Led by the top-selling Batman: The Dark Knight and Batman, Inc., which were back on the racks after a two-month absence, and a double-shipping Green Lantern, DC Comics’ periodical sales continued a slow recovery in February.
Notably, the February numbers also show modest increases across the rest of DC’s line-up. Maybe the company’s decision to cancel around 25% of its current ongoing titles and stick to a $ 2.99 price point is encouraging retailers, after all.
See below for the details, and please consider the small print at the end of the column. Thanks to Milton Griepp and ICv2.com for the permission to use their figures. An overview of ICv2.com‘s estimates can be found here.
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2/3 - GREEN LANTERN 03/2006: Green Lantern #10 -- 79,745 [87,143] 03/2007: Green Lantern #18 -- 61,661 03/2008: Green Lantern #29 -- 66,536 03/2009: -- -------------------------------------- 03/2010: Green Lantern #52 -- 97,369 (+ 2.0%) 04/2010: Green Lantern #53 -- 100,356 (+ 3.1%) 05/2010: Green Lantern #54 -- 88,292 (-12.0%) 06/2010: Green Lantern #55 -- 85,930 (- 2.7%) 07/2010: Green Lantern #56 -- 84,164 (- 2.1%) 08/2010: -- 09/2010: Green Lantern #57 -- 85,179 (+ 1.2%) 10/2010: Green Lantern #58 -- 81,626 (- 4.2%) 11/2010: Green Lantern #59 -- 76,173 (- 6.7%) 12/2010: Green Lantern #60 -- 76,360 (+ 0.3%) 12/2010: Green Lantern #61 -- 72,203 (- 5.4%) 01/2011: -- 02/2011: Green Lantern #62 -- 71,517 (- 1.0%) 03/2011: Green Lantern #63 -- 75,632 (+ 5.8%) 03/2011: Green Lantern #64 -- 76,898 (+ 1.7%) ----------------- 6 months: - 10.5% 1 year : - 21.7% 2 years : n.a. 5 years : - 4.4%
With two issues out in March, Green Lantern caught up on its schedule. The “War of the Green Lanterns” crossover gives the book another sales increase.
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4 - BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT 12/2010: Dark Knight #1 -- 89,985 [92,791] 01/2011: -- 02/2011: -- 03/2011: Dark Knight #2 -- 71,108 (-21.0%)
The David Finch vehicle returns after a two-month hiatus. According to the original solicitation, issue #2 was meant to come out in December 2010. So everything isn’t exactly going as planned here, and it doesn’t look like the situation is about to improve.
For February 2011, issue #3 was solicited, though that obviously didn’t work out; neither did the March and April release dates for #4 and #5, respectively. So issues #4 and #5 were resolicited for May and June. But then that wasn’t going to work out either, evidently, since issue #3 won’t be out until May 25, according to DC’s Web site. And so issue #4 has been resolicited for July.
However, don’t count your chickens yet, because the DC Web site currently doesn’t list any issues of Batman: The Dark Knight past #3, which may indicate further delays.
The good news is, sales don’t seem to be affected yet. A 21% drop is very modest, considering that the second issue only came with a 1:25 variant while issue #1 also had a 1:200 variant to boost the numbers. So at least a good case can be made that DC could actually be selling a lot of copies of this Batman comic book in theory, if it were in fact coming out.
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5/6 - BRIGHTEST DAY 04/2010: Brightest Day #0 -- 129,446 05/2010: Brightest Day #1 -- 129,158 (- 0.2%) 05/2010: Brightest Day #2 -- 112,806 (-12.7%) 06/2010: Brightest Day #3 -- 107,269 (- 4.9%) 06/2010: Brightest Day #4 -- 101,730 (- 5.2%) 07/2010: Brightest Day #5 -- 97,245 (- 4.4%) 07/2010: Brightest Day #6 -- 94,684 (- 2.6%) 08/2010: Brightest Day #7 -- 93,459 (- 1.3%) 08/2010: Brightest Day #8 -- 91,546 (- 2.1%) 09/2010: Brightest Day #9 -- 88,446 (- 3.4%) 09/2010: Brightest Day #10 -- 87,241 (- 1.4%) 10/2010: Brightest Day #11 -- 83,823 (- 3.9%) 10/2010: Brightest Day #12 -- 82,394 (- 1.7%) 11/2010: Brightest Day #13 -- 79,955 (- 3.0%) 11/2010: Brightest Day #14 -- 78,452 (- 1.9%) 12/2010: Brightest Day #15 -- 75,450 (- 3.8%) 12/2010: Brightest Day #16 -- 74,871 (- 0.8%) 01/2011: Brightest Day #17 -- 72,841 (- 2.7%) 01/2011: Brightest Day #18 -- 72,090 (- 1.0%) 02/2011: Brightest Day #19 -- 71,063 (- 1.4%) 02/2011: Brightest Day #20 -- 69,729 (- 1.9%) 03/2011: Brightest Day #21 -- 70,204 (+ 0.7%) 03/2011: Brightest Day #22 -- 69,824 (- 0.5%) ---------------- 6 months: -20.3%
Sales are holding level as the book nears its conclusion with issue #26. Perfectly good numbers for this type of thing.
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7/9 - BATMAN, INC. 11/2010: Batman, Inc. #1 -- 95,587 12/2010: Batman, Inc. #2 -- 71,544 (-25.2%) [72,957] 01/2011: -- 02/2011: -- 03/2011: Batman, Inc. #3 -- 66,772 (- 6.7%) 03/2011: Batman, Inc. #4 -- 65,315 (- 2.2%)
The numbers are leveling out quickly for the continuation of Grant Morrison’s big Batman saga. Issue #4 was meant to be out in February, but the scheduling woes aren’t as dire here as with The Dark Knight: Issue #5 came out in April, and subsequent issues are still set to follow monthly, as I’m writing this. They had to hire a bunch of fill-in artists to get the job done, mind you, but at least the book isn’t dropping off the map entirely.
Speaking of dropping off the map, by the way, the new Batwoman series by J.H. Williams III and friends that was supposed to launch in February still hasn’t been resolicited as of the July Previews, Neal Adams’s Batman: The Odyssey (the totally-nuts one) was missing again in March, and the Batman projects by Frank Miller/Jim Lee (the one where Batman says “goddamn” a lot) and Kevin Smith (the one where Batman wets himself) that were meant to come out in early 2011 are nowhere to be seen, either. Interesting times at the Batman office, apparently.
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12 - GREEN LANTERN CORPS 03/2006: GLC: Recharge #5 of 5 -- 60,123 03/2007: Green Lantern Corps #10 -- 34,227 03/2008: Green Lantern Corps #22 -- 46,736 03/2009: Green Lantern Corps #34 -- 54,162 ------------------------------------------ 03/2010: Green Lantern Corps #46 -- 76,720 (+ 1.8%) 04/2010: Green Lantern Corps #47 -- 72,163 (- 5.9%) 05/2010: Green Lantern Corps #48 -- 68,826 (- 4.6%) 06/2010: Green Lantern Corps #49 -- 66,652 (- 3.2%) 07/2010: Green Lantern Corps #50 -- 67,035 (+ 0.6%) 08/2010: Green Lantern Corps #51 -- 67,124 (+ 0.1%) 09/2010: Green Lantern Corps #52 -- 63,577 (- 5.3%) 10/2010: Green Lantern Corps #53 -- 60,808 (- 4.4%) 11/2010: Green Lantern Corps #54 -- 57,448 (- 5.5%) 12/2010: Green Lantern Corps #55 -- 54,387 (- 5.3%) 01/2011: Green Lantern Corps #56 -- 53,646 (- 1.4%) 02/2011: Green Lantern Corps #57 -- 52,770 (- 1.6%) 03/2011: Green Lantern Corps #58 -- 60,100 (+13.9%) ---------------- 6 months: - 5.5% 1 year : -21.7% 2 years : +11.0% 5 years : - 0.0%
The “War of the Green Lanterns” crossover kicks the book’s numbers back up the charts a few notches.
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14 - BATMAN AND ROBIN 03/2010: Batman and Robin #10 -- 85,292 (+ 0.9%) 04/2010: Batman and Robin #11 -- 84,006 (- 1.5%) 05/2010: Batman and Robin #12 -- 84,843 (+ 1.0%) 06/2010: -- 07/2010: Batman and Robin #13 -- 85,804 (+ 1.1%) 08/2010: -- 09/2010: Batman and Robin #14 -- 82,894 (- 3.4%) 10/2010: Batman and Robin #15 -- 80,173 (- 3.3%) 11/2010: Batman and Robin #16 -- 80,343 (+ 0.2%) 11/2010: Batman and Robin #17 -- 70,600 (-12.1%) 12/2010: Batman and Robin #18 -- 68,814 (- 2.5%) 01/2011: Batman and Robin #19 -- 61,785 (-10.2%) 02/2011: Batman and Robin #20 -- 60,642 (- 1.9%) 03/2011: Batman and Robin #21 -- 59,818 (- 1.4%) ---------------- 6 months: -27.8% 1 year : -29.9%
Sales are leveling out here, but it’s all academic again: It looks like the Tomasi/Gleason run, which was initially meant to start with issue #17 but then pushed back to #20 at the last minute, will only last three issues, before yet another creative team takes over.
Very interesting times at the Batman office.
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18 - BATMAN 03/2006: Batman #651 -- 69,805 03/2007: Batman #664 -- 80,497 03/2008: -- 03/2009: BfC #1 of 3 -- 91,619 [103,913] ------------------------------- 03/2010: Batman #697 -- 61,157 (- 0.2%) 04/2010: Batman #698 -- 60,934 (- 0.4%) 05/2010: Batman #699 -- 62,377 (+ 2.4%) 06/2010: Batman #700 -- 104,755 (+67.9%) 07/2010: Batman #701 -- 76,398 (-27.1%) 08/2010: Batman #702 -- 73,414 (- 3.9%) 09/2010: Batman #703 -- 77,033 (+ 4.9%) 10/2010: -- 11/2010: Batman #704 -- 65,212 (-15.4%) 12/2010: Batman #705 -- 63,262 (- 3.0%) 01/2011: Batman #706 -- 60,231 (- 4.8%) 02/2011: Batman #707 -- 58,803 (- 2.4%) 03/2011: Batman #708 -- 58,594 (- 0.4%) ---------------- 6 months: -23.9% 1 year : - 4.2% 2 years : -36.1% 5 years : -16.1%
See above, pretty much. Batman sales are leveling out, but given that neither of the last two issues were by the creators that were meant to be doing them, there’s no telling whether that’s an accurate reflection of demand.
Whatever is going on at the Batman office?
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22 - GREEN LANTERN: EMERALD WARRIORS 08/2010: Emerald Warriors #1 -- 68,332 09/2010: Emerald Warriors #2 -- 56,289 (-17.6%) 10/2010: Emerald Warriors #3 -- 50,490 (-10.3%) 11/2010: Emerald Warriors #4 -- 46,319 (- 8.3%) 12/2010: Emerald Warriors #5 -- 44,077 (- 4.8%) 01/2011: Emerald Warriors #6 -- 43,471 (- 1.4%) 02/2011: Emerald Warriors #7 -- 44,828 (+ 3.1%) 03/2011: Emerald Warriors #8 -- 51,322 (+14.5%) ---------------- 6 months: - 8.8%
The tertiary Green Lantern book also gets a solid boost out of “War of the Green Lanterns.”
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26 - JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA 03/2007: Justice League #6 -- 130,099 [131,754] 03/2008: Justice League #19 -- 87,482 03/2009: Justice League #31 -- 68,759 -------------------------------------- 03/2010: Justice League #43 -- 56,461 (- 1.9%) 04/2010: Justice League #44 -- 62,342 (+10.4%) 05/2010: Justice League #45 -- 62,465 (+ 0.2%) 06/2010: Justice League #46 -- 62,754 (+ 0.5%) 07/2010: Justice League #47 -- 60,368 (- 3.8%) 08/2010: Justice League #48 -- 60,733 (+ 0.6%) 09/2010: Justice League #49 -- 57,616 (- 5.1%) 10/2010: Justice League #50 -- 59,686 (+ 3.6%) 11/2010: Justice League #51 -- 50,887 (-14.7%) 12/2010: Justice League #52 -- 48,501 (- 4.7%) 01/2011: Justice League #53 -- 47,093 (- 2.9%) 02/2011: Justice League #54 -- 46,269 (- 1.8%) 03/2011: Justice League #55 -- 50,533 (+ 9.2%) ---------------- 6 months: -12.3% 1 year : -10.5% 2 years : -26.5%
Presumably, the “Reign of Doomsday” crossover that started in January’s Steel one-shot and continued through The Outsiders #37 (see below) is responsible for the increase.
Evidently, the guy who killed Superman back in the 1990s is still somewhat popular.
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38 - DETECTIVE COMICS 03/2006: Detective Comics #817 -- 62,245 [70,241] 03/2007: Detective Comics #829 -- 52,943 03/2007: Detective Comics #830 -- 52,395 03/2008: Detective Comics #842 -- 49,425 03/2009: -- ----------------------------------------- 03/2010: Detective Comics #862 -- 44,687 (- 2.7%) 03/2010: Detective Comics #863 -- 43,119 (- 3.5%) 04/2010: Detective Comics #864 -- 42,436 (- 1.6%) 05/2010: Detective Comics #865 -- 41,501 (- 2.2%) 06/2010: Detective Comics #866 -- 46,178 (+11.3%) 07/2010: Detective Comics #867 -- 40,371 (-12.6%) 08/2010: Detective Comics #868 -- 38,682 (- 4.2%) 09/2010: Detective Comics #869 -- 37,394 (- 3.3%) 10/2010: Detective Comics #870 -- 35,674 (- 4.6%) 11/2010: Detective Comics #871 -- 36,941 (+ 3.6%) 12/2010: Detective Comics #872 -- 37,961 (+ 2.8%) [39,758] 01/2011: Detective Comics #873 -- 38,417 (+ 1.2%) 02/2011: Detective Comics #874 -- 39,106 (+ 1.8%) 03/2011: Detective Comics #875 -- 40,047 (+ 2.4%) ----------------- 6 months: + 7.1% 1 year : - 8.8% 2 years : n.a. 5 years : - 35.7%
Look, a Batman title with a consistent, critically acclaimed creative team (Scott Snyder and Jock) and steadily increasing sales.
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39 - SUPERMAN 03/2006: Superman #650 -- 65,603 [77,783] 03/2007: Superman #660 -- 57,169 03/2008: Superman #674 -- 41,715 03/2009: Superman #686 -- 44,976 --------------------------------- 03/2010: Superman #698 -- 33,336 (+ 5.8%) 04/2010: Superman #699 -- 33,183 (- 0.5%) 05/2010: -- 06/2010: Superman #700 -- 67,571 (+103.6%) 07/2010: Superman #701 -- 54,506 (- 19.3%) 08/2010: Superman #702 -- 50,023 (- 8.2%) 09/2010: -- 10/2010: Superman #703 -- 50,460 (+ 0.9%) 10/2010: Superman #704 -- 46,741 (- 7.4%) 11/2010: Superman #705 -- 46,261 (- 1.0%) 12/2010: Superman #706 -- 43,027 (- 7.0%) 01/2011: Superman #707 -- 41,843 (- 2.8%) 02/2011: Superman #708 -- 40,639 (- 2.9%) 03/2011: Superman #709 -- 39,846 (- 2.0%) ----------------- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : + 19.5% 2 years : - 11.4% 5 years : - 39.2%
Sales are stabilizing, slowly but surely.
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44 - GREEN ARROW 03/2006: Green Arrow #60 -- 37,946 [43,045] 03/2007: Green Arrow #72 -- 31,144 03/2008: Arrow/Canary #6 -- 32,621 03/2009: Arrow/Canary #18 -- 22,699 ----------------------------------- 03/2010: Green Arrow #31 -- 28,486 (- 32.2%) 04/2010: Green Arrow #32 -- 29,137 (+ 2.3%) 05/2010: -- 06/2010: Green Arrow #1 -- 54,400 (+ 86.7%) [57,554] 07/2010: Green Arrow #2 -- 44,118 (- 18.9%) 08/2010: Green Arrow #3 -- 46,308 (+ 5.0%) 09/2010: Green Arrow #4 -- 44,220 (- 4.5%) 10/2010: Green Arrow #5 -- 42,188 (- 4.6%) 11/2010: Green Arrow #6 -- 39,575 (- 6.2%) 12/2010: Green Arrow #7 -- 36,835 (- 6.9%) 01/2011: Green Arrow #8 -- 35,307 (- 4.2%) 02/2011: Green Arrow #9 -- 33,922 (- 3.9%) 03/2011: Green Arrow #10 -- 33,085 (- 2.5%) ----------------- 6 months: - 25.2% 1 year : + 16.2% 2 years : + 45.8% 5 years : - 12.8%
Another book that’s finding its level. These numbers are still more than solid for a Green Arrow title.
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45/49 - WONDER WOMAN 03/2007: Wonder Woman #5 -- 64,414 03/2008: Wonder Woman #18 -- 40,771 03/2009: Wonder Woman #30 -- 33,365 ------------------------------------- 03/2010: Wonder Woman #42 -- 25,240 (- 0.5%) 04/2010: Wonder Woman #43 -- 25,369 (+ 0.5%) 05/2010: Wonder Woman #44 -- 25,443 (+ 0.3%) 06/2010: Wonder Woman #600 -- 53,525 (+110.4%) [63,700] 07/2010: Wonder Woman #601 -- 39,672 (- 25.9%) 08/2010: Wonder Woman #602 -- 38,012 (- 4.2%) 09/2010: Wonder Woman #603 -- 38,852 (+ 2.2%) 10/2010: Wonder Woman #604 -- 37,405 (- 3.7%) 11/2010: -- 12/2010: Wonder Woman #605 -- 35,495 (- 5.1%) 01/2011: Wonder Woman #606 -- 33,601 (- 5.3%) 02/2011: Wonder Woman #607 -- 33,053 (- 1.6%) 03/2011: Wonder Woman #608 -- 32,540 (- 1.6%) 03/2011: Wonder Woman #609 -- 31,421 (- 3.4%) ----------------- 6 months: - 17.7% 1 year : + 26.7% 2 years : - 4.2% 5 years : n.a.
Wonder Woman still hasn’t found its level.
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48 - ACTION COMICS 03/2006: Action Comics #837 -- 55,816 [69,652] 03/2007: Action Comics #847 -- 64,679 03/2008: -- 03/2009: Action Comics #875 -- 47,079 ------------------------------------- 03/2010: Action Comics #887 -- 29,460 (- 1.3%) 04/2010: Action Comics #888 -- 29,536 (+ 0.3%) 04/2010: Action Comics #889 -- 29,106 (- 1.5%) 05/2010: -- 06/2010: Action Comics #890 -- 34,744 (+19.4%) [40,039] 07/2010: Action Comics #891 -- 35,328 (+ 1.7%) 08/2010: Action Comics #892 -- 36,401 (+ 3.0%) 09/2010: Action Comics #893 -- 33,948 (- 6.7%) 10/2010: Action Comics #894 -- 42,291 (+24.6%) 11/2010: Action Comics #895 -- 33,089 (-21.8%) 12/2010: Action Comics #896 -- 32,357 (- 2.2%) 01/2011: Action Comics #897 -- 32,134 (- 0.7%) 02/2011: Action Comics #898 -- 31,935 (- 0.6%) 03/2011: Action Comics #899 -- 31,808 (- 0.4%) ---------------- 6 months: - 6.3% 1 year : + 8.0% 2 years : -32.4% 5 years : -43.0%
Rock-solid numbers.
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52 - BIRDS OF PREY 03/2006: Birds of Prey #92 -- 36,808 03/2007: Birds of Prey #104 -- 28,464 03/2008: Birds of Prey #116 -- 22,627 ------------------------------------- 05/2010: Birds of Prey #1 -- 50,428 (+135.4%) [54,965] 06/2010: Birds of Prey #2 -- 44,064 (- 12.6%) 07/2010: Birds of Prey #3 -- 43,420 (- 1.5%) 08/2010: Birds of Prey #4 -- 46,149 (+ 6.3%) 09/2010: Birds of Prey #5 -- 40,146 (- 13.0%) 10/2010: -- 11/2010: Birds of Prey #6 -- 34,440 (- 14.2%) 12/2010: Birds of Prey #7 -- 33,114 (- 3.9%) 01/2011: Birds of Prey #8 -- 31,616 (- 4.5%) 02/2011: Birds of Prey #9 -- 30,641 (- 3.1%) 03/2011: Birds of Prey #10 -- 30,777 (+ 0.4%) ----------------- 6 months: - 23.3% 5 years : - 16.4%
A sales increase for no apparent reason, regardless how marginal, is always a good sign, because it suggests that something as substantial as the content of the book itself may actually be drawing in readers.
Birds of Prey seems on track to re-establishing itself as the rock-solid mid-level performer that it was during writer Gail Simone’s tenure on the previous volume.
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55 - JUSTICE LEAGUE: GENERATION LOST 05/2010: Generation Lost #1 -- 50,784 05/2010: Generation Lost #2 -- 44,711 (-12.0%) 06/2010: Generation Lost #3 -- 43,278 (- 3.2%) 06/2010: Generation Lost #4 -- 41,702 (- 3.6%) 07/2010: Generation Lost #5 -- 40,370 (- 3.2%) 07/2010: Generation Lost #6 -- 39,190 (- 2.9%) 08/2010: Generation Lost #7 -- 39,971 (+ 2.0%) 08/2010: Generation Lost #8 -- 38,745 (- 3.1%) 09/2010: Generation Lost #9 -- 37,151 (- 4.1%) 09/2010: Generation Lost #10 -- 36,624 (- 1.4%) 10/2010: Generation Lost #11 -- 35,504 (- 3.1%) 10/2010: Generation Lost #12 -- 34,752 (- 2.1%) 11/2010: Generation Lost #13 -- 33,504 (- 3.6%) 11/2010: Generation Lost #14 -- 32,722 (- 2.3%) 12/2010: Generation Lost #15 -- 31,871 (- 2.6%) 12/2010: Generation Lost #16 -- 31,048 (- 2.6%) 01/2011: Generation Lost #17 -- 30,877 (- 0.6%) 01/2011: Generation Lost #18 -- 30,457 (- 1.4%) 02/2011: Generation Lost #19 -- 30,549 (+ 0.3%) 02/2011: Generation Lost #20 -- 30,040 (- 1.7%) 03/2011: Generation Lost #21 -- 30,323 (+ 0.9%) 03/2011: Generation Lost #22 -- 30,270 (- 0.2%) ---------------- 6 months: -17.9%
Holding level as the book enters the home stretch – see Brightest Day.
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57 - RED ROBIN 03/2006: Robin #148 -- 36,717 [42,442] 03/2007: Robin #160 -- 27,659 03/2008: Robin #172 -- 26,912 -------------------------------- 03/2010: Red Robin #10 -- 36,708 (+ 0.7%) 04/2010: Red Robin #11 -- 36,205 (- 1.4%) 05/2010: Red Robin #12 -- 36,273 (+ 0.2%) 06/2010: Red Robin #13 -- 35,917 (- 1.0%) 07/2010: Red Robin #14 -- 35,652 (- 0.7%) 08/2010: Red Robin #15 -- 34,709 (- 2.7%) 09/2010: Red Robin #16 -- 33,753 (- 2.8%) 10/2010: -- 11/2010: Red Robin #17 -- 31,825 (- 5.7%) 12/2010: Red Robin #18 -- 30,873 (- 3.0%) 01/2011: Red Robin #19 -- 30,547 (- 1.1%) 02/2011: Red Robin #20 -- 30,149 (- 1.3%) 03/2011: Red Robin #21 -- 29,652 (- 1.7%) ----------------- 6 months: - 12.2% 1 year : - 19.2% 5 years : - 19.2%
Standard attrition.
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59 - SUPERMAN/BATMAN 03/2006: Superman/Batman #24 -- 101,315 [103,757] 03/2007: Superman/Batman #32 -- 77,905 03/2008: -- 03/2009: Superman/Batman #56 -- 42,464 --------------------------------------- 03/2010: Superman/Batman #70 -- 32,196 (- 3.1%) 04/2010: Superman/Batman #71 -- 31,714 (- 1.5%) 05/2010: Superman/Batman #72 -- 32,047 (+ 1.1%) 06/2010: Superman/Batman #73 -- 31,425 (- 1.9%) 07/2010: Superman/Batman #74 -- 30,847 (- 1.8%) 08/2010: Superman/Batman #75 -- 34,324 (+11.3%) 09/2010: Superman/Batman #76 -- 32,003 (- 6.8%) 10/2010: Superman/Batman #77 -- 31,741 (- 0.8%) 11/2010: Superman/Batman #78 -- 31,337 (- 1.3%) 12/2010: Superman/Batman #79 -- 30,586 (- 2.4%) 01/2011: Superman/Batman #80 -- 30,363 (- 0.7%) 02/2011: Superman/Batman #81 -- 29,567 (- 2.6%) 03/2011: Superman/Batman #82 -- 28,913 (- 2.2%) ---------------- 6 months: - 9.7% 1 year : -10.2% 2 years : -31.9% 5 years : -71.5%
Standard attrition.
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60 - JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA 03/2006: JSA #83 -- 51,991 [ 58,624] 03/2007: Justice Society #4 -- 84,449 [ 86,475] 03/2008: -- 03/2009: -- --------------------------------------- 03/2010: Justice Society #37 -- 37,381 (- 4.3%) 04/2010: Justice Society #38 -- 36,648 (- 2.0%) 05/2010: -- 06/2010: Justice Society #39 -- 36,630 (- 0.1%) 06/2010: Justice Society #40 -- 36,008 (- 1.7%) 07/2010: Justice Society #41 -- 48,858 (+ 35.7%) 08/2010: Justice Society #42 -- 48,420 (- 0.9%) 09/2010: Justice Society #43 -- 36,576 (- 24.5%) 10/2010: Justice Society #44 -- 35,483 (- 3.0%) 11/2010: Justice Society #45 -- 33,582 (- 5.4%) 12/2010: Justice Society #46 -- 31,497 (- 6.2%) 01/2011: Justice Society #47 -- 30,071 (- 4.5%) 02/2011: Justice Society #48 -- 29,139 (- 3.1%) 03/2011: Justice Society #49 -- 28,634 (- 1.7%) ---------------- 6 months: -21.7% 1 year : -23.4% 2 years : n.a. 5 years : -44.9%
Sales are finally stabilizing again.
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63 - BATMAN BEYOND 06/2010: Batman Beyond #1 of 6 -- 35,113 [42,283] 07/2010: Batman Beyond #2 of 6 -- 31,397 (-10.6%) 08/2010: Batman Beyond #3 of 6 -- 31,469 (+ 0.2%) 09/2010: Batman Beyond #4 of 6 -- 31,368 (- 0.3%) 10/2010: Batman Beyond #5 of 6 -- 30,121 (- 4.0%) 11/2010: Batman Beyond #6 of 6 -- 28,485 (- 5.4%) 12/2010: -- 01/2011: Batman Beyond #1 -- 35,880 (+26.0%) 02/2011: Batman Beyond #2 -- 28,956 (-19.3%) 03/2011: Batman Beyond #3 -- 28,295 (- 2.3%) ---------------- 6 months: - 9.8%
71 - SUPERBOY 11/2010: Superboy #1 -- 39,701 12/2010: Superboy #2 -- 31,761 (-20.0%) 01/2011: Superboy #3 -- 29,550 (- 7.0%) 02/2011: Superboy #4 -- 27,448 (- 7.1%) 03/2011: Superboy #5 -- 27,215 (- 0.9%)
Two recently launched spin-off titles which aren’t setting the charts on fire, but seem to be finding their level quickly, at least. Good news, certainly.
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78 - TEEN TITANS 03/2006: Teen Titans #33 -- 67,208 03/2007: Teen Titans #44 -- 61,572 03/2008: Teen Titans #57 -- 49,109 03/2009: -- ---------------------------------- 03/2010: Teen Titans #81 -- 25,758 (- 2.9%) 04/2010: Teen Titans #82 -- 25,303 (- 1.8%) 05/2010: Teen Titans #83 -- 24,960 (- 1.4%) 06/2010: Teen Titans #84 -- 24,593 (- 1.5%) 07/2010: Teen Titans #85 -- 24,248 (- 1.4%) 08/2010: Teen Titans #86 -- 24,971 (+ 3.0%) 09/2010: Teen Titans #87 -- 23,259 (- 6.9%) 10/2010: Teen Titans #88 -- 27,637 (+18.8%) 11/2010: Teen Titans #89 -- 26,444 (- 4.3%) 12/2010: Teen Titans #90 -- 25,997 (- 1.7%) 01/2011: Teen Titans #91 -- 25,443 (- 2.1%) 02/2011: Teen Titans #92 -- 26,170 (+ 2.9%) 03/2011: Teen Titans #93 -- 24,957 (- 4.6%) ---------------- 6 months: + 7.3% 1 year : - 3.1% 2 years : n.a. 5 years : -62.9%
Back in decline after the crossover with Red Robin.
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79/88 - DC UNIVERSE ONLINE: LEGENDS 02/2011: DCU Online: Legends #1 -- 36,517 02/2011: DCU Online: Legends #2 -- 28,953 (-20.7%) 03/2011: DCU Online: Legends #3 -- 24,824 (-14.3%) 03/2011: DCU Online: Legends #4 -- 23,001 (- 7.3%)
So far, no evidence that DC’s twice-monthly videogame tie-in is in great demand.
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80 - BATGIRL 03/2010: Batgirl #8 -- 30,886 (+ 4.6%) 04/2010: Batgirl #9 -- 29,445 (- 4.7%) 05/2010: Batgirl #10 -- 28,641 (- 2.7%) 06/2010: Batgirl #11 -- 28,563 (- 0.3%) 07/2010: Batgirl #12 -- 28,011 (- 1.9%) 08/2010: Batgirl #13 -- 27,247 (- 2.7%) 09/2010: Batgirl #14 -- 26,861 (- 1.4%) 10/2010: -- 11/2010: Batgirl #15 -- 25,827 (- 3.9%) 12/2010: Batgirl #16 -- 25,225 (- 2.3%) 01/2011: Batgirl #17 -- 25,189 (- 0.1%) 02/2011: Batgirl #18 -- 24,390 (- 3.2%) 03/2011: Batgirl #19 -- 24,821 (+ 1.8%) ---------------- 6 months: - 7.6% 1 year : -19.6%
Another title that’s ticking upwards for no readily available reason. Again, that’s good news.
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85 - THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES 03/2006: Supergirl & LoSH #16 -- 47,426 03/2007: -- 03/2008: LoSH #40 -- 30,377 --------------------------------------- 05/2010: LoSH #1 -- 44,415 (+98.9%) [50,106] 06/2010: LoSH #2 -- 39,102 (-12.0%) 07/2010: LoSH #3 -- 36,360 (- 7.0%) 08/2010: LoSH #4 -- 34,239 (- 5.8%) 09/2010: LoSH #5 -- 32,417 (- 5.3%) 10/2010: LoSH #6 -- 30,246 (- 6.7%) 11/2010: LoSH #7 -- 26,439 (-12.6%) 12/2010: LoSH #8 -- 25,063 (- 5.2%) 01/2011: LoSH #9 -- 24,230 (- 3.3%) 02/2011: LoSH #10 -- 23,738 (- 2.0%) 03/2011: LoSH #11 -- 23,667 (- 0.3%) ----------------- 6 months: - 27.0% 5 years : - 50.1%
89 - ADVENTURE COMICS 03/2010: Adventure Comics #8 -- 39,351 (-26.8%) 03/2010: Adventure Comics #9 -- 37,515 (- 4.7%) 04/2010: Adventure Comics #10 -- 37,573 (+ 0.2%) 05/2010: Adventure Comics #11 -- 34,794 (- 7.4%) 06/2010: Adventure Comics #12 -- 34,663 (- 0.4%) 07/2010: Adventure Comics #516 -- 30,897 (-10.9%) 08/2010: Adventure Comics #517 -- 28,966 (- 6.3%) 09/2010: Adventure Comics #518 -- 27,028 (- 6.7%) 10/2010: Adventure Comics #519 -- 25,346 (- 6.2%) 11/2010: Adventure Comics #520 -- 24,540 (- 3.2%) 12/2010: Adventure Comics #521 -- 23,787 (- 6.9%) 01/2011: Adventure Comics #522 -- 22,821 (- 4.1%) 02/2011: Adventure Comics #523 -- 23,127 (+ 1.3%) 03/2011: Adventure Comics #524 -- 22,836 (- 1.3%) ----------------- 6 months: - 15.5% 1 year : - 42.0%
The two Paul Levitz books seem to be stabilizing at last. Given that Adventure Comics has top-flight artist Phil Jimenez on board since February, I’m not sure that’s quite what they were hoping for here.
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92 - SUPERGIRL 03/2006: -- 03/2007: Supergirl #15 -- 51,083 03/2008: Supergirl #27 -- 32,596 03/2009: Supergirl #39 -- 33,713 --------------------------------- 03/2010: Supergirl #51 -- 29,845 (-10.5%) 04/2010: Supergirl #52 -- 29,490 (- 1.2%) 05/2010: -- 06/2010: Supergirl #53 -- 28,317 (- 4.0%) 07/2010: Supergirl #54 -- 26,941 (- 4.9%) 08/2010: Supergirl #55 -- 25,891 (- 3.9%) 09/2010: Supergirl #56 -- 25,034 (- 3.3%) 10/2010: Supergirl #57 -- 23,842 (- 4.8%) 11/2010: Supergirl #58 -- 25,412 (+ 6.6%) 12/2010: Supergirl #59 -- 22,606 (-11.0%) 01/2011: Supergirl #60 -- 22,568 (- 0.2%) 02/2011: Supergirl #61 -- 22,048 (- 2.3%) 03/2011: Supergirl #62 -- 21,786 (- 1.2%) ---------------- 6 months: -13.0% 1 year : -27.0% 2 years : -35.4% 5 years : n.a.
Standard attrition. Most copies were ordered under the impression that Nick Spencer was the writer, of course. Which he isn’t, so the sales we see are academic, for the time being.
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93/94 - BATMAN: STREETS OF GOTHAM 03/2010: Batman: SoG #10 -- 26,396 (- 2.3%) 04/2010: Batman: SoG #11 -- 25,925 (- 1.8%) 05/2010: Batman: SoG #12 -- 25,446 (- 1.9%) 06/2010: Batman: SoG #13 -- 25,205 (- 1.0%) 07/2010: Batman: SoG #14 -- 24,767 (- 1.7%) 08/2010: Batman: SoG #15 -- 24,171 (- 2.4%) 09/2010: Batman: SoG #16 -- 23,830 (- 1.4%) 10/2010: -- 11/2010: Batman: SoG #17 -- 22,390 (- 6.0%) 12/2010: Batman: SoG #18 -- 21,684 (- 3.2%) 01/2011: Batman: SoG #19 -- 21,592 (- 0.4%) 02/2011: -- 03/2011: Batman: SoG #20 -- 21,434 (- 0.7%) 03/2011: Batman: SoG #21 -- 21,342 (- 0.4%) ---------------- 6 months: -10.3% 1 year : -19.0%
Cancelled, though probably not due to bad sales alone.
—–
96 - THE LEGION OF SUPER-VILLAINS 03/2011: LoSV #1 -- 21,097
A one-shot Legion of Super-Heroes spin-off with decent numbers, not that far below the mother title.
—–
97 - DC UNIVERSE LEGACIES 05/2010: DCU Legacies #1 of 10 -- 34,429 06/2010: DCU Legacies #2 of 10 -- 29,286 (-14.9%) 07/2010: DCU Legacies #3 of 10 -- 26,708 (- 8.8%) 08/2010: DCU Legacies #4 of 10 -- 25,691 (- 3.8%) 09/2010: DCU Legacies #5 of 10 -- 25,851 (+ 0.6%) 10/2010: DCU Legacies #6 of 10 -- 24,210 (- 6.4%) 11/2010: DCU Legacies #7 of 10 -- 23,215 (- 4.1%) 12/2010: DCU Legacies #8 of 10 -- 21,886 (- 5.7%) 01/2011: -- 02/2011: DCU Legacies #9 of 10 -- 21,419 (- 2.1%) 03/2011: DCU Legacies #10 of 10 -- 21,065 (- 1.7%) ---------------- 6 months: -18.5%
Tolerable numbers for a nostalgia project set on the fringes of the DC Universe line.
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99 - GOTHAM CITY SIRENS 03/2010: GC Sirens #10 -- 26,550 (- 2.3%) 04/2010: GC Sirens #11 -- 26,359 (- 0.7%) 05/2010: GC Sirens #12 -- 26,029 (- 1.3%) 06/2010: GC Sirens #13 -- 25,867 (- 0.6%) 07/2010: GC Sirens #14 -- 25,315 (- 2.1%) 08/2010: GC Sirens #15 -- 24,589 (- 2.9%) 09/2010: GC Sirens #16 -- 23,821 (- 3.1%) 10/2010: -- 11/2010: GC Sirens #17 -- 22,107 (- 7.2%) 12/2010: GC Sirens #18 -- 21,344 (- 3.5%) 01/2011: -- 02/2011: GC Sirens #19 -- 21,631 (+ 1.4%) 02/2011: GC Sirens #20 -- 20,822 (- 3.7%) 03/2011: GC Sirens #21 -- 20,807 (- 0.1%) ----------------- 6 months: - 12.7% 1 year : - 21.6%
The numbers are stabilizing, evidently. 20k is a decent number for a third-tier book.
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101 - TITANS 03/2008: -- 03/2009: Titans #11 -- 35,240 (- 3.1%) --------------------------------- 03/2010: Titans #23 -- 24,260 (- 0.9%) 04/2010: -- 05/2010: VfH Special #1 -- 31,718 (+30.7%) 06/2010: Titans #24 -- 33,079 (+ 4.3%) 07/2010: Titans #25 -- 31,505 (- 4.8%) 08/2010: Titans #26 -- 32,800 (+ 4.1%) 09/2010: Titans #27 -- 28,438 (-13.3%) 10/2010: Titans #28 -- 27,430 (- 3.6%) 11/2010: Titans #29 -- 24,138 (-12.0%) 12/2010: Titans #30 -- 22,483 (- 6.9%) 01/2011: Titans #31 -- 21,749 (- 3.3%) 02/2011: Titans #32 -- 20,949 (- 3.7%) 03/2011: Titans #33 -- 20,723 (- 1.1%) ---------------- 6 months: -27.1% 1 year : -14.6% 2 years : -41.2%
Another title that appears to be stabilizing, at long last.
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104 - THE OUTSIDERS 03/2006: Outsiders #34 -- 47,286 [51,527] 03/2007: Outsiders #46 -- 32,577 03/2008: Batsiders #5 -- 36,797 03/2009: Outsiders #16 -- 27,977 -------------------------------- 03/2010: Outsiders #28 -- 19,632 (- 7.3%) 04/2010: Outsiders #29 -- 19,094 (- 2.7%) 05/2010: -- 06/2010: Outsiders #30 -- 18,045 (- 5.5%) 07/2010: Outsiders #31 -- 17,173 (- 4.8%) 08/2010: Outsiders #32 -- 15,754 (- 8.3%) 09/2010: -- 10/2010: Outsiders #33 -- 15,253 (- 3.2%) 11/2010: Outsiders #34 -- 13,576 (- 11.0%) 12/2010: Outsiders #35 -- 13,133 (- 3.3%) 01/2011: -- 02/2011: Outsiders #36 -- 12,848 (- 2.2%) 03/2011: Outsiders #37 -- 20,074 (+ 56.2%) ---------------- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : + 2.3% 2 years : -28.3% 5 years : -57.6%
That’s a gigantic increase, thanks to the “Reign of Doomsday” crossover that started in the Steel one-shot and continued in Justice League of America #55. It’s moot, though, since The Outsiders is cancelled with issue #40.
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106 - SECRET SIX 03/2009: Secret Six #7 -- 24,365 ------------------------------------- 03/2010: Secret Six #19 -- 23,181 (-38.8%) 04/2010: Secret Six #20 -- 22,695 (- 2.1%) 05/2010: Secret Six #21 -- 22,334 (- 1.6%) 06/2010: Secret Six #22 -- 21,941 (- 1.8%) 07/2010: Secret Six #23 -- 21,554 (- 1.8%) 08/2010: Secret Six #24 -- 21,177 (- 1.8%) 09/2010: Secret Six #25 -- 20,775 (- 1.9%) 10/2010: Secret Six #26 -- 20,377 (- 1.9%) 11/2010: Secret Six #27 -- 19,963 (- 2.0%) 12/2010: Secret Six #28 -- 19,587 (- 1.9%) 01/2011: Secret Six #29 -- 20,327 (+ 3.8%) 02/2011: Secret Six #30 -- 19,763 (- 2.8%) 03/2011: Secret Six #31 -- 19,822 (+ 0.3%) ---------------- 6 months: - 4.6% 1 year : -14.5% 2 years : -18.7%
A small uptick in sales, for no other reason than because the solicitation copy promised a follow-up on a long-running plot thread. It’s worth mentioning that this is the second Gail Simone title in March that’s not showing a drop. It’s also worth mentioning that this kind of careful, substantial storytelling is the reason why an independent title like The Walking Dead has been increasing in sales almost monthly for about seven years now. Regardless, cheap gimmicks and crossovers and the flashes in the pan they generate continue to be worthier of promotion and support to the people who run Marvel and DC.
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109 - FABLES (Vertigo) 03/2006: Fables #47 -- 24,278 03/2007: Fables #58 -- 26,065 03/2008: Fables #71 -- 24,006 03/2009: Fables #82 -- 22,445 ------------------------------ 03/2010: Fables #93 -- 20,003 (- 0.9%) 04/2010: Fables #94 -- 19,965 (- 0.2%) 05/2010: Fables #95 -- 19,932 (- 0.2%) 06/2010: Fables #96 -- 19,842 (- 0.5%) 07/2010: -- 08/2010: Fables #97 -- 19,625 (- 1.1%) 09/2010: Fables #98 -- 19,594 (- 0.2%) 10/2010: Fables #99 -- 19,656 (+ 0.3%) 11/2010: -- 12/2010: Fables #100 -- 23,014 (+17.1%) 01/2011: Fables #101 -- 19,183 (-16.7%) 02/2011: Fables #102 -- 19,215 (+ 0.2%) 03/2011: Fables #103 -- 18,910 (- 1.6%) ---------------- 6 months: - 3.5% 1 year : - 5.5% 2 years : -15.8% 5 years : -22.1%
Standard attrition.
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111/113 - ZATANNA 05/2010: Zatanna #1 -- 33,691 06/2010: Zatanna #2 -- 29,564 (-12.3%) 07/2010: Zatanna #3 -- 27,792 (- 6.0%) 08/2010: Zatanna #4 -- 27,203 (- 2.1%) 09/2010: Zatanna #5 -- 25,393 (- 6.7%) 10/2010: Zatanna #6 -- 23,427 (- 7.7%) 11/2010: Zatanna #7 -- 20,671 (-11.8%) 12/2010: Zatanna #8 -- 19,321 (- 6.5%) 01/2011: Zatanna #9 -- 18,482 (- 4.3%) 02/2011: -- 03/2011: Zatanna #10 -- 18,645 (+ 0.9%) 03/2011: Zatanna #11 -- 18,431 (- 1.2%) ---------------- 6 months: -27.0%
No gimmicks or other particularly favorable circumstances seem to have contributed to the book’s sudden stabilization, so there’s reason to be cautiously optimistic.
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126 - AMERICAN VAMPIRE (Vertigo) 03/2010: American Vampire #1 -- 33,762 [36,831] 04/2010: American Vampire #2 -- 26,770 (-20.7%) 05/2010: American Vampire #3 -- 26,510 (- 1.0%) 06/2010: American Vampire #4 -- 25,977 (- 2.0%) 07/2010: American Vampire #5 -- 24,857 (- 4.3%) 08/2010: -- 09/2010: American Vampire #6 -- 23,349 (- 6.1%) 10/2010: American Vampire #7 -- 21,910 (- 6.2%) 11/2010: American Vampire #8 -- 19,850 (- 9.4%) 12/2010: American Vampire #9 -- 19,019 (- 4.2%) 12/2010: American Vampire #10 -- 17,761 (- 6.6%) 01/2011: American Vampire #11 -- 16,969 (- 4.5%) 02/2011: American Vampire #12 -- 16,522 (- 2.6%) 03/2011: American Vampire #13 -- 17,269 (+ 4.5%) ---------------- 6 months: -26.0% 1 year : -48.9%
The March issue of American Vampire kicked off a new storyline and was promoted with a 1:10 variant-cover edition, hence the modest sales increase.
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127 - POWER GIRL 03/2010: Power Girl #10 -- 20,801 (- 0.5%) 04/2010: Power Girl #11 -- 20,675 (- 0.6%) 05/2010: Power Girl #12 -- 20,681 (+ 0.0%) 06/2010: Power Girl #13 -- 20,583 (- 0.5%) 07/2010: Power Girl #14 -- 19,739 (- 4.1%) 08/2010: Power Girl #15 -- 19,091 (- 3.3%) 09/2010: Power Girl #16 -- 18,404 (- 3.6%) 10/2010: Power Girl #17 -- 17,847 (- 3.0%) 11/2010: Power Girl #18 -- 17,300 (- 3.1%) 12/2010: Power Girl #19 -- 16,763 (- 3.1%) 01/2011: Power Girl #20 -- 16,823 (+ 0.4%) 02/2011: Power Girl #21 -- 16,940 (+ 0.7%) 03/2011: Power Girl #22 -- 17,232 (+ 1.7%) ---------------- 6 months: - 6.4% 1 year : -17.2%
Trending up, and doing so without gimmicks. Writer Judd Winick and artist Sam Basri must be doing something right here.
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129 - JSA ALL-STARS 03/2010: JSA All-Stars #4 -- 28,526 (- 3.8%) 04/2010: JSA All-Stars #5 -- 26,581 (- 6.8%) 05/2010: JSA All-Stars #6 -- 25,306 (- 4.8%) 06/2010: JSA All-Stars #7 -- 24,436 (- 3.4%) 07/2010: JSA All-Stars #8 -- 23,478 (- 3.9%) 08/2010: JSA All-Stars #9 -- 22,347 (- 4.8%) 09/2010: JSA All-Stars #10 -- 21,646 (- 3.1%) 10/2010: JSA All-Stars #11 -- 20,496 (- 5.3%) 11/2010: JSA All-Stars #12 -- 19,630 (- 4.2%) 12/2010: JSA All-Stars #13 -- 18,395 (- 6.3%) 01/2011: JSA All-Stars #14 -- 17,920 (- 2.6%) 02/2011: JSA All-Stars #15 -- 17,409 (- 2.9%) 03/2011: JSA All-Stars #16 -- 16,987 (- 2.4%) ---------------- 6 months: -21.5% 1 year : -40.5%
Cancelled with issue #18.
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130 - FIRST WAVE 11/2009: B/DS Special #1 -- 32,636 ------------------------------------- 03/2010: First Wave #1 of 6 -- 38,365 04/2010: -- 05/2010: First Wave #2 of 6 -- 30,705 (-20.0%) 06/2010: -- 07/2010: First Wave #3 of 6 -- 25,920 (-15.6%) 08/2010: -- 09/2010: First Wave #4 of 6 -- 20,497 (-20.9%) 10/2010: -- 11/2010: -- 12/2010: First Wave #5 of 6 -- 18,241 (-11.0%) 01/2011: -- 02/2011: -- 03/2011: First Wave #6 of 6 -- 16,895 (- 7.4%) ---------------- 6 months: -17.6% 1 year : -56.0%
By the time the ostensible flagship miniseries of the First Wave line concluded in March, the cancellation of Doc Savage and The Spirit had already been announced.
Not that this comes as a great surprise to anyone. Bluntly, the market doesn’t need another line of generic superhero titles, particularly if they’re banking on nostalgia and aren’t deemed worthy of promotional support.
But they’re good comics! Isn’t that enough?!
Well, no. That’s a baseline expectation, not a selling point. There are a lot of superhero comics out there that people already want to buy, and resources are limited.
So: Why these?
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132 - BOOSTER GOLD 03/2008: Booster Gold #7 -- 36,140 03/2009: Booster Gold #18 -- 23,737 ----------------------------------- 03/2010: Booster Gold #30 -- 20,187 (- 4.0%) 04/2010: Booster Gold #31 -- 19,818 (- 1.8%) 05/2010: Booster Gold #32 -- 20,343 (+ 2.7%) 06/2010: Booster Gold #33 -- 19,895 (- 2.2%) 07/2010: Booster Gold #34 -- 19,592 (- 1.5%) 08/2010: Booster Gold #35 -- 19,104 (- 2.5%) 09/2010: Booster Gold #36 -- 18,504 (- 3.1%) 10/2010: Booster Gold #37 -- 17,806 (- 3.8%) 11/2010: Booster Gold #38 -- 17,276 (- 3.0%) 12/2010: Booster Gold #39 -- 16,686 (- 3.4%) 01/2011: Booster Gold #40 -- 16,324 (- 2.2%) 02/2011: Booster Gold #41 -- 15,864 (- 2.8%) 03/2011: Booster Gold #42 -- 16,093 (+ 1.4%) ---------------- 6 months: -13.0% 1 year : -20.3% 2 years : -32.2%
Once again, there’s no gimmick in sight, so it looks like Booster Gold may have found its level.
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149 - CINDERELLA: FABLES ARE FOREVER (Vertigo) 11/2009: Cinderella: FFwL #1 of 6 -- 20,337 12/2009: Cinderella: FFwL #2 of 6 -- 16,598 01/2010: Cinderella: FFwL #3 of 6 -- 15,827 02/2010: Cinderella: FFwL #4 of 6 -- 15,421 03/2010: Cinderella: FFwL #5 of 6 -- 15,285 04/2010: Cinderella: FFwL #6 of 6 -- 14,956 --------------------------------------------- 02/2011: Fables Are Forever #1 of 6 -- 15,026 03/2011: Fables Are Forever #2 of 6 -- 14,029 (-6.6%) ---------------- 1 year : - 8.2%
That’s a relatively small second-issue drop, so retailers evidently have some faith in the material, based on last year’s Cinderella mini by the same creative team.
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156 - JOE THE BARBARIAN (Vertigo) 01/2010: Joe the Barbarian #1 of 8 -- 25,543 [29,712] 02/2010: Joe the Barbarian #2 of 8 -- 17,512 (-31.4%) 03/2010: Joe the Barbarian #3 of 8 -- 17,672 (+ 0.9%) 04/2010: Joe the Barbarian #4 of 8 -- 17,102 (- 3.2%) 05/2010: Joe the Barbarian #5 of 8 -- 16,725 (- 2.2%) 06/2010: Joe the Barbarian #6 of 8 -- 16,219 (- 3.0%) 07/2010: -- 08/2010: -- 09/2010: Joe the Barbarian #7 of 8 -- 15,363 (- 5.3%) 10/2010: -- 11/2010: -- 12/2010: -- 01/2011: -- 02/2011: -- 03/2011: Joe the Barbarian #8 of 8 -- 13,300 (-13.4%) ---------------- 6 months: -13.4% 1 year : -24.7%
Grant Morrison and Sean Murphy’s fantasy miniseries finally concluded in March after a six-month absence. The delays clearly hurt the book, though the overall drop-off isn’t as bad as it looks: The first issue, back in January 2010, was one of Vertigo’s $ 1.00 titles.
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163 - BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL 03/2007: Batman Confidential #4 -- 38,735 03/2008: Batman Confidential #14 -- 25,330 03/2008: Batman Confidential #15 -- 24,283 03/2009: Batman Confidential #27 -- 19,934 ------------------------------------------ 03/2010: Batman Confidential #42 -- 16,652 (- 1.2%) 04/2010: Batman Confidential #43 -- 16,449 (- 1.2%) 05/2010: Batman Confidential #44 -- 15,279 (- 7.1%) 06/2010: Batman Confidential #45 -- 15,070 (- 1.4%) 07/2010: Batman Confidential #46 -- 14,621 (- 3.0%) 08/2010: Batman Confidential #47 -- 14,341 (- 1.9%) 09/2010: Batman Confidential #48 -- 14,329 (- 0.1%) 10/2010: Batman Confidential #49 -- 14,112 (- 1.5%) 11/2010: Batman Confidential #50 -- 14,450 (+ 2.4%) 12/2010: Batman Confidential #51 -- 13,495 (- 6.6%) 01/2011: Batman Confidential #52 -- 13,116 (- 2.8%) 02/2011: Batman Confidential #53 -- 12,779 (- 2.6%) 03/2011: Batman Confidential #54 -- 12,578 (- 1.6%) ---------------- 6 months: -12.2% 1 year : -24.5% 2 years : -36.9%
Cancelled. DC hung on to Batman Confidential for way longer than I would have expected — its counterpart, Superman Confidential, was cancelled back in April 2008, with estimated first-month sales of 18,923 on the final issue.
Quite possibly, this may be the lowest-selling ongoing mainstream Batman title DC has published to date.
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167 - JIMMY OLSEN 03/2011: Jimmy Olsen #1 -- 12,313
Mainly, this $ 5.99 one-shot collects the critically acclaimed recent Action Comics back-ups by writer Nick Spencer and artist RB Silva, but there’s also some new material included. All things considered, decent sales.
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168 - GIANT-SIZE ATOM 03/2011: Giant-Size Atom #1 -- 12,200
This $ 4.99 book is all-new, on the other hand, concluding an Adventure Comics back-up strip by writer Jeff Lemire and artist Mahmud Asrar. While the low numbers aren’t unexpected for an Atom book that’s wrapping up a dropped strip, the economics are less favorable here than for Jimmy Olsen.
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171 - XOMBI 03/2011: Xombi #1 -- 12,035
Writer John Rozum and artist Frazer Irving bring back one of the Milestone Media titles DC first published in the early 1990s, created by the late Dwayne McDuffie.
Given that Irving has gained quite some attention lately with his art on Grant Morrison’s Batman books, these numbers are rather underwhelming — particularly since the first issue was promoted with a 1:10 variant edition, increasing the likelihood of a big second-issue drop.
Without an immediate upward correction of the numbers in the next couple of months, I don’t see Xombi sticking around for very long, to be frank.
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176 - THE UNWRITTEN (Vertigo) 03/2010: The Unwritten #11 -- 13,630 (- 0.1%) 04/2010: The Unwritten #12 -- 13,507 (- 0.9%) 05/2010: The Unwritten #13 -- 13,467 (- 0.3%) 06/2010: The Unwritten #14 -- 13,396 (- 0.5%) 07/2010: The Unwritten #15 -- 13,023 (- 2.8%) 08/2010: The Unwritten #16 -- 12,778 (- 1.9%) 09/2010: The Unwritten #17 -- 12,796 (+ 0.2%) 10/2010: The Unwritten #18 -- 12,273 (- 4.1%) 11/2010: The Unwritten #19 -- 12,036 (- 1.9%) 12/2010: The Unwritten #20 -- 11,684 (- 2.9%) 01/2011: The Unwritten #21 -- 11,443 (- 2.1%) 02/2011: The Unwritten #22 -- 11,371 (- 0.6%) 03/2011: The Unwritten #23 -- 11,319 (- 0.5%) ---------------- 6 months: -11.5% 1 year : -17.0%
Holding level. 11k is a good number for a Vertigo title that’s not Fables, these days.
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179 - I, ZOMBIE (Vertigo) 05/2010: I, Zombie #1 -- 33,025 06/2010: I, Zombie #2 -- 18,620 (-43.6%) 07/2010: I, Zombie #3 -- 16,898 (- 9.3%) 08/2010: I, Zombie #4 -- 15,772 (- 6.7%) 09/2010: I, Zombie #5 -- 14,839 (- 5.9%) 10/2010: I, Zombie #6 -- 13,782 (- 7.1%) 11/2010: I, Zombie #7 -- 12,800 (- 7.1%) 12/2010: I, Zombie #8 -- 12,038 (- 6.0%) 01/2011: I, Zombie #9 -- 11,536 (- 4.2%) 02/2011: I, Zombie #10 -- 11,182 (- 3.1%) 03/2011: I, Zombie #11 -- 10,874 (- 2.8%) ---------------- 6 months: -26.7%
Standard attrition.
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183 - WEIRD WORLDS 01/2011: Weird Worlds #1 of 6 -- 14,964 02/2011: Weird Worlds #2 of 6 -- 11,587 (-22.6%) 03/2011: Weird Worlds #3 of 6 -- 10,470 (- 9.6%)
Anything above 10k is good for niche books like this one.
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187 - JONAH HEX 03/2006: Jonah Hex #5 -- 23,496 03/2007: Jonah Hex #17 -- 17,081 03/2008: Jonah Hex #29 -- 13,439 03/2009: Jonah Hex #41 -- 11,564 -------------------------------- 03/2010: Jonah Hex #53 -- 11,565 (+ 3.1%) 04/2010: Jonah Hex #54 -- 11,306 (- 2.2%) 05/2010: Jonah Hex #55 -- 11,327 (+ 0.2%) 06/2010: Jonah Hex #56 -- 13,441 (+18.7%) 07/2010: Jonah Hex #57 -- 12,318 (- 8.4%) 08/2010: Jonah Hex #58 -- 11,775 (- 4.4%) 09/2010: Jonah Hex #59 -- 11,444 (- 2.8%) 10/2010: Jonah Hex #60 -- 11,141 (- 2.7%) 11/2010: Jonah Hex #61 -- 10,796 (- 3.1%) 12/2010: Jonah Hex #62 -- 10,899 (+ 1.0%) 01/2011: Jonah Hex #63 -- 10,752 (- 1.4%) 02/2011: Jonah Hex #64 -- 10,255 (- 4.6%) 03/2011: Jonah Hex #65 -- 10,353 (+ 1.0%) ---------------- 6 months: - 9.5% 1 year : -10.5% 2 years : -10.5% 5 years : -55.9%
The book continues to be one of DC’s most consistent performers.
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188 - R.E.B.E.L.S. 03/2009: R.E.B.E.L.S. #2 -- 16,122 ----------------------------------- 03/2010: R.E.B.E.L.S. #14 -- 11,362 (- 4.0%) 04/2010: R.E.B.E.L.S. #15 -- 11,271 (- 0.8%) 05/2010: R.E.B.E.L.S. #16 -- 11,120 (- 1.3%) 06/2010: R.E.B.E.L.S. #17 -- 11,048 (- 0.7%) 07/2010: R.E.B.E.L.S. #18 -- 11,007 (- 0.4%) 08/2010: R.E.B.E.L.S. #19 -- 10,851 (- 1.4%) 09/2010: R.E.B.E.L.S. #20 -- 11,745 (+ 8.2%) 10/2010: R.E.B.E.L.S. #21 -- 11,262 (- 4.1%) 11/2010: R.E.B.E.L.S. #22 -- 10,797 (- 4.1%) 12/2010: R.E.B.E.L.S. #23 -- 10,619 (- 1.7%) 01/2011: R.E.B.E.L.S. #24 -- 10,354 (- 2.5%) 02/2011: R.E.B.E.L.S. #25 -- 10,351 (- 0.0%) 03/2011: R.E.B.E.L.S. #26 -- 10,257 (- 0.9%) ----------------- 6 months: - 12.7% 1 year : - 9.7% 2 years : - 36.4%
Cancelled with issue #28.
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190 - JACK OF FABLES (Vertigo) 03/2007: -- 03/2008: Jack of Fables #21 -- 16,597 03/2009: Jack of Fables #32 -- 13,595 ------------------------------------- 03/2010: Jack of Fables #43 -- 11,878 (- 0.7%) 03/2010: Jack of Fables #44 -- 11,472 (- 3.4%) 04/2010: Jack of Fables #45 -- 11,324 (- 1.3%) 05/2010: -- 06/2010: -- 07/2010: Jack of Fables #46 -- 11,195 (- 1.1%) 08/2010: -- 09/2010: Jack of Fables #47 -- 11,026 (- 1.5%) 10/2010: Jack of Fables #48 -- 10,347 (- 6.2%) 11/2010: -- 12/2010: Jack of Fables #49 -- 9,828 (- 5.0%) 01/2011: -- 02/2011: -- 03/2011: Jack of Fables #50 -- 10,217 (+ 4.0%) ---------------- 6 months: - 7.3% 1 year : -14.0% 2 years : -24.9%
Cancelled, though sales presumably weren’t the deciding factor here.
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192 - JLA/THE 99 10/2010: JLA/The 99 #1 of 6 -- 19,995 11/2010: JLA/The 99 #2 of 6 -- 15,525 (-22.4%) 12/2010: JLA/The 99 #3 of 6 -- 12,819 (-17.4%) 01/2011: JLA/The 99 #4 of 6 -- 10,265 (-19.9%) 02/2011: JLA/The 99 #5 of 6 -- 9,391 (- 8.5%) 03/2011: JLA/The 99 #6 of 6 -- 10,005 (+ 6.5%)
No idea where the sales increase comes from.
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194 - T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AGENTS 11/2010: T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #1 -- 16,122 12/2010: T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #2 -- 11,227 (-30.4%) 01/2011: T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #3 -- 10,602 (- 5.6%) 02/2011: T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #4 -- 10,124 (- 4.5%) 03/2011: T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #5 -- 9,934 (- 1.9%)
Levelling out, at least. The book isn’t a mainstream DC Universe title, so it may get more rope than other titles.
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196 - KNIGHT AND SQUIRE 10/2010: Knight & Squire #1 of 6 -- 21,867 11/2010: Knight & Squire #2 of 6 -- 14,466 (-33.9%) 12/2010: Knight & Squire #3 of 6 -- 12,142 (-16.1%) 01/2011: Knight & Squire #4 of 6 -- 11,051 (- 9.0%) 02/2011: Knight & Squire #5 of 6 -- 10,221 (- 7.5%) 03/2011: Knight & Squire #6 of 6 -- 9,832 (- 3.8%)
An underwhelming performance for a Batman spin-off, all told, but not entirely unexpected, either.
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199 - YOUNG JUSTICE (Johnny DC) 01/2011: Young Justice #0 -- 9,412 02/2011: Young Justice #1 -- 10,777 (+14.5%) 03/2011: Young Justice #2 -- 9,612 (-10.8%)
A Johnny DC title. See disclaimers below.
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200 - HELLBLAZER (Vertigo) 03/2006: Hellblazer #218 -- 14,129 03/2007: Hellblazer #230 -- 13,210 03/2008: Hellblazer #242 -- 11,916 03/2009: Hellblazer #253 -- 11,132 ---------------------------------- 03/2010: Hellblazer #265 -- 10,295 (+2.7%) 04/2010: Hellblazer #266 -- 10,256 (-0.4%) 05/2010: Hellblazer #267 -- 10,155 (-1.0%) 06/2010: Hellblazer #268 -- 10,221 (+0.7%) 07/2010: Hellblazer #269 -- 10,048 (-1.7%) 08/2010: Hellblazer #270 -- 9,928 (-1.2%) 09/2010: Hellblazer #271 -- 9,851 (-0.8%) 10/2010: Hellblazer #272 -- 9,650 (-2.0%) 11/2010: Hellblazer #273 -- 9,645 (-0.1%) 12/2010: Hellblazer #274 -- 9,342 (-3.1%) 01/2011: Hellblazer #275 -- 9,507 (+1.8%) 02/2011: Hellblazer #276 -- 9,466 (-0.4%) 03/2011: Hellblazer #277 -- 9,525 (+0.6%) ---------------- 6 months: - 3.3% 1 year : - 7.5% 2 years : -14.4% 5 years : -32.6%
Rock-solid, like most of the time.
——
202 - DOOM PATROL 03/2010: Doom Patrol #8 -- 14,197 (- 9.5%) 04/2010: Doom Patrol #9 -- 13,126 (- 7.5%) 05/2010: Doom Patrol #10 -- 12,334 (- 6.0%) 06/2010: Doom Patrol #11 -- 11,857 (- 3.9%) 07/2010: Doom Patrol #12 -- 11,267 (- 5.0%) 08/2010: Doom Patrol #13 -- 10,878 (- 3.5%) 09/2010: Doom Patrol #14 -- 10,780 (- 0.9%) 10/2010: Doom Patrol #15 -- 10,081 (- 6.5%) 11/2010: Doom Patrol #16 -- 9,955 (- 1.3%) 12/2010: Doom Patrol #17 -- 9,564 (- 3.9%) 01/2011: Doom Patrol #18 -- 9,375 (- 2.0%) 02/2011: Doom Patrol #19 -- 10,681 (+ 13.9%) 03/2011: Doom Patrol #20 -- 9,386 (- 12.1%) ---------------- 6 months: -12.9% 1 year : -33.9%
Cancelled with issue #22.
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207 - FREEDOM FIGHTERS 03/2007: US & FF #8 of 8 -- 22,507 03/2008: US & FF II #7 of 8 -- 13,706 --------------------------------------- 09/2010: Freedom Fighters #1 -- 19,378 10/2010: Freedom Fighters #2 -- 12,758 (-34.2%) 11/2010: Freedom Fighters #3 -- 11,186 (-12.3%) 12/2010: Freedom Fighters #4 -- 10,028 (-10.4%) 01/2011: Freedom Fighters #5 -- 9,437 (- 5.9%) 02/2011: Freedom Fighters #6 -- 9,050 (- 4.1%) 03/2011: Freedom Fighters #7 -- 8,886 (- 1.8%) ---------------- 6 months: -54.1%
Cancelled with issue #9.
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212 - SWEET TOOTH (Vertigo) 03/2010: Sweet Tooth #7 -- 9,718 (- 0.2%) 04/2010: Sweet Tooth #8 -- 9,612 (- 1.1%) 05/2010: Sweet Tooth #9 -- 9,654 (+ 0.4%) 06/2010: Sweet Tooth #10 -- 9,570 (- 0.9%) 07/2010: Sweet Tooth #11 -- 9,478 (- 1.0%) 08/2010: Sweet Tooth #12 -- 9,246 (- 2.5%) 09/2010: Sweet Tooth #13 -- 9,097 (- 1.6%) 10/2010: Sweet Tooth #14 -- 8,933 (- 1.8%) 11/2010: Sweet Tooth #15 -- 8,750 (- 2.1%) 12/2010: Sweet Tooth #16 -- 8,602 (- 1.7%) 01/2011: Sweet Tooth #17 -- 8,522 (- 0.9%) 02/2011: Sweet Tooth #18 -- 8,466 (- 0.7%) 03/2011: Sweet Tooth #19 -- 8,532 (+ 0.8%) ---------------- 6 months: - 6.2% 1 year : -12.2%
The stand-alone issue in which creator Jeff Lemire was joined by Matt Kindt, Nate Powell and Emi Lennox gets a marginal increase. Sweet Tooth seems to be settling down at 8,500 units, which isn’t too bad.
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224 - DOC SAVAGE 04/2010: Doc Savage #1 -- 24,539 05/2010: Doc Savage #2 -- 19,073 (-22.3%) 06/2010: Doc Savage #3 -- 16,153 (-15.3%) 07/2010: Doc Savage #4 -- 14,621 (- 9.5%) 08/2010: Doc Savage #5 -- 13,125 (-10.2%) 09/2010: Doc Savage #6 -- 11,838 (- 9.8%) 10/2010: Doc Savage #7 -- 10,050 (-15.1%) 11/2010: Doc Savage #8 -- 9,257 (- 7.9%) 12/2010: Doc Savage #9 -- 8,681 (- 6.2%) 01/2011: Doc Savage #10 -- 8,407 (- 3.2%) 02/2011: Doc Savage #11 -- 7,972 (- 5.2%) 03/2011: Doc Savage #12 -- 7,747 (- 2.8%) ---------------- 6 months: -34.6%
Reportedly cancelled, but still ongoing as of the July solicitations.
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230 - AZRAEL 03/2010: Azrael #6 -- 11,825 (- 8.0%) 04/2010: Azrael #7 -- 11,080 (- 6.3%) 05/2010: Azrael #8 -- 10,228 (- 7.7%) 06/2010: Azrael #9 -- 9,802 (- 4.2%) 07/2010: Azrael #10 -- 9,223 (- 5.9%) 08/2010: Azrael #11 -- 8,930 (- 3.2%) 09/2010: Azrael #12 -- 8,559 (- 4.2%) 10/2010: Azrael #13 -- 8,198 (- 4.2%) 11/2010: Azrael #14 -- 7,841 (- 4.4%) 12/2010: Azrael #15 -- 7,699 (- 1.8%) 01/2011: Azrael #16 -- 7,825 (+ 1.6%) 02/2011: Azrael #17 -- 7,558 (- 3.4%) 03/2011: Azrael #18 -- 7,617 (+ 0.8%) ---------------- 6 months: -11.0% 1 year : -35.6%
Cancelled with issue #18.
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235 - TINY TITANS (Johnny DC) 03/2008: Tiny Titans #2 -- 11,432 03/2009: Tiny Titans #14 -- 8,736 ---------------------------------- 03/2010: Tiny Titans #26 -- 7,878 (- 8.0%) 04/2010: Tiny Titans #27 -- 8,224 (+ 4.4%) 05/2010: Tiny Titans #28 -- 7,959 (- 3.2%) 06/2010: Tiny Titans #29 -- 8,195 (+ 3.0%) 07/2010: Tiny Titans #30 -- 8,038 (- 1.9%) 08/2010: Tiny Titans #31 -- 7,987 (- 0.6%) 09/2010: Tiny Titans #32 -- 8,073 (+ 1.1%) 10/2010: Tiny Titans #33 -- 8,045 (- 0.4%) 11/2010: Tiny Titans #34 -- 7,713 (- 4.1%) 12/2010: Tiny Titans #35 -- 7,515 (- 2.6%) 01/2011: Tiny Titans #36 -- 7,480 (- 0.5%) 02/2011: Tiny Titans #37 -- 7,426 (- 0.7%) 03/2011: Tiny Titans #38 -- 7,372 (- 0.7%) ---------------- 6 months: - 8.7% 1 year : - 6.4% 2 years : -15.6%
A Johnny DC book, see disclaimers.
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236 - THE SPIRIT 03/2007: The Spirit #4 -- 24,383 03/2008: The Spirit #15 -- 16,038 --------------------------------- 04/2010: The Spirit #1 -- 19,849 (+158.8%) 05/2010: The Spirit #2 -- 14,274 (- 28.1%) 06/2010: The Spirit #3 -- 13,030 (- 8.7%) 07/2010: The Spirit #4 -- 11,915 (- 8.6%) 08/2010: The Spirit #5 -- 11,015 (- 7.6%) 09/2010: The Spirit #6 -- 10,083 (- 8.5%) 10/2010: The Spirit #7 -- 9,233 (- 8.4%) 11/2010: The Spirit #8 -- 8,706 (- 5.7%) 12/2010: The Spirit #9 -- 8,297 (- 4.7%) 01/2011: The Spirit #10 -- 7,830 (- 5.6%) 02/2011: The Spirit #11 -- 7,417 (- 5.3%) 03/2011: The Spirit #12 -- 7,342 (- 1.0%) ----------------- 6 months: - 27.2%
Reportedly cancelled, but still ongoing as of the July solicitations.
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237/243 - WORLD OF WARCRAFT: CURSE OF THE WORGEN 03/2008: World of WarCraft #5 -- 27,159 03/2009: World of WarCraft #17 -- 13,614 ---------------------------------------- 11/2010: WoW: CotW #1 of 5 -- 7,521 (-27.1%) 12/2010: WoW: CotW #2 of 5 -- 6,938 (- 7.8%) 01/2011: WoW: CotW #3 of 5 -- 7,114 (+ 2.5%) 02/2011: -- 03/2011: WoW: CotW #4 of 5 -- 7,231 (+ 1.7%) 03/2011: WoW: CotW #5 of 5 -- 6,888 (- 4.7%) --------------- 2 years: -48.2%
Another former WildStorm series winding down.
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239 - HOUSE OF MYSTERY (Vertigo) 03/2009: House of Mystery #11 -- 12,785 --------------------------------------- 03/2010: House of Mystery #23 -- 9,350 (- 0.5%) 04/2010: House of Mystery #24 -- 9,168 (- 2.0%) 05/2010: House of Mystery #25 -- 9,253 (+ 0.9%) 06/2010: House of Mystery #26 -- 8,742 (- 5.5%) 07/2010: House of Mystery #27 -- 8,481 (- 3.0%) 08/2010: House of Mystery #28 -- 8,238 (- 2.9%) 09/2010: House of Mystery #29 -- 8,087 (- 1.8%) 10/2010: House of Mystery #30 -- 7,913 (- 2.2%) 11/2010: House of Mystery #31 -- 7,610 (- 3.8%) 12/2010: House of Mystery #32 -- 7,348 (- 3.4%) 01/2011: House of Mystery #33 -- 7,227 (- 1.7%) 02/2011: House of Mystery #34 -- 7,092 (- 1.9%) 03/2011: House of Mystery #35 -- 7,170 (+ 1.1%) ---------------- 6 months: -11.3% 1 year : -23.3% 2 years : -43.9%
The guest art by Darwyn Cooke may be responsible for the uptick.
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241 - NORTHLANDERS (Vertigo) 03/2008: Northlanders #4 -- 12,851 03/2009: Northlanders #15 -- 9,443 ----------------------------------- 03/2010: Northlanders #26 -- 7,824 (+ 0.2%) 04/2010: Northlanders #27 -- 7,683 (- 1.8%) 05/2010: Northlanders #28 -- 7,630 (- 0.7%) 06/2010: Northlanders #29 -- 7,498 (- 1.7%) 07/2010: Northlanders #30 -- 7,421 (- 1.0%) 08/2010: Northlanders #31 -- 7,376 (- 0.6%) 09/2010: Northlanders #32 -- 7,321 (- 0.8%) 10/2010: Northlanders #33 -- 7,169 (- 2.1%) 11/2010: Northlanders #34 -- 7,018 (- 2.1%) 12/2010: Northlanders #35 -- 7,061 (+ 0.6%) 01/2011: Northlanders #36 -- 6,806 (- 3.6%) 02/2011: Northlanders #37 -- 7,006 (+ 2.9%) 03/2011: Northlanders #38 -- 7,020 (+ 0.2%) ---------------- 6 months: - 4.1% 1 year : -10.3% 2 years : -25.7%
Very slightly trending up. An encouraging sign.
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254 - THE ALL-NEW BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD (Johnny DC) 03/2006: Batman Strikes! #19 -- 8,244 03/2007: Batman Strikes! #31 -- 7,100 03/2008: Batman Strikes! #43 -- 6,544 03/2009: Brave & Bold #3 -- 8,184 ---------------------------------------- 03/2010: Brave & Bold #15 -- 6,208 (+ 2.0%) 04/2010: Brave & Bold #16 -- 6,506 (+ 4.8%) 05/2010: Brave & Bold #17 -- 6,103 (- 6.2%) 06/2010: Brave & Bold #18 -- 6,270 (+ 2.7%) 07/2010: Brave & Bold #19 -- 6,489 (+ 3.5%) 08/2010: Brave & Bold #20 -- 6,244 (- 3.8%) 09/2010: Brave & Bold #21 -- 6,345 (+ 1.6%) 10/2010: Brave & Bold #22 -- 6,044 (- 4.7%) 11/2010: All-New BBB #1 -- 8,408 (+ 39.1%) 12/2010: All-New BBB #2 -- 6,688 (- 20.5%) 01/2011: All-New BBB #3 -- 6,557 (- 2.0%) 02/2011: All-New BBB #4 -- 6,561 (+ 0.1%) 03/2011: All-New BBB #5 -- 6,463 (- 1.5%) ---------------- 6 months: + 1.9% 1 year : + 4.1% 2 years : -21.0% 5 years : -21.6%
Another Johnny DC book.
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257 - SCALPED (Vertigo) 03/2007: Scalped #3 -- 9,531 03/2008: Scalped #15 -- 7,004 03/2009: Scalped #26 -- 6,866 ------------------------------ 03/2010: Scalped #36 -- 6,648 (+ 3.2%) 04/2010: Scalped #37 -- 6,584 (- 1.0%) 05/2010: Scalped #38 -- 6,632 (+ 0.7%) 06/2010: -- 07/2010: Scalped #39 -- 6,682 (+ 0.8%) 08/2010: Scalped #40 -- 6,593 (- 1.3%) 09/2010: -- 10/2010: Scalped #41 -- 6,623 (+ 0.5%) 10/2010: Scalped #42 -- 6,476 (- 2.2%) 11/2010: Scalped #43 -- 6,324 (- 2.4%) 12/2010: Scalped #44 -- 6,192 (- 2.1%) 01/2011: Scalped #45 -- 6,187 (- 0.1%) 02/2011: Scalped #46 -- 6,179 (- 0.1%) 03/2011: Scalped #47 -- 6,222 (+ 0.7%) ---------------- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : - 6.4% 2 years : - 9.4%
Sticking to the 6k mark.
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266 - NEW YORK FIVE (Vertigo) 01/2011: New York Five #1 of 4 -- 8,360 02/2011: New York Five #2 of 4 -- 6,237 (-25.4%) 03/2011: New York Five #3 of 4 -- 6,038 (- 3.2%)
269 - DMZ (Vertigo) 03/2006: DMZ #5 -- 14,952 03/2007: DMZ #17 -- 13,081 03/2008: DMZ #29 -- 10,266 03/2009: DMZ #40 -- 8,167 -------------------------- 03/2010: DMZ #51 -- 6,840 (-5.8%) 04/2010: DMZ #52 -- 6,826 (-0.2%) 05/2010: DMZ #53 -- 6,759 (-1.0%) 06/2010: DMZ #54 -- 6,661 (-1.5%) 07/2010: DMZ #55 -- 6,581 (-1.2%) 08/2010: DMZ #56 -- 6,524 (-0.9%) 09/2010: DMZ #57 -- 6,333 (-2.9%) 10/2010: DMZ #58 -- 6,198 (-2.1%) 11/2010: DMZ #59 -- 6,046 (-2.5%) 12/2010: DMZ #60 -- 6,023 (-0.4%) 01/2011: DMZ #61 -- 5,855 (-2.8%) 02/2011: DMZ #62 -- 5,781 (-1.3%) 03/2011: DMZ #63 -- 5,877 (+1.7%) ---------------- 6 months: - 7.2% 1 year : -14.1% 2 years : -28.0% 5 years : -60.7%
Two low-selling Brian Wood titles with encouraging trends.
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292 - VICTORIAN UNDEAD II: SHERLOCK HOLMES VS. DRACULA 11/2009: Victorian Undead #1 of 6 -- 11,422 12/2009: Victorian Undead #2 of 6 -- 7,430 01/2010: Victorian Undead #3 of 6 -- 6,663 02/2010: Victorian Undead #4 of 6 -- 6,365 03/2010: Victorian Undead #5 of 6 -- 6,285 04/2010: Victorian Undead #6 of 6 -- 6,102 ------------------------------------------- 10/2010: Victorian Undead Special -- 5,723 (- 6.2%) 11/2010: Holmes/Dracula #1 of 5 -- 6,066 (+ 6.0%) 12/2010: Holmes/Dracula #2 of 5 -- 5,248 (-13.5%) 01/2011: Holmes/Dracula #3 of 5 -- 4,953 (- 5.6%) 02/2011: Holmes/Dracula #4 of 5 -- 4,796 (- 3.2%) 03/2011: Holmes/Dracula #5 of 5 -- 4,784 (- 0.3%) ---------------- 1 year : -23.9%
294 - GEARS OF WAR 03/2009: GoW #5 -- 11,394 -------------------------- 03/2010: -- 04/2010: -- 05/2010: -- 06/2010: GoW #12 -- 6,165 (-13.9%) 07/2010: -- 08/2010: GoW #13 -- 5,962 (- 3.3%) 09/2010: -- 10/2010: GoW #14 -- 5,204 (-12.7%) 11/2010: -- 12/2010: GoW #15 -- 4,709 (- 9.5%) 01/2011: -- 02/2011: -- 03/2011: GoW #16 -- 4,719 (+ 0.2%) ---------------- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : n.a. 2 years : -58.6%
Two more titles the DC Universe line inherited from WildStorm.
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297/? - INFAMOUS 03/2011: Infamous #1 of 6 -- 4,608 03/2011: Infamous #2 of 6 -- ?
The latest videogame adaptation – another WildStorm hangover, no doubt. The second issue missed the Top 300, as did Deus Ex #2. As usual, for the purposes of the average-sales charts below, I’m assuming that those books sold as many units as the No. 300 title on the chart, although the actual numbers are likely to be lower.
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299 - SCOOBY DOO: WHERE ARE YOU? (Johnny DC) 03/2006: Scooby Doo #106 -- 4,419 03/2007: Scooby Doo #118 -- 4,395 03/2008: Scooby Doo #130 -- 4,463 03/2009: Scooby Doo #142 -- 3,863 --------------------------------- 03/2010: Scooby Doo #154 -- 3,846 (+ 1.8%) 04/2010: Scooby Doo #155 -- 3,836 (- 0.3%) 05/2010: Scooby Doo #156 -- 3,857 (+ 0.6%) 06/2010: Scooby Doo #157 -- ? 07/2010: Scooby Doo #158 -- 4,147 08/2010: Scooby Doo #159 -- 4,092 (- 1.3%) 09/2010: SD:WAY? #1 -- 6,186 (+51.2%) 10/2010: SD:WAY? #2 -- 4,926 (-20.4%) 11/2010: SD:WAY? #3 -- 4,861 (- 1.3%) 12/2010: SD:WAY? #4 -- 4,802 (- 1.2%) 01/2011: SD:WAY? #5 -- 4,540 (- 5.5%) 02/2011: SD:WAY? #6 -- 4,456 (- 1.9%) 03/2011: SD:WAY? #7 -- 4,522 (+ 1.5%) ---------------- 6 months: -26.9% 1 year : +17.6% 2 years : +17.1% 5 years : + 2.3%
A Johnny DC title.
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6-MONTH COMPARISONS + 7.3%: Teen Titans + 7.1%: Detective Comics + 1.9%: All-New BBB - 3.3%: Hellblazer - 3.5%: Fables - 4.1%: Northlanders - 4.6%: Secret Six - 5.5%: GL Corps - 6.2%: Sweet Tooth - 6.3%: Action Comics - 6.4%: Power Girl - 7.2%: DMZ - 7.3%: Jack of Fables - 7.6%: Batgirl - 8.6%: Tiny Titans - 8.8%: Emerald Warriors - 9.5%: Jonah Hex - 9.7%: Superman/Batman - 9.8%: Batman Beyond - 10.3%: Batman: SoG - 10.5%: Green Lantern - 11.0%: Azrael - 11.3%: House of Mystery - 11.5%: Unwritten - 12.2%: Batman Confidential - 12.2%: Red Robin - 12.3%: JLA - 12.7%: GC Sirens - 12.7%: REBELS - 12.9%: Doom Patrol - 13.0%: Booster Gold - 13.0%: Supergirl - 13.4%: Joe the Barbarian - 15.5%: Adventure Comics - 17.6%: First Wave - 17.7%: Wonder Woman - 17.9%: Generation Lost - 18.5%: DCU Legacies - 20.3%: Brightest Day - 21.5%: JSA All-Stars - 21.7%: JSA - 23.3%: Birds of Prey - 23.9%: Batman - 25.2%: Green Arrow - 26.0%: American Vampire - 26.7%: I, Zombie - 26.9%: Scooby-Doo - 27.0%: LoSH - 27.0%: Zatanna - 27.1%: Titans - 27.2%: Spirit - 27.8%: Batman and Robin - 34.6%: Doc Savage - 54.1%: Freedom Fighters
—–
1-YEAR COMPARISONS + 26.7%: Wonder Woman + 19.5%: Superman + 17.6%: Scooby-Doo + 16.2%: Green Arrow + 8.0%: Action Comics + 4.1%: All-New BBB + 2.3%: Outsiders - 3.1%: Teen Titans - 4.2%: Batman - 5.5%: Fables - 6.4%: Scalped - 6.4%: Tiny Titans - 7.5%: Hellblazer - 8.2%: Cinderella - 8.8%: Detective Comics - 9.7%: REBELS - 10.2%: Superman/Batman - 10.3%: Northlanders - 10.5%: Jonah Hex - 10.5%: JLA - 12.2%: Sweet Tooth - 14.0%: Jack of Fables - 14.1%: DMZ - 14.5%: Secret Six - 14.6%: Titans - 17.0%: Unwritten - 17.2%: Power Girl - 19.0%: Batman: SoG - 19.2%: Red Robin - 19.6%: Batgirl - 20.3%: Booster Gold - 21.6%: GC Sirens - 21.7%: Green Lantern - 21.7%: GL Corps - 23.3%: House of Mystery - 23.4%: JSA - 23.9%: Victorian Undead - 24.5%: Batman Confidential - 24.7%: Joe the Barbarian - 27.0%: Supergirl - 29.9%: Batman and Robin - 33.9%: Doom Patrol - 35.6%: Azrael - 40.5%: JSA All-Stars - 42.0%: Adventure Comics - 48.9%: American Vampire - 56.0%: First Wave
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2-YEAR COMPARISONS + 45.8%: Green Arrow + 17.1%: Scooby-Doo + 11.0%: GL Corps - 4.2%: Wonder Woman - 9.4%: Scalped - 10.5%: Jonah Hex - 11.4%: Superman - 14.4%: Hellblazer - 15.6%: Tiny Titans - 15.8%: Fables - 18.7%: Secret Six - 21.0%: All-New BBB - 24.9%: Jack of Fables - 25.7%: Northlanders - 26.5%: JLA - 28.0%: DMZ - 28.3%: Outsiders - 31.9%: Superman/Batman - 32.2%: Booster Gold - 32.4%: Action Comics - 35.4%: Supergirl - 36.1%: Batman - 36.4%: REBELS - 36.9%: Batman Confidential - 41.2%: Titans - 43.9%: House of Mystery - 48.2%: WoW - 58.6%: GoW
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5-YEAR COMPARISONS + 2.3%: Scooby-Doo - 0.0%: GL Corps - 4.4%: Green Lantern - 12.8%: Green Arrow - 16.1%: Batman - 16.4%: Birds of Prey - 19.2%: Red Robin - 21.6%: All-New BBB - 22.1%: Fables - 32.6%: Hellblazer - 35.7%: Detective Comics - 39.2%: Superman - 43.0%: Action Comics - 44.9%: JSA - 50.1%: LoSH - 55.9%: Jonah Hex - 57.6%: Outsiders - 60.7%: DMZ - 62.9%: Teen Titans - 71.5%: Superman/Batman
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Average Periodical Sales
(not counting reprints, reorders shipping after the initial month of release, Johnny DC titles and magazines)
DC COMICS 03/2006: 36,077 03/2007: 32,398 03/2008: 26,423 03/2009: 21,792 --------------- 03/2010: 23,299 (-11.1%)** 04/2010: 23,740 (+ 1.9%)** 05/2010: 27,785 (+17.0%)** 06/2010: 25,788 (- 7.2%)** 07/2010: 25,841 (+ 0.2%)** 08/2010: 23,331 (- 9.7%)** 09/2010: 23,212 (- 0.5%)** 10/2010: 23,756 (- 2.3%)** 11/2010: 25,497 (+ 7.3%)** 12/2010: 23,869 (- 6.4%)** 01/2011: 21,922 (- 8.2%)** 02/2011: 23,252 (+ 6.1%)** 03/2011: 23,976 (+ 3.1%)** ---------------- 6 months: + 3.3% 1 year : + 2.9% 2 years : +10.0% 5 years : -33.5%
DC UNIVERSE 03/2006: 44,854 03/2007: 42,634 03/2008: 33,151 03/2009: 31,336 --------------- 03/2010: 32,375 (- 9.8%) 04/2010: 32,859 (+ 1.5%) 05/2010: 37,463 (+14.0%) 06/2010: 34,612 (- 7.6%)** 07/2010: 35,372 (+ 2.2%) 08/2010: 33,411 (- 5.5%) 09/2010: 32,042 (- 4.1%) 10/2010: 32,832 (+ 2.5%) 11/2010: 34,180 (+ 4.1%) 12/2010: 30,870 (- 9.7%) 01/2011: 24,321 (-21.2%)** 02/2011: 25,887 (+ 6.4%)** 03/2011: 26,720 (+ 3.2%)** ---------------- 6 months: -16.6% 1 year : -17.5% 2 years : -14.7% 5 years : -40.4%
VERTIGO 03/2006: 15,812 03/2007: 13,748 03/2008: 10,484 03/2009: 10,177 --------------- 03/2010: 11,394 (+23.1%) 04/2010: 10,815 (- 5.1%) 05/2010: 11,756 (+ 8.7%) 06/2010: 10,995 (- 6.5% 07/2010: 9,515 (-13.5%) 08/2010: 9,094 (- 4.4%) 09/2010: 11,622 (+27.8%) 10/2010: 9,546 (-17.9%) 11/2010: 9,034 (- 5.4%) 12/2010: 11,193 (+23.9%) 01/2011: 10,145 (- 9.4%) 02/2011: 10,295 (+ 1.5%) 03/2011: 10,450 (+ 1.5%) ---------------- 6 months: -10.1% 1 year : - 8.3% 2 years : + 2.7% 5 years : -33.9%
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Disclaimers, et cetera
The numbers above are estimates for comic-book sales in the North American direct market, as calculated by ICv2.com according to the chart and index information provided by Diamond Comic Distributors.
ICv2.com‘s estimates are somewhat lower than the actual numbers, but they are consistent from month to month, so the trends they show are fairly accurate. Since it’s a “month-to-month” column, the comments, unless otherwise noted, are on the most recent month.
Bear in mind that the figures measure sales to retailers, not customers. Also, these numbers do not include sales to bookstores, newsstands, other mass-market retail chains or the United Kingdom. Re-orders are included, so long as they either reached stores in a book’s initial calendar month of release or were strong enough to make the chart again in a subsequent month.
If additional copies of an issue did appear on the chart after a book’s initial calendar month of release, you can see the total number of copies sold in parenthesis behind those issues (e.g. “[36,599]”). Should more than one issue have shipped in a month which is relevant for one of the long-term comparisons, the average between them will be used.
Titles released under the Johnny DC imprint and magazines, such as Mad, mostly sell through channels other than the direct market, so direct-market sales don’t tell us much about their performance. For most Vertigo titles, collection sales tend to be a significant factor, so the numbers for those books should be taken with a grain of salt as well. To learn (a little) more about Vertigo’s collection sales, go right here.
** Two asterisks after a given month in the average charts mean that one or more periodical release did not make the Top 300 chart in that month. In those cases, it’s assumed that said releases sold as many units as the No. 300 comic on the chart for that month for the purposes of the chart, although its actual sales are likely to be less than that.
For a more lyrical approach to discussing sales figures that covers all the essentials in a more condensed, less tedious fashion, finally, go right here.
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Marc-Oliver Frisch writes about comics at his weblog and at Comicgate. You can also follow him on Twitter.
Concerning Power Girl, it ties in JL: Generation Lost and Batman seems to be a guest star regularly these days (though I haven’t checked if he’s actually in this particular issue). So that might also explain the increase, though the explanation that the creative team may be doing something right may also be accurate, of course.
Booster Gold has also been tying in with JL: Generation Lost this spring.
Batman Odyssey is dead in the water and if delays continue to hit Dark Knight that book will be as well.
RE: DCUO. My understanding from the Brave New World sales and reports from other retailers is that up to 15% of it’s total sales is from destination traffic looking for that title even today.
I think those initial sales numbers may not be doing those titles justice.
Nearly every ongoing Vertigo title got a small uptick this month. That’s pretty impressive.
“Neal Adams’s Batman: The Odyssey (the totally-nuts one) was missing again in March, and the Batman projects by Frank Miller/Jim Lee (the one where Batman says “goddamn” a lot) and Kevin Smith (the one where Batman wets himself) that were meant to come out in early 2011 are nowhere to be seen, either. Interesting times at the Batman office, apparently.”
This paragraph totally made my day. :-D
Keep up the good work, Mark!
About BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL, you’ve always considered the title for Batman completists and you might be right but maybe the title stuck because it was composed of well-done out of continuity stories. At least, I know I’ve enjoyed a lot of them even though they were not “incredibly awesome”. :) Maybe the title had some support from the top of DC ?
Powergirl is great…so more people are picking it up.
as far as consistant…I would rather JONAH HEX not be so consistant and pick up some new readers…lol.
Nice to see so many titles increasing in sales this month. And not only by gimmicks, but because of the talent on the title. And judging by your ‘average periodical sales’ it looks like this is the 2nd overall increase in a row!
I’ve been trade waiting on a fair few titles, but they seem to be taking forever to come out! Like Powergirl #13+, Detective, and Superboy (or maybe I’ve just been spoilt, like with Walking Dead – that pretty much gets collected the month after).
DC need to just announce that – BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT – is now a quarterly title. Its the only realistic scedule he could keep I’m sure (and thats being generous). That way – everyone knows what is going on. I saw that there was going to be a FILL IN ARTIST on an upcoming issue – and I burst out laughing!! Like ANYONE is buying this for Finch’s script.
Yes, new editors needed in the Bat office pronto!
I’m very sad to see Xombi doing so poorly. I didn’t expect large sales, but that’s way lower than anything I would have predicted.
It’s such a good comic book. Why don’t people read it? I hope this survives a year at least. :(
Re: Batwoman, it’s been confirmed that it was pushed to the fall (after Flashpoint) by both the artist and Dan Didio, so I’m not sure why you were expecting solicitations this month.
Re: Detective Comics…“Look, a Batman title with a consistent, critically acclaimed creative team (Scott Snyder and Jock) and steadily increasing sales.”
I agree. Detective has been incredible well written since Snyder came on board. It’s a solid book. Sadly, it seems like he’s leaving it in a few more issues. Figures.
The store I bought Xombi from went through two reorders before I managed to snag a copy of issue one. Let’s hope lots of other stores ended up doing the same thing and sales will go up.
Brightest Day and Justice League: Generation Lost both ended with #24, not #26.
I’ve placed reorders for Xombie #1 at least 4 times so far, and I’m about to place my second reorder for #2. It’s one of the best tiles DC has published in a long, long time.
I have just discovered Xombi and I love it. I am putting it on my pull-list starting with issue #3. I hope I’m not alone doing something like this…
Oh and just a small thing: Brightest Day ends with issue #24, not #26 as mentionned in the analysis.
Marc-Oliver, could the $2.99 initiative have something to do with the surprising number of titles that either stabilized or went upward in sales this month? How does the timing work out on that, do you think?
Interesting question about the $2.99 initiative. There was obviously a hope that it would increase sales, and that might be one thing that may have led to some increases in sales in books that have good word of mouth.
For that matter, something that just occurs to me – even if that initiative doesn’t increase readership, it could slow down some readers from cutting some books.
Sean:
That’s my best guess: Thanks to DC cancelling around 25% of their ongoing DCU titles in the first half of 2011, and thanks to the near-complete rollback to a $ 2.99 price point, retailers are still spending the same amount of money, benefitting the remaining, $ 2.99 books.
(My second-best guess: It’s a glitch, because, while the increases make sense for one reason or another in a lot of cases, in some cases they don’t really.)
Support XOMBI! We sold over 60 copies in our 2 stores and more & more people are picking it up and we are increasing our orders because we are pushing it hard on people looking for something new & good to read! Spread the word!
IIRC, I got the last issue of my shop’s first reorder of Xombi. I hope there’s a big fat reorder number in the April numbers. Probably my favorite DC title at the moment.
Didio has said that DC keeps Jonah Hex despite its low sales because he thinks they should be publishing different kinds of comics.
Maybe Xombi will fall into that category if its sales stay steady. And maybe everybody on the Internet liking it and calling it DC’s best new book in years will help also.
@Dara – I just did some searching after your comment that Snyder is leaving Detective. And it looked like some people thought he was going to be leaving at #881. But he clarified via Twitter that that issue is only the last of his first major arc, and that he isn’t leaving.
Which is pleasing to hear! ;)
I think I read August is the final issue of Snyder’s first big storyline on Detective Comics, as well as the final issue for artist Jock. I think from there it was only assumed, but never said, that it was also Snyder’s final issue. Good to know he confirms he’s staying on the title.
Poor, poor DC. Marvel just suffocating them each month with more product. Not necessarily good product but more product nonetheless.
Once Johns realizes he is mortal and Flashpoints fails at market this year. Look for Bob Harras to step fully into his EIC role. The dam will burst and the blood will flow freely without stopping. Marvel eat them alive for the next 3 years.
Is that you Brevoort?, don’t you have something else to do but troll DC like trying to explain how you’re cutting pages from you’re 2.99 books and never announced it.
Let’s not get it twisted while Flashpoint won’t be Blackest Night and no one expects it to. Johns is the reason why DC has even been close to Marvel these past years and he’s helped them even top Marvel at the top of the charts routinely. Unlike Bendis he actually knows how to write events and he’s made Green Lantern bigger than it’s ever been.
Marvel needs to take care of their own house, Fear Itself was mediocre at best and will be lucky to do as well as Siege which itself was a flop.
I’m not really a fan of Marvel or DC, but if one of the two “wins,” we’ll all lose. The comics industry isn’t big enough to survive one of the two companies responsible for a combined 80% of the market to fall. And despite all their faults, there are still a lot of good books for different tastes produced by both companies.
Per Neal Adams’ blog, BATMAN: ODYSSEY is up to pencils on issue eleven. However, inks seem to be coming in at odd times and out of order (one problem with the structure of the second half of the series, with Sienkiewicz doing the bulk of the finishes but selected sequences coming from several others), so there are issues with scheduling the title even though the book is being worked upon actively.
IOW, it ain’t the trainwreck the Jim Lee Goddam Batman book is.
Echoing the sentiment that people need to check out XOMBI. This title is wonderful and different and needs to stick around for a while!
And, yes, Bat-editorial is a MESS. I’m not sure how Mike Marts still has a job. He’s been screwing up scheduling and solicitations for YEARS now, and the problem still is getting worse and worse by the month! These past few years, the Bat-titles should have dominated sales charts like the X-titles did in the 90s, but Marts has bungled things up creatively and schedule-wise that on any given month it seems like half of the Bat-books have their legs chopped off. Half of them either don’t come out that month or have an unannounced creative change. It is deplorable.
>Marvel [is] just suffocating [DC] each month with more product.
Yes, Marvel seems to have deliberatly lowered their cancellation levels in order to help flood the shelves and choke DC to death. I’m sure DC’s large number of Flashpoint mini-series is an attempt to respond in kind. (Based on the sales success of the Blackest Night tie-ins, I can understand DC’s reasoning.)
Flashpoint #1 was enjoyable, and I’m looking forward to the [presumed] changes issue #5 will bring to the DCU. Since this mini-series has been in the planning stages for many, many, months I’m hoping whatever changes it precipitates will be well orchestrated. (As long as Mike Marts isn’t involved, I guess.)
LL
“That’s my best guess: Thanks to DC cancelling around 25% of their ongoing DCU titles in the first half of 2011, and thanks to the near-complete rollback to a $ 2.99 price point, retailers are still spending the same amount of money, benefitting the remaining, $ 2.99 books.”
Only a couple of the canceled books have stopped shipping yet. JSA All Stars, REBELS, etc have not seen a collapse in their sales according to these charts so there hasn’t been a cost savings yet.
My guess is that since DC hasn’t had much new product lately its given some of their second tier books a chance to get attention. They will probably start slipping again in June when people cut books to buy Flash tie-ins.
So glad to see so many Xombi lovers! That book is AMAZING, and these numbers disappointed the crap out of me. So hopefully we WILL see a big uptick on next months numbers!
“Regardless, cheap gimmicks and crossovers and the flashes in the pan they generate continue to be worthier of promotion and support to the people who run Marvel and DC.” I agree with this wholeheartedly. (And Xombi is a perfect example of this. ENOUGH with Flashpoint already, we GET it. How about DC and Marvel start promoting actual well done titles!?)
It’s nice to see the two best books DC has out doing well, Action Comics and Detective Comics are just beyond amazing right now! I love seeing my 3rd favourite title staying at least solid (Superboy), and those numbers for the JLI mini are nice as well…if only the two Legion books (which appear to have stopped falling) would rise!
I am LOVING DC right now…Flashpoint and War Of The Green Lanterns are both awesome so far! Great time to be a DC fan!
I assumed that the 2.99 price point is why DC’s titles are stablizing this go-round…I know I’ve dropped alot of Marvel’s at 3.99 due to the price so I can imagine the reverse happening at DC.
Oh yeah…how did I forget in my previous post to mention T.H.U.N.D.E.R. A.G.E.N.T.S.? It’s by far the best non-DCU book out there…as long as they can hold onto Spencer I’ll be there. It’s an amazing title. Wish it was a Vertigo book or something…
Also THRILLED to hear Snyder is staying on ‘Tec…it’s THE BEST Batman book in YEARS!
Even though I’m not a Finch guy, I was willing to give Dark Knight a shot. It wasn’t worth the wait for me.
Echo the Xombi sentiments. Excellent material, and I love me some Fraiser Irving.
The growth in sales for Detective Comics is awesome. Best Batman book out there right now.
I am on-board for the main DCU direction. Love Flashpoint, and love War of the GL. I dipped into Powergirl for the JLI tie-in and really liked what I read and saw. Crisp art with a well-rounded lead character and good supporting cast. I’m sticking around a bit for that one.
Thanks for the numbers, as always. Best read every month on the internets!
“DC need to just announce that – BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT – is now a quarterly title. Its the only realistic scedule he could keep I’m sure (and thats being generous). That way – everyone knows what is going on. I saw that there was going to be a FILL IN ARTIST on an upcoming issue – and I burst out laughing!! Like ANYONE is buying this for Finch’s script.”
Haha.
It’s weird (in a good way) how many books sales increased so it’ll be interesting to see if the trend increases next month. I didn’t much like Flashpoint #1 but was surprised to see somebody predicting its sales demise on here. Geoff Johns might not be the most original writer around but he definitely knows how to do a bankable book. I also wonder if the first issue will end up being the least interesting as it’s all set up to the Age of Apocalypse-esque tale. Once again I find it interesting how storylines mirror each other in the big two (ala blackest night and necrosha) with the Flash Point and Age of X “alt” universes publishing so close together.
Xombi
Power Girl
Jonah Hex
Three titles that DC needs to promote more within their own company as how to do comics the right way.
If you don’t give them attention and promotion the audience thinks you’ve given up on them and therefore the cancelation talk starts.
Maybe the slights sales rises (so many are a pattern, not tied to any one book or its quality) is an economic reflection: people are spending a bit more in March than they were post-Christmas. Marvel should have jumped on board the $2.99 bandwagon too, instead of complicating it with special promotions and the silliness of the superfluous Point 1 issues.