by Paul O’Brien
Yes, yes, I know. June? It’s August. This column is horrendously late. The July sales are already out. So I’m going to focus on the big events this month and otherwise keep the commentary pretty brief. Then we’ll be back on track, the sun will shine, and everything will be lovely.
The big news in June is, of course, the death of a Spider-Man. (Don’t worry, they’ve got a spare.) FEAR ITSELF continues to sprawl across the Marvel Universe line, and there’s also the first issue of a new GHOST RIDER series.
As normal, Marvel had the largest share of the North American direct market, leading DC by 43% to 33% in unit share and 39% to 28% in dollar terms.
Thanks as always to ICV2.com for permission to use these figures.
1,17. ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN 06/06 #96 - 73,472 06/07 #110 - 73,646 06/08 #123 - 57,187 06/09 #133 - 57,364 ===== 06/10 #11 - 39,149 ( -1.4%) 07/10 #12 - 37,879 ( -3.2%) 08/10 #13 - 36,946 ( -2.5%) 09/10 #14 - 35,776 ( -3.7%) 10/10 #15 - 34,657 ( -3.1%) 11/10 #150 - 40,553 ( +17.0%) 12/10 #151 - 33,707 ( -16.9%) 01/11 #152 - 33,481 ( -1.0%) 02/11 #153 - 43,986 ( +31.4%) 02/11 #154 - 43,209 ( -1.8%) 03/11 #155 - 44,067 ( +2.0%) 03/11 #156 - 44,920 ( +1.9%) 04/11 #157 - 50,896 ( +13.3%) 05/11 #158 - 47,941 ( -5.8%) 06/11 #159 - 51,766 ( +8.0%) 06/11 #160 - 159,355 (+207.8%) 6 mnth (+372.8%) 1 year (+307.0%) 2 year (+177.8%) 3 year (+178.7%) 4 year (+116.4%) 5 year (+116.9%)
The “Death of Spider-Man” story has been underway since issue #155, but this is the month where he actually dies, and sales go through the roof. The Ultimate imprint hasn’t delivered sales this high in years, and it’s probably a safe bet that Marvel will get another big number when the new Ultimate Spider-Man debuts in a few issues time.
This is very good news for the Ultimate imprint, which has been struggling to regain momentum for a while now. The ULTIMATUM relaunch wasn’t a success, but the line was in decline for a while before that. Basically it had lost its lustre as a line of comics that people were talking about. People are talking about this. You never know. It could be what the imprint needs.
(That said, ULTIMATE FALLOUT #1 – the de facto next issue – is at number 24 on the July chart. So to some extent this is a blip. But that’s not really the point. The issue is whether it builds excitement for the relaunch proper; that’s the real test of success here.)
2. FEAR ITSELF 04/11 #1 of 7 - 135,746 05/11 #2 of 7 - 101,692 (-25.1%) 06/11 #3 of 7 - 95,621 ( -6.0%)
Issue #2 picks up reorders of 5,374, so sales are actually holding pretty much steady this month. That’s a good sign.
4. AVENGERS
06/10 #2 - 98,788 (-42.1%)
07/10 #3 - 87,410 (-11.5%)
08/10 #4 - 87,333 ( -0.1%)
09/10 #5 - 82,411 ( -5.6%)
10/10 #6 - 73,258 (-11.1%)
11/10 #7 - 89,758 (+22.5%)
12/10 #8 - 67,056 (-25.3%)
01/11 #9 - 64,867 ( -3.3%)
02/11 #10 - 63,924 ( -1.5%)
03/11 #11 - 66,618 ( +4.2%)
04/11 #12 - 63,441 ( -4.8%)
04/11 #.1 - 60,455 ( -4.7%)
05/11 #13 - 68,086 (+12.6%)
06/11 #14 - 64,057 ( -5.9%)
6 mnth ( -4.5%)
1 year (-35.2%)
This is the second part of a FEAR ITSELF tie-in arc (though unlike the May issue, it doesn’t have a variant cover). No discernible effect on sales, but the line-wide crossovers generally don’t have much impact on the top selling books.
5. FF
06/06 #538 - 78,147
06/07 #547 - 69,610
06/08 #558 - 61,003
06/09 #567 - 46,225
=====
06/10 #580 - 36,582 ( -4.8%)
07/10 #581 - 35,505 ( -2.9%)
08/10 #582 - 34,617 ( -2.5%)
09/10 #583 - 46,267 ( +33.7%)
10/10 #584 - 45,066 ( -2.6%)
11/10 #585 - 41,568 ( -7.8%)
12/10 #586 - 42,829 ( +3.0%)
01/11 #587 - 144,173 (+236.6%)
02/11 #588 - 68,153 ( -52.7%)
03/11 #1 - 121,172 ( +77.8%)
04/11 #2 - 72,897 ( -39.8%)
05/11 #3 - 66,885 ( -8.2%)
05/11 #4 - 60,571 ( -9.4%)
06/11 #5 - 58,925 ( -2.7%)
6 mnth ( +37.6%)
1 year ( +61.1%)
2 year ( +27.5%)
3 year ( -3.4%)
4 year ( -15.3%)
5 year ( -24.6%)
Levelling out quite nicely; sales remain very comfortably up from a year ago.
6. NEW AVENGERS
06/06 #20 - 134,278
06/07 #31 - 160,911
06/08 #42 - 108,495
06/09 #54 - 93,878
=====
06/10 #1 - 129,084 (+67.8%)
07/10 #2 - 83,397 (-35.4%)
08/10 #3 - 81,354 ( -2.4%)
09/10 #4 - 77,479 ( -4.7%)
10/10 #5 - 73,409 ( -5.3%)
11/10 #6 - 66,724 ( -9.1%)
12/10 #7 - 67,840 ( +1.7%)
01/11 #8 - 61,169 ( -9.8%)
02/11 #9 - 60,914 ( -0.4%)
03/11 #10 - 59,929 ( -1.6%)
04/11 #11 - 61,778 ( +3.1%)
05/11 #12 - 60,328 ( -2.3%)
06/11 #13 - 57,682 ( -4.4%)
6 mnth (-15.0%)
1 year (-55.3%)
2 year (-38.6%)
3 year (-46.8%)
4 year (-64.2%)
5 year (-57.0%)
The FEAR ITSELF tie-ins don’t start until next month, and there’s no variant cover on this issue either, so it’s going to be a soft month.
7,10. AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
06/06 #533 - 112,982
06/07 #541 - 108,284
06/08 #563 - 70,792
06/09 #596 - 63,525
=====
06/10 #633 - 57,670 ( +1.7%)
06/10 #634 - 61,736 ( +7.1%)
06/10 #635 - 56,146 ( -9.1%)
07/10 #636 - 56,011 ( -0.2%)
07/10 #637 - 56,031 ( +0.0%)
07/10 #638 - 68,271 (+21.8%)
08/10 #639 - 67,086 ( -1.7%)
08/10 #640 - 73,656 ( +9.8%)
09/10 #641 - 68,345 ( -7.2%)
09/10 #642 - 60,115 (-12.0%)
09/10 #643 - 61,855 ( +2.9%)
09/10 #644 - 58,310 ( -5.7%)
10/10 #645 - 56,709 ( -2.7%)
10/10 #646 - 58,125 ( +2.5%)
11/10 #647 - 55,819 ( -4.0%)
11/10 #648 - 79,714 (+42.8%)
11/10 #649 - 55,515 (-30.4%)
12/10 #650 - 58,909 ( +6.1%)
01/11 #651 - 56,749 ( -3.7%)
01/11 #652 - 52,050 ( -8.3%)
02/11 #653 - 53,103 ( +2.0%)
02/11 #654 - 53,882 ( +1.5%)
02/11 #.1 - 55,283 ( +2.6%)
02/11 #655 - 53,366 ( -3.5%)
03/11 #656 - 59,626 (+11.7%)
03/11 #657 - 58,704 ( -1.5%)
04/11 #658 - 61,687 ( +5.1%)
04/11 #659 - 58,258 ( -5.6%)
05/11 #660 - 58,249 ( -0.0%)
05/11 #661 - 59,087 ( +1.4%)
05/11 #662 - 55,883 ( -5.4%)
06/11 #663 - 57,040 ( +2.1%)
06/11 #664 - 54,808 ( -3.9%)
6 mnth ( -7.0%)
1 year ( -2.4%)
2 year (-13.7%)
3 year (-22.6%)
4 year (-49.4%)
5 year (-51.5%)
Hovering around its usual range. “Spider-Island” starts next month and catapults the book to the top of the chart (though it does have some very unusual incentives behind it).
11,13. UNCANNY X-MEN
06/06 #474 - 78,140
06/07 #487 - 81,471
06/08 #499 - 81,100
06/09 #511 - 71,148
=====
06/10 #525 - 76,068 ( -1.3%)
07/10 #526 - 66,723 (-12.3%)
08/10 #527 - 69,052 ( +3.5%)
09/10 #528 - 62,415 ( -9.6%)
10/10 #529 - 62,256 ( -0.3%)
11/10 #530 - 58,006 ( -6.8%)
12/10 #531 - 55,770 ( -3.9%)
01/11 #532 - 54,071 ( -3.0%)
02/11 #533 - 53,834 ( -0.4%)
03/11 #534 - 55,731 ( +3.5%)
04/11 #.1 - 53,473 ( -4.1%)
04/11 #535 - 56,795 ( +6.2%)
04/11 #536 - 53,502 ( -5.8%)
05/11 #537 - 53,716 ( +0.4%)
06/11 #538 - 53,319 ( -0.7%)
06/11 #539 - 54,284 ( +1.8%)
6 mnth ( -2.7%)
1 year (-28.6%)
2 year (-23.7%)
3 year (-33.1%)
4 year (-33.4%)
5 year (-30.5%)
Two issues this month. Issue #539 has a variant, issue #538 doesn’t, but there isn’t a great difference overall.
14. UNCANNY X-FORCE
06/08 ---
06/09 #16 - 58,818
=====
06/10 ---
07/10 #28 - 61,680 ( -1.3%)
07/10 Sex #1 - 41,426 ( -32.8%)
08/10 #2 of 3 - 38,480 ( -7.1%)
09/10 #3 of 3 - 37,283 ( -3.1%)
10/10 #1 - 99,194 (+166.1%)
11/10 #2 - 56,518 ( -43.0%)
12/10 #3 - 55,520 ( -1.8%)
01/11 #4 - 51,381 ( -7.5%)
02/11 #5 - 51,470 ( +0.2%)
03/11 #5.1 - 50,732 ( -1.4%)
03/11 #6 - 51,248 ( -1.0%)
04/11 #7 - 54,292 ( +5.9%)
04/11 #8 - 50,908 ( -6.2%)
05/11 #9 - 51,726 ( +1.6%)
05/11 #10 - 50,676 ( -2.0%)
06/11 #11 - 53,199 ( +5.0%)
6 mnth ( -4.2%)
1 year ( --- )
2 year ( -9.6%)
3 year ( --- )
There’s a variant cover on this issue, but the increase is big enough to suggest that the start of the “Dark Angel Saga” storyline (a reprise of the Age of Apocalypse timeline) might helped too.
18. SECRET AVENGERS
06/10 #2 - 77,933 (-30.0%)
07/10 #3 - 72,293 ( -7.2%)
08/10 #4 - 74,655 ( +3.3%)
09/10 #5 - 69,546 ( -6.8%)
10/10 #6 - 68,617 ( -1.3%)
11/10 #7 - 59,999 (-12.6%)
12/10 #8 - 54,048 ( -9.9%)
01/11 #9 - 50,748 ( -6.1%)
02/11 #10 - 49,717 ( -2.0%)
03/11 #11 - 51,353 ( +3.3%)
04/11 #12 - 50,641 (-13.9%)
04/11 #.1 - 46,161 ( -8.8%)
05/11 #13 - 51,936 (+12.5%)
06/11 #14 - 49,898 ( -3.9%)
6 mnth ( -7.7%)
1 year (-36.0%)
Second month of a FEAR ITSELF tie-in, though the impact isn’t huge.
19. MIGHTY THOR
06/06 ---
06/07 ---
06/08 ---
06/09 #602 - 69,568
=====
06/10 #611 - 56,443 ( -8.6%)
07/10 #612 - 53,373 ( -5.4%)
08/10 #613 - 51,076 ( -4.3%)
09/10 #614 - 53,505 ( +4.8%)
09/10 #615 - 52,896 ( -1.2%)
10/10 #616 - 51,051 ( -3.5%)
11/10 #617 - 49,165 ( -3.7%)
12/10 #618 - 45,142 ( -8.2%)
01/11 #619 - 42,899 ( -5.0%)
02/11 #620 - 42,106 ( -1.8%)
03/11 #.1 - 41,605 ( -1.2%)
03/11 #621 - 42,104 ( +1.2%)
04/11 #1 - 82,071 (+94.9%)
05/11 #2 - 50,473 (-38.5%)
06/11 #3 - 48,114 ( -4.7%)
6 mnth ( +6.6%)
1 year (-14.8%)
2 year (-30.8%)
3 year ( --- )
4 year ( --- )
5 year ( --- )
Levelling out quite swiftly after the relaunch, though we’re already back to the sales levels from the tail-end of last year.
20. ALPHA FLIGHT 05/11 #.1 - 25,775 06/11 #1 of 8 - 46,851 (+81.8%)
Interesting. Normally Point One issues tail in a little way behind the regular title, but this time retailers seem to have treated it as a throwaway prologue which half the audience won’t want at all.
21,26. X-MEN
07/10 #1 - 143,167
08/10 #2 - 71,464 (-50.1%)
09/10 #3 - 66,549 ( -6.9%)
10/10 #4 - 63,772 ( -4.2%)
11/10 #5 - 56,651 (-11.2%)
12/10 #6 - 53,005 ( -6.4%)
01/11 #7 - 64,615 (+21.9%)
02/11 #8 - 49,522 (-23.4%)
03/11 #9 - 51,179 ( +3.3%)
04/11 #10 - 50,553 ( -1.2%)
05/11 #11 - 46,519 ( -8.0%)
06/11 #12 - 45,786 ( -1.6%)
06/11 #13 - 44,665 ( -2.4%)
6 mnth (-15.7%)
24,27. X-MEN LEGACY
06/06 #187 - 95,487
06/07 #200 - 136,672
06/08 #213 - 71,893
06/09 #225 - 58,374
=====
06/10 #237 - 65,578 ( -6.0%)
07/10 #238 - 53,313 (-18.7%)
08/10 #239 - 53,236 ( -0.1%)
09/10 #240 - 50,984 ( -4.2%)
10/10 #241 - 48,133 ( -5.6%)
11/10 #242 - 43,750 ( -9.1%)
12/10 #243 - 41,797 ( -4.5%)
01/11 #244 - 40,193 ( -3.8%)
02/11 #245 - 57,203 (+42.3%)
03/11 #246 - 47,893 (-16.3%)
04/11 #247 - 51,970 ( +8.5%)
05/11 #248 - 46,083 (-11.3%)
05/11 #249 - 45,063 ( -2.2%)
06/11 #250 - 45,070 ( +0.0%)
06/11 #251 - 43,479 ( -3.5%)
6 mnth ( +4.0%)
1 year (-33.7%)
2 year (-25.5%)
3 year (-39.5%)
4 year (-68.2%)
5 year (-54.5%)
Gentle downward trend for both these X-Men titles.
25. CAPTAIN AMERICA
06/06 #19 - 47,315
06/07 #27 - 99,108
06/08 #39 - 79,387
06/09 #600 - 112,287
=====
06/10 #606 - 57,443 ( -2.7%)
06/10 #607 - 52,989 ( -7.8%)
07/10 ---
08/10 #608 - 51,362 ( -3.1%)
08/10 #609 - 52,834 ( +2.9%)
09/10 #610 - 47,986 ( -9.2%)
10/10 #611 - 48,788 ( +1.7%)
11/10 #612 - 47,343 ( -3.0%)
12/10 #613 - 42,871 ( -9.4%)
01/11 #614 - 42,119 ( -1.8%)
02/11 #615 - 41,935 ( -0.4%)
03/11 #.1 - 43,117 ( +2.8%)
03/11 #616 - 44,394 ( +3.0%)
04/11 #617 - 45,400 ( +2.3%)
05/11 #618 - 44,748 ( -1.4%)
06/11 #619 - 44,796 ( +0.1%)
6 mnth ( +4.5%)
1 year (-22.0%)
2 year (-60.1%)
3 year (-43.6%)
4 year (-54.8%)
5 year ( -5.3%)
Reassuringly solid as it goes into a relaunch.
28. ULTIMATE AVENGERS VS NEW ULTIMATES
06/10 Vol 2 #3 - 50,797 ( -4.0%)
06/10 Vol 2 #4 - 49,606 ( -2.3%)
07/10 Vol 2 #5 - 46,886 ( -5.5%)
08/10 Vol 2 #6 - 46,358 (-11.3%)
08/10 Vol 3 #1 - 53,870 (+16.2%)
09/10 Vol 3 #2 - 43,119 (-20.0%)
10/10 Vol 3 #3 - 38,529 (-10.6%)
11/10 Vol 3 #4 - 36,777 ( -4.5%)
12/10 Vol 3 #5 - 34,483 ( -6.2%)
01/11 Vol 3 #6 - 33,454 ( -3.0%)
02/11 #1 of 6 - 49,360 (+47.5%)
03/11 #2 of 6 - 44,116 (-10.6%)
04/11 #3 of 6 - 43,822 ( -0.7%)
05/11 #4 of 6 - 43,707 ( -0.3%)
06/11 #5 of 6 - 42,803 ( -2.1%)
6 mnth (+24.1%)
1 year (-15.7%)
This miniseries is part of the Death of Spider-Man crossover, though naturally most of the attention is on Spider-Man proper.
29,32. WOLVERINE
06/06 #43 - 97,807
06/07 ---
06/08 #66 - 98,026
06/09 #3 - 51,076
=====
06/10 #14 - 30,035 ( +0.9%)
07/10 #15 - 29,555 ( -1.6%)
08/10 #16 - 29,424 ( -0.4%)
09/10 #1 - 104,414 (+254.9%)
10/10 #2 - 63,210 ( -39.5%)
11/10 #3 - 51,600 ( -18.4%)
12/10 #4 - 52,812 ( +2.3%)
01/11 #5 - 46,920 ( -11.2%)
02/11 #.1 - 44,332 ( -5.5%)
02/11 #6 - 45,932 ( +3.6%)
03/11 #7 - 47,337 ( +3.1%)
04/11 #8 - 47,010 ( -0.7%)
05/11 #9 - 44,635 ( -5.1%)
06/11 #10 - 42,677 ( -4.4%)
06/11 #11 - 41,813 ( -2.0%)
6 mnth ( -20.8%)
1 year ( +39.2%)
2 year ( -18.1%)
3 year ( -57.3%)
4 year ( --- )
5 year ( -57.2%)
Gentle drifting down.
30. INVINCIBLE IRON MAN
06/06 #9 - 37,650
06/07 #19 - 75,096
06/08 #2 - 69,021
06/09 #14 - 53,229
=====
06/10 #27 - 52,268 ( -2.5%)
07/10 #28 - 48,690 ( -6.8%)
08/10 #29 - 49,012 ( +0.7%)
09/10 #30 - 47,238 ( -3.6%)
10/10 #31 - 45,507 ( -3.7%)
11/10 #32 - 40,978 (-10.0%)
12/10 #33 - 41,890 ( +2.2%)
01/11 #500 - 54,186 (+29.4%)
02/11 #.1 - 42,191 (-22.1%)
02/11 #501 - 41,517 ( -1.6%)
03/11 #502 - 43,899 ( +5.7%)
04/11 #503 - 45,314 ( +3.2%)
05/11 #504 - 44,791 ( -1.2%)
06/11 #505 - 42,327 ( -5.5%)
6 mnth ( +1.0%)
1 year (-19.0%)
2 year (-20.5%)
3 year (-38.7%)
4 year (-43.6%)
5 year (+12.4%)
Third part of a FEAR ITSELF tie-in arc.
36. VENOM 03/11 #1 - 58,936 04/11 #2 - 41,006 (-30.4%) 05/11 #3 - 40,634 ( -0.9%) 06/11 #4 - 38,946 ( -4.2%)
Variant covers make it tricky to pin down the trend here. But by current standards, this book has launched quite well.
39. ASTONISHING X-MEN
06/06 #15 - 119,991
06/07 ---
06/08 ---
06/09 #30 - 64,608
=====
06/10 #34 - 57,363 ( -0.4%)
07/10 ---
08/10 #35 - 50,441 (-12.1%)
09/10 ---
10/10 ---
11/10 ---
12/10 ---
01/11 ---
02/11 #36 - 44,326 (-12.2%)
03/11 ---
04/11 ---
05/11 #37 - 38,513 (-13.1%)
05/11 #38 - 37,580 ( -2.4%)
06/11 #39 - 37,127 ( -1.2%)
6 mnth ( --- )
1 year (-35.3%)
2 year (-42.5%)
3 year ( --- )
4 year ( --- )
5 year (-69.1%)
The book has lost a lost of sales, but at least it’s fairly steady now that it’s coming out regularly again.
43. JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY 04/11 #622 - 43,925 05/11 #623 - 39,003 (-11.2%) 06/11 #624 - 35,834 ( -8.1%)
Continuing the books’ opening FEAR ITSELF tie-in arc. Levelling out quite nicely.
44. MOON KNIGHT
06/06 #3 - 69,446
06/07 #11 - 58,313
06/08 #19 - 25,820
06/09 ---
=====
06/10 #9 - 18,695 ( -9.2%)
07/10 #10 - 19,143 ( +2.4%)
08/10 #1 of 3 - 28,196 ( +47.3%)
09/10 #2 of 3 - 20,307 ( -28.0%)
10/10 #3 of 3 - 18,318 ( -9.8%)
11/10 ---
12/10 ---
01/11 ---
02/11 ---
03/11 ---
04/11 ---
05/11 #1 - 49,018 (+167.6%)
06/11 #2 - 35,333 ( -27.9%)
6 mnth ( --- )
1 year ( +89.0%)
2 year ( --- )
3 year ( +36.8%)
4 year ( -39.4%)
5 year ( -49.1%)
Fairly big drop for the second issue, but still better than MOON KNIGHT has managed in a while. The last relaunch in September 2009 opened at this level, and dropped to 26K with its second issue.
45. ULTIMATE COMICS X 06/10 #3 - 44,568 ( -7.1%) 07/10 --- 08/10 --- 09/10 --- 10/10 --- 11/10 --- 12/10 --- 01/11 --- 02/11 --- 03/11 #4 - 37,631 (-15.6%) 04/11 --- 05/11 --- 06/11 #5 - 34,730 ( -7.7%)
And we shall never speak of this again.
59. AVENGERS: THE CHILDREN'S CRUSADE 07/10 #1 of 9 - 44,934 08/10 --- 09/10 #2 of 9 - 35,497 (-21.0%) 10/10 --- 11/10 #3 of 9 - 35,410 ( -0.2%) 12/10 --- 01/11 #4 of 9 - 31,977 ( -9.7%) 02/11 --- 03/11 --- 04/11 #5 of 9 - 31,945 ( -0.1%) 05/11 --- 06/11 #6 of 9 - 30,467 ( -4.6%)
Fairly solid over the last three issues.
60. FEAR ITSELF: SPIDER-MAN 05/11 #1 of 3 - 34,551 06/11 #2 of 3 - 30,238 (-12.5%)
Quite a small second issue drop. (Perhaps retailers figure that if you’re going to buy this book at all, you’re more than normally likely to stick around for the whole tie-in.)
62,67. HULK
06/08 #4 - 90,600
06/09 ---
=====
06/10 #23 - 50,724 ( +2.2%)
07/10 ---
08/10 #24 - 48,903 ( -3.6%)
09/10 #25 - 46,784 ( -4.3%)
10/10 #26 - 42,934 ( -8.2%)
11/10 #27 - 38,691 ( -9.9%)
12/10 #28 - 34,755 (-10.2%)
01/11 ---
02/11 #29 - 33,375 ( -4.0%)
02/11 #30 - 32,907 ( -1.4%)
03/11 #.1 - 32,163 ( -2.3%)
03/11 #31 - 31,368 ( -2.5%)
04/11 #32 - 30,652 ( -2.3%)
05/11 #33 - 32,273 ( +5.3%)
06/11 #34 - 29,391 ( -8.9%)
06/11 #35 - 28,539 ( -2.9%)
6 mnth (-17.9%)
1 year (-43.7%)
2 year ( --- )
3 year (-68.5%)
Business as usual.
64. CARNAGE 10/10 #1 of 5 - 50,692 11/10 --- 12/10 #2 of 5 - 32,794 (-35.3%) 01/11 --- 02/11 #3 of 5 - 28,334 (-13.6%) 03/11 --- 04/11 #4 of 5 - 29,466 ( +4.0%) 05/11 --- 06/11 #5 of 5 - 29,106 ( -1.2%)
That’s actually a very good performance, with extremely consistent numbers from issue #3 onwards. No wonder they’re doing a sequel.
66. S.H.I.E.L.D.
06/10 #2 - 37,595 (-15.6%)
07/10 ---
08/10 #3 - 33,335 (-11.3%)
09/10 ---
10/10 #4 - 32,495 ( -2.5%)
11/10 ---
12/10 #5 - 27,133 (-16.5%)
01/11 ---
02/11 #6 - 26,190 ( -3.5%)
03/11 ---
04/11 #∞ - 22,260 (-15.0%)
05/11 ---
06/11 #1 - 28,718 (+29.0%)
6 mnth ( +5.8%)
1 year (-23.6%)
Jump for the start of the second volume, exaggerated somewhat by the relatively low number on the transition issue.
69,80. THUNDERBOLTS
06/06 #103 - 48,058
06/07 #115 - 64,876
06/08 #121 - 37,693
06/09 #133 - 39,479
=====
06/10 #145 - 31,999 ( -3.8%)
07/10 #146 - 31,501 ( -1.6%)
08/10 #147 - 31,252 ( -0.8%)
09/10 #148 - 32,190 ( +3.0%)
10/10 #149 - 30,580 ( -5.0%)
11/10 #150 - 31,704 ( +3.7%)
12/10 #151 - 27,943 (-11.9%)
01/11 #152 - 26,515 ( -5.1%)
02/11 #153 - 26,098 ( -1.6%)
03/11 #154 - 25,455 ( -2.5%)
03/11 #155 - 26,710 ( +4.9%)
04/11 #156 - 25,117 ( -6.0%)
05/11 #157 - 25,063 ( -0.2%)
06/11 #158 - 28,422 (+13.4%)
06/11 #159 - 27,463 ( -3.4%)
6 mnth ( -1.7%)
1 year (-14.2%)
2 year (-30.4%)
3 year (-27.1%)
4 year (-57.7%)
5 year (-42.9%)
The first two parts of a FEAR ITSELF tie-in arc, with a modest effect.
70,76. DEADPOOL
06/09 #11 - 55,343
=====
06/10 #24 - 38,663 ( -9.6%)
07/10 #25 - 36,828 ( -4.7%)
08/10 #26 - 35,595 ( -3.3%)
09/10 #27 - 36,404 ( +2.3%)
10/10 #28 - 34,828 ( -4.3%)
11/10 #29 - 31,350 (-10.0%)
12/10 #30 - 30,488 ( -2.7%)
01/11 #31 - 29,167 ( -4.3%)
01/11 #32 - 29,144 ( -0.1%)
02/11 #33 - 28,649 ( -1.7%)
03/11 #.1 - 28,979 ( +1.2%)
03/11 #34 - 30,299 ( +4.6%)
04/11 #35 - 28,517 ( -5.9%)
04/11 #36 - 28,173 ( -1.2%)
05/11 #37 - 28,002 ( -0.6%)
06/11 #38 - 27,809 ( -0.7%)
06/11 #39 - 28,400 ( +2.1%)
6 mnth ( +2.1%)
1 year (-26.5%)
2 year (-48.6%)
Incredibly consistent sales from #30 onwards.
73. FEAR ITSELF: DEADPOOL 06/11 #1 of 3 - 28,227
Now that Deadpool isn’t being quite so overexposed, his spin-off books are doing as well as the main title.
74,81. INCREDIBLE HULKS
06/06 ---
06/07 #107 - 106,931
06/08 #4 - 90,600
06/09 ---
=====
06/10 #610 - 46,461 ( -0.4%)
07/10 ---
08/10 #611 - 44,982 ( -3.2%)
09/10 #612 - 42,956 ( -4.5%)
09/10 #613 - 40,063 ( -6.7%)
10/10 #614 - 39,572 ( -1.2%)
10/10 #615 - 36,750 ( -7.1%)
11/10 #616 - 35,296 ( -4.0%)
11/10 #617 - 34,340 ( -2.7%)
12/10 #618 - 34,868 ( -1.5%)
12/10 #619 - 32,657 ( -6.3%)
01/11 #620 - 30,992 ( -5.1%)
01/11 #621 - 30,957 ( -0.1%)
02/11 #622 - 30,404 ( -1.8%)
02/11 #623 - 30,140 ( -0.9%)
03/11 #624 - 32,066 ( +6.4%)
03/11 #625 - 29,792 ( -7.1%)
04/11 #626 - 29,782 ( -0.0%)
04/11 #627 - 30,788 ( +3.3%)
05/11 #628 - 28,822 ( -6.4%)
05/11 #629 - 28,103 ( -2.5%)
06/11 #630 - 28,028 ( -0.3%)
06/11 #631 - 27,456 ( -2.0%)
6 mnth (-15.9%)
1 year (-40.9%)
2 year ( --- )
3 year (-69.7%)
4 year (-74.3%)
5 year ( --- )
Heading for a relaunch after issue #635.
75. NEW MUTANTS
06/09 #2 - 43,230
=====
06/10 #14 - 53,926 ( -0.4%)
07/10 #15 - 35,426 (-34.3%)
08/10 #16 - 31,989 ( -9.7%)
09/10 #17 - 31,684 ( -1.0%)
10/10 #18 - 27,027 (-14.7%)
11/10 #19 - 25,440 ( -5.9%)
12/10 #20 - 24,416 ( -4.0%)
01/11 #21 - 23,773 ( -2.6%)
02/11 #22 - 41,236 (+73.5%)
03/11 #23 - 37,659 ( -8.7%)
04/11 #24 - 38,701 ( +2.8%)
05/11 #25 - 34,724 (-10.3%)
06/11 #26 - 27,848 (-19.7%)
6 mnth (+14.1%)
1 year (-48.4%)
2 year (-35.6%)
Finding its level again under the new creative team.
82,84. X-MEN: PRELUDE TO SCHISM 05/11 #1 of 4 - 34,796 05/11 #2 of 4 - 31,311 (-10.0%) 06/11 #3 of 4 - 27,258 (-12.9%) 06/11 #4 of 4 - 26,565 ( -2.5%)
A delayed second-issue drop, which can happen when the first two issues are both solicited in the same month. Reportedly the connection to “Schism” proper is purely “thematic”. I question the wisdom of this promotional strategy.
85,102. AVENGERS ACADEMY
06/10 #1 - 45,890 (+20.3%)
07/10 #2 - 38,061 (-17.1%)
08/10 #3 - 35,629 ( -6.4%)
09/10 #4 - 31,212 (-12.4%)
10/10 #5 - 31,272 ( +0.2%)
11/10 #6 - 25,977 (-16.9%)
12/10 #7 - 27,774 ( +6.9%)
01/11 #8 - 24,014 (-13.5%)
02/11 #9 - 23,709 ( -1.3%)
03/11 #10 - 23,708 ( -0.0%)
03/11 #11 - 23,636 ( -0.3%)
04/11 #12 - 23,578 ( -0.2%)
05/11 #13 - 24,840 ( +5.4%)
05/11 #14 - 23,537 ( -5.2%)
06/11 #.1 - 23,499 ( -0.2%)
06/11 #15 - 26,378 (+12.3%)
6 mnth ( -5.0%)
1 year (-42.5%)
The Point One issue comes in very slightly behind normal levels; there’s a slight increase for issue #15 with the start of a FEAR ITSELF arc.
89. X-23
09/10 #1 - 48,481
10/10 #2 - 35,280 (-27.2%)
11/10 #3 - 31,224 (-11.5%)
12/10 #4 - 29,703 ( -4.9%)
01/11 #5 - 27,855 ( -6.2%)
02/11 #6 - 27,156 ( -2.5%)
03/11 #7 - 27,510 ( +1.3%)
03/11 #8 - 27,745 ( +0.9%)
04/11 #9 - 28,562 ( +2.9%)
05/11 #10 - 26,157 ( -8.4%)
06/11 #11 - 25,985 ( -0.7%)
6 mnth (-12.5%)
90. FEAR ITSELF: THE HOME FRONT
04/11 #1 of 7 - 32,601
05/11 #2 of 7 - 28,605 (-12.3%)
06/11 #3 of 7 - 25,738 (-10.0%)
92. IDENTITY WARS
04/11 Amzng Spider-Man Ann #38 - 42,040
05/11 Deadpool Annual #1 - 27,592 (-34.4%)
06/11 Incredible Hulks Ann #1 - 25,041 ( -9.2%)
All fairly standard behaviour.
93,99. X-FACTOR
06/06 #8 - 59,131
06/07 #20 - 37,105
06/08 #32 - 45,104
06/09 #44 - 31,552
=====
06/10 #206 - 40,981 ( -1.8%)
07/10 #207 - 32,082 (-21.7%)
08/10 #208 - 30,095 ( -6.2%)
09/10 #209 - 29,626 ( -1.6%)
10/10 #210 - 27,548 ( -7.0%)
11/10 #211 - 26,632 ( -3.3%)
12/10 #212 - 26,443 ( -0.7%)
01/11 #213 - 25,403 ( -3.9%)
01/11 #214 - 25,117 ( -1.1%)
02/11 #215 - 25,298 ( +0.7%)
03/11 #216 - 25,256 ( -0.2%)
03/11 #217 - 25,125 ( -0.5%)
04/11 #218 - 24,826 ( -1.2%)
05/11 #219 - 24,766 ( -0.2%)
06/11 #220 - 24,926 ( +0.6%)
06/11 #221 - 24,502 ( -1.7%)
6 mnth ( -7.3%)
1 year (-40.2%)
2 year (-22.3%)
3 year (-45.7%)
4 year (-34.0%)
5 year (-58.6%)
One of Marvel’s most consistent performers.
95. GHOST RIDER 06/11 #.1 - 24,830
Same deal as with ALPHA FLIGHT above – the first issue proper charts at number 37 in July, just about INVINCIBLE IRON MAN (probably somewhere in the mid-40K range, in other words).
97. DAKEN: DARK WOLVERINE
06/09 #75 - 80,780
=====
06/10 #87 - 43,087 ( -7.0%)
07/10 #88 - 42,522 ( -1.3%)
08/10 #89 - 41,409 ( -2.6%)
08/10 #90 - 39,815 ( -3.8%)
09/10 #1 - 48,819 (+22.6%)
10/10 #2 - 38,660 (-22.9%)
11/10 #3 - 32,679 (-15.5%)
12/10 #4 - 30,726 ( -6.0%)
01/11 ---
02/11 #5 - 28,833 ( -6.2%)
03/11 #6 - 27,486 ( -4.7%)
03/11 #7 - 27,224 ( -1.0%)
04/11 #8 - 26,925 ( -1.1%)
05/11 #9 - 26,294 ( -2.3%)
05/11 #.1 - 24,599 ( -6.4%)
06/11 #10 - 24,724 ( +0.5%)
6 mnth (-19.5%)
1 year (-42.6%)
2 year (-69.4%)
The change of creative team doesn’t seem to have made a huge difference.
103. FEAR ITSELF: THE DEEP 06/11 #1 of 4 - 23,467 107. FEAR ITSELF: FEARSOME FOUR 06/11 #1 of 4 - 22,418
More FEAR ITSELF tie-ins. This seems to be about the standard level for the books without major characters.
108. CAPTAIN AMERICA CORPS 06/11 #1 of 5 - 22,050
Yet another Captain America mini to tie in with the film.
109. WOLVERINE: THE BEST THERE IS
12/10 #1 - 57,348
01/11 #2 - 33,469 (-41.6%)
02/11 #3 - 27,790 (-17.0%)
03/11 #4 - 25,226 ( -9.2%)
04/11 #5 - 24,771 ( -1.8%)
05/11 #6 - 22,695 ( -8.4%)
06/11 #7 - 22,001 ( -3.1%)
6 mnth (-61.6%)
There’s a variant cover on this issue, so chances are there’s a greater underlying drop.
110,125. IRON AGE 06/11 Alpha - 21,671 06/11 #1 of 3 - 19,135 (-11.7%)
Odd numbering for what’s basically a time-travel retro-themed IRON MAN TEAM-UP miniseries. (I quite liked it, actually.)
111. ANNIHILATORS 03/11 #1 of 4 - 26,543 04/11 #2 of 4 - 24,117 (-9.1%) 05/11 #3 of 4 - 23,145 (-4.0%) 06/11 #4 of 4 - 21,604 (-6.7%) 112. FEAR ITSELF: BLACK WIDOW 06/11 One-shot - 21,340 115. MARVEL UNIVERSE VS WOLVERINE 06/11 #1 of 4 - 21,155
This is a follow-up to MARVEL UNIVERSE VS PUNISHER, which launched in August 2010 with orders of 27K.
118. SILVER SURFER
02/11 #1 of 5 - 24,409
03/11 #2 of 5 - 23,484 (-3.8%)
04/11 #3 of 5 - 22,540 (-4.0%)
05/11 #4 of 5 - 21,918 (-2.8%)
06/11 #5 of 5 - 20,686 (-5.6%)
119. FEAR ITSELF: YOUTH IN REVOLT
05/11 #1 of 6 - 24,709
06/11 #2 of 6 - 20,376 (-17.5%)
120,124. BLACK PANTHER: THE MAN WITHOUT FEAR
06/06 #17 - 27,993
06/07 #28 - 61,808
06/08 #37 - 19,989
06/09 #5 - 29,762
=====
06/10 #5 of 6 - 26,041 ( -8.0%)
07/10 ---
08/10 #6 of 6 - 24,797 ( -4.8%)
09/10 ---
10/10 #1 of 4 - 16,973 ( -31.6%)
10/10 #2 of 4 - 12,960 ( -23.6%)
11/10 #3 of 4 - 10,356 ( -20.1%)
12/10 #4 of 4 - 9,145 ( -11.7%)
12/10 #513 - 33,124 (+262.2%)
01/11 #514 - 27,474 ( -17.1%)
02/11 #515 - 24,556 ( -10.6%)
03/11 #516 - 23,987 ( -2.3%)
04/11 #517 - 23,120 ( -3.6%)
05/11 #518 - 20,906 ( -9.6%)
06/11 #519 - 19,883 ( -4.9%)
06/11 #520 - 19,400 ( -2.4%)
6 mnth ( -41.4%)
1 year ( -25.5%)
2 year ( -34.8%)
3 year ( -2.9%)
4 year ( -68.6%)
5 year ( -30.7%)
121. IRON MAN 2.0
02/11 #1 - 31,380
02/11 #2 - 24,600 (-21.6%)
03/11 #3 - 20,905 (-15.0%)
04/11 #4 - 20,342 ( -2.7%)
05/11 #5 - 20,320 ( -0.1%)
06/11 #6 - 19,798 ( -2.6%)
This is the second month of a FEAR ITSELF tie-in, but they really don’t seem to be having that much effect on the regular titles. Have readers finally cottoned on to the fact that nothing important ever happens in the tie-ins?
126. GENERATION HOPE
11/10 #1 - 37,398
12/10 #2 - 38,984 ( +4.2%)
01/11 #3 - 24,094 (-38.2%)
02/11 #4 - 22,170 ( -8.0%)
03/11 #5 - 21,290 ( -4.0%)
04/11 #6 - 20,376 ( -4.3%)
05/11 #7 - 20,375 ( -0.0%)
06/11 #8 - 18,883 ( -7.3%)
6 mnth (-51.6%)
Considering how much effort Marvel put into promoting this book, including an entire arc in UNCANNY X-MEN, I really am surprised that it’s not doing better.
131. HERC
06/08 #118 - 52,975
06/09 #130 - 27,872
=====
06/10 Prince #2 - 17,068 ( -16.2%)
07/10 #3 of 4 - 15,667 ( -8.2%)
08/10 #4 of 4 - 17,137 ( +9.4%)
09/10 ---
10/10 Chaos #1 - 34,509 (+101.4%)
10/10 #2 of 5 - 29,375 ( -14.9%)
11/10 #3 of 5 - 28,630 ( -2.5%)
12/10 #4 of 5 - 26,313 ( -8.1%)
01/11 #5 of 5 - 24,694 ( -6.2%)
02/11 ---
03/11 ---
04/11 #1 - 38,774 ( +57.0%)
05/11 #2 - 17,385 ( -55.2%)
05/11 #3 - 18,755 ( +7.9%)
06/11 #4 - 18,106 ( -3.5%)
6 mnth ( -31.2%)
1 year ( +6.1%)
2 year ( -35.0%)
3 year ( -65.8%)
The second part of a FEAR ITSELF tie-in – again, with little noticeable impact.
132. HEROES FOR HIRE
12/10 #1 - 32,936
01/11 #2 - 23,013 (-30.1%)
02/11 #3 - 22,401 ( -2.7%)
03/11 #4 - 21,827 ( -2.6%)
04/11 #5 - 21,815 ( -0.0%)
05/11 #6 - 20,057 ( -8.1%)
05/11 #7 - 18,671 ( -6.9%)
06/11 #8 - 18,029 ( -3.4%)
6 mnth (-45.3%)
133. PUNISHERMAX [Max]
06/06 #22 - 37,811
06/07 #34 - 34,161
06/08 #48 - 33,804
06/09 #58 - 29,802
=====
06/10 #8 - 22,053 ( -0.7%)
07/10 #9 - 21,453 ( -2.7%)
08/10 ---
09/10 ---
10/10 ---
11/10 ---
12/10 ---
01/11 ---
02/11 #10 - 19,236 (-10.3%)
03/11 #11 - 19,243 ( +0.0%)
04/11 #12 - 18,740 ( -2.6%)
05/11 #13 - 18,448 ( -1.6%)
06/11 #14 - 17,965 ( -2.6%)
6 mnth ( --- )
1 year (-18.5%)
2 year (-39.7%)
3 year (-46.9%)
4 year (-47.4%)
5 year (-52.5%)
135. DARK TOWER: BATTLE OF TULL
06/07 Gunslinger Brn #5 - 132,090
06/08 Long Road Home #4 - 79,270
06/09 Fall of Gilead #2 - 39,978
=====
06/10 Gunslinger #2 - 24,024 ( -8.6%)
07/10 #3 of 5 - 22,744 ( -5.3%)
08/10 #4 of 5 - 21,820 ( -4.1%)
09/10 #5 of 5 - 21,323 ( -2.3%)
10/10 ---
11/10 ---
12/10 Little Sisters #1 - 19,807 ( -7.1%)
01/11 #2 of 5 - 18,589 ( -6.1%)
02/11 #3 of 5 - 17,748 ( -4.5%)
03/11 #4 of 5 - 17,490 ( -1.5%)
04/11 #5 of 5 - 17,283 ( -1.2%)
05/11 ---
06/11 Tull #1 of 5 - 17,667 ( +2.2%)
6 mnth (-10.8%)
1 year (-26.5%)
2 year (-55.8%)
3 year (-77.7%)
4 year (-86.6%)
The usual very slight spike for the start of a new arc.
140, 160. MYSTERY MEN 06/11 #1 of 5 - 16,657 06/11 #2 of 5 - 12,993 (-22.0%)
This is a miniseries about pulp-style heroes in the Marvel Universe of the 1920s. Obviously, nobody commissions a series like this expecting high sales (though quite why Marvel gave it a “CLASSIFIED” solicitation, I have no clue).
143. DEADPOOLMAX [Max]
10/10 #1 - 29,176
11/10 #2 - 23,382 (-19.9%)
12/10 #3 - 20,990 (-10.2%)
01/11 #4 - 19,238 ( -8.3%)
02/11 #5 - 18,221 ( -5.3%)
03/11 #6 - 17,528 ( -3.8%)
04/11 #7 - 17,005 ( -3.0%)
05/11 #8 - 16,428 ( -3.4%)
06/11 #9 - 15,802 ( -3.8%)
6 mnth (-24.7%)
146. SUPREME POWER
06/11 #1 of 4 - 15,251
Owww. I’d take that as a hint that there isn’t much interest in this property without big name creators attached.
148. CRIMINAL: LAST OF THE INNOCENT [Icon] 06/11 #1 of 4 - 14,849
On the other hand, by Icon standards, this is a perfectly respectable number.
149. THE STAND: NO MAN'S LAND
06/10 Hardcases #1 - 20,802 ( -6.7%)
07/10 #2 of 5 - 19,194 ( -7.7%)
08/10 #3 of 5 - 18,352 ( -4.4%)
09/10 ---
10/10 #4 of 5 - 17,186 ( -6.4%)
11/10 #5 of 5 - 16,751 ( -2.5%)
12/10 ---
01/11 ---
02/11 No Man's Land #1 - 16,094 ( -3.9%)
03/11 #2 of 5 - 15,332 ( -4.7%)
03/11 #3 of 5 - 14,768 ( -3.7%)
04/11 ---
05/11 #4 of 5 - 14,696 ( -0.5%)
06/11 #5 of 5 - 14,480 ( -1.5%)
6 mnth ( --- )
1 year (-30.4%)
153. MARVEL ZOMBIES SUPREME
03/11 #1 of 5 - 20,995
03/11 #2 of 5 - 18,287 (-12.9%)
04/11 #3 of 5 - 16,473 (-10.0%)
05/11 #4 of 5 - 15,191 ( -7.8%)
06/11 #5 of 5 - 13,962 ( -8.1%)
159,166. MARVEL ZOMBIES CHRISTMAS CAROL
06/11 #1 of 5 - 13,231
06/11 #2 of 5 - 12,164 (-8.1%)
I can only assume the idea is to have the collection out for Christmas.
161. KA-ZAR 06/11 #1 of 5 - 12,805 168. ALL WINNERS SQUAD: BAND OF HEROES 06/11 #1 of 8 - 11,836
The sales on these minis by the end of their runs don’t bear thinking about.
174. NAMOR: THE FIRST MUTANT
08/10 #1 - 37,399
09/10 #2 - 23,880 (-36.1%)
10/10 ---
11/10 #3 - 20,541 (-14.0%)
11/10 #4 - 19,469 ( -5.2%)
12/10 #5 - 17,730 ( -8.9%)
01/11 #6 - 15,181 (-14.4%)
02/11 #7 - 14,001 ( -7.8%)
03/11 #8 - 13,385 ( -4.4%)
04/11 #9 - 12,493 ( -6.7%)
05/11 #10 - 12,027 ( -3.7%)
06/11 #11 - 11,281 ( -6.2%)
6 mnth (-36.4%)
Cancelled.
175. SKAAR: KING OF THE SAVAGE LAND
04/11 #1 of 5 - 18,002
04/11 #2 of 5 - 14,915 (-17.1%)
05/11 #3 of 5 - 12,661 (-15.1%)
06/11 #4 of 5 - 11,090 (-12.4%)
177,181. CAPTAIN AMERICA: FIRST VENGEANCE
05/11 #1 of 4 - 13,689
05/11 #2 of 4 - 12,116 (-11.5%)
06/11 #3 of 4 - 10,660 (-12.0%)
06/11 #4 of 4 - 10,322 ( -3.2%)
178. RUSE [Crossgen]
03/11 #1 of 4 - 28,520
04/11 #2 of 4 - 11,861 (-58.4%)
05/11 #3 of 4 - 10,749 ( -9.4%)
06/11 #4 of 4 - 10,532 ( -2.0%)
191. WOLVERINE/HERCULES: MYTHS, MONSTERS & MUTANTS
03/11 #1 of 4 - 14,351
04/11 #2 of 4 - 11,389 (-20.6%)
05/11 #3 of 4 - 10,477 ( -8.0%)
06/11 #4 of 4 - 9,696 ( -7.5%)
204. SIGIL [Crossgen]
03/11 #1 of 4 - 28,496
04/11 #2 of 4 - 10,887 (-61.8%)
05/11 #3 of 4 - 9,595 (-11.9%)
06/11 #4 of 4 - 8,930 ( -6.9%)
207. OZMA OF OZ
06/09 Wizard #7 - 15,473
=====
06/10 Marvelous #7 - 12,200 ( -1.3%)
07/10 #8 of 8 - 12,152 ( -0.4%)
08/10 ---
09/10 ---
10/10 ---
11/10 Ozma #1 - 13,222 ( +8.8%)
12/10 #2 of 8 - 10,419 (-21.2%)
01/11 #3 of 8 - 9,386 ( -9.9%)
02/11 #4 of 8 - 9,159 ( -2.4%)
03/11 ---
04/11 #5 of 8 - 8,797 ( -4.0%)
05/11 #6 of 8 - 8,753 ( -0.5%)
06/11 #7 of 8 - 8,672 ( -0.9%)
6 mnth (-16.8%)
1 year (-28.9%)
3 year (-44.0%)
224. FROM THE MARVEL VAULT
02/11 Dr Strange - 11,248
03/11 ---
04/11 Thunderbolts - 9,001
05/11 ---
06/11 Hulk/Torch - 7,616
243. ANITA BLAKE, VAMPIRE HUNTER
06/08 Guilty #12 - 19,866
06/09 Necromancer #2 - 12,907
=====
06/10 Circus #2 - 9,060 ( -4.5%)
07/10 #3 of 5 - 8,557 ( -5.6%)
08/10 ---
09/10 #4 of 5 - 8,427 ( -1.5%)
10/10 #5 of 5 - 8,146 ( -3.3%)
11/10 ---
12/10 ---
01/11 Ingenue #1 of 5 - 7,763 ( -4.7%)
02/11 #2 of 5 - 7,352 ( -5.3%)
03/11 ---
04/11 #3 of 5 - 7,018 ( -4.5%)
04/11 ---
05/11 ---
06/11 #4 of 5 - 6,893 ( -1.8%)
6 mnth ( --- )
1 year (-23.9%)
2 year (-46.6%)
3 year (-65.3%)
What on earth is going on with the schedule of this book? It’s a novel adaptation, with creators who aren’t usually slow – I wonder what the problem is?
246. CAPTAIN AMERICA: REBIRTH 06/11 One-shot - 6,780
This is a reprint of some Lee/Kirby Captain America stories (with a new framing sequence by Karl Kesel).
258. OFFICIAL HANDBOOK
06/10 A to Z Update #2 of 5 - 5,312 ( -64.9%)
07/10 X-Men: Phoenix Force - 9,566 ( +80.1%)
08/10 A to Z Update #3 of 5 - 4,962 ( -48.1%)
09/10 Heroic Age: Heroes - 11,224 (+126.2%)
10/10 A to Z Update #4 of 5 - 4,990 ( -55.5%)
11/10 Heroic Age: Villains - 9,294 ( +86.3%)
12/10 A to Z Update #5 of 5 - 4,808 ( -48.3%)
12/10 Heroic Age: X-Men - 13,789 (+186.8%)
01/11 Blockbusters - 5,354 ( -61.2%)
02/11 ---
03/11 ---
04/11 Thor - 9,251 ( +72.8%)
05/11 X-Men - 8,228 ( -11.1%)
06/11 Captain America - 6,311 ( -23.3%)
6 mnth ( -54.2%)
1 year ( +18.8%)
274. HULK-SIZED MINI-HULKS
06/11 #1 - 5,619
A reprint of the Mini-Hulk back-up strips.
277. AMAZING SPIDER-MAN/GHOST RIDER 06/11 Motorstorm - 5,588
And this is a reprint of the Spider-Man/Ghost Rider back-up strip that ran in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #658-660.
287. SPIDER-MAN [Marvel Adventures]
06/06 #16 - 6,114
06/07 #28 - 7,006
06/08 #40 - 5,954
06/09 #52 - 4,612
=====
06/10 #3 - 7,200 ( -6.6%)
07/10 #4 - 6,347 (-11.8%)
08/10 #5 - 6,202 ( -2.3%)
09/10 #6 - 5,779 ( -6.8%)
10/10 ---
11/10 #7 - 5,603 ( -3.0%)
11/10 #8 - 5,269 ( -6.0%)
12/10 #9 - 5,116 ( -2.9%)
01/11 #10 - 4,816 ( -5.9%)
02/11 #11 - 4,923 ( +2.2%)
03/11 #12 - 4,965 ( +0.9%)
04/11 #13 - 5,083 ( +2.4%)
05/11 #14 - 5,220 ( +2.7%)
06/11 #15 - 5,052 ( -3.2%)
6 mnth ( -1.3%)
1 year (-29.8%)
2 year ( +9.5%)
3 year (-15.1%)
4 year (-27.9%)
5 year (-17.4%)
294. CARS 2 [Pixar]
06/11 #1 of 2 - 4,798
All-ages movie adaptation, so it’s not exactly intended for the direct market. I’m sure we’ll be seeing many more Disney comics in future.
Quite a few Marvel titles missed the top 300 in June, with estimated orders below 4,427: DISNEY PIXAR PRESENTS CARS, 15 LOVE #1, SPIDER-MAN: WITH GREAT POWER COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY #3, FORMIC WARS: BURNING EARTH #6, the Marvel Adventures book SUPER HEROES #15, EMMA #4, and OFFICIAL INDEX #14.
6 month comparisons =================== +372.8% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man + 37.6% - FF + 24.1% - Ultimate Avengers vs New Ultimates + 14.1% - New Mutants + 6.6% - Thor + 5.8% - S.H.I.E.L.D. + 4.5% - Captain America + 4.0% - X-Men Legacy + 2.1% - Deadpool + 1.0% - Iron Man - 1.3% - Spider-Man [Marvel Adventures] - 1.7% - Thunderbolts - 2.7% - Uncanny X-Men - 4.2% - X-Force - 4.5% - Avengers - 5.0% - Avengers Academy - 7.0% - Amazing Spider-Man - 7.3% - X-Factor - 7.7% - Secret Avengers - 10.8% - Dark Tower - 12.5% - X-23 - 15.0% - New Avengers - 15.7% - X-Men - 15.9% - Incredible Hulks - 16.8% - Oz - 17.9% - Hulk - 19.5% - Daken - 20.8% - Wolverine - 24.7% - DeadpoolMax - 31.2% - Herc - 36.4% - Namor - 41.4% - Black Panther - 45.3% - Heroes for Hire - 51.6% - Generation Hope - 54.2% - Official Handbook - 61.6% - Wolverine: Best There Is 1 year comparisons ================== +307.0% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man + 89.0% - Moon Knight + 61.1% - FF + 39.2% - Wolverine + 18.8% - Official Handbook + 6.1% - Herc - 2.4% - Amazing Spider-Man - 14.2% - Thunderbolts - 14.8% - Thor - 15.7% - Ultimate Avengers vs New Ultimates - 18.5% - PunisherMax - 19.0% - Iron Man - 22.0% - Captain America - 23.6% - S.H.I.E.L.D. - 23.9% - Anita Blake - 25.5% - Black Panther - 26.5% - Deadpool - 26.5% - Dark Tower - 28.6% - Uncanny X-Men - 28.9% - Oz - 29.8% - Spider-Man [Marvel Adventures] - 30.4% - Stand - 33.7% - X-Men Legacy - 35.2% - Avengers - 35.3% - Astonishing X-Men - 36.0% - Secret Avengers - 40.2% - X-Factor - 40.9% - Incredible Hulks - 42.5% - Avengers Academy - 42.6% - Daken - 43.7% - Hulk - 48.4% - New Mutants - 55.3% - New Avengers 2 year comparisons ================== +177.8% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man + 27.5% - FF + 9.5% - Spider-Man [Marvel Adventures] - 9.6% - X-Force - 13.7% - Amazing Spider-Man - 18.1% - Wolverine - 20.5% - Iron Man - 22.3% - X-Factor - 23.7% - Uncanny X-Men - 25.5% - X-Men Legacy - 30.4% - Thunderbolts - 30.8% - Thor - 34.8% - Black Panther - 35.0% - Herc - 35.6% - New Mutants - 38.6% - New Avengers - 39.7% - PunisherMax - 42.5% - Astonishing X-Men - 44.0% - Oz - 46.6% - Anita Blake - 48.6% - Deadpool - 55.8% - Dark Tower - 60.1% - Captain America - 69.4% - Daken 3 year comparisons ================== +178.7% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man + 36.8% - Moon Knight - 2.9% - Black Panther - 3.4% - FF - 15.1% - Spider-Man [Marvel Adventures] - 22.6% - Amazing Spider-Man - 27.1% - Thunderbolts - 33.1% - Uncanny X-Men - 38.7% - Iron Man - 39.5% - X-Men Legacy - 43.6% - Captain America - 45.7% - X-Factor - 46.8% - New Avengers - 46.9% - PunisherMax - 57.3% - Wolverine - 65.3% - Anita Blake - 65.8% - Herc - 68.5% - Hulk - 69.7% - Incredible Hulks - 77.7% - Dark Tower 4 year comparisons ================== +116.4% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man - 15.3% - FF - 27.9% - Spider-Man [Marvel Adventures] - 33.4% - Uncanny X-Men - 34.0% - X-Factor - 39.4% - Moon Knight - 43.6% - Iron Man - 47.4% - PunisherMax - 49.4% - Amazing Spider-Man - 54.8% - Captain America - 57.7% - Thunderbolts - 64.2% - New Avengers - 68.2% - X-Men Legacy - 68.6% - Black Panther - 74.3% - Incredible Hulks 5 year comparisons ================== +116.9% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man + 12.4% - Iron Man - 5.3% - Captain America - 17.4% - Spider-Man [Marvel Adventures] - 24.6% - FF - 30.5% - Uncanny X-Men - 30.7% - Black Panther - 42.9% - Thunderbolts - 49.1% - Moon Knight - 51.5% - Amazing Spider-Man - 52.5% - PunisherMax - 54.5% - X-Men Legacy - 57.0% - New Avengers - 57.2% - Wolverine - 58.6% - X-Factor - 69.1% - Astonishing X-Men - 86.6% - Dark Tower
Alpha Flight #1 was double-shipped for free to comic stores, hence the huge increase.
Also, I’ve had to drop orders for just about every Marvel book with a Fear Itself tie-in tag. Not only have they not sold more, they’ve sold less with the crossover. Crazy.
Hoping Marvel takes the hint and STOPS forcing the “big events” into the regular titles. I’m so tired of books having to stop what’s going on to shoe-horn in the tie-in arcs.
Iron Age is remarkably irritating. Not the comic, which I also like, but the way Marvel has released it. Each issue has a completely different title with Iron Age in small, unassuming letters near the top and each issue also has a completely different and seemingly unrelated thematically cover like one with Dazzler and one with Phoenix. I’m buying the series and I keep missing issues until a few weeks after it’s hit the stands much less anybody who might have a casual interest.
Sorry as I am, the Hulk losing a 1,000 units for 6 months straight isn’t “business as usual”. Unless business is losing readers.
Prelude to Schism is to Schism as Countdown was to Final Crisis.
This is what the bottom looks like. These numbers are terrible. Marvel needs to seriously cull their line.
Everyone bashes Marvel for their stunts (myself included! haha…) But why the hell would they stop the deaths when they get sales like Ult Spiderman and FF! Hell even some relaunches are still working for them – like Future Foundation!
What the hell is up with Childrens Crusade? Its bi-monthly … and STILL a month late?
Nice sales for Alpha Flight – Eaglesham is amazing! – let hope its not back down to 25k for issue #2! ;)
Micah is right. So many titles under 20k. Its pretty abysmal.
@James – The AF relaunch is just shy of 27K for issue #2, so not great given the push this title got, but far from a flop and better than it looks given the inflated numbers for issue #1. At 8 issues, though, it’s going to outlast the event that launched it, and I don’t think that’ll help the sales.
“Unless business is losing readers.”
These columns have been showing for a long time that it is, pretty much.
15 Love was outsold by a collection of Mini-Hulk strips?
*sigh* . . . Well, at least Japan will still make sports comics for me to read. :[
I’ll be interested to read Paul’s thoughts about the sales for X-Men: Schism #1. It missed the top ten and only sold marginally more (roughly 2500 copies) than the previous issue of Uncanny X-Men. Surely this title was expected to be a much bigger seller, potentially a number one seller.
So is 15 LOVE #1 the first time an original content first issue from Marvel has failed to make the top 300?
15 Love not making the top 300 is a tragedy. I just read issues #1-2 over the weekend and I abolutely loved it.
Funny thing is… I’m the guy who read both “Mini Hulks” and “15 Love”. I’m also digging the new FF! And as a lapsed Spider-Man fan, I might read Spider Island and Ultimate as well!
Marvel sells everything as a periodical first, then a comic. 15 Love will, unfortunately, sell more copies as a graphic novel than it will as a periodical, and I suspect, cost less as well.
Hmmm… did the French manga titles disappear?
Hmmm… would the event comics work better as a series of annuals, like “Atlantis Attacks”? Main story up front, back-up stories in the rear…
I don’t understand why Black Panther: Man Without Fear isn’t doing bigger numbers. I mean, I understand historically why it’s not selling better… but this series is fantastic, and I’m shocked that more people haven’t caught on to this book.
Wow. Is X-Men Legacy 250 the first recorded case of a double-size “anniversary” issue having no practical effect on sales?
@Tortsen, I would be happy to see that crossover annual format return. I used to love the old Marvel annuals with maps of headquarters, Top Ten lists and stories of minor characters. Great stuff.
I saw 15 LOVE on the shelf at the local shop, in PREVIEWS, and described online:
Who is in the desired audience for this series, aside from tennis players who read comics, teen-age girls, and people with eclectic tastes? I have no interest in reading it because of the sports fiction genre and the protagonist. Guys, regardless of their ages, would probably have no more interest in reading it than they would any YA paperback written for girls taken off the shelf at random. Is Marvel advertising the series in sports magazines, tennis magazines, or anywhere that people interested in sports fiction might see ads? Or is the genre irrelevant because the story is in comics form?
People and institutions who label comics a genre instead of a medium or format are criticized for it, but that’s what Marvel is doing when it publishes material which will appeal to particular demographic groups and doesn’t try to market it to those groups. Genre fiction aficionados read books in those genres, not randomly-selected books.
I hope that Marvel doesn’t cite the series as an example of how good material doesn’t sell, because unless anyone can cite ads, they’re not actually trying to sell it to anyone.
SRS
I recently read the New Mutants run. At the beginning, there was a coherent story. Then, in the ‘teens’, the stories switched to all tie-ins to other comics/events. The stories were consistently terrible. I planned to drop New Mutants until Abnett came on board, but the Fear Itself tie-ins reverted back to garbage stories.
Marvel may be killing its own goose.
@Ryan – Glad I’m not alone in titles declining mid-event.
Re: 15 Love – The biggest problem with the book was its $5 price tag.
What interests me the most about Marvel comics is how writers are coping, or not, with the strain of doing events. In FEAR ITSELF #5, Fraction has the Serpent proclaim that he aspires to be God (by absorbing humans’ fear) and has Franklin say that he’s been a god all along and just lied about saying he wouldn’t act like one. Metaphysics or poor plotting?
In CHILDREN’S CRUSADE, retcons are being stacked like slices of meat in a Dagwood sandwich.
SRS
Man, Synsidar, this whole “Who is the audience for this? This thing isn’t directed at me, so clearly it has no appeal to anyone anywhere!” shtick is getting oooooold. “15 Love” was written by Andi Watson, a guy who has had plenty of success creating other comics with inter-gender appeal, and was promoted heavily at all kinds of comic book websites.
As to why they didn’t advertise it outside of comic book audiences: that’s a waste of money. An ad in Sports Illustrated or whatever would cost a fortune, and would likely result in zero return on that investment. So many people say “But if only they advertised it!” like that would magically create a new audience for something as quirky as a tennis comic with romance elements in it. This was always going to be a niche comic, and trying to sell a niche comic using promotional techniques used by multi-million dollar movies is ridiculous. You don’t even see independent films advertise in magazines most of the time…why would a comic publisher selling a three-issue miniseries with a miniscule shelf life spend money in that way?
___
Is Marvel advertising the series in sports magazines, tennis magazines, or anywhere that people interested in sports fiction might see ads?
___
The thing with “15-Love” is that Marvel didn’t even want it to succeed. It’s one of those things that lingered on from the Jemas era (it was supposed to be part of their ill-fated “Tsunami” line nearly a decade ago).
I guess somebody at Disney simply told Marvel to make money from basically everything, especially stuff they already paid for and that’s sitting in a drawer (which also might explain those nice “From the Marvel Vault” one-shots with inventory stories in it).
That said I bought it because it was written by Andi Watson. I disliked the first issue, liked the second one and have still to read the final issue.
Advertising makes consumers aware that a product exists. They won’t buy something that they don’t know about.
Marvel is a commercial publisher. Publishing something without a market in mind for it that will enable it to produce a profit is insane. Assuming that comics readers will buy 15 LOVE just because it’s a comic is treating comics as a genre.
Where are your ideas for making 15 LOVE a hit?
SRS
Marvel’s “other” titles sell best as books, and Marvel has done a good job of advertising those books.
Marvel printed these comics to earn some extra money before the book is published. (And if Marvel was savvy (which they aren’t), they would have published this in the Spring, then done promotion with the graphic novel at the USTA National Tennis Center in September.)
@Synsidar I’d imagine that 15-Love’s target audience was the Prince of Tennis crowd.
“Publishing something without a market in mind for it that will enable it to produce a profit is insane.”
No, paying two guys to make a comic and then shoving it in a drawer for 8 years is insane.
Here are my ideas:
Create (at least) three distinct U.S. comics divisions within Disney Publishing Worldwide/U.S. Magazines:
Marvel Comics (teen, adult)
* Marvel Universe
* CrossGen
Disney Comics (kids, all ages)
* Disney animated characters
* Muppets
* Pixar
Kingdom Comics (tween, teen)
* Disney live-action characters
* Cine-Manga
* Original manga
* Original comics (Yes, Disney publishes creator-owned work. Percy Jackson, for example.)
* Marvel Illustrated
* Hyperion graphic novel adaptations (adaptations from prose novels, like Percy Jackson)
Five years later, create an adult graphic novel imprint under Hyperion Press.
Just like Harlequin has distinct product lines and exact mission statements,
http://www.eharlequin.com/articlepage.html?articleId=538&chapter=0
so too would DWP. They would share resources, but have separate identities at conventions. (And wouldn’t it be awesome if the Disney comics booth got more traffic than Marvel?)
Disney is expert at marketing and advertising. “15 Love” would make an excellent live-action series.
“I recently read the New Mutants run. At the beginning, there was a coherent story. Then, in the ‘teens’, the stories switched to all tie-ins to other comics/events. The stories were consistently terrible. I planned to drop New Mutants until Abnett came on board, but the Fear Itself tie-ins reverted back to garbage stories.”
New Mutants hits 30 issues this month. 12 of those have been tie-ins (Necrosha, Siege, Second Coming, Heroic Age, Age of X, Fear Itself).
Think about it…*forty percent* of a comic’s run has been devoted to issues that, by design, derail its narrative flow. Good grief!
And they’re fine ideas. No publisher should put something on the market and just hope it sells — to somebody, or some number of somebodies. That’s why publishers have imprints. Here are some of J. Caleb Mozzocco’s reactions:
If the publication isn’t created for the direct market, don’t sell it in the direct market. Identify buyers elsewhere.
SRS
I don’t think 15 Love would’ve been a HUGE hit with better advertising, but I can see it at least bumping up over 5,000 copies. That ANY title has trouble reaching 5,000 copies in this day and age is a little depressing.
Heck, why not release it a different way? Put it up one issue at a time on the web, on its own dedicated mini-site. Send some e-mails to popular tennis blogs with links to the comic, maybe run a couple of banner ads there, and poof! Tennis fans who don’t live near comics shops (or who don’t feel like looking for one) can still read it, and Marvel saves the trouble of having to print/ship howevermany issues.
Wait a couple months, turn the minisite into an ad for the GN version, print what seems like a reasonable amount given the feedback/traffic.
@Sinsidar: Awww, don’t write off sports comics just ’cause they’re about sports! I barely follow sports myself, and yet I’ve gotten hooked on the genre – turns out to be something comics can do really, /really/ well. Maybe because every panel looks like a slow-motion instant replay, I don’t know. x[)
GENERATION HOPE is probably selling relatively poorly because the first story arc was really, really terrible – a poor, ham-handed AKIRA ripoff that gave me no reason to care about the story or characters.
MYSTERY MEN probably had a “Classified” solicitation to delay/deflect potential legal action by Bob Burden and/or Universal Pictures. Despite the unfortunate name, the series is quite good…
I doubt Marvel really care how much 15 LOVE sells. It’s been lying at the back of a drawer for so long that they probably wrote off the costs long ago. Like the inventory issues which are appearing in FROM THE MARVEL VAULT, it’s being published simply because it already exists, so what the hell.
15 LOVE is one of those commissions that probably made sense at the time, when publishers still thought they had a reasonable shot at courting the manga audience. With hindsight it’s a quirky relic of a more optimistic era.
If 15 Love had come out during the manga boom when it was first completed and Marvel had advertized it in Newtype, Animerica, or Shoujo Beat, the book may well have had a reasonable shot at “courting the manga audience.” Tossing it out all these years later to no fanfare is a different story.
“With hindsight it’s a quirky relic of a more optimistic era.”
That should be the tag-line on the eventual tpb! LOL
I doubt it would have succeeded even at the time (though it would certainly have sold better). Even at the height of the manga boom, sports manga was never hugely successful in America, and manga audiences never had much interest in Marvel’s output. It would have been a worthwhile experiment, and I think Marvel were right to commission it, but with the benefit of hindsight I don’t think it would have worked out.
Marvel does not print original graphic novels. (Halo being a rare exception.)
They serialize it as a comic to garner some sales (all non-returnable, so no risk to Marvel), which will pay some of the cost of production.
Marvel can then use these single issues as preview copies when they publish the graphic novel.
As for sports manga selling… Prince of Tennis is up to volume 42, Slam Dunk is up to volume 19, Eyeshield is up to volume 37, Crimson Hero is up to volume 14, and Hikaru No Go (yes, Go) is up to volume 23. What’s interesting… these sports manga showcase male protagonists, except for Crimson Hero, which features a tomboy.
So, shojo sports manga would be a good idea. (Imprint name: “Title Nine”) How many girls in the U.S. participate in athletics? How many girls read manga? How many girls read books? The stories don’t just need to be about sports… any pursuit or hobby where the female protagonist faces conflict and must overcome prejudices would work.
Here’s hoping that Disney/Hyperion will grab this title and market it effectively.
I quit reading most of Marvel’s $3.99 titles. I never thought that I would cut down on my comics due to price but it’s happened.
New Mutants v3 #22 – you have 41,236 while everyone else has 36,737. Which is right?
@James; Children’s Crusade is late because it’s Heinberg. That’s a given. I find it worth the wait, especially with Cheung’s consistently great art.
@Synisdar; Children’s Crusade is retcon heavy because there was SO MUCH that needed fixing. Young Avengers was the same way, and that’s what made it good.
And Franlkin *is* a god, so metaphysics!