by Xavier Lancel

Secret_Wars_Vol_1_4Welcome to a new analysis of the Marvel sales. Reminder: I’m French, and that’s why I’m talking funny. Please address your complaints to my French-people-are-never-happy country.

Reminder: the sales data referenced below is  an estimate of sales to comics shops located in North America. American comics do get sold elsewhere in their original floppy editions.  In addition, keep in mind that just because a copy is sold to a shop doesn’t mean that a copy is sold to a customer. No, that would be way too easy. Finally, digital sales are not taken into account.

We are now in our third month of Secret Wars-related releases and, while the main title is doing wonders, some mini-series are entering their issue #3 release with a sales dip of around -15%, causing them to reach the « usual sales zone » of 30-40K. The falls between issue #1s and #2s are steeper than usual, -45% to -55% being the norm. Sales that were once excellent are now just good/very good. All in all, the Secret Wars operation is a success for Marvel, but there seems to be some indication that, as we go deep into the Secret Wars remix time zone, mini-series launches are becoming little more difficult. Next month, we’ll see if this feeling is confirmed.

Otherwise, nothing very new to note, except that the final issue of Matt Fraction and David Aja’s Hawkeye run is finally out. Don’t start me on it here, as I let myself roam free on the title below– feel free to skip my commentary on it, or any of the other books, if you prefer a neutral analysis. The numbers are here for your pleasure.

Thanks to ICV2.com and Milton Greipp for permission to use these figures, to the Comics Zone shop in Lyon, and to all the people who took the time to comment, be it positively or negatively, on the last analysis.


Average +% TPB sales #6-11: +34.0%
Average +% TPB sales #12-15: +21.7%
MS MARVEL VOL.2 TPB: 12,213  [+1,494]
MS MARVEL TPB VOL. 3: 7,034  [+1,528]

And again, like every month, Ms Marvel TPBs continue to sell like all other standard TPBs do at their release (around 1,500 copies). I didn’t start the column soon enough to start compiling info of the first volume, but vol.2 just cracked 12K, which is out-of-this-world.

 

Average +% TPB sales #1-5  : +5.0%
Average +% TPB sales #6-10 : +5.0%
WOLVERINES TPB VOL. 1:  2,175
WOLVERINES TPB VOL. 2:  1,570
WOLVERINES TPB VOL. 3:  1,478
112p, $16, cents per page: 14.3
Average +% TPB sales #11-16: +5.5%

A new volume is out and sales are staying nicely steady.

 

Average +% TPB Sales #1-5: +6.1%
STORM VOL.1 TPB: 1,542 
STORM VOL. 2TPB: 1,310
136p, $18, cents per page: 13.2  
Average +% TPB sales #6-11: +8.3%

This second and last volume is holding slightly better than the floppy, but with sales under the 1.5K mark, the numbers are still a small disappointment.


1- 213- 231- 283-SECRET WARS LTD 

05/15 Secret Wars Ltd #1 -  544,342          [+8,676]
05/15 Secret Wars Ltd #2 -  226,080  (-58.5%)[+9,540]
06/15 Secret Wars Ltd #3 -  224,067  (- 0.9%)[+5,931]
07/15 Secret Wars Ltd #4 -  221,041  (- 1.4%)

This is probably the first time an event series has been steadily trending upwards since its #2 fall. Indeed, although the reorders make sales look like they’re sliding down, they’re really not.

 

2- STAR WARS LANDO LTD 

07/15 Lando Ltd #1 of 5  -   192,949

The magic still works, even with one not-that-charismatic character from the original trilogy.

 

3- CIVIL WAR LTD ($5) 

07/15 Civil War Ltd #1  -  170,546

Well, that answers any question people could have about the popularity of the Civil War event. I’m surprised Marvel didn’t try to sell a new take on Secret Invasion. Maybe next time for Secret Wars 2?

 

4- 202- 283- STAR WARS

01/15 Star Wars  #1 -  1,055,494          [+10,018]    
02/15 Star Wars  #2 -	212,089  (-79.9%)
03/15 Star Wars  #3 -	175,579  (-17.2%) [+ 5,931]
04/15 Star Wars  #4 -	203,817  (+16.1%)
05/15 Star Wars  #5 -	146,850  (-27.9%)
06/15 Star Wars  #6 -	152,652  (+ 4.0%)
07/15 Star Wars  #7 -	160,000  (+ 1.0%)

Since issue #2: -24.6%

This is mind-blowing, to say the least. A title that goes up, that’s already a rarity at Marvel, but still rising at +140K in sales? This could change a lot of things at Marvel, especially the way they look at titles based off of licensed properties.

 

6- 252-DARTH VADER

02/15 Darth Vader #1 -  296,929           [+7,338]       
02/15 Darth Vader #2 –  125,466  (-57.7%)
03/15 Darth Vader #3 -  126,278  (+ 0.6%)    
04/15 Darth Vader #4 -  136,451  (+ 8.1%)    
05/15 Darth Vader #5 -  113,025  (-17.2%)
06/15 Darth Vader #6 -  107,739  (- 4.7%)
07/15 Darth Vader #7 -  114,349  (+ 6.1%)

Since issue #2: -8.9%

The pattern seen on the parent title seems to repeat itself here.

 

8-SPIDER-MAN RENEW YOUR WOWS LTD 

06/15 Spider-Man Renew your wows Ltd #1  -  203,565
07/15 Spider-Man Renew your wows Ltd #2  -   93,981  (-54.0%)

Those #2 numbers make a little more sense than the #1’s. It’s still outselling Amazing Spider-Man by more than 10k. Could that make Marvel change its mind once again on Peter Parker’s marital status?

 

9- AGE OF APOCALYPSE LTD ($5) 

07/15 Age of Apocalypse Ltd #1  -  88,346

More proof that 90’s nostalgia is in. I’m shivering.

 

10- GUARDIANS OF KNOWHERE LTD 

04/13  Guardians v3 #2  -  88,184
...
04/15  Guardians v3 #26 -  54,124  (-12.4%)
05/15  Guardians v3 #27 -  49,308  (- 8.9%)

07/15 Guardians of Knowhere Ltd #1  -  81,902

Average +% TPB SALES #18-23: +3.6% 
GUARDIANS OTG VOL.4 HC: 2,241

This is a spin-off of Guardians of The Galaxy, obviously. The fall with issue #2 should put it around the same numbers than the ongoing series holds.

 

 15- PRINCESS LEIA LTD

03/15 Princess Leia Ltd #1 of 5 – 264,071 
03/15 Princess Leia Ltd #2 of 5-  101,727 (-61.5%)
04/15 Princess Leia Ltd #3 of 5-  102,434 (+ 0.7%)
05/15 ---
06/15 Princess Leia Ltd #4 of 5-   80,170 (-21.7%)
07/15 Princess Leia Ltd #5 of 5-   77,465 (- 3.4%)

Since issue #2: -23.9%

A success. With numbers like that, an ongoing should follow.

 

18- Amazing SPIDER-MAN

04/14  Amazing v3 #1  - 532,586  ( 293.1%)
05/14  Amazing v3 #2  - 123,945  ( -76.7%)
06/14  Amazing v3 #3  - 109,029  ( -12.0%)
07/14  Amazing v3 #4  - 117,917  (   8.2%)O.Sin 
08/14  Amazing v3 #5  - 101,655  ( -13.8%)O.Sin 
09/14  Amazing v3 #6  -  93,564  (  -8.0%)
10/14  Amazing v3 #7  - 116,051  (  24.0%)
10/14  Amazing v3 #8  -  99,549  ( -14.2%)
11/14  Amazing v3 #9  - 135,280  
11/14  Amazing v3 #10 – 100,899 
12/14  Amazing v3 #11 – 104,739  ( +3.8%)
01/15  Amazing v3 #12 – 105,458  ( +0.6%)
01/15  Amazing v3 #13 – 103,093  ( -2.2%)
02/15  Amazing v3 #14 – 106,778  ( +3.6%)
02/15  Amazing v3 #15 -  99,660  ( -6.7%)
03/15  Amazing v3 #16 -  92,289  ( -7.4%)
04/15  Amazing v3 #17 -  99,964  ( +8.3%)
05/15  Amazing v3 #18 -	88,338  (-11.6%)
...

03/15  Amazing v3 #16.1- 73,170  (-20.7%)
04/15  Amazing v3 #17.1- 68,907  (- 5.8%)
05/15  ---
06/15  Amazing v3 #18.1- 66,600  (-3.3%)
07/15  Amazing v3 #19.1- 67,521  (+1.4%)

Since issue #2: -19.3%

Only a .1 issue out this month. This Gerry Conway mini is acting as if it was glued to the 66-68K zone.

 

19- OLD MAN LOGAN LTD 

05/15 Old Man Logan Ltd #1 -	122,702          
06/15 Old Man Logan Ltd #2 -	 78,426  (-36.1%)
07/15 Old Man Logan Ltd #3 -	 67,482  (-14.0%)

Since issue #2: -14.0%

This fall is a little worrying for the ongoing to come, but that’s still twice more than what the other Wolverine ongoing series have been doing those last few years.

 

20- SPIDER-ISLAND LTD ($5) 

07-15 Spider-Island Ltd #1  -  64,481

This twisted version of Spider-Island also contains a Spider-Girl adventure by the awesome trio Tom De Falco / Ron Frenz / Sal Buscema. It seems that « first served, best served » is the rule applied to sales of these Secret Wars minis. The later you arrive, the less chance you’ll have to do outstanding sales. We’ll see that prove to be true as we go down this list.

 

24- A-FORCE

05/15 A-Force #1  -	114,528
---
07/15 A-Force #2  -	 60,330  (-47.3%)

Okay, now we have a better grasp on what this title’s audience is, but we’ll have to wait for more data as it will be relaunched soon.

 

26- THORS LTD 

06/15 Thors Ltd #1  -  114,854
07/15 Thors Ltd #2  -   59,286  (-48.4%)

THOR HC VOL.1: 4,922 
Average +% TPB SALES #1-5: +7.1%

That fall is a little on the harsh side, but as you can see from sales numbers on other Secret Wars minis, the pattern for their declining sales after issues #1 is closer to -45%/-50% than the usual -35%/-40%.

 THOR HC VOL.2 – 2,562
136p, $25, cents per page: 18.4

Only two months after the release of volume 1, here is volume 2, at a not-very-friendly price, and collecting very few things (only issue 6-8 and Annual 1). Sales are ok but its less than the first volume. Apparently, reviewers were not really happy with the small amount of stories collected.

 

27-DEADPOOL SECRET SECRET WARS LTD 

05/15 Deadpool SSW Ltd #1  - 136,987          
06/15 Deadpool SSW Ltd #2  -  70,256  (-48.7%)
07/15 Deadpool SSW Ltd #3  -  54,531  (-22.4%)

HAWKEYE VS DEADPOOL TPB: 7,057

I’m a little surprised by this significant fall. It’s still doing very well, but it will reach usual Deadpool sales territory soon if it keeps going down.

 

28-KANAN THE LAST PADAWAN LTD

04/15 Kanan TLP #1 -  113.158         
05/15 Kanan TLP #2 -   64,960 (-42.6%)
06/15 Kanan TLP #3 -   56,370 (-13.2%)
07/15 Kanan TLP #4 -   52,260 (- 7.3%)

Since issue #2: -19.6%

It’s on its way to stabilizing. A 40k to 50k sales zone for secondary Star Wars titles -aka, those not based on the original trilogy- would be an amazing success from Marvel, seeing that that’s way more than what Dark Horse sold and is also within the territory for best selling Marvel Universe ongoing series.

 

29- 254- X-MEN 92 ($5)

06/15 X-Men 92 #1  - 104,943          [+7,326]
07/15 X-Men 92 #2  -  51,042  (-51.4%)

This one maintained its $5 price tag after its first issue. That’s an ugly fall, but those issue #1 numbers were a little too high to be real.

 

30- SPIDER-VERSE  

05/15 Spider-Verse #1 – 76,536
06/15 Spider-Verse #2 – 59,466 (-22.3%)
07/15 Spider-Verse #3 – 50,820 (-14.5%)

Hum. Issue#2’s small fall doesn’t look so impressive now. Still, even by adding those two percentages, it’s holding up better than other series.

 

32- SIEGE LTD 

07/15 Siege Ltd #1  -  49,195

Did Siege really stay in the minds of readers in the years after its release? That’s a mixed answer…

 

33- PLANET HULK

05/15 Planet Hulk #1 – 72,868
06/15 Planet Hulk #2 – 47,944  (-34.2%)
07/15 Planet Hulk #3 – 48,236  (+ 0.6%)

Against all odds, this one is keeping its ground.

 

34- UNCANNY X-MEN

02/13 Uncanny X-Men v3 #2  - 94,615
---
03/14 U X-Men #19.NOW      - 64,514 ( 17.5%)
04/14 Uncanny X-Men v3 #20 - 55,359 (-14.2%)
05/14 Uncanny X-Men v3 #21 - 54,747 ( -1.1%)
06/14 Uncanny X-Men v3 #22 - 52,731 ( -3.7%)
07/14 Uncanny X-Men v3 #23 - 55,738 (  5.7%)
07/14 Uncanny X-Men v3 #24 - 53,677 (  5.7%)O.Sin
08/14 ---
09/14 Uncanny X-Men v3 #25 -  58,062 (  8.2%)
09/14 Uncanny X-Men v3 #26 -  51,862 (-10.7%)
10/14 Uncanny X-Men v3 #27 -  57,908 ( 11.7%)
11/14 Uncanny X-Men v3 #28 -  55,939 ( -3.4%)
12/14 Uncanny X-Men v3 #29 -  53,502 ( -4.4%)
01/15 Uncanny X-Men v3 #30 -  48,824  (-8.7%)
02/15 Uncanny X-Men v3 #31 -  46,993  (-3.8%)
03/15 Uncanny X-Men v3 #32 -  49,639  (+5.6%)
04/15 Uncanny X-Men v3 #33 -  49,278  (-0.7%)
05/15 Uncanny X-Men v3 #34 -  45,267  (-8.1%)
06/15 ---
07/15 Uncanny X-Men v3 #35 -  48,094  (+6.2%)

Since issue #2: -49.2%
Average +% TPB sales #26-31: +2.7%
UNCANNY X-MEN VOL. 5HC: 1,380

Correcting the unusual fall from issue #34. Waiting to be relaunched.

 

35- 42- YEARS OF FUTURE PAST LTD 

06/15 Years of Future Past Ltd #1 -  71,450
07/15 Years of Future Past Ltd #2 -  47,512  (-33.5%)
07/15 Years of Future Past Ltd #3 -  44,074  (- 7.2%)

Standard behavior.

 

39-STAR LORD & KITTY PRIDE LTD

07/14  Star Lord #1 – 78,501
08/14  Star Lord #2 – 37,109 (-52.7%)
09/14  Star Lord #3 – 32,918 (-11.3%)
10/14  Star Lord #4 – 37,123 ( 12.8%)
11/14  Star Lord #5 – 36,905 ( -0.6%)
12/14  Star Lord #6 – 32,863 (-11.0%)
01/15  Star Lord #7 – 28,174 (-14.3%)
01/15  Star Lord #8 – 25,227 (-10.5%)
02/15  Star Lord #9 – 38,655 (+53.2%)   B. Vortex
03/15  Star Lord#10 – 40,836 (+ 4.5%)   B. Vortex
04/15  Star Lord#11 – 41,325 (+ 1.2%)   B. Vortex
05/15  Star Lord#12 – 25,580 (-38.1%)
---
07/15  Star-Lord & Kitty Pride Ltd #1 -  44,760 

Attracting more people than its issue #2 and its Black Vortex issue. That’s nice, seeing as it could be seen as a romance book, and we know how poorly Marvel/DC fans usually react to those. Seeing next month’s numbers could feel like awakening next to someone ugly while recovering from a hangover.

STAR LORD TPB VOL.2 – 2,092
160p, $20, cents per page: 12.5
Average +% TPB Sales # 6-10: +7.4%

Star Lord is doing OK in the trade paperback department.

 

40- HAIL HYDRA LTD 

07/15 Hail Hydra Ltd #1 -  44,515

One of the last work-for hire titles done by Rick Remender before he leaves to focus on creator owned books. Usually, these « villains » book are refreshing. Wasn’t the only readable Team America comic its final issue, which focused on a female Hydra leading agent?

 

44- SECRET WARS BATTLEWORLD LTD 

05/15 SW Battleworld Ltd  #1 – 67,485
06/15 SW Battleworld Ltd  #2 – 42,566  (-36.9%)
07/15 SW Battleworld Ltd  #2 – 43,736  (+ 2.7%)

The excellent health of its parent title probably caused more people to feel inclined to follow this secondary series.

 

45- 1872 LTD 

07/15 1872 Ltd#1  -  42,805

Those are incredible sales for a western series at Marvel. Let’s just hope it will manage to stay over 20K in its remaining course. An increased diversity in storytelling genres, especially the hard-to-sell ones, could be one good thing that comes out of this whole Battleworld universe thingie.

 

46- ULTIMATE END LTD 

05/15 Ultimate End Ltd #1  – 75,525
06/15 Ultimate End Ltd #2  – 49,157  (-34.9%)
07/15 Ultimate End Ltd #2  – 42,577  (-13.4%)

I know the main purpose of these Battleworld/Secret Wars series is to remix stories that have already been told, but with covers like this one (Captain America and Spider-Man together, that’s all), you’re pretty sure you have already read what’s inside when it’s not actually the case -it’s Ultimate Cap and good-old MU spider-Man.

 

49- 54- FUTURE IMPERFECT LTD 

06/15 Future Imperfect Ltd #1  -  62,110
07/15 Future Imperfect Ltd #2  -  41,427  (-33.3%)
07/15 Future Imperfect Ltd #3  -  38,269  (- 7.6%)

When compared to other minis, a fall of less than 10% at this point is not bad at all.

 

50- AGE OF ULTRON VS MARVEL ZOMBIES LTD 

06/15 AoU VS Marvel Zombies Ltd #1  -  78,646
07/15 AoU VS Marvel Zombies Ltd #2  -  40,483  (-48.5%)

Falling to what it would usually have sold as a Marvel Zombies series, if not slightly better.

 

52- 169- GROOT LTD 

06/15 Groot Ltd #1  -  97,193          [+13,687]
07/15 Groot Ltd #2  -  39,198  (-59.7%)

Last month I said that this one would fall to 40K, following the pattern of Rocket Raccoon. I’m either very lucky or not as bad at this as some people would like you to believe. Reorders on issue #1 make the fall look worse than it is (it was -53.1% before reorders). Logic dictates that there will be reorders on issue #2 also next month, which would prove me wrong. :p

 

53- MARVEL ZOMBIES 

06/15 Marvel Zombies #1  -  51,917
07/15 Marvel Zombies #2  -  39,148  (-24.6%)

The behavior of this one is not really a surprise, seeing that it’s the 6th Marvel Zombies series, so people already know what awaits them and whether or not they will like it.

 

58- MS DEADPOOL AND HOWLING COMMANDOS 

06/15 Ms Deadpool and HC #1  -  48,514
07/15 Ms Deadpool and HC #2  -  36,404  (-25.0%)

Despite its small fall from issue#1, I’m still surprised this didn’t sell better. We are now a little below the Deadpool ongoing’s sales level. If a book like this can’t do great, even with the help of a female Deadpool and the whole Secret Wars event push, I can’t imagine what fate awaits the Howling Commandos of Shield series to be launched just after Secret Wars ends.

 

60- GIANT SIZE LITTLE MARVEL AVX LTD 

06/15 GS Little Marvel AVX Ltd #1  -  66,401
07/15 GS Little Marvel AVX Ltd #2  -  36,019  (-45.8%)

No suprise here. Humor and parody titles have really found their way into the Marvel catalog these last two years.  That’s nice.

 

61- SECRET WARS 2099 LTD 

05/15 Secret Wars 2099 Ltd #1 – 46,228
06/15 Secret Wars 2099 Ltd #2 – 44,931  (- 2.8%)
07/15 Secret Wars 2099 Ltd #3 – 35,932  (-20.0%)

Well, so much for out-of-this-world issue#2 behavior. Still doing very well and keeping its readers.

 

63- INFERNO LTD 

05/15 Inferno Ltd #1 – 46,801
06/15 Inferno Ltd #2 – 39,137  (-16.4%)
07/15 Inferno Ltd #3 – 35,285  (- 9.8%)

This one should finish its run over 30K. If it seems a little weak for an Inferno remake, remember that there are more than a dozen others remakes next to it.

 

64- X-TINCTION AGENDA LTD 

06/15 X-Tinction Agenda Ltd #1  -  46,694
07/15 X-Tinction Agenda Ltd #2  -  35,033  (-25.0%)

Following apparently the same pattern as most of the Secret Wars tie-ins.

 

66- INHUMAN ATTILAN RISING LTD 

05/15 Inhuman Attilan Rising Ltd #1 – 56,963
06/15 Inhuman Attilan Rising Ltd #2 – 40,722  (-28.5%)
07/15 Inhuman Attilan Rising Ltd #3 – 34,919  (-14.3%)

With more than 25,000 people reading an Inhuman adventure, Marvel is probably happy with it. It’s gonna take a long time and major effort to make Inhumans a cornerstone property. That’s one little stone set in place.

 

70- RED SKULL LTD 

07/15 Red Skull Ltd #1  -  33,246

This series is focusing on a team investigating the Red Skull’s death. A kind of Thunderbolts series, but mixing heroes and villains on its roll call. This one is probably suffering a little because it arrived during the third month of Secret Wars releases.

 

72- HAWKEYE

09/12  Hawkeye v4 #2 - 33,563
---
09/13  ---
10/13  Hawkeye v4 #13 - 40,476  ( -0.9%)
11/13  Hawkeye v4 #14 - 39,863  ( -1.5%)
11/13  Hawkeye v4 #16 – 39,546  ( -0.8%)
12/13  ---
01/14  Hawkeye v4 #15 - 37,074  ( -6.3%)
02/14  ---
03/14  Hawkeye v4 #17 – 35,545  ( -4.1%)
04/14  Hawkeye v4 #18 – 35,045  ( -1.4%)
05/14  ---
06/14  ---
07/14  Hawkeye v4 #19 – 34,131  ( -2.6%)
08/14  ---
09/14  Hawkeye v4 #20 – 34,169  (  0.1%)
10/14  ---
11/14  ---
12/14  ---
01/15  ---
02/15  Hawkeye v4 #21 – 32,607  (- 4.6%)
03/15  ---
04/15  ---
05/15  ---
06/15  ---
07/15  Hawkeye v4 #22 – 32,397  (- 0.6%)

Since issue #2: -3.5%

Oh, boy, I need to take a pill, if not three. Finally, 5 months since its last issue, and one year since issue #19, the final issue of Hawkeye is here! Hawkeye has been an outstanding blockbuster for Marvel in TPBs editions. It has also been praised by critics and readers alike. It also managed to keep its numbers of floppy readers steady from the beginning, finishing its run with a never-before-seen -3.5% fall from issue #2.

So, what’s the problem? The problem is that reading Hawkeye in floppy after its first year of releases quickly turned into a NIGHTMARE. Everybody knows that David Aja is not the fastest artist alive (Iron Fist already had some minor scheduling troubles), so the issues started coming late. A parallel storyline in LA pencilled by Annie Wu was supposed to help with the schedule. It did not work out. We kept going from one issue on LA with the female Hawkeye to one issue in NY with the male Hawkeye by David Aja, with several months of waiting between them each time. Issue #16 was even released 2 months before issue #15!

Everybody knew that issue #22 would be the last one, so, what do you think Marvel did to reward those cretins who were waiting avidly to read Hawkeye in floppy format? They raised the cover price AFTER the initial orders were in for issue #20. We had to wait and pay 1$ more without any improvement on the packaging?

And boy, did we wait…The quality is here but the fact is that this last story arc about Hawkeye, a Russian killer whose rent problems went on way too long for floppy readers. Readers waited 2 years since the villain’s origin story to see the conclusion of the main story. The gap between David Aja issues was so long that it gave the impression that the story was not moving forward and, falsely, that events were repeating themselves when, in fact, some sequences were retold from another point-of-view. Matt Fraction’s complex storytelling style did not mix well at all with the release schedule.

Ultimately, what’s all this ranting about?  Well, in Hawkeye, Marvel showed that it doesn’t care about its floppy readers. When companies screw up, they should try to correct or ease things: would it have cost them much to not raise the last 3 issues price or to make this last issue a $4 comic instead of a $5 one after all those struggles they put their Hawkeye floppy readers through? If you’re lucky, you’ll read this last arc of Hawkeye in TPB format and enjoy it. I was a fool enough, as were 32k others, to buy Hawkeye in floppy format. We paid the price for it, both in $ and in reading quality.
Case closed.

HAWKEYE TPB VOL.4 - 6,272 
160p, $18, cents per page: 11.25

Unusually, the final volume of Matt Fraction’s run is out at the same time than its last floppy issue. Marvel did make an effort with the price, seeing that it collects $24 worth of floppies. The previous volume collected the LA adventure by Annie Wu, so that’s why this one, collecting the final story arc, is collecting only# 12-13,15,17,19,21-22. It sells like crazy and will keep doing so for months to come. Next volume will start collecting the Jeff Lemire and Ramon Perez run.

 

73 ARMOR WARS LTD 

06/15 Armor wars Ltd #1 -  69,808
06/15 Armor wars Ltd #2 -  37,798  (-45.9%)
07/15 Armor wars Ltd #3 -  32,138  (-15.0%)

We are now at the level of the last Iron Man series.

 

50- ALL NEW HAWKEYE

03/15  All New Hawkeye #1  -  66,608
04/15  All New Hawkeye #2  -  42,730  (-35.8%)
05/15  All New Hawkeye #3  -  38,087  (-10.9%)
06/15  ---
07/15  All New Hawkeye #4  -  31,661  (-16.9%)
 
Since issue#2: -25.9%

We are now at the same level the previous series was. Nobody expect it to sell better, but the real question is: how much will All New Hawkeye sell in TPB format? Marvel is dubbing the first New Hakeye TPB with a VOL.5, hoping to keep some TPB readers from the previous volume. Let’s cross our fingers, because Ramon Perez is an artist of the same caliber as David Aja, but way faster (that means I will never cry again like a baby over scheduling).

 

78- SQUADRON SINISTER 

06/15 Squadron Sinister #1 -  53,187
07/15 Squadron Sinister #2 -  31,141  (-41.4%)

If the ongoing series to follow sell the same way, it will have to grasp tightly to all its readers to survive cancellation before issue #12.

 

79- E IS FOR EXTINCTION LTD

06/15 E is for Extinction Ltd #1 -  48,888
07/15 E is for Extinction Ltd #1 -  31,114  (-36.4%)

E is for « Eh, it’s not that bad a fall »!

 

80- RUNAWAYS 

06/15 Runaways #1  -  41,063
07/15 Runaways #2  -  30,697  (-25.2%)

The fall is minor, now comes the hard part: keeping all its current readers.

 

81- DAREDEVIL

02/14  Daredevil v3 #36 – 31,494  ( -1.8%)
03/14  Daredevil v4 #1  - 76,006  (141.3%)
04/14  Daredevil #1.50  - 48,462  (-36.2%)
04/14  Daredevil v4 #2  - 42,811  (-11.7%)
...
09/14  Daredevil v4 #8  - 37,739  (+ 2.6%)
10/14  Daredevil v4 #9  - 33,996  (- 9.9%)
11/14  Daredevil v4 #10 - 32,438  (- 4.6%)
12/14  Daredevil v4 #11 - 31,382  (- 3.3%)
01/15  Daredevil v4 #12 – 31,989  (+ 1.9%)
02/15  Daredevil v4 #13 – 31,483  (- 1.6%)
03/15  Daredevil v4 #14 – 29,575  (- 6.1%)
04/15  Daredevil v4 #15 – 32,541  (+10.0%)
05/15  Daredevil v4#15.1- 28,919  (-11,1%)
06/15  Daredevil v4 #16 – 33,309  (+15.2%)
07/15  Daredevil v4 #17 – 29,904  (-10.2%)

Since issue #2: -30.1%
Average +% TPB Sales #6-10: +5.5%
DAREDEVIL VOL.2 TPB: 2,098

Soon we will be at the end of this amazing run by Mark Waid. It did not put the charts on fire, but sold steadily. As years go by, it should gain on value.

DAREDEVIL TPB VOL.3 -  2,483
112p, $16, cents per page: 14.3
Average +% TPB Sales #11-15: +7.8%

Sales have gone up significantly with this next-to-last volume. That’s good, and given that floppy sales were consistent at the same time, this series might be able to gather new floppy readers and sell more TPBs.

 

83- CAPTAIN MARVEL AND CAROL CORPS LTD 
  
11/13  Captain Marvel v6 #17 - 18,173  (-20.5%)
12/13  ---
01/14  ---
02/14  ---
03/14  Captain Marvel v7 #1  - 44,248  
04/14  Captain Marvel v7 #2  - 28,008 (-36.7%)
...
03/15  Captain Marvel v7 #13 – 21,915 (+14.1%)
04/15  Captain Marvel v7 #14 – 30,560 (+39.5%) B. Vortex
05/15  Captain Marvel v7 #15 – 19,740 (-35.4%)

06/15  Cap Marvel & Carol Corps Ltd #1 -  47,302
07/15  Cap Marvel & Carol Corps Ltd #2 -  28,741  (-39.2%)

Average +%TPB sales #7-12: +14.0%
CAPTAIN MARVEL TPB VOL.2 : 2,942

It follows the pattern of the debut of the ongoing series its derived from.

 

89- CAPTAIN BRITAIN & MIGHTY DEFENDERS LTD 

07/15 Cap Britain & M. Defenders Ltd #1  -  27,618

That’s weak.  So far, this is the lowest debut for a Secret Wars-related mini. There is probably a « third month of releases » fatigue going on here, but Captain Britain and the Defenders have both been hard to sell for the last two decades. The dedication Alan Davis is putting on every project he has worked on doesn’t seem to be being rewarded by modern buyers. I can’t think of any artist who has been this consistent over the years.

 

93- 1602 WITCH HUNTER ANGELA LTD 

12/14  Angela #1 -  61,398  
01/15  Angela #2 -  36,992  (-39.8%)
02/15  Angela #3 -  31,096  (-15.9%)
03/15  Angela #4 -  25,529  (-17.9%)
04/15  Angela #5 -  23,551  (- 7.7%)
05/15  Angela #6 -  22,272  (- 5.4%)

06/15 1602 Witch Hunter Angela Ltd #1 – 37,996
07/15 1602 Witch Hunter Angela Ltd #2 – 26,481  (-30.3%)

The re-branding of Witch Hunter Angela as a 1602 spin-off has not really worked out. We are almost back at the same weak level as before.

 

94- KORVAC SAGA LTD 

10/14  Guardians 3000 #1  -  58,574  (---)
11/14  Guardians 3000 #2  -  34,467  (-41.2%)
12/14  Guardians 3000 #3  -  25,509  (-26.0%)
01/15  Guardians 3000 #4  -  20,318  (-20.3%)
02/15  Guardians 3000 #5  -  18,155  (-10.6%)
03/15  Guardians 3000 #6  -  17,494  (- 3.6%)
04/15  Guardians 3000 #7  -  16,532  (- 5.5%)
05/15  Guardians 3000 #8  -  15,660  (- 5.3%)

06/15 Korvac Saga Ltd #1  -  34,137
07/15 Korvac Saga Ltd #2  -  26,470  (-22.5%)
 
Average +% TPB Sales #1-6: +4.2%
GUARDIANS 3000 TPB VOL.1: 1,446

That’s a nice, cushioned fall.

 

95- WEIRDWORLD 

06/15 Weirdworld #1  -  48,688
07/15 Weirdworld #2  -  26,307  (-46.0%)

This one, on the other hand, is a rather blunt fall. Still, great numbers for such an odd title.

 

97- SECRET WARS JOURNAL LTD 

05/15 Secret Wars Journal Ltd #1 – 44,606
06/15 Secret Wars Journal Ltd #2 – 29,161  (-34.6%)
07/15 Secret Wars Journal Ltd #3 – 26,031  (-10.7%)

Asking for fans to pay for a short stories anthology on top of everything else was perhaps a bit too much this time. Secret Wars is selling 9 times more.

 

106- SPIDER-WOMAN

11/14  Spider-Woman #1 -  93,723           (Spider-Verse)
12/14  Spider-Woman #2 -  44,618  ( -52.4%)(Spider-Verse)
01/15  Spider-Woman #3 -  38,484  (-13.8%) (spider-Verse)
02/15  Spider-Woman #4 -  36,058  (- 6.3%)
03/15  Spider-Woman #5 -  40,068  (+11.1%)
04/15  Spider-Woman #6 -  32,041  (-20.0%)
05/15  Spider-Woman #7 -  29,567  (- 7.3%)
06/15  Spider-Woman #8 -  26,568  (-10.1%)
07/15  Spider-Woman #9 -  24,354  (- 8.3%)

Since issue #2: -45.6% 
Average +% TPB sales #1-4 : +5.7%
SPIDER-WOMAN TPB VOL.1: 2,528

Ok, now we can really be worried. Ignoring the relaunch effect, who would bet his money on this one surviving more than 12 issues?

 

107- SILVER SURFER

03/14  Silver Surfer  #1 -  64,919  (  --- )
04/14  Silver Surfer  #2 -  39,132  (-39.7%)
06/14  Silver Surfer  #3 -  36,075  ( -7.8%)
07/14  Silver Surfer  #4 -  32,747  ( -9.2%)
08/14  Silver Surfer  #5 -  31,125  ( -5.0%)
10/14  Silver Surfer  #6 -  28,052  ( -9.9%)
11/14  Silver Surfer  #7 -  25,759  ( -8.2%)
12/14  ---
01/15  Silver Surfer  #8 -  23,420  (- 9.1%)
02/15  Silver Surfer  #9 -  21,716  (- 7.3%)
03/15  Silver Surfer #10 -  21,100  (- 2.8%)
04/15  Silver Surfer #11 -  20,776  (- 1.5%)
05/15  ---
06/15  Silver Surfer #12 -  20,704  (- 0.3%)
07/15  Silver Surfer #13 -  24,321  (+17.5%)

Since issue #2: -37.8%

A nice Last Days rebound effect.

 

109- GHOST RACERS LTD

03/14  All New Ghost Rider#1  -  50,072 (  --- )[2,567]
04/14  All New Ghost Rider#2  -  29,429 (-41.2%)
...
03/15 All New Ghost Rider #12 –  11,923 (-4.5%)
...
06/15 Ghost Racers Ltd #1 -  33,143 
07/15 Ghost Racers Ltd #2 -  24,274  (-26.8%)

Even with a cushioned fall, this one is already on the brink of the cancellation zone.

 

110- ANT-MAN ANNUAL ($5)

01/15 Ant-Man #1 – 73,370
02/15 Ant-Man #2 – 40,192  (-45.2%)
03/15 Ant-Man #3 – 37,139  (- 7.6%)
04/15 Ant-Man #4 – 31,637  (-14.8%)
05/15 Ant-Man #5 – 83,095 (+162.7%)

06/15 Ant-Man Larger than Life #1- 28,797 
07/15 Ant-Man Annual #1 – 24,223

Average +% TPB sales #1-5 : +9.6%
ANT-MAN TPB VOL.1: 3,870 [+ 543]

The declining sales of this pre=relaunch cavalcade of specials confirms that , despite its movie, Ant-Man can’t sustain an ongoing series. However, the first collection, which already sold quite well in its first month, is selling well again in its second month. This being the case, who knows? TPB sales could keep this one alive.

 

111- MAGNETO

03/14  Magneto #1 – 55,337
04/14  Magneto #2 – 35,772  (-35.4%)
...
12/14  Magneto #13– 27,418  ( -8.9%)
01/15  Magneto #14- 26,306  (- 4.1%)
02/15  Magneto #15- 24,052  (- 8.6%)
03/15  Magneto #16- 22,888  (- 4.8%)
04/15  Magneto #17- 22,072  (- 3.6%)
05/15  Magneto #18- 27,788  (+25.9%)
06/15  Magneto #19- 29,249  (+ 5.3%)
07/15  Magneto #20- 24,063  (-17.7%)

Since issue #2: -32.7%

The “Last Days” banner is still helping, but its effects are wearing down.

MAGNETO TPB VOL.3 -  1,711
112p, $16, cents per page: 14.3
Average +% TPB sales #13-17: +6.5% 

Magneto justifies plainly its presence in TPB form, but nothing more.

 

117- PUNISHER

02/14  Punisher v10 #1  – 54,558  
02/14  Punisher v10 #2  – 31,709  (-41.9%)
03/14  Punisher v10 #3  – 29,636  (- 5.6%)
04/14  Punisher v10 #4  – 28,435  (- 5.0%)
05/14  Punisher v10 #5  – 27,471  (- 3.4%)
06/14  Punisher v10 #6  – 26,606  (- 3.1%)
06/14  Punisher v10 #7  – 26,192  (- 1.6%)
07/14  Punisher v10 #8  – 25,957  (- 0.9%)
08/14  Punisher v10 #9  – 25,876  (- 0.3%)
09/14  Punisher v10 #10 – 23,680  (- 8.5%)
10/14  Punisher v10 #11 – 28,710  (+21.2%)
11/14  Punisher v10 #12 – 21,785  (-24.1%)
12/14  Punisher v10 #13 – 21,248  (- 2.5%)
01/15  Punisher v10 #14 – 21,382  (+ 0.4%)
02/15  Punisher v10 #15 – 19,825  (- 7.3%)
03/15  Punisher v10 #16 – 21,607  (+ 9.0%)
04/15  Punisher v10 #17 – 19,762  (- 8.5%)
05/15  Punisher v10 #18 – 19,563  (- 1.0%)
06/15  Punisher v10 #19 – 22,860  (+16.9%)
07/15  Punisher v10 #20 – 22,235  (-29.8%)    END

Since issue #2: -29.9%

Last issue. The title has been very consistent. A rather limited audience, but faithful.

 

123- BLACK WIDOW

01/14  Black Widow #1  - 53,879
01/14  Black Widow #2  - 31,260  ( -42.0%)
02/14  Black Widow #3  – 28,127  ( -10.0%)
03/14  Black Widow #4  – 27,378  (  -2.7%)
04/14  Black Widow #5  – 27,055  (  -1.2%)
05/14  Black Widow #6  – 26,136  (  -3.4%)
06/14  Black Widow #7  – 25,423  (  -2.7%)
07/14  Black Widow #8  – 24,555  (  -3.4%)
08/14  Black Widow #9  – 24,885  (   1.3%)
09/14  Black Widow #10 – 23,687  (  -4.8%)
10/14  Black Widow #11 – 23,922  (   1.0%)
11/14  Black Widow #12 – 22,971  (  -4.0%)
12/14  Black Widow #13 – 21,444  (  -6.6%)
01/15  Black Widow #14 – 20,292  ( - 5,4%)
02/15  Black Widow #15 – 20,581  ( + 1.4%)
03/15  Black Widow #16 – 21,607  ( + 5.0%)
04/15  Black Widow #17 – 18,851  ( -12.8%)
05/15  Black Widow #18 – 21,532  ( +14.2%)
06/15  Black Widow #19 – 27,387  ( +27.2%)
07/15  Black Widow #20 – 20,817  ( -24.0%)

Since issue #2: -33.4%

Another small success for Marvel. 20 issues for a character not used to having an ongoing series is always a pleasure to read, and long enough to crack more than the surface of the character.

 

124- 136-GUARDIANS TEAM-UP

03/15 Guardians Team-up #1 -  155,388
03/15 Guardians Team-up #2 -   38,390  (-75.3%)
03/15 Guardians Team-up #3 -   40,637  (+ 5.9%) B. Vortex
04/15 Guardians Team-up #4 -   28,877  (-28.9%)
05/15 Guardians Team-Up #5 -   25,093  (-13.1%)
06/15 Guardians Team-Up #6 -   23,004  (- 8.3%)
07/15 Guardians Team-Up #7 -   20,639  (-10.3%)
07/15 Guardians Team-Up #8 -   18,973  (- 8.1%)

Since issue #2: -50.6%

This never ending fall has already cost the title more than 50% of its issue#2 readership.

 

125- MOON KNIGHT
  
12/11  Moon Knight v4 #8  -  24,626  
---
03/14  Moon Knight v5 #1  -  58,022 (  --- )
04/14  Moon Knight v5 #2  -  40,885 (-29.5%) 
05/14  Moon Knight v5 #3  -  42,607 (  4.2%)
06/14  Moon Knight v5 #4  -  40,348 ( -5.3%)
07/14  Moon Knight v5 #5  -  38,630 ( -4.3%)
08/14  Moon Knight v5 #6  -  37,646 ( -2.5%)
09/14  Moon Knight v5 #7  -  35,630 ( -5.4%)
10/14  Moon Knight v5 #8  -  32,434 ( -9.0%)
11/14  Moon Knight v5 #9  -  28,739 (-11.4%)
12/14  Moon Knight v5 #10 -  26,633 ( -7.3%)
01/15  Moon Knight v5 #11 -  24,464 ( -8.1%)
02/15  Moon Knight v5 #12 -  23,486 ( -4.0%)
03/15  Moon Knight v5 #13 -  22,871 ( -2.6%)
04/15  Moon Knight v5 #14 -  22,303 ( -2.5%)
05/15  Moon Knight v5 #15 -  21,794 ( -2.3%)
06/15  Moon Knight v5 #16 -  21,497 ( -1.4%)
07/15  Moon Knight v5 #17 -  20,615 ( -4.1%)

Since issue #2: -49.6%
Average +% TPB sales: +7.3%
MOON KNIGHT TPB VOL. 02: 2,593

Managed to barely stay over the doomed 20k limit.

 

128- LOKI, AGENT OF ASGARD

02/14  Loki #1 -  41,921 
03/14  Loki #2 -  27,968  ( -33.3%)
04/14  Loki #3 -  27,472  (  -1.8%)
05/14  Loki #4 -  26,012  (  -7.0%)
06/14  Loki #5 -  24,794  (  -4.7%)
09/14  Loki #6 -  25,131  (   1.4%)(Axis)
10/14  Loki #7 -  25,430  (   1.2%)(Axis)
11/14  Loki #8 -  23,333  (  -8.2%)(Axis)
12/14  Loki #9 -  21,697  (  -7.0%)(Axis)
01/15  Loki #10-  19,856  ( - 8.5%)
02/15  Loki #11-  18,623  ( - 6.2%)
03/15  Loki #12-  17,940  (  -3.7%)
04/15  Loki #13-  17,212  (  -4.0%)
05/15  Loki #14-  21,904  ( +27.3%)
06/15  Loki #15-  19,956  (  -8.9%)
07/15  Loki #16-  19,846  (  -0.6%)

Since issue #2: -29.0%
Average +% TPB sales #6-11: +8.3%
LOKI TPB VOL. 02: 2,092

Another moderate success for Marvel on a third party character, sustaining adventures for more than 20 issues.

 

130- UNBEATABLE SQUIRREL GIRL

01/15 Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #1 - 41,693
02/15 Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #2 – 24,621  (-40.9%)
03/15 Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #3 – 26,586  ( +8.0%)
04/15 Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #4 – 20,987  (-21.1%)
05/15 Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #5 – 20,088  (- 4.3%)
06/15 Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #6 – 19,341  (- 3.7%)
06/15 Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #7 – 19,801  (+ 2.4%)

Since issue #2: -19.6%

It seems like Squirrel Girl has found its level.  It’s a pretty nice selling point for a series who, otherwise, could have been sold under the Marvel All-Ages banner and have been invisible to customers, selling under the 10k line.

 

133- SHIELD 

12/14  SHIELD #1 -  94,503  
01/15  SHIELD #2 -  33,965  (-64.1%)
02/15  SHIELD #3 –  29,790  (-12.3%)
03/15  ---
04/15  SHIELD #4 -  26,930  (- 9.6%)
04/15  SHIELD #5 -  26,614  (- 1.2%)
05/15  SHIELD #6 -  23,152  (-13.0%)
06/15  SHIELD #7 -  25,786  (+11.4%)
07/15  SHIELD #8 -  19,469  (-24.5%)

Since issue #2: -42.7%

Shield has never been a good seller for Marvel but, given the help of a TV show, that’s pretty weak. We will have to wait for the trade sales but, once again, the success of a current movie/TV series does not necessarily translate into comics floppy sales.

SHIELD TPB Vol.1 -  2,460
144p, $18, cents per page: 12.5
Average +% TPB sales #1-6: +7.2% 

And look who’s there! The first trade, packaged at a nice price, is doing very well. It could save the title from cancellation, especially since Marvel has an interest into keeping a comics related to the TV show as long as it is not cancelled.

 

135- WHERE MONSTERS DWELL LTD 

05/15 Where Monsters Dwell Ltd #1 – 26,574
06/15 Where Monsters Dwell Ltd #2 – 20,078 (-24.4%)
07/15 Where Monsters Dwell Ltd #3 – 19,223 (- 4.3%)

That’s a very nice, small drop. If all the readers of this series cross over to the upcoming Howling Commandos of Shield, this one could survive.

 

140- MASTER OF KUNG-FU LTD 

05/15 Master of Kung-Fu Ltd #1 – 23,407
06/15 Master of Kung-Fu Ltd #2 – 19,763  (-15.6%)
07/15 Master of Kung-Fu Ltd #2 – 18,348  (- 7.2%)

Not many people on this boat, but at least they stay, which is more than what we can say for other Secret Wars minis…

 

151- MODOK ASSASSIN LTD 

05/15 Modok Assassin Ltd #1 – 26,574
06/15 Modok Assassin Ltd #2 – 19,618 (-26.2%)
07/15 Modok Assassin Ltd #3 – 16,379 (-16.5%)

This one took another small blow.

 

174- POWERS

05/14  Bureau #10   -  9,002  (  0.5%)
06/14  ---
07/14  ---
08/14  ---
09/14  Bureau #11   -  8,747  ( -2.8%)
10/14  ---
11/14  Bureau #12   -  8,379  ( -4.2%)
...
01/15 Powers #1 -  16,467 
02/15 ---
03/15 Powers #2 -  12,266  (-25.5%)
04/15 ---
05/15 Powers #3 -  10,485  (-14.5%)
06/15 ---
07/15 Powers #4 -   9,806  (- 6.5%)

Since issue#2: -20.1%

Sales are heading back to where they were before the « relaunch ».

 

227- DARK TOWER DRAWING 3 HOUSE CARDS LTD

03/15 Dark Tower D3HC Ltd #1 of 5 – 11,107
04/15 Dark Tower D3HC Ltd #2 of 5 – 10,019  (- 9.8%)
05/15 Dark Tower D3HC Ltd #3 of 5 –  9,248  (- 7.7%)
06/15 Dark Tower D3HC Ltd #4 of 5 –  9,253  (+ 0.1%)
07/15 Dark Tower D3HC Ltd #5 of 5 –  9,027  (- 2.4%)

Retailers seem to have almost perfectly figured out how this long-running series of mini-series is going to sell for them.

 

238- DEATHLOK

12/09 Deathlok #2 – 14,059
---
10/14 Deathlok  #1 – 43,991
11/14 Deathlok  #2 – 20,883  (-52.5%)
12/14 Deathlok  #3 – 18,112  (-13.3%)
01/15 Deathlok  #4 – 14,498  (-20.0%)
02/15 Deathlok  #5 – 12,053  (-16.9%)
03/15 Deathlok  #6 – 10,066  (-16.5%)
04/15 Deathlok  #7 –  9,871  (- 1.9%)
05/15 Deathlok  #8 –  8,931  (- 9.5%)
06/15 Deathlok  #9 -  8,757  (- 1.9%)
07/15 Deathlok #10 -  8,360  (- 4.5%)

Since issue #2: -60.0%
Average +% TPB Sales #1-5: +4.7%
DEATHLOK TPV VOL.1 : 980

This atrocious sales trajectory slowed down at a desperately low level.

 

290-MAX RIDE FIRST FLIGHT LTD

04/15 Max Ride First Flight Ltd #1 of 5– 16,317
04/15 Max Ride First Flight Ltd #2 of 5–  8,638  (-47.1%)
05/15 ---
06/15 Max Ride First Flight Ltd #3 of 5–  6,246  (-27.7%)
07/15 Max Ride First Flight Ltd #4 of 5–  5,821  (- 6.8%)

We are now at 1/3 of the debut sales. More copies of #1 are probably sleeping in a back issues $1 bin than there are copies of #4 actually being read by people.


 

Thanks for reading until the end! Hope to see you next time. Feel free to comment!

Xavier Lancel, born 1973 in France, living in the beautiful city of Lyon, has been working since 1999 for Scarce, one of the longest running fanzine on US comics (32 years old!). He is the new editor of the magazine since 2008. He also runs two blogs, one devoted to Ernie Colon and the other devoteded to barechested men in comics. He sometimes appear as a comics character (because French people are funny-weird) in strips by Tim Fish.

 

9 COMMENTS

  1. I love the Weirdworld comic. I was never a fan of the main character, nor am I too into the whole Secret Wars thing going on, but the art is fantastic and weird and I love it.

  2. I really want to read it: Arkon has been such a jerk, I’m interested to see what was made of him. And of course, I wanna know the terrilbe fate of the Crystal warriors! I’m a huge fans of Saga of Crystar.

  3. It looks like a special crate/box offer, or a special variant program at the same time than the release of the movie (like “buy 50 of those to 1 special variant cover for this”) but it had clearly nothing to do with readers taking a sudden interest into reading it.

  4. Hi Xavier! Great column, as usual. The phenominon that is Star Wars sales are outrageous. How would Marvel stack up against DC if they didn’t have the numbers from the Star Wrs titles?

  5. Thanks for the response, Xavier.

    I do think the Star Wars books are sort of proof that a stable creative team can do a lot for a book/line of books. Darth Vader’s had a stable team, and while Cassaday didn’t stick around on the main book, I’m confident Immonen can deliver on a monthly basis. Sorta like Snyder/Capullo on Batman.

  6. Why in the world would someone pay $25 dollars for a trade that they could have bought for $18 in floppies?!

    THOR HC VOL.2 – 2,562 | 136p, $25
    Only two months after the release of volume 1, here is volume 2, at a not-very-friendly price, and collecting very few things (only issue 6-8 and Annual 1). Sales are ok but its less than the first volume. Apparently, reviewers were not really happy with the small amount of stories collected.

  7. I mean, there is value in a trade that floppies don’t have (ease of display, ease of re-read, no ads), but also factor in that it’s easier to pay non-cover price for a trade. Amazon marks stuff down on the regular. But I agree, a bit lower a price would be preferable.

Comments are closed.