Chickens came home to roost in March.
With no gimmick-bloated #1 issues, strong crossovers or annuals of high-performing titles driving sales of the company’s periodical line, with the Before Watchmen project fading out on a whimper, and despite a deluge of high-selling issues tying in with a recent character death, estimated sales of the average new DC Universe comic book fell to 31,000, the lowest level since the big “New 52” relaunch of September 2011.
Also, the publisher’s total unit sales dropped from 2.43 million in February to 2.22 million in March, the lowest figure since July 2011, when DC sold an estimated total of 2.09 million comic books to comics retailers. Total dollar sales DC Comics’ periodical output dropped from $8.36 million in February to $7.48 million in March, the second-lowest amount of the post-“New 52” DC line — the previous low point since the relaunch was April 2012, with estimated total sales of $7.27 million.
There were 18 “New 52” titles selling below the 20,000-unit mark in March. Eight of them are officially cancelled, so that leaves another 10 titles in the danger zone. And three of those — Threshold, Katana and Vibe — were launched in 2013, meaning less than three months ago.
Vertigo, once again, contributes its share of all-time negative records. First up, only 5 new Vertigo comic books were published in March 2013 — fewer than in any other month in the last 10 years. Second, partly as a result of this, Vertigo’s total unit sales fell to an unprecedented 55,000, another 9K down from its previous negative record from January 2013. The imprint’s average sales did not profit from its further output reduction.
(More Vertigo analysis below.)
Finally, DC seems to be quietly paring down its line of kid-friendly cartoon adaptations, formerly known as the Johnny DC line. As of July 2013, Green Lantern: The Animated Series will be cancelled, leaving only Scooby-Doo: Where Are You? and the infrequently published Looney Tunes.
If you’ve been following these charts for a while, you’ll be aware that ICv2.com‘s charts of estimated sales to comics retailers go back through March 2003, which means that, starting this month, there are 10-year comparisons for the average-sales statistics, as well as for those individual titles that were around 10 years ago.
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.
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N.A. - INSURGENT 01/2013: Insurgent #1 of 6 -- 7,143 02/2013: Insurgent #2 of 6 -- 4,662 (-34.7%) 03/2013: Insurgent #3 of 6 -- ?
The third issue of Insurgent came out in March, but didn’t make the Top 300 chart. Which means it sold fewer than 4,077 units.
As you may have heard, DC decided to cancel the six-issue miniseries halfway through, so this was also the final issue. The two more issues solicited through May won’t be published.
Why DC published a no-name book like this at all remains a mystery; its low sales are no surprise, and its abortion will only make retailers and readers less likely to invest in similar projects in the future.
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280 - SCOOBY DOO: WHERE ARE YOU? (Johnny DC) 03/2003: Scooby Doo #70 -- 5,964 03/2008: Scooby Doo #130 -- 4,463 03/2009: Scooby Doo #142 -- 3,863 03/2010: Scooby Doo #154 -- 3,846 03/2011: SD:WAY? #7 -- 4,522 --------------------------------- 03/2012: SD:WAY? #19 -- 4,677 (+ 0.5%) 04/2012: SD:WAY? #20 -- 4,752 (+ 1.6%) 05/2012: SD:WAY? #21 -- 5,269 (+10.9%) 06/2012: SD:WAY? #22 -- 4,968 (- 5.7%) 07/2012: SD:WAY? #23 -- 4,934 (- 0.7%) 08/2012: SD:WAY? #24 -- ? 09/2012: SD:WAY? #25 -- 4,979 10/2012: SD:WAY? #26 -- ? 11/2012: SD:WAY? #27 -- 5,032 12/2012: SD:WAY? #28 -- 4,879 (- 3.0%) 01/2013: SD:WAY? #29 -- 4,729 (- 3.1%) 02/2013: SD:WAY? #30 -- 4,752 (+ 0.5%) 03/2013: SD:WAY? #31 -- 4,770 (+ 0.4%) ---------------- 6 months: - 4.2% 1 year : + 0.4% 2 years : + 5.5% 5 years : + 6.9% 10 years: -20.0%
Scooby-Doo has been around since summer 1997, which is about 112 dog years, at this stage. He’s holding up well, all things considered.
Usual disclaimers apply: The Johnny DC line of “kid-friendly” adaptations of DC and Warner Brothers cartoons (which hasn’t been called the “Johnny DC” line in a while, actually, but I’ll continue to refer to it as such, for simplicity’s sake) relies on channels other than the direct-sales market more than the rest of DC’s comic-book line, so their sales on this chart are not as representative of their overall performance.
Which may be why Scooby-Doo is still officially ongoing, while everything else in the line is being axed. There will be a new title called Batman: Li’l Gotham in April that’s lumped in with Scooby-Doo in the solicitations, but that’s not an adaptation, and it’s also a “digital-first” book. So what was once the “Johnny DC” line seems to be in its final stages. (Technically, there’s also Looney Tunes, another erstwhile Johnny DC book. Launched in 1994, Looney Tunes hasn’t made the Top 300 chart since January 2011, when it sold an estimated 2,243 units in the direct market. It’s still officially in publication, evidently. But it hasn’t been coming out regularly since the end of 2011, so the writing is probably on the wall there, as well.)
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267 - GREEN LANTERN: THE ANIMATED SERIES (Johnny DC) 04/2012: GL: TAS #1 -- 12,791 05/2012: GL: TAS #2 -- 9,615 (-24.8%) 06/2012: GL: TAS #3 -- 8,716 (- 9.4%) 07/2012: GL: TAS #4 -- 7,790 (-10.6%) 08/2012: GL: TAS #5 -- 6,968 (-10.6%) 09/2012: GL: TAS #6 -- 6,619 (- 5.0%) 10/2012: GL: TAS #7 -- 6,516 (- 1.6%) 11/2012: GL: TAS #8 -- 5,961 (- 8.5%) 12/2012: GL: TAS #9 -- 5,464 (- 8.3%) 01/2013: GL: TAS #10 -- 5,263 (- 3.7%) 02/2013: GL: TAS #11 -- 5,211 (- 1.0%) 03/2013: GL: TAS #12 -- 5,115 (- 1.8%) ---------------- 6 months: -22.7%
Cancelled with issue #14.
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247 - SAUCER COUNTRY (Vertigo) 03/2012: Saucer Country #1 -- 15,684 04/2012: Saucer Country #2 -- 11,263 (-28.2%) 05/2012: Saucer Country #3 -- 10,656 (- 5.4%) 06/2012: Saucer Country #4 -- 9,959 (- 6.5%) 07/2012: Saucer Country #5 -- 9,470 (- 4.9%) 08/2012: Saucer Country #6 -- 8,700 (- 8.1%) 09/2012: Saucer Country #7 -- 8,152 (- 6.3%) 10/2012: Saucer Country #8 -- 7,557 (- 7.3%) 11/2012: Saucer Country #9 -- 7,102 (- 6.0%) 12/2012: Saucer Country #10 -- 6,608 (- 7.0%) 01/2013: Saucer Country #11 -- 6,256 (- 5.3%) 02/2013: Saucer Country #12 -- 6,067 (- 3.0%) 03/2013: Saucer Country #13 -- 5,820 (- 4.1%) ---------------- 6 months: -28.6% 1 year : -62.9%
Cancelled with issue #14.
At this point, it’s abundantly clear that, for better or worse, 2013 is going to be a decisive year for Vertigo, involving some major restructuring for the long-running imprint. The only current ongoing titles left standing in a few months are Fables, the Fables spin-off Fairest and the low-selling The Unwritten, which will soon embark upon a Fables-related storyline.
On the one hand, DC seems committed to resuscitating the imprint with a round of high-profile projects throughout the year, spearheaded by a new Sandman miniseries written by Neil Gaiman. The others are a 100 Bullets spin-off by Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso, as well as new limited series by Scott Snyder/Sean Gordon Murphy and Jeff Lemire, respectively. This looks good on paper, and you could do a lot worse, in terms of creators.
But then again, the recent Vertigo sales history, even for creators like Snyder, Azzarello, Murphy or Lemire, is hardly encouraging. And I’m not sure why Collider, a new ongoing series by Simon Oliver and Robbi Rodriguez launching in July, is expected to fare any better than, say, Saucer Country; if anything, its creators seem less established in the market than Saucer Country‘s Paul Cornell and Ryan Kelly, so it’s a very odd choice for a new title, at this point in time. Other than the Sandman miniseries, there’s nothing in the bunch of new titles that hasn’t already failed to do particularly well for Vertigo very recently, in principle.
Vertigo will also be publishing Kurt Busiek’s upcoming Astro City relaunch, as it turns out — a former WildStorm title. This is probably a smart move for both sides. Astro City might profit from it, because it’ll be a big fish in a small pond, rather than the other way around. And Vertigo as a brand can use any help it gets, these days. Not that the book was selling gangbusters when it last came out, but it was still one of WildStorm’s best-selling titles, and Busiek is a creator who comes with his inbuilt fanbase.
But Busiek has his own contract with DC, with its own conditions, and those conditions probably don’t have much to do with anything else that’s happening at Vertigo. So while it seems practical to put a Vertigo label on Astro City, it’s not really much of a new beginning for Vertigo. Likewise, the current Django Unchained miniseries — which failed to ship in March — points to a possible future for the imprint that may not have much to do with the kind of material it’s traditionally known for.
There’s also going to be a new Tom Strong miniseries at Vertigo — another title previously published by WildStorm, and another case in which the Vertigo label appears to be little more than brand cosmetics.
Creatively, names like Lemire, Azzarello or Snyder are what you’d expect from Vertigo, but so far, their comic-book sales at the imprint haven’t supplied a reason to keep it around. If that continues to be the case this year, Vertigo may end up as an outlet for licensed properties, at best.
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237 - HUMAN BOMB 12/2012: Human Bomb #1 of 4 -- 11,212 01/2013: Human Bomb #2 of 4 -- 8,152 (-27.3%) 02/2013: Human Bomb #3 of 4 -- 6,931 (-15.0%) 03/2013: Human Bomb #4 of 4 -- 6,379 (- 8.0%)
Predictably terrible sales, despite an established creative team. The market doesn’t support this sort of book unless publishers give it a reason to. Just throwing it out there as one of (as of March 2013) 67 new DC Universe comic books per month doesn’t cut it, and it never will.
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232 - LOT 13 10/2012: Lot 13 #1 of 5 -- 12,476 11/2012: Lot 13 #2 of 5 -- 8,767 (-29.7%) 12/2012: Lot 13 #3 of 5 -- 7,551 (-13.9%) 01/2013: Lot 13 #4 of 5 -- 6,957 (- 7.9%) 02/2013: -- 03/2013: Lot 13 #5 of 5 -- 6,776 (- 2.6%)
A standalone horror miniseries by Steve Niles and Glenn Fabry, another pair of established creators, which, in contrast to Insurgent, at least allowed the book to finish its 5-issue run.
Still, these aren’t good sales, obviously.
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230 - JOE KUBERT PRESENTS 10/2012: Joe Kubert Presents #1 of 6 -- 14,842 11/2012: Joe Kubert Presents #2 of 6 -- 10,542 (-29.0%) 12/2012: Joe Kubert Presents #3 of 6 -- 8,897 (-15.6%) 01/2013: Joe Kubert Presents #4 of 6 -- 7,876 (-11.5%) 02/2013: Joe Kubert Presents #5 of 6 -- 7,288 (- 7.5%) 03/2013: Joe Kubert Presents #6 of 6 -- 6,788 (- 6.9%)
This miniseries based on some of the late industry legend’s final work didn’t do well, either, but about as well as could be expected.
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222/221 - SUPERMAN FAMILY ADVENTURES (Johnny DC) 05/2012: Superman Family Adventures #1 -- 13,303 06/2012: Superman Family Adventures #2 -- 10,137 (-23.8%) 07/2012: Superman Family Adventures #3 -- 9,246 (- 8.8%) 08/2012: Superman Family Adventures #4 -- 8,925 (- 3.5%) 09/2012: Superman Family Adventures #5 -- 8,572 (- 4.0%) 10/2012: Superman Family Adventures #6 -- 8,450 (- 1.4%) 11/2012: Superman Family Adventures #7 -- 8,074 (- 4.5%) 12/2012: Superman Family Adventures #8 -- 7,487 (- 7.3%) 01/2013: Superman Family Adventures #9 -- 7,357 (- 1.7%) 02/2013: -- 03/2013: Superman Family Adventures #10 -- 7,333 (- 0.3%) 03/2013: Superman Family Adventures #11 -- 7,223 (- 1.5%) ---------------- 6 months: -15.1%
Cancelled with issue #12.
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210 - THE UNWRITTEN (Vertigo) 03/2010: The Unwritten #11 -- 13,630 03/2011: The Unwritten #23 -- 11,319 ------------------------------------ 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%) 05/2012: The Unwritten #37 -- 9,549 (- 1.3%) 06/2012: The Unwritten #38 -- 9,494 (- 0.6%) 07/2012: The Unwritten #39 -- 9,478 (- 0.2%) 08/2012: The Unwritten #40 -- 9,127 (- 3.7%) 09/2012: The Unwritten #41 -- 8,943 (- 2.0%) 10/2012: The Unwritten #42 -- 8,881 (- 0.7%) 11/2012: The Unwritten #43 -- 8,791 (- 1.0%) 12/2012: The Unwritten #44 -- 8,532 (- 3.0%) 01/2013: The Unwritten #45 -- 8,465 (- 0.8%) 02/2013: The Unwritten #46 -- 8,352 (- 1.3%) 03/2013: The Unwritten #47 -- 8,267 (- 1.0%) ---------------- 6 months: - 7.6% 1 year : -13.9% 2 years : -27.0%
Standard attrition. Presumably, there’s going to be some sort of increase for the Fables tie-in storyline that starts with issue #50. So the book should be safe at least for the duration of that arc, even if its sales lag massively behind anything else that hasn’t been cancelled at Vertigo.
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192 - TIME WARP (Vertigo) 05/2011: Strange Adventures #1 -- 9,999 10/2011: The Unexpected #1 -- 10,416 05/2012: Mystery in Space #1 -- 11,184 10/2012: Ghosts #1 -- 16,574 ----------------------------------------- 03/2013: Time Warp #1 -- 9,964
Time Warp is the lowest-selling of the $7.99 anthology one-shots that Vertigo has been publishing twice a year since 2011. Still, 10,000 units is a good number for this type of book.
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188 - THE FURY OF FIRESTORM: THE NUCLEAR MEN 03/2012: Firestorm #7 -- 17,786 (- 7.2%) 04/2012: Firestorm #8 -- 17,076 (- 4.0%) 05/2012: Firestorm #9 -- 17,240 (+ 1.0%) 06/2012: Firestorm #10 -- 15,789 (- 8.4%) 07/2012: Firestorm #11 -- 14,931 (- 5.4%) 08/2012: Firestorm #12 -- 14,137 (- 5.3%) 09/2012: Firestorm #0 -- 17,279 (+22.2%) 10/2012: Firestorm #13 -- 13,460 (-22.1%) 11/2012: Firestorm #14 -- 12,862 (- 4.4%) 12/2012: Firestorm #15 -- 11,997 (- 6.7%) 01/2013: Firestorm #16 -- 11,361 (- 5.3%) 02/2013: Firestorm #17 -- 11,100 (- 2.3%) 03/2013: Firestorm #18 -- 10,679 (- 3.8%) ---------------- 6 months: -38.2% 1 year : -40.0%
Cancelled with issue #20.
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184 - ARROW (Digital-First) 11/2012: Arrow #1 -- 25,442 12/2012: Arrow #2 -- 15,780 (-38.0%) 01/2013: Arrow #3 -- 13,090 (-17.1%) 01/2013: Arrow #4 -- 11,581 (-11.5%) 02/2013: Arrow #5 -- 10,908 (- 5.8%)
The lowest-selling digital-first book on the chart is levelling out. Sales above 10,000 units are probably still all right for a book consisting of previously published material. Arrow seems like the most likely indicator right now for how low DC will allow the digital-first books to drop before pulling the plug.
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178 - I, VAMPIRE 03/2012: I, Vampire #7 -- 18,440 (+ 1.6%) 04/2012: I, Vampire #8 -- 18,717 (+ 1.5%) 05/2012: I, Vampire #9 -- 17,175 (- 8.2%) 06/2012: I, Vampire #10 -- 16,517 (- 3.8%) 07/2012: I, Vampire #11 -- 15,734 (- 4.7%) 08/2012: I, Vampire #12 -- 14,788 (- 6.0%) 09/2012: I, Vampire #0 -- 17,920 (+21.2%) 10/2012: I, Vampire #13 -- 14,260 (-20.4%) 11/2012: I, Vampire #14 -- 13,666 (- 4.2%) 12/2012: I, Vampire #15 -- 12,846 (- 6.0%) 01/2013: I, Vampire #16 -- 12,310 (- 4.2%) 02/2013: I, Vampire #17 -- 11,833 (- 3.9%) 03/2013: I, Vampire #18 -- 11,568 (- 2.2%) ---------------- 6 months: -35.5% 1 year : -37.3%
Cancelled with issue #19.
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177 - JSA LIBERTY FILES: THE WHISTLING SKULL 12/2012: Whistling Skull #1 of 6 -- 21,370 01/2013: Whistling Skull #2 of 6 -- 16,593 (-22.4%) 02/2013: Whistling Skull #3 of 6 -- 12,851 (-22.6%) 03/2013: Whistling Skull #4 of 6 -- 11,569 (-10.0%)
The drops have been horrible, but then again, the book is where I would have expected it to be from the start, so there you go. I don’t know what caused the high numbers on the first two issues, but they seem fairly excessive, given the subsequent decline.
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176 - DC UNIVERSE PRESENTS 03/2012: DCU Presents #7 -- 17,830 (-11.7%) 04/2012: DCU Presents #8 -- 16,566 (- 7.1%) 05/2012: DCU Presents #9 -- 15,776 (- 4.8%) 06/2012: DCU Presents #10 -- 14,310 (- 9.3%) 07/2012: DCU Presents #11 -- 13,619 (- 4.8%) 08/2012: DCU Presents #12 -- 15,138 (+11.2%) 09/2012: DCU Presents #0 -- 17,528 (+15.8%) 10/2012: DCU Presents #13 -- 14,405 (-17.8%) 11/2012: DCU Presents #14 -- 13,537 (- 6.0%) 12/2012: DCU Presents #15 -- 12,561 (- 7.2%) 01/2013: DCU Presents #16 -- 12,001 (- 4.5%) 02/2013: DCU Presents #17 -- 11,985 (- 0.1%) 03/2013: DCU Presents #18 -- 11,679 (- 2.6%) ---------------- 6 months: -33.4% 1 year : -34.5%
Cancelled with issue #19.
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173 - SWORD OF SORCERY 09/2012: Sword of Sorcery #0 -- 29,954 10/2012: Sword of Sorcery #1 -- 23,947 (-20.1%) 11/2012: Sword of Sorcery #2 -- 18,080 (-24.5%) 12/2012: Sword of Sorcery #3 -- 15,280 (-15.5%) 01/2013: Sword of Sorcery #4 -- 13,995 (- 8.4%) 02/2013: Sword of Sorcery #5 -- 12,334 (-11.9%) 03/2013: Sword of Sorcery #6 -- 11,776 (- 4.5%) ---------------- 6 months: -60.7%
Cancelled with issue #8.
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172 - TEAM 7 09/2012: Team 7 #0 -- 34,503 10/2012: Team 7 #1 -- 27,661 (-19.8%) 11/2012: Team 7 #2 -- 19,510 (-29.5%) 12/2012: Team 7 #3 -- 17,090 (-12.4%) 01/2013: Team 7 #4 -- 14,919 (-12.7%) 02/2013: Team 7 #5 -- 13,005 (-12.8%) 03/2013: Team 7 #6 -- 11,805 (- 9.2%) ---------------- 6 months: -65.8%
Cancelled with issue #8.
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171 - THE SAVAGE HAWKMAN 03/2003: Hawkman #13 -- 31,173 ------------------------------------- 03/2012: Savage Hawkman #7 -- 19,433 (- 8.8%) 04/2012: Savage Hawkman #8 -- 18,300 (- 5.8%) 05/2012: Savage Hawkman #9 -- 17,626 (- 3.7%) 06/2012: Savage Hawkman #10 -- 16,417 (- 6.9%) 07/2012: Savage Hawkman #11 -- 15,460 (- 5.8%) 08/2012: Savage Hawkman #12 -- 14,745 (- 4.6%) 09/2012: Savage Hawkman #0 -- 18,750 (+27.2%) 10/2012: Savage Hawkman #13 -- 14,763 (-21.3%) 11/2012: Savage Hawkman #14 -- 14,726 (- 0.3%) 12/2012: Savage Hawkman #15 -- 13,564 (- 7.9%) 01/2013: Savage Hawkman #16 -- 12,852 (- 5.3%) 02/2013: Savage Hawkman #17 -- 12,376 (- 3.7%) 03/2013: Savage Hawkman #18 -- 12,021 (- 2.9%) ---------------- 6 months: -35.9% 1 year : -38.1% 10 years: -61.4%
Cancelled with issue #20.
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168 - BATWING 03/2012: Batwing #7 -- 21,058 (- 2.7%) 04/2012: Batwing #8 -- 20,373 (- 3.3%) 05/2012: Batwing #9 -- 35,731 (+75.4%) 06/2012: Batwing #10 -- 20,724 (-42.0%) 07/2012: Batwing #11 -- 20,047 (- 3.3%) 08/2012: Batwing #12 -- 18,279 (- 8.8%) 09/2012: Batwing #0 -- 22,135 (+21.1%) 10/2012: Batwing #13 -- 17,166 (-22.5%) 11/2012: Batwing #14 -- 15,967 (- 7.0%) 12/2012: Batwing #15 -- 14,674 (- 8.1%) 01/2013: Batwing #16 -- 13,427 (- 8.5%) 02/2013: Batwing #17 -- 12,595 (- 6.2%) 03/2013: Batwing #18 -- 12,084 (- 4.1%) ---------------- 6 months: -45.4% 1 year : -42.6%
The lowest-selling “New 52” title that hasn’t been cancelled is very slowly finding its level. Whatever the reason why it’s not been axed yet may be, I think it’s safe to say that it’s not sales-related.
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166 - DEATHSTROKE 03/2012: Deathstroke #7 -- 19,744 (- 7.3%) 04/2012: Deathstroke #8 -- 18,834 (- 4.6%) 05/2012: Deathstroke #9 -- 20,878 (+10.9%) 06/2012: Deathstroke #10 -- 19,722 (- 5.5%) 07/2012: Deathstroke #11 -- 17,107 (-13.3%) 08/2012: Deathstroke #12 -- 16,772 (- 2.0%) 09/2012: Deathstroke #0 -- 20,796 (+24.0%) 10/2012: Deathstroke #13 -- 15,078 (-27.5%) 11/2012: Deathstroke #14 -- 14,452 (- 4.2%) 12/2012: Deathstroke #15 -- 13,528 (- 6.4%) 01/2013: Deathstroke #16 -- 12,758 (- 5.7%) 02/2013: Deathstroke #17 -- 12,626 (- 1.0%) 03/2013: Deathstroke #18 -- 12,306 (- 2.5%) ---------------- 6 months: -40.8% 1 year : -37.7%
Cancelled with issue #20.
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160 - DEMON KNIGHTS 03/2012: Demon Knights #7 -- 22,000 (- 6.3%) 04/2012: Demon Knights #8 -- 21,124 (- 4.0%) 05/2012: Demon Knights #9 -- 20,196 (- 4.4%) 06/2012: Demon Knights #10 -- 19,005 (- 5.9%) 07/2012: Demon Knights #11 -- 18,201 (- 4.2%) 08/2012: Demon Knights #12 -- 17,295 (- 5.0%) 09/2012: Demon Knights #0 -- 20,474 (+18.4%) 10/2012: Demon Knights #13 -- 16,805 (-17.9%) 11/2012: Demon Knights #14 -- 16,005 (- 4.8%) 12/2012: Demon Knights #15 -- 15,152 (- 5.3%) 01/2013: Demon Knights #16 -- 14,168 (- 6.5%) 02/2013: Demon Knights #17 -- 13,571 (- 4.2%) 03/2013: Demon Knights #18 -- 12,975 (- 4.4%) ---------------- 6 months: -36.6% 1 year : -41.0%
Another very low-selling “New 52” book that hasn’t been axed, as I’m writing this. And Demon Knights isn’t really finding its level yet, either.
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157 - DIAL H 05/2012: Dial H #1 -- 45,308 06/2012: Dial H #2 -- 30,618 (-32.4%) 07/2012: Dial H #3 -- 26,109 (-14.7%) 08/2012: Dial H #4 -- 22,733 (-12.9%) 09/2012: Dial H #0 -- 24,070 (+ 5.9%) 10/2012: Dial H #5 -- 19,903 (-17.3%) 11/2012: Dial H #6 -- 17,832 (-10.4%) 12/2012: Dial H #7 -- 16,217 (- 9.1%) 01/2013: Dial H #8 -- 14,672 (- 9.5%) 02/2013: Dial H #9 -- 13,541 (- 7.7%) 03/2013: Dial H #10 -- 13,084 (- 3.4%) ---------------- 6 months: -45.6%
Dial H seems to be levelling out, at long last. At this level, though, it’s questionable whether that’s going to buy it much more time.
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151 - STORMWATCH 03/2003: Stormwatch: TA #9 -- 16,500 03/2008: -- 03/2009: Stormwatch: PHD #20 -- 5,555 --------------------------------------- 03/2012: Stormwatch #7 -- 24,384 (- 6.5%) 04/2012: Stormwatch #8 -- 23,212 (- 4.8%) 05/2012: Stormwatch #9 -- 22,448 (- 3.3%) 06/2012: Stormwatch #10 -- 20,592 (- 8.3%) 07/2012: Stormwatch #11 -- 19,678 (- 4.4%) 08/2012: Stormwatch #12 -- 18,531 (- 5.8%) 09/2012: Stormwatch #0 -- 21,764 (+17.5%) 10/2012: Stormwatch #13 -- 17,621 (-19.0%) 11/2012: Stormwatch #14 -- 16,559 (- 6.0%) 12/2012: Stormwatch #15 -- 15,437 (- 6.8%) 01/2013: Stormwatch #16 -- 14,411 (- 6.7%) 02/2013: Stormwatch #17 -- 13,657 (- 5.2%) 03/2013: Stormwatch #18 -- 13,255 (- 2.9%) ----------------- 6 months: - 39.1% 1 year : - 45.6% 5 years : n.a. 10 years: - 19.7%
Another curiously not-axed-yet “New 52” title that’s finally finding its level, but with already terrible numbers well below the 15,000-unit mark. It seems moot to exchange the creative team, at this stage.
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148 - THE RAVAGERS 05/2012: Ravagers #1 -- 44,230 06/2012: Ravagers #2 -- 31,128 (-29.6%) 07/2012: Ravagers #3 -- 24,963 (-19.8%) 08/2012: Ravagers #4 -- 20,730 (-17.0%) 09/2012: Ravagers #0 -- 22,437 (+ 8.2%) 10/2012: Ravagers #5 -- 18,656 (-16.9%) 11/2012: Ravagers #6 -- 17,334 (- 7.1%) 12/2012: Ravagers #7 -- 16,177 (- 6.7%) 01/2013: Ravagers #8 -- 15,030 (- 7.1%) 02/2013: Ravagers #9 -- 14,223 (- 5.4%) 03/2013: Ravagers #10 -- 13,466 (- 5.3%) ---------------- 6 months: -40.0%
Cancelled with issue #12.
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142 - BATMAN: ARKHAM UNHINGED (Digital-First) 04/2012: Arkham Unhinged #1 -- 31,170 05/2012: Arkham Unhinged #2 -- 25,215 (-19.1%) 06/2012: Arkham Unhinged #3 -- 23,322 (- 7.5%) 07/2012: Arkham Unhinged #4 -- 21,809 (- 6.5%) 08/2012: Arkham Unhinged #5 -- 21,059 (- 3.4%) 09/2012: Arkham Unhinged #6 -- 20,259 (- 3.8%) 10/2012: Arkham Unhinged #7 -- 19,890 (- 1.8%) 11/2012: Arkham Unhinged #8 -- 18,393 (- 7.5%) 12/2012: Arkham Unhinged #9 -- 17,220 (- 6.4%) 01/2013: Arkham Unhinged #10 -- 16,113 (- 6.4%) 02/2013: Arkham Unhinged #11 -- 15,703 (- 2.6%) 03/2013: Arkham Unhinged #12 -- 15,067 (- 4.1%) ---------------- 6 months: -25.6%
This digital-first title hasn’t quite found its level, but if Arrow is any indication, there’s 5,000 units’ worth of rope left for Arkham Unhinged.
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109 - THRESHOLD 01/2013: Threshold #1 -- 29,312 02/2013: Threshold #2 -- 18,389 (-37.3%) 03/2013: Threshold #3 -- 15,109 (-17.8%)
That’s slightly-worse-than-average levelling-out behavior for a new ongoing title. Which, with a launch figure of 29K, means that you’re in cancellation territory right away, these days.
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138 - FABLES (Vertigo) 03/2003: Fables #11 -- 24,857 03/2008: Fables #71 -- 24,006 03/2009: Fables #82 -- 22,445 03/2010: Fables #93 -- 20,003 03/2011: Fables #103 -- 18,910 ------------------------------ 03/2012: Fables #115 -- 17,384 (+ 0.1%) 04/2012: Fables #116 -- 17,543 (+ 0.9%) 05/2012: Fables #117 -- 17,484 (- 0.3%) 06/2012: Fables #118 -- 18,566 (+ 6.2%) 07/2012: Fables #119 -- 17,110 (- 7.8%) 08/2012: Fables #120 -- 16,704 (- 2.4%) 09/2012: Fables #121 -- 16,596 (- 0.7%) 10/2012: Fables #122 -- 16,513 (- 0.5%) 11/2012: Fables #123 -- 16,229 (- 1.7%) 12/2012: Fables #124 -- 16,018 (- 1.3%) 01/2013: Fables #125 -- 15,983 (- 0.2%) 02/2013: Fables #126 -- 15,480 (- 3.2%) 03/2013: Fables #127 -- 15,529 (+ 0.3%) ---------------- 6 months: - 6.4% 1 year : -10.7% 2 years : -17.9% 5 years : -35.3% 10 years: -37.5%
Fables came out in the third week of the month both in February and in March, so the stabilization may be genuine. After a long period of remarkable stability, the flagship title of Vertigo’s current flagship franchise has shed quite a few units over the last five years.
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136 - FAIREST (Vertigo) 03/2012: Fairest #1 -- 31,769 04/2012: Fairest #2 -- 22,997 (-27.6%) 05/2012: Fairest #3 -- 22,329 (- 2.9%) 06/2012: Fairest #4 -- 21,156 (- 5.3%) 07/2012: Fairest #5 -- 20,371 (- 3.7%) 08/2012: Fairest #6 -- 19,446 (- 4.5%) 09/2012: Fairest #7 -- 18,626 (- 4.2%) 10/2012: Fairest #8 -- 18,376 (- 1.3%) 11/2012: Fairest #9 -- 17,417 (- 5.2%) 12/2012: Fairest #10 -- 16,919 (- 2.9%) 01/2013: Fairest #11 -- 16,498 (- 2.5%) 02/2013: Fairest #12 -- 16,141 (- 2.2%) 03/2013: Fairest #13 -- 15,693 (- 2.8%) ---------------- 6 months: -15.8% 1 year : -50.6%
Vertigo’s best-selling title of the last year keeps drifting down the charts. At this rate, Fables might soon be on top again. If anything, though, Fairest has managed to hold to its audience surprisingly well, given that big-name creators Bill Willingham and Phil Jimenez left with issue #6.
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132 - THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES 03/2003: Legion #18 -- 23,180 03/2008: LoSH #40 -- 30,377 03/2011: LoSH #11 -- 23,667 --------------------------------------- 03/2012: LoSH #7 -- 21,894 (- 6.6%) 04/2012: LoSH #8 -- 21,457 (- 2.0%) 05/2012: LoSH #9 -- 20,854 (- 2.8%) 06/2012: LoSH #10 -- 19,963 (- 4.3%) 07/2012: LoSH #11 -- 19,421 (- 2.7%) 08/2012: LoSH #12 -- 18,907 (- 2.7%) 09/2012: LoSH #0 -- 21,561 (+ 14.0%) 10/2012: LoSH #13 -- 18,487 (- 14.3%) 11/2012: LoSH #14 -- 17,767 (- 3.9%) 12/2012: LoSH #15 -- 16,912 (- 4.8%) 01/2013: LoSH #16 -- 16,496 (- 2.5%) 02/2013: LoSH #17 -- 16,242 (- 1.5%) 03/2013: LoSH #18 -- 16,148 (- 0.6%) ----------------- 6 months: - 25.1% 1 year : - 26.3% 2 years : - 31.8% 5 years : - 46.8% 10 years: - 30.3%
Sales are clearly levelling out, possibly thanks to artist Keith Giffen’s involvement since issue #17. Unfortunately, it was reported that, contrary to initial plans, Giffen “walked off” the book with issue #18.
So whatever his contribution was to the sudden stabilization of the numbers, it would seem to be a moot point by now. For Legion, at any rate, these are the lowest sales of the last 10 years, and then some.
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129 - BATMAN BEYOND UNLIMITED (Digital-First) 03/2012: Unlimited #2 -- 23,570 (-11.4%) 04/2012: Unlimited #3 -- 24,196 (+ 2.7%) 05/2012: Unlimited #4 -- 24,356 (+ 0.7%) 06/2012: Unlimited #5 -- 24,058 (- 1.2%) 07/2012: Unlimited #6 -- 22,555 (- 6.3%) 08/2012: Unlimited #7 -- 21,219 (- 5.9%) 09/2012: Unlimited #8 -- 20,897 (- 1.5%) 10/2012: Unlimited #9 -- 19,877 (- 4.9%) 11/2012: Unlimited #10 -- 19,004 (- 4.4%) 12/2012: Unlimited #11 -- 18,089 (- 4.8%) 01/2013: Unlimited #12 -- 17,446 (- 3.6%) 02/2013: Unlimited #13 -- 17,025 (- 2.4%) 03/2013: Unlimited #14 -- 16,456 (- 3.3%) ---------------- 6 months: -21.3% 1 year : -30.2%
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128 - SMALLVILLE SEASON 11 (Digital-First) 05/2012: Smallville S11 #1 -- 27,004 06/2012: Smallville S11 #2 -- 22,468 (-16.8%) 07/2012: Smallville S11 #3 -- 20,864 (- 7.1%) 08/2012: Smallville S11 #4 -- 19,861 (- 4.8%) 09/2012: Smallville S11 #5 -- 19,499 (- 1.8%) 10/2012: Smallville S11 #6 -- 19,663 (+ 0.8%) 11/2012: Smallville S11 #7 -- 19,104 (- 2.8%) 12/2012: Smallville S11 #8 -- 18,633 (- 2.5%) 01/2013: Smallville S11 #9 -- 17,845 (- 4.2%) 02/2013: Smallville S11 #10 -- 17,024 (- 4.6%) 03/2013: Smallville S11 #11 -- 16,502 (- 3.1%) ---------------- 6 months: -15.4%
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127 - AME-COMI GIRLS (Digital-First) 10/2012: ACG #1: Wonder Woman -- 24,966 11/2012: ACG #2: Batgirl -- 16,083 (-35.6%) 12/2012: ACG #3: Duela Dent -- 13,185 (-18.0%) 01/2013: ACG #4: Power Girl -- 12,488 (- 5.3%) 02/2013: ACG #5 of 5: Supergirl -- 12,343 (- 1.2%) 03/2013: Ame-Comi Girls #1 -- 16,558 (+34.2%)
Three more digital-first titles. The Ame-Comi Girls relaunch gets more of a boost than I expected, and, again, judging from Arrow sales (see above), these books seem to have more than enough rope, for the time being.
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126 - ALL STAR WESTERN 03/2008: Jonah Hex #29 -- 13,439 03/2009: Jonah Hex #41 -- 11,564 03/2010: Jonah Hex #53 -- 11,565 03/2011: Jonah Hex #65 -- 10,353 -------------------------------- 03/2012: ASW #7 -- 25,349 (- 3.1%) 04/2012: ASW #8 -- 25,040 (- 1.2%) 05/2012: ASW #9 -- 31,413 (+ 25.5%) 06/2012: ASW #10 -- 25,334 (- 19.4%) 07/2012: ASW #11 -- 23,572 (- 7.0%) 08/2012: ASW #12 -- 22,767 (- 3.4%) 09/2012: ASW #0 -- 25,388 (+ 11.5%) 10/2012: ASW #13 -- 21,481 (- 15.4%) 11/2012: ASW #14 -- 20,186 (- 6.0%) 12/2012: ASW #15 -- 19,190 (- 4.9%) 01/2013: ASW #16 -- 18,254 (- 4.9%) 02/2013: ASW #17 -- 17,398 (- 4.7%) 03/2013: ASW #18 -- 16,897 (- 2.9%) ----------------- 6 months: - 33.5% 1 year : - 33.3% 2 years : + 63.2% 5 years : + 25.7%
The numbers appear to be levelling out again. By the standards of Jonah Hex, the book’s predecessor, that’s excellent news, obviously, if you look at the long-term comparisons. By more recent “New 52” standards, it’s unclear if All Star Western will be afforded the same kind of patience.
As long as there are six other “New 52” titles below it that haven’t been axed, however, there’s a very good chance it will survive the next wave of cancellations, at least.
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122 - PHANTOM STRANGER 09/2012: Phantom Stranger #0 -- 40,103 10/2012: Phantom Stranger #1 -- 33,350 (-16.8%) 11/2012: Phantom Stranger #2 -- 24,979 (-25.1%) 12/2012: Phantom Stranger #3 -- 23,378 (- 6.4%) 01/2013: Phantom Stranger #4 -- 19,903 (-14.9%) 02/2013: Phantom Stranger #5 -- 18,032 (- 9.4%) 03/2013: Phantom Stranger #6 -- 17,375 (- 3.6%) ----------------- 6 months: - 56.7%
After a terrible break-neck free-fall that cost the book more than half of its debut sales, the numbers seem to be levelling out. If you’re desperate for another silver lining, it’s worth pointing out that the three other wave-three “New 52” launches, Talon, Sword of Sorcery and Team 7, lost between 57% and 66% of their sales in their first six months of publication, so Phantom Stranger held on to its audience comparatively well.
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118 - INJUSTICE: GODS AMONG US (Digital-First) 01/2013: Injustice #1 -- 20,733 [26,276] 02/2013: Injustice #2 -- 17,068 (-17.7%) 03/2013: Injustice #3 -- 18,608 (+ 9.0%)
An increase of 1,500 units with issue #3, plus an extra 5,543 units sold of issue #1 in March, equals a small break-out hit. Maybe the excellent reviews made people curious about Injustice.
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116 - JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA'S VIBE 02/2013: Vibe #1 -- 27,051 03/2013: Vibe #2 -- 19,092 (-29.4%)
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114 - KATANA 02/2013: Katana #1 -- 27,021 03/2013: Katana #2 -- 19,247 (-28.8%)
Not unexpectedly, two of the three February “New 52” launches drop below 20,000 units right out of the gate.
Vibe and Katana went from 1:50 variants in February to 1:25 variants in March, so some of the drop is probably down to that, at least. Still, the prospects are not good, and the fact that retailers are still ordering them in pretty much the same quantities — which might just be the standard quantity for books nobody’s really asking for — doesn’t bode well, either. If sales don’t level out quickly, things will get ugly.
To complicate matters further, both of the two co-writers of Vibe are already off the book again. Geoff Johns (of the Him That Sells Many Books Johnses) is gone after issue #2, while Andrew Kreisberg is evidently hanging on until issue #3. To complicate matters further further, popular artist Pete Woods evidently needed a back-up on issue #2. None of this is likely to improve the book’s fortunes tremendously.
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113 - LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT (Digital-First) 10/2012: LotDK #1 -- 42,904 11/2012: LotDK #2 -- 30,085 (-29.9%) 12/2012: LotDK #3 -- 25,710 (-14.5%) 01/2013: LotDK #4 -- 22,671 (-11.8%) 02/2013: LotDK #5 -- 21,041 (- 7.2%) 03/2013: LotDK #6 -- 19,681 (- 6.5%)
Sales are still falling quickly, but Legends of the Dark Knight remains the best-selling digital-first title.
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103 - BIRDS OF PREY 03/2003: Birds of Prey #53 -- 24,614 03/2008: Birds of Prey #116 -- 22,627 03/2011: Birds of Prey #10 -- 30,777 ------------------------------------- 03/2012: Birds of Prey #7 -- 29,196 (- 3.9%) 04/2012: Birds of Prey #8 -- 28,661 (- 1.8%) 05/2012: Birds of Prey #9 -- 41,521 (+ 44.9%) 06/2012: Birds of Prey #10 -- 28,457 (- 31.5%) 07/2012: Birds of Prey #11 -- 27,389 (- 3.8%) 08/2012: Birds of Prey #12 -- 26,587 (- 2.9%) 09/2012: Birds of Prey #0 -- 30,574 (+ 15.0%) 10/2012: Birds of Prey #13 -- 25,851 (- 15.5%) 11/2012: Birds of Prey #14 -- 24,904 (- 3.7%) 12/2012: Birds of Prey #15 -- 24,026 (- 3.5%) 01/2013: Birds of Prey #16 -- 23,182 (- 3.5%) 02/2013: Birds of Prey #17 -- 22,112 (- 4.6%) 03/2013: Birds of Prey #18 -- 21,957 (- 0.7%) ----------------- 6 months: - 28.2% 1 year : - 24.8% 2 years : - 28.7% 5 years : - 3.0% 10 years: - 10.8%
This was the issue with which writer Jim Zubkavich, creator of the well-liked independent comics Skullkickers, was meant — and solicited — to take over. Hence, presumably, the book’s stabilization.
“[B]ut,” lamented DC Comics editor-in-chief Bob Harras a month after the issue had been solicited, “as things came together in discussion and the creative churn, we all saw what Christy [Marx] was doing on “Amethyst” [in Sword of Sorcery, see above], and we were looking at Birds of Prey and internally and editorially we were thinking of taking it in a different direction.”
In other words, Zubkavich was unceremoniously kicked off the book overnight, well into his working process, evidently for no reason that should have been hidden from the internal thinking of the DC Comics editorpersons at the time they first chose to insert him into the creative churn.
The new writer is Christy Marx, now, is responsible for the “Amethyst” feature in Sword of Sorcery, a book that tanked so horribly and immediately that it won’t make it past its ninth issue. On January 15, about nine weeks before her first issue was delivered to retailers fully drawn, inked, colored and lettered, Marx said she was “still absorbing a ton of previous material and doing my initial thinking about the direction.”
Evidently, this was the best solution for everybody involved.
The book’s March sales are probably at least partially reflective of the demand for a Jim Zubkavich Birds of Prey rather than a Christy Marx Birds of Prey, so let’s give it another month or two.
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95 - SUPERBOY 03/2011: Superboy #5 -- 27,215 -------------------------------- 03/2012: Superboy #7 -- 33,050 (- 4.3%) 04/2012: Superboy #8 -- 31,900 (- 3.5%) 05/2012: Superboy #9 -- 34,838 (+ 9.2%) 06/2012: Superboy #10 -- 31,358 (- 10.0%) 07/2012: Superboy #11 -- 29,677 (- 5.4%) 08/2012: Superboy #12 -- 27,518 (- 7.3%) 09/2012: Superboy #0 -- 31,840 (+ 15.7%) 10/2012: Superboy #13 -- 25,726 (- 19.2%) 11/2012: Superboy #14 -- 28,017 (+ 8.9%) 12/2012: Superboy #15 -- 27,619 (- 1.4%) 01/2013: Superboy #16 -- 27,110 (- 1.8%) 02/2013: Superboy #17 -- 26,762 (- 1.3%) 03/2013: Superboy #18 -- 24,455 (- 8.6%) ----------------- 6 months: - 23.2% 1 year : - 26.0% 2 years : - 10.1%
Coming out of the “H’el on Earth” crossover, Superboy is back in decline — that’s a drop of more than 1,000 units versus the October figure. With issue #20, the book gets a new writer.
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94 - SUICIDE SQUAD 03/2008: Raise the Flag #7 of 8 -- 15,781 ----------------------------------------- 03/2012: Suicide Squad #7 -- 32,908 (+ 6.7%) 04/2012: Suicide Squad #8 -- 32,789 (- 0.4%) 05/2012: Suicide Squad #9 -- 32,581 (- 0.6%) 06/2012: Suicide Squad #10 -- 31,576 (- 3.1%) 07/2012: Suicide Squad #11 -- 29,809 (- 5.6%) 08/2012: Suicide Squad #12 -- 28,302 (- 5.1%) 09/2012: Suicide Squad #0 -- 31,875 (+ 12.6%) 10/2012: Suicide Squad #13 -- 27,644 (- 13.3%) 11/2012: Suicide Squad #14 -- 63,691 (+130.4%) [69,185] 12/2012: Suicide Squad #15 -- 57,132 (- 10.3%) 01/2013: Suicide Squad #16 -- 27,061 (- 52.6%) 02/2013: Suicide Squad #17 -- 26,370 (- 2.6%) 03/2013: Suicide Squad #18 -- 25,232 (- 4.3%) ----------------- 6 months: - 20.8% 1 year : - 23.3% 5 years : + 59.9%
Another book that’s back in decline following its participation in the “Death of the Family” crossover. A new creative team is taking over with issue #20 here, as well.
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93 - TALON 09/2012: Talon #0 -- 59,691 10/2012: Talon #1 -- 55,737 (- 6.6%) 11/2012: Talon #2 -- 41,250 (-26.0%) 12/2012: Talon #3 -- 35,034 (-15.1%) 01/2013: Talon #4 -- 30,909 (-11.8%) 02/2013: Talon #5 -- 28,003 (- 9.4%) 03/2013: Talon #6 -- 25,440 (- 9.2%) ----------------- 6 months: - 57.4%
Since issue #1, Talon has been promoted with a 1:25 variant-cover edition. For issue #1, there was also a 1:200 variant, and for issues #2 through #5 there were 1:100 variants. Issue #6 was the first issue with just the 1:25 variant-cover edition. So that’s at least part of the explanation why Talon is still dropping at an alarming rate, but certainly not all of it.
After issue #7, now, co-writer Scott Snyder (of the Him That Sells Many Books Snyders) and popular artist Guillem March (of the Him Whose Page Rate Is Way Too High For A Title That Won’t Move 25K Marches) will vacate the premises. And come issue #10, Talon will no longer be supported with any variant-cover editions, either. To make a long story short: It’s going to be an uphill struggle from here on out.
For DC, the worrying thing here is that they had a top-flight co-writer and an upper-class artist on a book that launched strongly out of a tremendously successful crossover, and it still ended up in free-fall.
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90 - JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK 03/2012: Justice League Dark #7 -- 36,089 (- 5.9%) 04/2012: Justice League Dark #8 -- 35,022 (- 3.0%) 05/2012: Justice League Dark #9 -- 34,649 (- 1.1%) 06/2012: Justice League Dark #10 -- 33,238 (- 4.1%) 07/2012: Justice League Dark #11 -- 31,792 (- 4.4%) 08/2012: Justice League Dark #12 -- 30,754 (- 3.3%) 09/2012: Justice League Dark #0 -- 34,287 (+11.5%) 10/2012: Justice League Dark #13 -- 30,008 (-12.5%) 11/2012: Justice League Dark #14 -- 28,966 (- 3.5%) 12/2012: Justice League Dark #15 -- 27,712 (- 4.3%) 01/2013: Justice League Dark #16 -- 26,902 (- 2.9%) 02/2013: Justice League Dark #17 -- 25,841 (- 3.9%) 03/2013: Justice League Dark #18 -- 25,664 (- 0.7%) ---------------- 6 months: -25.2% 1 year : -28.9%
The announced tie-in with the new Constantine book serves to just barely mask this title’s ongoing downward drift.
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87 - SUPERGIRL 03/2003: Supergirl #80 -- 28,536 [30,404] 03/2008: Supergirl #27 -- 32,596 03/2009: Supergirl #39 -- 33,713 03/2010: Supergirl #51 -- 29,845 03/2011: Supergirl #62 -- 21,786 --------------------------------- 03/2012: Supergirl #7 -- 37,041 (- 4.3%) 04/2012: Supergirl #8 -- 36,042 (- 2.7%) 05/2012: Supergirl #9 -- 35,129 (- 2.5%) 06/2012: Supergirl #10 -- 33,309 (- 5.2%) 07/2012: Supergirl #11 -- 31,879 (- 4.3%) 08/2012: Supergirl #12 -- 30,420 (- 4.6%) 09/2012: Supergirl #0 -- 34,457 (+ 13.3%) 10/2012: Supergirl #13 -- 29,450 (- 14.5%) 11/2012: Supergirl #14 -- 31,270 (+ 6.2%) 12/2012: Supergirl #15 -- 30,814 (- 1.5%) 01/2013: Supergirl #16 -- 30,350 (- 1.5%) 02/2013: Supergirl #17 -- 30,146 (- 0.7%) 03/2013: Supergirl #18 -- 28,051 (- 7.0%) ----------------- 6 months: - 18.6% 1 year : - 24.3% 2 years : + 28.8% 5 years : - 13.9% 10 years: - 1.7%
In one of the weekly Russian roulette tournaments at the DC Comics offices during which some of the editors and higher-ups at the company take turns discharging randomly loaded firarms at rows of half hogs with the photographs of freelance talent pinned on them in a relaxed and friendly social setting, it was decided that the March issue of Supergirl was not going to feature the creators that had been on the book all along and had been solicited as the creators of the March issue and whose names were printed on the bloody cover, after all, but another creative team entirely.
Which means that sales probably don’t entirely reflect demand for the issue that saw print. But you know the drill.
In other news, “H’el on Earth” was over here, too, in March, and so the numbers are back in decline.
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86 - GREEN ARROW 03/2003: Green Arrow #22 -- 51,744 03/2008: Arrow/Canary #6 -- 32,621 03/2009: Arrow/Canary #18 -- 22,699 03/2010: Green Arrow #31 -- 28,486 03/2011: Green Arrow #10 -- 33,085 ----------------------------------- 03/2012: Green Arrow #7 -- 29,004 (- 3.6%) 04/2012: Green Arrow #8 -- 27,433 (- 5.4%) 05/2012: Green Arrow #9 -- 26,966 (- 1.7%) 06/2012: Green Arrow #10 -- 25,769 (- 4.4%) 07/2012: Green Arrow #11 -- 24,646 (- 4.4%) 08/2012: Green Arrow #12 -- 23,126 (- 6.2%) 09/2012: Green Arrow #0 -- 28,408 (+ 22.8%) 10/2012: Green Arrow #13 -- 22,057 (- 22.4%) 11/2012: Green Arrow #14 -- 21,825 (- 1.1%) 12/2012: Green Arrow #15 -- 20,672 (- 5.3%) 01/2013: Green Arrow #16 -- 19,888 (- 3.8%) 02/2013: Green Arrow #17 -- 36,043 (+ 81.2%) 03/2013: Green Arrow #18 -- 28,080 (- 22.1%) ----------------- 6 months: - 1.2% 1 year : - 3.2% 2 years : - 15.1% 5 years : - 13.9% 10 years: - 45.7%
When the sixth Green Arrow writer and artist, respectively, in 18 issues took over in February, there was quite a sales bump, but the book had also been promoted with a 1:50 variant edition and another special charity variant, both of which are likely to have boosted the increase.
In March, now, there is a 1:25 variant, unlike for previous issues, so there’s still some gimmickry going on. That said, though, Green Arrow is still 8K ahead of its January figure, and a good chunk of this is likely down to the names of writer Jeff Lemire and artist Andrea Sorrentino. If sales stabilize in the next few months, this creative-team change might actually pay off.
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82 - WORLDS' FINEST 05/2012: Worlds' Finest #1 -- 69,531 06/2012: Worlds' Finest #2 -- 51,510 (-25.9%) 07/2012: Worlds' Finest #3 -- 45,514 (-11.6%) 08/2012: Worlds' Finest #4 -- 39,629 (-12.9%) 09/2012: Worlds' Finest #0 -- 42,770 (+ 7.9%) 10/2012: Worlds' Finest #5 -- 35,951 (-15.9%) 11/2012: Worlds' Finest #6 -- 34,338 (- 4.5%) 12/2012: Worlds' Finest #7 -- 32,010 (- 6.8%) 01/2013: Worlds' Finest #8 -- 30,399 (- 5.0%) 02/2013: Worlds' Finest #9 -- 28,332 (- 6.8%) 03/2013: Worlds' Finest #10 -- 28,469 (+ 0.5%) ---------------- 6 months: -33.4%
This was one of the Batman, Incorporated #8 tie-in issues. Hence, probably, the increase. (And since it’s a rather unlikely tie-in that wasn’t name-checked in the solicitation text, there was a bit of a rush, apparently necessitating a reprint edition. We might see some re-order activity for the “Requiem” books on the April chart.)
Last month’s big drop wasn’t as big as it seems, by the way. I missed the fact that the book stopped being supported with 1:25 variants after issue #8, so in reality Worlds’ Finest is probably about to level out.
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81 - ANIMAL MAN 03/2012: Animal Man #7 -- 36,860 (- 4.3%) 04/2012: Animal Man #8 -- 36,369 (- 1.3%) 05/2012: Animal Man #9 -- 35,699 (- 1.8%) 06/2012: Animal Man #10 -- 34,992 (- 2.0%) 07/2012: Animal Man #11 -- 33,909 (- 3.1%) 08/2012: Animal Man #12 -- 34,549 (+ 1.9%) 09/2012: Animal Man #0 -- 38,295 (+10.8%) 10/2012: Animal Man #13 -- 34,303 (-10.4%) 11/2012: Animal Man #14 -- 33,503 (- 2.3%) 12/2012: Animal Man #15 -- 32,013 (- 4.5%) 01/2013: Animal Man #16 -- 30,322 (- 5.3%) 02/2013: Animal Man #17 -- 29,425 (- 3.0%) 02/2013: Animal Man #18 -- 28,711 (- 2.4%) ---------------- 6 months: -25.0% 1 year : -22.1%
Amazingly enough, sales appear to be levelling out again as the “Rotworld” crossover is winding down. The March issue had an epilogue to the storyline, so maybe Animal Man sales will soon have stabilized again.
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77 - SWAMP THING 03/2012: Swamp Thing #7 -- 40,268 (- 2.4%) 04/2012: Swamp Thing #8 -- 39,431 (- 2.1%) 05/2012: Swamp Thing #9 -- 39,385 (- 0.1%) 06/2012: Swamp Thing #10 -- 37,383 (- 5.1%) 07/2012: Swamp Thing #11 -- 36,257 (- 3.0%) 08/2012: Swamp Thing #12 -- 36,696 (+ 1.2%) 09/2012: Swamp Thing #0 -- 40,123 (+ 9.3%) 10/2012: Swamp Thing #13 -- 36,069 (-10.1%) 11/2012: Swamp Thing #14 -- 42,036 (+16.5%) 12/2012: Swamp Thing #15 -- 33,916 (-19.3%) 01/2013: Swamp Thing #16 -- 32,262 (- 4.9%) 02/2013: Swamp Thing #17 -- 31,497 (- 2.4%) 03/2013: Swamp Thing #18 -- 30,716 (- 2.5%) ---------------- 6 months: -23.5% 1 year : -23.7%
Still gently drifting down the chart with its “Rotworld” epilogue issue. Swamp Thing #19 was also the final issue by writer Scott Snyder and artist Yanick Paquette, however, so let’s wait and see what the new creative team will do to the numbers over the next few months. Given Snyder and Paquette’s status, though, it probably won’t be pretty.
That said, if there’s one big and clear message in “Rotworld,” it’s that readers of strong individual titles don’t want their stories hamstrung by months-long crossover storylines, even if the crossover is with another strong individual title that they might be reading anyway.
Or, in other words: Animal Man and Swamp Thing were two rare examples of solid, strong, creator-driven books in the erratic “New 52” line. And crossing over with one another seems to have ruined them — at least for about 5,000 readers each, if you look at the October figures.
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76 - BATWOMAN 03/2012: Batwoman #7 -- 46,874 (- 4.8%) 04/2012: Batwoman #8 -- 45,341 (- 3.3%) 05/2012: Batwoman #9 -- 43,942 (- 3.1%) 06/2012: Batwoman #10 -- 41,014 (- 6.7%) 07/2012: Batwoman #11 -- 38,980 (- 5.0%) 08/2012: Batwoman #12 -- 38,064 (- 2.4%) 09/2012: Batwoman #0 -- 41,684 (+ 9.5%) 10/2012: Batwoman #13 -- 37,315 (-10.5%) 11/2012: Batwoman #14 -- 36,395 (- 2.5%) 12/2012: Batwoman #15 -- 34,964 (- 3.9%) 01/2013: Batwoman #16 -- 34,103 (- 2.5%) 02/2013: Batwoman #17 -- 32,041 (- 6.1%) 03/2013: Batwoman #18 -- 31,381 (- 2.1%) ---------------- 6 months: -24.7% 1 year : -33.1%
Batwoman sales have been fairly erratic, so it’s hard to discern any particular trends. Out of the last few issues, #16 and #17 were by co-writer and superstar artist J.H. Williams III, while #18 was by back-up man Trevor McCarthy, so I’d say it’s unlikely that the rotating artists are the reason for the fluctuations here — otherwise, if anything, I’d expect that 6% drop on a non-Williams issue. There has to be something else going on, but I’m not quite sure what it might be.
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73 - CATWOMAN 03/2003: Catwoman #17 -- 23,532 03/2008: Catwoman #77 -- 18,609 ------------------------------- 03/2012: Catwoman #7 -- 39,608 (- 4.4%) 04/2012: Catwoman #8 -- 38,711 (- 2.3%) 05/2012: Catwoman #9 -- 49,726 (+28.5%) 06/2012: Catwoman #10 -- 37,158 (-25.3%) 07/2012: Catwoman #11 -- 35,551 (- 4.3%) 08/2012: Catwoman #12 -- 34,117 (- 4.0%) 09/2012: Catwoman #0 -- 39,117 (+14.7%) 10/2012: Catwoman #13 -- 40,147 (+ 2.6%) [60,257] 11/2012: Catwoman #14 -- 63,653 (+58.6%) 12/2012: Catwoman #15 -- 35,020 (-45.0%) 01/2013: Catwoman #16 -- 33,915 (- 3.2%) 02/2013: Catwoman #17 -- 30,194 (-11.0%) 03/2013: Catwoman #18 -- 33,220 (+10.0%) ----------------- 6 months: - 15.1% 1 year : - 16.1% 5 years : + 78.5% 10 years: + 41.2%
Well, I’m tempted to say that a big box of Catwoman #17 copies must have fallen off a truck in February, after all, and that we’re seeing a return to normal in March, explaining the increase.
But then again, Catwoman #18 was another “Requiem” issue tying in with the immensely popular character death in Batman, Incorporated, and that actually serves to explain a 10% increase all by itself, leaving the big February drop unexplained.
Or maybe it was both. We might get a clearer picture next month.
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68 - RED LANTERNS 03/2012: Red Lanterns #7 -- 41,628 (- 4.2%) 04/2012: Red Lanterns #8 -- 40,189 (- 3.5%) 05/2012: Red Lanterns #9 -- 39,215 (- 2.4%) 06/2012: Red Lanterns #10 -- 38,005 (- 3.1%) 07/2012: Red Lanterns #11 -- 36,462 (- 4.1%) 08/2012: Red Lanterns #12 -- 35,070 (- 3.8%) 09/2012: Red Lanterns #0 -- 38,928 (+11.0%) 10/2012: Red Lanterns #13 -- 42,804 (+10.0%) 11/2012: Red Lanterns #14 -- 40,779 (- 4.7%) 12/2012: Red Lanterns #15 -- 39,071 (- 4.2%) 01/2013: Red Lanterns #16 -- 38,223 (- 2.2%) 02/2013: Red Lanterns #17 -- 35,839 (- 6.2%) 03/2013: Red Lanterns #18 -- 35,203 (- 1.8%) ---------------- 6 months: - 9.6% 1 year : -15.4%
In the middle of the “Wrath of the First Lantern” crossover that follows the “Rise of the Third Army” crossover in all four Lantern books, Red Lanterns appears to be either levelling out again, or the crossover is boosting sales just enough to mask a stronger underlying decline.
It’s a moot point, anyway, since not only will the entire franchise see a makeover in June, once the current “Ragewrath of the Red Army” storyline has concluded, but two of the promoted and solicited creative teams already had to be overhauled when former upcoming new Red Lanterns and Green Lantern Corps writer Joshua Hale Fialkov threw his hands up and left, rather than to have editorial write the plots for him.
So he will now be replaced by three other writers on these two titles, one of whom is Robert Venditti. (Keep Robert Venditti in mind. He will be important in another round of Freelance Talent Musical Chairs shortly.)
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62 - CONSTANTINE 03/2003: Hellblazer #182 -- 17,257 03/2008: Hellblazer #242 -- 11,916 03/2009: Hellblazer #253 -- 11,132 03/2010: Hellblazer #265 -- 10,295 03/2011: Hellblazer #277 -- 9,525 ---------------------------------- 03/2012: Hellblazer #289 -- 9,363 (- 2.0%) 04/2012: Hellblazer #290 -- 9,472 (+ 1.2%) 05/2012: Hellblazer #291 -- 9,426 (- 0.5%) 06/2012: Hellblazer #292 -- 9,533 (+ 1.1%) 07/2012: Hellblazer #293 -- 9,247 (- 3.0%) 08/2012: Hellblazer #294 -- 9,396 (+ 1.6%) 09/2012: Hellblazer #295 -- 9,143 (- 2.7%) 10/2012: Hellblazer #296 -- 9,255 (+ 1.2%) 11/2012: Hellblazer #297 -- 9,146 (- 1.2%) 12/2012: Hellblazer #298 -- 9,132 (- 0.2%) 01/2013: Hellblazer #299 -- 9,329 (+ 2.2%) 02/2013: Hellblazer #300 -- 12,522 (+ 34.2%) 03/2013: Constantine #1 -- 37,564 (+200.0%) ----------------- 6 months: +310.9% 1 year : +301.2% 2 years : +294.4% 5 years : +215.2% 10 years: +117.7%
This is a good increase for John Constantine’s first post-Vertigo outing, certainly. And now things become rather complicated.
1) Constantine #1 was promoted with a 1:25 variant-cover edition, and the same applies to subsequent issues through #4. This is likely boosting the numbers to some extent.
2) When the relaunch was solicited, it listed Robert Venditti (I told you to keep him in mind) as the writer, but ended up being written by someone else entirely, namely Jeff Lemire and Ray Fawkes. (Keep Jeff Lemire and Ray Fawkes in mind. They will be important in another round of Freelance Talent Musical Chairs shortly.) Because, according to Editorperson Bob Harras, “Robert [Venditti] and Dan [DiDio] and I spoke, and Constantine was, for him [Venditti or DiDio?], one book too many. It was the one thing that we had to go, ‘If we want you to focus on this one project, maybe we should make a change on Constantine.'”
Which sounds totally like it was a decision that Robert and Dan and Bob all simultaneously felt very strongly in their heads they had to make in the creative churn internally and externally and editorially, and that could not possibly have been decided at a better temporal moment in time by any peoplepersons with heads, in their heads. So the decision-making in the heads occurred in a decidedly smooth-like manner there, temporally speaking.
3) Jeff Lemire (of the Him That Sells Many Books Lemires; I told you to keep in mind in the previous paragraph) will only be around as a co-writer through issue #4, it was such a dream assignment for him.
4) The book name-checks the upcoming “Trinity War” crossover in the advertising copy for issue #5.
So, on balance, I suppose the vital question for DC’s strategical planning is, will Jeff Lemire fans rush in to buy Constantine swiftly enough to fail to perceive the fact that Jeff Lemire is already gone again? And if so, will the upcoming crossover cause enough mental intertia in their peopleheads to not care when they find out, and keep buying the book, anyway?
Stay tuned.
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61 - RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS 03/2012: Red Hood #7 -- 38,630 (- 3.2%) 04/2012: Red Hood #8 -- 37,974 (- 1.7%) 05/2012: Red Hood #9 -- 54,220 (+42.8%) 06/2012: Red Hood #10 -- 37,044 (-31.7%) 07/2012: Red Hood #11 -- 35,820 (- 3.3%) 08/2012: Red Hood #12 -- 34,439 (- 3.9%) 09/2012: Red Hood #0 -- 39,511 (+14.7%) 10/2012: Red Hood #13 -- 35,420 (- 6.7%) 11/2012: Red Hood #14 -- 37,710 (+ 6.5%) 12/2012: Red Hood #15 -- 64,103 (+70.0%) 01/2013: Red Hood #16 -- 59,621 (- 7.0%) 02/2013: Red Hood #17 -- 53,076 (-11.0%) 03/2013: Red Hood #18 -- 37,731 (-28.9%) ---------------- 6 months: - 4.5% 1 year : - 2.3%
This was another “Requiem” follow-up to the character death in Batman, Incorporated, so sales remain slightly up versus the November issue.
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60 - WONDER WOMAN 03/2003: Wonder Woman #190 -- 25,615 [27,851] 03/2008: Wonder Woman #18 -- 40,771 03/2009: Wonder Woman #30 -- 33,365 03/2010: Wonder Woman #42 -- 25,240 03/2011: Wonder Woman #608 -- 32,540 03/2011: Wonder Woman #609 -- 31,421 ------------------------------------- 03/2012: Wonder Woman #7 -- 51,314 (- 5.3%) 04/2012: Wonder Woman #8 -- 50,450 (- 1.7%) 05/2012: Wonder Woman #9 -- 48,750 (- 3.4%) 06/2012: Wonder Woman #10 -- 47,229 (- 3.1%) 07/2012: Wonder Woman #11 -- 45,669 (- 3.3%) 08/2012: Wonder Woman #12 -- 44,584 (- 2.4%) 09/2012: Wonder Woman #0 -- 49,778 (+ 11.7%) 10/2012: Wonder Woman #13 -- 43,731 (- 12.2%) 11/2012: Wonder Woman #14 -- 42,384 (- 3.1%) 12/2012: Wonder Woman #15 -- 41,641 (- 1.8%) 01/2013: Wonder Woman #16 -- 40,105 (- 3.7%) 02/2013: Wonder Woman #17 -- 39,110 (- 2.5%) 03/2013: Wonder Woman #18 -- 38,406 (- 1.8%) ----------------- 6 months: - 22.9% 1 year : - 25.2% 2 years : + 20.1% 5 years : - 5.8% 10 years: + 49.9%
Wonder Woman is settling into a standard attrition pattern.
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56 - BEFORE WATCHMEN: OZYMANDIAS 07/2012: Ozymandias #1 of 6 -- 98,011 08/2012: Ozymandias #2 of 6 -- 64,460 (-34.2%) 09/2012: Ozymandias #3 of 6 -- 52,280 (-18.9%) 10/2012: -- 11/2012: Ozymandias #4 of 6 -- 48,404 (- 7.4%) 12/2012: -- 01/2013: Ozymandias #5 of 6 -- 43,063 (-11.0%) 02/2013: -- 03/2013: Ozymandias #6 of 6 -- 41,076 (- 4.6%) ----------------- 6 months: - 21.4%
“They did it 26 years ago.”
— anonymous comics retailer in North America, looking at their sell-through notes on a Before Watchmen comic
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54 - FLASH 03/2003: Flash #196 -- 28,577 03/2008: Flash #238 -- 35,606 03/2009: -- 03/2010: -- 03/2011: -- ----------------------------------- 03/2012: Flash #7 -- 64,975 (- 4.5%) 04/2012: Flash #8 -- 63,702 (- 2.0%) 05/2012: Flash #9 -- 62,807 (- 1.4%) 06/2012: Flash #10 -- 55,681 (- 11.4%) 07/2012: Flash #11 -- 53,674 (- 3.6%) 08/2012: Flash #12 -- 51,779 (- 3.5%) 09/2012: Flash #0 -- 56,890 (+ 9.9%) 10/2012: Flash #13 -- 49,936 (- 12.2%) 11/2012: Flash #14 -- 48,012 (- 3.9%) 12/2012: Flash #15 -- 45,925 (- 4.4%) 01/2013: Flash #16 -- 44,093 (- 4.0%) 02/2013: Flash #17 -- 42,936 (- 2.6%) 03/2013: Flash #18 -- 41,659 (- 3.0%) ----------------- 6 months: - 26.8% 1 year : - 35.9% 2 years : n.a. 5 years : + 17.0% 10 years: + 45.8%
The book keeps sliding down the chart.
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51 - GREEN LANTERN: NEW GUARDIANS 03/2011: Emerald Warriors #8 -- 51,322 [54,110] --------------------------------------- 03/2012: New Guardians #7 -- 48,422 (- 3.8%) 04/2012: New Guardians #8 -- 47,320 (- 2.3%) 05/2012: New Guardians #9 -- 46,237 (- 2.3%) 06/2012: New Guardians #10 -- 44,404 (- 4.0%) 07/2012: New Guardians #11 -- 42,929 (- 3.3%) 08/2012: New Guardians #12 -- 41,479 (- 3.4%) 09/2012: New Guardians #0 -- 46,718 (+12.6%) 10/2012: New Guardians #13 -- 48,500 (+ 3.8%) 11/2012: New Guardians #14 -- 47,062 (- 3.0%) 12/2012: New Guardians #15 -- 45,136 (- 4.1%) 01/2013: New Guardians #16 -- 43,770 (- 3.0%) 02/2013: New Guardians #17 -- 42,285 (- 3.4%) 03/2013: New Guardians #18 -- 42,028 (- 0.6%) ---------------- 6 months: -10.0% 1 year : -13.2% 2 years : -18.1%
Another “Rise of the Raging Blood Bears” crossover issue. A new creative team will take over in June.
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50 - TEEN TITANS 03/2003: Y Justice #55 -- 24,033 03/2008: Teen Titans #57 -- 49,109 03/2009: -- 03/2010: Teen Titans #81 -- 25,758 03/2011: Teen Titans #93 -- 24,957 ----------------------------------- 03/2012: Teen Titans #7 -- 51,402 (- 3.2%) 04/2012: Teen Titans #8 -- 50,814 (- 1.1%) 05/2012: Teen Titans #9 -- 50,261 (- 1.1%) 06/2012: Teen Titans #10 -- 47,491 (- 5.5%) 07/2012: Teen Titans #11 -- 45,367 (- 4.5%) 08/2012: Teen Titans #12 -- 42,817 (- 5.6%) 09/2012: Teen Titans #0 -- 47,318 (+ 10.5%) 10/2012: Teen Titans #13 -- 41,059 (- 13.2%) 11/2012: Teen Titans #14 -- 39,745 (- 3.3%) 12/2012: Teen Titans #15 -- 68,707 (+ 72.9%) 01/2013: Teen Titans #16 -- 63,726 (- 7.3%) 02/2013: Teen Titans #17 -- 39,186 (- 38.5%) 03/2013: Teen Titans #18 -- 42,055 (+ 7.3%) ----------------- 6 months: - 11.1% 1 year : - 18.2% 2 years : + 68.5% 5 years : - 14.4% 10 years: + 75.0%
And another “Requiem” issue, causing a sales increase.
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46 - GREEN LANTERN CORPS 03/2008: Green Lantern Corps #22 -- 46,736 03/2009: Green Lantern Corps #34 -- 54,162 03/2010: Green Lantern Corps #46 -- 76,720 03/2011: Green Lantern Corps #58 -- 60,100 ------------------------------------------ 03/2012: Green Lantern Corps #7 -- 48,692 (- 4.8%) 04/2012: Green Lantern Corps #8 -- 47,584 (- 2.3%) 05/2012: Green Lantern Corps #9 -- 46,336 (- 2.6%) 06/2012: Green Lantern Corps #10 -- 44,615 (- 3.7%) 07/2012: Green Lantern Corps #11 -- 42,996 (- 3.6%) 08/2012: Green Lantern Corps #12 -- 41,778 (- 2.8%) 09/2012: Green Lantern Corps #0 -- 47,309 (+13.2%) 10/2012: Green Lantern Corps #13 -- 50,773 (+ 7.3%) 11/2012: Green Lantern Corps #14 -- 49,594 (- 2.3%) 12/2012: Green Lantern Corps #15 -- 47,841 (- 3.5%) 01/2013: Green Lantern Corps #16 -- 45,387 (- 5.1%) 02/2013: Green Lantern Corps #17 -- 44,497 (- 2.0%) 03/2013: Green Lantern Corps #18 -- 44,215 (- 0.6%) ---------------- 6 months: - 6.5% 1 year : - 9.2% 2 years : -26.4% 5 years : - 5.4%
“March of the Hemorrhaging Roaches” continues apace.
Somebody who hasn’t been fired, churned or chased away will probably be writing and drawing this book come June, I’m sure.
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42 - EARTH 2 05/2012: Earth 2 #1 -- 95,742 [102,490] 06/2012: Earth 2 #2 -- 75,936 (-20.7%) [ 84,740] 07/2012: Earth 2 #3 -- 74,892 (- 1.4%) 08/2012: Earth 2 #4 -- 67,393 (-10.0%) 09/2012: Earth 2 #0 -- 69,111 (+ 2.6%) 10/2012: Earth 2 #5 -- 61,529 (-11.0%) 11/2012: Earth 2 #6 -- 58,271 (- 4.8%) 12/2012: Earth 2 #7 -- 54,409 (- 6.6%) 01/2013: Earth 2 #8 -- 50,860 (- 6.5%) 02/2013: Earth 2 #9 -- 48,208 (- 5.2%) 03/2013: Earth 2 #10 -- 46,213 (- 4.1%) ---------------- 6 months: -33.1%
The drops have been getting smaller in the last few months, but Earth 2 is still sliding down the chart.
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39 - BEFORE WATCHMEN: RORSCHACH 08/2012: Rorschach #1 of 4 -- 94,970 09/2012: -- 10/2012: Rorschach #2 of 4 -- 62,788 (-33.9%) 11/2012: -- 12/2012: Rorschach #3 of 4 -- 53,396 (-15.0%) 01/2013: -- 02/2013: -- 03/2014: Rorschach #4 of 4 -- 47,112 (-11.8%)
If you paint the sales trajectory of any of the Before Watchmen books in ink blots and fold it over, it looks like a victory sign.
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38 - NIGHTWING 03/2003: Nightwing #79 -- 29,713 03/2008: Nightwing #142 -- 30,253 --------------------------------- 03/2012: Nightwing #7 -- 50,489 (- 4.8%) 04/2012: Nightwing #8 -- 52,063 (+ 3.1%) [61,711] 05/2012: Nightwing #9 -- 61,395 (+17.9%) 06/2012: Nightwing #10 -- 50,585 (-17.6%) 07/2012: Nightwing #11 -- 49,124 (- 2.9%) 08/2012: Nightwing #12 -- 47,484 (- 3.3%) 09/2012: Nightwing #0 -- 53,109 (+11.9%) 10/2012: Nightwing #13 -- 47,171 (-11.2%) 11/2012: Nightwing #14 -- 50,720 (+ 7.5%) 12/2012: Nightwing #15 -- 74,407 (+46.7%) 01/2013: Nightwing #16 -- 69,643 (- 6.4%) 02/2013: Nightwing #17 -- 62,107 (-10.8%) 03/2013: Nightwing #18 -- 48,223 (-22.4%) ----------------- 6 months: - 9.2% 1 year : - 4.5% 5 years : + 59.4% 10 years: + 62.3%
Another “Requiem” issue, keeping Nightwing sales above those of issue #13, which was the last one before the crossovers.
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37/34 - SUPERMAN 03/2003: Superman #191 -- 34,000 03/2008: Superman #674 -- 41,715 03/2009: Superman #686 -- 44,976 03/2010: Superman #698 -- 33,336 03/2011: Superman #709 -- 39,846 --------------------------------- 03/2012: Superman #7 -- 66,588 (- 4.4%) 04/2012: Superman #8 -- 64,486 (- 3.2%) 05/2012: Superman #9 -- 62,232 (- 3.5%) 06/2012: Superman #10 -- 59,081 (- 5.1%) 07/2012: Superman #11 -- 56,066 (- 5.1%) 08/2012: Superman #12 -- 53,326 (- 4.9%) 09/2012: Superman #0 -- 60,493 (+ 13.4%) 10/2012: Superman #13 -- 52,155 (- 13.8%) 11/2012: Superman #14 -- 52,572 (+ 0.8%) 12/2012: Superman #15 -- 51,225 (- 2.6%) 01/2013: Superman #16 -- 50,621 (- 1.2%) 02/2013: -- 03/2013: Superman #17 -- 49,666 (- 1.9%) 03/2013: Superman #18 -- 48,236 (- 2.9%) ----------------- 6 months: - 19.1% 1 year : - 26.5% 2 years : + 22.9% 5 years : + 17.4% 10 years: + 44.0%
Issue #17, late from February, was the conclusion of the “H’el on Earth” crossover with Superboy and Supergirl. As the figure for #18 shows, though, there was little to no impact on Superman sales.
Historically, though, the book is still doing perfectly okay, despite the speedy decline of the last one and a half years.
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30 - BATGIRL 03/2003: Batgirl #38 -- 30,686 03/2010: Batgirl #8 -- 30,886 03/2011: Batgirl #19 -- 24,821 ---------------------------------- 03/2012: Batgirl #7 -- 50,761 (- 4.5%) 04/2012: Batgirl #8 -- 48,878 (- 3.7%) 05/2012: Batgirl #9 -- 58,710 (+ 20.1%) 06/2012: Batgirl #10 -- 47,050 (- 19.9%) 07/2012: Batgirl #11 -- 45,004 (- 4.4%) 08/2012: Batgirl #12 -- 43,804 (- 2.7%) 09/2012: Batgirl #0 -- 50,441 (+ 15.2%) 10/2012: Batgirl #13 -- 50,074 (- 0.7%) [71,109] 11/2012: Batgirl #14 -- 77,468 (+ 54.7%) 12/2012: Batgirl #15 -- 75,341 (- 2.8%) 01/2013: Batgirl #16 -- 72,470 (- 3.8%) 02/2013: Batgirl #17 -- 65,751 (- 9.6%) 03/2013: Batgirl #18 -- 51,677 (- 21.4%) ----------------- 6 months: + 2.5% 1 year : + 1.8% 2 years : +108.2% 10 years: + 68.4%
“The first of two issues by guest writer Ray Fawkes!”
Remember Ray Fawkes?
He’s the guy who wasn’t supposed to be the writer of Constantine when that book was solicited and prepared, and then he was. He’s also the guy who was supposed to write two issues of Batgirl, and then he wasn’t.
The time when Fawkes was meant to be writing two issues of Batgirl was the time when Batgirl writer Gail Simone, after 10 years at DC, was fired (which DC told her in e-mail), but before DC changed its editorperson mind and hired Simone back, which is presumably why Fawkes ended up writing not two, but one issue of Batgirl.
Also, this was another “Requiem” issue.
So, weighing considerations of Simone’s expected temporary absence with Simone’s unexpected permanent absence and with Fawkes’s expected fill-in role and with Fawkes’s unexpectedly brief fill-in role and with Simone’s unexpected return and with the unexpected tie-in with a surprise character death in another title, I conclude that I don’t have a fucking clue what actual sales of the March Batgirl issue are actually reflective of.
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28 - AQUAMAN 03/2003: Aquaman #4 -- 36,908 ------------------------------ 03/2012: Aquaman #7 -- 62,345 (- 1.7%) 04/2012: Aquaman #8 -- 61,657 (- 1.1%) 05/2012: Aquaman #9 -- 60,527 (- 1.8%) 06/2012: Aquaman #10 -- 59,288 (- 2.1%) 07/2012: Aquaman #11 -- 57,675 (- 2.7%) 08/2012: Aquaman #12 -- 61,210 (+ 6.1%) 09/2012: Aquaman #0 -- 61,227 (+ 0.0%) 10/2012: Aquaman #13 -- 54,648 (-10.8%) 11/2012: Aquaman #14 -- 53,664 (- 1.8%) 12/2012: Aquaman #15 -- 75,947 (+41.5%) 01/2013: Aquaman #16 -- 62,153 (-18.2%) 02/2013: Aquaman #17 -- 58,578 (- 5.8%) 03/2013: Aquaman #18 -- 53,337 (- 9.0%) ---------------- 6 months: -12.9% 1 year : -14.5% 10 years: +44.5%
Following the “Throne of Atlantis” crossover, Aquaman sales are back where they used to be. Traditionally, this means it’s an excellent performance, of course. (The 10-year comparison is with the Veitch/Guichet Aquaman, which was cancelled with issue #39 in April 2006.)
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27 - BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT 03/2011: Dark Knight #2 -- 71,108 ----------------------------------- 03/2012: Dark Knight #7 -- 75,297 (- 2.4%) 04/2012: Dark Knight #8 -- 74,287 (- 1.3%) 05/2012: Dark Knight #9 -- 82,169 (+ 10.6%) 06/2012: Dark Knight #10 -- 71,671 (- 12.8%) 07/2012: Dark Knight #11 -- 68,632 (- 4.2%) 08/2012: Dark Knight #12 -- 67,084 (- 2.3%) 09/2012: Dark Knight #0 -- 72,919 (+ 8.7%) 10/2012: Dark Knight #13 -- 65,271 (- 10.5%) 11/2012: Dark Knight #14 -- 62,792 (- 3.8%) 12/2012: Dark Knight #15 -- 60,569 (- 3.6%) 01/2013: Dark Knight #16 -- 58,258 (- 3.8%) 02/2013: Dark Knight #17 -- 55,990 (- 3.9%) 03/2013: Dark Knight #18 -- 54,269 (- 3.1%) ----------------- 6 months: - 25.6% 1 year : - 27.9% 2 years : - 23.7%
The Hurwitz/Van Sciver run keeps sliding down the charts.
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24 - ACTION COMICS 03/2003: Action Comics #801 -- 32,445 03/2008: -- 03/2009: Action Comics #875 -- 47,079 03/2010: Action Comics #887 -- 29,460 03/2011: Action Comics #899 -- 31,808 -------------------------------------- 03/2012: Action Comics #7 -- 91,822 (- 4.9%) 04/2012: Action Comics #8 -- 87,980 (- 4.2%) 05/2012: Action Comics #9 -- 88,796 (+ 0.9%) 06/2012: Action Comics #10 -- 80,751 (- 9.1%) 07/2012: Action Comics #11 -- 76,232 (- 5.6%) 08/2012: Action Comics #12 -- 71,203 (- 6.6%) 09/2012: Action Comics #0 -- 78,626 (+ 10.4%) 10/2012: Action Comics #13 -- 67,241 (- 14.5%) 11/2012: Action Comics #14 -- 64,341 (- 4.3%) 12/2012: Action Comics #15 -- 61,298 (- 4.7%) 01/2013: Action Comics #16 -- 58,645 (- 4.3%) 02/2013: Action Comics #17 -- 57,189 (- 2.5%) 03/2013: Action Comics #18 -- 61,879 (+ 8.2%) ----------------- 6 months: - 21.3% 1 year : - 32.6% 2 years : + 94.5% 5 years : n.a. 10 years: + 90.7%
Nothing is simple with DC Comics.
Is the March sales increase reflective of the fact that the new creative team* of Andy Diggle and Tony Daniel was meant to take over with issue #18? Or of the fact that it turned out to be the final issue of the Grant Morrison run, extended by one issue on short notice? Maybe both, but I’d expect the latter to be a stronger factor.
*: Andy Diggle and Tony Daniel are not the new creative team. After issue #18 was solicited as their first issue, and then #19 was solicited as their second issue, and then #20 was solicited as their third issue, and then #21 was solicited as their fourth issue, it turned out that #19 was their first issue, and then it turned out that #19 was also Andy Diggle’s last issue (“I’ve decided to walk away from Action Comics for professional reasons.“), and then DC said Daniel was the new writer in addition to being the new artist, and then it turned out that Daniel was going to be neither the writer nor the artist of Action Comics after issue #21.
Morrison’s sales on two of DC’s flagship properties have been less and less impressive following the “New 52” relaunch, at any rate, despite a strong initial showing. Both of his titles have been dropping very quickly…
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23 - BATMAN, INCORPORATED 03/2011: Batman, Inc. #3 -- 66,772 03/2011: Batman, Inc. #4 -- 65,315 ------------------------------------ 03/2012: -- 04/2012: -- 05/2012: Batman, Inc. #1 -- 96,486 (+124.1%) 06/2012: Batman, Inc. #2 -- 73,654 (- 23.7%) 07/2012: -- 08/2012: Batman, Inc. #3 -- 66,720 (- 9.4%) 09/2012: Batman, Inc. #0 -- 66,112 (- 0.9%) 10/2012: Batman, Inc. #4 -- 60,888 (- 7.9%) 11/2012: Batman, Inc. #5 -- 58,172 (- 4.5%) 12/2012: Batman, Inc. #6 -- 52,636 (- 9.5%) 01/2013: Batman, Inc. #7 -- 50,345 (- 4.4%) 02/2013: Batman, Inc. #8 -- 55,414 (+ 10.1%) [90,093] 03/2013: Batman, Inc. #9 -- 64,067 (+ 15.6%) ---------------- 6 months: - 3.1% 1 year : n.a. 2 years : - 3.0%
… when he’s not triggering the knee-jerk reflexes of retailers, media and fans by killing off major characters.
Batman, Incorporated sees another strong increase in March, but the fact that it’s not even enough for a positive six-month comparison speaks volumes about the book’s overall performance. On the other hand, the Surprising Major Death angle still works admirably: Issue #8 made the chart again in March, selling an additional whopping 34,679 units.
DC is cancelling Batman, Incorporated with the end of Morrison’s run in issue #13 — a decision so reasonable that I expect it to be reversed any minute.
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20 - BATMAN AND ROBIN 03/2010: Batman and Robin #10 -- 85,292 03/2011: Batman and Robin #21 -- 59,818 ---------------------------------------- 03/2012: Batman and Robin #7 -- 68,010 (- 3.0%) 04/2012: Batman and Robin #8 -- 66,659 (- 2.0%) 05/2012: Batman and Robin #9 -- 75,967 (+14.0%) 06/2012: Batman and Robin #10 -- 66,894 (-11.9%) 07/2012: Batman and Robin #11 -- 65,043 (- 2.8%) 08/2012: Batman and Robin #12 -- 63,993 (- 1.6%) 09/2012: Batman and Robin #0 -- 69,146 (+ 8.1%) 10/2012: Batman and Robin #13 -- 63,097 (- 8.8%) 11/2012: Batman and Robin #14 -- 75,543 (+19.7%) 12/2012: Batman and Robin #15 -- 89,878 (+19.0%) 01/2013: Batman and Robin #16 -- 81,494 (- 9.3%) 02/2013: Batman and Robin #17 -- 60,988 (-25.2%) 03/2013: Batman and Robin #18 -- 69,614 (+14.1%) ---------------- 6 months: + 0.7% 1 year : + 2.4% 2 years : +16.4%
Another “Requiem” issue, in case you didn’t guess it.
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19 - GREEN LANTERN 03/2003: Green Lantern #160 -- 37,083 03/2003: Green Lantern #161 -- 36,596 03/2008: Green Lantern #29 -- 66,536 03/2009: -- 03/2010: Green Lantern #52 -- 97,369 03/2011: Green Lantern #63 -- 75,632 03/2011: Green Lantern #64 -- 76,898 -------------------------------------- 03/2012: Green Lantern #7 -- 90,232 (- 4.1%) 04/2012: Green Lantern #8 -- 88,335 (- 2.1%) 05/2012: Green Lantern #9 -- 87,601 (- 0.8%) 06/2012: Green Lantern #10 -- 80,615 (- 8.0%) 07/2012: Green Lantern #11 -- 78,708 (- 2.4%) 08/2012: Green Lantern #12 -- 77,187 (- 1.9%) 09/2012: Green Lantern #0 -- 89,909 (+16.5%) 10/2012: Green Lantern #13 -- 91,814 (+ 2.1%) 11/2012: Green Lantern #14 -- 78,499 (-14.5%) 12/2012: Green Lantern #15 -- 74,363 (- 5.3%) 01/2013: Green Lantern #16 -- 72,884 (- 2.0%) 02/2013: Green Lantern #17 -- 71,060 (- 2.5%) 03/2013: Green Lantern #18 -- 69,801 (- 1.8%) ----------------- 6 months: - 22.4% 1 year : - 22.6% 2 years : - 8.5% 5 years : + 4.9% 10 years: + 89.5%
Despite the “Ruby Wrath of the Red Road Ragers” crossover, Green Lantern continues a slow decline. The last time the book had fewer than 70K initial orders was in February 2009. So, overall, the fact that the Geoff Johns run is winding down doesn’t come at the worst moment.
On the plus side, look at the 10-year comparison, which is with the Judd Winick run. Those weren’t terrible numbers for a Green Lantern book, at the time, and yet Johns managed not only to double or triple them for most of his run starting in October 2004, but actually turned the property into a four-title franchise where even the lowest-selling book is now shifting as many units as the main title was in 2003. That’s one way of measuring Johns’s significance for DC Comics through the last decade.
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18 - DETECTIVE COMICS 03/2003: Detective Comics #780 -- 39,085 03/2008: Detective Comics #842 -- 49,425 03/2009: -- 03/2010: Detective Comics #862 -- 44,687 03/2010: Detective Comics #863 -- 43,119 03/2011: Detective Comics #875 -- 40,047 ----------------------------------------- 03/2012: Detective Comics #7 -- 89,891 (- 4.8%) 04/2012: Detective Comics #8 -- 87,675 (- 2.5%) 05/2012: Detective Comics #9 -- 96,016 (+ 9.5%) 06/2012: Detective Comics #10 -- 83,317 (- 13.2%) 07/2012: Detective Comics #11 -- 79,835 (- 4.2%) 08/2012: Detective Comics #12 -- 75,998 (- 4.8%) 09/2012: Detective Comics #0 -- 84,063 (+ 10.6%) 10/2012: Detective Comics #13 -- 76,392 (- 9.1%) 11/2012: Detective Comics #14 -- 74,560 (- 2.4%) 12/2012: Detective Comics #15 -- 106,395 (+ 42.7%) 01/2013: Detective Comics #16 -- 92,300 (- 13.3%) 02/2013: Detective Comics #17 -- 85,824 (- 7.0%) 03/2013: Detective Comics #18 -- 76,237 (- 11.2%) ----------------- 6 months: - 9.3% 1 year : - 15.2% 2 years : + 90.4% 5 years : + 54.3% 10 years: + 95.1%
Thanks to “Requiem,” the numbers remain slightly above pre-“Death of the Family” levels.
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9 - JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA 03/2003: JLA #79 -- 61,589 03/2008: JL of America #19 -- 87,482 03/2009: JL of America #31 -- 68,759 03/2010: JL of America #43 -- 56,461 03/2011: JL of America #55 -- 50,533 --------------------------------------- 02/2013: JL of America #1 -- 307,734 [326,959] 03/2013: JL of America #2 -- 91,734 (-70.2%) ----------------- 2 years : + 81.5% 5 years : + 4.9% 10 years: + 49.0%
Looks like my 67% guess last month wasn’t that far off.
It’s a gigantic drop, of course, but that’s what you get from gimmick promotions. 90K is still a perfectly good number for a second JLA title, of course. And given that issue #1 also made the chart again in March, selling another 19,225 units, demand for first issue appears to have been real enough for it not to bankrupt any retailers. Always a plus.
Also, a correction: As was pointed out to me in the comments last month, despite the bulk set of all Justice League #1 versions that was sold by DC having its own order code, Diamond actually counted those sales in their February tally for the book, contrary to what I assumed.
John Jackson Miller did the work on that one.
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6 - JUSTICE LEAGUE 03/2003: JLA #79 -- 61,589 03/2008: JL of America #19 -- 87,482 03/2009: JL of America #31 -- 68,759 03/2010: JL of America #43 -- 56,461 03/2011: JL of America #55 -- 50,533 --------------------------------------- 03/2012: Justice League #7 -- 136,436 (- 3.1%) 04/2012: Justice League #8 -- 133,240 (- 2.3%) 05/2012: Justice League #9 -- 131,332 (- 1.4%) 06/2012: Justice League #10 -- 130,502 (- 0.6%) 07/2012: Justice League #11 -- 123,971 (- 5.0%) 08/2012: Justice League #12 -- 120,796 (- 2.6%) [161,235] 09/2012: Justice League #0 -- 125,868 (+ 4.2%) 10/2012: Justice League #13 -- 117,752 (- 6.5%) 11/2012: Justice League #14 -- 113,094 (- 4.0%) 12/2012: Justice League #15 -- 115,074 (+ 1.8%) 01/2013: Justice League #16 -- 117,719 (+ 2.3%) 02/2013: Justice League #17 -- 105,304 (- 10.6%) 03/2013: Justice League #18 -- 102,494 (- 2.7%) ----------------- 6 months: - 18.6% 1 year : - 24.9% 2 years : +102.8% 5 years : + 17.2% 10 years: + 66.4%
Justice League seems to be on its way out of the 100K+ club, but remains about 10,000 units ahead of its newly launched sister title.
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3 - BATMAN 03/2003: Batman #613 -- 135,242 [147,799] 03/2008: -- 03/2009: BfC #1 of 3 -- 91,619 [103,913] 03/2010: Batman #697 -- 61,157 03/2011: Batman #708 -- 58,594 ------------------------------- 03/2012: Batman #7 -- 131,091 (+ 2.1%) 04/2012: Batman #8 -- 130,602 (- 0.4%) [136,218] 05/2012: Batman #9 -- 134,605 (+ 3.1%) 06/2012: Batman #10 -- 130,265 (- 3.2%) 07/2012: Batman #11 -- 127,210 (- 2.4%) 08/2012: Batman #12 -- 125,249 (- 1.5%) 09/2012: Batman #0 -- 156,561 (+ 25.0%) 10/2012: Batman #13 -- 148,305 (- 5.3%) [174,642] 11/2012: Batman #14 -- 159,729 (+ 7.7%) 12/2012: Batman #15 -- 151,568 (- 5.1%) 01/2013: Batman #16 -- 145,923 (- 3.7%) 02/2013: Batman #17 -- 150,684 (+ 3.3%) 03/2013: Batman #18 -- 137,893 (- 8.5%) ----------------- 6 months: - 11.9% 1 year : + 5.2% 2 years : +135.3% 5 years : n.a. 10 years: + 2.0%
This issue was part of “Requiem,” but it was also the first issue after the tremendously popular “Death of the Family” crossover, so the drop isn’t surprising. Overall, Batman continues to do better than it has in ages, as evidenced by the fact that first-month sales in March are still slightly ahead of March 2003’s Batman #613, which was in the middle of Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee’s “Hush” arc — itself an extremely successful run.
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6-MONTH COMPARISONS +310.9%: Constantine + 2.5%: Batgirl + 0.7%: Batman and Robin - 1.2%: Green Arrow - 3.1%: Batman, Inc. - 4.2%: Scooby-Doo - 4.5%: Red Hood - 6.4%: Fables - 6.5%: GL Corps - 7.6%: Unwritten - 9.2%: Nightwing - 9.3%: Detective Comics - 9.6%: Red Lanterns - 10.0%: New Guardians - 11.1%: Teen Titans - 11.9%: Batman - 12.9%: Aquaman - 15.1%: Catwoman - 15.1%: Superman Family Adventures - 15.4%: Smallville - 15.8%: Fairest - 18.6%: Justice League - 18.6%: Supergirl - 19.1%: Superman - 20.8%: Suicide Squad - 21.3%: Action Comics - 21.3%: BB Unlimited - 21.4%: Ozymandias - 22.4%: Green Lantern - 22.7%: GL: TAS - 22.9%: Wonder Woman - 23.2%: Superboy - 23.5%: Swamp Thing - 24.7%: Batwoman - 25.0%: Animal Man - 25.1%: LoSH - 25.2%: JLD - 25.6%: Arkham Unhinged - 25.6%: Dark Knight - 26.8%: Flash - 28.2%: Birds of Prey - 28.6%: Saucer Country - 33.1%: Earth 2 - 33.4%: DCU Presents - 33.4%: Worlds' Finest - 33.5%: ASW - 35.5%: I, Vampire - 35.9%: Hawkman - 36.6%: Demon Knights - 38.2%: Firestorm - 39.1%: Stormwatch - 40.0%: Ravagers - 40.8%: Deathstroke - 45.4%: Batwing - 45.6%: Dial H - 56.7%: Phantom Stranger - 57.4%: Talon - 60.7%: Sword of Sorcery - 65.8%: Team 7
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1-YEAR COMPARISONS +301.2%: Constantine + 5.2%: Batman + 2.4%: Batman and Robin + 1.8%: Batgirl + 0.4%: Scooby-Doo - 2.3%: Red Hood - 3.2%: Green Arrow - 4.5%: Nightwing - 9.2%: GL Corps - 10.7%: Fables - 13.2%: New Guardians - 13.9%: Unwritten - 14.5%: Aquaman - 15.2%: Detective Comics - 15.4%: Red Lanterns - 16.1%: Catwoman - 18.2%: Teen Titans - 22.1%: Animal Man - 22.6%: Green Lantern - 23.3%: Suicide Squad - 23.7%: Swamp Thing - 24.3%: Supergirl - 24.8%: Birds of Prey - 24.9%: Justice League - 25.2%: Wonder Woman - 26.0%: Superboy - 26.3%: LoSH - 26.5%: Superman - 27.9%: Dark Knight - 28.9%: JLD - 30.2%: BB Unlimited - 32.6%: Action Comics - 33.1%: Batwoman - 33.3%: ASW - 34.5%: DCU Presents - 35.9%: Flash - 37.3%: I, Vampire - 37.7%: Deathstroke - 38.1%: Hawkman - 40.0%: Firestorm - 41.0%: Demon Knights - 42.6%: Batwing - 45.6%: Stormwatch - 50.6%: Fairest - 62.9%: Saucer Country
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2-YEAR COMPARISONS +294.4%: Constantine +135.3%: Batman +108.2%: Batgirl +102.8%: Justice League + 94.5%: Action Comics + 90.4%: Detective Comics + 81.5%: JLA + 68.5%: Teen Titans + 63.2%: ASW + 28.8%: Supergirl + 22.9%: Superman + 20.1%: Wonder Woman + 16.4%: Batman and Robin + 5.5%: Scooby-Doo - 3.0%: Batman, Inc. - 8.5%: Green Lantern - 10.1%: Superboy - 15.1%: Green Arrow - 17.9%: Fables - 18.1%: New Guardians - 23.7%: Dark Knight - 26.4%: GL Corps - 27.0%: Unwritten - 28.7%: Birds of Prey - 31.8%: LoSH
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5-YEAR COMPARISONS +215.2%: Constantine + 59.9%: Suicide Squad + 59.4%: Nightwing + 54.3%: Detective Comics + 25.7%: ASW + 17.4%: Superman + 17.2%: Justice League + 17.0%: Flash + 6.9%: Scooby-Doo + 4.9%: Green Lantern + 4.9%: JLA - 3.0%: Birds of Prey - 5.4%: GL Corps - 5.8%: Wonder Woman - 13.9%: Green Arrow - 13.9%: Supergirl - 14.4%: Teen Titans - 35.3%: Fables - 46.8%: LoSH
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10-YEAR COMPARISONS +117.7%: Constantine + 95.1%: Detective Comics + 90.7%: Action Comics + 89.5%: Green Lantern + 78.5%: Catwoman + 75.0%: Teen Titans + 68.4%: Batgirl + 66.4%: Justice League + 62.3%: Nightwing + 49.9%: Wonder Woman + 49.0%: JLA + 45.8%: Flash + 44.5%: Aquaman + 44.0%: Superman + 41.2%: Catwoman + 2.0%: Batman - 1.7%: Supergirl - 10.8%: Birds of Prey - 19.7%: Stormwatch - 20.0%: Scooby-Doo - 30.3%: LoSH - 37.5%: Fables - 45.7%: Green Arrow - 61.4%: Hawkman
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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 03/2003: 24,279 03/2004: 32,727 03/2005: 27,349 03/2006: 36,077 03/2007: 32,398 03/2008: 26,423 03/2009: 21,792 03/2010: 23,299** 03/2011: 23,976** --------------- 03/2012: 29,679 (- 5.9%) 04/2012: 31,319 (+ 5.5%) 05/2012: 38,708 (+ 23.6%) 06/2012: 37,599 (- 2.9%) 07/2012: 33,837 (- 10.0%) 08/2012: 33,500 (- 1.0%)** 09/2012: 35,811 (+ 6.9%) 10/2012: 32,901 (- 8.1%)** 11/2012: 33,872 (+ 3.0%) 12/2012: 34,272 (+ 1.2%) 01/2013: 31,759 (- 7.3%) 02/2013: 34,711 (+ 9.1%) 03/2013: 30,819 (- 11.2%)** ----------------- 6 months: - 13.9% 1 year : + 3.8% 2 years : + 28.5% 3 years : + 32.3% 4 years : + 41.4% 5 years : + 16.6% 6 years : - 4.9% 7 years : - 14.6% 8 years : + 12.7% 9 years : - 5.8% 10 years: + 26.9%
DC UNIVERSE 03/2003: 28,965 03/2004: 39,727 03/2005: 34,864 03/2006: 44,854 03/2007: 42,634 03/2008: 33,151 03/2009: 31,336 03/2010: 32,375 03/2011: 26,720** --------------- 03/2012: 33,229 (- 3.6%) 04/2012: 35,264 (+ 6.1%) 05/2012: 44,139 (+ 25.2%) 06/2012: 43,082 (- 2.4%) 07/2012: 38,502 (- 10.6%) 08/2012: 38,047 (- 1.2%)** 09/2012: 39,408 (+ 3.6%) 10/2012: 36,571 (- 7.2%) 11/2012: 36,585 (+ 0.0%) 12/2012: 36,880 (+ 0.8%) 01/2013: 33,485 (- 9.2%) 02/2013: 36,838 (+ 10.0%) 03/2013: 32,294 (- 12.3%)** ----------------- 6 months: - 18.1% 1 year : - 2.8% 2 years : + 20.9% 3 years : - 0.3% 4 years : + 3.1% 5 years : - 2.6% 6 years : - 24.3% 7 years : - 28.0% 8 years : - 7.4% 9 years : - 18.7% 10 years: + 11.5%
VERTIGO 03/2003: 15,517 03/2004: 16,445 03/2005: 13,094 03/2006: 15,812 03/2007: 13,748 03/2008: 10,484 03/2009: 10,177 03/2010: 11,394 03/2011: 10,450 --------------- 03/2012: 12,688 (+23.8%) 04/2012: 11,595 (- 8.6%) 05/2012: 11,102 (- 4.3%) 06/2012: 11,448 (+ 3.1%) 07/2012: 11,589 (+ 1.2%) 08/2012: 10,764 (- 7.1%)** 09/2012: 11,710 (+ 8.8%) 10/2012: 11,496 (- 1.8%)** 11/2012: 11,487 (- 0.1%) 12/2012: 11,771 (+ 2.5%) 01/2013: 10,764 (- 8.6%) 02/2013: 12,019 (+11.7%) 03/2013: 11,055 (- 8.0%) ----------------- 6 months: - 5.6% 1 year : - 12.9% 2 years : + 5.8% 3 years : - 3.0% 4 years : + 8.6% 5 years : + 5.5% 6 years : - 19.6% 7 years : - 30.1% 8 years : - 15.6% 9 years : - 32.8% 10 years: - 28.8%
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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.
—–
Marc-Oliver Frisch writes about comics at his weblog and at Comicgate. You can also follow him on Twitter.
That was amazingly sarcastic stuff.
Another good read, thanks MOF.
…Skipping the entire article to go straight to the comment section….
I’d bet serious cash that MOF was dancing a happy jig when he saw these numbers. I’ve never seen someone root for failure more than this guy.
I can’t speak for MOF, but I do want to see this initiative fail. The faster it crashes and burns, the sooner the crew of dummies running the show are out and we might start getting more than one or two decent comics a month from DC.
Collider isn’t really a series Vertigo decided to launch now: it was announced at C2E2 a year ago, and was supposed to come out in September, but was delayed (possibly due to the fact that the artist is legally blind).
“So, weighing considerations of Simone’s expected temporary absence with Simone’s unexpected permanent absence and with Fawkes’s expected fill-in role and with Fawkes’s unexpectedly brief fill-in role and with Simone’s unexpected return and with the unexpected tie-in with a surprise character death in another title, I conclude that I don’t have a fucking clue what actual sales of the March Batgirl issue are actually reflective of.”
Brilliant.
Another great article by MOF,the schadenfreude in these articles is such that they could be written in german or something.:)
As an added bonus this one showcases how messed up DC editorial is these days with their blrilliant handling of various creative teams in half their titles.
Keep up the good work MOF,these articles along with all the commnets are the most entertaining of all the sales articles
Fawkes did write TWO issues of Batgirl. The solicitation was wrong as usual. DC really doesn’t care about giving correct info to retailers.
The line about plotting out Before Watchmen’s sales and folding it in half got a very loud laugh out of me. That was awesome.
I know there are people who are emotionally invested in the characters DC owns, and that’s cool, I don’t mean them any harm, but it is kinda nice to see a corporate comic company just fall apart at the seams. I know someone who works for DC and does their damnedest to do a good job, so I’m not cheering on any job losses. It’s just nice to see the karmic balance after all the Siegel and Shuster stuff and knowing how Bill Finger and Jerry Robinson were treated over the years. (Especially Bill Finger.) Hopefully the company won’t take its failures out on the hired hands and instead the executives will get less of a bonus, but it’s not like DC is a company renowned for its wonderful treatment of employees.
I’d like to see a real Rise of the Raging Blood Bears comic. I hope someone makes one soon so I can buy it. Not kidding in the slightest.
I live for this stuff like reading a comic and then not being able to wait until next month for the next one. Thank you.
Prost!
Oh Danny Boy the sales are fallingggggggggggg
It blows my mind monthly to see the sales numbers on that main Justice League title, given just how boring and bland the entire affair is…
“If you paint the sales trajectory of any of the Before Watchmen books in ink blots and fold it over, it looks like a victory sign.”
This might be my favorite comment ever.
1) DIAL H is rumored to be ending with #16.
2) I really hope DC is done with trying to build up a Freedom Fighters series. Because all the minis that have been doing so have all bombed horribly.
3) Those Vertigo one-shots are $7.99 a pop. 9-10K for each book has to make them strong money makers for Vertigo.
4) I would venture a guess to say that Tony Harris was a draw for that JSA Liberty Files miniseries (he plots and covers this one, he plotted and drew the original about 10 years back)?
5) I would also guess that the digital only books are probably safe since they’re moreorless just extra money on top of what I hear are decent digital sales (thought 10K DOES seems like a precarious cliff)
6) I think Venditti was pulled off CONSTANTINE before they announced him as part of the new GL lineup (taking over Johns’ JL title). I would reckon 3 ongoings for him was a bit much – though now with Failkov’s departure, he’s at 2.5 (he and a co-writer take one of his over – RED LANTERNS, I think)
I’m not rooting for DC to fail, but I also am not supporting this initiaitve. I want mainstream superhero comics that I can share with my 10-year-old son. They have gleefully abandoned that market.
MOF – Continued praise from here on your great work. Please keep it up.
More often than not I’m annoyed and underwhelmed by this column, and not because I’m some kind of DC-defender…
…but this month it was really quite good. Rather than take easy cheap shots, MOF really got creative with it. And elucidating all of those creator shifts and instances of when-we-though-we-knew-something-and-then-it-changed-and-changed-again-in-these-specific-ways — That all took effort and talent on his part.
Observations:
-Yeah, I have no idea how Justice League’s sales have been so high and relatively stable for so long. I think there are problems with the main “Batman” book, mainly due to Snyder’s annoying writing tics, but “Batman” is at least stable and consistent. “JL” isn’t.
-It’s bizarre that the overall sales trajectory of Batman Inc. Vol. 2 has been so underwhelming. Of all of Morrison’s Bat-saga, Inc. Vol. 2 has been the clearest and most linear. But back when he had Bruce Wayne bouncing around through space and time, without many readers being able to tell what was real, what was going on, or what was happening when — back then Morrison’s Batman was a lock for 100k sales. I much preferred it back then, actually.
I’m not happy about DC relaunching Hellblazer either, but I’m surprised there was absolutely no comment on the results. Really? A 300% increase is only “good”? Rather than snarking at DC’s creative shuffling, how about questioning why readers and retailers are three times as likely to support a book that the Comix Interwebs continues to blast. Sidenote: I read issue 1 and thought it had no creative voice, so I will instead spend my time re-reading my 300+ issues of Hellblazer and save my money.
The draw for the JSA Liberty Files was seeing more of the world we saw before – but instead we got a couple of weird unappealing characters stuck out in the woods.
Everyone is talking about the sales here crashing and burning, and to be sure they are not overwhelmingly spectacular … but the long-term numbers tell a slightly different story.
The average DC periodical sold 30,819 this month, which is historically a pretty solid number — in fact, it’s the fourth best average in the last ten years, and better than the average DC book has sold in March since 2007.
DC Universe sales are on the low-side of the historical average, though, and Vertigo numbers are WAY down. Is it the Digital First titles and Before Watchmen that are holding up the line? Is there anything else?
So surely things are not as bad as MOF spins them? Sales aren’t great, but they do seem to be within DC’s established wheelhouse over the past decade. Or am I missing part of the bigger picture?
Re: the comment about the Rotworld crossover, I had been reading both titles, but I decided to drop Animal Man (and Frankenstein). When a lengthy crossover came up–and even required buying an annual or two–I dropped Swamp Thing and never looked back.
I’ve never been a big DC reader, but right now I’m only doing Batman, Detective and Talon. The last one, I’ll probably drop after the current arc. And, I actually kind of hated Death of the Family (I didn’t read any tie-in, other than Detective), but the book is still alright enough that I’m not abandoning it.
@Aro: “The average DC periodical sold 30,819 this month, which is historically a pretty solid number — in fact, it’s the fourth best average in the last ten years”
Not quite. It’s the FIFTY-fourth-best average in the last 10 years — No. 54 out of 121. Very much upper middle-class in the spectrum. (And for DC Universe and Vertigo, it’s No. 100 each out of 121 months.)
@CagedLeo730: “Fawkes did write TWO issues of Batgirl. The solicitation was wrong as usual.”
You’re right. I double-checked the issue AFTER the one that said it was the first, but not the one BEFORE the one that said it was the first. But issue #17, which was solicited with Gail Simone as the writer, ended up being written by Fawkes as well. Must be more vigilant.
Your commentary is so depressing! Even when you mention a positive about a book, by the end of the paragraph its turned into a negative. I bet your glass isn’t half full, its ‘practically’ empty. lighten up buddy, get out of the basement, go for a nice run! Get the endorphins going!!
All-Star Western has definitely been going down hill. I dropped Justice League Dark because I’m not interested in this coming crossover and I doubt I’ll even remember to think about going back to the book once the crossover is done.
Keep up the good work, Marc. This month your column showed a nice balance with facts and humor. As a retailer, I’m concerned with DC’s total lack of editorial direction concerning creators. It’s really hurt their sales since the initiation of the New 52, and in losing by thirteen points(?) to Marvel in sales in March, I’m working to make up lost ground due to their policies. Image may have it’s share of hits lately, but many stores will feel the pinch if their #2 seller falls by the wayside much further. This may be a good time for another writer to start racking the rest of the publishers in a numbers column the same you guys do with the big two. Thanks!
@Dasbender – Despite the percentage uptick, Constantine’s new book didn’t break 40K. And really, that is still good. It just may not be worth turning handsprings over until we see what the next couple of issues look like, since Big Two books debuting at that level seem to stand a good chance of cancellation within 12 – 18 months.
V Wiley – we’ve been running an indie chart for a fair old while now, click the Sales Charts link below the banner and you’ll find them.
@Suzene – good point. Only time will tell whether or not short term gain will result in long term loss. But just from a short term perspective I bet DC execs think these results prove them right so far. #conjecture
As a person that bought the entire 300 issue run of Hellblazer, I can tell you I won’t be buying any issues of Constantine.
“The draw for the JSA Liberty Files was seeing more of the world we saw before – but instead we got a couple of weird unappealing characters stuck out in the woods.” – Charles Knight
True that Charles. That first issue was god awful. Just, truly, utterly, abysmal. I could not take it off my pull list fast enough.
As a person that bought none of the 300 issue run of Hellblazer, I can tell you I am buying the issues of Constantine.
As someone who bought none of the 300 issue run of Hellblazer, nor any of Constantine*, I can say I stand a much better chance of picking up Constantine.
*Not counting #2, which came with a “buy all 52 and get them all cheap” deal at Discount Comic Book Service.
OK, we can spot the phony MOF positive comments. There are way too many “keep the good work” comments , Good Job Marc , having your friends post!! This column is such a joke , and really reflects in a negative manner on “The Beat”. Make sure to keep your day job , Heidi , with nonsense like this column, The Beat will contue to go nowhere. Sad to say but Bleeding Cool has better balance in their articles. I am ready for the attacks !! Beat and MOF “sheep” bring it on!! It will be a fun way to spend our day tomorrow at work, it will keep us busy refreshing this page.
Marc-Oliver was very funny this month. And thank you for doing little recaps of the daily self-made struggles of DC editorial. I don’t follow a lot of comic news regularly and this helped put some of the sales in perspective. It’s almost too much to believe, especially with the Birds of Prey writers. What seemed like a one-time mistake/gross mishandling with the whole Gail Simone thing (prob started earlier but that’s the one I instantly recall) is apparently patterned behavior that I don’t understand.
Not that I’m reading it either but I’m surprised Talon isn’t doing better given the team and property.
@ Peter – I’m surprised you’re surprised at the sales of Talon. Smelled like a tertiary bat-title trying to cash in on a crossover.
I loved this month’s column, MOF. Keep it up.
It’ll be interesting to see if WTF month gets the collector treatment and they all come out of the woodwork again like Zero Month to get all the gatefold covers.
Left alone, Constantine will be gone inside of year I’d wager.
But Trinity War as a precursor to something else is sure to lift many boats. As I’m sure DC will try their level best to do.
I love this column. And DC’s crashing sales.
“Good Job Marc , having your friends post!!”
Well, I’m no friend of Marc-Oliver Frisch and I think he is wasting his time reading and writing about crappy american comics when he has a plethora of cool European comics at hand, even if he hails from Germany.
Having said that, he has the most interesting sales column on The Beat, even when he is talking about the least interesting US publisher by far. So I give him that, he may be wasting his time, but at least he is doing so in an interesting manner!
I can vouch for the crossover effect on Rotworld. I was picking up Animal Man and tradewaiting on Swamp Thing, but when it became clear the two were going to interrelate for a lengthy period, I switched to trades for both. Well, that and Foreman leaving.
I’m down to buying Dial H and Wonder Woman in the monthlies. Dial H isn’t long for this world and the second Chiang or Azzarello leave WW, I’m gone. Was also buying Superman Family Adventures for my daughter, but now that will be gone too.
“If you paint the sales trajectory of any of the Before Watchmen books in ink blots and fold it over, it looks like a victory sign.”
This made it all worth it. I love you, MOF.
I wonder what DC will do next since many of their titles seem to be falling in sales across their range of current titles. I do think one of the biggest problems facing DC is that while the new 52 attracted a lot of attention initially, the quality of the books hasn’t been sustainable and due to the price of comics (which are expensive, for the amount of material you get) many people are looking elsewhere to buy their comics than off the racks when first sold. I know for myself, personally, its better to just wait until the issues I want are in the bargain bins for a buck than spend $3-$5 for one comic book.
I dropped all my DC titles except World’s Finest a few months ago because there’s no joy to any of their titles. The books that aren’t bland are just dark. On the other hand, if the company fails, people will lose their jobs so any joy in DC tanking it should be remembered that people’s livelihoods hang in the balance.
That’s one thing about DC selling to retailers who are targeting the collector market with the variants is there is a healthy aftermarket at the shops and second-hand bookstores around here.
Because there’s a glut of the incentive titles that have to be bought but don’t have any sell-through it’s easier to wait a month and get a lot of DC’s books from the bargain bins.
”JK says:
04/23/2013 at 5:05 pm
OK, we can spot the phony MOF positive comments. ”
Yeah if you want to talk about shill postings look a little closer to home pal, all across the internet the butthurt DC shills and fanboys are getting more and more precious now the reality is sinking in that it’s been a failure.
”DON’T TAKE THE NUMBERS SO SERIOUSLY”
”LIGHTEN UP, GO FOR A RUN LOL LOL LOL”
”GET OUT OF THE BASEMENT LOL LOL LOL”
Type postings suddenly appearing on well known comic sites.
Can anyone say D-d-damageeeeeeeeeeee control.
The Veitch Aquaman run didn’t totally end with #39. It morphed into Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis and ran for a couple more years.
OMG Their sales are too low! They really have to do something to generate new sales! I know! How about a reboot?! It’ll be awesome!
Or better yet, a reVERSEboot! All the way back to pre-Flash-in-the-pan-Point.
But in general overall, new 52 sucks big time.
Legends of the dark knight and adventures of superman comics are far more better than any of the new 52 crap, thats for sure
Well, WE TOLD YOU SO DC!!! You managed to destroy your fanbase and your rich history with the silly reboot and for what? And just wait tilll you see April’s numbers!
Well, the few DC titles I was still buying in the New 52-verse I finally dropped this month or they’ve been cancelled (Batman, GLC and Deathstroke).
ALL of them have been so ‘meh’ the last few months, I doubt I’ll miss them…
I would have liked analysis. I got lots of pettiness and cheap shots.
I just thought it was thoroughly unprofessional, and hides what to me is the real takeaway of the New 52; that even though its sales are not particularly good, they’re still a hell of a lot better than they were before Flashpoint. If you go year on year, DC’s average periodical sales are up in comparison to the same month in each of the previous five years.
People may love ragging on the New 52, but if they hadn’t done it, all the indications are that they’d have been doing a hell of a lot worse.
I’m saving about $50 a month from dropping DC all together. Making previously good characters into anti-heroes is damaging to the long-term broad appeal of them. They ruined my favorite characters so they can fail, and lose their jobs. Fine by me.
How can this be a good thing for dc when they are loosing between 500-1,000 plus a issue, also cannot wait for the April sales to be put up on comics beat :)
It has been 8 weeks since the March sales comparison article. Does anyone know if MOF has been replaced or if they have just decided to stop running this column? This column was the primary reason why I visited this site.
Nah, this article got back-dated to keep off feed… because after all, it’s love-DC month , another crappy Superman movie is out, DC needs this, etc etc,….next one who can find this article or even a good DC comic gets a Zod mask.
(btw that Rorchach analogy-funny!)
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