August was another fairly strong month for DC Comics’ periodical output, mainly thanks to the continued success of the Green Lantern and Batman franchises. With Blackest Night #2, Batman and Robin #3, Green Lantern #45 and Blackest Night: Batman #1, the publisher again managed to place four of its DC Universe titles in the Top 10. DC’s mainstream superhero line also saw superstar writer J. Michael Straczynski’s arrival with the four-part event Red Circle, the start of Geoff Johns’ Superboy/Legion of Super-Heroes revamp in Adventure Comics #1 and the company’s latest attempt at a Doom Patrol series.
Vertigo’s average periodical sales remained down in their usual orbit around 11,000 units in August, which isn’t surprising, given the lack of new launches or other special events. Instead, the imprint’s focus was on the debut of the Vertigo Crime line of comics novels. The two inaugural releases were off to a decent start and both made the Top 10 of Diamond’s Graphic Novels chart: Brian Azzarello and Victor Santos’ Filthy Rich claimed the No. 5 spot, selling an estimated 5,371. Ian Rankin and Werther Dell’Edera’s Dark Entries charted at No. 8, with 4,330 units.
For WildStorm, August was another nail in the coffin. The imprint’s average periodical sales crashed to 7,977 units, the second-lowest level in the imprint’s history. Red Herring, a new creator-owned limited series by David Tischman and Philip Bond, debuted with estimated sales below 6,000 units.
See below for the analysis, and 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.
—–
1 - BLACKEST NIGHT 07/2009: Blackest Night #1 of 8 -- 177,105 [185,070] 08/2009: Blackest Night #2 of 8 -- 146,092 (-17.5%)
DC’s big-event series of the year grabs the top spot on the August chart, with a solid distance of 20,000 units to Marvel’s Captain America: Reborn #2. Not bad for what’s essentially a Green Lantern spin-off.
This is a smooth second-issue drop-off for a book selling above 150K, certainly, but once again, the observation comes with a disclaimer. As you recall, sales of Blackest Night #1 were boosted through a 1-for-250 variant-cover edition, which required retailers to order 250 copies of the regular comic for every variant edition.
Unlike Batman and Robin #2, however, Blackest Night #2 was promoted through a 1-for-200 variant edition, and there will be 1-for-100 editions for subsequent issues (all in addition to the usual 1-for-25 variants, of course). So, while the real drop-off is probably somewhat less pronounced than it was for Batman and Robin, bear in mind that sales of Blackest Night #2 are still more distorted by gimmicks than those of Batman and Robin #2 were, back in July.
None of which is to say that Blackest Night is not a great success, of course. The first issue sold another 7,965 units in August, and there are reorders for various crossover books, as well. All three issues of July’s biweekly miniseries Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps appeared on the chart again in August, selling between 4,000 and 5,000 units; Green Lantern #43 and #44 posted reorders of 3,577 and 4,536, respectively.
That’s a fairly reliable sign that Blackest Night and its tie-ins aren’t just clogging up store shelves.
—–
3 - BATMAN AND ROBIN 06/2009: Batman and Robin #1 -- 168,604 [184,826] 07/2009: Batman and Robin #2 -- 117,986 (-30.2%) [124,365] 08/2009: Batman and Robin #3 -- 110,594 (- 6.3%)
In the case of Batman and Robin, a second, rarer variant-cover edition was produced for the first issue only. Presumably, that’s one of the reasons why sales are bottoming out more quickly now than the second-issue drop would suggest at first glance.
The first two issues both made the chart again in August and sold more than 6,000 additional copies each, and all three issues were promoted through 1-for-25 variant-cover editions.
All told, Batman and Robin remains a strong flagship to the strong new Batman franchise.
—–
4 - GREEN LANTERN 08/2004: Green Lantern #180 -- 36,425 08/2005: Green Lantern #3 -- 108,511 08/2005: Green Lantern #4 -- 96,932 [99,525] 08/2006: -- 08/2007: Green Lantern #22 -- 77,916 [82,980] -------------------------------------- 08/2008: -- 09/2008: Green Lantern #34 -- 63,825 (+ 0.0%) 10/2008: Green Lantern #35 -- 63,383 (- 0.7%) 11/2008: -- 12/2008: Green Lantern #36 -- 64,755 (+ 2.2%) [ 74,005] 01/2009: Green Lantern #37 -- 65,556 (+ 1.2%) [ 71,331] 02/2009: Green Lantern #38 -- 68,908 (+ 5.1%) [ 77,372] 03/2009: -- 04/2009: Green Lantern #39 -- 79,792 (+15.8%) [ 84,784] 04/2009: Green Lantern #40 -- 76,665 (- 3.9%) [ 84,705] 05/2009: Green Lantern #41 -- 81,491 (+ 6.3%) 06/2009: Green Lantern #42 -- 84,131 (+ 3.2%) 07/2009: Green Lantern #43 -- 109,426 (+30.1%) [113,003] 07/2009: Green Lantern #44 -- 105,063 (- 4.0%) [109,599] 08/2009: Green Lantern #45 -- 102,431 (- 2.5%) ----------------- 6 months: + 48.7% 1 year : n.a. 2 years : + 31.4% 5 years : +181.2%
Green Lantern sales remain rock-solid in the second month of “Blackest Night.” As usual, there was a 1-for-25 variant edition.
—–
10 - BLACKEST NIGHT: BATMAN 08/2009: Blackest Night: Batman #1 of 3 -- 86,261
Out of the three spin-off miniseries launched in August, Blackest Night: Batman is the most successful by 10,000 units. Presumably, this is due to a combination of (a) the general strength of the Batman franchise and (b) the fact that it’s by Peter J. Tomasi, who also writes Green Lantern Corps, which makes it a potentially more significant part of the crossover than the Superman and Titans minis.
There was a 1-for-25 variant of this one, as well.
—–
12 - GREEN LANTERN CORPS 08/2006: Green Lantern Corps #3 -- 51,485 08/2007: Green Lantern Corps #15 -- 51,572 [57,751] ------------------------------------------ 08/2008: Green Lantern Corps #27 -- 46,045 (- 0.1%) 09/2008: Green Lantern Corps #28 -- 44,939 (- 2.4%) 10/2008: Green Lantern Corps #29 -- 46,316 (+ 3.1%) 11/2008: Green Lantern Corps #30 -- 43,600 (- 5.9%) 12/2008: Green Lantern Corps #31 -- 44,033 (+ 0.9%) 01/2009: Green Lantern Corps #32 -- 44,312 (+ 0.6%) 02/2009: Green Lantern Corps #33 -- 44,607 (+ 0.7%) [50,171] 03/2009: Green Lantern Corps #34 -- 54,162 (+21.4%) 04/2009: Green Lantern Corps #35 -- 58,769 (+ 8.5%) 05/2009: Green Lantern Corps #36 -- 61,591 (+ 4.8%) 06/2009: Green Lantern Corps #37 -- 63,574 (+ 3.2%) 07/2009: Green Lantern Corps #38 -- 82,415 (+29.6%) 08/2009: Green Lantern Corps #39 -- 84,241 (+ 2.2%) ---------------- 6 months: +88.9% 1 year : +83.0% 2 years : +63.4%
Green Lantern Corps is closely tied to Green Lantern and in the middle of a very popular crossover, granted. Still, it’s pretty much unheard of these days for a superhero title to keep climbing the chart for almost a year. Clearly, Peter J. Tomasi and Patrick Gleason are doing something right here.
And, you guessed it: There was a 1-for-25 variant-cover edition, as usual.
—–
13 - BATMAN 08/2004: Batman #631 -- 72,287 [ 74,830] 08/2005: Batman #643 -- 66,396 08/2005: Batman #644 -- 65,128 08/2006: Batman #656 -- 95,982 [ 99,024] 08/2007: Batman #667 -- 78,578 [ 82,418] 08/2007: Batman #668 -- 76,962 ------------------------------- 08/2008: Batman #679 -- 103,588 (+ 0.4%) 09/2008: -- 10/2008: Batman #680 -- 103,941 (+ 0.3%) 11/2008: Batman #681 -- 103,151 (- 0.8%) [114,657] 12/2008: Batman #682 -- 93,469 (- 9.4%) 12/2008: Batman #683 -- 90,272 (- 3.4%) [ 91,885] 12/2008: Batman #684 -- 79,953 (-11.4%) [ 82,903] 01/2009: Batman #685 -- 72,654 (- 9.1%) 02/2009: Batman #686 -- 111,353 (+53.3%) [128,780] 03/2009: BfC #1 of 3 -- 91,619 (-17.7%) [103,913] 04/2009: BfC #2 of 3 -- 89,120 (- 2.7%) 05/2009: BfC #3 of 3 -- 89,170 (+ 0.1%) 06/2009: Batman #687 -- 96,913 (+ 8.7%) 07/2009: Batman #688 -- 83,040 (-14.3%) 08/2009: Batman #689 -- 78,392 (- 5.6%) ---------------- 6 months: -29.6% 1 year : -24.3% 2 years : + 0.8% 5 years : + 8.5%
Batman keeps finding its level after the relaunch. So far, so good — the numbers are still well within the range of the recent Grant Morrison run.
For a change, there have been no variant editions of the series past issue #687, so the current figures look all the more encouraging.
—–
14 - THE FLASH: REBIRTH 08/2004: Flash #213 -- 41,363 08/2005: Flash #225 -- 50,242 [52,386] 08/2006: Flash: FMA #3 -- 70,633 [72,067] 08/2007: Flash #231 -- 91,123 ----------------------------------- 08/2008: Flash #243 -- 29,647 (- 2.2%) 09/2008: Flash #244 -- 29,180 (- 1.6%) 10/2008: Flash #245 -- 28,085 (- 3.8%) 11/2008: Flash #246 -- 27,746 (- 1.2%) 12/2008: Flash #247 -- 26,498 (- 4.5%) 01/2009: -- 02/2009: -- 03/2009: -- 04/2009: Rebirth #1 of 5 -- 102,429 (+286.6%) [111,515] 05/2009: Rebirth #2 of 5 -- 86,183 (- 15.9%) 06/2009: Rebirth #3 of 5 -- 83,086 (- 3.6%) 07/2009: -- 08/2009: Rebirth #4 of 5 -- 78,107 (- 6.0%) ----------------- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : +163.5% 2 years : - 14.3% 5 years : + 88.8%
These are solid figures for a Flash title, no doubt, especially considering that the property has gone through two failed major relaunches since 2006. That said, DC are probably hoping to improve on these sales with the upcoming Blackest Night: The Flash miniseries and the subsequent new ongoing series, both of which will also be written by Geoff Johns.
There was a 1-for-25 variant edition, as usual. Also, the book was turned into a six-issue miniseries as of the solicitation copy for issue #5.
—–
16 - BLACKEST NIGHT: SUPERMAN 08/2009: Blackest Night: Superman #1 of 3 -- 76,899
23 - BLACKEST NIGHT: TITANS 08/2009: Blackest Night: Titans #1 of 3 -- 64,767
Note the 12,000-unit gap between the two titles.
I don’t suppose it’s a coincidence that the three Blackest Night spin-off books launched in August mirror the health of their respective feature properties. All things considered, these are decent numbers.
Both debut issues were promoted through 1-for-25 variant editions.
—–
28 - DETECTIVE COMICS 08/2004: Detective Comics #797 -- 50,695 [52,811] 08/2005: Detective Comics #809 -- 49,087 08/2005: Detective Comics #810 -- 48,270 08/2006: Detective Comics #822 -- 66,372 08/2007: Detective Comics #835 -- 50,479 ----------------------------------------- 08/2008: Detective Comics #847 -- 71,134 (- 1.8%) 09/2008: Detective Comics #848 -- 68,306 (- 4.0%) 10/2008: Detective Comics #849 -- 65,878 (- 3.6%) 11/2008: Detective Comics #850 -- 64,196 (- 2.6%) 12/2008: Detective Comics #851 -- 64,961 (+ 1.2%) 01/2009: Detective Comics #852 -- 56,656 (-12.8%) 02/2009: -- 03/2009: -- 04/2009: Detective Comics #853 -- 104,107 (+83.8%) 05/2009: -- 06/2009: Detective Comics #854 -- 72,808 (-30.1%) [79,573] 07/2009: Detective Comics #855 -- 61,205 (-15.9%) 08/2009: Detective Comics #856 -- 58,859 (- 3.8%) ----------------- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : - 17.3% 2 years : + 16.6% 5 years : + 16.1%
Another Batman title that’s levelling out at a perfectly solid level. Notably, most of the books in the Batman line are off in their own little corner of the DC Universe, for the time being, and it doesn’t seem to hurt their numbers.
—–
29 - JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA 08/2004: JLA #103 -- 61,719 08/2004: JLA #104 -- 60,750 08/2005: JLA #117 -- 87,995 [ 89,163] 08/2006: Justice League #1 -- 212,581 [251,266] 08/2007: Justice League #12 -- 131,420 [137,181] -------------------------------------- 08/2008: Justice League #24 -- 81,451 (- 1.8%) 09/2008: -- 10/2008: Justice League #25 -- 80,731 (- 0.9%) 10/2008: Justice League #26 -- 77,353 (- 4.2%) 11/2008: -- 12/2008: Justice League #27 -- 75,803 (- 2.0%) 12/2008: Justice League #28 -- 72,728 (- 4.1%) 01/2009: Justice League #29 -- 72,116 (- 0.8%) 02/2009: Justice League #30 -- 69,710 (- 3.3%) 03/2009: Justice League #31 -- 68,759 (- 1.4%) 04/2009: Justice League #32 -- 66,021 (- 4.0%) 05/2009: Justice League #33 -- 63,867 (- 3.3%) 06/2009: Justice League #34 -- 61,115 (- 4.3%) 07/2009: Justice League #35 -- 58,915 (- 3.6%) 08/2009: Justice League #36 -- 57,549 (- 2.3%) ---------------- 6 months: -17.5% 1 year : -29.4% 2 years : -56.2% 5 years : - 6.0%
The sales decline is slowing down a little bit, at least. A new creative team takes over with issue #38.
—–
30 - ADVENTURE COMICS 08/2004: Legion #37 -- 23,479 08/2004: Legion #38 -- 23,327 08/2005: Legion of SH #9 -- 35,834 08/2006: Supergirl & LoSH #21 -- 39,852 08/2007: Supergirl & LoSH #33 -- 29,315 --------------------------------------- 08/2008: LoSH #45 -- 25,783 (-13.9%) 09/2008: LoSH #46 -- 24,959 (- 3.2%) 10/2008: LoSH #47 -- 23,751 (- 4.8%) 11/2008: LoSH #48 -- 22,917 (- 3.5%) 12/2008: LoSH #49 -- 22,180 (- 3.2%) 01/2009: LoSH #50 -- 22,327 (+ 0.7%) 02/2009: Adventure Comics #0 -- 32,851 (+47.1%) 03/2009: -- 04/2009: -- 05/2009: -- 06/2009: -- 07/2009: -- 08/2009: Adventure Comics #1 -- 56,706 (+72.6%) ----------------- 6 months: + 72.6% 1 year : +119.9% 2 years : + 93.4% 5 years : +142.3%
Now that Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds has finished its run, Geoff Johns gets to launch the latest Superboy/Legion of Super-Heroes revamp.
February’s issue #0 was an odd book. On the one hand, it was priced at $ 1.00, which suggests that DC hoped to attract readers who might not normally be interested in the property. On the other hand, it reprinted a campy old 1950s comic along with a new back-up story by Geoff Johns that’s both jarringly different in tone from the reprint and totally impenetrable to a casual reader.
Sales of Adventure Comics #1 (boosted through a 1-for-10 variant edition) are solid enough for a B-list property, but DC probably could have sold more units of the relaunch if, you know, they’d actually bothered to promote it in the promotional loss-leader they published.
—–
34 - JUSTICE LEAGUE: CRY FOR JUSTICE 07/2009: Cry for Justice #1 of 6 -- 68,317 08/2009: Cry for Justice #2 of 6 -- 54,553 (-20.2%)
That’s a stiff drop for a limited series. But there was no variant edition of the second issue, so it’s not as bad as it looks.
—–
38 - BATMAN: THE WIDENING GYRE 11/2008: Cacophony #1 of 3 -- 69,522 12/2008: Cacophony #2 of 3 -- 55,698 (-19.9%) [58,016] 01/2009: -- 02/2009: -- 03/2009: Cacophony #3 of 3 -- 52,814 (- 5.2%) 04/2009: -- 05/2009: -- 06/2009: -- 07/2009: -- 08/2009: Widening Gyre #1 of 6 -- 52,191 (- 1.2%) ---------------- 6 months: n.a.
Kevin Smith and Walter Flanagan return with another Batman miniseries — and pick up right where they left off with Batman: Cacophony in March. Like the previous mini, Widening Gyre comes with a 1-for-25 variant-cover edition as well as a rarer 1-for-50 one for each issue.
—–
39 - BATGIRL 08/2004: Batgirl #55 -- 39,469 [43,494] 08/2005: Batgirl #67 -- 28,159 ---------------------------------- 08/2008: Batgirl #2 of 6 -- 27,710 (- 19.5%) 09/2008: Batgirl #3 of 6 -- 24,932 (- 10.0%) 10/2008: Batgirl #4 of 6 -- 23,501 (- 5.7%) 11/2008: Batgirl #5 of 6 -- 21,595 (- 8.1%) 12/2008: Batgirl #6 of 6 -- 20,750 (- 3.9%) 01/2009: -- 02/2009: -- 03/2009: -- 04/2009: -- 05/2009: -- 06/2009: -- 07/2009: -- 08/2009: Batgirl #1 -- 51,724 (+149.3%) ---------------- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : +86.7% 5 years : +31.1%
Evidently, the Batman revamp opened new doors for a Batgirl series. It certainly didn’t look that way this time last year.
There was a 1-for-25 variant-cover edition.
——
41 - RED ROBIN 08/2004: Robin #129 -- 45,642 [48,392] 08/2005: Robin #141 -- 28,564 08/2006: Robin #153 -- 36,608 08/2007: Robin #165 -- 25,397 -------------------------------- 08/2008: Robin #176 -- 54,912 (+ 1.9%) 08/2008: Robin #177 -- 31,346 (- 42.9%) 09/2008: Robin #178 -- 32,234 (+ 2.8%) 10/2008: Robin #179 -- 30,081 (- 6.7%) 11/2008: Robin #180 -- 28,399 (- 5.6%) 12/2008: Robin #181 -- 27,891 (- 1.8%) 01/2009: Robin #182 -- 28,684 (+ 2.8%) 02/2009: Robin #183 -- 31,682 (+ 10.5%) 03/2009: -- 04/2009: -- 05/2009: -- 06/2009: Red Robin #1 -- 64,261 (+102.8%) [71,925] 07/2009: Red Robin #2 -- 51,593 (- 19.7%) [54,544] 08/2009: Red Robin #3 -- 50,329 (- 2.5%) ----------------- 6 months: + 58.9% 1 year : + 16.7% 2 years : + 98.2% 5 years : + 10.3%
Red Robin sales have profited quite a bit from the relaunch. Reorders continue to be strong, so it seems the demand is genuine.
—–
43 - JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA 08/2004: JSA #64 -- 41,312 08/2005: JSA #76 -- 51,928 08/2007: Justice Society #8 -- 87,606 --------------------------------------- 08/2008: Justice Society #18 -- 73,485 (- 2.7%) 09/2008: -- 10/2008: Justice Society #19 -- 72,073 (- 1.9%) 11/2008: Justice Society #20 -- 71,355 (- 1.0%) 12/2008: Justice Society #21 -- 69,662 (- 2.4%) 12/2008: Justice Society #22 -- 67,615 (- 2.9%) 01/2009: Justice Society #23 -- 61,385 (- 9.2%) 02/2009: Justice Society #24 -- 65,207 (+ 6.2%) 03/2009: -- 04/2009: Justice Society #25 -- 65,713 (+ 0.8%) 04/2009: Justice Society #26 -- 81,200 (+ 23.6%) 05/2009: Justice Society #27 -- 56,102 (- 30.9%) 06/2009: Justice Society #28 -- 52,673 (- 6.1%) 07/2009: Justice Society #29 -- 51,375 (- 2.5%) 08/2009: Justice Society #30 -- 49,416 (- 3.8%) ---------------- 6 months: -24.2% 1 year : -32.8% 2 years : -43.6% 5 years : +19.6%
Justice Society keeps up its downslide, despite the new creative team. DC’s response, as usual when a property is flagging, is to launch a new spin-off title. Coming soon: JSA All-Stars, because DC Comics wishes you’d demanded it.
—–
46 - BATMAN: STREETS OF GOTHAM 06/2009: Batman: SoG #1 -- 57,650 07/2009: Batman: SoG #2 -- 44,240 (-23.3%) 08/2009: Batman: SoG #3 -- 40,353 (- 8.8%)
Streets of Gotham is the better-selling of the two Batman books by Paul Dini by about 4,000 units. Like Gotham City Sirens (see below), the series is bottoming out much more slowly than Detective Comics or Red Robin, but it’s still doing all right.
—–
49 - SUPERMAN: WORLD OF NEW KRYPTON 03/2009: WoNK #1 of 12 -- 50,050 04/2009: WoNK #2 of 12 -- 44,880 (-10.3%) 05/2009: WoNK #3 of 12 -- 42,153 (- 6.1%) 06/2009: WoNK #4 of 12 -- 41,620 (- 1.3%) 07/2009: WoNK #5 of 12 -- 39,939 (- 4.0%) 08/2009: WoNK #6 of 12 -- 39,218 (- 1.8%)
50 - SUPERMAN 08/2004: Superman #208 -- 129,256 08/2005: Superman #220 -- 61,264 08/2006: Superman #655 -- 66,976 08/2007: Superman #666 -- 53,566 --------------------------------- 08/2008: Superman #679 -- 46,615 (- 2.2%) 09/2008: Superman #680 -- 46,585 (- 0.1%) 10/2008: Superman #681 -- 54,611 (+17.2%) [57,212] 11/2008: Superman #682 -- 55,435 (+ 1.5%) 12/2008: Superman #683 -- 55,287 (- 0.3%) 01/2009: Superman #684 -- 48,489 (-12.3%) 02/2009: Superman #685 -- 48,027 (- 1.0%) 03/2009: Superman #686 -- 44,976 (- 6.4%) 04/2009: Superman #687 -- 43,041 (- 4.3%) 05/2009: Superman #688 -- 41,642 (- 3.3%) 06/2009: Superman #689 -- 40,366 (- 3.1%) 07/2009: Superman #690 -- 39,472 (- 2.2%) 08/2009: Superman #691 -- 39,106 (- 0.9%) ---------------- 6 months: -18.6% 1 year : -16.1% 2 years : -27.0% 5 years : -69.8%
58 - ACTION COMICS 08/2004: Action Comics #818 -- 43,257 08/2005: Action Comics #830 -- 48,469 08/2006: Action Comics #842 -- 57,964 08/2007: Action Comics #853 -- 49,694 08/2007: Action Comics #854 -- 48,455 08/2007: Action Comics #855 -- 55,536 ------------------------------------- 08/2008: Action Comics #868 -- 49,556 (+ 0.4%) 09/2008: Action Comics #869 -- 49,597 (+ 0.1%) 10/2008: Action Comics #870 -- 57,407 (+15.8%) 11/2008: Action Comics #871 -- 58,547 (+ 2.0%) 12/2008: Action Comics #872 -- 57,175 (- 2.3%) 01/2009: Action Comics #873 -- 51,940 (- 9.2%) 02/2009: Action Comics #874 -- 48,360 (- 6.9%) 03/2009: Action Comics #875 -- 47,079 (- 2.7%) 04/2009: Action Comics #876 -- 43,368 (- 7.9%) 05/2009: Action Comics #877 -- 41,772 (- 3.7%) 06/2009: Action Comics #878 -- 40,011 (- 4.2%) 07/2009: Action Comics #879 -- 38,324 (- 4.2%) 08/2009: Action Comics #880 -- 37,588 (- 1.9%) ---------------- 6 months: -22.3% 1 year : -24.2% 2 years : -26.6% 5 years : -13.1%
You wouldn’t know it from the numbers, but Superman: World of New Krypton, Action Comics, Superman and Supergirl were all engaged in a crossover in August. The reaction from retailers is almost total indifference, unless you consider a slighty muted decline a success.
DC has taken steps to address the situation, which on their planet means to publish more Superman books. With Superman Secret Files 2009 #1, Superman Annual #14 and Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen Special #2, there were no less than three one-shot specials by the regular Superman writers on sale in August — see below.
Something’s not quite working here.
—–
53/57/60/62 - WEDNESDAY COMICS 07/2009: Wednesday Comics #1 of 12 -- 47,980 [51,814] 07/2009: Wednesday Comics #2 of 12 -- 42,382 (-11.7%) 07/2009: Wednesday Comics #3 of 12 -- 39,050 (- 7.9%) [42,423] 07/2009: Wednesday Comics #4 of 12 -- 36,143 (- 7.4%) [40,786] 08/2009: Wednesday Comics #5 of 12 -- 38,657 (+ 7.0%) 08/2009: Wednesday Comics #6 of 12 -- 37,803 (- 2.2%) 08/2009: Wednesday Comics #7 of 12 -- 36,783 (- 2.7%) 08/2009: Wednesday Comics #8 of 12 -- 35,970 (- 2.2%)
Sales of the weekly Wednesday Comics remain stable between 35 and 40K, while issues #1, #3 and #4 made the chart again in August. That suggests that the immediate response at the retail level has been encouraging, at least, despite the modest overall numbers.
Again, the book was always going to be an experiment, and with a cover price of $ 3.99 and a format that’s completely different from the usual 32-page pamphlet, the economics involved aren’t the same as usual.
—–
59 - SUPERMAN/BATMAN 08/2004: -- 08/2005: -- 08/2006: Superman/Batman #29 -- 90,665 08/2007: Superman/Batman #39 -- 59,622 --------------------------------------- 08/2008: Superman/Batman #51 -- 51,701 (-15.7%) 09/2008: Superman/Batman #52 -- 50,000 (- 3.3%) 10/2008: Superman/Batman #53 -- 48,187 (- 3.6%) 11/2008: -- 12/2008: Superman/Batman #54 -- 45,968 (- 4.6%) 01/2009: -- 02/2009: Superman/Batman #55 -- 43,962 (- 4.4%) 03/2009: Superman/Batman #56 -- 42,464 (- 3.4%) 04/2009: Superman/Batman #57 -- 41,743 (- 1.7%) 04/2009: Superman/Batman #58 -- 41,000 (- 1.8%) 04/2009: Superman/Batman #59 -- 40,182 (- 2.0%) 05/2009: Superman/Batman #60 -- 39,531 (- 1.6%) 06/2009: Superman/Batman #61 -- 38,228 (- 3.3%) 07/2009: Superman/Batman #62 -- 38,412 (+ 0.5%) 08/2009: Superman/Batman #63 -- 37,467 (- 2.5%) ---------------- 6 months: -14.8% 1 year : -27.5% 2 years : -37.2% 5 years : n.a.
Superman/Batman re-enters its slide after last month’s blip.
—–
61 - GOTHAM CITY SIRENS 08/2004: Birds of Prey #71 -- 32,298 08/2004: Birds of Prey #72 -- 31,835 08/2005: Birds of Prey #85 -- 32,076 08/2006: Birds of Prey #97 -- 31,578 08/2007: Birds of Prey #109 -- 28,268 ------------------------------------- 08/2008: Birds of Prey #121 -- 22,406 (+ 3.9%) 09/2008: Birds of Prey #122 -- 21,318 (- 4.9%) 10/2008: Birds of Prey #123 -- 21,110 (- 1.0%) 11/2008: Birds of Prey #124 -- 20,959 (- 0.7%) 12/2008: Birds of Prey #125 -- 20,161 (- 3.8%) 01/2009: Birds of Prey #126 -- 20,772 (+ 3.0%) 02/2009: Birds of Prey #127 -- 21,424 (+ 3.1%) 03/2009: Oracle #1 of 3 -- 34,081 (+59.1%) 04/2009: Oracle #2 of 3 -- 33,731 (- 1.0%) 05/2009: Oracle #3 of 3 -- 35,328 (+ 4.7%) 06/2009: GC Sirens #1 -- 52,439 (+48.4%) 07/2009: GC Sirens #2 -- 39,518 (-24.6%) 08/2009: GC Sirens #3 -- 36,772 (- 7.0%) ----------------- 6 months: + 71.6% 1 year : + 64.1% 2 years : + 30.1% 5 years : + 14.7%
Gotham City Sirens numbers are not in a hurry to find their level.
—–
64 - SUPERGIRL 08/2005: Supergirl #1 -- 123,370 [165,579] 08/2006: Supergirl #9 -- 74,252 08/2007: Supergirl #20 -- 46,862 --------------------------------- 08/2008: Supergirl #32 -- 28,114 (- 2.4%) 09/2008: Supergirl #33 -- 27,609 (- 1.8%) 10/2008: Supergirl #34 -- 33,958 (+23.0%) 11/2008: Supergirl #35 -- 45,518 (+34.0%) 12/2008: Supergirl #36 -- 45,491 (- 0.1%) 01/2009: Supergirl #37 -- 34,060 (-25.1%) 02/2009: Supergirl #38 -- 34,225 (+ 0.5%) 03/2009: Supergirl #39 -- 33,713 (- 1.5%) 04/2009: Supergirl #40 -- 34,080 (+ 1.1%) 05/2009: Supergirl #41 -- 33,441 (- 1.9%) 06/2009: Supergirl #42 -- 32,705 (- 2.2%) 07/2009: Supergirl #43 -- 32,849 (+ 0.4%) 08/2009: Supergirl #44 -- 33,819 (+ 3.0%) ---------------- 6 months: - 1.2% 1 year : +20.3% 2 years : -27.8%
Once again, Supergirl is the only series in the Superman line that profits from the crossover of the month.
—–
68 - SUPERMAN ANNUAL 08/2009: Superman Annual #14 -- 32,258
The best-selling of the various Superman-related one-shots in August sold well below the regular titles.
—–
69 - POWER GIRL 05/2009: Power Girl #1 -- 47,322 06/2009: Power Girl #2 -- 36,756 (-22.3%) 07/2009: Power Girl #3 -- 35,163 (- 4.3%) 08/2009: Power Girl #4 -- 32,140 (- 8.6%)
The third-issue drop was smoothed by a 1-for-10 variant-cover edition, which required retailers to order more copies than the 50/50 variant editions of the first two issues did.
In August, Power Girl were also boosted with a 1-for-10 edition, and this time — things being equal with the previous issues — the result is the larger drop that we’d otherwise have seen for issue #3.
Overall, the numbers are still decent enough for a second-tier property like Power Girl, though.
—–
71 - TITANS 08/2008: -- 09/2008: Titans #4 -- 51,755 (- 5.1%) 09/2008: Titans #5 -- 49,959 (- 3.5%) 10/2008: Titans #6 -- 45,453 (- 9.0%) 11/2008: Titans #7 -- 41,507 (- 8.7%) 12/2008: Titans #8 -- 39,154 (- 5.7%) 01/2009: Titans #9 -- 37,693 (- 3.7%) 02/2009: Titans #10 -- 36,361 (- 3.5%) 03/2009: Titans #11 -- 35,240 (- 3.1%) 04/2009: Titans #12 -- 36,014 (+ 2.2%) 05/2009: Titans #13 -- 34,343 (- 4.6%) 06/2009: Titans #14 -- 32,321 (- 5.9%) 07/2009: Titans #15 -- 46,189 (+42.9%) 08/2009: Titans #16 -- 31,408 (-32.0%) ---------------- 6 months: -13.6% 1 year : n.a.
72 - TEEN TITANS 08/2004: Teen Titans #14 -- 63,894 08/2005: Teen Titans #27 -- 74,782 [75,996] 08/2006: Teen Titans #38 -- 69,232 08/2007: Teen Titans #50 -- 69,620 ---------------------------------- 08/2008: Teen Titans #62 -- 43,258 (- 3.2%) 09/2008: Teen Titans #63 -- 41,790 (- 3.4%) 10/2008: Teen Titans #64 -- 39,695 (- 5.0%) 11/2008: Teen Titans #65 -- 37,880 (- 4.6%) 12/2008: Teen Titans #66 -- 36,808 (- 2.8%) 01/2009: Teen Titans #67 -- 35,877 (- 2.5%) 02/2009: Teen Titans #68 -- 35,096 (- 2.2%) 03/2009: -- 04/2009: Teen Titans #69 -- 35,375 (+ 0.8%) 04/2009: Teen Titans #70 -- 35,412 (+ 0.1%) 05/2009: Teen Titans #71 -- 34,110 (- 3.7%) 06/2009: Teen Titans #72 -- 32,512 (- 4.7%) 07/2009: Teen Titans #73 -- 30,990 (- 4.7%) 08/2009: Teen Titans #74 -- 30,380 (- 2.0%) ---------------- 6 months: -13.4% 1 year : -29.8% 2 years : -56.4% 5 years : -52.5%
Sales of both Titans books keep dropping at an alarming rate.
Meanwhile, another regular creative team for Titans has been announced, while the latest supposedly regular writer on Teen Titans evidently lasted two issues before somebody else replaced her for the book’s “Blackest Night” tie-in stories. Don’t ask me how many allegedly regular or fill-in creative teams have worked on these two books in the last six months — I stopped counting at ten. I’m rather skeptical whether this kind of jittery revolving-door management is likely to stabilize the numbers.
Let’s be honest: The Titans franchise is a mess. It’s in dire need of some creative stability. And, for that matter, a demonstration why anyone thought it was capable of supporting more than one title.
—–
74 - WONDER WOMAN 08/2004: Wonder Woman #207 -- 27,187 08/2005: Wonder Woman #220 -- 38,370 [51,212] 08/2006: Wonder Woman #2 -- 84,618 [87,276] 08/2007: Wonder Woman #12 -- 50,880 ------------------------------------- 08/2008: Wonder Woman #23 -- 35,562 (- 2.6%) 09/2008: Wonder Woman #24 -- 34,583 (- 2.8%) 10/2008: Wonder Woman #25 -- 33,583 (- 2.9%) 11/2008: Wonder Woman #26 -- 33,277 (- 0.9%) 12/2008: Wonder Woman #27 -- 32,322 (- 2.9%) 01/2009: Wonder Woman #28 -- 32,622 (+ 0.9%) 02/2009: Wonder Woman #29 -- 33,237 (+ 1.9%) 03/2009: Wonder Woman #30 -- 33,365 (+ 0.4%) 04/2009: Wonder Woman #31 -- 31,857 (- 4.5%) 05/2009: Wonder Woman #32 -- 33,065 (+ 3.8%) 06/2009: Wonder Woman #33 -- 32,755 (- 0.9%) 07/2009: Wonder Woman #34 -- 30,131 (- 8.0%) 08/2009: Wonder Woman #35 -- 29,657 (- 1.6%) ---------------- 6 months: -10.8% 1 year : -16.6% 2 years : -41.7% 5 years : + 9.1%
With no more variant editions to bolster the numbers, Wonder Woman is back in a slow decline.
—–
75 - DOOM PATROL 08/2004: Doom Patrol #3 -- 28,098 08/2005: Doom Patrol #15 -- 14,547 ---------------------------------- 08/2009: Doom Patrol #1 -- 28,267 ---------------- 5 years : + 0.6%
The latest stab at Doom Patrol comes from writer Keith Giffen and artist Matthew Clark. The book also includes a “Metal Men” back-up strip by Giffen, J. M. DeMatteis and Kevin Maguire.
As you can see, the comparison with the last attempt five years ago doesn’t make the new series look good. When issue #1 of the John Byrne version came out in June 2004, it sold an estimated 39,309 units — more than 10,000 more than its new counterpart, despite the fact that sales are boosted through a 1-for-10 variant edition this time around. That previous volume was cancelled at issue #18, so the book is in for an uphill struggle.
—–
88 - SECRET SIX 09/2008: Secret Six #1 -- 31,673 (-10.8%) 10/2008: Secret Six #2 -- 27,846 (-12.1%) 11/2008: Secret Six #3 -- 26,053 (- 6.4%) 12/2008: Secret Six #4 -- 24,657 (- 5.4%) 01/2009: Secret Six #5 -- 24,899 (+ 1.0%) 02/2009: Secret Six #6 -- 24,758 (- 0.6%) 03/2009: Secret Six #7 -- 24,365 (- 1.6%) 04/2009: Secret Six #8 -- 24,338 (- 0.1%) 05/2009: Secret Six #9 -- 27,116 (+11.4%) 06/2009: Secret Six #10 -- 24,272 (-10.5%) 07/2009: Secret Six #11 -- 24,357 (+ 0.4%) 08/2009: Secret Six #12 -- 24,161 (- 0.8%) ---------------- 6 months: - 2.4%
Secret Six keeps sticking to 24,000. The book has been rock-solid over the last eight months.
—–
90 - THE OUTSIDERS 08/2004: -- 08/2005: Outsiders #27 -- 44,021 08/2006: Outsiders #39 -- 40,524 08/2007: FoaK #1 of 5 -- 36,565 08/2007: FoaK #2 of 5 -- 35,087 08/2007: FoaK #3 of 5 -- 34,702 08/2007: FoaK #4 of 5 -- 34,125 08/2007: FoaK #5 of 5 -- 33,694 -------------------------------- 08/2008: Batsiders #10 -- 33,645 (- 2.2%) 09/2008: Batsiders #11 -- 49,945 (+48.5%) 10/2008: Batsiders #12 -- 46,649 (- 6.6%) 11/2008: Batsiders #13 -- 42,939 (- 8.0%) 12/2008: Batsiders #14 -- 32,163 (-25.1%) 01/2009: -- 02/2009: Special #1 -- 35,727 (+11.1%) 02/2009: Outsiders #15 -- 30,024 (-16.0%) 03/2009: Outsiders #16 -- 27,977 (- 6.8%) 04/2009: Outsiders #17 -- 27,171 (- 2.9%) 05/2009: Outsiders #18 -- 25,995 (- 4.3%) 06/2009: Outsiders #19 -- 27,485 (+ 5.7%) 07/2009: Outsiders #20 -- 24,323 (-11.5%) 08/2009: Outsiders #21 -- 23,856 (- 1.9%) ---------------- 6 months: -27.4% 1 year : -29.1% 2 years : -31.5% 5 years : n.a.
Sales on The Outsiders keep slipping.
—–
92 - SUPERMAN SECRET FILES 2009 08/2009: Secret Files 2009 #1 -- 23,373
Another Superman one-shot that ties in with current storylines, but sells way below the monthly titles.
—–
94 - JSA VS. KOBRA 06/2009: JSA Vs. Kobra #1 of 6 -- 32,237 07/2009: JSA Vs. Kobra #2 of 6 -- 25,591 (-20.6%) 08/2009: JSA Vs. Kobra #3 of 6 -- 22,806 (-10.9%)
Sales are dropping very stiffly for a miniseries. Then again, I was surprised to see the book start out above 30K to begin with; things could be a lot worse.
—–
96 - BOOSTER GOLD 08/2007: Booster Gold #1 -- 53,689 [57,811] ----------------------------------- 08/2008: Booster Gold #11 -- 32,900 (- 4.5%) 09/2008: Booster Gold #12 -- 32,049 (- 2.6%) 10/2008: Booster Gold #13 -- 29,914 (- 6.7%) 11/2008: Booster Gold #14 -- 28,260 (- 5.5%) 12/2008: Booster Gold #15 -- 26,835 (- 5.0%) 01/2009: Booster Gold #16 -- 25,472 (- 5.1%) 02/2009: Booster Gold #17 -- 24,732 (- 2.9%) 03/2009: Booster Gold #18 -- 23,737 (- 4.0%) 04/2009: Booster Gold #19 -- 23,203 (- 2.3%) 05/2009: Booster Gold #20 -- 22,549 (- 2.8%) 06/2009: Booster Gold #21 -- 23,222 (+ 3.0%) 07/2009: Booster Gold #22 -- 22,414 (- 3.5%) 08/2009: Booster Gold #23 -- 22,108 (- 1.4%) ---------------- 6 months: -10.6% 1 year : -32.8% 2 years : -58.8%
That’s a standard decline.
—–
99 - FABLES (Vertigo) 08/2004: Fables #28 -- 25,076 08/2005: Fables #40 -- 24,952 08/2006: Fables #52 -- 25,378 08/2007: Fables #64 -- 25,498 ----------------------------- 08/2008: -- 09/2008: Fables #75 -- 25,266 (+4.6%) 09/2008: Fables #76 -- 23,914 (-5.4%) 10/2008: Fables #77 -- 23,761 (-0.6%) 11/2008: Fables #78 -- 23,345 (-1.8%) 12/2008: Fables #79 -- 22,769 (-2.5%) 01/2009: Fables #80 -- 22,617 (-0.7%) 02/2009: Fables #81 -- 22,517 (-0.4%) 03/2009: Fables #82 -- 22,445 (-0.3%) 04/2009: Fables #83 -- 23,630 (+5.3%) 05/2009: Fables #84 -- 23,634 (+0.0%) 06/2009: Fables #85 -- 23,439 (-0.8%) 07/2009: Fables #86 -- 22,447 (-4.2%) 08/2009: Fables #87 -- 21,876 (-2.5%) ---------------- 6 months: - 2.9% 1 year : n.a. 2 years : -14.2% 5 years : -12.8%
The numbers of Vertigo’s best-selling periodical have been slipping unusually fast with the last two issues.
On the other hand, first-month direct-market sales of Fables paperback collections remain strong. Fables, Vol. 12: The Dark Ages, which came out in August, was the second-best-selling book on Diamond’s Graphic Novel chart, with an estimated 12,491 units sold in its first calendar month. (The best-selling title was The Walking Dead, Vol. 10, which sold an estimated 15,643 units.)
—–
106/111/112/114 - RED CIRCLE 08/2009: The Hangman #1 -- 20,295 08/2009: Inferno #1 -- 19,621 08/2009: The Web #1 -- 19,535 08/2009: The Shield #1 -- 19,088
107 - THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD 08/2007: The Brave and the Bold #6 -- 52,011 --------------------------------------------- 08/2008: The Brave and the Bold #16 -- 31,522 (- 3.6%) 09/2008: The Brave and the Bold #17 -- 29,857 (- 5.3%) 10/2008: The Brave and the Bold #18 -- 28,199 (- 5.5%) 11/2008: The Brave and the Bold #19 -- 26,407 (- 6.4%) 12/2008: The Brave and the Bold #20 -- 25,050 (- 5.1%) 01/2009: The Brave and the Bold #21 -- 24,375 (- 2.7%) 02/2009: The Brave and the Bold #22 -- 23,507 (- 3.6%) 03/2009: -- 04/2009: -- 05/2009: The Brave and the Bold #23 -- 22,312 (- 5.1%) 06/2009: The Brave and the Bold #24 -- 21,272 (- 4.7%) 07/2009: The Brave and the Bold #25 -- 21,234 (- 0.2%) 08/2009: The Brave and the Bold #26 -- 20,154 (- 5.1%) ---------------- 6 months: -14.3% 1 year : -36.1% 2 years : -61.3%
Well, how’s that.
The four Red Circle one-shots that mark J. Michael Straczynski’s arrival at DC not only sell abysmally in their own right, but three of them are actually outsold by the title he will be taking over next month.
Suffice it to say, this doesn’t look good.
We know from Straczynski’s Marvel work that his name alone doesn’t guarantee astronomical sales. His creator-owned Marvel/Icon series The Book of Lost Souls started out with estimated sales of 24,365 in October 2005 and dropped to 10,627 units with its sixth issue in April 2006. The Twelve, a maxiseries starring a group of obscure Golden-Age heroes, launched with 35,656 units in January 2008 and — though a very solid performer through its run — was down to 27,585 with its most recent, seventh issue in August 2008.
When Straczynski and big-name artist Olivier Coipel relaunched Thor in July 2007, on the other hand, the debut issue sold an estimated 165,325 units in its first calendar month — a spectacular number. The most recent issue, June 2009’s #602, still managed to shift 69,598 copies, which is a far cry from the book’s early success, but still impressive compared with the last few years of the previous Thor series.
So, knowing all that, it seems pretty clear that while Straczynski’s name does sell books, you’re unlikely to get the most out of it unless it’s a reasonably high-profile project. The terrible sales on the Red Circle one-shots, consequently, can’t come as a great surprise to anyone. For Straczynski’s run on The Brave and the Bold, which commences with September’s issue #27, none of this bodes well.
Nor, for that matter, is it a particularly good sign for The Web and The Shield, two ongoing series spun out of these four one-shots. And they’re written by people who are, in commercial terms, emphatically not J. Michael Straczynski. Take a look at the above numbers and make an educated guess about what the sales figures for those books are going to be like.
—–
113 - GREEN ARROW & BLACK CANARY 08/2004: Green Arrow #41 -- 32,269 08/2005: Green Arrow #53 -- 32,474 08/2006: Green Arrow #65 -- 35,705 08/2007: Year One #3 of 6 -- 32,971 08/2007: Year One #4 of 6 -- 31,885 ----------------------------------- 08/2008: Arrow/Canary #11 -- 28,694 (- 3.1%) 09/2008: Arrow/Canary #12 -- 27,896 (- 2.8%) 10/2008: Arrow/Canary #13 -- 26,890 (- 3.6%) 11/2008: Arrow/Canary #14 -- 25,599 (- 4.8%) 12/2008: Arrow/Canary #15 -- 24,526 (- 4.2%) 01/2009: Arrow/Canary #16 -- 24,419 (- 0.4%) 02/2009: Arrow/Canary #17 -- 23,392 (- 4.2%) 03/2009: Arrow/Canary #18 -- 22,699 (- 3.0%) 04/2009: Arrow/Canary #19 -- 21,933 (- 3.4%) 05/2009: Arrow/Canary #20 -- 21,445 (- 2.2%) 06/2009: Arrow/Canary #21 -- 20,807 (- 3.0%) 07/2009: Arrow&Canary #22 -- 20,571 (- 1.1%) 08/2009: Arrow&Canary #23 -- 19,452 (- 5.4%) ---------------- 6 months: -16.8% 1 year : -32.2% 2 years : -40.0% 5 years : -39.7%
Despite the new format, which includes a new “Black Canary” back-up strip, more pages and a higher price point of $ 3.99, Green Arrow & Black Canary keeps slipping down the charts.
—–
118 - BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL 08/2007: Batman Confidential #8 -- 30,077 ------------------------------------------ 08/2008: Batman Confidential #20 -- 24,654 (- 1.5%) 09/2008: Batman Confidential #21 -- 24,515 (- 0.6%) 10/2008: Batman Confidential #22 -- 24,281 (- 1.0%) 11/2008: Batman Confidential #23 -- 22,909 (- 5.7%) 12/2008: Batman Confidential #24 -- 21,470 (- 6.3%) 01/2009: Batman Confidential #25 -- 20,517 (- 4.4%) 02/2009: Batman Confidential #26 -- 20,134 (- 1.9%) 03/2009: Batman Confidential #27 -- 19,934 (- 1.0%) 04/2009: Batman Confidential #28 -- 19,540 (- 2.0%) 05/2009: Batman Confidential #29 -- 18,867 (- 3.4%) 06/2009: Batman Confidential #30 -- 18,443 (- 2.3%) 07/2009: Batman Confidential #31 -- 19,225 (+ 4.2%) 08/2009: Batman Confidential #32 -- 18,545 (- 3.5%) ---------------- 6 months: - 7.9% 1 year : -24.8% 2 years : -38.3%
Sales are back in decline after the brief increase for the start of the Peter Milligan arc.
—–
125 - SUPERMAN'S PAL, JIMMY OLSEN SPECIAL 10/2008: Jimmy Olsen Special #1 -- 31,993 08/2009: Jimmy Olsen Special #2 -- 17,051 (-46.7%)
The third Superman-related one-shot in August. Not good sales, obviously.
—–
130 - THE UNWRITTEN (Vertigo) 05/2009: The Unwritten #1 -- 26,915 [31,081] 06/2009: The Unwritten #2 -- 16,290 (-39.5%) 07/2009: The Unwritten #3 -- 17,028 (+ 4.5%) 08/2009: The Unwritten #4 -- 16,336 (- 4.1%)
So far, so good. Sales are sticking to the 16K mark, so it’s obvious that the idea of selling the first issue for a buck helped, at least. Whether the practice is a viable publishing strategy remains to be seen.
—–
138 - ASTRO CITY: THE DARK AGE (WildStorm) 08/2004: Astro City Special -- 27,982 ---------------------------------------------- 06/2005: The Dark Age/Book 1 #1 of 4 -- 32,690 07/2005: The Dark Age/Book 1 #2 of 4 -- 29,721 08/2005: The Dark Age/Book 1 #3 of 4 -- 28,152 10/2005: The Dark Age/Book 1 #4 of 4 -- 27,367 ---------------------------------------------- 11/2006: The Dark Age/Book 2 #1 of 4 -- 26,993 02/2007: The Dark Age/Book 2 #2 of 4 -- 23,412 04/2007: The Dark Age/Book 2 #3 of 4 -- 22,727 09/2007: The Dark Age/Book 2 #4 of 4 -- 19,764 ---------------------------------------------- 05/2009: The Dark Age/Book 3 #1 of 4 -- 18,281 (- 7.5%) 06/2009: The Dark Age/Book 3 #2 of 4 -- 16,405 (-10.3%) 07/2009: The Dark Age/Book 3 #3 of 4 -- 15,291 (- 6.8%) 08/2009: The Dark Age/Book 3 #4 of 4 -- 14,684 (- 4.0%) ---------------- 2 years : n.a. 5 years : -47.5%
Astro City has lost a truckload of readers over the last five years, at least as a periodical. Nonetheless, it’s WildStorm’s best-selling comic book in August.
—–
140 - JACK OF FABLES (Vertigo) 08/2006: Jack of Fables #2 -- 23,554 08/2007: Jack of Fables #13 -- 19,187 ------------------------------------- 08/2008: Jack of Fables #24 -- 15,953 (- 1.2%) 08/2008: Jack of Fables #25 -- 15,642 (- 2.0%) 09/2008: Jack of Fables #26 -- 15,471 (- 1.1%) 10/2008: Jack of Fables #27 -- 15,092 (- 2.5%) 11/2008: Jack of Fables #28 -- 14,528 (- 3.7%) 12/2008: Jack of Fables #29 -- 14,151 (- 2.6%) 01/2009: Jack of Fables #30 -- 13,746 (- 2.9%) 02/2009: Jack of Fables #31 -- 13,586 (- 1.2%) 03/2009: Jack of Fables #32 -- 13,595 (+ 0.1%) 04/2009: Jack of Fables #33 -- 19,242 (+41.5%) 05/2009: Jack of Fables #34 -- 19,420 (+ 0.9%) 06/2009: Jack of Fables #35 -- 19,571 (+ 0.8%) 07/2009: Jack of Fables #36 -- 15,256 (-22.1%) 08/2009: Jack of Fables #37 -- 14,508 (- 4.9%) ---------------- 6 months: + 6.8% 1 year : - 8.2% 2 years : -24.4%
Sales are still solidly above the book’s pre-“Great Fables Crossover” level from March.
—–
143 - FINAL CRISIS AFTERMATH: RUN 05/2009: Run #1 of 6 -- 29,065 06/2009: Run #2 of 6 -- 21,429 (-26.3%) 07/2009: Run #3 of 6 -- 16,212 (-24.4%) 08/2009: Run #4 of 6 -- 13,738 (-15.3%)
152 - FINAL CRISIS AFTERMATH: ESCAPE 05/2009: Escape #1 of 6 -- 29,065 06/2009: Escape #2 of 6 -- 20,576 (-29.2%) 07/2009: Escape #3 of 6 -- 15,294 (-25.7%) 08/2009: Escape #4 of 6 -- 12,950 (-15.3%)
158 - FINAL CRISIS AFTERMATH: DANCE 05/2009: Dance #1 of 6 -- 27,491 06/2009: Dance #2 of 6 -- 19,420 (-29.4%) 07/2009: Dance #3 of 6 -- 14,505 (-25.3%) 08/2009: Dance #4 of 6 -- 12,294 (-15.2%)
161 - FINAL CRISIS AFTERMATH: INK 05/2009: Ink #1 of 6 -- 25,479 06/2009: Ink #2 of 6 -- 17,964 (-29.5%) 07/2009: Ink #3 of 6 -- 13,643 (-24.1%) 08/2009: Ink #4 of 6 -- 11,837 (-13.2%)
Drops for all for Final Crisis: Aftermath books are still deep in the double digits.
—–
144 - SOLOMON GRUNDY 01/2009: Faces of Evil: Grundy #1 -- 27,093 02/2009: -- 03/2009: Solomon Grundy #1 of 7 -- 23,175 (-14.5%) 04/2009: Solomon Grundy #2 of 7 -- 18,516 (-20.1%) 05/2009: Solomon Grundy #3 of 7 -- 16,482 (-11.0%) 06/2009: Solomon Grundy #4 of 7 -- 15,167 (- 8.0%) 07/2009: Solomon Grundy #5 of 7 -- 14,043 (- 7.4%) 08/2009: Solomon Grundy #6 of 7 -- 13,505 (- 3.8%)
The numbers are levelling out in time for the final issue.
—–
154 - EX MACHINA (WildStorm) 08/2004: Ex Machina #3 -- 21,621 [24,492] 08/2005: Ex Machina #14 -- 21,134 08/2006: Ex Machina #22 -- 20,079 08/2007: -- --------------------------------- 08/2008: -- 09/2008: Ex Machina #38 -- 14,973 (+ 0.4%) 10/2008: -- 11/2008: Ex Machina #39 -- 14,194 (- 5.2%) 12/2008: Ex Machina #40 -- 14,067 (- 0.9%) 01/2009: -- 02/2009: -- 03/2009: -- 04/2009: Ex Machina #41 -- 13,526 (- 3.9%) 05/2009: Ex Machina #42 -- 13,403 (- 0.9%) 06/2009: Ex Machina #43 -- 13,204 (- 1.5%) 07/2009: -- 08/2009: Ex Machina #44 -- 12,796 (- 3.1%) ---------------- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : n.a. 2 years : n.a. 5 years : -40.8%
Ex Machina hasn’t shed quite as many units as a periodical as Astro City over the last five years, but it’s close enough. Still, it’s one of only three WildStorm serials that sell above 10K, at this point, and there’s nothing to replace it once it completes its run with issue #50.
—–
156 - THE LAST DAYS OF ANIMAL MAN 05/2009: TLDoAM #1 of 6 -- 18,976 06/2009: TLDoAM #2 of 6 -- 14,469 (-23.8%) 07/2009: TLDoAM #3 of 6 -- 12,998 (-10.2%) 08/2009: TLDoAM #4 of 6 -- 12,510 (- 3.8%)
Bottoming out, evidently.
—–
157 - JONAH HEX 08/2006: Jonah Hex #10 -- 19,772 08/2007: Jonah Hex #22 -- 15,362 -------------------------------- 08/2008: Jonah Hex #34 -- 12,969 (- 9.2%) 09/2008: Jonah Hex #35 -- 13,231 (+ 2.0%) 10/2008: Jonah Hex #36 -- 12,629 (- 4.6%) 11/2008: Jonah Hex #37 -- 12,537 (- 0.7%) 12/2008: Jonah Hex #38 -- 12,132 (- 3.2%) 01/2009: Jonah Hex #39 -- 11,705 (- 3.5%) 02/2009: Jonah Hex #40 -- 11,631 (- 0.6%) 03/2009: Jonah Hex #41 -- 11,564 (- 0.6%) 04/2009: Jonah Hex #42 -- 11,551 (- 0.1%) 05/2009: Jonah Hex #43 -- 11,606 (+ 0.5%) 06/2009: Jonah Hex #44 -- 11,592 (- 0.1%) 07/2009: Jonah Hex #45 -- 12,588 (+ 8.6%) 08/2009: Jonah Hex #46 -- 12,466 (- 1.0%) ---------------- 6 months: + 7.2% 1 year : - 3.9% 2 years : -18.9%
Curiously, Jonah Hex is back in a slow decline, but holds on to the odd boost from July.
—–
159 - WORLD OF WARCRAFT (WildStorm) 08/2008: World of WarCraft #10 -- 20,883 (- 6.0%) 09/2008: World of WarCraft #11 -- 19,331 (- 7.4%) 10/2008: World of WarCraft #12 -- 18,200 (- 5.9%) 11/2008: World of WarCraft #13 -- 17,017 (- 6.5%) 12/2008: World of WarCraft #14 -- 16,058 (- 5.6%) 01/2009: World of WarCraft #15 -- 14,996 (- 6.6%) 02/2009: World of WarCraft #16 -- 14,177 (- 5.5%) 03/2009: World of WarCraft #17 -- 13,614 (- 4.0%) 04/2009: World of WarCraft #18 -- 13,110 (- 3.7%) 05/2009: World of WarCraft #19 -- 12,536 (- 4.4%) 06/2009: World of WarCraft #20 -- 12,274 (- 2.1%) 07/2009: World of WarCraft #21 -- 12,656 (+ 3.1%) 08/2009: World of WarCraft #22 -- 12,131 (- 4.2%) ---------------- 6 months: -14.4% 1 year : -41.9%
The series is cancelled with issue #25, evidently, although the advertising copy for a subsequent one-shot special suggests that there will be more World of WarCraft comics from WildStorm.
—–
160 - GREEK STREET (Vertigo) 07/2009: Greek Street #1 -- 20,422 08/2009: Greek Street #2 -- 11,996 (-41.3%)
Although the debut numbers for Greek Street were much lower to begin with than those for The Unwritten, the drop between the $ 1 debut and the regular-priced second issue is comparable between the two series. Let’s wait and see where sales end up a few months down the line.
—–
164 - R.E.B.E.L.S. 02/2009: R.E.B.E.L.S. #1 -- 23,739 03/2009: R.E.B.E.L.S. #2 -- 16,122 (-32.1%) 04/2009: R.E.B.E.L.S. #3 -- 14,442 (-10.4%) 05/2009: R.E.B.E.L.S. #4 -- 13,468 (- 6.7%) 06/2009: R.E.B.E.L.S. #5 -- 12,909 (- 4.2%) 07/2009: R.E.B.E.L.S. #6 -- 12,349 (- 4.3%) 08/2009: R.E.B.E.L.S. #7 -- 11,682 (- 5.4%) ---------------- 6 months: -50.8%
That’s a horrible six-month drop. Unless the book profits disproportionately well from its upcoming “Blackest Night” tie-in issues, I don’t see R.E.B.E.L.S. surviving its first year.
—–
167 - HOUSE OF MYSTERY (Vertigo) 08/2008: House of Mystery #4 -- 17,569 (- 4.6%) 09/2008: House of Mystery #5 -- 16,721 (- 4.8%) 10/2008: House of Mystery #6 -- 15,934 (- 4.7%) 11/2008: House of Mystery #7 -- 15,120 (- 5.1%) 12/2008: House of Mystery #8 -- 14,273 (- 5.6%) 01/2009: House of Mystery #9 -- 13,739 (- 3.7%) 02/2009: House of Mystery #10 -- 13,098 (- 4.7%) 03/2009: House of Mystery #11 -- 12,785 (- 2.4%) 04/2009: House of Mystery #12 -- 12,636 (- 1.2%) 05/2009: House of Mystery #13 -- 14,358 (+13.6%) 06/2009: House of Mystery #14 -- 12,039 (-16.2%) 07/2009: House of Mystery #15 -- 11,809 (- 1.9%) 08/2009: House of Mystery #16 -- 11,572 (- 2.0%) ---------------- 6 months: -11.7% 1 year : -34.1%
Standard attrition.
—–
177 - WARLORD 08/2006: Warlord #7 -- 13,553 ------------------------------ 04/2009: Warlord #1 -- 17,540 05/2009: Warlord #2 -- 13,390 (-23.7%) 06/2009: Warlord #3 -- 12,283 (- 8.3%) 07/2009: Warlord #4 -- 11,445 (- 6.8%) 08/2009: Warlord #5 -- 10,790 (- 5.7%)
Warlord keeps drifting off the radar; another problem child.
—–
178 - HELLBLAZER (Vertigo) 08/2004: Hellblazer #199 -- 14,768 08/2005: Hellblazer #211 -- 14,727 08/2006: Hellblazer #223 -- 13,956 08/2007: Hellblazer #234 -- 13,214 08/2007: Hellblazer #235 -- 13,153 ---------------------------------- 08/2008: -- 09/2008: Hellblazer #247 -- 11,851 (-2.0%) 10/2008: Hellblazer #248 -- 11,600 (-2.1%) 11/2008: Hellblazer #249 -- 11,445 (-1.3%) 12/2008: Hellblazer #250 -- 12,478 (+9.0%) 01/2009: Hellblazer #251 -- 11,290 (-9.5%) 02/2009: Hellblazer #252 -- 11,174 (-1.0%) 03/2009: Hellblazer #253 -- 11,132 (-0.4%) 04/2009: Hellblazer #254 -- 11,053 (-0.7%) 05/2009: Hellblazer #255 -- 10,937 (-1.1%) 06/2009: Hellblazer #256 -- 10,898 (-0.4%) 07/2009: Hellblazer #257 -- 10,762 (-1.3%) 08/2009: Hellblazer #258 -- 10,665 (-0.9%) ---------------- 6 months: - 4.6% 1 year : n.a. 2 years : -19.1% 5 years : -27.8%
Hellblazer continues to drop marginally, month for month for month, for month.
—–
181 - STRANGE ADVENTURES 03/2009: Strange Adventures #1 of 8 -- 22,820 04/2009: Strange Adventures #2 of 8 -- 14,499 (-36.5%) 05/2009: Strange Adventures #3 of 8 -- 12,515 (-13.7%) 06/2009: Strange Adventures #4 of 8 -- 11,441 (- 8.6%) 07/2009: Strange Adventures #5 of 8 -- 10,758 (- 6.0%) 08/2009: Strange Adventures #6 of 8 -- 10,316 (- 4.1%)
The numbers are bottoming out, but it’s obvious that people aren’t looking for more of this.
—–
183 - MADAME XANADU (Vertigo) 08/2008: Madame Xanadu #3 -- 13,052 (- 3.3%) 09/2008: Madame Xanadu #4 -- 12,329 (- 5.5%) 10/2008: Madame Xanadu #5 -- 11,392 (- 7.6%) 11/2008: Madame Xanadu #6 -- 12,340 (+ 8.3%) 12/2008: Madame Xanadu #7 -- 10,272 (-16.8%) 01/2009: -- 02/2009: Madame Xanadu #8 -- 9,932 (- 3.3%) 03/2009: Madame Xanadu #9 -- 9,798 (- 1.4%) 04/2009: Madame Xanadu #10 -- 9,664 (- 1.4%) 05/2009: Madame Xanadu #11 -- 10,179 (+ 5.3%) 06/2009: Madame Xanadu #12 -- 9,949 (- 2.3%) 07/2009: Madame Xanadu #13 -- 10,009 (+ 0.6%) 08/2009: Madame Xanadu #14 -- 9,873 (- 1.4%) ---------------- 6 months: - 0.6% 1 year : -24.4%
Madame Xanadu still profits from the boost it received at the beginning of Michael Wm. Kaluta’s guest arc.
—–
189 - THE AUTHORITY (WildStorm) 08/2004: The Authority v2 #14 -- 20,327 08/2005: Revolution #11 of 12 -- 18,823 08/2007: -- --------------------------------------- 08/2008: The Authority v4 #1 -- 15,735 (+17.7%) 09/2008: The Authority v4 #2 -- 14,324 (- 9.0%) 10/2008: The Authority v4 #3 -- 13,408 (- 6.4%) 11/2008: The Authority v4 #4 -- 12,450 (- 7.2%) 12/2008: The Authority v4 #5 -- 11,534 (- 7.4%) 01/2009: The Authority v4 #6 -- 10,673 (- 7.5%) 02/2009: The Authority v4 #7 -- 10,553 (- 1.1%) 03/2009: The Authority v4 #8 -- 9,990 (- 5.3%) 04/2009: The Authority v4 #9 -- 9,748 (- 2.4%) 05/2009: The Authority v4 #10 -- 9,531 (- 2.2%) 06/2009: The Authority v4 #11 -- 9,204 (- 3.4%) 07/2009: The Authority v4 #12 -- 8,918 (- 3.1%) 08/2009: The Authority v4 #13 -- 8,648 (- 3.0%) ---------------- 6 months: -18.1% 1 year : -45.0% 2 years : n.a. 5 years : -57.5%
The highest-selling title in the WildStorm Universe line. Ten years ago, that line was the cutting edge in superhero comics, but it no longer serves a purpose in today’s market that’s not already covered by Marvel and DC proper. The line has effectively been neutered by DC over the last ten years; it’s become expendable as a creative outlet, and the sales figures are merely a reflection of the fact.
—–
192 - TINY TITANS (Johnny DC) 08/2008: Tiny Titans #7 -- 10,234 (- 3.8%) 09/2008: Tiny Titans #8 -- 9,795 (- 4.3%) 10/2008: Tiny Titans #9 -- 9,521 (- 2.8%) 11/2008: Tiny Titans #10 -- 9,239 (- 3.0%) 12/2008: Tiny Titans #11 -- 9,085 (- 1.7%) 01/2009: Tiny Titans #12 -- 8,733 (- 3.9%) 02/2009: Tiny Titans #13 -- 8,710 (- 0.3%) 03/2009: Tiny Titans #14 -- 8,736 (+ 0.3%) 04/2009: Tiny Titans #15 -- 9,207 (+ 5.4%) 05/2009: Tiny Titans #16 -- 8,844 (- 3.9%) 06/2009: Tiny Titans #17 -- 8,640 (- 2.3%) 07/2009: Tiny Titans #18 -- 8,576 (- 0.7%) 08/2009: Tiny Titans #19 -- 8,432 (- 1.7%) ---------------- 6 months: - 3.2% 1 year : -17.6%
A Johnny DC book, see small print.
—–
193 - VIGILANTE 12/2008: Vigilante #1 -- 18,236 01/2009: Vigilante #2 -- 13,855 (-24.0%) 02/2009: Vigilante #3 -- 11,264 (-18.7%) 03/2009: Vigilante #4 -- 11,125 (- 1.2%) 04/2009: Vigilante #5 -- 21,290 (+91.4%) 05/2009: Vigilante #6 -- 18,677 (-12.3%) 06/2009: Vigilante #7 -- 11,483 (-38.5%) 07/2009: Vigilante #8 -- 9,942 (-13.4%) 08/2009: Vigilante #9 -- 8,387 (-15.6%) ---------------- 6 months: -25.5%
Cancelled with issue #12.
—–
199 - THE SPIRIT 08/2007: The Spirit #9 -- 20,841 ------------------------------------ 08/2008: The Spirit #20 -- 12,358 (- 2.8%) 09/2008: The Spirit #21 -- 11,551 (- 6.5%) 10/2008: The Spirit #22 -- 10,997 (- 4.8%) 11/2008: The Spirit #23 -- 10,372 (- 5.7%) 12/2008: The Spirit #24 -- 10,048 (- 3.1%) 01/2009: The Spirit #25 -- 9,576 (- 4.7%) 02/2009: The Spirit #26 -- 9,405 (- 1.8%) 03/2009: -- 04/2009: The Spirit #27 -- 8,785 (- 6.6%) 05/2009: The Spirit #28 -- 8,329 (- 5.2%) 06/2009: The Spirit #29 -- 8,273 (- 0.7%) 06/2009: The Spirit #30 -- 8,103 (- 2.1%) 07/2009: The Spirit #31 -- 7,882 (- 2.7%) 08/2009: The Spirit #32 -- 7,670 (- 2.7%) ---------------- 6 months: -18.5% 1 year : -37.9% 2 years : -63.2%
Cancelled.
—–
200 - DMZ (Vertigo) 08/2006: DMZ #10 -- 14,704 08/2007: DMZ #22 -- 12,175 -------------------------- 08/2008: DMZ #34 -- 9,561 (-1.3%) 09/2008: -- 10/2008: DMZ #35 -- 9,240 (-3.4%) 11/2008: DMZ #36 -- 8,851 (-4.2%) 12/2008: DMZ #37 -- 8,823 (-0.3%) 01/2009: DMZ #38 -- 8,457 (-4.2%) 02/2009: DMZ #39 -- 8,353 (-1.2%) 03/2009: DMZ #40 -- 8,167 (-2.2%) 04/2009: DMZ #41 -- 8,061 (-1.3%) 05/2009: -- 06/2009: DMZ #42 -- 7,927 (-1.7%) 07/2009: DMZ #43 -- 7,806 (-1.5%) 08/2009: DMZ #44 -- 7,654 (-2.0%) ---------------- 6 months: - 8.4% 1 year : -20.0% 2 years : -37.1%
Standard attrition.
—–
206 - WILDCATS (WildStorm) 08/2004: Version 3.0 #24 -- 13,359 08/2007: -- ---------------------------------- 08/2008: World's End #2 -- 13,311 (-21.2%) 09/2008: World's End #3 -- 13,559 (+ 1.9%) 10/2008: World's End #4 -- 12,431 (- 8.3%) 11/2008: World's End #5 -- 11,280 (- 9.3%) 12/2008: World's End #6 -- 10,450 (- 7.4%) 01/2009: World's End #7 -- 9,539 (- 8.7%) 02/2009: World's End #8 -- 9,040 (- 5.2%) 03/2009: World's End #9 -- 8,758 (- 3.1%) 04/2009: World's End #10 -- 8,460 (- 3.4%) 05/2009: World's End #11 -- 8,165 (- 3.5%) 06/2009: World's End #12 -- 7,863 (- 3.7%) 07/2009: World's End #13 -- 7,609 (- 3.2%) 08/2009: World's End #14 -- 7,417 (- 2.5%) ---------------- 6 months: -18.0% 1 year : -44.3% 2 years : n.a. 5 years : -44.5%
The former flagship of Jim Lee’s WildStorm Universe.
That issue from August 2004 was the final issue of Wildcats Version 3.0, by the way — back then, the series’ cancellation was announced around the time it dropped below 15,000 units. Times change, obviously.
—–
209 - BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD (Johnny DC) 08/2004: Batman Adventures #17 -- 11,862 08/2005: Batman Strikes! #12 -- 9,528 08/2006: Batman Strikes! #24 -- 8,139 08/2007: Batman Strikes! #36 -- 7,511 ---------------------------------------- 08/2008: Batman Strikes! #48 -- 6,702 (- 13.1%) 09/2008: Batman Strikes! #49 -- 6,387 (- 4.7%) 10/2008: Batman Strikes! #50 -- 6,413 (+ 0.4%) 11/2008: -- 12/2008: -- 01/2009: Brave & Bold #1 -- 13,935 (+117.3%) 02/2009: Brave & Bold #2 -- 8,678 (- 37.7%) 03/2009: Brave & Bold #3 -- 8,184 (- 5.7%) 04/2009: Brave & Bold #4 -- 8,381 (+ 2.4%) 05/2009: Brave & Bold #5 -- 7,994 (- 4.6%) 06/2009: Brave & Bold #6 -- 7,614 (- 4.8%) 07/2009: Brave & Bold #7 -- 7,441 (- 2.3%) 08/2009: Brave & Bold #8 -- 7,153 (- 3.9%) ---------------- 6 months: -17.6% 1 year : + 6.7% 2 years : - 4.8% 5 years : -39.7%
A Johnny DC title. See small print.
—–
210 - UNKNOWN SOLDIER (Vertigo) 10/2008: Unknown Soldier #1 -- 16,038 11/2008: Unknown Soldier #2 -- 10,553 (-34.2%) 12/2008: Unknown Soldier #3 -- 9,926 (- 5.9%) 01/2009: Unknown Soldier #4 -- 8,711 (-12.2%) 02/2009: Unknown Soldier #5 -- 8,348 (- 4.2%) 03/2009: Unknown Soldier #6 -- 8,177 (- 2.1%) 04/2009: Unknown Soldier #7 -- 8,631 (+ 5.6%) 05/2009: Unknown Soldier #8 -- 7,705 (-10.7%) 06/2009: Unknown Soldier #9 -- 7,586 (- 1.6%) 07/2009: Unknown Soldier #10 -- 7,256 (- 4.4%) 08/2009: Unknown Soldier #11 -- 7,070 (- 2.6%) ---------------- 6 months: -15.3%
212 - SCALPED (Vertigo) 08/2007: Scalped #8 -- 7,942 ------------------------------ 08/2008: Scalped #20 -- 7,034 (- 2.6%) 09/2008: Scalped #21 -- 7,029 (- 0.1%) 10/2008: Scalped #22 -- 6,964 (- 0.9%) 11/2008: Scalped #23 -- 6,910 (- 0.8%) 12/2008: Scalped #24 -- 6,777 (- 1.9%) 01/2009: -- 02/2009: Scalped #25 -- 6,887 (+ 1.6%) 03/2009: Scalped #26 -- 6,866 (- 0.3%) 04/2009: Scalped #27 -- 6,950 (+ 1.2%) 04/2009: Scalped #28 -- 6,860 (- 1.3%) 05/2009: -- 06/2009: Scalped #29 -- 7,078 (+ 3.2%) 07/2009: Scalped #30 -- 7,059 (- 0.3%) 08/2009: Scalped #31 -- 6,916 (- 2.0%) ---------------- 6 months: + 0.4% 1 year : - 1.7% 2 years : -12.9%
219 - AIR (Vertigo) 08/2008: Air #1 -- 13,868 09/2008: Air #2 -- 10,971 (-20.9%) 10/2008: Air #3 -- 10,061 (- 8.3%) 11/2008: Air #4 -- 8,913 (-11.4%) 12/2008: Air #5 -- 8,412 (- 5.6%) 01/2009: Air #6 -- 7,607 (- 9.6%) 02/2009: -- 03/2009: Air #7 -- 10,290 (+35.3%) 04/2009: Air #8 -- 7,216 (-29.9%) 05/2009: Air #9 -- 7,115 (- 1.4%) 06/2009: Air #10 -- 6,954 (- 2.3%) 07/2009: Air #11 -- 6,793 (- 2.3%) 08/2009: Air #12 -- 6,589 (- 3.0%) ---------------- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : -52.5%
Unknown Soldier and Air are declining too fast for comfort, surely. The first paperback collection of Unknown Soldier was published in August with first-month direct-market numbers of 2,975. If Vertigo’s history is any indication, these figures mean that the book has one foot in the grave.
Scalped is fiercely clinging to the 7,000-unit mark, meanwhile, as it’s been doing since issue #12.
—–
220 - GEN13 (WildStorm) 08/2007: Gen13 #11 -- 16,955 ---------------------------- 08/2008: Gen13 #21 -- 11,074 (- 3.1%) 09/2008: Gen13 #22 -- 10,533 (- 4.9%) 10/2008: Gen13 #23 -- 10,061 (- 4.5%) 11/2008: Gen13 #24 -- 9,460 (- 6.0%) 12/2008: Gen13 #25 -- 8,954 (- 5.4%) 01/2009: Gen13 #26 -- 8,341 (- 6.9%) 02/2009: Gen13 #27 -- 7,929 (- 4.9%) 03/2009: Gen13 #28 -- 7,593 (- 4.2%) 04/2009: Gen13 #29 -- 7,313 (- 3.7%) 05/2008: -- 06/2008: Gen13 #30 -- 6,880 (- 5.9%) 07/2008: -- 08/2008: Gen13 #31 -- 6,544 (- 4.9%) ---------------- 6 months: -17.5% 1 year : -40.9% 2 years : -61.4%
The third of four remaining WildStorm Universe series keeps limping along on a bimonthly schedule, alternating with StormWatch: PHD.
—–
221 - NORTH 40 (WildStorm) 07/2009: North 40 #1 of 6 -- 8,163 08/2009: North 40 #2 of 6 -- 6,523 (-20.1%)
224 - STARCRAFT (WildStorm) 05/2009: StarCraft #1 -- 11,744 06/2009: StarCraft #2 -- 7,933 (-32.5%) 07/2009: StarCraft #3 -- 6,410 (-19.2%)
North 40 is a creator-owned series, StarCraft is WildStorm’s latest licensed property. I’m sure these comics must be selling somewhere, because WildStorm keeps publishing them. It’s very clear they’re not selling in the direct market, however.
—–
225 - BILLY BATSON & THE MAGIC OF SHAZAM (Johnny DC) 08/2008: -- 09/2008: Billy Batson #2 -- 12,363 (-39.2%) 10/2008: -- 11/2008: -- 12/2008: Billy Batson #3 -- 9,852 (-20.3%) 01/2009: -- 02/2009: -- 03/2009: -- 04/2009: Billy Batson #4 -- 8,470 (-14.0%) 05/2009: -- 06/2009: Billy Batson #5 -- 7,869 (- 7.1%) 07/2009: Billy Batson #6 -- 6,771 (-14.0%) 08/2009: Billy Batson #7 -- 6,382 (- 5.8%) ---------------- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : n.a.
Another Johnny DC book.
—–
227 - THE MIGHTY 02/2009: The Mighty #1 -- 17,956 03/2009: The Mighty #2 -- 10,624 (-40.8%) 04/2009: The Mighty #3 -- 8,777 (-17.4%) 05/2009: The Mighty #4 -- 7,565 (-13.8%) 06/2009: The Mighty #5 -- 7,104 (- 6.1%) 07/2009: The Mighty #6 -- 6,660 (- 6.3%) 08/2009: The Mighty #7 -- 6,292 (- 5.5%) ---------------- 6 months: -65.0%
At the rate The Mighty has been crashing, I’m surprised it hasn’t been cancelled yet, to be frank.
—–
231 - RED HERRING (WildStorm) 08/2009: Red Herring #1 of 6 -- 5,982
Red Herring is a new creator-owned title by David Tischman and Philip Bond. Its sales figures are another stroke against WildStorm’s significance as a brand.
—–
245 - SUPER FRIENDS (Johnny DC) 08/2008: Super Friends #6 -- 6,671 (- 6.6%) 09/2008: Super Friends #7 -- 6,428 (- 3.6%) 10/2008: Super Friends #8 -- 6,153 (- 4.3%) 11/2008: Super Friends #9 -- 5,739 (- 6.7%) 12/2008: Super Friends #10 -- 5,543 (- 3.4%) 01/2009: Super Friends #11 -- 5,500 (- 0.8%) 02/2009: Super Friends #12 -- 5,394 (- 1.9%) 03/2009: Super Friends #13 -- 5,387 (- 0.1%) 04/2009: Super Friends #14 -- 5,792 (+ 7.5%) 05/2009: Super Friends #15 -- 5,513 (- 4.8%) 06/2009: Super Friends #16 -- 5,548 (+ 0.6%) 07/2009: Super Friends #17 -- 5,368 (- 3.2%) 08/2009: Super Friends #18 -- 5,291 (- 1.4%) ---------------- 6 months: - 1.9% 1 year : -20.7%
268 - SCOOBY DOO (Johnny DC) 08/2004: Scooby Doo #87 -- 5,436 08/2005: Scooby Doo #99 -- 4,654 08/2006: Scooby Doo #111 -- 4,492 08/2007: Scooby Doo #123 -- 4,641 --------------------------------- 08/2008: Scooby Doo #135 -- 4,226 (- 1.4%) 09/2008: Scooby Doo #136 -- 4,283 (+ 1.4%) 10/2008: Scooby Doo #137 -- ? 11/2008: Scooby Doo #138 -- 4,068 12/2008: Scooby Doo #139 -- ? 01/2009: Scooby Doo #140 -- 3,800 02/2009: Scooby Doo #141 -- 3,861 (+ 1.6%) 03/2009: Scooby Doo #142 -- 3,863 (+ 0.1%) 04/2009: Scooby Doo #143 -- 4,610 (+19.3%) 05/2009: Scooby Doo #144 -- 4,062 (-11.9%) 06/2009: Scooby Doo #145 -- 4,093 (+ 0.8%) 07/2009: Scooby Doo #146 -- 4,110 (+ 0.4%) 08/2009: Scooby Doo #147 -- 4,111 (+ 0.0%) ---------------- 6 months: + 6.5% 1 year : - 2.7% 2 years : -11.4% 5 years : -24.4%
Two more Johnny DC books.
—–
269 - DEAD ROMEO 04/2009: Dead Romeo #1 of 6 -- 9,439 05/2009: Dead Romeo #2 of 6 -- 6,155 (-34.8%) 06/2009: Dead Romeo #3 of 6 -- 5,068 (-17.7%) 07/2009: Dead Romeo #4 of 6 -- 4,417 (-12.9%) 08/2009: Dead Romeo #5 of 6 -- 4,054 (- 8.2%)
282 - PROTOTYPE (WildStorm) 04/2009: Prototype #1 of 6 -- 8,871 05/2009: Prototype #2 of 6 -- 4,906 (-44.7%) 06/2009: Prototype #3 of 6 -- 4,259 (-13.2%) 07/2009: Prototype #4 of 6 -- ? 08/2009: Prototype #5 of 6 -- 3,680
298 - KILLAPALOOZA (WildStorm) 05/2009: Killapalooza #1 of 6 -- 7,031 06/2009: Killapalooza #2 of 6 -- 4,316 (-38.6%) 07/2009: Killapalooza #3 of 6 -- ? 08/2009: Killapalooza #4 of 6 -- 2,937
The rest of the bunch. Dead Romeo is a DC Universe book not quite set in the DC Universe. Prototype is a video-game adaptation. Killapalooza is another creator-owned series. In a more crowded month, they might not have made the Top 300.
—–
REORDERS: 196: 7,965 -- Blackest Night #1 215: 6,655 -- Batman and Robin #1 (Variant) 226: 6,379 -- Batman and Robin #2 252: 4,954 -- Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps #2 256: 4,643 -- Wednesday Comics #4 257: 4,536 -- Green Lantern #44 260: 4,488 -- Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps #3 261: 4,444 -- Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps #1 277: 3,834 -- Wednesday Comics #1 288: 3,577 -- Green Lantern #43 289: 3,373 -- Wednesday Comics #3 297: 2,951 -- Red Robin #2 (2nd)
6-MONTH COMPARISONS + 88.9%: GL Corps + 72.6%: Adventure Comics + 71.6%: Gotham City Sirens + 58.9%: Red Robin + 48.7%: Green Lantern + 7.2%: Jonah Hex + 6.8%: Jack of Fables + 6.5%: Scooby-Doo + 0.4%: Scalped - 0.6%: Madame Xanadu - 1.2%: Supergirl - 1.9%: Super Friends - 2.4%: Secret Six - 2.9%: Fables - 3.2%: Tiny Titans - 4.6%: Hellblazer - 7.9%: Batman Confidential - 8.4%: DMZ - 10.6%: Booster Gold - 10.8%: Wonder Woman - 11.7%: House of Mystery - 13.4%: Teen Titans - 13.6%: Titans - 14.3%: Brave & Bold - 14.4%: WoW - 14.8%: Superman/Batman - 15.3%: Unknown Soldier - 16.8%: Green Arrow - 17.5%: JLA - 17.6%: Batman: Brave & Bold - 17.6%: Gen13 - 18.0%: Wildcats - 18.1%: Authority - 18.5%: Spirit - 18.6%: Superman - 22.3%: Action Comics - 24.2%: JSA - 25.5%: Vigilante - 27.4%: Outsiders - 29.6%: Batman - 50.8%: R.E.B.E.L.S. - 65.0%: Mighty
—–
1-YEAR COMPARISONS +163.5%: Flash +119.9%: Adventure Comics + 86.7%: Batgirl + 83.0%: GL Corps + 64.1%: Gotham City Sirens + 20.3%: Supergirl + 16.7%: Red Robin + 6.7%: Batman: Brave & Bold - 1.7%: Scalped - 2.7%: Scooby-Doo - 3.9%: Jonah Hex - 8.2%: Jack of Fables - 16.1%: Superman - 16.6%: Wonder Woman - 17.3%: Detective Comics - 17.6%: Tiny Titans - 20.0%: DMZ - 20.7%: Super Friends - 24.2%: Action Comics - 24.3%: Batman - 24.4%: Madame Xanadu - 24.8%: Batman Confidential - 27.5%: Superman/Batman - 29.1%: Outsiders - 29.4%: JLA - 29.8%: Teen Titans - 32.2%: Green Arrow - 32.8%: Booster Gold - 32.8%: JSA - 34.1%: House of Mystery - 36.1%: Brave & Bold - 37.9%: Spirit - 40.9%: Gen13 - 41.9%: WoW - 44.3%: Wildcats - 45.0%: Authority - 52.5%: Air
—–
2-YEAR COMPARISONS + 98.2%: Red Robin + 93.4%: Adventure Comics + 63.4%: GL Corps + 31.4%: Green Lantern + 30.1%: Gotham City Sirens + 16.6%: Detective Comics + 0.8%: Batman - 4.8%: Batman: Brave & Bold - 11.4%: Scooby-Doo - 12.9%: Scalped - 14.2%: Fables - 14.3%: Flash - 18.9%: Jonah Hex - 19.1%: Hellblazer - 24.4%: Jack of Fables - 26.6%: Action Comics - 27.0%: Superman - 27.8%: Supergirl - 31.5%: Outsiders - 37.1%: DMZ - 37.2%: Superman/Batman - 38.3%: Batman Confidential - 40.0%: Green Arrow - 41.7%: Wonder Woman - 43.6%: JSA - 56.2%: JLA - 56.4%: Teen Titans - 58.8%: Booster Gold - 61.3%: Brave & Bold - 61.4%: Gen13 - 63.2%: Spirit
—–
5-YEAR COMPARISONS +181.2%: Green Lantern +142.3%: Adventure Comics + 88.8%: Flash + 31.1%: Batgirl + 19.6%: JSA + 16.1%: Detective Comics + 14.7%: Gotham City Sirens + 10.3%: Red Robin + 9.1%: Wonder Woman + 8.5%: Batman + 0.6%: Doom Patrol - 6.0%: JLA - 12.8%: Fables - 13.1%: Action Comics - 24.4%: Scooby-Doo - 27.8%: Hellblazer - 39.7%: Batman: Brave & Bold - 39.7%: Green Arrow - 40.8%: Ex Machina - 44.5%: Wildcats - 47.5%: Astro City - 52.5%: Teen Titans - 57.5%: Authority - 69.8%: Superman
—–
Average Periodical Sales
(not counting reprints, reorders shipping after the initial month of release, Johnny DC titles and magazines)
DC COMICS 08/2004: 29,318 08/2005: 35,930 08/2006: 42,497 08/2007: 35,107 --------------- 08/2008: 29,678 (+ 8.2%) 09/2008: 25,562 (-13.9%) 10/2008: 29,109 (+13.9%)** 11/2008: 25,340 (-13.0%) 12/2008: 26,793 (+ 5.7%)** 01/2009: 24,273 (- 9.4%) 02/2009: 23,080 (- 4.9%) 03/2009: 21,792 (- 5.6%) 04/2009: 27,373 (+25.6%)** 05/2009: 24,386 (-10.9%) 06/2009: 25,880 (+ 6.1%)** 07/2009: 30,905 (+19.4%)** 08/2009: 29,977 (- 3.0%) ---------------- 6 months: +29.9% 1 year : + 1.0% 2 years : -14.6% 5 years : + 2.3%
DC UNIVERSE 08/2004: 34,018 08/2005: 46,527 08/2006: 54,382 08/2007: 47,049 --------------- 08/2008: 38,502 (+ 8.3%) 09/2008: 33,591 (-13.0%) 10/2008: 37,273 (+11.0%) 11/2008: 33,096 (-11.2%) 12/2008: 35,050 (+ 5.9%) 01/2009: 32,705 (- 6.7%) 02/2009: 30,224 (- 7.6%) 03/2009: 31,336 (+ 3.7%) 04/2009: 38,150 (+21.8%) 05/2009: 33,163 (-13.1%) 06/2009: 36,329 (+ 9.6%) 07/2009: 41,218 (+13.9%) 08/2009: 37,300 (- 9.5%) ---------------- 6 months: +23.4% 1 year : - 3.1% 2 years : -20.7% 5 years : + 9.7%
VERTIGO 08/2004: 18,298 08/2005: 13,652 08/2006: 16,107 08/2007: 10,817 --------------- 08/2008: 10,979 (+ 1.5%) 09/2008: 11,748 (+ 7.0%) 10/2008: 11,284 (- 4.0%) 11/2008: 11,936 (+ 5.8%) 12/2008: 11,603 (- 2.8%) 01/2009: 10,980 (- 5.4%) 02/2009: 11,353 (+ 3.4%) 03/2009: 10,177 (-10.4%) 04/2009: 10,767 (+ 5.8%) 05/2009: 12,918 (+20.0%) 06/2009: 11,166 (-13.6%) 07/2009: 11,055 (- 1.0%)** 08/2009: 11,369 (+ 2.8%) ---------------- 6 months: + 0.1% 1 year : + 3.6% 2 years : + 5.1% 5 years : -37.9%
WILDSTORM 08/2004: 15,701 08/2005: 15,998 08/2006: 14,741 08/2007: 10,744 --------------- 08/2008: 10,064 (+ 1.9%) 09/2008: 11,864 (+17.9%) 10/2008: 10,736 (- 9.5%)** 11/2008: 10,220 (- 4.8%) 12/2008: 9,415 (- 7.9%)** 01/2009: 6,851 (-27.2%) 02/2009: 8,019 (+17.1%) 03/2009: 8,954 (+11.7%) 04/2009: 8,277 (- 7.6%)** 05/2009: 8,579 (+ 3.7%) 06/2009: 8,805 (+ 2.6%)** 07/2009: 8,519 (- 3.3%)** 08/2009: 7,977 (- 6.4%) ---------------- 6 months: - 0.5% 1 year : -20.7% 2 years : -25.8% 5 years : -49.2%
—–
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 traditionally known to be 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. The estimates from March 2001 to February 2003 (marked with an asterisk) were for initial orders rather than actual sales, so they’re only roughly compatible with the subsequent figures.
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. Reorders are included, so long as they either reached stores in a book’s initial 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 the book’s initial 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 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 and some WildStorm 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 may be less than that.
—–
Germany-based Marc-Oliver Frisch has a weblog and regularly contributes to Comicgate.
Obviously, there are winners and losers, however, I find comfort that DC’s numbers above predominantly reflect truer reader counts than Marvel’s inflated performance, which relies too heavily on gimmick and variants.
Green Lantern Corps continues to be the damn best selling book in the world~! Also, it makes me sad to see the Mighty selling so low because it’s pretty good. I’m thinking it may make it to issue 12 as originally planned.
Is there a listing and an analysis for the non DC & MARVEL comic books coming?
The JLA sold better five years ago when Chuck Austen was writing it.
Any momentum from the relaunch is gone.
I wonder if the new creative team can turn the book around.
Re: Straczynski’s numbers
And DC is supposedly granting his desire to write a Superman title? Considering the struggling performance of the Superman titles, I wouldn’t let the guy anywhere near them.
Why does DC continue to relaunch Doom Patrol? Just let it go. Grant Morrison said all that needed to be said about the concept, and everybody else has just tried to shoehorn the Doom Patrol idea (with Robotman front and center) into more or less traditional superhero stories-with nothing but failure. The problem, I guess, is that for good or bad, the name has Silver Age recognition, so new attempts get the green light-kind of like Aquaman.
Hmmm, I wonder which property has had more failed series?
I’ll tell you what I would buy-an Absolute Doom Patrol by Grant Morrison collection.
I find it interesting that in the analysis for Blackest Night 2, Marc uses the word “gimmick” for an issue that has 2 variants (as far as I can tell). And yet, for the Marvel recap, for Marvels Project specifically – which had FIVE variants – those numbers are “largely a testimony to the popularity of the creative team”. Or Captain America Reborn – which had four variants – “doesn’t really detract from the numbers”.
Instead Blackest Night garners back-handed comments such as “Not bad for what’s essentially a Green Lantern spin-off”, “None of which is to say that Blackest Night is not a great success, of course” and “That’s a fairly reliable sign that Blackest Night and its tie-ins aren’t just clogging up store shelves”.
How about some non-biased comments that this is something Johns/DC/ and company have been building to for years, have played fair with the readers by keeping tie-ins at 2.99 and have created an event that is living up to the hype?
Three issues in and there are only 20 books that feature Blackest Night or Blackest Night tie-ins. I think that’s incredibly generous of DC to not flood the event at this stage to allow the series to build and let the story grow organically. While we are getting more tie-ins eventually, this is nowhere near the glut that Secret Invasion was. And I suspect we’ll get a better ending as well.
Mikael — There are 2 different guys doing the write-ups for DC and Marvel. One of those guys seems to be more positive than the other.
Mikael – Chill.
I’m a pretty huge GL fan, but to say that Blackest Night is a Green Lantern spinoff promoted heavily through gimmicks is perfectly accurate. Let’s not forget the Black Rings which you only got for ordering 50 or more copies of #1. And he did give it credit for being a legit sales success just below, citing other information which shows that it’s very likely selling at those high quantities.
Yeah, the content’s good, but let’s not forget that Marc’s analysis of it from a sales perspective is entirely accurate.
Question for Marc: If Title A sells 30,000 units at $3.99 and Title B sells 35,000 units at $2.99, which one is doing better? I’m asking because you don’t appear to take that into account in your analysis. You are comparing these numbers as if all the prices are equal; it really stands out with your comments on the the Doom Patrol relaunch and the Superman themed one-shots.
The Titans franchise seems to have replaced Supergirl as the property DC keeps clinging to in spite of obviously having no clue what to do with it. And it looks like Green Arrow and JSA are soon to follow.
It seemed to me that almost every DCU book in the most recent Previews was a Blackest Night tie-in.
Fables dropped because they ended a crossover. I am a casual reader, but there did not seem to be a reason to continue once it ended.
Doom Patrol… best served as the bizarre X-Men. I’m thinking bizarro Legion… a huge cast of misfits, exploring the weirder corners of the DCU, kinda like Marvel’s Howard The Duck. No set creative team, just let whomever write a few issues then hand it off to someone else. Encourage indy creators to pitch.
Estimated gross with percentage change would be nice.
DC’s really not all that good at this whole comic publishing thing these days. Not since 2005 or so. That said, I could make my monthly argument about the Superman titles, but a lot of that depends on how Superman: Secret Origins #1 sells, I suppose and whether Nightwing, Flamebird, Guardian and Mon-El are worthwhile characters in a few years.
And they really are pushing REBELS hard now, in the back of the books, with a Blackest Night promotion, with a quick tie-in to Robinson’s JLA, but it’s about ten issues too late. DC has to figure out that they need to do the hard sell for issue #1, not anything later. And by hard sell I mean that they need to get Joe Q. Comic Fan who reads Loeb’s Hulk or what have you that the comic is “important.” That it matters. That’s the reason why about half the direct market buys anything. They have to think that they NEED the comic that they’re buying, that it’s some key part of the shared universe they’re invested in. DC doesn’t seem to understand the direct market at all right now.
JohnDunbar, are you taking into account that a $3.99 book usually has more pages than a $2.99 book, and therefore higher costs to create those pages?
If I was writing the DC column, I’d be talking about the gimmicky promotion of BLACKEST NIGHT too. All titles at the top end of the charts have artificially inflated sales, but BLACKEST NIGHT more than most. (And intentionally so. That’s the whole point of these promotional devices, after all. If they’re not massively inflating sales, they haven’t worked.)
Of course, Marvel and DC no longer feel the need to justify their variant covers with story content, so the actual readers don’t get messed about by these stunts. And the variant collectors’ money is as good as anyone else’s. So it’s slightly misleading to talk about the variant sales as if they’re not real sales. They ARE real sales – they’re just not driven by any interest in the actual contents.
John,
“You are comparing these numbers as if all the prices are equal; it really stands out with your comments on the the Doom Patrol relaunch and the Superman themed one-shots.”
It’s nothing new for Annuals or other specials to have higher prices than the regular comics — usually, that doesn’t prevent them from charting close to their mother titles, if there’s genuine interest in them.
As for DOOM PATROL, yes, the new series is $ 3.99, while the old one was $ 2.50. In terms of pure dollars, the previous volume’s #1 turned over about 100K, while the new one turned over about 120K. So, in a sense, you’ve got a point.
But then again, all things are hardly equal. A $ 2.50 price point is no longer the norm; right now, the norm is shifting from $ 2.99 to $ 3.99. And the new DOOM PATROL has extra pages. And the higher price point doesn’t seem to be making much of a difference in most cases. And there’s inflation, the weakness of the dollar, gas and paper prices and…
You see where this is going. As long as the cover price is broadly within the same ballpark (in the context of its time; if the new DOOM PATROL was $ 5.99, I’d certainly have considered it a factor), quantities are a much more reliable and straightforward yardstick for measuring interest.
Mark,
“And DC is supposedly granting his desire to write a Superman title?”
A new Superman title by Straczynski and, say, Gary Frank, which stands on its own and sets the agenda for the rest of the line? If they’d done that and promoted it properly, I’m pretty confident THOR numbers wouldn’t have been out of the question.
What they’re doing with RED CIRCLE right now, though, might go in the opposite direction and damage Straczynski’s market value, rather than to prepare him for whatever high-profile project they’ve got in mind. I doubt THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD will be much different.
Drumore: No, I didn’t. And now I think I oversimplified it. If you sell 30 comics at $3.99, that’s almost $120; 35 comics at $2.99, that’s almost $105. You’ve sold 5 more comics, but taken in $15 less. I was asking Marc if the price point should be taken into consideration, but I worded it poorly. Sorry Marc!
But of course that’s all before expenses, and I have no idea if a retailer makes more profit on a $3.99 comic than a $2.99 comic. Yes, I’m sure the production costs are higher with more pages, but again I wouldn’t know how much of a difference it made.
Marc: Thanks for responding and sorry again for wording my first post so badly.
you don’t mention that the last abysmally selling batgirl mini was by the universally loathed adam beechen
“DC’s response, as usual when a property is flagging, is to launch a new spin-off title. Coming soon: JSA All-Stars, because DC Comics wishes you’d demanded it.”
To be fair, I think a second JSA book *was* demanded often. One of the main complaints about Johns’ run was that the cast was too big for one book to cover all the characters. However, during Johns’ run the book was red hot and could have supported a second ongoing. I’m not sure if it can anymore, but we’ll see. But I think this is more a mistiming rather than an outright failed concept. A second ongoing would have been really awesome three years ago. Having said that, DC isn’t exactly a stranger to releasing a demanded book after the demand has worn off.
“DC has taken steps to address the situation, which on their planet means to publish more Superman books.”
Which was slightly unfortunate since it just drove me further away, for one. I don’t mind buying two books, but when I have to buy a whole franchise of 5-6 issues a month, it’s just too much. I was interested in FLAMEBIRD/NIGHTWING and MON-EL and started buying the books, but once these crossovers hit, I just walked away. I’m not interested in SUPERGIRL and I’d just rather walk away than have to buy that title.
The Batman franchise is happily crossover-free for the time being (knock on wood) and resultantly I’m buying BATMAN and DETECTIVE COMICS, and will continue to do so as long as I don’t have to be buying RED ROBIN or any of the other books. Let me enjoy the books I choose standalone, and you’ll have me as a customer. Try to force me to pick up books I *chose* to leave on the table, and I walk away.
“The Titans franchise is a mess. It’s in dire need of some creative stability. And, for that matter, a demonstration why anyone thought it was capable of supporting more than one title.”
I agree that both books are a mess. The best way to see why they’re capable of supporting more than one title is to look at each book individually.
NEW TEEN TITANS grouping of characters has been holding their own book on and off for nearly thirty years now. Proven property. It can definitely support a title of its own, if not cocked up.
YOUNG JUSTICE grouping of characters has been holding their own book for 130 issues running. Proven property. It can definitely support a title of its own, if not cocked up.
John Dunbar —
Retailers make the same percentage on a $4 book as they do on a $3 book. Percentage is the key word. (I’m gonna call it 50%, but that’s not exactly the percentage.)
For a $4 book, they make $2.
On a $3 book, they make $1.50.
It only makes sense that they would like to sell more $4 books.
For a $4 book, 30 copies @ $2 is $60.
For a $3 book, 35 copies @ $1.50 is $52.50.
More profit from selling fewer $4 books, and less manpower-time involved because they are handling fewer books at check-in and checkout.
Higher priced comics are good for retailers…up to the point where customers start leaving.
John,
No idea if the $ 2.50 DOOM PATROL #1 made less money in 2004 than the $ 3.99 DOOM PATROL #1 is making now. As long as both series are sticking to a price point that’s perceived as “regular” for its time, I consider unit sales the most relevant point of comparison, for the purposes of this column.
There are precious few books that I read anymore, for two primary reasons:
1. Personal economics (call it micro-microeconomics…)
2. A startling decline in quality overall.
My take, from the top:
BLACKEST NIGHT: A neat idea that is straying dangerously close to “Walking Dead” territory. Done well, the quasi-“evil dead” concept is an excellent enhancement for characters involved (Flash/GL/Batman). Done poorly, well… (Superman/Titans). Simply put, quality stories will always sell more reliably than gimmicks over the long run.
JSA/TITANS/TEEN TITANS: Oh… my… GAWD! JSA has been struck with X-itis! Gahhh… Mr. DiDio, if this ever crosses your desk somehow, someway… JSA is NOT a typical team book. JSA is about tradition, bordering on familial relationships. The Society is basically the “Ballad of Jay Garrick,” and his instilling of a generation with the sensibilities of traditional heroism, buoyed with the awe of GL/Alan Scott and the street cred of Wildcat/Ted Grant.
Getting back to X-itis: This is an insidious disease that believes that convoluted plotting and cool gimmicks is all a team comic needs to survive. It claimed JLA some time back and has been killing the Titans brand for over a decade or so, and is now threatening the entire Bat-franchise.
Hint for Mr. DiDio: Get any of your “old-school” writers back on JSA. Fast.
JMS: Why “Red Circle” seemed like a good idea to anybody at DC editorial is beyond me. JMS is a very good writer, and if you give him some room, I honestly belive he can breathe new life into any franchise. DiDio, et al, should let him pick a property, and give him room to grow. In fact, give him a two-year stint on any of the properties I mentioned above, and watch the flowers (and sales) grow.
Go on, doubters, try to tell me his multi-year stint on Amazing Spider-Man with Romita wasn’t (mostly) platinum work…
As for pricing, yes, retailers (and I was one for a little while…) make more profit on higher price points. However, it is also forcing people out of the market. I would love to see what would happen to sales throughout the industry if DC/Marvel were to try “dual versions” of their top sellers:
The “collectible” version would be premium priced with the typical high-quality paper and pretty colors.
And a “reader” version printed traditionally with regular newsprint and coverstock and a lower price point (say, about $2.00-$2.25 like much of Archie’s stuff).
Just wonderin’..
More people buying a $2.99 book, rather than a $3.99 book, has to be seen as better from an advertising stand-point. It’s bringing the publisher less money, but shouldn’t that be offset by advertising revenue?
Say you are Honda. Do you want 100,000 people seeing your ad, or do you want 86,000 people seeing it?
I’m wondering whether the “Blackest Night” event will have a point that will impress anyone that’s not a preteen. It’s already pretty obvious that the resolution will have the Lanterns across the spectrum (ROY G BIV) unite against the common foe, for the sake of the universe, in an explosion of white light and that important dead characters will be resurrected — but if the ending is so predictable, why do the story? Does anyone read a formula fiction romance wondering whether the heroine is going to find true love? The ending of such a story might make a reader feel good for about a minute, then it’s on to something else. An event should do something more.
SRS
It seems likely to me that the Batgirl title numbers can be explained by DC suckering a number of people into believing that they were going to heal Barbara Gordon and bring her back as Batgirl.
I’d be interested to know what the numbers are for the second issue.
PencilSharp says:
As for pricing, yes, retailers (and I was one for a little while…) make more profit on higher price points. However, it is also forcing people out of the market. I would love to see what would happen to sales throughout the industry if DC/Marvel were to try “dual versions” of their top sellers:
The “collectible” version would be premium priced with the typical high-quality paper and pretty colors.
And a “reader” version printed traditionally with regular newsprint and coverstock and a lower price point (say, about $2.00-$2.25 like much of Archie’s stuff).
Actually, Marvel *did* try this during the ’90s. The fancy edition was a dollar more, I believe, and shipped maybe a week or two weeks earlier? As I recall, it was not received terribly well.
More to the point, it’s not the paper quality that’s causing the $2.99/$3.99 disconnect. As has been repeated over and over re: Wednesday Comics, newsprint paper stock has risen to the point where some of it is actually *more* expensive than the standard paper comics use these days. The cost comes from economy of scale (smaller print runs), gas prices involved in transporting goods from point A to point B and the ever-popular creative costs (allowing comic book creators to actually make a living).
Well I might not be buying Doom Patrol as a $3 book. I’m mostly buying it for the Metal Men in the back. I like both series and they would definitively have me if they flipped the book to a Metal Men book with a DP second feature.
What is a sustaining number these days?
JDYoYo:
Just from reading these sales columns it seems to me like:
20K is the usual cut-off point. It’s the rare Marvel series that approaches that level without being canceled or re-launched.
DC do seem willing to go with a title around 15K at times. Usually there has t of buzz for that to happen. Blue Beetle and manhunter were allowed to continue for quite a while with low numbers. Jonah Hex has gone on for quite a long time with seemingly low but stable numbers.
Vertigo is harder to predict. It used to be around 12K was the cut-off. Now 10K is a healthy title and some have been kept afloat at 8K and lower. I assume that means Vertigo is more geared to Trade Paperbacks and so can still do okay financially with the 8K paying the bills and the TPB turning a profit.
But I have no idea if there’s actual policy for these things. It just seems to be how it plays out watching the charts.
My guess is that Jonah Hex is seeing play due to the movie buzz surrounding it. Probably will have a significant jump once the trailers happen. I would also guess that Hex has more leeway because of Didio close ties to Palmiotti