infinity #1 marvel

by Paul O’Brien

Crossover season is upon us again, as INFINITY launches, and the first tie-ins appear. Naturally enough, Marvel don’t want to distract from it with any other major launches, and so it’s a pretty quiet month across the rest of the line.

As usual, Marvel had the largest share of the North American direct market, though it was relatively close – they led DC by 36% to 33% in unit terms, and 34% to 30% in dollars.

Usual disclaimers apply: these figures are based on sales to direct market retailers in North America. They don’t include newsstand, digital or European sales, and most of these stories will also sell more copies in due course when they’re repackaged as a collection.

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

1.  INFINITY
08/13  Infinity #1 of 6 - 205,819

Nobody’s going to complain about first month orders of over 200K. Even judging purely by the standards of event books, there’s plenty to be pleased about here – yes, AVENGERS VS X-MEN launched at 230K, but this is still miles ahead of the first month sales of AGE OF ULTRON (175K), FEAR ITSELF (129K) or SIEGE (108K).

There are a ton of variant covers, but that’s par for the course with major launches these days.

7,8. SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN
08/03  Amaz. v2 #57 -  93,469
08/08  Amazing #569 -  77,950
08/09  Amazing #603 -  71,051
08/10  Amazing #639 -  67,086
08/11  Amazing #668 -  57,533
=====
08/12  Amazing #691 -  60,767  (  +3.0%)
08/12  Amazing #692 -  91,071  ( +49.9%)
09/12  Amazing #693 -  59,772  ( -34.4%)
09/12  Amazing #694 -  58,461  (  -2.2%)
10/12  Amazing #695 -  58,185  (  -0.5%)
10/12  Amazing #696 -  57,950  (  -0.4%)
11/12  Amazing #697 -  59,872  (  +3.3%)
11/12  Amazing #698 -  87,537  ( +46.2%)
12/12  Amazing #699 -  80,048  (  -8.6%)
12/12  Amazing #.1  -  71,344  ( -10.9%)
12/12  Amazing #700 - 273,305  (+283.1%)
01/13  Superior #1  - 209,944  ( -23.2%)
01/13  Superior #2  - 118,104  ( -43.7%)
02/13  Superior #3  - 101,811  ( -13.8%)
02/13  Superior #4  -  95,892  (  -5.8%)
03/13  Superior #5  -  94,224  (  -1.7%)
03/13  Superior #6  -  86,614  (  -8.1%)
03/13  S. S-M #6AU  -  85,807  (  -0.9%)
04/13  Superior #7  -  87,945  (  +2.5%)
04/13  Superior #8  -  85,671  (  -2.6%)
05/13  Superior #9  -  93,656  (  +9.3%)
05/13  Superior #10 -  85,346  (  -8.9%)
06/13  Superior #11 -  84,219  (  -1.3%)
06/13  Superior #12 -  82,338  (  -2.2%)
07/13  Superior #13 -  81,678  (  -0.8%)
07/13  Superior #14 -  80,839  (  -1.0%)
08/13  Superior #15 -  78,636  (  -2.7%)
08/13  Superior #16 -  78,087  (  -0.7%)
                       6 mnth  ( -18.6%)
                       1 year  ( +28.5%)
                       2 year  ( +35.7%)
                       3 year  ( +16.4%)
                       4 year  (  +9.9%)
                       5 year  (  +0.2%)
                      10 year  ( -16.5%)

The usual attrition notwithstanding, SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN continues to do well, comfortably improving on sales figures from previous years.

9,13.  AVENGERS
08/03  Avengers v3 #69 -  57,850
08/10  Avengers v4 #4  -  87,333
08/11  Avengers v4 #16 -  60,295
=====
08/12  Avengers v4 #29 -  61,653  (  -2.4%)
09/12  Avengers v4 #30 -  58,609  (  -4.9%)
10/12  Avengers v4 #31 -  62,495  (  +6.6%)
10/12  Avengers v4 #32 -  56,204  ( -10.1%)
11/12  Avengers v4 #33 -  53,336  (  -5.1%)
11/12  Avengers v4 #34 -  57,315  (  +7.5%)
12/12  Avengers v5 #1  - 192,952  (+236.7%)
12/12  Avengers v5 #2  -  99,028  ( -48.7%)
01/13  Avengers v5 #3  -  92,165  (  -6.9%)
01/13  Avengers v5 #4  -  83,088  (  -9.8%)
02/13  Avengers v5 #5  -  82,452  (  -0.8%)
02/13  Avengers v5 #6  -  84,868  (  +2.9%)
03/13  Avengers v5 #7  -  78,278  (  -7.8%)
03/13  Avengers v5 #8  -  82,691  (  +5.6%)
04/13  Avengers v5 #9  -  77,780  (  -5.9%)
04/13  Avengers v5 #10 -  78,905  (  +1.4%)
05/13  Avengers v5 #11 -  70,687  ( -10.4%)
05/13  Avengers v5 #12 -  74,978  (  +6.1%)
06/13  Avengers v5 #13 -  68,624  (  -8.5%)
06/13  Avengers v5 #14 -  74,846  (  +9.1%)
07/13  Avengers v5 #15 -  68,472  (  -8.5%)
07/13  Avengers v5 #16 -  72,842  (  +6.4%)
08/13  Avengers v5 #17 -  68,962  (  -5.3%)
08/13  Avengers v5 #18 -  74,697  (  +8.3%)
                          6 mnth  (  -9.4%)
                          1 year  ( +21.2%)
                          2 year  ( +23.9%)
                         10 year  ( +29.1%)

Issue #18 is the start of the INFINITY crossover. The sales boost is noticeable but not enormous – but that’s par for the course on the Avengers titles, which never seemed to benefit hugely from crossovers under Brian Bendis’ tenure either, presumably because the sort of reader who’s interesting in event crossovers is reading the core Avengers books already. That said, there are other Infinity tie-ins further down the chart, and we’ll see that the impact is much the same on those other titles.

10. ALL-NEW X-MEN
11/12  All-New X-Men #1  - 181,693
11/12  All-New X-Men #2  - 100,983  (-44.4%)
12/12  All-New X-Men #3  -  90,161  (-10.7%)
12/12  All-New X-Men #4  -  90,946  ( +0.9%)
01/13  All-New X-Men #5  -  86,301  ( -5.1%)
01/13  All-New X-Men #6  -  85,403  ( -1.0%)
02/13  All-New X-Men #7  -  85,234  ( -0.2%)
03/13  All-New X-Men #8  -  90,990  ( +6.8%)
03/13  All-New X-Men #9  -  81,692  (-10.2%)
04/13  All-New X-Men #10 -  84,760  ( +3.8%)
05/13  All-New X-Men #11 -  80,582  ( -4.9%)
06/13  All-New X-Men #12 -  82,178  ( +2.0%)
06/13  All-New X-Men #13 -  77,656  ( -5.5%)
07/13  All-New X-Men #14 -  74,848  ( -3.6%)
08/13  All-New X-Men #15 -  73,035  ( -2.4%)
                            6 mnth  (-14.3%)

Business as usual here, with the gentle slide continuing. The “Battle of the Atom” crossover starts next month, running through this book, UNCANNY X-MEN, X-MEN and WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN.

11,14. UNCANNY X-MEN
08/03  Uncanny X-Men #429   -  93,866
08/08  Uncanny X-Men #489   -  88,068
08/09  Uncanny X-Men #501   -  85,398
08/10  Uncanny X-Men #514   -  90,316
08/11  Uncanny X-Men #542   -  54,840
=====
08/12  Uncanny X-Men v2 #17 -  61,095  (  -4.3%)
09/12  Uncanny X-Men v2 #18 -  59,794  (  -2.1%)
10/12  Uncanny X-Men v2 #19 -  59,283  (  -0.9%)
10/12  Uncanny X-Men v2 #20 -  65,981  ( +11.3%)
11/12  ---
12/12  ---
01/13  ---
02/13  Uncanny X-Men v3 #1  - 177,463  (+169.0%)
02/13  Uncanny X-Men v3 #2  -  94,615  ( -46.7%)
03/13  Uncanny X-Men v3 #3  -  85,775  (  -9.3%)
04/13  Uncanny X-Men v3 #4  -  80,047  (  -6.7%)
04/13  Uncanny X-Men v3 #5  -  78,919  (  -1.4%)
05/13  Uncanny X-Men v3 #6  -  73,621  (  -6.7%)
06/13  Uncanny X-Men v3 #7  -  73,719  (  +0.1%)
07/13  Uncanny X-Men v3 #8  -  70,274  (  -4.7%)
07/13  Uncanny X-Men v3 #9  -  67,338  (  -4.2%)
08/13  Uncanny X-Men v3 #10 -  70,903  (  +5.3%)
08/13  Uncanny X-Men v3 #11 -  65,700  (  -7.3%)
                               6 mnth  ( -30.6%)
                               1 year  (  +7.5%)
                               2 year  ( +19.8%)
                               3 year  ( -27.3%)
                               4 year  ( -23.1%)
                               5 year  ( -30.0%)

Issue #10 has a variant cover, obviously enough. Otherwise, same deal as for ALL-NEW.

15. UNCANNY AVENGERS
10/12  Uncanny Avengers #1  - 303,722
11/12  Uncanny Avengers #2  - 114,257  (-62.4%)
12/12  ---
01/13  Uncanny Avengers #3  -  92,165  (-19.3%)
02/13  Uncanny Avengers #4  -  87,539  ( -5.0%)
03/13  Uncanny Avengers #5  -  84,382  ( -3.6%)
04/13  Uncanny Avengers #6  -  80,863  ( -4.2%)
04/13  Uncanny Avengers #7  -  77,027  ( -4.7%)
05/13  Uncanny Avengers #8  -  75,655  ( -1.8%)
05/13  Uncanny Av. #8AU     -  72,514  ( -4.2%)
06/13  Uncanny Avengers #9  -  71,842  ( -0.9%)
07/13  Uncanny Avengers #10 -  68,768  ( -4.3%)
08/13  Uncanny Avengers #11 -  65,447  ( -4.8%)
                               6 mnth  (-25.2%)

UNCANNY AVENGERS does seem to be settling into a rhythm of losing about 4% a month, which is rather more erosion than you’d want to see. But it’s still doing pretty well; it launched at such a high level that it has a ton of margin.

17. X-MEN
08/10  X-Men v3 #2  -  71,464
08/11  X-Men v3 #16 -  43,161
=====
08/12  X-Men v3 #33 -  33,695  (  -4.0%)
08/12  X-Men v3 #34 -  33,354  (  -1.0%)
09/12  X-Men v3 #35 -  32,049  (  -3.9%)
09/12  X-Men v3 #36 -  31,996  (  -0.2%)
10/12  X-Men v3 #37 -  31,611  (  -1.2%)
11/12  X-Men v3 #38 -  30,289  (  -4.2%)
12/12  X-Men v3 #39 -  29,326  (  -3.2%)
01/13  X-Men v3 #40 -  28,515  (  -2.8%)
02/13  X-Men v3 #41 -  32,488  ( +13.9%)
03/13  ---
04/13  ---
05/13  X-Men v4 #1  - 183,297  (+464.2%)
06/13  X-Men v4 #2  -  73,542  ( -59.9%)
07/13  X-Men v4 #3  -  65,270  ( -11.2%)
08/13  X-Men v4 #4  -  64,010  (  -1.9%)
                       6 mnth  ( +97.0%)
                       1 year  ( +90.0%)
                       2 year  ( +48.3%)
                       3 year  ( -10.4%)

Levelling out surprisingly quickly – it looks as though this relaunch has done wonders for sales. The “Battle of the Atom” crossover starts next month.

19. NEW AVENGERS
08/08  New Avengers #33    - 117,906
08/09  New Avengers #44    - 106,385
08/10  New Avengers #56    -  89,996
08/11  New Avengers v2 #3  -  81,354
=====
08/12  New Avengers v2 #29 -  59,441  (  -5.3%)
09/12  New Avengers v2 #30 -  56,742  (  -4.5%)
10/12  New Avengers v2 #31 -  53,456  (  -5.8%)
11/12  New Avengers v2 #32 -  52,784  (  -1.3%)
11/12  New Avengers v2 #33 -  50,045  (  -5.2%)
11/12  New Avengers v2 #34 -  53,862  (  +7.6%)
12/12  ---
01/13  New Avengers v3 #1  - 116,280  (+115.9%)
01/13  New Avengers v3 #2  -  79,433  ( -31.7%)
02/13  New Avengers v3 #3  -  72,110  (  -9.2%)
03/13  New Avengers v3 #4  -  65,150  (  -9.7%)
04/13  New Avengers v3 #5  -  63,423  (  -2.7%)
05/13  New Avengers v3 #6  -  59,362  (  -6.4%)
06/13  New Avengers v3 #7  -  60,138  (  +1.3%)
07/13  New Avengers v3 #8  -  58,044  (  -3.5%)
08/13  New Avengers v3 #9  -  60,534  (  +4.3%)
                              6 mnth  ( -16.1%)
                              1 year  (  +1.8%)
                              2 year  ( -25.6%)
                              3 year  ( -32.7%)
                              4 year  ( -43.1%)
                              5 year  ( -48.7%)

The Infinity crossover starts with issue #9. And there’s not much increase here either, which is a little more surprising, considering that this title is tailing behind AVENGERS by a substantial margin. Marvel have been very clear about the fact that AVENGERS and NEW AVENGERS are core titles in this crossover; I would have expected NEW AVENGERS in particular to see its sales climb more than this.

23. THANOS RISING
04/13  Thanos Rising #1 of 5 - 114,720
05/13  Thanos Rising #2 of 5 -  67,262  (-41.4%)
06/13  Thanos Rising #3 of 5 -  58,825  (-12.5%)
07/13  Thanos Rising #4 of 5 -  57,460  ( -2.3%)
08/13  Thanos Rising #5 of 5 -  54,335  ( -5.4%)

Standard miniseries behaviour, but these are very impressive sales for an origin mini.

24. KICK-ASS 3  [Icon]
06/13  Kick-Ass 3 #1 of 8 - 78,035
07/13  ---
08/13  Kick-Ass 3 #2 of 8 - 50,102  (-35.8%)

On the steep side for a second issue drop, but then the first issue did have six variants. August was the month of release for the movie, but it’s not evident that it had any particular effect on orders. (Perhaps because this issue was solicited for July.)

25,26. DEADPOOL
08/09  Deadpool v3 #14 -  50,263
08/10  Deadpool v3 #26 -  35,595
08/11  Deadpool v3 #42 -  26,794
=====
08/12  Deadpool v3 #59 -  28,507  (  -0.7%)
09/12  Deadpool v3 #60 -  28,548  (  +0.1%)
09/12  Deadpool v3 #61 -  28,351  (  -0.7%)
10/12  Deadpool v3 #62 -  28,897  (  +1.9%)
10/12  Deadpool v3 #63 -  29,049  (  +0.5%)
11/12  Deadpool v4 #1  - 127,977  (+340.6%)
11/12  Deadpool v4 #2  -  76,445  ( -40.3%)
12/12  Deadpool v4 #3  -  64,591  ( -15.5%)
01/13  Deadpool v4 #4  -  57,061  ( -11.7%)
02/13  Deadpool v4 #5  -  57,312  (  +0.4%)
03/13  Deadpool v4 #6  -  57,095  (  -0.4%)
04/13  Deadpool v4 #7  -  57,016  (  -0.1%)
04/13  Deadpool v4 #8  -  52,851  (  -7.3%)
05/13  Deadpool v4 #9  -  51,296  (  -2.9%)
05/13  Deadpool v4 #10 -  50,461  (  -1.6%)
06/13  Deadpool v4 #11 -  54,110  (  +7.2%)
06/13  Deadpool v4 #12 -  48,315  ( -10.7%)
07/13  Deadpool v4 #13 -  47,006  (  -2.7%)
08/13  Deadpool v4 #14 -  45,870  (  -2.4%)
08/13  Deadpool v4 #15 -  46,169  (  +0.7%)
                          6 mnth  ( -19.4%)
                          1 year  ( +62.0%)
                          2 year  ( +72.3%)
                          3 year  ( +29.7%)
                          4 year  (  -8.1%)

No apparent reason for the slight increase on issue #15 – it does have guest stars, but the days when a Wolverine appearance moved the needle in direct market sales are long gone.

28,30. THOR: GOD OF THUNDER
08/03  Thor v2 #67 -  32,279
08/08  ---
08/09  ---
08/10  Thor #613   -  51,076
08/11  Thor v4 #5  -  44,594
=====
08/12  Thor v4 #18 -  35,392  ( +14.6%)
09/12  Thor v4 #19 -  30,289  ( -14.4%)
09/12  Thor v4 #20 -  30,172  (  -0.4%)
10/12  Thor v4 #21 -  34,550  ( +14.5%)
10/12  Thor v4 #22 -  35,328  (  +2.3%)
11/12  Thor v5 #1  - 110,443  (+212.6%)
11/12  Thor v5 #2  -  65,533  ( -40.7%)
12/12  Thor v5 #3  -  55,547  ( -15.2%)
01/13  Thor v5 #4  -  50,478  (  -9.1%)
02/13  Thor v5 #5  -  51,861  (  +2.7%)
03/13  Thor v5 #6  -  50,481  (  -2.7%)
04/13  Thor v5 #7  -  51,526  (  +2.1%)
05/13  Thor v5 #8  -  48,622  (  -5.6%)
06/13  Thor v5 #9  -  49,125  (  +1.0%)
07/13  Thor v5 #10 -  46,204  (  -5.9%)
08/13  Thor v5 #11 -  45,397  (  -1.7%)
08/13  Thor v5 #12 -  44,865  (  -1.2%)
                      6 mnth  ( -13.5%)
                      1 year  ( +26.8%)
                      2 year  (  +0.6%)
                      3 year  ( -12.2%)
                      4 year  (   --- )
                      5 year  (   --- )
                     10 year  ( +39.0%)

Business as usual here too. Typical erosion, nothing much to say. I may as well warn you now that, this being an uneventful month for much of the line, there’s going to be a lot of books like this.

29. HUNGER
07/13  Hunger #1 of 4 - 70,835
08/13  Hunger #2 of 4 - 44,929  (-36.6%)

On the steep side for a second issue drop, but it’s doing pretty well by the recent standards of the Ultimate imprint.

32. INDESTRUCTIBLE HULK
08/03  Incredible v3 #59     -  59,336
08/08  Hulk #5               - 102,106
08/09  Incredible Hulk #601  -  64,120
08/10  Incredible Hulk #611  -  44,982
08/11  Incredible Hulks #634 -  27,310
=====
08/12  Incredible v4 #12     -  36,860  (  +0.3%)
09/12  Incredible v4 #13     -  33,858  (  -8.1%)
09/12  Incredible v4 #14     -  33,887  (  +0.1%)
10/12  Incredible v4 #15     -  36,091  (  +6.5%)
11/12  Indestructible #1     - 118,200  (+227.5%)
12/12  Indestructible #2     -  63,653  ( -46.1%)
01/13  Indestructible #3     -  59,431  (  -6.6%)
02/13  Indestructible #4     -  56,214  (  -5.4%)
03/13  Indestructible #5     -  54,967  (  -2.2%)
04/13  Indestructible #6     -  55,470  (  +0.9%)
05/13  Indestructible #7     -  49,956  (  -9.9%)
05/13  Indestructible #8     -  48,866  (  -2.2%)
06/13  Indestructible #9     -  49,427  (  +1.1%)
07/13  Indestructible #10    -  45,531  (  -7.9%)
07/13  Indestructible #11    -  45,241  (  -0.6%)
08/13  Indestructible #12    -  43,673  (  -3.5%)
                                6 mnth  ( -22.3%)
                                1 year  ( +18.5%)
                                2 year  ( +59.9%)
                                3 year  (  -2.9%)
                                4 year  ( -31.9%)
                                5 year  ( -57.2%)
                               10 year  ( -26.4%)

Last month’s issue #11 had a variant cover, so the actual trend is a bit smoother than it first appears.

36. DEADPOOL KILLS DEADPOOL
07/13  Deadpool Kills #1 of 4 - 53,066  
08/13  Deadpool Kills #2 of 4 - 41,960  (-25.8%)

Only about 5K behind the parent title, which is very good. Bet you somebody’s writing memos asking whether it’s time to relaunch a second Deadpool book.

37. SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN TEAM-UP
08/12  Avenging Spider-Man #10 - 34,537  (  -7.0%)
08/12  Avenging Spider-Man #11 - 33,808  (  -2.1%)
09/12  Avenging Spider-Man #12 - 35,462  (  +4.9%)
10/12  Avenging Spider-Man #13 - 32,908  (  -7.2%)
11/12  Avenging Spider-Man #14 - 30,102  (  -8.5%)
12/12  Avenging Spider-Man #15 - 28,240  (  -6.2%)
12/12  Avenging Spider-Man #.1 - 41,504  ( +47.0%)
01/13  Avenging Spider-Man #16 - 29,032  ( -30.1%)
02/13  Avenging Spider-Man #17 - 30,783  (  +6.0%)
03/13  Avenging Spider-Man #18 - 31,657  (  +2.8%)
04/13  Avenging Spider-Man #19 - 28,740  (  -9.2%)
05/13  Avenging Spider-Man #20 - 27,609  (  -3.9%)
05/13  Avenging Spider-Man #21 - 27,251  (  -1.3%)
06/13  Avenging Spider-Man #22 - 26,799  (  -1.7%)
07/13  Superior Team-Up #1     - 76,959  (+187.2%)
08/13  Superior Team-Up #2     - 41,155  ( -46.5%)
                                 6 mnth  ( +33.7%)
                                 1 year  ( +19.2%)

A very steep second issue drop, but then the jump in July was excessively large for what amounts to the renaming of an ongoing title. August sales remain comfortably ahead of what the book has been doing all year, so Marvel should be perfectly pleased with this. An Infinity tie-in starts in September.

38. SUPERIOR CARNAGE
07/13  Superior Carnage #1 of 5 - 48,053
08/13  Superior Carnage #2 of 5 - 40,864  (-15.0%)

In comparison, that’s a fairly modest second issue drop. Carnage has been out of circulation for a while; perhaps that’s given interest in the character time to rebuild.

41. WOLVERINE
08/03  Wolverine v3 #4  -  68,472
08/08  Wolverine v3 #68 -  97,326
08/09  W: Weapon X #4   -  49,284
08/10  W: Weapon X #16  -  29,424
08/11  Wolverine v4 #13 -  39,296
=====
08/12  Wolverine #311   -  42,404  ( -30.3%)
08/12  Wolverine #312   -  41,030  (  -3.2%)
09/12  Wolverine #313   -  39,262  (  -4.3%)
10/12  Wolverine #314   -  34,504  ( -12.1%)
10/12  Wolverine #315   -  38,557  ( +11.7%)
11/12  Wolverine #316   -  32,208  ( -16.5%)
12/12  Wolverine #317   -  34,367  (  +6.7%)
01/13  ---
02/13  ---
03/13  Wolverine v5 #1  - 117,669  (+242.4%)
04/13  Wolverine v5 #2  -  57,165  ( -51.4%)
05/13  Wolverine v5 #3  -  49,629  ( -13.2%)
06/13  Wolverine v5 #4  -  46,784  (  -5.7%)
06/13  Wolverine v5 #5  -  43,694  (  -6.6%)
07/13  Wolverine v5 #6  -  40,593  (  -7.1%)
07/13  Wolverine v5 #7  -  38,605  (  -4.9%)
08/13  Wolverine v5 #8  -  39,830  (  +3.2%)
                           6 mnth  (   --- )
                           1 year  (  -6.1%)
                           2 year  (  +1.4%)
                           3 year  ( +35.4%)
                           4 year  ( -19.2%)
                           5 year  ( -59.1%)
                          10 year  ( -41.8%)

Two variant covers this month, hence the slight increase. Sister title SAVAGE WOLVERINE didn’t ship.

42. CAPTAIN AMERICA
08/03  Captain America v3 #16 -  43,123
08/08  Captain America v6 #41 -  85,035
08/09  Reborn #2              - 125,366
08/10  Captain America #608   -  51,362
08/11  Captain America v7 #2  -  54,384
=====
08/12  Captain America v7 #16 -  35,155  (  -3.5%)
09/12  Captain America v7 #17 -  34,279  (  -2.5%)
10/12  Captain America v7 #18 -  38,318  ( +11.8%)
10/12  Captain America v7 #19 -  40,205  (  +4.9%)
11/12  Captain America v8 #1  - 123,667  (+207.6%)
12/12  Captain America v8 #2  -  64,377  ( -47.9%)
01/13  Captain America v8 #3  -  59,836  (  -7.1%)
02/13  Captain America v8 #4  -  53,112  ( -11.2%)
03/13  Captain America v8 #5  -  49,186  (  -7.4%)
04/13  Captain America v8 #6  -  47,802  (  -2.8%)
05/13  Captain America v8 #7  -  44,024  (  -7.9%)
06/13  Captain America v8 #8  -  43,791  (  -0.5%)
07/13  Captain America v8 #9  -  40,796  (  -6.8%)
08/13  Captain America v8 #10 -  39,356  (  -3.5%)
                                 6 mnth  ( -25.9%)
                                 1 year  ( +11.9%)
                                 2 year  ( -27.6%)
                                 3 year  ( -23.4%)
                                 4 year  ( -68.6%)
                                 5 year  ( -53.7%)
                                10 year  (  -8.7%)

We’re now down at the level of sales from the tail end of the previous run, but it did take the better part of a year to get there.

45,47. WOLVERINE & THE X-MEN
08/12  Wolverine/X-Men #15 - 58,441  ( -4.2%)
09/12  Wolverine/X-Men #16 - 55,857  ( -4.4%)
09/12  Wolverine/X-Men #17 - 54,768  ( -1.9%)
10/12  Wolverine/X-Men #18 - 52,331  ( -4.4%)
10/12  Wolverine/X-Men #19 - 50,008  ( -4.4%)
11/12  Wolverine/X-Men #20 - 48,432  ( -3.2%)
11/12  Wolverine/X-Men #21 - 48,244  ( -0.4%)
12/12  Wolverine/X-Men #22 - 45,658  ( -5.4%)
01/13  Wolverine/X-Men #23 - 43,963  ( -3.7%)
01/13  Wolverine/X-Men #24 - 44,716  ( +1.7%)
02/13  Wolverine/X-Men #25 - 45,057  ( +0.8%)
03/13  Wolverine/X-Men #26 - 42,019  ( -6.7%)
03/13  Wolverine/X-Men #27 - 41,960  ( -0.1%)
04/13  Wolv & X-Men #27AU  - 47,055  (+12.1%)
04/13  Wolverine/X-Men #28 - 42,718  ( -9.2%)
05/13  Wolverine/X-Men #29 - 40,451  ( -5.3%)
05/13  Wolverine/X-Men #30 - 40,019  ( -1.1%)
06/13  Wolverine/X-Men #31 - 41,661  ( +4.1%)
06/13  Wolverine/X-Men #32 - 39,790  ( -4.5%)
07/13  Wolverine/X-Men #33 - 42,269  ( +6.2%)
08/13  Wolverine/X-Men #34 - 38,473  ( -9.0%)
08/13  Wolverine/X-Men #35 - 38,046  ( -1.1%)
                             6 mnth  (-15.6%)
                             1 year  (-34.9%)

Standard erosion. The “Battle of the Atom” crossover starts in September, and with this being by far the lowest selling of the participating titles, it ought to see a big gain – BotA is an old-school serialised crossover where you’re expected to buy the lot. That said, it’s amazing how many people seem to be happy to buy half a crossover.

46. IRON MAN
08/03  Iron Man v3 #71 -  30,823
08/08  Iron Man v5 #4  -  58,154
08/09  Iron Man v5 #16 -  53,782
08/10  Iron Man v5 #29 -  49,012
08/11  Iron Man #507   -  40,082
=====
08/12  Iron Man #522   -  31,464  (  -2.2%)
08/12  Iron Man #523   -  31,568  (  +0.3%)
09/12  Iron Man #524   -  30,976  (  -1.9%)
09/12  Iron Man #525   -  30,885  (  -0.3%)
10/12  Iron Man #526   -  35,934  ( +16.3%)
10/12  Iron Man #527   -  36,981  (  +2.9%)
11/12  Iron Man v6 #1  - 116,529  (+215.1%)
11/12  Iron Man v6 #2  -  72,902  ( -37.4%)
12/12  Iron Man v6 #3  -  59,041  ( -19.0%)
12/12  Iron Man v6 #4  -  56,708  (  -4.0%)
01/13  Iron Man v6 #5  -  50,899  ( -10.2%)
02/13  Iron Man v6 #6  -  46,206  (  -9.2%)
03/13  Iron Man v6 #7  -  44,040  (  -4.7%)
04/13  Iron Man v6 #8  -  43,974  (  -0.1%)
05/13  Iron Man v6 #9  -  78,006  ( +77.4%)
05/13  Iron Man v6 #10 -  45,424  ( -41.8%)
06/13  Iron Man v6 #11 -  44,409  (  -2.2%)
07/13  Iron Man v6 #12 -  40,405  (  -9.0%)
07/13  Iron Man v6 #13 -  39,534  (  -2.2%)
08/13  Iron Man v6 #14 -  38,137  (  -3.5%)
                          6 mnth  ( -17.5%)
                          1 year  ( +21.2%)
                          2 year  (  -4.9%)
                          3 year  ( -22.2%)
                          4 year  ( -29.1%)
                          5 year  ( -34.4%)
                         10 year  ( +23.7%)

Again, business as usual.

50. AVENGERS A.I.
07/13  Avengers A.I. #1 - 68,130
08/13  Avengers A.I. #2 - 37,079  (-45.6%)

Ouch. That’s a very sharp second issue drop even allowing for the extra variants on issue #1. There’s still plenty of room for the book to find its level, but you do wonder how many titles the Avengers’ name can sensibly be attached to before the brand loses its power.

53. UNCANNY X-FORCE
08/08  X-Force v3 #6  - 69,010
08/09  X-Force v3 #18 - 56,421
08/10  S&Violence #2  - 38,480
08/11  X-Force v4 #13 - 53,904
=====
08/12  X-Force v4 #29 - 45,159  ( -2.6%)
08/12  X-Force v4 #30 - 44,918  ( -0.5%)
09/12  X-Force v4 #31 - 44,061  ( -1.9%)
10/12  X-Force v4 #32 - 44,055  ( -0.0%)
11/12  X-Force v4 #33 - 43,589  ( -1.1%)
11/12  X-Force v4 #34 - 43,710  ( +0.3%)
12/12  X-Force v4 #35 - 47,736  ( +9.2%)
01/13  X-Force v5 #1  - 86,187  (+80.5%)
02/13  X-Force v5 #2  - 56,713  (-34.2%)
03/13  X-Force v5 #3  - 51,721  ( -8.8%)
04/13  ---
05/13  X-Force v5 #4  - 47,727  ( -7.7%)
05/13  X-Force v5 #5  - 45,674  ( -4.3%)
06/13  X-Force v5 #6  - 42,496  ( -7.0%)
06/13  X-Force v5 #7  - 40,380  ( -5.0%)
07/13  X-Force v5 #8  - 37,781  ( -6.4%)
07/13  X-Force v5 #9  - 36,978  ( -2.1%)
08/13  X-Force v5 #10 - 35,329  ( -4.5%)
                        6 mnth  (-37.7%)
                        1 year  (-21.8%)
                        2 year  (-34.5%)
                        3 year  ( -8.2%)
                        4 year  (-37.4%)
                        5 year  (-48.8%)

Another business-as-usual title.

54. DAREDEVIL
08/03  Daredevil v2 #50  - 65,398
08/08  Daredevil v2 #110 - 43,362
08/09  Daredevil #500    - 73,486
08/10  Daredevil #509    - 41,577
08/11  Daredevil v3 #2   - 40,990
=====
08/12  Daredevil v3 #16  - 37,804  ( -1.7%)
08/12  Daredevil v3 #17  - 38,149  ( +0.9%)
09/12  Daredevil v3 #18  - 37,185  ( -2.5%)
10/12  Daredevil v3 #19  - 37,228  ( +0.1%)
11/12  Daredevil v3 #20  - 36,515  ( -1.9%)
12/12  Daredevil v3 #21  - 35,848  ( -1.8%)
01/13  Daredevil v3 #22  - 36,102  ( +0.7%)
02/13  Daredevil v3 #23  - 37,170  ( +3.0%)
03/13  Daredevil v3 #24  - 37,231  ( +0.2%)
04/13  Daredevil v3 #25  - 39,678  ( +6.6%)
05/13  Daredevil v3 #26  - 39,788  ( +0.3%)
06/13  Daredevil v3 #27  - 35,834  ( -9.9%)
07/13  Daredevil v3 #28  - 35,364  ( -1.3%)
07/13  Daredevil v3 #29  - 34,915  ( -1.3%)
08/13  Daredevil v3 #30  - 35,240  ( +0.9%)
                           6 mnth  ( -5.2%)
                           1 year  ( -6.8%)
                           2 year  (-14.0%)
                           3 year  (-15.2%)
                           4 year  (-52.0%)
                           5 year  (-18.7%)
                          10 year  (-46.1%)

Continuing to float happily around the mid-30K range.

58. SUPERIOR FOES OF SPIDER-MAN
07/13  Superior Foes #1 - 61,413
08/13  Superior Foes #2 - 34,300  (-44.1%)

Steep, but then this is a quirky comedy-drama title that got an added boost in its first month from the Superior Spider-Month promotion. I’d still call this a good number for a comparatively offbeat book.

59,62. CABLE & X-FORCE
12/12  Cable & X-Force #1  - 90,334
12/12  Cable & X-Force #2  - 57,719  (-36.1%)
01/13  Cable & X-Force #3  - 51,761  (-10.3%)
02/13  Cable & X-Force #4  - 46,104  (-10.9%)
03/13  Cable & X-Force #5  - 44,680  ( -3.1%)
03/13  Cable & X-Force #6  - 42,896  ( -4.0%)
04/13  Cable & X-Force #7  - 41,500  ( -3.3%)
05/13  Cable & X-Force #8  - 39,041  ( -5.9%)
06/13  Cable & X-Force #9  - 38,414  ( -1.6%)
06/13  Cable & X-Force #10 - 36,104  ( -6.0%)
07/13  Cable & X-Force #11 - 34,240  ( -5.2%)
08/13  Cable & X-Force #12 - 33,127  ( -3.3%)
08/13  Cable & X-Force #13 - 32,104  ( -3.1%)
                             6 mnth  (-30.4%)

More routine erosion.

60. ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN
08/03  Spider-Man #44    - 102,429
08/08  Spider-Man #125   -  54,746
08/09  Spider-Man v2 #1  -  86,008
08/10  Spider-Man v2 #13 -  36,946
08/11  Ult. Fallout #6   -  39,190
=====
08/12  Spider-Man v3 #13 -  42,642  ( +1.4%)
09/12  Spider-Man v3 #14 -  40,960  ( -3.9%)
09/12  Spider-Man v3 #15 -  40,435  ( -1.3%)
10/12  Spider-Man v3 #16 -  39,679  ( -1.9%)
10/12  Spider-Man v3 #.1 -  38,321  ( -3.4%)
11/12  Spider-Man v3 #17 -  38,481  ( +0.4%)
12/12  Spider-Man v3 #18 -  36,944  ( -4.0%)
01/13  Spider-Man v3 #19 -  36,017  ( -2.5%)
02/13  Spider-Man v3 #20 -  35,461  ( -1.5%)
03/13  Spider-Man v3 #21 -  35,284  ( -0.5%)
04/13  Spider-Man v3 #22 -  34,918  ( -1.0%)
05/13  Spider-Man v3 #23 -  35,581  ( +1.9%)
06/13  Spider-Man v3 #24 -  34,011  ( -4.4%)
07/13  Spider-Man v3 #25 -  33,271  ( -2.2%)
08/13  Spider-Man v3 #26 -  32,932  ( -1.0%)
                            6 mnth  ( -7.1%)
                            1 year  (-22.8%)
                            2 year  (-16.0%)
                            3 year  (-10.9%)
                            4 year  (-61.7%)
                            5 year  (-39.8%)
                           10 year  (-67.8%)

And yet more gentle erosion. All bets are off for the future of this title after the upcoming CATACLYSM crossover – the Ultimate line as a whole certainly looks to be in trouble, but this title is still doing perfectly fine.

61. FANTASTIC FOUR
08/03  Fantastic FOur #502   -  54,084
08/08  Fantastic Four #559   -  59,791
08/09  Fantastic Four #570   -  62,401
08/10  Fantastic Four #582   -  34,617
08/11  FF #6                 -  55,601
=====
08/12  Fantastic Four #609   -  36,496  (  -3.4%)
09/12  Fantastic Four #610   -  35,388  (  -3.0%)
10/12  Fantastic Four #611   -  45,322  ( +28.1%)
11/12  Fantastic Four v5 #1  - 114,532  (+152.7%)
12/12  Fantastic Four v5 #2  -  58,421  ( -49.0%)
01/13  Fantastic Four v5 #3  -  50,555  ( -13.5%)
02/13  Fantastic Four v5 #4  -  44,999  ( -11.0%)
03/13  Fantastic Four v5 #5  -  42,590  (  -5.4%)
03/13  Fantastic Four #5AU   -  45,756  (  +7.4%)
04/13  Fantastic Four v5 #6  -  41,291  (  -4.8%)
04/13  Fantastic Four v5 #7  -  39,314  (  -4.8%)
05/13  Fantastic Four v5 #8  -  37,309  (  -5.1%)
06/13  Fantastic Four v5 #9  -  37,071  (  -0.6%)
07/13  Fantastic Four v5 #10 -  34,018  (  -8.2%)
08/13  Fantastic Four v5 #11 -  32,665  (  -4.0%)
                                6 mnth  ( -27.4%)
                                1 year  ( -10.5%)
                                2 year  ( -41.3%)
                                3 year  (  -5.6%)
                                4 year  ( -47.7%)
                                5 year  ( -45.4%)
                               10 year  ( -39.6%)

And this is not-so-gentle erosion. While Matt Fraction’s HAWKEYE (which didn’t ship in August) has bucked trends to climb back up the chart, his FANTASTIC FOUR relaunch isn’t faring so well.

63. NOVA
08/08  Nova v4 #16 - 38,338
08/09  Nova v4 #28 - 27,038
=====
02/13  Nova v5 #1  - 80,857
03/13  Nova v5 #2  - 46,725  (-42.2%)
04/13  Nova v5 #3  - 40,548  (-13.2%)
05/13  Nova v5 #4  - 38,151  ( -5.9%)
06/13  Nova v5 #5  - 36,545  ( -4.2%)
07/13  Nova v5 #6  - 34,234  ( -6.3%)
08/13  Nova v5 #7  - 31,937  ( -6.7%)
                     6 mnth  (-60.5%)
                     4 year  (+18.1%)
                     5 year  (-16.7%)

There’s no sign of this book levelling out at all, and the contrast between the performance of this title and GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY couldn’t be more striking. The next two issues are an INFINITY tie-in, which ought to help.

65. THUNDERBOLTS
08/08  Thunderbolts #123   - 45,403
08/09  ---
08/10  Thunderbolts #147   - 31,252
08/11  Thunderbolts #161   - 26,439
08/12  Dark Avengers #179  - 25,835
=====
12/12  Thunderbolts v2 #1  - 83,396
12/12  Thunderbolts v2 #2  - 50,897  (-39.0%)
01/13  Thunderbolts v2 #3  - 44,272  (-13.0%)
02/13  Thunderbolts v2 #4  - 43,287  ( -2.2%)
02/13  Thunderbolts v2 #5  - 41,663  ( -3.8%)
03/13  Thunderbolts v2 #6  - 39,293  ( -5.7%)
03/13  Thunderbolts v2 #7  - 38,553  ( -1.9%)
04/13  Thunderbolts v2 #8  - 36,979  ( -4.1%)
05/13  Thunderbolts v2 #9  - 32,855  (-11.2%)
06/13  Thunderbolts v2 #10 - 32,682  ( -0.5%)
06/13  Thunderbolts v2 #11 - 30,618  ( -6.3%)
07/13  Thunderbolts v2 #12 - 29,081  ( -5.0%)
07/13  Thunderbolts v2 #13 - 28,528  ( -1.9%)
08/13  Thunderbolts v2 #14 - 30,620  ( +7.3%)
                             6 mnth  (-26.5%)
                             1 year  (+18.5%)
                             2 year  (+15.8%)
                             3 year  ( -2.0%)
                             4 year  (  --- )
                             5 year  (-32.6%)

This is the first part of an INFINITY crossover, albeit a fairly peripheral one. Sales are up, but not by a huge amount.

66. AVENGERS ASSEMBLE
08/12  Avengers Assemble #6  -  36,131  ( -7.2%)
09/12  Avengers Assemble #7  -  36,259  ( +0.4%)
10/12  Avengers Assemble #8  -  36,453  ( +0.5%)
11/12  Avengers Assemble #9  -  42,088  (+15.5%)
12/12  Avengers Assemble #10 -  34,035  (-19.1%)
01/13  Avengers Assemble #11 -  31,027  ( -8.8%)
02/13  Avengers Assemble #12 -  29,475  ( -5.0%)
03/13  Avengers Assemble #13 -  28,432  ( -3.6%)
04/13  Av. Assemble #14AU    -  35,985  (+26.6%)
05/13  Av. Assemble #15AU    -  33,183  ( -7.8%)
06/13  Avengers Assemble #16 -  27,497  (-17.1%)
07/13  Avengers Assemble #17 -  26,640  ( -3.1%)
08/13  Avengers Assemble #18 -  30,597  (+14.9%)
                                6 mnth  ( +3.8%)
                                1 year  (-15.3%)

This book is now in almost permanent crossover – issues #14-15 were AGE OF ULTRON, #16-17 were a crossover with CAPTAIN MARVEL, #18-20 are INFINITY, and #22 will be an INHUMANITY tie-in.

Since INFINITY #1 comfortably outsells AGE OF ULTRON #1, you might expect it to have more impact on tie-in books as well. Oddly, that doesn’t seem to be the case here.

72,77. SECRET AVENGERS
08/10  Secret Avengers #4    - 74,655
08/11  Secret Avengers #16   - 46,317
=====
08/12  Secret Avengers #30   - 38,243  (  -8.2%)
09/12  Secret Avengers #31   - 35,987  (  -5.9%)
10/12  Secret Avengers #32   - 35,346  (  -1.8%)
10/12  Secret Avengers #33   - 34,260  (  -3.1%)
11/12  Secret Avengers #34   - 32,146  (  -6.2%)
12/12  Secret Avengers #35   - 30,755  (  -4.3%)
01/13  Secret Avengers #36   - 29,330  (  -4.6%)
01/13  Secret Avengers #37   - 32,139  (  +9.6%)
02/13  Secret Avengers v2 #1 - 85,267  (+196.4%)
03/13  Secret Avengers v2 #2 - 46,419  ( -45.6%)
04/13  Secret Avengers v2 #3 - 38,676  ( -16.7%)
05/13  Secret Avengers v2 #4 - 33,428  ( -13.6%)
06/13  Secret Avengers v2 #5 - 31,437  (  -6.0%)
07/13  Secret Avengers v2 #6 - 28,908  (  -8.0%)
08/13  Secret Avengers v2 #7 - 27,222  (  -5.8%)
08/13  Secret Avengers v2 #8 - 26,150  (  -3.9%)
                               6 mnth  ( -69.3%)
                               1 year  ( -31.6%)
                               2 year  ( -43.5%)
                               3 year  ( -65.0%)

Still sliding. An INFINITY tie-in starts with issue #10.

74. YOUNG AVENGERS
01/13  Young Avengers v2 #1 - 76,144
02/13  Young Avengers v2 #2 - 43,559  (-42.8%)
03/13  Young Avengers v2 #3 - 38,469  (-11.7%)
04/13  Young Avengers v2 #4 - 34,378  (-10.6%)
05/13  Young Avengers v2 #5 - 32,159  ( -6.5%)
06/13  Young Avengers v2 #6 - 30,822  ( -4.2%)
07/13  Young Avengers v2 #7 - 28,596  ( -7.2%)
07/13  Young Avengers v2 #8 - 27,844  ( -2.6%)
08/13  Young Avengers v2 #9 - 26,720  ( -4.0%)
                              6 mnth  (-38.7%)

And more sliding here. Honestly, there’s only so many ways you can say that.

75. FF
08/11  FF #8     - 51,917
=====
08/12  FF #21    - 30,220  (  -4.5%)
09/12  FF #22    - 29,847  (  -1.2%)
10/12  FF #23    - 30,844  (  +3.3%)
11/12  FF v2 #1  - 80,701  (+161.6%)
12/12  FF v2 #2  - 46,096  ( -42.9%)
01/13  FF v2 #3  - 41,108  ( -10.8%)
02/13  FF v2 #4  - 35,815  ( -12.9%)
03/13  FF v2 #5  - 34,601  (  -3.4%)
04/13  FF v2 #6  - 32,937  (  -4.8%)
05/13  FF v2 #7  - 30,960  (  -6.0%)
05/13  FF v2 #8  - 30,061  (  -2.9%)
06/13  ---
07/13  FF v2 #9  - 29,180  (  -2.9%)
07/13  FF v2 #10 - 27,304  (  -6.4%)
08/13  FF v2 #11 - 26,243  (  -3.9%)
                   6 mnth  ( -26.7%)
                   1 year  ( -13.2%)
                   2 year  ( -49.5%)

And yet more sliding. Now, things liven up as we start hitting the cancelled titles!

81,87. SCARLET SPIDER
08/12  Scarlet Spider #8  - 27,690  ( -5.0%)
09/12  Scarlet Spider #9  - 27,140  ( -2.0%)
10/12  Scarlet Spider #10 - 31,786  (+17.1%)
11/12  Scarlet Spider #11 - 32,287  ( +1.6%)
12/12  Scarlet Spider #12 - 26,652  (-17.5%)
12/12  Scarlet Spider #.1 - 25,771  ( -3.3%)
01/13  Scarlet Spider #13 - 25,919  ( +0.6%)
02/13  Scarlet Spider #14 - 24,388  ( -5.9%)
03/13  Scarlet Spider #15 - 23,682  ( -2.9%)
04/13  Scarlet Spider #16 - 24,207  ( +2.2%)
05/13  Scarlet Spider #17 - 24,288  ( +0.3%)
06/13  Scarlet Spider #18 - 22,766  ( -6.3%)
07/13  Scarlet Spider #19 - 22,499  ( -1.2%)
08/13  Scarlet Spider #20 - 25,133  (+11.7%)
08/13  Scarlet Spider #21 - 23,830  ( -5.2%)
                            6 mnth  ( -2.3%)
                            1 year  (-13.9%)

Cancelled with issue #25 – a longer run than many would have predicted.

88. CAPTAIN MARVEL
08/08  ---
08/09  Ms Marvel v2 #44      - 25,550
=====
08/12  Captain Marvel v6 #2  - 28,434  (-31.6%)
08/12  Captain Marvel v6 #3  - 27,649  ( -2.8%)
09/12  Captain Marvel v6 #4  - 24,799  (-10.3%)
10/12  Captain Marvel v6 #5  - 28,619  (+15.4%)
10/12  Captain Marvel v6 #6  - 23,103  (-19.3%)
11/12  Captain Marvel v6 #7  - 21,744  ( -5.9%)
12/12  Captain Marvel v6 #8  - 19,970  ( -8.2%)
01/13  Captain Marvel v6 #9  - 19,151  ( -4.1%)
02/13  Captain Marvel v6 #10 - 18,359  ( -4.1%)
03/13  Captain Marvel v6 #11 - 17,743  ( -3.4%)
04/13  Captain Marvel v6 #12 - 18,344  ( +3.4%)
05/13  Enemy Within          - 34,205  (+86.5%)
06/13  Captain Marvel v6 #13 - 19,673  (-42.5%)
07/13  Captain Marvel v6 #14 - 19,320  ( -1.8%)
08/13  Captain Marvel v6 #15 - 23,511  (+21.7%)
                               6 mnth  (+28.1%)
                               1 year  (-17.3%)
                               4 year  ( -8.0%)
                               5 year  (  --- )

This hasn’t been solicited past issue #17, though since queries about cancellation have tended to be met with “stay tuned” announcements, a relaunch must be on the card.

This issue is an INFINITY tie-in, hence the sales increase.

90. A+X
08/12  Versus #5 of 6 -  78,380  ( -9.4%)
09/12  ---
10/12  Versus #6 of 6 -  75,298  ( -3.9%)
10/12  A+X #1         - 105,420  (+40.0%)
11/12  A+X #2         -  64,606  (-38.7%)
12/12  A+X #3         -  56,700  (-12.2%)
01/13  A+X #4         -  48,091  (-15.2%)
02/13  ---
03/13  A+X #5         -  37,250  (-22.5%)
03/13  A+X #6         -  34,434  ( -7.6%)
04/13  A+X #7         -  31,183  ( -9.4%)
05/13  A+X #8         -  26,967  (-13.5%)
06/13  A+X #9         -  25,803  ( -4.3%)
07/13  A+X #10        -  24,371  ( -5.5%)
08/13  A+X #11        -  23,222  ( -4.7%)
                         6 mnth  (  --- )
                         1 year  (-70.4%)

No end in sight to the sliding.

91,92. AVENGERS ARENA
12/12  Avengers Arena #1  - 64,626
12/12  Avengers Arena #2  - 43,014  (-33.4%)
01/13  Avengers Arena #3  - 38,461  (-10.6%)
02/13  Avengers Arena #4  - 33,611  (-12.6%)
02/13  Avengers Arena #5  - 32,548  ( -3.2%)
03/13  Avengers Arena #6  - 31,617  ( -2.9%)
04/13  Avengers Arena #7  - 29,784  ( -5.8%)
04/13  Avengers Arena #8  - 27,900  ( -6.3%)
05/13  Avengers Arena #9  - 26,873  ( -3.7%)
06/13  Avengers Arena #10 - 25,277  ( -5.9%)
06/13  Avengers Arena #11 - 24,487  ( -3.1%)
07/13  Avengers Arena #12 - 23,969  ( -2.1%)
08/13  Avengers Arena #13 - 22,955  ( -4.2%)
08/13  Avengers Arena #14 - 23,204  ( +1.1%)
                            6 mnth  (-28.7%)

Cancelled with issue #18, though some form of relaunch would be no surprise. The increase on issue #14 is probably due to the variant cover.

95,97. ASTONISHING X-MEN
08/08  Astonishing X-Men #26 - 94,244
08/09  ---
08/10  Astonishing X-Men #35 - 50,441
08/11  Astonishing X-Men #41 - 33,470
=====
08/12  Astonishing X-Men #53 - 32,268  ( -9.8%)
09/12  Astonishing X-Men #54 - 30,225  ( -6.3%)
10/12  Astonishing X-Men #55 - 29,060  ( -3.9%)
11/12  Astonishing X-Men #56 - 27,583  ( -5.1%)
12/12  Astonishing X-Men #57 - 26,263  ( -4.8%)
01/13  Astonishing X-Men #58 - 25,159  ( -4.2%)
02/13  Astonishing X-Men #59 - 24,195  ( -3.8%)
03/13  Astonishing X-Men #60 - 27,683  (+14.4%)
04/13  Astonishing X-Men #61 - 27,090  ( -2.1%)
05/13  Astonishing X-Men #62 - 24,121  (-11.0%)
06/13  Astonishing X-Men #63 - 23,326  ( -3.3%)
07/13  Astonishing X-Men #64 - 22,649  ( -2.9%)
08/13  Astonishing X-Men #65 - 22,010  ( -2.8%)
08/13  Astonishing X-Men #66 - 21,757  ( -1.1%)
                               6 mnth  (-10.1%)
                               1 year  (-32.6%)
                               2 year  (-35.0%)
                               3 year  (-56.9%)
                               4 year  (  --- )
                               5 year  (-76.9%)

Cancelled with issue #68, though it’s being immediately replaced on the schedule by AMAZING X-MEN. ASTONISHING is the only ongoing X-Men title to be sitting out the “Battle of the Atom” crossover.

99. X-MEN LEGACY
08/03  New X-Men #144      - 99,737
08/08  X-Men Legacy #215   - 68,047
08/09  X-Men Legacy #227   - 63,316
08/10  X-Men Legacy #239   - 53,236
08/11  X-Men Legacy #254   - 39,896
=====
08/12  X-Men Legacy #271   - 37,206  ( -17.2%)
08/12  X-Men Legacy #272   - 37,120  (  -0.2%)
09/12  X-Men Legacy #273   - 36,020  (  -3.0%)
09/12  X-Men Legacy #274   - 35,168  (  -2.4%)
10/12  X-Men Legacy #275   - 38,726  ( +10.1%)
11/12  X-Men Legacy v2 #1  - 87,081  (+124.9%)
11/12  X-Men Legacy v2 #2  - 58,037  ( -33.4%)
12/12  X-Men Legacy v2 #3  - 45,407  ( -21.8%)
01/13  X-Men Legacy v2 #4  - 37,673  ( -17.0%)
01/13  X-Men Legacy v2 #5  - 34,823  (  -7.6%)
02/13  X-Men Legacy v2 #6  - 31,074  ( -10.8%)
03/13  X-Men Legacy v2 #7  - 29,231  (  -5.9%)
03/13  X-Men Legacy v2 #8  - 28,174  (  -3.6%)
04/13  X-Men Legacy v2 #9  - 28,405  (  +0.8%)
05/13  X-Men Legacy v2 #10 - 25,911  (  -8.8%)
05/13  X-Men Legacy v2 #11 - 25,048  (  -3.3%)
06/13  X-Men Legacy v2 #12 - 23,996  (  -4.2%)
07/13  X-Men Legacy v2 #13 - 23,146  (  -3.5%)
07/13  X-Men Legacy v2 #14 - 22,119  (  -4.4%)
08/13  X-Men Legacy v2 #15 - 21,599  (  -2.4%)
                             6 mnth  ( -30.5%)
                             1 year  ( -41.9%)
                             2 year  ( -45.9%)
                             3 year  ( -59.4%)
                             4 year  ( -65.9%)
                             5 year  ( -68.3%)
                            10 year  ( -78.3%)

More sliding, and given that we’ve already started hitting the cancelled titles, it doesn’t have all that much leeway left to play with.

102. DAREDEVIL: DARK NIGHTS
06/13  Dark Nights #1 of 8
07/13  Dark Nights #2 of 8 - 22,322  (-13.3%)
08/13  Dark Nights #3 of 8 - 20,659  ( -7.5%)

Not great, but then it’s no worse than you’d expect from a somewhat arbitrary Daredevil mini.

105. VENOM
08/11  Venom v2 #6  - 35,033
=====
08/12  Venom v2 #22 - 26,734  ( +0.8%)
08/12  Venom v2 #23 - 26,854  ( +0.4%)
09/12  Venom v2 #24 - 30,080  (+12.0%)
09/12  Venom v2 #25 - 25,242  (-16.1%)
10/12  Venom v2 #26 - 31,711  (+25.6%)
11/12  Venom v2 #27 - 31,118  ( -1.9%)
11/12  Venom v2 #.1 - 25,727  (-17.3%)
12/12  Venom v2 #28 - 25,573  ( -0.6%)
01/13  Venom v2 #29 - 24,644  ( -3.6%)
01/13  Venom v2 #30 - 24,551  ( -0.4%)
02/13  Venom v2 #31 - 23,441  ( -4.5%)
03/13  Venom v2 #32 - 22,521  ( -3.9%)
04/13  Venom v2 #33 - 22,327  ( -0.9%)
04/13  Venom v2 #34 - 22,120  ( -0.9%)
05/13  Venom v2 #35 - 21,591  ( -2.4%)
06/13  Venom v2 #36 - 21,288  ( -1.4%)
07/13  Venom v2 #37 - 20,872  ( -2.0%)
07/13  Venom v2 #38 - 20,325  ( -2.6%)
08/13  Venom v2 #39 - 20,212  ( -0.6%)
                      6 mnth  (-13.8%)
                      1 year  (-24.4%)
                      2 year  (-42.3%)

Cancelled with issue #42.

106,108. X-FACTOR
08/08  X-Factor v3 #34 - 50,416
08/09  X-Factor v3 #47 - 33,052
08/10  X-Factor #208   - 30,095
08/11  X-Factor #224   - 23,681
=====
08/12  X-Factor #241   - 22,943  ( -1.2%)
08/12  X-Factor #242   - 22,782  ( -0.7%)
09/12  X-Factor #243   - 22,118  ( -2.9%)
09/12  X-Factor #244   - 22,193  ( +0.3%)
10/12  X-Factor #245   - 22,364  ( +0.8%)
11/12  X-Factor #246   - 22,165  ( -0.9%)
11/12  X-Factor #247   - 22,005  ( -0.7%)
12/12  X-Factor #248   - 21,664  ( -1.5%)
12/12  X-Factor #249   - 21,211  ( -2.1%)
01/13  X-Factor #250   - 22,521  ( +6.2%)
02/13  X-Factor #251   - 21,096  ( -6.3%)
02/13  X-Factor #252   - 20,929  ( -0.8%)
03/13  X-Factor #253   - 20,835  ( -0.4%)
04/13  X-Factor #254   - 20,579  ( -1.2%)
05/13  X-Factor #255   - 20,442  ( -0.7%)
05/13  X-Factor #256   - 20,602  ( +0.8%)
06/13  X-Factor #257   - 20,264  ( -1.6%)
06/13  X-Factor #258   - 20,154  ( -0.5%)
07/13  X-Factor #259   - 20,065  ( -0.4%)
08/13  X-Factor #260   - 19,982  ( -0.4%)
08/13  X-Factor #261   - 19,781  ( -1.0%)
                         6 mnth  ( -5.5%)
                         1 year  (-13.8%)
                         2 year  (-16.5%)
                         3 year  (-34.3%)
                         4 year  (-40.2%)
                         5 year  (-60.8%)

Cancelled with issue #262.

109. ULTIMATES
08/08  ---
08/09  ---
08/10  ---
08/11  Ultimates v5 #1  -  58,522
=====
08/12  Ultimates v5 #14 -  30,311  ( -6.4%)
09/12  Ultimates v5 #15 -  30,382  ( +0.2%)
09/12  Ultimates v5 #16 -  30,533  ( +0.5%)
10/12  Ultimates v5 #17 -  29,382  ( -3.8%)
11/12  Ultimates v5 #18 -  29,072  ( -1.1%)
12/12  Ultimates v5 #.1 -  27,659  ( -4.9%)
12/12  Ultimates v5 #19 -  26,971  ( -2.5%)
01/13  Ultimates v5 #20 -  25,613  ( -5.0%)
02/13  Ultimates v5 #21 -  23,811  ( -7.0%)
03/13  Ultimates v5 #22 -  23,442  ( -1.5%)
04/13  Ultimates v5 #23 -  22,778  ( -2.8%)
05/13  Ultimates v5 #24 -  21,429  ( -5.9%)
06/13  Ultimates v5 #25 -  21,636  ( +1.0%)
06/13  Ultimates v5 #26 -  20,785  ( -3.9%)
07/13  Ultimates v5 #27 -  20,024  ( -3.7%)
07/13  Ultimates v5 #28 -  19,859  ( -0.8%)
08/13  Ultimates v5 #29 -  19,657  ( -1.0%)
                           6 mnth  (-17.4%)
                           1 year  (-35.1%)
                           2 year  (-66.4%)
                           3 year  (  --- )
                           4 year  (  --- )
                           5 year  (  --- )

115. ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN
08/03  X-Men #36    - 110,492
08/08  X-Men #97    -  47,050
08/09  ---
08/10  ---
08/11  ---
=====
08/12  X-Men v2 #15 -  27,847  ( -6.8%)
09/12  X-Men v2 #16 -  27,066  ( -2.8%)
10/12  X-Men v2 #17 -  26,503  ( -2.1%)
10/12  X-Men v2 #18 -  26,322  ( -0.7%)
11/12  X-Men v2 #.1 -  25,425  ( -3.4%)
11/12  X-Men v2 #19 -  25,419  ( -0.0%)
12/12  X-Men v2 #20 -  24,789  ( -2.5%)
01/13  X-Men v2 #21 -  23,479  ( -5.3%)
02/13  X-Men v2 #22 -  22,456  ( -4.4%)
02/13  X-Men v2 #23 -  22,197  ( -1.2%)
03/13  X-Men v2 #24 -  21,862  ( -1.5%)
04/13  X-Men v2 #25 -  21,139  ( -3.3%)
05/13  X-Men v2 #26 -  20,330  ( -3.8%)
06/13  X-Men v2 #27 -  19,298  ( -5.1%)
06/13  X-Men v2 #28 -  19,421  ( +0.6%)
07/13  X-Men v2 #29 -  19,381  ( -0.2%)
08/13  X-Men v2 #30 -  18,634  ( -3.9%)
                       6 mnth  (-17.0%)
                       1 year  (-33.1%)
                       2 year  (  --- )
                       3 year  (  --- )
                       4 year  (  --- )
                       5 year  (-60.4%)
                      10 year  (-83.1%)

The CATACLYSM crossover hits both titles in November. It’s hardly going out on a limb to speculate that they won’t be coming out the other side, but stranger relaunches have been known.

121. DEXTER
07/13  Dexter #1 of 5 - 20,540
08/13  Dexter #2 of 5 - 17,304  (-15.8%)

Not bad for a licensed adaptation, which is no doubt expected to do a large chunk of its business in collected form.

125. GAMBIT
08/12  Gambit v5 #1  - 40,418 
08/12  Gambit v5 #2  - 32,336  (-20.0%)
09/12  Gambit v5 #3  - 28,530  (-11.8%)
10/12  Gambit v5 #4  - 27,828  ( -2.5%)
11/12  Gambit v5 #5  - 26,723  ( -4.0%)
11/12  Gambit v5 #6  - 25,522  ( -4.5%)
12/12  Gambit v5 #7  - 23,978  ( -6.0%)
01/13  Gambit v5 #8  - 22,396  ( -6.6%)
02/13  Gambit v5 #9  - 20,851  ( -6.9%)
03/13  Gambit v5 #10 - 20,187  ( -3.2%)
04/13  Gambit v5 #11 - 19,355  ( -4.1%)
05/13  Gambit v5 #12 - 19,106  ( -1.3%)
05/13  Gambit v5 #13 - 18,854  ( -1.3%)
06/13  Gambit v5 #14 - 18,027  ( -4.4%)
07/13  Gambit v5 #15 - 17,291  ( -4.1%)
08/13  Gambit v5 #16 - 16,753  ( -3.1%)
                       6 mnth  (-19.7%)
                       1 year  (-48.2%)

Cancelled with issue #17.

126. FEARLESS DEFENDERS
08/08  Last Dfndrs. #6  - 18,356
=====
08/12  Defenders v4 #9  - 21,500  (  -4.5%)
09/12  Defenders v4 #10 - 20,220  (  -6.0%)
10/12  Defenders v4 #11 - 19,361  (  -4.2%)
11/12  Defenders v4 #12 - 18,588  (  -4.0%)
12/12  ---
01/13  ---
02/13  Defenders v5 #1  - 53,688  (+188.8%)
03/13  Defenders v5 #2  - 28,244  ( -47.4%)
04/13  Defenders v5 #3  - 23,514  ( -16.7%)
05/13  Defenders v5 #4  - 20,657  ( -12.2%)
05/13  Defenders #4AU   - 24,984  ( +20.9%)
06/13  Defenders v5 #5  - 20,168  ( -19.3%)
07/13  Defenders v5 #6  - 17,752  ( -12.0%)
07/13  Defenders v5 #7  - 17,411  (  -1.9%)
08/13  Defenders v5 #8  - 16,653  (  -4.4%)
                          6 mnth  ( -69.0%)
                          1 year  ( -22.5%)
                          5 year  (  -9.3%)

Despite being outsold by several cancelled titles, FEARLESS DEFENDERS sails serenely on for the moment.

127. WOLVERINE MAX
10/12  Wolverine: Max #1  - 37,509
11/12  Wolverine: Max #2  - 27,217  (-27.4%)
12/12  ---
01/13  Wolverine: Max #3  - 24,058  (-11.6%)
02/13  Wolverine: Max #4  - 22,072  ( -8.3%)
03/13  Wolverine: Max #5  - 20,479  ( -7.2%)
04/13  Wolverine: Max #6  - 19,316  ( -5.7%)
05/13  Wolverine: Max #7  - 18,239  ( -5.6%)
06/13  Wolverine: Max #8  - 17,247  ( -5.4%)
07/13  Wolverine: Max #9  - 16,931  ( -1.8%)
08/13  Wolverine: Max #10 - 16,057  ( -5.2%)
                            6 mnth  (-27.3%)

Max titles always appear to get a lot more indulgence where sales are concerned.

133. JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY
08/11  J/into Mystery #626 - 31,549
=====
08/12  J/into Mystery #642 - 22,336  (+12.5%)
09/12  J/into Mystery #643 - 21,109  ( -5.5%)
09/12  J/into Mystery #644 - 20,588  ( -2.5%)
10/12  J/into Mystery #645 - 20,705  ( +0.6%)
11/12  J/into Mystery #646 - 22,898  (+10.6%)
12/12  J/into Mystery #647 - 22,514  ( -1.7%)
01/13  J/into Mystery #648 - 20,887  ( -7.2%)
02/13  J/into Mystery #649 - 20,064  ( -3.9%)
03/13  J/into Mystery #650 - 19,007  ( -5.3%)
04/13  J/into Mystery #651 - 17,443  ( -8.2%)
05/13  J/into Mystery #652 - 16,873  ( -3.3%)
06/13  J/into Mystery #653 - 16,343  ( -3.1%)
07/13  J/into Mystery #654 - 15,580  ( -4.7%)
08/13  J/into Mystery #655 - 15,367  ( -1.4%)
                             6 mnth  (-23.4%)
                             1 year  (-31.2%)
                             2 year  (-51.3%)

Final issue.

156. DARK TOWER
08/08  ---
08/09  Fall of Gilead #4   - 35,607
08/10  Gunslinger #4       - 21,820
08/11  Tull #3             - 16,337
=====
08/12  Man in Black #3     - 13,677  ( -1.1%)
09/12  #4 of 5             - 13,240  ( -3.2%)
10/12  #5 of 5             - 13,310  ( +0.5%)
11/12  ---
12/12  ---
01/13  Sheemie's #1 of 2   - 12,985  ( -2.4%)
02/13  Sheemie's #2 of 2   - 12,723  ( -2.0%)
03/13  ---
04/13  Evil Ground #1 of 2 - 12,473  ( -2.0%)
05/13  ---
06/13  Evil Ground #2 of 2 - 11,890  ( -4.7%)
07/13  ---
08/13  So Fell Lord Perth  - 12,006  ( +1.0%)
                             6 mnth  ( -5.6%)
                             1 year  (-12.2%)
                             2 year  (-26.5%)
                             3 year  (-45.0%)
                             4 year  (-66.3%)
                             5 year  (  --- )

Final issue. Wow, that feels like the end of an era.

160. MORBIUS: THE LIVING VAMPIRE
01/13  Morbius v2 #1 - 43,883
02/13  Morbius v2 #2 - 25,735  (-41.4%)
03/13  Morbius v2 #3 - 20,262  (-21.3%)
04/13  Morbius v2 #4 - 17,544  (-13.4%)
05/13  Morbius v2 #5 - 15,042  (-14.3%)
06/13  Morbius v2 #6 - 14,584  ( -3.0%)
07/13  Morbius v2 #7 - 12,485  (-14.4%)
08/13  Morbius v2 #8 - 11,390  ( -8.8%)
                       6 mnth  (-55.7%)

Cancelled with issue #9.

207. EMERALD CITY OF OZ
08/09  ---
08/10  ---
08/11  ---
=====
08/12  ---
09/12  #1 of 8 - 12,620  (+73.9%)
10/12  #2 of 6 -  7,930  (-37.2%)
11/12  #3 of 6 -  7,619  ( -3.9%)
12/12  ---
01/13  #4 of 6 -  7,314  ( -4.0%)
02/13  #5 of 6 -  6,944  ( -5.1%)
03/13  #6 of 6 -  7,006  ( +0.9%)
04/13  ---
05/13  ---
06/13  ---
07/13  #1 of 5 - 13,701  (+95.6%)
08/13  #2 of 5 -  8,487  (-38.1%)
                 6 mnth  (+22.2%)
                 1 year  (  --- )

This is actually doing better than the previous mini. Unusual.

284. MARVEL UNIVERSE ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN
08/12  MUU Spider-Man #5  -  6,310  ( -2.1%)
09/12  MUU Spider-Man #6  -  5,873  ( -6.9%)
10/12  MUU Spider-Man #7  -  5,768  ( -1.8%)
11/12  MUU Spider-Man #8  -  5,588  ( -3.1%)
12/12  MUU Spider-Man #9  -  5,235  ( -6.3%)
01/13  MUU Spider-Man #10 -  5,077  ( -3.0%)
02/13  MUU Spider-Man #11 -  5,086  ( +0.1%)
03/13  MUU Spider-Man #12 -  4,978  ( -2.1%)
04/13  MUU Spider-Man #13 -  5,004  ( +0.5%)
05/13  MUU Spider-Man #14 -  5,127  ( +2.5%)
06/13  MUU Spider-Man #15 -  5,054  ( -1.4%)
07/13  MUU Spider-Man #16 -  ?,???  (  ??? )
08/13  MUU Spider-Man #17 -  4,999  (  ??? )
                            6 mnth  ( -1.7%)
                            1 year  (-20.8%)

And two books missed the top 300 in August, with estimated orders below 4,327 – MARVEL UNIVERSE AVENGERS #17 and the reprint ROCKET RACCOON: TALES FROM HALF-WORLD.

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

+ 97.0% - X-Men
+ 33.7% - Superior Spider-Man Team-Up
+ 28.1% - Captain Marvel
+ 22.2% - Emerald City of Oz
+  3.8% - Avengers Assemble
-  1.7% - Marvel Universe Ultimate Spider-Man
-  2.3% - Scarlet Spider
-  5.2% - Daredevil
-  5.5% - X-Factor
-  5.6% - Dark Tower
-  7.1% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
-  9.4% - Avengers
- 10.1% - Astonishing X-Men
- 13.5% - Thor
- 13.8% - Venom
- 14.3% - All-New X-Men
- 15.6% - Wolverine & The X-Men
- 16.1% - New Avengers
- 17.0% - Ultimate Comics X-Men
- 17.4% - Ultimates
- 17.5% - Iron Man
- 18.6% - Superior Spider-Man
- 19.4% - Deadpool
- 19.7% - Gambit
- 22.3% - Hulk
- 23.4% - Journey into Mystery
- 25.2% - Uncanny Avengers
- 25.9% - Captain America
- 26.5% - Thunderbolts
- 26.7% - FF
- 27.3% - Wolverine Max
- 27.4% - Fantastic Four
- 28.7% - Avengers Arena
- 30.4% - Cable & X-Force
- 30.5% - X-Men Legacy
- 30.6% - Uncanny X-Men
- 37.7% - Uncanny X-Force
- 38.7% - Young Avengers
- 55.7% - Morbius
- 60.5% - Nova
- 69.0% - Defenders
- 69.3% - Secret Avengers


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

+ 90.0% - X-Men
+ 62.0% - Deadpool
+ 28.5% - Superior Spider-Man
+ 26.8% - Thor
+ 21.2% - Avengers
+ 21.2% - Iron Man
+ 19.2% - Superior Spider-Man Team-Up
+ 18.5% - Hulk
+ 18.5% - Thunderbolts
+ 11.9% - Captain America
+  7.5% - Uncanny X-Men
+  1.8% - New Avengers
-  6.1% - Wolverine
-  6.8% - Daredevil
- 10.5% - Fantastic Four
- 12.2% - Dark Tower
- 13.2% - FF
- 13.9% - Scarlet Spider
- 13.8% - X-Factor
- 15.3% - Avengers Assemble
- 17.3% - Captain Marvel
- 20.8% - Marvel Universe Ultimate Spider-Man
- 21.8% - Uncanny X-Force
- 22.5% - Defenders
- 22.8% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
- 24.4% - Venom
- 31.2% - Journey into Mystery
- 31.6% - Secret Avengers
- 32.6% - Astonishing X-Men
- 33.1% - Ultimate Comics X-Men
- 34.9% - Wolverine & The X-Men
- 35.1% - Ultimates
- 41.9% - X-Men Legacy
- 48.2% - Gambit
- 70.4% - A+X


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

+ 72.3% - Deadpool
+ 59.9% - Hulk
+ 48.3% - X-Men
+ 35.7% - Superior Spider-Man
+ 23.9% - Avengers
+ 19.8% - Uncanny X-Men
+ 15.8% - Thunderbolts
+  1.4% - Wolverine
+  0.6% - Thor
-  4.9% - Iron Man
- 14.0% - Daredevil
- 16.0% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
- 16.5% - X-Factor
- 25.6% - New Avengers
- 26.5% - Dark Tower
- 27.6% - Captain America
- 34.5% - Uncanny X-Force
- 35.0% - Astonishing X-Men
- 41.3% - Fantastic Four
- 42.3% - Venom
- 43.5% - Secret Avengers
- 45.9% - X-Men Legacy
- 49.5% - FF
- 51.3% - Journey into Mystery
- 66.4% - Ultimates


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

+ 35.4% - Wolverine
+ 29.7% - Deadpool
+ 16.4% - Superior Spider-Man
-  2.0% - Thunderbolts
-  2.9% - Hulk
-  5.6% - Fantastic Four
-  8.2% - Uncanny X-Force
- 10.4% - X-Men
- 10.9% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
- 12.2% - Thor
- 15.2% - Daredevil
- 22.2% - Iron Man
- 23.4% - Captain America
- 27.3% - Uncanny X-Men
- 32.7% - New Avengers
- 34.3% - X-Factor
- 45.0% - Dark Tower
- 56.9% - Astonishing X-Men
- 59.4% - X-Men Legacy
- 65.0% - Secret Avengers


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

+ 18.1% - Nova
+  9.9% - Superior Spider-Man
-  8.0% - Captain Marvel
-  8.1% - Deadpool
- 19.2% - Wolverine
- 23.1% - Uncanny X-Men
- 29.1% - Iron Man
- 31.9% - Hulk
- 37.4% - Uncanny X-Force
- 40.2% - X-Factor
- 43.1% - New Avengers
- 47.7% - Fantastic Four
- 52.0% - Daredevil
- 61.7% - Ultimate Comics Spider-man
- 65.9% - X-Men Legacy
- 66.3% - Dark Tower
- 68.6% - Captain America


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

+  0.2% - Superior Spider-Man
-  9.3% - Defenders
- 16.7% - Nova
- 18.7% - Daredevil
- 30.0% - Uncanny X-Men
- 32.6% - Thunderbolts
- 34.4% - Iron Man
- 39.8% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
- 45.4% - Fantastic Four
- 48.7% - New Avengers
- 48.8% - Uncanny X-Force
- 53.7% - Captain America
- 57.2% - Hulk
- 59.1% - Wolverine
- 60.4% - Ultimate Comics X-Men
- 60.8% - X-Factor
- 68.3% - X-Men Legacy
- 76.9% - Astonishing X-Men


10 year comparisons
===================

+ 39.0% - Thor
+ 29.1% - Avengers
+ 23.7% - Iron Man
-  8.7% - Captain America
- 16.5% - Superior Spider-Man
- 26.4% - Hulk
- 39.6% - Fantastic Four
- 41.8% - Wolverine
- 46.1% - Daredevil
- 67.8% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
- 78.3% - X-Men Legacy
- 83.1% - Ultimate Comics X-Men

31 COMMENTS

  1. While I haven’t been buying INFINITY, I’ve been buying AVENGERS and NEW AVENGERS, and it’s striking how Hickman has the combatants fighting, essentially, land battles in space. The stories are as far removed from military SF tactics and strategies as a Syfy movie about a 30-foot alligator is from SF. Hickman doesn’t depict the Builders as technologically superior to the good guys, from what I’ve seen; they just have more ships, weapons, and troops.

    Also, while the Kree, Skrulls, and other major races have historically been placed in separate galaxies, Hickman has apparently, for the purposes of the military conflict, put everyone in the Milky Way. While the races being in separate galaxies would have rendered geographical strategies nonexistent, having everyone in the same galaxy doesn’t work well.

    SRS

  2. “And two books missed the top 300 in August, with estimated orders below 4,327 – MARVEL UNIVERSE AVENGERS #17 and the reprint ROCKET RACCOON: TALES FROM HALF-WORLD.”

    Not quite right.

    ROCKET RACCOON: TALES FROM HALF-WORLD was #3 on the TPB charts:
    http://www.diamondcomics.com/Home/1/1/3/597?articleID=139036

    Comichron estimates DM ordes at 5,322, which would get it in the Top 300 Comics list. Cover price was $7.99.

  3. I’m a bit surprised by the quick sales erosion for more than a few of the Marvel NOW (re)launches (such as Cap, Iron Man, Fantastic Four). If this were DC I’m sure there’d be the tragic chorus of voices wailing that it’s a failure …

  4. Captain America and Iron Man have been very good, so if their sales are disappointing, it’s not due to a lack of quality. DC’s one good title sells well, and most of DC’s truly awful titles have awful sales.

    You’re comparing apples to terrible comic books.

  5. Good to see Daredevil’s going steadily along. Even with other characters making appearances, Daredevil seems safely tucked away in its own little corner, and that’s fine by this old fan who’s tired of company-wide crossovers that seem to happen on a monthly basis these days.

  6. @Adam,
    “You’re comparing apples to terrible comic books.”

    He is comparing sales to sales, no need to get all defensive just because someone pointed out that certain Marvel titles are getting near pre relaunch numbers or have already dropped below them.

    DC titles, regardless of their quality, get singled out if they continue dropping or drop below pre-new-52 numbers.

  7. “That said, it’s amazing how many people seem to be happy to buy half a crossover.”

    Or none of it. I’m usually pretty happy giving titles that get dragged into this sort of thing a skip for a couple of months and either saving the money or trying out something new at Image or Dark Horse.

    Man, the numbers on Young Avengers are depressing.

  8. “I’m a bit surprised by the quick sales erosion for more than a few of the Marvel NOW (re)launches.”

    Why? By relaunching its books constantly, Marvel is teaching readers not to stick around for the long haul, because there’s almost never going to be any long haul.

  9. I don’t know why Infinity is such a big crossover in the first place. It could have easily been self-contained with Avengers / New Avengers and maybe a supporting space title like Nova and Guardians of the Galaxy. I was just rereading the old Grant Morrison / Mark Waid JLA run, and they seemed to be tacking threats like these every few issues.

  10. Marvel Now! is struggling! While not terrible nothing to have a cheer about. All thoses that called New52 a flop should see Marvel! Essentially they relaunched all their line with #1, added a dozen new X and avengers titles…..and will relaunch/number them faster than you can say make mine Marve!

    I agree with some of the comments above, Im not up to pick up new titles that dont have an X and Avenger as who knows if they will make it to #12! And the cross overs are a killer. Dc has several but it seems Marvel has been in eternal crossover since Civil War years ago.

    I enjoy some titles they publish but the renumbering killed it for me in the mid-2000’s……its hell to track and to make sense of a series. I prefer DC’s approach try different titles and it they fail launch something else instead of launching the same series 10 times in 5 years.

    Actually the Big 2 really need to cut their monthly output and shave off a good 10-15 series a month each and improve quality then readers would stick around….I know I would.

  11. I’m reading this column and realizing that I can’t keep track of who the creative teams are on which books, let alone which characters are where. Marvel needs to simplify.

  12. Marvel has less titles and still has a higher share of the overall market. This is why there is less ‘woe is Marvel’. Because Marvel is simply doing better on sales.

  13. I read free issues of X-Men: Legacy and Avengers:A.I.

    Both are self-contained, and both have intriguing writing.

    I did buy a copy of Indestructible Hulk (curse you Mark Waid for having Hulk ride a dinosaur in the Wild West on the cover!), and would have bought the “Mona Hulk” variant, but the store was sold out. (The premise: Bruce Banner works for SHIELD, using whatever tech they can give him. Meanwhile, Hulk (AKA Booster Green), goes out on missions for SHIELD.)

    As for Dorothy? I think it is reaching critical mass. Enough schools and libraries are stocking the books, and kids want to read the newest series NOW. Stores know how to sell it and market it, and Marvel seems to keep the books in print (unlike most of their superhero titles).

  14. The “New Now” seems to be a relaunch of certain series, although the “1” on the teasers seems to suggest a complete relaunch, not a new story arc.

    Which, of course, makes it easier to sell digital copies.

  15. “Good to see Daredevil’s going steadily along. Even with other characters making appearances, Daredevil seems safely tucked away in its own little corner, and that’s fine by this old fan who’s tired of company-wide crossovers that seem to happen on a monthly basis these days.”

    This. This is EXACTLY my attitude toward comics these days.

  16. @Wade: Those Skottie Young covers for Infinity are pretty damn cute.
    @Suzene said ‘I’m usually pretty happy giving titles that get dragged into this sort of thing a skip for a couple of months..’
    Yes! I’m doing this right now with Wolverine and the X-Men and all of my DC titles (so, like, two of them). It sucks but I feel stupid buying an issue I don’t care about or a middle chapter of a storyline just for completionist sake.
    What’s with Marvel’s love for having a Defenders book?

  17. First off, I don’t know why people aren’t buying Fearless Defenders. It’s a lot of fun.

    I also think that the answer to the question of why people seem to only buy half of a crossover might be reflected in the people who say they just avoid it all together. Perhaps the differences are more a matter of some people dropping the books temporarily and others jumping in just for the crossover.

    Finally, I think part of the reason for the steep drop on Hunger is that #1 was originally solicited as an issue of Age of Ultron. I know I ordered it based on that, and just didn’t get around to dropping it if/when I had the chance to find out the real content. Not that I think it was horrible or anything, but I just don’t generally buy the Ultimate books so it just wasn’t something I would normally get.

  18. @ Glenn: Once I saw Cullen Bunn was writing it, I knew I wouldn’t read it. He’s sorta shorthand for Marvel saying “we don’t really have a good creative team/plan for this book, but we want to publish it anyways.”

  19. @Synsidar: What would be a realistic space battle anyway? Ships several light seconds away from one another, at 0.1-0.3c, faster than any human could even comprehend, let a lone fight, duking it out, over in less than a few seconds?

    Sound rather boring and that’s probably the reason why it is never done this way. Either you have WW II in Space (Star Wars) or Napoleonic Wars in Space (Star Trek) or submarine warfare in space (various books and movies – even if there is no such thing as stealth in space). Or – with Hickman – a WW I/WW II land battle in Space.

  20. Zach – couldn’t disagree with you more. Sixth Gun is one of the best books on the market, and he’s done great job on Venom. Not so keen on Defenders, but I just don’t like any of the characters, he’s doing a reasonable job otherwise.

  21. @Synsidar: What would be a realistic space battle anyway? [. . ]

    Or – with Hickman – a WW I/WW II land battle in Space.

    The approach I’ve often seen is, instead of taking a blow-by-blow approach, reasoning how advanced technologies would influence tactics. If a ship has a reflective hull to defend against lasers, damage the mirrored surface. If a ship has an impenetrable hull, figure out a way to ram it safely, since the force of the impact will be felt inside the hull. If a ramscoop ship is using its ramscoop field to kill people inside ships, take advantage of the ramscoop’s relative slowness. If a ship goes into stasis as a defense, force a collision with another stasis field (used by Pournelle in a Known Space story).

    Hickmsn not taking advances in technologies into account only indicates that he doesn’t read SF, but then, his handling of the Dyson sphere in AVENGERS indicated that anyway:

    The technologies and resources needed to do it raise the question of whether a race that could build one would still need it. It has been estimated that constructing the sphere would require the energy equivalent of the lifetimes of several stars AND the raw materials of more than the entire solar system, which rather defeats the purpose of the initial construction.

    There’s no consistency in Hickman’s handling of concepts. Technologies from the year 2394 shouldn’t coexist with technologies from the year 2013.

    SRS

  22. Why am I not buying Fearless Defenders any more? Because they raised the price a dollar.

    07/13 Defenders v5 #7 – 17,411 ( -1.9%)
    08/13 Defenders v5 #8 – 16,653 ( -4.4%)

    #8 has the price increase. I expect to see faster drops with subsequent issues (but I could be wrong about this…) If it had stayed at $2.99, I would probably still be on-board with it.

  23. @Steve – understandable, but the question then is why didn’t more people buy it to begin with, which probably would have prevented the need for a price increase?

    Do people actually, really, not buy books with female leads? It’s pretty good, solid, in-continuity super-hero fun.

  24. Do people actually, really, not buy books with female leads? It’s pretty good, solid, in-continuity super-hero fun.

    I’d ordinarily have been interested in the series, since, in my experience, writers who use heroines tend to be better writers, but Bunn didn’t seem to have much of a plan beyond using the Valkyrie. Remember how he said he was looking for heroines to use, to fill out the cast, and found Hippolyta?

    Making characters interchangeable to that extent is the opposite of writing a character-driven story.

    SRS

  25. I didn’t realize Superior Foes was an on-going. Good new for me because it’s been a really fun surprise!

    As per The Defenders. Why I didn’t buy it was it was the fifth Defenders title in the 2000s (all minis or short-lived) and much like those other series it had no build up beforehand. It was just thrown out there to exist. So I breezed through the first few issues in the shop and didn’t see anything that grabbed me. Marvel treated Gambit the same way by just creating a series of a character who hasn’t proven he can sustain it without building up interest in it. I don’t understand the thinking behind it but they keep doing it.

  26. Some bizarre material in AVENGERS ASSEMBLE #19: the Black Widow and Spider-Woman take apart some Alephs bare-handed; one panel has B.W. tearing a leg off an Aleph. Those scenes are just unbelievable.

    SRS

  27. “Technologies from the year 2394 shouldn’t coexist with technologies from the year 2013.”

    Oh, pish tosh. Hawkeye and Iron Man have been teammates forever, and there’s a lot more separation between longbows and power armor than 381 years. Superhero stories have always pulled together characters from all over the history and future. If you’re going to bitch about disparate technological levels, you’re going to have a problem with half the superhero genre.

    As for Defenders, IMO it just hasn’t been all that good. I bought it specifically for the all-female cast, but it’s been a real disappointment. Why they didn’t tap Claremont to write a “strong females” book boggles me. Maybe he wasn’t interested. But there’s plenty of talent out there. Peter David could’ve knocked this book out of the park. Nicieza. Stern. Busiek. Simone. This book didn’t fail because of the concept of an all-female team — look at Wood’s X-MEN — it failed because it’s just painfully mediocre.

  28. Oh, pish tosh. Hawkeye and Iron Man have been teammates forever, and there’s a lot more separation between longbows and power armor than 381 years. Superhero stories have always pulled together characters from all over the history and future. If you’re going to bitch about disparate technological levels, you’re going to have a problem with half the superhero genre.

    The problems with technology directly affect the INFINITY storyline. The “Behemoth Ringworld,” for example: Niven’s Ringworld can hold 30 trillion inhabitants–quite possibly all the inhabitants of all the civilizations involved in the INFINITY storyline. Presumably Hickman’s ringworld could support trillions as well–and a civilization that could build a ringworld could defend it. If someone doesn’t make the effort to figure out how technology will affect various facets of a society, he’s treating the society like a bunch of LEGO toys.

    FWIW, Hawkeye has high-tech equipment. They’re not 17th-century weapons.

    SRS

  29. Scarlet Spider’s sales are far from great but I didn’t think they had reached cancellation level. They are still above 20k which is decent enough for the character. It is thoroughly enjoyable and near the top of my to read pile each month. It will be missed.

    Fantastic four has fallen so quickly because it is awful. The writing is just dreadful.

Comments are closed.