DC kicks off the year with a new sales record: Average numbers of the DC Universe line dropped by 21% in January, to 24,321 — the lowest number in the history of these charts, by about 4,000 units.
Traditionally a weak month in the comic-book market, January 2011 was even more of a downer than usual for DC. With only five titles selling above the 50k mark, average comic-book sales of the company at large fell to 21,922, the lowest figure since March 2009, while average Vertigo sales clung to the 10,000-unit mark, as they’ve done for the last three years.
The poor January performance of the DC Universe line comes thanks to three different kinds of erosion. First up, DC failed to get Green Lantern, Batman Incorporated and The Flash out of the door, three of its major titles, while a fourth one, Batman: The Dark Knight, was still late from December.
Second, DC is looking at a whole range of failing titles: Out of the 43 ongoing monthly DC Universe series currently on sale, eight have been marked for cancellation and won’t be around come June 2011. That’s almost 20% of the imprint’s regular output. And there are eight more — Doc Savage, The Spirit, T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, Jonah Hex, Booster Gold, Power Girl, Zatanna and Gotham City Sirens — that look less than healthy and sell fewer copies than some of the ones that have already been axed.
At the tail end of the spectrum, finally, six former WildStorm titles were absorbed into the DC Universe line in January, where they end up being the six lowest-selling books and dragging down the average. (If WildStorm were still around, this would be another new low for them: The six books, one of which missed the charts altogether, have average sales of less than 4,000 units.)
So, for better or ill, 2011 is set to be a year of transition for DC, with some heavy lifting in the company’s periodical line.
See below for the details, and 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.
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2/3 - BRIGHTEST DAY 04/2010: Brightest Day #0 -- 129,446 05/2010: Brightest Day #1 -- 129,158 (- 0.2%) 05/2010: Brightest Day #2 -- 112,806 (-12.7%) 06/2010: Brightest Day #3 -- 107,269 (- 4.9%) 06/2010: Brightest Day #4 -- 101,730 (- 5.2%) 07/2010: Brightest Day #5 -- 97,245 (- 4.4%) 07/2010: Brightest Day #6 -- 94,684 (- 2.6%) 08/2010: Brightest Day #7 -- 93,459 (- 1.3%) 08/2010: Brightest Day #8 -- 91,546 (- 2.1%) 09/2010: Brightest Day #9 -- 88,446 (- 3.4%) 09/2010: Brightest Day #10 -- 87,241 (- 1.4%) 10/2010: Brightest Day #11 -- 83,823 (- 3.9%) 10/2010: Brightest Day #12 -- 82,394 (- 1.7%) 11/2010: Brightest Day #13 -- 79,955 (- 3.0%) 11/2010: Brightest Day #14 -- 78,452 (- 1.9%) 12/2010: Brightest Day #15 -- 75,450 (- 3.8%) 12/2010: Brightest Day #16 -- 74,871 (- 0.8%) 01/2011: Brightest Day #17 -- 72,841 (- 2.7%) 01/2011: Brightest Day #18 -- 72,090 (- 1.0%) ---------------- 6 months: -24.5%
In the absence of Batman: The Dark Knight, Green Lantern and Batman Incorporated, DC only had one title above 70k in January.
Taken on its own merits, Brightest Day continues to be a relatively steady performer.
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7 - BATMAN AND ROBIN 01/2010: Batman and Robin #7 -- 87,780 (- 8.3%) 02/2010: Batman and Robin #8 -- 87,302 (- 0.6%) 02/2010: Batman and Robin #9 -- 84,562 (- 3.1%) 03/2010: Batman and Robin #10 -- 85,292 (+ 0.9%) 04/2010: Batman and Robin #11 -- 84,006 (- 1.5%) 05/2010: Batman and Robin #12 -- 84,843 (+ 1.0%) 06/2010: -- 07/2010: Batman and Robin #13 -- 85,804 (+ 1.1%) 08/2010: -- 09/2010: Batman and Robin #14 -- 82,894 (- 3.4%) 10/2010: Batman and Robin #15 -- 80,173 (- 3.3%) 11/2010: Batman and Robin #16 -- 80,343 (+ 0.2%) 11/2010: Batman and Robin #17 -- 70,600 (-12.1%) 12/2010: Batman and Robin #18 -- 68,814 (- 2.5%) 01/2011: Batman and Robin #19 -- 61,785 (-10.2%) ---------------- 6 months: -28.0% 1 year : -29.6%
9 - BATMAN 01/2006: Batman #649 -- 62,379 [ 64,645] 01/2007: Batman #662 -- 72,499 01/2008: Batman #673 -- 69,234 01/2009: Batman #685 -- 72,654 ------------------------------- 01/2010: Batman #695 -- 63,467 (- 3.7%) 02/2010: Batman #696 -- 61,290 (- 3.4%) 03/2010: Batman #697 -- 61,157 (- 0.2%) 04/2010: Batman #698 -- 60,934 (- 0.4%) 05/2010: Batman #699 -- 62,377 (+ 2.4%) 06/2010: Batman #700 -- 104,755 (+67.9%) 07/2010: Batman #701 -- 76,398 (-27.1%) 08/2010: Batman #702 -- 73,414 (- 3.9%) 09/2010: Batman #703 -- 77,033 (+ 4.9%) 10/2010: -- 11/2010: Batman #704 -- 65,212 (-15.4%) 12/2010: Batman #705 -- 63,262 (- 3.0%) 01/2011: Batman #706 -- 60,231 (- 4.8%) ---------------- 6 months: -21.2% 1 year : - 5.1% 2 years : -17.1% 5 years : - 3.4%
The two Batman titles that actually came out in January keep returning to much lower sales levels in the wake of the “Return of Bruce Wayne” storyline.
For Batman and Robin, it’s worth pointing out that issues #17 through #19 ended up being a fill-in run that wasn’t solicited at the time retailers placed their initial orders. So the numbers probably don’t reflect the actual demand for those books.
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13 - GREEN LANTERN CORPS 01/2006: GLC: Recharge #4 of 5 -- 59,952 [61,540] 01/2007: Green Lantern Corps #8 -- 36,924 01/2008: Green Lantern Corps #20 -- 44,607 [48,577] 01/2009: Green Lantern Corps #32 -- 44,312 ------------------------------------------ 01/2010: Green Lantern Corps #44 -- 76,458 (- 1.7%) 02/2010: Green Lantern Corps #45 -- 75,404 (- 1.4%) 03/2010: Green Lantern Corps #46 -- 76,720 (+ 1.8%) 04/2010: Green Lantern Corps #47 -- 72,163 (- 5.9%) 05/2010: Green Lantern Corps #48 -- 68,826 (- 4.6%) 06/2010: Green Lantern Corps #49 -- 66,652 (- 3.2%) 07/2010: Green Lantern Corps #50 -- 67,035 (+ 0.6%) 08/2010: Green Lantern Corps #51 -- 67,124 (+ 0.1%) 09/2010: Green Lantern Corps #52 -- 63,577 (- 5.3%) 10/2010: Green Lantern Corps #53 -- 60,808 (- 4.4%) 11/2010: Green Lantern Corps #54 -- 57,448 (- 5.5%) 12/2010: Green Lantern Corps #55 -- 54,387 (- 5.3%) 01/2011: Green Lantern Corps #56 -- 53,646 (- 1.4%) ---------------- 6 months: -20.0% 1 year : -29.8% 2 years : +21.1% 5 years : -10.5%
The secondary Green Lantern title was the final DC book with numbers above 50k in January.
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17 - JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA 01/2006: JLA #124 -- 74,069 01/2007: -- 01/2008: Justice League #17 -- 94,712 01/2009: Justice League #29 -- 72,116 -------------------------------------- 01/2010: Justice League #41 -- 62,262 (- 9.3%) 02/2010: Justice League #42 -- 57,522 (- 7.6%) 03/2010: Justice League #43 -- 56,461 (- 1.9%) 04/2010: Justice League #44 -- 62,342 (+10.4%) 05/2010: Justice League #45 -- 62,465 (+ 0.2%) 06/2010: Justice League #46 -- 62,754 (+ 0.5%) 07/2010: Justice League #47 -- 60,368 (- 3.8%) 08/2010: Justice League #48 -- 60,733 (+ 0.6%) 09/2010: Justice League #49 -- 57,616 (- 5.1%) 10/2010: Justice League #50 -- 59,686 (+ 3.6%) 11/2010: Justice League #51 -- 50,887 (-14.7%) 12/2010: Justice League #52 -- 48,501 (- 4.7%) 01/2011: Justice League #53 -- 47,093 (- 2.9%) ---------------- 6 months: -22.0% 1 year : -24.4% 2 years : -34.7% 5 years : -36.4%
This former flagship has been sliding down the charts since superstar writer Brad Meltzer left, and DC hasn’t shown any ambition to date to fix that.
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20 - GREEN LANTERN: EMERALD WARRIORS 08/2010: Emerald Warriors #1 -- 68,332 09/2010: Emerald Warriors #2 -- 56,289 (-17.6%) 10/2010: Emerald Warriors #3 -- 50,490 (-10.3%) 11/2010: Emerald Warriors #4 -- 46,319 (- 8.3%) 12/2010: Emerald Warriors #5 -- 44,077 (- 4.8%) 01/2011: Emerald Warriors #6 -- 43,471 (- 1.4%)
Bottoming out. These are perfectly solid numbers for another Green Lantern spin-off.
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23 - SUPERMAN 01/2006: Superman #225 -- 61,768 01/2007: Superman #658 -- 60,682 01/2008: Superman #672 -- 44,656 01/2009: Superman #684 -- 48,489 --------------------------------- 01/2010: Superman #696 -- 31,940 (- 1.7%) 02/2010: Superman #697 -- 31,504 (- 1.4%) 03/2010: Superman #698 -- 33,336 (+ 5.8%) 04/2010: Superman #699 -- 33,183 (- 0.5%) 05/2010: -- 06/2010: Superman #700 -- 67,571 (+103.6%) 07/2010: Superman #701 -- 54,506 (- 19.3%) 08/2010: Superman #702 -- 50,023 (- 8.2%) 09/2010: -- 10/2010: Superman #703 -- 50,460 (+ 0.9%) 10/2010: Superman #704 -- 46,741 (- 7.4%) 11/2010: Superman #705 -- 46,261 (- 1.0%) 12/2010: Superman #706 -- 43,027 (- 7.0%) 01/2011: Superman #707 -- 41,843 (- 2.8%) ----------------- 6 months: - 23.2% 1 year : + 31.0% 2 years : - 13.7% 5 years : - 32.3%
Thus ends J. Michael Straczynski’s brief Superman interlude. From a commercial perspective, it was a disappointing stint. From an editorial perspective, it was a disaster.
I’m not sure getting a new, potentially fresh voice and then letting them flesh out Straczynski’s critically panned ideas for the book is a prudent move, either.
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27 - DETECTIVE COMICS 01/2006: Detective Comics #815 -- 35,569 01/2007: -- 01/2008: Detective Comics #840 -- 51,579 01/2009: Detective Comics #852 -- 56,656 ----------------------------------------- 01/2010: Detective Comics #861 -- 45,937 (-12.2%) 02/2010: -- 03/2010: Detective Comics #862 -- 44,687 (- 2.7%) 03/2010: Detective Comics #863 -- 43,119 (- 3.5%) 04/2010: Detective Comics #864 -- 42,436 (- 1.6%) 05/2010: Detective Comics #865 -- 41,501 (- 2.2%) 06/2010: Detective Comics #866 -- 46,178 (+11.3%) 07/2010: Detective Comics #867 -- 40,371 (-12.6%) 08/2010: Detective Comics #868 -- 38,682 (- 4.2%) 09/2010: Detective Comics #869 -- 37,394 (- 3.3%) 10/2010: Detective Comics #870 -- 35,674 (- 4.6%) 11/2010: Detective Comics #871 -- 36,941 (+ 3.6%) 12/2010: Detective Comics #872 -- 37,961 (+ 2.8%) [39,758] 01/2011: Detective Comics #873 -- 38,417 (+ 1.2%) ----------------- 6 months: - 4.8% 1 year : - 16.4% 2 years : - 32.2% 5 years : + 8.0%
Sales continue to climb for the Scott Snyder/Jock run. This is something we haven’t seen in a while, and certainly good news for the book.
Another thing we haven’t seen in a while on the chart are re-orders, because the threshold for the Top 300 was too high for them to chart in the last several months. In January, that changed, and the three DC titles that made the grade were December’s Batman: The Dark Knight #1 (2,806 extra units), Detective Comics #872 (1,797) and Batman Incorporated #2 (1,413).
Which means there’s some buzz for the Batman line, especially for Detective Comics.
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28 - BATMAN BEYOND 06/2010: Batman Beyond #1 of 6 -- 35,113 [42,283] 07/2010: Batman Beyond #2 of 6 -- 31,397 (-10.6%) 08/2010: Batman Beyond #3 of 6 -- 31,469 (+ 0.2%) 09/2010: Batman Beyond #4 of 6 -- 31,368 (- 0.3%) 10/2010: Batman Beyond #5 of 6 -- 30,121 (- 4.0%) 11/2010: Batman Beyond #6 of 6 -- 28,485 (- 5.4%) 12/2010: -- 01/2011: Batman Beyond #1 -- 35,880 (+26.0%) ----------------- 6 months: + 14.3%
DC quickly follows up on the miniseries, which was a modest mid-list success, with an ongoing title by the same creative team.
So far, so good.
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30 - GREEN ARROW 01/2006: Green Arrow #58 -- 30,990 01/2007: Green Arrow #70 -- 31,798 01/2008: Arrow/Canary #4 -- 35,039 01/2009: Arrow/Canary #16 -- 24,419 ----------------------------------- 01/2010: Arrow&Canary #28 -- 16,482 (- 2.5%) 02/2010: Arrow&Canary #29 -- 16,600 (+ 0.7%) 02/2010: Black Arrow #30 -- 42,014 (+153.1%) 03/2010: Green Arrow #31 -- 28,486 (- 32.2%) 04/2010: Green Arrow #32 -- 29,137 (+ 2.3%) 05/2010: -- 06/2010: Green Arrow #1 -- 54,400 (+ 86.7%) [57,554] 07/2010: Green Arrow #2 -- 44,118 (- 18.9%) 08/2010: Green Arrow #3 -- 46,308 (+ 5.0%) 09/2010: Green Arrow #4 -- 44,220 (- 4.5%) 10/2010: Green Arrow #5 -- 42,188 (- 4.6%) 11/2010: Green Arrow #6 -- 39,575 (- 6.2%) 12/2010: Green Arrow #7 -- 36,835 (- 6.9%) 01/2011: Green Arrow #8 -- 35,307 (- 4.2%) ----------------- 6 months: - 20.0% 1 year : +114.2% 2 years : + 44.6% 5 years : + 13.9%
Retailers are still slashing their orders at a rate that suggests the audience is leaving in droves.
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32 - WONDER WOMAN 01/2006: Wonder Woman #225 -- 42,661 01/2007: -- 01/2008: Wonder Woman #16 -- 42,897 01/2009: Wonder Woman #28 -- 32,622 ------------------------------------- 01/2010: Wonder Woman #40 -- 25,156 (- 3.8%) 02/2010: Wonder Woman #41 -- 25,354 (+ 0.8%) 03/2010: Wonder Woman #42 -- 25,240 (- 0.5%) 04/2010: Wonder Woman #43 -- 25,369 (+ 0.5%) 05/2010: Wonder Woman #44 -- 25,443 (+ 0.3%) 06/2010: Wonder Woman #600 -- 53,525 (+110.4%) [63,700] 07/2010: Wonder Woman #601 -- 39,672 (- 25.9%) 08/2010: Wonder Woman #602 -- 38,012 (- 4.2%) 09/2010: Wonder Woman #603 -- 38,852 (+ 2.2%) 10/2010: Wonder Woman #604 -- 37,405 (- 3.7%) 11/2010: -- 12/2010: Wonder Woman #605 -- 35,495 (- 5.1%) 01/2011: Wonder Woman #606 -- 33,601 (- 5.3%) ----------------- 6 months: - 15.3% 1 year : + 33.6% 2 years : + 3.0% 5 years : - 21.2%
Another editorial fiasco.
Contrary to what the solicitations continue to say through Wonder Woman #607, superstar J. Michael Straczynski hasn’t actually written the series since issue #604, so these sales still largely reflect his name recognition.
Like with Superman, the decision to have somebody else come in and flesh out Straczynski’s ideas rather than their own seems highly questionable, considering the commercial and critical reception of his run.
Either way, DC’s attempt to establish Wonder Woman as a major character turns out to have been a half-hearted mess, and they seem to have given up on the idea for the time being.
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36 - ACTION COMICS 01/2006: Action Comics #835 -- 41,114 01/2007: -- 01/2008: Action Comics #861 -- 56,093 01/2009: Action Comics #873 -- 51,940 ------------------------------------- 01/2010: Action Comics #885 -- 30,678 (- 3.8%) 02/2010: Action Comics #886 -- 29,845 (- 2.7%) 03/2010: Action Comics #887 -- 29,460 (- 1.3%) 04/2010: Action Comics #888 -- 29,536 (+ 0.3%) 04/2010: Action Comics #889 -- 29,106 (- 1.5%) 05/2010: -- 06/2010: Action Comics #890 -- 34,744 (+19.4%) [40,039] 07/2010: Action Comics #891 -- 35,328 (+ 1.7%) 08/2010: Action Comics #892 -- 36,401 (+ 3.0%) 09/2010: Action Comics #893 -- 33,948 (- 6.7%) 10/2010: Action Comics #894 -- 42,291 (+24.6%) 11/2010: Action Comics #895 -- 33,089 (-21.8%) 12/2010: Action Comics #896 -- 32,357 (- 2.2%) 01/2011: Action Comics #897 -- 32,134 (- 0.7%) ---------------- 6 months: - 9.0% 1 year : + 4.8% 2 years : -38.1% 5 years : -21.8%
Sales are leveling out.
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39 - BIRDS OF PREY 01/2006: Birds of Prey #90 -- 30,460 01/2007: Birds of Prey #102 -- 29,043 01/2008: Birds of Prey #114 -- 24,211 01/2009: Birds of Prey #126 -- 20,772 ------------------------------------- 05/2010: Birds of Prey #1 -- 50,428 (+135.4%) [54,965] 06/2010: Birds of Prey #2 -- 44,064 (- 12.6%) 07/2010: Birds of Prey #3 -- 43,420 (- 1.5%) 08/2010: Birds of Prey #4 -- 46,149 (+ 6.3%) 09/2010: Birds of Prey #5 -- 40,146 (- 13.0%) 10/2010: -- 11/2010: Birds of Prey #6 -- 34,440 (- 14.2%) 12/2010: Birds of Prey #7 -- 33,114 (- 3.9%) 01/2011: Birds of Prey #8 -- 31,616 (- 4.5%) ----------------- 6 months: - 27.2% 2 years : + 52.2% 5 years : + 3.8%
Sliding down the charts.
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42/44 - JUSTICE LEAGUE: GENERATION LOST 05/2010: Generation Lost #1 -- 50,784 05/2010: Generation Lost #2 -- 44,711 (-12.0%) 06/2010: Generation Lost #3 -- 43,278 (- 3.2%) 06/2010: Generation Lost #4 -- 41,702 (- 3.6%) 07/2010: Generation Lost #5 -- 40,370 (- 3.2%) 07/2010: Generation Lost #6 -- 39,190 (- 2.9%) 08/2010: Generation Lost #7 -- 39,971 (+ 2.0%) 08/2010: Generation Lost #8 -- 38,745 (- 3.1%) 09/2010: Generation Lost #9 -- 37,151 (- 4.1%) 09/2010: Generation Lost #10 -- 36,624 (- 1.4%) 10/2010: Generation Lost #11 -- 35,504 (- 3.1%) 10/2010: Generation Lost #12 -- 34,752 (- 2.1%) 11/2010: Generation Lost #13 -- 33,504 (- 3.6%) 11/2010: Generation Lost #14 -- 32,722 (- 2.3%) 12/2010: Generation Lost #15 -- 31,871 (- 2.6%) 12/2010: Generation Lost #16 -- 31,048 (- 2.6%) 01/2011: Generation Lost #17 -- 30,877 (- 0.6%) 01/2011: Generation Lost #18 -- 30,457 (- 1.4%) ---------------- 6 months: -22.9%
43 - RED ROBIN 01/2006: Robin #146 -- 29,499 [31,851] 01/2007: Robin #158 -- 29,464 01/2008: Robin #170 -- 30,048 01/2009: Robin #182 -- 28,684 -------------------------------- 01/2010: Red Robin #8 -- 37,869 (- 4.2%) 02/2010: Red Robin #9 -- 36,466 (- 3.7%) 03/2010: Red Robin #10 -- 36,708 (+ 0.7%) 04/2010: Red Robin #11 -- 36,205 (- 1.4%) 05/2010: Red Robin #12 -- 36,273 (+ 0.2%) 06/2010: Red Robin #13 -- 35,917 (- 1.0%) 07/2010: Red Robin #14 -- 35,652 (- 0.7%) 08/2010: Red Robin #15 -- 34,709 (- 2.7%) 09/2010: Red Robin #16 -- 33,753 (- 2.8%) 10/2010: -- 11/2010: Red Robin #17 -- 31,825 (- 5.7%) 12/2010: Red Robin #18 -- 30,873 (- 3.0%) 01/2011: Red Robin #19 -- 30,547 (- 1.1%) ----------------- 6 months: - 14.3% 1 year : - 19.3% 2 years : + 6.5% 5 years : + 3.6%
45 - SUPERMAN/BATMAN 01/2006: -- 01/2007: -- 01/2008: Superman/Batman #45 -- 52,119 01/2009: -- --------------------------------------- 01/2010: Superman/Batman #68 -- 33,869 (-31.8%) 02/2010: Superman/Batman #69 -- 33,224 (- 1.9%) 03/2010: Superman/Batman #70 -- 32,196 (- 3.1%) 04/2010: Superman/Batman #71 -- 31,714 (- 1.5%) 05/2010: Superman/Batman #72 -- 32,047 (+ 1.1%) 06/2010: Superman/Batman #73 -- 31,425 (- 1.9%) 07/2010: Superman/Batman #74 -- 30,847 (- 1.8%) 08/2010: Superman/Batman #75 -- 34,324 (+11.3%) 09/2010: Superman/Batman #76 -- 32,003 (- 6.8%) 10/2010: Superman/Batman #77 -- 31,741 (- 0.8%) 11/2010: Superman/Batman #78 -- 31,337 (- 1.3%) 12/2010: Superman/Batman #79 -- 30,586 (- 2.4%) 01/2011: Superman/Batman #80 -- 30,363 (- 0.7%) ---------------- 6 months: - 1.6% 1 year : -10.4% 2 years : n.a. 5 years : n.a.
Three titles that all seem to be leveling out at the 30k mark.
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46 - JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA 01/2006: JSA #81 -- 50,078 01/2007: Justice Society #2 -- 86,180 [92,459] 01/2008: -- 01/2009: Justice Society #23 -- 61,385 --------------------------------------- 01/2010: Justice Society #35 -- 39,934 (- 4.3%) 02/2010: Justice Society #36 -- 39,060 (- 2.2%) 03/2010: Justice Society #37 -- 37,381 (- 4.3%) 04/2010: Justice Society #38 -- 36,648 (- 2.0%) 05/2010: -- 06/2010: Justice Society #39 -- 36,630 (- 0.1%) 06/2010: Justice Society #40 -- 36,008 (- 1.7%) 07/2010: Justice Society #41 -- 48,858 (+ 35.7%) 08/2010: Justice Society #42 -- 48,420 (- 0.9%) 09/2010: Justice Society #43 -- 36,576 (- 24.5%) 10/2010: Justice Society #44 -- 35,483 (- 3.0%) 11/2010: Justice Society #45 -- 33,582 (- 5.4%) 12/2010: Justice Society #46 -- 31,497 (- 6.2%) 01/2011: Justice Society #47 -- 30,071 (- 4.5%) ---------------- 6 months: -38.5% 1 year : -24.7% 2 years : -51.0% 5 years : -40.0%
The book keeps shedding units.
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47 - SUPERBOY 11/2010: Superboy #1 -- 39,701 12/2010: Superboy #2 -- 31,761 (-20.0%) 01/2011: Superboy #3 -- 29,550 (- 7.0%)
Jeff Lemire and Pier Gallo’s Superboy relaunch is finding its level quickly, suggesting that it’s reasonably well-received at the retail level.
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55 - TEEN TITANS 01/2006: Teen Titans #31 -- 65,223 01/2007: Teen Titans #43 -- 60,290 [62,560] 01/2008: Teen Titans #55 -- 52,376 01/2009: Teen Titans #67 -- 35,877 ---------------------------------- 01/2010: Teen Titans #79 -- 27,790 (-36.0%) 02/2010: Teen Titans #80 -- 26,537 (- 4.5%) 03/2010: Teen Titans #81 -- 25,758 (- 2.9%) 04/2010: Teen Titans #82 -- 25,303 (- 1.8%) 05/2010: Teen Titans #83 -- 24,960 (- 1.4%) 06/2010: Teen Titans #84 -- 24,593 (- 1.5%) 07/2010: Teen Titans #85 -- 24,248 (- 1.4%) 08/2010: Teen Titans #86 -- 24,971 (+ 3.0%) 09/2010: Teen Titans #87 -- 23,259 (- 6.9%) 10/2010: Teen Titans #88 -- 27,637 (+18.8%) 11/2010: Teen Titans #89 -- 26,444 (- 4.3%) 12/2010: Teen Titans #90 -- 25,997 (- 1.7%) 01/2011: Teen Titans #91 -- 25,443 (- 2.1%) ---------------- 6 months: + 4.9% 1 year : - 8.5% 2 years : -29.1% 5 years : -61.0%
Standard attrition.
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57 - BATGIRL 01/2006: Batgirl #72 -- 26,480 ---------------------------------- 01/2010: Batgirl #6 -- 30,403 (- 6.4%) 02/2010: Batgirl #7 -- 29,524 (- 2.9%) 03/2010: Batgirl #8 -- 30,886 (+ 4.6%) 04/2010: Batgirl #9 -- 29,445 (- 4.7%) 05/2010: Batgirl #10 -- 28,641 (- 2.7%) 06/2010: Batgirl #11 -- 28,563 (- 0.3%) 07/2010: Batgirl #12 -- 28,011 (- 1.9%) 08/2010: Batgirl #13 -- 27,247 (- 2.7%) 09/2010: Batgirl #14 -- 26,861 (- 1.4%) 10/2010: -- 11/2010: Batgirl #15 -- 25,827 (- 3.9%) 12/2010: Batgirl #16 -- 25,225 (- 2.3%) 01/2011: Batgirl #17 -- 25,189 (- 0.1%) ---------------- 6 months: -10.1% 1 year : -17.2% 5 years : - 4.9%
Holding level.
The “Batman Incorporated” idea was name-checked in the solicitations — perhaps that brought some extra interest to the book.
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60 - THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES 01/2006: LoSH #13 -- 32,730 01/2007: SLoSH #26 -- 32,342 01/2008: LoSH #38 -- 33,045 01/2009: LoSH #50 -- 22,327 --------------------------------------- 05/2010: LoSH #1 -- 44,415 (+98.9%) [50,106] 06/2010: LoSH #2 -- 39,102 (-12.0%) 07/2010: LoSH #3 -- 36,360 (- 7.0%) 08/2010: LoSH #4 -- 34,239 (- 5.8%) 09/2010: LoSH #5 -- 32,417 (- 5.3%) 10/2010: LoSH #6 -- 30,246 (- 6.7%) 11/2010: LoSH #7 -- 26,439 (-12.6%) 12/2010: LoSH #8 -- 25,063 (- 5.2%) 01/2011: LoSH #9 -- 24,230 (- 3.3%) ----------------- 6 months: - 33.4% 2 years : + 8.5% 5 years : - 26.0%
64 - ADVENTURE COMICS 01/2010: Adventure Comics #6 -- 42,514 (-29.0%) 02/2010: Adventure Comics #7 -- 53,721 (+26.4%) 03/2010: Adventure Comics #8 -- 39,351 (-26.8%) 03/2010: Adventure Comics #9 -- 37,515 (- 4.7%) 04/2010: Adventure Comics #10 -- 37,573 (+ 0.2%) 05/2010: Adventure Comics #11 -- 34,794 (- 7.4%) 06/2010: Adventure Comics #12 -- 34,663 (- 0.4%) 07/2010: Adventure Comics #516 -- 30,897 (-10.9%) 08/2010: Adventure Comics #517 -- 28,966 (- 6.3%) 09/2010: Adventure Comics #518 -- 27,028 (- 6.7%) 10/2010: Adventure Comics #519 -- 25,346 (- 6.2%) 11/2010: Adventure Comics #520 -- 24,540 (- 3.2%) 12/2010: Adventure Comics #521 -- 23,787 (- 6.9%) 01/2011: Adventure Comics #522 -- 22,821 (- 4.1%) ----------------- 6 months: - 26.1% 1 year : - 46.3%
The two Paul Levitz vehicles keep skidding down the charts.
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65 - SUPERGIRL 01/2006: -- 01/2007: -- 01/2008: Supergirl #25 -- 36,459 01/2009: Supergirl #37 -- 34,060 --------------------------------- 01/2010: Supergirl #49 -- 27,728 (- 1.6%) 02/2010: Supergirl #50 -- 33,338 (+20.2%) 03/2010: Supergirl #51 -- 29,845 (-10.5%) 04/2010: Supergirl #52 -- 29,490 (- 1.2%) 05/2010: -- 06/2010: Supergirl #53 -- 28,317 (- 4.0%) 07/2010: Supergirl #54 -- 26,941 (- 4.9%) 08/2010: Supergirl #55 -- 25,891 (- 3.9%) 09/2010: Supergirl #56 -- 25,034 (- 3.3%) 10/2010: Supergirl #57 -- 23,842 (- 4.8%) 11/2010: Supergirl #58 -- 25,412 (+ 6.6%) 12/2010: Supergirl #59 -- 22,606 (-11.0%) 01/2011: Supergirl #60 -- 22,568 (- 0.2%) ---------------- 6 months: -16.2% 1 year : -18.6% 2 years : -33.7% 5 years : n.a.
The solicitations for issues #60 through #62 welcome the critically acclaimed Nick Spencer as the new writer, likely accounting for the lack of a bigger drop in January.
However, as in a plethora of other cases at DC over the last several years, someone changed their mind at the last minute. And so Spencer ends up merely co-writing #60, then handing the series off to somebody else.
Consequently, as I find myself saying with some regularity of late, these numbers are unlikely to be an accurate reflection of the demand for the material that actually saw print.
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68 - TITANS 01/2009: Titans #9 -- 37,693 --------------------------------- 01/2010: Titans #21 -- 24,924 (- 3.7%) 02/2010: Titans #22 -- 24,489 (- 1.8%) 03/2010: Titans #23 -- 24,260 (- 0.9%) 04/2010: -- 05/2010: VfH Special #1 -- 31,718 (+30.7%) 06/2010: Titans #24 -- 33,079 (+ 4.3%) 07/2010: Titans #25 -- 31,505 (- 4.8%) 08/2010: Titans #26 -- 32,800 (+ 4.1%) 09/2010: Titans #27 -- 28,438 (-13.3%) 10/2010: Titans #28 -- 27,430 (- 3.6%) 11/2010: Titans #29 -- 24,138 (-12.0%) 12/2010: Titans #30 -- 22,483 (- 6.9%) 01/2011: Titans #31 -- 21,749 (- 3.3%) ---------------- 6 months: -31.0% 1 year : -12.7% 2 years : -42.3%
Sales have been fairly erratic over the last year, but it looks like Titans is settling down at 20k.
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69 - BATMAN: STREETS OF GOTHAM 01/2010: Batman: SoG #8 -- 28,313 (- 6.5%) 02/2010: Batman: SoG #9 -- 27,023 (- 4.6%) 03/2010: Batman: SoG #10 -- 26,396 (- 2.3%) 04/2010: Batman: SoG #11 -- 25,925 (- 1.8%) 05/2010: Batman: SoG #12 -- 25,446 (- 1.9%) 06/2010: Batman: SoG #13 -- 25,205 (- 1.0%) 07/2010: Batman: SoG #14 -- 24,767 (- 1.7%) 08/2010: Batman: SoG #15 -- 24,171 (- 2.4%) 09/2010: Batman: SoG #16 -- 23,830 (- 1.4%) 10/2010: -- 11/2010: Batman: SoG #17 -- 22,390 (- 6.0%) 12/2010: Batman: SoG #18 -- 21,684 (- 3.2%) 01/2011: Batman: SoG #19 -- 21,592 (- 0.4%) ---------------- 6 months: -12.8% 1 year : -23.7%
Holding level, maybe because the book returned to a $ 2.99 price point. Either way, the series is cancelled with issue #21.
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71 - SECRET SIX 01/2009: Secret Six #5 -- 24,899 ------------------------------------- 01/2010: Secret Six #17 -- 38,515 (+70.1%) 02/2010: Secret Six #18 -- 37,876 (- 1.7%) 03/2010: Secret Six #19 -- 23,181 (-38.8%) 04/2010: Secret Six #20 -- 22,695 (- 2.1%) 05/2010: Secret Six #21 -- 22,334 (- 1.6%) 06/2010: Secret Six #22 -- 21,941 (- 1.8%) 07/2010: Secret Six #23 -- 21,554 (- 1.8%) 08/2010: Secret Six #24 -- 21,177 (- 1.8%) 09/2010: Secret Six #25 -- 20,775 (- 1.9%) 10/2010: Secret Six #26 -- 20,377 (- 1.9%) 11/2010: Secret Six #27 -- 19,963 (- 2.0%) 12/2010: Secret Six #28 -- 19,587 (- 1.9%) 01/2011: Secret Six #29 -- 20,327 (+ 3.8%) ---------------- 6 months: - 5.7% 1 year : -47.2% 2 years : -18.4%
A crossover with the December issue of Action Comics doesn’t bring much of a boost.
Which is a little odd, especially since both titles are well-received critically. Perhaps doing it in the same calendar month and promoting the two books back to back would have yielded better results.
—–
76 - FABLES (Vertigo) 01/2006: Fables #45 -- 24,297 01/2007: Fables #57 -- 25,744 01/2008: -- 01/2009: Fables #80 -- 22,617 ------------------------------ 01/2010: Fables #92 -- 20,180 (- 1.3%) 02/2010: -- 03/2010: Fables #93 -- 20,003 (- 0.9%) 04/2010: Fables #94 -- 19,965 (- 0.2%) 05/2010: Fables #95 -- 19,932 (- 0.2%) 06/2010: Fables #96 -- 19,842 (- 0.5%) 07/2010: -- 08/2010: Fables #97 -- 19,625 (- 1.1%) 09/2010: Fables #98 -- 19,594 (- 0.2%) 10/2010: Fables #99 -- 19,656 (+ 0.3%) 11/2010: -- 12/2010: Fables #100 -- 23,014 (+17.1%) 01/2011: Fables #101 -- 19,183 (-16.7%) ---------------- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : - 4.9% 2 years : -15.2% 5 years : -21.1%
Sales return to a slow, steady decline.
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77/83/88/96 - ONE-SHOTS 01/2011: Steel #1 -- 18,728 01/2011: Starman/Congorilla #1 -- 15,750 01/2011: Wonder Girl #1 -- 18,394 01/2011: Shazam! #1 -- 18,394
Not much interest in these one-shot specials, despite their prominent placement in the solicitations.
Somewhat surprisingly, Starman/Congorilla, which was touted as a Justice League tie-in and even has the same creative team, ends up being the lowest-selling of the bunch.
Steel was unconvincingly tacked on to an Outsiders storyline at some point after the solicitation copy saw print — a book that’s about to be cancelled and missed its shipping date in January. The mind boggles.
(Steel also lost its solicited artist between initial solicitation and publication, so…)
—–
81 - ZATANNA 05/2010: Zatanna #1 -- 33,691 06/2010: Zatanna #2 -- 29,564 (-12.3%) 07/2010: Zatanna #3 -- 27,792 (- 6.0%) 08/2010: Zatanna #4 -- 27,203 (- 2.1%) 09/2010: Zatanna #5 -- 25,393 (- 6.7%) 10/2010: Zatanna #6 -- 23,427 (- 7.7%) 11/2010: Zatanna #7 -- 20,671 (-11.8%) 12/2010: Zatanna #8 -- 19,321 (- 6.5%) 01/2011: Zatanna #9 -- 18,482 (- 4.3%) ---------------- 6 months: -33.5%
Sliding down the charts, and heading into the newly established danger zone.
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84 - JSA ALL-STARS 01/2010: JSA All-Stars #2 -- 32,601 (-23.3%) 02/2010: JSA All-Stars #3 -- 29,666 (- 9.0%) 03/2010: JSA All-Stars #4 -- 28,526 (- 3.8%) 04/2010: JSA All-Stars #5 -- 26,581 (- 6.8%) 05/2010: JSA All-Stars #6 -- 25,306 (- 4.8%) 06/2010: JSA All-Stars #7 -- 24,436 (- 3.4%) 07/2010: JSA All-Stars #8 -- 23,478 (- 3.9%) 08/2010: JSA All-Stars #9 -- 22,347 (- 4.8%) 09/2010: JSA All-Stars #10 -- 21,646 (- 3.1%) 10/2010: JSA All-Stars #11 -- 20,496 (- 5.3%) 11/2010: JSA All-Stars #12 -- 19,630 (- 4.2%) 12/2010: JSA All-Stars #13 -- 18,395 (- 6.3%) 01/2011: JSA All-Stars #14 -- 17,920 (- 2.6%) ---------------- 6 months: -23.7% 1 year : -45.0%
Cancelled with issue #18. Which means that the air may be getting thinner for DC Universe titles selling below this point.
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89 - AMERICAN VAMPIRE (Vertigo) 03/2010: American Vampire #1 -- 33,762 [36,831] 04/2010: American Vampire #2 -- 26,770 (-20.7%) 05/2010: American Vampire #3 -- 26,510 (- 1.0%) 06/2010: American Vampire #4 -- 25,977 (- 2.0%) 07/2010: American Vampire #5 -- 24,857 (- 4.3%) 08/2010: -- 09/2010: American Vampire #6 -- 23,349 (- 6.1%) 10/2010: American Vampire #7 -- 21,910 (- 6.2%) 11/2010: American Vampire #8 -- 19,850 (- 9.4%) 12/2010: American Vampire #9 -- 19,019 (- 4.2%) 12/2010: American Vampire #10 -- 17,761 (- 6.6%) 01/2011: American Vampire #11 -- 16,969 (- 4.5%) ---------------- 6 months: -31.7%
Not quite stabilizing yet, but still Vertigo’s second-best-selling title by more than 5,000 units.
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90 - POWER GIRL 01/2010: Power Girl #8 -- 21,760 (- 3.4%) 02/2010: Power Girl #9 -- 20,900 (- 4.0%) 03/2010: Power Girl #10 -- 20,801 (- 0.5%) 04/2010: Power Girl #11 -- 20,675 (- 0.6%) 05/2010: Power Girl #12 -- 20,681 (+ 0.0%) 06/2010: Power Girl #13 -- 20,583 (- 0.5%) 07/2010: Power Girl #14 -- 19,739 (- 4.1%) 08/2010: Power Girl #15 -- 19,091 (- 3.3%) 09/2010: Power Girl #16 -- 18,404 (- 3.6%) 10/2010: Power Girl #17 -- 17,847 (- 3.0%) 11/2010: Power Girl #18 -- 17,300 (- 3.1%) 12/2010: Power Girl #19 -- 16,763 (- 3.1%) 01/2011: Power Girl #20 -- 16,823 (+ 0.4%) ---------------- 6 months: -14.8% 1 year : -22.7%
I’ve got no idea why the decline suddenly stops.
Barring any statistical errors, that tends to be a good sign for a given series, particularly in the light of the latest wave of cancellations.
—–
94 - BOOSTER GOLD 01/2008: Booster Gold #6 -- 36,292 01/2009: Booster Gold #16 -- 25,472 ----------------------------------- 01/2010: Booster Gold #28 -- 21,967 (- 45.4%) 02/2010: Booster Gold #29 -- 21,020 (- 4.3%) 03/2010: Booster Gold #30 -- 20,187 (- 4.0%) 04/2010: Booster Gold #31 -- 19,818 (- 1.8%) 05/2010: Booster Gold #32 -- 20,343 (+ 2.7%) 06/2010: Booster Gold #33 -- 19,895 (- 2.2%) 07/2010: Booster Gold #34 -- 19,592 (- 1.5%) 08/2010: Booster Gold #35 -- 19,104 (- 2.5%) 09/2010: Booster Gold #36 -- 18,504 (- 3.1%) 10/2010: Booster Gold #37 -- 17,806 (- 3.8%) 11/2010: Booster Gold #38 -- 17,276 (- 3.0%) 12/2010: Booster Gold #39 -- 16,686 (- 3.4%) 11/2011: Booster Gold #40 -- 16,324 (- 2.2%) ---------------- 6 months: -16.7% 1 year : -25.7% 2 years : -35.9%
Standard attrition. If you like the book, maybe it’s time to be worried.
—–
99 - WEIRD WORLDS 01/2011: Weird Worlds #1 of 6 -- 14,964
An anthology series with predictably low numbers.
—–
107 - BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL 01/2007: Batman Confidential #2 -- 47,451 01/2008: -- 01/2009: Batman Confidential #25 -- 20,517 ------------------------------------------ 01/2010: Batman Confidential #40 -- 17,241 (+ 8.4%) 02/2010: Batman Confidential #41 -- 16,856 (- 2.2%) 03/2010: Batman Confidential #42 -- 16,652 (- 1.2%) 04/2010: Batman Confidential #43 -- 16,449 (- 1.2%) 05/2010: Batman Confidential #44 -- 15,279 (- 7.1%) 06/2010: Batman Confidential #45 -- 15,070 (- 1.4%) 07/2010: Batman Confidential #46 -- 14,621 (- 3.0%) 08/2010: Batman Confidential #47 -- 14,341 (- 1.9%) 09/2010: Batman Confidential #48 -- 14,329 (- 0.1%) 10/2010: Batman Confidential #49 -- 14,112 (- 1.5%) 11/2010: Batman Confidential #50 -- 14,450 (+ 2.4%) 12/2010: Batman Confidential #51 -- 13,495 (- 6.6%) 01/2011: Batman Confidential #52 -- 13,116 (- 2.8%) ---------------- 6 months: -10.3% 1 year : -23.9% 2 years : -36.1%
Cancelled with issue #54.
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116 - I, ZOMBIE 05/2010: I, Zombie #1 -- 33,025 06/2010: I, Zombie #2 -- 18,620 (-43.6%) 07/2010: I, Zombie #3 -- 16,898 (- 9.3%) 08/2010: I, Zombie #4 -- 15,772 (- 6.7%) 09/2010: I, Zombie #5 -- 14,839 (- 5.9%) 10/2010: I, Zombie #6 -- 13,782 (- 7.1%) 11/2010: I, Zombie #7 -- 12,800 (- 7.1%) 12/2010: I, Zombie #8 -- 12,038 (- 6.0%) 01/2011: I, Zombie #9 -- 11,536 (- 4.2%) ---------------- 6 months: -31.7%
117 - THE UNWRITTEN (Vertigo) 01/2010: The Unwritten #9 -- 13,792 (- 3.3%) 02/2010: The Unwritten #10 -- 13,644 (- 1.1%) 03/2010: The Unwritten #11 -- 13,630 (- 0.1%) 04/2010: The Unwritten #12 -- 13,507 (- 0.9%) 05/2010: The Unwritten #13 -- 13,467 (- 0.3%) 06/2010: The Unwritten #14 -- 13,396 (- 0.5%) 07/2010: The Unwritten #15 -- 13,023 (- 2.8%) 08/2010: The Unwritten #16 -- 12,778 (- 1.9%) 09/2010: The Unwritten #17 -- 12,796 (+ 0.2%) 10/2010: The Unwritten #18 -- 12,273 (- 4.1%) 11/2010: The Unwritten #19 -- 12,036 (- 1.9%) 12/2010: The Unwritten #20 -- 11,684 (- 2.9%) 01/2011: The Unwritten #21 -- 11,443 (- 2.1%) ---------------- 6 months: -12.1% 1 year : -17.0%
The other two Vertigo titles still selling above 10k.
I, Zombie sales seem to be leveling out, slowly but surely, after its long slide, while The Unwritten sees more standard attrition.
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119 - KNIGHT AND SQUIRE 10/2010: Knight & Squire #1 of 6 -- 21,867 11/2010: Knight & Squire #2 of 6 -- 14,466 (-33.9%) 12/2010: Knight & Squire #3 of 6 -- 12,142 (-16.1%) 01/2011: Knight & Squire #4 of 6 -- 11,051 (- 9.0%)
Too quirky for the direct market, evidently, despite Paul Cornell’s critical acclaim.
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122 - JONAH HEX 01/2006: Jonah Hex #3 -- 24,671 01/2007: Jonah Hex #15 -- 17,987 01/2008: Jonah Hex #27 -- 13,881 01/2009: Jonah Hex #39 -- 11,705 -------------------------------- 01/2010: Jonah Hex #51 -- 11,184 (-26.1%) 02/2010: Jonah Hex #52 -- 11,213 (+ 0.3%) 03/2010: Jonah Hex #53 -- 11,565 (+ 3.1%) 04/2010: Jonah Hex #54 -- 11,306 (- 2.2%) 05/2010: Jonah Hex #55 -- 11,327 (+ 0.2%) 06/2010: Jonah Hex #56 -- 13,441 (+18.7%) 07/2010: Jonah Hex #57 -- 12,318 (- 8.4%) 08/2010: Jonah Hex #58 -- 11,775 (- 4.4%) 09/2010: Jonah Hex #59 -- 11,444 (- 2.8%) 10/2010: Jonah Hex #60 -- 11,141 (- 2.7%) 11/2010: Jonah Hex #61 -- 10,796 (- 3.1%) 12/2010: Jonah Hex #62 -- 10,899 (+ 1.0%) 01/2011: Jonah Hex #63 -- 10,752 (- 1.4%) ---------------- 6 months: -12.7% 1 year : - 3.9% 2 years : - 8.1% 5 years : -56.4%
Rock-solid over the last couple years, but if DC changed its approach to low-selling books, all bets are off again.
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123 - T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AGENTS 11/2010: T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #1 -- 16,122 12/2010: T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #2 -- 11,227 (-30.4%) 01/2011: T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #3 -- 10,602 (- 5.6%)
Bottoming out quickly, at least.
—–
126 - R.E.B.E.L.S. 01/2010: R.E.B.E.L.S. #12 -- 12,428 (- 60.5%) 02/2010: R.E.B.E.L.S. #13 -- 11,836 (- 4.8%) 03/2010: R.E.B.E.L.S. #14 -- 11,362 (- 4.0%) 04/2010: R.E.B.E.L.S. #15 -- 11,271 (- 0.8%) 05/2010: R.E.B.E.L.S. #16 -- 11,120 (- 1.3%) 06/2010: R.E.B.E.L.S. #17 -- 11,048 (- 0.7%) 07/2010: R.E.B.E.L.S. #18 -- 11,007 (- 0.4%) 08/2010: R.E.B.E.L.S. #19 -- 10,851 (- 1.4%) 09/2010: R.E.B.E.L.S. #20 -- 11,745 (+ 8.2%) 10/2010: R.E.B.E.L.S. #21 -- 11,262 (- 4.1%) 11/2010: R.E.B.E.L.S. #22 -- 10,797 (- 4.1%) 12/2010: R.E.B.E.L.S. #23 -- 10,619 (- 1.7%) 01/2011: R.E.B.E.L.S. #24 -- 10,354 (- 2.5%) ----------------- 6 months: - 5.9% 1 year : - 16.7%
Cancelled with issue #28.
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127 - JLA/THE 99 10/2010: JLA/The 99 #1 of 6 -- 19,995 11/2010: JLA/The 99 #2 of 6 -- 15,525 (-22.4%) 12/2010: JLA/The 99 #3 of 6 -- 12,819 (-17.4%) 01/2011: JLA/The 99 #4 of 6 -- 10,265 (-19.9%)
Abysmal numbers. Whatever interest there was in the book, it’s evaporating quickly.
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133 - HELLBLAZER (Vertigo) 01/2006: Hellblazer #216 -- 14,590 01/2007: Hellblazer #228 -- 12,956 01/2008: Hellblazer #240 -- 12,213 01/2009: Hellblazer #251 -- 11,290 ---------------------------------- 01/2010: Hellblazer #263 -- 10,179 (-1.5%) 02/2010: Hellblazer #264 -- 10,025 (-1.5%) 03/2010: Hellblazer #265 -- 10,295 (+2.7%) 04/2010: Hellblazer #266 -- 10,256 (-0.4%) 05/2010: Hellblazer #267 -- 10,155 (-1.0%) 06/2010: Hellblazer #268 -- 10,221 (+0.7%) 07/2010: Hellblazer #269 -- 10,048 (-1.7%) 08/2010: Hellblazer #270 -- 9,928 (-1.2%) 09/2010: Hellblazer #271 -- 9,851 (-0.8%) 10/2010: Hellblazer #272 -- 9,650 (-2.0%) 11/2010: Hellblazer #273 -- 9,645 (-0.1%) 12/2010: Hellblazer #274 -- 9,342 (-3.1%) 01/2011: Hellblazer #275 -- 9,507 (+1.8%) ---------------- 6 months: - 5.4% 1 year : - 6.6% 2 years : -15.8% 5 years : -34.8%
A very modest increase for John Constantine’s $ 4.99 wedding issue.
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134 - FREEDOM FIGHTERS 01/2007: US & FF #7 of 8 -- 22,460 01/2008: US & FF #5 of 8 -- 14,989 --------------------------------------- 09/2010: Freedom Fighters #1 -- 19,378 10/2010: Freedom Fighters #2 -- 12,758 (-34.2%) 11/2010: Freedom Fighters #3 -- 11,186 (-12.3%) 12/2010: Freedom Fighters #4 -- 10,028 (-10.4%) 01/2011: Freedom Fighters #5 -- 9,437 (- 5.9%)
Cancelled with #9, which is fast by DC’s standards. They aren’t as lenient with these things as they used to be.
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135 - YOUNG JUSTICE (Johnny DC) 01/2011: Young Justice #0 -- 9,412
A new Johnny DC title. See small print.
——
137 - DOOM PATROL 01/2010: Doom Patrol #6 -- 17,117 (- 51.6%) 02/2010: Doom Patrol #7 -- 15,689 (- 8.3%) 03/2010: Doom Patrol #8 -- 14,197 (- 9.5%) 04/2010: Doom Patrol #9 -- 13,126 (- 7.5%) 05/2010: Doom Patrol #10 -- 12,334 (- 6.0%) 06/2010: Doom Patrol #11 -- 11,857 (- 3.9%) 07/2010: Doom Patrol #12 -- 11,267 (- 5.0%) 08/2010: Doom Patrol #13 -- 10,878 (- 3.5%) 09/2010: Doom Patrol #14 -- 10,780 (- 0.9%) 10/2010: Doom Patrol #15 -- 10,081 (- 6.5%) 11/2010: Doom Patrol #16 -- 9,955 (- 1.3%) 12/2010: Doom Patrol #17 -- 9,564 (- 3.9%) 01/2011: Doom Patrol #18 -- 9,375 (- 2.0%) ---------------- 6 months: -16.8% 1 year : -45.2%
Cancelled with issue #22.
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145 - SWEET TOOTH (Vertigo) 01/2010: Sweet Tooth #5 -- 9,787 (- 0.3%) 02/2010: Sweet Tooth #6 -- 9,740 (- 0.5%) 03/2010: Sweet Tooth #7 -- 9,718 (- 0.2%) 04/2010: Sweet Tooth #8 -- 9,612 (- 1.1%) 05/2010: Sweet Tooth #9 -- 9,654 (+ 0.4%) 06/2010: Sweet Tooth #10 -- 9,570 (- 0.9%) 07/2010: Sweet Tooth #11 -- 9,478 (- 1.0%) 08/2010: Sweet Tooth #12 -- 9,246 (- 2.5%) 09/2010: Sweet Tooth #13 -- 9,097 (- 1.6%) 10/2010: Sweet Tooth #14 -- 8,933 (- 1.8%) 11/2010: Sweet Tooth #15 -- 8,750 (- 2.1%) 12/2010: Sweet Tooth #16 -- 8,602 (- 1.7%) 01/2011: Sweet Tooth #17 -- 8,522 (- 0.9%) ---------------- 6 months: -10.1% 1 year : -12.9%
Finding its level.
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149 - DOC SAVAGE 04/2010: Doc Savage #1 -- 24,539 05/2010: Doc Savage #2 -- 19,073 (-22.3%) 06/2010: Doc Savage #3 -- 16,153 (-15.3%) 07/2010: Doc Savage #4 -- 14,621 (- 9.5%) 08/2010: Doc Savage #5 -- 13,125 (-10.2%) 09/2010: Doc Savage #6 -- 11,838 (- 9.8%) 10/2010: Doc Savage #7 -- 10,050 (-15.1%) 11/2010: Doc Savage #8 -- 9,257 (- 7.9%) 12/2010: Doc Savage #9 -- 8,681 (- 6.2%) 01/2011: Doc Savage #10 -- 8,407 (- 3.2%) ---------------- 6 months: -42.5%
Canceled along with the rest of the First Wave line, apparently.
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150 - NEW YORK FIVE (Vertigo) 01/2011: New York Five #1 of 4 -- 8,360
Brian Wood and Ryan Kelly’s sequel to The New York Four, a straight-to-paperback book released under the now-defunct Minx imprint a couple of years ago and — presumably — therefore only gently alluded to in the solicitation copy, comes as a Vertigo miniseries.
Brian Wood’s Vertigo launches used to do a lot better five years ago, but his work tends to get better-than-average sales once collected.
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157 - THE SPIRIT 01/2007: The Spirit #2 -- 27,245 01/2008: The Spirit #12 -- 18,894 01/2009: The Spirit #25 -- 9,576 --------------------------------- 04/2010: The Spirit #1 -- 19,849 (+158.8%) 05/2010: The Spirit #2 -- 14,274 (- 28.1%) 06/2010: The Spirit #3 -- 13,030 (- 8.7%) 07/2010: The Spirit #4 -- 11,915 (- 8.6%) 08/2010: The Spirit #5 -- 11,015 (- 7.6%) 09/2010: The Spirit #6 -- 10,083 (- 8.5%) 10/2010: The Spirit #7 -- 9,233 (- 8.4%) 11/2010: The Spirit #8 -- 8,706 (- 5.7%) 12/2010: The Spirit #9 -- 8,297 (- 4.7%) 01/2011: The Spirit #10 -- 7,830 (- 5.6%) ----------------- 6 months: - 34.3% 2 years : - 18.2%
Reportedly cancelled.
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158 - AZRAEL 01/2010: Azrael #4 -- 14,703 (-17.2%) 02/2010: Azrael #5 -- 12,856 (-12.6%) 03/2010: Azrael #6 -- 11,825 (- 8.0%) 04/2010: Azrael #7 -- 11,080 (- 6.3%) 05/2010: Azrael #8 -- 10,228 (- 7.7%) 06/2010: Azrael #9 -- 9,802 (- 4.2%) 07/2010: Azrael #10 -- 9,223 (- 5.9%) 08/2010: Azrael #11 -- 8,930 (- 3.2%) 09/2010: Azrael #12 -- 8,559 (- 4.2%) 10/2010: Azrael #13 -- 8,198 (- 4.2%) 11/2010: Azrael #14 -- 7,841 (- 4.4%) 12/2010: Azrael #15 -- 7,699 (- 1.8%) 01/2011: Azrael #16 -- 7,825 (+ 1.6%) ---------------- 6 months: -15.2% 1 year : -46.8%
Cancelled with issue #18.
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168 - TINY TITANS (Johnny DC) 01/2009: Tiny Titans #12 -- 8,733 ---------------------------------- 01/2010: Tiny Titans #24 -- 7,844 (- 2.2%) 02/2010: Tiny Titans #25 -- 8,566 (+ 9.2%) 03/2010: Tiny Titans #26 -- 7,878 (- 8.0%) 04/2010: Tiny Titans #27 -- 8,224 (+ 4.4%) 05/2010: Tiny Titans #28 -- 7,959 (- 3.2%) 06/2010: Tiny Titans #29 -- 8,195 (+ 3.0%) 07/2010: Tiny Titans #30 -- 8,038 (- 1.9%) 08/2010: Tiny Titans #31 -- 7,987 (- 0.6%) 09/2010: Tiny Titans #32 -- 8,073 (+ 1.1%) 10/2010: Tiny Titans #33 -- 8,045 (- 0.4%) 11/2010: Tiny Titans #34 -- 7,713 (- 4.1%) 12/2010: Tiny Titans #35 -- 7,515 (- 2.6%) 01/2011: Tiny Titans #36 -- 7,480 (- 0.5%) ---------------- 6 months: - 6.9% 1 year : - 4.6% 2 years : -14.4%
A Johnny DC book, see disclaimers.
—–
170 - HOUSE OF MYSTERY (Vertigo) 01/2009: House of Mystery #9 -- 13,739 --------------------------------------- 01/2010: House of Mystery #21 -- 9,888 (- 2.8%) 02/2010: House of Mystery #22 -- 9,401 (- 4.9%) 03/2010: House of Mystery #23 -- 9,350 (- 0.5%) 04/2010: House of Mystery #24 -- 9,168 (- 2.0%) 05/2010: House of Mystery #25 -- 9,253 (+ 0.9%) 06/2010: House of Mystery #26 -- 8,742 (- 5.5%) 07/2010: House of Mystery #27 -- 8,481 (- 3.0%) 08/2010: House of Mystery #28 -- 8,238 (- 2.9%) 09/2010: House of Mystery #29 -- 8,087 (- 1.8%) 10/2010: House of Mystery #30 -- 7,913 (- 2.2%) 11/2010: House of Mystery #31 -- 7,610 (- 3.8%) 12/2010: House of Mystery #32 -- 7,348 (- 3.4%) 01/2011: House of Mystery #33 -- 7,227 (- 1.7%) ---------------- 6 months: -14.8% 1 year : -26.9% 2 years : -47.4%
Standard attrition.
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174 - WORLD OF WARCRAFT: CURSE OF THE WORGEN 01/2008: World of WarCraft #3 -- 31,183 01/2009: World of WarCraft #15 -- 14,996 ---------------------------------------- 11/2010: WoW: CotW #1 of 5 -- 7,521 (-27.1%) 12/2010: WoW: CotW #2 of 5 -- 6,938 (- 7.8%) 01/2011: WoW: CotW #3 of 5 -- 7,114 (+ 2.5%) ---------------- 2 years : -52.6%
The best-selling of the former WildStorm titles.
—–
176 - NORTHLANDERS (Vertigo) 01/2008: Northlanders #2 -- 15,945 01/2009: Northlanders #14 -- 9,467 ----------------------------------- 01/2010: Northlanders #24 -- 7,935 (- 1.7%) 02/2010: Northlanders #25 -- 7,807 (- 1.6%) 03/2010: Northlanders #26 -- 7,824 (+ 0.2%) 04/2010: Northlanders #27 -- 7,683 (- 1.8%) 05/2010: Northlanders #28 -- 7,630 (- 0.7%) 06/2010: Northlanders #29 -- 7,498 (- 1.7%) 07/2010: Northlanders #30 -- 7,421 (- 1.0%) 08/2010: Northlanders #31 -- 7,376 (- 0.6%) 09/2010: Northlanders #32 -- 7,321 (- 0.8%) 10/2010: Northlanders #33 -- 7,169 (- 2.1%) 11/2010: Northlanders #34 -- 7,018 (- 2.1%) 12/2010: Northlanders #35 -- 7,061 (+ 0.6%) 01/2011: Northlanders #36 -- 6,806 (- 3.6%) ---------------- 6 months: - 8.3% 1 year : -14.2% 2 years : -28.1%
Back to business as usual.
—–
180 - THE ALL-NEW BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD (Johnny DC) 01/2006: Batman Strikes! #17 -- 8,172 01/2007: Batman Strikes! #29 -- 7,330 01/2008: Batman Strikes! #41 -- 6,723 01/2009: Brave & Bold #1 -- 13,935 ---------------------------------------- 01/2010: Brave & Bold #13 -- 6,129 (- 3.4%) 02/2010: Brave & Bold #14 -- 6,084 (- 0.7%) 03/2010: Brave & Bold #15 -- 6,208 (+ 2.0%) 04/2010: Brave & Bold #16 -- 6,506 (+ 4.8%) 05/2010: Brave & Bold #17 -- 6,103 (- 6.2%) 06/2010: Brave & Bold #18 -- 6,270 (+ 2.7%) 07/2010: Brave & Bold #19 -- 6,489 (+ 3.5%) 08/2010: Brave & Bold #20 -- 6,244 (- 3.8%) 09/2010: Brave & Bold #21 -- 6,345 (+ 1.6%) 10/2010: Brave & Bold #22 -- 6,044 (- 4.7%) 11/2010: All-New BBB #1 -- 8,408 (+ 39.1%) 12/2010: All-New BBB #2 -- 6,688 (- 20.5%) 01/2011: All-New BBB #3 -- 6,557 (- 2.0%) ---------------- 6 months: + 1.1% 1 year : + 7.0% 2 years : -53.0% 5 years : -19.8%
Another Johnny DC book.
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184 - SCALPED (Vertigo) 01/2007: Scalped #1 -- 13,644 01/2008: Scalped #13 -- 6,993 01/2009: -- ------------------------------ 01/2010: -- 02/2010: Scalped #34 -- 6,731 (- 0.3%) 02/2010: Scalped #35 -- 6,443 (- 4.3%) 03/2010: Scalped #36 -- 6,648 (+ 3.2%) 04/2010: Scalped #37 -- 6,584 (- 1.0%) 05/2010: Scalped #38 -- 6,632 (+ 0.7%) 06/2010: -- 07/2010: Scalped #39 -- 6,682 (+ 0.8%) 08/2010: Scalped #40 -- 6,593 (- 1.3%) 09/2010: -- 10/2010: Scalped #41 -- 6,623 (+ 0.5%) 10/2010: Scalped #42 -- 6,476 (- 2.2%) 11/2010: Scalped #43 -- 6,324 (- 2.4%) 12/2010: Scalped #44 -- 6,192 (- 2.1%) 01/2011: Scalped #45 -- 6,187 (- 0.1%) ---------------- 6 months: - 7.4% 1 year : n.a. 2 years : n.a.
Stabilizing again after losing a few hundred units.
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188 - DMZ (Vertigo) 01/2006: DMZ #3 -- 14,503 01/2007: DMZ #15 -- 13,340 01/2008: DMZ #27 -- 10,662 01/2009: DMZ #38 -- 8,457 -------------------------- 01/2010: DMZ #49 -- 6,872 (-1.5%) 02/2010: DMZ #50 -- 7,262 (+5.7%) 03/2010: DMZ #51 -- 6,840 (-5.8%) 04/2010: DMZ #52 -- 6,826 (-0.2%) 05/2010: DMZ #53 -- 6,759 (-1.0%) 06/2010: DMZ #54 -- 6,661 (-1.5%) 07/2010: DMZ #55 -- 6,581 (-1.2%) 08/2010: DMZ #56 -- 6,524 (-0.9%) 09/2010: DMZ #57 -- 6,333 (-2.9%) 10/2010: DMZ #58 -- 6,198 (-2.1%) 11/2010: DMZ #59 -- 6,046 (-2.5%) 12/2010: DMZ #60 -- 6,023 (-0.4%) 01/2011: DMZ #61 -- 5,855 (-2.8%) ---------------- 6 months: -11.0% 1 year : -14.8% 2 years : -30.8% 5 years : -59.6%
Standard attrition. The planned final issue is #72.
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191 - GOD OF WAR 03/2010: God of War #1 of 6 -- 9,842 04/2010: -- 05/2010: God of War #2 of 6 -- 9,501 (- 3.5%) 06/2010: -- 07/2010: God of War #3 of 6 -- 8,220 (-13.5%) 08/2010: -- 09/2010: God of War #4 of 6 -- 7,194 (-12.5%) 10/2010: -- 11/2010: God of War #5 of 6 -- 6,088 (-15.4%) 10/2010: -- 11/2010: God of War #6 of 6 -- 5,623 (- 7.6%) ---------------- 6 months: -31.6%
203 - VICTORIAN UNDEAD II: SHERLOCK HOLMES VS. DRACULA 11/2009: Victorian Undead #1 of 6 -- 11,422 12/2009: Victorian Undead #2 of 6 -- 7,430 01/2010: Victorian Undead #3 of 6 -- 6,663 02/2010: Victorian Undead #4 of 6 -- 6,365 03/2010: Victorian Undead #5 of 6 -- 6,285 04/2010: Victorian Undead #6 of 6 -- 6,102 ------------------------------------------- 10/2010: Victorian Undead Special -- 5,723 (- 6.2%) 11/2010: Holmes/Dracula #1 of 5 -- 6,066 (+ 6.0%) 12/2010: Holmes/Dracula #2 of 5 -- 5,248 (-13.5%) 01/2011: Holmes/Dracula #3 of 5 -- 4,953 (- 5.6%) ---------------- 1 year : -25.7%
Two more titles formerly published under the WildStorm imprint.
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214 - SCOOBY DOO: WHERE ARE YOU? (Johnny DC) 01/2006: Scooby Doo #104 -- 4,454 01/2007: Scooby Doo #116 -- 4,285 01/2008: Scooby Doo #128 -- 4,147 01/2009: Scooby Doo #140 -- 3,800 --------------------------------- 01/2010: Scooby Doo #152 -- 3,724 (- 4.7%) 02/2010: Scooby Doo #153 -- 3,780 (+ 1.5%) 03/2010: Scooby Doo #154 -- 3,846 (+ 1.8%) 04/2010: Scooby Doo #155 -- 3,836 (- 0.3%) 05/2010: Scooby Doo #156 -- 3,857 (+ 0.6%) 06/2010: Scooby Doo #157 -- ? 07/2010: Scooby Doo #158 -- 4,147 08/2010: Scooby Doo #159 -- 4,092 (- 1.3%) 09/2010: SD:WAY? #1 -- 6,186 (+51.2%) 10/2010: SD:WAY? #2 -- 4,926 (-20.4%) 11/2010: SD:WAY? #3 -- 4,861 (- 1.3%) 12/2010: SD:WAY? #4 -- 4,802 (- 1.2%) 01/2011: SD:WAY? #5 -- 4,540 (- 5.5%) ---------------- 6 months: + 9.5% 1 year : +21.9% 2 years : +19.5% 5 years : + 1.9%
A Johnny DC title.
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241/254/273 - DC COMICS PRESENTS 10/2010: Green Lantern #1 -- 4,418 10/2010: Jack Cross #1 -- 3,662 10/2010: Batman/Catwoman #1 -- 4,076 10/2010: Brightest Day #1 -- 4,988 10/2010: Batman #1 -- 4,643 10/2010: Superman #1 -- 3,685 11/2010: Flash/GL #1 -- 3,664 11/2010: Batman #2 -- 3,643 11/2010: Brightest Day #2 -- 3,292 11/2010: Superman #2 -- 2,915 12/2010: Batman Beyond #1 -- 4,531 01/2011: Lobo #1 -- 3,280 01/2011: Sole Survivor #1 -- 2,768 01/2011: The Atom #1 -- 2,185
More of DC’s new line of $ 7.99 reprint books. Not all of them made the chart.
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248 - RATCHET AND CLANK 09/2010: Ratchet and Clank #1 of 6 -- 5,655 10/2010: Ratchet and Clank #2 of 6 -- 4,001 (-29.3%) 11/2010: Ratchet and Clank #3 of 6 -- 3,382 (-15.5%) 12/2010: Ratchet and Clank #4 of 6 -- ? 01/2011: Ratchet and Clank #5 of 6 -- 2,963
Another book surviving WildStorm.
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270 - LOONEY TUNES (Johnny DC) 01/2006: Looney Tunes #134 -- 2,601 01/2007: Looney Tunes #146 -- 2,588 01/2008: Looney Tunes #158 -- 2,596 01/2009: Looney Tunes #170 -- 2,354 ----------------------------------- 01/2011: Looney Tunes #194 -- 2,243 ---------------- 6 months: ? 1 year : ? 2 years : - 4.7% 5 years : -13.8%
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279 - CARTOON NETWORK ACTION PACK (Johnny DC) 01/2009: CN Action Pack #33 -- 1,838 ------------------------------------- 01/2011: CN Action Pack #56 -- 2,013 ---------------- 6 months: ? 1 year : ? 2 years : + 9.5%
These two Johnny DC series haven’t made the chart in years, but show up again thanks to the low entry threshold in January.
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284 - IDES OF BLOOD 08/2010: Ides of Blood #1 of 6 -- 4,560 09/2010: Ides of Blood #2 of 6 -- ? 10/2010: Ides of Blood #3 of 6 -- ? 11/2010: Ides of Blood #4 of 6 -- ? 12/2010: Ides of Blood #5 of 6 -- ? 01/2011: Ides of Blood #6 of 6 -- 1,834
And another loose end from WildStorm.
The former WildStorm title Kane and Lynch #5 failed to chart in December. As always, for the purposes of the average periodical statistics below, I’m presuming it sold as many units as the No. 300 book on the chart, although the actual number is likely to be lower.
RE-ORDERS: 253 -- 2,806: Batman: The Dark Knight #1 287 -- 1,797: Detective Comics #872 297 -- 1,413: Batman, Inc. #2
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6-MONTH COMPARISONS + 14.3%: Batman Beyond + 9.5%: Scooby-Doo + 4.9%: Teen Titans + 1.1%: All-New BBB - 1.6%: Superman/Batman - 4.8%: Detective Comics - 5.4%: Hellblazer - 5.7%: Secret Six - 5.9%: REBELS - 6.9%: Tiny Titans - 7.4%: Scalped - 8.3%: Northlanders - 9.0%: Action Comics - 10.1%: Batgirl - 10.1%: Sweet Tooth - 10.3%: Batman Confidential - 11.0%: DMZ - 12.1%: Unwritten - 12.7%: Jonah Hex - 12.8%: Batman: SoG - 14.3%: Red Robin - 14.8%: House of Mystery - 14.8%: Power Girl - 15.2%: Azrael - 15.3%: Wonder Woman - 16.2%: Supergirl - 16.7%: Booster Gold - 16.8%: Doom Patrol - 20.0%: GL Corps - 20.0%: Green Arrow - 21.2%: Batman - 22.0%: JLA - 22.9%: Generation Lost - 23.2%: Superman - 23.7%: JSA All-Stars - 24.5%: Brightest Day - 26.1%: Adventure Comics - 27.2%: Birds of Prey - 28.0%: Batman and Robin - 31.0%: Titans - 31.6%: God of War - 31.7%: American Vampire - 31.7%: I, Zombie - 33.4%: LoSH - 33.5%: Zatanna - 34.3%: Spirit - 38.5%: JSA - 42.5%: Doc Savage
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1-YEAR COMPARISONS +114.2%: Green Arrow + 33.6%: Wonder Woman + 31.0%: Superman + 21.9%: Scooby-Doo + 7.0%: All-New BBB + 4.8%: Action Comics - 3.9%: Jonah Hex - 4.6%: Tiny Titans - 4.9%: Fables - 5.1%: Batman - 6.6%: Hellblazer - 8.5%: Teen Titans - 10.4%: Superman/Batman - 12.7%: Titans - 12.9%: Sweet Tooth - 14.2%: Northlanders - 14.8%: DMZ - 16.4%: Detective Comics - 16.7%: REBELS - 17.0%: Unwritten - 17.2%: Batgirl - 18.6%: Supergirl - 19.3%: Red Robin - 22.7%: Power Girl - 23.7%: Batman: SoG - 23.9%: Batman Confidential - 24.4%: JLA - 24.7%: JSA - 25.7%: Booster Gold - 25.7%: Victorian Undead - 26.9%: House of Mystery - 29.6%: Batman and Robin - 29.8%: GL Corps - 45.0%: JSA All-Stars - 45.2%: Doom Patrol - 46.3%: Adventure Comics - 46.8%: Azrael - 47.2%: Secret Six
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2-YEAR COMPARISONS + 52.2%: Birds of Prey + 44.6%: Green Arrow + 21.1%: GL Corps + 19.5%: Scooby-Doo + 9.5%: CN Action Pack + 8.5%: LoSH + 6.5%: Red Robin + 3.0%: Wonder Woman - 4.7%: Looney Tunes - 8.1%: Jonah Hex - 13.7%: Superman - 14.4%: Tiny Titans - 15.2%: Fables - 15.8%: Hellblazer - 17.1%: Batman - 18.4%: Secret Six - 28.1%: Northlanders - 29.1%: Teen Titans - 30.8%: DMZ - 32.2%: Detective Comics - 33.7%: Supergirl - 34.7%: JLA - 35.9%: Booster Gold - 36.1%: Batman Confidential - 38.1%: Action Comics - 42.3%: Titans - 47.4%: House of Mystery - 51.0%: JSA - 52.6%: WoW - 53.0%: All-New BBB
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5-YEAR COMPARISONS + 13.9%: Green Arrow + 8.0%: Detective Comics + 3.8%: Birds of Prey + 3.6%: Red Robin + 1.9%: Scooby-Doo - 3.4%: Batman - 4.9%: Batgirl - 10.5%: GL Corps - 13.8%: Looney Tunes - 19.8%: All-New BBB - 21.1%: Fables - 21.2%: Wonder Woman - 21.8%: Action Comics - 26.0%: LoSH - 32.3%: Superman - 34.8%: Hellblazer - 36.4%: JLA - 40.0%: JSA - 56.4%: Jonah Hex - 59.6%: DMZ - 61.0%: Teen Titans
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Average Periodical Sales
(not counting reprints, reorders shipping after the initial month of release, Johnny DC titles and magazines)
DC COMICS 01/2006: 33,019 01/2007: 29,706 01/2008: 27,033 01/2009: 24,273 --------------- 01/2010: 25,657 (- 1.0%)** 02/2010: 26,199 (+ 2.1%)** 03/2010: 23,299 (-11.1%)** 04/2010: 23,740 (+ 1.9%)** 05/2010: 27,785 (+17.0%)** 06/2010: 25,788 (- 7.2%)** 07/2010: 25,841 (+ 0.2%)** 08/2010: 23,331 (- 9.7%)** 09/2010: 23,212 (- 0.5%)** 10/2010: 23,756 (- 2.3%)** 11/2010: 25,497 (+ 7.3%)** 12/2010: 23,869 (- 6.4%)** 01/2011: 21,922 (- 8.2%)** ---------------- 6 months: -15.2% 1 year : -14.6% 2 years : - 9.7% 5 years : -33.6%
DC UNIVERSE 01/2006: 40,118 01/2007: 38,302 01/2008: 33,654 01/2009: 32,705 --------------- 01/2010: 33,698 (- 5.0%) 02/2010: 35,895 (+ 6.5%) 03/2010: 32,375 (- 9.8%) 04/2010: 32,859 (+ 1.5%) 05/2010: 37,463 (+14.0%) 06/2010: 34,612 (- 7.6%)** 07/2010: 35,372 (+ 2.2%) 08/2010: 33,411 (- 5.5%) 09/2010: 32,042 (- 4.1%) 10/2010: 32,832 (+ 2.5%) 11/2010: 34,180 (+ 4.1%) 12/2010: 30,870 (- 9.7%) 01/2011: 24,321 (-21.2%)** ---------------- 6 months: -31.2% 1 year : -27.8% 2 years : -25.6% 5 years : -39.4%
VERTIGO 01/2006: 15,036 01/2007: 13,572 01/2008: 10,115 01/2009: 10,980 --------------- 01/2010: 11,267 (+ 6.5%) 02/2010: 9,256 (-17.9%) 03/2010: 11,394 (+23.1%) 04/2010: 10,815 (- 5.1%) 05/2010: 11,756 (+ 8.7%) 06/2010: 10,995 (- 6.5% 07/2010: 9,515 (-13.5%) 08/2010: 9,094 (- 4.4%) 09/2010: 11,622 (+27.8%) 10/2010: 9,546 (-17.9%) 11/2010: 9,034 (- 5.4%) 12/2010: 11,193 (+23.9%) 01/2011: 10,145 (- 9.4%) ---------------- 6 months: + 6.6% 1 year : -10.0% 2 years : - 7.6% 5 years : -32.5%
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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.
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Marc-Oliver Frisch writes about comics at his weblog and at Comicgate. You can also follow him on Twitter.
It’s shocking to see comics from DC that are within the top 100 that are being canceled for low sales. I know there was a dearth of product this month so the cutoff to make that top 100 ranking was lower than ever, but still…
Steel #1 was returnable. The story it launches/ties into/whatever isn’t an Outsiders story, it’s a Doomsday story. It’s kind of a “stealth event.” The next part is in Outsiders, but then it moves somewhere else. I forget where the next part is, which says a lot about how many of my customers showed any interest in it. (One, thanks for asking.)
I really like Steel as a character, but this one shot didn’t really interest me. I did notice a second printing of it at my local shop though.
Green Arrow is sliding, but still has great numbers compared to previous years. It ties into Brightest Day, as much as the other “Green” titles.
Power Girl also has a tie-in with Brightest Day, mostly via Generation Lost. Nothing like the Palmiotti/Connor run, but still interesting.
Isn’t this the first month of $2.99 titles?
Can a comparison be done? Total dollars before compared to total dollars afterwards?
Clearly, the audience for the FIRST WAVE books was there … but, as the dramatic drop-off in sales after the first issues attest, the readers didn’t think that the quality was there.
Wow, those Vertigo pamphlets just keep sliding and sliding downward.
Who would have thought that DMZ would be Vertigo’s lowest selling pamphlet of the month? Will #72 even be above 5,000 in sales?
From 1 to 61, that’s a pretty dramatic dropoff.
11/2005: DMZ #1 — 18,705
01/2011: DMZ #61 — 5,855
At this point do the paperbacks sell more than the pamphlets within the first 6 months?
DC really needs to reassess what they are doing with Justice League.
There is no reason that book should be selling under 50K.
They also badly need to figure out what to do with Superman. Maybe they should give Mark Waid a 12 issue run on the title and match him with a popular artists (similar to what they did with Azarello and Jim Lee several years back).
Speaking for Vertigo, I really do love to trade wait if I found the title well after catching up (like Fables or Scalped)… I really do hope the TPB do make up for the low monthly sales… The only conversions I had from trade waiting to monthly in my XP were Fables and 100 bullets… for DMZ and Scalped having it all collected made for a better reading XP. The only reason for going from TPB to monthly on Fables was that I didn’t want to wait anymore…I end up buying the monthly and giving it away after I read it and buy the TPB do keep in the long run.
I wonder if DC’s decision to cancel so many low selling books is also going to make them reassess whether to launch certain series in the first place. One has to imagine that SOMEBODY at DC had the foresight to say “I don’t think that a(n) Azrael/T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents/Freedom Fighters/R.E.B.E.L.S./Doom Patrol series is going to sell all that well,” and maybe next time they’ll be listened to.
“Clearly, the audience for the FIRST WAVE books was there … but, as the dramatic drop-off in sales after the first issues attest, the readers didn’t think that the quality was there.”
That’s not true. The first issue sales have nothing to do with reader interest, they’re based on retailer orders. Sales on subsequent issues can be based on actual reader interest, but are still based on retailer orders.
@Joe Aren’t a big part of retailer orders based on reader pull-lists thought? Even #1 issues.
Maybe if they brought back Superman’s mullet, hipsters would start reading the books to be ironic.
I wish there was a metric for understanding books that are additive, and attract new/different readers.
For instance, even though Jonah Hex’s or I, Zombie’s numbers are “low”, I’d suspect that books like these attract a different, potentially new reader to the DC line, and comics in general, than say, JSA All-Stars, which is designed for those those already drinking the Kool Aid in big gulps.
Those T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents numbers make me really sad! :(
As for Power Girl rising a smidge I think that issue tied in (sorta kinda) with JLI…
Biff
Ed: I agree, there has always been evidence that not all books are treated the same regarding their cancellation points. Books that get a lot of critical acclaim, that are editors’ favorites or that appeal to fans of other genres are often allowed to go lower than others. Of course, this is only true to a certain degree, and no book can escape eventual cancellation if sales keep declining.
BTW, I’m sure Booster Gold and Power Girl are quite safe at their current levels. The two cancellations of better-selling books can easily be explained by other factors: Streets of Gotham – Dini’s story is finished, the Batman line is already bloated; JSA All-Stars – the franchise is just not popular enough to support two books.
This drop in sales tells us something about their dialogue with their customers. Itcould point to them not listening to readers and retailers.(“They say they want ‘comic A’? Clearly they are wrong, try selling them ‘comic B’!”
Marc-Oliver’s intro explanation for the sales drop also tells us that DC is having difficulty getting comics out the door to sell, which is an internal DC problem.
John G:
On some titles, pull lists can be of help with #1s, but not always. A good example could be Marvel’s new Silver Surfer series. I had exactly 1 pre-order for Silver Surfer #1. It’s been a long time since he had a regular series, and even if I’d been open then, that data would be mostly useless at this point. That means I’m ordering mostly blind for most new titles.
For First Wave, the Batman/ Doc Savage one-shot was the title I based my orders on. There was some really good buzz around that one, and I personally enjoyed it. DC put First Wave previews in a lot of comics beforehand, and I had a handful of pre-orders for it, so I ordered #1 at about what I’d sold of the Batman/ Doc Savage one-shot. It did not sell as well as that one, and I cut subsequent orders down to sub levels. Even then, I still ended up getting stuck with more copies on the shelf than I wanted as subs dropped the titles, moved away, or whatever.
That’s why it’s SO important to remember that these charts are based on estimated sales to RETAILERS, not sell-through to consumers.
Agree with Hutch re: JLA and Superman. I WANT to read those two titles but have no interest in either one of them the way DC has been handling them for the past 3+ years. I would like to see them treated like the flagship titles they are and have big name talent (that can get issues out monthly) on both, then leave them alone to do their own thing for at least 12 issues.
Based on the comments above, DC just canceled nearly half the books I buy from them each month.
That’s one way to combat high gas prices.
For what it’s worth, Steel #1 had a fast sellout and second printing, and Supergirl #60 has also been sold out at Diamond for a while.
So there’s a good chance the numbers here aren’t painting a full story and/or they saw heavy (and quick) reorders.
Maybe the current management will be more open to putting “name” talent on the Superman titles, since the previous administration preferred less interesting material to the legendary “Superman 2000” writers’ ideas. The closest thing they’ve published was the magnificent All-Star Superman, which will be a perennial seller forever. Unlike most of the Superman material from the last decade.
(No offense intended towards the creators who presumably did their best with what DC allowed them to work with.)
Hopefully, DC will step up its game and realize soon that not only are their books competing with other comics each month (Image, Dark Horse, IDW, Boom, and Dynamite all have better batting averages, from a quality standpoint), but also with their own line to a certain extent (which is why I’m glad they’re trimming it a bit) – not to mention every comic book that’s ever come out (there are a lot of old comics that are better and cheaper than their current titles, and DC needs to get its collections program more on the ball if they want to get that money instead of back-issue resellers).
DC has some of the best characters in comics, but the stories are so tied to B.S. continuity and events (that drive away more readers than they gain in the long term) that sales will never come close to their movie audiences – or even 1989 Batmania comics levels, for that matter.
Sugar Bear!
“01/2011: Jonah Hex #63 — 10,752 (- 1.4%)
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6 months: -12.7%
1 year : – 3.9%
2 years : – 8.1%
5 years : -56.4%
Rock-solid over the last couple years, but if DC changed its approach to low-selling books, all bets are off again.”
This is a great comic, I really hope it lasts to beat the numbering of the original Jonah Hex series (#92).
Re: BOOSTER GOLD…..”If you like the book, maybe it’s time to be worried.”
Actually, the book is going back into the hands of its creator, Dan Jurgens, with #44. And because FLASH is (apparently?) ending with #12, it will be the only ongoing title crossing over with the FLASHPOINT event. A good sign of faith in the book.
That said……….it wouldn’t shock me if it ended soon after. Something about Jurgens’ return is rubbing me as a “final hurrah” for the series.
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Re: FREEDOM FIGHTERS…..”Cancelled with #9, which is fast by DC’s standards. They aren’t as lenient with these things as they used to be.”
The 2 prior FREEDOM FIGHTERS series, by the same writers, were 8 issues a piece. This series is curious because its primary story since #1 seems to be ending with #8 – and #9’s solicit is some one-shot story unrelated to the last 8 issues it seems. SO I wonder if maybe it was meant to be another FF maxiseries, but someone at DC decided to leave it open ended in case it worked…..not sure why anyone would think that, as the last 2 series (esp. the 2nd one) were financial DUDS.