Between “Death of the Family,” “Throne of Atlantis” and “Rise of the Third Army,” any DC title selling 60,000 units or more in January took part in one of the three current major crossovers, which means all 10 of the company’s Top 25 books. In other words: Scott Snyder and Geoff Johns are running the DC Universe right now — and not much that’s not within their reach is working all that well.
Despite the tremendously successful crossovers, average DC Universe numbers are back at an estimated 33,485 units, their lowest point since March 2012. That’s still a very good number by pre-“New 52” 2011 standards, mind you. But in 2010, it would have charted at No. 7, as far as top-selling months are concerned. Once you get below the 60K mark, the sales of most DC Universe titles keep declining briskly, including the 12 “New 52” series that are already cancelled. And there are already eight other, still ongoing ones that sold fewer than 20,000 units in January.
Vertigo’s periodical output remains another source of concern. Although the number of new Vertigo comic books is down to six in January — the lowest number in our current set of statistics going back to March 2003 — Vertigo’s average sales failed to increase; in fact, they declined again to 10,764, the third-lowest number within the last 12 months. In November 2003, the only other time since March 2003 when there were only six new Vertigo books, Vertigo had estimated average sales of 18,008 units.
Consequently, Vertigo’s January performance represents a spectacular record low: The imprint sold an estimated total of 64,584 units — a 28.2% drop versus the previous low point. Vertigo’s previous record lows in total unit sales were January 2012 (89,957), November 2012 (91,899) and December 2012 (94,166). These are also the only four months in which fewer than 100,000 Vertigo comic books were sold to retailers.
Vertigo’s total dollar sales history is similar. With an estimated total of $209,212, January 2013 represents a new record low in that respect, as well. The previous record holders were January 2012 ($268,971), November 2012 ($274,778), December 2012 ($293,351) and November 2003 ($297,858). In any other month since March 2003, Vertigo’s estimated total dollar sales did not fall below $300,000.
Finally, despite the fact that any books officially shipping in the first week of January were already included in the December 2012 chart, DC again increased the number of titles published under its DC Universe imprint. There were 73 new DC Universe comic books in January 2013 — more than in any other month since March 2003 except August 2011, when the pre-“New 52” deck-clearing rush pushed the number to 80.
Breaking the average monthly number of new DC Universe comic books released since March 2003 down year by year, this picture emerges: 45.6 (2003), 46.3 (2004), 47.2 (2005), 48.3 (2006), 52.8 (2007), 54.3 (2008), 50.4 (2009), 53.6 (2010), 62.3 (2011), 65.6 (2012).
So there was slow and steady growth until 2006, then a jump in 2007 and a smaller jump in 2008, before things were scaled back a notch in 2009. In 2010, production picked up again, before the monthly number of new DC Universe comic books practically exploded in 2011 and 2012. And now, in the first month of 2013, we’re starting out with 73. (Even if you discount the titles that are part of the DC imprint but don’t star DC Universe characters, we’re still at 69.)
Given the performance of most of these individual books, these numbers are cause for concern, as far as the recent perceived stability of DC’s overall unit and dollar sales is concerned. Once you look at what’s actually going on with the publisher’s individual titles, there isn’t all that much that’s particularly stable.
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.
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284 - SCOOBY DOO: WHERE ARE YOU? (Johnny DC) 01/2008: Scooby Doo #128 -- 4,147 01/2009: Scooby Doo #140 -- 3,800 01/2010: Scooby Doo #152 -- 3,724 01/2011: SD:WAY? #5 -- 4,540 --------------------------------- 01/2012: SD:WAY? #17 -- 4,533 (- 2.0%) 02/2012: SD:WAY? #18 -- 4,655 (+ 2.7%) 03/2012: SD:WAY? #19 -- 4,677 (+ 0.5%) 04/2012: SD:WAY? #20 -- 4,752 (+ 1.6%) 05/2012: SD:WAY? #21 -- 5,269 (+10.9%) 06/2012: SD:WAY? #22 -- 4,968 (- 5.7%) 07/2012: SD:WAY? #23 -- 4,934 (- 0.7%) 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%) ---------------- 6 months: - 4.2% 1 year : + 4.3% 2 years : + 4.2% 5 years : +14.0%
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 4.5 stars, writing, “Sales remain well within the book’s established spectrum.”
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257 - GREEN LANTERN: THE ANIMATED SERIES (Johnny DC) 04/2012: GL: TAS #1 -- 12,791 05/2012: GL: TAS #2 -- 9,615 (-24.8%) 06/2012: GL: TAS #3 -- 8,716 (- 9.4%) 07/2012: GL: TAS #4 -- 7,790 (-10.6%) 08/2012: GL: TAS #5 -- 6,968 (-10.6%) 09/2012: GL: TAS #6 -- 6,619 (- 5.0%) 10/2012: GL: TAS #7 -- 6,516 (- 1.6%) 11/2012: GL: TAS #8 -- 5,961 (- 8.5%) 12/2012: GL: TAS #9 -- 5,464 (- 8.3%) 01/2013: GL: TAS #10 -- 5,263 (- 3.7%) ---------------- 6 months: -32.4%
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 5 stars, writing, “Finally levelling out, it appears. And not cancelled yet, as I’m writing this.”
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231 - SAUCER COUNTRY (Vertigo) 03/2012: Saucer Country #1 -- 15,684 04/2012: Saucer Country #2 -- 11,263 (-28.2%) 05/2012: Saucer Country #3 -- 10,656 (- 5.4%) 06/2012: Saucer Country #4 -- 9,959 (- 6.5%) 07/2012: Saucer Country #5 -- 9,470 (- 4.9%) 08/2012: Saucer Country #6 -- 8,700 (- 8.1%) 09/2012: Saucer Country #7 -- 8,152 (- 6.3%) 10/2012: Saucer Country #8 -- 7,557 (- 7.3%) 11/2012: Saucer Country #9 -- 7,102 (- 6.0%) 12/2012: Saucer Country #10 -- 6,608 (- 7.0%) 01/2013: Saucer Country #11 -- 6,256 (- 5.3%) ---------------- 6 months: -33.9%
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 4 stars, writing, “Cancelled with issue #14.
“Given what’s coming up in the next few months, it looks like 2013 will be a make-it-or-break-it year for Vertigo as an active imprint dedicated to periodical comic books. They’re concentrating on proven commodities, and everything else is being weeded out. While the new Sandman project by Neil Gaiman will no doubt be a hit, more is probably riding on the performance of The Wake (a Scott Snyder/Sean Murphy vehicle), Trillium (by Jeff Lemire) and Brother Lono (a 100 Bullets spin-off by Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso). Note that these are all limited series, not ongoing titles.
“On paper, they look like potential hits, based on their creative teams. But the last round of Vertigo projects by these same creators hasn’t exactly set the charts on fire. Scott Snyder’s American Vampire went on hiatus with estimated sales of 13,416 in December; Sean Murphy’s critically acclaimed Punk Rock Jesus sold 11,746 units in the same month; Jeff Lemire’s Sweet Tooth ends on 8,053 units in January (see below); and Azzarello and Risso’s Spaceman concluded with 11,290 copies sold in August 2012. 100 Bullets itself didn’t do any better in the single-issue department, for that matter. The concluding chapter sold an estimated 13,755 units in April 2009, and only thanks to a big final-issue boost. In its last year prior to the last issue, the book never cracked 11K.
“By current standards, a book that starts out selling 20,000 units and settles down above 12,000 is a hit for Vertigo. Whether that will suffice to convince an increasingly more scrutinous Warner management of the imprint’s necessity is doubtful, however. And, finally, the fact that Vertigo has already been stripped of some of its most recognizable properties doesn’t suggest that there’s a great deal of confidence in Vertigo, either, at this stage.”
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219 - LOT 13 10/2012: Lot 13 #1 of 5 -- 12,476 11/2012: Lot 13 #2 of 5 -- 8,767 (-29.7%) 12/2012: Lot 13 #3 of 5 -- 7,551 (-13.9%) 01/2013: Lot 13 #4 of 5 -- 6,957 (- 7.9%)
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 4.5 stars, writing, “Sales on this stand-alone horror project by Steve Niles and Glenn Fabry are what one could realistically expect.”
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213 - INSURGENT 01/2013: Insurgent #1 of 6 -- 7,143
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 5 stars, writing, “Another “creator-driven” stand-alone miniseries launched under the DC imprint. Numbers are terrible, not surprisingly. I’m not sure what the point is of publishing these books — unless it’s something with an inbuilt fanbase or the involvement of a big-name creator, they’re pretty much guaranteed to tank.”
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212 - YOUNG JUSTICE (Johnny DC) 01/2011: Young Justice #0 -- 9,412 ------------------------------------ 01/2012: Young Justice #12 -- 7,288 (+ 0.9%) 02/2012: Young Justice #13 -- 7,237 (- 0.7%) 03/2012: Young Justice #14 -- 7,241 (+ 0.1%) 04/2012: Young Justice #15 -- 7,273 (+ 0.4%) 05/2012: Young Justice #16 -- 7,466 (+ 2.7%) 06/2012: Young Justice #17 -- 7,459 (- 0.1%) 07/2012: Young Justice #18 -- 7,458 (- 0.0%) 08/2012: Young Justice #19 -- 7,375 (- 1.1%) 09/2012: Young Justice #20 -- 7,515 (+ 1.9%) 10/2012: Young Justice #21 -- 7,558 (+ 0.6%) 11/2012: Young Justice #22 -- 7,344 (- 2.8%) 12/2012: Young Justice #23 -- 7,200 (- 2.0%) 01/2013: Young Justice #24 -- 7,155 (- 0.6%) ---------------- 6 months: - 4.1% 1 year : - 1.8% 2 years : -24.0%
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210 - SUPERMAN FAMILY ADVENTURES (Johnny DC) 05/2012: Superman Family Adventures #1 -- 13,303 06/2012: Superman Family Adventures #2 -- 10,137 (-23.8%) 07/2012: Superman Family Adventures #3 -- 9,246 (- 8.8%) 08/2012: Superman Family Adventures #4 -- 8,925 (- 3.5%) 09/2012: Superman Family Adventures #5 -- 8,572 (- 4.0%) 10/2012: Superman Family Adventures #6 -- 8,450 (- 1.4%) 11/2012: Superman Family Adventures #7 -- 8,074 (- 4.5%) 12/2012: Superman Family Adventures #8 -- 7,487 (- 7.3%) 01/2013: Superman Family Adventures #9 -- 7,357 (- 1.7%) ---------------- 6 months: -20.4%
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 5 stars, writing, “Two cancelled all-ages comics; Young Justice ends in February, Superman Family Adventures in April.”
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198 - JOE KUBERT PRESENTS 10/2012: Joe Kubert Presents #1 of 6 -- 14,842 11/2012: Joe Kubert Presents #2 of 6 -- 10,542 (-29.0%) 12/2012: Joe Kubert Presents #3 of 6 -- 8,897 (-15.6%) 01/2013: Joe Kubert Presents #4 of 6 -- 7,876 (-11.5%)
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 5 stars, writing, “Sales on this anthology title built around some of the late Joe Kubert’s final work keep dropping quickly.”
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194 - SWEET TOOTH (Vertigo) 01/2010: Sweet Tooth #5 -- 9,787 01/2011: Sweet Tooth #17 -- 8,522 ---------------------------------- 01/2012: Sweet Tooth #29 -- 8,128 (+ 5.6%) 02/2012: Sweet Tooth #30 -- 7,584 (- 6.7%) 03/2012: Sweet Tooth #31 -- 7,541 (- 0.6%) 04/2012: Sweet Tooth #32 -- 7,534 (- 0.1%) 05/2012: Sweet Tooth #33 -- 7,631 (+ 1.3%) 06/2012: Sweet Tooth #34 -- 7,689 (+ 0.8%) 07/2012: Sweet Tooth #35 -- 7,558 (- 1.7%) 08/2012: Sweet Tooth #36 -- 7,441 (- 1.6%) 09/2012: Sweet Tooth #37 -- 7,333 (- 1.5%) 10/2012: Sweet Tooth #38 -- 7,354 (+ 0.3%) 11/2012: Sweet Tooth #39 -- 7,324 (- 0.4%) 12/2012: -- 01/2013: Sweet Tooth #40 -- 8,053 (+10.0%) ---------------- 6 months: + 6.6% 1 year : - 0.9% 2 years : - 5.5%
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 4.5 stars, writing, “Thus ends another critically acclaimed Vertigo title by a critically acclaimed DC Universe creator that never really sold very well at all.
“The final issue was promoted with a 1:10 variant-cover edition, hence the increase.”
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193 - HUMAN BOMB 12/2012: Human Bomb #1 of 4 -- 11,212 01/2013: Human Bomb #2 of 4 -- 8,152 (-27.3%)
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 4 stars, writing, “That’s a steep second-issue drop-off for a miniseries, but not unexpected these days.”
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191 - THE UNWRITTEN (Vertigo) 01/2010: The Unwritten #9 -- 13,792 01/2011: The Unwritten #21 -- 11,443 ------------------------------------ 01/2012: The Unwritten #33 -- 9,888 (+ 1.3%) 01/2012: The Unwritten #.5 -- 9,483 (- 4.1%) 02/2012: The Unwritten #34 -- 9,789 (+ 3.2%) 02/2012: The Unwritten #.5 -- 9,595 (- 2.0%) 03/2012: The Unwritten #35 -- 9,675 (+ 0.8%) 03/2012: The Unwritten #.5 -- 9,529 (- 1.5%) 04/2012: The Unwritten #36 -- 9,678 (+ 1.6%) 05/2012: The Unwritten #37 -- 9,549 (- 1.3%) 06/2012: The Unwritten #38 -- 9,494 (- 0.6%) 07/2012: The Unwritten #39 -- 9,478 (- 0.2%) 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%) ---------------- 6 months: -10.7% 1 year : -12.6% 2 years : -26.0%
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 5 stars, writing, “Standard attrition.
“There’s a crossover with Fables coming up, which is unusual for two Vertigo books not part of the same franchise. Thematically, I suppose it’s not that much of a stretch here. Given the current state of affairs at Vertigo, though, it might also be a last-ditch effort to keep The Unwritten afloat for a little while longer.
“This is the lowest-selling ongoing Vertigo title that hasn’t been axed yet, after all, and sales aren’t even close to Fables, which is the next still-ongoing Vertigo book up the charts with estimated sales of about 16,000.”
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182 - HELLBLAZER (Vertigo) 01/2008: Hellblazer #240 -- 12,213 01/2009: Hellblazer #251 -- 11,290 01/2010: Hellblazer #263 -- 10,179 01/2011: Hellblazer #275 -- 9,507 ---------------------------------- 01/2012: Hellblazer #287 -- 9,368 (-0.4%) 02/2012: Hellblazer #288 -- 9,553 (+2.0%) 03/2012: Hellblazer #289 -- 9,363 (-2.0%) 04/2012: Hellblazer #290 -- 9,472 (+1.2%) 05/2012: Hellblazer #291 -- 9,426 (-0.5%) 06/2012: Hellblazer #292 -- 9,533 (+1.1%) 07/2012: Hellblazer #293 -- 9,247 (-3.0%) 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%) ---------------- 6 months: + 0.9% 1 year : - 0.4% 2 years : - 1.9% 5 years : -23.6%
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 4.5 stars, writing, “To be relaunched as a ‘New 52’ title after issue #300.”
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173 - GRIFTER 01/2012: Grifter #5 -- 20,060 (-10.8%) 02/2012: Grifter #6 -- 18,057 (-10.0%) 03/2012: Grifter #7 -- 16,559 (- 8.3%) 04/2012: Grifter #8 -- 15,686 (- 5.3%) 05/2012: Grifter #9 -- 15,228 (- 2.9%) 06/2012: Grifter #10 -- 14,258 (- 6.4%) 07/2012: Grifter #11 -- 13,382 (- 6.1%) 08/2012: Grifter #12 -- 12,400 (- 7.3%) 09/2012: Grifter #0 -- 15,751 (+27.0%) 10/2012: Grifter #13 -- 12,142 (-22.9%) 11/2012: Grifter #14 -- 11,631 (- 4.2%) 12/2012: Grifter #15 -- 10,923 (- 6.1%) 01/2013: Grifter #16 -- 10,210 (- 6.5%) ---------------- 6 months: -23.7% 1 year : -49.1%
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 4 stars, writing, “Axed with issue #16.
“Welcome to the killing zone. Grifter is the first of 12 ‘New 52’ titles on the chart that are being cancelled between January and May.”
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164 - THE FURY OF FIRESTORM: THE NUCLEAR MEN 01/2012: Firestorm #5 -- 21,329 (-16.7%) 02/2012: Firestorm #6 -- 19,162 (-10.2%) 03/2012: Firestorm #7 -- 17,786 (- 7.2%) 04/2012: Firestorm #8 -- 17,076 (- 4.0%) 05/2012: Firestorm #9 -- 17,240 (+ 1.0%) 06/2012: Firestorm #10 -- 15,789 (- 8.4%) 07/2012: Firestorm #11 -- 14,931 (- 5.4%) 08/2012: Firestorm #12 -- 14,137 (- 5.3%) 09/2012: Firestorm #0 -- 17,279 (+22.2%) 10/2012: Firestorm #13 -- 13,460 (-22.1%) 11/2012: Firestorm #14 -- 12,862 (- 4.4%) 12/2012: Firestorm #15 -- 11,997 (- 6.7%) 01/2013: Firestorm #16 -- 11,361 (- 5.3%) ---------------- 6 months: -23.9% 1 year : -46.7%
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 4 stars, writing, “Cancelled with issue #20.”
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162 - BLUE BEETLE 01/2008: Blue Beetle #23 -- 14,961 01/2009: Blue Beetle #35 -- 10,593 ---------------------------------- 01/2012: Blue Beetle #5 -- 19,042 (-11.1%) 02/2012: Blue Beetle #6 -- 17,034 (-10.6%) 03/2012: Blue Beetle #7 -- 15,780 (- 7.4%) 04/2012: Blue Beetle #8 -- 15,180 (- 3.8%) 05/2012: Blue Beetle #9 -- 16,607 (+ 9.4%) 06/2012: Blue Beetle #10 -- 14,413 (-13.2%) 07/2012: Blue Beetle #11 -- 13,923 (- 3.4%) 08/2012: Blue Beetle #12 -- 13,325 (- 4.3%) 09/2012: Blue Beetle #0 -- 16,888 (+26.7%) 10/2012: Blue Beetle #13 -- 13,141 (-22.2%) 11/2012: Blue Beetle #14 -- 12,508 (- 4.8%) 12/2012: Blue Beetle #15 -- 11,744 (- 6.1%) 01/2013: Blue Beetle #16 -- 11,487 (- 2.2%) ----------------- 6 months: - 17.5% 1 year : - 39.7% 5 years : - 23.2%
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 4.5 stars, writing, “Cancelled with issue #16.”
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160 - DC UNIVERSE PRESENTS 01/2012: DCU Presents #5 -- 22,048 (- 9.6%) 02/2012: DCU Presents #6 -- 20,188 (- 8.4%) 03/2012: DCU Presents #7 -- 17,830 (-11.7%) 04/2012: DCU Presents #8 -- 16,566 (- 7.1%) 05/2012: DCU Presents #9 -- 15,776 (- 4.8%) 06/2012: DCU Presents #10 -- 14,310 (- 9.3%) 07/2012: DCU Presents #11 -- 13,619 (- 4.8%) 08/2012: DCU Presents #12 -- 15,138 (+11.2%) 09/2012: DCU Presents #0 -- 17,528 (+15.8%) 10/2012: DCU Presents #13 -- 14,405 (-17.8%) 11/2012: DCU Presents #14 -- 13,537 (- 6.0%) 12/2012: DCU Presents #15 -- 12,561 (- 7.2%) 01/2013: DCU Presents #16 -- 12,001 (- 4.5%) ---------------- 6 months: -11.9% 1 year : -45.6%
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 4 stars, writing, “Cancelled with issue #19.”
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157 - I, VAMPIRE 01/2012: I, Vampire #5 -- 18,816 (-12.9%) 02/2012: I, Vampire #6 -- 18,153 (- 3.5%) 03/2012: I, Vampire #7 -- 18,440 (+ 1.6%) 04/2012: I, Vampire #8 -- 18,717 (+ 1.5%) 05/2012: I, Vampire #9 -- 17,175 (- 8.2%) 06/2012: I, Vampire #10 -- 16,517 (- 3.8%) 07/2012: I, Vampire #11 -- 15,734 (- 4.7%) 08/2012: I, Vampire #12 -- 14,788 (- 6.0%) 09/2012: I, Vampire #0 -- 17,920 (+21.2%) 10/2012: I, Vampire #13 -- 14,260 (-20.4%) 11/2012: I, Vampire #14 -- 13,666 (- 4.2%) 12/2012: I, Vampire #15 -- 12,846 (- 6.0%) 01/2013: I, Vampire #16 -- 12,310 (- 4.2%) ---------------- 6 months: -21.8% 1 year : -34.6%
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 4.5 stars, writing, “Cancelled with issue #19.”
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156 - AME-COMI GIRLS 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%)
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 4.5 stars, writing, “This is the lowest-selling title in DC’s growing line of ‘digital-first’ titles. First solicited as an indefinite series, then turned into a five-issue miniseries with the solicitation for issue #5, then relaunched as an ongoing title in March, DC evidently took a while to figure out where to go with this one. And if sales don’t stabilize immediately now, someone may yet change their mind again.
“DC’s internal economics are probably different for these books, but it looks like we’re about to find out how low they’re willing to go on them.”
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152 - DEATHSTROKE 01/2012: Deathstroke #5 -- 23,872 (- 9.5%) 02/2012: Deathstroke #6 -- 21,306 (-10.8%) 03/2012: Deathstroke #7 -- 19,744 (- 7.3%) 04/2012: Deathstroke #8 -- 18,834 (- 4.6%) 05/2012: Deathstroke #9 -- 20,878 (+10.9%) 06/2012: Deathstroke #10 -- 19,722 (- 5.5%) 07/2012: Deathstroke #11 -- 17,107 (-13.3%) 08/2012: Deathstroke #12 -- 16,772 (- 2.0%) 09/2012: Deathstroke #0 -- 20,796 (+24.0%) 10/2012: Deathstroke #13 -- 15,078 (-27.5%) 11/2012: Deathstroke #14 -- 14,452 (- 4.2%) 12/2012: Deathstroke #15 -- 13,528 (- 6.4%) 01/2013: Deathstroke #16 -- 12,758 (- 5.7%) ---------------- 6 months: -25.4% 1 year : -46.6%
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 4.5 stars, writing, “Cancelled with issue #20.”
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150 - THE SAVAGE HAWKMAN 01/2012: Savage Hawkman #5 -- 23,967 (-15.2%) 02/2012: Savage Hawkman #6 -- 21,316 (-11.1%) 03/2012: Savage Hawkman #7 -- 19,433 (- 8.8%) 04/2012: Savage Hawkman #8 -- 18,300 (- 5.8%) 05/2012: Savage Hawkman #9 -- 17,626 (- 3.7%) 06/2012: Savage Hawkman #10 -- 16,417 (- 6.9%) 07/2012: Savage Hawkman #11 -- 15,460 (- 5.8%) 08/2012: Savage Hawkman #12 -- 14,745 (- 4.6%) 09/2012: Savage Hawkman #0 -- 18,750 (+27.2%) 10/2012: Savage Hawkman #13 -- 14,763 (-21.3%) 11/2012: Savage Hawkman #14 -- 14,726 (- 0.3%) 12/2012: Savage Hawkman #15 -- 13,564 (- 7.9%) 01/2013: Savage Hawkman #16 -- 12,852 (- 5.3%) ---------------- 6 months: -16.9% 1 year : -46.4%
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 4 stars, writing, “Cancelled with issue #20.”
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148 - ARROW 11/2012: Arrow #1 -- 25,442 12/2012: Arrow #2 -- 15,780 (-38.0%) 01/2013: Arrow #3 -- 13,090 (-17.1%)
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 4.5 stars, writing, “Another supposedly ongoing ‘digital-first’ book. Once again, sales are rather low already.”
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143 - BATWING 01/2012: Batwing #5 -- 24,036 (-10.1%) 02/2012: Batwing #6 -- 21,643 (-10.0%) 03/2012: Batwing #7 -- 21,058 (- 2.7%) 04/2012: Batwing #8 -- 20,373 (- 3.3%) 05/2012: Batwing #9 -- 35,731 (+75.4%) 06/2012: Batwing #10 -- 20,724 (-42.0%) 07/2012: Batwing #11 -- 20,047 (- 3.3%) 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%) ---------------- 6 months: -33.0% 1 year : -44.1%
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 4.5 stars, writing, “The lowest-selling ‘New 52’ title that hasn’t been cancelled yet. The writing is on the wall, though.”
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142 - FRANKENSTEIN: AGENT OF S.H.A.D.E. 01/2012: Frankenstein #5 -- 22,737 (- 8.4%) 02/2012: Frankenstein #6 -- 20,463 (-10.0%) 03/2012: Frankenstein #7 -- 18,891 (- 7.7%) 04/2012: Frankenstein #8 -- 17,953 (- 5.0%) 05/2012: Frankenstein #9 -- 17,266 (- 3.8%) 06/2012: Frankenstein #10 -- 16,377 (- 5.2%) 07/2012: Frankenstein #11 -- 15,635 (- 4.5%) 08/2012: Frankenstein #12 -- 14,679 (- 6.1%) 09/2012: Frankenstein #0 -- 18,122 (+23.5%) 10/2012: Frankenstein #13 -- 16,501 (- 9.0%) 11/2012: Frankenstein #14 -- 16,444 (- 0.4%) 12/2012: Frankenstein #15 -- 15,705 (- 4.5%) 01/2013: Frankenstein #16 -- 13,429 (-14.5%) ---------------- 6 months: -14.1% 1 year : -40.9%
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 4 stars, writing, “Cancelled with issue #16. After the ‘Rotworld’ crossover, sales take a nose-dive with the final issue.”
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141 - LEGION LOST 01/2012: Legion Lost #5 -- 21,549 (-10.3%) 02/2012: Legion Lost #6 -- 19,447 (- 9.8%) 03/2012: Legion Lost #7 -- 18,214 (- 6.3%) 04/2012: Legion Lost #8 -- 17,984 (- 1.3%) 05/2012: Legion Lost #9 -- 23,794 (+32.3%) 06/2012: Legion Lost #10 -- 17,581 (-26.1%) 07/2012: Legion Lost #11 -- 17,037 (- 3.1%) 08/2012: Legion Lost #12 -- 16,066 (- 5.7%) 09/2012: Legion Lost #0 -- 18,786 (+16.9%) 10/2012: Legion Lost #13 -- 15,377 (-18.2%) 11/2012: Legion Lost #14 -- 14,766 (- 4.0%) 12/2012: Legion Lost #15 -- 14,005 (- 5.2%) 01/2013: Legion Lost #16 -- 13,512 (- 3.5%) ---------------- 6 months: -20.7% 1 year : -37.3%
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 4 stars, writing, “Cancelled with issue #16.”
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139 - SWORD OF SORCERY 09/2012: Sword of Sorcery #0 -- 29,954 10/2012: Sword of Sorcery #1 -- 23,947 (-20.1%) 11/2012: Sword of Sorcery #2 -- 18,080 (-24.5%) 12/2012: Sword of Sorcery #3 -- 15,280 (-15.5%) 01/2013: Sword of Sorcery #4 -- 13,995 (- 8.4%)
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 4 stars, writing, “Cancelled with issue #8. The relaunch/replace circle is speeding up.”
—–
138 - DEMON KNIGHTS 01/2012: Demon Knights #5 -- 25,823 (- 8.1%) 02/2012: Demon Knights #6 -- 23,476 (- 9.1%) 03/2012: Demon Knights #7 -- 22,000 (- 6.3%) 04/2012: Demon Knights #8 -- 21,124 (- 4.0%) 05/2012: Demon Knights #9 -- 20,196 (- 4.4%) 06/2012: Demon Knights #10 -- 19,005 (- 5.9%) 07/2012: Demon Knights #11 -- 18,201 (- 4.2%) 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%) ---------------- 6 months: -22.2% 1 year : -45.1%
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 4.5 stars, writing, “Still ongoing, as I’m writing this. Not that sales seem to have much to do with it.”
—–
136 - STORMWATCH 01/2008: -- 01/2009: Stormwatch: PHD #18 -- 6,030 --------------------------------------- 01/2012: Stormwatch #5 -- 29,112 (- 6.1%) 02/2012: Stormwatch #6 -- 26,076 (-10.4%) 03/2012: Stormwatch #7 -- 24,384 (- 6.5%) 04/2012: Stormwatch #8 -- 23,212 (- 4.8%) 05/2012: Stormwatch #9 -- 22,448 (- 3.3%) 06/2012: Stormwatch #10 -- 20,592 (- 8.3%) 07/2012: Stormwatch #11 -- 19,678 (- 4.4%) 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%) ----------------- 6 months: - 26.8% 1 year : - 50.5% 5 years : n.a.
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 5 stars, writing, “Another title that plainly won’t survive the next six months unless the numbers improve drastically, and yesterday.”
—–
134 - DIAL H 05/2012: Dial H #1 -- 45,308 06/2012: Dial H #2 -- 30,618 (-32.4%) 07/2012: Dial H #3 -- 26,109 (-14.7%) 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%) ---------------- 6 months: -43.8%
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 4.5 stars, writing, “You know the drill: abysmal sales figures.
“Dial H is seeing some critical acclaim, but it’s still shredding units by the shipload. This can’t be going on for much longer.”
—–
133 - TEAM 7 09/2012: Team 7 #0 -- 34,503 10/2012: Team 7 #1 -- 27,661 (-19.8%) 11/2012: Team 7 #2 -- 19,510 (-29.5%) 12/2012: Team 7 #3 -- 17,090 (-12.4%) 01/2013: Team 7 #4 -- 14,919 (-12.7%)
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 5 stars, writing, “Cancelled with issue #8.”
—–
132 - THE RAVAGERS 05/2012: Ravagers #1 -- 44,230 06/2012: Ravagers #2 -- 31,128 (-29.6%) 07/2012: Ravagers #3 -- 24,963 (-19.8%) 08/2012: Ravagers #4 -- 20,730 (-17.0%) 09/2012: Ravagers #0 -- 22,437 (+ 8.2%) 10/2012: Ravagers #5 -- 18,656 (-16.9%) 11/2012: Ravagers #6 -- 17,334 (- 7.1%) 12/2012: Ravagers #7 -- 16,177 (- 6.7%) 01/2013: Ravagers #8 -- 15,030 (- 7.1%) ---------------- 6 months: -39.8%
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 4.5 stars, writing, “Cancelled with issue #12.”
—–
126 - FABLES (Vertigo) 01/2008: -- 01/2009: Fables #80 -- 22,617 01/2010: Fables #92 -- 20,180 01/2011: Fables #101 -- 19,183 ------------------------------ 01/2012: Fables #113 -- 17,588 (- 0.1%) 02/2012: Fables #114 -- 17,374 (- 1.2%) 03/2012: Fables #115 -- 17,384 (+ 0.1%) 04/2012: Fables #116 -- 17,543 (+ 0.9%) 05/2012: Fables #117 -- 17,484 (- 0.3%) 06/2012: Fables #118 -- 18,566 (+ 6.2%) 07/2012: Fables #119 -- 17,110 (- 7.8%) 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%) ---------------- 6 months: - 6.6% 1 year : - 9.1% 2 years : -16.7% 5 years : n.a.
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 4.5 stars, writing, “Relatively stable figures.
“Fables seems to be the only current Vertigo title that sells well enough in trade-paperback collections for the monthly figures not to be much of a concern.
“As I’ve said, though, good Vertigo trade sales are almost always linked to good single-issue sales anyway, so that’s a moot point.”
—–
125 - BATMAN: ARKHAM UNHINGED 04/2012: Arkham Unhinged #1 -- 31,170 05/2012: Arkham Unhinged #2 -- 25,215 (-19.1%) 06/2012: Arkham Unhinged #3 -- 23,322 (- 7.5%) 07/2012: Arkham Unhinged #4 -- 21,809 (- 6.5%) 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%) ---------------- 6 months: -26.1%
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 4.5 stars, writing, “Another ‘digital-first’ book. Sales keep dropping rather too fast for anyone to be happy here.”
—–
123 - HE-MAN AND THE MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE 07/2012: He-Man #1 of 6 -- 27,665 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%) ---------------- 6 months: -40.6%
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 5 stars, writing, “To be relaunched as an ongoing title in April. Sales aren’t spectacular, but maybe decent enough to give it a try, in these challenging times. By WildStorm standards — which is where this would surely have been published, if the imprint were still officially around –, this would have been a hit.”
—–
122 - THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES 01/2008: LoSH #38 -- 33,045 01/2009: LoSH #50 -- 22,327 01/2011: LoSH #9 -- 24,230 --------------------------------------- 01/2012: LoSH #5 -- 25,624 (- 7.9%) 02/2012: LoSH #6 -- 23,428 (- 8.6%) 03/2012: LoSH #7 -- 21,894 (- 6.6%) 04/2012: LoSH #8 -- 21,457 (- 2.0%) 05/2012: LoSH #9 -- 20,854 (- 2.8%) 06/2012: LoSH #10 -- 19,963 (- 4.3%) 07/2012: LoSH #11 -- 19,421 (- 2.7%) 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%) ----------------- 6 months: - 15.1% 1 year : - 35.6% 2 years : - 31.9% 5 years : - 50.1%
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 5 stars, writing, “Another ‘New 52’ book selling well below the 20,000-unit mark that hasn’t been cancelled.”
—–
121 - FAIREST (Vertigo) 03/2012: Fairest #1 -- 31,769 04/2012: Fairest #2 -- 22,997 (-27.6%) 05/2012: Fairest #3 -- 22,329 (- 2.9%) 06/2012: Fairest #4 -- 21,156 (- 5.3%) 07/2012: Fairest #5 -- 20,371 (- 3.7%) 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%) ---------------- 6 months: -19.0%
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 4.5 stars, writing, “Vertigo’s best-selling ongoing series appears to be settling down above 16K. It’s a Fables spin-off, but still: It’s one bit of good news for the imprint, at least.”
—–
120 - JSA LIBERTY FILES: THE WHISTLING SKULL 12/2012: Whistling Skull #1 of 6 -- 21,370 01/2013: Whistling Skull #2 of 6 -- 16,593 (-22.4%)
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 5 stars, writing, “Issue #1 was promoted with a 1:10 variant-cover edition, so the drop isn’t as steep as it looks. Decent sales figures, on balance.”
—–
113 - BATMAN BEYOND UNLIMITED 02/2012: Unlimited #1 -- 26,589 (+21.8%) [30,683] 03/2012: Unlimited #2 -- 23,570 (-11.4%) 04/2012: Unlimited #3 -- 24,196 (+ 2.7%) 05/2012: Unlimited #4 -- 24,356 (+ 0.7%) 06/2012: Unlimited #5 -- 24,058 (- 1.2%) 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%) ---------------- 6 months: -22.7%
—–
112 - SMALLVILLE SEASON 11 05/2012: Smallville S11 #1 -- 27,004 06/2012: Smallville S11 #2 -- 22,468 (-16.8%) 07/2012: Smallville S11 #3 -- 20,864 (- 7.1%) 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%) ---------------- 6 months: -14.5%
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 4.5 stars, writing, “Two ‘digital-first’ titles drifting down the charts.”
—–
111 - MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE: ORIGIN OF HE-MAN 10/2012: Skeletor #1 -- 18,420 11/2012: -- 12/2012: -- 01/2013: He-Man #1 -- 17,866 (-3.0%)
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 4.5 stars, writing, “Another one-shot special that outsells the mother title.”
—–
109 - ALL STAR WESTERN 01/2008: Jonah Hex #27 -- 13,881 01/2009: Jonah Hex #39 -- 11,705 01/2010: Jonah Hex #51 -- 11,184 01/2011: Jonah Hex #63 -- 10,752 -------------------------------- 01/2012: ASW #5 -- 27,206 (- 7.3%) 02/2012: ASW #6 -- 26,170 (- 3.8%) 03/2012: ASW #7 -- 25,349 (- 3.1%) 04/2012: ASW #8 -- 25,040 (- 1.2%) 05/2012: ASW #9 -- 31,413 (+ 25.5%) 06/2012: ASW #10 -- 25,334 (- 19.4%) 07/2012: ASW #11 -- 23,572 (- 7.0%) 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%) ----------------- 6 months: - 22.6% 1 year : - 32.9% 2 years : + 69.8% 5 years : + 31.5%
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 4.5 stars, writing, “Overall, 18K is still quite a jump versus the book’s pre-relaunch sales, but the sheen is off.”
—–
100 - GREEN ARROW 01/2008: Arrow/Canary #4 -- 35,039 01/2009: Arrow/Canary #16 -- 24,419 01/2010: Arrow&Canary #28 -- 16,482 01/2011: Green Arrow #8 -- 35,307 ----------------------------------- 01/2012: Green Arrow #5 -- 33,593 (- 9.5%) 02/2012: Green Arrow #6 -- 30,097 (- 10.4%) 03/2012: Green Arrow #7 -- 29,004 (- 3.6%) 04/2012: Green Arrow #8 -- 27,433 (- 5.4%) 05/2012: Green Arrow #9 -- 26,966 (- 1.7%) 06/2012: Green Arrow #10 -- 25,769 (- 4.4%) 07/2012: Green Arrow #11 -- 24,646 (- 4.4%) 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%) ----------------- 6 months: - 19.3% 1 year : - 40.8% 2 years : - 43.7% 5 years : - 43.2%
—–
99 - 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%)
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 4.5 stars, writing, “Two more ‘New 52’ books dropping below 20,000 units.
“To be fair, Phantom Stranger, Team 7, Sword of Sorcery and Talon were no longer returnable in January, which means Diamond no longer reduces their sales for the purposes of the chart. To date, I’d assumed a 10% reduction for issues #0 through #3, and added those missing 10% back on, because that had worked with the previous “New 52” launches. Now, for Team 7, Sword of Sorcery and Talon, that reduction still seems plausible, if you look at their January figures. But for Phantom Stranger, another 15% drop at this stage would be unusual, at least, so maybe the adjustment was off this time.
“For now, take the figures for issues #0 through #3 with a grain of salt: It’s possible they’re too high by up to 10%.”
—–
96 - INJUSTICE: GODS AMONG US 01/2013: Injustice #1 -- 20,733
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 4 stars, writing, “This is a new ongoing series adapting a video game starring DC Universe characters. Sales are what you’d expect.”
—–
92 - LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT 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%)
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 5 stars, writing, “The best-selling ‘digital-first’ title is still dropping briskly, but evidently these numbers still make enough sense for DC to keep expanding the line.”
—–
89 - BIRDS OF PREY 01/2008: Birds of Prey #114 -- 24,211 01/2009: Birds of Prey #126 -- 20,772 01/2011: Birds of Prey #8 -- 31,616 ------------------------------------- 01/2012: Birds of Prey #5 -- 31,700 (- 8.0%) 02/2012: Birds of Prey #6 -- 30,376 (- 4.2%) 03/2012: Birds of Prey #7 -- 29,196 (- 3.9%) 04/2012: Birds of Prey #8 -- 28,661 (- 1.8%) 05/2012: Birds of Prey #9 -- 41,521 (+ 44.9%) 06/2012: Birds of Prey #10 -- 28,457 (- 31.5%) 07/2012: Birds of Prey #11 -- 27,389 (- 3.8%) 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%) ----------------- 6 months: - 15.4% 1 year : - 26.9% 2 years : - 26.7% 5 years : - 4.3%
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 4.5 stars, writing, “Well, at least the book is consistent in how it keeps sliding down the charts.”
—–
86 - SUPERBOY ANNUAL 01/2013: Superboy Annual #1 -- 23,694
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 5 stars, writing, “Not that far below the monthly title, thanks to a crossover tie-in. You can’t blame DC for throwing all these Annuals out there: They keep selling.”
—–
78 - JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK 01/2012: Justice League Dark #5 -- 40,996 (- 8.4%) 02/2012: Justice League Dark #6 -- 38,360 (- 6.4%) 03/2012: Justice League Dark #7 -- 36,089 (- 5.9%) 04/2012: Justice League Dark #8 -- 35,022 (- 3.0%) 05/2012: Justice League Dark #9 -- 34,649 (- 1.1%) 06/2012: Justice League Dark #10 -- 33,238 (- 4.1%) 07/2012: Justice League Dark #11 -- 31,792 (- 4.4%) 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%) ---------------- 6 months: -15.4% 1 year : -34.4%
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 4 stars, writing, “Slowly drifting down.”
—–
77 - SUICIDE SQUAD 01/2008: Raise the Flag #5 of 8 -- 17,094 ----------------------------------------- 01/2012: Suicide Squad #5 -- 32,726 (- 5.3%) 02/2012: Suicide Squad #6 -- 30,834 (- 5.8%) 03/2012: Suicide Squad #7 -- 32,908 (+ 6.7%) 04/2012: Suicide Squad #8 -- 32,789 (- 0.4%) 05/2012: Suicide Squad #9 -- 32,581 (- 0.6%) 06/2012: Suicide Squad #10 -- 31,576 (- 3.1%) 07/2012: Suicide Squad #11 -- 29,809 (- 5.6%) 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%) ----------------- 6 months: - 9.2% 1 year : - 17.3% 5 years : + 58.3%
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 5 stars, writing, “As usual, now that the book is no longer part of the ‘Death of the Family’ crossover, sales immediately drop back to their old level.”
—–
76 - SUPERBOY 01/2011: Superboy #3 -- 29,550 -------------------------------- 01/2012: Superboy #5 -- 37,419 (- 6.5%) 02/2012: Superboy #6 -- 34,520 (- 7.8%) 03/2012: Superboy #7 -- 33,050 (- 4.3%) 04/2012: Superboy #8 -- 31,900 (- 3.5%) 05/2012: Superboy #9 -- 34,838 (+ 9.2%) 06/2012: Superboy #10 -- 31,358 (- 10.0%) 07/2012: Superboy #11 -- 29,677 (- 5.4%) 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%) ----------------- 6 months: - 8.7% 1 year : - 27.6% 2 years : - 8.3%
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 4.5 stars, writing, “Sales are still slightly up, thanks to the crossover with Supergirl and Superman.”
—–
72 - THRESHOLD 01/2013: Threshold #1 -- 29,312
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 5 stars, writing, “A new replacement ‘New 52’ title written by Keith Giffen, starring a bunch of space superheroes and loosely connected to the Green Lantern line, evidently. There was a 1:100 variant-cover edition of the first issue, so sales will almost certainly drop below 20,000 units within a few months. Let’s wait and see, though.”
—–
70 - ANIMAL MAN 01/2012: Animal Man #5 -- 40,573 (- 4.8%) 02/2012: Animal Man #6 -- 38,504 (- 5.1%) 03/2012: Animal Man #7 -- 36,860 (- 4.3%) 04/2012: Animal Man #8 -- 36,369 (- 1.3%) 05/2012: Animal Man #9 -- 35,699 (- 1.8%) 06/2012: Animal Man #10 -- 34,992 (- 2.0%) 07/2012: Animal Man #11 -- 33,909 (- 3.1%) 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%) ---------------- 6 months: -10.6% 1 year : -25.3%
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 5 stars, writing, “The drops are increasing, quite obviously, though we’re still in the middle of the ‘Rotworld’ crossover. It looks like the crossover is actually doing significant damage. DC may have misjudged the audience here.”
—–
69 - SUPERGIRL 01/2008: Supergirl #25 -- 36,459 01/2009: Supergirl #37 -- 34,060 01/2010: Supergirl #49 -- 27,728 01/2011: Supergirl #60 -- 22,568 --------------------------------- 01/2012: Supergirl #5 -- 41,446 (- 6.2%) 02/2012: Supergirl #6 -- 38,719 (- 6.6%) 03/2012: Supergirl #7 -- 37,041 (- 4.3%) 04/2012: Supergirl #8 -- 36,042 (- 2.7%) 05/2012: Supergirl #9 -- 35,129 (- 2.5%) 06/2012: Supergirl #10 -- 33,309 (- 5.2%) 07/2012: Supergirl #11 -- 31,879 (- 4.3%) 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%) ----------------- 6 months: - 4.8% 1 year : - 26.8% 2 years : + 34.5% 5 years : - 26.8%
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 4.5 stars, writing, “Sales are almost back at the book’s previous level, despite the crossover with Superman and Superboy.”
—–
68 - WORLDS' FINEST 05/2012: Worlds' Finest #1 -- 69,531 06/2012: Worlds' Finest #2 -- 51,510 (-25.9%) 07/2012: Worlds' Finest #3 -- 45,514 (-11.6%) 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%) ---------------- 6 months: -33.2%
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 5 stars, writing, “These numbers are still dropping too fast for comfort.”
—–
67 - 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%)
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 5 stars, writing, “As I said above, the drop is unusually big, but it doesn’t seem implausible in the context of this particular title’s performance so far.
“Still, it’s possible that the numbers for issues #0 through #3 are too high by up to 10%, so keep that in mind. If that’s the case, sales may actually be levelling out. If not, we’ll know next month.”
—–
64 - SWAMP THING 01/2012: Swamp Thing #5 -- 43,806 (- 1.9%) 02/2012: Swamp Thing #6 -- 41,235 (- 5.9%) 03/2012: Swamp Thing #7 -- 40,268 (- 2.4%) 04/2012: Swamp Thing #8 -- 39,431 (- 2.1%) 05/2012: Swamp Thing #9 -- 39,385 (- 0.1%) 06/2012: Swamp Thing #10 -- 37,383 (- 5.1%) 07/2012: Swamp Thing #11 -- 36,257 (- 3.0%) 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%) ---------------- 6 months: -11.0% 1 year : -26.4%
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 4 stars, writing, “Like with Animal Man, the ‘Rotworld’ crossover appears to be hurting Swamp Thing sales. And given that Scott Snyder will be leaving the title soon, the numbers are unlikely to improve. For a writer with no reputation, it’s going to be an uphill struggle to stabilize sales before the book gets in trouble. Fortunately, he has a real job, as well.”
—–
64 - CATWOMAN 01/2008: Catwoman #75 -- 21,580 ------------------------------- 01/2012: Catwoman #5 -- 44,034 (- 3.4%) 02/2012: Catwoman #6 -- 41,447 (- 5.9%) 03/2012: Catwoman #7 -- 39,608 (- 4.4%) 04/2012: Catwoman #8 -- 38,711 (- 2.3%) 05/2012: Catwoman #9 -- 49,726 (+28.5%) 06/2012: Catwoman #10 -- 37,158 (-25.3%) 07/2012: Catwoman #11 -- 35,551 (- 4.3%) 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%) ----------------- 6 months: - 4.6% 1 year : - 23.0% 5 years : + 57.2%
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 4 stars, writing, “Sales are back in decline.”
—–
63 - BATWOMAN 01/2012: Batwoman #5 -- 51,924 (- 1.6%) 02/2012: Batwoman #6 -- 49,227 (- 5.2%) 03/2012: Batwoman #7 -- 46,874 (- 4.8%) 04/2012: Batwoman #8 -- 45,341 (- 3.3%) 05/2012: Batwoman #9 -- 43,942 (- 3.1%) 06/2012: Batwoman #10 -- 41,014 (- 6.7%) 07/2012: Batwoman #11 -- 38,980 (- 5.0%) 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%) ---------------- 6 months: -12.5% 1 year : -34.3%
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 5 stars, writing, “Settling into a slow downward drift.”
—–
59 - GREEN LANTERN: NEW GUARDIANS ANNUAL 01/2013: New Guardians Annual #1 -- 36,674
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 4.5 stars, writing, “Another Annual with relatively good sales.”
—–
55 - RED LANTERNS 01/2012: Red Lanterns #5 -- 46,992 (- 6.5%) 02/2012: Red Lanterns #6 -- 43,450 (- 7.5%) 03/2012: Red Lanterns #7 -- 41,628 (- 4.2%) 04/2012: Red Lanterns #8 -- 40,189 (- 3.5%) 05/2012: Red Lanterns #9 -- 39,215 (- 2.4%) 06/2012: Red Lanterns #10 -- 38,005 (- 3.1%) 07/2012: Red Lanterns #11 -- 36,462 (- 4.1%) 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%) ---------------- 6 months: + 4.8% 1 year : -18.7%
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 4.5 stars, writing, “Sales remain up thanks to the ‘Rise of the Third Army’ crossover, but only by 3,000 units and change.”
—–
51 - WONDER WOMAN 01/2008: Wonder Woman #16 -- 42,897 01/2009: Wonder Woman #28 -- 32,622 01/2010: Wonder Woman #40 -- 25,156 01/2011: Wonder Woman #606 -- 33,601 ------------------------------------- 01/2012: Wonder Woman #5 -- 57,626 (- 0.1%) 02/2012: Wonder Woman #6 -- 54,190 (- 6.0%) 03/2012: Wonder Woman #7 -- 51,314 (- 5.3%) 04/2012: Wonder Woman #8 -- 50,450 (- 1.7%) 05/2012: Wonder Woman #9 -- 48,750 (- 3.4%) 06/2012: Wonder Woman #10 -- 47,229 (- 3.1%) 07/2012: Wonder Woman #11 -- 45,669 (- 3.3%) 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%) ----------------- 6 months: - 12.2% 1 year : - 30.4% 2 years : + 19.4% 5 years : - 6.5%
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 4 stars, writing, “Drifting down.”
—–
49 - GREEN LANTERN CORPS ANNUAL 01/2013: GL Corps Annual #1 -- 41,836
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 5 stars, writing, “Good sales for an Annual, but rather underwhelming for the book that was billed as the conclusion of the ‘Rise of the Third Army’ crossover.”
—–
48 - BEFORE WATCHMEN: DOLLAR BILL 01/2013: Dollar Bill #1 -- 42,308
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 5 stars, writing, “There were a 1:25 variant-cover edition and a 1:200 variant-cover edition to help shift copies of this one-shot.”
—–
47 - BEFORE WATCHMEN: OZYMANDIAS 07/2012: Ozymandias #1 of 6 -- 98,011 08/2012: Ozymandias #2 of 6 -- 64,460 (-34.2%) 09/2012: Ozymandias #3 of 6 -- 52,280 (-18.9%) 10/2012: -- 11/2012: Ozymandias #4 of 6 -- 48,404 (- 7.4%) 12/2012: -- 01/2013: Ozymandias #5 of 6 -- 43,063 (-11.0%) ----------------- 6 months: - 56.1%
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 5 stars, writing, “Another big drop for a Before Watchmen book.”
—–
46 - GREEN LANTERN: NEW GUARDIANS 01/2011: Emerald Warriors #6 -- 43,471 --------------------------------------- 01/2012: New Guardians #5 -- 52,305 (- 1.9%) 02/2012: New Guardians #6 -- 50,319 (- 3.8%) 03/2012: New Guardians #7 -- 48,422 (- 3.8%) 04/2012: New Guardians #8 -- 47,320 (- 2.3%) 05/2012: New Guardians #9 -- 46,237 (- 2.3%) 06/2012: New Guardians #10 -- 44,404 (- 4.0%) 07/2012: New Guardians #11 -- 42,929 (- 3.3%) 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%) ---------------- 6 months: + 2.0% 1 year : -16.3% 2 years : + 0.7%
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 4.5 stars, writing, “A ‘Rise of the Third Army’ crossover.”
—–
43 - BEFORE WATCHMEN: MINUTEMEN 06/2012: Minutemen #1 of 6 -- 119,463 07/2012: Minutemen #2 of 6 -- 76,409 (-36.0%) 08/2012: Minutemen #3 of 6 -- 57,208 (-25.1%) 09/2012: -- 10/2012: Minutemen #4 of 6 -- 53,270 (- 6.9%) 11/2012: -- 12/2012: Minutemen #5 of 6 -- 47,627 (-10.6%) 01/2013: Minutemen #6 of 6 -- 44,027 (- 7.6%) ---------------- 6 months: -42.7%
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 4.5 stars, writing, “Thus concludes the Minutemen miniseries by Darwyn Cooke.”
—–
42 - FLASH 01/2008: Flash #236 -- 41,464 01/2010: -- 01/2011: -- ----------------------------------- 01/2012: Flash #5 -- 71,611 (- 7.4%) 02/2012: Flash #6 -- 68,061 (- 5.0%) 03/2012: Flash #7 -- 64,975 (- 4.5%) 04/2012: Flash #8 -- 63,702 (- 2.0%) 05/2012: Flash #9 -- 62,807 (- 1.4%) 06/2012: Flash #10 -- 55,681 (- 11.4%) 07/2012: Flash #11 -- 53,674 (- 3.6%) 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%) 01/2012: Flash #16 -- 44,093 (- 4.0%) ----------------- 6 months: - 17.9% 1 year : - 38.2% 2 years : n.a. 5 years : + 6.3%
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 4.5 stars, writing, “Still sliding down the charts.”
—–
39 - GREEN LANTERN CORPS 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 01/2011: Green Lantern Corps #56 -- 53,646 ------------------------------------------ 01/2012: Green Lantern Corps #5 -- 54,088 (- 5.4%) 02/2012: Green Lantern Corps #6 -- 51,168 (- 5.4%) 03/2012: Green Lantern Corps #7 -- 48,692 (- 4.8%) 04/2012: Green Lantern Corps #8 -- 47,584 (- 2.3%) 05/2012: Green Lantern Corps #9 -- 46,336 (- 2.6%) 06/2012: Green Lantern Corps #10 -- 44,615 (- 3.7%) 07/2012: Green Lantern Corps #11 -- 42,996 (- 3.6%) 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%) ---------------- 6 months: + 5.6% 1 year : -16.1% 2 years : -15.4% 5 years : + 1.8%
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 4.5 stars, writing, “Another ‘Rise of the Third Army’ crossover. Sales remain up, but not spectacularly so.”
—–
36 - BATMAN, INCORPORATED 01/2011: -- ------------------------------------ 01/2012: -- 02/2012: -- 03/2012: -- 04/2012: -- 05/2012: Batman, Inc. #1 -- 96,486 (+124.1%) 06/2012: Batman, Inc. #2 -- 73,654 (- 23.7%) 07/2012: -- 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%) ---------------- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : n.a. 2 years : n.a.
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 5 stars, writing, “Grant Morrison’s 7-year Batman saga is nearing its natural conclusion — commercially as well as in terms of the story.”
—–
33 - SUPERMAN 01/2008: Superman #672 -- 44,656 01/2009: Superman #684 -- 48,489 01/2010: Superman #696 -- 31,940 01/2011: Superman #707 -- 41,843 --------------------------------- 01/2012: Superman #5 -- 73,719 (- 3.7%) 02/2012: Superman #6 -- 69,633 (- 5.5%) 03/2012: Superman #7 -- 66,588 (- 4.4%) 04/2012: Superman #8 -- 64,486 (- 3.2%) 05/2012: Superman #9 -- 62,232 (- 3.5%) 06/2012: Superman #10 -- 59,081 (- 5.1%) 07/2012: Superman #11 -- 56,066 (- 5.1%) 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%) ----------------- 6 months: - 9.7% 1 year : - 31.3% 2 years : + 21.0% 5 years : + 13.4%
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 5 stars, writing, “The crossover with Superboy and Supergirl is still going on, but it has no more visible effect on the book’s numbers.”
—–
32 - EARTH 2 05/2012: Earth 2 #1 -- 95,742 [102,490] 06/2012: Earth 2 #2 -- 75,936 (-20.7%) [ 84,740] 07/2012: Earth 2 #3 -- 74,892 (- 1.4%) 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%) ---------------- 6 months: -32.1%
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 4 stars, writing, “Sales are still dropping quickly.”
—–
29 - BATMAN AND ROBIN ANNUAL 01/2013: Batman and Robin Annual #1 -- 52,244
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 4.5 stars, writing, “Another Annual with perfectly good sales.”
—–
27 - BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT 01/2011: -- ----------------------------------- 01/2012: Dark Knight #5 -- 76,824 (- 2.4%) 02/2012: Dark Knight #6 -- 77,140 (+ 0.4%) [80,464] 03/2012: Dark Knight #7 -- 75,297 (- 2.4%) 04/2012: Dark Knight #8 -- 74,287 (- 1.3%) 05/2012: Dark Knight #9 -- 82,169 (+ 10.6%) 06/2012: Dark Knight #10 -- 71,671 (- 12.8%) 07/2012: Dark Knight #11 -- 68,632 (- 4.2%) 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%) ----------------- 6 months: - 15.1% 1 year : - 24.2%
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 4.5 stars, writing, “Slipping down the charts.”
—–
26 - ACTION COMICS 01/2008: Action Comics #861 -- 56,093 01/2009: Action Comics #873 -- 51,940 01/2010: Action Comics #885 -- 30,678 01/2011: Action Comics #897 -- 32,134 -------------------------------------- 01/2012: Action Comics #5 -- 109,350 (- 3.1%) 02/2012: Action Comics #6 -- 96,592 (- 11.7%) 03/2012: Action Comics #7 -- 91,822 (- 4.9%) 04/2012: Action Comics #8 -- 87,980 (- 4.2%) 05/2012: Action Comics #9 -- 88,796 (+ 0.9%) 06/2012: Action Comics #10 -- 80,751 (- 9.1%) 07/2012: Action Comics #11 -- 76,232 (- 5.6%) 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%) ----------------- 6 months: - 23.1% 1 year : - 46.4% 2 years : + 82.5% 5 years : + 4.6%
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 4.5 stars, writing, “Sliding down the charts. Grant Morrison’s run concludes with issue #18, and there’s cause to be skeptical on whether sales will improve once he’s moved on.”
—-
24 - RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS 01/2012: Red Hood #5 -- 42,560 (- 3.9%) 02/2012: Red Hood #6 -- 39,898 (- 6.3%) 03/2012: Red Hood #7 -- 38,630 (- 3.2%) 04/2012: Red Hood #8 -- 37,974 (- 1.7%) 05/2012: Red Hood #9 -- 54,220 (+42.8%) 06/2012: Red Hood #10 -- 37,044 (-31.7%) 07/2012: Red Hood #11 -- 35,820 (- 3.3%) 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%) ---------------- 6 months: +66.5% 1 year : +40.1%
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 5 stars, writing, “A ‘Death of the Family’ crossover.”
—–
22 - AQUAMAN 01/2012: Aquaman #5 -- 65,094 (+ 0.2%) 02/2012: Aquaman #6 -- 63,450 (- 2.5%) 03/2012: Aquaman #7 -- 62,345 (- 1.7%) 04/2012: Aquaman #8 -- 61,657 (- 1.1%) 05/2012: Aquaman #9 -- 60,527 (- 1.8%) 06/2012: Aquaman #10 -- 59,288 (- 2.1%) 07/2012: Aquaman #11 -- 57,675 (- 2.7%) 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%) ---------------- 6 months: + 7.8% 1 year : - 4.5%
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 5 stars, writing, “The ‘Throne of Atlantis’ crossover boost isn’t quite as spectacular as it was in December, but sales are still almost 10,000 units ahead of the November figure.”
—–
21 - TEEN TITANS 01/2008: Teen Titans #55 -- 52,376 01/2009: Teen Titans #67 -- 35,877 01/2010: Teen Titans #79 -- 27,790 01/2011: Teen Titans #91 -- 25,443 ----------------------------------- 01/2012: Teen Titans #5 -- 54,606 (- 0.6%) 02/2012: Teen Titans #6 -- 53,123 (- 2.7%) 03/2012: Teen Titans #7 -- 51,402 (- 3.2%) 04/2012: Teen Titans #8 -- 50,814 (- 1.1%) 05/2012: Teen Titans #9 -- 50,261 (- 1.1%) 06/2012: Teen Titans #10 -- 47,491 (- 5.5%) 07/2012: Teen Titans #11 -- 45,367 (- 4.5%) 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%) ----------------- 6 months: + 40.5% 1 year : + 16.7% 2 years : +150.5% 5 years : + 21.7%
—–
20 - NIGHTWING 01/2008: Nightwing #140 -- 32,305 01/2009: Nightwing #152 -- 35,637 --------------------------------- 01/2012: Nightwing #5 -- 56,040 (- 2.4%) 02/2012: Nightwing #6 -- 53,036 (- 5.4%) 03/2012: Nightwing #7 -- 50,489 (- 4.8%) 04/2012: Nightwing #8 -- 52,063 (+ 3.1%) [61,711] 05/2012: Nightwing #9 -- 61,395 (+17.9%) 06/2012: Nightwing #10 -- 50,585 (-17.6%) 07/2012: Nightwing #11 -- 49,124 (- 2.9%) 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%) ----------------- 6 months: + 41.8% 1 year : + 24.3% 5 years : +115.6%
—–
17 - BATGIRL 01/2010: Batgirl #6 -- 30,403 01/2011: Batgirl #17 -- 25,189 ---------------------------------- 01/2012: Batgirl #5 -- 57,030 (- 4.9%) 02/2012: Batgirl #6 -- 53,151 (- 6.8%) 03/2012: Batgirl #7 -- 50,761 (- 4.5%) 04/2012: Batgirl #8 -- 48,878 (- 3.7%) 05/2012: Batgirl #9 -- 58,710 (+ 20.1%) 06/2012: Batgirl #10 -- 47,050 (- 19.9%) 07/2012: Batgirl #11 -- 45,004 (- 4.4%) 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%) ----------------- 6 months: + 61.0% 1 year : + 27.1% 2 years : +187.7%
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 4.5 stars, writing, “Three more ‘Death of the Family’ crossover issues. Scott Snyder ought to be getting a lot of fruit baskets these days. ‘Thank you for the royalties.'”
—–
16 - GREEN LANTERN 01/2008: Green Lantern #27 -- 67,600 01/2009: Green Lantern #37 -- 65,556 [71,331] 01/2010: Green Lantern #50 -- 106,444 01/2011: -- -------------------------------------- 01/2012: Green Lantern #5 -- 97,878 (- 6.0%) 02/2012: Green Lantern #6 -- 94,087 (- 3.9%) 03/2012: Green Lantern #7 -- 90,232 (- 4.1%) 04/2012: Green Lantern #8 -- 88,335 (- 2.1%) 05/2012: Green Lantern #9 -- 87,601 (- 0.8%) 06/2012: Green Lantern #10 -- 80,615 (- 8.0%) 07/2012: Green Lantern #11 -- 78,708 (- 2.4%) 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%) ----------------- 6 months: - 7.4% 1 year : - 25.5% 2 years : n.a. 5 years : + 7.8%
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 5 stars, writing, “The ‘Rise of the Third Army’ crossover is having no effect here anymore — unless it’s masking a bigger underlying decline. Sales are still rock-solid, historically, but the Geoff Johns run seems well past its prime, at this stage.”
—–
12 - BATMAN AND ROBIN 01/2010: Batman and Robin #7 -- 87,780 01/2011: Batman and Robin #19 -- 61,785 ---------------------------------------- 01/2012: Batman and Robin #5 -- 72,786 (- 4.2%) 02/2012: Batman and Robin #6 -- 70,103 (- 3.7%) 03/2012: Batman and Robin #7 -- 68,010 (- 3.0%) 04/2012: Batman and Robin #8 -- 66,659 (- 2.0%) 05/2012: Batman and Robin #9 -- 75,967 (+14.0%) 06/2012: Batman and Robin #10 -- 66,894 (-11.9%) 07/2012: Batman and Robin #11 -- 65,043 (- 2.8%) 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%) ---------------- 6 months: +25.3% 1 year : +12.0% 2 years : +31.9%
—–
8 - DETECTIVE COMICS 01/2008: Detective Comics #840 -- 51,579 01/2009: Detective Comics #852 -- 56,656 01/2010: Detective Comics #861 -- 45,937 01/2011: Detective Comics #873 -- 38,417 ----------------------------------------- 01/2012: Detective Comics #5 -- 99,342 (- 0.0%) 02/2012: Detective Comics #6 -- 94,415 (- 5.0%) 03/2012: Detective Comics #7 -- 89,891 (- 4.8%) 04/2012: Detective Comics #8 -- 87,675 (- 2.5%) 05/2012: Detective Comics #9 -- 96,016 (+ 9.5%) 06/2012: Detective Comics #10 -- 83,317 (- 13.2%) 07/2012: Detective Comics #11 -- 79,835 (- 4.2%) 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%) ----------------- 6 months: + 15.6% 1 year : - 7.1% 2 years : +140.3% 5 years : + 79.0%
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 5 stars, writing, “Two more ‘Death of the Family’ crossovers. And more fruit baskets for Scott Snyder, the Giver of Royalties.”
—–
3 - JUSTICE LEAGUE 01/2008: JL of America #17 -- 94,712 01/2009: JL of America #29 -- 72,116 01/2010: JL of America #41 -- 62,262 01/2011: JL of America #53 -- 47,093 --------------------------------------- 01/2012: Justice League #5 -- 144,670 (- 3.1%) [148,117] 02/2012: Justice League #6 -- 140,819 (- 2.7%) 03/2012: Justice League #7 -- 136,436 (- 3.1%) 04/2012: Justice League #8 -- 133,240 (- 2.3%) 05/2012: Justice League #9 -- 131,332 (- 1.4%) 06/2012: Justice League #10 -- 130,502 (- 0.6%) 07/2012: Justice League #11 -- 123,971 (- 5.0%) 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%) ----------------- 6 months: - 5.0% 1 year : - 18.6% 2 years : +150.0% 5 years : + 24.3%
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 5 stars, writing, “Only a slight increase, but good news nonetheless. They must be doing something right.”
—–
2 - BATMAN 01/2008: Batman #673 -- 69,234 01/2009: Batman #685 -- 72,654 01/2010: Batman #695 -- 63,467 01/2011: Batman #706 -- 60,231 ------------------------------- 01/2012: Batman #5 -- 135,145 (+ 1.0%) [142,499] 02/2012: Batman #6 -- 128,459 (- 5.0%) [135,435] 03/2012: Batman #7 -- 131,091 (+ 2.1%) 04/2012: Batman #8 -- 130,602 (- 0.4%) [136,218] 05/2012: Batman #9 -- 134,605 (+ 3.1%) 06/2012: Batman #10 -- 130,265 (- 3.2%) 07/2012: Batman #11 -- 127,210 (- 2.4%) 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%) ----------------- 6 months: + 14.7% 1 year : + 8.0% 2 years : +142.3% 5 years : +110.8%
Marc-Oliver Frisch gives these sales 4.5 stars, writing, “Stellar sales, obviously. Wisely, Mr. Snyder is keeping most of the royalties for himself — he gives, but prudently.”
—–
6-MONTH COMPARISONS + 66.5%: Red Hood + 61.0%: Batgirl + 41.8%: Nightwing + 40.5%: Teen Titans + 25.3%: Batman and Robin + 15.6%: Detective Comics + 14.7%: Batman + 7.8%: Aquaman + 6.6%: Sweet Tooth + 5.6%: GL Corps + 4.8%: Red Lanterns + 2.0%: New Guardians + 0.9%: Hellblazer - 4.1%: Young Justice - 4.2%: Scooby-Doo - 4.6%: Catwoman - 4.8%: Supergirl - 5.0%: JL - 6.6%: Fables - 7.4%: Green Lantern - 8.7%: Superboy - 9.2%: Suicide Squad - 9.7%: Superman - 10.6%: Animal Man - 10.7%: Unwritten - 11.0%: Swamp Thing - 11.9%: DCU Presents - 12.2%: Wonder Woman - 12.5%: Batwoman - 14.1%: Frankenstein - 14.5%: Smallville - 15.1%: Dark Knight - 15.1%: LoSH - 15.4%: Birds of Prey - 15.4%: JLD - 16.9%: Hawkman - 17.5%: Blue Beetle - 17.9%: Flash - 19.0%: Fairest - 19.3%: Green Arrow - 20.4%: Superman Family Adventures - 20.7%: Legion Lost - 21.8%: I, Vampire - 22.2%: Demon Knights - 22.6%: All Star Western - 23.1%: Action Comics - 22.7%: BB Unlimited - 23.7%: Grifter - 23.9%: Firestorm - 25.4%: Deathstroke - 26.1%: Arkham Unhinged - 26.8%: Stormwatch - 32.1%: Earth 2 - 32.4%: GL: TAS - 33.0%: Batwing - 33.2%: Worlds' Finest - 33.9%: Saucer Country - 39.8%: Ravagers - 40.6%: He-Man - 42.7%: Minutemen - 43.8%: Dial H - 56.1%: Ozymandias
—–
1-YEAR COMPARISONS + 40.1%: Red Hood + 27.1%: Batgirl + 24.3%: Nightwing + 16.7%: Teen Titans + 12.0%: Batman and Robin + 8.0%: Batman + 4.3%: Scooby-Doo - 0.4%: Hellblazer - 0.9%: Sweet Tooth - 1.8%: Young Justice - 4.5%: Aquaman - 7.1%: Detective Comics - 9.1%: Fables - 12.6%: Unwritten - 16.1%: GL Corps - 16.3%: New Guardians - 17.3%: Suicide Squad - 18.6%: JL - 18.7%: Red Lanterns - 23.0%: Catwoman - 24.2%: Dark Knight - 25.3%: Animal Man - 25.5%: Green Lantern - 26.4%: Swamp Thing - 26.8%: Supergirl - 26.9%: Birds of Prey - 27.6%: Superboy - 30.4%: Wonder Woman - 31.3%: Superman - 32.9%: All Star Western - 34.3%: Batwoman - 34.4%: JLD - 34.6%: I, Vampire - 35.6%: LoSH - 37.7%: Legion Lost - 38.2%: Flash - 39.7%: Blue Beetle - 40.8%: Green Arrow - 40.9%: Frankenstein - 44.1%: Batwing - 45.1%: Demon Knights - 45.6%: DCU Presents - 46.4%: Action Comics - 46.4%: Hawkman - 46.6%: Deathstroke - 46.7%: Firestorm - 49.1%: Grifter - 50.5%: Stormwatch
—–
2-YEAR COMPARISONS +187.7%: Batgirl +150.5%: Teen Titans +150.0%: JL +142.3%: Batman +140.3%: Detective Comics + 82.5%: Action Comics + 69.8%: All Star Western + 34.5%: Supergirl + 31.9%: Batman and Robin + 21.0%: Superman + 19.4%: Wonder Woman + 4.2%: Scooby-Doo + 0.7%: New Guardians - 1.9%: Hellblazer - 5.5%: Sweet Tooth - 8.3%: Superboy - 15.4%: GL Corps - 16.7%: Fables - 24.0%: Young Justice - 26.0%: Unwritten - 26.7%: Birds of Prey - 31.9%: LoSH - 43.7%: Green Arrow
—–
5-YEAR COMPARISONS +115.6%: Nightwing +110.8%: Batman + 79.0%: Detective Comics + 58.3%: Suicide Squad + 57.2%: Catwoman + 31.5%: All Star Western + 24.3%: JL + 21.7%: Teen Titans + 14.0%: Scooby-Doo + 13.4%: Superman + 7.8%: Green Lantern + 6.3%: Flash + 4.6%: Action Comics + 1.8%: GL Corps - 4.3%: Birds of Prey - 6.5%: Wonder Woman - 23.2%: Blue Beetle - 23.6%: Hellblazer - 26.8%: Supergirl - 43.2%: Green Arrow - 50.1%: LoSH
—–
Average Periodical Sales (not counting reprints, reorders shipping after the initial month of release, Johnny DC titles and magazines)
DC COMICS 01/2008: 27,033 01/2009: 24,273 01/2010: 25,657** 01/2011: 21,922** --------------- 01/2012: 33,887 (- 4.3%)** 02/2012: 31,535 (- 6.9%)** 03/2012: 29,679 (- 5.9%) 04/2012: 31,319 (+ 5.5%) 05/2012: 38,708 (+ 23.6%) 06/2012: 37,599 (- 2.9%) 07/2012: 33,837 (- 10.0%) 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%) ----------------- 6 months: - 6.1% 1 year : - 6.3% 2 years : + 44.9% 5 years : + 17.5%
DC UNIVERSE 01/2008: 33,654 01/2009: 32,705 01/2010: 33,698 01/2011: 24,321** --------------- 01/2012: 37,145 (- 5.7%)** 02/2012: 34,456 (- 7.2%)** 03/2012: 33,229 (- 3.6%) 04/2012: 35,264 (+ 6.1%) 05/2012: 44,139 (+ 25.2%) 06/2012: 43,082 (- 2.4%) 07/2012: 38,502 (- 10.6%) 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%) ----------------- 6 months: - 13.0% 1 year : - 9.9% 2 years : + 37.7% 5 years : - 0.5%
VERTIGO 01/2008: 10,115 01/2009: 10,980 01/2010: 11,267 01/2011: 10,145 --------------- 01/2012: 9,995 (- 9.8%) 02/2012: 10,252 (+ 2.6%) 03/2012: 12,688 (+23.8%) 04/2012: 11,595 (- 8.6%) 05/2012: 11,102 (- 4.3%) 06/2012: 11,448 (+ 3.1%) 07/2012: 11,589 (+ 1.2%) 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%) ----------------- 6 months: - 7.1% 1 year : + 7.7% 2 years : + 6.1% 5 years : + 6.4%
—–
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.
Have to say I stopped reading the comments. The smart-arsed nature of the “5 start” thing was irritating, while it’s simply annoying how a book that sheds 4% of its readers for DC is “sliding down the charts” while for Marvel this is “finding its level”. Really, the unnecessary snark and notable anti-DC bent of the column is beyond old at this point.
DC needs to wise up and slash their title count.
And the lesson of ‘Rot World’ is that fans can only swallow so many simultaneous cross-overs.
Oh DC, you can do so much better. I know you can because I was a steady reader up to the point you decided to dump your characters rich histories for a fast buck.
@jsf
The Marvel one was done by Paul O Brien and this was by Marc-Oliver Frisch. They do not have uniform views, nor should they. Also shedding 4% of it’s readers is sliding down the charts if it is indeed sliding down the charts.
Agreed on the five star thing though.
The comments section of the monthly DC sales column tends to be more exciting than the actual column (grabs popcorn).
The schadenfreude here is enough to make me verklempt.
How many stars are there on the Monstrous Marc-Oliver scale? Ten? One hundred?
Yes, that joke wore thin very quickly.
Marc-Oliver Frisch likes writing about himself in third person.
Marc-Oliver Frisch is probably doing it to increase the number of hits on Marc-Oliver Frisch’s name on Google.
Marc-Oliver Frisch is the only person ever to use the “4-5 stars scale.” Most others use the more common “1-5 stars scale” but not Marc-Oliver Frisch.
Losing 70,000 orders is quite the feat for Before Watchmen: Minutemen. No wonder I see those books literally falling off the shelves at some of the stores I’ve visited.
“Why the hell do you have to be so critical?”
“I’m a critic.”
“No, your job is to rate movies on a scale from good to excellent.”
“What if I don’t like them?”
“That’s what ‘good’ is for.”
@Nawid: I understand the columns are written by different people. But they’re supposed to be reporting sales figures, which should not be open to widely differing interpretations. One person reports a 5% decline as stablizing, the other says it continues to shed readers. This isn’t the sort of thing that should be open to that type of clearly different claim about what’s taking place. Either books that are shedding 5% of the readers have found their level OR they have not — for BOTH companies.
These figures and what they’re supposed to represent should allow for similar claims being made about the respective sales of all the companies. They’re data — not art forms. What holds true for the relative decline of one company should hold true for the other when both experience the same phenomena. So the idea of criticism is misplaced in this context. There’s nothing wrong with demanding that the staff of the Beat exhibit consistency of its reporting regarding the coverage of sales for all companies.
can anyone explain the star stuff? Besides that, i love MOF.
1) INSURGENT is apparently cancelled with #3.
2) He-Man & MOTU has been vanishing from my LCS shelves. Anyone else seeing this in their areas?
3) I still can’t believe DC is trying to relaunch the Freedom Fighters with individual miniseries. Didn’t see they the crap sales on that last ongoing series, that are mirroring what these minis are doing in the New 52?
4) Re: SWORD & SORCERY (and TEAM 7 too) – how is it the cancellations are “speeding up” when the initial cancellations took place at #8 too? Besides S&S ran 9 issues, 1 longer than OMAC, BLACKHAWKS and others.
5) GREEN ARROW will hopefully see a bump up next month, with Lemire’s arrival/revamp of the series.
@jsf:
Just looking at this month’s Marvel & DC columns, when O’Brien says sales are stabilizing, it’s when a 5% drop follows a 16% drop. When Frisch sales are falling, it’s when a 5% drop follows a 5% drop. Sales *ARE* stabilizing when it goes from 16% to 5% and sales *ARE* continuing to fall when it goes from 5% to 5% to 5%. This looks exactly like the consistency and context you’re asking for.
Actually, this month’s DC column strikes me that Frisch wrote in such a way as to be “O’Brien-esque;” he’s using terms such as “rock solid sales,” “hence the increase,” “to be relaunched as a XXX title after issue #XXX” and just saying “cancelled (or axed) with issue #XXX” when a book is being cancelled. I’m not seeing any comments about Green Lantern being Care Bears gore porn or wondering about why Before Watchmen even exists, so what’s the problem here? Is it the 5-star ranking system?
“There’s nothing wrong with demanding that the staff of the Beat exhibit consistency of its reporting regarding the coverage of sales for all companies.”
Well there kind of is – it’s not like you pay them , so demanding stuff from them is a bit lame. And really, there is a consistency across all the sales chart columns – the sales chart.
Does it matter if Paul and Marc call a 5% drop by different names when you can see that it’s a 5% drop in the numbers?
It is sad to see so many comics with steady drops in sales. There is something wrong, of course. But what is the solution? Drop titles, but then what? Have fewer titles that still drop in sales? Wow, what will DC be doing 6 months from now?
Reading these comments always reminds me that I’m in the minority of comics fans who know how to do statistical analysis. If last month’s drop was 5%, and this month’s drop is 5%, then the book is indeed sliding down the charts. On the other hand, if last month’s drop was 25%, and this month’s drop is 5%, then that does indicate sales are stabilizing.
Wow, did seriously NO ONE get the whole “stars” thing? Have you never visited the CBR front page before? Literally every review that makes the front page (there’s one for Sledgehammer 44 there right now if you need an example) has the teaser text “[AUTHOR NAME] gives “Title” 4 stars, writing “PITHY, GENERIC PRAISE GUNNING FOR A QUOTE IN PUBLISHER’S P.R. MATERIAL OR ON THE BACK COVER OF THE EVENTUAL TRADE.” And every one of them that makes the front page is 4, 4.5, or 5 stars. THAT’S the joke. I dunno, M-O…*I* thought it was funny.
Wow, some really patronizing comments about how to read stats. Comparatively speaking the characterization between mid to lower tier selling books for Marvel and DC is always more positively spun for Marvel than DC. All you have to do is read the monthly summaries whenever they appear. So, no, some of you are no more knowledgaable about how to read statistics than the rest of us (which is a nice bit of self-congratulations on your part by the way). There is definitely a notable, and different framing of these figures for the Marvel charts vs. the DC and Indies charts, and it seems more than a little unwarranted given the subject matter. And yes, if the Beat wants to keep me coming back and clicking on their articles, they should rectify this. There are other ways to get this information, and while I tend to come here out of habit to see this info i’ve no need to continue to do so. i dont’ pay for the privilege, but the site still needs visitors. Alienating readers/fans through what is obviously a hamfisted reporting of the numbers is a bad business model no matter what.
Well, the creators merry go round doesn’t seem to be working. Perhaps a change of management is in order. Hard to see the big wigs putting up with these types of figures for too much longer.
See ya jsf. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.
Yeah, I got the CBR star thing and it actually made me laugh out loud.
Some grim numbers. The Freedom Fighters buildup is stillborn. Threshold has an alarmingly low ceiling. And there are still too many uncanceled books sitting below the threshold.
The cancellation notices are speeding up. And now they are predating new title announcements (where each prior wave used to announce cancellations along with their replacements). They can’t seem to put out enough new titles to keep up with the flagging ones.
Clearing the deck and installing new teams/new directions isn’t working either and looking at the trending on Rotworld, it’s interesting to see traditional tools in the kitbag reaching a sort of expiry date. Gimmicks can’t be hid behind forever.
Batman/Superman and Superman Unchained should be fixtures so there’s a couple bankable titles more likely but it is looking like unless Johns, Snyder or Lee are involved or it has a Bat/GL/Super/JL designation then it’s not going to last the first year. We’ll have to see what those Vibe and Katana numbers look like.
Seeing as how June has DC finally coming up short with 52 feasible titles on hand The New 52 is going to be neither “New” or “52” anymore.
Glowing reviews though…all 4 stars or above. DC Comics have never been better.
jsf, could you maybe offer a webinar on reporting sales figures and writing articles?
Testify Ron!
I was one of those people who checked out with the never-ending and horribly uninteresting Rotworld story. I’ve dropped Swamp Thing, and have Animal Man on a short, short leash.
I’ve always liked ALL The Beats’ comic-sales columns, but as of the two recent DC ones the background / backmatter / back-stuff-or-whatever has become ffffaaarr more interesting than the actual Colum / reporting: why is MOF suddenly writing only in German? Why is the reporting done via a third party (which I assume is Heidi)? Has MOF woken one morning to find his English-language faculties broken beyond repair? Has he died (either by accident of via assassination from a crazed DC writer / fan) and his work is now ghostwritten? Has The Beat (the website) gained sentience and is now manipulating poor MOF’s flesh to its own sinister needs?
To me this whole event is starting to look less like the real life and more like a late 80’s Peter Milligan comics1
1 come to think of that, saying “my life is like a Pete Milligan comics” – is exactly the kind of thing a Peter Milligan character would say. This troubles me…
I’ve always liked ALL The Beats’ comic-sales columns, but as of the two recent DC ones the background / backmatter / back-stuff-or-whatever has become ffffaaarr more interesting than the actual Colum / reporting: why is MOF suddenly writing only in German? Why is the reporting done via a third party (which I assume is Heidi)? Has MOF woken one morning to find his English-language faculties broken beyond repair? Has he died (either by accident of via assassination from a crazed DC writer / fan) and his work is now ghostwritten? Has The Beat (the website) gained sentience and is now manipulating poor MOF’s flesh to its own sinister needs?
To me this whole event is starting to look less like the real life and more like a late 80’s Peter Milligan comics1
1 come to think of that, saying “my life is like a Pete Milligan comics” – is exactly the kind of thing a Peter Milligan character would say. This troubles me…
I’ve always liked ALL The Beats’ comic-sales columns, but as of the two recent DC ones the background / backmatter / back-stuff-or-whatever has become ffffaaarr more interesting than the actual Colum / reporting: why is MOF suddenly writing only in German? Why is the reporting done via a third party (which I assume is Heidi)? Has MOF woken one morning to find his English-language faculties broken beyond repair? Has he died (either by accident of via assassination from a crazed DC writer / fan) and his work is now ghostwritten? Has The Beat (the website) gained sentience and is now manipulating poor MOF’s flesh to its own sinister needs?
To me this whole event is starting to look less like the real life and more like a late 80’s Peter Milligan comics…
…come to think of that, saying “my life is like a Pete Milligan comics” – is exactly the kind of thing a Peter Milligan character would say. This troubles me…
…. And now my computer has gone bat-shit-insane. Which simply adds to my suspicions about the cerrunt nature of my reality.
Only in comics (US Direct Market comics, to be specific) would a loss of 5% in sales every month be considered normal.
Rikk Odinson gives this month’s column 4.5 stars and the commentary a 4.0 rating.
I gotta say, I don’t know Marc-Oliver Frisch, but he is SO in the game and he knows it, and I love it! Kudos! Last month people were screaming their ears off because the column was missing, this month they’re back to bitching about it. Ya gotta love it, ya gotta!
DC needs to realize that crossover storylines DON’T have to be a year long! Rotworld started out well enough, but 18 issues in people are so freakin’ sick of it?! Everyone I’ve heard was over Death of a Family (or whatever it was called) before it was half over. They just milk these things to death now, and it kills the story. I was mentioning to my friend yesterday “Wow, it’s funny how Miller and Mazzucchelli could create a four issue Year One Batman classic, yet DC is giving Snyder eleven issues to do his?!” Over kill, over kill!
Speaking of, I’m loving how Marvel gives Age of Ultron ten issues (expanding from it’s original six, I believe) and STILL has to put out a special point one (called AU.1, just for stupidities sake) to wrap up the book. You added four issues to the mini but still couldn’t fit everything in? Nice, Marvel, nice. Padding is killing comics.
The notorious “standard attrition” in a superhero series’ sales happens only because Marvel and DC hardly ever make any attempts to reach new readers. Any series is aimed at the same limited demographic in the existing readership. Those readers have only so much time and money to spend on comics.
New characters in series fail, not so much because they’re poor characters, judged in isolation, but because for the existing readers to buy the stories, they have to be at least as attractive as Superman, Batman, or Spider-Man. That’s unlikely to happen. If new characters and their series were aimed at new readers and new demographics, accompanied by marketing campaigns, the situation would be much different, but then comics would be distributed much more widely.
As long as Marvel and DC don’t try to enlarge the readership for their series, all the renumberings, relaunches, and reboots will make practically no difference in the total number of readers the series are sold to. Why should they?
SRS
@Jesse “Webinar”? Who came up with that?, it’s brilliant. Biggest laugh of the column+comments.
What happened with Rotworld it’s an interesting thing. It would seem that the readers of those books didn’t want to read so many tie-ins, but the cuts where made by the retailers, not the readers, and were done before hand… it seems to me more indicative of retailers gambling on selling Death of the Family tie-ins, and giving up on many of the lower-selling DC books to have the cash for the extra orders. If one could one find out if there were any people who tried to buy those books, but couldn’t find them, we would have a better idea of what happened.
I loved the star rating system… I didn’t get the joke at first but it’s indeed funny. I hardly read any reviews from IGN or CBR anymore because everything is awesome there, and I just can’t believe the type of reviews that some very awful books get over there.
@Jsf sorry you got Pissed, but the explanation that Daron gave you is what I was going to say in response to your comments (but he wrote it better). Downward trends require interpretation. A book that loses 3.000 readers every month is clearly slipping down the charts… if it started with 50.000 readers it’ll take less than a year to be on the chopping block (even if the initial drop is less than 5% of its sales). A book that is stabilizing its sales will have a drop in sales that has a lower percentage each time, until it becomes “standard attrition”, which should be of less than a 1%, otherwise is just marching toward cancellation.
I’m only mentioning this because someone mentioned statistical analysis and that’s kinda my field….
If we were to do true statistical analysis of these numbers, we could start by figuring out what the average sales of every book is over the year and then come up with a standard deviation number that would tell us how much a book goes up and down on a given month. Then if we figured out what number of sales the average book is cancelled around, we could roughly figure out how long a book would last until it hits that cancellation number.
If we really wanted to crack this thing open and go all Nate Silver, we’d gather data on how long a given title has lasted in previous incarnations. Then we’d figure out what the average sales are for the writer, the illustrator, and the inker’s previous works. We’d weight all of those with some sort of factor of how much each impacts sales, and then we could roughly estimate how long an announced book would last.
If Disney and Warners aren’t already doing this, they will some day. But yeah, that’s how statistical analysis works. That’s also how hedge funds are managed, how political polls are interpreted, and how sports teams analyze position players.
But if you tried to analyze sales patterns over a multi-year period, you’d probably find that relaunches, low issue numbers, and the title character swamped the effect that any particular creator had on a title. Statistical analysis would be a wasted effort.
SRS
@Chris Hero… there isn’t enough data to make that analysis… unless not for us, outsiders. We don’t know overseas sales, non-DM sales or Digital Sales. And some of those averages can’t be properly measured since a) gimmicks do work in comics; b) Too many books last too little to figure out their “trends”
Cerebro gives this column 5 stars, writing, “Well…at least it’s not in German. I’ll take my victories where I can.”
@SRS
I disagree. If you take a run a creator did on different groups of titles, you could figure out what their average sales patterns were. Title character would likely have a greater effect on sales than any individual creator would, but that’s why we would weight the creators with a sales factor. Like, and this is just spitballing, we could figure out some sort of formula to determine how much “writers” impact sales and then make tiers for “writers” and weight them appropriately.
There’s always going to be a curve where the comic has high sales with a number 1 and low sales the more issues it has, so that’s why we’d need calculus to determine the shape of that wave. No series would likely graph as a straight line in sales. There will always be instances of spikes, so the goal is to average it out and figure out the estimated rate of degradation.
@Estiban
You make a really strong point. The only thing we outsiders could chart is the performance of reported Diamond sales. It wouldn’t give us an accurate model, though. The only thing it might do is give us a better idea of how long a book will last. Sean Howe claims in his book Marvel already does this and knows when they launch a series how long to expect it to run until it’s no longer profitable. I was only writing all this as a thought exercise.
Oooh… I would love to see Nate Silver analyze comics sales!
But he’d probably exit the building, babbling incoherently.
I doubt that any analysis of sales figures could assign statistical significance to any factor that isn’t already known: variant covers, first issues, etc. An example would be trying to determine how Bendis’s status as writer of Avengers titles affected sales. Did readers buy the titles because he was the writer, or because they followed Avengers titles and his presence was only incidental? Analysis of the sales of his issues couldn’t tell you anything, because there’s no basis for comparison, and even during his runs, there were multiple relaunches, event tie-ins, etc.
It would be interesting to know whether anything that boosts sales of issues, whether it’s a variant cover, a relaunch, an event tie-in, or something else, causes readers to spend more money on comics or just causes them to drop some titles–a publisher competing with itself isn’t desirable–but that would require figures on the size of the market and individual buying patterns that just aren’t available.
SRS
@ Chris – a dude who runs a blog called The Comics Cube did some interesting analysis in terms of how much weight a given character/creator/new #1 impacts sales. Not sure if it’s still up, this was a while ago, but it sounds like the kinda thing you’re talking about.
DC needs better writers because otherwise I don’t know how their non-Batman/GL/Johns/Snyder books are going to sell. Does anybody know why the talent level is so much shallower at DC than Marvel? I can’t imagine it’s budget.
@PeterCSM730:
First, one would have to argue that one person’s definition of “shallower” is different from another’s. Someone could just as easily argue that DC has better writers than Marvel.
But even if we assume DC doesn’t have the same strength in writing, then “I can’t imagine it’s budget” might also be false. DC’s financial goals are likely to revolve around achieving some level of profit. There are two ways to get more profit – sell more, and cut expenses. So they could very well be hiring less expensive writers in an attempt to maximize profits.
DC should try living by Batman alone. Now that would slash expenses and definitely raise average issue sales. A half dozen Bat books would probably be better for shops too.
I dunno. I thought the star thing was immature and distracting…Having opinions and busting the editorial direction at DC is one thing but not even giving readers a much of a chance to judge the books objectively as they look at the analysis is a bit much. Even if you play it straight at the start. I hate say it but I’m kind of seeing the editors point about the joke column thing this time around and needing a bit more of a balance. I like raw opinions but if you go through the preview thing at Comixology each week. A lot of these guys put a lot of thought into their craft and bust their hump to put these books out. No reason to buy and love the end products but its a hard work in the end that should be given some kind of chance here . Marvel uses a lot of gimmicks and shameless marketing too.
Golden Age characters looks odd when you try to layer them in adult David Finch/horror movie type storylines, Its hard to get around that, It seems like comics to be they have the same problems as movies these days, everything is dark and menacing with too much subtext or meaning. Everything wasn’t sunny in the 30’s or 40’s but they could make it readable and thrilling, We are in a downer era, Comics should be some kind of break from all that,…
“A half dozen Bat books would probably be better for shops too.”
There are already more than a dozen Bat books. Batman, Batwing, Batman & Robin, Batwoman, Batgirl, Batman Beyond Unlimited, Nightwing, Red Hood & the Outlaws, Birds of Prey, Legends of the Dark Knight, Batman: Arkham Unhinged, All-New Batman, Catwoman, Batman: the Dark Knight, Batman Inc. …. did I forget any? Or did you mean only staring Bruce?
Oops, I forgot Detective and Suicide Squad. But you meant they should cut DOWN to just 6 books, didn’t you? My brain not so good on Mondays.
These clowns are done if the new Superman movie under-performs, you can expect to see management heads rolling.
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