201306250436.jpg

by Paul O’Brien

Marvel generally like to make their big launches as they come out of major crossover events, and so with AGE OF ULTRON in progress and INFINITY not yet underway, May was a pretty quiet month – save for one big new title at the top of the chart.

May also saw the release of the Iron Man film, but for whatever reason, Marvel have significantly dialed back on the amount of original tie-in product they’re producing for the movies – perhaps realizing that they’ve got a ton of back catalogue material already which is perfectly good for selling to casual audiences. There’s a weekly mini, and, um, that’s about it.

As usual, Marvel had the largest share of the North American direct market, beating DC by 37% to 31% in terms of units and by 33% to 28% in dollars.

Bear in mind the usual disclaimers. These figures relate to sales to retailers in the North American direct market. They don’t include overseas sales, newsstand sales, or digital, and most of this material will also sell further copies when it gets collected.

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

1.  X-MEN
05/11  X-Men v3 #11 -  46,519
=====
05/12  X-Men v3 #28 -  35,838  (  -2.7%)
05/12  X-Men v3 #29 -  35,483  (  -1.0%)
06/12  X-Men v3 #30 -  37,690  (  +6.2%)
06/12  X-Men v3 #31 -  35,789  (  -5.0%)
07/12  X-Men v3 #32 -  35,091  (  -2.0%)
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  - 177,633  (+446.8%)
                       6 mnth  (+486.5%)
                       1 year  (+395.7%)
                       2 year  (+281.9%)

Even allowing for the usual torrent of variant covers, this is a surprisingly good number. The two Brian Bendis titles, ALL-NEW X-MEN and UNCANNY X-MEN, appear to be the lynchpins of the current X-Men lines, so you’d have thought that this book was automatically positioned as the C-title at best. Despite a cast reshuffle, it’s also keeping writer Brian Wood from its previous incarnation, which wasn’t exactly setting the tills on fire. Having Olivier Coipel on art certainly helps send a signal that it’s a higher priority for Marvel, but I still wasn’t expecting it to do quite this well.

To put this in perspective, 177,633 is actually marginally higher than the first month sales of UNCANNY X-MEN in February (by 170 copies, admittedly, but higher nonetheless). And it’s a clear 34K ahead of the previous X-MEN #1 – you remember, the vampire one – from 2010. I would have pegged this as a B-level launch, but these are A-list numbers. Perhaps it’s simply a testimony to the wisdom of releasing books like this in a quiet month where they don’t have to fight for attention.

4,5. AGE OF ULTRON
03/13  Age of Ultron #1 of 10 - 174,952
03/13  Age of Ultron #2 of 10 - 109,383  (-37.5%)
03/13  Age of Ultron #3 of 10 - 105,505  ( -3.5%)
04/13  Age of Ultron #4 of 10 - 101,057  ( -4.2%)
04/13  Age of Ultron #5 of 10 -  97,982  ( -3.0%)
04/13  Age of Ultron #6 of 10 -  97,242  ( -0.8%)
05/13  Age of Ultron #7 of 10 -  96,664  ( -0.6%)
05/13  Age of Ultron #8 of 10 -  95,522  ( -1.2%)

Usual miniseries behaviour. After the expected early drop off, sales seem to be stabilising nicely.

6,7. SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN
05/03  Amaz. v2 #53 -  95,777
05/08  Amazing #560 -  74,012
05/09  Amazing #593 -  58,363
05/10  Amazing #632 -  56,723
05/11  Amazing #662 -  55,883
=====
05/12  Amazing #685 -  58,121  (  +1.2%)
05/12  Amazing #686 -  58,337  (  +0.4%)
06/12  Amazing #687 -  62,680  (  +7.4%)
06/12  Amazing #688 -  60,409  (  -3.6%)
07/12  Amazing #689 -  59,859  (  -0.9%)
07/12  Amazing #690 -  58,976  (  -1.5%)
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%)
                       6 mnth  ( +42.5%)
                       1 year  ( +46.8%)
                       2 year  ( +52.7%)
                       3 year  ( +50.5%)
                       4 year  ( +46.2%)
                       5 year  ( +15.3%)
                      10 year  ( -10.9%)

Issue #9 had a variant cover, the first since issue #5. It was also solicited as a major turning point in the storyline – although the “Superior No More” billing was slightly belied by the immediately following solicitation for SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #10.

Issue #700 picks up another few re-orders, adding 5,334 to its total. As usual, they’re added in above.

9. 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%)
                            6 mnth  (-20.2%)

Back to regular numbers after last month’s variant cover. Since issues #9 and #11 are in fact the only issues thus far not to have had variant covers, the underlying trends aren’t yet transparent – but it seems to be holding relatively steady at around the 80K mark.

11,38. IRON MAN
05/03  Iron Man v3 #68  - 33,213
05/08  Iron Man v5 #1  - 105,864
05/09  Iron Man v5 #13 -  51,311
05/10  Iron Man v5 #26 -  53,625
05/11  Iron Man #504   -  44,791
=====
05/12  Iron Man #516   -  31,374  (  -3.2%)
05/12  Iron Man #517   -  31,536  (  +0.5%)
06/12  Iron Man #518   -  32,553  (  -3.2%)
06/12  Iron Man #519   -  32,518  (  -0.1%)
07/12  Iron Man #520   -  32,765  (  +0.8%)
07/12  Iron Man #521   -  32,172  (  -1.8%)
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%)
                          6 mnth  ( -37.7%)
                          1 year  ( +44.8%)
                          2 year  (  +1.4%)
                          3 year  ( -15.3%)
                          4 year  ( -11.5%)
                          5 year  ( -57.1%)
                         10 year  ( +36.8%)

Two issues this month, and issue #9 gets the big boost from the movie, while issue #10 pretty much returns to normal. In default of any other big project to tie in with the film, issue #9 was also promoted on the cover of MARVEl PREVIEWS – unusual for something that isn’t a launch, but evidently good publicity.

14,17. 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%)
                              6 mnth  (-36.5%)

Still drifting down in search of its level, and it hasn’t got much benefit from the AGE OF ULTRON tie-in either – though to be fair, nor did SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN. Unusually, this book’s AU title actually ties in to the ongoing storylines (which involved complicated time travel already).

15,18. AVENGERS
05/03  Avengers v3 #67 -  58,097
05/10  Avengers v4 #1  - 163,867
05/11  Avengers v4 #13 -  68,086
=====
05/12  Avengers v4 #26 -  67,744  (  +3.2%)
06/12  Avengers v4 #27 -  68,885  (  +1.7%)
07/12  Avengers v4 #28 -  63,169  (  -8.3%)
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%)
                          6 mnth  ( +30.8%)
                          1 year  ( +10.7%)
                          2 year  ( +10.1%)
                          3 year  ( -54.2%)
                         10 year  ( +29.1%)

Another book which is routinely running variant covers – thus far, only issues #7 and #11 have been without them. Issues #10 and #12 probably provide a fairer comparison, since they both had the same variant (a Daniel Acuna 50th anniversary cover). The drop between those two issues is a shade under 5%, so the book doesn’t appear to be levelling out – but the INFINITY crossover around the corner should help.

Issue #1 picks up a further 5,963 in reorders, which are added in above.

16. UNCANNY X-MEN
05/03  Uncanny X-Men #424   -  94,638
05/08  Uncanny X-Men #498   -  82,090
05/09  Uncanny X-Men #510   -  75,139
05/10  Uncanny X-Men #524   -  77,056
05/11  Uncanny X-Men #537   -  53,716
=====
05/12  Uncanny X-Men v2 #12 -  69,265  (  -7.8%)
06/12  Uncanny X-Men v2 #13 -  70,521  (  +1.8%)
06/12  Uncanny X-Men v2 #14 -  67,793  (  -3.9%)
07/12  Uncanny X-Men v2 #15 -  66,114  (  -2.5%)
07/12  Uncanny X-Men v2 #16 -  63,835  (  -3.4%)
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%)
                               6 mnth  (   --- )
                               1 year  (  +6.3%)
                               2 year  ( +37.1%)
                               3 year  (  -4.5%)
                               4 year  (  -2.0%)
                               5 year  ( -10.3%)
                              10 year  ( -22.2%)

This is the first issue of the series NOT to have a variant cover, so the sales drop needs to be seen with that in mind.

20. THANOS RISING
04/13  Thanos Rising #1 of 5 - 114,720
05/13  Thanos Rising #2 of 5 -  67,262  (-41.4%)

Bit steep for a second issue drop, but then the first issue did have multiple variant covers. It’s still a very good number for a retelling of an origin story.

22. NEW AVENGERS
05/08  New Avengers #41    - 109,185
05/09  New Avengers #53    -  94,367
05/10  New Avengers Finale -  76,918
05/11  New Avengers v2 #12 -  60,328
=====
05/12  New Avengers v2 #26 -  64,326  (  +3.8%)
06/12  New Avengers v2 #27 -  64,927  (  +0.9%)
07/12  New Avengers v2 #28 -  62,739  (  -3.4%)
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%)
                              6 mnth  ( +10.2%)
                              1 year  (  -7.7%)
                              2 year  (  -1.6%)
                              3 year  ( -22.8%)
                              4 year  ( -37.1%)
                              5 year  ( -45.6%)

Once again, this is the first issue not to feature a variant, so the sales drop ought to be exaggerated.

26,27. DEADPOOL
05/09  Deadpool v3 #10 -  56,123
05/10  Deadpool v3 #23 -  42,761
05/11  Deadpool v3 #37 -  28,002
=====
05/12  Deadpool v3 #54 -  29,644  (  +1.1%)
05/12  Deadpool v3 #55 -  29,022  (  -2.1%)
06/12  Deadpool v3 #56 -  29,513  (  +1.7%)
07/12  Deadpool v3 #57 -  29,155  (  -1.2%)
07/12  Deadpool v3 #58 -  28,706  (  -1.5%)
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%)
                          6 mnth  ( -34.0%)
                          1 year  ( +70.2%)
                          2 year  ( +80.2%)
                          3 year  ( +18.0%)
                          4 year  ( -10.1%)

DEADPOOL has now been without variants for three straight issues, and it’s holding up quite acceptably.

29,32. INDESTRUCTIBLE HULK
05/03  Incredible v3 #54     -  61,426
05/08  ---
05/09  Hulk #12              -  73,105
05/10  Incredible Hulk #609  -  46,670
05/11  Incredible Hulks #629 -  28,103
=====
05/12  Incredible v4 #.1     -  38,472  (  -8.7%)
05/12  Incredible v4 #8      -  42,076  (  +9.4%)
06/12  Incredible v4 #9      -  40,467  (  -3.8%)
06/12  Incredible v4 #10     -  38,122  (  -5.8%)
07/12  Incredible v4 #11     -  36,743  (  -3.6%)
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%)
                                6 mnth  ( -58.7%)
                                1 year  ( +16.1%)
                                2 year  ( +73.9%)
                                3 year  (  +4.7%)
                                4 year  ( -33.2%)
                                5 year  (   --- )
                               10 year  ( -20.4%)

Two issues this month, and once again, they’re the first two not to feature variant covers – which goes some way to explaining the sharp drop on issue #7.

31. WOLVERINE
05/03  Wolverine v3 #1  - 158,787
05/08  Wolverine v3 #65 -  62,451
05/09  W: Weapon X #2   -  59,192
05/10  W: Weapon X #13  -  29,773
05/11  Wolverine v4 #9  -  44,635
=====
05/12  Wolverine #306   -  34,873  (  -6.9%)
05/12  Wolverine #307   -  34,485  (  -1.1%)
06/12  Wolverine #308   -  35,142  (  +1.9%)
07/12  Wolverine #309   -  33,148  (  -5.7%)
07/12  Wolverine #310   -  60,880  ( +83.7%)
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%)
                           6 mnth  ( +54.1%)
                           1 year  ( +42.3%)
                           2 year  ( +11.2%)
                           3 year  ( +66.7%)
                           4 year  ( -16.2%)
                           5 year  ( -20.5%)
                          10 year  ( -68.7%)

On the high side for a third issue drop, but still comfortably ahead of inherited sales, and Marvel are becoming a little clearer about the fact that this book is the lead Wolverine title, not SAVAGE WOLVERINE, which appears to be LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT except with claws. Thus far, sales are more or less tracking SAVAGE.

33. THOR: GOD OF THUNDER
05/03  Thor v2 #64 -  34,337
05/08  Thor v3 #9  -  87,101
05/09  ---
05/10  Thor #610   -  61,779
05/11  Thor v4 #2  -  50,473
=====
05/12  Thor v4 #14 -  32,550  (  -5.7%)
06/12  Thor v4 #15 -  33,674  (  +3.5%)
06/12  Thor v4 #16 -  31,798  (  -5.6%)
07/12  Thor v4 #17 -  30,879  (  -2.9%)
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%)
                      6 mnth  ( -25.8%)
                      1 year  ( +49.4%)
                      2 year  (  -3.7%)
                      3 year  ( -21.3%)
                      4 year  (   --- )
                      5 year  ( -44.2%)
                     10 year  ( +41.6%)

Issues #6 and #8 are the only two issues to date without a variant cover – which suggests the variants aren’t having anywhere near as big an impact on this book, for whatever reason. Allowing for that, sales seem to be steady.

35,36. UNCANNY X-FORCE
05/08  X-Force v3 #4  - 80,175
05/09  X-Force v3 #15 - 58,340
05/10  X-Force v3 #27 - 62,509
05/11  X-Force v4 #9  - 51,726
=====
05/12  X-Force v4 #25 - 50,851  ( +0.4%)
06/12  X-Force v4 #26 - 47,522  ( -6.0%)
07/12  X-Force v4 #27 - 46,325  ( -2.5%)
07/12  X-Force v4 #28 - 46,367  ( +0.1%)
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%)
                        6 mnth  ( +4.5%)
                        1 year  (-10.2%)
                        2 year  (-11.7%)
                        3 year  (-26.9%)
                        4 year  (-21.7%)
                        5 year  (-43.0%)

After missing April, UNCANNY X-FORCE catches up on its schedule with two issues this month. There’s no obvious sign of this levelling out, and at this rate it’s going to drop below inherited sales next month. Then again, the book has a less established writer now, and I doubt Marvel ever seriously expected it to match Rick Remender’s sales in the long run.

42. CAPTAIN AMERICA
05/03  Captain America v3 #13 -  49,279
05/08  Captain America v6 #38 -  79,350
05/09  Captain America v6 #50 -  66,928
05/10  ---
05/11  Captain America #618   -  44,748
=====
05/12  Captain America v7 #11 -  39,012  (  -5.9%)
05/12  Captain America v7 #12 -  38,800  (  -0.5%)
06/12  Captain America v7 #13 -  39,456  (  +1.7%)
07/12  Captain America v7 #14 -  36,812  (  -6.7%)
07/12  Captain America v7 #15 -  36,433  (  -1.0%)
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%)
                                 6 mnth  ( -64.4%)
                                 1 year  ( +12.8%)
                                 2 year  (  -1.6%)
                                 3 year  (   --- )
                                 4 year  ( -34.2%)
                                 5 year  ( -44.5%)
                                10 year  ( -10.7%)

First issue without a variant cover, so the drop is exaggerated. There’s still little sign of this book levelling out, though.

47. SAVAGE WOLVERINE
01/13  Savage Wolverine #1 - 102,530
02/13  Savage Wolverine #2 -  58,254  (-43.2%)
03/13  Savage Wolverine #3 -  50,310  (-13.6%)
04/13  Savage Wolverine #4 -  45,933  ( -8.7%)
05/13  Savage Wolverine #5 -  42,328  ( -7.8%)

This isn’t holding up too well at all. We now know that SAVAGE WOLVERINE is basically an anthology series with rotating creative teams, and something tells me that’s not going to work in the long run. Given the experience of WOLVERINE: WEAPON X (which was originally presented as a spin-off and crashed spectacularly) and WOLVERINE: THE BEST THERE IS (dead in a year), plus the recent failure of both DAKEN and X-23, I’m very sceptical about how long the market will support a secondary Wolverine title. Stranger things have happened, though.

48. HAWKEYE
08/12  Hawkeye v4 #1  - 48,346
09/12  Hawkeye v4 #2  - 33,563  (-30.6%)
10/12  Hawkeye v4 #3  - 35,403  ( +5.5%)
11/12  Hawkeye v4 #4  - 34,208  ( -3.4%)
12/12  Hawkeye v4 #5  - 34,385  ( +0.5%)
12/12  Hawkeye v4 #6  - 33,440  ( -2.7%)
01/13  Hawkeye v4 #7  - 37,000  (+10.6%)
02/13  Hawkeye v4 #8  - 36,898  ( -0.3%)
03/13  ---
04/13  Hawkeye v4 #9  - 39,678  ( +7.5%)
05/13  Hawkeye v4 #10 - 42,090  ( +6.1%)
                        6 mnth  (+23.0%)

There’s a 1:20 variant cover on this issue, so some sales increase was to be expected. Even so, HAWKEYE does seem to be the rare title that has actually rebounded and started to climb back up the chart. This is the second highest selling issues of the series.

51,52. WOLVERINE & THE X-MEN
05/12  Wolverine/X-Men #10 - 63,650  ( -2.1%)
05/12  Wolverine/X-Men #11 - 64,936  ( +2.0%)
06/12  Wolverine/X-Men #12 - 64,838  ( -0.2%)
07/12  Wolverine/X-Men #13 - 62,689  ( -3.3%)
07/12  Wolverine/X-Men #14 - 61,029  ( -2.6%)
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%)
                             6 mnth  (-17.0%)
                             1 year  (-37.1%)

The April issues had a crossover and variant cover, so the fairer comparison is with March. That suggests very gentle erosion, but nothing to be concerned about.

53. DAREDEVIL
05/03  Daredevil v2 #47  - 61,368
05/08  Daredevil v2 #107 - 40,418
05/09  ---
05/10  ---
05/11  Reborn #4 of 4    - 26,179
=====
05/12  Daredevil v3 #12  - 39,231  (-14.9%)
05/12  Daredevil v3 #13  - 39,056  ( -0.4%)
06/12  Daredevil v3 #14  - 43,865  (+12.3%)
07/12  Daredevil v3 #15  - 38,469  (-12.3%)
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%)
                           6 mnth  ( +9.0%)
                           1 year  ( +1.4%)
                           2 year  (+52.0%)
                           3 year  (  --- )
                           4 year  (  --- )
                           5 year  ( -1.6%)
                          10 year  (-35.2%)

A double-sized issue, for no immediately obvious reason – the solicitations say it’s “celebrating the third year of the acclaimed series”, but this run launched in July 2011, so we’re actually still in year two.

At any rate, this is the fifth straight issue to post a sales increase, and even with the gimmick in play, that’s clearly a strong performance in the current marketplace.

55. 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%)

No sign of this one levelling out yet.

57. NOVA
05/08  Nova v4 #13 - 28,144
05/09  Nova v4 #25 - 26,172
=====
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%)
                     4 year  (+45.8%)
                     5 year  (+35.6%)

In contrast, this one does seem to be levelling out. It’s still not exactly the most successful example of putting big name creators on Marvel’s lesser properties, but on the other hand, it’s doing a lot better than would normally be expected of NOVA.

58. FANTASTIC FOUR
05/03  Fantast. Four v3 #69 -  52,103
05/08  Fantastic Four #557  -  62,736
05/09  Fantastic Four #566  -  46,653
05/10  Fantastic Four #579  -  38,415
05/11  FF #4                -  60,571
=====
05/12  Fantastic Four #.1   -  39,475  (  -6.8%)
05/12  Fantastic Four #606  -  39,914  (  +1.1%)
06/12  Fantastic Four #607  -  40,453  (  +1.4%)
07/12  Fantastic Four #608  -  37,776  (  -6.6%)
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%)
                               6 mnth  ( -67.4%)
                               1 year  (  -6.5%)
                               2 year  ( -38.4%)
                               3 year  (  -2.9%)
                               4 year  ( -20.0%)
                               5 year  ( -40.5%)
                              10 year  ( -28.4%)

No sign of this levelling out either, six months after the relaunch. It’s still ahead of inherited sales, but it’s closing in on them fast.

61. ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN
05/03  Spider-Man #40    - 104,480
05/08  Spider-Man #122   -  55,759
05/09  Spider-Man #132   -  50,144
05/10  Spider-Man v2 #10 -  39,690
05/11  Spider-Man #158   -  47,941
=====
05/12  Spider-Man v3 #10 -  42,356  ( -3.1%)
06/12  Spider-Man v3 #11 -  42,549  ( +0.5%)
07/12  Spider-Man v3 #12 -  42,050  ( -1.2%)
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%)
                            6 mnth  ( -7.5%)
                            1 year  (-16.0%)
                            2 year  (-25.8%)
                            3 year  (-10.4%)
                            4 year  (-29.0%)
                            5 year  (-36.2%)
                           10 year  (-65.9%)

No obvious reason for the slight increase here, though it could just be background noise on a title that’s hovering around the 35K mark.

ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN is in an odd position right now, since it’s the most successful Ultimate book by a mile – its compatriots are down around the 20K mark, which appears to be cancellation territory. The upcoming HUNGER mini may be Marvel’s latest attempt to attract attention back to the Ultimate imprint.

63. AVENGERS: ENEMY WITHIN
05/08  Ms Marvel v2 #27      - 41,131
05/09  Ms Marvel v2 #39      - 24,757
=====
07/12  Captain Marvel v6 #1  - 41,582
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%)
                               6 mnth  (+57.3%)
                               4 year  (+38.2%)
                               5 year  (-16.8%)

Effectively replacing this month’s issue of CAPTAIN MARVEL, so I’ve listed it here. This is the first part of a crossover running between CAPTAIN MARVEL and AVENGERS ASSEMBLE, and perhaps unsurprisingly it sells in quantities typical of ASSEMBLE.

65. SECRET AVENGERS
05/10  Secret Avengers #1    - 106,750
05/11  Secret Avengers #13   -  51,936
=====
05/12  Secret Avengers #27   -  49,851  (  -9.1%)
06/12  Secret Avengers #28   -  51,572  (  +3.5%)
07/12  Secret Avengers #29   -  41,653  ( -19.2%)
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%)
                                6 mnth  (  +4.0%)
                                1 year  ( -32.9%)
                                2 year  ( -35.6%)
                                3 year  ( -68.7%)

Dropping at an alarming rate, frankly.

66. AVENGERS ASSEMBLE
05/12  Avengers Assemble #3  -  43,886  (-17.2%)
06/12  Avengers Assemble #4  -  43,022  ( -2.0%)
07/12  Avengers Assemble #5  -  38,951  ( -9.5%)
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%)
                                6 mnth  (-21.2%)
                                1 year  (-24.4%)

The second AGE OF ULTRON tie-in issue, which really has nothing much to do with the regular title at all.

67. THUNDERBOLTS
05/03  Thunderbolts #79   - 19,755
05/08  Thunderbolts #120  - 38,330
05/09  Thunderbolts #132  - 43,911
05/10  Thunderbolts #144  - 33,276
05/11  Thunderbolts #157  - 25,063
=====
05/12  Thunderbolts #174  - 18,792  (  -1.2%)
06/12  ---
07/12  ---
08/12  ---
09/12  ---
10/12  ---
11/12  ---
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%)
                            6 mnth  (  --- )
                            1 year  (+74.8%)
                            2 year  (+31.1%)
                            3 year  ( -1.3%)
                            4 year  (-25.2%)
                            5 year  (-14.3%)
                           10 year  (+66.3%)

No variant this month, for only the second time (the other being issue #6). Even so, the book doesn’t seem to be holding on to its audience. There’s an Infinity tie-in scheduled for issues #14-15.

69. YOUNG AVENGERS
05/08  YA Presents #5 of 6  - 28,796
=====
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%)
                              5 year  (+11.7%)

Some signs of levelling out.

71. FF
05/11  FF #3    - 66,885
=====
05/12  FF #18   - 34,555  (  -7.4%)
06/12  FF #19   - 34,260  (  -0.9%)
07/12  FF #20   - 31,652  (  -7.6%)
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%)
                  6 mnth  ( -61.6%)
                  1 year  ( -10.4%)
                  2 year  ( -53.7%)

Again, the first issue without a variant cover, which makes things look a bit worse than they are. Even so, it’s not great.

76. A+X
05/12  Versus #2 of 6 -  98,819  (-11.7%)
06/12  Versus #3 of 6 -  94,528  ( -4.3%)
07/12  Versus #4 of 6 -  86,526  ( -8.5%)
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%)
                         6 mnth  (-58.3%)
                         1 year  (-72.7%)

Issue #7 had a variant cover, but even so, it’s pretty clear that this book is in freefall. Not an enormous surprise given the usual fate of anthologies in the current market, and the fact that it inherited absurdly high sales from the AVX crossover.

79,83. AVENGING SPIDER-MAN
05/12  Avenging Spider-Man #7  - 38,012  (-19.9%)
06/12  Avenging Spider-Man #8  - 39,861  ( +4.9%)
07/12  Avenging Spider-Man #9  - 37,134  ( -6.8%)
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%)
                                 6 mnth  ( -9.5%)
                                 1 year  (-28.3%)

Shortly to be rebooted as SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN TEAM-UP.

86. 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%)

Continuing to shed readers.

87,91. X-MEN LEGACY
05/03  New X-Men #141     -  95,805
05/08  X-Men Legacy #212  -  74,033
05/09  X-Men Legacy #224  -  54,008
05/10  X-Men Legacy #236  -  64,850
05/11  X-Men Legacy #249  -  45,063
=====
05/12  X-Men Legacy #266  -  43,199  ( +21.0%)
05/12  X-Men Legacy #267  -  46,279  (  +7.1%)
06/12  X-Men Legacy #268  -  49,163  (  +6.2%)
06/12  X-Men Legacy #269  -  46,923  (  -4.6%)
07/12  X-Men Legacy #270  -  44,914  (  -4.3%)
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%)
                             6 mnth  ( -56.8%)
                             1 year  ( -42.0%)
                             2 year  ( -44.4%)
                             3 year  ( -61.4%)
                             4 year  ( -53.6%)
                             5 year  ( -66.2%)
                            10 year  ( -73.9%)

Steady erosion in evidence here too.

92,113. FEARLESS DEFENDERS
05/08  Last Defndrs. #3 - 23,387
=====
05/12  Defenders v4 #6  - 25,518  (  -8.5%)
06/12  Defenders v4 #7  - 23,574  (  -7.6%)
07/12  Defenders v4 #8  - 22,504  (  -4.5%)
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%)
                          6 mnth  ( +34.4%)
                          1 year  (  -2.1%)
                          5 year  (  +6.8%)

A noticeable boost for the AGE OF ULTRON tie-in, but otherwise it’s not looking at all good. The book is on its way below the 20K mark at speed, and as we’ll see, that’s not somewhere a Marvel Universe title wants to be.

94. SCARLET SPIDER
05/12  Scarlet Spider #5  - 30,932  ( -6.5%)
06/12  Scarlet Spider #6  - 30,722  ( -0.7%)
07/12  Scarlet Spider #7  - 29,140  ( -5.1%)
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%)
                            6 mnth  (-24.8%)
                            1 year  (-21.5%)

This one, on the other hand, is pretty steady. The last two issues have had variant covers, but even so, this seems to be hanging in there.

97. ASTONISHING X-MEN
05/08  Giant-Size #1         - 105,508
05/09  ---
05/10  ---
05/11  Astonishing X-Men #38 -  37,580
=====
05/12  Astonishing X-Men #50 -  61,866  (+97.7%)
06/12  Astonishing X-Men #51 -  82,654  (+33.6%)
07/12  Astonishing X-Men #52 -  35,766  (-56.7%)
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%)
                                6 mnth  (-12.6%)
                                1 year  (-61.0%)
                                2 year  (-35.8%)
                                3 year  (  --- )
                                4 year  (  --- )
                                5 year  (-77.1%)

Back to regular sales after the two-issue “X-Termination” crossover. The book is miles astray of the other X-Men titles – LEGACY no longer counts, since it’s become a Legion solo book, and WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN is over 15K ahead. It’s also notable that this is the one X-Men title that won’t be participating in the upcoming “Battle of the Atom” crossover (even though, as noted, it was deemed suitable for crossing over with X-TREME X-MEN and AGE OF APOCALYPSE).

100,111,116,124. IRON MAN #258
05/13  Iron Man #258.1 - 23,478
05/13  Iron Man #258.2 - 21,027  (-10.4%)
05/13  Iron Man #258.3 - 20,445  ( -2.8%)
05/13  Iron Man #258.4 - 18,393  (-10.0%)

A weekly miniseries tying in with the movie. Perfectly acceptable sales for a project of that sort.

108. VENOM
05/11  Venom v2 #3  - 40,634
=====
05/12  Venom v2 #17 - 30,157  ( +6.0%)
05/12  Venom v2 #18 - 28,309  ( -6.1%)
06/12  Venom v2 #19 - 28,702  ( +1.4%)
07/12  Venom v2 #20 - 26,941  ( -6.1%)
07/12  Venom v2 #21 - 26,534  ( -1.5%)
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%)
                      6 mnth  (-30.6%)
                      1 year  (-28.4%)
                      2 year  (-46.9%)

Very gentle erosion.

109. ULTIMATES
05/08  ---
05/09  ---
05/10  ---
05/11  Ultimates v4 #4  -  43,707
=====
05/12  Ultimates v5 #10 -  31,257  ( -0.3%)
05/12  Ultimates v5 #11 -  31,344  ( +0.3%)
06/12  Ultimates v5 #12 -  30,845  ( -1.6%)
07/12  Ultimates v5 #13 -  32,380  ( +5.0%)
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%)
                           6 mnth  (-26.3%)
                           1 year  (-31.4%)
                           2 year  (-51.0%)
                           3 year  (  --- )
                           4 year  (  --- )
                           5 year  (  --- )

More erosion, and we’re starting to hit the point where books have only limited leeway to erode. Specifically, we’re about to hit the monthly parade of cancelled titles, which begins with…

114,117. X-FACTOR
05/08  X-Factor v3 #31 - 48,231
05/09  X-Factor v3 #43 - 31,543
05/10  X-Factor #205   - 41,745
05/11  X-Factor #219   - 24,766
=====
05/12  X-Factor #235   - 24,051  ( +1.0%)
05/12  X-Factor #236   - 24,031  ( -0.1%)
06/12  X-Factor #237   - 24,854  ( +3.4%)
06/12  X-Factor #238   - 23,607  ( -5.0%)
07/12  X-Factor #239   - 23,506  ( -0.4%)
07/12  X-Factor #240   - 23,223  ( -1.2%)
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%)
                         6 mnth  ( -6.4%)
                         1 year  (-14.3%)
                         2 year  (-16.8%)
                         3 year  (-50.6%)
                         4 year  (-34.7%)
                         5 year  (-57.3%)

Cancelled with issue #262.

118. ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN
05/03  X-Men #33    - 93,125
05/08  X-Men #94    - 49,779
05/09  ---
05/10  ---
05/11  ---
=====
05/12  X-Men v2 #11 - 28,711  ( -3.5%)
05/12  X-Men v2 #12 - 28,839  ( +0.4%)
06/12  X-Men v2 #13 - 29,159  ( +1.1%)
07/12  X-Men v2 #14 - 29,879  ( +2.5%)
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%)
                      6 mnth  (-20.0%)
                      1 year  (-29.2%)
                      2 year  (  --- )
                      3 year  (  --- )
                      4 year  (  --- )
                      5 year  (-59.2%)
                     10 year  (-78.2%)

Still going, but given its rate of erosion and the fate of the books around it, it certainly isn’t looking healthy.

120,121. 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%)
                       6 mnth  (-26.1%)

Cancelled with issue #17.

123. ULTIMATE COMICS WOLVERINE
03/13  Wolverine #1 of 4 - 29,537
03/13  Wolverine #2 of 4 - 25,472  (-13.8%)
04/13  Wolverine #3 of 4 - 21,431  (-15.9%)
05/13  Wolverine #4 of 4 - 18,498  (-13.7%)

Not bad considering how well the parent title ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN is doing at the moment.

125. 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%)
                           6 mnth  (-33.0%)

Marvel have consistently been willing to tolerate much lower sales on Max titles, but there’s still a limit, and this book is shedding readers rather too fast for comfort.

126. WINTER SOLDIER
05/12  Winter Soldier #5  - 30,646  ( -8.6%)
06/12  Winter Soldier #6  - 30,386  ( -0.8%)
06/12  Winter Soldier #7  - 28,984  ( -4.6%)
07/12  Winter Soldier #8  - 27,317  ( -5.8%)
08/12  Winter Soldier #9  - 26,255  ( -3.9%)
09/12  Winter Soldier #10 - 25,811  ( -1.7%)
09/12  Winter Soldier #11 - 25,310  ( -1.9%)
10/12  Winter Soldier #12 - 24,807  ( -2.0%)
11/12  ---
12/12  Winter Soldier #13 - 23,951  ( -3.5%)
01/13  Winter Soldier #14 - 22,873  ( -4.5%)
02/13  Winter Soldier #15 - 22,199  ( -2.9%)
03/13  Winter Soldier #16 - 20,973  ( -5.5%)
04/13  Winter Soldier #17 - 19,395  ( -7.5%)
05/13  Winter Soldier #18 - 18,120  ( -6.6%)
                            6 mnth  (  --- )
                            1 year  (-40.9%)

Cancelled with issue #19.

130. JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY
05/11  J/into Mystery #623 - 39,003
=====
05/12  J/into Mystery #637 - 24,378  (+15.3%)
05/12  J/into Mystery #638 - 23,766  ( -2.5%)
06/12  J/into Mystery #639 - 21,914  ( -7.8%)
06/12  J/into Mystery #640 - 20,714  ( -5.5%)
07/12  J/into Mystery #641 - 19,850  ( -4.2%)
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%)
                             6 mnth  (-26.3%)
                             1 year  (-30.8%)
                             2 year  (-56.7%)

Cancelled with issue #655.

138. DARK AVENGERS
06/12  Dark Avengers #175 - 39,532  (+110.4%)
06/12  Dark Avengers #176 - 34,614  ( -12.4%)
07/12  Dark Avengers #177 - 30,643  ( -11.5%)
07/12  Dark Avengers #178 - 28,572  (  -6.8%)
08/12  Dark Avengers #179 - 25,835  (  -9.6%)
09/12  Dark Avengers #180 - 23,761  (  -8.0%)
09/12  Dark Avengers #181 - 23,044  (  -3.0%)
10/12  Dark Avengers #182 - 21,936  (  -4.8%)
11/12  Dark Avengers #183 - 21,109  (  -3.8%)
12/12  Dark Avengers #184 - 20,584  (  -2.5%)
01/13  Dark Avengers #185 - 19,229  (  -6.6%)
01/13  Dark Avengers #186 - 18,937  (  -1.5%)
02/13  Dark Avengers #187 - 18,213  (  -3.8%)
03/13  Dark Avengers #188 - 17,448  (  -4.2%)
04/13  Dark Avengers #189 - 16,654  (  -4.6%)
05/13  Dark Avengers #190 - 15,905  (  -4.5%)
                            6 mnth  ( -24.7%)

Cancelled with this issue.

139. IRON MAN: THE COMING OF THE MELTER
05/13  One-shot - 15,871

A reprint to tie in with the movie. (Yes, of all the things that could have been dusted of for the movie, it’s a reprint of Iron Man versus the Melter from IRON MAN #72.)

149. 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%)

Cancelled with issue #9.

155. RED SHE-HULK
05/09  Hulk #12         -  73,105
05/10  Hulk #22         -  49,618
05/11  Hulk #33         -  32,273
=====
05/12  Hulk #51         -  22,085  (-35.9%)
05/12  Hulk #52         -  21,882  ( -0.9%)
06/12  Hulk #53         -  22,386  ( +2.3%)
06/12  Hulk #54         -  22,070  ( -1.4%)
07/12  Hulk #55         -  22,141  ( +0.3%)
08/12  Hulk #56         -  21,558  ( -2.6%)
08/12  Hulk #57         -  21,553  ( -0.0%)
09/12  ---
10/12  Red She-Hulk #58 -  31,136  (+44.5%)
11/12  Red She-Hulk #59 -  20,668  (-33.6%)
12/12  Red She-Hulk #60 -  20,798  ( +0.6%)
01/13  Red She-Hulk #61 -  18,815  ( -9.5%)
02/13  Red She-Hulk #62 -  17,766  ( -5.6%)
03/13  Red She-Hulk #63 -  15,941  (-10.3%)
04/13  Red She-Hulk #64 -  15,055  ( -5.6%)
05/13  Red She-Hulk #65 -  14,044  ( -6.7%)
                           6 mnth  (-32.0%)
                           1 year  (-36.4%)
                           2 year  (-56.5%)
                           3 year  (-71.7%)
                           4 year  (-80.8%)

Cancelled with issue #67.

168. FURY MAX
05/12  Fury Max #1  - 20,620
05/12  Fury Max #2  - 19,021  ( -7.8%)
06/12  Fury Max #3  - 17,152  ( -9.8%)
07/12  Fury Max #4  - 16,329  ( -4.8%)
08/12  Fury Max #5  - 15,646  ( -4.2%)
09/12  Fury Max #6  - 14,646  ( -6.4%)
10/12  ---
11/12  ---
12/12  Fury Max #7  - 14,345  ( -2.1%)
01/13  Fury Max #8  - 13,703  ( -4.5%)
02/13  Fury Max #9  - 13,283  ( -3.1%)
03/13  Fury Max #10 - 13,096  ( -1.4%)
04/13  Fury Max #11 - 12,937  ( -1.2%)
05/13  Fury Max #12 - 12,694  ( -1.9%)
                      6 mnth  (  --- )
                      1 year  (-22.3%)

Ends with issue #13.

187. POWERS: THE BUREAU  [Icon]
05/03  Powers #31    - 26,830
05/08  ---
05/09  ---
05/10  ---
05/11  ---
=====
05/12  Powers v3 #10 - 12,484  ( -2.4%)
06/12  ---
07/12  ---
08/12  Powers v3 #11 - 11,939  ( -4.4%)
09/12  ---
10/12  ---
11/12  ---
12/12  ---
01/13  ---
02/13  Bureau #1     - 14,698  (+23.1%)
03/13  Bureau #2     - 12,966  (-11.8%)
03/13  Bureau #3     - 11,705  ( -9.7%)
04/13  ---
05/13  Bureau #4     - 11,441  ( -2.3%)
                       6 mnth  (  --- )
                       1 year  ( -8.4%)
                      10 year  (-57.4%)

Fairly standard for an Icon book. Again, the creator-owned titles don’t have the same sales expectations.

204. ALPHA: BIG TIME
01/13  Alpha: Big Time #0.1    -  8,534
02/13  Alpha: Big Time #1 of 5 - 22,778  (+166.9%)
03/13  Alpha: Big Time #2 of 5 - 16,305  ( -28.4%)
04/13  Alpha: Big TIme #3 of 5 - 12,265  ( -24.8%)
05/13  Alpha: Big Time #4 of 5 - 10,422  ( -15.0%)

Bit of a disaster, let’s be honest.

289. MARVEL UNIVERSE ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN
05/12  MUU Spider-Man #2  -  7,581  (-30.4%)
06/12  MUU Spider-Man #3  -  6,756  (-10.9%)
07/12  MUU Spider-Man #4  -  6,447  ( -4.6%)
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%)
                            6 mnth  ( -8.2%)
                            1 year  (-32.4%)

Climbing for two months running, even if by marginal amounts – a good sign.

And three books missed the top 300 altogether, with estimated orders somewhere below 4,962 copies – MARVEL UNIVERSE AVENGERS #14, CASTLE: A CALM BEFORE STORM #5, and CAPTAIN UNIVERSE: THE HERO WHO COULD BE YOU.

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

+486.5% - X-Men
+ 57.3% - Captain Marvel
+ 54.1% - Wolverine
+ 42.5% - Superior Spider-Man
+ 34.4% - Defenders
+ 30.8% - Avengers
+ 23.0% - Hawkeye
+ 10.2% - New Avengers
+  9.0% - Daredevil
+  4.5% - Uncanny X-Force
+  4.0% - Secret Avengers
-  6.4% - X-Factor
-  7.5% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
-  8.2% - Marvel Universe Ultimate Spider-Man
-  9.5% - Avenging Spider-Man
- 12.6% - Astonishing X-Men
- 17.0% - Wolverine and the X-Men
- 20.0% - Ultimate Comics X-Men
- 20.2% - All-New X-Men
- 21.2% - Avengers Assemble
- 24.7% - Dark Avengers
- 24.8% - Scarlet Spider
- 25.8% - Thor
- 26.1% - Gambit
- 26.3% - Ultimates
- 26.3% - Journey into Mystery 
- 30.6% - Venom
- 32.0% - Red She-Hulk
- 33.0% - Wolverine Max
- 34.0% - Deadpool
- 36.5% - Uncanny Avengers
- 37.7% - Iron Man
- 56.8% - X-Men Legacy
- 58.7% - Indestructible Hulk
- 58.3% - A+X
- 61.6% - FF
- 64.4% - Captain America
- 67.4% - Fantastic Four


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

+395.7% - X-Men
+ 74.8% - Thunderbolts
+ 70.2% - Deadpool
+ 49.4% - Thor
+ 46.8% - Superior Spider-Man
+ 44.8% - Iron Man
+ 42.3% - Wolverine
+ 16.1% - Indestructible Hulk
+ 12.8% - Captain America
+ 10.7% - Avengers
+  6.3% - Uncanny X-Men
+  1.4% - Daredevil
-  2.1% - Defenders
-  6.5% - Fantastic Four
-  7.7% - New Avengers
-  8.4% - Powers
- 10.4% - FF
- 10.2% - Uncanny X-Force
- 14.3% - X-Factor
- 16.0% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
- 21.5% - Scarlet Spider
- 22.3% - Fury Max
- 24.4% - Avengers Assemble
- 28.3% - Avenging Spider-Man
- 28.4% - Venom
- 29.2% - Ultimate Comics X-Men
- 30.8% - Journey into Mystery
- 31.4% - Ultimates
- 32.4% - Marvel Universe Ultimate Spider-Man
- 32.9% - Secret Avengers
- 36.4% - Red She-Hulk / Hulk
- 37.1% - Wolverine and the X-Men
- 40.9% - Winter Soldier
- 42.0% - X-Men Legacy
- 61.0% - Astonishing X-Men
- 72.7% - A+X / AvX


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

+281.9% - X-Men
+ 80.2% - Deadpool
+ 73.9% - Indestructible Hulk
+ 52.7% - Superior Spider-Man
+ 52.0% - Daredevil
+ 37.1% - Uncanny X-Men
+ 31.1% - Thunderbolts
+ 11.2% - Wolverine
+ 10.1% - Avengers
+  1.4% - Iron Man
-  1.6% - New Avengers
-  1.6% - Captain America
-  3.7% - Thor
- 11.7% - Uncanny X-Force
- 16.8% - X-Factor
- 25.8% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
- 35.8% - Astonishing X-Men
- 35.6% - Secret Avengers
- 38.4% - Fantastic Four
- 44.4% - X-Men Legacy
- 46.9% - Venom
- 51.0% - Ultimates
- 53.7% - FF
- 56.5% - Red She-Hulk / Hulk
- 56.7% - Journey into Mystery


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

+ 66.7% - Wolverine
+ 50.5% - Superior Spider-Man
+ 18.0% - Deadpool
+  4.7% - Indestructible Hulk
-  1.3% - Thunderbolts
-  2.9% - Fantastic Four
-  4.5% - Uncanny X-Men
- 10.4% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
- 15.3% - Iron Man
- 21.3% - Thor
- 22.8% - New Avengers
- 26.9% - Uncanny X-Force
- 50.6% - X-Factor
- 54.2% - Avengers
- 61.4% - X-Men Legacy
- 68.7% - Secret Avengers
- 71.7% - Red She-Hulk / Hulk


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

+ 46.2% - Superior Spider-Man
+ 45.8% - Nova
+ 38.2% - Captain Marvel
-  2.0% - Uncanny X-Men
- 10.1% - Deadpool
- 11.5% - Iron Man
- 16.2% - Wolverine
- 20.0% - Fantastic Four
- 21.7% - Uncanny X-Force
- 25.2% - Thunderbolts
- 29.0% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
- 33.2% - Indestructible Hulk
- 34.2% - Captain America
- 34.7% - X-Factor
- 37.1% - New Avengers
- 53.6% - X-Men Legacy
- 80.8% - Red She-Hulk / Hulk


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

+ 35.6% - Nova
+ 15.3% - Superior Spider-Man
+ 11.7% - Young Avengers
+  6.8% - Defenders
-  1.6% - Daredevil
- 10.3% - Uncanny X-Men
- 14.3% - Thunderbolts
- 16.8% - Captain Marvel
- 20.5% - Wolverine
- 36.2% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
- 40.5% - Fantastic Four
- 43.0% - Uncanny X-Force
- 44.2% - Thor
- 44.5% - Captain America
- 45.6% - New Avengers
- 57.1% - Iron Man
- 57.3% - X-Factor
- 59.2% - Ultimate Comics X-Men
- 66.2% - X-Men Legacy
- 77.1% - Astonishing X-Men


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

+ 66.3% - Thunderbolts
+ 41.6% - Thor
+ 36.8% - Iron Man
+ 29.1% - Avengers
- 10.7% - Captain America
- 10.9% - Superior Spider-Man
- 20.4% - Indestructible Hulk
- 22.2% - Uncanny X-Men
- 28.4% - Fantastic Four
- 35.2% - Daredevil
- 57.4% - Powers
- 65.9% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
- 68.7% - Wolverine
- 73.9% - X-Men Legacy
- 78.2% - Ultimate Comics X-Men

30 COMMENTS

  1. The X-Men books are the best things coming out of the big two publishers right now, heck they’re the best they’ve been since the mid 80s.

  2. 139. IRON MAN: THE COMING OF THE MELTER
    A reprint to tie in with the movie. (Yes, of all the things that could have been dusted of for the movie, it’s a reprint of Iron Man versus the Melter from IRON MAN #72.)
    /quote>
    Not sure where it fits in, but there was a new Melter story by Christos Gage & Ron Lim in the Iron Man 3 movie magazine. Maybe that’s why that Melter story was reprinted?

  3. I’m with Ron and Matthew.

    Young Avengers is a treasure, and FF is Mike Allred drawing Marvel superheroes. Get it together, people.

  4. What’s to get-together? FF & Young Avengers are gimmicks. People can see that right off, It’ll be a good day when that Age of Ultron type- stuff can be at the same place on the charts,

  5. Young Avengers is a treasure. . .

    I followed most of Marvel’s various YOUNG AVENGERS projects over the years, largely because I was curious as to whether anyone could make the concept work. No one, from Heinberg’s original series thru Heinberg’s CHILDREN’S CRUSADE, did; at that point, I’d had enough. Kid Loki is the type of character I object to on principle because it’s not an original creation; it’s someone, or some ones, taking a failed property and trying to make it viable by refashioning it. I wouldn’t buy a story about Kid Loki no matter who worked on it.

    There are other issues, such as the characters not being adults even though the audience is, presumably, adults, but, from a marketing standpoint, why should anyone who’d been disappointed by previous YOUNG AVENGERS buy this version of the concept?

    SRS

  6. Oh boy, johnrobiethecat is back for another round of bashing FF and YOUNG AVENGERS. In case you missed it ad nauseum last month.

  7. So looks like there’s no more bowling night or Pabst Blue Ribbon for the Marvel Bullpen until they can convince the public to buy lame-concept books, Good ideas & solid writing is just too hard, comments are easier, i.e. every minus 2000 readers….

  8. “As usual, Marvel had the largest share of the North American direct market, beating DC by 37% to 31% in terms of units and by 33% to 28% in dollars.”

    So the rest of the pie is selling more expensive items?
    DC+Marvel is selling 68% of the items, but only getting 61% of the dollars.

    Is the Big Two market share shrinking? What’s the historical trend?

  9. The only Marvel books I’m still bothering to read are Daredevil, All New X-Men and Hawkeye (in trade). The rest doesn’t appeal to me, a 30-year+ collector, one iota.

    I have zero interest in events/crossovers etc anymore, so I’ll be sticking w those three books b/c they’ve avoided them so far…until they do.

  10. @Torsten Adair
    Probably means the other companies are selling more TPBs. The marketshare numbers includes floppies and trades, OGNs and magazines.

  11. I’m a huge Marvel fan. Those titles (and their characters) are what I grew up reading and actually even before I could read I was following their adventures through my brother’s collection. I was lucky enough to inherit his 70’s-early 80’s comics and I started Making Mine Marvel with G.I. Joe #1. I eventually started to buy more than Marvel when I became a teenager until I became fed up with the Big Two trying to become Image. Now it seems Marvel is trying to become Marvel Studios Comics and for some titles, it seems, Vertigo (I guess since DC has become Wildstorm). Experimentation is fun but when it gets away from the concept that it grew from, it will turn off some fans. If no one new is picking the stuff up and you’re shedding older fans, you’re not going to have much of a base. I grew up with John Byrne’s Fantastic Four, Walt Simonson’s Thor, Chris Claremont working with Byrne, Dave Cockrum, Paul Smith, and John Romita Jr. on the X-Men, Frank Miller’s Daredevil, as well as other great runs on other titles, adaptations of Star Wars and Conan, toy properties like Micronauts, Rom, G.I. Joe, and the Transformers. This was great stuff and no one was trying to re-invent the wheel. Were there failures? Of course, there always will be. In all honesty, Marvel comics have some very capable and great creators working on their stuff right now and I’m enjoying some of it. BUT in the effort to distance themselves from Stan and Jack’s Fantastic Four, we have the adventures of the Richards Family and Co. The Avengers under Jonathan Hickman is a very interesting read but isn’t a book you can hand to a fan who enjoyed the movie or even a lapsed reader who maybe hasn’t bought an Avengers comic in years. New Avengers recognizes one of the worst and contradictory concepts given to reader in the last few years with the Illuminati (my opinion, of course). Captain America has been in Dimension Z way too long and now we’re going to get a (sigh) Secret Origin for Iron Man. The re-designs for alot of the characters just seem outright unecessary. Marvel seems to want to distance itself from it’s rich past and embrace the movie and cartoon watching crowd. The sad part is, they’re not buying the comics.

  12. Cancelled with issue #262.
    oh X-Factor, you deserve a better obit than that.
    Soon I’ll just be Daredevil

  13. I was at a L.A. comic show this past weekend and in one of the retailers .50 cent boxes were about 30 copies of X-Men, Uncanny X-Men, Wolverine recently relaunched titles. I was shocked to see so many among multiple issues/titles from Boom Studios, the DC digital, Dynamite and IDW. Great deals for 50 cents but ???

  14. Mark B

    I suspect that the reason for seeing those titles in the fifty cent boxes is due to variant covers. If a retailer needs to order twenty-five, fifty or one hundred copies of a book to receive a variant they often do so knowing that they can sell the variant at a very high price to make up for all of the copies they had to buy to get it. That leaves retailers with many more books than they can sell at cover price which is why they sell them for fifty cents.

  15. I liked the first Young Avengers arc, but then I read the second, who explained who those guys were.

    Oh, man. Rape origin? The black guy got his powers from performance-enhancing drugs (yeah, had to be the black guy…)? A son of Mar-Vell who shouldn’t be old enough to be on the team? THE KIDS OF FRIGGIN’ VISION AND SCARLET WITCH, a concept I always despised and who shouldn’t be their ages EVEN IF THEY HAD AGED REAL-TIME at the point?

    No, just no. It reminded me of how thoroughly Bill Mantlo destroyed the Alpha Flight characters when he got the book, but this time it came from the series creator himself. He made me dislike almost every single character in the book in just a few issues. So, no more Young Avengers for me.

    I do need to read FF someday. Seems fun.

  16. Yeah, Young Avengers has never clicked well enough with me in the past, and it damn sure doesn’t click well enough with me now.

    I really like Cheung’s art, and Heinberg definitely put effort into the characters… but more often than not what I sensed there was POTENTIAL, not actual content or follow-through. There was a lot of posing… Storylines that started off promising eventually became way too drawn out (Children’s Crusade especially)… And every issue began to seem more formulaic than the one before it.

    But I still liked the characters, or at least the IDEA of the characters, so I kept an eye and an ear out when the Marvel Now series started up…

    …Then I find out it’s just a bunch of aging hipster sensibilities projected back onto characters who were supposed to be in their teens. Oh, excuse me, editorial hurriedly lied and said Kate Bishop was in her early twenties now after the newest YA #1 showed her wanting to have sex with Marvel Boy even though she admittedly didn’t even know his real name. Yeah, that’s not any Kate Bishop I ever knew, or ever care to read about, but I guess it’s really trendy or something.

    Why don’t you guys include a playlist of several hundred disposable/forgettable pop songs that supposedly go along with reading this mess of narcissism and pretentious flippancy? Oh wait, you already did.

  17. Jamie McKelvie has been doing some great work on Young Avengers. He’s been experimenting with layouts and expressing motion in incredible ways. The book is fun and the first arc just wrapped, giving the series an interesting direction. As it is one of the handful of titles still at $2.99 I’m enjoying the value.

  18. Iron Man #72 is a cutsey story that takes place at a comics convention, so maybe that’s why it was picked as a reprint for the movie. But did they really release issues numbered like #258.3 and hope that a movie audience would buy them?

  19. Dan pretty much nailed why I dropped Young Avengers. The original YA seemed like a love letter to the Avengers that I grew up reading. The current title is different and that’s fine, it’s just not for me.

  20. I would split a hair or two about Avengers Arena “shedding” readers. Sad to see Morbius and especially X-Factor go.

  21. Also, for those who read X-Men #1, is it just me or did Brian Wood completely forget that Jubilee is a vampire now?

  22. “Cancelled with issue #262.
    oh X-Factor, you deserve a better obit than that.
    Soon I’ll just be Daredevil”

    Daredevil’s not such a bad thing to be. Well other than the horrible things that happen to the people you love.

  23. Interesting to read the divergent Young Avengers reactions. It initially to me was totally a love letter the Avengers, who’d just been disassembled. A way of having the Vision back, of acknowledging a legacy, and of undoing Wanda’s insanity (which is what eventually happened in Children’s Crusade). This new version is something pretty much other, but Young Loki and the others keep it in the Avengers family, which don’t need rebuilding anymore. They’re back, too.

Comments are closed.