By Paul O’Brien

After a comparatively quiet May, Marvel went all out in June. The major event of the month, WORLD WAR HULK, involved three miniseries and a slew of crossover titles. It would have been a pretty big deal on its own. But June also saw the much-hyped NEW AVENGERS #31, the start of the X-Men’s “Endangered Species” crossover, the start of ANNIHILATION: CONQUEST, and three new ongoing titles – NEW WARRIORS, X-MEN: FIRST CLASS and AVENGERS CLASSIC.

On top of that, the death of Captain America is still pulling in sales, the Initiative books are continuing to benefit from the fall-out of CIVIL WAR, and Spider-Man is still in emo mode. And that’s before we even get to the other new miniseries. In short, there’s an awful lot going on right now.

Once again, Marvel dominated DC in terms of direct market share, but this month’s margin is outrageously wide. In units, Marvel won by 48% to 29% – in dollars, 44% to 27%. That margin reflects the fact that Marvel are having a good year in the direct market, and DC… well, DC aren’t.

Thanks as always to Milton Griepp and ICV2 for permission to use their figures for these calculations.

1.  WORLD WAR HULK
05/07  Prologue - 111,153
06/07  #1 of 5  - 178,408  (+60.5%)

So much for the “event fatigue” theory. WORLD WAR HULK receives a remarkably enthusiastic reception from the retailers, especially when you consider that the Hulk’s monthly title has been selling in the mid-40K range for years. Marvel haven’t even really hyped WORLD WAR HULK on the strength of major continuity-altering events. It’s first and foremost a huge action story, which Marvel have been subtly promoting for the better part of a year. And that strategy seems to have paid off.

Of course, WORLD WAR HULK is not another CIVIL WAR. It’s on a smaller scale, whether you’re looking at the number of tie-ins or the quantities sold. CIVIL WAR #1 shifted an estimated 260,804 copies in the direct market in its first month. This is clearly in the next tier down. But nobody will be complaining about that – and Marvel have probably been smart in setting up WORLD WAR HULK as a change of pace from the Initiative storylines.

Arguably, this is one of the ways in which Marvel has got it right, and DC has got it horribly wrong. Both companies, of course, are basing their superhero books around big events. But for Marvel, that really is “events”, plural. In contrast, DC seems to have put all its eggs in one basket. Their line is essentially one big crossover that’s been running for several years and will continue for at least a year to come. Unfortunately for them, the law of diminishing returns has set in with a vengeance.

2.  NEW AVENGERS
06/01  Avengers #43     -  64,634
06/02  Avengers #55     -  51,495
06/03  Avengers #68     -  57,587
06/04  Avengers #84     -  57,073
06/05  New Avengers #6  - 161,575
=====
06/06  New Avengers #20 - 125,600  (  +0.3%)
06/06  New Avengers #21 - 154,911  ( +23.4%)
07/06  New Avengers #22 - 143,391  (  -7.4%)
08/06  New Avengers #23 - 155,550  (  +8.5%)
09/06  ---
10/06  New Avengers #24 - 136,811  ( -12.0%)
11/06  New Avengers #25 - 136,504  (  -0.2%)
12/06  New Avengers #26 - 122,670  ( -10.1%)
01/06  ---
02/07  New Avengers #27 - 132,109  (  +7.7%)
03/07  New Avengers #28 - 119,514  (  -9.5%)
04/07  New Avengers #29 - 125,378  (  +4.9%)
05/07  New Avengers #30 - 126,425  (  +0.8%)
06/07  New Avengers #31 - 160,911  ( +27.3%)
                           6 mnth  ( +31.2%)
                           1 year  ( +28.1%)
                           2 year  (  -0.4%)
                           3 year  (+118.2%)
                           4 year  (+179.4%)

Marvel solicited this book with the words “No hype! No BS! The most important last page of any Marvel comic this year! Do not miss it!” Evidently they were believed, as NEW AVENGERS sales shoot through the roof for the official beginning of Marvel’s Skrull invasion storyline. Even the CIVIL WAR tie-in issues didn’t sell this well.

The initial reaction to this issue was a little mixed, with more than a few “Is that it?” responses. But to judge from the message boards, readers are coming round to the story, and giving Marvel the benefit of the doubt that this really will be as big a development as they say.

Considering that Marvel are only building anticipation for a future series that hasn’t been officially announced (although if you’re reading this after San Diego, that may have changed)
, a number like this is a big success. If they can sell 161K of the issue that leads into the story that leads into the prologue, the actual event should be massive.

3.  X-MEN
06/01  New X-Men #115 - 133,056
06/02  New X-Men #127 -  99,672
06/03  New X-Men #142 -  97,897
06/04  X-Men #158     -  96,759
06/05  X-Men #171     -  80,307
=====
06/06  X-Men #187     -  77,918  ( -2.0%)
07/06  X-Men #188     -  95,487  (+22.5%)
07/06  X-Men #189     -  85,157  (-10.8%)
08/06  X-Men #190     -  83,436  ( -2.0%)
09/06  X-Men #191     -  82,048  ( -1.7%)
10/06  X-Men #192     -  81,816  ( -0.3%)
11/06  X-Men #193     -  80,102  ( -2.1%)
12/06  X-Men #194     -  78,114  ( -2.5%)
01/07  X-Men #195     -  76,900  ( -1.6%)
02/07  X-Men #196     -  75,707  ( -1.6%)
03/07  X-Men #197     -  75,184  ( -0.7%)
04/07  X-Men #198     -  74,841  ( -0.5%)
05/07  X-Men #199     -  75,996  ( +1.5%)
06/07  X-Men #200     - 136,672  (+79.8%)
                         6 mnth  (+75.0%)
                         1 year  (+75.4%)
                         2 year  (+70.2%)
                         3 year  (+41.2%)
                         4 year  (+39.6%)

Even allowing for variant cover sales, this is a huge sales boost for X-MEN #200. The X-Men titles have been somewhat marginalised over the last few years, keeping out of CIVIL WAR and failing to make much capital out of the “Decimation” storyline. Now, with an upcoming crossover, Marvel is starting to push them again. X-MEN #200 isn’t part of that event, but it does bring back the Marauders, and it was given a reasonable promotional push. It’s an unexpectedly good number, and the best news that the X-office have had from the chart in quite some time.

4.  FALLEN SON: DEATH OF CAPTAIN AMERICA
04/07        Wolverine - 162,106
04/07         Avengers - 146,655  ( -9.5%)
05/07  Captain America - 171,894  (+17.2%)
06/07       Spider-Man - 133,956  (-22.1%)

Still selling in huge quantities. Last month’s CAPTAIN AMERICA issue picks up re-orders of 1,867 which, as usual, have been added into the totals above. (Incidentally, a curious feature of this month’s chart is just how few Marvel titles charted for re-orders, despite a fairly low threshold – the number 300 title only sold 1,634 copies.)

The fifth and final issue, with Iron Man, looks set to round off a hugely successful series.

5. DARK TOWER: THE GUNSLINGER BORN
02/07  Gunslinger Born #1 of 7 - 208,594
03/07  Gunslinger Born #2 of 7 - 160,139  (-23.2%)
04/07  Gunslinger Born #3 of 7 - 140,433  (-12.3%)
05/07  Gunslinger Born #4 of 7 - 131,753  ( -6.2%)
06/07  Gunslinger Born #5 of 7 - 132,090  ( +0.3%)

Levelling out at 132K, which should make Marvel very happy. It’s been a long, long time since a non-superhero book was consistently selling at this level.

Issue #3 picks up another 2,191 re-orders.

8.  AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
06/01  Amazing Spider-Man #32  -  76,976
06/02  Amazing Spider-Man #42  -  96,537
06/03  ---
06/04  Amazing Spider-Man #509 -  88,289
06/05  Amazing Spider-Man #521 -  74,117
=====
06/06  Amazing Spider-Man #533 - 137,926  (+15.8%)
07/06  Amazing Spider-Man #534 - 125,553  ( -9.0%)
08/06  ----
09/06  Amazing Spider-Man #535 - 122,968  ( -2.1%)
10/06  ----
11/06  Amazing Spider-Man #536 - 121,003  ( -1.6%)
12/06  ---
01/07  Amazing Spider-Man #537 - 123,160  ( +1.8%)
02/07  Amazing Spider-Man #538 - 145,435  (+18.1%)
03/07  Amazing Spider-Man #539 - 155,980  ( +7.3%)
04/07  ---
05/07  Amazing Spider-Man #540 - 119,662  (-23.3%)
06/07  Amazing Spider-Man #541 - 108,284  ( -9.5%)
                                  6 mnth  (-12.1%)
                                  1 year  (-21.5%)
                                  2 year  (+46.1%)
                                  3 year  (+22.6%)

This is the third part of “Back in Black”, and sales are now dropping off quite noticeably. That could be because the movie is comfortably behind us. These are still perfectly healthy sales as the Spider-Man books head for their relaunch. Mind you, considering that AMAZING SPIDER-MAN has only shipped eight times in the last year, the planned switch to a 36-times-a-year schedule is going to be a drastic change of pace.

9.  INCREDIBLE HULK
06/01  Incredible Hulk #29  -  34,591
06/02  Incredible Hulk #41  -  46,355
06/03  Incredible Hulk #56  -  68,529
06/04  Incredible Hulk #73  -  44,249
06/05  Incredible Hulk #82  -  43,248
=====
06/06  ---
07/06  Incredible Hulk #96  -  49,209  (  +0.2%)
08/06  Incredible Hulk #97  -  48,893  (  -0.6%)
09/06  Incredible Hulk #98  -  52,987  (  +8.4%)
10/06  Incredible Hulk #99  -  47,878  (  -9.6%)
11/06  Incredible Hulk #100 -  84,169  ( +75.8%)
12/06  Incredible Hulk #101 -  47,927  ( -43.1%)
01/07  Incredible Hulk #102 -  46,965  (  -2.0%)
02/07  Incredible Hulk #103 -  46,690  (  -0.6%)
03/07  Incredible Hulk #104 -  47,823  (  +2.4%)
04/07  Incredible Hulk #105 -  53,256  ( +11.4%)
05/07  Incredible Hulk #106 - 110,192  (+106.9%)
06/07  Incredible Hulk #107 - 106,931  (  -3.0%)
                               6 mnth  (+123.1%)
                               1 year  (+117.3%)
                               2 year  (+147.3%)
                               3 year  (+141.7%)
                               4 year  ( +56.0%)

The Hulk hasn’t seen sales like this in years, and the crossover deserves the credit. Pulling the character out of the mainstream Marvel Universe for a year (and putting him in a well-received storyline in the meantime) has done the trick in terms of building anticipation.

11. CAPTAIN AMERICA
06/01  Captain America #44 -  37,052
06/02  Captain America #3  -  67,445
06/03  Captain America #14 -  45,639
06/04  Captain America #27 -  36,212
06/05  Captain America #7  -  47,160
=====
06/06  Captain America #19 -  47,315  (  +1.2%)
07/06  Captain America #20 -  47,357  (  +0.1%)
08/06  ---
09/06  Captain America #21 -  49,050  (  +3.6%)
09/06  Captain America #22 -  88,276  ( +80.0%)
10/06  Captain America #23 -  81,323  (  -7.9%)
11/06  Captain America #24 -  82,348  (  +1.3%)
12/06  ---
01/07  ---
02/07  ---
03/07  Captain America #25 - 317,753  (+285.9%)
04/07  ---
05/07  Captain America #26 - 129,365  ( -59.3%)
06/07  Captain America #27 -  99,108  ( -23.4%)
                              6 mnth  ( +20.4%)
                              1 year  (+109.5%)
                              2 year  (+110.2%)
                              3 year  (+173.7%)
                              4 year  (+117.2%)

He’s still dead, but sales are rapidly returning to a more normal level. Bearing in mind that the book’s standard, non-crossover sales level is around 48K, this is still a very good number. Nonetheless, it’s a little surprising that CAPTAIN AMERICA isn’t dropping off this quickly, when you consider how well FALLEN SON is holding up.

Issue #26 picks up another 2,916 in re-orders.

12. 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%)

Hmm. That’s a bit steep for the third issue. It’s nothing to worry about, but I’d call that a slightly disappointing number.

13. X-MEN: ENDANGERED SPECIES
06/07  Endangered Species - 87,973

The official start of the “Endangered Species” crossover, which is running over back-up strips in UNCANNY X-MEN, X-MEN, X-FACTOR and NEW X-MEN. All of them normally sell below this level, so it’s a promising start. The back-up strips will hit the chart in July.

14. WORLD WAR HULK: X-MEN
06/07  X-Men #1 of 3 - 85,073

CIVIL WAR: X-MEN #1 sold 106,162 copies last July, so this is a definite step down. But that’s only in keeping with WORLD WAR HULK’s status as a smaller scale CIVIL WAR – and besides, this one really does sound a bit gratuitous. It still outsells the typical issue of X-MEN or UNCANNY, mind you.

15. FRONT LINE
06/06  Civil War #1  of 11    - 145,271
06/06  Civil War #2  of 11    - 132,858  ( -8.5%)
07/06  Civil War #3  of 11    - 128,164  ( -3.5%)
07/06  Civil War #4  of 11    - 111,868  (-12.7%)
08/06  Civil War #5  of 11    - 111,435  ( -0.4%)
09/06  Civil War #6  of 11    - 108,436  ( -2.7%)
10/06  Civil War #7  of 11    - 106,588  ( -1.7%)
11/06  Civil War #8  of 11    - 100,869  ( -5.4%)
12/06  Civil War #9  of 11    -  97,948  ( -2.9%)
01/07  Civil War #10 of 11    -  99,795  ( +1.9%)
02/07  Civil War #11 of 11    -  89,163  (-10.7%)
03/07  ---
04/07  ---
05/07  ---
06/07  World War Hulk #1 of 6 -  84,386  ( -5.4%)
                                 6 mnth  (-13.8%)
                                 1 year  (-41.9%)

Continuing the theme, FRONT LINE returns with its lowest sales to date. But WORLD WAR HULK is a slightly more modest affair across the board, and this number is in keeping with that.

16. UNCANNY X-MEN
06/01  Uncanny X-Men #395 - 130,299
06/02  Uncanny X-Men #407 -  88,448
06/03  Uncanny X-Men #426 -  89,719
06/04  Uncanny X-Men #445 -  98,660
06/05  Uncanny X-Men #461 -  91,221
=====
06/06  Uncanny X-Men #474 -  78,140  ( -1.5%)
07/06  Uncanny X-Men #475 - 106,037  (+35.7%)
07/06  Uncanny X-Men #476 -  92,154  (-13.1%)
08/06  Uncanny X-Men #477 -  89,225  ( -3.2%)
09/06  Uncanny X-Men #478 -  89,850  ( +0.7%)
10/06  Uncanny X-Men #479 -  89,052  ( -0.9%)
11/06  Uncanny X-Men #480 -  88,584  ( -0.5%)
12/06  Uncanny X-Men #481 -  85,995  ( -2.9%)
01/07  Uncanny X-Men #482 -  83,860  ( -2.5%)
02/07  Uncanny X-Men #483 -  83,009  ( -1.0%)
03/07  Uncanny X-Men #484 -  82,043  ( -1.2%)
04/07  Uncanny X-Men #485 -  81,764  ( -0.3%)
05/07  Uncanny X-Men #486 -  81,965  ( +0.2%)
06/07  Uncanny X-Men #487 -  81,481  ( -0.6%)
                             6 mnth  ( -5.2%)
                             1 year  ( +4.3%)
                             2 year  (-10.7%)
                             3 year  (-17.4%)
                             4 year  ( -9.2%)

Seems to have levelled out, after several months of decline. Next month should, in theory, see a boost from the “Endangered Species” crossover.

40,20. IRON MAN
06/01  Iron Man #43 - 36,917
06/02  Iron Man #56 - 36,126
06/03  Iron Man #69 - 31,976
06/04  Iron Man #85 - 29,615
06/05  ---
=====
06/06  Iron Man #9  - 37,650  (  -3.1%)
07/06  Iron Man #10 - 38,102  (  +1.2%)
08/06  Iron Man #11 - 37,279  (  -2.2%)
09/06  Iron Man #12 - 36,278  (  -2.7%)
10/06  ---
11/06  Iron Man #13 - 76,800  (+111.7%)
12/06  Iron Man #14 - 73,388  (  -4.4%)
01/07  ---
02/07  Iron Man #15 - 72,394  (  -1.4%)
03/07  --- 
04/07  Iron Man #16 - 59,470  ( -17.9%)
05/07  Iron Man #17 - 63,328  (  +6.5%)
06/07  Iron Man #18 - 56,474  ( -10.8%)
06/07  Iron Man #19 - 75,096  ( +33.0%)
                      6 mnth  (  +2.3%)
                      1 year  ( +99.5%)
                      2 year  (   --- )
                      3 year  (+153.6%)
                      4 year  (+134.9%)

Two issues this month, as the book starts to claw its way back on schedule. Issue #18 is a latecomer; but issue #19 is a WORLD WAR HULK crossover, and promptly sends the book back to CIVIL WAR levels. As we’ll see from this and other tie-in books, WWH looks set to provide hefty (if transitory) sales boosts to the participating titles.

23. ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN
06/01  Ult. Spider-Man #10  -  80,736
06/02  Ult. Spider-Man #23  -  87,521
06/03  Ult. Spider-Man #42  - 100,151
06/04  Ult. Spider-Man #61  - 101,159
06/05  Ult. Spider-Man #78  -  79,420
=====
06/06  Ult. Spider-Man #96  -  73,472  ( -0.1%)
07/06  Ult. Spider-Man #97  -  76,612  ( +4.3%)
08/06  Ult. Spider-Man #98  -  77,304  ( +0.9%)
08/06  Ult. Spider-Man #99  -  76,075  ( -1.6%)
09/06  Ult. Spider-Man #100 - 119,194  (+56.7%)
10/06  Ult. Spider-Man #101 -  78,963  (-33.8%)
11/06  Ult. Spider-Man #102 -  77,121  ( -2.3%)
12/06  Ult. Spider-Man #103 -  76,251  ( -1.1%)
01/07  Ult. Spider-Man #104 - 108,082  (+41.7%)
02/07  Ult. Spider-Man #105 -  74,376  (-31.2%)
03/07  Ult. Spider-Man #106 -  73,832  ( -1.3%)
03/07  Ult. Spider-Man #107 -  72,818  ( -1.4%)
04/07  Ult. Spider-Man #108 -  72,713  ( -0.1%)
05/07  Ult. Spider-Man #109 -  72,478  ( -0.3%)
06/07  Ult. Spider-Man #110 -  73,646  ( +1.6%)
                               6 mnth  ( -3.4%)
                               1 year  ( +0.2%)
                               2 year  ( -7.3%)
                               3 year  (-27.2%)
                               4 year  (-26.5%)

Seems to have levelled out in the last few months, as Bendis and Bagley’s run nears its conclusion.

25. FANTASTIC FOUR
06/01  Fantastic Four #44  - 51,589
06/02  Fantastic Four #56  - 42,947
06/03  Fantastic Four #70  - 53,066
06/04  Fantastic Four #514 - 49,895
06/05  Fantastic Four #528 - 55,937
=====
06/06  Fantastic Four #538 - 92,624  (+16.4%)
07/06  ---
08/06  Fantastic Four #539 - 89,676  ( -3.2%)
09/06  ----
10/06  Fantastic Four #540 - 88,933  ( -0.8%)
11/06  ----
12/06  Fantastic Four #541 - 84,895  ( -4.5%)
01/07  Fantastic Four #542 - 84,338  ( -0.7%)
02/07  ---
03/07  Fantastic Four #543 - 78,823  ( -6.5%)
03/07  Fantastic Four #544 - 85,677  ( +8.7%)
04/07  Fantastic Four #545 - 77,576  ( -9.5%)
05/07  Fantastic Four #546 - 72,182  ( -7.0%)
06/07  Fantastic Four #547 - 69,610  ( -3.6%)
                             6 mnth  (-18.0%)
                             1 year  (-24.8%)
                             2 year  (+24.4%)
                             3 year  (+39.5%)
                             4 year  (+31.2%)

Drifting back down from its crossover heights, as the book returns to comparatively normal stories (albeit still with Storm and the Black Panther as guest stars).

26. MARVEL ZOMBIES/ARMY OF DARKNESS
03/07  Army of Darkness #1 of 5 - 94,894
04/07  Army of Darkness #2 of 5 - 69,432  (-26.8%)
05/07  Army of Darkness #3 of 5 - 67,062  ( -3.4%)
06/07  Army of Darkness #4 of 5 - 68,279  ( +1.8%)

After the initial drop-off, this book has been rock solid. Another success for the Marvel Zombies franchise.

28. WOLVERINE: ORIGINS
06/06  Origins #3  - 116,058  (-11.8%)
07/06  Origins #4  - 110,830  ( -4.5%)
08/06  Origins #5  - 120,448  ( +8.7%)
09/06  Origins #6  - 101,013  (-16.1%)
10/06  Origins #7  - 103,273  ( +2.2%)
11/06  Origins #8  -  91,585  (-11.3%)
12/06  Origins #9  -  84,733  ( -7.5%)
01/07  Origins #10 -  97,881  (+15.5%)
02/07  Origins #11 -  78,901  (-19.4%)
03/07  Origins #12 -  74,750  ( -5.3%)
04/07  Origins #13 -  70,963  ( -5.1%)
05/07  Origins #14 -  68,953  ( -2.8%)
06/07  Origins #15 -  65,558  ( -4.9%)
                      6 mnth  (-22.6%)
                      1 year  (-43.5%)

If you’re still bleeding at 5% a month by issue #15, you’re doing something wrong. ORIGINS started off with such high sales that it can afford to shed readers at this rate for quite some time before the problem becomes urgent, but the fact remains that the book just isn’t holding its audience.

29. THUNDERBOLTS
06/01  Thunderbolts #53    - 35,388
06/02  Thunderbolts #65    - 28,224
06/03  Thunderbolts #80    - 18,766
06/04  Avngrs/T'bolts #4   - 38,293
06/05  New Thunderbolts #9 - 27,300
=====
06/06  Thunderbolts #103   - 60,823  (+156.2%)
07/06  Thunderbolts #104   - 63,850  (  +5.0%)
08/06  Thunderbolts #105   - 61,467  (  -3.7%)
09/06  Thunderbolts #106   - 31,527  ( -48.7%)
10/06  Thunderbolts #107   - 29,624  (  -6.0%)
11/06  Thunderbolts #108   - 27,890  (  -5.9%)
12/06  Thunderbolts #109   - 27,300  (  -2.1%)
01/07  Thunderbolts #110   - 73,557  (+169.4%)
02/07  Thunderbolts #111   - 62,791  ( -14.6%)
03/07  Thunderbolts #112   - 61,395  (  -2.2%)
04/07  Thunderbolts #113   - 65,092  (  +6.0%)
05/07  Thunderbolts #114   - 66,309  (  +1.9%)
06/07  Thunderbolts #115   - 64,876  (  -2.2%)
                             6 mnth  (+137.6%)
                             1 year  ( +66.6%)
                             2 year  (+137.6%)
                             3 year  ( +69.4%)
                             4 year  (+245.7%)

Sales on the relaunched THUNDERBOLTS are holding up well. It’s a clear hit.

30. GHOST RIDER
07/06  Ghost Rider #1  - 98,826  (+77.1%)
08/06  Ghost Rider #2  - 61,793  (-37.5%)
09/06  Ghost Rider #3  - 54,029  (-12.6%)
10/06  Ghost Rider #4  - 50,925  ( -5.7%)
11/06  Ghost Rider #5  - 47,929  ( -5.9%)
12/06  Ghost Rider #6  - 46,673  ( -2.6%)
01/07  Ghost Rider #7  - 43,557  ( -6.7%)
02/07  Ghost Rider #8  - 48,736  (+11.9%)
03/07  Ghost Rider #9  - 48,041  ( -1.4%)
04/07  Ghost Rider #10 - 43,986  ( -8.4%)
05/07  Ghost Rider #11 - 43,626  ( -0.8%)
06/07  Ghost Rider #12 - 63,875  (+46.4%)
                         6 mnth  (+36.9%)

This is the first half of a two-part WORLD WAR HULK tie-in. They’re not exactly the most natural bedfellows, but needs must. It’s the second-highest selling issue to date, and interestingly enough, it actually beats the CIVIL WAR tie-ins. Admittedly, this is a much more direct crossover than the CIVIL WAR one was.

31. BLACK PANTHER
06/05  Black Panther #5  - 37,401
=====
06/06  Black Panther #17 - 27,993  (  -0.3%)
07/06  Black Panther #18 - 69,912  (+149.7%)
08/06  Black Panther #19 - 28,372  ( -59.4%)
09/06  Black Panther #20 - 26,585  (  -6.3%)
10/06  Black Panther #21 - 34,257  ( +28.9%)
11/06  Black Panther #22 - 47,556  ( +38.8%)
12/06  Black Panther #23 - 54,762  ( +15.2%)
01/07  Black Panther #24 - 59,971  (  +9.5%)
02/07  Black Panther #25 - 56,479  (  -5.8%)
03/07  Black Panther #26 - 51,385  (  -9.0%)
04/07  ---
05/07  Black Panther #27 - 52,552  (  +2.3%)
06/07  Black Panther #28 - 61,808  ( +17.6%)
                           6 mnth  ( +12.9%)
                           1 year  (+120.8%)
                           2 year  ( +65.3%)

Go on, guess. No, it’s not a crossover book. No, it’s not part of a big event. Give up? Alright, then.

It guest stars the Marvel Zombies. And people still love ’em.

32. PUNISHER WAR JOURNAL
11/06  Punisher War Journal #1 - 102,727
12/06  --
01/07  Punisher War Journal #2 -  96,112  ( -6.4%)
01/07  Punisher War Journal #3 -  70,143  (-27.0%)
02/07  Punisher War Journal #4 -  52,961  (-24.5%)
03/07  Punisher War Journal #5 -  50,190  ( -5.2%)
04/07  Punisher War Journal #6 -  53,498  ( +6.6%)
05/07  Punisher War Journal #7 -  75,360  (+40.9%)
06/07  Punisher War Journal #8 -  61,376  (-18.6%)
                                  6 mnth  (-36.1%)

A significant drop from last issue, but sales are still miles up from the book’s normal range, apparently on the strength of nothing more than the Punisher wearing a Captain America outfit. Remarkable. Issue #7 picks up re-orders of 2,489, so apparently the retailers managed to shift those copies they bought last month, too.

34. ULTIMATE X-MEN
06/01  Ultimate X-Men #7  - 100,737
06/02  Ultimate X-Men #19 -  92,815
06/03  Ultimate X-Men #34 - 110,753
06/04  Ultimate X-Men #48 -  94,238
06/05  Ultimate X-Men #60 -  78,613
=====
06/06  Ultimate X-Men #71 -  71,314  ( -1.3%)
07/06  Ultimate X-Men #72 -  70,593  ( -1.0%)
08/06  Ultimate X-Men #73 -  70,153  ( -0.6%)
09/06  Ultimate X-Men #74 -  68,874  ( -1.8%)
10/06  Ultimate X-Men #75 -  73,837  ( +7.2%)
11/06  Ultimate X-Men #76 -  69,054  ( -6.5%)
12/06  Ultimate X-Men #77 -  67,338  ( -2.5%)
01/07  Ultimate X-Men #78 -  66,409  ( -1.4%)
02/07  Ultimate X-Men #79 -  64,363  ( -3.1%)
03/07  Ultimate X-Men #80 -  63,037  ( -2.1%)
04/07  Ultimate X-Men #81 -  62,926  ( -0.2%)
05/07  Ultimate X-Men #82 -  62,063  ( -1.4%)
06/07  Ultimate X-Men #83 -  59,677  ( -3.8%)
                             6 mnth  (-11.4%)
                             1 year  (-16.3%)
                             2 year  (-24.1%)
                             3 year  (-36.7%)
                             4 year  (-46.1%)

Gentle decline. Apparently the Ultimate books are still doing very well in the bookstores, which is nice to know, because they’re doing nothing spectacular in the direct market.

35. MOON KNIGHT
06/06  Moon Knight #3  -  72,206  ( -6.9%)
07/06  --
08/06  Moon Knight #4  -  67,802  ( -6.1%)
09/06  Moon Knight #5  -  64,736  ( -4.5%)
10/06  --
11/06  Moon Knight #6  -  74,017  (+14.3%)
12/06  --
01/07  Moon Knight #7  -  76,921  ( +3.9%)
02/07  --
03/07  Moon Knight #8  -  77,390  ( +0.6%)
04/07  Moon Knight #9  -  69,196  (-10.6%)
05/07  Moon Knight #10 -  56,734  (-18.0%)
06/07  Moon Knight #11 -  58,313  ( +2.8%)
                          6 mnth  (-24.2%)
                          1 year  (-19.2%)

Wavering all over the place as the retailers try to find the right level. This isn’t an obvious candidate for a sales increase, as it’s part five of a six-part arc. Iron Man’s on the cover (although he’s barely in the issue), which might account for the bump.

36. SUB-MARINER
06/07  Sub-Mariner #1 of 6 - 57,902

The Sub-Mariner is one of those well-established characters who can never seem to support his own series, so a 58K debut is fairly good. Whether they’re testing the waters (as it were) for another ongoing series or just keeping the character out there is open to debate, but on the strength of this number, the mini should do fine.

37. SENSATIONAL SPIDER-MAN
06/04  Marvel Knights S-M #3  - 82,715
06/05  Marvel Knights S-M #15 - 54,102
=====
06/06  Sensational S-M #27    - 50,721  ( -3.4%)
07/06  Sensational S-M #28    - 58,532  (+15.4%)
08/06  Sensational S-M #29    - 55,420  ( -5.3%)
09/06  Sensational S-M #30    - 54,467  ( -1.7%)
10/06  Sensational S-M #31    - 51,587  ( -5.3%)
11/06  Sensational S-M #32    - 50,222  ( -2.6%)
12/06  Sensational S-M #33    - 48,443  ( -3.5%)
01/07  Sensational S-M #34    - 47,008  ( -3.0%)
02/07  Sensational S-M #35    - 69,543  (+47.9%)
03/07  Sensational S-M #36    - 58,559  (-15.8%)
04/07  Sensational S-M #37    - 57,528  ( -1.8%)
05/07  ---
06/07  Sensational S-M #38    - 57,091  ( -0.8%)
                                6 mnth  (+17.9%)
                                1 year  (+12.6%)
                                2 year  ( +5.5%)
                                3 year  (-31.0%)

Cancelled with issue #41, as part of the Spider-Man relaunch.

39. NEW WARRIORS
06/07  New Warriors #1 - 56,809

Considering this is a book with mystery characters and a low-profile creative team, I’d say this was a good start. It’s certainly high enough to give the book every opportunity of finding an audience.

By way of comparison, the last attempt at a NEW WARRIORS relaunch – the “reality TV” version by Zeb Wells and Skottie Young – debuted with 20,841 sales back in June 2005. If nothing else, CIVIL WAR has at least raised the profile of the brand.

41. OMEGA FLIGHT
04/07  Omega Flight #1 of 5 - 71,205
05/07  Omega Flight #2 of 5 - 57,239  (-19.6%)
06/07  Omega Flight #3 of 5 - 55,695  ( -2.7%)

Levelling out quickly. OMEGA FLIGHT was originally intended as an ongoing title, and with sales like these, it has every chance of getting that status back.

46. ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR
06/04  Ult. Fantastic Four #7  - 99,445
06/05  Ult. Fantastic Four #20 - 69,097
=====
06/06  ---
07/06  Ult. Fantastic Four #31 - 84,460  (-18.7%)
08/06  Ult. Fantastic Four #32 - 80,730  ( -4.4%)
08/06  Ult. Fantastic Four #33 - 65,191  (-19.2%)
09/06  Ult. Fantastic Four #34 - 63,447  ( -2.7%)
10/06  Ult. Fantastic Four #35 - 61,270  ( -3.4%)
11/06  Ult. Fantastic Four #36 - 57,779  ( -5.7%)
12/06  Ult. Fantastic Four #37 - 55,047  ( -4.7%)
01/07  Ult. Fantastic Four #38 - 52,859  ( -4.0%)
02/07  Ult. Fantastic Four #39 - 52,104  ( -1.4%)
03/07  Ult. Fantastic Four #40 - 50,488  ( -3.1%)
04/07  ---
05/07  Ult. Fantastic Four #41 - 49,916  ( -1.1%)
05/07  Ult. Fantastic Four #42 - 52,840  ( +5.9%)
06/07  Ult. Fantastic Four #43 - 51,453  ( -2.6%)
                                 6 mnth  ( -6.5%)
                                 1 year  (-39.1%)
                                 2 year  (-25.5%)
                                 3 year  (-48.3%)

Levelling out somewhat over the last few months.

48. FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN
06/06  F.N. Spider-Man #9  - 50,177  ( -6.9%)
07/06  F.N. Spider-Man #10 - 48,902  ( -2.5%)
08/06  F.N. Spider-Man #11 - 50,995  ( +4.3%)
09/06  F.N. Spider-Man #12 - 48,063  ( -5.7%)
10/06  F.N. Spider-Man #13 - 46,293  ( -3.7%)
11/06  F.N. Spider-Man #14 - 43,476  ( -6.1%)
12/06  F.N. Spider-Man #15 - 42,147  ( -3.1%)
01/07  F.N. Spider-Man #16 - 41,832  ( -0.7%)
02/07  F.N. Spider-Man #17 - 62,278  (+48.9%)
03/07  F.N. Spider-Man #18 - 50,665  (-18.6%)
04/07  F.N. Spider-Man #19 - 50,307  ( -0.7%)
05/07  F.N. Spider-Man #20 - 49,908  ( -0.8%)
06/07  F.N. Spider-Man #21 - 47,915  ( -4.0%)
                             6 mnth  (+13.7%)
                             1 year  ( -4.5%)

Axed with issue #24 as part of the Spider-Man shake-up.

49. DAREDEVIL
06/01  Daredevil #19 - 58,270
06/02  Daredevil #34 - 47,328
06/03  Daredevil #48 - 59,869
06/04  Daredevil #61 - 53,770
06/05  Daredevil #74 - 48,175
=====
06/06  Daredevil #86 - 48,280  ( +0.8%)
07/06  Daredevil #87 - 51,989  ( +7.7%)
08/06  Daredevil #88 - 50,554  ( -2.8%)
09/06  Daredevil #89 - 55,481  ( +9.7%)
10/06  Daredevil #90 - 50,500  ( -9.0%)
11/06  Daredevil #91 - 49,335  ( -2.3%)
12/06  Daredevil #92 - 48,035  ( -2.6%)
01/07  Daredevil #93 - 47,124  ( -1.9%)
02/07  Daredevil #94 - 46,773  ( -0.7%)
03/07  Daredevil #95 - 46,455  ( -0.7%)
04/07  Daredevil #96 - 46,198  ( -0.6%)
05/07  Daredevil #97 - 47,200  ( +2.2%)
06/07  Daredevil #98 - 46,816  ( -0.8%)
                       6 mnth  ( -2.5%)
                       1 year  ( -3.0%)
                       2 year  ( -2.8%)
                       3 year  (-12.9%)
                       4 year  (-21.8%)

Solid as usual.

50. SILVER SURFER: REQUIEM
05/07  Requiem #1 of 4  - 55,666
06/07  Requiem #2 of 4  - 46,470  (-16.5%)

Issue #1 picks up re-orders of 2,657. The second issue drop is fairly standard.

51. NOVA
06/06  Ann: Nova #3 of 4 - 36,663  ( -7.4%)
07/06  Ann: Nova #4 of 4 - 35,194  ( -4.0%)
08/06  ---
09/06  ---
10/06  ---
11/06  ---
12/06  ---
01/07  ---
02/07  ---
03/07  ---
04/07  Nova #1           - 42,917  (+21.9%)
05/07  Nova #2           - 44,532  ( +3.8%)
06/07  Nova #3           - 45,004  ( +1.1%)
                           6 mnth  (  --- )
                           1 year  (+22.8%)

Now here’s something you don’t see often – a book that actually climbs with its second and third issues. Of course, both of those issues were “Initiative” crossovers, but even then, you’d normally expect issue #2 to do better. This is a very promising start for the new NOVA title; and still to come, we have four straight issues of ANNIHILATION: CONQUEST tie-ins. Mind you, CONQUEST’s first issue debuted below NOVA, so it’s debatable how much help it can provide.

53. HEROES FOR HIRE
08/06  Heroes for Hire #1  - 84,006
09/06  Heroes for Hire #2  - 66,949  ( -20.3%)
10/06  Heroes for Hire #3  - 60,770  (  -9.2%)
11/06  Heroes for Hire #4  - 38,070  ( -37.4%)
12/06  Heroes for Hire #5  - 31,318  ( -17.7%)
01/07  Heroes for Hire #6  - 27,513  ( -12.1%)
02/07  Heroes for Hire #7  - 24,476  ( -11.0%)
03/07  Heroes for Hire #8  - 22,563  (  -7.8%)
04/07  Heroes for Hire #9  - 21,444  (  -5.0%)
05/07  Heroes for Hire #10 - 20,503  (  -4.4%)
06/07  Heroes for Hire #11 - 41,298  (+101.4%)
                             6 mnth  ( +31.9%)

A WORLD WAR HULK tie-in. And no, this isn’t the one with the tentacles.

54. ANNIHILATION: CONQUEST
06/07  Prologue - 40,832

The original ANNIHILATION: PROLOGUE, in March 2006, sold 61,784, and clearly this is much lower. Is the sequel a step too far, or will the core audience return for another go?

55. MS MARVEL
06/06  Ms Marvel #4  - 40,627  ( -5.6%)
07/06  Ms Marvel #5  - 38,874  ( -4.3%)
08/06  Ms Marvel #6  - 68,330  (+75.8%)
09/06  Ms Marvel #7  - 64,973  ( -4.9%)
10/06  Ms Marvel #8  - 62,893  ( -3.2%)
11/06  Ms Marvel #9  - 37,881  (-39.8%)
12/06  Ms Marvel #10 - 34,350  ( -9.3%)
01/07  Ms Marvel #11 - 32,298  ( -6.0%)
02/07  Ms Marvel #12 - 30,763  ( -4.8%)
03/07  Ms Marvel #13 - 40,836  (+32.7%)
04/07  Ms Marvel #14 - 42,877  ( +5.0%)
05/07  Ms Marvel #15 - 42,849  ( -0.0%)
06/07  Ms Marvel #16 - 40,048  ( -6.5%)
                       6 mnth  (+16.6%)
                       1 year  ( -1.4%)

Hovering around the 40K mark under the Initiative banner. Which should please Marvel, because it was hovering around the 32K mark previously.

56. NEW X-MEN
06/03  New Mutants #2 - 45,568
06/04  New X-Men #2   - 58,855
06/05  New X-Men #15  - 34,007
=====
06/06  New X-Men #27  - 39,785  ( -0.7%)
07/06  New X-Men #28  - 39,771  ( -0.0%)
08/06  New X-Men #29  - 40,303  ( +1.3%)
09/06  New X-Men #30  - 39,658  ( -1.6%)
10/06  New X-Men #31  - 39,175  ( -1.2%)
11/06  New X-Men #32  - 37,919  ( -3.2%)
12/06  New X-Men #33  - 38,076  ( +0.4%)
01/07  New X-Men #34  - 37,272  ( -2.1%)
02/07  New X-Men #35  - 37,142  ( -0.3%)
03/07  New X-Men #36  - 37,004  ( -0.4%)
04/07  New X-Men #37  - 37,935  ( +2.5%)
05/07  New X-Men #38  - 38,915  ( +2.6%)
06/07  New X-Men #39  - 39,258  ( +0.9%)
                        6 mnth  ( +3.1%)
                        1 year  ( -1.3%)
                        2 year  (+15.4%)
                        3 year  (-33.3%)
                        4 year  (-13.8%)

Slowly gaining in sales as the “Quest for MagiK” storyline continues.

57. X-FACTOR
06/06  X-Factor #8  - 76,150  (+71.8%)
07/06  X-Factor #9  - 68,799  ( -9.7%)
08/06  X-Factor #10 - 44,603  (-35.2%)
09/06  X-Factor #11 - 43,431  ( -2.6%)
10/06  X-Factor #12 - 42,909  ( -1.2%)
11/06  X-Factor #13 - 42,844  ( -0.2%)
12/06  X-Factor #14 - 40,208  ( -6.2%)
01/07  X-Factor #15 - 38,693  ( -3.8%)
02/07  X-Factor #16 - 38,240  ( -1.2%)
03/07  X-Factor #17 - 38,067  ( -0.4%)
04/07  X-Factor #18 - 37,851  ( -0.6%)
05/07  X-Factor #19 - 37,898  ( +0.1%)
06/07  X-Factor #20 - 37,105  ( -2.1%)
                      6 mnth  ( -7.7%)
                      1 year  (-51.3%)

Seems to be levelling out after its long decline, which is nice to see. The “Endangered Species” back-up strip crossover ought to give it a boost over the next few months, and hopefully expose some more readers to the lead story. (Wisely, X-FACTOR is beginning a new storyline to coincide with the first part of the crossover.)

58. IMMORTAL IRON FIST
11/06  Immortal Iron Fist #1 - 60,079
12/06  Immortal Iron Fist #2 - 40,617  (-32.4%)
01/07  ---
02/07  Immortal Iron Fist #3 - 35,654  (-12.2%)
03/07  ---
04/07  Immortal Iron Fist #4 - 37,159  ( +4.2%)
05/07  Immortal Iron Fist #5 - 36,856  ( -0.8%)
06/07  Immortal Iron Fist #6 - 36,731  ( -0.3%)
                               6 mnth  ( -9.6%)

After getting the initial drop out of the way, IRON FIST has unexpectedly become a rock solid book at a very, very early stage. Considering that the character has always had niche appeal, that’s a real achievement. Marvel couldn’t realistically have expected anything more from the title, and all involved must be delighted with its performance.

60. SILENT WAR
01/07  Silent War #1 of 6 - 44,079
02/07  Silent War #2 of 6 - 37,899  (-14.0%)
03/07  Silent War #3 of 6 - 36,151  ( -4.6%)
04/07  Silent War #4 of 6 - 36,162  ( +0.0%)
05/07  Silent War #5 of 6 - 35,903  ( -0.7%)
06/07  Silent War #6 of 6 - 34,697  ( -3.4%)

A largely overlooked miniseries, but the sales held up reasonably well.

61. GHOST RIDER: TRAIL OF TEARS
02/07  Trail of Tears #1 of 6 - 49,260
03/07  Trail of Tears #2 of 6 - 40,200  (-18.4%)
04/07  Trail of Tears #3 of 6 - 37,271  ( -7.3%)
05/07  Trail of Tears #4 of 6 - 35,414  ( -5.0%)
06/07  Trail of Tears #5 of 6 - 34,075  ( -3.8%)

Standard miniseries decline.

62. PUNISHER  [Max]
06/01  Punisher #1  - 85,966
06/02  Punisher #13 - 45,756
06/03  Punisher #28 - 39,431
06/04  Punisher #7  - 48,124
06/05  Punisher #22 - 37,811
=====
06/06  Punisher #34 - 34,161  ( -0.9%)
07/06  Punisher #35 - 34,116  ( -0.1%)
08/06  Punisher #36 - 34,227  ( +0.3%)
09/06  Punisher #37 - 34,250  ( +0.1%)
09/06  Punisher #38 - 33,839  ( -1.2%)
10/06  Punisher #39 - 33,962  ( +0.4%)
11/06  Punisher #40 - 33,579  ( -1.1%)
11/06  Punisher #41 - 33,164  ( -1.2%)
12/06  Punisher #42 - 33,003  ( -0.5%)
01/07  Punisher #43 - 33,023  ( +0.0%)
02/07  Punisher #44 - 32,951  ( -0.2%)
03/07  Punisher #45 - 33,245  ( +0.9%)
04/07  Punisher #46 - 33,427  ( +0.5%)
05/07  Punisher #47 - 33,892  ( +1.4%)
06/07  Punisher #48 - 33,804  ( -0.3%)
                      6 mnth  ( +2.4%)
                      1 year  ( -1.0%)
                      2 year  (-10.6%)
                      3 year  (-29.8%)
                      4 year  (-14.3%)

Almost spookily consistent.

67. MARVEL SPOTLIGHT
06/06  Millar/McNiven      -  7,668  (+131.7%)
06/06  Gaiman/Larroca      -  5,449  ( -28.9%)
07/06  Kirkman/Land        -  3,963  ( -27.3%)
08/06  Brubaker/Tan        -  3,580  (  -9.7%)
09/06  Lee/Kirby           -  6,313  ( +76.3%)
10/06  Onslaught Reborn    -  4,557  ( -27.8%)
11/06  Bendis/Bagley       -  5,869  ( +28.8%)
12/06  ---
01/07  Ghost Rider         -  7,902  ( +34.6%)
01/07  Dark Tower          - 18,922  (+139.5%)
02/07  ---
03/07  Civil War Aftermath - 31,072  ( +64.2%)
04/07  Spider-Man          - 13,210  ( -57.5%)
05/07  Fantastic Four      -  8,261  ( -37.5%)
06/07  Captain America     - 31,483  (+281.1%)
                             6 mnth  (+298.4%)
                             1 year  (+310.6%)

Another death issue, of course. MARVEL SPOTLIGHT is a strange title – in theory it’s a monthly series, but in practice retailers don’t seem to treat it that way. Instead, they order the occasional MARVEL SPOTLIGHT issue for big events, and the rest of the time they buy a handful of copies for the completists. Even the OFFICIAL HANDBOOK OF THE MARVEL UNIVERSE doesn’t fluctuate to anything like this extent.

71. EXILES
06/01  Exiles #1  - 55,899
06/02  Exiles #14 - 38,448
06/03  Exiles #28 - 39,048
06/04  Exiles #48 - 38,120
06/05  Exiles #65 - 34,484
=====
06/06  Exiles #82 - 33,342  ( -1.7%)
06/06  Exiles #83 - 33,143  ( -0.6%)
07/06  Exiles #84 - 32,866  ( -0.8%)
08/06  Exiles #85 - 33,978  ( +3.4%)
09/06  Exiles #86 - 33,080  ( -2.6%)
10/06  Exiles #87 - 31,946  ( -3.4%)
11/06  Exiles #88 - 30,928  ( -3.2%)
12/06  Exiles #89 - 36,880  (+19.2%)
01/07  Exiles #90 - 31,595  (-14.3%)
02/07  Exiles #91 - 31,712  ( +0.4%)
03/07  Exiles #92 - 30,296  ( -4.5%)
04/07  Exiles #93 - 30,697  ( +1.3%)
05/07  Exiles #94 - 30,735  ( +0.1%)
06/07  Exiles #95 - 30,612  ( -0.4%)
                    6 mnth  (-17.0%)
                    1 year  ( -8.2%)
                    2 year  (-11.2%)
                    3 year  (-19.7%)
                    4 year  (-21.6%)

Fairly solid over the last few months, despite the earlier decline.

74. ULTIMATE VISION
11/06  Ultimate Vision #0 of 5 - 40,004
12/06  Ultimate Vision #1 of 5 - 53,069  (+32.7%)
01/07  Ultimate Vision #2 of 5 - 40,288  (-24.1%)
02/07  ---
03/07  Ultimate Vision #3 of 5 - 33,455  (-17.0%)
04/07  ---
05/07  ---
06/07  Ultimate Vision #4 of 5 - 29,844  (-10.8%)
                                 6 mnth  (-43.8%)

This is just a disaster. A five-issue miniseries shouldn’t even have a six-month comparison, let alone one that shows a 44% drop with one issue still to go. Readers are flocking for the exits on this one.

75. AVENGERS CLASSIC
06/07  Avengers Classic #1 - 29,319

Hmm. Not a very good number at all by most standards, but then the economics of a part-reprint book are entirely different. Personally, though, I can’t see this working. When CLASSIC X-MEN came out in the 1980s, back issues were hard to come by and the Masterworks volumes were outrageously expensive. But nowadays, I’d have thought most of the potential readers long since picked up ESSENTIAL AVENGERS, and they won’t be queueing up to buy the stories for a second time. AVENGERS isn’t even generally regarded as one of the better Silver Age Marvel titles (certainly not in comparison to FANTASTIC FOUR or AMAZING SPIDER-MAN), and the recent resurgence of the Avengers franchise is for reasons wholly unconnected to anything you’ll find in these stories.

I could be wrong. But if it had been my call, I wouldn’t have given the green light to this project. And while this debut number could have been a lot worse, it does nothing to change my mind. Still, if it doesn’t work, it probably didn’t cost them too much to find out.

76,77. CABLE & DEADPOOL
06/04  Cable & Deadpool #4  - 34,966
06/05  Cable & Deadpool #16 - 24,612
=====
06/06  Cable & Deadpool #29 - 25,368  (  -1.2%)
07/06  Cable & Deadpool #30 - 59,333  (+133.9%)
08/06  Cable & Deadpool #31 - 59,804  (  +0.8%)
09/06  Cable & Deadpool #32 - 60,177  (  +0.6%)
10/06  Cable & Deadpool #33 - 30,741  ( -48.9%)
11/06  Cable & Deadpool #34 - 29,144  (  -5.2%)
12/06  Cable & Deadpool #35 - 27,785  (  -4.7%)
01/07  Cable & Deadpool #36 - 26,803  (  -3.5%)
02/07  Cable & Deadpool #37 - 26,588  (  -0.8%)
03/07  Cable & Deadpool #38 - 26,258  (  -1.2%)
04/07  Cable & Deadpool #39 - 26,110  (  -0.6%)
05/07  Cable & Deadpool #40 - 26,120  (  +0.0%)
06/07  Cable & Deadpool #41 - 27,431  (  +5.0%)
06/07  Cable & Deadpool #42 - 27,203  (  -0.8%)
                              6 mnth  (  -2.1%)
                              1 year  (  +7.2%)
                              2 year  ( +10.5%)
                              3 year  ( -22.2%)

This is a two-part crossover with X-MEN, not that you’d know it from Marvel’s promotion. I can’t understand what they were thinking here; if they’d told people what was actually in the book, they’d have sold thousands more copies. It’s not like Marvel to throw away money like this.

78. MYSTIC ARCANA
06/07  Magik - 26,976

The first part of a miniseries featuring Marvel’s magic characters. Not a very good start, frankly.

79. X-MEN: FIRST CLASS
09/06  First Class #1 of 8 - 39,859
10/06  First Class #2 of 8 - 33,688  (-15.5%)
11/06  First Class #3 of 8 - 30,805  ( -8.6%)
12/06  First Class #4 of 8 - 28,455  ( -7.6%)
01/07  First Class #5 of 8 - 26,607  ( -6.5%)
02/07  First Class #6 of 8 - 25,125  ( -5.6%)
03/07  First Class #7 of 8 - 24,028  ( -4.4%)
04/07  First Class #8 of 8 - 23,420  ( -2.5%)
05/07  First Class Special - 23,556  ( +0.6%)
06/07  First Class #1      - 26,370  (+11.9%)
                             6 mnth  ( -7.3%)

A slightly bump for the first issue of the ongoing series, but basically retailers are treating this as issue #10.

81. SHE-HULK
06/04  She-Hulk #4  - 27,648
06/05  ---
=====
06/06  ---
07/06  She-Hulk #9  - 29,902  (-48.5%)
08/06  She-Hulk #10 - 28,555  ( -4.5%)
08/06  She-Hulk #11 - 27,393  ( -4.1%)
09/06  She-Hulk #12 - 26,448  ( -3.4%)
10/06  ---
11/06  She-Hulk #13 - 26,267  ( -0.7%)
12/06  She-Hulk #14 - 24,552  ( -6.5%)
01/07  She-Hulk #15 - 27,600  (+12.4%)
02/07  She-Hulk #16 - 27,961  ( +1.3%)
03/07  ---
04/07  She-Hulk #17 - 27,669  ( -1.0%)
05/07  She-Hulk #18 - 41,800  (+51.4%)
06/07  She-Hulk #19 - 26,127  (-37.5%)
                      6 mnth  ( +6.4%)
                      1 year  (-12.6%)
                      2 year  (  --- )
                      3 year  ( -5.5%)

Back to its normal level after last month’s WORLD WAR HULK crossover.

87. MYTHOS
08/06  Hulk        - 20,214  (-33.4%)
01/07  Ghost Rider - 22,163  ( +9.7%)
06/07  Spider-Man  - 23,432  ( +5.7%)

A belated movie tie-in, I suppose. I’m still not sure quite what the point of these things is meant to be.

90,128. OFFICIAL HANDBOOK OF THE MARVEL UNIVERSE
06/04  Spider-Man       - 32,013
06/05  Fantastic Four   - 21,970
=====
06/06  A to Z #6  of 12 - 20,731  ( -2.8%)
07/06  A to Z #7  of 12 - 20,124  ( -2.9%)
08/06  A to Z #8  of 12 - 19,926  ( -1.0%)
09/06  A to Z #9  of 12 - 18,966  ( -4.8%)
10/06  A to Z #10 of 12 - 18,767  ( -1.0%)
11/06  A to Z #11 of 12 - 18,285  ( -2.6%)
12/06  A to Z #12 of 12 - 21,183  (+15.8%)
01/07  Update #1 of 4   - 17,182  (-18.9%)
02/07  ---
03/07  ---
04/07  Spider-Man: BIB  - 23,510  (+36.8%)
05/07  Update #2 of 4   - 16,633  (-29.3%)
05/07  Anita Blake      - 20,936  (+25.9%)
06/07  Mystic Arcana    - 15,669  (-25.2%)
06/07  Mighty Avengers  - 22,312  (+42.4%)
                          6 mnth  ( +5.3%)
                          1 year  ( +7.6%)
                          2 year  ( +1.6%)
                          3 year  (-30.3%)

As usual, the sales go all over the place depending upon the subject matter.

92. SPIDER-MAN & FANTASTIC FOUR
04/07  Spider-Man/FF #1 of 4 - 32,909
05/07  Spider-Man/FF #2 of 4 - 27,025  (-17.9%)
06/07  Spider-Man/FF #3 of 4 - 22,210  (-17.8%)

Ooh, that’s a nasty third issue drop. Shame.

94. DAREDEVIL: BATTLIN' JACK MURDOCK
06/07  Battlin' Jack #1 of 4 - 22,139

A dreadful debut. Apparently people don’t want to read a series about Daredevil’s father.

105. AMAZING SPIDER-GIRL  [All ages]
06/01  Spider-Girl #35        - 24,402
06/02  Spider-Girl #48        - 24,311
06/03  Spider-Girl #61        - 23,443
06/04  Spider-Girl #75        - 24,674
06/05  Spider-Girl #87        - 19,605
=====
06/06  Spider-Girl #99        - 17,915  (  +1.0%)
07/06  Spider-Girl #100       - 22,691  ( +26.7%)
08/06  ----
09/06  ----
10/06  Amazing Spider-Girl #1 - 47,304  (+108.5%)
11/06  Amazing Spider-Girl #2 - 28,135  ( -40.5%)
12/06  Amazing Spider-Girl #3 - 25,645  (  -8.9%)
01/07  Amazing Spider-Girl #4 - 23,113  (  -9.9%)
02/07  Amazing Spider-Girl #5 - 21,391  (  -7.5%)
03/07  Amazing Spider-Girl #6 - 20,478  (  -4.3%)
04/07  Amazing Spider-Girl #7 - 20,093  (  -1.9%)
05/07  Amazing Spider-Girl #8 - 19,574  (  -2.6%)
06/07  Amazing Spider-Girl #9 - 19,142  (  -2.2%)
                                6 mnth  ( -25.4%)
                                1 year  (  +6.8%)
                                2 year  (  -2.4%)
                                3 year  ( -22.4%)
                                4 year  ( -18.3%)

Still in decline, unfortunately.

110. LEGION OF MONSTERS
02/07  Werewolf by Night - 21,773
03/07  ---
04/07  Man-Thing         - 17,915  (-17.7%)
05/07  ---
06/07  Satana            - 17,995  ( +0.4%)

Well, at least it’s levelled out. But this collection of one-shots doesn’t seem to be attracting much interest.

112. IRON MAN: HYPERVELOCITY
01/07  Hypervelocity #1 of 6 - 28,630
02/07  Hypervelocity #2 of 6 - 22,522  (-21.3%)
03/07  Hypervelocity #3 of 6 - 20,020  (-11.1%)
04/07  Hypervelocity #4 of 6 - 18,855  ( -5.8%)
05/07  Hypervelocity #5 of 6 - 18,420  ( -2.3%)
06/07  Hypervelocity #6 of 6 - 17,486  ( -5.1%)

One of Adam Warren’s geekier efforts, to be honest, but the sales still have to be disappointing considering that Iron Man is a relatively hot character right now.

113. LONERS
04/07  Loners #1 of 6 - 24,377
05/07  Loners #2 of 6 - 18,901  (-22.5%)
06/07  Loners #3 of 6 - 17,351  ( -8.2%)

Levelling out, but the numbers are still poor.

117. 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%)

The lowest selling Marvel Universe title that hasn’t been cancelled yet. As a part-reprint title with a huge page count, the economics are rather different from the titles around it, but I have trouble believing that these numbers will make happy reading.

119. BLADE
09/06  Blade #1  - 37,394
10/06  Blade #2  - 27,170  ( -27.3%)
11/06  Blade #3  - 23,144  ( -14.8%)
12/06  Blade #4  - 21,043  (  -9.1%)
01/07  Blade #5  - 42,513  (+102.0%)
02/07  Blade #6  - 19,087  ( -55.1%)
03/07  Blade #7  - 18,426  (  -3.5%)
04/07  Blade #8  - 17,656  (  -4.2%)
05/07  Blade #9  - 16,946  (  -4.0%)
06/07  Blade #10 - 16,675  (  -1.6%)
                   6 mnth  ( -20.8%)

129. IRREDEEMABLE ANT-MAN
10/06  Irredeemable Ant-Man #1 - 29,499
11/06  Irredeemable Ant-Man #2 - 23,191  (-21.4%)
12/06  Irredeemable Ant-Man #3 - 19,580  (-15.6%)
01/07  Irredeemable Ant-Man #4 - 17,864  ( -8.8%)
02/07  Irredeemable Ant-Man #5 - 16,900  ( -5.4%)
03/07  Irredeemable Ant-Man #6 - 16,220  ( -4.0%)
04/07  Irredeemable Ant-Man #7 - 15,737  ( -3.0%)
05/07  Irredeemable Ant-Man #8 - 15,592  ( -0.9%)
06/07  Irredeemable Ant-Man #9 - 15,506  ( -0.6%)
                                 6 mnth  (-20.8%)

Both axed with issue #12.

131. CRIMINAL  [Icon]
10/06  Criminal #1 - 25,978
11/06  Criminal #2 - 21,115  (-18.7%)
12/06  Criminal #3 - 17,702  (-16.2%)
01/07  Criminal #4 - 16,827  ( -4.9%)
02/07  ---
03/07  Criminal #5 - 16,389  ( -2.6%)
04/07  ---
05/07  Criminal #6 - 15,720  ( -4.1%)
06/07  Criminal #7 - 15,214  ( -3.2%)
                     6 mnth  (-14.1%)

Still not quite levelling out, frustratingly.

138. SPIDER-MAN FAIRY TALES
05/07  Fairy Tales #1 of 4 - 17,362
06/07  Fairy Tales #2 of 4 - 13,845  (-20.3%)

Marvel have already commissioned another series of superhero fairy tales, so for their sake, they’d better hope this sells somewhere outside the direct market.

151. HEDGE KNIGHT 2: SWORN SWORD  [DBPro]
06/07  Sworn Sword #1 of 6 - 12,011

The original HEDGE KNIGHT miniseries was published by Dabel Bros before they hooked up with Marvel. The imprint still does most of its business outside the direct market, but by their modest standards, 12K is a fine start.

174. TREASURE ISLAND [Marvel Illustrated]
06/07  Treasure Island #1 of 6 - 8,224

178. LAST OF THE MOHICANS  [Marvel Illustrated]
05/07  Last o/Mohicans #1 of 6 - 11,498
06/07  Last o/Mohicans #2 of 6 -  7,786  (-32.3%)

Clearly not aimed at the direct market audience. The real test will come when the collected editions come out in the bookstores.

183. FRANKLIN RICHARDS, SON OF A GENIUS
07/06  Super Summer Spectacular - 8,324
11/06  Happy Franksgiving       - 8,067  ( -3.1%)
03/07  March Madness            - 6,416  (-20.5%)
06/07  World Be Warned          - 7,293  (+13.7%)

Looking much more stable after March’s slightly worrying number.

184. MARVEL ADVENTURES AVENGERS  [All ages]
06/06  M.A. Avengers #2  - 9,359  (-32.7%)
07/06  M.A. Avengers #3  - 9,006  ( -3.8%)
08/06  M.A. Avengers #4  - 8,610  ( -4.4%)
09/06  M.A. Avengers #5  - 7,994  ( -7.2%)
10/06  M.A. Avengers #6  - 7,879  ( -1.4%)
11/06  M.A. Avengers #7  - 7,642  ( -3.0%)
12/06  M.A. Avengers #8  - 7,512  ( -1.7%)
01/07  M.A. Avengers #9  - 7,315  ( -2.6%)
02/07  M.A. Avengers #10 - 7,053  ( -3.6%)
03/07  M.A. Avengers #11 - 7,068  ( +0.2%)
04/07  M.A. Avengers #12 - 7,092  ( +0.3%)
05/07  M.A. Avengers #13 - 7,251  ( +2.2%)
06/07  M.A. Avengers #14 - 7,293  ( +0.6%)
                          6 mnth  ( -2.9%)
                          1 year  (-22.1%)

191. 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%)

192. MARVEL ADVENTURES SPIDER-MAN  [All ages]
06/05  M.A. Spider-Man #4  - 8,878
=====
06/06  M.A. Spider-Man #16 - 6,114  ( -0.8%)
07/06  M.A. Spider-Man #17 - 6,133  ( +0.3%)
08/06  M.A. Spider-Man #18 - 6,220  ( +1.4%)
09/06  M.A. Spider-Man #19 - 6,057  ( -2.6%)
10/06  M.A. Spider-Man #20 - 6,131  ( +1.2%)
11/06  M.A. Spider-Man #21 - 6,529  ( +6.5%)
12/06  M.A. Spider-Man #22 - 6,396  ( -2.0%)
01/07  M.A. Spider-Man #23 - 6,271  ( -2.0%)
02/07  M.A. Spider-Man #24 - 6,678  ( +6.5%)
03/07  M.A. Spider-Man #25 - 6,408  ( -4.0%)
04/07  M.A. Spider-Man #26 - 6,478  ( +1.1%)
05/07  M.A. Spider-Man #27 - 6,818  ( +5.2%)
06/07  M.A. Spider-Man #28 - 7,006  ( +2.8%)
                            6 mnth  ( +9.5%)
                            1 year  (+14.6%)
                            2 year  (-21.1%)

199. SPIDER-MAN LOVES MARY JANE  [All ages]
06/06  S-M Loves Mary Jane #7  - 6,834  (-3.3%)
07/06  S-M Loves Mary Jane #8  - 6,769  (-1.0%)
08/06  S-M Loves Mary Jane #9  - 6,719  (-0.7%)
09/06  S-M Loves Mary Jane #10 - 6,623  (-1.4%)
10/06  S-M Loves Mary Jane #11 - 6,586  (-0.6%)
11/06  S-M Loves Mary Jane #12 - 6,520  (-1.0%)
12/06  S-M Loves Mary Jane #13 - 6,311  (-3.2%)
01/07  S-M Loves Mary Jane #14 - 6,329  (+0.3%)
02/07  S-M Loves Mary Jane #15 - 6,121  (-3.3%)
03/07  S-M Loves Mary Jane #16 - 6,279  (+2.6%)
04/07  S-M Loves Mary Jane #17 - 6,332  (+0.8%)
05/07  S-M Loves Mary Jane #18 - 6,490  (+2.5%)
06/07  S-M Loves Mary Jane #19 - 6,444  (-0.7%)
                                6 mnth  (+2.1%)
                                1 year  (-5.7%)

The all-ages books are edging their way back up the chart – except for MARVEL ADVENTURES IRON MAN, of course, which does the obligatory second issue swandive. It’s still selling at about the same level as the others, though. The imprint is clearly doing well enough outside the direct market, as a MARVEL ADVENTURES HULK series is on the way.

206. MAGICIAN: APPRENTICE  [DBPro]
10/06  Apprentice #1-2 of 12 - 1,892
11/06  Apprentice #3   of 12 - 4,595  (+142.9%)
12/06  Apprentice #4   of 12 - 7,266  ( +58.1%)
01/07  Apprentice #5   of 12 - 7,206  (  -0.8%)
02/07  ---
03/07  Apprentice #6   of 12 - 6,818  (  -5.4%)
04/07  ---
05/07  Apprentice #7   of 12 - 6,193  (  -9.2%)
06/07  Apprentice #8   of 12 - 5,941  (  -4.1%)
                              6 mnth  ( -18.2%)

Another DBPro book which does most of its business elsewhere.

211. POWER PACK
06/05  Power Pack #4 of 4 - 8,307
=====
06/06  Avengers #3 of 4   - 6,137  ( -7.2%)
07/06  Avengers #4 of 4   - 5,849  ( -4.7%)
08/06  ---
09/06  ---
10/06  ---
11/06  Spider-Man #1 of 4 - 7,897  (+35.0%)
12/06  Spider-Man #2 of 4 - 6,350  (-19.6%)
01/07  Spider-Man #3 of 4 - 5,880  ( -7.4%)
02/07  Spider-Man #4 of 4 - 5,605  ( -4.7%)
03/07  Hulk #1 of 4       - 6,697  (+19.5%)
04/07  Hulk #2 of 4       - 5,944  (-11.2%)
05/07  Hulk #3 of 4       - 5,593  ( -5.9%)
06/07  Hulk #4 of 4       - 5,443  ( -2.7%)
                           6 mnth  (-14.3%)
                           1 year  (-11.3%)
                           2 year  (-34.5%)

The POWER PACK/HULK miniseries wraps up with fairly stable sales.

214. KABUKI: REFLECTIONS  [Icon]
07/06  Reflections #6 - 5,815
12/06  Reflections #7 - 5,226  (-10.1%)
06/07  Reflections #8 - 5,059  ( -3.2%)

David Mack’s occasional art book. It’s an Icon title, so as long as he’s happy, Marvel don’t much care how much it sells.

217. MARVEL ADVENTURES FANTASTIC FOUR  [All ages]
06/05  M.A. Fantastic Four #1  - 9,617
=====
06/06  M.A. Fantastic Four #13 - 4,752  ( -1.7%)
07/06  M.A. Fantastic Four #14 - 4,668  ( -1.8%)
08/06  M.A. Fantastic Four #15 - 4,569  ( -2.1%)
09/06  M.A. Fantastic Four #16 - 4,687  ( +2.6%)
10/06  M.A. Fantastic Four #17 - 4,557  ( -2.8%)
11/06  M.A. Fantastic Four #18 - 4,614  ( +1.3%)
12/06  M.A. Fantastic Four #19 - 4,533  ( -1.8%)
01/07  M.A. Fantastic Four #20 - 4,459  ( -1.6%)
02/07  M.A. Fantastic Four #21 - 4,508  ( +1.1%)
03/07  M.A. Fantastic Four #22 - 4,588  ( +1.8%)
04/07  M.A. Fantastic Four #23 - 4,604  ( +0.3%)
05/07  M.A. Fantastic Four #24 - 4,807  ( +4.4%)
06/07  M.A. Fantastic Four #25 - 4,972  ( +3.4%)
                                6 mnth  ( +9.7%)
                                1 year  ( +4.6%)
                                2 year  (-48.3%)

Another all-ages book showing a consistent increase in its direct market sales.

226. ORSON SCOTT CARD'S WYRMS  [DBPro]
02/07  Wyrms #1 of 6 - 6,246
03/07  Wyrms #2 of 6 - 5,401  (-13.5%)
04/07  Wyrms #3 of 6 - 4,902  ( -9.2%)
05/07  Wyrms #4 of 6 - 4,567  ( -6.8%)
06/07  Wyrms #5 of 6 - 4,209  ( -7.8%)

236. RED PROPHET: TALES OF ALVIN MAKER  [DBPro]
10/06  Alvin Maker #1-2 of 12 -   1,617
11/06  Alvin Maker #3   of 12 - < 3,170  (+<96.0%)
12/06  Alvin Maker #4   of 12 -   5,034  (+>58.8%)
01/07  Alvin Maker #5   of 12 -   4,480  ( -11.0%)
02/07  ---
03/07  Alvin Maker #6   of 12 -   4,009  ( -10.5%)
04/07  ---
05/07  Alvin Maker #7   of 12 -   3,678  (  -8.3%)
06/07  Alvin Maker #8   of 12 -   3,441  (  -6.4%)
                                 6 mnth  ( -31.6%)

And rounding off the list, two more DBPro books. The numbers for these titles aren’t particularly relevant.

Skip months and re-orders
=========================


ASTONISHING X-MEN
06/04  Astonishing X-Men #2  - 133,784
06/05  ---
=====
06/06  Astonishing X-Men #15 - 119,991  ( -3.3%)
07/06  ---
08/06  Astonishing X-Men #16 - 121,897  ( +1.6%)
09/06  Astonishing X-Men #17 - 124,026  ( +1.7%)
10/06  ---
11/06  Astonishing X-Men #18 - 118,285  ( -4.6%)
12/06  Astonishing X-Men #19 - 124,033  ( +4.9%)
01/07  ---
02/07  Astonishing X-Men #20 - 119,736  ( -3.5%)
03/07  ---
04/07  ---
05/07  Astonishing X-Men #21 - 120,495  ( +0.6%)
06/07  ---

Late. The next issue is currently scheduled for late August.

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  ---

Late.

WOLVERINE
06/01  Wolverine #165 -  68,398
06/02  Wolverine #177 -  67,450
06/03  Wolverine #2   -  99,867
06/04  Wolverine #16  -  67,519
06/05  Wolverine #29  -  79,951
=====
06/06  Wolverine #43  - 116,540  ( +3.9%)
07/06  Wolverine #44  - 111,478  ( -4.3%)
08/06  Wolverine #45  - 110,662  ( -0.7%)
09/06  Wolverine #46  - 107,865  ( -2.5%)
10/06  Wolverine #47  - 106,201  ( -1.5%)
11/06  Wolverine #48  -  99,991  ( -5.8%)
12/06  Wolverine #49  -  78,807  (-21.2%)
01/07  Wolverine #50  - 117,160  (+48.7%)
02/07  Wolverine #51  -  99,636  (-15.0%)
03/07  Wolverine #52  -  97,111  ( -2.5%)
04/07  Wolverine #53  -  98,441  ( +1.4%)
05/07  Wolverine #54  -  96,082  ( -2.4%)
06/07  ---

Late.

NEW AVENGERS: ILLUMINATI
12/06  Illuminati #1 of 5 - 106,381
01/07  ---
02/07  Illuminati #2 of 5 -  92,881  (-12.7%)
03/07  ---
04/07  ---
05/07  Illuminati #3 of 5 -  92,821  ( -0.0%)
06/07  ---

Erratic schedule. Issue #3 picks up re-orders of 2,088.

ULTIMATE POWER
10/06  Ultimate Power #1 of 9 - 113,823
11/06  Ultimate Power #2 of 9 -  76,654  (-32.7%)
12/06  Ultimate Power #3 of 9 -  70,148  ( -8.5%)
01/07  ---
02/07  ---
03/07  Ultimate Power #4 of 9 -  63,818  ( -9.0%)
04/07  ---
05/07  Ultimate Power #5 of 9 -  62,784  ( -1.6%)
06/07  ---

Late, but issue #6 shipped in July.

ONSLAUGHT REBORN
11/06  Onslaught Reborn #1 of 5 - 82,642
12/06  Onslaught Reborn #2 of 5 - 55,111  (-33.3%)
01/07  ---
02/07  ---
03/07  Onslaught Reborn #3 of 5 - 52,420  ( -4.9%)
04/07  ---
05/07  ---
06/07  ---

Hopelessly late. Issue #4 is currently down for the last week of July.

RUNAWAYS
06/03  Runaways #3  - 20,778
06/04  Runaways #16 - 19,049
06/05  Runaways #5  - 28,409
=====
06/06  Runaways #17 - 23,654  (  -0.8%)
07/06  Runaways #18 - 24,678  (  +4.3%)
08/06  Runaways #19 - 25,042  (  +1.5%)
09/06  Runaways #20 - 23,561  (  -5.9%)
10/06  Runaways #21 - 25,553  (  +8.5%)
11/06  Runaways #22 - 25,908  (  +1.4%)
12/06  ---
01/07  Runaways #23 - 25,346  (  -2.2%)
02/07  Runaways #24 - 25,216  (  -0.5%)
03/07  ---
04/07  Runaways #25 - 56,250  (+123.1%)
05/07  Runaways #26 - 46,134  ( -18.0%)
06/07  ---

Slipped to July.

ANITA BLAKE, VAMPIRE HUNTER  [DBPro]
10/06  Guilty Pls. #1 of 12 - 53,277
11/06  Guilty Pls. #2 of 12 - 39,450  (-26.0%)
12/06  Guilty Pls. #3 of 12 - 36,091  ( -8.5%)
01/07  Guilty Pls. #4 of 12 - 32,363  (-10.3%)
02/07  ---
03/07  Guilty Pls. #5 of 12 - 31,136  ( -3.8%)
04/07  Guilty Pls. #6 of 12 - 30,759  ( -1.2%)
05/07  ---
06/07  ---

On hiatus until September, weirdly.

NEW EXCALIBUR
06/06  New Excalibur #8  - 37,428  ( -3.4%)
07/06  New Excalibur #9  - 36,466  ( -2.6%)
08/06  New Excalibur #10 - 36,108  ( -1.0%)
09/06  New Excalibur #11 - 34,104  ( -5.6%)
10/06  New Excalibur #12 - 33,082  ( -3.0%)
11/06  New Excalibur #13 - 32,173  ( -2.7%)
12/06  New Excalibur #14 - 31,318  ( -2.7%)
01/07  New Excalibur #15 - 30,827  ( -1.6%)
02/07  New Excalibur #16 - 30,356  ( -1.5%)
02/07  New Excalibur #17 - 30,073  ( -0.9%)
03/07  ---
04/07  New Excalibur #18 - 29,617  ( -1.5%)
04/07  New Excalibur #19 - 29,014  ( -2.0%)
06/07  ---

Slipped to July.

POWERS  [Icon]
06/01  Powers #13 - 27,002
06/02  Powers #22 - 26,561
06/03  Powers #32 - 26,774
06/04  ---
06/05  Powers #11 - 27,703
=====
06/06  ---
07/06  Powers #19 - 23,156  ( -1.9%)
08/06  ---
09/06  ---
10/06  Powers #20 - 22,943  ( -0.9%)
11/06  Powers #21 - 22,134  ( -3.5%)
12/06  ---
01/07  Powers #22 - 22,018  ( -0.5%)
02/07  Powers #23 - 21,939  ( -0.4%)
03/07  ---
04/07  Powers #24 - 20,960  ( -4.5%)
05/07  ---
06/07  ---

Late. The next issue is due at the start of August.

PUNISHER PRESENTS BARRACUDA MAX [Max]
02/07  Barracuda #1 of 5 - 23,886
03/07  Barracuda #2 of 5 - 20,969  (-12.2%)
04/07  Barracuda #3 of 5 - 20,150  ( -3.9%)
05/07  Barracuda #4 of 5 - 19,422  ( -3.6%)
06/07  ---

Slipped to July.

WHITE TIGER
11/06  White Tiger #1 of 6 - 24,663
12/06  White Tiger #2 of 6 - 19,042  (-22.3%)
01/07  White Tiger #3 of 6 - 15,986  (-16.0%)
02/07  White Tiger #4 of 6 - 14,554  ( -9.0%)
03/07  ---
04/07  White Tiger #5 of 6 - 13,621  ( -6.4%)
05/07  ---
06/07  ---

Rescheduled to mid-August. What the heck is going on here?

KABUKI  [Icon]
06/06  ---
07/06  ---
08/06  Kabuki #7 - 10,798  ( -4.9%)
09/06  ---
10/06  ---
11/06  ---
12/06  ---
01/07  Kabuki #8 -  9,961  ( -7.8%)
02/07  ---
03/07  ---
04/07  ---
05/07  ---
06/07  ---

Issue #9 has been rescheduled, yet again, to 29 August.

JACK KIRBY'S GALACTIC BOUNTY HUNTERS  [Icon]
07/06  Bounty Hunters #1 - 13,514
08/06  Bounty Hunters #2 -  9,301  (-31.2%)
09/06  ---
10/06  Bounty Hunters #3 -  7,716  (-17.0%)
11/06  ---
12/06  ---
01/07  Bounty Hunters #4 -  6,010  (-22.1%)
02/07  ---
03/07  Bounty Hunters #5 -  5,047  (-16.0%)
04/07  ---
05/07  ---
06/07  ---

Skip month. Issue #6 was solicited for July, but somehow it’s still managed to slip into August.

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

+298.4% - Marvel Spotlight
+137.6% - Thunderbolts
+123.1% - Incredible Hulk
+ 75.0% - X-Men
+ 36.9% - Ghost Rider
+ 31.9% - Heroes for Hire
+ 31.2% - New Avengers
+ 20.4% - Captain America
+ 17.9% - Sensational Spider-Man
+ 16.6% - Ms Marvel
+ 13.7% - Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man
+ 12.9% - Black Panther
+ 9.7% - Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four
+ 9.5% - Marvel Adventures Spider-Man
+ 6.4% - She-Hulk
+ 5.3% - Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe
+ 3.1% - New X-Men
+ 2.4% - Punisher
+ 2.3% - Iron Man
+ 2.1% - Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane
- 2.1% - Cable & Deadpool
- 2.5% - Daredevil
- 2.9% - Marvel Adventures Avengers
- 3.4% - Ultimate Spider-Man
- 5.2% - Uncanny X-Men
- 6.5% - Ultimate Fantastic Four
- 7.3% - X-Men: First Class
- 7.7% - X-Factor
- 9.6% - Immortal Iron Fist
- 11.4% - Ultimate X-Men
- 12.1% - Amazing Spider-Man
- 13.8% - Front Line
- 14.1% - Criminal
- 14.3% - Power Pack
- 17.0% - Exiles
- 18.0% - Fantastic Four
- 18.2% - Magician: Apprentice
- 20.8% - Blade
- 20.8% - Irredeemable Ant-Man
- 22.6% - Wolverine: Origins
- 24.2% - Moon Knight
- 25.4% - Amazing Spider-Girl
- 31.6% - Red Prophet: Tales of Alvin Maker
- 36.1% - Punisher War Journal
- 43.8% - Ultimate Vision

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

+310.6% - Marvel Spotlight
+120.8% - Black Panther
+117.3% - Incredible Hulk
+109.5% - Captain America
+ 99.5% - Iron Man
+ 75.4% - X-Men
+ 66.6% - Thunderbolts
+ 28.1% - New Avengers
+ 22.8% - Nova
+ 14.6% - Marvel Adventures Spider-Man
+ 12.6% - Sensational Spider-Man
+ 7.6% - Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe
+ 7.2% - Cable & Deadpool
+ 6.8% - Spider-Girl
+ 4.6% - Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four
+ 4.3% - Uncanny X-Men
+ 0.2% - Ultimate Spider-Man
- 1.0% - Punisher
- 1.3% - New X-Men
- 1.4% - Ms Marvel
- 3.0% - Daredevil
- 4.5% - Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man
- 5.7% - Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane
- 8.2% - Exiles
- 11.3% - Power Pack
- 12.6% - She-Hulk
- 16.3% - Ultimate X-Men
- 19.2% - Moon Knight
- 21.5% - Amazing Spider-Man
- 22.1% - Marvel Adventures Avengers
- 24.8% - Fantastic Four
- 39.1% - Ultimate Fantastic Four
- 41.9% - Front Line
- 43.5% - Wolverine: Origins
- 51.3% - X-Factor

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

+147.3% - Incredible Hulk
+137.6% - Thunderbolts
+110.2% - Captain America
+ 70.2% - X-Men
+ 65.3% - Black Panther
+ 46.1% - Amazing Spider-Man
+ 24.4% - Fantastic Four
+ 15.4% - New X-Men
+ 10.5% - Cable & Deadpool
+ 5.5% - Sensational Spider-Man
+ 1.6% - Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe
- 0.4% - New Avengers
- 2.4% - Spider-Girl
- 2.8% - Daredevil
- 7.3% - Ultimate Spider-Man
- 10.6% - Punisher
- 10.7% - Uncanny X-Men
- 11.2% - Exiles
- 21.1% - Marvel Adventures Spider-Man
- 24.1% - Ultimate X-Men
- 25.5% - Ultimate Fantastic Four
- 34.5% - Power Pack
- 48.3% - Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four

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

+173.7% - Captain America
+153.6% - Iron Man
+141.7% - Incredible Hulk
+118.2% - New Avengers
+ 69.4% - Thunderbolts
+ 41.2% - X-Men
+ 39.5% - Fantastic Four
+ 22.6% - Amazing Spider-Man
- 5.5% - She-Hulk
- 12.9% - Daredevil
- 17.4% - Uncanny X-Men
- 19.7% - Exiles
- 22.2% - Cable & Deadpool
- 22.4% - Spider-Girl
- 27.2% - Ultimate Spider-Man
- 29.8% - Punisher
- 30.3% - Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe
- 31.0% - Sensational Spider-Man
- 33.3% - New X-Men
- 36.7% - Ultimate X-Men
- 48.3% - Ultimate Fantastic Four

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

+245.7% - Thunderbolts
+179.4% - New Avengers
+134.9% - Iron Man
+117.2% - Captain America
+ 56.0% - Incredible Hulk
+ 39.6% - X-Men
+ 31.2% - Fantastic Four
- 9.2% - Uncanny X-Men
- 13.8% - New X-Men
- 14.3% - Punisher
- 18.3% - Spider-Girl
- 21.6% - Exiles
- 21.8% - Daredevil
- 26.5% - Ultimate Spider-Man
- 46.1% - Ultimate X-Men

1 COMMENT

  1. “So much for the ‘event fatigue’ theory.”

    I dunno … I’m happy that Marvel is selling stuff. But “Event Fatique” set in long ago for me. I don’t think I’ve purchased a Marvel title since Sable & Fortune, which was quite good. Really, if you’re not interested in reading the exploits of EVERYONE in the Marvel (or DC) universe, there’s little to read from these companies. THE SPIRIT gets high marks … I think I’m just not interested in crossovers, anymore, and that’s how these companies are getting you to purchase everything … or losing some readers.

    “Pulling [The Hulk] out of the mainstream Marvel Universe for a year (and putting him in a well-received storyline in the meantime) has done the trick in terms of building anticipation.”

    Well, now … if only they’d try that with Spider-Man … and the X-Men. There is no such word as “Overkill” in Marvel’s dictionary.

  2. rich:
    “Really, if you’re not interested in reading the exploits of EVERYONE in the Marvel (or DC) universe, there’s little to read from these companies.”

    I don’t know if that’s true. With the various crossovers, I’ll pick up the event book (Civil War, say), and the stuff I’d be picking up anyway (Cap, New Avengers) and I don’t seem to have trouble following anything. Same with the Ultimate line – just following Ultimate Spidey, no other series or mini-series, and it reads just fine.

  3. The last page of New Avengers is a very big deal. The Skrulls get smart? What? What???
    The implications are enormous. So much conjecture comes from that stuff. Man-o-man. I don’t see how anyone could see that last page and say: “Is that it?”
    Maybe it’s because the idea was so heavily leaked?

  4. Marvel is trying something different with Spider-Man, and I think it might just be the shot in the arm that both the character and the book need. I guess we’ll see.

    It makes me happy to see so much success. When I look at the 6 or 12 month comparisons, there is very little that is worrisome. Yeah I like Blade and Antman, and I’ll be sorry to see them go, but kudos to Ironfist, Ms. Marvel, and Nova.

  5. Or maybe it’s because it’s a story idea we’ve seen before and it never amounted to very much. We already did “Wolverine turns out to be a Skrull” back in the late nineties. The Skrulls have tried impersonating government officials before. None of these stories were especially worldshaking. “Elektra is a Skrull”, in itself, is a pretty trivial plot development. Without the hype, I don’t think it would have even occurred to anyone that this was a big deal.

  6. I agree with Paul. If I didn’t know that it was a big deal from outside of the comics, I wouldn’t have known it was a big deal.

    Yeah, there was a Skrull running the Hand, that IS interesting, but it didn’t tell us much.

  7. MYSTIC ARCANA debuting at 26k isn’t that bad, is it? Its sales seem a lot healthier than other thematic stuff like MARVEL WESTERNS, LEGION OF MONSTERS and the ROMANCE REDUX stuff.

  8. The Anita Blake gone missing for two months isn’t as weird when you consider that in July and August, Marvel is publishing a 2-issue Anita Blake series by Laurel K. Hamilton. Oddly sensible to not put two Anita Blake series out at the same time, I thought.

  9. The purpose of the Mythos books is to end up with a painted TPB with all the origins of the Marvel icons (and movie franchises) that new and casual fans could pick up.

    Sort of a modern version of Son of Origins.

    Didn’t pick up any of them so far, but the FF one is intriguing me. Is the art on them as confusing as I’ve heard?

  10. Paul hit the nail right on the head about why many fans are’nt blown away by the Skrull revelation. This type of storyline has been done at least 3 times before to 3 different characters (Alicia Masters,Iron Fist,and Wolverine have all been replaced by Skrulls in past stories). The hype behind the whole Skrull invasion storyline is just another case of the Quesada regime taking an idea from the often (and unfairly) maligned 90’s Marvel comics and proclaiming that they have thought of the most BRILLIANT and BIGGEST story idea in years.

  11. Maybe I blinked, but are there comparisons for the overall Marvel data? Has their circulation increased? averages? and since events turn the graph into a bell curve, would it be possible to get something like a sliding average so that we can judge the present and future against the past?

  12. “MYSTIC ARCANA debuting at 26k isn’t that bad, is it? Its sales seem a lot healthier than other thematic stuff like MARVEL WESTERNS, LEGION OF MONSTERS and the ROMANCE REDUX stuff.”

    The Mystic Arcana above is an Illyana Rasputin story. She still has some fans, and there is the general X-book connection. Further, it was released while New X-Men has been doing its Quest for Magik storyline, bringing the character back to the minds of readers.

    The rest of Mystic Arcana might find a colder reception, Though the next issue is Scarlet Witch, who might still be benefitting from her House of M appearance. And even Sister Grimm might sport a questionable enough outfit on the cover to encourage a few people to pick up the book and at least finish the series.

    But it really doesn’t seem that much like Marvel’s other thematic stuff. One would hope characters like Magik and Scarlet Witch weren’t as poorly received as Western characters or semi-random monsters.

  13. Mystic Arcana: The next one is Black Knight, with nice Tom Grummet art (who’s been missed since the Thunderbolts regime change).

    Avengers Classics: Well, Paul, you certainly nailed my reasoning for not subscribing: all of the Essential Avengers look great on my shelf, and I can check in on them when I want to read the old stories. The addition of color isn’t that big of a plus, and the backups by Oeming mostly look like comic relief. We’ve already got Earth’s Mightiest Heroes to tap into the other sides of the old tales: now, if Art Adams or someone of equal stature were providing new backups …