by David Carter
Greetings, sales charts fans! It’s time once again to look at Image Comics’s sales figures.
Please refer to the July 2015 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 53 comics in October, compared to 52 in both September and August. They shipped 55 in October 2015.
Of those 53 comics, 14 did not place in the Diamond Top 300, and another 22 were below the 10K sales 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.)
10 - THE WALKING DEAD ($2.99) 10/2006: -- 10/2011: The Walking Dead #89 -- 31,351 10/2011: The Walking Dead #90 -- 31,778 10/2012: The Walking Dead #103 -- 74,378 10/2013: The Walking Dead #115 -- 310,854 [329,127] 10/2014: The Walking Dead #132 -- 326,334 10/2014: The Walking Dead #133 -- 69,561 ----------------------------------------- 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%) 05/2016: The Walking Dead #154 -- 68,922 (+ 2.3%) 06/2016: The Walking Dead #155 -- 71,755 (+ 4.1%) 07/2016: The Walking Dead #156 -- 76,355 (+ 6.4%) 08/2016: The Walking Dead #157 -- 97,689 (+ 37.0%) [104,596] 09/2016: The Walking Dead #158 -- 94,316 (- 9.8%) 10/2016: The Walking Dead #159 -- 91,291 (- 3.2%) ----------------- 6 months: + 35.5% 1 year : + 34.2% 2 years : - 53.9% 5 years : +189.2% 10 years: n.a.
“Whisper War” and the Art Adams variant covers continue.
—
19 - REBORN ($3.99) 10/2016: Reborn #1 -- 74,967
The new series from Mark Millar & Greg Capullo makes a big splash, with numerous variant covers giving it an extra push.
—
55 - SAGA ($2.99) 09/2012: -- 10/2013: Saga #15 -- 54,816 10/2014: Saga #24 -- 55,534 [55,338] --------------------------- 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%) 05/2016: -- 06/2016: -- 07/2016: -- 08/2016: Saga #37 -- 50,016 (+ 2.2%) 09/2016: Saga #38 -- 48,106 (- 3.8%) 10/2016: Saga #39 -- 46,749 (- 2.8%) ----------------- 6 months: - 4.5% 1 year : n.a. 2 years : - 15.5%
Everything is fine in Saga-land.
—
90 - MOONSHINE ($2.99) 10/2016: Moonshine #1 -- 34,533
New series from the 100 Bullets team of Azzarello & Risso. The fact that this isn’t coming out from Vertigo says a lot about the state of creator-owned comics these days.
Anyway, there were some variant covers involved (though not nearly as many as for Reborn), and the first two issues have already gone back for second printings.
—
99 - PAPER GIRLS ($2.99) 10/2015: Paper Girls #1 -- 75,585 [80,620] 11/2015: Paper Girls #2 -- 46,274 (- 40.0%) [48,346] 12/2015: Paper Girls #3 -- 43,737 (- 9.5%) 01/2016: Paper Girls #4 -- 38,290 (- 12.5%) 02/2016: Paper Girls #5 -- 37,206 (- 2.8%) 03/2016: -- 04/2016: -- 05/2016: -- 06/2016: Paper Girls #6 -- 36,385 (- 2.2%) 07/2016: Paper Girls #7 -- 35,392 (- 2.7%) 08/2016: Paper Girls #8 -- 33,731 (- 4.7%) 09/2016: Paper Girls #9 -- 32,320 (- 4.2%) 10/2016: Paper Girls #10 -- 32,119 (- 0.6%) ----------------- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : - 60.2%
The second story arc comes to a close; resumes in February.
—
110 - SEVEN TO ETERNITY ($3.99) 09/2016: Seven to Eternity #1 -- 32,790 [39,394] 10/2016: Seven to Eternity #2 -- 27,968 (- 29.0%)
A typical second issue drop, and the first issue sees another 6,604 for the second printing.
—
117 - KILL OR BE KILLED ($3.99) 08/2016: Kill or Be Killed #1 -- 30,050 09/2016: Kill or Be Killed #2 -- 23,812 (- 20.8%) 10/2016: Kill or Be Killed #3 -- 23,883 (+ 0.3%)
Actually goes up a smidge, which for a third issue is pretty remarkable.
—
120 - SPAWN ($2.99) 10/2006: Spawn #161 -- 25,828 10/2011: Spawn #212 -- 13,483 10/2012: Spawn #224 -- 17,759 10/2013: Spawn #236 -- 13,368 10/2014: Spawn #247 -- 12,023 ---------------------------------- 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%) 05/2016: Spawn #263 -- 16,109 (- 14.2%) 06/2016: -- 07/2016: Spawn #264 -- 17,157 (+ 6.5%) 08/2016: Spawn #265 -- 15,927 (- 7.2%) 09/2016: -- 10/2016: Spawn #266 -- 22,304 (+ 40.0%) ----------------- 6 months: + 18.8% 1 year : + 46.1% 2 years : + 85.5% 5 years : + 65.4% 10 years: - 13.6%
A crossover with Savage Dragon and multiple variant covers combine to give Spawn a nice boost.
—
124 - 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%) 05/2016: Monstress #6 -- 20,850 (- 4.4%) 06/2016: -- 07/2016: -- 08/2016: -- 09/2016: -- 10/2016: Monstress #7 -- 20,799 (- 0.2%) ----------------- 6 months: - 4.7%
Returns for its second story arc in good shape.
—
127 - I HATE FAIRYLAND ($3.50) 10/2015: I Hate Fairyland #1 -- 50,318 [53,492] 11/2015: I Hate Fairyland #2 -- 31,626 (- 38.2%) [33,054] 12/2015: I Hate Fairyland #3 -- 27,843 (- 15.8%) 01/2016: I Hate Fairyland #4 -- 25,708 (- 7.7%) 02/2016: I Hate Fairyland #5 -- 24,793 (- 3.6%) 03/2016: -- 04/2016: -- 05/2016: -- 06/2016: I Hate Fairyland #6 -- 26,095 (+ 5.3%) 07/2016: I Hate Fairyland #7 -- 23,742 (- 9.0%) 08/2016: I Hate Fairyland #8 -- 22,562 (- 5.0%) 09/2016: I Hate Fairyland #9 -- 21,265 (- 5.7%) 10/2016: I Hate Fairyland #10 -- 20,534 (- 3.4%) ----------------- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : - 61.6%
Wraps up the second story arc. Presumably it’ll be back for a third at some point?
—
129 - OUTCAST BY KIRKMAN & AZACETA ($2.99) 10/2014: -- ------------------------------ 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%) 05/2016: -- 06/2016: -- 07/2016: Outcast #19 -- 22,167 (+ 4.3%) 08/2016: Outcast #20 -- 21,919 (- 1.1%) 09/2016: Outcast #21 -- 20,886 (- 4.7%) 10/2016: Outcast #22 -- 20,347 (- 2.6%) ----------------- 6 months: - 4.3% 1 year : n.a. 2 years : n.a.
—
137 - THE BLACK MONDAY MURDERS ($4.99) 08/2016: Kill or Be Killed #1 -- 26,696 09/2016: Kill or Be Killed #2 -- 19,749 (- 26.0%) 10/2016: Kill or Be Killed #3 -- 18,371 (- 7.0%)
A bit better than the typical third issue drop.
—
144 - CANNIBAL ($3.99) 10/2016: Cannibal #1 -- 17,172
New horror comic from Brian Buccellato, Jennifer Young, & Matias Bergara.
—
153 - JUPITER'S LEGACY ($3.99) 10/2013: -- 10/2014: -- -------------------------------------- 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%) 05/2016: Jupiter's Crc v2 #6 -- 11,177 (- 16.7%) 06/2016: Jupiter's Leg v2 #1 -- 28,409 (+154.2%) 07/2016: Jupiter's Leg v2 #2 -- 17,031 (- 40.1%) 08/2016: Jupiter's Leg v2 #3 -- 16,111 (- 5.4%) 09/2016: -- 10/2016: Jupiter's Leg v2 #4 -- 16,181 (+ 0.4%) ----------------- 6 months: + 20.6% 1 year : n.a. 2 years : n.a.
Finally stabilizing.
—
155 - GREEN VALLEY ($2.99) 10/2016: Green Valley #1 of 9 -- 16,091
New Fantasy series from Max Landis, Giuseppe Camuncoli, Cliff Rathburn & Jean-Francois Beaulieu.
—
157 - DESCENDER ($2.99) 10/2015: -- 11/2015: Descender #7 -- 23,684 (- 3.8%) 12/2015: Descender #8 -- 20,999 (- 11.3%) 01/2016: Descender #9 -- 20,017 (- 4.7%) 02/2016: Descender #10 -- 19,642 (- 3.4%) 03/2016: Descender #11 -- 18,842 (- 2.6%) 04/2016: -- 05/2016: -- 06/2016: Descender #12 -- 19,782 (+ 5.0%) 07/2016: Descender #13 -- 17,783 (- 10.1%) 08/2016: Descender #14 -- 17,296 (- 2.7%) 09/2016: Descender #15 -- 16,386 (- 5.3%) 10/2016: Descender #16 -- 15,963 (- 2.6%) ----------------- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : n.a.
—
181 - LAZARUS ($3.99) 10/2013: Lazarus #4 -- 23,701 10/2014: Lazarus #12 -- 16,838 ------------------------------ 10/2015: -- 11/2015: Lazarus #20 -- 14,218 (- 2.0%) 12/2015: Lazarus #21 -- 13,390 (- 5.8%) 01/2016: -- 02/2016: -- 03/2016: -- 04/2016: -- 05/2016: -- 06/2006: Lazarus #22 -- 14,177 (+ 5.9%) 07/2006: Lazarus #23 -- 12,300 (- 13.2%) 08/2006: Lazarus #24 -- 12,098 (- 1.6%) 09/2016: -- 10/2006: Lazarus #25 -- 11,922 (- 1.5%) ----------------- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : n.a. 2 years : - 29.2%
—
187 - BLACK SCIENCE ($3.99) 10/2014: Black Science #9 -- 21,639 10/2014: Black Science #10 -- 21,125 ------------------------------------ 10/2015: -- 11/2015: Black Science #17 -- 15,094 (- 17.5%) 12/2015: Black Science #18 -- 14,465 (- 4.2%) 01/2016: Black Science #19 -- 13,966 (- 3.4%) 02/2016: Black Science #20 -- 13,251 (- 5.1%) 03/2016: Black Science #21 -- 13,092 (- 1.2%) 04/2016: -- 05/2016: -- 06/2016: -- 07/2016: Black Science #22 -- 12,829 (- 2.0%) 08/2016: Black Science #23 -- 12,466 (- 2.8%) 09/2016: Black Science #24 -- 11,810 (- 5.3%) 10/2016: Black Science #25 -- 11,425 (- 3.3%) ----------------- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : n.a. 2 years : - 46.6%
—
197 - ROMULUS ($3.99) 10/2016: Romulus #1 -- 9,508
New series from Bryan Hill & Nelson Blake II.
—
200 - THE FIX ($3.99) 04/2016: The Fix #1 -- 14,959 05/2016: The Fix #2 -- 10,433 (- 30.3%) 06/2016: The Fix #3 -- 11,128 (+ 6.7%) 07/2016: The Fix #4 -- 11,115 (- 0.1%) 08/2016: -- 09/2016: The Fix #5 -- 10,463 (- 5.9%) 10/2016: The Fix #6 -- 9,425 (- 9.9%) ----------------- 6 months: - 37.0%
—
210 - AUTUMNLANDS ($2.99) 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%) 05/2016: -- 06/2016: Autumnlands #11 -- 10,140 (+ 4.0%) 07/2016: Autumnlands #12 -- 8,972 (- 11.5%) 08/2016: -- 09/2016: -- 10/2016: Autumnlands #13 -- 8,554 (- 4.7%) ----------------- 6 months: - 12.3% 1 year : n.a.
—
214 - RED ONE ($2.99) 10/2015: -- 11/2015: -- 12/2015: -- 01/2016: -- 02/2016: -- 03/2016: -- 04/2016: -- 05/2016: -- 06/2016: -- 07/2016: -- 08/2016: -- 09/2016: Red One #3 -- 10,030 (- 37.3%) 10/2016: Red One #4 -- 8,266 (- 17.6%) ----------------- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : n.a.
—
215 - SURGEON X ($3.99) 09/2016: Surgeon X #1 -- 14,866 10/2016: Surgeon X #2 -- 8,180 (- 45.0%)
That’s a sizable second issue drop, though there was a second printing of the first issue so maybe this was under-ordered?
—
216 - GLITTERBOMB ($3.99) 09/2016: Glitterbomb #1 -- 14,105 10/2016: Glitterbomb #2 -- 8,160 (- 42.1%)
Also a sizable second issue drop, and like Surgeon X there was also a second printing of the first issue.
—
221 - CHEW ($3.99) 10/2011: Chew #21 -- 12,310 10/2012: Chew #29 -- 12,877 10/2013: Chew #37 -- 12,214 10/2014: -- -------------------------------- 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%) 05/2016: -- 06/2016: -- 07/2016: Chew #56 -- 8,469 (- 18.9%) 08/2016: Chew #57 -- 8,280 (- 2.2%) 09/2016: Chew #58 -- 7,986 (- 3.6%) 10/2016: Chew #59 -- 7,845 (- 1.8%) ----------------- 6 months: - 24.9% 1 year : - 18.7% 2 years : n.a. 5 years : - 36.3%
Penultimate issue.
—
222 - MANIFEST DESTINY ($2.99) 10/2014: Manifest Destiny #11 -- 13,620 --------------------------------------- 10/2015: Manifest Destiny #18 -- 10,503 (- 2.3%) 11/2015: -- 12/2015: -- 01/2016: -- 02/2016: -- 03/2016: -- 04/2016: -- 05/2016: Manifest Destiny #19 -- 9,900 (- 5.7%) 06/2016: Manifest Destiny #20 -- 9,399 (- 5.1%) 07/2016: Manifest Destiny #21 -- 8,763 (- 6.8%) 08/2016: Manifest Destiny #22 -- 8,526 (- 2.7%) 09/2016: Manifest Destiny #23 -- 8,039 (- 5.7%) 10/2016: Manifest Destiny #23 -- 7,815 (- 2.8%) ----------------- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : - 25.6% 2 years : - 42.6%
—
224 - ECLIPSE ($3.99) 09/2016: Eclipse #1 -- 12,375 10/2016: Eclipse #2 -- 7,764 (- 37.3%)
There was a second printing of the first issue here as well.
—
227 - BIRTHRIGHT ($2.99) 10/2015: -- 11/2015: Birthright #11 -- 10,989 (- 0.7%) 12/2015: Birthright #12 -- 10,633 (- 3.2%) 01/2016: Birthright #13 -- 9,931 (- 6.6%) 02/2016: Birthright #14 -- 9,519 (- 4.1%) 03/2016: Birthright #15 -- 9,344 (- 1.8%) 04/2016: -- 05/2016: -- 06/2016: Birthright #16 -- 9,015 (- 3.5%) 07/2016: Birthright #17 -- 8,264 (- 8.3%) 08/2016: Birthright #18 -- 8,146 (- 1.4%) 09/2016: Birthright #19 -- 7,832 (- 3.9%) 10/2016: Birthright #20 -- 7,567 (- 3.4%) ----------------- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : n.a.
—
235 - THE BEAUTY ($3.99) 10/2015: The Beauty #3 -- 14,935 (- 13.9%) 11/2015: The Beauty #4 -- 13,369 (- 10.5%) 12/2015: The Beauty #5 -- 11,514 (- 13.9%) 01/2016: The Beauty #6 -- 10,595 (- 8.0%) 02/2016: -- 03/2016: -- 04/2016: -- 05/2016: The Beauty #7 -- 9,178 (- 13.4%) 06/2016: The Beauty #8 -- 9,577 (+ 4.3%) 07/2016: The Beauty #9 -- 8,340 (- 12.9%) 08/2016: -- 09/2016: The Beauty #10 -- 7,986 (- 4.2%) 10/2016: The Beauty #11 -- 7,210 (- 9.7%) ----------------- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : - 51.7%
End of the second story arc; returns in February.
—
238 - HADRIAN'S WALL ($3.99) 09/2016: Hadrian's Wall #1 -- 10,038 10/2016: Hadrian's Wall #2 -- 6,791 (- 32.3%)
There was a second printing of the first issue here as well. This issue also had a second printing. We’ll never see these numbers show up on the Top 300 chart, but it does indicate that demand (in some quarters at least) is higher than anticipated by retailers.
—
239 - RENATO JONES: THE ONE % ($3.99) 05/2016: One Percent #1 -- 14,857 06/2016: One Percent #2 -- 10,565 (- 28.9%) 07/2016: One Percent #3 -- 9,027 (- 14.6%) 08/2016: One Percent #4 -- 7,418 (- 17.8%) 09/2016: -- 10/2016: One Percent #5 -- 6,671 (- 10.1%)
No further issues have been solicited, though the first trade is being billed as ‘Season One,’ so maybe things aren’t over yet?
—
263 - LAKE OF FIRE ($2.99) 08/2016: Lake of Fire #1 of 5 -- 9,142 09/2016: Lake of Fire #2 of 5 -- 6,637 (- 27.4%) 10/2016: Lake of Fire #3 of 5 -- 5,738 (- 13.5%)
—
273 - WAYWARD ($3.50) 10/2014: Wayward #3 -- 10,795 ------------------------------ 10/2015: -- 11/2015: Wayward #11 -- 8,024 (+ 4.4%) 12/2015: Wayward #12 -- 7,015 (- 14.5%) 01/2016: Wayward #13 -- 6,589 (- 6.1%) 02/2016: Wayward #14 -- 6,397 (- 2.9%) 03/2016: Wayward #15 -- 6,089 (- 4.8%) 04/2016: -- 05/2016: -- 06/2016: -- 07/2016: -- 08/2016: -- 09/2016: Wayward #16 -- 6,165 (+ 1.2%) 10/2016: Wayward #17 -- 5,431 (- 11.9%) ----------------- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : n.a. 2 years : - 49.7%
And just like that last month’s small raise evaporates.
—
275 - SAVAGE DRAGON ($2.99) 10/2006: Savage Dragon #129 -- 7,239 10/2011: Savage Dragon #174 -- ????? 10/2012: Savage Dragon #182 -- ????? 10/2013: Savage Dragon #191 -- ????? 10/2014: Savage Dragon #199 -- ????? ---------------------------------- 10/2015: Savage Dragon #208 -- ????? 11/2015: -- 12/2015: Savage Dragon #209 -- ????? 12/2015: Savage Dragon #210 -- ????? 01/2016: Savage Dragon #211 -- ????? 02/2016: -- 03/2016: Savage Dragon #212 -- ????? 04/2016: Savage Dragon #213 -- ????? 05/2016: -- 06/2016: Savage Dragon #214 -- ????? 07/2016: Savage Dragon #215 -- ????? 08/2016: -- 09/2016: Savage Dragon #216 -- ????? 10/2016: Savage Dragon #217 -- 5,390 ----------------- 6 months: ????? 1 year : ????? 2 years : ????? 5 years : ????? 10 years: - 25.5%
The crossover with Spawn brings Savage Dragon back to the Top 300 chart for the first time since issue #200 in December 2014.
—
280 - DEMONIC ($2.99) 08/2016: Demonic #1 -- 14,442 09/2016: Demonic #2 -- 6,912 (- 52.1%) 10/2016: Demonic #3 -- 5,269 (- 23.8%)
—
282 - RUMBLE ($3.50) 10/2015: Rumble #8 -- 7,084 (- 6.9%) 11/2015: Rumble #9 -- 6,774 (- 4.4%) 12/2015: Rumble #10 -- 6,324 (- 6.6%) 01/2016: -- 02/2016: -- 03/2016: -- 04/2016: -- 05/2016: -- 06/2016: Rumble #11 -- 8,139 (+ 28.7%) 07/2016: Rumble #12 -- 5,857 (- 28.0%) 08/2016: Rumble #13 -- 5,904 (+ 0.8%) 09/2016: Rumble #14 -- 5,509 (- 6.7%) 10/2016: Rumble #15 -- 5,250 (- 4.7%) ----------------- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : - 25.9%
—
287 - BLACK LIGHT DISTRICT: 6 ISSUES ($3.99) 10/2016: 6 Issues -- 5,163
A one-shot, written by musician Jesse Blaze Snider, based on his EP Black Light District. So not really aimed at the Wednesday comics crowd.
—
291 - REVIVAL ($3.99) 10/2012: Revival #4 -- 15,251 10/2013: -- 10/2014: Revival #24 -- 9,019 ------------------------------ 10/2015: Revival #34 -- 6,921 (+ 1.4%) 11/2015: -- 12/2015: Revival #35 -- 6,510 (- 5.9%) 01/2016: Revival #36 -- 6,182 (- 5.0%) 02/2016: -- 03/2016: Revival #37 -- 5,987 (- 3.2%) 03/2016: Revival #38 -- 5,826 (- 2.7%) 04/2016: -- 05/2016: Revival #39 -- 5,826 (- 1.1%) 06/2016: Revival #40 -- 6,004 (+ 4.2%) 07/2016: Revival #41 -- 5,527 (- 7.9%) 08/2016: -- 09/2016: Revival #42 -- 5,434 (- 1.7%) 10/2016: Revival #43 -- 5,130 (- 5.6%) ----------------- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : - 25.9% 2 years : - 43.1%
—
292 - ODY-C ($3.99) 10/2015: ODY-C #8 -- 7,959 (- 10.4%) 11/2015: -- 12/2015: -- 01/2016: ODY-C #9 -- 7,165 (- 10.0%) 02/2016: -- 03/2016: ODY-C #10 -- 6,665 (- 7.0%) 04/2016: -- 05/2016: -- 06/2016: -- 07/2016: -- 08/2016: -- 09/2016: ODY-C #11 -- 5,546 (- 16.8%) 10/2016: ODY-C #12 -- 5,111 (- 7.8%) ----------------- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : - 35.8%
—
295 - HORIZON ($2.99) 07/2016: Horizon #1 -- 15,175 08/2016: Horizon #2 -- 7,860 (- 48.2%) 09/2016: Horizon #3 -- 5,787 (- 26.4%) 10/2016: Horizon #4 -- 5,032 (- 13.0%)
—
Image titles shipping but not making the Top 300 in October include: Elephantmen, Invisible Republic, Mechanism, Midnight of the Soul, No Mercy, Postal, Shutter, Snowfall, Southern Cross, Spread, Stray Bullets, Symmetry, Thief of Thieves, Throwaways.
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.
Image is not a normal comics publisher, and the typical metrics for sales success may not apply. For many 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.
Please keep in mind that raw sales numbers do not tell us about how profitable a book is for a publisher or for the creators.
Above all, do not allow sales numbers to dictate your purchasing and enjoyment of a particular comic. If you enjoy reading a comic series then go right on buying and reading that comic, no matter what the sales figures say.
** Two asterisks after a given month in the average charts mean that one or more periodical release did not make the Top 300 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.
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 National Wild Turkey Federation, 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 if you need to contact me).
As always, we welcome your comments and corrections below. Please try to keep things civilized.
