by Marc-Oliver Frisch
April brought a hat trick for recently crowned DC Entertainment executive Geoff Johns, who wrote the three top-selling North American comic books.
Thanks to the strong debuts of Brightest Day and The Flash, DC Comics’ April numbers remained rock-solid after the conclusion of Blackest Night. The two new titles took the two top spots in the Top 300 chart, while Green Lantern, Batman and Robin and Green Lantern Corps also placed in the Top 10. Compared to Marvel, the publisher was still a distant second in terms of market share, however, and DC’s average and total sales have seen better days.
At WildStorm, average comic-book sales fell below the 6K mark for the second time in the imprint’s history. This wasn’t unexpected, given that neither of WildStorm’s two top-selling series, Astro City and Ex Machina, came out in April. At Vertigo, meanwhile, average sales appear to be solidifying around 10K again, thanks to a range of books that are selling well for a change.
See below for the details, and please consider the small print at the end of the column. Thanks to Milton Griepp and ICv2.com for the permission to use their figures. An overview of ICv2.com‘s estimates can be found here.
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1 - BRIGHTEST DAY 04/2010: Brightest Day #0 -- 129,446
Geoff Johns and friends launch a biweekly 27-part series that serves as an umbrella title for the DC Universe line for the next year.
In terms of the numbers, Brightest Day #0 picks up where the last couple of issues of Blackest Night left off, but of course, it had some help. There was a 1:50 variant-cover edition, which isn’t unusual. Perhaps more significantly, retailers were able to buy 50 promotional plastic rings for every 25 copies ordered of Brightest Day #0.
As we know from those Blackest Night tie-in books from last November, this particular stunt can motivate retailers to order quite a few copies more than they realistically expect to sell, so we shall see where the numbers stand a few months down the road.
CORRECTION, June 12, 2010: The plastic-ring promotion applies to May’s Brightest Day #1, not to Brightest Day #0.
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2 - THE FLASH 04/2005: Flash #221 -- 46,471 [47,704] 04/2007: Flash: FMA #11 -- 46,963 04/2008: Flash #239 -- 33,741 ----------------------------------- 04/2009: Rebirth #1 of 5 -- 102,429 (+286.6%) [111,515] 05/2009: Rebirth #2 of 5 -- 86,183 (- 15.9%) 06/2009: Rebirth #3 of 5 -- 83,086 (- 3.6%) 07/2009: -- 08/2009: Rebirth #4 of 5 -- 78,107 (- 6.0%) 09/2009: -- 10/2009: -- 11/2009: Rebirth #5 of 6 -- 73,875 (- 5.4%) 12/2009: -- 01/2010: -- 02/2010: Rebirth #6 of 6 -- 70,824 (- 4.1%) 03/2010: -- 04/2010: Flash #1 -- 100,903 (+ 42.5%) ----------------- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : - 1.5% 2 years : +199.1% 5 years : +117.1%
Geoff Johns and Francis Manapul relaunch The Flash one more time.
The fact that sales are almost up there with The Flash: Rebirth #1 would seem to be a good sign, but again, thanks to a number of “retailer incentives,” it’s not quite that simple. For one thing, there were 1:25 and 1:100 variant editions. For another, retailers were able to get sets of plastic rings for every 10 copies ordered. Which, again, may have boosted the numbers a bit. And the book was billed as a Brightest Day tie-in, which probably also helped.
The litmus test for The Flash will be whether sales can be kept from entering a free-fall over the next year, which is where the two previous relaunches from 2006 and 2007 failed.
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3 - GREEN LANTERN 04/2005: Rebirth #5 of 6 -- 115,006 [116,652] 04/2006: -- 04/2007: -- 04/2008: Green Lantern #30 -- 65,347 -------------------------------------- 04/2009: Green Lantern #39 -- 79,792 (+15.8%) [ 84,784] 04/2009: Green Lantern #40 -- 76,665 (- 3.9%) [ 84,705] 05/2009: Green Lantern #41 -- 81,491 (+ 6.3%) 06/2009: Green Lantern #42 -- 84,131 (+ 3.2%) 07/2009: Green Lantern #43 -- 109,426 (+30.1%) [117,314] 07/2009: Green Lantern #44 -- 105,063 (- 4.0%) [109,599] 08/2009: Green Lantern #45 -- 102,431 (- 2.5%) 09/2009: Green Lantern #46 -- 103,666 (+ 1.2%) 10/2009: Green Lantern #47 -- 101,349 (- 2.2%) 11/2009: Green Lantern #48 -- 100,371 (- 1.0%) 12/2009: Green Lantern #49 -- 97,285 (- 3.1%) 01/2010: Green Lantern #50 -- 106,444 (+ 9.4%) 02/2010: Green Lantern #51 -- 95,509 (-10.3%) 03/2010: Green Lantern #52 -- 97,369 (+ 2.0%) 04/2010: Green Lantern #53 -- 100,356 (+ 3.1%) ----------------- 6 months: - 1.0% 1 year : + 25.8% 2 years : + 53.6% 5 years : - 12.7%
The third Geoff Johns-written top-seller in April also profited from a 1:25 variant, a Brightest Day tie-in and a scheme involving plastic rings.
We’ll find out whether the figure is a realistic reflection of what retailers expected to be able to sell soon enough.
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4 - BATMAN AND ROBIN 06/2009: Batman and Robin #1 -- 168,604 [184,826] 07/2009: Batman and Robin #2 -- 117,986 (-30.2%) [129,086] 08/2009: Batman and Robin #3 -- 110,594 (- 6.3%) 09/2009: Batman and Robin #4 -- 106,925 (- 3.3%) 10/2009: Batman and Robin #5 -- 101,607 (- 5.0%) 11/2009: Batman and Robin #6 -- 95,690 (- 5.8%) 12/2009: -- 01/2010: Batman and Robin #7 -- 87,780 (- 8.3%) 02/2010: Batman and Robin #8 -- 87,302 (- 0.6%) 02/2010: Batman and Robin #9 -- 84,562 (- 3.1%) 03/2010: Batman and Robin #10 -- 85,292 (+ 0.9%) 04/2010: Batman and Robin #11 -- 84,006 (- 1.5%) ----------------- 6 months: - 17.3%
The Batman franchise is in flux currently, so retailers may adjust their orders any moment, depending on what’s going on. There was a 1:25 variant, as usual.
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8 - GREEN LANTERN CORPS 04/2007: Green Lantern Corps #11 -- 33,506 04/2008: Green Lantern Corps #23 -- 46,780 ------------------------------------------ 04/2009: Green Lantern Corps #35 -- 58,769 (+ 8.5%) 05/2009: Green Lantern Corps #36 -- 61,591 (+ 4.8%) 06/2009: Green Lantern Corps #37 -- 63,574 (+ 3.2%) 07/2009: Green Lantern Corps #38 -- 82,415 (+29.6%) 08/2009: Green Lantern Corps #39 -- 84,241 (+ 2.2%) 09/2009: Green Lantern Corps #40 -- 83,112 (- 1.3%) 10/2009: Green Lantern Corps #41 -- 81,377 (- 2.1%) 11/2009: Green Lantern Corps #42 -- 80,391 (- 1.2%) 12/2009: Green Lantern Corps #43 -- 77,774 (- 3.3%) 01/2010: Green Lantern Corps #44 -- 76,458 (- 1.7%) 02/2010: Green Lantern Corps #45 -- 75,404 (- 1.4%) 03/2010: Green Lantern Corps #46 -- 76,720 (+ 1.8%) 04/2010: Green Lantern Corps #47 -- 72,163 (- 5.9%) ---------------- 6 months: -11.3% 1 year : +22.8% 2 years : +54.3%
Another Brightest Day tie-in, promoted, as usual, with a 1:25 variant.
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11 - JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA 04/2005: JLA #113 -- 64,002 04/2007: Justice League #7 -- 154,984 04/2008: Justice League #20 -- 85,807 -------------------------------------- 04/2009: Justice League #32 -- 66,021 (- 4.0%) 05/2009: Justice League #33 -- 63,867 (- 3.3%) 06/2009: Justice League #34 -- 61,115 (- 4.3%) 07/2009: Justice League #35 -- 58,915 (- 3.6%) 08/2009: Justice League #36 -- 57,549 (- 2.3%) 09/2009: Justice League #37 -- 55,478 (- 3.6%) 10/2009: Justice League #38 -- 61,012 (+10.0%) 11/2009: Justice League #39 -- 89,376 (+46.5%) 12/2009: Justice League #40 -- 68,672 (-23.2%) 01/2010: Justice League #41 -- 62,262 (- 9.3%) 02/2010: Justice League #42 -- 57,522 (- 7.6%) 03/2010: Justice League #43 -- 56,461 (- 1.9%) 04/2010: Justice League #44 -- 62,342 (+10.4%) ---------------- 6 months: + 2.2% 1 year : - 5.6% 2 years : -27.4% 5 years : - 2.6%
The fourth and final Brightest Day tie-in for April. The crossover brings a decent increase.
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13 - BATMAN 04/2005: Batman #639 -- 62,344 04/2006: Batman #652 -- 72,889 [82,438] 04/2007: -- 04/2008: Batman #675 -- 71,138 ------------------------------- 04/2009: BfC #2 of 3 -- 89,120 (- 2.7%) 05/2009: BfC #3 of 3 -- 89,170 (+ 0.1%) 06/2009: Batman #687 -- 96,913 (+ 8.7%) 07/2009: Batman #688 -- 83,040 (-14.3%) 08/2009: Batman #689 -- 78,392 (- 5.6%) 09/2009: Batman #690 -- 77,001 (- 1.8%) 10/2009: Batman #691 -- 71,431 (- 7.2%) 10/2009: Batman #692 -- 70,322 (- 1.6%) 11/2009: Batman #693 -- 68,983 (- 1.9%) 12/2009: Batman #694 -- 65,908 (- 4.5%) 01/2010: Batman #695 -- 63,467 (- 3.7%) 02/2010: Batman #696 -- 61,290 (- 3.4%) 03/2010: Batman #697 -- 61,157 (- 0.2%) 04/2010: Batman #698 -- 60,934 (- 0.4%) ---------------- 6 months: -14.0% 1 year : -31.6% 2 years : -14.3% 5 years : - 2.3%
Holding level in anticipation of issue #700, evidently.
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32 - SUPERMAN: SECRET ORIGIN 09/2009: Superman: Secret Origin #1 of 6 -- 54,630 10/2009: Superman: Secret Origin #2 of 6 -- 46,840 (-14.3%) 11/2009: Superman: Secret Origin #3 of 6 -- 45,029 (- 3.9%) 12/2009: -- 01/2010: Superman: Secret Origin #4 of 6 -- 43,863 (- 2.6%) 02/2010: -- 03/2010: -- 04/2010: Superman: Secret Origin #5 of 6 -- 42,638 (- 2.8%) ---------------- 6 months: - 9.0%
The Geoff Johns/Gary Frank vehicle keeps holding up well, despite the delays. On the other hand, it’s two top-flight creators on a major character, of course, and the sales are deeply unimpressive for that. There was a 1:10 variant.
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33 - DETECTIVE COMICS 04/2005: Detective Comics #805 -- 39,077 04/2006: Detective Comics #818 -- 60,440 [68,189] 04/2007: Detective Comics #831 -- 56,284 04/2008: Detective Comics #843 -- 48,431 ----------------------------------------- 04/2009: Detective Comics #853 -- 104,107 (+83.8%) 05/2009: -- 06/2009: Detective Comics #854 -- 72,808 (-30.1%) [79,573] 07/2009: Detective Comics #855 -- 61,205 (-15.9%) 08/2009: Detective Comics #856 -- 58,859 (- 3.8%) 09/2009: Detective Comics #857 -- 57,063 (- 3.1%) 10/2009: Detective Comics #858 -- 58,599 (+ 2.7%) 11/2009: Detective Comics #859 -- 54,392 (- 7.2%) 12/2009: Detective Comics #860 -- 52,295 (- 3.9%) 01/2010: Detective Comics #861 -- 45,937 (-12.2%) 02/2010: -- 03/2010: Detective Comics #862 -- 44,687 (- 2.7%) 03/2010: Detective Comics #863 -- 43,119 (- 3.5%) 04/2010: Detective Comics #864 -- 42,436 (- 1.6%) ----------------- 6 months: - 27.6% 1 year : - 59.2% 2 years : - 12.4% 5 years : + 8.6%
As of the April issue, Greg Rucka’s “Batwoman” feature in Detective Comics is history. The sales seem to be finding their level regardless; of course, when issue #864 was solicited, it was said to be the first chapter in a two-month break for Rucka’s “Batwoman,” so if there’s any fallout, it may be yet to come.
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41 - ADVENTURE COMICS 08/2009: Adventure Comics #1 -- 56,706 (+72.6%) 09/2009: Adventure Comics #2 -- 47,296 (-15.9%) 10/2009: Adventure Comics #3 -- 44,431 (- 6.1%) 11/2009: Adventure Comics #4 -- 85,145 (+91.6%) 12/2009: Adventure Comics #5 -- 59,876 (-29.7%) 01/2010: Adventure Comics #6 -- 42,514 (-29.0%) 02/2010: Adventure Comics #7 -- 53,721 (+26.4%) 03/2010: Adventure Comics #8 -- 39,351 (-26.8%) 03/2010: Adventure Comics #9 -- 37,515 (- 4.7%) 04/2010: Adventure Comics #10 -- 37,573 (+ 0.2%) ----------------- 6 months: - 15.4%
The continued crossover with the Superman books is keeping the numbers steady. There was a 1:10 variant, as usual.
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43 - FLASH SECRET FILES AND ORIGINS 2010 03/2010: Flash SFaO 2010 -- 37,339
This one-shot is doing better than The Flash proper was a couple years back. On the other hand, it’s written by Geoff Johns and name-checks Blackest Night in the advertising copy, so the figures are maybe a wee bit underwhelming compared with The Flash #1. Let’s file it under “moderate success.”
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45 - JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA 04/2005: JSA #72 -- 43,472 04/2006: JSA #84 -- 53,245 04/2007: Justice Society #5 -- 98,069 [102,275] 04/2008: Justice Society #14 -- 80,507 --------------------------------------- 04/2009: Justice Society #25 -- 65,713 (+ 0.8%) 04/2009: Justice Society #26 -- 81,200 (+ 23.6%) 05/2009: Justice Society #27 -- 56,102 (- 30.9%) 06/2009: Justice Society #28 -- 52,673 (- 6.1%) 07/2009: Justice Society #29 -- 51,375 (- 2.5%) 08/2009: Justice Society #30 -- 49,416 (- 3.8%) 09/2009: Justice Society #31 -- 47,436 (- 4.0%) 10/2009: Justice Society #32 -- 44,885 (- 5.4%) 11/2009: Justice Society #33 -- 43,218 (- 3.7%) 12/2009: Justice Society #34 -- 41,734 (- 3.4%) 01/2010: Justice Society #35 -- 39,934 (- 4.3%) 02/2010: Justice Society #36 -- 39,060 (- 2.2%) 03/2010: Justice Society #37 -- 37,381 (- 4.3%) 04/2010: Justice Society #38 -- 36,648 (- 2.0%) ---------------- 6 months: -18.4% 1 year : -50.1% 2 years : -54.5% 5 years : -15.7%
Possibly finding its level?
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47 - RED ROBIN 04/2005: Robin #137 -- 30,798 04/2006: Robin #149 -- 37,173 04/2007: Robin #161 -- 27,180 04/2008: Robin #173 -- 26,357 -------------------------------- 06/2009: Red Robin #1 -- 64,261 (+102.8%) [71,925] 07/2009: Red Robin #2 -- 51,593 (- 19.7%) [54,544] 08/2009: Red Robin #3 -- 50,329 (- 2.5%) 09/2009: Red Robin #4 -- 47,945 (- 4.7%) 10/2009: Red Robin #5 -- 44,776 (- 6.6%) 11/2009: Red Robin #6 -- 42,409 (- 5.3%) 12/2009: Red Robin #7 -- 39,528 (- 6.8%) 01/2010: Red Robin #8 -- 37,869 (- 4.2%) 02/2010: Red Robin #9 -- 36,466 (- 3.7%) 03/2010: Red Robin #10 -- 36,708 (+ 0.7%) 04/2010: Red Robin #11 -- 36,205 (- 1.4%) ----------------- 6 months: - 19.1% 1 year : n.a. 2 years : + 37.4% 5 years : + 17.6%
It appears Red Robin is settling into an orbit around 36K. A new creative team is waiting around the corner.
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49/52 - SUPERMAN: LAST STAND OF NEW KRYPTON 04/2009: WoNK #2 of 12 -- 44,880 (-10.3%) 05/2009: WoNK #3 of 12 -- 42,153 (- 6.1%) 06/2009: WoNK #4 of 12 -- 41,620 (- 1.3%) 07/2009: WoNK #5 of 12 -- 39,939 (- 4.0%) 08/2009: WoNK #6 of 12 -- 39,218 (- 1.8%) 09/2009: WoNK #7 of 12 -- 37,697 (- 3.9%) 10/2009: WoNK #8 of 12 -- 36,672 (- 2.7%) 11/2009: WoNK #9 of 12 -- 35,286 (- 3.8%) 12/2009: WoNK #10 of 12 -- 33,868 (- 4.0%) 01/2010: WoNK #11 of 12 -- 32,728 (- 3.4%) 02/2010: WoNK #12 of 12 -- 32,407 (- 1.0%) 03/2010: LSoNK #1 of 3 -- 38,202 (+17.9%) 04/2010: LSoNK #2 of 3 -- 35,886 (- 6.1%) 04/2010: LSoNK #3 of 3 -- 34,553 (- 3.7%) ----------------- 6 months: - 4.0% 1 year : - 21.5%
First stage of pre-Straczynski deck-clearing complete. Next up: The Free Comic Book Day issue and the weekly four-parter War of the Supermen.
There were 1:25 variants for both issues, as usual.
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54 - SUPERMAN 04/2005: Superman #215 -- 112,593 [116,198] 04/2006: Superman #651 -- 73,355 04/2007: Superman #661 -- 55,738 04/2008: Superman #675 -- 54,855 --------------------------------- 04/2009: Superman #687 -- 43,041 (- 4.3%) 05/2009: Superman #688 -- 41,642 (- 3.3%) 06/2009: Superman #689 -- 40,366 (- 3.1%) 07/2009: Superman #690 -- 39,472 (- 2.2%) 08/2009: Superman #691 -- 39,106 (- 0.9%) 09/2009: Superman #692 -- 37,695 (- 3.6%) 10/2009: Superman #693 -- 35,395 (- 6.1%) 11/2009: Superman #694 -- 34,430 (- 2.7%) 12/2009: Superman #695 -- 32,482 (- 5.7%) 01/2010: Superman #696 -- 31,940 (- 1.7%) 02/2010: Superman #697 -- 31,504 (- 1.4%) 03/2010: Superman #698 -- 33,336 (+ 5.8%) 04/2010: Superman #699 -- 33,183 (- 0.5%) ---------------- 6 months: - 6.3% 1 year : -22.9% 2 years : -39.5% 5 years : -70.5%
With issue #700 around the corner, the numbers are holding level.
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57 - JUSTICE LEAGUE: THE RISE OF ARSENAL 03/2010: JL: RoA #1 of 4 -- 36,020 04/2010: JL: RoA #2 of 4 -- 32,000 (-11.2%)
The most ridiculed comic-book series in recent history sees a very moderate second-issue drop — particularly since issue #1 had a 1:25 variant.
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58 - SUPERMAN/BATMAN 04/2005: Superman/Batman #18 -- 115,305 04/2005: Superman/Batman #19 -- 114,258 [150,464] 04/2006: -- 04/2007: Superman/Batman #33 -- 74,807 04/2008: Superman/Batman #47 -- 52,557 --------------------------------------- 04/2009: Superman/Batman #57 -- 41,743 (- 1.7%) 04/2009: Superman/Batman #58 -- 41,000 (- 1.8%) 04/2009: Superman/Batman #59 -- 40,182 (- 2.0%) 05/2009: Superman/Batman #60 -- 39,531 (- 1.6%) 06/2009: Superman/Batman #61 -- 38,228 (- 3.3%) 07/2009: Superman/Batman #62 -- 38,412 (+ 0.5%) 08/2009: Superman/Batman #63 -- 37,467 (- 2.5%) 09/2009: Superman/Batman #64 -- 36,332 (- 3.0%) 10/2009: Superman/Batman #65 -- 34,585 (- 4.8%) 11/2009: Superman/Batman #66 -- 52,143 (+50.8%) 12/2009: Superman/Batman #67 -- 49,650 (- 4.8%) 01/2010: Superman/Batman #68 -- 33,869 (-31.8%) 02/2010: Superman/Batman #69 -- 33,224 (- 1.9%) 03/2010: Superman/Batman #70 -- 32,196 (- 3.1%) 04/2010: Superman/Batman #71 -- 31,714 (- 1.5%) ---------------- 6 months: - 8.3% 1 year : -22.6% 2 years : -39.7% 5 years : -72.4%
The not-quite Joe Casey arc that’s memorable for reminding us that a lot of Marvel and DC comics are made like sausage is made concludes.
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62/66 - ACTION COMICS 04/2005: Action Comics #826 -- 54,769 [58,294] 04/2006: -- 04/2007: Action Comics #848 -- 62,216 04/2008: Action Comics #863 -- 56,882 04/2008: Action Comics #864 -- 48,438 ------------------------------------- 04/2009: Action Comics #876 -- 43,368 (- 7.9%) 05/2009: Action Comics #877 -- 41,772 (- 3.7%) 06/2009: Action Comics #878 -- 40,011 (- 4.2%) 07/2009: Action Comics #879 -- 38,324 (- 4.2%) 08/2009: Action Comics #880 -- 37,588 (- 1.9%) 09/2009: Action Comics #881 -- 36,183 (- 3.7%) 10/2009: Action Comics #882 -- 34,754 (- 4.0%) 11/2009: Action Comics #883 -- 33,386 (- 3.9%) 12/2009: Action Comics #884 -- 31,873 (- 4.5%) 01/2010: Action Comics #885 -- 30,678 (- 3.8%) 02/2010: Action Comics #886 -- 29,845 (- 2.7%) 03/2010: Action Comics #887 -- 29,460 (- 1.3%) 04/2010: Action Comics #888 -- 29,536 (+ 0.3%) 04/2010: Action Comics #889 -- 29,106 (- 1.5%) ---------------- 6 months: -15.6% 1 year : -32.4% 2 years : -44.3% 5 years : -46.5%
A creative makeover is coming up.
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63 - SUPERGIRL 04/2006: -- 04/2007: Supergirl #16 -- 51,641 04/2008: Supergirl #28 -- 31,379 --------------------------------- 04/2009: Supergirl #40 -- 34,080 (+ 1.1%) 05/2009: Supergirl #41 -- 33,441 (- 1.9%) 06/2009: Supergirl #42 -- 32,705 (- 2.2%) 07/2009: Supergirl #43 -- 32,849 (+ 0.4%) 08/2009: Supergirl #44 -- 33,819 (+ 3.0%) 09/2009: Supergirl #45 -- 32,240 (- 4.7%) 10/2009: Supergirl #46 -- 30,377 (- 5.8%) 11/2009: Supergirl #47 -- 29,159 (- 4.0%) 12/2009: Supergirl #48 -- 28,176 (- 3.4%) 01/2010: Supergirl #49 -- 27,728 (- 1.6%) 02/2010: Supergirl #50 -- 33,338 (+20.2%) 03/2010: Supergirl #51 -- 29,845 (-10.5%) 04/2010: Supergirl #52 -- 29,490 (- 1.2%) ---------------- 6 months: - 2.9% 1 year : -13.5% 2 years : - 6.0%
The crossover with Adventure Comics and the Superman titles doesn’t leave much of an impression on the numbers.
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64 - BATGIRL 04/2005: Batgirl #63 -- 28,123 ---------------------------------- 08/2009: Batgirl #1 -- 51,724 (+149.3%) 09/2009: Batgirl #2 -- 40,626 (- 21.5%) 10/2009: Batgirl #3 -- 37,011 (- 8.9%) 11/2009: Batgirl #4 -- 34,697 (- 6.3%) 12/2009: Batgirl #5 -- 32,482 (- 6.4%) 01/2010: Batgirl #6 -- 30,403 (- 6.4%) 02/2010: Batgirl #7 -- 29,524 (- 2.9%) 03/2010: Batgirl #8 -- 30,886 (+ 4.6%) 04/2010: Batgirl #9 -- 29,445 (- 4.7%) ---------------- 6 months: -20.4% 5 years : + 4.7%
The numbers return to status quo after the crossover with Red Robin.
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65 - GREEN ARROW 04/2005: Green Arrow #49 -- 31,403 04/2006: Green Arrow #61 -- 35,993 [40,621] 04/2007: Green Arrow #73 -- 30,652 04/2008: Arrow/Canary #7 -- 32,033 ----------------------------------- 04/2009: Arrow/Canary #19 -- 21,933 (- 3.4%) 05/2009: Arrow/Canary #20 -- 21,445 (- 2.2%) 06/2009: Arrow/Canary #21 -- 20,807 (- 3.0%) 07/2009: Arrow&Canary #22 -- 20,571 (- 1.1%) 08/2009: Arrow&Canary #23 -- 19,452 (- 5.4%) 09/2009: Arrow&Canary #24 -- 18,780 (- 3.5%) 10/2009: Arrow&Canary #25 -- 18,013 (- 4.1%) 11/2009: Arrow&Canary #26 -- 17,384 (- 3.5%) 12/2009: Arrow&Canary #27 -- 16,904 (- 2.8%) 01/2010: Arrow&Canary #28 -- 16,482 (- 2.5%) 02/2010: Arrow&Canary #29 -- 16,600 (+ 0.7%) 02/2010: Black Arrow #30 -- 42,014 (+153.1%) 03/2010: Green Arrow #31 -- 28,486 (- 32.2%) 04/2010: Green Arrow #32 -- 29,137 (+ 2.3%) ---------------- 6 months: +61.8% 1 year : +32.9% 2 years : - 9.0% 5 years : - 7.2%
The “Rise and Fall” shenanigans has resulted in quite a bit of interest in Green Arrow — from retailers, at any rate.
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72 - AMERICAN VAMPIRE (Vertigo) 03/2010: American Vampire #1 -- 33,762 04/2010: American Vampire #2 -- 26,770 (-20.7%)
That’s an average second-issue drop, but at this level, that won’t hurt American Vampire. Seems like Vertigo has found itself a new flagship title — as long as Stephen King sticks around, anyway.
Also, there was a 1:25 variant that probably helped the numbers.
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73 - JSA ALL-STARS 12/2009: JSA All-Stars #1 -- 42,493 01/2010: JSA All-Stars #2 -- 32,601 (-23.3%) 02/2010: JSA All-Stars #3 -- 29,666 (- 9.0%) 03/2010: JSA All-Stars #4 -- 28,526 (- 3.8%) 04/2010: JSA All-Stars #5 -- 26,581 (- 6.8%)
That’s not an encouraging drop, at this stage.
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74 - GOTHAM CITY SIRENS 04/2005: Birds of Prey #81 -- 29,832 04/2006: Birds of Prey #93 -- 34,404 04/2007: Birds of Prey #105 -- 28,328 04/2008: Birds of Prey #117 -- 22,181 ------------------------------------- 06/2009: GC Sirens #1 -- 52,439 07/2009: GC Sirens #2 -- 39,518 (-24.6%) 08/2009: GC Sirens #3 -- 36,772 (- 7.0%) 09/2009: GC Sirens #4 -- 34,405 (- 6.4%) 10/2009: GC Sirens #5 -- 33,015 (- 4.0%) 11/2009: GC Sirens #6 -- 30,990 (- 6.1%) 12/2009: GC Sirens #7 -- 29,709 (- 4.1%) 01/2010: GC Sirens #8 -- 28,254 (- 4.9%) 02/2010: GC Sirens #9 -- 27,172 (- 3.8%) 03/2010: GC Sirens #10 -- 26,550 (- 2.3%) 04/2010: GC Sirens #11 -- 26,359 (- 0.7%) ----------------- 6 months: - 20.2% 2 years : + 18.8% 5 years : - 11.6%
76 - BATMAN: STREETS OF GOTHAM 06/2009: Batman: SoG #1 -- 57,650 07/2009: Batman: SoG #2 -- 44,240 (-23.3%) 08/2009: Batman: SoG #3 -- 40,353 (- 8.8%) 09/2009: Batman: SoG #4 -- 37,888 (- 6.1%) 10/2009: Batman: SoG #5 -- 34,533 (- 8.9%) 11/2009: Batman: SoG #6 -- 32,303 (- 6.5%) 12/2009: Batman: SoG #7 -- 30,290 (- 6.2%) 01/2010: Batman: SoG #8 -- 28,313 (- 6.5%) 02/2010: Batman: SoG #9 -- 27,023 (- 4.6%) 03/2010: Batman: SoG #10 -- 26,396 (- 2.3%) 04/2010: Batman: SoG #11 -- 25,925 (- 1.8%) ---------------- 6 months: -24.9%
The two Paul Dini books keep selling back to back, suggesting there’s a great deal of completist inertia involved.
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78 - WONDER WOMAN 04/2005: Wonder Woman #215 -- 28,977 [30,436] 04/2007: Wonder Woman #7 -- 60,168 04/2007: Wonder Woman #8 -- 58,772 04/2008: Wonder Woman #19 -- 39,489 ------------------------------------- 04/2009: Wonder Woman #31 -- 31,857 (- 4.5%) 05/2009: Wonder Woman #32 -- 33,065 (+ 3.8%) 06/2009: Wonder Woman #33 -- 32,755 (- 0.9%) 07/2009: Wonder Woman #34 -- 30,131 (- 8.0%) 08/2009: Wonder Woman #35 -- 29,657 (- 1.6%) 09/2009: Wonder Woman #36 -- 28,806 (- 2.9%) 10/2009: Wonder Woman #37 -- 26,972 (- 6.4%) 11/2009: Wonder Woman #38 -- 26,265 (- 2.6%) 12/2009: Wonder Woman #39 -- 26,152 (- 0.4%) 01/2010: Wonder Woman #40 -- 25,156 (- 3.8%) 02/2010: Wonder Woman #41 -- 25,354 (+ 0.8%) 03/2010: Wonder Woman #42 -- 25,240 (- 0.5%) 04/2010: Wonder Woman #43 -- 25,369 (+ 0.5%) ---------------- 6 months: - 5.9% 1 year : -20.4% 2 years : -35.8% 5 years : -12.5%
Virtually no change for the home stretch of the Gail Simone run.
—–
79 - TEEN TITANS 04/2005: Teen Titans #23 -- 66,802 [68,675] 04/2006: Teen Titans #34 -- 82,503 [90,051] 04/2007: Teen Titans #45 -- 61,051 04/2008: Teen Titans #58 -- 47,357 ---------------------------------- 04/2009: Teen Titans #69 -- 35,375 (+ 0.8%) 04/2009: Teen Titans #70 -- 35,412 (+ 0.1%) 05/2009: Teen Titans #71 -- 34,110 (- 3.7%) 06/2009: Teen Titans #72 -- 32,512 (- 4.7%) 07/2009: Teen Titans #73 -- 30,990 (- 4.7%) 08/2009: Teen Titans #74 -- 30,380 (- 2.0%) 09/2009: Teen Titans #75 -- 32,808 (+ 8.0%) 10/2009: Teen Titans #76 -- 29,166 (-11.1%) 11/2009: Teen Titans #77 -- 46,239 (+58.5%) 12/2009: Teen Titans #78 -- 43,400 (- 6.1%) 01/2010: Teen Titans #79 -- 27,790 (-36.0%) 02/2010: Teen Titans #80 -- 26,537 (- 4.5%) 03/2010: Teen Titans #81 -- 25,758 (- 2.9%) 04/2010: Teen Titans #82 -- 25,303 (- 1.8%) ---------------- 6 months: -13.3% 1 year : -28.5% 2 years : -46.6% 5 years : -62.1%
Sales are finding their level.
—–
82 - DOC SAVAGE 11/2009: B/DS Special #1 -- 32,636 ---------------------------------- 04/2010: Doc Savage #1 -- 24,539
That’s about as good a debut number as anyone could have reasonably expected for this pulp remake, I’d say. There was a 1:10 variant.
—–
85 - SECRET SIX 04/2009: Secret Six #8 -- 24,338 (- 0.1%) 05/2009: Secret Six #9 -- 27,116 (+11.4%) 06/2009: Secret Six #10 -- 24,272 (-10.5%) 07/2009: Secret Six #11 -- 24,357 (+ 0.4%) 08/2009: Secret Six #12 -- 24,161 (- 0.8%) 09/2009: Secret Six #13 -- 23,919 (- 1.0%) 10/2009: Secret Six #14 -- 23,345 (- 2.4%) 11/2009: Secret Six #15 -- 23,190 (- 0.7%) 12/2009: Secret Six #16 -- 22,638 (- 2.4%) 01/2010: Secret Six #17 -- 38,515 (+70.1%) 02/2010: Secret Six #18 -- 37,876 (- 1.7%) 03/2010: Secret Six #19 -- 23,181 (-38.8%) 04/2010: Secret Six #20 -- 22,695 (- 2.1%) ---------------- 6 months: - 2.8% 1 year : - 6.8%
Business as usual. Secret Six sales remain solid overall.
—–
89 - THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD 04/2007: The Brave and the Bold #3 -- 59,211 04/2008: The Brave and the Bold #12 -- 37,739 --------------------------------------------- 04/2009: -- 05/2009: The Brave and the Bold #23 -- 22,312 (- 5.1%) 06/2009: The Brave and the Bold #24 -- 21,272 (- 4.7%) 07/2009: The Brave and the Bold #25 -- 21,234 (- 0.2%) 08/2009: The Brave and the Bold #26 -- 20,154 (- 5.1%) 09/2009: The Brave and the Bold #27 -- 26,904 (+33.5%) 10/2009: The Brave and the Bold #28 -- 23,176 (-13.9%) 11/2009: The Brave and the Bold #29 -- 21,287 (- 8.2%) 12/2009: The Brave and the Bold #30 -- 20,932 (- 1.7%) 01/2010: The Brave and the Bold #31 -- 21,406 (+ 2.3%) 02/2010: -- 03/2010: The Brave and the Bold #32 -- 20,466 (- 4.4%) 04/2010: The Brave and the Bold #33 -- 21,528 (+ 5.2%) ---------------- 6 months: - 7.1% 1 year : n.a. 2 years : -43.0%
It’s not going down without a fight, at least.
—–
91 - POWER GIRL 05/2009: Power Girl #1 -- 47,322 06/2009: Power Girl #2 -- 36,756 (-22.3%) 07/2009: Power Girl #3 -- 35,163 (- 4.3%) 08/2009: Power Girl #4 -- 32,140 (- 8.6%) 09/2009: Power Girl #5 -- 29,497 (- 8.2%) 10/2009: Power Girl #6 -- 27,060 (- 8.3%) 11/2009: -- 12/2009: Power Girl #7 -- 22,533 (-16.7%) 01/2010: Power Girl #8 -- 21,760 (- 3.4%) 02/2010: Power Girl #9 -- 20,900 (- 4.0%) 03/2010: Power Girl #10 -- 20,801 (- 0.5%) 04/2010: Power Girl #11 -- 20,675 (- 0.6%) ---------------- 6 months: -23.6%
Holding level, but the current creative team is about to quit.
—–
95 - FABLES (Vertigo) 04/2005: Fables #36 -- 24,975 04/2006: Fables #48 -- 24,476 04/2007: Fables #60 -- 26,048 04/2008: Fables #72 -- 23,853 ----------------------------- 04/2009: Fables #83 -- 23,630 (+5.3%) 05/2009: Fables #84 -- 23,634 (+0.0%) 06/2009: Fables #85 -- 23,439 (-0.8%) 07/2009: Fables #86 -- 22,447 (-4.2%) 08/2009: Fables #87 -- 21,876 (-2.5%) 09/2009: Fables #88 -- 21,508 (-1.7%) 10/2009: Fables #89 -- 21,118 (-1.8%) 11/2009: Fables #90 -- 20,882 (-1.1%) 12/2009: Fables #91 -- 20,450 (-2.1%) 01/2010: Fables #92 -- 20,180 (-1.3%) 02/2010: -- 03/2010: Fables #93 -- 20,003 (-0.9%) 04/2010: Fables #94 -- 19,965 (-0.2%) ---------------- 6 months: - 5.5% 1 year : -15.5% 2 years : -16.3% 5 years : -20.1%
Sales are stabilizing again around 20K, evidently.
—–
97 - THE SPIRIT 04/2007: The Spirit #5 -- 23,887 04/2008: The Spirit #16 -- 14,697 --------------------------------- 04/2009: The Spirit #27 -- 8,785 (- 6.6%) 05/2009: The Spirit #28 -- 8,329 (- 5.2%) 06/2009: The Spirit #29 -- 8,273 (- 0.7%) 06/2009: The Spirit #30 -- 8,103 (- 2.1%) 07/2009: The Spirit #31 -- 7,882 (- 2.7%) 08/2009: The Spirit #32 -- 7,670 (- 2.7%) --------------------------------- 04/2010: The Spirit #1 -- 19,849 (+158.8%) ----------------- 1 year : +125.9% 2 years : + 35.1%
Given that it’s only been eight months since the previous Spirit series was axed, that’s a great number. There was a 1:10 variant.
—–
98 - BOOSTER GOLD 04/2008: Booster Gold #8 -- 35,982 ----------------------------------- 04/2009: Booster Gold #19 -- 23,203 (- 2.3%) 05/2009: Booster Gold #20 -- 22,549 (- 2.8%) 06/2009: Booster Gold #21 -- 23,222 (+ 3.0%) 07/2009: Booster Gold #22 -- 22,414 (- 3.5%) 08/2009: Booster Gold #23 -- 22,108 (- 1.4%) 09/2009: Booster Gold #24 -- 21,731 (- 1.7%) 10/2009: Booster Gold #25 -- 21,597 (- 0.6%) 11/2009: Booster Gold #26 -- 57,122 (+164.5%) 12/2009: Booster Gold #27 -- 40,256 (- 29.5%) 01/2010: Booster Gold #28 -- 21,967 (- 45.4%) 02/2010: Booster Gold #29 -- 21,020 (- 4.3%) 03/2010: Booster Gold #30 -- 20,187 (- 4.0%) 04/2010: Booster Gold #31 -- 19,818 (- 1.8%) ---------------- 6 months: - 8.2% 1 year : -14.6% 2 years : -44.9%
The arrival of a new creative team is imminent.
—–
100 - THE OUTSIDERS 04/2005: -- 04/2006: Outsiders #35 -- 45,774 04/2007: -- 04/2008: Batsiders #6 -- 36,551 -------------------------------- 04/2009: Outsiders #17 -- 27,171 (- 2.9%) 05/2009: Outsiders #18 -- 25,995 (- 4.3%) 06/2009: Outsiders #19 -- 27,485 (+ 5.7%) 07/2009: Outsiders #20 -- 24,323 (- 11.5%) 08/2009: Outsiders #21 -- 23,856 (- 1.9%) 09/2009: Outsiders #22 -- 22,775 (- 4.5%) 10/2009: Outsiders #23 -- 21,413 (- 6.0%) 11/2009: Outsiders #24 -- 50,918 (+137.8%) [55,704] 12/2009: Outsiders #25 -- 37,847 (- 25.7%) 01/2010: Outsiders #26 -- 22,626 (- 40.2%) 02/2010: Outsiders #27 -- 21,167 (- 6.5%) 03/2010: Outsiders #28 -- 19,632 (- 7.3%) 04/2010: Outsiders #29 -- 19,094 (- 2.7%) ---------------- 6 months: -10.8% 1 year : -29.7% 2 years : -47.8% 5 years : n.a.
The Outsiders continues to not be the focus of great enthusiasm among the comics people.
—–
106 - BLACKEST NIGHT DIRECTOR'S CUT 04/2010: BN Director's Cut -- 17,299
Not bad for a glorified reprint.
—–
119 - JOE THE BARBARIAN (Vertigo) 01/2010: Joe the Barbarian #1 of 8 -- 25,543 [29,712] 02/2010: Joe the Barbarian #2 of 8 -- 17,512 (-31.4%) 03/2010: Joe the Barbarian #3 of 8 -- 17,672 (+ 0.9%) 04/2010: Joe the Barbarian #4 of 8 -- 17,102 (- 3.2%)
Grant Morrison and Sean Murphy’s story about a British boy hallucinating as he struggles to reach his diabetes medicine keeps up a rock-solid performance.
—–
112 - BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL 04/2007: Batman Confidential #5 -- 36,219 04/2008: Batman Confidential #16 -- 24,038 ------------------------------------------ 04/2009: Batman Confidential #28 -- 19,540 (- 2.0%) 05/2009: Batman Confidential #29 -- 18,867 (- 3.4%) 06/2009: Batman Confidential #30 -- 18,443 (- 2.3%) 07/2009: Batman Confidential #31 -- 19,225 (+ 4.2%) 08/2009: Batman Confidential #32 -- 18,545 (- 3.5%) 09/2009: Batman Confidential #33 -- 18,140 (- 2.2%) 10/2009: Batman Confidential #34 -- 17,097 (- 5.8%) 10/2009: Batman Confidential #35 -- 16,724 (- 2.2%) 11/2009: Batman Confidential #36 -- 16,664 (- 0.4%) 11/2009: Batman Confidential #37 -- 16,355 (- 1.9%) 12/2009: Batman Confidential #38 -- 16,132 (- 1.4%) 12/2009: Batman Confidential #39 -- 15,906 (- 1.4%) 01/2010: Batman Confidential #40 -- 17,241 (+ 8.4%) 02/2010: Batman Confidential #41 -- 16,856 (- 2.2%) 03/2010: Batman Confidential #42 -- 16,652 (- 1.2%) 04/2010: Batman Confidential #43 -- 16,449 (- 1.2%) ---------------- 6 months: - 2.7% 1 year : -15.9% 2 years : -31.6%
The April issue was the conclusion of the Sam Kieth arc, which stabilized the book’s sales. It’s probably a temporary respite, though.
—–
119 - CINDERELLA: FROM FABLETOWN WITH LOVE (Vertigo) 11/2009: Cinderella #1 of 6 -- 20,337 12/2009: Cinderella #2 of 6 -- 16,598 (-18.4%) 01/2010: Cinderella #3 of 6 -- 15,827 (- 4.7%) 02/2010: Cinderella #4 of 6 -- 15,421 (- 2.6%) 03/2010: Cinderella #5 of 6 -- 15,285 (- 0.9%) 04/2010: Cinderella #6 of 6 -- 14,956 (- 2.2%)
The Fables spinoff comes to a close with perfectly good numbers.
—–
125 - THE UNWRITTEN (Vertigo) 05/2009: The Unwritten #1 -- 26,915 [31,081] 06/2009: The Unwritten #2 -- 16,290 (-39.5%) 07/2009: The Unwritten #3 -- 17,028 (+ 4.5%) 08/2009: The Unwritten #4 -- 16,336 (- 4.1%) 09/2009: The Unwritten #5 -- 16,011 (- 2.0%) 10/2009: The Unwritten #6 -- 15,314 (- 4.4%) 11/2009: The Unwritten #7 -- 14,763 (- 3.6%) 12/2009: The Unwritten #8 -- 14,257 (- 3.4%) 01/2010: The Unwritten #9 -- 13,792 (- 3.3%) 02/2010: The Unwritten #10 -- 13,644 (- 1.1%) 03/2010: The Unwritten #11 -- 13,630 (- 0.1%) 04/2010: The Unwritten #12 -- 13,507 (- 0.9%) ---------------- 6 months: -11.8%
Solid numbers.
——
130 - DOOM PATROL 04/2005: Doom Patrol #11 -- 16,247 ---------------------------------- 08/2009: Doom Patrol #1 -- 28,267 09/2009: Doom Patrol #2 -- 22,001 (- 22.2%) 10/2009: Doom Patrol #3 -- 20,036 (- 8.9%) 11/2009: Doom Patrol #4 -- 53,748 (+168.3%) 12/2009: Doom Patrol #5 -- 35,348 (- 34.2%) 01/2010: Doom Patrol #6 -- 17,117 (- 51.6%) 02/2010: Doom Patrol #7 -- 15,689 (- 8.3%) 03/2010: Doom Patrol #8 -- 14,197 (- 9.5%) 04/2010: Doom Patrol #9 -- 13,126 (- 7.5%) ---------------- 6 months: -34.5% 5 years : -19.2%
Not solid numbers.
—–
138/159/184/185/240 - WHAT'S NEXT REPRINTS 04/2010: Batman and Robin #1 -- 11,761 04/2010: Green Lantern #29 -- 9,937 04/2010: The Losers #1 -- 7,879 04/2010: Ex Machina #1 -- 7,863 04/2010: Human Target #1 -- 5,280
A new wave of $ 1.00 reprints. Retailers seem confident in the material, possibly to promote recent collections of titles like The Losers and Human Target.
—–
141 - JACK OF FABLES (Vertigo) 04/2007: Jack of Fables #9 -- 20,273 04/2008: Jack of Fables #22 -- 16,305 ------------------------------------- 04/2009: Jack of Fables #33 -- 19,242 (+41.5%) 05/2009: Jack of Fables #34 -- 19,420 (+ 0.9%) 06/2009: Jack of Fables #35 -- 19,571 (+ 0.8%) 07/2009: Jack of Fables #36 -- 15,256 (-22.1%) 08/2009: Jack of Fables #37 -- 14,508 (- 4.9%) 09/2009: Jack of Fables #38 -- 13,790 (- 5.0%) 10/2009: Jack of Fables #39 -- 13,161 (- 4.6%) 11/2009: -- 12/2009: Jack of Fables #40 -- 12,970 (- 1.5%) 12/2009: Jack of Fables #41 -- 12,559 (- 3.2%) 01/2010: Jack of Fables #42 -- 11,966 (- 4.7%) 02/2010: -- 03/2010: Jack of Fables #43 -- 11,878 (- 0.7%) 03/2010: Jack of Fables #44 -- 11,472 (- 3.4%) 04/2010: Jack of Fables #45 -- 11,324 (- 1.3%) ---------------- 6 months: -14.0% 1 year : -41.2% 2 years : -30.6%
The secondary Fables book continues a slow decline.
—–
142 - JONAH HEX 04/2006: Jonah Hex #6 -- 22,763 04/2007: Jonah Hex #18 -- 16,880 04/2008: Jonah Hex #30 -- 13,253 -------------------------------- 04/2009: Jonah Hex #42 -- 11,551 (- 0.1%) 05/2009: Jonah Hex #43 -- 11,606 (+ 0.5%) 06/2009: Jonah Hex #44 -- 11,592 (- 0.1%) 07/2009: Jonah Hex #45 -- 12,588 (+ 8.6%) 08/2009: Jonah Hex #46 -- 12,466 (- 1.0%) 09/2009: Jonah Hex #47 -- 12,231 (- 1.9%) 10/2009: Jonah Hex #48 -- 11,281 (- 7.8%) 11/2009: Jonah Hex #49 -- 11,146 (- 1.2%) 12/2009: Jonah Hex #50 -- 15,131 (+35.8%) 01/2010: Jonah Hex #51 -- 11,184 (-26.1%) 02/2010: Jonah Hex #52 -- 11,213 (+ 0.3%) 03/2010: Jonah Hex #53 -- 11,565 (+ 3.1%) 04/2010: Jonah Hex #54 -- 11,306 (- 2.2%) ---------------- 6 months: + 0.2% 1 year : - 2.1% 2 years : -14.7%
143 - R.E.B.E.L.S. 04/2009: R.E.B.E.L.S. #3 -- 14,442 (- 10.4%) 05/2009: R.E.B.E.L.S. #4 -- 13,468 (- 6.7%) 06/2009: R.E.B.E.L.S. #5 -- 12,909 (- 4.2%) 07/2009: R.E.B.E.L.S. #6 -- 12,349 (- 4.3%) 08/2009: R.E.B.E.L.S. #7 -- 11,682 (- 5.4%) 09/2009: R.E.B.E.L.S. #8 -- 11,347 (- 2.9%) 10/2009: R.E.B.E.L.S. #9 -- 11,284 (- 0.6%) 11/2009: R.E.B.E.L.S. #10 -- 51,100 (+352.9%) 12/2009: R.E.B.E.L.S. #11 -- 31,489 (- 38.4%) 01/2010: R.E.B.E.L.S. #12 -- 12,428 (- 60.5%) 02/2010: R.E.B.E.L.S. #13 -- 11,836 (- 4.8%) 03/2010: R.E.B.E.L.S. #14 -- 11,362 (- 4.0%) 04/2010: R.E.B.E.L.S. #15 -- 11,271 (- 0.8%) ----------------- 6 months: - 0.1% 1 year : - 22.0%
Two low-selling DC Universe titles with rock-solid numbers over the last six months.
—–
144 - AZRAEL 04/2009: Death's Dark Knight #2 of 3 -- 36,432 (- 8.9%) 05/2009: Death's Dark Knight #3 of 3 -- 35,916 (- 1.4%) 06/2009: -- 07/2009: -- 08/2009: -- 09/2009: -- 10/2009: Azrael #1 -- 35,311 (- 1.7%) 11/2009: Azrael #2 -- 21,392 (-39.4%) 12/2009: Azrael #3 -- 17,757 (-17.0%) 01/2010: Azrael #4 -- 14,703 (-17.2%) 02/2010: Azrael #5 -- 12,856 (-12.6%) 03/2010: Azrael #6 -- 11,825 (- 8.0%) 04/2010: Azrael #7 -- 11,080 (- 6.3%) ---------------- 6 months: -68.6% 1 year : -69.6%
A low-selling DC Universe title with abysmal numbers over the last six months.
—–
157 - HELLBLAZER (Vertigo) 04/2005: Hellblazer #207 -- 15,368 04/2006: Hellblazer #219 -- 14,206 04/2007: Hellblazer #231 -- 13,142 04/2008: Hellblazer #243 -- 11,958 ---------------------------------- 04/2009: Hellblazer #254 -- 11,053 (-0.7%) 05/2009: Hellblazer #255 -- 10,937 (-1.1%) 06/2009: Hellblazer #256 -- 10,898 (-0.4%) 07/2009: Hellblazer #257 -- 10,762 (-1.3%) 08/2009: Hellblazer #258 -- 10,665 (-0.9%) 09/2009: Hellblazer #259 -- 10,813 (+1.4%) 10/2009: Hellblazer #260 -- 10,767 (-0.4%) 11/2009: Hellblazer #261 -- 10,553 (-2.0%) 12/2009: Hellblazer #262 -- 10,334 (-2.1%) 01/2010: Hellblazer #263 -- 10,179 (-1.5%) 02/2010: Hellblazer #264 -- 10,025 (-1.5%) 03/2010: Hellblazer #265 -- 10,295 (+2.7%) 04/2010: Hellblazer #266 -- 10,256 (-0.4%) ---------------- 6 months: - 4.8% 1 year : - 0.7% 2 years : -14.2% 5 years : -33.3%
The two-parter with art by Simon Bisley concludes.
—–
158 - DV8: GODS AND MONSTERS (WildStorm) 04/2010: Gods and Monsters #1 of 8 -- 10,203
This Brian Wood revamp of the late-1990s WildStorm Universe property is a bit of an oddity — it’s Wood’s first published major work for hire since his run on Marvel’s Generation X (as part of the Warren Ellis-led “Counter X” revamp) ten years ago, and it’s not quite clear yet whether the paperback collections will be as much of a factor here as they are for Wood’s Vertigo work.
Retailers seem to be going for the middle ground between recent WildStorm Universe books and Wood’s own stuff, from the looks of it, which probably makes sense. Don’t be surprised if they correct their orders up or down in the next few months, though. Oh, and it’s the top-selling WildStorm book in April.
There was a 1:10 variant.
—–
162 - DAYTRIPPER (Vertigo) 12/2009: Daytripper #1 of 10 -- 12,010 01/2009: Daytripper #2 of 10 -- 9,846 (-18.0%) 02/2009: Daytripper #3 of 10 -- 9,577 (- 2.7%) 03/2009: Daytripper #4 of 10 -- 9,872 (+ 3.1%) 04/2009: Daytripper #5 of 10 -- 9,703 (- 1.7%)
163 - SWEET TOOTH (Vertigo) 09/2009: Sweet Tooth #1 -- 18,657 10/2009: Sweet Tooth #2 -- 11,315 (-39.4%) 11/2009: Sweet Tooth #3 -- 10,363 (- 8.4%) 12/2009: Sweet Tooth #4 -- 9,817 (- 5.3%) 01/2010: Sweet Tooth #5 -- 9,787 (- 0.3%) 02/2010: Sweet Tooth #6 -- 9,740 (- 0.5%) 03/2010: Sweet Tooth #7 -- 9,718 (- 0.2%) 04/2010: Sweet Tooth #8 -- 9,612 (- 1.1%) ---------------- 6 months: -15.1%
166 - HOUSE OF MYSTERY (Vertigo) 04/2009: House of Mystery #12 -- 12,636 (- 1.2%) 05/2009: House of Mystery #13 -- 14,358 (+13.6%) 06/2009: House of Mystery #14 -- 12,039 (-16.2%) 07/2009: House of Mystery #15 -- 11,809 (- 1.9%) 08/2009: House of Mystery #16 -- 11,572 (- 2.0%) 09/2009: House of Mystery #17 -- 11,142 (- 3.7%) 10/2009: House of Mystery #18 -- 10,922 (- 2.0%) 11/2009: House of Mystery #19 -- 10,478 (- 4.1%) 12/2009: House of Mystery #20 -- 10,175 (- 2.9%) 01/2010: House of Mystery #21 -- 9,888 (- 2.8%) 02/2010: House of Mystery #22 -- 9,401 (- 4.9%) 03/2010: House of Mystery #23 -- 9,350 (- 0.5%) 04/2010: House of Mystery #24 -- 9,168 (- 2.0%) ---------------- 6 months: -16.1% 1 year : -27.5%
Three Vertigo books that seem to be settling down in the 9,000-unit area.
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174 - TINY TITANS (Johnny DC) 04/2008: Tiny Titans #3 -- 11,197 ---------------------------------- 04/2009: Tiny Titans #15 -- 9,207 (+ 5.4%) 05/2009: Tiny Titans #16 -- 8,844 (- 3.9%) 06/2009: Tiny Titans #17 -- 8,640 (- 2.3%) 07/2009: Tiny Titans #18 -- 8,576 (- 0.7%) 08/2009: Tiny Titans #19 -- 8,432 (- 1.7%) 09/2009: Tiny Titans #20 -- 8,435 (+ 0.0%) 10/2009: Tiny Titans #21 -- 8,259 (- 2.1%) 11/2009: Tiny Titans #22 -- 8,100 (- 1.9%) 12/2009: Tiny Titans #23 -- 8,017 (- 1.0%) 01/2010: Tiny Titans #24 -- 7,844 (- 2.2%) 02/2010: Tiny Titans #25 -- 8,566 (+ 9.2%) 03/2010: Tiny Titans #26 -- 7,878 (- 8.0%) 04/2010: Tiny Titans #27 -- 8,224 (+ 4.4%) ---------------- 6 months: - 0.4% 1 year : -10.7% 2 years : -26.6%
A Johnny DC book, see small print.
—–
175 - MADAME XANADU (Vertigo) 04/2009: Madame Xanadu #10 -- 9,664 (- 1.4%) 05/2009: Madame Xanadu #11 -- 10,179 (+ 5.3%) 06/2009: Madame Xanadu #12 -- 9,949 (- 2.3%) 07/2009: Madame Xanadu #13 -- 10,009 (+ 0.6%) 08/2009: Madame Xanadu #14 -- 9,873 (- 1.4%) 09/2009: Madame Xanadu #15 -- 9,733 (- 1.4%) 10/2009: Madame Xanadu #16 -- 9,283 (- 4.6%) 11/2009: Madame Xanadu #17 -- 8,856 (- 4.6%) 12/2009: Madame Xanadu #18 -- 8,686 (- 1.9%) 01/2010: Madame Xanadu #19 -- 8,439 (- 2.8%) 02/2010: Madame Xanadu #20 -- 8,285 (- 1.8%) 03/2010: Madame Xanadu #21 -- 8,191 (- 1.1%) 04/2010: Madame Xanadu #22 -- 8,158 (- 0.4%) ---------------- 6 months: -12.1% 1 year : -15.6%
Finding its level, looks like.
—–
177 - WARLORD 04/2009: Warlord #1 -- 17,540 05/2009: Warlord #2 -- 13,390 (-23.7%) 06/2009: Warlord #3 -- 12,283 (- 8.3%) 07/2009: Warlord #4 -- 11,445 (- 6.8%) 08/2009: Warlord #5 -- 10,790 (- 5.7%) 09/2009: Warlord #6 -- 10,331 (- 4.3%) 10/2009: Warlord #7 -- 9,892 (- 4.3%) 11/2009: Warlord #8 -- 9,547 (- 3.5%) 12/2009: Warlord #9 -- 9,102 (- 4.7%) 01/2010: Warlord #10 -- 8,807 (- 3.2%) 02/2010: Warlord #11 -- 8,532 (- 3.1%) 03/2010: Warlord #12 -- 8,430 (- 1.2%) 04/2010: Warlord #13 -- 8,130 (- 3.6%) ---------------- 6 months: -17.8%
Canceled with issue #18.
—–
186 - MAGOG 09/2009: Magog #1 -- 26,352 10/2009: Magog #2 -- 16,193 (-38.6%) 11/2009: Magog #3 -- 12,915 (-20.2%) 12/2009: Magog #4 -- 10,700 (-17.2%) 01/2010: Magog #5 -- 9,215 (-13.9%) 02/2010: Magog #6 -- 8,548 (- 7.2%) 03/2010: Magog #7 -- 8,119 (- 5.0%) 04/2010: Magog #8 -- 7,743 (- 4.6%) ---------------- 6 months: -52.2%
Another hastily aborted DC Universe book: Issue #11 was meant to be the start of a five-part arc, but then they went and pulled the plug with #12 instead.
—–
187 - NORTHLANDERS (Vertigo) 04/2008: Northlanders #5 -- 12,278 ----------------------------------- 04/2009: Northlanders #16 -- 9,323 (- 1.3%) 05/2009: Northlanders #17 -- 9,239 (- 0.9%) 06/2009: Northlanders #18 -- 8,877 (- 3.9%) 07/2009: Northlanders #19 -- 8,722 (- 1.8%) 08/2009: -- 09/2009: Northlanders #20 -- 8,786 (+ 0.7%) 10/2009: Northlanders #21 -- 8,360 (- 4.9%) 11/2009: Northlanders #22 -- 8,136 (- 2.7%) 12/2009: Northlanders #23 -- 8,069 (- 0.8%) 01/2010: Northlanders #24 -- 7,935 (- 1.7%) 02/2010: Northlanders #25 -- 7,807 (- 1.6%) 03/2010: Northlanders #26 -- 7,824 (+ 0.2%) 04/2010: Northlanders #27 -- 7,683 (- 1.8%) ---------------- 6 months: - 8.1% 1 year : -17.6% 2 years : -37.4%
Business as usual.
—–
189 - THE AUTHORITY (WildStorm) 04/2005: Revolution #7 of 12 -- 19,582 04/2007: -- 04/2008: -- --------------------------------------- 04/2009: The Authority v4 #9 -- 9,748 (- 2.4%) 05/2009: The Authority v4 #10 -- 9,531 (- 2.2%) 06/2009: The Authority v4 #11 -- 9,204 (- 3.4%) 07/2009: The Authority v4 #12 -- 8,918 (- 3.1%) 08/2009: The Authority v4 #13 -- 8,648 (- 3.0%) 09/2009: The Authority v4 #14 -- 8,394 (- 2.9%) 10/2009: The Authority v4 #15 -- 8,174 (- 2.6%) 11/2009: The Authority v4 #16 -- 8,066 (- 1.3%) 12/2009: The Authority v4 #17 -- 7,829 (- 2.9%) 01/2010: The Authority v4 #18 -- 7,952 (+ 1.6%) 02/2010: The Authority v4 #19 -- 7,943 (- 0.1%) 03/2010: The Authority v4 #20 -- 7,781 (- 2.0%) 04/2010: The Authority v4 #21 -- 7,563 (- 2.8%) ---------------- 6 months: - 7.5% 1 year : -22.4% 2 years : n.a. 5 years : -61.4%
Slowly declining, as usual.
—–
193 - NEMESIS: THE IMPOSTORS 05/2009: FCA: Escape #1 of 6 -- 28,668 06/2009: FCA: Escape #2 of 6 -- 20,576 (-29.2%) 07/2009: FCA: Escape #3 of 6 -- 15,294 (-25.7%) 08/2009: FCA: Escape #4 of 6 -- 12,950 (-15.3%) 09/2009: FCA: Escape #5 of 6 -- 11,613 (-10.3%) 10/2009: FCA: Escape #6 of 6 -- 10,519 (- 9.4%) -------------------------------------- 03/2010: Impostors #1 of 4 -- 9,005 (-14.4%) 04/2010: Impostors #2 of 4 -- 7,291 (-19.0%) ---------------- 6 months: -30.7%
198 - HUMAN TARGET 04/2005: Human Target #21 -- 7,313 --------------------------------------- 02/2010: Human Target #1 of 6 -- 13,690 03/2010: Human Target #2 of 6 -- 8,403 (-38.6%) 04/2010: Human Target #3 of 6 -- 6,857 (-18.4%) ---------------- 5 years : - 6.2%
Two DC Universe miniseries with terrible numbers.
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199 - DMZ (Vertigo) 04/2006: DMZ #6 -- 15,212 04/2007: DMZ #18 -- 13,120 04/2008: DMZ #30 -- 10,038 -------------------------- 04/2009: DMZ #41 -- 8,061 (-1.3%) 05/2009: -- 06/2009: DMZ #42 -- 7,927 (-1.7%) 07/2009: DMZ #43 -- 7,806 (-1.5%) 08/2009: DMZ #44 -- 7,654 (-2.0%) 09/2009: DMZ #45 -- 7,589 (-0.9%) 10/2009: DMZ #46 -- 7,399 (-2.5%) 11/2009: DMZ #47 -- 7,187 (-2.9%) 12/2009: DMZ #48 -- 6,977 (-2.9%) 01/2010: DMZ #49 -- 6,872 (-1.5%) 02/2010: DMZ #50 -- 7,262 (+5.7%) 03/2010: DMZ #51 -- 6,840 (-5.8%) 04/2010: DMZ #52 -- 6,826 (-0.2%) ---------------- 6 months: - 7.7% 1 year : -15.3% 2 years : -32.0%
Virtually no change in April.
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203 - THE AUTHORITY: THE LOST YEAR (WildStorm) 10/2006: The Authority v3 #1 -- 58,136 03/2007: The Authority v3 #2 -- 39,886 ------------------------------------------ 11/2009: The Lost Year #3 of 12 -- 8,988 (-77.5%) 12/2009: The Lost Year #4 of 12 -- 7,999 (-11.0%) 01/2010: The Lost Year #5 of 12 -- 7,541 (- 5.7%) 02/2010: The Lost Year #6 of 12 -- 7,184 (- 4.7%) 03/2010: The Lost Year #7 of 12 -- 6,942 (- 3.4%) 04/2010: The Lost Year #8 of 12 -- 6,712 (- 3.3%)
The Authority book that Grant Morrison no longer writes keeps slipping down the chart.
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205 - SCALPED (Vertigo) 04/2007: Scalped #4 -- 9,163 04/2008: Scalped #16 -- 7,071 ------------------------------ 04/2009: Scalped #27 -- 6,950 (+ 1.2%) 04/2009: Scalped #28 -- 6,860 (- 1.3%) 05/2009: -- 06/2009: Scalped #29 -- 7,078 (+ 3.2%) 07/2009: Scalped #30 -- 7,059 (- 0.3%) 08/2009: Scalped #31 -- 6,916 (- 2.0%) 09/2009: -- 10/2009: Scalped #32 -- 6,905 (- 0.2%) 11/2009: -- 12/2009: Scalped #33 -- 6,752 (- 2.2%) 01/2010: -- 02/2010: Scalped #34 -- 6,731 (- 0.3%) 02/2010: Scalped #35 -- 6,443 (- 4.3%) 03/2010: Scalped #36 -- 6,648 (+ 3.2%) 04/2010: Scalped #37 -- 6,584 (- 1.0%) ---------------- 6 months: - 4.7% 1 year : - 4.7% 2 years : - 6.9%
Solid sales overall.
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207 - BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD (Johnny DC) 04/2005: Batman Strikes! #8 -- 10,368 04/2006: Batman Strikes! #20 -- 8,331 04/2007: Batman Strikes! #32 -- 7,294 04/2008: Batman Strikes! #44 -- 7,541 ---------------------------------------- 04/2009: Brave & Bold #4 -- 8,381 (+ 2.4%) 05/2009: Brave & Bold #5 -- 7,994 (- 4.6%) 06/2009: Brave & Bold #6 -- 7,614 (- 4.8%) 07/2009: Brave & Bold #7 -- 7,441 (- 2.3%) 08/2009: Brave & Bold #8 -- 7,153 (- 3.9%) 09/2009: Brave & Bold #9 -- 7,064 (- 1.2%) 10/2009: Brave & Bold #10 -- 6,646 (- 5.9%) 11/2009: Brave & Bold #11 -- 6,438 (- 3.1%) 12/2009: Brave & Bold #12 -- 6,342 (- 1.5%) 01/2010: Brave & Bold #13 -- 6,129 (- 3.4%) 02/2010: Brave & Bold #14 -- 6,084 (- 0.7%) 03/2010: Brave & Bold #15 -- 6,208 (+ 2.0%) 04/2010: Brave & Bold #16 -- 6,506 (+ 4.8%) ---------------- 6 months: - 2.1% 1 year : -22.4% 2 years : -13.7% 5 years : -37.3%
A Johnny DC book.
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209 - SUPERNATURAL: BEGINNING'S END (WildStorm) 05/2007: Origins #1 -- 21,128 06/2007: Origins #2 -- 15,955 (-24.5%) 07/2007: Origins #3 -- 14,812 (- 7.2%) 08/2007: Origins #4 -- 13,915 (- 6.1%) 09/2007: Origins #5 -- 13,034 (- 6.3%) 10/2007: Origins #6 -- 12,350 (- 5.5%) ------------------------------------- 04/2008: Rising Son #1 of 6 -- 16,013 (+29.7%) 05/2008: Rising Son #2 of 6 -- 11,846 (-26.0%) 06/2008: Rising Son #3 of 6 -- 11,276 (- 4.8%) 07/2008: Rising Son #4 of 6 -- 10,676 (- 5.3%) 08/2008: Rising Son #5 of 6 -- 10,110 (- 5.3%) 09/2008: Rising Son #6 of 6 -- 9,590 (- 5.1%) ------------------------------------- 01/2010: Beginning's End #1 -- 9,251 (- 3.5%) 02/2010: Beginning's End #2 -- 6,922 (-25.2%) 03/2010: Beginning's End #3 -- 6,764 (- 2.3%) 04/2010: Beginning's End #4 -- 6,420 (- 5.1%) ---------------- 2 years : -59.9%
211 - WILDCATS (WildStorm) 04/2006: Nemesis #8 of 9 -- 14,410 04/2007: -- ---------------------------------- 04/2009: World's End #10 -- 8,460 (- 3.4%) 05/2009: World's End #11 -- 8,165 (- 3.5%) 06/2009: World's End #12 -- 7,863 (- 3.7%) 07/2009: World's End #13 -- 7,609 (- 3.2%) 08/2009: World's End #14 -- 7,417 (- 2.5%) 09/2009: World's End #15 -- 7,178 (- 3.2%) 10/2009: World's End #16 -- 6,883 (- 4.1%) 11/2009: World's End #17 -- 6,691 (- 2.8%) 12/2009: World's End #18 -- 6,487 (- 3.2%) 01/2010: World's End #19 -- 6,791 (+ 4.7%) 02/2010: World's End #20 -- 6,669 (- 1.8%) 03/2010: World's End #21 -- 6,491 (- 2.7%) 04/2010: World's End #22 -- 6,367 (- 1.9%) ---------------- 6 months: - 7.5% 1 year : -24.7% 2 years : n.a.
Two WildStorm books with desolate numbers.
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213 - GREEK STREET (Vertigo) 07/2009: Greek Street #1 -- 20,422 08/2009: Greek Street #2 -- 11,996 (-41.3%) 09/2009: Greek Street #3 -- 10,628 (-11.4%) 10/2009: Greek Street #4 -- 9,246 (-13.0%) 11/2009: Greek Street #5 -- 8,610 (- 6.9%) 12/2009: Greek Street #6 -- 7,802 (- 9.4%) 01/2010: Greek Street #7 -- 7,335 (- 6.0%) 02/2010: Greek Street #8 -- 6,872 (- 6.3%) 03/2010: Greek Street #9 -- 6,603 (- 3.9%) 04/2010: Greek Street #10 -- 6,324 (- 4.2%) ---------------- 6 months: -31.6%
A Vertigo book with desolate numbers.
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214 - THE GREAT TEN 11/2009: The Great Ten #1 of 10 -- 13,159 12/2009: The Great Ten #2 of 10 -- 8,760 (-33.4%) 01/2010: The Great Ten #3 of 10 -- 7,458 (-14.9%) 02/2010: The Great Ten #4 of 10 -- 6,812 (- 8.7%) 03/2010: The Great Ten #5 of 10 -- 6,555 (- 3.8%) 04/2010: The Great Ten #6 of 10 -- 6,301 (- 3.9%)
Canceled with issue #9.
No, I’m not kidding.
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219 - VICTORIAN UNDEAD (WildStorm) 11/2009: Victorian Undead #1 of 6 -- 11,422 12/2009: Victorian Undead #2 of 6 -- 7,430 (-35.0%) 01/2010: Victorian Undead #3 of 6 -- 6,663 (-10.3%) 02/2010: Victorian Undead #4 of 6 -- 6,365 (- 4.5%) 03/2010: Victorian Undead #5 of 6 -- 6,285 (- 1.3%) 04/2010: Victorian Undead #6 of 6 -- 6,102 (- 2.9%)
One of the most successful creator-owned WildStorm books of late concludes.
No, I’m not kidding.
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221 - DEMO (Vertigo) 11/2003: Demo #1 of 12 -- 4,529 12/2003: Demo #2 of 12 -- 3,115 (-31.2%) 01/2004: Demo #3 of 12 -- 3,170 (+ 1.8%) 02/2004: Demo #4 of 12 -- 3,220 (+ 1.6%) 03/2004: Demo #5 of 12 -- 3,301 (+ 2.5%) 05/2004: Demo #6 of 12 -- 3,514 (+ 6.5%) 06/2004: Demo #7 of 12 -- 3,882 (+10.5%) 07/2004: Demo #8 of 12 -- 3,803 (- 2.0%) 08/2004: Demo #9 of 12 -- 3,976 (+ 4.6%) 10/2004: Demo #10 of 12 -- 4,260 (+ 7.1%) 10/2004: Demo #11 of 12 -- 4,344 (+ 2.0%) 12/2004: Demo #12 of 12 -- 4,628 (+ 6.5%) ------------------------------------- 02/2010: Demo Vol. 2 #1 of 6 -- 8,317 03/2010: Demo Vol. 2 #2 of 6 -- 6,573 (-21.0%) 04/2010: Demo Vol. 2 #3 of 6 -- 6,010 (- 8.6%)
Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan’s black-&-white miniseries sees a fairly harsh third-issue drop.
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230 - UNKNOWN SOLDIER (Vertigo) 04/2009: Unknown Soldier #7 -- 8,631 (+ 5.6%) 05/2009: Unknown Soldier #8 -- 7,705 (-10.7%) 06/2009: Unknown Soldier #9 -- 7,586 (- 1.6%) 07/2009: Unknown Soldier #10 -- 7,256 (- 4.4%) 08/2009: Unknown Soldier #11 -- 7,070 (- 2.6%) 09/2009: Unknown Soldier #12 -- 6,865 (- 2.9%) 10/2009: Unknown Soldier #13 -- 6,636 (- 3.3%) 11/2009: Unknown Soldier #14 -- 6,359 (- 4.2%) 12/2009: Unknown Soldier #15 -- 6,134 (- 3.5%) 01/2010: Unknown Soldier #16 -- 5,848 (- 4.7%) 02/2010: Unknown Soldier #17 -- 5,701 (- 2.5%) 03/2010: Unknown Soldier #18 -- 5,611 (- 1.6%) 04/2010: Unknown Soldier #19 -- 5,542 (- 1.2%) ---------------- 6 months: -16.5% 1 year : -35.8%
Unknown Soldier is finding its level, but there probably isn’t a lot of rope left.
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239 - THE SHIELD 08/2009: RC: Shield #1 -- 19,088 09/2009: The Shield #1 -- 16,997 (-11.0%) 10/2009: The Shield #2 -- 10,401 (-38.8%) 11/2009: The Shield #3 -- 8,546 (-17.8%) 12/2009: The Shield #4 -- 7,316 (-14.4%) 01/2010: The Shield #5 -- 6,444 (-11.9%) 02/2010: The Shield #6 -- 6,010 (- 6.7%) 03/2010: The Shield #7 -- 5,568 (- 7.4%) 04/2010: The Shield #8 -- 5,288 (- 5.0%) ---------------- 6 months: -49.2%
Canceled with issue #10.
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241 - GEN13 (WildStorm) 04/2007: Gen13 #7 -- 20,555 04/2008: Gen13 #19 -- 11,887 ---------------------------- 02/2009: Gen13 #27 -- 7,929 (- 4.9%) 03/2009: Gen13 #28 -- 7,593 (- 4.2%) 04/2009: Gen13 #29 -- 7,313 (- 3.7%) 05/2009: -- 06/2009: Gen13 #30 -- 6,880 (- 5.9%) 07/2009: -- 08/2009: Gen13 #31 -- 6,544 (- 4.9%) 09/2009: -- 10/2009: Gen13 #32 -- 6,044 (- 7.6%) 11/2009: -- 12/2009: Gen13 #33 -- 5,718 (- 5.4%) 01/2010: -- 02/2010: Gen13 #34 -- 5,412 (- 5.4%) 03/2010: -- 04/2010: Gen13 #35 -- 5,257 (- 2.9%) ---------------- 6 months: -13.0% 1 year : -33.7% 2 years : -55.8%
245 - SPARTA, U.S.A. (WildStorm) 03/2010: Sparta, U.S.A. #1 of 6 -- 8,214 04/2010: Sparta, U.S.A. #2 of 6 -- 5,194 (-36.8%)
Two more WildStorm books with numbers well below 6K.
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246 - AIR (Vertigo) 04/2009: Air #8 -- 7,216 (-29.9%) 05/2009: Air #9 -- 7,115 (- 1.4%) 06/2009: Air #10 -- 6,954 (- 2.3%) 07/2009: Air #11 -- 6,793 (- 2.3%) 08/2009: Air #12 -- 6,589 (- 3.0%) 09/2009: Air #13 -- 6,476 (- 1.7%) 10/2009: Air #14 -- 6,156 (- 4.9%) 11/2009: Air #15 -- 5,921 (- 3.8%) 12/2009: Air #16 -- 5,733 (- 3.2%) 01/2010: Air #17 -- 5,573 (- 2.8%) 02/2010: Air #18 -- 5,352 (- 4.0%) 03/2010: Air #19 -- 5,268 (- 1.6%) 04/2010: Air #20 -- 5,184 (- 1.6%) ---------------- 6 months: -15.8% 1 year : -28.2%
Canceled with issue #24.
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249 - SUPER FRIENDS (Johnny DC) 04/2008: Super Friends #2 -- 8,935 ------------------------------------ 04/2009: Super Friends #14 -- 5,792 (+ 7.5%) 05/2009: Super Friends #15 -- 5,513 (- 4.8%) 06/2009: Super Friends #16 -- 5,548 (+ 0.6%) 07/2009: Super Friends #17 -- 5,368 (- 3.2%) 08/2009: Super Friends #18 -- 5,291 (- 1.4%) 09/2009: Super Friends #19 -- 5,045 (- 4.7%) 10/2009: Super Friends #20 -- 5,026 (- 0.4%) 11/2009: Super Friends #21 -- 4,879 (- 2.9%) 12/2009: Super Friends #22 -- 4,837 (- 0.9%) 01/2010: Super Friends #23 -- 4,538 (- 6.2%) 02/2010: Super Friends #24 -- 4,644 (+ 2.3%) 03/2010: Super Friends #25 -- 4,678 (+ 0.7%) 04/2010: Super Friends #26 -- 4,955 (+ 5.9%) ---------------- 6 months: - 1.4% 1 year : -14.5% 2 years : -44.5%
A Johnny DC title.
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250 - GARRISON (WildStorm) 04/2010: Garrison #1 -- 4,936
The figure speaks for itself.
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254 - THE WEB 08/2009: RC: Web #1 -- 19,535 09/2009: The Web #1 -- 15,507 (-20.6%) 10/2009: The Web #2 -- 9,421 (-39.3%) 11/2009: The Web #3 -- 7,631 (-19.0%) 12/2009: The Web #4 -- 6,653 (-12.8%) 01/2010: The Web #5 -- 5,809 (-12.7%) 02/2010: The Web #6 -- 5,276 (- 9.2%) 03/2010: The Web #7 -- 4,981 (- 5.6%) 04/2010: The Web #8 -- 4,763 (- 4.4%) ---------------- 6 months: -49.4%
Canceled with issue #10.
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261 - BILLY BATSON & THE MAGIC OF SHAZAM (Johnny DC) 04/2009: Billy Batson #4 -- 8,470 (-14.0%) 05/2009: -- 06/2009: Billy Batson #5 -- 7,869 (- 7.1%) 07/2009: Billy Batson #6 -- 6,771 (-14.0%) 08/2009: Billy Batson #7 -- 6,382 (- 5.8%) 09/2009: Billy Batson #8 -- 5,858 (- 8.2%) 10/2009: Billy Batson #9 -- 5,388 (- 8.0%) 11/2009: Billy Batson #10 -- 4,993 (- 7.3%) 12/2009: Billy Batson #11 -- 4,795 (- 4.0%) 01/2010: Billy Batson #12 -- 4,371 (- 8.8%) 02/2010: Billy Batson #13 -- 4,316 (- 1.3%) 03/2010: Billy Batson #14 -- 4,227 (- 2.1%) 04/2010: Billy Batson #15 -- 4,236 (+ 0.2%) ---------------- 6 months: -21.4% 1 year : -50.0%
270 - SCOOBY DOO (Johnny DC) 04/2005: Scooby Doo #95 -- 4,800 04/2006: Scooby Doo #107 -- 4,359 04/2007: Scooby Doo #119 -- 4,373 04/2008: Scooby Doo #131 -- 4,403 --------------------------------- 04/2009: Scooby Doo #143 -- 4,610 (+19.3%) 05/2009: Scooby Doo #144 -- 4,062 (-11.9%) 06/2009: Scooby Doo #145 -- 4,093 (+ 0.8%) 07/2009: Scooby Doo #146 -- 4,110 (+ 0.4%) 08/2009: Scooby Doo #147 -- 4,111 (+ 0.0%) 09/2009: Scooby Doo #148 -- 4,103 (- 0.2%) 10/2009: Scooby Doo #149 -- 4,005 (- 2.4%) 11/2009: Scooby Doo #150 -- 4,044 (+ 1.0%) 12/2009: Scooby Doo #151 -- 3,906 (- 3.4%) 01/2010: Scooby Doo #152 -- 3,724 (- 4.7%) 02/2010: Scooby Doo #153 -- 3,780 (+ 1.5%) 03/2010: Scooby Doo #154 -- 3,846 (+ 1.8%) 04/2010: Scooby Doo #155 -- 3,836 (- 0.3%) ---------------- 6 months: - 4.2% 1 year : -16.8% 2 years : -12.9% 5 years : -20.1%
Two more Johnny DC books.
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278 - DANTE'S INFERNO (WildStorm) 12/2009: Dante's Inferno #1 of 6 -- 5,431 01/2010: Dante's Inferno #2 of 6 -- 3,808 (-29.9%) 02/2010: Dante's Inferno #3 of 6 -- 3,557 (- 6.6%) 03/2010: -- 04/2010: Dante's Inferno #4 of 6 -- 3,495 (- 1.7%)
Another game adaptation from WildStorm. Free Realms, also from WildStorm, once again missed the Top 300 chart with issue #8, so I’m presuming it moved 2,900 copies for the purposes of the averages below, which is what the No. 300 title sold.
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6-MONTH COMPARISONS + 61.8%: Green Arrow + 2.2%: JLA + 0.2%: Jonah Hex - 0.1%: REBELS - 0.4%: Tiny Titans - 1.0%: Green Lantern - 1.4%: Super Friends - 2.1%: Batman: Brave & Bold - 2.7%: Batman Confidential - 2.8%: Secret Six - 2.9%: Supergirl - 4.0%: Superman: LSoNK - 4.2%: Scooby-Doo - 4.7%: Scalped - 4.8%: Hellblazer - 5.5%: Fables - 5.9%: Wonder Woman - 6.3%: Superman - 7.1%: Brave & Bold - 7.5%: Authority - 7.5%: Wildcats - 7.7%: DMZ - 8.1%: Northlanders - 8.2%: Booster Gold - 8.3%: Superman/Batman - 9.0%: Superman: Secret Origin - 10.8%: Outsiders - 11.3%: GL Corps - 11.8%: Unwritten - 12.1%: Madame Xanadu - 13.0%: Gen13 - 13.3%: Teen Titans - 14.0%: Batman - 14.0%: Jack of Fables - 15.1%: Sweet Tooth - 15.4%: Adventure Comics - 15.6%: Action Comics - 15.8%: Air - 16.1%: House of Mystery - 16.5%: Unknown Soldier - 17.3%: Batman and Robin - 17.8%: Warlord - 18.4%: JSA - 19.1%: Red Robin - 20.2%: GC Sirens - 20.4%: Batgirl - 21.4%: Billy Batson - 23.6%: Power Girl - 24.9%: Batman: SoG - 27.6%: Detective Comics - 30.7%: Nemesis: Impostors - 31.6%: Greek Street - 34.5%: Doom Patrol - 49.2%: Shield - 49.4%: Web - 52.2%: Magog - 68.6%: Azrael
—–
1-YEAR COMPARISONS +125.9%: Spirit + 32.9%: Green Arrow + 25.8%: Green Lantern + 22.8%: GL Corps - 0.7%: Hellblazer - 1.5%: Flash - 2.1%: Jonah Hex - 4.7%: Scalped - 5.6%: JLA - 6.8%: Secret Six - 10.7%: Tiny Titans - 13.5%: Supergirl - 14.5%: Super Friends - 14.6%: Booster Gold - 15.3%: DMZ - 15.5%: Fables - 15.6%: Madame Xanadu - 15.9%: Batman Confidential - 16.8%: Scooby-Doo - 17.6%: Northlanders - 20.4%: Wonder Woman - 21.5%: Superman: LSoNK - 22.0%: REBELS - 22.4%: Authority - 22.4%: Batman: Brave & Bold - 22.6%: Superman/Batman - 22.9%: Superman - 24.7%: World's End - 27.5%: House of Mystery - 28.2%: Air - 28.5%: Teen Titans - 29.7%: Outsiders - 31.6%: Batman - 32.4%: Action Comics - 33.7%: Gen13 - 35.8%: Unknown Soldier - 41.2%: Jack of Fables - 50.0%: Billy Batson - 50.1%: JSA - 59.2%: Detective Comics - 69.6%: Azrael
—–
2-YEAR COMPARISONS +199.1%: Flash + 54.3%: GL Corps + 53.6%: Green Lantern + 37.4%: Red Robin + 35.1%: Spirit + 18.8%: GC Sirens - 6.0%: Supergirl - 6.9%: Scalped - 9.0%: Green Arrow - 12.4%: Detective Comics - 12.9%: Scooby-Doo - 13.7%: Batman: Brave & Bold - 14.2%: Hellblazer - 14.3%: Batman - 14.7%: Jonah Hex - 16.3%: Fables - 26.6%: Tiny Titans - 27.4%: JLA - 30.6%: Jack of Fables - 31.6%: Batman Confidential - 32.0%: DMZ - 35.8%: Wonder Woman - 37.4%: Northlanders - 39.5%: Superman - 39.7%: Superman/Batman - 43.0%: Brave & Bold - 44.3%: Action Comics - 44.5%: Super Friends - 44.9%: Booster Gold - 46.6%: Teen Titans - 47.8%: Outsiders - 54.5%: JSA - 55.8%: Gen13 - 59.9%: Supernatural
—–
5-YEAR COMPARISONS +117.1%: Flash + 17.6%: Red Robin + 8.6%: Detective Comics + 4.7%: Batgirl - 2.3%: Batman - 2.6%: JLA - 6.2%: Human Target - 7.2%: Green Arrow - 11.6%: GC Sirens - 12.5%: Wonder Woman - 12.7%: Green Lantern - 15.7%: JSA - 19.2%: Doom Patrol - 20.1%: Fables - 20.1%: Scooby-Doo - 33.3%: Hellblazer - 37.3%: Batman: Brave & Bold - 46.5%: Action Comics - 61.4%: Authority - 62.1%: Teen Titans - 70.5%: Superman - 72.4%: Superman/Batman
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Average Periodical Sales
(not counting reprints, reorders shipping after the initial month of release, Johnny DC titles and magazines)
DC COMICS 04/2005: 30,053 04/2006: 33,566 04/2007: 39,134 04/2008: 28,051 --------------- 04/2009: 27,373 (+25.6%)** 05/2009: 24,386 (-10.9%) 06/2009: 25,880 (+ 6.1%)** 07/2009: 30,905 (+19.4%)** 08/2009: 29,977 (- 3.0%) 09/2009: 28,493 (- 5.0%)** 10/2009: 27,525 (- 4.4%)** 11/2009: 28,913 (+ 5.1%)** 12/2009: 25,904 (-10.4%)** 01/2010: 25,657 (- 1.0%)** 02/2010: 26,199 (+ 2.1%)** 03/2010: 23,299 (-11.1%)** 04/2010: 23,740 (+ 1.9%)** ---------------- 6 months: -13.8% 1 year : -13.3% 2 years : -15.4% 5 years : -21.0%
DC UNIVERSE 04/2005: 39,140 04/2006: 45,129 04/2007: 52,768 04/2008: 35,452 --------------- 04/2009: 38,150 (+21.8%) 05/2009: 33,163 (-13.1%) 06/2009: 36,329 (+ 9.6%) 07/2009: 41,218 (+13.9%) 08/2009: 37,300 (- 9.5%) 09/2009: 36,725 (- 1.5%)** 10/2009: 34,795 (- 5.3%) 11/2009: 38,488 (+10.6%) 12/2009: 35,473 (- 7.8%)** 01/2010: 33,698 (- 5.0%) 02/2010: 35,895 (+ 6.5%) 03/2010: 32,375 (- 9.8%) 04/2010: 32,859 (+ 1.5%) ---------------- 6 months: - 5.6% 1 year : -13.9% 2 years : - 7.3% 5 years : -16.1%
VERTIGO 04/2005: 13,050 04/2006: 15,473 04/2007: 12,105 04/2008: 10,550 --------------- 04/2009: 10,767 (+ 5.8%) 05/2009: 12,918 (+20.0%) 06/2009: 11,166 (-13.6%) 07/2009: 11,055 (- 1.0%)** 08/2009: 11,369 (+ 2.8%) 09/2009: 11,345 (- 0.2%) 10/2009: 10,551 (- 7.0%) 11/2009: 11,036 (+ 4.6%) 12/2009: 10,583 (- 4.1%) 01/2010: 11,267 (+ 6.5%) 02/2010: 9,256 (-17.9%) 03/2010: 11,394 (+23.1%) 04/2010: 10,815 (- 5.1%) ---------------- 6 months: + 2.5% 1 year : + 0.5% 2 years : + 2.5% 5 years : -17.1%
WILDSTORM 04/2005: 12,846 04/2006: 16,036 04/2007: 13,609 04/2008: 12,156 --------------- 04/2009: 8,277 (- 7.6%)** 05/2009: 8,579 (+ 3.7%) 06/2009: 8,805 (+ 2.6%)** 07/2009: 8,519 (- 3.3%)** 08/2009: 7,977 (- 6.4%) 09/2009: 8,280 (+ 3.8%)** 10/2009: 9,769 (+18.0%)** 11/2009: 7,111 (-27.2%)** 12/2009: 7,260 (+ 2.1%)** 01/2010: 6,532 (-10.0%)** 02/2010: 5,692 (-12.9%)** 03/2010: 7,691 (+35.1%)** 04/2010: 5,923 (-23.0%)** ---------------- 6 months: -39.4% 1 year : -28.4% 2 years : -51.3% 5 years : -53.9%
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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 and some WildStorm titles, collection sales tend to be a significant factor, so the numbers for those books should be taken with a grain of salt as well. To learn (a little) more about Vertigo’s collection sales, go right here.
** Two asterisks after a given month in the average charts mean that one or more periodical release did not make the Top 300 chart in that month. In those cases, it’s assumed that said releases sold as many units as the No. 300 comic on the chart for that month for the purposes of the chart, although its actual sales are likely to be less than that.
For a more lyrical approach to discussing sales figures that covers all the essentials in a more condensed, less tedious fashion, finally, go right here.
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Marc-Oliver Frisch writes about comics at his weblog and at Comicgate. You can also follow him on Twitter.
Those are some pretty sobering numbers. With few exceptions (such as the Green Lantern franchise and its various spin-offs and tie-ins), there’s a 15%-25% drop across DC’s titles from a year ago to the present (some more, some less). A large number of Marvel’s line has also experienced double-digit drops over the past year (though overall not as deep as DC’s), so the double-dip recession and the radical $3.99 price hike appear to be taking their toll on the comics biz.
I wonder if that staff member at my old comics shop who loudly and proudly bragged that comics were “recession-proof” is still singing the same tune?
I think Unknown Soilder was also annoucned as cancelled with issue #24
“Grant Morrison and Sean Murphy’s story about a British boy hallucinating as he struggles to reach his diabetes medicine keeps up a rock-solid performance.”
Pretty sure the Joe’s American. Though I could have missed something, being neither American or British.
Yeah, these are some pretty sad numbers.
It appears that anyone still buying comics at $3.99 are paying that price to compensate for DC (and Marvel)’s loss in readers.
“The Outsiders continues to not be the focus of great enthusiasm among the comics people.”
Nice phrasing there.
Outsiders is “Subscriber only” here now. The lack of plural there is deliberate.
The Flash ring promo was a little different than the previous ring promos. Any retailer that ordered a minimum of 10 copies was then allowed to order one ring per copy of Flash #1 ordered.
Not that I’m nostalgic for the speculator-driven shenanigans of the early 90s comics market, but good god these numbers are depressing.
I thought the White Lantern rings promo was with Brightest Day #1 in May, not #0 in April??
…except half the reason for DC (and more so) Marvel’s loss in readers is because Marvel decided to test out a $3.99 price point to see how far they could price their comics “to see the extent of which we can, you know, it is inelastic, and we can increase our profit in that business.”
It’s almost like they’re shooting themselves in the foot.
Re: Superman: Secret Origins:
“On the other hand, it’s two top-flight creators on a major character, of course, and the sales are deeply unimpressive for that.”
I have the feeling we’ll be seeing a similar assessment of Straczynski’s highly-touted run on Superman this time next year. Over the past decade, the Superman books have sat at the mid-30K to mid-40K range, rarely going above that for any sustained length of time. Expect a sharp spike for the beginning of the JMS run, and back to the same depressing levels within the year. Of course, the Lex-centric Action Comics may drive a few thousand additional Superman fans to JMS’s Superman, but I’ll still be shocked if JMS can sustain 50K+ sales for more than a year (or even six months).
The Spirit #1 was ordered well, possibly due to the “co-feature” (back-up) black-and-white story by Dennis O’Neil and Bill Sienkiewicz. (Yeah, Mark Schultz is good, but I was plotzing over the back-up!)
#2 back-up Ellison and Baker
#3 back-up Uslan/DeSanto and Justiniano
#4 back-up Wolfman and Winslade
#5 back-up Lapham and Kaluta
If DC was clever, they would replicate this feature in other series… then collect them all into “[character] black-and-white” hardcovers like Batman!
Regarding the cover price… has the gross amount increased or lowered (# sold x price of comic)?
I’m really worried about Doom Patrol. Apparently DC has given Keith a second year go-ahead, but that poor book loses 1,000 readers a month! At this rate, it’s got five months left before hitting Warlord sales.
The book is actually starting to get good (perhaps because of the current use of a slew of Morrison characters? But I digress…) but DC needs to give it a new push, or it’s just Doomed. Again.
I can see JMS’ Superman doing about as well, if not a little bit better, than his Thor run. Of course, it would help if he had a top-tier artist like he did on Thor (Coipel), but Superman is a bigger character than Thor, so I can see it slightly surpassing it.
It seems to me that DC may have waited too long before attempting to inject some life back into their regular monthly titles. And with the advent of a $3.99 price point looming on the horizon, things do appear more like DCE may have secretly committed these errors on purpose in order to get out of the comics biz altogether. Outside of the continued faithfulness of Geoff Johns and Grant Morrison fan clubs, there’s really nothing happening here.
“I can see JMS’ Superman doing about as well, if not a little bit better, than his Thor run.”
Seems rather doubtful, if the thoroughly boring Cassaday Superman covers we’re about to see are an indication. Plus, the relaunch of Thor benefited greatly from the character being taken off of the playing field altogether for a long stretch beforehand.
I think Mark Engblom’s prediction is the one to bank on, given DC’s current erratic track record.
….and, frankly, the Superman character’s difficulty connecting with the modern audience (and I say that as a diehard Superman fan). It’s a tough reality to accept, but at some point you realize there’s only so far certain characters can go in today’s pop cultural landscape…and 50K+ in sales seems a tall building old Kal-El is no longer able to leap.
…of course, it doesn’t help when the character himself is absent from his debut title for 2 years. DC editorial strikes again!
A great read as always and very sobering.
I’ve not bought monthlies in years but spend as much, if not more, on TPBs. I hope DC is giving serious thought to how few people still find their monthly books good value for the money. I wonder if newsprint B&W manga ‘phone books’ for $5 might not do better. They could not do much worse.
I can’t quite understand what DC are doing with Nemesis – the most recent series concluded without much of a conclusion and the reader is left with no idea if the series will be continued in another mini-series or just left for dead.
Marvel’s price point is keeping me from trying their new books and minis, that and the constant crossovers that WILL NOT STOP (there’s another Millar X-crossover coming up.) I’m going to wait for the dust to settle on the Heroic Age before dipping back in.
For DC, it is the constant mining of characters’ histories, or 20- to 30-year old stories. I got excited about Brightest Day, but the story is going back to square one with the protagonists and pulling out these ancient stories. The Anti-Monitor again? Martian Manhunter’s origin? An ineffectual Aquaman? And just end the Hawkman stuff already.
Scalped. Scalped. Scalped.
Hey, where are the Indie sales chart numbers?
Oh, they were published several days ago : )
Kit Kyoto: Considering that Shonen Jump is the only black and white “phone book” anthology to succeed, I can’t see Batman or whatever doing any better.
(As of a year ago SJ was still selling around 200,000 copies an issue, 5,000 of which were in comic shops.)
“I thought the White Lantern rings promo was with Brightest Day #1 in May, not #0 in April??”
You thought right. Brightest Day #0 had nothing but variants and momentum.
It’s sort of impressive how few readers Hellblazer has lost over the last few years; it’s definitely a keeper compared to the books that lose five or six percent every month. I have to wonder how much of that might be due to interest from the graphic novels like Pandemonium.
Bobby: This list also doesn’t include sales in the UK, which for Hellblazer would be higher than most series I would think. Does anyone have any idea about that?
“It’s sort of impressive how few readers Hellblazer has lost over the last few years; it’s definitely a keeper compared to the books that lose five or six percent every month. I have to wonder how much of that might be due to interest from the graphic novels like Pandemonium”
I think it’s worth noting that Hellblazer is one of the few current titles that has a large amount of uncollected issues, even within the last couple years. I know I started getting it in singles because I didn’t want to miss those stories.
“Perhaps more significantly, retailers were able to buy 50 promotional plastic rings for every 25 copies ordered of Brightest Day #0.”
The ring promotion was for Brightest Day #1 not number #0, which makes the numbers for BD #0 even more impressive. Because it was able to keep the momentum from BN #8, oh and not to mention it also outsold any issue of Siege to date fyi.
“The third Geoff Johns-written top-seller in April also profited from a 1:25 variant, a Brightest Day tie-in and a scheme involving plastic rings.”
You know I almost skipped over this gem, a scheme involving plastic rings come on now Marc I know you have a hard time giving out kudos to DC books. But re-releasing the green rings that have been available multiple times including for BN #8 is hardly a scheme here.
DC is a victim of themselves.
First off – for all those screaming about Ryan Choi and the lack of diversity of DC characters – you only need to see the sales on The Great Ten to understand minority characters are not being supported enough.
Secondly – As a long-time DC reader, I would have picked up books like Doom Patrol, but the $3.99 price kept me away and now that the price has dropped to $2.99 it’s too late to jump onboard. This $3.99 price I’m convinced is the death knell for the diversity of comics out there.
Third – DC has hurt themselves with how they’ve treated their characters. Neither Superman nor Batman has been around for a while now in their own titles, and every other character seems to be a “new” version. We can’t seem to just enjoy the adventures of our favorite heroes. Characters and storylines are left dangling (Halo, Kid Eternity) and DC has horrible writers on some of their books (Teen Titans). It’s almost as if DC only knows how to do events and no longer knows how to tell continuing episodic stories. Can anyone even remember a title that has sub-plots and supporting characters?
“First off – for all those screaming about Ryan Choi and the lack of diversity of DC characters – you only need to see the sales on The Great Ten to understand minority characters are not being supported enough.”
Ohhh, but here comes Geoff Johns’ Token-lad to save the day in just a few short months! :)
Actually, the major problem with The Great Ten series is that Grant Morrison isn’t writing it.
DC’s market share and dollar share wouldn’t be as lopsided compared to Marvel’s if Marvel didn’t have produce way more titles then DC and produce a lot of those more titles at the $3.99 price point. So while a lot (most) of comic publishers are guilty of having more titles that don’t reflect the demand, Marvel seems extra determined to throw more titles out there to make up for the across the board drop in circulation numbers.
@ralph
At this point DC isn’t battling Marvel. They are fighting to hang on to their core fans. This is why they keep dragging up continuity based concepts and characters from 20-30 years ago.
if they cared even a little about getting in new readers they would stick a recap page in their books.
They are clearly hanging everything on holding their existing audience rather than chasing Marvel.
I know ad sales are down for all print media, but it looks dismal with DC titles; they space is now almost filled with house ads or previews. I wouldn’t mind a few more pages of ads if it keeps the price down. DC might have to get more aggressive about selling ad space.
DC will definitely need to start seriously planning for an e-reader comic application. Ignoring the “supply-and-demand” aspect, it’s quite absurd that you can buy a song for .99 cents, or a TV episode for $2.49 on iTunes considering their higher production costs, while a comic book costs almost as twice as much.
I have been reading comics since 1990 and am a fan of both Marvel and DC (DC moreso)….however, I must admit I also reduced the number of titles I buy by 10% and hesistate to try new stuff out….the price tag increase was hard to digest. I started buying comics at 0.75$!!! 4$ seems unreal. Also, Marvel and DC pump way to many titles out on a monthly basis. I mean, how many titles do they have that sells 10,000 copies in north america….that has 500 Millions potential customers! Pathetic. They should issue less material, price them better and have more original stories. While I enhjoyed Blackest night, the constant crossovers are getting to me. I mean, it has not stopped since 2002 (both companies)! What about new characters once in a while??? HAlf the books at Marvel are X or Avengers related….DC is it all Batman nowadays.
“At this point DC isn’t battling Marvel. They are fighting to hang on to their core fans. This is why they keep dragging up continuity based concepts and characters from 20-30 years ago.
if they cared even a little about getting in new readers they would stick a recap page in their books.
They are clearly hanging everything on holding their existing audience rather than chasing Marvel.”
DC and Marvel have both tried to chase new readers and all it did was chase away their old ones and fail. The idea that all of these new readers are just magically going to appear is wrong and has been proven so when all the new characters were created and the old ones killed and the sales went down. Marvel leads the comic industry because they have more zombies who are willing to pay 4 dollars or more for a 22 page comic regardless of quality.
First off – for all those screaming about Ryan Choi and the lack of diversity of DC characters – you only need to see the sales on The Great Ten to understand minority characters are not being supported enough.
Eh, The Shield and The Web star white dudes and they’re selling even worse than Great Ten though.
I think the major problem with that particular series wasn’t that it stars Chinese heroes, but that they waited a couple years after the introduction of the team to give them this spotlight, and seemingly chose the creators at random.
royd_9:
“I thought the White Lantern rings promo was with Brightest Day #1 in May, not #0 in April??”
That’s right, I’ve added a correction. I’m sorry about the error.
“I have been reading comics since 1990 and am a fan of both Marvel and DC (DC moreso)….however, I must admit I also reduced the number of titles I buy by 10% and hesistate to try new stuff out….the price tag increase was hard to digest. I started buying comics at 0.75$!!! 4$ seems unreal. Also, Marvel and DC pump way to many titles out on a monthly basis. I mean, how many titles do they have that sells 10,000 copies in north america….that has 500 Millions potential customers! Pathetic. They should issue less material, price them better and have more original stories. While I enhjoyed Blackest night, the constant crossovers are getting to me. I mean, it has not stopped since 2002 (both companies)! What about new characters once in a while??? HAlf the books at Marvel are X or Avengers related….DC is it all Batman nowadays.”
Either you’re just trolling, or you legitimately have no idea what you’re talking about.
Either way, this might be the most ignorant post I’ve read this year. It’s like a textbook example of a bad internet argument.
I’m kind of impressed, actually.
@EJ
“The idea that all of these new readers are just magically going to appear is wrong and has been proven so when all the new characters were created and the old ones killed and the sales went down. ”
I guess I should clarify by “new readers” I mean new readers to existing titles, not new readers from off the street that aren’t already buying comics.
I’ve read GL for a number of years and not much else from DC. Whenever I sample a DC title I find myself literally struggling to figure out the characters, their references and their situation. A simple recap page could potentially lessen the confusion.
But as you pointed out. They are crafting everything towards the established reader. Thus, they aren’t looking to grow (or catch Marvel) but just hang on. If Marvel lost enough sales and was brought down to their level then great, but otherwise they don’t seem to care to grow at all anymore.
As someone who reads comics and has extra money to spend I rarely look to spend it on a DC title because I’m just afraid I’d be annoyed at it rather than engaged enough to read more.
Have any of y’all read Great Ten? It’s a fantastic book, and in my store sells better than a host of Marvel and DC titles due to the quality storytelling.
Batman has been in every issue of his comic for years now. Bruce Wayne is the one that hasn’t been there.
Brightest Day has a limited returnability offer for retailers, which may (or may not) be reflected in the number above.
Big books I dislike selling well, little books I like selling terribly.
I’m clinging on to the nice solid sales of The Unwritten as the good news from all this. A lovely ongoing that I can’t praise enough.
“11 – JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA”
I should be glad any comic is selling well but seeing this stupid comic so high up on the list depresses me. Same with that Arsenal crap. DC has done well by the core Batman titles and the Green Lantern books but not a lot else. I’m glad Vertigo’s sales are growing a pair of balls. Pretty tired of most of their books selling below 10k.
And David Hackett’s right, Joe (of Joe the Barbarian fame) is American. His dad is buried in Arlington.
@Brendan T.: Why is Naveed’s post the most ignorant post you’ve read all year? Not enough hyperbole in it?
I think Great Ten’s failure doesn’t speak to no one caring about ethnic characters. And even if it did, does that mean Ryan Choi had to die? His series had already been canned, killing him in an issue of Titans didn’t serve to prop up sales. The DCU is a literal universe. There’s room for two Atoms and 7200 GLs.
“@Brendan T.: Why is Naveed’s post the most ignorant post you’ve read all year? Not enough hyperbole in it?”
I do loves me some hyperbole, but I was mostly referring to the way he seems to feel he has the magic answer to the sales problem and it is dropping prices, as though that isn’t something already considered and the rising prices aren’t in reflection of dwindling sales rather than the other way around. And that’s not even going into the point of crossovers, which is the old “If they didn’t sell, they wouldn’t be made” point.
It’s just a great collection of common fallacies within comic business discussion online. Like I said, I’m actually kind of impressed by it.
The Superman/Batman sales depress me, it’s such a great title and DC could do wonderful things with it if they wanted…..for some reason though, they seem to want to ignore the monthly with their two most iconic characters in the title…..DC frustrates me! Dan DiDio: Bring back Loeb/McGuinness!!!!
Mr. Frisch, you are a great and dedicated fan of comics! To take the time to put these great sales charts together every month, which are always wonderful and entertaining! Thank You!
Wow, we live in a world where SUPERGIRL, BATGIRL, and GREEN ARROW outsell ACTION COMICS (at least to retailers). I wouldn’t believe it without seeing the numbers.
Great Ten is well told. It explains the concept (ten superheroes working for Communist China), offers an interesting premise (ancient gods return to kick atheistic commie ass), and shows the origin of each member of Great Ten.
People complained when Superman went neon. I like the the current Batman storyline… a new Batman, a new Bruce Wayne… and most of the other Bat-books. Come on… Red Robin (Robin #3) took on Ra’s Al Ghul!
REBELS is epic… Starro, Brainiac 2 becoming a yellow lantern, the upcoming family reunion…
You wonder about subplots? Paul Levitz, the master of the subplot, returns to writing!
The Web and The Shield are solid series. Web would make a great TV series, Shield an awesome movie. Power Girl, Unwritten, Sparta, Scalped, Brave and the Bold… good stuff.
The mournful comments about DC’s sales make me wonder what might happen if, instead of focusing on its existing readership, DC tried to broaden the appeal of some of its characters by giving them actual lives. Announce that over a period of “n” years, limited series, novels, (and movies?) will appear that will have the characters age, perhaps marry, have children, etc. With each character, the approach would be to write the (a) definitive storyline for the character.
Having the characters run in circles apparently isn’t working any more. If DC could offer readers the prospect of seeing the heroes do things they hadn’t done before, with dramatic and permanent (within the context of the hero’s extended storyline) changes and spent money on advertising, perhaps they could reach some members of the general public.
SRS
Marc – FYI, the BLACKEST NIGHT DIRECTOR’S CUT was not a reprint at all, really. It was basically a oversized book of commentary from all 8 issues, scripts, sketches, “deleted scenes” and a few other extra things. If BN was a multi-disc DVD set, think of this book as the extra disc of special features.
@Mark Engblom: “Over the past decade, the Superman books have sat at the mid-30K to mid-40K range, rarely going above that for any sustained length of time.”
Not true!
09/2005: Superman #221 — 69,065 (+ 12.7%)
10/2005: Superman #222 — 67,638 (- 2.1%)
11/2005: Superman #223 — 69,739 (+ 3.1%)
12/2005: Superman #224 — 63,719 (- 8.6%) — [ 65,300]
01/2006: Superman #225 — 61,768 (- 3.1%)
02/2006: Superman #226 — 63,982 (+ 3.6%)
03/2006: Superman #650 — 65,603 (+ 2.5%) — [ 77,783]
04/2006: Superman #651 — 73,355 (+ 11.8%)
05/2006: Superman #652 — 70,458 (- 4.0%)
06/2006: Superman #653 — 69,079 (- 2.0%)
07/2006: Superman #654 — 69,526 (+ 0.7%)
08/2006: Superman #655 — 66,976 (- 3.7%)
09/2006: Superman #656 — 64,288 (- 4.0%)
09/2006: Superman #656 — 64,288 (- 4.0%)
10/2006: —
11/2006: Superman #657 — 62,327 (- 3.1%)
12/2006: —
01/2007: Superman #658 — 60,682 (- 2.6%)
02/2007: Superman #659 — 58,258 (- 4.0%)
03/2007: Superman #660 — 57,169 (- 1.9%)
04/2007: Superman #661 — 55,738 (- 2.5%)
05/2007: Superman #662 — 55,236 (- 0.9%)
06/2007: Superman #663 — 53,384 (- 3.4%)
07/2007: Superman #664 — 52,313 (- 2.0%)
07/2007: Superman #665 — 51,936 (- 0.7%)
08/2007: Superman #666 — 53,566 ( 3.1%)
09/2007: Superman #667 — 48,608 (- 9.3%)
The pre-#650 issues were the Mark Verheiden/Ed Benes issues, and #650 started the Geoff Johns/Kurt Busiek relaunch. There’s almost 2 years’ worth of issues above 50k (and probably more, but the Beat archives haven’t all been moved over yet to doublecheck).
I really do think Straczynski’s reboot could catch on like his Thor reboot did. Though @KET said “Plus, the relaunch of Thor benefited greatly from the character being taken off of the playing field altogether for a long stretch beforehand,” as you pointed out, Mark, “the character himself [has been] absent from his debut title for 2 years.” I love Superman, and I’ve *HATED* the Super-books since this New Krypton garbage started. I dropped these books months ago, and I’ve been itching for a good Superman book, something we haven’t had in years. This JMS book has me excited about the Super-books for the first time in years…I doubt I’m the only one.
Whichever way it goes, though, it’ll be intersting to see how this plays out.
It’s so strange that some 15 years ago or so the Superman (in continuity) books shipped weekly between Adventure, Action, Superman, Man of Steel and Man of Tomorrow (quarterly) and now he exists in ONE monthly title.
DC really mishandled this franchise.
Wow – wonder if it made you feel good about yourself to bash my comments….
Nonetheless, I was not trying to be ignorant or propose a miracle solution as you call it. I was only stating what alot of bloggers agree with, most comics (specially the 22 pages ones)are simply not worth 4$. Specially so when considering alot of the material out there nowadays is not of great quality. (Hulk is a perfect example, Arsenal, JLA, etc). But hey maybe it is only me.
Being a Superman fan, it pains me to say it but Superman isn’t a draw anymore.
It’s like FF, no matter who is working on the book, there’s just too much of a perceptiong of wholesome hokeyness for it to overcome. I agree that today’s society doesn’t connect with the character.
JMS’ run will do just about as well as previous runs have (outside of a pretty good debut, I imagine) in part of the character’s having fallen behind on the times and also thanks to DC’s shocking lack of care and competence when it comes to promoting their characters and creators when a plastic ring isn’t involved.
>>>Ohhh, but here comes Geoff Johns’ Token-lad to save the day in just a few short months! >>>
WEll, of course Token Lad is swimming along… with all the people whining about the lack of minority characters, how could he not be? Remember Dan’s slobbering column about getting the Milestone characters? WHO GIVES A CRAP ABOUT THEM? NO ONE!! So let’s take a “name” and make him a minority, to appease the *ahem* KETS of the world.
>>>Actually, the major problem with The Great Ten series is that Grant Morrison isn’t writing it.
No, actually the main problem is NO ONE GIVES A CRAP about the Great Ten. Nor Magog. Nor Azrael. Nor Ryan Choi. Nor the Human Target. What people DO SEEM to care about is Geoff John’s respect for the CLASSIC DC characters and their place in the DCU. Witness the top of the sales chart – Hal’s back in well-written stories, and BOOM you’ve got a franchise. Barry Allen is back and you’re selling 100,000 (yes, I know odds are low this will keep selling 75+ but I’ll still bet it will outsell the abysmally crappy “Flash and Kids!!” crap of a few years ago. Blackest Night/Brightest Day, which focuses on returning these characters to some sort of sanity is outselling pretty much everything. This just leaves me wondering why some people focus on the whole minority issue when it’s obvious the remaining DC fans of the world want their classic DC characters (ideally, FEATURED IN THEIR OWN BOOKS! – another brilliant creative direction there). I can’t imagine returning Batman to BATMAN and Superman to SUPERMAN is NOT a good idea! Hopefully now that GJ will (hopefully) have more creative pull than Dan we’ll see the end of the brilliant NIGHTWING and FLAMEBIRD kinds of crapola. Seriously – whoever greenlit Great Ten and Azrael and the Web and Magog is UNBELIEVABLY LUCKY to have a damn job!!!
Rather amazing how the quality of DC’s apologists reflects the quality of DC’s comics.
It’s also rather amazing how MarvelZombies bash DC Comics constantly rather than giving a company that consistently puts out better product a try. Best they keep to that 122nd X-men title, no?
“Hopefully now that GJ will (hopefully) have more creative pull than Dan we’ll see the end of the brilliant NIGHTWING and FLAMEBIRD kinds of crapola.”
Wasn’t Geoff the driving force behind the whole New Krypton storyline, for which “Nightwing and Flamebird” was a key component?
I find it hard to believe that Geoff was against “Nightwing and Flamebird”. If he’d said no, I’m sure that part wouldn’t have gone through.
Nightwing and Flamebird explored the religious/mythological side of Krypton culture. Was it successful from a storytelling viewpoint? Aside from making them terrorists for General Lane to exploit, and serving as the main storyline of Kryptonians on Earth, there wasn’t much story.
It will be interesting to see how the characters evolve in the wider DCU.
A skilled writer could connect Nightwing/Flamebird to Hawkman/Hawkgirl (similar mythologies) to the Star Sapphires. Possibly even create a larger storytelling arch involving superheroic couples.
Torstein,
Why would you want to connect them? That seems very fanfiction-y. Sometimes things are just unto themselves.
Jeffy
The two Paul Dini books keep selling back to back, suggesting there’s a great deal of completist inertia involved.
Substituting the word “momentum” might provide a more positive spin on the phenomenon.
“The two Paul Dini books keep selling back to back, suggesting there’s a great deal of completist inertia involved.
Substituting the word “momentum” might provide a more positive spin on the phenomenon.”
Only if the sales were going UP.
>>>Wasn’t Geoff the driving force behind the whole New Krypton storyline, for which “Nightwing and Flamebird” was a key component?
I can’t answer that definitively, but I do remember LOVING Johns/Robinsons Superman books… and then suddenly he was gone and working on the “secret origins” series. It was after that that the whole ‘let’s remove superman from superman’ stuff started and hence came N/F.
I guess he was tied up with BN/Brightest Day and didn’t have the time for the regular series…?