by Paul O’Brien

It’s still the event season at Marvel, with SIEGE and FALL OF THE HULKS in full sway, “X-Necrosha” wrapping up, and the “Second Coming” crossover just beginning. March also saw the latest stage in the relaunch of the Ultimate imprint, namely the return of ULTIMATES, and the start of Mark Millar and Steve McNiven’s NEMESIS. Oh, and if you feel there’s still a dearth of Deadpool comics out there, look out for all five issues of the PRELUDE TO DEADPOOL CORPS miniseries, setting up a new Deadpool title to start in April.

Needless to say, Marvel had the largest share of the North American direct market yet again. This time they beat DC by 47% to 30% in unit share, and 42% to 27% in dollars.

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

2.  SIEGE
01/10  Siege #1 of 4 - 120,888
02/10  Siege #2 of 4 - 115,210  (-4.7%)
03/10  Siege #3 of 4 - 113,071  (-1.9%)

Curiouser and curiouser. SIEGE launched with first issue sales that were widely considered disappointing for a major event book. But last month, sales held steady. That’s extremely unusual, and led me to theorise that perhaps Diamond had knocked some of the orders off issue #1 because of a limited returnability offer.

This month, issue #1 picks up another 12,402 sales thanks to the belated release of the Director’s Cut edition, while issue #2 picks up 6,781 in reorders. Those numbers are added in above. Even with those reorders, the third-issue drop is tiny. Without them, it’s actually a climb.

One possible factor is that SIEGE #3 has a Deadpool variant cover, on top of all the variants used in the previous month. Another possibility, though, is that retailers were simply too conservative in ordering issue #1 and we’re seeing a belated correction.

6.  NEW AVENGERS
03/05  New Avengers #4  - 155,113
03/06  New Avengers #17 - 121,098
03/07  New Avengers #28 - 119,514
03/08  New Avengers #39 - 103,046
=====
03/09  New Avengers #51 -  95,340  (-10.8%)
04/09  New Avengers #52 -  93,975  ( -1.4%)
05/09  New Avengers #53 -  94,367  ( +0.4%)
06/09  New Avengers #54 -  93,878  ( -0.5%)
07/09  New Avengers #55 -  84,745  ( -9.7%)
08/09  New Avengers #56 -  89,996  ( +6.2%)
09/09  New Avengers #57 -  85,598  ( -4.9%)
10/09  New Avengers #58 -  76,656  (-10.4%)
11/09  New Avengers #59 -  74,379  ( -3.0%)
12/09  New Avengers #60 -  72,790  ( -2.1%)
01/10  New Avengers #61 -  78,202  ( +7.4%)
02/10  New Avengers #62 -  76,405  ( -2.3%)
03/10  New Avengers #63 -  76,145  ( -0.3%)
                           6 mnth  (-11.0%)
                           1 year  (-20.1%)
                           2 year  (-26.1%)
                           3 year  (-36.3%)
                           4 year  (-37.1%)
                           5 year  (-50.9%)

7.  DARK AVENGERS
03/09  Dark Avengers #3  - 101,978  ( -0.3%)
04/09  Dark Avengers #4  -  99,694  ( -2.2%)
05/09  ---
06/09  Dark Avengers #5  -  95,746  ( -4.0%)
06/09  Dark Avengers #6  -  93,634  ( -2.2%)
07/09  Dark Avengers #7  -  94,189  ( +0.6%)
08/09  Dark Avengers #8  -  94,191  ( +0.0%)
09/09  Dark Avengers #9  -  79,729  (-15.4%)
10/09  Dark Avengers #10 -  75,618  ( -5.2%)
11/09  Dark Avengers #11 -  72,225  ( -4.5%)
12/09  Dark Avengers #12 -  69,799  ( -3.4%)
01/10  Dark Avengers #13 -  76,002  ( +8.9%)
02/10  Dark Avengers #14 -  76,639  ( +0.8%)
03/10  Dark Avengers #15 -  72,254  ( -5.7%)
                            6 mnth  ( -9.4%)
                            1 year  (-29.1%)

Both books are continuing SIEGE crossover arcs which began in January. Both are seeing some gains from the event, but nothing to cancel out the drops earlier the year. In itself, this isn’t particularly unusual; we’ve seen in the past that the Avengers titles seem to see the least benefit from major crossovers, presumably because most crossover readers are buying them already.

Both books end after the crossover; NEW AVENGERS is being relaunched from issue #1, while DARK AVENGERS is replaced by a new Avengers title.

8.  ULTIMATE COMICS NEW ULTIMATES
03/05  Ultimates 2 #4        - 105,255
03/06  Ultimates 2 #10       -  94,900
03/07  ---
03/08  ---
03/09  ---
=====
03/10  U.C. New Ultimates #1 -  71,279
                                6 mnth  (  --- )
                                1 year  (  --- )
                                2 year  (  --- )
                                3 year  (  --- )
                                4 year  (-24.9%)
                                5 year  (-32.3%)

The relaunch of the Ultimate imprint has not been conspicuously successful thus far, and the return of ULTIMATES continues the pattern. Yes, it’s a top ten book – but it’s way below the levels we’ve previously associated with the title.

The last series, ULTIMATES 3, ended in September 2008 with sales at 86,851. The new book comes in over 15K below that figure. That’s with the benefit of a relaunch and two variant covers, so we can probably expect a hefty drop in April. It’s not looking good, frankly.

And yes, this book really is officially called ULTIMATE COMICS NEW ULTIMATES. How bad must the other suggestions have been?

While we’re on the subject, we may as well mention…

ULTIMATE COMICS X
02/10  Ultimate Comics X #1 - 64,113
03/10  ---

…which didn’t come out in March, but which did manage to rack up 4,954 in re-orders to chart at number 272. Those sales are included above.

9. UNCANNY X-MEN
03/05  Uncanny X-Men #457 -  86,365
03/06  Uncanny X-Men #471 -  78,286
03/07  Uncanny X-Men #484 -  82,043
03/08  Uncanny X-Men #496 -  89,054
=====
03/09  Uncanny X-Men #507 -  77,957  ( +8.8%)
04/09  Uncanny X-Men #508 -  76,442  ( -1.9%)
04/09  Uncanny X-Men #509 -  69,185  ( -9.5%)
05/09  Uncanny X-Men #510 -  75,139  ( +8.6%)
06/09  Uncanny X-Men #511 -  71,148  ( -5.3%)
06/09  Uncanny X-Men #512 -  76,283  ( +7.2%)
07/09  Uncanny X-Men #513 -  87,582  (+14.8%)
08/09  Uncanny X-Men #514 -  90,316  ( +3.1%)
09/09  Uncanny X-Men #515 -  73,585  (-18.5%)
10/09  Uncanny X-Men #516 -  73,916  ( +0.4%)
11/09  Uncanny X-Men #517 -  69,557  ( -5.9%)
12/09  Uncanny X-Men #518 -  68,572  ( -1.4%)
12/09  Uncanny X-Men #519 -  67,043  ( -2.2%)
01/10  Uncanny X-Men #520 -  65,758  ( -1.9%)
02/10  Uncanny X-Men #521 -  67,049  ( +2.0%)
03/10  Uncanny X-Men #522 -  67,996  ( +1.4%)
                             6 mnth  ( -7.6%)
                             1 year  (-12.8%)
                             2 year  (-23.6%)
                             3 year  (-17.1%)
                             4 year  (-13.1%)
                             5 year  (-21.3%)

This is an extra-size issue with the return of Kitty Pryde. It’s also got a 1:25 variant cover by Mark Brooks, a slightly higher incentive than last month’s 1:15 Deadpool variant. All that probably combines to explain the slight increase. Next month sees the start of the “Second Coming” crossover, which is likely to boost sales further – although since UNCANNY is already the top-selling book and the continuity lynchpin of the X-books, it’ll probably see less benefit than the other participants.

10,14,18,19,21. AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
03/05  Amazing Spider-Man #518 -  77,025
03/06  Amazing Spider-Man #530 -  89,874
03/07  Amazing Spider-Man #539 - 137,730
03/08  Amazing Spider-Man #554 -  81,072
=====
03/09  Amazing Spider-Man #588 -  61,334  ( +2.0%)
03/09  Amazing Spider-Man #589 -  58,832  ( -4.1%)
04/09  Amazing Spider-Man #590 -  66,415  (+12.9%)
04/09  Amazing Spider-Man #591 -  60,508  ( -8.9%)
04/09  Amazing Spider-Man #592 -  65,940  ( +9.0%)
05/09  Amazing Spider-Man #593 -  58,363  (-11.5%)
05/09  Amazing Spider-Man #594 -  58,464  ( +0.2%)
05/09  Amazing Spider-Man #595 -  71,837  (+22.9%)
06/09  Amazing Spider-Man #596 -  63,525  (-11.6%)
06/09  Amazing Spider-Man #597 -  61,646  ( -3.0%)
06/09  Amazing Spider-Man #598 -  61,585  ( -0.0%)
07/09  Amazing Spider-Man #599 -  72,412  (+17.6%)
07/09  Amazing Spider-Man #600 - 116,857  (+61.4%)
08/09  Amazing Spider-Man #601 -  74,279  (-36.4%)
08/09  Amazing Spider-Man #602 -  71,532  ( -3.7%)
08/09  Amazing Spider-Man #603 -  71,051  ( -0.7%)
09/09  Amazing Spider-Man #604 -  63,435  (-10.7%)
09/09  Amazing Spider-Man #605 -  62,831  ( -1.0%)
09/09  Amazing Spider-Man #606 -  70,177  (+11.7%)
09/09  Amazing Spider-Man #607 -  62,570  (-10.8%)
10/09  Amazing Spider-Man #608 -  72,035  (+15.1%)
10/09  Amazing Spider-Man #609 -  61,176  (-15.1%)
11/09  Amazing Spider-Man #610 -  61,170  ( -0.0%)
11/09  Amazing Spider-Man #611 -  64,514  ( +5.5%)
11/09  Amazing Spider-Man #612 -  68,459  ( +6.1%)
11/09  Amazing Spider-Man #613 -  64,499  ( -5.8%)
12/09  Amazing Spider-Man #614 -  59,696  ( -7.4%)
12/09  Amazing Spider-Man #615 -  63,738  ( +6.8%)
12/09  Amazing Spider-Man #616 -  58,856  ( -7.7%)
01/10  Amazing Spider-Man #617 -  76,730  (+30.4%)
01/10  Amazing Spider-Man #618 -  61,969  (-19.2%)
01/10  Amazing Spider-Man #619 -  56,837  ( -8.3%)
02/10  Amazing Spider-Man #620 -  59,860  ( +5.3%)
02/10  Amazing Spider-Man #621 -  55,350  ( -7.5%)
02/10  Amazing Spider-Man #622 -  53,929  ( -2.6%)
03/10  Amazing Spider-Man #623 -  66,064  (+22.5%)
03/10  Amazing Spider-Man #624 -  60,213  ( -8.9%)
03/10  Amazing Spider-Man #625 -  54,179  (-10.0%)
03/10  Amazing Spider-Man #626 -  53,868  ( -0.6%)
03/10  Amazing Spider-Man #627 -  54,206  ( +0.6%)
                                  6 mnth  (-13.4%)
                                  1 year  (-11.6%)
                                  2 year  (-33.1%)
                                  3 year  (-60.6%)
                                  4 year  (-39.7%)
                                  5 year  (-29.6%)

Yes, Marvel solicited five issues of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN for March. Issue #623 has two variant covers, hence the bounce; issue #624 has one. The others are just regular old issues, so it seems that AMAZING is now hovering at around the 53-54K mark in the absence of gimmicks.

11. X-MEN: SECOND COMING
03/10  Second Coming #1 of 2 - 66,013

The first chapter of the spring X-Men crossover, which will run between UNCANNY X-MEN, X-MEN LEGACY, NEW MUTANTS and X-FORCE. Sales basically match UNCANNY, the top seller of the bunch.

12. THOR
03/05  ---
03/06  ---
03/07  ---
03/08  ---
=====
03/09  ---
04/09  Thor #601 - 82,742  (-14.5%)
05/09  ---
06/09  Thor #602 - 69,568  (-15.3%)
07/09  ---
08/09  ---
09/09  Thor #603 - 65,265  ( -6.2%)
10/09  ---
11/09  Finale    - 53,566  (-17.9%)
12/09  Thor #604 - 61,608  (+15.0%)
12/09  Thor #605 - 55,242  (-10.3%)
01/10  Thor #606 - 55,353  ( +0.2%)
02/10  Thor #607 - 66,973  (+21.0%)
03/10  Thor #608 - 62,012  ( -7.4%)
                   6 mnth  ( -5.0%)
                   1 year  (  --- )
                   2 year  (  --- )
                   3 year  (  --- )
                   4 year  (  --- )
                   5 year  (  --- )

The second month of a SIEGE tie-in arc. And yes, this really is the first time THOR has shipped in March since 2004.

15. ULTIMATE COMICS AVENGERS
08/09  U.C. Avengers #1 - 99,701
09/09  U.C. Avengers #2 - 68,597  (-31.2%)
10/09  U.C. Avengers #3 - 62,716  ( -8.6%)
11/09  U.C. Avengers #4 - 59,023  ( -5.9%)
12/09  ---
01/10  ---
02/10  ---
03/10  U.C. Avengers #5 - 58,098  ( -1.6%)
                          6 mnth  (-15.3%)

Marvel have retroactively decided to make this a series of minis, so issue #7 is now going to be ULTIMATE COMICS AVENGERS 2 #1. This format doesn’t seem to do wonders for the Stephen King books any more, but we’ll see how it turns out on a superhero title.

On the bright side, sales hold up well for the this issue despite the lengthy delay.

16. CAPTAIN AMERICA
03/05  Captain America #4   -  46,654
03/06  Captain America #16  -  44,717
03/07  Captain America #25  - 290,514
03/08  Captain America #36  -  81,378
=====
03/09  Captain America #48  -  62,108  (  -1.2%)
04/09  Captain America #49  -  63,874  (  +2.8%)
05/09  Captain America #50  -  72,708  ( +13.8%)
06/09  Captain America #600 - 123,152  ( +69.4%)
07/09  Captain America #601 -  87,844  ( -28.7%)
07/09  Reborn #1 of 6       - 197,565  (+124.9%)
08/09  Reborn #2 of 6       - 125,366  ( -36.5%)
09/09  Reborn #3 of 6       - 108,331  ( -13.6%)
10/09  ---
11/09  Reborn #4 of 6       -  96,571  ( -10.9%)
12/09  Reborn #5 of 6       -  91,790  (  -5.0%)
01/10  Reborn #6 of 6       -  84,844  (  -7.6%)
01/10  Captain America #602 -  63,948  ( -24.6%)
02/10  Captain America #603 -  63,568  (  -0.6%)
03/10  Captain America #604 -  56,962  ( -10.4%)
                               6 mnth  ( -47.4%)
                               1 year  (  -8.3%)
                               2 year  ( -30.0%)
                               3 year  ( -80.4%)
                               4 year  ( +27.4%)
                               5 year  ( +22.1%)

Returning to business-as-usual-numbers, but the book is still substantially up from four or five years ago. It’s worth noting that this issue doesn’t have a variant cover, while issue #603 did, so the month-to-month drop is exaggerated.

22. NEMESIS [Icon]
03/10  Nemesis #1 of 4 - 53,732

The new creator-owned series from Mark Millar and Steve McNiven. KICK-ASS #1 sold around 48K in its first month, February 2008, so this is noticeably up.

23,27. MIGHTY AVENGERS
03/07  Mighty Avengers #1  - 156,400
03/08  Mighty Avengers #11 -  82,253
=====
03/09  Mighty Avengers #23 -  71,333  ( -2.1%)
04/09  Mighty Avengers #24 -  68,231  ( -4.3%)
05/09  ---
06/09  Mighty Avengers #25 -  65,010  ( -4.7%)
06/09  Mighty Avengers #26 -  63,178  ( -2.8%)
07/09  Mighty Avengers #27 -  64,680  ( +2.4%)
08/09  Mighty Avengers #28 -  61,323  ( -5.2%)
09/09  Mighty Avengers #29 -  54,476  (-11.2%)
10/09  Mighty Avengers #30 -  52,708  ( -3.2%)
11/09  Mighty Avengers #31 -  49,480  ( -6.1%)
12/09  Mighty Avengers #32 -  48,662  ( -1.7%)
01/10  Mighty Avengers #33 -  46,899  ( -3.6%)
02/10  ---
03/10  Mighty Avengers #34 -  49,855  ( +6.3%)
03/10  Mighty Avengers #35 -  51,085  ( +2.5%)
                              6 mnth  ( -6.2%)
                              1 year  (-28.4%)
                              2 year  (-37.9%)
                              3 year  (-67.3%)

Part two of a SIEGE tie-in, delivering modest but hardly spectacular sales gains. The series ends with the next issue.

24. HULK
03/09  ---
04/09  Hulk #11 - 82,726  ( +7.1%)
05/09  Hulk #12 - 73,105  (-11.6%)
06/09  ---
07/09  ---
08/09  Hulk #13 - 71,369  ( -2.4%)
08/09  Hulk #14 - 77,455  ( +8.5%)
09/09  Hulk #15 - 58,667  (-24.3%)
10/09  Hulk #16 - 56,811  ( -3.2%)
11/09  Hulk #17 - 52,653  ( -7.3%)
12/09  Hulk #18 - 53,222  ( +1.1%)
01/10  Hulk #19 - 56,738  ( +6.6%)
02/10  Hulk #20 - 51,962  ( -8.4%)
03/10  Hulk #21 - 50,785  ( -2.3%)
                  6 mnth  (-13.4%)
                  1 year  (  --- )

Continuing the “Fall of the Hulks” crossover. The benefit seems to be wearing off.

26. X-FORCE
03/08  X-Force #2  - 81,714
=====
03/09  X-Force #13 - 51,797  ( +0.7%)
04/09  X-Force #14 - 62,674  (+21.0%)
05/09  X-Force #15 - 58,340  ( -6.9%)
06/09  X-Force #16 - 58,818  ( +0.8%)
07/09  X-Force #17 - 61,104  ( +3.9%)
08/09  X-Force #18 - 56,421  ( -7.7%)
09/09  X-Force #19 - 49,817  (-11.7%)
10/09  X-Force #20 - 48,921  ( -1.8%)
11/09  X-Force #21 - 53,967  (+10.3%)
12/09  X-Force #22 - 51,859  ( -3.9%)
01/10  X-Force #23 - 50,848  ( -1.9%)
02/10  X-Force #24 - 49,790  ( -2.1%)
03/10  X-Force #25 - 49,910  ( +0.2%)
                     6 mnth  ( +0.2%)
                     1 year  ( -3.6%)
                     2 year  (-38.9%)

This is the final part of the “Necrosha-X” crossover, though it’s more of an X-FORCE storyline with a couple of other books doing their own thing on the periphery. The effect has basically been to keep sales hovering around the 50K mark instead of dropping further. Next month begins the “Second Coming” tie-in, which is bound to boost sales, after which the series is being rebooted in the autumn as NEW X-FORCE.

29. DARK WOLVERINE
03/05  Wolverine #26      - 105,984
03/06  Wolverine #40      -  75,557
03/07  Wolverine #52      -  95,276
03/08  Wolverine #63      -  64,475
=====
03/09  Wolverine #71      -  91,229  ( -7.8%)
04/09  ---
05/09  Wolverine #72      -  91,333  ( +0.1%)
05/09  Wolverine #73      -  83,324  ( -8.8%)
06/09  Wolverine #74      -  66,186  (-20.6%)
06/09  Dark Wolverine #75 -  80,780  (+22.0%)
07/09  Dark Wolverine #76 -  74,017  ( -8.4%)
08/09  Dark Wolverine #77 -  68,593  ( -7.3%)
09/09  Dark Wolverine #78 -  60,702  (-11.5%)
10/09  Dark Wolverine #79 -  60,076  ( -1.0%)
11/09  Dark Wolverine #80 -  52,394  (-12.8%)
12/09  Dark Wolverine #81 -  48,102  ( -8.2%)
01/10  Dark Wolverine #82 -  54,838  (+14.0%)
02/10  Dark Wolverine #83 -  53,958  ( -1.6%)
03/10  Dark Wolverine #84 -  49,469  ( -8.3%)
                             6 mnth  (-18.5%)
                             1 year  (-45.8%)
                             2 year  (-23.3%)
                             3 year  (-48.1%)
                             4 year  (-34.5%)
                             5 year  (-53.3%)

Once again, this issue continues a SIEGE crossover arc, and the benefit seems to have worn off already. After the crossover, the book is being relaunched as DAKEN: DARK WOLVERINE, while the (unjustly) floundering WOLVERINE: WEAPON X title is being relaunched as just plain WOLVERINE. For the moment, this title is behaving similarly to INCREDIBLE HERCULES in the same circumstances – it’s inherited a more popular character’s audience, and it’s losing it steadily over time.

33. INVINCIBLE IRON MAN
03/05  ---
03/06  Iron Man #6             - 40,264
03/07  ---
03/08  Iron Man #27            - 36,011
=====
03/09  Invincible Iron Man #11 - 52,165  ( -7.5%)
04/09  Invincible Iron Man #12 - 51,774  ( -0.7%)
05/09  Invincible Iron Man #13 - 51,311  ( -0.9%)
06/09  Invincible Iron Man #14 - 53,229  ( +3.7%)
07/09  Invincible Iron Man #15 - 50,554  ( -5.0%)
08/09  Invincible Iron Man #16 - 53,782  ( +6.4%)
09/09  Invincible Iron Man #17 - 47,182  (-12.3%)
09/09  Invincible Iron Man #18 - 48,039  ( +1.8%)
10/09  Invincible Iron Man #19 - 47,178  ( -1.8%)
11/09  Invincible Iron Man #20 - 61,667  (+30.7%)
12/09  Invincible Iron Man #21 - 49,986  (-18.9%)
01/10  Invincible Iron Man #22 - 49,130  ( -1.7%)
02/10  Invincible Iron Man #23 - 50,027  ( +1.8%)
03/10  Invincible Iron Man #24 - 49,239  ( -1.6%)
                                 6 mnth  ( +2.5%)
                                 1 year  ( -5.6%)
                                 2 year  (+36.7%)
                                 3 year  (  --- )
                                 4 year  (+22.3%)
                                 5 year  (  --- )

Incredibly steady sales. Last month’s slight blip is presumably attributable to its Deadpool variant, which means that Iron Man is clinging rigidly to the 49K mark.

31. X-MEN LEGACY
03/05  X-Men #168        - 83,979
03/06  X-Men #184        - 78,000
03/07  X-Men #197        - 75,184
03/08  X-Men Legacy #209 - 82,243
=====
03/09  X-Men Legacy #222 - 55,606  ( -1.6%)
04/09  X-Men Legacy #223 - 71,935  (+29.4%)
05/09  X-Men Legacy #224 - 54,008  (-24.9%)
06/09  X-Men Legacy #225 - 58,374  ( +8.1%)
07/09  X-Men Legacy #226 - 59,298  ( +1.6%)
08/09  X-Men Legacy #227 - 63,316  ( +6.8%)
09/09  ---
10/09  X-Men Legacy #228 - 52,855  (-16.5%)
11/09  X-Men Legacy #229 - 50,789  ( -3.9%)
12/09  X-Men Legacy #230 - 49,776  ( -2.0%)
12/09  X-Men Legacy #231 - 50,929  ( +2.3%)
01/10  X-Men Legacy #232 - 49,200  ( -3.4%)
02/10  X-Men Legacy #233 - 51,344  ( +4.4%)
03/10  X-Men Legacy #234 - 48,217  ( -6.1%)
                           6 mnth  (  --- )
                           1 year  (-13.3%)
                           2 year  (-41.4%)
                           3 year  (-35.9%)
                           4 year  (-38.2%)
                           5 year  (-42.6%)

This is a transition issue between the “Necrosha-X” and “Second Coming” crossovers, so the drop is not unexpected.

32. INCREDIBLE HULK
03/05  Incredible Hulk #79  - 43,508
03/06  Incredible Hulk #93  - 43,691
03/07  Incredible Hulk #104 - 47,823
03/08  ---
03/09  ---
=====
07/09  Incredible Hulk #600 - 92,343
08/09  Incredible Hulk #601 - 64,120  (-30.6%)
09/09  Incredible Hulk #602 - 51,582  (-19.6%)
10/09  Incredible Hulk #603 - 49,126  ( -4.8%)
11/09  Incredible Hulk #604 - 40,652  (-17.2%)
12/09  Incredible Hulk #605 - 43,964  ( +8.1%)
01/10  Incredible Hulk #606 - 48,197  ( +9.6%)
02/10  Incredible Hulk #607 - 45,870  ( -4.8%)
03/10  Incredible Hulk #608 - 47,148  ( +2.8%)
                              6 mnth  ( -8.6%)
                              1 year  (  --- )
                              2 year  (  --- )
                              3 year  ( -1.4%)
                              4 year  ( +7.9%)
                              5 year  ( +8.4%)

Continuing the “Fall of the Hulks” crossover, and this book does seem to be getting some lasting benefit from the event. The increase from last month is presumably due to the Frank Cho variant cover.

35. SIEGE: EMBEDDED
01/10  Siege: Embedded #1 of 4 - 55,482
02/10  Siege: Embedded #2 of 4 - 46,003  (-17.1%)
03/10  Siege: Embedded #3 of 4 - 43,455  ( -5.5%)

Standard miniseries behaviour.

37. DEADPOOL
03/09  Deadpool #8  - 53,109  (+20.5%)
04/09  Deadpool #9  - 54,556  ( +2.7%)
05/09  Deadpool #10 - 56,123  ( +2.9%)
06/09  Deadpool #11 - 55,343  ( -1.4%)
07/09  Deadpool #12 - 58,807  ( +6.3%)
08/09  Deadpool #13 - 55,442  ( -5.7%)
08/09  Deadpool #14 - 50,263  ( -9.3%)
09/09  Deadpool #15 - 50,479  ( +0.4%)
10/09  Deadpool #16 - 46,288  ( -8.3%)
11/09  Deadpool #17 - 46,765  ( +1.0%)
12/09  Deadpool #18 - 45,914  ( -1.8%)
01/10  ---
02/10  Deadpool #19 - 44,580  ( -2.9%)
02/10  Deadpool #20 - 43,347  ( -2.8%)
03/10  Deadpool #21 - 42,062  ( -3.0%)
                      6 mnth  (-16.7%)
                      1 year  (-20.8%)

Drifting slowly down, but still with very healthy sales.

38. ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN
03/05  Ult. Spider-Man #73  - 84,943
03/06  Ult. Spider-Man #92  - 72,269
03/07  Ult. Spider-Man #106 - 73,832
03/08  Ult. Spider-Man #120 - 57,728
=====
03/09  ---
04/09  ---
05/09  Ult. Spider-Man #132 - 50,144  (  +1.2%)
06/09  Ult. Spider-Man #133 - 57,364  ( +14.4%)06/09  USM: Requiem #1 of 2 - 44,988  ( -21.6%)
07/09  USM: Requiem #2 of 2 - 41,374  (  -8.0%)
08/09  U.C. Spider-Man #1   - 86,008  (+107.9%)
09/09  U.C. Spider-Man #2   - 57,477  ( -33.2%)
10/09  U.C. Spider-Man #3   - 52,813  (  -8.1%)
11/09  U.C. Spider-Man #4   - 49,106  (  -7.0%)
12/09  U.C. Spider-Man #5   - 45,849  (  -6.6%)
01/10  U.C. Spider-Man #6   - 43,622  (  -4.9%)
02/10  U.C. Spider-Man #7   - 42,176  (  -3.3%)
03/10  U.C. Spider-Man #8   - 40,967  (  -2.9%)
                              6 mnth  ( -28.7%)
                              1 year  (   --- )
                              2 year  ( -29.0%)
                              3 year  ( -44.5%)
                              4 year  ( -43.3%)
                              5 year  ( -51.2%)

Another recent relaunch from the Ultimate imprint which isn’t looking altogether healthy.

40. AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE
03/08  Initiative #10 - 54,422
=====
03/09  ---
04/09  Initiative #23 - 45,146  ( -3.8%)
05/09  Initiative #24 - 42,510  ( -5.8%)
06/09  Initiative #25 - 40,101  ( -5.7%)
07/09  Initiative #26 - 38,215  ( -4.7%)
08/09  Initiative #27 - 39,014  ( +2.1%)
09/09  Initiative #28 - 33,855  (-13.2%)
10/09  Initiative #29 - 31,412  ( -7.2%)
11/09  Initiative #30 - 28,688  ( -8.7%)
12/09  Initiative #31 - 32,291  (+12.6%)
01/10  Initiative #32 - 36,127  (+11.9%)
02/10  Initiative #33 - 39,968  (+10.6%)
03/10  Initiative #34 - 38,616  ( -3.4%)
                        6 mnth  (+14.1%)
                        1 year  (  --- )
                        2 year  (-29.0%)

Continuing a SIEGE crossover arc. The series ends with issue #35, to be relaunched as AVENGERS ACADEMY.

41. FALL OF THE HULKS: RED HULK
01/10  Red Hulk #1 of 4 - 42,482
02/10  Red Hulk #2 of 4 - 39,259  (-7.6%)
03/10  Red Hulk #3 of 4 - 38,535  (-1.8%)

About 10-12K behind the parent titles, which isn’t too bad.

46,54. WOLVERINE: ORIGINS
03/07  Origins #12 - 74,750
03/08  Origins #23 - 49,633
=====
03/09  Origins #34 - 45,579  ( +1.4%)
04/09  Origins #35 - 44,976  ( -1.3%)
05/09  Origins #36 - 45,451  ( +1.1%)
06/09  Origins #37 - 44,930  ( -1.1%)
07/09  Origins #38 - 47,211  ( +5.1%)
08/09  Origins #39 - 44,968  ( -4.8%)
09/09  Origins #40 - 42,724  ( -5.0%)
10/09  Origins #41 - 39,453  ( -7.7%)
11/09  Origins #42 - 37,903  ( -3.9%)
12/09  Origins #43 - 36,528  ( -3.6%)
01/10  Origins #44 - 35,154  ( -3.8%)
02/10  ---
03/10  Origins #45 - 37,055  ( +5.4%)
03/10  Origins #46 - 34,004  ( -8.2%)
                     6 mnth  (-20.4%)
                     1 year  (-25.4%)
                     2 year  (-31.5%)
                     3 year  (-54.5%)

Cancelled with issue #50, when it reaches the end of its multi-year storyline. The numbers are drifting down, but they’ll still be perfectly acceptable by the end of the run.

47,62,63,66,72. PRELUDE TO DEADPOOL CORPS
03/10  Prelude #1 of 5 - 37,011
03/10  Prelude #2 of 5 - 32,024  (-13.5%)
03/10  Prelude #3 of 5 - 31,065  ( -3.0%)
03/10  Prelude #4 of 5 - 30,254  ( -2.6%)
03/10  Prelude #5 of 5 - 29,037  ( -4.0%)

A five issue weekly miniseries, leading into next month’s new team book starring, um, five Deadpools. It’s effectively replacing DEADPOOL: MERC WITH A MOUTH on the schedules, although in typical fashion Marvel are allowing them to overlap for a couple of months. Issue #1 has the benefit of a variant cover. Since D:MWAM sells in the 30K range, Marvel will presumably be expecting a jump upwards for next month’s launch.

49. NEW MUTANTS
05/09  New Mutants #1  - 60,972
06/09  New Mutants #2  - 43,230  (-29.1%)
07/09  New Mutants #3  - 42,961  ( -0.6%)
08/09  New Mutants #4  - 38,558  (-10.2%)
09/09  New Mutants #5  - 31,502  (-18.3%)
10/09  New Mutants #6  - 34,967  (+11.0%)
11/09  New Mutants #7  - 33,328  ( -4.7%)
12/09  New Mutants #8  - 32,240  ( -3.3%)
01/10  New Mutants #9  - 30,572  ( -5.2%)
02/10  New Mutants #10 - 30,807  ( +0.8%)
03/10  New Mutants #11 - 36,629  (+18.9%)
                         6 mnth  (+16.3%)

This is a one-off SIEGE tie-in issue, hence the bounce. Next month begins a “Second Coming” tie-in arc, so it might well rise further.

51. FANTASTIC FOUR
03/05  Fantastic Four #524 - 46,660
03/06  Fantastic Four #536 - 57,945
03/07  Fantastic Four #544 - 73,880
03/08  Fantastic Four #555 - 67,416
=====
03/09  Fantastic Four #565 - 48,378  ( -2.3%)
04/09  ---
05/09  Fantastic Four #566 - 46,653  ( -3.6%)
06/09  Fantastic Four #567 - 46,225  ( -0.9%)
07/09  Fantastic Four #568 - 45,828  ( -0.9%)
07/09  Fantastic Four #569 - 44,710  ( -2.4%)
08/09  Fantastic Four #570 - 62,401  (+39.6%)
09/09  Fantastic Four #571 - 47,468  (-23.4%)
10/09  Fantastic Four #572 - 41,939  (-11.6%)
11/09  Fantastic Four #573 - 39,433  ( -6.0%)
12/09  Fantastic Four #574 - 38,431  ( -2.5%)
01/10  Fantastic Four #575 - 41,284  ( +7.4%)
02/10  Fantastic Four #576 - 37,526  ( -9.1%)
03/10  Fantastic Four #577 - 35,791  ( -4.6%)
                             6 mnth  (-24.6%)
                             1 year  (-26.0%)
                             2 year  (-46.9%)
                             3 year  (-51.6%)
                             4 year  (-38.2%)
                             5 year  (-23.3%)

Still drifting downwards under the new creative team. These aren’t very good numbers by the standards of recent years. But then the book doesn’t have big name creators working on it any more, so up to a point, that’s to be expected.

52. THUNDERBOLTS
03/05  New Thunderbolts #6 - 29,103
03/06  Thunderbolts #100   - 26,798
03/07  Thunderbolts #112   - 61,395
03/08  Thunderbolts #119   - 40,173
=====
03/09  Thunderbolts #130   - 52,264  (+15.1%)
04/09  Thunderbolts #131   - 49,155  ( -5.9%)
05/09  Thunderbolts #132   - 43,911  (-10.7%)
06/09  Thunderbolts #133   - 39,479  (-10.1%)
07/09  Thunderbolts #134   - 40,885  ( +3.6%)
08/09  ---
09/09  Thunderbolts #135   - 39,961  ( -2.3%)
09/09  Thunderbolts #136   - 34,031  (-14.8%)
10/09  Thunderbolts #137   - 32,409  ( -4.8%)
11/09  Thunderbolts #138   - 31,238  ( -3.6%)
12/09  Thunderbolts #139   - 29,957  ( -4.1%)
01/10  Thunderbolts #140   - 28,644  ( -4.4%)
02/10  Thunderbolts #141   - 33,948  (+18.5%)
03/10  Thunderbolts #142   - 34,132  ( +0.5%)
                             6 mnth  ( +0.3%)
                             1 year  (-34.7%)
                             2 year  (-15.0%)
                             3 year  (-44.4%)
                             4 year  (+27.4%)
                             5 year  (+17.3%)

Continuing the SIEGE tie-in arc, which is delivering modest gains, but still only takes the title back to where it was six months ago. The book gets a new direction with issue #144.

56. DARK X-MEN
11/09  Dark X-Men #1 of 5 - 50,167
12/09  Dark X-Men #2 of 5 - 42,207  (-15.9%)
01/10  Dark X-Men #3 of 5 - 37,873  (-10.3%)
02/10  Dark X-Men #4 of 5 - 35,007  ( -7.6%)
03/10  Dark X-Men #5 of 5 - 33,742  ( -3.6%)

Not bad at all, considering the general burnout that seems to afflict many Dark Reign and X-Men side projects.

57. DEADPOOL: MERC WITH A MOUTH
07/09  Merc With A Mouth #1 - 59,628
08/09  Merc With A Mouth #2 - 51,147  (-14.2%)
09/09  Merc With A Mouth #3 - 43,855  (-14.3%)
10/09  Merc With A Mouth #4 - 40,154  ( -8.4%)
11/09  Merc With A Mouth #5 - 37,781  ( -5.9%)
12/09  Merc With A Mouth #6 - 37,051  ( -1.9%)
01/10  Merc With A Mouth #7 - 40,568  ( +9.5%)
02/10  Merc With A Mouth #8 - 34,281  (-15.5%)
03/10  Merc With A Mouth #9 - 33,405  ( -2.6%)
                              6 mnth  (-23.8%)

Cancelled with issue #13, effectively to be replaced by DEADPOOL CORPS. Sales remain on a downhill trend.

59. FALL OF THE HULKS: THE SAVAGE SHE-HULKS
03/10  Savage She-Hulks #1 of 3 - 33,290

Another peripheral “Fall of the Hulks” miniseries, coming in quite some way behind the RED HULK mini. This also has the benefit of a Women of Marvel variant cover.

65. DOOMWAR
03/05  Black Panther #2  - 47,533
03/06  Black Panther #14 - 28,809
03/07  Black Panther #26 - 48,717
03/08  Black Panther #35 - 21,332
=====
03/09  Black Panther #2  - 33,755  ( -36.3%)
04/09  Black Panther #3  - 33,356  (  -1.2%)
05/09  Black Panther #4  - 30,984  (  -7.1%)
06/09  Black Panther #5  - 29,762  (  -3.9%)
07/09  Black Panther #6  - 29,727  (  -0.1%)
08/09  Black Panther #7  - 27,619  (  -7.1%)
09/09  Black Panther #8  - 23,020  ( -16.7%)
10/09  Black Panther #9  - 20,346  ( -11.6%)
11/09  Black Panther #10 - 19,147  (  -5.9%)
12/09  Black Panther #11 - 17,989  (  -6.0%)
01/10  Black Panther #12 - 17,881  (  -1.0%)
02/10  Doomwar #1 of 6   - 43,241  (+141.8%)
03/10  Doomwar #2 of 6   - 30,555  ( -29.3%)
                           6 mnth  ( +32.7%)
                           1 year  (  -9.5%)
                           2 year  ( +43.2%)
                           3 year  ( -37.3%)
                           4 year  (  +6.1%)
                           5 year  ( -35.7%)

The DOOMWAR miniseries is unquestionably delivering significantly better sales than the regular BLACK PANTHER book – though again, we’re still only at the level that the regular title was achieving shortly after its launch a year ago.

67. CABLE
02/09  Cable #11 - 31,817  ( -4.5%)
03/09  Cable #12 - 32,407  ( +1.9%)
04/09  Cable #13 - 47,638  (+47.0%)
05/09  Cable #14 - 52,245  ( +9.7%)
06/09  Cable #15 - 49,912  ( -4.5%)
07/09  Cable #16 - 39,646  (-20.6%)
08/09  Cable #17 - 39,424  ( -0.6%)
09/09  Cable #18 - 33,958  (-13.9%)
10/09  Cable #19 - 31,009  ( -8.7%)
11/09  Cable #20 - 29,245  ( -5.7%)
12/09  Cable #21 - 29,094  ( -0.5%)
01/10  Cable #22 - 28,414  ( -2.3%)
02/10  Cable #23 - 28,890  ( +1.7%)
03/10  Cable #24 - 30,132  ( +4.3%)
                   6 mnth  (-11.3%)
                   1 year  ( -5.3%)

Billed as a “Second Coming” prelude, which probably accounts for the rise. This is effectively the last issue of the series; issue #25, billed as DEADPOOL & CABLE #25, is a flashback story that officially ends the series.

69. WOLVERINE: WEAPON X
04/09  Weapon X #1  - 97,896
05/09  Weapon X #2  - 59,192  (-39.5%)
06/09  Weapon X #3  - 51,076  (-13.7%)
07/09  ---
08/09  Weapon X #4  - 49,284  ( -3.5%)
09/09  Weapon X #5  - 40,975  (-16.9%)
10/09  Weapon X #6  - 38,446  ( -6.2%)
11/09  Weapon X #7  - 36,108  ( -6.1%)
12/09  Weapon X #8  - 33,470  ( -7.3%)
01/10  Weapon X #9  - 31,678  ( -5.4%)
02/10  Weapon X #10 - 30,132  ( -4.9%)
03/10  Weapon X #11 - 29,799  ( -1.1%)
                      6 mnth  (-27.3%)

Still sliding, though at least it seems to be levelling out. The book is being relaunched in the autumn as just plain WOLVERINE, as Marvel seem to have recognised that something’s gone badly wrong here.

71. NATION X
12/09  Nation X #1 of 4 - 41,796
01/10  Nation X #2 of 4 - 33,596  (-19.6%)
02/10  Nation X #3 of 4 - 30,670  ( -8.7%)
03/10  Nation X #4 of 4 - 29,224  ( -4.7%)

Roughly similar numbers to the previous X-anthology, MANIFEST DESTINY, from late 2008.

73. X-FACTOR
03/06  X-Factor #5   - 46,490
03/07  X-Factor #17  - 38,067
03/08  X-Factor #29  - 54,832
=====
03/09  X-Factor #41  - 31,888  ( -0.2%)
04/09  X-Factor #42  - 32,000  ( +0.4%)
05/09  X-Factor #43  - 31,543  ( -1.4%)
06/09  X-Factor #44  - 31,552  ( +0.0%)
06/09  X-Factor #45  - 31,109  ( -1.4%)
07/09  X-Factor #46  - 31,213  ( +0.3%)
08/09  X-Factor #47  - 33,052  ( +5.9%)
09/09  X-Factor #48  - 30,305  ( -8.3%)
09/09  X-Factor #49  - 29,934  ( -1.2%)
10/09  X-Factor #50  - 30,138  ( +0.7%)
11/09  ---
12/09  X-Factor #200 - 36,577  (+21.4%)
01/10  X-Factor #201 - 29,732  (-18.7%)
02/10  X-Factor #202 - 30,981  ( +4.2%)
03/10  X-Factor #203 - 28,924  ( -6.6%)
                       6 mnth  ( -4.6%)
                       1 year  ( -9.3%)
                       2 year  (-47.2%)
                       3 year  (-24.0%)
                       4 year  (-37.8%)

Back to normal sales after a renumbering stunt and a variant cover. Next issue begins a “Second Coming” tie-in arc, which is bound to boost sales.

74. SECRET WARRIORS
03/09  Secret Warriors #2  - 48,086  (-23.4%)
04/09  Secret Warriors #3  - 50,126  ( +4.2%)
05/09  Secret Warriors #4  - 42,781  (-14.7%)
06/09  Secret Warriors #5  - 40,849  ( -4.5%)
07/09  Secret Warriors #6  - 41,749  ( +2.2%)
08/09  Secret Warriors #7  - 38,990  ( -6.6%)
09/09  Secret Warriors #8  - 33,893  (-13.1%)
10/09  Secret Warriors #9  - 36,385  ( +7.4%)
11/09  Secret Warriors #10 - 31,567  (-13.2%)
12/09  Secret Warriors #11 - 30,748  ( -2.6%)
01/10  Secret Warriors #12 - 29,894  ( -2.8%)
02/10  Secret Warriors #13 - 30,843  ( +3.2%)
03/10  Secret Warriors #14 - 28,580  ( -7.3%)
                             6 mnth  (-15.7%)
                             1 year  (-40.6%)

No variant cover this month, so the month-to-month drop is misleading. Overall, while sales are still dropping, the decline is now fairly slow. SECRET WARRIORS is a finite series which is apparently schedueld to finish its story somewhere around issue #28 – from the look of it, it should be more than comfortable for that sort of run.

75. DEADPOOL TEAM-UP
10/09  Deadpool #900         - 51,337
11/09  Deadpool Team-Up #899 - 39,584  (-22.9%)
12/09  Deadpool Team-Up #898 - 36,308  ( -8.3%)
01/10  Deadpool Team-Up #897 - 32,671  (-10.0%)
02/10  Deadpool Team-Up #896 - 30,119  ( -7.8%)
03/10  Deadpool Team-Up #895 - 28,573  ( -5.1%)

Drops of 5% a month on issue #6 are usually a bad sign.

78. MARVELS PROJECT
08/09  Marvels Project #1 of 8 - 89,062
09/09  Marvels Project #2 of 8 - 47,744  (-46.4%)
10/09  Marvels Project #3 of 8 - 39,313  (-17.7%)
11/09  ---
12/09  Marvels Project #4 of 8 - 34,775  (-11.5%)
01/10  Marvels Project #5 of 8 - 31,644  ( -9.0%)
02/10  Marvels Project #6 of 8 - 30,108  ( -4.9%)
03/10  Marvels Project #7 of 8 - 28,129  ( -6.6%)

Still shedding readers, but then the Golden Age has always been a niche subject.

79. X-MEN: HOPE
03/10  Hope - 27,818

This is a reprint of the back-up strips from PSYLOCKE #1, DARK X-MEN #1, X-MEN LEGACY #230 and X-FORCE #22, which were basically intended to introduce the character of Hope Summers to people who weren’t reading CABLE. Nothing of any great significance transpires therein.

However, the original solicitation didn’t mention that this was a reprint book – in fact, it billed the content as “four thrilling, untold tales.” While readers who already owned the stories would probably have recognised them from the plot description, others may well have been given the impression that this was original material.

Marvel subsequently altered the solicitation to make clear that it was a reprint book, and one would like to think that the original omission was an oversight. Still, 28K for a reprint of some unimportant back-up strips is awfully high, and you have to wonder whether confusion played a part in that. After all, this book outsold PSYLOCKE #1.

80,128. WOMEN OF MARVEL ONE-SHOTS
03/10  X-23     - 27,328
03/10  She-Hulk - 15,583

The first in a torrent of one-shots starring female characters, as part of Women of Marvel Year. The SHE-HULK book is actually a celebration of the character’s 30th anniversary. It contains two original stories and what seems to be a randomly chosen John Byrne reprint. (As in, it’s not a complete story.)

84. SPIDER-WOMAN
09/09  Spider-Woman #1 - 50,344
10/09  Spider-Woman #2 - 37,255  (-26.0%)
11/09  Spider-Woman #3 - 32,437  (-12.9%)
12/09  Spider-Woman #4 - 29,755  ( -8.3%)
01/10  Spider-Woman #5 - 27,716  ( -6.9%)
02/10  Spider-Woman #6 - 26,134  ( -5.7%)
03/10  Spider-Woman #7 - 25,437  ( -2.7%)
                         6 mnth  (-49.5%)

Cancelled.

86. HULK: LET BATTLE BEGIN
03/10  Let Battle Begin - 25,237

As near as I can see, this is just a random Hulk one-shot priced at $4. I say “as near as I can see” because MARVEL PREVIEWS had this listed under “Fall of the Hulks”, so one might assume it was somehow connected. But it doesn’t seem to be.

90. INCREDIBLE HERCULES
03/08  Hercules #115          - 49,336
=====
03/09  Hercules #127          - 31,890  ( +2.9%)
04/09  Hercules #128          - 33,739  ( +5.8%)
05/09  Hercules #129          - 28,995  (-14.1%)
06/09  Hercules #130          - 27,872  ( -3.9%)
07/09  Hercules #131          - 29,188  ( +4.7%)
08/09  Hercules #132          - 32,680  (+12.0%)
08/09  Hercules #133          - 27,491  (-15.9%)
09/09  Hercules #134          - 25,380  ( -7.7%)
09/09  Hercules #135          - 26,344  ( +3.8%)
10/09  Hercules #136          - 26,447  ( -0.4%)
10/09  Hercules #137          - 23,463  (-11.3%)
11/09  Hercules #138          - 25,116  ( +7.0%)
12/09  Hercules #139          - 23,591  ( -6.1%)
01/10  Hercules #140          - 23,244  ( -1.5%)
02/10  Hercules #141          - 24,539  ( +5.6%)
03/10  Fall o/Avenger #1 of 2 - 23,036  ( -6.1%)
                                6 mnth  (-12.6%)
                                1 year  (-27.8%)
                                2 year  (-53.3%)

It seems a reasonable assumption that this is a transitional series along the way to a HERCULES relaunch in a few months time. That’s certainly how it’s been ordered – numbers remain virtually unchanged.

91. PUNISHERMAX  [Max]
03/05  Punisher #18     - 38,348
03/06  Punisher #31     - 34,505
03/07  Punisher #45     - 33,245
03/08  Punisher #55     - 31,276

=====
03/09  Frank Castle #68 - 22,255  ( -0.0%)
04/09  Frank Castle #69 - 21,843  ( -1.9%)
05/09  Frank Castle #70 - 21,864  ( +0.1%)
06/09  Frank Castle #71 - 21,319  ( -2.5%)
07/09  Frank Castle #72 - 21,049  ( -1.3%)
08/09  Frank Castle #73 - 20,375  ( -3.2%)
09/09  Frank Castle #74 - 20,259  ( -0.6%)
10/09  Frank Castle #75 - 22,210  ( +9.6%)
11/09  PunisherMax #1   - 29,119  (+31.1%)
12/09  PunisherMax #2   - 23,110  (-20.4%)
01/10  PunisherMax #3   - 22,887  ( -1.0%)
02/10  PunisherMax #4   - 22,472  ( -1.8%)
03/10  PunisherMax #5   - 22,435  ( -0.2%)
                          6 mnth  (+10.7%)
                          1 year  ( +0.8%)
                          2 year  (-28.3%)
                          3 year  (-32.5%)
                          4 year  (-35.0%)
                          5 year  (-41.5%)

Levelling out very quickly. Sales are slightly up from the previous run, but I suspect that’s more to do with the creative team than the renumbering.

92. THE STAND
03/09  Nightmares #1 of 5     - 47,473  ( +1.7%)
04/09  Nightmares #2 of 5     - 38,909  (-18.0%)
05/09  Nightmares #3 of 5     - 36,364  ( -6.5%)
06/09  ---
07/09  Nightmares #4 of 5     - 34,292  ( -5.7%)
08/09  Nightmares #5 of 5     - 31,506  ( -8.1%)
09/09  ---
10/09  Soul Survivors #1 of 5 - 27,725  (-12.0%)
11/09  Soul Survivors #2 of 5 - 25,600  ( -7.7%)
12/09  Soul Survivors #3 of 5 - 24,308  ( -5.0%)
01/10  ---
02/10  Soul Survivors #4 of 5 - 22,804  ( -6.2%)
03/10  Soul Survivors #5 of 5 - 22,294  ( -2.2%)
                                6 mnth  (  --- )
                                1 year  (-53.0%)

Continuing to shed readers, but you’d figure that the direct market isn’t the only target for Stephen King adaptations, and that the collected editions ought to be more important.

93. PUNISHER
03/07  War Journal #5  - 50,190
03/08  War Journal #17 - 31,227
=====
03/09  Punisher #3     - 37,570  ( -8.2%)
04/09  Punisher #4     - 36,995  ( -1.5%)
05/09  Punisher #5     - 35,621  ( -3.7%)
06/09  Punisher #6     - 32,982  ( -7.4%)
07/09  Punisher #7     - 31,227  ( -5.3%)
08/09  Punisher #8     - 33,057  ( +5.9%)
09/09  Punisher #9     - 28,424  (-14.1%)
10/09  Punisher #10    - 27,167  ( -4.4%)
11/09  Punisher #11    - 24,900  ( -8.3%)
12/09  Punisher #12    - 24,985  ( +0.3%)
01/10  Punisher #13    - 23,734  ( -5.0%)
02/10  Punisher #14    - 23,455  ( -1.8%)
03/10  Punisher #15    - 22,285  ( -5.0%)
                         6 mnth  (-21.6%)
                         1 year  (-40.7%)
                         2 year  (-28.6%)
                         3 year  (-55.6%)

The, um, radical new direction for the character so far doesn’t seem to have much impact on sales one way or the other.

95. OFFICIAL HANDBOOK
03/05  Age of Apocalypse     - 37,056
03/06  A to Z #3 of 12       - 21,681
03/07  ---
03/08  Atlas #2 of 2         - 10,893
03/09  ---
=====
02/10  A to Z Update #1 of 5 -  5,406
03/10  Deadpool Corps        - 21,900  (+305.1%)
                               6 mnth  (   --- )
                               1 year  (   --- )
                               2 year  (+101.0%)
                               3 year  (   --- )
                               4 year  (  +1.0%)
                               5 year  ( -40.9%)

Well, that’s interesting. The sales on last month’s A TO Z issue were unexpectedly low, but this month’s themed book sees the HANDBOOK catapult back up the chats. There’s always been a degree of variation with the HANDBOOK depending on the subject matter, but not quite to this extent.

96. GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY
03/09  Guardians o/Galaxy #11 - 27,415  ( -0.8%)
03/09  Guardians o/Galaxy #12 - 26,764  ( -2.4%)
04/09  Guardians o/Galaxy #13 - 27,107  ( +1.3%)
05/09  Guardians o/Galaxy #14 - 27,130  ( +0.1%)
06/09  Guardians o/Galaxy #15 - 26,808  ( -1.2%)
07/09  Guardians o/Galaxy #16 - 26,605  ( -0.8%)
08/09  Guardians o/Galaxy #17 - 27,893  ( +4.8%)
09/09  Guardians o/Galaxy #18 - 24,896  (-10.7%)
10/09  Guardians o/Galaxy #19 - 23,597  ( -5.2%)
11/09  Guardians o/Galaxy #20 - 22,965  ( -2.7%)
12/09  Guardians o/Galaxy #21 - 22,271  ( -3.0%)
01/10  Guardians o/Galaxy #22 - 21,623  ( -3.0%)
02/10  Guardians o/Galaxy #23 - 22,807  ( +5.5%)
03/10  Guardians o/Galaxy #24 - 21,643  ( -5.1%)
                                6 mnth  (-13.1%)
                                1 year  (-21.1%)

97. WEB OF SPIDER-MAN
10/09  Web of Spider-Man #1 - 58,412
11/09  Web of Spider-Man #2 - 32,093  (-45.1%)
12/09  Web of Spider-Man #3 - 29,368  ( -8.5%)
01/10  Web of Spider-Man #4 - 24,424  (-16.8%)
02/10  Web of Spider-Man #5 - 24,296  ( -0.5%)
03/10  Web of Spider-Man #6 - 21,574  (-11.2%)

98. NOVA
03/08  Nova #11 - 28,162
=====
03/09  Nova #23 - 26,413  ( +5.4%)
04/09  Nova #24 - 26,240  ( -0.7%)
05/09  Nova #25 - 26,172  ( -0.3%)
06/09  Nova #26 - 28,107  ( +7.4%)
07/09  Nova #27 - 25,677  ( -8.6%)
08/09  Nova #28 - 27,038  ( +5.3%)
09/09  Nova #29 - 23,924  (-11.5%)
10/09  Nova #30 - 22,845  ( -4.5%)
11/09  Nova #31 - 22,928  ( +0.4%)
12/09  Nova #32 - 22,202  ( -3.2%)
01/10  Nova #33 - 21,841  ( -1.6%)
02/10  Nova #34 - 23,014  ( +5.4%)
03/10  Nova #35 - 21,407  ( -7.0%)
                  6 mnth  (-10.5%)
                  1 year  (-19.0%)
                  2 year  (-24.0%)

Two cosmic titles, both ending in April. Sandwiched between them, we have WEB OF SPIDER-MAN, which still shows no sign of levelling out. Is the market really going to support spin-off Spider-Man titles?

100. STEPHEN KING'S N. THE COMIC SERIES
03/10  N #1 of 4 - 21,092

This is the printed version of an online comic which came out in late 2008. In that context, the sales are pretty good.

106. X-MEN ORIGINS
03/09  ---
04/09  Wolverine    - 34,359  (+49.4%)
05/09  ---
06/09  Gambit       - 28,023  (-18.4%)
07/09  ---
08/09  ---
09/09  ---
10/09  ---
11/09  Iceman       - 19,004  (-32.2%)
12/09  --
01/10  Cyclops      - 19,049  ( +0.2%)
02/10  ---
03/10  Nightcrawler - 19,818  ( +4.0%)

A slight increase this month, but that probably reflects the popularity of character. MARVEL PREVIEWS also billed this issue as a “Second Coming” prelude – but at time of writing, the relevance escapes me.

110. VENGEANCE OF THE MOON KNIGHT
03/07  Moon Knight #8  - 77,390
03/08  Moon Knight #16 - 29,546
=====
03/09  Moon Knight #28 - 20,866  ( -2.6%)
04/09  Moon Knight #29 - 22,689  ( +8.7%)
05/09  Moon Knight #30 - 19,693  (-13.2%)
06/09  ---
07/09  ---
08/09  ---
09/09  Moon Knight #1  - 35,706  (+81.3%)
10/09  Moon Knight #2  - 26,493  (-25.8%)
11/09  Moon Knight #3  - 23,359  (-11.8%)
12/09  Moon Knight #4  - 21,482  ( -8.0%)
01/10  ---
02/10  Moon Knight #5  - 19,733  ( -8.1%)
03/10  Moon Knight #6  - 19,094  ( -3.2%)
                         6 mnth  (-46.5%)
                         1 year  ( -8.5%)
                         2 year  (-35.4%)
                         3 year  (-75.3%)

Still dropping, and now below the sales of the previous volume. It’s levelling out a bit, but hardly steady.

111. CLOAK & DAGGER
03/10  One-shot - 18,998

More or less a random Cloak & Dagger one-shot, though it does serve the purpose of getting them out of the X-Men. Actually not a bad number considering that the book didn’t get much promotion.

112. PETER PARKER
03/10  Peter Parker #1 - 18,963

A reprint book featuring the online Spider-Man comics. Again, not bad for that sort of product.

114. X-FACTOR FOREVER
03/10  X-Factor Forever #1 of 5 - 18,550

X-MEN FOREVER spawns a franchise. This comes in about 3,000 ahead of the “parent” title, which is pretty decent.

116. REALM OF KINGS: INHUMANS
11/09  Inhumans #1 of 5 - 24,213
12/09  Inhumans #2 of 5 - 21,242  (-12.3%)
01/10  Inhumans #3 of 5 - 19,872  ( -6.4%)
02/10  Inhumans #4 of 5 - 19,118  ( -3.8%)
03/10  Inhumans #5 of 5 - 18,187  ( -4.9%)

118. WOLVERINE ONE-SHOTS
03/09  ---
04/09  Anniversary         - 23,276  (+10.9%)
05/09  ---
06/09  Revolver            - 21,425  ( -8.0%)
07/09  ---
08/09  ---
09/09  ---
10/09  ---
11/09  ---
12/09  Under the Boardwalk - 19,271  (-10.4%)
01/10  Wendigo             - 17,476  ( -9.3%)
02/10  Savage              - 18,396  ( +5.3%)
03/10  Mr X                - 17,947  ( -2.4%)

120. REALM OF KINGS: IMPERIAL GUARD
11/09  Imperial Guard #1 of 5 - 23,450
12/09  Imperial Guard #2 of 5 - 20,647  (-12.0%)
01/10  Imperial Guard #3 of 5 - 18,949  ( -8.2%)
02/10  Imperial Guard #4 of 5 - 17,939  ( -5.3%)
03/10  Imperial Guard #5 of 5 - 17,267  ( -3.7%)

121. REALM OF KINGS: SON OF HULK
03/09  Skaar, Son of Hulk #9  - 27,137  ( -5.7%)
04/09  Skaar, Son of Hulk #10 - 27,317  ( +0.7%)
05/09  ---
06/09  Skaar, Son of Hulk #11 - 28,633  ( +4.8%)
06/09  Skaar, Son of Hulk #12 - 35,920  (+25.4%)
07/09  Son of Hulk #13        - 29,195  (-18.7%)
08/09  Son of Hulk #14        - 27,171  ( -6.9%)
09/09  Son of Hulk #15        - 22,722  (-16.4%)
10/09  Son of Hulk #16        - 20,504  ( -9.8%)
11/09  Son of Hulk #17        - 19,097  ( -6.9%)
12/09  ---
01/10  ---
02/10  Son of Hulk #1 of 4    - 24,010  (+25.7%)
03/10  Son of Hulk #2 of 4    - 17,195  (-28.4%)
                                6 mnth  (-24.3%)
                                1 year  (-36.6%)

The three REALM OF KINGS minis cluster together. In between them, this month’s WOLVERINE one-shot remains in the 17-19K range which seems to have become their established territory.

122. POWERS [Icon]
03/05  ---
03/06  Powers #17 - 24,139
03/07  ---
03/08  Powers #28 - 19,256
03/09  ---
=====
11/09  Powers #1  - 20,146
12/09  Powers #2  - 17,181  (-14.7%)
01/10  ---
02/10  ---
03/10  Powers #3  - 16,768  ( -2.4%)
                    6 mnth  (  --- )
                    1 year  (  --- )
                    2 year  (-12.9%)
                    3 year  (  --- )
                    4 year  (-30.5%)
                    5 year  (  --- )

Levelling out pretty quickly after its most recent relaunch.

124. AGENTS OF ATLAS
03/09  Agents of Atlas #2  - 26,783  (-22.3%)
04/09  Agents of Atlas #3  - 29,748  (+11.1%)
05/09  Agents of Atlas #4  - 25,377  (-14.7%)
05/09  Agents of Atlas #5  - 25,207  ( -0.7%)
06/09  Agents of Atlas #6  - 22,579  (-10.4%)
07/09  Agents of Atlas #7  - 23,217  ( +2.8%)
07/09  Agents of Atlas #8  - 20,540  (-11.5%)
08/09  Agents of Atlas #9  - 20,828  ( +1.4%)
09/09  Agents of Atlas #10 - 17,877  (-14.2%)
09/09  Agents of Atlas #11 - 17,529  ( -1.9%)
10/09  X-Men vs #1 of 2    - 32,743  (+86.8%)
11/09  X-Men vs #2 of 2    - 25,222  (-23.0%)
12/09  ---
01/10  Avengers vs #1 of 4 - 21,777  (-13.7%)
02/10  Avengers vs #2 of 4 - 17,998  (-17.4%)
03/10  Avengers vs #3 of 4 - 16,482  ( -8.4%)
                             6 mnth  ( -7.8%)
                             1 year  (-38.5%)

This miniseries isn’t holding up quite so well as the last one. Nonetheless, a relaunch as just plain ATLAS is around the corner, as Marvel maintains its commendable commitment to this well-reviewed book.

125,127. X-MEN FOREVER
06/09  X-Men Forever #1  - 36,213
06/09  X-Men Forever #2  - 31,767  (-12.3%)
07/09  X-Men Forever #3  - 28,651  ( -9.8%)
07/09  X-Men Forever #4  - 28,645  ( -0.0%)
08/09  X-Men Forever #5  - 27,825  ( -2.9%)
08/09  X-Men Forever #6  - 24,875  (-10.6%)
09/09  X-Men Forever #7  - 24,115  ( -3.1%)
09/09  X-Men Forever #8  - 23,174  ( -3.9%)
10/09  X-Men Forever #9  - 21,926  ( -5.4%)
10/09  X-Men Forever #10 - 22,287  ( +1.6%)
11/09  X-Men Forever #11 - 20,130  ( -9.7%)
11/09  X-Men Forever #12 - 19,541  ( -2.9%)
12/09  X-Men Forever #13 - 18,870  ( -3.4%)
12/09  X-Men Forever #14 - 18,376  ( -2.6%)
01/10  X-Men Forever #15 - 17,665  ( -3.9%)
01/10  X-Men Forever #16 - 17,290  ( -2.1%)
02/10  X-Men Forever #17 - 17,873  ( +3.4%)
02/10  X-Men Forever #18 - 16,464  ( -7.9%)
03/10  X-Men Forever #19 - 16,183  ( -1.7%)
03/10  X-Men Forever #20 - 15,990  ( -1.2%)
                           6 mnth  (-31.0%)

Drifting slowly down, but Marvel are happy enough with these numbers to launch spin-offs and give the book a second year.

126. PUNISHER MAX: BUTTERFLY
03/10  Butterfly - 16,164

About 6K behind the parent title, which isn’t bad at all for these random one-shots.

131,132,149,166,205. MARVEL'S GREATEST COMICS
03/10  Captain America #1 - 15,140
03/10  Thor #1            - 14,554
03/10  Wizard of Oz #1    - 12,032
03/10  Punisher Max #1    - 10,478
03/10  Inv. Iron Man #1   -  8,062

These are all $1 reprints, except for INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #1, which was made available as a bundle of 25 with a $10 price tag, for use as a giveaway.

133. CRIMINAL  [Icon]
03/07  Criminal #5     - 16,389
03/08  ---
03/09  ---
=====
10/09  Sinners #1 of 5 - 20,580
11/09  Sinners #2 of 5 - 15,628  (-24.1%)
12/09  Sinners #3 of 5 - 14,624  ( -6.4%)
01/10  ---
02/10  Sinners #4 of 5 - 14,569  ( -0.4%)
03/10  Sinners #5 of 5 - 14,292  ( -1.9%)
                         6 mnth  (  --- )
                         1 year  (  --- )
                         2 year  (  --- )
                         3 year  (-12.8%)

Solid. It’s barely budged over the final three issues.

137. TWELVE: SPEARHEAD
03/10  Spearhead - 13,543

This is a one-shot spin-off from the TWELVE series, currently on hiatus. That book had settled down to steady sales of 29K, so this is quite some way distant.

138. GIRL COMICS
03/10  Girl Comics #1 of 3 - 13,491

Anthology title by female creators. The closest comparison here is the STRANGE TALES miniseries from last year, which featured the long-awaited Peter Bagge “Incorrigible Hulk” strip and launched in September 2009 at 16,266. With that as a benchmark, this is quite a good number.

144. SPIDER-MAN AND THE SECRET WARS
12/09  Secret Wars #1 of 4 - 22,397
01/10  Secret Wars #2 of 4 - 15,353  (-31.5%)
02/10  Secret Wars #3 of 4 - 13,561  (-11.7%)
03/10  Secret Wars #4 of 4 - 12,637  ( -6.8%)

A good performance for an all-ages title.

152. TORCH
09/09  Torch #1 of 8 - 26,921
10/09  Torch #2 of 8 - 18,115  (-32.7%)
11/09  Torch #3 of 8 - 15,209  (-16.0%)
12/09  Torch #4 of 8 - 13,782  ( -9.4%)
01/10  ---
02/10  Torch #5 of 8 - 12,211  (-11.4%)
03/10  Torch #6 of 8 - 11,896  ( -2.6%)
                       6 mnth  (-55.8%)

Still sliding, as the appeal of second-tier Golden Age characters seems to remain limited.

154. X-MEN: PIXIE STRIKES BACK
02/10  Pixie #1 of 4 - 14,167
03/10  Pixie #2 of 4 - 11,839  (-16.4%)

This is very low for an X-related miniseries.

160. S.W.O.R.D.
11/09  S.W.O.R.D. #1 - 21,988
12/09  S.W.O.R.D. #2 - 15,113  (-31.3%)
01/10  S.W.O.R.D. #3 - 13,271  (-12.2%)
02/10  S.W.O.R.D. #4 - 11,778  (-11.3%)
03/10  S.W.O.R.D. #5 - 11,259  ( -4.4%)

Axed.

162. SPIDER-MAN NOIR: EYES WITHOUT A FACE
03/09  Spider-Man Noir #4 of 4 - 24,720  ( -3.4%)
=====
12/09  Eyes w/o Face #1 of 4   - 16,447  (-33.5%)
01/10  Eyes w/o Face #2 of 4   - 13,239  (-19.5%)
02/10  Eyes w/o Face #3 of 4   - 11,379  (-14.0%)
03/10  Eyes w/o Face #4 of 4   - 10,756  ( -5.5%)
                                 6 mnth  (  --- )
                                 1 year  (-56.5%)

171. MYSTIC HANDS OF DR STRANGE
03/10  Mystic Hands of Dr Strange #1 - 10,148

173. X-MEN NOIR: MARK OF CAIN
03/09  X-Men Noir #4 of 4   - 25,861  ( -4.4%)
=====
12/09  Mark of Cain #1 of 4 - 16,043  (-38.0%)
01/10  Mark of Cain #2 of 4 - 13,399  (-16.5%)
02/10  Mark of Cain #3 of 4 - 10,564  (-21.2%)
03/10  Mark of Cain #4 of 4 - 10,070  ( -4.7%)
                              6 mnth  (  --- )
                              1 year  (-61.1%)

The Noir books are both way down compared to their original runs. In between them, MYSTIC HANDS OF DOCTOR STRANGE is another 70s retro black and white magazine. Bearing in mind that the recent STRANGE miniseries launched at 23K and finished at 14K, the commercial appeal of this format seems to be limited.

175,185. BREAKING INTO COMICS THE MARVEL WAY!
03/10  Breaking Into #1 of 2 - 9,871
03/10  Breaking Into #2 of 2 - 9,129  (-7.5%)

Despite the title, this isn’t a how-to book so much as a new-talent anthology. From the look of it, it’s selling mainly to completists. On the plus side, if any of these new artists turns out to be the next Jim Lee, then your copy of BREAKING INTO COMICS THE MARVEL WAY! #2 could be worth a fortune one day.

181. ANITA BLAKE, VAMPIRE HUNTER
03/07  Glty. Pleasures #5 of 12 - 31,136
03/08  Glty. Pleasures #9 of 12 - 26,324
=====
03/09  ---
04/09  Necromancer #1 of 5      - 15,308  ( +8.6%)
05/09  ---
06/09  Necromancer #2 of 5      - 12,907  (-15.7%)
07/09  Necromancer #3 of 5      - 12,143  ( -5.9%)
08/09  Necromancer #4 of 5      - 11,597  ( -4.5%)
09/09  Necromancer #5 of 5      - 11,142  ( -3.9%)
10/09  Executioner #1 of 5      - 11,205  ( +0.6%)
11/09  ---
12/09  Executioner #2 of 5      - 10,454  ( -6.7%)
01/10  Executioner #3 of 5      -  9,958  ( -4.7%)
02/10  Executioner #4 of 5      -  9,626  ( -3.3%)
03/10  Executioner #5 of 5      -  9,454  ( -1.8%)
                                  6 mnth  (-15.1%)
                                  1 year  (  --- )
                                  2 year  (-64.1%)
                                  3 year  (-69.6%)

Levelling out a bit by the end of this series, but that happened at the end of NECROMANCER as well.

182. DEATHLOK
11/09  Deathlok #1 of 7 - 20,855
12/09  Deathlok #2 of 7 - 14,059  (-32.6%)
01/10  Deathlok #3 of 7 - 11,670  (-17.0%)
02/10  Deathlok #4 of 7 - 10,185  (-12.7%)
03/10  Deathlok #5 of 7 -  9,387  ( -7.8%)

With two issues still to go, this is going to be low by the end. The drops are relatively steep for a miniseries, too.

190. MARVEL BOY: THE URANIAN
01/10  Uranian #1 of 3 - 14,258
02/10  Uranian #2 of 3 -  9,981  (-30.0%)
03/10  Uranian #3 of 3 -  8,817  (-11.7%)

Low numbers, but Marvel would never have expected wonders from an AGENTS OF ATLAS spin-off.

192. HALO: BLOOD LINE
12/09  Blood Line #1 of 5 - 10,551
01/10  Blood Line #2 of 5 -  9,172  (-13.1%)
02/10  Blood Line #3 of 5 -  8,793  ( -4.1%)
03/10  Blood Line #4 of 5 -  8,683  ( -1.3%)

Video game adaptation, and those reportedly sell most of their copies outside the direct market.

195. PET AVENGERS
05/09  Pet Avengers #1 of 4 - 17,638
06/09  Pet Avengers #2 of 4 - 12,317  (-30.2%)
07/09  Pet Avengers #3 of 4 - 11,739  ( -4.7%)
08/09  Pet Avengers #4 of 4 - 11,340  ( -3.4%)
09/09  ---
10/09  ---
11/09  ---
12/09  ---
01/10  ---
02/10  Tails o/Pet Avengers -  8,214  (-27.6%)
03/10  Unleashed #1 of 4    -  8,554  ( +4.1%)

The first PET AVENGERS miniseries ended up at 11K, so starting off at 8,500 isn’t too promising. That said, it depends on who Marvel see as the target audience here – this is an all-ages title, and by those standards it’s still doing quite well.

241. MARVEL SPOTLIGHT
03/06  Finch/Aguirre-Sacasa -  4,146
03/07  Civil War Aftermath  - 31,072
03/08  L Hamilton/G Martin  -  4,656
=====
03/09  Wolverine            -  6,670  (+9.8%)
04/09  ---
05/09  New Mutants          -  4,661  (-30.1%)
06/09  Captain America      -  6,733  (+44.5%)
07/09  ---
08/09  Summer Events        -  5,999  (-10.9%)
09/09  Marvel Zombies       -  5,546  ( -7.6%)
10/09  Deadpool             -  7,284  (+31.3%)
11/09  ---
12/09  ---
01/10  ---
02/10  ---
03/10  Iron Man 2           -  6,373  (-12.5%)
                              6 mnth  (+14.9%)
                              1 year  ( -4.5%)
                              2 year  (+36.9%)
                              3 year  (-79.5%)
                              4 year  (+53.7%)

MARVEL SPOTLIGHT seems to have settled down to a 5-7K range.

259. SUPER HERO SQUAD
09/09  Super Hero Squad #1 of 4 - 6,760
10/09  Super Hero Squad #2 of 4 - 4,496  ( -33.5%)
11/09  Super Hero Squad #3 of 4 - 4,384  (  -2.5%)
12/09  Super Hero Squad #4 of 4 - 4,132  (  -5.7%)
01/10  Super Hero Squad #1      - 9,709  (+135.0%)
02/10  Super Hero Squad #2      - 5,691  ( -41.4%)
03/10  Super Hero Squad #3      - 5,399  (  -5.1%)
                                 6 mnth  ( -20.1%)

That’s still above most issues of the recent miniseries, so it’s doing fine so far. Again, this is an all-ages book, and it’s based on a TV show, so direct sales shouldn’t be the key issue anyway.

277. WOMEN OF MARVEL: CELEBRATING SEVEN DECADES
03/10  WoM: C7D - 4,656

This is a ten dollar magazine featuring reprints and some new features. The economics are completely different for that sort of product, so Marvel will probably be entirely happy with these sales.

287. MARVEL ADVENTURES SPIDER-MAN  [All ages]
03/05  M.A. Spider-Man #1  - 14,351
03/06  M.A. Spider-Man #13 -  5,899
03/07  M.A. Spider-Man #25 -  6,408
03/08  M.A. Spider-Man #37 -  5,877
=====
03/09  M.A. Spider-Man #49 -  4,640  ( +0.4%)
04/09  M.A. Spider-Man #50 -  4,780  ( +3.0%)
05/09  M.A. Spider-Man #51 -  4,557  ( -4.7%)
06/09  M.A. Spider-Man #52 -  4,612  ( +1.2%)
07/09  M.A. Spider-Man #53 -  5,710  (+23.8%)
08/09  M.A. Spider-Man #54 -  5,684  ( -0.5%)
09/09  M.A. Spider-Man #55 -  5,668  ( -0.3%)
10/09  M.A. Spider-Man #56 -  4,579  (-19.2%)
11/09  M.A. Spider-Man #57 -  4,501  ( -1.7%)
12/09  M.A. Spider-Man #58 -  4,352  ( -3.3%)
01/10  M.A. Spider-Man #59 -  4,315  ( -0.9%)
02/10  M.A. Spider-Man #60 -  4,212  ( -2.4%)
03/10  M.A. Spider-Man #61 -  4,200  ( -2.8%)
                             6 mnth  (-25.9%)
                             1 year  ( -9.5%)
                             2 year  (-28.5%)
                             3 year  (-34.5%)
                             4 year  (-28.8%)
                             5 year  (-70.7%)

Relaunches next month as just plain SPIDER-MAN.

Three Marvel books failed to make the top 300 in March: MARVEL ADVENTURES SUPER HEROES #21, DAFFODIL #3 and KOOKABURRA K #3. All three sold fewer than 3,704 copies, a benchmark none of them would have been expected to reach based on their track record.

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

+32.7% - Doomwar/Black Panther
+16.3% - New Mutants
+14.9% - Marvel Spotlight
+14.1% - Avengers: The Initiative
+10.7% - PunisherMax
+ 2.5% - Iron Man
+ 0.3% - Thunderbolts
+ 0.2% - X-Force
- 4.6% - X-Factor
- 5.0% - Thor
- 6.2% - Mighty Avengers
- 7.6% - Uncanny X-Men
- 7.8% - Agents of Atlas
- 8.6% - Incredible Hulk
- 9.4% - Dark Avengers
-10.5% - Nova
-11.0% - New Avengers
-11.3% - Cable
-12.6% - Hercules
-13.1% - Guardians of the Galaxy
-13.4% - Amazing Spider-Man
-13.4% - Hulk
-15.1% - Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter
-15.3% - Ultimate Comics Avengers
-15.7% - Secret Warriors
-16.7% - Deadpool
-18.5% - Dark Wolverine
-20.1% - Super Hero Squad
-20.4% - Wolverine: Origins
-21.6% - Punisher (MU)
-23.8% - Deadpool: Merc With A Mouth
-24.3% - Son of Hulk
-24.6% - Fantastic Four
-25.9% - Marvel Adventures Spider-Man
-27.3% - Wolverine: Weapon X
-28.7% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
-31.0% - X-Men Forever
-46.5% - Moon Knight
-47.4% - Captain America
-49.5% - Spider-Woman
-55.8% - Torch

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

+ 0.8% - PunisherMax
- 3.6% - X-Force
- 4.5% - Marvel Spotlight
- 5.3% - Cable
- 5.6% - Iron Man
- 8.3% - Captain America
- 8.5% - Moon Knight
- 9.3% - X-Factor
- 9.5% - Doomwar/Black Panther
- 9.5% - Marvel Adventures Spider-Man
-11.6% - Amazing Spider-Man
-12.8% - Uncanny X-Men
-13.3% - X-Men Legacy
-19.0% - Nova
-20.1% - New Avengers
-20.8% - Deadpool
-21.1% - Guardians of the Galaxy
-25.4% - Wolverine: Origins
-26.0% - Fantastic Four
-27.8% - Hercules
-28.4% - Mighty Avengers
-29.1% - Dark Avengers
-34.7% - Thunderbolts
-36.6% - Son of Hulk
-38.5% - Agents of Atlas
-40.6% - Secret Warriors
-40.7% - Punisher (MU)
-45.8% - Dark Wolverine
-53.0% - Stand
-56.5% - Spider-Man Noir
-61.1% - X-Men Noir

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

+101.0% - Official Handbook
+ 43.2% - Doomwar/Black Panther
+ 36.9% - Marvel Spotlight
+ 36.7% - Iron Man
- 12.9% - Powers
- 15.0% - Thunderbolts
- 23.3% - Dark Wolverine
- 23.6% - Uncanny X-Men
- 24.0% - Nova
- 26.1% - New Avengers
- 28.3% - PunisherMax
- 28.5% - Marvel Adventures Spider-Man
- 28.6% - Punisher (MU)
- 29.0% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
- 29.0% - Avengers: The Initiative
- 30.0% - Captain America
- 31.5% - Wolverine: Origins
- 33.1% - Amazing Spider-Man
- 35.4% - Moon Knight
- 37.9% - Mighty Avengers
- 38.9% - X-Force
- 41.4% - X-Men Legacy
- 46.9% - Fantastic Four
- 47.2% - X-Factor
- 53.3% - Hercules
- 64.1% - Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter

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

- 1.4% - Incredible Hulk
-12.8% - Criminal
-17.1% - Uncanny X-Men
-24.0% - X-Factor
-32.5% - PunisherMax
-34.5% - Marvel Adventures Spider-Man
-35.9% - X-Men Legacy
-36.3% - New Avengers
-37.3% - Doomwar/Black Panther
-44.4% - Thunderbolts
-44.5% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
-48.1% - Dark Wolverine
-51.6% - Fantastic Four
-54.5% - Wolverine: Origins
-55.6% - Punisher
-60.6% - Amazing Spider-Man
-67.3% - Mighty Avengers
-69.6% - Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter
-75.3% - Moon Knight
-79.5% - Marvel Spotlight
-80.4% - Captain America

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

+53.7% - Marvel Spotlight
+27.4% - Captain America
+27.4% - Thunderbolts
+22.3% - Iron Man
+ 7.9% - Incredible Hulk
+ 6.1% - Doomwar/Black Panther
+ 1.0% - Official Handbook
-13.1% - Uncanny X-Men
-24.9% - Ultimate Comics New Ultimates
-28.8% - Marvel Adventures Spider-Man
-30.5% - Powers
-34.5% - Dark Wolverine
-35.0% - PunisherMax
-37.1% - New Avengers
-37.8% - X-Factor
-38.2% - X-Men Legacy
-38.2% - Fantastic Four
-39.7% - Amazing Spider-Man
-43.3% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man

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

+22.1% - Captain America
+17.3% - Thunderbolts
+ 8.4% - Incredible Hulk
-21.3% - Uncanny X-Men
-23.3% - Fantastic Four
-29.6% - Amazing Spider-Man
-32.3% - Ultimate Comics New Ultimates
-35.7% - Doomwar/Black Panther
-40.9% - Official Handbook
-41.5% - PunisherMax
-42.6% - X-Men Legacy
-50.9% - New Avengers
-51.2% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
-53.3% - Dark Wolverine
-70.7% - Marvel Adventures Spider-Man

32 COMMENTS

  1. >>Nonetheless, a relaunch as just plain ATLAS is around the corner, as Marvel maintains its commendable commitment to this well-reviewed book.<<

    I honestly love these characters and Parker's writing on the title, but I am a little curious as to the logic of publishing a title that has such a poor history of performance.

    Also surprised more people are digging Hickman's FF – between the sales and reviews on some popular podcasts, it seems to be missing the mark.

  2. Looks like the ULTIMATE line day’s are numbered.

    The reason why WOLVERINE:WEAPON X is under performing on the sales chart is because Wolverine has been way over exposed over the last several years,been made less unique and special due to all of the copycat junior Wolverine’s (X-23 and Daken),has been made way too powerful,has been made way too unlikable,has had his origin revealed (a crappy origin at that, IMO),and because him being a killer is now being condoned and encouraged by straight arrow heroes like Cyclops and the Avengers (he is no longer the exception, but the rule). This is also why sales on the other Wolverine books have been falling.

    Based on the under performance of his FF run and ULTIMATE AVENGERS (not to mention the negative reaction towards NEMESIS #1), I think many fans are starting to realize that Millar is an overrated one trick pony.

    I predict that VENGEANCE OF MOON KNIGHT will be silently canceled in a few months and replaced by a Moon Knight SHADOWLAND mini series with a different creative team.

    I predict that ATLAS will either (a) be down graded from an ongoing series to a mini series or (b) canceled by issue 6, which will be a damn shame IMO.

    SECRET WARRIORS being down graded from an ongoing series to a 56 issue finite series to finally a 28 issue finite series is what I like to call “pre spin” to try and cover up the fact that the book (and it’s creators) aren’t as big as a sales hit or sales draw as Marvel want fans to believe. And for the record, I have been enjoying SW.

  3. Also surprised more people are digging Hickman’s FF – between the sales and reviews on some popular podcasts, it seems to be missing the mark.

    ______________________________

    That’s because the FF are a hard sell, no matter who the creative team is or how much critical praise their work on the book receives.

  4. 138. GIRL COMICS
    03/10 Girl Comics #1 of 3 – 13,49

    I find it interesting that despite all the yelling and screaming over the title, this is where the sales are at. I don’t think it’s a statement on anything regarding the book, but I do think it’s a statement on how much all the Internet chatter actually impacts orders (not much).

  5. “SECRET WARRIORS being down graded from an ongoing series to a 56 issue finite series to finally a 28 issue finite series is what I like to call ‘pre spin'”

    Wraith, where was it ever stated that Secret Warriors was going to be 56 issues? Since Hickman fully took over the reins he has said he had a definite ending in mind for the book somewhere in the three year range, which is exactly what is happening.

  6. “We’re only going to do around 20 or 30 issues of Secret Warriors overall, down from my original plan of 60 issues. When I actually got down to writing the book I saw that being more concise was needed, but nevertheless there was a lot of stuff that got dropped out.” – Hickman, on Newsarama

    http://www.newsarama.com/comics/jonathan-hickman-secret-warriors-100409.html

    I too, had remembered him saying 60 issues when the book first started. I’m really disappointed they’re ending it so early. I mean, sales aren’t THAT bad. I quite enjoy the book!

  7. Well, whaddya know, thanks for the clarification Nathan. Even so, a 20-30 issue commitment from Marvel is pretty decent, especially since that article is from a year ago and considering their recent 5 issue cancellations of SWORD and Doctor Voodoo. Hopefully they will have similar faith in Hickman’s SHIELD series.

  8. Excuse my idiocy. I saw 09 on that article and thought 2009, when in fact it is from April 9th, 2010. That’s enough of me putting my foot in my mouth for now, thank you very much!

  9. “On the plus side, if any of these new artists turns out to be the next Jim Lee, then your copy of BREAKING INTO COMICS THE MARVEL WAY! #2 could be worth a fortune one day.”

    You can actually get Jim Lee’s first Marvel comic for less than the price of any new Marvel comic these days, so that’s not the basis of a solid retirement plan. Still probably better than the advice you’d get from Goldman Sachs…

  10. it seems nowadays that a title can’t make it to 50 issues without a reboot. I find the fans are being taken for fools by both Marvel and DC….once a book is falling, they do a mega (useless) crossover and if that doesn’t work….reboot! How about pumping less books and putting more quality into them? Instead of 50 x-titles and 50 bat titles….diversify a litte.

  11. Its a little sad to books doing 66k in the top 10. The comic population really is decreasing.

    I have had to stop majority of my Marvel buys (which wasn’t that many to begin with) because of the continued crossovers. I know they do it to increase sales. But I can’t stand it. Carey’s X men for example, which I was really enjoying for a while, has gone from one crossover to the next for like a year and a half now. :(
    At least X factor has been left alone for the most part! :)

  12. “it seems nowadays that a title can’t make it to 50 issues without a reboot. I find the fans are being taken for fools by both Marvel and DC”

    Naveed, surely that would only be true if rebooting still WORKED beyond the first few issues. The fans saw through it long ago, which is why it doesn’t have the same effect any more. Unfortunately, we’re in one of those phases where publishers have killed a formerly effective gimmick through overuse, but are sticking with it seemingly because nobody’s thought of a better idea yet.

  13. While Wolverine may be over-exposed it seems clear that Weapon X isn’t doing well because the book was viewed as an out of continuity book by consumers and, hence, it didn’t “matter”.

    It seems like customers never saw it as the main Wolverine title. It’s a shame because it is a terrific read.

  14. X-Men Origins
    03/10 Nightcrawler – 19,818
    A slight increase this month, but that probably reflects the popularity of character. MARVEL PREVIEWS also billed this issue as a “Second Coming” prelude – but at time of writing, the relevance escapes me.”

    I guess it’s WAY more relevant now, isn’t it? ;)

  15. While I agree it’s fun to prognosticate, predicting the obvious doesn’t make one look wise, just conscious.

    With Brevoort’s comments a few months back about Marvel reconsidering what it means for a book to have a successful run, I’m thinking we’ll see a lot more books like Secret Warriors or Hercules.

  16. I think Wolverine: Weapon X’s biggest problem was the $3.99 price tag…even with Ron Garney’s art, it just wasn’t worth it. Have they said yet if the new Wolverine ongoing is going to be $3.99 as well?

  17. WEAPON X is tanking because while it’s really Wolverine’s primary solo title, they deliberately promoted it as the third, in order that DARK WOLVERINE would inherit his sales. They accidentally tagged it as a book for hardcore completists, and it’s selling accordingly.

    The plunge coincides too neatly with the relaunch to blame it on the price or on overexposure of the character. No doubt they don’t help, but they can’t seriously be seen as primary causes.

  18. Jason Green said: “I think Wolverine: Weapon X’s biggest problem was the $3.99 price tag…even with Ron Garney’s art, it just wasn’t worth it.”

    DITTO!

  19. You can see what Hickman is doing, trying to rejuvenate the aging FF universe by updating old concepts like the moloids, Atlantis, the blue area and the Negative Zone in a Geoff Johns manner. However, he hasn’t managed to put any level of urgency into it. Like does any of this pose a danger to the FF? It’s sort of like a pleasant travelogue expanding on old continuity. Clever, but so what?

  20. Regarding _Weapon X_, I’d personally say that it’s BECAUSE OF, rather than despite, Garney’s art that it’s not worth $3.99. I like Garney’s art alright, but for some reason, the books he draws seem to be particularly light on content. I dunno if it’s because he’s slow (and writers give him light scripts with lots of full panels) or what, but I seldom feel like I get my money’s worth out of a Garney book anymore.

    Regarding FF, I read the two most recent issues last night, and Hickman indeed seems to be building toward something, but he doesn’t seem to be really telling an adventure story in the process. It’s not bad, but it’s pretty light on action.

  21. “You can see what Hickman is doing, trying to rejuvenate the aging FF universe by updating old concepts like the moloids, Atlantis, the blue area and the Negative Zone in a Geoff Johns manner. However, he hasn’t managed to put any level of urgency into it. Like does any of this pose a danger to the FF? It’s sort of like a pleasant travelogue expanding on old continuity. Clever, but so what?”

    Very apt comparison. I was struggling to put into words why the FF wasn’t doing anything for me, but you said it better than I could.

  22. Paul: “The plunge coincides too neatly with the relaunch to blame it on the price or on overexposure of the character. No doubt they don’t help, but they can’t seriously be seen as primary causes.”

    The relaunch and the price increase happened at the exact same time, I don’t see how you can seriously divorce one from the other. The two are hopelessly intertwined: some people probably skipped Weapon X from the start because they thought it was the third-tier Wolverine title, but some probably skipped it because it was $4, and some probably skipped it because they didn’t want to pay $4 for a third-tier Wolverine title when there were already 2 cheaper options.

    But a misunderstanding of the relaunch scheme only makes sense as an excuse for the massive correction from 97k for #1 to 50ks for #2-3 — retailers adjusting to meet the actual demand based on issue #1 sales. Once Dark Wolverine launched, people could have gotten back on the Weapon X bandwagon, but instead the book started hemorrhaging readers even faster at issue #5, before the first arc was even over (it ended at #5, so you’d think a dip would happen with the next issue and the change in artist). Why’d that happen? It doesn’t make sense that at that point people still didn’t know it was the main Wolverine title anymore: they were dropping it because of general displeasure with the books direction, most likely the lack of a sufficient story to justify the $4 price tag (not enough bang for the buck as it were).

    Now granted, part of my support for that theory is that that’s why I personally dropped the book, but as JerryRay and PeterCSM show, I’m far from the only one.

  23. But plenty of books have seen price rises, and they’re not all behaving like WEAPON X. Therefore there must be another cause. QED.

  24. I don’t know what else it would be either. Like Jason Green and Jerry Ray have said, it does seem like (re?)launching a series with a $3.99 price tag coupled with content that reads very quickly or isn’t interesting enough is about it. Personally the first arc was a kinda silly and a brief read, the second arc was a waiting game, but this third arc actually has me interested. I think by now though most other readers who would like have long since stopped paying attention to the title. And it still costs $3.99.

    Speaking of comics I don’t read because they’re $3.99, I wonder what is going to happen to the Ultimate Universe. It seems pretty clear Ultimatum had the opposite effect than what Marvel desired, so now what? Launch new series hoping one catches on? I’m really surprised they’ve let Jeph Loeb write The Ultimates. I’ve met him, he was very, very pleasant, but frankly his work now not only is bad, it harms it’s characters.

  25. But plenty of books have seen price rises, and they’re not all behaving like WEAPON X. Therefore there must be another cause. QED.

    ________________________________

    W:WX failure is due to Wolverine being over exposed,made less unique due to the creation of junior knockoffs,being made too powerful, being made a parent,the book (like most of his solo books) being aimed at a narrow and shrinking older teen and adult audience,Wolverine’s violent nature being condoned and endorsed by other MU heroes with a high moral code (like Captain America,Cyclops,and Iron Man),and having his origin told.

    I also agree with you that the book is not considered by most fans to be the core Wolverine book, which has also effected sales. However, I still think that when the new ongoing WOLVERINE book is relaunched this fall, sales on the book are still going to be less then spectacular. Wolverine has finally suffered the same sales fate that has effected other formerly ultra popular and over exposed heroes like Punisher,Ghost Rider,and Lobo (and to a lesser degree, Spidey,Batman,and Superman).

  26. Wolverine: Weapon X is sadly one of the few books that is actually worth $3.99, if any of them are. I’m beginning to think this “Heroic Age” is actually an excuse to relaunch a massive amount of books at their new price point. Especially because the decided theme (an era without events, and more general heroing and cooperation) is a lie. Look at the upcoming Shadowland – the heroes will “battle each other for the soul of New York city”. I’m not opposed to the idea, since it stems out of an excellent Daredevil storyline – it just highlights that it’s all a massive money-making gimmick.

  27. Interesting trend in the overall decline in comic sales. I stopped buying new comics two weeks ago; whereas the Heroic Age may be a perfect jumping on point for new readers, it is the perfect jumping off point for me. As much as I have enjoyed Bendis & Brubaker, $3.99 is more than I am willing to spend.

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