by Paul O’Brien
Yes, I know it’s March. But as you may know, the original version of the January charts was way, way off – so crazily haywire that we looked through them and decided not to bother. But then Diamond recalculated, and this version actually makes sense. So here we go.
Marvel had two major projects for January – the new HULK series, and the relaunch of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN as a thrice-monthly title. Elsewhere, “Messiah Complex” continues in the X-books, the Young Avengers are back, and there’s somebody new in the Captain America costume.
Once again, Marvel comfortably beat DC in terms of their share of the direct market. In units, it’s 44% to 31% – in dollars, 41% to 29%. Bit of a thumping, really.
Thanks as always to Milton Griepp and ICV2 for permission to use their figures for these calculations.
1. HULK 01/08 Hulk #1 - 134,002
Officially, this is a whole new HULK series. However, at the same time, Marvel insist that the previous INCREDIBLE HULK series has been permanently reassigned to Hercules. So actually, this is a continuation of INCREDIBLE HULK, and Marvel have taken the odd decision to launch a new monthly Hercules title through the back door. We’ll see how that worked out later on.
INCREDIBLE HULK peaked at 120K during the “World War Hulk” crossover, so this is a good start for the new creative team of Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness. Bear in mind that until the last year or so, INCREDIBLE HULK consistently sold below 50,000, so Marvel’s focus on the character has really paid dividends.
2,9,10. AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
01/02 Amazing Spider-Man #39 - 90,788
01/03 Amazing Spider-Man #49 - 90,032
01/04 Amazing Spider-Man #503 - 87,341
01/05 Amazing Spider-Man #516 - 79,842
01/06 Amazing Spider-Man #528 - 95,415
=====
01/07 Amazing Spider-Man #537 - 123,160 ( 1.8%)
02/07 Amazing Spider-Man #538 - 145,435 ( 18.1%)
03/07 Amazing Spider-Man #539 - 155,980 ( 7.3%)
04/07 ---
05/07 Amazing Spider-Man #540 - 119,662 (-23.3%)
06/07 Amazing Spider-Man #541 - 108,284 ( -9.5%)
07/07 Amazing Spider-Man #542 - 105,715 ( -2.4%)
08/07 Amazing Spider-Man #543 - 106,485 ( 0.7%)
09/07 Amazing Spider-Man #544 - 150,788 ( 41.6%)
10/07 ---
11/07 ---
12/07 Amazing Spider-Man #545 - 129,085 (-14.4%)
01/08 Amazing Spider-Man #546 - 127,958 ( -0.9%)
01/08 Amazing Spider-Man #547 - 101,213 (-20.9%)
01/08 Amazing Spider-Man #548 - 97,959 ( -3.2%)
6 mnth ( -7.3%)
1 year (-20.5%)
2 year ( 2.7%)
3 year ( 22.7%)
4 year ( 12.2%)
Issue #545, the final chapter of “One More Day”, picks up re-orders of 4,604. As usual, they’re added into the numbers above.
But the big news is the new thrice-monthly format for AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, as “Brand New Day” begins in issues #546-548. And sales are down. People will jump to conclusions about that. So let’s put things in some sort of perspective.
Firstly, issue #546 has a variant cover by Bryan Hitch. The others don’t. So that 20% drop for part two isn’t nearly as bad as it looks.
Secondly, a straight comparison with earlier issues of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN isn’t really valid. Previously, we had three Spider-Man books a month – AMAZING, FRIENDLY and SENSATIONAL. Now, we still have three Spider-Man books a month, except they’re all called AMAZING. So the real comparison is with sales across all three old titles. And that comparison works out pretty well for “Brand New Day”, because FRIENDLY and SENSATIONAL didn’t sell especially well. And when Straczynski was writing it, AMAZING only came out about nine times a year.
Over the year from September 2006 to August 2007 (the year before “One More Day”), the three existing Spider-Man titles sold a total of 2,284,676 in the direct market. And that’s with “Civil War” and “Back in Black” tie-ins, remember. Now, in order to match that total over 36 issues a year, the new AMAZING only has to achieve the modest average of 63,463 per issue. It’s way over that. So far, so good.
The nearly-weekly AMAZING was always going to see a sales drop. But it’s also the successor to two lower-selling titles, which were bought by a core audience of completists. Compared to those titles, sales are through the roof. This book is doing fine.
3. CAPTAIN AMERICA
01/02 ---
01/03 Captain America #8 - 54,955
01/04 Captain America #22 - 41,266
01/05 Captain America #2 - 53,306
01/06 ---
=====
01/07 ---
02/07 ---
03/07 Captain America #25 - 344,270 ( 318.1%)
04/07 ---
05/07 Captain America #26 - 129,365 ( -62.4%)
06/07 Captain America #27 - 99,108 ( -23.4%)
07/07 Captain America #28 - 89,721 ( -9.5%)
08/07 Captain America #29 - 83,781 ( -6.6%)
09/07 Captain America #30 - 79,554 ( -5.0%)
10/07 Captain America #31 - 77,131 ( -3.0%)
11/07 Captain America #32 - 73,310 ( -5.0%)
12/07 Captain America #33 - 78,279 ( 6.8%)
01/08 Captain America #34 - 127,626 ( 63.0%)
6 mnth ( 42.2%)
1 year ( --- )
2 year ( --- )
3 year ( 139.4%)
4 year ( 209.3%)
What, seriously? Really? This is the debut of the new Captain America, and there’s also a variant cover by Alex Ross. Still, that’s a huge jump, which I wouldn’t have expected given the way that sales have settled down over the last few months. The book has been building to this for ages, so it seems a bit odd for retailers to get this excited just because Bucky is finally putting on the costume. I suspect sales will return to the 70Ks fairly quickly. Still, there’s more residual interest in the death of Captain America than I thought.
5. ASTONISHING X-MEN 01/05 --- 01/06 --- ===== 01/07 --- 02/07 Astonishing X-Men #20 - 119,736 ( -3.5%) 03/07 --- 04/07 --- 05/07 Astonishing X-Men #21 - 120,495 ( 0.6%) 06/07 --- 07/07 --- 08/07 Astonishing X-Men #22 - 117,321 ( -2.6%) 09/07 --- 10/07 --- 11/07 Astonishing X-Men #23 - 112,920 ( -3.8%) 12/07 --- 01/08 Astonishing X-Men #24 - 107,631 ( -4.7%)
Technically the final issue. The story finishes in GIANT-SIZE ASTONISHING X-MEN #1, currently scheduled for April, after which the series will be relaunched with a new creative team. Completing a 24-issue run above the 100,000 mark is impressive by any standards.
I’d have included more comparisons, but the book didn’t come out last July, nor in any previous January.
6. UNCANNY X-MEN
01/02 Uncanny X-Men #402 - 101,145
01/03 Uncanny X-Men #417 - 83,921
01/04 Uncanny X-Men #437 - 89,897
01/05 Uncanny X-Men #454 - 87,447
01/06 Uncanny X-Men #468 - 79,808
=====
01/07 Uncanny X-Men #482 - 83,860 ( -2.5%)
02/07 Uncanny X-Men #483 - 83,009 ( -1.0%)
03/07 Uncanny X-Men #484 - 82,043 ( -1.2%)
04/07 Uncanny X-Men #485 - 81,764 ( -0.3%)
05/07 Uncanny X-Men #486 - 81,965 ( 0.2%)
06/07 Uncanny X-Men #487 - 81,481 ( -0.6%)
07/07 Uncanny X-Men #488 - 86,747 ( 6.5%)
08/07 Uncanny X-Men #489 - 88,068 ( 1.5%)
09/07 Uncanny X-Men #490 - 87,592 ( -0.5%)
10/07 Uncanny X-Men #491 - 85,638 ( -2.2%)
11/07 Uncanny X-Men #492 - 111,160 ( 29.8%)
12/07 Uncanny X-Men #493 - 109,176 ( -1.8%)
01/08 Uncanny X-Men #494 - 105,520 ( -3.3%)
6 mnth ( 21.6%)
1 year ( 25.8%)
2 year ( 32.2%)
3 year ( 20.7%)
4 year ( 17.4%)
This is a “Messiah Complex” tie-in. Issue #493 picks up re-orders of 7,062, which are included above. So the initial orders are actually up for the third month of this crossover – something that also holds true for the other three participating titles. The story is a hit.
7. ULTIMATES
01/02 Ultimates #1 - 149,289
01/03 ---
01/04 ---
01/05 Ultimates 2 #2 - 113,379
01/06 ---
=====
01/07 ---
02/07 ---
03/07 ---
04/07 ---
05/07 Ultimates 2 #13 - 105,745 ( 6.2%)
06/07 ---
07/07 ---
08/07 ---
09/07 ---
10/07 ---
11/07 ---
12/07 Ultimates 3 #1 of 5 - 143,676 ( 35.9%)
01/08 Ultimates 3 #2 of 5 - 105,070 (-26.9%)
6 mnth ( --- )
1 year ( --- )
2 year ( --- ) 3 year ( -7.3%)
4 year ( --- )
Issue #1 picks up re-orders of 12,275, meaning that the second-month drop isn’t quite so steep as it looks. ULTIMATES is back in its usual sales range with this issue, and that’s probably good enough for Marvel.
8. X-MEN
01/02 New X-Men #122 - 109,246
01/03 New X-Men #136 - 93,453
01/04 New X-Men #152 - 118,099
01/05 X-Men #166 - 85,934
01/06 X-Men #181 - 74,094
=====
01/07 X-Men #195 - 76,900 ( -1.6%)
02/07 X-Men #196 - 75,707 ( -1.6%)
03/07 X-Men #197 - 75,184 ( -0.7%)
04/07 X-Men #198 - 74,841 ( -0.5%)
05/07 X-Men #199 - 75,996 ( 1.5%)
06/07 X-Men #200 - 156,787 ( 106.3%)
07/07 X-Men #201 - 86,278 ( -45.0%)
08/07 X-Men #202 - 86,521 ( 0.3%)
09/07 X-Men #203 - 85,652 ( -1.0%)
10/07 X-Men #204 - 83,456 ( -2.6%)
11/07 X-Men #205 - 101,401 ( 21.5%)
12/07 X-Men #206 - 104,815 ( 3.4%)
01/08 X-Men #207 - 104,793 ( -0.0%)
6 mnth ( 21.5%)
1 year ( 36.3%)
2 year ( 41.4%)
3 year ( 21.9%)
4 year ( -11.3%)
Back to “Messiah Complex.” Issue #205 picks up re-orders of 6,944, so as noted already, first month sales are actually up.
12,15. MIGHTY AVENGERS
03/07 Mighty Avengers #1 - 156,400
04/07 Mighty Avengers #2 - 124,209 (-20.6%)
05/07 Mighty Avengers #3 - 115,440 ( -7.1%)
06/07 ---
07/07 Mighty Avengers #4 - 107,768 ( -6.6%)
08/07 ---
09/07 ---
10/07 Mighty Avengers #5 - 99,544 ( -7.6%)
11/07 ---
12/07 Mighty Avengers #6 - 90,709 ( -8.9%)
01/08 Mighty Avengers #7 - 92,739 ( 2.2%)
01/08 Mighty Avengers #8 - 84,459 ( -8.9%)
6 mnth (-21.6%)
MIGHTY AVENGERS has been running horribly late, which wouldn’t be so bad, except that it’s supposed to be dovetailing with NEW AVENGERS. And in reality, it’s months out of synch. January saw the first serious steps to solve that problem, as new artist Mark Bagley helped to get two issues out of the door.
The trend is still steeply downhill, but issue #7 did get a small bump. The chart lists it as a Secret Invasion tie-in, but the solicitation merely promised a story about Venom symbiotes taking over New York. Perhaps people just liked the idea of Mark Bagley drawing that story. Interestingly, issue #8 was solicited as guest-starring the New Avengers (who sell a good 20,000 more), but it doesn’t seem to have made much difference.
13. NEW AVENGERS ANNUAL 01/08 Annual #2 - 89,644
About what you’d expect – a respectable number, lagging a bit behind the regular title, which is on a skip month.
16. NEW X-MEN
01/05 New X-Men #8 - 40,179
01/06 New X-Men #22 - 42,923
=====
01/07 New X-Men #34 - 37,272 ( -2.1%)
02/07 New X-Men #35 - 37,142 ( -0.3%)
03/07 New X-Men #36 - 37,004 ( -0.4%)
04/07 New X-Men #37 - 37,935 ( 2.5%)
05/07 New X-Men #38 - 38,915 ( 2.6%)
06/07 New X-Men #39 - 39,258 ( 0.9%)
07/07 New X-Men #40 - 49,515 ( 26.1%)
08/07 New X-Men #41 - 52,950 ( 6.9%)
09/07 New X-Men #42 - 52,730 ( -0.4%)
10/07 New X-Men #43 - 49,558 ( -6.0%)
11/07 New X-Men #44 - 78,362 ( 58.1%)
12/07 New X-Men #45 - 75,880 ( -3.2%)
01/08 New X-Men #46 - 82,658 ( 8.9%)
6 mnth ( 66.9%)
1 year ( 121.8%)
2 year ( 92.6%)
3 year ( 105.7%)
17. X-FACTOR
01/06 ---
=====
01/07 X-Factor #15 - 38,693 ( -3.8%)
02/07 X-Factor #16 - 38,240 ( -1.2%)
03/07 X-Factor #17 - 38,067 ( -0.4%)
04/07 X-Factor #18 - 37,851 ( -0.6%)
05/07 X-Factor #19 - 37,898 ( 0.1%)
06/07 X-Factor #20 - 37,105 ( -2.1%)
07/07 X-Factor #21 - 50,227 ( 35.4%)
08/07 X-Factor #22 - 52,627 ( 4.8%)
09/07 X-Factor #23 - 53,311 ( 1.3%)
10/07 X-Factor #24 - 52,085 ( -2.3%)
11/07 X-Factor #25 - 79,066 ( 51.8%)
12/07 X-Factor #26 - 84,219 ( 6.5%)
01/08 X-Factor #27 - 81,350 ( -3.4%)
6 mnth ( 62.0%)
1 year ( 110.2%)
2 year ( --- )
Two more “Messiah Complex” tie-ins. X-FACTOR #26 picks up re-orders of 9,520, so again, its initial sales are up in real terms. Curiously, unlike the other participating titles, NEW X-MEN doesn’t chart on re-orders.
Usually, crossover titles quickly return to their normal levels. We’ll probably see that with X-FACTOR over the next couple of months. In contrast, NEW X-MEN is cancelled. Its place on the schedules will be taken by YOUNG X-MEN, but since that book has a different cast and creative team, it’s not strictly a relaunch of the same title.
18. INCREDIBLE HERCULES
01/02 Incredible Hulk #36 - 36,422
01/03 Incredible Hulk #49 - 48,089
01/04 Incredible Hulk #65 - 49,049
01/05 Incredible Hulk #77 - 47,180
01/06 Incredible Hulk #91 - 35,980
=====
01/07 Incredible Hulk #102 - 46,965 ( -2.0%)
02/07 Incredible Hulk #103 - 46,690 ( -0.6%)
03/07 Incredible Hulk #104 - 47,823 ( 2.4%)
04/07 Incredible Hulk #105 - 53,256 ( 11.4%)
05/07 Incredible Hulk #106 - 119,735 ( 124.8%)
06/07 Incredible Hulk #107 - 115,912 ( -3.2%)
07/07 Incredible Hulk #108 - 107,714 ( -7.1%)
08/07 Incredible Hulk #109 - 104,322 ( -3.1%)
09/07 Incredible Hulk #110 - 96,835 ( -7.2%)
10/07 ---
11/07 Incredible Hulk #111 - 101,536 ( 4.9%)
12/07 Incredible Hulk #112 - 77,119 ( -24.0%)
01/08 Hercules #113 - 73,533 ( -4.6%)
6 mnth ( -31.7%)
1 year ( 56.6%)
2 year ( 104.4%)
3 year ( 55.9%)
4 year ( 49.9%)
74K for a Hercules solo title? Marvel insist that this is a permanent change and not a short-term gimmick; on any view, it’s doing surprisingly well. Soft-launching a new title in this way is perhaps a bit gimmicky, but it seems to have worked.
26. WOLVERINE
01/02 Wolverine #172 - 71,574
01/03 Wolverine #185 - 62,218
01/04 Wolverine #10 - 71,374
01/05 Wolverine #24 - 79,831
01/06 Wolverine #38 - 70,944
=====
01/07 Wolverine #50 - 117,160 ( 48.7%)
02/07 Wolverine #51 - 99,636 (-15.0%)
03/07 Wolverine #52 - 97,111 ( -2.5%)
04/07 Wolverine #53 - 98,441 ( 1.4%)
05/07 Wolverine #54 - 96,082 ( -2.4%)
06/07 ---
07/07 Wolverine #55 - 130,707 ( 36.0%)
08/07 Wolverine #56 - 73,368 (-43.9%)
09/07 Wolverine #57 - 74,588 ( 1.7%)
10/07 Wolverine #58 - 83,810 ( 12.4%)
11/07 Wolverine #59 - 65,725 (-21.6%)
12/07 Wolverine #60 - 63,194 ( -3.9%)
01/08 Wolverine #61 - 60,857 ( -3.7%)
6 mnth (-53.4%)
1 year (-48.1%)
2 year (-14.2%)
3 year (-23.8%)
4 year (-14.7%)
This is the final part of Marc Guggenheim’s “Logan Dies” story, and sales are still dropping. Yet another new creative team takes over in February.
27. MARVEL ZOMBIES 2 10/07 Marvel Zombies 2 #1 of 5 - 92,587 11/07 Marvel Zombies 2 #2 of 5 - 76,157 (-17.7%) 12/07 Marvel Zombies 2 #3 of 5 - 63,216 (-17.0%) 01/08 Marvel Zombies 2 #4 of 5 - 60,677 ( -4.0%)
Levelling out a bit, but I still think that the joke has probably run its course with this series.
28. ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN
01/02 Ult. Spider-Man #17 - 79,203
01/03 Ult. Spider-Man #34 - 93,789
01/04 Ult. Spider-Man #52 - 95,854
01/05 Ult. Spider-Man #71 - 83,987
01/06 Ult. Spider-Man #89 - 71,935
=====
01/07 Ult. Spider-Man #104 - 108,082 ( 41.7%)
02/07 Ult. Spider-Man #105 - 74,376 (-31.2%)
03/07 Ult. Spider-Man #106 - 73,832 ( -1.3%)
03/07 Ult. Spider-Man #107 - 72,818 ( -1.4%)
04/07 Ult. Spider-Man #108 - 72,713 ( -0.1%)
05/07 Ult. Spider-Man #109 - 72,478 ( -0.3%)
06/07 Ult. Spider-Man #110 - 73,646 ( 1.6%)
07/07 Ult. Spider-Man #111 - 75,487 ( 2.5%)
08/07 Ult. Spider-Man #112 - 76,523 ( 1.4%)
09/07 Ult. Spider-Man #113 - 67,476 (-11.8%)
09/07 Ult. Spider-Man #114 - 66,682 ( -1.2%)
10/07 Ult. Spider-Man #115 - 74,310 ( 11.4%)
11/07 Ult. Spider-Man #116 - 61,534 (-17.2%)
12/07 Ult. Spider-Man #117 - 60,361 ( -1.9%)
01/08 Ult. Spider-Man #118 - 58,800
( -2.6%)
6 mnth (-22.1%)
1 year (-45.6%)
2 year (-18.3%)
3 year (-30.0%)
4 year (-38.7%)
A formerly stable title which has started shedding readers over the last six months. The decline isn’t too bad in itself, but the comparison with the first half of 2007 is striking.
29. ULTIMATE HUMAN 01/08 Ultimate Human #1 of 4 - 57,485
Another of those Ultimate miniseries that nobody really treats as an event any more. The number is about what you’d expect these days.
31. AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE
04/07 Initiative #1 - 127,798
05/07 Initiative #2 - 103,189 (-19.3%)
06/07 Initiative #3 - 92,339 (-10.5%)
07/07 Initiative #4 - 94,773 ( 2.6%)
08/07 Initiative #5 - 86,536 ( -8.7%)
09/07 Initiative #6 - 74,184 (-14.3%)
10/07 ---
11/07 Initiative #7 - 66,455 (-10.4%)
12/07 Initiative #8 - 58,126 (-12.5%)
01/08 Initiative #9 - 55,270 ( -4.9%)
6 mnth (-41.7%)
Levelling out somewhat, but only in comparison with the alarming drops in earlier months. This book is still some way from looking comfortable.
34. WOLVERINE: ORIGINS
01/07 Origins #10 - 97,881 ( 15.5%)
02/07 Origins #11 - 78,901 (-19.4%)
03/07 Origins #12 - 74,750 ( -5.3%)
04/07 Origins #13 - 70,963 ( -5.1%)
05/07 Origins #14 - 68,953 ( -2.8%)
06/07 Origins #15 - 65,558 ( -4.9%)
07/07 ---
08/07 Origins #16 - 69,781 ( 6.4%)
09/07 Origins #17 - 62,235 (-10.8%)
10/07 Origins #18 - 60,050 ( -3.5%)
11/07 Origins #19 - 55,999 ( -6.7%)
12/07 Origins #20 - 53,548 ( -4.4%)
01/08 Origins #21 - 51,919 ( -3.0%)
6 mnth ( --- )
1 year (-47.0%)
Still in decline. It’s not been quite as steep over the last couple of months, but clearly the title isn’t holding its audience.
36. ULTIMATE X-MEN
01/02 Ultimate X-Men #14 - 97,690
01/03 Ultimate X-Men #27 - 84,594
01/04 Ultimate X-Men #41 - 99,532
01/05 Ultimate X-Men #55 - 87,447
01/06 Ultimate X-Men #66 - 73,720
=====
01/07 Ultimate X-Men #78 - 66,409 ( -1.4%)
02/07 Ultimate X-Men #79 - 64,363 ( -3.1%)
03/07 Ultimate X-Men #80 - 63,037 ( -2.1%)
04/07 Ultimate X-Men #81 - 62,926 ( -0.2%)
05/07 Ultimate X-Men #82 - 62,063 ( -1.4%)
06/07 Ultimate X-Men #83 - 59,677 ( -3.8%)
07/07 Ultimate X-Men #84 - 59,929 ( 0.4%)
08/07 Ultimate X-Men #85 - 57,660 ( -3.8%)
09/07 Ultimate X-Men #86 - 55,346 ( -4.0%)
10/07 Ultimate X-Men #87 - 63,028 ( 13.9%)
11/07 ---
12/07 Ultimate X-Men #88 - 51,633 (-18.1%)
12/07 Ultimate X-Men #89 - 50,516 ( -2.2%)
01/08 Ultimate X-Men #90 - 49,634 ( -1.7%)
6 mnth (-17.2%)
1 year (-25.3%)
2 year (-32.7%)
3 year (-43.2%)
4 year (-50.1%)
Levelling out a bit after a nasty downward lurch. Like most of the Ultimate books, this is really pinning its hopes on “Ultimatum” to spark some interest.
37. FANTASTIC FOUR
01/02 Fantastic Four #51 - 47,714
01/03 Fantastic Four #65 - 49,133
01/04 Fantastic Four #509 - 50,260
01/05 Fantastic Four #522 - 46,335
01/06 ---
=====
01/07 Fantastic Four #542 - 84,338 ( -0.7%)
02/07 ---
03/07 Fantastic Four #543 - 78,823 ( -6.5%)
03/07 Fantastic Four #544 - 85,677 ( 8.7%)
04/07 Fantastic Four #545 - 77,576 ( -9.5%)
05/07 Fantastic Four #546 - 72,182 ( -7.0%)
06/07 Fantastic Four #547 - 69,610 ( -3.6%)
07/07 ---
08/07 Fantastic Four #548 - 65,695 ( -5.6%)
08/07 Fantastic Four #549 - 61,770 ( -6.0%)
09/07 ---
10/07 Fantastic Four #550 - 57,906 ( -6.3%)
11/07 Fantastic Four #551 - 58,617 ( 1.2%)
12/07 Fantastic Four #552 - 51,320 (-12.4%)
01/08 Fantastic Four #553 - 48,332 ( -5.8%)
6 mnth (-26.4%)
1 year (-42.7%)
2 year ( --- )
3 year ( 4.3%)
4 year ( -3.8%)
Still dropping, but Millar and Hitch are just around the corner.
38. ULTIMATE IRON MAN II 12/07 Iron Man II #1 of 4 - 61,087 01/08 Iron Man II #2 of 4 - 46,248 (-24.3%)
Bit of a steep drop, but it’s a peripheral Ultimate book, so you can’t expect wonders.
42. ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR
01/04 Ult. Fantastic Four #2 - 126,693
01/05 Ult. Fantastic Four #15 - 74,501
01/06 ---
=====
01/07 Ult. Fantastic Four #38 - 52,859 ( -4.0%)
02/07 Ult. Fantastic Four #39 - 52,104 ( -1.4%)
03/07 Ult. Fantastic Four #40 - 50,488 ( -3.1%)
04/07 ---
05/07 Ult. Fantastic Four #41 - 49,916 ( -1.1%)
05/07 Ult. Fantastic Four #42 - 52,840 ( 5.9%)
06/07 Ult. Fantastic Four #43 - 51,453 ( -2.6%)
07/07 Ult. Fantastic Four #44 - 50,796 ( -1.3%)
08/07 Ult. Fantastic Four #45 - 48,779 ( -4.0%)
09/07 Ult. Fantastic Four #46 - 46,647 ( -4.4%)
10/07 Ult. Fantastic Four #47 - 45,015 ( -3.5%)
11/07 Ult. Fantastic Four #48 - 43,080 ( -4.3%)
12/07 Ult. Fantastic Four #49 - 40,656 ( -5.6%)
01/08 Ult. Fantastic Four #50 - 44,144 ( 8.6%)
6 mnth (-13.1%)
1 year (-16.5%)
2 year ( --- )
3 year (-40.7%)
4 year (-65.2%)
The obligatory anniversary boost. Retailers and readers love multiples of 50.
43. EXILES
01/02 Exiles #8 - 39,382
01/03 Exiles #21 - 36,109
01/04 Exiles #40 - 37,277
01/05 Exiles #58 - 32,129
01/06 Exiles #76 - 32,843
=====
01/07 Exiles #90 - 31,595 (-14.3%)
02/07 Exiles #91 - 31,712 ( 0.4%)
03/07 Exiles #92 - 30,296 ( -4.5%)
04/07 Exiles #93 - 30,697 ( 1.3%)
05/07 Exiles #94 - 30,735 ( 0.1%)
06/07 Exiles #95 - 30,612 ( -0.4%)
07/07 Exiles #96 - 30,245 ( -1.2%)
08/07 Exiles #97 - 29,092 ( -3.8%)
09/07 Exiles #98 - 28,308 ( -2.7%)
10/07 Exiles #99 - 27,776 ( -1.9%)
11/07 ---
12/07 Exiles #100 - 33,416 ( 20.3%)
01/08 New Exiles #1 - 43,853 ( 31.2%)
6 mnth ( 45.0%)
1 year ( 38.8%)
2 year ( 33.5%)
3 year ( 36.5%)
4 year ( 17.6%)
The power of a renumbering. This is the same book as before, with the same writer. But at least in the short term, NEW EXILES has seen a big sales jump. Mind you, there’s a variant cover on this issue, so I expect we’ll be back in familiar EXILES territory before long.
44. YOUNG AVENGERS PRESENTS 01/08 Young Avengers Presents #1 of 6 - 43,714
Now this is an interesting one. YOUNG AVENGERS launched back in February 2005. It lasted twelve issues before going on hiatus in June 2006, ostensibly until writer Allan Heinberg was available to produce a second “season”. By the time the book finished, it was selling a respectable 56K.
A year and a half later, there is still no Heinberg series, and no sign of one. Instead, this promising new franchise was put on the shelf for over a year. Finally, Marvel have given up waiting, and produced this spin-off series, with various creative teams, and each issue focussing on a different member. In fairness, because it’s a spin-off, you wouldn’t expect it to do as well as the core title. But still, by the standards of the original series, 44K for the first issue is disappointing.
With the benefit of hindsight, it now seems clear that Marvel made the wrong call. Waiting for Heinberg, it seems, is like waiting for Godot. In the hope of preserving the integrity of a Season 2 comic that doesn’t exist, and probably never will, Marvel have thrown this team’s momentum out of the window. They may struggle to get it back.
45. THUNDERBOLTS
01/02 Thunderbolts #60 - 29,912
01/03 ---
01/04 ---
01/05 New Thunderbolts #4 - 31,725
01/06 New Thunderbolts #17 - 23,417
=====
01/07 Thunderbolts #110 - 73,557 ( 169.4%)
02/07 Thunderbolts #111 - 62,791 ( -14.6%)
03/07 Thunderbolts #112 - 61,395 ( -2.2%)
04/07 Thunderbolts #113 - 65,092 ( 6.0%)
05/07 Thunderbolts #114 - 66,309 ( 1.9%)
06/07 Thunderbolts #115 - 64,876 ( -2.2%)
07/07 ---
08/07 Thunderbolts #116 - 52,503 ( -19.1%)
09/07 ---
10/07 Thunderbolts #117 - 47,151 ( -10.2%)
11/07 ---
12/07 ---
01/08 Thunderbolts #118 - 43,645 ( -7.4%)
6 mnth ( --- )
1 year ( -40.7%)
2 year ( 86.4%)
3 year ( 37.6%)
4 year ( --- )
For no readily apparent reason, THUNDERBOLTS has now drifted four months off schedule, with a variety of fill-in specials being used to plug the gaps. Usually, delays don’t seem to make much difference in the short term; readers who are committed to the story will grumble, but stick with it to the end. That’s not happening here; we’re seeing big drops over the last six months. It’s probably mainly connected with the general sales drop in “Initiative” titles, which is taking longer to filter through to THUNDERBOLTS because of its erratic schedule.
47. CAPTAIN AMERICA: CHOSEN 09/07 Chosen #1 of 6 - 74,010 09/07 Chosen #2 of 6 - 59,776 (-19.2%) 10/07 Chosen #3 of 6 - 53,168 (-11.1%) 11/07 Chosen #4 of 6 - 48,507 ( -8.8%) 12/07 Chosen #5 of 6 - 45,867 ( -5.4%) 01/08 Chosen #6 of 6 - 42,974 ( -6.3%)
After the initial publicity, this has drifted off the radar. But 43K is a healthy closing number of a miniseries.
49. DAREDEVIL
01/02 Daredevil #29 - 48,012
01/03 Daredevil #42 - 62,770
01/04 Daredevil #56 - 56,351
01/05 Daredevil #69 - 48,727
01/06 Daredevil #81 - 44,252
=====
01/07 Daredevil #93 - 47,124 ( -1.9%)
02/07 Daredevil #94 - 46,773 ( -0.7%)
03/07 Daredevil #95 - 46,455 ( -0.7%)
04/07 Daredevil #96 - 46,198 ( -0.6%)
05/07 Daredevil #97 - 47,200 ( 2.2%)
06/07 Daredevil #98 - 46,816 ( -0.8%)
07/07 ---
08/07 Daredevil #99 - 47,386 ( 1.2%)
09/07 Daredevil #100 - 78,143 ( 64.9%)
10/07 Daredevil #101 - 47,189 (-39.6%)
11/07 Daredevil #102 - 45,030 ( -4.6%)
12/07 Daredevil #103 - 43,874 ( -2.6%)
01/08 Daredevil #104 - 42,773 ( -2.5%)
6 mnth ( --- )
1 year ( -9.2%)
2 year ( -3.3%)
3 year (-12.2%)
4 year (-24.1%)
Another book which was solid in the first half of the year, but for no apparent reason has now started dropping – albeit slowly.
51. WORLD WAR HULK AFTERSMASH: WARBOUND 12/07 Warbound #1 of 5 - 49,142 01/08 Warbound #2 of 5 - 39,789 (-19.0%)
A slightly steep second issue drop, but then the crossover is behind us now.
52. ONSLAUGHT REBORN 01/07 --- 02/07 --- 03/07 Onslaught Reborn #3 of 5 - 52,420 ( -4.9%) 04/07 --- 05/07 --- 06/07 --- 07/07 Onslaught Reborn #4 of 5 - 45,946 (-12.4%) 08/07 --- 09/07 --- 10/07 --- 11/07 --- 12/07 --- 01/08 Onslaught Reborn #5 of 5 - 39,083 (-14.9%)
It’s very unusual for the drops to increase over the course of a miniseries. But then ONSLAUGHT REBORN is a very special comic.
53. IRON MAN
01/02 Iron Man #50 - 43,097
01/03 Iron Man #64 - 41,306
01/04 Iron Man #76 - 30,197
01/05 ---
01/06 Iron Man #5 - 45,243
=====
01/07 ---
02/07 Iron Man #15 - 72,394 ( -1.4%)
03/07 ---
04/07 Iron Man #16 - 59,470 (-17.9%)
05/07 Iron Man #17 - 63,328 ( 6.5%)
06/07 Iron Man #18 - 56,474 (-10.8%)
06/07 Iron Man #19 - 83,801 ( 48.4%)
07/07 Iron Man #20 - 72,831 (-13.1%)
08/07 Iron Man #21 - 49,548 (-32.0%)
09/07 Iron Man #22 - 46,691 ( -5.8%)
10/07 Iron Man #23 - 42,608 ( -8.7%)
11/07 ---
12/07 Iron Man #24 - 38,834 ( -8.9%)
01/08 Iron Man #25 - 38,072 ( -2.0%)
6 mnth (-47.8%)
1 year ( --- )
2 year (-15.8%)
3 year ( --- )
4 year ( 26.1%)
Seems to be levelling out after some big drops over the last few months, but we’ll have to see whether that sticks.
56. PUNISHER WAR JOURNAL
01/07 War Journal #2 - 96,112 ( -6.4%)
01/07 War Journal #3 - 70,143 (-27.0%)
02/07 War Journal #4 - 52,961 (-24.5%)
03/07 War Journal #5 - 50,190 ( -5.2%)
04/07 War Journal #6 - 53,498 ( 6.6%)
05/07 War Journal #7 - 75,360 ( 40.9%)
06/07 War Journal #8 - 61,376 (-18.6%)
07/07 War Journal #9 - 56,854 ( -7.4%)
08/07 War Journal #10 - 51,303 ( -9.8%)
09/07 War Journal #11 - 47,220 ( -8.0%)
10/07 War Journal #12 - 66,548 ( 40.9%)
11/07 War Journal #13 - 41,783 (-37.2%)
12/07 War Journal #14 - 38,471 ( -7.9%)
01/08 War Journal #15 - 35,815 ( -6.9%)
6 mnth (-37.0%)
1 year (-62.7%)
Blech. This isn’t looking at all healthy. Granted, it’s still above the Max title, but I don’t see that lasting more than another couple of months at this rate.
57. TWELVE 12/07 Twelve #0 of 12 - 20,218 01/08 Twelve #1 of 12 - 35,656 ( 76.4%)
Issue #0 was a trailer, so this is the proper debut of J Michael Straczynski and Chris Weston’s series about old Golden Age heroes. On the one hand, 36K isn’t bad at all for a miniseries about obscure characters; on the other hand, given the level of promotion and Straczynski’s ostensible superstar status, I’d still consider this a little disappointing.
58. WHAT IF? 10/07 Planet Hulk - 46,151 11/07 Annihilation - 29,715 12/07 Civil War - 58,944 12/07 X-Men - 32,476 01/08 Spider-Man/Wolverine - 35,282
About what you’d expect for a comic based on a one-shot from the 1980s, which most of today’s readers have probably barely heard of.
61. MOON KNIGHT
01/07 Moon Knight #7 - 76,921 ( 3.9%)
02/07 --
03/07 Moon Knight #8 - 77,390 ( 0.6%)
04/07 Moon Knight #9 - 69,196 (-10.6%)
05/07 Moon Knight #10 - 56,734 (-18.0%)
06/07 Moon Knight #11 - 58,313 ( 2.8%)
07/07 ---
08/07 ---
09/07 Moon Knight #12 - 47,521 (-18.5%)
10/07 Moon Knight #13 - 44,082 ( -7.2%)
11/07 ---
12/07 ---
01/08 Moon Knight #14 - 34,569 (-21.6%)
6 mnth ( --- )
1 year (-55.1%)
What on earth is going on here? MOON KNIGHT was doing so well in its first eight issues. Since then, it’s pretty much been freefall. This wasn’t even an Initiative book, although the departure of the original creative team probably didn’t help.
I’m tempted to wonder whether the figure is a glitch. But this is already a corrected chart, and MOON KNIGHT has already seen two other 18% drops in the last year. With January’s atrocious drop, the title is starting to look a bit vulnerable.
62. WORLD WAR HULK AFTERSMASH: DAMAGE CONTROL 01/08 Damage Control #1 of 3 - 33,585
Damage Control are a bit of a cult favourite, but they were never big sellers. This is decent enough for the start of a three-part mini.
63. X-MEN: EMPEROR VULCAN 09/07 Emperor Vulcan #1 of 5 - 48,990 10/07 Emperor Vulcan #2 of 5 - 42,022 (-14.2%) 11/07 Emperor Vulcan #3 of 5 - 37,699 (-10.3%) 12/07 Emperor Vulcan #4 of 5 - 35,203 ( -6.6%) 01/08 Emperor Vulcan #5 of 5 - 33,551 ( -4.7%)
Levelling out a little as the series goes on. Stll, considering that the Vulcan story ran for a year in UNCANNY X-MEN before jumping to this miniseries, you’d expect a few more readers to stick around.
65. IMMORTAL IRON FIST
01/07 ---
02/07 Immortal Iron Fist #3 - 35,654 (-12.2%)
03/07 ---
04/07 Immortal Iron Fist #4 - 37,159 ( 4.2%)
05/07 Immortal Iron Fist #5 - 36,856 ( -0.8%)
06/07 Immortal Iron Fist #6 - 36,731 ( -0.3%)
07/07 Immortal Iron Fist #7 - 35,842 ( -2.4%)
08/07 Immortal Iron Fist #8 - 35,449 ( -1.1%)
09/07 Immortal Iron Fist #9 - 34,282 ( -3.3%)
10/07 ---
11/07 Immortal Iron Fist #10 - 41,368 ( 20.7%)
12/07 Immortal Iron Fist #11 - 32,975 (-20.3%)
01/08 Immortal Iron Fist #12 - 32,623 ( -1.1%)
6 mnth ( -9.0%)
1 year ( --- )
Issue #10 was a variant cover, so just ignore it. Otherwise, IRON FIST has been selling very steadily.
67. SPIDER-MAN: WITH GREAT POWER 01/08 With Great Power #1 of 5 - 32,201
Possibly not the best time to be launching a Spider-Man miniseries, in the shadow of the Big Controversy. It’s been a while since the character was able to support spin-off titles and minis, so these underwhelming sales shouldn’t come as a huge surprise.
68. PUNISHER [Max]
01/02 Punisher #8 - 54,305
01/03 Punisher #21 - 41,607
01/04 Punisher #1 - 56,334
01/05 Punisher #16 - 39,341
01/06 Punisher #29 - 34,709
=====
01/07 Punisher #43 - 33,023 ( 0.0%)
02/07 Punisher #44 - 32,951 ( -0.2%)
03/07 Punisher #45 - 33,245 ( 0.9%)
04/07 Punisher #46 - 33,427 ( 0.5%)
05/07 Punisher #47 - 33,892 ( 1.4%)
06/07 Punisher #48 - 33,804 ( -0.3%)
07/07 Punisher #49 - 34,317 ( 1.5%)
08/07 Punisher #50 - 36,457 ( 6.2%)
09/07 ---
10/07 Punisher #51 - 33,771 ( -7.4%)
11/07 Punisher #52 - 32,909 ( -2.6%)
12/07 Punisher #53 - 31,772 ( -3.5%)
01/08 Punisher #54 - 31,654 ( -0.4%)
6 mnth ( -7.8%)
1 year ( -4.1%)
2 year ( -8.8%)
3 year (-19.5%)
4 year (-43.4%)
Solid as usual.
72. ANNIHILATION: CONQUEST 11/07 Conquest #1 of 6 - 35,826 12/07 Conquest #2 of 6 - 31,743 (-11.4%) 01/08 Conquest #3 of 6 - 30,089 ( -5.2%)
Levelling out a bit, and doing well enough considering the largely obscure characters involved.
75. NOVA
04/07 Nova #1 - 42,917 ( 21.9%)
05/07 Nova #2 - 44,532 ( 3.8%)
06/07 Nova #3 - 45,004 ( 1.1%)
07/07 Nova #4 - 40,173 (-10.7%)
08/07 Nova #5 - 39,543 ( -1.6%)
09/07 Nova #6 - 36,978 ( -6.5%)
10/07 Nova #7 - 34,876 ( -5.7%)
11/07 Nova #8 - 32,110 ( -7.9%)
12/07 Nova #9 - 30,469 ( -5.1%)
01/08 Nova #10 - 29,397 ( -3.5%)
6 mnth (-26.8%)
76. NEW WARRIORS
06/07 New Warriors #1 - 56,809
07/07 New Warriors #2 - 45,820 (-19.3%)
08/07 New Warriors #3 - 42,660 ( -6.9%)
09/07 New Warriors #4 - 39,998 ( -6.2%)
10/07 New Warriors #5 - 36,937 ( -7.7%)
11/07 ---
12/07 New Warriors #6 - 32,982 (-10.7%)
12/07 New Warriors #7 - 30,177 ( -8.5%)
01/08 New Warriors #8 - 28,926 ( -4.1%)
6 mnth (-36.9%)
78. GHOST RIDER
01/07 Ghost Rider #7 - 43,557 ( -6.7%)
02/07 Ghost Rider #8 - 48,736 ( 11.9%)
03/07 Ghost Rider #9 - 48,041 ( -1.4%)
04/07 Ghost Rider #10 - 43,986 ( -8.4%)
05/07 Ghost Rider #11 - 43,626 ( -0.8%)
06/07 Ghost Rider #12 - 71,348 ( 63.5%)
07/07 Ghost Rider #13 - 64,092 (-10.2%)
08/07 Ghost Rider #14 - 41,121 (-35.8%)
09/07 Ghost Rider #15 - 38,220 ( -7.1%)
10/07 Ghost Rider #16 - 34,335 (-10.2%)
11/07 Ghost Rider #17 - 31,581 ( -8.0%)
12/07 Ghost Rider #18 - 30,540 ( -3.3%)
01/08 Ghost Rider #19 - 28,566 ( -6.5%)
6 mnth (-55.4%)
1 year (-34.4%)
Three titles, all dropping far too fast for comfort. Specifically, they’ve all lost at least 10,000 sales in the last six months. And at this level on the chart, you really can’t afford that.
81. ANITA BLAKE, VAMPIRE HUNTER [DBPro]
01/07 Guilty Pls. #4 of 12 - 32,363 (-10.3%)
02/07 ---
03/07 Guilty Pls. #5 of 12 - 31,136 ( -3.8%)
04/07 Guilty Pls. #6 of 12 - 30,759 ( -1.2%)
05/07 ---
06/07 ---
07/07 First Death #1 of 2 - 38,631 ( 25.6%)
08/07 ---
09/07 ---
10/07 First Death #2 of 2 - 36,035 ( -6.7%)
11/07 ---
12/07 ---
01/08 Guilty Pls. #7 of 12 - 27,874 (-22.6%)
6 mnth (-27.8%)
1 year (-13.9%)
Marvel put their GUILTY PLEASURES adaptation on hold for nine months so that they could ship a quarterly two-issue mini in the middle. It’s an unusual publishing strategy, but it doesn’t seem to have made a great deal of difference. If anything, this is slightly down on what you’d expect from the sales of the earlier issues, but only by a thousand or so.
82. HOUSE OF M: AVENGERS 11/07 Avengers #1 of 5 - 47,525 12/07 Avengers #2 of 5 - 37,545 (-21.0%) 12/07 Avengers #3 of 5 - 32,412 (-13.7%) 01/08 Avengers #4 of 5 - 27,825 (-14.2%)
Not holding up very well.
83. SILVER SURFER: IN THY NAME 11/07 In Thy Name #1 of 4 - 39,917 12/07 In Thy Name #2 of 4 - 31,159 (-21.9%) 01/08 In Thy Name #3 of 4 - 27,631 (-11.3%)
Levelling out a little bit. It’s about what you’d expect from a Silver Surfer with a little-known creative team.
88. SPIDER-MAN: SWING SHIFT 01/08 Director's Cut - 25,049
This is a reprint of the Free Comic Book Day one-shot, with some alterations – the original was edited to avoid spoiling upcoming Spider-Man plot points. 25,000 sales of a book that Marvel previously gave away for free in most of America? I’d be happy with that.
92. MS MARVEL
01/07 Ms Marvel #11 - 32,298 ( -6.0%)
02/07 Ms Marvel #12 - 30,763 ( -4.8%)
03/07 Ms Marvel #13 - 40,836 ( 32.7%)
04/07 Ms Marvel #14 - 42,877 ( 5.0%)
05/07 Ms Marvel #15 - 42,849 ( -0.0%)
06/07 Ms Marvel #16 - 40,048 ( -6.5%)
07/07 Ms Marvel #17 - 38,003 ( -5.1%)
08/07 Ms Marvel #18 - 34,818 ( -8.4%)
09/07 Ms Marvel #19 - 32,371 ( -7.0%)
10/07 Ms Marvel #20 - 37,930 ( 17.2%)
11/07 Ms Marvel #21 - 26,484 (-30.2%)
12/07 Ms Marvel #22 - 25,450 ( -3.9%)
01/08 Ms Marvel #23 - 24,260 ( -4.7%)
6 mnth (-36.2%)
1 year (-24.9%)
Another title which surely has to be in some danger. It’s only shedding a thousand sales a month, but at this level, they matter.
94. EXILES: DAYS OF THEN AND NOW 01/08 Days of Then and Now - 23,997
A one-shot looking back on the first hundred issues of EXILES. That title usually sold around 30K, so this is fine for an under-promoted spin-off.
95. CABLE & DEADPOOL
01/05 Cable & Deadpool #11 - 25,844
01/06 Cable & Deadpool #24 - 23,542
=====
01/07 Cable & Deadpool #36 - 26,803 ( -3.5%)
02/07 Cable & Deadpool #37 - 26,588 ( -0.8%)
03/07 Cable & Deadpool #38 - 26,258 ( -1.2%)
04/07 Cable & Deadpool #39 - 26,110 ( -0.6%)
05/07 Cable & Deadpool #40 - 26,120 ( 0.0%)
06/07 Cable & Deadpool #41 - 27,431 ( 5.0%)
06/07 Cable & Deadpool #42 - 27,203 ( -0.8%)
07/07 Cable & Deadpool #43 - 26,341 ( -3.2%)
08/07 Cable & Deadpool #44 - 25,944 ( -1.5%)
09/07 Cable & Deadpool #45 - 26,009 ( 0.3%)
10/07 Cable & Deadpool #46 - 32,108 ( 23.4%)
11/07 Cable & Deadpool #47 - 24,388 (-24.0%)
12/07 Cable & Deadpool #48 - 23,884 ( -2.1%)
01/08 Cable & Deadpool #49 - 23,422 ( -1.9%)
6 mnth (-11.1%)
1 year (-12.6%)
2 year ( -0.5%)
3 year ( -9.4%)
Cancelled with next month’s issue #50.
97. SHE-HULK
01/05 She-Hulk #11 - 23,235
01/06 She-Hulk #4 - 28,214
=====
01/07 She-Hulk #15 - 27,600 ( 12.4%)
02/07 She-Hulk #16 - 27,961 ( 1.3%)
03/07 ---
04/07 She-Hulk #17 - 27,669 ( -1.0%)
05/07 She-Hulk #18 - 41,800 ( 51.4%)
06/07 She-Hulk #19 - 26,127 (-37.5%)
07/07 ---
08/07 She-Hulk #20 - 25,582 ( -2.1%)
09/07 She-Hulk #21 - 27,221 ( 6.4%)
10/07 She-Hulk #22 - 35,568 ( 30.7%)
11/07 She-Hulk #23 - 24,956 (-29.8%)
12/07 She-Hulk #24 - 23,585 ( -5.5%)
01/08 She-Hulk #25 - 23,283 ( -1.3%)
6 mnth ( --- )
1 year (-15.6%)
2 year (-17.5%)
3 year ( 0.2%)
Levelling out, but it’s still terribly low.
101. OFFICIAL HANDBOOK OF THE MARVEL UNIVERSE
01/05 Women - 20,837
01/06 A to Z #1 of 12 - 23,423
=====
01/07 Update #1 of 4 - 17,182 ( -18.9%)
02/07 ---
03/07 ---
04/07 Spider-Man: BIB - 23,510 ( 36.8%)
05/07 Update #2 of 4 - 16,633 ( -29.3%)
05/07 Anita Blake - 20,936 ( 25.9%)
06/07 Mystic Arcana - 15,669 ( -25.2%)
06/07 Mighty Avengers - 22,312 ( 42.4%)
07/07 Update #3 of 4 - 15,600 ( -30.1%)
08/07 World War Hulk - 41,583 ( 166.6%)
09/07 Marvel Zombies - 47,090 ( 13.2%)
10/07 Update #4 of 4 - 14,328 ( -69.6%)
11/07 Atlas #1 of 2 - 16,857 ( 17.7%)
12/07 Messiah Complex - 24,795 ( 47.1%)
01/08 Ultimate Secrets - 22,556 ( -9.0%)
6 mnth ( 44.6%)
1 year ( 31.3%)
2 year ( -3.7%)
3 year ( 8.2%)
Middling sales for this update of the Ultimate Universe handbook.
107. THE ORDER
07/07 The Order #1 - 57,264
08/07 The Order #2 - 40,274 (-30.0%)
09/07 The Order #3 - 33,936 (-15.7%)
10/07 ---
11/07 The Order #4 - 29,746 (-12.3%)
12/07 The Order #5 - 26,311 (-11.5%)
12/07 The Order #6 - 24,446 ( -7.1%)
01/08 The Order #7 - 21,539 (-11.9%)
6 mnth (-62.4%)
Cancelled with issue #10, for reasons that should be fairly obvious. Shame, it’s a good book.
108. PENANCE: RELENTLESS 09/07 Relentless #1 of 5 - 30,454 10/07 Relentless #2 of 5 - 24,346 (-20.1%) 11/07 Relentless #3 of 5 - 22,461 ( -7.7%) 12/07 --- 01/08 Relentless #4 of 5 - 21,144 ( -5.9%)
Fairly standard for a miniseries about an obscure character. But given the sales on parent title THUNDERBOLTS, you could have expected better.
117. MARVEL COMICS PRESENTS 09/07 Marvel Comics Presents #1 - 38,337 10/07 Marvel Comics Presents #2 - 26,573 (-30.7%) 11/07 Marvel Comics Presents #3 - 23,444 (-11.8%) 12/07 Marvel Comics Presents #4 - 19,890 (-15.2%) 01/08 Marvel Comics Presents #5 - 17,426 (-12.4%)
Marvel are committed to this book for twelve issues, which is the running time of the lead serial. I can’t imagine an issue #13, though.
126. AMAZING SPIDER-GIRL
01/02 Spider-Girl #43 - 23,076
01/03 Spider-Girl #55 - 23,564
01/04 Spider-Girl #69 - 20,384
01/05 Spider-Girl #82 - 20,005
01/06 Spider-Girl #94 - 17,148
=====
01/07 Amazing Spider-Girl #4 - 23,113 ( -9.9%)
02/07 Amazing Spider-Girl #5 - 21,391 ( -7.5%)
03/07 Amazing Spider-Girl #6 - 20,478 ( -4.3%)
04/07 Amazing Spider-Girl #7 - 20,093 ( -1.9%)
05/07 Amazing Spider-Girl #8 - 19,574 ( -2.6%)
06/07 Amazing Spider-Girl #9 - 19,142 ( -2.2%)
07/07 Amazing Spider-Girl #10 - 19,094 ( -0.3%)
08/07 Amazing Spider-Girl #11 - 18,725 ( -1.9%)
09/07 Amazing Spider-Girl #12 - 18,676 ( -0.3%)
10/07 Amazing Spider-Girl #13 - 26,558 ( 42.2%)
11/07 Amazing Spider-Girl #14 - 17,410 (-34.4%)
12/07 Amazing Spider-Girl #15 - 17,164 ( -1.4%)
01/08 Amazing Spider-Girl #16 - 16,422 ( -4.3%)
6 mnth (-14.0%)
1 year (-28.9%)
2 year ( -4.2%)
3 year (-17.9%)
4 year (-19.4%)
Still drifting slowly down. But SPIDER-GIRL seems to be supported in part by digest sales.
130. X-MEN: FIRST CLASS
01/07 First Class #5 of 8 - 26,607 ( -6.5%)
02/07 First Class #6 of 8 - 25,125 ( -5.6%)
03/07 First Class #7 of 8 - 24,028 ( -4.4%)
04/07 First Class #8 of 8 - 23,420 ( -2.5%)
05/07 First Class Special - 23,556 ( 0.6%)
06/07 First Class #1 - 26,370 ( 11.9%)
07/07 First Class #2 - 22,269 (-15.6%)
08/07 First Class #3 - 20,495 ( -8.0%)
09/07 First Class #4 - 19,088 ( -6.9%)
10/07 First Class #5 - 18,134 ( -5.0%)
11/07 First Class #6 - 17,050 ( -6.0%)
12/07 First Class #7 - 16,195 ( -5.0%)
01/08 First Class #8 - 15,986 ( -1.3%)
6 mnth (-28.2%)
1 year (-39.9%)
Also falling. But FIRST CLASS is a really an all-ages book with unusually wide direct market appeal, and by the standards of those titles it’s doing very well.
169. AVENGERS CLASSIC
06/07 Avengers Classic #1 - 29,319
07/07 Avengers Classic #2 - 20,954 (-28.5%)
08/07 Avengers Classic #3 - 18,817 (-10.2%)
09/07 Avengers Classic #4 - 15,392 (-18.2%)
10/07 Avengers Classic #5 - 13,599 (-11.6%)
11/07 Avengers Classic #6 - 12,213 (-10.2%)
12/07 Avengers Classic #7 - 11,162 ( -8.6%)
01/08 Avengers Classic #8 - 10,517 ( -5.8%)
6 mnth (-49.8%)
Reportedly, AVENGERS CLASSIC is being justified as a way of spreading the cost of remastering MARVEL MASTERWORKS: AVENGERS. But even on that basis, you have to wonder whether this is worth Marvel’s time. After all, they’re paying for original back-up strips.
170. HOWARD THE DUCK 10/07 Howard the Duck #1 of 4 - 26,182 11/07 Howard the Duck #2 of 4 - 13,203 (-49.6%) 12/07 Howard the Duck #3 of 4 - 11,476 (-13.1%) 01/08 Howard the Duck #4 of 4 - 10,440 ( -9.0%) 172. OMEGA THE UNKNOWN 10/07 Omega t/Unknown #1 of 10 - 19,322 11/07 Omega t/Unknown #2 of 10 - 13,986 (-27.6%) 12/07 Omega t/Unknown #3 of 10 - 11,518 (-17.6%) 01/08 Omega t/Unknown #4 of 10 - 10,164 (-11.8%) 175. ZOMBIE: SIMON GARTH 11/07 Simon Garth #1 of 4 - 15,430 12/07 Simon Garth #2 of 4 - 11,675 (-24.3%) 01/08 Simon Garth #3 of 4 - 10,011 (-14.3%)
Some cult miniseries which will have to hope for a better reception in trade paperback. OMEGA has good shot; I’m not so sure about the other two.
180. MARVEL SPOTLIGHT
01/06 Ellis & Cheung - 6,843
=====
01/07 Ghost Rider - 7,902 ( 34.6%)
01/07 Dark Tower - 18,922 ( 139.5%)
02/07 ---
03/07 Civil War Aftermath - 31,072 ( 64.2%)
04/07 Spider-Man - 13,210 ( -57.5%)
05/07 Fantastic Four - 8,261 ( -37.5%)
06/07 Captain America - 31,483 ( 281.1%)
07/07 ---
08/07 World War Hulk - 22,534 ( -28.4%)
08/07 Halo - 9,782 ( -56.6%)
09/07 Thor - 11,300 ( 15.5%)
10/07 Marvel Zombies - 16,697 ( 47.8%)
11/07 ---
12/07 One More Day - 12,807 ( -23.3%)
12/07 Messiah Complex - 13,462 ( 5.1%)
01/08 Ultimates 3 - 9,354 ( -30.5%)
6 mnth ( -58.5%)
1 year ( 18.4%)
2 year ( 36.7%)
Slightly disappointing for a property as high-profile as ULTIMATES.
And from here on, it’s DBPro books, reprints, Marvel Illustrated, and all-ages titles. You know the deal: these books do most of their business through other channels, so the direct market numbers aren’t especially meaningful.
201. HEDGE KNIGHT 2: SWORN SWORD [DBPro]
06/07 Sworn Sword #1 of 6 - 12,011
07/07 Sworn Sword #2 of 6 - 8,763 (-27.0%)
08/07 Sworn Sword #3 of 6 - 7,658 (-12.6%)
09/07 ---
10/07 ---
11/07 ---
12/07 ---
01/08 Sworn Sword #4 of 6 - 6,813 (-11.0%)
6 mnth (-22.3%)
214. CIVIL WAR CHRONICLES
07/07 Civil War Chronicles #1 - 18,449
08/07 Civil War Chronicles #2 - 12,953 (-29.8%)
09/07 Civil War Chronicles #3 - 11,094 (-14.4%)
10/07 Civil War Chronicles #4 - 9,108 (-17.9%)
11/07 Civil War Chronicles #5 - 7,500 (-17.7%)
12/07 Civil War Chronicles #6 - 6,841 ( -8.8%)
01/08 Civil War Chronicles #7 - 6,127 (-10.4%)
6 mnth (-66.8%)
216. MARVEL ADVENTURES SPIDER-MAN [All ages]
01/06 M.A. Spider-Man #11 - 6,107
=====
01/07 M.A. Spider-Man #23 - 6,271 ( -2.0%)
02/07 M.A. Spider-Man #24 - 6,678 ( 6.5%)
03/07 M.A. Spider-Man #25 - 6,408 ( -4.0%)
04/07 M.A. Spider-Man #26 - 6,478 ( 1.1%)
05/07 M.A. Spider-Man #27 - 6,818 ( 5.2%)
06/07 M.A. Spider-Man #28 - 7,006 ( 2.8%)
07/07 M.A. Spider-Man #29 - 7,071 ( 0.9%)
08/07 M.A. Spider-Man #30 - 6,573 ( -7.0%)
09/07 M.A. Spider-Man #31 - 6,723 ( 2.3%)
10/07 M.A. Spider-Man #32 - 6,355 ( -5.5%)
11/07 M.A. Spider-Man #33 - 6,126 ( -3.6%)
12/07 M.A. Spider-Man #34 - 6,115 ( -0.2%)
01/08 M.A. Spider-Man #35 - 6,065 ( -0.8%)
6 mnth (-14.2%)
1 year ( -3.3%)
2 year ( -0.7%)
224. MARVEL ADVENTURES AVENGERS [All ages]
01/07 M.A. Avengers #9 - 7,315 ( -2.6%)
02/07 M.A. Avengers #10 - 7,053 ( -3.6%)
03/07 M.A. Avengers #11 - 7,068 ( 0.2%)
04/07 M.A. Avengers #12 - 7,092 ( 0.3%)
05/07 M.A. Avengers #13 - 7,251 ( 2.2%)
06/07 M.A. Avengers #14 - 7,293 ( 0.6%)
07/07 ---
08/07 M.A. Avengers #15 - 6,950 ( -4.7%)
09/07 M.A. Avengers #16 - 6,870 ( -1.2%)
10/07 M.A. Avengers #17 - 6,423 ( -6.5%)
11/07 M.A. Avengers #18 - 6,141 ( -4.4%)
12/07 M.A. Avengers #19 - 6,115 ( -0.4%)
01/08 M.A. Avengers #20 - 5,670 ( -7.3%)
6 mnth ( --- )
1 year (-22.5%)
233. THE ILIAD [Marvel Illustrated]
12/07 Iliad #1 of 8 - 8,393
01/08 Iliad #2 of 8 - 5,248 (-37.5%)
237. MAGICIAN: APPRENTICE [DBPro]
01/07 Apprentice #5 of 12 - 7,206 ( -0.8%)
02/07 ---
03/07 Apprentice #6 of 12 - 6,818 ( -5.4%)
04/07 ---
05/07 Apprentice #7 of 12 - 6,193 ( -9.2%)
06/07 Apprentice #8 of 12 - 5,941 ( -4.1%)
07/07 Apprentice #9 of 12 - 5,454 ( -8.2%)
08/07 ---
09/07 ---
10/07 Apprentice #10 of 12 - 5,190 ( -4.8%)
11/07 Apprentice #11 of 12 - 5,036 ( -3.0%)
12/07 ---
01/08 Apprentice #12 of 12 - 4,853 ( -3.6%)
6 mnth (-11.0%)
1 year (-32.7%)
241. MARVEL ADVENTURES HULK [All ages]
07/07 M.A. Hulk #1 - 11,394
08/07 M.A. Hulk #2 - 7,142 (-37.3%)
09/07 M.A. Hulk #3 - 5,790 (-18.9%)
10/07 M.A. Hulk #4 - 5,588 ( -3.5%)
11/07 M.A. Hulk #5 - 4,990 (-10.7%)
12/07 M.A. Hulk #6 - 4,862 ( -2.6%)
01/08 M.A. Hulk #7 - 4,653 ( -4.3%)
6 mnth (-59.2%)
245. MARVEL ADVENTURES IRON MAN [All ages]
05/07 M.A. Iron Man #1 - 11,922
06/07 M.A. Iron Man #2 - 7,050 (-40.9%)
07/07 M.A. Iron Man #3 - 6,543 ( -7.2%)
08/07 M.A. Iron Man #4 - 5,911 ( -9.7%)
09/07 M.A. Iron Man #5 - 5,562 ( -5.9%)
10/07 M.A. Iron Man #6 - 5,130 ( -7.8%)
11/07 M.A. Iron Man #7 - 4,844 ( -5.6%)
12/07 M.A. Iron Man #8 - 4,656 ( -3.9%)
01/08 M.A. Iron Man #9 - 4,452 ( -4.4%)
6 mnth (-32.0%)
246. POWER PACK [All ages]
01/06 X-Men #4 of 4 - 8,590
=====
01/07 Spider-Man #3 of 4 - 5,880 ( -7.4%)
02/07 Spider-Man #4 of 4 - 5,605 ( -4.7%)
03/07 Hulk #1 of 4 - 6,697 ( 19.5%)
04/07 Hulk #2 of 4 - 5,944 (-11.2%)
05/07 Hulk #3 of 4 - 5,593 ( -5.9%)
06/07 Hulk #4 of 4 - 5,443 ( -2.7%)
07/07 Fantastic Four #1 of 4 - 6,577 ( 20.8%)
08/07 Fantastic Four #2 of 4 - 5,749 (-12.6%)
09/07 Fantastic Four #3 of 4 - 5,400 ( -6.1%)
10/07 Fantastic Four #4 of 4 - 5,152 ( -4.6%)
11/07 Iron Man #1 of 4 - 5,527 ( 7.3%)
12/07 Iron Man #2 of 4 - 4,855 (-12.2%)
01/08 Iron Man #3 of 4 - 4,445 ( -8.4%)
6 mnth (-32.4%)
1 year (-24.4%)
2 year (-48.3%)
249. MARVEL ADVENTURES FANTASTIC FOUR [All ages]
01/06 M.A. Fantastic Four #8 - 4,834
=====
01/07 M.A. Fantastic Four #20 - 4,459 ( -1.6%)
02/07 M.A. Fantastic Four #21 - 4,508 ( 1.1%)
03/07 M.A. Fantastic Four #22 - 4,588 ( 1.8%)
04/07 M.A. Fantastic Four #23 - 4,604 ( 0.3%)
05/07 M.A. Fantastic Four #24 - 4,807 ( 4.4%)
06/07 M.A. Fantastic Four #25 - 4,972 ( 3.4%)
07/07 M.A. Fantastic Four #26 - 5,370 ( 8.0%)
08/07 M.A. Fantastic Four #27 - 4,641 (-13.6%)
09/07 M.A. Fantastic Four #28 - 5,194 ( 11.9%)
10/07 M.A. Fantastic Four #29 - 4,851 ( -6.6%)
11/07 M.A. Fantastic Four #30 - 4,460 ( -8.1%)
12/07 M.A. Fantastic Four #31 - 4,392 ( -1.5%)
01/08 M.A. Fantastic Four #32 - 4,293 ( -2.3%)
6 mnth (-20.1%)
1 year ( -3.7%)
2 year (-11.2%)
250. PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY [Marvel Illustrated]
12/07 Dorian Gray #1 of 6 - 6,279
01/08 Dorian Gray #2 of 6 - 4,286 (-31.7%)
289. RED PROPHET: TALES OF ALVIN MAKER [DBPro]
01/07 Alvin Maker #5 of 12 - 4,480 (-11.0%)
02/07 ---
03/07 Alvin Maker #6 of 12 - 4,009 (-10.5%)
04/07 ---
05/07 Alvin Maker #7 of 12 - 3,678 ( -8.3%)
06/07 Alvin Maker #8 of 12 - 3,441 ( -6.4%)
07/07 Alvin Maker #9 of 12 - 3,184 ( -7.5%)
08/07 Alvin Maker #10 of 12 - 3,048 ( -4.3%)
09/07 ---
10/07 ---
11/07 ---
12/07 Alvin Maker #11 of 12 - 2,762 ( -9.4%)
01/08 Alvin Maker #12 of 12 - 2,756 ( -0.2%)
6 mnth (-13.4%)
1 year (-38.5%)
Skip months and re-orders
=========================
NEW AVENGERS
01/02 Avengers #50 - 56,009
01/03 Avengers #63 - 55,447
01/04 ---
01/05 New Avengers #2 - 153,751
01/06 New Avengers #15 - 121,758
=====
01/06 ---
02/07 New Avengers #27 - 132,109 ( 7.7%)
03/07 New Avengers #28 - 119,514 ( -9.5%)
04/07 New Avengers #29 - 125,378 ( 4.9%)
05/07 New Avengers #30 - 126,425 ( 0.8%)
06/07 New Avengers #31 - 160,911 ( 27.3%)
07/07 New Avengers #32 - 122,991 (-23.6%)
08/07 New Avengers #33 - 117,906 ( -4.1%)
09/07 New Avengers #34 - 112,815 ( -4.3%)
10/07 New Avengers #35 - 111,481 ( -1.2%)
11/07 New Avengers #36 - 107,715 ( -3.4%)
12/07 New Avengers #37 - 105,545 ( -2.0%)
01/08 ---
Skip month. The annual takes its place.
THOR 01/02 Thor #45 - 35,298 01/03 Thor #58 - 42,663 01/04 Thor #73 - 31,141 ===== 07/07 Thor #1 - 202,798 08/07 Thor #2 - 122,951 ( -39.4%) 09/07 Thor #3 - 109,964 ( -10.6%) 10/07 --- 11/07 Thor #4 - 112,307 ( 2.1%) 12/07 Thor #5 - 101,551 ( -9.6%) 01/08 ---
Also a skip month, for the second time in only six issues.
HALO: UPRISING 08/07 Uprising #1 of 4 - 71,812 09/07 --- 10/07 --- 11/07 Uprising #2 of 4 - 50,165 (-30.1%) 12/07 --- 01/08 ---
Late, and they’ve just rescheduled it again. This project’s gone a bit wrong, really.
RUNAWAYS 01/04 Runaways #10 - 20,108 01/05 --- 01/06 Runaways #12 - 24,989 ===== 01/07 Runaways #23 - 25,346 ( -2.2%) 02/07 Runaways #24 - 25,216 ( -0.5%) 03/07 --- 04/07 Runaways #25 - 56,250 ( 123.1%) 05/07 Runaways #26 - 46,134 ( -18.0%) 06/07 --- 07/07 Runaways #27 - 41,254 ( -10.6%) 08/07 --- 09/07 --- 10/07 Runaways #28 - 47,760 ( 15.8%) 11/07 --- 12/07 --- 01/08 ---
Late. Issue #29 came out in February, and issue #30 is presently scheduled for April.
CAPTAIN MARVEL 11/07 Captain Marvel #1 of 5 - 50,578 12/07 Captain Marvel #2 of 5 - 36,620 (-27.6%) 01/08 ---
Late.
BLACK PANTHER 01/06 Black Panther #12 - 27,933 ===== 01/07 Black Panther #24 - 59,971 ( 9.5%) 02/07 Black Panther #25 - 56,479 ( -5.8%) 03/07 Black Panther #26 - 51,385 ( -9.0%) 04/07 --- 05/07 Black Panther #27 - 52,552 ( 2.3%) 06/07 Black Panther #28 - 61,808 ( 17.6%) 07/07 Black Panther #29 - 55,027 (-11.0%) 08/07 Black Panther #30 - 48,478 (-11.9%) 09/07 --- 10/07 Black Panther #31 - 33,673 (-30.5%) 11/07 Black Panther #32 - 28,426 (-15.6%) 12/07 Black Panther #33 - 25,906 ( -8.9%) 01/08 ---
Late.
POWERS [Icon] 01/02 Powers #18 - 26,886 01/03 Powers #28 - 26,109 01/04 Powers #36 - 25,433 01/05 Powers #8 - 29,438 01/06 --- ===== 01/07 Powers #22 - 22,018 ( -0.5%) 02/07 Powers #23 - 21,939 ( -0.4%) 03/07 --- 04/07 Powers #24 - 20,960 ( -4.5%) 05/07 --- 06/07 --- 07/07 --- 08/07 Powers #25 - 21,349 ( 1.9%) 09/07 --- 10/07 Powers #26 - 20,541 ( -3.8%) 11/07 Powers #27 - 19,843 ( -3.4%) 12/07 --- 01/08 ---
Hopelessly off schedule once again.
IRON MAN: ENTER THE MANDARIN 09/07 Enter t/Mandarin #1 of 6 - 26,912 10/07 Enter t/Mandarin #2 of 6 - 20,781 (-22.8%) 11/07 Enter t/Mandarin #3 of 6 - 17,686 (-14.9%) 12/07 Enter t/Mandarin #4 of 6 - 15,306 (-13.5%) 01/08 ---
Late.
FOOLKILLER [Max] 10/07 Foolkiller #1 of 5 - 19,706 11/07 Foolkiller #2 of 5 - 13,779 (-30.1%) 12/07 Foolkiller #3 of 5 - 12,892 ( -6.4%) 01/08 ---
Slipped to March, for some reason.
TERROR, INC. 08/07 Terror Inc. #1 of 5 - 18,025 09/07 Terror Inc. #2 of 5 - 14,496 (-19.6%) 10/07 Terror Inc. #3 of 5 - 13,365 ( -7.8%) 11/07 --- 12/07 Terror Inc. #4 of 5 - 12,045 ( -9.9%) 01/08 ---
Late.
SPIDER-MAN FAMILY 02/07 Spider-Man Family #1 - 30,516 03/07 --- 04/07 Spider-Man Family #2 - 20,679 (-32.2%) 05/07 --- 06/07 Spider-Man Family #3 - 16,853 (-18.5%) 07/07 --- 08/07 Spider-Man Family #4 - 14,253 (-15.4%) 09/07 --- 10/07 Spider-Man Family #5 - 11,771 (-17.4%) 11/07 --- 12/07 Spider-Man Family #6 - 9,860 (-16.2%) 01/08 ---
Bimonthly.
KABUKI [Icon] 11/06 --- 12/06 --- 01/07 Kabuki #8 - 9,961 ( -7.8%) 02/07 --- 03/07 --- 04/07 --- 05/07 --- 06/07 --- 07/07 --- 08/07 --- 09/07 --- 10/07 --- 11/07 --- 12/07 Kabuki #9 - 8,884 (-10.8%) 01/08 ---
Ships when it’s ready.
6 month comparisons =================== 66.9% - New X-Men 62.0% - X-Factor 45.0% - New Exiles 44.6% - Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe 42.2% - Captain America 21.6% - Uncanny X-Men 21.5% - X-Men - 7.3% - Amazing Spider-Man - 7.8% - Punisher - 9.0% - Immortal Iron Fist -11.0% - Magician: Apprentice -11.1% - Cable & Deadpool -13.1% - Ultimate Fantastic Four -13.4% - Red Prophet: Tales of Alvin Maker -14.0% - Amazing Spider-Girl -14.2% - Marvel Adventures Spider-Man -17.2% - Ultimate X-Men -20.1% - Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four -21.6% - Mighty Avengers -22.1% - Ultimate Spider-Man -22.3% - Hedge Knight 2: Sworn Sword -26.4% - Fantastic Four -26.8% - Nova -27.8% - Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter -28.2% - X-Men: First Class -31.7% - Incredible Hercules -32.0% - Marvel Adventures Iron Man -32.4% - Power Pack -36.2% - Ms Marvel -36.9% - New Warriors -37.0% - Punisher War Journal -41.7% - Avengers: The Initiative -47.8% - Iron Man -49.8% - Avengers Classic -53.4% - Wolverine -55.4% - Ghost Rider -58.5% - Marvel Spotlight -59.2% - Marvel Adventures Hulk -62.4% - Order -66.8% - Civil War Chronicles 1 year comparisons ================== 121.8% - New X-Men 110.2% - X-Factor 56.6% - Incredible Hercules 38.8% - New Exiles 36.3% - X-Men 31.3% - Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe 25.8% - Uncanny X-Men 18.4% - Marvel Spotlight - 3.3% - Marvel Adventures Spider-Man - 3.7% - Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four - 4.1% - Punisher - 9.2% - Daredevil - 12.6% - Cable & Deadpool - 13.9% - Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter - 15.6% - She-Hulk - 16.5% - Ultimate Fantastic Four - 20.5% - Amazing Spider-Man - 22.5% - Marvel Adventures Avengers - 24.4% - Power Pack - 24.9% - Ms Marvel - 25.3% - Ultimate X-Men - 28.9% - Amazing Spider-Girl - 32.7% - Magician: Apprentice - 34.4% - Ghost Rider - 38.5% - Red Prophet: Tales of Alvin Maker - 39.9% - X-Men: First Class - 40.7% - Thunderbolts - 42.7% - Fantastic Four - 45.6% - Ultimate Spider-Man - 47.0% - Wolverine: Origins - 48.1% - Wolverine - 55.1% - Moon Knight - 62.7% - Punisher War Journal 2 year comparisons ================== 104.4% - Incredible Hercules 92.6% - New X-Men 86.4% - Thunderbolts 41.4% - X-Men 36.7% - Marvel Spotlight 33.5% - New Exiles 32.2% - Uncanny X-Men 2.7% - Amazing Spider-Man - 0.5% - Cable & Deadpool - 0.7% - Marvel Adventures Spider-Man - 3.3% - Daredevil - 3.7% - Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe - 4.2% - Amazing Spider-Girl - 8.8% - Punisher - 11.2% - Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four - 14.2% - Wolverine - 15.8% - Iron Man - 17.5% - She-Hulk - 18.3% - Ultimate Spider-Man - 32.7% - Ultimate X-Men - 48.3% - Power Pack 3 year comparisons ================== 139.4% - Captain America 105.7% - New X-Men 55.9% - Incredible Hercules 37.6% - Thunderbolts 36.5% - Exiles 22.7% - Amazing Spider-Man 21.9% - X-Men 20.7% - Uncanny X-Men 8.2% - Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe 4.3% - Fantastic Four 0.2% - She-Hulk - 7.3% - Ultimates - 9.4% - Cable & Deadpool - 12.2% - Daredevil - 17.9% - Amazing Spider-Girl - 19.5% - Punisher - 23.8% - Wolverine - 30.0% - Ultimate Spider-Man - 40.7% - Ultimate Fantastic Four - 43.2% - Ultimate X-Men 4 year comparisons ================== 209.3% - Captain America 49.9% - Incredible Hercules 26.1% - Iron Man 17.6% - Exiles 17.4% - Uncanny X-Men 12.2% - Amazing Spider-Man - 3.8% - Fantastic Four - 11.3% - X-Men - 14.7% - Wolverine - 19.4% - Amazing Spider-Girl - 24.1% - Daredevil - 38.7% - Ultimate Spider-Man - 43.4% - Punisher - 50.1% - Ultimate X-Men - 65.2% - Ultimate Fantastic Four
Avengers Classic is canceled with issue 12, I believe.
In regards to The Order, O’Brien says:
“Cancelled with issue #10, for reasons that should be fairly obvious. Shame, it’s a good book.”
Not really. The comic wasn’t canceled. It’s being stopped because Fraction wasn’t going to do the book without Kitson, who was no longer affordable because of the sales. The low sales indirectly brought it to an end, but their not the reason it’s ending.
“Omega t/Unknown #4 of 10 – 10,164”
oh, good, they counted my copy!
Too bad this one is slipping fast. :(
What on earth is going on here? MOON KNIGHT was doing so well in its first eight issues. Since then, it’s pretty much been freefall. This wasn’t even an Initiative book, although the departure of the original creative team probably didn’t help.
Moon Knight actually did have an Initiative banner for issues #11-13. As for “what’s going on here,” I would imagine people are dropping it because it just hasn’t been very good. I enjoyed the first story arc, and issue #13 was actually really, REALLY good, but otherwise the book has been kind of listless and uninteresting since Civil War. It’s a shame, really…I love the MK character, but I dropped the book from my pull after #14.
What on earth is going on here? MOON KNIGHT was doing so well in its first eight issues. Since then, it’s pretty much been freefall. This wasn’t even an Initiative book, although the departure of the original creative team probably didn’t help.
Moon Knight actually did have an Initiative banner for issues #11-13. As for “what’s going on here,” I would imagine people are dropping it because it just hasn’t been very good. I enjoyed the first story arc, and issue #13 was actually really, REALLY good, but otherwise the book has been kind of listless and uninteresting since Civil War. It’s a shame, really…I love the MK character, but I dropped the book from my pull after #14.
What on earth is going on here? MOON KNIGHT was doing so well in its first eight issues. Since then, it’s pretty much been freefall. This wasn’t even an Initiative book, although the departure of the original creative team probably didn’t help.
Moon Knight actually did have an Initiative banner for issues #11-13. As for “what’s going on here,” I would imagine people are dropping it because it just hasn’t been very good. I enjoyed the first story arc, and issue #13 was actually really, REALLY good, but otherwise the book has been kind of listless and uninteresting since Civil War. It’s a shame, really…I love the MK character, but I dropped the book from my pull after #14.
Kabuki “ships when it’s ready.” that’s funny.
Surprised at how bad off the Omega series is. Wonder if a writer like Lethem is pricey enough that marvel is suffering a bit on that one? Then again, i’m probably over-estimating how much of a draw Lethem might be. Still, i’m glad to be a member of the cult that’s reading that book.
*sigh* Sorry about the multiple posts. Please delete the extras!
> For no readily apparent reason, THUNDERBOLTS has now drifted four months off schedule, with a variety of fill-in specials being used to plug the gaps
Back here – http://www.comicboards.com/tbolts/view.php?rpl=071211174141 – Deodato firmly pinned it on Ellis, saying he was making his deadlines but not getting the pages to draw.
> Avengers Classic is canceled with issue 12, I believe.
Yeah – reportedly, they’ve decided to speed up the Masterworks reprints, and presumably it wasn’t making enough to cover both the remastering & the backups by now anyway.
> Not really. The comic wasn’t canceled. It’s being stopped because Fraction wasn’t going to do the book without Kitson, who was no longer affordable because of the sales. The low sales indirectly brought it to an end, but their not the reason it’s ending.
Ah, the Nextwave excuse…
Argh, not Moon Knight too! First Irredeemable Ant-Man, then The Order… am I cursed or something? Maybe I should try liking really bad Marvel comics to get them cancelled…
>Ah, the Nextwave excuse…
Yep.
But, the good thing is that Marvel seems to realize that Order and Nextwave aren’t good because of the characters or the teams or whatever, they’re good because of the creative talent. So, why continue the book without Fraction & Kitson or Ellis & Immonen?
That’s a good thing, IMO.
Realistically, Shawn, who on earth WERE they going to afford with sales at that level?
“What on earth is going on here?”
Recession. And you ain’t seen nothin’ yet. Smaller publishers better be real cautious with their expenditures this year.
Looks like I’m among the many who bought Omega #1 to check it out and will be getting the TPB later. The book isn’t attached to anything in the Marvel U. and wasn’t *amazing*, so I didn’t see any reason to buy it monthly. It’ll do better once it’s collected.
I don’t know whether the Ultimate line is really going to be imploded, as has been rumored/suggested, but I wouldn’t mind.
Alan you have a point. I can’t afford comics anymore. Given them all up. That’s saying a lot too. I used to collect everything Marvel put out, all X-titles, Avengers, Hulk, FF, Spiderman, DD, I mean everything. Just too expensive. I’m waiting a few more months to get the internet service.
The first issue of Omega was available for free at the Marvel DCU site. I checked it out and enjoyed more than I thought I would. As much as I like the creators involved, most times those things don’t hold up but I was hooked into reading more. I debated buying the series but will wait for the trade.
At this point, I think Shonen Jump anthologies need to be the direction of the Big 2- a big Batman monthly with all the Bat family comics in one big package, same with Superman, Spidey, X-Men, etc. That way, if one story is late it’s easier to fill the space and we can quit the moaning about late books and readers can get one fat package of monthly comics instead of a mere 22 pages of decompressed story. This could allow for more experiments since they’d be “sheltered” in a package that the fans would already be buying. Then, like the manga companies, they could survey readers and find out what they want instead of throwing product at the wall and then forcing retailers to guess, only to get stuck with unmoveable product when they guess wrong.
Thing is though JW – they can’t afford to do that. Essentially, they’d be sending comics straight to TPB (albeit as pieces of multiple stories rather than complete stories) – and they don’t do OGNs because they can’t make the numbers add up.
On top of that, they’d have to cut the price per page fairly drastically to make it work from a consumer end, squeezing them harder still.
And the resulting implosion of stock for them to shift would knock more than a few comic shops out of business…
Shonen Jump can manage it because:
1) Licensed reprints are cheaper than original material
2) They sell a crapload per issue, through non-DM channels. The more you sell, the less you need to sell each copy for
3) It’s black & white on cheap paper, which is cheaper to print and lighter to ship than colour/heavy paper.
Michael & Alan…
Pardon the pun but you guys are On The Money!
Economics, baby. Everyone’s getting hit and the first thing that usually takes a cut are the non-essentials like entertainment. These things aren’t cheap anymore either, at three to four dollars a copy, comics cost as much as a magazine. Yes, I know the talent costs more and so does manufacturing but there used to be a HUGE gap in price between the two.
In my opinion, the quality has deteriorated so much, it makes them that much easier to give up. Nowadays, I only buy from dependable creators who I know will put out professional work.
Since I’m old school, that means most of the veterans who don’t work as much for the big two, which also contributes to less comics I have to purchase.
I may be alone in this but the whole Spider Man fiasco was actually a good thing, for me. The whole point; the story, the execution… everything about it made me take a good, hard look at what I was buying. How much longer am I as a consumer going to be spending good money on stories that are just plain… bad; stupid.
I looked at it and said who’s more stupid: the guy telling bad, stupid stories or the guy buying them? I no longer buy anything Marvel.
Still, I’m glad Marvel is doing so well in sales, it means the medium will survive that much longer. But in today’s economic climate, I need bang for my buck and I want to read good stories. Suddenly, my back issues have begun to look like a whole lot of fun!
Is Spider-Girl being subsidized by the digests? The last one came out in Oct and there hasn’t been one solicited since. Amazing Spider-Girl is collected in regular-size trades.
I’m pretty sure Halo is delayed due to Bungie taking so long to sign off on them.
Alan: I can easily believe that the recession will have an effect on comics, which are overpriced luxury items. But that wouldn’t provide an explanation for the plummetting sales on MOON KNIGHT in particular. Not unless MOON KNIGHT readers are peculiarly affected by the recession, which doesn’t seem especially likely.
Just wanted to point out that they are not “DBPro” books anymore. They are “Marvel’s Best Selling Authors” books.
I had two lifelong friends that had read comics since we were kids in the late 70’s, but in the last year they have both told me they’re walking away from comics entirely. A few others I know have cut back drastically on their pull lists.
These guys all read Marvel or DC pretty much exclusively. I have a feeling a recession is going to hit the Big Two the hardest.
Paul O> Alan: I can easily believe that the recession will have an effect on comics, which are overpriced luxury items. But that wouldn’t provide an explanation for the plummetting sales on MOON KNIGHT in particular. Not unless MOON KNIGHT readers are peculiarly affected by the recession, which doesn’t seem especially likely.
I think he may be suggesting that, in a belt-tightening situation, you cut the books you like least first, and Moon Knight’s not a very good comic right now. It doesn’t so much affect “Moon Knight readers” as much as drops may escalate more quickly on certain lesser titles than before, and MK’s an early example of that.
So, sales of the Twelve are “disappointing”, eh? Despite all three issues getting second printings.
Thanks, Heidi.
Chris Weston,
Don’t accuse Heidi. She didn’t write the article, Paul O’Brien did.
For a book that Marvel wants us to believe is “Watchmen done right”, I’d say that 35,000 is a disappointing number.
When a book goes to a second printing, it almost always means they didn’t print enough copies for the first printing. It has gotten to the point where Marvel almost always has a second printing, usually with a ******* zombie cover. I hate zombies.
There’s an interesting debate going on at the Image Comics board about whether or not accurate sales numbers should be made public. Thought some of you number minded folks might be interested…
http://www.imagecomics.com/messageboard/viewtopic.php?t=40261
Chris, oddly enough, me and Future Mr. Beat were just talking about The Twelve this morning, as he had just read it and thought it was cracking. The merits of your artwork were also discussed at length.
So, Paul, you’re on notice!
*points out that Loners went to second printings on at least two and possibly three issues, despite never breaking the 20k barrier IIRC…*
Uh… just wanted to say that I personally found the artwork in The Twelve to be amazing – Mr. Weston did an excellent job making them look like folks from the ’40s, and not modern Joes with ’40s stylings… I love the Jane Mansfield/Mae West-ness of the Black Widow… it’s a smashing job!
There is no recession! Everything is fine! Everyone go back to making you usual monthly comic purchases – I will be sending you all between $300 and $600 in the coming months to get you started!
A book that sells two copies can go to a second printing, if the first printing was one copy.
“Second printing” is meaningless as a metric.
I say it boils down to bad editorial decisions. OMD, Red Hulk, She Hulk dropping comedy, Bucky is Cap and Iron Man is king of Marvel?
I used to drop $30 a week on Marvel. Now I send it all to Dark Horse with Hellboy and Buffy. The economy has some to do with it. I think Marvel’s direction is the real problem here.
Whats with the price complaints. I can go on amazon or buy.com or instocktrades.com or dcbservice or any other number of sites and buy big collected editions for 30-40 % off. There are many options for those of you who are hit by some phantom recession.
Lycaeon – addressing your examples: OMD led to 3x monthly Amazing, which is selling great; Red Hulk was the #1 comic for Jan; She-Hulk hasn’t exactly dropped the comedy, so I’m guessing you haven’t read David’s run yet, and the title wasn’t burning up the charts with Slott anyway; Cap remains a solid seller and critically acclaimed; and since Iron Man has a major movie coming out in May it’s easy to understand why he is presently at the forefront of the Marvel U.
So while the current Marvel direction isn’t working for you, your theory of “bad editorial decisions” is not supported by the sales charts.
““Second printing” is meaningless as a metric.”
I tend to agree. All it means, really, is that retailers underestimated demand. Whether or not this is going to have a significant effect on sales in the case of THE TWELVE, we’re going to see a few months down the road – it’s quite possible that it will, but it’s not a given.
For now, I agree with Paul: 35k for a reasonably well-promoted in-continuity maxiseries written by Straczynski isn’t especially impressive.
I always wonder about the “these books do most of their business through other channels, so the direct market numbers aren’t especially meaningful” when it comes to the Marvel Adventure titles, and even Brian Hibbs mentions it in his 2007 Bookscan T@W column:
http://www.newsarama.com/Tilting2_0/Tilting49.html
“Much like last year, none of Marvel’s kid-oriented digests appear anywhere within the top 750, but thanks to having the Long Tail, I can tell you that the one that sells the best doesn’t even mange 2800 copies, with the vast majority of them selling under 1000 copies for the entire year (and most under 500 copies). Logically, these books have to be selling somewhere, otherwise they wouldn’t have such an aggressive publication schedule, but they don’t seem to be moving any significant number of copies in any retail source that can be tracked. Perhaps they’re selling to libraries or at school book fairs?”
Ult. Spider-Man needs a new artist stat. The problem isn’t the writer or the story. Its an artist that is very clearly out of his depth and not able to reach the standards set by bagley in storytelling styles. All that needless linework, the teenagers and adults being identical, and most important = the complete inability to convey genuine and subtle emotion has made Immonen a complete failure. His history with the character shouldn’t give him any more slack then another artist would be allowed.
Moon Knight is failing because David Finch left the book. I’m a big fan of Marc Spector, but the art has taken a huge drop, so sales should accurately reflect that.
“Bucky is Cap”
And how soon do we find out that Steve Rogers is really not buried at the bottom of the sea?
I know this is a chart for January comics, but I just wanted to mention that Terror, Inc.’s final issue was late but came out in February.
And that whole mini-series was excellent.
Yahooooooooo
Marvel is kickin DC ass bad !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It’s worth pointing out that INCREDIBLE HERCULES #113 wasn’t solicited as such; it was originally offered as INCREDIBLE HULK #113 (or INCREDIBLE XXXX #113?) and only announced the change later, after orders were in.
Which is to say, a lot retailers probably ordered what it IS based on what they THOUGHT it was … and I expect the numbers from #114 on, when they actually had the correct information, to plunge sharply.
A shame, as HERCULES is quite enjoyable.
I stopped buying Moon Knight because the art looked poor after Finch left the book, and now the Charlie Huston is off the book that just makes things worse. I was a fan of his hard-boiled novels, and nothing against the new writer, but I dont know his work.