by Xavier Lancel

Welcome to a new analysis of the Marvel sales. Reminder: I’m French, and that’s why I’m talking funny. Please address your complaints to my let’s-reap-my-boss’-shirt country.

Reminder: those sales are estimates, sales to comics shops situated in North America. American comics do get sold somewhere else in their original floppy edition. Keep also in mind that it’s not because a copy is sold to a shop that it’s sold to a customer. This would be way too easy. Digital sales are not taken into account.

This past September has been the quietest month for Marvel in many years. With the exception of three miniseries, one of which was 7 years late, almost no new floppy series began. Most of the Secret Wars series fell an average 12% in their 4th month with absolutely no noticeable reorder activity. A good chunk of titles were released WITHOUT a variant cover (I almost can’t believe I’m writing this). The main Secret Wars series has been (and continues to be) late…this has even been an uneventful month for trades, with no big releases or successes.

Star-Wars-The-Force-Awakens-Shattered-Empire-1-1-600x911
and the award for unwieldy title of the month goes to…

So let yourself wander among all these numbers with calm and peace on your mind. Marvel has made bold choices with some astonishing announcements about their new series. Once the crazyness over variants and #1 fades, it will be really interesting to see what will survive and what will bite the dust. Seeing the amount of series ready to be launched, you can be sure of one thing: there will be casualties! Nothing will ever be the same! Or, on the contrary, everything will be, if buyers put their money on big useless relaunches instead of helping bold new series to survive as they usually do. The war between speculators and readers is on!


 

 HOWARD THE DUCK TP VOL.0: 2,660
112p, $17, cents per page: 15.1

The first collection of the new Howard The Duck series begins with a facetious numbering… and good sales!

 A-FORCE PRESENTS TP VOL.1: 1,975
144p, $15, cents per page: 10.4

Marvel is launching a new way to read its female-led titles. Inside this very cheap paperback, you’ll find no less than 1 issue each of Black Widow, Captain Marvel, She-Hulk, Squirrel Girl, Ms Marvel and Thor. Each month, a new TPB will be released with the next issue of these series. That means you can read a large portion of the Marvel Universe each month for almost half the floppy cover price!

Every time Marvel has tried something like this in the past, it has failed (remember the short lived Megazines and, after that, the Marvel Heroes two issues floppies?). However, it’s a nice move for short budgeted people who would like to read lots of series every month instead of one series in a TPB. These debut sales are a little shy, especially since they will, like a floppy ongoing, go down every month from now on. The last publisher who tried this, Crossgen, lost a big amount of money with each issue. However, at $15, Marvel won’t end up in a situation like theirs. We can start worrying if sales go below 800 copies. Marvel probably wants to push this new reading format as much as they can, seeing as they will probably reach new readers with it.

 MONSTER OF FRANKENSTEIN: 1,047
536p, $40, cents per page: 7.5

This gigantic volume is a nice alternative to the Essential Monster of Frankenstein, especially since they kept the nice original coloring instead of making it look like a Photoshopped Christmas tree. Sales are probably just at the limit to justify printing it. Note, once again, the very attractive price, especially since these back issues are hard to find and sometimes expensive. Putting it all into one big volume is the thing to do, as mediocre sales will not jeopardize the release of a second volume…seeing as there will be none! That’s good stuff, and the series is way more enjoyable to read than an Essential!


1- JOURNEY TO STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS: SHATTERED EMPIRE LTD

09/15 J SW Force Awakens... Ltd #1 of 2 -  208,884                 

Quite an unusual format for a story which could have been released as a bigger one shot. Still, amazing results, keeping this comics property hot while waiting for the new movie, when all hell will probably break loose again.

2- STAR WARS

01/15 Star Wars  #1 -  1,055,494         
02/15 Star Wars  #2 -	   212,089  (-79.9%)
03/15 Star Wars  #3 -	   175,579  (-17.2%)
04/15 Star Wars  #4 -	   203,817  (+16.1%)
05/15 Star Wars  #5 -	   146,850  (-27.9%)
06/15 Star Wars  #6 -	   152,652  (+ 4.0%)
07/15 Star Wars  #7 -	   160,000  (+ 1.0%)
08/15 Star Wars #8  -	   145,066  (-  9.3%)
09/15 Star Wars #9  -	   135,817  (-  6.4%)

Since issue #2: -36.0%

Still dominating the charts. The reorder activity is over, so the title is now searching for its sales level.

4- 10- DEADPOOL VS THANOS LTD

09/15 Deadpool VS Thanos Ltd #1 of 4-   108,610
09/15 Deadpool VS Thanos Ltd #2 of 4-      67,901  (-37.5%)

A new Deadpool mini-series, as there is always one. Really, these mini-series are like having a second ongoing Deadpool title with guest artists/writer for every arc. However, these minis sell way better than an actual second ongoing because every 4 issues, there is a #1 issue. This one is already as successful as the last one, so there is no reason for Marvel to change gears. This is as much an occasion as any other to note that the 6 part mini-series has almost disappeared at Marvel over the last few years. 5 is the new 6!

5- DARTH VADER

02/15 Darth Vader #1 -  296,929                
02/15 Darth Vader #2 -  125,466  (-57.7%)
03/15 Darth Vader #3 -  126,278  (+ 0.6%)    
04/15 Darth Vader #4 -  136,451  (+ 8.1%)    
05/15 Darth Vader #5 -  113,025  (-17.2%)
06/15 Darth Vader #6 -  107,739  (- 4.7%)
07/15 Darth Vader #7 -  114,349  (+ 6.1%)
08/15 Darth Vader #8 -    98,994  (-13.4%)
09/15 Darth Vader #9 -  100,235  (+ 1.3%)

Since issue #2: -20.1%

This one seems to have already found its level, and its quite high. The only downside is that this title is late because of Marvel failed double-shipping policy -it should have been issue #11.

 

5- 6- SPIDER-MAN RENEW YOUR WOWS LTD 

06/15 Spider-Man Renew your wows Ltd #1  -  203,565
07/15 Spider-Man Renew your wows Ltd #2  -    93,981  (-54.0%)
08/15 Spider-Man Renew your wows Ltd #3  -    90,787  (-  3.4%)
08/15 Spider-Man Renew your wows Ltd #4  -    83,549  (-  8.0%)
09/15 Spider-Man Renew your wows Ltd #5 -     94,653  (+13.3%)

This exceptional jump on its final issue is probably due to curiosity from readers who were eager to know if any character or element from this alternate version of Spider-Man life would make it to the new official status quo next month as Spider-Man is relaunched/renumbered. Sure, there will be a lot of issue #1s launching, but with numbers like that, less than 250K for the relaunch of Amazing Spider-Man would be considered a disappointment.

 

11- STAR WARS LANDO LTD 

07/15 Lando Ltd #1 of 5  -   192,949
08/15 Lando Ltd #2 of 5  -	71,043  (-63.2%)
08/15 Lando Ltd #3 of 5 -	68,787  (-  3.2%)
09/15 Lando Ltd #4 of 5 -      61,542  (-10.7%)

From here, Alex Maleev will move to a new 2nd ongoing Iron Man series, International Iron Man.

 

12- 30-CAPTAIN AMERICA WHITE LTD

09/15 Captain America White Ltd#1 of 5 – 59,510
09/15 Captain America White Ltd#2 of 5 -  40,422  (-32.1%)

The first issue is $5 because it also reprints Captain America White #0, seven years after its first publication. Tim Sale cinematic style holds up and Jeph Loeb’s storytelling has been consistent over the years. This 40k result is quite nice, seeing this kind of old-school project may not have the same appeal for younger generations. [I disagree! I’m very young and love The Long Halloween/Dark Victory/Hulk: Grey etc. – ed.]

 

13- CIVIL WAR LTD 

07/15 Civil War Ltd #1  -     170,546
08/15 Civil War Ltd #2  -	77,219  (-54.7%)
08/15 Civil War Ltd #3  -	68,035  (-11.9%)
09/15 Civil War Ltd #4  -       59,101  (-13.1%)

No variant. This fall is ugly, but its sales level is quite satisfying.

 

14- THORS LTD 

06/15 Thors Ltd #1  -  114,854
07/15 Thors Ltd #2  -   59,286  (-48.4%)
08/15 ---
09/15 Thors Ltd #3 -     57,917  (- 2.3%)

That’s quite a nice stop. The Thor franchise is still working well.

 

19- A-FORCE

05/15 A-Force #1  -	114,528
---
07/15 A-Force #2  -	 60,330  (-47.3%)
08/15 A-Force #3  -     49,074  (-18.7%)
09/15 A-Force #4 -      46,636  (- 5.0%)

Since issue #2:  -22.7%

One issue left before its relaunch. Will it crack the 100K again with its issue#1?

 

20-KANAN THE LAST PADAWAN

04/15 Kanan TLP #1 -  113.158         
05/15 Kanan TLP #2 -   64,960  (-42.6%)
06/15 Kanan TLP #3 -   56,370  (-13.2%)
07/15 Kanan TLP #4 -   52,260  (-  7.3%)
08/15 Kanan TLP #5 -   46,351  (-11.3%)
09/15 Kanan TLP #6 -   45,402  (- 2.0%)

Since issue #2:  -30.1%

No variant this month, so it seems like it has found its level.

 

21- INFINITY GAUNTLET LTD

05/15 Infinity Gauntlet Ltd  #1 -  95,131
06/15 Infinity Gauntlet Ltd  #2 -  59,667 (-37.3%)
07/15 ---
08/15 Infinity Gauntlet Ltd  #3 – 54,279  (-  9.0%)
09/15 Infinity Gauntlet Ltd  #4 – 45,160  (-16.8%)

That’s a harsh fall considering how late in its run it is.

 

22- 32- AGE OF APOCALYPSE LTD  

07/15 Age of Apocalypse Ltd #1  -  88,346
08/15 Age of Apocalypse Ltd #2  -  52,058  (-41.1%)
09/15 Age of Apocalypse Ltd #3  -  44,390  (-14.7%)
09/15 Age of Apocalypse Ltd #4  -  40,016  (-  9.9%)

No variant and a significant fall again.

 

25- 42-SPIDER-ISLAND LTD  

07/15 Spider-Island Ltd #1 of 5 -  64,481
08/15 Spider-Island Ltd #2 of 5 -  47,960  (-25.6%)
09/15 Spider-Island Ltd #3 of 5 -  41,989  (-12.4%)
09/15 Spider-Island Ltd #4 of 5 -  36,404  (-13.3%)

A significant fall, but this one, contrary to almost all the other mini-series, hasn’t yet lost half of its first issue buyers.

 

05/15 Spider-Verse #1 – 76,536
06/15 Spider-Verse #2 – 59,466  (-22.3%)
07/15 Spider-Verse #3 – 50,820  (-14.5%)
08/15 Spider-Verse #4 -  45,246  (-11.0%)
09/15 Spider-Verse #5 -  41,960  (-  7.3%)

Since issue #2: -29.4%

Slowing down. Same thing here, proof that the Spider-man universe has currently a strong readership.

 

27- X-MEN 92 ($5)

06/15 X-Men 92 #1  - 104,943          
07/15 X-Men 92 #2  -  51,042  (-51.4%)
08/15 X-Men 92 #3  -  49,756  (-  2.5%)
09/15 X-Men 92 #4 -   41,826  (-15.9%)

Since issue #2: -18.1%

This one is a little more worrying, especially since it will be relaunched and took advantage of a variant cover this month.

 

28- 49- HOUSE OF M  LTD  

08/15  House of M  Ltd #1  -  61,512
09/15  House of M  Ltd #2  -  40,635  (-33.9%)
09/15  House of M  Ltd #3  -  34,209  (-15.8%)

Following the same pattern as other minis, but with weaker debut sales, due to its late arrival in the game.

 

24- 29- GUARDIANS OF NOWHERE LTD 

04/13  Guardians v3 #2  -  88,184
...
04/15  Guardians v3 #26 -  54,124  (-12.4%)
05/15  Guardians v3 #27 -  49,308  (- 8.9%)

07/15 Guardians of Nowhere Ltd #1  -  81,902
08/15 Guardians of Nowhere Ltd #2  -  50,913  (-37.8%)
08/15 Guardians of Nowhere Ltd #3  -  47,414  (-  6.9%)
09/15 Guardians of Nowhere Ltd #4  -  39,523  (-22.4%)

Average +% TPB SALES #18-23: +3.6% 
GUARDIANS OTG VOL.4 HC: 2,241

This is one of the rare cases where a mini would have sold better if squeezed into the ongoing it is a variation from.

 

36- PLANET HULK

05/15 Planet Hulk #1 – 72,868
06/15 Planet Hulk #2 – 47,944  (-34.2%)
07/15 Planet Hulk #3 – 48,236  (+ 0.6%)
08/15 Planet Hulk #4 -  44,608  (- 7.5%)
09/15 Planet Hulk #5 -  39,277  (-12.0%)

Follows the more or less -10% pattern of the Secret Wars minis in their 4th issue.

 

40- SILK 

02/15 Silk #1 -  86,263 
03/15 Silk #2 -  69,369 (-19.6%)
04/15 Silk #3 -  58.755 (-15.3%)
05/15 Silk #4 -  44,316 (-24.6%)
06/15 Silk #5 -  38,798 (-12.5%)
07/15 ---
08/15 Silk #6 -  34,368 (-10.7%)
09/15 Silk #7 -  36,477 (+ 6.1%)

Since issue #2: -47.4%

The Last Days banner magic. It should have jumped higher, but its rise was probably mitigated by its usual declining sales

 

46 - YEARS OF FUTURE PAST LTD 

06/15 Years of Future Past Ltd #1 -  71,450
07/15 Years of Future Past Ltd #2 -  47,512  (-33.5%)
07/15 Years of Future Past Ltd #3 -  44,074  (- 7.2%)
08/15 Years of Future Past Ltd #4 -  37,968  (-13.9%)
09/15 Years of Future Past Ltd #5 -  34,797  (-  8.4%)

Nothing surprising here. Art Adams provided the 452th variation on the famous Days of Future Past brick wall cover.

 

50- MS. MARVEL ($3)

02/14  Ms. Marvel #1 -  50,286  (  --- ) 
03/14  Ms. Marvel #2 -  38,357  (-23.7%)
...
02/15  Ms. Marvel #12 – 29,054  ( -2.7%)
03/15  Ms. Marvel #13 – 32,425  (+11.6%)
04/15  Ms. Marvel #14 – 32,058  (- 1.1%)
05/15  Ms. Marvel #15 – 32,185  (+ 0.4%)
06/15  Ms. Marvel #16 – 32,855  (+ 2.1%)
07/15 ---
08/15  Ms. Marvel #17 – 31,567  (- 3.9%)
09/15  Ms. Marvel #18 -  33,761  (+7.0%)

Since issue #2: -12.0%

The Last Days magic. This is one of the titles for which relaunch sales number will be of interest. We already know it’s a non-stop cash machine for Marvel in TPB, will it began a rise in its floppy sales also?

 

51- FUTURE IMPERFECT LTD 

06/15 Future Imperfect Ltd #1  -  62,110
07/15 Future Imperfect Ltd #2  -  41,427  (-33.3%)
07/15 Future Imperfect Ltd #3  -  38,269  (- 7.6%)
08/15 Future Imperfect Ltd #4  -  35,661  (- 6.8%)
09/15 Future Imperfect Ltd #5  -  32,926  (- 7.7%)

Lost less than -50% of its #1 sales, which is a great performance among the SW minis.

 

54- AGE OF ULTRON VS MARVEL ZOMBIES LTD 

06/15 AoU VS Marvel Zombies Ltd #1  -  78,646
07/15 AoU VS Marvel Zombies Ltd #2  -  40,483  (-48.5%)
08/15 AoU VS Marvel Zombies Ltd #3  -  36,388  (-10.1%)
09/15 AoU VS Marvel Zombies Ltd #4  -  31,220  (-14.2%)

This one, on the other side, underperformed a little.

 

56- ALL NEW HAWKEYE

03/15  All New Hawkeye #1  -  66,608
04/15  All New Hawkeye #2  -  42,730  (-35.8%)
05/15  All New Hawkeye #3  -  38,087  (-10.9%)
06/15  ---
07/15  All New Hawkeye #4  -  31,661  (-16.9%)
08/15  ---
09/15	All New Hawkeye #5  - 31,141  (-  1.6%)
 
Since issue#2: -27.1%

It has found its floppy level. I don’t see think the relaunch will make any difference. The real test will be its TPB sales. It would be nice if Jeff Lemire and Ramon Perez would become the new recipients of Hawkeye TPB juicy royalties checks every month. This would give them the opportunity to work on their creator owned projects with no worries.

 

59-STAR LORD & KITTY PRIDE LTD

07/14  Star Lord #1 – 78,501
08/14  Star Lord #2 – 37,109 (-52.7%)
09/14  Star Lord #3 – 32,918 (-11.3%)
10/14  Star Lord #4 – 37,123 ( 12.8%)
11/14  Star Lord #5 – 36,905 ( -0.6%)
12/14  Star Lord #6 – 32,863 (-11.0%)
01/15  Star Lord #7 – 28,174 (-14.3%)
01/15  Star Lord #8 – 25,227 (-10.5%)
02/15  Star Lord #9 – 38,655 (+53.2%)   B. Vortex
03/15  Star Lord#10 – 40,836 (+ 4.5%)   B. Vortex
04/15  Star Lord#11 – 41,325 (+ 1.2%)   B. Vortex
05/15  Star Lord#12 – 25,580 (-38.1%)
---
07/15  Star-Lord & Kitty Pride Ltd #1 -  44,760 
08/15  Star-Lord & Kitty Pride Ltd #2 -  32,578  (-27.2%)
09/15  Star-Lord & Kitty Pride Ltd #3 -  31,012  (-  4.8%)

Average +% TPB Sales # 6-10: +7.4%
TPB VOL.2 – 2,092

Holding well, even if it is at a rather weak level.

 

60- DAREDEVIL

02/14  Daredevil v3 #36 – 31,494  ( -1.8%)
03/14  Daredevil v4 #1  - 76,006  (141.3%)
04/14  Daredevil #1.50  - 48,462  (-36.2%)
04/14  Daredevil v4 #2  - 42,811  (-11.7%)
...
09/14  Daredevil v4 #8  - 37,739  (+ 2.6%)
10/14  Daredevil v4 #9  - 33,996  (- 9.9%)
11/14  Daredevil v4 #10 - 32,438  (- 4.6%)
12/14  Daredevil v4 #11 - 31,382  (- 3.3%)
01/15  Daredevil v4 #12 – 31,989  (+ 1.9%)
02/15  Daredevil v4 #13 – 31,483  (- 1.6%)
03/15  Daredevil v4 #14 – 29,575  (- 6.1%)
04/15  Daredevil v4 #15 – 32,541  (+10.0%)
05/15  Daredevil v4#15.1- 28,919  (-11,1%)
06/15  Daredevil v4 #16 – 33,309  (+15.2%)
07/15  Daredevil v4 #17 – 29,904  (-10.2%)
08/15  ---
09/15  Daredevil v4 #18 -  29,945  (+ 0.1%)

Since issue #2: -30.1%
Average +% TPB Sales #6-10: +5.5%
Average +% TPB Sales #11-15: +7.8%
DAREDEVIL VOL.2 TPB: 2,098
DAREDEVIL TPB VOL.3 -  2,483

Mark Waid is currently one of the most consistent writers out there. His work for hire is never a disapointment for people who already read his creator owned projects.

 

62- MS DEADPOOL AND HOWLING COMMANDOS 

06/15 Ms Deadpool and HC #1  -  48,514
07/15 Ms Deadpool and HC #2  -  36,404  (-25.0%)
08/15 Ms Deadpool and HC #3  -  31,135  (-14.5%)
09/15 Ms Deadpool and HC #4  -  28,966  (-  7.0%)

Disapointing sales. It seems people want Deadpool, not Deadpool-related products.

 

63- SECRET WARS 2099 LTD 

05/15 Secret Wars 2099 Ltd #1 – 46,228
06/15 Secret Wars 2099 Ltd #2 – 44,931  (- 2.8%)
07/15 Secret Wars 2099 Ltd #3 – 35,932  (-20.0%)
08/15 Secret Wars 2099 Ltd #4 – 30,478  (-15.2%)
09/15 Secret Wars 2099 Ltd #5 -  28,196  (-  7.5%)

Holding quite well, if you take into account its baffling issue #2 sales.

 

64- GROOT LTD

06/15 Groot Ltd #1  -  97,193          
07/15 Groot Ltd #2  -  39,198  (-59.7%)
08/15 Groot Ltd #3  -  34,663  (-11.6%)
09/15 Groot Ltd #4  -  28,170  (-18.7%)

It does look atrocious. It will come back, but as a team-up book with Rocket Raccoon. It’s gonna be difficult to last 12 issues if the pattern repeats itself.

 

65- GIANT SIZE LITTLE MARVEL AVX LTD 

06/15 GS Little Marvel AVX Ltd #1  -  66,401
07/15 GS Little Marvel AVX Ltd #2  -  36,019  (-45.8%)
08/15 GS Little Marvel AVX Ltd #3  -  32,003  (-11.1%)
09/15 GS Little Marvel AVX Ltd #4  -  28,025  (-12.4%)

Great sales for this kind of product.

 

67- INFERNO LTD 

05/15 Inferno Ltd #1 – 46,801
06/15 Inferno Ltd #2 – 39,137  (-16.4%)
07/15 Inferno Ltd #3 – 35,285  (-  9.8%)
08/15 Inferno Ltd #4 -  30,363  (-13.9%)
09/15 Inferno Ltd #5 -  27,492  (-  9.5%)

Even if it holds onto its audience a little better than other titles like it, it’s disappointing that it’s not selling much more than Little Marvel or Squadron Sinister.

 

68- SQUADRON SINISTER 

06/15 Squadron Sinister #1 -  53,187
07/15 Squadron Sinister #2 -  31,141  (-41.4%)
08/15 ---
09/15 Squadron Sinister #3 -  27,454  (-11.8%)

To be expected. If Squadron Supreme reaches the same audience when it launches, problems will arise quickly.

 

69- 98- MIRACLEMAN ($5) 

09/15 Miracleman #1 -  27,269
09/15 Miracleman #2 -  22,143  (-18.8%)

The most expensive ongoing book at Marvel is a…reprint! Variant covers « à gogo », and the start of Neil Gaiman & Mark Buckingham run renewed people’s interest into it.

 

70- INHUMAN ATTILAN RISING LTD 

05/15 Inhuman Attilan Rising Ltd #1 – 56,963
06/15 Inhuman Attilan Rising Ltd #2 – 40,722  (-28.5%)
07/15 Inhuman Attilan Rising Ltd #3 – 34,919  (-14.3%)
08/15 Inhuman Attilan Rising Ltd #4 -  31,907  (- 8.6%)
09/15 Inhuman Attilan Rising Ltd #5 -  27,226  (-14.7%)

Another effort from Marvel to push the Inhumans franchise, with no short term effect.

 

71-  96- HAIL HYDRA LTD 

07/15 Hail Hydra Ltd #1 -  44,515
08/15 ---
09/15 Hail Hydra Ltd #2 -  26,974  (-39.4%)
09/15 Hail Hydra Ltd #3 -  22,742  (-15.7%)

It would have sold way less if not connected to the Secret Wars franchise.

 

72- 75- 80- 83- 90- 119- SHIELD 50TH ANNIVERSARY

12/14  SHIELD #1 -  94,503  
01/15  SHIELD #2 -  33,965  (- 64.1%)
02/15  SHIELD #3 –  29,790  (- 12.3%)
03/15  ---
04/15  SHIELD #4 -  26,930  (-  9.6%)
04/15  SHIELD #5 -  26,614  (-  1.2%)
05/15  SHIELD #6 -  23,152  (- 13.0%)
06/15  SHIELD #7 -  25,786  (+11.4%)
07/15  SHIELD #8 -  19,469  (- 24.5%)
08/15  SHIELD #9 -  22,613  (+16.1%)
09/15  SHIELD#10-  18,693  (- 17.3%)

09/15 Agent Carter SHIELD -  26,438
09/15 Fury SHIELD – 26,313
09/15 Mockingbird SHIELD ($5) – 25,593
09/15 Quake SHIELD – 25,193
09/15 Cavalry SHIELD – 23,831

Since issue #2: -45.0%
SHIELD TPB Vol.1 -  2,460
Average +% TPB sales #1-6: +7.2%

5 one shots and an issue of the ongoing, to celebrate Shield anniversary. That’s $25 to spend for you if you are a Shield fan! Tons of variant helped sales of the one shots and attracted non-readers of the ongoing, meanwhile falling like a stone. To note: Joelle Jones (Token, Suicide Risk, Helheim) is penciling the $5 Mockingbird one shot, which is her first work for Marvel -if we forget her participation to Ultimate Spider-Man 150 years ago.

 

74- SIEGE LTD 

07/15 Siege Ltd #1  -  49,195
08/15 Siege Ltd #2  -  34,002  (-30.8%)
09/15 Siege Ltd #3  -  26,379  (-22.4%)

That’s not very nice, but still in the usual fall range for the SW minis.

 

84- X-TINCTION AGENDA LTD 

06/15 X-Tinction Agenda Ltd #1  -  46,694
07/15 X-Tinction Agenda Ltd #2  -  35,033  (-25.0%)
08/15 X-Tinction Agenda Ltd #3  -  29,697  (-15.2%)
09/15 X-Tinction Agenda Ltd #4  -  25,104  (-15.5%)

These SW minis sure had late fall percentages of their own.

 

86- 1872 LTD 

07/15 1872 Ltd#1  -  42,805
08/15 1872 Ltd#2  -  27,791  (-35.1%)
09/15 1872 Ltd #3  - 24,493  (-11.9%)

The fact that is selling as much as X-Tinction is either a good sign for 1872, or a bad sign for X-Tinction. Your choice.

 

88- ARMOR WARS LTD 

06/15 Armor wars Ltd #1 -  69,808
06/15 Armor wars Ltd #2 -  37,798  (-45.9%)
07/15 Armor wars Ltd #3 -  32,138  (-15.0%)
08/15 Armor wars Ltd #4 -  26,212  (-18.4%)
09/15 Armor wars Ltd #5 -  24,424  (-  6.8%)

It’s a shame it did not sell better, because James Robinson? Marcio Takara? Paul Rivoche? Any of those names would have sold it to me.

 

92- 1602 WITCH HUNTER ANGELA LTD 

12/14  Angela #1 -  61,398  
01/15  Angela #2 -  36,992  (-39.8%)
02/15  Angela #3 -  31,096  (-15.9%)
03/15  Angela #4 -  25,529  (-17.9%)
04/15  Angela #5 -  23,551  (- 7.7%)
05/15  Angela #6 -  22,272  (- 5.4%)

06/15 1602 Witch Hunter Angela Ltd #1 – 37,996
07/15 1602 Witch Hunter Angela Ltd #2 – 26,481  (-30.3%)
08/15 ---
09/15 1602 Witch Hunter Angela Ltd #3 – 23,058  (-12.9%)

The Marvel Universe is welcoming ladies to its roster, but apparently, Angela spit in somebody’s glass…

 

93- SILVER SURFER

03/14  Silver Surfer  #1 -  64,919  (  --- )
04/14  Silver Surfer  #2 -  39,132  (-39.7%)
06/14  Silver Surfer  #3 -  36,075  ( -7.8%)
07/14  Silver Surfer  #4 -  32,747  ( -9.2%)
08/14  Silver Surfer  #5 -  31,125  ( -5.0%)
10/14  Silver Surfer  #6 -  28,052  ( -9.9%)
11/14  Silver Surfer  #7 -  25,759  ( -8.2%)
12/14  ---
01/15  Silver Surfer  #8 -  23,420  (- 9.1%)
02/15  Silver Surfer  #9 -  21,716  (- 7.3%)
03/15  Silver Surfer #10 -  21,100  (- 2.8%)
04/15  Silver Surfer #11 -  20,776  (- 1.5%)
05/15  ---
06/15  Silver Surfer #12 -  20,704  (- 0.3%)
07/15  Silver Surfer #13 -  24,321  (+17.5%)
08/15 ---
09/15 Silver Surfer #14 -   23,008  (-  5.4%)

Since issue #2: -41.2%

Good news, it’s coming back! Let’s hope the relaunch will secure it at a less dangerous sales level.

 

95- E IS FOR EXTINCTION LTD

06/15 E is for Extinction Ltd #1 -  48,888
07/15 E is for Extinction Ltd #2 -  31,114  (-36.4%)
08/15 E is for Extinction Ltd #3 – 26,608  (-14.5%)
09/15 E is for Extinction Ltd #4 -  22,830  (-14.2%)

E is for Endless disapointing sales.

 

97- WEIRDWORLD  

06/15 Weirdworld #1  -  48,688
07/15 Weirdworld #2  -  26,307  (-46.0%)
08/15 Weirdworld #3  -  23,784  (- 9.6%)
09/15 Weirdworld #4  -  22,206  (- 6.6%)

Waiting for its relaunch. It behaved quite nicely, but will it attract new readers seeing how many #1s will be released at the same time, month after month?

 

100- CAPTAIN MARVEL AND CAROL CORPS LTD 
  
11/13  Captain Marvel v6 #17 - 18,173  (-20.5%)
12/13  ---
01/14  ---
02/14  ---
03/14  Captain Marvel v7 #1  - 44,248  
04/14  Captain Marvel v7 #2  - 28,008 (-36.7%)
...
03/15  Captain Marvel v7 #13 – 21,915 (+14.1%)
04/15  Captain Marvel v7 #14 – 30,560 (+39.5%) B. Vortex
05/15  Captain Marvel v7 #15 – 19,740 (-35.4%)

06/15  Cap Marvel & Carol Corps Ltd #1 -  47,302
07/15  Cap Marvel & Carol Corps Ltd #2 -  28,741  (-39.2%)
08/15  Cap Marvel & Carol Corps Ltd #3 -  24,295 (- 15.5%)
08/15  Cap Marvel & Carol Corps Ltd #4 -  22,106 (-   9.0%)

Average +%TPB sales #7-12: +14.0%
CAPTAIN MARVEL TPB VOL.2 : 2,942

Waiting for its relaunch. Marvel just don’t want to give up on this one, even if they found a more successful version of a character wearing their company name with the new Ms Marvel.

 

107- RED SKULL LTD 

07/15 Red Skull Ltd #1 of 3  -  33,246
08/15 Red Skull Ltd #2 of 3  -  23,974  (-27.9%)
09/15 Red Skull Ltd #3 of 3  -  20,662  (-13.8%)

Under the radar but profitable.

 

108- RUNAWAYS LTD 

06/15 Runaways Ltd #1  of 4 -  41,063
07/15 Runaways Ltd #2  of 4 -  30,697  (-25.2%)
08/15 Runaways Ltd #3  of 4 -  23,755  (-22.6%)
09/15 Runaways Ltd #4  of 4 -  20,582  (-13.4%)

Sanford Greene is moving to a soon-to-be-launched Power Man & Iron Fist series. Good move, Marvel!

 

109- FIGMENT 2 LTD 

09/15 Figment Ltd #1   - 20,551

Even with 2 variant covers, that’s quite an optimistic sales level to reach. Expect half of it to disappear very quickly.

 

113- SECRET WARS JOURNAL LTD 

05/15 Secret Wars Journal Ltd #1 of 5 – 44,606
06/15 Secret Wars Journal Ltd #2 of 5 – 29,161  (-34.6%)
07/15 Secret Wars Journal Ltd #3 of 5 – 26,031  (-10.7%)
08/15 Secret Wars Journal Ltd #4 of 5 -  21,465  (-17.5%)
09/15 Secret Wars Journal Ltd #5 of 5 -  19,875  (-  7.4%)

Atrocious sales. The plug is probably out for the Journal event companion brand.

 

120- KORVAC SAGA LTD 

10/14  Guardians 3000 #1  -  58,574  (---)
11/14  Guardians 3000 #2  -  34,467  (-41.2%)
12/14  Guardians 3000 #3  -  25,509  (-26.0%)
01/15  Guardians 3000 #4  -  20,318  (-20.3%)
02/15  Guardians 3000 #5  -  18,155  (-10.6%)
03/15  Guardians 3000 #6  -  17,494  (- 3.6%)
04/15  Guardians 3000 #7  -  16,532  (- 5.5%)
05/15  Guardians 3000 #8  -  15,660  (- 5.3%)

06/15 Korvac Saga Ltd #1  -  34,137
07/15 Korvac Saga Ltd #2  -  26,470  (-22.5%)
08/15 Korvac Saga Ltd #3  -  22,417  (-15.3%)
09/15 Korvac Saga Ltd #4  -  18,518  (-17.4%)
 
Average +% TPB Sales #1-6: +4.2%
GUARDIANS 3000 TPB VOL.1: 1,446

We get it, people don’t want to read adventures of the old Guardians. Let’s see in the next months if they would accept a mix of the two teams.

 

122- GHOST RACERS LTD

03/14  All New Ghost Rider#1  -  50,072 (  --- )
04/14  All New Ghost Rider#2  -  29,429 (-41.2%)
...
03/15 All New Ghost Rider #12 –  11,923 (-4.5%)
...
06/15 Ghost Racers Ltd #1 -  33,143 
07/15 Ghost Racers Ltd #2 -  24,274  (-26.8%)
08/15 Ghost Racers Ltd #3 -  20,026  (-17.5%)
09/15 Ghost Racers Ltd #4 -  17,878  (-10.7%)

The Ghost Rider franchise is in trouble.

123 and below- TRUE BELIEVERS

04/15 Civil War #1          – 26,263
04/15 Infinity Gauntlet #1  - 21,770
04/15 Old Man Logan #1      - 18,128
04/15 Age of Ultron #1      - 17,627
04/15 Marvel Zombies #1     - 17,454
04/15 Planet Hulk #1        - 16,794
04/15 Age of Apocalypse #1  - 16,135
04/15 Miles Morales #1      - 15,690
04/15 House of M #1         - 14,845
04/15 Armor Wars #1         - 13,411
04/15 Powers #1             -  6,852
05/15 ---
06/15 ---
07/15 ---
08/15 ---
09/15 Spider-Gwen #1    -  17,599
09/15 Thor #1           -  15,575
09/15 Ms Marvel #1      -  14,793
09/15 Princess Leia #1  -  14,014
09/15 Captain Marvel #1 -  12,471
09/15 Silk #1           -  11,934
09/15 Squirrel Girl #1  -  11,267
09/15 Black Widow #1    -  11,214
09/15 She-Hulk #1 	-  10,324
09/15 Spider-Woman #1    -  9,972

About 5 months ago, Marvel released quite a bunch of reprinted #1s at the very nice price of $1. As you can see, girls were the common denominator. Unlike all the other Marvel floppies, these are rarely pre-ordered by customers, but used by comics shops to promote TPBs of their respective series. People who buy their comics because of #1s and variants don’t care about these reprints. Those two factors do shed an interesting light into those numbers, as they show the « faith » comic shops dealers have in the future of each of these series. Spider-Gwen is the winner, but Thor and Ms. Marvel also come out on top. Some under-performing titles like Black Widow and Captain Marvel do surprisingly well. The « victim », if there is one, is Spider-Woman, whose fate seems sealed, seeing how poorly it performed compared to the others. Any move by Marvel to correct this paradoxal situation – where the leader of the market is the most expensive one- is welcome.

 

158- MODOK ASSASSIN LTD 

05/15 Modok Assassin Ltd #1 of 5 – 26,574
06/15 Modok Assassin Ltd #2 of 5 – 19,618 (-26.2%)
07/15 Modok Assassin Ltd #3 of 5 – 16,379 (-16.5%)
08/15 Modok Assassin Ltd #4 of 5 -  14,501 (-11.5%)
09/15 Modok Assassin Ltd #4 of 5 -  13,056 (-10.0%)

Another proof that publishing this type of product under an all-ages banner would have been repulsive to the Marvel fans.

 

 166- BUCKY BARNES WINTER SOLDIER 

05/14  Winter Soldier Bitter March #4 -  19,930  
---
10/14  Bucky Barnes: Winter Solder #1 -  47,471  
11/14  Bucky Barnes: Winter Solder #2 -  32,409  (-31.7%)
---
01/15 Bucky Barnes winter soldier #3 -  22,125 (-31,7%)
01/15 Bucky Barnes winter soldier #4 -  19,280 (-12,9%)
02/15 Bucky Barnes winter soldier #5 -  17,647 (- 8.5%)
03/15 Bucky Barnes winter soldier #6 -  15,150 (-14.1%)
04/15 Bucky Barnes winter soldier #7 -  14,779 (– 2.4%)
05/15 Bucky Barnes winter soldier #8 -  13,646 (- 7.7%)
06/15 Bucky Barnes winter soldier #9 -  12,850 (- 5.8%)
07/15 ---
08/15 Bucky Barnes winter soldier #10-  12,446  (-3.1%)
09/15 Bucky Barnes winter soldier #11-  11,948  (-4.0%)

Since issue #2: -63.1%
Average +% TPB Sales #1-5: +5.2% 
B.B. WINTER SOLDIER TOP VOL.1: 1,682

Oh, it’s not over yet?

 

195- DARK TOWER DRAWING LADY OF SHADOWS LTD

03/15 Dark Tower D3HC Ltd #1 of 5 – 11,107
...
07/15 Dark Tower D3HC Ltd #5 of 5 –  9,027  (- 2.4%)
08/15 ---
09/15 Dark Tower Lady of Shadows Ltd #1 of 5 –  9,918

Not much to say.

 

239- GEORGE ROMERO EMPIRE OF THE DEAD: ACT THREE LTD

01/14  Act One #1 of 5 - 24,515
...
06/14  Act One #5 of 5 – 13,924 (  -6.3%)
...
09/14  Act Two #1 of 5 – 13,163 (  -5.5%)
...
01/15  Act Two #5 of 5 -  7,780  (-6,6%)
…
04/15  Act 3   #1 of 5 -  8,623
05/15  Act 3   #2 of 5 -  7,191 (-16.6%)
06/15  Act 3   #3 of 5 -  6,827 (- 5.1%)
07/15  ---
08/15  Act 3   #4 of 5 -  6,751 (- 1.1%)
09/15  Act 3   #5 of 5 -  6,435 (- 4.7%)

We go closer and closer to a « technical floppy release » level.

272- MU ULT SPIDER-MAN WEB WARRIORS

06/14  MUU Spider-Man #27 – 4,713  ( -1.0%)

10/14  ---
11/14  MUU Spider-Man WW #1  – 6,343  (  -1.0%)
12/14  MUU Spider-Man WW #2  – 5,063  ( -20.2%)
01/15  MUU spider-Man WW #3  -  4,873  (-3,8%)
?
?
?
05/15  MUU spider-man WW #7  - 4,843
06/15  MUU spider-man WW #8  - 7,383 (+52.4%)
?
08/15  MUU spider-man WW #10 – 5,160
09/15  MUU spider-man WW #11 -  5,149  (- 0.2%)

Still here, in case you were wondering.


Thanks for reading until the end! Hope to see you next time. Feel free to comment!

17 COMMENTS

  1. “The last publisher who tried this, Crossgen”

    It’s amazing how many of Crossgen’s weird ideas Marvel has since reused. Remember Comicsontheweb.com, the original Marvel Unlimited?

    “Spider-Man Renew your wows ”

    Best typo ever. (If it was there in previous months, I completely missed it.

    “67- INFERNO LTD
    Even if it holds onto its audience a little better than other titles like it, it’s disappointing that it’s not selling much more than Little Marvel or Squadron Sinister.”

    I was very disappointed by this one. Still finished it because I’m an addict, but just saying.

    I wonder how different all these drops would have been in Secret Wars had marched on at its originally-planned, thunderous pace. The main book is still great, but my enthusiasm for the tie-ins has definitely been hurt. Compare it to Age of Apocalypse–four months of wall to wall excitement and then gone before anyone could take a breath.

  2. OMG, that’s one typo, good catch Niels! :p
    I apologize to Joelle Jones because “-if we forget her participation to Ultimate Spider-Man 150 years ago.” could make you think she’s way older than she is :p

  3. “Sure, there will be a lot of issue #1s launching, but with numbers like that, less than 250K for the relaunch of Amazing Spider-Man would be considered a disappointment.”

    Xavier, can you please walk me through the math on this. How, in this market, would “less than 250K” be considered a “disappointment”? That seems like a weird and arbitrary metric.

  4. Well, seing that less than 6 months ago, a mini-serie starring spider-man crack the 200K (Renew your wows), the relaunch of the historic main title can’t be expected to do less than that with it’s #1, if not slightly better.
    If the market is hard to live on in the long term, it still welcomes #1 with tons of variant very well, especially for a relaunch of an historic Marvel titles. the last time it relaunched, in 2014 it did 570K. The spider-man franchise has been doing very well since then, so saying that it is expected to sell at least half of what it did with its previous relaunch doesn’t seem to me like a bold statement.

  5. With the sales on the RYV, and the many variants offered , it would be surprising if Amazing SM #1 didn’t top 250,000 copies. While I’ll agree with the metric, perhaps “disappointing” isn’t the correct adjective. More than likely, it’ll be the other half dozen SM family titles that will face the challenge of longevity.

  6. I find Dan’s “in this market” note utterly perplexing — market conditions are a *direct result* of Marvel and DC’s actions over the last few years. ASM (2015) #1 shouldn’t sell appreciably worse than ASM (2014) #1 did! If it does, I would submit the problem is the publishing plan, not the market’s reaction to said plan.

  7. Dan Slott said:

    ” How, in this market, would “less than 250K” be considered a “disappointment”? That seems like a weird and arbitrary metric.”

    Mr. Slott,
    A couple of questions:
    1) What do you feel would be the best metric?
    2) What were your expectations for the sale of the new #1, and were they met?
    3) Do you think that there has been an appreciable change in “this market” since the last Spidey #1, and, if so, what is it?

    Thanks in advance!
    Phil

  8. Xavier: it does seem like Marvel has stopped advertising the length of their minis. The secret wars tie-ins being the biggest example.

  9. Googles:yes, it’s really weird. I focused part of my analysis last month on that. Very few minis have a known length, sometimes it appears in the previews during the run, sometimes never. Future will tell if it was a one-timespeciality of the SW titles, a test or a new lasting trend.

  10. I hope Marvel doesn’t reconsider their Miracleman decision because of these low sales. We are finally getting Gaiman’s stories and they are still amazing after all these years. I am super hyped to read the unpublished stories, I just hope we get them.

  11. @Paul – I bet Miracleman is pretty safe. I feel like publishing them in floppies first is just gravy in prep of putting them out as TPBs.

Comments are closed.