by Paul O’Brien
February sees Marvel’s “Point One” programme get under way, with issues of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, WOLVERINE and IRON MAN. The Age of X crossover starts in X-MEN LEGACY and NEW MUTANTS. And there’s a new ongoing series, IRON MAN 2.0.
As usual, Marvel had the largest share of the North American direct market. It’s a pretty wide margin over DC this month – 45% to 31% in unit terms, 41% to 28% in dollars.
Thanks as always to ICV2.com for permission to use these figures.
4. AVENGERS
05/10 #1 - 170,682
06/10 #2 - 98,788 (-42.1%)
07/10 #3 - 87,410 (-11.5%)
08/10 #4 - 87,333 ( -0.1%)
09/10 #5 - 82,411 ( -5.6%)
10/10 #6 - 73,258 (-11.1%)
11/10 #7 - 89,758 (+22.5%)
12/10 #8 - 67,056 (-25.3%)
01/11 #9 - 64,867 ( -3.3%)
02/11 #10 - 63,924 ( -1.5%)
6 mnth (-26.8%)
In an unaccustomed display of restraint, this is the book’s third straight month without a variant cover. And it’s not alone, because Marvel have been holding off on the line-wide variants for a bit. (Don’t worry, normal service is resumed in March.) It seems to be levelling out, perhaps as retailers take a little time to figure out what the book’s baseline level actually is when no variants are in play.
5. FANTASTIC FOUR
02/06 #534 - 44,573
02/07 ---
02/08 #554 - 92,654
02/09 #564 - 49,520
=====
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 - 46,267 ( +33.7%)
10/10 #584 - 45,066 ( -2.6%)
11/10 #585 - 41,568 ( -7.8%)
12/10 #586 - 42,829 ( +3.0%)
01/11 #587 - 138,846 (+224.2%)
02/11 #588 - 63,529 ( -54.2%)
6 mnth ( +83.5%)
1 year ( +69.3%)
2 year ( +28.3%)
3 year ( -31.4%)
4 year ( --- )
5 year ( +42.5%)
This is the final issue before the book’s relaunch as FF. Issue #587 picks up healthy re-orders of 23,398, which goes to show that killing a major character is one gimmick that still has drawing power. And of course it’s not pure gimmickry; the general consensus seems to be that this is indeed a death in service of a story, and a story which is pretty decent at that.
No variants on this issue, so the retained sales for the second month are quite healthy. Not a historic high for the series, admittedly, but good by current market standards. Presumably sales will be up again in March for the relaunch as FF.
6. NEW AVENGERS
02/06 #16 - 121,492
02/07 #27 - 130,531
02/08 #38 - 104,140
02/09 #50 - 106,831
=====
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%)
01/11 #8 - 61,169 ( -9.8%)
02/11 #9 - 60,914 ( -0.4%)
6 mnth (-25.1%)
1 year (-20.3%)
2 year (-43.0%)
3 year (-41.5%)
4 year (-53.3%)
5 year (-49.9%)
Second straight month without a variant, and sales are holding steady.
10,12,14,15. AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
02/06 #529 - 90,414
02/07 #538 - 142,956
02/08 #551 - 88,084
02/09 #587 - 60,118
=====
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 - 79,714 (+42.8%)
11/10 #649 - 55,515 (-30.4%)
12/10 #650 - 58,909 ( +6.1%)
01/11 #651 - 56,749 ( -3.7%)
01/11 #652 - 52,050 ( -8.3%)
02/11 #653 - 53,103 ( +2.0%)
02/11 #654 - 53,882 ( +1.5%)
02/11 #.1 - 55,283 ( +2.6%)
02/11 #655 - 53,366 ( -3.5%)
6 mnth (-20.5%)
1 year ( -3.6%)
2 year (-11.2%)
3 year (-39.4%)
4 year (-62.7%)
5 year (-41.0%)
Four issues this month, if you count the Point One issue (and I do). None of these have variant covers, so it looks like the book’s core sales are holding steady at 53K.
Then there’s the Point One issue, #654.1. These books seem to have drifted badly from the original concept. When Marvel announced these books in October, their press release promised “the perfect jumping on points for the biggest super hero series in the world” which would “begin major new storylines.”
Since these issues are supposed to be a jumping on point, you’d figure sales should be up significantly – logically, they ought to sell to the whole regular readership plus a bunch of people trying out the series, right? But the sales increase is pretty anaemic, and the same goes for the other two books as well. Retailers just don’t seem to have had much faith in these books bringing in new readers.
With hindsight their scepticism may have been well-founded. AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #654.1, for example, is a self-contained story – but it’s not an introduction to AMAZING SPIDER-MAN. It’s a lead-in issue to the spin-off title VENOM. And as we’ll see, it’s not alone in wandering off message.
11. X-MEN LEGACY
02/06 #182 - 78,653
02/07 #196 - 75,707
02/08 #208 - 88,132
02/09 #221 - 56,517
=====
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%)
01/11 #244 - 40,193 ( -3.8%)
02/11 #245 - 53,888 (+34.1%)
6 mnth ( +1.2%)
1 year ( +5.0%)
2 year ( -4.7%)
3 year (-38.9%)
4 year (-28.8%)
5 year (-31.5%)
This is part of the “Age of X” crossover with NEW MUTANTS; it’s also got a Fantastic Four Anniversary variant. While it understandably doesn’t match the sales on “Second Coming” last spring, it’s still a very healthy increase from the book’s regular sales – the promotion for this storyline has clearly paid dividends.
The lead-in one-shot AGE OF X ALPHA charts at number 243 with orders of 5,115, bringing its total to 52,165.
13. UNCANNY X-MEN
02/06 #469 - 79,039
02/07 #483 - 83,009
02/08 #495 - 90,410
02/09 #506 - 71,684
=====
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%)
01/11 #532 - 54,071 ( -3.0%)
02/11 #533 - 53,834 ( -0.4%)
6 mnth (-22.0%)
1 year (-19.7%)
2 year (-24.9%)
3 year (-40.5%)
4 year (-35.1%)
5 year (-31.9%)
Third straight month without a variant, and it’s holding level.
17. UNCANNY X-FORCE
02/08 #1 - 105,149
02/09 #12 - 51,449
=====
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 Sex #1 - 41,426 ( -32.8%)
08/10 #2 of 3 - 38,480 ( -7.1%)
09/10 #3 of 3 - 37,283 ( -3.1%)
10/10 #1 - 99,194 (+166.1%)
11/10 #2 - 56,518 ( -43.0%)
12/10 #3 - 55,520 ( -1.8%)
01/11 #4 - 51,381 ( -7.5%)
02/11 #5 - 51,470 ( +0.2%)
6 mnth ( +33.8%)
1 year ( +3.4%)
2 year ( +0.0%)
3 year ( -51.1%)
Again, no variants this month or last – the book is simply holding steady.
18. SECRET AVENGERS
05/10 #1 - 110,681
06/10 #2 - 77,933 (-30.0%)
07/10 #3 - 72,293 ( -7.2%)
08/10 #4 - 74,655 ( +3.3%)
09/10 #5 - 69,546 ( -6.8%)
10/10 #6 - 68,617 ( -1.3%)
11/10 #7 - 59,999 (-12.6%)
12/10 #8 - 54,048 ( -9.9%)
01/11 #9 - 50,748 ( -6.1%)
02/11 #10 - 49,717 ( -2.0%)
6 mnth (-33.4%)
Second month without a variant and sliding gently. There’s a change of creative team coming up.
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%)
01/11 #7 - 64,615 (+21.9%)
02/11 #8 - 49,522 (-23.4%)
6 mnth (-30.7%)
The January issue had three variants, so the fairer comparison is with December’s issue #6. It’s still slipping, but not as badly as all that.
20. ULTIMATE AVENGERS VS NEW ULTIMATES
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%)
01/11 Vol 3 #6 - 33,454 ( -3.0%)
02/11 #1 of 6 - 49,360 (+47.5%)
6 mnth ( -8.4%)
1 year ( --- )
ULTIMATE AVENGERS continues to experience diminishing returns with the launch of each new miniseries. Since this issue has 1:20 and 1:25 variants, and it’s part of the “Death of Spider-Man” crossover, I’m a little surprised it didn’t see a bigger spike.
22,24. WOLVERINE
02/06 #39 - 72,248
02/07 #51 - 97,181
02/08 #62 - 64,197
02/09 ---
=====
02/10 WX#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%)
01/11 #5 - 46,920 ( -11.2%)
02/11 #5.1 - 44,332 ( -5.5%)
02/11 #6 - 45,932 ( +3.6%)
6 mnth ( +56.1%)
1 year ( +52.4%)
2 year ( --- )
3 year ( -28.5%)
4 year ( -52.7%)
5 year ( -36.4%)
Our second Point One issue – and sales actually go down slightly, only to rebound for issue #6. That’s not a good sign for the Point One titles.
This one does at least deliver a self-contained story which introduces the cast and sets up a new villain (and it’s a pretty good story, too). But for some reason it’s scheduled between issues of an unrelated storyline, which is a funny sort of jumping on point.
25. ASTONISHING X-MEN
02/06 #13 - 140,655
02/07 #20 - 119,736
02/08 ---
02/09 ---
=====
02/10 ---
03/10 ---
04/10 ---
05/10 ---
06/10 #34 - 57,363 ( -0.4%)
07/10 ---
08/10 #35 - 50,441 (-12.1%)
09/10 ---
10/10 ---
11/10 ---
12/10 ---
01/11 ---
02/11 #36 - 44,326 (-12.2%)
6 mnth (-12.2%)
1 year ( --- )
2 year ( --- )
3 year ( --- )
4 year (-63.0%)
5 year (-68.5%)
New creative team Daniel Way and Jason Pearson come aboard, and there’s a variant cover to boot – but declining star power means yet another drop in sales for this book. It’s going to drop below X-MEN LEGACY’s regular sales very quickly at this rate, making it the X-Men’s fourth-tier title.
26,27. ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN
02/06 #90 - 71,470
02/07 #105 - 74,376
02/08 #119 - 58,045
02/09 #131 - 49,565
=====
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%)
01/11 #152 - 33,481 ( -1.0%)
02/11 #153 - 43,986 (+31.4%)
02/11 #154 - 43,209 ( -1.8%)
6 mnth (+17.0%)
1 year ( +2.4%)
2 year (-12.8%)
3 year (-25.6%)
4 year (-41.9%)
5 year (-39.5%)
The “Death of Spider-Man” storyline begins next month.
28,31. INVINCIBLE IRON MAN
02/06 ---
02/07 #15 - 60,662
02/08 #26 - 36,607
02/09 #10 - 51,649
=====
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%)
01/11 #500 - 54,186 (+29.4%)
02/11 #.1 - 42,191 (-22.1%)
02/11 #501 - 41,517 ( -1.6%)
6 mnth (-15.3%)
1 year (-17.0%)
2 year (-19.6%)
3 year (+13.4%)
4 year (-31.6%)
5 year ( --- )
Another Point One book, and again, it doesn’t seem to have had any significant effect on sales. Personally, I think that’s a shame – Point One seemed a good idea in theory, if not in execution. But if the first month is anything to go by, it hasn’t worked.
29. THOR
02/06 ---
02/07 ---
02/08 #6 - 98,315
02/09 #600 - 96,718
=====
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%)
01/11 #619 - 42,899 ( -5.0%)
02/11 #620 - 42,106 ( -1.8%)
6 mnth (-17.6%)
1 year (-37.1%)
2 year (-56.5%)
3 year (-57.2%)
4 year ( --- )
5 year ( --- )
Sliding very slowly. There’s a relaunch around the corner (again).
30. CAPTAIN AMERICA
02/06 #14 - 44,041
02/07 ---
02/08 #35 - 86,038
02/09 #47 - 62,850
=====
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%)
01/11 #614 - 42,119 ( -1.8%)
02/11 #615 - 41,935 ( -0.4%)
6 mnth (-20.6%)
1 year (-34.0%)
2 year (-33.3%)
3 year (-51.3%)
4 year ( --- )
5 year ( -4.8%)
Third straight issue with no variants, and sales look to be pretty solid.
34. ULTIMATE COMICS NEW ULTIMATES
02/06 ---
02/07 ---
02/08 #3 of 5 - 97,210
02/09 ---
=====
02/10 ---
03/10 #1 of 5 - 71,279
04/10 ---
05/10 #2 of 5 - 53,323 (-25.2%)
06/10 ---
07/10 #3 of 5 - 47,840 (-10.3%)
08/10 ---
09/10 ---
10/10 #4 of 5 - 42,876 (-10.4%)
11/10 ---
12/10 ---
01/11 ---
02/11 #5 of 5 - 38,663 ( -9.8%)
6 mnth ( --- )
1 year ( --- )
2 year ( --- )
3 year (-60.2%)
4 year ( --- )
5 year ( --- )
If you can’t say anything nice…
35. NEW MUTANTS
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%)
01/11 #21 - 23,773 ( -2.6%)
02/11 #22 - 36,737 (+54.5%)
6 mnth (+14.8%)
1 year (+20.2%)
This is part of the “Age of X” crossover, and sales are up substantially. It’s about 17K behind X-MEN LEGACY, which puzzles me. After all, it’s an old fashioned crossover where two books tell alternating chapters of a story. It’s principally an X-MEN LEGACY arc and it’s all written by X-MEN LEGACY writer Mike Carey.
Yet 17,000 people want to buy every second chapter in X-MEN LEGACY rather than getting the whole story by the same writer. Why?
37. WOLVERINE #1000 02/11 One-shot - 34,152
Random anthology title recycling a joke that was funny when Deadpool did it. To be fair, it’s done a lot better than the typical random Wolverine one-shot. Perhaps this weird and seemingly arbitrary “issue #1000” branding does actually move some comics.
39,41. HULK
02/08 #2 - 93,725
02/09 #10 - 77,217
=====
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%)
01/11 ---
02/11 #29 - 33,375 ( -4.0%)
02/11 #30 - 32,907 ( -1.4%)
6 mnth (-32.7%)
1 year (-36.7%)
2 year (-57.4%)
3 year (-64.9%)
Gently sliding.
42. 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%) 01/11 --- 02/11 #5 of 5 - 32,093 ( -3.0%)
And that completes Warren Ellis’ run on ASTONISHING X-MEN. Fairly standard behaviour for a miniseries here.
44. IRON MAN 2.0 02/11 #1 - 31,380
An ongoing title for the character who used to be called War Machine. This has 1:15 and 1:30 variants.
Opening sales of 31K puts this about the level where HEROES FOR HIRE launched and a few thousand below NAMOR THE FIRST MUTANT, so it’s not a blow away start. But it’s not SPIDER-GIRL either (that launched at 24K). There’s a window of opportunity here if it can stabilise quickly.
48,50. INCREDIBLE HULKS
02/06 #92 - 39,224
02/07 #103 - 46,690
02/08 #2 - 93,725
02/09 #10 - 77,217
=====
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%)
01/11 #620 - 30,992 ( -5.1%)
01/11 #621 - 30,957 ( -0.1%)
02/11 #622 - 30,404 ( -1.8%)
02/11 #623 - 30,140 ( -0.9%)
6 mnth (-33.0%)
1 year (-34.3%)
2 year (-61.0%)
3 year (-67.8%)
4 year (-35.4%)
5 year (-23.2%)
Holding more or less steady over the last couple of months.
54. DAREDEVIL: REBORN
02/06 #82 - 53,058
02/07 #94 - 46,773
02/08 #105 - 42,098
02/09 ---
=====
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%)
01/11 #1 of 4 - 34,310 (-14.9%)
02/11 #2 of 4 - 29,108 (-15.2%)
6 mnth (-30.0%)
1 year (-24.8%)
2 year ( --- )
3 year (-30.9%)
4 year (-37.8%)
5 year (-45.1%)
Not great numbers, but it doesn’t really matter, since the book is being relaunched in the summer anyway.
58. DAKEN: DARK WOLVERINE
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%)
01/11 ---
02/11 #5 - 28,833 ( -6.2%)
6 mnth (-30.4%)
1 year (-46.6%)
No variant cover this month. Since the December issue had a 1:75 variant, the drop is likely to be significantly exaggerated.
59. DEADPOOL
02/09 #7 - 44,082
=====
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%)
01/11 #31 - 29,167 ( -4.3%)
01/11 #32 - 29,144 ( -0.1%)
02/11 #33 - 28,649 ( -1.7%)
6 mnth (-19.5%)
1 year (-35.7%)
2 year (-35.0%)
Another book on the traditional gentle slide.
60. ONSLAUGHT UNLEASHED 02/11 #1 of 4 - 28,434
This is a team-up of the Young Allies and the Secret Avengers, and since the Allies’ book was recently cancelled straight out of the gate, Marvel probably didn’t get their hopes up too high for this one. Then again, it does have two 1:25 variants by Rob Liefeld, which should have helped. All told, though, it hasn’t done too badly considering that the Young Allies have proved a tough sell in the past.
61. CARNAGE 10/10 #1 of 5 - 50,692 11/10 --- 12/10 #2 of 5 - 32,794 (-35.3%) 01/11 --- 02/11 #3 of 5 - 28,334 (-13.6%)
Issue #1 picks up reorders of 3,240 to appear at number 285 – possibly a case of Marvel offloading stock rather than a sudden resurgence in interest for a book that came out in october.
No variant this month, so the drop is exaggerated.
62. WOLVERINE: THE BEST THERE IS 12/10 #1 - 57,348 01/11 #2 - 33,469 (-41.6%) 02/11 #3 - 27,790 (-17.0%)
First issue without a variant, so again, the drop is exaggerated. That said, it’s not a good sign that the book is already below 30K by issue #3. At this rate it’s probably going to drop below X-23 next month.
63. POWER MAN & IRON FIST
08/10 #1 of 4 - 21,206
09/10 #2 of 4 - 17,647 ( -17.0%)
10/10 #3 of 4 - 15,147 ( -14.2%)
11/10 #4 of 4 - 13,584 ( -10.3%)
12/10 ---
01/11 ---
02/11 #1 of 5 - 27,579 (+103.0%)
6 mnth ( +30.1%)
This is a sequel to SHADOWLAND: POWER MAN, teaming the new Power Man with the original Iron Fist. The Shadowland mini didn’t sell brilliantly but it was generally well reviewed, and it’s nice to see that rewarded with higher sales for the sequel. (The other factor, to be fair, is the inclusion of an established co-star in Iron Fist – he was in the previous series too, but the billing may make a difference.)
65. ULTIMATE COMICS CAPTAIN AMERICA 01/11 #1 of 4 - 35,741 02/11 #2 of 4 - 27,399 (-23.3%)
A reasonable second issue drop, bearing in mind that there was a variant on issue #1.
66. X-23 09/10 #1 - 48,481 10/10 #2 - 35,280 (-27.2%) 11/10 #3 - 31,224 (-11.5%) 12/10 #4 - 29,703 ( -4.9%) 01/11 #5 - 27,855 ( -6.2%) 02/11 #6 - 27,156 ( -2.5%)
Second month with no variants, and drifting gently down.
67. 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%) 01/11 --- 02/11 #4 of 4 - 26,775 ( -4.6%)
In fairness to the beleaguered Ultimate imprint, this did sell much better than most of the Thor minis Marvel have published over recent months.
68. S.H.I.E.L.D.
04/10 #1 - 44,543
05/10 ---
06/10 #2 - 37,595 (-15.6%)
07/10 ---
08/10 #3 - 33,335 (-11.3%)
09/10 ---
10/10 #4 - 32,495 ( -2.5%)
11/10 ---
12/10 #5 - 27,133 (-16.5%)
01/11 ---
02/11 #6 - 26,190 ( -3.5%)
6 mnth (-21.4%)
End of the first volume, but it’s going into an immediate relaunch.
70. THUNDERBOLTS
02/06 #18 - 23,735
02/07 #111 - 62,791
02/08 ---
02/09 #129 - 45,401
=====
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%)
01/11 #152 - 26,515 ( -5.1%)
02/11 #153 - 26,098 ( -1.6%)
6 mnth (-16.5%)
1 year (-23.1%)
2 year (-42.5%)
3 year ( --- )
4 year (-58.4%)
5 year (+10.0%)
This book hasn’t had a variant since issue #150. Sales look to be steadying again.
71. X-FACTOR
02/06 #3 - 48,307
02/07 #16 - 38,240
02/08 #28 - 56,572
02/09 #40 - 31,943
=====
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%)
01/11 #213 - 25,403 ( -3.9%)
01/11 #214 - 25,117 ( -1.1%)
02/11 #215 - 25,298 ( +0.7%)
6 mnth (-15.9%)
1 year (-18.3%)
2 year (-20.8%)
3 year (-55.3%)
4 year (-33.8%)
5 year (-47.6%)
Holding steady, and even getting a slight uptick.
72. BLACK PANTHER: THE MAN WITHOUT FEAR
02/06 #13 - 26,054
02/07 #25 - 56,479
02/08 #34 - 23,395
02/09 #1 - 46,699
=====
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%)
12/10 #513 - 33,124 (+262.2%)
01/11 #514 - 27,474 ( -17.1%)
02/11 #515 - 24,556 ( -10.6%)
6 mnth ( -1.0%)
1 year ( -43.2%)
2 year ( -47.4%)
3 year ( +5.0%)
4 year ( -56.5%)
5 year ( -5.7%)
The second issue drop was understandable, but another 10% this month is not so good. The last time Marvel relaunched BLACK PANTHER, in February 2009, it stared with 53K in sales and took eight issues to drop to this point. And it still got canned at the end of the year.
73. SILVER SURFER 02/11 #1 of 5 - 24,409
The market does not appear to be crying out for a Silver Surfer relaunch just yet. The entire THANOS IMPERATIVE mini sold above this point, so the cosmic audience is bigger than this.
76. AVENGERS ACADEMY
06/10 #1 - 45,890 (+20.3%)
07/10 #2 - 38,061 (-17.1%)
08/10 #3 - 35,629 ( -6.4%)
09/10 #4 - 31,212 (-12.4%)
10/10 #5 - 31,272 ( +0.2%)
11/10 #6 - 25,977 (-16.9%)
12/10 #7 - 27,774 ( +6.9%)
01/11 #8 - 24,014 (-13.5%)
02/11 #9 - 23,709 ( -1.3%)
6 mnth (-33.5%)
Sliding slowly, but the fact that Marvel reprinted the whole first issue in a recent UNCANNY X-MEN suggests they’re committed to it. (And rightly so, it’s a very good team book.)
79. DEADPOOL & CABLE 02/11 #26 - 22,956
This is, I suppose, a sequel to DEADPOOL & CABLE #25, which in turn was an epilogue to the last CABLE series. (Though in fact, the story is more of an epilogue to the CABLE & DEADPOOL ongoing from a few years ago.) Judging from these sales, retailers seem to have figured it for X-Men completist fodder.
80. SECRET WARRIORS
02/09 #1 - 57,704
=====
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%)
01/11 ---
02/11 #24 - 22,704 ( -1.6%)
6 mnth (-15.6%)
1 year (-26.4%)
2 year (-60.7%)
Ends with issue #28.
81. HEROES FOR HIRE 12/10 #1 - 32,936 01/11 #2 - 23,013 (-30.1%) 02/11 #3 - 22,401 ( -2.7%)
Not great numbers, but again, Marvel have reprinted the entire first issue in a major title (AVENGERS), which shows some commitment.
83. GENERATION HOPE 11/10 #1 - 37,398 12/10 #2 - 38,984 ( +4.2%) 01/11 #3 - 24,094 (-38.2%) 02/11 #4 - 22,170 ( -8.0%)
Still sliding – as I’ve said before, given that this book was promoted with an entire storyline in UNCANNY X-MEN, it’s surprising to me that it hasn’t done better.
88. ULTIMATE COMICS DOOM 12/10 #1 of 4 - 27,469 01/11 #2 of 4 - 22,047 (-19.7%) 02/11 #3 of 4 - 21,039 ( -4.6%)
Standard miniseries behaviour.
93. PUNISHERMAX [Max]
02/06 #30 - 34,293
02/07 #44 - 32,951
02/08 ---
02/09 #67 - 22,267
=====
02/10 #4 - 22,472 ( -1.8%)
03/10 #5 - 22,435 ( -0.2%)
04/10 #6 - 22,246 ( -0.8%)
05/10 #7 - 22,198 ( -0.2%)
06/10 #8 - 22,053 ( -0.7%)
07/10 #9 - 21,453 ( -2.7%)
08/10 ---
09/10 ---
10/10 ---
11/10 ---
12/10 ---
01/11 ---
02/11 #10 - 19,236 (-10.3%)
6 mnth ( --- )
1 year (-14.4%)
2 year (-13.6%)
3 year ( --- )
4 year (-41.6%)
5 year (-43.9%)
The lengthy gap between issues seems to have done some damage to this book, which previously looked to be have solid sales.
97. DEADPOOLMAX [Max] 10/10 #1 - 29,176 11/10 #2 - 23,382 (-19.9%) 12/10 #3 - 20,990 (-10.2%) 01/11 #4 - 19,238 ( -8.3%) 02/11 #5 - 18,221 ( -5.3%)
Typical slide.
99. WOLVERINE & JUBILEE 01/11 #1 of 4 - 21,354 02/11 #2 of 4 - 17,917 (-16.1%)
Marvel have belatedly figured out that it might be an idea to bill this book as a “Curse of the Mutants” sequel (which it is), but it’s a bit late for that. This is actually an important story for one of the main characters, but it’s selling in completist-only numbers, from the look of it.
100. DARK TOWER
02/07 Gunslinger #1 of 7 - 175,214
02/08 ---
02/09 Treachery #6 of 6 - 48,127
=====
02/10 Jericho Hill #3 - 27,215 ( -4.0%)
02/10 #4 of 5 - 26,336 ( -3.2%)
03/10 ---
04/10 #5 of 5 - 25,896 ( -1.7%)
05/10 Gunslinger #1 - 26,275 ( +1.5%)
06/10 #2 of 5 - 24,024 ( -8.6%)
07/10 #3 of 5 - 22,744 ( -5.3%)
08/10 #4 of 5 - 21,820 ( -4.1%)
09/10 #5 of 5 - 21,323 ( -2.3%)
10/10 ---
11/10 ---
12/10 Little Sisters #1 - 19,807 ( -7.1%)
01/11 #2 of 5 - 18,589 ( -6.1%)
02/11 #3 of 5 - 17,748 ( -4.5%)
6 mnth (-18.7%)
1 year (-34.8%)
2 year (-63.1%)
3 year ( --- )
4 year (-89.9%)
Continuing the book’s gentle drift downwards.
102. VENOM/DEADPOOL 02/11 One-shot - 17,609
A reprint of the back-up strips from the recent WHAT IF..? one-shots. Not a bad number for that sort of thing.
103. 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%) 01/11 --- 02/11 #6 of 6 - 17,434 (-10.4%)
One of the many, many Thor books flooding the market over recent months. This is the one by Robert Rodi and Simone Bianchi, to save you Googling it.
111. THE STAND
02/09 ---
=====
02/10 #4 of 5 - 22,804 ( -6.2%)
03/10 #5 of 5 - 22,294 ( -2.2%)
04/10 ---
05/10 ---
06/10 Hardcases #1 - 20,802 ( -6.7%)
07/10 #2 of 5 - 19,194 ( -7.7%)
08/10 #3 of 5 - 18,352 ( -4.4%)
09/10 ---
10/10 #4 of 5 - 17,186 ( -6.4%)
11/10 #5 of 5 - 16,751 ( -2.5%)
12/10 ---
01/11 ---
02/11 No Man's Land #1 - 16,094 ( -3.9%)
6 mnth (-12.3%)
1 year (-29.4%)
2 year ( --- )
Another book on a downwards trend. THE STAND doesn’t get bumps from the start of new minis any more.
112,117. 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%)
01/11 ---
02/11 #885 - 15,980 ( +2.3%)
02/11 #884 - 15,526 ( -2.8%)
6 mnth (-27.0%)
1 year (-60.8%)
Cancelled with issue #883.
114. INCOGNITO: BAD INFLUENCES [Icon] 10/10 #1 of 4 - 20,316 11/10 --- 12/10 #2 of 4 - 16,368 (-19.4%) 01/11 --- 02/11 #3 of 4 - 15,758 ( -3.7%)
Decent sales by the standards of the Icon books.
116. 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%)
01/11 #10 - 16,120 ( -3.7%)
02/11 #11 - 15,538 ( -3.6%)
6 mnth (-32.1%)
Cancelled with issue #12.
120,125. SPIDER-GIRL 11/10 #1 - 23,926 12/10 #2 - 21,606 ( -9.7%) 01/11 --- 02/11 #3 - 15,302 (-29.2%) 02/11 #4 - 14,804 ( -3.3%)
Cancelled with issue #8.
121. OSBORN 11/10 #1 of 5 - 23,152 12/10 #2 of 5 - 16,704 (-27.9%) 01/11 --- 02/11 #3 of 5 - 15,170 ( -9.2%) 123. 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%) 01/11 --- 02/11 #5 of 5 - 14,897 ( -7.5%)
A couple of low-selling Marvel Universe minis. I’m still surprised that OSBORN didn’t do better, considering the high-profile main character.
124. PUNISHER: IN THE BLOOD
02/07 #4 - 52,961
02/08 #16 - 32,508
02/09 #2 - 40,928
=====
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%)
01/11 #3 of 5 - 15,298 ( -7.9%)
02/11 #4 of 5 - 14,861 ( -2.9%)
6 mnth (-38.9%)
1 year (-36.6%)
2 year (-63.7%)
3 year (-54.3%)
4 year (-71.9%)
Heading for a relaunch in the summer.
127,134. HAWKEYE: BLIND SPOT/WIDOW MAKER
06/10 H&M #1 - 27,552
07/10 #2 - 20,531 (-25.5%)
08/10 #3 - 17,870 (-13.0%)
09/10 #4 - 16,405 ( -8.2%)
10/10 #5 - 15,337 ( -6.5%)
11/10 #6 - 14,217 ( -7.3%)
12/10 WM #1 - 18,245 (+28.3%)
12/10 #2 of 4 - 16,050 (-12.0%)
01/11 #3 of 4 - 13,368 (-16.7%)
02/11 #4 of 4 - 13,102 ( -2.0%)
02/11 BS #1 of 4 - 14,235 ( +8.6%)
6 mnth (-20.3%)
I’m treating HAWKEYE: BLIND SPOT as the latest version of the Jim McCann series that started in HAWKEYE & MOCKINGBIRD, wandered through WIDOW MAKER, and now ends up in this mini. There’s a slight boost for the new issue #1, but not much.
128. NAMOR: THE FIRST MUTANT
08/10 #1 - 37,399
09/10 #2 - 23,880 (-36.1%)
10/10 ---
11/10 #3 - 20,541 (-14.0%)
11/10 #4 - 19,469 ( -5.2%)
12/10 #5 - 17,730 ( -8.9%)
01/11 #6 - 15,181 (-14.4%)
02/11 #7 - 14,001 ( -7.8%)
6 mnth (-62.6%)
Well, they’re still soliciting it. But given the number of cancelled books that we’ve already passed, the omens don’t look great.
129. 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%) 01/11 #3 of 4 - 14,530 ( -9.1%) 02/11 #4 of 4 - 13,998 ( -3.7%)
An X-Men anthology title.
And from here, we’re into the assorted anthology books, all-ages titles, low-selling Marvel Universe minis commissioned to tie in with films, reference books, novel adaptations, Icon reprints and so forth. I’ll chip in where there’s something to say.
131. X-MEN: FIRST CLASS ONESHOTS 01/11 Magneto - 19,365 02/11 Marvel Girl - 13,918 132. IRON MAN/THOR 11/10 #1 of 4 - 21,416 12/10 #2 of 4 - 15,977 (-25.4%) 01/11 #3 of 4 - 14,139 (-11.5%) 02/11 #4 of 4 - 13,313 ( -5.8%) 135. LOKI 10/10 #1 of 4 - 21,095 11/10 --- 12/10 #2 of 4 - 14,672 (-30.4%) 01/11 --- 02/11 #3 of 4 - 13,039 (-11.1%) 141. SHE-HULKS 11/10 #1 - 18,616 12/10 #2 - 14,673 (-21.2%) 01/11 #3 - 12,926 (-11.9%) 02/11 #4 - 12,226 ( -5.4%)
Cancelled.
146. CAPTAIN AMERICA: MAN OUT OF TIME
11/10 #1 of 5 - 23,566
12/10 #2 of 5 - 14,582 (-38.1%)
01/11 #3 of 5 - 13,060 (-10.4%)
02/11 #4 of 5 - 11,726 (-10.2%)
147. 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%)
01/11 #10 - 12,349 ( -1.1%)
02/11 #11 - 11,673 ( -5.5%)
6 mnth (-34.3%)
Cancelled.
153. FROM THE MARVEL VAULT 02/11 Dr Strange - 11,248
This seems to be an old inventory story that Marvel are belatedly publishing in a spirit of “Well, we’ve paid for it, why not?” And indeed, why not? It was doing nobody any good at the back of a drawer.
157. CAPTAIN AMERICA: HAIL HYDRA
01/11 #1 of 5 - 26,841
02/11 #2 of 5 - 11,029 (-58.9%)
161. THUNDERSTRIKE
11/10 #1 of 5 - 15,689
12/10 #2 of 5 - 11,754 (-25.1%)
01/11 ---
02/11 #3 of 5 - 10,638 ( -9.5%)
179. OZMA OF OZ
02/09 #3 of 8 - 15,668
=====
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%)
01/11 #3 of 8 - 9,386 ( -9.9%)
02/11 #4 of 8 - 9,159 ( -2.4%)
6 mnth ( --- )
1 year (-31.5%)
2 year (-41.5%)
183,196. WARRIORS THREE
11/10 #1 of 4 - 14,203
12/10 #2 of 4 - 9,281 (-34.7%)
01/11 ---
02/11 #3 of 4 - 8,594 ( -7.4%)
02/11 #4 of 4 - 7,807 ( -9.2%)
189. HALO
02/10 Blood Line #3 - 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%)
01/11 ---
02/11 #4 of 4 - 8,437 ( -1.5%)
6 mnth ( --- )
1 year ( -4.0%)
198. 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%)
01/11 ---
02/11 #4 of 4 - 7,734 (-11.7%)
206. ANITA BLAKE, VAMPIRE HUNTER
02/07 ---
02/08 Guilty #8 - 27,358
02/09 Laughing #5 - 14,095
=====
02/10 Executioner #4 - 9,626 ( -3.3%)
03/10 #5 of 5 - 9,454 ( -1.8%)
04/10 ---
05/10 Circus #1 - 9,484 ( +0.3%)
06/10 #2 of 5 - 9,060 ( -4.5%)
07/10 #3 of 5 - 8,557 ( -5.6%)
08/10 ---
09/10 #4 of 5 - 8,427 ( -1.5%)
10/10 #5 of 5 - 8,146 ( -3.3%)
11/10 ---
12/10 ---
01/11 Ingenue #1 of 5 - 7,763 ( -4.7%)
02/11 #2 of 5 - 7,352 ( -5.3%)
6 mnth ( --- )
1 year (-23.6%)
2 year (-47.8%)
3 year (-73.1%)
4 year ( --- )
207. CAPTAIN AMERICA AND THE KORVAC SAGA
12/10 #1 of 4 - 11,576
01/11 #2 of 4 - 8,724 (-24.6%)
02/11 #3 of 4 - 7,336 (-15.9%)
This is an all-ages book, so it’s actually doing pretty well.
215. FORMIC WARS: BURNING EARTH
02/11 #1 of 7 - 6,901
221. CASANOVA: GULA [Icon]
07/10 Vol 1 #1 of 4 - 10,452
08/10 Vol 1 #2 of 4 - 8,349 (-20.1%)
09/10 Vol 1 #3 of 4 - 7,621 ( -8.7%)
10/10 Vol 1 #4 of 4 - 7,366 ( -3.3%)
11/10 ---
12/10 ---
01/11 Vol 2 #1 of 4 - 7,658 ( -4.0%)
02/11 Vol 2 #2 of 4 - 6,579 (-14.1%)
6 mnth (-21.2%)
244. AVENGERS: EARTH'S MIGHTIEST HEROES
11/10 #1 of 4 - 7,934
12/10 #2 of 4 - 6,540 (-17.6%)
01/11 #3 of 4 - 4,008 (-38.7%)
02/11 #4 of 4 - 5,027 (+25.4%)
246. SPIDER-MAN [Marvel Adventures]
02/06 #12 - 6,087
02/07 #24 - 6,678
02/08 #36 - 5,893
02/09 #48 - 4,622
=====
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%)
01/11 #10 - 4,816 ( -5.9%)
02/11 #11 - 4,923 ( +2.2%)
6 mnth ( -20.6%)
1 year ( +16.9%)
2 year ( +6.5%)
3 year ( -16.5%)
4 year ( -26.3%)
5 year ( -19.1%)
248. SUPER HERO SQUAD
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%)
01/11 ---
02/11 Spectacular #1 - 4,879 ( -3.5%)
6 mnth ( -8.9%)
1 year ( -49.7%)
261. ORSON SCOTT CARD'S SPEAKER FOR THE DEAD
06/10 Ender in Exile #1 - 6,568
07/10 #2 of 5 - 5,673 (-13.6%)
08/10 #3 of 5 - 5,342 ( -5.8%)
09/10 #4 of 5 - ?,??? ( ??? )
10/10 #5 of 5 - 4,812 ( ??? )
11/10 ---
12/10 ---
01/11 Speaker #1 of 7 - 4,703 ( -2.3%)
02/11 #2 of 7 - 4,262 ( -9.4%)
6 mnth (-20.2%)
289. SUPER HEROES [Marvel Adventures]
02/09 #8 - 3,993
=====
02/10 #20 - 3,008 ( -3.1%)
03/10 #21 - ?,??? ( ??? )
04/10 #1 - 8,107 ( ??? )
05/10 #2 - 6,360 (-21.5%)
06/10 #3 - 5,678 (-10.7%)
07/10 #4 - 4,564 (-19.6%)
08/10 #5 - 4,418 ( -3.2%)
09/10 #6 - ?,??? ( ??? )
10/10 #7 - 3,800 ( ??? )
11/10 #8 - 3,541 ( -6.8%)
12/10 #9 - ?,??? ( ??? )
01/11 #10 - 3,386 ( ??? )
02/11 #11 - 3,134 ( -7.4%)
6 mnth (-29.1%)
1 year ( +4.2%)
2 year (-21.5%)
And finally, OFFICIAL INDEX TO THE MARVEL UNIVERSE #10 didn’t make the charts, meaning that it had estimated sales below 2,860. (No great surprise, since it only had 2,599 in January.)
6 month comparisons =================== +83.5% - Fantastic Four +56.1% - Wolverine +33.8% - X-Force +30.1% - Power Man & Iron Fist +17.0% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man +14.8% - New Mutants + 1.2% - X-Men Legacy - 1.0% - Black Panther - 8.4% - Ultimate Avengers - 8.9% - Super Hero Squad -12.2% - Astonishing X-Men -12.3% - Stand -15.3% - Iron Man -15.6% - Secret Warriors -15.9% - X-Factor -16.5% - Thunderbolts -17.6% - Thor -18.7% - Dark Tower -19.5% - Deadpool -20.2% - Speaker for the Dead -20.3% - Hawkeye -20.5% - Amazing Spider-Man -20.6% - Captain America -20.6% - Spider-Man [Marvel Adventures] -21.2% - Casanova -21.4% - S.H.I.E.L.D. -22.0% - Uncanny X-Men -25.1% - New Avengers -26.8% - Avengers -27.0% - Deadpool Team-Up -29.1% - Super Heroes -30.0% - Daredevil -30.4% - Daken -30.7% - X-Men -32.1% - Deadpool Corps -32.7% - Hulk -33.0% - Incredible Hulks -33.4% - Secret Avengers -33.5% - Avengers Academy -34.3% - Iron Man Legacy -38.9% - Punisher -62.6% - Namor 1 year comparisons ================== +69.3% - Fantastic Four +52.4% - Wolverine +33.8% - X-Force +20.2% - New Mutants +16.9% - Spider-Man [Marvel Adventures] + 5.0% - X-Men Legacy + 4.2% - Super Heroes [Marvel Adventures] + 2.4% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man - 4.0% - Halo -11.2% - Amazing Spider-Man -14.4% - PunisherMax -17.0% - Iron Man -18.3% - X-Factor -19.7% - Uncanny X-Men -20.3% - New Avengers -23.1% - Thunderbolts -23.6% - Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter -24.8% - Daredevil -26.4% - Secret Warriors -29.4% - Stand -34.0% - Captain America -34.3% - Incredible Hulks -34.8% - Dark Tower -35.7% - Deadpool -36.6% - Punisher -36.7% - Hulk -37.1% - Thor -41.5% - Ozma of Oz -43.2% - Black Panther -46.6% - Daken -49.7% - Super Hero Squad -60.8% - Deadpool Team-Up 2 year comparisons ================== +28.3% - Fantastic Four + 6.5% - Spider-Man [Marvel Adventures] + 0.0% - X-Force - 4.7% - X-Men Legacy -11.2% - Amazing Spider-Man -12.8% - Ultimate Spider-Man -13.6% - PunisherMax -19.6% - Iron Man -20.8% - X-Factor -21.5% - Super Heroes [Marvel Adventures] -24.9% - Uncanny X-Men -33.3% - Captain America -35.0% - Deadpool -41.5% - Ozma of Oz -42.5% - Thunderbolts -43.0% - New Avengers -47.4% - Black Panther -47.8% - Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter -56.5% - Thor -57.4% - Hulk -60.7% - Secret Warriors -61.0% - Incredible Hulks -63.1% - Dark Tower -63.7% - Punisher 3 year comparisons ================== +13.4% - Iron Man + 5.0% - Black Panther -16.5% - Spider-Man [Marvel Adventures] -25.6% - Ultimate Spider-Man -28.5% - Wolverine -30.9% - Daredevil -31.4% - Fantastic Four -38.9% - X-Men Legacy -39.4% - Amazing Spider-Man -40.5% - Uncanny X-Men -41.5% - New Avengers -51.1% - X-Force -51.3% - Captain America -54.3% - Punisher -55.3% - X-Factor -57.2% - Thor -60.2% - New Ultimates -64.9% - Hulk -67.8% - Incredible Hulks -73.1% - Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter 4 year comparisons ================== -26.3% - Spider-Man [Marvel Adventures] -28.8% - X-Men Legacy -31.6% - Iron Man -33.8% - X-Factor -35.1% - Uncanny X-Men -35.4% - Incredible Hulks -37.8% - Daredevil -41.6% - PunisherMax -41.9% - Ultimate Spider-Man -52.7% - Wolverine -53.3% - New Avengers -56.5% - Black Panther -58.4% - Thunderbolts -62.7% - Amazing Spider-Man -63.0% - Astonishing X-Men -71.9% - Punisher -89.9% - Dark Tower 5 year comparisons ================== +42.5% - Fantastic Four +10.0% - Thunderbolts - 4.8% - Captain America - 5.7% - Black Panther -19.1% - Spider-Man [Marvel Adventures] -23.2% - Incredible Hulks -31.5% - X-Men Legacy -31.9% - Uncanny X-Men -36.4% - Wolverine -39.5% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man -41.0% - Amazing Spider-Man -43.9% - PunisherMax -45.1% - Daredevil -47.6% - X-Factor -49.9% - New Avengers -68.5% - Astonishing X-Men
“CARNAGE
Issue #1 picks up reorders of 3,240 to appear at number 285 – possibly a case of Marvel offloading stock rather than a sudden resurgence in interest for a book that came out in october.”
Pretty sure it’s a 2nd printing, actually.
-B
You have the first issue of the second volume of Casanova decreasing in sales, but it looks like it actually went up a little from the previous miniseries.
Thanks for cranking out the numbers! I bought most of the Point-1 issues because they are one of only a handful of $2.99 comics Marvel is producing these days. Good stuff, but not good enough for me to pay an extra dollar per month per series. My Marvel pull these days is meager.
Of course we don’t know how Mavrel is looking for the point ones to perform, but I’d guess as long as they can cover the costs to pay the creative teams, that they exist to increase their dollar and unit pie share (same probably could be applied to when they release more than one issue of a title a month, like with Incredible Hercules).
“Yet 17,000 people want to buy every second chapter in X-MEN LEGACY rather than getting the whole story by the same writer. Why?”
Because comics fans are apparently more concerned with having a complete run of a title than a complete story, apparently. Or at least retailers think that’s the case.
As I recall, Age of X part 1 (in XML) and part 2 (in New Mutants) came out the same day. When I got there that evening, my local comic shop had a pretty big stack of part 1, and exactly one copy left of part 2. They ordered similarly on Second Coming, come to think of it. I don’t know whether that’s short-sighted of them, or if they just understand their customer base more than I do.
All the shops in New York were out of New Mutants 22. It was such a pain. And the reorders took two weeks. So i have a feeling it was way under-ordered and it will have a big bump next month.
“Yet 17,000 people want to buy every second chapter in X-MEN LEGACY rather than getting the whole story by the same writer. Why?”
I think it is because retailers would rather under order something and wait for a reprint to cover unexpected demand than risk over ordering a crossover issue of a series that normally sells at a certain level that they later can’t sell. Many shops I have seen had grossly overordered crossover installments of CIVIL WAR or WORLD WAR HULK or SECRET INVASION to the point that they can’t even GIVE them away at conventions to reclaim shelf space. Thus, from about 2009 onward, I think most shops are erring on the side of caution when it comes to crossovers, especially with titles that normally sell modestly. Better to turn one or two customers away than to have extra products for 10 who never oblige, I guess.
Great work as always, Paul. I do wish AVENGERS ACADEMY would sell better, but at least sales seem to be getting level.
It’s entirely possible that the market may indeed be crying out for a Silver Surfer relaunch, just with a different storyline the market finds more appealing. One of the Surfer’s past series lasted for 146 issues, after all, so it’s not like the character is incapable of carrying a series for an extended period of time.
We had initially ordered heavily on New Mutants and as the demand grew, we placed advance reorders. the “Confirmed” advance reorders we had placed for New Mutants #22 ended up becoming “Confirmed-Canceled” by Diamond. That meant we weren’t getting them. which stopped sales growth for the crossover dead in their tracks. The second printing comes out this week.
@Charles Skaggs
Except these are orders based on retailers trying to gauge the interest in Silver Surfer and the creative team and has little do with story content seeing as how the orders made based only on solict level info.
“…as I’ve said before, given that this book was promoted with an entire storyline in UNCANNY X-MEN, it’s surprising to me that it hasn’t done better.”
True enough, but the general reaction to the introduction of the new crew seemed to be a resounding “meh” — the folks in my circle who are reading this picked it up due to faith in Gillen’s writing, not the (with all due respect) rather generic lead-in in UXM.
Stuart Moore just announced at Comic Book Resources that NAMOR is ending with #11.
That fucking New Mutants issue.
My shop had all our copies damaged due to shoddy shipping. Never actually got our replacements, so Age of X was pretty well dead in the water for us.
With that noted, they must have run out FAST for that to have happened, so I suspect a lot of advance reordering was done and rather quickly.
Also, Power Man and Iron Fist had Marvel giving out free copies (I think) to match and/or supplement initial orders. May not count toward the totals, but it may also be artificially boosting them. Good way to ensure copies end up on the shelves though.
>Marvel have reprinted the entire first issue [of Heroes For Hire] in a major title (AVENGERS), which shows some commitment.
Marvel seems to be showing some (slight) signs of life from a sales and marketing persective. They’ve double-shipped free comics (e.g., Herc #1, Ruse #1, Sigil #1), added free content (HFH #1), and offered retailers point-of-sale displays (Marvel Point One).
Now, if only they would brighten up their coloring, create some more upbeat storylines, cut back on the “mature” content, and stop flooding the market…
LL
With the cancellation of Namor and DeadpoolMax (ending at #12), looks like PunisherMax, Generation Hope, and Heroes for Hire are the three lowest-selling ongoing super-hero titles. (Based on the March 2011 numbers from ICV2.com.)
LL
“True enough, but the general reaction to the introduction of the new crew seemed to be a resounding “meh” — the folks in my circle who are reading this picked it up due to faith in Gillen’s writing, not the (with all due respect) rather generic lead-in in UXM.”
I think maybe the fact that the new characters that were introduced in New X-Men and Young X-Men have been largely abandoned and forgotten about may have something to do with reader apathy and Generation Hope. We are already drowning in young mutant characters and Marvel can’t be bothered doing anything interesting with them, readers are hardly crying out for even more new characters that will be ignored once their book is inevitably canceled.
Power Man/Iron-Fist was actually a pretty good book! I’m happy to see it do decent!
@Blair
I wouldn’t be surprised. I like Gillen’s writing just fine, but the above is the reason why I opted not to get invested in this latest crop of teen mutants.
So… am I crazy or is 63,924 for the top-selling Marvel book really, really bad? And the 4th biggest-selling book overall? Someone tell me I’m crazy.
>am I crazy or is 63,924 for the top-selling Marvel book really, really bad?
Yes, Marvel’s circulation figures are plunging. The Avengers is a pale shadow of its former self. Mid-list titles like Daredevil have lost a quarter of their sales (or more) in the 12 months. The Punisher, a steady seller for years, now barely sells 15,000 copies. New series are starting out at cancellation levels; the latest She-Hulk series was retro-actively truncated to a four-issue mini-series after retailers’ orders for #1 barely topped 20,000 copies. Mini-series starring C and D-list characters are doing even worse–Marvel wisely cancelled the Rocket Raccoon mini-series and made it a back-up in the latest Annihilators mini-series. Marvel reduced prices on many mini-series in an effort to stem the bleeding, but it seems to be a case of, “too little, too late.” Their only hope seems to be flooding the market with Fear Itself tie-ins.
LL
>Power Man and Iron Fist had Marvel giving out free copies
Yes, as I recall Marvel double-shipped #1. This seems to correspond to sales of #2 and #3 as reported by ICV2.com:
#1 of 5 – 27,579
#2 of 5 – 12,181
#3 of 5 – 10,226
Launching new characters seems to be very difficult, especially given the current market. Perhaps a longer gestation period within some other ongoing titles would have help build reader interest. (Whatever happened to this approach? This is what Marvel did years ago with Cloak and Dagger, Elektra, Punisher, etc).
LL
Louis Lane, you are dead-on w/your statements. Couldn’t agree w/you more…
Paul, keep up the good work!!!
Interesting…
1) How low will circulation numbers drop before Disney notices, and will they install an overseer? (And will they want to water ski behind the Marvel trireme?)
2) Will Marvel print only mini-series tie-ins? A few titles will remain as ongoing series (Spider-Man, Avengers, Fantastic Four, Hulk) but the rest will only appear as events or event tie-ins, or as complete mini-series. (And how soon before Marvel gives up those periodical comics and goes straight to printing original graphic novels?)
@LL
The numbers tell a different story when you look at the long term month over month of Marvel’s periodicals sold just within the month in terms of units:
March 2011 – 2.9 million
March 2010 – 3.1 million
March 2009 – 2.7 million
March 2008 – 2.9 million
March 2007 – 3.4 million
March 2006 – 3.3 million
March 2005 – 3.7 million
Based on this – they are hardly plunging. And revenue is actually showing growth (especially over 10 years). So when looked at in terms of title (ie Avengers or Hulk) you may see a decline but from Marvel’s total copies sold they are certainly not plunging.
>Marvel’s total copies sold they are certainly not plunging.
Marvel has drastically ramped up production. For example, there are now three Avengers titles, numerous titles are published twice a month, and the only thing retailers have to fear about Fear Itself is the number of questionable mini-series Marvel is about to throw at the wall. This increased output is masking the plunging circulation figures of Marvel’s core titles. I’m not privy to their P&L, but I’d bet that publishing twice as many titles to achieve the same total circulation is eating into Marvel’s profit margin.
LL
@LL
The numbers suggest a different story.
Total number of comics in the top 300 for Marvel:
March 2011 – 114
March 2010 – 106
March 2009 – 99
March 2008 – 94
March 2007 – 85
March 2006 – 100
March 2005 – 84
Some of those years had five shipping weeks in March (like this year) but I would hardly consider this graph to be drastically ramping production at 5 titles per year average if you assume 5 week shipping months.
I agree with the profit margin black box being the key indicator as opposed to gross revenue but the numbers simply don’t point towards anything drastically turning downwards when looking at output (units sold and dollars and dollars per title).
When you consider the recession and overall state of other industries (like newspapers or magazines) Marvel has really been holding ground and not falling.
You know, Marc does a breakdown of the average number of units shipped per imprint. I wonder what Marvel’s looks like.
Also, what would the rate be if you divided total unit sales by number of titles. Marvel puts out way more product than DC, so they are going to typically sell more.
The free issues (of Academy and H4H) in their high selling comics sounds like a great idea. Hope it pays off.
Great to see X-Factor holding steady! (Has Peter David got anything new coming out?)
Just curious, but why did Punisher Max have a 7 month break?
@Micah – Marvel typically bring out approx 30 issues more than DC a month. So yeah, their piece of the pie is always going to be bigger.
@LL – What do you mean ‘double shipped free comics’ Did stores get the crossgen titles free? or did they not get charged for the actual shipping of those titles?
@Brandon – 2008/2011 – 20 extra comics a month, plus the drastic increase in prices of 33% ($3 to $4). All to make the same amount of money? No growth at all?
I think we can all admit that that isn’t healthy. Although, your charts do make it look less bleak! :) haha….
What are the figures/sales for DC for those same months?
I remember Paul wondering about the “part of audience missing part of crossover” phenomenon during earlier crossovers as well, and I give the same answer now as I have then.
Inertia.
For Legacy readers, it would be an extra effort to pull New Mutants as well, and it would also be an extra effort to cancel their Legacy pull for three months and then remember to re-pull it afterwards. So they just let their pull run through the crossover. People do what’s easiest, and in this particular case, not doing anything is the easiest route. Not doing anything results in the sales patterns we see here.
Of course, inertia isn’t the *only* factor at play, the sales we see are a sum of many different factors, some of which others have mentioned already. Inertia plus those others have mentioned = the sales we see.
@James
Actually my first graph is periodicals sold not revenue. The revenue for March over March is:
March 2011 – $10.6 million
March 2010 – $11.1 million
March 2009 – $9.4 million
March 2008 – $9.0 million
March 2007 – $11.4 million
March 2006 – $10.7 million
March 2005 – $10.4 million
All of this would suggest Marvel is doing something “right” because their strategy is holding periodicals steady in an awful recession and their output produces more collected editions that has revenue rising over 5 years and 10 years.
The growth is in total revenue of collected editions that have much lower overhead.
If I’m in Marvel’s finance department or an actuary predicting future sales I see a long term strategy that is not a sinking ship at all.
Okay, I just went through this chart, deleted the minis (except when possibly leading into a new ongoing or is effectively an ongoing series of minis) and one-shots, and made a note when February 2011’s issue happens to be the lowest-ever issue of a series. Here’s what I’ve found (the hyphen before the chart position indicates the title has been cancelled):
4. AVENGERS
02/11 #10 – 63,924 ( -1.5%)
lowest ever
5. FANTASTIC FOUR
02/11 #588 – 63,529 ( -54.2%)
6. NEW AVENGERS
02/11 #9 – 60,914 ( -0.4%)
lowest ever
10,12,14,15. AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
02/11 #655 – 53,366 ( -3.5%)
11. X-MEN LEGACY
02/11 #245 – 53,888 (+34.1%)
13. UNCANNY X-MEN
02/11 #533 – 53,834 ( -0.4%)
lowest ever
17. UNCANNY X-FORCE
02/11 #5 – 51,470 ( +0.2%)
18. SECRET AVENGERS
02/11 #10 – 49,717 ( -2.0%)
lowest ever
19. X-MEN
02/11 #8 – 49,522 (-23.4%)
lowest ever
22,24. WOLVERINE
02/11 #6 – 45,932 ( +3.6%)
25. ASTONISHING X-MEN
02/11 #36 – 44,326 (-12.2%)
lowest ever
26,27. ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN
02/11 #154 – 43,209 ( -1.8%)
28,31. INVINCIBLE IRON MAN
02/11 #501 – 41,517 ( -1.6%)
29. THOR
02/11 #620 – 42,106 ( -1.8%)
lowest ever
30. CAPTAIN AMERICA
02/11 #615 – 41,935 ( -0.4%)
lowest ever
35. NEW MUTANTS
02/11 #22 – 36,737 (+54.5%)
39,41. HULK
02/11 #30 – 32,907 ( -1.4%)
lowest ever
44. IRON MAN 2.0
02/11 #1 – 31,380
48,50. INCREDIBLE HULKS
02/11 #623 – 30,140 ( -0.9%)
lowest ever
54. DAREDEVIL: REBORN
02/11 #2 of 4 – 29,108 (-15.2%)
lowest ever
58. DAKEN: DARK WOLVERINE
02/11 #5 – 28,833 ( -6.2%)
lowest ever
59. DEADPOOL
02/11 #33 – 28,649 ( -1.7%)
lowest ever
62. WOLVERINE: THE BEST THERE IS
02/11 #3 – 27,790 (-17.0%)
lowest ever
66. X-23
02/11 #6 – 27,156 ( -2.5%)
lowest ever
68. S.H.I.E.L.D.
02/11 #6 – 26,190 ( -3.5%)
lowest ever
70. THUNDERBOLTS
02/11 #153 – 26,098 ( -1.6%)
71. X-FACTOR
02/11 #215 – 25,298 ( +0.7%)
72. BLACK PANTHER: THE MAN WITHOUT FEAR
02/11 #515 – 24,556 ( -10.6%)
76. AVENGERS ACADEMY
02/11 #9 – 23,709 ( -1.3%)
lowest ever
-80. SECRET WARRIORS
02/11 #24 – 22,704 ( -1.6%)
lowest ever
81. HEROES FOR HIRE
02/11 #3 – 22,401 ( -2.7%)
lowest ever
83. GENERATION HOPE
02/11 #4 – 22,170 ( -8.0%)
lowest ever
93. PUNISHERMAX [Max]
02/11 #10 – 19,236 (-10.3%)
lowest ever
-97. DEADPOOLMAX [Max]
02/11 #5 – 18,221 ( -5.3%)
lowest ever
100. DARK TOWER
02/11 #3 of 5 – 17,748 ( -4.5%)
lowest ever
111. THE STAND
02/11 No Man’s Land #1 – 16,094 ( -3.9%)
lowest ever
-112,117. DEADPOOL TEAM-UP
02/11 #884 – 15,526 ( -2.8%)
lowest ever
-116. DEADPOOL CORPS
02/11 #11 – 15,538 ( -3.6%)
lowest ever
-120,125. SPIDER-GIRL
02/11 #4 – 14,804 ( -3.3%)
lowest ever
124. PUNISHER: IN THE BLOOD
02/11 #4 of 5 – 14,861 ( -2.9%)
lowest ever
127,134. HAWKEYE: BLIND SPOT/WIDOW MAKER
02/11 BS #1 of 4 – 14,235 ( +8.6%)
-128. NAMOR: THE FIRST MUTANT
02/11 #7 – 14,001 ( -7.8%)
lowest ever
-141. SHE-HULKS
02/11 #4 – 12,226 ( -5.4%)
lowest ever
-147. IRON MAN LEGACY
02/11 #11 – 11,673 ( -5.5%)
lowest ever
179. OZMA OF OZ
02/11 #4 of 8 – 9,159 ( -2.4%)
lowest ever
206. ANITA BLAKE, VAMPIRE HUNTER
02/11 #2 of 5 – 7,352 ( -5.3%)
lowest ever
246. SPIDER-MAN [Marvel Adventures]
02/11 #11 – 4,923 ( +2.2%)
248. SUPER HERO SQUAD
02/11 Spectacular #1 – 4,879 ( -3.5%)
lowest ever
289. SUPER HEROES [Marvel Adventures]
02/11 #11 – 3,134 ( -7.4%)
If we remove the cancelled titles, minis possibly leading into an ongoing, all-ages material, and novel adaptations, we get this:
4. AVENGERS
02/11 #10 – 63,924 ( -1.5%)
lowest ever
5. FANTASTIC FOUR
02/11 #588 – 63,529 ( -54.2%)
6. NEW AVENGERS
02/11 #9 – 60,914 ( -0.4%)
lowest ever
10,12,14,15. AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
02/11 #655 – 53,366 ( -3.5%)
11. X-MEN LEGACY
02/11 #245 – 53,888 (+34.1%)
13. UNCANNY X-MEN
02/11 #533 – 53,834 ( -0.4%)
lowest ever
17. UNCANNY X-FORCE
02/11 #5 – 51,470 ( +0.2%)
18. SECRET AVENGERS
02/11 #10 – 49,717 ( -2.0%)
lowest ever
19. X-MEN
02/11 #8 – 49,522 (-23.4%)
lowest ever
22,24. WOLVERINE
02/11 #6 – 45,932 ( +3.6%)
25. ASTONISHING X-MEN
02/11 #36 – 44,326 (-12.2%)
lowest ever
26,27. ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN
02/11 #154 – 43,209 ( -1.8%)
28,31. INVINCIBLE IRON MAN
02/11 #501 – 41,517 ( -1.6%)
29. THOR
02/11 #620 – 42,106 ( -1.8%)
lowest ever
30. CAPTAIN AMERICA
02/11 #615 – 41,935 ( -0.4%)
lowest ever
35. NEW MUTANTS
02/11 #22 – 36,737 (+54.5%)
39,41. HULK
02/11 #30 – 32,907 ( -1.4%)
lowest ever
44. IRON MAN 2.0
02/11 #1 – 31,380
48,50. INCREDIBLE HULKS
02/11 #623 – 30,140 ( -0.9%)
lowest ever
58. DAKEN: DARK WOLVERINE
02/11 #5 – 28,833 ( -6.2%)
lowest ever
59. DEADPOOL
02/11 #33 – 28,649 ( -1.7%)
lowest ever
62. WOLVERINE: THE BEST THERE IS
02/11 #3 – 27,790 (-17.0%)
lowest ever
66. X-23
02/11 #6 – 27,156 ( -2.5%)
lowest ever
68. S.H.I.E.L.D.
02/11 #6 – 26,190 ( -3.5%)
lowest ever
70. THUNDERBOLTS
02/11 #153 – 26,098 ( -1.6%)
71. X-FACTOR
02/11 #215 – 25,298 ( +0.7%)
72. BLACK PANTHER: THE MAN WITHOUT FEAR
02/11 #515 – 24,556 ( -10.6%)
76. AVENGERS ACADEMY
02/11 #9 – 23,709 ( -1.3%)
lowest ever
81. HEROES FOR HIRE
02/11 #3 – 22,401 ( -2.7%)
lowest ever
83. GENERATION HOPE
02/11 #4 – 22,170 ( -8.0%)
lowest ever
93. PUNISHERMAX [Max]
02/11 #10 – 19,236 (-10.3%)
lowest ever
Draw your own conclusions.
@Brian Jacoby from Secret Headquarters Tallahassee, Florida: Why were the orders canceled by Diamond?
It’s nice to see a lot of the comics holding relatively steady. I initially thought the .1 books sounded like a good idea with poor implementation. It seemed confusing having a .1 in the middle of a series to me, and I’m a comic fan, so I didn’t see how this idea was supposed to attract non-regulars. Now that the issues are out I’ll say my thoughts haven’t changed except that the .1 issues were implemented worse than I thought. I knew what they were so I would check them out even in series I am usually not interested in, but again: I read comics regularly. Looking at the .1 books there really isn’t much, if anything, to indicate to new readers that they’re great jumping on points. And some like Uncanny X-Force 5.1 are after a new story arc has already begun (albeit only by one issue back).