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By Jason Enright

Another month of All-New Marvel Now releases is upon us. Some books end, some books relaunch, some new heroes arrive on the scene. Let’s see what the numbers are telling us. First up a bit of a breakdown:

10 new #1s (not counting #1s from miniseries like Revolutionary War)
8 Avengers titles
7 X-Men titles (9 if you count X-Force and X-Factor)
10 titles that double-shipped.

Now before we get deep into the numbers, I want to point out a trend that I’ve been noticing, and would love to hear your thoughts on in the comments below.

So there are two types of All-New Marvel Now #1s. The first is something like Black Widow or She-Hulk, where the new #1 is a new series featuring a new or returning character and a new creative team, so basically a new book. The other is what I call the soft relaunch. They take an ongoing series with falling sales and they give it a new #1, but not much else changes, same creative team or if maybe the artists changes, the writer stays, and maybe a slight tweak on the storyline or premise. Examples of this are Secret Avengers or X-Factor.

Now the trend I have been noticing is that these soft relaunches might see the issue #1 get a big sales boost but then sales fall down very close to where it was before the reboot in the next few months. So I ask all of you fans, retailers, etc. who read this, what do you think is going on? Is the relaunch just not a big enough deal to catch reader interest? Is there not enough of a shakeup or new direction? Is this just relaunch fatigue? There have been a lot of Marvel Now relaunches. Is there just more focus and excitement on the new titles like Silver Surfer, Ms. Marvel and Moon Knight? 

So keep those thoughts and question in mind, and let’s dive in to the numbers.

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

5,7. SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN
03/04  Am Spi #505   –  83,612
03/09  Am Spi #588   -	 61,325
03/11  Am Spi #656   -	 59,626
03/12  Am Spi #681   -  52,143
---
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%)
04/13  Superior #7  -  87,945  (  +2.5%)
04/13  Superior #8  -  85,671  (  -2.6%)
05/13  Superior #9  -  93,656  (  +9.3%)
05/13  Superior #10 -  85,346  (  -8.9%)
06/13  Superior #11 -  84,219  (  -1.3%)
06/13  Superior #12 -  82,338  (  -2.2%)
07/13  Superior #13 -  81,678  (  -0.8%)
07/13  Superior #14 -  80,839  (  -1.0%)
08/13  Superior #15 -  78,636  (  -2.7%)
08/13  Superior #16 -  78,087  (  -0.7%)
09/13  Superior #17 -  89,118  ( +14.1%)
09/13  Superior #18 -  80,178  ( -10.0%)
10/13  Superior #19 -  83,671  (  +4.4%)
10/13  Superior #20 -  85,309  (  +2.0%)
11/13  Superior #21 -  74,940  ( -12.2%)
11/13  Superior #22 -  81,250  (  +8.4%)
12/13  Superior #23 -  77,105  (  -5.1%)
12/13  Superior #24 -  76,131  (  -1.3%)
01/14  Superior #25 -  77,311  (   1.5%)
01/14  Superior #26 -  72,591  (  -6.1%)
02/14  Supr #27.Now -  86,405  (  19.0%)
02/14  Superior #28 -  75,477  ( -12.6%)
03/14  Superior #29 -  76,568  (   1.4%)
03/14  Superior #30 -  75,431  (  -1.5%)
---
6 mnth  ( -14.1%)
1 year  ( -18.7%)
2 year  (  47.0%)
3 year  (  28.4%)
5 year  (  24.9%)
10 year (  -8.4%)

Superior Spider-Man stays really strong as it heads towards its conclusion and the return of Peter Parker. The final issue should actually see a sales increase, and then rumor has it that the orders on Amazing #1 are going to be huge, like in the 500,000 range. It will be really interesting to see how much of that is hype and how much second and consecutive drop off after that. Stay tuned as we’ll be watching this series very closely.

6. DAREDEVIL
03/04  Daredevil v2 #58 - 54,399
03/09  Daredevil v2 #116- 41,255 
03/11  DD Reborn    #3  - 27,231 
03/12  Daredevil v3 #10 - 38,137 
---
03/13  Daredevil v3 #24 - 37,231  ( +0.2%)
04/13  Daredevil v3 #25 - 39,678  ( +6.6%)
05/13  Daredevil v3 #26 - 39,788  ( +0.3%)
06/13  Daredevil v3 #27 - 35,834  ( -9.9%)
07/13  Daredevil v3 #28 - 35,364  ( -1.3%)
07/13  Daredevil v3 #29 - 34,915  ( -1.3%)
08/13  Daredevil v3 #30 - 35,240  ( +0.9%)
09/13  Daredevil v3 #31 - 36,666  ( +4.0%)
10/13  Daredevil v3 #32 - 34,957  ( -4.7%)
11/13  Daredevil v3 #33 - 32,966  ( -5.7%)
12/13  Daredevil v3 #34 - 32,331  ( -1.9%)
01/14  Daredevil v3 #35 - 32,067  ( -0.8%)
02/14  Daredevil v3 #36 – 31,494  ( -1.8%)
03/14  Daredevil v4 #1  - 76,006  (141.3%)
---
6 Mnth  ( 107.3%)
1 Year  ( 104.1%)
2 Year  (  99.0%)
3 Year  ( 179.1%)
5 Year  (  84.2%)
10 Year (  39.7%)

Very strong issue 1 sales numbers for Daredevil, backed up by 5 variant covers. This book has always been a critical hit and while its sales were very steady, they were never HUGE. Hopefully this soft relaunch gives readers a good jumping on point for what is one of the best creative and best books in comics right now. We’ll be watching to see how much of this sales bump the book is able to hold on to for future issues.

8. SILVER SURFER
03/04  Silver Surfer v5 #7 -  26,454  
03/11  Silver Surfer v6 #2 -  23,484  
---
03/14  Silver Surfer v7 #1 -  64,919  (  --- )
---
3 year  (176.4%)
10 year (145.4%)

Been a while since there has been a Silver Surfer solo series, but with the success of Guardians of the Galaxy, it seems time to bring in more of the cosmic characters. This is a pretty good debut and likely has a lot to do with the strong creative team behind this book. Again we’ll be watching to see how issue 2 -4 do. Hopefully, it will only see small drops and a lot of re-order activity.

10, 20. UNCANNY X-MEN
03/04  Uncanny X-Men #441   –  86,430
03/09  Uncanny X-Men #507   –  77,945
03/11  Uncanny X-Men #534   -  55,731
03/12  Uncanny X-Men v2 #8  -  57,568
---
03/13  Uncanny X-Men v3 #3  -  85,775  (  -9.3%)
04/13  Uncanny X-Men v3 #4  -  80,047  (  -6.7%)
04/13  Uncanny X-Men v3 #5  -  78,919  (  -1.4%)
05/13  Uncanny X-Men v3 #6  -  73,621  (  -6.7%)
06/13  Uncanny X-Men v3 #7  -  73,719  (  +0.1%)
07/13  Uncanny X-Men v3 #8  -  70,274  (  -4.7%)
07/13  Uncanny X-Men v3 #9  -  67,338  (  -4.2%)
08/13  Uncanny X-Men v3 #10 -  70,903  (  +5.3%)
08/13  Uncanny X-Men v3 #11 -  65,700  (  -7.3%)
09/13  Uncanny X-Men v3 #12 -  76,790  ( +16.9%)
10/13  Uncanny X-Men v3 #13 -  75,202  (  -2.1%)
11/13  Uncanny X-Men v3 #14 -  65,655  ( -12.7%)
12/13  Uncanny #15.INH      -  62,692  (  -4.5%)
01/14  Uncanny X-Men v3 #16 -  58,676  (  -6.4%)
02/14  Uncanny X-Men v3 #17 –  56,163  (  -4.3%)
03/14  Uncanny X-Men v3 #18 -  54,902  (  -2.2%)
03/14  U X-Men #19.NOW      -  64,514  (  17.5%)
---
6 mnth  ( -16.0%)
1 year  ( -24.8%)
2 year  (  12.0%)
3 year  (  15.8%)
5 year  ( -17.2%)
10 year ( -25.4%)

A nice bump for the .NOW issue and its 3 variants, but the thing to watch for is if the series holds onto those sales or drops right back down to where it was for the next issue.

12. ALL-NEW X-MEN
---
03/13  All-New X-Men #8  -  90,990  ( +6.8%)
03/13  All-New X-Men #9  -  81,692  (-10.2%)
04/13  All-New X-Men #10 -  84,760  ( +3.8%)
05/13  All-New X-Men #11 -  80,582  ( -4.9%)
06/13  All-New X-Men #12 -  82,178  ( +2.0%)
06/13  All-New X-Men #13 -  77,656  ( -5.5%)
07/13  All-New X-Men #14 -  74,848  ( -3.6%)
08/13  All-New X-Men #15 -  73,035  ( -2.4%)
09/13  All-New X-Men #16 -  84,218  (+15.3%)
10/13  All-New X-Men #17 -  82,843  ( -1.6%)
11/13  All-New X-Men #18 -  82,365  ( -0.6%)
11/13  All-New X-Men #19 -  71,044  (-13.7%)
12/13  All-New X-Men #20 -  68,189  ( -4.0%)
01/14  All-New X-Men #21 -  62,876  ( -7.8%)
01/14  All-New #22.NOW   -  76,565  (+21.8%)
02/14  All-New X-Men #23 -  64,625  (-15.6%)
03/14  All-New X-Men #24 -  63,739  ( -1.4%)
---
6 mnth  ( -24.3%)
1 year  ( -29.9%)

Final issue of the crossover with Guardians of the Galaxy sees only a slight drop from the previous issue. All said this series is still going pretty strong and the crossover did help boost its sales.

13. UNCANNY AVENGERS
---
03/13  Uncanny Avengers #5  - 84,382  ( -3.6%)
04/13  Uncanny Avengers #6  - 80,863  ( -4.2%)
04/13  Uncanny Avengers #7  - 77,027  ( -4.7%)
05/13  Uncanny Avengers #8  - 75,655  ( -1.8%)
05/13  Uncanny Av. #8AU     - 72,514  ( -4.2%)
06/13  Uncanny Avengers #9  - 71,842  ( -0.9%)
07/13  Uncanny Avengers #10 - 68,768  ( -4.3%)
08/13  Uncanny Avengers #11 - 65,447  ( -4.8%)
09/13  Uncanny Avengers #12 - 73,357  (+12.1%)
10/13  Uncanny Avengers #13 - 60,597  (-17.4%)
11/13  Uncanny Avengers #14 - 60,750  ( +0.3%)
12/13  Uncanny Avengers #15 - 57,035  ( -6.1%)
01/14  Uncanny Avengers #16 - 54,670  ( -4.1%)
02/14  Uncanny Avengers #17 – 53,181  ( -2.7%)
03/14  U Avengers #18.NOW   - 63,516  ( 19.4%)
---
6 mnth  ( -13.4%)
1 year  ( -27.4%)

Uncanny Avengers gets a nice 10k bump from the .NOW and its 4 variant covers. Again we will have to wait until next month to see if it holds on to any of these sales.

15. SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL
---
02/14  Su Spider-Man Annual #2 – 59,278

Really nice numbers for the Spider-man annual coming in only 15k under the main series.

16. MOON KNIGHT
03/09  Moon Knight v3 #28 -  20,883  
03/12  Moon Knight v4 #11 -  21,581  
---
02/14  Moon Knight v5 #1  -  58,022 (  --- )
---
2 year  (169.0%)
10 year (177.8%)

This is a nice number for the new Ellis/Shalvey/Bellaire Moon Knight book. Goes to show you that putting a strong creative team behind a lesser known character really helps drive sales numbers and build confidence in the book.

17. GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY
03/09  Guardians v2 #11 -  27,411
---
03/13  Guardians v3 #1  - 217,993  (+171.3%)
04/13  Guardians v3 #2  -  88,184  ( -59.5%)
05/13  ---
06/13  Guardians v3 #3  -  75,633  ( -14.2%)
06/13  Guardians v3 #4  -  71,575  (  -5.4%)
07/13  Guardians v3 #5  - 110,372  ( +54.2%)
08/13  ---
09/13  Guardians v3 #6  -  69,030  ( -37.5%)
10/13  Guardians v3 #7  -  68,647  (  -0.6%)
10/13  Guardians v3 #8  -  63,494  (  -7.5%)
11/13  ---
12/13  Guardians v3 #9  -  57,665  (  -9.2%)
12/13  Guardians v3 #10 -  53,527  (  -7.2%)
01/14  Guardian #11.NOW -  61,111  (  14.7%) [63,420]
02/14  Guardians v3 #12 -  55,454  (  -9.3%)
03/14  Guardians v3 #13 -  56,764  (   2.4%)
---
6 mnth  ( -17.8%)
1 year  ( -74.0%)
2 year  (   --- )
3 year  (   --- )
5 year  ( 107.1%)
10 year (   --- ) 

Just like All-New X-Men, this series sees some growth due to the crossover, and should get another nice boost from the ‘100th’ issue special next month. I wonder if many X-men fans discovered Guardians through this crossover or vice versa, maybe this will help both books gain some new readers.

19. Magneto
---
02/14  Magneto #1 – 55,337

Nice debut for the Master of Magnetism. Again, we’ll have to see how steeply it drops in future months and how many reorders it gets.

21, 27. WOLVERINE & THE X-MEN
03/12  Wolverine/X-Men #7  - 54,559  
---
03/13  Wolverine/X-Men #26 - 42,019  ( -6.7%)
03/13  Wolverine/X-Men #27 - 41,960  ( -0.1%)
04/13  Wolv & X-Men #27AU  - 47,055  (+12.1%)
04/13  Wolverine/X-Men #28 - 42,718  ( -9.2%)
05/13  Wolverine/X-Men #29 - 40,451  ( -5.3%)
05/13  Wolverine/X-Men #30 - 40,019  ( -1.1%)
06/13  Wolverine/X-Men #31 - 41,661  ( +4.1%)
06/13  Wolverine/X-Men #32 - 39,790  ( -4.5%)
07/13  Wolverine/X-Men #33 - 42,269  ( +6.2%)
08/13  Wolverine/X-Men #34 - 38,473  ( -9.0%)
08/13  Wolverine/X-Men #35 - 38,046  ( -1.1%)
09/13  Wolverine/X-Men #36 - 59,684  (+56.9%)
10/13  Wolverine/X-Men #37 - 57,434  ( -3.8%)
11/13  Wolverine/X-Men #38 - 39,098  (-31.9%)
12/13  Wolverine/X-Men #39 - 39,063  ( -0.1%)
01/14  Wolverine/X-Men #40 - 36,855  ( -5.7%)
02/14  Wolverine/X-Men #41 – 35,800  ( -2.9%)
02/14  Wolverine/X-Men #42 – 35,392  ( -1.1%)
03/14  Wolver/X-Men v2 #1  - 54,675  ( 54.5%)
03/14  Wolver/X-Men v2 #2  - 40,386  (-26.1%)
---
6 Mnth  (  -8.4%)
1 Year  (  30.1%)
2 Year  (   0.0%)

So this is the first comic in an interesting trend we’re starting with some of the Marvel Now relaunches. Books that aren’t new series but simply renumbering of existing series seem to have a strong debut issue but then immediately start to drop back down to their previous numbers. Before this soft relaunch, this title was selling around 35k, now on its second issue of the relaunch it is back down to 40k already. So what is going on here? Has the bloom come off the All-New Marvel Now rose? Or is this relaunch just not enough of a shakeup, sure it is a different creative team, but is still a very similar premise. You have to wonder if instead of helping the book find new readers, did the relaunch just give some people a reason to drop the book from their pull lists? Could this relaunch actually result in lower sales than it was doing before the new #1?

23. AVENGERS
03/04  Avengers v3 #80 –  55,533
03/11  Avengers v4 #11 -  66,618
03/12  Avengers v4 #24 -  52,242
---
03/13  Avengers v5 #7  -  78,278  (  -7.8%)
03/13  Avengers v5 #8  -  82,691  (  +5.6%)
04/13  Avengers v5 #9  -  77,780  (  -5.9%)
04/13  Avengers v5 #10 -  78,905  (  +1.4%)
05/13  Avengers v5 #11 -  70,687  ( -10.4%)
05/13  Avengers v5 #12 -  74,978  (  +6.1%)
06/13  Avengers v5 #13 -  68,624  (  -8.5%)
06/13  Avengers v5 #14 -  74,846  (  +9.1%)
07/13  Avengers v5 #15 -  68,472  (  -8.5%)
07/13  Avengers v5 #16 -  72,842  (  +6.4%)
08/13  Avengers v5 #17 -  68,962  (  -5.3%)
08/13  Avengers v5 #18 -  74,697  (  +8.3%)
09/13  Avengers v5 #19 -  92,489  ( +23.8%)
09/13  Avengers v5 #20 -  74,388  ( -19.6%)
10/13  Avengers v5 #21 -  71,751  (  -3.5%)
10/13  Avengers v5 #22 -  70,735  (  -1.4%)
11/13  Avengers v5 #23 -  66,501  (  -6.0%)
12/13  Avengers#24.NOW - 127,466  ( +91.7%)
01/14  Avengers v5 #25 -  65,591  ( -48.5%)
02/14  Avengers v5 #26 –  59,775  (  -8.9%)
03/14  Avengers v5 #27 -  53,966  (  -9.7%)
---
6 mnth  ( -41.7%)
1 year  ( -31.1%)
2 year  (   3.0%)
3 year  ( -19.0%)
5 year  (   --- )
10 year (  -2.8%)

The .NOW issue gave a great sales bump but since that issue, numbers have been dropping even more rapidly than before. Although, historically the Avengers seem to live in the 50k range the last couple years, so maybe it is getting close to leveling out.

25. ORIGIN II
09/01  Origin #1 of 6    - 135,561 
10/01  Origin #2 of 6    - 131,582
10/01  Origin #3 of 6    - 128,978
12/01  Origin #4 of 6    - 168,460
01/02  Origin #5 of 6    - 178,231
02/02  Origin #6 of 6    - 179,251
---
12/13  Origin II #1 of 5 - 131,724
01/14  Origin II #2 of 5 -  64,631  (-50.9%)
02/14  Origin II #3 of 5 -  53,640  (-17.0%)
03/14  Origin II #4 of 5 -  50,210  ( -6.4%)

Seems to be leveling out and the series will probably end at 45 to 50k. They didn’t quite catch the same zeitgeist as the original series, but this would probably still be considered a success, and will likely do well in a collected format.

26. ALL NEW GHOST RIDER
03/09  Ghost Rider v6 #33 -  21,344  
03/12  Ghost Rider v7 #9  -  13,716  
---
02/14  All-new Ghost Rider #1  -  50,072 (  --- )
---
2 year  (265.0%)
10 year (134.6%)

When you compare this to Ghost Rider’s sales historically this is a very strong debut issue. The real test for this series will be how long it can hold on to these numbers and where it will end up stabilizing. It seems like reviews and general internet chatter have been good for this series, so I hope it finds its audience and sticks around for a while.

27, 33. DEADPOOL
03/09  Deadpool v3 #8  -  47,967  
03/11  Deadpool v3 #34 -  30,299  
03/12  Deadpool v3 #52 -  27,990  
---
03/13  Deadpool v4 #6  -  57,095  (  -0.4%)
04/13  Deadpool v4 #7  -  57,016  (  -0.1%)
04/13  Deadpool v4 #8  -  52,851  (  -7.3%)
05/13  Deadpool v4 #9  -  51,296  (  -2.9%)
05/13  Deadpool v4 #10 -  50,461  (  -1.6%)
06/13  Deadpool v4 #11 -  54,110  (  +7.2%)
06/13  Deadpool v4 #12 -  48,315  ( -10.7%)
07/13  Deadpool v4 #13 -  47,006  (  -2.7%)
08/13  Deadpool v4 #14 -  45,870  (  -2.4%)
08/13  Deadpool v4 #15 -  46,169  (  +0.7%)
09/13  Deadpool v4 #16 -  45,675  (  -1.1%)
09/13  Deadpool v4 #17 -  45,348  (  -0.7%)
10/13  Deadpool v4 #18 -  47,096  (  +3.9%)
11/13  Deadpool v4 #19 -  44,184  (  -6.2%)
12/13  Deadpool v4 #20 -  43,653  (  -1.2%)
12/13  Deadpool v4 #21 -  43,066  (  -1.3%)
01/14  Deadpool v4 #22 -  41,765  (  -3.0%)
02/14  Deadpool v4 #23 -  41,204  (  -1.3%)
02/14  Deadpool v4 #24 -  41,130  (  -0.2%)
03/14  D'pool #25.NOW  -  48,775  (  18.6%)
03/14  Deadpool v4 #26 -  44,141  (  -9.5%)
---
6 mnth  (   6.8%)
1 year  ( -14.6%)
2 year  (  74.0%)
3 year  (  61.0%)
5 year  (   1.7%)

Deadpool is coming off the .NOW issue high, and seems to have held onto a good number of those readers. With the wedding issue coming up it will likely see another sales bump and continue to hold steady in the 40-45k range for some time.

28, 29. NEW AVENGERS
03/09  New Avengers v1 #51 -  95,326  
03/11  New Avengers v2 #10 -  59,929  
03/12  New Avengers v2 #23 -  51,697  
---
03/13  New Avengers v3 #4  -  65,150  (  -9.7%)
04/13  New Avengers v3 #5  -  63,423  (  -2.7%)
05/13  New Avengers v3 #6  -  59,362  (  -6.4%)
06/13  New Avengers v3 #7  -  60,138  (  +1.3%)
07/13  New Avengers v3 #8  -  58,044  (  -3.5%)
08/13  New Avengers v3 #9  -  60,534  (  +4.3%)
09/13  New Avengers v3 #10 -  60,682  (  +0.2%)
10/13  New Avengers v3 #11 -  63,231  (  +4.2%)
11/13  New Avengers v3 #12 -  58,807  (  -7.0%)
12/13  N Avengers #13.INH  -  56,624  (  -3.7%)
01/14  ---
02/14  New Avengers v3 #14 -  50,668  ( -10.5%)
03/14  New Avengers v3 #15 -  47,178  (  -6.9%)
03/14  N Avengers #16.NOW  -  48,731  (   0.0%)
---
6 mnth  ( -19.7%)
1 year  ( -25.2%)
2 year  (   -6.0)
3 year  ( -18.7%)
5 year  ( -48.9%)

This .NOW issue does not get a very big sales bump, and if the trend from other series is any indication, the next issue will actually see a decent decline.

30. AMAZING X-MEN
03/12  Astonishing X-Men #48 -  34,182  
---
03/13  Astonishing X-Men #60 -  27,683  ( +14.4%)
04/13  Astonishing X-Men #61 -  27,090  (  -2.1%)
05/13  Astonishing X-Men #62 -  24,121  ( -11.0%)
06/13  Astonishing X-Men #63 -  23,326  (  -3.3%)
07/13  Astonishing X-Men #64 -  22,649  (  -2.9%)
08/13  Astonishing X-Men #65 -  22,010  (  -2.8%)
08/13  Astonishing X-Men #66 -  21,757  (  -1.1%)
09/13  Astonishing X-Men #67 -  21,044  (  -3.3%)
10/13  Astonishing X-Men #68 -  21,023  (  -0.0%)
11/13  Amazing X-Men v2 #1   - 112,337  (+434.4%)
12/13  Amazing X-Men v2 #2   -  60,870  ( -45.8%)
01/14  Amazing X-Men v2 #3   -  51,431  ( -15.5%)
02/14  Amazing X-Men v2 #4   -  48,161  (  -6.4%)
03/14  Amazing X-Men v2 #5   -  46,242  (  -4.0%)
---
6 mnth  ( 119.7%)
1 year  (  67.0%)
2 year  (  35.0%)

This series was seeing big drops early on but for now seems like it might be leveling out a bit. Hopefully, it will find a nice home around 40k.

32. CAPTAIN MARVEL
03/09  Ms. Marvel        #37 - 25,049  
---
03/13  Captain Marvel v6 #11 - 17,743  ( -3.4%)
04/13  Captain Marvel v6 #12 - 18,344  ( +3.4%)
05/13  Enemy Within          - 34,205  (+86.5%)
06/13  Captain Marvel v6 #13 - 19,673  (-42.5%)
07/13  Captain Marvel v6 #14 - 19,320  ( -1.8%)
08/13  Captain Marvel v6 #15 - 23,511  (+21.7%)
09/13  Captain Marvel v6 #16 - 22,845  ( -2.8%)
10/13  ---
11/13  Captain Marvel v6 #17 - 18,173  (-20.5%)
12/13  ---
01/14  ---
02/14  ---
03/14  Captain Marvel v7 #1  - 44,248  
---
6 mnth  (  93.7%)
1 year  ( 149.4%)
5 year  (  76.6%)

This series is an odd duck when it comes to sales numbers. It has a very vocal and passionate fan base, but it never does great in terms of sales. You would think that this new issue might perform like Daredevil and pull in big numbers as it gives all the curious readers a new jumping on point and yet looking at these numbers that didn’t happen. Which makes me wonder if we aren’t seeing the full picture here? And by that I mean digital sales. Perhaps the passionate fan base of readers are buying this book digitally? I also will be interested to see its re-order numbers or if there is a second printing, which may indicate its performance was underestimated in the initial orders. Still this book is a bit of a conundrum and I’ll be interested to watch the variation in sales over the next couple of months.

34. X-MEN
03/11  X-Men v3 #9  -  51,179  
03/12  X-Men v3 #26 -  35,833  
---
03/13  ---
04/13  ---
05/13  X-Men v4 #1  - 183,297  (+464.2%)
06/13  X-Men v4 #2  -  73,542  ( -59.9%)
07/13  X-Men v4 #3  -  65,270  ( -11.2%)
08/13  X-Men v4 #4  -  64,010  (  -1.9%)
09/13  X-Men v4 #5  -  73,357  ( +14.6%)
10/13  X-Men v4 #6  -  71,990  (  -1.9%)
11/13  X-Men v4 #7  -  56,968  ( -20.9%)
12/13  X-Men v4 #8  -  53,201  (  -6.6%)
01/14  X-Men v4 #9  -  49,412  (  -7.1%)
02/14  X-M  #10.Now -  52,486  (   6.2%)
02/14  X-Men v4 #11 -  47,498  (  -9.5%)
03/14  X-Men v4 #12 -  44,135  (  -7.1%)
---
6 mnth  ( -39.8%)
2 year  (  23.0%)
3 year  ( -13.8%)

This book continues to slide down little by little, but those drops seem to be getting smaller, which may indicate that it will start to level out between 35 and 40k.

35, 71. IRON MAN
03/04  Iron Man v3 #78  - 29,680
03/09 Inv Iron Man #11  - 52,157
03/11 Inv Iron Man #502 - 43,899
03/12 Inv Iron Man #514 - 31,424
---
03/13  Iron Man v6 #7   - 44,040  (  -4.7%)
04/13  Iron Man v6 #8   - 43,974  (  -0.1%)
05/13  Iron Man v6 #9   - 78,006  ( +77.4%)
05/13  Iron Man v6 #10  - 45,424  ( -41.8%)
06/13  Iron Man v6 #11  - 44,409  (  -2.2%)
07/13  Iron Man v6 #12  - 40,405  (  -9.0%)
07/13  Iron Man v6 #13  - 39,534  (  -2.2%)
08/13  Iron Man v6 #14  - 38,137  (  -3.5%)
09/13  Iron Man v6 #15  - 36,346  (  -4.7%)
10/13  Iron Man v6 #16  - 35,924  (  -1.2%)
10/13  Iron Man v6 #17  - 39,047  (  +8.7%)
11/13  Iron Man v6 #18  - 36,135  (  -7.5%)
12/13  Iron Man v6 #19  - 32,537  ( -10.0%)
01/14  Iron Man v6 #20  - 30,533  (  -6.2%)
01/14  Iron #20.INH     - 30,512  (  -0.1%)
02/14  Iron Man v6 #21  – 29,546  (  -3.2%)
03/14  Iron Man v6 #22  - 29,017  (  -1.8%) 
03/14  Ir. Man #23.NOW  - 43,912  (  51.3%)
---
6 Mnth  (  20.8%)
1 Year  (  -0.3%)
2 Year  (  40.0%)
3 Year  (   0.0%)
5 Year  ( -15.8%)
10 Year (  48.0%)

The .NOW issue sees a very big increase which leads to the big question: will this series hold onto any of those new sales or drop right back down to where it was around 29k?

39. WOLVERINE
03/04  Wolverine v3 #12 –  69,815
03/09  Wolverine v3 #71 –  86,033  
03/11  Wolverine v4 #7	 -  47,337	 
03/12	 Wolverine #303	 -  36,368	 
---	
03/13  Wolverine v5 #1  - 117,669  (+242.4%)
04/13  Wolverine v5 #2  -  57,165  ( -51.4%)
05/13  Wolverine v5 #3  -  49,629  ( -13.2%)
06/13  Wolverine v5 #4  -  46,784  (  -5.7%)
06/13  Wolverine v5 #5  -  43,694  (  -6.6%)
07/13  Wolverine v5 #6  -  40,593  (  -7.1%)
07/13  Wolverine v5 #7  -  38,605  (  -4.9%)
08/13  Wolverine v5 #8  -  39,830  (  -3.2%)
09/13  Wolverine v5 #9  -  35,920  (  -9.8%)
10/13  Wolverine v5 #10 -  34,651  (  -3.5%)
11/13  Wolverine v5 #11 -  35,394  (  +2.1%)
12/13  Wolverine v5 #12 -  32,274  (  -8.8%)
01/14  Wolverine v5 #13 -  31,164  (  -3.4%)
02/14  Wolverine v6 #1  -  88,923  ( 185.3%) [93,143]
02/14  Wolverine v6 #2  -  47,339  ( -46.8%)
03/14  Wolverine v6 #3  -  40,735  ( -14.0%)
---
6 mnth  (  13.4%)
1 year  ( -65.4%)
2 year  (  12.0%)
3 year  ( -13.9%)
5 year  ( -52.7%)
10 year ( -41.7%)

So issue #1 saw some good re-order activity (see that second # in brackets, that is the orders including re-orders). However, this is another one of those Marvel Now relaunches where very soon after launch we see it starting to sink back to pre-relaunch levels. If the old series was at 31k, and new series is at 40k for issue 3, then how successful was the relaunch? Is this Wolverine fatigue or relaunch fatigue? Hopefully those re-order numbers mean that we might see a sales increase for issue 4 or 5 as more readers discover this series.

41.  NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEADPOOL
01/14  Night #1 of 4 - 47,596
01/14  Night #2 of 4 - 40,241  ( -15.5%) [42,333]
02/14  Night #3 of 4 – 37,974  (  -5.6%)
03/14  Night #4 of 4 – 38,457  (   1.3%)

This mini-series ends on very solid footing with an increase in sales for issue 4 and extra re-orders of issue 1. Deadpool is a very solid franchise for Marvel these days.

42. Ms. Marvel
02/14  Ms. Marvel #1 -  50,286 [57,249] (  --- ) 
03/14  Ms. Marvel #2 -  38,357  (-23.7%)

So almost 6k in re-orders for issue 1 and only a 23% drop for issue 2. I think we may actually see an increase in sales by the time we get to issue 4 or 5 as more readers discover this book and stores restock the early issues. Not to mention this book is said to have done very well digitally, which sadly we don’t see numbers for. All of these indicators seem to point to this new series being a big win for Marvel.

43. THOR: GOD OF THUNDER
03/04  Thor v2 #75 - 31,531  
03/11  Thor   #621 - 42,104  
03/12  Thor v4 #12 - 33,967 
---
03/13  Thor v5 #6  - 50,481  ( -2.7%)
04/13  Thor v5 #7  - 51,526  ( +2.1%)
05/13  Thor v5 #8  - 48,622  ( -5.6%)
06/13  Thor v5 #9  - 49,125  ( +1.0%)
07/13  Thor v5 #10 - 46,204  ( -5.9%)
08/13  Thor v5 #11 - 45,397  ( -1.7%)
08/13  Thor v5 #12 - 44,865  ( -1.2%)
09/13  Thor v5 #13 - 48,007  ( +7.0%)
10/13  Thor v5 #14 - 46,008  ( -4.2%)
11/13  Thor v5 #15 - 41,259  (-10.3%)
12/13  Thor v5 #16 - 39,597  ( -4.0%)
01/14  Thor v5 #17 - 38,913  ( -1.7%)
01/14  Thor v5 #18 - 38,190  ( -1.9%)
02/14  Thor #19.Now– 42,034  ( 10.1%)
03/14  Thor v5 #20 – 37,895  ( -9.8%)
---
6 mnth  ( -21.1%)
1 year  ( -24.9%)
2 year  (  12.0%)
3 year  ( -10.0%)
10 year (  20.2%)

Another series that doesn’t hold on to the sales boost from its .NOW issue, and instead drops back to below its previous sales numbers.

44. FANTASTIC FOUR
03/04  Fantastic Four #510   – 50,089
03/09  Fantastic Four #565   - 48,371
03/12  Fantastic Four #604   - 42,126
---
03/13  Fantastic Four v5 #5  - 42,590  (  -5.4%)
03/13  Fantastic Four #5AU   - 45,756  (  +7.4%)
04/13  Fantastic Four v5 #6  - 41,291  (  -4.8%)
04/13  Fantastic Four v5 #7  - 39,314  (  -4.8%)
05/13  Fantastic Four v5 #8  - 37,309  (  -5.1%)
06/13  Fantastic Four v5 #9  - 37,071  (  -0.6%)
07/13  Fantastic Four v5 #10 - 34,018  (  -8.2%)
08/13  Fantastic Four v5 #11 - 32,665  (  -4.0%)
09/13  Fantastic Four v5 #12 - 31,426  (  -3.8%)
10/13  Fantastic Four v5 #13 - 31,561  (  +0.4%)
11/13  Fantastic Four v5 #14 - 28,679  (  -9.1%)
12/13  Fantastic Four v5 #15 - 27,610  (  -3.7%)
01/14  Fantastic Four v5 #16 - 28,045  (   1.6%)
02/14  Fantastic Four v6 #1  - 65,775  ( 134.5%)
03/14  Fantastic Four v6 #2  - 37,569  ( -42.9%)
---
6 mnth  (  19.5%)
1 year  ( -11.8%)
2 year  ( -11.0%)
5 year  ( -22.3%)
10 year ( -25.0%)

Another Marvel Now soft relaunch that doesn’t earn much from its relaunch. On issue 2 it is only 10k above where it was before the relaunch, which is not very promising.

48, 50. HAWKEYE
03/13  ---
04/13  Hawkeye v4 #9  - 39,678  ( +7.5%)
05/13  Hawkeye v4 #10 - 42,090  ( +6.1%)
06/13  Hawkeye v4 #11 - 40,510  ( -3.8%)
06/13  Hawkeye v4 #12 - 40,837  ( +0.8%)
07/13  ---
08/13  ---
09/13  ---
10/13  Hawkeye v4 #13 - 40,476  ( -0.9%)
11/13  Hawkeye v4 #14 - 39,863  ( -1.5%)
11/13  Hawkeye v4 #15 – 39,546  ( -0.8%)
12/13  ---
01/14  Hawkeye v4 #16 - 37,074  ( -6.3%)
02/14  ---
03/14  Hawkeye v4 #17 – 35,545  ( -4.1%)
03/14  Hawkeye v4 #18 – 35,045  ( -1.4%)
---
6 mnth  ( -13.0%)
1 year  (  -3.7%)

Hawkeye is very stable in the 35k range, despite an erratic shipping schedule.

39.  AVENGERS WORLD
01/14  Avengers World #1 - 86,727
01/14  Avengers World #2 - 53,693  (-38.1%)
02/14  Avengers World #3 – 39,999  (-25.5%)
03/14  Avengers World #4 – 34,397  (-14.0%)

I am honestly very surprised that this book is dropping so much. Even if there are a lot of Avengers books, this is so closely tied to the core Avengers book that I’d think it should have captured more of that book’s readership.

56. SECRET AVENGERS
03/11  Secret Avengers    #11 - 51,353
03/12  Secret Avengers    #24 - 18,965
---
03/13  Secret Avengers v2 #2  - 46,419  ( -45.6%)
04/13  Secret Avengers v2 #3  - 38,676  ( -16.7%)
05/13  Secret Avengers v2 #4  - 33,428  ( -13.6%)
06/13  Secret Avengers v2 #5  - 31,437  (  -6.0%)
07/13  Secret Avengers v2 #6  - 28,908  (  -8.0%)
08/13  Secret Avengers v2 #7  - 27,222  (  -5.8%)
08/13  Secret Avengers v2 #8  - 26,150  (  -3.9%)
09/13  Secret Avengers v2 #9  - 24,870  (  -4.9%)
10/13  Secret Avengers v2 #10 - 29,134  ( +17.1%)
11/13  Secret Avengers v2 #11 - 25,326  ( -13.1%)
12/13  Secret Avengers v2 #12 - 23,863  (  -5.8%)
12/13  Secret Avengers v2 #13 - 23,172  (  -2.9%)
01/14  Secret Avengers v2 #14 - 21,372  (  -7.8%)
02/14  Secret Avengers v2 #15 – 20,059  (  -6.1%)
02/14  Secret Avengers v2 #16 – 20,022  (  -0.2%)
03/14  Secret Avengers v3 #1  - 34,036  (  70.0%)
---
6 Mnth  (  36.9%)
1 Year  ( -26.7%)
2 Year  (  79.0%)
3 Year  ( -33.7%)

This is not a very strong debut issue at all. Whereas other books double or triple their numbers with a enw #1 this book gets a boost of 75%. If it drops 30 to 40% like other books do for their second issue then it will go right back to where it was before the new #1. I think stores and readers are starting to lose confidence in Marvel with these faux relaunches.

58. CAPTAIN AMERICA
03/04  Captain America v4 #24 - 39,168  
03/09  Captain America v5 #48 – 62,099  
03/11  Captain America    #616- 44,394  
03/12  Captain America v6 #9  - 41,631  
---
03/13  Captain America v7 #5  - 49,186  (  -7.4%)
04/13  Captain America v7 #6  - 47,802  (  -2.8%)
05/13  Captain America v7 #7  - 44,024  (  -7.9%)
06/13  Captain America v7 #8  - 43,791  (  -0.5%)
07/13  Captain America v7 #9  - 40,796  (  -6.8%)
08/13  Captain America v7 #10 - 39,356  (  -3.5%)
09/13  Captain America v7 #11 - 38,521  (  -2.1%)
10/13  Captain America v7 #12 - 38,684  (  +0.4%)
11/13  Captain America v7 #13 - 36,147  (  -6.6%)
12/13  Captain America v7 #14 - 34,532  (  -4.5%)
01/14  Captain America v7 #15 - 33,433  (  -3.2%)
02/14  Capt AmericaV7 #16.Now – 36,534  (   9.3%)
02/14  Captain America v7 #17 – 33,312  (  -8.8%)
03/14  Captain America v7 #18 – 33,642  (   1.0%)
---
6 Mnth  ( -12.7%)
1 Year  ( -31.6%)
2 Year  ( -19.0%)
3 Year  ( -24.2%)
5 Year  ( -45.8%)
10 Year ( -14.1%)

Issue 18 had two variants so perhaps that accounts for the slight increase of 300 copies sold. Perhaps also retailers ordered a few more to have when the movie came out. Still it is somewhat disappointing that the film has made 160 million dollars yet the comic can’t sell more than 35,000 copies.

62. X-FORCE
03/09  X-Force v3 #13 - 51,789  
03/11  X-Force v4 #6  - 51,248  
03/12  X-Force v4 #23 - 48,867  
---
03/13  X-Force v5 #3  - 51,721  ( -8.8%)
04/13  ---
05/13  X-Force v5 #4  - 47,727  ( -7.7%)
05/13  X-Force v5 #5  - 45,674  ( -4.3%)
06/13  X-Force v5 #6  - 42,496  ( -7.0%)
06/13  X-Force v5 #7  - 40,380  ( -5.0%)
07/13  X-Force v5 #8  - 37,781  ( -6.4%)
07/13  X-Force v5 #9  - 36,978  ( -2.1%)
08/13  X-Force v5 #10 - 35,329  ( -4.5%)
09/13  X-Force v5 #11 - 36,186  ( +2.4%)
10/13  X-Force v5 #12 - 32,559  (-10.0%)
10/13  X-Force v5 #13 - 30,567  ( -6.1%)
11/13  X-Force v5 #14 - 28,885  ( -5.5%)
12/13  X-Force v5 #15 - 27,567  ( -4.6%)
01/14  X-Force v5 #16 - 27,701  (  0.5%)
01/14  X-Force v5 #17 - 27,319  ( -1.4%)
02/14  X-Force v6 #1  - 47,427  ( 73.6%)
03/14  X-Force v6 #2  - 33,079  (-30.3%)
---
6 mnth  (  -8.6%)
1 year  ( -36.0%)
2 year  ( -32.0%)
3 year  ( -35.5%)
5 year  ( -36.1%)

Two issues in and only 6000 copies above where it was before the relaunch. I don’t think readers are buying that direction is very all-new.

63. AVENGERS ARENA
03/11  Avengers Academy #10  - 23,708  
03/12  Avengers Academy #27  - 21,830  
---
03/13  Avengers Arena #6  - 31,617  ( -2.9%)
04/13  Avengers Arena #7  - 29,784  ( -5.8%)
04/13  Avengers Arena #8  - 27,900  ( -6.3%)
05/13  Avengers Arena #9  - 26,873  ( -3.7%)
06/13  Avengers Arena #10 - 25,277  ( -5.9%)
06/13  Avengers Arena #11 - 24,487  ( -3.1%)
07/13  Avengers Arena #12 - 23,969  ( -2.1%)
08/13  Avengers Arean #13 - 22,955  ( -4.2%)
08/13  Avengers Arena #14 - 23,204  ( +1.1%)
09/13  Avengers Arena #15 - 22,180  ( -4.4%)
10/13  Avengers Arena #16 - 22,179  ( -0.0%)
11/13  Avengers Arena #17 - 20,744  ( -6.5%)
11/13  Avengers Arena #18 - 20,712  ( -0.2%)
12/13  ---
01/14  ---
02/14  ---
03/14  Avengers Undrcvr #1- 31,936
---
6 mnth  (  44.0%)
1 year  (   0.7%)
2 year  (  46.0%)
3 year  (  34.7%)

So Undercover is the new series that follows the teen Avengers from Avengers Academy as well as some other Marvel teen characters. It only gets a 50% boost above where it’s previous iteration ended, but historically these books have always sold between 20 and 30k, so I guess this is on course. Maybe this time it will hold onto some more readers.

64. Iron Patriot
03/09  Iron Man 2.0 #2 -  24,600
03/11  War Machine #4  -  32,688
---
02/14  Iron Patriot #1 -  31,773  (  --- )
---
3 year  (  29.2%)
5 year  (  -2.8%)

Historically the last couple of War Machine/Iron Patriot/ Iron Man 2.0 books have sold right in this range of 20k – 30k, so again this series seems to be doing just what is expected of it and no more.

67. INDESTRUCTIBLE HULK
03/04  Incred Hulk v3 #67  - 46,137
03/11  Incred Hulks  #622  - 32,066
03/12  Incred Hulk v4 #5   - 40,522
---
03/13  Indestructible #5   - 54,967  (  -2.2%)
04/13  Indestructible #6   - 55,470  (  +0.9%)
05/13  Indestructible #7   - 49,956  (  -9.9%)
05/13  Indestructible #8   - 48,866  (  -2.2%)
06/13  Indestructible #9   - 49,427  (  +1.1%)
07/13  Indestructible #10  - 45,531  (  -7.9%)
07/13  Indestructible #11  - 45,241  (  -0.6%)
08/13  Indestructible #12  - 43,673  (  -3.5%)
09/13  Indestructible #13  - 41,805  (  -4.3%)
10/13  Indestructible #14  - 40,963  (  -2.0%)
11/13  Indestructible #15  - 37,025  (  -9.6%)
11/13  Indestructible #16  - 35,871  (  -3.1%)
12/13  Hulk #17.INH        - 35,679  (  -0.5%)
01/14  Hulk #18.INH        - 33,056  (  -7.4%)
02/14  Indestructible #19  - 31,192  (  -5.6%)
03/14  Indestructible #20  - 30,042  (  -3.7%)
---
6 Mnth  ( -28.1%)
1 Year  ( -45.3%)
2 Year  ( -26.0%)
3 Year  (  -6.3%)
10 Year ( -34.9%)

Hulk is leveling out a bit before its soft relaunch. Will it fall prey to the same trend that we’ve been seeing with other recent Marvel now relaunches or will it see a big sales boost like Waid’s other book Daredevil has? We’ll have to wait and see.

69. PUNISHER
03/04  Punisher v7 #4  – 47,096
03/09  Punisher v8 #3  – 37,564
03/12  Punisher v9 #9  - 22,318
---
09/13  Trial #1 of 2   - 22,626
10/13  Trial #2 of 2   - 20,143  (-11.0%)
11/13  ---
12/13  ---
01/14  ---
02/14  Punisher v10 #1 – 54,558  (   --- )
02/14  Punisher v10 #2 – 31,709  ( -41.9%)
03/14  Punisher v10 #3 – 29,636  (  -5.6%)
---
2 year  (  34.0%)
5 year  ( -20.3%)
10 year ( -36.4%)

A drop of 5% might mean this series will start to level out around 25-27k, which would be a decent number for Punisher historically.

73. CATACLYSM
07/13  Hunger #1 of 4    - 70,835
08/13  Hunger #2 of 4    - 44,929  (-36.6%)
09/13  ---
10/13  Hunger #3 of 4    - 39,915  (-11.2%)
10/13  Hunger #4 of 4    - 36,775  ( -7.9%)
10/13  Cataclysm #0.1    - 37,589  ( +2.2%)
11/13  Cataclysm #1 of 5 - 42,109  (+12.0%)
12/13  Cataclysm #2 of 5 - 33,348  (-20.8%)
01/14  Cataclysm #3 of 5 - 29,566  (-11.3%
01/14  Cataclysm #4 of 5 - 26,363  (-10.8%)
02/14  Cataclysm #5 of 5 – 25,752  ( -2.3%)
03/14  Survive (One-Shot)- 28,782  ( 11.8%)

Survive is the epilogue to the Cataclysm and bridges the gap between the new Ultimate universe books coming next month. Hopefully, more people will be reading those then picked up Survive.

70. Loki
03/11  Loki #4 -  12,055  
---
02/14  Loki #1 -  41,921  (  --- ) [44,259]
03/14  Loki #2 -  27,968  ( -33.3)
---
3 year  (132.0%)

I’ll be keeping an eye on this. Issue 2 sees a drop in orders but issue 1 had some strong re-order activity so we may see this book’s sales grow or at least start to level out. Still it is doing much better than the last Loki series.

78. BLACK WIDOW
01/14  Black Widow #1 - 53,879
01/14  Black Widow #2 - 31,260  ( -42.0%)[33,603]
02/14  Black Widow #3 – 28,127  ( -10.0%)[30,187]
03/14  Black Widow #4 – 27,378  (  -2.7%)

Very small drop this month plus good re-order activity is promising for this series. I wonder if we’ll either see it flatten out more, or even get an increase in sales. This series isn’t that far off in sales from other Avengers movie stars like Cap, Hawkeye, Thor, and Iron man, so maybe a solid 30k is really good for solo Avengers books.

79. ALL-NEW X-FACTOR
03/09  X-Factor #40    - 31,883  
03/11  X-Factor #215   - 25,256  
03/12  X-Factor #231   - 23,840  
---
03/13  X-Factor #253   - 20,835  ( -0.4%)
04/13  X-Factor #254   - 20,579  ( -1.2%)
05/13  X-Factor #255   - 20,442  ( -0.7%)
05/13  X-Factor #256   - 20,602  ( +0.8%)
06/13  X-Factor #257   - 20,264  ( -1.6%)
06/13  X-Factor #258   - 20,154  ( -0.5%)
07/13  X-Factor #259   - 20,065  ( -0.4%)
08/13  X-Factor #260   - 19,982  ( -0.4%)
08/13  X-Factor #261   - 19,781  ( -1.0%)
09/13  X-Factor #262   - 20,382  ( +3.0%)
10/13  ---
11/13  ---
12/13  ---
01/14  X-Factor v4 #1  - 45,727  (
01/14  X-Factor v4 #2  - 32,228  ( -29.5%)
02/14  X-Factor v4 #3  - 29,915  (  -3.2%)
03/14  X-Factor v4 #4  - 27,337  (  -8.6%)
03/14  X-Factor v4 #5  - 26,656  (  -2.5%)
---
6 Mnth  (  34.1%)
1 Year  (  30.6%)
2 Year  (  15.0%)
3 Year  (   8.2%)
5 Year  ( -14.3%)

Adding to the trend I’ve been mentioning. Here is another series that is already getting very close to where it was pre-relaunch. The good news is that each month its sales drops are getting smaller, but it still seems on track to fall right down to where it was pre-relaunch before long. This leads me to think that if you were reading X-factor, you kept reading it, but if you weren’t reading it, the new direction didn’t really draw you in and keep you interested.

80. ALL-NEW INVADERS
---
01/14  All-New Invaders  #1 - 55,167
02/14  All-New Invaders  #2 – 32,293  (-41.5%)
03/14  All-New Invaders  #3 – 27,329  (-15.4%)
---
6 Mnth  (   --- )
1 Year  ( 116.8%)
2 Year  ( -33.0%)

Still dropping but slowing down some.

82. She-Hulk
03/04  She-Hulk v1 #1   -  34,499  
02/13  Red She-Hulk#63  -  15,941  
---
02/14  She-Hulk    #1   -  41,921  (  --- )
03/14  She-Hulk    #2   -  26,675  (-36.3%)
---
1  Year  ( 67.3%)
10 Year  (-22.7%)

Now I didn’t see any re-order activity on this series, but it did get a second printing of issue 1. Maybe we’ll get more numbers and some re-orders next month to get a better idea if these numbers are on track. If they are, this series isn’t doing as well as some of the other new offerings like Ms. Marvel and Black Widow.

85. New Warriors
03/09  New Warriors #20 -  15,081
---
02/14  New Warriors #1  -  45,765  (  --- )
03/14  New Warriors #1  -  26,006  (-43.2%)
---
5 year  ( 72.4%)

That is a pretty big drop. I’ve heard good things about this series, but the numbers seem to suggest that retailers aren’t buying it and without a lot of re-orders it doesn’t seem like there is a lot of reader demand either.

90. MIGHTY AVENGERS
03/09  Mighty Avengers   #21 -  71,322  
---
09/13  Mighty Avengers v2 #1 - 101,921
10/13  Mighty Avengers v2 #2 -  54,862  (-46.2%)
11/13  Mighty Avengers v2 #3 -  42,210  (-23.1%)
12/13  Mighty Avengers v2 #4 -  35,740  (-15.3%)
01/14  Mighty Avengers#5.INH -  30,251  (-15.4%)
02/14  Mighty Avengers v2 #6 -  27,195  (-10.1%)
02/14  Mighty Avengers v2 #7 -  26,512  ( -2.5%)
03/14  Mighty Avengers v2 #8 -  24,933  ( -6.0%)
---
6 Mnth  ( -75.5%)
5 Year  ( -65.0%)

This book continues to drop and will probably slip under 20k shortly which is historically where Marvel either relaunches or cancels a series.

91. Winter Soldier Bitter March
03/12  Winter Soldier #3  - 34,923
02/13  Winter Soldier #16 – 20,973
---
02/14  W. Soldier BM  #1  - 31,137  (  --- )
03/14  W. Soldier BM  #2  - 24,831  (-20.3%)
---
1 Year  (  18.4%)
2 Year  ( -29.0%)

I’m not really sure what they were going for with this series. It is a Winter Soldier story timed to come out at the same time of the movie but doesn’t star the Winter Soldier or Captain America. It doesn’t seem like retailer quite knew what to do with it either.

93. SAVAGE WOLVERINE
03/13  Savage Wolverine #3  -  50,310  (-13.6%)
04/13  Savage Wolverine #4  -  45,933  ( -8.7%)
05/13  Savage Wolverine #5  -  42,328  ( -7.8%)
06/13  Savage Wolverine #6  -  59,410  (+40.4%)
07/13  Savage Wolverine #7  -  40,946  (-31.1%)
08/13  ---
09/13  Savage Wolverine #8  -  38,208  ( -6.7%)
10/13  Savage Wolverine #9  -  36,451  ( -4.6%)
10/13  Savage Wolverine #10 -  33,627  ( -7.7%)
11/13  Savage Wolverine #11 -  30,338  ( -9.8%)
11/13  Savage Wolverine #12 -  29,739  ( -2.0%)
12/13  Savage Wolverine #13 -  27,490  ( -7.6%)
01/14  Savage #14.NOW       -  30,370  ( 10.5%)
02/14  Savage Wolverine #15 -  25,190  (-17.1%)
03/14  Savage Wolverine #16 -  24,008  ( -4.7%)
---
6 Mnth  ( -37.2%)
1 Year  ( -52.3%)

Continues to drift downward even with this issue having a variant cover.

96. MIRACLEMAN
01/14  Miracleman #1 - 52,313
01/14  Miracleman #2 - 36,927  ( -29.4%)
02/14  Miracleman #3 – 25,970  ( -32.6%)  
03/14  Miracleman #4 – 23,557  (  -9.3%)

Okay issue 4 seems to be leveling out a bit which is good. Maybe Miracleman will just be a steady 20k book, which maybe is good a recolored rerelease of an older book.

97, 98. NOVA
03/09  Nova v4 #22 - 26,409
---
03/13  Nova v5 #2  - 46,725  (-42.2%)
04/13  Nova v5 #3  - 40,548  (-13.2%)
05/13  Nova v5 #4  - 38,151  ( -5.9%)
06/13  Nova v5 #5  - 36,545  ( -4.2%)
07/13  Nova v5 #6  - 34,234  ( -6.3%)
08/13  Nova v5 #7  - 31,937  ( -6.7%)
09/13  Nova v5 #8  - 37,767  (+18.3%)
10/13  Nova v5 #9  - 32,323  (-14.4%)
11/13  Nova v5 #10 - 32,716  ( +1.2%)
12/13  Nova v5 #11 - 27,982  (-14.5%)
01/14  Nova v5 #12 - 25,043  ( -10.5%)
02/14  Nova#13.Now – 26,147  (   4.4%)
03/14  Nova v5 #14 – 23,459  ( -10.3%)
03/14  Nova v5 #15 – 22,996  (  -2.0%)
---
6 Mnth  ( -37.9%)
1 Year  ( -49.8%)
5 Year  ( -11.2%)

Nova is getting awfully close to dropping below 20k. Perhaps a reboot is in store for this title soon?

101. THUNDERBOLTS
03/09  Thunderbolts  #130  - 45,803  
03/11  Thunderbolts  #154  - 25,455  
03/12  Thunderbolts  #171  - 19,073 
---
03/13  Thunderbolts v2 #6  - 39,293  ( -5.7%)
03/13  Thunderbolts v2 #7  - 38,553  ( -1.9%)
04/13  Thunderbolts v2 #8  - 36,979  ( -4.1%)
05/13  Thunderbolts v2 #9  - 32,855  (-11.2%)
06/13  Thunderbolts v2 #10 - 32,682  ( -0.5%)
06/13  Thunderbolts v2 #11 - 30,618  ( -6.3%)
07/13  Thunderbolts v2 #12 - 29,081  ( -5.0%)
07/13  Thunderbolts v2 #13 - 28,528  ( -1.9%)
08/13  Thunderbolts v2 #14 - 30,620  ( +7.3%)
09/13  Thunderbolts v2 #15 - 29,703  ( -3.0%)
10/13  Thunderbolts v2 #16 - 29,334  ( -1.2%)
10/13  Thunderbolts v2 #17 - 28,324  ( -3.4%)
11/13  Thunderbolts v2 #18 - 26,502  ( -6.4%)
12/13  Thunderbolts v2 #19 - 24,959  ( -5.8%)
01/14  Thunderblts #20.NOW - 28,994  ( 16.2%)
01/14  Thunderbolts v2 #21 - 24,293  (-16.2%)
02/14  Thunderbolts v2 #22 – 23,629  ( -2.7%)
03/14  Thunderbolts v2 #23 – 22,701  ( -3.9%)
---
6 Mnth  ( -23.6%)
1 Year  ( -42.2%)
2 Year  (  19.0%)
3 Year  ( -10.8%)
5 Year  ( -50.4%)

The numbers on this aren’t great and are trending towards cancellation or relaunch, but it is getting a new writing team with issue 27, so maybe that will help give it a boost.

103. X-MEN LEGACY
03/09  X-Men Legacy  #222 -  55,598
03/11  X-Men Legacy  #246 -  47,893
03/12  X-Men Legacy  #263 -  35,999
---
03/13  X-Men Legacy v2 #7 -  29,231  ( -5.9%)
03/13  X-Men Legacy v2 #8 -  28,174  ( -3.6%)
04/13  X-Men Legacy v2 #9 -  28,405  ( +0.8%)
05/13  X-Men Legacy v2 #10 - 25,911  ( -8.8%)
05/13  X-Men Legacy v2 #11 - 25,048  ( -3.3%)
06/13  X-Men Legacy v2 #12 - 23,996  ( -4.2%)
07/13  X-Men Legacy v2 #13 - 23,146  ( -3.5%)
07/13  X-Men Legacy v2 #14 - 22,119  ( -4.4%)
08/13  X-Men Legacy v2 #15 - 21,599  ( -2.4%)
09/13  X-Men Legacy v2 #16 - 20,995  ( -2.8%)
09/13  X-Men Legacy v2 #17 - 20,382  ( -2.9%)
10/13  X-Men Legacy v2 #18 - 19,767  ( -3.0%)
11/13  X-Men Legacy v2 #19 - 19,149  ( -3.1%)
11/13  X-Men Legacy v2 #20 - 18,754  ( -2.1%)
12/13  X-Men Legacy v2 #21 - 18,754  (  n/c )
01/14  X-Men Legacy v2 #22 - 17,868  ( -4.7%)
01/14  X-Men Legacy v2 #23 - 17,636  ( -1.3%)
02/14  X-Men Legacy v2 #24 – 17,307  ( -1.9%)
03/14  X-Men Legacy #300   - 22,422  ( 29.6%)
---
6 Mnth  (   6.8%)
1 Year  ( -23.3%)
2 Year  ( -38.0%)
3 Year  ( -53.2%)
5 Year  ( -59.7%)

Final issue (for now, no word on a possible relaunch) sees a bit of a sales bump.

108. SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN TEAM-UP
03/12  Avenging #5         - 40,877 
---
03/13  Avenging #18        - 31,657  (  +2.8%)
04/13  Avenging #19        - 28,740  (  -9.2%)
05/13  Avenging #20        - 27,609  (  -3.9%)
05/13  Avenging #21        - 27,251  (  -1.3%)
06/13  Avenging #22        - 26,799  (  -1.7%)
07/13  Superior Team-Up #1 - 76,959  (+187.2%)
08/13  Superior Team-Up #2 - 41,155  ( -46.5%)
09/13  Superior Team-Up #3 - 37,363  (  -9.2%)
10/13  Superior Team-Up #4 - 36,296  (  -3.6%)
10/13  Superior Team-Up #5 - 30,424  ( -16.2%)
11/13  Superior Team-Up #6 - 27,189  ( -10.6%)
12/13  Sup. Team-up #7.NOW - 25,514  (  -6.2%)
12/13  Superior Team-Up #8 - 24,296  (  -4.8%)
01/14  Superior Team-Up #9 - 23,071  (  -5.0%)
02/14  Superior Team-Up #10- 22,124  (  -4.1%)
03/14  Superior Team-Up #11- 21,091  (  -4.7%)
---
6 Mnth  ( -43.6%)
1 Year  ( -33.4%)
2 Year  ( -48.0%)

There was no solicit for this series in June, so not sure if it is totally cancelled or will be rebooted o some sort of Amazing Spider-Man team-up. The sales would indicate that it is time for some sort of change however.

114. AVENGERS ASSEMBLE
03/12  Avengers Assemble #1  - 100,833
---
03/13  Avengers Assemble #13 - 28,432  ( -3.6%)
04/13  Av. Assemble #14AU    - 35,985  (+26.6%)
05/13  Av. Assemble #15AU    - 33,183  ( -7.8%)
06/13  Avengers Assemble #16 - 27,497  (-17.1%)
07/13  Avengers Assemble #17 - 26,640  ( -3.1%)
08/13  Avengers Assemble #18 - 30,597  (+14.9%)
09/13  Avengers Assemble #19 - 29,564  ( -3.4%)
10/13  Avengers Assemble #20 - 28,886  ( -2.3%)
11/13  Avengers Assemble #21 - 24,831  (-14.0%)
12/13  Av. Assemble #22.INH  - 24,168  ( -2.7%)
01/14  Av. Assemble #23.INH  - 21,943  ( -9.2%)
02/14  Avengers Assemble #24 – 20,059  ( -8.6%)
03/14  Avengers Assemble #25 – 19,102  ( -4.8%)
---
6 Mnth  ( -35.4%)
1 Year  ( -32.8%)
2 Year  ( -81.0%)

This is the final issue on a really fun and easily accessible Avengers series that could never quite hold onto its audience.

119, 122. SUPERIOR FOES OF SPIDER-MAN
07/13  Superior Foes #1 - 61,413
08/13  Superior Foes #2 - 34,300  (-44.1%)
09/13  Superior Foes #3 - 30,081  (-12.3%)
10/13  Superior Foes #4 - 26,884  (-10.6%)
11/13  Superior Foes #5 - 23,694  (-11.9%)
11/13  Superior Foes #6 - 21,367  ( -9.8%)
12/13  Superior Foes #7 - 20,858  ( -2.4%)
01/14  ---
02/14  Superior Foes #8 – 19,193  ( -8.0%)
03/14  Superior Foes #9 – 18,620  ( -3.0%)
03/14  Superior Foes #10- 18,437  ( -1.0%
---
6 Mnth  ( -38.1%)

This series is solicited through June, even with Amazing Spider-Man replacing Superior. It is relatively stable even if its sales aren’t great.

128. A+X
03/13  A+X #5  - 37,250  (-22.5%)
03/13  A+X #6  - 34,434  ( -7.6%)
04/13  A+X #7  - 31,183  ( -9.4%)
05/13  A+X #8  - 26,967  (-13.5%)
06/13  A+X #9  - 25,803  ( -4.3%)
07/13  A+X #10 - 24,371  ( -5.5%)
08/13  A+X #11 - 23,222  ( -4.7%)
09/13  A+X #12 - 21,282  ( -8.4%)
10/13  A+X #13 - 20,908  ( -1.8%)
11/13  A+X #14 - 19,318  ( -7.6%)
12/13  A+X #15 - 18,648  ( -3.5%)
01/14  A+X #16 - 17,913  ( -3.9%)
02/14  A+X #17 – 17,075  ( -4.7%)
03/14  A+X #18 – 16,428  ( -3.8%)
---
6 Mnth  ( -22.8%)
1 Year  ( -55.9%)

Final issue.

131. GEORGE ROMERO EMPIRE OF THE DEAD: ACT ONE
01/14  Act One #1 of 5 - 24,515
02/14  Act One #2 of 5 – 17,624 ( -28.1%)
03/14  Act One #3 of 5 – 15,720 ( -10.8%)

The drops are slowing down a bit.

132. AVENGERS A.I. 
07/13  Avengers A.I. #1 - 68,130
08/13  Avengers A.I. #2 - 37,079  (-45.6%)
09/13  Avengers A.I. #3 - 29,776  (-19.7%)
10/13  Avengers A.I. #4 - 25,770  (-13.5%)
10/13  Avengers A.I. #5 - 23,146  (-10.2%)
11/13  Avengers A.I. #6 - 20,037  (-13.4%)
12/13  Avengers A.I. #7 - 19,879  ( -0.8%)
01/14  A.I. #8.NOW      - 20,084  (  1.0%)
02/14  Avengers A.I. #9 – 16,906  (-15.8%)
03/14  Avengers A.I. #10- 15,616  ( -7.6%)
---
6 Mnth  ( -47.6%)

Looks like April’s issue #12 will be the last issue of Avengers A.I. with no relaunch in sight.

80. Captain America Homecoming
02/14  CA Homecoming #1 – 15,379

Not a lot of orders for this miniseries featuring Captain America. Not sure what Marvel was going for with this series, but retailers didn’t order it, and I don’t recall seeing any press about it.

147. MARVEL KNIGHTS: X-MEN
11/13  X-Men #1 of 5 - 30,214
12/13  X-Men #2 of 5 - 22,549  (-25.4%)
01/14  X-Men #3 of 5 - 16,581  (-26.5%)
02/14  X-Men #4 of 5 – 15,014  ( -9.5%)
03/14  X-Men #5 of 5 – 13,294  (-11.5%)

Hopefully, these Marvel Knights book will do better in trade than they did as floppies.

166. MARVEL KNIGHTS: HULK
12/13  Hulk #1 of 4 - 22,169
01/14  Hulk #2 of 4 - 14,568  (-34.3%)
02/14  Hulk #3 of 4 – 12,305  (-15.5%)
03/14  Hulk #4 of 4 – 11,363  ( -7.7%)

See above.

172. DEXTER
07/13  Dexter #1 of 5    - 20,540
08/13  Dexter #2 of 5    - 17,304  (-15.8%)
09/13  Dexter #3 of 5     - 17,586  ( +1.6%)
10/13  Dexter #4 of 5     - 14,920  (-15.2%)
11/13  Dexter #5 of 5     - 13,439  (-10.0%)
12/13  ---
01/14  ---
02/14  Down Under #1 of 5 – 13,203  ( -1.8%)
03/14  Down Under #2 of 5 – 10,664  (-19.2%)
---
6 Mnth  (-39.4%)

Dropping pretty steeply.

186, 195, 197. REVOLUTIONARY WAR
01/14  Alpha                - 16,788
01/14  Dark Angel           - 14,083
01/14  Knights of Pendragon - 13,440
02/14  Death's Head II      - 11,310 
02/14  Supersoldiers        - 10,310 
03/14  Motormouth           -  9,355
03/14  Warheads             -  9,249
03/14  Omega                -  9,820

Again, we don’t see the whole picture for these Marvel UK books, since we don’t get the UK sales numbers, but the sales for the US weren’t great.

199. Brilliant
02/14  Brilliant #5 – 9,239

This oft-delayed book pops back up with numbers that are low for Marvel, but standard for an indie title.

222. DISNEY KINGDOMS: SEEKERS OF THE WEIRD
01/14  Seekers #1 of 5 - 24,910
02/14  Seekers #2 of 5 –  9,182  ( -63.1%)
03/14  Seekers #3 of 5 -  7,887  ( -14.1%)

This Disney marvel crossover is dropping down fast.

6-Month Comparisons
---

119.7%	AMAZING X-MEN #5
107.3%	DAREDEVIL #1
93.7%		CAPTAIN MARVEL #1
44.0%		AVENGERS UNDERCOVER #1
36.9%		SECRET AVENGERS #1
34.1%		ALL NEW X-FACTOR #4
30.8%		ALL NEW X-FACTOR #5
20.8%		IRON MAN #23.NOW
19.5%		FANTASTIC FOUR #2
13.4%		WOLVERINE #3
6.8%		X-MEN LEGACY #300
6.8%		DEADPOOL #25.NOW
-3.4%		DEADPOOL #26
-8.4%		WOLVERINE AND X-MEN #1
-8.6%		X-FORCE #2
-12.7%	CAPTAIN AMERICA #18
-13.0%	HAWKEYE #17
-13.4%	UNCANNY AVENGERS #18.NOW
-14.1%	SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #29
-14.2%	HAWKEYE #18
-15.4%	SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #30
-16.0%	UNCANNY X-MEN #19.NOW
-17.8%	GUARDIANS OF GALAXY #13
-19.7%	NEW AVENGERS #16.NOW
-20.2%	IRON MAN #22
-21.1%	THOR GOD OF THUNDER #20
-22.3%	NEW AVENGERS #15
-22.8%	A PLUS X #18
-23.6%	THUNDERBOLTS #23
-24.3%	ALL NEW X-MEN #24
-28.1%	INDESTRUCTIBLE HULK #20
-28.5%	UNCANNY X-MEN #18
-32.3%	WOLVERINE AND X-MEN #2
-35.4%	AVENGERS ASSEMBLE #25
-37.2%	SAVAGE WOLVERINE #16
-37.9%	NOVA #14
-38.1%	SUPERIOR FOES OF SPIDER-MAN #9
-38.7%	SUPERIOR FOES OF SPIDER-MAN #10
-39.1%	NOVA #15
-39.4%	DEXTER DOWN UNDER #2
-39.8%	X-MEN #12
-41.7%	AVENGERS #27
-43.6%	SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN TEAM UP #11
-47.6%	AVENGERS AI #10
-75.5%	MIGHTY AVENGERS #8

1 Year Comparisons
---

149.4%	CAPTAIN MARVEL #1
104.1%	DAREDEVIL #1
67.3%		SHE-HULK #2
67.0%		AMAZING X-MEN #5
30.6%		ALL NEW X-FACTOR #4
30.1%		WOLVERINE AND X-MEN #1
27.4%		ALL NEW X-FACTOR #5
18.4%		WINTER SOLDIER BITTER MARCH #2
0.7%		AVENGERS UNDERCOVER #1
-0.3%		IRON MAN #23.NOW
-3.7%		HAWKEYE #17
-3.9%		WOLVERINE AND X-MEN #2
-5.0%		HAWKEYE #18
-11.8%	FANTASTIC FOUR #2
-14.6%	DEADPOOL #25.NOW
-18.7%	SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #29
-19.9%	SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #30
-22.7%	DEADPOOL #26
-23.3%	X-MEN LEGACY #300
-24.8%	UNCANNY X-MEN #19.NOW
-24.9%	THOR GOD OF THUNDER #20
-25.2%	NEW AVENGERS #16.NOW
-26.7%	SECRET AVENGERS #1
-27.4%	UNCANNY AVENGERS #18.NOW
-27.6%	NEW AVENGERS #15
-29.9%	ALL NEW X-MEN #24
-31.1%	AVENGERS #27
-31.6%	CAPTAIN AMERICA #18
-32.8%	AVENGERS ASSEMBLE #25
-33.4%	SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN TEAM UP #11
-34.1%	IRON MAN #22
-36.0%	UNCANNY X-MEN #18
-36.0%	X-FORCE #2
-42.2%	THUNDERBOLTS #23
-45.3%	INDESTRUCTIBLE HULK #20
-49.8%	NOVA #14
-50.8%	NOVA #15
-52.3%	SAVAGE WOLVERINE #16
-55.9%	A PLUS X #18
-65.4%	WOLVERINE #3
-74.0%	GUARDIANS OF GALAXY #13

2 Year Comparisons
---

265%		ALL NEW GHOST RIDER #1
48%		SILVER SURFER #1
169%		MOON KNIGHT #1
99%		DAREDEVIL #1
79%		SECRET AVENGERS #1
74%		DEADPOOL #25.NOW
58%		DEADPOOL #26
47%		SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #29
46%		AVENGERS UNDERCOVER #1
45%		SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #30
40%		IRON MAN #23.NOW
35%		AMAZING X-MEN #5
34%		PUNISHER #3
23%		X-MEN #12
19%		THUNDERBOLTS #23
15%		ALL NEW X-FACTOR #4
12%		UNCANNY X-MEN #19.NOW
12%		WOLVERINE #3
12%		ALL NEW X-FACTOR #5
12%		THOR GOD OF THUNDER #20
3%		AVENGERS #27
0%		WOLVERINE AND X-MEN #1
-5%		UNCANNY X-MEN #18
-6%		NEW AVENGERS #16.NOW
-8%		IRON MAN #22
-9%		NEW AVENGERS #15
-11%		FANTASTIC FOUR #2
-19%		CAPTAIN AMERICA #18
-26%		INDESTRUCTIBLE HULK #20
-26%		WOLVERINE AND X-MEN #2
-29%		WINTER SOLDIER BITTER MARCH #2
-32%		X-FORCE #2
-38%		X-MEN LEGACY #300
-48%		SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN TEAM UP #11
-81%		AVENGERS ASSEMBLE #25

3 Year Comparisons
---

179.1%	DAREDEVIL #1
176.4%	SILVER SURFER #1
132.0%	LOKI AGENT OF ASGARD #2
61.0%		DEADPOOL #25.NOW
45.7%		DEADPOOL #26
34.7%		AVENGERS UNDERCOVER #1
29.2%		IRON PATRIOT #1
28.4%		SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #29
26.5%		SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #30
15.8%		UNCANNY X-MEN #19.NOW
8.2%		ALL NEW X-FACTOR #4
5.5%		ALL NEW X-FACTOR #5
0.0%		IRON MAN #23.NOW
-1.5%		UNCANNY X-MEN #18
-6.3%		INDESTRUCTIBLE HULK #20
-10.0%	THOR GOD OF THUNDER #20
-10.8%	THUNDERBOLTS #23
-13.8%	X-MEN #12
-13.9%	WOLVERINE #3
-18.7%	NEW AVENGERS #16.NOW
-19.0%	AVENGERS #27
-21.3%	NEW AVENGERS #15
-24.2%	CAPTAIN AMERICA #18
-33.7%	SECRET AVENGERS #1
-33.9%	IRON MAN #22
-35.5%	X-FORCE #2
-53.2%	X-MEN LEGACY #300

5 Year Comparisons
---

177.8%	MOON KNIGHT #1
134.6%	ALL NEW GHOST RIDER #1
107.1%	GUARDIANS OF GALAXY #13
84.2%		DAREDEVIL #1
76.6%		CAPTAIN MARVEL #1
72.4%		NEW WARRIORS #2
24.9%		SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #29
23.0%		SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #30
1.7%		DEADPOOL #25.NOW
-2.8%		IRON PATRIOT #1
-8.0%		DEADPOOL #26
-11.2%	NOVA #14
-12.9%	NOVA #15
-14.3%	ALL NEW X-FACTOR #4
-15.8%	IRON MAN #23.NOW
-16.4%	ALL NEW X-FACTOR #5
-17.2%	UNCANNY X-MEN #19.NOW
-20.3%	PUNISHER #3
-22.3%	FANTASTIC FOUR #2
-29.6%	UNCANNY X-MEN #18
-36.1%	X-FORCE #2
-44.4%	IRON MAN #22
-45.8%	CAPTAIN AMERICA #18
-48.9%	NEW AVENGERS #16.NOW
-50.4%	THUNDERBOLTS #23
-50.5%	NEW AVENGERS #15
-52.7%	WOLVERINE #3
-59.7%	X-MEN LEGACY #300
-60.8%	THOR GOD OF THUNDER #20
-65.0%	MIGHTY AVENGERS #8

10 Year Comparisons
---

145.4%	SILVER SURFER #1
48.0%		IRON MAN #23.NOW
39.7%		DAREDEVIL #1
20.2%		THOR GOD OF THUNDER #20
-2.2%		IRON MAN #22
-2.8%		AVENGERS #27
-8.4%		SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #29
-9.8%		SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #30
-14.1%	CAPTAIN AMERICA #18
-22.7%	SHE-HULK #2
-25.0%	FANTASTIC FOUR #2
-25.4%	UNCANNY X-MEN #19.NOW
-34.9%	INDESTRUCTIBLE HULK #20
-36.4%	PUNISHER #3
-36.5%	UNCANNY X-MEN #18
-41.7%	WOLVERINE #3

45 COMMENTS

  1. People, BUY SHE-HULK! That book is AMAZING! And this is coming from someone who wasn’t originally too interested in this latest version. The writing is excellent, art is quirky yet great. Cast is superb, seriously, buy this book! For all the hype Ghost Rider is getting (I thought it was just eh) She-Hulk deserves it! Don’t let me down! :)

  2. Thanks for the analysis, as always, a good read.

    Just a quick note – Amazing X-Men really is not a successor to Astonishing X-Men. It features the writer, cast, setting and previous plotlines of the last volume of Wolverine & The X-Men. The only thing it has in common with Astonishing is that they both start with an “A” adjective.

  3. Speaking for myself, Marvel’s constant renumbering & relaunching have made their entire line completely incomprehensible to me. I just see a slew of Avengers & X-men books and I can’t differentiate between any of them. It’s a little heartbreaking to me because I’ve been a reader for 30 years & after Quesada came on board I became a big fan of a lot of their output. But between the constant relaunches, general shoddiness of the physical product* & increasing 3.99 price point, (for lesser & lesser content) the only book I’m reading is Hawkeye & I’ll most likely drop that when it hits 3.99.

    *I can’t believe I’m the only one irritated by the thin paper stock they’re using but I don’t see it mentioned much. I understand most companies are going the “self cover” route to keep costs down but man, Marvel’s books just feel so thin & flimsy that I feel like I’m getting rooked every time I pick one up.

  4. They relaunch so much that it seems like just one big series to me. There isn`t a long enough gap between titles to feel like a relaunch. Even with the # 1 placed firmly on the cover.
    As for the paper – Who knows one day we will be holding XEROX paper in our hands in lieu of actual comic book paper.

  5. RE: Captain Marvel – could it be the reason the vocal fanbase doesn’t translate into sales is because that vocal fanbase is actually relatively small, but because they are vocal they seem bigger? I mean, if there are 10,000 hardcore Carol Danvers fans, that’s enough to account for all of pictures and cosplay and whatnot we’ve been seeing. The rest is folks like me who just kinda like the character and have enough of a comics budget to include her. Just speculation on my part…

  6. I don’t consider X-Factor to be a “soft ” relaunch at all. Only one member of the cast from the previous iteration carried over to the new book and the direction/storyline are radically different. Also, there was quite of a bit of a gap between the end of the previous volume and the start of this one.

    It’s unfortunate more people aren’t reading Mighty Avengers. It’s really fun!

  7. I really think you provide the fairest analysis of anyone this site’s ever had. Kudos, really enjoying your column!

    As for Ms Marvel and Captain Marvel, I think they both are selling very well digitally; Comixology has had them top 10 (and Ms Marvel was #1 both weeks it was out) every time they came out. Same goes for All-New X-Men, actually. There’s a good amount of readers we simply don’t see with these numbers.

  8. OK. I completely agree with regard to the ridiculous number of X- and Avengers titles. I can’t keep the creative teams straight and from judicious sampling I’ve found that I just don’t care about most of those titles. I don’t think I’m reading any of the flagship Marvel books right now. They’re just not good right now.

    I did enjoy She-Hulk and I’ve found the new Ms. Marvel to be charming and enjoyable, and I’d pick up Moon Knight if my shop had bothered to order it. Peter David is writing X-factor and that’s as it should be. But right now I can’t figure out what it is I’m supposed to be taking away from tent-pole X-men or Avengers books. I can’t even regularly distinguish which titles I’ve actually been buying. That’s not even bad. That’s pathetic.

  9. I’d be surprised if digital was making up for lost print sales. Last numbers I heard were that digital matched up with about 10% of print sales. So unless that has changed, having another 10% added on to a small number doesn’t seem like it would be helping much. But maybe the situation has changed…

  10. Re: Captain America sales figures:

    “Still it is somewhat disappointing that the film has made 160 million dollars yet the comic can’t sell more than 35,000 copies.”

    Has any successful comic book film EVER seen a corresponding spike in the character/team’s comic book title?

  11. Speaking only for myself, I just can’t afford all the 3.99 titles anymore. I get one 3.99 and two 2.99 series from Marvel. I’d like to buy more, but I just can’t do spare the extra cash.

    As far as relaunches go, they don’t affect me one way or the other. I still buy the characters I like if I can afford them. I would prefer if a series could make it into the triple digits, but that absolutely will not happen with Marvel again. No Marvel will ever make it to issue 50 without adding up the previous volumes.

  12. Bob O – there is a wonderful digital comics retailer named “The Pirate’s Bay” that has really competitive pricing that will save you a lot of money. I am always satisfied to read so many comics, and pay a fair price that compensates the publishers accordingly.

  13. “Survive is the epilogue to the Cataclysm and bridges the gap between the new Ultimate universe books coming next month. Hopefully, more people will be reading those then picked up Survive.”

    Cataclysm was a horrid Ultimatum 2.0, and was basically a nine-month-long event. No matter how good the new Ultimate books might turn out to be, they don’t deserve any sales after putting out this garbage.

  14. Most of my comics budget goes to Image, Dark Horse, and various indies these days, but so far as the effectiveness of relaunches goes for me, personally, it varies. Sometimes it’s a jumping off point — if I’m losing a cast and creative team I enjoy, why would I keep up with the book? For example, I enjoyed Gillen and McKelvie’s Young Avengers tremendously, but without that fantastic creative synergy, I don’t know that I’ll bother with the next iteration. And sometimes a relaunch is a chance to jump on board or even for a do-over if I think the concept had promise, but I didn’t care for the execution. I gave Wolverine and the X-Men another shot at because I do like teen hero books, but the tone was too similar to the previous writer’s and the same flaws in characterization of the non-core cast remained, so I didn’t bother with issue #2. It all depends on what’s being offered.

    Honestly, I’ve been bored with Marvel’s long-established properties for the last few years. I’ll pick up the occasional [Insert Adjective] X-Men book if there’s a character I really like getting spotlight, but they don’t usually go on my pull list. (Though I’d be reading Mighty Avengers on a regular basis if Greg Land wasn’t one of the artists.) Everything just feels muddled together and there’s no getting away from overarching storylines if you’re not a fan of the developments they bring to the table.

    I am enjoying the respite that the solo books offer from some of the above — Loki, Ms. Marvel and Magneto are all part of my monthly subscription pulls — but I just don’t get all bubbly and enthused about Marvel stuff the way I might for, say, a new Image project from some of my faves.

  15. I cant believe Miracle Man reprints are still selling over 20k. Some people a conned easily.

    When you talk about reboots and new #1’s. I’ve cancelled 2 series lately that did it. X-Factor and Daredevil. But I dropped them because of the increase in price to $4. I don’t buy $4 comics from the big 2. Its just not worth it. To tell you the truth a lot aren’t even worth the $3. I’m down to under 10 titles a month all up.

  16. Marvel’s books just lack characterisation… Character drama… A sense of stakes and urgency… Of a “you can’t miss this” type read. Their books always feel padded out to me. Filler content.

    Like Uncanny X-Men: nothing of substance ever happens in their books, event the concept is quite cool (of militant mutants). And Mighty Avengers: a lot of the scenes feel like they’re being dragged out to fill the book – but nothing actually happens in the book. And you know, in Marvel, there’s no character jeopardy. All the heroes know each other, come back from the dead, are all chums. Which doesn’t make their books very gripping.

    People slate DC… But I find some of their stuff engrossing – like Superman/Wonder Woman, the way DC packs their books with character studies and semi-pay-offs. I like those kind of books, makes buying them worthwhile.

    I came back to Marvel with their All-New Now – mainly for the new solo female and male books. They’re nice and fun (@Nathan: agreed on She-Hulk) – but they’re not worth buying as a monthly. $3.99 for thin “stories”, no thanks. I think Marvel are really taking the piss out of their readers – but their readers aren’t stupid, as sales are showing. Heck, Alonso even believes (if you read his interviews) that ANMN is a success and is bringing in new readers. How deluded.

    Anyway, I’d prefer to buy Image, the occasional DC, some Valiant, and Vertigo. Hinterkind rocks! Archer & Armstrong is just bang-for-your-buck jaw-dropping.

  17. I tried X-Factor and dropped it after issue 6 since it was too formula. Every issue pick up a new team member, the company they are working for has a secret agenda etc.

    Love Moon Knight. The sniper revenge issue was great. First two issues were one and done and delivered. I know it isn’t selling like an X-Men or Avengers top book but that is the readers loss if they can’t see outside the main super hero lines. I also have high hopes for Silver Surfer based on the first issue. Now if Marvel could relaunch Nova with Rich Rider and do something similar to those books that would be awesome.

  18. @Big Roth – Perhaps we shouldn’t be advertising scan sites on a comics journalism site??? Either pay or don’t, but stealing is not a viable solution.

  19. @rich – titles like she-hulk, Ms Marvel, and Captain Marvel ARE bringing in your non-typical wednesday warriors. Digital sales, anecdotal sell-through response and internet feedback has been showing this.

  20. @chris,

    I believe that format swapping is entirely valid. I buy the comics but I usually read scanned .CBR files because I really don’t like any of the mainstream digital delivery services and frankly the tools for working with .CBRs are damned near perfect for me.

  21. @Big Roth – I just want to buy the comics I like at an affordable price. I can usually find them really cheap a year or two later. I just got a stack of formerly 3.99 comics for around $1 each.

    I’ve considered dropping my monthly subs and getting everything on sale later. There are very few comics that I like that go up in value, so I should be able to find the stuff I like for cheap.

  22. Now if Marvel could relaunch Nova with Rich Rider and do something similar to those books that would be awesome.

    I don’t recall seeing research on this anywhere, but I thought Marvel replaced Richard Rider because Marv Wolfman might have an ownership claim due to a fanzine that predated his writing for Marvel.

  23. I don’t mind paying extra for the digital codes, most online re-sale sites don’t penalize for print books with redeemed codes, it’s the far and few between $3.99 books without a digital code. Superior Foes being one…

  24. I’m not surprised by the numbers for Captain Marvel. I got all issues of the last series, but was not willing to follow it for an additional $1 an issue. An considering I dropped Guardians recently, the $4 price point has finally gotten me to turn my back on Marvel’s “Cosmic” series for good, I think.

    (And it’s really a 6-issue mini series, isn’t it? I thought I’ve seen it solicited that way…)

    I will be very interested in how the sales for Daredevil turn out over the next few months. That has to be a prime case-study for restarting a series at a higher price with no creative team difference. If this works for Marvel, I think we will be able to say a sad farewell to any $3 books any more…

  25. @ Steve- Guardians is an ongoing series. The did the Now. #1 advertisting but it has passed the #12 issue mark already.

    @Johnny – If that is true that would make me sad since it means we may never see him again. I found it odd that Thanos and Starlord made it out of the Cancerverse but not Rich and then they hinted at his fate might be death but Marvel hasn’t gone any further than that.

  26. 39. AVENGERS WORLD
    01/14 Avengers World #1 – 86,727
    01/14 Avengers World #2 – 53,693 (-38.1%)
    02/14 Avengers World #3 – 39,999 (-25.5%)
    03/14 Avengers World #4 – 34,397 (-14.0%)
    I am honestly very surprised that this book is dropping so much. Even if there are a lot of Avengers books, this is so closely tied to the core Avengers book that I’d think it should have captured more of that book’s readership.
    ——————————

    In my case, I think is was a case of “too much of the same damn thing” fatigue. I buy the two Hickman core books as well as UNCANNY AVENGERS. I’m not even bothering with this one. In fact, I don’t even know what the premise of this series is or how it is intended to differentiate itself from the other Avengers books. I just decided that I, simply, didn’t need another Avengers book. There’s already too many of the damn things. It’s, also, bi-weekly. I’d rather spend that $8 a month on something different. I’m sure others have similar opinions. That could be a reason why this book’s not gaining any traction.

  27. Err…never mind the last bit. Looks like AW only double-shipped the first month. Still, my other reasoning stands.

  28. Nice to see Marvel clearly struggling to hold on to fans.

    I find their overpriced books to be rather boring…

  29. Marvel is producing some excellent superhero books right now – but oddly, few of them are their big sellers. Hawkeye, She-Hulk, Superior Foes of Spider-Man, Ms Marvel, Daredevil, Moon Knight … can all compete with the best superhero comics published over the past 40 or so years. Yet they only do so-so, being outsold by much more formulaic Marvel fare.
    Even among the Avengers books, the two I enjoy most (Mighty and Undercover) are the two doing worst of the line.

  30. I remain surprised that the .NOW numbering has such a huge effect on sales, especially since the earlier .1 gimmick didn’t cause these kinds of sales boosts. As a reader, the .NOW issues have just felt like regular issues of the title, usually new arcs within an ongoing series. I mean, Marvel Now! isn’t a storyline or a crossover, it’s just a branding device to point out creative team reshuffles or a way to get a quick jump at the start of a new arc in a comic.

    In the case of Miracleman, the book has a lot of rope for three reasons: 1) Neil Gaiman is coming with new material at the end of the reprint cycle; 2) Marvel is counting on bookstore sales of Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman material to do what they have always done; and 3) in a worst-case scenario, Marvel keeps a healthy working relationship with Gaiman and gets cred for helping him with what’s been framed as a creators’ rights issue.

    And yes, the4thpip, Marvel publishes some excellent comics right now with intelligent content and a bit of indie sensibility mixed in. And really they sell about as well as indie books with a bit of boost from the Marvel branding. It’s the same in all other media. It’s not the smartest or most distinctive books that top the bestseller lists; it’s not the smartest movies or the indie movies that become huge blockbusters everyone’s seen; it’s not the indie records and singles that top iTunes and store sales.

    In these other media, the sort of stuff we;re praising does tend to become a long-term sales success; people will buy the Velvet Underground years after they’ve forgotten about Grand Funk Railroad, for example. American comics weren’t as successful at this before the TPB boom of the last fifteen or so years, as publishers realize that keeping quality backlist items in print in higher-end formats can represent a stable revenue stream.

  31. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that She-Hulk isn’t that great. I love the character — always have — and while the first couple issues of the new series haven’t been bad, they haven’t been great either. The writing feels forced, like someone told Charles Soule (normally a great writer) to skew heavily toward hipster/cutesy/whatever tropes. And the art is a bit too loose for its own good — I like the style, but find it inconsistent.

    In general I think it’s way too early to call any of these All-New launches successes or failures. We’ve yet to see what the real numbers will be like after the hype, variant covers, and incentives die down. Certainly it looks like Black Widow is a safe bet since its issues have all gone back for second printings. And certainly Silver Surfer debuted way higher than I expected. But I still think we’ve got a couple months to go before much of anything can be said. I’m *not* surprised to see Captain Marvel debut lower than some people expected, though. Sorry, but that property just seems incredibly forced. (Not a hater. I’ve bought every issue of DeConnick’s Pretty Deadly.)

    “Has any successful comic book film EVER seen a corresponding spike in the character/team’s comic book title?”

    Yeah, Batman in 1989, back when vast numbers of normal kids/people would be interested in picking up random comics off the rack. The entire line went up to basically match the X-titles in sales at the time, and the residual boom lasted for a couple years. I like those old late-’80s/early-’90s Bat-comics, but the writers weren’t A-list and the art looked antiquated compared to the Lee/Portacio style that the X-titles were rocking. Still, despite looking a bit old fashioned, the Bat-titles nearly matched the X-titles due to that ’89 movie.

  32. @Omar Karindu

    Most likely “.NOW” by itself had no big effect on sales. The increase mostly comes from the number of variant covers that tags along.

    The New Avengers.NOW issue only had one extra variant cover, hence small increase. Uncanny X-Men had 3 extra variant covers => bigger increase.

  33. Some of the .NOW issues were giving away the entire first arc for free. It ended up being well worth it for those that bought it and wanted to catch up.

  34. I honestly thought Ms. Marvel and Captain Marvel were the same series until just now.
    To my understanding ew #1 numbers are guesses (educated guesses but still guesses) by retailers so if Wolverine and the X-Men’s #1 is really high it doesn’t mean it got lots of new customers are actually reading it but that retailers think/hope that many people will be interested. So there might not actually be a lot of people beyond the customer base of the previous series checking it out. Add to that that there’s a reason the previous series was selling what it was selling. So maybe some new customers do pick up the first issue only to find that they just don’t like the series or that it hasn’t really changed from the series they didn’t have much interest in buying before. I also think it’s interesting how well those NOW issues did. Thanks for the possible reasons why they sold so well when previous point ones and the like have usually sold below the series numbers.

    SUPERIOR FOES: “This series is solicited through June, even with Amazing Spider-Man replacing Superior. It is relatively stable even if its sales aren’t great.”
    I was told by my comicshop that this series was done with the last issue that was by a fill-in team (and at a $3.99 price bump). Is this series still continuing on?

  35. For me problem with constant relaunches is that I’m not sure what exactly changed. New creative team or same? Follows up on previous volume or not? What characters are being followed? What are the long term plans for the series? Will we see writer or artist leaving after first 4 issues? And so on.

    Sure, I could find answers to most of these question if I tracked down a couple of interviews from creative team, but I can spend that time actually reading some other comics. As I grow older I notice that I have less and less time for my hobbies, I can’t divide it further up in order to make a research for each new Marvel relaunch.

  36. I just don’t feel I’m getting my money’s worth anymore. I’d rather buy the collections of stories I grew up with, because at this point, I’m not being entertained by much of Marvel or DC. Sometimes it works…didn’t buy Amazing, loved Superior, won’t buy new Amazing…but it’s unfortunately getting easier and easier to not buy anything.

  37. I’m buying less and less Marvel, I have my moments where I really want to try something out but the characters don’t read familiar to me, once again alot of comics are being put out by Marvel with the creators writing THEIR stories using Marvel characters instead of writing Marvel Comics. Concerning Avengers World, if you need a sister title to help flesh out the characterization of characters on the core title, you have a problem IMO.

  38. I’ve been internally struggling with X-Factor ever since issue #1 of the relaunch. I’ve been with PAD since X-Factor #71, and tend to buy whatever he puts out, but I really get no joy what-so-ever over the newly launched book. (Soft relaunch or no.)

    It really does just boil down to it just not being fun for me. Hard to make it simpler than that.

    I still haven’t pulled the trigger dropping it, but it’s going to happen. If it was $2.99 I’d hang on longer, but not enough to be meaningful to Marvel’s coffers really.

  39. The .NOW issues came with a digital copy of the first 6 issues of the books. THIS made it worth the cost, and what attracted me to try it out. Marvel’s problem is that they’ve saturated their own market; no one can figure out which character is on what team written and drawn by who. This policy makes the smart customer have to sort through Previews with a fine-toothed comb and remain incredibly vigilant when the books hit the stands. As a consumer this gets incredibly tiresome; I don’t want to put in this huge effort to find and enjoy the books. The whole process is tedious.

    But someone just above (chuck) said it : the product is not worth the cost. The secondary market is flooded with $4 books at less than $1 a book. The paper stock is terrible; you have to read the books like you’re handling the U.S. constitution in order to maintain the condition. The TPB collected editions take forever to come out and when they do, they are typically overpriced.

    Most importantly to the quality of the material, and the oversaturation of product, Marvel needs to do something bold. Consolidate. Give the readers a one-stop shop to find their favorite characters. End the redundant titles. Stop marketing everything with “All New”; you can’t even tell what titles are dropping because everything starts with “All New”. Eliminate the variants. All of this will make the products EASIER to find. And customers might be willing to drop $4 on a book if that’s the only place they’ll get Wolverine, or Captain America, or the X-Men.

    Marvel’s marketing is killing their product.

  40. Mighty Avengers has to lose Greg Land to gain my interest; Miracleman is still selling because it’s great, it was long unavailable, and its packed with rarities. It’s the top of my pile each month, compared to most new titles I buy.

  41. And didn’t Hawkeye #15 come out in March, off schedule? I think with Secret Avengers, the relaunch is a minor change, still all about how sneaky SHIELD is, just with marginally less mind control (and lots more MODOK)!

  42. I buy Marvel’s good titles every month, and avoid the bad ones.

    Looking at these charts, it seems my approach is an unpopular one.

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