Greetings, sales charts fans! It’s time once again to look at DC’s sales figures.
The big DC sales news for June was not (as I had expected) the new creative team on Superman, but rather the unexpected huge effect that DC’s Bombshell Variant covers had on those comics lucky enough to sport them.
Some background: For some time now DC has been doing theme variant covers on many of their best-selling rites each month: Steampunk variants, Robot Chicken variants, MAD variants, Batman 66 variants, etc. Prior to June these were always incentive variants, where retailers could order one variant cover for every so many of the regular cover they ordered (e.g. in May the Batman ’66 variant was a 1:25 variant, meaning that for each title retailers could order 1 Batman ’66 cover for every 25 regular covers they ordered on a title). Conventional wisdom is that this increased the number of issues sold, as retailers could mark up the price of the variant covers and sell them to collectors it was believed that they would order extra a copies in order to get to the incentive level.
This changed in June. Someone at DC had the bright idea that instead of offering the theme covers as incentives, they would let retailers order as many of the theme variant covers as they wished, at the same price as the regular cover. So if a retailer wanted to order 10 copies of the regular cover and 10 copies of the variant cover, they could do that. If they wanted to order 5 of the regular and 35 of the variant, they could do that. If they wanted to order 40 of the regular cover and 2 of the variant, they could do that. You get the picture.
And order them they did! With one exception, every title that featured a Bombshell Variant cover in June saw a sizable jump in the number of issues sold, ranging from 10K to 30K additional copies! (The lone exception is Justice League United #2, the reasons for which I’ll cover in its entry below…)
So short term it appears that DC’s change in ordering policy for their theme covers was a resounding success. It remains to be seen what the long-term effect will be. DC have so far announced Batman 75th Anniversary variants in July, Selfie variants in August, 2-D variants in September, and Monsters variants for October; all orderable at whatever rate retailers want. Was it the Bombshell-ness of the June’s variants that contributed to the huge spike in ordering, or their Variant-ness? Will Batman variants be as attractive on Bombshells (possible…)? Will Selfie variants (less likely, but who knows…)?
And let us not forget that the sales figures provided by Diamond represent sales to retailers, who lets face it were kind of ordering in the dark here. We don’t know if those extra 13K units of Catwoman (for example) all sold to customers or if they’re sitting unsold on the rack somewhere. Did regular readers prefer the variant cover or the regular cover? Did any readers purchase both? Did the variants sell to customers who were collecting all the Bombshell variants, who wouldn’t have purchased the title otherwise? Likely it is some combination of all of the above. We’ll need to pay attention in the coming months to see how retailers (in the aggregate) modify their ordering activity on the theme variants before we can have some idea on the long-term effect of DC’s change in ordering policy.
One thing we can be fairly sure of is that it is unlikely that all (or even a majority) of those extra sales due to the Bombshell Variant covers translated into new readers for the comics. While it is possible that someone who hadn’t been reading Red Hood and the Outlaws picked up the Bombshell variant of issue #32 because they were getting all of the Bombshell covers, read it, and decides that they like it enough to continue to buy it, it is far more likely that the comic ended up being bagged and boarded without being cracked open.
I don’t want to downplay DC’s success here. Due to the Bombshell Variants, June’s average sales were the best since the 3D cover stunt of September 2013, and expecting that month for the DCU since June 2012. For many titles on the edge that received Bombshell variants (e.g. Batwoman), the additional copies are likely enough to keep them away from sales trouble and no doubt contribute to the bottom line. If this ends up being a long-term sales boost due to the change in ordering policy for theme variants, that will be a positive thing. But variant covers are always a dicey proposition for long-term health; it would be much better for titles to grow consistently month after month, adding new *readers* because the comic is compelling and getting good word-of-mouth.
Warning: The commentary below may contain reasoned analysis, speculation (unfounded and otherwise), opinion, and/or snark. Those looking for a more straightforward analysis are directed to John Jackson Miller’s excellent Comichron analysis, posted earlier this month right here at The Beat!
Please consider the fine 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.
(Note that the percentage comparisons are now done with total orders including reorder activity, as opposed to initial orders as was the practice of this column under the previous administration.)
—
1 - BATMAN ($3.99) 06/2004: Batman #629 -- 72,020 [74,284] 06/2009: Batman #687 -- 96,913 06/2010: Batman #700 -- 104,755 06/2011: Batman #711 -- 53,113 06/2012: Batman #10 -- 130,265 ------------------------------- 06/2013: Batman #21 -- 142,088 (+ 21.5%) [156,845] 07/2013: Batman #22 -- 132,047 (- 15.8%) 08/2013: Batman #23 -- 128,230 (- 2.9%) 09/2013: #23.1: Jkr -- 151,351 (+ 18.0%) 09/2013: #23.2: Rdlr -- 140,065 (- 7.5%) 09/2013: #23.3: Pngn -- 120,026 (- 14.3%) 09/2013: #23.4: Bane -- 124,382 (+ 7.6%) [129,156] 10/2013: Batman #24 -- 124,652 (- 3.5%) 11/2013: Batman #25 -- 125,602 (+ 0.8%) 12/2013: Batman #26 -- 119,443 (- 4.9%) 01/2014: Batman #27 -- 115,492 (- 1.7%) [117,395] 02/2014: Batman #28 -- 114,089 (- 1.3%) [115,891] 03/2014: Batman #29 -- 116,926 (+ 0.9%) 04/2014: Batman #30 -- 108,998 (- 6.8%) 05/2014: Batman #31 -- 107,499 (+ 0.2%) [109,170] 06/2014: Batman #32 -- 130,077 (+ 19.2%) ----------------- 6 months: + 8.9% 1 year : - 17.1% 2 years : - 0.1% 5 years : + 34.3% 10 years: + 75.1% Since #1: - 41.7%
The Bombshell Variant adds another 21K or so copies. But since Batman sales were already pretty high to begin with it’s one of the smaller percentage gains for titles with Bombshell covers. (Next month there will be a Batman variant cover–on Batman–the prospect of which I find amusing.)
Batman returns to being the #1 book this month, though without the Bombshell Boost it would have been neck-and-neck with Amazing Spider-Man.
––
4 - HARLEY QUINN ($2.99) 11/2013: Harley Quinn #0 -- 114,212 [141,580] 12/2013: Harley Quinn #1 -- 92,153 (- 10.8%) [120,312] 01/2014: Harley Quinn #2 -- 66,363 (- 26.9%) [ 82,031] 02/2014: Harley Quinn #3 -- 63,967 (- 18.6%) [ 72,820] 03/2014: Harley Quinn #4 -- 63,120 (- 5.5%) 04/2014: Harley Quinn #5 -- 63,155 (+ 0.1%) 05/2014: Harley Quinn #6 -- 62,467 (- 1.1%) 06/2014: Harley Quinn #7 -- 93,266 (+ 49.3%) ----------------- 6 months: - 22.4% Since #0: - 34.1%
The Bombshell Variant adds over 30K copies for a whopping 49% gain (HQ being a character that lends itself to pin-ups more readily than Batman…) The real story though is the continued strong sales of multiple printings of the early issues, including nearly 16K for a Director’s Cut of #0, 8K for the Nth printing of #1, and 6K for the Nth printing of #3. They’ve all been added in to the above (in the numbers in the [brackets]) and the percentages recalculated accordingly.
Harley Quinn remains one of the bright successes of the post-debut New 52 titles. I have to believe that with its slightly different tone and attitude from the typical New 52 title, its becoming a sales success is what is prompting DC to stretch even a bit further with the recently announced changes to Batgirl and the upcoming Gotham Academy.
––
5 - SUPERMAN ($3.99) 06/2004: Superman #206 -- 162,095 06/2009: Superman #689 -- 40,366 06/2010: Superman #700 -- 67,571 06/2011: Superman #712 -- 37,362 06/2012: Superman #10 -- 59,081 --------------------------------- 06/2013: Superman #21 -- 44,285 (- 2.6%) 07/2013: Superman #22 -- 42,961 (- 3.0%) 08/2013: Superman #23 -- 42,155 (- 1.9%) 09/2013: #23.1: Bzarro -- 59,589 (+ 41.4%) 09/2013: #23.2: Brniac -- 58,197 (- 2.3%) 09/2013: #23.3: H'el -- 55,069 (- 5.4%) 09/2013: #23.4: Prsite -- 59,811 (+ 8.6%) 10/2013: Superman #24 -- 39,580 (- 33.8%) 11/2013: Superman #25 -- 39,295 (- 0.7%) 12/2013: Superman #26 -- 36,877 (- 6.2%) 01/2014: Superman #27 -- 35,266 (- 4.4%) 02/2014: Superman #28 -- 34,296 (- 2.8%) 03/2014: Superman #29 -- 33,633 (- 1.9%) 04/2014: Superman #30 -- 37,316 (+ 11.0%) 05/2014: Superman #31 -- 40,534 (+ 8.6%) 06/2014: Superman #32 -- 89,140 (+119.9%) ----------------- 6 months: + 141.7% 1 year : + 101.3% 2 years : + 50.9% 5 years : + 120.8% 10 years: - 45.0% Since #1: - 40.6%
Superman gains a new high-profile creative team (Geoff Johns & John Romita, Jr.), a higher price, and a Bombshell Variant this month.
So can we separate out the Bombshell effect form that of the new creative team? We can take a pretty good go at it: Over the previous couple of months, Superman and Action Comics were running right next to each other in sales as both were part of the “Superman: Doomed” crossover. This month Action Comics continues with “Superman: Doomed”, and adds a Bombshell variant as well. Action has sales of 55,400 this month with its Bombshell cover, so if we assume that sans creative change Superman would have been very close to that, we can deduce that around 34K of Superman’s new sales were due to Johns & Romita. (It’s actually more muddled than that as Superman #32 also has oodles of additional incentive covers as well, but those would have been there regardless of the Bombshell cover.)
I don’t know what DC’ expectations were for sales from the Johns/Romita teams, but I was expecting sales in the 100K range (and that was without the unexpected Bombshell Boost!) Certainly compared to the Azzarello/Lee team of 10 years back–which debuted with first month sales of 231K–these numbers have to be seen as disappointing. It’s still early days and we may yet see re-order activity–though with all those extra copies from the Bombshell Boost roaming around, I’m guessing not. Still, these are far better sales than the title was doing previously and are much more in line with what a book featuring a character of Superman’s prominence should be doing.
––
8 - JUSTICE LEAGUE ($3.99) 06/2004: JLA #100 -- 75,434 [78,140] 06/2009: JL of America #34 -- 61,115 06/2010: JL of America #46 -- 62,754 06/2011: JL of America #58 -- 45,442 06/2012: Justice League #10 -- 130,502 --------------------------------------- 06/2013: Justice League #21 -- 94,054 (- 3.7%) 07/2013: Justice League #22 -- 110,194 (+ 17.2%) [124,026] 08/2013: Justice League #23 -- 103,936 (- 6.4%) 09/2013: #23.1: Darkseid -- 111,142 (+ 6.9%) 09/2013: #23.2: Lobo -- 79,244 (- 28.7%) 09/2013: #23.3: Dial E -- 64,119 (- 14.4%) [67,855] 09/2013: #23.4: Secret Socty -- 78,014 (+ 23.1%) [83,500] 10/2013: Justice League #24 -- 98,491 (+ 18.0%) 11/2013: -- 12/2013: Justice League #25 -- 94,004 (- 4.6%) 12/2013: Justice League #26 -- 90,592 (- 3.6%) 01/2014: Justice League #27 -- 84,674 (- 6.5%) 02/2014: Justice League #28 -- 80,901 (- 4.5%) 03/2014: -- 04/2014: Justice League #29 -- 78,912 (- 2.5%) 05/2014: Justice League #30 -- 77,456 (- 1.8%) 06/2014: Justice League #31 -- 75,803 (- 2.1%) ----------------- 6 months: - 17.9% 1 year : - 19.4% 2 years : - 41.9% 5 years : + 24.0% 10 years: - 3.0% Since #1: - 72.0%
Justice League is running a month behind and thus doesn’t get its Bombshell Variant until next month, and is Exhibit A for anyone wondering if the Bombshell Bounce is real or not. Post Forever Evil, Justice League is back to standard attrition.
––
10 - DETECTIVE COMICS ($3.99) 06/2004: Detective Comics #794 -- 34,649 06/2009: Detective Comics #854 -- 72,808 [79,573] 06/2010: Detective Comics #866 -- 46,178 06/2011: Detective Comics #878 -- 39,152 06/2012: Detective Comics #10 -- 83,317 ----------------------------------------- 06/2013: Detective Comics #21 -- 65,200 (- 16.7%) 07/2013: Detective Comics #22 -- 63,949 (- 1.9%) 08/2013: Detective Comics #23 -- 61,448 (- 3.9%) 09/2013: #23.1: Poison Ivy -- 78,522 (+ 27.8%) 09/2013: #23.2: Harley Quinn -- 89,636 (+ 14.2%) 09/2013: #23.3: Scarecrow -- 73,043 (- 18.5%) 09/2013: #23.4: Man-Bat -- 68,110 (- 6.8%) 10/2013: Detective Comics #24 -- 59,310 (- 12.9%) 11/2013: Detective Comics #25 -- 64,392 (+ 8.6%) 12/2013: Detective Comics #26 -- 56,538 (- 12.2%) 01/2014: Detective Comics #27 -- 88,702 (+ 59.8%) [90,335] 02/2014: Detective Comics #28 -- 56,619 (- 37.3%) 03/2014: Detective Comics #29 -- 55,486 (- 2.0%) 04/2014: Detective Comics #30 -- 56,149 (+ 1.2%) 05/2014: Detective Comics #31 -- 54,518 (- 2.9%) 06/2014: Detective Comics #32 -- 72,988 (+ 33.9%) ----------------- 6 months: + 29.1% 1 year : + 11.9% 2 years : - 12.4% 5 years : - 8.3% 10 years: +110.6% Since #1: - 53.7%
You guessed it, another Bombshell cover, adding another 18K in sales.
The five year comparison is with the first installment of Rucka & Williams’ Batwoman serial.
—
14, 15, 16, 17 - BATMAN ETERNAL ($2.99) 04/2014: Batman Eternal #1 -- 105,754 [110,916] 04/2014: Batman Eternal #2 -- 84,566 (- 20.2%) [ 88,468] 04/2014: Batman Eternal #3 -- 79,703 (- 4.8%) [ 84,183] 04/2014: Batman Eternal #4 -- 78,009 (- 1.7%) [ 82,743] 05/2014: Batman Eternal #5 -- 73,475 (- 11.2%) 05/2014: Batman Eternal #6 -- 70,983 (- 3.4%) 05/2014: Batman Eternal #7 -- 68,251 (- 3.8%) 05/2014: Batman Eternal #8 -- 68,523 (+ 0.4%) 06/2014: Batman Eternal #9 -- 68,295 (- 0.3%) 06/2014: Batman Eternal #10 -- 67,203 (- 1.6%) 06/2014: Batman Eternal #11 -- 65,770 (- 2.1%) 06/2014: Batman Eternal #12 -- 65,374 (- 0.6%) ----------------- Since #1: - 41.1%
As with last month, all four BE issues were returnable, so the figures have been adjusted up 10% from what was reported by Diamond/ICv2. (For an explanation why this is done for returnable items, please see the fine print at the end of this post.)
Seems to have settled in nicely in the mid 60K range. It’s still early days in its supposed 52 week run, but if it maintains at this slight level of decline it will have to be considered a success.
—
12 - JUSTICE LEAGUE UNITED ($3.99) 04/2014: Justice League United #0 -- 68,431 05/2014: Justice League United #1 -- 64,209 (- 6.2%) 06/2014: Justice League United #2 -- 62,928 (- 2.0%) ----------------- Since #0: - 8.0%
Yes there was a Bombshell variant, but in JLU‘s case it appears to have merely mitigated what would have been a severe second issue drop (typically in the 25% range) rather than adding to sales. (There was an additional Justice League Canada variant, and an order incentive variant too.)
––
13 - SUPERMAN/WONDER WOMAN ($3.99) 10/2013: Superman/Wonder Woman #1 -- 94,859 11/2013: Superman/Wonder Woman #2 -- 60,185 (-36.6%) 12/2013: Superman/Wonder Woman #3 -- 51,357 (-14.7%) 01/2014: Superman/Wonder Woman #4 -- 47,350 (- 7.8%) 02/2014: Superman/Wonder Woman #5 -- 44,847 (- 5.3%) 03/2014: Superman/Wonder Woman #6 -- 43,308 (- 3.4%) 04/2014: Superman/Wonder Woman #7 -- 45,157 (+ 4.3%) 05/2014: Superman/Wonder Woman #8 -- 47,803 (+ 5.9%) 06/2014: Superman/Wonder Woman #9 -- 62,659 (+31.1%) ----------------- 6 months: + 31.1% Since #1: - 33.9%
Part of the “Superman: Doomed” crossover. Oh yes, and a Bombshell variant, adding just shy of 15K more copies.
––
20 - GREEN LANTERN ($2.99) 06/2004: Green Lantern #178 -- 33,662 [35,933] 06/2009: Green Lantern #42 -- 84,131 06/2010: Green Lantern #55 -- 85,930 06/2011: -- 06/2012: Green Lantern #10 -- 80,615 -------------------------------------- 06/2013: Green Lantern #21 -- 71,870 (+ 6.6%) 07/2013: Green Lantern #22 -- 62,415 (- 13.2%) 08/2013: Green Lantern #23 -- 59,176 (- 5.2%) 09/2013: #23.1: Relic -- 66,495 (+ 12.4%) 09/2013: #23.2: Mongul -- 63,731 (- 4.2%) 09/2013: #23.3: Black Hand -- 62,753 (- 1.5%) 09/2013: #23.4: Sinestro -- 70,893 (+ 13.0%) 10/2013: Green Lantern #24 -- 57,109 (- 19.4%) 11/2013: Green Lantern #25 -- 54,322 (- 5.2%) 12/2013: Green Lantern #26 -- 51,420 (- 5.0%) 01/2014: Green Lantern #27 -- 48,831 (- 5.0%) 02/2014: GL/Red Lanterns#28 -- 49,200 (+ 5.6%) [51,548] 03/2014: Green Lantern #29 -- 45,797 (- 11.2%) 04/2014: Green Lantern #30 -- 44,483 (- 2.9%) 05/2014: Green Lantern #31 -- 43,769 (- 1.6%) 06/2014: Green Lantern #32 -- 56,315 (+ 28.7%) ----------------- 6 months: + 9.5% 1 year : - 21.6% 2 years : - 30.1% 5 years : - 33.1% 10 years: + 56.7% Since #1: - 66.7%
Another Bombshell Variant, another nearly 13K in sales.
––
21 - BATMAN AND… ($2.99) 06/2009: Batman and Robin #1 -- 168,604 [184,826] 06/2010: -- 06/2011: Batman and Robin #24 -- 54,984 06/2012: Batman and Robin #10 -- 66,659 ---------------------------------------- 06/2013: and Batgirl #21 -- 60,601 (- 7.1%) 07/2013: and Catwoman #22 -- 57,808 (- 4.6%) 08/2013: and Nightwing #23 -- 55,707 (- 3.6%) 09/2013: #23.1: Two-Face -- 77,073 (+ 38.4%) 09/2013: #23.2: Court of Owls -- 75,546 (- 2.0%) 09/2013: #23.3: Ra's al Ghul -- 73,746 (- 2.4%) 09/2013: #23.4: Killer Croc -- 69,428 (- 5.9%) 10/2013: and Two-Face #24 -- 52,060 (- 25.0%) 11/2013: and Two-Face #25 -- 53,374 (+ 2.5%) 12/2013: and Two-Face #26 -- 46,611 (- 12.7%) 01/2014: and Two-Face #27 -- 45,462 (- 2.5%) 02/2014: and Two-Face #28 -- 43,380 (- 4.6%) 03/2014: and Aquaman #29 -- 43,295 (- 0.2%) 04/2014: and Wonder Woman #30 -- 44,832 (+ 3.6%) 05/2014: and Frankenstein #31 -- 42,150 (- 6.0%) 06/2014: and Ra's al Ghul #32 -- 56,311 (+ 33.6%) ---------------- 6 months: + 20.8% 1 year : - 7.1% 2 years : - 15.5% 5 years : - 69.5% Since #1: - 51.5%
Batman and Bombshell Variant = another 14K in sales.
––
22 - ACTION COMICS ($3.99) 06/2004: Action Comics #816 -- 47,065 06/2009: Action Comics #878 -- 40,011 06/2010: Action Comics #890 -- 34,744 [40,039] 06/2011: Action Comics #902 -- 41,960 06/2012: Action Comics #10 -- 80,751 -------------------------------------- 06/2013: Action Comics #21 -- 46,475 (- 3.8%) 07/2013: Action Comics #22 -- 44,861 (- 3.5%) 08/2013: Action Comics #23 -- 42,603 (- 5.0%) 09/2013: #23.1: Cyborg Smn -- 69,796 (+ 63.8%) 09/2013: #23.2: Zod -- 69,356 (- 0.6%) 09/2013: #23.3: Lex Luthor -- 67,621 (- 2.5%) 09/2013: #23.4: Metallo -- 51,807 (- 23.4%) 10/2013: Action Comics #24 -- 39,620 (- 23.5%) 11/2013: Action Comics #25 -- 46,550 (+ 17.5%) 12/2013: Action Comics #26 -- 37,489 (- 19.5%) 01/2014: Action Comics #27 -- 36,042 (- 3.9%) 02/2014: Action Comics #28 -- 35,305 (- 2.0%) 03/2014: Action Comics #29 -- 34,231 (- 3.0%) 04/2014: Action Comics #30 -- 37,809 (+ 10.5%) 05/2014: Action Comics #31 -- 41,081 (+ 8.7%) 06/2014: Action Comics #32 -- 55,400 (+ 34.9%) ----------------- 6 months: + 47.8% 1 year : + 19.2% 2 years : - 31.4% 5 years : + 38.5% 10 years: + 17.7% Since #1: - 72.4%
“Superman: Doomed” continues, with added Bombshells!
—
28, 34, 35, 39 - The New 52 – Futures End ($2.99) 05/2014: Futures End #0 -- ?????? 05/2014: Futures End #1 -- 77,867 05/2014: Futures End #2 -- 62,862 (- 19.3%) 05/2014: Futures End #3 -- 59,148 (- 5.9%) 05/2014: Futures End #4 -- 58,496 (- 1.1%) 06/2014: Futures End #5 -- 53,645 (- 8.3%) 06/2014: Futures End #6 -- 51,543 (- 3.9%) 06/2014: Futures End #7 -- 50,266 (- 2.5%) 06/2014: Futures End #8 -- 49,138 (- 2.2%) ----------------- Since #1: - 36.9%
All four issues were returnable, so the figures have been adjusted accordingly.
Dipping below 50K already, and I think DC were probably hoping for a bit better. Still, it is much better sales than any regular comics featuring these characters would have done, by a long shot.
I think that DC made a mistake with the #0 Free Comic Book Day issue, the tone of which (Death! Destruction! Maiming!) was fairly different from what the regular series has been so far. I suspect the free issue needlessly turned off a lot of potential readers.
––
29 - WONDER WOMAN ($2.99) 06/2004: Wonder Woman #205 -- 29,233 06/2009: Wonder Woman #33 -- 32,755 06/2010: Wonder Woman #600 -- 53,525 [63,700] 06/2011: Wonder Woman #611 -- 30,874 06/2011: Wonder Woman #612 -- 30,690 06/2012: Wonder Woman #10 -- 47,229 ------------------------------------- 06/2013: Wonder Woman #21 -- 35,999 (- 3.1%) 07/2013: Wonder Woman #22 -- 35,539 (- 1.3%) 08/2013: Wonder Woman #23 -- 34,747 (- 2.2%) 09/2013: #23.1: Cheetah -- 49,297 (+ 41.9%) 09/2013: #23.2: First Born -- 44,154 (- 10.4%) 10/2013: Wonder Woman #24 -- 34,308 (- 22.3%) 11/2013: Wonder Woman #25 -- 33,532 (- 2.3%) 12/2013: Wonder Woman #26 -- 32,773 (- 2.3%) 01/2014: Wonder Woman #27 -- 32,035 (- 2.3%) 02/2014: Wonder Woman #28 -- 31,464 (- 1.8%) 03/2014: Wonder Woman #29 -- 30,989 (- 1.5%) 04/2014: Wonder Woman #30 -- 31,094 (+ 0.3%) 05/2014: Wonder Woman #31 -- 30,655 (- 1.4%) 06/2014: Wonder Woman #32 -- 48,235 (+ 57.3%) ----------------- 6 months: + 47.2% 1 year : + 34.0% 2 years : + 2.1% 5 years : + 47.3% 10 years: + 65.0% Since #1: - 49.7%
You guessed it: another Bombshell cover variant, adding over 17K copies.
Azzarello & co.’s final issue has been announced as #35 in October, so presumably the new Finch-infused creative team will be picking up in November (No word yet as to if it’ll be #36 or an All-New #1…)
––
30 - BATGIRL ($2.99) 06/2004: Batgirl #53 -- 30,371 06/2010: Batgirl #11 -- 28,563 06/2011: Batgirl #22 -- 23,323 06/2012: Batgirl #10 -- 47,050 ---------------------------------- 06/2013: Batgirl #21 -- 40,252 (- 5.5%) 07/2013: Batgirl #22 -- 39,218 (- 2.6%) 08/2013: Batgirl #23 -- 37,707 (- 3.9%) 09/2013: -- 10/2013: Batgirl #24 -- 36,666 (- 2.8%) 11/2013: Batgirl #25 -- 40,752 (+ 11.1%) 12/2013: Batgirl #26 -- 34,885 (- 14.4%) 01/2014: Batgirl #27 -- 37,226 (+ 6.7%) 02/2014: Batgirl #28 -- 34,567 (- 7.1%) 03/2014: Batgirl #29 -- 33,223 (- 3.9%) 04/2014: Batgirl #30 -- 32,698 (- 1.6%) 05/2014: Batgirl #31 -- 31,522 (- 3.6%) 06/2014: Batgirl #32 -- 47,304 (+ 50.1%) ----------------- 6 months: + 35.6% 1 year : + 17.5% 2 years : + 0.5% 10 years: + 55.8% Since #1: - 55.8%
Another Bombshell cover variant, adding nearly 16K copies.
Let’s talk about Batgirl for a moment. And sales (because this is a sales chart column, after all!) Very recently DC announced a creative team change coming for Batgirl in October, along with a costume change. And there is a lot of enthusiasm for the changes out there on the Internets (particularly Tumblr–I’ve seen so much fan art for the new Batgirl costume on my Tumblr dashboard it’s just crazy!) Enthusiasm is good, but it’s even better when that enthusiasm turns into sales. Because sales (for the most part) are what will drive DC’s editorial decisions on this character, and for that matter other decisions on revamps and creative changes on other titles.
So if you are excited about the announced new direction for Batgirl, here’s what you need to do: Go to your Local Comic Store, talk to the owner/manager, and tell her that you are excited about the new Batgirl and want to pre-order a copy. Or two–buy an extra and give it to a friend! For that matter, ask your friends to go to their LCS are pre-order Batgirl too. And while your at it, tell your LCS that you want the *next* issue of Batgirl as well.
Why is this important? Because when your LCS owner sees an actual increase in demand for Batgirl from you and other customers, she will likely order not only copies to meet pre-orders but a few additional shelf copies as well. And then those shelf copies are available for people who didn’t pre-order to pick up. And if your LCS runs out of shelf copies and has to re-order copies of Batgirl then your retailer will increase orders for the next issue of Batgirl. And that’s how sales on Batgirl will grow. And that will send a message to DC about what kind of comics people want to buy.
So by all means continue to show your enthusiasm online by creating or reposting fan art, writing essays, Tweeting, etc. But you also have to buy the comic.
(And while you’re pre-ordering Batgirl, pick up a copy of Lumberjanes, because it is an awesome comic that will probably appeal to you as well and its June sales of just 9,150 are too low for a comic that should be selling at least twice that much. Thanks!)
––
31 - EARTH 2 ($2.99) 06/2012: Earth 2 #2 -- 75,936 [84,740] ------------------------------ 06/2013: Earth 2 #13 -- 42,916 (- 2.4%) 07/2013: Earth 2 #14 -- 42,022 (- 2.1%) 08/2013: Earth 2 #15 -- 40,845 (- 2.8%) 09/2013: #15.1: Desd -- 51,850 (+ 26.9%) 09/2013: #15.2: SlGr -- 52,369 (+ 1.0%) 10/2013: Earth 2 #16 -- 38,389 (- 26.7%) 11/2013: Earth 2 #17 -- 39,846 (+ 3.8%) 12/2013: Earth 2 #18 -- 37,130 (- 6.8%) 01/2014: Earth 2 #19 -- 36,103 (- 2.8%) 02/2014: Earth 2 #20 -- 35,732 (- 1.0%) 03/2014: Earth 2 #21 -- 35,295 (- 1.2%) 04/2014: Earth 2 #22 -- 34,970 (- 0.9%) 05/2014: Earth 2 #23 -- 34,531 (- 1.3%) 06/2014: Earth 2 #24 -- 47,277 (+ 36.9%) ---------------- 6 months: + 27.3% 1 year : + 10.2% 2 years : - 44.2% Since #1: - 53.9%
Yes, another Bombshell Variant cover, adding nearly 13K additional copies.
Earth 2 will be the focus of DC’s third weekly title starting in October; will that cause an increase in interest in the main Earth 2 title?
––
33 - FLASH ($2.99) 06/2004: Flash #211 -- 45,740 [46,927] 06/2009: Flash Rebirth #3 -- 83,086 06/2010: Flash #3 -- 68,804 06/2011: -- 06/2012: Flash #10 -- 55,681 ----------------------------------- 06/2013: Flash #21 -- 38,848 (- 2.1%) 07/2013: Flash #22 -- 38,993 (+ 0.4%) 08/2013: Flash #23 -- 38,860 (- 0.3%) 09/2013: #23.1: Grodd -- 52,901 (+ 36.1%) 09/2013: #23.2: RvrsFlsh -- 53,359 (+ 0.9%) 09/2013: #23.3: Rogues -- 51,072 (- 4.3%) 10/2013: Flash #24 -- 38,190 (- 25.2%) 11/2013: Flash #25 -- 41,838 (+ 9.6%) 12/2013: Flash #26 -- 36,601 (- 12.5%) 01/2014: Flash #27 -- 34,902 (- 4.6%) 02/2014: Flash #28 -- 33,853 (- 3.0%) 03/2014: Flash #29 -- 33,241 (- 1.8%) 04/2014: Flash #30 -- 33,300 (+ 5.8%) [35,157] 05/2014: Flash #31 -- 34,240 (- 2.6%) 06/2014: Flash #32 -- 47,188 (+ 37.8%) ----------------- 6 months: + 28.9% 1 year : + 21.5% 2 years : - 15.3% 5 years : - 43.2% 10 years: + 0.6% Since #1: - 68.1%
Another Bombshell Variant cover, adding nearly 13K additional copies.
––
38 - AQUAMAN ($2.99) 06/2004: Aquaman #19 -- 24,919 06/2012: Aquaman #10 -- 59,288 ------------------------------ 06/2013: Aquaman #21 -- 46,832 (- 5.8%) 07/2013: Aquaman #22 -- 45,653 (- 2.5%) 08/2013: Aquaman #23 -- 44,140 (- 3.3%) 09/2013: #23.1: BMta -- 58,207 (+ 31.9%) 09/2013: #23.2: OMtr -- 53,679 (- 7.8%) 10/2013: Aquaman #24 -- 42,248 (- 21.3%) 11/2013: Aquaman #25 -- 41,264 (- 2.3%) 12/2013: Aquaman #26 -- 38,841 (- 5.9%) 01/2014: Aquaman #27 -- 36,610 (- 5.7%) 02/2014: Aquaman #28 -- 34,939 (- 4.6%) 03/2014: Aquaman #29 -- 33,907 (- 3.0%) 04/2014: Aquaman #30 -- 32,859 (- 3.1%) 05/2014: Aquaman #31 -- 32,076 (- 2.4%) 06/2014: Aquaman #32 -- 44,853 (+ 39.8%) ----------------- 6 months: + 15.5% 1 year : - 4.2% 2 years : - 24.3% 10 years: + 80.0% Since #1: - 58.7%
Another Bombshell Variant cover, adding over 11K additional copies.
––
47 - GREEN LANTERN CORPS ($2.99) 06/2009: Green Lantern Corps #37 -- 63,574 06/2010: Green Lantern Corps #49 -- 66,652 06/2011: -- 06/2012: Green Lantern Corps #10 -- 44,615 ------------------------------------------ 06/2013: Green Lantern Corps #21 -- 45,423 (+ 5.6%) 07/2013: Green Lantern Corps #22 -- 42,194 (- 7.1%) 08/2013: Green Lantern Corps #23 -- 36,229 (- 14.1%) 09/2013: -- 10/2013: Green Lantern Corps #24 -- 37,312 (+ 3.0%) 11/2013: Green Lantern Corps #25 -- 38,369 (+ 2.8%) 12/2013: Green Lantern Corps #26 -- 32,797 (- 14.5%) 01/2014: Green Lantern Corps #27 -- 31,447 (- 4.1%) 02/2014: Green Lantern Corps #28 -- 29,142 (- 7.3%) 03/2014: Green Lantern Corps #29 -- 27,754 (- 4.8%) 04/2014: Green Lantern Corps #30 -- 26,640 (- 4.0%) 05/2014: Green Lantern Corps #31 -- 28,449 (+ 6.8%) 06/2014: Green Lantern Corps #32 -- 40,734 (+ 43.2%) ---------------- 6 months: + 24.2% 1 year : - 10.3% 2 years : - 8.7% 5 years : - 35.9% Since #1: - 57.0%
More Bombshells, more comics: another additional 12K and change for GLC.
––
53 - JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK ($3.99) 06/2012: Justice League Dark #10 -- 33,238 ------------------------------------------- 06/2013: Justice League Dark #21 -- 24,663 (- 0.1%) 07/2013: Justice League Dark #22 -- 68,294 (+225.6%) [80,302] 08/2013: Justice League Dark #23 -- 71,157 (+ 4.2%) [75,782] 09/2013: #23.1: Creeper -- 46,326 (- 34.9%) 09/2013: #23.2: Eclipso -- 45,138 (- 2.6%) 10/2013: Justice League Dark #24 -- 45,401 (+ 0.6%) 11/2013: Justice League Dark #25 -- 38,760 (- 14.6%) 12/2013: Justice League Dark #26 -- 36,353 (- 6.2%) 01/2014: Justice League Dark #27 -- 32,576 (- 10.4%) 02/2014: Justice League Dark #28 -- 30,519 (- 6.3%) 03/2014: Justice League Dark #29 -- 29,202 (- 4.3%) 04/2014: Justice League Dark #30 -- 27,695 (- 5.2%) 05/2014: Justice League Dark #31 -- 25,337 (- 8.5%) 06/2014: Justice League Dark #32 -- 38,219 (+ 50.8%) ----------------- 6 months: + 5.1% 1 year : + 54.9% 2 years : + 15.0% Since #1: - 53.4%
JLD gets in on the Bombshell action to the tune of nearly 13K additional units.
––
62 - CATWOMAN ($2.99) 06/2004: Catwoman #32 -- 24,040 06/2012: Catwoman #10 -- 37,158 ------------------------------- 06/2013: Catwoman #21 -- 25,611 (- 4.7%) 07/2013: Catwoman #22 -- 24,737 (- 3.4%) 08/2013: Catwoman #23 -- 24,262 (- 1.9%) [38,290] 09/2013: -- 10/2013: Catwoman #24 -- 35,134 (+ 44.8%) 11/2013: Catwoman #25 -- 29,471 (- 16.1%) 12/2013: Catwoman #26 -- 26,482 (- 10.1%) 01/2014: Catwoman #27 -- 24,956 (- 5.8%) 02/2014: Catwoman #28 -- 23,974 (- 3.9%) 03/2014: Catwoman #29 -- 22,236 (- 7.2%) 04/2014: Catwoman #30 -- 20,968 (- 5.7%) 05/2014: Catwoman #31 -- 20,144 (- 3.9%) 06/2014: Catwoman #32 -- 33,694 (+ 67.3%) ----------------- 6 months: + 27.2% 1 year : + 31.6% 2 years : - 9.3% 10 years: + 40.2% Since #1: - 55.4%
The Bombshell variant give a cat-bonus of more than 13K to Catwoman.
Also, creative team changes are in the works for October…
––
63 - BATWOMAN ($2.99) 06/2012: Batwoman #10 -- 41,014 -------------------------------- 06/2013: Batwoman #21 -- 28,173 (- 5.1%) 07/2013: Batwoman #22 -- 27,400 (- 2.7%) 08/2013: Batwoman #23 -- 26,223 (- 4.3%) 09/2013: -- 10/2013: Batwoman #24 -- 25,609 (- 2.3%) 11/2013: Batwoman #25 -- 25,987 (+ 1.5%) 12/2013: Batwoman #26 -- 23,311 (- 10.3%) 01/2014: Batwoman #27 -- 22,461 (- 3.6%) 02/2014: Batwoman #28 -- 20,672 (- 8.0%) 03/2014: Batwoman #29 -- 19,750 (- 4.5%) 04/2014: Batwoman #30 -- 19,204 (- 2.8%) 05/2014: Batwoman #31 -- 18,463 (- 3.9%) 05/2014: Batwoman #32 -- 33,538 (+ 81.6%) ---------------- 6 months: + 43.9% 1 year : + 19.0% 2 years : - 18.2% Since #1: - 61.9%
Apparently there’s no need to bother with a wedding when you can slap on a Bombshell variant cover instead, to the tune of more than 15K extra copies.
—
65 - RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS ($2.99) 06/2012: Red Hood #10 -- 37,044 ------------------------------- 06/2013: Red Hood #21 -- 32,416 (- 8.8%) 07/2013: Red Hood #22 -- 30,534 (- 5.8%) 08/2013: Red Hood #23 -- 28,821 (- 5.6%) 09/2013: -- 10/2013: Red Hood #24 -- 27,128 (- 5.9%) 11/2013: Red Hood #25 -- 30,632 (+ 12.9%) 12/2013: Red Hood #26 -- 25,382 (- 17.1%) 01/2014: Red Hood #27 -- 24,813 (- 2.2%) 02/2014: Red Hood #28 -- 23,236 (- 6.4%) 03/2014: Red Hood #29 -- 22,316 (- 4.0%) 04/2014: Red Hood #30 -- 21,718 (- 2.7%) 05/2014: Red Hood #31 -- 21,257 (- 2.1%) 06/2014: Red Hood #32 -- 33,081 (+ 55.6%) ---------------- 6 months: + 30.3% 1 year : + 2.1% 2 years : - 10.7% Since #1: - 52.9%
For those keeping score at home, that’s almost 12K more for a Red Hood Bombshell variant.
—
66 - BATMAN '66 MEETS THE GREEN HORNET (Digital-First) ($2.99) 06/2014: Batman 66/GH #1 of 6 -- 32,983
The top non-DCU this month is the debut issue of the Kevin Smith-involved Batman ’66/Green Hornet cross-over, coming in a nearly twice the sales level of the regular Batman ’66 title. A stronger than expected debut, so it should hold up fairly well over its scheduled six issue run (unless something goes awry…)
––
72 - SINESTRO ($2.99) 04/2014: Sinestro #1 -- 46,480 05/2014: Sinestro #2 -- 34,640 (- 25.5%) 06/2014: Sinestro #3 -- 30,422 (- 12.2%) ----------------- Since #1: - 34.5%
No Bombshell variant here, as thus we get a typical third issue drop.
––
74 - SECRET ORIGINS ($4.99) 04/2014: Secret Origins #1 -- 38,742 05/2014: Secret Origins #2 -- 32,966 (- 14.9%) 06/2014: Secret Origins #3 -- 28,351 (- 14.0%) ----------------- Since #1: - 26.8%
Green Lantern was the featured origin in June. I’d expect this to settle in around 25K in a couple of months, then fluctuate +/- 2-5K depending on whose origin is being featured in any given month. Given that this is a $5 title, that may be good enough to keep it around for a while.
––
81 - THE WAKE (Vertigo) ($2.99) 06/2013: The Wake #2 of 10 -- 32,562 (- 35.1%) 07/2013: The Wake #3 of 10 -- 30,622 (- 6.0%) 08/2013: -- 09/2013: The Wake #4 of 10 -- 31,674 (+ 3.4%) 10/2013: -- 11/2013: The Wake #5 of 10 -- 30,463 (- 3.8%) 12/2013: -- 01/2014: -- 02/2014: The Wake #6 of 10 -- 26,843 (- 11.9%) 03/2014: The Wake #7 of 10 -- 26,500 (- 1.3%) 04/2014: -- 05/2014: The Wake #8 of 10 -- 26,694 (+ 0.7%) 06/2014: The Wake #9 of 10 -- 26,561 (- 0.5%) ----------------- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : - 18.4% Since #1: - 47.1%
The top Vertigo title of June. Part two has been pretty darn stable, heading into the finale.
—
88 - INFINITY MAN AND THE FOREVER PEOPLE ($2.99) 06/2014: Infinity Man & FP #1 -- 24,907
The previous Didio/Giffen New 52 title riffing on one of Kirby’s creations, O.M.A.C., lasted just eight issues (It debuted at 43K and ended at 13K).With these debut numbers I don’t see Infinity Man lasting much longer than that.
––
93 - JUSTICE LEAGUE 3000 ($2.99) 12/2013: Justice League 3K #1 -- 57,726 01/2014: Justice League 3K #2 -- 41,423 (-28.2%) 02/2014: Justice League 3K #3 -- 33,308 (-19.6%) 03/2014: Justice League 3K #4 -- 30,127 (- 9.6%) 04/2014: Justice League 3K #5 -- 27,529 (- 8.6%) 05/2014: Justice League 3K #6 -- 25,738 (- 6.5%) 06/2014: Justice League 3K #7 -- 24,172 (- 6.1%) ----------------- 6 months: - 58.1% Since #1: - 58.1%
Still dropping…
––
96 - RED LANTERNS ($2.99) 06/2012: Red Lanterns #10 -- 38,005 ----------------------------------- 06/2013: Red Lanterns #21 -- 37,312 (+ 10.0%) 07/2013: Red Lanterns #22 -- 35,236 (- 5.6%) 08/2013: Red Lanterns #23 -- 29,623 (- 15.9%) 09/2013: -- 10/2013: Red Lanterns #24 -- 30,771 (+ 3.9%) 11/2013: Red Lanterns #25 -- 27,786 (- 9.7%) 12/2013: Red Lanterns #26 -- 26,242 (- 5.6%) 01/2014: Red Lanterns #27 -- 24,477 (- 6.7%) 02/2014: Green Lant/RL#28 -- 49,200 (+110.6%) [51,548] 03/2014: Red Lanterns #29 -- 25,153 (- 51.2%) 04/2014: Red Lanterns #30 -- 24,350 (- 3.2%) 05/2014: Red Lanterns #31 -- 24,307 (- 0.2%) 06/2014: Red Lanterns #32 -- 23,720 (- 2.4%) ---------------- 6 months: - 9.6% 1 year : - 36.4% 2 years : - 37.6% Since #1: - 73.4%
Last month I asked if anyone was reading Red Lanterns who wasn’t reading the core Green Lantern title, and several of you chimed in in the comments stating that yes you did, that you enjoyed Charles Soules’ writing on Red Lanterns but didn’t care much about the rest of the line.
So there’s good news/bad news for you non-GL-reading Red Lanterns fans: There’s another major Lantern-book crossover starting in October. Good news as it will no doubt raise sales and stave off the cancellation bear for a while longer. Bad news as it means a crossover story with titles you aren’t regularly reading.
––
98 - GREEN ARROW ($2.99) 06/2004: Green Arrow #39 -- 33,324 06/2009: Arrow/Canary #21 -- 20,807 06/2010: Green Arrow #1 -- 54,400 [57,544] 06/2011: Green Arrow #13 -- 27,552 06/2012: Green Arrow #10 -- 25,769 ----------------------------------- 06/2013: Green Arrow #21 -- 26,924 (- 2.2%) 07/2013: Green Arrow #22 -- 26,172 (- 2.8%) 08/2013: Green Arrow #23 -- 25,449 (- 2.8%) 09/2013: #23.1: CtVertigo -- 43,234 (+ 69.9%) 10/2013: Green Arrow #24 -- 24,620 (- 43.1%) 11/2013: Green Arrow #25 -- 29,591 (+ 20.2%) 12/2013: Green Arrow #26 -- 24,687 (- 16.6%) 01/2014: Green Arrow #27 -- 23,785 (- 3.7%) 02/2014: Green Arrow #28 -- 26,725 (+ 12.4%) 03/2014: Green Arrow #29 -- 23,698 (- 11.3%) 04/2014: Green Arrow #30 -- 23,577 (- 0.5%) 05/2014: Green Arrow #31 -- 23,475 (- 0.4%) 06/2014: Green Arrow #32 -- 23,602 (+ 0.5%) ----------------- 6 months: - 4.4% 1 year : - 12.3% 2 years : - 8.4% 5 years : + 13.4% 10 years: - 29.2% Since #1: - 67.4%
Has been remarkably consistent over the past few months. But a new creative team arrives in October.
––
100 - GREEN LANTERN: NEW GUARDIANS ($2.99) 06/2012: New Guardians #10 -- 46,237 --------------------------------------- 06/2013: New Guardians #21 -- 42,290 (+ 4.2%) 07/2013: New Guardians #22 -- 40,788 (- 3.6%) 08/2013: New Guardians #23 -- 34,473 (-15.5%) 09/2013: -- 10/2013: New Guardians #24 -- 35,417 (+ 2.7%) 11/2013: New Guardians #25 -- 32,069 (- 9.5%) 12/2013: New Guardians #26 -- 30,489 (- 4.9%) 01/2014: New Guardians #27 -- 28,346 (- 7.0%) 02/2014: New Guardians #28 -- 27,212 (- 4.0%) 03/2014: New Guardians #29 -- 25,296 (- 7.0%) 04/2014: New Guardians #30 -- 24,727 (- 2.2%) 05/2014: New Guardians #31 -- 23,886 (- 3.4%) 06/2014: New Guardians #32 -- 23,142 (- 3.1%) ---------------- 6 months: - 24.1% 1 year : - 45.3% 2 years : - 49.9% Since #1: - 76.0%
A Lantern-line crossover arrives in October to prop things up a bit.
––
101 - AQUAMAN AND THE OTHERS ($2.99) 04/2014: Aquaman & Others #1 -- 34,056 05/2014: Aquaman & Others #2 -- 26,198 (- 23.1%) 06/2014: Aquaman & Others #3 -- 23,109 (- 11.8%) ----------------- Since #1: - 32.1%
The typical 3rd issue drop is usually closer to 15%; so yay?
––
104 - SUPERGIRL ($2.99) 06/2009: Supergirl #42 -- 32,705 06/2010: Supergirl #53 -- 28,317 06/2011: Supergirl #65 -- 20,985 06/2012: Supergirl #10 -- 33,309 --------------------------------- 06/2013: Supergirl #21 -- 25,856 (- 6.0%) 07/2013: Supergirl #22 -- 25,514 (- 1.3%) 08/2013: Supergirl #23 -- 24,747 (- 3.0%) 09/2013: -- 10/2013: Supergirl #24 -- 23,321 (- 5.8%) 11/2013: Supergirl #25 -- 25,377 (+ 8.8%) 12/2013: Supergirl #26 -- 22,646 (- 10.8%) 01/2014: Supergirl #27 -- 21,954 (- 3.1%) 02/2014: Supergirl #28 -- 23,567 (+ 7.3%) 03/2014: Supergirl #29 -- 22,883 (- 2.9%) 04/2014: Supergirl #30 -- 23,410 (+ 2.3%) 05/2014: Supergirl #31 -- 22,783 (- 2.7%) 06/2014: Supergirl #32 -- 22,481 (- 1.3%) ----------------- 6 months: - 0.7% 1 year : - 13.1% 2 years : - 20.6% 5 years : - 31.3% Since #1: - 69.7%
“Red Daughter of Krypton” continues. Another reason to go out and pre-order the new Batgirl: If it succeeds, maybe DC will take a similar approach with Supergirl.
––
110 - WORLDS' FINEST ($2.99) 06/2012: Worlds' Finest #2 -- 51,510 ------------------------------------- 06/2013: Worlds' Finest #13 -- 25,815 (- 4.7%) 07/2013: Worlds' Finest #14 -- 25,143 (- 2.6%) 08/2013: Worlds' Finest #15 -- 24,159 (- 3.9%) 09/2013: -- 10/2013: Worlds' Finest #16 -- 22,987 (- 4.9%) 11/2013: Worlds' Finest #17 -- 21,920 (- 4.6%) 12/2013: Worlds' Finest #18 -- 21,039 (- 4.0%) 01/2014: Worlds' Finest #19 -- 20,998 (- 0.2%) 02/2014: Worlds' Finest #20 -- 25,585 (+ 31.5%) [27,613] 03/2014: Worlds' Finest #21 -- 25,676 (- 7.0%) 04/2014: Worlds' Finest #22 -- 21,485 (- 16.3%) 05/2014: Worlds' Finest #23 -- 21,118 (- 1.7%) 06/2014: Worlds' Finest #24 -- 20,900 (- 1.0%) ----------------- 6 months: - 0.7% 1 year : - 19.0% 2 years : - 59.4% Since #1: - 69.9%
A small drop, but there’s not much rope left here. Maybe the upcoming Earth 2 weekly will help?
––
117 - INJUSTICE: YEAR TWO (Digital-First) ($2.99) 06/2013: Injustice #6 -- 26,011 (+ 3.2%) 07/2013: Injustice #7 -- 25,731 (- 1.1%) 08/2013: Injustice #8 -- 25,223 (- 2.0%) 09/2013: Injustice #9 -- 24,333 (- 3.5%) 10/2013: Injustice #10 -- 24,788 (+ 1.9%) 11/2013: Injustice #11 -- 22,704 (- 8.4%) 12/2013: Injustice #12 -- 21,871 (- 3.7%) 01/2014: Injustice Y2 #1 -- 24,700 (+12.9%) 02/2014: Injustice Y2 #2 -- 22,703 (- 8.1%) 03/2014: Injustice Y2 #3 -- 20,693 (- 8.9%) 04/2014: Injustice Y2 #4 -- 20,310 (- 1.9%) 05/2014: Injustice Y2 #5 -- 19,834 (- 2.3%) 06/2014: Injustice Y2 #6 -- 19,353 (- 2.4%) ---------------- 6 months: - 11.5% 1 year : - 25.6% Since #1: - 21.6%
Year three, starting in October, will be twice-monthly.
––
120 - SWAMP THING ($2.99) 06/2004: Swamp Thing #4 -- 23,010 06/2012: Swamp Thing #10 -- 37,383 ---------------------------------- 06/2013: Swamp Thing #21 -- 25,186 (- 7.9%) 07/2013: Swamp Thing #22 -- 23,885 (- 5.2%) 08/2013: Swamp Thing #23 -- 22,695 (- 5.0%) 09/2013: #23.1: Arcane -- 40,390 (+78.0%) 10/2013: Swamp Thing #24 -- 21,724 (-46.2%) 11/2013: Swamp Thing #25 -- 21,141 (- 2.7%) 12/2013: Swamp Thing #26 -- 20,247 (- 4.2%) 01/2014: Swamp Thing #27 -- 19,755 (- 2.4%) 02/2014: Swamp Thing #28 -- 19,146 (- 3.1%) 03/2014: Swamp Thing #29 -- 18,837 (- 1.6%) 04/2014: Swamp Thing #30 -- 18,458 (- 2.0%) 05/2014: Swamp Thing #31 -- 18,249 (- 1.1%) 06/2014: Swamp Thing #32 -- 18,483 (+ 1.3%) ---------------- 6 months: - 8.7% 1 year : - 26.6% 2 years : - 50.6% 10 years: - 19.7% Since #1: - 74.9%
Adds a couple hundred copies this month. A small correction? A statistical aberration? Or the sign of impending growth?
––
128 - BATMAN '66 (Digital-First) ($3.99) 07/2013: Batman '66 #1 -- 50,430 08/2013: Batman '66 #2 -- 37,113 (-26.4%) 09/2013: Batman '66 #3 -- 32,954 (-11.2%) 10/2013: Batman '66 #4 -- 30,099 (- 8.7%) 11/2013: Batman '66 #5 -- 26,785 (-11.0%) 12/2013: Batman '66 #6 -- 24,374 (- 9.0%) 01/2014: Batman '66 #7 -- 21,802 (-10.6%) 02/2014: Batman '66 #8 -- 19,795 (- 9.2%) 03/2014: Batman '66 #9 -- 18,802 (- 5.0%) 04/2014: Batman '66 #10 -- 17,917 (- 4.7%) 05/2014: Batman '66 #11 -- 18,642 (+ 4.0%) 06/2014: Batman '66 #12 -- 17,286 (- 7.3%) ----------------- 6 months: - 29.1% Since #1: - 65.7%
Last month’s uptick is wiped out, and then some.
––
129 - CONSTANTINE ($2.99) 06/2004: Hellblazer #197 -- 15,045 06/2009: Hellblazer #256 -- 10,898 06/2010: Hellblazer #268 -- 10,221 06/2011: Hellblazer #280 -- 9,329 06/2012: Hellblazer #292 -- 9,533 ---------------------------------- 06/2013: Constantine #4 -- 26,417 (- 9.2%) 07/2013: Constantine #5 -- 30,664 (+ 32.6%) [35,027] 08/2013: Constantine #6 -- 25,174 (- 28.1%) 09/2013: -- 10/2013: Constantine #7 -- 22,954 (- 8.8%) 11/2013: Constantine #8 -- 20,981 (- 8.6%) 12/2013: Constantine #9 -- 22,403 (+ 6.8%) 01/2014: Constantine #10 -- 20,729 (- 7.5%) 02/2014: Constantine #11 -- 20,385 (- 1.7%) 03/2014: Constantine #12 -- 20,051 (- 1.6%) 04/2014: Constantine #13 -- 18,454 (- 8.0%) 05/2014: Constantine #14 -- 17,422 (- 5.6%) 06/2014: Constantine #15 -- 16,704 (- 4.1%) ----------------- 6 months: - 25.4% 1 year : - 36.8% 2 years : + 75.2% 5 years : + 53.3% 10 years: + 11.0% Since #1: - 55.5%
This is dangerous territory for a DCU book. Granted this book has a bit more rope due to the upcoming television series, but if it doesn’t turn around soon look for a major creative change to try to goose the numbers (probably to bring it more in line with the tone of the show).
––
131 - BIRDS OF PREY ($2.99) 06/2004: Birds of Prey #68 -- 32,034 06/2010: Birds of Prey #2 -- 44,064 06/2011: Birds of Prey #13 -- 28,992 06/2012: Birds of Prey #10 -- 28,457 ------------------------------------- 06/2013: Birds of Prey #21 -- 20,767 (- 1.7%) 07/2013: Birds of Prey #22 -- 20,209 (- 2.7%) 08/2013: Birds of Prey #23 -- 19,364 (- 4.2%) 09/2013: -- 10/2013: Birds of Prey #24 -- 18,382 (- 5.1%) 11/2013: Birds of Prey #25 -- 22,751 (+ 23.8%) 12/2013: Birds of Prey #26 -- 17,497 (- 23.1%) 01/2014: Birds of Prey #27 -- 19,387 (+ 10.8%) 02/2014: Birds of Prey #28 -- 18,092 (- 6.7%) 03/2014: Birds of Prey #29 -- 16,795 (- 7.2%) 04/2014: Birds of Prey #30 -- 16,358 (- 2.6%) 05/2014: Birds of Prey #31 -- 15,947 (- 2.5%) 06/2014: Birds of Prey #32 -- 16,397 (+ 2.8%) ----------------- 6 months: - 6.3% 1 year : - 21.0% 2 years : - 42.4% 10 years: - 48.8% Since #1: - 75.3%
Despite the slight uptick, this is already announced as ending in September.
––
138 - SUPERBOY ($2.99) 06/2011: Superboy #8 -- 23,037 06/2012: Superboy #10 -- 31,358 -------------------------------- 06/2013: Superboy #21 -- 20,952 (- 6.9%) 07/2013: Superboy #22 -- 19,984 (- 4.6%) 08/2013: Superboy #23 -- 20,235 (+ 1.3%) 09/2013: -- 10/2013: Superboy #24 -- 18,341 (- 9.4%) 11/2013: Superboy #25 -- 21,449 (+ 16.9%) 12/2013: Superboy #26 -- 17,690 (- 17.5%) 01/2014: Superboy #27 -- 17,392 (- 1.7%) 02/2014: Superboy #28 -- 16,448 (- 5.4%) 03/2014: Superboy #29 -- 15,776 (- 4.1%) 04/2014: Superboy #30 -- 15,382 (- 2.5%) 05/2014: Superboy #31 -- 14,795 (- 3.8%) 06/2014: Superboy #32 -- 14,451 (- 2.3%) ----------------- 6 months: - 18.3% 1 year : - 31.0% 2 years : - 53.9% Since #1: - 79.1%
Ending in September.
––
142 - BATMAN BEYOND UNIVERSE (Digital-First) ($3.99) 06/2012: Unlimited #5 -- 24,058 --------------------------------- 06/2013: Unlimited #17 -- 15,464 (- 2.3%) 07/2013: Unlimited #18 -- 15,275 (- 1.2%) 08/2013: Universe #1 -- 23,358 (+52.9%) 09/2013: Universe #2 -- 18,332 (-21.5%) 10/2013: Universe #3 -- 17,658 (- 3.7%) 11/2013: Universe #4 -- 16,889 (- 4.4%) 12/2013: Universe #5 -- 15,857 (- 6.1%) 01/2014: Universe #6 -- 15,070 (- 5.0%) 02/2014: Universe #7 -- 14,435 (- 4.2%) 03/2014: Universe #8 -- 14,097 (- 2.3%) 04/2014: Universe #9 -- 13,807 (- 2.1%) 05/2014: Universe #10 -- 13,869 (+ 0.4%) 06/2014: Universe #11 -- 14,068 (+ 1.4%) ---------------- 6 months: - 11.3% 1 year : - 9.0% 2 years : - 41.5% Since #1: - 39.8%
Adds a couple hundred more copies. Which may be a small correction or aberration, but that’s two straight months of growth and that’s certainly better than losing copies. Maybe there’s some (admittedly small so far) effect from BB’s Futures End appearances?
––
143 - FABLES (Vertigo) ($2.99) 06/2004: Fables #26 -- 25,553 06/2009: Fables #85 -- 23,439 06/2010: Fables #96 -- 19,842 06/2011: Fables #106 -- 18,505 06/2012: Fables #118 -- 18,566 ------------------------------ 06/2013: Fables #130 -- 15,129 (- 1.6%) 07/2013: Fables #131 -- 15,109 (- 0.1%) 08/2013: Fables #132 -- 14,893 (- 1.4%) 09/2013: Fables #133 -- 14,639 (- 1.7%) 10/2013: Fables #134 -- 14,575 (- 0.4%) 11/2013: Fables #135 -- 14,383 (- 1.3%) 12/2013: Fables #136 -- 14,220 (- 1.1%) 01/2014: Fables #137 -- 14,172 (- 0.3%) 02/2014: Fables #138 -- 14,109 (- 0.4%) 03/2014: Fables #139 -- 13,936 (- 1.2%) 04/2014: -- 05/2014: Fables #140 -- 13,977 (+ 0.3%) 06/2014: Fables #141 -- 13,997 (+ 0.1%) ---------------- 6 months: - 1.6% 1 year : - 7.5% 2 years : - 24.6% 5 years : - 40.3% 10 years: - 45.2% Since #1: - 36.5%
Another twenty copies added to the Diamond sales registry. Because weather? Looks like around 14K readers of the individual issues (give or take a few shelf copies) will be sticking it out to the end at #150.
––
150 - ASTRO CITY (Vertigo) ($3.99) 06/2004: -- 06/2009: Dark Age 3 #2 -- 16,405 06/2010: -- 06/2011: -- 06/2012: -- --------------------------------------- 06/2013: Astro City #1 -- 27,700 07/2013: Astro City #2 -- 20,193 (-27.1%) 08/2013: Astro City #3 -- 18,802 (- 6.9%) 09/2013: Astro City #4 -- 17,641 (- 6.2%) 10/2013: Astro City #5 -- 16,927 (- 4.1%) 11/2013: Astro City #6 -- 16,031 (- 5.3%) 12/2013: Astro City #7 -- 15,360 (- 4.2%) 01/2014: Astro City #8 -- 14,831 (- 3.4%) 02/2014: Astro City #9 -- 14,289 (- 3.7%) 03/2014: Astro City #10 -- 14,094 (- 1.4%) 04/2014: Astro City #11 -- 13,909 (- 1.3%) 05/2014: Astro City #12 -- 13,795 (- 0.8%) 06/2014: Astro City #13 -- 13,419 (- 2.7%) ----------------- 6 months: - 12.6% 1 year : - 51.6% 5 years : - 18.2% 10 years: n.a. Since #1: - 51.6%
Back to standard attrition.
––
154 - TINY TITANS: RETURN TO THE TREEHOUSE (All-Ages) ($2.99) 06/2009: Tiny Titans #17 -- 8,640 06/2010: Tiny Titans #29 -- 8,195 06/2011: Tiny Titans #41 -- 7,811 --------------------------------------- 03/2012: Tiny Titans #50 -- 8,363 (+ 6.4%) -- -- -- 06/2014: Treehouse #1 of 6 -- 13,021 (+ 55.7%) ----------------- 5 years : + 50.7%
Art and Franco return to the Tiny Titans with a mini-series. Decent numbers, and should finish out its six-issue run about the same place where the previous series ended.
––
156 - TRINITY OF SIN: THE PHANTOM STRANGER ($2.99) 06/2013: ToS: Phantom Stranger #9 -- 17,241 (+ 6.0%) 07/2013: ToS: Phantom Stranger #10 -- 20,636 (+19.7%) 08/2013: ToS: Phantom Stranger #11 -- 26,986 (+30.8%) 09/2013: -- 10/2013: ToS: Phantom Stranger #12 -- 19,732 (-26.9%) 11/2013: ToS: Phantom Stranger #13 -- 17,779 (- 9.9%) 12/2013: ToS: Phantom Stranger #14 -- 18,649 (+ 4.9%) 01/2013: ToS: Phantom Stranger #15 -- 17,435 (- 6.5%) 02/2014: ToS: Phantom Stranger #16 -- 17,012 (- 2.4%) 03/2014: ToS: Phantom Stranger #17 -- 16,395 (- 3.6%) 04/2014: ToS: Phantom Stranger #18 -- 14,788 (- 9.8%) 05/2014: ToS: Phantom Stranger #19 -- 13,641 (- 7.8%) 06/2014: ToS: Phantom Stranger #20 -- 12,720 (- 6.8%) ---------------- 6 months: - 31.8% 1 year : - 26.2% Since #1: - 68.3%
160 - TRINITY OF SIN: PANDORA ($2.99) 07/2013: ToS: Pandora #1 -- 35,106 [41,678] 07/2013: ToS: Pandora #2 -- 32,170 (-15.1%) [35,385] 08/2013: ToS: Pandora #3 -- 34,563 (- 2.3%) 09/2013: -- 10/2013: ToS: Pandora #4 -- 25,708 (-25.6%) 11/2013: ToS: Pandora #5 -- 21,267 (-17.3%) 12/2013: ToS: Pandora #6 -- 20,563 (- 3.3%) 01/2014: ToS: Pandora #7 -- 18,984 (- 7.7%) 02/2014: ToS: Pandora #8 -- 17,703 (- 6.7%) 03/2014: ToS: Pandora #9 -- 17,032 (- 3.8%) 04/2014: ToS: Pandora #10 -- 15,337 (-10.0%) 05/2014: ToS: Pandora #11 -- 13,859 (-10.9%) 06/2014: ToS: Pandora #12 -- 12,540 (- 8.2%) ---------------- 6 months: - 39.0% Since #1: - 69.9%
Both titles are ending in September, to be replaced by a single Trinity of Sin title in October featuring both characters plus The Question. Which is certainly a thing to try.
––
162 - HE-MAN AND THE MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE ($2.99) 06/2013: He-Man & MotU #3 -- 18,227 (- 5.8%) 07/2013: He-Man & MotU #4 -- 18,101 (- 1.0%) 08/2013: He-Man & MotU #5 -- 16,898 (- 6.6%) 09/2013: He-Man & MotU #6 -- 16,294 (- 3.6%) 10/2013: He-Man & MotU #7 -- 16,059 (- 1.4%) 11/2013: He-Man & MotU #8 -- 15,154 (- 5.6%) 12/2013: He-Man & MotU #9 -- 14,465 (- 4.5%) 01/2014: -- 02/2014: He-Man & MotU #10 -- 13,816 (- 4.5%) 03/2014: He-Man & MotU #11 -- 13,090 (- 5.3%) 04/2014: He-Man & MotU #12 -- 12,718 (- 2.8%) 05/2014: He-Man & MotU #13 -- 12,430 (- 2.3%) 06/2014: He-Man & MotU #14 -- 12,144 (- 2.3%) ---------------- 6 months: - 16.0% 1 year : - 33.4% Since #1: - 51.9%
Standard attrition.
––
167 - LARFLEEZE ($2.99) 06/2013: Larfleeze #1 -- 36,638 07/2013: Larfleeze #2 -- 30,221 (-17.5%) 08/2013: Larfleeze #3 -- 21,955 (-27.4%) 09/2013: -- 10/2013: Larfleeze #4 -- 18,061 (-17.7%) 11/2013: Larfleeze #5 -- 16,157 (-10.5%) 12/2013: Larfleeze #6 -- 15,081 (- 6.7%) 01/2014: Larfleeze #7 -- 13,950 (- 7.5%) 02/2014: Larfleeze #8 -- 13,338 (- 4.4%) 03/2014: Larfleeze #9 -- 12,797 (- 4.1%) 04/2014: Larfleeze #10 -- 12,403 (- 3.1%) 05/2014: Larfleeze #11 -- 12,110 (- 2.4%) 06/2014: Larfleeze #12 -- 11,784 (- 2.7%) ----------------- 1 year : - 67.8% 6 months: - 21.9% Since #1: - 67.8%
Final issue.
––
169 - ALL STAR WESTERN ($3.99) 06/2009: Jonah Hex #44 -- 11,592 06/2010: Jonah Hex #55 -- 11,327 06/2011: Jonah Hex #67 -- 10,288 06/2012: ASW #10 -- 25,334 -------------------------------- 06/2013: ASW #21 -- 15,788 (- 2.5%) 07/2013: ASW #22 -- 15,376 (- 2.6%) 08/2013: ASW #23 -- 15,276 (- 0.7%) 09/2013: -- 10/2013: ASW #24 -- 14,378 (- 5.9%) 11/2013: ASW #25 -- 13,937 (- 3.1%) 12/2013: ASW #26 -- 13,440 (- 3.6%) 01/2014: ASW #27 -- 13,238 (- 1.5%) 02/2014: ASW #28 -- 12,782 (- 3.4%) 03/2014: ASW #29 -- 12,503 (- 2.2%) 04/2014: ASW #30 -- 12,285 (- 1.7%) 05/2014: ASW #31 -- 12,023 (- 2.1%) 06/2014: ASW #32 -- 11,675 (- 2.9%) ----------------- 6 months: - 13.1% 1 year : - 26.1% 2 years : - 53.9% 5 years : + 0.7% Since #1: - 78.8%
Ending at #34.
––
171 - SMALLVILLE SEASON 11 LANTERN (Digital-First) ($3.99) 06/2004: -- 06/2012: Smallville S11 #2 -- 22,468 -------------------------------------- 06/2013: Smallville S11 #14 -- 15,097 (- 2.2%) 07/2013: Smallville S11 #15 -- 14,930 (- 1.1%) 08/2013: Smallville S11 #16 -- 14,640 (- 1.9%) 09/2013: Smallville S11 #17 -- 14,153 (- 3.3%) 10/2013: Smallville S11 #18 -- 13,794 (- 2.5%) 11/2013: Smallville S11 #19 -- 13,286 (- 3.7%) 12/2013: Smallville Alien #1 -- 13,019 (- 2.0%) 01/2014: Smallville Alien #2 -- 11,768 (- 9.6%) 02/2014: Smallville Alien #3 -- 11,061 (- 6.0%) 03/2014: Smallville Alien #4 -- 10,570 (- 4.4%) 04/2014: Smallville Lantern #1 -- 12,391 (+17.2%) 05/2014: Smallville Lantern #2 -- 11,372 (- 8.2%) 06/2014: Smallville Lantern #3 -- 11,401 (+ 0.3%) ---------------- 6 months: - 12.4% 1 year : - 24.5% 2 years : - 49.3% 10 years: n.a. Since #1: - 8.0%
An addition of 29 more copies from the previous issue. Just to keep things interesting.
––
172 - ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN (Digital-First) ($3.99) 06/2013: Adventures of Superman #2 -- 22,407 (-27.7%) 07/2013: Adventures of Superman #3 -- 19,453 (-13.2%) 08/2013: Adventures of Superman #4 -- 17,370 (-10.7%) 09/2013: Adventures of Superman #5 -- 16,011 (- 7.8%) 10/2013: Adventures of Superman #6 -- 14,484 (- 9.5%) 11/2013: Adventures of Superman #7 -- 13,140 (- 9.3%) 12/2013: Adventures of Superman #8 -- 12,142 (- 7.6%) 01/2014: Adventures of Superman #9 -- 11,425 (- 5.9%) 02/2014: Adventures of Superman #10 -- 11,075 (- 3.1%) 03/2014: Adventures of Superman #11 -- 11,102 (+ 0.2%) 04/2014: Adventures of Superman #12 -- 10,130 (- 8.8%) 05/2014: Adventures of Superman #13 -- 10,045 (- 0.8%) 06/2014: Adventures of Superman #14 -- 11,144 (+10.9%) ---------------- 6 months: - 8.2% 1 year : - 50.3% Since #1: - 64.0%
Ending in September. The lead (cover) story features The Joker and is drawn by Jock, which it likely the cause of the additional 1099 copies registered.
––
193 - LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT 100-PAGE SUPER SPECTACULAR (Digital-First) ($9.99) 12/2013: LoDK 100p Super Spect #1 -- 11,091 (-14.8%) 01/2014: -- 02/2014: -- 03/2014: LoDK 100p Super Spect #2 -- 9,926 (-10.5%) 04/2014: -- 05/2014: -- 06/2014: LoDK 100p Super Spect #3 -- 9,109 (- 8.2%) ----------------- 6 months: - 17.9% Since #1: - 17.9%
Given that this is a $10 comic reprinting digital-first stories, 9K isn’t a bad number.
––
198 - COFFIN HILL (Vertigo) ($2.99) 10/2013: Coffin Hill #1 -- 24,129 11/2013: Coffin Hill #2 -- 14,472 (-40.0%) 12/2013: Coffin Hill #3 -- 12,337 (-14.8%) 01/2014: Coffin Hill #4 -- 11,306 (- 8.4%) 02/2014: Coffin Hill #5 -- 10,435 (- 7.7%) 03/2014: Coffin Hill #6 -- 9,982 (- 4.3%) 04/2014: Coffin Hill #7 -- 9,547 (- 4.4%) 05/2014: -- 06/2014: Coffin Hill #8 -- 8,764 (- 8.2%) ----------------- 6 months: - 29.0% Since #1: - 63.7%
Returns from its scheduled month off not in any better shape, sales wise.
––
200 - BATWING ($2.99) 06/2012: Batwing #10 -- 35,731 ------------------------------ 06/2013: Batwing #21 -- 12,437 (- 6.5%) 07/2013: Batwing #22 -- 12,062 (- 3.0%) 08/2013: Batwing #23 -- 11,584 (- 4.0%) 09/2013: -- 10/2013: Batwing #24 -- 11,114 (- 4.1%) 11/2013: Batwing #25 -- 16,207 (+45.8%) 12/2013: Batwing #26 -- 10,753 (-33.7%) 01/2014: Batwing #27 -- 12,461 (+15.9%) 02/2014: Batwing #28 -- 11,786 (- 5.4%) 03/2014: Batwing #29 -- 9,864 (-16.3%) 04/2014: Batwing #30 -- 9,313 (- 5.6%) 05/2014: Batwing #31 -- 8,941 (- 4.0%) 06/2014: Batwing #32 -- 8,664 (- 3.1%) ---------------- 6 months: - 44.8% 1 year : - 32.8% 2 years : - 75.0% Since #1: - 83.9%
Ending in September.
––
230 - HINTERKIND (Vertigo) ($2.99) 10/2013: Hinterkind #1 -- 23,516 11/2013: Hinterkind #2 -- 13,994 (-40.5%) 12/2013: Hinterkind #3 -- 11,659 (-16.7%) 01/2014: Hinterkind #4 -- 9,693 (-16.9%) 02/2014: Hinterkind #5 -- 8,948 (- 7.7%) 03/2014: Hinterkind #6 -- 8,306 (- 7.2%) 04/2014: -- 05/2014: Hinterkind #7 -- 7,487 (- 9.9%) 06/2014: Hinterkind #8 -- 7,212 (- 3.7%) ----------------- 6 months: - 38.1% Since #1: - 69.3%
229 - THE UNWRITTEN V2 APOCALYPSE (Vertigo) ($3.99) 06/2010: The Unwritten #14 -- 13,396 06/2011: The Unwritten #26 -- 10,979 06/2012: The Unwritten #38 -- 9,494 ------------------------------------ 06/2013: The Unwritten #50 -- 10,124 (+23.0%) 07/2013: The Unwritten #51 -- 9,143 (- 9.7%) 08/2013: The Unwritten #52 -- 9,033 (- 1.2%) 09/2013: The Unwritten #53 -- 8,982 (- 0.6%) 10/2013: The Unwritten #54 -- 8,871 (- 1.2%) 11/2013: -- 12/2013: -- 01/2014: Unwritten vol2 #1 -- 11,975 (+35.0%) 02/2014: Unwritten vol2 #2 -- 8,291 (-30.8%) 03/2014: Unwritten vol2 #3 -- 7,890 (- 4.8%) 04/2014: Unwritten vol2 #4 -- 7,652 (- 3.0%) 05/2014: Unwritten vol2 #5 -- 7,267 (- 5.0%) 06/2014: Unwritten vol2 #6 -- 7,133 (- 1.8%) ---------------- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : - 29.5% 2 years : - 24.9% Since #1: - 40.4%
237 - FBP: FEDERAL BUREAU OF PHYSICS (Vertigo) ($2.99) 07/2013: Collider #1 -- 17,336 [20,361] 08/2013: FBP #2 -- 14,068 (-30.9%) 09/2013: FBP #3 -- 13,977 (- 0.6%) 10/2013: FBP #4 -- 11,600 (-17.0%) 11/2013: FBP #5 -- 10,391 (-10.4%) 12/2013: FBP #6 -- 9,543 (- 8.2%) 01/2014: FBP #7 -- 8,971 (- 6.0%) 02/2014: -- 03/2014: FBP #8 -- 7,852 (-12.5%) 04/2014: FBP #9 -- 7,619 (- 3.0%) 05/2014: FBP #10 -- 7,242 (- 4.9%) 06/2014: FBP #11 -- 6,958 (- 3.9%) ----------------- 6 months: - 27.1% Since #1: - 65.8%
238 - ROYALS: MASTERS OF WAR #1 (Vertigo) ($2.99) 02/2014: Royals #1 of 6 -- 14,031 03/2014: Royals #2 of 6 -- 8,725 (-37.8%) 04/2014: Royals #3 of 6 -- 7,777 (-10.9%) 05/2014: Royals #4 of 6 -- 7,156 (- 8.0%) 06/2014: Royals #5 of 6 -- 6,928 (- 3.2%) ----------------- Since #1: - 50.6%
Four more Vertigo titles in poor shape.
This is as good of a place as any to mention that the first issue of Sandman Overture had another 6,287 in re-orders in June.
––
268 - SCRIBBLENAUTS UNMASKED - CRISIS OF IMAGINATION (Digital-First) ($2.99) 01/2014: Scribblenauts Crisis #1 -- 11,572 02/2014: Scribblenauts Crisis #2 -- 7,101 (-38.6%) 03/2014: Scribblenauts Crisis #3 -- 6,738 (- 5.1%) 04/2014: Scribblenauts Crisis #4 -- 6,467 (- 4.0%) 05/2014: Scribblenauts Crisis #5 -- 6,045 (- 6.5%) 06/2014: Scribblenauts Crisis #6 -- 5,833 (- 3.5%) ---------------- Since #1: - 49.6%
Ending with issue #9.
––
+300 - SCOOBY-DOO, WHERE ARE YOU? (All-Ages) ($2.99) 05/2004: Scooby-Doo #84 -- 5,490 05/2009: Scooby-Doo #144 -- 4,062 05/2010: Scooby-Doo #156 -- 3,857 05/2011: Scooby-Doo Where Are You? #9 -- 4,838 05/2012: Scooby-Doo Where Are You? #21 -- 5,269 ---------------------------------------- 05/2013: Scooby-Doo Where Are You? #33 -- ????? 06/2013: Scooby-Doo Where Are You? #34 -- 4,881 07/2013: Scooby-Doo Where Are You? #35 -- ????? 08/2013: Scooby-Doo Where Are You? #36 -- 4,903 09/2013: Scooby-Doo Where Are You? #37 -- 4,840 (-1.3%) 10/2013: Scooby-Doo Where Are You? #38 -- 4,983 (+3.0%) 11/2013: Scooby-Doo Where Are You? #39 -- ????? 12/2013: Scooby-Doo Where Are You? #40 -- 4,754 01/2014: Scooby-Doo Where Are You? #41 -- 4,649 (-2.2%) 02/2014: Scooby-Doo Where Are You? #42 -- 4,540 (-2.3%) 03/2014: Scooby-Doo Where Are You? #43 -- 4,623 (+1.8%) 04/2014: Scooby-Doo Where Are You? #44 -- 4,650 (+0.6%) 05/2014: Scooby-Doo Where Are You? #45 -- 4,840 (+4.1%) 06/2014: Scooby-Doo Where Are You? #46 -- ????? (< 4,560) ----------------- 6 months: ???% 1 year : ???% 2 years : ???% 5 years : ???% 10 years: ???% Since #1: ???%
+300 - THE VAMPIRE DIARIES (Digital-First) ($3.99) 01/2014: The Vampire Diaries #1 -- 10,855 02/2014: The Vampire Diaries #2 -- 6,132 (-43.5%) 03/2014: The Vampire Diaries #3 -- 4,734 (-22.8%) 04/2014: The Vampire Diaries #4 -- 4,192 (-11.4%) 05/2014: The Vampire Diaries #5 -- 3,749 (-10.6%) 06/2014: The Vampire Diaries #6 -- ????? (< 4,560) ---------------- Since #1: - 65.5%
+300 - LOONEY TUNES (All-Ages) ($2.99) 02/2004: Looney Tunes #111 -- 3,220 02/2009: Looney Tunes #171 -- ????? 02/2010: Looney Tunes #183 -- ????? 02/2011: Looney Tunes #195 -- ????? 02/2012: Looney Tunes #205 -- ????? ---------------------------------------- 06/2013: Looney Tunes #213 -- ????? 07/2013: -- 08/2013: Looney Tunes #214 -- ????? 09/2013: -- 10/2013: Looney Tunes #215 -- ????? 11/2013: -- 12/2013: Looney Tunes #216 -- 2,822 01/2014: -- 02/2014: Looney Tunes #217 -- 2,784 (-1.3%) 03/2014: -- 04/2014: Looney Tunes #218 -- ????? (< 2,823) 05/2014: -- 06/2014: Looney Tunes #219 -- ????? (< 4,560) ----------------- 6 months: ????% 1 year : ????% 2 years : ????% 5 years : ????% 10 years: ????%
Unlike the previous months in 2014, Diamond only released the top 300 in June instead of the top 400. For purposes of the summary charts below I’ll be using either the sales of the #300 book (4,560) or the sales of the most recently previously known issue, whichever is less.
I was especially interested in seeing the sales on the final (print) issue of The Vampire Diaries, as it was written and drawn by Colleen Doran and was wondering if anyone else besides me was buying it for that reason.
—
Average Periodical Sales (not counting reprints, reorders shipping after the initial month of release, and magazines)
DC COMICS 06/2004: 30,242 06/2009: 25,880 06/2010: 25,788 06/2011: 25,814 06/2012: 37,599 --------------- 06/2013: 34,517 (+ 9.9%) 07/2013: 34,402 (- 0.3%) 08/2013: 30,843 (- 10.4%) 09/2013: 54,892 (+ 78.0%) 10/2013: 31,928 (- 41.8%)** 11/2013: 32,664 (+ 2.3%) 12/2013: ?????? 01/2014: 27,881 02/2014: 27,070 (- 2.9%) 03/2014: 26,776 (- 1.1%) 04/2014: 29,202 (+ 9.1%)** 05/2014: 31,764 (+ 8.8%) 06/2014: 33,189 (+ 4.5%)** ----------------- 6 months: ????% 1 year : - 3.8% 2 years : - 11.7% 5 years : + 28.2% 10 years: + 9.7% DC UNIVERSE 06/2004: 35,815 06/2009: 36,329 06/2010: 34,612 06/2011: 28,673 06/2012: 43,082 --------------- 06/2013: 37,133 (+ 16.0%) 07/2013: 36,524 (- 1.6%) 08/2013: 33,583 (- 8.1%) 09/2013: 61,036 (+ 81.8%) 10/2013: 33,568 (- 45.0%)** 11/2013: 35,282 (+ 5.1%) 12/2013: ?????? 01/2014: 33,120 02/2014: 33,327 (+ 0.6%) 03/2014: 32,007 (- 4.0%) 04/2014: 36,447 (+ 13.9%) 05/2014: 39,555 (+ 8.5%) 06/2014: 42,733 (+ 8.0%) ----------------- 6 months: ????% 1 year : + 15.1% 2 years : - 0.1% 5 years : + 17.6% 10 years: + 19.3% VERTIGO 06/2004: 17,378 06/2009: 11,166 06/2010: 10,995 06/2011: 10,415 06/2012: 11,448 --------------- 06/2013: 17,368 (- 16.7%) 07/2013: 16,099 (- 7.3%) 08/2013: 14,130 (- 12.2%) 09/2013: 14,951 (+ 5.8%) 10/2013: 22,228 (+ 48.7%)** 11/2013: 13,958 (- 37.2%) 12/2013: ?????? 01/2014: 11,473 02/2014: 13,215 (+ 15.2%) 03/2014: 19,179 (+ 45.1%) 04/2014: 11,214 (- 41.5%) 05/2014: 11,778 (+ 5.0%) 06/2014: 11,372 (- 3.4%) ----------------- 6 months: ????% 1 year : - 34.5% 2 years : - 0.7% 5 years : + 1.8% 10 years: - 34.6% --– 6 month comparisons =================== +141.7% - Superman + 47.8% - Action Comics + 47.2% - Wonder Woman + 43.9% - Batwoman + 35.6% - Batgirl + 31.1% - Superman/Wonder Woman + 30.3% - Red Hood and the Outlaws + 29.1% - Detective Comics + 28.9% - Flash + 27.3% - Earth 2 + 27.2% - Catwoman + 24.2% - Green Lantern Corps + 20.8% - Batman and + 15.5% - Aquaman + 9.5% - Green Lantern + 8.9% - Batman + 5.1% - Justice League Dark - 0.7% - Supergirl - 0.7% - Worlds' Finest - 1.6% - Fables - 4.4% - Green Arrow - 6.3% - Birds of Prey - 8.2% - Adventures of Superman - 8.7% - Swamp Thing - 9.6% - Red Lanterns - 11.3% - Batman Beyond Universe - 11.5% - Injustice - 12.4% - Smallville - 12.6% - Astro City - 13.1% - All Star Western - 16.0% - He-Man and the Masters of the Universe - 17.9% - Justice League - 17.9% - Legends of the Dark Knight 100 Page Super Spectacular - 18.3% - Superboy - 22.4% - Harley Quinn - 24.1% - Green Lantern New Guardians - 25.4% - Constantine - 27.1% - FBP - 29.0% - Coffin Hill - 29.1% - Batman 66 - 31.8% - Trinity of Sin Phantom Stranger - 38.1% - Hinterland - 39.0% - Trinity of Sin Pandora - 44.3% - Batwing - 58.1% - Justice League 3000 - 67.8% - Larfleeze 1 year comparisons =================== +101.3% - Superman + 54.9% - Justice League Dark + 34.0% - Wonder Woman + 31.6% - Catwoman + 21.5% - Flash + 19.2% - Action Comics + 19.0% - Batwoman + 17.5% - Batgirl + 11.9% - Detective Comics + 10.2% - Earth 2 + 2.1% - Red Hood and the Outlaws - 4.2% - Aquaman - 7.1% - Batman and - 7.5% - Fables - 9.0% - Batman Beyond - 10.3% - Green Lantern Corps - 12.3% - Green Arrow - 13.1% - Supergirl - 17.1% - Batman - 18.4% - The Wake - 19.0% - Worlds' Finest - 19.4% - Justice League - 21.0% - Birds of Prey - 21.6% - Green Lantern - 21.9% - Larfleeze - 24.5% - Smallville - 25.6% - Injustice - 26.1% - All Star Western - 26.2% - Trinity of Sin Phantom Stranger - 26.6% - Swamp Thing - 29.5% - The Unwritten - 31.0% - Superboy - 32.8% - Batwing - 33.4% - He-Man and the Masters of the Universe - 36.4% - Red Lanterns - 36.8% - Constantine - 45.3% - Green Lantern New Guardians - 50.3% - Adventures of Superman - 51.6% - Astro City 2 year comparisons =================== + 75.2% - Constantine (Hellblazer) + 50.9% - Superman + 15.0% - Justice League Dark + 2.1% - Wonder Woman + 0.5% - Batgirl - 0.1% - Batman - 5.9% - All Star Western - 8.4% - Green Arrow - 8.7% - Green Lantern Corps - 9.3% - Catwoman - 10.7% - Red Hood and the Outlaws - 12.4% - Detective Comics - 15.3% - Flash - 15.5% - Batman and - 18.2% - Batwoman - 20.6% - Supergirl - 24.3% - Aquaman - 24.6% - Fables - 24.9% - The Unwritten - 30.1% - Green Lantern - 31.4% - Action Comics - 37.6% - Red Lanterns - 41.5% - Batman Beyond - 41.9% - Justice League - 42.4% - Birds of Prey - 44.2% - Earth 2 - 49.3% - Smallville - 49.9% - Green Lantern Corps - 50.6% - Swamp Thing - 53.9% - Superboy - 59.4% - Worlds' Finest - 75.0% - Batwing 5 year comparisons =================== +120.8% - Superman + 53.3% - Constantine (Hellblazer) + 50.7% - Tiny Titans + 47.3% - Wonder Woman + 38.5% - Action Comics + 34.3% - Batman + 24.0% - Justice League (JLA) + 13.4% - Green Arrow + 0.7% - All Star Western (Jonah Hex) - 8.3% - Detective Comics - 18.2% - Astro City - 31.3% - Supergirl - 33.1% - Green Lantern - 35.9% - Green Lantern Corps - 40.3% - Fables - 43.2% - Flash - 48.8% - Birds of Prey - 69.5% - Batman and 10 year comparisons =================== +110.6% - Detective Comics + 80.0% - Aquaman + 75.1% - Batman + 65.0% - Wonder Woman + 56.7% - Green Lantern + 55.8% - Batgirl + 40.2% - Catwoman + 17.7% - Action Comics + 11.0% - Constantine (Hellblazer) + 0.6% - Flash - 3.0% - Justice League - 19.7% - Swamp Thing - 29.2% - Green Arrow - 45.0% - Superman - 45.2% - Fables Sales Indices ============= DCU: Average: 42,733. Median: 40,734. 3.0 - Batman 2.2 - Harley Quinn 2.1 - Superman 1.8 - Justice League 1.7 - Detective Comics 1.6 - Batman Eternal (9) 1.6 - Batman Eternal (10) 1.5 - Batman Eternal (11) 1.5 - Batman Eternal (12) 1.5 - Justice League United 1.5 - Superman/Wonder Woman 1.3 - Green Lantern 1.3 - Batman and 1.3 - Action Comics 1.3 - Futures End (5) 1.2 - Futures End (6) 1.2 - Futures End (7) 1.1 - Futures End (8) 1.1 - Wonder Woman 1.1 - Batgirl 1.1 - Earth 2 1.1 - Flash 1.0 - Aquaman 1.0 - Green Lantern Corps 0.9 - Justice League Dark 0.8 - Catwoman 0.8 - Batwoman 0.8 - Red Hood and the Outlaws 0.7 - Sinestro 0.7 - Secret Origins 0.6 - Infinity Man and the Forever People 0.6 - Justice League 3000 0.6 - Red Lanterns 0.6 - Green Arrow 0.5 - Green Lantern New Guardians 0.5 - Aquaman and the Others 0.5 - Supergirl 0.5 - Worlds' Finest 0.4 - Swamp Thing 0.4 - Constantine 0.4 - Birds of Prey 0.3 - Superboy 0.3 - Trinity of Sin Phantom Stranger 0.3 - Trinity of Sin Pandora 0.3 - Larfleeze 0.3 - All Star Western 0.2 - Batwing Vertigo: Average: 11,372. Median: 7,988 2.3 - The Wake 1.2 - Fables 1.2 - Astro City 0.8 - Coffin Hill 0.6 - Hinterkind 0.6 - The Unwritten 0.6 - FBP 0.6 - The Royals Digital First & Other: Average: 12,110*. Median: 11,401*. 2.7 - Batman '66 Meets the Green Hornet 1.6 - Injustice Year Two 1.4 - Batman '66 1.2 - Batman Beyond Universe 1.1 - Tiny Titans Return to the Treehouse 1.0 - He-Man and the Masters of the Universe 0.9 - Smallville: Lantern 0.9 - Adventures of Superman 0.8 - Legends of the Dark Knight 100 Page Super Spectacular 0.5 - Scribblenauts Unmasked ??? - Scooby-Doo Where Are You? ??? - The Vampire Diaries ??? - Looney Tunes
The sales index number is a ratio of the title’s current month sales to the average sales figure of the line to which is belongs for that month. So a sales index number of 1.0 means that a title sold very close to the sales average for that line.
––
The Fine Print (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 of physical comics 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. Keep in mind that sales for some titles may include incentives to acquire variants and not every unit sold is necessarily even intended to be sold to a customer.
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 brackets 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 which are returnable have their numbers artificially adjusted down by Diamond. To make up for that this column increases the reported numbers for those titles by 10%. Which is likely also wrong, but it’s a different and likely less wrong kind of wrong, and experience has shown that this leads to sales figures which are more consistent.
Titles released under the All-Ages line 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.
Please keep in mind that raw sales numbers do not tell us about how profitable a book is for a publisher or for the creators.
Above all, do not allow sales numbers to dictate your purchasing and enjoyment of a particular comic. If you enjoy reading a comic series then go right on buying and reading that comic, no matter what the sales figures say.
** Two asterisks after a given month in the average charts mean that one or more periodical release did not make the Top 300/400 chart in that month. In those cases, it’s assumed that said releases sold as many units as the No. 300/400 comic on the chart for that month for the purposes of the chart, although its actual sales are likely to be less than that.
Opinions expressed in this column are mine alone, and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer, Heidi MacDonald or anyone at The Comics Beat, the Comic-Con International Organizing Committee, or my neighbor’s dog Miles.
The author of this column does weekly snapshots of Amazon comic sales charts at http://yetanothercomicsblog.blogspot.com/ and tweets about comics and related subjects on Twitter at @davereadscomics (PM me there is you need to contact me).
As always, we welcome your comments and corrections below. Please try to keep things civilized.
I am shocked that there is an audience for the new take on Batgirl. Looks like they deaged her within continuity, and made it for tweens. Not of interest to me.
I also would like to see Red Lanterns get its balls back. The Judge was a very cool character, then they gut her two issues later. I dont understand it.
Ugh. All these charts do is prove fanboys care nothing about content, story or art, and everything about speculation and pointless “variant” covers. Sad.
“Has been remarkably consistent over the past few months. But a new creative team arrives in October.” – Hey, this book of ours has been remarkably stable! Should be leave it alone? No! Let’s take off the entire creative team and see what happens! Yes, sounds like a great… wait, what? Oh, DC, you silly company that hates success of any sort.
PS – Green Arrow is the remarkably consistent book. :) (Why can you not edit your posts? I could have sworn it was 2014. Or maybe it’s just a Firefox issue?)
@Jeff – do you honestly not see where there could be an audience for this, even if it’s not something you personally want? Do you think that only what you like is popular?
@Nathan – consistently a low seller is not a good thing, really. Better than constantly dropping, yes, but when there’s clearly room for improvement given who the character is, I don’t see why not.
Glen- No I think it wont be popular because I know who the majority of comic book readers are. And when the audience looks to be tween girls, then no, the audience is NOT there. Or not enough readers to support this book. Let’s say 20k+. And there are plenty of forums and sites who are decrying this change. Batgirl is supposed to be mid to late twenties, if not early thirties. This picture has her appearing like a teenager. It wont fit tonally with the numerous Batman crossovers it will be forced into, and it does not fit with what its readers are reading now. I give this change less than a year.
Well, hopefully all those people who have been bitching about DC not doing anything fun will actually purchase a book for a change. And the majority doesn’t actually have the purchase the book – a strong minority can more than support a book. That said, I believe you are right that it won’t be around for a full year – because DC is obviously doing a major shakeup in the middle of next year and I expect to see lots of changes. This is just something fun to do for the next six months. Just like the changes to Green Arrow, Catwoman, and books like Arkham Manor and Gotham Academy. Doesn’t mean it won’t be fun while it lasts. BTW, Batman himself is supposed to be in his mid-to-late twenties this go-around, so I doubt Babs is really that old. More like 21.
I am constantly stunned that variant covers can bump sales as much as they do …
Lol nice sneaky dig at the Supergirl series! Personally I don’t read much DC (only Wonder Woman) and mostly just like these charts to see how the industry’s doing. However the new Batgirl has me intrigued!
Never read any Gotham-related titles in my life (yes that includes Batman, I know I should be ashamed), but honestly how hard can superheroes be? It looks fun, so gonna try it out, and no Jeff I’m not a tween girl! ;)(Although it would be great if DC could capture that audience, in my opinion!!)
The variant increases are pretty mindboggling, is the ‘collector’ mindset really that prevalent or were they just really goodlooking covers? Also Mr. Carter, I gotta ask what makes you hesistant towards the success of ‘selfie’-themed covers? The few I’ve seen look pretty fun and upbeat, no? The Batgirl one in particular is what caught my eye to that series in the first place. Got a feeling those selfie covers might do pretty well for DC, people like taking selfies right? Anyway we’ll see. :)
@Total: I agree that the ‘Selfie’ variants look fun and upbeat, but while Cheesecake and Batman are two things that have always sold well in traditional comic shops, Selfies have less of a track record, so retailers might be more hesitant to order as many for the shelf. Also, by the time FOC rolls around retailers will have a better idea on how well the Bombshell and Batman variants sold, as well as how the regular covers sold. If they’re stuck with a bunch of either on the shelf, they may cut back their ordering on the Selfies (or order plenty of variants but cut back on the number of regular covers). And with the big 3D cover month coming in September, retailers may be even more conservative for August variants. Or not. It will be fascinating to see how this all plays out over the next several months.
Like the article says, there’s no guarantee these sold to actual consumers. The publishers’ customers are retailers and retailers often work in educated guesses.
This latest variant ordering scheme indicates that a customer might want one of two of everything now (and possibly both), so in order to serve demand, a retailer would likely try and have bases covered by having both present. That would logically increase order numbers–as retailers’ wishful thinking/enthusiasm and hand-selling these gimmicks are the best chance they have of making a living.
Now like all gimmicks, they labor under the law of diminishing returns. The next one will be more focused as retailers have a better sense of what their customer base wants and inefficiency and waste will be cut out. However, what’s cooked into this gimmick is the question of which one is the rarer variant? This is harder to ascertain as they can be ordered in the same way. It’s entirely possible the regular covers could become the rarer if everyone wants the variants. So there may be an added bonus for DC to keep this kind of guessing game going as retailers try and zero in–DC might want to continue to keep that target moving.
Even that will wear thin for retailers and consumers at some point. But then DC should be on to the next gimmick to move copies. In order to better expedite the impending apocalypse, I hope this is a frenzied speculator bubble that is building. It will be good fun watching the comic industry have to learn painful lessons anew. The smart ones will be the ones that survive and a healthier industry that’s built on sound business practices will be a welcome change from this era.
“Even that will wear thin for retailers and consumers at some point. But then DC should be on to the next gimmick to move copies. In order to better expedite the impending apocalypse, I hope this is a frenzied speculator bubble that is building. It will be good fun watching the comic industry have to learn painful lessons anew. The smart ones will be the ones that survive and a healthier industry that’s built on sound business practices will be a welcome change from this era.”
Jesus Christ, how long is it I’ve been reading a dozen identical smug, gloating predictions of the imminent collapse of the comics industry every month? Ten years? Fifteen?
Jon : When will it be, this end of which you have spoken?
Omnes : Aye, when will it be – when will it be?
Peter : In about thirty seconds time, according to the ancient pyramidic scrolls… and my Ingersoll watch.
Jon : Shall we compose ourselves, then?
Peter : Good plan, Brother Pithy. Prepare for the End of the World! Fifteen seconds…
Alan : Have we got the tinned food?
Dudley : Yes.
Peter : Ten seconds…
Jon : And the tin-opener?
Dudley : Yes.
Peter : Five – four – three – two – one – Zero!
Omnes : (Chanting) Now is the end – Perish The World!
[A pause]
Peter : It was GMT, wasn’t it?
Jon : Yes.
Peter : Well, it’s not quite the conflagration I’d been banking on. Never mind, lads, same time tomorrow… we must get a winner one day.
@NathanAaron–I believe Lemire and Sorrentino wanted to leave Green Arrow to work on something else (possibly for DC), not DC taking them off the book.
Not Jesus Christ, just me, Tim.
Like you, I wish those increased sales were due to new readers. Oh well.
Re: Vertigo – ARE those titles in poor shape? Because Vertigo has never sold like how DC/Marvel sells. The newer titles also all recently announced 1st trade collections of the first 5-7 issues. Perhaps the Vertigo model is different under Hank Kanalz, perhaps there’s more leeway; and Vertigo always do better in their backlist, right? I read an interview somewhere where Shelly Bond says Vertigo readers are largely trade readers.
I know 3 comics stores around where I live that don’t stock Vertigo as monthlies, but always do extremely well when Vertigo trade collections come out (recent titles as well as earlier).
@Dave Carter — Ah okay, good points! I hadn’t considered that these ‘new’ variant schemes (order-what-you-like) were something new to retailers, so it’s hard to say whether they ordered conservatively or not this time around. And what that will mean for next time around. Plus track records, another good argument. Thanks for replying!
It’ll be interesting to see next month’s sales. Did the Bombshell variants pick up new readers, or simply those that must have every variant out there? I hope it’s the former, but fear it’s the latter.
RD: Yes, it seems the doomsayers come out of the woodwork every few months or so. Not to worry, they’re good for a few yuks here and there. It’s possible that several decades down the line, comics MIGHT go all digital—-but that won’t even come close to happening until several generations down the line from us are raised in a world that has (largely) given up on all things paper. Got a feeling that I’ll be long dead ‘n’ buried before that ever begins to come to pass.
Variant covers, if done well, have a life in the collectibles market.
Fans don’t know (or care) how rare a variant is (they know it’s rare, but they don’t know the ratios). It’s a variant, full stop. It’s something rare and differerent, and maybe worth the extra cost.
Wondering if 1:1 variants are worth more?
Go check out Boom’s Disney covers. They did this regularly (partly because of the large collectors market overseas). I bought whichever cover looked best.
One other thing: Why exactly does DC and Marvel get raked over the coals for doing variant covers, while Dynamite Comics has multiple variants on EVERY issue of every comic book series they publish? And don’t get me wrong: I enjoy Dynamite. Very high-quality comics. Just simply calling a spade a spade here, as they say. What’s fair for one should be fair for all, regardless of how large or small your comic book company is.
@Rob E — Maybe just because DC seem to be doing it more successfully? I don’t keep track of Dynamite but I have the feeling their titles wouldn’t even survive without selling multiple copies to the same consumer through variant covers? Could be wrong, but their series never really last long beyond the initial push do they?
Some Image series (like Zero) or Boom stuff (Adventure Time) have already used this ‘order whichever variant you like’ model for a while, so I tend to just pick the one I like best. Wonder if others do too? Or do people just care about variants if they’re ‘rarer’ (no matter how inflated that rarity gets with the amount of variants produced each month…).
“Ugh. All these charts do is prove fanboys care nothing about content, story or art”
That’s right, only the books YOU like are good, and everything everyone else is buying is crap.
“Batgirl is supposed to be mid to late twenties, if not early thirties. This picture has her appearing like a teenager. It wont fit tonally with the numerous Batman crossovers it will be forced into, and it does not fit with what its readers are reading now.”
Oh noes, my precious continuity! Don’t hurt it!
“Like the article says, there’s no guarantee these sold to actual consumers. The publishers’ customers are retailers and retailers often work in educated guesses.”
That’s right. Retailers just order a bunch of shit at random and don’t care whether or not it sells. It’s not like they’re actually responsible businesses or anything!
Retailer Mike Sterling talks about the difficulty in ordering the DC variant covers over on Progressive Ruin today.
Looking back on the Green Arrow discussion, the picture has become a bit clearer. Sorrentino is starting up Marvel work and Lemire is now putting more of his muslce behind creator-owned work and even a Valiant superhero title. It seems that once Lemire finished his contract he simply wanted to spread his wings; I doubt this was DC’s decision for a talent like Lemire to no longer exclusively be DC.
Comments are closed.