Image Comics Month-to Month Sales April 2016: East of the Sun (And West of the Moon)

by David Carter

Greetings, sales charts fans! It’s time once again to look at Image Comics’ sales figures.

Just a reminder that I’m not doing this as a permanent gig; just filling in until Heidi finds someone to take on the indy month-to-month chart. Although that keeps looking less and less likely with each passing month, so y’all might be stuck with me for a while…

Please refer to July’s column for a preamble and explanation as to why sales standards for Image books are likely to be different than those for DC or Marvel.

Image shipped 51 comics in March, compared to 52 comics in March, 50 comics in February, 56 comics in January, 67 comics in December, 62 in November, 55 in October and 73 in September. Of those 51 comics, 20 did not place in Diamond’s Top 300, and another 10 placed below the 10K mark.

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 over at Comichron!

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 done with total orders including reorder activity, as opposed to initial orders.)

---

13 - THE WALKING DEAD ($2.99)
04/2006: --
04/2011: The Walking Dead #83  --  31,930 
04/2012: The Walking Dead #95  --  36,391
04/2013: The Walking Dead #109 --  90,362 
04/2014: The Walking Dead #125 --  66,761  [66,782]
04/2014: The Walking Dead #126 --  67,853  [68,647]
-----------------------------------------
04/2015: The Walking Dead #140 --  66,553 (-  3.9%) [66,944]
05/2015: The Walking Dead #141 --  68,931 (+  4.5%) [69,970]
06/2015: The Walking Dead #142 --  68,221 (-  1.3%) [69,079]
06/2015: The Walking Dead #143 --  67,989 (+  0.4%) [69,325]
07/2015: The Walking Dead #144 --  79,496 (+ 15.2%) [79,882]
08/2015: The Walking Dead #145 --  82,792 (+  4.7%) [83,671]
09/2015: The Walking Dead #146 --  69,006 (- 16.6%) [69,799]
10/2015: The Walking Dead #147 --  67,056 (-  2.6%) [68,007]
11/2015: The Walking Dead #148 --  65,526 (-  2.3%) [66,446]
12/2015: The Walking Dead #149 --  65,406 (-  1.6%) 
01/2016: The Walking Dead #150 -- 156,166 (+138.8%) 
02/2016: The Walking Dead #151 --  67,381 (- 59.6%) 
03/2016: The Walking Dead #152 --  67,258 (-  0.2%) 
04/2016: The Walking Dead #153 --  67,358 (+  0.1%) 
-----------------
6 months: -  3.5%
1 year  : +  0.6%
2 years : -  0.5%
5 years : +111.0%
10 years:    n.a.

Yup, Walking Dead is still the top Image title. It adds a hundred more copies this month.

—

36 - SAGA ($2.99)
04/2012: Saga #2  -- 36,885  [43,137] 
04/2013: Saga #12 -- 53,339 
04/2014: --
---------------------------
04/2015: Saga #27 -- 54,897 (-  0.0%) [54,868]
05/2015: Saga #28 -- 55,239 (+  2.6%) [56,275]
06/2015: Saga #29 -- 55,131 (-  0.9%) [55,752]
07/2015: Saga #30 -- 60,937 (+  3.1%) [57,501]
08/2015: -- 
09/2015: -- 
10/2015: -- 
11/2015: Saga #31 -- 53,980 (-  5.0%) [54,650]
12/2015: Saga #32 -- 51,850 (-  5.1%) 
01/2016: Saga #33 -- 50,415 (-  2.8%) 
02/2016: Saga #34 -- 49,363 (-  2.1%) 
03/2016: Saga #35 -- 48,845 (-  1.0%) 
04/2016: Saga #36 -- 48,957 (+  0.2%) 
-----------------
6 months:    n.a.
1 year  : - 10.8%
2 years :    n.a.

Saga also make a slight sales gain. Likely these small gains are just corrections, and when we see the year-end numbers we’ll see some upward adjustments in the previous issues as well.

—

127, 198 - SEX CRIMINALS ($3.50/$4.69)
04/2014: --
--------------------------
04/2015: --
05/2015: --
06/2015: -- 
07/2015: Sex Criminals #11 -- 35,234 (+ 82.5%) [40,283]
08/2015: -- 
09/2015: Sex Criminals #12 -- 33,005 (- 18.1%) 
10/2015: Sex Criminals #13 -- 29,368 (- 11.0%) 
11/2015: -- 
12/2015: -- 
01/2016: -- 
02/2016: Sex Criminals #14 -- 26,435 (- 10.0%) 
03/2016: --
04/2016: Sex Criminals #15 -- 25,937 (-  1.9%) 
-----------------
6 months: - 11.7%
1 year  :    n.a.
2 years :    n.a.

Combined sales for the regular and XXX variants.

—

92 - TOKYO GHOST ($3.99)
09/2015: Tokyo Ghost #1 -- 39,682           [44,296]
10/2015: Tokyo Ghost #2 -- 27,688 (- 32.8%) [29,770]
11/2015: Tokyo Ghost #3 -- 25,198 (- 15.4%) 
12/2015: Tokyo Ghost #4 -- 24,133 (-  4.2%) 
01/2016: Tokyo Ghost #5 -- 22,724 (-  5.8%) 
02/2016: --
03/2016: --
04/2016: Tokyo Ghost #6 -- 22,231 (-  2.2%) 
-----------------
6 months: - 25.3%

Start of the second story arc.

—

96 - MONSTRESS ($3.99)
11/2015: Monstress #1 -- 33,045           [36,876]
12/2015: Monstress #2 -- 23,367 (- 36.6%) 
01/2016: Monstress #3 -- 22,945 (-  1.8%) 
02/2016: --
03/2016: Monstress #4 -- 22,406 (-  2.3%) 
04/2016: Monstress #5 -- 21,820 (-  2.6%)

Monstress settled into standard attrition pretty quickly.

—

97 - OUTCAST BY KIRKMAN & AZACETA ($2.99)
04/2015: Outcast #8  -- 36,188 (- 14.4%) [33,012]
05/2015: Outcast #9  -- 28,961 (-  8.8%) [30,104]
06/2015: -- 
07/2015: Outcast #10 -- 28,012 (-  6.9%) 
08/2015: Outcast #11 -- 27,087 (-  3.3%) 
09/2015: Outcast #12 -- 26,115 (-  3.6%) 
10/2015: -- 
11/2015: Outcast #13 -- 24,051 (-  7.9%) 
12/2015: Outcast #14 -- 23,319 (-  3.0%) 
01/2016: Outcast #15 -- 22,195 (-  4.8%) 
02/2016: Outcast #16 -- 21,801 (-  1.8%) 
03/2016: Outcast #17 -- 21,426 (-  1.7%) 
04/2016: Outcast #18 -- 21,261 (-  0.8%) 
-----------------
6 months:    n.a.
1 year  : - 35.6%

The television series starts in early June.

—

106 - HUCK ($3.50)
11/2015: Huck #1 -- 35,299           [37,775]
12/2015: Huck #2 -- 22,937 (- 39.3%)
01/2016: Huck #3 -- 20,986 (-  8.5%)
02/2016: Huck #4 -- 20,183 (-  3.8%)
03/2016: Huck #5 -- 19,917 (-  1.3%)
04/2016: Huck #6 -- 19,551 (-  1.8%)

Final issue? This was solicited as the “mini-series conclusion,” though I don’t think that Huck was originally solicited as a mini…

—

109 - EAST OF WEST ($3.50)
04/2013: East of West #2  -- 46,022
04/2014: East of West #11 -- 28,090
-----------------------------------
04/2015: --
05/2015: East of West #19 -- 22,482 (-  2.6%)
06/2015: -- 
07/2015: -- 
08/2015: East of West #20 -- 21,778 (-  3.1%) 
09/2015: -- 
10/2015: East of West #21 -- 21,075 (-  3.2%) 
11/2015: -- 
12/2015: East of West #22 -- 19,867 (-  5.7%) 
12/2015: East of West #23 -- 19,184 (-  3.4%) 
01/2016: East of West #24 -- 18,460 (-  3.8%) 
02/2016: --
03/2016: --
04/2016: East of West #25 -- 19,297 (+  4.5%) 
-----------------
6 months: -  8.4%
1 year  :    n.a.
2 years : - 31.3%

Returns from its two-month hiatus with a variant cover in tow.

—

113 - SPAWN ($2.99)
04/2006: Spawn #155      -- 26,729
04/2011: Spawn #206      -- 15,160 
04/2012: Spawn #218      -- 12,680 
04/2013: Spawn #230      -- 15,994  
04/2014: Spawn #242      -- 11,827 
----------------------------------
04/2015: Spawn #251      -- 17,443 (- 71.1%)
05/2015: Spawn #252      -- 15,904 (-  8.8%)
06/2015: Spawn #253      -- 15,993 (+  0.6%) 
07/2015: Spawn #254      -- 15,421 (-  3.6%) 
08/2015: Spawn #255      -- 15,717 (+  1.9%) 
09/2015: Spawn #256      -- 15,087 (-  4.0%) 
10/2015: Spawn #257      -- 15,266 (+  1.2%) 
11/2015: Spawn #258      -- 15,163 (-  0.7%) 
12/2015: Spawn #259      -- 16,906 (+ 11.5%) 
01/2016: -- 
02/2016: Spawn #260      -- 17,877 (+  5.7%) 
02/2016: Spawn #261      -- 16,949 (-  5.2%) 
03/2016: --
04/2016: Spawn #262      -- 18,775 (+ 10.8%) 
-----------------
6 months: + 23.0%
1 year  : +  7.6%
2 years : + 58.7%
5 years : + 23.8%
10 years: - 29.8%

The finale of “Satan Saga Wars.” There was a variant cover, though the previous issues had variants as well, so the only explanation for the rise I can think of is reader interest.

—

122 - THE WICKED + THE DIVINE ($3.50)
04/2015: --
05/2015: Wicked + Divine #10 -- 20,562 (+  1.0%)
06/2015: Wicked + Divine #11 -- 20,579 (+  0.1%) 
07/2015: Wicked + Divine #12 -- 20,335 (-  1.2%) 
08/2015: Wicked + Divine #13 -- 20,161 (-  1.2%) 
09/2015: Wicked + Divine #14 -- 20,706 (+  2.7%) 
10/2015: Wicked + Divine #15 -- 20,154 (-  2.7%) 
11/2015: Wicked + Divine #16 -- 19,360 (-  3.9%) 
12/2015: Wicked + Divine #17 -- 18,479 (-  4.6%) 
01/2016: --
02/2016: --
03/2016: --
04/2016: Wicked + Divine #18 -- 17,722 (-  4.1%) 
-----------------
6 months: - 12.1%
1 year  :    n.a.

Back for a third story arc.

—

129 - BLACK ROAD ($3.99)
04/2016: Black Road #1  -- 16,572

New Viking series by Brian Wood and Garry Brown.

—

191, 274 - CRIMINAL 10TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL ($4.99/$5.99)
02/2015: Criminal Special Ed.  -- 19,387 
04/2016: Criminal 10th Special -- 15,192 (- 21.6%)

Combined sales of the regular and magazine-sized editions.

—

140 - THE FIX ($3.99)
04/2016: The Fix #1  -- 14,959

New crime series by Superior Foes of Super-Man pals Nick Spencer & Steve Lieber. I was kind of expecting this to debut higher, but retailers appears to have ordered this at the same level where Superior Foes ended (14,681). But as of this writing The first two issues have gone into 3rd & 2nd printings (respectively), and Lieber announced that issue #3 received higher initial orders than issue #2 did. So apparently retailers underestimated demand here.

—

145 - LOW ($3.99)
04/2015: -- 
05/2015: --
06/2015: Low #7  -- 24,317 (+ 22.6%) 
07/2015: Low #8  -- 16,169 (- 33.5%) 
08/2015: Low #9  -- 15,717 (-  2.8%) 
09/2015: --
10/2015: Low #10 -- 15,351 (-  2.3%) 
11/2015: -- 
12/2015: -- 
01/2016: -- 
02/2016: Low #11 -- 14,939 (-  2.7%) 
03/2016: Low #12 -- 14,494 (-  3.0%) 
04/2016: Low #13 -- 13,956 (-  3.7%) 
-----------------
6 months:    n.a.
1 year  :    n.a.

—

154 - JUPITER'S CIRCLE ($3.50)
04/2014: --
--------------------------------------
04/2015: Jupiter's Circle #1 -- 32,542 (+ 12.0%) [33,063]
05/2015: Jupiter's Circle #2 -- 24,499 (- 24.7%)
06/2015: Jupiter's Circle #3 -- 21,287 (- 13.1%) 
07/2015: Jupiter's Circle #4 -- 19,522 (-  8.3%) 
08/2015: Jupiter's Circle #5 -- 18,889 (-  3.2%) 
09/2015: Jupiter's Circle #6 -- 18,732 (-  0.8%) 
10/2015: --
11/2015: Jupiter's Crc v2 #1 -- 18,175 (-  3.0%)
12/2015: Jupiter's Crc v2 #2 -- 15,719 (- 13.5%)
01/2016: Jupiter's Crc v2 #3 -- 14,631 (-  6.9%)
02/2016: -- 
03/2016: Jupiter's Crc v2 #4 -- 13,726 (-  6.2%)
04/2016: Jupiter's Crc v2 #5 -- 13,418 (-  2.2%)
-----------------
6 months:    n.a.
1 year  : - 59.4%
2 years :    n.a.

—

157 - VELVET ($3.50)
04/2014: --
-------------------------------
04/2015: Velvet #10 -- 15,720 (-  3.4%) 
05/2015: --
06/2015: -- 
07/2015: -- 
08/2015: Velvet #11 -- 14,802 (-  5.8%) 
09/2015: -- 
10/2015: -- 
11/2015: Velvet #12 -- 14,206 (-  4.0%) 
12/2015: -- 
01/2016: -- 
02/2016: Velvet #13 -- 13,585 (-  4.4%) 
03/2016: --
04/2016: Velvet #14 -- 12,980 (-  4.5%) 
-----------------
6 months:    n.a.
1 year  : - 17.4%
2 years :    n.a.

—

171 - INVINCIBLE ($2.99)
04/2006: Invincible #31  -- 12,056
04/2011: Invincible #79  -- 15,558 
04/2012: Invincible #90  -- 14,393
04/2013: Invincible #102 -- 15,249 
04/2014: Invincible #110 -- 12,557
----------------------------------
04/2015: Invincible #119 -- 13,492
05/2015: Invincible #120 -- 13,191 (-  2.2%)
06/2015: -- 
07/2015: Invincible #121 -- 13,075 (-  0.9%) 
08/2015: Invincible #122 -- 13,001 (-  0.6%) 
09/2015: Invincible #123 -- 12,758 (-  1.9%) 
10/2015: Invincible #124 -- 13,186 (+  3.4%) 
11/2015: Invincible #125 -- 12,561 (-  4.7%) 
12/2015: Invincible #126 -- 12,436 (-  1.0%) 
01/2016: --
02/2016: --
03/2016: --
04/2016: Invincible #127 -- 12,038 (-  3.2%) 
-----------------
6 months: -  8.7%
1 year  : - 10.8%
2 years : -  4.1%
5 years : - 22.6%
10 years: -  0.1%

—

174 - INJECTION ($2.99)
05/2015: Injection #1  -- 41,648           [43,733]
06/2015: Injection #2  -- 23,484 (- 43.6%) 
07/2015: Injection #3  -- 19,754 (- 15.9%) 
08/2015: Injection #4  -- 17,113 (- 13.4%) 
09/2015: Injection #5  -- 16,020 (-  6.4%) 
10/2015: -- 
11/2015: -- 
12/2015: -- 
01/2016: Injection #6  -- 13,153 (- 17.9%) 
02/2016: Injection #7  -- 12,459 (-  5.3%) 
03/2016: Injection #8  -- 11,855 (-  4.8%) 
04/2016: Injection #9  -- 11,433 (-  3.6%) 
-----------------
6 months:    n.a.

—

184 - CHEW: DEMON CHICKEN POYO ($3.99)
04/2011: Chew #18      -- 12,438
04/2012: Chew #25      -- 11,753
04/2013: Chew #33      -- 12,964 
04/2014: Chew #41      -- 10,835
------------------------------------
04/2015: Chew #48      --  9,707 (-  0.8%)
05/2015: Chew #49      --  9,583 (-  1.3%)
06/2015: -- 
07/2015: Chew #50      -- 10,679 (+ 11.4%) 
08/2015: -- 
09/2015: -- 
10/2015: Chew #51      --  9,652 (-  9.6%) 
11/2015: Chew #52      --  9,056 (-  6.2%) 
12/2015: Chew #53      --  8,829 (-  2.5%) 
01/2016: Chew #54      --  8,556 (-  3.1%) 
02/2016: Chew #55      --  8,430 (-  1.5%) 
03/2016: --
04/2016: Demon Chicken -- 10,447 (+ 23.9%)
-----------------
6 months: +  8.2%
1 year  : +  7.6%
2 years : -  3.6%
5 years : - 16.0%

The Poyo specials always tend to sell a couple thousand higher than the regular title, and Demon Chicken Poyo is no exception.

—

185 - DEADLY CLASS ($3.99)
04/2014: Deadly Class #4  -- 17,855
------------------------------------
04/2015: Deadly Class #12 -- 13,780 (+  7.6%)
05/2015: Deadly Class #13 -- 12,299 (- 10.7%)
06/2015: -- 
07/2015: Deadly Class #14 -- 11,798 (-  4.1%) 
08/2015: Deadly Class #15 -- 11,779 (-  0.2%) 
09/2015: Deadly Class #16 -- 11,394 (-  3.3%) 
10/2015: --
11/2015: --
12/2015: Deadly Class #17 -- 11,035 (-  3.2%) 
01/2016: Deadly Class #18 -- 10,485 (-  5.0%) 
02/2016: --
03/2016: Deadly Class #19 -- 10,440 (-  0.4%) 
04/2016: Deadly Class #20 -- 10,366 (-  0.7%) 
-----------------
6 months:    n.a.
1 year  : - 24.8%
2 years : - 41.9%

—

186 - THE DISCIPLINE ($2.99)
03/2016: Discipline #1  -- 20,221
04/2016: Discipline #2  -- 10,288 (- 49.1%)

Sales drop nearly in half for the second issue.

—

188 - GRIZZLY SHARK ($3.50)
04/2016: Grizzly Shark #1 of 3 -- 10,221

The first issue is a full color reprint of the original story from Sea Bear & Grizzly Shark in 2010.

—

192 - AUTUMNLANDS ($2.99)
04/2015: --
05/2015: --
06/2015: Autumnlands T&C #6 -- 15,321 (-  4.6%) 
07/2015: -- 
08/2015: -- 
09/2015: -- 
10/2015: -- 
11/2015: Autumnlands #7     -- 12,227 (- 20.2%) 
12/2015: Autumnlands #8     -- 11,104 (-  9.2%) 
01/2016: -- 
02/2016: Autumnlands #9     -- 10,249 (-  7.7%) 
03/2016: -- 
04/2016: Autumnlands #10    --  9,751 (-  4.9%) 
-----------------
6 months:    n.a.
1 year  :    n.a.

—

193 - PRETTY DEADLY ($3.50)
04/2014: Pretty Deadly #5  -- 19,218
------------------------------------
04/2015: --
05/2015: --
06/2015: -- 
07/2015: -- 
08/2015: -- 
09/2015: -- 
10/2015: --
11/2015: Pretty Deadly #6  -- 15,494 (- 19.4%)
12/2015: Pretty Deadly #7  -- 11,277 (- 27.2%)
01/2016: -- 
02/2016: Pretty Deadly #8  -- 10,180 (-  9.7%)
03/2016: -- 
04/2016: Pretty Deadly #9  --  9,732 (-  4.4%)
-----------------
6 months:    n.a.
1 year  :    n.a.
2 years : - 49.4%

—

200 - LAZARUS SOURCEBOOK ($3.99)
04/2016: Sourcebook #1 --  8,915

About 4.5K fewer than the regular comic has been selling.

—

219 - CRY HAVOC ($3.99)
01/2016: Cry Havoc #1 -- 20,677 
02/2016: Cry Havoc #2 --  9,692 (- 53.1%) 
03/2016: Cry Havoc #3 --  7,813 (- 19.4%) 
04/2016: Cry Havoc #4 --  7,771 (-  0.5%)

—

251 - SNOWFALL ($3.99)
02/2016: Snowfall #1  -- 17,195 
03/2016: Snowfall #2  --  7,595 (- 55.8%) 
04/2016: Snowfall #3  --  6,144 (- 19.1%)

—

254 - SWITCH ($3.99)
10/2015: Switch #1 -- 11,442 
11/2015: Switch #2 --  6,788 (- 40.7%) 
12/2015: -- 
01/2016: -- 
02/2016: --
03/2016: --
04/2016: Switch #3 --  6,119 (-  9.9%)

This is the print edition of a Webcomic, so presumably there are other schedules and revenue streams at work here.

—

277 - ALOHA, HAWAIIAN DICK ($3.99)
04/2016: Aloha #1 of 5 --  5,095

It’s been nearly eight years since the last issue of a Hawaiian Dick series, and it was always a series that had serious scheduling issues. I like the series but decided to trade wait on this because of past scheduling, and it appears I was not alone. This is likely the only issue that will show up on the Top 300 chart.

—

279 - MIRROR ($2.99)
02/2016: Mirror #1  -- 14,884 
03/2016: Mirror #2  --  6,269 (- 57.9%) 
04/2016: Mirror #3  --  4,903 (- 21,8%)

—

282 - MYTHIC ($3.99)
05/2015: Mythic #1  -- 32,297 
06/2015: Mythic #2  -- 13,838 (- 57.2%) 
07/2015: Mythic #3  -- 10,197 (- 26.3%) 
08/2015: -- 
09/2015: Mythic #4  --  7,417 (- 27.3%) 
10/2015: -- 
11/2015: Mythic #5  --  6,538 (- 11.9%) 
12/2015: -- 
01/2016: Mythic #6  --  5,590 (- 14.5%) 
02/2016: Mythic #7  --  5,162 (-  7.7%) 
03/2016: --
04/2016: Mythic #8  --  4,834 (-  6.4%) 
-----------------
6 months:    n.a.

—

288 - STARVE ($3.99)
06/2015: Starve #1  -- 24,847  
07/2015: Starve #2  -- 10,646 (- 57.2%)  
08/2015: Starve #3  --  8,379 (- 21.3%)  
09/2015: Starve #4  --  7,050 (- 15.9%)  
10/2015: Starve #5  --  6,416 (-  9.0%)  
11/2015: -- 
12/2015: -- 
01/2016: -- 
02/2016: Starve #6  --  5,422 (- 15.5%)  
03/2016: Starve #7  --  4,942 (-  8.9%)  
04/2016: Starve #8  --  4,674 (-  5.4%)  
-----------------
6 months: - 27.2%

—

Image titles shipping but not making the Top 300 in April include: Astronauts in Trouble, Circuit Breaker, Citizen Jack, Dark Corridor, Dream Police, Drifter, Empty Zone, Four Eyes, From Under Mountains, Limbo, No Mercy, Postal, Power Lines, Prophet: Earth War, Roche Limit: Monadic, Saints, Savage Dragon, Sex, Shutter, Think Tank: Creative Destruction.

Note that this doesn’t necessarily mean that any of them are in danger of being cancelled; there are many reasons that the creators of these books may desire to keep them going.

—

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.

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.

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 Association for Professional Basketball Research, or my former 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.