SDOWAY_36_z82jpwfnhx_.jpg
by Marc-Oliver Frisch

Dear reading partners:

Due to unprecedented demand for the DC Comics Month-to-Month Sales Column, The Beat announces that broadcasts of the August 2013 DC Comics Month-to-Month Sales Column will be allocated. This column is now FUBAR-Late at the writer level.

“Because of the time needed to create the August 2013 DC Comics Month-to-Month Sales Column, we were forced to set broadcast limits much further in advance than we normally would,” said Marc-Oliver Frisch, DC Comics Month-to-Month Sales Column Writer-in-Chief and Executive Vice President of Calculator Typing. “As we got close to the FUBAR dates, even though we were very aggressive with our broadcast forecasts for the August 2013 edition, it was clear that requests for this column were going to be greater than the quantities we had prepared.”

“HENNIMORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” said Heidi MacDonald, The Beat Publisher.

The red-hot FUBAR-Late Edition of the August 2013 DC Comics Month-to-Month Sales Column will be broadcast to your Internet Service Provider sometime in October or maybe November, or thereabouts.

You know what we mean.

See below for the details and, as usual, please consider the small print at the end of the column. Thanks to Milton Griepp and ICv2.com for the permission to use their figures. An overview of ICv2.com‘s estimates can be found here.

—–

286 - SCOOBY DOO: WHERE ARE YOU? (Johnny DC)
08/2003: Scooby Doo #75  -- 6,135
08/2008: Scooby Doo #135 -- 4,226
08/2009: Scooby Doo #147 -- 4,111
08/2010: Scooby Doo #159 -- 4,092
08/2011: SD:WAY? #12     -- 4,686
---------------------------------
08/2012: SD:WAY? #24     -- ?
09/2012: SD:WAY? #25     -- 4,979
10/2012: SD:WAY? #26     -- ?
11/2012: SD:WAY? #27     -- 5,032
12/2012: SD:WAY? #28     -- 4,879 (- 3.0%)
01/2013: SD:WAY? #29     -- 4,729 (- 3.1%)
02/2013: SD:WAY? #30     -- 4,752 (+ 0.5%)
03/2013: SD:WAY? #31     -- 4,770 (+ 0.4%)
04/2013: SD:WAY? #32     -- 4,688 (- 1.7%)
05/2013: SD:WAY? #33     -- ?
06/2013: SD:WAY? #34     -- 4,881
07/2013: SD:WAY? #35     -- ?
08/2013: SD:WAY? #36     -- 4,903
----------------
6 months: + 3.2%
1 year  :   n.a.
2 years : + 4.6%
5 years : +16.0%
10 years: -20.1%

Frighteningly consistent direct-market figures, as usual.

—–

219 - TOM STRONG AND THE PLANET OF PERIL (Vertigo)
08/2003: Tom Strong #21          -- 18,199
------------------------------------------
06/2010: Robots of Doom #1 of 6  -- 10,552
07/2010: Robots of Doom #2 of 6  --  7,655
08/2010: Robots of Doom #3 of 6  --  6,989
09/2010: Robots of Doom #4 of 6  --  6,661
10/2010: Robots of Doom #5 of 6  --  6,271
11/2010: Robots of Doom #6 of 6  --  5,995
------------------------------------------
07/2013: Planet of Peril #1 of 6 -- 10,492
08/2013: Planet of Peril #2 of 6 --  7,593 (-27.6%)
----------------
10 years: -58.3%

Well, at least we know what retailers used as a template for their orders.

—–

198 - GREEN TEAM
05/2013: Green Team #1  -- 27,775
06/2013: Green Team #2  -- 14,328 (-48.4%)
07/2013: Green Team #3  -- 11,220 (-21.7%)
08/2013: Green Team #4  --  8,493 (-24.3%)

Cancelled with issue #8, for obvious reasons.

—–

201 - THRESHOLD
01/2013: Threshold #1  -- 29,312
02/2013: Threshold #2  -- 18,389 (-37.3%)
03/2013: Threshold #3  -- 15,109 (-17.8%)
04/2013: Threshold #4  -- 12,811 (-15.2%)
05/2013: Threshold #5  -- 11,209 (-12.5%)
06/2013: Threshold #6  -- 10,184 (- 9.1%)
07/2013: Threshold #7  --  9,361 (- 8.1%)
08/2013: Threshold #8  --  8,725 (- 6.8%)
----------------
6 months: -52.6%

Cancelled with issue #8.

—–

196 - ARROW (Digital-First)
11/2012: Arrow #1  -- 25,442
12/2012: Arrow #2  -- 15,780 (-38.0%)
01/2013: Arrow #3  -- 13,090 (-17.1%)
02/2013: Arrow #4  -- 11,581 (-11.5%)
03/2013: Arrow #5  -- 10,908 (- 5.8%)
04/2013: Arrow #6  -- 10,462 (- 4.1%)
05/2013: Arrow #7  -- 10,017 (- 4.3%)
06/2013: Arrow #8  --  9,671 (- 3.5%)
07/2013: Arrow #9  --  9,334 (- 3.5%)
07/2013: Arrow #10 --  9,028 (- 3.3%)
----------------
6 months: -22.1%

Cancelled with issue #12.

—–

195 - THE UNWRITTEN (Vertigo)
08/2009: The Unwritten #4  -- 16,336
08/2010: The Unwritten #16 -- 12,778
08/2011: The Unwritten #28 -- 10,731
------------------------------------
08/2012: The Unwritten #40 --  9,127 (- 3.7%)
09/2012: The Unwritten #41 --  8,943 (- 2.0%)
10/2012: The Unwritten #42 --  8,881 (- 0.7%)
11/2012: The Unwritten #43 --  8,791 (- 1.0%)
12/2012: The Unwritten #44 --  8,532 (- 3.0%)
01/2013: The Unwritten #45 --  8,465 (- 0.8%)
02/2013: The Unwritten #46 --  8,352 (- 1.3%)
03/2013: The Unwritten #47 --  8,267 (- 1.0%)
04/2013: The Unwritten #48 --  8,226 (- 0.5%)
05/2013: The Unwritten #49 --  8,234 (+ 0.1%)
06/2013: The Unwritten #50 -- 10,124 (+23.0%)
07/2013: The Unwritten #51 --  9,143 (- 9.7%)
08/2013: The Unwritten #52 --  9,033 (- 1.2%)
----------------
6 months: + 8.2%
1 year  : - 1.0%
2 years : -15.8%

Ending with issue #54, to be relaunched in January 2014.

The Unwritten is by far the lowest-selling ongoing Vertigo title, and there’s a limited number of issues left anyway to conclude the story, according to the creators, so a relaunch probably makes sense here. The resulting boost — short-lived as it may be — may suffice to carry the book over the finish line.

—–

183/170 - DJANGO UNCHAINED (Vertigo)
12/2012: Django Unchained #1 of 6 -- 11,795
01/2013: --
02/2013: Django Unchained #2 of 6 -- 13,554 (+14.9%)
03/2013: --
04/2013: Django Unchained #3 of 6 -- 12,561 (- 7.3%)
05/2013: --
06/2013: Django Unchained #4 of 6 -- 12,119 (- 3.5%)
06/2013: Django Unchained #5 of 6 -- 10,856 (-10.4%)
07/2013: --
08/2013: Django Unchained #6 of 6 --  9,938 (- 8.5%)
----------------
6 months: -26.7%

Perfectly solid numbers.

Contrary to the solicitation information of issues #1 through #6, though, there’s a #7, as well, which came out in September.

—–

177 - AME-COMI GIRLS (Digital-First)
10/2012: ACG #1: Wonder Woman      -- 24,966
11/2012: ACG #2: Batgirl           -- 16,083 (-35.6%)
12/2012: ACG #3: Duela Dent        -- 13,185 (-18.0%)
01/2013: ACG #4: Power Girl        -- 12,488 (- 5.3%)
02/2013: ACG #5 of 5: Supergirl    -- 12,343 (- 1.2%)
03/2013: Ame-Comi Girls #1         -- 16,558 (+34.2%)
04/2013: Ame-Comi Girls #2         -- 12,878 (-22.2%)
05/2013: Ame-Comi Girls #3         -- 12,007 (- 6.8%)
06/2013: Ame-Comi Girls #4         -- 11,229 (- 6.5%)
07/2013: Ame-Comi Girls #5         -- 10,672 (- 5.0%)
08/2013: Ame-Comi Girls #6         --  9,979 (- 6.5%)
----------------
6 months: -19.2%

Cancelled with issue #8.

—–

176 - 100 BULLETS: BROTHER LONO (Vertigo)
08/2003: --
08/2008: 100 Bullets #94      -- 10,721
---------------------------------------
06/2013: Brother Lono #1 of 8 -- 17,489
07/2013: Brother Lono #2 of 8 -- 11,984 (-31.5%)
08/2013: Brother Lono #3 of 8 -- 10,051 (-16.1%)
----------------
5 years : - 6.3%
10 years:   n.a.

Right back where it was for the end of the original run, minus some attrition.

—–

172 - KATANA
02/2013: Katana #1  -- 27,021
03/2013: Katana #2  -- 19,247 (-28.8%)
04/2013: Katana #3  -- 16,157 (-16.1%)
05/2013: Katana #4  -- 14,804 (- 8.4%)
06/2013: Katana #5  -- 12,998 (-12.2%)
07/2013: Katana #6  -- 11,346 (-12.7%)
08/2013: Katana #7  -- 10,386 (- 8.5%)
----------------
6 months: -61.6%

Cancelled with issue #10.

Interestingly, there was no “final issue” notice this time around, which suggests the decision may have been made on very short notice. (To be fair, it could just as well be an oversight.)

—–

168 - STORMWATCH
08/2003: Team Achilles #14    -- 12,314
08/2008: Stormwatch: PHD #13  --  8,650
---------------------------------------
08/2012: Stormwatch #12       -- 18,531 (- 5.8%)
09/2012: Stormwatch #0        -- 21,764 (+17.5%)
10/2012: Stormwatch #13       -- 17,621 (-19.0%)
11/2012: Stormwatch #14       -- 16,559 (- 6.0%)
12/2012: Stormwatch #15       -- 15,437 (- 6.8%)
01/2013: Stormwatch #16       -- 14,411 (- 6.7%)
02/2013: Stormwatch #17       -- 13,657 (- 5.2%)
03/2013: Stormwatch #18       -- 13,255 (- 2.9%)
04/2013: Stormwatch #19       -- 13,626 (+ 2.8%)
05/2013: Stormwatch #20       -- 13,049 (- 4.2%)
06/2013: Stormwatch #21       -- 12,277 (- 5.9%)
07/2013: Stormwatch #22       -- 11,792 (- 4.0%)
08/2013: Stormwatch #23       -- 10,969 (- 7.0%)
-----------------
6 months: - 19.7%
1 year  : - 40.8%
5 years : + 26.8%
10 years: - 10.9%

Still ongoing through issue #27, according to the solicitations.

—–

167 - DEMON KNIGHTS
08/2012: Demon Knights #12 -- 17,295 (- 5.0%)
09/2012: Demon Knights #0  -- 20,474 (+18.4%)
10/2012: Demon Knights #13 -- 16,805 (-17.9%)
11/2012: Demon Knights #14 -- 16,005 (- 4.8%)
12/2012: Demon Knights #15 -- 15,152 (- 5.3%)
01/2013: Demon Knights #16 -- 14,168 (- 6.5%)
02/2013: Demon Knights #17 -- 13,571 (- 4.2%)
03/2013: Demon Knights #18 -- 12,975 (- 4.4%)
04/2013: Demon Knights #19 -- 12,941 (- 0.3%)
05/2013: Demon Knights #20 -- 12,195 (- 5.8%)
06/2013: Demon Knights #21 -- 11,627 (- 4.7%)
07/2013: Demon Knights #22 -- 11,364 (- 2.3%)
08/2013: Demon Knights #23 -- 10,971 (- 3.5%)
----------------
6 months: -19.2%
1 year  : -36.6%

Cancelled with issue #23.

—–

165 - DIAL H
08/2003: H-E-R-O #7 -- 18,244
-----------------------------
08/2012: Dial H #4  -- 22,733 (-12.9%)
09/2012: Dial H #0  -- 24,070 (+ 5.9%)
10/2012: Dial H #5  -- 19,903 (-17.3%)
11/2012: Dial H #6  -- 17,832 (-10.4%)
12/2012: Dial H #7  -- 16,217 (- 9.1%)
01/2013: Dial H #8  -- 14,672 (- 9.5%)
02/2013: Dial H #9  -- 13,541 (- 7.7%)
03/2013: Dial H #10 -- 13,084 (- 3.4%)
04/2013: Dial H #11 -- 13,355 (+ 2.1%)
05/2013: Dial H #12 -- 12,381 (- 7.3%)
06/2013: Dial H #13 -- 11,905 (- 3.9%)
07/2013: Dial H #14 -- 11,421 (- 4.1%)
08/2013: Dial H #15 -- 11,086 (- 2.9%)
----------------
6 months: -18.1%
1 year  : -51.2%
10 years: -39.2%

Cancelled with issue #15.

—–

164 - THE MOVEMENT
05/2013: The Movement #1  -- 29,246
06/2013: The Movement #2  -- 18,001 (-38.5%)
07/2013: The Movement #3  -- 14,524 (-19.3%)
08/2013: The Movement #4  -- 11,095 (-23.6%)

Still ongoing through January 2014, at least.

—–

162 - JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA'S VIBE
02/2013: Vibe #1  -- 27,051
03/2013: Vibe #2  -- 19,092 (-29.4%)
04/2013: Vibe #3  -- 16,972 (-11.1%)
05/2013: Vibe #4  -- 14,970 (-11.8%)
06/2013: Vibe #5  -- 13,706 (- 8.4%)
07/2013: Vibe #6  -- 12,241 (-10.7%)
08/2013: Vibe #7  -- 11,184 (- 8.6%)
----------------
6 months: -58.7%

Cancelled with issue #10.

Another cancellation that wasn’t mentioned in the December solicitations.

—–

158 - BATWING
08/2012: Batwing #12 -- 18,279 (- 8.8%)
09/2012: Batwing #0  -- 22,135 (+21.1%)
10/2012: Batwing #13 -- 17,166 (-22.5%)
11/2012: Batwing #14 -- 15,967 (- 7.0%)
12/2012: Batwing #15 -- 14,674 (- 8.1%)
01/2013: Batwing #16 -- 13,427 (- 8.5%)
02/2013: Batwing #17 -- 12,595 (- 6.2%)
03/2013: Batwing #18 -- 12,084 (- 4.1%)
04/2013: Batwing #19 -- 13,570 (+12.3%)
05/2013: Batwing #20 -- 13,302 (- 2.0%)
06/2013: Batwing #21 -- 12,437 (- 6.5%)
07/2013: Batwing #22 -- 12,062 (- 3.0%)
08/2013: Batwing #23 -- 11,584 (- 4.0%)
----------------
6 months: - 8.0%
1 year  : -36.6%

Still ongoing, as of the January 2014 solicitations.

—–

148 - AMERICAN VAMPIRE ANTHOLOGY (Vertigo)
08/2010: --
08/2011: American Vampire #18 -- 15,423
---------------------------------------
08/2012: American Vampire #30 -- 15,081 (- 1.6%)
09/2012: American Vampire #31 -- 14,796 (- 1.9%)
10/2012: American Vampire #32 -- 14,857 (+ 0.4%)
11/2012: American Vampire #33 -- 13,614 (- 8.4%)
12/2012: American Vampire #34 -- 13,416 (- 1.5%)
---------------------------------------
06/2013: Long Road to Hell #1 -- 16,042 (+19.6%)
08/2013: Anthology #1         -- 12,695 (-20.9%)
----------------
1 year  : -15.8%
2 years : -17.7%

Unlike The Long Road to Hell, the previous $7.99 one-shot special, this one is an anthology, so maybe that explains the drop. Either way, so far there’s no sign that the supposed 2014 relaunch would necessarily enjoy increased sales.

—–

143 - BATMAN: ARKHAM UNHINGED (Digital-First)
08/2012: Arkham Unhinged #5  -- 21,059 (- 3.4%)
09/2012: Arkham Unhinged #6  -- 20,259 (- 3.8%)
10/2012: Arkham Unhinged #7  -- 19,890 (- 1.8%)
11/2012: Arkham Unhinged #8  -- 18,393 (- 7.5%)
12/2012: Arkham Unhinged #9  -- 17,220 (- 6.4%)
01/2013: Arkham Unhinged #10 -- 16,113 (- 6.4%)
02/2013: Arkham Unhinged #11 -- 15,703 (- 2.6%)
03/2013: Arkham Unhinged #12 -- 15,067 (- 4.1%)
04/2013: Arkham Unhinged #13 -- 14,702 (- 2.4%)
05/2013: Arkham Unhinged #14 -- 14,048 (- 4.5%)
06/2013: Arkham Unhinged #15 -- 13,729 (- 2.3%)
07/2013: Arkham Unhinged #16 -- 13,046 (- 5.0%)
08/2013: Arkham Unhinged #17 -- 13,360 (+ 2.4%)
----------------
6 months: -14.9%
1 year  : -36.6%

Cancelled with issue #20.

The fact there was a 1:10 variant edition in August probably explains the marginal increase.

—–

142 - FAIREST (Vertigo)
08/2012: Fairest #6  -- 19,446 (- 4.5%)
09/2012: Fairest #7  -- 18,626 (- 4.2%)
10/2012: Fairest #8  -- 18,376 (- 1.3%)
11/2012: Fairest #9  -- 17,417 (- 5.2%)
12/2012: Fairest #10 -- 16,919 (- 2.9%)
01/2013: Fairest #11 -- 16,498 (- 2.5%)
02/2013: Fairest #12 -- 16,141 (- 2.2%)
03/2013: Fairest #13 -- 15,693 (- 2.8%)
04/2013: Fairest #14 -- 15,269 (- 2.7%)
05/2013: Fairest #15 -- 14,959 (- 2.0%)
06/2013: Fairest #16 -- 14,289 (- 4.5%)
07/2013: Fairest #17 -- 13,915 (- 2.6%)
08/2013: Fairest #18 -- 13,511 (- 2.9%)
----------------
6 months: -16.3%
1 year  : -30.5%

Slowly drifting down.

—–

149 - FBP: FEDERAL BUREAU OF PHYSICS (Vertigo)
07/2013: Collider #1  -- 17,336
08/2013: FBP #2       -- 14,068 (-18.9%)

A regular second-issue drop. The numbers are somewhat better than what you’d expect, based on the creative team and the Vertigo sales of the last several years, but they don’t constitute a substantial improvement.

Also, the usual heads-up: Diamond only reported reduced numbers of FBP #2, Trillium #1 and Justice League Dark #23 in August, ostensibly to compensate for the fact that DC made those books returnable.

As usual, I’m presuming Diamond is reporting 90% of those numbers, because that turned out to be broadly correct before. And if it’s not, then at worst it’ll be a different kind of wrong from what Diamond reports. So far, though, the resulting numbers look perfectly reasonable.

—–

138 - THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES
08/2003: Legion #23           -- 22,466
08/2008: LoSH #45             -- 25,783
08/2010: LoSH #4              -- 34,239
08/2011: LoSH #16             -- 21,373
---------------------------------------
08/2012: LoSH #12             -- 18,907 (-  2.7%)
09/2012: LoSH #0              -- 21,561 (+ 14.0%)
10/2012: LoSH #13             -- 18,487 (- 14.3%)
11/2012: LoSH #14             -- 17,767 (-  3.9%)
12/2012: LoSH #15             -- 16,912 (-  4.8%)
01/2013: LoSH #16             -- 16,496 (-  2.5%)
02/2013: LoSH #17             -- 16,242 (-  1.5%)
03/2013: LoSH #18             -- 16,148 (-  0.6%)
04/2013: LoSH #19             -- 16,015 (-  0.9%)
05/2013: LoSH #20             -- 15,532 (-  3.0%)
06/2013: LoSH #21             -- 14,997 (-  3.5%)
07/2013: LoSH #22             -- 14,726 (-  1.8%)
08/2013: LoSH #23             -- 14,600 (-  0.9%)
-----------------
6 months: - 10.1%
1 year  : - 22.8%
2 years : - 31.7%
5 years : - 43.4%
10 years: - 35.0%

Cancelled with issue #23.

After relaunching the property about six times in the last 15 years and each time failing to establish the Legion of Super-Heroes as a solid performer, DC Comics does what’s logical: relaunch the Legion of Super-Heroes concept.

—–

137 - SMALLVILLE SEASON 11 (Digital-First)
08/2012: Smallville S11 #4  -- 19,861 (- 4.8%)
09/2012: Smallville S11 #5  -- 19,499 (- 1.8%)
10/2012: Smallville S11 #6  -- 19,663 (+ 0.8%)
11/2012: Smallville S11 #7  -- 19,104 (- 2.8%)
12/2012: Smallville S11 #8  -- 18,633 (- 2.5%)
01/2013: Smallville S11 #9  -- 17,845 (- 4.2%)
02/2013: Smallville S11 #10 -- 17,024 (- 4.6%)
03/2013: Smallville S11 #11 -- 16,502 (- 3.1%)
04/2013: Smallville S11 #12 -- 15,930 (- 3.5%)
05/2013: Smallville S11 #13 -- 15,442 (- 3.1%)
06/2013: Smallville S11 #14 -- 15,097 (- 2.2%)
07/2013: Smallville S11 #15 -- 14,930 (- 1.1%)
08/2013: Smallville S11 #16 -- 14,640 (- 1.9%)
----------------
6 months: -14.0%
1 year  : -26.3%

Cancelled with issue #19, to be continued in a miniseries.

—–

136 - BATMAN: LI'L GOTHAM (Digital-First)
04/2013: Li'l Gotham #1  -- 27,591
05/2013: Li'l Gotham #2  -- 18,573 (-32.7%)
06/2013: Li'l Gotham #3  -- 18,578 (+ 0.0%)
07/2013: Li'l Gotham #4  -- 21,646 (+16.5%)
08/2013: Li'l Gotham #5  -- 14,696 (-32.1%)

No special variant edition in August, so sales drop accordingly.

—–

135 - FABLES (Vertigo)
08/2003: Fables #16  -- 25,365
08/2008: --
08/2009: Fables #87  -- 21,876
08/2010: Fables #97  -- 19,625
08/2011: Fables #108 -- 18,390
------------------------------
08/2012: Fables #120 -- 16,704 (- 2.4%)
09/2012: Fables #121 -- 16,596 (- 0.7%)
10/2012: Fables #122 -- 16,513 (- 0.5%)
11/2012: Fables #123 -- 16,229 (- 1.7%)
12/2012: Fables #124 -- 16,018 (- 1.3%)
01/2013: Fables #125 -- 15,983 (- 0.2%)
02/2013: Fables #126 -- 15,480 (- 3.2%)
03/2013: Fables #127 -- 15,529 (+ 0.3%)
04/2013: Fables #128 -- 15,606 (+ 0.5%)
05/2013: Fables #129 -- 15,380 (- 1.5%)
06/2013: Fables #130 -- 15,129 (- 1.6%)
07/2013: Fables #131 -- 15,109 (- 0.1%)
08/2013: Fables #132 -- 14,893 (- 1.4%)
----------------
6 months: - 3.8%
1 year  : -10.8%
2 years : -19.0%
5 years :   n.a.
10 years: -41.3%

Standard attrition.

—–

134 - ALL STAR WESTERN
08/2008: Jonah Hex #34 -- 12,969
08/2009: Jonah Hex #46 -- 12,466
08/2010: Jonah Hex #58 -- 11,775
08/2011: Jonah Hex #70 -- 10,369
--------------------------------
08/2012: ASW #12       -- 22,767 (-  3.4%)
09/2012: ASW #0        -- 25,388 (+ 11.5%)
10/2012: ASW #13       -- 21,481 (- 15.4%)
11/2012: ASW #14       -- 20,186 (-  6.0%)
12/2012: ASW #15       -- 19,190 (-  4.9%)
01/2013: ASW #16       -- 18,254 (-  4.9%)
02/2013: ASW #17       -- 17,398 (-  4.7%)
03/2013: ASW #18       -- 16,897 (-  2.9%)
04/2013: ASW #19       -- 16,838 (-  0.4%)
05/2013: ASW #20       -- 16,184 (-  3.9%)
06/2013: ASW #21       -- 15,788 (-  2.5%)
07/2013: ASW #22       -- 15,376 (-  2.6%)
08/2013: ASW #23       -- 15,276 (-  0.7%)
-----------------
6 months: - 12.2%
1 year  : - 32.9%
2 years : + 47.3%
5 years : + 17.8%

The solicitation text promised a story “in the modern-day Gotham City,” probably slowing the decline, for the time being.

—–

130 - LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT (Digital-First)
08/2003: LotDK #170 -- 25,535
-----------------------------
10/2012: LotDK #1   -- 42,904
11/2012: LotDK #2   -- 30,085 (-29.9%)
12/2012: LotDK #3   -- 25,710 (-14.5%)
01/2013: LotDK #4   -- 22,671 (-11.8%)
02/2013: LotDK #5   -- 21,041 (- 7.2%)
03/2013: LotDK #6   -- 19,681 (- 6.5%)
04/2013: LotDK #7   -- 18,201 (- 7.5%)
05/2013: LotDK #8   -- 17,126 (- 5.9%)
06/2013: LotDK #9   -- 16,678 (- 2.6%)
07/2013: LotDK #10  -- 16,184 (- 3.0%)
08/2013: LotDK #11  -- 15,546 (- 3.9%)
----------------
6 months: -26.1%
10 years: -39.1%

Cancelled with issue #13.

—–

124 - HE-MAN AND THE MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE
08/2003: MotU #6        -- 21,495
---------------------------------
08/2012: --
09/2012: He-Man #2 of 6 -- 19,737 (-28.7%)
10/2012: He-Man #3 of 6 -- 18,269 (- 7.4%)
11/2012: He-Man #4 of 6 -- 17,499 (- 4.2%)
12/2012: He-Man #5 of 6 -- 16,858 (- 3.7%)
01/2013: He-Man #6 of 6 -- 16,441 (- 2.5%)
02/2013: --
03/2013: --
04/2013: He-Man #1      -- 25,254 (+53.6%)
05/2013: He-Man #2      -- 19,410 (-23.1%)
06/2013: He-Man #3      -- 18,277 (- 5.8%)
07/2013: He-Man #4      -- 18,101 (- 1.0%)
08/2013: He-Man #5      -- 16,898 (- 6.7%)
----------------
6 months:  n.a.
1 year  :  n.a.
10 years: -21.4%

Not levelled out yet. Sales are still good enough for this sort of thing, but there’s reason to be skeptical about the book’s long-term prospects.

—–

120 - ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN (Digital-First)
08/2003: Adventures of Superman #619 -- 28,145
----------------------------------------------
05/2013: Adventures of Superman #1   -- 30,992
06/2013: Adventures of Superman #2   -- 22,407 (-27.7%)
07/2013: Adventures of Superman #3   -- 19,453 (-13.2%)
08/2013: Adventures of Superman #4   -- 17,370 (-10.7%)
----------------
10 years: -38.3%

Not quite stabilized yet.

—–

114 - ASTRO CITY (Vertigo)
08/2009: Dark Age 3 #4 of 4   -- 14,684
---------------------------------------
06/2013: Astro City #1        -- 27,700
07/2013: Astro City #2        -- 20,193 (-27.1%)
08/2013: Astro City #3        -- 18,802 (- 6.9%)
-----------------
5 years :  n.a.
10 years:  n.a.

Sales are on their way back to pre-relaunch levels. Still a solid performance by Vertigo standards, though.

—–

111 - BIRDS OF PREY
08/2003: Birds of Prey #58  -- 27,851
08/2008: Birds of Prey #121 -- 22,406
08/2010: Birds of Prey #4   -- 46,149
08/2011: Birds of Prey #15  -- 26,043
-------------------------------------
08/2012: Birds of Prey #12  -- 26,587 (-  2.9%)
09/2012: Birds of Prey #0   -- 30,574 (+ 15.0%)
10/2012: Birds of Prey #13  -- 25,851 (- 15.5%)
11/2012: Birds of Prey #14  -- 24,904 (-  3.7%)
12/2012: Birds of Prey #15  -- 24,026 (-  3.5%)
01/2013: Birds of Prey #16  -- 23,182 (-  3.5%)
02/2013: Birds of Prey #17  -- 22,112 (-  4.6%)
03/2013: Birds of Prey #18  -- 21,957 (-  0.7%)
04/2013: Birds of Prey #19  -- 21,707 (-  1.1%)
05/2013: Birds of Prey #20  -- 21,126 (-  2.7%)
06/2013: Birds of Prey #21  -- 20,767 (-  1.7%)
07/2013: Birds of Prey #22  -- 20,209 (-  2.7%)
08/2013: Birds of Prey #23  -- 19,364 (-  4.2%)
-----------------
6 months: - 12.4%
1 year  : - 27.2%
2 years : - 25.7%
5 years : - 13.6%
10 years: - 30.5%

The latest “New 52” title, along with Talon below, to slip below the 20K mark. For August 2013, that makes 13, seven of which have been cancelled.

—–

110 - TALON
09/2012: Talon #0  -- 59,691
10/2012: Talon #1  -- 55,737 (- 6.6%)
11/2012: Talon #2  -- 41,250 (-26.0%)
12/2012: Talon #3  -- 35,034 (-15.1%)
01/2013: Talon #4  -- 30,909 (-11.8%)
02/2013: Talon #5  -- 28,003 (- 9.4%)
03/2013: Talon #6  -- 25,440 (- 9.2%)
04/2013: Talon #7  -- 24,045 (- 5.5%)
05/2013: Talon #8  -- 22,710 (- 5.6%)
06/2013: Talon #9  -- 21,755 (- 4.2%)
07/2013: Talon #10 -- 20,296 (- 6.7%)
08/2013: Talon #11 -- 19,449 (- 4.2%)
----------------
6 months: -30.6%

Slipping down the chart.

—–

104 - SUPERBOY
08/2011: Superboy #10 --  20,563
08/2011: Superboy #11 --  20,317
--------------------------------
08/2012: Superboy #12 --  27,518 (-  7.3%)
09/2012: Superboy #0  --  31,840 (+ 15.7%)
10/2012: Superboy #13 --  25,726 (- 19.2%)
11/2012: Superboy #14 --  28,017 (+  8.9%)
12/2012: Superboy #15 --  27,619 (-  1.4%)
01/2013: Superboy #16 --  27,110 (-  1.8%)
02/2013: Superboy #17 --  26,762 (-  1.3%)
03/2013: Superboy #18 --  24,455 (-  8.6%)
04/2013: Superboy #19 --  24,211 (-  1.0%)
05/2013: Superboy #20 --  22,508 (-  7.0%)
06/2013: Superboy #21 --  20,952 (-  6.9%)
07/2013: Superboy #22 --  19,984 (-  4.6%)
08/2013: Superboy #23 --  20,235 (+  1.3%)
-----------------
6 months: - 24.4%
1 year  : - 26.5%
2 years : -  1.0%

A quasi-crossover with Superman brings a slight increase.

—–

98 - ANIMAL MAN
08/2012: Animal Man #12    -- 34,549 (+ 1.9%)
09/2012: Animal Man #0     -- 38,295 (+10.8%)
10/2012: Animal Man #13    -- 34,303 (-10.4%)
11/2012: Animal Man #14    -- 33,503 (- 2.3%)
12/2012: Animal Man #15    -- 32,013 (- 4.5%)
01/2013: Animal Man #16    -- 30,322 (- 5.3%)
02/2013: Animal Man #17    -- 29,425 (- 3.0%)
03/2013: Animal Man #18    -- 28,711 (- 2.4%)
04/2013: Animal Man #19    -- 27,562 (- 4.0%)
05/2013: Animal Man #20    -- 25,807 (- 6.4%)
06/2013: Animal Man #21    -- 23,862 (- 7.5%)
07/2013: Animal Man #22    -- 22,974 (- 3.7%)
08/2013: Animal Man #23    -- 21,634 (- 5.8%)
----------------
6 months: -26.5%
1 year  : -37.4%

The book keeps shedding readers by the truckload.

—–

96 - LARFLEEZE
06/2013: Larfleeze #1  -- 36,638
07/2013: Larfleeze #2  -- 30,221 (-17.5%)
08/2013: Larfleeze #3  -- 21,955 (-27.4%)

In its first month without the plastic-ring promotion, Larfleeze sees another gigantic drop, to nobody’s surprise.

—–

94 - SUICIDE SQUAD
08/2012: Suicide Squad #12      -- 28,302 (-  5.1%)
09/2012: Suicide Squad #0       -- 31,875 (+ 12.6%)
10/2012: Suicide Squad #13      -- 27,644 (- 13.3%)
11/2012: Suicide Squad #14      -- 63,691 (+130.4%) [69,185]
12/2012: Suicide Squad #15      -- 57,132 (- 10.3%)
01/2013: Suicide Squad #16      -- 27,061 (- 52.6%)
02/2013: Suicide Squad #17      -- 26,370 (-  2.6%)
03/2013: Suicide Squad #18      -- 25,232 (-  4.3%)
04/2013: Suicide Squad #19      -- 24,300 (-  3.7%)
05/2013: Suicide Squad #20      -- 23,537 (-  3.1%)
06/2013: Suicide Squad #21      -- 22,907 (-  2.7%)
07/2013: Suicide Squad #22      -- 22,447 (-  2.0%)
08/2013: Suicide Squad #23      -- 22,166 (-  1.3%)
-----------------
6 months: - 15.9%
1 year  : - 21.7%

Standard attrition.

—–

93 - SWAMP THING
08/2012: Swamp Thing #12 -- 36,696 (+ 1.2%)
09/2012: Swamp Thing #0  -- 40,123 (+ 9.3%)
10/2012: Swamp Thing #13 -- 36,069 (-10.1%)
11/2012: Swamp Thing #14 -- 42,036 (+16.5%)
12/2012: Swamp Thing #15 -- 33,916 (-19.3%)
01/2013: Swamp Thing #16 -- 32,262 (- 4.9%)
02/2013: Swamp Thing #17 -- 31,497 (- 2.4%)
03/2013: Swamp Thing #18 -- 30,716 (- 2.5%)
04/2013: Swamp Thing #19 -- 29,254 (- 4.8%)
05/2013: Swamp Thing #20 -- 27,338 (- 6.6%)
06/2013: Swamp Thing #21 -- 25,186 (- 7.9%)
07/2013: Swamp Thing #22 -- 23,885 (- 5.2%)
08/2013: Swamp Thing #23 -- 22,695 (- 5.0%)
----------------
6 months: -28.0%
1 year  : -38.2%

Sliding down the chart.

—–

154 - BATMAN BEYOND UNIVERSE (Digital-First)
07/2012: Unlimited #6   -- 22,555 (- 6.3%)
08/2012: Unlimited #7   -- 21,219 (- 5.9%)
09/2012: Unlimited #8   -- 20,897 (- 1.5%)
10/2012: Unlimited #9   -- 19,877 (- 4.9%)
11/2012: Unlimited #10  -- 19,004 (- 4.4%)
12/2012: Unlimited #11  -- 18,089 (- 4.8%)
01/2013: Unlimited #12  -- 17,446 (- 3.6%)
02/2013: Unlimited #13  -- 17,025 (- 2.4%)
03/2013: Unlimited #14  -- 16,456 (- 3.3%)
04/2013: Unlimited #15  -- 16,283 (- 1.1%)
05/2013: Unlimited #16  -- 15,822 (- 2.8%)
06/2013: Unlimited #17  -- 15,464 (- 2.3%)
07/2013: Unlimited #18  -- 15,275 (- 1.2%)
08/2013: Universe #1    -- 23,358 (+52.9%)
----------------
6 months: +37.2%
1 year  : + 3.6%

There’s a new creative team and a 1:25 variant.

The numbers will be back at the previous level within a few months, no doubt, so this looks a little desperate, as far as relaunches go.

—–

86 - WORLDS' FINEST
08/2012: Worlds' Finest #4  -- 39,629 (-12.9%)
09/2012: Worlds' Finest #0  -- 42,770 (+ 7.9%)
10/2012: Worlds' Finest #5  -- 35,951 (-15.9%)
11/2012: Worlds' Finest #6  -- 34,338 (- 4.5%)
12/2012: Worlds' Finest #7  -- 32,010 (- 6.8%)
01/2013: Worlds' Finest #8  -- 30,399 (- 5.0%)
02/2013: Worlds' Finest #9  -- 28,332 (- 6.8%)
03/2013: Worlds' Finest #10 -- 28,469 (+ 0.5%)
04/2013: Worlds' Finest #11 -- 27,453 (- 3.6%)
05/2013: Worlds' Finest #12 -- 27,073 (- 1.4%)
06/2013: Worlds' Finest #13 -- 25,815 (- 4.7%)
07/2013: Worlds' Finest #14 -- 25,143 (- 2.6%)
08/2013: Worlds' Finest #15 -- 24,159 (- 3.9%)
----------------
6 months: -14.7%
1 year  : -39.0%

Slipping down the charts.

—–

85 - CATWOMAN
08/2003: --
08/2008: Catwoman #82 -- 17,662
-------------------------------
08/2012: Catwoman #12 -- 34,117 (- 4.0%)
09/2012: Catwoman #0  -- 39,117 (+14.7%)
10/2012: Catwoman #13 -- 40,147 (+ 2.6%) [60,257]
11/2012: Catwoman #14 -- 63,653 (+58.6%)
12/2012: Catwoman #15 -- 35,020 (-45.0%)
01/2013: Catwoman #16 -- 33,915 (- 3.2%)
02/2013: Catwoman #17 -- 30,194 (-11.0%)
03/2013: Catwoman #18 -- 33,220 (+10.0%)
04/2013: Catwoman #19 -- 28,058 (-15.5%)
05/2013: Catwoman #20 -- 26,886 (- 4.2%)
06/2013: Catwoman #21 -- 25,611 (- 4.7%)
07/2013: Catwoman #22 -- 24,737 (- 3.4%)
08/2013: Catwoman #23 -- 24,262 (- 1.9%)
-----------------
6 months: - 19.7%
1 year  : - 28.9%
5 years : + 37.4%
10 years:    n.a.

The drops have been getting smaller over the last three issues.

—–

83 - SUPERGIRL
08/2008: Supergirl #32 --  28,114
08/2009: Supergirl #44 --  33,819
08/2010: Supergirl #55 --  25,891
08/2011: Supergirl #67 --  19,764
---------------------------------
08/2012: Supergirl #12 --  30,420 (-  4.6%)
09/2012: Supergirl #0  --  34,457 (+ 13.3%)
10/2012: Supergirl #13 --  29,450 (- 14.5%)
11/2012: Supergirl #14 --  31,270 (+  6.2%)
12/2012: Supergirl #15 --  30,814 (-  1.5%)
01/2013: Supergirl #16 --  30,350 (-  1.5%)
02/2013: Supergirl #17 --  30,146 (-  0.7%)
03/2013: Supergirl #18 --  28,051 (-  7.0%)
04/2013: Supergirl #19 --  29,558 (+  5.4%)
05/2013: Supergirl #20 --  27,509 (-  6.9%)
06/2013: Supergirl #21 --  25,856 (-  6.0%)
07/2013: Supergirl #22 --  25,514 (-  1.3%)
08/2013: Supergirl #23 --  24,747 (-  3.0%)
-----------------
6 months: - 17.9%
1 year  : - 18.7%
2 years : + 25.2%
5 years : - 12.0%

Slipping.

—–

80 - CONSTANTINE
08/2003: Hellblazer #187 -- 16,037
08/2008: --
08/2009: Hellblazer #258 -- 10,665
08/2010: Hellblazer #270 --  9,928
08/2011: Hellblazer #282 --  9,372
----------------------------------
08/2012: Hellblazer #294 --  9,396 (+  1.6%)
09/2012: Hellblazer #295 --  9,143 (-  2.7%)
10/2012: Hellblazer #296 --  9,255 (+  1.2%)
11/2012: Hellblazer #297 --  9,146 (-  1.2%)
12/2012: Hellblazer #298 --  9,132 (-  0.2%)
01/2013: Hellblazer #299 --  9,329 (+  2.2%)
02/2013: Hellblazer #300 -- 12,522 (+ 34.2%)
03/2013: Constantine #1  -- 37,564 (+200.0%)
04/2013: Constantine #2  -- 30,789 (- 18.0%)
05/2013: Constantine #3  -- 29,106 (-  5.5%)
06/2013: Constantine #4  -- 26,417 (-  9.2%)
07/2013: Constantine #5  -- 30,664 (+ 16.1%) [35,027]
08/2013: Constantine #6  -- 25,174 (- 17.9%)
-----------------
6 months: +101.0%
1 year  : +167.9%
2 years : +168.6%
5 years :   n.a.
10 years: + 57.0%

Without Jeff Lemire, variant-cover editions and crossovers to boost the numbers, Constantine sees another big drop. Sales are still two and a half times what they used to be at Vertigo, of course.

—–

79 - INJUSTICE: GODS AMONG US (Digital-First)
01/2013: Injustice #1  -- 20,733          [35,438]
02/2013: Injustice #2  -- 17,068 (-17.7%) [29,096]
03/2013: Injustice #3  -- 18,608 (+ 9.0%) [24,469]
04/2013: Injustice #4  -- 21,669 (+16.5%) [26,739]
05/2013: Injustice #5  -- 25,215 (+16.4%)
06/2013: Injustice #6  -- 26,011 (+ 3.2%)
07/2013: Injustice #7  -- 25,731 (- 1.1%)
08/2013: Injustice #8  -- 25,223 (- 2.0%)
-----------------
6 months: + 47.8%

Cancelled in December, to be relaunched in January 2014.

—–

78 - GREEN ARROW
08/2003: Green Arrow #29  -- 41,534
08/2008: Arrow/Canary #11 -- 28,694
08/2009: Arrow&Canary #23 -- 19,452
08/2010: Green Arrow #3   -- 46,308
08/2011: Green Arrow #15  -- 23,883
-----------------------------------
08/2012: Green Arrow #12  -- 23,126 (-  6.2%)
09/2012: Green Arrow #0   -- 28,408 (+ 22.8%)
10/2012: Green Arrow #13  -- 22,057 (- 22.4%)
11/2012: Green Arrow #14  -- 21,825 (-  1.1%)
12/2012: Green Arrow #15  -- 20,672 (-  5.3%)
01/2013: Green Arrow #16  -- 19,888 (-  3.8%)
02/2013: Green Arrow #17  -- 36,043 (+ 81.2%)
03/2013: Green Arrow #18  -- 28,080 (- 22.1%)
04/2013: Green Arrow #19  -- 29,922 (+  6.6%)
05/2013: Green Arrow #20  -- 27,541 (-  8.0%)
06/2013: Green Arrow #21  -- 26,924 (-  2.2%)
07/2013: Green Arrow #22  -- 26,172 (-  2.8%)
08/2013: Green Arrow #23  -- 25,449 (-  2.8%)
-----------------
6 months: - 29.4%
1 year  : + 10.1%
2 years : +  6.6%
5 years : - 11.3%
10 years: - 38.7%

Slipping back towards its old level.

—–

76 - BATWOMAN
08/2012: Batwoman #12 --  38,064 (- 2.4%)
09/2012: Batwoman #0  --  41,684 (+ 9.5%)
10/2012: Batwoman #13 --  37,315 (-10.5%)
11/2012: Batwoman #14 --  36,395 (- 2.5%)
12/2012: Batwoman #15 --  34,964 (- 3.9%)
01/2013: Batwoman #16 --  34,103 (- 2.5%)
02/2013: Batwoman #17 --  32,041 (- 6.1%)
03/2013: Batwoman #18 --  31,381 (- 2.1%)
04/2013: Batwoman #19 --  31,538 (+ 0.5%)
05/2013: Batwoman #20 --  29,698 (- 5.8%)
06/2013: Batwoman #21 --  28,173 (- 5.1%)
07/2013: Batwoman #22 --  27,400 (- 2.7%)
08/2013: Batwoman #23 --  26,223 (- 4.3%)
----------------
6 months: -18.2%
1 year  : -31.1%

Sliding down the charts.

—–

73 - TRINITY OF SIN: PHANTOM STRANGER
09/2012: Phantom Stranger #0  -- 40,103
10/2012: Phantom Stranger #1  -- 33,350 (-16.8%)
11/2012: Phantom Stranger #2  -- 24,979 (-25.1%)
12/2012: Phantom Stranger #3  -- 23,378 (- 6.4%)
01/2013: Phantom Stranger #4  -- 19,903 (-14.9%)
02/2013: Phantom Stranger #5  -- 18,032 (- 9.4%)
03/2013: Phantom Stranger #6  -- 17,375 (- 3.6%)
04/2013: Phantom Stranger #7  -- 17,326 (- 0.3%)
05/2013: Phantom Stranger #8  -- 16,269 (- 6.1%)
06/2013: ToS: PS #9           -- 17,241 (+ 6.0%)
07/2013: ToS: PS #10          -- 20,636 (+19.7%)
08/2013: ToS: PS #11          -- 26,986 (+30.8%)
----------------
6 months: +49.7%

The “Trinity War” crossover keeps lifting the book’s sales.

—-

68 - RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS
08/2012: Red Hood #12 -- 34,439 (- 3.9%)
09/2012: Red Hood #0  -- 39,511 (+14.7%)
10/2012: Red Hood #13 -- 35,420 (- 6.7%)
11/2012: Red Hood #14 -- 37,710 (+ 6.5%)
12/2012: Red Hood #15 -- 64,103 (+70.0%)
01/2013: Red Hood #16 -- 59,621 (- 7.0%)
02/2013: Red Hood #17 -- 53,076 (-11.0%)
03/2013: Red Hood #18 -- 37,731 (-28.9%) [42,901]
04/2013: Red Hood #19 -- 36,630 (- 2.9%)
05/2013: Red Hood #20 -- 35,542 (- 3.0%)
06/2013: Red Hood #21 -- 32,416 (- 8.8%)
07/2013: Red Hood #22 -- 30,534 (- 5.8%)
08/2013: Red Hood #23 -- 28,821 (- 5.6%)
----------------
6 months: -45.7%
1 year  : -16.3%

Tumbling down the charts.

—–

67 - RED LANTERNS
08/2012: Red Lanterns #12 -- 35,070 (- 3.8%)
09/2012: Red Lanterns #0  -- 38,928 (+11.0%)
10/2012: Red Lanterns #13 -- 42,804 (+10.0%)
11/2012: Red Lanterns #14 -- 40,779 (- 4.7%)
12/2012: Red Lanterns #15 -- 39,071 (- 4.2%)
01/2013: Red Lanterns #16 -- 38,223 (- 2.2%)
02/2013: Red Lanterns #17 -- 35,839 (- 6.2%)
03/2013: Red Lanterns #18 -- 35,203 (- 1.8%)
04/2013: Red Lanterns #19 -- 34,673 (- 1.5%)
05/2013: Red Lanterns #20 -- 33,923 (- 2.2%)
06/2013: Red Lanterns #21 -- 37,312 (+10.0%)
07/2013: Red Lanterns #22 -- 35,236 (- 5.6%)
08/2013: Red Lanterns #23 -- 29,623 (-15.9%)
----------------
6 months: -17.3%
1 year  : -15.5%

Without a plastic bling ring, retailers have to rely on the usual bunch of completists, plus the nine people who buy the book to read it. Consequently, there’s quite a drop this month, now that Geoff Johns is no longer at the steering wheel of the franchise.

—–

70 - TRILLIUM (Vertigo)
08/2013: Trillium #1 of 8 -- 30,712

A new sci-fi miniseries written and drawn by Jeff Lemire. DC made the book returnable, which may have encouraged retailers to order it, but there are no variant-cover editions or other gimmicks involved.

Obviously, this is quite a step up from Sweet Tooth, Lemire’s previous Vertigo vehicle. That series launched in September 2009 with an estimated 18,657 units and a promotional $1.00 debut issue and then slowly dropped down to 7,324 before concluding with 8,053 units in January 2013.

Similar to The Wake, and unlike other recent Vertigo launches, Trillium appears to profit from its creator’s increased name power.

—–

64 - TEEN TITANS
08/2003: Teen Titans #2   -- 61,528 [75,499]
08/2008: Teen Titans #62  -- 43,258
08/2009: Teen Titans #74  -- 30,380
08/2010: Teen Titans #86  -- 24,971
08/2011: Teen Titans #99  -- 23,756
08/2011: Teen Titans #100 -- 27,459
-----------------------------------
08/2012: Teen Titans #12  -- 42,817 (-  5.6%)
09/2012: Teen Titans #0   -- 47,318 (+ 10.5%)
10/2012: Teen Titans #13  -- 41,059 (- 13.2%)
11/2012: Teen Titans #14  -- 39,745 (-  3.3%)
12/2012: Teen Titans #15  -- 68,707 (+ 72.9%)
01/2013: Teen Titans #16  -- 63,726 (-  7.3%)
02/2013: Teen Titans #17  -- 39,186 (- 38.5%)
03/2013: Teen Titans #18  -- 42,055 (+  7.3%)
04/2013: Teen Titans #19  -- 39,532 (-  6.0%)
05/2013: Teen Titans #20  -- 36,391 (-  8.0%)
06/2013: Teen Titans #21  -- 34,710 (-  4.6%)
07/2013: Teen Titans #22  -- 33,062 (-  4.8%)
08/2013: Teen Titans #23  -- 31,742 (-  4.0%)
-----------------
6 months: - 19.0%
1 year  : - 25.9%
2 years : + 24.0%
5 years : - 26.6%
10 years: - 48.4%

Sliding down the charts.

—–

57 - GREEN LANTERN: NEW GUARDIANS
08/2010: Emerald Warriors #1  -- 68,332
08/2011: Emerald Warriors #13 -- 44,228
---------------------------------------
08/2012: New Guardians #12    -- 41,479 (- 3.4%)
09/2012: New Guardians #0     -- 46,718 (+12.6%)
10/2012: New Guardians #13    -- 48,500 (+ 3.8%)
11/2012: New Guardians #14    -- 47,062 (- 3.0%)
12/2012: New Guardians #15    -- 45,136 (- 4.1%)
01/2013: New Guardians #16    -- 43,770 (- 3.0%)
02/2013: New Guardians #17    -- 42,285 (- 3.4%)
03/2013: New Guardians #18    -- 42,028 (- 0.6%)
04/2013: New Guardians #19    -- 41,481 (- 1.3%)
05/2013: New Guardians #20    -- 40,569 (- 2.2%)
06/2013: New Guardians #21    -- 42,290 (+ 4.2%)
07/2013: New Guardians #22    -- 40,788 (- 3.6%)
08/2013: New Guardians #23    -- 34,473 (-15.5%)
----------------
6 months: -18.5%
1 year  : -16.9%
2 years : -22.1%

No more ring bling. Sales drop accordingly.

—–

56 - TRINITY OF SIN: PANDORA
07/2013: Pandora #1  -- 35,106         [41,678]
07/2013: Pandora #2  -- 32,170 (-8.4%)
08/2013: Pandora #3  -- 34,563 (+7.4%)

Oh, wait. It’s an ongoing title, not, as I said last month, a miniseries.

So far, the book is doing relatively well for a new property, at any rate. But it’s not nearly doing well enough to suggest that there’s any life to it once the current crossover and variant-cover editions are no longer a factor.

—–

55 - WONDER WOMAN
08/2003: Wonder Woman #195 --  29,558 [31,522]
08/2008: Wonder Woman #23  --  35,562
08/2009: Wonder Woman #35  --  29,657
08/2010: Wonder Woman #602 --  38,012
08/2011: Wonder Woman #614 --  29,223
-------------------------------------
08/2012: Wonder Woman #12  --  44,584 (-  2.4%)
09/2012: Wonder Woman #0   --  49,778 (+ 11.7%)
10/2012: Wonder Woman #13  --  43,731 (- 12.2%)
11/2012: Wonder Woman #14  --  42,384 (-  3.1%)
12/2012: Wonder Woman #15  --  41,641 (-  1.8%)
01/2013: Wonder Woman #16  --  40,105 (-  3.7%)
02/2013: Wonder Woman #17  --  39,110 (-  2.5%)
03/2013: Wonder Woman #18  --  38,406 (-  1.8%)
04/2013: Wonder Woman #19  --  46,492 (+ 21.1%)
05/2013: Wonder Woman #20  --  37,132 (- 20.1%)
06/2013: Wonder Woman #21  --  35,999 (-  3.1%)
07/2013: Wonder Woman #22  --  35,539 (-  1.3%)
08/2013: Wonder Woman #23  --  34,747 (-  2.2%)
-----------------
6 months: - 11.2%
1 year  : - 22.1%
2 years : + 18.9%
5 years : -  2.3%
10 years: + 20.9%

Standard attrition.

—–

52 - GREEN LANTERN CORPS
08/2008: Green Lantern Corps #27 -- 46,045
08/2009: Green Lantern Corps #39 -- 84,241
08/2010: Green Lantern Corps #51 -- 67,124
08/2011: Green Lantern Corps #63 -- 53,372
------------------------------------------
08/2012: Green Lantern Corps #12 -- 41,778 (- 2.8%)
09/2012: Green Lantern Corps #0  -- 47,309 (+13.2%)
10/2012: Green Lantern Corps #13 -- 50,773 (+ 7.3%)
11/2012: Green Lantern Corps #14 -- 49,594 (- 2.3%)
12/2012: Green Lantern Corps #15 -- 47,841 (- 3.5%)
01/2013: Green Lantern Corps #16 -- 45,387 (- 5.1%)
02/2013: Green Lantern Corps #17 -- 44,497 (- 2.0%)
03/2013: Green Lantern Corps #18 -- 44,215 (- 0.6%)
04/2013: Green Lantern Corps #19 -- 43,903 (- 0.8%)
05/2013: Green Lantern Corps #20 -- 43,026 (- 2.0%)
06/2013: Green Lantern Corps #21 -- 45,423 (+ 5.6%)
07/2013: Green Lantern Corps #22 -- 42,194 (- 7.1%)
08/2013: Green Lantern Corps #23 -- 36,229 (-14.1%)
----------------
6 months: -18.6%
1 year  : -13.3%
2 years : -32.1%
5 years : -21.3%

Without plastic rings to enchant retailers, sales drop by 6,000 units.

—–

49 - BATMAN '66 (Digital-First)
07/2013: Batman '66 #1  -- 50,430
08/2013: Batman '66 #2  -- 37,113 (-26.4%)

A regular second-issue drop. For a comedy book with previously released material, though, these numbers are still more than solid.

—–

48 - BATGIRL
08/2003: Batgirl #43     -- 27,998
08/2008: Batgirl #2 of 6 -- 27,710
08/2009: Batgirl #1      -- 51,724
08/2010: Batgirl #13     -- 27,247
08/2011: Batgirl #24     -- 22,695
----------------------------------
08/2012: Batgirl #12     -- 43,804 (-  2.7%)
09/2012: Batgirl #0      -- 50,441 (+ 15.2%)
10/2012: Batgirl #13     -- 50,074 (-  0.7%) [71,109]
11/2012: Batgirl #14     -- 77,468 (+ 54.7%)
12/2012: Batgirl #15     -- 75,341 (-  2.8%)
01/2013: Batgirl #16     -- 72,470 (-  3.8%)
02/2013: Batgirl #17     -- 65,751 (-  9.6%)
03/2013: Batgirl #18     -- 51,677 (- 21.4%)
04/2013: Batgirl #19     -- 45,939 (- 11.1%)
05/2013: Batgirl #20     -- 42,600 (-  7.3%)
06/2013: Batgirl #21     -- 40,252 (-  5.5%)
07/2013: Batgirl #22     -- 39,218 (-  2.6%)
08/2013: Batgirl #23     -- 37,707 (-  3.9%)
-----------------
6 months: - 42.7%
1 year  : - 13.9%
2 years : + 66.2%
5 years : + 36.1%
10 years: + 34.7%

Slipping.

—–

43 - FLASH
08/2003: Flash #201      --  35,207 [37,568]
08/2008: Flash #243      --  29,647
08/2009: Rebirth #4 of 5 --  78,107
08/2010: --
08/2011: --
-----------------------------------
08/2012: Flash #12       --  51,779 (-  3.5%)
09/2012: Flash #0        --  56,890 (+  9.9%)
10/2012: Flash #13       --  49,936 (- 12.2%)
11/2012: Flash #14       --  48,012 (-  3.9%)
12/2012: Flash #15       --  45,925 (-  4.4%)
01/2013: Flash #16       --  44,093 (-  4.0%)
02/2013: Flash #17       --  42,936 (-  2.6%)
03/2013: Flash #18       --  41,659 (-  3.0%)
04/2013: Flash #19       --  42,079 (+  1.0%)
05/2013: Flash #20       --  39,667 (-  5.7%)
06/2013: Flash #21       --  38,848 (-  2.1%)
07/2013: Flash #22       --  38,993 (+  0.4%)
08/2013: Flash #23       --  38,860 (-  0.3%)
-----------------
6 months: - 10.7%
1 year  : - 25.0%
2 years :    n.a.
5 years : + 31.1%
10 years: + 10.4%

Stabilized around 40K.

—–

40 - NIGHTWING
08/2003: Nightwing #84  -- 29,410
08/2008: Nightwing #147 -- 56,300
---------------------------------
08/2012: Nightwing #12  -- 47,484 (- 3.3%)
09/2012: Nightwing #0   -- 53,109 (+11.9%)
10/2012: Nightwing #13  -- 47,171 (-11.2%)
11/2012: Nightwing #14  -- 50,720 (+ 7.5%)
12/2012: Nightwing #15  -- 74,407 (+46.7%)
01/2013: Nightwing #16  -- 69,643 (- 6.4%)
02/2013: Nightwing #17  -- 62,107 (-10.8%)
03/2013: Nightwing #18  -- 48,223 (-22.4%) [53,978]
04/2013: Nightwing #19  -- 46,978 (- 2.6%)
05/2013: Nightwing #20  -- 45,038 (- 4.1%)
06/2013: Nightwing #21  -- 43,353 (- 3.7%)
07/2013: Nightwing #22  -- 42,073 (- 3.0%)
08/2013: Nightwing #23  -- 40,522 (- 3.7%)
-----------------
6 months: - 33.7%
1 year  : - 14.7%
5 years : - 28.0%
10 years: + 37.8%

Slipping.

—–

39 - EARTH 2
08/2012: Earth 2 #4  -- 67,393 (-10.0%)
09/2012: Earth 2 #0  -- 69,111 (+ 2.6%)
10/2012: Earth 2 #5  -- 61,529 (-11.0%)
11/2012: Earth 2 #6  -- 58,271 (- 4.8%)
12/2012: Earth 2 #7  -- 54,409 (- 6.6%)
01/2013: Earth 2 #8  -- 50,860 (- 6.5%)
02/2013: Earth 2 #9  -- 48,208 (- 5.2%)
03/2013: Earth 2 #10 -- 46,213 (- 4.1%)
04/2013: Earth 2 #11 -- 45,468 (- 1.6%)
05/2013: Earth 2 #12 -- 43,983 (- 3.3%)
06/2013: Earth 2 #13 -- 42,916 (- 2.4%)
07/2013: Earth 2 #14 -- 42,022 (- 2.1%)
08/2013: Earth 2 #15 -- 40,845 (- 2.8%)
----------------
6 months: -15.3%
1 year  : -39.4%

Slipping.

—–

43 - SUPERMAN
08/2003: Superman #196 --  33,648
08/2008: Superman #679 --  46,615
08/2009: Superman #691 --  39,106
08/2010: Superman #702 --  50,023
08/2011: Superman #714 --  35,919
---------------------------------
08/2012: Superman #12  --  53,326 (-  4.9%)
09/2012: Superman #0   --  60,493 (+ 13.4%)
10/2012: Superman #13  --  52,155 (- 13.8%)
11/2012: Superman #14  --  52,572 (+  0.8%)
12/2012: Superman #15  --  51,225 (-  2.6%)
01/2013: Superman #16  --  50,621 (-  1.2%)
02/2013: --
03/2013: Superman #17  --  49,666 (-  1.9%)
03/2013: Superman #18  --  48,236 (-  2.9%)
04/2013: Superman #19  --  48,598 (+  0.8%)
05/2013: Superman #20  --  45,458 (-  6.5%)
06/2013: Superman #21  --  44,285 (-  2.6%)
07/2013: Superman #22  --  42,961 (-  3.0%)
08/2013: Superman #23  --  42,155 (-  1.9%)
-----------------
6 months:    n.a.
1 year  : - 21.0%
2 years : + 17.4%
5 years : -  9.6%
10 years: + 25.3%

The decline is slowing down, but that may be due to the crossover with Superboy.

—–

34 - ACTION COMICS
08/2003: Action Comics #806 --  30,852
08/2008: Action Comics #868 --  49,556
08/2009: Action Comics #880 --  37,588
08/2010: Action Comics #892 --  36,401
08/2011: Action Comics #904 --  39,323
--------------------------------------
08/2012: Action Comics #12  --  71,203 (-  6.6%)
09/2012: Action Comics #0   --  78,626 (+ 10.4%)
10/2012: Action Comics #13  --  67,241 (- 14.5%)
11/2012: Action Comics #14  --  64,341 (-  4.3%)
12/2012: Action Comics #15  --  61,298 (-  4.7%)
01/2013: Action Comics #16  --  58,645 (-  4.3%)
02/2013: Action Comics #17  --  57,189 (-  2.5%)
03/2013: Action Comics #18  --  61,879 (+  8.2%)
04/2013: Action Comics #19  --  52,007 (- 16.0%)
05/2013: Action Comics #20  --  48,324 (-  7.1%)
06/2013: Action Comics #21  --  46,475 (-  3.8%)
07/2013: Action Comics #22  --  44,861 (-  3.5%)
08/2013: Action Comics #23  --  42,603 (-  5.0%)
-----------------
6 months: - 25.5%
1 year  : - 40.2%
2 years : +  8.3%
5 years : - 14.0%
10 years: + 38.1%

The book keeps tumbling down while DC is shredding creative teams.

—–

33 - BATMAN, INCORPORATED SPECIAL
08/2011: Batman, Inc. #8  --  53,481
------------------------------------
08/2012: Batman, Inc. #3  --  66,720 (-  9.4%)
09/2012: Batman, Inc. #0  --  66,112 (-  0.9%)
10/2012: Batman, Inc. #4  --  60,888 (-  7.9%)
11/2012: Batman, Inc. #5  --  58,172 (-  4.5%)
12/2012: Batman, Inc. #6  --  52,636 (-  9.5%)
01/2013: Batman, Inc. #7  --  50,345 (-  4.4%)
02/2013: Batman, Inc. #8  --  55,414 (+ 10.1%) [99,406]
03/2013: Batman, Inc. #9  --  64,067 (+ 15.6%) [69,123]
04/2013: Batman, Inc. #10 --  56,464 (- 11.9%)
05/2013: Batman, Inc. #11 --  57,298 (+  1.5%)
06/2013: --
07/2013: Batman, Inc. #12 --  52,595 (-  8.2%)
07/2013: Batman, Inc. #13 --  51,558 (-  2.0%)
08/2013: Special #1       --  42,807 (- 17.0%)
----------------
6 months: -22.8%
1 year  : -35.8%
2 years : -20.0%

Never one to walk past a dead horse, DC publishes another Grant Morrison comic without Grant Morrison. And who wouldn’t want to read a Bat-Cow story by Dan DiDio and Ethan van Sciver?

—–

31 - AQUAMAN
08/2003: Aquaman #9  -- 27,454
------------------------------
08/2012: Aquaman #12 -- 61,210 (+ 6.1%)
09/2012: Aquaman #0  -- 61,227 (+ 0.0%)
10/2012: Aquaman #13 -- 54,648 (-10.8%)
11/2012: Aquaman #14 -- 53,664 (- 1.8%)
12/2012: Aquaman #15 -- 75,947 (+41.5%)
01/2013: Aquaman #16 -- 62,153 (-18.2%)
02/2013: Aquaman #17 -- 58,578 (- 5.8%)
03/2013: Aquaman #18 -- 53,337 (- 9.0%)
04/2013: --
05/2013: Aquaman #19 -- 53,415 (+ 0.2%)
05/2013: Aquaman #20 -- 49,697 (- 7.0%)
06/2013: Aquaman #21 -- 46,832 (- 5.8%)
07/2013: Aquaman #22 -- 45,653 (- 2.5%)
08/2013: Aquaman #23 -- 44,140 (- 3.3%)
----------------
6 months: -24.7%
1 year  : -27.9%
10 years: +60.8%

Geoff Johns’s swan song on the title is still in progress, but sales started slipping months ago. Still good numbers for an Aquaman title, obviously.

—–

27 - BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT
08/2011: Dark Knight #5  --  52,908
-----------------------------------
08/2012: Dark Knight #12 --  67,084 (-  2.3%)
09/2012: Dark Knight #0  --  72,919 (+  8.7%)
10/2012: Dark Knight #13 --  65,271 (- 10.5%)
11/2012: Dark Knight #14 --  62,792 (-  3.8%)
12/2012: Dark Knight #15 --  60,569 (-  3.6%)
01/2013: Dark Knight #16 --  58,258 (-  3.8%)
02/2013: Dark Knight #17 --  55,990 (-  3.9%)
03/2013: Dark Knight #18 --  54,269 (-  3.1%)
04/2013: Dark Knight #19 --  52,644 (-  3.0%)
05/2013: Dark Knight #20 --  50,423 (-  4.2%)
06/2013: Dark Knight #21 --  48,612 (-  3.6%)
07/2013: Dark Knight #22 --  47,096 (-  3.1%)
08/2013: Dark Knight #23 --  45,584 (-  3.2%)
-----------------
6 months: - 15.0%
1 year  : - 32.1%
2 years : - 13.8%

Slipping.

—–

21 - BATMAN AND NIGHTWING
08/2009: Batman and Robin #3  -- 110,594
08/2010: --
08/2011: Batman and Robin #26 --  52,704
----------------------------------------
08/2012: Batman and Robin #12 --  63,993 (- 1.6%)
09/2012: Batman and Robin #0  --  69,146 (+ 8.1%)
10/2012: Batman and Robin #13 --  63,097 (- 8.8%)
11/2012: Batman and Robin #14 --  75,543 (+19.7%)
12/2012: Batman and Robin #15 --  89,878 (+19.0%)
01/2013: Batman and Robin #16 --  81,494 (- 9.3%)
02/2013: Batman and Robin #17 --  60,988 (-25.2%)
03/2013: Batman and Robin #18 --  69,614 (+14.1%) [76,575]
04/2013: and Red Robin #19    --  89,182 (+28.1%)
05/2013: and Red Hood #20     --  65,222 (-26.9%)
06/2013: and Batgirl #21      --  60,601 (- 7.1%)
07/2013: and Catwoman #22     --  57,808 (- 4.6%)
08/2013: and Nightwing #23    --  55,707 (- 3.6%)
----------------
6 months: - 8.7%
1 year  : -13.0%
2 years : + 5.7%

Levelling out again, slowly but steadily.

—–

20 - GREEN LANTERN
08/2003: Green Lantern #167 --  36,254
08/2003: Green Lantern #168 --  34,016
08/2008: --
08/2009: Green Lantern #45  -- 102,431
08/2010: --
08/2011: --
--------------------------------------
08/2012: Green Lantern #12  --  77,187 (- 1.9%)
09/2012: Green Lantern #0   --  89,909 (+16.5%)
10/2012: Green Lantern #13  --  91,814 (+ 2.1%)
11/2012: Green Lantern #14  --  78,499 (-14.5%)
12/2012: Green Lantern #15  --  74,363 (- 5.3%)
01/2013: Green Lantern #16  --  72,884 (- 2.0%)
02/2013: Green Lantern #17  --  71,060 (- 2.5%)
03/2013: Green Lantern #18  --  69,801 (- 1.8%)
04/2013: Green Lantern #19  --  71,018 (+ 1.7%)
05/2013: Green Lantern #20  --  67,414 (- 5.1%)
06/2013: Green Lantern #21  --  71,870 (+ 6.6%)
07/2013: Green Lantern #22  --  62,415 (-13.2%)
08/2013: Green Lantern #23  --  59,176 (- 5.2%)
-----------------
6 months: - 16.7%
1 year  : - 23.3%
2 years :   n.a.
5 years :   n.a.
10 years: + 68.4%

The franchise flagship lost the ring promotion back in July, so it had its big drop back then. Another 5% drop still doesn’t look particularly encouraging.

—–

18 - DETECTIVE COMICS
08/2003: Detective Comics #785 --  37,988
08/2008: Detective Comics #847 --  71,134
08/2009: Detective Comics #856 --  58,859
08/2010: Detective Comics #868 --  38,682
08/2011: Detective Comics #881 --  39,729
-----------------------------------------
08/2012: Detective Comics #12  --  75,998 (-  4.8%)
09/2012: Detective Comics #0   --  84,063 (+ 10.6%)
10/2012: Detective Comics #13  --  76,392 (-  9.1%)
11/2012: Detective Comics #14  --  74,560 (-  2.4%)
12/2012: Detective Comics #15  -- 106,395 (+ 42.7%)
01/2013: Detective Comics #16  --  92,300 (- 13.3%)
02/2013: Detective Comics #17  --  85,824 (-  7.0%)
03/2013: Detective Comics #18  --  76,237 (- 11.2%)
04/2013: Detective Comics #19  --  77,922 (+  2.2%)
05/2013: Detective Comics #20  --  78,252 (+  0.4%)
06/2013: Detective Comics #21  --  65,200 (- 16.7%)
07/2013: Detective Comics #22  --  63,949 (-  1.9%)
08/2013: Detective Comics #23  --  61,448 (-  3.9%)
-----------------
6 months: - 28.4%
1 year  : - 19.2%
2 years : + 54.7%
5 years : - 13.6%
10 years: + 61.8%

Slipping.

—–

16 - JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK
08/2012: Justice League Dark #12  -- 30,754 (-  3.3%)
09/2012: Justice League Dark #0   -- 34,287 (+ 11.5%)
10/2012: Justice League Dark #13  -- 30,008 (- 12.5%)
11/2012: Justice League Dark #14  -- 28,966 (-  3.5%)
12/2012: Justice League Dark #15  -- 27,712 (-  4.3%)
01/2013: Justice League Dark #16  -- 26,902 (-  2.9%)
02/2013: Justice League Dark #17  -- 25,841 (-  3.9%)
03/2013: Justice League Dark #18  -- 25,664 (-  0.7%)
04/2013: Justice League Dark #19  -- 25,407 (-  1.0%)
05/2013: Justice League Dark #20  -- 24,693 (-  2.8%)
06/2013: Justice League Dark #21  -- 24,663 (-  0.1%)
07/2013: Justice League Dark #22  -- 68,294 (+176.9%) [76,570]
08/2013: Justice League Dark #23  -- 71,157 (+  4.2%)
-----------------
6 months: +175.4%
1 year  : +131.4%

The “Trinity War” crossover results in another boost, unusually.

—–

6 - BATMAN/SUPERMAN
08/2003: Superman/Batman #1  -- 134,135 [159,018]
08/2008: Superman/Batman #51 --  51,701
08/2009: Superman/Batman #63 --  37,467
08/2010: Superman/Batman #75 --  34,324
08/2011: Superman/Batman #87 --  26,425
---------------------------------------
06/2013: Batman/Superman #1  -- 143,457          [151,054]
07/2013: Batman/Superman #2  --  92,558 (-35.5%) [ 97,961]
08/2013: Batman/Superman #3  --  87,337 (- 5.6%)
-----------------
2 years : +230.5%
5 years : + 68.9%
10 years: - 34.9%

Levelling out quickly now.

—–

5 - JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA
08/2003: JLA #84             --  59,130
08/2003: JLA #85             --  58,380
08/2008: JL of America #24   --  81,451
08/2009: JL of America #36   --  57,549
08/2010: JL of America #48   --  60,733
08/2011: JL of America #60   --  42,587
---------------------------------------
02/2013: JL of America #1    -- 307,734          [326,959]
03/2013: JL of America #2    --  91,734 (-70.2%)
04/2013: --
05/2013: JL of America #3    --  83,283 (- 9.2%)
05/2013: JL of America #4    --  77,856 (- 6.5%)
06/2013: JL of America #5    --  71,793 (- 7.8%)
07/2013: JL of America #6    --  86,192 (+20.1%) [91,344]
08/2013: JL of America #7    --  93,777 (+ 8.8%)
-----------------
6 months: - 69.5%
2 years : +120.2%
5 years : + 15.1%
10 years: + 59.6%

Another “Trinity War” crossover. At least part of the additional boost, if not all of it, is likely to come from an additional special variant here.

—–

4 - JUSTICE LEAGUE
08/2003: JLA #84             --  59,130
08/2003: JLA #85             --  58,380
08/2008: JL of America #24   --  81,451
08/2009: JL of America #36   --  57,549
08/2010: JL of America #48   --  60,733
08/2011: JL of America #60   --  42,587
08/2011: Justice League #1   -- 185,776 [271,173]
---------------------------------------
08/2012: Justice League #12  -- 120,796 (-  2.6%) [161,235]
09/2012: Justice League #0   -- 125,868 (+  4.2%)
10/2012: Justice League #13  -- 117,752 (-  6.5%)
11/2012: Justice League #14  -- 113,094 (-  4.0%)
12/2012: Justice League #15  -- 115,074 (+  1.8%)
01/2013: Justice League #16  -- 117,719 (+  2.3%)
02/2013: Justice League #17  -- 105,304 (- 10.6%)
03/2013: Justice League #18  -- 102,494 (-  2.7%)
04/2013: Justice League #19  -- 100,943 (-  1.5%)
05/2013: Justice League #20  --  97,676 (-  3.2%)
06/2013: Justice League #21  --  94,054 (-  3.7%)
07/2013: Justice League #22  -- 110,194 (+ 17.2%) [124,026]
08/2013: Justice League #23  -- 103,936 (-  6.4%)
-----------------
6 months: -  1.3%
1 year  : - 14.0%
2 years : -  9.0%
5 years : + 27.6%
10 years: + 76.9%

And yet another “Trinity War” crossover issue. Also, a “Director’s Cut” edition of issue #22 sold another 9,248 units in August.

—–

3 - BATMAN
08/2003: Batman #618 -- 147,126 [152,526]
08/2008: Batman #679 -- 103,588
08/2009: Batman #689 --  78,392
08/2010: Batman #702 --  73,414
08/2011: Batman #713 --  51,760
-------------------------------
08/2012: Batman #12  -- 125,249 (-  1.5%)
09/2012: Batman #0   -- 156,561 (+ 25.0%)
10/2012: Batman #13  -- 148,305 (-  5.3%) [174,642]
11/2012: Batman #14  -- 159,729 (+  7.7%)
12/2012: Batman #15  -- 151,568 (-  5.1%)
01/2013: Batman #16  -- 145,923 (-  3.7%)
02/2013: Batman #17  -- 150,684 (+  3.3%)
03/2013: Batman #18  -- 137,893 (-  8.5%)
04/2013: Batman #19  -- 132,147 (-  4.2%)
05/2013: Batman #20  -- 129,039 (-  2.4%)
06/2013: Batman #21  -- 142,088 (+ 10.1%) [156,845]
07/2013: Batman #22  -- 132,047 (-  7.1%)
08/2013: Batman #23  -- 128,230 (-  2.9%)
-----------------
6 months: - 14.9%
1 year  : +  2.4%
2 years : +147.7%
5 years : + 23.8%
10 years: - 12.8%

The “Zero Year” story keeps the book’s sales level ahead of August 2012.

—–

2 - SUPERMAN UNCHAINED
06/2013: Superman Unchained #1  -- 256,792          [271,721]
07/2013: Superman Unchained #2  -- 165,754 (-35.5%)
08/2013: Superman Unchained #3  -- 136,319 (-17.8%)

A big third-issue drop, despite another 10 or so variant-cover editions. In the long run, it doesn’t look like Superman Unchained will be able to stay ahead of Batman, which is a little surprising, given Jim Lee’s involvement.

Evidently, Greg Capullo is the new Jim Lee.

—–

6-MONTH COMPARISONS
+175.4%: JLD
+101.0%: Constantine
+ 49.6%: Phantom Stranger
+ 47.8%: Injustice
+ 37.2%: Batman Beyond Universe
+  8.2%: Unwritten
+  3.2%: Scooby-Doo
-  1.3%: Justice League
-  3.8%: Fables
-  8.0%: Batwing
-  8.7%: Batman and Nightwing
- 10.1%: LoSH
- 10.7%: Flash
- 11.2%: Wonder Woman
- 12.2%: ASW
- 12.4%: Birds of Prey
- 14.0%: Smallville
- 14.7%: Worlds' Finest
- 14.9%: Arkham Unhinged
- 14.9%: Batman
- 15.0%: Dark Knight
- 15.3%: Earth 2
- 15.9%: Suicide Squad
- 16.3%: Fairest
- 16.7%: Green Lantern
- 17.3%: Red Lanterns
- 17.9%: Supergirl
- 18.1%: Dial H
- 18.2%: Batwoman
- 18.5%: New Guardians
- 18.6%: GL Corps
- 19.0%: Teen Titans
- 19.2%: Ame-Comi Girls
- 19.2%: Demon Knights
- 19.7%: Catwoman
- 19.7%: Stormwatch
- 22.1%: Arrow
- 22.8%: Batman, Inc.
- 24.4%: Superboy
- 24.7%: Aquaman
- 25.5%: Action Comics
- 26.1%: LotDK
- 26.5%: Animal Man
- 26.7%: Django Unchained
- 28.0%: Swamp Thing
- 28.4%: Detective Comics
- 29.4%: Green Arrow
- 30.6%: Talon
- 33.7%: Nightwing
- 42.7%: Batgirl
- 45.7%: Red Hood
- 52.6%: Threshold
- 58.7%: Vibe
- 61.6%: Katana
- 69.5%: JLA

—–

1-YEAR COMPARISONS
+167.9%: Constantine
+131.4%: JLD
+ 10.1%: Green Arrow
+  3.6%: Batman Beyond Universe
+  2.4%: Batman
-  1.0%: Unwritten
- 10.8%: Fables
- 13.0%: Batman and Nightwing
- 13.3%: GL Corps
- 13.9%: Batgirl
- 14.0%: Justice League
- 14.7%: Nightwing
- 14.9%: Arkham Unhinged
- 15.5%: Red Lanterns
- 15.8%: American Vampire
- 16.3%: Red Hood
- 16.9%: New Guardians
- 18.7%: Supergirl
- 19.2%: Detective Comics
- 21.0%: Superman
- 21.7%: Suicide Squad
- 22.1%: Wonder Woman
- 22.8%: LoSH
- 23.3%: Green Lantern
- 25.0%: Flash
- 25.9%: Teen Titans
- 26.3%: Smallville
- 26.5%: Superboy
- 27.2%: Birds of Prey
- 27.9%: Aquaman
- 28.9%: Catwoman
- 30.5%: Fairest
- 31.1%: Batwoman
- 32.1%: Dark Knight
- 32.9%: ASW
- 35.8%: Batman, Inc.
- 36.6%: Batwing
- 36.6%: Demon Knights
- 37.4%: Animal Man
- 38.2%: Swamp Thing
- 39.0%: Worlds' Finest
- 39.4%: Earth 2
- 40.2%: Action Comics
- 40.8%: Stormwatch
- 51.2%: Dial H

—–

2-YEAR COMPARISONS
+230.5%: Batman/Superman
+168.6%: Constantine
+147.7%: Batman
+120.2%: JLA
+ 66.2%: Batgirl
+ 54.7%: Detective Comics
+ 47.3%: ASW
+ 25.2%: Supergirl
+ 24.0%: Teen Titans
+ 18.9%: Wonder Woman
+ 17.4%: Superman
+  8.3%: Action Comics
+  6.6%: Green Arrow
+  5.7%: Batman and Nightwing
+  4.6%: Scooby-Doo
-  1.0%: Superboy
-  9.0%: Justice League
- 13.8%: Dark Knight
- 15.8%: Unwritten
- 17.7%: American Vampire
- 19.0%: Fables
- 20.0%: Batman, Inc.
- 22.1%: Nerw Guardians
- 25.7%: Birds of Prey
- 31.7%: LoSH
- 32.1%: GL Corps

—–

5-YEAR COMPARISONS
+ 68.9%: Batman/Superman
+ 37.4%: Catwoman
+ 36.1%: Batgirl
+ 31.1%: Flash
+ 27.6%: Justice League
+ 26.8%: Stormwatch
+ 23.8%: Batman
+ 17.8%: ASW
+ 16.0%: Scooby-Doo
+ 15.1%: JLA
-  2.3%: Wonder Woman
-  6.3%: 100 Bullets
-  9.6%: Superman
- 11.3%: Green Arrow
- 12.0%: Supergirl
- 13.6%: Birds of Prey
- 13.6%: Detective Comics
- 14.0%: Action Comics
- 21.3%: GL Corps
- 26.6%: Teen Titans
- 28.0%: Nightwing
- 43.4%: LoSH

—–

10-YEAR COMPARISONS
+ 76.9%: Justice League
+ 68.4%: Green Lantern
+ 61.8%: Detective Comics
+ 60.8%: Aquaman
+ 59.6%: JLA
+ 57.0%: Constantine
+ 38.1%: Action Comics
+ 37.8%: Nightwing
+ 34.7%: Batgirl
+ 25.3%: Superman
+ 20.9%: Wonder Woman
+ 10.4%: Flash
- 10.9%: Stormwatch
- 12.8%: Batman
- 20.1%: Scooby-Doo
- 21.4%: He-Man
- 30.5%: Birds of Prey
- 34.9%: Batman/Superman
- 35.0%: LoSH
- 38.3%: Adventures of Superman
- 38.7%: Green Arrow
- 39.1%: LotDK
- 39.2%: Dial H
- 41.3%: Fables
- 48.4%: Teen Titans
- 58.3%: Tom Strong

—–
Average Periodical Sales (not counting reprints, reorders shipping after the initial month of release, Johnny DC titles and magazines)

DC COMICS
08/2003: 28,270
08/2008: 29,678
08/2009: 29,977
08/2010: 23,331**
08/2011: 25,632**
---------------
08/2012: 33,500 (-  1.0%)**
09/2012: 35,811 (+  6.9%)
10/2012: 32,901 (-  8.1%)**
11/2012: 33,872 (+  3.0%)
12/2012: 34,272 (+  1.2%)
01/2013: 31,759 (-  7.3%)
02/2013: 34,711 (+  9.1%)
03/2013: 30,819 (- 11.2%)**
04/2013: 29,914 (-  2.9%)
05/2013: 31,412 (+  5.0%)
06/2013: 34,517 (+  9.9%)
07/2013: 34,402 (-  0.3%)
08/2013: 30,843 (- 10.4%)
-----------------
6 months: - 11.1%
1 year  : -  7.9%
2 years : + 20.3%
5 years : +  3.9%
10 years: +  9.1%
DC UNIVERSE
08/2003: 32,946
08/2008: 38,502
08/2009: 37,300
08/2010: 33,411
08/2011: 27,761**
---------------
08/2012: 38,047 (-  1.2%)**
09/2012: 39,408 (+  3.6%)
10/2012: 36,571 (-  7.2%)
11/2012: 36,585 (+  0.0%)
12/2012: 36,880 (+  0.8%)
01/2013: 33,485 (-  9.2%)
02/2013: 36,838 (+ 10.0%)
03/2013: 32,294 (- 12.3%)**
04/2013: 31,426 (-  2.7%)
05/2013: 32,015 (+  1.9%)
06/2013: 37,133 (+ 16.0%)
07/2013: 36,524 (-  1.6%)
08/2013: 33,583 (-  8.1%)
-----------------
6 months: -  8.8%
1 year  : - 11.7%
2 years : + 21.0%
5 years : - 12.8%
10 years: +  1.9%
VERTIGO
08/2003: 17,396
08/2008: 10,979
08/2009: 11,369
08/2010:  9,094
08/2011: 10,147
---------------
08/2012: 10,764 (- 7.1%)**
09/2012: 11,710 (+ 8.8%)
10/2012: 11,496 (- 1.8%)**
11/2012: 11,487 (- 0.1%)
12/2012: 11,771 (+ 2.5%)
01/2013: 10,764 (- 8.6%)
02/2013: 12,019 (+11.7%)
03/2013: 11,055 (- 8.0%)
04/2013: 11,467 (+ 3.7%)
05/2013: 20,860 (+81.9%)
06/2013: 17,368 (-16.7%)
07/2013: 16,099 (- 7.3%)
08/2013: 14,130 (-12.2%)
-----------------
6 months: + 17.6%
1 year  : + 31.3%
2 years : + 39.3%
5 years : + 28.7%
10 years: - 18.8%

—–
Disclaimers, et cetera

The numbers above are estimates for comic-book sales in the North American direct market, as calculated by ICv2.com according to the chart and index information provided by Diamond Comic Distributors.

ICv2.com‘s estimates are somewhat lower than the actual numbers, but they are consistent from month to month, so the trends they show are fairly accurate. Since it’s a “month-to-month” column, the comments, unless otherwise noted, are on the most recent month.

Bear in mind that the figures measure sales to retailers, not customers. Also, these numbers do not include sales to bookstores, newsstands, other mass-market retail chains or the United Kingdom. Re-orders are included, so long as they either reached stores in a book’s initial calendar month of release or were strong enough to make the chart again in a subsequent month.

If additional copies of an issue did appear on the chart after a book’s initial calendar month of release, you can see the total number of copies sold in parenthesis behind those issues (e.g. “[36,599]”). Should more than one issue have shipped in a month which is relevant for one of the long-term comparisons, the average between them will be used.

Titles released under the Johnny DC imprint and magazines, such as Mad, mostly sell through channels other than the direct market, so direct-market sales don’t tell us much about their performance. For most Vertigo titles, collection sales tend to be a significant factor, so the numbers for those books should be taken with a grain of salt as well. To learn (a little) more about Vertigo’s collection sales, go right here.

** Two asterisks after a given month in the average charts mean that one or more periodical release did not make the Top 300 chart in that month. In those cases, it’s assumed that said releases sold as many units as the No. 300 comic on the chart for that month for the purposes of the chart, although its actual sales are likely to be less than that.

For a more lyrical approach to discussing sales figures that covers all the essentials in a more condensed, less tedious fashion, finally, go right here.

—–
Marc-Oliver Frisch writes about comics at his weblog and at Comicgate. You can also follow him on Twitter.

30 COMMENTS

  1. Hey…The Legion of Superheroes should ALWAYS be published no matter the numbers. Its a sad day when DC doesn’t have a Legion book..
    Justice League 3000 isn’t the Legion

  2. After riding those last two Legion books down into the ground, I have to disagree. If you can’t do it right, don’t do it.

  3. No book should _always_ be published. More series should be rested for a few years like Marvel did with Thor after Avengers Disassembled.

  4. Everything looks great! Cue the people who love and celebrate comics. And lenticular covers, yeah cue the lenticular covers and probably a Batman crossover. Yeah.

  5. WHY DC can’t get a NAME writer and a NAME artist on LOSH is beyond me…Geoff Johns should have kept it when he brought back the adult versions of the 80’s Levitz Legion in Action Comics back in the day. I can’t believe there isn’t a Legion comic at all anymore! :(

  6. I also don’t get why REALLY good books that started off hot are dying (Swamp Thing/Animal Man), they’re both just as good now…wondering if doing away with THIS Superboy to bring in the NEW Superboy will help the title. It’s been a mess…Nice to see The Phantom Stranger seems to be working. I quite like it…Earth 2 without Robinson is going to be a mess I fear too…Time for Birds Of Prey to go or get sorted. Love the concept and characters but it’s horrible. Gail Simone anyone?

  7. Swamp Thing and Animal Man were killed by the Rot stuff that went on for six months BEFORE the official crossover even started. It was against every bit of intuition I had to keep going with both series after that long, drawn-out mess, but for once I was pleasantly surprised. Animal Man is back to being about as good as it was when it started. And Swamp Thing has benefited immensely from getting a new writer. The Rot stuff killed so many people’s interest in these titles, but of course most readers are completists who will buy titles until the end of banner storylines no matter what. So it’s too bad that the sales figures will suggest that things started to fall apart AFTER Rotworld, when really Rotworld killed it because people were so ready to drop those titles afterwards that it didn’t matter what was next.

  8. Who really expected to see Animal Man and Swamp Thing having #23 issues ship 21-23k units?

    If anyone would have said it 3 years then we would have called them crazy. Realistically they benefited a lot due to 52 relaunch and initial praise. They were never going to stay at 30-40k units mark. Obviously Rot crossover didn’t help much much but probably allowed Frankenstein to have extra few issues?

  9. I tried Superman Unchained and didn’t like it. The pieces of sticky, loose pages I was supposed to reassemble in order to read the story were the stupidest gimmick I’ve seen yet. But, it’s got a long way to go before DC is complaining about the numbers.

    I bought Trillium due to Sweet Tooth. I don’t read any of Lemire’s other DC work. I like seeing his art again and it’s a read I look forward to right now. Another book with gimmicks–having to flip the book at certain points to read it–but it at least has some basis in the story.

  10. I picked up several Director’s Cut issues, but wasn’t as impressed with them as I had hoped to be.

    Keep in mind that I don’t read those titles regularly (or at all) so I imagined jumping into midstream with the Cut versions.
    My take is that the stories were weak, confusing and took long meandering turns. The art was okay, even quite good in some cases.

    The “script pages” at the back of the comic were unnecessary page fillers IMHO. I would rather have seen visual roughs of pencilled pages, or first drafts of scripts that had been red penned and revised. I expected the Director’s Cut to include something ‘extra’ that showed behind-the-scenes effort that usually goes unrecognized. The stuff that the ‘director’ wanted, but was edited out of the story.

  11. “No book should _always_ be published. More series should be rested for a few years like Marvel did with Thor after Avengers Disassembled.”

    I couldn’t agree more. That was the best thing Marvel did, to slowly build up DEMAND for the character to return.

    Now is *anyone* demanding another LOSH title?!? Sales seem to say different…

  12. WHY DC can’t get a NAME writer and a NAME artist on LOSH is beyond me

    Aren’t there too many characters in the Legion for a name writer to put his stamp on it? The basis for the LoSH has always seemed to be “If we can get readers to be fans of ____ and ____,” or “If we can get readers to be fans of Brainiac 5, Saturn Girl, Ultra Boy, and [. . .], they’ll buy the series.” Taking a radically different approach to the series, either by using different characters or by interpreting the usual ones differently, would alienate old readers without attracting new ones. The belief at DC Editorial has seemed to be “These are good characters on a good team in a good setting, and if we just keep trying, readers will see that.”

    SRS

  13. @ Syn – I don’t think that there are too many characters for a name writer to put their stamp on it. Waid did it with his version. Arguably Levitz/Giffen did it with their version (before my time, were Levitz/Giffen names before Legion or did they make their bones there?). Hickman is doing it with his Avengers book, which has, what, 20ish Avengers?

  14. Hickman is doing it with his Avengers book, which has, what, 20ish Avengers?

    Hickman isn’t writing an Avengers title, per se. He’s writing a Hickman title, with some Avengers in it. The Avengers in INFINITY, from what I’ve seen in the tie-ins, aren’t acting as heroes; they’re sci-fi space soldiers in a storyline that fails as SF because it’s impossible for the Earth to be as “special” in the universe as Hickman wants it to be.

    An LoSH counterpart to Hickman’s treatment of the Avengers would be a writer having the teens confront a new alien race that’s a threat to the universe, have the heroes awed by the aliens, wonder at their strangeness and magnificence, and end up having the aliens decide to change their plans for their own reasons, not because of anything the heroes did. The writer is saying, in effect: “The heroes are junk. My creations are great.” Byrne has historically been a variation on that: emphasizing his own approach to a series over anyone else’s.

    A writer can do a mechanical story in which the characters are written perfectly in form, but do nothing new, or he can emphasize his own personal approach to the material at the expense of the characters. A good writer would have the characters do or encounter something new, but the newness would be logical consequences of past stories and the heroes’ existing profiles–in other words, development of the characters.

    SRS

  15. Dammit… I spent $3.99 for this set of 3-D glasses and all I get is boring 2-D.

    At least the column isn’t one-dimensional…

  16. All-Star Western is doing what Jonah Hex did right before Crisis… shoot him into the future.
    I kinda like the current storyline. It seems that Hex is the only sane person in the DCU.

    Injustice, relaunched? But it’s selling great, and the digital sales are quite robust as well!

    As for Legion… have they tried a manga version yet? Go full throttle on the soap space opera… Kinda like Sailor Moon or those other magical romances. But with science!

  17. Waid’s LOSH re-boot was gold at first before it got drug into the cross-over stuff…there is an audience for a tightly plotted, storyline dense, years in the making til the payoff future teens space epic. The draw to Legion wasn’t (for me) just a character I liked but it was the idea of it all and the way it operated in it’s own organic place. A writer like Johns is doing stuff currently at Justice League with the characters that aren’t used elsewhere (Firestorm for example), while he nails the big ones he builds stuff with the smaller characters. I didn’t love the last Levitz run and it was hampered (especially in the end) by inconsistent art. Take a year off and solicit some pitches and try it again DC. Please.

  18. “Who really expected to see Animal Man and Swamp Thing having #23 issues ship 21-23k units?”

    Eh, I dunno. I think that could’ve happened anyway, as long as they didn’t have Vertigo branding (which scares people away, apparently). But I tend to view both of those titles through the lens of “Oh, I loved what Moore and Morrison did with those titles 20-30 years ago!” And actually I haven’t read either of those titles for very long SINCE then.

    So I guess I look at it in terms of “A few years ago did *I* think *I’d* be reading 25+ issues each of Animal Man and Swamp Thing?”, then these current series are big successes. Despite “The Rot” nearly killing my interest.

    (I guess the crossover might have given Frankenstein another couple issues before it was canceled, but if those issues were just going to be mindless stuff about “The Rot”, then I don’t see that as a positive.)

  19. @SRS: In another post you said that the cosmic conflicts in Infinity didn’t feel like space battles to you but rather land battles. But now you say that the heroes are behaving like “sci-fi SPACE soldiers”. Which is it? I’m not sure how you can say that they’re not behaving like heroes. This isn’t Bendis’s New Avengers, where the characters constantly bickered, eat Chinese food together, and shopped for new apartments. In Infinity the characters are fighting the bad guys and saving the universe. I get that you don’t like Hickman, and I actually share some of your criticisms of him, but his characters are certainly heroic.

    And anyway, Infinity isn’t an Avengers story. It’s “A Marvel Comics Event”.

  20. I’m loving FBP’s high concept and excellent cartooning. Animal Man is getting lost in the shuffle. It has returned to greatness that was the first 12 issues of the relaunch. That Bat-Cow story was one of the best 8 pages I’ve read all year. And Capullo will easily outsell Jim Lee, because those Superman Unchained books need to come out before they can sell.

  21. I’m agreeing on Infinity being a Hickman story in the Marvel Universe. It just so happens that I loved Hickman’s FF, and this seems like a continuation of those events. Love it! But maybe that’s because I’m not an Avengers fan.

  22. Saying Hickman’s Avengers books aren’t Avengers books is ridiculous. Maybe they aren’t your taste, but they are clearly Avengers books.

  23. “Injustice, relaunched? But it’s selling great, and the digital sales are quite robust as well!”

    I imagine that it concluded its initial story that was planned out and now they are figuring out what to do next with the property since sales show that there is demand for more.

  24. I wonder if next month’s Villains issues analysis will be insightful or not even worth it.

    Apparently it was a rousing success but it’s such an anomaly it really doesn’t speak to the relative strength of anything other than gimmicks and I suppose some general pre-existing trends (Batman-related villains do well, certain name talent sells well, etc).

  25. Hate that we’re losing three pretty decent series, but with those sales figures, can you really blame DC?

    Just my opinion, but I feel that All-Star Western (which I read) is hanging on because Dan Didio’s a huge Jonah Hex fan, and Stormwatch (which I don’t) is still here because Jim Lee wants it to. Ah, the perks of high positions.

  26. LoSH is the DC comic with the most confusing continuity. Its famous for it. Then when the new52 came around it was one of the only titles that didn’t get a reboot. How does that make sense?

  27. “Just my opinion, but . . . Ah, the perks of high positions.”

    So it’s just your opinion that those in charge are abusing their power? Nice opinion.

Comments are closed.