By Paul O’Brien
While the Marvel Now! relaunch programme got under way in October, November saw it in full swing, with the first issue of ALL-NEW X-MEN, new creative teams (and new numbering) on HULK, IRON MAN, THOR, CAPTAIN AMERICA, X-MEN LEGACY, FANTASTIC FOUR and FF, and a new direction for JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY. With all the issue #1s supported by extensive promotion, the chart is turned upside down.
You won’t be surprised to hear that this gives Marvel the largest share of the North American direct market in November, leading DC by 40% to 33% in units and a rather closer 34% to 30% in dollars.
Thanks as always to ICV2.com for giving us permission to use these figures.
1,11. ALL-NEW X-MEN 11/12 All-New X-Men #1 - 181,693 11/12 All-New X-Men #2 - 96,436 (-46.9%)
You could make a strong case for this being a continuation of UNCANNY X-MEN, which ended last month, but since another UNCANNY X-MEN series is due to launch in the new year, I’m treating this one as the new title. For comparison, though, UNCANNY X-MEN was regularly doing around 60K, and when it last relaunched (in, um, November 2011) the first issue did 109,911. So this is doing rather better.
Another view would be that this book is effectively replacing X-MEN, which is about to be cancelled with issue #41. That book does around 30K at the moment, so if you want to draw that comparison, Marvel are trading up quite decisively.
All of the Marvel Now! first issues are heavily supported by variant covers and retailer incentives, and since the whole point of such things is to encourage retailers to order more copies than they otherwise would, the first issue sales do need to be treated with a certain degree of caution. Substantial drops on the second issues are only to be expected where these methods are used.
But thanks to Marvel’s double-shipping programme, we actually do have sales on the November chart for several of the second issues, and we can see that even those sales show a very substantial improvement. There will still be a lot of settling down to do over the next few months, but all signs this month are very good.
3. CAPTAIN AMERICA
11/07 Captain America v6 #32 - 73,310
11/08 Captain America v6 #44 - 75,493
11/09 Reborn #4 - 96,571
11/10 Captain America #612 - 47,343
=====
11/11 Captain America v7 #4 - 54,157 ( -0.5%)
12/11 Captain America v7 #5 - 47,333 ( -12.6%)
12/11 Captain America v7 #6 - 47,753 ( +0.9%)
01/12 Captain America v7 #7 - 46,954 ( -1.7%)
02/12 Captain America v7 #8 - 43,487 ( -7.4%)
03/12 Captain America v7 #9 - 41,631 ( -4.3%)
04/12 Captain America v7 #10 - 41,474 ( -0.4%)
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%)
6 mnth (+218.7%)
1 year (+128.3%)
2 year (+161.2%)
3 year ( +28.1%)
4 year ( +63.8%)
5 year ( +68.7%)
Just one issue this month, but it’s pretty clear that the new series is off to a strong start. Realistically, we’ll have to wait to see the sales on more typical issues to say anything much more than that.
4,21. DEADPOOL
11/08 Deadpool v3 #4 - 49,577
11/09 Deadpool v3 #17 - 46,765
11/10 Deadpool v3 #29 - 31,350
=====
11/11 Deadpool v3 #46 - 26,260 ( -4.7%)
12/11 Deadpool v3 #47 - 25,910 ( -1.3%)
12/11 Deadpool v3 #48 - 25,458 ( -1.7%)
01/12 Deadpool v3 #49 - 24,783* ( -2.7%)
01/12 Deadpool v3 #.1 - 24,783* ( --- )
02/12 Deadpool v3 #50 - 40,695 ( +64.2%)
02/12 Deadpool v3 #51 - 27,458 ( -32.5%)
03/12 Deadpool v3 #52 - 27,990 ( +1.9%)
04/12 Deadpool v3 #53 - 29,334 ( +4.8%)
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 - 118,976 (+309.6%)
11/12 Deadpool v4 #2 - 67,421 ( -43.3%)
6 mnth (+132.3%)
1 year (+156.7%)
2 year (+115.1%)
3 year ( +44.2%)
4 year ( +36.0%)
Surprising to see DEADPOOL come in so high, when some of Marvel’s big names were also being relaunched this month with more established creative teams attached. But the series has been well received and if it can sustain anything like the sales it’s achieved with its second issue, the relaunch will have done it the world of good.
5. INDESTRUCTIBLE HULK
11/07 Incredible Hulk #111 - 101,536
11/08 Hulk #8 - 90,776
11/09 Incredible Hulk #604 - 40,652
11/10 Incredible Hulks #616 - 35,296
=====
11/11 Incredible v4 #2 - 80,143 ( -24.7%)
12/11 Incredible v4 #3 - 46,446 ( -42.0%)
01/12 Incredible v4 #4 - 45,876 ( -1.2%)
02/12 Incredible v4 #5 - 42,760 ( -6.8%)
03/12 Incredible v4 #6 - 40,522 ( -5.2%)
04/12 Incredible v4 #7 - 42,135 ( +4.0%)
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%)
6 mnth (+180.9%)
1 year ( +47.5%)
2 year (+234.9%)
3 year (+190.8%)
4 year ( +30.2%)
5 year ( +16.4%)
Again, just a first issue here, so it’s hard to read too much into this. It might be pointed out that the last relaunch – just last October – opened with estimated orders of 106,472 and didn’t hold on to them for very long. But that was because it had a 50% overship on its first two issues. I don’t expect to see that repeated on this series.
6,20. IRON MAN
11/07 ---
11/08 Iron Man v5 #7 - 49,356
11/09 Iron Man v5 #20 - 55,160
11/10 Iron Man v5 #32 - 40,978
=====
11/11 Iron Man #510 - 38,118 ( -1.6%)
12/11 Iron Man #511 - 35,402 ( -7.1%)
01/12 Iron Man #512 - 35,159 ( -0.7%)
02/12 Iron Man #513 - 32,748 ( -6.9%)
03/12 Iron Man #514 - 31,424 ( -4.0%)
04/12 Iron Man #515 - 32,409 ( +3.1%)
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%)
6 mnth (+131.2%)
1 year ( +91.3%)
2 year ( +77.9%)
3 year ( +32.2%)
4 year ( +47.7%)
5 year ( --- )
Another massive increase from previous sales, even on the second issue. These numbers are actually pretty similar to the launch of the last volume – it managed 120K on its first issue and 76K on the second. But that was four years ago.
7. FANTASTIC FOUR
11/07 Fantastic Four #551 - 58,617
11/08 Fantastic Four #561 - 61,331
11/09 Fantastic Four #573 - 39,433
11/10 Fantastic Four #585 - 41,568
=====
11/11 Fantastic Four #600 - 73,809 ( +52.4%)
12/11 Fantastic Four #601 - 51,080 ( -30.8%)
01/12 Fantastic Four #602 - 45,131 ( -11.6%)
02/12 Fantastic Four #603 - 42,419 ( -6.0%)
03/12 Fantastic Four #604 - 42,126 ( -0.7%)
04/12 Fantastic Four #605 - 42,372 ( +0.6%)
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%)
6 mnth (+186.9%)
1 year ( +55.2%)
2 year (+175.5%)
3 year (+190.4%)
4 year ( +86.7%)
5 year ( +95.4%)
Again, huge sales increase, but we’ll have to wait for the second issue sales to put a bit more context on it.
8. UNCANNY AVENGERS 10/12 Uncanny Avengers #1 - 303,722 11/12 Uncanny Avengers #2 - 114,257 (-62.4%)
In percentage terms, that’s an enormous second issue drop – but when the first issue has such an outrageous number of variant covers, that’s going to happen. Even after that drop, UNCANNY AVENGERS is still comfortably over the 100K mark, and that’s the really significant thing here.
10,22. THOR: GOD OF THUNDER
11/07 Thor v3 #4 - 106,541
11/08 ---
11/09 Thor Finale - 53,566
11/10 Thor #617 - 49,165
=====
11/11 Thor v4 #8 - 40,703 ( -7.5%)
12/11 Thor v4 #9 - 38,000 ( -6.6%)
01/12 Thor v4 #10 - 37,577 ( -1.1%)
02/12 Thor v4 #11 - 35,066 ( -6.7%)
03/12 Thor v4 #12 - 33,967 ( -3.1%)
04/12 Thor v4 #.1 - 33,533 ( -1.3%)
04/12 Thor v4 #13 - 34,500 ( +2.9%)
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%)
6 mnth (+101.3%)
1 year ( +61.0%)
2 year ( +33.3%)
3 year ( +22.3%)
4 year ( --- )
5 year ( -38.5%)
Another relaunch, and another case where the second issue remains miles up from previous sales. (Those percentage comparisons with past years are based on the second issue, by the way, since it’s the most recent.)
For comparison, the last time THOR was relaunched, in 2011, the first two issues had estimated orders of 82K and 50K.
12,34. X-MEN LEGACY
11/07 X-Men v2 #205 - 101,401
11/08 X-Men Legacy #218 - 63,512
11/09 X-Men Legacy #229 - 50,789
11/10 X-Men Legacy #242 - 43,750
=====
11/11 X-Men Legacy #258 - 38,334 ( +0.7%)
11/11 X-Men Legacy #259 - 41,967 ( +9.5%)
12/11 X-Men Legacy #260 - 37,946 ( -9.6%)
01/12 X-Men Legacy #.1 - 37,160 ( -2.1%)
01/12 X-Men Legacy #261 - 37,577 ( +1.1%)
02/12 X-Men Legacy #262 - 36,461 ( -3.0%)
03/12 X-Men Legacy #263 - 35,999 ( -1.3%)
03/12 X-Men Legacy #264 - 35,953 ( -0.1%)
04/12 X-Men Legacy #265 - 35,712 ( -0.7%)
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%)
6 mnth ( +25.4%)
1 year ( +51.4%)
2 year ( +32.7%)
3 year ( +14.3%)
4 year ( -8.6%)
5 year ( -42.8%)
Though it’s officially a relaunch of X-MEN LEGACY – and I’m treating it as such – this is to all intents and purposes a new book. Specifically, it’s a solo title for minor character Legion, which isn’t the most obviously commercial premise. Unsurprisingly, then, it comes in behind the bigger titles – but it still sees a big sales increase for its new direction.
13,29. AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
11/07 ---
11/08 Amazing #578 - 66,564
11/09 Amazing #610 - 61,170
11/10 Amazing #649 - 52,586
=====
11/11 Amazing #673 - 57,159 ( -1.2%)
11/11 Amazing #674 - 57,723 ( +1.0%)
12/11 Amazing #675 - 54,652 ( -5.3%)
12/11 Amazing #676 - 54,001 ( -1.2%)
01/12 Amazing #677 - 57,186 ( +5.9%)
01/12 Amazing #678 - 54,252 ( -5.1%)
02/12 Amazing #679 - 52,564 ( -3.1%)
02/12 Amazing #.1 - 50,624 ( -3.7%)
02/12 Amazing #680 - 51,872 ( +2.5%)
03/12 Amazing #681 - 52,143 ( +0.5%)
03/12 Amazing #682 - 57,143 ( +9.6%)
04/12 Amazing #683 - 59,153 ( +3.5%)
04/12 Amazing #684 - 57,454 ( -2.9%)
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 - 81,342 (+35.9%)
6 mnth (+39.4%)
1 year (+42.3%)
2 year (+54.7%)
3 year (+33.0%)
4 year (+22.2%)
5 year ( --- )
This is the start of the build towards the SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN relaunch, and issue #698 is also bolstered by a variant cover. Considering that there’s still an anniversary issue and the relaunch proper to come, this sort of sales increase looks like a very positive sign.
14. FF
11/11 FF #12 - 49,449 ( +2.1%)
12/11 FF #13 - 44,970 ( -9.1%)
01/12 FF #14 - 42,609 ( -5.3%)
02/12 FF #15 - 40,583 ( -4.8%)
03/12 FF #16 - 37,152 ( -8.5%)
04/12 FF #17 - 37,325 ( +0.5%)
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%)
6 mnth (+133.5%)
1 year ( +63.2%)
The FANTASTIC FOUR companion title comes in some way behind the parent, but that’s only to be expected; this has been clearly positioned as the more quirky book, and besides, sales are still way up from the inherited level. The two titles are actually being collected in the same trade paperbacks, so it might be that there will turn out to be a closer connection between the two titles than first appears.
23. A PLUS X
04/12 Versus #1 of 6 - 111,913
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%)
6 mnth (-34.6%)
A typical second issue drop for the Marvel Now books, and I’d say this still counts as a good number for what is essentially a self-contained anthology title.
31. AVX: CONSEQUENCES 10/12 Consequences #1 of 5 - 73,272 10/12 Consequences #2 of 5 - 62,799 (-14.3%) 10/12 Consequences #3 of 5 - 59,896 ( -4.6%) 10/12 Consequences #4 of 5 - 58,527 ( -2.3%) 11/12 Consequences #5 of 5 - 58,469 ( -0.1%)
Wrapping up the transitional miniseries that mostly shipped in October.
36,39. AVENGERS
11/10 Avengers v4 #7 - 89,758
=====
11/11 Avengers v4 #19 - 56,620 ( -3.9%)
12/11 Avengers v4 #20 - 57,145 ( +0.9%)
01/12 Avengers v4 #21 - 54,803 ( -4.1%)
02/12 Avengers v4 #22 - 52,683 ( -3.9%)
02/12 Avengers v4 #23 - 52,222 ( -0.9%)
03/12 Avengers v4 #24 - 52,242 ( +0.0%)
03/12 Avengers v4 #.1 - 52,164 ( -0.1%)
04/12 Avengers v4 #25 - 65,664 (+25.9%)
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%)
6 mnth (-15.4%)
1 year ( +1.2%)
2 year (-36.1%)
37,40,43. NEW AVENGERS
11/07 New Avengers #36 - 107,715
11/08 ---
11/09 New Avengers #59 - 74,379
11/10 New Avengers v2 #6 - 66,724
=====
11/11 New Avengers v2 #18 - 54,454 ( -2.3%)
12/11 New Avengers v2 #19 - 52,915 ( -2.8%)
01/12 New Avengers v2 #20 - 52,910 ( -0.0%)
02/12 New Avengers v2 #21 - 54,105 ( +2.3%)
02/12 New Avengers v2 #22 - 51,235 ( -5.3%)
03/12 New Avengers v2 #23 - 51,697 ( +0.9%)
04/12 New Avengers v2 #24 - 64,533 (+24.8%)
04/12 New Avengers v2 #25 - 61,950 ( -4.0%)
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%)
6 mnth (-16.3%)
1 year ( -1.1%)
2 year (-19.3%)
3 year (-27.6%)
4 year ( --- )
5 year (-50.0%)
The final issues of Brian Bendis’ run. Both books now relaunch under Jonathan Hickman.
46,48. WOLVERINE & THE X-MEN
11/11 Wolverine/X-Men #2 - 83,356 (-16.3%)
12/11 Wolverine/X-Men #3 - 58,438 (-29.9%)
01/12 Wolverine/X-Men #4 - 59,530 ( +1.9%)
02/12 Wolverine/X-Men #5 - 55,788 ( -6.3%)
02/12 Wolverine/X-Men #6 - 55,341 ( -0.8%)
03/12 Wolverine/X-Men #7 - 54,559 ( -1.4%)
04/12 Wolverine/X-Men #8 - 53,757 ( -1.5%)
04/12 Wolverine/X-Men #9 - 64,984 (+20.9%)
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%)
6 mnth (-25.7%)
1 year (-42.1%)
At long last, we reach a book which is simply going about its ordinary business. Sales maintain the book’s very gentle downward drift.
52,53. UNCANNY X-FORCE
11/08 X-Force v3 #9 - 57,241
11/09 X-Force v3 #21 - 53,967
11/10 X-Force v4 #2 - 56,518
=====
11/11 X-Force v4 #17 - 50,974 ( -2.7%)
12/11 X-Force v4 #18 - 54,274 ( +6.5%)
12/11 X-Force v4 #19 - 55,333 ( +2.0%)
01/12 X-Force v4 #.1 - 50,399 ( -8.9%)
01/12 X-Force v4 #20 - 51,054 ( +1.3%)
02/12 X-Force v4 #21 - 50,654 ( -0.8%)
02/12 X-Force v4 #22 - 49,665 ( -2.0%)
03/12 X-Force v4 #23 - 48,867 ( -1.6%)
04/12 X-Force v4 #24 - 50,667 ( +3.7%)
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%)
6 mnth (-14.0%)
1 year (-14.3%)
2 year (-22.7%)
3 year (-19.0%)
4 year (-23.6%)
The current series ends with issue #35, after which it’s replaced by two new X-Force titles featuring two different teams both called X-Force. This incarnation of the book, under Rick Remender, has been a big success; erosion has been very slow and sales remain at a very healthy level after two years.
55. AVENGERS ASSEMBLE
03/12 Avengers Assemble #1 - 100,883
04/12 Avengers Assemble #2 - 53,024 (-47.4%)
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%)
6 mnth ( -4.1%)
The first issue by new creative team Kelly Sue DeConnick and Stefano Caselli, this was promoted as a Marvel Now issue and received a variant cover. All these combine to give sales a welcome increase.
17. ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN
11/07 Spider-Man #116 - 61,534
11/08 Spider-Man #128 - 52,187
11/09 Spider-Man v2 #4 - 49,106
11/10 Spider-Man #150 - 40,553
=====
11/11 Spider-Man v3 #4 - 51,558 ( -1.8%)
12/11 Spider-Man v3 #5 - 48,308 ( -6.3%)
01/12 Spider-Man v3 #6 - 49,840 ( +3.2%)
02/12 Spider-Man v3 #7 - 45,266 ( -9.2%)
03/12 Spider-Man v3 #8 - 46,290 ( +2.3%)
04/12 Spider-Man v3 #9 - 43,724 ( -5.5%)
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%)
6 mnth ( -9.1%)
1 year (-25.4%)
2 year ( -5.1%)
3 year (-21.6%)
4 year (-26.3%)
5 year (-37.5%)
Slightly up, but then the previous issue was a Point One. Overall, there’s a very slow downward trend continuing.
61. MINIMUM CARNAGE 10/12 Alpha - 41,110 11/12 Omega - 37,376 (-9.1%)
The second bookend for the crossover between VENOM and SCARLET SPIDER. Curiously, both bookends outsell any issue in the crossover proper, which doesn’t make a great deal of sense.
63. DAREDEVIL
11/07 Daredevil v2 #102 - 45,030
11/08 Daredevil v2 #113 - 41,200
11/09 Daredevil #502 - 40,354
11/10 ---
=====
11/11 Daredevil v3 #6 - 38,302 ( -2.8%)
12/11 Daredevil v3 #7 - 38,824 ( +1.4%)
01/12 Daredevil v3 #8 - 43,494 (+12.0%)
02/12 Daredevil v3 #9 - 37,891 (-12.9%)
03/12 Daredevil v3 #10 - 38,137 ( +0.6%)
04/12 Daredevil v3 #.1 - 38,463 ( +0.9%)
04/12 Daredevil v3 #11 - 46,111 (+19.9%)
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%)
6 mnth ( -6.5%)
1 year ( -4.7%)
2 year ( --- )
3 year ( -9.5%)
4 year (-11.4%)
5 year (-18.9%)
DAREDEVIL has been hovering at around this level for a year now, occasional spikes aside.
66. 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%)
That’s two straight issues which outsold issue #2. For once, critical acclaim and good word of mouth appear to have worked.
68. SCARLET SPIDER
01/12 Scarlet Spider #1 - 53,410
02/12 Scarlet Spider #2 - 33,794 (-36.7%)
03/12 Scarlet Spider #3 - 32,616 ( -3.5%)
04/12 Scarlet Spider #4 - 33,097 ( +1.5%)
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%)
6 mnth ( +4.4%)
This and the previous issue were both part of the “Minimum Carnage” crossover with VENOM.
70. WOLVERINE
11/07 Wolverine v3 #59 - 65,725
11/08 Wolverine v3 #69 - 93,914
11/09 W: Weapon X #7 - 36,108
11/10 Wolverine v4 #3 - 51,600
=====
11/11 Wolverine v4 #18 - 40,170 ( +1.9%)
11/11 Wolverine v4 #19 - 37,997 ( -5.4%)
12/11 Wolverine v4 #20 - 37,360 ( -1.7%)
01/12 Wolverine #300 - 58,681 (+57.1%)
02/12 Wolverine #301 - 38,891 (-33.7%)
03/12 Wolverine #302 - 37,213 ( -4.3%)
03/12 Wolverine #303 - 36,368 ( -2.3%)
04/12 Wolverine #304 - 37,836 ( +4.0%)
04/12 Wolverine #305 - 37,440 ( -1.0%)
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%)
6 mnth ( -6.6%)
1 year (-19.8%)
2 year (-37.6%)
3 year (-10.8%)
4 year (-65.7%)
5 year (-51.0%)
The current run ends in issue #317, after which it’s being replaced by two titles, WOLVERINE and SAVAGE WOLVERINE. (I’ll be treating WOLVERINE as the continuation of this book, even though it launches second.)
71. SECRET AVENGERS
11/10 Secret Avengers #7 - 59,999
=====
11/11 Secret Avengers #19 - 41,191 ( -4.8%)
12/11 Secret Avengers #20 - 38,202 ( -7.3%)
01/12 Secret Avengers #21 - 38,082 ( -0.3%)
01/12 Secret Avengers #.1 - 35,320 ( -7.3%)
02/12 Secret Avengers #22 - 39,337 (+11.4%)
02/12 Secret Avengers #23 - 37,140 ( -5.6%)
03/12 Secret Avengers #24 - 38,359 ( +3.3%)
04/12 Secret Avengers #25 - 38,466 ( +0.3%)
04/12 Secret Avengers #26 - 54,854 (+42.6%)
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%)
6 mnth (-35.5%)
1 year (-22.0%)
2 year (-46.4%)
Drifting down for now, but it relaunches as part of Marvel Now! after issue #37.
72. DAREDEVIL: END OF DAYS 10/12 End of Days #1 of 8 - 40,911 11/12 End of Days #2 of 8 - 32,072 (-21.6%)
Perfectly good numbers for an out of continuity miniseries, albeit one with an unusually strong creative team.
74,85. VENOM
11/11 Venom v2 #9 - 32,506 ( +0.7%)
12/11 Venom v2 #10 - 29,465 ( -9.4%)
12/11 Venom v2 #11 - 28,658 ( -2.7%)
01/12 Venom v2 #12 - 28,728 ( +0.2%)
02/12 Venom v2 #13 - 33,174 (+15.5%)
02/12 Venom v2 #.1 - 27,520 (-17.0%)
02/12 Venom v2 #.2 - 27,155 ( -1.3%)
02/12 Venom v2 #.3 - 26,969 ( -0.7%)
02/12 Venom v2 #.4 - 27,135 ( +0.6%)
03/12 Venom v2 #14 - 28,926 ( +6.6%)
04/12 Venom v2 #15 - 28,858 ( -0.2%)
04/12 Venom v2 #16 - 28,440 ( -1.4%)
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%)
6 mnth ( -9.1%)
1 year (-20.9%)
Issue #27 was part of the “Minimum Carnage” crossover with SCARLET SPIDER. As for the Point One issue, it’s worth noting that it actually outsold issue #25, albeit marginally – unusual for the Point One books, which normally tail in below regular sales.
75. X-MEN
11/10 X-Men v3 #5 - 56,651
=====
11/11 X-Men v3 #20 - 43,515 ( +6.4%)
11/11 X-Men v3 #21 - 39,919 ( -8.3%)
12/11 X-Men v3 #22 - 39,121 ( -2.0%)
01/12 X-Men v3 #23 - 38,719 ( -1.0%)
02/12 X-Men v3 #24 - 36,906 ( -4.7%)
02/12 X-Men v3 #25 - 36,488 ( -1.1%)
03/12 X-Men v3 #26 - 35,833 ( -1.8%)
04/12 X-Men v3 #27 - 36,843 ( +2.8%)
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%)
6 mnth (-14.6%)
1 year (-30.4%)
2 year (-46.5%)
Cancelled with issue #41.
76. AVENGING SPIDER-MAN
11/11 Avenging Spider-Man #1 - 112,153
12/11 Avenging Spider-Man #2 - 60,682 (-45.9%)
01/12 Avenging Spider-Man #3 - 52,371 (-13.7%)
02/12 Avenging Spider-Man #4 - 45,622 (-12.9%)
03/12 Avenging Spider-Man #5 - 40,877 (-10.4%)
04/12 Avenging Spider-Man #6 - 47,430 (+16.0%)
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%)
6 mnth (-20.8%)
1 year (-73.2%)
Losing sales rather quickly for a book which has been going a year – but it’ll be hoping for a spillover benefit when SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN gets underway.
78. ULTIMATES
11/07 ---
11/08 ---
11/09 ---
11/10 ---
=====
11/11 Ultimates v5 #4 - 39,342 ( -3.6%)
12/11 Ultimates v5 #5 - 36,396 ( -7.5%)
01/12 Ultimates v5 #6 - 34,865 ( -4.2%)
02/12 Ultimates v5 #7 - 33,863 ( -2.9%)
03/12 Ultimates v5 #8 - 32,222 ( -4.8%)
04/12 Ultimates v5 #9 - 31,336 ( -2.7%)
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%)
6 mnth ( -7.2%)
1 year (-26.1%)
2 year ( --- )
3 year ( --- )
4 year ( --- )
5 year ( --- )
Not looking too bad over the last few months, where it’s been locked in the 29-30K range. The broader picture is still one of a slow drift down.
81. ASTONISHING X-MEN
11/07 Astonishing X-Men #23 - 112,920
11/08 ---
11/09 Astonishing X-Men #32 - 62,154
11/10 ---
=====
11/11 Astonishing X-Men #44 - 32,729 ( +0.3%)
12/11 Astonishing X-Men #45 - 31,392 ( -4.1%)
01/12 Astonishing X-Men #46 - 31,134 ( -0.8%)
02/12 Astonishing X-Men #47 - 30,490 ( -2.1%)
03/12 Astonishing X-Men #48 - 34,182 (+12.1%)
04/12 Astonishing X-Men #49 - 31,291 ( -8.5%)
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%)
6 mnth (-55.4%)
1 year (-15.7%)
2 year ( --- )
3 year (-55.6%)
4 year ( --- )
5 year (-75.6%)
The monthly drops are surely too high for comfort, even though the book has plenty of margin. It’s heading towards a crossover with AGE OF APOCALYPSE and X-TREME X-MEN, though that’s not exactly company I’d be thrilled about keeping, given the dire sales on those books.
82. WOLVERINE MAX 10/12 Wolverine: Max #1 - 37,509 11/12 Wolverine: Max #2 - 27,217 (-27.4%)
For an out-of-continuity Max imprint title, these numbers are actually quite decent.
84,86. 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%)
It’s consistently shedding about 1,000 orders a month, and at these levels, you can’t keep doing that before you get into unhealthy territory.
88,89. ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN
11/07 ---
11/08 X-Men #98 - 46,446
11/09 ---
11/10 ---
=====
11/11 X-Men v2 #3 - 39,657 (-10.7%)
12/11 X-Men v2 #4 - 37,115 ( -6.4%)
12/11 X-Men v2 #5 - 35,153 ( -5.3%)
01/12 X-Men v2 #6 - 33,975 ( -3.4%)
02/12 X-Men v2 #7 - 32,353 ( -4.8%)
02/12 X-Men v2 #8 - 30,822 ( -4.7%)
03/12 X-Men v2 #9 - 30,080 ( -2.4%)
04/12 X-Men v2 #10 - 29,743 ( -1.1%)
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%)
6 mnth (-11.9%)
1 year (-35.9%)
2 year ( --- )
3 year ( --- )
4 year (-45.3%)
5 year ( --- )
Another Point One issue that seems to have sold like a regular edition, which I suppose is a step in the right direction. You’ve got to give it to Marvel, they’ve certainly stuck with this idea.
92. ASTONISHING X-MEN ANNUAL 11/12 Annual #1 - 24,690
Less than 3,000 behind the parent title, which isn’t bad at all.
96. JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY
11/11 J/into Mystery #631 - 27,161 ( -1.9%)
12/11 J/into Mystery #632 - 24,159 (-11.0%)
01/12 J/into Mystery #633 - 23,869 ( -1.2%)
02/12 J/into Mystery #634 - 22,323 ( -6.5%)
03/12 J/into Mystery #635 - 21,617 ( -3.2%)
04/12 J/into Mystery #636 - 21,148 ( -2.2%)
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%)
6 mnth ( -3.7%)
1 year (-15.7%)
This is the first issue of the book’s new direction as a Sif solo title. A debut at 23K is plainly not at all promising, and begs the question of why Marvel have elected not to give this book a fresh issue #1 when the complete change of lead character and creative team would plainly have justified it. Granted, it’s hard to imagine the book ever being a major player, but you have to think it would have done better than this.
99,100. X-FACTOR
11/07 X-Factor v3 #25 - 79,066
11/08 X-Factor v3 #37 - 35,754
11/09 ---
11/10 X-Factor #211 - 26,632
=====
11/11 X-Factor #227 - 23,742 ( +0.7%)
12/11 X-Factor #228 - 23,461 ( -1.2%)
12/11 X-Factor #229 - 23,667 ( +0.9%)
01/12 X-Factor #230 - 25,707 ( +8.6%)
02/12 X-Factor #231 - 24,362 ( -5.2%)
02/12 X-Factor #232 - 24,173 ( -0.8%)
03/12 X-Factor #233 - 23,840 ( -1.4%)
04/12 X-Factor #234 - 23,821 ( -0.1%)
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%)
6 mnth ( -8.4%)
1 year ( -7.3%)
2 year (-17.4%)
3 year ( --- )
4 year (-38.5%)
5 year (-72.2%)
One of Marvel’s most consistent sellers, stubbornly hovering in the 22K range for months at a time.
101. MARVEL UNIVERSE VS AVENGERS 10/12 MU v Avengers #1 of 4 - 27,650 11/12 MU v Avengers #2 of 4 - 21,949 (-20.6%)
Reasonably decent for an out-of-continuity miniseries. By cutting back on these projects, Marvel may have helped the ones that remain to stand out a bit more.
102. FIRST X-MEN 08/12 First X-Men #1 of 5 - 55,152 09/12 First X-Men #2 of 5 - 31,415 (-43.0%) 10/12 First X-Men #3 of 5 - 25,434 (-19.0%) 11/12 First X-Men #4 of 5 - 21,930 (-13.8%)
Plummetting. The second issue drop is one thing, but continuing drops on the third and fourth issues seem far less encouraging.
104. CAPTAIN MARVEL
11/07 Ms Marvel v2 #21 - 26,484
11/08 Ms Marvel v2 #33 - 23,980
11/09 Ms Marvel v2 #47 - 22,937
=====
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%)
6 mnth ( --- )
1 year ( --- )
2 year ( --- )
3 year ( -5.2%)
4 year ( -9.3%)
5 year (-17.9%)
The spike on issue #5 makes things look a bit worse than they are, but unfortunately the fact remains that the book is shedding readers at a rate that seems impossible to sustain.
105. AVENGERS ACADEMY
11/10 Avengers Academy #6 - 25,977
=====
11/11 Avengers Academy #21 - 22,713 ( -3.0%)
11/11 Avengers Academy #22 - 22,531 ( -0.8%)
12/11 Avengers Academy #23 - 22,422 ( -0.5%)
01/12 Avengers Academy #24 - 21,857 ( -2.5%)
02/12 Avengers Academy #25 - 21,963 ( +0.5%)
02/12 Avengers Academy #26 - 21,633 ( -1.5%)
03/12 Avengers Academy #27 - 21,830 ( +0.9%)
04/12 Avengers Academy #28 - 22,333 ( +2.3%)
05/12 Avengers Academy #29 - 29,460 (+31.9%)
05/12 Avengers Academy #30 - 29,213 ( -0.8%)
06/12 Avengers Academy #31 - 34,040 (+16.5%)
06/12 Avengers Academy #32 - 32,243 ( -5.3%)
07/12 Avengers Academy #33 - 31,687 ( -1.7%)
08/12 Avengers Academy #34 - 26,572 (-16.1%)
08/12 Avengers Academy #35 - 26,381 ( -0.7%)
09/12 Avengers Academy #36 - 23,822 ( -9.7%)
09/12 Avengers Academy #37 - 23,027 ( -3.3%)
10/12 Avengers Academy #38 - 22,467 ( -2.4%)
11/12 Avengers Academy #39 - 21,632 ( -3.7%)
6 mnth (-26.0%)
1 year ( -4.8%)
2 year (-16.7%)
Final issue. The book is replaced on the schedule by AVENGERS ARENA, but given the change of title, creative team and premise, I’ll be treating it as a separate book.
108. DARK AVENGERS
11/07 ---
11/08 Thunderbolts #126 - 34,640
11/09 Thunderbolts #138 - 31,238
11/10 Thunderbolts #150 - 31,704
=====
11/11 Thunderbolts #165 - 22,536 ( -5.0%)
11/11 Thunderbolts #166 - 22,680 ( +0.6%)
12/11 Thunderbolts #167 - 21,167 ( -6.7%)
01/12 Thunderbolts #168 - 20,585 ( -2.7%)
01/12 Thunderbolts #169 - 20,316 ( -1.3%)
02/12 Thunderbolts #170 - 19,505 ( -4.0%)
03/12 Thunderbolts #171 - 19,073 ( -2.2%)
04/12 Thunderbolts #172 - 19,203 ( +0.7%)
04/12 Thunderbolts #173 - 19,017 ( -1.0%)
05/12 Thunderbolts #174 - 18,792 ( -1.2%)
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%)
6 mnth ( +12.3%)
1 year ( -6.3%)
2 year ( -33.4%)
3 year ( -32.4%)
4 year ( -39.1%)
5 year ( --- )
Again, losing readers at a rate that seems like it should be difficult to sustain for long.
111. ULTIMATE COMICS IRON MAN 10/12 Iron Man v3 #1 of 4 - 27,744 11/12 Iron Man v3 #2 of 4 - 20,969 (-24.4%)
This surely has to be a disappointing number, even given the current state of the Ultimate imprint.
112. RED SHE-HULK
11/08 Hulk #8 - 90,776
11/09 Hulk #17 - 52,653
11/10 Hulk #27 - 38,691
=====
10/11 Hulk #43 - 25,514 ( -5.6%)
11/11 Hulk #44 - 24,596 ( -3.6%)
12/11 Hulk #45 - 23,273 ( -5.4%)
12/11 Hulk #46 - 22,974 ( -1.3%)
01/12 Hulk #47 - 22,720 ( -1.1%)
02/12 Hulk #48 - 21,751 ( -4.3%)
03/12 Hulk #49 - 21,510 ( -1.1%)
04/12 Hulk #50 - 34,437 (+60.1%)
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%)
6 mnth ( -5.5%)
1 year (-19.0%)
2 year (-46.6%)
3 year (-60.7%)
4 year (-77.2%)
Right back to previous levels, which weren’t healthy to start with. Not a good sign.
113. AGE OF APOCALYPSE
03/12 Age of Apocalypse #1 - 56,426
04/12 Age of Apocalypse #2 - 39,263 (-30.4%)
05/12 Age of Apocalypse #3 - 32,085 (-18.3%)
06/12 Age of Apocalypse #4 - 30,469 ( -5.0%)
07/12 Age of Apocalypse #5 - 27,223 (-10.7%)
08/12 Age of Apocalypse #6 - 25,393 ( -6.7%)
09/12 Age of Apocalypse #7 - 23,618 ( -7.0%)
10/12 Age of Apocalypse #8 - 22,293 ( -5.6%)
11/12 Age of Apocalypse #9 - 20,630 ( -7.5%)
6 mnth (-35.7%)
You’d figure that with sales like this – not just the level, but the rate of decline – the book surely has to be endangered. (The story also appears to have shifted gears and started building towards a climax.)
119. DEFENDERS
12/11 Defenders v4 #1 - 85,969
01/12 Defenders v4 #2 - 38,935 (-54.7%)
02/12 Defenders v4 #3 - 33,548 (-13.8%)
03/12 Defenders v4 #4 - 29,789 (-11.2%)
04/12 Defenders v4 #5 - 27,893 ( -6.4%)
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%)
6 mnth (-27.2%)
Final issue, though another, apparently unconnected DEFENDERS series launches in the new year.
122,125. X-TREME X-MEN 07/12 X-Treme X-Men v2 #1 - 36,802 08/12 X-Treme X-Men v2 #2 - 25,689 (-30.2%) 09/12 X-Treme X-Men v2 #3 - 24,490 ( -4.7%) 09/12 X-Treme X-Men v2 #4 - 22,584 ( -7.8%) 10/12 X-Treme X-Men v2 #5 - 19,841 (-12.1%) 11/12 X-Treme X-Men v2 #6 - 17,947 ( -9.5%) 11/12 X-Treme X-Men v2 #7 - 17,602 ( -1.9%)
Levelling out a bit, but at a point that doesn’t seem encouraging.
131. CAPTAIN AMERICA AND…
11/11 ...Bucky #624 - 30,472 ( -4.9%)
12/11 ...Bucky #625 - 28,652 ( -6.0%)
01/12 ...Bucky #626 - 27,632 ( -3.6%)
02/12 ...Bucky #627 - 26,276 ( -4.9%)
03/12 ...Bucky #628 - 24,881 ( -5.3%)
04/12 ...Hawkeye #629 - 24,750 ( -0.5%)
05/12 ...Hawkeye #630 - 23,774 ( -3.9%)
05/12 ...Hawkeye #631 - 22,684 ( -4.6%)
06/12 ...Hawkeye #632 - 21,674 ( -4.5%)
06/12 ...Iron Man #633 - 21,822 ( +0.7%)
07/12 ...Iron Man #634 - 20,641 ( -5.4%)
08/12 ...Iron Man #635 - 19,639 ( -4.9%)
08/12 ...Namor #.1 - 19,152 ( -2.5%)
09/12 ...Black Widow #636 - 19,101 ( -0.3%)
09/12 ...Black Widow #637 - 18,722 ( -2.0%)
10/12 ...Black Widow #638 - 17,944 ( -4.2%)
11/12 ...Black Widow #639 - 17,190 ( -4.2%)
6 mnth (-24.2%)
1 year (-43.6%)
Cancelled with issue #640.
215. ROAD TO OZ
11/09 #1 of 8 - 25,338
11/10 #1 of 8 - 13,222
=====
11/11 #3 of 8 - 8,381 ( -1.4%)
12/11 #4 of 8 - 7,694 ( -8.2%)
01/12 ---
02/12 #5 of 8 - 7,503 ( -2.5%)
03/12 ---
04/12 ---
05/12 #6 of 8 - 7,475 ( -0.4%)
05/12 #7 of 8 - 7,391 ( -1.1%)
06/12 #8 of 8 - 7,258 ( -1.8%)
07/12 ---
08/12 ---
09/12 #1 of 8 - 12,620 (+73.9%)
10/12 #2 of 6 - 7,930 (-37.2%)
11/12 #3 of 6 - 7,619 ( -3.9%)
6 mnth ( +3.1%)
1 year ( -9.1%)
2 year (-42.4%)
3 year (-69.9%)
Standard pattern for the “series of miniseries” format, though this volume has at least put on a few sales compared to the tail end of the previous one.
260. MARVEL UNIVERSE ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN
04/12 MUU Spider-Man #1 - 10,886
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%)
6 mnth (-26.3%)
264. MARVEL'S IRON MAN 2 ADAPTATION
11/12 Iron Man 2 #1 of 2 - 5,464
268. MARVEL UNIVERSE AVENGERS
04/12 MU Avengers #1 - 12,874
05/12 MU Avengers #2 - 6,733 (-47.7%)
06/12 MU Avengers #3 - 6,345 ( -5.8%)
07/12 MU Avengers #4 - 6,421 ( +1.2%)
08/12 MU Avengers #5 - 6,134 ( -4.5%)
09/12 MU Avengers #6 - 5,906 ( -3.7%)
10/12 MU Avengers #7 - 5,630 ( -4.7%)
11/12 MU Avengers #8 - 5,389 ( -4.3%)
6 mnth (-20.0%)
And finally, the reprint book SPACEKNIGHTS #2 failed to make the top 300, with estimated orders of below 4,341.
6 month comparisons =================== +218.7% - Captain America +186.9% - Fantastic Four +180.9% - Hulk +133.5% - FF +132.3% - Deadpool +131.2% - Iron Man +101.3% - Thor + 39.4% - Amazing Spider-Man + 25.4% - X-Men Legacy + 12.3% - Dark Avengers / Thunderbolts + 4.4% - Scarlet Spider + 3.1% - Oz - 3.7% - Journey into Mystery - 4.1% - Avengers Assemble - 5.5% - Red She-Hulk / Hulk - 6.5% - Daredevil - 6.6% - Wolverine - 7.2% - Ultimates - 8.4% - X-Factor - 9.1% - Venom - 9.1% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man - 11.9% - Ultimate Comics X-Men - 14.0% - X-Force - 14.6% - X-Men - 15.4% - Avengers - 16.3% - New Avengers - 20.0% - Marvel Universe Avengers - 20.8% - Avenging Spider-Man - 24.2% - Captain America And… - 25.7% - Wolverine and the X-Men - 26.0% - Avengers Academy - 26.3% - Marvel Universe Ultimate Spider-Man - 27.2% - Defenders - 34.6% - A+X / AvX: Versus - 35.5% - Secret Avengers - 35.7% - Age of Apocalypse - 55.4% - Astonishing X-Men 1 year comparisons ================== +156.7% - Deadpool +128.3% - Captain America + 91.3% - Iron Man + 63.2% - FF + 61.0% - Thor + 55.2% - Fantastic Four + 51.4% - X-Men Legacy + 47.5% - Hulk + 42.3% - Amazing Spider-Man + 1.2% - Avengers - 1.1% - New Avengers - 4.7% - Daredevil - 4.8% - Avengers Academy - 6.3% - Dark Avengers / Thunderbolts - 7.3% - X-Factor - 9.1% - Oz - 14.3% - X-Force - 15.7% - Astonishing X-Men - 15.7% - Journey into Mystery - 19.0% - Red She-Hulk / Hulk - 19.8% - Wolverine - 20.9% - Venom - 22.0% - Secret Avengers - 25.4% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man - 26.1% - Ultimates - 30.4% - X-Men - 35.9% - Ultimate Comics X-Men - 42.1% - Wolverine and the X-Men - 43.6% - Captain America And… - 73.2% - Avenging Spider-Man 2 year comparisons ================== +234.9% - Hulk +175.5% - Fantastic Four +161.2% - Captain America +115.1% - Deadpool + 77.9% - Iron Man + 54.7% - Amazing Spider-Man + 33.3% - Thor + 32.7% - X-Men Legacy - 5.1% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man - 16.7% - Avengers Academy - 17.4% - X-Factor - 19.3% - New Avengers - 22.7% - X-Force - 33.4% - Dark Avengers / Thunderbolts - 36.1% - Avengers - 37.6% - Wolverine - 42.4% - Oz - 46.4% - Secret Avengers - 46.5% - X-Men - 46.6% - Red She-Hulk / Hulk 3 year comparisons ================== +190.8% - Hulk +190.4% - Fantastic Four + 44.2% - Deadpool + 33.0% - Amazing Spider-Man + 32.2% - Iron Man + 28.1% - Captain America + 22.3% - Thor + 14.3% - X-Men Legacy - 5.2% - Captain Marvel / Ms Marvel - 9.5% - Daredevil - 10.8% - Wolverine - 19.0% - X-Force - 21.6% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man - 27.6% - New Avengers - 32.4% - Dark Avengers / Thunderbolts - 55.6% - Astonishing X-Men - 60.7% - Red She-Hulk / Hulk - 69.9% - Oz 4 year comparisons ================== + 86.7% - Fantastic Four + 63.8% - Captain America + 47.7% - Iron Man + 36.0% - Deadpool + 30.2% - Hulk + 22.2% - Amazing Spider-Man - 8.6% - X-Men Legacy - 9.3% - Captain Marvel / Ms Marvel - 11.4% - Daredevil - 23.6% - X-Force - 26.3% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man - 38.5% - X-Factor - 39.1% - Dark Avengers / Thunderbolts - 45.3% - Ultimate Comics X-Men - 65.7% - Wolverine - 77.2% - Red She-Hulk / Hulk 5 year comparisons ================== + 95.4% - Fantastic Four + 68.7% - Captain America + 16.4% - Hulk - 17.9% - Captain Marvel / Ms Marvel - 18.9% - Daredevil - 37.5% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man - 38.5% - Thor - 42.8% - X-Men Legacy / X-Men - 50.0% - New Avengers - 51.0% - Wolverine - 72.2% - X-Factor - 75.6% - Astonishing X-Men
I just don’t understand what Marvel is doing with the .1 issues at all.
Brian, making completists buy an extra issue of a title each month. Seriously, I think that’s all those .1 issues are worth anymore to Marvel.
Marvel alleges that the Point One issues are “great jumping on points for new readers!” but are actually introductions to new books launching soon. ASM 699.1 was an advert for the new Morbius book and the last X-Force point one was the launch of the Age of Apocalypse mini. The Venom point one was an actual jumping on point which is not the norm.
I don’t get why titles always seem to be losing readers and nearly never gaining them. If WatXM kept going would it get down to 20k? It is the same for everyone, not just Marvel. Comics are constantly shedding readers. I understand it at the beginning of a series but issue 20? 30? WTF?
Mesektest, I’m just guessing here, but it seems that readers are constantly looking for excuses to drop books instead of adding them. There are always new number ones from DC, Marvel, Image, IDW, Dynamite, etc. and if something really catches your eye while maintaining a budget, you tend to cut something to make room for it.
From my own personal experience, only something like a major creative change such as Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino taking over GREEN ARROW gets me to add a book that’s been around for a while. Usually when I want to add such a title, I’ll drop another title that’s grown stale or has an overall storyline that seems far less interesting than the book I want to add.
Daredevil, Hawkeye, and Deadpool are all worth the praise. Loving these books.
Wolverine and the X-Men, despite having Wolverine, is somehow the best book on the stands. Would love to see it doing a bit better.
I’d speculate that given historical sales patterns, even the publishers begin to lose interest in titles as the issue numbers go up.
Of course, now we know that X-Men is itself relaunching in April, so I guess All-New X-Men really is just a brand-spanking new X-book.
I haven’t read Marvel for years but Avengers, Captain America, Indestructible Hulk and Iron Man won me over. We will see if Guardians and Nova can win me over while Avengers Arena is still on the fence.
Honestly, in some ways the best thing to compare All New X-Men to is New Avengers.
What MarvelNow books are you guys picking up?
I also like Hawkeye, Daredevil, and Wolverine + X-Men but the only MarvelNow book that’s grabbed me is Thor but it’s still early.
“Brian, making completists buy an extra issue of a title each month. Seriously, I think that’s all those .1 issues are worth anymore to Marvel.”
But if that was the only objective, they’d just… ship an extra issue.
“I don’t get why titles always seem to be losing readers and nearly never gaining them.”
People die. People lose jobs. People change hobbies. People start families and start building houses.
With no new reader influx, the numbers *have* to go down because there is always some number of people leaving because of life reasons.
The two books I’ve given a try with their Marvel Now relaunches are Indestructible Hulk and Deadpool. I’ve only been able to find the first issue of Deadpool, but I really enjoyed it and hope to track down the others, while I have every issue of Hulk and think it’s a very fresh spin on what could be viewed as a sometimes tired concept.
Oh, also am enjoying Avengers Arena. As long as certain characters survive. :)
I haven’t given much look to Hulk, I’ll check it out my next trip. I really like Thor. I figured it’d be good given the creative team but didn’t expect to enjoy it so much. I hope it maintains its current level. I bought the first couple of Deadpools and they’re fine but I’ve never been a big fan of his solo books and this one hasn’t swayed me. But I’m glad it’s doing well as I like the creative team. It’s nice when new or atypical writers get a chance at a Big Two book.
I’m surprised the Iron Man sales are so steady. Not too many people in my local shop like it but apparently they’re not an accurate microcosm of the nation. I like Kev Walker’s art in Avengers Arena but I can’t help shake the feeling the series is going to have an unsatisfying end/turn.
Avengers 2 felt like wheels spinning to me.
I think books lose readers because you don’t have a lot of new people coming into the market. All the newer people to comics I know tend to buy trades instead of monthlies. So it’s mostly the same people with limited budgets and like another poster said they can only afford (or want to) buy a certain amount. They might get tired of a book they’ve been reading and ditch it for a new book. And people don’t tend to buy books they weren’t previously reading (or dropped) that are in the middle of their runs unless there’s a publicized story or a cool cover, etc. That’s my theory for most of it anyway.
Just read the solicit for Captain Marvel in April 2013. The loss of sales should not be surprising. Not sure what’s going through Ms. Deconnick’s mind. Had she not been married to a Marvel Architect (they keep using this term I presume) she would have been canned long ago.
On the plus side for Dark Avengers, after 9 issues its still doing better figures than Thunderbolts ended with. I thought about canceling it due to the new artist, but despite the art, Parkers script just keeps draging me back in! :)
Those Uncanny Avengers figures are shocking! Losing almost 200k in 1 issue!
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