GuardiansOfTheGalaxy1cov_02.jpg
by Paul O’Brien

The Marvel Now launches rumble on in March, with the first issues of GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY and the relaunched WOLVERINE, not to mention the long-awaited AGE OF ULTRON event. Meanwhile, as the first wave of Marvel Now launches start to settle into their runs, we’re beginning to get a clearer idea of which ones are working. (And which ones, well, not so much.)

Marvel had the largest share of the North American direct market by a wide margin – but then, they did have all the major new releases for the month. They led DC by 44% to 30% in terms of units, and 40% to 28% in dollars.

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

1.  GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY
03/09  Guardians v2 #11 -  27,415
03/10  Guardians v2 #24 -  21,643
=====
02/13  Guardians #0.1   -  80,344
03/13  Guardians v3 #1  - 211,312  (+163.0%)
                           4 year  (+876.4%)
                           5 year  (+670.8%)

Who would have believed that we would live to see the day when the words “GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY is a real priority for Marvel right now” could be uttered with a straight face?

But this is that day, for GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY is a real priority for Marvel right now. It’s also one of the more striking examples of the company’s recent policy of putting big name creators on C-list properties – and one where it really does seem to be paying off.

Even allowing for the inevitable raft of relaunches, this is a huge number for a first issue. The last Marvel title to hit a larger number on its first issue was – well, okay, it was UNCANNY AVENGERS. But after that, you’ve got to go all the way back to April 2008 and SECRET INVASION #1. Sales like this do not come along every day. It’s a testimony to what can be achieved when a publisher really sets about convincing readers that it’s taking a property seriously.

2,5,7.  AGE OF ULTRON
03/13  Age of Ultron #1 of 10 - 174,952
03/13  Age of Ultron #2 of 10 - 109,383  (-37.5%)
03/13  Age of Ultron #3 of 10 - 100,347  ( -8.3%)

More of Brian Bendis, as the insanely prolific writer places four issues in the top ten. AGE OF ULTRON is a storyline he began building back at the start of his AVENGERS run, and which now rears its head as a crossover event of sorts. The format here is a little different – rather than have the series drag on for months, the ten issues are going to come out every one or two weeks, and the tie-in issues of other titles will be extra standalone stories that don’t disrupt the ongoing stories.

Issue #1 has vastly more variant covers, so a large second issue drop was always to be expected. More significant is the relatively modest drop for issue #3, and the fact that all three issues place over 100,000.

4.  WOLVERINE
03/08  Wolverine v3 #63 -  64,465
03/09  Wolverine v3 #71 -  91,229
03/10  W: Weapon X #11  -  29,799
03/11  Wolverine v4 #7  -  47,337
=====
03/12  Wolverine #302   -  37,213  (  -4.3%)
03/12  Wolverine #303   -  36,368  (  -2.3%)
04/12  Wolverine #304   -  37,836  (  +4.0%)
04/12  Wolverine #305   -  37,440  (  -1.0%)
05/12  Wolverine #306   -  34,873  (  -6.9%)
05/12  Wolverine #307   -  34,485  (  -1.1%)
06/12  Wolverine #308   -  35,142  (  +1.9%)
07/12  Wolverine #309   -  33,148  (  -5.7%)
07/12  Wolverine #310   -  60,880  ( +83.7%)
08/12  Wolverine #311   -  42,404  ( -30.3%)
08/12  Wolverine #312   -  41,030  (  -3.2%)
09/12  Wolverine #313   -  39,262  (  -4.3%)
10/12  Wolverine #314   -  34,504  ( -12.1%)
10/12  Wolverine #315   -  38,557  ( +11.7%)
11/12  Wolverine #316   -  32,208  ( -16.5%)
12/12  Wolverine #317   -  34,367  (  +6.7%)
01/13  ---
02/13  ---
03/13  Wolverine v5 #1  - 117,669  (+242.4%)
                           6 mnth  (+199.7%)
                           1 year  (+216.2%)
                           2 year  (+148.6%)
                           3 year  (+294.9%)
                           4 year  ( +29.0%)
                           5 year  ( +82.5%)

One of Marvel’s favourite promotional tricks of late is to cancel a book, relaunch it with a different name the next month, and then relaunch it with the original name a couple of months after. The idea, presumably, is that both books will be seen as successors to the original title.

WOLVERINE is the latest book to get this treatment, with Frank Cho’s SAVAGE WOLVERINE having already launched in January, followed rapidly by this version from Paul Cornell and Alan Davis. Interestingly, SAVAGE launched at 102K, so this version has done noticeably better.

8,11,12. SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN
03/08  Amazing #554 -  81,072
03/09  Amazing #589 -  58,832
03/10  Amazing #627 -  54,206
03/11  Amazing #657 -  58,704
=====
03/12  Amazing #681 -  52,143  (  +0.5%)
03/12  Amazing #682 -  57,143  (  +9.6%)
04/12  Amazing #683 -  59,153  (  +3.5%)
04/12  Amazing #684 -  57,454  (  -2.9%)
05/12  Amazing #685 -  58,121  (  +1.2%)
05/12  Amazing #686 -  58,337  (  +0.4%)
06/12  Amazing #687 -  62,680  (  +7.4%)
06/12  Amazing #688 -  60,409  (  -3.6%)
07/12  Amazing #689 -  59,859  (  -0.9%)
07/12  Amazing #690 -  58,976  (  -1.5%)
08/12  Amazing #691 -  60,767  (  +3.0%)
08/12  Amazing #692 -  91,071  ( +49.9%)
09/12  Amazing #693 -  59,772  ( -34.4%)
09/12  Amazing #694 -  58,461  (  -2.2%)
10/12  Amazing #695 -  58,185  (  -0.5%)
10/12  Amazing #696 -  57,950  (  -0.4%)
11/12  Amazing #697 -  59,872  (  +3.3%)
11/12  Amazing #698 -  87,537  ( +46.2%)
12/12  Amazing #699 -  80,048  (  -8.6%)
12/12  Amazing #.1  -  71,344  ( -10.9%)
12/12  Amazing #700 - 267,971  (+275.6%)
01/13  Superior #1  - 209,944  ( -21.7%)
01/13  Superior #2  - 118,104  ( -43.7%)
02/13  Superior #3  - 101,811  ( -13.8%)
02/13  Superior #4  -  95,892  (  -5.8%)
03/13  Superior #5  -  94,224  (  -1.7%)
03/13  Superior #6  -  86,614  (  -8.1%)
03/13  S. S-M #6AU  -  85,807  (  -0.9%)
                       6 mnth  ( +46.8%)
                       1 year  ( +64.6%)
                       2 year  ( +46.2%)
                       3 year  ( +58.3%)
                       4 year  ( +45.9%)
                       5 year  (  +5.8%)

Three issues this month, thanks to the two regular instalments being joined by an AGE OF ULTRON tie-in. Issue #6 was the first issue without a variant cover, presumably accounting for the drop. The tie-in book just sells in regular quantities – but then, it’s often been the case that the big crossovers have the least effect on titles that were big sellers to begin with.

Issue #1 picks up reorders of 5,335, and AMAZING #700 adds a further 7,662 – all these are figured into the numbers above.

10,16. ALL-NEW X-MEN
11/12  All-New X-Men #1 - 181,693
11/12  All-New X-Men #2 - 100,983  (-44.4%)
12/12  All-New X-Men #3 -  90,161  (-10.7%)
12/12  All-New X-Men #4 -  90,946  ( +0.9%)
01/13  All-New X-Men #5 -  86,301  ( -5.1%)
01/13  All-New X-Men #6 -  85,403  ( -1.0%)
02/13  All-New X-Men #7 -  85,234  ( -0.2%)
03/13  All-New X-Men #8 -  90,990  ( +6.8%)
03/13  All-New X-Men #9 -  81,692  (-10.2%)


13. UNCANNY X-MEN
03/08  Uncanny X-Men #496   -  89,054
03/09  Uncanny X-Men #507   -  77,957
03/10  Uncanny X-Men #522   -  67,996
03/11  Uncanny X-Men #534   -  55,731
=====
03/12  Uncanny X-Men v2 #8  -  57,568  (  -2.8%)
03/12  Uncanny X-Men v2 #9  -  56,976  (  -1.0%)
04/12  Uncanny X-Men v2 #10 -  56,906  (  -0.1%)
04/12  Uncanny X-Men v2 #11 -  75,109  ( +32.0%)
05/12  Uncanny X-Men v2 #12 -  69,265  (  -7.8%)
06/12  Uncanny X-Men v2 #13 -  70,521  (  +1.8%)
06/12  Uncanny X-Men v2 #14 -  67,793  (  -3.9%)
07/12  Uncanny X-Men v2 #15 -  66,114  (  -2.5%)
07/12  Uncanny X-Men v2 #16 -  63,835  (  -3.4%)
08/12  Uncanny X-Men v2 #17 -  61,095  (  -4.3%)
09/12  Uncanny X-Men v2 #18 -  59,794  (  -2.1%)
10/12  Uncanny X-Men v2 #19 -  59,283  (  -0.9%)
10/12  Uncanny X-Men v2 #20 -  65,981  ( +11.3%)
11/12  ---
12/12  ---
01/13  ---
02/13  Uncanny X-Men v3 #1  - 177,463  (+169.0%)
02/13  Uncanny X-Men v3 #2  -  94,615  ( -46.7%)
03/13  Uncanny X-Men v3 #3  -  85,775  (  -9.3%)
                               6 mnth  ( +43.5%)
                               1 year  ( +49.0%)
                               2 year  ( +53.9%)
                               3 year  ( +26.1%)
                               4 year  ( +10.0%)
                               5 year  (  -3.7%)

The two Brian Bendis X-Men titles understandably hold closely together, since they seem to be telling opposite sides of the same story. And yes, with two issues of ALL-NEW and one of UNCANNY, this bring the total number of Brian Bendis comics on the March chart to seven already.

ALL-NEW is piling on the reorders this month, with an extra 4,547 copies of issue #2, 4,269 of issue #4, 4,455 of issue #5, and 5,208 of issue #6. I’m not clear as to the reason for the sales jump on issue #8, but issue #9 was the first issue without a variant cover, so the drop there is no great surprise.

14. UNCANNY AVENGERS
10/12  Uncanny Avengers #1 - 303,722
11/12  Uncanny Avengers #2 - 114,257  (-62.4%)
12/12  ---
01/13  Uncanny Avengers #3 -  92,165  (-19.3%)
02/13  Uncanny Avengers #4 -  87,539  ( -5.0%)
03/13  Uncanny Avengers #5 -  84,382  ( -3.6%)

Seems to be on its way to levelling out.

15,17. AVENGERS
03/11  Avengers v4 #11 -  66,618
=====
03/12  Avengers v4 #24 -  52,242  (  +0.0%)
03/12  Avengers v4 #.1 -  52,164  (  -0.1%)
04/12  Avengers v4 #25 -  65,664  ( +25.9%)
05/12  Avengers v4 #26 -  67,744  (  +3.2%)
06/12  Avengers v4 #27 -  68,885  (  +1.7%)
07/12  Avengers v4 #28 -  63,169  (  -8.3%)
08/12  Avengers v4 #29 -  61,653  (  -2.4%)
09/12  Avengers v4 #30 -  58,609  (  -4.9%)
10/12  Avengers v4 #31 -  62,495  (  +6.6%)
10/12  Avengers v4 #32 -  56,204  ( -10.1%)
11/12  Avengers v4 #33 -  53,336  (  -5.1%)
11/12  Avengers v4 #34 -  57,315  (  +7.5%)
12/12  Avengers v5 #1  - 186,989  (+226.2%)
12/12  Avengers v5 #2  -  99,028  ( -47.0%)
01/13  Avengers v5 #3  -  92,165  (  -6.9%)
01/13  Avengers v5 #4  -  83,088  (  -9.8%)
02/13  Avengers v5 #5  -  82,452  (  -0.8%)
02/13  Avengers v5 #6  -  84,868  (  +2.9%)
03/13  Avengers v5 #7  -  78,278  (  -7.8%)
03/13  Avengers v5 #8  -  82,691  (  +5.6%)
                          6 mnth  ( +41.1%)
                          1 year  ( +58.3%)
                          2 year  ( +24.1%)

22. NEW AVENGERS
03/08  New Avengers #39    - 103,046
03/09  New Avengers #51    -  95,340
03/10  New Avengers #63    -  76,145
03/11  New Avengers v2 #10 -  59,929
=====
03/12  New Avengers v2 #23 -  51,697  (  +0.9%)
04/12  New Avengers v2 #24 -  64,533  ( +24.8%)
04/12  New Avengers v2 #25 -  61,950  (  -4.0%)
05/12  New Avengers v2 #26 -  64,326  (  +3.8%)
06/12  New Avengers v2 #27 -  64,927  (  +0.9%)
07/12  New Avengers v2 #28 -  62,739  (  -3.4%)
08/12  New Avengers v2 #29 -  59,441  (  -5.3%)
09/12  New Avengers v2 #30 -  56,742  (  -4.5%)
10/12  New Avengers v2 #31 -  53,456  (  -5.8%)
11/12  New Avengers v2 #32 -  52,784  (  -1.3%)
11/12  New Avengers v2 #33 -  50,045  (  -5.2%)
11/12  New Avengers v2 #34 -  53,862  (  +7.6%)
12/12  ---
01/13  New Avengers v3 #1  - 116,280  (+115.9%)
01/13  New Avengers v3 #2  -  79,433  ( -31.7%)
02/13  New Avengers v3 #3  -  72,110  (  -9.2%)
03/13  New Avengers v3 #4  -  65,150  (  -9.7%)
                              6 mnth  ( +14.8%)
                              1 year  ( +26.0%)
                              2 year  (  +8.7%)
                              3 year  ( -14.4%)
                              4 year  ( -31.7%)
                              5 year  ( -36.8%)

The two Jonathan Hickman AVENGERS titles happen to be next to one another on the charts, but there’s a rather more noticeable gap emerging between their sales. AVENGERS sales a bit erratic but are holding up reasonably well; NEW AVENGERS, on the other hand, has just shed 10% for the second month running, which is another matter entirely. It’s no great surprise that the more conventional AVENGERS book, presented as the flagship title, would be selling better – but I’m a little surprised that NEW AVENGERS doesn’t appear to be more stable.

25. DEADPOOL
03/09  Deadpool v3 #8  -  53,109
03/10  Deadpool v3 #21 -  42,062
03/11  Deadpool v3 #34 -  30,299
=====
03/12  Deadpool v3 #52 -  27,990  (  +1.9%)
04/12  Deadpool v3 #53 -  29,334  (  +4.8%)
05/12  Deadpool v3 #54 -  29,644  (  +1.1%)
05/12  Deadpool v3 #55 -  29,022  (  -2.1%)
06/12  Deadpool v3 #56 -  29,513  (  +1.7%)
07/12  Deadpool v3 #57 -  29,155  (  -1.2%)
07/12  Deadpool v3 #58 -  28,706  (  -1.5%)
08/12  Deadpool v3 #59 -  28,507  (  -0.7%)
09/12  Deadpool v3 #60 -  28,548  (  +0.1%)
09/12  Deadpool v3 #61 -  28,351  (  -0.7%)
10/12  Deadpool v3 #62 -  28,897  (  +1.9%)
10/12  Deadpool v3 #63 -  29,049  (  +0.5%)
11/12  Deadpool v4 #1  - 127,977  (+340.6%)
11/12  Deadpool v4 #2  -  76,445  ( -40.3%)
12/12  Deadpool v4 #3  -  64,591  ( -15.5%)
01/13  Deadpool v4 #4  -  57,061  ( -11.7%)
02/13  Deadpool v4 #5  -  57,312  (  +0.4%)
03/13  Deadpool v4 #6  -  57,095  (  -0.4%)
                          6 mnth  (+101.4%)
                          1 year  (+104.0%)
                          2 year  ( +88.4%)
                          3 year  ( +35.7%)
                          4 year  (  +7.5%)

Sales remain steady for a third straight issue – very few books pull this off, especially this far up the chart, so Marvel ought to be very happy with the performance of DEADPOOL. The first three issues all pick up reorders (4,671, 4,388 and 4,376 respectively).

26. INDESTRUCTIBLE HULK
03/08  ---
03/09  ---
03/10  Incredible Hulk #608  -  47,148
03/11  Incredible Hulks #625 -  29,792
=====
03/12  Incredible v4 #6      -  40,522  (  -5.2%)
04/12  Incredible v4 #7      -  42,135  (  +4.0%)
05/12  Incredible v4 #.1     -  38,472  (  -8.7%)
05/12  Incredible v4 #8      -  42,076  (  +9.4%)
06/12  Incredible v4 #9      -  40,467  (  -3.8%)
06/12  Incredible v4 #10     -  38,122  (  -5.8%)
07/12  Incredible v4 #11     -  36,743  (  -3.6%)
08/12  Incredible v4 #12     -  36,860  (  +0.3%)
09/12  Incredible v4 #13     -  33,858  (  -8.1%)
09/12  Incredible v4 #14     -  33,887  (  +0.1%)
10/12  Incredible v4 #15     -  36,091  (  +6.5%)
11/12  Indestructible #1     - 118,200  (+227.5%)
12/12  Indestructible #2     -  63,653  ( -46.1%)
01/13  Indestructible #3     -  59,431  (  -6.6%)
02/13  Indestructible #4     -  56,214  (  -5.4%)
03/13  Indestructible #5     -  54,967  (  -2.2%)
                                6 mnth  ( +62.2%)
                                1 year  ( +35.6%)
                                2 year  ( +84.5%)
                                3 year  ( +16.6%)
                                4 year  (   --- )
                                5 year  (   --- )

This one looks to be levelling out following the November relaunch, and seems on course to settle comfortably above its inherited sales.

29. UNCANNY X-FORCE
03/08  X-Force v3 #2  - 81,714
03/09  X-Force v3 #13 - 51,797
03/10  X-Force v3 #25 - 49,910
03/11  X-Force v4 #6  - 51,248
=====
03/12  X-Force v4 #23 - 48,867  ( -1.6%)
04/12  X-Force v4 #24 - 50,667  ( +3.7%)
05/12  X-Force v4 #25 - 50,851  ( +0.4%)
06/12  X-Force v4 #26 - 47,522  ( -6.0%)
07/12  X-Force v4 #27 - 46,325  ( -2.5%)
07/12  X-Force v4 #28 - 46,367  ( +0.1%)
08/12  X-Force v4 #29 - 45,159  ( -2.6%)
08/12  X-Force v4 #30 - 44,918  ( -0.5%)
09/12  X-Force v4 #31 - 44,061  ( -1.9%)
10/12  X-Force v4 #32 - 44,055  ( -0.0%)
11/12  X-Force v4 #33 - 43,589  ( -1.1%)
11/12  X-Force v4 #34 - 43,710  ( +0.3%)
12/12  X-Force v4 #35 - 47,736  ( +9.2%)
01/13  X-Force v5 #1  - 86,187  (+80.5%)
02/13  X-Force v5 #2  - 56,713  (-34.2%)
03/13  X-Force v5 #3  - 51,721  ( -8.8%)
                        6 mnth  (+17.3%)
                        1 year  ( +5.8%)
                        2 year  ( +0.9%)
                        3 year  ( +3.6%)
                        4 year  ( -0.1%)
                        5 year  (-36.7%)

Early days, but it seems to be on course to end up in similar territory to the previous run.

31. THOR: GOD OF THUNDER
03/08  ---
03/09  ---
03/10  Thor #608   -  62,012
03/11  Thor #621   -  42,104
=====
03/12  Thor v4 #12 -  33,967  (  -3.1%)
04/12  Thor v4 #.1 -  33,533  (  -1.3%)
04/12  Thor v4 #13 -  34,500  (  +2.9%)
05/12  Thor v4 #14 -  32,550  (  -5.7%)
06/12  Thor v4 #15 -  33,674  (  +3.5%)
06/12  Thor v4 #16 -  31,798  (  -5.6%)
07/12  Thor v4 #17 -  30,879  (  -2.9%)
08/12  Thor v4 #18 -  35,392  ( +14.6%)
09/12  Thor v4 #19 -  30,289  ( -14.4%)
09/12  Thor v4 #20 -  30,172  (  -0.4%)
10/12  Thor v4 #21 -  34,550  ( +14.5%)
10/12  Thor v4 #22 -  35,328  (  +2.3%)
11/12  Thor v5 #1  - 110,443  (+212.6%)
11/12  Thor v5 #2  -  65,533  ( -40.7%)
12/12  Thor v5 #3  -  55,547  ( -15.2%)
01/13  Thor v5 #4  -  50,478  (  -9.1%)
02/13  Thor v5 #5  -  51,861  (  +2.7%)
03/13  Thor v5 #6  -  50,481  (  -2.7%)
                      6 mnth  ( +67.3%)
                      1 year  ( +48.6%)
                      2 year  ( +19.9%)
                      3 year  ( -18.6%)
                      4 year  (   --- )
                      5 year  (   --- )

This is the first issue without a variant cover, so the fact that the book has stayed so steady for the last three issues is very encouraging.

32. SAVAGE WOLVERINE
01/13  Savage Wolverine #1 - 102,530
02/13  Savage Wolverine #2 -  58,254  (-43.2%)
03/13  Savage Wolverine #3 -  50,310  (-13.6%)

That’s on the steep side for a third issue drop. I wonder sometimes whether cheesecake is quite the draw that everyone seems to think it is.

36. CAPTAIN AMERICA
03/08  Captain America v6 #36 -  81,378
03/09  Captain America v6 #48 -  62,108
03/10  Captain America #604   -  56,962
03/11  Captain America #616   -  44,394
=====
03/12  Captain America v7 #9  -  41,631  (  -4.3%)
04/12  Captain America v7 #10 -  41,474  (  -0.4%)
05/12  Captain America v7 #11 -  39,012  (  -5.9%)
05/12  Captain America v7 #12 -  38,800  (  -0.5%)
06/12  Captain America v7 #13 -  39,456  (  +1.7%)
07/12  Captain America v7 #14 -  36,812  (  -6.7%)
07/12  Captain America v7 #15 -  36,433  (  -1.0%)
08/12  Captain America v7 #16 -  35,155  (  -3.5%)
09/12  Captain America v7 #17 -  34,279  (  -2.5%)
10/12  Captain America v7 #18 -  38,318  ( +11.8%)
10/12  Captain America v7 #19 -  40,205  (  +4.9%)
11/12  Captain America v8 #1  - 123,667  (+207.6%)
12/12  Captain America v8 #2  -  64,377  ( -47.9%)
01/13  Captain America v8 #3  -  59,836  (  -7.1%)
02/13  Captain America v8 #4  -  53,112  ( -11.2%)
03/13  Captain America v8 #5  -  49,186  (  -7.4%)
                                 6 mnth  ( +43.5%)
                                 1 year  ( +18.1%)
                                 2 year  ( +10.8%)
                                 3 year  ( -13.7%)
                                 4 year  ( -20.8%)
                                 5 year  ( -39.6%)

Something doesn’t seem to be working here – 7% drops seem awfully high for month 5. The title remains way ahead of its inherited sales – but it’s chewing through that margin quite quickly.

40. NOVA
02/13  Nova v5 #1 - 80,857
03/13  Nova v5 #2 - 46,725  (-42.2%)

41. SECRET AVENGERS
03/11  Secret Avengers #11   - 51,353
=====
03/12  Secret Avengers #24   - 38,359  (  +3.3%)
04/12  Secret Avengers #25   - 38,466  (  +0.3%)
04/12  Secret Avengers #26   - 54,854  ( +42.6%)
05/12  Secret Avengers #27   - 49,851  (  -9.1%)
06/12  Secret Avengers #28   - 51,572  (  +3.5%)
07/12  Secret Avengers #29   - 41,653  ( -19.2%)
08/12  Secret Avengers #30   - 38,243  (  -8.2%)
09/12  Secret Avengers #31   - 35,987  (  -5.9%)
10/12  Secret Avengers #32   - 35,346  (  -1.8%)
10/12  Secret Avengers #33   - 34,260  (  -3.1%)
11/12  Secret Avengers #34   - 32,146  (  -6.2%)
12/12  Secret Avengers #35   - 30,755  (  -4.3%)
01/13  Secret Avengers #36   - 29,330  (  -4.6%)
01/13  Secret Avengers #37   - 32,139  (  +9.6%)
02/13  Secret Avengers v2 #1 - 85,267  (+196.4%)
03/13  Secret Avengers v2 #2 - 46,419  ( -45.6%)
                               6 mnth  ( +29.0%)
                               1 year  ( +21.0%)
                               2 year  (  -9.6%)

Two Marvel Now titles on their second issue, with the now familiar drop of 40% or so.

43,49. FANTASTIC FOUR
03/08  Fantastic Four #555  -  67,416
03/09  Fantastic Four #565  -  48,378
03/10  Fantastic Four #577  -  35,791
03/11  FF v1 #1             - 114,472
=====
03/12  Fantastic Four #604  -  42,126  (  -0.7%)
04/12  Fantastic Four #605  -  42,372  (  +0.6%)
05/12  Fantastic Four #.1   -  39,475  (  -6.8%)
05/12  Fantastic Four #606  -  39,914  (  +1.1%)
06/12  Fantastic Four #607  -  40,453  (  +1.4%)
07/12  Fantastic Four #608  -  37,776  (  -6.6%)
08/12  Fantastic Four #609  -  36,496  (  -3.4%)
09/12  Fantastic Four #610  -  35,388  (  -3.0%)
10/12  Fantastic Four #611  -  45,322  ( +28.1%)
11/12  Fantastic Four v5 #1 - 114,532  (+152.7%)
12/12  Fantastic Four v5 #2 -  58,421  ( -49.0%)
01/13  Fantastic Four v5 #3 -  50,555  ( -13.5%)
02/13  Fantastic Four v5 #4 -  44,999  ( -11.0%)
03/13  Fantastic Four v5 #5 -  42,590  (  -5.4%)
03/13  Fantastic Four #5AU  -  45,756  (  +7.4%)
                               6 mnth  ( +29.3%)
                               1 year  (  +8.6%)
                               2 year  ( -60.0%)
                               3 year  ( +27.8%)
                               4 year  (  -5.4%)
                               5 year  ( -32.1%)

Two issues this month, thanks to the AGE OF ULTRON tie-in – which generates a small spike. As for the regular issues, the book is slowly levelling out, but it’s plainly not there yet.

45,48. CABLE & X-FORCE
12/12  Cable & X-Force #1 - 90,334
12/12  Cable & X-Force #2 - 57,719  (-36.1%)
01/13  Cable & X-Force #3 - 51,761  (-10.3%)
02/13  Cable & X-Force #4 - 46,104  (-10.9%)
03/13  Cable & X-Force #5 - 44,680  ( -3.1%)
03/13  Cable & X-Force #6 - 42,896  ( -4.0%)

Again, two issues this month. The drops are significantly smaller than on previous issues, which is clearly a good sign. But again, we’re still some way from levelling out.

47. IRON MAN
03/08  Iron Man v4 #27 -  36,011
03/09  Iron Man v5 #11 -  52,165
03/10  Iron Man v5 #24 -  49,239
03/11  Iron Man #502   -  43,899
=====
03/12  Iron Man #514   -  31,424  (  -4.0%)
04/12  Iron Man #515   -  32,409  (  +3.1%)
05/12  Iron Man #516   -  31,374  (  -3.2%)
05/12  Iron Man #517   -  31,536  (  +0.5%)
06/12  Iron Man #518   -  32,553  (  -3.2%)
06/12  Iron Man #519   -  32,518  (  -0.1%)
07/12  Iron Man #520   -  32,765  (  +0.8%)
07/12  Iron Man #521   -  32,172  (  -1.8%)
08/12  Iron Man #522   -  31,464  (  -2.2%)
08/12  Iron Man #523   -  31,568  (  +0.3%)
09/12  Iron Man #524   -  30,976  (  -1.9%)
09/12  Iron Man #525   -  30,885  (  -0.3%)
10/12  Iron Man #526   -  35,934  ( +16.3%)
10/12  Iron Man #527   -  36,981  (  +2.9%)
11/12  Iron Man v6 #1  - 116,529  (+215.1%)
11/12  Iron Man v6 #2  -  72,902  ( -37.4%)
12/12  Iron Man v6 #3  -  59,041  ( -19.0%)
12/12  Iron Man v6 #4  -  56,708  (  -4.0%)
01/13  Iron Man v6 #5  -  50,899  ( -10.2%)
02/13  Iron Man v6 #6  -  46,206  (  -9.2%)
03/13  Iron Man v6 #7  -  44,040  (  -4.7%)
                          6 mnth  ( +42.6%)
                          1 year  ( +40.1%)
                          2 year  (  +0.3%)
                          3 year  ( -10.6%)
                          4 year  ( -15.6%)
                          5 year  ( +22.3%)

One of the smaller month-to-month drops the book has seen since its relaunch, but its sales have been erratic enough that I wouldn’t read too much into that until we see what happens in April.

52,53. WOLVERINE & THE X-MEN
03/12  Wolverine/X-Men #7  - 54,559  ( -1.4%)
04/12  Wolverine/X-Men #8  - 53,757  ( -1.5%)
04/12  Wolverine/X-Men #9  - 64,984  (+20.9%)
05/12  Wolverine/X-Men #10 - 63,650  ( -2.1%)
05/12  Wolverine/X-Men #11 - 64,936  ( +2.0%)
06/12  Wolverine/X-Men #12 - 64,838  ( -0.2%)
07/12  Wolverine/X-Men #13 - 62,689  ( -3.3%)
07/12  Wolverine/X-Men #14 - 61,029  ( -2.6%)
08/12  Wolverine/X-Men #15 - 58,441  ( -4.2%)
09/12  Wolverine/X-Men #16 - 55,857  ( -4.4%)
09/12  Wolverine/X-Men #17 - 54,768  ( -1.9%)
10/12  Wolverine/X-Men #18 - 52,331  ( -4.4%)
10/12  Wolverine/X-Men #19 - 50,008  ( -4.4%)
11/12  Wolverine/X-Men #20 - 48,432  ( -3.2%)
11/12  Wolverine/X-Men #21 - 48,244  ( -0.4%)
12/12  Wolverine/X-Men #22 - 45,658  ( -5.4%)
01/13  Wolverine/X-Men #23 - 43,963  ( -3.7%)
01/13  Wolverine/X-Men #24 - 44,716  ( +1.7%)
02/13  Wolverine/X-Men #25 - 45,057  ( +0.8%)
03/13  Wolverine/X-Men #26 - 42,019  ( -6.7%)
03/13  Wolverine/X-Men #27 - 41,960  ( -0.1%)
                             6 mnth  (-23.4%)
                             1 year  (-23.1%)

This seems to be settling back into a gentle decline, with issues #24-25 now looking like something of a blip.

57,58. THUNDERBOLTS
03/08  Thunderbolts #119  - 40,173
03/09  Thunderbolts #130  - 52,264
03/10  Thunderbolts #142  - 34,132
03/11  Thunderbolts #154  - 25,455
=====
03/12  Thunderbolts #171  - 19,073  (  -2.2%)
04/12  Thunderbolts #172  - 19,203  (  +0.7%)
04/12  Thunderbolts #173  - 19,017  (  -1.0%)
05/12  Thunderbolts #174  - 18,792  (  -1.2%)
06/12  ---
07/12  ---
08/12  ---
09/12  ---
10/12  ---
11/12  ---
12/12  Thunderbolts v2 #1 - 83,396  (+343.8%)
12/12  Thunderbolts v2 #2 - 50,897  ( -39.0%)
01/13  Thunderbolts v2 #3 - 44,272  ( -13.0%)
02/13  Thunderbolts v2 #4 - 43,287  (  -2.2%)
02/13  Thunderbolts v2 #5 - 41,663  (  -3.8%)
03/13  Thunderbolts v2 #6 - 39,293  (  -5.7%)
03/13  Thunderbolts v2 #7 - 38,553  (  -1.9%)
                            6 mnth  (   --- )
                            1 year  (+102.1%)
                            2 year  ( +51.5%)
                            3 year  ( +13.0%)
                            4 year  ( -26.2%)
                            5 year  (  -4.0%)

Once again, two issues this month. And while the drop on issue #7 is reassuringly small, you can’t really say the same for issue #6. This far in, you’d hope for things to be a bit more stable.

59. YOUNG AVENGERS
01/13  Young Avengers v2 #1 - 76,144
02/13  Young Avengers v2 #2 - 43,559  (-42.8%)
03/13  Young Avengers v2 #3 - 38,469  (-11.7%)

Issue #1 picks up reorders of 4,890. Those are included in the numbers above. So far, it’s pretty much following the standard pattern for the first couple of months of a Marvel Now title.

63,71. A+X
04/12  Versus #1 of 6 - 111,913
05/12  Versus #2 of 6 -  98,819  (-11.7%)
06/12  Versus #3 of 6 -  94,528  ( -4.3%)
07/12  Versus #4 of 6 -  86,526  ( -8.5%)
08/12  Versus #5 of 6 -  78,380  ( -9.4%)
09/12  ---
10/12  Versus #6 of 6 -  75,298  ( -3.9%)
10/12  A+X #1         - 105,420  (+40.0%)
11/12  A+X #2         -  64,606  (-38.7%)
12/12  A+X #3         -  56,700  (-12.2%)
01/13  A+X #4         -  48,091  (-15.2%)
02/13  ---
03/13  A+X #5         -  37,250  (-22.5%)
03/13  A+X #6         -  34,434  ( -7.6%)
                         6 mnth  (  --- )

Yet another book shipping twice, though this time it’s because the February issue ran late. Sales on this title don’t seem to be holding up at all well. That said, given the format of the title as a random team-up anthology, the initial sales always seemed unsustainable.

64. DAREDEVIL
03/08  Daredevil v2 #106 - 41,537
03/09  Daredevil v2 #117 - 41,046
03/10  ---
03/11  Reborn #3 of 4    - 27,231
=====
03/12  Daredevil v3 #10  - 38,137  ( +0.6%)
04/12  Daredevil v3 #.1  - 38,463  ( +0.9%)
04/12  Daredevil v3 #11  - 46,111  (+19.9%)
05/12  Daredevil v3 #12  - 39,231  (-14.9%)
05/12  Daredevil v3 #13  - 39,056  ( -0.4%)
06/12  Daredevil v3 #14  - 43,865  (+12.3%)
07/12  Daredevil v3 #15  - 38,469  (-12.3%)
08/12  Daredevil v3 #16  - 37,804  ( -1.7%)
08/12  Daredevil v3 #17  - 38,149  ( +0.9%)
09/12  Daredevil v3 #18  - 37,185  ( -2.5%)
10/12  Daredevil v3 #19  - 37,228  ( +0.1%)
11/12  Daredevil v3 #20  - 36,515  ( -1.9%)
12/12  Daredevil v3 #21  - 35,848  ( -1.8%)
01/13  Daredevil v3 #22  - 36,102  ( +0.7%)
02/13  Daredevil v3 #23  - 37,170  ( +3.0%)
03/13  Daredevil v3 #24  - 37,231  ( +0.2%)
                           6 mnth  ( +0.1%)
                           1 year  ( -2.4%)
                           2 year  (+36.7%)
                           3 year  (  --- )
                           4 year  ( -9.3%)
                           5 year  (-10.4%)

Behold the mythical stable title. It exists! It can be done!

66. ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN
03/08  Spider-Man #120   - 57,728
03/09  ---
03/10  Spider-Man v2 #8  - 40,967
03/11  Spider-Man #155   - 44,067
=====
03/12  Spider-Man v3 #8  - 46,290  ( +2.3%)
04/12  Spider-Man v3 #9  - 43,724  ( -5.5%)
05/12  Spider-Man v3 #10 - 42,356  ( -3.1%)
06/12  Spider-Man v3 #11 - 42,549  ( +0.5%)
07/12  Spider-Man v3 #12 - 42,050  ( -1.2%)
08/12  Spider-Man v3 #13 - 42,642  ( +1.4%)
09/12  Spider-Man v3 #14 - 40,960  ( -3.9%)
09/12  Spider-Man v3 #15 - 40,435  ( -1.3%)
10/12  Spider-Man v3 #16 - 39,679  ( -1.9%)
10/12  Spider-Man v3 #.1 - 38,321  ( -3.4%)
11/12  Spider-Man v3 #17 - 38,481  ( +0.4%)
12/12  Spider-Man v3 #18 - 36,944  ( -4.0%)
01/13  Spider-Man v3 #19 - 36,017  ( -2.5%)
02/13  Spider-Man v3 #20 - 35,461  ( -1.5%)
03/13  Spider-Man v3 #21 - 35,284  ( -0.5%)
                           6 mnth  (-12.7%)
                           1 year  (-23.8%)
                           2 year  (-19.9%)
                           3 year  (-13.9%)
                           4 year  (  --- )
                           5 year  (-38.9%)

Brian Bendis comic number 8. When does the man sleep? Quite some way behind the others, but still looking a lot healthier than the rest of the Ultimate line.

67. DEADPOOL: KILLUSTRATED
01/13  Killustrated #1 of 4 - 41,980
02/13  Killustrated #2 of 4 - 35,846  (-14.6%)
03/13  Killustrated #3 of 4 - 35,275  ( -1.6%)

Issue #1 picks up reorders of 5,209, which is not common for a mid-selling miniseries. A follow-up mini, DEADPOOL KILLS DEADPOOL, has been announced for July.

70. FF
03/11  FF #1    - 114,472
=====
03/12  FF #16   -  37,152  (  -8.5%)
04/12  FF #17   -  37,325  (  +0.5%)
05/12  FF #18   -  34,555  (  -7.4%)
06/12  FF #19   -  34,260  (  -0.9%)
07/12  FF #20   -  31,652  (  -7.6%)
08/12  FF #21   -  30,220  (  -4.5%)
09/12  FF #22   -  29,847  (  -1.2%)
10/12  FF #23   -  30,844  (  +3.3%)
11/12  FF v2 #1 -  80,701  (+161.6%)
12/12  FF v2 #2 -  46,096  ( -42.9%)
01/13  FF v2 #3 -  41,108  ( -10.8%)
02/13  FF v2 #4 -  35,815  ( -12.9%)
03/13  FF v2 #5 -  34,601  (  -3.4%)
                   6 mnth  ( +15.9%)
                   1 year  (  -6.9%)
                   2 year  ( -69.8%)

Obviously a positive sign compared to earlier months, but I wouldn’t read too much into a single issue.

72. X-TERMINATION
03/13  X-Termination #1 of 2 - 33,377

A bookend for a crossover running between ASTONISHING X-MEN, X-TREME X-MEN and AGE OF APOCALYPSE – all of which are some way below this point.

74. AVENGING SPIDER-MAN
03/12  Avenging Spider-Man #5  - 40,877  (-10.4%)
04/12  Avenging Spider-Man #6  - 47,430  (+16.0%)
05/12  Avenging Spider-Man #7  - 38,012  (-19.9%)
06/12  Avenging Spider-Man #8  - 39,861  ( +4.9%)
07/12  Avenging Spider-Man #9  - 37,134  ( -6.8%)
08/12  Avenging Spider-Man #10 - 34,537  ( -7.0%)
08/12  Avenging Spider-Man #11 - 33,808  ( -2.1%)
09/12  Avenging Spider-Man #12 - 35,462  ( +4.9%)
10/12  Avenging Spider-Man #13 - 32,908  ( -7.2%)
11/12  Avenging Spider-Man #14 - 30,102  ( -8.5%)
12/12  Avenging Spider-Man #15 - 28,240  ( -6.2%)
12/12  Avenging Spider-Man #.1 - 41,504  (+47.0%)
01/13  Avenging Spider-Man #16 - 29,032  (-30.1%)
02/13  Avenging Spider-Man #17 - 30,783  ( +6.0%)
03/13  Avenging Spider-Man #18 - 31,657  ( +2.8%)
                                 6 mnth  (-10.7%)
                                 1 year  (-22.6%)

Relaunching in July as SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN TEAM-UP. Sales are creeping up, presumably thanks to the Spider-Man books’ new direction.

75. AVENGERS ARENA
12/12  Avengers Arena #1 - 64,626
12/12  Avengers Arena #2 - 43,014  (-33.4%)
01/13  Avengers Arena #3 - 38,461  (-10.6%)
02/13  Avengers Arena #4 - 33,611  (-12.6%)
02/13  Avengers Arena #5 - 32,548  ( -3.2%)
03/13  Avengers Arena #6 - 31,617  ( -2.9%)

Levelling out somewhat.

79,92. ULTIMATE COMICS WOLVERINE
03/13  Wolverine #1 of 4 - 29,537
03/13  Wolverine #2 of 4 - 25,472  (-13.8%)

Two issues in the first month. The second-issue drop is very modest, but that’s often the case when you have two issues in the same month.

80,85. X-MEN LEGACY
03/08  X-Men Legacy #209  - 82,243
03/09  X-Men Legacy #222  - 55,605
03/10  X-Men Legacy #234  - 48,217
03/11  X-Men Legacy #246  - 47,893
=====
03/12  X-Men Legacy #263  - 35,999  (  -1.3%)
03/12  X-Men Legacy #264  - 35,953  (  -0.1%)
04/12  X-Men Legacy #265  - 35,712  (  -0.7%)
05/12  X-Men Legacy #266  - 43,199  ( +21.0%)
05/12  X-Men Legacy #267  - 46,279  (  +7.1%)
06/12  X-Men Legacy #268  - 49,163  (  +6.2%)
06/12  X-Men Legacy #269  - 46,923  (  -4.6%)
07/12  X-Men Legacy #270  - 44,914  (  -4.3%)
08/12  X-Men Legacy #271  - 37,206  ( -17.2%)
08/12  X-Men Legacy #272  - 37,120  (  -0.2%)
09/12  X-Men Legacy #273  - 36,020  (  -3.0%)
09/12  X-Men Legacy #274  - 35,168  (  -2.4%)
10/12  X-Men Legacy #275  - 38,726  ( +10.1%)
11/12  X-Men Legacy v2 #1 - 87,081  (+124.9%)
11/12  X-Men Legacy v2 #2 - 58,037  ( -33.4%)
12/12  X-Men Legacy v2 #3 - 45,407  ( -21.8%)
01/13  X-Men Legacy v2 #4 - 37,673  ( -17.0%)
01/13  X-Men Legacy v2 #5 - 34,823  (  -7.6%)
02/13  X-Men Legacy v2 #6 - 31,074  ( -10.8%)
03/13  X-Men Legacy v2 #7 - 29,231  (  -5.9%)
03/13  X-Men Legacy v2 #8 - 28,174  (  -3.6%)
                            6 mnth  ( -19.9%)
                            1 year  ( -21.7%)
                            2 year  ( -41.2%)
                            3 year  ( -41.6%)
                            4 year  ( -49.3%)
                            5 year  ( -65.7%)

There are some signs of this book levelling out, but it’s still on a steady decline no matter how you look at it. Of course, as a Legion solo title, this was always one of the riskier titles from the first wave of Marvel Now books.

83. AVENGERS ASSEMBLE
03/12  Avengers Assemble #1  - 100,883
04/12  Avengers Assemble #2  -  53,024  (-47.4%)
05/12  Avengers Assemble #3  -  43,886  (-17.2%)
06/12  Avengers Assemble #4  -  43,022  ( -2.0%)
07/12  Avengers Assemble #5  -  38,951  ( -9.5%)
08/12  Avengers Assemble #6  -  36,131  ( -7.2%)
09/12  Avengers Assemble #7  -  36,259  ( +0.4%)
10/12  Avengers Assemble #8  -  36,453  ( +0.5%)
11/12  Avengers Assemble #9  -  42,088  (+15.5%)
12/12  Avengers Assemble #10 -  34,035  (-19.1%)
01/13  Avengers Assemble #11 -  31,027  ( -8.8%)
02/13  Avengers Assemble #12 -  29,475  ( -5.0%)
03/13  Avengers Assemble #13 -  28,432  ( -3.6%)
                                6 mnth  (-21.6%)
                                1 year  (-71.8%)

As AVENGERS ASSEMBLE celebrates its first birthday, the heavy promotion for its debut issue seems like a distant memory.

84. FEARLESS DEFENDERS
03/12  Defenders v4 #4  - 29,789  ( -11.2%)
04/12  Defenders v4 #5  - 27,893  (  -6.4%)
05/12  Defenders v4 #6  - 25,518  (  -8.5%)
06/12  Defenders v4 #7  - 23,574  (  -7.6%)
07/12  Defenders v4 #8  - 22,504  (  -4.5%)
08/12  Defenders v4 #9  - 21,500  (  -4.5%)
09/12  Defenders v4 #10 - 20,220  (  -6.0%)
10/12  Defenders v4 #11 - 19,361  (  -4.2%)
11/12  Defenders v4 #12 - 18,588  (  -4.0%)
12/12  ---
01/13  ---
02/13  Defenders v5 #1  - 53,688  (+188.8%)
03/13  Defenders v5 #2  - 28,244  ( -47.4%)
                          6 mnth  ( +39.7%)
                          1 year  (  -5.2%)

That’s on the high side for a second issue drop even by Marvel’s current standards.

88. ASTONISHING X-MEN
03/08  ---
03/09  ---
03/10  ---
03/11  ---
=====
03/12  Astonishing X-Men #48 -  34,182  (+12.1%)
04/12  Astonishing X-Men #49 -  31,291  ( -8.5%)
05/12  Astonishing X-Men #50 -  61,866  (+97.7%)
06/12  Astonishing X-Men #51 -  82,654  (+33.6%)
07/12  Astonishing X-Men #52 -  35,766  (-56.7%)
08/12  Astonishing X-Men #53 -  32,268  ( -9.8%)
09/12  Astonishing X-Men #54 -  30,225  ( -6.3%)
10/12  Astonishing X-Men #55 -  29,060  ( -3.9%)
11/12  Astonishing X-Men #56 -  27,583  ( -5.1%)
12/12  Astonishing X-Men #57 -  26,263  ( -4.8%)
01/13  Astonishing X-Men #58 -  25,159  ( -4.2%)
02/13  Astonishing X-Men #59 -  24,195  ( -3.8%)
03/13  Astonishing X-Men #60 -  27,683  (+14.4%)
                                6 mnth  ( -8.4%)
                                1 year  (-19.0%)
                                2 year  (  --- )
                                3 year  (  --- )
                                4 year  (  --- )
                                5 year  (  --- )

Yes, ASTONISHING X-MEN really did miss shipping in March for four straight years between 2008 and 2011. Different times.

This is an X-TERMINATION tie-in issue, hence the increase.

89. DAREDEVIL: END OF DAYS
10/12  End of Days #1 of 8 - 40,911
11/12  End of Days #2 of 8 - 32,072  (-21.6%)
12/12  End of Days #3 of 8 - 29,273  ( -8.7%)
01/13  End of Days #4 of 8 - 27,770  ( -5.1%)
02/13  End of Days #5 of 8 - 26,777  ( -3.6%)
03/13  End of Days #6 of 8 - 26,316  ( -1.7%)

Very healthy numbers for an out-of-continuity miniseries. Marvel are clearly encouraged by it, since another Daredevil mini, DARK NIGHTS, is scheduled for June.

97. SCARLET SPIDER
03/12  Scarlet Spider #3  - 32,616  ( -3.5%)
04/12  Scarlet Spider #4  - 33,097  ( +1.5%)
05/12  Scarlet Spider #5  - 30,932  ( -6.5%)
06/12  Scarlet Spider #6  - 30,722  ( -0.7%)
07/12  Scarlet Spider #7  - 29,140  ( -5.1%)
08/12  Scarlet Spider #8  - 27,690  ( -5.0%)
09/12  Scarlet Spider #9  - 27,140  ( -2.0%)
10/12  Scarlet Spider #10 - 31,786  (+17.1%)
11/12  Scarlet Spider #11 - 32,287  ( +1.6%)
12/12  Scarlet Spider #12 - 26,652  (-17.5%)
12/12  Scarlet Spider #.1 - 25,771  ( -3.3%)
01/13  Scarlet Spider #13 - 25,919  ( +0.6%)
02/13  Scarlet Spider #14 - 24,388  ( -5.9%)
03/13  Scarlet Spider #15 - 23,682  ( -2.9%)
                            6 mnth  (-12.7%)
                            1 year  (-27.4%)

Settled into a gentle decline, from the looks of it.

99. ULTIMATES
03/08  ---
03/09  ---
03/10  Ultimates v4 #1  - 71,279
03/11  ---
=====
03/12  Ultimates v5 #8  - 32,222  ( -4.8%)
04/12  Ultimates v5 #9  - 31,336  ( -2.7%)
05/12  Ultimates v5 #10 - 31,257  ( -0.3%)
05/12  Ultimates v5 #11 - 31,344  ( +0.3%)
06/12  Ultimates v5 #12 - 30,845  ( -1.6%)
07/12  Ultimates v5 #13 - 32,380  ( +5.0%)
08/12  Ultimates v5 #14 - 30,311  ( -6.4%)
09/12  Ultimates v5 #15 - 30,382  ( +0.2%)
09/12  Ultimates v5 #16 - 30,533  ( +0.5%)
10/12  Ultimates v5 #17 - 29,382  ( -3.8%)
11/12  Ultimates v5 #18 - 29,072  ( -1.1%)
12/12  Ultimates v5 #.1 - 27,659  ( -4.9%)
12/12  Ultimates v5 #19 - 26,971  ( -2.5%)
01/13  Ultimates v5 #20 - 25,613  ( -5.0%)
02/13  Ultimates v5 #21 - 23,811  ( -7.0%)
03/13  Ultimates v5 #22 - 23,442  ( -1.5%)
                          6 mnth  (-22.8%)
                          1 year  (-27.2%)
                          2 year  (  --- )
                          3 year  (-67.1%)
                          4 year  (  --- )
                          5 year  (  --- )

After a series of accelerating losses, this month’s sales put the brakes on a bit. But you can’t read too much into one month.

100. VENOM
03/12  Venom v2 #14 - 28,926  ( +6.6%)
04/12  Venom v2 #15 - 28,858  ( -0.2%)
04/12  Venom v2 #16 - 28,440  ( -1.4%)
05/12  Venom v2 #17 - 30,157  ( +6.0%)
05/12  Venom v2 #18 - 28,309  ( -6.1%)
06/12  Venom v2 #19 - 28,702  ( +1.4%)
07/12  Venom v2 #20 - 26,941  ( -6.1%)
07/12  Venom v2 #21 - 26,534  ( -1.5%)
08/12  Venom v2 #22 - 26,734  ( +0.8%)
08/12  Venom v2 #23 - 26,854  ( +0.4%)
09/12  Venom v2 #24 - 30,080  (+12.0%)
09/12  Venom v2 #25 - 25,242  (-16.1%)
10/12  Venom v2 #26 - 31,711  (+25.6%)
11/12  Venom v2 #27 - 31,118  ( -1.9%)
11/12  Venom v2 #.1 - 25,727  (-17.3%)
12/12  Venom v2 #28 - 25,573  ( -0.6%)
01/13  Venom v2 #29 - 24,644  ( -3.6%)
01/13  Venom v2 #30 - 24,551  ( -0.4%)
02/13  Venom v2 #31 - 23,441  ( -4.5%)
03/13  Venom v2 #32 - 22,521  ( -3.9%)
                      6 mnth  (-10.8%)
                      1 year  (-22.1%)


104. ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN
03/08  X-Men #92     - 49,015
03/09  X-Men #100    - 51,374
03/10  ---
03/11  Ultimate X #4 - 37,631
=====
03/12  X-Men v2 #9   - 30,080  ( -2.4%)
04/12  X-Men v2 #10  - 29,743  ( -1.1%)
05/12  X-Men v2 #11  - 28,711  ( -3.5%)
05/12  X-Men v2 #12  - 28,839  ( +0.4%)
06/12  X-Men v2 #13  - 29,159  ( +1.1%)
07/12  X-Men v2 #14  - 29,879  ( +2.5%)
08/12  X-Men v2 #15  - 27,847  ( -6.8%)
09/12  X-Men v2 #16  - 27,066  ( -2.8%)
10/12  X-Men v2 #17  - 26,503  ( -2.1%)
10/12  X-Men v2 #18  - 26,322  ( -0.7%)
11/12  X-Men v2 #.1  - 25,425  ( -3.4%)
11/12  X-Men v2 #19  - 25,419  ( -0.0%)
12/12  X-Men v2 #20  - 24,789  ( -2.5%)
01/13  X-Men v2 #21  - 23,479  ( -5.3%)
02/13  X-Men v2 #22  - 22,456  ( -4.4%)
02/13  X-Men v2 #23  - 22,197  ( -1.2%)
03/13  X-Men v2 #24  - 21,862  ( -1.5%)
                       6 mnth  (-19.2%)
                       1 year  (-27.3%)
                       2 year  (-41.5%)
                       3 year  (  --- )
                       4 year  (-57.4%)
                       5 year  (-55.4%)

Two more books that seem to have settled into a steady slide, at a level where you might have thought their room for manoeuvre was limited.

107. WINTER SOLDIER
03/12  Winter Soldier #3  - 34,923  (-15.2%)
04/12  Winter Soldier #4  - 33,519  ( -4.0%)
05/12  Winter Soldier #5  - 30,646  ( -8.6%)
06/12  Winter Soldier #6  - 30,386  ( -0.8%)
06/12  Winter Soldier #7  - 28,984  ( -4.6%)
07/12  Winter Soldier #8  - 27,317  ( -5.8%)
08/12  Winter Soldier #9  - 26,255  ( -3.9%)
09/12  Winter Soldier #10 - 25,811  ( -1.7%)
09/12  Winter Soldier #11 - 25,310  ( -1.9%)
10/12  Winter Soldier #12 - 24,807  ( -2.0%)
11/12  ---
12/12  Winter Soldier #13 - 23,951  ( -3.5%)
01/13  Winter Soldier #14 - 22,873  ( -4.5%)
02/13  Winter Soldier #15 - 22,199  ( -2.9%)
03/13  Winter Soldier #16 - 20,973  ( -5.5%)
                            6 mnth  (-17.1%)
                            1 year  (-39.9%)

Cancelled with issue #19, according to writer Jason Latour. Not a huge surprise, given that we know it’s been reprieved once before, and sales have only dropped since.

108. X-FACTOR
03/08  X-Factor v3 #29 - 54,832
03/09  X-Factor v3 #41 - 31,888
03/10  X-Factor #203   - 28,924
03/11  X-Factor #216   - 25,256
=====
03/12  X-Factor #233   - 23,840  ( -1.4%)
04/12  X-Factor #234   - 23,821  ( -0.1%)
05/12  X-Factor #235   - 24,051  ( +1.0%)
05/12  X-Factor #236   - 24,031  ( -0.1%)
06/12  X-Factor #237   - 24,854  ( +3.4%)
06/12  X-Factor #238   - 23,607  ( -5.0%)
07/12  X-Factor #239   - 23,506  ( -0.4%)
07/12  X-Factor #240   - 23,223  ( -1.2%)
08/12  X-Factor #241   - 22,943  ( -1.2%)
08/12  X-Factor #242   - 22,782  ( -0.7%)
09/12  X-Factor #243   - 22,118  ( -2.9%)
09/12  X-Factor #244   - 22,193  ( +0.3%)
10/12  X-Factor #245   - 22,364  ( +0.8%)
11/12  X-Factor #246   - 22,165  ( -0.9%)
11/12  X-Factor #247   - 22,005  ( -0.7%)
12/12  X-Factor #248   - 21,664  ( -1.5%)
12/12  X-Factor #249   - 21,211  ( -2.1%)
01/13  X-Factor #250   - 22,521  ( +6.2%)
02/13  X-Factor #251   - 21,096  ( -6.3%)
02/13  X-Factor #252   - 20,929  ( -0.8%)
03/13  X-Factor #253   - 20,835  ( -0.4%)
                         6 mnth  ( -6.1%)
                         1 year  (-12.6%)
                         2 year  (-17.5%)
                         3 year  (-28.0%)
                         4 year  (-34.7%)
                         5 year  (-62.0%)

X-FACTOR is in the unenviable position of nestling between two cancelled books – and an upcoming storyline is called “The End of X-Factor”. But in comparison to its neighbours, X-FACTOR has relatively solid sales – and there are other titles below this point that have yet to see the plug pulled.

109. AGE OF APOCALYPSE
03/12  Age of Apocalypse #1  - 56,426
04/12  Age of Apocalypse #2  - 39,263  (-30.4%)
05/12  Age of Apocalypse #3  - 32,085  (-18.3%)
06/12  Age of Apocalypse #4  - 30,469  ( -5.0%)
07/12  Age of Apocalypse #5  - 27,223  (-10.7%)
08/12  Age of Apocalypse #6  - 25,393  ( -6.7%)
09/12  Age of Apocalypse #7  - 23,618  ( -7.0%)
10/12  Age of Apocalypse #8  - 22,293  ( -5.6%)
11/12  Age of Apocalypse #9  - 20,630  ( -7.5%)
12/12  Age of Apocalypse #10 - 19,337  ( -6.3%)
01/13  Age of Apocalypse #11 - 18,555  ( -4.0%)
02/13  Age of Apocalypse #12 - 17,643  ( -4.9%)
03/13  Age of Apocalypse #13 - 20,670  (+17.2%)
                               6 mnth  (-12.5%)
                               1 year  (-63.4%)

Cancelled with issue #14. This issue is an X-TERMINATION tie-in, hence the increase.

110. WOLVERINE MAX
10/12  Wolverine: Max #1 - 37,509
11/12  Wolverine: Max #2 - 27,217  (-27.4%)
12/12  ---
01/13  Wolverine: Max #3 - 24,058  (-11.6%)
02/13  Wolverine: Max #4 - 22,072  ( -8.3%)
03/13  Wolverine: Max #5 - 20,479  ( -7.2%)

Losing readers at quite some speed, but it’s a Max book, and Marvel have generally proved much more tolerant of low sales on those titles.

111. MORBIUS: THE LIVING VAMPIRE
01/13  Morbius v2 #1 - 43,883
02/13  Morbius v2 #2 - 25,735  (-41.4%)
03/13  Morbius v2 #3 - 20,262  (-21.3%)

112. GAMBIT
08/12  Gambit v5 #1  - 40,418 
08/12  Gambit v5 #2  - 32,336  (-20.0%)
09/12  Gambit v5 #3  - 28,530  (-11.8%)
10/12  Gambit v5 #4  - 27,828  ( -2.5%)
11/12  Gambit v5 #5  - 26,723  ( -4.0%)
11/12  Gambit v5 #6  - 25,522  ( -4.5%)
12/12  Gambit v5 #7  - 23,978  ( -6.0%)
01/13  Gambit v5 #8  - 22,396  ( -6.6%)
02/13  Gambit v5 #9  - 20,851  ( -6.9%)
03/13  Gambit v5 #10 - 20,187  ( -3.2%)
                       6 mnth  (-29.2%)

117. JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY
02/12  J/into Mystery #634 - 22,323  ( -6.5%)
03/12  J/into Mystery #635 - 21,617  ( -3.2%)
04/12  J/into Mystery #636 - 21,148  ( -2.2%)
05/12  J/into Mystery #637 - 24,378  (+15.3%)
05/12  J/into Mystery #638 - 23,766  ( -2.5%)
06/12  J/into Mystery #639 - 21,914  ( -7.8%)
06/12  J/into Mystery #640 - 20,714  ( -5.5%)
07/12  J/into Mystery #641 - 19,850  ( -4.2%)
08/12  J/into Mystery #642 - 22,336  (+12.5%)
09/12  J/into Mystery #643 - 21,109  ( -5.5%)
09/12  J/into Mystery #644 - 20,588  ( -2.5%)
10/12  J/into Mystery #645 - 20,705  ( +0.6%)
11/12  J/into Mystery #646 - 22,898  (+10.6%)
12/12  J/into Mystery #647 - 22,514  ( -1.7%)
01/13  J/into Mystery #648 - 20,887  ( -7.2%)
02/13  J/into Mystery #649 - 20,064  ( -3.9%)
03/13  J/into Mystery #650 - 19,007  ( -5.3%)
                             6 mnth  (-10.0%)
                             1 year  (-14.9%)

It’s hard to see how any of these three titles can be sustainable, and they’re all selling below two cancelled books – AGE OF APOCALYPSE and WINTER SOLDIER. But all three were still being solicited in July, so for whatever reason, Marvel is apparently sticking with them for the moment.

119. X-TREME X-MEN
07/12  X-Treme X-Men v2 #1  - 36,802
08/12  X-Treme X-Men v2 #2  - 25,689  (-30.2%)
09/12  X-Treme X-Men v2 #3  - 24,490  ( -4.7%)
09/12  X-Treme X-Men v2 #4  - 22,584  ( -7.8%)
10/12  X-Treme X-Men v2 #5  - 19,841  (-12.1%)
11/12  X-Treme X-Men v2 #6  - 17,947  ( -9.5%)
11/12  X-Treme X-Men v2 #7  - 17,602  ( -1.9%)
12/12  X-Treme X-Men #7.1   - 16,682  ( -5.2%)
12/12  X-Treme X-Men v2 #8  - 16,536  ( -0.9%)
01/13  X-Treme X-Men v2 #9  - 15,529  ( -6.1%)
02/13  X-Treme X-Men v2 #10 - 14,813  ( -4.6%)
02/13  X-Treme X-Men v2 #11 - 14,623  ( -1.3%)
03/13  X-Treme X-Men v2 #12 - 17,782  (+21.6%)
                              6 mnth  (-21.3%)

Cancelled with issue #13. This is another X-TERMINATION tie-in.

120. CAPTAIN MARVEL
03/08  Ms Marvel v2 #25      - 40,993
03/09  Ms Marvel v2 #37      - 25,053
03/10  ---
=====
07/12  Captain Marvel v6 #1  - 41,582
08/12  Captain Marvel v6 #2  - 28,434  (-31.6%)
08/12  Captain Marvel v6 #3  - 27,649  ( -2.8%)
09/12  Captain Marvel v6 #4  - 24,799  (-10.3%)
10/12  Captain Marvel v6 #5  - 28,619  (+15.4%)
10/12  Captain Marvel v6 #6  - 23,103  (-19.3%)
11/12  Captain Marvel v6 #7  - 21,744  ( -5.9%)
12/12  Captain Marvel v6 #8  - 19,970  ( -8.2%)
01/13  Captain Marvel v6 #9  - 19,151  ( -4.1%)
02/13  Captain Marvel v6 #10 - 18,359  ( -4.1%)
03/13  Captain Marvel v6 #11 - 17,743  ( -3.4%)
                               6 mnth  (-28.5%)
                               1 year  (  --- )
                               2 year  (  --- )
                               3 year  (  --- )
                               4 year  (-29.2%)
                               5 year  (-56.7%)

Heading for a tie-in with AVENGERS ASSEMBLE in May, but the numbers don’t look too hopeful.

122. DARK AVENGERS
06/12  Dark Avengers #175 - 39,532  (+110.4%)
06/12  Dark Avengers #176 - 34,614  ( -12.4%)
07/12  Dark Avengers #177 - 30,643  ( -11.5%)
07/12  Dark Avengers #178 - 28,572  (  -6.8%)
08/12  Dark Avengers #179 - 25,835  (  -9.6%)
09/12  Dark Avengers #180 - 23,761  (  -8.0%)
09/12  Dark Avengers #181 - 23,044  (  -3.0%)
10/12  Dark Avengers #182 - 21,936  (  -4.8%)
11/12  Dark Avengers #183 - 21,109  (  -3.8%)
12/12  Dark Avengers #184 - 20,584  (  -2.5%)
01/13  Dark Avengers #185 - 19,229  (  -6.6%)
01/13  Dark Avengers #186 - 18,937  (  -1.5%)
02/13  Dark Avengers #187 - 18,213  (  -3.8%)
03/13  Dark Avengers #188 - 17,448  (  -4.2%)
                            6 mnth  ( -24.3%)

Cancelled with issue #190.

131. ALPHA: BIG TIME
01/13  Alpha: Big Time #0.1    -  8,534
02/13  Alpha: Big Time #1 of 5 - 22,778  (+166.9%)
03/13  Alpha: Big Time #2 of 5 - 16,305  ( -28.4%)

Remarkably little interest in this series, considering the hype Marvel put into Alpha’s debut in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN a few months back, the success of the current direction in the parent book, and the generally improved performance of Marvel minis since they cut down on the numbers.

134. RED SHE-HULK
03/08  ---
03/09  ---
03/10  Hulk #21         -  50,785
03/11  Hulk #31         -  31,368
=====
03/12  Hulk #49         -  21,510  ( -1.1%)
04/12  Hulk #50         -  34,437  (+60.1%)
05/12  Hulk #51         -  22,085  (-35.9%)
05/12  Hulk #52         -  21,882  ( -0.9%)
06/12  Hulk #53         -  22,386  ( +2.3%)
06/12  Hulk #54         -  22,070  ( -1.4%)
07/12  Hulk #55         -  22,141  ( +0.3%)
08/12  Hulk #56         -  21,558  ( -2.6%)
08/12  Hulk #57         -  21,553  ( -0.0%)
09/12  ---
10/12  Red She-Hulk #58 -  31,136  (+44.5%)
11/12  Red She-Hulk #59 -  20,668  (-33.6%)
12/12  Red She-Hulk #60 -  20,798  ( +0.6%)
01/13  Red She-Hulk #61 -  18,815  ( -9.5%)
02/13  Red She-Hulk #62 -  17,766  ( -5.6%)
03/13  Red She-Hulk #63 -  15,941  (-10.3%)
                           6 mnth  (  --- )
                           1 year  (-25.9%)
                           2 year  (-49.2%)
                           3 year  (-68.6%)
                           4 year  (  --- )
                           5 year  (  --- )

Again, still being solicited as of July – but at these sales levels, and with so many cancelled titles above it, it’s hard to see how that can continue much longer.

155. FURY MAX
05/12  Fury Max #1  - 20,620
05/12  Fury Max #2  - 19,021  ( -7.8%)
06/12  Fury Max #3  - 17,152  ( -9.8%)
07/12  Fury Max #4  - 16,329  ( -4.8%)
08/12  Fury Max #5  - 15,646  ( -4.2%)
09/12  Fury Max #6  - 14,646  ( -6.4%)
10/12  ---
11/12  ---
12/12  Fury Max #7  - 14,345  ( -2.1%)
01/13  Fury Max #8  - 13,703  ( -4.5%)
02/13  Fury Max #9  - 13,283  ( -3.1%)
03/13  Fury Max #10 - 13,096  ( -1.4%)
                      6 mnth  (-10.6%)

Ends with issue #13.

161,174. POWERS: THE BUREAU  [Icon]
03/08  Powers v2 #28 - 19,256
03/09  ---
03/10  Powers v3 #3  - 16,768
03/11  ---
=====
03/12  Powers v3 #9  - 12,792  ( -5.7%)
04/12  ---
05/12  Powers v3 #10 - 12,484  ( -2.4%)
06/12  ---
07/12  ---
08/12  Powers v3 #11 - 11,939  ( -4.4%)
09/12  ---
10/12  ---
11/12  ---
12/12  ---
01/13  ---
02/13  Bureau #1     - 14,698  (+23.1%)
03/13  Bureau #2     - 12,966  (-11.8%)
03/13  Bureau #3     - 11,705  ( -9.7%)
                       6 mnth  (  --- )
                       1 year  ( -8.5%)
                       2 year  (  --- )
                       3 year  (-30.2%)
                       4 year  (  --- )
                       5 year  (-39.2%)

Issue #2 was actually due out in February and slipped to March. But somewhat to my surprise, POWERS does indeed honour the promise it made in the solicitation for issue #3: “Guaranteed to ship.”

Bureau #3 was solicited for March as “Powers is Back on Track! Guaranteed to Ship!” There were meant to be two issues in Feb, but #2 slipped to the first week of March.

Your final Brian Bendis count: ten comics for the month of March.

After this, we’re into the books that aren’t really aimed at the direct market.

225. ROAD TO OZ
03/09  #4 of 8 - 16,159
03/10  ---
03/11  Primer  -  6,009
=====
03/12  ---
04/12  ---
05/12  #6 of 8 -  7,475  ( -0.4%)
05/12  #7 of 8 -  7,391  ( -1.1%)
06/12  #8 of 8 -  7,258  ( -1.8%)
07/12  ---
08/12  ---
09/12  #1 of 8 - 12,620  (+73.9%)
10/12  #2 of 6 -  7,930  (-37.2%)
11/12  #3 of 6 -  7,619  ( -3.9%)
12/12  ---
01/13  #4 of 6 -  7,314  ( -4.0%)
02/13  #5 of 6 -  6,944  ( -5.1%)
03/13  #6 of 6 -  7,006  ( +0.9%)
                 6 mnth  (-44.5%)
                 1 year  (  --- )
                 2 year  (+16.6%)
                 3 year  (  --- )
                 4 year  (-56.6%)

Despite this series having apparently been truncated, another series has been solicited to start in July. One can only assume that these books are selling better in collected form.

271. MARVEL UNIVERSE ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN
04/12  MUU Spider-Man #1  - 10,886
05/12  MUU Spider-Man #2  -  7,581  (-30.4%)
06/12  MUU Spider-Man #3  -  6,756  (-10.9%)
07/12  MUU Spider-Man #4  -  6,447  ( -4.6%)
08/12  MUU Spider-Man #5  -  6,310  ( -2.1%)
09/12  MUU Spider-Man #6  -  5,873  ( -6.9%)
10/12  MUU Spider-Man #7  -  5,768  ( -1.8%)
11/12  MUU Spider-Man #8  -  5,588  ( -3.1%)
12/12  MUU Spider-Man #9  -  5,235  ( -6.3%)
01/13  MUU Spider-Man #10 -  5,077  ( -3.0%)
02/13  MUU Spider-Man #11 -  5,086  ( +0.1%)
03/13  MUU Spider-Man #12 -  4,978  ( -2.1%)
                            6 mnth  (-15.2%)


273. MARVEL UNIVERSE AVENGERS
04/12  MU Avengers #1  - 12,874
05/12  MU Avengers #2  -  6,733  (-47.7%)
06/12  MU Avengers #3  -  6,345  ( -5.8%)
07/12  MU Avengers #4  -  6,421  ( +1.2%)
08/12  MU Avengers #5  -  6,134  ( -4.5%)
09/12  MU Avengers #6  -  5,906  ( -3.7%)
10/12  MU Avengers #7  -  5,630  ( -4.7%)
11/12  MU Avengers #8  -  5,389  ( -4.3%)
12/12  MU Avengers #9  -  5,207  ( -3.4%)
01/13  MU Avengers #10 -  4,951  ( -4.9%)
02/13  MU Avengers #11 -  4,940  ( -0.2%)
03/13  MU Avengers #12 -  4,960  ( +0.4%)
                         6 mnth  (-16.0%)

And CASTLE: A CALM BEFORE THE STORM #4 didn’t make the top 300, implying estimated orders below 4,077.

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

+199.7% - Wolverine
+101.4% - Deadpool
+ 67.3% - Thor
+ 62.2% - Hulk
+ 46.8% - Superior Spider-Man
+ 43.5% - Captain America
+ 43.5% - Uncanny X-Men
+ 42.6% - Iron Man
+ 41.1% - Avengers
+ 39.7% - Defenders
+ 29.3% - Fantastic Four
+ 29.0% - Secret Avengers
+ 17.3% - X-Force
+ 15.9% - FF
+ 14.8% - New Avengers
+  0.1% - Daredevil
-  6.1% - X-Factor
-  8.4% - Astonishing X-Men
- 10.0% - Journey into Mystery
- 10.6% - Fury Max
- 10.7% - Avenging Spider-Man
- 10.8% - Venom
- 12.7% - Scarlet Spider
- 12.7% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
- 12.5% - Age of Apocalypse
- 15.2% - Marvel Universe Ultimate Spider-Man
- 16.0% - Marvel Universe Avengers
- 17.1% - Winter Soldier
- 19.2% - Ultimate Comics X-Men
- 19.9% - X-Men Legacy
- 21.3% - X-Treme X-Men
- 21.6% - Avengers Assemble
- 22.8% - Ultimates
- 23.4% - Wolverine and the X-Men
- 24.3% - Dark Avengers
- 28.5% - Captain Marvel
- 29.2% - Gambit
- 44.5% - Road to Oz


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

+216.2% - Wolverine
+104.0% - Deadpool
+102.1% - Thunderbolts
+ 64.6% - Superior Spider-Man
+ 58.3% - Avengers
+ 49.0% - Uncanny X-Men
+ 48.6% - Thor
+ 40.1% - Iron Man
+ 35.6% - Hulk
+ 26.0% - New Avengers
+ 21.0% - Secret Avengers
+ 18.1% - Captain America
+  8.6% - Fantastic Four
+  5.8% - X-Force
-  2.4% - Daredevil
-  5.2% - Defenders
-  6.9% - FF
-  8.5% - Powers
- 12.6% - X-Factor
- 14.9% - Journey into Mystery
- 19.0% - Astonishing X-Men
- 21.7% - X-Men Legacy
- 22.1% - Venom
- 23.1% - Wolverine and the X-Men
- 23.8% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
- 22.6% - Avenging Spider-Man
- 25.9% - Red She-Hulk / Hulk
- 27.2% - Ultimates
- 27.3% - Ultimate Comics X-Men
- 27.4% - Scarlet Spider
- 39.9% - Winter Soldier
- 63.4% - Age of Apocalypse
- 71.8% - Avengers Assemble


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

+148.6% - Wolverine
+ 88.4% - Deadpool
+ 84.5% - Hulk
+ 53.9% - Uncanny X-Men
+ 51.5% - Thunderbolts
+ 46.2% - Superior Spider-Man
+ 36.7% - Daredevil
+ 24.1% - Avengers
+ 19.9% - Thor
+ 16.6% - Oz
+ 10.8% - Captain America
+  8.7% - New Avengers
+  0.9% - X-Force
+  0.3% - Iron Man
-  9.6% - Secret Avengers
- 17.5% - X-Factor
- 19.9% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
- 41.2% - X-Men Legacy
- 41.5% - Ultimate Comics X-Men
- 49.2% - Red She-Hulk / Hulk
- 60.0% - Fantastic Four
- 69.8% - FF


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

+294.9% - Wolverine
+ 58.3% - Superior Spider-Man
+ 35.7% - Deadpool
+ 27.8% - Fantastic Four
+ 26.1% - Uncanny X-Men
+ 16.6% - Hulk
+ 13.0% - Thunderbolts
+  3.6% - X-Force
- 10.6% - Iron Man
- 13.7% - Captain America
- 13.9% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
- 14.4% - New Avengers
- 18.6% - Thor
- 28.0% - X-Factor
- 30.2% - Powers
- 41.6% - X-Men Legacy
- 67.1% - Ultimates
- 68.6% - Red She-Hulk / Hulk


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

+876.4% - Guardians of the Galaxy
+ 45.9% - Superior Spider-Man
+ 29.0% - Wolverine
+ 10.0% - Uncanny X-Men
+  7.5% - Deadpool
-  0.1% - X-Force
-  5.4% - Fantastic Four
-  9.3% - Daredevil
- 15.6% - Iron Man
- 20.8% - Captain America
- 26.2% - Thunderbolts
- 29.2% - Captain Marvel / Ms Marvel
- 31.7% - New Avengers
- 34.7% - X-Factor
- 49.3% - X-Men Legacy
- 56.6% - Oz
- 57.4% - Ultimate Comics X-Men


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

+670.8% - Guardians of the Galaxy
+ 82.5% - Wolverine
+ 22.3% - Iron Man
+  5.8% - Superior Spider-Man
-  3.7% - Uncanny X-Men
-  4.0% - Thunderbolts
- 10.4% - Daredevil
- 32.1% - Fantastic Four
- 36.7% - X-Force
- 36.8% - New Avengers
- 38.9% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
- 39.2% - Powers
- 39.6% - Captain America
- 55.4% - Ultimate Comics X-Men
- 56.7% - Captain Marvel / Ms Marvel
- 62.0% - X-Factor
- 65.7% - X-Men Legacy

45 COMMENTS

  1. Marvel really dropped the ball on this. I believe it would have been more successful if it had been a company wide relaunch like DC. Also, having returnability on the first six issues, would have helped us promote the books in a more successful manner. We ran a promotion for the first 6 issues of the New 52 and it was really successful. Except for All New X-men, which is rising in sales each issue and a half dozen other Marvel Now titles, all other books are selling at the same or below the pre launch numbers, while at least half of the DC books are selling better than the pre launch numbers. Since the New 52 debuted, DC has been outselling Marvel in my store.

  2. Love reading these each month. Breaks my heart to see Wolverine and the X-Men slowly sliding down the charts, it’s a remarkable book.

    @John – I agree, a relaunch (but not a reboot) across the board, along with increased promotion, would’ve gone a long way. Coupled with the generally higher quality of the Marvel Now stuff compared to the New 52 stuff, Marvel really could’ve had a smash on their hands as opposed to some modest triage.

  3. I’ve read a few issues of “Alpha”. If it gets decent promotion (yeah, I know…) it could do well as a collected trade. It has appeal to teens, and has some of the spirit seen in the early Amazing Spider-Man stories.

  4. I imagine Captain America is shedding readers for the same reason that this read shed Captain America. To me, the book seemed pointless unless the point was simply to liberate $2.99 plus tax from my pocket.

  5. @ Saipman – is the book no good? I love Remender and wanted to give it a try, but I really can’t buy any more John Romita Jr comics in good conscience.

  6. Michael – nah, doesn’t eat raw (or cooked puppies), I’ve just bought way too much of the man’s work, which I don’t enjoy, because it was written by writers I do enjoy.

  7. You do realize Guardians of the Galaxy 1 came with just about 17 variants, right? Variants push numbers no matter who is on the creative team. Let’s not get it twisted.

  8. What Marvel just can’t seem to do is launch a new comic that consistently sells above 100k – they haven’t achieved that for many years, but Batman and Justice League show it’s still possible, one way or another…

  9. I’m liking Marvel Now, though I didn’t think I did that much at first. I specifically turned my nose up at Thor and Iron Man, but now I’m a fan. I’m in the minority for not liking that Cornell Wolverine, however. I don’t know–a guy wiping out dozens and dozens of innocent people, and the cops and Wolverine cracking jokes just didn’t work for me. It didn’t come across as whistling past the graveyard, either. Just unaware jerks.

    I wouldn’t have been happy if they had rebooted. I like the way they did it. If their marketing to non-comic readers was off, that’s beyond my ability to recognize since I keep up with this stuff.

    Bendis verdict this month: Age of Ultron is eh, All-New is excellent, Uncanny is decent, Guardians is promising, Ultimate is steady, didn’t read the others.

  10. First thing killing the Ultimate line: 3.99 for normal sized comics which are not part of the main continuity.

  11. Yeah, I don’t get why DC is able to keep books above 100k when Marvel isn’t, particularly when one of the books (JLA) is a distinctly average book that doesn’t have Jim Lee anymore.

  12. Torsten, I suspect that as long as they keep throwing Humberto Ramos covers on Alpha instead of covers by the interior artist Nuno Plati, it will never sell.

    While Ramos’ art works well for some comics genres (his art on Fairy Quest was AMAZING), super-hero comics is not one of them. My customers kept buying Amazing Spider-Man *despite* his art rather than *for* it.

    Plati’s art style is crisp and vibrant in a way that is dis-served by slapping a bigfoot Ramos cover on it.

    IMHO.

  13. Marvel ongoing books don’t sell consistently over 100K because A) All books that sell near 100 K are double shipped, sometimes every month, sometimes 6 months out of the year, and sometimes 3 months out of the year. SSM could easily be in JLA territory consistently if it was a monthly book. But Marvel makes more money this way, so why would they change?

    And B) Marvel’s event books always sell in the 100K+ range, so they can sell in those numbers, its just how they choose to engage the market with what kind of books.

    I also think the fact that Marvel’s top books are consistently under-ordered (as evidenced by the 4K + adds to previous issues) shows that the relaunch was a massive success, yet to be determined in scale. The fact that some people don’t like Cap in Dimension Z or the fact that a few mid to low tier books are back where they were before the relaunch means practically nothing. There’s a handful of books that haven’t found their levels or just aren’t sticking with an audience, but those are clearly exceptions.

    And it’s not finished yet: X-Men is coming next month, which I imagine will be a pretty big launch. It would be hard to screw it up.

  14. Charlie – why does the book coming out more frequently make it sell less? 52 sold amazingly, with a giant chunk of its run selling 100k +/ issue. Granted it was a time of slightly higher sales across the board, but the point remains, that shipping more than monthly didn’t harm sales.

  15. Because it costs more over the life time of the book.

    52 was an event comic, and a successful one. That and your “granted” is pretty much the whole reason why.

    Think about it in reverse. If Batman came out twice a month, would it maintain the level of sales *per issue* it has now? The answer is – although hypothetical – almost certainly “No.”

  16. Personally, I think Marvel missed a golden opportunity by not rebooting and having a clean slate. Would’ve been a great entry point for new readers coming off the movies. And why not? And Marvel’s so good at PR, they could’ve made that link very well.

    It could’ve meant sales, and given their books/characters a sense of risk and drama again. Wiping the slate clean *does* work – look at how they handle Ultimate Spidey. It shows Marvel can really invest in character change, if they do it right. Sadly, they won’t do it with their main books, that are saddled by 50 years of continuity.

    But I’m dreaming, this ain’t going to happen. Instead we get Bendis phoning in… uh, “writing” 8 books a month and everyone applauding it, decompressed “stories”, and comics costing $4 a piece.

    @Ras, I’m with you on Wolverine. It was a pointless chase scene, with Wolverine not even saving the day. $7 for pap. He used to be such a riveting character. Now he’s just a wisecracking podgy bland guy in yellow spandex.

  17. @ Charlie – plenty of books have found success going biweekly. The X-Men books, at the height of their success in the 90s, would occasionally go biweekly, with issues marked as “early october/late october”, I really don’t think going bi has much to do with the failure or success of a book. additionally, price, so long as it’s not uniquely high, doesn’t seem to be much of a factor either. Bendis’ Dark Avengers sold very well at 3.99.

  18. @ Rich – reboots can work, but they aren’t a necessity. Look at Doctor Who. The same basic continuity has been going strong for 50 years and the show has had massive expansion into new fan demographics. A clean slate isn’t required, all it takes is good storytelling that doesn’t get bogged down in superfluous details.

  19. For a book to be successful shipping more than 12 times a year, a book has to be good. I’ve dropped more than one marginal title when faced with a double shipping month.

  20. Books never have to be good to be successful. It helps, but it’s by no means a rule. Look at how many bestsellers Jeph Loeb has been responsible for. The man sells even though his writing makes baby rabbits convulse and die.

  21. Hi Zach. Dr Who was kind of rebooted, when they brought it back in 2005. What I mean is – they changed the format to suit a modern sensibility and audience; they only hint at the previous continuity, they don’t refer back to it.

    And that’s partly because Dr Who airs in England (where I live) on a Saturday evening (around 6 or 7pm), which is family primetime. They’ve got to create a show that appeals to both the mainstream – because it competes against ‘The X-Factor’ and other Saturday gameshows – as well as the hardcore fans. And it’s worked. And reboots have worked for the new Star Trek, for the Daniel Craig James Bond.

    But Marvel isn’t doing what Dr Who has done. They maintain their 50 year continuity, keep referring back to it all the time, and serve only the hardcore fans. I just feel a cleaner slate would really open them up to a whole generation of new and younger readers, which the industry is always gagging for! An easy entry point for all.

    It might even punch up the creativity at Marvel, where the writers can stop being beholden to stories from 1960.

  22. Marvel might not have had the same impact as DC’s line wide reboot, but over the long run we’re seeing stronger numbers with Marvel’s more stable creative decisions.

    I’m one of those life long DC readers who was totally chased away by the new 52. I only read Wonder Woman and Worlds’ Finest now. Meanwhile I’m reading Marvel books that I would never have considered before, and I really think it’s the editorial decisions driving this new interest. Marvel’s moves have shown way more confidence in what they are doing, and it’s more attractive for me as a reader/buyer.

  23. Hi Rich,
    I have to completely disagree with you. They in no way did a reboot. Everything still stands and there are indeed references to the old stories – UNIT, for example, is all over the place, and it was first seen decades ago. Heck, the whole series was relaunched on the premise that The Doctor was forced to destroy both his homeworld and the Daleks and regenerate. Maybe we’re having a nomenclature issue, but I’d see a reboot as a re-envisioning, where the old stories are null and void, and a relaunch is simply a marketing initiative, designed to gather new readers.

    I don’t see why the Who approach can’t work for Marvel. If you think about it, most comics don’t REALLY require you to know that much old continuity. Does the fact that spider-Man was once cloned come up all that often? Does Rachel Summers being from an alternate timeline rather than just ‘the future’ come up more than once a decade? All it really takes is a talented writer who can tell a story without requiring you to know that The Hulk once wore a tacky mobster outfit and fedora and you’re good to go.

  24. I don’t know if a simultaneous relaunch would’ve helped sales or not. I agree that different promotions for retailers might’ve though. I also agree with Zach about reboots not being necessary. And personally I’m glad as DC’s constant reboots are one of two things that kept me from getting into their non-Batman books as a kid and as a teen. And now I don’t have any real attachment to most of them like I do the characters I did read about as a kid. It’s fine for casual reading but gets painfully confusing when you enjoy a character or book enough to start looking them up and picking up old issues and trades.

  25. Castle’s not on the list this month because issue #4 didn’t ship until the first week of April. So it’ll be on that one. And issue #5 has been bumped to May,

    Probably had to do with PAD’s rehab.

  26. I agree with what Zach is saying. A skillful writer can let past continuity inform his work without getting bogged down in specifics. Like it or not, the comics industry caters to a lot of us old guys who don’t want the past just erased, and the idea that wiping it all away will drive young readers into the shops doesn’t seem to be borne out. It seems to me that the New 52 basically attracted people who had either gotten away from comics or from DC. Are many of the new faces who came in in September 2011 still coming in? Maybe so. But, unless you’re just dying to see Peter Parker back in high school, you can generally follow what’s going on pretty quickly.

  27. Hi Zach,

    You misunderstand me. I don’t say Dr Who did a reboot. Maybe I should’ve said they restructured the show, so it tells stories that appeal to a modern sensibility – that’s what I meant. :-) Maybe I shouldn’t have used the word “reboot” since it has so many other meanings. Sorry about that. :-)

    I agree the Who approach could work at Marvel; works for their Ultimate line. And Ras, I’m not doubting the writers. It’s Marvel’s publisher/editorial approach I’m focused on – this is what keeps the continuity referenced. Maybe keeping that going is good for older fans, but for new ones (like me) it makes their books feel impenetrable sometimes. Like the Rick Remender X-Force. A cool sci-fi book – but kept referencing stuff from the 1990s. I didn’t collect comics then, so at times it just lost me. It would’ve been cool to see gloves off without all that previous story baggage.

    @ Chaos – sorry the new DC doesn’t work for you. I can see how. I’m a new DC reader and joined with the New 52. I love the risk they took in resetting the characters, setting it in present day and allowing me to enjoy them from the ground up. Previous DC always scared me away with its intense continuity. I wish Marvel had done the same, just ‘cos they’ve got cool characters. Is not doing everything they can to get MORE people to read their books not a good thing??

    @ PeterCSM730 – I have to disagree, about the reboots. I feel that with any long-time property, it’s okay to be redone to serve a modern audience.

    Does that take away from what’s been done before? No, of course not – and we’ll always have those previous works to enjoy. Some examples of reboots do include DC, but also the new Star Trek, the current James Bond, the current Valiant comics. Even the recent Spidey movie.

    As long as the creators stay true to the core of the original characters and concept, I don’t see a problem with that.

  28. Hey Rich – see, I think we still aren’t on the same page as to what a reboot is versus what a relaunch is. Ultimate strikes me as a reboot – when the first issue of Ult Spidey came out in the early 2000s, there was zero continuity. All that “counted” was from issue 1 on of that series. The “Doctor Who” approach, since it accepts that everything the Doctor did since the first episode 50 years ago, seems to be nothing like that.

    I just don’t see why there needs to be zero history for comic characters for them to be accessible. When Star Trek: The Next Generation started, Picard had already served in Starfleet for decades, and somehow, fans weren’t lost and unable to follow the story. They accepted that there was stuff that happened before that might have some relevance and the writers wrote stories that a new viewer could appreciate and an older viewer could perhaps appreciate at a marginally higher level.

  29. I just thought I’d share a tidbit that is mostly anecdotal but still interesting.

    My comics shop publishes a list of their fifty best-selling titles by “package customer orders”, which means pull lists. Now this isn’t just any comics shop, they have four locations across a mid-sized U.S. city’s metro area.

    In March, Captain America was exactly 50th on the list (behind Iron Man 4 & 5, Secret Avengers 2, and Avengers Assemble 13, which just goes to show you what kind of impact speculation and more casual consumers have their impact). However, in April and May (orders are already in, remember) it’s moved back up to #46. Doesn’t really mean much, except perchance it’s going to find it’s level more quickly than these numbers suggest? Or not. I do really like that book and want it to succeed.

    Another interesting point about this list is that it has X-Men #1 (for when it was originally solicited in April) like so:

    17) X-MEN #1

    and in May:

    14) X-MEN #2

    Under-ordered by subscribers? A sell out on the way?

  30. The new Captain America series has to be one of the worst things I’ve ever read. Included on that list is the new Guardians of the Galaxy comic.

    Though I’m digging the Captain Marvel comic, Phillipe DeAndra’s art is great, but it’s a goofy book, so 17,000 moved units seems about right. Any other company this would be a hit.

  31. @ Paul – what didn’t you like about Guardians? I thought the .1 issue was very strong and the first proper issue was pretty good (though nothing amazing).

  32. I think X-Factor is gearing up for a relaunch as part of the second wave of Marvel Now. While it’s selling at a dangerous (albeit stable) level and its next arc is called “The End of X-Factor”, the latest issue’s recap page said Peter David paid a recent visit to the Marvel offices and has big plans for the team’s future.

  33. Captain America is my favorite character and I like Remender and I LOVE JRjr but the book really isn’t clicking with me. I think that the Dimension Z story arc is taking too long because some issues have just felt like filler.

  34. Some random musings:

    * What’s all this about Batman and Justice League “consistently” selling over 100k? Have you guys checked the Justice League numbers lately? It’s not going to be above 100k for long, that’s for sure….and as mediocre as it has been, it’s no surprise.

    * Red She-Hulk is actually fairly good, but what does Marvel expect with a “C” level character?

    * Extremely surprised to see the “out of this world” (pun intended) numbers for Guardians of the Galaxy!

    * I’m really surprised to see New Avengers struggling. It’s got to be one of Marvel’s 5 best comics right now. Way better than the flagship Avengers title IMO.

  35. I forgot Red She-Hulk had a book out. Has it kept a consistent creative team? I hope Guardians gets better. It’s alright/average but right now nothing I’m going to be excited to pick up every month. I think the second issue will be make/break for me.

  36. Enjoyed the rundown as always. Just wanted to point out the DD: End of Days actually brings the Bendis total to 11 books in the month (or 10.5 is you want to not count co-writing as a full credit).

  37. I was a big fan of the previous GOTG DnA series and loved the GOTG 0.1 issue, but issue #1 also didn’t do much for me.

    Age of Ultron is a perfect example of decompression. What a waste of top talent (art-wise) that book is…

    All New X-Men is the only really great Marvel title out right now IMO. And I haven’t enjoyed an X-Men comic OR Bendis’ writing in over a decade!!!

  38. To all you people whizzing and moaning about Marvel not doing a reboot, I say you’re in the minority. Obviously some people LIKE continuity and history. Also, while Marvel may not have a consistent book above 100 K, they have quite a few very solid titles such as Daredevil and X-Factor that have devoted fanbases and have had for some time. Consistency over flash in the pan creative teams and editorial anarchy is the way to go. A clean slate/total reboot is what drove away a lot of DC’s core audience and now they’re starting to pay the price. I’m glad Marvel didn’t do the same thing in the name of a quick buck. Others have pointed out that continuity isn’t so dense on most of the main Marvel characters that you need to know the characters’ whole history to get into a book. Marvel tried a new readers line with the “Ultimate” line. I guess it’s pretty obvious how that line has held up over the years against Marvel proper. No offense, but it irks me that people think you have to throw out a rich history to bring in new readers. These characters have been around and been popular for years and drawing new fans without doing a “clean slate”. I think they’ll continue to do so. Heck, some people after getting drawn in by the movies and cartoons and such might get into the books and be INTERESTED in reading the history of the characters! Might do wonders for the Essentials and trade markets down the road. Mini-rant over.

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