Unit and dollar sales of DC Comics’ periodical business remained at the lower end of the spectrum in February, despite a slight recovery from January’s all-time low in average unit sales. However, the direct market as a whole has seen better days, and so DC still managed to snatch the three top spots of the chart and six out of the Top 10 in February, regardless of the company’s lackluster sales.
For the publisher’s mainstream DC Universe line, the absence of major titles Batman Incorporated and Batman: The Dark Knight continued to be a problem, while the hangover from the discontinued WildStorm imprint kept dragging down the average. Average comic-book sales of DC’s Vertigo imprint were still hovering above the 10k mark, meanwhile.
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.
—–
1 - GREEN LANTERN 02/2006: Green Lantern #8 -- 89,252 02/2006: Green Lantern #9 -- 86,554 [89,974] 02/2007: Green Lantern #17 -- 62,018 02/2008: -- 02/2009: Green Lantern #38 -- 68,908 [77,372] -------------------------------------- 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%) 05/2010: Green Lantern #54 -- 88,292 (-12.0%) 06/2010: Green Lantern #55 -- 85,930 (- 2.7%) 07/2010: Green Lantern #56 -- 84,164 (- 2.1%) 08/2010: -- 09/2010: Green Lantern #57 -- 85,179 (+ 1.2%) 10/2010: Green Lantern #58 -- 81,626 (- 4.2%) 11/2010: Green Lantern #59 -- 76,173 (- 6.7%) 12/2010: Green Lantern #60 -- 76,360 (+ 0.3%) 12/2010: Green Lantern #61 -- 72,203 (- 5.4%) 01/2011: -- 02/2011: Green Lantern #62 -- 71,517 (- 1.0%) ----------------- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : - 25.1% 2 years : + 3.8% 5 years : - 18.6%
A new crossover gets underway in issue #63, so the book probably won’t continue its recent drop-off, for the time being.
—–
2/3 - BRIGHTEST DAY 04/2010: Brightest Day #0 -- 129,446 05/2010: Brightest Day #1 -- 129,158 (- 0.2%) 05/2010: Brightest Day #2 -- 112,806 (-12.7%) 06/2010: Brightest Day #3 -- 107,269 (- 4.9%) 06/2010: Brightest Day #4 -- 101,730 (- 5.2%) 07/2010: Brightest Day #5 -- 97,245 (- 4.4%) 07/2010: Brightest Day #6 -- 94,684 (- 2.6%) 08/2010: Brightest Day #7 -- 93,459 (- 1.3%) 08/2010: Brightest Day #8 -- 91,546 (- 2.1%) 09/2010: Brightest Day #9 -- 88,446 (- 3.4%) 09/2010: Brightest Day #10 -- 87,241 (- 1.4%) 10/2010: Brightest Day #11 -- 83,823 (- 3.9%) 10/2010: Brightest Day #12 -- 82,394 (- 1.7%) 11/2010: Brightest Day #13 -- 79,955 (- 3.0%) 11/2010: Brightest Day #14 -- 78,452 (- 1.9%) 12/2010: Brightest Day #15 -- 75,450 (- 3.8%) 12/2010: Brightest Day #16 -- 74,871 (- 0.8%) 01/2011: Brightest Day #17 -- 72,841 (- 2.7%) 01/2011: Brightest Day #18 -- 72,090 (- 1.0%) 02/2011: Brightest Day #19 -- 71,063 (- 1.4%) 02/2011: Brightest Day #20 -- 69,729 (- 1.9%) ---------------- 6 months: -23.9%
There’s not much to compare a twice-monthly, 26-issue event maxiseries with, and a 46% drop 10 months and 20 issues in doesn’t look like a spectacular performance — certainly not compared with 52 or Countdown, DC’s previous, weekly, 52-issue event maxiseries. Both were doing considerably better at this stage, both in terms of absolute numbers and drop-off, in 2007 and 2008, respectively.
Then again, it’s 2011. Any series starring B-list characters like Aquaman or Hawkman and still selling around 70k after 20 issues has to rate as a success. There’s a reason the book is in the Top 3.
—–
7 - BATMAN AND ROBIN 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%) 05/2010: Batman and Robin #12 -- 84,843 (+ 1.0%) 06/2010: -- 07/2010: Batman and Robin #13 -- 85,804 (+ 1.1%) 08/2010: -- 09/2010: Batman and Robin #14 -- 82,894 (- 3.4%) 10/2010: Batman and Robin #15 -- 80,173 (- 3.3%) 11/2010: Batman and Robin #16 -- 80,343 (+ 0.2%) 11/2010: Batman and Robin #17 -- 70,600 (-12.1%) 12/2010: Batman and Robin #18 -- 68,814 (- 2.5%) 01/2011: Batman and Robin #19 -- 61,785 (-10.2%) 02/2011: Batman and Robin #20 -- 60,642 (- 1.9%) ---------------- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : -29.4%
Beginning with issue #20, the content matched the solicitation copy again and the creative team that was solicited for issues #17 through #19 actually began its run. Sales continue a slow decline, not unexpectedly, in the wake of Grant Morrison’s departure.
—–
8 - BATMAN 02/2006: Batman #650 -- 66,447 02/2007: Batman #663 -- 83,167 02/2008: Batman #674 -- 68,208 02/2009: Batman #686 -- 111,353 [128,780] ------------------------------- 02/2010: Batman #696 -- 61,290 (- 3.4%) 03/2010: Batman #697 -- 61,157 (- 0.2%) 04/2010: Batman #698 -- 60,934 (- 0.4%) 05/2010: Batman #699 -- 62,377 (+ 2.4%) 06/2010: Batman #700 -- 104,755 (+67.9%) 07/2010: Batman #701 -- 76,398 (-27.1%) 08/2010: Batman #702 -- 73,414 (- 3.9%) 09/2010: Batman #703 -- 77,033 (+ 4.9%) 10/2010: -- 11/2010: Batman #704 -- 65,212 (-15.4%) 12/2010: Batman #705 -- 63,262 (- 3.0%) 01/2011: Batman #706 -- 60,231 (- 4.8%) 02/2011: Batman #707 -- 58,803 (- 2.4%) ---------------- 6 months: -19.9% 1 year : - 4.1% 2 years : -47.2% 5 years : -11.5%
Declining. These are the lowest first-month sales in six years for Batman, to the month. (That was issue #637, part three of the “Under the Hood” storyline, by Judd Winick and Doug Mahnke.)
—–
9 - THE FLASH 02/2007: Flash: FMA #9 -- 47,214 02/2008: Flash #237 -- 37,719 ----------------------------------- 02/2010: Rebirth #6 of 6 -- 70,824 (- 4.1%) 03/2010: -- 04/2010: Flash #1 -- 100,903 (+ 42.5%) 05/2010: Flash #2 -- 76,560 (- 24.1%) 06/2010: Flash #3 -- 68,804 (- 10.1%) 07/2010: Flash #4 -- 64,832 (- 5.8%) 08/2010: -- 09/2010: Flash #5 -- 62,063 (- 4.3%) 10/2010: -- 11/2010: Flash #6 -- 57,673 (- 7.1%) 12/2010: Flash #7 -- 56,304 (- 2.4%) 12/2010: Flash #8 -- 53,975 (- 4.1%) 01/2011: -- 02/2011: Flash #9 -- 55,980 (+ 3.7%) ----------------- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : - 21.0% 2 years : n.a. 5 years : n.a.
Cancelled with issue #12, evidently, no doubt to make room for yet another relaunch — which would be the fourth since 2006, not counting a couple of creative teams whose respective runs were aborted midway through their respective relaunches.
And, yes, DC already did solicit The Flash #13 for May, so they either changed their mind again, or it was a red herring all along, or they had to pull the plug early because the book is behind schedule. It’s hard to tell, these days. And, yes, they did that exact same stunt before with this book, back in 2007.
Anyway, looking at the numbers, I’m kind of puzzled. A year in, sales are still above 50k despite the fact that it’s neither Batman nor Green Lantern, the book is by the company’s biggest writer, it’s reasonably well-reviewed, and the numbers are already going up again for the lead-in to the “Flashpoint” crossover although that wasn’t even in the advertising copy for issue #9.
Plainly, unless they’ve got Jim Lee lined up to draw the relaunch, this is as good as it gets right now for a Flash series. I’m not sure what another renumbering stunt is meant to achieve here.
—–
16 - GREEN LANTERN CORPS 02/2006: -- 02/2007: Green Lantern Corps #9 -- 34,897 02/2008: Green Lantern Corps #21 -- 47,582 02/2009: Green Lantern Corps #33 -- 44,607 [50,171] ------------------------------------------ 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%) 05/2010: Green Lantern Corps #48 -- 68,826 (- 4.6%) 06/2010: Green Lantern Corps #49 -- 66,652 (- 3.2%) 07/2010: Green Lantern Corps #50 -- 67,035 (+ 0.6%) 08/2010: Green Lantern Corps #51 -- 67,124 (+ 0.1%) 09/2010: Green Lantern Corps #52 -- 63,577 (- 5.3%) 10/2010: Green Lantern Corps #53 -- 60,808 (- 4.4%) 11/2010: Green Lantern Corps #54 -- 57,448 (- 5.5%) 12/2010: Green Lantern Corps #55 -- 54,387 (- 5.3%) 01/2011: Green Lantern Corps #56 -- 53,646 (- 1.4%) 02/2011: Green Lantern Corps #57 -- 52,770 (- 1.6%) ---------------- 6 months: -21.4% 1 year : -30.0% 2 years : +18.3% 5 years : n.a.
Stabilizing again, and the “War of the Green Lanterns” crossover is just around the corner. As the long-term comparisons show, the secondary Green Lantern title is still in pretty good shape.
—–
21 - JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA 02/2006: JLA #125 -- 74,341 02/2007: -- 02/2008: Justice League #18 -- 89,803 02/2009: Justice League #30 -- 69,710 -------------------------------------- 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%) 05/2010: Justice League #45 -- 62,465 (+ 0.2%) 06/2010: Justice League #46 -- 62,754 (+ 0.5%) 07/2010: Justice League #47 -- 60,368 (- 3.8%) 08/2010: Justice League #48 -- 60,733 (+ 0.6%) 09/2010: Justice League #49 -- 57,616 (- 5.1%) 10/2010: Justice League #50 -- 59,686 (+ 3.6%) 11/2010: Justice League #51 -- 50,887 (-14.7%) 12/2010: Justice League #52 -- 48,501 (- 4.7%) 01/2011: Justice League #53 -- 47,093 (- 2.9%) 02/2011: Justice League #54 -- 46,269 (- 1.8%) ---------------- 6 months: -23.8% 1 year : -19.6% 2 years : -33.6% 5 years : -37.8%
The numbers appear to be settling down at around 46k. Not a very good level for this book, historically.
—–
23 - GREEN LANTERN: EMERALD WARRIORS 08/2010: Emerald Warriors #1 -- 68,332 09/2010: Emerald Warriors #2 -- 56,289 (-17.6%) 10/2010: Emerald Warriors #3 -- 50,490 (-10.3%) 11/2010: Emerald Warriors #4 -- 46,319 (- 8.3%) 12/2010: Emerald Warriors #5 -- 44,077 (- 4.8%) 01/2011: Emerald Warriors #6 -- 43,471 (- 1.4%) 02/2011: Emerald Warriors #7 -- 44,828 (+ 3.1%) ---------------- 6 months: -34.4%
A prelude to “War of the Green Lanterns” brings a neat little increase for the tertiary Green Lantern book.
—–
32 - SUPERMAN 02/2006: Superman #226 -- 63,982 02/2007: Superman #659 -- 58,258 02/2008: Superman #673 -- 41,580 02/2009: Superman #685 -- 48,027 --------------------------------- 02/2010: Superman #697 -- 31,504 (- 1.4%) 03/2010: Superman #698 -- 33,336 (+ 5.8%) 04/2010: Superman #699 -- 33,183 (- 0.5%) 05/2010: -- 06/2010: Superman #700 -- 67,571 (+103.6%) 07/2010: Superman #701 -- 54,506 (- 19.3%) 08/2010: Superman #702 -- 50,023 (- 8.2%) 09/2010: -- 10/2010: Superman #703 -- 50,460 (+ 0.9%) 10/2010: Superman #704 -- 46,741 (- 7.4%) 11/2010: Superman #705 -- 46,261 (- 1.0%) 12/2010: Superman #706 -- 43,027 (- 7.0%) 01/2011: Superman #707 -- 41,843 (- 2.8%) 02/2011: Superman #708 -- 40,639 (- 2.9%) ----------------- 6 months: - 18.8% 1 year : + 29.0% 2 years : - 15.4% 5 years : - 36.5%
The “J. Michael Straczynski Presents” run keeps losing more than a thousand units per month.
—–
33 - DETECTIVE COMICS 02/2006: Detective Comics #816 -- 35,410 02/2007: Detective Comics #828 -- 55,206 02/2008: Detective Comics #841 -- 50,535 02/2009: -- ----------------------------------------- 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%) 05/2010: Detective Comics #865 -- 41,501 (- 2.2%) 06/2010: Detective Comics #866 -- 46,178 (+11.3%) 07/2010: Detective Comics #867 -- 40,371 (-12.6%) 08/2010: Detective Comics #868 -- 38,682 (- 4.2%) 09/2010: Detective Comics #869 -- 37,394 (- 3.3%) 10/2010: Detective Comics #870 -- 35,674 (- 4.6%) 11/2010: Detective Comics #871 -- 36,941 (+ 3.6%) 12/2010: Detective Comics #872 -- 37,961 (+ 2.8%) [39,758] 01/2011: Detective Comics #873 -- 38,417 (+ 1.2%) 02/2011: Detective Comics #874 -- 39,106 (+ 1.8%) ----------------- 6 months: + 1.1% 1 year : n.a. 2 years : n.a. 5 years : + 10.4%
Scott Snyder, Jock and Francesco Francavilla’s collaboration keeps gaining in sales. It’s a rare breed of comic book that does that without any kind of gimmick to jolt the numbers.
—–
36/57 - DC UNIVERSE ONLINE: LEGENDS 02/2011: DCU Online: Legends #1 -- 36,517 02/2011: DCU Online: Legends #2 -- 28,953 (-20.7%)
A twice-monthly, 26-issue videogame tie-in series with surprisingly good debut numbers. It seems retailers preferred to err on the side of caution on this one. Traditionally, I wouldn’t expect this type of book to set the charts on fire by a long shot, though. Should be interesting to see what happens. There was a 1:10 variant edition for issue #1, so the actual drop is rather tame, on balance.
—–
38 - GREEN ARROW 02/2006: Green Arrow #59 -- 31,250 02/2007: Green Arrow #71 -- 31,470 02/2008: Arrow/Canary #5 -- 36,662 02/2009: Arrow/Canary #17 -- 23,392 ----------------------------------- 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%) 05/2010: -- 06/2010: Green Arrow #1 -- 54,400 (+ 86.7%) [57,554] 07/2010: Green Arrow #2 -- 44,118 (- 18.9%) 08/2010: Green Arrow #3 -- 46,308 (+ 5.0%) 09/2010: Green Arrow #4 -- 44,220 (- 4.5%) 10/2010: Green Arrow #5 -- 42,188 (- 4.6%) 11/2010: Green Arrow #6 -- 39,575 (- 6.2%) 12/2010: Green Arrow #7 -- 36,835 (- 6.9%) 01/2011: Green Arrow #8 -- 35,307 (- 4.2%) 02/2011: Green Arrow #9 -- 33,922 (- 3.9%) ----------------- 6 months: - 26.8% 1 year : + 15.8% 2 years : + 45.0% 5 years : + 8.6%
The book still hasn’t found its level. It also still sells twice as many units as the previous volume did before the relaunch came around, mind you.
—–
40 - WONDER WOMAN 02/2006: Wonder Woman #226 -- 45,682 02/2007: Wonder Woman #4 -- 69,860 02/2008: Wonder Woman #17 -- 41,948 02/2009: Wonder Woman #29 -- 33,237 ------------------------------------- 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%) 05/2010: Wonder Woman #44 -- 25,443 (+ 0.3%) 06/2010: Wonder Woman #600 -- 53,525 (+110.4%) [63,700] 07/2010: Wonder Woman #601 -- 39,672 (- 25.9%) 08/2010: Wonder Woman #602 -- 38,012 (- 4.2%) 09/2010: Wonder Woman #603 -- 38,852 (+ 2.2%) 10/2010: Wonder Woman #604 -- 37,405 (- 3.7%) 11/2010: -- 12/2010: Wonder Woman #605 -- 35,495 (- 5.1%) 01/2011: Wonder Woman #606 -- 33,601 (- 5.3%) 02/2011: Wonder Woman #607 -- 33,053 (- 1.6%) ----------------- 6 months: - 13.1% 1 year : + 30.4% 2 years : - 0.6% 5 years : - 27.7%
Another “JMS Presents” title. This one appears to be finding its level, actually.
—–
43 - ACTION COMICS 02/2006: Action Comics #836 -- 51,722 [55,331] 02/2007: Action Comics #846 -- 64,554 [66,349] 02/2008: Action Comics #862 -- 55,658 02/2009: Action Comics #874 -- 48,360 ------------------------------------- 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%) 05/2010: -- 06/2010: Action Comics #890 -- 34,744 (+19.4%) [40,039] 07/2010: Action Comics #891 -- 35,328 (+ 1.7%) 08/2010: Action Comics #892 -- 36,401 (+ 3.0%) 09/2010: Action Comics #893 -- 33,948 (- 6.7%) 10/2010: Action Comics #894 -- 42,291 (+24.6%) 11/2010: Action Comics #895 -- 33,089 (-21.8%) 12/2010: Action Comics #896 -- 32,357 (- 2.2%) 01/2011: Action Comics #897 -- 32,134 (- 0.7%) 02/2011: Action Comics #898 -- 31,935 (- 0.6%) ---------------- 6 months: -12.3% 1 year : + 7.0% 2 years : -34.0% 5 years : -38.3%
The Paul Cornell/Pete Woods run has found its level, evidently. While they’re not exactly raking in the sales, from a historical perspective, the book is still doing a few notches better than it was a year ago.
—–
46 - BIRDS OF PREY 02/2006: Birds of Prey #91 -- 29,835 02/2007: Birds of Prey #103 -- 28,327 02/2008: Birds of Prey #115 -- 23,157 02/2009: Birds of Prey #127 -- 21,424 ------------------------------------- 05/2010: Birds of Prey #1 -- 50,428 (+135.4%) [54,965] 06/2010: Birds of Prey #2 -- 44,064 (- 12.6%) 07/2010: Birds of Prey #3 -- 43,420 (- 1.5%) 08/2010: Birds of Prey #4 -- 46,149 (+ 6.3%) 09/2010: Birds of Prey #5 -- 40,146 (- 13.0%) 10/2010: -- 11/2010: Birds of Prey #6 -- 34,440 (- 14.2%) 12/2010: Birds of Prey #7 -- 33,114 (- 3.9%) 01/2011: Birds of Prey #8 -- 31,616 (- 4.5%) 02/2011: Birds of Prey #9 -- 30,641 (- 3.1%) ----------------- 6 months: - 33.6% 2 years : n.a. 5 years : + 2.7%
Gail Simone’s signature DC title is now back at the upper end of its historical range, outside of short-lived spikes from crossovers and relaunches.
—–
47/51 - JUSTICE LEAGUE: GENERATION LOST 05/2010: Generation Lost #1 -- 50,784 05/2010: Generation Lost #2 -- 44,711 (-12.0%) 06/2010: Generation Lost #3 -- 43,278 (- 3.2%) 06/2010: Generation Lost #4 -- 41,702 (- 3.6%) 07/2010: Generation Lost #5 -- 40,370 (- 3.2%) 07/2010: Generation Lost #6 -- 39,190 (- 2.9%) 08/2010: Generation Lost #7 -- 39,971 (+ 2.0%) 08/2010: Generation Lost #8 -- 38,745 (- 3.1%) 09/2010: Generation Lost #9 -- 37,151 (- 4.1%) 09/2010: Generation Lost #10 -- 36,624 (- 1.4%) 10/2010: Generation Lost #11 -- 35,504 (- 3.1%) 10/2010: Generation Lost #12 -- 34,752 (- 2.1%) 11/2010: Generation Lost #13 -- 33,504 (- 3.6%) 11/2010: Generation Lost #14 -- 32,722 (- 2.3%) 12/2010: Generation Lost #15 -- 31,871 (- 2.6%) 12/2010: Generation Lost #16 -- 31,048 (- 2.6%) 01/2011: Generation Lost #17 -- 30,877 (- 0.6%) 01/2011: Generation Lost #18 -- 30,457 (- 1.4%) 02/2011: Generation Lost #19 -- 30,549 (+ 0.3%) 02/2011: Generation Lost #20 -- 30,040 (- 1.7%) ---------------- 6 months: -23.0%
Nothing to complain about here, in terms of absolute numbers. In terms of drop-off, Generation Lost is doing slightly better than its big sister Brightest Day, meanwhile.
—–
49 - RED ROBIN 02/2006: Robin #147 -- 32,120 02/2007: Robin #159 -- 28,210 02/2008: Robin #171 -- 27,781 02/2009: Robin #183 -- 31,682 -------------------------------- 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%) 05/2010: Red Robin #12 -- 36,273 (+ 0.2%) 06/2010: Red Robin #13 -- 35,917 (- 1.0%) 07/2010: Red Robin #14 -- 35,652 (- 0.7%) 08/2010: Red Robin #15 -- 34,709 (- 2.7%) 09/2010: Red Robin #16 -- 33,753 (- 2.8%) 10/2010: -- 11/2010: Red Robin #17 -- 31,825 (- 5.7%) 12/2010: Red Robin #18 -- 30,873 (- 3.0%) 01/2011: Red Robin #19 -- 30,547 (- 1.1%) 02/2011: Red Robin #20 -- 30,149 (- 1.3%) ----------------- 6 months: - 13.1% 1 year : - 17.3% 2 years : - 4.8% 5 years : - 6.1%
Standard attrition. The two-part crossover with Teen Titans #92 (see below) has no visible effect on the book’s sales.
—–
52 - SUPERMAN/BATMAN 02/2006: -- 02/2007: -- 02/2008: Superman/Batman #46 -- 52,009 02/2009: Superman/Batman #55 -- 43,962 --------------------------------------- 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%) 05/2010: Superman/Batman #72 -- 32,047 (+ 1.1%) 06/2010: Superman/Batman #73 -- 31,425 (- 1.9%) 07/2010: Superman/Batman #74 -- 30,847 (- 1.8%) 08/2010: Superman/Batman #75 -- 34,324 (+11.3%) 09/2010: Superman/Batman #76 -- 32,003 (- 6.8%) 10/2010: Superman/Batman #77 -- 31,741 (- 0.8%) 11/2010: Superman/Batman #78 -- 31,337 (- 1.3%) 12/2010: Superman/Batman #79 -- 30,586 (- 2.4%) 01/2011: Superman/Batman #80 -- 30,363 (- 0.7%) 02/2011: Superman/Batman #81 -- 29,567 (- 2.6%) ---------------- 6 months: -13.9% 1 year : -11.0% 2 years : -32.7% 5 years : n.a.
A new arc by a new creative team, with no discernible effect. To be fair, though, Superman/Batman numbers have been rock-solid over the last year.
—–
53 - JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA 02/2006: JSA #82 -- 54,234 02/2007: Justice Society #3 -- 84,356 [86,014] 02/2008: Justice Society #12 -- 84,162 02/2008: Justice Society #13 -- 82,702 02/2009: Justice Society #24 -- 65,207 --------------------------------------- 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%) 05/2010: -- 06/2010: Justice Society #39 -- 36,630 (- 0.1%) 06/2010: Justice Society #40 -- 36,008 (- 1.7%) 07/2010: Justice Society #41 -- 48,858 (+ 35.7%) 08/2010: Justice Society #42 -- 48,420 (- 0.9%) 09/2010: Justice Society #43 -- 36,576 (- 24.5%) 10/2010: Justice Society #44 -- 35,483 (- 3.0%) 11/2010: Justice Society #45 -- 33,582 (- 5.4%) 12/2010: Justice Society #46 -- 31,497 (- 6.2%) 01/2011: Justice Society #47 -- 30,071 (- 4.5%) 02/2011: Justice Society #48 -- 29,139 (- 3.1%) ---------------- 6 months: -39.8% 1 year : -25.4% 2 years : -55.3% 5 years : -46.3%
Sliding down the charts.
—–
55 - BATMAN: ODYSSEY 07/2010: Batman: Odyssey #1 of 6 -- 61,827 08/2010: Batman: Odyssey #2 of 6 -- 47,675 (-22.9%) 09/2010: Batman: Odyssey #3 of 6 -- 40,046 (-16.0%) 10/2010: Batman: Odyssey #4 of 12 -- 35,307 (-11.8%) 11/2010: Batman: Odyssey #5 of 13 -- 31,386 (-11.1%) 12/2010: -- 01/2011: -- 02/2011: Batman: Odyssey #6 of 13 -- 29,093 (- 7.3%) ---------------- 6 months: -39.0%
Well, the decline has hit single digits, at least. Overall, though, it doesn’t look like comics veteran Neal Adams’s mad trip of a Batman romp is catching on in comics stores.
—–
56 - BATMAN BEYOND 06/2010: Batman Beyond #1 of 6 -- 35,113 [42,283] 07/2010: Batman Beyond #2 of 6 -- 31,397 (-10.6%) 08/2010: Batman Beyond #3 of 6 -- 31,469 (+ 0.2%) 09/2010: Batman Beyond #4 of 6 -- 31,368 (- 0.3%) 10/2010: Batman Beyond #5 of 6 -- 30,121 (- 4.0%) 11/2010: Batman Beyond #6 of 6 -- 28,485 (- 5.4%) 12/2010: -- 01/2011: Batman Beyond #1 -- 35,880 (+26.0%) 02/2011: Batman Beyond #2 -- 28,956 (-19.3%) ---------------- 6 months: - 8.0%
An average second-issue drop.
—–
64 - SUPERBOY 11/2010: Superboy #1 -- 39,701 12/2010: Superboy #2 -- 31,761 (-20.0%) 01/2011: Superboy #3 -- 29,550 (- 7.0%) 02/2011: Superboy #4 -- 27,448 (- 7.1%)
Not levelling out yet.
—–
69 - TEEN TITANS 02/2006: Teen Titans #32 -- 69,131 02/2007: -- 02/2008: Teen Titans #56 -- 50,283 02/2009: Teen Titans #68 -- 35,096 ---------------------------------- 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%) 05/2010: Teen Titans #83 -- 24,960 (- 1.4%) 06/2010: Teen Titans #84 -- 24,593 (- 1.5%) 07/2010: Teen Titans #85 -- 24,248 (- 1.4%) 08/2010: Teen Titans #86 -- 24,971 (+ 3.0%) 09/2010: Teen Titans #87 -- 23,259 (- 6.9%) 10/2010: Teen Titans #88 -- 27,637 (+18.8%) 11/2010: Teen Titans #89 -- 26,444 (- 4.3%) 12/2010: Teen Titans #90 -- 25,997 (- 1.7%) 01/2011: Teen Titans #91 -- 25,443 (- 2.1%) 02/2011: Teen Titans #92 -- 26,170 (+ 2.9%) ---------------- 6 months: + 4.8% 1 year : - 1.4% 2 years : -25.4% 5 years : -62.1%
Over here, the crossover with Red Robin brings a slight increase.
—–
74 - BATGIRL 02/2006: Batgirl #73 -- 26,546 ---------------------------------- 02/2010: Batgirl #7 -- 29,524 (- 2.9%) 03/2010: Batgirl #8 -- 30,886 (+ 4.6%) 04/2010: Batgirl #9 -- 29,445 (- 4.7%) 05/2010: Batgirl #10 -- 28,641 (- 2.7%) 06/2010: Batgirl #11 -- 28,563 (- 0.3%) 07/2010: Batgirl #12 -- 28,011 (- 1.9%) 08/2010: Batgirl #13 -- 27,247 (- 2.7%) 09/2010: Batgirl #14 -- 26,861 (- 1.4%) 10/2010: -- 11/2010: Batgirl #15 -- 25,827 (- 3.9%) 12/2010: Batgirl #16 -- 25,225 (- 2.3%) 01/2011: Batgirl #17 -- 25,189 (- 0.1%) 02/2011: Batgirl #18 -- 24,390 (- 3.2%) ---------------- 6 months: -10.5% 1 year : -17.4% 5 years : - 8.1%
Slipping.
—–
75 - THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES 02/2006: LoSH #14 -- 32,513 02/2006: LoSH #15 -- 31,649 02/2007: Supergirl & LoSH #27 -- 31,387 02/2008: Supergirl & LoSH #39 -- 31,123 --------------------------------------- 05/2010: LoSH #1 -- 44,415 (+98.9%) [50,106] 06/2010: LoSH #2 -- 39,102 (-12.0%) 07/2010: LoSH #3 -- 36,360 (- 7.0%) 08/2010: LoSH #4 -- 34,239 (- 5.8%) 09/2010: LoSH #5 -- 32,417 (- 5.3%) 10/2010: LoSH #6 -- 30,246 (- 6.7%) 11/2010: LoSH #7 -- 26,439 (-12.6%) 12/2010: LoSH #8 -- 25,063 (- 5.2%) 01/2011: LoSH #9 -- 24,230 (- 3.3%) 02/2011: LoSH #10 -- 23,738 (- 2.0%) ----------------- 6 months: - 30.7% 2 years : - 23.7% 5 years : - 27.0%
78 - ADVENTURE COMICS 02/2009: Adventure Comics #0 -- 32,851 ---------------------------------------- 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%) 05/2010: Adventure Comics #11 -- 34,794 (- 7.4%) 06/2010: Adventure Comics #12 -- 34,663 (- 0.4%) 07/2010: Adventure Comics #516 -- 30,897 (-10.9%) 08/2010: Adventure Comics #517 -- 28,966 (- 6.3%) 09/2010: Adventure Comics #518 -- 27,028 (- 6.7%) 10/2010: Adventure Comics #519 -- 25,346 (- 6.2%) 11/2010: Adventure Comics #520 -- 24,540 (- 3.2%) 12/2010: Adventure Comics #521 -- 23,787 (- 6.9%) 01/2011: Adventure Comics #522 -- 22,821 (- 4.1%) 02/2011: Adventure Comics #523 -- 23,127 (+ 1.3%) ----------------- 6 months: - 20.2% 1 year : - 57.0% 2 years : - 29.6%
82 - LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES ANNUAL 02/2010: LoSH Annual #1 -- 22,201
Legion of Super-Heroes appears to be levelling out, finally, while the arrival of artist Phil Jimenez on its sister title Adventure Comics yields a very modest increase. The Annual, late from December, sold as well as you could expect.
—–
84 - SUPERGIRL 02/2006: Supergirl #4 -- 104,734 02/2006: Supergirl #5 -- 103,108 [104,930] 02/2007: Supergirl #14 -- 52,977 02/2008: Supergirl #26 -- 34,186 02/2009: Supergirl #38 -- 34,225 --------------------------------- 02/2010: Supergirl #50 -- 33,338 (+20.2%) 03/2010: Supergirl #51 -- 29,845 (-10.5%) 04/2010: Supergirl #52 -- 29,490 (- 1.2%) 05/2010: -- 06/2010: Supergirl #53 -- 28,317 (- 4.0%) 07/2010: Supergirl #54 -- 26,941 (- 4.9%) 08/2010: Supergirl #55 -- 25,891 (- 3.9%) 09/2010: Supergirl #56 -- 25,034 (- 3.3%) 10/2010: Supergirl #57 -- 23,842 (- 4.8%) 11/2010: Supergirl #58 -- 25,412 (+ 6.6%) 12/2010: Supergirl #59 -- 22,606 (-11.0%) 01/2011: Supergirl #60 -- 22,568 (- 0.2%) 02/2011: Supergirl #61 -- 22,048 (- 2.3%) ---------------- 6 months: -14.8% 1 year : -33.9% 2 years : -35.6% 5 years : -78.8%
Reportedly, DC hired critically acclaimed writer Nick Spencer for Supergirl, then announced him as the new writer and solicited three months’ worth of issues accordingly, then decided that they didn’t like his direction for the book and fired him before his first issue was even completed, then got an enthusiastic response from fans, then wanted to have him back on the book, only to find out that he’d signed an exclusive contract with Marvel in the meantime.
It’s the kind of editorial sure-footedness that instills confidence in talent and readers alike.
—–
85/90 - GOTHAM CITY SIRENS 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%) 05/2010: GC Sirens #12 -- 26,029 (- 1.3%) 06/2010: GC Sirens #13 -- 25,867 (- 0.6%) 07/2010: GC Sirens #14 -- 25,315 (- 2.1%) 08/2010: GC Sirens #15 -- 24,589 (- 2.9%) 09/2010: GC Sirens #16 -- 23,821 (- 3.1%) 10/2010: -- 11/2010: GC Sirens #17 -- 22,107 (- 7.2%) 12/2010: GC Sirens #18 -- 21,344 (- 3.5%) 01/2011: -- 02/2011: GC Sirens #19 -- 21,631 (+ 1.4%) 02/2011: GC Sirens #20 -- 20,822 (- 3.7%) ----------------- 6 months: - 13.7% 1 year : - 21.9%
This Batman spin-off appears to be levelling out.
—–
86 - DC UNIVERSE LEGACIES 05/2010: DCU Legacies #1 of 10 -- 34,429 06/2010: DCU Legacies #2 of 10 -- 29,286 (-14.9%) 07/2010: DCU Legacies #3 of 10 -- 26,708 (- 8.8%) 08/2010: DCU Legacies #4 of 10 -- 25,691 (- 3.8%) 09/2010: DCU Legacies #5 of 10 -- 25,851 (+ 0.6%) 10/2010: DCU Legacies #6 of 10 -- 24,210 (- 6.4%) 11/2010: DCU Legacies #7 of 10 -- 23,215 (- 4.1%) 12/2010: DCU Legacies #8 of 10 -- 21,886 (- 5.7%) 01/2011: -- 02/2011: DCU Legacies #9 of 10 -- 21,419 (- 2.1%) ---------------- 6 months: -16.6%
One issue to go. Good numbers for this type of book, overall.
—–
87 - TIME MASTERS: VANISHING POINT 07/2010: Vanishing Point #1 of 6 -- 34,509 08/2010: Vanishing Point #2 of 6 -- 26,918 (-22.0%) 09/2010: Vanishing Point #3 of 6 -- 24,177 (-10.2%) 10/2010: Vanishing Point #4 of 6 -- 22,813 (- 5.6%) 11/2010: -- 12/2010: Vanishing Point #5 of 6 -- 22,312 (- 2.2%) 01/2011: -- 02/2011: Vanishing Point #6 of 6 -- 21,097 (- 5.5%) ---------------- 6 months: -21.6%
Another miniseries with reasonably good sales. Imagine what it could have done if they’d bothered to promote the “Return of Bruce Wayne” tie-in.
—–
89 - TITANS 02/2009: Titans #10 -- 36,361 --------------------------------- 02/2010: Titans #22 -- 24,489 (- 1.8%) 03/2010: Titans #23 -- 24,260 (- 0.9%) 04/2010: -- 05/2010: VfH Special #1 -- 31,718 (+30.7%) 06/2010: Titans #24 -- 33,079 (+ 4.3%) 07/2010: Titans #25 -- 31,505 (- 4.8%) 08/2010: Titans #26 -- 32,800 (+ 4.1%) 09/2010: Titans #27 -- 28,438 (-13.3%) 10/2010: Titans #28 -- 27,430 (- 3.6%) 11/2010: Titans #29 -- 24,138 (-12.0%) 12/2010: Titans #30 -- 22,483 (- 6.9%) 01/2011: Titans #31 -- 21,749 (- 3.3%) 02/2011: Titans #32 -- 20,949 (- 3.7%) ---------------- 6 months: -36.1% 1 year : -14.5% 2 years : -42.4%
Still sliding down the charts, with no end in sight.
—–
92 - SECRET SIX 02/2009: Secret Six #6 -- 24,758 ------------------------------------- 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%) 05/2010: Secret Six #21 -- 22,334 (- 1.6%) 06/2010: Secret Six #22 -- 21,941 (- 1.8%) 07/2010: Secret Six #23 -- 21,554 (- 1.8%) 08/2010: Secret Six #24 -- 21,177 (- 1.8%) 09/2010: Secret Six #25 -- 20,775 (- 1.9%) 10/2010: Secret Six #26 -- 20,377 (- 1.9%) 11/2010: Secret Six #27 -- 19,963 (- 2.0%) 12/2010: Secret Six #28 -- 19,587 (- 1.9%) 01/2011: Secret Six #29 -- 20,327 (+ 3.8%) 02/2011: Secret Six #30 -- 19,763 (- 2.8%) ---------------- 6 months: - 6.7% 1 year : -47.8% 2 years : -20.2%
The January issue was a crossover with Action Comics, the February issue crossed over with Doom Patrol. Neither has done much to affect the book’s slow, steady decline, on balance.
—–
94 - FABLES (Vertigo) 02/2006: Fables #46 -- 24,134 02/2007: -- 02/2008: Fables #69 -- 24,337 02/2008: Fables #70 -- 23,975 02/2009: Fables #81 -- 22,517 ------------------------------ 02/2010: -- 03/2010: Fables #93 -- 20,003 (- 0.9%) 04/2010: Fables #94 -- 19,965 (- 0.2%) 05/2010: Fables #95 -- 19,932 (- 0.2%) 06/2010: Fables #96 -- 19,842 (- 0.5%) 07/2010: -- 08/2010: Fables #97 -- 19,625 (- 1.1%) 09/2010: Fables #98 -- 19,594 (- 0.2%) 10/2010: Fables #99 -- 19,656 (+ 0.3%) 11/2010: -- 12/2010: Fables #100 -- 23,014 (+17.1%) 01/2011: Fables #101 -- 19,183 (-16.7%) 02/2011: Fables #102 -- 19,215 (+ 0.2%) ---------------- 6 months: - 2.1% 1 year : n.a. 2 years : -14.7% 5 years : -20.4%
Holding level with the start of a new storyline about, hold on, superheroes.
—–
98 - SUPERMAN 80-PAGE GIANT 02/2010: Superman 80-Page Giant 2011 #1 -- 18,069
Solid numbers for this type of thing, all things considered.
—–
105 - JSA ALL-STARS 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%) 05/2010: JSA All-Stars #6 -- 25,306 (- 4.8%) 06/2010: JSA All-Stars #7 -- 24,436 (- 3.4%) 07/2010: JSA All-Stars #8 -- 23,478 (- 3.9%) 08/2010: JSA All-Stars #9 -- 22,347 (- 4.8%) 09/2010: JSA All-Stars #10 -- 21,646 (- 3.1%) 10/2010: JSA All-Stars #11 -- 20,496 (- 5.3%) 11/2010: JSA All-Stars #12 -- 19,630 (- 4.2%) 12/2010: JSA All-Stars #13 -- 18,395 (- 6.3%) 01/2011: JSA All-Stars #14 -- 17,920 (- 2.6%) 02/2011: JSA All-Stars #15 -- 17,409 (- 2.9%) ---------------- 6 months: -22.1% 1 year : -41.3%
Cancelled with issue #18. So, from here on down, the air is getting thinner for DC Universe titles.
—–
108 - POWER GIRL 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%) 05/2010: Power Girl #12 -- 20,681 (+ 0.0%) 06/2010: Power Girl #13 -- 20,583 (- 0.5%) 07/2010: Power Girl #14 -- 19,739 (- 4.1%) 08/2010: Power Girl #15 -- 19,091 (- 3.3%) 09/2010: Power Girl #16 -- 18,404 (- 3.6%) 10/2010: Power Girl #17 -- 17,847 (- 3.0%) 11/2010: Power Girl #18 -- 17,300 (- 3.1%) 12/2010: Power Girl #19 -- 16,763 (- 3.1%) 01/2011: Power Girl #20 -- 16,823 (+ 0.4%) 02/2011: Power Girl #21 -- 16,940 (+ 0.7%) ---------------- 6 months: -11.3% 1 year : -19.0%
The book is on a marginal climb, for no readily apparent reason other than because something about it must be working. Always a good sign — particularly given the comparatively swift decline in the second half of 2010, after the original creative team had left.
—–
109 - AMERICAN VAMPIRE (Vertigo) 03/2010: American Vampire #1 -- 33,762 [36,831] 04/2010: American Vampire #2 -- 26,770 (-20.7%) 05/2010: American Vampire #3 -- 26,510 (- 1.0%) 06/2010: American Vampire #4 -- 25,977 (- 2.0%) 07/2010: American Vampire #5 -- 24,857 (- 4.3%) 08/2010: -- 09/2010: American Vampire #6 -- 23,349 (- 6.1%) 10/2010: American Vampire #7 -- 21,910 (- 6.2%) 11/2010: American Vampire #8 -- 19,850 (- 9.4%) 12/2010: American Vampire #9 -- 19,019 (- 4.2%) 12/2010: American Vampire #10 -- 17,761 (- 6.6%) 01/2011: American Vampire #11 -- 16,969 (- 4.5%) 02/2011: American Vampire #12 -- 16,522 (- 2.6%) ---------------- 6 months: n.a.
The numbers are levelling out again, evidently. It was always clear that co-writer Stephen King’s departure after issue #5 would result in a noticeable drop. The fact that American Vampire is still Vertigo’s second-best-selling periodical now that the dust seems to be settling is encouraging.
—–
113 - BOOSTER GOLD 02/2008: Booster Gold #0 -- 37,808 02/2009: Booster Gold #17 -- 24,732 ----------------------------------- 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%) 05/2010: Booster Gold #32 -- 20,343 (+ 2.7%) 06/2010: Booster Gold #33 -- 19,895 (- 2.2%) 07/2010: Booster Gold #34 -- 19,592 (- 1.5%) 08/2010: Booster Gold #35 -- 19,104 (- 2.5%) 09/2010: Booster Gold #36 -- 18,504 (- 3.1%) 10/2010: Booster Gold #37 -- 17,806 (- 3.8%) 11/2010: Booster Gold #38 -- 17,276 (- 3.0%) 12/2010: Booster Gold #39 -- 16,686 (- 3.4%) 01/2011: Booster Gold #40 -- 16,324 (- 2.2%) 02/2011: Booster Gold #41 -- 15,864 (- 2.8%) ---------------- 6 months: -17.0% 1 year : -24.5% 2 years : -35.9%
Booster Gold keeps slipping down the charts, which is cause for concern, at this stage. The book’s future probably hangs on whether or not it can profit from its upcoming “Flashpoint” crossover in any lasting fashion.
—–
122 - CINDERELLA: FABLES ARE FOREVER (Vertigo) 11/2009: Cinderella: FFwL #1 of 6 -- 20,337 12/2009: Cinderella: FFwL #2 of 6 -- 16,598 01/2010: Cinderella: FFwL #3 of 6 -- 15,827 02/2010: Cinderella: FFwL #4 of 6 -- 15,421 03/2010: Cinderella: FFwL #5 of 6 -- 15,285 04/2010: Cinderella: FFwL #6 of 6 -- 14,956 --------------------------------------------- 01/2011: Fables Are Forever #1 of 6 -- 15,026 ---------------- 1 year : - 2.6%
The latest Fables spin-off doesn’t do as well as the last Cinderella miniseries, but it’s still a solid number for a Vertigo title. Also, the Fables brand is guaranteed to move a better-than-average number of paperback collections eventually, of course.
—–
137 - THE OUTSIDERS 02/2006: Outsiders #33 -- 43,270 02/2007: Outsiders #45 -- 32,976 02/2008: Batsiders #4 -- 37,903 02/2009: Special #1 -- 35,727 02/2009: Outsiders #15 -- 30,024 -------------------------------- 02/2010: Outsiders #27 -- 21,167 (- 6.5%) 03/2010: Outsiders #28 -- 19,632 (- 7.3%) 04/2010: Outsiders #29 -- 19,094 (- 2.7%) 05/2010: -- 06/2010: Outsiders #30 -- 18,045 (- 5.5%) 07/2010: Outsiders #31 -- 17,173 (- 4.8%) 08/2010: Outsiders #32 -- 15,754 (- 8.3%) 09/2010: -- 10/2010: Outsiders #33 -- 15,253 (- 3.2%) 11/2010: Outsiders #34 -- 13,576 (- 11.0%) 12/2010: Outsiders #35 -- 13,133 (- 3.3%) 01/2011: -- 02/2011: Outsiders #36 -- 12,848 (- 2.2%) ---------------- 6 months: -18.5% 1 year : -39.3% 2 years : -60.9% 5 years : -70.3%
Cancelled with issue #40.
—–
139 - BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL 02/2007: Batman Confidential #3 -- 41,109 02/2008: Batman Confidential #12 -- 27,208 02/2008: Batman Confidential #13 -- 25,735 02/2009: Batman Confidential #26 -- 20,134 ------------------------------------------ 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%) 05/2010: Batman Confidential #44 -- 15,279 (- 7.1%) 06/2010: Batman Confidential #45 -- 15,070 (- 1.4%) 07/2010: Batman Confidential #46 -- 14,621 (- 3.0%) 08/2010: Batman Confidential #47 -- 14,341 (- 1.9%) 09/2010: Batman Confidential #48 -- 14,329 (- 0.1%) 10/2010: Batman Confidential #49 -- 14,112 (- 1.5%) 11/2010: Batman Confidential #50 -- 14,450 (+ 2.4%) 12/2010: Batman Confidential #51 -- 13,495 (- 6.6%) 01/2011: Batman Confidential #52 -- 13,116 (- 2.8%) 02/2011: Batman Confidential #53 -- 12,779 (- 2.6%) ---------------- 6 months: -10.9% 1 year : -24.2% 2 years : -36.5%
Cancelled with issue #54.
—–
148 - WEIRD WORLDS 01/2011: Weird Worlds #1 of 6 -- 14,964 02/2011: Weird Worlds #2 of 6 -- 11,587 (-22.6%)
A pretty steep drop-off. Then again, anything above 10k is great for this type of book.
—–
151 - THE UNWRITTEN (Vertigo) 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%) 05/2010: The Unwritten #13 -- 13,467 (- 0.3%) 06/2010: The Unwritten #14 -- 13,396 (- 0.5%) 07/2010: The Unwritten #15 -- 13,023 (- 2.8%) 08/2010: The Unwritten #16 -- 12,778 (- 1.9%) 09/2010: The Unwritten #17 -- 12,796 (+ 0.2%) 10/2010: The Unwritten #18 -- 12,273 (- 4.1%) 11/2010: The Unwritten #19 -- 12,036 (- 1.9%) 12/2010: The Unwritten #20 -- 11,684 (- 2.9%) 01/2011: The Unwritten #21 -- 11,443 (- 2.1%) 02/2011: The Unwritten #22 -- 11,371 (- 0.6%) ---------------- 6 months: -11.0% 1 year : -16.7%
Settling down again, at around 11k.
—–
154 - I, ZOMBIE (Vertigo) 05/2010: I, Zombie #1 -- 33,025 06/2010: I, Zombie #2 -- 18,620 (-43.6%) 07/2010: I, Zombie #3 -- 16,898 (- 9.3%) 08/2010: I, Zombie #4 -- 15,772 (- 6.7%) 09/2010: I, Zombie #5 -- 14,839 (- 5.9%) 10/2010: I, Zombie #6 -- 13,782 (- 7.1%) 11/2010: I, Zombie #7 -- 12,800 (- 7.1%) 12/2010: I, Zombie #8 -- 12,038 (- 6.0%) 01/2011: I, Zombie #9 -- 11,536 (- 4.2%) 02/2011: I, Zombie #10 -- 11,182 (- 3.1%) ---------------- 6 months: -29.1%
Also levelling out, but at a much slower rate.
—–
159 - YOUNG JUSTICE (Johnny DC) 01/2011: Young Justice #0 -- 9,412 02/2011: Young Justice #1 -- 10,777 (+14.5%)
A new Johnny DC title. See small print.
——
160 - DOOM PATROL 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%) 05/2010: Doom Patrol #10 -- 12,334 (- 6.0%) 06/2010: Doom Patrol #11 -- 11,857 (- 3.9%) 07/2010: Doom Patrol #12 -- 11,267 (- 5.0%) 08/2010: Doom Patrol #13 -- 10,878 (- 3.5%) 09/2010: Doom Patrol #14 -- 10,780 (- 0.9%) 10/2010: Doom Patrol #15 -- 10,081 (- 6.5%) 11/2010: Doom Patrol #16 -- 9,955 (- 1.3%) 12/2010: Doom Patrol #17 -- 9,564 (- 3.9%) 01/2011: Doom Patrol #18 -- 9,375 (- 2.0%) 02/2011: Doom Patrol #19 -- 10,681 (+ 13.9%) ---------------- 6 months: - 1.8% 1 year : -31.9%
Cancelled with issue #22.
—–
163 - R.E.B.E.L.S. 02/2009: R.E.B.E.L.S. #1 -- 23,739 ----------------------------------- 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%) 05/2010: R.E.B.E.L.S. #16 -- 11,120 (- 1.3%) 06/2010: R.E.B.E.L.S. #17 -- 11,048 (- 0.7%) 07/2010: R.E.B.E.L.S. #18 -- 11,007 (- 0.4%) 08/2010: R.E.B.E.L.S. #19 -- 10,851 (- 1.4%) 09/2010: R.E.B.E.L.S. #20 -- 11,745 (+ 8.2%) 10/2010: R.E.B.E.L.S. #21 -- 11,262 (- 4.1%) 11/2010: R.E.B.E.L.S. #22 -- 10,797 (- 4.1%) 12/2010: R.E.B.E.L.S. #23 -- 10,619 (- 1.7%) 01/2011: R.E.B.E.L.S. #24 -- 10,354 (- 2.5%) 02/2011: R.E.B.E.L.S. #25 -- 10,351 (- 0.0%) ----------------- 6 months: - 4.6% 1 year : - 12.6% 2 years : - 56.4%
Cancelled with issue #28.
—–
167 - JONAH HEX 02/2006: Jonah Hex #4 -- 23,569 02/2007: Jonah Hex #16 -- 17,490 02/2008: Jonah Hex #28 -- 13,614 02/2009: Jonah Hex #40 -- 11,631 -------------------------------- 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%) 05/2010: Jonah Hex #55 -- 11,327 (+ 0.2%) 06/2010: Jonah Hex #56 -- 13,441 (+18.7%) 07/2010: Jonah Hex #57 -- 12,318 (- 8.4%) 08/2010: Jonah Hex #58 -- 11,775 (- 4.4%) 09/2010: Jonah Hex #59 -- 11,444 (- 2.8%) 10/2010: Jonah Hex #60 -- 11,141 (- 2.7%) 11/2010: Jonah Hex #61 -- 10,796 (- 3.1%) 12/2010: Jonah Hex #62 -- 10,899 (+ 1.0%) 01/2011: Jonah Hex #63 -- 10,752 (- 1.4%) 02/2011: Jonah Hex #64 -- 10,255 (- 4.6%) ---------------- 6 months: -12.9% 1 year : - 8.5% 2 years : -11.8% 5 years : -56.5%
This is nominally a DC universe title, but Jonah Hex has always been something of an exception, presumably because it’s been a very steady performer for years now, among other reasons.
That said, 5% drops shouldn’t become a habit.
—–
168 - KNIGHT AND SQUIRE 10/2010: Knight & Squire #1 of 6 -- 21,867 11/2010: Knight & Squire #2 of 6 -- 14,466 (-33.9%) 12/2010: Knight & Squire #3 of 6 -- 12,142 (-16.1%) 01/2011: Knight & Squire #4 of 6 -- 11,051 (- 9.0%) 02/2011: Knight & Squire #5 of 6 -- 10,221 (- 7.5%)
Quirky book, big drops.
—–
171 - T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AGENTS 11/2010: T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #1 -- 16,122 12/2010: T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #2 -- 11,227 (-30.4%) 01/2011: T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #3 -- 10,602 (- 5.6%) 02/2011: T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #4 -- 10,124 (- 4.5%)
Another nominal DC Universe title that may get more rope than others because it’s not really part of the mainstream line.
—–
177 - HELLBLAZER (Vertigo) 02/2006: Hellblazer #217 -- 14,306 02/2007: Hellblazer #229 -- 13,032 02/2008: Hellblazer #241 -- 11,998 02/2009: Hellblazer #252 -- 11,174 ---------------------------------- 02/2010: Hellblazer #264 -- 10,025 (-1.5%) 03/2010: Hellblazer #265 -- 10,295 (+2.7%) 04/2010: Hellblazer #266 -- 10,256 (-0.4%) 05/2010: Hellblazer #267 -- 10,155 (-1.0%) 06/2010: Hellblazer #268 -- 10,221 (+0.7%) 07/2010: Hellblazer #269 -- 10,048 (-1.7%) 08/2010: Hellblazer #270 -- 9,928 (-1.2%) 09/2010: Hellblazer #271 -- 9,851 (-0.8%) 10/2010: Hellblazer #272 -- 9,650 (-2.0%) 11/2010: Hellblazer #273 -- 9,645 (-0.1%) 12/2010: Hellblazer #274 -- 9,342 (-3.1%) 01/2011: Hellblazer #275 -- 9,507 (+1.8%) 02/2011: Hellblazer #276 -- 9,466 (-0.4%) ---------------- 6 months: - 4.7% 1 year : - 5.6% 2 years : -15.3% 5 years : -33.8%
Continuing a very slow decline, as always.
—–
178 - JLA/THE 99 10/2010: JLA/The 99 #1 of 6 -- 19,995 11/2010: JLA/The 99 #2 of 6 -- 15,525 (-22.4%) 12/2010: JLA/The 99 #3 of 6 -- 12,819 (-17.4%) 01/2011: JLA/The 99 #4 of 6 -- 10,265 (-19.9%) 02/2011: JLA/The 99 #5 of 6 -- 9,391 (- 8.5%)
A predictable disaster, pretty much.
—–
180 - FREEDOM FIGHTERS 02/2007: -- 02/2008: US & FF #6 of 8 -- 14,126 --------------------------------------- 09/2010: Freedom Fighters #1 -- 19,378 10/2010: Freedom Fighters #2 -- 12,758 (-34.2%) 11/2010: Freedom Fighters #3 -- 11,186 (-12.3%) 12/2010: Freedom Fighters #4 -- 10,028 (-10.4%) 01/2011: Freedom Fighters #5 -- 9,437 (- 5.9%) 02/2011: Freedom Fighters #6 -- 9,050 (- 4.1%)
Cancelled with issue #9.
—–
188 - SWEET TOOTH (Vertigo) 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%) 05/2010: Sweet Tooth #9 -- 9,654 (+ 0.4%) 06/2010: Sweet Tooth #10 -- 9,570 (- 0.9%) 07/2010: Sweet Tooth #11 -- 9,478 (- 1.0%) 08/2010: Sweet Tooth #12 -- 9,246 (- 2.5%) 09/2010: Sweet Tooth #13 -- 9,097 (- 1.6%) 10/2010: Sweet Tooth #14 -- 8,933 (- 1.8%) 11/2010: Sweet Tooth #15 -- 8,750 (- 2.1%) 12/2010: Sweet Tooth #16 -- 8,602 (- 1.7%) 01/2011: Sweet Tooth #17 -- 8,522 (- 0.9%) 02/2011: Sweet Tooth #18 -- 8,466 (- 0.7%) ---------------- 6 months: - 8.4% 1 year : -13.1%
Levelling out at 8k, evidently.
—–
193 - DOC SAVAGE 04/2010: Doc Savage #1 -- 24,539 05/2010: Doc Savage #2 -- 19,073 (-22.3%) 06/2010: Doc Savage #3 -- 16,153 (-15.3%) 07/2010: Doc Savage #4 -- 14,621 (- 9.5%) 08/2010: Doc Savage #5 -- 13,125 (-10.2%) 09/2010: Doc Savage #6 -- 11,838 (- 9.8%) 10/2010: Doc Savage #7 -- 10,050 (-15.1%) 11/2010: Doc Savage #8 -- 9,257 (- 7.9%) 12/2010: Doc Savage #9 -- 8,681 (- 6.2%) 01/2011: Doc Savage #10 -- 8,407 (- 3.2%) 02/2011: Doc Savage #11 -- 7,972 (- 5.2%) ---------------- 6 months: -39.3%
Reportedly cancelled, though no official final issue has been solicited to date.
—–
201 - AZRAEL 02/2010: Azrael #5 -- 12,856 (-12.6%) 03/2010: Azrael #6 -- 11,825 (- 8.0%) 04/2010: Azrael #7 -- 11,080 (- 6.3%) 05/2010: Azrael #8 -- 10,228 (- 7.7%) 06/2010: Azrael #9 -- 9,802 (- 4.2%) 07/2010: Azrael #10 -- 9,223 (- 5.9%) 08/2010: Azrael #11 -- 8,930 (- 3.2%) 09/2010: Azrael #12 -- 8,559 (- 4.2%) 10/2010: Azrael #13 -- 8,198 (- 4.2%) 11/2010: Azrael #14 -- 7,841 (- 4.4%) 12/2010: Azrael #15 -- 7,699 (- 1.8%) 01/2011: Azrael #16 -- 7,825 (+ 1.6%) 02/2011: Azrael #17 -- 7,558 (- 3.4%) ---------------- 6 months: -15.4% 1 year : -41.2%
Cancelled with issue #18.
—–
204 - TINY TITANS (Johnny DC) 02/2008: Tiny Titans #1 -- 15,238 02/2009: Tiny Titans #13 -- 8,710 ---------------------------------- 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%) 05/2010: Tiny Titans #28 -- 7,959 (- 3.2%) 06/2010: Tiny Titans #29 -- 8,195 (+ 3.0%) 07/2010: Tiny Titans #30 -- 8,038 (- 1.9%) 08/2010: Tiny Titans #31 -- 7,987 (- 0.6%) 09/2010: Tiny Titans #32 -- 8,073 (+ 1.1%) 10/2010: Tiny Titans #33 -- 8,045 (- 0.4%) 11/2010: Tiny Titans #34 -- 7,713 (- 4.1%) 12/2010: Tiny Titans #35 -- 7,515 (- 2.6%) 01/2011: Tiny Titans #36 -- 7,480 (- 0.5%) 02/2011: Tiny Titans #37 -- 7,426 (- 0.7%) ---------------- 6 months: - 7.0% 1 year : -13.3% 2 years : -14.7%
A Johnny DC book, see disclaimers.
—–
205 - THE SPIRIT 02/2007: The Spirit #3 -- 25,516 02/2008: The Spirit #14 -- 17,277 02/2009: The Spirit #26 -- 9,405 --------------------------------- 04/2010: The Spirit #1 -- 19,849 (+158.8%) 05/2010: The Spirit #2 -- 14,274 (- 28.1%) 06/2010: The Spirit #3 -- 13,030 (- 8.7%) 07/2010: The Spirit #4 -- 11,915 (- 8.6%) 08/2010: The Spirit #5 -- 11,015 (- 7.6%) 09/2010: The Spirit #6 -- 10,083 (- 8.5%) 10/2010: The Spirit #7 -- 9,233 (- 8.4%) 11/2010: The Spirit #8 -- 8,706 (- 5.7%) 12/2010: The Spirit #9 -- 8,297 (- 4.7%) 01/2011: The Spirit #10 -- 7,830 (- 5.6%) 02/2011: The Spirit #11 -- 7,417 (- 5.3%) ----------------- 6 months: - 32.7% 2 years : - 21.1%
See Doc Savage.
—–
209 - HOUSE OF MYSTERY (Vertigo) 02/2009: House of Mystery #10 -- 13,098 --------------------------------------- 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%) 05/2010: House of Mystery #25 -- 9,253 (+ 0.9%) 06/2010: House of Mystery #26 -- 8,742 (- 5.5%) 07/2010: House of Mystery #27 -- 8,481 (- 3.0%) 08/2010: House of Mystery #28 -- 8,238 (- 2.9%) 09/2010: House of Mystery #29 -- 8,087 (- 1.8%) 10/2010: House of Mystery #30 -- 7,913 (- 2.2%) 11/2010: House of Mystery #31 -- 7,610 (- 3.8%) 12/2010: House of Mystery #32 -- 7,348 (- 3.4%) 01/2011: House of Mystery #33 -- 7,227 (- 1.7%) 02/2011: House of Mystery #34 -- 7,092 (- 1.9%) ---------------- 6 months: -13.9% 1 year : -24.6% 2 years : -45.9%
Standard attrition.
—–
211 - NORTHLANDERS (Vertigo) 02/2008: Northlanders #3 -- 14,699 02/2009: -- ----------------------------------- 02/2010: Northlanders #25 -- 7,807 (- 1.6%) 03/2010: Northlanders #26 -- 7,824 (+ 0.2%) 04/2010: Northlanders #27 -- 7,683 (- 1.8%) 05/2010: Northlanders #28 -- 7,630 (- 0.7%) 06/2010: Northlanders #29 -- 7,498 (- 1.7%) 07/2010: Northlanders #30 -- 7,421 (- 1.0%) 08/2010: Northlanders #31 -- 7,376 (- 0.6%) 09/2010: Northlanders #32 -- 7,321 (- 0.8%) 10/2010: Northlanders #33 -- 7,169 (- 2.1%) 11/2010: Northlanders #34 -- 7,018 (- 2.1%) 12/2010: Northlanders #35 -- 7,061 (+ 0.6%) 01/2011: Northlanders #36 -- 6,806 (- 3.6%) 02/2011: Northlanders #37 -- 7,006 (+ 2.9%) ---------------- 6 months: - 5.0% 1 year : -10.3% 2 years : n.a.
The start of a new arc brings a slight increase.
—–
222 - THE ALL-NEW BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD (Johnny DC) 02/2006: Batman Strikes! #18 -- 8,626 02/2007: Batman Strikes! #30 -- 7,335 02/2008: Batman Strikes! #42 -- 6,623 02/2009: Brave & Bold #2 -- 8,678 ---------------------------------------- 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%) 05/2010: Brave & Bold #17 -- 6,103 (- 6.2%) 06/2010: Brave & Bold #18 -- 6,270 (+ 2.7%) 07/2010: Brave & Bold #19 -- 6,489 (+ 3.5%) 08/2010: Brave & Bold #20 -- 6,244 (- 3.8%) 09/2010: Brave & Bold #21 -- 6,345 (+ 1.6%) 10/2010: Brave & Bold #22 -- 6,044 (- 4.7%) 11/2010: All-New BBB #1 -- 8,408 (+ 39.1%) 12/2010: All-New BBB #2 -- 6,688 (- 20.5%) 01/2011: All-New BBB #3 -- 6,557 (- 2.0%) 02/2011: All-New BBB #4 -- 6,561 (+ 0.1%) ---------------- 6 months: + 5.1% 1 year : + 7.8% 2 years : -24.4% 5 years : -23.9%
Another Johnny DC book.
—–
229 - NEW YORK FIVE (Vertigo) 01/2011: New York Five #1 of 4 -- 8,360 02/2011: New York Five #2 of 4 -- 6,237 (-25.4%)
A stiff drop-off. Given the expected paperback sales for Brian Wood titles, the book should be fine, though.
—–
230 - SCALPED (Vertigo) 02/2007: Scalped #2 -- 10,005 02/2008: Scalped #14 -- 6,903 02/2009: Scalped #25 -- 6,887 ------------------------------ 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%) 05/2010: Scalped #38 -- 6,632 (+ 0.7%) 06/2010: -- 07/2010: Scalped #39 -- 6,682 (+ 0.8%) 08/2010: Scalped #40 -- 6,593 (- 1.3%) 09/2010: -- 10/2010: Scalped #41 -- 6,623 (+ 0.5%) 10/2010: Scalped #42 -- 6,476 (- 2.2%) 11/2010: Scalped #43 -- 6,324 (- 2.4%) 12/2010: Scalped #44 -- 6,192 (- 2.1%) 01/2011: Scalped #45 -- 6,187 (- 0.1%) 02/2011: Scalped #46 -- 6,179 (- 0.1%) ---------------- 6 months: - 6.3% 1 year : - 6.2% 2 years : -10.3%
Holding level.
—–
237 - DMZ (Vertigo) 02/2006: DMZ #4 -- 14,778 02/2007: DMZ #16 -- 13,199 02/2008: DMZ #28 -- 10,463 02/2009: DMZ #39 -- 8,353 -------------------------- 02/2010: DMZ #50 -- 7,262 (+5.7%) 03/2010: DMZ #51 -- 6,840 (-5.8%) 04/2010: DMZ #52 -- 6,826 (-0.2%) 05/2010: DMZ #53 -- 6,759 (-1.0%) 06/2010: DMZ #54 -- 6,661 (-1.5%) 07/2010: DMZ #55 -- 6,581 (-1.2%) 08/2010: DMZ #56 -- 6,524 (-0.9%) 09/2010: DMZ #57 -- 6,333 (-2.9%) 10/2010: DMZ #58 -- 6,198 (-2.1%) 11/2010: DMZ #59 -- 6,046 (-2.5%) 12/2010: DMZ #60 -- 6,023 (-0.4%) 01/2011: DMZ #61 -- 5,855 (-2.8%) 02/2011: DMZ #62 -- 5,781 (-1.3%) ---------------- 6 months: -11.4% 1 year : -20.4% 2 years : -30.8% 5 years : -60.9%
Standard attrition.
—–
241 - ASSASSIN'S CREED: THE FALL 11/2010: The Fall #1 of 3 -- 6,941 12/2010: The Fall #2 of 3 -- 5,915 (-14.8%) 01/2011: -- 02/2011: The Fall #3 of 3 -- 5,383 (- 9.0%)
This would have been the best-selling WildStorm title for February, were the imprint still around.
—–
250 - VICTORIAN UNDEAD II: SHERLOCK HOLMES VS. DRACULA 11/2009: Victorian Undead #1 of 6 -- 11,422 12/2009: Victorian Undead #2 of 6 -- 7,430 01/2010: Victorian Undead #3 of 6 -- 6,663 02/2010: Victorian Undead #4 of 6 -- 6,365 03/2010: Victorian Undead #5 of 6 -- 6,285 04/2010: Victorian Undead #6 of 6 -- 6,102 ------------------------------------------- 10/2010: Victorian Undead Special -- 5,723 (- 6.2%) 11/2010: Holmes/Dracula #1 of 5 -- 6,066 (+ 6.0%) 12/2010: Holmes/Dracula #2 of 5 -- 5,248 (-13.5%) 01/2011: Holmes/Dracula #3 of 5 -- 4,953 (- 5.6%) 02/2011: Holmes/Dracula #4 of 5 -- 4,796 (- 3.2%) ---------------- 1 year : -24.7%
Another former WildStorm book.
—–
256 - SCOOBY DOO: WHERE ARE YOU? (Johnny DC) 02/2006: Scooby Doo #105 -- 4,326 02/2007: Scooby Doo #117 -- 4,275 02/2008: Scooby Doo #129 -- 4,161 02/2009: Scooby Doo #141 -- 3,861 --------------------------------- 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%) 05/2010: Scooby Doo #156 -- 3,857 (+ 0.6%) 06/2010: Scooby Doo #157 -- ? 07/2010: Scooby Doo #158 -- 4,147 08/2010: Scooby Doo #159 -- 4,092 (- 1.3%) 09/2010: SD:WAY? #1 -- 6,186 (+51.2%) 10/2010: SD:WAY? #2 -- 4,926 (-20.4%) 11/2010: SD:WAY? #3 -- 4,861 (- 1.3%) 12/2010: SD:WAY? #4 -- 4,802 (- 1.2%) 01/2011: SD:WAY? #5 -- 4,540 (- 5.5%) 02/2011: SD:WAY? #6 -- 4,456 (- 1.9%) ---------------- 6 months: + 8.9% 1 year : +17.9% 2 years : +15.4% 5 years : + 3.0%
A Johnny DC title.
—–
257/281/295 - DC COMICS PRESENTS 10/2010: Green Lantern #1 -- 4,418 10/2010: Jack Cross #1 -- 3,662 10/2010: Batman/Catwoman #1 -- 4,076 10/2010: Brightest Day #1 -- 4,988 10/2010: Batman #1 -- 4,643 10/2010: Superman #1 -- 3,685 11/2010: Flash/GL #1 -- 3,664 11/2010: Batman #2 -- 3,643 11/2010: Brightest Day #2 -- 3,292 11/2010: Superman #2 -- 2,915 12/2010: Batman Beyond #1 -- 4,531 01/2011: Lobo #1 -- 3,280 01/2011: Sole Survivor #1 -- 2,768 01/2011: The Atom #1 -- 2,185 02/2011: GL: Fear Itself #1 -- 4,437 02/2011: Batman: Conspiracy -- 3,308 02/2011: Wonder Woman #1 -- 2,982
These reprint titles are still doing better first-month numbers than they would have as paperbacks — the ones that make the chart, anyway; not all of them do.
—–
263 - DEUS EX 02/2011: Deus Ex #1 of 6 -- 4,238
Another videogame adaptation that would have been a WildStorm title.
—–
271 - DETECTIVE COMICS CLASSICS 02/2011: DC Classics -- 3,702
A reprint book originally given away with action figures.
—–
299 - RATCHET AND CLANK 09/2010: Ratchet and Clank #1 of 6 -- 5,655 10/2010: Ratchet and Clank #2 of 6 -- 4,001 (-29.3%) 11/2010: Ratchet and Clank #3 of 6 -- 3,382 (-15.5%) 12/2010: Ratchet and Clank #4 of 6 -- ? 01/2011: Ratchet and Clank #5 of 6 -- 2,963 02/2011: Ratchet and Clank #6 of 6 -- 2,874 (- 3.0%)
Another book surviving WildStorm. So did Kane and Lynch #6, which failed to make the Top 300 in February. As always, for the purposes of the average numbers below, I’m presuming that it sold as many units as the No. 300 title on the chart, although the actual figure is likely to be lower.
—–
6-MONTH COMPARISONS + 8.9%: Scooby-Doo + 5.1%: All-New BBB + 4.8%: Teen Titans + 1.1%: Detective Comics - 1.8%: Doom Patrol - 2.1%: Fables - 4.6%: REBELS - 4.7%: Hellblazer - 5.0%: Northlanders - 6.3%: Scalped - 6.7%: Secret Six - 7.0%: Tiny Titans - 8.0%: Batman Beyond - 8.4%: Sweet Tooth - 10.5%: Batgirl - 10.9%: Batman Confidential - 11.0%: Unwritten - 11.3%: Power Girl - 11.4%: DMZ - 12.3%: Action Comics - 12.9%: Jonah Hex - 13.1%: Red Robin - 13.1%: Wonder Woman - 13.7%: GC Sirens - 13.9%: House of Mystery - 13.9%: Superman/Batman - 14.8%: Supergirl - 15.4%: Azrael - 16.6%: DCU Legacies - 17.0%: Booster Gold - 18.5%: Outsiders - 18.8%: Superman - 19.9%: Batman - 20.2%: Adventure Comics - 21.4%: GL Corps - 21.6%: Time Masters - 22.1%: JSA All-Stars - 23.0%: Generation Lost - 23.8%: JLA - 23.9%: Brightest Day - 26.8%: Green Arrow - 29.1%: I, Zombie - 30.7%: LoSH - 32.7%: Spirit - 33.6%: Birds of Prey - 34.4%: Emerald Warriors - 36.1%: Titans - 39.0%: Batman: Odyssey - 39.3%: Doc Savage - 39.8%: JSA
—–
1-YEAR COMPARISONS + 30.4%: Wonder Woman + 29.0%: Superman + 17.9%: Scooby-Doo + 15.8%: Green Arrow + 7.8%: All-New BBB + 7.0%: Action Comics - 1.4%: Teen Titans - 2.6%: Cinderella - 4.1%: Batman - 5.6%: Hellblazer - 6.2%: Scalped - 8.5%: Jonah Hex - 10.3%: Northlanders - 11.0%: Superman/Batman - 12.6%: REBELS - 13.1%: Sweet Tooth - 13.3%: Tiny Titans - 14.5%: Titans - 16.7%: Unwritten - 17.3%: Red Robin - 17.4%: Batgirl - 19.0%: Power Girl - 19.6%: JLA - 20.4%: DMZ - 21.0%: Flash - 21.9%: GC Sirens - 24.2%: Batman Confidential - 24.5%: Booster Gold - 24.6%: House of Mystery - 24.7%: Victorian Undead - 25.1%: Green Lantern - 25.4%: JSA - 29.4%: Batman and Robin - 30.0%: GL Corps - 31.9%: Doom Patrol - 33.9%: Supergirl - 39.3%: Outsiders - 41.2%: Azrael - 41.3%: JSA All-Stars - 47.8%: Secret Six - 57.0%: Adventure Comics
—–
2-YEAR COMPARISONS + 45.0%: Green Arrow + 18.3%: GL Corps + 15.4%: Scooby-Doo + 3.8%: Green Lantern - 0.6%: Wonder Woman - 4.8%: Red Robin - 10.3%: Scalped - 11.8%: Jonah Hex - 14.7%: Fables - 14.7%: Tiny Titans - 15.3%: Hellblazer - 15.4%: Superman - 20.2%: Secret Six - 21.1%: Spirit - 23.7%: LoSH - 24.4%: All-New BBB - 25.4%: Teen Titans - 29.6%: Adventure Comics - 30.8%: DMZ - 32.7%: Superman/Batman - 33.6%: JLA - 34.0%: Action Comics - 35.6%: Supergirl - 35.9%: Booster Gold - 36.5%: Batman Confidential - 42.4%: Titans - 45.9%: House of Mystery - 47.2%: Batman - 55.3%: JSA - 56.4%: REBELS - 60.9%: Outsiders
—–
5-YEAR COMPARISONS + 10.4%: Detective Comics + 8.6%: Green Arrow + 3.0%: Scooby-Doo + 2.7%: Birds of Prey - 6.1%: Red Robin - 8.1%: Batgirl - 11.5%: Batman - 18.6%: Green Lantern - 20.4%: Fables - 23.9%: All-New BBB - 27.0%: LoSH - 27.7%: Wonder Woman - 33.8%: Hellblazer - 36.5%: Superman - 37.8%: JLA - 38.3%: Action Comics - 46.3%: JSA - 56.5%: Jonah Hex - 60.9%: DMZ - 62.1%: Teen Titans - 70.3%: Outsiders - 78.8%: Supergirl
—–
Average Periodical Sales (not counting reprints, reorders shipping after the initial month of release, Johnny DC titles and magazines)
DC COMICS 02/2006: 32,292 02/2007: 31,051 02/2008: 27,652 02/2009: 23,080 --------------- 02/2010: 26,199 (+ 2.1%)** 03/2010: 23,299 (-11.1%)** 04/2010: 23,740 (+ 1.9%)** 05/2010: 27,785 (+17.0%)** 06/2010: 25,788 (- 7.2%)** 07/2010: 25,841 (+ 0.2%)** 08/2010: 23,331 (- 9.7%)** 09/2010: 23,212 (- 0.5%)** 10/2010: 23,756 (- 2.3%)** 11/2010: 25,497 (+ 7.3%)** 12/2010: 23,869 (- 6.4%)** 01/2011: 21,922 (- 8.2%)** 02/2011: 23,252 (+ 6.1%)** ---------------- 6 months: - 0.3% 1 year : -11.3% 2 years : + 0.8% 5 years : -28.0%
DC UNIVERSE 02/2006: 40,823 02/2007: 39,976 02/2008: 35,994 02/2009: 30,224 --------------- 02/2010: 35,895 (+ 6.5%) 03/2010: 32,375 (- 9.8%) 04/2010: 32,859 (+ 1.5%) 05/2010: 37,463 (+14.0%) 06/2010: 34,612 (- 7.6%)** 07/2010: 35,372 (+ 2.2%) 08/2010: 33,411 (- 5.5%) 09/2010: 32,042 (- 4.1%) 10/2010: 32,832 (+ 2.5%) 11/2010: 34,180 (+ 4.1%) 12/2010: 30,870 (- 9.7%) 01/2011: 24,321 (-21.2%)** 02/2011: 25,887 (+ 6.4%)** ---------------- 6 months: -22.5% 1 year : -27.9% 2 years : -14.4% 5 years : -36.6%
VERTIGO 02/2006: 15,026 02/2007: 11,855 02/2008: 10,885 02/2009: 11,353 --------------- 02/2010: 9,256 (-17.9%) 03/2010: 11,394 (+23.1%) 04/2010: 10,815 (- 5.1%) 05/2010: 11,756 (+ 8.7%) 06/2010: 10,995 (- 6.5% 07/2010: 9,515 (-13.5%) 08/2010: 9,094 (- 4.4%) 09/2010: 11,622 (+27.8%) 10/2010: 9,546 (-17.9%) 11/2010: 9,034 (- 5.4%) 12/2010: 11,193 (+23.9%) 01/2011: 10,145 (- 9.4%) 02/2011: 10,295 (+ 1.5%) ---------------- 6 months: +13.2% 1 year : +11.2% 2 years : - 9.3% 5 years : -31.5%
—–
Disclaimers, et cetera
The numbers above are estimates for comic-book sales in the North American direct market, as calculated by ICv2.com according to the chart and index information provided by Diamond Comic Distributors.
ICv2.com‘s estimates are somewhat lower than the actual numbers, but they are consistent from month to month, so the trends they show are fairly accurate. Since it’s a “month-to-month” column, the comments, unless otherwise noted, are on the most recent month.
Bear in mind that the figures measure sales to retailers, not customers. Also, these numbers do not include sales to bookstores, newsstands, other mass-market retail chains or the United Kingdom. Re-orders are included, so long as they either reached stores in a book’s initial calendar month of release or were strong enough to make the chart again in a subsequent month.
If additional copies of an issue did appear on the chart after a book’s initial calendar month of release, you can see the total number of copies sold in parenthesis behind those issues (e.g. “[36,599]”). Should more than one issue have shipped in a month which is relevant for one of the long-term comparisons, the average between them will be used.
Titles released under the Johnny DC imprint and magazines, such as Mad, mostly sell through channels other than the direct market, so direct-market sales don’t tell us much about their performance. For most Vertigo titles, collection sales tend to be a significant factor, so the numbers for those books should be taken with a grain of salt as well. To learn (a little) more about Vertigo’s collection sales, go right here.
** Two asterisks after a given month in the average charts mean that one or more periodical release did not make the Top 300 chart in that month. In those cases, it’s assumed that said releases sold as many units as the No. 300 comic on the chart for that month for the purposes of the chart, although its actual sales are likely to be less than that.
For a more lyrical approach to discussing sales figures that covers all the essentials in a more condensed, less tedious fashion, finally, go right here.
—–
Marc-Oliver Frisch writes about comics at his weblog and at Comicgate. You can also follow him on Twitter.
great work, i’m not even done with the article yet, but wanted to make sure i complimented this
Giffen was doing some great things with Doom Patrol. Loved Bedard’s work on R.E.B.E.L.S. too. Sorry to see them go.
This line was awesome:
“It’s the kind of editorial sure-footedness that instills confidence in talent and readers alike.”
Ah, DC….
“There’s not much to compare a twice-monthly, 26-issue event maxiseries with, and a 46% drop 10 months and 20 issues in doesn’t look like a spectacular performance — certainly not compared with 52 or Countdown, DC’s previous, weekly, 52-issue event maxiseries. Both were doing considerably better at this stage, both in terms of absolute numbers and drop-off, in 2007 and 2008, respectively.”
Gotta correct you there Marc, Brigthest Day has done just as good if not slightly better than Coutndown did. You might want to bust out the old charts to see that, also looking at the March numbers the book is still around 69 to 70 thousand copies for the latest issues. Which is very good it’s been a consistant top seller and out performed many other top books, DC can’t be anything but happy with the way the book has done.
It’s held up very well this past year and has blown away other weekly/biweekly series like Trinity, Generation Lost, Weekly Comics and DC Universe Online as far as sales go. 52 is the anomaly as far as these weekly books go and DC will never get close to those sales unless they do a part 2.
I can’t believe FLASH has been out for a year but is only on issue 9 AND that its going to be rebooted again with a number 1.
Geoff Johns writes too many books plus his movie and T.V projects. He’s good but he shouldn’t be the cause of delays.
Teen Titans increase?
I know it might be Red Robin. But some people are pretty passionate about Nicola Scott’s art, and I think people took a while to figure out she moved to Teen Titans. Could that account for at least a slight increase?
“I can’t believe FLASH has been out for a year but is only on issue 9 AND that its going to be rebooted again with a number 1.
Geoff Johns writes too many books plus his movie and T.V projects. He’s good but he shouldn’t be the cause of delays.”
Who says it’s going to be another number 1?, Flash will most likely be relaunched at it’s total number. Also the delays on the book are because of Manapul not Johns, Flash has lost it’s steam because of him and EVS.
“Gotta correct you there Marc, Brigthest Day has done just as good if not slightly better than Coutndown did. You might want to bust out the old charts to see that, also looking at the March numbers the book is still around 69 to 70 thousand copies for the latest issues.”
Why would Marc do that when its far easier to continue making snarky comments about a company he hates?
Is there any good reason for assuming Marc hates DC other than fanboys and girls with skin that’s far too thin?
Has DC done anything in the past few years that even kinda hints toward having a clue what they’re doing?
I don’t like any superhero comics or companies, so I don’t have a horse in this race, but at least Dark Horse and Marvel are *trying* to sell comics….
Reportedly, DC hired critically acclaimed writer Nick Spencer for Supergirl, then announced him as the new writer and solicited three months’ worth of issues accordingly, then decided that they didn’t like his direction for the book and fired him before his first issue was even completed, then got an enthusiastic response from fans, then wanted to have him back on the book, only to find out that he’d signed an exclusive contract with Marvel in the meantime.
It’s the kind of editorial sure-footedness that instills confidence in talent and readers alike.
That shouldn’t be any surprise that the company is completely clueless as to how to proceed with Supergirl. It seems like every 9 months they are touting a ‘new direction and new creative team’!
Hopefully they will give Brian Wood some leash and let him tell the kind of stories he wants to tell. But given their track record with the title, that is unlikely.
Gotta agree with the last two posters. DC is run by 5 people, only one of whom (Jim Lee), knows how to actually do his job well.
People, people, Marc doesn’t hate DC! Relax, he does a great job, thanks Marc keep it up!
I am a DC and Marvel (and DH) fan, but let’s be honest, DC holds on to series much longer than Marvel and has tons of series selling 10k or less of course they have more bad numbers with such a list of poor performing titles….they drag them on forever. Nonetheless, DC does produce decent stuff out there. the Green Lanthers stories these past years have been good. Brightest day is not bad. Try out Powergirl, pretty good, American Vampire, IZombie, etc….Gotta admit though I am totally pissed off about yet another (a la Marvel) relaunch of the Flash. This is where I get off the bandwagon. bring back Wally West and Mark Waid! And to the Big Two stop it with these relaunches to switch back to the original numbering every 10 months, it sucks bigtime!
Look at it on the bright side, all these cancelled DC books will help you afford $4 (or perhaps $5) a gallon gasoline this summer.
God, there is just no pleasing some people…
Brightest Day is number 2 (and 3) book of the month and it still gets a snarky comment. You maybe should of wrote the chart next week, you know, when you weren’t on your rags. haha…
@Saipaman: Hey don<t complain too much, in Canada our Gas is already at $5.30 a gallon! And we produce and export more than we consume! Long live Global trade and speculators!
Thanks for the numbers Marc. Excellent column as always. The GL Emerald Warriors uptick is very interesting. I’ve been waiting for the series to drop to $2.99 before picking it up. I forgot if it started with this issue or not, but the big “Hold the Line” campaign should be interesting to see what’s happening with the numbers next month. Cheers!
@Micah, the 2.99 promotion started in January, with a few stragglers in February. Looking at these numbers (and the just released March numbers) it doesn’t look like it’s made a bit of difference in DC’s sales trends on any of their books. The long trend is yet to play out here, but in the short term it looks like a failure. That’s pretty depressing.
Power Girl is tying in far closer to Generation Lost now that Winick’s writing it, that and the awesome art from Sami Basri are probably helping it’s slight sales uptick.
EJ:
“Gotta correct you there Marc, Brigthest Day has done just as good if not slightly better than Coutndown did.”
Not quite.
COUNTDOWN #32 (the 20th issue) sold an estimated 81,097 copies, which represents a 28.7% drop vs. the estimated 113,854 copies sold of COUNTDOWN #51 (the first issue).
BRIGHTEST DAY #20, by contrast, sold an estimated 69,729 copies — a 46.0% drop vs. the 129,158 copies sold of BRIGHTEST DAY #1.
I hope the $3 price point DOES succeed, as I’ve been buying a LOT more DC titles because of it (including Doom Patrol, THUNDER Agents, Doc Savage, The Spirit, Legion of SH, Wonder Woman, and more…).
I can’t be the only person doing this?!?!
(I’m also happy with my new purchases, too, as the stories have been engaging!)
The January issue was a crossover with Action Comics, the February issue crossed over with Doom Patrol. Neither has done much to affect the book’s slow, steady decline, on balance.
It did seem to help Doom Patrol, though, with a 13% jump! At least Giffen is going out in style.
“I hope the $3 price point DOES succeed, as I’ve been buying a LOT more DC titles because of it (including Doom Patrol, THUNDER Agents, Doc Savage, The Spirit, Legion of SH, Wonder Woman, and more…).
I can’t be the only person doing this?!?!
(I’m also happy with my new purchases, too, as the stories have been engaging!)”
Speaking for myself, it wouldn’t matter if the books were $1 apiece, if the quality is CRAP. Unfortunately most of the books from the ‘Big Two’ are just that…
@TonyJazz
Too bad many of the books you just mentioned have been cancelled.
COUNTDOWN #32 (the 20th issue) sold an estimated 81,097 copies, which …
BRIGHTEST DAY #20, by contrast, sold an estimated 69,729 copies — a 46.0% drop ….
But is the best comparison #32, or something more like #12, considering COUNTDOWN was weekly, and Brightest Day is bi-weekly?
Not that I’m not confused by the counting backwards part, too!
“Not quite.
COUNTDOWN #32 (the 20th issue) sold an estimated 81,097 copies, which represents a 28.7% drop vs. the estimated 113,854 copies sold of COUNTDOWN #51 (the first issue).
BRIGHTEST DAY #20, by contrast, sold an estimated 69,729 copies — a 46.0% drop vs. the 129,158 copies sold of BRIGHTEST DAY #1.”
That would be a resonable comparison if both Countdown and Brightest Day were both weekly’s both they’re not.
The more apt comparison would be to track the sales for both books by the month. Here’s how Countdown’s sales stack up with BD’s in the second to last month of the series or 11 months into the 12 months arc.
03/2008: Countdown to FC #8 — 68,038 (+ 1.0%)
03/2008: Countdown to FC #7 — 68,019 (- 0.0%)
03/2008: Countdown to FC #6 — 67,895 (- 0.2%)
03/2008: Countdown to FC #5 — 67,688 (- 0.3%)
03-2011: Brightest Day #21-70,204
03/2011: Brightest Day #22-69,824
As you see BD is edgeding out Countdown, during the same period of time. You can track them by month and it’s basically dead even or with a slight edge towards sales going to BD overall.
EJ:
“That would be a resonable comparison if both Countdown and Brightest Day were both weekly’s both they’re not. The more apt comparison would be to track the sales for both books by the month.”
Well, it’s a different comparison, certainly. Given that more issues (as in, in this case, “twice as many”) almost invariably means more attrition, though, I find the issue-to-issue comparison fairer and more useful here.
And, anyway, if you compare month 10 with month 1, you still end up with a 35.4% drop-off for COUNTDOWN vs. a 41.8% drop-off for BRIGHTEST DAY. Considering the very different shape of the market, drop-off says more than absolute figures, anyway.
“Well, it’s a different comparison, certainly. Given that more issues (as in, in this case, “twice as many”) almost invariably means more attrition, though, I find the issue-to-issue comparison fairer and more useful here.
And, anyway, if you compare month 10 with month 1, you still end up with a 35.4% drop-off for COUNTDOWN vs. a 41.8% drop-off for BRIGHTEST DAY. Considering the very different shape of the market, drop-off says more than absolute figures, anyway.”
Actually a case can be made that bi-weekly just like bi-monthly is alot harder to sustain than weekly and monthly. But we could argue about that forever.
As far as the drop off again this is where the devil is in the details. Because unlike Brightest Day, you didn’t reconfigure the sales for Countdown’s first 12 issues which were returnable. If you did I believe the drop off would be about even since the series basically track around the same month by month.
“you didn’t reconfigure the sales for Countdown’s first 12 issues which were returnable.”
I did. (I don’t recall if I did in the column, at the time, but I did it in my files.) And if I hadn’t, there would be less of a drop-off, for that matter, not more.
02/2011: Batman #707 — 58,803 (- 2.4%)
Declining. These are the lowest first-month sales in six years for Batman, to the month. (That was issue #637, part three of the “Under the Hood” storyline, by Judd Winick and Doug Mahnke.)
—
I greatly enjoyed the Winick/Mahnke issues (especially the art) and was disappointed Mahnke left so soon. Anybody have any background info on that? DC has scheduled a one-volume trade paperback edition of the Red Hood storyline for May 2011.
LL
>>>Why would Marc do that when its far easier to continue making snarky comments about a company he hates.
Good question.
>>Is there any good reason for assuming Marc hates DC other than fanboys and girls with skin that’s far too thin?
Yes, there is. Do you not notice how the language shifts oh-so-subtly when he’s talking DC vs. Marvel?
I guess you don’t. No matter how well (relatively speaking, of course – 10,000 is the new 30,000, as they say) a series might be doing reading this stuff leads you to believe DC has one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel. (For example, Brightest Day at or near the top of the chart for months, which he notes, but there always seems to be a BUT added in with the note of success. Why Yes, this is doing well, but it’s in the crapper compared to something that came out years ago when comics sales were much higher!!
I have a feeling that if a “marvel presents” series had 17 issues selling 3,000+ of REPRINTS at $7.99 a pop, that would be a major success story.
>>>>However, the direct market as a whole has seen better days, and so DC still managed to snatch the three top spots of the chart and six out of the Top 10 in February, regardless of the company’s lackluster sales.
…………
>>>Has DC done anything in the past few years that even kinda hints toward having a clue what they’re doing?
Ummm… consistently dominating the Top 10 chart?
>>>Is there any good reason for assuming Marc hates DC other than fanboys and girls with skin that’s far too thin?
… which I’m sure would not be the case if the Zombies arose if Marvel got the same subtle language.
“I did. (I don’t recall if I did in the column, at the time, but I did it in my files.) And if I hadn’t, there would be less of a drop-off, for that matter, not more.”
You might have in your files but not for the column. And the drop off would not be less since the starting number would be higher. But in the end the point of all of this is that the series match up very well together which was my original point which the numbers back up.
EJ:
“You might have in your files but not for the column.”
I’m not sure I see your point here. You suggested that I did not adjust the COUNTDOWN numbers in the comparison that I made this month. But I did, so you were wrong. The 46% drop I pointed out earlier, which is the basis for my comment in the column above, refers to the adjusted number of 113,854 units, rather than the original number of 91,083 that appeared in ICv2.com’s charts and in my column at the time.
The fact that I did not adjust the numbers in the columns I wrote four years ago doesn’t make you any less wrong.
“And the drop off would not be less since the starting number would be higher.”
Again, I’m not following you. If you add 20% to the numbers, which is what I do when I adjust them for the token figure that Diamond subtracts to account for returnability, then you end up with a higher drop-off for issues that are not covered by the adjustment period, not a lower drop-off.
In this example, the drop from 113,854 units to 81,097 units is higher than a drop from 91,083 to 81,097 units would have been.
“But in the end the point of all of this is that the series match up very well together which was my original point which the numbers back up.”
You made a different comparison than I did, certainly, in that you compared months rather than issues, which is more favorable towards BRIGHTEST DAY in terms of absolute figures. For the reasons mentioned above, though, I didn’t think that was the most useful comparison to be made, and, even in your comparison, the percentage figures still favor COUNTDOWN.
Arguing over these sales figures is like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic…
“I’m not sure I see your point here. You suggested that I did not adjust the COUNTDOWN numbers in the comparison that I made this month. But I did, so you were wrong. The 46% drop I pointed out earlier, which is the basis for my comment in the column above, refers to the adjusted number of 113,854 units, rather than the original number of 91,083 that appeared in ICv2.com’s charts and in my column at the time.
The fact that I did not adjust the numbers in the columns I wrote four years ago doesn’t make you any less wrong.”
I can only work with what I see, if you don’t have the reworked number on the charts you put out then that’s on you not me. Now that you gave me an example, I see the point you were making originally. That’s probably where the miscommunication was happening.
“Again, I’m not following you. If you add 20% to the numbers, which is what I do when I adjust them for the token figure that Diamond subtracts to account for returnability, then you end up with a higher drop-off for issues that are not covered by the adjustment period, not a lower drop-off.”
Yeah that’s what I said above, that the drop off would not be lower it would be higher. You’re the one who claimed the opposite in the previous post.
“You made a different comparison than I did, certainly, in that you compared months rather than issues, which is more favorable towards BRIGHTEST DAY in terms of absolute figures. For the reasons mentioned above, though, I didn’t think that was the most useful comparison to be made, and, even in your comparison, the percentage figures still favor COUNTDOWN.”
Clearly we both made different comparisons, I believe mine is more accurate since comparions 20 issue into Countdown would be just 4 months. While 20 issue of BD would be 10 months, the only fair way to judge the books is how the sales stack up monthly. It gives a fair overall picture of actual sales and drops offs from issues.
@EJ
Give it up. Your way makes something DC does seem like a success. Not really allowed here.
EJ:
“I can only work with what I see, if you don’t have the reworked number on the charts you put out then that’s on you not me.”
Well, you didn’t only work with what you saw, because you evidently pulled up a four-year-old chart that doesn’t have the re-adjusted COUNTDOWN figures, nor claims to have them. And then, for some reason, instead of using that raw data to check my comparison, you went ahead and jumped to the conclusion that I’d used the non-adjusted figures from that old chart in my comparison, without ever bothering to check for yourself first.
So I’m the guy who made the correct comparison all along. And you’re the guy who suggested my comparison involved faulty numbers, although you never actually bothered to check the numbers.
I’m not sure how that’s on me.
“Yeah that’s what I said above, that the drop off would not be lower it would be higher.”
But what you said above is not what I said. And what you said above wasn’t correct, and it still isn’t correct here.
If you don’t re-add the 20% subtracted by Diamond for returnability, then the drop-off to subsequent issues with non-cropped sales is going to be lower, NOT higher.
That’s the point.
Sales are relative to the market. Brightest Day is a Top 5 book. That’s a good thing these days.
I would expect upticks in DC sales in May or June, after the dust has settled for re-orders and pull lists have been modified. I too am buying more and more DC titles these days, and more in the past few months than in a long, long time.
HAY GUYZ: Brighest Day is a success in a down market. DC should be pleased with it in the context of the whole industry, but they should not be pleased with their standing in the industry nor the standing of the industry itself. DONE
Word.
I’ve got a solution. Why doesn’t The Beat get another person to write up the chart next month.
Someone who isn’t always doom and gloom. At least the guys who write the Marvel and indie charts try and find positive slants. Yes, we all know the industry is sinking, do you have to tell us every 30 seconds.
And big whoop that Brightest Day is down 46%. ITS THE NUMBER TWO BOOK AND STILL BEATING ALL BUT ONE TITLE!! Not to mention some titles lose 46% by issue 3 or 4 (Avenger relaunches!).
Or maybe The Beat is turning into Bleeding Cool – what with their constant Marvel good! DC bad! mentality.
You guys may have a point. Ever since Secret Invasion, The Avengers books have been consistently losing readers, to the point that they’re selling less than 67,000 copies nowadays, less than two-thirds of what they sold at their peak. And it’s still Marvels’s top franchise.
The X-Men books are doing even worse, but Paul O’Brien keeps sugarcoating it with expressions like “gentle decline”, “holding level” and “the drop is exaggerated due to the lack of variant covers”. Maybe Paul and Marc could switch publishers for a month so that Marvel fans could be subjected to Marc’s brutal honesty.
“I’ve got a solution. Why doesn’t The Beat get another person to write up the chart next month.
Someone who isn’t always doom and gloom. At least the guys who write the Marvel and indie charts try and find positive slants. Yes, we all know the industry is sinking, do you have to tell us every 30 seconds.”
I have a counter-solution: DON’T READ THE COLUMN
Thats not a solution.
Thats just you being a dick.
Reading the 3 sales columns are, for the most part, enjoyable. And its pretty much all I read here. If there was another site doing the same thing – I’d go there instead.
Wow, DC’s sales are, just, wow. I haven’t been paying close attention the past several months or so, but actually stepping back for a while and then reading these… these figures are dismal, and there must be a greater increase in non-direct market channels to warrant most of these books still existing.
“Reading the 3 sales columns are, for the most part, enjoyable. And its pretty much all I read here. If there was another site doing the same thing – I’d go there instead.”
So instead of being a crybaby, why don’t you (and the other chronic complainers) just stick to reading the numbers and skip the commentary right after.
Or did this just not occur to you? Or do you actually LIKE to read the commentary and bitch about it afterwards? Yeah, I think we’re onto something here…
I’m not going to stop voicing my opinion because you don’t want to hear it – get over yourself – maybe you should take your own advice and not read the comments if you don’t like what everyone is saying – but I’m guessing you just like to act superior, but all your doing is whinging about the ‘chronic complainers’.
I’ll say it again – The Beat should consider getting someone else to write this column.
So James can post his opinion and nobody can stop him, but he doesn’t feel Marc-Oliver can post his opinion in his own column?
Ok then.
It looks like you were talking to Snikt Snakt, but seeing as your talking about me, I’ll reply.
He can post his opinion on an article I don’t want to read. He obviously doesn’t like writing the article because he has so many smart arse comments. I suggest The Beat getting someone who wants too.
But bottom line is, I don’t like some of Marc’s comments, you obviously have a problem with mine, and based on replies Marc has made, he has issue with others comments too(and maybe mine). It doesn’t change anything.
I will continue to make my posts every month – and I’ll reply to people who take issue with me – so far, you and Snikt Snakt.
“He obviously doesn’t like writing the article because he has so many smart arse comments.”
Or maybe he LOVES writing the article because he gets to make smart arse comments? I know I would.
I personally think that Mr. Frisch is just calling them like he sees them, and the analysis would have a much more positive tone if most of DC’s books weren’t tanking horribly.
There’s a lot of rambling in this month’s comments. I don’t understand the “snark” complaints here. Portraying in a less-than-positive light that a company fired a writer because they didn’t like his work on a book only to find out everybody else did and scramble to re-hire him but their competition gets him instead doesn’t strike me as snarky. Nor does pointing out errors in advertisement copy or neglecting to promote a books connection to a popular storyline. It strikes me as legitimately pointing out the company’s mistakes/flaws, which I find interesting to learn. And following the first paragraph of Brightest Day where he correctly compares it to Countdown is:
“Then again, it’s 2011. Any series starring B-list characters like Aquaman or Hawkman and still selling around 70k after 20 issues has to rate as a success. There’s a reason the book is in the Top 3.”
What a bastard!
Ok, I’m done with this conversation. I’ve said what I wanted to say.
Its like I’m speaking to the same person who keeps changing his username to get his point across….