DC Comics Month-to-Month Sales February 2008
by Marc-Oliver FrischThe big DC Comics release in February was… ah, nothing. The biggest news across the publisher’s various imprints were a new creative team on The Spirit, an Astro City special and a new Johnny DC title. Although DC’s average periodical sales recovered slightly from their gigantic January slump, the company’s DC Universe line is basically holding its breath until April’s DC Universe: Zero one-shot kicks off the new event season. At Vertigo, similarly, three new ongoing series are in the pipeline from March through June. And at WildStorm, the WildStorm Universe line is in the process of another revamp until July, while more licensed and creator-owned titles are on the way.
In other words, DC Comics’ entire periodical business is in the middle of a major transitional phase right now, and it’s going to take another six months to get a reasonably good idea where things are heading. See below for the details, and please mind the disclaimers at the end of the column.
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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6 - ALL STAR BATMAN & ROBIN, THE BOY WONDER 02/2006: – ————————————— 02/2007: – 03/2007: – 04/2007: – 05/2007: All Star Batman #5 — 114,302 (-28.7%) 06/2007: – 07/2007: All Star Batman #6 — 105,991 (- 7.3%) 08/2007: – 09/2007: All Star Batman #7 — 100,582 (- 5.1%) 10/2007: – 11/2007: All Star Batman #8 — 97,037 (- 3.5%) 12/2007: – 01/2008: – 02/2008: All Star Batman #9 — 93,766 (- 3.4%) —————- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : n.a. 2 years : n.a.
The book’s first arc concluded in February, after a measly two-and-a-half years. While All Star Batman seems to have settled into a more moderate decline since returning from its hiatus in July, it’s still not exactly what you’d call a stable performer. Given that it’s a Batman comic by Frank Miller and Jim Lee, in any event, these sales are quite disappointing. The fact that it’s still DC’s top-selling title says more about the current weakness of their overall line than about the book’s own merits.
As always, All Star Batman sales were supported with a 1-for-10 variant cover edition, which means that retailers had to buy ten copies of the regular edition to be able to buy one variant comic.
11 - JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA 02/2002: JLA #63 — 61,121* 02/2003: JLA #78 — 60,183* 02/2004: JLA #93 — 57,461 02/2005: JLA #111 — 64,540 02/2006: JLA #125 — 74,341 ————————————– 02/2007: – 03/2007: Justice League #6 — 130,099 (- 1.8%) [131,754] 04/2007: Justice League #7 — 154,984 (+19.1%) 04/2007: Justice League #8 — 130,365 (-15.9%) 05/2007: Justice League #9 — 129,285 (- 0.8%) 06/2007: Justice League #10 — 129,265 (- 0.0%) 07/2007: Justice League #11 — 122,823 (- 5.0%) 08/2007: Justice League #12 — 131,420 (+ 7.0%) [137,181] 09/2007: Justice League #13 — 119,471 (- 9.1%) [124,006] 10/2007: Justice League #14 — 101,763 (-14.8%) 11/2007: – 12/2007: Justice League #15 — 100,234 (- 1.5%) 12/2007: Justice League #16 — 95,557 (- 4.7%) 01/2008: Justice League #17 — 94,712 (- 0.9%) 02/2008: Justice League #18 — 89,803 (- 5.2%) —————- 6 months: -31.7% 1 year : n.a. 2 years : +20.8%
Justice League of America numbers are slipping again, which suggests that retailers haven’t quite found the right level yet for their orders six months after the departure of superstar writer Brad Meltzer. Historically, these are still very good sales for the book, but DC might want it to bottom out soon.
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16/18 - JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA 02/2002: JSA #33 — 39,647* 02/2003: JSA #45 — 40,143* 02/2004: JSA #58 — 44,756 02/2005: JSA #70 — 42,864 02/2006: JSA #82 — 54,234 ————————————— 02/2007: Justice Society #3 — 84,356 (- 2.1%) [ 86,014] 03/2007: Justice Society #4 — 84,449 (+ 0.1%) [ 86,475] 04/2007: Justice Society #5 — 98,069 (+ 16.1%) [102,275] 05/2007: Justice Society #6 — 96,900 (- 1.2%) [ 99,784] 06/2007: – 07/2007: Justice Society #7 — 88,883 (- 8.3%) 08/2007: Justice Society #8 — 87,606 (- 1.4%) 09/2007: Justice Society #9 — 84,117 (- 4.0%) 10/2007: Justice Society #10 — 99,424 (+ 18.2%) 11/2007: – 12/2007: Justice Society #11 — 89,613 (- 9.9%) 01/2008: – 02/2008: Justice Society #12 — 84,162 (- 6.1%) 02/2008: Justice Society #13 — 82,702 (- 1.7%) —————- 6 months: - 4.8% 1 year : - 1.1% 2 years : +53.8%
When the “Thy Kingdom Come” arc co-written by Alex Ross began in October, it brought quite a boost to Justice Society of America sales, but it now seems that retailers overestimated demand for the story. Evidently, the follow-up to 1996’s popular Kingdom Come series isn’t quite the sales draw it was expected to be.
The drop between the two February issues (#12 was late from January) suggests that the book has found its level again, however, and it’s still doing very well. As usual, the book was supported with 1-for-10 variant cover editions.
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19/21/22/23 - COUNTDOWN TO FINAL CRISIS 05/2007: Countdown #51 — 91,083 05/2007: Countdown #50 — 83,752 (- 8.1%) [85,564] 05/2007: Countdown #49 — 81,484 (- 2.7%) [83,188] 05/2007: Countdown #48 — 79,810 (- 2.1%) [81,828] 06/2007: Countdown #47 — 77,504 (- 2.9%) 06/2007: Countdown #46 — 76,362 (- 1.5%) 06/2007: Countdown #45 — 74,918 (- 1.9%) 06/2007: Countdown #44 — 73,971 (- 1.3%) 07/2007: Countdown #43 — 73,912 (- 0.1%) 07/2007: Countdown #42 — 73,116 (- 1.1%) 07/2007: Countdown #41 — 72,621 (- 0.7%) 07/2007: Countdown #40 — 72,102 (- 0.7%) 08/2007: Countdown #39 — 88,021 (+22.1%) 08/2007: Countdown #38 — 87,260 (- 0.9%) 08/2007: Countdown #37 — 86,405 (- 1.0%) 08/2007: Countdown #36 — 85,536 (- 1.0%) 08/2007: Countdown #35 — 84,350 (- 1.4%) 09/2007: Countdown #34 — 82,537 (- 2.2%) 09/2007: Countdown #33 — 81,744 (- 1.0%) 09/2007: Countdown #32 — 81,097 (- 0.8%) 09/2007: Countdown #31 — 80,127 (- 1.2%) 10/2007: Countdown #30 — 78,222 (- 2.4%) 10/2007: Countdown #29 — 77,755 (- 0.6%) 10/2007: Countdown #28 — 77,003 (- 1.0%) 10/2007: Countdown #27 — 76,401 (- 0.8%) 10/2007: Countdown to FC #26 — 75,514 (- 1.2%) 11/2007: Countdown to FC #25 — 74,668 (- 1.1%) 11/2007: Countdown to FC #24 — 74,047 (- 0.8%) 11/2007: Countdown to FC #23 — 73,241 (- 1.1%) 11/2007: Countdown to FC #22 — 72,765 (- 0.7%) 12/2007: Countdown to FC #21 — 71,524 (- 1.7%) 12/2007: Countdown to FC #20 — 71,331 (- 0.3%) 12/2007: Countdown to FC #19 — 70,805 (- 0.7%) 12/2007: Countdown to FC #18 — 70,619 (- 0.3%) 01/2008: Countdown to FC #17 — 69,587 (- 1.5%) 01/2008: Countdown to FC #16 — 69,629 (+ 0.1%) 01/2008: Countdown to FC #15 — 69,504 (- 0.2%) 01/2008: Countdown to FC #14 — 68,770 (- 1.1%) 01/2008: Countdown to FC #13 — 68,099 (- 1.0%) 02/2008: Countdown to FC #12 — 68,249 (+ 0.2%) 02/2008: Countdown to FC #11 — 67,833 (- 0.6%) 02/2008: Countdown to FC #10 — 67,792 (- 0.1%) 02/2008: Countdown to FC #9 — 67,383 (- 0.6%) —————- 6 months: -21.4%
These numbers continue to be remarkably stable. If DC hadn’t hyped the book as a major event and produced a dozen spin-off titles, Countdown to Final Crisis would have to be considered a big success.
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20 - BATMAN 02/2002: Batman #600 — 53,153* 02/2003: Batman #612 — 125,095* 02/2004: Batman #624 — 84,081 02/2005: Batman #637 — 58,034 [60,246] 02/2006: Batman #650 — 66,447 ——————————- 02/2007: Batman #663 — 83,167 (+14.7%) 03/2007: Batman #664 — 80,497 (- 3.2%) [82,107] 04/2007: – 05/2007: Batman #665 — 80,122 (- 0.5%) 06/2007: – 07/2007: Batman #666 — 83,781 (+ 4.6%) 08/2007: Batman #667 — 78,578 (- 6.2%) [82,418] 08/2007: Batman #668 — 76,962 (- 2.1%) 09/2007: Batman #669 — 73,471 (- 4.5%) 10/2007: Batman #670 — 76,890 (+ 4.7%) [86,049] 11/2007: Batman #671 — 76,764 (- 0.2%) [80,440] 12/2007: Batman #672 — 71,189 (- 7.3%) 01/2008: Batman #673 — 69,234 (- 2.8%) 02/2008: Batman #674 — 68,208 (- 1.5%) —————- 6 months: -12.3% 1 year : -18.0% 2 years : + 2.7%
Sales seem to have found their level at last. Batman #675 is apparently a month late, meanwhile.
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28 - ACTION COMICS 02/2002: Action Comics #788 — 34,353* 02/2003: Action Comics #800 — 40,318* 02/2004: Action Comics #812 — 51,466 [70,458] 02/2005: Action Comics #824 — 37,432 02/2006: Action Comics #836 — 51,722 [55,331] ————————————- 02/2007: Action Comics #846 — 64,554 (- 3.3%) [66,349] 03/2007: Action Comics #847 — 64,679 (+ 0.2%) 04/2007: Action Comics #848 — 62,216 (- 3.8%) 05/2007: Action Comics #849 — 53,610 (-13.8%) 05/2007: Action Comics #850 — 56,166 (+ 4.8%) 06/2007: – 07/2007: Action Comics #851 — 76,500 (+36.2%) 07/2007: Action Comics #852 — 50,294 (-34.3%) 08/2007: Action Comics #853 — 49,694 (- 1.2%) 08/2007: Action Comics #854 — 48,455 (- 2.5%) 08/2007: Action Comics #855 — 55,536 (+14.6%) 09/2007: – 10/2007: Action Comics #856 — 53,815 (- 3.1%) 10/2007: Action Comics #857 — 51,401 (- 4.5%) 10/2007: Action Comics #858 — 54,596 (+ 6.2%) [59,031] 11/2007: Action Comics #859 — 54,572 (- 0.0%) 12/2007: Action Comics #860 — 56,254 (+ 3.1%) 01/2008: Action Comics #861 — 56,093 (- 0.3%) 02/2008: Action Comics #862 — 55,658 (- 0.8%) —————- 6 months: + 8.7% 1 year : -13.8% 2 years : + 7.6%
The “Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes” arc drawn by Gary Frank continues with rock-solid numbers.
But wait, wasn’t there meant to be something else in February? Right: Action Comics Annual #11, the conclusion of the “Last Son” arc drawn by Adam Kubert which should have been out about a year ago. True to form, the book has been pushed back another nine weeks and is now scheduled for April 23, according to the publisher’s website.
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31 - SUPERMAN/BATMAN 02/2004: Superman/Batman #6 — 99,930 [109,952] 02/2005: Superman/Batman #17 — 116,637 [118,126] 02/2006: – ————————————— 02/2007: – 03/2007: Superman/Batman #32 — 77,905 (- 4.7%) 04/2007: Superman/Batman #33 — 74,807 (- 4.0%) 04/2007: Superman/Batman #34 — 71,278 (- 4.7%) 05/2007: Superman/Batman #35 — 68,160 (- 4.4%) 06/2007: Superman/Batman #36 — 65,866 (- 3.4%) 06/2007: Superman/Batman #37 — 72,635 (+10.3%) 07/2007: Superman/Batman #38 — 67,695 (- 6.8%) 08/2007: Superman/Batman #39 — 59,622 (-11.9%) 09/2007: Superman/Batman #40 — 57,410 (- 3.7%) 10/2007: Superman/Batman #41 — 54,928 (- 4.3%) 11/2007: Superman/Batman #42 — 54,341 (- 1.1%) 11/2007: Superman/Batman #43 — 53,489 (- 1.6%) 12/2007: Superman/Batman #44 — 53,057 (- 0.8%) 01/2008: Superman/Batman #45 — 52,119 (- 1.8%) 02/2008: Superman/Batman #46 — 52,009 (- 0.2%) —————- 6 months: -12.8% 1 year : n.a. 2 years : n.a.
Well, at least the numbers have stabilized over the last half year. To be fair upwards of 50,000 units is still a very decent place for a book telling team-up stories which are inconsequential to the title characters’ status quo.
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32 - DETECTIVE COMICS 02/2002: Detective Comics #767 — 42,650* 02/2003: Detective Comics #779 — 37,616* 02/2004: Detective Comics #791 — 34,995 02/2005: Detective Comics #803 — 40,014 02/2006: Detective Comics #816 — 35,410 —————————————- 02/2007: Detective Comics #828 — 55,206 (+ 0.3%) 03/2007: Detective Comics #829 — 52,943 (- 4.1%) 03/2007: Detective Comics #830 — 52,395 (- 1.0%) 04/2007: Detective Comics #831 — 56,284 (+ 7.4%) 05/2007: Detective Comics #832 — 51,727 (- 8.1%) 06/2007: Detective Comics #833 — 54,104 (+ 4.6%) 07/2007: Detective Comics #834 — 53,461 (- 1.2%) 08/2007: Detective Comics #835 — 50,479 (- 5.6%) 09/2007: Detective Comics #836 — 49,475 (- 2.0%) 10/2007: Detective Comics #837 — 51,363 (+ 3.8%) 11/2007: Detective Comics #838 — 60,267 (+17.3%) [65,293] 12/2007: Detective Comics #839 — 62,297 (+ 3.4%) [65,773] 01/2008: Detective Comics #840 — 51,579 (-17.2%) 02/2008: Detective Comics #841 — 50,535 (- 2.0%) —————- 6 months: + 0.1% 1 year : - 8.5% 2 years : +42.7%
With the boost from the “Resurrection of Ra’s al Ghul” crossover gone, Detective Comics is back in a standard decline. It’s still selling at a rather high level historically, as the long-term comparisons show.
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34 - TEEN TITANS 02/2002: Young Justice #42 — 24,838* 02/2003: Young Justice #54 — 22,342* 02/2004: Teen Titans #8 — 68,190 02/2005: Teen Titans #21 — 66,861 [68,751] 02/2006: Teen Titans #32 — 69,131 ———————————— 02/2007: – 03/2007: Teen Titans #44 — 61,572 (+ 2.1%) 04/2007: Teen Titans #45 — 61,051 (- 0.9%) 05/2007: Teen Titans #46 — 61,478 (+ 0.7%) 05/2007: Teen Titans #47 — 63,673 (+ 3.6%) 06/2007: Teen Titans #48 — 60,786 (- 4.5%) 07/2007: Teen Titans #49 — 59,258 (- 2.5%) 08/2007: Teen Titans #50 — 69,620 (+17.5%) 09/2007: Teen Titans #51 — 57,851 (-16.9%) 10/2007: Teen Titans #52 — 55,176 (- 4.6%) 11/2007: Teen Titans #53 — 54,387 (- 1.4%) 12/2007: Teen Titans #54 — 53,790 (- 1.1%) 01/2008: Teen Titans #55 — 52,376 (- 2.6%) 02/2008: Teen Titans #56 — 50,283 (- 4.0%) —————- 6 months: -27.8% 1 year : n.a. 2 years : -27.3%
Sean McKeever’s Teen Titans doesn’t seem to catch on - retailers are still slashing their orders too fast for comfort.
This doesn’t stop DC from launching a ton of spin-off titles, however. In addition to Teen Titans: Year One and the new Johnny DC book Tiny Titans, we’re getting the miniseries DC Special: Raven and DC Special: Cyborg, as well as the new ongoing series Titans in the next few months.
Now, a year or two ago, an attempt to branch out would have made perfect sense. Right now, though, the sudden explosion of the franchise smacks of overkill, given that the core book has shed a whopping 10,000 units since writer Geoff Johns left back in May.
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39 - GREEN LANTERN CORPS 02/2006: – —————————————— 02/2007: Green Lantern Corps #9 — 34,897 (- 5.5%) 03/2007: Green Lantern Corps #10 — 34,227 (- 1.9%) 04/2007: Green Lantern Corps #11 — 33,506 (- 2.1%) 05/2007: Green Lantern Corps #12 — 33,267 (- 0.7%) 06/2007: Green Lantern Corps #13 — 32,792 (- 1.4%) 07/2007: Green Lantern Corps #14 — 45,393 (+38.4%) [61,493] 08/2007: Green Lantern Corps #15 — 51,572 (+13.2%) [57,751] 09/2007: – 10/2007: Green Lantern Corps #16 — 60,862 (+18.0%) 10/2007: Green Lantern Corps #17 — 59,223 (- 2.7%) 11/2007: Green Lantern Corps #18 — 55,838 (- 5.7%) [59,049] 12/2007: Green Lantern Corps #19 — 50,516 (- 9.5%) 01/2008: Green Lantern Corps #20 — 44,607 (-11.7%) [48,577] 02/2008: Green Lantern Corps #21 — 47,582 (+ 6.7%) —————- 6 months: - 7.7% 1 year : +36.4% 2 years : n.a.
That’s a pretty clear course correction. Evidently, retailers underestimated the post-”Sinestro Corps War” sales of Green Lantern Corps, if the 4,000 extra units of issue #20 sold in February are any indication. Beginning with #21, the book is tying in with the Alpha Lanterns storyline over in the mother title. These are pretty good numbers all around.
Green Lantern proper was a week late and missed its February shipping date, meanwhile.
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42 - WONDER WOMAN 02/2002: Wonder Woman #179 — 27,916* 02/2003: Wonder Woman #189 — 26,320* 02/2004: Wonder Woman #201 — 29,210 02/2005: Wonder Woman #213 — 24,728 02/2006: Wonder Woman #226 — 45,682 ————————————- 02/2007: Wonder Woman #4 — 69,860 (- 9.3%) 03/2007: Wonder Woman #5 — 64,414 (- 7.8%) 03/2007: Wonder Woman #6 — 62,458 (- 3.0%) 04/2007: Wonder Woman #7 — 60,168 (- 3.7%) 04/2007: Wonder Woman #8 — 58,772 (- 2.3%) 05/2007: Wonder Woman #9 — 58,561 (- 0.4%) 06/2007: Wonder Woman #10 — 54,472 (- 7.0%) 07/2007: Wonder Woman #11 — 52,983 (- 2.7%) 08/2007: Wonder Woman #12 — 50,880 (- 4.0%) 09/2007: – 10/2007: Wonder Woman #13 — 48,385 (- 4.9%) 11/2007: Wonder Woman #14 — 53,090 (+ 9.7%) 12/2007: Wonder Woman #15 — 44,628 (-15.9%) 01/2008: Wonder Woman #16 — 42,897 (- 3.9%) 02/2008: Wonder Woman #17 — 41,948 (- 2.2%) —————– 6 months: - 17.6% 1 year : - 40.0% 2 years : - 8.2%
Wonder Woman sales are bottoming out again at long last, it appears.
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43 - SUPERMAN 02/2002: Superman #179 — 38,073* 02/2003: Superman #190 — 31,937* 02/2004: Superman #202 — 50,449 [66,640] 02/2005: Superman #213 — 101,258 02/2006: Superman #226 — 63,982 ——————————— 02/2007: Superman #659 — 58,258 (- 4.0%) 03/2007: Superman #660 — 57,169 (- 1.9%) 04/2007: Superman #661 — 55,738 (- 2.5%) 05/2007: Superman #662 — 55,236 (- 0.9%) 06/2007: Superman #663 — 53,384 (- 3.4%) 07/2007: Superman #664 — 52,313 (- 2.0%) 07/2007: Superman #665 — 51,936 (- 0.7%) 08/2007: Superman #666 — 53,566 (+ 3.1%) 09/2007: Superman #667 — 48,608 (- 9.3%) 10/2007: Superman #668 — 47,948 (- 1.4%) 10/2007: Superman #669 — 47,271 (- 1.4%) 11/2007: Superman #670 — 48,407 (+ 2.4%) 12/2007: Superman #671 — 45,290 (- 6.4%) 01/2008: Superman #672 — 44,656 (- 1.4%) 02/2008: Superman #673 — 41,580 (- 6.9%) —————- 6 months: -22.4% 1 year : -28.6% 2 years : -35.0%
Well, ouch. The drop comes in the middle of a storyline, so, as with the increase for issue #670, I’m not sure what to make of it. What’s clear, though, is that something’s not working here: Superman has lost more than 10,000 units in the last six months, and almost 20,000 over the past year.
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44 - THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD 02/2007: The Brave and the Bold #1 — 92,091 [98,266] 03/2007: The Brave and the Bold #2 — 64,357 (-30.1%) [67,143] 04/2007: The Brave and the Bold #3 — 59,211 (- 8.0%) 05/2007: – 06/2007: The Brave and the Bold #4 — 55,597 (- 6.1%) 07/2007: The Brave and the Bold #5 — 54,047 (- 2.8%) 08/2007: The Brave and the Bold #6 — 52,011 (- 3.8%) 09/2007: – 10/2007: The Brave and the Bold #7 — 48,693 (- 6.4%) 11/2007: The Brave and the Bold #8 — 45,629 (- 6.3%) 12/2007: The Brave and the Bold #9 — 43,475 (- 4.7%) 01/2008: – 02/2008: The Brave and the Bold #10 — 39,124 (-10.0%) —————- 6 months: -24.8% 1 year : -57.5%
Ouch again. This book is tanking spectacularly. The Brave and the Bold #10 was the last issue drawn by George Pérez, apparently, so the numbers are unlikely to improve.
To be honest, you can’t blame DC for giving an artist of Pérez’s caliber something else to draw. For whatever reason, people are dropping this book like it was the plague. The year-on-year performance is a disaster by any standard.
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46 - BATMAN AND THE 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 ———————————— 02/2007: Outsiders #45 — 32,976 (- 4.2%) 03/2007: Outsiders #46 — 32,577 (- 1.2%) 04/2007: – 05/2007: Outsiders #47 — 33,267 (+ 2.1%) 06/2007: Outsiders #48 — 32,966 (- 0.9%) 07/2007: Outsiders #49 — 33,110 (+ 0.4%) 08/2007: FoaK #1 of 5 — 36,565 (+10.4%) 08/2007: FoaK #2 of 5 — 35,087 (- 4.0%) 08/2007: FoaK #3 of 5 — 34,702 (- 1.1%) 08/2007: FoaK #4 of 5 — 34,125 (- 1.7%) 08/2007: FoaK #5 of 5 — 33,694 (- 1.3%) 09/2007: Outsiders #50 — 38,212 (+13.4%) 10/2007: – 11/2007: Bat Outsiders #1 — 60,690 (+58.8%) 11/2007: Bat Outsiders #2 — 42,827 (-29.4%) 12/2007: Bat Outsiders #3 — 40,371 (- 5.7%) 01/2008: – 02/2008: Bat Outsiders #4 — 37,903 (- 6.1%) —————- 6 months: + 8.8% 1 year : +14.9% 2 years : -12.4%
Another six-percent drop, at this stage, is not the hallmark of an enthusiastic response. To be fair, sales remain up on the regular level of Outsiders by a few thousand units. Still, as far as relaunches go, the book doesn’t look very good commercially.
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47 - BOOSTER GOLD 08/2007: Booster Gold #1 — 53,689 [57,811] 09/2007: Booster Gold #2 — 47,102 (-12.3%) 10/2007: Booster Gold #3 — 39,374 (-16.4%) 11/2007: Booster Gold #4 — 37,683 (- 4.3%) 12/2007: Booster Gold #5 — 38,228 (+ 1.5%) 01/2008: Booster Gold #6 — 36,292 (- 5.1%) 02/2008: Booster Gold #0 — 37,808 (+ 4.2%) —————- 6 months: -29.6%
In case you’re scratching your head, Booster Gold #0 is part of a linewide DC Universe publishing event called “Zero Hour,” which happened… well, back in 1994. As a special gimmick, the numbering of the company’s superhero titles was turned to zero on the occasion. It’s too good a gimmick to pass up for a book about a time-traveling superhero, obviously.
And, quite amazingly, the gimmick still works in 2008, resulting in a neat little sales increase. Reportedly, Booster Gold #1,000,000 is already in the works.
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48 - THE FLASH 02/2002: Flash #183 — 26,045* 02/2003: Flash #195 — 27,258* 02/2004: Flash #207 — 41,982 [46,626] 02/2005: Flash #219 — 44,071 [46,188] ———————————- 02/2007: Flash: FMA #9 — 47,214 (- 7.4%) 03/2007: Flash: FMA #10 — 46,133 (- 2.3%) 04/2007: Flash: FMA #11 — 46,963 (+ 1.8%) 05/2007: Flash: FMA #12 — 47,809 (+ 1.8%) 06/2007: Flash: FMA #13 — 76,860 (+ 60.8%) [82,767] 07/2007: All Flash #1 — 78,955 (+ 2.7%) 08/2007: Flash #231 — 72,898 (- 7.7%) 09/2007: Flash #232 — 56,969 (- 21.9%) 10/2007: Flash #233 — 51,152 (- 10.2%) 11/2007: Flash #234 — 46,435 (- 9.2%) 12/2007: Flash #235 — 43,788 (- 5.7%) 01/2008: Flash #236 — 41,464 (- 5.3%) 02/2008: Flash #237 — 37,719 (- 9.0%) —————- 6 months: -48.3% 1 year : -20.1% 2 years : n.a.
The February issue was a fill-in, so the gigantic drop doesn’t come as a great surprise. If the new creative team’s arrival in March can’t turn around or at least stop the trend - and I’d say their chances are rather slim - it’ll be interesting to see how DC are going to deal with The Flash.
There’s always the Thor option, of course: Let the property rest for a year or two, take the time to figure out what you want to do with it, and then do a big, focused relaunch. Considering that The Flash has been revamped twice in the last two years and both revamps have been miserable failures, that wouldn’t seem like the worst approach right now, to be frank.
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49 - GREEN ARROW/BLACK CANARY 02/2002: Green Arrow #13 — 73,218* 02/2003: Green Arrow #21 — 51,739* 02/2004: Green Arrow #35 — 35,507 02/2005: Green Arrow #47 — 31,553 02/2006: Green Arrow #59 — 31,250 ———————————– 02/2007: Green Arrow #71 — 31,470 (- 1.0%) 03/2007: Green Arrow #72 — 31,144 (- 1.0%) 04/2007: Green Arrow #73 — 30,652 (- 1.6%) 05/2007: Green Arrow #74 — 30,751 (+ 0.3%) 06/2007: Green Arrow #75 — 35,022 (+13.9%) 07/2007: Year One #1 of 6 — 37,090 (+ 5.9%) 07/2007: Year One #2 of 6 — 32,222 (-13.1%) [34,962] 08/2007: Year One #3 of 6 — 32,971 (+ 2.3%) 08/2007: Year One #4 of 6 — 31,885 (- 3.3%) 09/2007: Year One #5 of 6 — 31,504 (- 1.2%) 10/2007: Year One #6 of 6 — 30,943 (- 1.8%) 10/2007: Arrow/Canary #1 — 52,183 (+68.6%) 11/2007: Arrow/Canary #2 — 42,827 (-17.9%) 12/2007: Arrow/Canary #3 — 40,321 (- 5.9%) 01/2008: Arrow/Canary #4 — 35,039 (-13.1%) 02/2008: Arrow/Canary #5 — 36,662 (+ 4.6%) —————- 6 months: +13.1% 1 year : +16.5% 2 years : +17.3%
There was another 1-for-10 variant cover edition of issue #5, oddly, resulting in a slight increase. Quite why they used the gimmick for issues #1 through #3 and #5 but not for #4, your guess is as good as mine. It nicely illustrates the effect on sales, at any rate, so lets not look a gift horse in the mouth.
Overall, Green Arrow/Black Canary doesn’t seem to be very successful, either, as far as relaunches go. Issue #5 was the last one promoted with a variant cover edition, so there’s likely going to be another big drop in March.
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51 - TEEN TITANS: YEAR ONE 01/2008: Teen Titans: Year One #1 of 6 — 43,057 02/2008: Teen Titans: Year One #2 of 6 — 35,761 (-17.0%)
That’s a standard second-issue drop for a miniseries.
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53 - SUPERGIRL 02/2002: Supergirl #67 — 19,497* 02/2003: Supergirl #79 — 23,931* 02/2006: Supergirl #4 — 104,734 02/2006: Supergirl #5 — 103,108 [104,930] ——————————— 02/2007: Supergirl #14 — 52,977 (- 6.5%) 03/2007: Supergirl #15 — 51,083 (- 3.6%) 04/2007: Supergirl #16 — 51,641 (+ 1.1%) 05/2007: Supergirl #17 — 50,429 (- 2.4%) 06/2007: Supergirl #18 — 50,279 (- 0.3%) 07/2007: Supergirl #19 — 48,576 (- 3.4%) 08/2007: Supergirl #20 — 46,862 (- 3.5%) 09/2007: Supergirl #21 — 44,656 (- 4.7%) 10/2007: Supergirl #22 — 41,758 (- 6.5%) 11/2007: Supergirl #23 — 45,460 (+ 8.9%) 12/2007: Supergirl #24 — 37,922 (-16.6%) 01/2008: Supergirl #25 — 36,459 (- 3.9%) 02/2008: Supergirl #26 — 34,186 (- 6.2%) —————- 6 months: -27.1% 1 year : -35.5% 2 years : -66.9%
Another 2,000 units gone. Supergirl keeps shredding units by the shipload.
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59 - THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES 02/2002: Legion #5 — 24,232* 02/2003: Legion #17 — 23,005* 02/2004: Legion #30 — 25,014 02/2005: Legion of SH #3 — 39,951 [44,824] 02/2006: Legion of SH #14 — 32,513 02/2006: Legion of SH #15 — 31,649 ————————————— 02/2007: Supergirl & LoSH #27 — 31,387 (- 3.0%) 03/2007: – 04/2007: Supergirl & LoSH #28 — 31,525 (+ 0.4%) 04/2007: Supergirl & LoSH #29 — 30,906 (- 2.0%) 05/2007: Supergirl & LoSH #30 — 30,767 (- 0.5%) 06/2007: Supergirl & LoSH #31 — 30,385 (- 1.2%) 07/2007: Supergirl & LoSH #32 — 29,826 (- 1.8%) 08/2007: Supergirl & LoSH #33 — 29,315 (- 1.7%) 09/2007: Supergirl & LoSH #34 — 28,294 (- 3.5%) 10/2007: Supergirl & LoSH #35 — 27,370 (- 3.3%) 11/2007: Supergirl & LoSH #36 — 26,814 (- 2.0%) 12/2007: Legion of SH #37 — 45,803 (+70.8%) 01/2008: Legion of SH #38 — 33,045 (-27.9%) 02/2008: Legion of SH #39 — 31,123 (- 5.8%) —————- 6 months: + 6.2% 1 year : - 0.8% 2 years : - 3.0%
Legion of Super-Heroes sales are bottoming out again. The book’s numbers under the new creative team are still slightly ahead of the previous level, granted. Nevertheless, it seems that retailers went rather overboard with their enthusiasm for writer Jim Shooter’s arrival.
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60 - NIGHTWING 02/2002: Nightwing #66 — 37,925* 02/2003: Nightwing #78 — 28,809* 02/2004: Nightwing #90 — 28,688 02/2005: Nightwing #103 — 36,921 02/2005: Nightwing #104 — 36,411 02/2006: Nightwing #117 — 35,489 ——————————— 02/2007: Nightwing #129 — 32,651 (- 3.8%) 03/2007: Nightwing #130 — 31,788 (- 2.6%) 04/2007: Nightwing #131 — 31,530 (- 0.8%) 05/2007: Nightwing #132 — 30,807 (- 2.3%) 06/2007: Nightwing #133 — 30,623 (- 0.6%) 07/2007: Nightwing #134 — 30,228 (- 1.3%) 08/2007: Nightwing #135 — 29,923 (- 1.0%) 09/2007: Nightwing #136 — 29,256 (- 2.2%) 10/2007: Nightwing #137 — 28,363 (- 3.1%) 11/2007: Nightwing #138 — 46,757 (+64.9%) [52,282] 12/2007: Nightwing #139 — 49,291 (+ 5.4%) [52,607] 01/2008: Nightwing #140 — 32,305 (-34.5%) 02/2008: Nightwing #141 — 30,980 (- 4.1%) —————- 6 months: + 3.5% 1 year : - 5.1% 2 years : -12.7%
The numbers continue to drop back towards their usual level.
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63 - DEATH OF THE NEW GODS 10/2007: Death of the New Gods #1 of 8 — 46,670 10/2007: Death of the New Gods #2 of 8 — 35,681 (-23.6%) 11/2007: Death of the New Gods #3 of 8 — 32,655 (- 8.5%) 12/2007: Death of the New Gods #4 of 8 — 31,914 (- 2.3%) 01/2008: Death of the New Gods #5 of 8 — 30,996 (- 2.9%) 02/2008: Death of the New Gods #6 of 8 — 30,482 (- 1.7%)
Sales have found their level, apparently. Death of the New Gods remains the highest-selling of the Countdown to Infinite Crisis spin-offs.
Speaking of which, Countdown to Adventure, Countdown to Mystery and Countdown Presents: Lord Havok and the Extremists all missed their shipping dates in February.
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66 - WORLD OF WARCRAFT (WildStorm) 11/2007: World of WarCraft #1 — 44,508 [49,271] 12/2007: World of WarCraft #2 — 32,740 (-34.9%) [36,340] 01/2008: World of WarCraft #3 — 31,183 (- 4.8%) 02/2008: World of WarCraft #4 — 28,982 (- 7.1%)
The drop is rather larger than you’d hope for, at this stage, but overall World of WarCraft is still doing very well. The videogame adaptation remains the WildStorm imprint’s top-selling book.
The surprisingly high periodical sales of titles like this one, The Umbrella Academy, The Dark Tower or Buffy the Vampire Slayer are good news for the direct market: They suggest that there’s a considerable influx of new readers from a variety of other entertainment media.
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72 - ROBIN 02/2002: Robin #99 — 31,924* 02/2003: Robin #111 — 22,517* 02/2004: Robin #123 — 26,494 02/2005: Robin #135 — 32,331 02/2006: Robin #147 — 32,120 —————————– 02/2007: Robin #159 — 28,210 (- 4.3%) 03/2007: Robin #160 — 27,659 (- 2.0%) 04/2007: Robin #161 — 27,180 (- 1.7%) 05/2007: Robin #162 — 26,801 (- 1.4%) 06/2007: Robin #163 — 26,284 (- 1.9%) 07/2007: Robin #164 — 25,955 (- 1.3%) 08/2007: Robin #165 — 25,397 (- 2.2%) 09/2007: Robin #166 — 24,877 (- 2.1%) 10/2007: Robin #167 — 24,625 (- 1.0%) 11/2007: Robin #168 — 50,672 (+105.8%) [57,442] 12/2007: Robin #169 — 48,665 (- 4.0%) [51,441] 01/2008: Robin #170 — 30,048 (- 38.3%) 02/2008: Robin #171 — 27,781 (- 7.6%) —————- 6 months: + 9.4% 1 year : - 1.5% 2 years : -13.5%
Robin sales keep dropping back to their pre-”Resurrection of Ra’s al Ghul” level.
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75/79 - BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL 02/2007: Batman Confidential #3 — 41,109 (-13.4%) 03/2007: Batman Confidential #4 — 38,735 (- 5.8%) 04/2007: Batman Confidential #5 — 36,219 (- 6.5%) 05/2007: – 06/2007: Batman Confidential #6 — 33,480 (- 7.6%) 07/2007: Batman Confidential #7 — 32,272 (- 3.6%) 08/2007: Batman Confidential #8 — 30,077 (- 6.8%) 09/2007: Batman Confidential #9 — 28,845 (- 4.1%) 10/2007: Batman Confidential #10 — 28,724 (- 0.5%) 11/2007: Batman Confidential #11 — 27,397 (- 4.6%) 12/2007: – 01/2008: – 02/2008: Batman Confidential #12 — 27,208 (- 0.7%) 02/2008: Batman Confidential #13 — 25,735 (- 5.4%) —————- 6 months: -12.0% 1 year : -35.6%
As usual for titles with no regular creative team telling stories which, as per the book’s premise, are inconsequential to the feature characters’ status quo, sales keep declining quite briskly.
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78 - SALVATION RUN 11/2007: Salvation Run #1 of 7 — 40,531 12/2007: Salvation Run #2 of 7 — 28,938 (-28.6%) 01/2008: Salvation Run #3 of 7 — 26,828 (- 7.3%) 02/2008: Salvation Run #4 of 7 — 25,899 (- 3.5%)
The book has settled into an average limited series decline. Bearing in mind that Salvation Run was one of the publisher’s big announcements last summer, the level it’s selling at is more than a little embarrassing, really.
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84/87 - FABLES (Vertigo) 02/2003: Fables #10 — 22,705* 02/2004: Fables #22 — 25,317 02/2005: Fables #34 — 24,322 02/2006: Fables #46 — 24,134 —————————– 02/2007: – 03/2007: Fables #58 — 26,065 (+1.3%) 03/2007: Fables #59 — 25,815 (-1.0%) 04/2007: Fables #60 — 26,048 (+0.9%) 05/2007: Fables #61 — 26,056 (+0.0%) 06/2007: Fables #62 — 25,726 (-1.3%) 07/2007: Fables #63 — 25,603 (-0.5%) 08/2007: Fables #64 — 25,498 (-0.4%) 09/2007: Fables #65 — 25,311 (-0.7%) 10/2007: Fables #66 — 25,016 (-1.2%) 11/2007: Fables #67 — 24,841 (-0.7%) 12/2007: Fables #68 — 24,574 (-1.1%) 01/2008: – 02/2008: Fables #69 — 24,337 (-1.0%) 02/2008: Fables #70 — 23,975 (-1.5%) ————— 6 months: - 5.3% 1 year : n.a. 2 years : + 0.1%
After missing its January release date, Fables shipped twice in February. Incidentally, that’s the only reason why the average Vertigo single issue still sold above 10,000 units now that Y: The Last Man has concluded.
Through June, the new ongoing series Young Liars, House of Mystery and Madame Xanadu are in the Vertigo pipeline, as well as another American Splendor miniseries.
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86 - GOTHAM UNDERGROUND 10/2007: Gotham Underground #1 of 9 — 31,003 11/2007: Gotham Underground #2 of 9 — 26,537 (-14.4%) 12/2007: Gotham Underground #3 of 9 — 25,386 (- 4.3%) 01/2008: Gotham Underground #4 of 9 — 24,737 (- 2.6%) 02/2008: Gotham Underground #5 of 9 — 24,098 (- 2.6%)
To be fair, Gotham Underground is doing perfectly well for a series about the Gotham City underworld. But it’s also a Countdown spin-off, of course.
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91 - BIRDS OF PREY 02/2002: Birds of Prey #40 — 30,164* 02/2003: Birds of Prey #52 — 24,406* 02/2004: Birds of Prey #64 — 29,731 02/2005: Birds of Prey #79 — 29,510 02/2006: Birds of Prey #91 — 29,835 ————————————- 02/2007: Birds of Prey #103 — 28,327 (- 2.5%) 03/2007: Birds of Prey #104 — 28,464 (+ 0.5%) 04/2007: Birds of Prey #105 — 28,328 (- 0.5%) 05/2007: Birds of Prey #106 — 28,363 (+ 0.1%) 06/2007: Birds of Prey #107 — 28,632 (+ 1.0%) 07/2007: Birds of Prey #108 — 28,025 (- 2.1%) 08/2007: Birds of Prey #109 — 28,268 (+ 0.9%) 09/2007: Birds of Prey #110 — 27,148 (- 4.0%) 10/2007: Birds of Prey #111 — 26,400 (- 2.8%) 11/2007: Birds of Prey #112 — 25,117 (- 4.9%) 12/2007: Birds of Prey #113 — 24,717 (- 1.6%) 01/2008: Birds of Prey #114 — 24,211 (- 2.1%) 02/2008: Birds of Prey #115 — 23,157 (- 4.4%) —————- 6 months: -18.1% 1 year : -18.3% 2 years : -22.4%
Birds of Prey maintains a stiff decline. Yet another supposedly regular creative team waits around the corner, meanwhile.
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99 - SUPERMAN CONFIDENTIAL 02/2007: – 03/2007: Superman Confidential #4 — 36,779 (-11.1%) 04/2007: – 05/2007: – 06/2007: – 07/2007: Superman Confidential #5 — 35,180 (- 4.4%) 08/2007: – 09/2007: Superman Confidential #6 — 31,152 (-11.5%) 10/2007: Superman Confidential #7 — 29,228 (- 6.2%) 10/2007: Superman Confidential #8 — 26,535 (- 9.2%) 11/2007: Superman Confidential #9 — 24,841 (- 6.4%) 12/2007: Superman Confidential #10 — 23,172 (- 6.7%) 01/2008: Superman Confidential #11 — 22,556 (- 2.7%) 02/2008: Superman Confidential #12 — 21,015 (- 6.8%) —————- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : n.a.
The book is dropping off the map. See comments on Batman Confidential.
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105 - CATWOMAN 02/2002: Catwoman #4 — 34,656* 02/2003: Catwoman #16 — 23,393* 02/2004: Catwoman #28 — 23,955 02/2005: Catwoman #40 — 23,103 02/2006: Catwoman #52 — 21,954 ——————————- 02/2007: Catwoman #64 — 20,767 (- 3.8%) 03/2007: Catwoman #65 — 20,237 (- 2.6%) 04/2007: Catwoman #66 — 19,896 (- 1.7%) 05/2007: Catwoman #67 — 19,926 (+ 0.2%) 06/2007: Catwoman #68 — 20,132 (+ 1.0%) 07/2007: Catwoman #69 — 19,387 (- 3.7%) 08/2007: Catwoman #70 — 20,518 (+ 5.8%) 09/2007: Catwoman #71 — 19,492 (- 5.0%) 10/2007: Catwoman #72 — 19,473 (- 0.1%) 11/2007: Catwoman #73 — 18,815 (- 3.4%) 12/2007: Catwoman #74 — 18,623 (- 1.0%) 01/2008: Catwoman #75 — 21,580 (+15.9%) 02/2008: Catwoman #76 — 18,798 (-12.9%) —————- 6 months: - 8.4% 1 year : - 9.5% 2 years : -14.4%
The desultory increase for January’s ostensible “anniversary” number has disappeared again, as usual.
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106/110 - JLA: CLASSIFIED 02/2005: JLA: Classified #4 — 53,606 02/2006: JLA: Classified #17 — 38,014 ————————————– 02/2007: JLA: Classified #34 — 22,347 (- 0.7%) 02/2007: JLA: Classified #35 — 21,998 (- 1.6%) 03/2007: JLA: Classified #36 — 21,799 (- 0.9%) 04/2007: JLA: Classified #37 — 22,350 (+ 2.5%) 05/2007: JLA: Classified #38 — 21,961 (- 1.7%) 06/2007: JLA: Classified #39 — 21,728 (- 1.1%) 07/2007: JLA: Classified #40 — 21,473 (- 1.2%) 08/2007: JLA: Classified #41 — 21,134 (- 1.6%) 09/2007: JLA: Classified #42 — 20,014 (- 5.3%) 09/2007: JLA: Classified #43 — 19,742 (- 1.4%) 10/2007: JLA: Classified #44 — 19,217 (- 2.7%) 10/2007: JLA: Classified #45 — 18,818 (- 2.1%) 11/2007: JLA: Classified #46 — 18,078 (- 3.9%) 11/2007: JLA: Classified #47 — 17,832 (- 1.4%) 12/2007: JLA: Classified #48 — 17,391 (- 2.5%) 12/2007: JLA: Classified #49 — 17,114 (- 1.6%) 01/2008: JLA: Classified #50 — 19,773 (+15.5%) 01/2008: JLA: Classified #51 — 18,852 (- 4.7%) 02/2008: JLA: Classified #52 — 18,662 (- 1.0%) 02/2008: JLA: Classified #53 — 17,986 (- 3.6%) —————- 6 months: -13.3% 1 year : -17.4% 2 years : -51.8%
Cancelled with issue #54.
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109 - ASTRO CITY: BEAUTIE (WildStorm) 08/2004: Astro City Special #1 — 27,982 07/2006: Astro City: Samaritan — 24,394 —————————————– 02/2008: Astro City: Beautie #1 — 18,232 (-25.3%)
That’s quite a drop since the last Astro City one-shot special. On the other hand, these are still good numbers for a creator-owned title, and they’re certainly good numbers compared to the bulk of WildStorm’s output.
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112 - CRIME BIBLE: THE FIVE LESSONS OF BLOOD 10/2007: Crime Bible #1 of 5 — 23,354 11/2007: Crime Bible #2 of 5 — 19,498 (-16.5%) 12/2007: Crime Bible #3 of 5 — 18,886 (- 3.1%) 01/2008: Crime Bible #4 of 5 — 18,139 (- 4.0%) 02/2008: Crime Bible #5 of 5 — 17,304 (- 4.6%)
Crime Bible went through an average limited series decline, despite the awful title and the ugly, barely intelligible cover art. If they’d just called the book 52 Aftermath: The Question, for instance, I’m sure they could have shifted a few units more.
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113 - THE SPIRIT 02/2007: The Spirit #3 — 25,516 (- 6.4%) 03/2007: The Spirit #4 — 24,383 (- 4.4%) 04/2007: The Spirit #5 — 23,887 (- 2.0%) 05/2007: The Spirit #6 — 23,708 (- 0.8%) 06/2007: The Spirit #7 — 22,621 (- 4.6%) 07/2007: The Spirit #8 — 21,984 (- 2.8%) 08/2007: The Spirit #9 — 20,841 (- 5.2%) 09/2007: The Spirit #10 — 19,962 (- 4.2%) 10/2007: – 11/2007: The Spirit #11 — 18,892 (- 5.4%) 12/2007: – 01/2008: The Spirit #12 — 18,894 (+ 0.0%) 01/2008: The Spirit #13 — 17,475 (- 7.5%) 02/2008: The Spirit #14 — 17,277 (- 1.1%) —————- 6 months: -17.1% 1 year : -32.3%
The arrival of the new creative team of writers Sergio Aragonés and Mark Evanier and artist Mike Ploog doesn’t seem to have much of an effect on The Spirit sales.
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114 - FREDDY VS. JASON VS. ASH (WildStorm) 11/2007: Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash #1 of 6 — 23,306 [27,515] 11/2007: Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash #2 of 6 — 15,291 (-34.4%) 12/2007: Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash #3 of 6 — 15,348 (+ 0.4%) 01/2008: Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash #4 of 6 — 17,170 (+11.9%) 02/2008: Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash #5 of 6 — 17,120 (- 0.3%)
Sales remain unusually solid with the book’s penultimate issue. Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash is another licensed title which outsells all of WildStorm’s company-owned properties.
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116 - JACK OF FABLES (Vertigo) 02/2007: Jack of Fables #8 — 20,060 (- 1.3%) 03/2007: – 04/2007: Jack of Fables #9 — 20,273 (+ 1.1%) 05/2007: Jack of Fables #10 — 19,982 (- 1.4%) 06/2007: Jack of Fables #11 — 19,797 (- 0.9%) 06/2007: Jack of Fables #12 — 19,337 (- 2.3%) 07/2007: – 08/2007: Jack of Fables #13 — 19,187 (- 0.8%) 09/2007: Jack of Fables #14 — 18,728 (- 2.4%) 10/2007: Jack of Fables #15 — 18,329 (- 2.1%) 10/2007: Jack of Fables #16 — 17,743 (- 3.2%) 11/2007: Jack of Fables #17 — 17,456 (- 1.6%) 12/2007: Jack of Fables #18 — 17,242 (- 1.2%) 01/2008: Jack of Fables #19 — 16,886 (- 2.1%) 02/2008: Jack of Fables #20 — 16,650 (- 1.4%) —————- 6 months: -13.2% 1 year : -17.0%
Maintaining a slow decline.
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117 - CHECKMATE 02/2007: Checkmate #11 — 20,659 (- 6.2%) 03/2007: Checkmate #12 — 20,116 (- 2.6%) 04/2007: – 05/2007: Checkmate #13 — 22,554 (+12.1%) 05/2007: Checkmate #14 — 22,074 (- 2.1%) 06/2007: Checkmate #15 — 22,015 (- 0.3%) 07/2007: Checkmate #16 — 20,225 (- 8.1%) 08/2007: Checkmate #17 — 19,841 (- 1.9%) 09/2007: Checkmate #18 — 18,742 (- 5.5%) 10/2007: Checkmate #19 — 18,096 (- 3.5%) 11/2007: Checkmate #20 — 17,663 (- 2.4%) 12/2007: Checkmate #21 — 17,363 (- 1.7%) 01/2008: Checkmate #22 — 17,087 (- 1.6%) 02/2008: Checkmate #23 — 16,595 (- 2.9%) —————- 6 months: -16.4% 1 year : -19.7%
The numbers keep declining. A new creative team takes over with issue #26.
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118 - JSA: CLASSIFIED 02/2006: JSA: Classified #8 — 39,656 02/2006: JSA: Classified #9 — 39,104 ————————————– 02/2007: JSA: Classified #23 — 22,730 (- 4.6%) 03/2007: JSA: Classified #24 — 22,113 (- 2.7%) 04/2007: JSA: Classified #25 — 22,052 (- 0.3%) 05/2007: JSA: Classified #26 — 21,569 (- 2.2%) 06/2007: JSA: Classified #27 — 21,295 (- 1.3%) 07/2007: JSA: Classified #28 — 20,736 (- 2.6%) 08/2007: JSA: Classified #29 — 20,195 (- 2.6%) 09/2007: JSA: Classified #30 — 19,382 (- 4.0%) 10/2007: JSA: Classified #31 — 18,585 (- 4.1%) 11/2007: JSA: Classified #32 — 17,756 (- 4.5%) 12/2007: JSA: Classified #33 — 17,413 (- 1.9%) 01/2008: JSA: Classified #34 — 16,852 (- 3.2%) 02/2008: JSA: Classified #35 — 16,561 (- 1.7%) —————- 6 months: -18.0% 1 year : -27.1% 2 years : -58.0%
Cancelled with issue #39, unless they change their mind again.
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122 - SUICIDE SQUAD: RAISE THE FLAG 02/2002: Suicide Squad #6 — 17,142* —————————————– 09/2007: Raise the Flag #1 of 8 — 29,506 10/2007: Raise the Flag #2 of 8 — 22,774 (-22.8%) 11/2007: Raise the Flag #3 of 8 — 19,774 (-13.2%) 12/2007: Raise the Flag #4 of 8 — 18,025 (- 8.9%) 01/2008: Raise the Flag #5 of 8 — 17,094 (- 5.2%) 02/2008: Raise the Flag #6 of 8 — 16,152 (- 5.5%)
124 - WONDER GIRL 09/2007: Wonder Girl #1 of 6 — 33,517 10/2007: Wonder Girl #2 of 6 — 24,407 (-27.2%) 11/2007: Wonder Girl #3 of 6 — 19,774 (-19.0%) 12/2007: Wonder Girl #4 of 6 — 18,146 (- 8.2%) 01/2008: Wonder Girl #5 of 6 — 16,741 (- 7.7%) 02/2008: Wonder Girl #6 of 6 — 15,892 (- 5.1%)
These two limited series are firmly under the radar.
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125 - EX MACHINA (WildStorm) 02/2005: Ex Machina #8 — 22,169 02/2006: – ——————————— 02/2007: – 03/2007: – 04/2007: Ex Machina #27 — 18,242 (- 1.8%) 05/2007: Ex Machina #28 — 18,164 (- 0.4%) 06/2007: Ex Machina #29 — 17,719 (- 2.5%) 07/2007: – 08/2007: – 09/2007: Ex Machina #30 — 17,163 (- 3.1%) 10/2007: Ex Machina #31 — 16,772 (- 2.3%) 11/2007: Ex Machina #32 — 16,328 (- 2.7%) 12/2007: Ex Machina #33 — 16,067 (- 1.6%) 01/2008: – 02/2008: Ex Machina #34 — 15,579 (- 3.0%) —————- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : n.a. 2 years : n.a.
Periodical sales of the other long-running creator-owned property at WildStorm also keep eroding.
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127 - METAL MEN 08/2007: Metal Men #1 of 8 — 30,454 09/2007: Metal Men #2 of 8 — 23,658 (-22.3%) 10/2007: Metal Men #3 of 8 — 20,571 (-13.1%) 11/2007: Metal Men #4 of 8 — 18,707 (- 9.1%) 12/2007: – 01/2008: Metal Men #5 of 8 — 16,152 (-13.7%) 02/2008: Metal Men #6 of 8 — 15,374 (- 4.8%) —————- 6 months: -49.5%
These are horrible numbers, obviously. Rather surprisingly, though, DC have solicited a hardcover edition of the book, so someone there must really like it.
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128 - SIMON DARK 10/2007: Simon Dark #1 — 24,256 11/2007: Simon Dark #2 — 18,492 (-23.8%) 12/2007: Simon Dark #3 — 17,391 (- 6.0%) 01/2008: Simon Dark #4 — 16,242 (- 6.6%) 02/2008: Simon Dark #5 — 15,360 (- 5.4%)
131 - SHADOWPACT 02/2007: Shadowpact #10 — 21,823 (- 4.6%) 03/2007: Shadowpact #11 — 21,114 (- 3.3%) 04/2007: Shadowpact #12 — 20,746 (- 1.7%) 05/2007: Shadowpact #13 — 20,335 (- 2.0%) 06/2007: Shadowpact #14 — 19,899 (- 2.1%) 07/2007: Shadowpact #15 — 19,689 (- 1.2%) 08/2007: Shadowpact #16 — 19,410 (- 1.4%) 09/2007: Shadowpact #17 — 18,382 (- 5.3%) 10/2007: Shadowpact #18 — 17,818 (- 3.1%) 11/2007: Shadowpact #19 — 17,103 (- 4.0%) 12/2007: Shadowpact #20 — 16,459 (- 3.8%) 01/2008: Shadowpact #21 — 16,014 (- 2.7%) 02/2008: Shadowpact #22 — 15,292 (- 4.5%) —————- 6 months: -21.2% 1 year : -29.9%
Two ongoing DC books with less than impressive sales. Shadowpact is cancelled with issue #25.
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132 - TINY TITANS (Johnny DC) 02/2008: Tiny Titans #1 — 15,238
There’s an overlap of a few months, but Tiny Titans effectively replaces Teen Titans Go! at the publisher’s Johnny DC imprint. See disclaimers.
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133 - NORTHLANDERS (Vertigo) 12/2007: Northlanders #1 — 19,805 01/2008: Northlanders #2 — 15,945 (-19.5%) 02/2008: Northlanders #3 — 14,699 (- 7.8%)
That’s a fairly average third-issue drop. The next few issues are going to be the litmus test for the book’s long-term prospects in the periodical market.
The first three issues of Northlanders were promoted with 1-for-10 variant cover editions, but series writer Brian Wood has suggested that Diamond Comic Distributors - contrary to their usual practice - haven’t included the sales of these editions in their numbers.
Either way, we should have a good idea of the book’s performance once the March numbers are released.
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136 - BLUE BEETLE 02/2007: Blue Beetle #12 — 18,555 (- 6.6%) 03/2007: Blue Beetle #13 — 17,653 (- 4.9%) 04/2007: Blue Beetle #14 — 17,167 (- 2.8%) 05/2007: Blue Beetle #15 — 16,906 (- 1.5%) 06/2007: Blue Beetle #16 — 17,016 (+ 0.7%) 07/2007: Blue Beetle #17 — 16,128 (- 5.2%) 08/2007: Blue Beetle #18 — 19,140 (+18.7%) 09/2007: Blue Beetle #19 — 15,737 (-17.8%) 10/2007: Blue Beetle #20 — 27,611 (+75.5%) 11/2007: Blue Beetle #21 — 15,645 (-43.3%) 12/2007: Blue Beetle #22 — 15,256 (- 2.5%) 01/2008: Blue Beetle #23 — 14,961 (- 1.9%) 01/2008: Blue Beetle #24 — 14,378 (- 3.9%) —————- 6 months: -24.9% 1 year : -22.5%
Blue Beetle sales keep declining. It should be said that the six-month comparison looks harsher than it is, though, because the August issue was a crossover with Teen Titans.
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139 - UNCLE SAM & THE FREEDOM FIGHTERS 02/2007: – 03/2007: Uncle Sam & FF #8 of 8 — 22,507 04/2007: – 05/2007: – 06/2007: – 07/2007: – 08/2007: – 09/2007: Uncle Sam & FF #1 of 8 — 23,731 (+ 5.4%) 10/2007: Uncle Sam & FF #2 of 8 — 19,006 (-19.9%) 11/2007: Uncle Sam & FF #3 of 8 — 17,157 (- 9.7%) 12/2007: Uncle Sam & FF #4 of 8 — 15,832 (- 7.7%) 01/2008: Uncle Sam & FF #5 of 8 — 14,989 (- 5.3%) 02/2008: Uncle Sam & FF #6 of 8 — 14,126 (- 5.8%) —————- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : n.a.
That’s a standard miniseries performance.
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142 - THE AUTHORITY: PRIME (WildStorm) 02/2004: CdE: Authority #4 — 28,705 02/2005: Revolution #5 of 12 — 20,683 ————————————— 02/2007: – 03/2007: The Authority v3 #2 — 39,886 (-31.4%) 04/2007: – 05/2007: – 06/2007: – 07/2007: – 08/2007: – 09/2007: – 10/2007: Prime #1 of 6 — 21,992 (-44.9%) 11/2007: Prime #2 of 6 — 17,717 (-19.4%) 12/2007: Prime #3 of 6 — 16,623 (- 6.2%) 01/2008: Prime #4 of 6 — 15,058 (- 9.4%) 02/2008: Prime #5 of 6 — 14,099 (- 6.4%) —————- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : n.a. 2 years : n.a.
The top-selling WildStorm Universe title is now selling below 15,000. If there’s any point to keep the line around, at this stage, I don’t see it - it doesn’t offer anything the market doesn’t already have in spades from Marvel or DC proper, and the numbers clearly reflect that.
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144 - JONAH HEX 02/2006: Jonah Hex #4 — 23,569 ——————————– 02/2007: Jonah Hex #16 — 17,490 (- 2.8%) 03/2007: Jonah Hex #17 — 17,081 (- 2.3%) 04/2007: Jonah Hex #18 — 16,880 (- 1.2%) 05/2007: Jonah Hex #19 — 16,473 (- 2.4%) 06/2007: Jonah Hex #20 — 16,150 (- 2.0%) 07/2007: Jonah Hex #21 — 15,734 (- 2.6%) 08/2007: Jonah Hex #22 — 15,362 (- 2.4%) 09/2007: Jonah Hex #23 — 15,157 (- 1.4%) 10/2007: Jonah Hex #24 — 14,749 (- 2.7%) 11/2007: Jonah Hex #25 — 14,577 (- 1.2%) 12/2007: Jonah Hex #26 — 14,088 (- 3.5%) 01/2008: Jonah Hex #27 — 13,881 (- 1.5%) 02/2008: Jonah Hex #28 — 13,614 (- 1.9%) —————- 6 months: -11.4% 1 year : -22.2% 2 years : -42.2%
Jonah Hex continues its slow but steady decline.
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145 - THE ALL-NEW ATOM 02/2007: The All-New Atom #8 — 19,004 (- 9.5%) 03/2007: The All-New Atom #9 — 17,572 (- 7.5%) 04/2007: The All-New Atom #10 — 16,739 (- 4.4%) 05/2007: The All-New Atom #11 — 16,193 (- 3.3%) 06/2007: The All-New Atom #12 — 16,848 (+ 4.1%) 07/2007: The All-New Atom #13 — 16,982 (+ 0.8%) 08/2007: The All-New Atom #14 — 17,894 (+ 5.4%) 09/2007: The All-New Atom #15 — 17,266 (- 3.5%) 10/2007: The All-New Atom #16 — 16,013 (- 7.3%) 11/2007: The All-New Atom #17 — 15,529 (- 3.0%) 12/2007: The All-New Atom #18 — 14,701 (- 5.3%) 01/2008: The All-New Atom #19 — 13,861 (- 5.7%) 02/2008: The All-New Atom #20 — 13,560 (- 2.2%) —————- 6 months: -24.2% 1 year : -28.7%
Sales keep declining.
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147 - GEN13 (WildStorm) 02/2002: Gen13 #74 — 16,621* 02/2003: Gen13 #6 — 18,251* —————————- 02/2007: Gen13 #5 — 22,422 (-18.8%) 03/2007: Gen13 #6 — 21,356 (- 4.8%) 04/2007: Gen13 #7 — 20,555 (- 3.8%) 05/2007: Gen13 #8 — 19,638 (- 4.5%) 06/2007: Gen13 #9 — 18,644 (- 5.1%) 07/2007: Gen13 #10 — 17,720 (- 5.0%) 08/2007: Gen13 #11 — 16,955 (- 4.3%) 09/2007: Gen13 #12 — 16,112 (- 5.0%) 10/2007: Gen13 #13 — 15,539 (- 3.6%) 11/2007: Gen13 #14 — 14,831 (- 4.6%) 12/2007: Gen13 #15 — 14,330 (- 3.4%) 01/2008: Gen13 #16 — 13,618 (- 5.0%) 02/2008: Gen13 #17 — 12,844 (- 5.7%) —————- 6 months: -24.3% 1 year : -42.7%
Gen13 is suspiciously absent from the publisher’s solicitations for June. Maybe it’s just taking a month off after writer Simon Oliver’s run concludes with issue #20, but I wouldn’t bet the farm on it.
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151 - INFINITY INC. 09/2007: Infinity Inc. #1 — 33,400 10/2007: Infinity Inc. #2 — 24,158 (-27.7%) 11/2007: Infinity Inc. #3 — 18,776 (-22.3%) 12/2007: Infinity Inc. #4 — 15,861 (-15.5%) 01/2008: Infinity Inc. #5 — 13,951 (-12.0%) 02/2008: Infinity Inc. #6 — 12,523 (-10.2%)
Six issues in, Infinity Inc. is still in the double-digit drops. If the book makes it past issue #12, I’ll be surprised.
Not unusually, for a Peter Milligan comic, the series is probably a little too off-kilter for the direct market - rather than the superhero team book as which it’s being sold, Infinity Inc. reads more like a comic about a bunch of young people in group therapy who also happen to have superhuman abilities.
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152 - HELLBLAZER (Vertigo) 02/2002: Hellblazer #171 — 18,093* 02/2003: Hellblazer #181 — 16,825* 02/2004: Hellblazer #193 — 15,000 02/2005: Hellblazer #205 — 15,158 02/2006: Hellblazer #217 — 14,306 ———————————- 02/2007: Hellblazer #229 — 13,032 (+0.6%) 03/2007: Hellblazer #230 — 13,210 (+1.4%) 04/2007: Hellblazer #231 — 13,142 (-0.5%) 05/2007: Hellblazer #232 — 13,164 (+0.2%) 06/2007: Hellblazer #233 — 13,201 (+0.3%) 07/2007: Hellblazer #234 — 13,112 (-0.7%) 08/2007: Hellblazer #234 — 13,214 (+0.8%) 08/2007: Hellblazer #235 — 13,153 (-0.5%) 09/2007: Hellblazer #236 — 12,938 (-1.6%) 10/2007: Hellblazer #237 — 12,703 (-1.8%) 11/2007: Hellblazer #238 — 12,536 (-1.3%) 12/2007: Hellblazer #239 — 12,344 (-1.5%) 01/2008: Hellblazer #240 — 12,213 (-1.1%) 02/2008: Hellblazer #241 — 11,998 (-1.8%) —————- 6 months: - 9.0% 1 year : - 7.9% 2 years : -16.1%
Standard attrition.
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156 - THE MIDNIGHTER (WildStorm) 02/2007: The Midnighter #4 — 24,792 (-10.1%) 03/2007: The Midnighter #5 — 21,452 (-13.5%) 04/2007: The Midnighter #6 — 20,561 (- 4.2%) 05/2007: The Midnighter #7 — 19,910 (- 3.2%) 06/2007: The Midnighter #8 — 18,076 (- 9.2%) 07/2007: The Midnighter #9 — 16,656 (- 7.9%) 08/2007: The Midnighter #10 — 15,654 (- 6.0%) 09/2007: The Midnighter #11 — 14,349 (- 8.3%) 10/2007: The Midnighter #12 — 13,741 (- 4.2%) 11/2007: The Midnighter #13 — 12,996 (- 5.4%) 12/2007: The Midnighter #14 — 12,358 (- 4.9%) 01/2008: The Midnighter #15 — 11,929 (- 3.5%) 02/2008: The Midnighter #16 — 11,309 (- 5.2%) —————- 6 months: -27.8% 1 year : -54.4%
Cancelled with issue #20.
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158 - 100 BULLETS (Vertigo) 02/2002: 100 Bullets #33 — 16,844* 02/2003: 100 Bullets #42 — 16,613* 02/2004: – 02/2005: 100 Bullets #58 — 14,926 02/2006: 100 Bullets #69 — 13,708 ———————————- 02/2007: 100 Bullets #81 — 12,458 (- 1.5%) 03/2007: 100 Bullets #82 — 12,260 (- 1.6%) 04/2007: – 05/2007: 100 Bullets #83 — 12,475 (+ 1.8%) 06/2007: 100 Bullets #84 — 12,148 (- 2.6%) 07/2007: – 08/2007: – 09/2007: 100 Bullets #85 — 11,888 (- 2.1%) 10/2007: – 11/2007: 100 Bullets #86 — 11,599 (- 2.4%) 12/2007: – 01/2008: 100 Bullets #87 — 11,244 (- 3.1%) 02/2008: 100 Bullets #88 — 11,077 (- 1.5%) —————- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : -11.1% 2 years : -19.2%
161 - DMZ (Vertigo) 02/2006: DMZ #4 — 14,778 ————————– 02/2007: DMZ #16 — 13,199 (-1.1%) 03/2007: DMZ #17 — 13,081 (-0.9%) 04/2007: DMZ #18 — 13,120 (+0.3%) 05/2007: DMZ #19 — 13,116 (-0.0%) 06/2007: DMZ #20 — 12,704 (-3.1%) 07/2007: DMZ #21 — 12,433 (-2.1%) 08/2007: DMZ #22 — 12,175 (-2.1%) 09/2007: DMZ #23 — 11,858 (-2.6%) 10/2007: DMZ #24 — 11,583 (-2.3%) 11/2007: DMZ #25 — 11,277 (-2.6%) 12/2007: DMZ #26 — 11,027 (-2.2%) 01/2008: DMZ #27 — 10,662 (-3.3%) 02/2008: DMZ #28 — 10,463 (-1.9%) —————- 6 months: -14.1% 1 year : -20.7% 2 years : -29.2%
The two Vertigo books maintain a slow, steady decline. First-month collection sales have been increasing for both titles, however, and suggest that 100 Bullets and DMZ are the top-selling current Vertigo series in that market, outside of the Fables franchise.
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164 - BAT LASH 12/2007: Bat Lash #1 of 6 — 18,324 01/2008: Bat Lash #2 of 6 — 12,428 (-32.2%) 02/2008: Bat Lash #3 of 6 — 10,102 (-18.7%)
These are horrible sales, even for a Western.
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167 - COUNTDOWN SPECIAL 80-PAGE GIANT 10/2007: The Flash — 16,381 11/2007: Jimmy Olsen — 12,106 (-26.1%) 12/2007: The Atom #1 of 2 — 9,404 (-22.3%) 12/2007: The Atom #2 of 2 — 9,005 (- 4.2%) 01/2008: The New Gods — 10,157 (+12.8%) 02/2008: OMAC — 9,447 (- 7.0%)
These $ 4.99 reprint books keep selling nicely.
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168 - WILDSTORM: REVELATIONS (WildStorm) 01/2008: Revelations #1 of 6 — 11,694 01/2008: Revelations #2 of 6 — 10,877 (- 7.0%) 02/2008: Revelations #3 of 6 — 9,406 (-13.5%) 02/2008: Revelations #4 of 6 — 9,181 (- 2.4%)
The twice-monthly WildStorm Universe revamp was hit by a delayed second-issue drop in February. It doesn’t make much of a difference, however - people evidently couldn’t care less about the WildStorm Universe as a fictional world.
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185 - JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED (Johnny DC) 02/2002: JL Adventures #4 — 19,571* 02/2003: JL Adventures #16 — 14,298* 02/2004: JL Adventures #28 — 12,343 02/2005: JL Unlimited #6 — 12,205 02/2006: JL Unlimited #18 — 10,206 ———————————— 02/2007: JL Unlimited #30 — 9,123 (- 1.6%) 03/2007: JL Unlimited #31 — 9,072 (- 0.6%) 04/2007: JL Unlimited #32 — 9,326 (+ 2.8%) 05/2007: JL Unlimited #33 — 9,230 (- 1.0%) 06/2007: JL Unlimited #34 — 9,328 (+ 1.1%) 07/2007: JL Unlimited #35 — 8,998 (- 3.5%) 08/2007: JL Unlimited #36 — 9,043 (+ 0.5%) 09/2007: JL Unlimited #37 — 8,706 (- 3.7%) 10/2007: JL Unlimited #38 — 8,461 (- 2.8%) 11/2007: JL Unlimited #39 — 8,367 (- 1.1%) 12/2007: JL Unlimited #40 — 8,272 (- 1.1%) 01/2008: JL Unlimited #41 — 8,308 (+ 0.4%) 02/2008: JL Unlimited #42 — 8,144 (- 2.0%) —————- 6 months: - 9.9% 1 year : -10.7% 2 years : -20.2%
A Johnny DC book. See disclaimers.
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187 - FRIDAY THE 13TH: BAD LAND (WildStorm) 02/2007: Friday the 13th #3 — 8,965 (- 6.2%) 03/2007: Friday the 13th #4 — 8,637 (- 3.7%) 04/2007: Friday the 13th #5 — 8,724 (+ 1.0%) 05/2007: Friday the 13th #6 — 8,605 (- 1.4%) 06/2007: – 07/2007: Pamela’s Tale #1 of 2 — 8,420 (- 2.2%) 08/2007: Pamela’s Tale #2 of 2 — 7,635 (- 9.3%) 09/2007: Summer Vacation #1 of 2 — 7,839 (+ 2.7%) 10/2007: Summer Vacation #2 of 2 — 7,431 (- 5.2%) 11/2007: – 12/2007: – 01/2008: Bad Land #1 of 2 — 8,128 (+ 9.4%) 02/2008: Bad Land #2 of 2 — 7,708 (- 5.2%) —————- 6 months: + 1.0% 1 year : -14.0%
Sales remain within the book’s usual range. They’re probably hoping that it’s going to do better in the collection market, but I’m skeptical.
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190 - 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 ————————————- 02/2007: Teen Titans Go #40 — 9,132 (- 3.1%) 03/2007: Teen Titans Go #41 — 8,895 (- 2.6%) 04/2007: Teen Titans Go #42 — 9,050 (+ 1.7%) 05/2007: Teen Titans Go #43 — 8,918 (- 1.5%) 06/2007: Teen Titans Go #44 — 8,738 (- 2.0%) 07/2007: Teen Titans Go #45 — 8,554 (- 2.1%) 08/2007: Teen Titans Go #46 — 8,427 (- 1.5%) 09/2007: Teen Titans Go #47 — 8,229 (- 2.4%) 10/2007: Teen Titans Go #48 — 7,927 (- 3.7%) 11/2007: Teen Titans Go #49 — 7,699 (- 2.9%) 12/2007: Teen Titans Go #50 — 7,966 (+ 3.5%) 01/2008: Teen Titans Go #51 — 7,602 (- 4.6%) 02/2008: Teen Titans Go #52 — 7,496 (- 1.4%) —————- 6 months: -11.1% 1 year : -17.9% 2 years : -35.2%
Another Johnny DC book. See disclaimers.
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193 - LOVELESS (Vertigo) 02/2006: Loveless #4 — 16,765 ——————————- 02/2007: Loveless #15 — 11,103 (- 3.3%) 03/2007: Loveless #16 — 10,787 (- 2.9%) 04/2007: Loveless #17 — 10,334 (- 4.2%) 05/2007: – 06/2007: Loveless #18 — 9,906 (- 4.1%) 07/2007: – 08/2007: Loveless #19 — 8,851 (-10.7%) 09/2007: – 10/2007: Loveless #20 — 8,243 (- 6.9%) 11/2007: – 12/2007: Loveless #21 — 7,809 (- 5.3%) 01/2008: – 02/2008: Loveless #22 — 7,210 (- 7.7%) —————- 6 months: -18.5% 1 year : -35.1% 2 years : -57.0%
Given that the book is written by Brian Azzarello, I’d presume Loveless was doing well in the graphic novel market, but unfortunately there’s no evidence for that; first-month sales of its collected editions are in the same area as those of the cancelled The Exterminators, and, like the bulk of Vertigo’s books, it’s nowhere to be seen in the recently leaked numbers for the the book market.
Theoretically, mind you, Loveless collections could be selling reasonably well without registering on any of the available charts. They certainly have to be, if the book wants to stick around: Its periodical sales are still in a free-fall, with no end in sight.
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194 - DEATHBLOW (WildStorm) 02/2007: – 03/2007: Deathblow #4 — 15,842 (-15.8%) 04/2007: – 05/2007: Deathblow #5 — 12,547 (-20.8%) 06/2007: – 07/2007: Deathblow #6 — 10,582 (-15.7%) 08/2007: – 09/2007: Deathblow #7 — 9,287 (-12.2%) 10/2007: – 11/2007: Deathblow #8 — 8,229 (-11.4%) 12/2007: – 01/2008: – 02/2008: Deathblow #9 — 7,182 (-12.7%) —————- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : n.a.
Cancelled. These numbers speak for themselves.
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198 - SCALPED (Vertigo) 02/2007: Scalped #2 — 10,005 (-26.7%) 03/2007: Scalped #3 — 9,531 (- 4.7%) 04/2007: Scalped #4 — 9,163 (- 3.9%) 05/2007: Scalped #5 — 9,022 (- 1.5%) 06/2007: Scalped #6 — 8,689 (- 3.7%) 07/2007: Scalped #7 — 8,303 (- 4.4%) 08/2007: Scalped #8 — 7,942 (- 4.4%) 09/2007: Scalped #9 — 7,678 (- 3.3%) 10/2007: Scalped #10 — 7,536 (- 1.9%) 11/2007: Scalped #11 — 7,323 (- 2.8%) 12/2007: Scalped #12 — 7,048 (- 3.8%) 01/2008: Scalped #13 — 6,993 (- 0.8%) 02/2008: Scalped #14 — 6,903 (- 1.3%) —————- 6 months: -13.1% 1 year : -31.0%
Scalped is another anomaly. According to series writer Jason Aaron, the book is doing well in the collection market. But again, that’s not reflected in any of the available sales figures. The first-month sales of the second Scalped collection, for instance, display a 14% drop compared to those of the first one, which also places it below the latest collection of The Exterminators.
If Scalped collections are selling as well as Aaron suggests - which, as established above, is quite possible - I’d have expected the first-month numbers for the second collection to go up, like they did in the case of DMZ, or at least to stay even.
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200 - THE EXTERMINATORS (Vertigo) 02/2006: The Exterminators #2 — 12,459 —————————————- 02/2007: The Exterminators #14 — 8,965 (- 5.1%) 03/2007: The Exterminators #15 — 8,839 (- 1.4%) 04/2007: The Exterminators #16 — 8,758 (- 1.0%) 05/2007: The Exterminators #17 — 8,813 (+ 0.6%) 06/2007: The Exterminators #18 — 8,651 (- 1.8%) 07/2007: The Exterminators #19 — 8,454 (- 2.3%) 08/2007: The Exterminators #20 — 8,289 (- 2.0%) 09/2007: The Exterminators #21 — 7,950 (- 4.1%) 10/2007: The Exterminators #22 — 7,792 (- 2.0%) 11/2007: The Exterminators #23 — 7,461 (- 4.3%) 12/2007: The Exterminators #24 — 7,211 (- 3.4%) 01/2008: The Exterminators #25 — 7,096 (- 1.6%) 02/2008: The Exterminators #26 — 6,834 (- 3.7%) —————- 6 months: -17.6% 1 year : -23.8% 2 years : -45.2%
203 - AMERICAN VIRGIN (Vertigo) 02/2007: American Virgin #12 — 9,215 (- 4.3%) 03/2007: – 04/2007: American Virgin #13 — 8,960 (- 2.8%) 05/2007: American Virgin #14 — 8,805 (- 1.7%) 05/2007: American Virgin #15 — 8,613 (- 2.2%) 06/2007: – 07/2007: American Virgin #16 — 8,403 (- 2.4%) 08/2007: American Virgin #17 — 8,204 (- 2.4%) 08/2007: American Virgin #18 — 7,727 (- 5.8%) 09/2007: American Virgin #19 — 7,487 (- 3.1%) 10/2007: American Virgin #20 — 7,228 (- 3.5%) 11/2007: American Virgin #21 — 6,893 (- 4.6%) 12/2007: – 01/2008: American Virgin #22 — 6,903 (+ 0.2%) 02/2008: American Virgin #23 — 6,698 (- 3.0%) —————- 6 months: -15.9% 1 year : -27.3%
American Virgin is axed, The Exterminators is cancelled with issue #30.
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203 - BATMAN STRIKES! (Johnny DC) 02/2002: Gotham Adventures #47 — 11,848* 02/2003: Gotham Adventures #59 — 11,421* 02/2004: Batman Adventures #11 — 12,082 02/2005: Batman Strikes! #6 — 11,102 02/2006: Batman Strikes! #18 — 8,626 —————————————- 02/2007: Batman Strikes! #30 — 7,335 (+ 0.1%) 03/2007: Batman Strikes! #31 — 7,100 (- 3.2%) 04/2007: Batman Strikes! #32 — 7,294 (+ 2.7%) 05/2007: Batman Strikes! #33 — 7,235 (- 0.8%) 06/2007: Batman Strikes! #34 — 7,115 (- 1.7%) 07/2007: Batman Strikes! #35 — 7,222 (+ 1.5%) 08/2007: Batman Strikes! #36 — 7,511 (+ 4.0%) 09/2007: Batman Strikes! #37 — 6,833 (- 9.0%) 10/2007: Batman Strikes! #38 — 6,664 (- 2.5%) 11/2007: Batman Strikes! #39 — 6,464 (- 3.0%) 12/2007: Batman Strikes! #40 — 6,492 (+ 0.4%) 01/2008: Batman Strikes! #41 — 6,723 (+ 3.6%) 02/2008: Batman Strikes! #42 — 6,623 (- 1.5%) —————- 6 months: -11.8% 1 year : - 9.7% 2 years : -23.2%
204 - THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES IN THE 31ST CENTURY (Johnny DC) 04/2007: The LoSH in the 31st Century #1 — 13,519 05/2007: The LoSH in the 31st Century #2 — 11,121 (-17.7%) 06/2007: The LoSH in the 31st Century #3 — 9,252 (-16.8%) 07/2007: The LoSH in the 31st Century #4 — 8,236 (-11.0%) 08/2007: The LoSH in the 31st Century #5 — 7,681 (- 6.7%) 09/2007: The LoSH in the 31st Century #6 — 7,362 (- 4.2%) 10/2007: The LoSH in the 31st Century #7 — 7,010 (- 4.8%) 11/2007: The LoSH in the 31st Century #8 — 6,886 (- 1.8%) 12/2007: The LoSH in the 31st Century #9 — 6,777 (- 1.6%) 01/2008: The LoSH in the 31st Century #10 — 6,674 (- 1.5%) 02/2008: The LoSH in the 31st Century #11 — 6,568 (- 1.6%) —————- 6 months: -14.5%
Two more Johnny DC books. See disclaimers.
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205 - THE VINYL UNDERGROUND (Vertigo) 10/2007: The Vinyl Underground #1 — 10,823 11/2007: The Vinyl Underground #2 — 8,237 (-23.9%) 12/2007: The Vinyl Underground #3 — 7,432 (- 9.8%) 01/2008: The Vinyl Underground #4 — 6,854 (- 7.8%) 02/2008: The Vinyl Underground #5 — 6,384 (- 6.9%)
208 - THE PROGRAMME (WildStorm) 07/2007: The Programme #1 of 12 — 14,293 08/2007: The Programme #2 of 12 — 9,412 (-34.2%) 09/2007: The Programme #3 of 12 — 8,545 (- 9.2%) 10/2007: The Programme #4 of 12 — 7,717 (- 9.7%) 11/2007: The Programme #5 of 12 — 7,262 (- 5.9%) 12/2007: The Programme #6 of 12 — 6,856 (- 5.6%) 01/2008: The Programme #7 of 12 — 6,640 (- 3.2%) 02/2008: The Programme #8 of 12 — 6,221 (- 6.3%) —————- 6 months: -33.9%
214 - ARMY@LOVE (Vertigo) 03/2007: Army@Love #1 — 14,578 04/2007: Army@Love #2 — 11,195 (-23.2%) 05/2007: Army@Love #3 — 10,312 (- 7.9%) 06/2007: Army@Love #4 — 9,089 (-11.9%) 07/2007: Army@Love #5 — 8,386 (- 7.7%) 08/2007: Army@Love #6 — 7,858 (- 6.3%) 09/2007: Army@Love #7 — 7,310 (- 7.0%) 10/2007: Army@Love #8 — 7,010 (- 4.1%) 11/2007: Army@Love #9 — 6,617 (- 5.6%) 12/2007: Army@Love #10 — 6,364 (- 3.8%) 01/2008: Army@Love #11 — 6,023 (- 5.4%) 02/2008: Army@Love #12 — 5,777 (- 4.1%) —————- 6 months: -26.5%
221 - CROSSING MIDNIGHT (Vertigo) 02/2007: Crossing Midnight #4 — 7,568 (- 8.1%) 03/2007: Crossing Midnight #5 — 7,196 (- 4.9%) 04/2007: Crossing Midnight #6 — 7,036 (- 2.2%) 05/2007: Crossing Midnight #7 — 6,866 (- 2.4%) 06/2007: Crossing Midnight #8 — 6,612 (- 3.7%) 07/2007: Crossing Midnight #9 — 6,351 (- 4.0%) 08/2007: Crossing Midnight #10 — 6,142 (- 3.3%) 09/2007: Crossing Midnight #11 — 5,870 (- 4.4%) 10/2007: Crossing Midnight #12 — 5,754 (- 2.0%) 11/2007: Crossing Midnight #13 — 5,519 (- 4.1%) 12/2007: Crossing Midnight #14 — 5,467 (- 0.9%) 01/2008: Crossing Midnight #15 — 5,255 (- 3.9%) 02/2008: Crossing Midnight #16 — 5,348 (+ 1.8%) —————- 6 months: -12.9% 1 year : -29.3%
228 - THE UN-MEN (Vertigo) 08/2007: The Un-Men #1 — 11,868 09/2007: The Un-Men #2 — 8,758 (-26.2%) 10/2007: The Un-Men #3 — 7,566 (-13.6%) 11/2007: The Un-Men #4 — 6,678 (-11.7%) 12/2007: The Un-Men #5 — 6,094 (- 8.8%) 01/2008: The Un-Men #6 — 5,525 (- 9.3%) 02/2008: The Un-Men #7 — 4,925 (-10.9%) —————- 6 months: -58.5%
And here’s the rest of the Vertigo and WildStorm books. Army@Love ended with issue #12, ostensibly with a view to being relaunched later on; given these sales, I’m rather skeptical, though. Crossing Midnight is cancelled with issue #19 - a second collection shipped in February, with first-month sales below 2,000 units.
This leaves The Vinyl Underground and The Un-Men, as far as ongoing titles are concerned. Obviously, things don’t look very encouraging at all for these two books.
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241 - SCOOBY DOO (Johnny DC) 02/2002: Scooby Doo #57 — 5,406* 02/2003: Scooby Doo #69 — 5,892* 02/2004: Scooby Doo #81 — 5,297 02/2005: Scooby Doo #93 — 4,747 02/2006: Scooby Doo #105 — 4,326 ——————————— 02/2007: Scooby Doo #117 — 4,275 (- 0.2%) 03/2007: Scooby Doo #118 — 4,395 (+ 2.8%) 04/2007: Scooby Doo #119 — 4,373 (- 0.5%) 05/2007: Scooby Doo #120 — 4,343 (- 0.7%) 06/2007: Scooby Doo #121 — 4,415 (+ 1.7%) 07/2007: Scooby Doo #122 — 4,424 (+ 0.2%) 08/2007: Scooby Doo #123 — 4,641 (+ 4.9%) 09/2007: Scooby Doo #124 — 4,401 (- 5.2%) 10/2007: Scooby Doo #125 — 4,407 (+ 0.1%) 11/2007: Scooby Doo #126 — 4,237 (- 3.9%) 12/2007: Scooby Doo #127 — 4,293 (+ 1.3%) 01/2008: Scooby Doo #128 — 4,147 (- 3.4%) 02/2008: Scooby Doo #129 — 4,161 (+ 0.4%) —————- 6 months: -10.3% 1 year : - 2.7% 2 years : - 3.8%
280 - LOONEY TUNES (Johnny DC) 02/2002: Looney Tunes #87 — 3,115* 02/2003: Looney Tunes #99 — 3,328* 02/2004: Looney Tunes #111 — 3,220 02/2005: Looney Tunes #123 — 2,838 02/2006: Looney Tunes #135 — 2,631 ———————————– 02/2007: Looney Tunes #147 — 2,553 (- 1.4%) 03/2007: Looney Tunes #148 — 2,705 (+ 6.0%) 04/2007: Looney Tunes #149 — 2,640 (- 2.4%) 05/2007: Looney Tunes #150 — 3,093 (+17.2%) 06/2007: Looney Tunes #151 — 2,711 (-12.4%) 07/2007: Looney Tunes #152 — 2,865 (+ 5.7%) 08/2007: Looney Tunes #153 — 2,755 (- 3.8%) 09/2007: Looney Tunes #154 — 2,740 (- 0.6%) 10/2007: Looney Tunes #155 — ? 11/2007: Looney Tunes #156 — ? 12/2007: Looney Tunes #157 — 2,641 01/2008: Looney Tunes #158 — 2,596 (- 1.7%) 02/2008: Looney Tunes #159 — 2,606 (+ 0.4%) —————- 6 months: - 5.4% 1 year : + 2.1% 2 years : - 1.0%
Two more Johnny DC books. See disclaimers.
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REORDERS: 246: 3,970 — Green Lantern Corps #20 (2nd) 260: 3,329 — Y: The Last Man #60
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Average Sales per Title
(not counting reprints, reorders 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 ————— 02/2007: 31,051 (+ 4.5%) 03/2007: 32,398 (+ 4.3%) 04/2007: 39,134 (+20.8%) 05/2007: 34,489 (-11.9%) 06/2007: 32,437 (- 6.0%) 07/2007: 34,330 (+ 5.8%) 08/2007: 34,885 (+ 1.6%) 09/2007: 32,332 (- 7.3%) 10/2007: 31,489 (- 2.6%) 11/2007: 29,427 (- 6.6%) 12/2007: 33,138 (+12.6%) 01/2008: 27,033 (-18.4%) 02/2008: 27,652 (+ 2.3%) —————- 6 months: -20.7% 1 year : -11.0% 2 years : -14.4% 3 years : + 0.5% 4 years : + 2.8%
DC UNIVERSE 02/2004: 30,632 02/2005: 34,956 02/2006: 40,823 ————— 02/2007: 39,976 (+ 4.4%) 03/2007: 42,634 (+ 6.7%) 04/2007: 52,768 (+23.8%) 05/2007: 47,294 (-10.4%) 06/2007: 45,380 (- 4.1%) 07/2007: 47,134 (+ 3.9%) 08/2007: 46,717 (- 0.9%) 09/2007: 42,894 (- 8.2%) 10/2007: 39,409 (- 8.1%) 11/2007: 37,257 (- 5.5%) 12/2007: 40,074 (+ 7.6%) 01/2008: 33,654 (-16.0%) 02/2008: 35,994 (+ 7.0%) —————- 6 months: -23.0% 1 year : -10.0% 2 years : -11.8% 3 years : + 3.0% 4 years : +17.5%
VERTIGO 02/2004: 14,808 02/2005: 13,451 02/2006: 15,026 ————— 02/2007: 11,855 (-12.7%) 03/2007: 13,748 (+16.0%) 04/2007: 12,105 (-12.0%) 05/2007: 12,256 (+ 1.3%) 06/2007: 12,732 (+ 3.9%) 07/2007: 12,193 (- 4.2%) 08/2007: 10,817 (-11.3%) 09/2007: 11,806 (+ 9.1%) 10/2007: 10,678 (- 9.6%) 11/2007: 10,946 (+ 2.5%) 12/2007: 11,035 (+ 0.8%) 01/2008: 10,115 (- 8.3%) 02/2008: 10,885 (+ 7.6%) —————- 6 months: + 0.6% 1 year : - 8.2% 2 years : -27.6% 3 years : -19.3% 4 years : -26.5%
WILDSTORM 02/2004: 21,164 02/2005: 14,362 02/2006: 13,610 ————— 02/2007: 14,105 (- 2.9%) 03/2007: 15,224 (+ 7.9%) 04/2007: 13,609 (-10.6%) 05/2007: 14,260 (+ 4.8%) 06/2007: 12,272 (-13.9%) 07/2007: 11,234 (- 8.5%) 08/2007: 10,744 (- 4.4%) 09/2007: 11,379 (+ 5.9%) 10/2007: 11,960 (+ 5.1%) 11/2007: 15,109 (+26.3%) 12/2007: 15,601 (+ 3.3%) 01/2008: 14,033 (-10.1%) 02/2008: 13,155 (- 6.3%) —————- 6 months: +22.4% 1 year : - 6.7% 2 years : - 3.3% 3 years : - 8.4% 4 years : -37.8%
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6-MONTH COMPARISONS + 13.1%: Green Arrow + 9.4%: Robin + 8.8%: Outsiders + 8.7%: Action Comics + 6.2%: LoSH + 3.5%: Nightwing + 1.0%: Friday the 13th + 0.1%: Detective Comics - 4.8%: JSA - 5.3%: Fables - 5.4%: Looney Tunes - 7.7%: Green Lantern Corps - 8.4%: Catwoman - 9.0%: Hellblazer - 9.9%: Justice League Unlimited - 10.3%: Scooby-Doo - 11.1%: Teen Titans Go - 11.4%: Jonah Hex - 11.8%: Batman Strikes - 12.0%: Batman Confidential - 12.3%: Batman - 12.8%: Superman/Batman - 12.9%: Crossing Midnight - 13.1%: Scalped - 13.2%: Jack of Fables - 13.3%: JLA: Classified - 14.1%: DMZ - 14.5%: LoSH in the 31th Century - 15.9%: American Virgin - 16.4%: Checkmate - 17.1%: The Spirit - 17.6%: Exterminators - 17.6%: Wonder Woman - 18.0%: JSA: Classified - 18.1%: Birds of Prey - 18.5%: Loveless - 21.2%: Shadowpact - 21.4%: Countdown - 22.4%: Superman - 24.2%: The All-New Atom - 24.3%: Gen13 - 24.8%: Brave and the Bold - 24.9%: Blue Beetle - 26.5%: Army@Love - 27.1%: Supergirl - 27.8%: Midnighter - 27.8%: Teen Titans - 29.6%: Booster Gold - 31.7%: JLA - 33.9%: The Programme - 48.3%: Flash - 49.5%: Metal Men - 58.5%: The Un-Men
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1-YEAR COMPARISONS + 36.4%: Green Lantern Corps + 16.5%: Green Arrow + 14.9%: Outsiders + 2.1%: Looney Tunes - 0.8%: LoSH - 1.1%: JSA - 1.5%: Robin - 2.7%: Scooby Doo - 5.1%: Nightwing - 7.9%: Hellblazer - 8.5%: Detective Comics - 9.5%: Catwoman - 9.7%: Batman Strikes - 10.7%: Justice League Unlimited - 11.1%: 100 Bullets - 13.8%: Action Comics - 14.0%: Friday the 13th - 17.0%: Jack of Fables - 17.4%: JLA: Classified - 17.9%: Teen Titans Go - 18.0%: Batman - 18.3%: Birds of Prey - 19.7%: Checkmate - 20.1%: Flash - 20.7%: DMZ - 22.2%: Jonah Hex - 22.5%: Blue Beetle - 23.8%: Exterminators - 27.1%: JSA: Classified - 27.3%: American Virgin - 28.6%: Superman - 28.7%: The All-New Atom - 29.3%: Crossing Midnight - 29.9%: Shadowpact - 31.0%: Scalped - 32.3%: The Spirit - 35.1%: Loveless - 35.5%: Supergirl - 35.6%: Batman Confidential - 40.0%: Wonder Woman - 42.7%: Gen13 - 54.4%: Midnighter - 57.5%: Brave and the Bold
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2-YEAR COMPARISONS + 53.8%: JSA + 42.7%: Detective Comics + 20.8%: JLA + 17.3%: Green Arrow + 7.6%: Action Comics + 2.7%: Batman + 0.1%: Fables - 1.0%: Looney Tunes - 3.0%: LoSH - 3.8%: Scooby-Doo - 8.2%: Wonder Woman - 12.4%: Outsiders - 12.7%: Nightwing - 13.5%: Robin - 14.4%: Catwoman - 16.1%: Hellblazer - 19.2%: 100 Bullets - 20.2%: Justice League Unlimited - 22.4%: Birds of Prey - 23.2%: Batman Strikes - 27.3%: Teen Titans - 29.2%: DMZ - 35.0%: Superman - 35.2%: Teen Titans Go - 42.2%: Jonah Hex - 45.2%: Exterminators - 51.8%: JLA: Classified - 57.0%: Loveless - 58.0%: JSA: Classified - 66.9%: Supergirl
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OTHER PUBLISHERS
14 - BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER (Dark Horse Comics) 02/2002: Buffy #42 — 15,287* 02/2003: Buffy #54 — 15,036* —————————– 03/2007: Buffy #1 — 109,919 [158,437] 04/2007: Buffy #2 — 96,409 (-12.3%) [132,378] 05/2007: Buffy #3 — 106,634 (+10.6%) [125,078] 06/2007: Buffy #4 — 102,430 (- 3.9%) [117,866] 07/2007: Buffy #5 — 100,830 (- 2.0%) [109,322] 08/2007: – 09/2007: Buffy #6 — 96,556 (- 4.2%) [102,728] 10/2007: Buffy #7 — 94,144 (- 2.4%) [ 97,142] 11/2007: Buffy #8 — 91,595 (- 2.7%) [ 96,975] 12/2007: Buffy #9 — 89,556 (- 2.2%) 01/2008: Buffy #10 — 88,474 (- 1.2%) 02/2008: Buffy #11 — 88,070 (- 0.5%) —————- 6 months: n.a.
The January and February issues were written by series creator Joss Whedon. If Buffy can maintain this sales level - and it certainly looks like the book is bottoming out around the 88k mark - it goes without saying that Dark Horse have every reason to be ecstatic about that.
As usual, there was a variant cover edition to boost the numbers.
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29 - PROJECT: SUPERPOWERS (Dynamite Entertainment) 02/2008: Project: Superpowers #1 of 6 — 53,755
That’s quite a good start for the Alex Ross vehicle. It handsomely beats the debut of Mark Millar and John Romita Jr.’s Kick-Ass at Marvel’s Icon imprint, for instance. In fairness, Project: Superpowers comes with the usual assortment of variant cover editions, but that’s still a remarkable performance.
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37 - ANGEL: AFTER THE FALL (IDW) 02/2006: Old Friends #3 of 5 — 13,057 —————————————– 02/2007: Auld Lang Syne #4 of 5 — 6,371 (- 4.9%) 03/2007: Auld Lang Syne #5 of 5 — 6,351 (- 0.3%) 04/2007: – 05/2007: – 06/2007: – 07/2007: – 08/2007: – 09/2007: – 10/2007: – 11/2007: After the Fall #1 — 47,563 (+648.9%) [65,293] 12/2007: After the Fall #2 — 44,792 (- 5.8%) [56,396] 01/2008: After the Fall #3 — 46,013 (+ 2.7%) 02/2008: After the Fall #4 — 48,407 (+ 5.2%) —————– 6 months: n.a. 1 year : +659.8% 2 years : +270.7%
Buffy’s little twin keeps climbing the charts.
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61/64 - STAR WARS: LEGACY (Dark Horse Comics) 02/2007: Star Wars: Legacy #8 — 33,533 (-2.1%) 03/2007: Star Wars: Legacy #9 — 33,084 (-1.3%) 03/2007: Star Wars: Legacy #10 — 32,320 (-2.3%) 04/2007: — 05/2007: Star Wars: Legacy #11 — 33,138 (+2.5%) 05/2007: Star Wars: Legacy #12 — 32,161 (-3.0%) 06/2007: Star Wars: Legacy #13 — 32,149 (-0.0%) 07/2007: Star Wars: Legacy #14 — 31,652 (-1.6%) 08/2007: Star Wars: Legacy #15 — 31,539 (-0.4%) 09/2007: Star Wars: Legacy #16 — 31,240 (-1.0%) 10/2007: — 11/2007: Star Wars: Legacy #17 — 31,197 (-0.1%) 12/2007: — 01/2008: Star Wars: Legacy #18 — 31,038 (-0.5%) 02/2008: Star Wars: Legacy #19 — 30,953 (-0.3%) 02/2008: Star Wars: Legacy #20 — 29,896 (-3.4%) —————- 6 months: - 3.5% 1 year : - 9.3%
The flagship of Dark Horse’s Star Wars line remains rock-solid. The three-percent drop for issue #20 is likely due to the fact that the book shipped in the last week of February, which means that no reorders are included in the number.
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67 - THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY: APOCALYPSE SUITE (Dark Horse Comics) 09/2007: Apocalypse Suite #1 of 6 — 37,698 [48,514] 10/2007: Apocalypse Suite #2 of 6 — 31,176 (-17.3%) [36,002] 11/2007: Apocalypse Suite #3 of 6 — 29,508 (- 5.4%) [34,699] 12/2007: Apocalypse Suite #4 of 6 — 28,703 (- 2.7%) [31,583] 01/2008: Apocalypse Suite #5 of 6 — 29,736 (+ 3.6%) 02/2008: Apocalypse Suite #6 of 6 — 28,879 (- 2.9%)
The first Umbrella Academy series concludes with very good numbers for a new property. According to Dark Horse, the book will be back in late 2008.
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69 - THE BOYS (Dynamite Entertainment) 02/2007: – 03/2007: – 04/2007: – 05/2007: The Boys #7 — 31,616 (+16.9%) [37,255] 06/2007: The Boys #8 — 30,639 (- 3.1%) [32,868] 07/2007: – 08/2007: The Boys #9 — 32,570 (+ 6.3%) 09/2007: The Boys #10 — 32,077 (- 1.5%) 10/2007: The Boys #11 — 30,852 (- 3.8%) 11/2007: The Boys #12 — 29,754 (- 3.6%) 12/2007: The Boys #13 — 29,195 (- 1.9%) 01/2008: The Boys #14 — 28,559 (- 2.2%) 02/2008: The Boys #15 — 28,347 (- 0.7%) —————- 6 months: -13.0% 1 year : n.a.
The numbers are bottoming out in the 28k area, apparently.
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92 - STAR WARS: DARK TIMES (Dark Horse Comics) 02/2007: – 03/2007: – 04/2007: – 05/2007: Star Wars: Dark Times #3 of 5 — 29,501 (- 3.3%) 06/2007: – 07/2007: Star Wars: Dark Times #4 of 5 — 27,514 (- 6.7%) 08/2007: – 09/2007: – 10/2007: Star Wars: Dark Times #5 of 5 — 26,573 (- 3.4%) 10/2007: Star Wars: Dark Times #6 — 25,121 (- 5.5%) 11/2007: – 12/2007: Star Wars: Dark Times #7 — ? 01/2008: Star Wars: Dark Times #8 — 23,353 02/2008: Star Wars: Dark Times #9 — 23,047 (- 1.3%) —————- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : n.a.
Another franchise title with solid sales.
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93 - THE WALKING DEAD (Image Comics) 02/2004: – 02/2005: Walking Dead #15 — 15,454 02/2006: – ———————————– 02/2007: Walking Dead #35 — 21,391 (+ 1.0%) 03/2007: Walking Dead #36 — 21,291 (- 0.5%) 04/2007: Walking Dead #37 — 21,737 (+ 2.1%) 05/2007: – 06/2007: Walking Dead #38 — 22,193 (+ 2.1%) 07/2007: Walking Dead #39 — 22,487 (+ 1.3%) 08/2007: Walking Dead #40 — 22,989 (+ 2.2%) 08/2007: Walking Dead #41 — 22,681 (- 1.3%) 09/2007: Walking Dead #42 — 23,107 (+ 1.9%) 10/2007: Walking Dead #43 — 22,737 (- 1.6%) 11/2007: Walking Dead #43 — 22,569 (- 0.7%) 12/2007: Walking Dead #45 — 22,674 (+ 0.5%) 01/2008: – 02/2008: Walking Dead #46 — 22,870 (+ 0.9%) —————– 6 months: + 0.2% 1 year : + 6.9% 2 years : n.a.
The Walking Dead sales are back in a slow climb. It looks like the book has replaced Spawn as Image’s best-selling title.
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94 - SPAWN (Image Comics/TMP) 02/2002: Spawn #119 — 42,767* 02/2003: Spawn #131 — 36,703* 02/2004: Spawn #132 — 36,071 02/2005: Spawn #143 — 28,408 02/2006: Spawn #153 — 26,884 —————————– 02/2007: – 03/2007: Spawn #165 — 24,519 (- 0.1%) 03/2007: Spawn #166 — 23,690 (- 3.4%) 04/2007: – 05/2007: Spawn #167 — 24,277 (+ 2.5%) 06/2007: Spawn #168 — 24,152 (- 0.5%) 07/2007: Spawn #169 — 24,037 (- 0.5%) 08/2007: Spawn #170 — 23,712 (- 1.4%) 09/2007: Spawn #171 — 23,768 (+ 0.2%) 10/2007: – 11/2007: Spawn #172 — 23,628 (- 0.6%) 12/2007: Spawn #173 — 23,136 (- 2.1%) 01/2008: Spawn #174 — 22,667 (- 2.0%) 02/2008: Spawn #175 — 22,338 (- 1.5%) —————- 6 months: - 5.8% 1 year : n.a. 2 years : -16.9%
Slowly declining, as usual.
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96 - CONAN (Dark Horse Comics) 02/2004: Conan #1 — 51,416 [92,547] 02/2005: Conan #13 — 38,645 02/2006: Conan #25 — 31,675 —————————- 02/2007: Conan #37 — 25,532 (- 2.7%) 03/2007: Conan #38 — 25,236 (- 1.2%) 04/2007: Conan #39 — 25,103 (- 0.5%) 05/2007: Conan #40 — 24,982 (- 0.5%) 06/2007: Conan #41 — 24,720 (- 1.1%) 07/2007: Conan #42 — 24,288 (- 1.8%) 08/2007: Conan #43 — 23,843 (- 1.8%) 09/2007: – 10/2007: Conan #44 — 23,632 (- 0.9%) 10/2007: Conan #45 — 23,504 (- 0.5%) 11/2007: Conan #46 — 22,937 (- 2.4%) 12/2007: Conan #47 — 22,140 (- 3.5%) 01/2008: Conan #48 — 21,850 (- 1.3%) 02/2008: Conan #49 — 21,690 (- 0.7%) —————- 6 months: - 9.0% 1 year : -15.1% 2 years : -31.5%
Conan was back in the Top 100 after six months in February - not because it was doing particularly well, but rather because not much was happening at Marvel and DC. Conan ends with issue #50 and is relaunched in June.
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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. Since it’s a “month-to-month” column, the comments, unless otherwise noted, are on the most recent month. The estimates from March 2001 to February 2003 (marked with an asterisk) were for initial orders rather than actual sales, so they’re only roughly compatible with the subsequent figures.
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. Reorders 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 most Vertigo and some 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. To learn (a little) more about Vertigo’s collection sales, go right here.
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Germany-based Marc-Oliver Frisch has a weblog and regularly contributes to German online magazine Comicgate.
