DC Comics’ periodical business had one of its better months in May, thanks to a host of new launches that were received well by retailers. The new arrivals include the DC Universe titles Brightest Day, Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne, Justice League: Generation Lost and Birds of Prey, as well as Vertigo’s I, Zombie, among others. Average Vertigo sales continued to stabilize in May, thanks to a reinvigorated lineup, while DC’s WildStorm imprint, once again, depended on long-running creator-owned series Astro City and Ex Machina to remind people that it still exists, with average periodical sales of below 7,000.
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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3/6 - BATMAN: THE RETURN OF BRUCE WAYNE 05/2010: Batman: TRoBW #1 of 6 -- 108,534 05/2010: Batman: TRoBW #2 of 6 -- 93,606 (-13.8%)
Grant Morrison’s gimmicky cross-time quest miniseries is being ordered as the minor juggernaut you’d expect. On the one hand, Return of Bruce Wayne is part of the culmination of Morrison’s five-year plan for the franchise; on the other hand, the structure of the story — which is spread over three series and relies heavily on comics that came out years ago — seems as fractured and anticlimactic as that of “Batman R.I.P.” a couple of years back. Retailers have ordered accordingly: plentifully, but with caution.
Both issues came with 1:25 variant-cover editions, issue #1 also had a rarer 1:200 variant.
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5/7 - BRIGHTEST DAY 04/2010: Brightest Day #0 -- 129,446 05/2010: Brightest Day #1 -- 103,326 (-20.2%) 05/2010: Brightest Day #2 -- 90,245 (-12.7%)
The 26-issue twice-monthly post-event series co-written by Geoff Johns kicked off for good in May. In addition to a 1:50 variant edition for issue #1 and a 1:25 one for #2, DC also offered retailers the option to buy one $ 8.00 bag of 50 Green Lantern plastic rings for every 25 copies ordered of Brightest Day #1.
Even considering the promotions, these are great numbers, though. At this stage, it’s still possible that retailers are caught in the glow of post-Blackest Night euphoria, of course, but we’ll find out whether they were able to sell their stock soon enough.
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8 - GREEN LANTERN 05/2005: GL: Rebirth #6 -- 114,354 05/2005: Green Lantern #1 -- 168,353 [180,483] 05/2006: Green Lantern #11 -- 78,926 05/2007: Green Lantern #19 -- 62,439 05/2007: Green Lantern #20 -- 60,556 05/2008: Green Lantern #31 -- 65,874 -------------------------------------- 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%) 05/2010: Green Lantern #54 -- 88,292 (-12.0%) ----------------- 6 months: - 12.0% 1 year : + 8.4% 2 years : + 34.0% 5 years : - 37.5%
The May issue was a “Brightest Day” tie-in, as well as the first issue in over a year that wasn’t promoted by a variant edition. The numbers drop a bit, not surprisingly, but Green Lantern remains DC’s commercial flagship title.
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9 - 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%) 05/2010: Batman and Robin #12 -- 84,843 (+ 1.0%) ----------------- 6 months: - 11.3%
Sales remain rock-solid around the 85K mark for the fourth issue in a row. There was a 1:25 variant, as usual.
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12 - THE FLASH 05/2005: Flash #222 -- 47,528 05/2007: Flash: FMA #12 -- 47,809 05/2008: Flash #240 -- 31,944 ----------------------------------- 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%) 05/2010: Flash #2 -- 76,560 (- 24.1%) ----------------- 6 months: + 3.6% 1 year : - 11.2% 2 years : +139.7% 5 years : + 61.1%
That’s an average drop at first glance, but let’s not forget that The Flash #1 came with 1:25 and 1:100 variants, as well as one of those plastic-ring promotions. The 1:10 variant-cover edition scheme for issue #2 is relatively tame in comparison, so this is actually an encouraging sign for the title.
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14 - GREEN LANTERN CORPS 05/2007: Green Lantern Corps #12 -- 33,267 05/2008: Green Lantern Corps #24 -- 46,948 ------------------------------------------ 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%) 05/2010: Green Lantern Corps #48 -- 68,826 (- 4.6%) ---------------- 6 months: -14.4% 1 year : +11.8% 2 years : +46.6%
Like the mother title, Green Lantern Corps tied in with “Brightest Day” but wasn’t promoted with a variant edition in May, for the first time in ages, so this is a fairly smooth drop.
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17 - JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA 05/2005: JLA #114 -- 63,934 05/2007: Justice League #9 -- 129,285 05/2008: Justice League #21 -- 90,035 -------------------------------------- 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%) 05/2010: Justice League #45 -- 62,465 (+ 0.2%) ---------------- 6 months: -30.1% 1 year : - 2.2% 2 years : -30.6% 5 years : - 2.3%
Contrary to what the advertising text in Previews says, Justice League #45 was also promoted by a variant edition, just like the previous issue. Still, the fact that it’s holding level for the second month of a crossover with Justice Society (or the prologue, technically) suggests that retailers were pleased with the initial reaction.
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18 - BATMAN 05/2005: Batman #640 -- 66,640 [ 71,120] 05/2006: Batman #653 -- 77,257 [ 78,435] 05/2007: Batman #665 -- 80,122 05/2008: Batman #676 -- 105,039 [122,877] ------------------------------- 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%) 05/2010: Batman #699 -- 62,377 (+ 2.4%) ---------------- 6 months: - 9.6% 1 year : -30.1% 2 years : -40.6% 5 years : - 6.4%
Batman sales turn around in time for issue #700, which starts a three-part run by Grant Morrison.
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29/38 - JUSTICE LEAGUE: GENERATION LOST 05/2010: Generation Lost #1 of 13 -- 50,784 05/2010: Generation Lost #2 of 13 -- 44,711 (-12.0%)
The biweekly maxiseries by Judd Winick and Keith Giffen debuts with solid numbers, considering it stars a bunch of C-list characters. The “Brightest Day” tie-in and the 1:50 (issue #1) and 1:25 (#2) variants probably helped.
Notably, Justice League: Generation Lost is the first comic book by an American major publisher that’s offered digitally on the same day as the print version comes out — starting, somewhat improbably, with issue #4, no doubt because that makes sense in the strange and wonderful parallel universe that comics publishers, retailers, distributors and fans have created for themselves.
But I digress. It’ll be very interesting to watch if there’s any effect at all on the direct-market numbers.
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30 - BIRDS OF PREY 05/2005: Birds of Prey #82 -- 29,855 05/2006: Birds of Prey #94 -- 34,905 05/2007: Birds of Prey #106 -- 28,363 05/2008: Birds of Prey #118 -- 21,941 ------------------------------------- 05/2010: Birds of Prey #1 -- 50,428 (+135.4%) ----------------- 2 years : +129.8% 5 years : + 68.9%
The new debut issue is by the same writer/artist team that took over the title with Birds of Prey #56 almost exactly seven years ago, but thanks to a relaunch, a “Brightest Day” tie-in, a 1:25 variant-cover edition and the higher profile of both writer Gail Simone and artist Ed Benes, sales almost double this time.
Ultimately, what matters is where the numbers will be half a year down the road, but this is a very promising start. Retailers have a lot of goodwill for this book by these creators, it appears.
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33/37/40/42 - SUPERMAN: WAR OF THE SUPERMEN 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%) 05/2010: WotS #0 -- ? 05/2010: WotS #1 of 4 -- 48,357 (+40.0%) 05/2010: WotS #2 of 4 -- 44,828 (- 7.3%) 05/2010: WotS #3 of 4 -- 43,056 (- 4.0%) 06/2010: WotS #4 of 4 -- 42,436 (- 1.4%) ----------------- 6 months: + 26.6% 1 year : + 6.0%
The weekly War of the Supermen miniseries sees a nice little increase.
Given the baffling “Free Comic Book Day” promotion, the 1:25 variants for all four issues and the fact that it’s the payoff for more than a year’s worth of Superman storylines across a whole bunch of titles, though, “a nice little increase” isn’t terribly impressive.
Again: Whoever selected this, of all things, as the book DC should be promoting on “Free Comic Book Day” needs to be tarred and feathered.
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39 - THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES 05/2005: LoSH #6 -- 40,970 05/2006: Supergirl & LoSH #18 -- 45,520 05/2007: Supergirl & LoSH #30 -- 30,767 05/2008: LoSH #42 -- 27,940 --------------------------------------- 05/2010: LoSH #1 -- 44,415 (+98.9%) ----------------- 2 years : + 59.0% 5 years : + 8.4%
Veteran comics writer and former DC head Paul Levitz and newcomer artist Yildiray Cinar turn in the fifth or sixth Legion of Super-Heroes relaunch of the last ten years, helped in relatively restrained fashion by a 1:10 variant.
For the sake of comparison, Mark Waid and Barry Kitson’s debut issue sold an estimated 50,691 copies back in December 2004, and Jim Shooter and Francis Manapul’s Legion #37 shifted an estimated 45,803 units three years later.
It doesn’t look like retailers expect a great change of temperature in the market, when it comes to this title.
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44 - DETECTIVE COMICS 05/2005: Detective Comics #806 -- 38,838 05/2006: Detective Comics #819 -- 65,800 05/2007: Detective Comics #832 -- 51,727 05/2008: Detective Comics #844 -- 48,394 ----------------------------------------- 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%) 05/2010: Detective Comics #865 -- 41,501 (- 2.2%) ----------------- 6 months: - 23.7% 1 year : n.a. 2 years : - 14.2% 5 years : + 6.9%
Business as usual. Retailers were able to place orders for this issue before it was made known that writer Greg Rucka and artist J. H. Williams III had departed for good, so these numbers may not yet reflect that reality.
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51 - RED ROBIN 05/2005: Robin #138 -- 29,935 05/2006: Robin #150 -- 41,417 05/2007: Robin #162 -- 26,801 05/2008: Robin #174 -- 26,209 -------------------------------- 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%) 05/2010: Red Robin #12 -- 36,273 (+ 0.2%) ----------------- 6 months: - 14.5% 1 year : - 43.6% 2 years : + 38.4% 5 years : + 21.2%
Writer Christopher Yost completes his story with rock-solid numbers. Red Robin sales are still about 10,000 units ahead of its predecessor Robin.
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54 - 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%) 05/2010: Adventure Comics #11 -- 34,794 (- 7.4%) ----------------- 6 months: - 59.1%
The May issue is a fill-in, more or less, before new writer Paul Levitz takes over with #12. It doesn’t seem to have mattered to the numbers either way. There was a 1:10 variant.
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55 - DC UNIVERSE LEGACIES 05/2010: DCU Legacies #1 of 10 -- 34,429
The premise: Writer Len Wein and a bunch of high-ticket artists including Joe Kubert retell the revised history of the DC Universe in period stories, starting with one set in World War II starring Dr. Fate and the Spectre.
Sales are about as good as can be expected for this type of thing, I’d say. There was a 1:25 variant edition.
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56 - ZATANNA 05/2010: Zatanna #1 -- 33,691
Paul Dini finally gets his Zatanna series off the ground, a project that’s been mentioned for ages. Considering there’s no big-event tie-in and the solicitation copy describes the villain as “a crime boss who dominates the criminal underworld with the dark powers of the magical underworld,” every copy sold is an achievement. An estimated 33,691 of them mean that retailers are being very generous and hopeful about Zatanna in an already crowded market.
There was a 1:10 variant edition.
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60 - I, ZOMBIE 05/2010: I, Zombie #1 -- 33,025
Vertigo’s latest promotional $ 1.00 debut issue gets I, Zombie (“iZombie“?) a fantastic start. The Mike Allred art probably helped to convince retailers, but it’s still rather surprising that the book blows the previous $ 1.00 debuts Joe the Barbarian #1 (25,543 copies) and The Unwritten #1 (26,915) out of the water commercially.
Are zombies still that much of a draw in 2010?
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61 - SUPERMAN/BATMAN 05/2005: -- 05/2006: Superman/Batman #25 -- 103,702 [110,845] 05/2006: Superman/Batman #26 -- 118,821 [130,077] 05/2007: Superman/Batman #35 -- 68,160 05/2008: Superman/Batman #48 -- 52,845 --------------------------------------- 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%) 05/2010: Superman/Batman #72 -- 32,047 (+ 1.1%) ---------------- 6 months: -38.5% 1 year : -18.9% 2 years : -39.4% 5 years : n.a.
A new storyline by Paul Levitz and Jerry Ordway brings a minuscule increase.
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62 - TITANS: VILLAINS FOR HIRE SPECIAL 05/2008: Titans #2 -- 57,358 --------------------------------- 05/2009: Titans #13 -- 34,343 (- 4.6%) 06/2009: Titans #14 -- 32,321 (- 5.9%) 07/2009: Titans #15 -- 46,189 (+42.9%) 08/2009: Titans #16 -- 31,408 (-32.0%) 09/2009: Titans #17 -- 30,154 (- 4.0%) 10/2009: Titans #18 -- 28,215 (- 6.4%) 11/2009: Titans #19 -- 27,099 (- 4.0%) 12/2009: Titans #20 -- 25,887 (- 4.5%) 01/2010: Titans #21 -- 24,924 (- 3.7%) 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%) ---------------- 6 months: +17.1% 1 year : - 7.6% 2 years : -44.7%
Titans returns with a regular creative team, a new direction, a one-shot special to kick things off and a 1:25 variant. It’s accompanied by some very mild enthusiasm from retailers, judging from these sales.
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64 - 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%) 05/2010: JL: RoA #3 of 4 -- 31,246 (- 2.4%)
This one’s bottoming out quickly, boding perhaps well for the new Green Arrow book it serves as a lead-in to.
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65 - FIRST WAVE 11/2009: B/DS Special #1 -- 32,636 ------------------------------------- 03/2010: First Wave #1 of 6 -- 38,365 04/2010: -- 05/2010: First Wave #2 of 6 -- 30,705 (-20.0%)
This, on the other hand, is a pretty stiff drop for a miniseries. As with issue #1, there was a 1:10 variant-cover edition.
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71 - BATGIRL 05/2005: Batgirl #64 -- 28,049 ---------------------------------- 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%) 05/2010: Batgirl #10 -- 28,641 (- 2.7%) ---------------- 6 months: -17.5% 5 years : + 2.1%
Slipping down the charts, slowly but surely.
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77 - 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%)
The numbers are bottoming out quickly, and issue #1 sold an additional 3,069 copies in May — good signs, certainly. The litmus test comes with issue #6 and on, when co-writer Stephen King is gone. There was a 1:25 variant, as usual.
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80 - GOTHAM CITY SIRENS 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%) 05/2010: GC Sirens #12 -- 26,029 (- 1.3%) ----------------- 6 months: - 16.0%
81 - 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%) 05/2010: Batman: SoG #12 -- 25,446 (- 1.9%) ---------------- 6 months: -21.2%
Standard attrition for the two Paul Dini vehicles.
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82 - WONDER WOMAN 05/2005: Wonder Woman #216 -- 31,601 05/2007: Wonder Woman #9 -- 58,561 05/2008: Wonder Woman #20 -- 38,116 ------------------------------------- 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%) 05/2010: Wonder Woman #44 -- 25,443 (+ 0.3%) ---------------- 6 months: - 3.1% 1 year : -23.1% 2 years : -33.3% 5 years : -19.5%
Retailers are holding their breath for new J. Michael Straczynski, for the fourth month in a row.
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83 - 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%) 05/2010: JSA All-Stars #6 -- 25,306 (- 4.8%)
Every new 5% drop makes it more questionable whether anybody was really looking for a Justice Society spin-off.
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85 - TEEN TITANS 05/2005: Teen Titans #24 -- 69,046 05/2006: Teen Titans #35 -- 72,954 05/2006: Teen Titans #36 -- 71,486 05/2007: Teen Titans #46 -- 61,478 05/2007: Teen Titans #47 -- 63,673 05/2008: Teen Titans #59 -- 46,306 ---------------------------------- 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%) 05/2010: Teen Titans #83 -- 24,960 (- 1.4%) ---------------- 6 months: -46.0% 1 year : -26.8% 2 years : -46.1% 5 years : -63.9%
90 - SECRET SIX 05/2006: Secret Six #1 of 6 -- 54,961 [57,425] ------------------------------------- 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%) 05/2010: Secret Six #21 -- 22,334 (- 1.6%) ---------------- 6 months: - 3.7% 1 year : -17.6%
Standard attrition for Teen Titans and Secret Six.
The former launches a backup strip drawn by Ted Naifeh, which doesn’t seem to have affected sales.
—–
94 - THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD 05/2007: -- 05/2008: The Brave and the Bold #13 -- 35,814 --------------------------------------------- 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%) 05/2010: The Brave and the Bold #34 -- 21,758 (+ 1.1%) ---------------- 6 months: + 2.2% 1 year : - 2.5% 2 years : -39.3%
The book continues a small climb.
—–
96 - 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%) 05/2010: Power Girl #12 -- 20,681 (+ 0.0%) ---------------- 6 months: n.a.
The initial creative team end their run with decent, stable numbers. Given how closely Power Girl is identified with them and that sales are far from spectacular, I’m not sure it makes a lot of sense to keep the book going.
—–
100 - BOOSTER GOLD 05/2008: Booster Gold #9 -- 35,030 ----------------------------------- 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%) 05/2010: Booster Gold #32 -- 20,343 (+ 2.7%) ---------------- 6 months: -64.4% 1 year : - 9.8% 2 years : -41.9%
In the case of Booster Gold, which saw the arrival of a new creative team in May, the extension made more sense, because the new writers have a long history with the character. As you can see, though, retailers were only slightly convinced it makes much of a difference.
—–
104 - FABLES (Vertigo) 05/2005: Fables #37 -- 24,477 05/2006: Fables #49 -- 24,444 05/2007: Fables #61 -- 26,056 05/2008: Fables #73 -- 23,785 ----------------------------- 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%) 05/2010: Fables #95 -- 19,932 (-0.2%) ---------------- 6 months: - 4.6% 1 year : -15.7% 2 years : -16.2% 5 years : -18.6%
Fables sticks to its 20K orbit.
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107 - DOC SAVAGE 04/2010: Doc Savage #1 -- 24,539 05/2010: Doc Savage #2 -- 19,073 (-22.3%)
An average second-issue drop for a miniseries. Both issues have 1:10 variants.
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114 - 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%) 05/2010: Joe the Barbarian #5 of 8 -- 16,725 (- 2.2%)
Rock-solid sales.
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120 - BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL 05/2007: -- 05/2008: Batman Confidential #17 -- 25,017 ------------------------------------------ 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%) 05/2010: Batman Confidential #44 -- 15,279 (- 7.1%) ---------------- 6 months: - 7.5% 1 year : -19.0% 2 years : -38.9%
Writer/artist Sam Kieth moved on in April, and so did the increase he brought to Batman Confidential. The new arc is a sequel to last year’s Batman and Superman vs. Vampires and Werewolves miniseries, evidently, with the same creative team now pitching Batman against zombies. (For real, this paragraph.)
That mini had estimated sales between 28,000 and 17,000, so it doesn’t look like anybody was particularly screaming for a follow-up.
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126 - THE SPIRIT 05/2007: The Spirit #6 -- 23,708 05/2008: The Spirit #17 -- 14,057 --------------------------------- 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%) 05/2010: The Spirit #2 -- 14,274 (- 28.1%) ----------------- 1 year : + 71.4% 2 years : + 1.5%
This drop is on the steep side.
Then again, there was no variant edition for the second issue here, and The Spirit remains surprisingly far ahead of its previous incarnation, so let’s wait and see.
—–
130 - THE UNWRITTEN (Vertigo) 05/2009: The Unwritten #1 -- 26,915 [31,081] 06/2009: The Unwritten #2 -- 16,290 (-39.5%) 07/2009: The Unwritten #3 -- 17,028 (+ 4.5%) 08/2009: The Unwritten #4 -- 16,336 (- 4.1%) 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%) 05/2010: The Unwritten #13 -- 13,467 (- 0.3%) ---------------- 6 months: - 8.8% 1 year : -50.0%
A year down the road from its promotional $ 1.00 debut issue, The Unwritten continues its rock-solid performance. The last five months’ worth of issues have all sold within 350 copies of each other.
—–
133 - ASTRO CITY: THE DARK AGE (WildStorm) 06/2005: The Dark Age/Book 1 #1 of 4 -- 32,690 07/2005: The Dark Age/Book 1 #2 of 4 -- 29,721 08/2005: The Dark Age/Book 1 #3 of 4 -- 28,152 10/2005: The Dark Age/Book 1 #4 of 4 -- 27,367 ----------------------------------------------- 11/2006: The Dark Age/Book 2 #1 of 4 -- 26,993 02/2007: The Dark Age/Book 2 #2 of 4 -- 23,412 04/2007: The Dark Age/Book 2 #3 of 4 -- 22,727 09/2007: The Dark Age/Book 2 #4 of 4 -- 19,764 ----------------------------------------------- 05/2009: The Dark Age/Book 3 #1 of 4 -- 18,281 (- 7.5%) 06/2009: The Dark Age/Book 3 #2 of 4 -- 16,405 (-10.3%) 07/2009: The Dark Age/Book 3 #3 of 4 -- 15,291 (- 6.8%) 08/2009: The Dark Age/Book 3 #4 of 4 -- 14,684 (- 4.0%) 09/2009: Astra Special #1 of 2 -- 14,627 (- 0.4%) 10/2009: Astra Special #2 of 2 -- 13,847 (- 5.3%) ---------------------------------------------- 01/2010: The Dark Age/Book 4 #1 of 4 -- 13,664 (- 1.3%) 02/2010: -- 03/2010: The Dark Age/Book 4 #2 of 4 -- 13,118 (- 4.0%) 03/2010: The Dark Age/Book 4 #3 of 4 -- 12,630 (- 3.7%) 04/2010: -- 05/2010: The Dark Age/Book 4 #4 of 4 -- 12,900 (+ 2.1%) ---------------- 1 year : -29.4%
Despite the higher cover price of $ 4.99, the Astro City: The Dark Age finale saw a tiny little sales increase.
It’s hard to tell, given the overall market situation, the brutal decline of the WildStorm brand over the last few years, the price increase from $ 2.99 to $ 3.99 halfway through and the delays between the individual chapters, but it looks like the 16-part The Dark Age — which took the creators five years to produce — may have driven away quite a few readers from Astro City.
The return to shorter stories doesn’t look like the worst idea, all things considered, although it’s still going to be an uphill climb — see the numbers for last year’s unrelated Astra Special miniseries.
Astro City is still WildStorm’s top-selling series, of course, particularly when the final issue of Ex Machina is out.
——
140 - DOOM PATROL 05/2005: Doom Patrol #12 -- 15,747 ---------------------------------- 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%) 05/2010: Doom Patrol #10 -- 12,334 (- 6.0%) ---------------- 6 months: -77.1% 5 years : -21.7%
The numbers remain in free-fall.
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141 - EX MACHINA (WildStorm) 05/2005: Ex Machina #11 -- 21,885 05/2006: Ex Machina #20 -- 20,589 05/2007: Ex Machina #28 -- 18,164 05/2008: -- --------------------------------- 05/2009: Ex Machina #42 -- 13,403 (- 0.9%) 06/2009: Ex Machina #43 -- 13,204 (- 1.5%) 07/2009: -- 08/2009: Ex Machina #44 -- 12,796 (- 3.1%) 09/2009: Ex Machina #45 -- 12,832 (+ 0.3%) 10/2009: Ex Machina #46 -- 12,538 (- 2.3%) 11/2009: -- 12/2009: Ex Machina #47 -- 12,192 (- 2.8%) 01/2010: -- 02/2010: -- 03/2010: Ex Machina #48 -- 12,093 (- 0.8%) 04/2010: -- 05/2010: Ex Machina #49 -- 11,994 (- 0.8%) ---------------- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : -10.5% 2 years : n.a. 5 years : -45.2%
One issue to go. My magical crystal ball says it will be a while before there’s another creator-owned WildStorm series that concludes its run above 10K.
—–
146 - JONAH HEX 05/2006: Jonah Hex #7 -- 21,910 05/2007: Jonah Hex #19 -- 16,473 05/2008: Jonah Hex #31 -- 13,140 -------------------------------- 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%) 05/2010: Jonah Hex #55 -- 11,327 (+ 0.2%) ---------------- 6 months: + 1.6% 1 year : - 2.4% 2 years : -13.8%
147 - R.E.B.E.L.S. 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%) 05/2010: R.E.B.E.L.S. #16 -- 11,120 (- 1.3%) ----------------- 6 months: - 78.2% 1 year : - 17.4%
Two low-selling yet stable DC Universe titles.
—–
154 - AZRAEL 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%) 05/2010: Azrael #8 -- 10,228 (- 7.7%) ---------------- 6 months: -52.2% 1 year : -71.5%
A low-selling and not stable DC Universe title. This one’s about to be axed, surely.
—–
155 - HELLBLAZER (Vertigo) 05/2005: Hellblazer #208 -- 15,420 05/2006: Hellblazer #220 -- 14,161 05/2007: Hellblazer #232 -- 13,164 05/2008: Hellblazer #244 -- 11,826 ---------------------------------- 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%) 05/2010: Hellblazer #267 -- 10,155 (-1.0%) ---------------- 6 months: - 3.8% 1 year : - 7.2% 2 years : -14.1% 5 years : -34.1%
159 - 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%) 05/2010: Sweet Tooth #9 -- 9,654 (+ 0.4%) ---------------- 6 months: - 6.8%
160 - 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%) 05/2009: Daytripper #6 of 10 -- 9,574 (- 1.3%)
A bunch of Vertigo books with rock-solid figures.
—–
161 - GOD OF WAR (WildStorm) 03/2010: God of War #1 of 6 -- 9,842 04/2010: -- 05/2010: God of War #2 of 6 -- 9,501 (-3.5%)
Not a bad second-issue drop.
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165 - HOUSE OF MYSTERY (Vertigo) 05/2008: House of Mystery #1 -- 27,492 --------------------------------------- 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%) 05/2010: House of Mystery #25 -- 9,253 (+ 0.9%) ---------------- 6 months: -11.7% 1 year : -35.6%
The marginal increase is presumably thanks to the contributions by Bill Willingham and Paul Levitz.
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171/196/212/230 - WHAT'S NEXT REPRINT SPECIALS 05/2010: Jonah Hex #1 -- 8,463 05/2010: Hellblazer #1 -- 7,089 05/2010: Scalped #1 -- 6,438 05/2010: Action Comics #858 -- 6,438 05/2010: The Authority #1 -- 5,792
More $ 1.00 reprints. Retailers seem to be seizing the opportunity to stock up on cheap, introductory Jonah Hex comics, just in case the film doesn’t suck.
Also, there seems to be a lot of faith in Scalped and Hellblazer.
—–
178 - MADAME XANADU (Vertigo) 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%) 05/2010: Madame Xanadu #23 -- 8,028 (- 1.6%) ---------------- 6 months: - 9.4% 1 year : -21.1%
Standard attrition.
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179 - TINY TITANS (Johnny DC) 05/2008: Tiny Titans #4 -- 10,369 ---------------------------------- 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%) 05/2010: Tiny Titans #28 -- 7,959 (- 3.2%) ---------------- 6 months: - 1.7% 1 year : -10.0% 2 years : -23.2%
A Johnny DC book. See small print.
—–
180 - WARLORD 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%) 05/2010: Warlord #14 -- 7,915 (- 2.7%) ---------------- 6 months: -17.1% 1 year : -40.9%
Canceled with issue #18.
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188 - NORTHLANDERS (Vertigo) 05/2008: Northlanders #6 -- 12,009 ----------------------------------- 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%) 05/2010: Northlanders #28 -- 7,630 (- 0.7%) ---------------- 6 months: - 6.2% 1 year : -17.4% 2 years : -36.5%
Northlanders sales have stabilized over the last six months.
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192 - THE AUTHORITY (WildStorm) 05/2005: Revolution #8 of 12 -- 19,446 05/2007: -- --------------------------------------- 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%) 05/2010: The Authority v4 #22 -- 7,295 (- 3.5%) ---------------- 6 months: - 9.6% 1 year : -23.5% 2 years : n.a. 5 years : -62.5%
The best-selling WildStorm Universe title. Why is this line still around, again?
—–
193 - 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%) 05/2010: Magog #9 -- 7,264 (- 6.2%) ---------------- 6 months: -43.8%
Canceled with issue #12, which was initially meant to be the second chapter of a 5-part arc.
—–
197 - THE MIGHTY CRUSADERS SPECIAL 05/2010: TMC Special #1 -- 7,017
This is a $ 4.99 special one-shot starring the Red Circle characters, of The Shield and The Web fame — see below. Compared to those books, The Mighty Crusaders sales are astonishingly good.
—–
203 - DMZ (Vertigo) 05/2006: DMZ #7 -- 15,026 05/2007: DMZ #19 -- 13,116 05/2008: DMZ #31 -- 9,911 -------------------------- 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%) 05/2010: DMZ #53 -- 6,759 (-1.0%) ---------------- 6 months: - 6.0% 1 year : n.a. 2 years : -31.8%
Stabilizing in the 7-8K area.
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205 - DV8: GODS AND MONSTERS (WildStorm) 04/2010: Gods and Monsters #1 of 8 -- 10,203 05/2010: Gods and Monsters #2 of 8 -- 6,671 (-34.6%)
Issue #1 was promoted with a 1:10 variant edition, but this is still a terrible second-issue drop for an 8-part mini.
This is probably the kind of thing WildStorm should have done a lot sooner with their WildStorm Universe line, but I suspect it’s just too little, too late. They could be producing the best comics in the world right now, and nobody would notice.
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206 - SCALPED (Vertigo) 05/2007: Scalped #5 -- 9,022 05/2008: Scalped #17 -- 6,927 ------------------------------ 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%) 05/2010: Scalped #38 -- 6,632 (+ 0.7%) ---------------- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : n.a. 2 years : - 4.3%
Scalped keeps doing what it’s been doing for, oh, more than two years now: hanging in there with frighteningly low sales, at a fiercely consistent level.
Even May’s $ 1.00 reprint of Scalped #1 sold right in the same area with estimated sales of 6,438. Just incredible.
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214 - 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%) 05/2010: Beginning's End #5 -- 6,403 (- 0.3%) ---------------- 2 years : -46.0%
Stabilizing. It’s a six-issue miniseries, by the way.
—–
219 - 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%) 05/2010: Impostors #3 of 4 -- 6,252 (-14.3%) ---------------- 1 year : -78.2%
220 - HUMAN TARGET 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%) 05/2010: Human Target #4 of 6 -- 6,222 (- 9.3%)
Two DC Universe miniseries that are utter disasters commercially.
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222 - WILDCATS (WildStorm) 05/2006: Nemesis #9 of 9 -- 14,123 05/2007: -- ---------------------------------- 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%) 05/2010: World's End #23 -- 6,185 (- 2.9%) ---------------- 6 months: - 7.6% 1 year : -24.3% 2 years : n.a.
Another former flagship of the WildStorm Universe line.
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225 - 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%) 05/2010: Greek Street #11 -- 6,128 (- 3.1%) ---------------- 6 months: -28.8%
Canceled.
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226 - 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%) 05/2010: The Great Ten #7 of 10 -- 6,112 (- 3.0%)
Canceled with issue #9, spectacularly.
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227 - BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD (Johnny DC) 05/2005: Batman Strikes! #9 -- 10,376 05/2006: Batman Strikes! #21 -- 8,467 05/2007: Batman Strikes! #33 -- 7,235 05/2008: Batman Strikes! #45 -- 6,611 ---------------------------------------- 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%) 05/2010: Brave & Bold #17 -- 6,103 (- 6.2%) ---------------- 6 months: - 5.2% 1 year : -23.7% 2 years : - 7.7% 5 years : - 4.1%
Another Johnny DC book.
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232 - 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%) 05/2010: Demo Vol. 2 #4 of 6 -- 5,818 (- 3.2%)
Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan’s black & white mini is bottoming out fairly quickly now.
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240 - UNKNOWN SOLDIER (Vertigo) 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%) 05/2010: Unknown Soldier #20 -- 5,466 (- 1.4%) ---------------- 6 months: -14.0% 1 year : -29.1%
Standard attrition.
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248 - 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%) 05/2010: The Shield #9 -- 5,201 (- 1.7%) ---------------- 6 months: -39.1%
Canceled with issue #10.
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251 - AIR (Vertigo) 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%) 05/2010: Air #21 -- 5,104 (- 1.5%) ---------------- 6 months: -13.8% 1 year : -28.3%
Canceled with issue #24.
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260 - SUPER FRIENDS (Johnny DC) 05/2008: Super Friends #3 -- 8,037 ------------------------------------ 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%) 05/2010: Super Friends #27 -- 4,688 (- 5.4%) ---------------- 6 months: - 3.9% 1 year : -15.0% 2 years : -41.7%
Johnny DC.
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262 - 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%) 05/2010: The Web #9 -- 4,640 (- 2.6%) ---------------- 6 months: -39.2%
Canceled with issue #10.
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267 - 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%) 05/2010: Sparta, U.S.A. #3 of 6 -- 4,425 (-14.8%)
This is what creator-owned series by established names tend to perform like at WildStorm, these days.
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272 - BILLY BATSON & THE MAGIC OF SHAZAM (Johnny DC) 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%) 05/2010: Billy Batson #16 -- 4,125 (- 2.6%) ---------------- 6 months: -17.4% 1 year : n.a.
276 - SCOOBY DOO (Johnny DC) 05/2005: Scooby Doo #96 -- 4,718 05/2006: Scooby Doo #108 -- 4,496 05/2007: Scooby Doo #120 -- 4,343 05/2008: Scooby Doo #132 -- 4,309 --------------------------------- 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%) 05/2010: Scooby Doo #156 -- 3,857 (+ 0.6%) ---------------- 6 months: - 4.6% 1 year : - 5.1% 2 years : -10.5% 5 years : -18.3%
Johnny DC.
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291 - GARRISON (WildStorm) 04/2010: Garrison #1 -- 4,936 05/2010: Garrison #2 -- 3,252 (-34.1%)
294 - 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: Dante's Inferno #4 of 6 -- ? 04/2010: Dante's Inferno #5 of 6 -- 3,495 05/2010: Dante's Inferno #6 of 6 -- 3,197 (- 8.5%)
Garrison is another creator-owned series, Dante’s Inferno a game adaptation. Another WildStorm book, Free Realms, again missed the Top 300 chart with its ninth issue, for the ninth time in a row. For the purpose of the average sales charts below, as always, I’m assuming it sold as many units as the lowest-selling book on the chart, although the real number is probably much lower.
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6-MONTH COMPARISONS + 17.1%: Titans + 3.6%: Flash + 2.2%: Brave & Bold + 1.6%: Jonah Hex - 1.7%: Tiny Titans - 3.1%: Wonder Woman - 3.7%: Secret Six - 3.8%: Hellblazer - 3.9%: Super Friends - 4.6%: Fables - 4.6%: Scooby-Doo - 5.2%: Batman: Brave & Bold - 6.0%: DMZ - 6.2%: Northlanders - 6.8%: Sweet Tooth - 7.5%: Batman Confidential - 7.6%: Wildcats - 8.8%: Unwritten - 9.4%: Madame Xanadu - 9.6%: Authority - 9.6%: Batman - 11.3%: Batman and Robin - 11.7%: House of Mystery - 12.0%: Green Lantern - 13.8%: Air - 14.0%: Unknown Soldier - 14.4%: GL Corps - 14.5%: Red Robin - 16.0%: GC Sirens - 17.1%: Warlord - 17.4%: Billy Batson - 17.5%: Batgirl - 21.2%: Batman: SoG - 23.7%: Detective Comics - 28.8%: Greek Street - 30.1%: JLA - 38.5%: Superman/Batman - 39.1%: Shield - 39.2%: Web - 43.8%: Magog - 46.0%: Teen Titans - 52.2%: Azrael - 59.1%: Adventure Comics - 64.4%: Booster Gold - 77.1%: Doom Patrol - 78.2%: REBELS
—–
1-YEAR COMPARISONS + 71.4%: Spirit + 11.8%: GL Corps + 8.4%: Green Lantern - 2.2%: JLA - 2.4%: Jonah Hex - 2.5%: Brave & Bold - 5.1%: Scooby-Doo - 7.2%: Hellblazer - 7.6%: Titans - 9.8%: Booster Gold - 10.0%: Tiny Titans - 10.5%: Ex Machina - 11.2%: Flash - 15.0%: Super Friends - 15.7%: Fables - 17.4%: Northlanders - 17.4%: REBELS - 17.6%: Secret Six - 18.9%: Superman/Batman - 19.0%: Batman Confidential - 21.1%: Madame Xanadu - 23.1%: Wonder Woman - 23.5%: Authority - 23.7%: Batman: Brave & Bold - 24.3%: Wildcats - 26.8%: Teen Titans - 28.3%: Air - 29.1%: Unknown Soldier - 29.4%: Astro City - 30.1%: Batman - 35.6%: House of Mystery - 40.9%: Warlord - 43.6%: Red Robin - 50.0%: Unwritten - 71.5%: Azrael
—–
2-YEAR COMPARISONS +139.7%: Flash +129.8%: Birds of Prey + 59.0%: Legion + 38.4%: Red Robin + 34.0%: Green Lantern + 46.6%: GL Corps + 1.5%: Spirit - 4.3%: Scalped - 7.7%: Batman: Brave & Bold - 10.5%: Scooby-Doo - 13.8%: Jonah Hex - 14.1%: Hellblazer - 14.2%: Detective Comics - 16.2%: Fables - 23.2%: Tiny Titans - 30.6%: JLA - 31.8%: DMZ - 33.3%: Wonder Woman - 36.5%: Northlanders - 38.9%: Batman Confidential - 39.3%: Brave & Bold - 39.4%: Superman/Batman - 40.6%: Batman - 41.7%: Super Friends - 41.9%: Booster Gold - 44.7%: Titans - 46.0%: Supernatural - 46.1%: Teen Titans
—–
5-YEAR COMPARISONS + 68.9%: Birds of Prey + 61.1%: Flash + 21.2%: Red Robin + 8.4%: Legion + 6.9%: Detective Comics + 2.1%: Batgirl - 2.3%: JLA - 4.1%: Batman: Brave & Bold - 6.4%: Batman - 18.3%: Scooby-Doo - 18.6%: Fables - 19.5%: Wonder Woman - 21.7%: Doom Patrol - 34.1%: Hellblazer - 37.5%: Green Lantern - 45.2%: Ex Machina - 62.5%: Authority - 63.9%: Teen Titans
—–
Average Periodical Sales
(not counting reprints, reorders shipping after the initial month of release, Johnny DC titles and magazines)
DC COMICS 05/2005: 34,801 05/2006: 44,554 05/2007: 35,656 05/2008: 27,075 --------------- 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%)** 05/2010: 27,181 (+14.5%)** ---------------- 6 months: - 6.0% 1 year : +11.5% 2 years : + 0.4% 5 years : -21.9%
DC UNIVERSE 05/2005: 43,505 05/2006: 59,505 05/2007: 49,161 05/2008: 35,230 --------------- 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%) 05/2010: 36,533 (+11.2%) ---------------- 6 months: - 5.1% 1 year : +10.2% 2 years : + 3.7% 5 years : -16.0%
VERTIGO 05/2005: 14,520 05/2006: 15,266 05/2007: 12,256 05/2008: 10,418 --------------- 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%) 05/2010: 11,756 (+ 8.7%) ---------------- 6 months: + 6.5% 1 year : - 9.0% 2 years : +12.8% 5 years : -19.0%
WILDSTORM 05/2005: 13,593 05/2006: 12,737 05/2007: 14,260 05/2008: 9,812 --------------- 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%)** 05/2010: 6,808 (+14.9%)** ---------------- 6 months: - 4.2% 1 year : -20.6% 2 years : -30.6% 5 years : -49.9%
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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.
Re: Brightest Day
“Even considering the promotions, these are great numbers, though. At this stage, it’s still possible that retailers are caught in the glow of post-Blackest Night euphoria, of course, but we’ll find out whether they were able to sell their stock soon enough.”
It’s also possible that it’s an intriguing, well-crafted story so far.
Re: War of the Supermen:
“Again: Whoever selected this, of all things, as the book DC should be promoting on “Free Comic Book Day” needs to be tarred and feathered.”
Agreed. I think DC’s FCBD strategy is less “general public outreach” than it is an attention getting kick-off for whatever mega-event they’re launching in early May. Last year it was Blackest Night #0, and this year’s War of the Supermen makes it two for two in the Steeped-In-DC-Lore New Reader Un-Friendly department.
Re: Astro City:
“…it looks like the 16-part The Dark Age — which took the creators five years to produce — may have driven away quite a few readers from Astro City.”
It drove me away, but I’m right back in again with the Silver Agent specials.
Re: Justice Society of America:
Wait…no numbers for JSA? I see the All-Star spin-off covered…but nothing for the core title. Probably more of the same sliding numbers. For a terrific writer as Willingham is, his strike-out on JSA has been a real mystery to me. An alternate Nazi-dominated future? Ho-hum.
Shame about the drop on the DV8 mini; it’s been a great read so far.
Unless I missed an announcement, Greek Street has not been canceled. Unknown Soldier has.
With the cancellations of Air, Unknown Soldier and Greek Street (sigh), the lowest-selling Vertigo books will be Scalped and DMZ. Since these two are a) remarkably stable, b) doing very well in the TPB market by all accounts and c) nearing the end of their runs anyway, it may actually be some time before we see another sales-related cancellation at Vertigo. And iZombie is great, just as quirky and original as you’d expect from a Vertigo book but also quite accessible and entertaining, not as ‘difficult’ as, for example, Greek Street, a book that was just too sophisticated for this world, it seems.
RJT: Bleedingcool reported the cancellation, and I think Rich is usually right about these things.
Hey RJT – You did miss an announcement. GREEK STREET has been cancelled too.
Does anyone think that Peter Milligan’s comics seem to generate zero buzz due, in part, to the lack of press about them?
I love Milligan’s writing, but I never saw a single interview anywhere with him when DC Vertigo launched the title. I was planning on reading the first trade, but I can’t even tell you what the book was about.
I think the Free Comic Book Day offering did make some sense, from the standpoint that Chapter 1 is free, then come in next week for the next chapter, etc. This approach would be great to help get new readers coming to the comic shop regularly . . . if it had been done with a stronger story.
Oh well.
I thought Warlord was cancelled with 16, not 18. It’s a shame, as I was enjoying Grell’s return to the character. But with him not handling the art full time, I imagine many old fans weren’t interested.
I was suprised to read that Levitz return tot he Legion didn’t outperform Shooter’s return a while back. Shooter’s return had a 50/50 variant cover — what effect does that generally have, compared to the limited variants?
Did JSA ship this month? I echo Mark’s comments, though. The Willingham run has been dull.
Dan: I don’t know which comics news sites you frequent, but there were definitely reports and interviews on Newsarama and CBR when the book started. Greek Street got about the same kind of press that any new title without fan-favorite characters or creators gets. The more likely explanation for its lack of success is the book’s complexity, I think. I saw some people mention that it was hard to read in singles, and I’d have to agree. I found it necessary to carefully reread all prior issues before starting a new one during the first story arc. After that, I just gave up and waited until the second arc was complete before reading it as a whole.
I did miss Rich’s Bleeding Cool post about Greek Street, but since there has been no official word from Vertigo, it means that there has been no announcement. That doesn’t mean I don’t believe that Rich might be correct; the book has sadly had horrible sales. But unlike Air and US, there has been no official announcement from Vertigo about its fate.
I might check out Astro City again now the Dark Ages are finished.
The bottom of these charts always make me pull at my face. Haven’t ripped it off yet, though.
A large percentage of DC’s books have been relatively stable over the last 5 or so months. And DC’s marketshare has been stable as well. Thanks for the leg work Marc!
Those Vertigo pamphlet numbers just get lower and lower each month! It makes sense though, since the imprint tends to cater to a more discerning readership, and that readership is more likely to want their comics in more substantial chunks.
The Bleeding Cool article about GREEK STREET’s cancellation has no links, quotes or sources of any kind. I’m not saying that Johnston doesn’t “know things,” but that’s kind of bullshit.
And yeah, the Vertigo numbers are a really sad trend here. When I was a kid, the saying (mostly for writers with regards to making comics accessible) was “every issue is somebody’s first.”
From looking at these issue sales, it seems that “every issue is somebody’s LAST.”
Green Lantern Corps #48 actually did have a Variant Cover:
http://www.comixology.com/sku/MAR108014/Green-Lantern-Corps-48-Variant-Ed
“It’s also possible that it’s an intriguing, well-crafted story so far.”
Those were sales for the first issues, released in the same month. They didn’t know the story when they ordered them.
“From looking at these issue sales, it seems that “every issue is somebody’s LAST.””
Which is the same for every issue of every single comic book.
“Despite the higher cover price of $ 4.99, the Astro City: The Dark Age finale saw a tiny little sales increase.”
I’d guess that this was most likely due to the two 50/50 covers released for the issue.
I agree that the Power Girl series was really identified with Palmiotti, Gray, and Conner and DC is wasting their time continuing it now that they are gone.
Sales will definitely drop.
I know I dropped it after issue 12. Not because I have any dislike of the new creative team — but just because the creative team I want to see doing it is gone. I’d much rather they do the book as a periodic mini-series (maybe 4 issues a year) with Palmiotti, Gray, and Conner behind it than them try to keep it going as a monthly with another team behind it.
It won’t hold up.
Count me as another Greek Street reader who is disappointed the title is getting the axe. I’m holding my breath on Madame Xanadu and House of Mystery — but I know the both of those are not going to be long for this world either.
It really is a shame. DC is missing the market with these books. I know they could be selling the hell out of these books if they would spend some marketing dollars and make non-comic readers aware of them.
Even if they could only crack a fraction of the Harry Potter fans with The Unwritten, that would still be a lot more sales than they have on it now.
This is the corrections department.
“Unless I missed an announcement, Greek Street has not been canceled. Unknown Soldier has.”
You’re right. There’s no official word from DC that GREEK STREET is canceled. The same goes for UNKNOWN SOLDIER, though, as far as I’m aware.
“I thought Warlord was cancelled with 16, not 18.”
Correct!
“Green Lantern Corps #48 actually did have a Variant Cover:”
Also correct. Odd; neither the solicitation text nor the database I used to double-check listed the variant edition. Also true for GREEN LANTERN proper, which had a variant edition, as well.
“I’d guess that this was most likely due to the two 50/50 covers released for the issue.”
Correct again. I missed the variant for the final issue of ASTRO CITY: THE DARK AGE.
Artist Davide Gianfelice has confirmed the cancellation, however:
[Web page translated from Italian by Google]
Well, as a general rule, for the purposes of the column, I don’t consider books as canceled until they either cease publication or the publisher makes an announcement of some sort.
Mark Engblom:
JSA’s May issue got bumped to the first week of June so its not included here.
Hutch: The cancellation point for Vertigo books has recently been around or below the 6K mark. If House of Mystery and Madame Xanadu sales keep declining at their current rates, they will be safe for at least another year. Madame Xanadu might end for other reasons though, as Matt Wagner has said in interviews that his commitment to the book is limited. I believe he’s already on it far longer than he originally intended.
“Are zombies still that much of a draw in 2010?”
good heavens. why is this man allowed to write a marketplace analysis?
“why is this man allowed to write a marketplace analysis?”
Because he’s good with a calculator?
But seriously, you DON’T think zombies have overstayed their welcome by now?
Go Scalped!! GO!!
I know you can.
For those people who jumped onto the zombie boat early, they’ve definitely outstayed their welcome.
Judging from the number of sales Walking Dead Vol. 1 has had each and every month, even before the TV show was announced, there are still tons of people out there who haven’t read any zombie comics before. To them, it’s all a new genre.
I would like to see a notation on comics which were given a preview in the back of DC Comics’ regular issues. Zatanna and iZombie both were featured this way, which might help sales. (I think “Unwritten” was the first.)
iZombie has a good premise: a young woman must eat a brain once a month to maintain her sanity and zombie cravings. However, when she devours the brain, she inherits the subject’s memories, which causes conflict.
It’s drawn my Michael Allred, which fits well with the young culture depicted. There’s also some weirdness lurking in the community, which makes for some interesting storytelling.
As for Vertigo’s circulation figures… given the style of Vertigo stories, I wouldn’t be surprised if Vertigo goes digital-only in a few years with some titles, just like Marvel went “direct-only” with Dazzler, Ka-Zar, Moon Knight, and Micronauts back in the 1980s.
Blackest Night and Brightest Day, though epic in scope, don’t seem that interesting to me. But then, most of the superhero stuff isn’t that interesting. One title I would recommend: JMS’ The Brave and the Bold. Aquaman and The Demon? The Inferior Five and the League of Substitute Heroes? Wonder Woman, Zantanna, and Batgirl?
I think Birds of Prey will probably start dropping pretty quickly. That seems the trend with Simone books lately for whatever reason. And I think it’s interesting how low DCU Legacies premiered compared to Marvels Project.
I’m pretty sure Doc Savage is an ongoing, not a limited series.
Poor Doom Patrol! At this rate, it’ll reach Warlord numbers by September (it loses 1,000 readers EACH month!)
I wish DC would take their Source blog and focus on many of their lesser known books. It’s always Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman with a little First Wave on rare occasion for good measure. Rinse, and repeat.
I don’t know what it would take to boost sales on this book. Keith said every issue was going to be really reader accessible, but I have to say the last issue (a week or so ago) was completely confusing! And I’ve been reading the entire series so far! Ah well, enjoy it while it lasts, I guess…
Mark me down who picked up iZombie for the Allred art. I am sticking around.
Also this is missing the “sales chart” tag.
Really disappointed that Madame Xanadu has now been announced as being canceled, too.
As far as Brightest Day is concerned, I am wondering how the fact that a book with that title is every bit as grim and gory as Blackest Night will affect sales. I know I dropped it after issue 6.
Oh, and I did not read this column until today because of the missing tag. Grrr….