by Paul O’ Brien
I usually like to start this column by running through the big events of the month. But this month, frankly, there’s not much to point out. WORLD WAR HULK is still going, of course, and the X-Men have a little crossover of their own underway, with the “Endangered Species” back-up strip. But there are no new ongoing titles, and only a handful of miniseries. The biggest of those is HALO: UPRISING, and it’s a big step down from there. Overall, it’s one of the quietest months I can remember.
Even so, Marvel retain a comfortable lead over DC in the US direct market – 41% to 32% in dollar share, and by 46% to 35% in units. That’s the smallest gap in some time, partly due to the mysterious chart jump of COUNTDOWN, which Marc discusses over in the DC column. But it’s still a substantial margin.
Thanks as always to Milton Griepp and ICV2 for permission to use their figures for these calculations.
1,252. WORLD WAR HULK 05/07 Prologue - 111,153 06/07 World War Hulk #1 of 5 - 193,868 (+74.4%) 07/07 World War Hulk #2 of 5 - 163,095 (-15.9%) 08/07 World War Hulk #3 of 5 - 156,526 ( -4.0%)
WORLD WAR HULK moves up to take the top spot for this month – not because it’s going up in sales, but because bigger projects like the FALLEN SON miniseries have ended. Still, sales on this book are stabilising nicely, and it’s doing as well as Marvel could realistically have hoped for.
There are three versions of this issue, and thanks to a quirk of the chart, one of them is listed separately. The number one chart listing refers to the main cover and the John Romita Jr variant, with estimated sales of 151,523. But way, way down at number 252, there’s the David Finch sketch variant, produced for the Toronto Comicon, which adds another 5,003 sales. Why is it listed separately? Because it’s got a lower price tag than the other two, and Diamond only list multiple covers together if they have the same price.
The book is also seeing reasonably significant re-orders on the earlier chapters. Issue #1 shifts another 5,264 copies, and issue #2 adds 7,773 to its total. As always, they’re included in the numbers above.
3. DARK TOWER: THE GUNSLINGER BORN
02/07 Gunslinger Born #1 of 7 - 216,844
03/07 Gunslinger Born #2 of 7 - 168,258 (-22.4%)
04/07 Gunslinger Born #3 of 7 - 149,168 (-11.3%)
05/07 Gunslinger Born #4 of 7 - 139,545 ( -6.5%)
06/07 Gunslinger Born #5 of 7 - 132,090 ( -5.3%)
07/07 Gunslinger Born #6 of 7 - 128,336 ( -2.8%)
08/07 Gunslinger Born #7 of 7 - 124,609 ( -2.9%)
6 mnth (-42.5%)
The first DARK TOWER miniseries comes to an end, completing a run of very impressive sales. It’s been a long while since a non-superhero book sold in these quantities in the direct market, and there are various ways you can look at it. Perhaps the direct market audience really loves Stephen King. Perhaps this book has the rare ability to draw the general public into comics stores. Or perhaps Stephen King has an incredibly devoted fanbase of his own who can’t wait for the collected edition. On any view, it’s a huge hit for Marvel, and it seems a good bet that the collected edition will perform well in the bookstore market
If there’s a fly in the ointment, it’s the fact that the next miniseries isn’t yet on the schedule. But with a project like this, they’re probably better off not rushing.
There are three variants of issue #7, and the series is still racking up the re-orders. Strangely, though, those re-orders are for issues #1-3, not #4-6. Issue #1 sold another 8,250 this month, issue #2 sold 8,119, and issue #3 a further 8,735.
4. NEW AVENGERS
08/01 Avengers #45 - 61,572
08/02 Avengers #57 - 55,931
08/03 Avengers #69 - 57,850
08/04 ---
08/05 New Avengers #9 - 145,673
=====
08/06 New Avengers #23 - 155,550 ( +8.5%)
09/06 ---
10/06 New Avengers #24 - 136,811 ( -12.0%)
11/06 New Avengers #25 - 136,504 ( -0.2%)
12/06 New Avengers #26 - 122,670 ( -10.1%)
01/06 ---
02/07 New Avengers #27 - 132,109 ( +7.7%)
03/07 New Avengers #28 - 119,514 ( -9.5%)
04/07 New Avengers #29 - 125,378 ( +4.9%)
05/07 New Avengers #30 - 126,425 ( +0.8%)
06/07 New Avengers #31 - 160,911 ( +27.3%)
07/07 New Avengers #32 - 122,991 ( -23.6%)
08/07 New Avengers #33 - 117,906 ( -4.1%)
6 mnth ( -10.8%)
1 year ( -24.2%)
2 year ( -19.1%)
3 year ( --- )
4 year (+103.8%)
Basically, this is NEW AVENGERS returning to normal sales after the spike for issue #31 (which was solicited as a major event for the Marvel Universe). But the book has been caught up in events and promotions for so long now that nobody quite knows what it’s normal level is, and we’ll have to wait and see where it ends up. This is becoming noticeable with several of the Initiative titles, as we’ll see.
5. ASTONISHING X-MEN
08/04 Astonishing X-Men #4 - 145,543
08/05 Astonishing X-Men #12 - 125,834
=====
08/06 Astonishing X-Men #16 - 121,897 ( +1.6%)
09/06 Astonishing X-Men #17 - 124,026 ( +1.7%)
10/06 ---
11/06 Astonishing X-Men #18 - 118,285 ( -4.6%)
12/06 Astonishing X-Men #19 - 124,033 ( +4.9%)
01/07 ---
02/07 Astonishing X-Men #20 - 119,736 ( -3.5%)
03/07 ---
04/07 ---
05/07 Astonishing X-Men #21 - 120,495 ( +0.6%)
06/07 ---
07/07 ---
08/07 Astonishing X-Men #22 - 117,321 ( -2.6%)
6 mnth ( -2.0%)
1 year ( -3.8%)
2 year ( -6.8%)
3 year (-19.4%)
Pretty much holding level, as Joss Whedon slowly approaches the end of his run. The next issue isn’t out until October.
6. THOR
08/01 Thor #40 - 39,454
08/02 Thor #52 - 36,922
08/03 Thor #67 - 32,279
08/04 Thor #83 - 36,519
=====
07/07 Thor #1 - 193,100
08/07 Thor #2 - 108,609 ( -43.8%)
3 year (+197.4%)
4 year (+236.5%)
The drop isn’t quite as bad as it looks, because issue #1 picks up a ton of re-orders. Four variant covers are listed together at number 113 on the chart, with total additional sales of 21,857. There’s also another convention variant lurking down at number 227, which brings in another 5,918 sales. That’s a huge amount of re-order activity for a book which already sold well in its first month.
Without those extra sales, the month-to-month drop would be a rather more manageable 34%. That’s still on the high side, but then issue #1 had a ton of covers to drawn on, while issue #2 only has a 50-50 variant. I suspect that after this initial fall, THOR will level out pretty quickly over the next couple of months, but we’ll see. And let’s not forget that before its cancellation, THOR had been marooned in the 30-40K region for years. It’s almost guaranteed to level out miles about that level.
7. AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
08/01 Amazing Spider-Man #34 - 79,588
08/02 Amazing Spider-Man #44 - 100,070
08/03 Amazing Spider-Man #57 - 93,469
08/04 Amazing Spider-Man #511 - 88,118
08/05 Amazing Spider-Man #523 - 72,046
=====
08/06 ----
09/06 Amazing Spider-Man #535 - 122,968 ( -2.1%)
10/06 ----
11/06 Amazing Spider-Man #536 - 121,003 ( -1.6%)
12/06 ---
01/07 Amazing Spider-Man #537 - 123,160 ( +1.8%)
02/07 Amazing Spider-Man #538 - 145,435 (+18.1%)
03/07 Amazing Spider-Man #539 - 155,980 ( +7.3%)
04/07 ---
05/07 Amazing Spider-Man #540 - 119,662 (-23.3%)
06/07 Amazing Spider-Man #541 - 108,284 ( -9.5%)
07/07 Amazing Spider-Man #542 - 105,715 ( -2.4%)
08/07 Amazing Spider-Man #543 - 106,485 ( +0.7%)
6 mnth (-26.7%)
1 year (-13.4%)
2 year (+47.8%)
3 year (+20.8%)
4 year (+13.9%)
For all practical purposes, this was the last month of the three separate Spider-Man titles. AMAZING, SENSATIONAL and FRIENDLY all tied up their storylines, leaving the way clear for “One More Day.”
The original plan, you’ll recall, was that “One More Day” would run weekly through all three Spider-Man books in September. SENSATIONAL and FRIENDLY would then be cancelled, and in October, AMAZING would come out three times a month instead. In other words, the three existing Spider-Man monthlies are going to be merged into a one book, shipping 36 times a year.
Unfortunately, “One More Day” has gone off the scheduling rails, and so the new AMAZING has been pushed back to December. That book can hardly ship extra issues to catch up, so effectively the delay to “One More Day” has cost two months of Spider-Man sales. It’ll have to perform very well to justify that.
Now, as we all know, AMAZING sells a lot better than its two siblings. Plainly, the hope is that Spider-Man fans will buy every issue of the merged title, while before they just bought AMAZING nine times a year, and ignored the two satellite books. But it’s also likely that some existing readers of AMAZING will decide that they don’t want to buy 36 issues a year, or that they’re jumping ship with the outgoing creative team. So, how well does the new AMAZING need to sell, in order to be judged a success?
Well, the short answer is that Marvel will come out ahead if the merged title shifts more copies than AMAZING, FRIENDLY and SENSATIONAL are presently managing between them. But then, AMAZING doesn’t ship twelve times a year – it misses issues all over the place and never catches them up. So let’s take the whole last year as our comparison. Between September 2006 and August 2007, the three existing Spider-Man titles sold an estimated total of 2,284,676 copies in the direct market. At 36 issues a year, the new AMAZING can equal total by selling an average of 63,463 copies per issue. Which isn’t really that much. It can do that without making the top 30. I’d be very surprised if the merged book fails to beat that target.
8. INCREDIBLE HULK
08/01 Incredible Hulk #31 - 33,683
08/02 Incredible Hulk #44 - 49,184
08/03 Incredible Hulk #59 - 59,336
08/04 Incredible Hulk #76 - 42,498
08/05 Incredible Hulk #85 - 53,177
=====
08/06 Incredible Hulk #97 - 48,893 ( -0.6%)
09/06 Incredible Hulk #98 - 52,987 ( +8.4%)
10/06 Incredible Hulk #99 - 47,878 ( -9.6%)
11/06 Incredible Hulk #100 - 84,169 ( +75.8%)
12/06 Incredible Hulk #101 - 47,927 ( -43.1%)
01/07 Incredible Hulk #102 - 46,965 ( -2.0%)
02/07 Incredible Hulk #103 - 46,690 ( -0.6%)
03/07 Incredible Hulk #104 - 47,823 ( +2.4%)
04/07 Incredible Hulk #105 - 53,256 ( +11.4%)
05/07 Incredible Hulk #106 - 119,735 (+124.8%)
06/07 Incredible Hulk #107 - 115,912 ( -3.2%)
07/07 Incredible Hulk #108 - 107,714 ( -7.1%)
08/07 Incredible Hulk #109 - 104,322 ( -3.1%)
6 mnth (+123.4%)
1 year (+113.4%)
2 year ( +96.2%)
3 year (+145.5%)
4 year ( +75.8%)
Still seeing huge gains from the ongoing WORLD WAR HULK crossover. Issue #108 picks up re-orders of 2,678.
9. NEW AVENGERS: ILLUMINATI
12/06 Illuminati #1 of 5 - 106,381
01/07 ---
02/07 Illuminati #2 of 5 - 92,881 (-12.7%)
03/07 ---
04/07 ---
05/07 Illuminati #3 of 5 - 92,821 ( -0.0%)
06/07 ---
07/07 ---
08/07 Illuminati #4 of 5 - 88,114 ( -5.1%)
6 mnth ( -5.1%)
A slightly surprising drop after the previous issue was dead level, but the series is still holding up well enough.
10. UNCANNY X-MEN
08/01 Uncanny X-Men #397 - 116,247
08/02 Uncanny X-Men #411 - 86,875
08/03 Uncanny X-Men #429 - 93,866
08/04 Uncanny X-Men #447 - 95,838
08/05 Uncanny X-Men #463 - 87,610
=====
08/06 Uncanny X-Men #477 - 89,225 ( -3.2%)
09/06 Uncanny X-Men #478 - 89,850 ( +0.7%)
10/06 Uncanny X-Men #479 - 89,052 ( -0.9%)
11/06 Uncanny X-Men #480 - 88,584 ( -0.5%)
12/06 Uncanny X-Men #481 - 85,995 ( -2.9%)
01/07 Uncanny X-Men #482 - 83,860 ( -2.5%)
02/07 Uncanny X-Men #483 - 83,009 ( -1.0%)
03/07 Uncanny X-Men #484 - 82,043 ( -1.2%)
04/07 Uncanny X-Men #485 - 81,764 ( -0.3%)
05/07 Uncanny X-Men #486 - 81,965 ( +0.2%)
06/07 Uncanny X-Men #487 - 81,481 ( -0.6%)
07/07 Uncanny X-Men #488 - 86,747 ( +6.5%)
08/07 Uncanny X-Men #489 - 88,068 ( +1.5%)
6 mnth ( +7.7%)
1 year ( -1.3%)
2 year ( +0.5%)
3 year ( -8.1%)
4 year ( -6.2%)
Continuing gains, presumably attributable to the “Endangered Species” back-up strips.
14. AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE 04/07 Initiative #1 - 127,798 05/07 Initiative #2 - 103,189 (-19.3%) 06/07 Initiative #3 - 92,339 (-10.5%) 07/07 Initiative #4 - 94,773 ( +2.6%) 08/07 Initiative #5 - 86,536 ( -8.7%)
Hmm. Issue #4 was a WORLD WAR HULK crossover issue, so the modest gain was expected. But issue #5 is the second half of that crossover, so a 9% drop is a little alarming. INITIATIVE is very much a book that has yet to find its level, and I’d expect another big drop next month when the crossover moves on.
15. X-MEN
08/01 New X-Men #117 - 120,414
08/02 New X-Men #130 - 98,796
08/03 New X-Men #144 - 99,737
08/04 X-Men #160 - 91,790
08/05 X-Men #174 - 76,342
=====
08/06 X-Men #190 - 83,436 ( -2.0%)
09/06 X-Men #191 - 82,048 ( -1.7%)
10/06 X-Men #192 - 81,816 ( -0.3%)
11/06 X-Men #193 - 80,102 ( -2.1%)
12/06 X-Men #194 - 78,114 ( -2.5%)
01/07 X-Men #195 - 76,900 ( -1.6%)
02/07 X-Men #196 - 75,707 ( -1.6%)
03/07 X-Men #197 - 75,184 ( -0.7%)
04/07 X-Men #198 - 74,841 ( -0.5%)
05/07 X-Men #199 - 75,996 ( +1.5%)
06/07 X-Men #200 - 156,787 (+106.3%)
07/07 X-Men #201 - 86,278 ( -45.0%)
08/07 X-Men #202 - 86,521 ( +0.3%)
6 mnth ( +14.3%)
1 year ( +3.7%)
2 year ( +13.3%)
3 year ( -5.7%)
4 year ( -13.3%)
Still seeing the benefits from “Endangered Species”, from the look of it. A second printing of issue #200 with a new variant cover charts at number 154 with a whopping 14,284 extra sales. After a couple of years in the doldrums, the X-books are stirring.
19. CAPTAIN AMERICA
08/01 Captain America #46 - 36,080
08/02 Captain America #5 - 64,695
08/03 Captain America #16 - 43,123
08/04 Captain America #30 - 38,464
08/05 Captain America #8 - 51,842
=====
08/06 ---
09/06 Captain America #21 - 49,050 ( +3.6%)
09/06 Captain America #22 - 88,276 ( +80.0%)
10/06 Captain America #23 - 81,323 ( -7.9%)
11/06 Captain America #24 - 82,348 ( +1.3%)
12/06 ---
01/07 ---
02/07 ---
03/07 Captain America #25 - 344,270 (+318.1%)
04/07 ---
05/07 Captain America #26 - 129,365 ( -62.4%)
06/07 Captain America #27 - 99,108 ( -23.4%)
07/07 Captain America #28 - 89,721 ( -9.5%)
08/07 Captain America #29 - 83,781 ( -6.6%)
6 mnth ( --- )
1 year ( +70.8%)
2 year ( +61.6%)
3 year (+117.8%)
4 year ( +94.3%)
Still dropping and there’s clearly more to come. We’re now back at CIVIL WAR crossover levels. But those were still way above the book’s normal sales, so there’s still a realistic possibility of the book getting a significant long-term increase out of this.
21. WORLD WAR HULK: X-MEN 06/07 X-Men #1 of 3 - 87,427 07/07 X-Men #2 of 3 - 79,944 (-8.6%) 08/07 X-Men #3 of 3 - 78,393 (-1.9%)
Fairly standard miniseries numbers.
24. ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN
08/01 Ult. Spider-Man #12 - 78,407
08/02 Ult. Spider-Man #25 - 96,382
08/03 Ult. Spider-Man #45 - 100,619
08/04 Ult. Spider-Man #64 - 94,682
08/05 Ult. Spider-Man #81 - 75,572
=====
08/06 Ult. Spider-Man #98 - 77,304 ( +0.9%)
08/06 Ult. Spider-Man #99 - 76,075 ( -1.6%)
09/06 Ult. Spider-Man #100 - 119,194 (+56.7%)
10/06 Ult. Spider-Man #101 - 78,963 (-33.8%)
11/06 Ult. Spider-Man #102 - 77,121 ( -2.3%)
12/06 Ult. Spider-Man #103 - 76,251 ( -1.1%)
01/07 Ult. Spider-Man #104 - 108,082 (+41.7%)
02/07 Ult. Spider-Man #105 - 74,376 (-31.2%)
03/07 Ult. Spider-Man #106 - 73,832 ( -1.3%)
03/07 Ult. Spider-Man #107 - 72,818 ( -1.4%)
04/07 Ult. Spider-Man #108 - 72,713 ( -0.1%)
05/07 Ult. Spider-Man #109 - 72,478 ( -0.3%)
06/07 Ult. Spider-Man #110 - 73,646 ( +1.6%)
07/07 Ult. Spider-Man #111 - 75,487 ( +2.5%)
08/07 Ult. Spider-Man #112 - 76,523 ( +1.4%)
6 mnth ( +2.9%)
1 year ( -1.0%)
2 year ( +1.3%)
3 year (-19.2%)
4 year (-23.9%)
The first Stuart Immonen issue, and the handover seems to be attracting some attention to the book.
25. WOLVERINE
08/01 Wolverine #167 - 70,238
08/02 Wolverine #180 - 67,892
08/03 Wolverine #4 - 68,472
08/04 Wolverine #18 - 65,304
08/05 Wolverine #31 - 75,618
=====
08/06 Wolverine #45 - 110,662 ( -0.7%)
09/06 Wolverine #46 - 107,865 ( -2.5%)
10/06 Wolverine #47 - 106,201 ( -1.5%)
11/06 Wolverine #48 - 99,991 ( -5.8%)
12/06 Wolverine #49 - 78,807 (-21.2%)
01/07 Wolverine #50 - 117,160 (+48.7%)
02/07 Wolverine #51 - 99,636 (-15.0%)
03/07 Wolverine #52 - 97,111 ( -2.5%)
04/07 Wolverine #53 - 98,441 ( +1.4%)
05/07 Wolverine #54 - 96,082 ( -2.4%)
06/07 ---
07/07 Wolverine #55 - 130,707 (+36.0%)
08/07 Wolverine #56 - 73,368 (-43.9%)
6 mnth (-26.4%)
1 year (-33.7%)
2 year ( -3.0%)
3 year (+12.3%)
4 year ( +7.2%)
A fill-in issue between storylines. The sales are broadly comparable to issue #49, which was in the same position.
26. WOLVERINE: ORIGINS
08/06 Origins #5 - 120,448 ( +8.7%)
09/06 Origins #6 - 101,013 (-16.1%)
10/06 Origins #7 - 103,273 ( +2.2%)
11/06 Origins #8 - 91,585 (-11.3%)
12/06 Origins #9 - 84,733 ( -7.5%)
01/07 Origins #10 - 97,881 (+15.5%)
02/07 Origins #11 - 78,901 (-19.4%)
03/07 Origins #12 - 74,750 ( -5.3%)
04/07 Origins #13 - 70,963 ( -5.1%)
05/07 Origins #14 - 68,953 ( -2.8%)
06/07 Origins #15 - 65,558 ( -4.9%)
07/07 ---
08/07 Origins #16 - 69,781 ( +6.4%)
6 mnth (-11.6%)
1 year (-42.1%)
Variant cover. It also guest stars Captain America, but the solicitations were perfectly candid about the fact that the story was a wartime flashback, so I’d be surprised if that were a major factor.
29. FRONT LINE
08/06 Civil War #5 of 11 - 111,435 ( -0.4%)
09/06 Civil War #6 of 11 - 108,436 ( -2.7%)
10/06 Civil War #7 of 11 - 106,588 ( -1.7%)
11/06 Civil War #8 of 11 - 100,869 ( -5.4%)
12/06 Civil War #9 of 11 - 97,948 ( -2.9%)
01/07 Civil War #10 of 11 - 99,795 ( +1.9%)
02/07 Civil War #11 of 11 - 89,163 (-10.7%)
03/07 ---
04/07 ---
05/07 ---
06/07 World War Hulk #1 of 6 - 84,386 ( -5.4%)
07/07 World War Hulk #2 of 6 - 76,140 ( -9.8%)
08/07 World War Hulk #3 of 6 - 69,104 ( -9.2%)
6 mnth (-22.5%)
1 year (-38.0%)
That’s a bit steep for a third issue drop. I’m not sure the FRONT LINE concept fits as neatly with WORLD WAR HULK as it did with CIVIL WAR.
30,31. FANTASTIC FOUR
08/01 Fantastic Four #46 - 50,773
08/02 Fantastic Four #59 - 43,378
08/03 Fantastic Four #503 - 53,789
08/04 Fantastic Four #517 - 50,247
08/05 Fantastic Four #530 - 51,782
=====
08/06 Fantastic Four #539 - 89,676 ( -3.2%)
09/06 ----
10/06 Fantastic Four #540 - 88,933 ( -0.8%)
11/06 ----
12/06 Fantastic Four #541 - 84,895 ( -4.5%)
01/07 Fantastic Four #542 - 84,338 ( -0.7%)
02/07 ---
03/07 Fantastic Four #543 - 78,823 ( -6.5%)
03/07 Fantastic Four #544 - 85,677 ( +8.7%)
04/07 Fantastic Four #545 - 77,576 ( -9.5%)
05/07 Fantastic Four #546 - 72,182 ( -7.0%)
06/07 Fantastic Four #547 - 69,610 ( -3.6%)
07/07 ---
08/07 Fantastic Four #548 - 65,695 ( -5.6%)
08/07 Fantastic Four #549 - 61,770 ( -6.0%)
6 mnth (-21.6%)
1 year (-31.1%)
2 year (+19.3%)
3 year (+22.9%)
4 year (+14.8%)
These are big drops mid-storyline. The post-Civil War Initiative boost is clearly wearing off.
34. ULTIMATE X-MEN
08/01 Ultimate X-Men #9 - 100,109
08/02 Ultimate X-Men #21 - 93,216
08/03 Ultimate X-Men #36 - 110,492
08/04 Ultimate X-Men #50 - 103,154
08/05 Ultimate X-Men #62 - 76,229
=====
08/06 Ultimate X-Men #73 - 70,153 ( -0.6%)
09/06 Ultimate X-Men #74 - 68,874 ( -1.8%)
10/06 Ultimate X-Men #75 - 73,837 ( +7.2%)
11/06 Ultimate X-Men #76 - 69,054 ( -6.5%)
12/06 Ultimate X-Men #77 - 67,338 ( -2.5%)
01/07 Ultimate X-Men #78 - 66,409 ( -1.4%)
02/07 Ultimate X-Men #79 - 64,363 ( -3.1%)
03/07 Ultimate X-Men #80 - 63,037 ( -2.1%)
04/07 Ultimate X-Men #81 - 62,926 ( -0.2%)
05/07 Ultimate X-Men #82 - 62,063 ( -1.4%)
06/07 Ultimate X-Men #83 - 59,677 ( -3.8%)
07/07 Ultimate X-Men #84 - 59,929 ( +0.4%)
08/07 Ultimate X-Men #85 - 57,660 ( -3.8%)
6 mnth (-10.4%)
1 year (-17.8%)
2 year (-24.4%)
3 year (-44.1%)
4 year (-47.8%)
Long-term decline.
35. HALO: UPRISING 08/05 Uprising #1 of 4 - 56,990
This miniseries bridges the gap between the HALO 2 and HALO 3 games, and Marvel have been pushing it as a huge deal. But let’s be honest, 57K isn’t exactly DARK TOWER, is it? It’s more ANITA BLAKE. They’re good, respectable sales, and I’m sure the book will do disproportionately well in other channels once it’s collected. But this is nothing to go crazy over.
37. WORLD WAR HULK: GAMMA CORPS 07/07 Gamma Corps #1 of 4 - 65,718 08/07 Gamma Corps #2 of 4 - 54,497 (-17.1%)
Fairly standard second issue drop.
40. NEW X-MEN
08/04 New X-Men #4 - 51,902
08/05 New X-Men #17 - 43,908
=====
08/06 New X-Men #29 - 40,303 ( +1.3%)
09/06 New X-Men #30 - 39,658 ( -1.6%)
10/06 New X-Men #31 - 39,175 ( -1.2%)
11/06 New X-Men #32 - 37,919 ( -3.2%)
12/06 New X-Men #33 - 38,076 ( +0.4%)
01/07 New X-Men #34 - 37,272 ( -2.1%)
02/07 New X-Men #35 - 37,142 ( -0.3%)
03/07 New X-Men #36 - 37,004 ( -0.4%)
04/07 New X-Men #37 - 37,935 ( +2.5%)
05/07 New X-Men #38 - 38,915 ( +2.6%)
06/07 New X-Men #39 - 39,258 ( +0.9%)
07/07 New X-Men #40 - 49,515 (+26.1%)
08/07 New X-Men #41 - 52,950 ( +6.9%)
6 mnth (+42.6%)
1 year (+31.4%)
2 year (+20.6%)
3 year ( +2.0%)
41. X-FACTOR
08/06 X-Factor #10 - 44,603 (-35.2%)
09/06 X-Factor #11 - 43,431 ( -2.6%)
10/06 X-Factor #12 - 42,909 ( -1.2%)
11/06 X-Factor #13 - 42,844 ( -0.2%)
12/06 X-Factor #14 - 40,208 ( -6.2%)
01/07 X-Factor #15 - 38,693 ( -3.8%)
02/07 X-Factor #16 - 38,240 ( -1.2%)
03/07 X-Factor #17 - 38,067 ( -0.4%)
04/07 X-Factor #18 - 37,851 ( -0.6%)
05/07 X-Factor #19 - 37,898 ( +0.1%)
06/07 X-Factor #20 - 37,105 ( -2.1%)
07/07 X-Factor #21 - 50,227 (+35.4%)
08/07 X-Factor #22 - 52,627 ( +4.8%)
6 mnth (+37.6%)
1 year (+18.0%)
“Endangered Species” is really paying dividends for the two lower-selling participant titles, X-FACTOR and NEW X-MEN. And because the crossover is confined to the back-up strip (which appears on bonus pages), all these extra readers are getting a regular storyline as well – giving the creative teams a realistic chance to sell the newcomers on their book. So far, the plan seems to be working beautifully. Who’d have thought you could add 15K in sales just by running a back-up strip?
42. THUNDERBOLTS
08/01 Thunderbolts #55 - 33,747
08/02 Thunderbolts #70 - 28,092
08/03 ---
08/04 Avengers/T'bolts #6 - 33,512
08/05 New Thunderbolts #11 - 37,036
=====
08/06 Thunderbolts #105 - 61,467 ( -3.7%)
09/06 Thunderbolts #106 - 31,527 ( -48.7%)
10/06 Thunderbolts #107 - 29,624 ( -6.0%)
11/06 Thunderbolts #108 - 27,890 ( -5.9%)
12/06 Thunderbolts #109 - 27,300 ( -2.1%)
01/07 Thunderbolts #110 - 73,557 (+169.4%)
02/07 Thunderbolts #111 - 62,791 ( -14.6%)
03/07 Thunderbolts #112 - 61,395 ( -2.2%)
04/07 Thunderbolts #113 - 65,092 ( +6.0%)
05/07 Thunderbolts #114 - 66,309 ( +1.9%)
06/07 Thunderbolts #115 - 64,876 ( -2.2%)
07/07 ---
08/07 Thunderbolts #116 - 52,503 ( -19.1%)
6 mnth ( -16.4%)
1 year ( -14.6%)
2 year ( +41.8%)
3 year ( +56.7%)
The Ellis/Deodato THUNDERBOLTS enters its second storyline with an enormous drop. One obvious factor is that the first arc had a variant cover for every issue. This one doesn’t. But 19% is too much to attribute to variant covers alone. Which suggests that a fair number of stores really did cut their orders once Marvel stopped putting the Initiative banner on the cover. That’s quite bizarre behaviour, because they must have figured out long ago that the Initiative wasn’t a crossover, but it’s hard to see another obvious explanation.
Given the factors involved, I suspect this is a one-off drop, and the book will be steady at this level, miles ahead of its inherited sales from the previous creative team. But we shall see.
43. SENSATIONAL SPIDER-MAN
08/04 Marvel Knights S-M #5 - 75,562
08/05 Marvel Knights S-M #17 - 48,555
=====
08/06 Sensational S-M #29 - 55,420 ( -5.3%)
09/06 Sensational S-M #30 - 54,467 ( -1.7%)
10/06 Sensational S-M #31 - 51,587 ( -5.3%)
11/06 Sensational S-M #32 - 50,222 ( -2.6%)
12/06 Sensational S-M #33 - 48,443 ( -3.5%)
01/07 Sensational S-M #34 - 47,008 ( -3.0%)
02/07 Sensational S-M #35 - 69,543 (+47.9%)
03/07 Sensational S-M #36 - 58,559 (-15.8%)
04/07 Sensational S-M #37 - 57,528 ( -1.8%)
05/07 ---
06/07 Sensational S-M #38 - 57,091 ( -0.8%)
07/07 Sensational S-M #39 - 55,346 ( -3.1%)
08/07 Sensational S-M #40 - 52,180 ( -5.7%)
6 mnth (-25.0%)
1 year ( -5.9%)
2 year ( +7.5%)
3 year (-30.9%)
Cancelled with issue #41.
47. PUNISHER WAR JOURNAL
11/06 War Journal #1 - 102,727
12/06 --
01/07 War Journal #2 - 96,112 ( -6.4%)
01/07 War Journal #3 - 70,143 (-27.0%)
02/07 War Journal #4 - 52,961 (-24.5%)
03/07 War Journal #5 - 50,190 ( -5.2%)
04/07 War Journal #6 - 53,498 ( +6.6%)
05/07 War Journal #7 - 75,360 (+40.9%)
06/07 War Journal #8 - 61,376 (-18.6%)
07/07 War Journal #9 - 56,854 ( -7.4%)
08/07 War Journal #10 - 51,303 ( -9.8%)
6 mnth ( -3.1%)
Another book seeing big month-on-month drops as the effect of Initiative wears off. That said, the book is still selling higher than it did with issue #5.
51. IRON MAN
08/01 Iron Man #45 - 36,754
08/02 Iron Man #58 - 36,051
08/03 Iron Man #71 - 30,823
08/04 Iron Man #87 - 33,512
08/05 Iron Man #4 - 48,403
=====
08/06 Iron Man #11 - 37,279 ( -2.2%)
09/06 Iron Man #12 - 36,278 ( -2.7%)
10/06 ---
11/06 Iron Man #13 - 76,800 (+111.7%)
12/06 Iron Man #14 - 73,388 ( -4.4%)
01/07 ---
02/07 Iron Man #15 - 72,394 ( -1.4%)
03/07 ---
04/07 Iron Man #16 - 59,470 ( -17.9%)
05/07 Iron Man #17 - 63,328 ( +6.5%)
06/07 Iron Man #18 - 56,474 ( -10.8%)
06/07 Iron Man #19 - 83,801 ( +48.4%)
07/07 Iron Man #20 - 72,831 ( -13.1%)
08/07 Iron Man #21 - 49,548 ( -32.0%)
6 mnth ( -31.6%)
1 year ( +32.9%)
2 year ( +2.4%)
3 year ( +47.9%)
4 year ( +60.8%)
Issues #19-20 were a WORLD WAR HULK crossover, so the big drop was to be expected. That said, the pre-crossover sales were 56K, so we’re still looking at a significant further drop here. This could be another example of the Initiative boost wearing off.
53. OMEGA FLIGHT 04/07 Omega Flight #1 of 5 - 71,205 05/07 Omega Flight #2 of 5 - 57,239 (-19.6%) 06/07 Omega Flight #3 of 5 - 55,695 ( -2.7%) 07/07 Omega Flight #4 of 5 - 52,271 ( -6.1%) 08/07 Omega Flight #5 of 5 - 48,886 ( -6.5%)
Certainly good enough numbers to justify another series. But having said that, if these were the first five issues of an ongoing title, I’d be a little worried about the drops in the last two months.
54. DARK TOWER: GUNSLINGER'S GUIDEBOOK 08/07 Gunslinger's Guidebook - 48,809
In other words, DARK TOWER HANDBOOK. The sales are very high for a Handbook, but not out of the range for a top-drawer subject.
55. ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR
08/04 Ult. Fantastic Four #10 - 90,670
08/05 Ult. Fantastic Four #22 - 71,767
=====
08/06 Ult. Fantastic Four #32 - 80,730 ( -4.4%)
08/06 Ult. Fantastic Four #33 - 65,191 (-19.2%)
09/06 Ult. Fantastic Four #34 - 63,447 ( -2.7%)
10/06 Ult. Fantastic Four #35 - 61,270 ( -3.4%)
11/06 Ult. Fantastic Four #36 - 57,779 ( -5.7%)
12/06 Ult. Fantastic Four #37 - 55,047 ( -4.7%)
01/07 Ult. Fantastic Four #38 - 52,859 ( -4.0%)
02/07 Ult. Fantastic Four #39 - 52,104 ( -1.4%)
03/07 Ult. Fantastic Four #40 - 50,488 ( -3.1%)
04/07 ---
05/07 Ult. Fantastic Four #41 - 49,916 ( -1.1%)
05/07 Ult. Fantastic Four #42 - 52,840 ( +5.9%)
06/07 Ult. Fantastic Four #43 - 51,453 ( -2.6%)
07/07 Ult. Fantastic Four #44 - 50,796 ( -1.3%)
08/07 Ult. Fantastic Four #45 - 48,779 ( -4.0%)
6 mnth ( -6.4%)
1 year (-39.6%)
2 year (-32.0%)
3 year (-46.2%)
Definitely back on its downward trend.
57. BLACK PANTHER
08/05 Black Panther #7 - 42,905
=====
08/06 Black Panther #19 - 28,372 (-59.4%)
09/06 Black Panther #20 - 26,585 ( -6.3%)
10/06 Black Panther #21 - 34,257 (+28.9%)
11/06 Black Panther #22 - 47,556 (+38.8%)
12/06 Black Panther #23 - 54,762 (+15.2%)
01/07 Black Panther #24 - 59,971 ( +9.5%)
02/07 Black Panther #25 - 56,479 ( -5.8%)
03/07 Black Panther #26 - 51,385 ( -9.0%)
04/07 ---
05/07 Black Panther #27 - 52,552 ( +2.3%)
06/07 Black Panther #28 - 61,808 (+17.6%)
07/07 Black Panther #29 - 55,027 (-11.0%)
08/07 Black Panther #30 - 48,478 (-11.9%)
6 mnth (-14.2%)
1 year (+70.9%)
2 year (+13.0%)
Well, that’s a little alarming. This is still the Marvel Zombies storyline, so I’m surprised to see a drop of that scale between issues. On the other hand, 48K is still pretty good by the standard of BLACK PANTHER when it’s not directly involved in a crossover. But 12% drops in the middle of a story always ring alarm bells.
58. DAREDEVIL
08/01 Daredevil #23 - 52,642
08/02 Daredevil #36 - 50,210
08/03 Daredevil #50 - 65,398
08/04 Daredevil #63 - 52,090
08/05 Daredevil #76 - 46,424
=====
08/06 Daredevil #88 - 50,554 ( -2.8%)
09/06 Daredevil #89 - 55,481 ( +9.7%)
10/06 Daredevil #90 - 50,500 ( -9.0%)
11/06 Daredevil #91 - 49,335 ( -2.3%)
12/06 Daredevil #92 - 48,035 ( -2.6%)
01/07 Daredevil #93 - 47,124 ( -1.9%)
02/07 Daredevil #94 - 46,773 ( -0.7%)
03/07 Daredevil #95 - 46,455 ( -0.7%)
04/07 Daredevil #96 - 46,198 ( -0.6%)
05/07 Daredevil #97 - 47,200 ( +2.2%)
06/07 Daredevil #98 - 46,816 ( -0.8%)
07/07 ---
08/07 Daredevil #99 - 47,386 ( +1.2%)
6 mnth ( +1.3%)
1 year ( -6.3%)
2 year ( +2.1%)
3 year ( -9.0%)
4 year (-27.5%)
Rock steady over the last six months or so.
60. NEW AVENGERS / TRANSFORMERS 07/07 N.Av./T'formers #1 of 4 - 60,565 08/07 N.Av./T'formers #2 of 4 - 44,977 (-25.7%)
That’s a very big second issue drop, but then the novelty value of these things wears off quickly.
61. FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN
08/06 F.N. Spider-Man #11 - 50,995 ( +4.3%)
09/06 F.N. Spider-Man #12 - 48,063 ( -5.7%)
10/06 F.N. Spider-Man #13 - 46,293 ( -3.7%)
11/06 F.N. Spider-Man #14 - 43,476 ( -6.1%)
12/06 F.N. Spider-Man #15 - 42,147 ( -3.1%)
01/07 F.N. Spider-Man #16 - 41,832 ( -0.7%)
02/07 F.N. Spider-Man #17 - 62,278 (+48.9%)
03/07 F.N. Spider-Man #18 - 50,665 (-18.6%)
04/07 F.N. Spider-Man #19 - 50,307 ( -0.7%)
05/07 F.N. Spider-Man #20 - 49,908 ( -0.8%)
06/07 F.N. Spider-Man #21 - 47,915 ( -4.0%)
07/07 F.N. Spider-Man #22 - 46,465 ( -3.0%)
08/07 F.N. Spider-Man #23 - 44,661 ( -3.9%)
6 mnth (-28.3%)
1 year (-12.4%)
Cancelled with issue #24.
62. SILVER SURFER: REQUIEM 05/07 Requiem #1 of 4 - 63,634 06/07 Requiem #2 of 4 - 46,470 (-27.0%) 07/07 Requiem #3 of 4 - 45,652 ( -1.8%) 08/07 Requiem #4 of 4 - 43,915 ( -3.8%)
Standard miniseries numbers. The big initial drop is actually exaggerated by heavy re-orders of issue #1.
64. NEW WARRIORS 06/07 New Warriors #1 - 56,809 07/07 New Warriors #2 - 45,820 (-19.3%) 08/07 New Warriors #3 - 42,660 ( -6.9%)
Well, it’s levelling out. At this rate it could potentially find its level somewhere in the 30K range, which ought to be acceptable.
65. SUB-MARINER 06/07 Sub-Mariner #1 of 6 - 57,902 07/07 Sub-Mariner #2 of 6 - 45,728 (-21.0%) 08/07 Sub-Mariner #3 of 6 - 42,491 ( -7.1%)
The drops are on the steep side, but this is doing fine for a Sub-Mariner solo series.
66. LAST FANTASTIC FOUR STORY 08/07 Last Fantastic Four Story - 42,375
Exactly what it says – Stan Lee does one last Fantastic Four story. It’s actually a good number for a project whose appeal is largely nostalgic.
67. OFFICIAL HANDBOOK OF THE MARVEL UNIVERSE
08/04 Hulk 2004 - 22,011
08/05 Ultimate 2005 - 25,436
=====
08/06 A to Z #8 of 12 - 19,926 ( -1.0%)
09/06 A to Z #9 of 12 - 18,966 ( -4.8%)
10/06 A to Z #10 of 12 - 18,767 ( -1.0%)
11/06 A to Z #11 of 12 - 18,285 ( -2.6%)
12/06 A to Z #12 of 12 - 21,183 ( +15.8%)
01/07 Update #1 of 4 - 17,182 ( -18.9%)
02/07 ---
03/07 ---
04/07 Spider-Man: BIB - 23,510 ( +36.8%)
05/07 Update #2 of 4 - 16,633 ( -29.3%)
05/07 Anita Blake - 20,936 ( +25.9%)
06/07 Mystic Arcana - 15,669 ( -25.2%)
06/07 Mighty Avengers - 22,312 ( +42.4%)
07/07 Update #3 of 4 - 15,600 ( -30.1%)
08/07 World War Hulk - 41,583 (+166.6%)
6 mnth ( --- )
1 year (+108.7%)
2 year ( +63.5%)
3 year ( +88.9%)
Another hit for WORLD WAR HULK as it boosts the HANDBOOK’s sales to remarkable levels. Three years ago, they did the Hulk and only managed 22K.
68. GHOST RIDER
08/06 Ghost Rider #2 - 61,793 (-37.5%)
09/06 Ghost Rider #3 - 54,029 (-12.6%)
10/06 Ghost Rider #4 - 50,925 ( -5.7%)
11/06 Ghost Rider #5 - 47,929 ( -5.9%)
12/06 Ghost Rider #6 - 46,673 ( -2.6%)
01/07 Ghost Rider #7 - 43,557 ( -6.7%)
02/07 Ghost Rider #8 - 48,736 (+11.9%)
03/07 Ghost Rider #9 - 48,041 ( -1.4%)
04/07 Ghost Rider #10 - 43,986 ( -8.4%)
05/07 Ghost Rider #11 - 43,626 ( -0.8%)
06/07 Ghost Rider #12 - 71,348 (+63.5%)
07/07 Ghost Rider #13 - 64,092 (-10.2%)
08/07 Ghost Rider #14 - 41,121 (-35.8%)
6 mnth (-15.6%)
1 year (-33.5%)
Dropping back to normal after a two-issue WORLD WAR HULK crossover. The book was at around 43K before, so this is fairly consistent with the previous trend.
70. THE ORDER 07/07 The Order #1 - 57,264 08/07 The Order #2 - 40,274 (-30.0%)
That’s awfully steep for a second issue drop. The book really needs to level out quickly from here.
72. NOVA 04/07 Nova #1 - 42,917 (+21.9%) 05/07 Nova #2 - 44,532 ( +3.8%) 06/07 Nova #3 - 45,004 ( +1.1%) 07/07 Nova #4 - 40,173 (-10.7%) 08/07 Nova #5 - 39,543 ( -1.6%)
NOVA has been in crossovers almost from day one, so it’s hard to figure out quite where its natural sales level would lie. This is part two of an ANNIHILATION: CONQUEST crossover (which had the misfortune to follow on an Initiative crossover, hence the drop), and it’s looking fairly steady.
73. SPIDER-MAN & RED SONJA 08/07 Spider-Man & Red Sonja #1 of 5 - 36,780
Another inter-publisher team up. These are modest sales, but then Spider-Man hasn’t been able to sell many spin-off comics outside his core titles in the last few years. Just look at SPIDER-MAN FAMILY.
75. PUNISHER [Max]
08/01 Punisher #3 - 70,017
08/02 Punisher #15 - 44,501
08/03 Punisher #30 - 37,370
08/04 Punisher #10 - 45,396
08/05 Punisher #24 - 37,022
=====
08/06 Punisher #36 - 34,227 ( +0.3%)
09/06 Punisher #37 - 34,250 ( +0.1%)
09/06 Punisher #38 - 33,839 ( -1.2%)
10/06 Punisher #39 - 33,962 ( +0.4%)
11/06 Punisher #40 - 33,579 ( -1.1%)
11/06 Punisher #41 - 33,164 ( -1.2%)
12/06 Punisher #42 - 33,003 ( -0.5%)
01/07 Punisher #43 - 33,023 ( +0.0%)
02/07 Punisher #44 - 32,951 ( -0.2%)
03/07 Punisher #45 - 33,245 ( +0.9%)
04/07 Punisher #46 - 33,427 ( +0.5%)
05/07 Punisher #47 - 33,892 ( +1.4%)
06/07 Punisher #48 - 33,804 ( -0.3%)
07/07 Punisher #49 - 34,317 ( +1.5%)
08/07 Punisher #50 - 36,457 ( +6.2%)
6 mnth (+10.6%)
1 year ( +6.5%)
2 year ( -1.5%)
3 year (-19.7%)
4 year ( -2.4%)
An anniversary boost for issue #50, proving the enduring popularity of round numbers.
76. IMMORTAL IRON FIST
11/06 Immortal Iron Fist #1 - 60,079
12/06 Immortal Iron Fist #2 - 40,617 (-32.4%)
01/07 ---
02/07 Immortal Iron Fist #3 - 35,654 (-12.2%)
03/07 ---
04/07 Immortal Iron Fist #4 - 37,159 ( +4.2%)
05/07 Immortal Iron Fist #5 - 36,856 ( -0.8%)
06/07 Immortal Iron Fist #6 - 36,731 ( -0.3%)
07/07 Immortal Iron Fist #7 - 35,842 ( -2.4%)
08/07 Immortal Iron Fist #8 - 35,449 ( -1.1%)
6 mnth ( -0.6%)
Very steady over the last few months.
78. MS MARVEL
08/06 Ms Marvel #6 - 68,330 (+75.8%)
09/06 Ms Marvel #7 - 64,973 ( -4.9%)
10/06 Ms Marvel #8 - 62,893 ( -3.2%)
11/06 Ms Marvel #9 - 37,881 (-39.8%)
12/06 Ms Marvel #10 - 34,350 ( -9.3%)
01/07 Ms Marvel #11 - 32,298 ( -6.0%)
02/07 Ms Marvel #12 - 30,763 ( -4.8%)
03/07 Ms Marvel #13 - 40,836 (+32.7%)
04/07 Ms Marvel #14 - 42,877 ( +5.0%)
05/07 Ms Marvel #15 - 42,849 ( -0.0%)
06/07 Ms Marvel #16 - 40,048 ( -6.5%)
07/07 Ms Marvel #17 - 38,003 ( -5.1%)
08/07 Ms Marvel #18 - 34,818 ( -8.4%)
6 mnth (+13.2%)
1 year (-49.0%)
Another book experiencing big drops over the last few months as the Initiative boost wears off.
82. ANNIHILATION: CONQUEST - WRAITH 07/07 Wraith #1 of 4 - 37,241 08/07 Wraith #2 of 4 - 33,155 (-11.0%) 84. ANNIHILATION: CONQUEST - QUASAR 07/07 Quasar #1 of 4 - 37,048 08/07 Quasar #2 of 4 - 32,801 (-11.5%) 86. ANNIHILATION: CONQUEST - STAR LORD 07/07 Star Lord #1 of 4 - 35,833 08/07 Star Lord #2 of 4 - 32,001 (-10.7%)
The three ANNIHILATION: CONQUEST books are selling on the strength of the Annihilation brand rather than their rather obscure lead characters. So as you’d expect, they’re dropping in unison.
93. EXILES
08/01 Exiles #3 - 48,259
08/02 Exiles #16 - 39,133
08/03 Exiles #32 - 40,548
08/04 Exiles #51 - 36,946
08/05 Exiles #68 - 33,815
=====
08/06 Exiles #85 - 33,978 ( +3.4%)
09/06 Exiles #86 - 33,080 ( -2.6%)
10/06 Exiles #87 - 31,946 ( -3.4%)
11/06 Exiles #88 - 30,928 ( -3.2%)
12/06 Exiles #89 - 36,880 (+19.2%)
01/07 Exiles #90 - 31,595 (-14.3%)
02/07 Exiles #91 - 31,712 ( +0.4%)
03/07 Exiles #92 - 30,296 ( -4.5%)
04/07 Exiles #93 - 30,697 ( +1.3%)
05/07 Exiles #94 - 30,735 ( +0.1%)
06/07 Exiles #95 - 30,612 ( -0.4%)
07/07 Exiles #96 - 30,245 ( -1.2%)
08/07 Exiles #97 - 29,092 ( -3.8%)
6 mnth ( -8.3%)
1 year (-14.4%)
2 year (-14.0%)
3 year (-21.3%)
4 year (-28.3%)
98. NEW EXCALIBUR
08/06 New Excalibur #10 - 36,108 ( -1.0%)
09/06 New Excalibur #11 - 34,104 ( -5.6%)
10/06 New Excalibur #12 - 33,082 ( -3.0%)
11/06 New Excalibur #13 - 32,173 ( -2.7%)
12/06 New Excalibur #14 - 31,318 ( -2.7%)
01/07 New Excalibur #15 - 30,827 ( -1.6%)
02/07 New Excalibur #16 - 30,356 ( -1.5%)
02/07 New Excalibur #17 - 30,073 ( -0.9%)
03/07 ---
04/07 New Excalibur #18 - 29,617 ( -1.5%)
04/07 New Excalibur #19 - 29,014 ( -2.0%)
05/07 New Excalibur #20 - 28,796 ( -0.8%)
06/07 ---
07/07 New Excalibur #21 - 28,930 ( +0.5%)
08/07 New Excalibur #22 - 27,683 ( -4.3%)
6 mnth ( -7.9%)
1 year (-23.3%)
99. CABLE & DEADPOOL
08/04 Cable & Deadpool #6 - 31,033
08/05 Cable & Deadpool #18 - 25,304
=====
08/06 Cable & Deadpool #31 - 59,804 ( +0.8%)
09/06 Cable & Deadpool #32 - 60,177 ( +0.6%)
10/06 Cable & Deadpool #33 - 30,741 ( -48.9%)
11/06 Cable & Deadpool #34 - 29,144 ( -5.2%)
12/06 Cable & Deadpool #35 - 27,785 ( -4.7%)
01/07 Cable & Deadpool #36 - 26,803 ( -3.5%)
02/07 Cable & Deadpool #37 - 26,588 ( -0.8%)
03/07 Cable & Deadpool #38 - 26,258 ( -1.2%)
04/07 Cable & Deadpool #39 - 26,110 ( -0.6%)
05/07 Cable & Deadpool #40 - 26,120 ( +0.0%)
06/07 Cable & Deadpool #41 - 27,431 ( +5.0%)
06/07 Cable & Deadpool #42 - 27,203 ( -0.8%)
07/07 Cable & Deadpool #43 - 26,341 ( -3.2%)
08/07 Cable & Deadpool #44 - 25,944 ( -1.5%)
6 mnth ( -2.4%)
1 year ( -56.6%)
2 year ( +2.5%)
3 year ( -16.4%)
Welcome to the minor-league X-book ghetto. All three of these books seem to have a relaunch imminent. CABLE & DEADPOOL is cancelled after the upcoming Messiah Complex crossover, making way for a new CABLE solo series. The December solicitations seem to indicate that EXILES is axed with issue #100, with something called NEW EXILES in the pipeline. And NEW EXCALIBUR hasn’t been solicited past issue #24 in October – even though Paul Cornell has already been announced as the next writer. (EVEN NEWER EXCALIBUR, perhaps?)
100. SHE-HULK
08/04 She-Hulk #6 - 24,751
08/05 ---
=====
08/06 She-Hulk #10 - 28,555 ( -4.5%)
08/06 She-Hulk #11 - 27,393 ( -4.1%)
09/06 She-Hulk #12 - 26,448 ( -3.4%)
10/06 ---
11/06 She-Hulk #13 - 26,267 ( -0.7%)
12/06 She-Hulk #14 - 24,552 ( -6.5%)
01/07 She-Hulk #15 - 27,600 (+12.4%)
02/07 She-Hulk #16 - 27,961 ( +1.3%)
03/07 ---
04/07 She-Hulk #17 - 27,669 ( -1.0%)
05/07 She-Hulk #18 - 41,800 (+51.4%)
06/07 She-Hulk #19 - 26,127 (-37.5%)
07/07 ---
08/07 She-Hulk #20 - 25,582 ( -2.1%)
6 mnth ( -8.5%)
1 year (-10.4%)
2 year ( --- )
3 year ( +3.4%)
Holding more or less steady as Dan Slott nears the end of his run. A new creative team is just around the corner.
102. SHANNA THE SHE-DEVIL 08/07 Survival of the Fittest #1 of 4 - 25,336
Not a great start, but it does provide further evidence for a point I’ve made before: blatant T&A books don’t sell very well. It’s an article of faith that this stuff shifts comics, but the charts provide scant support for it.
108. MYSTIC ARCANA 06/07 Magik - 26,976 07/07 Black Knight - 20,928 (-22.4%) 08/07 Scarlet Witch - 23,481 (+12.2%)
Apparently the mere mention of the Scarlet Witch is still enough to attract a few thousand extra sales, even though this is just a flashback story to her childhood and was never held out as anything else. Interesting.
111,176. MARVEL SPOTLIGHT
08/06 Brubaker/Tan - 3,580 ( -9.7%)
09/06 Lee/Kirby - 6,313 ( +76.3%)
10/06 Onslaught Reborn - 4,557 ( -27.8%)
11/06 Bendis/Bagley - 5,869 ( +28.8%)
12/06 ---
01/07 Ghost Rider - 7,902 ( +34.6%)
01/07 Dark Tower - 18,922 (+139.5%)
02/07 ---
03/07 Civil War Aftermath - 31,072 ( +64.2%)
04/07 Spider-Man - 13,210 ( -57.5%)
05/07 Fantastic Four - 8,261 ( -37.5%)
06/07 Captain America - 31,483 (+281.1%)
07/07 ---
08/07 World War Hulk - 22,534 ( -28.4%)
08/07 Halo - 9,782 ( -56.6%)
6 mnth ( --- )
1 year (+173.2%)
As usual, sales on MARVEL SPOTLIGHT are all over the place, depending on the subject matter. Hulk? Big. Halo? Not so big.
114. SPIDER-MAN: ONE MORE DAY SKETCHBOOK 08/07 One More Day Sketchbook - 21,403
Pretty good sales, considering that you’d have to be something of a completist to shell out three dollars for the privilege of reading what’s essentially an advert for the next storyline.
115. POWERS [Icon]
08/01 Powers #1/2 - 22,507
08/02 Powers #24 - 26,544
08/03 Powers #33 - 26,174
08/04 Powers #3 - 33,628
08/05 Powers #12 - 30,290
=====
08/06 ---
09/06 ---
10/06 Powers #20 - 22,943 ( -0.9%)
11/06 Powers #21 - 22,134 ( -3.5%)
12/06 ---
01/07 Powers #22 - 22,018 ( -0.5%)
02/07 Powers #23 - 21,939 ( -0.4%)
03/07 ---
04/07 Powers #24 - 20,960 ( -4.5%)
05/07 ---
06/07 ---
07/07 ---
08/07 Powers #25 - 21,349 ( +1.9%)
6 mnth ( -2.7%)
1 year ( --- )
2 year (-29.5%)
3 year (-36.5%)
4 year (-18.4%)
A modest boost for the new, larger format. In theory the book is meant to be shipping monthly from here on, but we’ll see about that.
120. SPIDER-MAN & FANTASTIC FOUR 04/07 Spider-Man/FF #1 of 4 - 32,909 05/07 Spider-Man/FF #2 of 4 - 27,025 (-17.9%) 06/07 Spider-Man/FF #3 of 4 - 22,210 (-17.8%) 07/07 --- 08/07 Spider-Man/FF #4 of 4 - 20,518 ( -7.6%)
Depressingly big drops, unfortunately.
121. X-MEN: FIRST CLASS
09/06 First Class #1 of 8 - 39,859
10/06 First Class #2 of 8 - 33,688 (-15.5%)
11/06 First Class #3 of 8 - 30,805 ( -8.6%)
12/06 First Class #4 of 8 - 28,455 ( -7.6%)
01/07 First Class #5 of 8 - 26,607 ( -6.5%)
02/07 First Class #6 of 8 - 25,125 ( -5.6%)
03/07 First Class #7 of 8 - 24,028 ( -4.4%)
04/07 First Class #8 of 8 - 23,420 ( -2.5%)
05/07 First Class Special - 23,556 ( +0.6%)
06/07 First Class #1 - 26,370 (+11.9%)
07/07 First Class #2 - 22,269 (-15.6%)
08/07 First Class #3 - 20,495 ( -8.0%)
6 mnth (-18.4%)
We’re already significantly below the sales of the miniseries, and for most new Marvel titles, these would be worrying numbers. But FIRST CLASS is in an odd position because it’s also selling to the all-ages audience, and by the standards of those books it’s doing insanely well.
129. AVENGERS CLASSIC 06/07 Avengers Classic #1 - 29,319 07/07 Avengers Classic #2 - 20,954 (-28.5%) 08/07 Avengers Classic #3 - 18,817 (-10.2%)
It’s levelling out, but the drop is still too big for comfort.
130. AMAZING SPIDER-GIRL
08/01 Spider-Girl #37 - 24,177
08/02 Spider-Girl #50 - 26,420
08/03 Spider-Girl #63 - 22,584
08/04 Spider-Girl #77 - 21,758
08/05 Spider-Girl #89 - 18,538
=====
10/06 Amazing Spider-Girl #1 - 47,304 (+108.5%)
11/06 Amazing Spider-Girl #2 - 28,135 ( -40.5%)
12/06 Amazing Spider-Girl #3 - 25,645 ( -8.9%)
01/07 Amazing Spider-Girl #4 - 23,113 ( -9.9%)
02/07 Amazing Spider-Girl #5 - 21,391 ( -7.5%)
03/07 Amazing Spider-Girl #6 - 20,478 ( -4.3%)
04/07 Amazing Spider-Girl #7 - 20,093 ( -1.9%)
05/07 Amazing Spider-Girl #8 - 19,574 ( -2.6%)
06/07 Amazing Spider-Girl #9 - 19,142 ( -2.2%)
07/07 Amazing Spider-Girl #10 - 19,094 ( -0.3%)
08/07 Amazing Spider-Girl #11 - 18,725 ( -1.9%)
6 mnth ( -12.5%)
1 year ( --- )
2 year ( +1.0%)
3 year ( -13.9%)
4 year ( -17.1%)
Still drifting down.
132. TERROR, INC. 08/07 Terror Inc. #1 of 5 - 18,025
About what we’ve come to expect from a Max miniseries, unfortunately. The monthly sales will be pretty grim by the end.
134. SUPER-VILLAIN TEAM-UP: MODOK's 11 07/07 MODOK's 11 #1 of 5 - 22,612 08/07 MODOK's 11 #2 of 5 - 17,355 (-23.2%)
A fairly standard drop for the second issue of a miniseries.
140,145. FANTASTIC FIVE 07/07 Fantastic Five #1 of 5 - 21,264 07/07 Fantastic Five #2 of 5 - 18,775 (-11.7%) 08/07 Fantastic Five #3 of 5 - 16,293 (-13.2%) 08/07 Fantastic Five #4 of 5 - 15,546 ( -4.6%)
Considering that parent title AMAZING SPIDER-GIRL only sells around 18K, I’d say these are actually quite good numbers.
142. IRREDEEMABLE ANT-MAN
10/06 Ant-Man #1 - 29,499
11/06 Ant-Man #2 - 23,191 ( -21.4%)
12/06 Ant-Man #3 - 19,580 ( -15.6%)
01/07 Ant-Man #4 - 17,864 ( -8.8%)
02/07 Ant-Man #5 - 16,900 ( -5.4%)
03/07 Ant-Man #6 - 16,220 ( -4.0%)
04/07 Ant-Man #7 - 15,737 ( -3.0%)
05/07 Ant-Man #8 - 15,592 ( -0.9%)
06/07 Ant-Man #9 - 15,506 ( -0.6%)
07/07 Ant-Man #10 - 33,529 (+116.2%)
08/07 Ant-Man #11 - 16,016 ( -52.2%)
6 mnth ( -5.2%)
Axed with issue #12.
151. DAREDEVIL: BATTLIN' JACK MURDOCK 06/07 Battlin' Jack #1 of 4 - 22,139 07/07 Battlin' Jack #2 of 4 - 17,359 (-21.6%) 08/07 Battlin' Jack #3 of 4 - 15,192 (-12.5%)
Plummetting downwards.
152. CRIMINAL [Icon]
10/06 Criminal #1 - 25,978
11/06 Criminal #2 - 21,115 (-18.7%)
12/06 Criminal #3 - 17,702 (-16.2%)
01/07 Criminal #4 - 16,827 ( -4.9%)
02/07 ---
03/07 Criminal #5 - 16,389 ( -2.6%)
04/07 ---
05/07 Criminal #6 - 15,720 ( -4.1%)
06/07 Criminal #7 - 15,214 ( -3.2%)
07/07 ---
08/07 Criminal #8 - 15,169 ( -0.3%)
6 mnth ( -7.4%)
Holding steady over the last couple of issues. The numbers are modest, but they’ll do just fine for the Icon imprint.
153. BLADE
09/06 Blade #1 - 37,394
10/06 Blade #2 - 27,170 ( -27.3%)
11/06 Blade #3 - 23,144 ( -14.8%)
12/06 Blade #4 - 21,043 ( -9.1%)
01/07 Blade #5 - 42,513 (+102.0%)
02/07 Blade #6 - 19,087 ( -55.1%)
03/07 Blade #7 - 18,426 ( -3.5%)
04/07 Blade #8 - 17,656 ( -4.2%)
05/07 Blade #9 - 16,946 ( -4.0%)
06/07 Blade #10 - 16,675 ( -1.6%)
07/07 Blade #11 - 15,374 ( -7.8%)
08/07 Blade #12 - 14,784 ( -3.8%)
6 mnth ( -22.5%)
Axed. Once again, Blade proves that you can have a film series and a TV show, and still not be able to support a comic.
155. SPIDER-MAN FAMILY
02/07 Spider-Man Family #1 - 30,516
03/07 ---
04/07 Spider-Man Family #2 - 20,679 (-32.2%)
05/07 ---
06/07 Spider-Man Family #3 - 16,853 (-18.5%)
07/07 ---
08/07 Spider-Man Family #4 - 14,253 (-15.4%)
6 mnth (-53.3%)
Disastrous numbers, but a sixth issue has been solicited for December. This is the lowest selling Marvel Universe title by a wide margin.
160. MARVEL TAROT 08/07 Marvel Tarot - 13,653
A spin-off book from MYSTIC ARCANA, believe it or not. It sells about as well as you’d expect.
163. CIVIL WAR CHRONICLES 07/07 Civil War Chronicles #1 - 18,449 08/07 Civil War Chronicles #2 - 12,953 (-29.8%)
I’m just amazed that there’s anyone left who hasn’t already bought this story and is choosing to read it in serial form instead of buying the trade paperback. Remarkable.
And from here on down, it’s all-ages books, Dabel Brothers, and adaptations of out-of-copyright novels. None of these books rely on direct market sales, so the numbers aren’t particularly relevant. There’s not much more to be said about them.
206. HEDGE KNIGHT 2: SWORN SWORD [DBPro]
06/07 Sworn Sword #1 of 6 - 12,011
07/07 Sworn Sword #2 of 6 - 8,763 (-27.0%)
08/07 Sworn Sword #3 of 6 - 7,658 (-12.6%)
213. MARVEL ADVENTURES HULK [All ages]
07/07 M.A. Hulk #1 - 11,394
08/07 M.A. Hulk #2 - 7,142 (-37.3%)
216. MARVEL ADVENTURES AVENGERS [All ages]
08/06 M.A. Avengers #4 - 8,610 ( -4.4%)
09/06 M.A. Avengers #5 - 7,994 ( -7.2%)
10/06 M.A. Avengers #6 - 7,879 ( -1.4%)
11/06 M.A. Avengers #7 - 7,642 ( -3.0%)
12/06 M.A. Avengers #8 - 7,512 ( -1.7%)
01/07 M.A. Avengers #9 - 7,315 ( -2.6%)
02/07 M.A. Avengers #10 - 7,053 ( -3.6%)
03/07 M.A. Avengers #11 - 7,068 ( +0.2%)
04/07 M.A. Avengers #12 - 7,092 ( +0.3%)
05/07 M.A. Avengers #13 - 7,251 ( +2.2%)
06/07 M.A. Avengers #14 - 7,293 ( +0.6%)
07/07 ---
08/07 M.A. Avengers #15 - 6,950 ( -4.7%)
6 mnth ( -1.5%)
1 year (-19/3%)
217,222. LAST OF THE MOHICANS [Marvel Illustrated]
05/07 Last o/Mohicans #1 of 6 - 11,498
06/07 Last o/Mohicans #2 of 6 - 7,786 (-32.3%)
07/07 ---
08/07 Last o/Mohicans #3 of 6 - 6,896 (-11.4%)
08/07 Last o/Mohicans #4 of 6 - 6,319 ( -8.4%)
219. MARVEL ADVENTURES SPIDER-MAN [All ages]
08/05 M.A. Spider-Man #6 - 7,636
=====
08/06 M.A. Spider-Man #18 - 6,220 ( +1.4%)
09/06 M.A. Spider-Man #19 - 6,057 ( -2.6%)
10/06 M.A. Spider-Man #20 - 6,131 ( +1.2%)
11/06 M.A. Spider-Man #21 - 6,529 ( +6.5%)
12/06 M.A. Spider-Man #22 - 6,396 ( -2.0%)
01/07 M.A. Spider-Man #23 - 6,271 ( -2.0%)
02/07 M.A. Spider-Man #24 - 6,678 ( +6.5%)
03/07 M.A. Spider-Man #25 - 6,408 ( -4.0%)
04/07 M.A. Spider-Man #26 - 6,478 ( +1.1%)
05/07 M.A. Spider-Man #27 - 6,818 ( +5.2%)
06/07 M.A. Spider-Man #28 - 7,006 ( +2.8%)
07/07 M.A. Spider-Man #29 - 7,071 ( +0.9%)
08/07 M.A. Spider-Man #30 - 6,573 ( -7.0%)
6 mnth ( -1.6%)
1 year ( +5.7%)
2 year (-13.9%)
228. MARVEL ADVENTURES IRON MAN [All ages]
05/07 M.A. Iron Man #1 - 11,922
06/07 M.A. Iron Man #2 - 7,050 (-40.9%)
07/07 M.A. Iron Man #3 - 6,543 ( -7.2%)
08/07 M.A. Iron Man #4 - 5,911 ( -9.7%)
234. POWER PACK
11/06 Spider-Man #1 of 4 - 7,897 (+35.0%)
12/06 Spider-Man #2 of 4 - 6,350 (-19.6%)
01/07 Spider-Man #3 of 4 - 5,880 ( -7.4%)
02/07 Spider-Man #4 of 4 - 5,605 ( -4.7%)
03/07 Hulk #1 of 4 - 6,697 (+19.5%)
04/07 Hulk #2 of 4 - 5,944 (-11.2%)
05/07 Hulk #3 of 4 - 5,593 ( -5.9%)
06/07 Hulk #4 of 4 - 5,443 ( -2.7%)
07/07 Fantastic Four #1 of 4 - 6,577 (+20.8%)
08/07 Fantastic Four #2 of 4 - 5,749 (-12.6%)
6 mnth ( +2.6%)
237. TREASURE ISLAND [Marvel Illustrated]
06/07 Treasure Island #1 of 6 - 8,224
07/07 Treasure Island #2 of 6 - 6,351 (-22.8%)
08/07 Treasure Island #3 of 6 - 5,534 (-12.9%)
238. MAN IN THE IRON MASK [Marvel Illustrated]
07/07 Iron Mask #1 of 6 - 7,188
08/07 Iron Mask #2 of 6 - 5,526 (-23.1%)
260. MARVEL ADVENTURES FANTASTIC FOUR [All ages]
08/05 M.A. Fantastic Four #3 - 6,447
=====
08/06 M.A. Fantastic Four #15 - 4,569 ( -2.1%)
09/06 M.A. Fantastic Four #16 - 4,687 ( +2.6%)
10/06 M.A. Fantastic Four #17 - 4,557 ( -2.8%)
11/06 M.A. Fantastic Four #18 - 4,614 ( +1.3%)
12/06 M.A. Fantastic Four #19 - 4,533 ( -1.8%)
01/07 M.A. Fantastic Four #20 - 4,459 ( -1.6%)
02/07 M.A. Fantastic Four #21 - 4,508 ( +1.1%)
03/07 M.A. Fantastic Four #22 - 4,588 ( +1.8%)
04/07 M.A. Fantastic Four #23 - 4,604 ( +0.3%)
05/07 M.A. Fantastic Four #24 - 4,807 ( +4.4%)
06/07 M.A. Fantastic Four #25 - 4,972 ( +3.4%)
07/07 M.A. Fantastic Four #26 - 5,370 ( +8.0%)
08/07 M.A. Fantastic Four #27 - 4,641 (-13.6%)
6 mnth ( +3.0%)
1 year ( +1.6%)
2 year (-28.0%)
281. RED PROPHET: TALES OF ALVIN MAKER [DBPro]
10/06 Alvin Maker #1-2 of 12 - 1,617
11/06 Alvin Maker #3 of 12 - < 3,170 (+<96.0%)
12/06 Alvin Maker #4 of 12 - 5,034 (+>58.8%)
01/07 Alvin Maker #5 of 12 - 4,480 ( -11.0%)
02/07 ---
03/07 Alvin Maker #6 of 12 - 4,009 ( -10.5%)
04/07 ---
05/07 Alvin Maker #7 of 12 - 3,678 ( -8.3%)
06/07 Alvin Maker #8 of 12 - 3,441 ( -6.4%)
07/07 Alvin Maker #9 of 12 - 3,184 ( -7.5%)
08/07 Alvin Maker #10 of 12 - 3,048 ( -4.3%)
6 mnth ( --- )
Skip months and re-orders
=========================
MIGHTY AVENGERS
03/07 Mighty Avengers #1 - 156,400
04/07 Mighty Avengers #2 - 124,209 (-20.6%)
05/07 Mighty Avengers #3 - 115,440 ( -7.1%)
06/07 ---
07/07 Mighty Avengers #4 - 107,768 ( -6.6%)
08/07 ---
Delayed to mid-October.
ULTIMATE POWER 10/06 Ultimate Power #1 of 9 - 113,823 11/06 Ultimate Power #2 of 9 - 76,654 (-32.7%) 12/06 Ultimate Power #3 of 9 - 70,148 ( -8.5%) 01/07 --- 02/07 --- 03/07 Ultimate Power #4 of 9 - 63,818 ( -9.0%) 04/07 --- 05/07 Ultimate Power #5 of 9 - 62,784 ( -1.6%) 06/07 --- 07/07 Ultimate Power #6 of 9 - 61,361 ( -2.3%) 08/07 ---
Delayed to September.
MOON KNIGHT 08/06 Moon Knight #4 - 67,802 ( -6.1%) 09/06 Moon Knight #5 - 64,736 ( -4.5%) 10/06 -- 11/06 Moon Knight #6 - 74,017 (+14.3%) 12/06 -- 01/07 Moon Knight #7 - 76,921 ( +3.9%) 02/07 -- 03/07 Moon Knight #8 - 77,390 ( +0.6%) 04/07 Moon Knight #9 - 69,196 (-10.6%) 05/07 Moon Knight #10 - 56,734 (-18.0%) 06/07 Moon Knight #11 - 58,313 ( +2.8%) 07/07 --- 08/07 ---
Delayed to September.
ONSLAUGHT REBORN 11/06 Onslaught Reborn #1 of 5 - 82,642 12/06 Onslaught Reborn #2 of 5 - 55,111 (-33.3%) 01/07 --- 02/07 --- 03/07 Onslaught Reborn #3 of 5 - 52,420 ( -4.9%) 04/07 --- 05/07 --- 06/07 --- 07/07 Onslaught Reborn #4 of 5 - 45,946 (-12.4%) 08/07 --- 09/07 ---
Currently due in October.
RUNAWAYS 08/03 Runaways #5 - 19,332 08/04 Runaways #17 - 18,563 08/05 Runaways #7 - 27,063 ===== 08/06 Runaways #19 - 25,042 ( +1.5%) 09/06 Runaways #20 - 23,561 ( -5.9%) 10/06 Runaways #21 - 25,553 ( +8.5%) 11/06 Runaways #22 - 25,908 ( +1.4%) 12/06 --- 01/07 Runaways #23 - 25,346 ( -2.2%) 02/07 Runaways #24 - 25,216 ( -0.5%) 03/07 --- 04/07 Runaways #25 - 56,250 (+123.1%) 05/07 Runaways #26 - 46,134 ( -18.0%) 06/07 --- 07/07 Runaways #27 - 41,254 ( -10.6%) 08/07 ---
Rescheduled for mid-October. How come Dark Horse can get Joss Whedon’s books out on time, and Marvel can’t?
HEROES FOR HIRE 08/06 Heroes for Hire #1 - 84,006 09/06 Heroes for Hire #2 - 66,949 ( -20.3%) 10/06 Heroes for Hire #3 - 60,770 ( -9.2%) 11/06 Heroes for Hire #4 - 38,070 ( -37.4%) 12/06 Heroes for Hire #5 - 31,318 ( -17.7%) 01/07 Heroes for Hire #6 - 27,513 ( -12.1%) 02/07 Heroes for Hire #7 - 24,476 ( -11.0%) 03/07 Heroes for Hire #8 - 22,563 ( -7.8%) 04/07 Heroes for Hire #9 - 21,444 ( -5.0%) 05/07 Heroes for Hire #10 - 20,503 ( -4.4%) 06/07 Heroes for Hire #11 - 47,808 (+133.2%) 07/07 Heroes for Hire #12 - 41,229 ( -13.8%) 08/07 ---
Delayed to September. Marvel haven’t solicited the book past issue #15 in October, so it appears to have been silently cancelled. The current arc is a WORLD WAR HULK tie-in, but the book’s normal level is down at 20K.
ANITA BLAKE, VAMPIRE HUNTER [DBPro] 10/06 Guilty Pls. #1 of 12 - 53,277 11/06 Guilty Pls. #2 of 12 - 39,450 (-26.0%) 12/06 Guilty Pls. #3 of 12 - 36,091 ( -8.5%) 01/07 Guilty Pls. #4 of 12 - 32,363 (-10.3%) 02/07 --- 03/07 Guilty Pls. #5 of 12 - 31,136 ( -3.8%) 04/07 Guilty Pls. #6 of 12 - 30,759 ( -1.2%) 05/07 --- 06/07 --- 07/07 First Death #1 of 2 - 38,631 (+25.6%) 08/07 ---
Delayed to October. FIRST DEATH #1 picks up re-orders of 4,649 on the strength of the San Diego sketch variant edition.
ULTIMATE VISION 11/06 Ultimate Vision #0 of 5 - 40,004 12/06 Ultimate Vision #1 of 5 - 53,069 (+32.7%) 01/07 Ultimate Vision #2 of 5 - 40,288 (-24.1%) 02/07 --- 03/07 Ultimate Vision #3 of 5 - 33,455 (-17.0%) 04/07 --- 05/07 --- 06/07 Ultimate Vision #4 of 5 - 29,844 (-10.8%) 07/07 --- 08/07 ---
Rescheduled to mid-October. A bit of a disaster.
LONERS 04/07 Loners #1 of 6 - 24,377 05/07 Loners #2 of 6 - 18,901 (-22.5%) 06/07 Loners #3 of 6 - 17,351 ( -8.2%) 07/07 Loners #4 of 6 - 15,650 ( -9.8%) 08/07 ---
Delayed to September.
WHITE TIGER 11/06 White Tiger #1 of 6 - 24,663 12/06 White Tiger #2 of 6 - 19,042 (-22.3%) 01/07 White Tiger #3 of 6 - 15,986 (-16.0%) 02/07 White Tiger #4 of 6 - 14,554 ( -9.0%) 03/07 --- 04/07 White Tiger #5 of 6 - 13,621 ( -6.4%) 05/07 --- 06/07 --- 07/07 --- 08/07 ---
Finally shipped in September, after being rescheduled on at least six occasions. Again, there’s obviously a story here.
SPIDER-MAN FAIRY TALES 05/07 Fairy Tales #1 of 4 - 17,362 06/07 Fairy Tales #2 of 4 - 13,845 (-20.3%) 07/07 Fairy Tales #3 of 4 - 12,173 (-12.1%) 08/07 ---
Delayed to September.
KABUKI [Icon] 08/06 Kabuki #7 - 10,798 ( -4.9%) 09/06 --- 10/06 --- 11/06 --- 12/06 --- 01/07 Kabuki #8 - 9,961 ( -7.8%) 02/07 --- 03/07 --- 04/07 --- 05/07 --- 06/07 --- 07/07 --- 08/07 ---
Issue #9 is currently rescheduled for mid-October, but it’s been moved so many times before that this doesn’t mean a great deal. KABUKI has shipped only one issue in a year.
MAGICIAN: APPRENTICE [DBPro] 10/06 Apprentice #1-2 of 12 - 1,892 11/06 Apprentice #3 of 12 - 4,595 (+142.9%) 12/06 Apprentice #4 of 12 - 7,266 ( +58.1%) 01/07 Apprentice #5 of 12 - 7,206 ( -0.8%) 02/07 --- 03/07 Apprentice #6 of 12 - 6,818 ( -5.4%) 04/07 --- 05/07 Apprentice #7 of 12 - 6,193 ( -9.2%) 06/07 Apprentice #8 of 12 - 5,941 ( -4.1%) 07/07 Apprentice #9 of 12 - 5,454 ( -8.2%) 08/07 ---
Delayed to October.
JACK KIRBY'S GALACTIC BOUNTY HUNTERS [Icon] 08/06 Bounty Hunters #2 - 9,301 (-31.2%) 09/06 --- 10/06 Bounty Hunters #3 - 7,716 (-17.0%) 11/06 --- 12/06 --- 01/07 Bounty Hunters #4 - 6,010 (-22.1%) 02/07 --- 03/07 Bounty Hunters #5 - 5,047 (-16.0%) 04/07 --- 05/07 --- 06/07 --- 07/07 --- 08/07 ---
Delayed to September. Although initially solicited as an ongoing series, issue #6 would seem to the final issue.
ORSON SCOTT CARD'S WYRMS [DBPro] 02/07 Wyrms #1 of 6 - 6,246 03/07 Wyrms #2 of 6 - 5,401 (-13.5%) 04/07 Wyrms #3 of 6 - 4,902 ( -9.2%) 05/07 Wyrms #4 of 6 - 4,567 ( -6.8%) 06/07 Wyrms #5 of 6 - 4,209 ( -7.8%) 07/07 --- 08/07 ---
Delayed to November.
6 month comparisons =================== +123.4% - Incredible Hulk + 42.6% - New X-Men + 37.6% - X-Factor + 14.3% - X-Men + 13.2% - Ms Marvel + 10.6% - Punisher + 7.7% - Uncanny X-Men + 3.0% - Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four + 2.9% - Ultimate Spider-Man + 2.6% - Power Pack + 1.3% - Daredevil - 0.6% - Immortal Iron Fist - 1.5% - Marvel Adventures Avengers - 1.6% - Marvel Adventures Spider-Man - 2.0% - Astonishing X-Men - 2.4% - Cable & Deadpool - 2.7% - Powers - 3.1% - Punisher War Journal - 5.1% - New Avengers: Illuminati - 5.2% - Irredeemable Ant-Man - 6.4% - Ultimate Fantastic Four - 7.4% - Criminal - 7.9% - New Excalibur - 8.3% - Exiles - 8.5% - She-Hulk - 10.4% - Ultimate X-Men - 10.8% - New Avengers - 11.6% - Wolverine: Origins - 12.5% - Amazing Spider-Girl - 14.2% - Black Panther - 15.6% - Ghost Rider - 16.4% - Thunderbolts - 18.4% - X-Men: First Class - 21.6% - Fantastic Four - 22.5% - Front Line - 22.5% - Blade - 25.0% - Sensational Spider-Man - 26.4% - Wolverine - 26.7% - Amazing Spider-Man - 28.3% - Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man - 31.6% - Iron Man - 42.5% - Dark Tower - 53.3% - Spider-Man Family 1 year comparisons ================== +173.2% - Marvel Spotlight +113.4% - Incredible Hulk +108.7% - Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe + 70.9% - Black Panther + 70.8% - Captain America + 32.9% - Iron Man + 31.4% - New X-Men + 18.0% - X-Factor + 6.5% - Punisher + 5.7% - Marvel Adventures Spider-Man + 3.7% - X-Men + 1.6% - Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four - 1.0% - Ultimate Spider-Man - 1.3% - Uncanny X-Men - 3.8% - Astonishing X-Men - 5.9% - Sensational Spider-Man - 6.3% - Daredevil - 10.4% - She-Hulk - 12.4% - Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man - 13.4% - Amazing Spider-Man - 14.4% - Exiles - 14.6% - Thunderbolts - 17.8% - Ultimate X-Men - 19.3% - Marvel Adventures Avengers - 23.3% - New Excalibur - 24.2% - New Avengers - 31.1% - Fantastic Four - 33.5% - Ghost Rider - 33.7% - Wolverine - 38.0% - Front Line - 39.6% - Ultimate Fantastic Four - 42.1% - Wolverine: Origins - 49.0% - Ms Marvel - 56.6% - Cable & Deadpool 2 year comparisons ================== + 96.2% - Incredible Hulk + 63.5% - Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe + 61.6% - Captain America + 47.8% - Amazing Spider-Man + 41.8% - Thunderbolts + 20.6% - New X-Men + 19.3% - Fantastic Four + 13.3% - X-Men + 13.0% - Black Panther + 7.5% - Sensational Spider-Man + 2.5% - Cable & Deadpool + 2.4% - Iron Man + 2.1% - Daredevil + 1.3% - Ultimate Spider-Man + 1.0% - Spider-Girl + 0.5% - Uncanny X-Men - 1.5% - Punisher - 3.0% - Wolverine - 6.8% - Astonishing X-Men - 13.9% - Marvel Adventures Spider-Man - 14.0% - Exiles - 19.1% - New Avengers - 24.4% - Ultimate X-Men - 28.0% - Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four - 29.5% - Powers - 32.0% - Ultimate Fantastic Four 3 year comparisons ================== +197.4% - Thor +145.5% - Incredible Hulk +117.8% - Captain America + 88.9% - Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe + 56.7% - Thunderbolts + 47.9% - Iron Man + 22.9% - Fantastic Four + 20.8% - Amazing Spider-Man + 12.3% - Wolverine + 3.4% - She-Hulk + 2.0% - New X-Men - 5.7% - X-Men - 8.1% - Uncanny X-Men - 9.0% - Daredevil - 13.9% - Spider-Girl - 16.4% - Cable & Deadpool - 19.2% - Ultimate Spider-Man - 19.4% - Astonishing X-Men - 19.7% - Punisher - 21.3% - Exiles - 30.9% - Sensational Spider-Man - 36.5% - Powers - 44.1% - Ultimate X-Men - 46.2% - Ultimate Fantastic Four 4 year comparisons ================== +236.5% - Thor +103.8% - New Avengers + 94.3% - Captain America + 75.8% - Incredible Hulk + 60.8% - Iron Man + 14.8% - Fantastic Four + 13.9% - Amazing Spider-Man + 7.2% - Wolverine - 2.4% - Punisher - 6.2% - Uncanny X-Men - 13.3% - X-Men - 17.1% - Spider-Girl - 18.4% - Powers - 23.9% - Ultimate Spider-Man - 27.5% - Daredevil - 28.3% - Exiles - 47.8% - Ultimate X-Men
On the World War Hulk you said:
“But way, way down at number 252, there’s the David Finch sketch variant, produced for the Toronto Comicon, which adds another 5,003 sales.”
Did you mean the HobbyStar convention in late August? If so, that’s called Toronto FanExpo. I’m assuming that’s the convention because they had a major World War Hulk signing with Pak, JRJr, Finch and Paniccia.
Toronto Comicon is run by a different company, Paradise Comics.
HobbyStar also runs a smaller event under the name Toronto Comicon, but that took place last spring and don’t believe the Finch variant was there.
Quite possibly. The full chart listing says “World War Hulk Finch Sketch Toronto Con Var #3 (of 5).”
I may have blinked, but where are the company wide comparisons of ongoing series to previous periods? How is Marvel’s total circulation compared to previous months?
Wolverine Origins also included a reprint of an entire issue of Uncanny X-Men that was heavily referenced throughout the new story. I don’t know if that was promoted at all, but it may well have had an effect on sales.
If not the reprint certainly the corresponding cover price. I had never read the story, so it was worth it to me, but there was a bit of sticker shock.
I’d be interested to see a post-mortem on canceled books once they are done. Covering the whole run and looking for trends and shifts throughout its life. FNSM would be a good example. I’m not sure if there is any information that could be gleaned from this, but I think it could be interesting.
“I may have blinked, but where are the company wide comparisons of ongoing series to previous periods?”
I’ve never done those. You’re thinking of Marc.
These charts are always enjoyable to read, thanks.
“Who’d have thought you could add 15K in sales just by running a back-up strip?”
That is pretty shocking when you think about it. But so far the Endangered Species story seems to have done the trick. What are the odds we come back here in a 12-18 months or so and see Cable, New Exiles & Excalibur doing the same numbers. Nearly all relaunches are usually just used for short term sales boosts.
If Ant Man got cancelled for its low performance, then I expect Spider-girl to be next, new “save Spider-girl” campain or not.
Sad that it might go, but it wasn’t really shaking things up the way it could.
Looks like I was right about T-bolts having a huge sales drop once the variant covers stopped and INITIATIVE banner was removed from the cover. That being said, the drop was no where near as big as I thought it would be. I think the reason why the book is still selling a lot more then the pre-INITIATIVE issues by the previous creative team, is because dealers MIGHT be ordering extra copies just in case many of the people who bought the book because of the INITIATIVE tie in, will still want to buy the book because they like the series new direction.
Smith: Don’t forget that SPIDER-GIRL reportedly does unusually well in digest format. It doesn’t need to sell as well in monthly form.
Wraith: I think there’s no denying that this was more of a factor than I’d previously given it credit for.
“Which suggests that a fair number of stores really did cut their orders once Marvel stopped putting the Initiative banner on the cover. That’s quite bizarre behaviour, because they must have figured out long ago that the Initiative wasn’t a crossover, but it’s hard to see another obvious explanation.”
It makes sense, actually. My LCS has a number of subscribers who requested “All Initiative titles” or “All From The Pages of Civil War” titles. So they ordered anything noted as AI in the order forms and FOCs, and shoved them in to those people’s boxes no matter how tenuously the story actually tied in. Once the “official” crossover has ended, these books are no longer pulled — subscribers who still want them need to either add the titles individually or buy them off the racks, so the store’s orders are cut correspondingly.
I feel like I’m not articulating this well at all, but (assuming other stores behave similarly) the numbers make sense, even if the policy doesn’t.
> 155. SPIDER-MAN FAMILY
> Disastrous numbers, but a sixth issue has been solicited for December. This is the lowest selling Marvel Universe title by a wide margin.
Well, it’s 108 on the dollar chart, so between She-Hulk and Mystic Arcana: Scarlet Witch in terms of money brought in…
> WHITE TIGER
> Finally shipped in September, after being rescheduled on at least six occasions. Again, there’s obviously a story here.
Writer firmly blamed the artists: http://forum.newsarama.com/showpost.php?p=4374977&postcount=18
I find it sad that though Black Panther and Cable & Deadpool have similar numbers when they aren’t in a crossover, Marvel gives BP crossover after crossover to keep the numbers out of the gutter, and don’t do it for C&D. And then when they did recently cross it with X-men, they didn’t even promote it in the slightest.
To be fair, CABLE & DEADPOOL has been part of quite a few crossovers – it tied in with HOUSE OF M, CIVIL WAR, it’s had guest appearances by the publisher’s major characters and did a prelude storyline to the “Blood of Apocalypse” arc in X-MEN.
You’re right that it’s puzzling why they didn’t bother to advertise the most recent crossover, though. In any case, it doesn’t seem like the X-books’ new group editor is very taken with the book – Alonso’s comments when he took over suggested that he wasn’t even aware Cable already HAD a series. It’s apparently going to be replaced with a new CABLE solo title soon.
While I don’t think you can accuse Marvel of not supporting CABLE & DEADPOOL, however, BLACK PANTHER certainly seems to be a pet project of the current regime.
Very interesting calculations you did on Amazing Spider-Man. Sounds like the new plan is pretty much guaranteed to be a success. I wonder if DC will follow suit with their Superman and Batman books (I know DC did something similar with Superman long ago, but if ASM is successful, they might still be inspired to try again).
The sad truth of the matter, is that the current Marvel regime is only interested in heavily promoting and/or using gimmicks/stunts that last for 6 or more months on books that are written by creators who are either popular, critically acclaimed,and/or are celebrities. This is why Hudlin’s BP run had heavy promotion at the beginning,why Marvel allowed Hudlin to take Storm from the X-books and marry her and BP,and why the book has been saddled with crossovers and variant covers since the CW tie in issues. CABLE & DEADPOOL is NOT written by a writer who is either popular,critically acclaimed ,or a celebrity. This why C&D isn’t getting as much promotion or gimmicks to make the book sale.
You rock, Paul. Keep up the good work. :)
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