skip month, Fables is the top Vertigo title of August, in what is a very soft month for the imprint.
—
160 - ASTRO CITY (Vertigo) ($3.99)
08/2004: Supersonic #1 -- 27,982
08/2009: Dark Age 3 #4 -- 14,684
08/2010: Silver Agent #2 -- 12,486
08/2011: --
08/2012: --
---------------------------------------
08/2013: Astro City #3 -- 18,802 (- 6.9%)
09/2013: Astro City #4 -- 17,641 (- 6.2%)
10/2013: Astro City #5 -- 16,927 (- 4.1%)
11/2013: Astro City #6 -- 16,031 (- 5.3%)
12/2013: Astro City #7 -- 15,360 (- 4.2%)
01/2014: Astro City #8 -- 14,831 (- 3.4%)
02/2014: Astro City #9 -- 14,289 (- 3.7%)
03/2014: Astro City #10 -- 14,094 (- 1.4%)
04/2014: Astro City #11 -- 13,909 (- 1.3%)
05/2014: Astro City #12 -- 13,795 (- 0.8%)
06/2014: Astro City #13 -- 13,419 (- 2.7%)
07/2014: --
08/2014: Astro City #14 -- 13,069 (- 2.6%)
-----------------
6 months: - 8.5%
1 year : - 30.5%
5 years : - 11.0%
10 years: - 53.3%
Since #1: - 51.6%
Standard attrition.
—
162 - INFINITY MAN AND THE FOREVER PEOPLE ($2.99)
06/2014: Infinity Man & FP #1 -- 24,907
07/2014: Infinity Man & FP #2 -- 15,903 (- 36.2%)
08/2014: Infinity Man & FP #3 -- 12,390 (- 22.1%)
Dropping fast. Ties in with the Green Lantern books starting in October.
—
171 - ALL STAR WESTERN ($3.99)
08/2009: Jonah Hex #45 -- 12,588
08/2010: Jonah Hex #56 -- 13,441
08/2011: Jonah Hex #68 -- 10,224
08/2012: ASW #11 -- 23,572
--------------------------------
08/2013: ASW #23 -- 15,276 (- 0.7%)
09/2013: --
10/2013: ASW #24 -- 14,378 (- 5.9%)
11/2013: ASW #25 -- 13,937 (- 3.1%)
12/2013: ASW #26 -- 13,440 (- 3.6%)
01/2014: ASW #27 -- 13,238 (- 1.5%)
02/2014: ASW #28 -- 12,782 (- 3.4%)
03/2014: ASW #29 -- 12,503 (- 2.2%)
04/2014: ASW #30 -- 12,285 (- 1.7%)
05/2014: ASW #31 -- 12,023 (- 2.1%)
06/2014: ASW #32 -- 11,675 (- 2.9%)
07/2014: ASW #33 -- 11,488 (- 1.6%)
08/2014: ASW #34 -- 11,758 (+ 2.4%)
-----------------
6 months: - 13.2%
1 year : - 25.3%
2 years : - 51.3%
5 years : - 8.7%
Since #1: - 79.1%
New 52 Diff: +1.5K
Sales rise a bit for the final, Darwyn Cooke-drawn issue.
Before we move on, let us pause and reflect on the fact that, when you include ASW and its prior incarnation as Jonah Hex , DC published over 100 issues (and one OGN) of a Western comic, and they were (IMHO) darn fine comics at that.
—
172 - STAR-SPANGLED WAR STORIES FEAT GI ZOMBIE ($2.99)
07/2014: SSWS GI Zombie #1 -- 18,762
08/2014: SSWS GI Zombie #2 -- 11,724 (-37.5%)
A perfect example of how not to launch a new series, as SSWS received not a lot of promotion, and what little there was didn’t give a sense of the actual content of the comic. Since the New 52 relaunch, none of the DCU titles in the form of Classic Series Title feat. Obscure Classic Character have done well (the most successful being All Star Western , which ended this month). I’m not sure what DC was thinking.
So here, I’ll do their job for them with this simple elevator pitch: G. I. Zombie is a topical espionage thriller starring a ex-solider who is now a zombie, drawn expertly by Harvey Award-winner Scott Hampton.
It’s a solid title; give it a chance, won’t you?
—
173 - HE-MAN AND THE MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE ($2.99)
08/2012: --
------------------------------------
08/2013: He-Man & MotU #5 -- 16,898 (- 6.6%)
09/2013: He-Man & MotU #6 -- 16,294 (- 3.6%)
10/2013: He-Man & MotU #7 -- 16,059 (- 1.4%)
11/2013: He-Man & MotU #8 -- 15,154 (- 5.6%)
12/2013: He-Man & MotU #9 -- 14,465 (- 4.5%)
01/2014: --
02/2014: He-Man & MotU #10 -- 13,816 (- 4.5%)
03/2014: He-Man & MotU #11 -- 13,090 (- 5.3%)
04/2014: He-Man & MotU #12 -- 12,718 (- 2.8%)
05/2014: He-Man & MotU #13 -- 12,430 (- 2.3%)
06/2014: He-Man & MotU #14 -- 12,144 (- 2.3%)
07/2014: He-Man & MotU #15 -- 11,905 (- 2.0%)
08/2014: He-Man & MotU #16 -- 11,721 (- 1.5%)
----------------
6 months: - 15.2%
1 year : - 30.6%
2 years : n.a.
Since #1: - 53.6%
Looks like it’s maybe set for a relaunch in December?
—
174 - BODIES (Vertigo) ($2.99)
07/2014:Bodies #1 of 8 -- 17,500
08/2014:Bodies #2 of 8 -- 11,283 (-33.8%)
Unlike issue #1, #2 was not returnable.
—
177 - FAIREST (Vertigo) ($2.99)
08/2012: Fairest #6 -- 19,446
------------------------------
08/2013: Fairest #18 -- 13,511 (- 2.9%)
09/2013: Fairest #19 -- 13,278 (- 1.7%)
10/2013: Fairest #20 -- 13,008 (- 2.0%)
11/2013: --
12/2013: Fairest #21 -- 12,718 (- 2.2%)
01/2014: Fairest #22 -- 12,434 (- 2.2%)
02/2014: Fairest #23 -- 12,350 (- 0.7%)
03/2014: Fairest #24 -- 11,872 (- 3.9%)
04/2014: Fairest #25 -- 11,801 (- 0.6%)
05/2014: Fairest #26 -- 11,493 (- 2.6%)
06/2014: --
07/2014: Fairest #27 -- 11,329 (- 1.4%)
08/2014: Fairest #28 -- 10,989 (- 3.0%)
----------------
6 months: - 11.0%
1 year : - 18.7%
2 years : - 43.5%
Since #1: - 65.4%
Slips below 11K. Can Fairest remain above 10K all the way until it ends sometime next year?
—
179 - TRINITY OF SIN: THE PHANTOM STRANGER ($2.99)
08/2013: ToS: Phantom Stranger #11 -- 26,986 (+30.8%)
09/2013: --
10/2013: ToS: Phantom Stranger #12 -- 19,732 (-26.9%)
11/2013: ToS: Phantom Stranger #13 -- 17,779 (- 9.9%)
12/2013: ToS: Phantom Stranger #14 -- 18,649 (+ 4.9%)
01/2013: ToS: Phantom Stranger #15 -- 17,435 (- 6.5%)
02/2014: ToS: Phantom Stranger #16 -- 17,012 (- 2.4%)
03/2014: ToS: Phantom Stranger #17 -- 16,395 (- 3.6%)
04/2014: ToS: Phantom Stranger #18 -- 14,788 (- 9.8%)
05/2014: ToS: Phantom Stranger #19 -- 13,641 (- 7.8%)
06/2014: ToS: Phantom Stranger #20 -- 12,720 (- 6.8%)
07/2014: ToS: Phantom Stranger #21 -- 11,682 (- 8.2%)
08/2014: ToS: Phantom Stranger #22 -- 10,882 (- 6.8%)
----------------
6 months: - 36.0%
1 year : - 59.7%
Since #1: - 72.9%
The final regular issue drops below 11K.
—
180 - ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN (Digital-First) ($3.99)
08/2013: Adventures of Superman #4 -- 17,370 (-10.7%)
09/2013: Adventures of Superman #5 -- 16,011 (- 7.8%)
10/2013: Adventures of Superman #6 -- 14,484 (- 9.5%)
11/2013: Adventures of Superman #7 -- 13,140 (- 9.3%)
12/2013: Adventures of Superman #8 -- 12,142 (- 7.6%)
01/2014: Adventures of Superman #9 -- 11,425 (- 5.9%)
02/2014: Adventures of Superman #10 -- 11,075 (- 3.1%)
03/2014: Adventures of Superman #11 -- 11,102 (+ 0.2%)
04/2014: Adventures of Superman #12 -- 10,130 (- 8.8%)
05/2014: Adventures of Superman #13 -- 10,045 (- 0.8%)
06/2014: Adventures of Superman #14 -- 11,144 (+10.9%)
07/2014: Adventures of Superman #15 -- 10,004 (-10.2%)
08/2014: Adventures of Superman #16 -- 10,758 (+ 7.5%)
----------------
6 months: - 12.4%
1 year : - 48.6%
Since #1: - 67.7%
Adds a few hundred copies for the penultimate issue. I’ll certainly miss this title; it was the most consistently enjoyable Superman title I’ve read in a long while.
—
181 - SMALLVILLE SEASON 11 CHAOS (Digital-First) ($3.99)
08/2004: --
08/2012: Smallville S11 #4 -- 19,861
--------------------------------------
08/2013: Smallville S11 #16 -- 14,640 (- 1.9%)
09/2013: Smallville S11 #17 -- 14,153 (- 3.3%)
10/2013: Smallville S11 #18 -- 13,794 (- 2.5%)
11/2013: Smallville S11 #19 -- 13,286 (- 3.7%)
12/2013: Smallville Alien #1 -- 13,019 (- 2.0%)
01/2014: Smallville Alien #2 -- 11,768 (- 9.6%)
02/2014: Smallville Alien #3 -- 11,061 (- 6.0%)
03/2014: Smallville Alien #4 -- 10,570 (- 4.4%)
04/2014: Smallville Lantern #1 -- 12,391 (+17.2%)
05/2014: Smallville Lantern #2 -- 11,372 (- 8.2%)
06/2014: Smallville Lantern #3 -- 11,401 (+ 0.3%)
07/2014: Smallville Lantern #4 -- 11,243 (- 1.4%)
08/2014: Smallville Chaos #1 -- 10,716 (- 4.7%)
----------------
6 months: - 3.1%
1 year : - 26.8%
2 years : - 46.0%
10 years: n.a.
No sales bump for the first issue of Chaos .
—
182 - TRINITY OF SIN: PANDORA ($2.99)
08/2013: ToS: Pandora #3 -- 34,563 (- 2.3%)
09/2013: --
10/2013: ToS: Pandora #4 -- 25,708 (-25.6%)
11/2013: ToS: Pandora #5 -- 21,267 (-17.3%)
12/2013: ToS: Pandora #6 -- 20,563 (- 3.3%)
01/2014: ToS: Pandora #7 -- 18,984 (- 7.7%)
02/2014: ToS: Pandora #8 -- 17,703 (- 6.7%)
03/2014: ToS: Pandora #9 -- 17,032 (- 3.8%)
04/2014: ToS: Pandora #10 -- 15,337 (-10.0%)
05/2014: ToS: Pandora #11 -- 13,859 (-10.9%)
06/2014: ToS: Pandora #12 -- 12,540 (- 8.2%)
07/2014: ToS: Pandora #13 -- 11,299 (- 9.9%)
08/2014: ToS: Pandora #14 -- 10,651 (- 5.7%)
----------------
6 months: - 39.8%
1 year : - 69.2%
Since #1: - 74.4%
The final regular issue drops below 11K.
—
216 - TINY TITANS: RETURN TO THE TREEHOUSE (All-Ages) ($2.99)
08/2009: Tiny Titans #19 -- 8,432
08/2010: Tiny Titans #31 -- 7,987
08/2011: Tiny Titans #43 -- 7,534
---------------------------------------
06/2014: Treehouse #1 of 6 -- 13,021 (+ 55.7%)
07/2014: Treehouse #2 of 6 -- 11,387 (- 12.5%)
08/2014: Treehouse #3 of 6 -- 8,929 (- 21.6%)
-----------------
5 years : + 5.9%
Since #1: - 31.4%
Returnable, and adjusted accordingly.
After a mild second issue drop, Return to the Treehouse takes a surprising large drop for its third issue. A correction perhaps?
—
221 - TEEN TITANS GO! (Digital-First) ($2.99)
08/2004: Teen Titans Go! #10 -- 14,609
--------------------------------------
12/2013: Teen Titans Go! #1 -- 13,441 (+82.0%)
01/2014: --
02/2014: Teen Titans Go! #2 -- 9,038 (-32.8%)
03/2014: --
04/2014: Teen Titans Go! #3 -- 8,185 (- 9.4%)
05/2014: --
06/2014: Teen Titans Go! #4 -- 8,667 (+ 5.9%)
07/2014: --
08/2014: Teen Titans Go! #5 -- 8,688 (+ 0.2%)
-----------------
6 months: - 3.9%
10 years: - 40.5%
Since #1: - 35.4%
Returnable, and adjusted accordingly.
Another twenty-one copies are added, which while tiny small (and no doubt within a margin of error…) is the second straight issue with positive growth.
—
214 - BATWING ($2.99)
08/2012: Batwing #12 -- 18,279
------------------------------
08/2013: Batwing #23 -- 11,584 (- 4.0%)
09/2013: --
10/2013: Batwing #24 -- 11,114 (- 4.1%)
11/2013: Batwing #25 -- 16,207 (+45.8%)
12/2013: Batwing #26 -- 10,753 (-33.7%)
01/2014: Batwing #27 -- 12,461 (+15.9%)
02/2014: Batwing #28 -- 11,786 (- 5.4%)
03/2014: Batwing #29 -- 9,864 (-16.3%)
04/2014: Batwing #30 -- 9,313 (- 5.6%)
05/2014: Batwing #31 -- 8,941 (- 4.0%)
06/2014: Batwing #32 -- 8,664 (- 3.1%)
07/2014: Batwing #33 -- 8,380 (- 3.3%)
08/2014: Batwing #34 -- 8,223 (- 1.9%)
----------------
6 months: - 30.2%
1 year : - 29.0%
2 years : - 55.5%
Since #1: - 84.7%
The final regular issue manages to stay above the 8K line.
—
225 - COFFIN HILL (Vertigo) ($2.99)
10/2013: Coffin Hill #1 -- 24,129
11/2013: Coffin Hill #2 -- 14,472 (-40.0%)
12/2013: Coffin Hill #3 -- 12,337 (-14.8%)
01/2014: Coffin Hill #4 -- 11,306 (- 8.4%)
02/2014: Coffin Hill #5 -- 10,435 (- 7.7%)
03/2014: Coffin Hill #6 -- 9,982 (- 4.3%)
04/2014: Coffin Hill #7 -- 9,547 (- 4.4%)
05/2014: --
06/2014: Coffin Hill #8 -- 8,764 (- 8.2%)
07/2014: Coffin Hill #9 -- 8,396 (- 4.2%)
08/2014: Coffin Hill #10 -- 7,710 (- 8.1%)
-----------------
6 months: - 26.1%
Since #1: - 68.0%
The unhealthy drops continue.
—
255 - THE UNWRITTEN V2 APOCALYPSE (Vertigo) ($3.99)
08/2010: The Unwritten #16 -- 12,778
08/2011: The Unwritten #28 -- 10,731
08/2012: The Unwritten #40 -- 9,127
------------------------------------
08/2013: The Unwritten #52 -- 9,033 (- 1.2%)
09/2013: The Unwritten #53 -- 8,982 (- 0.6%)
10/2013: The Unwritten #54 -- 8,871 (- 1.2%)
11/2013: --
12/2013: --
01/2014: Unwritten vol2 #1 -- 11,975 (+35.0%)
02/2014: Unwritten vol2 #2 -- 8,291 (-30.8%)
03/2014: Unwritten vol2 #3 -- 7,890 (- 4.8%)
04/2014: Unwritten vol2 #4 -- 7,652 (- 3.0%)
05/2014: Unwritten vol2 #5 -- 7,267 (- 5.0%)
06/2014: Unwritten vol2 #6 -- 7,133 (- 1.8%)
07/2014: Unwritten vol2 #7 -- 6,575 (- 5.0%)
----------------
6 months: - 20.7%
1 year : - 27.2%
2 years : - 28.0%
Since #1: - 45.1%
Limping towards the ending in December.
—
266 - HINTERKIND (Vertigo) ($2.99)
10/2013: Hinterkind #1 -- 23,516
11/2013: Hinterkind #2 -- 13,994 (-40.5%)
12/2013: Hinterkind #3 -- 11,659 (-16.7%)
01/2014: Hinterkind #4 -- 9,693 (-16.9%)
02/2014: Hinterkind #5 -- 8,948 (- 7.7%)
03/2014: Hinterkind #6 -- 8,306 (- 7.2%)
04/2014: --
05/2014: Hinterkind #7 -- 7,487 (- 9.9%)
06/2014: Hinterkind #8 -- 7,212 (- 3.7%)
07/2014: Hinterkind #9 -- 6,686 (- 7.3%)
08/2014: Hinterkind #10 -- 6,283 (- 6.0%)
-----------------
6 months: - 29.8%
Since #1: - 73.3%
Another 400 copies drop away. Issue #13, solicited for December, starts a new story arc.
—
268 - FBP: FEDERAL BUREAU OF PHYSICS (Vertigo) ($2.99)
08/2013: FBP #2 -- 14,068 (-30.9%)
09/2013: FBP #3 -- 13,977 (- 0.6%)
10/2013: FBP #4 -- 11,600 (-17.0%)
11/2013: FBP #5 -- 10,391 (-10.4%)
12/2013: FBP #6 -- 9,543 (- 8.2%)
01/2014: FBP #7 -- 8,971 (- 6.0%)
02/2014: --
03/2014: FBP #8 -- 7,852 (-12.5%)
04/2014: FBP #9 -- 7,619 (- 3.0%)
05/2014: FBP #10 -- 7,242 (- 4.9%)
06/2014: FBP #11 -- 6,958 (- 3.9%)
07/2014: FBP #12 -- ????? (< 6,594)
08/2014: FBP #13 -- 6,189
-----------------
6 months: n.a.
1 year : - 50.6%
Since #1: - 69.6%
277 - DEAD BOY DETECTIVES (Vertigo) ($2.99)
12/2013: Dead Boy Detectives #1 -- 21,478
01/2014: Dead Boy Detectives #2 -- 12,276 (-42.8%)
02/2014: Dead Boy Detectives #3 -- 9,889 (-19.4%)
03/2014: Dead Boy Detectives #4 -- 8,872 (-10.3%)
04/2014: Dead Boy Detectives #5 -- 7,957 (-10.3%)
05/2014: Dead Boy Detectives #6 -- 7,305 (- 8.2%)
06/2014: --
07/2014: Dead Boy Detectives #7 -- ????? (< 6,594)
08/2014: Dead Boy Detectives #8 -- 5,968
-----------------
6 months: - 39.7%
Since #1: - 72.2%
A couple of low-selling Vertigo titles return to the top 300 this month, but that’s because the floor fell lower, not because of a sales improvement.
—
+301 - SCRIBBLENAUTS UNMASKED - CRISIS OF IMAGINATION (Digital-First) ($2.99)
01/2014: Scribblenauts Crisis #1 -- 11,572
02/2014: Scribblenauts Crisis #2 -- 7,101 (-38.6%)
03/2014: Scribblenauts Crisis #3 -- 6,738 (- 5.1%)
04/2014: Scribblenauts Crisis #4 -- 6,467 (- 4.0%)
05/2014: Scribblenauts Crisis #5 -- 6,045 (- 6.5%)
06/2014: Scribblenauts Crisis #6 -- 5,833 (- 3.5%)
07/2014: Scribblenauts Crisis #7 -- ????? (< 6,594)
08/2014: Scribblenauts Crisis #8 -- ????? (< 5,357)
----------------
Since #1: ???%
The penultimate issue doesn’t make the chart.
—
+302 - SCOOBY-DOO, WHERE ARE YOU? (All-Ages) ($2.99)
08/2004: Scooby-Doo #87 -- 5,436
08/2009: Scooby-Doo #147 -- 4,111
08/2010: Scooby-Doo #159 -- 4,092
08/2011: Scooby-Doo Where Are You? #12 -- 4,686
08/2012: Scooby-Doo Where Are You? #24 -- ?????
----------------------------------------
08/2013: Scooby-Doo Where Are You? #36 -- 4,903
09/2013: Scooby-Doo Where Are You? #37 -- 4,840 (-1.3%)
10/2013: Scooby-Doo Where Are You? #38 -- 4,983 (+3.0%)
11/2013: Scooby-Doo Where Are You? #39 -- ?????
12/2013: Scooby-Doo Where Are You? #40 -- 4,754
01/2014: Scooby-Doo Where Are You? #41 -- 4,649 (-2.2%)
02/2014: Scooby-Doo Where Are You? #42 -- 4,540 (-2.3%)
03/2014: Scooby-Doo Where Are You? #43 -- 4,623 (+1.8%)
04/2014: Scooby-Doo Where Are You? #44 -- 4,650 (+0.6%)
05/2014: Scooby-Doo Where Are You? #45 -- 4,840 (+4.1%)
06/2014: Scooby-Doo Where Are You? #46 -- ????? (< 4,560)
07/2014: Scooby-Doo Where Are You? #47 -- ????? (< 6,594)
08/2014: Scooby-Doo Where Are You? #48 -- ????? (< 5,357)
-----------------
6 months: ???%
1 year : ???%
2 years : ???%
5 years : ???%
10 years: ???%
Since #1: ???%
I really wish that Diamond would go back to releasing the top 400, as we are also likely missing a good deal of data on reorder activity.
—
Average Periodical Sales (not counting reprints, reorders shipping after the initial month of release, and magazines)
DC COMICS
08/2004: 29,318
08/2009: 29,977
08/2010: 23,331
08/2011: 25,632
08/2012: 33,500
---------------
08/2013: 30,843 (- 10.4%)
09/2013: 54,892 (+ 78.0%)
10/2013: 31,928 (- 41.8%)**
11/2013: 32,664 (+ 2.3%)
12/2013: ??????
01/2014: 27,881
02/2014: 27,070 (- 2.9%)
03/2014: 26,776 (- 1.1%)
04/2014: 29,202 (+ 9.1%)**
05/2014: 31,764 (+ 8.8%)
06/2014: 32,834 (+ 3.4%)**
07/2014: 32,760 (+ 0.2%)**
08/2014: 29,295 (- 10.6%)**
-----------------
6 months: + 8.2%
1 year : - 5.0%
2 years : - 12.6%
5 years : - 2.3%
10 years: - 0.1%
DC UNIVERSE
08/2004: 34,018
08/2009: 37,300
08/2010: 33,411
08/2011: 27,761
08/2012: 38,047
---------------
08/2013: 33,583 (- 8.1%)
09/2013: 61,036 (+ 81.8%)
10/2013: 33,568 (- 45.0%)**
11/2013: 35,282 (+ 5.1%)
12/2013: ??????
01/2014: 33,120
02/2014: 33,327 (+ 0.6%)
03/2014: 32,007 (- 4.0%)
04/2014: 36,447 (+ 13.9%)
05/2014: 39,555 (+ 8.5%)
06/2014: 42,733 (+ 8.0%)
07/2014: 40,945 (- 4.2%)
08/2014: 36,645 (- 10.5%)
-----------------
6 months: + 10.0%
1 year : + 9.1%
2 years : - 3.7%
5 years : - 1.8%
10 years: + 7.7%
VERTIGO
08/2004: 18,298
08/2009: 11,369
08/2010: 9,094
08/2011: 10,147
08/2012: 11,764
---------------
08/2013: 14,130 (- 12.2%)
09/2013: 14,951 (+ 5.8%)
10/2013: 22,228 (+ 48.7%)**
11/2013: 13,958 (- 37.2%)
12/2013: ??????
01/2014: 11,473
02/2014: 13,215 (+ 15.2%)
03/2014: 19,179 (+ 45.1%)
04/2014: 11,214 (- 41.5%)
05/2014: 11,778 (+ 5.0%)
06/2014: 11,372 (- 3.4%)
07/2014: 15,803 (+ 39.0%)**
08/2014: 9,082 (- 42.5%)
-----------------
6 months: - 31.3%
1 year : - 35.7%
2 years : - 22.8%
5 years : - 20.1%
10 years: - 50.4%
6 month comparisons
===================
+ 68.2% - New Suicide Squad (Suicide Squad)
+ 64.9% - Superman
+ 52.9% - Grayson (Nightwing)
+ 52.2% - Teen Titans
+ 32.4% - Action Comics
+ 23.1% - Batman and Robin
+ 12.7% - Superman/Wonder Woman
+ 12.5% - Supergirl
+ 9.6% - Flash
+ 8.4% - Batman '66
+ 4.7% - Earth 2
+ 3.9% - Detective Comics
+ 1.1% - Green Lantern Corps
+ 0.1% - Batgirl
- 1.5% - Batman Beyond Universe
- 2.0% - Catwoman
- 3.1% - Fables
- 3.1% - Smallville Season 11
- 3.2% - Batman
= 3.9% - Teen Titans Go!
- 4.5% - Aquaman
- 5.4% - Batman/Supeman
- 8.2% - Swamp Thing
- 8.5% - Astro City
- 10.7% - Harley Quinn
- 11.0% - Fairest
- 12.4% - Adventures of Superman
- 13.2% - All Star Western
- 13.6% - Red Hood and the Outlaws
- 14.2% - Green Arrow
- 14.9% - Green Lantern
- 15.2% - He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
- 16.2% - Superboy
- 17.2% - Justice League Dark
- 18.2% - Batwoman
- 19.0% - Green Lantern New Guardians
- 19.7% - Injustice
- 20.7% - Unwritten Apocalypse
- 23.2% - Constantine
- 26.1% - Coffin Hill
- 28.4% - Worlds' Finest
- 29.8% - Hinterkind
- 30.2% - Batwing
- 36.0% - Trinity of Sin: Phantom Stranger
- 37.0% - Justice League 3000
- 39.7% - Dead Boy Detectives
- 39.8% - Trinity of Sin: Pandora
- 55.8% - Red Lanterns
1 year comparisons
===================
+ 73.6% - New Suicide Squad (Suicide Squad)
+ 39.4% - Grayson (Nightwing)
+ 34.2% - Superman
+ 28.2% - Teen Titans
+ 9.7% - Action Comics
+ 7.1% - Supergirl
- 4.1% - Batman and Robin
- 4.3% - Detective Comics
- 4.5% - Flash
- 8.2% - Fables
- 8.3% - Batgirl
- 8.4% - Earth 2
- 9.9% - Green Arrow
- 12.5% - Batman
- 18.2% - Worlds' Finest
- 18.7% - Fairest
- 18.7% - Green Lantern Corps
- 20.5% - Birds of Prey
- 22.6% - Swamp Thing
- 23.2% - Red Lanterns
- 24.4% - Aquaman
- 25.3% - All Star Western
- 25.9% - Green Lantern
- 26.8% - Smallville Season 11
- 27.2% - The Unwritten
- 27.8% - Injustice
- 29.0% - Batwing
- 30.4% - Red Hood and the Outlaws
- 30.5% - Astro City
- 30.6% - He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
- 31.9% - Superboy
- 35.5% - Batwoman
- 35.9% - Batman/Superman
- 36.0% - Green Lantern New Guardians
- 37.8% - Constantine
- 38.5% - Catwoman
- 39.1% - Batman Beyond
- 42.2% - Batman '66
- 48.6% - Adventures of Superman
- 50.6% - FBP
- 59.7% - Trinity of Sin: Phantom Stranger
- 66.7% - Justice League Dark
- 69.2% - Trinity of Sin: Pandora
2 year comparisons
===================
+ 66.5% - Constantine (Hellblazer)
+ 36.0% - New Suicide Squad (Suicide Squad)
+ 19.0% - Grayson (Nightwing)
+ 6.1% - Superman
- 0.9% - Green Arrow
- 5.0% - Teen Titans
- 10.4% - Batman
- 12.9% - Supergirl
- 16.5% - Batman and Robin
- 17.9% - Justice League Dark
- 18.2% - Fables
- 21.0% - Batgirl
- 22.6% - Detective Comics
- 28.0% - The Unwritten
- 28.3% - Flash
- 29.5% - Green Lantern Corps
- 31.1% - Catwoman
- 33.0% - Batman Beyond
- 34.3% - Action Comics
- 35.1% - Red Lanterns
- 41.7% - Red Hood and the Outlaws
- 42.1% - Birds of Prey
- 43.2% - Green Lantern
- 43.5% - Fairest
- 44.5% - Earth 2
- 45.5% - Aquaman
- 46.0% - Smallville Season 11
- 48.1% - Green Lantern New Guardians
- 49.9% - Superboy
- 50.1% - Worlds' Finest
- 51.3% - All Star Western
- 52.1% - Swamp Thing
- 55.5% - Batwing
- 56.6% - Batwoman
5 year comparisons
===================
+ 49.3% - Batman/Superman (Superman/Batman)
+ 46.7% - Constantine (Hellblazer)
+ 44.7% - Superman
+ 43.1% - Batman
+ 33.9% - Teen Titans
+ 24.4% - Action Comics
+ 17.9% - Green Arrow
+ 5.9% - Tiny Titans
- 0.1% - Detective Comics
- 8.7% - All Star Western
- 11.0% - Astro City
- 21.6% - Supergirl
- 37.5% - Fables
- 51.7% - Batman and Robin
- 52.5% - Flash
- 57.2% - Green Lantern
- 64.2% - Green Lantern Corps
10 year comparisons
===================
+ 43.9% - Batman
+ 42.1% - Aquaman
+ 20.4% - Green Lantern
+ 19.0% - Grayson (Nightwing)
+ 11.4% - Detective Comics
+ 8.1% - Action Comics
+ 6.0% - Constantine (Hellblazer)
- 10.3% - Flash
- 12.0% - Swamp Thing
- 20.5% - Batgirl
- 29.0% - Green Arrow
- 36.3% - Teen Titans
- 40.5% - Teen Titans Go!
- 44.2% - Catwoman
- 45.5% - Fables
- 52.0% - Birds of Prey
- 53.3% - Astro City
- 56.2% - Superman
Sales Indices
=============
DCU: Average: 36,645. Median: 37,109.
3.1 - Batman
2.5 - Multiversity
2.0 - Harley Quinn (9)
1.6 - Batman Eternal (18)
1.6 - Detective Comics
1.6 - Harley Quinn (10)
1.6 - Batman Eternal (19)
1.6 - Batman Eternal (20)
1.6 - Batman Eternal (21)
1.5 - Grayson
1.5 - Superman
1.5 - Batman/Superman
1.5 - Batman and Robin
1.4 - Superman/Wonder Woman
1.3 - Action Comics
1.2 - Green Lantern
1.2 - Justice League Unlimited
1.1 - Superman/Wonder Woman Annual
1.1 - Futures End (14)
1.1 - Teen Titans
1.1 - Futures End (15)
1.1 - Futures End (16)
1.1 - Futures End (17)
1.1 - Action Comics Annual
1.0 - New Suicide Squad
1.0 - Earth 2
1.0 - Flash
0.9 - Batgirl
0.9 - Aquaman
0.8 - Green Lantern Corps
0.7 - Sinestro
0.7 - Supergirl
0.7 - Justice League Dark
0.7 - Secret Origins
0.6 - Catwoman
0.6 - Green Arrow
0.6 - Red Lanterns
0.6 - Green Lantern New Guardians
0.6 - Justice League 3000
0.5 - Red Hood and the Outlaws
0.5 - Worlds' Finest
0.5 - Aquaman and the Others
0.5 - Swamp Thing
0.5 - Batwoman
0.4 - Constantine
0.4 - Birds of Prey
0.4 - Superboy
0.3 - Infinity Man and the Forever People
0.3 - All Star Western
0.3 - Star-Spangled War Stories
0.3 - Trinity of Sin: The Phantom Stranger
0.3 - Trinity of Sin: Pandora
0.2 - Batwing
Vertigo: Average: 9,082. Median: 7,710
1.5 - Fables
1.4 - Astro City
1.2 - Bodies
1.2 - Fairest
0.8 - Coffin Hill
0.7 - Unwritten Apocalypse
0.7 - Hinterkind
0.7 - FBP
0.7 - Dead Boy Detectives
Digital First & Other: Average: 14,467*. Median: 12,968*.
2.0 - Sensation Comics feat. Wonder Woman
1.7 - Batman '66 Meets the Green Hornet
1.5 - Batman '66
1.3 - Injustice Year 2 (9)
1.2 - Injustice Year 2 (10)
1.1 - Infinite Crisis: Fight for the Mutliverse
1.0 - Batman Beyond Universe
0.8 - He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
0.7 - Adventures of Superman
0.7 - Smallville Chaos
0.6 - Tiny Titans Return to the Treehouse
0.6 - Teen Titans Go!
0.4 - Scribblenauts Unmasked
0.3 - Scooby-Doo Where Are You?
The sales index number is a ratio of the title’s current month sales to the average sales figure of the line to which is belongs for that month. So a sales index number of 1.0 means that a title sold very close to the sales average for that line.
–The Fine Print (Disclaimers, et cetera)
The numbers above are estimates for comic-book sales in the North American direct market, as calculated by ICv2.com according to the chart and index information provided by Diamond Comic Distributors.
ICv2.com’s estimates are somewhat lower than the actual numbers, but they are consistent from month to month, so the trends they show are fairly accurate. Since it’s a “month-to-month” column, the comments, unless otherwise noted, are on the most recent month.
Bear in mind that the figures measure sales of physical comics to retailers, not customers. Also, these numbers do not include sales to bookstores, newsstands, other mass-market retail chains or the United Kingdom. Re-orders are included, so long as they either reached stores in a book’s initial calendar month of release or were strong enough to make the chart again in a subsequent month. Keep in mind that sales for some titles may include incentives to acquire variants and not every unit sold is necessarily even intended to be sold to a customer.
If additional copies of an issue did appear on the chart after a book’s initial calendar month of release, you can see the total number of copies sold in brackets behind those issues (e.g. “[36,599]“). Should more than one issue have shipped in a month which is relevant for one of the long-term comparisons, the average between them will be used.
Titles which are returnable have their numbers artificially adjusted down by Diamond. To make up for that this column increases the reported numbers for those titles by 10%. Which is likely also wrong, but it’s a different and likely less wrong kind of wrong, and experience has shown that this leads to sales figures which are more consistent.
Titles released under the All-Ages line and magazines, such as Mad, mostly sell through channels other than the direct market, so direct-market sales don’t tell us much about their performance. For most Vertigo titles, collection sales tend to be a significant factor, so the numbers for those books should be taken with a grain of salt as well. To learn (a little) more about Vertigo’s collection sales, go right here.
Please keep in mind that raw sales numbers do not tell us about how profitable a book is for a publisher or for the creators.
Above all, do not allow sales numbers to dictate your purchasing and enjoyment of a particular comic. If you enjoy reading a comic series then go right on buying and reading that comic, no matter what the sales figures say.
** Two asterisks after a given month in the average charts mean that one or more periodical release did not make the Top 300/400 chart in that month. In those cases, it’s assumed that said releases sold as many units as the No. 300/400 comic on the chart for that month for the purposes of the chart, although its actual sales are likely to be less than that.
Opinions expressed in this column are mine alone, and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer, Heidi MacDonald or anyone at The Comics Beat, the Comic-Con International Organizing Committee, or my neighbor’s dog Miles.
The author of this column does weekly snapshots of Amazon comic sales charts at http://yetanothercomicsblog.blogspot.com/ and tweets about comics and related subjects on Twitter at @davereadscomics (PM me there is you need to contact me).
As always, we welcome your comments and corrections below. Please try to keep things civilized.
17. ROCKET RACCOON
There were re-orders on issue 1, so some stores sold out as well.
30. SPIDER-MAN 2099
there was decent re-order activity on #1 this month, so basically the jury is still out on this book.
53. LEGENDARY STAR LORD
but there were re-orders on issue 1, so retailers may be making adjustments to their orders
The perception I’ve been getting (from purely anecdotal evidence) is that recently some retailers and customers are treating second printings as yet another variant, so that some of the sales aren’t to retailers who sold out of the first printing and will sell them to people who just want to read it but missed out, but to retailers who might still have first printings to sell to people who want a complete set of variants. That would explain the trend of healthy second print sales on the first issue having no noticeable effect on the declining sales of subsequent issues.
I’ve heard of the above theory as well – even that in some situations, a second printing can be more expensive in the secondary market. Because the demand for the first printing is offset by the limited supply of the second print.
Yeah She-Hulk is a very interesting read unfortunately for a couple of issues it had the most atrocious artwork I’ve ever seen. Bad enough that I stopped buying it.
If had some done in one issues I could skip those but with the modern trend of stories written to fill trade I’m not prepared to skip issues with awful artwork and miss part of the story.
Re: Amazing X-Men: I was certainly one of the folks who dropped it after the first arc. I was down for Jason Aaron and Ed McGuinness as the creative team. But once Marvel made it clear that neither of them were staying and their replacements wouldn’t be very good, I was out. With the number of X-Men books out there, editors really need to make sure that good creators are on them. It’s not as though there isn’t some other place to see your beloved characters when there’s 12 x-books a month.
David, if you really enjoyed She-Hulk 1-4, you owe it to yourself to pick up issues 7 and 8. I completely understand your reluctance to skip issues with the way stories are written for the trade/omnibus these days–you certainly can’t skip issues of series by Hickman, Remender, and most of Marvel’s current writers and hope to have any idea of what’s going on–but in this particular case, the two-part story in She-Hulk 5-6 has essentially nothing to do with the following issues.
Issue 7 is a completely stand-alone story, and issue 8 begins a new three-parter, neither of which even mentions the Blue File from 5-6 (I believe that story picks up in 11-12). Soule really deserves credit for crafting accessible stories in an age that doesn’t seem to value that skill.
Oh, and as someone who adored 1-4, I think issue 8 is the most charming and delightful issue of the series to date.
It is curious that two of the very few Marvel series still priced at $2.99, She-Hulk and Ms. Marvel, are among the very best of the publishers’ series. I just wish She-Hulk were selling more copies. With its current sales level, I’d imagine a dollar price increase is likely in the near future, in the manner of Superior Foes, but frankly, as long as the team of Soule and Javier Pulido remains on board, it’s one of the few series I’ll likely continue purchasing at $4 a pop.
Challenge for next month: Write the column without any entry having “so” or “this” as the first word.
Seriously. Especially for “so”.
I’ll second that challenge.
“This was a tough month for Marvel. Original Sin is ending and none of their other events have really started yet. They also don’t have any real high profile series launches. So there are no books that really pop. There is a lot of attrition this month.”
It’s pretty clear Marvel has gotten stale. Maybe the last buzz I heard on them was Hawkeye a few years back, some people like Ms Marvel now. These events that used be a reliable money-upping device now just highlight their desperation to be relevant again. The print market might be reflecting how tired people are buying the same old box of stale donuts repackaged over and over again, this time for a dollar more. Movie this, movie that doesn’t mean you are putting out good comics. Its just a place were people make money or gain readership now. Marvel’s mojo has left the building.
I’m glad Marvel is how it is. You’d think, going by how CBR or AVClub rave on about Marvel, or the way Alonso talks in his CBR Weekly as though Marvel is bringing in new readers, that Marvel is doing ground-breaking work. But the sales speak for themselves. I’m now an ex-Marvel fan, and would never go back to buying their books unless there was a Marvel management change, one which cared about the original core aspects of the characters. I find the X-Men books nowadays all bland (it’s not about what it means to be a mutant; it’s all time-travel stuff), same goes with Avengers. Everything there feels plot-driven, phoned-in. There’s no character drama or tension in the books, no story risk or even actual storytelling. I miss Quesada as EIC. There was more soul and fun back then, more real ideas back when he was around.
Jason, i appreciate the effort you put into these columns and enjoy your commentary. Please ignore the “challenge” to avoid using certain words. What a weird and trivial complaint.
Additional challenge for next month:
Completely avoid using the word “hopefully”.
If a book is doing well, of course it will “hopefully” continue to do so.
If a book is tanking, of course it will “hopefully” turn things around.
Challenge to those not writing this: Go write your own column on your own site and stop complaining about this one.
—
As for the books, Inhuman is going to start to be pumped out quicker, and I think it’ll really start slowing down as far as drops.
Ms. Marvel is such a success story. woohoo
I wonder what Learning to Crawl would’ve sold if it didn’t have ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ in the title.
56K to North America for a Rocket Raccoon book? Wow, that’s good.
Glad to see US of Murder Inc keep up sales. It’s a really good book, people.
My guess is the Figment trade will sell well in the Disney stores. This isn’t meant to sell to ‘us’.
[…] of published comics don’t sell very many copies—the average number of copies a book at both Marvel and DC, the biggest names in the business, tends to sit at 50,000 or less, with the top […]
I have to say that this and the DC sales charts are my favorite comic book columns each month. I’m a bit of a data nerd, but seeing the numbers helps to deflate any hype you’d see on other sites.
I’m between jobs at the moment but I do have a Marvel Unlimited subscription, which is just now getting the first few issues of She-Hulk. I second (third?) its unique perspective on heroes in the Marvel Universe, and am bummed that it’s not seeing respectable sales numbers. Fingers crossed that it’ll pick up/stabilize and we can get a few more stories out of the creators.
I get the sense from all these interviews with Soule and others about him signing exclusive with him that they are sort of viewing that title as Soule’s playground, so it’ll have a low floor as far as these kinds of numbers. I think they’re also waiting on the trade sales for a lot of these