Marvel month-to-month sales: August 2008

by Paul O’Brien

It’s month five of SECRET INVASION, and the crossover continues to dominate Marvel’s output. August also sees the X-books continuing their “Manifest Destiny” direction, and relaunches for RUNAWAYS and AMAZING SPIDER-MAN FAMILY.

Marvel’s share of the North American direct market continues to hold up well. This time round, they beat DC in dollar share by 41% to 33%, and unit share by 48% to 33%. But there’s a fly in the ointment, as DM periodical sales have now been sliding for seven straight months. Graphic novels are up, but that’s entirely due to the sudden surge of WATCHMEN sales.

All a bit discouraging, then. But hey, what isn’t, these days? There was a time when comics used to be relatively recession-proof, but then in those days, Marvel weren’t charging four dollars for an issue of a miniseries.

Thanks as always to Milton Griepp and ICV2 for permission to use their figures for these calculations.

1.  SECRET INVASION
04/08  Secret Invasion #1 of 8 - 272,195
05/08  Secret Invasion #2 of 8 - 197,685  (-27.4%)
06/08  Secret Invasion #3 of 8 - 182,189  ( -7.8%)
07/08  Secret Invasion #4 of 8 - 175,469  ( -3.7%)
08/08  Secret Invasion #5 of 8 - 165,958  ( -5.4%)

The core title of this year’s crossover maintains a comfortable lead over the number two book, FINAL CRISIS, which had estimated sales of 123,881. And as one of those four dollar books, it should be bringing in plenty of lovely cash in these difficult times.

Issues #2 and #3 are continuing to pick up re-orders. Issue #2 gets a further 6,661 copies, while issue #3 notches up 6,454. As always, they’re added into the figures above. Curiously, last month’s issue #4 didn’t make the chart again. That means its reorders were lower than 2,041, the estimated sales of the number 300 book.

3.  NEW AVENGERS
08/03  Avengers #69     -  57,850
08/04  ---
08/05  New Avengers #9  - 145,673
08/06  New Avengers #23 - 154,262
=====
08/07  New Avengers #33 - 117,906  ( -4.1%)
09/07  New Avengers #34 - 112,815  ( -4.3%)
10/07  New Avengers #35 - 111,481  ( -1.2%)
11/07  New Avengers #36 - 107,715  ( -3.4%)
12/07  New Avengers #37 - 105,545  ( -2.0%)
01/08  ---
02/08  New Avengers #38 - 104,140  ( -1.3%)
03/08  New Avengers #39 - 103,046  ( -1.1%)
04/08  New Avengers #40 - 117,201  (+13.7%)
05/08  New Avengers #41 - 109,185  ( -6.8%)
06/08  New Avengers #42 - 108,495  ( -0.6%)
07/08  New Avengers #43 - 108,751  ( +0.2%)
08/08  New Avengers #44 - 106,385  ( -2.2%)
                           6 mnth  ( +2.2%)
                           1 year  ( -9.8%)
                           2 year  (-31.0%)
                           3 year  (-27.0%)
                           4 year  (  --- )
                           5 year  (+83.9%)

Continuing the SECRET INVASION tie-in arc. I’ve noted before that NEW AVENGERS tends not to see big gains from crossovers, presumably because it’s such a high-selling book to start with. That said, it’s a little surprising to see this crossover book down 10% from a year ago, which was a perfectly regular issue. Issue #31 – the book where Elektra turned out to be a Skrull – shifted some 161,000 copies, and there’s no sign of that performance being repeated here.

ULTIMATES
08/03  ---
08/04  ---
08/05  ---
08/06  ---
=====
08/07  ---
09/07  ---
10/07  ---
11/07  ---
12/07  Ultimates 3 #1 of 5 - 154,722  (+46.3%)
01/08  Ultimates 3 #2 of 5 - 112,044  (-27.6%)
02/08  Ultimates 3 #3 of 5 - 103,570  ( -7.6%)
03/08  ---
04/08  ---
05/08  ---
06/08  Ultimates 3 #4 of 5 -  99,697  ( -3.7%)
07/08  ---
08/08  ---

ULTIMATES didn’t come out in August, but I’ve included it here because issue #4 notched up another 4,009 reorders. Impressively, this is the sixth straight year in which ULTIMATES has failed to come out in August. Sadly, the book did appear in August 2002, so it isn’t a completely clean sweep.

5.  HULK
08/03  Incredible Hulk #59  -  59,336
08/04  Incredible Hulk #76  -  42,498
08/05  Incredible Hulk #85  -  53,177
08/06  Incredible Hulk #97  -  48,893
=====
08/07  Incredible Hulk #109 - 104,322  (  -3.1%)
09/07  Incredible Hulk #110 -  96,835  (  -7.2%)
10/07  ---
11/07  Incredible Hulk #111 - 101,536  (  +4.9%)
12/07  Incredible Hulk #112 -  77,119  ( -24.0%)
01/08  Hulk #1              - 139,931  ( +81.4%)
02/08  Hulk #2              - 101,598  ( -27.4%)
03/08  ---
04/08  Hulk #3              - 100,167  (  -1.4%)
05/08  ---
06/08  Hulk #4              - 101,927  (  +1.8%)
07/08  ---
08/08  Hulk #5              -  96,347  (  -5.5%)
                               6 mnth  (  -5.2%)
                               1 year  (  -7.6%)
                               2 year  ( +97.1%)
                               3 year  ( +81.2%)
                               4 year  (+126.7%)
                               5 year  ( +62.4%)

As INCREDIBLE HERCULES is apparently sticking around indefinitely, I’ve decided to treat this book as the “proper” continuation of INCREDIBLE HULK. As you’ll see, HULK has been one of Marvel’s more successful books of the last couple of years, with “Planet Hulk”, “World War Hulk” and the recent relaunch making him a top ten fixture again.

6.  ASTONISHING X-MEN
08/04  Astonishing X-Men #4  - 145,543
08/05  Astonishing X-Men #12 - 125,834
08/06  Astonishing X-Men #16 - 120,371
=====
08/07  Astonishing X-Men #22 - 117,321  ( -2.6%)
09/07  ---
10/07  ---
11/07  Astonishing X-Men #23 - 112,920  ( -3.8%)
12/07  ---
01/08  Astonishing X-Men #24 - 107,631  ( -4.7%)
02/08  ---
03/08  ---
04/08  ---
05/08  Giant-Size Ast. #1    - 105,508  ( -2.0%)
06/08  ---
07/08  Astonishing X-Men #25 - 121,974  (+15.6%)
08/08  Astonishing X-Men #26 -  94,244  (-22.7%)
                                6 mnth  (  --- )
                                1 year  (-19.7%)
                                2 year  (-21.7%)
                                3 year  (-25.1%)
                                4 year  (-35.2%)

This is the second issue by Warren Ellis and Simone Bianchi, so a drop-off was only to be expected. Issue #25 picks up healthy quantities of re-orders, with the San Diego Sketch Variant shifting 6,547, and regular copies adding another 4,703.

7,14,21,231. AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
08/03  Amazing Spider-Man #57  -  93,469
08/04  Amazing Spider-Man #511 -  88,118
08/05  Amazing Spider-Man #523 -  72,046
08/06  ---
=====
08/07  Amazing Spider-Man #543 - 106,485  ( +0.7%)
09/07  Amazing Spider-Man #544 - 159,104  (+49.4%)
10/07  ---
11/07  ---
12/07  Amazing Spider-Man #545 - 129,085  (-18.9%)
01/08  Amazing Spider-Man #546 - 127,958  ( -0.9%)
01/08  Amazing Spider-Man #547 - 101,213  (-20.9%)
01/08  Amazing Spider-Man #548 -  97,959  ( -3.2%)
02/08  Amazing Spider-Man #549 - 101,112  ( +3.2%)
02/08  Amazing Spider-Man #550 -  90,874  (-10.1%)
02/08  Amazing Spider-Man #551 -  88,084  ( -3.1%)
03/08  Amazing Spider-Man #552 -  89,835  ( +2.0%)
03/08  Amazing Spider-Man #553 -  82,648  ( -8.0%)
03/08  Amazing Spider-Man #554 -  81,072  ( -1.9%)
04/08  Amazing Spider-Man #555 -  86,902  ( +7.2%)
04/08  Amazing Spider-Man #556 -  78,458  ( -9.7%)
04/08  Amazing Spider-Man #557 -  77,057  ( -1.8%)
05/08  Amazing Spider-Man #558 -  76,966  ( -0.1%)
05/08  Amazing Spider-Man #559 -  74,206  ( -3.6%)
05/08  Amazing Spider-Man #560 -  74,012  ( -0.3%)
06/08  Amazing Spider-Man #561 -  72,372  ( -2.2%)
06/08  Amazing Spider-Man #562 -  71,409  ( -1.3%)
06/08  Amazing Spider-Man #563 -  70,792  ( -0.9%)
07/08  Amazing Spider-Man #564 -  68,882  ( -2.7%)
07/08  Amazing Spider-Man #565 -  69,182  ( +0.4%)
07/08  Amazing Spider-Man #566 -  68,912  ( -0.4%)
08/08  Amazing Spider-Man #567 -  68,130  ( -1.1%)
08/08  Amazing Spider-Man #568 -  98,357  (+44.4%)
08/08  Amazing Spider-Man #569 -  77,950  (-20.7%)
                                  6 mnth  (-11.5%)
                                  1 year  (-26.8%)
                                  2 year  (  --- )
                                  3 year  ( +8.2%)
                                  4 year  (-11.5%)
                                  5 year  (-16.6%)

Issues #568 and #569 are the first two parts of “New Ways To Die” – not a crossover, but simply a heavily promoted storyline. It looks to be off to a good start; the book actually shows an increase from 2005. Issue #568 has a variant cover, and there’s also a sketch variant lurking at number 231 on the charts. The sales above are cumulative.

8.  MIGHTY AVENGERS
08/07  ---
09/07  ---
10/07  Mighty Avengers #5  -  99,544  ( -7.6%)
11/07  ---
12/07  Mighty Avengers #6  -  90,709  ( -8.9%)
01/08  Mighty Avengers #7  -  92,739  ( +2.2%)
01/08  Mighty Avengers #8  -  84,459  ( -8.9%)
02/08  Mighty Avengers #9  -  83,466  ( -1.2%)
03/08  Mighty Avengers #10 -  82,149  ( -1.6%)
03/08  Mighty Avengers #11 -  82,253  ( +0.1%)
04/08  Mighty Avengers #12 -  97,239  (+18.2%)
05/08  Mighty Avengers #13 - 102,266  ( +5.2%)
05/08  Mighty Avengers #14 -  95,281  ( -6.8%)
06/08  Mighty Avengers #15 -  94,014  ( -1.3%)
07/08  Mighty Avengers #16 -  96,252  ( +2.4%)
08/08  Mighty Avengers #17 -  92,950  ( -3.4%)
                              6 mnth  (+11.4%)
                              1 year  (  --- )

Another SECRET INVASION tie-in. Numbers are dropping off a little, but the book is still seeing a noticeable improvement compared with its regular sales in the first half of the year.

9.  WOLVERINE
08/03  Wolverine #4  -  68,472
08/04  Wolverine #18 -  65,304
08/05  Wolverine #31 -  75,618
08/06  Wolverine #45 - 108,680
=====
08/07  Wolverine #56 -  73,368  (-43.9%)
09/07  Wolverine #57 -  74,588  ( +1.7%)
10/07  Wolverine #58 -  83,810  (+12.4%)
11/07  Wolverine #59 -  65,725  (-21.6%)
12/07  Wolverine #60 -  63,194  ( -3.9%)
01/08  Wolverine #61 -  60,857  ( -3.7%)
02/08  Wolverine #62 -  69,698  (+14.5%)
03/08  Wolverine #63 -  64,475  ( -7.5%)
04/08  Wolverine #64 -  64,871  ( +0.0%)
05/08  Wolverine #65 -  62,451  ( -3.7%)
06/08  Wolverine #66 - 105,167  (+68.4%)
07/08  Wolverine #67 -  89,062  (-15.3%)
08/08  Wolverine #68 -  86,268  ( -3.1%)
                        6 mnth  (+23.8%)
                        1 year  (+17.6%)
                        2 year  (-20.6%)
                        3 year  (+14.1%)
                        4 year  (+32.1%)
                        5 year  (+26.0%)

Mark Millar and Steve McNiven’s alternate future storyline is holding up well. This may set an interesting precedent. Traditionally, out-of-continuity stories don’t sell as well. But perhaps running them in the regular title makes a difference.

10. UNCANNY X-MEN
08/03  Uncanny X-Men #429 -  93,866
08/04  Uncanny X-Men #447 -  95,838
08/05  Uncanny X-Men #463 -  87,610
08/06  Uncanny X-Men #477 -  89,225
=====
08/07  Uncanny X-Men #489 -  88,068  ( +1.5%)
09/07  Uncanny X-Men #490 -  87,592  ( -0.5%)
10/07  Uncanny X-Men #491 -  85,638  ( -2.2%)
11/07  Uncanny X-Men #492 - 111,160  (+29.8%)
12/07  Uncanny X-Men #493 - 109,176  ( -1.8%)
01/08  Uncanny X-Men #494 - 105,520  ( -3.3%)
02/08  Uncanny X-Men #495 -  96,183  ( -8.8%)
03/08  Uncanny X-Men #496 -  89,054  ( -7.4%)
04/08  Uncanny X-Men #497 -  93,369  ( +4.8%)
05/08  Uncanny X-Men #498 -  82,090  (-12.1%)
06/08  Uncanny X-Men #499 -  81,100  ( -1.2%)
07/08  Uncanny X-Men #500 - 151,955  (+87.4%)
08/08  Uncanny X-Men #501 -  85,398  (-43.8%)
                             6 mnth  (-11.2%)
                             1 year  ( -3.0%)
                             2 year  ( -4.3%)
                             3 year  ( -2.5%)
                             4 year  (-10.9%)
                             5 year  ( -9.0%)

This is the second issue of the San Francisco direction, or “Manifest Destiny” as Marvel are calling it. It looks like last month’s huge spike was largely due to the five hundred issue anniversary, but that’s no great surprise. Numbers are still up somewhat from the previous arc.

11. CAPTAIN AMERICA
08/03  Captain America #16 -  43,123
08/04  Captain America #30 -  38,464
08/05  Captain America #8  -  51,842
08/06  ---
=====
08/07  Captain America #29 -  83,781  (  -6.6%)
09/07  Captain America #30 -  79,554  (  -5.0%)
10/07  Captain America #31 -  77,131  (  -3.0%)
11/07  Captain America #32 -  73,310  (  -5.0%)
12/07  Captain America #33 -  78,279  (  +6.8%)
01/08  Captain America #34 - 152,739  ( +95.1%)
02/08  Captain America #35 -  86,038  ( -43.7%)
03/08  Captain America #36 -  81,378  (  -5.4%)
04/08  Captain America #37 -  80,635  (  -0.9%)
05/08  Captain America #38 -  79,350  (  -1.6%)
06/08  Captain America #39 -  79,387  (  +0.0%)
07/08  Captain America #40 -  79,317  (  -0.0%)
08/08  Captain America #41 -  85,035  (  +7.2%)
                              6 mnth  (  -1.2%)
                              1 year  (  +1.5%)
                              2 year  (   --- )
                              3 year  ( +64.0%)
                              4 year  (+121.1%)
                              5 year  ( +97.2%)

This is the penultimate chapter of a storyline, so the sales boost is presumably thanks to Frank Cho’s variant monkey cover, promoting September’s MARVEL APES miniseries. I’ve got to admire Marvel’s Machiavellian nerve in using variant covers to promote other books entirely – and successfully getting people to pay for them.

17. AVENGERS/INVADERS
05/08  Avngrs/Invaders #1 of 12 - 108,136
06/08  Avngrs/Invaders #2 of 12 -  83,012 (-23.2%)
07/08  Avngrs/Invaders #3 of 12 -  75,161 ( -9.5%)
08/08  Avngrs/Invaders #4 of 12 -  69,010 ( -8.2%)

Shedding readers, but I always thought the initial orders were a bit optimistic. I’d still consider 69,000 to be a healthy performance from an Avengers/Invaders book – after all, it’s doing better than AVENGERS: THE INTIATIVE.

18. X-FORCE
02/08  X-Force #1 - 116,467
03/08  X-Force #2 -  88,650  (-23.9%)
04/08  X-Force #3 -  85,750  ( -3.3%)
05/08  X-Force #4 -  84,792  ( -1.1%)
06/08  ---
07/08  X-Force #5 -  72,818
  (-14.1%)
08/08  X-Force #6 -  69,010  ( -5.2%)
                     6 mnth  (-40.7%)

Still dropping. There was a second printing of issue #5, but it didn’t come out until the first week of September, so we’ll see how it did next month. Overall, this is still a title that’s hunting for its level. I’d normally be a little concerned about a book that was still shedding 5% with its sixth issue, but arguably the real surprise is that this second-tier X-book is still doing so well six issues in.

19. ULTIMATE ORIGINS
06/08  Ultimate Origins #1 of 5 - 136,418
07/08  Ultimate Origins #2 of 5 -  83,849 (-38.5%)
08/08  Ultimate Origins #3 of 5 -  68,337 (-18.5%)

Issue #2 picks up another 3,460 sales with a second printing. The series is still shedding readers quickly. But as with X-FORCE, this is really a case where I’m surprised the book opened so strongly in the first place; these could still be healthy corrections.

22. X-MEN: LEGACY
08/03  New X-Men #144     -  99,737
08/04  X-Men #160         -  91,790
08/05  X-Men #174         -  76,342
08/06  X-Men #190         -  82,084
=====
08/07  X-Men #202         -  86,521  ( +0.3%)
09/07  X-Men #203         -  85,652  ( -1.0%)
10/07  X-Men #204         -  83,456  ( -2.6%)
11/07  X-Men #205         - 101,401  (+21.5%)
12/07  X-Men #206         - 104,815  ( +3.4%)
01/08  X-Men #207         - 104,793  ( -0.0%)
02/08  X-Men: Legacy #208 -  88,132  (-16.0%)
03/08  X-Men: Legacy #209 -  82,243  ( -6.7%)
04/08  X-Men: Legacy #210 -  77,441  ( -5.8%)
05/08  X-Men: Legacy #211 -  79,818  ( +3.1%)
05/08  X-Men: Legacy #212 -  74,033  ( -7.2%)
06/08  X-Men: Legacy #213 -  71,893  ( -2.9%)
07/08  X-Men: Legacy #214 -  69,863  ( -2.8%)
08/08  X-Men: Legacy #215 -  68,047  ( -2.6%)
                             6 mnth  (-22.8%)
                             1 year  (-21.4%)
                             2 year  (-17.1%)
                             3 year  (-10.9%)
                             4 year  (-25.9%)
                             5 year  (-31.8%)

Another “Manifest Destiny” book. LEGACY seems to have settled into a steady decline.

24. SECRET INVASION: THOR
08/08  Secret Invasion: Thor #1 of 3 - 65,509

25. SECRET INVASION: X-MEN
08/08  Secret Invasion: X-Men #1 of 4 - 64,515

Continuing the strategy of recent years, Marvel’s biggest titles aren’t running crossover issues for SECRET INVASION. Instead, they’re producing these tie-in minis. Retailers seem to regard the THOR and X-MEN books as pretty interchangeable, in terms of their drawing power. (Which says a lot for the success of the recent THOR relaunch.)

27. AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE
08/07  Initiative #5 -  86,536  ( -8.7%)
09/07  Initiative #6 -  74,184  (-14.3%)
10/07  ---
11/07  Initiative #7 -  66,455  (-10.4%)
12/07  Initiative #8 -  58,126  (-12.5%)
01/08  Initiative #9 -  55,270  ( -4.9%)
02/08  ---
03/08  Initiative #10 - 54,422  ( -1.5%)
04/08  Initiative #11 - 52,877  ( -2.8%)
04/08  Initiative #12 - 52,343  ( -1.0%)
05/08  Initiative #13 - 56,818  ( +8.5%)
06/08  Initiative #14 - 62,236  ( +9.5%)
07/08  Initiative #15 - 63,634  ( +2.2%)
08/08  Initiative #16 - 60,381  ( -5.1%)
                        6 mnth  (  --- )
                        1 year  (-30.2%)

Continuing a SECRET INVASION tie-in arc. The book is still comfortably above its regular sales level, in the low 50K range.

28. FANTASTIC FOUR
08/03  Fantastic Four #503 - 53,789
08/04  Fantastic Four #517 - 50,247
08/05  Fantastic Four #530 - 51,782
08/06  Fantastic Four #539 - 89,676
=====
08/07  Fantastic Four #548 - 65,695  (  -5.6%)
08/07  Fantastic Four #549 - 61,770  (  -6.0%)
09/07  ---
10/07  Fantastic Four #550 - 57,906  (  -6.3%)
11/07  Fantastic Four #551 - 58,617  (  +1.2%)
12/07  Fantastic Four #552 - 51,320  ( -12.4%)
01/08  Fantastic Four #553 - 48,332  (  -5.8%)
02/08  Fantastic Four #554 - 98,111  (+103.0%)
03/08  Fantastic Four #555 - 67,416  ( -31.3%)
04/08  Fantastic Four #556 - 65,013  (  -3.6%)
05/08  Fantastic Four #557 - 62,736  (  -3.5%)
06/08  Fantastic Four #558 - 61,003  (  -2.8%)
07/08  ---
08/08  Fantastic Four #559 - 59,791  (  -2.0%)
                             6 mnth  ( -39.1%)
                             1 year  (  -9.0%)
                             2 year  ( -33.3%)
                             3 year  ( +15.5%)
                             4 year  ( +19.0%)
                             5 year  ( +11.2%)

Continuing its downward drift.

30. INVINCIBLE IRON MAN
05/08  Invincible Iron Man #1 - 120,657
06/08  Invincible Iron Man #2 -  76,001  (-37.0%)
07/08  Invincible Iron Man #3 -  66,430  (-12.6%)
08/08  Invincible Iron Man #4 -  58,154  (-12.5%)

Still dropping back, as the movie starts to fade into memory. But then, Iron Man’s existing title is down at number 67, with sales of around 34K, so this still looks like a fairly successful relaunch.

Issue #3 picks up added sales of 3,387 with a second printing.

31. SECRET INVASION: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
08/08  AI: ASM #1 of 3 - 56,663

Another tie-in arc. In this case, I might actually have been tempted to run the crossover in the regular title – after all, it would only be a month’s worth of books. As it is, the Spider-Man mini tails in a little way behind Thor and the X-Men.

34. ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN
08/03  Ult. Spider-Man #45  - 100,619
08/04  Ult. Spider-Man #64  -  94,682
08/05  Ult. Spider-Man #81  -  75,572
08/06  Ult. Spider-Man #99  -  76,075
=====
08/07  Ult. Spider-Man #112 -  76,523  ( +1.4%)
09/07  Ult. Spider-Man #113 -  67,476  (-11.8%)
09/07  Ult. Spider-Man #114 -  66,682  ( -1.2%)
10/07  Ult. Spider-Man #115 -  74,310  (+11.4%)
11/07  Ult. Spider-Man #116 -  61,534  (-17.2%)
12/07  Ult. Spider-Man #117 -  60,361  ( -1.9%)
01/08  Ult. Spider-Man #118 -  58,800  ( -2.6%)
02/08  Ult. Spider-Man #119 -  58,045  ( -1.3%)
03/08  Ult. Spider-Man #120 -  57,728  ( -0.5%)
04/08  Ult. Spider-Man #121 -  56,633  ( -1.9%)
05/08  Ult. Spider-Man #122 -  55,759  ( -1.5%)
06/08  Ult. Spider-Man #123 -  57,187  ( +2.6%)
07/08  Ult. Spider-Man #124 -  55,262  ( -3.4%)
08/08  Ult. Spider-Man #125 -  54,746  ( -0.9%)
                               6 mnth  ( -5.7%)
                               1 year  (-28.5%)
                               2 year  (-28.0%)
                               3 year  (-27.6%)
                               4 year  (-42.2%)
                               5 year  (-45.6%)

Still hovering in the mid-50K range.

37. KICK-ASS  [Icon]
02/08  Kick-Ass #1 - 73,317
03/08  ---
04/08  Kick-Ass #2 - 54,596  (-25.5%)
05/08  ---
06/08  Kick-Ass #3 - 56,655  ( +3.8%)
07/08  ---
08/08  Kick-Ass #4 - 51,162  ( -9.7%)
                     6 mnth  (-30.2%)

Hard to get a sense of where this one is heading, with the blip on issue #3. It’s behaving rather oddly.

38. INCREDIBLE HERCULES
01/08  Hercules #113 -  73,533  (  -4.6%)
02/08  Hercules #114 -  52,200  ( -29.0%)
03/08  Hercules #115 -  49,336  (  -5.5%)
04/08  Hercules #116 -  44,575  (  -9.7%)
05/08  Hercules #117 -  57,264  ( +28.5%)
06/08  Hercules #118 -  52,975  (  -7.5%)
07/08  Hercules #119 -  52,598  (  -0.7%)
08/08  Hercules #120 -  51,100  (  -2.8%)
                        6 mnth  (  -2.1%)

Another SECRET INVASION tie-in. I’m going to treat this as a new series launching with issue #113, which is the month that the title changed. It’s an interesting promotional strategy; back in the sixties, it was fairly common for a new character to take over an existing title. But the tactic has been out of fashion for years, in favour of the drawing power of a first issue. I strongly suspect, though, that this book is doing much better than it would have done with a more conventional launch, benefitting – however dubiously – from the connection with a hot title.

39. SKAAR, SON OF HULK
06/08  Skaar, Son of Hulk #1 - 91,279
07/08  Skaar, Son of Hulk #2 - 56,984  (-37.6%)
08/08  Skaar, Son of Hulk #3 - 50,841  (-10.8%)

Levelling out somewhat, so there’s a decent prospect of this finding its level as a strong mid-table seller. And as it’s a fantasy title with no familiar characters, detached from the rest of the Marvel Universe, that would be something of an achievement. Issue #1 picks up re-orders of 3,781.

40. X-FACTOR
08/06  X-Factor #10 - 44,603
=====
08/07  X-Factor #22 - 52,627  ( +4.8%)
09/07  X-Factor #23 - 53,311  ( +1.3%)
10/07  X-Factor #24 - 52,085  ( -2.3%)
11/07  X-Factor #25 - 79,066  (+51.8%)
12/07  X-Factor #26 - 84,219  ( +6.5%)
01/08  X-Factor #27 - 81,350  ( -3.4%)
02/08  X-Factor #28 - 61,173  (-24.8%)
03/08  X-Factor #29 - 54,832  (-10.4%)
04/08  X-Factor #30 - 51,447  ( -6.2%)
05/08  X-Factor #31 - 48,231  ( -6.3%)
06/08  X-Factor #32 - 45,104  ( -6.5%)
07/08  X-Factor #33 - 53,088  (+17.7%)
08/08  X-Factor #34 - 50,416  ( -5.0%)
                      6 mnth  (-17.6%)
                      1 year  ( -4.2%)
                      2 year  (+13.0%)

The second half of a two-part SECRET INVASION tie-in. It’s also a crossover with the lower-selling SHE-HULK, but that’s unlikely to make a difference.

41. SECRET INVASION: INHUMANS
08/08  Secret Invasion: Inhumans #1 of 4 - 49,971

Another tie-in book, and it’s fair to say that the SECRET INVASION brand has delivered better sales than the Inhuamns might otherwise have achieved.

45. ULTIMATE X-MEN
08/03  Ultimate X-Men #36 - 110,492
08/04  Ultimate X-Men #50 - 103,154
08/05  Ultimate X-Men #62 -  76,229
08/06  Ultimate X-Men #73 -  70,153
=====
08/07  Ultimate X-Men #85 -  57,660  ( -3.8%)
09/07  Ultimate X-Men #86 -  55,346  ( -4.0%)
10/07  Ultimate X-Men #87 -  63,028  (+13.9%)
11/07  ---
12/07  Ultimate X-Men #88 -  51,633  (-18.1%)
12/07  Ultimate X-Men #89 -  50,516  ( -2.2%)
01/08  Ultimate X-Men #90 -  49,634  ( -1.7%)
02/08  Ultimate X-Men #91 -  49,062  ( -1.2%)
03/08  Ultimate X-Men #92 -  49,015  ( -0.0%)
04/08  Ultimate X-Men #93 -  49,107  ( +0.2%)
05/08  Ultimate X-Men #94 -  49,779  ( +1.4%)
06/08  Ultimate X-Men #95 -  48,137  ( -3.3%)
07/08  Ultimate X-Men #96 -  48,011  ( -0.3%)
08/08  Ultimate X-Men #97 -  47,050  ( -2.0%)
                             6 mnth  ( -4.1%)
                             1 year  (-18.4%)
                             2 year  (-32.9%)
                             3 year  (-38.3%)
                             4 year  (-54.4%)
                             5 year  (-57.4%)

Relatively stable over the last few months.

50. SECRET INVASION: FRONT LINE
07/08  Front Line #1 of 5 - 56,313
08/08  Front Line #2 of 5 - 45,796  (-18.7%)

Languishing some way behind the other minis, and straying somewhat from the original premise. I can’t help wondering whether this concept has run its course.

51. THUNDERBOLTS
08/04  Avengers/T'bolts #6  - 33,512
08/05  New Thunderbolts #11 - 37,036
08/06  Thunderbolts #105    - 61,467
=====
08/07  Thunderbolts #116    - 52,503  (-19.1%)
09/07  ---
10/07  Thunderbolts #117    - 47,151  (-10.2%)
11/07  ---
12/07  ---
01/08  Thunderbolts #118    - 43,645  ( -7.4%)
02/08  ---
03/08  Thunderbolts #119    - 40,173  ( -8.0%)
04/08  ---
05/08  Thunderbolts #120    - 38,330  ( -4.6%)
06/08  Thunderbolts #121    - 37,693  ( -1.7%)
07/08  Thunderbolts #122    - 47,170  (+25.1%)
08/08  Thunderbolts #123    - 45,403  ( -3.7%)
                              6 mnth  (  --- )
                              1 year  (-13.5%)
                              2 year  (-26.1%)
                              3 year  (+22.6%)
                              4 year  (+35.5%)

Second part of a SECRET INVASION crossover arc, with the expected sales boost.

52. SECRET INVASION: RUNAWAYS & YOUNG AVENGERS
06/08  SIRYA #1 of 3 - 50,123
07/08  ---
08/08  SIRYA #2 of 3 - 45,309  (-9.6%)

And more crossover. The second issue drop is quite modest.

53. CABLE
03/08  Cable #1 - 68,073
04/08  Cable #2 - 59,877  (-12.0%)
05/08  Cable #3 - 54,760  ( -8.5%)
06/08  Cable #4 - 49,996  ( -8.7%)
07/08  Cable #5 - 46,429  ( -7.1%)
08/08  Cable #6 - 45,050  ( -3.0%)

On the face of it, levelling out somewhat. However, matters are complicated by the fact that issue #6 has a MARVEL APES variant cover. The first five issues also had variant covers, but not featuring simians. So… genuinely levelling out? Unusual level of interest in apes? Who can tell?

55. VENOM: DARK ORIGIN
08/08  Dark Origin #1 of 5 - 44,336

A very respectable start for this Venom origin story.

56. DAREDEVIL
08/03  Daredevil #50  - 65,398
08/04  Daredevil #63  - 52,090
08/05  Daredevil #76  - 46,424
08/06  Daredevil #88  - 50,554
=====
08/07  Daredevil #99  - 47,386  ( +1.2%)
09/07  Daredevil #100 - 78,143  (+64.9%)
10/07  Daredevil #101 - 47,189  (-39.6%)
11/07  Daredevil #102 - 45,030  ( -4.6%)
12/07  Daredevil #103 - 43,874  ( -2.6%)
01/08  Daredevil #104 - 42,773  ( -2.5%)
02/08  Daredevil #105 - 42,098  ( -1.6%)
03/08  Daredevil #106 - 41,537  ( -1.3%)
04/08  ---
05/08  Daredevil #107 - 40,418  ( -2.7%)
06/08  Daredevil #108 - 39,557  ( -2.1%)
07/08  Daredevil #109 - 39,258  ( -0.8%)
08/08  Daredevil #110 - 43,362  (+10.5%)
                        6 mnth  ( +3.0%)
                        1 year  ( -8.5%)
                        2 year  (-14.2%)
                        3 year  ( -6.6%)
                        4 year  (-16.8%)
                        5 year  (-33.7%)

Another monkey cover.

58. GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY
05/08  Guardians o/the Galaxy #1 - 36,293
06/08  Guardians o/the Galaxy #2 - 32,967 ( -9.2%)
07/08  Guardians o/the Galaxy #3 - 33,986 ( +3.1%)
08/08  Guardians o/the Galaxy #4 - 40,285 (+18.5%)

Another SECRET INVASION tie-in. The second printing of issue #3 picks up orders of 2,279.

59. ULTIMATE IRON MAN II
12/07  Iron Man II #1 of 5 - 61,087
01/08  Iron Man II #2 of 5 - 46,248  (-24.3%)
02/08  Iron Man II #3 of 5 - 43,496  ( -6.0%)
03/08  Iron Man II #4 of 5 - 41,354  ( -4.9%)
04/08  ---
05/08  ---
06/08  ---
07/08  Iron Man II #5 of 5 - 38,628  ( -6.6%)
                             6 mnth  (-11.2%)

The series finally wraps up, suffering no apparent ill effects from the delay.

60. YOUNG X-MEN
04/08  Young X-Men #1 - 71,593
05/08  Young X-Men #2 - 51,267  (-28.4%)
06/08  Young X-Men #3 - 45,227  (-11.8%)
07/08  Young X-Men #4 - 41,341  ( -8.6%)
08/08  Young X-Men #5 - 38,379  ( -7.2%)

This is the sort of number that predecessor title NEW X-MEN was achieving just before it entered the crossovers that led to its cancellation. So basically, we’re back where we started, except with sales dropping at 7% a month. This isn’t looking terribly successful right now.

61. NOVA
08/07  Nova #5 -  39,543  ( -1.6%)
09/07  Nova #6 -  36,978  ( -6.5%)
10/07  Nova #7 -  34,876  ( -5.7%)
11/07  Nova #8 -  32,110  ( -7.9%)
12/07  Nova #9 -  30,469  ( -5.1%)
01/08  Nova #10 - 29,397  ( -3.5%)
02/08  ---
03/08  Nova #11 - 28,162  ( -4.2%)
04/08  Nova #12 - 28,185  ( +0.1%)
05/08  Nova #13 - 28,144  ( -0.1%)
06/08  Nova #14 - 28,892  ( +2.7%)
07/08  Nova #15 - 28,592  ( -1.0%)
08/08  Nova #16 - 38,338  (+34.1%)
                  6 mnth  (  --- )
                  1 year  ( -3.0%)

Another SECRET INVASION tie-in.

62. SHE-HULK
08/04  She-Hulk #6  - 24,751
08/05  ---
08/06  She-Hulk #11 - 27,393
=====
08/07  She-Hulk #20 - 25,582  ( -2.1%)
09/07  She-Hulk #21 - 27,221  ( +6.4%)
10/07  She-Hulk #22 - 35,568  (+30.7%)
11/07  She-Hulk #23 - 24,956  (-29.8%)
12/07  She-Hulk #24 - 23,585  ( -5.5%)
01/08  She-Hulk #25 - 23,283  ( -1.3%)
02/08  She-Hulk #26 - 22,181  ( -4.7%)
03/08  She-Hulk #27 - 21,421  ( -3.4%)
04/08  She-Hulk #28 - 20,843  ( -2.7%)
05/08  She-Hulk #29 - 20,678  ( -0.8%)
06/08  She-Hulk #30 - 21,016  ( +1.6%)
07/08  She-Hulk #31 - 36,053  (+71.6%)
08/08  She-Hulk #32 - 38,069  ( +5.6%)
                      6 mnth  (+71.6%)
                      1 year  (+48.8%)
                      2 year  (+39.0%)
                      3 year  (  --- )
                      4 year  (+53.8%)

Again, a SECRET INVASION tie-in, but this time also featuring a variant cover with a monkey.

63. CAPTAIN BRITAIN & MI-13
05/08  Cpt. Britain & MI-13 #1 - 43,281
06/08  Cpt. Britain & MI-13 #2 - 37,986  (-12.2%)
07/08  Cpt. Britain & MI-13 #3 - 39,100  ( +2.9%)
08/08  Cpt. Britain & MI-13 #4 - 36,826  ( -5.8%)

And another SECRET INVASION tie-in. This marks the end of the book’s four-issue crossover, so next month it’s got to stand on its own. A second printing of issue #3 adds another 2,155.

64. MARVEL 1985
05/08  Marvel 1985 #1 of 6 - 61,126
06/08  Marvel 1985 #2 of 6 - 40,134  (-34.3%)
07/08  Marvel 1985 #3 of 6 - 38,677  ( -3.6%)
08/08  Marvel 1985 #4 of 6 - 36,339  ( -6.0%)

Decent sales for this curious gimmick mini.

66. HALO: UPRISING
08/07  Uprising #1 of 4 - 71,812
09/07  ---
10/07  ---
11/07  Uprising #2 of 4 - 50,165  (-30.1%)
12/07  ---
01/08  ---
02/08  ---
03/08  ---
04/08  ---
05/08  ---
06/08  ---
07/08  ---
08/08  Uprising #3 of 4 - 34,267  (-31.7%)
                          6 mnth  (  --- )
                          1 year  (-52.3%)

UPRISING finally ships its third issue after a ludicrous delay – though in fairness, the fault is said to lie mainly with the game developers. For once, the delay seems to have done some damage to sales.

67. IRON MAN: DIRECTOR OF SHIELD
08/03  Iron Man #71 - 30,823
08/04  Iron Man #87 - 33,512
08/05  Iron Man #4  - 48,403
08/06  Iron Man #11 - 37,279
=====
08/07  Iron Man #21 - 49,548  (-32.0%)
09/07  Iron Man #22 - 46,691  ( -5.8%)
10/07  Iron Man #23 - 42,608  ( -8.7%)
11/07  ---
12/07  Iron Man #24 - 38,834  ( -8.9%)
01/08  Iron Man #25 - 38,072  ( -2.0%)
02/08  Iron Man #26 - 36,607  ( -3.8%)
03/08  Iron Man #27 - 36,011  ( -1.6%)
04/08  Iron Man #28 - 35,754  ( -0.7%)
05/08  Iron Man #29 - 36,415  ( +1.8%)
06/08  Iron Man #30 - 35,384  ( -2.8%)
07/08  Iron Man #31 - 35,352  ( -0.0%)
08/08  Iron Man #32 - 34,257  ( -3.1%)
                      6 mnth  ( -4.9%)
                      1 year  (-30.3%)
                      2 year  ( -8.1%)
                      3 year  (-29.2%)
                      4 year  ( +2.2%)
                      5 year  (+11.1%)

Meandering peacefully towards its relaunch as a WAR MACHINE book.

68. ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR
08/04  Ult. Fantastic Four #10 -  90,670
08/05  Ult. Fantastic Four #22 -  71,767
08/06  Ult. Fantastic Four #33 -  65,191
=====
08/07  Ult. Fantastic Four #45 -  48,779  ( -4.0%)
09/07  Ult. Fantastic Four #46 -  46,647  ( -4.4%)
10/07  Ult. Fantastic Four #47 -  45,015  ( -3.5%)
11/07  Ult. Fantastic Four #48 -  43,080  ( -4.3%)
12/07  Ult. Fantastic Four #49 -  40,656  ( -5.6%)
01/08  Ult. Fantastic Four #50 -  44,144  ( +8.6%)
02/08  Ult. Fantastic Four #51 -  38,804  (-12.1%)
03/08  Ult. Fantastic Four #52 -  38,146  ( -1.7%)
04/08  Ult. Fantastic Four #53 -  37,461  ( -1.8%)
05/08  Ult. Fantastic Four #54 -  37,556  ( +0.3%)
06/08  Ult. Fantastic Four #55 -  35,731  ( -4.9%)
07/08  Ult. Fantastic Four #56 -  35,082  ( -1.8%)
08/08  Ult. Fantastic Four #57 -  33,863  ( -3.5%)
                                  6 mnth  (-12.7%)
                                  1 year  (-30.6%)
                                  2 year  (-48.1%)
                                  3 year  (-52.8%)
                                  4 year  (-62.7%)

Still in decline. If they’re looking for a sacrificial lamb to cancel in the upcoming ULTIMATUM crossover, this looks like a plausible candidate.

70. WOLVERINE: KILLING MADE SIMPLE
08/08  Killing Made Simple - 33,645

Yet another in the seemingly endless stream of throwaway Wolverine one-shots.

72. BLACK PANTHER
08/05  Black Panther #6  - 42,905
08/06  Black Panther #19 - 28,372
=====
08/07  Black Panther #30 - 48,478  (-11.9%)
09/07  ---
10/07  Black Panther #31 - 33,673  (-30.5%)
11/07  Black Panther #32 - 28,426  (-15.6%)
12/07  Black Panther #33 - 25,906  ( -8.9%)
01/08  ---
02/08  Black Panther #34 - 23,395  ( -9.7%)
03/08  Black Panther #35 - 21,332  ( -8.9%)
04/08  ---
05/08  Black Panther #36 - 20,841  ( -2.3%)
06/08  Black Panther #37 - 19,989  ( -4.1%)
07/08  Black Panther #38 - 19,459  ( -2.7%)
07/08  Black Panther #39 - 33,900  (+72.2%)
08/08  Black Panther #40 - 33,583  ( -0.9%)
                           6 mnth  (+43.5%)
                           1 year  (-30.7%)
                           2 year  (+18.4%)
                           3 year  (-21.7%)

Another SECRET INVASION tie-in arc. BLACK PANTHER hasn’t been solicited past September, which is odd, since Marvel are still running house ads for the book.

73. RUNAWAYS
08/03  Runaways #5  - 19,332
08/04  Runaways #17 - 18,563
08/05  Runaways #7  - 27,063
08/06  Runaways #19 - 25,042
=====
08/07  ---
09/07  ---
10/07  Runaways #28 - 47,760  (+15.8%)
11/07  ---
12/07  ---
01/08  ---
02/08  Runaways #29 - 33,210  (-30.5%)
03/08  ---
04/08  ---
05/08  ---
06/08  Runaways #30 - 31,353  ( -5.6%)
07/08  ---
08/08  Runaways #1  - 33,252  ( +6.1%)
                      6 mnth  ( +0.1%)
                      1 year  (  --- )
                      2 year  (+32.8%)
                      3 year  (+22.9%)
                      4 year  (+79.1%)
                      5 year  (+72.0%)

RUNAWAYS is relaunched for the second time, this time with the creative team of Terry Moore and Humberto Ramos. The bump is decidedly underwhelming. But then, the previous arc was written by Joss Whedon, who’s a much bigger name. I’d expect a typical second issue drop next month.

75. X-FACTOR SPECIAL: LAYLA MILLER
08/08  Layla Miller - 31,532

A spin-off one-shot tying up a major plot thread from “Messiah Complex.” This is by regular writer Peter David, and could quite legitimately have been published as an extra issue of X-FACTOR itself. Once again, I can’t help questioning the wisdom of running the story as a spin-off, and throwing away 20,000 sales.

78. MOON KNIGHT
08/06  Moon Knight #4  - 67,802
=====
08/07  ---
09/07  Moon Knight #12 - 47,521  (-18.5%)
10/07  Moon Knight #13 - 44,082  ( -7.2%)
11/07  ---
12/07  ---
01/08  Moon Knight #14 - 34,569  (-21.6%)
02/08  Moon Knight #15 - 31,553  ( -8.7%)
03/08  Moon Knight #16 - 29,546  ( -6.4%)
04/08  Moon Knight #17 - 27,808  ( -5.9%)
05/08  Moon Knight #18 - 26,626  ( -4.3%)
06/08  Moon Knight #19 - 25,820  ( -3.0%)
07/08  Moon Knight #20 - 28,773  (+11.4%)
08/08  Moon Knight #21 - 30,900  ( +7.4%)
                         6 mnth  ( -2.1%)
                         1 year  (  --- )
                         2 year  (-54.4%)

Another MARVEL APES variant – which is apparently more of a draw than last month’s sketch variant.

79,87. PUNISHER  [Max]
08/03  Punisher #30 - 37,370
08/04  Punisher #10 - 45,396
08/05  Punisher #24 - 37,022
08/06  Punisher #36 - 34,227
=====
08/07  Punisher #50 - 36,457  ( +6.2%)
09/07  ---
10/07  Punisher #51 - 33,771  ( -7.4%)
11/07  Punisher #52 - 32,909  ( -2.6%)
12/07  Punisher #53 - 31,772  ( -3.5%)
01/08  Punisher #54 - 31,654  ( -0.4%)
02/08  ---
03/08  Punisher #55 - 31,276  ( -1.2%)
04/08  Punisher #56 - 30,796  ( -1.5%)
05/08  Punisher #57 - 30,528  ( -0.9%)
06/08  Punisher #58 - 29,802  ( -2.4%)
07/08  Punisher #59 - 30,064  ( +0.9%)
08/08  Punisher #60 - 30,683  ( +2.1%)
08/08  Punisher #61 - 28,373  ( -7.5%)
                      6 mnth  (  --- )
                      1 year  (-22.2%)
                      2 year  (-17.1%)
                      3 year  (-23.4%)
                      4 year  (-37.5%)
                      5 year  (-24.1%)

This is the second issue from the new creative team, so a modest second-issue drop is only to be expected.

80. NEW WARRIORS
08/07  New Warriors #3  - 42,660  ( -6.9%)
09/07  New Warriors #4  - 39,998  ( -6.2%)
10/07  New Warriors #5  - 36,937  ( -7.7%)
11/07  ---
12/07  New Warriors #6  - 32,982  (-10.7%)
12/07  New Warriors #7  - 30,177  ( -8.5%)
01/08  New Warriors #8  - 28,926  ( -4.1%)
02/08  New Warriors #9  - 25,694  (-11.2%)
03/08  New Warriors #10 - 23,887  ( -7.0%)
04/08  New Warriors #11 - 22,636  ( -5.2%)
05/08  New Warriors #12 - 21,808  ( -3.7%)
06/08  New Warriors #13 - 20,992  ( -3.7%)
07/08  New Warriors #14 - 33,209  (+58.2%)
08/08  New Warriors #15 - 30,683  ( -7.6%)
                          6 mnth  (+19.4%)
                          1 year  (-28.1%)

Another SECRET INVASION tie-in arc.

81. IRON MAN: VIVA LAS VEGAS
05/08  Viva Las Vegas #1 of 4 - 40,249
06/08  ---
07/08  ---
08/08  Viva Las Vegas #2 of 4 - 30,434  (-24.4%)

That’s a stiff second issue drop, but the film is now some way behind us, and a three month gap between issues surely can’t have helped.

82. NYX: NO WAY HOME
08/08  No Way Home #1 of 6 - 29,927

This is a sequel to Joe Quesada and Josh Middleton’s largely-forgotten NYX series, which took forever to ship eight issues before the project was abandoned. The book’s main drawing power was X-23, but she was long since transferred to other titles, and retailers seem to be ordering this series as a book principally for completist X-fans.

85. X-MEN ORIGINS
05/08  Colossus  - 26,759
06/08  ---
07/08  ---
08/08  Jean Grey - 28,611  (+6.9%)

Modest but reasonably consistent. I presume the idea here is to do a bunch of these one-shots and put out an origins trade paperback.

89. SQUADRON SUPREME
07/08  Squadron Supreme #1 - 35,583
08/08  Squadron Supreme #2 - 28,052  (-21.2%)

Not hugely promising. Last month’s first issue already featured the lowest sales to date for this incarnation of the Squadron Supreme, now in its third series. I suspect Marvel have missed the boat with this property.

92. TWELVE
12/07  Twelve #0 of 12 - 20,218
01/08  Twelve #1 of 12 - 40,199  (+98.8%)
02/08  Twelve #2 of 12 - 32,403  (-19.4%)
03/08  Twelve #3 of 12 - 32,729  ( +1.0%)
04/08  Twelve #4 of 12 - 29,729  ( -9.2%)
05/08  Twelve #5 of 12 - 29,876  ( +0.5%)
06/08  Twelve #6 of 12 - 29,303  ( -1.9%)
07/08  ---
08/08  Twelve #7 of 12 - 27,585  ( -5.9%)
                         6 mnth  (-14.9%)

Bit of a drop this month, but on the whole, THE TWELVE has held up quite well across its run.

94. IMMORTAL IRON FIST
08/07  Immortal Iron Fist #8  - 35,449  ( -1.1%)
09/07  Immortal Iron Fist #9  - 34,282  ( -3.3%)
10/07  ---
11/07  Immortal Iron Fist #10 - 41,368  (+20.7%)
12/07  Immortal Iron Fist #11 - 32,975  (-20.3%)
01/08  Immortal Iron Fist #12 - 32,623  ( -1.1%)
02/08  ---
03/08  Immortal Iron Fist #13 - 32,047  ( -1.8%)
04/08  Immortal Iron Fist #14 - 30,881  ( -3.6%)
05/08  Immortal Iron Fist #15 - 30,334  ( -1.8%)
06/08  Immortal Iron Fist #16 - 29,822  ( -1.7%)
07/08  Immortal Iron Fist #17 - 32,839  (+10.1%)
08/08  Immortal Iron Fist #18 - 27,430  (-16.5%)
                                6 mnth  (  --- )
                                1 year  (-22.6%)

Intriguingly, the change of creative team with issue #17 doesn’t seem to have had much impact on sales one way or the other. That suggests that Brubaker and Fraction’s run has actually built an audience for the character.

95. GHOST RIDER
08/06  Ghost Rider #2  - 61,793
=====
08/07  Ghost Rider #14 - 41,121  (-35.8%)
09/07  Ghost Rider #15 - 38,220  ( -7.1%)
10/07  Ghost Rider #16 - 34,335  (-10.2%)
11/07  Ghost Rider #17 - 31,581  ( -8.0%)
12/07  Ghost Rider #18 - 30,540  ( -3.3%)
01/08  Ghost Rider #19 - 28,566  ( -6.5%)
02/08  Ghost Rider #20 - 27,958  ( -2.1%)
03/08  Ghost Rider #21 - 26,526  ( -5.1%)
04/08  Ghost Rider #22 - 25,866  ( -2.5%)
05/08  Ghost Rider #23 - 25,099  ( -3.0%)
06/08  Ghost Rider #24 - 24,494  ( -2.4%)
07/08  Ghost Rider #25 - 24,546  ( +0.2%)
08/08  Ghost Rider #26 - 27,026  (+10.1%)
                         6 mnth  ( -3.3%)
                         1 year  (-34.3%)
                         2 year  (-56.3%)

Another monkey variant.

98. ETERNALS
06/08  Eternals #1 - 41,680
07/08  Eternals #2 - 30,395  (-27.1%)
08/08  Eternals #3 - 25,555  (-15.9%)

Ooh, this isn’t looking good. To be fair, ETERNALS was always going to be a tough sell, but Marvel left it far too long to capitalise on Neil Gaiman’s series.

99. PUNISHER WAR JOURNAL
08/07  War Journal #10 - 51,303  ( -9.8%)
09/07  War Journal #11 - 47,220  ( -8.0%)
10/07  War Journal #12 - 66,548  (+40.9%)
11/07  War Journal #13 - 41,783  (-37.2%)
12/07  War Journal #14 - 38,471  ( -7.9%)
01/08  War Journal #15 - 35,815  ( -6.9%)
02/08  War Journal #16 - 32,508  ( -9.2%)
03/08  War Journal #17 - 31,227  ( -3.9%)
04/08  War Journal #18 - 29,565  ( -5.3%)
05/08  War Journal #19 - 29,906  ( +1.2%)
06/08  War Journal #20 - 27,288  ( -8.8%)
07/08  War Journal #21 - 26,299  ( -3.6%)
08/08  War Journal #22 - 25,555  ( -2.8%)
                         6 mnth  (-21.4%)
                         1 year  (-50.2%)

Still in decline, unfortunately.

103,104. NEW EXILES
08/03  Exiles #32     - 40,548
08/04  Exiles #51     - 36,946
08/05  Exiles #68     - 33,815
08/06  Exiles #85     - 33,978
=====
08/07  Exiles #97     - 29,092  ( -3.8%)
09/07  Exiles #98     - 28,308  ( -2.7%)
10/07  Exiles #99     - 27,776  ( -1.9%)
11/07  ---
12/07  Exiles #100    - 33,416  (+20.3%)
01/08  New Exiles #1  - 47,618  (+42.5%)
02/08  New Exiles #2  - 34,454  (-27.6%)
03/08  New Exiles #3  - 30,480  (-11.5%)
04/08  New Exiles #4  - 29,231  ( -4.1%)
04/08  New Exiles #5  - 28,505  ( -2.5%)
05/08  New Exiles #6  - 27,533  ( -3.4%)
06/08  New Exiles #7  - 25,742  ( -6.5%)
07/08  New Exiles #8  - 24,436  ( -5.1%)
08/08  New Exiles #9  - 22,986  ( -5.9%)
08/08  New Exiles #10 - 23,048  ( +0.3%)
                        6 mnth  (-33.1%)
                        1 year  (-20.8%)
                        2 year  (-32.2%)
                        3 year  (-31.8%)
                        4 year  (-37.6%)
                        5 year  (-43.2%)

After dropping consistently for several months, NEW EXILES nudges upwards for no apparent reason. Perhaps it’s bottomed out.

108. PUNISHER KILLS THE MARVEL UNIVERSE
08/08  Punisher Kills... - 22,375

This is a reprint of an old Garth Ennis one-shot from 1995, and you can probably guess the plot. Obviously, Ennis’ later work on the character has increased the curiosity value.

117. GHOST RIDER ANNUAL
08/08  Ghost Rider Annual #2 - 20,024

Only a few thousand behind the regular title, which is pretty good.

118. WOLVERINE: FIRST CLASS
03/08  Wolverine: First Class #1 - 35,695
04/08  Wolverine: First Class #2 - 25,610 (-28.3%)
05/08  Wolverine: First Class #3 - 22,430 (-12.4%)
06/08  Wolverine: First Class #4 - 20,199 ( -9.9%)
07/08  Wolverine: First Class #5 - 18,788 ( -7.0%)
08/08  Wolverine: First Class #6 - 19,443 ( +3.5%)

Another monkey variant.

120. GENEXT
05/08  GeNext #1 of 5 - 33,685
06/08  GeNext #2 of 5 - 25,345  (-24.8%)
07/08  GeNext #3 of 5 - 21,782  (-14.1%)
08/08  GeNext #4 of 5 - 18,915  (-13.2%)

Not great numbers, but Marvel are apparently happy enough, since they’ve announced a sequel for 2009.

121. THE LAST DEFENDERS
03/08  Last Defenders #1 of 6 - 33,065
04/08  Last Defenders #2 of 6 - 25,731  (-22.2%)
05/08  Last Defenders #3 of 6 - 23,387  ( -9.1%)
06/08  Last Defenders #4 of 6 - 21,544  ( -7.9%)
07/08  Last Defenders #5 of 6 - 19,919  ( -7.5%)
08/08  Last Defenders #6 of 6 - 18,356  ( -7.8%)

Shedding readers consistently across its run, this hasn’t really worked. The book seems to be intended to set up some sort of future DEFENDERS series, but nothing has been announced.

122. IRON FIST: ORIGIN OF DANNY RAND
08/08  Origin of Danny Rand - 18,283

This is a reprint of Iron Fist’s origin story from MARVEL PREMIERE #15 and #16, with a new framing sequence by Matt Fraction and Kano. But it’s basically a reprint book, and 18K for Iron Fist’s origin story is a surprisingly good number.

126. NEWUNIVERSAL: CONQUEROR
08/08  Conqueror - 16,222

Another one-shot, selling marginally below last month’s NEWUNIVERSAL: 1959 (17,406). The core miniseres, SHOCKFRONT, didn’t ship in August.

130. CRIMINAL  [Icon]
08/07  Criminal #8  - 15,169  ( -0.3%)
09/07  Criminal #9  - 14,768  ( -2.6%)
10/07  ---
11/07  Criminal #10 - 14,539  ( -1.6%)
12/07  ---
01/08  ---
02/08  Criminal #1  - 18,655  (+28.3%)
03/08  ---
04/08  Criminal #2  - 15,885  (-14.8%)
05/08  ---
06/08  Criminal #3  - 15,840  ( -0.3%)
07/08  ---
08/08  Criminal #4  - 15,621  ( -1.4%)
                      6 mnth  (-16.3%)
                      1 year  ( +3.0%)

If you set aside the blip for February’s issue #1, this has been a very consistent seller.

132. AMAZING SPIDER-GIRL
08/03  Spider-Girl #63         - 22,584
08/04  Spider-Girl #77         - 21,758
08/05  Spider-Girl #89         - 18,538
08/06  ---
=====
08/07  Amazing Spider-Girl #11 - 18,725  ( -1.9%)
09/07  Amazing Spider-Girl #12 - 18,676  ( -0.3%)
10/07  Amazing Spider-Girl #13 - 26,558  (+42.2%)
11/07  Amazing Spider-Girl #14 - 17,410  (-34.4%)
12/07  Amazing Spider-Girl #15 - 17,164  ( -1.4%)
01/08  Amazing Spider-Girl #16 - 16,422  ( -4.3%)
02/08  Amazing Spider-Girl #17 - 16,193  ( -1.4%)
03/08  Amazing Spider-Girl #18 - 15,910  ( -1.7%)
04/08  Amazing Spider-Girl #19 - 15,970  ( +0.4%)
05/08  Amazing Spider-Girl #20 - 15,646  ( -2.0%)
06/08  Amazing Spider-Girl #21 - 15,659  ( +0.0%)
07/08  Amazing Spider-Girl #22 - 15,373  ( -1.8%)
08/08  Amazing Spider-Girl #23 - 15,155  ( -1.4%)
                                 6 mnth  ( -6.4%)
                                 1 year  (-19.1%)
                                 2 year  (  --- )
                                 3 year  (-18.2%)
                                 4 year  (-30.3%)
                                 5 year  (-32.9%)

Drifting very slowly down.

136. SPIDER-MAN LOVES MARY JANE  [All ages]
08/08  SMLMJ Season 2 #1 of 5 - 14,409

That’s a good number for this series. The original miniseries, MARY JANE: HOMECOMING, debuted with 12,707 in March 2005. The previous ongoing title, SPIDER-MAN LOVES MARY JANE, launched in December of that year with 11,171. So 14,409… that’s good.

139. AMAZING SPIDER-MAN FAMILY
08/08  Amazing Spider-Man Family #1 - 13,549

This is a relaunch of the SPIDER-MAN FAMILY anthology title, to tie it more closely to the “Brand New Day” series. The previous series performed catastrophically in the direct market, launching with 30K last February before dropping to the 7K range in only nine issues. There’s a spike for this relaunch, but I don’t see it transforming the book’s fortunes.

140. KING-SIZE SPIDER-MAN SUMMER SPECIAL
08/08  King-Size Spider-Man - 13,415

Another seemingly random Spider-Man anthology.

143. X-MEN: FIRST CLASS  [All ages]
08/07  First Class #3  - 20,495  ( -8.0%)
09/07  First Class #4  - 19,088  ( -6.9%)
10/07  First Class #5  - 18,134  ( -5.0%)
11/07  First Class #6  - 17,050  ( -6.0%)
12/07  First Class #7  - 16,195  ( -5.0%)
01/08  First Class #8  - 15,986  ( -1.3%)
02/08  First Class #9  - 15,320  ( -4.2%)
03/08  First Class #10 - 14,907  ( -2.7%)
04/08  First Class #11 - 14,896  ( -0.0%)
05/08  First Class #12 - 14,566  ( -2.2%)
06/08  First Class #13 - 14,157  ( -2.8%)
07/08  First Class #14 - 13,870  ( -2.0%)
08/08  First Class #15 - 13,249  ( -4.5%)
                         6 mnth  (-13.5%)
                         1 year  (-35.4%)

Ending with issue #16, to be followed by a one-shot and another miniseries in 2009.

149. TRUE BELIEVERS
07/08  True Believers #1 of 5 - 17,155
08/08  True Believers #2 of 5 - 12,845  (-25.1%)

It’s a little-promoted miniseries about a bunch of new characters; frankly, this is as good as you could hope for.

150. FANTASTIC FOUR: TRUE STORY
07/08  True Story #1 of 4 - 19,929
08/08  True Story #2 of 4 - 12,824  (-35.7%)

This, however, is a bit depressing. There just doesn’t seem to be much appetite for FANTASTIC FOUR spin-offs generally, though.

151. PATSY WALKER, HELLCAT
07/08  Hellcat #1 of 5 - 19,679
08/08  Hellcat #2 of 5 - 12,814  (-34.9%)

Not pretty. But this is a strange, quirky book; I doubt anyone was expecting it to do more than find a bit of cult success and perhaps raise the profile of creators Kathryn Immonen and David Lafuente Garcia.

159. MARVEL COMICS PRESENTS
09/07  Marvel Comics Prs. #1  - 38,337
10/07  Marvel Comics Prs. #2  - 26,573  (-30.7%)
11/07  Marvel Comics Prs. #3  - 23,444  (-11.8%)
12/07  Marvel Comics Prs. #4  - 19,890  (-15.2%)
01/08  Marvel Comics Prs. #5  - 17,426  (-12.4%)
02/08  Marvel Comics Prs. #6  - 16,188  ( -7.1%)
03/08  Marvel Comics Prs. #7  - 15,015  ( -7.2%)
04/08  Marvel Comics Prs. #8  - 13,630  ( -9.2%)
05/08  Marvel Comics Prs. #9  - 13,670  ( +0.3%)
06/08  Marvel Comics Prs. #10 - 12,900  ( -5.6%)
07/08  Marvel Comics Prs. #11 - 12,168  ( -5.7%)
08/08  Marvel Comics Prs. #12 - 11,757  ( -3.4%)
                                6 mnth  (-27.4%)

Axed. There’s supposed to be a second series in the pipeline, although it hasn’t been solicited yet.

161. ANGEL: REVELATIONS
05/08  Revelations #1 of 5 - 22,328
06/08  Revelations #2 of 5 - 15,351  (-31.2%)
07/08  Revelations #3 of 5 - 14,842  ( -3.3%)
08/08  Revelations #4 of 5 - 11,498  (-22.5%)

Crash and burn. X-books are really supposed to do better than this.

168. UNIVERSAL WAR ONE  [Soleil]
07/08  Universal War One #1 of 3 - 15,032
08/08  Universal War One #2 of 3 - 10,628 (-29.3%)

The Soleil reprints aren’t selling in massive numbers, but considering the difficulties of breaking an entirely new product range in the direct market, I think these are respectable figures.

169. HAUNT OF HORROR  [Max]
06/08  Lovecraft #1 of 3 - 13,605
07/08  Lovecraft #2 of 3 - 11,247  (-17.3%)
08/08  Lovecraft #3 of 3 - 10,307  ( -8.4%)

185. FOOLKILLER  [Max]
10/07  Foolkiller #1 of 5   - 19,706
11/07  Foolkiller #2 of 5   - 13,779  (-30.1%)
12/07  Foolkiller #3 of 5   - 12,892  ( -6.4%)
01/08  ---
02/08  ---
03/08  Foolkiller #4 of 5   - 11,353  (-11.9%)
04/08  ---
05/08  Foolkiller #5 of 5   -  9,697  (-14.6%)
06/08  ---
07/08  White Angels #1 of 5 - 10,165  ( +4.8%)
08/08  White Angels #2 of 5 -  8,608  (-15.3%)
                              6 mnth  (  --- )

These books can’t be making much money in the direct market. Either they’re doing well in trades, or Marvel is willing to give the Max imprint plenty of time to establish itself.

At number 198, curiously, is a bunch of re-orders of DARK TOWER: LONG ROAD HOME #1, which came out in March. I’d guess this is another case of Marvel dumping some unsold copies on retailers, as they’ve done before. Anyway, it’s another 7,065 copies shipped, bringing the total to 130,904.

214. MARVEL SPOTLIGHT
08/06  Brubaker/Tan         -  3,580
=====
08/07  World War Hulk       - 22,534  (-28.4%)
08/07  Halo                 -  9,782  (-56.6%)
09/07  Thor                 - 11,300  (+15.5%)
10/07  Marvel Zombies       - 16,697  (+47.8%)
11/07  ---
12/07  One More Day         - 12,807  (-23.3%)
12/07  Messiah Complex      - 13,462  ( +5.1%)
01/08  Ultimates 3          -  9,354  (-30.5%)
02/08  ---
03/08  L Hamilton/G Martin
  -  4,656  (-50.2%)
04/08  Iron Man Movie       -  8,124  (+74.5%)
05/08  Hulk Movie           -  7,680  ( -5.5%)
06/08  Secret Invasion      - 14,206  (+85.0%)
07/08  Uncanny X-Men #500   -  8,763  (-38.3%)
08/08  Brand New Day        -  6,257  (-28.6%)
                              6 mnth  (  --- )
                              1 year  (-72.2%)
                              2 year  (+74.8%)

Erratic as ever. And from here on, we’re into books which don’t rely heavily on their direct market sales.

215. POWER PACK  [All ages]
08/07  Fantastic Four #2 of 4 - 5,749  (-12.6%)
09/07  Fantastic Four #3 of 4 - 5,400  ( -6.1%)
10/07  Fantastic Four #4 of 4 - 5,152  ( -4.6%)
11/07  Iron Man #1 of 4       - 5,527  ( +7.3%)
12/07  Iron Man #2 of 4       - 4,855  (-12.2%)
01/08  Iron Man #3 of 4       - 4,445  ( -8.4%)
02/08  Iron Man #4 of 4       - 4,256  ( -4.3%)
03/08  Day One #1 of 4        - 8,298  (+95.0%)
04/08  Day One #2 of 4        - 4,830  (-41.8%)
05/08  Day One #3 of 4        - 4,696  ( -2.8%)
06/08  Day One #4 of 4        - 4,491  ( -4.4%)
07/08  Skrulls #1 of 4        - 7,141  (+59.0%)
08/08  Skrulls #2 of 4        - 6,246  (-12.5%)
                               6 mnth  (+46.8%)
                               1 year  ( +8.6%)

Not a SECRET INVASION tie-in, but benefitting anyway.

216. MARVEL ADVENTURES SUPER HEROES  [All ages]
07/08  M.A. Super Heroes #1 - 11,968
08/08  M.A. Super Heroes #2 -  5,956  (-50.2%)

219. MARVEL ADVENTURES SPIDER-MAN  [All ages]
08/05  M.A. Spider-Man #6  - 7,636
08/06  M.A. Spider-Man #18 - 6,220
=====
08/07  M.A. Spider-Man #30 - 6,573  ( -7.0%)
09/07  M.A. Spider-Man #31 - 6,723  ( +2.3%)
10/07  M.A. Spider-Man #32 - 6,355  ( -5.5%)
11/07  M.A. Spider-Man #33 - 6,126  ( -3.6%)
12/07  M.A. Spider-Man #34 - 6,115  ( -0.2%)
01/08  M.A. Spider-Man #35 - 6,065  ( -0.8%)
02/08  M.A. Spider-Man #36 - 5,893  ( -2.8%)
03/08  M.A. Spider-Man #37 - 5,877  ( -0.3%)
04/08  M.A. Spider-Man #38 - 5,833  ( -0.7%)
05/08  M.A. Spider-Man #39 - 5,816  ( -0.3%)
06/08  M.A. Spider-Man #40 - 5,954  ( +2.4%)
07/08  M.A. Spider-Man #41 - 5,859  ( -1.6%)
08/08  M.A. Spider-Man #42 - 5,718  ( -2.4%)
                            6 mnth  ( -3.0%)
                            1 year  (-13.0%)
                            2 year  ( -8.1%)
                            3 year  (-25.1%)

224. FRANKLIN RICHARDS
08/07  ---
09/07  Monster Mash           - 6,480  (-11.1%)
10/07  ---
11/07  Fall Football Fiasco   - 5,727  (-11.6%)
12/07  ---
01/08  ---
02/08  ---
03/08  Spring Break!          - 5,684  ( -0.8%)
04/08  ---
05/08  Not So Secret Invasion - 6,764  (+19.0%)
06/08  ---
07/08  ---
08/08  Summer Smackdown       - 5,625  (-16.8%)

226. MARVEL ADVENTURES AVENGERS  [All ages]
08/06  M.A. Avengers #4  - 8,610
=====
08/07  M.A. Avengers #15 - 6,950  ( -4.7%)
09/07  M.A. Avengers #16 - 6,870  ( -1.2%)
10/07  M.A. Avengers #17 - 6,423  ( -6.5%)
11/07  M.A. Avengers #18 - 6,141  ( -4.4%)
12/07  M.A. Avengers #19 - 6,115  ( -0.4%)
01/08  M.A. Avengers #20 - 5,670  ( -7.3%)
02/08  M.A. Avengers #21 - 5,607  ( -1.1%)
03/08  M.A. Avengers #22 - 5,575  ( -0.6%)
04/08  M.A. Avengers #23 - 5,556  ( -0.3%)
05/08  M.A. Avengers #24 - 5,358  ( -3.6%)
06/08  M.A. Avengers #25 - 5,327  ( -0.6%)
07/08  M.A. Avengers #26 - 5,418  ( +1.7%)
08/08  M.A. Avengers #27 - 5,200  ( -4.0%)
                          6 mnth  ( -7.3%)
                          1 year  (-25.2%)
                          2 year  (-39.6%)

240. MARVEL ADVENTURES HULK [All ages]
08/07  M.A. Hulk #2  -  7,142  (-37.3%)
09/07  M.A. Hulk #3  -  5,790  (-18.9%)
10/07  M.A. Hulk #4  -  5,588  ( -3.5%)
11/07  M.A. Hulk #5  -  4,990  (-10.7%)
12/07  M.A. Hulk #6  -  4,862  ( -2.6%)
01/08  M.A. Hulk #7  -  4,653  ( -4.3%)
02/08  M.A. Hulk #8  -  4,533  ( -2.6%)
03/08  M.A. Hulk #9  -  4,394  ( -3.1%)
04/08  M.A. Hulk #10 -  4,645  ( +5.7%)
05/08  M.A. Hulk #11 -  4,686  ( +0.9%)
06/08  M.A. Hulk #12 -  4,716  ( +0.6%)
07/08  M.A. Hulk #13 -  5,037  ( +6.8%)
08/08  M.A. Hulk #14 -  4,537  (-10.0%)
                       6 mnth  ( +0.1%)
                       1 year  (-57.4%)

249. HULK CHRONICLES
08/07  Civil War Chronicles #2  - 12,953  (-29.8%)
09/07  Civil War Chronicles #3  - 11,094  (-14.4%)
10/07  Civil War Chronicles #4  -  9,108  (-17.9%)
11/07  Civil War Chronicles #5  -  7,500  (-17.7%)
12/07  Civil War Chronicles #6  -  6,841  ( -8.8%)
01/08  Civil War Chronicles #7  -  6,127  (-10.4%)
02/08  Civil War Chronicles #8  -  5,811  ( -5.2%)
03/08  Civil War Chronicles #9  -  5,536  ( -4.7%)
04/08  Civil War Chronicles #10 -  5,350  ( -3.4%)
05/08  Civil War Chronicles #11 -  5,052  ( -5.6%)
06/08  Civil War Chronicles #12 -  5,073  ( +0.4%)
07/08  Hulk Chronicles #1       -  5,388  ( +6.2%)
08/08  Hulk Chronicles #2       -  4,071  (-24.4%)
                                  6 mnth  (-29.9%)
                                  1 year  (-68.6%)

255. MARVEL ADVENTURES FANTASTIC FOUR [All ages]
08/05 M.A. Fantastic Four #3 – 6,447
08/06 M.A. Fantastic Four #15 – 4,569
=====
08/07 M.A. Fantastic Four #27 – 4,641 (-13.6%)
09/07 M.A. Fantastic Four #28 – 5,194 (+11.9%)
10/07 M.A. Fantastic Four #29 – 4,851 ( -6.6%)
11/07 M.A. Fantastic Four #30 – 4,460 ( -8.1%)
12/07 M.A. Fantastic Four #31 – 4,392 ( -1.5%)
01/08 M.A. Fantastic Four #32 – 4,293 ( -2.3%)
02/08 M.A. Fantastic Four #33 – 4,222 ( -1.7%)
03/08 M.A. Fantastic Four #34 – 4,176 ( -1.1%)
04/08 M.A. Fantastic Four #35 – 4,154 ( -0.5%)
05/08 M.A. Fantastic Four #36 – 4,054 ( -2.4%)
06/08 M.A. Fantastic Four #37 – 3,972 ( -2.0%)
07/08 M.A. Fantastic Four #38 – <4,256 ( ??? ) 08/08 M.A. Fantastic Four #39 - 3,833 ( ??? ) 6 mnth ( -9.2%) 1 year (-17.4%) 2 year (-16.1%) 3 year (-40.5%) 261. THREE MUSKETEERS [Marvel Illustrated]
06/08 Three Musketeers #1 of 3 – 6,937
07/08 Three Musketeers #2 of 3 – <4,256 (<-38.6%) 08/08 Three Musketeers #3 of 3 - 3,605 ( ??? ) These two books both missed the top 300 last month, hence the question marks.

267. MOBY DICK [Marvel Illustrated]
02/08  Moby Dick #1 of 6 - 7,251
03/08  Moby Dick #2 of 6 - 3,954  (-45.5%)
04/08  Moby Dick #3 of 6 - 3,713  ( -6.1%)
05/08  Moby Dick #4 of 6 - 3,596  ( -3.2%)
06/08  Moby Dick #5 of 6 - 3,547  ( -1.4%)
07/08  ---
08/08  Moby Dick #6 of 6 - 3,439  ( -3.0%)
                          6 mnth  (-52.6%)


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

+ 71.6% - She-Hulk
+ 46.8% - Power Pack
+ 43.5% - Black Panther
+ 23.8% - Wolverine
+ 19.4% - New Warriors
+ 11.4% - Mighty Avengers
+  3.0% - Daredevil
+  2.2% - New Avengers
+  0.1% - Runaways
+  0.1% - Marvel Adventures Hulk
-  1.2% - Captain America
-  2.1% - Hercules
-  2.1% - Moon Knight
-  3.0% - Marvel Adventures Spider-Man
-  3.3% - Ghost Rider
-  4.1% - Ultimate X-Men
-  4.9% - Iron Man: Director of SHIELD
-  5.2% - Hulk
-  5.7% - Ultimate Spider-Man
-  6.4% - Amazing Spider-Girl
-  7.3% - Marvel Adventures Avengers
-  9.2% - Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four
- 11.2% - Uncanny X-Men
- 11.2% - Ultimate Iron Man II
- 11.5% - Amazing Spider-Man
- 12.7% - Ultimate Fantastic Four
- 13.5% - X-Men: First Class
- 14.9% - Twelve
- 16.3% - Criminal
- 17.6% - X-Factor
- 21.4% - Punisher War Journal
- 22.8% - X-Men: Legacy
- 27.4% - Marvel Comics Presents
- 29.9% - Hulk Chronicles
- 39.1% - Fantastic Four
- 30.2% - Kick-Ass
- 33.1% - New Exiles
- 40.7% - X-Force
- 52.6% - Moby Dick


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

+ 48.8% - She-Hulk
+ 17.6% - Wolverine
+  8.6% - Power Pack
+  3.0% - Criminal
+  1.5% - Captain America
-  3.0% - Uncanny X-Men
-  3.0% - Nova
-  4.2% - X-Factor
-  7.6% - Hulk
-  8.5% - Daredevil
-  9.0% - Fantastic Four
-  9.8% - New Avengers
- 13.0% - Marvel Adventures Spider-Man
- 13.5% - Thunderbolts
- 17.4% - Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four
- 18.4% - Ultimate X-Men
- 19.1% - Amazing Spider-Girl
- 19.7% - Astonishing X-Men
- 20.8% - New Exiles
- 21.4% - X-Men: Legacy
- 22.2% - Punisher
- 22.6% - Immortal Iron Fist
- 25.2% - Marvel Adventures Avengers
- 26.8% - Amazing Spider-Man
- 28.1% - New Warriors
- 28.5% - Ultimate Spider-Man
- 30.2% - Avengers: The Initiative
- 30.3% - Iron Man: Director of SHIELD
- 30.6% - Ultimate Fantastic Four
- 30.7% - Black Panther
- 34.3% - Ghost Rider
- 35.4% - X-Men: First Class
- 50.2% - Punisher War Journal
- 52.3% - Halo: Uprising
- 57.4% - Marvel Adventures Hulk
- 68.6% - Hulk Chronicles
- 72.2% - Marvel Spotlight


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

+ 97.1% - Hulk
+ 74.8% - Marvel Spotlight
+ 39.0% - She-Hulk
+ 32.8% - Runaways
+ 18.4% - Black Panther
+ 13.0% - X-Factor
-  4.3% - Uncanny X-Men
-  8.1% - Iron Man: Director of SHIELD
-  8.1% - Marvel Adventures Spider-Man
- 14.2% - Daredevil
- 16.1% - Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four
- 17.1% - X-Men: Legacy
- 17.1% - Punisher
- 20.6% - Wolverine
- 21.7% - Astonishing X-Men
- 26.1% - Thunderbolts
- 28.0% - Ultimate Spider-Man
- 31.0% - New Avengers
- 32.2% - New Exiles
- 32.9% - Ultimate X-Men
- 33.3% - Fantastic Four
- 39.6% - Marvel Adventures Avengers
- 48.1% - Ultimate Fantastic Four
- 54.4% - Moon Knight
- 56.3% - Ghost Rider


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

+ 81.2% - Hulk
+ 64.0% - Captain America
+ 22.9% - Runaways
+ 22.6% - Thunderbolts
+ 15.5% - Fantastic Four
+ 14.1% - Wolverine
+  8.2% - Amazing Spider-Man
-  2.5% - Uncanny X-Men
-  6.6% - Daredevil
- 10.9% - X-Men: Legacy
- 18.2% - Amazing Spider-Girl
- 21.7% - Black Panther
- 23.4% - Punisher
- 25.1% - Astonishing X-Men
- 25.1% - Marvel Adventures Spider-Man
- 27.0% - New Avengers
- 27.6% - Ultimate Spider-Man
- 29.2% - Iron Man: Director of SHIELD
- 31.8% - New Exiles
- 38.3% - Ultimate X-Men
- 40.5% - Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four
- 52.8% - Ultimate Fantastic Four


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

+126.7% - Hulk
+121.1% - Captain America
+ 79.1% - Runaways
+ 53.8% - She-Hulk
+ 35.5% - Thunderbolts
+ 32.1% - Wolverine
+ 19.0% - Fantastic Four
+  2.2% - Iron Man
- 10.9% - Uncanny X-Men
- 11.5% - Amazing Spider-Man
- 16.8% - Daredevil
- 25.9% - X-Men: Legacy
- 30.3% - Amazing Spider-Girl
- 35.2% - Astonishing X-Men
- 37.5% - Punisher
- 37.6% - New Exiles
- 42.2% - Ultimate Spider-Man
- 54.4% - Ultimate X-Men
- 62.7% - Ultimate Fantastic Four


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

+ 97.2% - Captain America
+ 83.9% - New Avengers
+ 72.0% - Runaways
+ 62.4% - Hulk
+ 26.0% - Wolverine
+ 11.2% - Fantastic Four
+ 11.1% - Iron Man
-  9.0% - Uncanny X-Men
- 16.6% - Amazing Spider-Man
- 24.1% - Punisher
- 31.8% - X-Men: Legacy
- 32.9% - Amazing Spider-Girl
- 33.7% - Daredevil
- 43.2% - New Exiles
- 45.6% - Ultimate Spider-Man
- 57.4% - Ultimate X-Men