As Paul O’Brien points out in the Marvel column, the margin between Marvel and DC Comics’ market shares in September is smaller than it’s been in months. The reason for that has more to do with Marvel’s performance losing steam than with DC gaining momentum, however. In fact, DC’s total and average sales were both down from August, despite September being a pretty packed month for DC’s mainstream line. There was a deluge of new one-shots and series, including three specials devoted to the wedding of characters Green Arrow and Black Canary, as well as five new series total spun off of the 52 and Countdown titles and the “Sinestro Corps War” story, among others. Additionally, DC’s perennial best-seller Justice League of America got a new writer, The Flash stopped being supported with gimmicks and incentives, and Outsiders concluded.
The company’s Vertigo and WildStorm imprints, meanwhile, both managed to increase their average and total sales in the North American periodical market in September, for a change. That’s not due to any sudden trend reversals or successful new launches either, mind you, but simply because three of their best-selling titles – the now bimonthly, soon-to-be-concluding Y: The Last Man for Vertigo and the irregularly shipping, dwindling Astro City and Ex Machina for WildStorm – all showed up in stores that month. Speaking of showing up, the number of DC books failing to do so was down to a manageable three in September, with Action Comics #856, Green Arrow: Year One #6 and Green Lantern Corps #16, and the former two only slipped by one week and came out in the first week of October. See below for the details.
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.
—–
3 - JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA 09/2001: JLA #58 -- 68,996* 09/2002: JLA #71 -- 60,608* 09/2002: JLA #72 -- 60,778* 09/2003: JLA #86 -- 59,496 09/2003: JLA #87 -- 58,678 09/2004: JLA #105 -- 60,836 09/2004: JLA #106 -- 59,838 [ 60,943] 09/2005: JLA #118 -- 89,428 09/2005: JLA #119 -- 94,073 [106,305] -------------------------------------- 09/2006: Justice League #2 -- 143,412 (- 32.5%) [158,480] 10/2006: -- 11/2006: Justice League #3 -- 140,939 (- 1.7%) [143,310] 12/2006: Justice League #4 -- 136,709 (- 3.0%) [139,123] 12/2006: Justice League #5 -- 132,460 (- 3.1%) [133,924] 01/2007: -- 02/2007: -- 03/2007: Justice League #6 -- 130,099 (- 1.8%) [131,754] 04/2007: Justice League #7 -- 154,984 ( 19.1%) 04/2007: Justice League #8 -- 130,365 (- 15.9%) 05/2007: Justice League #9 -- 129,285 (- 0.8%) 06/2007: Justice League #10 -- 129,265 (- 0.0%) 07/2007: Justice League #11 -- 122,823 (- 5.0%) 08/2007: Justice League #12 -- 131,420 ( 7.0%) 09/2007: Justice League #13 -- 119,471 (- 9.1%) ---------------- 6 months: - 8.2% 1 year : -16.7% 2 years : 30.2%
New series writer Dwayne McDuffie’s debut issue is the lowest-selling since the book’s relaunch so far. That said, I have to admit I expected a sharper decline, given the high profile of McDuffie’s predecessor. For all intents and purposes, Justice League of America is still selling in the same ballpark as during the Brad Meltzer run. No doubt DC are very pleased with that.
Oh, and there are two different versions of issue #13, as you may have guessed. It seems that, unlike with issue #12, retailers were able to order as many units of each cover edition as they liked in this instance, though, and didn’t have to buy ten copies of the regular edition for every copy of the variant cover edition.
—–
6 - ALL STAR BATMAN & ROBIN, THE BOY WONDER 07/2005: All Star Batman #1 -- 261,046 [306,976] 09/2005: All Star Batman #2 -- 178,592 [184,962] 12/2005: All Star Batman #3 -- 162,993 [166,218] 05/2006: All Star Batman #4 -- 160,401 -------------------------------------- 09/2006: -- 10/2006: -- 11/2006: -- 12/2006: -- 01/2007: -- 02/2007: -- 03/2007: -- 04/2007: -- 05/2007: All Star Batman #5 -- 114,302 (-28.7%) 06/2007: -- 07/2007: All Star Batman #6 -- 105,991 (- 7.3%) 08/2007: -- 09/2007: All Star Batman #7 -- 100,582 (- 5.1%) ---------------- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : n.a. 2 years : -38.3%
The return to a regular schedule seems to be stabilizing the book’s sales, albeit very slowly. On the one hand, this ist still the best-selling Batman title by a wide margin. Then again, the book has still shed 160,000 units since issue #1 – more than 200,000 if you count reorders. So, despite being one of the two 100K sellers DC have left, All Star Batman hardly looks like a great success. But maybe that’s what you get with a comic that’s utterly taking the piss, even if it’s by Frank Miller and Jim Lee.
Miller and Lee’s first arc is said to conclude with issue #8, at any rate, which is currently scheduled for November. While their run is said to continue after that, the book is absent from the publisher’s solicitations for January 2008, so it seems they’re stockpiling material before launching the second arc. It’s probably not the worst idea.
As usual, there was a 1-for-10 variant cover edition of the issue.
—–
11 - JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA 09/2001: JSA #28 -- 40,862* 09/2002: JSA #40 -- 42,779* 09/2003: JSA #52 -- 43,739 09/2004: JSA #65 -- 41,459 09/2005: JSA #77 -- 53,216 --------------------------------------- 12/2006: Justice Society #1 -- 102,990 ( 107.7%) [108,140] 01/2007: Justice Society #2 -- 86,180 (- 16.3%) [ 92,459] 02/2007: Justice Society #3 -- 84,356 (- 2.1%) [ 86,014] 03/2007: Justice Society #4 -- 84,449 ( 0.1%) [ 86,475] 04/2007: Justice Society #5 -- 98,069 ( 16.1%) [102,275] 05/2007: Justice Society #6 -- 96,900 (- 1.2%) [ 99,784] 06/2007: -- 07/2007: Justice Society #7 -- 88,883 (- 8.3%) 08/2007: Justice Society #8 -- 87,606 (- 1.4%) 09/2007: Justice Society #9 -- 84,117 (- 4.0%) ---------------- 6 months: - 0.4% 1 year : n.a. 2 years : 58.1%
Holding up very nicely, overall, despite the four-percent drop. And yes, there was a 1-for-10 variant cover edition for this one, too.
—–
12/13/14/15 - COUNTDOWN 05/2007: Countdown #51 -- 91,083 05/2007: Countdown #50 -- 83,752 (- 8.1%) [85,564] 05/2007: Countdown #49 -- 81,484 (- 2.7%) [83,188] 05/2007: Countdown #48 -- 79,810 (- 2.1%) [81,828] 06/2007: Countdown #47 -- 77,504 (- 2.9%) 06/2007: Countdown #46 -- 76,362 (- 1.5%) 06/2007: Countdown #45 -- 74,918 (- 1.9%) 06/2007: Countdown #44 -- 73,971 (- 1.3%) 07/2007: Countdown #43 -- 73,912 (- 0.1%) 07/2007: Countdown #42 -- 73,116 (- 1.1%) 07/2007: Countdown #41 -- 72,621 (- 0.7%) 07/2007: Countdown #40 -- 72,102 (- 0.7%) 08/2007: Countdown #39 -- 88,021 ( 22.1%) 08/2007: Countdown #38 -- 87,260 (- 0.9%) 08/2007: Countdown #37 -- 86,405 (- 1.0%) 08/2007: Countdown #36 -- 85,536 (- 1.0%) 08/2007: Countdown #35 -- 84,350 (- 1.4%) 09/2007: Countdown #34 -- 82,537 (- 2.2%) 09/2007: Countdown #33 -- 81,744 (- 1.0%) 09/2007: Countdown #32 -- 81,097 (- 0.8%) 09/2007: Countdown #31 -- 80,127 (- 1.2%)
Following the statistical hat trick Diamond performed last month, which presumably involved their stopping subtracting around 20% from the book’s actual sales due to the first twelve issues being returnable, Countdown continues a standard decline.
Now, there are two ways of looking at these numbers. Taken on its own terms, Countdown is a book with largely obscure protagonists, excessive narrative overlaps and crossovers with all kinds of other titles and a general emphasis on the shared-universe aspect over things like, you know, characters or a dramatic point to entice the audience. Bearing this in mind, I doubt many casual comics readers are still reading the book, at this stage, so Countdown pretty much serves as a gauge for the number of hardcore DC Universe fans in the market who are willing to put up with these sorts of things. And, really, the notion that there are 80,000 of them, and that most of them keep coming back for more every week, is not insignificant. There clearly is a large audience for this stuff, and, for what it’s worth, they seem to be happy with Countdown, if these numbers are any indication.
On the other hand, though, Countdown is the publisher’s tent pole event book right now. Judging from the level of promotion it’s received, from the statements made by DC representatives prior to its launch and from the number of tie-ins and spin-offs it’s generating, it’s clear that the book was meant to be more than a bone thrown to the existing, loyal hardcore fanbase. They called it the “spine” of the DC Universe, and it’s setting the agenda for the next year worth of DC’s entire mainstream line of books. As such, the book’s success has to be measured not just against its direct weekly predecessor 52, but also against Marvel’s current line-wide tent pole series, World War Hulk. And Countdown falls way short in both comparisons. It doesn’t remotely generate the same kind of numbers as 52 or World War Hulk; and what’s probably the worst part for DC, it’s also failed to generate interest as a line-wide event so far, if the lack of noticeable sales increases for its tie-ins and the modest numbers of its spin-off books are any indication. Make no mistake: Focusing on the 80,000 hardcore fans in the market is entirely worthwhile if you’re Marvel or DC, but it doesn’t seem to be the best bet anymore if you’re looking for a market-dominating, 100K blockbuster event.
So, to a point, while it certainly looks like a failure in that respect, it’s fair to say that Countdown is doing reasonably well for a weekly series about low-tier characters and continuity minutiae, and it seems to be giving the hardcore fans what they want. At the same time, though, those qualities seem to be precisely what’s keeping it from fulfilling its actual mandate as a tent pole event. The hardcore fanbase my still constitute a (or perhaps the) major chunk of the direct market audience, but looking at the books Marvel – and, to a degree, Dark Horse – have been successful with recently, it’s increasingly apparent that there’s a new major type of reader in the direct market: a type who turns out in large numbers to buy books like Civil War, The Dark Tower and Buffy the Vampire Slayer (and The Umbrella Academy, for that matter, see below) – books which are reaching out to them and are promoted accordingly, basically – but isn’t much interested in convoluted orgies of self-reference like Countdown. So never mind the frequent prophecies of doom for the direct market. People still are buying a lot of comics there – just not necessarily the comics they used to. With that in mind, it’s going be interesting to see where DC will be heading next year.
—–
17 - GREEN LANTERN 09/2001: Green Lantern #142 -- 33,594* 09/2002: Green Lantern #154 -- 38,523* 09/2003: Green Lantern #169 -- 33,149 09/2004: Green Lantern #181 -- 41,531 [46,196] 09/2005: -- -------------------------------------- 09/2006: Green Lantern #13 -- 78,101 (- 2.7%) 10/2006: -- 11/2006: Green Lantern #14 -- 72,894 (- 6.7%) 11/2006: Green Lantern #15 -- 70,148 (- 3.8%) 12/2006: -- 01/2007: Green Lantern #16 -- 66,105 (- 5.8%) 02/2007: Green Lantern #17 -- 62,018 (- 6.2%) 03/2007: Green Lantern #18 -- 61,661 (- 0.6%) 04/2007: -- 05/2007: Green Lantern #19 -- 62,439 ( 1.3%) 05/2007: Green Lantern #20 -- 60,556 (- 3.0%) 06/2007: -- 07/2007: Green Lantern #21 -- 81,929 ( 35.3%) [93,052] 08/2007: Green Lantern #22 -- 77,916 (- 4.9%) [82,980] 09/2007: Green Lantern #23 -- 79,084 ( 1.5%) ---------------- 6 months: 28.3% 1 year : 1.3% 2 years : n.a.
Speaking of self-referential stories addressing hardcore superhero fans, this one seems to be working quite a bit better than Countdown, doesn’t it?
Usually, a look at the list of titles selling enough in reorders to make the chart again tends to give you a good impression of what’s in demand in the direct market. In September, in terms of DC Comics titles, that list reads like this: Green Lantern: Sinestro Corps Special #1 (fourth printing) – 6,811 units; Green Lantern Corps #15 (second printing) – 6,179 units; Green Lantern Corps #14 (third printing) – 5,033; Green Lantern #22 (second printing) – 4,974 units; and Green Lantern #21 (second printing) – 1,741. This brings the estimated total number for June’s Sinestro Corps Special to 96,211. By contrast, reorders of Countdown stopped appearing on the chart the month after it was launched. What Countdown failed to do with DC’s mainstream line, “The Sinestro Corps War” succeeds in doing with the Green Lantern franchise.
—–
20 - BATMAN 09/2001: Batman #595 -- 40,715* 09/2002: Batman #607 -- 43,603* 09/2003: Batman #619 -- 233,775 [308,945] 09/2004: Batman #632 -- 71,236 [ 72,859] 09/2005: Batman #645 -- 65,984 [ 67,712] ------------------------------- 09/2006: Batman #657 -- 91,357 (- 4.8%) [ 96,127] 10/2006: -- 11/2006: Batman #658 -- 94,349 ( 3.3%) 11/2006: Batman #659 -- 90,651 (- 3.9%) 12/2006: Batman #660 -- 76,967 (-15.1%) 12/2006: Batman #661 -- 75,512 (- 1.9%) 01/2007: Batman #662 -- 72,499 (- 4.0%) 02/2007: Batman #663 -- 83,167 ( 14.7%) 03/2007: Batman #664 -- 80,497 (- 3.2%) [ 82,107] 04/2007: -- 05/2007: Batman #665 -- 80,122 (- 0.5%) 06/2007: -- 07/2007: Batman #666 -- 83,781 ( 4.6%) 08/2007: Batman #667 -- 78,578 (- 6.2%) [ 82,418] 08/2007: Batman #668 -- 76,962 (- 2.1%) 09/2007: Batman #669 -- 73,471 (- 4.5%) ---------------- 6 months: - 8.7% 1 year : -19.6% 2 years : 11.4%
Sales aren’t really bottoming out, which is bad news. A crossover and a new artist are waiting around the corner, though.
—–
21 - JLA: WEDDING SPECIAL 09/2007: JLA: Wedding Special #1 -- 72,075
In addition to leading into the wedding of characters Green Arrow and Black Canary, this $ 3.99 special was touted as the beginning of writer Dwayne McDuffie’s run on Justice League of America in the solicitation copy. Retailers were skeptical, it appears, although 70K definitely isn’t bad for this type of thing, of course.
—–
25 - TALES OF THE SINESTRO CORPS PRESENTS 09/2007: TotSCP Parallax #1 -- 65,911
The book is the first in a series of specials featuring characters from the “Sinestro Corps War” crossover. It outsells the slew of 52 and Countdown spin-off titles quite handsomely.
—–
30 - TEEN TITANS 09/2003: Teen Titans #3 -- 66,626 09/2004: Teen Titans #15 -- 63,136 09/2004: Teen Titans #16 -- 64,177 [66,695] 09/2005: -- ---------------------------------- 09/2006: Teen Titans #39 -- 65,969 (- 4.7%) 10/2006: -- 11/2006: Teen Titans #40 -- 64,176 (- 2.7%) 11/2006: Teen Titans #41 -- 61,714 (- 3.8%) 12/2006: Teen Titans #42 -- 60,165 (- 2.5%) 01/2007: Teen Titans #43 -- 60,290 ( 0.2%) [62,560] 02/2007: -- 03/2007: Teen Titans #44 -- 61,572 ( 2.1%) 04/2007: Teen Titans #45 -- 61,051 (- 0.9%) 05/2007: Teen Titans #46 -- 61,478 ( 0.7%) 05/2007: Teen Titans #47 -- 63,673 ( 3.6%) 06/2007: Teen Titans #48 -- 60,786 (- 4.5%) 07/2007: Teen Titans #49 -- 59,258 (- 2.5%) 08/2007: Teen Titans #50 -- 69,620 ( 17.5%) 09/2007: Teen Titans #51 -- 57,851 (-16.9%) ---------------- 6 months: - 6.0% 1 year : -12.3% 2 years : n.a.
With the obligatory boost for the anniversary issue gone, the book’s sales keep declining. Apparently, Teen Titans is heading for a revamp.
—–
31 - SUPERMAN/BATMAN 09/2003: Superman/Batman #2 -- 104,474 [115,840] 09/2004: Superman/Batman #12 -- 139,516 [173,643] 09/2005: Superman/Batman #22 -- 103,245 --------------------------------------- 09/2006: -- 10/2006: -- 11/2006: Superman/Batman #30 -- 84,008 (- 7.3%) 12/2006: Superman/Batman #31 -- 81,716 (- 2.7%) 01/2007: -- 02/2007: -- 03/2007: Superman/Batman #32 -- 77,905 (- 4.7%) 04/2007: Superman/Batman #33 -- 74,807 (- 4.0%) 04/2007: Superman/Batman #34 -- 71,278 (- 4.7%) 05/2007: Superman/Batman #35 -- 68,160 (- 4.4%) 06/2007: Superman/Batman #36 -- 65,866 (- 3.4%) 06/2007: Superman/Batman #37 -- 72,635 ( 10.3%) 07/2007: Superman/Batman #38 -- 67,695 (- 6.8%) 08/2007: Superman/Batman #39 -- 59,622 (-11.9%) 09/2007: Superman/Batman #40 -- 57,410 (- 3.7%) ---------------- 6 months: -26.3% 1 year : n.a. 2 years : -44.4%
The decline seems to be slowing down somewhat.
—–
32 - FLASH 09/2001: Flash #178 -- 26,640* 09/2002: Flash #190 -- 29,423* 09/2003: Flash #202 -- 34,599 09/2004: Flash #214 -- 44,124 [46,894] 09/2005: Flash #226 -- 45,252 ---------------------------------- 09/2006: Flash: FMA #4 -- 66,663 (- 5.6%) 10/2006: Flash: FMA #5 -- 61,576 (- 7.6%) 11/2006: Flash: FMA #6 -- 56,789 (- 7.8%) 12/2006: Flash: FMA #7 -- 53,600 (- 5.6%) 01/2007: Flash: FMA #8 -- 50,967 (- 4.9%) 02/2007: Flash: FMA #9 -- 47,214 (- 7.4%) 03/2007: Flash: FMA #10 -- 46,133 (- 2.3%) 04/2007: Flash: FMA #11 -- 46,963 ( 1.8%) 05/2007: Flash: FMA #12 -- 47,809 ( 1.8%) 06/2007: Flash: FMA #13 -- 76,860 ( 60.8%) [82,767] 07/2007: All Flash #1 -- 78,955 ( 2.7%) 08/2007: Flash #231 -- 72,898 (- 7.7%) 09/2007: Flash #232 -- 56,969 (- 21.9%) ---------------- 6 months: 23.5% 1 year : -14.5% 2 years : 25.9%
No longer supported through false solicitations, retailer incentives and variant cover editions in September, there’s good news and bad news for The Flash. The bad news is that sales dropped considerably from the three gimmick-supported previous issues. The good news is that the book still outsells most issues of the Fastest Man Alive intermezzo.
Given that Flash: The Fastest Man Alive launched with an estimated 120,000 units before starting its spectacular nosedive, there’s no doubt that DC squandered a lot of goodwill with their botched revamp. Still, if it finds its level quickly from here, they can still be reasonably happy with these numbers.
—–
36 - GREEN ARROW/BLACK CANARY WEDDING SPECIAL 09/2007: Green Arrow/Black Canary Wedding Special #1 -- 51,121
Another $ 3.99 special. This one has the actual wedding, but it doesn’t say “JLA” in the title, so it’s worth 20K copies less to retailers than the one with the bachelor parties above. These sales are still great, mind you – the book outsells Green Arrow quite nicely.
—–
37 - DETECTIVE COMICS 09/2001: Detective Comics #762 -- 37,975* 09/2002: Detective Comics #774 -- 41,637* 09/2003: Detective Comics #786 -- 37,778 09/2004: Detective Comics #798 -- 48,782 09/2005: Detective Comics #811 -- 38,772 ---------------------------------------- 09/2006: Detective Comics #823 -- 64,215 (- 3.3%) 10/2006: Detective Comics #824 -- 62,431 (- 2.8%) 11/2006: Detective Comics #825 -- 58,940 (- 5.6%) 12/2006: Detective Comics #826 -- 59,657 ( 1.2%) 12/2006: Detective Comics #827 -- 55,031 (- 7.8%) 01/2007: -- 02/2007: Detective Comics #828 -- 55,206 ( 0.3%) 03/2007: Detective Comics #829 -- 52,943 (- 4.1%) 03/2007: Detective Comics #830 -- 52,395 (- 1.0%) 04/2007: Detective Comics #831 -- 56,284 ( 7.4%) 05/2007: Detective Comics #832 -- 51,727 (- 8.1%) 06/2007: Detective Comics #833 -- 54,104 ( 4.6%) 07/2007: Detective Comics #834 -- 53,461 (- 1.2%) 08/2007: Detective Comics #835 -- 50,479 (- 5.6%) 09/2007: Detective Comics #836 -- 49,475 (- 2.0%) ---------------- 6 months: - 6.6% 1 year : -23.0% 2 years : 27.6%
The conclusion of the fill-in two-parter sheds another 1,000 units. Regular writer Paul Dini returned with October’s issue #837, and this time he seems to be sticking around for a while.
—–
39 - SUPERMAN 09/2001: Superman #174 -- 41,912* 09/2002: Superman #186 -- 37,198* 09/2003: Superman #197 -- 33,430 09/2004: Superman #209 -- 116,827 [118,289] 09/2005: Superman #221 -- 69,065 --------------------------------- 09/2006: Superman #656 -- 64,288 (- 4.0%) 10/2006: -- 11/2006: Superman #657 -- 62,327 (- 3.1%) 12/2006: -- 01/2007: Superman #658 -- 60,682 (- 2.6%) 02/2007: Superman #659 -- 58,258 (- 4.0%) 03/2007: Superman #660 -- 57,169 (- 1.9%) 04/2007: Superman #661 -- 55,738 (- 2.5%) 05/2007: Superman #662 -- 55,236 (- 0.9%) 06/2007: Superman #663 -- 53,384 (- 3.4%) 07/2007: Superman #664 -- 52,313 (- 2.0%) 07/2007: Superman #665 -- 51,936 (- 0.7%) 08/2007: Superman #666 -- 53,566 ( 3.1%) 09/2007: Superman #667 -- 48,608 (- 9.3%) ---------------- 6 months: -15.0% 1 year : -24.4% 2 years : -29.6%
Kurt Busiek and Carlos Pacheco return for the penultimate chapter of their “Camelot Falls” ten-parter. It doesn’t seem like a lot of people care anymore, judging from the gigantic drop. The arc’s final part, meanwhile, has been pushed back from issue #668 to November’s Superman Annual #13.
—–
40 - WONDER WOMAN ANNUAL 09/2007: Wonder Woman Annual #1 -- 48,395
Apropos of conclusions to long-drawn-out, repeatedly delayed arcs ultimately shunted aside into annuals, here’s the final chapter of writer Alan Heinberg and artist Terry Dodson’s Wonder Woman storyline.
The five-parter “Who Is Wonder Woman?,” we recall, began back in June 2006 in Wonder Woman #1 with estimated sales of 132,580. It took DC until Wonder Woman #4, released in February 2007 with estimated sales of 69,860, to admit defeat and move on with other stories. The sales of Wonder Woman Annual #1 are down by another 30.7% from that, in case you were wondering. To be fair, though, the most recent issue of Wonder Woman sold an estimated 50,880 units in August, so the book is pretty much where you’d expect it to be, if you ignore its history for a moment. (Wonder Woman proper was on a scheduled skip month in September.)
—–
44 - BOOSTER GOLD 08/2007: Booster Gold #1 -- 53,689 09/2007: Booster Gold #2 -- 47,102 (-12.3%)
That’s a comparatively small second-issue drop. As with the previous issue, there was a 1-for-10 variant cover edition.
—–
48 - SUPERGIRL 09/2001: Supergirl #62 -- 21,339* 09/2002: Supergirl #74 -- 18,915* 09/2005: Supergirl #2 -- 101,681 --------------------------------- 09/2006: Supergirl #10 -- 67,358 (- 9.3%) 10/2006: -- 11/2006: Supergirl #11 -- 62,544 (- 7.2%) 12/2006: Supergirl #12 -- 59,819 (- 4.4%) 12/2006: Supergirl #13 -- 56,648 (- 5.3%) 01/2007: -- 02/2007: Supergirl #14 -- 52,977 (- 6.5%) 03/2007: Supergirl #15 -- 51,083 (- 3.6%) 04/2007: Supergirl #16 -- 51,641 ( 1.1%) 05/2007: Supergirl #17 -- 50,429 (- 2.4%) 06/2007: Supergirl #18 -- 50,279 (- 0.3%) 07/2007: Supergirl #19 -- 48,576 (- 3.4%) 08/2007: Supergirl #20 -- 46,862 (- 3.5%) 09/2007: Supergirl #21 -- 44,656 (- 4.7%) ---------------- 6 months: -12.6% 1 year : -33.7% 2 years : -56.1%
The book keeps shedding readers by the truckload, with no end in sight. Issue #21 was a Countdown tie-in, but again there seems to be no effect whatsoever from the crossover. A new creative team takes over with issue #23.
—–
49 - COUNTDOWN PRESENTS: THE SEARCH FOR RAY PALMER 09/2007: CP:TSfRP: WildStorm #1 -- 41,092
Another series of one-shots, similar to Tales of the Sinestro Corps. Note the sales difference of, oh, about 25,000 units.
—–
56 - OUTSIDERS 08/2003: Outsiders #3 -- 45,079 [47,323] 09/2004: Outsiders #15 -- 42,186 09/2004: Outsiders #16 -- 41,374 09/2005: Outsiders #28 -- 44,222 -------------------------------- 09/2006: Outsiders #40 -- 38,626 (- 4.7%) 10/2006: Outsiders #41 -- 36,672 (- 5.1%) 11/2006: Outsiders #42 -- 35,598 (- 2.9%) 12/2006: Outsiders #43 -- 34,243 (- 3.8%) 01/2007: Outsiders #44 -- 34,437 ( 0.6%) 02/2007: Outsiders #45 -- 32,976 (- 4.2%) 03/2007: Outsiders #46 -- 32,577 (- 1.2%) 04/2007: -- 05/2007: Outsiders #47 -- 33,267 ( 2.1%) 06/2007: Outsiders #48 -- 32,966 (- 0.9%) 07/2007: Outsiders #49 -- 33,110 ( 0.4%) 08/2007: FoaK #1 of 5 -- 36,565 ( 10.4%) 08/2007: FoaK #2 of 5 -- 35,087 (- 4.0%) 08/2007: FoaK #3 of 5 -- 34,702 (- 1.1%) 08/2007: FoaK #4 of 5 -- 34,125 (- 1.7%) 08/2007: FoaK #5 of 5 -- 33,694 (- 1.3%) 09/2007: Outsiders #50 -- 38,212 ( 13.4%) ---------------- 6 months: 17.3% 1 year : - 1.1% 2 years : -13.6%
Canceled, to be relaunched as Batman and the Outsiders in November. Curiously, DC recently announced a last-minute creative team change for the new series. After stepping in for simultaneous interim runs on Birds of Prey, Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes, Supergirl and now Outsiders, it seems Tony Bedard, who was initially slated to write the book, will have to wait for his ongoing DC series a little while longer.
And here’s a bunch of new one-shots or series retailers apparently didn’t really know what to do with, so they ordered all of them in the mid-30K range:
—–
57 - 52 AFTERMATH: THE FOUR HORSEMEN 08/2007: The Four Horsemen #1 of 6 -- 48,932 09/2007: The Four Horsemen #2 of 6 -- 37,764 (-22.8%)
That’s a steep second-issue drop for a limited series.
—–
59 - COUNTDOWN TO MYSTERY 09/2007: Countdown to Mystery #1 of 8 -- 37,235
The book’s lead stories were initially meant to launch as a new Doctor Fate title back in April, but were delayed and repackaged due to the writer facing serious health issues. The Countdown brand doesn’t seem to have helped the book’s sales much, at any rate – or those of its sister title Countdown to Adventure, for that matter: The two books launched in the same general area as their predecessors from last year, Mystery in Space and Tales of the Unexpected.
—–
61 - BLACK ADAM: THE DARK AGE 08/2007: Black Adam: The Dark Age #1 of 6 -- 51,788 09/2007: Black Adam: The Dark Age #2 of 6 -- 36,758 (-29.0%)
That’s a horrible drop for the second issue of a miniseries, even considering that there was a 1-for-10 variant cover edition of issue #1, but not of #2.
—–
62 - JLA/HITMAN 09/2007: JLA/Hitman #1 of 2 -- 35,883
Writer Garth Ennis and artist John McCrea revisit their fondly remembered Hitman book for a two-part limited series, at $ 3.99 per copy. The numbers are alright for this sort of thing.
—–
63 - COUNTDOWN TO ADVENTURE 08/2007: Countdown to Adventure #1 of 8 -- 42,883 09/2007: Countdown to Adventure #2 of 8 -- 34,561 (-19.4%)
A stiff drop for a miniseries. See comments on Countdown to Mystery.
—–
65 - BLACK CANARY WEDDING PLANNER 09/2007: Black Canary Wedding Planner -- 34,083
The lowest-selling of the three wedding specials. But it’s the Black Canary Wedding Planner, fer chrissakes. Sales are fine.
—–
67 - WONDER GIRL 09/2007: Wonder Girl #1 of 6 -- 33,517
The solicitation copy name-checks every commercially unimpressive and mixedly received DC title from Wonder Woman Annual #1 to Amazons Attack to Teen Titans to Wonder Woman to Countdown, as if to dare people to give the book a try. Amazingly, Wonder Girl #1 still manages to crack 30K. But seriously, these sales are about as good as you could expect from this sort of thing.
—–
68 - INFINITY INC. 09/2007: Infinity Inc. #1 -- 33,400
The latest 52 spin-off, by writer Peter Milligan and artist Max Fiumara. For an ongoing DC Universe series, this isn’t a very encouraging start. If the usual drops for the next few issues occur, the book will be close to cancellation territory in a few months.
—–
72 - GREEN ARROW: YEAR ONE 09/2001: Green Arrow #8 -- 80,054* 09/2002: Green Arrow #17 -- 56,645* 09/2003: Green Arrow #30 -- 40,443 09/2004: Green Arrow #42 -- 31,714 09/2005: Green Arrow #54 -- 34,331 ----------------------------------- 09/2006: Green Arrow #66 -- 33,793 (- 5.4%) 10/2006: Green Arrow #67 -- 32,583 (- 3.6%) 11/2006: Green Arrow #68 -- 32,135 (- 1.4%) 12/2006: Green Arrow #69 -- 32,234 ( 0.3%) 01/2007: Green Arrow #70 -- 31,798 (- 1.4%) 02/2007: Green Arrow #71 -- 31,470 (- 1.0%) 03/2007: Green Arrow #72 -- 31,144 (- 1.0%) 04/2007: Green Arrow #73 -- 30,652 (- 1.6%) 05/2007: Green Arrow #74 -- 30,751 ( 0.3%) 06/2007: Green Arrow #75 -- 35,022 ( 13.9%) 07/2007: Year One #1 of 6 -- 37,090 ( 5.9%) 07/2007: Year One #2 of 6 -- 32,222 (-13.1%) [34,962] 08/2007: Year One #3 of 6 -- 32,971 ( 2.3%) 08/2007: Year One #4 of 6 -- 31,885 (- 3.3%) 09/2007: Year One #5 of 6 -- 31,504 (- 1.2%) ---------------- 6 months: 1.2% 1 year : - 6.8% 2 years : - 8.2%
Holding level. Issue #6 was also meant to be out in September, but was pushed back by one month.
—–
75 - SUPERMAN CONFIDENTIAL 11/2006: Superman Confidential #1 -- 60,157 12/2006: Superman Confidential #2 -- 46,765 (-22.3%) 01/2007: Superman Confidential #3 -- 41,346 (-11.6%) 02/2007: -- 03/2007: Superman Confidential #4 -- 36,779 (-11.1%) 04/2007: -- 05/2007: -- 06/2007: -- 07/2007: Superman Confidential #5 -- 35,180 (- 4.4%) 08/2007: -- 09/2007: Superman Confidential #6 -- 31,152 (-11.5%) ---------------- 6 months: -15.3%
Horrible sales, and that’s not all. Issue #6 was initially solicited to contain, well, the sixth and final chapter to writer Darwyn Cooke and artist Tim Sale’s opening arc. Instead, it ended up having another story entirely. If retailers had had more time to react to the content change, chances are the drop would have been even uglier.
—–
80 - SUICIDE SQUAD: RAISE THE FLAG 09/2001: Suicide Squad #1 -- 28,729* ----------------------------------------- 09/2007: Raise the Flag #1 of 8 -- 29,506
Despite being released in a market that’s much healthier and having a certain nostalgia factor in its corner with fan-favorite writer John Ostrander, the miniseries debuts with roughly the same numbers as last Suicide Squad title back in 2001, which was quickly axed. The number of people clamoring for the book to return doesn’t seem to have gotten any bigger in the last six years.
—–
83 - NIGHTWING 09/2001: Nightwing #61 -- 34,840* 09/2002: Nightwing #73 -- 32,083* 09/2003: Nightwing #85 -- 29,292 09/2004: Nightwing #97 -- 44,038 [44,961] 09/2005: Nightwing #112 -- 36,238 --------------------------------- 09/2006: Nightwing #124 -- 38,251 (- 4.6%) 10/2006: Nightwing #125 -- 38,470 ( 0.6%) 11/2006: Nightwing #126 -- 36,145 (- 6.0%) 12/2006: Nightwing #127 -- 34,889 (- 3.5%) 01/2007: Nightwing #128 -- 33,930 (- 2.8%) 02/2007: Nightwing #129 -- 32,651 (- 3.8%) 03/2007: Nightwing #130 -- 31,788 (- 2.6%) 04/2007: Nightwing #131 -- 31,530 (- 0.8%) 05/2007: Nightwing #132 -- 30,807 (- 2.3%) 06/2007: Nightwing #133 -- 30,623 (- 0.6%) 07/2007: Nightwing #134 -- 30,228 (- 1.3%) 08/2007: Nightwing #135 -- 29,923 (- 1.0%) 09/2007: Nightwing #136 -- 29,256 (- 2.2%) ---------------- 6 months: - 8.0% 1 year : -23.5% 2 years : -19.3%
Declining. A crossover and a creative team change are around the corner.
—–
84 - TRIALS OF SHAZAM 09/2006: Trials of SHAZAM #2 of 12 -- 41,156 (-18.7%) [43,853] 10/2006: Trials of SHAZAM #3 of 12 -- 38,395 (- 6.7%) 11/2006: -- 12/2006: Trials of SHAZAM #4 of 12 -- 38,029 (- 1.0%) 01/2007: -- 02/2007: Trials of SHAZAM #5 of 12 -- 34,614 (- 9.0%) 03/2007: -- 04/2007: Trials of SHAZAM #6 of 12 -- 32,875 (- 5.0%) 05/2007: -- 06/2007: Trials of SHAZAM #7 of 12 -- 31,056 (- 5.5%) 07/2007: -- 08/2007: -- 09/2007: Trials of SHAZAM #8 of 12 -- 29,241 (- 5.8%) ---------------- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : -29.0%
Declining.
—–
85 - BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL 12/2006: Batman Confidential #1 -- 61,119 01/2007: Batman Confidential #2 -- 47,451 (-22.4%) 02/2007: Batman Confidential #3 -- 41,109 (-13.4%) 03/2007: Batman Confidential #4 -- 38,735 (- 5.8%) 04/2007: Batman Confidential #5 -- 36,219 (- 6.5%) 05/2007: -- 06/2007: Batman Confidential #6 -- 33,480 (- 7.6%) 07/2007: Batman Confidential #7 -- 32,272 (- 3.6%) 08/2007: Batman Confidential #8 -- 30,077 (- 6.8%) 09/2007: Batman Confidential #9 -- 28,845 (- 4.1%) ---------------- 6 months: -25.5%
Declining.
—–
88 - SUPERGIRL AND THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES 09/2001: Legion Worlds #6 -- 20,129* 09/2002: Legion #12 -- 25,355* 09/2003: Legion #24 -- 22,653 09/2004: -- 09/2005: Legion of SH #10 -- 34,833 --------------------------------------- 09/2006: Supergirl & LoSH #22 -- 36,735 (- 7.8%) 10/2006: Supergirl & LoSH #23 -- 41,554 ( 13.1%) 11/2006: Supergirl & LoSH #24 -- 33,985 (-18.2%) 12/2006: Supergirl & LoSH #25 -- 33,288 (- 2.1%) 01/2007: Supergirl & LoSH #26 -- 32,342 (- 2.8%) 02/2007: Supergirl & LoSH #27 -- 31,387 (- 3.0%) 03/2007: -- 04/2007: Supergirl & LoSH #28 -- 31,525 ( 0.4%) 04/2007: Supergirl & LoSH #29 -- 30,906 (- 2.0%) 05/2007: Supergirl & LoSH #30 -- 30,767 (- 0.5%) 06/2007: Supergirl & LoSH #31 -- 30,385 (- 1.2%) 07/2007: Supergirl & LoSH #32 -- 29,826 (- 1.8%) 08/2007: Supergirl & LoSH #33 -- 29,315 (- 1.7%) 09/2007: Supergirl & LoSH #34 -- 28,294 (- 3.5%) ---------------- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : -23.0% 2 years : -18.8%
90 - BIRDS OF PREY 09/2001: Birds of Prey #35 -- 23,045* 09/2002: Birds of Prey #47 -- 28,063* 09/2003: Birds of Prey #59 -- 29,292 09/2004: Birds of Prey #73 -- 32,070 09/2004: Birds of Prey #74 -- 31,835 09/2005: Birds of Prey #86 -- 31,270 ------------------------------------- 09/2006: Birds of Prey #98 -- 32,715 ( 3.6%) 10/2006: Birds of Prey #99 -- 30,385 (- 7.1%) 11/2006: Birds of Prey #100 -- 34,607 ( 13.9%) 12/2006: Birds of Prey #101 -- 29,825 (-13.8%) 01/2007: Birds of Prey #102 -- 29,043 (- 2.6%) 02/2007: Birds of Prey #103 -- 28,327 (- 2.5%) 03/2007: Birds of Prey #104 -- 28,464 ( 0.5%) 04/2007: Birds of Prey #105 -- 28,328 (- 0.5%) 05/2007: Birds of Prey #106 -- 28,363 ( 0.1%) 06/2007: Birds of Prey #107 -- 28,632 ( 1.0%) 07/2007: Birds of Prey #108 -- 28,025 (- 2.1%) 08/2007: Birds of Prey #109 -- 28,268 ( 0.9%) 09/2007: Birds of Prey #110 -- 27,148 (- 4.0%) ---------------- 6 months: - 4.6% 1 year : -17.0% 2 years : -13.2%
Both titles are in the middle of interim runs.
—–
94 - Y: THE LAST MAN (Vertigo) 09/2002: Y: The Last Man #3 -- 13,308* 09/2003: -- 09/2004: Y: The Last Man #26 -- 26,735 09/2005: Y: The Last Man #37 -- 26,638 -------------------------------------- 09/2006: Y: The Last Man #49 -- 25,690 (-0.5%) 10/2006: Y: The Last Man #50 -- 26,802 ( 4.3%) 11/2006: Y: The Last Man #51 -- 25,606 (-4.5%) 12/2006: Y: The Last Man #52 -- 25,422 (-0.7%) 01/2007: Y: The Last Man #53 -- 25,375 (-0.2%) 02/2007: Y: The Last Man #54 -- 25,374 (-0.0%) 03/2007: Y: The Last Man #55 -- 25,300 (-0.3%) 04/2007: -- 05/2007: Y: The Last Man #56 -- 25,759 ( 1.8%) 06/2007: -- 07/2007: Y: The Last Man #57 -- 25,436 (-1.3%) 08/2007: -- 09/2007: Y: The Last Man #58 -- 25,539 ( 0.4%) --------------- 6 months: 1.0% 1 year : -0.6% 2 years : -4.1%
Holding level. The final issue is set to ship in January.
—–
95 - FABLES (Vertigo) 09/2002: Fables #5 -- 19,355* 09/2003: Fables #17 -- 25,856 09/2004: Fables #29 -- 25,025 09/2005: Fables #41 -- 25,001 ----------------------------- 09/2006: Fables #53 -- 25,388 ( 0.0%) 10/2006: Fables #54 -- 25,534 ( 0.6%) 11/2006: Fables #55 -- 25,635 ( 0.4%) 12/2006: Fables #56 -- 25,892 ( 1.0%) 01/2007: Fables #57 -- 25,744 (-0.6%) 02/2007: -- 03/2007: Fables #58 -- 26,065 ( 1.3%) 03/2007: Fables #59 -- 25,815 (-1.0%) 04/2007: Fables #60 -- 26,048 ( 0.9%) 05/2007: Fables #61 -- 26,056 ( 0.0%) 06/2007: Fables #62 -- 25,726 (-1.3%) 07/2007: Fables #63 -- 25,603 (-0.5%) 08/2007: Fables #64 -- 25,498 (-0.4%) 09/2007: Fables #65 -- 25,311 (-0.7%) --------------- 6 months: -2.4% 1 year : -0.3% 2 years : 1.2%
Rock-solid numbers.
—–
96 - ROBIN 09/2001: Robin #94 -- 26,457* 09/2002: Robin #106 -- 25,996* 09/2003: Robin #118 -- 21,811 09/2004: Robin #130 -- 45,406 [47,113] 09/2005: Robin #142 -- 28,822 ----------------------------- 09/2006: Robin #154 -- 34,387 (- 6.1%) 10/2006: Robin #155 -- 32,951 (- 4.2%) 11/2006: Robin #156 -- 31,682 (- 3.9%) 12/2006: Robin #157 -- 30,556 (- 3.6%) 01/2007: Robin #158 -- 29,464 (- 3.6%) 02/2007: Robin #159 -- 28,210 (- 4.3%) 03/2007: Robin #160 -- 27,659 (- 2.0%) 04/2007: Robin #161 -- 27,180 (- 1.7%) 05/2007: Robin #162 -- 26,801 (- 1.4%) 06/2007: Robin #163 -- 26,284 (- 1.9%) 07/2007: Robin #164 -- 25,955 (- 1.3%) 08/2007: Robin #165 -- 25,397 (- 2.2%) 09/2007: Robin #166 -- 24,877 (- 2.1%) ---------------- 6 months: -10.1% 1 year : -27.7% 2 years : -13.7%
A standard decline.
—–
- BATMAN/LOBO: DEADLY SERIOUS 08/2007: Batman/Lobo: Deadly Serious #1 of 2 -- 29,061 09/2007: Batman/Lobo: Deadly Serious #2 of 2 -- 24,591 (-15.4%)
An average drop.
—–
100 - UNCLE SAM & THE FREEDOM FIGHTERS 07/2006: Uncle Sam & FF #1 of 8 -- 40,736 08/2006: Uncle Sam & FF #2 of 8 -- 31,616 (-22.4%) [32,758] 09/2006: Uncle Sam & FF #3 of 8 -- 28,430 (-10.1%) 10/2006: Uncle Sam & FF #4 of 8 -- 26,527 (- 6.7%) 11/2006: Uncle Sam & FF #5 of 8 -- 25,144 (- 5.2%) 12/2006: Uncle Sam & FF #6 of 8 -- 23,321 (- 7.3%) 01/2007: Uncle Sam & FF #7 of 8 -- 22,460 (- 3.7%) 02/2007: -- 03/2007: Uncle Sam & FF #8 of 8 -- 22,507 ( 0.2%) ----------------------------------------- 09/2007: Uncle Sam & FF #1 of 8 -- 23,731 ( 5.4%) ---------------- 6 months: 5.4% 1 year : -16.5%
That’s not a very good debut. Then again, perhaps retailers are simply treating it as a continuation of the previous series. We’re going to find out next month.
—–
101 - METAL MEN 08/2007: Metal Men #1 of 8 -- 30,454 09/2007: Metal Men #2 of 8 -- 23,658 (-22.3%)
A harsh drop for the second issue of a limited series.
—–
106/110 - JLA: CLASSIFIED 09/2005: JLA: Classified #12 -- 43,714 -------------------------------------- 09/2006: JLA: Classified #27 -- 27,754 (- 0.2%) 10/2006: JLA: Classified #28 -- 26,003 (- 6.3%) 11/2006: JLA: Classified #29 -- 24,785 (- 4.7%) 12/2006: JLA: Classified #30 -- 23,644 (- 4.6%) 01/2007: JLA: Classified #31 -- 22,939 (- 3.0%) 01/2007: JLA: Classified #32 -- 23,091 ( 0.7%) 01/2007: JLA: Classified #33 -- 22,504 (- 2.5%) 02/2007: JLA: Classified #34 -- 22,347 (- 0.7%) 02/2007: JLA: Classified #35 -- 21,998 (- 1.6%) 03/2007: JLA: Classified #36 -- 21,799 (- 0.9%) 04/2007: JLA: Classified #37 -- 22,350 ( 2.5%) 05/2007: JLA: Classified #38 -- 21,961 (- 1.7%) 06/2007: JLA: Classified #39 -- 21,728 (- 1.1%) 07/2007: JLA: Classified #40 -- 21,473 (- 1.2%) 08/2007: JLA: Classified #41 -- 21,134 (- 1.6%) 09/2007: JLA: Classified #42 -- 20,014 (- 5.3%) 09/2007: JLA: Classified #43 -- 19,742 (- 1.4%) ---------------- 6 months: - 8.8% 1 year : -28.4% 2 years : -54.5%
A two-parter starring the Martian Manhunter results in another significant drop.
—–
107 - THE SPIRIT 11/2006: Batman/The Spirit -- 35,541 [39,666] 12/2006: The Spirit #1 -- 34,558 (- 2.8%) [36,900] 01/2007: The Spirit #2 -- 27,245 (-21.2%) 02/2007: The Spirit #3 -- 25,516 (- 6.4%) 03/2007: The Spirit #4 -- 24,383 (- 4.4%) 04/2007: The Spirit #5 -- 23,887 (- 2.0%) 05/2007: The Spirit #6 -- 23,708 (- 0.8%) 06/2007: The Spirit #7 -- 22,621 (- 4.6%) 07/2007: The Spirit #8 -- 21,984 (- 2.8%) 08/2007: The Spirit #9 -- 20,841 (- 5.2%) 09/2007: The Spirit #10 -- 19,962 (- 4.2%) ---------------- 6 months: -18.1%
Still declining too fast.
—–
109 - ASTRO CITY: THE DARK AGE (WildStorm) 09/2001: -- 09/2002: -- 09/2003: -- 09/2004: -- ---------------------------------------------- 06/2005: The Dark Age/Book 1 #1 of 4 -- 32,690 ( 5.6%) 07/2005: The Dark Age/Book 1 #2 of 4 -- 29,721 (- 9.1%) 08/2005: The Dark Age/Book 1 #3 of 4 -- 28,152 (- 5.3%) 09/2005: -- 10/2005: The Dark Age/Book 1 #4 of 4 -- 27,367 (- 2.8%) ---------------------------------------------- 11/2006: The Dark Age/Book 2 #1 of 4 -- 26,993 (- 1.4%) 12/2006: -- 01/2007: -- 02/2007: The Dark Age/Book 2 #2 of 4 -- 23,412 (-13.3%) 03/2007: -- 04/2007: The Dark Age/Book 2 #3 of 4 -- 22,727 (- 2.9%) 05/2007: -- 06/2007: -- 07/2007: -- 08/2007: -- 09/2007: The Dark Age/Book 2 #4 of 4 -- 19,764 (-13.0%) ---------------- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : n.a. 2 years : n.a.
Well, that’s a worrying drop. Retailers seem to have lost patience with the book.
—–
111 - CATWOMAN 09/2002: Catwoman #11 -- 27,387* 09/2003: Catwoman #22 -- 23,471 09/2004: Catwoman #35 -- 37,784 [41,239] 09/2005: Catwoman #47 -- 20,699 ------------------------------- 09/2006: Catwoman #59 -- 25,324 (- 4.7%) 10/2006: Catwoman #60 -- 24,117 (- 4.8%) 11/2006: Catwoman #61 -- 23,182 (- 3.9%) 12/2006: Catwoman #62 -- 22,305 (- 3.8%) 01/2007: Catwoman #63 -- 21,597 (- 3.2%) 02/2007: Catwoman #64 -- 20,767 (- 3.8%) 03/2007: Catwoman #65 -- 20,237 (- 2.6%) 04/2007: Catwoman #66 -- 19,896 (- 1.7%) 05/2007: Catwoman #67 -- 19,926 ( 0.2%) 06/2007: Catwoman #68 -- 20,132 ( 1.0%) 07/2007: Catwoman #69 -- 19,387 (- 3.7%) 08/2007: Catwoman #70 -- 20,518 ( 5.8%) 09/2007: Catwoman #71 -- 19,492 (- 5.0%) ---------------- 6 months: - 3.7% 1 year : -23.0% 2 years : - 5.8%
Resuming its decline after August’s crossover issue.
—–
112 - JSA: CLASSIFIED 09/2005: JSA: Classified #3 -- 54,932 [63,922] -------------------------------------- 09/2006: JSA: Classified #17 -- 30,340 (- 5.7%) 10/2006: JSA: Classified #18 -- 26,783 (-11.7%) 11/2006: JSA: Classified #19 -- 25,663 (- 4.2%) 12/2006: JSA: Classified #20 -- 24,722 (- 3.7%) 01/2007: JSA: Classified #21 -- 24,476 (- 1.0%) 01/2007: JSA: Classified #22 -- 23,830 (- 2.6%) 02/2007: JSA: Classified #23 -- 22,730 (- 4.6%) 03/2007: JSA: Classified #24 -- 22,113 (- 2.7%) 04/2007: JSA: Classified #25 -- 22,052 (- 0.3%) 05/2007: JSA: Classified #26 -- 21,569 (- 2.2%) 06/2007: JSA: Classified #27 -- 21,295 (- 1.3%) 07/2007: JSA: Classified #28 -- 20,736 (- 2.6%) 08/2007: JSA: Classified #29 -- 20,195 (- 2.6%) 09/2007: JSA: Classified #30 -- 19,382 (- 4.0%) ---------------- 6 months: -12.4% 1 year : -36.1% 2 years : -64.7%
Declining.
—–
114 - CHECKMATE 09/2006: Checkmate #6 -- 28,887 (- 7.6%) 10/2006: Checkmate #7 -- 26,302 (- 9.0%) 11/2006: Checkmate #8 -- 24,899 (- 5.3%) 12/2006: Checkmate #9 -- 23,436 (- 5.9%) 01/2007: Checkmate #10 -- 22,032 (- 6.0%) 02/2007: Checkmate #11 -- 20,659 (- 6.2%) 03/2007: Checkmate #12 -- 20,116 (- 2.6%) 04/2007: -- 05/2007: Checkmate #13 -- 22,554 ( 12.1%) 05/2007: Checkmate #14 -- 22,074 (- 2.1%) 06/2007: Checkmate #15 -- 22,015 (- 0.3%) 07/2007: Checkmate #16 -- 20,225 (- 8.1%) 08/2007: Checkmate #17 -- 19,841 (- 1.9%) 09/2007: Checkmate #18 -- 18,742 (- 5.5%) ---------------- 6 months: - 6.8% 1 year : -35.1%
Declining.
—–
115 - JACK OF FABLES (Vertigo) 09/2006: Jack of Fables #3 -- 22,373 (- 5.0%) 10/2006: Jack of Fables #4 -- 21,614 (- 3.4%) 11/2006: Jack of Fables #5 -- 21,191 (- 2.0%) 12/2006: Jack of Fables #6 -- 20,950 (- 1.1%) 01/2007: Jack of Fables #7 -- 20,314 (- 3.0%) 02/2007: Jack of Fables #8 -- 20,060 (- 1.3%) 03/2007: -- 04/2007: Jack of Fables #9 -- 20,273 ( 1.1%) 05/2007: Jack of Fables #10 -- 19,982 (- 1.4%) 06/2007: Jack of Fables #11 -- 19,797 (- 0.9%) 06/2007: Jack of Fables #12 -- 19,337 (- 2.3%) 07/2007: -- 08/2007: Jack of Fables #13 -- 19,187 (- 0.8%) 09/2007: Jack of Fables #14 -- 18,728 (- 2.4%) --------------- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : -16.3
A standard decline.
—–
117 - SHADOWPACT 09/2006: Shadowpact #5 -- 29,983 (-10.2%) 09/2006: Shadowpact #6 -- 27,276 (- 9.0%) 10/2006: -- 11/2006: Shadowpact #7 -- 25,701 (- 5.8%) 12/2006: Shadowpact #8 -- 23,898 (- 7.0%) 01/2007: Shadowpact #9 -- 22,866 (- 4.3%) 02/2007: Shadowpact #10 -- 21,823 (- 4.6%) 03/2007: Shadowpact #11 -- 21,114 (- 3.3%) 04/2007: Shadowpact #12 -- 20,746 (- 1.7%) 05/2007: Shadowpact #13 -- 20,335 (- 2.0%) 06/2007: Shadowpact #14 -- 19,899 (- 2.1%) 07/2007: Shadowpact #15 -- 19,689 (- 1.2%) 08/2007: Shadowpact #16 -- 19,410 (- 1.4%) 09/2007: Shadowpact #17 -- 18,382 (- 5.3%) ---------------- 6 months: -12.9% 1 year : -38.7%
Writer Bill Willingham has left the book behind, it appears, resulting in another significant drop.
—–
120 - THE ALL-NEW ATOM 09/2006: The All-New Atom #3 -- 33,254 (-13.0%) 10/2006: The All-New Atom #4 -- 28,450 (-14.5%) 11/2006: The All-New Atom #5 -- 25,569 (-10.1%) 12/2006: The All-New Atom #6 -- 22,852 (-10.6%) 01/2007: The All-New Atom #7 -- 20,996 (- 8.1%) 02/2007: The All-New Atom #8 -- 19,004 (- 9.5%) 03/2007: The All-New Atom #9 -- 17,572 (- 7.5%) 04/2007: The All-New Atom #10 -- 16,739 (- 4.4%) 05/2007: The All-New Atom #11 -- 16,193 (- 3.3%) 06/2007: The All-New Atom #12 -- 16,848 ( 4.1%) 07/2007: The All-New Atom #13 -- 16,982 ( 0.8%) 08/2007: The All-New Atom #14 -- 17,894 ( 5.4%) 09/2007: The All-New Atom #15 -- 17,266 (- 3.5%) ---------------- 6 months: - 1.7% 1 year : -48.1%
Back in decline.
—–
121 - EX MACHINA (WildStorm) 09/2004: Ex Machina #4 -- 22,845 [24,279] 09/2005: -- --------------------------------- 09/2006: Ex Machina #23 -- 20,135 ( 0.3%) 10/2006: -- 11/2006: Ex Machina #24 -- 19,813 (- 1.6%) 12/2006: Ex Machina #25 -- 19,234 (- 2.9%) 01/2007: Ex Machina #26 -- 18,567 (- 3.5%) 02/2007: -- 03/2007: -- 04/2007: Ex Machina #27 -- 18,242 (- 1.8%) 05/2007: Ex Machina #28 -- 18,164 (- 0.4%) 06/2007: Ex Machina #29 -- 17,719 (- 2.5%) 07/2007: -- 08/2007: -- 09/2007: Ex Machina #30 -- 17,163 (- 3.1%) ---------------- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : -14.8% 2 years : n.a.
Another WildStorm title that’s losing steam.
—–
124 - GEN13 (WildStorm) 09/2001: Gen13 #69 -- 19,792* 09/2002: Gen13 #1 -- 30,723* ---------------------------- 10/2006: Gen13 #1 -- 47,535 11/2006: Gen13 #2 -- 33,494 (-29.5%) 12/2006: Gen13 #3 -- 30,233 (- 9.7%) 01/2007: Gen13 #4 -- 27,615 (- 8.7%) 02/2007: Gen13 #5 -- 22,422 (-18.8%) 03/2007: Gen13 #6 -- 21,356 (- 4.8%) 04/2007: Gen13 #7 -- 20,555 (- 3.8%) 05/2007: Gen13 #8 -- 19,638 (- 4.5%) 06/2007: Gen13 #9 -- 18,644 (- 5.1%) 07/2007: Gen13 #10 -- 17,720 (- 5.0%) 08/2007: Gen13 #11 -- 16,955 (- 4.3%) 09/2007: Gen13 #12 -- 16,112 (- 5.0%) ---------------- 6 months: -24.6%
And with that, writer Gail Simone leaves for greener pastures. You can’t blame her.
—–
126 - BLUE BEETLE 09/2006: Blue Beetle #7 -- 29,079 (-12.4%) 10/2006: -- 11/2006: Blue Beetle #8 -- 25,861 (-11.1%) 11/2006: Blue Beetle #9 -- 23,785 (- 8.0%) 12/2006: Blue Beetle #10 -- 21,358 (-10.2%) 01/2007: Blue Beetle #11 -- 19,865 (- 7.0%) 02/2007: Blue Beetle #12 -- 18,555 (- 6.6%) 03/2007: Blue Beetle #13 -- 17,653 (- 4.9%) 04/2007: Blue Beetle #14 -- 17,167 (- 2.8%) 05/2007: Blue Beetle #15 -- 16,906 (- 1.5%) 06/2007: Blue Beetle #16 -- 17,016 ( 0.7%) 07/2007: Blue Beetle #17 -- 16,128 (- 5.2%) 08/2007: Blue Beetle #18 -- 19,140 ( 18.7%) 09/2007: Blue Beetle #19 -- 15,737 (-17.8%) ---------------- 6 months: -10.9% 1 year : -45.9%
After August’s crossover with Teen Titans, sales are back in decline.
—–
130 - JONAH HEX 09/2006: Jonah Hex #11 -- 18,957 (- 4.1%) 10/2006: Jonah Hex #12 -- 18,299 (- 3.5%) 11/2006: Jonah Hex #13 -- 18,747 ( 2.5%) 12/2006: Jonah Hex #14 -- 18,295 (- 2.4%) 01/2007: Jonah Hex #15 -- 17,987 (- 1.7%) 02/2007: Jonah Hex #16 -- 17,490 (- 2.8%) 03/2007: Jonah Hex #17 -- 17,081 (- 2.3%) 04/2007: Jonah Hex #18 -- 16,880 (- 1.2%) 05/2007: Jonah Hex #19 -- 16,473 (- 2.4%) 06/2007: Jonah Hex #20 -- 16,150 (- 2.0%) 07/2007: Jonah Hex #21 -- 15,734 (- 2.6%) 08/2007: Jonah Hex #22 -- 15,362 (- 2.4%) 09/2007: Jonah Hex #23 -- 15,157 (- 1.4%) ---------------- 6 months: -11.3% 1 year : -20.1%
The lowest-selling ongoing DC Universe title continues a standard decline.
—–
137 - THE MIDNIGHTER (WildStorm) 11/2006: The Midnighter #1 -- 39,796 12/2006: The Midnighter #2 -- 30,464 (-23.5%) 01/2007: The Midnighter #3 -- 27,564 (- 9.5%) 02/2007: The Midnighter #4 -- 24,792 (-10.1%) 03/2007: The Midnighter #5 -- 21,452 (-13.5%) 04/2007: The Midnighter #6 -- 20,561 (- 4.2%) 05/2007: The Midnighter #7 -- 19,910 (- 3.2%) 06/2007: The Midnighter #8 -- 18,076 (- 9.2%) 07/2007: The Midnighter #9 -- 16,656 (- 7.9%) 08/2007: The Midnighter #10 -- 15,654 (- 6.0%) 09/2007: The Midnighter #11 -- 14,349 (- 8.3%) ---------------- 6 months: -33.1%
Not bottoming out.
—–
140 - AQUAMAN: SWORD OF ATLANTIS 09/2003: Aquaman #10 -- 26,370 09/2004: Aquaman #22 -- 23,358 09/2005: Aquaman #34 -- 17,605 ----------------------------------- 09/2006: Aquaman: SoA #44 -- 28,001 (- 8.5%) 10/2006: -- 11/2006: Aquaman: SoA #45 -- 23,540 (- 15.9%) 11/2006: Aquaman: SoA #46 -- 21,974 (- 6.7%) 12/2006: Aquaman: SoA #47 -- 21,197 (- 3.5%) 01/2007: Aquaman: SoA #48 -- 19,459 (- 8.2%) 02/2007: Aquaman: SoA #49 -- 17,939 (- 7.8%) 03/2007: Aquaman: SoA #50 -- 18,997 ( 5.9%) 04/2007: Aquaman: SoA #51 -- 17,499 (- 7.9%) 05/2007: Aquaman: SoA #52 -- 16,778 (- 4.1%) 06/2007: Aquaman: SoA #53 -- 15,913 (- 5.2%) 07/2007: Aquaman: SoA #54 -- 14,963 (- 6.0%) 08/2007: Aquaman: SoA #55 -- 14,207 (- 5.1%) 09/2007: Aquaman: SoA #56 -- 13,379 (- 5.8%) ---------------- 6 months: -29.6% 1 year : -52.2% 2 years : -24.0%
Canceled with issue #57.
—–
141 - SUPERNATURAL: ORIGINS (WildStorm) 05/2007: Supernatural: Origins #1 -- 21,128 06/2007: Supernatural: Origins #2 -- 15,955 (-24.5%) 07/2007: Supernatural: Origins #3 -- 14,812 (- 7.2%) 08/2007: Supernatural: Origins #4 -- 13,915 (- 6.1%) 09/2007: Supernatural: Origins #5 -- 13,034 (- 6.3%)
Mediocre numbers.
—–
143 - HELLBLAZER (Vertigo) 09/2001: Hellblazer #166 -- 18,061* 09/2002: Hellblazer #177 -- 18,557* 09/2003: Hellblazer #188 -- 15,897 09/2004: Hellblazer #200 -- 16,342 [17,636] 09/2005: Hellblazer #212 -- 14,714 ---------------------------------- 09/2006: Hellblazer #224 -- 13,704 (- 1.8%) 10/2006: Hellblazer #225 -- 13,629 (- 0.6%) 11/2006: Hellblazer #226 -- 13,388 (- 1.8%) 12/2006: Hellblazer #227 -- 13,231 (- 1.2%) 01/2007: Hellblazer #228 -- 12,956 (- 2.1%) 02/2007: Hellblazer #229 -- 13,032 ( 0.6%) 03/2007: Hellblazer #230 -- 13,210 ( 1.4%) 04/2007: Hellblazer #231 -- 13,142 (- 0.5%) 05/2007: Hellblazer #232 -- 13,164 ( 0.2%) 06/2007: Hellblazer #233 -- 13,201 ( 0.3%) 07/2007: Hellblazer #234 -- 13,112 (- 0.7%) 08/2007: Hellblazer #234 -- 13,214 ( 0.8%) 08/2007: Hellblazer #235 -- 13,153 (- 0.5%) 09/2007: Hellblazer #236 -- 12,938 (- 1.6%) ---------------- 6 months: - 2.1% 1 year : - 5.6% 2 years : -12.1%
Fairly stable. Unless any of Vertigo’s upcoming titles manage to buck the trends and stay above 10K for more than three issues, Hellblazer is soon going to be the imprint’s best-selling title outside the Fables franchise.
—–
146 - 100 BULLETS (Vertigo) 09/2001: 100 Bullets #28 -- 17,076* 09/2002: 100 Bullets #39 -- 16,962* 09/2003: -- 09/2004: 100 Bullets #53 -- 16,413 09/2005: 100 Bullets #64 -- 14,708 ---------------------------------- 09/2006: 100 Bullets #76 -- 13,082 (- 1.8%) 10/2006: 100 Bullets #77 -- 13,054 (- 0.2%) 11/2006: 100 Bullets #78 -- 12,954 (- 0.8%) 12/2006: 100 Bullets #79 -- 12,907 (- 0.4%) 01/2007: 100 Bullets #80 -- 12,651 (- 2.0%) 02/2007: 100 Bullets #81 -- 12,458 (- 1.5%) 03/2007: 100 Bullets #82 -- 12,260 (- 1.6%) 04/2007: -- 05/2007: 100 Bullets #83 -- 12,475 ( 1.8%) 05/2007: -- 06/2007: 100 Bullets #84 -- 12,148 (- 2.6%) 07/2007: -- 08/2007: -- 09/2007: 100 Bullets #85 -- 11,888 (- 2.1%) ---------------- 6 months: - 3.0% 1 year : - 9.1% 2 years : -19.2%
147 - DMZ (Vertigo) 09/2006: DMZ #11 -- 14,562 (- 1.0%) 10/2006: DMZ #12 -- 14,640 ( 0.5%) 11/2006: DMZ #13 -- 14,228 (- 2.8%) 12/2006: DMZ #14 -- 13,731 (- 3.5%) 01/2007: DMZ #15 -- 13,340 (- 2.9%) 02/2007: DMZ #16 -- 13,199 (- 1.1%) 03/2007: DMZ #17 -- 13,081 (- 0.9%) 04/2007: DMZ #18 -- 13,120 ( 0.3%) 05/2007: DMZ #19 -- 13,116 (- 0.0%) 06/2007: DMZ #20 -- 12,704 (- 3.1%) 07/2007: DMZ #21 -- 12,433 (- 2.1%) 08/2007: DMZ #22 -- 12,175 (- 2.1%) 09/2007: DMZ #23 -- 11,858 (- 2.6%) ---------------- 6 months: - 9.4% 1 year : -18.6%
Two Vertigo titles continuing a slow decline.
—–
158 - STORMWATCH: PHD (WildStorm) 09/2002: StormWatch: TA #3 -- 19,477* 09/2003: StormWatch: TA #15 -- 12,110 ---------------------------------------- 11/2006: StormWatch: PHD #1 -- 29,975 12/2006: StormWatch: PHD #2 -- 21,605 (-27.9%) 01/2007: StormWatch: PHD #3 -- 18,371 (-15.0%) 02/2007: StormWatch: PHD #4 -- 15,893 (-13.5%) 03/2007: StormWatch: PHD #5 -- 13,475 (-15.2%) 04/2007: StormWatch: PHD #6 -- 13,109 (- 2.7%) 05/2007: StormWatch: PHD #7 -- 12,812 (- 2.3%) 06/2007: StormWatch: PHD #8 -- 12,157 (- 5.1%) 07/2007: StormWatch: PHD #9 -- 11,419 (- 6.1%) 08/2007: StormWatch: PHD #10 -- 11,106 (- 2.7%) 09/2007: StormWatch: PHD #11 -- 10,440 (- 6.0%) ---------------- 6 months: -22.5%
164 - WETWORKS (WildStorm) 09/2006: Wetworks #1 -- 43,824 10/2006: Wetworks #2 -- 28,181 (-35.7%) 11/2006: Wetworks #3 -- 24,493 (-13.1%) 12/2006: Wetworks #4 -- 23,267 (- 5.0%) 01/2007: Wetworks #5 -- 18,313 (-21.3%) 02/2007: Wetworks #6 -- 16,359 (-10.7%) 03/2007: Wetworks #7 -- 14,852 (- 9.2%) 04/2007: Wetworks #8 -- 14,189 (- 4.5%) 05/2007: Wetworks #9 -- 13,340 (- 6.0%) 06/2007: Wetworks #10 -- 12,098 (- 9.3%) 07/2007: Wetworks #11 -- 11,218 (- 7.3%) 08/2007: Wetworks #12 -- 10,382 (- 7.5%) 09/2007: Wetworks #13 -- 9,654 (- 7.0%) ---------------- 6 months: -35.0% 1 year : -78.0%
Canceled with October’s issue #12 and November’s issue #15, respectively.
—–
168 - DEATHBLOW (WildStorm) 10/2006: Deathblow #1 -- 34,056 11/2006: Deathblow #2 -- 22,880 (-32.8%) 12/2006: -- 01/2007: Deathblow #3 -- 18,813 (-17.8%) 02/2007: -- 03/2007: Deathblow #4 -- 15,842 (-15.8%) 04/2007: -- 05/2007: Deathblow #5 -- 12,547 (-20.8%) 06/2007: -- 07/2007: Deathblow #6 -- 10,582 (-15.7%) 08/2007: -- 09/2007: Deathblow #7 -- 9,287 (-12.2%) ---------------- 6 months: -41.4%
The book is missing from the January solicitations, which probably means November’s #8 is the final issue.
—–
171 - THE UN-MEN (Vertigo) 08/2007: The Un-Men #1 -- 11,868 09/2007: The Un-Men #2 -- 8,758 (-26.2%)
Another Vertigo launch dropping significantly below 10,000 units with issue #2.
—–
172 - JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED (Johnny DC) 09/2002: JL Adventures #11 -- 15,632* 09/2003: JL Adventures #23 -- 13,372 09/2004: JL Unlimited #1 -- 21,941 09/2005: JL Unlimited #13 -- 10,914 ------------------------------------ 09/2006: JL Unlimited #25 -- 9,985 (- 1.3%) 10/2006: JL Unlimited #26 -- 9,696 (- 2.9%) 11/2006: JL Unlimited #27 -- 9,690 (- 0.1%) 12/2006: JL Unlimited #28 -- 9,713 ( 0.2%) 01/2007: JL Unlimited #29 -- 9,273 (- 4.5%) 02/2007: JL Unlimited #30 -- 9,123 (- 1.6%) 03/2007: JL Unlimited #31 -- 9,072 (- 0.6%) 04/2007: JL Unlimited #32 -- 9,326 ( 2.8%) 05/2007: JL Unlimited #33 -- 9,230 (- 1.0%) 06/2007: JL Unlimited #34 -- 9,328 ( 1.1%) 07/2007: JL Unlimited #35 -- 8,998 (- 3.5%) 08/2007: JL Unlimited #36 -- 9,043 ( 0.5%) 09/2007: JL Unlimited #37 -- 8,706 (- 3.7%) ---------------- 6 months: - 4.0% 1 year : -12.8% 2 years : -20.2%
A Johnny DC title. See disclaimers.
—–
173 - WELCOME TO TRANQUILITY (WildStorm) 12/2006: Welcome to Tranquility #1 -- 24,352 01/2007: Welcome to Tranquility #2 -- 15,087 (-38.1%) 02/2007: Welcome to Tranquility #3 -- 12,334 (-18.3%) 03/2007: Welcome to Tranquility #4 -- 11,423 (- 7.4%) 04/2007: Welcome to Tranquility #5 -- 10,407 (- 8.9%) 05/2007: Welcome to Tranquility #6 -- 10,280 (- 1.2%) 06/2007: Welcome to Tranquility #7 -- 9,858 (- 4.1%) 07/2007: Welcome to Tranquility #8 -- 9,509 (- 3.5%) 08/2007: Welcome to Tranquility #9 -- 9,135 (- 3.9%) 09/2007: Welcome to Tranquility #10 -- 8,611 (- 5.7%) ---------------- 6 months: -24.6%
Canceled with issue #12.
—–
176 - THE PROGRAMME (WildStorm) 07/2007: The Programme #1 of 12 -- 14,293 08/2007: The Programme #2 of 12 -- 9,412 (-34.2%) 09/2007: The Programme #3 of 12 -- 8,545 (- 9.2%)
These numbers are going to get ugly.
—–
180 - TEEN TITANS GO (Johnny DC) 09/2004: Teen Titans Go #11 -- 15,337 09/2005: Teen Titans Go #23 -- 12,933 ------------------------------------- 09/2006: Teen Titans Go #35 -- 9,940 (- 3.8%) 10/2006: Teen Titans Go #36 -- 10,214 ( 2.8%) 11/2006: Teen Titans Go #37 -- 9,642 (- 5.6%) 12/2006: Teen Titans Go #38 -- 9,529 (- 1.2%) 01/2007: Teen Titans Go #39 -- 9,425 (- 1.1%) 02/2007: Teen Titans Go #40 -- 9,132 (- 3.1%) 03/2007: Teen Titans Go #41 -- 8,895 (- 2.6%) 04/2007: Teen Titans Go #42 -- 9,050 ( 1.7%) 05/2007: Teen Titans Go #43 -- 8,918 (- 1.5%) 06/2007: Teen Titans Go #44 -- 8,738 (- 2.0%) 07/2007: Teen Titans Go #45 -- 8,554 (- 2.1%) 08/2007: Teen Titans Go #46 -- 8,427 (- 1.5%) 09/2007: Teen Titans Go #47 -- 8,229 (- 2.4%) ---------------- 6 months: - 7.5% 1 year : -17.2% 2 years : -36.4%
Another Johnny DC book.
—–
181 - THE EXTERMINATORS (Vertigo) 09/2006: The Exterminators #9 -- 10,177 (- 1.2%) 10/2006: The Exterminators #10 -- 9,970 (- 2.0%) 11/2006: The Exterminators #11 -- 9,973 ( 0.0%) 12/2006: The Exterminators #12 -- 9,636 (- 3.4%) 01/2007: The Exterminators #13 -- 9,447 (- 2.0%) 02/2007: The Exterminators #14 -- 8,965 (- 5.1%) 03/2007: The Exterminators #15 -- 8,839 (- 1.4%) 04/2007: The Exterminators #16 -- 8,758 (- 1.0%) 05/2007: The Exterminators #17 -- 8,813 ( 0.6%) 06/2007: The Exterminators #18 -- 8,651 (- 1.8%) 07/2007: The Exterminators #19 -- 8,454 (- 2.3%) 08/2007: The Exterminators #20 -- 8,289 (- 2.0%) 09/2007: The Exterminators #21 -- 7,950 (- 4.1%) ---------------- 6 months: -10.1% 1 year : -21.9%
Declining.
—–
183 - NEW LINE CINEMA'S TALES OF HORROR (WildStorm) 09/2007: New Line Cinema's Tales of Horror #1 -- 7,935
Well, what did you expect. Either DC are contractually obligated to release these New Line horror titles or there’s a hell of a lot of demand for them in channels other than the direct market.
—–
184 - FAKER (Vertigo) 07/2007: Faker #1 of 6 -- 11,461 08/2007: Faker #2 of 6 -- 8,735 (-23.8%) 09/2007: Faker #3 of 6 -- 7,913 (- 9.4%)
Horrible sales.
—–
186 - FRIDAY THE 13TH: HOW I SPENT MY SUMMER VACATION (WildStorm) 12/2006: Friday the 13th #1 -- 15,801 01/2007: Friday the 13th #2 -- 9,555 (-39.5%) 02/2007: Friday the 13th #3 -- 8,965 (- 6.2%) 03/2007: Friday the 13th #4 -- 8,637 (- 3.7%) 04/2007: Friday the 13th #5 -- 8,724 ( 1.0%) 05/2007: Friday the 13th #6 -- 8,605 (- 1.4%) 06/2007: -- 07/2007: Pamela's Tale #1 of 2 -- 8,420 (- 2.2%) 08/2007: Pamela's Tale #2 of 2 -- 7,635 (- 9.3%) 09/2007: Summer Vacation #1 of 2 -- 7,839 ( 2.7%) ---------------- 6 months: - 9.2%
See comments on New Line Cinema’s Tales of Horror.
—–
187 - SCALPED (Vertigo) 01/2007: Scalped #1 -- 13,644 02/2007: Scalped #2 -- 10,005 (-26.7%) 03/2007: Scalped #3 -- 9,531 (- 4.7%) 04/2007: Scalped #4 -- 9,163 (- 3.9%) 05/2007: Scalped #5 -- 9,022 (- 1.5%) 06/2007: Scalped #6 -- 8,689 (- 3.7%) 07/2007: Scalped #7 -- 8,303 (- 4.4%) 08/2007: Scalped #8 -- 7,942 (- 4.4%) 09/2007: Scalped #9 -- 7,678 (- 3.3%) ---------------- 6 months: -19.4%
Declining.
—–
189 - AMERICAN VIRGIN (Vertigo) 09/2006: American Virgin #7 -- 11,767 (- 5.8%) 10/2006: -- 11/2006: American Virgin #8 -- 11,275 (- 4.2%) 11/2006: American Virgin #9 -- 10,567 (- 6.3%) 12/2006: -- 01/2007: American Virgin #10 -- 10,331 (- 2.2%) 01/2007: American Virgin #11 -- 9,628 (- 6.8%) 02/2007: American Virgin #12 -- 9,215 (- 4.3%) 03/2007: -- 04/2007: American Virgin #13 -- 8,960 (- 2.8%) 05/2007: American Virgin #14 -- 8,805 (- 1.7%) 05/2007: American Virgin #15 -- 8,613 (- 2.2%) 06/2007: -- 07/2007: American Virgin #16 -- 8,403 (- 2.4%) 08/2007: American Virgin #17 -- 8,204 (- 2.4%) 08/2007: American Virgin #18 -- 7,727 (- 5.8%) 09/2007: American Virgin #19 -- 7,487 (- 3.1%) ---------------- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : -36.4%
Canceled with January’s issue #23, despite anecdotal reports of solid collection sales. It seems the current batch of Vertigo books get around 18 issues to swim or drown. Given the atrocious numbers some of them are already doing at issue #4 currently, I’m not sure how long that’s going to last, though.
—–
190 - THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES IN THE 31ST CENTURY (Johnny DC) 04/2007: The LoSH in the 31st Century #1 -- 13,519 05/2007: The LoSH in the 31st Century #2 -- 11,121 (-17.7%) 06/2007: The LoSH in the 31st Century #3 -- 9,252 (-16.8%) 07/2007: The LoSH in the 31st Century #4 -- 8,236 (-11.0%) 08/2007: The LoSH in the 31st Century #5 -- 7,681 (- 6.7%) 09/2007: The LoSH in the 31st Century #6 -- 7,362 (- 4.2%)
Johnny DC.
—–
191 - ARMY@LOVE (Vertigo) 03/2007: Army@Love #1 -- 14,578 04/2007: Army@Love #2 -- 11,195 (-23.2%) 05/2007: Army@Love #3 -- 10,312 (- 7.9%) 06/2007: Army@Love #4 -- 9,089 (-11.9%) 07/2007: Army@Love #5 -- 8,386 (- 7.7%) 08/2007: Army@Love #6 -- 7,858 (- 6.3%) 09/2007: Army@Love #7 -- 7,310 (- 7.0%) ---------------- 6 months: -49.9%
Half the sales of the debut issue are gone.
—–
196 - BATMAN STRIKES! (Johnny DC) 09/2001: Gotham Adventures #42 -- 12,088* 09/2002: Gotham Adventures #54 -- 12,318* 09/2003: Batman Adventures #6 -- 13,512 09/2004: Batman Strikes! #1 -- 22,397 [23,348] 09/2005: Batman Strikes! #13 -- 9,284 ---------------------------------------- 09/2006: Batman Strikes! #25 -- 7,765 (- 4.6%) 10/2006: Batman Strikes! #26 -- 7,560 (- 2.6%) 11/2006: Batman Strikes! #27 -- 7,567 ( 0.1%) 12/2006: Batman Strikes! #28 -- 7,427 (- 1.9%) 01/2007: Batman Strikes! #29 -- 7,330 (- 1.3%) 02/2007: Batman Strikes! #30 -- 7,335 ( 0.1%) 03/2007: Batman Strikes! #31 -- 7,100 (- 3.2%) 04/2007: Batman Strikes! #32 -- 7,294 ( 2.7%) 05/2007: Batman Strikes! #33 -- 7,235 (- 0.8%) 06/2007: Batman Strikes! #34 -- 7,115 (- 1.7%) 07/2007: Batman Strikes! #35 -- 7,222 ( 1.5%) 08/2007: Batman Strikes! #36 -- 7,511 ( 4.0%) 09/2007: Batman Strikes! #37 -- 6,833 (- 9.0%) ---------------- 6 months: - 3.8% 1 year : -12.0% 2 years : -26.4%
Johnny DC.
—–
207 - TESTAMENT (Vertigo) 09/2006: Testament #10 -- 9,629 (- 8.0%) 10/2006: Testament #11 -- 9,059 (- 5.9%) 11/2006: Testament #12 -- 8,690 (- 4.1%) 12/2006: Testament #13 -- 8,320 (- 4.3%) 01/2007: Testament #14 -- 7,960 (- 4.3%) 02/2007: Testament #15 -- 7,618 (- 4.3%) 03/2007: Testament #16 -- 7,422 (- 2.6%) 04/2007: Testament #17 -- 7,193 (- 3.1%) 05/2007: Testament #18 -- 6,963 (- 3.2%) 06/2007: -- 07/2007: Testament #19 -- 6,225 (-10.6%) 08/2007: -- 09/2007: Testament #20 -- 6,061 (- 2.6%) ---------------- 6 months: -18.3% 1 year : -37.1%
Canceled with issue #22.
—–
210 - CROSSING MIDNIGHT (Vertigo) 11/2006: Crossing Midnight #1 -- 12,756 12/2006: Crossing Midnight #2 -- 8,982 (-29.6%) 01/2007: Crossing Midnight #3 -- 8,236 (- 8.3%) 02/2007: Crossing Midnight #4 -- 7,568 (- 8.1%) 03/2007: Crossing Midnight #5 -- 7,196 (- 4.9%) 04/2007: Crossing Midnight #6 -- 7,036 (- 2.2%) 05/2007: Crossing Midnight #7 -- 6,866 (- 2.4%) 06/2007: Crossing Midnight #8 -- 6,612 (- 3.7%) 07/2007: Crossing Midnight #9 -- 6,351 (- 4.0%) 08/2007: Crossing Midnight #10 -- 6,142 (- 3.3%) 09/2007: Crossing Midnight #11 -- 5,870 (- 4.4%) ---------------- 6 months: -18.4%
Case in point. Either Crossing Midnight is doing so well in collected form that the single-issue numbers really don’t matter at all, as some are suggesting, or there’s a moratorium on canceling new titles before they’ve been around for at least a year to 18 months. At present, to be honest, I’m more inclined to believe the latter.
—–
219 - THE HIGHWAYMEN (WildStorm) 06/2007: The Highwaymen #1 of 5 -- 9,360 07/2007: The Highwaymen #2 of 5 -- 6,108 (-34.7%) 08/2007: The Highwaymen #3 of 5 -- 5,718 (- 6.4%) 09/2007: The Highwaymen #4 of 5 -- 5,194 (- 9.2%)
Abysmal numbers, but par for the course at this point.
—–
235 - SCOOBY DOO (Johnny DC) 09/2001: Scooby Doo #52 -- 5,492* 09/2002: Scooby Doo #64 -- 6,628* 09/2003: Scooby Doo #76 -- 5,938 09/2004: Scooby Doo #88 -- 5,571 09/2005: Scooby Doo #100 -- 5,239 --------------------------------- 09/2006: Scooby Doo #112 -- 4,385 (- 2.4%) 10/2006: Scooby Doo #113 -- 4,339 (- 1.1%) 11/2006: Scooby Doo #114 -- 4,387 ( 1.1%) 12/2006: Scooby Doo #115 -- 4,364 (- 0.5%) 01/2007: Scooby Doo #116 -- 4,285 (- 1.8%) 02/2007: Scooby Doo #117 -- 4,275 (- 0.2%) 03/2007: Scooby Doo #118 -- 4,395 ( 2.8%) 04/2007: Scooby Doo #119 -- 4,373 (- 0.5%) 05/2007: Scooby Doo #120 -- 4,343 (- 0.7%) 06/2007: Scooby Doo #121 -- 4,415 ( 1.7%) 07/2007: Scooby Doo #122 -- 4,424 ( 0.2%) 08/2007: Scooby Doo #123 -- 4,641 ( 4.9%) 09/2007: Scooby Doo #124 -- 4,401 (- 5.2%) ---------------- 6 months: 0.1% 1 year : 0.4% 2 years : -16.0%
260 - LOONEY TUNES (Johnny DC) 09/2001: Looney Tunes #82 -- 3,127* 09/2002: Looney Tunes #94 -- 3,497* 09/2003: Looney Tunes #106 -- 3,577 09/2004: Looney Tunes #118 -- 3,548 09/2005: Looney Tunes #130 -- 2,659 ----------------------------------- 09/2006: Looney Tunes #142 -- 2,695 (- 3.2%) 10/2006: Looney Tunes #143 -- 2,741 ( 1.7%) 11/2006: Looney Tunes #144 -- ????? 12/2006: Looney Tunes #145 -- 2,732 01/2007: Looney Tunes #146 -- 2,588 (- 5.3%) 02/2007: Looney Tunes #147 -- 2,553 (- 1.4%) 03/2007: Looney Tunes #148 -- 2,705 ( 6.0%) 04/2007: Looney Tunes #149 -- 2,640 (- 2.4%) 05/2007: Looney Tunes #150 -- 3,093 ( 17.2%) 06/2007: Looney Tunes #151 -- 2,711 (-12.4%) 07/2007: Looney Tunes #152 -- 2,865 ( 5.7%) 08/2007: Looney Tunes #153 -- 2,755 (- 3.8%) 09/2007: Looney Tunes #154 -- 2,740 (- 0.6%) ---------------- 6 months: 1.3% 1 year : 1.7% 2 years : 3.1%
283 - CARTOON NETWORK BLOCK PARTY (Johnny DC) 09/2001: Cartoon Cartoons #7 -- 2,773* 09/2002: Cartoon Cartoons #13 -- 3,366* 09/2003: Cartoon Cartoons #22 -- 2,595 09/2004: CN Block Party #1 -- 4,203 09/2005: CN Block Party #13 -- 1,887 -------------------------------------- 09/2006: CN Block Party #25 -- 1,918 (- 0.1%) 10/2006: CN Block Party #26 -- 1,879 (- 2.0%) 11/2006: CN Block Party #27 -- ????? 12/2006: CN Block Party #28 -- 1,778 01/2007: CN Block Party #29 -- ????? 02/2007: CN Block Party #30 -- 1,697 03/2007: CN Block Party #31 -- 1,892 ( 11.5%) 04/2007: CN Block Party #32 -- 1,824 (- 3.6%) 05/2007: CN Block Party #33 -- ????? 06/2007: CN Block Party #34 -- 1,753 07/2007: CN Block Party #35 -- ????? 08/2007: CN Block Party #36 -- ????? 09/2007: CN Block Party #37 -- 1,903 ---------------- 6 months: 0.6% 1 year : - 0.8% 2 years : 0.9%
284 - MAD MAGAZINE 09/2007: Mad Magazine #482 -- 1,851
Three more Johnny DC titles – plus Mad Magazine, which hasn’t made the Top 300 chart since August 2005.
—–
REORDERS: 197 -- 6,811: Green Lantern: Sinestro Corps Special #1 (4th) 203 -- 6,179: Green Lantern Corps #15 (2nd) 224 -- 5,033: Green Lantern Corps #14 (3rd) 226 -- 4,974: Green Lantern #22 (2nd) 286 -- 1,741: Green Lantern #21 (2nd)
—–
Average Sales per Title
(not counting reprints, re-orders shipping after the initial month of release, Johnny DC titles and magazines)
DC COMICS 09/2003: 28,511 09/2004: 31,690 09/2005: 34,972 --------------- 09/2006: 34,920 (-17.8%) 10/2006: 33,406 (- 4.3%) 11/2006: 34,906 ( 4.5%) 12/2006: 34,418 (- 1.4%) 01/2007: 29,706 (-13.7%) 02/2007: 31,051 ( 4.5%) 03/2007: 32,398 ( 4.3%) 04/2007: 39,134 ( 20.8%) 05/2007: 34,489 (-11.9%) 06/2007: 32,437 (- 6.0%) 07/2007: 34,330 ( 5.8%) 08/2007: 34,885 ( 1.6%) 09/2007: 32,332 (- 7.3%) ---------------- 6 months: - 0.2% 1 year : - 7.4% 2 years : - 7.6% 3 years : 2.0% 4 years : 13.4%
DC UNIVERSE 09/2003: 32,934 09/2004: 36,445 09/2005: 44,823 --------------- 09/2006: 46,329 (-14.8%) 10/2006: 42,581 (- 8.1%) 11/2006: 45,399 ( 6.6%) 12/2006: 44,641 (- 1.7%) 01/2007: 38,302 (-14.2%) 02/2007: 39,976 ( 4.4%) 03/2007: 42,634 ( 6.7%) 04/2007: 52,768 ( 23.8%) 05/2007: 47,294 (-10.4%) 06/2007: 45,380 (- 4.1%) 07/2007: 47,134 ( 3.9%) 08/2007: 46,717 (- 0.9%) 09/2007: 42,894 (- 8.2%) ---------------- 6 months: 0.6% 1 year : - 7.4% 2 years : - 4.3% 3 years : 17.7% 4 years : 30.2%
VERTIGO 09/2003: 17,084 09/2004: 17,046 09/2005: 14,287 --------------- 09/2006: 15,399 (- 4.4%) 10/2006: 15,189 (- 1.4%) 11/2006: 13,773 (- 9.3%) 12/2006: 13,834 ( 0.4%) 01/2007: 13,572 (- 1.9%) 02/2007: 11,855 (-12.7%) 03/2007: 13,748 ( 16.0%) 04/2007: 12,105 (-12.0%) 05/2007: 12,256 ( 1.3%) 06/2007: 12,732 ( 3.9%) 07/2007: 12,193 (- 4.2%) 08/2007: 10,817 (-11.3%) 09/2007: 11,806 ( 9.1%) ---------------- 6 months: -14.1% 1 year : -23.3% 2 years : -17.4% 3 years : -30.7% 4 years : -30.9%
WILDSTORM 09/2003: 19,744 09/2004: 16,541 09/2005: 13,707 --------------- 09/2006: 13,285 (- 9.9%) 10/2006: 25,747 ( 93.8%) 11/2006: 18,987 (-26.3%) 12/2006: 17,288 (- 9.0%) 01/2007: 14,525 (-16.0%) 02/2007: 14,105 (- 2.9%) 03/2007: 15,224 ( 7.9%) 04/2007: 13,609 (-10.6%) 05/2007: 14,260 ( 4.8%) 06/2007: 12,272 (-13.9%) 07/2007: 11,234 (- 8.5%) 08/2007: 10,744 (- 4.4%) 09/2007: 11,379 ( 5.9%) ---------------- 6 months: -25.3% 1 year : -14.4% 2 years : -17.0% 3 years : -31.2% 4 years : -42.4%
—–
6-MONTH COMPARISONS 28.3%: Green Lantern 23.5%: Flash 17.3%: Outsiders 5.4%: Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters 1.3%: Looney Tunes 1.2%: Green Arrow 1.0%: Y: The Last Man 0.6%: Cartoon Network Block Party 0.1%: Scooby-Doo - 0.4%: Justice Society of America - 1.7%: All-New Atom - 2.1%: Hellblazer - 2.4%: Fables - 3.0%: 100 Bullets - 3.7%: Catwoman - 3.8%: Batman Strikes! - 4.0%: Justice League Unlimited - 4.6%: Birds of Prey - 6.0%: Teen Titans - 6.6%: Detective Comics - 6.8%: Checkmate - 7.5%: Teen Titans Go - 8.0%: Nightwing - 8.2%: Justice League of America - 8.7%: Batman - 8.8%: JLA: Classified - 9.2%: Friday the 13th - 9.4%: DMZ - 10.1%: The Exterminators - 10.1%: Robin - 10.9%: Bue Beetle - 11.3%: Jonah Hex - 12.4%: JSA: Classified - 12.6%: Supergirl - 12.9%: Shadowpact - 15.0%: Superman - 15.3%: Superman Confidential - 18.1%: The Spirit - 18.3%: Testament - 18.4%: Crossing Midnight - 19.4%: Scalped - 22.5%: StormWatch: PHD - 24.6%: Gen13 - 24.6%: Welcome to Tranquility - 25.5%: Batman Confidential - 26.3%: Superman/Batman - 29.6%: Aquaman - 33.1%: The Midnighter - 35.0%: Wetworks - 41.4%: Deathblow - 49.9%: Army@Love
—–
1-YEAR COMPARISONS 1.7%: Looney Tunes 1.3%: Green Lantern 0.4%: Scooby-Doo - 0.3%: Fables - 0.6%: Y: The Last Man - 0.8%: Cartoon Network Block Party - 1.1%: Outsiders - 5.6%: Hellblazer - 6.8%: Green Arrow - 9.1%: 100 Bullets - 9.4%: DMZ - 12.0%: Batman Strikes - 12.3%: Teen Titans - 12.8%: Justice League Unlimited - 14.5%: Flash - 16.3%: Jack of Fables - 16.5%: Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters - 16.7%: Justice League of America - 17.0%: Birds of Prey - 17.2%: Teen Titans Go - 19.6%: Batman - 20.1%: Jonah Hex - 21.9%: The Exterminators - 23.0%: Catwoman - 23.0%: Detective Comics - 23.0%: Supergirl and the Legion - 24.4%: Superman - 27.7%: Robin - 28.4%: JLA: Classified - 29.0%: Trials of SHAZAM - 33.7%: Supergirl - 35.1%: Checkmate - 36.1%: JSA: Classified - 36.4%: American Virgin - 38.7%: Shadowpact - 45.9%: Blue Beetle - 48.1%: All-New Atom - 52.2%: Aquaman - 78.0%: Wetworks
—–
2-YEAR COMPARISONS 58.1%: Justice Society of America 30.2%: Justice League of America 27.6%: Detective Comics 25.9%: Flash 11.4%: Batman 3.1%: Looney Tunes 1.2%: Fables 0.9%: Cartoon Network Block Party - 4.1%: Y: The Last Man - 5.8%: Catwoman - 8.2%: Green Arrow - 12.1%: Hellblazer - 13.2%: Birds of Prey - 13.6%: Outsiders - 13.7%: Robin - 16.0%: Scooby-Doo - 18.8%: Supergirl and the Legion - 19.2%: 100 Bullets - 19.3%: Nightwing - 20.2%: Justice League Unlimited - 24.0%: Aquaman - 26.4%: Batman Strikes! - 29.6%: Superman - 36.4%: Teen Titans Go - 38.2%: All Star Batman - 44.4%: Superman/Batman - 54.5%: JLA: Classified - 56.1%: Supergirl - 64.7%: JSA: Classified
—–
OTHER PUBLISHERS
8 - BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER (Dark Horse Comics) 03/2007: Buffy #1 -- 109,919 [152,964] 04/2007: Buffy #2 -- 96,409 (-12.3%) [127,603] 05/2007: Buffy #3 -- 106,634 ( 10.6%) [119,966] 06/2007: Buffy #4 -- 102,430 (- 3.9%) [112,569] 07/2007: Buffy #5 -- 100,830 (- 2.0%) [109,322] 08/2007: -- 09/2007: Buffy #6 -- 96,556 (- 4.2%)
Remarkably, there’s not much of a drop-off here, despite the fact that Buffy creator Joss Whedon isn’t writing the new arc himself. As usual, there were two different cover editions.
Similar to DC’s current “Sinestro Corps War” crossover, Buffy the Vampire Slayer also keeps raking in the reorders: Issue #5 sold another 3,174 units in September; issue #4 sold 4,056; issue #3 sold 8,354; issue #2 sold 6,069; and a fourth printing of issue #1 sold 6,091.
—–
58 - THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY: APOCALYPSE SUITE (Dark Horse Comics) 09/2007: Apocalypse Suite #1 of 6 -- 37,698
Another impressive hit for Dark Horse. In contrast to Buffy, this one really does come as a surprise. Writer Gerard Way may be a bona fide rock star, but traditionally, that sort of thing rarely tends to translate into the comics market – let alone the direct market. Something’s going on here, and it seems to be significant.
For the record, this one comes in two different cover editions as well.
—–
71 - THE BOYS (Dynamite Entertainment) 09/2006: -- 10/2006: The Boys #3 -- 26,415 ( 1.0%) 10/2006: The Boys #4 -- 24,848 (- 5.9%) [28,452] 11/2006: The Boys #5 -- 26,842 ( 8.0%) 12/2006: The Boys #6 -- 27,039 ( 0.7%) [35,173] 01/2007: -- 02/2007: -- 03/2007: -- 04/2007: -- 05/2007: The Boys #7 -- 31,616 ( 16.9%) [37,255] 06/2007: The Boys #8 -- 30,639 (- 3.1%) [32,868] 07/2007: -- 08/2007: The Boys #9 -- 32,570 ( 6.3%) 09/2007: The Boys #10 -- 32,077 (- 1.5%) ---------------- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : n.a.
Rock-solid sales.
—–
73 - STAR WARS: LEGACY (Dark Horse Comics) 09/2006: Star Wars: Legacy #3 -- 34,268 ( 2.9%) 09/2006: Star Wars: Legacy #4 -- 34,362 ( 0.3%) 10/2006: -- 11/2006: Star Wars: Legacy #5 -- 34,362 ( 0%) 11/2006: Star Wars: Legacy #6 -- 33,003 (-4.0%) 12/2006: -- 01/2007: Star Wars: Legacy #7 -- 34,249 ( 3.8%) 02/2007: Star Wars: Legacy #8 -- 33,533 (-2.1%) 03/2007: Star Wars: Legacy #9 -- 33,084 (-1.3%) 03/2007: Star Wars: Legacy #10 -- 32,320 (-2.3%) 04/2007: -- 05/2007: Star Wars: Legacy #11 -- 33,138 ( 2.5%) 05/2007: Star Wars: Legacy #12 -- 32,161 (-3.0%) 06/2007: Star Wars: Legacy #13 -- 32,149 (-0.0%) 07/2007: Star Wars: Legacy #14 -- 31,652 (-1.6%) 08/2007: Star Wars: Legacy #15 -- 31,539 (-0.4%) 09/2007: Star Wars: Legacy #16 -- 31,240 (-1.0%) ---------------- 6 months: - 4.5% 1 year : - 9.0%
Ditto.
—–
98 - FRANK FRAZETTA'S DEATH DEALER (Image Comics) 04/2007: Death Dealer #1 of 6 -- 32,352 [36,959] 05/2007: Death Dealer #2 of 6 -- 25,839 (-20.1%) 06/2007: Death Dealer #3 of 6 -- 23,909 (- 7.5%) 07/2007: -- 08/2007: -- 09/2007: Death Dealer #4 of 6 -- 24,245 ( 1.4%)
Image’s best-selling book in September is neither Spawn nor The Walking Dead, surprisingly.
—–
99 - SPAWN (Image Comics/TMP) 09/2001: Spawn #114 -- 48,007* 09/2002: Spawn #126 -- 40,477* 09/2003: Spawn #128 -- 38,082 09/2004: Spawn #138 -- 31,073 09/2005: Spawn #149 -- 26,790 ----------------------------- 09/2006: Spawn #160 -- 25,580 (- 2.5%) 10/2006: Spawn #161 -- 25,840 ( 1.0%) 11/2006: Spawn #162 -- 25,069 (- 3.0%) 12/2006: Spawn #163 -- 24,922 (- 0.6%) 01/2007: Spawn #164 -- 24,534 (- 1.6%) 02/2007: -- 03/2007: Spawn #165 -- 24,519 (- 0.1%) 03/2007: Spawn #166 -- 23,690 (- 3.4%) 04/2007: -- 05/2007: Spawn #167 -- 24,277 ( 2.5%) 06/2007: Spawn #168 -- 24,152 (- 0.5%) 07/2007: Spawn #169 -- 24,037 (- 0.5%) 08/2007: Spawn #170 -- 23,712 (- 1.4%) 09/2007: Spawn #171 -- 23,768 ( 0.2%) ---------------- 6 months: - 1.4% 1 year : - 7.1% 2 years : -11.3%
Holding level.
—–
102 - THE WALKING DEAD (Image Comics) 09/2004: Walking Dead #10 -- 13,720 09/2004: Walking Dead #11 -- 13,556 09/2005: -- ----------------------------------- 09/2006: Walking Dead #31 -- 21,368 ( 4.0%) 10/2006: -- 11/2006: Walking Dead #32 -- 21,191 (- 0.8%) 12/2006: Walking Dead #33 -- 21,235 ( 0.2%) 01/2007: Walking Dead #34 -- 21,184 (- 0.2%) 02/2007: Walking Dead #35 -- 21,391 ( 1.0%) 03/2007: Walking Dead #36 -- 21,291 (- 0.5%) 04/2007: Walking Dead #37 -- 21,737 ( 2.1%) 05/2007: -- 06/2007: Walking Dead #38 -- 22,193 ( 2.1%) 07/2007: Walking Dead #39 -- 22,487 ( 1.3%) 08/2007: Walking Dead #40 -- 22,989 ( 2.2%) 08/2007: Walking Dead #41 -- 22,681 (- 1.3%) 09/2007: Walking Dead #42 -- 23,107 ( 1.9%) ----------------- 6 months: 8.5% 1 year : 8.1% 2 years : 69.4%
Cracking 23K for the first time.
—–
Disclaimers, et cetera
The numbers above are estimates for comic book sales in the North American direct market, as calculated by ICv2.com according to the chart and index information provided by Diamond Comic Distributors. ICv2.com’s estimates are traditionally known to be somewhat lower than the actual numbers, but they are consistent from month to month, so the trends they show are fairly accurate. Since it’s a “month-to-month” column, the comments, unless otherwise noted, are on the most recent month. The estimates from March 2001 to February 2003 (marked with an asterisk) were for initial orders rather than actual sales, so they’re only roughly compatible with the subsequent figures.
Bear in mind that the figures measure sales to retailers, not customers. Also, these numbers do not include sales to bookstores, newsstands, other mass market retail chains or the United Kingdom. Reorders are included, so long as they either reached stores in a book’s initial month of release or were strong enough to make the chart again in a subsequent month.
If additional copies of an issue did appear on the chart after the book’s initial month of release, you can see the total number of copies sold in parenthesis behind those issues (e.g. “[36,599]”). Should more than one issue have shipped in a month which is relevant for one of the long-term comparisons, the average will be used.
Titles released under the Johnny DC imprint and magazines, such as Mad, mostly sell through channels other than the direct market, so direct market sales don’t tell us much about their performance. For most Vertigo and some WildStorm titles, collection sales tend to be a significant factor, so the numbers for those books should be taken with a grain of salt as well.
—–
Germany-based Marc-Oliver Frisch has a weblog and regularly contributes to German online magazine Comicgate.
“49 – COUNTDOWN PRESENTS: THE SEARCH FOR RAY PALMER
09/2007: CP:TSfRP: WildStorm #1 — 41,092
Another series of one-shots, similar to Tales of the Sinestro Corps. Note the sales difference of, oh, about 25,000 units.”
However, it’s the best selling thing with the word “WildStorm” on the cover in, presumably, years!
Thanks for your work!
Just one nit-pick this month re Vertigo numbers: I haven’t seen anybody suggesting “that the single-issue numbers really don’t matter at all”. Nor have I seen anybody denying that most Vertigo books have mediocre sales. After all, that’s the way it always was. What people have doubted is that Vertigo is in serious trouble. What people have suggested is that the fact that the mediocre-selling Vertigo books are selling a few thousand issues less than they used to is made up for by better TPB sales. Aside from the incomplete information about TPB sales that seems to support this, the best reason for this theory still seems to be the simple fact that Vertigo monthly sales are even allowed to go this low. Why doesn’t Vertigo cancel these books earlier? Human Kindness? Tax write-offs? If there really is “a moratorium on canceling new titles before they’ve been around for at least a year to 18 months”, as you suggest (but why would there?), it must be new, as they cancelled ‘Trigger’ a few years ago before it even reached issue 12.
18 Months = X months to publish the first story arc + Y months to market the book +Z months to sell the book and judge sales? The trades will also help sales of the single issues, as the trade will be reviewed by magazines. Even if the series is slow to sell as a trade, DC will have enough inventory to sell three volumes, and relaunch if necessary.
Sandman didn’t pop until Sandman Month, around issue 30. When did Fables mature?
Fables was a much better seller off the bat than any of the current crop of books, and it then had a significant upswing. Notice how the numbers went from 19K to 25K in its second year. None of the current crop- Army@Love, DMZ, Exterminators, Crossing Midnight, Scalped, etc- are even close.
Sandman was the oddball. It didn’t get ANY trades for a long time until the Rolling Stone article. And then, DC released the second trade first- for a long time, you could only get Doll’s House, not the first six issues, and then you had to buy the first and third trades together in a box set…and yet, it all worked.
And if you believe Brian Hibbs’s columns, the Vertigo trades for these books aren’t moving at all in the Direct Market. Unless the Vertigo label is really driving bookstore sales- and there’s no real reason to believe that, honestly, not when the books aren’t Sandman/Preacher/Transmet/etc- the link is sinking.
As for the notion that Vertigo trades automatically get reviewed by magazines…really? Is Publishers Weekly (a VERY influential magazine that librarians and booksellers use) reviewing all Vertigo trades? I’ve seen a lot of reviews for indy books- D&Q, Fanta, Oni- but I haven’t seen a lot of reviews for the current round of Vertigo stuff, other than DMZ.
The simple truth may be that no one wants to buy comics based around exterminators, Indian casinos, and the like by writers who aren’t Gaiman, Ennis, Ellis, or Morrison.
I’d hate for this Vertigo argument to linger for yet another month, but why does the columnist readily accept that Johnny DC titles sell the majority of their copies outside of the DM without any emperical evidence while treating any claims that trade sales of Vertigo titles to the book store/online market make up for their relatively poor sales in the DM as dubious at best? Occum’s razor suggests that if certain Vertigo books are canceled (Deadman) and others with similar or lower sales figures (Crossing Midnight) are not, that the sales figures of the trades must figure into it. And since we do not have accurate figures for bookstore sales, it seems almost willfully spiteful to make inferences and assumptions about some kind of “pity” that Vertigo bestows upon low selling books.
We review vertigo trades when we get them. David Hyde and the other folks at DC do a good job of getting us stuff ahead of time when it’s feasible. We actually reviewed most of the current crop of trades, including TESTAMENT, AMERICAN VIRGIN and DMZ.
to RTressel: Johnny DC books are all ages kids comics and they hardly sell in the DM anymore. Their target audience are kids and they don’t go to comicshops anymore
Vertigo is still mature audiences: the DM markets audience
Why do we so readily believe that kids are buying Johnny DC titles off the spinner racks at Safeway in droves, while refusing to believe that Vertigo trades might be selling considerable numbers at a Borders or a Barnes and Noble? I wasn’t insinuating that “Army@Love” single issues are being sold at 7-11, but that there are other revenue streams that are not accounted for in the DM and this columnist routinely accepts one of them (kids comics being sold at supermarkets) and not another (mature readers tpb being sold at bookstores) while having data for neither. It does make it seem like he has an ax to grind with Vertigo as a publisher.
“If there really is “a moratorium on canceling new titles before they’ve been around for at least a year to 18 months”, as you suggest (but why would there?), it must be new, as they cancelled ‘Trigger’ a few years ago before it even reached issue 12.”
When TRIGGER was canceled, Vertigo titles debuting below 15K were the exception. Now they’re the rule. So, quite possibly, they’ve simply run out of options – after all, canceling CROSSING MIDNIGHT, ARMY @LOVE, SCALPED and THE UN-MEN – basically ALL of their recent launches – right away probably wouldn’t inspire much trust from the market in future launches. Given the apparent lack of alternatives, I can certainly see very good reasons for sticking with those books despite poor sales, as long as the imprint as a whole keeps being profitable. Because they likely know as well as we do that, eventually – probably not soon, but eventually, – they’ll need that next SANDMAN or PREACHER or Y or V, and it’s not going to spontaneously appear out of thin air.
(Also see Zuda Comics, which won’t be paying off for DC commercially for a long time, either, if at all.)
“Why do we so readily believe that kids are buying Johnny DC titles off the spinner racks at Safeway in droves, while refusing to believe that Vertigo trades might be selling considerable numbers at a Borders or a Barnes and Noble?”
We know that the Johnny DC titles must be selling somewhere outside the direct market, because they’ve been selling at numbers which are plainly not viable in the direct market for years now. The same doesn’t hold true for Vertigo.
And I don’t think anyone’s discounting the possibility of Vertigo selling considerable numbers of collections of the books in question. It’s just that there’s no evidence to suggest that those sales have grown to be considerable enough to render the single-issue numbers meaningless as a general rule just yet.
At this point, it might be cost efficient to just get a rubber stamp and stamp ‘Declining’ at the bottom of each listing.
It appears that DC will be out of business soon.
I don’t know. Are the publishers really putting out what customers want to read?
DC really needs to lose Wildstorm. How many times are they gonna let them relaunch Stormwatch, Wetworks or Gen13. It’s not 1995, no one cares about those books anymore. And the books people DO care about, like Wildcats and The Authority, have disappeared from the shelves. When was the last time Wildstorm had a title that put up decent sales for an extended period of time?
“We know that the Johnny DC titles must be selling somewhere outside the direct market, because they’ve been selling at numbers which are plainly not viable in the direct market for years now. The same doesn’t hold true for Vertigo.”
What about a book like 100 Bullets, which has not been selling well in single issues for years but has managed to survive for nearly nine years and almost ninety issues? It’s DM sales figures in no way accurately reflect the real size of its audience.
“It’s just that there’s no evidence to suggest that those sales have grown to be considerable enough to render the single-issue numbers meaningless as a general rule just yet.”
Likewise, it doesn’t seem that anyone is suggesting that the single-issue sales are meaningless. I am merely suggesting that perhaps the single-issue sales don’t represent the same thing for Vertigo titles as they do for DCU titles. And that since you have no data for either Johnny DC’s or Vertigo’s sales outside the DM, perhaps you should just use the disclaimer label for both and stop speculating about Vertigo’s future as an imprint. As been pointed out here and elsewhere, most Vertigo books that get the ax do so after their second trade has been released, which leads me to believe that the trade sales are the dominant factor in measuring a Vertigo title’s success, not its sales in the DM.
Does anyone have numbers of what trades do on amazon.com, which makes the trades available worldwide on the internet. these numbers would give people a good idea what the books do.
Jimmy
08/2007: The Four Horsemen #1 of 6 — 48,932
09/2007: The Four Horsemen #2 of 6 — 37,764 (-22.8%)
—————————————————————————-
08/2007: The Un-Men #1 — 11,868
09/2007: The Un-Men #2 — 8,758 (-26.2%)
I don´t understand this. Can someone help me out?
Both books had to be pre-ordered, right, three months in advance? So retailers can´t have any data whatsoever how much they would actually sell of the no.1, when the time came to order no.2. No.1 wasn´t actually on the shelves.
But over 25% just decided on a whim that they can´t sell these books? While surely being resigned to the sad fact that the no.1 they ordered – and paid for – will go straight to dollar-box, will be a loss for their business? As no one will buy them?
Why order the no.1 in the first place?
What happened in the meantime, which gave those 25 % the insight that these books will be a failure? Before they sold the no.1!
Sometimes I just don´t understand these numbers and what they mean. This is as arcane as trading at Wall Street or wherever.
Retailers know that there is a fraction of their readership that will buy the first issue of anything, just to check it out. It’s not unrealistic to assume that 20% of them will not like it and never come back, whatever the book.
Since retailers have had this behaviour for years, it’s reasonable to posit that it works for them, and that they do sell a lot more first issues.
Yup, that’s the explanation. Retailers know from long experience that there is almost ALWAYS a significant drop for issue #2. This makes sense – some of the people who buy issue #1 won’t like it, but virtually nobody starts reading a serial with part two.
There are exceptions, of course, but they are few and far between. Because the direct market puts all the risk of unsold copies onto the retailers, they have a powerful incentive to order what they think they can sell – which almost invariably means cutting orders every month, unless there’s a positive reason to think that the book in question will be an exception to the rule (e.g. a crossover or an unusually hot title), or unless the publisher offers an unusual incentive (e.g. a variant cover or some degree of returnability).
Otherwise, the retailer would be taking a big risk to order issue #2 in the same quantities as issue #1.
Heidi- thanks for the update on PW and reviews of Vertigo titles. (Interesting how a former DC/Vertigo editor now reviews their books, actually.)
Jimmy- Brian Hibbs occasionally gets numbers from Bookscan, but there really doesn’t seem to be any reliable way of getting out-of-DM trade sales. The best way I would think to do it would be to track the Amazon rankings and apply the formula listed here, but it would by no means be exact:
http://www.webpronews.com/expertarticles/2006/06/15/navigating-the-amazon-sales-ranking
It seems strange that the best selling Johnny DC title is JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED and that may be canceled soon.You’d think the other Johnny DC books would be canned first. JLU seems to have some appeal to older audiences so maybe that’s a negative?
In fact, the Johnny DC titles seem to be the one category of books that outsell the Marvel equivalent, and yet DC seems to give them little support. Shouldn’t they be pushing it more?
Well, they outsell Marvel in the direct market. It doesn’t follow that they outsell Marvel overall.
Once upon a time, I had the good fortune of writing an issue of JLU and different rules apply on the creative end. One- It is a good place for a new guy to get a gig because, Two- It is out of continuity and no one in the DCU cares about the content. Because of that, JLU has some interesting fresh stories that manage to wrap up in 20 pages. Contrast that to the six issues it takes character X to get a new costume in the ‘mainstream’ books.
I do enjoy reading the monthly numbers and enjoy the occasional snide tone, but all of this is done outside of the info bubble. While all businesses have a proprietary right to certain information, either Diamond or DC or Marvel could solve the mystery of the short numbers with a wave of a magic wand. They choose not to, so we are left to wonder about their continued profitability. Does the occasional in-house movie option money still make Vertigo viable? Aside from keeping Jim Lee happy and penciling All Star Batman, is there a reason to continue the Wildstorm line? And what if anything can be done to stop the sales erosion?
I don’t think DC needs to lose Wildstorm. Wildstorm’s still the home of Astro City and Alan Moore’s ABC stuff. But I do wish they’d be more cutting edge and offer their new books online. It’s tough to read Wildstorm books when stores don’t order enough copies. Wildstorm seems to put out some interesting books but I only find out about them if they make it to tpb form at Border’s. If they went online (ala, say, “Girl Genius”) they’d probably gain greater access to the public. And to me, especially! ;P
“What about a book like 100 Bullets, which has not been selling well in single issues for years but has managed to survive for nearly nine years and almost ninety issues?”
As I understand it, unlike most of Vertigo’s more recent titles, 100 BULLETS has never dropped to a level where it would cease being profitable as a periodical.
“I am merely suggesting that perhaps the single-issue sales don’t represent the same thing for Vertigo titles as they do for DCU titles.”
I agree.
It seems reasonable that, instead of cutting off badly selling vertigo series before they get through the second storyline, they are letting them progress to a point where they can let the story come to some kind of reasonable conclusion, allowing for the possibility of significant collected editions sales down the road.
AndyD asked:
“Both books had to be pre-ordered, right, three months in advance? So retailers can´t have any data whatsoever how much they would actually sell of the no.1, when the time came to order no.2. No.1 wasn´t actually on the shelves.”
—–
With the Final Order Cutoff system now in effect for Marvel and DC, retailers can change the number of issues ordered for the next issue after the current issue has been on sale.
I don’t know the exact date for sure, but I think the retailer can change his order number about 3 weeks before the issue comes out. The previous issue has been on the shelf a week or two when he finalizes his order.
At my LCS, if it hasn’t sold by Saturday night, it probably isn’t going to sell.
Once again, I had a comment that turned into a blog post.
Here’s an interview with Tom Brevoort everyone here should find relevant.
And a Mark Evanier column that has some insight.
I just discovered Blue Beetle… I hope I didn’t show up just in time for the funeral.
Don’t feel so bad, Bill. I just started buying Checkmate. Almost two years after “One Year Later”, and so many of the books launched are hovering amid six feet under…