Houston, we’re leveled out. It took seven months, but as of April 2012, it looks like DC’s superhero line of comics, relaunched under the “New 52” banner in September, have mostly settled into what we love to call “standard attrition.” The average “New 52” drop in April was 2.9%, which is a good number, at this stage. Thanks to a number of low-selling titles ending in March, the average sales figures for the publisher’s comic books are slightly up on March, even.
Overall, this means that the numbers are still significantly up on this time last year. The average DC Universe comic book sold an estimated 35,264 units in April 2012, for instance. The last time DC hit that point prior to September 2011 was in July 2010. Likewise, the total unit sales figures for the DC Universe imprint are the highest since October 2009. Total DC Universe dollar sales are actually lower than they were in August 2011, one month before the relaunch, but back then, the imprint had 80 titles on sale, to be fair — in April 2012, it was 60.
In the grander scheme of things, DC’s current numbers are solid, if not spectacular. Viewed over the 110 months since March 2003 that we have consistent data on, April 2012 is No. 63 in average DCU unit sales, No. 34 in total DCU unit sales and No. 30 in total DCU dollar sales. Compared with DC’s boom period from about 2005 through 2007, these numbers are low, but they hold up well against weaker years like 2003 or the first half of 2011. So, all told, the “New 52” seems to have stabilized DC’s sales right in the middle of the spectrum.
Whether or not that’s good or bad, given the massive logistical and promotional efforts and incentives that went into the “New 52” relaunch, is a matter of interpretation. The good news is that DC managed to boost and stabilize its line after a very tough couple of years. The bad news is that DC took its best shot and it bought them a reset to 2010, basically.
Pick your narrative.
See below for the details and, as usual, please consider the small 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.
And, once again, two procedural notes on the “New 52.”
One: The fact that 37 of the “New 52” titles below are listed with higher numbers than over at ICv2.com is not an error. It’s because Diamond only reported 90% of their sales on the chart, to compensate for the fact that they were made returnable by DC if retailers met a specific quota. Since Diamond’s way of accounting for the incentive seems fairly arbitrary, I’ve re-added the missing 10% for those books to get a more accurate picture. Just keep in mind that those numbers probably wouldn’t have been as high if retailers weren’t required to meet a certain threshold to qualify for returnability. It’s just one more gimmick that publishers use. (As another result of this, don’t be surprised if the chart positions are all over the place, by the way.)
Two: Of the 15 remaining “New 52” books, Batman, Justice League, Action Comics, Green Lantern and Flash have been promoted with multiple variant-cover editions, including 1:200 ones, that are likely to have boosted sales, as well. Special discounts, which also required retailers to meet a certain unit threshold, apply to Stormwatch, Teen Titans and Wonder Woman. Finally, as of January 2012, Detective Comics, Batman: The Dark Knight, Superman, Aquaman, Batwoman, Green Lantern: New Guardians and Swamp Thing were also promoted with variant editions in lieu of discounts or a returnability scheme. Yes, it’s getting complicated. I’ll just mention those here, so keep in mind that these promotional initiatives are likely to have affected the numbers of those books. Whether they affected them more than the thresholds for returnability affected the other titles, or less so, we have no way of knowing.
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2 - BATMAN 04/2007: -- 04/2008: Batman #675 -- 71,138 04/2009: BfC #2 of 3 -- 89,120 04/2010: Batman #698 -- 60,934 ------------------------------- 04/2011: Batman #709 -- 56,578 (- 3.4%) 05/2011: Batman #710 -- 55,086 (- 2.6%) 06/2011: Batman #711 -- 53,113 (- 3.6%) 07/2011: Batman #712 -- 51,385 (- 3.3%) 08/2011: Batman #713 -- 51,760 (+ 0.7%) 09/2011: Batman #1 -- 188,420 (+264.0%) [219,660] 10/2011: Batman #2 -- 172,428 (- 8.5%) [177,721] 11/2011: Batman #3 -- 150,984 (- 12.4%) 12/2011: Batman #4 -- 133,781 (- 11.4%) [141,261] 01/2012: Batman #5 -- 135,145 (+ 1.0%) [142,499] 02/2012: Batman #6 -- 128,459 (- 5.0%) [135,435] 03/2012: Batman #7 -- 131,091 (+ 2.1%) 04/2012: Batman #8 -- 130,602 (- 0.4%) ----------------- 6 months: - 24.3% 1 year : +130.8% 2 years : +114.3% 5 years : n.a.
With the April issue, the cover price went up from $2.99 to $3.99, which was justified by the addition of new back-up stories. Either way, the price increase doesn’t seem to detract from the book’s appeal, if you believe these numbers.
There was a “Combo Pack” edition with a redemption code for the digital comic, as well, but it missed the chart in April. Otherwise, there would even have been an increase over the March figure, which does include the “Combo Pack” version.
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3 - JUSTICE LEAGUE 04/2007: Justice League #7 -- 154,984 04/2008: Justice League #20 -- 85,807 04/2009: Justice League #32 -- 66,021 04/2010: Justice League #44 -- 62,342 --------------------------------------- 04/2011: JL of America #56 -- 47,179 (- 6.6%) 05/2011: JL of America #57 -- 46,729 (- 1.0%) 06/2011: JL of America #58 -- 45,442 (- 2.8%) 07/2011: JL of America #59 -- 43,545 (- 4.2%) 08/2011: JL of America #60 -- 42,587 (- 2.2%) 08/2011: Justice League #1 -- 185,776 (+336.2%) [266,131] 09/2011: -- 10/2011: Justice League #2 -- 196,569 (+ 5.8%) 11/2011: Justice League #3 -- 168,679 (- 14.2%) 12/2011: Justice League #4 -- 149,314 (- 11.5%) [152,340] 01/2012: Justice League #5 -- 144,670 (- 3.1%) [148,117] 02/2012: Justice League #6 -- 140,819 (- 2.7%) 03/2012: Justice League #7 -- 136,436 (- 3.1%) 04/2012: Justice League #8 -- 133,240 (- 2.3%) ----------------- 6 months: - 32.2% 1 year : +182.4% 2 years : +113.7% 5 years : - 14.0%
Sales continue to be impervious to harm from fill-in artists, which is somewhat surprising. As with all previous issues, a “Combo Pack” edition made the chart in April. It sold an estimated 4,249 units, which are included in the above figure.
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5 - GREEN LANTERN 04/2007: -- 04/2008: Green Lantern #30 -- 65,347 04/2009: Green Lantern #39 -- 79,792 [84,784] 04/2009: Green Lantern #40 -- 76,665 [84,705] 04/2010: Green Lantern #53 -- 100,356 -------------------------------------- 04/2011: Green Lantern #65 -- 75,780 (- 1.5%) 05/2011: Green Lantern #66 -- 75,371 (- 0.5%) 06/2011: -- 07/2011: Green Lantern #67 -- 74,521 (- 1.1%) 08/2011: -- 09/2011: Green Lantern #1 -- 141,682 (+90.1%) [169,159] 10/2011: Green Lantern #2 -- 142,344 (+ 0.5%) 11/2011: Green Lantern #3 -- 122,644 (-13.8%) 12/2011: Green Lantern #4 -- 104,199 (-15.0%) 01/2012: Green Lantern #5 -- 97,878 (- 6.0%) 02/2012: Green Lantern #6 -- 94,087 (- 3.9%) 03/2012: Green Lantern #7 -- 90,232 (- 4.1%) 04/2012: Green Lantern #8 -- 88,335 (- 2.1%) ----------------- 6 months: - 37.9% 1 year : + 16.6% 2 years : - 12.0% 5 years : n.a.
Sales remain high, looking at the longer-term comparisons, and are all but leveled out.
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6 - ACTION COMICS 04/2007: Action Comics #848 -- 62,216 04/2008: Action Comics #863 -- 56,882 04/2008: Action Comics #864 -- 48,438 04/2009: Action Comics #876 -- 43,368 04/2010: Action Comics #888 -- 29,536 04/2010: Action Comics #889 -- 29,106 -------------------------------------- 04/2011: Action Comics #900 -- 60,152 (+ 89.1%) [ 73,004] 05/2011: Action Comics #901 -- 44,143 (- 26.6%) 06/2011: Action Comics #902 -- 41,960 (- 5.0%) 07/2011: Action Comics #903 -- 40,205 (- 4.2%) 08/2011: Action Comics #904 -- 39,323 (- 2.2%) 09/2011: Action Comics #1 -- 182,748 (+364.7%) [200,947] 10/2011: Action Comics #2 -- 153,855 (- 15.8%) 11/2011: Action Comics #3 -- 134,875 (- 12.3%) 12/2011: Action Comics #4 -- 112,839 (- 16.3%) 01/2012: Action Comics #5 -- 109,350 (- 3.1%) 02/2012: Action Comics #6 -- 96,592 (- 11.7%) 03/2012: Action Comics #7 -- 91,822 (- 4.9%) 04/2012: Action Comics #8 -- 87,980 (- 4.2%) ----------------- 6 months: - 42.8% 1 year : + 46.3% 2 years : +200.1% 5 years : + 41.4%
This is one of the titles that are not quite there yet, although the figures remain strong overall.
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7 - DETECTIVE COMICS 04/2007: Detective Comics #831 -- 56,284 04/2008: Detective Comics #843 -- 48,431 04/2009: Detective Comics #853 -- 104,107 04/2010: Detective Comics #864 -- 42,436 ----------------------------------------- 04/2011: Detective Comics #876 -- 40,133 (+ 0.2%) 05/2011: Detective Comics #877 -- 39,609 (- 1.3%) 06/2011: Detective Comics #878 -- 39,152 (- 1.2%) 07/2011: Detective Comics #879 -- 39,185 (+ 0.1%) 07/2011: Detective Comics #880 -- 38,585 (- 1.5%) 08/2011: Detective Comics #881 -- 39,729 (+ 3.0%) 09/2011: Detective Comics #1 -- 114,880 (+189.2%) [157,751] 10/2011: Detective Comics #2 -- 123,099 (+ 7.2%) 11/2011: Detective Comics #3 -- 111,197 (- 9.7%) 12/2011: Detective Comics #4 -- 99,366 (- 10.6%) 01/2012: Detective Comics #5 -- 99,342 (- 0.0%) 02/2012: Detective Comics #6 -- 94,415 (- 5.0%) 03/2012: Detective Comics #7 -- 89,891 (- 4.8%) 04/2012: Detective Comics #8 -- 87,675 (- 2.5%) ----------------- 6 months: - 28.8% 1 year : +118.5% 2 years : +106.6% 5 years : + 55.8%
Leveling out, and numbers are still well more than twice what they were before the relaunch.
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8 - BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT 04/2011: -- 05/2011: -- 06/2011: -- 07/2011: Dark Knight #3 -- 62,792 (- 11.7%) 07/2011: Dark Knight #4 -- 57,333 (- 8.7%) 08/2011: Dark Knight #5 -- 52,908 (- 7.7%) 09/2011: Dark Knight #1 -- 109,321 (+106.6%) [128,689] 10/2011: Dark Knight #2 -- 100,494 (- 8.1%) 11/2011: Dark Knight #3 -- 87,133 (- 13.3%) 12/2011: Dark Knight #4 -- 78,689 (- 9.7%) 01/2012: Dark Knight #5 -- 76,824 (- 2.4%) 02/2012: Dark Knight #6 -- 77,140 (+ 0.4%) [ 80,464] 03/2012: Dark Knight #7 -- 75,297 (- 2.4%) 04/2012: Dark Knight #8 -- 74,287 (- 1.3%) ----------------- 6 months: - 26.1% 1 year : n.a.
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17 - BATMAN AND ROBIN 04/2010: Batman and Robin #11 -- 84,006 ---------------------------------------- 04/2011: Batman and Robin #22 -- 59,076 (- 1.2%) 05/2011: Batman and Robin #23 -- 57,525 (- 2.6%) 06/2011: Batman and Robin #24 -- 54,984 (- 4.4%) 07/2011: Batman and Robin #25 -- 55,172 (+ 0.3%) 08/2011: Batman and Robin #26 -- 52,704 (- 4.5%) 09/2011: Batman and Robin #1 -- 94,713 (+79.7%) [116,053] 10/2011: Batman and Robin #2 -- 98,807 (+ 4.3%) 11/2011: Batman and Robin #3 -- 86,309 (-12.7%) 12/2011: Batman and Robin #4 -- 76,000 (-11.9%) 01/2012: Batman and Robin #5 -- 72,786 (- 4.2%) 02/2012: Batman and Robin #6 -- 70,103 (- 3.7%) 03/2012: Batman and Robin #7 -- 68,010 (- 3.0%) 04/2012: Batman and Robin #8 -- 66,659 (- 2.0%) ---------------- 6 months: -32.5% 1 year : +12.8% 2 years : -20.7%
Likewise, the two remaining Batman books are settling down comfortably ahead of their pre-“New 52” incarnations.
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13 - SUPERMAN 04/2007: Superman #661 -- 55,738 04/2008: Superman #675 -- 54,855 04/2009: Superman #687 -- 43,041 04/2010: Superman #699 -- 33,183 --------------------------------- 04/2011: Superman #710 -- 39,644 (- 0.5%) 05/2011: Superman #711 -- 38,471 (- 3.0%) 06/2011: Superman #712 -- 37,362 (- 2.9%) 07/2011: Superman #713 -- 36,646 (- 1.9%) 08/2011: Superman #714 -- 35,919 (- 2.0%) 09/2011: Superman #1 -- 131,529 (+266.2%) [150,128] 10/2011: Superman #2 -- 104,703 (- 20.4%) 11/2011: Superman #3 -- 86,386 (- 17.5%) 12/2011: Superman #4 -- 76,532 (- 11.4%) 01/2012: Superman #5 -- 73,719 (- 3.7%) 02/2012: Superman #6 -- 69,633 (- 5.5%) 03/2012: Superman #7 -- 66,588 (- 4.4%) 04/2012: Superman #8 -- 64,486 (- 3.2%) ----------------- 6 months: - 38.4% 1 year : + 62.7% 2 years : + 94.3% 5 years : + 15.7%
Leveling out, slowly but steadily, with still significantly increased numbers compared to the last few years.
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14 - FLASH 04/2007: Flash: FMA #11 -- 46,963 04/2008: Flash #239 -- 33,741 04/2009: Rebirth #1 of 5 -- 102,429 [111,515] 04/2010: Flash #1 -- 100,903 ----------------------------------- 04/2011: Flash #10 -- 54,953 (- 1.8%) 04/2011: Flash #11 -- 54,633 (- 0.6%) 05/2011: Flash #12 -- 54,914 (+ 0.5%) 06/2011: -- 07/2011: -- 08/2011: -- 09/2011: Flash #1 -- 129,260 (+135.4%) [147,818] 10/2011: Flash #2 -- 114,137 (- 11.7%) 11/2011: Flash #3 -- 90,417 (- 20.8%) 12/2011: Flash #4 -- 77,336 (- 14.5%) 01/2012: Flash #5 -- 71,611 (- 7.4%) 02/2012: Flash #6 -- 68,061 (- 5.0%) 03/2012: Flash #7 -- 64,975 (- 4.5%) 04/2012: Flash #8 -- 63,702 (- 2.0%) ----------------- 6 months: - 44.2% 1 year : + 16.3% 2 years : - 36.9% 5 years : + 35.6%
And the same here. Given high-ticket writer Geoff Johns’ absence, this is probably one of the surprise hits among the bunch.
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16 - AQUAMAN 09/2011: Aquaman #1 -- 80,302 [108,545] 10/2011: Aquaman #2 -- 79,156 (- 1.4%) [ 83,626] 11/2011: Aquaman #3 -- 69,137 (-12.7%) 12/2011: Aquaman #4 -- 64,961 (- 6.0%) 01/2012: Aquaman #5 -- 65,094 (+ 0.2%) 02/2012: Aquaman #6 -- 63,450 (- 2.5%) 03/2012: Aquaman #7 -- 62,345 (- 1.7%) 04/2012: Aquaman #8 -- 61,657 (- 1.1%) ----------------- 6 months: - 23.2%
Leveled out. This one has Geoff Johns, granted, but for a book starring Aquaman, that’s still a spectacular number.
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29 - NIGHTWING 04/2007: Nightwing #131 -- 31,530 04/2008: Nightwing #143 -- 29,914 --------------------------------- 09/2011: Nightwing #1 -- 69,686 [87,561] 10/2011: Nightwing #2 -- 73,054 (+ 4.8%) 11/2011: Nightwing #3 -- 64,098 (-12.3%) 12/2011: Nightwing #4 -- 57,409 (-10.4%) 01/2012: Nightwing #5 -- 56,040 (- 2.4%) 02/2012: Nightwing #6 -- 53,036 (- 5.4%) 03/2012: Nightwing #7 -- 50,489 (- 4.8%) 04/2012: Nightwing #8 -- 52,063 (+ 3.1%) ----------------- 6 months: - 28.7% 5 years : + 65.1%
The increase comes thanks to a “lead-in” to next month’s big Batman franchise crossover.
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23 - TEEN TITANS 04/2007: Teen Titans #45 -- 61,051 04/2008: Teen Titans #58 -- 47,357 04/2009: Teen Titans #69 -- 35,375 04/2009: Teen Titans #70 -- 35,412 04/2010: Teen Titans #82 -- 25,303 ----------------------------------- 04/2011: Teen Titans #94 -- 25,187 (+ 0.9%) 05/2011: Teen Titans #95 -- 24,738 (- 1.8%) 06/2011: Teen Titans #96 -- 23,849 (- 3.6%) 07/2011: Teen Titans #97 -- 23,138 (- 3.0%) 07/2011: Teen Titans #98 -- 23,095 (- 0.2%) 08/2011: Teen Titans #99 -- 23,756 (+ 2.9%) 08/2011: Teen Titans #100 -- 27,459 (+ 15.6%) 09/2011: Teen Titans #1 -- 73,675 (+168.3%) [89,056] 10/2011: Teen Titans #2 -- 72,107 (- 2.1%) 11/2011: Teen Titans #3 -- 60,758 (- 15.7%) 12/2011: Teen Titans #4 -- 54,929 (- 9.6%) 01/2012: Teen Titans #5 -- 54,606 (- 0.6%) 02/2012: Teen Titans #6 -- 53,123 (- 2.7%) 03/2012: Teen Titans #7 -- 51,402 (- 3.2%) 04/2012: Teen Titans #8 -- 50,814 (- 1.1%) ----------------- 6 months: - 29.5% 1 year : +101.8% 2 years : +100.8% 5 years : - 16.8%
Leveled out at roughly twice the pre-relaunch number.
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25 - WONDER WOMAN 04/2007: Wonder Woman #7 -- 60,168 04/2007: Wonder Woman #8 -- 58,772 04/2008: Wonder Woman #19 -- 39,489 04/2009: Wonder Woman #31 -- 31,857 04/2010: Wonder Woman #43 -- 25,369 ------------------------------------- 04/2011: Wonder Woman #610 -- 31,002 (- 1.3%) 05/2011: -- 06/2011: Wonder Woman #611 -- 30,874 (- 0.4%) 06/2011: Wonder Woman #612 -- 30,690 (- 0.6%) 07/2011: Wonder Woman #613 -- 29,720 (- 3.2%) 08/2011: Wonder Woman #614 -- 29,223 (- 1.7%) 09/2011: Wonder Woman #1 -- 76,214 (+160.8%) [95,902] 10/2011: Wonder Woman #2 -- 79,060 (+ 3.7%) 11/2011: Wonder Woman #3 -- 65,621 (- 17.0%) 12/2011: Wonder Woman #4 -- 57,675 (- 12.1%) 01/2012: Wonder Woman #5 -- 57,626 (- 0.1%) 02/2012: Wonder Woman #6 -- 54,190 (- 6.0%) 03/2012: Wonder Woman #7 -- 51,314 (- 5.3%) 04/2012: Wonder Woman #8 -- 50,450 (- 1.7%) ----------------- 6 months: - 36.2% 1 year : + 62.7% 2 years : + 98.9% 5 years : - 15.2%
Leveled out, with sales still massively ahead of the previous incarnation.
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33 - BATGIRL 04/2010: Batgirl #9 -- 29,445 ---------------------------------- 04/2011: Batgirl #20 -- 24,310 (- 2.1%) 05/2011: Batgirl #21 -- 24,043 (- 1.1%) 06/2011: Batgirl #22 -- 23,323 (- 3.0%) 07/2011: Batgirl #23 -- 22,619 (- 3.0%) 08/2011: Batgirl #24 -- 22,695 (+ 0.3%) 09/2011: Batgirl #1 -- 90,543 (+299.0%) [107,055] 10/2011: Batgirl #2 -- 83,586 (- 7.7%) 11/2011: Batgirl #3 -- 69,971 (- 16.3%) 12/2011: Batgirl #4 -- 59,972 (- 14.3%) 01/2012: Batgirl #5 -- 57,030 (- 4.9%) 02/2012: Batgirl #6 -- 53,151 (- 6.8%) 03/2012: Batgirl #7 -- 50,761 (- 4.5%) 04/2012: Batgirl #8 -- 48,878 (- 3.7%) ----------------- 6 months: - 41.5% 1 year : +101.1% 2 years : + 66.0%
Still doing twice the numbers of the last series, and it’s also leveling out, slowly but surely.
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35 - GREEN LANTERN CORPS 04/2007: Green Lantern Corps #11 -- 33,506 04/2008: Green Lantern Corps #23 -- 46,780 04/2009: Green Lantern Corps #35 -- 58,769 04/2010: Green Lantern Corps #47 -- 72,163 ------------------------------------------ 04/2011: Green Lantern Corps #59 -- 60,162 (+ 0.1%) 05/2011: Green Lantern Corps #60 -- 60,964 (+ 1.3%) 06/2011: -- 07/2011: Green Lantern Corps #61 -- 60,836 (- 0.2%) 07/2011: Green Lantern Corps #62 -- 57,928 (- 4.8%) 08/2011: Green Lantern Corps #63 -- 53,372 (- 7.9%) 09/2011: Green Lantern Corps #1 -- 83,077 (+55.7%) [94,800] 10/2011: Green Lantern Corps #2 -- 78,501 (- 5.5%) 11/2011: Green Lantern Corps #3 -- 65,393 (-16.7%) 12/2011: Green Lantern Corps #4 -- 57,180 (-12.6%) 01/2012: Green Lantern Corps #5 -- 54,088 (- 5.4%) 02/2012: Green Lantern Corps #6 -- 51,168 (- 5.4%) 03/2012: Green Lantern Corps #7 -- 48,692 (- 4.8%) 04/2012: Green Lantern Corps #8 -- 47,584 (- 2.3%) ---------------- 6 months: -39.4% 1 year : -20.9% 2 years : -34.1% 5 years : +42.0%
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28 - GREEN LANTERN: NEW GUARDIANS 04/2011: Emerald Warriors #9 -- 51,784 (+ 0.5%) 05/2011: Emerald Warriors #10 -- 52,971 (+ 2.3%) 06/2011: Emerald Warriors #11 -- 53,927 (+ 1.8%) 07/2011: Emerald Warriors #12 -- 48,087 (-10.8%) 08/2011: Emerald Warriors #13 -- 44,228 (- 8.0%) 09/2011: New Guardians #1 -- 84,033 (+90.0%) [96,596] 10/2011: New Guardians #2 -- 71,713 (-14.7%) 11/2011: New Guardians #3 -- 59,774 (-16.7%) 12/2011: New Guardians #4 -- 53,305 (-10.8%) 01/2012: New Guardians #5 -- 52,305 (- 1.9%) 02/2012: New Guardians #6 -- 50,319 (- 3.8%) 03/2012: New Guardians #7 -- 48,422 (- 3.8%) 04/2012: New Guardians #8 -- 47,320 (- 2.3%) ---------------- 6 months: -34.0% 1 year : - 8.6%
The two Green Lantern spin-off titles have pretty much found their level.
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32 - BATWOMAN 09/2011: Batwoman #1 -- 72,228 (+64.6%) [87,952] 10/2011: Batwoman #2 -- 74,392 (+ 3.0%) 11/2011: Batwoman #3 -- 61,997 (-16.7%) 12/2011: Batwoman #4 -- 52,757 (-14.9%) 01/2012: Batwoman #5 -- 51,924 (- 1.6%) 02/2012: Batwoman #6 -- 49,227 (- 5.2%) 03/2012: Batwoman #7 -- 46,874 (- 4.8%) 04/2012: Batwoman #8 -- 45,341 (- 3.3%) ---------------- 6 months: -39.1%
Slowly leveling out. This is more or less the level the “Batwoman” feature in Detective Comics was selling at back in 2009/2010, so there’s no reason to complain.
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50 - RED LANTERNS 09/2011: Red Lanterns #1 -- 73,940 [89,170] 10/2011: Red Lanterns #2 -- 74,163 (+ 0.3%) 11/2011: Red Lanterns #3 -- 60,823 (-18.0%) 12/2011: Red Lanterns #4 -- 50,271 (-17.4%) 01/2012: Red Lanterns #5 -- 46,992 (- 6.5%) 02/2012: Red Lanterns #6 -- 43,450 (- 7.5%) 03/2012: Red Lanterns #7 -- 41,628 (- 4.2%) 04/2012: Red Lanterns #8 -- 40,189 (- 3.5%) ---------------- 6 months: -45.8%
Not entirely leveled out yet, but all right for another spin-off.
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40 - SWAMP THING 09/2011: Swamp Thing #1 -- 54,757 [73,683] 10/2011: Swamp Thing #2 -- 58,634 (+ 7.1%) 11/2011: Swamp Thing #3 -- 52,300 (-10.8%) 12/2011: Swamp Thing #4 -- 44,660 (-14.6%) 01/2012: Swamp Thing #5 -- 43,806 (- 1.9%) 02/2012: Swamp Thing #6 -- 41,235 (- 5.9%) 03/2012: Swamp Thing #7 -- 40,268 (- 2.4%) 04/2012: Swamp Thing #8 -- 39,431 (- 2.1%) ---------------- 6 months: -32.8%
One of the more unexpected Top 50 performers to come out of the “New 52,” certainly. Seems to be settling down just below 40K.
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52 - CATWOMAN 04/2007: Catwoman #66 -- 19,896 04/2008: Catwoman #78 -- 18,553 ------------------------------- 09/2011: Catwoman #1 -- 59,633 [75,566] 10/2011: Catwoman #2 -- 63,573 (+ 6.6%) 11/2011: Catwoman #3 -- 52,196 (-17.9%) 12/2011: Catwoman #4 -- 45,581 (-12.7%) 01/2012: Catwoman #5 -- 44,034 (- 3.4%) 02/2012: Catwoman #6 -- 41,447 (- 5.9%) 03/2012: Catwoman #7 -- 39,608 (- 4.4%) 04/2012: Catwoman #8 -- 38,711 (- 2.3%) ----------------- 6 months: - 39.1% 5 years : + 94.6%
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55 - RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS 09/2011: Red Hood #1 -- 56,112 [70,244] 10/2011: Red Hood #2 -- 59,382 (+ 5.8%) 11/2011: Red Hood #3 -- 50,140 (-15.6%) 12/2011: Red Hood #4 -- 44,278 (-11.7%) 01/2012: Red Hood #5 -- 42,560 (- 3.9%) 02/2012: Red Hood #6 -- 39,898 (- 6.3%) 03/2012: Red Hood #7 -- 38,630 (- 3.2%) 04/2012: Red Hood #8 -- 37,974 (- 1.7%) ----------------- 6 months: - 36.1%
Two Batman franchise titles that have found their level.
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59 - ANIMAL MAN 09/2011: Animal Man #1 -- 46,051 [65,229] 10/2011: Animal Man #2 -- 53,432 (+16.0%) 11/2011: Animal Man #3 -- 49,184 (- 8.0%) 12/2011: Animal Man #4 -- 42,630 (-13.3%) 01/2012: Animal Man #5 -- 40,573 (- 4.8%) 02/2012: Animal Man #6 -- 38,504 (- 5.1%) 03/2012: Animal Man #7 -- 36,860 (- 4.3%) 04/2012: Animal Man #8 -- 36,369 (- 1.3%) ----------------- 6 months: - 31.9%
Another dark-horse title.
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60 - SUPERGIRL 04/2007: Supergirl #16 -- 51,641 04/2008: Supergirl #28 -- 31,379 04/2009: Supergirl #40 -- 34,080 04/2010: Supergirl #52 -- 29,490 --------------------------------- 04/2011: Supergirl #63 -- 21,598 (- 0.9%) 05/2011: Supergirl #64 -- 21,411 (- 0.9%) 06/2011: Supergirl #65 -- 20,985 (- 2.0%) 07/2011: Supergirl #66 -- 20,001 (- 4.7%) 08/2011: Supergirl #67 -- 19,764 (- 1.2%) 09/2011: Supergirl #1 -- 60,058 (+203.9%) [74,218] 10/2011: Supergirl #2 -- 61,388 (+ 2.2%) 11/2011: Supergirl #3 -- 50,784 (- 17.3%) 12/2011: Supergirl #4 -- 44,180 (- 13.0%) 01/2012: Supergirl #5 -- 41,446 (- 6.2%) 02/2012: Supergirl #6 -- 38,719 (- 6.6%) 03/2012: Supergirl #7 -- 37,041 (- 4.3%) 04/2012: Supergirl #8 -- 36,042 (- 2.7%) ----------------- 6 months: - 41.3% 1 year : + 66.9% 2 years : + 22.2% 5 years : - 30.2%
Slowly stabilizing. Sales are still well ahead of the previous incarnation.
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63 - JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK 09/2011: Justice League Dark #1 -- 69,840 [81,955] 10/2011: Justice League Dark #2 -- 63,392 (- 9.2%) 11/2011: Justice League Dark #3 -- 51,674 (-18.5%) 12/2011: Justice League Dark #4 -- 44,750 (-13.4%) 01/2012: Justice League Dark #5 -- 40,996 (- 8.4%) 02/2012: Justice League Dark #6 -- 38,360 (- 6.4%) 03/2012: Justice League Dark #7 -- 36,089 (- 5.9%) 04/2012: Justice League Dark #8 -- 35,022 (- 3.0%) ----------------- 6 months: - 44.8%
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67 - JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL 09/2011: Justice League International #1 -- 67,866 [78,869] 10/2011: Justice League International #2 -- 66,100 (- 2.6%) 11/2011: Justice League International #3 -- 54,413 (-17.7%) 12/2011: Justice League International #4 -- 44,062 (-19.0%) 01/2012: Justice League International #5 -- 41,147 (- 6.6%) 02/2012: Justice League International #6 -- 37,534 (- 8.8%) 03/2012: Justice League International #7 -- 35,274 (- 6.0%) 04/2012: Justice League International #8 -- 33,773 (- 4.3%) ----------------- 6 months: - 48.9%
The two Justice League spin-off books haven’t performed particularly well, but Justice League Dark appears to be leveling out. Justice League International is set to be cancelled with issue #12 and immediately relaunched with a new #1, evidently.
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70 - SUICIDE SQUAD 04/2008: Raise the Flag #8 of 8 -- 15,508 ----------------------------------------- 09/2011: Suicide Squad #1 -- 49,979 [61,815] 10/2011: Suicide Squad #2 -- 49,570 (- 0.8%) 11/2011: Suicide Squad #3 -- 40,827 (-17.6%) 12/2011: Suicide Squad #4 -- 34,550 (-15.4%) 01/2012: Suicide Squad #5 -- 32,726 (- 5.3%) 02/2012: Suicide Squad #6 -- 30,834 (- 5.8%) 03/2012: Suicide Squad #7 -- 32,908 (+ 6.7%) 04/2012: Suicide Squad #8 -- 32,789 (- 0.4%) ----------------- 6 months: - 33.9%
The current Harley Quinn story seems to be responsible for the increased numbers. Overall, Suicide Squad is another book that’s done unexpectedly well among the “New 52.”
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75 - SUPERBOY 04/2011: Superboy #6 -- 30,490 (+ 12.0%) 05/2011: Superboy #7 -- 24,622 (- 19.3%) 06/2011: Superboy #8 -- 23,037 (- 6.4%) 07/2011: Superboy #9 -- 22,102 (- 4.1%) 08/2011: Superboy #10 -- 20,563 (- 7.0%) 08/2011: Superboy #11 -- 20,317 (- 1.2%) 09/2011: Superboy #1 -- 55,608 (+173.7%) [69,283] 10/2011: Superboy #2 -- 57,424 (+ 3.3%) 11/2011: Superboy #3 -- 47,442 (- 17.4%) 12/2011: Superboy #4 -- 40,002 (- 15.7%) 01/2012: Superboy #5 -- 37,419 (- 6.5%) 02/2012: Superboy #6 -- 34,520 (- 7.8%) 03/2012: Superboy #7 -- 33,050 (- 4.3%) 04/2012: Superboy #8 -- 31,900 (- 3.5%) ----------------- 6 months: - 44.5% 1 year : + 4.6%
Slowly leveling out.
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66 - BATMAN: ARKHAM UNHINGED 04/2012: Arkham Unhinged #1 -- 31,170
The book is similar to Batman Beyond Unlimited, repackaging material that was first released digitally. And like its sister title, Arkham Unhinged doesn’t seem to suffer from that at all.
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81 - BIRDS OF PREY 04/2007: Birds of Prey #105 -- 28,328 04/2008: Birds of Prey #117 -- 22,181 ------------------------------------- 04/2011: Birds of Prey #11 -- 30,270 (- 1.7%) 05/2011: Birds of Prey #12 -- 29,690 (- 1.9%) 06/2011: Birds of Prey #13 -- 28,992 (- 2.4%) 07/2011: Birds of Prey #14 -- 27,102 (- 6.5%) 08/2011: Birds of Prey #15 -- 26,043 (- 3.9%) 09/2011: Birds of Prey #1 -- 56,073 (+115.3%) [66,423] 10/2011: Birds of Prey #2 -- 53,156 (- 5.2%) 11/2011: Birds of Prey #3 -- 40,891 (- 23.1%) 12/2011: Birds of Prey #4 -- 34,460 (- 15.7%) 01/2012: Birds of Prey #5 -- 31,700 (- 8.0%) 02/2012: Birds of Prey #6 -- 30,376 (- 4.2%) 03/2012: Birds of Prey #7 -- 29,196 (- 3.9%) 04/2012: Birds of Prey #8 -- 28,661 (- 1.8%) ----------------- 6 months: - 46.1% 1 year : - 5.3% 5 years : + 1.2%
Another Batman spin-off that’s largely found its level. It’s in the usual ball park, as the longer-term comparisons show.
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84 - GREEN ARROW 04/2007: Green Arrow #73 -- 30,652 04/2008: Arrow/Canary #7 -- 32,033 04/2009: Arrow/Canary #19 -- 21,933 04/2010: Green Arrow #32 -- 29,137 ----------------------------------- 04/2011: Green Arrow #11 -- 32,669 (- 1.3%) 05/2011: Green Arrow #12 -- 31,742 (- 2.8%) 06/2011: Green Arrow #13 -- 27,552 (- 13.2%) 07/2011: Green Arrow #14 -- 25,568 (- 7.2%) 08/2011: Green Arrow #15 -- 23,883 (- 6.6%) 09/2011: Green Arrow #1 -- 61,680 (+158.3%) [72,359] 10/2011: Green Arrow #2 -- 58,708 (- 4.8%) 11/2011: Green Arrow #3 -- 46,899 (- 20.1%) 12/2011: Green Arrow #4 -- 37,116 (- 20.9%) 01/2012: Green Arrow #5 -- 33,593 (- 9.5%) 02/2012: Green Arrow #6 -- 30,097 (- 10.4%) 03/2012: Green Arrow #7 -- 29,004 (- 3.6%) 04/2012: Green Arrow #8 -- 27,433 (- 5.4%) ----------------- 6 months: - 53.3% 1 year : - 16.0% 2 years : - 5.9% 5 years : - 10.5%
This is one of the steeper “New 52” drops in April.
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91 - ALL STAR WESTERN 04/2007: Jonah Hex #18 -- 16,880 04/2008: Jonah Hex #30 -- 13,253 04/2009: Jonah Hex #42 -- 11,551 04/2010: Jonah Hex #54 -- 11,306 -------------------------------- 04/2011: Jonah Hex #66 -- 10,335 (- 0.2%) 05/2011: Jonah Hex #67 -- 10,288 (- 0.5%) 06/2011: Jonah Hex #68 -- 10,224 (- 0.6%) 07/2011: Jonah Hex #69 -- 10,521 (+ 2.9%) 08/2011: Jonah Hex #70 -- 10,369 (- 1.5%) 09/2011: ASW #1 -- 43,681 (+321.3%) [54,992] 10/2011: ASW #2 -- 39,857 (- 8.8%) 11/2011: ASW #3 -- 32,776 (- 17.8%) 12/2011: ASW #4 -- 29,349 (- 10.5%) 01/2012: ASW #5 -- 27,206 (- 7.3%) 02/2012: ASW #6 -- 26,170 (- 3.8%) 03/2012: ASW #7 -- 25,349 (- 3.1%) 04/2012: ASW #8 -- 25,040 (- 1.2%) ----------------- 6 months: - 37.2% 1 year : +142.3% 2 years : +121.5% 5 years : + 48.3%
Leveled out. One of the biggest winners of the relaunch.
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85 - BATMAN BEYOND UNLIMITED 03/2011: Batman Beyond #3 -- 28,295 (- 2.3%) 04/2011: Batman Beyond #4 -- 26,722 (- 5.6%) 05/2011: Batman Beyond #5 -- 25,413 (- 4.9%) 06/2011: Batman Beyond #6 -- 24,524 (- 3.5%) 07/2011: Batman Beyond #7 -- 22,945 (- 6.4%) 08/2011: Batman Beyond #8 -- 21,838 (- 4.8%) ---------------------------------------- 02/2012: Unlimited #1 -- 26,589 (+21.8%) [30,683] 03/2012: Unlimited #2 -- 23,570 (-11.4%) 04/2012: Unlimited #3 -- 24,196 (+ 2.7%) ---------------- 1 year : - 9.5%
Maybe the debut of the new “Superman Beyond” feature brought some extra interest.
—–
87 - STORMWATCH 04/2007: StormWatch: PHD #6 -- 13,109 --------------------------------------- 09/2011: Stormwatch #1 -- 46,397 [57,287] 10/2011: Stormwatch #2 -- 47,520 (+ 2.4%) 11/2011: Stormwatch #3 -- 39,262 (-17.4%) 12/2011: Stormwatch #4 -- 30,987 (-21.1%) 01/2012: Stormwatch #5 -- 29,112 (- 6.1%) 02/2012: Stormwatch #6 -- 26,076 (-10.4%) 03/2012: Stormwatch #7 -- 24,384 (- 6.5%) 04/2012: Stormwatch #8 -- 23,212 (- 4.8%) ----------------- 6 months: - 51.2% 5 years : + 77.1%
Leveling out very slowly.
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89 - FAIREST (Vertigo) 03/2012: Fairest #1 -- 31,769 04/2012: Fairest #2 -- 22,997 (-27.6%)
A stiff, but not unusual second-issue drop. The first issue was promoted with a 1:10 variant edition that didn’t apply in April, but it’s still not a great show of confidence, given the big-name talent involved in the first arc.
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99 - THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES 04/2007: SLoSH #28 -- 31,525 04/2007: SLoSH #29 -- 30,906 04/2008: LoSH #41 -- 28,939 --------------------------------------- 04/2011: LoSH #12 -- 23,419 (- 1.1%) 05/2011: LoSH #13 -- 23,105 (- 1.3%) 06/2011: LoSH #14 -- 22,600 (- 2.2%) 07/2011: LoSH #15 -- 21,788 (- 3.6%) 08/2011: LoSH #16 -- 21,373 (- 1.9%) 09/2011: LoSH #1 -- 50,402 (+135.8%) [58,325] 10/2011: LoSH #2 -- 47,227 (- 6.3%) 11/2011: LoSH #3 -- 34,979 (- 25.9%) 12/2011: LoSH #4 -- 27,832 (- 20.4%) 01/2012: LoSH #5 -- 25,624 (- 7.9%) 02/2012: LoSH #6 -- 23,428 (- 8.6%) 03/2012: LoSH #7 -- 21,894 (- 6.6%) 04/2012: LoSH #8 -- 21,457 (- 2.0%) ----------------- 6 months: - 54.6% 1 year : - 8.4% 5 years : - 31.3%
Levelling out just above 20K, it appears.
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104 - DEMON KNIGHTS 09/2011: Demon Knights #1 -- 41,602 [52,329] 10/2011: Demon Knights #2 -- 42,230 (+ 1.5%) 11/2011: Demon Knights #3 -- 34,681 (-17.9%) 12/2011: Demon Knights #4 -- 28,109 (-19.0%) 01/2012: Demon Knights #5 -- 25,823 (- 8.1%) 02/2012: Demon Knights #6 -- 23,476 (- 9.1%) 03/2012: Demon Knights #7 -- 22,000 (- 6.3%) 04/2012: Demon Knights #8 -- 21,124 (- 4.0%) ---------------- 6 months: -50.0%
Settling down above 20K, if the trend continues.
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105 - BATWING 09/2011: Batwing #1 -- 45,980 [53,721] 10/2011: Batwing #2 -- 42,750 (- 7.0%) 11/2011: Batwing #3 -- 35,110 (-17.9%) 12/2011: Batwing #4 -- 26,726 (-23.9%) 01/2012: Batwing #5 -- 24,036 (-10.1%) 02/2012: Batwing #6 -- 21,643 (-10.0%) 03/2012: Batwing #7 -- 21,058 (- 2.7%) 04/2012: Batwing #8 -- 20,373 (- 3.3%) ----------------- 6 months: - 52.3%
Gently sliding down.
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112 - DEATHSTROKE 09/2011: Deathstroke #1 -- 47,028 [56,820] 10/2011: Deathstroke #2 -- 44,647 (- 5.1%) 11/2011: Deathstroke #3 -- 33,754 (-24.4%) 12/2011: Deathstroke #4 -- 26,367 (-21.9%) 01/2012: Deathstroke #5 -- 23,872 (- 9.5%) 02/2012: Deathstroke #6 -- 21,306 (-10.8%) 03/2012: Deathstroke #7 -- 19,744 (- 7.3%) 04/2012: Deathstroke #8 -- 18,834 (- 4.6%) ----------------- 6 months: - 57.8%
This one hasn’t found its level yet. Rob Liefeld is about to take over as a writer/artist with issue #9.
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113 - I, VAMPIRE 09/2011: I, Vampire #1 -- 39,683 [46,993] 10/2011: I, Vampire #2 -- 34,599 (-12.8%) 11/2011: I, Vampire #3 -- 26,070 (-24.7%) 12/2011: I, Vampire #4 -- 21,601 (-17.1%) 01/2012: I, Vampire #5 -- 18,816 (-12.9%) 02/2012: I, Vampire #6 -- 18,153 (- 3.5%) 03/2012: I, Vampire #7 -- 18,440 (+ 1.6%) 04/2012: I, Vampire #8 -- 18,717 (+ 1.5%) ---------------- 6 months: -45.9%
Sales continue to climb, presumably thanks to the crossover with Justice League Dark.
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114 - THE SAVAGE HAWKMAN 09/2011: Savage Hawkman #1 -- 55,954 [63,959] 10/2011: Savage Hawkman #2 -- 47,763 (-14.6%) 11/2011: Savage Hawkman #3 -- 35,177 (-26.4%) 12/2011: Savage Hawkman #4 -- 28,263 (-19.7%) 01/2012: Savage Hawkman #5 -- 23,967 (-15.2%) 02/2012: Savage Hawkman #6 -- 21,316 (-11.1%) 03/2012: Savage Hawkman #7 -- 19,433 (- 8.8%) 04/2012: Savage Hawkman #8 -- 18,300 (- 5.8%) ---------------- 6 months: -61.7%
Not really leveling out, and it’s doubtful if the new creative team coming aboard with issue #9 will be able to fix that.
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106 - BATMAN: ODYSSEY VOL. 2 07/2010: Batman: Odyssey #1 of 6 -- 61,827 08/2010: Batman: Odyssey #2 of 6 -- 47,675 (-22.9%) 09/2010: Batman: Odyssey #3 of 6 -- 40,046 (-16.0%) 10/2010: Batman: Odyssey #4 of 12 -- 35,307 (-11.8%) 11/2010: Batman: Odyssey #5 of 13 -- 31,386 (-11.1%) 02/2011: Batman: Odyssey #6 of 13 -- 29,093 (- 7.3%) -------------------------------------------- 10/2011: Odyssey Vol. 2 #1 of 7 -- 30,410 (+ 4.5%) 11/2011: Odyssey Vol. 2 #2 of 7 -- 24,271 (-20.2%) 12/2011: Odyssey Vol. 2 #3 of 7 -- 23,089 (- 4.9%) 01/2012: Odyssey Vol. 2 #4 of 7 -- 20,722 (-10.3%) 02/2012: Odyssey Vol. 2 #5 of 7 -- 19,013 (- 8.5%) 03/2012: Odyssey Vol. 2 #6 of 7 -- 18,330 (- 3.6%) 04/2012: Odyssey Vol. 2 #7 of 7 -- 18,050 (- 1.5%) ---------------- 6 months: -40.7%
Seems like retailers were too optimistic early on, and Neal Adams isn’t nearly as much of a draw as he was expected to be. Still, I can see this doing reasonably well in the long-term, at least, once the collection is out.
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117 - LEGION LOST 09/2011: Legion Lost #1 -- 46,362 [54,588] 10/2011: Legion Lost #2 -- 42,650 (- 8.0%) 11/2011: Legion Lost #3 -- 31,226 (-26.8%) 12/2011: Legion Lost #4 -- 24,020 (-23.1%) 01/2012: Legion Lost #5 -- 21,549 (-10.3%) 02/2012: Legion Lost #6 -- 19,447 (- 9.8%) 03/2012: Legion Lost #7 -- 18,214 (- 6.3%) 04/2012: Legion Lost #8 -- 17,984 (- 1.3%) ---------------- 6 months: -57.8%
Levelling out. The April issue leads into a crossover with Superboy and Teen Titans, maybe that helped.
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118 - FRANKENSTEIN: AGENT OF S.H.A.D.E. 09/2011: Frankenstein #1 -- 41,551 [50,817] 10/2011: Frankenstein #2 -- 40,423 (- 2.7%) 11/2011: Frankenstein #3 -- 31,869 (-21.2%) 12/2011: Frankenstein #4 -- 24,812 (-22.1%) 01/2012: Frankenstein #5 -- 22,737 (- 8.4%) 02/2012: Frankenstein #6 -- 20,463 (-10.0%) 03/2012: Frankenstein #7 -- 18,891 (- 7.7%) 04/2012: Frankenstein #8 -- 17,953 (- 5.0%) ---------------- 6 months: -55.6%
Slooowly finding its level.
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109 - FABLES (Vertigo) 04/2007: Fables #60 -- 26,048 04/2008: Fables #72 -- 23,853 04/2009: Fables #83 -- 23,630 04/2010: Fables #94 -- 19,965 ------------------------------ 04/2011: Fables #104 -- 18,811 (- 0.5%) 05/2011: Fables #105 -- 18,749 (- 0.3%) 06/2011: Fables #106 -- 18,505 (- 1.3%) 07/2011: Fables #107 -- 18,523 (+ 0.1%) 08/2011: Fables #108 -- 18,390 (- 0.7%) 09/2011: Fables #109 -- 18,072 (- 1.7%) 10/2011: Fables #110 -- 18,109 (+ 0.2%) 11/2011: Fables #111 -- 17,687 (- 2.3%) 12/2011: Fables #112 -- 17,602 (- 0.5%) 01/2012: Fables #113 -- 17,588 (- 0.1%) 02/2012: Fables #114 -- 17,374 (- 1.2%) 03/2012: Fables #115 -- 17,384 (+ 0.1%) 04/2012: Fables #116 -- 17,543 (+ 0.9%) ---------------- 6 months: - 3.1% 1 year : - 6.7% 2 years : -12.1% 5 years : -32.7%
Rock-solid numbers. There’s no apparent reason for the slow climb, so presumably it’s story-driven.
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123 - THE FURY OF FIRESTORM: THE NUCLEAR MEN 09/2011: Firestorm #1 -- 51,537 [62,076] 10/2011: Firestorm #2 -- 43,990 (-14.6%) 11/2011: Firestorm #3 -- 31,654 (-28.0%) 12/2011: Firestorm #4 -- 25,610 (-19.1%) 01/2012: Firestorm #5 -- 21,329 (-16.7%) 02/2012: Firestorm #6 -- 19,162 (-10.2%) 03/2012: Firestorm #7 -- 17,786 (- 7.2%) 04/2012: Firestorm #8 -- 17,076 (- 4.0%) ---------------- 6 months: -61.2%
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125 - RESURRECTION MAN 09/2011: Resurrection Man #1 -- 41,740 [50,230] 10/2011: Resurrection Man #2 -- 38,560 (- 7.6%) 11/2011: Resurrection Man #3 -- 29,480 (-23.6%) 12/2011: Resurrection Man #4 -- 23,060 (-21.8%) 01/2012: Resurrection Man #5 -- 20,750 (-10.0%) 02/2012: Resurrection Man #6 -- 18,569 (-10.5%) 03/2012: Resurrection Man #7 -- 17,176 (- 7.5%) 04/2012: Resurrection Man #8 -- 16,664 (- 3.0%) ---------------- 6 months: -56.8%
Two more “New 52” titles leveling out.
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126 - DC UNIVERSE PRESENTS 09/2011: DCU Presents #1 -- 45,701 [53,103] 10/2011: DCU Presents #2 -- 41,584 (- 9.0%) 11/2011: DCU Presents #3 -- 31,019 (-25.4%) 12/2011: DCU Presents #4 -- 24,398 (-21.4%) 01/2012: DCU Presents #5 -- 22,048 (- 9.6%) 02/2012: DCU Presents #6 -- 20,188 (- 8.4%) 03/2012: DCU Presents #7 -- 17,830 (-11.7%) 04/2012: DCU Presents #8 -- 16,566 (- 7.1%) ---------------- 6 months: -60.2%
This is the highest “New 52” month-to-month drop in April.
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130 - GRIFTER 09/2011: Grifter #1 -- 41,222 [50,959] 10/2011: Grifter #2 -- 39,900 (- 3.2%) 11/2011: Grifter #3 -- 29,802 (-25.3%) 12/2011: Grifter #4 -- 22,486 (-24.6%) 01/2012: Grifter #5 -- 20,060 (-10.8%) 02/2012: Grifter #6 -- 18,057 (-10.0%) 03/2012: Grifter #7 -- 16,559 (- 8.3%) 04/2012: Grifter #8 -- 15,686 (- 5.3%) ---------------- 6 months: -60.7%
Another book that has a creative-team change coming up next issue. Sales haven’t completely stabilized yet.
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122 - THE SHADE 10/2011: Shade #1 of 12 -- 30,648 11/2011: Shade #2 of 12 -- 21,431 (-30.1%) 12/2011: Shade #3 of 12 -- 18,922 (-11.7%) 01/2012: Shade #4 of 12 -- 17,512 (- 7.5%) 02/2012: Shade #5 of 12 -- 16,255 (- 7.2%) 03/2012: Shade #6 of 12 -- 16,005 (- 1.5%) 04/2012: Shade #7 of 12 -- 15,499 (- 3.2%) ---------------- 6 months: -49.4%
The first four months were brutal, but now the book appears to have settled into a standard decline.
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134 - BLUE BEETLE 04/2007: Blue Beetle #14 -- 17,167 04/2008: Blue Beetle #26 -- 14,285 ---------------------------------- 09/2011: Blue Beetle #1 -- 44,448 [52,288] 10/2011: Blue Beetle #2 -- 39,396 (-11.4%) 11/2011: Blue Beetle #3 -- 27,612 (-29.9%) 12/2011: Blue Beetle #4 -- 21,408 (-22.5%) 01/2012: Blue Beetle #5 -- 19,042 (-11.1%) 02/2012: Blue Beetle #6 -- 17,034 (-10.6%) 03/2012: Blue Beetle #7 -- 15,780 (- 7.4%) 04/2012: Blue Beetle #8 -- 15,180 (- 3.8%) ----------------- 6 months: - 61.5% 5 years : - 11.6%
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138 - VOODOO 09/2011: Voodoo #1 -- 40,301 [47,112] 10/2011: Voodoo #2 -- 34,690 (-13.9%) 11/2011: Voodoo #3 -- 25,067 (-27.7%) 12/2011: Voodoo #4 -- 20,703 (-17.4%) 01/2012: Voodoo #5 -- 17,683 (-14.6%) 02/2012: Voodoo #6 -- 16,422 (- 7.1%) 02/2012: Voodoo #7 -- 15,097 (- 8.1%) 03/2012: Voodoo #8 -- 14,589 (- 3.4%) ---------------- 6 months: -58.0%
Two more “New 52” titles about to settle down.
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127 - AMERICAN VAMPIRE (Vertigo) 04/2010: American Vampire #2 -- 26,770 --------------------------------------- 04/2011: American Vampire #14 -- 16,168 (- 6.4%) 05/2011: American Vampire #15 -- 15,876 (- 1.8%) 06/2011: American Vampire #16 -- 15,705 (- 1.1%) 07/2011: American Vampire #17 -- 15,565 (- 0.9%) 08/2011: American Vampire #18 -- 15,423 (- 0.9%) 09/2011: American Vampire #19 -- 15,288 (- 0.9%) 10/2011: -- 11/2011: American Vampire #20 -- 15,685 (+ 2.6%) 12/2011: American Vampire #21 -- 15,026 (- 4.2%) 12/2011: American Vampire #22 -- 14,759 (- 1.8%) 01/2012: American Vampire #23 -- 14,240 (- 3.5%) 02/2012: American Vampire #24 -- 14,278 (+ 0.3%) 03/2012: American Vampire #25 -- 14,598 (+ 2.2%) 04/2012: American Vampire #26 -- 14,493 (- 0.7%) ---------------- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : -10.4% 2 years : -45.9%
Reasonably solid figures.
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148 - HAWK & DOVE 09/2011: Hawk & Dove #1 -- 42,294 [47,999] 10/2011: Hawk & Dove #2 -- 36,068 (-14.7%) 11/2011: Hawk & Dove #3 -- 27,464 (-23.9%) 12/2011: Hawk & Dove #4 -- 20,016 (-27.1%) 01/2012: Hawk & Dove #5 -- 17,528 (-12.4%) 02/2012: Hawk & Dove #6 -- 15,879 (- 9.4%) 03/2012: Hawk & Dove #7 -- 14,146 (-10.9%) 04/2012: Hawk & Dove #8 -- 13,480 (- 4.7%) ---------------- 6 months: -62.6%
Cancelled.
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153 - CAPTAIN ATOM 09/2011: Captain Atom #1 -- 44,110 [51,314] 10/2011: Captain Atom #2 -- 38,309 (-13.2%) 11/2011: Captain Atom #3 -- 26,829 (-30.0%) 12/2011: Captain Atom #4 -- 19,908 (-25.8%) 01/2012: Captain Atom #5 -- 17,437 (-12.4%) 02/2012: Captain Atom #6 -- 15,220 (-12.7%) 03/2012: Captain Atom #7 -- 13,738 (- 9.7%) 04/2012: Captain Atom #8 -- 13,001 (- 5.4%) ---------------- 6 months: -66.1%
At this stage, I suppose there’s some story-related reason why they’re still keeping this one around. The solicitation copy for the August issue suggests as much.
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142 - GREEN LANTERN: THE ANIMATED SERIES (Johnny DC) 11/2011: GL: TAS #0 -- 13,569 ----------------------------- 04/2012: GL: TAS #1 -- 12,791
A new Johnny DC title. See fine print below.
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143 - SPACEMAN (Vertigo) 10/2011: Spaceman #1 of 9 -- 22,355 11/2011: Spaceman #2 of 9 -- 14,962 (-33.1%) 12/2011: Spaceman #3 of 9 -- 13,492 (- 9.8%) 01/2012: -- 02/2012: Spaceman #4 of 9 -- 13,394 (- 0.7%) 03/2012: Spaceman #5 of 9 -- 12,884 (- 3.8%) 04/2012: Spaceman #6 of 9 -- 12,727 (- 1.2%) ---------------- 6 months: -43.1%
The book has found its level.
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156 - O.M.A.C. 09/2011: O.M.A.C. #1 -- 37,312 [42,871] 10/2011: O.M.A.C. #2 -- 32,704 (-12.4%) 11/2011: O.M.A.C. #3 -- 25,080 (-23.3%) 12/2011: O.M.A.C. #4 -- 18,371 (-26.8%) 01/2012: O.M.A.C. #5 -- 16,242 (-11.6%) 02/2012: O.M.A.C. #6 -- 14,051 (-13.5%) 03/2012: O.M.A.C. #7 -- 13,119 (- 6.6%) 04/2012: O.M.A.C. #8 -- 12,587 (- 4.1%) ---------------- 6 months: -66.3%
Cancelled.
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157 - SAUCER COUNTRY (Vertigo) 03/2012: Saucer Country #1 -- 15,684 04/2012: Saucer Country #2 -- 11,263 (-28.2%)
There was a variant edition for issue #1, so the drop isn’t entirely as harsh as it looks. Still, this isn’t a promising start.
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167 - STATIC SHOCK 06/2011: Special #1 of 1 -- 9,976 ----------------------------------- 09/2011: Static Shock #1 -- 37,782 (+278.7%) [43,046] 10/2011: Static Shock #2 -- 32,360 (- 14.4%) 11/2011: Static Shock #3 -- 24,374 (- 24.7%) 12/2011: Static Shock #4 -- 17,514 (- 28.2%) 01/2012: Static Shock #5 -- 15,056 (- 14.0%) 02/2012: Static Shock #6 -- 13,081 (- 13.1%) 03/2012: Static Shock #7 -- 11,739 (- 10.3%) 04/2012: Static Shock #8 -- 11,224 (- 4.4%) ----------------- 6 months: - 65.3%
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172 - MISTER TERRIFIC 09/2011: Mister Terrific #1 -- 41,450 [48,352] 10/2011: Mister Terrific #2 -- 35,963 (-13.2%) 11/2011: Mister Terrific #3 -- 25,282 (-29.7%) 12/2011: Mister Terrific #4 -- 17,963 (-29.0%) 01/2012: Mister Terrific #5 -- 15,336 (-14.6%) 02/2012: Mister Terrific #6 -- 12,890 (-16.0%) 03/2012: Mister Terrific #7 -- 11,800 (- 8.5%) 04/2012: Mister Terrific #8 -- 10,862 (- 8.0%) ---------------- 6 months: -69.8%
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174 - MEN OF WAR 09/2011: Men of War #1 -- 37,488 10/2011: Men of War #2 -- 31,446 (-16.1%) 11/2011: Men of War #3 -- 23,770 (-24.4%) 12/2011: Men of War #4 -- 16,641 (-30.0%) 01/2012: Men of War #5 -- 14,110 (-15.2%) 02/2012: Men of War #6 -- 12,080 (-14.4%) 03/2012: Men of War #7 -- 10,758 (-10.9%) 04/2012: Men of War #8 -- 10,802 (+ 0.4%) ---------------- 6 months: -65.7%
Three more “New 52” titles cancelled with issue #8 each. Men of War #8 has a Frankenstein story co-written by Jeff Lemire, hence the marginal increase.
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164 - THE NEW DEADWARDIANS (Vertigo) 03/2012: New Deadwardians #1 of 8 -- 14,530 04/2012: New Deadwardians #2 of 8 -- 10,229 (-29.6%)
There was a variant for issue #1, so you know the drill. For a miniseries, that’s a dire second-issue drop, however.
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183 - BLACKHAWKS 09/2011: Blackhawks #1 -- 40,014 [46,435] 10/2011: Blackhawks #2 -- 31,704 (-20.8%) 11/2011: Blackhawks #3 -- 22,349 (-29.5%) 12/2011: Blackhawks #4 -- 16,810 (-24.8%) 01/2012: Blackhawks #5 -- 13,630 (-18.9%) 02/2012: Blackhawks #6 -- 11,922 (-12.5%) 03/2012: Blackhawks #7 -- 10,668 (-10.5%) 04/2012: Blackhawks #8 -- 10,166 (- 4.7%) ---------------- 6 months: -67.9%
Cancelled.
—–
175 - NIGHT FORCE 03/2012: Night Force #1 of 6 -- 13,174 04/2012: Night Force #2 of 6 -- 9,698 (-26.4%)
No variants involved here, just a genuinely abysmal drop.
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176 - THE UNWRITTEN (Vertigo) 04/2010: The Unwritten #12 -- 13,507 ------------------------------------ 04/2011: The Unwritten #24 -- 11,028 (- 2.6%) 05/2011: The Unwritten #25 -- 11,137 (+ 1.0%) 06/2011: The Unwritten #26 -- 10,979 (- 1.4%) 07/2011: The Unwritten #27 -- 10,787 (- 1.8%) 08/2011: The Unwritten #28 -- 10,731 (- 0.5%) 09/2011: The Unwritten #29 -- 10,511 (- 2.1%) 10/2011: The Unwritten #30 -- 10,481 (- 0.3%) 11/2011: The Unwritten #31 -- 10,434 (- 0.5%) 11/2011: The Unwritten #.5 -- 10,183 (- 2.4%) 12/2011: The Unwritten #32 -- 10,073 (- 1.1%) 12/2011: The Unwritten #.5 -- 9,759 (- 3.1%) 01/2012: The Unwritten #33 -- 9,888 (+ 1.3%) 01/2012: The Unwritten #.5 -- 9,483 (- 4.1%) 02/2012: The Unwritten #34 -- 9,789 (+ 3.2%) 02/2012: The Unwritten #.5 -- 9,595 (- 2.0%) 03/2012: The Unwritten #35 -- 9,675 (+ 0.8%) 03/2012: The Unwritten #.5 -- 9,529 (- 1.5%) 04/2012: The Unwritten #36 -- 9,678 (+ 1.6%) ---------------- 6 months: - 7.7% 1 year : -12.2% 2 years : -28.4%
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179 - HELLBLAZER (Vertigo) 04/2007: Hellblazer #231 -- 13,142 04/2008: Hellblazer #243 -- 11,958 04/2009: Hellblazer #254 -- 11,053 04/2010: Hellblazer #266 -- 10,256 ---------------------------------- 04/2011: Hellblazer #278 -- 9,417 (-1.1%) 05/2011: Hellblazer #279 -- 9,454 (+0.4%) 06/2011: Hellblazer #280 -- 9,329 (-1.3%) 07/2011: Hellblazer #281 -- 9,225 (-1.1%) 08/2011: Hellblazer #282 -- 9,372 (+1.5%) 09/2011: Hellblazer #283 -- 9,597 (+2.4%) 10/2011: Hellblazer #284 -- 9,608 (+0.1%) 11/2011: Hellblazer #285 -- 9,500 (-1.1%) 12/2011: Hellblazer #286 -- 9,404 (-1.0%) 01/2012: Hellblazer #287 -- 9,368 (-0.4%) 02/2012: Hellblazer #288 -- 9,553 (+2.0%) 03/2012: Hellblazer #289 -- 9,363 (-2.0%) 09/2012: Hellblazer #290 -- 9,472 (+1.2%) ---------------- 6 months: - 1.4% 1 year : + 0.6% 2 years : - 7.6% 5 years : -27.9%
Two more established Vertigo titles with rock-solid figures.
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195 - DOMINIQUE LAVEAU: VOODOO CHILD (Vertigo) 03/2012: Dominique Laveau #1 -- 12,800 04/2012: Dominique Laveau #2 -- 8,302 (-35.1%)
There was a variant edition for issue #1 here, as well, but obviously that drop is still pretty damning. The book is the lowest-selling ongoing Vertigo title.
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201 - T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AGENTS 04/2011: T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #6 -- 9,680 (- 2.6%) 05/2011: T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #7 -- 9,453 (- 2.4%) 06/2011: T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #8 -- 8,954 (- 5.3%) 07/2011: T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #9 -- 8,710 (- 2.7%) 08/2011: T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #10 -- 8,453 (- 3.0%) 09/2011: -- 10/2011: -- 11/2011: Vol. 2 #1 of 6 -- 14,794 (+75.0%) 12/2011: Vol. 2 #2 of 6 -- 12,015 (-18.8%) 01/2012: Vol. 2 #3 of 6 -- 10,354 (-13.8%) 02/2012: Vol. 2 #4 of 6 -- 8,970 (-13.4%) 03/2012: Vol. 2 #5 of 6 -- 8,505 (- 5.2%) 04/2012: Vol. 2 #6 of 6 -- 8,201 (- 3.6%) ---------------- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : -15.3%
Continually favorable reviews notwithstanding, the sequel miniseries tanked right out of the gate. We probably won’t see the title again anytime soon.
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205 - I, ZOMBIE (Vertigo) 04/2011: I, Zombie #12 -- 10,727 (- 1.4%) 05/2011: I, Zombie #13 -- 10,567 (- 1.5%) 06/2011: I, Zombie #14 -- 10,320 (- 2.3%) 07/2011: I, Zombie #15 -- 10,006 (- 3.0%) 08/2011: I, Zombie #16 -- 9,568 (- 4.4%) 09/2011: I, Zombie #17 -- 9,316 (- 2.6%) 10/2011: I, Zombie #18 -- 9,237 (- 0.9%) 11/2011: I, Zombie #19 -- 8,999 (- 2.6%) 12/2011: I, Zombie #20 -- 8,805 (- 2.2%) 01/2012: I, Zombie #21 -- 8,514 (- 3.3%) 02/2012: I, Zombie #22 -- 8,344 (- 2.0%) 03/2012: I, Zombie #23 -- 8,219 (- 1.5%) 04/2012: I, Zombie #24 -- 8,032 (- 2.3%) ---------------- 6 months: -13.1% 1 year : -25.1%
Cancelled with issue #28.
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214 - SWEET TOOTH (Vertigo) 04/2010: Sweet Tooth #8 -- 9,612 ---------------------------------- 04/2011: Sweet Tooth #20 -- 8,361 (- 2.0%) 05/2011: Sweet Tooth #21 -- 8,360 (- 0.0%) 06/2011: Sweet Tooth #22 -- 8,252 (- 1.3%) 07/2011: Sweet Tooth #23 -- 8,018 (- 2.8%) 08/2011: Sweet Tooth #24 -- 7,948 (- 0.9%) 09/2011: Sweet Tooth #25 -- 7,896 (- 0.7%) 10/2011: Sweet Tooth #26 -- 7,963 (+ 0.9%) 11/2011: Sweet Tooth #27 -- 7,923 (- 0.5%) 12/2011: Sweet Tooth #28 -- 7,699 (- 2.8%) 01/2012: Sweet Tooth #29 -- 8,128 (+ 5.6%) 02/2012: Sweet Tooth #30 -- 7,584 (- 6.7%) 03/2012: Sweet Tooth #31 -- 7,541 (- 0.6%) 04/2012: Sweet Tooth #32 -- 7,534 (- 0.1%) ---------------- 6 months: - 5.4% 1 year : - 9.9% 2 years : -21.6%
Ending with issue #40.
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216 - YOUNG JUSTICE (Johnny DC) 04/2011: Young Justice #3 -- 9,407 (- 2.1%) 05/2011: Young Justice #4 -- 9,729 (+ 3.4%) 06/2011: Young Justice #5 -- 8,988 (- 7.6%) 07/2011: Young Justice #6 -- 8,642 (- 3.9%) 08/2011: Young Justice #7 -- 8,062 (- 6.7%) 09/2011: Young Justice #8 -- 7,930 (- 1.6%) 10/2011: Young Justice #9 -- 7,737 (- 2.4%) 11/2011: Young Justice #10 -- 7,650 (- 1.1%) 12/2011: Young Justice #11 -- 7,221 (- 5.6%) 01/2012: Young Justice #12 -- 7,288 (+ 0.9%) 02/2012: Young Justice #13 -- 7,237 (- 0.7%) 03/2012: Young Justice #14 -- 7,241 (+ 0.1%) 04/2012: Young Justice #15 -- 7,273 (+ 0.4%) ---------------- 6 months: - 6.0% 1 year : -22.7%
Another Johnny DC book.
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220 - NORTHLANDERS (Vertigo) 04/2008: Northlanders #5 -- 12,278 04/2009: Northlanders #16 -- 9,323 04/2010: Northlanders #27 -- 7,683 ----------------------------------- 04/2011: Northlanders #39 -- 6,983 (- 0.5%) 05/2011: Northlanders #40 -- 7,055 (+ 1.0%) 06/2011: Northlanders #41 -- 6,954 (- 1.4%) 07/2011: Northlanders #42 -- 6,989 (+ 0.5%) 08/2011: Northlanders #43 -- 6,901 (- 1.3%) 09/2011: Northlanders #44 -- 6,858 (- 0.6%) 10/2011: Northlanders #45 -- 6,973 (+ 1.7%) 11/2011: Northlanders #46 -- 6,792 (- 2.6%) 12/2011: -- 01/2012: Northlanders #47 -- 6,665 (- 1.9%) 02/2012: Northlanders #48 -- 6,609 (- 0.8%) 03/2012: Northlanders #49 -- 6,661 (+ 0.8%) 04/2012: Northlanders #50 -- 6,869 (+ 3.1%) ---------------- 6 months: - 1.5% 1 year : - 1.6% 2 years : -10.6%
Cancelled. After more than six years of consistent publication, this is Brian Wood’s final Vertigo release, for the time being. According to Wood, collection sales weren’t good enough to keep the book around; obviously single-issue sales weren’t, either.
Wood’s tenure at Vertigo was, for a while, characterized by the hope that collection sales might grow to a point where periodical sales might be inconsequential to a title’s success. But this only ever happened to books that were doing well as periodicals anyway. At first, Wood’s books were among the imprint’s better performers, but their sales declined along with the rest of the bunch. Right now, even after the most recent round of launches, there isn’t much that seems to be selling at all, apart from Fables and American Vampire, which is why we’re seeing more spin-off titles.
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271 - SCOOBY DOO: WHERE ARE YOU? (Johnny DC) 04/2007: Scooby Doo #119 -- 4,373 04/2008: Scooby Doo #131 -- 4,403 04/2009: Scooby Doo #143 -- 4,610 04/2010: Scooby Doo #155 -- 3,836 --------------------------------- 04/2011: SD:WAY? #8 -- 4,599 (+ 1.7%) 05/2011: SD:WAY? #9 -- 4,838 (+ 5.2%) 06/2011: SD:WAY? #10 -- 4,774 (- 1.3%) 07/2011: SD:WAY? #11 -- 4,791 (+ 0.4%) 08/2011: SD:WAY? #12 -- 4,686 (- 2.2%) 09/2011: SD:WAY? #13 -- 4,701 (+ 0.3%) 10/2011: SD:WAY? #14 -- ? 11/2011: SD:WAY? #15 -- 4,701 12/2011: SD:WAY? #16 -- 4,627 (- 1.6%) 01/2012: SD:WAY? #17 -- 4,533 (- 2.0%) 02/2012: SD:WAY? #18 -- 4,655 (+ 2.7%) 03/2012: SD:WAY? #19 -- 4,677 (+ 0.5%) 04/2012: SD:WAY? #20 -- 4,752 (+ 1.6%) ---------------- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : + 3.3% 2 years : +23.9% 5 years : + 8.7%
Another Johnny DC book.
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274 - UNCHARTED 11/2011: Uncharted #1 of 6 -- 6,171 12/2011: Uncharted #2 of 6 -- 4,532 (-26.6%) 01/2012: Uncharted #3 of 6 -- 4,643 (+ 2.5%) 02/2012: Uncharted #4 of 6 -- 4,903 (+ 5.6%) 03/2012: Uncharted #5 of 6 -- 4,880 (- 0.5%) 04/2012: Uncharted #6 of 6 -- 4,739 (- 2.9%)
A video-game adaptation.
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289 - GEARS OF WAR 04/2009: GoW #6 -- 11,506 04/2010: -- -------------------------- 04/2011: -- 05/2011: -- 06/2011: GoW #17 -- 4,652 (- 1.4%) 07/2011: GoW #18 -- 4,327 (- 7.0%) 08/2011: GoW #19 -- ? 09/2011: -- 10/2011: GoW #20 -- ? 11/2011: -- 12/2011: GoW #21 -- 4,374 01/2012: -- 02/2012: GoW #22 -- 4,185 (- 4.3%) 03/2012: -- 04/2012: GoW #23 -- 4,024 (- 3.9%) ---------------- 6 months: ? 1 year : n.a. 2 years : n.a.
Another video-game adaptation, cancelled with issue #24.
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REORDERS: 286: 4,096 -- Batman #1 287: 4,094 -- Batman Beyond Unlimited #1 293: 3,985 -- Batman #5 298: 3,498 -- Batman #6 300: 3,447 -- Justice League #5
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"NEW 52" #8 CHANGES + 3.1%: Nightwing + 1.5%: I, Vampire + 0.4%: Men of War ------- - 0.4%: Batman - 0.4%: Suicide Squad - 1.1%: Aquaman - 1.1%: Teen Titans - 1.2%: All Star Western - 1.3%: Animal Man - 1.3%: Dark Knight - 1.3%: Legion Lost - 1.7%: Red Hood - 1.7%: Wonder Woman - 1.8%: Birds of Prey - 2.0%: Batman and Robin - 2.0%: Flash - 2.0%: LoSH - 2.1%: Green Lantern - 2.1%: Swamp Thing - 2.3%: Catwoman - 2.3%: GL Corps - 2.3%: JLA - 2.3%: New Guardians - 2.5%: Detective Comics - 2.7%: Supergirl - 3.0%: JLD - 3.0%: Resurrection Man - 3.2%: Superman - 3.3%: Batwoman - 3.3%: Batwing - 3.4%: Voodoo - 3.5%: Red Lanterns - 3.5%: Superboy - 3.7%: Batgirl - 3.8%: Blue Beetle - 4.0%: Demon Knights - 4.0%: Firestorm - 4.1%: OMAC - 4.2%: Action Comics - 4.3%: JLI - 4.4%: Static Shock - 4.6%: Deathstroke - 4.7%: Blackhawks - 4.7%: Hawk & Dove - 4.8%: Stormwatch ------- - 5.0%: Frankenstein - 5.3%: Grifter - 5.4%: Captain Atom - 5.4%: Green Arrow - 5.8%: Hawkman - 7.1%: DCU Presents - 8.0%: Mister Terrific
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6-MONTH COMPARISONS - 1.4%: Hellblazer - 1.5%: Northlanders - 3.1%: Fables - 5.4%: Sweet Tooth - 6.0%: Young Justice - 7.7%: Unwritten - 13.1%: I, Zombie - 23.2%: Aquaman - 24.3%: Batman - 26.1%: Dark Knight - 28.6%: Nightwing - 28.8%: Detective Comics - 29.5%: Teen Titans - 31.9%: Animal Man - 32.2%: JLA - 32.5%: Batman and Robin - 32.8%: Swamp Thing - 33.9%: Suicide Squad - 34.0%: New Guardians - 36.1%: Red Hood - 36.2%: Wonder Woman - 37.2%: All Star Western - 37.9%: Green Lantern - 38.4%: Superman - 39.1%: Batwoman - 39.1%: Catwoman - 39.4%: GL Corps - 40.7%: Odyssey - 41.3%: Supergirl - 41.5%: Batgirl - 42.8%: Action Comics - 43.1%: Spaceman - 44.2%: Flash - 44.5%: Superboy - 44.8%: JLD - 45.8%: Red Lanterns - 45.9%: I, Vampire - 46.1%: Birds of Prey - 48.9%: JLI - 49.4%: Shade - 50.0%: Demon Knights - 51.2%: Stormwatch - 52.3%: Batwing - 53.3%: Green Arrow - 54.6%: LoSH - 55.6%: Frankenstein - 56.8%: Resurrection Man - 57.8%: Deathstroke - 57.8%: Legion Lost - 58.0%: Voodoo - 60.2%: DCU Presents - 60.7%: Grifter - 61.2%: Firestorm - 61.5%: Blue Beetle - 61.7%: Hawkman - 62.6%: Hawk & Dove - 65.3%: Static Shock - 65.7%: Men of War - 66.1%: Captain Atom - 66.3%: OMAC - 67.9%: Blackhawks - 69.8%: Mister Terrific
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1-YEAR COMPARISONS +182.4%: JLA +142.3%: All Star Western +130.8%: Batman +118.5%: Detective Comics +101.8%: Teen Titans +101.1%: Batgirl + 66.9%: Supergirl + 62.7%: Superman + 62.7%: Wonder Woman + 46.3%: Action Comics + 16.6%: Green Lantern + 16.3%: Flash + 12.8%: Batman and Robin + 4.6%: Superboy + 3.3%: Scooby-Doo + 0.6%: Hellblazer - 1.6%: Northlanders - 5.3%: Birds of Prey - 6.7%: Fables - 8.4%: LoSH - 8.6%: New Guardians - 9.5%: BB Unlimited - 9.9%: Sweet Tooth - 10.4%: American Vampire - 12.2%: Unwritten - 15.3%: THUNDER Agents - 16.0%: Green Arrow - 20.9%: GL Corps - 22.7%: Young Justice - 25.1%: I, Zombie
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2-YEAR COMPARISONS +200.1%: Action Comics +121.5%: All Star Western +114.3%: Batman +113.7%: JLA +106.6%: Detective Comics +100.8%: Teen Titans + 98.9%: Wonder Woman + 94.3%: Superman + 66.0%: Batgirl + 23.9%: Scooby-Doo + 22.2%: Supergirl - 5.9%: Green Arrow - 7.6%: Hellblazer - 10.6%: Northlanders - 12.0%: Green Lantern - 12.1%: Fables - 20.7%: Batman and Robin - 21.6%: Sweet Tooth - 28.4%: Unwritten - 34.1%: GL Corps - 36.9%: Flash - 45.9%: American Vampire
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5-YEAR COMPARISONS + 94.6%: Catwoman + 77.1%: Stormwatch + 65.1%: Nightwing + 55.8%: Detective Comics + 48.3%: All Star Western + 42.0%: GL Corps + 41.4%: Action Comics + 35.6%: Flash + 15.7%: Superman + 8.7%: Scooby-Doo + 1.2%: Birds of Prey - 10.5%: Green Arrow - 11.6%: Blue Beetle - 14.0%: JLA - 15.2%: Wonder Woman - 16.8%: Teen Titans - 27.9%: Hellblazer - 30.2%: Supergirl - 31.3%: LoSH - 32.7%: Fables
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Average Periodical Sales (not counting reprints, reorders shipping after the initial month of release, Johnny DC titles and magazines)
DC COMICS 04/2007: 39,134 04/2008: 28,051 04/2009: 27,373 04/2010: 23,740** --------------- 04/2011: 25,651 (+ 7.0%) 05/2011: 24,561 (- 4.3%)** 06/2011: 25,814 (+ 5.1%)** 07/2011: 26,138 (+ 1.3%)** 08/2011: 25,632 (- 1.9%)** 09/2011: 57,224 (+123.3%) 10/2011: 51,280 (- 10.4%)** 11/2011: 41,414 (- 19.2%)** 12/2011: 35,397 (- 14.5%)** 01/2012: 33,887 (- 4.3%)** 02/2012: 31,535 (- 6.9%)** 03/2012: 29,679 (- 5.9%) 04/2012: 31,319 (+ 5.5%) ----------------- 6 months: - 38.9% 1 year : + 22.1% 2 years : + 31.9% 5 years : - 20.0%
Correction: Last month, I accidentally counted an issue of The Unwritten as a DC Universe title, which affected the DC Universe and Vertigo averages. I’ve corrected the mistake below:
DC UNIVERSE 04/2007: 52,768 04/2008: 35,452 04/2009: 38,150 04/2010: 32,859 --------------- 03/2011: 26,720 (+ 3.2%)** 04/2011: 29,126 (+ 9.0%) 05/2011: 27,745 (- 4.7%)** 06/2011: 28,673 (+ 3.4%)** 07/2011: 28,586 (- 0.3%)** 08/2011: 27,761 (- 2.9%)** 09/2011: 67,411 (+142.8%) 10/2011: 59,146 (- 12.3%)** 11/2011: 46,670 (- 21.1%)** 12/2011: 39,390 (- 15.6%)** 01/2012: 37,145 (- 5.7%)** 02/2012: 34,456 (- 7.2%)** 03/2012: 33,229 (- 3.6%) 04/2012: 35,264 (+ 6.1%) ----------------- 6 months: - 40.4% 1 year : + 32.0% 2 years : + 7.3% 5 years : - 33.2%
VERTIGO 04/2007: 12,105 04/2008: 10,550 04/2009: 10,767 04/2010: 10,815 --------------- 03/2011: 10,450 (+ 1.5%) 04/2011: 10,014 (- 4.2%) 05/2011: 10,668 (+ 6.5%) 06/2011: 10,415 (- 2.4%) 07/2011: 10,784 (+ 3.5%) 08/2011: 10,147 (- 5.9%) 09/2011: 9,995 (- 1.5%) 10/2011: 10,643 (+ 6.5%) 11/2011: 10,355 (- 2.7%) 12/2011: 11,082 (+ 7.0%) 01/2012: 9,995 (- 9.8%) 02/2012: 10,252 (+ 2.6%) 03/2012: 12,688 (+23.8%) 04/2012: 11,595 (- 8.6%) ----------------- 6 months: + 9.0% 1 year : + 11.0% 2 years : + 7.2% 5 years : - 4.2%
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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 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.
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 parenthesis 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 released under the Johnny DC imprint 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.
** Two asterisks after a given month in the average charts mean that one or more periodical release did not make the Top 300 chart in that month. In those cases, it’s assumed that said releases sold as many units as the No. 300 comic on the chart for that month for the purposes of the chart, although its actual sales are likely to be less than that.
For a more lyrical approach to discussing sales figures that covers all the essentials in a more condensed, less tedious fashion, finally, go right here.
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Marc-Oliver Frisch writes about comics at his weblog and at Comicgate. You can also follow him on Twitter.
Always interesting reading these reports. Thanks to everyone who put these together.
So, compared to one year ago numbers are quite good but over the past six months I’m seeing negative numbers on all titles?
So what’s next when rebooting doesn’t work?
Cool to see all the numbers broken down like that, I think they would have been more successful if the would have had the creators really give it there all, while some did, most were still mediocre quality. We did a follow up video on the New 52 6 month later, give it a watch. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ohRn4PECRo
@Ron
“So what’s next when rebooting doesn’t work?”
Answer: Before Watchmen
Thanks for the continuing efforts on this project.
The problem is DC has done some great books but no one buys them. They try to expand the DCU by putting in new titles and new characters but the fan-base wants the same old same old. Kyle, Wally, and Connor were a step in the right direction but instead we’re getting reheated silver-age heroes. At least Vertigo more or less stood the test of time.
Super-heroes are fun but do people care about them anymore when they have titles like Fatale, Saga, or Walking Dead to choose from? What is the shelf-life of some of these properties?
Would the industry survive without DC or Marvel? It would be a lot different, but with digital comics do we really need the big two anymore, espcially now that people can download comics that look as good or better than their print versions?
@Ron
Super-hero comics pay the bills. And they will continue to for a long time. Walking Dead is a rare exception to many “rules”
It would be really interesting to know how digital comics add up in this equation. I would imagine Comixology brings some remarkable numbers, considering its global reach. Though the average feels in general like a wasted opportunity from DC, some books seem to be doing great, I mean, titles with a +100% compared to the last two years, that’s something. But comparing those numbers to 2007, it’s, well, mediocre I guess? (And it makes me wonder, what was so special about 2007? They cancelled Legends of the Dark Knight back then! What am I missing here?)
Did anyone else think the paper quality on Fairest was just absymal. The artwork by Phil Jimenez is just so amazing, I weep every time a new issue comes out and the details of his work are displayed so poorly. But perhaps it’s just me. (Are all of Vertigo’s titles printed on cheaper newspaper stock now?)
I had high hopes for Night Force. But the art just didn’t do it for me, and the storyline is both a) not making a lot of sense so far, and b) glacial in its pacing (for a mini series.)
Ron–The six month comparisons are negative because they are between the #2 and #8 issues of all the relaunched titles. A #2 virtually always sells better than a #8.
The one-year comparisons go back to the period before the relaunch, so they are more interesting.
Ron, the six-month comparisons are with issue #2, so it would be have been astonishing if they WEREN’T down. The aim of a relaunch like this is to get in a lot of extra readers in the first couple of months and hope to hold on to some of them in the long run.
Obviously in an ideal world a comic would build momentum and gain sales as it went along, but that’s almost unheard of in practice. A comic that launched and simply held on to its initial sales would be bucking the trends in spectacular fashion.
“Kyle, Wally, and Connor were a step in the right direction but instead we’re getting reheated silver-age heroes.”
I disagree to an extent. In my opinion, There really was never a need for “legacy” heroes. Kids that grew up with the Super Friends cartoons and all the toys recognized a Hal Jordan GL, Barry Allen Flash, and Oliver Queen GA. DC could have kept telling stories with those guys. They were the most recognizable versions of those characters. Crisis killed Barry Allen and because Wally West became popular, it seemed DC tried to do it again with Kyle and Connor. Those are characters that are by-products of the 90’s where you had to kill a major character and replace them with someone younger. One could argue that DC’s problems began with Crisis on Infinite Earths.
A possible narrative: A big chunk of the reboot titles appear to be leveling out well above their old numbers, while the low level books drag the overall numbers down. If the game-plan with the New52 was basically “1. throw stuff at the wall 2. see what sticks 3. repeat”, then a few cycles of that could end up with a more impressive overall picture.
I find what happened to Jonah Hex to be very interesting. The title went from mostly ‘done in one’ stories with minimal supporting cast to multi-issue stories with a recurring cast.
And sales responded to that which surprises me.
The New Deadwardians is fantastic, the best new Vertigo series I’ve read in a long time. Sort of reminds me of Scarlet Traces from a few years back.
Disappointing to see it isn’t doing better.
I’m sorry, but the New 52 read like overwritten (and under-plotted) crap from the mid 1980s. As a long, long time reader of DC and Marvel, I thought the reboot/revamp/remodel was a good idea, but the results are just stiff. I can’t see new readers flocking to Earth 2, for example, with its stilted dialogue and dull visuals. And I guess the idea for the New Watchmen is to strip it of all subtlety and whatever maturity the original series had and play it as if Julius Schwartz was the editor…
@Nathan Aaron
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Did anyone else think the paper quality on Fairest was just absymal. The artwork by Phil Jimenez is just so amazing, I weep every time a new issue comes out and the details of his work are displayed so poorly. But perhaps it’s just me. (Are all of Vertigo’s titles printed on cheaper newspaper stock now?)
===
I don’t know about Fairest, but Sweet Tooth uses stiff, non-glossy paper. I think it suits the book very well. Reminds me of the old Baxter paper that was such a hot sell in the ’80s.
I pleased that Batman has finally overtaken JL. That book is so bad it was downright embarrassing having it be DC’s number 1 title. But Snyder better get his act together and pick up the pace on his 2nd year! I don’t want to see another year long arc!
Its funny how on the Marvel charts a 31% loss on a 2nd issue is portrayed as a fair or small drop. Yet here on the DC chart a 27.6% drop is stiff or steep! haha… You gotta love the half full/half empty approaches!! Plus Fairest is doing over 5k more than its parent title?!? (where did Cinderella come in??) I’d sat its win/win so far!!
@ William O’Brien
I think that strategy would make a lot of sense. I’m quite surprised they didn’t cancel a dozen or so of the low-selling books yet to replace them with the next bunch (it will probably happen after the rumoured September zero issues). If not for the low-selling books dragging the average down, noone would doubt that the relaunch was a great success: the regular Batman title selling more than 100K, books like Flash and Aquaman in the top ten until recently, Swamp Thing selling better than Wolverine, these are just incredible successes.
Maybe the biggest hope was that digital sales could boost print sales, but that isn’t borne out by the numbers either. Possibly digital availability has meant digital sales are climbing, but those numbers don’t show up here. Are there digital numbers out there? Just knowing whether series can increase sales over time through all issues being in print digitally might be interesting.
I can’t imagine anyone reading their comics on an iPad jumping on the print bandwagon. It’s a pain in the @$$ to find a comics shop let alone find one with the comics you want. Also DC drops the prices on their digital back-issues. Most if not all the DCnU first issues are 99 cents.
Pure speculation: I’m sure the digital numbers are fantastic and print comics will eventually be phased out within five years anyway.
Another possible narrative:
Low issue numbers sell comics. Nothing else does. Good art and story *help*, but nothing sells like low issue numbers.
Compare Jim Lee’s JLA sales with the sales of the previous JLA comic. I don’t mean compare “Jim Lee’s JLA #1” with “Previous JLA #63” but instead compare “Jim Lee’s JLA #8” with “Previous JLA #8”. The sales aren’t that far apart. And for some issue numbers (using comichron’s sales data), the previous JLA sold better.
So what I see is not so much “Look, a reboot sold really well” but “Look, low issue numbers did what they always do and nothing more. No surprise.”
I didn’t catch, why is Batman #2 with 130k sales and Justice League with 133k sales is below it at #3?
I kind of wonder if all the talking up of The Shade around the web helped plug the hole a little bit? After the first 3 issues there was a least some rumblings of it not making it to the 12th issue, but now it seems a lock.
Before Watchmen will surely give them another boost but it will be interesting to see where they are in another year. Wonder what the next big idea is. The last two seemed desperate.
Thanks Marc! I am floored by DC’s direction and enjoying so many of the books. It’s providing a great stabilization for me, otherwise I’d only be picking up random Image series. Well done!
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I didn’t catch, why is Batman #2 with 130k sales and Justice League with 133k sales is below it at #3?
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Probably because JL includes the combo pack in its numbers and Batman does not.
@ SimonMoon5
You might want to take a look at the Marvel chart to see how their recently relaunched books (Uncanny, Captain America, Thor) are doing. In recent years, the sales boost of low issue numbers has almost always evaporated in a few months. Plus, consider that the new 52 has not only led to relaunched books selling far above their previous levels 8 months in, but that it catapulted many characters that hadn’t been published in years to sales levels noone expected them to ever reach.
I don’t get why DC cancled JLI.
@Heinz: Agreed, for the most part. But…and this is kind of a tangent…I’ve been very surprised with how well the relaunched Uncanny X-Men has done, because the quality just isn’t there and yet it’s outsold not only the Avengers titles but also Wolverine & The X-Men, the latter of which is a much better title in most people’s opinions.
Still, your point stands. Many/most of the new versions of various New 52 are still selling far above what they used to. It’s odd to go on certain message boards and see threads about how “Batgirl isn’t doing so great; so will DC cancel it???”, when the numbers show that “Batgirl” right now is selling about double what it used to.
Where will Vertigo be in a few months when the canceled/ending titles and miniseries are gone?
Mark, Vertigo certainly seems to be downsizing compared to their output of recent years, but in the first few years of the imprint’s existence their output was much smaller. By my count they’ll be down to 7 ongoing books soon, which is well within the ballpark of the first few years of the last decade. Since the new titles aren’t doing so great, this smaller number of titles may well be the new standard, as it was ten years ago.
@Nathan Aaron
Agreed about the paper quality on fairest mucking up the art work. Hopefully it’ll be presented better in trade.