by Paul O’Brien
Event season is upon us again. FEAR ITSELF launched in April, together with its spin-off anthology FEAR ITSELF: THE HOME FRONT. Further down the charts, “Death of Spider-Man” and “Age of X” are also underway. April also sees the relaunches of THOR and HERC, as well the de facto launch of a new series, JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY, continuing from THOR’s previous numbering.
It’s also worth noting Marvel’s increasing trend towards shipping extra issues of ongoing titles, apparently in place of low-selling miniseries. Now that the hordes of Captain America and Thor minis which were used to generate movie tie-in material are out of the way, it’s actually thinning out quite a bit at the lower end of the chart.
As usual, Marvel had the largest share of the North American direct market, leading DC by 40% to 27% in dollars and 48% to 27% in units. Of course, FLASHPOINT doesn’t start until next month, so you’d expect the gap to be larger than normal in April.
Thanks as always to ICV2.com for allowing us to use these figures. And a reminder for newer readers: these numbers only relate to the North American direct market. They don’t cover newsstands or foreign markets, so the total orders will be higher. And these numbers show the estimated orders placed by retailers; it doesn’t follow that all the copies were actually sold to customers. (Of course, the longer a book has been going, the more accurate the retailers’ estimates are likely to be.)
1. FEAR ITSELF 04/11 #1 of 7 – 128,595Marvel’s latest “event” book is the number one title for April by a wide margin, leading second-placed THOR by over 46K. Granted, it also has multiple variant covers, but that’s standard.
How does this compare to previous event titles? Well, it’s not up there with the first month sales of earlier event books – the likes of HOUSE OF M, CIVIL WAR and SECRET INVASION all sold 234K or above. But it’s a bigger number than SIEGE #1, which had estimated sales of 108,484 in January 2010. By today’s standards, this is a good launch number.
The prelude BOOK OF THE SKULL picks up re-orders of 2,952 to chart at number 285, giving it estimated total orders of 65,666.
2. MIGHTY THOR
04/06 ---
04/07 ---
04/08 ---
04/09 #601 - 79,626
=====
04/10 #609 - 64,522 ( +4.0%)
05/10 #610 - 61,779 ( -4.3%)
06/10 #611 - 56,443 ( -8.6%)
07/10 #612 - 53,373 ( -5.4%)
08/10 #613 - 51,076 ( -4.3%)
09/10 #614 - 53,505 ( +4.8%)
09/10 #615 - 52,896 ( -1.2%)
10/10 #616 - 51,051 ( -3.5%)
11/10 #617 - 49,165 ( -3.7%)
12/10 #618 - 45,142 ( -8.2%)
01/11 #619 - 42,899 ( -5.0%)
02/11 #620 - 42,106 ( -1.8%)
03/11 #.1 - 41,605 ( -1.2%)
03/11 #621 - 42,104 ( +1.2%)
04/11 #1 - 82,071 (+94.9%)
6 mnth (+60.8%)
1 year (+27.2%)
2 year ( +3.1%)
3 year ( --- )
4 year ( --- )
5 year ( --- )
Cometh the movie, cometh the renumbering. THOR’s relaunch, bolstered by multiple variant covers, certainly boosts sales – albeit only to levels that the book was achieving regularly in 2008. The interesting question will be whether the book derives any lasting benefit from this. The recent history of renumbering stunts and movie tie-ins suggests that the comics tend to get only a fleeting benefit, but you never know.
5. FF
04/06 #525 - 45,561
04/07 #537 - 62,940
04/08 #545 - 74,700
04/09 #556 - 65,013
=====
04/10 #578 - 37,940 ( +6.0%)
05/10 #579 - 38,415 ( +1.3%)
06/10 #580 - 36,582 ( -4.8%)
07/10 #581 - 35,505 ( -2.9%)
08/10 #582 - 34,617 ( -2.5%)
09/10 #583 - 46,267 ( +33.7%)
10/10 #584 - 45,066 ( -2.6%)
11/10 #585 - 41,568 ( -7.8%)
12/10 #586 - 42,829 ( +3.0%)
01/11 #587 - 144,173 (+236.6%)
02/11 #588 - 68,153 ( -52.7%)
03/11 #1 - 121,172 ( +77.8%)
04/11 #2 - 69,790 ( -42.4%)
6 mnth ( +54.9%)
1 year ( +83.9%)
2 year ( +7.3%)
3 year ( -6.6%)
4 year ( +10.9%)
5 year ( +53.2%)
That being said, FF may yet prove to be an exception. Yes, sales fall back dramatically from issue #1 – inevitable when you have just the one variant cover. But they’re still at 70K, which is at the upper end of the book’s range for the last few years. And before the current storyline, sales were in the 35K range. Of course, they were on the rise anyway and issue #588 achieved similar sales. I suspect the increase here may be more to do with the success of the storyline than the renumbering stunt as such; something similar happened with the death of Captain America, which did deliver a sustained increase to sales.
Issue #1 picks up reorders of 6,700 to chart at number 204; a second printing of issue #588 adds another 4,624 to its total. As usual, those sales are included in the totals above.
7,11. AVENGERS
05/10 #1 - 170,682
06/10 #2 - 98,788 (-42.1%)
07/10 #3 - 87,410 (-11.5%)
08/10 #4 - 87,333 ( -0.1%)
09/10 #5 - 82,411 ( -5.6%)
10/10 #6 - 73,258 (-11.1%)
11/10 #7 - 89,758 (+22.5%)
12/10 #8 - 67,056 (-25.3%)
01/11 #9 - 64,867 ( -3.3%)
02/11 #10 - 63,924 ( -1.5%)
03/11 #11 - 66,618 ( +4.2%)
04/11 #12 - 63,441 ( -4.8%)
04/11 #.1 - 60,455 ( -4.7%)
6 mnth (-17.5%)
Two issues this month, thanks in this case to the Point One programme. Issue #12 has no variant cover, hence the drop; issue #12.1 comes in a few thousand behind, which seems to be the usual deal with Point One books.
9. NEW AVENGERS
04/06 #18 - 121,550
04/07 #29 - 125,378
04/08 #40 - 110,470
04/09 #52 - 93,975
=====
04/10 #64 - 75,430 ( -0.9%)
04/10 ---
05/10 Finale - 82,152 ( +8.9%)
06/10 #1 - 129,084 (+67.8%)
07/10 #2 - 83,397 (-35.4%)
08/10 #3 - 81,354 ( -2.4%)
09/10 #4 - 77,479 ( -4.7%)
10/10 #5 - 73,409 ( -5.3%)
11/10 #6 - 66,724 ( -9.1%)
12/10 #7 - 67,840 ( +1.7%)
01/11 #8 - 61,169 ( -9.8%)
02/11 #9 - 60,914 ( -0.4%)
03/11 #10 - 59,929 ( -1.6%)
04/11 #11 - 61,778 ( +3.1%)
6 mnth (-15.8%)
1 year (-18.1%)
2 year (-34.3%)
3 year (-44.1%)
4 year (-50.7%)
5 year (-49.2%)
The slight sales increase is most likely due to a variant cover. This month’s theme: Thor Goes Hollywood.
10,15. AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
04/06 #531 - 86,884
04/07 ---
04/08 #557 - 77,057
04/09 #591 - 60,508
=====
04/10 #628 - 57,797 ( +6.6%)
04/10 #629 - 53,560 ( -7.3%)
05/10 #630 - 57,969 ( +8.2%)
05/10 #631 - 57,239 ( -1.3%)
05/10 #632 - 56,723 ( -0.9%)
06/10 #633 - 57,670 ( +1.7%)
06/10 #634 - 61,736 ( +7.1%)
06/10 #635 - 56,146 ( -9.1%)
07/10 #636 - 56,011 ( -0.2%)
07/10 #637 - 56,031 ( +0.0%)
07/10 #638 - 68,271 (+21.8%)
08/10 #639 - 67,086 ( -1.7%)
08/10 #640 - 73,656 ( +9.8%)
09/10 #641 - 68,345 ( -7.2%)
09/10 #642 - 60,115 (-12.0%)
09/10 #643 - 61,855 ( +2.9%)
09/10 #644 - 58,310 ( -5.7%)
10/10 #645 - 56,709 ( -2.7%)
10/10 #646 - 58,125 ( +2.5%)
11/10 #647 - 55,819 ( -4.0%)
11/10 #648 - 79,714 (+42.8%)
11/10 #649 - 55,515 (-30.4%)
12/10 #650 - 58,909 ( +6.1%)
01/11 #651 - 56,749 ( -3.7%)
01/11 #652 - 52,050 ( -8.3%)
02/11 #653 - 53,103 ( +2.0%)
02/11 #654 - 53,882 ( +1.5%)
02/11 #.1 - 55,283 ( +2.6%)
02/11 #655 - 53,366 ( -3.5%)
03/11 #656 - 59,626 (+11.7%)
03/11 #657 - 58,704 ( -1.5%)
04/11 #658 - 61,687 ( +5.1%)
04/11 #659 - 58,258 ( -5.6%)
6 mnth ( -0.2%)
1 year ( +0.8%)
2 year ( -3.7%)
3 year (-24.4%)
4 year ( --- )
5 year (-32.9%)
Both issues are significantly about the 53K mark from January and February, which is a good sign. Issue #658 has a Thor Goes Hollywood variant. But there are no gimmicks on issue #659 other than a guest appearance by the FF. Guest stars don’t usually make much difference these days, but it’s possible that the tie-in to the successful FF storyline might be helping.
16,21,22. UNCANNY X-MEN
04/06 #472 - 79,157
04/07 #485 - 81,764
04/08 #497 - 93,369
04/09 #508 - 76,443
=====
04/10 #523 - 78,999 (+16.2%)
05/10 #524 - 77,056 ( -2.5%)
06/10 #525 - 76,068 ( -1.3%)
07/10 #526 - 66,723 (-12.3%)
08/10 #527 - 69,052 ( +3.5%)
09/10 #528 - 62,415 ( -9.6%)
10/10 #529 - 62,256 ( -0.3%)
11/10 #530 - 58,006 ( -6.8%)
12/10 #531 - 55,770 ( -3.9%)
01/11 #532 - 54,071 ( -3.0%)
02/11 #533 - 53,834 ( -0.4%)
03/11 #534 - 55,731 ( +3.5%)
04/11 #.1 - 53,473 ( -4.1%)
04/11 #535 - 56,795 ( +6.2%)
04/11 #536 - 53,502 ( -5.8%)
6 mnth (-14.1%)
1 year (-32.3%)
2 year (-30.0%)
3 year (-42.7%)
4 year (-34.6%)
5 year (-32.4%)
Kieron Gillen takes over as writer with three issues in a single month. One is the Point One issue, which comes in at around the book’s usual level. Issue #535 does slightly better thanks to getting the Thor variant.
Incidentally, the X-Men books had unusually high sales in April 2010 thanks to the “Second Coming” crossover, so the year-on-year drop is rather exaggerated.
20,25. UNCANNY X-FORCE
04/08 #3 - 85,750
04/09 #14 - 57,308
=====
04/10 #26 - 67,512 ( +35.3%)
05/10 #27 - 62,509 ( -7.4%)
06/10 ---
07/10 #28 - 61,680 ( -1.3%)
07/10 Sex #1 - 41,426 ( -32.8%)
08/10 #2 of 3 - 38,480 ( -7.1%)
09/10 #3 of 3 - 37,283 ( -3.1%)
10/10 #1 - 99,194 (+166.1%)
11/10 #2 - 56,518 ( -43.0%)
12/10 #3 - 55,520 ( -1.8%)
01/11 #4 - 51,381 ( -7.5%)
02/11 #5 - 51,470 ( +0.2%)
03/11 #5.1 - 50,732 ( -1.4%)
03/11 #6 - 51,248 ( -1.0%)
04/11 #7 - 54,292 ( +5.9%)
04/11 #8 - 50,908 ( -6.2%)
6 mnth ( -48.7%)
1 year ( -24.6%)
2 year ( -11.2%)
3 year ( -40.6%)
Another double-shipping title, and you guessed it, the higher-selling one has a Thor variant. Leave that one aside, and sales have actually been pretty steady on this title all year.
23. X-MEN LEGACY
04/06 #185 - 78,815
04/07 #198 - 74,841
04/08 #210 - 77,441
04/09 #223 - 71,935
=====
04/10 #235 - 65,302 (+35.4%)
05/10 #236 - 69,731 ( +6.8%)
06/10 #237 - 65,578 ( -6.0%)
07/10 #238 - 53,313 (-18.7%)
08/10 #239 - 53,236 ( -0.1%)
09/10 #240 - 50,984 ( -4.2%)
10/10 #241 - 48,133 ( -5.6%)
11/10 #242 - 43,750 ( -9.1%)
12/10 #243 - 41,797 ( -4.5%)
01/11 #244 - 40,193 ( -3.8%)
02/11 #245 - 57,203 (+42.3%)
03/11 #246 - 47,893 (-16.3%)
04/11 #247 - 51,970 ( +8.5%)
6 mnth ( +8.0%)
1 year (-20.4%)
2 year (-27.8%)
3 year (-32.9%)
4 year (-30.6%)
5 year (-34.1%)
Month three of the “Age of X” crossover with NEW MUTANTS, which has done well for the book. Sales are further increased this month by a Thor variant. The second printing of issue #245 charts at number 277 with further orders of 3,315.
26. ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN
04/06 #93 - 72,831
04/07 #108 - 72,713
04/08 #121 - 56,633
04/09 ---
=====
04/10 #9 - 39,955 ( -2.5%)
05/10 #10 - 39,690 ( -0.7%)
06/10 #11 - 39,149 ( -1.4%)
07/10 #12 - 37,879 ( -3.2%)
08/10 #13 - 36,946 ( -2.5%)
09/10 #14 - 35,776 ( -3.7%)
10/10 #15 - 34,657 ( -3.1%)
11/10 #150 - 40,553 (+17.0%)
12/10 #151 - 33,707 (-16.9%)
01/11 #152 - 33,481 ( -1.0%)
02/11 #153 - 43,986 (+31.4%)
02/11 #154 - 43,209 ( -1.8%)
03/11 #155 - 44,067 ( +2.0%)
03/11 #156 - 44,920 ( +1.9%)
04/11 #157 - 50,896 (+13.3%)
6 mnth (+46.9%)
1 year (+27.4%)
2 year ( --- )
3 year (-10.1%)
4 year (-30.0%)
5 year (-30.1%)
The “Death of Spider-Man” storyline reaches its third issue, and variant covers deliver a further boost. While these numbers are some way short of a return to the glory days of the Ultimate imprint, they do represent a big improvement from the sales 6-12 months ago.
27,31. SECRET AVENGERS
05/10 #1 - 110,681
06/10 #2 - 77,933 (-30.0%)
07/10 #3 - 72,293 ( -7.2%)
08/10 #4 - 74,655 ( +3.3%)
09/10 #5 - 69,546 ( -6.8%)
10/10 #6 - 68,617 ( -1.3%)
11/10 #7 - 59,999 (-12.6%)
12/10 #8 - 54,048 ( -9.9%)
01/11 #9 - 50,748 ( -6.1%)
02/11 #10 - 49,717 ( -2.0%)
03/11 #11 - 51,353 ( +3.3%)
04/11 #12 - 50,641 (-13.9%)
04/11 #.1 - 46,161 ( -8.8%)
6 mnth (-32.7%)
Another book double-shipping thanks to the Point One programme. Issues #11-12 both had variant covers, and Point One books normally come in a little way behind the regular title, so the general impression is that the book is holding steady.
28. X-MEN
07/10 #1 - 143,167
08/10 #2 - 71,464 (-50.1%)
09/10 #3 - 66,549 ( -6.9%)
10/10 #4 - 63,772 ( -4.2%)
11/10 #5 - 56,651 (-11.2%)
12/10 #6 - 53,005 ( -6.4%)
01/11 #7 - 64,615 (+21.9%)
02/11 #8 - 49,522 (-23.4%)
03/11 #9 - 51,179 ( +3.3%)
04/11 #10 - 50,553 ( -1.2%)
6 mnth (-20.7%)
Two variant covers here, for the second month running. Again, it looks as though the book is relatively steady, but the fluctuating number of variants from month to month makes it hard to be sure.
30. WOLVERINE
04/06 #41 - 70,965
04/07 #53 - 98,441
04/08 #64 - 64,871
04/09 ---
=====
04/10 #12 - 30,050 ( +0.8%)
05/10 #13 - 29,773 ( -0.9%)
06/10 #14 - 30,035 ( +0.9%)
07/10 #15 - 29,555 ( -1.6%)
08/10 #16 - 29,424 ( -0.4%)
09/10 #1 - 104,414 (+254.9%)
10/10 #2 - 63,210 ( -39.5%)
11/10 #3 - 51,600 ( -18.4%)
12/10 #4 - 52,812 ( +2.3%)
01/11 #5 - 46,920 ( -11.2%)
02/11 #.1 - 44,332 ( -5.5%)
02/11 #6 - 45,932 ( +3.6%)
03/11 #7 - 47,337 ( +3.1%)
04/11 #8 - 47,010 ( -0.7%)
6 mnth ( -25.6%)
1 year ( +56.4%)
2 year ( --- )
3 year ( -27.5%)
4 year ( -52.2%)
5 year ( -33.8%)
This has a variant cover, but so did the last issue. Again, it looks like the book is holding pretty steady.
32. CAPTAIN AMERICA
04/06 #17 - 45,541
04/07 ---
04/08 #37 - 80,635
04/09 #49 - 63,874
=====
04/10 #605 - 59,051 ( +3.7%)
05/10 ---
06/10 #606 - 57,443 ( -2.7%)
06/10 #607 - 52,989 ( -7.8%)
07/10 ---
08/10 #608 - 51,362 ( -3.1%)
08/10 #609 - 52,834 ( +2.9%)
09/10 #610 - 47,986 ( -9.2%)
10/10 #611 - 48,788 ( +1.7%)
11/10 #612 - 47,343 ( -3.0%)
12/10 #613 - 42,871 ( -9.4%)
01/11 #614 - 42,119 ( -1.8%)
02/11 #615 - 41,935 ( -0.4%)
03/11 #.1 - 43,117 ( +2.8%)
03/11 #616 - 44,394 ( +3.0%)
04/11 #617 - 45,400 ( +2.3%)
6 mnth ( -6.9%)
1 year (-23.1%)
2 year (-28.9%)
3 year (-43.7%)
4 year ( --- )
5 year ( -0.3%)
Interesting – this is the second part of a storyline, and while it has a variant cover, the same applied last month. Perhaps sales are just climbing – the book did, unusually, have a Point One issue which sold more than its regular issues. A relaunch is imminent, to tie in with the movie.
33. INVINCIBLE IRON MAN
04/06 #7 - 49,404
04/07 #16 - 59,470
04/08 #28 - 35,754
04/09 #12 - 51,774
=====
04/10 #25 - 73,694 (+49.7%)
05/10 #26 - 53,625 (-27.2%)
06/10 #27 - 52,268 ( -2.5%)
07/10 #28 - 48,690 ( -6.8%)
08/10 #29 - 49,012 ( +0.7%)
09/10 #30 - 47,238 ( -3.6%)
10/10 #31 - 45,507 ( -3.7%)
11/10 #32 - 40,978 (-10.0%)
12/10 #33 - 41,890 ( +2.2%)
01/11 #500 - 54,186 (+29.4%)
02/11 #.1 - 42,191 (-22.1%)
02/11 #501 - 41,517 ( -1.6%)
03/11 #502 - 43,899 ( +5.7%)
04/11 #503 - 45,314 ( +3.2%)
6 mnth ( -0.4%)
1 year (-38.5%)
2 year (-12.5%)
3 year (+26.7%)
4 year (-23.8%)
5 year ( -8.3%)
Make what you will of this: the March issue had two variant covers. The April issue has one. But the April issue is a FEAR ITSELF tie-in. Net effect: sales go up. Not hugely, but they go up.
In fairness, the book starts a full-scale FEAR ITSELF tie-in arc with issue #504; this issue is primarily the resolution of the “Fix Me” arc which began in issue #501. Sales may rise further next month.
34. JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY 04/11 #622 - 43,925
Although it continues the numbering from the previous THOR title, this is effectively a new series, and I’ll be treating it as such. THOR was selling around 42K before the relaunch, so at first glance it looks as though this book has inherited its audience.
But then again, this issue has two variant covers, and it’s a FEAR ITSELF tie-in – all of which should be boosting the numbers. We’ll just have to wait and see how it settles down over the next few months.
35. ULTIMATE AVENGERS VS NEW ULTIMATES
04/10 Vol 1 #6 - 53,438 ( -8.0%)
04/10 Vol 2 #1 - 64,811 (+21.3%)
05/10 Vol 2 #2 - 52,939 (-18.3%)
06/10 Vol 2 #3 - 50,797 ( -4.0%)
06/10 Vol 2 #4 - 49,606 ( -2.3%)
07/10 Vol 2 #5 - 46,886 ( -5.5%)
08/10 Vol 2 #6 - 46,358 (-11.3%)
08/10 Vol 3 #1 - 53,870 (+16.2%)
09/10 Vol 3 #2 - 43,119 (-20.0%)
10/10 Vol 3 #3 - 38,529 (-10.6%)
11/10 Vol 3 #4 - 36,777 ( -4.5%)
12/10 Vol 3 #5 - 34,483 ( -6.2%)
01/11 Vol 3 #6 - 33,454 ( -3.0%)
02/11 #1 of 6 - 49,360 (+47.5%)
03/11 #2 of 6 - 44,116 (-10.6%)
04/11 #3 of 6 - 43,822 ( -0.7%)
6 mnth (+13.7%)
1 year (-18.0%)
This miniseries is part of the “Death of Spider-Man” crossover, and it’s really the same deal as with ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN – not a return to the book’s traditional sales levels, but still a big improvement from the previous arc.
36. IDENTITY WARS 04/11 Amazing Spider-Man Annual #38 - 42,040
The first part of a crossover which continues into the DEADPOOL and INCREDIBLE HULKS annuals.
37. VENOM 03/11 #1 - 58,936 04/11 #2 - 41,006 (-30.4%)
The first issue had two variant covers. And its sales are further increased by a second printing which lands at number 240 with estimated orders of 4,955. Take all of that into account and the second issue drop is quite reasonable.
40. HERC
04/08 #116 - 44,575
04/09 #128 - 33,739
=====
04/10 Fall #2 - 20,215 ( -12.2%)
05/10 Prince #1 - 20,373 ( +0.8%)
06/10 #2 of 4 - 17,068 ( -16.2%)
07/10 #3 of 4 - 15,667 ( -8.2%)
08/10 #4 of 4 - 17,137 ( +9.4%)
09/10 ---
10/10 Chaos #1 - 34,509 (+101.4%)
10/10 #2 of 5 - 29,375 ( -14.9%)
11/10 #3 of 5 - 28,630 ( -2.5%)
12/10 #4 of 5 - 26,313 ( -8.1%)
01/11 #5 of 5 - 24,694 ( -6.2%)
02/11 ---
03/11 ---
04/11 #1 - 38,774 ( +57.0%)
6 mnth ( +32.0%)
1 year ( +91.8%)
2 year ( +14.9%)
3 year ( -13.0%)
The relaunch of INCREDIBLE HERCULES, which has been working its way through a series of minis before launching a new series. There’s a change of direction as well, with a depowered Hercules relocating to Brooklyn. So far, the signs aren’t too bad; the sales certainly look much healthier than they did a year ago. The previous ongoing series had dropped to the 23K range by the end of its run, and this is clearly a step up.
41. NEW MUTANTS
04/10 #12 - 49,591 (+35.4%)
05/10 #13 - 54,169 ( +9.2%)
06/10 #14 - 53,926 ( -0.4%)
07/10 #15 - 35,426 (-34.3%)
08/10 #16 - 31,989 ( -9.7%)
09/10 #17 - 31,684 ( -1.0%)
10/10 #18 - 27,027 (-14.7%)
11/10 #19 - 25,440 ( -5.9%)
12/10 #20 - 24,416 ( -4.0%)
01/11 #21 - 23,773 ( -2.6%)
02/11 #22 - 41,236 (+73.5%)
03/11 #23 - 37,659 ( -8.7%)
04/11 #24 - 38,701 ( +2.8%)
6 mnth (+43.2%)
1 year (-22.0%)
The third month of the “Age of X” crossover. Issue #22 picks up reorders of 4,499.
43. AGE OF X UNIVERSE 03/11 #1 of 2 - 36,270 04/11 #2 of 2 - 33,640 (-7.3%)
The spin-off mini from “Age of X”. Issue #1 picks up reorders of 2,833; the actual second issue drop was tiny.
45. FEAR ITSELF: THE HOME FRONT 04/11 #1 of 7 - 32,601
The last two books of this sort – SECRET INVASION: FRONT LINE and SIEGE: EMBEDDED – both launched with sales of over 50K. Bearing in mind that FEAR ITSELF #1 actually outsold SIEGE #1, it’s surprising that the sales for its spin-off mini are so much lower. Perhaps it’s the fact that this book is an anthology title, always a tough sell.
47. AVENGERS: THE CHILDREN'S CRUSADE 07/10 #1 of 9 - 44,934 08/10 --- 09/10 #2 of 9 - 35,497 (-21.0%) 10/10 --- 11/10 #3 of 9 - 35,410 ( -0.2%) 12/10 --- 01/11 #4 of 9 - 31,977 ( -9.7%) 02/11 --- 03/11 --- 04/11 #5 of 9 - 31,945 ( -0.1%)
Rock solid.
51,57. INCREDIBLE HULKS
04/06 #94 - 44,907
04/07 #105 - 53,256
04/08 #3 - 100,167
04/09 #11 - 82,726
=====
04/10 ---
05/10 #609 - 46,670 ( -1.0%)
06/10 #610 - 46,461 ( -0.4%)
07/10 ---
08/10 #611 - 44,982 ( -3.2%)
09/10 #612 - 42,956 ( -4.5%)
09/10 #613 - 40,063 ( -6.7%)
10/10 #614 - 39,572 ( -1.2%)
10/10 #615 - 36,750 ( -7.1%)
11/10 #616 - 35,296 ( -4.0%)
11/10 #617 - 34,340 ( -2.7%)
12/10 #618 - 34,868 ( -1.5%)
12/10 #619 - 32,657 ( -6.3%)
01/11 #620 - 30,992 ( -5.1%)
01/11 #621 - 30,957 ( -0.1%)
02/11 #622 - 30,404 ( -1.8%)
02/11 #623 - 30,140 ( -0.9%)
03/11 #624 - 32,066 ( +6.4%)
03/11 #625 - 29,792 ( -7.1%)
04/11 #626 - 29,782 ( -0.0%)
04/11 #627 - 30,788 ( +3.3%)
6 mnth (-16.2%)
1 year ( --- )
2 year (-62.8%)
3 year (-69.3%)
4 year (-42.2%)
5 year (-31.4%)
Cancelled with issue #635 (though don’t bet against some sort of relaunch). There’s a Thor variant on issue #627.
53. HULK
04/08 #3 - 100,167
04/09 #11 - 82,726
=====
04/10 ---
05/10 #22 - 49,618 ( -2.3%)
06/10 #23 - 50,724 ( +2.2%)
07/10 ---
08/10 #24 - 48,903 ( -3.6%)
09/10 #25 - 46,784 ( -4.3%)
10/10 #26 - 42,934 ( -8.2%)
11/10 #27 - 38,691 ( -9.9%)
12/10 #28 - 34,755 (-10.2%)
01/11 ---
02/11 #29 - 33,375 ( -4.0%)
02/11 #30 - 32,907 ( -1.4%)
03/11 #.1 - 32,163 ( -2.3%)
03/11 #31 - 31,368 ( -2.5%)
04/11 #32 - 30,652 ( -2.3%)
6 mnth (-28.6%)
1 year ( --- )
2 year (-62.9%)
3 year (-69.4%)
Continuing what seems to be a steady downward trend.
58. CARNAGE 10/10 #1 of 5 - 50,692 11/10 --- 12/10 #2 of 5 - 32,794 (-35.3%) 01/11 --- 02/11 #3 of 5 - 28,334 (-13.6%) 03/11 --- 04/11 #4 of 5 - 29,466 ( +4.0%)
No gimmicks here – this looks to be a rare example of a miniseries gaining sales during its run.
59. X-23
09/10 #1 - 48,481
10/10 #2 - 35,280 (-27.2%)
11/10 #3 - 31,224 (-11.5%)
12/10 #4 - 29,703 ( -4.9%)
01/11 #5 - 27,855 ( -6.2%)
02/11 #6 - 27,156 ( -2.5%)
03/11 #7 - 27,510 ( +1.3%)
03/11 #8 - 27,745 ( +0.9%)
04/11 #9 - 28,562 ( +2.9%)
6 mnth (-19.0%)
Part two of a crossover with DAKEN, and it’s also got a Thor variant cover. Sales since December 2010 have been incredibly consistent.
60,62. DEADPOOL
04/09 #9 - 48,483
=====
04/10 #22 - 43,061 ( +2.4%)
05/10 #23 - 42,761 ( -0.7%)
06/10 #24 - 38,663 ( -9.6%)
07/10 #25 - 36,828 ( -4.7%)
08/10 #26 - 35,595 ( -3.3%)
09/10 #27 - 36,404 ( +2.3%)
10/10 #28 - 34,828 ( -4.3%)
11/10 #29 - 31,350 (-10.0%)
12/10 #30 - 30,488 ( -2.7%)
01/11 #31 - 29,167 ( -4.3%)
01/11 #32 - 29,144 ( -0.1%)
02/11 #33 - 28,649 ( -1.7%)
03/11 #.1 - 28,979 ( +1.2%)
03/11 #34 - 30,299 ( +4.6%)
04/11 #35 - 28,517 ( -5.9%)
04/11 #36 - 28,173 ( -1.2%)
6 mnth (-19.1%)
1 year (-34.6%)
2 year (-41.9%)
Ignore the variant cover on issue #34 and the sales look to be extremely solid.
63. DAKEN: DARK WOLVERINE
04/10 #85 - 47,527 ( -3.9%)
05/10 #86 - 46,315 ( -2.6%)
06/10 #87 - 43,087 ( -7.0%)
07/10 #88 - 42,522 ( -1.3%)
08/10 #89 - 41,409 ( -2.6%)
08/10 #90 - 39,815 ( -3.8%)
09/10 #1 - 48,819 (+22.6%)
10/10 #2 - 38,660 (-22.9%)
11/10 #3 - 32,679 (-15.5%)
12/10 #4 - 30,726 ( -6.0%)
01/11 ---
02/11 #5 - 28,833 ( -6.2%)
03/11 #6 - 27,486 ( -4.7%)
03/11 #7 - 27,224 ( -1.0%)
04/11 #8 - 26,925 ( -1.1%)
6 mnth (-30.4%)
1 year (-43.3%)
Part two of a crossover with X-23, which doesn’t seem to be helping this book much at all. Still, the slide is a very gentle one.
65. ULTIMATE COMICS CAPTAIN AMERICA 01/11 #1 of 4 - 35,741 02/11 #2 of 4 - 27,399 (-23.3%) 03/11 #3 of 4 - 27,226 ( -0.6%) 04/11 #4 of 4 - 26,332 ( -3.3%)
This one held up quite nicely after the initial drop.
67. THUNDERBOLTS
04/06 #101 - 24,170
04/07 #113 - 65,092
04/08 ---
04/09 #131 - 49,155
=====
04/10 #143 - 35,656 ( +4.5%)
05/10 #144 - 33,276 ( -6.7%)
06/10 #145 - 31,999 ( -3.8%)
07/10 #146 - 31,501 ( -1.6%)
08/10 #147 - 31,252 ( -0.8%)
09/10 #148 - 32,190 ( +3.0%)
10/10 #149 - 30,580 ( -5.0%)
11/10 #150 - 31,704 ( +3.7%)
12/10 #151 - 27,943 (-11.9%)
01/11 #152 - 26,515 ( -5.1%)
02/11 #153 - 26,098 ( -1.6%)
03/11 #154 - 25,455 ( -2.5%)
03/11 #155 - 26,710 ( +4.9%)
04/11 #156 - 25,117 ( -6.0%)
6 mnth (-17.9%)
1 year (-29.6%)
2 year (-48.9%)
3 year ( --- )
4 year (-61.4%)
5 year ( +3.9%)
Last issue had a variant cover; the underlying sales seem to have been holding up quite well over the last six months.
68. X-FACTOR
04/06 #6 - 45,220
04/07 #18 - 37,851
04/08 #30 - 51,447
04/09 #42 - 32,000
=====
04/10 #204 - 40,534 (+40.1%)
05/10 #205 - 41,745 ( +3.0%)
06/10 #206 - 40,981 ( -1.8%)
07/10 #207 - 32,082 (-21.7%)
08/10 #208 - 30,095 ( -6.2%)
09/10 #209 - 29,626 ( -1.6%)
10/10 #210 - 27,548 ( -7.0%)
11/10 #211 - 26,632 ( -3.3%)
12/10 #212 - 26,443 ( -0.7%)
01/11 #213 - 25,403 ( -3.9%)
01/11 #214 - 25,117 ( -1.1%)
02/11 #215 - 25,298 ( +0.7%)
03/11 #216 - 25,256 ( -0.2%)
03/11 #217 - 25,125 ( -0.5%)
04/11 #218 - 24,826 ( -1.2%)
6 mnth ( -9.9%)
1 year (-38.8%)
2 year (-22.4%)
3 year (-51.7%)
4 year (-34.4%)
5 year (-45.1%)
Business as usual; there’s a slide, but it’s very slow.
69. WOLVERINE: THE BEST THERE IS 12/10 #1 - 57,348 01/11 #2 - 33,469 (-41.6%) 02/11 #3 - 27,790 (-17.0%) 03/11 #4 - 25,226 ( -9.2%) 04/11 #5 - 24,771 ( -1.8%)
Seems to be levelling out, though this issue has a Thor variant, which complicates matters a bit. A collection of the first three issues charts at 258 with estimated sales of 4,090.
70. ESCAPE FROM THE NEGATIVE ZONE 03/11 Uncanny X-Men Annual #3 - 41,720 04/11 Steve Rogers Annual #1 - 24,573 (-41.1%)
Big drop from the X-Men to Steve Rogers, but since STEVE ROGERS: SUPER-SOLDIER isn’t even a regular title, that maybe shouldn’t come as a surprise.
73. ANNIHILATORS 03/11 #1 of 4 - 26,543 04/11 #2 of 4 - 24,117 (-9.1%)
A very small drop for the second issue; the cosmic audience is loyal as ever.
74. AVENGERS ACADEMY
06/10 #1 - 45,890 (+20.3%)
07/10 #2 - 38,061 (-17.1%)
08/10 #3 - 35,629 ( -6.4%)
09/10 #4 - 31,212 (-12.4%)
10/10 #5 - 31,272 ( +0.2%)
11/10 #6 - 25,977 (-16.9%)
12/10 #7 - 27,774 ( +6.9%)
01/11 #8 - 24,014 (-13.5%)
02/11 #9 - 23,709 ( -1.3%)
03/11 #10 - 23,708 ( -0.0%)
03/11 #11 - 23,636 ( -0.3%)
04/11 #12 - 23,578 ( -0.2%)
6 mnth (-24.6%)
Another book which seems to have levelled out over the last few months.
76. BLACK PANTHER: THE MAN WITHOUT FEAR
04/06 #15 - 28,361
04/07 ---
04/08 ---
04/09 #3 - 33,356
=====
04/10 #3 of 6 - 27,859 ( -8.9%)
05/10 #4 of 6 - 28,307 ( +1.6%)
06/10 #5 of 6 - 26,041 ( -8.0%)
07/10 ---
08/10 #6 of 6 - 24,797 ( -4.8%)
09/10 ---
10/10 #1 of 4 - 16,973 ( -31.6%)
10/10 #2 of 4 - 12,960 ( -23.6%)
11/10 #3 of 4 - 10,356 ( -20.1%)
12/10 #4 of 4 - 9,145 ( -11.7%)
12/10 #513 - 33,124 (+262.2%)
01/11 #514 - 27,474 ( -17.1%)
02/11 #515 - 24,556 ( -10.6%)
03/11 #516 - 23,987 ( -2.3%)
04/11 #517 - 23,120 ( -3.6%)
6 mnth ( +78.4%)
1 year ( -17.0%)
2 year ( -30.7%)
3 year ( --- )
4 year ( --- )
5 year ( -18.5%)
The last two issues both had variant covers, so sales may be less steady than they look.
79. SILVER SURFER 02/11 #1 of 5 - 24,409 03/11 #2 of 5 - 23,484 (-3.8%) 04/11 #3 of 5 - 22,540 (-4.0%)
Once again, this mini has held on to most of its initial sales – unusual, and I can only assume it reflects the loyalty of the cosmic readers.
80. SECRET WARRIORS
04/09 #3 - 50,126
=====
04/10 #15 - 29,669 ( +3.8%)
05/10 #16 - 29,340 ( -1.1%)
06/10 #17 - 28,017 ( -4.5%)
07/10 ---
08/10 #18 - 27,415 ( -2.1%)
08/10 #19 - 26,902 ( -1.9%)
09/10 #20 - 25,947 ( -3.5%)
10/10 #21 - 24,748 ( -4.6%)
11/10 #22 - 24,059 ( -2.8%)
12/10 #23 - 23,078 ( -4.1%)
01/11 ---
02/11 #24 - 22,704 ( -1.6%)
02/11 #25 - 22,691 ( -0.1%)
04/11 #26 - 22,394 ( -1.3%)
6 mnth ( -9.5%)
1 year (-24.5%)
2 year (-55.3%)
Ends with issue #28.
81. S.H.I.E.L.D.
04/10 #1 - 44,543
05/10 ---
06/10 #2 - 37,595 (-15.6%)
07/10 ---
08/10 #3 - 33,335 (-11.3%)
09/10 ---
10/10 #4 - 32,495 ( -2.5%)
11/10 ---
12/10 #5 - 27,133 (-16.5%)
01/11 ---
02/11 #6 - 26,190 ( -3.5%)
03/11 ---
04/11 #∞ - 22,260 (-15.0%)
6 mnth (-31.5%)
1 year (-50.0%)
This book is using the “series of miniseries” format, and this is a transitional issue before the second volume starts. It’s some way behind the book’s usual sales, but it’s hard to tell whether that’s part of an overall trend, or just the usual lower sales for a book which isn’t a “proper” issue of the series.
82. HEROES FOR HIRE 12/10 #1 - 32,936 01/11 #2 - 23,013 (-30.1%) 02/11 #3 - 22,401 ( -2.7%) 03/11 #4 - 21,827 ( -2.6%) 04/11 #5 - 21,815 ( -0.0%)
There’s a Thor variant on this issue (as well as the Tolibao variant that has appeared on every issue to date), so presumably there’s an underlying drop which the variant has cancelled out. That said, the book seems to have been very steady once that initial drop was over with.
85,89. IRON MAN 2.0 02/11 #1 - 31,380 02/11 #2 - 24,600 (-21.6%) 03/11 #3 - 20,905 (-15.0%) 04/11 #4 - 20,342 ( -2.7%)
This has a Thor Goes Hollywood variant, but then every issue so far has had a variant of some sort. So it looks like the book really is levelling out.
88. GENERATION HOPE 11/10 #1 - 37,398 12/10 #2 - 38,984 ( +4.2%) 01/11 #3 - 24,094 (-38.2%) 02/11 #4 - 22,170 ( -8.0%) 03/11 #5 - 21,290 ( -4.0%) 04/11 #6 - 20,376 ( -4.3%)
This is the first issue not to feature a variant cover by Greg Land, so it was always going to drop to some extent. The rate of decline, therefore, may not be as bad as it looks. Even so, given the amount of publicity that Marvel put behind his series, they must surely have been hoping for more than 20K.
93. PUNISHERMAX [Max]
04/06 #32 - 34,076
04/07 #46 - 33,427
04/08 #56 - 30,796
04/09 #69 - 21,843
=====
04/10 #6 - 22,246 ( -0.8%)
05/10 #7 - 22,198 ( -0.2%)
06/10 #8 - 22,053 ( -0.7%)
07/10 #9 - 21,453 ( -2.7%)
08/10 ---
09/10 ---
10/10 ---
11/10 ---
12/10 ---
01/11 ---
02/11 #10 - 19,236 (-10.3%)
03/11 #11 - 19,243 ( +0.0%)
04/11 #12 - 18,740 ( -2.6%)
6 mnth ( --- )
1 year (-15.8%)
2 year (-14.2%)
3 year (-39.1%)
4 year (-43.9%)
5 year (-45.0%)
The lengthy gap between issues (in mid-storyline, at that!) has clearly done some damage. But PUNISHERMAX always used to have extremely solid sales; it remains to be seen whether it’ll go back to that pattern now.
97. SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #1000 04/11 One-shot - 18,133
A Spider-Man/Punisher team-up book by John Ostrander, Michael Ryan and Todd Nauck, selling pretty much to completists. They’d probably have sold more copies by billing this as an Amazing Spider-Man Annual (and they’d certainly have done better by serialising it in AMAZING itself). At any rate, it’s surely time to retire the stupid issue #1000 gimmick when it’s being attached to random projects like this.
98,117. SKAAR: KING OF THE SAVAGE LAND 04/11 #1 of 5 - 18,002 04/11 #2 of 5 - 14,915 (-17.1%)
Issue #1 has a variant cover, so the second issue drop will actually be more modest – but that’s quite common when the first two issues ship in the same month.
99. TOMB OF DRACULA PRESENTS THRONE OF BLOOD 04/11 One-shot - 17,754
Well, that X-MEN arc sure did a lot to boost sales on vampire comics, didn’t it?
101. DEADPOOL FAMILY 04/11 One-shot - 17,392
Effectively a wrap-up issue for the recently cancelled DEADPOOL CORPS, from the look of it. Since DEADPOOL CORPS had dropped to 15K by the end of its run, the sales are perfectly fine.
102. WOLVERINE & JUBILEE 01/11 #1 of 4 - 21,354 02/11 #2 of 4 - 17,917 (-16.1%) 03/11 #3 of 4 - 17,734 ( -1.0%) 04/11 #4 of 4 - 17,315 ( -2.4%)
Another mini with incredibly consistent sales after the initial drop.
103. DARK TOWER
04/07 Gunslinger #3 - 149,168
04/08 Long Road Home #2 - 103,029
04/09 Sorcerer #1 - 39,210
=====
04/10 Jericho Hill #5 - 25,896 ( -1.7%)
05/10 Gunslinger #1 - 26,275 ( +1.5%)
06/10 Gunslinger #2 - 24,024 ( -8.6%)
07/10 Gunslinger #3 - 22,744 ( -5.3%)
08/10 Gunslinger #4 - 21,820 ( -4.1%)
09/10 Gunslinger #5 - 21,323 ( -2.3%)
10/10 ---
11/10 ---
12/10 Little Sisters #1 - 19,807 ( -7.1%)
01/11 #2 of 5 - 18,589 ( -6.1%)
02/11 #3 of 5 - 17,748 ( -4.5%)
03/11 #4 of 5 - 17,490 ( -1.5%)
04/11 #5 of 5 - 17,283 ( -1.2%)
6 mnth ( --- )
1 year (-33.3%)
2 year (-55.9%)
3 year (-83.2%)
4 year (-88.4%)
The next mini, BATTLE OF TULL, starts in July.
105. FEAR ITSELF: SIN'S PAST 04/11 One-shot - 17,038
One of Marvel’s reprints-with-framing sequences books. By those standards, a perfectly decent number.
106. DEADPOOLMAX [Max]
10/10 #1 - 29,176
11/10 #2 - 23,382 (-19.9%)
12/10 #3 - 20,990 (-10.2%)
01/11 #4 - 19,238 ( -8.3%)
02/11 #5 - 18,221 ( -5.3%)
03/11 #6 - 17,528 ( -3.8%)
04/11 #7 - 17,005 ( -3.0%)
6 mnth (-41.7%)
Cancelled with issue #12.
From here on, we’re into the low-selling minis, cancelled books, all-ages titles, novel adaptations, and so forth. I’ll chip in where there’s something to say.
108. MARVEL ZOMBIES SUPREME 03/11 #1 of 5 - 20,995 03/11 #2 of 5 - 18,287 (-12.9%) 04/11 #3 of 5 - 16,473 (-10.0%) 116. ONSLAUGHT UNLEASHED 02/11 #1 of 4 - 28,434 03/11 #2 of 4 - 18,098 (-36.4%) 04/11 #3 of 4 - 14,960 (-17.3%) 123. OSBORN 11/10 #1 of 5 - 23,152 12/10 #2 of 5 - 16,704 (-27.9%) 01/11 --- 02/11 #3 of 5 - 15,170 ( -9.2%) 03/11 #4 of 5 - 14,475 ( -4.6%) 04/11 #5 of 5 - 13,915 ( -3.9%) 127. SPIDER-GIRL 11/10 #1 - 23,926 12/10 #2 - 21,606 ( -9.7%) 01/11 --- 02/11 #3 - 15,302 (-29.2%) 02/11 #4 - 14,804 ( -3.3%) 03/11 #5 - 13,757 ( -7.1%) 04/11 #6 - 13,235 ( -3.8%)
Cancelled with issue #8.
132. NAMOR: THE FIRST MUTANT
08/10 #1 - 37,399
09/10 #2 - 23,880 (-36.1%)
10/10 ---
11/10 #3 - 20,541 (-14.0%)
11/10 #4 - 19,469 ( -5.2%)
12/10 #5 - 17,730 ( -8.9%)
01/11 #6 - 15,181 (-14.4%)
02/11 #7 - 14,001 ( -7.8%)
03/11 #8 - 13,385 ( -4.4%)
04/11 #9 - 12,493 ( -6.7%)
6 mnth ( --- )
Cancelled with issue #11.
133. CAPTAIN AMERICA ONE-SHOTS 03/11 Falcon - 15,010 03/11 Secret Avengers - 13,722 03/11 First Thirteen - 12,857 03/11 Crossbones - 12,836 03/11 Batroc - 12,640 04/11 Fighting Avenger - 12,486 138. RUSE [Crossgen] 03/11 #1 of 4 - 28,520 04/11 #2 of 4 - 11,861 (-58.4%)
Owww. Issue #1 had a variant cover, but still, that’s a horrific second issue drop (on a very good comic, to boot), which suggests that the sales will be pretty unpleasant by the end of the run. As you’ll see below, sister title SIGIL is in the same position.
Of course, none of this matters if the Crossgen properties can find an audience outside the direct market, whether that be in trade paperbacks or foreign licensing or whatever. And as they’re not superhero comics, in theory they should be better placed to do that. But if the aim is for the Crossgen books to support themselves in the direct market, then this isn’t a good start.
139. HAWKEYE: BLIND SPOT
06/10 H&M #1 - 27,552
07/10 #2 - 20,531 (-25.5%)
08/10 #3 - 17,870 (-13.0%)
09/10 #4 - 16,405 ( -8.2%)
10/10 #5 - 15,337 ( -6.5%)
11/10 #6 - 14,217 ( -7.3%)
12/10 WM #1 - 18,245 (+28.3%)
12/10 #2 of 4 - 16,050 (-12.0%)
01/11 #3 of 4 - 13,368 (-16.7%)
02/11 #4 of 4 - 13,102 ( -2.0%)
02/11 BS #1 of 4 - 14,235 ( +8.6%)
03/11 #2 of 4 - 12,467 (-12.4%)
04/11 #3 of 4 - 11,702 ( -6.1%)
6 mnth (-23.7%)
140. WOLVERINE/HERCULES: MYTHS, MONSTERS & MUTANTS
03/11 #1 of 4 - 14,351
04/11 #2 of 4 - 11,389 (-20.6%)
141. MARVEL BACKLIST READING CHRONOLOGY
04/11 One-shot - 11,078
I’d just like to stress that this isn’t a joke, and they really did sell this for two dollars.
144. SIGIL [Crossgen] 03/11 #1 of 4 - 28,496 04/11 #2 of 4 - 10,887 (-61.8%)
See the comments above for RUSE.
154. CAPTAIN AMERICA: HAIL HYDRA
01/11 #1 of 5 - 26,841
02/11 #2 of 5 - 11,029 (-58.9%)
03/11 #3 of 5 - 10,375 ( -5.9%)
04/11 #4 of 5 - 9,838 ( -5.2%)
160. THUNDERSTRIKE
11/10 #1 of 5 - 15,689
12/10 #2 of 5 - 11,754 (-25.1%)
01/11 ---
02/11 #3 of 5 - 10,638 ( -9.5%)
03/11 #4 of 5 - 9,818 ( -7.7%)
04/11 #5 of 5 - 9,446 ( -3.8%)
165. POWER MAN & IRON FIST
08/10 #1 of 4 - 21,206
09/10 #2 of 4 - 17,647 ( -17.0%)
10/10 #3 of 4 - 15,147 ( -14.2%)
11/10 #4 of 4 - 13,584 ( -10.3%)
12/10 ---
01/11 ---
02/11 #1 of 5 - 27,579 (+103.0%)
02/11 #2 of 5 - 12,181 ( -55.8%)
03/11 #3 of 5 - 10,226 ( -16.0%)
04/11 #4 of 5 - 9,322 ( -8.8%)
166. OFFICIAL HANDBOOK
04/10 Iron Manual Mark 3 - 9,456 ( -56.8%)
05/10 Avengers Assemble #1 - 15,113 ( +59.8%)
06/10 A to Z Update #2 of 5 - 5,312 ( -64.9%)
07/10 X-Men: Phoenix Force - 9,566 ( +80.1%)
08/10 A to Z Update #3 of 5 - 4,962 ( -48.1%)
09/10 Heroic Age: Heroes - 11,224 (+126.2%)
10/10 A to Z Update #4 of 5 - 4,990 ( -55.5%)
11/10 Heroic Age: Villains - 9,294 ( +86.3%)
12/10 A to Z Update #5 of 5 - 4,808 ( -48.3%)
12/10 Heroic Age: X-Men - 13,789 (+186.8%)
01/11 Blockbusters - 5,354 ( -61.2%)
02/11 ---
03/11 ---
04/11 Thor - 9,251 ( +72.8%)
6 mnth ( +85.4%)
1 year ( -2.2%)
168. FROM THE MARVEL VAULT
02/11 Dr Strange - 11,248
03/11 ---
04/11 Thunderbolts - 9,001
172. OZMA OF OZ
04/09 #5 of 8 - 16,110
=====
04/10 #5 of 8 - 12,922 ( -3.3%)
05/10 #6 of 8 - 12,366 ( -4.3%)
06/10 #7 of 8 - 12,200 ( -1.3%)
07/10 #8 of 8 - 12,152 ( -0.4%)
08/10 ---
09/10 ---
10/10 ---
11/10 #1 of 8 - 13,222 ( +8.8%)
12/10 #2 of 8 - 10,419 (-21.2%)
01/11 #3 of 8 - 9,386 ( -9.9%)
02/11 #4 of 8 - 9,159 ( -2.4%)
03/11 ---
04/11 #5 of 8 - 8,797 ( -4.0%)
6 mnth ( --- )
1 year (-31.9%)
2 year (-45.4%)
179. HALO: FALL OF REACH - COVENANT
04/09 #4 of 4 - 25,812
=====
04/10 ---
05/10 #5 of 5 - 8,510 ( -2.0%)
06/10 ---
07/10 ---
08/10 ---
09/10 Boot Camp #1 - 10,715 (+26.0%)
10/10 #2 of 4 - 9,056 (-15.5%)
11/10 ---
12/10 #3 of 4 - 8,567 ( -5.4%)
01/11 ---
02/11 #4 of 4 - 8,437 ( -1.5%)
03/11 ---
04/11 Cov't #1 of 4 - 8,313 ( -1.5%)
6 mnth ( -8.2%)
1 year ( --- )
2 year (-67.8%)
181. THOR: WHOSOEVER WIELDS THIS HAMMER
04/11 One-shot - 8,225
Another reprint-with-framing-sequence book.
192. SPOTLIGHT
04/11 Fear Itself - 7,275
197. ANITA BLAKE, VAMPIRE HUNTER
04/07 Guilty #6 of 12 - 30,759
04/08 #10 of 12 - 21,462
04/09 Necromancer #1 - 15,308
=====
04/10 ---
05/10 Circus #1 - 9,484 ( +0.3%)
06/10 #2 of 5 - 9,060 ( -4.5%)
07/10 #3 of 5 - 8,557 ( -5.6%)
08/10 ---
09/10 #4 of 5 - 8,427 ( -1.5%)
10/10 #5 of 5 - 8,146 ( -3.3%)
11/10 ---
12/10 ---
01/11 Ingenue #1 of 5 - 7,763 ( -4.7%)
02/11 #2 of 5 - 7,352 ( -5.3%)
03/11 ---
04/11 #3 of 5 - 7,018 ( -4.5%)
6 mnth (-13.8%)
1 year ( --- )
2 year (-54.2%)
3 year (-67.3%)
4 year (-77.2%)
217,248,253,264. MARVEL'S GREATEST COMICS
03/11 Ultimate Spider-Man #1 - 6,812
03/11 Astonishing X-Men #1 - 6,665
03/11 Ultimates #1 - 6,073
03/11 X-23 #1 - 5,343
03/11 Captain America: Reborn #1 - 4,639
03/11 Dark Tower: Gunslinger Born #1 - 4,547
04/11 Thor #7 - 5,951
04/11 House of M #1 - 4,551
04/11 Ultimate X-Men #1 - 4,368
04/11 Ultimate Fantastic Four #1 - 3,808
224. SPIDER-MAN: WITH GREAT POWER
04/11 #1 of 7 - 5,838
This is a reprint series, with each issue apparently drawing on different parts of the Spider-Man back catalogue. The full title is SPIDER-MAN: WITH GREAT POWER COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY.
225. CASANOVA: GULA [Icon]
07/10 Vol 1 #1 of 4 - 10,452
08/10 Vol 1 #2 of 4 - 8,349 (-20.1%)
09/10 Vol 1 #3 of 4 - 7,621 ( -8.7%)
10/10 Vol 1 #4 of 4 - 7,366 ( -3.3%)
11/10 ---
12/10 ---
01/11 Vol 2 #1 of 4 - 7,658 ( +4.0%)
02/11 Vol 2 #2 of 4 - 6,579 (-14.1%)
03/11 Vol 2 #3 of 4 - 6,152 ( -6.5%)
04/11 Vol 2 #4 of 4 - 5,808 ( -5.6%)
6 mnth (-21.2%)
237. SPIDER-MAN [Marvel Adventures]
04/06 #14 - 5,970
04/07 #26 - 6,478
04/08 #38 - 5,833
04/09 #50 - 4,780
=====
04/10 #1 - 9,770 (+132.6%)
05/10 #2 - 7,709 ( -21.1%)
06/10 #3 - 7,200 ( -6.6%)
07/10 #4 - 6,347 ( -11.8%)
08/10 #5 - 6,202 ( -2.3%)
09/10 #6 - 5,779 ( -6.8%)
10/10 ---
11/10 #7 - 5,603 ( -3.0%)
11/10 #8 - 5,269 ( -6.0%)
12/10 #9 - 5,116 ( -2.9%)
01/11 #10 - 4,816 ( -5.9%)
02/11 #11 - 4,923 ( +2.2%)
03/11 #12 - 4,965 ( +0.9%)
04/11 #13 - 5,083 ( +2.4%)
6 mnth ( --- )
1 year ( -48.0%)
2 year ( +6.3%)
3 year ( -12.9%)
4 year ( -21.5%)
5 year ( -14.9%)
Three straight months with a sales increase? That’s really bucking the trend.
260. ORSON SCOTT CARD'S SPEAKER FOR THE DEAD
06/10 Ender in Exile #1 - 6,568
07/10 #2 of 5 - 5,673 (-13.6%)
08/10 #3 of 5 - 5,342 ( -5.8%)
09/10 #4 of 5 - ?,??? ( ??? )
10/10 #5 of 5 - 4,812 ( ??? )
11/10 ---
12/10 ---
01/11 Speaker #1 of 7 - 4,703 ( -2.3%)
02/11 #2 of 7 - 4,262 ( -9.4%)
03/11 #3 of 5 - ?,??? ( ??? )
04/11 #4 of 5 - 4,071 ( ??? )
6 mnth ( ??? )
274. SUPER HEROES [Marvel Adventures]
04/09 #10 - 3,699
=====
04/10 #1 - 8,107 ( ??? )
05/10 #2 - 6,360 (-21.5%)
06/10 #3 - 5,678 (-10.7%)
07/10 #4 - 4,564 (-19.6%)
08/10 #5 - 4,418 ( -3.2%)
09/10 #6 - ?,??? ( ??? )
10/10 #7 - 3,800 ( ??? )
11/10 #8 - 3,541 ( -6.8%)
12/10 #9 - ?,??? ( ??? )
01/11 #10 - 3,386 ( ??? )
02/11 #11 - 3,134 ( -7.4%)
03/11 #12 - ?,??? ( ??? )
04/11 #13 - 3,355 ( ??? )
6 mnth (-11.7%)
1 year (-58.6%)
2 year ( -9.3%)
Number 275 is ASTONISHING SPIDER-MAN/WOLVERINE: ANOTHER FINE MESS, the collection of the opening issues of the miniseries, with estimated sales of 3,352.
287. FORMIC WARS: BURNING EARTH 02/11 #1 of 7 - 6,901 02/11 #2 of 7 - 4,935 (-28.5%) 03/11 #3 of 7 - 04/11 #4 of 7 - 4,068 (-17.6%) 292. EMMA 03/11 #1 of 5 - ?,??? 04/11 #2 of 5 - 2,869 ( ??? )
Unusually, EMMA enters the top 300 on its second issue. That’s almost certainly because the cut-off point for the chart has dropped. In March, it took estimated sales of 4,499 to make the chart; in April, you could do it with only 2,767.
Even at that level, two Marvel titles missed the chart in April: the SUPER HERO SQUAD ONLINE GAME: HERO UP! one-shot, and OFFICIAL INDEX TO THE MARVEL UNIVERSE #12.
6 month comparisons =================== +85.4% - Official Handbook +78.4% - Black Panther +60.8% - Thor +54.9% - FF +46.9% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man +43.2% - New Mutants +32.0% - Herc +13.7% - Ultimate Avengers + 8.0% - X-Men Legacy - 0.2% - Amazing Spider-Man - 0.4% - Iron Man - 6.9% - Captain America - 8.2% - Halo - 9.5% - Secret Warriors - 9.9% - X-Factor -11.7% - Super Heroes -13.8% - Anita Blake -14.1% - Uncanny X-Men -15.1% - New Avengers -16.2% - Incredible Hulks -17.5% - Avengers -17.9% - Thunderbolts -19.0% - X-23 -19.1% - Deadpool -20.7% - X-Men -21.2% - Casanova -23.7% - Hawkeye -24.6% - Avengers Academy -25.6% - Wolverine -28.6% - Hulk -30.4% - Daken -31.5% - S.H.I.E.L.D. -32.7% - Secret Avengers -41.7% - DeadpoolMax -48.7% - X-Force 1 year comparisons ================== +91.8% - Herc +83.9% - FF +56.4% - Wolverine +27.4% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man +27.2% - Thor + 0.8% - Amazing Spider-Man - 2.2% - Official Handbook -15.8% - PunisherMax -17.0% - Black Panther -18.0% - Ultimate Avengers -18.1% - New Avengers -20.4% - X-Men Legacy -22.0% - New Mutants -23.1% - Captain America -24.5% - Secret Warriors -24.6% - X-Force -29.6% - Thunderbolts -31.9% - Oz -32.3% - Uncanny X-Men -33.3% - Dark Tower -34.6% - Deadpool -38.5% - Iron Man -38.8% - X-Factor -43.3% - Daken -48.0% - Spider-Man [Marvel Adventures] -50.0% - S.H.I.E.L.D. -58.6% - Super Heroes 2 year comparisons ================== +14.9% - Herc + 7.3% - FF + 6.3% - Spider-Man [Marvel Adventures] + 3.1% - Thor - 3.7% - Amazing Spider-Man - 9.3% - Super Heroes -11.2% - X-Force -12.5% - Iron Man -14.2% - PunisherMax -22.4% - X-Factor -27.8% - X-Men Legacy -28.9% - Captain America -30.0% - Uncanny X-Men -30.7% - Black Panther -34.3% - New Avengers -41.9% - Deadpool -45.4% - Oz -48.9% - Thunderbolts -54.2% - Anita Blake -55.3% - Secret Warriors -55.9% - Dark Tower -62.8% - Incredible Hulks -62.9% - Hulk -67.8% - Halo 3 year comparisons ================== +26.7% - Iron Man - 6.6% - FF -10.1% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man -12.9% - Spider-Man [Marvel Adventures] -13.0% - Herc -24.4% - Amazing Spider-Man -27.5% - Wolverine -32.9% - X-Men Legacy -39.1% - PunisherMax -40.6% - X-Force -42.7% - Uncanny X-Men -43.7% - Captain America -44.1% - New Avengers -51.7% - X-Factor -67.3% - Anita Blake -69.3% - Incredible Hulks -69.4% - Hulk -83.2% - Dark Tower 4 year comparisons ================== +10.9% - FF -21.5% - Spider-Man [Marvel Adventures] -23.8% - Iron Man -30.0% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man -30.6% - X-Men Legacy -34.4% - X-Factor -34.6% - Uncanny X-Men -42.2% - Incredible Hulks -43.9% - PunisherMax -50.7% - New Avengers -52.2% - Wolverine -61.4% - Thunderbolts -77.2% - Anita Blake -88.4% - Dark Tower 5 year comparisons ================== +53.2% - FF + 3.9% - Thunderbolts - 0.3% - Captain America - 8.3% - Iron Man -14.9% - Spider-Man [Marvel Adventures] -18.5% - Black Panther -30.1% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man -31.4% - Incredible Hulks -32.4% - Uncanny X-Men -32.9% - Amazing Spider-Man -33.8% - Wolverine -34.1% - X-Men Legacy -45.0% - PunisherMax -45.1% - X-Factor -49.2% - New Avengers
Re: the CrossGen drops — didn’t Marvel double-ship those? That is, didn’t they ship twice the actual orders? That would reduce the drops to the ~30% range, which isn’t awful.
Also, there’s some weird formatting stuff in the post as it appears right now. Looks like some breaks got lost.
By “those” I meant issue #1s of the CrossGen books.
Formatting gets a bit wonky towards the end, but as always a great read, thanks for putting it together!
Fixed! Sorry about that.
Formatting still wonky for me. The second half of each sentence is cut off…
Yeah, the formatting is all messed up. Every “title explanation” paragraph just flows into the right sidebar.
WHOOPS — one errant pre-tag and everything goes to hell!
Third time, etc etc
Perfect, cheers!
Really, really hope that there is a reversal of the apparent bad news on Ruse – Its one of the rare minis that I purchase nowadays. And $2.99 to boot!
Not surprised that Sigil appears to have tanked since it isn’t the original concept nor anywhere close to the original concept, but for some reason Marvel thought it was a good idea to use the same name anyway. Who exactly was that supposed to entice?
Very disappointed by the numbers for Ruse though. That is pretty much the original concept by the original writer (and an excellent concept adeptly executed as well). But I guess everyone would rather read the next summer blockbuster event that will end up being mostly undone within the next 18 to 24 months instead.
Nice job as usual mainstream comics ‘fans’. Don’t forget to tune in for the next episode of American Idol and Dancing With The Stars. Must see TV and all that.
Rich is correct, Sigil and Ruse were double-shipped to retailers. So not terrible drops, all said and done.
“Nice job as usual mainstream comics ‘fans’. Don’t forget to tune in for the next episode of American Idol and Dancing With The Stars. Must see TV and all that.”
-Christ, somebody get that baby a fucking bottle.
Didn’t Bryan Hitch draw AVENGERS #12.1? He used to sell some comics, back when Marvel’s line was creator-driven.
Also, the Avengers books are almost down to pre-Bendis levels.
Yes, Hitch did draw AVENGERS #12.1, and it doesn’t seem to have made a great deal of difference. I suspect it’s a side-effect of the general apathy that seems to exist towards the whole Point One concept.
And in fairness to Bendis, while the Avengers books are almost down to the levels he inherited, it DID take over five years for that to happen, and even then he’s tripled the number of titles selling in that range. That said, I do tend to think we’re approaching the point where a shake-up would benefit both the Avengers and Bendis.
Incredible Hulk is cancelled? This sucks, the book has been as good as it has ever been. We all know it will lead to a relaunch and number conversion yet again, I wonder when if ever Marvel (and somewhat DC) will end this confusing game or relaunch and renumbering. It sucks. On a seperate note, the dollar share split is brutal! I am not sure DC’s tactic worked out with $3 on all books. I as a fan appreciate it but it is not reflecting on sales nor dollar share.
Oh, sure. There’s no doubt that Bendis’ stuff has been a huge success commercially.
Creatively, though, the point where I thought we’re approaching the point where a shake-up would benefit both Bendis and the Avengers was when I read his first issue on the title, six years ago.
Oh, sure. There’s no doubt that Bendis’ stuff has been a huge success commercially.
Creatively, though, the point where I thought we’re approaching the point where a shake-up would benefit both Bendis and the Avengers was when I read his first issue on the title, six years ago.
__________________________
LOL, I agree.
Notice how the majority of Bendis AVENGERS run has either had a variant cover or been a tie in to some upcoming big event. I think that might have played a role in keeping sales up on that book for so long.
Nah, come on. Sales were consistently above 100k in the first couple years of his run, and have only recently dropped into the same ballpark of the pre-Bendis figures. And, even now, he’s still outselling the old AVENGERS book on two Avengers titles simultaneously. So let’s give him some credit where it’s due: He’s sold fuckloads of comics for Marvel.
It’s just that most of them weren’t good.
Hitch really has ceased to be a major sales draw, I think; the writing was on the wall when he and Millar couldn’t turn Fantastic Four sales around, and it’s hard to think of a project since that was really selling on his name.
The last big Hitch book I recall is Captain America: Reborn, and that was going to make good numbers even if Jackson “Butch” Guice had done the pencil art. If anything, Hitch extending it by an issue because of his penchant for splash pages contributed to the delays that led to every other Marvel book spoiling the ending.
But he’s also getting plenty of non-comics design work, so maybe this is just a career transition. Personally, I think he ruined the story pacing of that Cap mini and that he and Millar encourage each others’ worst instincts; Ed Brubaker, Hitch, Millar, and Marvel would certainly all disagree strenuously, of course.
So a 4% drop is ‘steady’ now?!? haha… ah, the delusions.
And Avengers lost 10% of their sales in 1 month – and not a mention?
Sad to see Avengers Academy so far down the chart – it’s probably my favorite book that Marvel are publishing right now.
This renumbering/renaming and not renumbering stuff is driving me crazy. It’s getting to the point that I’m not even sure how to file back issues anymore. I keep a set of longboxes for “active” comics (stuff that still comes out every month), so I can file ongoings without digging through a ton of boxes. When something gets cancelled or rebooted, I move the previous volume into my “inactive” boxes. But I have no idea where I’ll need to file, say, the Journey Into Mystery series that’s continuing Thor’s numbering, or the Black Panther series that’s continuing Daredevil’s numbering. And having several volumes of Captain America or Amazing Spider-Man with the numbering jumping all over the place is kind of confusing, too.
Does anybody else see a problem with the Juggernaut being one of the Serpent’s avatars in FEAR ITSELF?
SRS
Nah, come on. Sales were consistently above 100k in the first couple years of his run, and have only recently dropped into the same ballpark of the pre-Bendis figures. And, even now, he’s still outselling the old AVENGERS book on two Avengers titles simultaneously. So let’s give him some credit where it’s due: He’s sold fuckloads of comics for Marvel.
________________________
Again, that was partly due to stunts/gimmicks.
“Very disappointed by the numbers for Ruse though. That is pretty much the original concept by the original writer (and an excellent concept adeptly executed as well). But I guess everyone would rather read the next summer blockbuster event that will end up being mostly undone within the next 18 to 24 months instead.
Nice job as usual mainstream comics ‘fans’. Don’t forget to tune in for the next episode of American Idol and Dancing With The Stars. Must see TV and all that.”
Well I don’t know about the rest of us fools but this comic just looked like a Sherlock knock off told with about only 2 or 3 panels per page (aka a quicker read then even those high octane summer blockbusters). It might in fact be very good but a quick perusal in the store and the online preview didn’t indicate it was anything worth picking up. Much unlike the MARVEL BACKLIST READING CHRONOLOGY book, which sounds beyond amazing.
SYNSIDAR: “Does anybody else see a problem with the Juggernaut being one of the Serpent’s avatars in FEAR ITSELF?”
Yep. He’s a character whose constant state of good guy or bad guy limbo has really begun to turn me off of the character.
WRAITH: “Nah, come on. Sales were consistently above 100k in the first couple years of his run, and have only recently dropped into the same ballpark of the pre-Bendis figures. And, even now, he’s still outselling the old AVENGERS book on two Avengers titles simultaneously. So let’s give him some credit where it’s due: He’s sold fuckloads of comics for Marvel.
________________________
Again, that was partly due to stunts/gimmicks.”
Partly being the key word there. Avengers had stunts/gimmicks like ALL Marvel books do. It didn’t maintain increased sales for 5 years only because of that (though I myself am not much of a Bendis fan). People generally were interested/enjoying the new direction of the franchise. Personally I think Secret Invasion is a big factor in the severe declining interest of Bendis’ Avengers
Does anybody know what the reason was for Marvel having the same author write both New Avengers and Avengers considering the casts are nearly identical?
That is a drawback. What I reacted to was Juggernaut becoming an avatar of the Serpent, while retaining the power granted to him by Cyttorak. That’s a very basic problem. He cannot reasonably be the avatar of two gods at the same time. The problem isn’t a fatal one, since someone else could have taken Juggernaut’s slot, but it’s indicative of sloppy thinking. FEAR ITSELF already resembled CHAOS WAR, in having an obscure god as the villain, and EIGHTH DAY, in having people become villainous avatars who fight the heroes. An event shouldn’t immediately remind a reader of past events.
SRS
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