By 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
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…..
People! Buy (Red) Hulk (sales keep dropping on this great title!) and Journey into Mystery! That is all. :)
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.
Once again, thank you Paul, for all the hard work you put into this!!!
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.
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.
I believe it’s called Allies & Enemies (or vice versa?), and should already be on shelves.
>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
@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.
@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.
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.
“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.
@james Ok, I must have missed those announcements. Must have been a lot less visible than the ones for FF I guess.
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.
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.
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.
Re: Crossgen revival
I think a Mystic mini-series kicks off in August
As always, thanks very much for the analysis.
Breevort’s comments about the .1 initiative being a success are beyond delusional.
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
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…
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!
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.
“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. :-(