1291868424_cvr.jpg
by Paul O’Brien

It’s not a great month for Marvel. In fact, it’s one of those rare months when DC had the largest share of the direct market, beating Marvel by 33% to 32% in dollar terms (though if you prefer the unit share, Marvel lead by 39% to 37%). In part, it’s because DC’s new Batman titles are doing very well – but as we’ll see, it’s also the case that Marvel just don’t have any really big titles out this month.

There are a couple of new ongoing series this month – WOLVERINE: THE BEST THERE IS and HEROES FOR HIRE. Following the Shadowland crossover, DAREDEVIL reinvents itself as BLACK PANTHER. And there’s just one new miniseries – ULTIMATE COMICS DOOM. And that’s it, so far as new books.

Thanks as always to ICV2.com for permission to use these figures.

Now normally, I’d start with Marvel’s top seller of the month. Instead, though, I’m going to draw your attention to KICK-ASS 2. The second issue was solicited for December, but it’s been pushed back to February. Even so, issue #1 charted again at number 242, with estimated sales of 6,503. That brings its total to 71,782.

And, strangely enough, that’s higher than Marvel’s biggest seller of December managed.

8. NEW AVENGERS
12/05  #14    - 124,300
12/06  #26    - 122,670
12/07  #37    - 105,545
12/08  #48    -  93,908
=====
12/09  #60    -  72,790  ( -2.1%)
01/10  #61    -  78,202  ( +7.4%)
02/10  #62    -  76,405  ( -2.3%)
03/10  #63    -  76,145  ( -0.3%)
04/10  #64    -  75,430  ( -0.9%)
04/10  ---
05/10  Finale -  82,152  ( +8.9%)
06/10  #1     - 129,084  (+67.8%)
07/10  #2     -  83,397  (-35.4%)
08/10  #3     -  81,354  ( -2.4%)
09/10  #4     -  77,479  ( -4.7%)
10/10  #5     -  73,409  ( -5.3%)
11/10  #6     -  66,724  ( -9.1%)
12/10  #7     -  67,840  ( +1.7%)
                 6 mnth  (-47.4%)
                 1 year  ( -6.8%)
                 2 year  (-27.8%)
                 3 year  (-35.7%)
                 4 year  (-44.7%)
                 5 year  (-45.4%)

In the absence of any big event titles, NEW AVENGERS takes the lead for Marvel – curiously, edging very slightly ahead of AVENGERS. Sales are up very slightly this month, most likely due to the Tron variant cover.

9. AVENGERS
05/10  #1 - 170,682
06/10  #2 -  98,788  (-42.1%)
07/10  #3 -  87,410  (-11.5%)
08/10  #4 -  87,333  ( -0.1%)
09/10  #5 -  82,411  ( -5.6%)
10/10  #6 -  73,258  (-11.1%)
11/10  #7 -  89,758  (+22.5%)
12/10  #8 -  67,056  (-25.3%)
             6 mnth  (-32.1%)

It’s the other way round here. AVENGERS had no variant covers in December (presumably explaining why it dropped behind NEW).

11. WOLVERINE: THE BEST THERE IS
12/10  #1 - 57,348

Marvel’s biggest new launch of the month is the new secondary Wolverine title. In effect, this is the replacement for WOLVERINE: ORIGINS, but since that was a book which existed to tell a single multi-year storyline by Daniel Way, the relaunch has some legitimacy to it. The main WOLVERINE title shifted over 100K of its launch title, so this is quite some way behind. (It’s got four variants, compared to five on WOLVERINE’s first issue.) Still, it’s the B-title, and ORIGINS similarly used to be a long way behind the parent title.

13. AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
12/05  #527 -  79,261
12/06  ---
12/07  #545 - 124,481
12/08  #581 -  68,905
=====
12/09  #614 -  59,696  ( -7.4%)
12/09  #615 -  63,738  ( +6.8%)
12/09  #616 -  58,856  ( -7.7%)
01/10  #617 -  76,730  (+30.4%)
01/10  #618 -  61,969  (-19.2%)
01/10  #619 -  56,837  ( -8.3%)
02/10  #620 -  59,860  ( +5.3%)
02/10  #621 -  55,350  ( -7.5%)
02/10  #622 -  53,929  ( -2.6%)
03/10  #623 -  66,064  (+22.5%)
03/10  #624 -  60,213  ( -8.9%)
03/10  #625 -  54,179  (-10.0%)
03/10  #626 -  53,868  ( -0.6%)
03/10  #627 -  54,206  ( +0.6%)
04/10  #628 -  57,797  ( +6.6%)
04/10  #629 -  53,560  ( -7.3%)
05/10  #630 -  57,969  ( +8.2%)
05/10  #631 -  57,239  ( -1.3%)
05/10  #632 -  56,723  ( -0.9%)
06/10  #633 -  57,670  ( +1.7%)
06/10  #634 -  61,736  ( +7.1%)
06/10  #635 -  56,146  ( -9.1%)
07/10  #636 -  56,011  ( -0.2%)
07/10  #637 -  56,031  ( +0.0%)
07/10  #638 -  68,271  (+21.8%)
08/10  #639 -  67,086  ( -1.7%)
08/10  #640 -  73,656  ( +9.8%)
09/10  #641 -  68,345  ( -7.2%)
09/10  #642 -  60,115  (-12.0%)
09/10  #643 -  61,855  ( +2.9%)
09/10  #644 -  58,310  ( -5.7%)
10/10  #645 -  56,709  ( -2.7%)
10/10  #646 -  58,125  ( +2.5%)
11/10  #647 -  55,819  ( -4.0%)
11/10  #648 -  77,033  (+38.0%)
11/10  #649 -  52,586  (-31.7%)
12/10  #650 -  55,996  ( +6.5%)
               6 mnth  ( -0.3%)
               1 year  ( -6.2%)
               2 year  (-18.7%)
               3 year  (-55.0%)
               4 year  (  --- )
               5 year  (-29.4%)

Just one issue out in December. No variant on this or the previous issue, but the slight sales increase is probably due to the anniversary number.

14. UNCANNY X-MEN
12/05  #467 -  81,282
12/06  #481 -  85,995
12/07  #493 - 102,114
12/08  #505 -  82,271
=====
12/09  #518 -  68,572  ( -1.4%)
12/09  #519 -  67,043  ( -2.2%)
01/10  #520 -  65,758  ( -1.9%)
02/10  #521 -  67,049  ( +2.0%)
03/10  #522 -  67,996  ( +1.4%)
04/10  #523 -  78,999  (+16.2%)
05/10  #524 -  77,056  ( -2.5%)
06/10  #525 -  76,068  ( -1.3%)
07/10  #526 -  66,723  (-12.3%)
08/10  #527 -  69,052  ( +3.5%)
09/10  #528 -  62,415  ( -9.6%)
10/10  #529 -  62,256  ( -0.3%)
11/10  #530 -  58,006  ( -6.8%)
12/10  #531 -  55,770  ( -3.9%)
               6 mnth  (-26.7%)
               1 year  (-18.7%)
               2 year  (-32.2%)
               3 year  (-45.4%)
               4 year  (-35.1%)
               5 year  (-31.4%)

No variants for the last couple of month, so there’s a noticeable trend down here.

15. UNCANNY X-FORCE
12/08  #10     - 58,801
=====
12/09  #22     - 51,859  (  -3.9%)
01/10  #23     - 50,848  (  -1.9%)
02/10  #24     - 49,790  (  -2.1%)
03/10  #25     - 49,910  (  +0.2%)
04/10  #26     - 67,512  ( +35.3%)
05/10  #27     - 62,509  (  -7.4%)
06/10  ---
07/10  #28     - 61,680  (  -1.3%)
07/10  #1 of 3 - 41,426  ( -32.8%)
08/10  #2 of 3 - 38,480  (  -7.1%)
09/10  #3 of 3 - 37,283  (  -3.1%)
10/10  #1      - 99,194  (+166.1%)
11/10  #2      - 56,518  ( -43.0%)
12/10  #3      - 55,520  (  -1.8%)
                 6 mnth  ( -10.0%)
                 1 year  (  +7.1%)
                 2 year  (  -5.6%)

Levelling out very quickly, with almost no drop from last month. That’s a very promising sign.

17. SECRET AVENGERS
05/10  #1 - 110,681
06/10  #2 -  77,933  (-30.0%)
07/10  #3 -  72,293  ( -7.2%)
08/10  #4 -  74,655  ( +3.3%)
09/10  #5 -  69,546  ( -6.8%)
10/10  #6 -  68,617  ( -1.3%)
11/10  #7 -  59,999  (-12.6%)
12/10  #8 -  54,048  ( -9.9%)
             6 mnth  (-30.6%)

This is the first issue without a variant. They piled them on for issues #1-6, and for some reason the Tron variant on this title came out in November, so it’s tricky to extract the underlying trend here.

19. X-MEN
07/10  #1 - 143,167
08/10  #2 -  71,464  (-50.1%)
09/10  #3 -  66,549  ( -6.9%)
10/10  #4 -  63,772  ( -4.2%)
11/10  #5 -  56,651  (-11.2%)
12/10  #6 -  53,005  ( -6.4%)

No variant this month, so the drop is exaggerated. Not too far behind the lead title, actually.

20. WOLVERINE
12/05  #37 -  70,716
12/06  #49 -  78,807
12/07  #60 -  63,194
12/08  #70 -  98,915
=====
12/09  #8  -  33,470  (  -7.3%)
01/10  #9  -  31,678  (  -5.4%)
02/10  #10 -  30,132  (  -4.9%)
03/10  #11 -  29,799  (  -1.1%)
04/10  #12 -  30,050  (  +0.8%)
05/10  #13 -  29,773  (  -0.9%)
06/10  #14 -  30,035  (  +0.9%)
07/10  #15 -  29,555  (  -1.6%)
08/10  #16 -  29,424  (  -0.4%)
09/10  #1  - 104,414  (+254.9%)
10/10  #2  -  63,210  ( -39.5%)
11/10  #3  -  51,600  ( -18.4%)
12/10  #4  -  52,812  (  +2.3%)
              6 mnth  ( +75.8%)
              1 year  ( +57.8%)
              2 year  ( -46.6%)
              3 year  ( -16.4%)
              4 year  ( -33.0%)
              5 year  ( -25.3%)

Well, that’s good news. Okay, there’s a Tron variant on this, which explains why sales are up. Nonetheless, after the steep drops on the last two issues (admittedly exacerbating by scaling back the variants), this is a promising indication that the book could be finding its level.

22. NEMESIS [Icon]
03/10  #1 of 4 - 62,031
04/10  ---
05/10  ---
06/10  #2 of 4 - 51,586  (-16.8%)
07/10  ---
08/10  ---
09/10  #3 of 4 - 46,234  (-10.4%)
10/10  ---
11/10  ---
12/10  #4 of 4 - 46,072  ( -0.4%)

Mark Millar’s creator-owned books continue to do very well. Most Marvel Universe minis would kill for these sales.

23. THOR
12/05  ---
12/06  ---
12/07  #5     - 101,551
12/08  #12    -  73,784
=====
12/09  #604   -  61,608  (+15.0%)
12/09  #605   -  55,242  (-10.3%)
01/10  #606   -  55,353  ( +0.2%)
02/10  #607   -  66,973  (+21.0%)
03/10  #608   -  62,012  ( -7.4%)
04/10  #609   -  64,522  ( +4.0%)
05/10  #610   -  61,779  ( -4.3%)
06/10  #611   -  56,443  ( -8.6%)
07/10  #612   -  53,373  ( -5.4%)
08/10  #613   -  51,076  ( -4.3%)
09/10  #614   -  53,505  ( +4.8%)
09/10  #615   -  52,896  ( -1.2%)
10/10  #616   -  51,051  ( -3.5%)
11/10  #617   -  49,165  ( -3.7%)
12/10  #618   -  45,142  ( -8.2%)
                 6 mnth  (-20.0%)
                 1 year  (-26.7%)
                 2 year  (-38.8%)
                 3 year  (-55.5%)
                 4 year  (  --- )
                 5 year  (  --- )

There were variant covers in October and November, but none in December, so the month-to-month drop will be exaggerated. To tie in with the film, a relaunch is imminent.

As with last month, let’s get the horde of THOR tie-in books, most of them movie related, out of the way now:

61. ULTIMATE COMICS THOR
10/10  #1 of 4 - 49,747
11/10  #2 of 4 - 31,829  (-36.0%)
12/10  #3 of 4 - 28,074  (-11.8%)

96. THOR: FOR ASGARD
09/10  #1 of 6 - 32,236
09/10  #2 of 6 - 28,563  (-11.4%)
10/10  #3 of 6 - 23,724  (-16.9%)
11/10  #4 of 6 - 20,934  (-11.8%)
12/10  #5 of 6 - 19,463  ( -7.0%)

122. IRON MAN/THOR
11/10  #1 of 4 - 21,416
12/10  #2 of 4 - 15,977  (-25.4%)

124. CHAOS WAR: THOR
11/10  #1 of 2 - 19,738
12/10  #2 of 2 - 15,910  (-19.4%)

134. LOKI
10/10  #1 of 4 - 21,095
11/10  ---
12/10  #2 of 4 - 14,672  (-30.4%)

137. THOR: WOLVES OF THE NORTH
12/10  One-shot

149. THOR: FIRST THUNDER
09/10  #1 of 5 - 21,228
10/10  #2 of 5 - 16,126  (-24.0%)
11/10  #3 of 5 - 14,038  (-12.9%)
12/10  #4 of 5 - 12,620  (-10.1%)

157. THUNDERSTRIKE
11/10  #1 of 5 - 15,689
12/10  #2 of 5 - 11,754  (-25.1%)

192. WARRIORS THREE
11/10  #1 of 4 - 14,203
12/10  #2 of 4 -  9,281  (-34.7%)

210. THOR: THE MIGHTY AVENGER
07/10  #1 - 20,076
07/10  #2 - 14,315  (-28.7%)
08/10  #3 - 12,112  (-15.4%)
09/10  #4 - 10,887  (-10.1%)
10/10  #5 -  9,673  (-11.2%)
11/10  #6 -  8,420  (-13.0%)
12/10  #7 -  8,244  ( -2.1%)

A couple of points to note. First, IRON MAN/THOR #3, the January issue, somehow managed to ship 4,342 copies in December to chart at number 285. That’s presumably a distribution glitch over the festive period, and as we’ll see, the same thing seems to have happened with GENERATION HOPE #3. And second, THOR: THE MIGHTY AVENGER is cancelled with January’s issue #8.

Those points aside, what can you say, other than to observe that the deluge continues unabated?

24. SHADOWLAND
07/10  #1 of 5 - 59,529
08/10  #2 of 5 - 44,573  (-25.1%)
09/10  #3 of 5 - 47,223  ( +6.0%)
10/10  #4 of 5 - 46,411  ( -1.7%)
11/10  ---
12/10  #5 of 5 - 44,261  ( -4.6%)

68. SHADOWLAND: AFTER THE FALL
12/10  One-shot - 26,435

SHADOWLAND may not have been an event on the scale of previous years, but it’s consistently outsold parent title DAREDEVIL (admittedly with the aid of variant covers), so something has been working. AFTER THE FALL, on the other hand, is an epilogue issue which retailers seem to have regarded as a bit of an afterthought.

27. CAPTAIN AMERICA
12/05  #13       -  44,945
12/06  ---
12/07  #33       -  78,279
12/08  #45       -  71,186
=====
12/09  Reborn #5 -  91,790  ( -5.0%)
01/10  Reborn #6 -  84,844  ( -7.6%)
01/10  #602      -  63,948  (-24.6%)
02/10  #603      -  63,568  ( -0.6%)
03/10  #604      -  56,962  (-10.4%)
04/10  #605      -  59,051  ( +3.7%)
05/10  ---
06/10  #606      -  57,443  ( -2.7%)
06/10  #607      -  52,989  ( -7.8%)
07/10  ---
08/10  #608      -  51,362  ( -3.1%)
08/10  #609      -  52,834  ( +2.9%)
09/10  #610      -  47,986  ( -9.2%)
10/10  #611      -  48,788  ( +1.7%)
11/10  #612      -  47,343  ( -3.0%)
12/10  #613      -  42,871  ( -9.4%)
                    6 mnth  (-19.1%)
                    1 year  (-53.3%)
                    2 year  (-39.8%)
                    3 year  (-45.2%)
                    4 year  (  --- )
                    5 year  ( -4.6%)

This is another book which had its Tron variant last month (and a vampire variant in the month before), so again, the month-to-month drop is exaggerated.

CAPTAIN AMERICA isn’t quite as overwhelmed by low-selling spin-offs as THOR is, but it’s still got quite a few:

136. CAPTAIN AMERICA: MAN OUT OF TIME
11/10  #1 of 5 - 23,566
12/10  #2 of 5 - 14,582  (-38.1%)

160. CAPTAIN AMERICA AND THE KORVAC SAGA
12/10  #1 of 4 - 11,576

166. CAPTAIN AMERICA: PATRIOT
09/10  #1 of 4 - 18,017
09/10  #2 of 4 - 15,950  (-11.5%)
10/10  #3 of 4 - 11,959  (-25.0%)
11/10  ---
12/10  #4 of 4 - 11,195  ( -6.4%)

213. CAPTAIN AMERICA: HAIL HYDRA
12/10  #1 of 5 - 8,124

The second issue drop on MAN OUT OF TIME is extremely high, which doesn’t bode well for the Captain America spin-offs yet to come. HAIL HYDRA, in fairness, looks like another glitch at Diamond – the official release date was 5 January 2011, so it shouldn’t be on this chart at all. Chances are the rest of its sales will show up next month.

28. INVINCIBLE IRON MAN
12/05  ---
12/06  #14 - 73,388
12/07  #24 - 38,834
12/08  #8  - 56,708
=====
12/09  #21 - 49,986  (-18.9%)
01/10  #22 - 49,130  ( -1.7%)
02/10  #23 - 50,027  ( +1.8%)
03/10  #24 - 49,239  ( -1.6%)
04/10  #25 - 73,694  (+49.7%)
05/10  #26 - 53,625  (-27.2%)
06/10  #27 - 52,268  ( -2.5%)
07/10  #28 - 48,690  ( -6.8%)
08/10  #29 - 49,012  ( +0.7%)
09/10  #30 - 47,238  ( -3.6%)
10/10  #31 - 45,507  ( -3.7%)
11/10  #32 - 40,978  (-10.0%)
12/10  #33 - 41,890  ( -2.2%)
             6 mnth  (-19.9%)
             1 year  (-16.2%)
             2 year  (-26.1%)
             3 year  ( +7.9%)
             4 year  (-42.9%)
             5 year  (  --- )

There’s a Tron variant this month, so the fact that sales are slightly down is a bit surprising, suggesting a bigger underlying drop. The numbering jumps to #500 in January.

29. X-MEN LEGACY
12/05  #165 -  86,633
12/06  #194 -  78,114
12/07  #206 -  97,871
12/08  #219 -  60,587
=====
12/09  #230 -  49,776  ( -2.0%)
12/09  #231 -  50,929  ( +2.3%)
01/10  #232 -  49,200  ( -3.4%)
02/10  #233 -  51,344  ( +4.4%)
03/10  #234 -  48,217  ( -6.1%)
04/10  #235 -  65,302  (+35.4%)
05/10  #236 -  69,731  ( +6.8%)
06/10  #237 -  65,578  ( -6.0%)
07/10  #238 -  53,313  (-18.7%)
08/10  #239 -  53,236  ( -0.1%)
09/10  #240 -  50,984  ( -4.2%)
10/10  #241 -  48,133  ( -5.6%)
11/10  #242 -  43,750  ( -9.1%)
12/10  #243 -  41,797  ( -4.5%)
               6 mnth  (-36.3%)
               1 year  (-16.0%)
               2 year  (-31.0%)
               3 year  (-57.3%)
               4 year  (-46.5%)
               5 year  (-51.8%)

LEGACY hasn’t had a variant for the last two months, so the book seems to be legitimately shedding readers here. A 4.5% month-to-month drop for an established title is on the high side.

31,44. DAREDEVIL / BLACK PANTHER
12/05  #68  - 50,491
12/06  #92  - 48,035
12/07  #103 - 43,874
12/08  #114 - 44,351
=====
12/09  #503 - 38,680  ( -4.1%)
01/10  #504 - 37,135  ( -4.0%)
02/10  #505 - 38,693  ( +4.2%)
03/10  ---
04/10  #506 - 37,467  ( -3.2%)
05/10  ---
06/10  #507 - 34,744  ( -7.3%)
07/10  #508 - 41,943  (+20.7%)
08/10  #509 - 41,577  ( -0.9%)
09/10  #510 - 44,728  ( +7.6%)
10/10  #511 - 43,167  ( -3.5%)
11/10  ---
12/10  #512 - 40,317  ( -7.1%)
12/10  #513 - 33,124  (-17.8%)
              6 mnth  ( -4.7%)
              1 year  (-40.2%)
              2 year  (-25.3%)
              3 year  (-24.5%)
              4 year  (-31.0%)
              5 year  (-34.4%)

Issue #512 is the last part of the “Shadowland” tie-in, while issue #513 relaunches the series as BLACK PANTHER: THE MAN WITHOUT FEAR. This looks like it could be another soft launch of a new series, with Daredevil returning in a separate title, but for the moment I’ll take it at face value.

Sales drop quite sharply for the first issue of the new direction, despite a variant cover. But then again, the regular DAREDEVIL title was selling in this range prior to the crossover, and recent BLACK PANTHER books have been way down at the bottom end of the chart – so all told, not too bad. Of course, if retailers are treating this as the first issue of a new title then we might see a big drop for the second issue in January.

34. GENERATION HOPE
11/10  #1 - 37,398
12/10  #2 - 38,984  (+4.2%)

Well, that’s unusual. Both these issues have two variant covers, so this looks to be a genuine sales increase for the second issue. Last month, I commented that, given the acres of lead-in which this title had received in UNCANNY X-MEN, I would have expected the book to do better; it may well have been under-ordered.

January’s issue #3 also shows up on the chart at number 228, with orders of 7,395 – presumably due to a distribution quirk over Christmas.

35. FANTASTIC FOUR
12/05  #533 - 46,751
12/06  #541 - 84,895
12/07  #552 - 51,320
12/08  #562 - 54,062
=====
12/09  #574 - 38,431  ( -2.5%)
01/10  #575 - 41,284  ( +7.4%)
02/10  #576 - 37,526  ( -9.1%)
03/10  #577 - 35,791  ( -4.6%)
04/10  #578 - 37,940  ( +6.0%)
05/10  #579 - 38,415  ( +1.3%)
06/10  #580 - 36,582  ( -4.8%)
07/10  #581 - 35,505  ( -2.9%)
08/10  #582 - 34,617  ( -2.5%)
09/10  #583 - 42,257  (+22.1%)
10/10  #584 - 41,163  ( -2.6%)
11/10  #585 - 37,740  ( -8.3%)
12/10  #586 - 38,108  ( +1.0%)
              6 mnth  ( +4.2%)
              1 year  ( -0.8%)
              2 year  (-29.5%)
              3 year  (-25.7%)
              4 year  (-55.1%)
              5 year  (-18.5%)

This is the fourth chapter of “Three”. No variants on this or the previous issue, so the slight sales increase looks to reflect interest in the story.

39,48. INCREDIBLE HULKS
12/05  #90  -  36,924
12/06  #101 -  47,927
12/07  #112 -  77,119
12/08  #9   -  87,786
=====
12/09  #605 -  43,964  ( +8.1%)
01/10  #606 -  48,197  ( +9.6%)
02/10  #607 -  45,870  ( -4.8%)
03/10  #608 -  47,148  ( +2.8%)
04/10  ---
05/10  #609 -  46,670  ( -1.0%)
06/10  #610 -  46,461  ( -0.4%)
07/10  ---
08/10  #611 -  44,982  ( -3.2%)
09/10  #612 -  42,956  ( -4.5%)
09/10  #613 -  40,063  ( -6.7%)
10/10  #614 -  39,572  ( -1.2%)
10/10  #615 -  36,750  ( -7.1%)
11/10  #616 -  35,296  ( -4.0%)
11/10  #617 -  34,340  ( -2.7%)
12/10  #618 -  34,868  ( -1.5%)
12/10  #619 -  32,657  ( -6.3%)
               6 mnth  (-29.7%)
               1 year  (-25.7%)
               2 year  (-62.8%)
               3 year  (-57.6%)
               4 year  (-31.8%)
               5 year  (-11.6%)

40. HULK
12/08  #9  - 87,786
=====
12/09  #18 - 53,222  ( +1.1%)
01/10  #19 - 56,738  ( +6.6%)
02/10  #20 - 51,962  ( -8.4%)
03/10  #21 - 50,785  ( -2.3%)
04/10  ---
05/10  #22 - 49,618  ( -2.3%)
06/10  #23 - 50,724  ( +2.2%)
07/10  ---
08/10  #24 - 48,903  ( -3.6%)
09/10  #25 - 46,784  ( -4.3%)
10/10  #26 - 42,934  ( -8.2%)
11/10  #27 - 38,691  ( -9.9%)
12/10  #28 - 34,755  (-10.2%)
             6 mnth  (-31.5%)
             1 year  (-34.7%)
             2 year  (-60.4%)

The November issue of INCREDIBLE had a Tron variant cover, so the month-to-month drop will be slightly exaggerated. It’s also the second part of a CHAOS WAR tie-in arc, though that doesn’t seem to have much effect on sales – presumably because the book already sells better than CHAOS WAR.

HULK suffers a steep drop, and with no variants in the last two months, it seems to be a genuine case of readers jumping.

41. ULTIMATE COMICS AVENGERS
12/09  ---
01/10  ---
02/10  ---
03/10  Vol 1 #5 - 58,098  ( -1.6%)
04/10  Vol 1 #6 - 53,438  ( -8.0%)
04/10  Vol 2 #1 - 64,811  (+21.3%)
05/10  Vol 2 #2 - 52,939  (-18.3%)
06/10  Vol 2 #3 - 50,797  ( -4.0%)
06/10  Vol 2 #4 - 49,606  ( -2.3%)
07/10  Vol 2 #5 - 46,886  ( -5.5%)
08/10  Vol 2 #6 - 46,358  (-11.3%)
08/10  Vol 3 #1 - 53,870  (+16.2%)
09/10  Vol 3 #2 - 43,119  (-20.0%)
10/10  Vol 3 #3 - 38,529  (-10.6%)
11/10  Vol 3 #4 - 36,777  ( -4.5%)
12/10  Vol 3 #5 - 34,483  ( -6.2%)
                  6 mnth  (-30.5%)
                  1 year  (  --- )

42. ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN
12/05  #88  -  72,984
12/06  #103 -  76,251
12/07  #117 -  60,361
12/08  #129 -  51,071
=====
12/09  #5   -  45,849  ( -6.6%)
01/10  #6   -  43,622  ( -4.9%)
02/10  #7   -  42,176  ( -3.3%)
03/10  #8   -  40,967  ( -2.9%)
04/10  #9   -  39,955  ( -2.5%)
05/10  #10  -  39,690  ( -0.7%)
06/10  #11  -  39,149  ( -1.4%)
07/10  #12  -  37,879  ( -3.2%)
08/10  #13  -  36,946  ( -2.5%)
09/10  #14  -  35,776  ( -3.7%)
10/10  #15  -  34,657  ( -3.1%)
11/10  #150 -  40,553  (+17.0%)
12/10  #151 -  33,707  (-16.9%)
               6 mnth  (-13.9%)
               1 year  (-26.5%)
               2 year  (-34.0%)
               3 year  (-44.2%)
               4 year  (-55.8%)
               5 year  (-53.8%)

As expected, the sales boost for ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN #150 is a blip, though underlying sales seem reasonably stable. ULTIMATE COMICS AVENGERS is dropping rather more swiftly, though. Given that Marvel have been struggling of late to attract interest in the Ultimate books, it’ll be very interesting to see what happens to these two with the heavily hyped “Death of Spider-Man” in the spring.

46. ASTONISHING X-MEN: XENOGENESIS
05/10  #1 of 5 - 55,428
06/10  #2 of 5 - 44,953  (-18.9%)
07/10  ---
08/10  ---
09/10  #3 of 5 - 38,951  (-13.4%)
10/10  ---
11/10  ---
12/10  #4 of 5 - 33,100  (-15.0%)
                 6 mnth  (-26.4%)

Shedding readers rather more quickly than you’d hope for at this stage in a miniseries; normally the drops level out as the series goes on. The delays might be a problem, but then again, readers generally seem willing to put up with dodgy schedulingÉ

47. CARNAGE
10/10  #1 of 5 - 47,452
11/10  ---
12/10  #2 of 5 - 32,794  (-30.9%)

A steep second issue drop, even allowing for the fact that the first issue had two variants (compared to one this month).

50. SUPERIOR  [Icon]
10/10  #1 of 6 - 40,842
11/10  #2 of 6 - 34,688  (-15.1%)
12/10  #3 of 6 - 31,952  ( -7.9%)

Another Mark Millar creator-owned project, levelling out nicely.

56. DAKEN: DARK WOLVERINE
12/09  #81 - 48,102  ( -8.2%)
01/10  #82 - 54,838  (+14.0%)
02/10  #83 - 53,958  ( -1.6%)
03/10  #84 - 49,469  ( -8.3%)
04/10  #85 - 47,527  ( -3.9%)
05/10  #86 - 46,315  ( -2.6%)
06/10  #87 - 43,087  ( -7.0%)
07/10  #88 - 42,522  ( -1.3%)
08/10  #89 - 41,409  ( -2.6%)
08/10  #90 - 39,815  ( -3.8%)
09/10  #1  - 48,819  (+22.6%)
10/10  #2  - 38,660  (-22.9%)
11/10  #3  - 32,679  (-15.5%)
12/10  #4  - 30,726  ( -6.0%)
             6 mnth  (-28.7%)
             1 year  (-36.1%)

60. X-23
09/10  #1 - 48,481
10/10  #2 - 35,280  (-27.2%)
11/10  #3 - 31,224  (-11.5%)
12/10  #4 - 29,703  ( -4.9%)

We’ll take X-23 out of sequence, because the same points apply to both these books.

At first glance they look like they’re levelling out. But on closer inspection, it’s a bit more complicated than that. In both cases, the December issue has a variant cover; issue #3 didn’t. So a drop of five or six percent isn’t great.

On the other hand, in both cases, issues #1-3 were tie-ins to the “Wolverine Goes to Hell” story. So one explanation is that the crossover was boosting sales and the book is now returning to its natural level. Nonetheless, considering that DARK WOLVERINE was managing 40K before its relaunch, the fact that it’s already down to 31K is not encouraging.

58. DEADPOOL
12/08  #5  - 46,856
=====
12/09  #18 - 45,914  ( -1.8%)
01/10  ---
02/10  #19 - 44,580  ( -2.9%)
02/10  #20 - 43,347  ( -2.8%)
03/10  #21 - 42,062  ( -3.0%)
04/10  #22 - 43,061  ( +2.4%)
05/10  #23 - 42,761  ( -0.7%)
06/10  #24 - 38,663  ( -9.6%)
07/10  #25 - 36,828  ( -4.7%)
08/10  #26 - 35,595  ( -3.3%)
09/10  #27 - 36,404  ( +2.3%)
10/10  #28 - 34,828  ( -4.3%)
11/10  #29 - 31,350  (-10.0%)
12/10  #30 - 30,488  ( -2.7%)
             6 mnth  (-21.1%)
             1 year  (-33.6%)
             2 year  (-34.9%)

Drifting slowly down. No variants for the last couple of issues, so it’s actually more stable than it looks.

59. HEROES FOR HIRE
12/10  #1 - 30,375

A new ongoing series spinning out of the SHADOWLAND crossover (well, using characters who appeared in SHADOWLAND, at any rate). This has two variant covers, so a 30K debut isn’t too great – NAMOR launched with 37K, for example, and it’s already down below 20K.

62. THUNDERBOLTS
12/05  #16  - 25,084
12/06  #109 - 27,300
12/07  ---
12/08  #127 - 36,378
=====
12/09  #139 - 29,957  ( -4.1%)
01/10  #140 - 28,644  ( -4.4%)
02/10  #141 - 33,948  (+18.5%)
03/10  #142 - 34,132  ( +0.5%)
04/10  #143 - 35,656  ( +4.5%)
05/10  #144 - 33,276  ( -6.7%)
06/10  #145 - 31,999  ( -3.8%)
07/10  #146 - 31,501  ( -1.6%)
08/10  #147 - 31,252  ( -0.8%)
09/10  #148 - 32,190  ( +3.0%)
10/10  #149 - 30,580  ( -5.0%)
11/10  #150 - 31,704  ( +3.7%)
12/10  #151 - 27,943  (-11.9%)
              6 mnth  (-12.7%)
              1 year  ( -6.7%)
              2 year  (-23.2%)
              3 year  (  --- )
              4 year  ( +2.4%)
              5 year  (+11.4%)

The book finally drifts back to pre-SIEGE sales levels, after a very solid 2010.

63. AVENGERS ACADEMY
06/10  #1 - 45,890  (+20.3%)
07/10  #2 - 38,061  (-17.1%)
08/10  #3 - 35,629  ( -6.4%)
09/10  #4 - 31,212  (-12.4%)
10/10  #5 - 31,272  ( +0.2%)
11/10  #6 - 25,977  (-16.9%)
12/10  #7 - 27,774  ( +6.9%)
            6 mnth  (-39.5%)

Two variants this month, compared to one in November. I’d like to hope that there’s a genuine sales increase in there as well, since I think this is an underappreciated title, but we’ll see next month.

64. ULTIMATE COMICS DOOM
12/10  #1 of 4 - 27,469

Once again, the Ultimate spin-off minis don’t appear to be generating a huge amount of interest.

65. S.H.I.E.L.D.
04/10  #1 - 44,543
05/10  ---
06/10  #2 - 37,595  (-15.6%)
07/10  ---
08/10  #3 - 33,335  (-11.3%)
09/10  ---
10/10  #4 - 32,495  ( -2.5%)
11/10  ---
12/10  #5 - 27,133  (-16.5%)
            6 mnth  (-27.8%)

An additional variant on the previous issue skews the trend, but nonetheless S.H.I.E.L.D. is clearly still shedding readers. On the other hand, for a book which isn’t really a conventional Marvel Universe superhero title and doesn’t have big name characters attached, it’s doing remarkably well. Marvel’s response, not unreasonably, is to declare issue #6 the end of the first volume, presumably with a view to promoting issue #7 (or vol 2 #1, more likely) as a jumping on point – perhaps hoping to play off any attention created by writer Jonathan Hickman’s involvement in the big FANTASTIC FOUR event.

67. X-FACTOR
12/05  #2   - 52,705
12/06  #14  - 40,208
12/07  #26  - 74,699
12/08  #38  - 34,425
=====
12/09  #200 - 36,577  (+21.4%)
01/10  #201 - 29,732  (-18.7%)
02/10  #202 - 30,981  ( +4.2%)
03/10  #203 - 28,924  ( -6.6%)
04/10  #204 - 40,534  (+40.1%)
05/10  #205 - 41,745  ( +3.0%)
06/10  #206 - 40,981  ( -1.8%)
07/10  #207 - 32,082  (-21.7%)
08/10  #208 - 30,095  ( -6.2%)
09/10  #209 - 29,626  ( -1.6%)
10/10  #210 - 27,548  ( -7.0%)
11/10  #211 - 26,632  ( -3.3%)
12/10  #212 - 26,443  ( -0.7%)
              6 mnth  (-35.5%)
              1 year  (-27.7%)
              2 year  (-23.2%)
              3 year  (-64.6%)
              4 year  (-34.2%)
              5 year  (-49.8%)

Rock solid, which is always nice to see.

69. CHAOS WAR
12/08  Herc #124 - 36,855
=====
12/09  #139      - 23,591  (  -6.1%)
01/10  #140      - 23,244  (  -1.5%)
02/10  #141      - 24,539  (  +5.6%)
03/10  Fall #1   - 23,036  (  -6.1%)
04/10  #2 of 2   - 20,215  ( -12.2%)
05/10  Prince #1 - 20,373  (  +0.8%)
06/10  #2 of 4   - 17,068  ( -16.2%)
07/10  #3 of 4   - 15,667  (  -8.2%)
08/10  #4 of 4   - 17,137  (  +9.4%)
09/10  ---
10/10  Chaos #1  - 34,509  (+101.4%)
10/10  #2 of 5   - 29,375  ( -14.9%)
11/10  #3 of 5   - 28,630  (  -2.5%)
12/10  #4 of 5   - 26,313  (  -8.1%)
                   6 mnth  ( +54.2%)
                   1 year  ( +11.5%)
                   2 year  ( -28.6%)

89. CHAOS WAR: X-MEN
12/10  #1 of 2 - 20,156

109. CHAOS WAR: DEAD AVENGERS
11/10  #1 of 3 - 20,312
12/10  #2 of 3 - 17,111  (-15.8%)

128,135. CHAOS WAR ONE-SHOTS
11/10  Chaos King   - 17,578
11/10  Alpha Flight - 17,164
12/10  Ares         - 15,232
12/10  God Squad    - 14,627

CHAOS WAR is still comfortably outselling the previous HERCULES-related titles, so promoting this story arc as a free-standing event appears to be working. The spin-off minis (which also include CHAOS WAR: THOR, listed separately with the other Thor books above) lag some way behind, and may be stretching things a bit.

71. ASTONISHING SPIDER-MAN/WOLVERINE
05/10  #1 of 5 - 56,518
06/10  ---
07/10  #2 of 5 - 34,704  (-38.6%)
08/10  ---
09/10  #3 of 5 - 29,455  (-15.1%)
10/10  ---
11/10  ---
12/10  #4 of 5 - 25,580  (-13.2%)

Not holding up too well, despite having a strong creative team (Jason Aaron and Adam Kubert). I’m not sure these “Astonishing” minis are working quite as Marvel might have hoped.

75. NEW MUTANTS
12/09  #8  - 32,240  ( -3.3%)
01/10  #9  - 30,572  ( -5.2%)
02/10  #10 - 30,807  ( +0.8%)
03/10  #11 - 36,629  (+18.9%)
04/10  #12 - 49,591  (+35.4%)
05/10  #13 - 54,169  ( +9.2%)
06/10  #14 - 53,926  ( -0.4%)
07/10  #15 - 35,426  (-34.3%)
08/10  #16 - 31,989  ( -9.7%)
09/10  #17 - 31,684  ( -1.0%)
10/10  #18 - 27,027  (-14.7%)
11/10  #19 - 25,440  ( -5.9%)
12/10  #20 - 24,416  ( -4.0%)
             6 mnth  (-54.7%)
             1 year  (-24.3%)

Still shedding readers, but sales ought to be significantly boosted by the upcoming crossover with X-MEN LEGACY.

77. SECRET WARRIORS
12/09  #11 - 30,748  ( -2.6%)
01/10  #12 - 29,894  ( -2.8%)
02/10  #13 - 30,843  ( +3.2%)
03/10  #14 - 28,580  ( -7.3%)
04/10  #15 - 29,669  ( +3.8%)
05/10  #16 - 29,340  ( -1.1%)
06/10  #17 - 28,017  ( -4.5%)
07/10  ---
08/10  #18 - 27,415  ( -2.1%)
08/10  #19 - 26,902  ( -1.9%)
09/10  #20 - 25,947  ( -3.5%)
10/10  #21 - 24,748  ( -4.6%)
11/10  #22 - 24,059  ( -2.8%)
12/10  #23 - 23,078  ( -4.1%)
             6 mnth  (-17.6%)
             1 year  (-24.9%)

Wrapping up in the next few months when the storyline finishes. (It hasn’t been solicited for April.)

84. SPIDER-GIRL
11/10  #1 - 23,926
12/10  #2 - 21,606  (-9.7%)

The good news is that you’d normally expect a much bigger drop on the second issue – particularly since the first issue had three covers. So while the sales aren’t high, they may be unusually stable.

87. DEADPOOLMAX  [Max]
10/10  #1 - 29,176
11/10  #2 - 23,382  (-19.9%)
12/10  #3 - 20,990  (-10.2%)

Levelling out, though 10% is on the high end for a third issue. Still, it is outselling the two cancelled Deadpool books.

88,91,100,105,108. WHAT IF?
12/10  #200                        - 20,436
12/10  Wolverine: Father           - 19,867
12/10  Spider-Man                  - 18,810
12/10  Dark Reign                  - 17,902
12/10  Iron Man: Demon in an Armor - 17,616

The annual What If? one-shots. Last year they sold in the range of 21-25K, so we’re down significantly.

92. DARK TOWER
12/07  ---
12/08  Treachery #4      -  53,735
=====
12/09  Jericho Hill #1   -  30,756  ( -5.5%)
12/09  Jericho Hill #2   -  28,350  ( -7.8%)
01/10  ---
02/10  Jericho Hill #3   -  27,215  ( -4.0%)
02/10  Jericho Hill #4   -  26,336  ( -3.2%)
03/10  ---
04/10  Jericho Hill #5   -  25,896  ( -1.7%)
05/10  Gunslinger #1     -  26,275  ( +1.5%)
06/10  Gunslinger #2     -  24,024  ( -8.6%)
07/10  Gunslinger #3     -  22,744  ( -5.3%)
08/10  Gunslinger #4     -  21,820  ( -4.1%)
09/10  Gunslinger #5     -  21,323  ( -2.3%)
10/10  ---
11/10  ---
12/10  Little Sisters #1 -  19,807  ( -7.1%)
                            6 mnth  (-17.6%)
                            1 year  (-35.6%)
                            2 year  (-63.1%)

The full title is DARK TOWER: THE GUNSLINGER – THE LITTLE SISTERS OF ELURIA. DARK TOWER is no longer getting even a token bump for the first issue of each miniseries.

102,121. WIDOWMAKER
06/10  H&M #1  - 27,552
07/10  #2      - 20,531  (-25.5%)
08/10  #3      - 17,870  (-13.0%)
09/10  #4      - 16,405  ( -8.2%)
10/10  #5      - 15,337  ( -6.5%)
11/10  #6      - 14,217  ( -7.3%)
12/10  WM #1   - 18,245  (+28.3%)
12/10  #2 of 4 - 16,050  (-12.0%)
                 6 mnth  (-41.7%)

This is a curious one. “Widowmaker” was originally going to be a two-month crossover between HAWKEYE AND MOCKINGBIRD #7-8 and BLACK WIDOW #9-10. Both of those titles have been cancelled, so the story is now appearing as a four-issue mini – though still with alternating creative teams.

Following this series, HAWKEYE & MOCKINGBIRD writer Jim McCann is going on to do another Hawkeye miniseries. So for present purposes I’m going to treat this as part of a continuing Hawkeye/Mockingbird feature. Both books sold around 14-15K last month, so it doesn’t make a huge amount of difference. The crossover does deliver some sales increase, presumably because the books were different enough in tone to attract distinct audiences.

107. NAMOR: THE FIRST MUTANT
08/10  #1 - 37,399
09/10  #2 - 23,880  (-36.1%)
10/10  ---
11/10  #3 - 20,541  (-14.0%)
12/10  #4 - 17,730  (-13.7%)

Dropping rather too quickly for comfort, four issues in.

111. DEADPOOL CORPS
03/10  Prelude #1 - 37,011
03/10  #2 of 5    - 32,024  (-13.5%)
03/10  #3 of 5    - 31,065  ( -3.0%)
03/10  #4 of 5    - 30,254  ( -2.6%)
03/10  #5 of 5    - 29,037  ( -4.0%)
04/10  Corps #1   - 39,466  (+35.9%)
05/10  #2         - 28,236  (-28.5%)
06/10  #3         - 26,251  ( -7.0%)
07/10  #4         - 24,476  ( -6.8%)
08/10  #5         - 22,887  ( -6.5%)
09/10  #6         - 21,888  ( -4.4%)
10/10  #7         - 19,644  (-10.3%)
11/10  #8         - 18,267  ( -7.0%)
12/10  #9         - 16,735  ( -8.4%)
                    6 mnth  (-36.3%)

Cancelled with issue #12.

113. OSBORN
11/10  #1 of 5 - 23,152
12/10  #2 of 5 - 16,704  (-27.9%)

I remain a little surprised that this isn’t doing better, given the profile that Norman Osborn’s had over the last couple of years. (It’s a good book, too.)

115. PUNISHER: IN THE BLOOD
12/06  ---
12/07  #14     - 38,471
12/08  #26     - 22,243
=====
12/09  #12     - 24,985  ( +0.3%)
01/10  #13     - 23,734  ( -5.0%)
02/10  #14     - 23,455  ( -1.8%)
03/10  #15     - 22,285  ( -5.0%)
04/10  #16     - 23,047  ( +3.4%)
05/10  ---
06/10  #17     - 22,378  ( -2.9%)
06/10  #18     - 19,605  (-12.4%)
07/10  #19     - 24,947  (+27.2%)
08/10  #20     - 24,304  ( -2.6%)
09/10  #21     - 20,036  (-17.6%)
10/10  ---
11/10  #1 of 5 - 20,028  ( -0.0%)
12/10  #2 of 5 - 16,608  (-17.1%)
                 6 mnth  (-15.3%)
                 1 year  (-33.5%)
                 2 year  (-25.3%)
                 3 year  (-56.8%)

Still losing readers. The miniseries ends in March, and nothing has been solicited for April; hopefully Marvel will at least give the character a rest to build interest, before trying to relaunch him yet again.

116. INCOGNITO: BAD INFLUENCES
10/10  #1 of 4 - 20,316
11/10  ---
12/10  #2 of 4 - 16,368  (-19.4%)

Fairly normal second issue drop.

118. INVADERS NOW!
09/10  #1 of 5 - 33,696
10/10  #2 of 5 - 21,137  (-37.3%)
11/10  #3 of 5 - 18,366  (-13.1%)
12/10  #4 of 5 - 16,106  (-12.3%)

Not holding up very well, particularly when you consider that every issue of this series has variant covers.

123. X-MEN: TO SERVE AND PROTECT
09/10  Vampires #1   - 25,654
10/10  #2 of 2       - 23,362  ( -8.9%)
11/10  Serve #1 of 4 - 19,273  (-17.5%)
12/10  #2 of 4       - 15,976  (-17.1%)

The X-Men anthology titles are similarly struggling to hold on to readers. As a second-issue drop, it’s not too bad, but the series is miles below the sales of the preceding vampire anthology.

126. DEADPOOL TEAM-UP
11/09  #899 - 39,584  (-22.9%)
12/09  #898 - 36,308  ( -8.3%)
01/10  #897 - 32,671  (-10.0%)
02/10  #896 - 30,119  ( -7.8%)
03/10  #895 - 28,573  ( -5.1%)
04/10  #894 - 28,835  ( +0.9%)
05/10  #893 - 26,578  ( -7.8%)
06/10  #892 - 23,697  (-10.8%)
07/10  #891 - 22,439  ( -5.3%)
08/10  #890 - 21,279  ( -5.2%)
09/10  #889 - 19,917  ( -6.4%)
10/10  #888 - 18,394  ( -7.6%)
11/10  #887 - 17,677  ( -3.9%)
12/10  #886 - 15,626  (-11.6%)
              6 mnth  (-34.1%)
              1 year  (-60.5%)

Cancelled with issue #883.

133. SHE-HULKS
11/10  #1 - 18,616
12/10  #2 - 14,673  (-21.2%)

Cut back to a four-issue mini before the first issue came out.

139. DEADPOOL: PULP
09/10  #1 of 4 - 20,965
10/10  #2 of 4 - 16,782  (-20.0%)
11/10  #3 of 4 - 15,009  (-10.6%)
12/10  #4 of 4 - 14,085  ( -6.2%)

To be fair, for an out of continuity book, this isn’t bad at all.

142, 274. OFFICIAL HANDBOOK
02/10  A to Z Update #1 of 5 -  5,406
03/10  Deadpool Corps        - 21,900  (+305.1%)
04/10  Iron Manual Mark 3    -  9,456  ( -56.8%)
05/10  Avengers Assemble #1  - 15,113  ( +59.8%)
06/10  A to Z Update #2 of 5 -  5,312  ( -64.9%)
07/10  X-Men: Phoenix Force  -  9,566  ( +80.1%)
08/10  A to Z Update #3 of 5 -  4,962  ( -48.1%)
09/10  Heroic Age: Heroes    - 11,224  (+126.2%)
10/10  A to Z Update #4 of 5 -  4,990  ( -55.5%)
11/10  Heroic Age: Villains  -  9,294  ( +86.3%)
12/10  A to Z Update #5 of 5 -  4,808  ( -48.3%)
12/10  Heroic Age: X-Men     - 13,789  (+186.8%)
                               6 mnth  (+159.6%)

The HEROIC AGE profile one-shots have been doing rather better than the HANDBOOK issues they’ve been interspersed with. That most likely reflects the fact that the HANDBOOK issues are miscellanies, which tend not to do as well as the themed issues.

150. IRON MAN LEGACY
04/10  #1 - 48,956
05/10  #2 - 29,175  (-40.4%)
06/10  #3 - 23,340  (-20.0%)
07/10  #4 - 20,142  (-13.7%)
08/10  #5 - 17,773  (-11.8%)
09/10  #6 - 15,949  (-10.3%)
10/10  #7 - 14,882  ( -6.7%)
11/10  #8 - 13,686  ( -8.0%)
12/10  #9 - 12,483  ( -8.8%)
            6 mnth  (-46.5%)

Hasn’t been solicited past issue #11, which is the end of a storyline and a natural finishing point.

152. TASKMASTER
09/10  #1 of 4 - 18,550
10/10  #2 of 4 - 14,553  (-21.5%)
11/10  #3 of 4 - 13,127  ( -9.8%)
12/10  #4 of 4 - 12,350  ( -5.9%)

Not bad numbers in the current climate, considering it’s a villain book.

162,168. X-MEN FOREVER
12/09  #13  - 18,870  ( -3.4%)
12/09  #14  - 18,376  ( -2.6%)
01/10  #15  - 17,665  ( -3.9%)
01/10  #16  - 17,290  ( -2.1%)
02/10  #17  - 17,873  ( +3.4%)
02/10  #18  - 16,464  ( -7.9%)
03/10  #19  - 16,183  ( -1.7%)
03/10  #20  - 15,990  ( -1.2%)
04/10  #21  - 15,530  ( -2.9%)
04/10  #22  - 15,305  ( -1.4%)
05/10  #23  - 15,045  ( -1.7%)
05/10  #24  - 14,940  ( -0.7%)
06/10  GS#1 - 15,039  ( +0.7%)
06/10  #1   - 16,094  ( +7.0%)
06/10  #2   - 14,933  ( -7.2%)
07/10  #3   - 14,151  ( -5.2%)
07/10  #4   - 13,835  ( -2.2%)
08/10  #5   - 13,632  ( -1.5%)
08/10  #6   - 13,351  ( -2.1%)
09/10  #7   - 12,869  ( -3.6%)
09/10  #8   - 12,753  ( -0.9%)
10/10  #9   - 12,260  ( -3.9%)
10/10  #10  - 12,064  (-16.0%)
11/10  #11  - 12,018  ( -0.4%)
11/10  #12  - 11,756  ( -2.2%)
12/10  #13  - 11,419  ( -2.9%)
12/10  #14  - 11,192  ( -2.0%)
              6 mnth  (-25.1%)
              1 year  (-40.7%)

Cancelled with #16.

164. I AM AN AVENGER
09/10  #1 of 5 - 20,922
10/10  #2 of 5 - 14,882  (-28.9%)
11/10  #3 of 5 - 12,277  (-17.5%)
12/10  #4 of 5 - 11,242  ( -8.4%)

Another struggling anthology title.

177. BULLSEYE: PERFECT GAME
11/10  #1 of 2 - 15,462
12/10  #2 of 2 - 10,609  (-31.4%)

Not much sign of interest here.

179. OZMA OF OZ
12/08  #1 of 8 - 25,116
=====
12/09  #2 of 8 - 15,783  (-37.7%)
01/10  #3 of 8 - 14,216  (-10.0%)
02/10  #4 of 8 - 13,364  ( -6.0%)
03/10  ---
04/10  #5 of 8 - 12,922  ( -3.3%)
05/10  #6 of 8 - 12,366  ( -4.3%)
06/10  #7 of 8 - 12,200  ( -1.3%)
07/10  #8 of 8 - 12,152  ( -0.4%)
08/10  ---
09/10  ---
10/10  ---
11/10  #1 of 8 - 13,222  ( +8.8%)
12/10  #2 of 8 - 10,419  (-21.2%)
                 6 mnth  (-14.6%)
                 1 year  (-34.0%)
                 2 year  (-58.5%)

Drifting slowly down.

181. STRANGE TALES 2  [Max]
10/10  #1 of 3 - 11,800
11/10  #2 of 3 -  9,960  (-15.6%)
12/10  #3 of 3 - 10,140  ( +1.8%)

Modest sales, but at least steady.

182. ANT-MAN & WASP
11/10  #1 of 3 - 14,975
12/10  #2 of 3 - 10,044  (-32.9%)

That’s a disappointingly steep second issue drop. But Marvel were pushing their luck trying to get a spin-off miniseries out of the Avengers’ D-title.

185. NEW MUTANTS FOREVER
08/10  #1 of 5 - 16,784
09/10  #2 of 5 - 13,778  (-17.9%)
10/10  #3 of 5 - 11,910  (-13.6%)
11/10  #4 of 5 - 10,515  (-11.7%)
12/10  #5 of 5 -  9,878  ( -6.1%)

Levelled out as it went on, at least, and only a couple of thousand behind its thematic parent title X-MEN FOREVER.

196. KLAWS OF THE PANTHER
12/05  #11        - 29,327
12/06  #23        - 54,762
12/07  #33        - 25,906
12/08  ---
=====
12/09  #11        - 17,989  (  -6.0%)
01/10  #12        - 17,881  (  -1.0%)
02/10  Doomwar #1 - 43,241  (+141.8%)
03/10  #2 of 6    - 30,555  ( -29.3%)
04/10  #3 of 6    - 27,859  (  -8.9%)
05/10  #4 of 6    - 28,307  (  +1.6%)
06/10  #5 of 6    - 26,041  (  -8.0%)
07/10  ---
08/10  #6 of 6    - 24,797  (  -4.8%)
09/10  ---
10/10  Klaws #1   - 16,973  ( -31.6%)
10/10  #2 of 4    - 12,960  ( -23.6%)
11/10  #3 of 4    - 10,356  ( -20.1%)
12/10  #4 of 4    -  9,145  ( -11.7%)
                    6 mnth  ( -64.9%)
                    1 year  ( -49.2%)
                    2 year  (   --- )
                    3 year  ( -64.7%)
                    4 year  ( -83.3%)
                    5 year  ( -68.8%)

The end of the line for this incarnation of BLACK PANTHER (which is no surprise, with sales like that). But yet another relaunch has taken over DAREDEVIL’s numbering, as seen already. Marvel just don’t give up with this character.

199. IRON MAN: RAPTURE
11/10  #1 of 4 - 12,479
11/10  #2 of 4 - 11,239  ( -9.9%)
12/10  #3 of 4 -  8,758  (-22.1%)

One for the Marvel Universe completists.

And from this point down, it’s the usual mix of all-ages books, licensed material, digital reprints and so forth:

208. HALO
12/09  Blood Line #1 - 10,551
01/10  #2 of 5       -  9,172  (-13.1%)
02/10  #3 of 5       -  8,793  ( -4.1%)
03/10  #4 of 5       -  8,683  ( -1.3%)
04/10  ---
05/10  #5 of 5       -  8,510  ( -2.0%)
06/10  ---
07/10  ---
08/10  ---
09/10  Boot Camp #1  - 10,715  (+26.0%)
10/10  #2 of 4       -  9,056  (-15.5%)
11/10  ---
12/10  #3 of 4       -  8,567  ( -5.4%)
                       6 mnth  (  --- )
                       1 year  (-18.8%)

230. WOMEN OF MARVEL
11/10  #1 of 2 - 8,145
12/10  #2 of 2 - 7,334  (-10.0%)

241. AVENGERS: EARTH'S MIGHTIEST HEROES
11/10  #1 of 4 - 7,934
12/10  #2 of 4 - 6,540  (-17.6%)

249. TRON: ORIGINAL MOVIE ADAPTATION
11/10  #1 of 2 - 6,854
12/10  #2 of 2 - 6,091  (-11.1%)

262. AVENGERS VS PET AVENGERS
02/10  Tails        - 8,214  (-27.6%)
03/10  Unleashed #1 - 8,554  ( +4.1%)
04/10  #2 of 4      - 6,767  (-20.9%)
05/10  #3 of 4      - 6,339  ( -6.3%)
06/10  #4 of 4      - 6,166  ( -2.7%)
07/10  Dogs/Summer  - 5,142  (-16.6%)
08/10  ---
09/10  ---
10/10  #1 of 4      - 7,097  (+38.0%)
11/10  #2 of 4      - 5,871  (-17.3%)
12/10  #3 of 4      - 5,372  ( -8.5%)
                     6 mnth  (-12.9%)

266. SPIDER-MAN  [Marvel Adventures]
12/05  #10 - 6,391
12/06  #22 - 6,396
12/07  #34 - 6,115
12/08  #46 - 4,851
=====
12/09  #58 - 4,352  (  -3.3%)
01/10  #59 - 4,315  (  -0.9%)
02/10  #60 - 4,212  (  -2.4%)
03/10  #61 - 4,200  (  -2.8%)
04/10  #1  - 9,770  (+132.6%)
05/10  #2  - 7,709  ( -21.1%)
06/10  #3  - 7,200  (  -6.6%)
07/10  #4  - 6,347  ( -11.8%)
08/10  #5  - 6,202  (  -2.3%)
09/10  #6  - 5,779  (  -6.8%)
10/10  ---
11/10  #7  - 5,603  (  -3.0%)
11/10  #8  - 5,269  (  -6.0%)
12/10  #9  - 5,116  (  -2.9%)
            6 mnth  ( -28.9%)
            1 year  ( +17.6%)
            2 year  (  +5.5%)
            3 year  ( -16.3%)
            4 year  ( -20.0%)
            5 year  ( -19.9%)

267. SUPER HERO SQUAD
12/09  #4  - 4,132  (  -5.7%)
01/10  #1  - 9,709  (+135.0%)
02/10  #2  - 5,691  ( -41.4%)
03/10  #3  - 5,399  (  -5.1%)
04/10  #4  - 5,822  (  +7.8%)
05/10  #5  - 5,639  (  -3.1%)
06/10  #6  - 6,029  (  +6.9%)
07/10  #7  - 5,328  ( -11.6%)
08/10  #8  - 5,358  (  +0.6%)
09/10  #9  - 5,304  (  -1.0%)
10/10  #10 - 5,139  (  -3.1%)
11/10  #11 - 4,977  (  -3.2%)
12/10  #12 - 5,054  (  +1.5%)
            6 mnth  ( -16.2%)
            1 year  ( +22.3%)

Final issue of the series, but there are some one-shots to come.

Three titles missed the top 300 altogether: MARVELMAN FAMILY’S FINEST #6, SUPER HEROES #9, and OFFICIAL INDEX #8, all with estimated sales below 3,811.

6 month comparisons
===================

+159.6% - Official Handbook
+ 75.8% - Wolverine
+ 54.2% - Chaos War/Hercules
+  4.2% - Fantastic Four
-  0.3% - Amazing Spider-Man
-  4.7% - Daredevil/Black Panther
- 10.0% - Uncanny X-Force
- 12.7% - Thunderbolts
- 12.9% - Pet Avengers
- 13.9% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
- 14.6% - Oz
- 15.3% - Punisher
- 16.2% - Super Hero Squad
- 17.6% - Secret Warriors
- 17.6% - Dark Tower
- 19.1% - Captain America
- 19.9% - Invincible Iron Man
- 20.0% - Thor
- 21.1% - Deadpool
- 25.1% - X-Men Forever
- 26.4% - Astonishing X-Men: Xenogenesis
- 26.7% - Uncanny X-Men
- 27.8% - S.H.I.E.L.D.
- 28.7% - Daken: Dark Wolverine
- 28.9% - Spider-Man [Marvel Adventures]
- 29.7% - Incredible Hulks
- 30.5% - Ultimate Comics Avengers
- 30.6% - Secret Avengers
- 31.5% - Hulk
- 32.1% - Avengers
- 34.1% - Deadpool Team-Up
- 35.5% - X-Factor
- 36.3% - X-Men Legacy
- 36.3% - Deadpool Corps
- 39.5% - Avengers Academy
- 41.7% - Hawkeye & Mockingbird/Widowmaker
- 46.5% - Iron Man Legacy
- 47.4% - New Avengers
- 54.7% - New Mutants
- 64.9% - Klaws of the Panther

1 year comparisons
==================

+ 57.8% - Wolverine
+ 22.3% - Super Hero Squad
+ 17.6% - Spider-Man [Marvel Adventures]
+ 11.5% - Chaos War/Hercules
+  7.1% - Uncanny X-Force
-  0.8% - Fantastic Four
-  6.2% - Amazing Spider-Man
-  6.7% - Thunderbolts
-  6.8% - New Avengers
- 16.0% - X-Men Legacy
- 16.2% - Invincible Iron Man
- 18.7% - Uncanny X-Men
- 18.8% - Halo
- 24.3% - New Mutants
- 24.9% - Secret Warriors
- 25.7% - Incredible Hulks
- 26.5% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
- 26.7% - Thor
- 27.7% - X-Factor
- 33.5% - Punisher
- 33.6% - Deadpool
- 34.0% - Oz
- 34.7% - Hulk
- 35.6% - Dark Tower
- 36.1% - Daken: Dark Wolverine
- 40.2% - Daredevil/Black Panther
- 40.7% - X-Men Forever
- 49.2% - Klaws of the Panther
- 53.3% - Captain America
- 60.5% - Deadpool Team-Up


2 year comparisons
==================

+  5.5% - Spider-Man [Marvel Adventures]
-  5.6% - X-Force
- 18.7% - Amazing Spider-Man
- 23.2% - Thunderbolts
- 23.2% - X-Factor
- 25.3% - Daredevil/Black Panther
- 25.3% - Punisher
- 26.1% - Invincible Iron Man
- 27.8% - Captain America
- 28.6% - Chaos War/Hercules
- 29.5% - Fantastic Four
- 31.0% - X-Men Legacy
- 32.2% - Uncanny X-Men
- 34.0% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
- 34.9% - Deadpool
- 38.8% - Thor
- 39.8% - Captain America
- 46.6% - Wolverine
- 58.5% - Oz
- 60.4% - Hulk
- 62.8% - Incredible Hulks
- 63.1% - Dark Tower


3 year comparisons
==================

+  7.9% - Iron Man
- 16.3% - Spider-Man [Marvel Adventures]
- 16.4% - Wolverine
- 24.5% - Daredevil/Black Panther
- 25.7% - Fantastic Four
- 35.7% - Avengers
- 44.2% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
- 45.2% - Captain America
- 45.4% - Uncanny X-Men
- 55.0% - Amazing Spider-Man
- 55.5% - Thor
- 56.8% - Punisher
- 57.3% - X-Men Legacy
- 57.6% - Incredible Hulks
- 64.6% - X-Factor
- 64.7% - Klaws of the Panther


4 year comparisons
==================

+  2.4% - Thunderbolts
- 20.0% - Spider-Man [Marvel Adventures]
- 31.0% - Daredevil/Black Panther
- 31.8% - Incredible Hulks
- 33.0% - Wolverine
- 34.2% - X-Factor
- 35.1% - Uncanny X-Men
- 42.9% - Iron Man
- 44.7% - New Avengers
- 46.5% - X-Men Legacy
- 55.1% - Fantastic Four
- 55.8% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
- 83.3% - Klaws of the Panther


5 year comparisons
==================

+ 11.4% - Thunderbolts
-  4.6% - Captain America
- 11.6% - Incredible Hulks
- 18.5% - Fantastic Four
- 19.9% - Spider-Man [Marvel Adventures]
- 25.3% - Wolverine
- 29.4% - Amazing Spider-Man
- 31.4% - Uncanny X-Men
- 34.4% - Daredevil/Black Panther
- 45.4% - New Avengers
- 49.8% - X-Factor
- 51.8% - X-Men Legacy
- 53.8% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
- 68.8% - Klaws of the Panther

1 COMMENT

  1. A correction on NAMOR: You’ve actually jumped from issue #3 to 5 — 3 and 4 both shipped in November (#3 slipped from the last week of October). Issue #4 had estimated sales in the neighborhood of 19,500 copies. So while I agree the 13% drop isn’t great, it’s actually spread out over two issues.

    Something looks wrong with the tallies on the last two issues of INVINCIBLE IRON MAN, too.

  2. Thanks for posting these, as usual. No comments on the numbers themselves, but just a correction: Secret Warriors #26 was solicited for April; I believe #27 (for, likely, May) is the final issue.

  3. RE: Avengers Academy

    “Two variants this month, compared to one in November. I’d like to hope that there’s a genuine sales increase in there as well, since I think this is an underappreciated title, but we’ll see next month.”

    Paul,

    Have you ever found any correlation on sales increases or decreases on the first issue of what would be the second collection?

    It’s possible Avengers Academy is experiencing a reverse of the common “waiting-for-the-trade”.

    For example, the first few issues of Avengers Academy were re-released in periodical form, indicating demand on the retail level. The first hardcover was solicited for issues 1-6.

    Therefore #7 would be the first issue for people who liked the book and wanted to pick it up monthly.

  4. People, people, people! THIS is why comic readers drive me mad at times! Jeff Parker and Gabriel Hardman take over the horrific (Red) Hulk book (a title I would have NEVER thought I’d touch with a three thousand foot pole!) and finally, after all the complaining about Jeff Loeb’s lack of writing skills, work to create a pretty amazing book here (first time I’ve bought Hulk in YEARS!) And…

    sales keep falling. WHAT is wrong with fanboys and quality books? People scream when they get cancelled, but no one buys anything but the dreck… sigh.

    09/10 #25 – 46,784 ( -4.3%)
    10/10 #26 – 42,934 ( -8.2%)
    11/10 #27 – 38,691 ( -9.9%)
    12/10 #28 – 34,755 (-10.2%)

    Prove me wrong! Buy Hulk! This creative team deserves our support, they’re working really hard to give us a great, quality, well thought out and fun book!

  5. Nathan: It’s pretty simple. Loeb stinks, but he always works with great artists, Ed McGuiness being one of them. People want to see Ed’s art, so they bought Hulk. Ed leaves, they leave. Marvel needs to do a better job matching up name artists with great writers (no slight to Gabriel Hardman, he’s a fantastic artist, just not a name yet).

  6. I can’t stand Ed McGuiness’ art. LOL (with no actual slight towards the guy, I know he’s talented, just not my cup of tea.) Gabriel on the other hand is amazing!

    I’m actually SKIPPING issue #30 of Hulk, BECAUSE McGuiness is doing that one. Ha! (But I’m always in the minority, so ah well…)

  7. Stuart: Thanks, I’ll look at that.

    Steve: I don’t think I’ve ever seen any obvious signs of that, and I’d be surprised if it was happening to any great extent. It’s a rather awkward way of jumping aboard a title, since the collected edition didn’t ship until the end of January. I think the way collected editions are scheduled creates a fairly powerful disincentive against using them to choose a jumping-on point.

  8. I think Marvel are making a mistake having Black Panter take over Daredevil’s book. Especially when BP is only selling 9k on his own title. I forsee it going very badly! ;) I just dont get it. It didn’t work with the Hulk or Wolverine titles (or were they happy with those results?).

    Adam Kubert has taken 8 months to produce 4 issues? That does not give my high hopes for his equally lethargic brother. And his 5 issue Flashpoint series……

  9. Looks like the Invincible Iron Man percentage is negative where it should be positive. The unexpected drop wasn’t a drop after all.

    Paul, I’ve done that once–when I started buying Blue Beetle, I picked the first issue of what would be the next collection to start, so that I could easily buy the TPs to catch up. But yeah, it’s a rarity.

    James, Astonishing Wolverine & Spider-Man was always solicited to be bimonthly, so Adam’s on schedule. And while sales on Incredible Hercules dropped below Incredible Hulk numbers immediately, they stayed higher than Hercules would normally have been for a long time. If the same happens for Panther, I expect Marvel will be happy.

  10. A few random comments on things.

    * If the Namor numbers are bad now, wait until the title gets further distanced from the initial “Curse Of The Mutants” tie-in. I bought the first four issues since they tied in, but jumped ship(no pun intended) with 5. I suspect a lot of other readers will do the same.

    * I also predict the numbers for Black Panther: Man Without Fear will start to take a nosedive once people start adjusting their pull lists. I bought the book for Matt Murdock and dropped it from my holds after issue 513.

    *I picked up the first issue of Avengers Academy, since it was the natural successor to Avengers: The Initiative. The book left me cold so I dropped it after that initial issue.

  11. Hulk sales are low because people just don’t care for Red Hulk, especially now that the ridiculous mystery was revealed.

    Heroes for Hire looks like it will be done by issue #12. Which is too bad because it’s a good book.

  12. >Wasn’t Generation Hope #2 the book Marvel double-shipped?

    Yes, I believe Marvel overshipped #2. Based on Diamond’s January 2011 order index (27.72), I estimate sales for #3 are about 17,000 copies. Given Marvel’s normal solicitation schedule, I anticipate #8 will be the final issue.

    LL

  13. >Heroes for Hire…it’s a good book.

    Yes, I enjoyed the last page “reveals” from both issue #1 and #2. I believe Marvel is reprinting #1 “free” with the February 2011 issue of Avengers. Perhaps that will help increase readers’ interest in the series.

    LL

  14. >>January’s [Generation Hope] issue #3 also shows up on the chart at number 228, with orders of 7,395 – presumably due to a distribution quirk over Christmas.

    >I estimate sales for [Generation Hope] #3 are about 17,000 copies.

    I forgot about the 7,395 copies from December. Looks like total sales for #3 (combining December 2010 and January 2011 figures) are approximately 24,395.

    LL

  15. 28. INVINCIBLE IRON MAN
    12/05 —
    12/06 #14 – 73,388
    12/07 #24 – 38,834
    12/08 #8 – 56,708
    =====
    12/09 #21 – 49,986 (-18.9%)
    01/10 #22 – 49,130 ( -1.7%)
    02/10 #23 – 50,027 ( +1.8%)
    03/10 #24 – 49,239 ( -1.6%)
    04/10 #25 – 73,694 (+49.7%)
    05/10 #26 – 53,625 (-27.2%)
    06/10 #27 – 52,268 ( -2.5%)
    07/10 #28 – 48,690 ( -6.8%)
    08/10 #29 – 49,012 ( +0.7%)
    09/10 #30 – 47,238 ( -3.6%)
    10/10 #31 – 45,507 ( -3.7%)
    11/10 #32 – 40,978 (-10.0%)
    12/10 #33 – 41,890 ( -2.2%)
    6 mnth (-19.9%)
    1 year (-16.2%)
    2 year (-26.1%)
    3 year ( +7.9%)
    4 year (-42.9%)
    5 year ( — )
    There’s a Tron variant this month, so the fact that sales are slightly down is a bit surprising, suggesting a bigger underlying drop. The numbering jumps to #500 in January.

    That’s actually a jump, if the number’s right. A small one, but a jump nontheless.

  16. I’m a big Jeff Parker fan but I don’t like the Red Hulk so I don’t read Hulk. I like Bruce Banner as the Hulk. Jeff Parker’s Thunderbolts has been fantastic IMO

  17. “Hulk sales are low because people just don’t care for Red Hulk, especially now that the ridiculous mystery was revealed.”

    Ken, I agree with you. But if people would stick it out they’d discover that Jeff Parker is actually working to take Jeff Loeb’s train wreck writing and build actual character development, and depth to the overall concept. And that’s no easy feat with that he’s been handed. But the Red Hulk/Thunderbolt Ross is getting some deeper exploration, he’s not just “Red Hulk out to kill!” and you’ve got Bruce Banner and (at least at the beginning of the run) Steve Rogers as supporting cast.

    Trust me, I think Red Hulk is the stupidest idea in the world, and haven’t bought the Hulk in a zillion years (not since Bruce Jones was writing the title!) But I decided to give it a try based on the new creative team, and I’ve really been enjoying it so far!

    And I have NO idea why I’m working so hard to back up this book! Ha! I just get so tired of good books getting the heave-ho.

  18. “Jeff Parker and Gabriel Hardman take over the horrific Hulk and…sales keep falling. WHAT is wrong with fanboys and quality books?”

    Have you ever considered that people just aren’t interested in a book about Red Hulk?

  19. Michael, the point I’m attempting to make is:

    12/09 #18 – 53,222 ( +1.1%)
    01/10 #19 – 56,738 ( +6.6%)
    02/10 #20 – 51,962 ( -8.4%)
    03/10 #21 – 50,785 ( -2.3%)
    05/10 #22 – 49,618 ( -2.3%)
    06/10 #23 – 50,724 ( +2.2%)
    08/10 #24 – 48,903 ( -3.6%)

    09/10 #25 – 46,784 ( -4.3%)
    10/10 #26 – 42,934 ( -8.2%)
    11/10 #27 – 38,691 ( -9.9%)
    12/10 #28 – 34,755 (-10.2%)

    …THAT! Jeff Loeb’s train wreck keeps steady figures, while once the new team takes over, the title keeps plunging. I know a lot of people jump ship when a new team takes over, but sigh…

    Obviously though it isn’t about people not interested in the Red Hulk, because again check out those numbers from issues 18-24.

  20. Once again, thanks for all the hard work Paul, great job! :-)

    I love Jeff Parker’s work too, but I have NO interest in reading regular Hulk much less a Red counterpart, a She-Hulk or the other spinoff Hulk characters that have been popping up like weeds lately.

    I also agree his Thunderbolts has been great…

  21. Why is Marvel constantly renumbering every single title??? It pisses me off big time. Now Iron Man, watch when they relaunch FF#1 and revert at issue #20 or so….it is confusing and just plain old sucks.

    I agree with many readers, Hulk is a decent title, but I am fed up of Red / Blue / Girl / Red Girl / etc…hulks. It sems everyone is a hulk nowadas in Marvel Universe. If the Green one almost destroyed NYC and beat up all the heroes in Wolrd War Hulk, imagine what all of them could do! Ridiculous….get rid of all these characters and focus on the REAL Hulk.

  22. Marvel really needs to get a newstand INSIDE the theaters when those movies hit. Instead of posters and cardboard stand-ups, they need a booth that sells Captain America and Thor comics. Grab the audience exactly when they see the movie!

    The drop in Hulk numbers is too bad, as the story is fun and the characters are great. It’s a better bang for you buck too, compared with other $3.99 books. I avoided it like the plague under Loeb, but Parker and Hardman are making it a great buy. Put them on Daredevil already!

    It is fantastic that ASTONISHING X-MEN: XENOGENESIS is so late, considering that they started it before the previously late Astonishing X-Men story with Jimenez wrapped. Looks like they could have waited a couple of months and had the books out on time.

    Rumors abound that Marvel is rethinking their price point. Looking at these numbers, do you think Marvel?

    Thanks again Paul for crunching numbers! I love this column!

  23. Parker and Hardman on Daredevil?! OH my word, yes, now! Unfortunately, I have a feeling Marvel is going to remove the grim and gritty from Daredevil whenever it returns, which is disappointing.

  24. Avengers Academy was also heavily promoted as “The Return of Giant Man!”, with multiple online prevews as well as preview pages in that free magazine collection of preview pages that Marvel throws out every once in a while. That could have certainly helped.

  25. “Avengers Academy was also heavily promoted as “The Return of Giant Man!” – That’s the reason I picked up this issue! (And it was the only issue I’ve picked up of the series, so I bet it did have some impact on sales.)

  26. I nearly missed out on What If… #200 because the title is printed on the back cover. If my dealer hadn’t asked my I wasn’t getting the book in spite of the Eaglesham/ Stan Lee story, I would have left it on the shelf even though I knew it was coming out and meant to get it. Really bad packaging.

  27. Bad marketing, as well, on What If #200.

    I bought it because it was an anniversary issue of an intriguing series I used to read. It has the typical downer of a story (“What If Norman Osborn Won the Siege of Asgard?”), then an interesting tale by Stan Lee, favorite issues from industry superstars, a reprint of Frank Miller’s “What If Elektra Lived?”, a history of the series by Roy Thomas, and a checklist with covers. No pin-up, although the wrap-around cover could serve that purpose.

    (Hmm… thinking about the “What If Conan…” issue… what number universe does Conan come from?)

  28. A correction on NAMOR: You’ve actually jumped from issue #3 to 5 — 3 and 4 both shipped in November (#3 slipped from the last week of October). Issue #4 had estimated sales in the neighborhood of 19,500 copies. So while I agree the 13% drop isn’t great, it’s actually spread out over two issues.

    Something looks wrong with the tallies on the last two issues of INVINCIBLE IRON MAN, too.

    _________________________

    If the sales figures that you gave for NAMOR #4 are true, then you are the first creator (that I am aware of) who has actually admitted that these sales guestimates are actually pretty accurate.

  29. Micah: “Marvel really needs to get a newstand INSIDE the theaters when those movies hit. Instead of posters and cardboard stand-ups, they need a booth that sells Captain America and Thor comics. Grab the audience exactly when they see the movie!”

    I guess you didnt get the memo, the audience just wants to SEE the movie these days, not READ the comic its based on!!!

    A movie ticket is like $10, a Captain America comic is going for $4. A movie is on average 2 hours, the time to read a comic book is 10-15 minutes. Do the math, which is worth more of your time?

  30. Here’s a corrected view of Namor, including the latest figure from ICV2.com.

    LL

    NAMOR: THE FIRST MUTANT
    #1 – 37,399
    #2 – 23,880
    #3 – 20,541
    #4 – 19,469
    #5 – 17,730
    #6 – 15,181

  31. Gosh, the numbers just seem to get worse every month. It’s also not a good sign that both Marvel and DC are relying on a small number of titles and if those titles don’t ship (like they didn’t for DC) the sales really take a dive. I’m very curious to see what the numbers will be for Fear Itself. I’m sure it will crack 100,000 but every event seems to do worse than the one that preceded it, I’m really hoping that the core book does well and the tie ins sell poorly. I don’t mind big events but the tie in books are almost always done poorly and ad very little, if anything, to the main story.

  32. @wraith – how do you define “under perform”? and more importantly, how does Marvel define “under perform”?

  33. “If the sales figures that you gave for NAMOR #4 are true, then you are the first creator (that I am aware of) who has actually admitted that these sales guestimates are actually pretty accurate.”

    No, they’re typically one to three thousand low in my experience. I haven’t been tracking specific sales of NAMOR.

  34. “Steve: I don’t think I’ve ever seen any obvious signs of that, and I’d be surprised if it was happening to any great extent. It’s a rather awkward way of jumping aboard a title, since the collected edition didn’t ship until the end of January. I think the way collected editions are scheduled creates a fairly powerful disincentive against using them to choose a jumping-on point.”

    I did it with both the Boys and Runaways vol. 1, Paul. Realizing I could get the first arc in trade, I bought the trades, but then jumped on the monthlies from the beginning of the second arc. It’s a way to deal with being late to the bandwagon.

  35. “Prove me wrong! Buy Hulk! This creative team deserves our support, they’re working really hard to give us a great, quality, well thought out and fun book!”

    CHALLENGE ACCEPTED! I bought Hulk #26 on your recommendation. Here are my thoughts, but a little background first. The only superhero books I currently buy are Batman Inc. (for Morrison), Hellboy (for Mignola), and John Byrne’s WTF? Next Men (for nostalgia). The only Marvel book I get is Scarlet, and the last Marvel Universe titles would have been Spider Woman and Brubaker and Lark’s Daredevil.

    The art on Hulk was good, better than usual superhero fare, the cover not so much. Story was okay, seemingly the beginning of a storyline. The ‘Previously’ page, done as story, was good in order to catch me up. I didn’t see much character development in the issue, but that may come throughout the entire storyline. The fight between Red Hulk and Thor seemed unnecessary, as Thor not only started it but hinted that he wanted it. The twin comets they are to intercept change from DB07 & DB08 to DB08 & DB09, but I can’t write to the editor to get my No-Prize as there is no title or credits page. All in all, it was okay.

    The backup story was jarring, completely different in tone from the main story. I understand Rick Jones is a Hulk character, but this didn’t seem to fit in the issue at all. I was surprised it was by the same writer, as it just wasn’t as good. Yes, it’s meant to be lighter, more humorous, but I’m not sure I want both in the same comic. I believe this is the only thing I’ve read by Jeff Parker, so it’s not fair to judge his writing ability, but as he was compared with Jeph Loeb, I liked Loeb right out of the gate (since then I have lost interest, either when Spider-Man: Blue came out or Hulk: Gray did), whereas nothing about this issue makes me want to come back for more of Parker or Hulk.

    The most disconcerting to me was the credits for the backup story, as 12 people are listed. Some get way more credit for what was done on that particular story than others, of course, but with 2 more adding the one-pager at the back, and not knowing how many for the main story besides the 2 listed on the cover (and I’m guessing a different cover artist), there could be 20 plus people bringing us this one issue of Hulk. While I wouldn’t want anyone to lose their job, it seems to make sense why the cover price was $3.99.

    Recently there has been talk of the talent of the creators (Moore) and the diversity of comics with publishers (Powell). But it’s all in what the reader buys. We need to try more things, say no to what we don’t like, and be more diverse ourselves in what we buy to keep comics going. I try to each time I’m in the comic shop, as I tried to here. While this wasn’t a real challenge, why can’t it be? Let’s start something here. Who’s next to throw down the Infinity Gauntlet? Who’s next to pick it up?

  36. KentuckyFriedHorse says:
    “* If the Namor numbers are bad now, wait until the title gets further distanced from the initial “Curse Of The Mutants” tie-in. I bought the first four issues since they tied in, but jumped ship(no pun intended) with 5. I suspect a lot of other readers will do the same.”

    Maybe. Worked the opposite for me though. I was going to pick it up until I realized it was about Namor fighting underwater vampires.

    I also agree with some of the others about the Black Panther soft relaunch through the Daredevil series will go badly for ‘ol Murdock. Not sure why they think it’s a good idea after the whole Daken soft relaunch so badly damaging interest in Wolverine books.

  37. Paul, just a heads up – you’ve had a typo in the charts for the last few months for X-Men Forever:

    09/10 #8 – 12,753 ( -0.9%)
    10/10 #9 – 12,260 ( -3.9%)
    10/10 #10 – 12,064 (-16.0%)
    11/10 #11 – 12,018 ( -0.4%)

    That issue 10 drop should be like 2%, not 16%