201105121315.jpgBy Paul O’Brien

This is the busiest month Marvel have had in quite some time. The big release for March was the relaunch of FANTASTIC FOUR as just plain FF, but the month also sees the prologue to upcoming mega-crossover FEAR ITSELF, two new ongoing titles in VENOM and IRON MAN 2.0, the revival of CrossGen titles RUSE and SIGIL, and issues from the “Death of Spider-Man” and “Age of X” crossovers.

We also have the second month of Point One issues – more on that below.

As usual, Marvel had the largest share of the direct market, both in terms of dollars (leading DC by 40% to 28%) and unit sales (45% to 32%).

Thanks as always to ICV2.com for allowing us to use these figures.

1.  FF
03/06  #536 -  57,945
03/07  #544 -  73,880
03/08  #555 -  67,416
03/09  #565 -  48,378
=====
03/10  #577 -  35,791  (  -4.6%)
04/10  #578 -  37,940  (  +6.0%)
05/10  #579 -  38,415  (  +1.3%)
06/10  #580 -  36,582  (  -4.8%)
07/10  #581 -  35,505  (  -2.9%)
08/10  #582 -  34,617  (  -2.5%)
09/10  #583 -  46,267  ( +33.7%)
10/10  #584 -  45,066  (  -2.6%)
11/10  #585 -  41,568  (  -7.8%)
12/10  #586 -  42,829  (  +3.0%)
01/11  #587 - 144,173  (+236.6%)
02/11  #588 -  63,529  ( -55.9%)
03/11  #1   - 114,472  ( +80.2%)
               6 mnth  (+147.4%)
               1 year  (+219.8%)
               2 year  (+136.6%)
               3 year  ( +69.8%)
               4 year  ( +54.9%)
               5 year  ( +97.6%)

Jonathan Hickman’s run on FANTASTIC FOUR has been getting good reviews for a while, without really piling on the sales. But killing off the Human Torch and relaunching the title as just plain FF has done a great job in drawing attention to the series. There are seven variant covers on this book, but even so, 114K is a huge number for a book that’s been in the mid 30K range until recently. This storyline is a big hit.

The second printing of issue #587 also makes the chart, adding 5,327 sales. As usual, those are included in the number above.

8. AVENGERS
05/10  #1  - 170,682
06/10  #2  -  98,788  (-42.1%)
07/10  #3  -  87,410  (-11.5%)
08/10  #4  -  87,333  ( -0.1%)
09/10  #5  -  82,411  ( -5.6%)
10/10  #6  -  73,258  (-11.1%)
11/10  #7  -  89,758  (+22.5%)
12/10  #8  -  67,056  (-25.3%)
01/11  #9  -  64,867  ( -3.3%)
02/11  #10 -  63,924  ( -1.5%)
03/11  #11 -  66,618  ( +4.2%)
              6 mnth  (-19.2%)

The line-wide variant covers are back, and this month’s theme is Captain America. AVENGERS hasn’t had a variant cover since issue #7, so the 4% sales increase here is no great surprise.

10. FEAR ITSELF
03/11  Book of the Skull - 62,714

The prologue issue to the massive crossover which starts next month. Of course, it’s virtually certain that the series proper will be number one on the April chart. Prologue issues always sell below the regular title – and this one also has a different creative team to the series proper, and I suspect that might lead people to see it as more disposable. There’s one variant cover.

11. KICK-ASS 2  [Icon]
10/10  #1 of 6 - 71,782
11/10  ---
12/10  ---
01/11  ---
02/11  ---
03/11  #2 of 6 - 62,235  (-13.3%)

Five months between issues is not the happiest of schedules, but then this story is also being serialised at a more relaxed pace in Mark Millar’s UK anthology title CLiNT. The second-issue drop is quite small, and the delays don’t seem to be doing the book any harm at all – any creator-owned book which is on the verge of the top ten is clearly doing something right.

13. NEW AVENGERS
03/06  #17    - 121,098
03/07  #28    - 119,514
03/08  #39    - 103,046
03/09  #51    -  95,340
=====
03/10  #63    -  76,145  ( -0.3%)
04/10  #64    -  75,430  ( -0.9%)
04/10  ---
05/10  Finale -  82,152  ( +8.9%)
06/10  #1     - 129,084  (+67.8%)
07/10  #2     -  83,397  (-35.4%)
08/10  #3     -  81,354  ( -2.4%)
09/10  #4     -  77,479  ( -4.7%)
10/10  #5     -  73,409  ( -5.3%)
11/10  #6     -  66,724  ( -9.1%)
12/10  #7     -  67,840  ( +1.7%)
01/11  #8     -  61,169  ( -9.8%)
02/11  #9     -  60,914  ( -0.4%)
03/11  #10    -  59,929  ( -1.6%)
                 6 mnth  (-22.7%)
                 1 year  (-21.3%)
                 2 year  (-37.1%)
                 3 year  (-41.8%)
                 4 year  (-49.9%)
                 5 year  (-50.5%)

Continuing a slow drift down.

15,17. AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
03/06  #530 -  89,874
03/07  #539 - 137,730
03/08  #554 -  81,072
03/09  #589 -  58,832
=====
03/10  #623 -  66,064  (+22.5%)
03/10  #624 -  60,213  ( -8.9%)
03/10  #625 -  54,179  (-10.0%)
03/10  #626 -  53,868  ( -0.6%)
03/10  #627 -  54,206  ( +0.6%)
04/10  #628 -  57,797  ( +6.6%)
04/10  #629 -  53,560  ( -7.3%)
05/10  #630 -  57,969  ( +8.2%)
05/10  #631 -  57,239  ( -1.3%)
05/10  #632 -  56,723  ( -0.9%)
06/10  #633 -  57,670  ( +1.7%)
06/10  #634 -  61,736  ( +7.1%)
06/10  #635 -  56,146  ( -9.1%)
07/10  #636 -  56,011  ( -0.2%)
07/10  #637 -  56,031  ( +0.0%)
07/10  #638 -  68,271  (+21.8%)
08/10  #639 -  67,086  ( -1.7%)
08/10  #640 -  73,656  ( +9.8%)
09/10  #641 -  68,345  ( -7.2%)
09/10  #642 -  60,115  (-12.0%)
09/10  #643 -  61,855  ( +2.9%)
09/10  #644 -  58,310  ( -5.7%)
10/10  #645 -  56,709  ( -2.7%)
10/10  #646 -  58,125  ( +2.5%)
11/10  #647 -  55,819  ( -4.0%)
11/10  #648 -  79,714  (+42.8%)
11/10  #649 -  55,515  (-30.4%)
12/10  #650 -  58,909  ( +6.1%)
01/11  #651 -  56,749  ( -3.7%)
01/11  #652 -  52,050  ( -8.3%)
02/11  #653 -  53,103  ( +2.0%)
02/11  #654 -  53,882  ( +1.5%)
02/11  #.1  -  55,283  ( +2.6%)
02/11  #655 -  53,366  ( -3.5%)
03/11  #656 -  59,626  (+11.7%)
03/11  #657 -  58,704  ( -1.5%)
               6 mnth  ( +0.7%)
               1 year  (-11.1%)
               2 year  ( -0.2%)
               3 year  (-27.6%)
               4 year  (-57.4%)
               5 year  (-34.7%)

Back to two issues this month, and both sell at the upper end of the book’s range. Issue #656 has a Captain America variant; issue #657 ties in to the death of the Human Torch.

19. UNCANNY X-MEN
03/06  #471 - 78,286
03/07  #484 - 82,043
03/08  #496 - 89,054
03/09  #507 - 77,957
=====
03/10  #522 - 67,996  ( +1.4%)
04/10  #523 - 78,999  (+16.2%)
05/10  #524 - 77,056  ( -2.5%)
06/10  #525 - 76,068  ( -1.3%)
07/10  #526 - 66,723  (-12.3%)
08/10  #527 - 69,052  ( +3.5%)
09/10  #528 - 62,415  ( -9.6%)
10/10  #529 - 62,256  ( -0.3%)
11/10  #530 - 58,006  ( -6.8%)
12/10  #531 - 55,770  ( -3.9%)
01/11  #532 - 54,071  ( -3.0%)
02/11  #533 - 53,834  ( -0.4%)
03/11  #534 - 55,731  ( +3.5%)
              6 mnth  (-10.7%)
              1 year  (-18.0%)
              2 year  (-28.5%)
              3 year  (-37.4%)
              4 year  (-32.1%)
              5 year  (-28.8%)

This issue has a variant cover, presumably explaining the slight sales increase on the final chapter of a storyline.

20. VENOM
03/11  #1 - 53,981

Not bad at all. VENOM launches in the regular sales range of its parent title AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, albeit with the help of two variant covers. One of the stronger recent launches for an ongoing (certainly when you discount new books for A-listers like the X-Men).

21. SECRET AVENGERS
05/10  #1  - 110,681
06/10  #2  -  77,933  (-30.0%)
07/10  #3  -  72,293  ( -7.2%)
08/10  #4  -  74,655  ( +3.3%)
09/10  #5  -  69,546  ( -6.8%)
10/10  #6  -  68,617  ( -1.3%)
11/10  #7  -  59,999  (-12.6%)
12/10  #8  -  54,048  ( -9.9%)
01/11  #9  -  50,748  ( -6.1%)
02/11  #10 -  49,717  ( -2.0%)
03/11  #11 -  51,353  ( +3.3%)
              6 mnth  (-26.2%)

Another Captain America variant cover.

23,25. UNCANNY X-FORCE
03/08  #2      - 81,714
03/09  #13     - 51,797
=====
03/10  #25     - 49,910  (  +0.2%)
04/10  #26     - 67,512  ( +35.3%)
05/10  #27     - 62,509  (  -7.4%)
06/10  ---
07/10  #28     - 61,680  (  -1.3%)
07/10  Sex #1  - 41,426  ( -32.8%)
08/10  #2 of 3 - 38,480  (  -7.1%)
09/10  #3 of 3 - 37,283  (  -3.1%)
10/10  #1      - 99,194  (+166.1%)
11/10  #2      - 56,518  ( -43.0%)
12/10  #3      - 55,520  (  -1.8%)
01/11  #4      - 51,381  (  -7.5%)
02/11  #5      - 51,470  (  +0.2%)
03/11  #5.1    - 50,732  (  -1.4%)
03/11  #6      - 51,248  (  +1.0%)
                 6 mnth  ( +37.5%)
                 1 year  (  +2.7%)
                 2 year  (  -1.1%)
                 3 year  ( -37.3%)

Two issues this month, including a “Point One” book. X-FORCE sales are looking pretty healthy, with the book locked at the 51K range and the Point One book coming in only a few hundred behind. APOCALYPSE SOLUTION, a one-shot reprinting issues #1-3, also charts at number 216 with sales of 8,173. It’s a refreshing change to see a book settle down so quickly at this sort of level.

But let’s talk about the Point One books. For the second month, they’ve sold in pretty much the same quantities as a regular issue – generally slightly lower, at most a touch higher. To my mind, this is surprising. This was a big promotional initiative for Marvel. The price was dropped by a dollar. And Marvel have repeatedly described the Point One books as “jumping on points”.

So if this was working, sales ought to be up – and up quite substantially. You’d expect the Point One books sell to the regular audience, plus the people trying out the title. Yet for some reason that doesn’t seem to be happening.

Tom Brevoort maintains that this is not a problem at all. In his regular interview at CBR, he said: “The Point One books have done terrifically for us. Many of them have performed at a level slightly higher than the monthly issues, and even the weakest of them sold at around the level of the monthly book. That’s a massive success!”

But compare CBR’s report of the Point One conference call from November 2010: “Asked what would make this a success, [David] Gabriel said that ‘that would come from retailer reaction and fan reaction’, adding that ‘It’s not so much what they order in the first month, but in the second and third month.'” And if we go by Gabriel’s definition of success – a sustained increase in sales – Point One is not a success.

Incidentally, the same press conference also stated unequivocally that Point One issues would not interrupt ongoing storylines. As it happens, X-FORCE #5.1 did exactly that, shipping between the first two chapters of the unrelated “Deathlok Nation” storyline.

24. X-MEN
07/10  #1 - 143,167
08/10  #2 -  71,464  (-50.1%)
09/10  #3 -  66,549  ( -6.9%)
10/10  #4 -  63,772  ( -4.2%)
11/10  #5 -  56,651  (-11.2%)
12/10  #6 -  53,005  ( -6.4%)
01/11  #7 -  64,615  (+21.9%)
02/11  #8 -  49,522  (-23.4%)
03/11  #9 -  51,179  ( +3.3%)
             6 mnth  (-23.1%)

Another Captain America variant cover.

27. X-MEN LEGACY
03/06  #184 - 78,000
03/07  #197 - 75,184
03/08  #209 - 82,243
03/09  #222 - 55,605
=====
02/10  #233 - 51,344  ( +4.4%)
03/10  #234 - 48,217  ( -6.1%)
04/10  #235 - 65,302  (+35.4%)
05/10  #236 - 69,731  ( +6.8%)
06/10  #237 - 65,578  ( -6.0%)
07/10  #238 - 53,313  (-18.7%)
08/10  #239 - 53,236  ( -0.1%)
09/10  #240 - 50,984  ( -4.2%)
10/10  #241 - 48,133  ( -5.6%)
11/10  #242 - 43,750  ( -9.1%)
12/10  #243 - 41,797  ( -4.5%)
01/11  #244 - 40,193  ( -3.8%)
02/11  #245 - 53,888  (+34.1%)
03/11  #246 - 47,893  (-11.1%)
              6 mnth  ( -6.1%)
              1 year  ( -6.7%)
              2 year  (-13.9%)
              3 year  (-41.8%)
              4 year  (-36.3%)
              5 year  (-38.6%)

This is the second month of the “Age of X” crossover with NEW MUTANTS. The February issue had the additional benefit of a variant cover, so the drop in March isn’t too bad. The storyline is certainly up significantly from the immediately preceding months.

28. WOLVERINE
03/06  #40   -  75,557
03/07  #52   -  95,276
03/08  #63   -  64,465
03/09  #71   -  91,229
=====
03/10  #11   -  29,799  (  -1.1%)
04/10  #12   -  30,050  (  +0.8%)
05/10  #13   -  29,773  (  -0.9%)
06/10  #14   -  30,035  (  +0.9%)
07/10  #15   -  29,555  (  -1.6%)
08/10  #16   -  29,424  (  -0.4%)
09/10  #1    - 104,414  (+254.9%)
10/10  #2    -  63,210  ( -39.5%)
11/10  #3    -  51,600  ( -18.4%)
12/10  #4    -  52,812  (  +2.3%)
01/11  #5    -  46,920  ( -11.2%)
02/11  #5.1  -  44,332  (  -5.5%)
02/11  #6    -  45,932  (  +3.6%)
03/11  #7    -  47,337  (  +3.1%)
                6 mnth  ( -54.7%)
                1 year  ( +58.9%)
                2 year  ( -48.1%)
                3 year  ( -26.6%)
                4 year  ( -50.3%)
                5 year  ( -37.3%)

Another Captain America variant. Generally, the book seems to be hovering comfortably in the mid-40Ks.

29,32. ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN
03/06  #92  -  72,269
03/07  #106 -  73,832
03/08  #120 -  57,728
03/09  ---
=====
03/10  #8   -  40,967  ( -2.9%)
04/10  #9   -  39,955  ( -2.5%)
05/10  #10  -  39,690  ( -0.7%)
06/10  #11  -  39,149  ( -1.4%)
07/10  #12  -  37,879  ( -3.2%)
08/10  #13  -  36,946  ( -2.5%)
09/10  #14  -  35,776  ( -3.7%)
10/10  #15  -  34,657  ( -3.1%)
11/10  #150 -  40,553  (+17.0%)
12/10  #151 -  33,707  (-16.9%)
01/11  #152 -  33,481  ( -1.0%)
02/11  #153 -  43,986  (+31.4%)
02/11  #154 -  43,209  ( -1.8%)
03/11  #155 -  44,067  ( +2.0%)
03/11  #156 -  44,920  ( +1.9%)
               6 mnth  (+25.6%)
               1 year  ( +9.6%)
               2 year  (  --- )
               3 year  (-22.2%)
               4 year  (-39.2%)
               5 year  (-37.8%)

These are the first two issues of the heavily promoted “Death of Spider-Man” storyline. The book actually got the sales boost from the promotion in February, but numbers edge up a little further this month.

30,34. CAPTAIN AMERICA
03/06  #16  -  44,717
03/07  #25  - 290,514
03/08  #36  -  81,378
03/09  #48  -  62,108
=====
03/10  #604 -  56,962  (-10.4%)
04/10  #605 -  59,051  ( +3.7%)
05/10  ---
06/10  #606 -  57,443  ( -2.7%)
06/10  #607 -  52,989  ( -7.8%)
07/10  ---
08/10  #608 -  51,362  ( -3.1%)
08/10  #609 -  52,834  ( +2.9%)
09/10  #610 -  47,986  ( -9.2%)
10/10  #611 -  48,788  ( +1.7%)
11/10  #612 -  47,343  ( -3.0%)
12/10  #613 -  42,871  ( -9.4%)
01/11  #614 -  42,119  ( -1.8%)
02/11  #615 -  41,935  ( -0.4%)
03/11  #.1  -  43,117  ( +2.8%)
03/11  #616 -  44,394  ( +3.0%)
               6 mnth  ( -7.5%)
               1 year  (-22.1%)
               2 year  (-28.5%)
               3 year  (-45.4%)
               4 year  (-84.7%)
               5 year  ( -0.7%)

Again, two issues this month. The Point One book does a little higher than usual, but nothing out of the ordinary. Issue #616 is the 70th anniversary giant-size special, and raises sales a little further.

31. ULTIMATE AVENGERS VS NEW ULTIMATES
03/10  Vol 1 #5 - 58,098  ( -1.6%)
04/10  Vol 1 #6 - 53,438  ( -8.0%)
04/10  Vol 2 #1 - 64,811  (+21.3%)
05/10  Vol 2 #2 - 52,939  (-18.3%)
06/10  Vol 2 #3 - 50,797  ( -4.0%)
06/10  Vol 2 #4 - 49,606  ( -2.3%)
07/10  Vol 2 #5 - 46,886  ( -5.5%)
08/10  Vol 2 #6 - 46,358  (-11.3%)
08/10  Vol 3 #1 - 53,870  (+16.2%)
09/10  Vol 3 #2 - 43,119  (-20.0%)
10/10  Vol 3 #3 - 38,529  (-10.6%)
11/10  Vol 3 #4 - 36,777  ( -4.5%)
12/10  Vol 3 #5 - 34,483  ( -6.2%)
01/11  Vol 3 #6 - 33,454  ( -3.0%)
02/11  #1 of 6  - 49,360  (+47.5%)
03/11  #2 of 6  - 44,116  (-10.6%)
                  6 mnth  ( +2.3%)
                  1 year  (-24.1%)

This miniseries is part of the Death of Spider-Man crossover, and (unlike earlier volumes) there are variant covers throughout the run. In the direct market, at least, the sales are up a touch from ULTIMATE AVENGERS vol 3, but still below the level of vol 2.

33. INVINCIBLE IRON MAN
03/06  #6   - 40,264
03/07  ---
03/08  #27  - 36,011
03/09  #11  - 52,165
=====
03/10  #24  - 49,239  ( -1.6%)
04/10  #25  - 73,694  (+49.7%)
05/10  #26  - 53,625  (-27.2%)
06/10  #27  - 52,268  ( -2.5%)
07/10  #28  - 48,690  ( -6.8%)
08/10  #29  - 49,012  ( +0.7%)
09/10  #30  - 47,238  ( -3.6%)
10/10  #31  - 45,507  ( -3.7%)
11/10  #32  - 40,978  (-10.0%)
12/10  #33  - 41,890  ( +2.2%)
01/11  #500 - 54,186  (+29.4%)
02/11  #.1  - 42,191  (-22.1%)
02/11  #501 - 41,517  ( -1.6%)
03/11  #502 - 43,899  ( +5.7%)
              6 mnth  ( -7.1%)
              1 year  (-10.8%)
              2 year  (-15.8%)
              3 year  (+21.9%)
              4 year  (  --- )
              5 year  ( +9.0%)

There are two variant covers on this issue, hence the sales bump.

35,37. THOR
03/06  ---
03/07  ---
03/08  ---
03/09  ---
=====
03/10  #608 - 62,012  ( -7.4%)
04/10  #609 - 64,522  ( +4.0%)
05/10  #610 - 61,779  ( -4.3%)
06/10  #611 - 56,443  ( -8.6%)
07/10  #612 - 53,373  ( -5.4%)
08/10  #613 - 51,076  ( -4.3%)
09/10  #614 - 53,505  ( +4.8%)
09/10  #615 - 52,896  ( -1.2%)
10/10  #616 - 51,051  ( -3.5%)
11/10  #617 - 49,165  ( -3.7%)
12/10  #618 - 45,142  ( -8.2%)
01/11  #619 - 42,899  ( -5.0%)
02/11  #620 - 42,106  ( -1.8%)
03/11  #.1  - 41,605  ( -1.2%)
03/11  #621 - 42,104  ( +1.2%)
              6 mnth  (-20.4%)
              1 year  (-32.1%)
              2 year  (  --- )
              3 year  (  --- )
              4 year  (  --- )
              5 year  (  --- )

The Point One issue comes in very slightly below the book’s regular level. This is another one which doesn’t really match up to what Marvel originally announced. It shipped between issues of an unrelated storyline; it’s not by the regular writer; and frankly, it looks awfully like a fill-in issue. (But who knows, maybe its significance to the plot will become apparent in time.)

The regular series, meanwhile, looks to be rock solid. A movie-related relaunch is imminent.

36. ESCAPE FROM THE NEGATIVE ZONE
03/11  Uncanny X-Men Annual #3 - 41,720

This is the start of a three-part storyline which continues into the STEVE ROGERS, SUPER-SOLDIER and NAMOR: THE FIRST MUTANTS annuals. Annuals always sell worse than the regular series, and considering that the other titles in the storyline aren’t big sellers, this is a decent number.

40. NEW MUTANTS
03/10  #11 - 36,629  (+18.9%)
04/10  #12 - 49,591  (+35.4%)
05/10  #13 - 54,169  ( +9.2%)
06/10  #14 - 53,926  ( -0.4%)
07/10  #15 - 35,426  (-34.3%)
08/10  #16 - 31,989  ( -9.7%)
09/10  #17 - 31,684  ( -1.0%)
10/10  #18 - 27,027  (-14.7%)
11/10  #19 - 25,440  ( -5.9%)
12/10  #20 - 24,416  ( -4.0%)
01/11  #21 - 23,773  ( -2.6%)
02/11  #22 - 36,737  (+54.5%)
03/11  #23 - 37,659  ( +2.5%)
             6 mnth  (+18.9%)
             1 year  ( +2.8%)

Part of the Age of X crossover, with sales up massively for a second month.

41. ULTIMATE COMICS X
03/10  ---
04/10  #2 - 47,996  (-25.2%)
05/10  ---
06/10  #3 - 44,568  ( -7.1%)
07/10  ---
08/10  ---
09/10  ---
10/10  ---
11/10  ---
12/10  ---
01/11  ---
02/11  ---
03/11  #4 - 37,631  (-15.6%)

The nine month gap between issues is remarkable, and it’s tempting to assume that it explains the 16% drop in sales. But massive delays don’t always have that effect – so perhaps it’s also a reflection of the momentum which the Ultimate imprint has lost over that time.

43.  AGE OF X UNIVERSE
03/11  #1 of 2 - 33,437

This is a spin-off mini from the “Age of X” crossover, explaining what the other Marvel heroes are up to in the Age of X world. (And if you’ve read the story, you’ll know why that’s an odder concept than it first sounds.) It’s a pretty good number for an out-of-regular-continuity mini.

46,50. HULK
03/09  ---
=====
03/10  #21 - 50,785  ( -2.3%)
04/10  ---
05/10  #22 - 49,618  ( -2.3%)
06/10  #23 - 50,724  ( +2.2%)
07/10  ---
08/10  #24 - 48,903  ( -3.6%)
09/10  #25 - 46,784  ( -4.3%)
10/10  #26 - 42,934  ( -8.2%)
11/10  #27 - 38,691  ( -9.9%)
12/10  #28 - 34,755  (-10.2%)
01/11  ---
02/11  #29 - 33,375  ( -4.0%)
02/11  #30 - 32,907  ( -1.4%)
03/11  #.1 - 32,163  ( -2.3%)
03/11  #31 - 31,368  ( -2.5%)
             6 mnth  (-33.0%)
             1 year  (-38.2%)
             2 year  (  --- )

Another Point One issue making no discernible impact.

47,56. INCREDIBLE HULKS
03/06  #93  -  43,691
03/07  #104 -  47,823
03/08  ---
03/09  ---
=====
03/10  #608 -  47,148  ( +2.8%)
04/10  ---
05/10  #609 -  46,670  ( -1.0%)
06/10  #610 -  46,461  ( -0.4%)
07/10  ---
08/10  #611 -  44,982  ( -3.2%)
09/10  #612 -  42,956  ( -4.5%)
09/10  #613 -  40,063  ( -6.7%)
10/10  #614 -  39,572  ( -1.2%)
10/10  #615 -  36,750  ( -7.1%)
11/10  #616 -  35,296  ( -4.0%)
11/10  #617 -  34,340  ( -2.7%)
12/10  #618 -  34,868  ( -1.5%)
12/10  #619 -  32,657  ( -6.3%)
01/11  #620 -  30,992  ( -5.1%)
01/11  #621 -  30,957  ( -0.1%)
02/11  #622 -  30,404  ( -1.8%)
02/11  #623 -  30,140  ( -0.9%)
03/11  #624 -  32,066  ( +6.4%)
03/11  #625 -  29,792  ( -7.1%)
               6 mnth  (-25.6%)
               1 year  (-36.8%)
               2 year  (  --- )
               3 year  (  --- )
               4 year  (-37.7%)
               5 year  (-31.8%)

Issue #624 has a Captain America variant, hence the spike.

54,58. DEADPOOL
03/09  #8  - 53,109
=====
03/10  #21 - 42,062  ( -3.0%)
04/10  #22 - 43,061  ( +2.4%)
05/10  #23 - 42,761  ( -0.7%)
06/10  #24 - 38,663  ( -9.6%)
07/10  #25 - 36,828  ( -4.7%)
08/10  #26 - 35,595  ( -3.3%)
09/10  #27 - 36,404  ( +2.3%)
10/10  #28 - 34,828  ( -4.3%)
11/10  #29 - 31,350  (-10.0%)
12/10  #30 - 30,488  ( -2.7%)
01/11  #31 - 29,167  ( -4.3%)
01/11  #32 - 29,144  ( -0.1%)
02/11  #33 - 28,649  ( -1.7%)
03/11  #.1 - 28,979  ( +1.2%)
03/11  #34 - 30,299  ( +4.6%)
             6 mnth  (-16.8%)
             1 year  (-28.0%)
             2 year  (-42.9%)

And another low-impact Point One book. Issue #34 is a Captain America variant.

61.  RUSE  [CrossGen]
03/11  #1 of 4 - 28,520

62.  SIGIL  [CrossGen]
03/11  #1 of 4 - 28,496

The first two books from Marvel’s relaunch of the CrossGen properties. They’re so close together that retailers must be figuring that you’re either buying both or neither.

Wisely, Marvel are going with two miniseries to test the waters and reintroduce the characters, rather than trying to go straight for an ongoing title. Bearing in mind that these aren’t superhero titles – RUSE is a sort of Victorian detective series, and SIGIL is a fantasy title – it’s hard to judge how good the sales are, or how well the books are likely to do outside the direct market. But 28K is pretty good for a non-superhero Marvel book.

64,66. X-23
09/10  #1 - 48,481
10/10  #2 - 35,280  (-27.2%)
11/10  #3 - 31,224  (-11.5%)
12/10  #4 - 29,703  ( -4.9%)
01/11  #5 - 27,855  ( -6.2%)
02/11  #6 - 27,156  ( -2.5%)
03/11  #7 - 27,510  ( +1.3%)
03/11  #8 - 27,745  ( +0.9%)
            6 mnth  (-42.8%)

Yet another title with two issues this month. Issue #8 begins a crossover with DAKEN: DARK WOLVERINE, though there’s little obvious sign of sales increasing. The books sell in very similar quantities, so retailers may well figure the same audience is buying them both already.

65. AVENGERS: THE CHILDREN'S CRUSADE
07/10  #1 of 9 - 44,934
08/10  ---
09/10  #2 of 9 - 35,497  (-21.0%)
10/10  ---
11/10  #3 of 9 - 35,410  ( -0.2%)
12/10  ---
01/11  #4 of 9 - 31,977  ( -9.7%)
02/11  ---
03/11  YA #1   - 27,738  (-13.3%)

Not a regular issue of AVENGERS: THE CHILDREN’S CRUSADE, but a one-shot entitled YOUNG AVENGERS inserted into the run. It’s close enough to the regular issues that Marvel ought to be happy enough.

67,70. DAKEN: DARK WOLVERINE
03/10  #84 - 49,469  ( -8.3%)
04/10  #85 - 47,527  ( -3.9%)
05/10  #86 - 46,315  ( -2.6%)
06/10  #87 - 43,087  ( -7.0%)
07/10  #88 - 42,522  ( -1.3%)
08/10  #89 - 41,409  ( -2.6%)
08/10  #90 - 39,815  ( -3.8%)
09/10  #1  - 48,819  (+22.6%)
10/10  #2  - 38,660  (-22.9%)
11/10  #3  - 32,679  (-15.5%)
12/10  #4  - 30,726  ( -6.0%)
01/11  ---
02/11  #5  - 28,833  ( -6.2%)
03/11  #6  - 27,486  ( -4.7%)
03/11  #7  - 27,224  ( -1.0%)
             6 mnth  (-44.2%)
             1 year  (-45.0%)

Issue #7 begins the crossover with X-23. No apparent impact on sales, presumably for the reasons discussed above.

68. DAREDEVIL: REBORN
03/06  #83     - 46,804
03/07  #95     - 46,455
03/08  #106    - 41,537
03/09  #117    - 41,046
=====
03/10  ---
04/10  #506    - 37,467  ( -3.2%)
05/10  ---
06/10  #507    - 34,744  ( -7.3%)
07/10  #508    - 41,943  (+20.7%)
08/10  #509    - 41,577  ( -0.9%)
09/10  #510    - 44,728  ( +7.6%)
10/10  #511    - 43,167  ( -3.5%)
11/10  ---
12/10  #512    - 40,317  ( -7.1%)
01/11  #1 of 4 - 34,310  (-14.9%)
02/11  #2 of 4 - 29,108  (-15.2%)
03/11  #3 of 4 - 27,231  ( -6.4%)
                 6 mnth  (-39.1%)
                 1 year  (  --- )
                 2 year  (-33.7%)
                 3 year  (-34.4%)
                 4 year  (-41.4%)
                 5 year  (-41.8%)

Heading for a relaunch in the summer.

69. ULTIMATE COMICS CAPTAIN AMERICA
01/11  #1 of 4 - 35,741
02/11  #2 of 4 - 27,399  (-23.3%)
03/11  #3 of 4 - 27,226  ( -0.6%)

Virtually no drop from last month, which is always a good sign.

72,74. THUNDERBOLTS
03/06  #100 - 26,798
03/07  #112 - 61,395
03/08  #119 - 40,173
03/09  #130 - 52,264
=====
03/10  #142 - 34,132  ( +0.5%)
04/10  #143 - 35,656  ( +4.5%)
05/10  #144 - 33,276  ( -6.7%)
06/10  #145 - 31,999  ( -3.8%)
07/10  #146 - 31,501  ( -1.6%)
08/10  #147 - 31,252  ( -0.8%)
09/10  #148 - 32,190  ( +3.0%)
10/10  #149 - 30,580  ( -5.0%)
11/10  #150 - 31,704  ( +3.7%)
12/10  #151 - 27,943  (-11.9%)
01/11  #152 - 26,515  ( -5.1%)
02/11  #153 - 26,098  ( -1.6%)
03/11  #154 - 25,455  ( -2.5%)
03/11  #155 - 26,710  ( +4.9%)
              6 mnth  (-17.0%)
              1 year  (-21.7%)
              2 year  (-48.9%)
              3 year  (-33.5%)
              4 year  (-56.5%)
              5 year  ( -0.3%)

Two issues this month – Marvel are getting very keen on this double shipping lark. Issue #155 has a Captain America variant, which explains the slight increase.

73. ANNIHILATORS
03/11  #1 of 4 - 26,543

Another cosmic mini. This is an unusual format – a double-length book carrying two full-length stories. It’s basically two minis combined into one, but since there’s a huge audience overlap between the cosmic books, the decision makes sense.

75,77. X-FACTOR
03/06  #5   - 46,490
03/07  #17  - 38,067
03/08  #29  - 54,832
03/09  #41  - 31,888
=====
03/10  #203 - 28,924  ( -6.6%)
04/10  #204 - 40,534  (+40.1%)
05/10  #205 - 41,745  ( +3.0%)
06/10  #206 - 40,981  ( -1.8%)
07/10  #207 - 32,082  (-21.7%)
08/10  #208 - 30,095  ( -6.2%)
09/10  #209 - 29,626  ( -1.6%)
10/10  #210 - 27,548  ( -7.0%)
11/10  #211 - 26,632  ( -3.3%)
12/10  #212 - 26,443  ( -0.7%)
01/11  #213 - 25,403  ( -3.9%)
01/11  #214 - 25,117  ( -1.1%)
02/11  #215 - 25,298  ( +0.7%)
03/11  #216 - 25,256  ( -0.2%)
03/11  #217 - 25,125  ( -0.5%)
              6 mnth  (-15.2%)
              1 year  (-13.1%)
              2 year  (-21.2%)
              3 year  (-54.2%)
              4 year  (-34.0%)
              5 year  (-46.0%)

Rock solid.

76. WOLVERINE: THE BEST THERE IS
12/10  #1 - 57,348
01/11  #2 - 33,469  (-41.6%)
02/11  #3 - 27,790  (-17.0%)
03/11  #4 - 25,226  ( -9.2%)

That’s losing readers a bit too quickly for comfort, I’d have said.

81. IRON MAN 2.0
02/11  #1 - 31,380
02/11  #2 - 24,600  (-21.6%)

Rather steep for the second issue drop, but it can still level out. There’s a FEAR ITSELF tie-in arc coming up in a couple of months, as well.

82. ASTONISHING SPIDER-MAN/WOLVERINE
05/10  #1 of 5 - 56,518
06/10  ---
07/10  #2 of 5 - 34,704  (-38.6%)
08/10  ---
09/10  #3 of 5 - 29,455  (-15.1%)
10/10  ---
11/10  ---
12/10  #4 of 5 - 25,580  (-13.2%)
01/11  ---
02/11  ---
03/11  #5 of 6 - 24,036  ( -6.0%)

Standard miniseries behaviour, levelling out as it goes on.

83. BLACK PANTHER: THE MAN WITHOUT FEAR
03/06  #14     - 28,809
03/07  #26     - 48,717
03/08  #35     - 21,332
03/09  #2      - 33,755
=====
03/10  #2 of 6 - 30,555  ( -29.3%)
04/10  #3 of 6 - 27,859  (  -8.9%)
05/10  #4 of 6 - 28,307  (  +1.6%)
06/10  #5 of 6 - 26,041  (  -8.0%)
07/10  ---
08/10  #6 of 6 - 24,797  (  -4.8%)
09/10  ---
10/10  #1 of 4 - 16,973  ( -31.6%)
10/10  #2 of 4 - 12,960  ( -23.6%)
11/10  #3 of 4 - 10,356  ( -20.1%)
12/10  #4 of 4 -  9,145  ( -11.7%)
12/10  #513    - 33,124  (+262.2%)
01/11  #514    - 27,474  ( -17.1%)
02/11  #515    - 24,556  ( -10.6%)
03/11  #516    - 23,987  (  -2.3%)
                 6 mnth  (   --- )
                 1 year  ( -21.5%)
                 2 year  ( -28.9%)
                 3 year  ( +12.4%)
                 4 year  ( -50.8%)
                 5 year  ( -16.7%)

A fairly small drop this month – perhaps it’s finding its level.

84,86. AVENGERS ACADEMY
06/10  #1  - 45,890  (+20.3%)
07/10  #2  - 38,061  (-17.1%)
08/10  #3  - 35,629  ( -6.4%)
09/10  #4  - 31,212  (-12.4%)
10/10  #5  - 31,272  ( +0.2%)
11/10  #6  - 25,977  (-16.9%)
12/10  #7  - 27,774  ( +6.9%)
01/11  #8  - 24,014  (-13.5%)
02/11  #9  - 23,709  ( -1.3%)
03/11  #10 - 23,708  ( -0.0%)
03/11  #11 - 23,636  ( -0.3%)
             6 mnth  (-24.3%)

Two issues this month, and the book is holding almost level – nice to see.

87. SILVER SURFER
02/11  #1 of 5 - 24,409
03/11  #2 of 5 - 23,484  (-3.8%)

That’s an unusually small drop for the second issue. A good sign, obviously.

90. SECRET WARRIORS
03/09  #2  - 48,086
=====
03/10  #14 - 28,580  ( -7.3%)
04/10  #15 - 29,669  ( +3.8%)
05/10  #16 - 29,340  ( -1.1%)
06/10  #17 - 28,017  ( -4.5%)
07/10  ---
08/10  #18 - 27,415  ( -2.1%)
08/10  #19 - 26,902  ( -1.9%)
09/10  #20 - 25,947  ( -3.5%)
10/10  #21 - 24,748  ( -4.6%)
11/10  #22 - 24,059  ( -2.8%)
12/10  #23 - 23,078  ( -4.1%)
01/11  ---
02/11  #24 - 22,704  ( -1.6%)
02/11  #25 - 22,691  ( -0.1%)
             6 mnth  (-12.5%)
             1 year  (-20.6%)
             2 year  (-52.8%)

Ends with issue #28.

91. HEROES FOR HIRE
12/10  #1 - 32,936
01/11  #2 - 23,013  (-30.1%)
02/11  #3 - 22,401  ( -2.7%)
03/11  #4 - 21,827  ( -2.6%)

95. GENERATION HOPE
11/10  #1 - 37,398
12/10  #2 - 38,984  ( +4.2%)
01/11  #3 - 24,094  (-38.2%)
02/11  #4 - 22,170  ( -8.0%)
03/11  #5 - 21,290  ( -4.0%)

Both levelling out, but they’re lower than you might hope. HEROES FOR HIRE is an interesting case because Marvel had enough faith in it to reprint the whole first issue in AVENGERS, one of their top-selling books; you’d like to hope that would get a few readers on board.

98,115. MARVEL ZOMBIES SUPREME
03/11  #1 of 5 - 20,995
03/11  #2 of 5 - 18,287  (-12.9%)

That’s a relatively small second issue drop. The Marvel Zombies franchise isn’t the draw it used to be, but it’s still evidently got a solid audience.

100. ULTIMATE COMICS DOOM
12/10  #1 of 4 - 27,469
01/11  #2 of 4 - 22,047  (-19.7%)
02/11  #3 of 4 - 21,039  ( -4.6%)
03/11  #4 of 4 - 20,768  ( -1.3%)

Standard miniseries behaviour.

102,110,116,120,124. 5 RONIN
03/11  #1 of 5 - 20,655
03/11  #2 of 5 - 18,730  (-9.3%)
03/11  #3 of 5 - 18,186  (-2.9%)
03/11  #4 of 5 - 17,713  (-2.6%)
03/11  #5 of 5 - 17,441  (-1.5%)

Weekly miniseries with Marvel heroes reinvented as characters from feudal Japan.

103. SCARLET  [Icon]
07/10  #1 - 34,938
08/10  ---
09/10  #2 - 27,312  (-21.8%)
10/10  ---
11/10  #3 - 24,986  ( -8.5%)
12/10  ---
01/11  #4 - 22,011  (-11.9%)
02/11  ---
03/11  #5 - 20,473  ( -7.0%)
            6 mnth  (-25.0%)

This is the first issue without a variant cover, so the drop from issue #4 will be exaggerated.

107. PUNISHERMAX  [Max]
03/06  #31 - 34,505
03/07  #45 - 33,245
03/08  #55 - 31,276
03/09  #68 - 22,255
=====
03/10  #5  - 22,435  ( -0.2%)
04/10  #6  - 22,246  ( -0.8%)
05/10  #7  - 22,198  ( -0.2%)
06/10  #8  - 22,053  ( -0.7%)
07/10  #9  - 21,453  ( -2.7%)
08/10  ---
09/10  ---
10/10  ---
11/10  ---
12/10  ---
01/11  ---
02/11  #10 - 19,236  (-10.3%)
03/11  #11 - 19,243  ( +0.0%)
             6 mnth  (  --- )
             1 year  (-14.2%)
             2 year  (-13.5%)
             3 year  (-38.5%)
             4 year  (-42.1%)
             5 year  (-44.2%)

Holding steady from last issue. The book lost a couple of thousand in sales from the long gap between issues #9 and #10, but that seems to have been a one-off hit.

117. ONSLAUGHT UNLEASHED
02/11  #1 of 4 - 28,434
03/11  #2 of 4 - 18,098  (-36.4%)

There was a variant cover on issue #1, but even so, that’s a big drop for the second issue.

119. WOLVERINE & JUBILEE
01/11  #1 of 4 - 21,354
02/11  #2 of 4 - 17,917  (-16.1%)
03/11  #3 of 4 - 17,734  ( -1.0%)

Levelling out pretty quickly. It does have the advantage of tying in closely to a storyline from X-MEN.

121. ASTONISHING THOR
11/10  #1 of 5 - 29,202
12/10  ---
01/11  #2 of 5 - 19,642  (-32.7%)
02/11  ---
03/11  #3 of 5 - 17,698  ( -9.9%)

These are surprisingly low numbers considering that the ASTONISHING books are supposed to be some sort of prestige imprint. But then ASTONISHING THOR was launched as part of the deluge of Thor books that flooded the market, which can’t have done it any favours.

122. DEADPOOLMAX  [Max]
10/10  #1 - 29,176
11/10  #2 - 23,382  (-19.9%)
12/10  #3 - 20,990  (-10.2%)
01/11  #4 - 19,238  ( -8.3%)
02/11  #5 - 18,221  ( -5.3%)
03/11  #6 - 17,528  ( -3.8%)

Ends with issue #12. A collected edition of issues #1-3 also makes the chart with sales of 4,933 – a very good number for a book at this level.

123. DARK TOWER
03/07  G Born #2         - 168,258
03/08  Long Road Home #1 - 123,839
03/09  ---
=====
03/10  ---
04/10  Jericho Hill #5   -  25,896  ( -1.7%)
05/10  Gunslinger #1     -  26,275  ( +1.5%)
06/10  Gunslinger #2     -  24,024  ( -8.6%)
07/10  Gunslinger #3     -  22,744  ( -5.3%)
08/10  Gunslinger #4     -  21,820  ( -4.1%)
09/10  Gunslinger #5     -  21,323  ( -2.3%)
10/10  ---
11/10  ---
12/10  Little Sisters #1 -  19,807  ( -7.1%)
01/11  #2 of 5           -  18,589  ( -6.1%)
02/11  #3 of 5           -  17,748  ( -4.5%)
03/11  #4 of 5           -  17,490  ( -1.5%)
                            6 mnth  (-18.0%)
                            1 year  (  --- )
                            2 year  (  --- )
                            3 year  (-85.9%)
                            4 year  (-89.6%)

Levelling out, as usual at this stage in an arc.

125. DEADPOOL CORPS
03/10  Prelude #1 - 37,011
03/10  #2 of 5    - 32,024  (-13.5%)
03/10  #3 of 5    - 31,065  ( -3.0%)
03/10  #4 of 5    - 30,254  ( -2.6%)
03/10  #5 of 5    - 29,037  ( -4.0%)
04/10  Corps #1   - 39,466  (+35.9%)
05/10  #2         - 28,236  (-28.5%)
06/10  #3         - 26,251  ( -7.0%)
07/10  #4         - 24,476  ( -6.8%)
08/10  #5         - 22,887  ( -6.5%)
09/10  #6         - 21,888  ( -4.4%)
10/10  #7         - 19,644  (-10.3%)
11/10  #8         - 18,267  ( -7.0%)
12/10  #9         - 16,735  ( -8.4%)
01/11  #10        - 16,120  ( -3.7%)
02/11  #11        - 15,538  ( -3.6%)
03/11  #12        - 17,277  (+11.2%)
                    6 mnth  (-21.1%)
                    1 year  (-40.5%)

128. DEADPOOL TEAM-UP
03/10  #895 - 28,573  ( -5.1%)
04/10  #894 - 28,835  ( +0.9%)
05/10  #893 - 26,578  ( -7.8%)
06/10  #892 - 23,697  (-10.8%)
07/10  #891 - 22,439  ( -5.3%)
08/10  #890 - 21,279  ( -5.2%)
09/10  #889 - 19,917  ( -6.4%)
10/10  #888 - 18,394  ( -7.6%)
11/10  #887 - 17,677  ( -3.9%)
12/10  #886 - 15,626  (-11.6%)
01/11  ---
02/11  #885 - 15,980  ( +2.3%)
02/11  #884 - 15,526  ( -2.8%)
03/11  #883 - 17,172  (+10.6%)
              6 mnth  (-13.8%)
              1 year  (-39.9%)

Both cancelled. There are variant covers on the final issue, hence the increases.

135,140. INCOGNITO: BAD INFLUENCES  [Icon]
10/10  #1 of 4 - 20,316
11/10  ---
12/10  #2 of 4 - 16,368  (-19.4%)
01/11  ---
02/11  #3 of 4 - 15,758  ( -3.7%)
03/11  #4 of 5 - 15,607  ( -1.0%)
03/11  #5 of 5 - 14,889  ( -4.6%)

Decent numbers for an Icon book.

137,141. THE STAND
03/09  Nightmares #1     - 47,473
=====
03/10  Soul Survivors #5 - 22,294  ( -2.2%)
04/10  ---
05/10  ---
06/10  Hardcases #1      - 20,802  ( -6.7%)
07/10  #2 of 5           - 19,194  ( -7.7%)
08/10  #3 of 5           - 18,352  ( -4.4%)
09/10  ---
10/10  #4 of 5           - 17,186  ( -6.4%)
11/10  #5 of 5           - 16,751  ( -2.5%)
12/10  ---
01/11  ---
02/11  No Man's Land #1  - 16,094  ( -3.9%)
03/11  #2 of 5           - 15,332  ( -4.7%)
03/11  #3 of 5           - 14,768  ( -3.7%)
                           6 mnth  (  --- )
                           1 year  (-33.8%)
                           2 year  (-68.9%)

Drifting down.

139,153,159,160,162. CAPTAIN AMERICA ONE-SHOTS
03/11  Falcon          - 15,010
03/11  Secret Avengers - 13,722
03/11  First Thirteen  - 12,857
03/11  Crossbones      - 12,836
03/11  Batroc          - 12,640

This is what happens when you carpet-bomb the market with Captain America product and then release another five one-shots on top of it. (The BATROC one is very good, by the way.)

143. POWERS [Icon]
03/06  #17 - 24,139
03/07  ---
03/08  #28 - 19,256
03/09  ---
=====
03/10  #3  - 16,768  ( -2.4%)
04/10  #4  - 16,463  ( -1.8%)
05/10  ---
06/10  #5  - 16,019  ( -2.7%)
07/10  ---
08/10  ---
09/10  #6  - 14,991  ( -6.4%)
10/10  ---
11/10  ---
12/10  ---
01/11  ---
02/11  ---
03/11  #7  - 14,631  ( -2.4%)
             6 mnth  ( -2.4%)
             1 year  (-12.7%)
             2 year  (  --- )
             3 year  (-24.0%)
             4 year  (  --- )
             5 year  (-39.4%)

Virtually no change despite the six-month gap between issues.

144. OSBORN
11/10  #1 of 5 - 23,152
12/10  #2 of 5 - 16,704  (-27.9%)
01/11  ---
02/11  #3 of 5 - 15,170  ( -9.2%)
03/11  #4 of 5 - 14,475  ( -4.6%)

Standard miniseries behaviour.

145. PUNISHER: IN THE BLOOD
03/07  #5      - 50,190
03/08  #17     - 31,227
03/09  #3      - 37,570
=====
03/10  #15     - 22,285  ( -5.0%)
04/10  #16     - 23,047  ( +3.4%)
05/10  ---
06/10  #17     - 22,378  ( -2.9%)
06/10  #18     - 19,605  (-12.4%)
07/10  #19     - 24,947  (+27.2%)
08/10  #20     - 24,304  ( -2.6%)
09/10  #21     - 20,036  (-17.6%)
10/10  ---
11/10  #1 of 5 - 20,028  ( -0.0%)
12/10  #2 of 5 - 16,608  (-17.1%)
01/11  #3 of 5 - 15,298  ( -7.9%)
02/11  #4 of 5 - 14,861  ( -2.9%)
03/11  #5 of 5 - 14,468  ( -2.6%)
                 6 mnth  (-27.8%)
                 1 year  (-35.1%)
                 2 year  (-61.5%)
                 3 year  (-53.7%)
                 4 year  (-71.2%)

Heading for another relaunch in the summer.

146. WOLVERINE/HERCULES
03/11  #1 of 4 - 14,351

We’re getting into completist-only territory with numbers like this.

151,161. X-MEN: FIRST CLASS ONESHOTS
01/11  Magneto      - 19,365
02/11  Marvel Girl  - 13,918
03/11  Cyclops      - 13,770
03/11  Iceman/Angel - 12,749

Interesting that the Magneto one-shot did so much better than the other three.

152. SPIDER-GIRL
11/10  #1 - 23,926
12/10  #2 - 21,606  ( -9.7%)
01/11  ---
02/11  #3 - 15,302  (-29.2%)
02/11  #4 - 14,804  ( -3.3%)
03/11  #5 - 13,757  ( -7.1%)

Cancelled with issue #8.

155. NAMOR: THE FIRST MUTANT
08/10  #1 - 37,399
09/10  #2 - 23,880  (-36.1%)
10/10  ---
11/10  #3 - 20,541  (-14.0%)
11/10  #4 - 19,469  ( -5.2%)
12/10  #5 - 17,730  ( -8.9%)
01/11  #6 - 15,181  (-14.4%)
02/11  #7 - 14,001  ( -7.8%)
03/11  #8 - 13,385  ( -4.4%)
            6 mnth  (-43.9%)

Cancelled with issue #11 – though in fairness, it’s immediately followed by FEAR ITSELF: THE DEEP, which seems to be a Namor book too.

From here on, it’s low-selling minis, all-ages books and so forth, so I’ll chip in when there’s something to say.

165. HAWKEYE: BLIND SPOT
06/10  H&M #1     - 27,552
07/10  #2         - 20,531  (-25.5%)
08/10  #3         - 17,870  (-13.0%)
09/10  #4         - 16,405  ( -8.2%)
10/10  #5         - 15,337  ( -6.5%)
11/10  #6         - 14,217  ( -7.3%)
12/10  WM #1      - 18,245  (+28.3%)
12/10  #2 of 4    - 16,050  (-12.0%)
01/11  #3 of 4    - 13,368  (-16.7%)
02/11  #4 of 4    - 13,102  ( -2.0%)
02/11  BS #1 of 4 - 14,235  ( +8.6%)
03/11  #2 of 4    - 12,467  (-12.4%)
                    6 mnth  (-24.0%)

170. LOKI
10/10  #1 of 4 - 21,095
11/10  ---
12/10  #2 of 4 - 14,672  (-30.4%)
01/11  ---
02/11  #3 of 4 - 13,039  (-11.1%)
01/11  ---
02/11  ---
03/11  #4 of 4 - 12,055  ( -7.5%)

175. CAPTAIN AMERICA: MAN OUT OF TIME
11/10  #1 of 5 - 23,566
12/10  #2 of 5 - 14,582  (-38.1%)
01/11  #3 of 5 - 13,060  (-10.4%)
02/11  #4 of 5 - 11,726  (-10.2%)
03/11  #5 of 5 - 11,355  ( -3.2%)

182. CAPTAIN AMERICA COMICS
03/11  #1 70th anniversary - 10,530

This is a reprint of the Golden Age issue.

186. CAPTAIN AMERICA: HAIL HYDRA
01/11  #1 of 5 - 26,841
02/11  #2 of 5 - 11,029  (-58.9%)
03/11  #3 of 5 - 10,375  ( -5.9%)

189. POWER MAN & IRON FIST
08/10  #1 of 4 - 21,206
09/10  #2 of 4 - 17,647  ( -17.0%)
10/10  #3 of 4 - 15,147  ( -14.2%)
11/10  #4 of 4 - 13,584  ( -10.3%)
12/10  ---
01/11  ---
02/11  #1 of 5 - 27,579  (+103.0%)
02/11  #2 of 5 - 12,181  ( -55.8%)
03/11  #3 of 5 - 10,226  ( -16.0%)

197. THUNDERSTRIKE
11/10  #1 of 5 - 15,689
12/10  #2 of 5 - 11,754  (-25.1%)
01/11  ---
02/11  #3 of 5 - 10,638  ( -9.5%)
03/11  #4 of 5 -  9,818  ( -7.7%)

203.  FEAR ITSELF SKETCHBOOK
03/11  Bundle of 25 - 9,331

209.  SPIDER-MAN: YOU'RE HIRED!
03/11  One-shot - 8,731

This is a curious one – a print version of a giveaway comic you can get for free online, in which Spider-Man discusses employment policy with the Mayor of New York! I can only assume this is selling to completist collectors who want a physical copy and don’t live in NYC.

247,249,264,279,296,298. MARVEL'S GREATEST COMICS
03/11  Ultimate Spider-Man #1 - 6,812
03/11  Astonishing X-Men #1 - 6,665
03/11  Ultimates #1 - 6,073
03/11  X-23 #1 - 5,343
03/11  Captain America: Reborn #1 - 4,639
03/11  Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born #1 - 4,547

252. CAPTAIN AMERICA AND THE KORVAC SAGA
12/10  #1 of 4 - 11,576
01/11  #2 of 4 -  8,724  (-24.6%)
02/11  #3 of 4 -  7,336  (-15.9%)
03/11  #4 of 4 -  6,537  (-10.9%)

262. CASANOVA: GULA  [Icon]
07/10  Vol 1 #1 of 4 - 10,452
08/10  Vol 1 #2 of 4 -  8,349  (-20.1%)
09/10  Vol 1 #3 of 4 -  7,621  ( -8.7%)
10/10  Vol 1 #4 of 4 -  7,366  ( -3.3%)
11/10  ---
12/10  ---
01/11  Vol 2 #1 of 4 -  7,658  ( +4.0%)
02/11  Vol 2 #2 of 4 -  6,579  (-14.1%)
03/11  Vol 2 #3 of 4 -  6,152  ( -6.5%)
                       6 mnth  (-19.3%)

267. OZ PRIMER
03/11  One-shot - 6,009

286. SPIDER-MAN  [Marvel Adventures]
03/06  #13 - 5,899
03/07  #25 - 6,408
03/08  #37 - 5,877
03/09  #49 - 4,640
=====
03/10  #61 - 4,200  (  -2.8%)
04/10  #1  - 9,770  (+132.6%)
05/10  #2  - 7,709  ( -21.1%)
06/10  #3  - 7,200  (  -6.6%)
07/10  #4  - 6,347  ( -11.8%)
08/10  #5  - 6,202  (  -2.3%)
09/10  #6  - 5,779  (  -6.8%)
10/10  ---
11/10  #7  - 5,603  (  -3.0%)
11/10  #8  - 5,269  (  -6.0%)
12/10  #9  - 5,116  (  -2.9%)
01/11  #10 - 4,816  (  -5.9%)
02/11  #11 - 4,923  (  +2.2%)
03/11  #12 - 4,965  (  +0.9%)
            6 mnth  ( -14.1%)
            1 year  ( +18.2%)
            2 year  (  +7.0%)
            3 year  ( -15.5%)
            4 year  ( -22.5%)
            5 year  ( -15.8%)

287. FORMIC WARS: BURNING EARTH
02/11  #1 of 7 - 6,901
02/11  #2 of 7 - 4,935  (-28.5%)

And several Marvel titles failed to chart – ORSON SCOTT CARD’S SPEAKER FOR THE DEAD #4, SUPER HEROES #12, OFFICIAL INDEX TO THE MARVEL UNIVERSE #11, and EMMA #1. The number 300 book in March was GRIM GHOST #1, with estimated sales of 4,499.

6 month comparisons
===================

+147.4% - FF
+ 25.6% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
+ 18.9% - New Mutants
+  2.7% - Uncanny X-Force
+  2.3% - Ultimate Avengers
+  0.7% - Amazing Spider-Man
-  2.4% - Powers
-  6.1% - X-Men Legacy
-  7.1% - Iron Man
-  7.5% - Captain America
- 10.7% - Uncanny X-Men
- 12.5% - Secret Warriors
- 13.8% - Deadpool Team-Up
- 14.1% - Spider-Man [Marvel Adventures]
- 15.2% - X-Factor
- 16.8% - Deadpool
- 17.0% - Thunderbolts
- 19.2% - Avengers
- 19.3% - Casanova
- 20.4% - Thor
- 21.1% - Deadpool Corps
- 22.7% - New Avengers
- 23.1% - X-Men
- 24.0% - Hawkeye
- 24.3% - Avengers Academy
- 25.0% - Scarlet
- 25.6% - Incredible Hulks
- 26.2% - Secret Avengers
- 27.8% - Punisher (MU)
- 33.0% - Hulk
- 39.1% - Daredevil
- 42.8% - X-23
- 43.9% - Namor: The First Mutant
- 44.2% - Daken: Dark Wolverine
- 54.7% - Wolverine

1 year comparisons
==================

+219.8% - FF
+ 58.9% - Wolverine
+ 18.2% - Spider-Man [Marvel Adventures]
+  9.6% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
+  2.8% - New Mutants
+  2.7% - X-Force
-  6.7% - X-Men Legacy
- 10.8% - Iron Man
- 11.1% - Amazing Spider-Man
- 12.7% - Powers
- 13.1% - X-Factor
- 14.2% - PunisherMax
- 18.0% - Uncanny X-Men
- 20.6% - Secret Warriors
- 21.3% - New Avengers
- 21.5% - Black Panther
- 21.7% - Thunderbolts
- 22.1% - Captain America
- 24.1% - Ultimate Avengers
- 28.0% - Deadpool
- 32.1% - Thor
- 33.8% - Stand
- 35.1% - Punisher [MU]
- 36.8% - Incredible Hulks
- 38.2% - Hulk
- 39.9% - Deadpool Team-Up
- 40.5% - Deadpool Corps
- 45.0% - Daken: Dark Wolverine

2 year comparisons
==================

+136.8% - FF
+  7.0% - Spider-Man [Marvel Adventures]
-  0.2% - Amazing Spider-Man
-  1.1% - X-Force
- 13.5% - PunisherMax
- 13.9% - X-Men Legacy
- 15.8% - Iron Man
- 21.2% - X-Factor
- 28.5% - Uncanny X-Men
- 28.5% - Captain America
- 28.9% - Black Panther
- 33.7% - Daredevil
- 37.1% - New Avengers
- 42.9% - Deadpool
- 48.1% - Wolverine
- 48.9% - Thunderbolts
- 52.8% - Secret Warriors
- 61.5% - Punisher [MU]
- 68.9% - Stand

3 year comparisons
==================

+ 69.8% - FF
+ 21.9% - Iron Man
+ 12.4% - Black Panther
- 15.5% - Spider-Man [Marvel Adventures]
- 21.2% - X-Factor
- 22.2% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
- 24.0% - Powers
- 26.6% - Wolverine
- 27.6% - Amazing Spider-Man
- 33.5% - Thunderbolts
- 34.4% - Daredevil
- 37.3% - X-Force
- 37.4% - Uncanny X-Men
- 38.5% - PunisherMax
- 41.8% - New Avengers
- 41.8% - X-Men Legacy
- 45.4% - Captain America
- 53.7% - Punisher [MU]
- 85.9% - Dark Tower

4 year comparisons
==================

+ 54.9% - FF
- 22.5% - Spider-Man [Marvel Adventures]
- 32.1% - Uncanny X-Men
- 34.0% - X-Factor
- 36.3% - X-Men Legacy
- 37.7% - Incredible Hulks
- 39.2% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
- 41.4% - Daredevil
- 42.1% - PunisherMax
- 49.9% - New Avengers
- 50.3% - Wolverine
- 50.8% - Black Panther
- 56.5% - Thunderbolts
- 57.4% - Amazing Spider-Man
- 71.2% - Punisher [MU]
- 84.7% - Captain America
- 89.6% - Dark Tower

5 year comparisons
==================

+ 97.6% - FF
+  9.0% - Iron Man
-  0.3% - Thunderbolts
-  0.7% - Captain America
- 15.8% - Spider-Man [Marvel Adventures]
- 16.7% - Black Panther
- 28.8% - Uncanny X-Men
- 31.8% - Incredible Hulks
- 34.7% - Amazing Spider-Man
- 37.3% - Wolverine
- 37.8% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
- 38.6% - X-Men Legacy
- 39.4% - Powers
- 41.8% - Daredevil: Reborn
- 44.2% - PunisherMax
- 46.0% - X-Factor
- 50.5% - New Avengers

1 COMMENT

  1. The $4 pricetag is finally having the expected effect: there is no significantly less interest in Marvel’s publications.

    What I’m happy about: I don’t even miss not buying the recent Avengers titles, and I saved a lot of money to boot!

    There are a few $3 Marvels I still purchase, but I suspect that the company is slowly phasing all of them out. As the price-point comes to a close, I’ll either buy DC or maybe nothing at all…..

  2. How solid is Marvel’s cosmic books? Sure, no blockbuster numbers, but they always seem to be steady in the 20-30k range. Even a book like Surfer has hardly a drop in numbers between issues one and two. Other titles see a 20% slide or more.

  3. Any idea what the TPB will be called that includes the Captain America one-shots listed above (Batroc, etc.)? Not interested in single issues, but I’d like to get that collection.

    FYI, Secret Warriors #25 is mistakenly listed as a February book.

  4. Looks like a major “death” is still the way to go to draw in the readers. It still brings in more than a new number #1 (even with 7 covers?!? haha…), so I can see why Marvel will continue to use it every quarter. Just not pleased the next is (maybe) going to be Bucky – and not even written by Brubaker! It just doesn’t feel right. :(

    Its a shame the Crossgen titles are so low (I wonder if Marvel are happy with that amount?) – Hoping that the 2nd issue drop isn’t to high. No new minis have been annouced yet, but I’m hoping they will be. Scion is my top choice.

  5. >Its a shame the Crossgen titles are so low

    Actual sales are only half of the figures reported above; Marvel shipped retailers free copies equal to their orders (for example, if you retailer ordered 20 copies, he got another 20 free).

    LL

  6. @James A “major death” have to be announced well in-advance in order for it to have an effect on sales. Otherwise, the retailers would not know to raise their orders would they?

    So if Bucky is killed by surprise in an issue coming soon (doubt it) it can’t be for sales reasons.

  7. @NB – Its already been reported there will be a major death in issue 3 (and another in 6 or 7). And alot of the comic news sites have speculated it will be Bucky – with the covers of issue 3 and 4 and a funeral in Cap #1 There is also the fact that Bucky won’t have a home anymore. Steve is Cap and the other series will be set in the past. And besides – there is always 2nd, 3rd and 4th printings! ;) – But notice how I did say – (maybe) – I hope I am wrong – but I don’t think so.

    @Louis – that sounds like a great incentive (to bad I had to pay for mine! haha…) I guess that could mean issue 2 quantities might go up drastically. Hopefully.

  8. Has anybody else had their comic store receiving a more-than-usual amount of slightly beat up Marvel comics? I haven’t noticed any damages to DC or indy comics the last few months but a lot of Marvel comics have been coming in with giant folds or scratches to covers and book interiors along with white dots/dashes like the paper has been eaten away by something.

  9. “Actual sales are only half of the figures reported above; Marvel shipped retailers free copies equal to their orders (for example, if you retailer ordered 20 copies, he got another 20 free).”

    Would those free ones be counted, then? When books are returnable, Diamond list somewhere less than 100% of copies on the charts (see the DC weeklies). Seems like they would do the same here.

  10. @james Ok, I must have missed those announcements. Must have been a lot less visible than the ones for FF I guess.

  11. Birmy, thank you for the info! Amazon has the on-sale date as May 18, but it looks like there are already copies in circulation. Much appreciated.

  12. In addition to the 100% overship Marvel had for the Crossgen #1s, they had a deep discount offer on the #2s that made it worthwhile to match orders of #1 (including the overship).

    I sold out of both Crossgen titles, and had to place multiple reorders on both #1s and #2s.

    I’m glad Marvel had enough faith in them to overprint them so they’d be available for reorders. Often times the momentum of a series growth is stopped dead by the inability to reorder copies of a comic from Marvel.

  13. Silver Surfer seems to have a fairly strong and steady fanbase. That’s a tiny drop between issues 1 and 2.

    Wish Casanova was doing better. That and Incognito are the only two things I buy in that entire list!

    Looks like death and crossovers still work a charm for increasing sales.

  14. As always, thanks very much for the analysis.

    Breevort’s comments about the .1 initiative being a success are beyond delusional.

  15. Punishermax is now Marvel’s lowest-selling regular title; however, the most recent solicitations say #13 is the first part of a multi-issue story so I presume the book will be around a bit longer. Generation Hope and Avengers Academy don’t look too healthy, though.

    Regarding point one: I suspect Marvel’s claim that these were for new readers was just part of the hype in order to get retailers to over-order. I’m sure Marvel is overjoyed that fill-in, off-continuity one-shots are matching the sales of their regular titles.

    For an example of how the point one titles could have crashed & burned, just look at the sales of Wolverine & Jubilee compared to the regular Wolverine title. I’m sure Marvel is doing backflips over the point one issues.

    LL

  16. HOW stupid would Marvel HAVE to be to kill off Bucky, after all the excellent work they did to finally bring him back “from the dead.” I mean, I just PRAY they aren’t that stupid, but then again, we are talking about Marvel. Sigh…

  17. I never dreamed that there would be X-titles or Cap and Thor titles I wasn’t buying but Marvel has done it and run me off from being at total complete freak! Every month it gets easier and easier to leave more and more of thier 3.99 titles at the store. Now with this double-shipping and .1 nonsense they’re close to killing me off altogether…

    As for Fear Itself it’s just boring me to tears…DC’s Flashpoint really excited me and I expected these two titles to be reversed to be honest. I thought Johns was burning out with Brightest Day and thought Fraction was heating up.

    Nice to see Avengers Academy levelling out! Great book!

  18. Ruse has been fantastic! It is lots of fun, basically a Mignola book without the super grim.

    My other Marvel pulls are dropping rather alarmingly. Spiderman, Hulk, X-Factor, Thunderbolts, and FF are the last remnants, and out of those only FF is sure-footed. A series has to be getting rave reviews across the board in order for me to drop $4, and only X-Force has approached that (still not getting it).

    And I didn’t appreciate the unannounced drop in page count. It doesn’t bother me, but the fact that they snuck those 2 pages out of there is akin to what a thief would do. Marvel is just shady these days. I’m glad Joey Q has at least shut his cake hole. Maybe he should talk to Breevort.

  19. “Punishermax is now Marvel’s lowest-selling regular title; however, the most recent solicitations say #13 is the first part of a multi-issue story so I presume the book will be around a bit longer. ”

    There is a rumor that this book will be wrapping up soon, w/Greg Rucka’s new Punisher book replacing it. :-(