Marvel sales - September 2005
Paul O'Brien
SEPTEMBER 2005
==============
HOUSE OF M dominates the schedules for the fourth month in a row, with
eleven crossover issues. And that's pretty much Marvel's September
right there. There are no big new launches to compete with the massive
crossover, which leaves the way clear for GHOST RIDER and SENTRY
miniseries to put in surprisingly decent performances.
Once again, although they don't take the top spot and only get half of
the top ten, Marvel were still the number one publisher for the month.
In dollar share, it's tight, with Marvel on 38.81% and DC on 36.16%. In
unit share, the lead is clearer, with Marvelon 44.17% and DC on 37.5%.
Everyone else is way behind.
As always, thanks to Milton Griepp and ICV2 for permission to use their
figures for these calculations.
2,4. NEW AVENGERS
Sep 01 Avengers #46 - 60,722
Sep 02 Avengers #58 - 54,765
Sep 03 Avengers #70 - 58,878
======
Sep 04 Avengers #501 - 91,054 ( -35.0%)
Sep 04 Avengers #502 - 93,105 ( +2.3%)
Oct 04 n/a
Nov 04 Avengers #503 - 105,761 ( +13.6%)
Nov 04 Avengers Finale - 101,431 ( -4.1%)
Dec 05 New Avengers #1 - 280,286 (+176.3%)
Jan 05 New Avengers #2 - 155,742 ( -44.3%)
Feb 05 New Avengers #3 - 148,973 ( -4.3%)
Mar 05 New Avengers #4 - 158,303 ( +6.3%)
Apr 05 New Avengers #5 - 168,556 ( +6.5%)
May 05 n/a
Jun 05 New Avengers #6 - 164,592 ( -2.4%)
Jul 05 New Avengers #7 - 158,693 ( -3.6%)
Aug 05 New Avengers #8 - 156,037 ( -1.7%)
Aug 05 New Avengers #9 - 147,501 ( -5.5%)
Sep 05 New Avengers #10 - 143,014 ( -3.0%)
Sep 05 New Avengers #11 - 131,361 ( -8.1%)
6 mnth ( -17.0%)
1 year ( +44.3%)
2 year (+123.1%)
Issue #11 sees artist David Finch return to the title as the "Ronin"
storyline begins. It also sees an 8% drop, which is initially
surprising until you remember that this is the first issue of NEW
AVENGERS not to feature a variant cover. In that context, the drop
isn't too bad at all. And of course, all NEW AVENGERS figures have to
be seen in the wider context - the book is still selling more than twice
as much as it did in its previous incarnation, and it's 45% up even on
Bendis' own early issues.
Issue #9 picks up 1,828 in re-orders and charts at number 259. As
always, those extra sales are included in the figures above.
3. HOUSE OF M
Jun 05 House of M #1 (of 8) - 281,183
Jun 05 House of M #2 (of 8) - 178,030 (-36.7%)
Jul 05 House of M #3 (of 8) - 155,954 (-12.4%)
Jul 05 House of M #4 (of 8) - 150,495 ( -3.5%)
Aug 05 House of M #5 (of 8) - 142,521 ( -5.3%)
Sep 05 House of M #6 (of 8) - 138,131 ( -3.1%)
The latest in a seemingly endless stream of variant covers sees issue #1
ship a further 11,481 copies to place at number 150 - still higher sales
than some of Marvel's own titles. More conventional re-orders allow
issue #5 to chart at number 258 with 1,841 copies, and issue #3 to
scrape into the charts at number 299 with 1,016.
All of this re-order activity, particularly the artificial sales on
early issues, make the drop-off look a lot steeper than it actually is.
In reality, this book has sustained impressive sales throughout its run,
and the drop off over the last few issues has been very healthy.
7. ULTIMATES
Sep 02 Ultimates #8 - 103,998
Sep 03 n/a
======
Dec 05 Ultimates 2 #1 - 146,271 (+42.0%)
Jan 05 Ultimates 2 #2 - 114,963 (-21.4%)
Feb 05 Ultimates 2 #3 - 108,378 ( -5.7%)
Mar 05 Ultimates 2 #4 - 105,255 ( -2.9%)
Apr 05 Ultimates 2 #5 - 104,971 ( -0.3%)
May 05 Ultimates 2 #6 - 102,026 ( -2.8%)
Jun 05 n/a
Jul 05 Ultimates 2 #7 - 99,134 ( -2.8%)
Aug 05 n/a
Sep 05 Ultimates 2 #8 - 95,980 ( -3.2%)
6 mnth ( -8.8%)
And they were doing so well with the monthly schedule this time, too.
Oh well. Sales are starting to erode, but they're still very good, and
in any event a new creative team is only a few issues away.
8. GHOST RIDER
Sep 01 Ghost Rider #4 (of 6) - 39,856
======
Sep 05 Ghost Rider #1 (of 6) - 95,182
Er... really? A Garth Ennis GHOST RIDER miniseries was always bound to
sell in respectable numbers, but without a massive publicity push behind
it, it comes as something of a surprise to see it charting in the top
ten with almost 100,000 sales. It's way above the level of his regular
title, PUNISHER - even issue #1 of the current Max series only sold
56,334. And artist Clayton Crain certainly didn't get this many sales
with his last project, VENOM VERSUS CARNAGE. There's a variant cover,
but that can only have helped so much.
The last GHOST RIDER miniseries, listed in the 2001 comparison above,
didn't do nearly as well. It debuted back in June 2001 with estimated
pre-orders of 49,752. We're looking at a big turnaround here.
It seems to be a combination of a bigger name writer (the 2001 book was
by Devin Grayson), letting the character rest for several years and,
yes, a variant cover. Regardless, Marvel must be happy - and perhaps
even a little surprised - with this.
A MARVEL MILESTONES book featuring Ghost Rider, Black Widow and Iceman
stories (because they were all in the Champions back in the day) sells
5,285 copies and charts at number 198.
12,16. WOLVERINE
Sep 01 Wolverine #168 - 70,909
Sep 02 Wolverine #181 - 69,503
Sep 03 Wolverine #5 - 81,728
======
Sep 04 Wolverine #19 - 65,046 ( -0.4%)
Oct 04 Wolverine #20 - 118,553 (+82.3%)
Oct 04 Wolverine #21 - 85,760 (-27.7%)
Nov 04 Wolverine #22 - 81,841 ( -4.6%)
Dec 04 Wolverine #23 - 82,525 ( +0.8%)
Jan 04 Wolverine #24 - 81,618 ( -1.1%)
Feb 05 Wolverine #25 - 83,180 ( +1.9%)
Mar 05 Wolverine #26 - 108,677 (+30.7%)
Apr 05 Wolverine #27 - 101,228 ( -6.9%)
May 05 Wolverine #28 - 80,961 (-20.0%)
Jun 05 Wolverine #29 - 79,951 ( -1.2%)
Jul 05 Wolverine #30 - 76,651 ( -4.1%)
Aug 05 Wolverine #31 - 75,618 ( -1.3%)
Sep 05 Wolverine #32 - 89,026 (+17.7%)
Sep 05 Wolverine #33 - 78,508 (-11.8%)
6 mnth (-27.8%)
1 year (+20.7%)
2 year ( -3.9%)
Issue #32 is Mark Millar's final issue, a one-off story set in a Nazi
prison camp. Needless to say, there's a variant - but this time, it's a
whole variant edition with the interior art in black and white.
Presumably this accounts for the surprisingly large jump in sales,
although I must admit that the idea of variant holocaust comics makes me
slightly queasy.
New writer Daniel Way debuts with issue #33, and goes straight into a
HOUSE OF M crossover. It doesn't noticeably boost sales from the end of
the Millar/Romita run, but to be fair, the book was selling very well to
start with. The crossover lasts three issues, after which we'll find
out where the book is really likely to settle with Way aboard.
13. UNCANNY X-MEN
Sep 01 Uncanny X-Men #398 - 112,744
Sep 02 Uncanny X-Men #413 - 85,030
Sep 03 Uncanny X-Men #431 - 92,341
======
Sep 04 Uncanny X-Men #448 - 95,908 ( +0.1%)
Sep 04 Uncanny X-Men #449 - 93,839 ( -2.2%)
Oct 04 Uncanny X-Men #450 - 101,506 ( +8.2%)
Oct 04 Uncanny X-Men #451 - 99,411 ( -2.1%)
Nov 04 Uncanny X-Men #452 - 92,051 ( -7.4%)
Dec 04 Uncanny X-Men #453 - 89,952 ( -2.3%)
Jan 05 Uncanny X-Men #454 - 87,411 ( -2.8%)
Feb 05 Uncanny X-Men #455 - 88,920 ( +1.7%)
Feb 05 Uncanny X-Men #456 - 86,767 ( -2.4%)
Mar 05 Uncanny X-Men #457 - 86,365 ( -0.5%)
Apr 05 Uncanny X-Men #458 - 85,299 ( -1.2%)
May 05 Uncanny X-Men #459 - 83,547 ( -2.1%)
Jun 05 Uncanny X-Men #460 - 82,457 ( -1.3%)
Jun 05 Uncanny X-Men #461 - 91,221 (+10.6%)
Jul 05 Uncanny X-Men #462 - 91,125 ( -0.1%)
Aug 05 Uncanny X-Men #463 - 87,610 ( -3.9%)
Sep 05 Uncanny X-Men #464 - 85,885 ( -2.0%)
6 mnth ( -0.6%)
1 year (-10.5%)
2 year ( -7.0%)
The fourth and final part of the HOUSE OF M crossover storyline, which
also doubles as a lead-in to NEW EXCALIBUR. Well, they've certainly
given that book a high-profile launch. By this point sales have more or
less dropped back to pre-crossover levels already, so it'll be
interesting to see what happens next month when the book resumes its own
storylines.
17. SENTRY
Sep 05 Sentry #1 (of 8) - 77,894
The other big miniseries launch of the month, this time a spin-off from
NEW AVENGERS. The previous SENTRY miniseries dates from 2000, before
ICV2's figures began, so we don't have any comparison numbers for that
book. It's a very good debut for a new character, although given the
NEW AVENGERS tie-in, I'd have thought this book would be the one in the
top ten and GHOST RIDER would be the one down here.
18. X-MEN
Sep 01 New X-Men #118 - 118,542
Sep 02 New X-Men #132 - 99,001
Sep 03 New X-Men #146 - 105,573
======
Sep 04 X-Men #161 - 90,591 ( -1.3%)
Sep 04 X-Men #162 - 90,752 ( +0.2%)
Oct 04 X-Men #163 - 88,615 ( -2.4%)
Nov 04 X-Men #164 - 88,620 ( +0.0%)
Dec 04 X-Men #165 - 86,633 ( -2.2%)
Jan 05 X-Men #166 - 85,934 ( -0.8%)
Feb 05 X-Men #167 - 84,155 ( -2.1%)
Mar 05 X-Men #168 - 83,979 ( -0.2%)
Apr 05 X-Men #169 - 82,793 ( -1.4%)
May 05 X-Men #170 - 81,048 ( -2.1%)
Jun 05 X-Men #171 - 80,307 ( -0.9%)
Jun 05 X-Men #172 - 78,889 ( -1.8%)
Jul 05 X-Men #173 - 77,154 ( -2.2%)
Aug 05 X-Men #174 - 76,342 ( -1.1%)
Sep 05 X-Men #175 - 76,555 ( +0.3%)
6 mnth ( -8.8%)
1 year (-15.5%)
2 year (-27.5%)
The first part of "Wild Kingdom", a four-part crossover with BLACK
PANTHER. Not surprisingly, the effect on X-MEN is negligible, since the
book sells more than double BLACK PANTHER's normal range. No doubt
that's why Marvel thought the crossover was a good idea. Perhaps more
surprising is the relatively muted effect on BLACK PANTHER sales, which
are still above normal range, but actually drop from August's HOUSE OF M
crossover. Issue #8, the second part of the story, sold 40,494 copies.
It seems pretty likely that X-MEN and BLACK PANTHER will each sell about
the same next month.
Now, unlike a lot of recent Marvel crossovers, this really IS a story
which requires you to buy all four issues. So apparently retailers
think that 36,000 people will be buying parts one and three, but
skipping parts two and four. Which is... kind of odd, when you stop to
think about it. It rather suggests retailers think that a lot of people
are just buying X-MEN out of habit, doesn't it?
19,21. ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN
Sep 01 Ultimate Spider-Man #13 - 79,891
Sep 02 Ultimate Spider-Man #27 - 94,056
Sep 03 Ultimate Spider-Man #46 - 105,409
======
Sep 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #65 - 94,174 ( -0.5%)
Oct 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #66 - 95,917 ( +1.9%)
Oct 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #67 - 95,071 ( -0.9%)
Nov 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #68 - 91,075 ( -4.2%)
Nov 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #69 - 90,010 ( -1.2%)
Dec 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #70 - 88,960 ( -1.2%)
Jan 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #71 - 83,987 ( -5.6%)
Feb 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #72 - 86,685 ( +3.2%)
Mar 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #73 - 83,943 ( -3.2%)
Mar 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #74 - 83,817 ( -0.2%)
Apr 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #75 - 83,940 ( +0.1%)
Apr 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #76 - 82,244 ( -2.0%)
May 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #77 - 81,034 ( -1.5%)
Jun 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #78 - 79,420 ( -2.0%)
Jul 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #79 - 78,404 ( -1.3%)
Jul 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #80 - 76,906 ( -1.9%)
Aug 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #81 - 75,572 ( -1.7%)
Sep 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #82 - 75,756 ( +0.2%)
Sep 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #83 - 73,797 ( -2.6%)
6 mnth (-12.0%)
1 year (-21.6%)
2 year (-30.0%)
The "Gang War" storyline continues, and sales are still drifting
downwards. The Ultimate line really needs a shot in the arm, and
nebulous announcements about gold standards aren't going to do the job.
20. ULTIMATE X-MEN
Sep 01 Ultimate X-Men #10 - 99,862
Sep 02 Ultimate X-Men #22 - 92,199
Sep 03 Ultimate X-Men #37 - 108,612
======
Sep 04 Ultimate X-Men #51 - 94,965 ( -7.9%)
Oct 04 Ultimate X-Men #52 - 93,833 ( -1.2%)
Nov 04 Ultimate X-Men #53 - 92,133 ( -1.8%)
Dec 04 n/a
Jan 05 Ultimate X-Men #54 - 90,619 ( -1.6%)
Jan 05 Ultimate X-Men #55 - 87,447 ( -3.5%)
Feb 05 Ultimate X-Men #56 - 86,130 ( -1.5%)
Mar 05 Ultimate X-Men #57 - 83,835 ( -2.7%)
Apr 05 Ultimate X-Men #58 - 82,606 ( -1.5%)
May 05 Ultimate X-Men #59 - 81,321 ( -1.6%)
Jun 05 Ultimate X-Men #60 - 78,613 ( -3.3%)
Jul 05 Ultimate X-Men #61 - 87,094 (+10.8%)
Aug 05 Ultimate X-Men #62 - 76,229 (-12.5%)
Sep 05 Ultimate X-Men #63 - 74,760 ( -1.9%)
6 mnth (-10.8%)
1 year (-21.3%)
2 year (-31.2%)
Brian Vaughan's run nears the end. The Bryan Singer storyline is
apparently back on hold, so after this arc the book goes on a brief
hiatus before Robert Kirkman takes over. Given the sales on his recent
Marvel work, he may not be the man to draw attention back to this book.
23. ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR
Sep 04 Ultimate Fantastic Four #11 - 87,620 ( -3.4%)
Oct 04 n/a
Nov 04 Ultimate Fantastic Four #12 - 84,417 ( -3.7%)
Nov 04 Ultimate Fantastic Four #13 - 109,997 (+30.3%)
Dec 04 Ultimate Fantastic Four #14 - 78,717 (-28.4%)
Jan 05 Ultimate Fantastic Four #15 - 74,501 ( -5.4%)
Feb 05 n/a
Mar 05 Ultimate Fantastic Four #16 - 73,987 ( -0.7%)
Apr 05 Ultimate Fantastic Four #17 - 72,207 ( -2.4%)
May 05 Ultimate Fantastic Four #18 - 71,478 ( -1.0%)
Jun 05 Ultimate Fantastic Four #19 - 70,300 ( -1.6%)
Jun 05 Ultimate Fantastic Four #20 - 69,097 ( -1.7%)
Jul 05 Ultimate Fantastic Four #21 - 91,321 (+32.2%)
Aug 05 Ultimate Fantastic Four #22 - 71,767 (-21.4%)
Sep 05 Ultimate Fantastic Four #23 - 71,494 ( -0.4%)
6 mnth ( -3.4%)
1 year (-18.4%)
Pretty much solid in the 70K range, when you ignore the variant covers.
24. ULTIMATE IRON MAN
Mar 05 Ultimate Iron Man #1 (of 5) - 150,869
Apr 05 n/a
May 05 Ultimate Iron Man #2 (of 5) - 90,197 (-40.2%)
Jun 05 n/a
Jul 05 n/a
Aug 05 Ultimate Iron Man #3 (of 5) - 77,378 (-14.2%)
Sep 05 Ultimate Iron Man #4 (of 5) - 71,197 ( -8.0%)
6 mnth (-48.8%)
Levelling out a bit, but the drops are still alarmingly high for such a
heavily promoted book. Only two books have a bigger six-month drop, and
one of those is OFFICIAL HANDBOOK, which had unusually high sales six
months ago because of the Age of Apocalypse tie-in issue. So really,
these are not good numbers.
25. AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
Sep 01 Amazing Spider-Man #35 - 83,559
Sep 02 Amazing Spider-Man #45 - 98,817
Sep 03 Amazing Spider-Man #58 - 92,294
======
Sep 04 Amazing Spider-Man #512 - 88,628 ( +0.6%)
Oct 04 Amazing Spider-Man #513 - 89,615 ( +1.1%)
Nov 04 Amazing Spider-Man #514 - 87,121 ( -2.8%)
Dec 04 Amazing Spider-Man #515 - 83,637 ( -4.0%)
Jan 05 Amazing Spider-Man #516 - 79,842 ( -4.5%)
Feb 05 Amazing Spider-Man #517 - 78,584 ( -1.6%)
Mar 05 Amazing Spider-Man #518 - 77,025 ( -2.0%)
Apr 05 Amazing Spider-Man #519 - 79,668 ( +3.4%)
May 05 Amazing Spider-Man #520 - 76,143 ( -4.4%)
Jun 05 Amazing Spider-Man #521 - 74,117 ( -2.7%)
Jul 05 Amazing Spider-Man #522 - 73,130 ( -1.3%)
Aug 05 Amazing Spider-Man #523 - 72,046 ( -1.5%)
Sep 05 Amazing Spider-Man #524 - 71,065 ( -1.4%)
6 mnth ( -7.7%)
1 year (-19.8%)
2 year (-23.0%)
Drifting gently down. Next month we find out how much interest the
"Other" crossover can generate.
28. ULTIMATE GALACTUS TRILOGY
Oct 04 Ultimate Nightmare #3 (of 5) - 83,208 ( -5.5%)
Nov 04 n/a
Dec 04 Ultimate Nightmare #4 (of 5) - 76,658 ( -7.9%)
Jan 05 n/a
Feb 05 Ultimate Nightmare #5 (of 5) - 73,082 ( -4.6%)
Mar 05 Ultimate Secret #1 (of 4) - 89,132 (+22.0%)
Apr 05 Ultimate Secret #2 (of 4) - 77,914 (-12.6%)
May 05 n/a
Jun 05 n/a
Jul 05 n/a
Aug 05 n/a
Sep 05 Ultimate Secret #3 (of 4) - 67,046 (-13.9%)
6 mnth (-24.8%)
ULTIMATE SECRET belatedly resumes publication and takes a hefty
battering for its troubles. Normally delays don't have a huge effect on
sales, but this whole event really seems to have fallen by the wayside
and drifted from view over the four months when it was off the shelves.
Hope that NEW AVENGERS arc was worth it to them.
31. ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR ANNUAL
Sep 05 Ultimate Fantastic Four Annual #1 - 65,384
The last Ultimate Annual ships, not too far behind the parent title.
32. YOUNG AVENGERS
Feb 05 Young Avengers #1 - 112,803
Mar 05 Young Avengers #2 - 79,952 (-29.1%)
Apr 05 Young Avengers #3 - 75,015 ( -6.2%)
May 05 Young Avengers #4 - 69,925 ( -6.8%)
Jun 05 Young Avengers #5 - 69,956 ( +0.0%)
Jul 05 n/a
Aug 05 Young Avengers #6 - 68,733 ( -1.7%)
Sep 05 Young Avengers #7 - 65,133 ( -5.2%)
6 mnth (-18.5%)
Holding up fairly well. Issue #6 picks up 1,188 re-orders, which makes
this month's drop look slightly steeper than it really is.
33. SPIDER-MAN: HOUSE OF M
Jun 05 Spider-Man: House of M #1 (of 5) - 93,301
Jul 05 Spider-Man: House of M #2 (of 5) - 76,792 (-17.7%)
Aug 05 Spider-Man: House of M #3 (of 5) - 67,199 (-12.5%)
Sep 05 Spider-Man: House of M #4 (of 5) - 64,809 ( -3.6%)
A variant edition of issue #2 sells a further 5,206 copies to chart at
number 201. Meanwhile, the miniseries levels out with its penultimate
issue, which is fairly standard practice.
34. FANTASTIC FOUR: HOUSE OF M
Jul 05 Fantastic Four: House of M #1 (of 3) - 79,120
Aug 05 Fantastic Four: House of M #2 (of 3) - 61,542 (-22.2%)
Sep 05 Fantastic Four: House of M #3 (of 3) - 57,287 ( -6.9%)
36. IRON MAN: HOUSE OF M
Jul 05 Iron Man: House of M #1 (of 3) - 77,228
Aug 05 Iron Man: House of M #2 (of 3) - 57,804 (-25.2%)
Sep 05 Iron Man: House of M #3 (of 3) - 55,163 ( -4.6%)
The other two HOUSE OF M tie-in miniseries round off with healthy
numbers.
40. INCREDIBLE HULK
Sep 01 Incredible Hulk #32 - 32,601
Sep 02 Incredible Hulk #45 - 51,002
Sep 03 Incredible Hulk #60 - 58,584
======
Sep 04 Hulk & Thing: Hard Knocks #1 (of 4) - 44,302 ( +4.7%)
Oct 04 Hulk & Thing: Hard Knocks #2 (of 4) - 37,519 (-15.3%)
Nov 04 Hulk & Thing: Hard Knocks #3 (of 4) - 34,129 ( -9.0%)
Dec 04 Hulk & Thing: Hard Knocks #4 (of 4) - 31,003 ( -9.2%)
Jan 05 Incredible Hulk #77 - 47,180 (+52.2%)
Feb 05 Incredible Hulk #78 - 44,721 ( -5.2%)
Mar 05 Incredible Hulk #79 - 43,508 ( -2.7%)
Apr 05 Incredible Hulk #80 - 48,404 (+11.3%)
May 05 Incredible Hulk #81 - 43,822 (-10.5%)
Jun 05 Incredible Hulk #82 - 43,248 ( -1.3%)
Jul 05 Incredible Hulk #83 - 63,881 (+47.7%)
Jul 05 Incredible Hulk #84 - 58,583 ( -8.3%)
Aug 05 Incredible Hulk #85 - 53,177 ( -9.2%)
Sep 05 Incredible Hulk #86 - 52,992 ( -0.3%)
6 mnth (+21.8%)
1 year (+19.6%)
2 year ( -9.5%)
The concluding part of HULK's HOUSE OF M tie-in, still delivering solid
sales compared to recent months. Issue #84 ships a further 4,678
copies, thanks to a variant cover.
41. CAPTAIN AMERICA
Sep 01 Captain America #47 - 35,410
Sep 02 Captain America #6 - 63,011
Sep 03 Captain America #17 - 43,295
======
Sep 04 Captain America #31 - 37,128 ( -3.5%)
Oct 04 Captain America #32 - 37,309 ( +0.5%)
Nov 04 Captain America #1 - 67,225 (+80.2%)
Dec 04 n/a
Jan 05 Captain America #2 - 53,306 (-20.7%)
Feb 05 Captain America #3 - 48,104 ( -9.8%)
Mar 05 Captain America #4 - 46,654 ( -3.0%)
Apr 05 Captain America #5 - 46,976 ( +0.7%)
May 05 Captain America #6 - 58,660 (+24.9%)
Jun 05 Captain America #7 - 47,160 (-19.6%)
Jul 05 n/a
Aug 05 Captain America #8 - 51,842 ( +9.9%)
Aug 05 Captain America #9 - 44,638 (-13.9%)
Sep 05 Captain America #10 - 52,609 (+17.9%)
6 mnth (+12.8%)
1 year (+41.7%)
2 year (+21.5%)
Yes, it's another HOUSE OF M tie-in - rather strangely placed right in
the middle of the "Winter Soldier" storyline. Once again, it delivers a
decent boost to sales. The book's usual range is in the mid-40Ks; the
other spikes in its history are due to variant covers.
43. FANTASTIC FOUR
Sep 01 Fantastic Four #47 - 49,778
Sep 02 Fantastic Four #61 - 55,040
Sep 03 Fantastic Four #504 - 53,885
======
Sep 04 Fantastic Four #518 - 48,939 ( -2.6%)
Oct 04 Fantastic Four #519 - 47,969 ( -2.0%)
Nov 04 Fantastic Four #520 - 51,685 ( +7.7%)
Dec 04 Fantastic Four #521 - 47,634 ( -7.8%)
Jan 05 Fantastic Four #522 - 46,335 ( -2.7%)
Feb 05 Fantastic Four #523 - 46,276 ( -0.1%)
Mar 05 Fantastic FOur #524 - 46,660 ( +0.8%)
Apr 05 Fantastic Four #525 - 45,561 ( -2.4%)
May 05 Fantastic Four #526 - 44,935 ( -1.4%)
May 05 Fantastic Four #527 - 75,525 (+68.1%)
Jun 05 Fantastic Four #528 - 55,937 (-25.9%)
Jul 05 Fantastic Four #529 - 52,963 ( -5.3%)
Aug 05 Fantastic Four #530 - 51,782 ( -2.2%)
Sep 05 Fantastic Four #531 - 49,745 ( -3.9%)
6 mnth ( +6.0%)
1 year ( +1.6%)
2 year ( -7.7%)
Drifting back down to normal levels. The new creative team doesn't seem
to have made much difference to sales beyond the initial months.
45. MARVEL KNIGHTS SPIDER-MAN
Sep 04 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #6 - 71,492 ( -5.4%)
Oct 04 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #7 - 69,918 ( -2.2%)
Nov 04 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #8 - 68,290 ( -2.3%)
Dec 04 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #9 - 64,461 ( -5.6%)
Jan 05 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #10 - 61,831 ( -4.1%)
Feb 05 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #11 - 60,460 ( -2.2%)
Mar 05 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #12 - 59,983 ( -0.8%)
Apr 05 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #13 - 60,542 ( +0.9%)
May 05 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #14 - 57,270 ( -5.4%)
Jun 05 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #15 - 54,102 ( -5.5%)
Jul 05 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #16 - 50,876 ( -6.0%)
Aug 05 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #17 - 48,555 ( -4.6%)
Sep 05 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #18 - 47,654 ( -1.9%)
6 mnth (-20.6%)
1 year (-33.3%)
The final part of Reginald Hudlin's first storyline, and it's plainly
apparent that sales on this book are in steep decline. To be honest,
with MARVEL KNIGHTS SPIDER-MAN down 20% in the last six months, and
AMAZING down 23% in the same time, one could be forgiven for wondering
why Marvel think there's an audience for a third monthly Spider-Man book
at the moment. But we'll find out next month when FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD
SPIDER-MAN launches, and the "Other" crossover tries to breathe life
back into the line.
46. DAREDEVIL
Sep 01 Daredevil #25 - 51,537
Sep 02 Daredevil #37 - 52,027
Sep 03 Daredevil #51 - 59,636
======
Sep 04 Daredevil #64 - 52,259 ( +0.3%)
Sep 04 Daredevil #65 - 57,841 (+10.7%)
Oct 04 Daredevil #66 - 53,138 ( -8.1%)
Nov 04 Daredevil #67 - 51,347 ( -3.4%)
Dec 04 Daredevil #68 - 50,491 ( -1.7%)
Jan 05 Daredevil #69 - 48,727 ( -3.5%)
Feb 05 Daredevil #70 - 48,702 ( -0.0%)
Mar 05 Daredevil #71 - 49,715 ( +2.1%)
Apr 05 Daredevil #72 - 48,803 ( -1.8%)
May 05 Daredevil #73 - 48,681 ( -0.2%)
Jun 05 Daredevil #74 - 48,175 ( -1.0%)
Jul 05 Daredevil #75 - 47,800 ( -0.8%)
Aug 05 Daredevil #76 - 46,424 ( -2.9%)
Sep 05 Daredevil #77 - 45,945 ( -1.0%)
6 mnth ( -7.6%)
1 year (-12.1%)
2 year (-23.0%)
Drifting gently down as Bendis and Maleev continue their final
storyline.
49,53. EXILES
Sep 01 Exiles #4 - 44,444
Sep 02 Exiles #17 - 38,833
Sep 03 Exiles #33 - 41,635
======
Sep 04 Exiles #52 - 36,245 ( -1.9%)
Oct 04 Exiles #53 - 35,323 ( -2.5%)
Nov 04 Exiles #54 - 34,180 ( -3.2%)
Dec 04 Exiles #55 - 33,744 ( -1.3%)
Dec 04 Exiles #56 - 33,396 ( -1.0%)
Dec 04 Exiles #57 - 33,183 ( -0.6%)
Jan 05 Exiles #58 - 32,129 ( -3.2%)
Feb 05 Exiles #59 - 32,337 ( +0.6%)
Mar 05 Exiles #60 - 42,898 (+32.7%)
Mar 05 Exiles #61 - 42,217 ( -1.6%)
Apr 05 Exiles #62 - 33,965 (-19.5%)
Apr 05 Exiles #63 - 33,728 ( -0.7%)
May 05 Exiles #64 - 34,033 ( +0.9%)
Jun 05 Exiles #65 - 34,484 ( +1.3%)
Jul 05 Exiles #66 - 34,092 ( -1.1%)
Jul 05 Exiles #67 - 33,751 ( -1.0%)
Aug 05 Exiles #68 - 33,815 ( +0.2%)
Sep 05 Exiles #69 - 43,794 (+29.5%)
Sep 05 Exiles #70 - 42,434 ( -3.1%)
6 mnth ( +0.5%)
1 year (+17.1%)
2 year ( +1.9%)
Another HOUSE OF M crossover, and once again it delivers a huge jump.
The six-month gain is actually quite small, but that's because six
months ago EXILES was in another crossover, that time with X-MEN: AGE OF
APOCALYPSE. Of course, it dropped straight back to normal levels
afterwards, and several HOUSE OF M crossover books do exactly the same
this month. It's fair to say that crossovers have a dreadful track
record in terms of boosting sales beyond the very short term. Having
said that, they don't seem to do any harm either, and those short term
boosts are very impressive. So it's easy to see why publishers find
them so appealing.
51. NEW X-MEN
Sep 03 New Mutants #4 - 41,448
======
Sep 04 New X-Men #5 - 48,526 ( -6.5%)
Oct 04 New X-Men #6 - 45,647 ( -5.9%)
Nov 04 n/a
Dec 04 New X-Men #7 - 43,024 ( -5.7%)
Jan 05 New X-Men #8 - 40,179 ( -6.6%)
Jan 05 New X-Men #9 - 38,197 ( -4.9%)
Feb 05 New X-Men #10 - 36,910 ( -3.4%)
Mar 05 New X-Men #11 - 35,549 ( -3.7%)
Apr 05 New X-Men #12 - 35,779 ( +0.6%)
May 05 New X-Men #13 - 35,033 ( -2.1%)
May 05 New X-Men #14 - 34,579 ( -1.3%)
Jun 05 New X-Men #15 - 34,007 ( -1.7%)
Jul 05 New X-Men #16 - 49,217 (+44.7%)
Aug 05 New X-Men #17 - 43,908 (-10.8%)
Sep 05 New X-Men #18 - 43,286 ( -1.4%)
6 mnth (+21.8%)
1 year (-10.8%)
2 year ( +4.4%)
Part 3 of a four-part HOUSE OF M crossover. After that, in December,
the book gets a new creative team and goes straight into the Decimation
crossover (or event, or whatever it turns out to be). So if nothing
else, it should get sustained attention over the next few months.
Issue #16 ships a further 4,381 copies to place at number 211, thanks to
- you guessed it - another variant cover.
52. SUPREME POWER: HYPERION
Sep 05 Hyperion #1 (of 5) - 42,546
The first of two miniseries bridging the gap between the Max SUPREME
POWER series, which finished last month, and the upcoming Marvel Knights
version. The other one is NIGHTHAWK, which is coming up later on.
Last month's issue of SUPREME POWER sold 50,594. Considering that this
is a first issue by the title's usual writer, the sales are a touch
lower than I'd been expecting.
54. BLACK PANTHER
Sep 01 Black Panther #36 - 19,596
Sep 02 Black Panther #49 - 19,023
======
Feb 05 Black Panther #1 - 69,930
Mar 05 Black Panther #2 - 47,533 ( -32.0%)
Apr 05 Black Panther #3 - 44,925 ( -5.5%)
May 05 Black Panther #4 - 40,804 ( -9.2%)
Jun 05 Black Panther #5 - 37,401 ( -8.1%)
Jul 05 Black Panther #6 - 35,256 ( -5.7%)
Aug 05 Black Panther #7 - 42,905 ( +21.7%)
Sep 05 Black Panther #8 - 40,494 ( -5.6%)
6 mnth ( -14.8%)
Down from last month's HOUSE OF M crossover, but still above its usual
levels thanks to another crossover with X-MEN. But, as noted above,
it's still tens of thousands of copies behind that book. Given the
amount of publicity Marvel have thrown at this book, and the high
profile crossovers it's participating in, these sales have to be
considered a bit disappointing.
55. SUPREME POWER: NIGHTHAWK
Sep 05 Nighthawk #1 (of 6) - 39,505
The other SUPREME POWER miniseries, not that far behind HYPERION. This
is by Daniel Way, one of the writers Marvel's promised to push over the
next few months.
58. MUTOPIA X
Sep 04 District X #5 - 28,979 ( -6.0%)
Oct 04 District X #6 - 27,097 ( -6.5%)
Nov 04 District X #7 - 25,488 ( -6.0%)
Dec 04 District X #8 - 23,683 ( -7.1%)
Jan 05 District X #9 - 22,244 ( -6.1%)
Feb 05 District X #10 - 21,252 ( -4.5%)
Mar 05 District X #11 - 20,546 ( -3.3%)
Apr 05 District X #12 - 20,218 ( -1.6%)
May 05 District X #13 - 19,459 ( -3.8%)
Jun 05 District X #14 - 18,798 ( -3.4%)
Jul 05 Mutopia X #1 (of 5) - 53,379 (+184.0%)
Aug 05 Mutopia X #2 (of 5) - 40,893 ( -23.4%)
Sep 05 Mutopia X #3 (of 5) - 38,066 ( -6.9%)
6 mnth ( +85.3%)
1 year ( +31.4%)
HOUSE OF M again, and still miles ahead of the title's usual level.
60. DAREDEVIL: FATHER
Sep 04 n/a
Nov 04 n/a
Dec 04 n/a
Jan 05 n/a
Feb 05 n/a
Mar 05 n/a
Apr 05 n/a
May 05 n/a
Jun 05 n/a
Jul 05 n/a
Aug 05 Daredevil: Father #2 (of 5) - 39,745 (-42.8%)
Sep 05 Daredevil: Father #3 (of 5) - 37,571 ( -5.5%)
Normal service is belatedly resumed, as FATHER ships two months in a
row. After the scary second issue drop-off, things now seem a bit more
stable.
61. PUNISHER
Sep 01 Punisher #4 - 67,465
Sep 02 Punisher #17 - 47,880
Sep 03 Punisher #32 - 37,240
======
Sep 04 Punisher #11 - 44,038 ( -3.0%)
Oct 04 Punisher #12 - 42,072 ( -4.5%)
Nov 04 Punisher #13 - 42,088 ( +0.0%)
Nov 04 Punisher #14 - 41,514 ( -1.4%)
Dec 04 Punisher #15 - 40,357 ( -2.8%)
Jan 05 Punisher #16 - 39,341 ( -2.5%)
Feb 05 Punisher #17 - 38,714 ( -1.6%)
Mar 05 Punisher #18 - 38,348 ( -0.9%)
Apr 05 Punisher #19 - 38,753 ( +1.1%)
Apr 05 Punisher #20 - 38,130 ( -1.6%)
May 05 Punisher #21 - 37,998 ( -0.3%)
Jun 05 Punisher #22 - 37,811 ( -0.5%)
Jul 05 Punisher #23 - 37,376 ( -1.2%)
Aug 05 Punisher #24 - 37,022 ( -0.9%)
Sep 05 Punisher #25 - 37,149 ( +0.3%)
6 mnth ( -3.1%)
1 year (-15.6%)
2 year ( -0.2%)
Rock solid.
62. MARVEL 1602
Sep 03 Marvel 1602 #2 (of 8) - 132,737
======
Aug 05 Marvel 1602: New World #1 (of 5) - 48,190
Aug 05 Marvel 1602: New World #2 (of 5) - 40,488 (-16.0%)
Sep 05 Marvel 1602: New World #3 (of 5) - 36,819 ( -9.1%)
6 mnth ( n/a )
1 year ( n/a )
2 year (-72.3%)
Levelling out in typical miniseries fashion, but still not in the league
of its parent book when it comes to sales. Obviously the sequel was
never going to do as well as the original Neil Gaiman comic, but Marvel
were surely hoping for better than this.
63. X-MEN: COLOSSUS - BLOODLINE
Sep 05 Colossus #1 (of 5) - 36,509
A muted debut for yet another X-Men spin-off miniseries. COLOSSUS
starts off only slightly better than the first issue of the current
KITTY PRYDE book, which hasn't sold particularly well. It's not a
horrible number, but it's really just the level which any X-Men solo
miniseries is guaranteed from completist sales alone.
65. PULSE
Sep 01 Alias #1 - 48,634
Sep 02 Alias #14 - 28,979
Sep 03 Alias #26 - 27,609
======
Sep 04 Pulse #5 - 37,812 ( -5.2%)
Oct 04 n/a
Nov 04 Pulse #6 - 40,895 ( +8.2%)
Dec 04 n/a
Jan 05 Pulse #7 - 34,779 (-15.0%)
Feb 05 n/a
Mar 05 Pulse #8 - 33,367 ( -4.1%)
Apr 05 n/a
May 05 n/a
Jun 05 Pulse #9 - 32,771 ( -1.8%)
Jul 05 Pulse #10 - 56,628 (+72.8%)
Aug 05 n/a
Sep 05 Pulse #11 - 34,919 (-38.3%)
6 mnth ( +4.7%)
1 year ( -7.7%)
2 year (+26.5%)
Back to normal after last month's HOUSE OF M crossover, and in fairness,
PULSE is slightly up on its previous sales. I suspect normal service
will be resumed shortly. Meanwhile, thanks to yet another variant
cover, issue #10 ships a further 4,190 copies.
69. THOR
Sep 01 Thor #41 - 38,142
Sep 02 Thor #54 - 37,690
Sep 03 Thor #68 - 32,354
======
Sep 04 Thor #84 - 37,342 ( +2.3%)
Oct 04 Thor #85 - 49,368 (+32.2%)
Nov 04 n/a
Dec 04 n/a
Jan 05 n/a
Feb 05 n/a
Mar 05 n/a
Apr 05 n/a
May 05 n/a
Jun 05 n/a
Jul 05 n/a
Aug 05 n/a
Sep 05 Thor: Blood Oath #1 (of 6) - 34,173 (-30.8%)
1 year ( -8.5%)
2 year ( +5.6%)
Almost a year after Thor's ongoing series was cancelled, and with the
expected relaunch still not on the schedules, Marvel remind us about
the character with a miniseries set in the past. It's by Michael Avon
Oeming and Scott Kolins, who were responsible for the unexpectedly
high-selling closing issues of the series. While the new miniseries
doesn't quite debut at that level, historically 34,173 is actually quite
a respectable number for THOR. Considering that it's a miniseries which
didn't get an enormous amount of publicity, this is quite a good debut.
70. NYX
Sep 04 n/a
Oct 04 NYX #5 - 35,749 (-3.5%)
Nov 04 n/a
Dec 04 n/a
Jan 05 n/a
Feb 05 n/a
Mar 05 n/a
Apr 05 n/a
May 05 n/a
Jun 05 n/a
Jul 05 NYX #6 - 36,892 (+3.2%)
Aug 05 n/a
Sep 05 NYX #7 - 34,028 (-5.1%)
Axed, although once again Marvel are trying the old trick of claiming it
was a miniseries all along. Tsk. In fact, sales have been remarkably
stable on NYX considering the massive delays, and the popularity of X-23
(largely the product of other books) has helped as well. The book seems
to have been cancelled simply because Marvel were seemingly incapable of
actually publishing it. After seven issues of set-up that went nowhere,
this has been less a comic and more a high-profile embarrassment.
71. WEAPON X
Sep 02 Weapon X #1 - 58,685
Sep 03 Weapon X #12 - 26,908
======
Sep 04 Weapon X #28 - 25,196 ( -1.6%)
Oct 04 n/a
Nov 04 n/a
Dec 04 n/a
Jan 05 n/a
Feb 05 n/a
Mar 05 n/a
Apr 05 n/a
May 05 n/a
Jun 05 n/a
Jul 05 Weapon X: Days of Future Now #1 (of 5) - 43,881
Aug 05 Weapon X: Days of Future Now #2 (of 5) - 36,272 (-17.3%)
Sep 05 Weapon X: Days of Future Now #3 (of 5) - 32,675 (-10.0%)
1 year (+29.7%)
2 year (+21.4%)
A little steep for a third issue drop, but not completely out of the
ordinary. Surprisingly, the miniseries remains comfortably ahead of the
usual sales on WEAPON X itself.
75. DEFENDERS
Jul 05 Defenders #1 (of 5) - 39,510
Aug 05 Defenders #2 (of 5) - 32,853 (-16.8%)
Sep 05 Defenders #3 (of 5) - 30,768 ( -6.3%)
Levelling out.
79. BLACK WIDOW
Sep 04 Black Widow #1 (of 6) - 38,653
Oct 04 Black Widow #2 (of 6) - 30,489 (-21.1%)
Nov 04 Black Widow #3 (of 6) - 26,840 (-12.0%)
Dec 04 Black Widow #4 (of 6) - 24,371 ( -9.2%)
Jan 05 Black Widow #5 (of 6) - 22,596 ( -7.3%)
Feb 05 Black Widow #6 (of 6) - 21,478 ( -4.9%)
Mar 05 n/a
Apr 05 n/a
May 05 n/a
Jun 05 n/a
Jul 05 n/a
Aug 05 n/a
Sep 05 Black Widow 2 #1 (of 6) - 27,390 (+27.5%)
1 year (-29.1%)
A sequel to the BLACK WIDOW miniseries from earlier in the year, which
sold reasonably well by the standards of Marvel miniseries these days.
This new series starts off significantly lower than the first one, but
still comfortably ahead of where the last book left off. Not a bad
start, all things considered.
81. RUNAWAYS
Sep 03 Runaways #6 - 20,035
======
Sep 04 Runaways #18 - 18,614 ( +0.3%)
Oct 04 n/a
Nov 04 n/a
Dec 04 n/a
Jan 05 n/a
Feb 05 Runaways #1 - 43,128 (+131.7%)
Mar 05 Runaways #2 - 31,330 ( -27.4%)
Apr 05 Runaways #3 - 30,332 ( -3.2%)
May 05 Runaways #4 - 28,968 ( -4.5%)
Jun 05 Runaways #5 - 28,409 ( -1.9%)
Jul 05 Runaways #6 - 27,365 ( -3.7%)
Aug 05 Runaways #7 - 27,063 ( -1.1%)
Sep 05 Runaways #8 - 26,954 ( -0.4%)
6 mnth ( -14.0%)
1 year ( +44.8%)
2 year ( +34.5%)
Levelling out in the mid-20K range, which would make this relaunch a
definite success. It's still not a huge seller, but it's doing a lot
better this time around.
82. DAREDEVIL VS PUNISHER
Jul 05 Daredevil vs Punisher #1 (of 6) - 38,306
Jul 05 Daredevil vs Punisher #2 (of 6) - 35,073 ( -8.4%)
Aug 05 Daredevil vs Punisher #3 (of 6) - 29,772 (-15.1%)
Sep 05 Daredevil vs Punisher #4 (of 6) - 26,855 ( -9.8%)
Dropping off the radar.
85. MARVEL KNIGHTS 4
Sep 04 Marvel Knights 4 #10 - 38,318 ( -3.6%)
Oct 04 Marvel Knights 4 #11 - 36,820 ( -3.9%)
Nov 04 Marvel Knights 4 #12 - 34,525 ( -6.2%)
Dec 04 Marvel Knights 4 #13 - 32,623 ( -5.5%)
Jan 05 Marvel Knights 4 #14 - 31,291 ( -4.1%)
Feb 05 Marvel Knights 4 #15 - 30,230 ( -3.4%)
Mar 05 Marvel Knights 4 #16 - 29,600 ( -2.1%)
Apr 05 Marvel Knights 4 #17 - 29,189 ( -1.4%)
May 05 Marvel Knights 4 #18 - 28,649 ( -1.9%)
Jun 05 Marvel Knights 4 #19 - 28,153 ( -1.7%)
Jul 05 Marvel Knights 4 #20 - 27,548 ( -2.1%)
Aug 05 Marvel Knights 4 #21 - 27,023 ( -1.9%)
Sep 05 Marvel Knights 4 #22 - 26,446 ( -2.1%)
6 mnth (-10.7%)
1 year (-31.0%)
Sliding slowly, although it's been a little more stable over the last
few months.
87. NEW THUNDERBOLTS
Sep 01 Thunderbolts #56 - 32,360
Sep 02 Thunderbolts #72 - 27,884
======
Nov 04 New Thunderbolts #1 - 45,793
Nov 04 New Thunderbolts #2 - 40,104 (-12.4%)
Dec 04 New Thunderbolts #3 - 32,720 (-18.4%)
Jan 05 New Thunderbolts #4 - 31,725 ( -3.0%)
Feb 05 New Thunderbolts #5 - 29,377 ( -7.4%)
Mar 05 New Thunderbolts #6 - 29,103 ( -0.9%)
Apr 05 New Thunderbolts #7 - 28,977 ( -0.4%)
May 05 New Thunderbolts #8 - 27,769 ( -4.2%)
Jun 05 New Thunderbolts #9 - 27,300 ( -1.7%)
Jul 05 New Thunderbolts #10 - 25,978 ( -4.8%)
Aug 05 New Thunderbolts #11 - 37,036 (+42.6%)
Sep 05 New Thunderbolts #12 - 25,912 (-30.0%)
6 mnth (-11.0%)
1 year ( n/a )
Straight back to normal levels after the HOUSE OF M crossover. The New
Avengers guest star next month, but guest stars tend not to be very
effective in boosting sales these days.
88,91. CABLE & DEADPOOL
Sep 04 Cable & Deadpool #7 - 30,325 ( -2.3%)
Oct 04 Cable & Deadpool #8 - 28,986 ( -4.4%)
Nov 04 Cable & Deadpool #9 - 27,612 ( -4.7%)
Dec 04 Cable & Deadpool #10 - 26,911 ( -2.5%)
Jan 05 Cable & Deadpool #11 - 25,844 ( -4.0%)
Feb 05 Cable & Deadpool #12 - 25,349 ( -1.9%)
Mar 05 Cable & Deadpool #13 - 25,551 ( +0.8%)
Apr 05 Cable & Deadpool #14 - 24,994 ( -2.2%)
May 05 Cable & Deadpool #15 - 24,837 ( -0.6%)
Jun 05 Cable & Deadpool #16 - 24,612 ( -0.9%)
Jul 05 Cable & Deadpool #17 - 34,393 (+39.7%)
Aug 05 Cable & Deadpool #18 - 25,304 (-26.4%)
Sep 05 Cable & Deadpool #19 - 25,298 ( -0.0%)
Sep 05 Cable & Deadpool #20 - 24,982 ( -1.2%)
6 mnth ( -2.2%)
1 year (-17.6%)
Remarkably steady in the 24-25K range.
97. TOXIN
Apr 05 Toxin #1 (of 6) - 42,138
May 05 Toxin #2 (of 6) - 34,093 (-19.1%)
Jun 05 Toxin #3 (of 6) - 29,249 (-14.2%)
Jul 05 Toxin #4 (of 6) - 25,585 (-12.5%)
Aug 05 Toxin #5 (of 6) - 23,982 ( -6.3%)
Sep 05 Toxin #6 (of 6) - 22,448 ( -6.4%)
Levelling out a little bit. Could have been a lot worse, considering
that the world wasn't exactly crying out for a sequel to VENOM VERSUS
CARNAGE. (And the book's a lot better than people seem to think, in
fact.)
98. GIANT-SIZE X-MEN
Jun 05 Giant-Size X-Men #3 - 48,685
Jul 05 n/a
Aug 05 n/a
Sep 05 Giant-Size X-Men #4 - 22,388 (-54.0%)
Well, that novelty certainly wore off quickly, didn't it? Marvel seem
to have quietly given up on this format for now.
101. HULK: DESTRUCTION
Jul 05 Hulk: Destruction #1 (of 4) - 29,459
Aug 05 Hulk: Destruction #2 (of 4) - 24,075 (-18.3%)
Sep 05 Hulk: Destruction #3 (of 4) - 21,887 ( -9.1%)
Levelling out, but miles behind the parent title despite sharing a
writer.
105. MARVEL TEAM-UP
Nov 04 Marvel Team-Up #1 - 44,530
Nov 04 Marvel Team-Up #2 - 37,515 (-15.7%)
Dec 04 Marvel Team-Up #3 - 29,085 (-22.5%)
Jan 05 Marvel Team-Up #4 - 27,216 ( -6.4%)
Feb 05 Marvel Team-Up #5 - 28,141 ( +3.4%)
Mar 05 Marvel Team-Up #6 - 24,762 (-12.0%)
Apr 05 Marvel Team-Up #7 - 24,800 ( +0.2%)
May 05 Marvel Team-Up #8 - 24,270 ( -2.1%)
Jun 05 Marvel Team-Up #9 - 23,530 ( -3.0%)
Jul 05 Marvel Team-Up #10 - 22,549 ( -4.2%)
Aug 05 Marvel Team-Up #11 - 22,150 ( -1.8%)
Sep 05 Marvel Team-Up #12 - 21,240 ( -4.1%)
6 mnth ( -1.4%)
Every so often Marvel becomes fiercely loyal to a comic despite
indifferent sales and muted reviews. This is one such comic. The
numbers above are nothing to smile about, but it's still getting a
second year.
106. DRAX THE DESTROYER
Sep 05 Drax the Destroyer #1 (of 4) - 20,996
Marvel should consider themselves lucky they managed to shift that many
copies of a barely-promoted DRAX THE DESTROYER miniseries. It's really
very good, in fact, but that's not the point. Sales will probably crash
to deeply unpleasant levels over the next few months, if recent history
is any guide.
108. X-MEN: KITTY PRYDE - SHADOW & FLAME
Jun 05 Kitty Pryde #1 (of 5) - 33,785
Jul 05 Kitty Pryde #2 (of 5) - 25,814 (-23.6%)
Aug 05 Kitty Pryde #3 (of 5) - 22,143 (-14.2%)
Sep 05 Kitty Pryde #4 (of 5) - 20,059 ( -9.4%)
Much lower than Marvel can possibly be happy about.
114. NIGHTCRAWLER
Sep 04 Nightcrawler #1 - 46,547
Oct 04 n/a
Nov 04 Nightcrawler #2 - 36,533 (-21.5%)
Dec 04 Nightcrawler #3 - 31,436 (-14.0%)
Dec 04 Nightcrawler #4 - 29,292 ( -6.8%)
Jan 05 Nightcrawler #5 - 26,442 ( -9.7%)
Feb 05 Nightcrawler #6 - 24,641 ( -6.8%)
Mar 05 n/a
Apr 05 n/a
May 05 n/a
Jun 05 Nightcrawler #7 - 22,400 ( -9.1%)
Jul 05 Nightcrawler #8 - 21,011 ( -6.2%)
Aug 05 Nightcrawler #9 - 20,052 ( -4.6%)
Sep 05 Nightcrawler #10 - 19,043 ( -5.0%)
6 mnth ( n/a )
1 year (-59.1%)
Axed with issue #12. The hiatus did absolutely nothing to help this
book, which isn't really surprising considering Marvel didn't promote
its return at all. (Come to think of it, what ever happened to that big
promotional push SHE-HULK was meant to get for its relaunch?)
115. OFFICIAL HANDBOOK OF THE MARVEL UNIVERSE
Sep 04 Daredevil/Elektra 2004 - 22,781 ( +3.5%)
Oct 04 Wolverine 2004 - 32,553 ( +42.9%)
Nov 04 Book of the Dead 2004 - 25,131 ( -22.8%)
Dec 04 Golden Age 2004 - 17,356 ( -30.9%)
Jan 05 Women of Marvel 2005 - 20,837 ( +20.1%)
Feb 05 Marvel Knights 2005 - 18,182 ( -12.7%)
Mar 05 X-Men: Age of Apocalypse 2005 - 37,056 (+103.8%)
Apr 05 Spider-Man 2005 - 25,530 ( -31.1%)
May 05 Teams 2005 - 22,564 ( -11.6%)
Jun 05 Fantastic Four 2005 - 21,970 ( -2.6%)
Jul 05 Avengers 2005 - 23,668 ( +7.7%)
Aug 05 Ultimate Universe 2005 - 25,436 ( +7.5%)
Sep 05 Alternate Universes 2005 - 18,680 ( -26.6%)
6 mnth ( -49.6%)
1 year ( -18.0%)
One of the lower-selling issues, but then it's also one of the most
esoteric subjects, so that's not much surprise. Six months ago, the
HANDBOOK was part of the AGE OF APOCALYPSE crossover, which is why the
six-month drop is so steep. Marvel are evidently happy with the sales
on this book (understandably, considering that the price tag is higher
than most comics and they don't have to shell out for new artwork), so
the series continues with a 12-issue A to Z in 2006.
117. SPIDER-GIRL
Sep 01 Spider-Girl #38 - 24,010
Sep 02 Spider-Girl #51 - 24,932
Sep 03 Spider-Girl #64 - 22,442
======
Sep 04 Spider-Girl #78 - 22,076 ( +1.5%)
Oct 04 Spider-Girl #79 - 21,893 ( -0.8%)
Nov 04 Spider-Girl #80 - 21,146 ( -3.4%)
Dec 04 Spider-Girl #81 - 20,419 ( -3.4%)
Jan 05 Spider-Girl #82 - 20,005 ( -2.0%)
Feb 05 Spider-Girl #83 - 20,382 ( +1.9%)
Mar 05 Spider-Girl #84 - 20,050 ( -1.6%)
Apr 05 Spider-Girl #85 - 19,682 ( -1.8%)
May 05 Spider-Girl #86 - 19,452 ( -1.2%)
Jun 05 Spider-Girl #87 - 19,605 ( +0.8%)
Jul 05 Spider-Girl #88 - 18,983 ( -3.2%)
Aug 05 Spider-Girl #89 - 18,538 ( -2.3%)
Sep 05 Spider-Girl #90 - 18,344 ( -1.0%)
6 mnth ( -8.5%)
1 year (-16.9%)
2 year (-18.3%)
Continuing the gentle downward slide.
125. MARVEL NEMESIS: THE IMPERFECTS
May 05 Marvel Nemesis #1 (of 6) - 32,600
Jun 05 Marvel Nemesis #2 (of 6) - 22,407 (-31.3%)
Jul 05 Marvel Nemesis #3 (of 6) - 18,433 (-17.7%)
Aug 05 Marvel Nemesis #4 (of 6) - 17,329 ( -6.0%)
Sep 05 Marvel Nemesis #5 (of 6) - 16,041 ( -7.4%)
Very few signs of interest.
126. SPIDER-MAN UNLIMITED
Sep 04 Spider-Man Unlimited #5 - 24,156 ( -8.9%)
Oct 04 n/a
Nov 04 Spider-Man Unlimited #6 - 20,974 (-13.2%)
Dec 04 n/a
Jan 05 Spider-Man Unlimited #7 - 18,316 (-12.7%)
Feb 05 n/a
Mar 05 Spider-Man Unlimited #8 - 17,640 ( -3.7%)
Apr 05 n/a
May 05 Spider-Man Unlimited #9 - 16,953 ( -3.9%)
Jun 05 n/a
Jul 05 Spider-Man Unlimited #10 - 16,104 ( -5.0%)
Aug 05 n/a
Sep 05 Spider-Man Unlimited #11 - 15,684 ( -2.6%)
6 mnth (-11.1%)
1 year (-35.1%)
Still hanging in there despite the fact that Marvel surely can't be
making much money on sales like these.
133. ORORO: BEFORE THE STORM
Jun 05 Ororo #1 (of 4) - 26,372
Jul 05 Ororo #2 (of 4) - 18,898 (-28.3%)
Aug 05 Ororo #3 (of 4) - 15,995 (-15.4%)
Sep 05 Ororo #4 (of 4) - 14,319 (-10.5%)
Not healthy sales for an X-Men miniseries, but to be fair, Marvel seem
to have at least one eye on the digest audience here.
135,140. ARAÑA: HEART OF THE SPIDER
Sep 04 Amazing Fantasy #4 - 30,325 (-10.6%)
Oct 04 Amazing Fantasy #5 - 26,349 (-13.1%)
Nov 04 Amazing Fantasy #6 - 23,913 ( -9.2%)
Dec 04 n/a
Jan 05 Araña #1 - 29,843 (+24.8%)
Feb 05 n/a
Mar 05 Araña #2 - 22,131 (-25.8%)
Mar 05 Araña #3 - 20,002 ( -9.6%)
Apr 05 n/a
May 05 Araña #4 - 18,752 ( -6.2%)
Jun 05 Araña #5 - 16,379 (-12.7%)
Jul 05 n/a
Aug 05 Araña #6 - 15,258 ( -6.8%)
Aug 05 Araña #7 - 14,627 ( -4.1%)
Sep 05 Araña #8 - 13,758 ( -5.9%)
Sep 05 Araña #9 - 12,920 ( -6.1%)
6 mnth (-35.4%)
1 year (-57.4%)
Crashing towards the 10,000 mark at an alarming rate, and quietly
missing from the January 2006 solicitations. This suggests Marvel may
have finally bowed to the inevitable and pulled the plug with December's
issue #12, which would be the end of a storyline.
143. NEW WARRIORS
Jun 05 New Warriors #1 (of 6) - 20,841
Jul 05 New Warriors #2 (of 6) - 15,449 (-25.9%)
Aug 05 New Warriors #3 (of 6) - 13,485 (-12.7%)
Sep 05 New Warriors #4 (of 6) - 12,484 ( -7.4%)
Sadly disappointing sales for a surprisingly good comic. But it's not
really what a lot of hardcore New Warriors fans were looking for, and
who else is in the market for a New Warriors comic in 2005?
146. AMAZING FANTASY
Sep 04 Amazing Fantasy #4 - 30,325 (-10.6%)
Oct 04 Amazing Fantasy #5 - 26,349 (-13.1%)
Nov 04 Amazing Fantasy #6 - 23,913 ( -9.2%)
Dec 04 n/a
Jan 05 n/a
Feb 05 n/a
Mar 05 n/a
Apr 05 Amazing Fantasy #7 - 21,802 ( -8.9%)
May 05 Amazing Fantasy #8 - 17,773 (-18.5%)
Jun 05 Amazing Fantasy #9 - 15,606 (-12.2%)
Jul 05 Amazing Fantasy #10 - 14,729 ( -5.6%)
Aug 05 Amazing Fantasy #11 - 12,788 (-13.2%)
Sep 05 Amazing Fantasy #12 - 11,983 ( -6.3%)
6 mnth ( n/a )
1 year (-60.5%)
Another book that must surely be in grave danger - and it's hard to
imagine that the upcoming Death's Head relaunch storyline is going to
turn things around.
155. FRANKLIN RICHARDS, SON OF A GENIUS
Sep 05 Franklin Richards, Son of a Genius - 10,920
A one-shot reprinting the Franklin Richards stories which originally
appeared as back-up strips in POWER PACK earlier this year. In fact,
this is an incredibly good number - it's actually higher than POWER PACK
#3 and #4 sold the first time round. Somebody must listen to word of
mouth.
158. MEGA MORPHS
Aug 05 Mega Morphs #1 (of 4) - 14,952
Aug 05 Mega Morphs #2 (of 4) - 12,974 (-13.2%)
Sep 05 Mega Morphs #3 (of 4) - 10,425 (-19.6%)
Dropping like a stone, but that shouldn't come as a surprise. In
fairness, this is really aimed at kids who buy the toys, rather than at
the direct market audience.
164. GRAVITY
Jun 05 Gravity #1 (of 5) - 20,304
Jul 05 Gravity #2 (of 5) - 13,342 (-34.3%)
Aug 05 Gravity #3 (of 5) - 10,311 (-22.7%)
Sep 05 Gravity #4 (of 5) - 9,409 ( -8.7%)
Truly horrific sales. The digest will have to perform amazingly well to
turn this around.
183. MARVEL ADVENTURES SPIDER-MAN
Mar 05 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #1 - 14,351
Apr 05 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #2 - 10,305 (-28.2%)
May 05 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #3 - 9,110 (-11.6%)
Jun 05 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #4 - 8,878 ( -2.5%)
Jul 05 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #5 - 8,075 ( -9.0%)
Aug 05 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #6 - 7,636 ( -5.4%)
Sep 05 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #7 - 7,199 ( -5.7%)
6 mnth (-49.8%)
191. MARVEL ADVENTURES: FANTASTIC FOUR
May 05 Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #0 - 9,723
Jun 05 Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #1 - 9,617 ( -1.1%)
Jul 05 Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #2 - 6,864 (-28.6%)
Aug 05 Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #3 - 6,447 ( -6.1%)
Sep 05 Marvel Adventures: Fantastic FOur #4 - 6,064 ( -5.9%)
Both books exist primarily to generate material for the digest format,
so direct market sales are not a major concern.
200. MACHINE TEEN
May 05 Machine Teen #1 (of 5) - 16,527
Jun 05 Machine Teen #2 (of 5) - 9,812 (-40.6%)
Jul 05 Machine Teen #3 (of 5) - 7,499 (-23.6%)
Aug 05 Machine Teen #4 (of 5) - 6,042 (-19.4%)
Sep 05 Machine Teen #5 (of 5) - 5,226 (-13.5%)
Oh dear. Awful numbers, and it'll take a miracle for digest sales to
save this.
Skip months
===========
ASTONISHING X-MEN
Sep 04 Astonishing X-Men #5 - 134,154 ( -9.5%)
Oct 04 n/a
Nov 04 Astonishing X-Men #6 - 134,840 ( +0.5%)
Dec 04 Astonishing X-Men #7 - 153,516 (+13.9%)
Jan 05 n/a
Feb 05 Astonishing X-Men #8 - 153,395 ( -0.0%)
Mar 05 Astonishing X-Men #9 - 135,325 (-11.8%)
Apr 05 n/a
May 05 Astonishing X-Men #10 - 156,298 (+15.5%)
Jun 05 n/a
Jul 05 Astonishing X-Men #11 - 127,768 (-18.3%)
Aug 05 Astonishing X-Men #12 - 125,834 ( -1.5%)
Sep 05 n/a
On hiatus until some time in 2006.
SECRET WAR
Sep 04 n/a
Oct 04 Secret War #3 (of 5) - 109,745 (-17.4%)
Nov 04 n/a
Dec 04 n/a
Jan 05 n/a
Feb 05 n/a
Mar 05 Secret War #4 (of 5) - 94,893 (-13.5%)
Apr 05 n/a
May 05 n/a
Jun 05 n/a
Jul 05 n/a
Aug 05 n/a
Sep 05 n/a
Hopelessly late.
IRON MAN
Sep 01 Iron Man #46 - 36,501
Sep 02 Iron Man #59 - 36,134
Sep 03 Iron Man #72 - 30,438
======
Sep 04 Iron Man #88 - 32,932 ( -1.7%)
Oct 04 Iron Man #89 - 33,483 ( +1.7%)
Nov 04 Iron Man #1 - 68,992 (+106.1%)
Dec 04 Iron Man #2 - 55,051 ( -20.2%)
Jan 05 n/a
Feb 05 n/a
Mar 05 n/a
Apr 05 Iron Man #3 - 51,390 ( -6.7%)
May 05 n/a
Jun 05 n/a
Jul 05 n/a
Aug 05 Iron Man #4 - 48,403 ( -5.8%)
Sep 05 n/a
Ditto. With the supposedly monthly book slipping to a quarterly
schedule, it's not unreasonable to question whether Marvel has gained
anything from this relaunch. IRON MAN is selling around 50% better than
it used to, but it ships 75% less often - so Marvel is probably making
less money now than it did to start with.
POWERS
Sep 01 Powers #15 - 26,830
Sep 02 Powers #25 - 27,500
Sep 03 Powers #34 - 26,285
======
Sep 04 Powers #4 - 33,046 ( -1.7%)
Oct 04 Powers #5 - 32,504 ( -1.6%)
Nov 04 Powers #6 - 30,431 ( -6.4%)
Dec 04 Powers #7 - 30,687 ( +0.8%)
Jan 05 Powers #8 - 29,438 ( -4.1%)
Feb 05 Powers #9 - 28,512 ( -3.1%)
Mar 05 n/a
Apr 05 Powers #10 - 28,360 ( -0.5%)
May 05 n/a
Jun 05 Powers #11 - 27,703 ( -2.3%)
Jul 05 n/a
Aug 05 Powers #12 - 30,290 ( +9.3%)
Sep 05 n/a
Skip month.
X-MEN UNLIMITED
Sep 02 X-Men Unlimited #38 - 38,589
Sep 03 n/a
======
Sep 04 n/a
Oct 04 X-Men Unlimited #5 - 32,910 ( -2.9%)
Nov 04 n/a
Dec 04 X-Men Unlimited #6 - 30,138 ( -8.4%)
Jan 05 n/a
Feb 05 X-Men Unlimited #7 - 27,009 (-10.4%)
Mar 05 n/a
Apr 05 X-Men Unlimited #8 - 25,686 ( -4.9%)
May 05 n/a
Jun 05 X-Men Unlimited #9 - 25,398 ( -1.1%)
Jul 05 n/a
Aug 05 X-Men Unlimited #10 - 23,717 ( -6.6%)
Sep 05 n/a
Bimonthly.
KABUKI
Sep 04 Kabuki #2 - 16,705 (-34.0%)
Oct 04 n/a
Nov 04 n/a
Dec 04 Kabuki #3 - 13,885 (-16.9%)
Jan 05 n/a
Feb 05 n/a
Mar 05 n/a
Apr 05 Kabuki #4 - 14,327 ( +3.2%)
May 05 n/a
Jun 05 n/a
Aug 05 Kabuki #5 - 6,460 (-54.9%)
Sep 05 n/a
Late.
6 month comparisons
===================
+85.3% - Mutopia X / District X [House of M crossover]
+21.8% - Incredible Hulk [House of M crossover]
+21.8% - New X-Men [House of M crossover]
+12.8% - Captain America [House of M crossover]
+ 6.0% - Fantastic Four [new creative team]
+ 4.7% - Pulse
+ 0.5% - Exiles [House of M crossover]
- 0.6% - Uncanny X-Men
- 1.4% - Marvel Team-Up
- 2.2% - Cable & Deadpool
- 3.1% - Punisher
- 3.4% - Ultimate Fantastic Four
- 7.6% - Daredevil
- 7.7% - Amazing Spider-Man
- 8.5% - Spider-Girl
- 8.8% - Ultimates
- 8.8% - X-Men
-10.7% - Marvel Knights 4
-10.8% - Ultimate X-Men
-11.0% - New Thunderbolts
-11.1% - Spider-Man Unlimited
-12.0% - Ultimate Spider-Man
-14.0% - Runaways
-14.8% - Black Panther
-17.0% - New Avengers
-18.5% - Young Avengers
-20.6% - Marvel Knights Spider-Man
-24.8% - Ultimate Secret
-27.8% - Wolverine
-35.4% - Araña: Heart of the Spider
-48.8% - Ultimate Iron Man
-49.6% - Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe
-49.8% - Marvel Adventures Spider-Man
1 year comparisons
==================
+44.8% - Runaways
+44.3% - New Avengers / Avengers [relaunch]
+41.7% - Captain America
+31.4% - Mutopia X / District X
+29.7% - Weapon X
+20.7% - Wolverine
+19.6% - Incredible Hulk
+17.1% - Exiles
+ 1.6% - Fantastic Four
- 7.7% - Pulse
- 8.5% - Thor
-10.5% - Uncanny X-Men
-10.8% - New X-Men
-12.1% - Daredevil
-15.5% - X-Men
-15.6% - Punisher
-16.9% - Spider-Girl
-17.6% - Cable & Deadpool
-18.0% - Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe
-18.4% - Ultimate Fantastic Four
-19.8% - Amazing Spider-Man
-20.6% - Marvel Knights Spider-Man
-21.3% - Ultimate X-Men
-21.6% - Ultimate Spider-Man
-29.1% - Black Widow
-31.0% - Marvel Knights 4
-35.1% - Spider-Man Unlimited
-57.4% - Araña / Amazing Fantasy
-59.1% - Nightcrawler
-60.5% - Amazing Fantasy
2 year comparisons
==================
+123.1% - New Avengers / Avengers
+ 34.5% - Runaways
+ 26.5% - Pulse / Alias
+ 21.5% - Captain America
+ 21.4% - Weapon X
+ 5.6% - Thor
+ 4.4% - New X-Men / New Mutants
+ 1.9% - Exiles
- 0.2% - Punisher
- 3.9% - Wolverine
- 7.0% - Uncanny X-Men
- 7.7% - Fantastic Four
- 9.5% - Incredible Hulk
- 18.3% - Spider-Girl
- 23.0% - Amazing Spider-Man
- 23.0% - Daredevil
- 27.5% - X-Men / New X-Men
- 30.0% - Ultimate Spider-Man
- 31.2% - Ultimate X-Men
- 72.3% - Marvel 1602
--
Paul O'Brien
THE X-AXIS - http://www.thexaxis.com
ARTICLE 10 - http://www.ninthart.com
IF DESTROYED - http://ifdestroyed.blogspot.com
Sean Walsh
Given HoM's finale and how it seems to really affect the Institute, I
wonder if this book will either change direction/focus with or just be
outright cancelled after Decimation....
> 105. MARVEL TEAM-UP
> Nov 04 Marvel Team-Up #1 - 44,530
> Nov 04 Marvel Team-Up #2 - 37,515 (-15.7%)
> Dec 04 Marvel Team-Up #3 - 29,085 (-22.5%)
> Jan 05 Marvel Team-Up #4 - 27,216 ( -6.4%)
> Feb 05 Marvel Team-Up #5 - 28,141 ( +3.4%)
> Mar 05 Marvel Team-Up #6 - 24,762 (-12.0%)
> Apr 05 Marvel Team-Up #7 - 24,800 ( +0.2%)
> May 05 Marvel Team-Up #8 - 24,270 ( -2.1%)
> Jun 05 Marvel Team-Up #9 - 23,530 ( -3.0%)
> Jul 05 Marvel Team-Up #10 - 22,549 ( -4.2%)
> Aug 05 Marvel Team-Up #11 - 22,150 ( -1.8%)
> Sep 05 Marvel Team-Up #12 - 21,240 ( -4.1%)
> 6 mnth ( -1.4%)
>
> Every so often Marvel becomes fiercely loyal to a comic despite
> indifferent sales and muted reviews. This is one such comic. The
> numbers above are nothing to smile about, but it's still getting a
> second year.
Well, it is the only ongoing Marvel book written by Robert Kirkman -
one of their Ten Terrific. Then again, other 10 Terrific folks (like
Sean McKeever and GRAVITY) get shafted into outright obscurity for
whatever reason.
> 106. DRAX THE DESTROYER
> Sep 05 Drax the Destroyer #1 (of 4) - 20,996
>
> Marvel should consider themselves lucky they managed to shift that many
> copies of a barely-promoted DRAX THE DESTROYER miniseries. It's really
> very good, in fact, but that's not the point. Sales will probably crash
> to deeply unpleasant levels over the next few months, if recent history
> is any guide.
Only 4 issues, though; I'm sure if it was 6 it'd get REAL uncomfy
(MACHINE TEEN, we're looking in your direction, sadly)
> (Come to think of it, what ever happened to that big promotional push SHE-HULK was
> meant to get for its relaunch?)
I suspect the dazzling and ultra-craptacular HOWLING COMMANDOS got the
attention instead. Lord knows a couple backup pages of SHE-HULK #1 in
every Marvel comic last month would've been more coherent and
attractive.....
> 115. OFFICIAL HANDBOOK OF THE MARVEL UNIVERSE
> Sep 04 Daredevil/Elektra 2004 - 22,781 ( +3.5%)
> Oct 04 Wolverine 2004 - 32,553 ( +42.9%)
> Nov 04 Book of the Dead 2004 - 25,131 ( -22.8%)
> Dec 04 Golden Age 2004 - 17,356 ( -30.9%)
> Jan 05 Women of Marvel 2005 - 20,837 ( +20.1%)
> Feb 05 Marvel Knights 2005 - 18,182 ( -12.7%)
> Mar 05 X-Men: Age of Apocalypse 2005 - 37,056 (+103.8%)
> Apr 05 Spider-Man 2005 - 25,530 ( -31.1%)
> May 05 Teams 2005 - 22,564 ( -11.6%)
> Jun 05 Fantastic Four 2005 - 21,970 ( -2.6%)
> Jul 05 Avengers 2005 - 23,668 ( +7.7%)
> Aug 05 Ultimate Universe 2005 - 25,436 ( +7.5%)
> Sep 05 Alternate Universes 2005 - 18,680 ( -26.6%)
> 6 mnth ( -49.6%)
> 1 year ( -18.0%)
>
> One of the lower-selling issues, but then it's also one of the most
> esoteric subjects, so that's not much surprise. Six months ago, the
> HANDBOOK was part of the AGE OF APOCALYPSE crossover, which is why the
> six-month drop is so steep. Marvel are evidently happy with the sales
> on this book (understandably, considering that the price tag is higher
> than most comics and they don't have to shell out for new artwork), so
> the series continues with a 12-issue A to Z in 2006.
Only new artwork they need to pay for is the covers, which is mostly
done by exclusive-to-Marvel folks anyway.
--
Sean
Paul O'Brien
Walsh <sean...@gmail.com> writes
[on NEW X-MEN]
>Given HoM's finale and how it seems to really affect the Institute, I
>wonder if this book will either change direction/focus with or just be
>outright cancelled after Decimation....
The former. Prepare yourself for X-23 AND HER AMAZING FRIENDS.
Jhiday
> Jun 05 Uncanny X-Men #461 - 91,221 (+10.6%)
> Jul 05 Uncanny X-Men #462 - 91,125 ( -0.1%)
> Aug 05 Uncanny X-Men #463 - 87,610 ( -3.9%)
> Sep 05 Uncanny X-Men #464 - 85,885 ( -2.0%)
> The fourth and final part of the HOUSE OF M crossover storyline, which
> also doubles as a lead-in to NEW EXCALIBUR.
You've made this error several times in these charts : the HOUSE OF M
crossover is actually issues #462-465. #461 was the second part of the
Mojo story, and was boosted by a variant cover.
JD
Billy Bissette
news:nzAfXHGV...@esoterica.demon.co.uk:
> In message <1131292037.9...@g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>, Sean
> Walsh <sean...@gmail.com> writes
>
> [on NEW X-MEN]
>
>>Given HoM's finale and how it seems to really affect the Institute, I
>>wonder if this book will either change direction/focus with or just be
>>outright cancelled after Decimation....
>
> The former. Prepare yourself for X-23 AND HER AMAZING FRIENDS.
So your bet is "NYX Mk.II: The Not-So-Good Version"?
Sean Walsh
More like "NYX II: The Much-more-on-time Edition." :)
--
Sean
Billy Bissette
>
> SEPTEMBER 2005
> ==============
>
> 18. X-MEN
>
> Now, unlike a lot of recent Marvel crossovers, this really IS a story
> which requires you to buy all four issues. So apparently retailers
> think that 36,000 people will be buying parts one and three, but
> skipping parts two and four. Which is... kind of odd, when you stop
> to think about it. It rather suggests retailers think that a lot of
> people are just buying X-MEN out of habit, doesn't it?
I'm sure a lot is habit. As well, anyone doing subscriptions via
a comic shop is probably likely to ride out two issues of a crossover
rather than actually bother to exclude those issues from their pull
list.
It might have mattered more if the crossover had actually been a
*good* story, enough to compel X-Men readers into picking up the
Black Panther issues afterwards. But the story wasn't compelling.
It wasn't even that interesting. And the parts in Black Panther were
supposedly worse. I don't know about that last one. I just know
that what I'd already seen of this run of Black Panther wasn't to
my liking.
Maybe retailers and readers both expected it to be a standard
throwaway crossover? And really, it might as well be one. I read
the two X-Men issues, and I don't care about reading the two
Panther issues. I missed some of the story, and I just don't
care that I did. The bits in X-Men weren't outright awful or
anything, it was okay enough to read, but not enough to make me
seek two issues of another series. (Note I'm reading X-Men for
what the author does on his good days rather than for any of the
characters, so that might tint my own opinions.)
> 49,53. EXILES
>
> It's fair to say that crossovers have a dreadful track
> record in terms of boosting sales beyond the very short term. Having
> said that, they don't seem to do any harm either, and those short term
> boosts are very impressive. So it's easy to see why publishers find
> them so appealing.
How long will that effect last though? Big crossovers had their day
in the past as well, only to eventually be seen as a bane.
The insertion of House of M into some books was clumsy at best. If
that kind of record is maintained, it could sour people again to the
intrusions of crossovers.
In some cases, House of M was outright disruptive. Excalibur was
presumably going somewhere with its own explanation of Magneto in
Genosha, only to be derailed by House of M. New X-Men was trying to
do something (even if I think it was a lousy job of it) only to be
converted into something out and now likely made irrelevant by the
aftermath of House of M. District X was going to die anyway, but it
is questionable whether it would have had a better death and ending
on its own rather that to end in the alternate reality of Mutopia X.
Uncanny became a muddled alternate reality set-up for the next
incarnation of Excalibur, though Claremont likely would have done
that (except the alternate reality bit) even without House of M.
For what Marvel wanted to be such a major event, and something
that would reshape the Marvel universe for a long time, it wasn't
well planned. Not just the disruptions to sometimes long-running
plotlines, but that different writers had different opinions of
just what was happening in House of M. Was the world and its
history reshaped? Or was it just the "now" changed, with a false
histort put in place? Or was it something else? Different writers
wrote to different opinions, as seemingly no one oversaw the whole
process or bothered to make it clear exactly what was happening.
While unsurprising for the X-Books, where editors don't seem to
bother with anything, it doesn't bode well for any future crossovers.
> 70. NYX
>
> Axed, although once again Marvel are trying the old trick of claiming
> it was a miniseries all along. Tsk. In fact, sales have been
> remarkably stable on NYX considering the massive delays, and the
> popularity of X-23 (largely the product of other books) has helped as
> well. The book seems to have been cancelled simply because Marvel
> were seemingly incapable of actually publishing it. After seven
> issues of set-up that went nowhere, this has been less a comic and
> more a high-profile embarrassment.
And it was a good book. One of the better titles that Marvel has
produced in the last few years.
If only it had actually been released.
Honestly, what else could Marvel do except cancel it? They wanted
to market X-23. Which approach made more sense, to keep her locked
into a book that might see four issues released in a year, or to
truly treat her like Wolverine by whoring her into every possible
title that they could? Maybe if NYX hadn't been terminally slow,
it might have reached a point soon enough where X-23 could be crossed
into other titles. But due to the release rate, she didn't even have
a personality established when she first crossed into Uncanny, leaving
her for Claremont to develop.
> 71. WEAPON X
>
> A little steep for a third issue drop, but not completely out of the
> ordinary. Surprisingly, the miniseries remains comfortably ahead of
> the usual sales on WEAPON X itself.
Last week, I overheard someone trying to find the most recent issue
of Weapon X, which was apparently sold out locally. Just an annecdote.
Still, I somewhat find interest in the series surprising.
Paul O'Brien
Bissette <bai...@coastalnet.com> writes
>
> In some cases, House of M was outright disruptive. Excalibur was
>presumably going somewhere with its own explanation of Magneto in
>Genosha, only to be derailed by House of M.
Well, it was taking its sweet time. I can't say I'll miss it. The book
never seemed to work.
Billy Bissette
> In message <Xns97069F7D53B3...@207.217.125.201>, Billy
> Bissette <bai...@coastalnet.com> writes
>>
>> In some cases, House of M was outright disruptive. Excalibur was
>>presumably going somewhere with its own explanation of Magneto in
>>Genosha, only to be derailed by House of M.
>
> Well, it was taking its sweet time. I can't say I'll miss it. The
book
> never seemed to work.
I dropped it well before House of M because it was just a wandering
mess of Claremontian characters. The premise was never really
addressed, and more often was outright ignored. The enemies were as
ludicrous as the plotting itself. The whole Magneto mystery was
teased from the start, and I'm not really sure Claremont ever would
have addressed it anyway.
Not that the Magneto mystery even had a particularly good start,
coming along in that big cluster**** that was Marvel trying to
reverse and rewrite so much of what Morrison did at once.
Shawn H
: Last week, I overheard someone trying to find the most recent issue
: of Weapon X, which was apparently sold out locally. Just an annecdote.
: Still, I somewhat find interest in the series surprising.
Re: Weapon X: Days of Future Now. The art's kind of decent, and it is
another riff on a classic X-men idea. It even caught my eye in the store.
Of course, then I saw that Tieri was still writing it.
Shawn H.