DC Month-to-Month sales February 2007
DC Comics are increasingly struggling to keep up with Marvel in terms of market share and chart domination. The good news is that DC’s average sales recovered somewhat in February, thanks to a strong debut of new team-up title The Brave and the Bold, and to a bunch of high-selling titles returning to the shelves after being absent for various reasons in January. However, for the first time in two years, the publisher failed to break the 100K barrier with any of its releases — in fact, Justice League of America and the elusive All Star Batman are now the only DC titles which haven’t dropped below that marker, and DC doesn’t seem to have any obvious new 100K+ sellers lined up for the next several months. Additionally, the problem of late-shipping titles persists. Justice League of America #6, Teen Titans #44 and Superman Confidential #4 are the most prominent books that didn’t reach stores despite being marked for a February release.
DC’s Vertigo and WildStorm sub-labels also continue to look less than healthy, in terms of monthly sales. Due to the failure of Vertigo’s Fables to ship in February, the imprint’s average numbers dropped to their lowest point yet since Diamond started to release information on actual sales in March 2003. WildStorm, in the meantime, appears to be all over the place. The recent revamp of their WildStorm Universe line begins to look more and more half-hearted, suffering from mediocre sales, two missing flagship titles and high-profile creators jumping ship after their initial arcs, while the whole lot of their new ongoing horror film adaptations has just been canceled. In other words, everything’s looking a little bit bleak for DC at the moment. See below for the details.
Thanks to Milton Griepp and ICv2.com for the permission to use their figures. An overview of ICv2.com’s estimates can be found here.
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7 - JUSTICE 02/2006: Justice #4 of 12 — 110,488 (- 2.5%) [125,006] 03/2006: – 04/2006: Justice #5 of 12 — 110,157 (- 0.3%) [126,706] 05/2006: – 06/2006: Justice #6 of 12 — 110,188 (+ 0.0%) 07/2006: – 08/2006: Justice #7 of 12 — 106,866 (- 3.0%) [108,821] 09/2006: – 10/2006: Justice #8 of 12 — 103,829 (- 2.8%) 11/2006: – 12/2006: Justice #9 of 12 — 98,887 (- 4.8%) 01/2007: – 02/2007: Justice #10 of 12 — 94,960 (- 4.0%) —————- 6 months: -11.1% 1 year : -14.1%
For the first time since January 2005, DC failed to sell in excess of 100,000 units with any of its direct market releases in February, with not much on the horizon to replace the publisher’s lapsed 100K+ sales juggernauts.
But Justice is not to blame for that, of course. There’s been a noticeable decline over the last six months, but for a bi-monthly twelve-issue series completely detached from current continuity, the book is still doing perfectly well.
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8/9/10/11 - 52 05/2006: 52 Week 1 — 140,971 [143,611] 05/2006: 52 Week 2 — 128,393 (- 8.9%) [130,704] 05/2006: 52 Week 3 — 123,982 (- 3.4%) [126,913] 05/2006: 52 Week 4 — 121,440 (- 2.1%) [125,297] 06/2006: 52 Week 5 — 111,895 (- 7.9%) 06/2006: 52 Week 6 — 110,028 (- 1.7%) [111,732] 06/2006: 52 Week 7 — 110,188 (+ 0.2%) [112,618] 06/2006: 52 Week 8 — 105,107 (- 4.6%) [108,775] 07/2006: 52 Week 9 — 102,142 (- 2.8%) 07/2006: 52 Week 10 — 100,779 (- 1.3%) 07/2006: 52 Week 11 — 122,016 (+21.1%) [123,724] 07/2006: 52 Week 12 — 98,667 (-19.1%) [102,362] 08/2006: 52 Week 13 — 119,507 (+21.1%) 08/2006: 52 Week 14 — 118,259 (- 1.4%) 08/2006: 52 Week 15 — 119,411 (+ 1.0%) 08/2006: 52 Week 16 — 117,472 (- 1.6%) [118,624] 08/2006: 52 Week 17 — 116,637 (- 0.7%) [118,775] 09/2006: 52 Week 18 — 111,830 (- 4.1%) 09/2006: 52 Week 19 — 111,611 (- 0.2%) 09/2006: 52 Week 20 — 111,099 (- 0.5%) 09/2006: 52 Week 21 — 110,350 (- 0.7%) [111,986] 10/2006: 52 Week 22 — 108,624 (- 1.6%) 10/2006: 52 Week 23 — 107,962 (- 0.6%) 10/2006: 52 Week 24 — 107,413 (- 0.5%) 10/2006: 52 Week 25 — 106,332 (- 1.0%) 11/2006: 52 Week 26 — 104,614 (- 1.6%) 11/2006: 52 Week 27 — 104,265 (- 0.3%) 11/2006: 52 Week 28 — 103,529 (- 0.7%) 11/2006: 52 Week 29 — 102,699 (- 0.8%) 11/2006: 52 Week 30 — 102,576 (- 0.1%) 12/2006: 52 Week 31 — 100,596 (- 1.9%) 12/2006: 52 Week 32 — 99,634 (- 1.0%) 12/2006: 52 Week 33 — 99,441 (- 0.2%) 12/2006: 52 Week 34 — 98,379 (- 1.1%) 01/2007: 52 Week 35 — 105,095 (+ 6.8%) 01/2007: 52 Week 36 — 96,815 (- 7.9%) 01/2007: 52 Week 37 — 96,612 (- 0.2%) 01/2007: 52 Week 38 — 95,945 (- 6.9%) 01/2007: 52 Week 39 — 94,865 (- 1.1%) [ 96,545] 02/2007: 52 Week 40 — 94,694 (- 0.2%) 02/2007: 52 Week 41 — 94,486 (- 0.2%) 02/2007: 52 Week 42 — 94,220 (- 0.3%) 02/2007: 52 Week 43 — 93,505 (- 0.8%) —————- 6 months: -20.3%
The book is in a slow decline, but nothing to be worried about. Correction regarding last month’s column: Week 35 didn’t ship with a variant cover edition — it was solicited with one, but the variant edition was later canceled. Given that it was a 1-in-10 variant, it might still explain the sales increase, however, even if it never shipped.
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THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD 02/2007: The Brave and the Bold #1 — 92,091
That’s a perfectly good debut performance. The book, written by Mark Waid and drawn by George Pérez, teams up two random DC characters every month. This type of series doesn’t tend to do very well — Marvel have tried to relaunch their own version three times since the mid-nineties — so I presume the success largely rests on the creators’ sales draw, in this case. There also was a variant cover edition, but that goes without saying these days.
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15 - JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA 02/2004: JSA #58 — 44,756 02/2005: JSA #70 — 42,864 ————————————— 02/2006: JSA #82 — 54,234 (+ 8.3%) 03/2006: JSA #83 — 51,991 (- 4.1%) [ 58,624] 04/2006: JSA #84 — 53,245 (+ 2.4%) 05/2006: JSA #85 — 52,620 (- 1.2%) 06/2006: JSA #86 — 50,338 (- 4.3%) 07/2006: JSA #87 — 49,583 (- 1.5%) 08/2006: – 09/2006: – 10/2006: – 11/2006: – 12/2006: Justice Society #1 — 102,990 (+107.7%) [108,140] 01/2007: Justice Society #2 — 86,180 (- 16.3%) [ 92,459] 02/2007: Justice Society #3 — 84,356 (- 2.1%) —————– 6 months: n.a. 1 year : +55.5% 2 years : +96.8%
Sales are bottoming out very quickly and both previous issues made the chart again in February (#2 sold another 6,279 units, #1 another 1,888), suggesting that retailers have a lot of confidence in the book’s performance. As with the two previous issues, there was a 1-in-10 variant cover edition.
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16 - BATMAN 02/2004: Batman #624 — 84,081 02/2005: Batman #637 — 58,034 [ 60,246] ——————————- 02/2006: Batman #650 — 66,447 (+ 6.5%) [ 74,355] 03/2006: Batman #651 — 69,805 (+ 5.1%) [ 79,616] 04/2006: Batman #652 — 72,889 (+ 4.4%) [ 82,438] 05/2006: Batman #653 — 77,257 (+ 6.0%) [ 78,435] 06/2006: Batman #654 — 76,525 (- 1.0%) [ 78,671] 07/2006: Batman #655 — 113,567 (+48.4%) [123,903] 08/2006: Batman #656 — 95,982 (-15.5%) [ 99,024] 09/2006: Batman #657 — 91,357 (- 4.8%) [ 96,127] 10/2006: – 11/2006: Batman #658 — 94,349 (+ 3.3%) 11/2006: Batman #659 — 90,651 (- 3.9%) 12/2006: Batman #660 — 76,967 (-15.1%) 12/2006: Batman #661 — 75,512 (- 1.9%) 01/2007: Batman #662 — 72,499 (- 4.0%) 02/2007: Batman #663 — 83,167 (+14.7%) —————- 6 months: -13.4% 1 year : +25.2% 2 years : +43.3%
High-profile regular writer Grant Morrison returned to the book in February, following a four-issue stint by a fill-in creative team. While sales have recovered somewhat, they’re not quite where they used to be. Of course, popular regular artist Andy Kubert won’t be back until issue #664, so we won’t know for sure whether the filler issues hurt the book until next month.
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21 - WONDER WOMAN 02/2004: Wonder Woman #201 — 29,210 02/2005: Wonder Woman #213 — 24,728 ————————————- 02/2006: Wonder Woman #226 — 45,682 (+ 7.1%) 03/2006: – 04/2006: – 05/2006: – 06/2006: Wonder Woman #1 — 132,580 (+190.2%) [139,562] 07/2006: – 08/2006: Wonder Woman #2 — 84,618 (- 36.2%) [ 87,276] 09/2006: – 10/2006: – 11/2006: Wonder Woman #3 — 76,998 (- 9.0%) 12/2006: – 01/2007: – 02/2007: Wonder Woman #4 — 69,860 (- 9.3%) —————– 6 months: - 17.4% 1 year : + 52.9% 2 years : +182.5%
Although the final issue of the book’s initial storyline remains to be released, Wonder Woman is moving on to greener pastures: Issue #5 is a one-shot story leading into an upcoming miniseries, while #6 is the start of the second arc, by a new creative team. It’s a controversial decision, and it’s not hard to see why. While the book finally seems to be on track now logistically (two new issues were released in March), the notion of leaving an arc unfinished in favor of getting back on schedule was, until a few months ago, pretty much unthinkable in this day and age.
Now, on one side of the debate, you have the people who argue that it doesn’t matter how long it takes for an issue to be released as long as it’s good. And on the other side, you’ve got the folks who prefer their comics to come out when the publisher said they would. The ideal solution, of course, would be for publishers to not solicit material until it can be reasonably expected to come out on time and still be quality work, but for some reason, that doesn’t quite seem to work, in many cases.
Be that as it may, the relaunch hasn’t been particularly well-received so far, and not just because of the delays, so it doesn’t come as a great surprise that sales are still dropping at an unhealthy rate. It’s unlikely that subsequent issues by lower-profile creative teams will immediately fix that, but considering that the numbers are still considerably ahead of the book’s previous incarnation despite the crash, some degree of damage control may yet be worthwhile.
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23 - ACTION COMICS 02/2004: Action Comics #812 — 51,466 [70,458] 02/2005: Action Comics #824 — 37,432 ————————————- 02/2006: Action Comics #836 — 51,722 (+25.8%) [55,331] 03/2006: Action Comics #837 — 55,816 (+ 7.9%) [69,652] 04/2006: – 05/2006: Action Comics #838 — 62,702 (+12.3%) 05/2006: Action Comics #839 — 61,898 (- 1.3%) [64,278] 06/2006: Action Comics #840 — 61,786 (- 0.2%) [63,676] 07/2006: Action Comics #841 — 58,657 (- 5.1%) 08/2006: Action Comics #842 — 57,964 (- 1.2%) 09/2006: Action Comics #843 — 56,084 (- 3.2%) 10/2006: Action Comics #844 — 78,869 (+40.6%) [88,290] 11/2006: Action Comics #845 — 66,742 (-15.4%) [68,728] 12/2006: – 01/2007: – 02/2007: Action Comics #846 — 64,554 (- 3.3%) —————- 6 months: +11.4% 1 year : +24.8% 2 years : +72.5%
Speaking of damage control, Action Comics #846 was the third part of a six-issue storyline which now won’t be continued until June’s issue #851. Issues #847 to 850, you guessed it, will now contain fill-in stories, in order to give artist Adam Kubert enough time to finish the remaining three issues of his arc. It’s not quite as drastic as in the case of Wonder Woman, but still a departure from what the audience has come to expect.
The book’s sales continue to be decent but underwhelming, meanwhile, given the high-profile creative team.
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26 - ACTION COMICS ANNUAL 02/2007: Action Comics Annual #10 — 62,774
The reason why the book shipped ten years after issue #9 isn’t because it was late (although it was — it was meant to be out in January), but because Annuals were out of fashion until recently.
The story by the regular Action Comics writers and the 1-in-10 variant cover edition serve to explain why it sold so closely to the mother title.
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27 - GREEN LANTERN 02/2004: Green Lantern #174 — 29,403 02/2005: GL: Rebirth #4 — 108,077 [121,581] ————————————– 02/2006: Green Lantern #8 — 89,252 (+ 5.4%) 02/2006: Green Lantern #9 — 86,554 (- 3.0%) [ 89,974] 03/2006: Green Lantern #10 — 79,745 (- 7.9%) [ 87,143] 04/2006: – 05/2006: Green Lantern #11 — 78,926 (- 1.0%) 06/2006: – 07/2006: Green Lantern #12 — 80,292 (+ 1.7%) 08/2006: – 09/2006: Green Lantern #13 — 78,101 (- 2.7%) 10/2006: – 11/2006: Green Lantern #14 — 72,894 (- 6.7%) 11/2006: Green Lantern #15 — 70,148 (- 3.8%) 12/2006: – 01/2007: Green Lantern #16 — 66,105 (- 5.8%) 02/2007: Green Lantern #17 — 62,018 (- 6.2%) —————- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : -30.5% 2 years : -42.6%
For the first time in almost a year, DC managed to ship two subsequent issues of Green Lantern in two subsequent months, and issue #18 followed in March. While the book is on schedule again, however, the numbers are still dwindling down way too fast for comfort.
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31 - SUPERMAN 02/2004: Superman #202 — 50,449 [ 66,640] 02/2005: Superman #213 — 101,258 ——————————— 02/2006: Superman #226 — 63,982 (+ 3.6%) 03/2006: Superman #650 — 65,603 (+ 2.5%) [ 77,783] 04/2006: Superman #651 — 73,355 (+ 11.8%) 05/2006: Superman #652 — 70,458 (- 4.0%) 06/2006: Superman #653 — 69,079 (- 2.0%) 07/2006: Superman #654 — 69,526 (+ 0.7%) 08/2006: Superman #655 — 66,976 (- 3.7%) 09/2006: Superman #656 — 64,288 (- 4.0%) 10/2006: – 11/2006: Superman #657 — 62,327 (- 3.1%) 12/2006: – 01/2007: Superman #658 — 60,682 (- 2.6%) 02/2007: Superman #659 — 58,258 (- 4.0%) —————- 6 months: -13.0% 1 year : - 9.0% 2 years : -42.5%
Another title subject to the publisher’s revised policy regarding delays: While the content originally slated to appear in issue #659 apparently wasn’t ready, the issue itself still made it out — albeit two months late — with a makeshift story. Similarly, the stories originally solicited to appear in issues #661 and #662 have been pushed back to #662 and #663, respectively, leaving issues #660 and #661 with fill-in stories.
To be fair, the modifications to Superman’s schedule are a lot less jarring than in the other cases; for one thing, the fill-ins are all by the regular writer, for another, they happen in-between arcs, and not in the middle of them.
For the book’s sales, the same can be said as for the numbers of the other Superman titles, meanwhile — they’re decent, but underwhelming, given the creators.
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33 - DETECTIVE COMICS 02/2004: Detective Comics #791 — 34,995 02/2005: Detective Comics #803 — 40,014 —————————————- 02/2006: Detective Comics #816 — 35,410 (- 0.5%) 03/2006: Detective Comics #817 — 62,245 (+75.8%) [70,241] 04/2006: Detective Comics #818 — 60,440 (- 2.9%) [68,189] 05/2006: Detective Comics #819 — 65,800 (+ 8.9%) 06/2006: Detective Comics #820 — 65,988 (+ 0.3%) 07/2006: Detective Comics #821 — 67,345 (+ 2.1%) 08/2006: Detective Comics #822 — 66,372 (- 1.5%) 09/2006: Detective Comics #823 — 64,215 (- 3.3%) 10/2006: Detective Comics #824 — 62,431 (- 2.8%) 11/2006: Detective Comics #825 — 58,940 (- 5.6%) 12/2006: Detective Comics #826 — 59,657 (+ 1.2%) 12/2006: Detective Comics #827 — 55,031 (- 7.8%) 01/2007: – 02/2007: Detective Comics #828 — 55,206 (+ 0.3%) —————- 6 months: -16.8% 1 year : +55.9% 2 years : +38.0%
Writer Paul Dini’s tenure has been fairly well-received, and the numbers seem to reflect that. They’re still considerably up on the level immediately prior to last March’s “One Year Later” stunt, which makes Detective Comics an exception in DC’s lineup.
Another correction: The reason why Detective Comics didn’t ship in January wasn’t because it was late, as I claimed last month. Rather, Detective Comics #827 actually came out a week early and appeared back on the December chart as a result.
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34 - SUPERGIRL 02/2006: Supergirl #4 — 104,734 (+ 4.8%) 02/2006: Supergirl #5 — 103,108 (- 1.0%) [104,930] 03/2006: – 04/2006: – 05/2006: Supergirl #6 — 102,860 (- 0.2%) 06/2006: – 07/2006: Supergirl #7 — 85,175 (-17.2%) 07/2006: Supergirl #8 — 76,942 (- 9.7%) 08/2006: Supergirl #9 — 74,252 (- 3.5%) 09/2006: Supergirl #10 — 67,358 (- 9.3%) 10/2006: – 11/2006: Supergirl #11 — 62,544 (- 7.2%) 12/2006: Supergirl #12 — 59,819 (- 4.4%) 12/2006: Supergirl #13 — 56,648 (- 5.3%) 01/2007: – 02/2007: Supergirl #14 — 52,977 (- 6.5%) —————- 6 months: -28.7% 1 year : -49.0%
Sales keep declining way too fast. The one-year comparison speaks volumes.
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40 - FLASH: THE FASTEST MAN ALIVE 02/2004: Flash #207 — 41,982 [ 46,626] 02/2005: Flash #219 — 44,071 [ 46,188] ———————————- 06/2006: Flash: FMA #1 — 120,404 (+196.8%) [126,741] 07/2006: Flash: FMA #2 — 77,487 (- 35.6%) [ 82,501] 08/2006: Flash: FMA #3 — 70,633 (- 8.9%) [ 72,067] 09/2006: Flash: FMA #4 — 66,663 (- 5.6%) 10/2006: Flash: FMA #5 — 61,576 (- 7.6%) 11/2006: Flash: FMA #6 — 56,789 (- 7.8%) 12/2006: Flash: FMA #7 — 53,600 (- 5.6%) 01/2007: Flash: FMA #8 — 50,967 (- 4.9%) 02/2007: Flash: FMA #9 — 47,214 (- 7.4%) —————- 6 months: -33.2% 1 year : n.a. 2 years : + 7.1%
Issue #9 was the debut of new writer Marc Guggenheim. The decline accelerates again, suggesting that retailers don’t have much confidence in the creative change. The numbers are now back in the upper range of what the book’s previous incarnation used to shift.
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46 - BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL 12/2006: Batman Confidential #1 — 61,119 01/2007: Batman Confidential #2 — 47,451 (-22.4%) 02/2007: Batman Confidential #3 — 41,109 (-13.4%)
A steep third-issue drop.
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51 - SUPERMAN AND BATMAN VS. ALIENS AND PREDATORS 01/2007: S&B vs. A&P #1 of 2 — 40,889 02/2007: S&B vs. A&P #2 of 2 — 36,119 (-11.7%)
That’s a decent drop for this sort of thing. Perfectly good numbers.
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52 - SHAZAM: THE MONSTER SOCIETY OF EVIL 02/2007: SHAZAM: Monster Society #1 of 4 — 35,970
Writer and artist Jeff Smith’s revamp of the Golden-Age Captain Marvel character yields respectable numbers, especially for an expensive cardboard-cover series.
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54 - GREEN LANTERN CORPS 02/2006: – 03/2006: GLC: Recharge #5 of 5 — 60,123 (+ 0.3%) 04/2006: – 05/2006: – 06/2006: Green Lantern Corps #1 — 76,686 (+27.6%) 07/2006: Green Lantern Corps #2 — 56,886 (-25.8%) 08/2006: Green Lantern Corps #3 — 51,485 (- 9.5%) 09/2006: Green Lantern Corps #4 — 46,619 (- 9.5%) 10/2006: Green Lantern Corps #5 — 43,546 (- 6.6%) 11/2006: Green Lantern Corps #6 — 41,089 (- 5.6%) 12/2006: Green Lantern Corps #7 — 38,737 (- 5.7%) 01/2007: Green Lantern Corps #8 — 36,924 (- 4.7%) 02/2007: Green Lantern Corps #9 — 34,897 (- 5.5%) —————- 6 months: -32.2% 1 year : n.a.
Still dropping at an unhealthy rate.
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55 - TRIALS OF SHAZAM 08/2006: Trials of SHAZAM #1 of 12 — 50,621 [53,471] 09/2006: Trials of SHAZAM #2 of 12 — 41,156 (-18.7%) [43,853] 10/2006: Trials of SHAZAM #3 of 12 — 38,395 (- 6.7%) 11/2006: – 12/2006: Trials of SHAZAM #4 of 12 — 38,029 (- 1.0%) 01/2007: – 02/2007: Trials of SHAZAM #5 of 12 — 34,614 (- 9.0%) —————- 6 months: -31.6%
A hefty drop. Not a good sign.
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59 - ION 04/2006: Ion #1 of 12 — 66,453 [74,727] 05/2006: Ion #2 of 12 — 55,532 (-16.4%) [57,415] 06/2006: Ion #3 of 12 — 51,739 (- 6.8%) 07/2006: Ion #4 of 12 — 49,981 (- 3.4%) 08/2006: Ion #5 of 12 — 45,764 (- 8.4%) 09/2006: Ion #6 of 12 — 41,832 (- 8.6%) 10/2006: Ion #7 of 12 — 38,795 (- 7.3%) 11/2006: Ion #8 of 12 — 36,541 (- 5.8%) 12/2006: Ion #9 of 12 — 35,566 (- 2.7%) 01/2007: Ion #10 of 12 — 33,719 (- 5.2%) 02/2007: Ion #11 of 12 — 33,042 (- 2.0%) —————- 6 months: -27.8%
Bottoming out again.
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60 - OUTSIDERS 02/2004: Outsiders #9 — 43,428 02/2005: Outsiders #20 — 39,051 02/2005: Outsiders #21 — 40,032 [42,077] ——————————– 02/2006: Outsiders #33 — 43,270 (- 1.7%) 03/2006: Outsiders #34 — 47,286 (+ 9.3%) [51,527] 04/2006: Outsiders #35 — 45,774 (- 3.2%) 05/2006: Outsiders #36 — 45,705 (- 0.2%) 06/2006: Outsiders #37 — 44,109 (- 3.5%) 07/2006: Outsiders #38 — 41,974 (- 4.8%) 08/2006: Outsiders #39 — 40,524 (- 3.5%) 09/2006: Outsiders #40 — 38,626 (- 4.7%) 10/2006: Outsiders #41 — 36,672 (- 5.1%) 11/2006: Outsiders #42 — 35,598 (- 2.9%) 12/2006: Outsiders #43 — 34,243 (- 3.8%) 01/2007: Outsiders #44 — 34,437 (+ 0.6%) 02/2007: Outsiders #45 — 32,976 (- 4.2%) —————- 6 months: -18.6% 1 year : -23.8% 2 years : -16.6%
The book resumes its brisk decline.
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62 - NIGHTWING 02/2004: Nightwing #90 — 28,688 02/2005: Nightwing #103 — 36,921 02/2005: Nightwing #104 — 36,411 ——————————— 02/2006: Nightwing #117 — 35,489 (+ 1.1%) 03/2006: Nightwing #118 — 42,525 (+19.8%) [51,775] 04/2006: Nightwing #119 — 46,336 (+ 9.0%) 05/2006: Nightwing #120 — 46,076 (- 0.6%) 06/2006: Nightwing #121 — 44,974 (- 2.4%) 07/2006: Nightwing #122 — 42,542 (- 5.4%) 08/2006: Nightwing #123 — 40,111 (- 5.7%) 09/2006: Nightwing #124 — 38,251 (- 4.6%) 10/2006: Nightwing #125 — 38,470 (+ 0.6%) 11/2006: Nightwing #126 — 36,145 (- 6.0%) 12/2006: Nightwing #127 — 34,889 (- 3.5%) 01/2007: Nightwing #128 — 33,930 (- 2.8%) 02/2007: Nightwing #129 — 32,651 (- 3.8%) —————- 6 months: -18.6% 1 year : - 8.0% 2 years : -11.0%
Declining.
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64 - GREEN ARROW 02/2004: Green Arrow #35 — 35,507 02/2005: Green Arrow #47 — 31,553 ———————————- 02/2006: Green Arrow #59 — 31,250 (+ 0.8%) 03/2006: Green Arrow #60 — 37,946 (+21.4%) [43,045] 04/2006: Green Arrow #61 — 35,993 (- 5.2%) [40,621] 05/2006: Green Arrow #62 — 39,185 (+ 8.9%) 06/2006: Green Arrow #63 — 37,803 (- 3.5%) 07/2006: Green Arrow #64 — 36,148 (- 4.4%) 08/2006: Green Arrow #65 — 35,705 (- 1.2%) 09/2006: Green Arrow #66 — 33,793 (- 5.4%) 10/2006: Green Arrow #67 — 32,583 (- 3.6%) 11/2006: Green Arrow #68 — 32,135 (- 1.4%) 12/2006: Green Arrow #69 — 32,234 (+ 0.3%) 01/2007: Green Arrow #70 — 31,798 (- 1.4%) 02/2007: Green Arrow #71 — 31,470 (- 1.0%) —————- 6 months: -11.9% 1 year : + 0.7% 2 years : - 0.3%
Standard attrition. The book is canceled with issue #75, but given that it’s been one of the publisher’s most stable performers around the 30K mark, the decision was likely made of choice, rather than out of necessity.
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65 - SUPERGIRL AND THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES 02/2004: Legion #30 — 25,014 02/2005: Legion of SH #3 — 39,951 [44,824] ————————————— 02/2006: Legion of SH #14 — 32,513 (- 0.7%) 02/2006: Legion of SH #15 — 31,649 (- 2.7%) 03/2006: Supergirl & LoSH #16 — 47,426 (+ 49.9%) [54,788] 04/2006: Supergirl & LoSH #17 — 44,827 (- 5.5%) [47,724] 05/2006: Supergirl & LoSH #18 — 45,520 (+ 1.6%) 06/2006: Supergirl & LoSH #19 — 43,918 (- 3.5%) 07/2006: Supergirl & LoSH #20 — 41,679 (- 5.1%) 08/2006: Supergirl & LoSH #21 — 39,852 (- 4.4%) 09/2006: Supergirl & LoSH #22 — 36,735 (- 7.8%) 10/2006: Supergirl & LoSH #23 — 41,554 (+ 13.1%) 11/2006: Supergirl & LoSH #24 — 33,985 (- 18.2%) 12/2006: Supergirl & LoSH #25 — 33,288 (- 2.1%) 01/2007: Supergirl & LoSH #26 — 32,342 (- 2.8%) 02/2007: Supergirl & LoSH #27 — 31,387 (- 3.0%) —————- 6 months: -21.2% 1 year : - 2.2% 2 years : -21.4%
Declining. The current creative team leaves with issue #30.
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70 - BIRDS OF PREY 02/2004: Birds of Prey #64 — 29,731 02/2005: Birds of Prey #79 — 29,510 ————————————- 02/2006: Birds of Prey #91 — 29,835 (- 2.1%) 03/2006: Birds of Prey #92 — 36,808 (+23.4%) 04/2006: Birds of Prey #93 — 34,404 (- 6.5%) 05/2006: Birds of Prey #94 — 34,905 (+ 1.5%) 06/2006: Birds of Prey #95 — 33,954 (- 2.7%) 07/2006: Birds of Prey #96 — 32,219 (- 5.1%) 08/2006: Birds of Prey #97 — 31,578 (- 2.0%) 09/2006: Birds of Prey #98 — 32,715 (+ 3.6%) 10/2006: Birds of Prey #99 — 30,385 (- 7.1%) 11/2006: Birds of Prey #100 — 34,607 (+13.9%) 12/2006: Birds of Prey #101 — 29,825 (-13.8%) 01/2007: Birds of Prey #102 — 29,043 (- 2.6%) 02/2007: Birds of Prey #103 — 28,327 (- 2.5%) —————- 6 months: -10.3% 1 year : - 5.1% 2 years : - 4.0%
Declining, slowly but steadily.
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71 - ROBIN 02/2004: Robin #123 — 26,494 02/2005: Robin #135 — 32,331 —————————– 02/2006: Robin #147 — 32,120 (+ 8.9%) 03/2006: Robin #148 — 36,717 (+14.3%) [42,442] 04/2006: Robin #149 — 37,173 (+ 1.2%) 05/2006: Robin #150 — 41,417 (+11.4%) 06/2006: Robin #151 — 38,921 (- 6.0%) 07/2006: Robin #152 — 37,466 (- 3.7%) 08/2006: Robin #153 — 36,608 (- 2.3%) 09/2006: Robin #154 — 34,387 (- 6.1%) 10/2006: Robin #155 — 32,951 (- 4.2%) 11/2006: Robin #156 — 31,682 (- 3.9%) 12/2006: Robin #157 — 30,556 (- 3.6%) 01/2007: Robin #158 — 29,464 (- 3.6%) 02/2007: Robin #159 — 28,210 (- 4.3%) —————- 6 months: -22.9% 1 year : -12.2% 2 years : -12.8%
Declining.
—–
76 - THE SPIRIT 11/2006: Batman/The Spirit — 35,541 [39,666] 12/2006: The Spirit #1 — 34,558 (- 2.8%) 01/2007: The Spirit #2 — 27,245 (-21.2%) 02/2007: The Spirit #3 — 25,516 (- 6.4%)
Leveling out relatively quickly, it seems.
—–
77 - Y: THE LAST MAN (Vertigo) 02/2004: Y: The Last Man #19 — 26,208 02/2005: Y: The Last Man #31 — 25,825 ————————————– 02/2006: Y: The Last Man #42 — 25,775 (-0.6%) 03/2006: Y: The Last Man #43 — 25,877 (+0.4%) 04/2006: Y: The Last Man #44 — 25,985 (+0.4%) 05/2006: Y: The Last Man #45 — 25,866 (-0.5%) 06/2006: Y: The Last Man #46 — 25,881 (+0.1%) 07/2006: Y: The Last Man #47 — 25,791 (-0.4%) 08/2006: Y: The Last Man #48 — 25,829 (+0.2%) 09/2006: Y: The Last Man #49 — 25,690 (-0.5%) 10/2006: Y: The Last Man #50 — 26,802 (+4.3%) 11/2006: Y: The Last Man #51 — 25,606 (-4.5%) 12/2006: Y: The Last Man #52 — 25,422 (-0.7%) 01/2007: Y: The Last Man #53 — 25,375 (-0.2%) 02/2007: Y: The Last Man #54 — 25,374 (-0.0%) ————— 6 months: -1.8% 1 year : -1.6% 2 years : -1.8%
Rock-solid sales, as always.
—–
81 - THE MIDNIGHTER (WildStorm) 11/2006: The Midnighter #1 — 39,796 12/2006: The Midnighter #2 — 30,464 (-23.5%) 01/2007: The Midnighter #3 — 27,564 (- 9.5%) 02/2007: The Midnighter #4 — 24,792 (-10.1%)
That’s a very hefty drop, despite the existence of a 1-in-10 variant cover edition. Starting with issue #5, there will be no more variant cover editions, which is likely to put another dent in the book’s sales. And with issue #6, it seems writer Garth Ennis is jumping ship, which probably won’t do the numbers any great favors, either. The future doesn’t look too bright.
Then again, the same can be said for the rest of WildStorm’s lineup. The imprint’s supposed sales flagship, Wildcats, missed another shipping date in March (artist and WildStorm executive editor Jim Lee even suggested that the book would be out sooner than that at one point) and is currently scheduled for the last week of May. The second flagship title, The Authority, meanwhile, is now officially “on hiatus” after its second issue finally came out in March.
Further, in addition to Ennis’ apparent departure from The Midnighter, it also appears that writer Grant Morrison’s last issue of The Authority will be #4, and it seems artist and series creator Whilce Portacio is already gone from the pages of Wetworks, with writer Mike Carey soon to follow. (That’s a lot of “it seems” and “it appears” because none of that has been confirmed by DC Comics, by the way — it’s just guesswork, largely based on information from solicitations and from reported comments by creators.)
Third, and perhaps most significantly, WildStorm suffer from mediocre sales. With Wildcats, The Authority and The Boys, they’ve had a few hits recently, but they’re unable to capitalize on that, because two out of those three titles never ship, while the third was jettisoned because of content issues, and is being continued at another publisher in June. And the cancellation of WildStorm’s entire line of ongoing horror film adaptations comes not long after the last failed initiative, the similarly aborted bunch of fantasy and science fiction titles. As if all that weren’t bad enough, formerly stable WildStorm performers like Ex Machina and Astro City appear to be losing steam, in terms of monthly sales.
—–
84 - ASTRO CITY: THE DARK AGE (WildStorm) 02/2004: – 02/2005: – ———————————————- 06/2005: The Dark Age/Book 1 #1 of 4 — 32,690 (+ 5.6%) 07/2005: The Dark Age/Book 1 #2 of 4 — 29,721 (- 9.1%) 08/2005: The Dark Age/Book 1 #3 of 4 — 28,152 (- 5.3%) 09/2005: – 10/2005: The Dark Age/Book 1 #4 of 4 — 27,367 (- 2.8%) ———————————————- 11/2006: The Dark Age/Book 2 #1 of 4 — 26,993 (- 1.4%) 12/2006: – 01/2007: – 02/2007: The Dark Age/Book 2 #2 of 4 — 23,412 (-13.3%) —————- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : n.a. 2 years : n.a.
Case in point. This isn’t a horrible second-issue drop, but it’s a considerable step down for Astro City, as the comparison with the previous limited series shows.
—–
86 - MARTIAN MANHUNTER 08/2006: Martian Manhunter #1 of 8 — 41,263 09/2006: Martian Manhunter #2 of 8 — 32,624 (-20.9%) 10/2006: Martian Manhunter #3 of 8 — 29,286 (-10.2%) 11/2006: Martian Manhunter #4 of 8 — 27,390 (- 6.5%) 12/2006: Martian Manhunter #5 of 8 — 25,522 (- 6.8%) 01/2007: Martian Manhunter #6 of 8 — 24,128 (- 5.5%) 02/2007: Martian Manhunter #7 of 8 — 22,854 (- 5.3%) —————- 6 months: -44.6%
Declining.
—–
87 - JSA: CLASSIFIED 02/2006: JSA: Classified #8 — 39,656 (- 7.5%) 02/2006: JSA: Classified #9 — 39,104 (- 1.4%) 03/2006: JSA: Classified #10 — 41,332 (+ 5.7%) 04/2006: JSA: Classified #11 — 37,815 (- 8.5%) 05/2006: JSA: Classified #12 — 37,446 (- 1.0%) 06/2006: JSA: Classified #13 — 36,066 (- 3.7%) 07/2006: JSA: Classified #14 — 33,832 (- 6.2%) 08/2006: JSA: Classified #15 — 32,308 (- 4.5%) 08/2006: JSA: Classified #16 — 32,173 (- 0.4%) 09/2006: JSA: Classified #17 — 30,340 (- 5.7%) 10/2006: JSA: Classified #18 — 26,783 (-11.7%) 11/2006: JSA: Classified #19 — 25,663 (- 4.2%) 12/2006: JSA: Classified #20 — 24,722 (- 3.7%) 01/2007: JSA: Classified #21 — 24,476 (- 1.0%) 01/2007: JSA: Classified #22 — 23,830 (- 2.6%) 02/2007: JSA: Classified #23 — 22,730 (- 4.6%) —————- 6 months: -29.5% 1 year : -42.3%
Declining.
—–
90/95 - THE HELMET OF FATE 01/2007: HoF: Detective Chimp #1 — 25,338 01/2007: HoF: Ibis the Invincible #1 — 24,113 (-4.8%) 02/2007: HoF: Sargon the Sorcerer #1 — 22,430 (-7.0%) 02/2007: HoF: Black Alice #1 — 21,956 (-2.1%)
These one-shots continue to do nicely, given the little-known protagonists. The book they’re meant to pave the way for, meanwhile, the ongoing Doctor Fate title initially solicited for an April launch, has been canceled by DC, reportedly to be resolicited at a later date.
—–
91 - GEN13 (WildStorm) 10/2006: Gen13 #1 — 47,535 11/2006: Gen13 #2 — 33,494 (-29.5%) 12/2006: Gen13 #3 — 30,233 (- 9.7%) 01/2007: Gen13 #4 — 27,615 (- 8.7%) 02/2007: Gen13 #5 — 22,422 (-18.8%)
This was the first issue without a variant cover edition, and the numbers drop accordingly. If Gen13 bottoms out quickly now, in fairness, it could still be doing perfectly well for a WildStorm title.
—–
92/94 - JLA: CLASSIFIED 02/2005: JLA: Classified #4 — 53,606 ————————————– 02/2006: JLA: Classified #17 — 38,014 (- 3.4%) 03/2006: JLA: Classified #18 — 35,873 (- 5.6%) 03/2006: JLA: Classified #19 — 35,300 (- 1.6%) 04/2006: JLA: Classified #20 — 34,039 (- 3.6%) 05/2006: JLA: Classified #21 — 33,800 (- 0.7%) 06/2006: JLA: Classified #22 — 34,023 (+ 0.7%) 06/2006: JLA: Classified #23 — 33,564 (- 1.4%) 07/2006: JLA: Classified #24 — 31,697 (- 5.6%) 07/2006: JLA: Classified #25 — 30,709 (- 3.1%) 08/2006: JLA: Classified #26 — 27,816 (- 9.4%) 09/2006: JLA: Classified #27 — 27,754 (- 0.2%) 10/2006: JLA: Classified #28 — 26,003 (- 6.3%) 11/2006: JLA: Classified #29 — 24,785 (- 4.7%) 12/2006: JLA: Classified #30 — 23,644 (- 4.6%) 01/2007: JLA: Classified #31 — 22,939 (- 3.0%) 01/2007: JLA: Classified #32 — 23,091 (+ 0.7%) 01/2007: JLA: Classified #33 — 22,504 (- 2.5%) 02/2007: JLA: Classified #34 — 22,347 (- 0.7%) 02/2007: JLA: Classified #35 — 21,998 (- 1.6%) —————- 6 months: -20.3% 1 year : -41.7% 2 years : -59.0%
The decline is slowing down.
—–
98 - SHADOWPACT 05/2006: Shadowpact #1 — 50,279 06/2006: Shadowpact #2 — 39,969 (-20.5%) 07/2006: Shadowpact #3 — 36,341 (- 9.1%) 08/2006: Shadowpact #4 — 33,383 (- 8.1%) 09/2006: Shadowpact #5 — 29,983 (-10.2%) 09/2006: Shadowpact #6 — 27,276 (- 9.0%) 10/2006: – 11/2006: Shadowpact #7 — 25,701 (- 5.8%) 12/2006: Shadowpact #8 — 23,898 (- 7.0%) 01/2007: Shadowpact #9 — 22,866 (- 4.3%) 02/2007: Shadowpact #10 — 21,823 (- 4.6%) —————- 6 months: -34.6%
Declining.
—–
103 - MYSTERY IN SPACE 09/2006: Mystery in Space #1 of 8 — 46,610 10/2006: Mystery in Space #2 of 8 — 28,781 (-38.3%) 11/2006: Mystery in Space #3 of 8 — 25,804 (-10.3%) 12/2006: Mystery in Space #4 of 8 — 23,575 (- 8.6%) 01/2007: Mystery in Space #5 of 8 — 21,612 (- 8.3%) 02/2007: Mystery in Space #6 of 8 — 21,000 (- 2.8%)
Bottoming out.
—–
105 - CATWOMAN 02/2004: Catwoman #28 — 23,955 02/2005: Catwoman #40 — 23,103 ——————————- 02/2006: Catwoman #52 — 21,954 (- 3.2%) 03/2006: Catwoman #53 — 28,473 (+29.7%) [34,428] 04/2006: Catwoman #54 — 28,922 (+ 1.6%) 05/2006: Catwoman #55 — 30,184 (+ 4.4%) 06/2006: Catwoman #56 — 28,942 (- 4.1%) 07/2006: Catwoman #57 — 27,302 (- 5.7%) 08/2006: Catwoman #58 — 26,568 (- 1.0%) 09/2006: Catwoman #59 — 25,324 (- 4.7%) 10/2006: Catwoman #60 — 24,117 (- 4.8%) 11/2006: Catwoman #61 — 23,182 (- 3.9%) 12/2006: Catwoman #62 — 22,305 (- 3.8%) 01/2007: Catwoman #63 — 21,597 (- 3.2%) 02/2007: Catwoman #64 — 20,767 (- 3.8%) —————- 6 months: -21.8% 1 year : - 5.4% 2 years : -10.1%
Declining.
—–
107 - CHECKMATE 04/2006: Checkmate #1 — 49,156 [55,375] 05/2006: Checkmate #2 — 41,773 (-15.5%) 06/2006: Checkmate #3 — 37,551 (-10.1%) 07/2006: Checkmate #4 — 34,661 (- 7.7%) 08/2006: Checkmate #5 — 31,252 (- 9.8%) 09/2006: Checkmate #6 — 28,887 (- 7.6%) 10/2006: Checkmate #7 — 26,302 (- 9.0%) 11/2006: Checkmate #8 — 24,899 (- 5.3%) 12/2006: Checkmate #9 — 23,436 (- 5.9%) 01/2007: Checkmate #10 — 22,032 (- 6.0%) 02/2007: Checkmate #11 — 20,659 (- 6.2%) —————- 6 months: -33.9%
Awful numbers.
—–
110 - JACK OF FABLES (Vertigo) 07/2006: Jack of Fables #1 — 27,097 08/2006: Jack of Fables #2 — 23,554 (-13.1%) 09/2006: Jack of Fables #3 — 22,373 (- 5.0%) 10/2006: Jack of Fables #4 — 21,614 (- 3.4%) 11/2006: Jack of Fables #5 — 21,191 (- 2.0%) 12/2006: Jack of Fables #6 — 20,950 (- 1.1%) 01/2007: Jack of Fables #7 — 20,314 (- 3.0%) 02/2007: Jack of Fables #8 — 20,060 (- 1.3%) —————- 6 months: -14.8%
Standard attrition.
—–
113 - THE ALL-NEW ATOM 07/2006: The All-New Atom #1 — 49,969 08/2006: The All-New Atom #2 — 38,239 (-23.5%) 09/2006: The All-New Atom #3 — 33,254 (-13.0%) 10/2006: The All-New Atom #4 — 28,450 (-14.5%) 11/2006: The All-New Atom #5 — 25,569 (-10.1%) 12/2006: The All-New Atom #6 — 22,852 (-10.6%) 01/2007: The All-New Atom #7 — 20,996 (- 8.1%) 02/2007: The All-New Atom #8 — 19,004 (- 9.5%) —————- 6 months: -50.3%
Another abysmal drop.
—–
114 - OMAC 07/2006: OMAC #1 of 8 — 54,092 08/2006: OMAC #2 of 8 — 42,011 (-22.3%) 09/2006: OMAC #3 of 8 — 32,578 (-22.5%) 10/2006: OMAC #4 of 8 — 26,745 (-17.9%) 11/2006: OMAC #5 of 8 — 23,691 (-11.4%) 12/2006: OMAC #6 of 8 — 21,705 (- 8.4%) 01/2007: OMAC #7 of 8 — 19,966 (- 8.0%) 02/2007: OMAC #8 of 8 — 18,871 (- 5.5%) —————- 6 months: -55.1%
The less said of these numbers, the better.
—–
116 - BLUE BEETLE 03/2006: Blue Beetle #1 — 50,678 [69,752] 04/2006: Blue Beetle #2 — 43,770 (-13.6%) [50,190] 05/2006: Blue Beetle #3 — 41,711 (- 4.7%) 06/2006: Blue Beetle #4 — 38,622 (- 7.4%) 07/2006: Blue Beetle #5 — 35,490 (- 8.1%) 08/2006: Blue Beetle #6 — 33,181 (- 6.5%) 09/2006: Blue Beetle #7 — 29,079 (-12.4%) 10/2006: – 11/2006: Blue Beetle #8 — 25,861 (-11.1%) 11/2006: Blue Beetle #9 — 23,785 (- 8.0%) 12/2006: Blue Beetle #10 — 21,358 (-10.2%) 01/2007: Blue Beetle #11 — 19,865 (- 7.0%) 02/2007: Blue Beetle #12 — 18,555 (- 6.6%) —————- 6 months: -44.1%
A horrible performance.
—–
117 - TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED 10/2006: Tales of the Unexpected #1 of 8 — 35,486 11/2006: Tales of the Unexpected #2 of 8 — 24,219 (-31.8%) 12/2006: Tales of the Unexpected #3 of 8 — 21,166 (-12.6%) 01/2007: Tales of the Unexpected #4 of 8 — 19,872 (- 6.1%) 02/2007: Tales of the Unexpected #5 of 8 — 18,355 (- 7.6%)
That’s a hefty drop-off, but not a bad sales level for this type of thing.
—–
118 - AQUAMAN: SWORD OF ATLANTIS 02/2004: Aquaman #15 — 24,753 02/2005: Aquaman #27 — 19,459 ———————————– 02/2006: Aquaman #39 — 18,326 (+ 0.0%) 03/2006: Aquaman: SoA #40 — 37,611 (+105.2%) — [46,401] 04/2006: Aquaman: SoA #41 — 37,567 (- 0.1%) 05/2006: Aquaman: SoA #42 — 32,610 (- 13.2%) 06/2006: – 07/2006: Aquaman: SoA #43 — 30,584 (- 6.2%) 08/2006: – 09/2006: Aquaman: SoA #44 — 28,001 (- 8.5%) 10/2006: – 11/2006: Aquaman: SoA #45 — 23,540 (- 15.9%) 11/2006: Aquaman: SoA #46 — 21,974 (- 6.7%) 12/2006: Aquaman: SoA #47 — 21,197 (- 3.5%) 01/2007: Aquaman: SoA #48 — 19,459 (- 8.2%) 02/2007: Aquaman: SoA #49 — 17,939 (- 7.8%) —————- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : - 2.1% 2 years : - 7.8%
Writer Kurt Busiek’s final issue takes the book’s sales slightly below those from a year ago. While that doesn’t seem so bad at first glance, Aquaman’s performance during the Busiek run tells a different story, of course — after a spectacular boost with “One Year Later,” the book went into a sharp decline that has yet to let up. It’s doubtful whether the new creative team will be able to make much of a difference, given their lack of a following in the direct market.
—–
119 - JONAH HEX 02/2006: Jonah Hex #4 — 23,569 (- 4.5%) 03/2006: Jonah Hex #5 — 23,496 (- 0.3%) 04/2006: Jonah Hex #6 — 22,763 (- 3.1%) 05/2006: Jonah Hex #7 — 21,910 (- 3.8%) 06/2006: Jonah Hex #8 — 21,006 (- 4.1%) 07/2006: Jonah Hex #9 — 20,385 (- 3.0%) 08/2006: Jonah Hex #10 — 19,772 (- 3.0%) 09/2006: Jonah Hex #11 — 18,957 (- 4.1%) 10/2006: Jonah Hex #12 — 18,299 (- 3.5%) 11/2006: Jonah Hex #13 — 18,747 (+ 2.5%) 12/2006: Jonah Hex #14 — 18,295 (- 2.4%) 01/2007: Jonah Hex #15 — 17,987 (- 1.7%) 02/2007: Jonah Hex #16 — 17,490 (- 2.8%) —————- 6 months: -11.5% 1 year : -25.8%
Declining, slowly but surely.
—–
120 - MANHUNTER 02/2005: Manhunter #7 — 14,096 ——————————– 02/2006: Manhunter #19 — 12,970 (- 1.8%) 03/2006: Manhunter #20 — 16,090 (+24.1%) 04/2006: Manhunter #21 — 14,950 (- 7.1%) 05/2006: Manhunter #22 — 15,668 (+ 4.8%) 06/2006: Manhunter #23 — 15,542 (- 0.8%) 07/2006: Manhunter #24 — 14,650 (- 5.7%) 08/2006: Manhunter #25 — 15,175 (+ 3.6%) 09/2006: – 10/2006: – 11/2006: – 12/2006: Manhunter #26 — 23,767 (+56.6%) 01/2007: Manhunter #27 — 17,842 (-24.9%) 02/2007: Manhunter #28 — 17,182 (- 3.4%) —————- 6 months: +13.2% 1 year : +32.5% 2 years : +21.9%
Dropping back towards its usual level.
—–
122 - HAWKGIRL 02/2004: Hawkman #25 — 36,146 02/2005: Hawkman #37 — 19,929 ——————————- 02/2006: Hawkman #49 — 25,031 (+ 3.2%) 03/2006: Hawkgirl #50 — 34,728 (+38.7%) [38,135] 04/2006: Hawkgirl #51 — 30,657 (-11.7%) 05/2006: Hawkgirl #52 — 29,898 (- 2.5%) 06/2006: Hawkgirl #53 — 27,786 (- 7.1%) 07/2006: Hawkgirl #54 — 25,201 (- 9.3%) 08/2006: Hawkgirl #55 — 23,880 (- 5.2%) 09/2006: Hawkgirl #56 — 21,560 (- 9.7%) 10/2006: Hawkgirl #57 — 19,909 (- 7.7%) 11/2006: Hawkgirl #58 — 18,634 (- 6.4%) 12/2006: Hawkgirl #59 — 18,141 (- 2.7%) 01/2007: Hawkgirl #60 — 17,893 (- 1.4%) 02/2007: Hawkgirl #61 — 16,575 (- 7.4%) —————- 6 months: -30.6% 1 year : -33.8% 2 years : -16.8%
Back in a sharp decline.
—–
123 - WETWORKS (WildStorm) 09/2006: Wetworks #1 — 43,824 10/2006: Wetworks #2 — 28,181 (-35.7%) 11/2006: Wetworks #3 — 24,493 (-13.1%) 12/2006: Wetworks #4 — 23,267 (- 5.0%) 01/2007: Wetworks #5 — 18,313 (-21.3%) 02/2007: Wetworks #6 — 16,359 (-10.7%)
The horrible drop-off continues. Artist Whilce Portacio appears to have left the book.
—–
124 - STORMWATCH: PHD (WildStorm) 02/2004: Coup d’Etat: SW #2 — 27,822 —————————————- 11/2006: StormWatch: PHD #1 — 29,975 12/2006: StormWatch: PHD #2 — 21,605 (-27.9%) 01/2007: StormWatch: PHD #3 — 18,371 (-15.0%) 02/2007: StormWatch: PHD #4 — 15,893 (-13.5%)
It’s not really leveling out.
—–
129 - FIRESTORM: THE NUCLEAR MAN 02/2005: Firestorm #10 — 20,149 ———————————— 02/2006: Firestorm #22 — 21,104 (- 6.2%) 03/2006: Firestorm: NM #23 — 25,109 (+19.0%) 04/2006: Firestorm: NM #24 — 23,704 (- 5.6%) 05/2006: Firestorm: NM #25 — 23,301 (- 1.7%) 06/2006: Firestorm: NM #26 — 21,833 (- 6.3%) 07/2006: Firestorm: NM #27 — 19,772 (- 9.4%) 08/2006: Firestorm: NM #28 — 18,716 (- 5.3%) 09/2006: Firestorm: NM #29 — 17,449 (- 6.8%) 10/2006: Firestorm: NM #30 — 16,494 (- 5.5%) 11/2006: Firestorm: NM #31 — 16,068 (- 2.6%) 12/2006: Firestorm: NM #32 — 15,255 (- 5.1%) 01/2006: – 12/2006: Firestorm: NM #33 — 14,571 (- 4.5%) —————- 6 months: -22.2% 1 year : -31.0% 2 years : -27.7%
The arrival of new writer Dwayne McDuffie doesn’t make a difference to the book’s sales. Canceled with issue #35.
—–
131 - CONNOR HAWKE: DRAGON’S BLOOD 11/2006: Connor Hawke #1 of 6 — 23,191 12/2006: Connor Hawke #2 of 6 — 18,195 (-21.5%) 01/2007: Connor Hawke #3 of 6 — 16,175 (-11.1%) 02/2007: Connor Hawke #4 of 6 — 14,413 (-10.9%)
Horrible drops for a limited series.
—–
137 - DMZ (Vertigo) 02/2006: DMZ #4 — 14,778 (+ 1.9%) 03/2006: DMZ #5 — 14,952 (+ 1.2%) 04/2006: DMZ #6 — 15,212 (+ 1.7%) 05/2006: DMZ #7 — 15,026 (- 1.2%) 06/2006: DMZ #8 — 14,999 (- 0.2%) 07/2006: DMZ #9 — 14,786 (- 1.4%) 08/2006: DMZ #10 — 14,704 (- 0.6%) 09/2006: DMZ #11 — 14,562 (- 1.0%) 10/2006: DMZ #12 — 14,640 (+ 0.5%) 11/2006: DMZ #13 — 14,228 (- 2.8%) 12/2006: DMZ #14 — 13,731 (- 3.5%) 01/2007: DMZ #15 — 13,340 (- 2.9%) 02/2007: DMZ #16 — 13,199 (- 1.1%) —————- 6 months: -10.2% 1 year : -10.7%
Standard attrition.
—–
138 - HELLBLAZER (Vertigo) 02/2004: Hellblazer #193 — 15,000 02/2005: Hellblazer #205 — 15,158 ———————————- 02/2006: Hellblazer #217 — 14,306 (- 2.0%) 03/2006: Hellblazer #218 — 14,129 (- 1.2%) 04/2006: Hellblazer #219 — 14,206 (+ 0.6%) 05/2006: Hellblazer #220 — 14,161 (- 0.3%) 06/2006: Hellblazer #221 — 13,973 (- 1.3%) 07/2006: Hellblazer #222 — 13,912 (- 0.4%) 08/2006: Hellblazer #223 — 13,956 (+ 0.3%) 09/2006: Hellblazer #224 — 13,704 (- 1.8%) 10/2006: Hellblazer #225 — 13,629 (- 0.6%) 11/2006: Hellblazer #226 — 13,388 (- 1.8%) 12/2006: Hellblazer #227 — 13,231 (- 1.2%) 01/2007: Hellblazer #228 — 12,956 (- 2.1%) 02/2007: Hellblazer #229 — 13,032 (+ 0.6%) —————- 6 months: - 6.6% 1 year : - 8.9% 2 years : -14.0%
Sticking to the 13K area.
—–
140 - 100 BULLETS (Vertigo) 02/2004: – 02/2005: 100 Bullets #58 — 14,926 ———————————- 02/2006: 100 Bullets #69 — 13,708 (- 1.2%) 03/2006: 100 Bullets #70 — 13,591 (- 0.9%) 04/2006: 100 Bullets #71 — 13,514 (- 0.6%) 05/2006: 100 Bullets #72 — 13,489 (- 0.2%) 06/2006: 100 Bullets #73 — 13,407 (- 0.6%) 07/2006: 100 Bullets #74 — 13,265 (- 1.1%) 08/2006: 100 Bullets #75 — 13,322 (+ 0.4%) 09/2006: 100 Bullets #76 — 13,082 (- 1.8%) 10/2006: 100 Bullets #77 — 13,054 (- 0.2%) 11/2006: 100 Bullets #78 — 12,954 (- 0.8%) 12/2006: 100 Bullets #79 — 12,907 (- 0.4%) 01/2007: 100 Bullets #80 — 12,651 (- 2.0%) 02/2007: 100 Bullets #81 — 12,458 (- 1.5%) —————- 6 months: - 6.5% 1 year : - 9.1% 2 years : -16.5%
Standard attrition.
—–
142 - WELCOME TO TRANQUILITY (WildStorm) 12/2006: Welcome to Tranquility #1 — 24,352 01/2007: Welcome to Tranquility #2 — 15,087 (-38.1%) 02/2007: Welcome to Tranquility #3 — 12,334 (-18.3%)
Not an encouraging third-issue drop.
—–
147 - SANDMAN MYSTERY THEATRE: SLEEP OF REASON (Vertigo) 12/2006: Sleep of Reason #1 of 5 — 17,472 01/2007: Sleep of Reason #2 of 5 — 12,687 (-27.4%) 02/2007: Sleep of Reason #3 of 5 — 11,618 (- 8.4%)
Leveling out.
—–
148 - LOVELESS (Vertigo) 02/2006: Loveless #4 — 16,765 (+ 3.0%) 03/2006: Loveless #5 — 16,704 (- 0.4%) 04/2006: Loveless #6 — 16,823 (+ 0.7%) 05/2006: Loveless #7 — 15,961 (- 5.1%) 06/2006: Loveless #8 — 14,915 (- 6.6%) 07/2006: Loveless #9 — 14,434 (- 3.2%) 08/2006: Loveless #10 — 13,860 (- 4.0%) 09/2006: Loveless #11 — 13,256 (- 4.4%) 10/2006: Loveless #12 — 12,617 (- 4.8%) 11/2006: Loveless #13 — 11,945 (- 5.3%) 12/2006: Loveless #14 — 11,476 (- 3.9%) 01/2007: – 02/2007: Loveless #15 — 11,103 (- 3.3%) —————- 6 months: -19.9% 1 year : -33.8%
Slowly declining.
—–
151 - OMEGA MEN 10/2006: Omega Men #1 of 6 — 23,536 11/2006: Omega Men #2 of 6 — 17,379 (-26.2%) 12/2006: Omega Men #3 of 6 — 14,046 (-19.2%) 01/2007: Omega Men #4 of 6 — 12,144 (-13.5%) 02/2007: Omega Men #5 of 6 — 10,554 (-13.1%)
Dropping out of sight.
—–
153 - EX MACHINA: INSIDE THE MACHINE (WildStorm) 02/2007: EM: Inside the Machine, Vol. 1 — 10,213
This isn’t a comic, but, according to the solicitation copy, a “behind-the-scenes” book with all kinds of extras you’d normally expect as bonus material in a paperback collection. Not a bad number by any stretch for this sort of thing.
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154 - SCALPED (Vertigo) 01/2007: Scalped #1 — 13,644 02/2007: Scalped #2 — 10,005 (-26.7%)
A steep drop, but not unexpected.
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160 - AMERICAN VIRGIN (Vertigo) 03/2006: American Virgin #1 — 19,455 04/2006: American Virgin #2 — 15,780 (-18.9%) 05/2006: American Virgin #3 — 14,764 (- 6.4%) 06/2006: American Virgin #4 — 14,081 (- 4.6%) 07/2006: American Virgin #5 — 13,265 (- 5.8%) 08/2006: American Virgin #6 — 12,487 (- 5.9%) 09/2006: American Virgin #7 — 11,767 (- 5.8%) 10/2006: – 11/2006: American Virgin #8 — 11,275 (- 4.2%) 11/2006: American Virgin #9 — 10,567 (- 6.3%) 12/2006: – 01/2007: American Virgin #10 — 10,331 (- 2.2%) 01/2007: American Virgin #11 — 9,628 (- 6.8%) 02/2007: American Virgin #12 — 9,215 (- 4.3%) —————- 6 months: -52.6%
Declining.
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161 - TEEN TITANS GO (Johnny DC) 02/2004: Teen Titans Go #4 — 16,085 02/2005: Teen Titans Go #16 — 13,980 ————————————- 02/2006: Teen Titans Go #28 — 11,568 (- 0.4%) 03/2006: Teen Titans Go #29 — 11,260 (- 2.7%) 04/2006: Teen Titans Go #30 — 11,225 (- 0.3%) 05/2006: Teen Titans Go #31 — 11,140 (- 0.8%) 06/2006: Teen Titans Go #32 — 10,736 (- 3.6%) 07/2006: Teen Titans Go #33 — 10,516 (- 2.1%) 08/2006: Teen Titans Go #34 — 10,328 (- 1.8%) 09/2006: Teen Titans Go #35 — 9,940 (- 3.8%) 10/2006: Teen Titans Go #36 — 10,214 (+ 2.8%) 11/2006: Teen Titans Go #37 — 9,642 (- 5.6%) 12/2006: Teen Titans Go #38 — 9,529 (- 1.2%) 01/2007: Teen Titans Go #39 — 9,425 (- 1.1%) 02/2007: Teen Titans Go #40 — 9,132 (- 3.1%) —————- 6 months: -11.6% 1 year : -21.1% 2 years : -34.7%
162 - JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED (Johnny DC) 02/2004: JL Adventures #28 — 12,343 02/2005: JL Unlimited #6 — 12,205 ———————————— 02/2006: JL Unlimited #18 — 10,206 (+ 0.1%) 03/2006: JL Unlimited #19 — 10,534 (+ 3.2%) 04/2006: JL Unlimited #20 — 10,620 (+ 0.8%) 05/2006: JL Unlimited #21 — 10,430 (- 1.8%) 06/2006: JL Unlimited #22 — 10,430 ( n.a.) 07/2006: JL Unlimited #23 — 10,255 (- 1.7%) 08/2006: JL Unlimited #24 — 10,117 (- 1.4%) 09/2006: JL Unlimited #25 — 9,985 (- 1.3%) 10/2006: JL Unlimited #26 — 9,696 (- 2.9%) 11/2006: JL Unlimited #27 — 9,690 (- 0.1%) 12/2006: JL Unlimited #28 — 9,713 (+ 0.2%) 01/2007: JL Unlimited #29 — 9,273 (- 4.5%) 02/2007: JL Unlimited #30 — 9,123 (- 1.6%) —————- 6 months: - 9.8% 1 year : -10.6% 2 years : -25.3%
Two Johnny DC titles. See disclaimers.
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164 - THE EXTERMINATORS (Vertigo) 02/2006: The Exterminators #2 — 12,459 (-23.0%) 03/2006: The Exterminators #3 — 11,678 (- 6.3%) 04/2006: The Exterminators #4 — 11,342 (- 2.9%) 05/2006: The Exterminators #5 — 10,978 (- 3.2%) 06/2006: The Exterminators #6 — 11,004 (+ 0.2%) 07/2006: The Exterminators #7 — 10,743 (- 2.4%) 08/2006: The Exterminators #8 — 10,299 (- 4.1%) 09/2006: The Exterminators #9 — 10,177 (- 1.2%) 10/2006: The Exterminators #10 — 9,970 (- 2.0%) 11/2006: The Exterminators #11 — 9,973 (+ 0.0%) 12/2006: The Exterminators #12 — 9,636 (- 3.4%) 01/2007: The Exterminators #13 — 9,447 (- 2.0%) 02/2007: The Exterminators #14 — 8,965 (- 5.1%) —————- 6 months: -13.0% 1 year : -28.0%
Declining.
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165 - FRIDAY THE 13TH (WildStorm) 12/2006: Friday the 13th #1 — 15,801 01/2007: Friday the 13th #2 — 9,555 (-39.5%) 02/2007: Friday the 13th #3 — 8,965 (- 6.2%)
Canceled with issue #6.
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167 - RED MENACE (WildStorm) 11/2006: Red Menace #1 of 6 — 21,389 12/2006: Red Menace #2 of 6 — 14,501 (-32.2%) 01/2007: Red Menace #3 of 6 — 10,295 (-29.0%) 02/2007: Red Menace #4 of 6 — 8,550 (-17.0%)
Abysmal numbers.
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168 - NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (WildStorm) 10/2006: Nightmare on Elm Street #1 — 18,736 11/2006: Nightmare on Elm Street #2 — 11,709 (-37.5%) 12/2006: Nightmare on Elm Street #3 — 10,129 (-13.5%) 01/2007: Nightmare on Elm Street #4 — 9,019 (-11.0%) 02/2007: Nightmare on Elm Street #5 — 8,408 (- 6.8%)
Axed with issue #8.
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171 - DEADMAN (Vertigo) 08/2006: Deadman #1 — 21,980 09/2006: Deadman #2 — 15,494 (-29.5%) 10/2006: Deadman #3 — 12,936 (-16.5%) 11/2006: Deadman #4 — 11,294 (-12.7%) 12/2006: Deadman #5 — 10,113 (-10.5%) 01/2007: Deadman #6 — 9,157 (- 9.5%) 02/2007: Deadman #7 — 8,342 (- 8.9%) —————- 6 months: -62.1%
A horrible six-month drop-off, and sales are still declining too fast.
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174 - TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (WildStorm) 11/2006: Texas Chainsaw Massacre #1 — 15,605 12/2006: Texas Chainsaw Massacre #2 — 9,706 (-37.8%) 01/2007: Texas Chainsaw Massacre #3 — 8,229 (-15.2%) 02/2007: Texas Chainsaw Massacre #4 — 7,651 (- 7.0%)
Canceled with issue #6.
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175 - TESTAMENT (Vertigo) 02/2006: Testament #3 — 12,831 (- 5.1%) 03/2006: Testament #4 — 13,074 (+ 1.9%) 04/2006: Testament #5 — 12,770 (- 2.3%) 05/2006: Testament #6 — 12,361 (- 3.2%) 06/2006: Testament #7 — 11,770 (- 4.8%) 07/2006: Testament #8 — 11,073 (- 5.9%) 08/2006: Testament #9 — 10,462 (- 5.5%) 09/2006: Testament #10 — 9,629 (- 8.0%) 10/2006: Testament #11 — 9,059 (- 5.9%) 11/2006: Testament #12 — 8,690 (- 4.1%) 12/2006: Testament #13 — 8,320 (- 4.3%) 01/2007: Testament #14 — 7,960 (- 4.3%) 02/2007: Testament #15 — 7,618 (- 4.3%) —————- 6 months: -27.2% 1 year : -40.6%
Declining.
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176 - CROSSING MIDNIGHT (Vertigo) 11/2006: Crossing Midnight #1 — 12,756 12/2006: Crossing Midnight #2 — 8,982 (-29.6%) 01/2007: Crossing Midnight #3 — 8,236 (- 8.3%) 02/2007: Crossing Midnight #4 — 7,568 (- 8.1%)
It’s not bottoming out yet, despite already being the lowest-selling ongoing Vertigo title.
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177 - THE OTHER SIDE (Vertigo) 10/2006: The Other Side #1 of 5 — 12,336 11/2006: The Other Side #2 of 5 — 9,359 (-24.1%) 12/2006: The Other Side #3 of 5 — 8,436 (- 9.9%) 01/2007: The Other Side #4 of 5 — 7,989 (- 5.3%) 02/2007: The Other Side #5 of 5 — 7,510 (- 6.0%)
These haven’t been great numbers. But the book has garnered good reviews, and a collection is on the way, so maybe it’ll do better through other channels.
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178 - BATMAN STRIKES! (Johnny DC) 02/2004: Batman Adventures #11 — 12,082 02/2005: Batman Strikes! #6 — 11,102 —————————————- 02/2006: Batman Strikes! #18 — 8,626 (+ 5.6%) 03/2006: Batman Strikes! #19 — 8,244 (- 4.4%) 04/2006: Batman Strikes! #20 — 8,331 (+ 1.1%) 05/2006: Batman Strikes! #21 — 8,467 (+ 1.6%) 06/2006: Batman Strikes! #22 — 8,104 (- 4.3%) 07/2006: Batman Strikes! #23 — 8,154 (+ 0.6%) 08/2006: Batman Strikes! #24 — 8,139 (- 0.2%) 09/2006: Batman Strikes! #25 — 7,765 (- 4.6%) 10/2006: Batman Strikes! #26 — 7,560 (- 2.6%) 11/2006: Batman Strikes! #27 — 7,567 (+ 0.1%) 12/2006: Batman Strikes! #28 — 7,427 (- 1.9%) 01/2007: Batman Strikes! #29 — 7,330 (- 1.3%) 02/2007: Batman Strikes! #30 — 7,335 (+ 0.1%) —————- 6 months: - 9.9% 1 year : -15.0% 2 years : -33.9%
Johnny DC.
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191 - NINJA SCROLL (WildStorm) 09/2006: Ninja Scroll #1 — 16,819 10/2006: – 11/2006: Ninja Scroll #2 — 12,143 (-27.8%) 12/2006: Ninja Scroll #3 — 10,468 (-13.8%) 12/2006: Ninja Scroll #4 — 7,781 (-25.7%) 01/2007: Ninja Scroll #5 — 6,895 (-11.4%) 02/2007: Ninja Scroll #6 — 6,371 (- 7.6%)
DC’s lowest-selling ongoing title, aside from the Johnny DC books.
199 - RUSH CITY 07/2006: Rush City #1 of 6 — 13,083 08/2006: – 09/2006: Rush City #2 of 6 — 11,867 (- 9.3%) 10/2006: – 11/2006: Rush City #3 of 6 — 8,539 (-28.1%) 12/2006: – 01/2007: Rush City #4 of 6 — 6,873 (-19.5%) 02/2007: Rush City #5 of 6 — 6,055 (-11.9%) —————- 6 months: n.a.
Not much interest in this one.
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216 - KRYPTO THE SUPERDOG (Johnny DC) 09/2006: Krypto the Superdog #1 of 6 — 10,369 10/2006: Krypto the Superdog #2 of 6 — 7,023 (-32.3%) 11/2006: Krypto the Superdog #3 of 6 — 6,019 (-14.3%) 12/2006: Krypto the Superdog #4 of 6 — 5,519 (- 8.3%) 01/2007: Krypto the Superdog #5 of 6 — 4,966 (-10.0%) 02/2007: Krypto the Superdog #6 of 6 — 4,799 (- 3.4%)
229 - SCOOBY DOO (Johnny DC) 02/2004: Scooby Doo #81 — 5,297 02/2005: Scooby Doo #93 — 4,747 ——————————— 02/2006: Scooby Doo #105 — 4,326 (- 2.9%) 03/2006: Scooby Doo #106 — 4,419 (+ 2.2%) 04/2006: Scooby Doo #107 — 4,359 (- 1.4%) 05/2006: Scooby Doo #108 — 4,496 (+ 3.1%) 06/2006: Scooby Doo #109 — 4,423 (- 1.6%) 07/2006: Scooby Doo #110 — 4,781 (+ 8.1%) 08/2006: Scooby Doo #111 — 4,492 (- 6.1%) 09/2006: Scooby Doo #112 — 4,385 (- 2.4%) 10/2006: Scooby Doo #113 — 4,339 (- 1.1%) 11/2006: Scooby Doo #114 — 4,387 (+ 1.1%) 12/2006: Scooby Doo #115 — 4,364 (- 0.5%) 01/2007: Scooby Doo #116 — 4,285 (- 1.8%) 02/2007: Scooby Doo #117 — 4,275 (- 0.2%) —————- 6 months: - 4.8% 1 year : - 1.2% 2 years : - 9.9%
257 - LOONEY TUNES (Johnny DC) 02/2004: Looney Tunes #111 — 3,220 02/2005: Looney Tunes #123 — 2,838 ———————————– 02/2006: Looney Tunes #135 — 2,631 (+ 1.2%) 03/2006: Looney Tunes #136 — 2,792 (+ 6.1%) 04/2006: Looney Tunes #137 — 2,558 (- 8.4%) 05/2006: Looney Tunes #138 — 2,774 (+ 8.4%) 06/2006: Looney Tunes #139 — 2,694 (- 2.9%) 07/2006: Looney Tunes #140 — 2,680 (- 0.5%) 08/2006: Looney Tunes #141 — 2,783 (+ 3.8%) 09/2006: Looney Tunes #142 — 2,695 (- 3.2%) 10/2006: Looney Tunes #143 — 2,741 (+ 1.7%) 11/2006: Looney Tunes #144 — ????? 12/2006: Looney Tunes #145 — 2,732 01/2007: Looney Tunes #146 — 2,588 (- 5.3%) 02/2007: Looney Tunes #147 — 2,553 (- 1.4%) —————- 6 months: - 8.3% 1 year : - 3.0% 2 years : -10.0%
281 - CARTOON NETWORK BLOCK PARTY (Johnny DC) 02/2004: Cartoon Cartoons #27 — 2,371 02/2005: CN Block Party #6 — 2,002 ————————————– 02/2006: CN Block Party #18 — 1,728 (- 3.8%) 03/2006: CN Block Party #19 — ????? 04/2006: CN Block Party #20 — 2,055 05/2006: CN Block Party #21 — ????? 06/2006: CN Block Party #22 — 1,913 07/2006: CN Block Party #23 — 1,976 (+ 3.3%) 08/2006: CN Block Party #24 — 1,920 (- 2.8%) 09/2006: CN Block Party #25 — 1,918 (- 0.1%) 10/2006: CN Block Party #26 — 1,879 (- 2.0%) 11/2006: CN Block Party #27 — ????? 12/2006: CN Block Party #28 — 1,778 01/2007: CN Block Party #29 — ????? 02/2007: CN Block Party #30 — 1,697 —————- 6 months: -11.6% 1 year : - 1.8% 2 years : -15.2%
288 - CARTOON NETWORK ACTION PACK (Johnny DC) 05/2006: CN Action Pack #1 — ????? 06/2006: CN Action Pack #2 — 1,844 07/2006: CN Action Pack #3 — 1,908 (+3.5%) 08/2006: CN Action Pack #4 — ????? 09/2006: CN Action Pack #5 — 1,644 10/2006: CN Action Pack #6 — 1,704 (+3.7%) 11/2006: CN Action Pack #7 — ????? 12/2006: CN Action Pack #8 — ????? 01/2007: CN Action Pack #9 — ????? 02/2007: CN Action Pack #10 — 1,564 —————- 6 months: n.a.
And another bunch of Johnny DC books.
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RE-ORDERS: 195: 6,279 — Justice Society of America #2 262: 2,270 — Teen Titans #43 275: 1,888 — Justice Society of America #1 282: 1,680 — 52 Week 39 285: 1,622 — The Boys #1 296: 1,464 — Justice League of America #5
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Average Sales per Title
(not counting reprints, re-orders shipping after the initial month of release, Johnny DC titles and magazines)
DC COMICS 02/2004: 26,900 02/2005: 27,525 ————— 02/2006: 32,292 (- 2.2%) 03/2006: 36,077 (+11.7%) 04/2006: 33,566 (- 7.0%) 05/2006: 42,860 (+27.7%) 06/2006: 40,778 (- 4.9%) 07/2006: 39,915 (- 2.1%) 08/2006: 42,497 (+ 6.5%) 09/2006: 34,920 (-17.8%) 10/2006: 33,406 (- 4.3%) 11/2006: 34,906 (+ 4.5%) 12/2006: 34,418 (- 1.4%) 01/2007: 29,706 (-13.7%) 02/2007: 31,051 (+ 4.5%) —————- 6 months: -26.9% 1 year : - 3.8% 2 years : +12.8% 3 years : +15.4%
DC UNIVERSE 02/2004: 30,632 02/2005: 34,956 ————— 02/2006: 40,823 (+ 1.8%) 03/2006: 44,854 (+ 9.9%) 04/2006: 45,129 (+ 0.6%) 05/2006: 56,982 (+26.3%) 06/2006: 51,088 (-10.3%) 07/2006: 49,638 (- 2.8%) 08/2006: 54,382 (+10.0%) 09/2006: 46,329 (-14.8%) 10/2006: 42,581 (- 8.1%) 11/2006: 45,399 (+ 6.6%) 12/2006: 44,641 (- 1.7%) 01/2007: 38,302 (-14.2%) 02/2007: 39,976 (+ 4.4%) —————- 6 months: -26.5% 1 year : - 2.1% 2 years : +12.9% 3 years : +30.5%
VERTIGO 02/2004: 14,808 02/2005: 13,451 ————— 02/2006: 15,026 (- 0.1%) 03/2006: 15,812 (+ 5.2%) 04/2006: 15,473 (- 2.1%) 05/2006: 15,266 (- 1.3%) 06/2006: 14,965 (- 2.0%) 07/2006: 16,684 (+11.5%) 08/2006: 16,107 (- 3.5%) 09/2006: 15,399 (- 4.4%) 10/2006: 15,189 (- 1.4%) 11/2006: 13,773 (- 9.3%) 12/2006: 13,834 (+ 0.4%) 01/2007: 13,572 (- 1.9%) 02/2007: 11,855 (-12.7%) —————- 6 months: -26.4% 1 year : -21.1% 2 years : -11.9% 3 years : -19.9%
WILDSTORM 02/2004: 21,164 02/2005: 14,362 ————— 02/2006: 13,610 (-22.3%) 03/2006: 14,210 (+ 4.4%) 04/2006: 16,036 (+12.9%) 05/2006: 12,737 (-20.6%) 06/2006: 15,056 (+18.2%) 07/2006: 12,778 (-15.1%) 08/2006: 14,741 (+15.4%) 09/2006: 13,285 (- 9.9%) 10/2006: 25,747 (+93.8%) 11/2006: 18,987 (-26.3%) 12/2006: 17,288 (- 9.0%) 01/2007: 14,525 (-16.0%) 02/2007: 14,105 (- 2.9%) —————- 6 months: - 4.3% 1 year : + 3.6% 2 years : - 1.8% 3 years : -33.4%
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6-MONTH COMPARISONS + 13.2%: Manhunter + 11.4%: Action Comics - 1.8%: Y: The Last Man - 4.8%: Scooby-Doo - 6.5%: 100 Bullets - 6.6%: Hellblazer - 8.3%: Looney Tunes - 9.8%: Justice League Unlimited - 9.9%: Batman Strikes! - 10.2%: DMZ - 10.3%: Birds of Prey - 11.1%: Justice - 11.5%: Jonah Hex - 11.6%: Cartoon Network Block Party - 11.6%: Teen Titans Go - 11.9%: Green Arrow - 13.0%: The Exterminators - 13.0%: Superman - 13.4%: Batman - 14.8%: Jack of Fables - 16.8%: Detective Comics - 17.4%: Wonder Woman - 18.6%: Nightwing - 18.6%: Outsiders - 19.9%: Loveless - 20.3%: 52 - 20.3%: JLA: Classified - 21.2%: Supergirl and the Legion - 21.8%: Catwoman - 22.2%: Firestorm - 22.9%: Robin - 27.2%: Testament - 27.8%: Ion - 28.7%: Supergirl - 29.5%: JSA: Classified - 30.6%: Hawkgirl - 31.6%: Trials of SHAZAM - 32.2%: Green Lantern Corps - 33.2%: Flash - 33.9%: Checkmate - 34.6%: Shadowpact - 44.1%: Blue Beetle - 44.6%: Martian Manhunter - 50.3%: The All-New Atom - 52.6%: American Virgin - 55.1%: OMAC - 62.1%: Deadman
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1-YEAR COMPARISONS + 55.9%: Detective Comics + 55.5%: Justice Society of America + 52.9%: Wonder Woman + 32.5%: Manhunter + 25.2%: Batman + 24.8%: Action Comics + 0.7%: Green Arrow - 1.2%: Scooby-Doo - 1.6%: Y: The Last Man - 1.8%: Cartoon Network Block Party - 2.1%: Aquaman - 2.2%: Supergirl and the Legion - 3.0%: Looney Tunes - 5.1%: Birds of Prey - 5.4%: Catwoman - 8.0%: Nightwing - 8.9%: Hellblazer - 9.0%: Superman - 9.1%: 100 Bullets - 10.6%: Justice League Unlimited - 10.7%: DMZ - 12.2%: Robin - 14.1%: Justice - 15.0%: Batman Strikes! - 21.1%: Teen Titans Go - 23.8%: Outsiders - 25.8%: Jonah Hex - 28.0%: The Exterminators - 30.5%: Green Lantern - 31.0%: Firestorm - 33.8%: Hawkgirl - 33.8%: Loveless - 40.6%: Testament - 41.7%: JLA: Classified - 42.3%: JSA: Classified - 49.0%: Supergirl
—–
2-YEAR COMPARISONS +182.5%: Wonder Woman + 96.8%: Justice Society of America + 72.5%: Action Comics + 43.3%: Batman + 38.0%: Detective Comics + 21.9%: Manhunter + 7.1%: Flash - 0.3%: Green Arrow - 1.8%: Y: The Last Man - 4.0%: Birds of Prey - 7.8%: Aquaman - 9.9%: Scooby-Doo - 10.0%: Looney Tunes - 10.1%: Catwoman - 11.0%: Nightwing - 12.8%: Robin - 14.0%: Hellblazer - 15.2%: Cartoon Network Block Party - 16.5%: 100 Bullets - 16.6%: Outsiders - 16.8%: Hawkgirl - 21.4%: Supergirl and the Legion - 25.3%: Justice League Unlimited - 27.7%: Firestorm - 33.9%: Batman Strikes! - 34.7%: Teen Titans Go - 42.5%: Superman - 42.6%: Green Lantern - 59.0%: JLA: Classified
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OTHER PUBLISHERS
57 - STAR WARS: LEGACY (Dark Horse) 06/2006: Star Wars: Legacy #1 — 34,758 [36,375] 07/2006: Star Wars: Legacy #2 — 33,298 (-4.2%) 08/2006: – 09/2006: Star Wars: Legacy #3 — 34,268 (+2.9%) 09/2006: Star Wars: Legacy #4 — 34,362 (+0.3%) 10/2006: – 11/2006: Star Wars: Legacy #5 — 34,362 ( 0%) 11/2006: Star Wars: Legacy #6 — 33,003 (-4.0%) 12/2006: – 01/2007: Star Wars: Legacy #7 — 34,249 (+3.8%) 02/2007: Star Wars: Legacy #8 — 33,533 (-2.1%) —————- 6 months: n.a.
Still doing perfectly well.
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75 - CONAN (Dark Horse) 02/2005: Conan #1 — 51,416 [92,547] 02/2005: Conan #13 — 38,645 —————————- 02/2006: Conan #25 — 31,675 (- 0.7%) 03/2006: Conan #26 — 31,573 (- 0.3%) 04/2006: Conan #27 — 31,710 (+ 0.4%) 05/2006: Conan #28 — 31,675 (- 0.1%) 06/2006: Conan #29 — 32,049 (+ 1.2%) 07/2006: Conan #30 — 31,095 (- 3.0%) 08/2006: Conan #31 — 30,887 (- 0.7%) 09/2006: Conan #32 — 29,070 (- 5.9%) 10/2006: Conan #33 — 29,137 (+ 0.2%) 11/2006: Conan #34 — 28,144 (- 3.4%) 12/2006: Conan #35 — 27,115 (- 3.7%) 01/2006: Conan #36 — 26,245 (- 3.2%) 02/2006: Conan #37 — 25,532 (- 2.7%) —————- 6 months: -17.3% 1 year : -19.4% 2 years : -33.9%
The last six months’ stiff decline is slowing down again.
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85 - STAR WARS: KNIGHTS OF THE OLD REPUBLIC (Dark Horse) 02/2006: Star Wars: KotOR #2 — 21,203 (-9.7%) 03/2006: Star Wars: KotOR #3 — 21,346 (+0.7%) 04/2006: Star Wars: KotOR #4 — 22,581 (+5.8%) 05/2006: Star Wars: KotOR #5 — 23,223 (+2.8%) 06/2006: Star Wars: KotOR #6 — 23,424 (+0.9%) 07/2006: Star Wars: KotOR #7 — 23,531 (+0.5%) 08/2006: – 09/2006: Star Wars: KotOR #8 — 24,374 (+3.6%) 10/2006: Star Wars: KotOR #9 — 24,229 (-0.6%) 11/2006: Star Wars: KotOR #10 — 24,021 (-0.9%) 12/2006: Star Wars: KotOR #11 — 24,437 (+1.7%) 01/2007: Star Wars: KotOR #12 — 24,940 (+2.1%) 01/2007: Star Wars: KotOR #13 — 24,149 (-3.2%) 02/2007: Star Wars: KotOR #14 — 23,395 (-3.1%) —————- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : +10.3%
The numbers are losing steam, but the book is still doing very well, overall.
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93 - RED SONJA (Dynamite) 02/2006: Red Sonja #5 — 38,798 (- 7.3%) 02/2006: Red Sonja #6 — 35,031 (- 9.7%) 03/2006: Red Sonja #7 — 34,560 (- 1.5%) 03/2006: Red Sonja #8 — 34,700 (+ 0.4%) 04/2006: Red Sonja #9 — 32,334 (- 6.8%) 05/2006: Red Sonja #10 — 32,479 (+ 0.5%) 06/2006: Red Sonja #11 — 31,176 (- 4.0%) 07/2006: Red Sonja #12 — 33,252 (+ 6.7%) 08/2006: Red Sonja #13 — 28,996 (-12.8%) 09/2006: Red Sonja #14 — 25,891 (-10.7%) 10/2006: Red Sonja #15 — 25,303 (- 2.3%) 11/2006: Red Sonja #16 — 25,644 (+ 1.4%) 12/2006: Red Sonja #17 — 23,552 (- 8.2%) 01/2007: Red Sonja #18 — 23,040 (- 2.2%) 02/2007: Red Sonja #19 — 22,322 (- 3.1%) —————- 6 months: -23.0% 1 year : -42.5%
Settling into a slow decline, possibly. Cover count: eight.
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101 - THE WALKING DEAD (Image) 02/2004: – 02/2005: Walking Dead #15 — 15,454 ———————————– 02/2006: – 03/2006: Walking Dead #26 — 19,385 (+ 0.3%) 03/2006: Walking Dead #27 — 18,868 (- 2.7%) 04/2006: – 05/2006: – 06/2006: Walking Dead #28 — 19,537 (+ 2.2%) 07/2006: Walking Dead #29 — 20,385 (+ 4.3%) 08/2006: Walking Dead #30 — 20,540 (+ 0.8%) 09/2006: Walking Dead #31 — 21,368 (+ 4.0%) 10/2006: – 11/2006: Walking Dead #32 — 21,191 (- 0.8%) 12/2006: Walking Dead #33 — 21,235 (+ 0.2%) 01/2007: Walking Dead #34 — 21,184 (- 0.2%) 02/2007: Walking Dead #35 — 21,391 (+ 1.0%) —————– 6 months: + 4.1% 1 year : n.a. 2 years : + 38.4%
The numbers are reaching new heights again, bringing the book closer to the Top 100 than ever before.
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106 - FELL (Image) 02/2006: – 03/2006: Fell #4 — 18,917 (+16.7%) 04/2006: – 05/2006: Fell #5 — 19,353 (+ 2.3%) 06/2006: – 07/2006: – 08/2006: Fell #6 — 19,542 (+ 1.0%) 09/2006: – 10/2006: – 11/2006: – 12/2006: – 01/2007: – 02/2007: Fell #7 — 20,667 (+ 5.8%) —————- 6 months: + 5.8%
Another title whose sales keep increasing.
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127 - TRANSFORMERS: ESCALATION (IDW) 02/2006: Transformers: Infiltration #2 — 35,828 (-21.2%) 03/2006: Transformers: Infiltration #3 — 30,344 (-15.3%) 04/2006: Transformers: Infiltration #4 — 28,835 (- 5.0%) 05/2006: Transformers: Infiltration #5 — 27,264 (- 5.5%) 06/2006: – 07/2006: Transformers: Infiltration #6 — 25,303 (- 7.2%) 08/2006: – 09/2006: – 10/2006: – 11/2006: Transformers: Escalation #1 — 20,625 (-18.5%) 12/2006: Transformers: Escalation #2 — 16,363 (-20.7%) 01/2007: Transformers: Escalation #3 — 15,616 (- 4.6%) 02/2007: Transformers: Escalation #4 — 14,737 (- 5.6%) —————- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : -58.9%
There’s a high-profile Transformers film coming up, so let’s see how the various comics are doing.
The line’s current flagship title isn’t doing all that well, it seems. Cover count: three.
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128 - G.I. JOE VS. TRANSFORMERS (DDP) 03/2006: G.I. Joe vs. Transformers Vol. 3 #1 of 5 — 26,561 (+ 9.5%) 04/2006: G.I. Joe vs. Transformers Vol. 3 #2 of 5 — 21,386 (-19.5%) 05/2006: G.I. Joe vs. Transformers Vol. 3 #3 of 5 — 20,612 (- 3.6%) 06/2006: G.I. Joe vs. Transformers Vol. 3 #4 of 5 — 18,772 (- 8.9%) 07/2006: – 08/2006: G.I. Joe vs. Transformers Vol. 3 #5 of 5 — 18,208 (- 3.0%) 09/2006: – 10/2006: – 11/2006: – 12/2006: – 01/2007: G.I. Joe vs. Transformers Vol. 4 #1 of 2 — 17,269 (- 5.6%) 02/2007: G.I. Joe vs. Transformers Vol. 4 #2 of 2 — 14,654 (-15.1%) —————- 6 months: -19.5% 1 year : -44.8%
Another Transformers book with less than inspiring sales. Cover count: two.
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136 - INVINCIBLE (Image) 02/2004: Invincible #8 — 6,323 02/2005: Invincible #20 — 9,541 ——————————— 02/2006: Invincible #28 — 12,147 (+ 3.2%) 03/2006: Invincible #29 — 12,698 (+ 4.5%) 03/2006: Invincible #30 — 12,300 (- 3.1%) 04/2006: Invincible #31 — 12,056 (- 2.0%) 05/2006: – 06/2006: Invincible #32 — 12,910 (+ 7.1%) 06/2006: Invincible #33 — 12,940 (+ 0.2%) 07/2006: – 08/2006: Invincible #34 — 13,610 (+ 5.2%) 09/2006: Invincible #35 — 13,320 (- 2.1%) 10/2006: – 11/2006: Invincible #36 — 13,473 (+ 1.2%) 12/2006: Invincible #37 — 13,523 (+ 0.4%) 01/2007: Invincible #38 — 13,470 (- 0.4%) 02/2007: Invincible #39 — 13,298 (- 1.3%) —————- 6 months: - 2.3% 1 year : + 9.5% 2 years : +39.4%
Standard attrition.
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193 - TRANSFORMERS: GENERATIONS (IDW) 03/2006: Transformers: Generations #1 — 24,104 04/2006: Transformers: Generations #2 — 18,718 (-22.3%) 05/2006: Transformers: Generations #3 — 13,844 (-26.0%) [15,436] 04/2006: Transformers: Generations #4 — 12,986 (- 6.2%) 07/2006: Transformers: Generations #5 — 11,141 (-14.2%) 08/2006: Transformers: Generations #6 — 10,203 (- 8.4%) 09/2006: Transformers: Generations #7 — 9,455 (- 7.3%) 10/2006: Transformers: Generations #8 — 8,678 (- 8.2%) 11/2006: Transformers: Generations #9 — 7,803 (-10.1%) 12/2006: Transformers: Generations #10 — 7,150 (- 8.4%) 01/2007: – 02/2007: Transformers: Generations #11 — 6,337 (-11.4%) —————- 6 months: -37.9%
This isn’t bad for a reprint book, but it’s been a horrible fall since the book’s launch, obviously.
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250 - TRANSFORMERS: PRIME DIRECTIVE MOVIE PREQUEL (IDW) 02/2007: Transformers: Movie Prequel #1 — 2,819
These are just the numbers for a variant cover edition, which for some reason shipped one week before the regular edition, which came out on March 7 and will register on next month’s chart.
Still, overall, the audience for the Transformers books appears to be tiny these days.
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Disclaimers, et cetera
The numbers above are estimates for comic book sales in the North American direct market, as calculated by ICv2.com according to the chart and index information provided by Diamond Comic Distributors. ICv2.com’s estimates are traditionally known to be somewhat lower than the actual numbers, but they are consistent from month to month, so the trends they show are fairly accurate.
Bear in mind that the figures measure sales to retailers, not customers. Also, these numbers do not include sales to bookstores, newsstands, other mass market retail chains or the United Kingdom. Re-orders are included, so long as they either reached stores in a book’s initial month of release or were strong enough to make the chart again in a subsequent month.
If additional copies of an issue did appear on the chart after the book’s initial month of release, you can see the total number of copies sold in parenthesis behind those issues (e.g. “[36,599]”). Should more than one issue have shipped in a month which is relevant for one of the long-term comparisons, the average will be used.
Titles released under the Johnny DC imprint and magazines, such as Mad, mostly sell through channels other than the direct market, so direct market sales don’t tell us much about their performance. For Vertigo and WildStorm titles, collection sales tend to be a significant factor, so the numbers for those books should be taken with a grain of salt as well.
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Germany-based Marc-Oliver Frisch has a weblog and regularly contributes to German online magazine Comicgate.
