AUGUST 2005
===========
No big new launches from Marvel in August, but HOUSE OF M goes into its
third month, and continues to raise sales on all the titles involved.
Meanwhile, the Ultimate books get their first annuals.
Before getting into specifics, though, a brief word about prices. Marvel
took only four slots in the top ten in August. And by their standards,
that's not a particularly good performance, particularly considering
that there's a big event on. But on the other hand, Marvel's top
sellers tend to be more expensive than DCs, with a $2.99 price point
compared to DC's $2.50. The Ultimate Annuals were priced at $3.99. The
upshot of all this is that Marvel still took six slots in the top ten on
the dollar charts - one of them with ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL #1, a
book that didn't even make the top twenty on the unit chart.
Overall, Marvel marginally beat DC again in both dollar and unit share,
with 36.4% dollar share (to DC's 34.69%), and 41.16% unit share (to DC's
38.63%).
As always, thanks to Milton Griepp and ICV2 for permission to use their
figures for these calculations.
On with the charts. DC take the number one position with JUSTICE #1,
but the next two slots go to Marvel.
2,3. NEW AVENGERS
Aug 01 Avengers #45 - 61,572
Aug 02 Avengers #57 - 55,931
Aug 03 Avengers #69 - 57,850
======
Aug 04 n/a
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 - 145,673 ( -6.6%)
6 mnth ( -2.2%)
1 year ( +60.0%)
2 year (+151.8%)
Two issues in August, but that's just the book getting back on schedule
after skipping May. The drop for issue #9 is rather sharper than you
might expect, especially considering that it's part three of a four-part
Sentry storyline. But these things are relative, and NEW AVENGERS
remains a consistent top performer, miles ahead of the book's previous
incarnation.
4. HOUSE OF M
Jun 05 House of M #1 (of 8) - 269,702
Jun 05 House of M #2 (of 8) - 178,030 (-34.0%)
Jul 05 House of M #3 (of 8) - 154,938 (-13.0%)
Jul 05 House of M #4 (of 8) - 150,495 ( -2.9%)
Aug 05 House of M #5 (of 8) - 140,680 ( -6.5%)
Despite a rather mixed reaction, HOUSE OF M holds up fairly well. The
decline isn't actually as steep as the numbers make it look, because the
earlier issues continue to rack up extra sales through re-orders and
variant covers. Issue #4 only shipped 146,259 in its first month, and
if you take that as your base figure, the month-to-month drop is only
4%.
In any event, the numbers remain pleasingly high, and thanks to its
$2.99 price tag, HOUSE OF M is actually number two on the dollar charts
this month. NEW AVENGERS is one of the Marvel books still priced at
$2.50.
The numbers above include re-orders, and boy, there are a lot of them
this month. Issue #1 ships yet another variant cover, this time the Joe
Madureira convention edition, featuring a seemingly random piece of
Madureira art with no discernible relationship to the story. Anyone who
went to the convention and thought they had a rarity will be thrilled to
learn that Marvel shipped 15,039 of the things in August, to chart at
number 138, outperforming several Marvel Universe titles.
Terry Dodson's variant cover of issue #2 is at number 277, with orders
of 2,656, and John Cassaday's variant cover for issue #3 charts at
number 253, with orders of 3,194. And issue #4 just gets 4,236
straightforward re-orders, placing at number 231.
5. ASTONISHING X-MEN
Aug 04 Astonishing X-Men #4 - 148,209 (+14.6%)
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%)
6 mnth (-18.0%)
1 year (-15.1%)
Back in more conventional territory, ASTONISHING X-MEN continues to
slide. The drop is a little smoother when you ignore all the issues
whose sales were artificially boosted by variant covers - they're easy
to spot. After this, ASTONISHING goes on hiatus until next year.
11. UNCANNY X-MEN
Aug 01 Uncanny X-Men #397 - 116,247
Aug 02 Uncanny X-Men #411 - 86,875
Aug 03 Uncanny X-Men #429 - 93,866
======
Aug 04 Uncanny X-Men #447 - 95,838 ( -1.2%)
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%)
6 mnth ( +1.0%)
1 year ( -8.6%)
2 year ( -6.7%)
Continuing a HOUSE OF M crossover arc which began back in issue #461.
While most HOUSE OF M books have seen significant sales increases,
UNCANNY has only gone up by a few thousand. On the other hand, it was
also the highest selling crossover book to start with, so there's less
scope to increase. Nonetheless, it's hard to avoid noticing that even
with the crossover behind it, UNCANNY is still below where it was a year
ago.
This is as good a place as any to mention MARVEL MILESTONES, which
charts at number 217 with reprinted stories starring Captain Britain and
Psylocke (both of whom are in this issue) and the Golden Age Sub-Mariner
(who isn't). It had orders of 5,232.
13,24,25. ULTIMATE ANNUALS
Aug 05 Ultimates Annual #1 - 82,690
Aug 05 Ultimate Spider-Man Annual #1 - 70,811
Aug 05 Ultimate X-Men Annual #1 - 67,910
Marvel stopped publishing annuals during the Bill Jemas era, on the
basis that they didn't sell very well, and it would make more sense just
to publish an extra issue of the regular title. The counter-argument is
that the problem wasn't with the concept of annuals, but with the
material that was appearing in them - generally glorified fill-in
stories, in the last few years. The Ultimate Annuals have the same
writers as the regular titles and have been presented as more
significant. And they're duly rewarded with very respectable sales.
Thanks to their high price point, these three books are at numbers 7, 10
and 11 on the dollar chart.
14. 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%)
Hmm. I hesitate to say that a book with sales over 75,000 is doing
badly, but after a very strong start, this is shedding readers awfully
quickly. I suspect this isn't really the sort of story that a lot of
readers were looking for from an ULTIMATE IRON MAN miniseries.
15. X-MEN
Aug 01 New X-Men #117 - 120,414
Aug 02 New X-Men #131 - 98,805
Aug 03 New X-Men #144 - 99,737
======
Aug 04 X-Men #160 - 91,790 ( -1.5%)
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%)
6 mnth ( -9.3%)
1 year (-16.8%)
2 year (-23.5%)
Still drifting downwards. I rather doubt that next month's crossover
with BLACK PANTHER is going to make any difference - well, not to X-MEN
sales, anyway.
16. ULTIMATE X-MEN
Aug 01 Ultimate X-Men #9 - 100,109
Aug 02 Ultimate X-Men #21 - 93,216
Aug 03 Ultimate X-Men #36 - 110,492
======
Aug 04 Ultimate X-Men #50 - 103,154 (+10.2%)
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%)
6 mnth (-11.5%)
1 year (-26.1%)
2 year (-31.0%)
Returning to normal sales after a variant cover blip last month. And,
of course, the general trend remains downhill. Like ULTIMATE
SPIDER-MAN, this book has shed an awful lot of readers since its glory
days. The Bryan Singer run is, in theory, just around the corner -
although the book is missing from December's solicitations, suggesting
that matters may not be so straightforward.
17. WOLVERINE
Aug 01 Wolverine #167 - 70,238
Aug 02 Wolverine #180 - 67,892
Aug 03 Wolverine #4 - 68,472
======
Aug 04 Wolverine #18 - 65,304 ( -1.9%)
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%)
6 mnth ( -9.1%)
1 year (+15.8%)
2 year (+10.4%)
The final issue of Mark Millar and John Romita Jr's storyline, which
wraps up at a very satisfactory level of sales. Next issue is a one-off
story by Millar, after which there's a three-issue HOUSE OF M crossover.
18. ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN
Aug 01 Ultimate Spider-Man #12 - 78,407
Aug 02 Ultimate Spider-Man #25 - 96,382
Aug 03 Ultimate Spider-Man #45 - 100,619
======
Aug 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #63 - 96,279 ( -2.7%)
Aug 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #64 - 94,682 ( -1.7%)
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%)
6 mnth (-12.8%)
1 year (-21.5%)
2 year (-24.9%)
Like ULTIMATE X-MEN, the drops are really starting to mount up here.
From month to month they're not so bad, but the book's lost 20,000
readers in the last year. That's surely a little worrying.
21. AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
Aug 01 Amazing Spider-Man #34 - 79,588
Aug 02 Amazing Spider-Man #44 - 100,070
Aug 03 Amazing Spider-Man #57 - 93,469
======
Aug 04 Amazing Spider-Man #511 - 88,118 ( +2.2%)
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%)
6 mnth ( -8.3%)
1 year (-18.2%)
2 year (-22.9%)
Continuing the gentle decline.
23. ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR
Aug 04 Ultimate Fantastic Four #10 - 90,670 ( -3.6%)
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%)
6 mnth ( -3.0%)
1 year (-20.8%)
Straight back to regular sales levels after last month's variant cover
(which was also the debut of the new creative team).
26. 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 - 67,545 ( -3.4%)
6 mnth (-40.1%)
Holding up well.
27. 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) - 71,586 (-23.3%)
Aug 05 Spider-Man: House of M #3 (of 5) - 67,199 ( -6.1%)
30. 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%)
33. 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%)
The three HOUSE OF M tie-in miniseries all cluster together, which
shouldn't come as a surprise. Meanwhile, variant covers about, as a
sketch version of SPIDER-MAN: HOUSE OF M #1 picks up 4,249 copies at
number 230. FANTASTIC FOUR: HOUSE OF M #1's variant cover contributes
to re-orders of 8,293, charting at number 188; and IRON MAN: HOUSE OF M
#1 picks up 5,969 re-orders through the same route, charting at number
209.
The second issue drop-offs are a bit steep, but basically these are
solid numbers for short tie-in minis.
34. INCREDIBLE HULK
Aug 01 Incredible Hulk #31 - 33,683
Aug 02 Incredible Hulk #44 - 49,184
Aug 03 Incredible Hulk #59 - 59,336
======
Aug 04 Incredible Hulk #75 - 44,066 ( +1.6%)
Aug 04 Incredible Hulk #76 - 42,298 ( -4.0%)
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 - 53,905 (-15.6%)
Aug 05 Incredible Hulk #85 - 53,177 ( -1.4%)
6 mnth (+18.9%)
1 year (+20.7%)
2 year (-10.4%)
And here's another HOUSE OF M tie-in, running from issues #83-86.
Comfortably ahead of the book's normal level these days, which is the
general pattern for these things. Issue #83 - the first part of the
tie-in - gets 7,941 re-orders and charts at number 191. A variant cover
contributes to that.
36,51. CAPTAIN AMERICA
Aug 01 Captain America #46 - 36,080
Aug 02 Captain America #5 - 64,695
Aug 03 Captain America #16 - 43,123
======
Aug 04 Captain America #30 - 38,464 ( -4.4%)
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%)
6 mnth ( -7.2%)
1 year (+16.1%)
2 year ( +3.5%)
Two issues, and again, that's simply because July's issue shipped late.
You won't be shocked to learn that issue #8, with its upward blip, had a
variant cover. Otherwise, the book is hovering around the mid-40K
range.
37. FANTASTIC FOUR
Aug 01 Fantastic Four #46 - 50,773
Aug 02 Fantastic Four #60 - 705,109
Aug 03 Fantastic Four #503 - 53,789
======
Aug 04 Fantastic Four #517 - 50,247 ( +3.4%)
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%)
6 mnth (+11.9%)
1 year ( +3.1%)
2 year ( -3.7%)
Ignore the ludicrous number for issue #60 back in August 2002 - it was
priced at nine cents, and appeared during the brief window when Diamond
included these de facto giveaways in the charts. Mind you, it's
interesting to note that in the long run, giving away almost three
quarters of a million copies seems to have done absolutely nothing to
dislodge FANTASTIC FOUR from its habitual 50K range.
38. SUPREME POWER
Aug 03 Supreme Power #1 - 69,914
======
Aug 04 Supreme Power #12 - 61,798 ( -1.9%)
Sep 04 n/a
Oct 04 n/a
Nov 04 Supreme Power #13 - 61,556 ( -0.4%)
Dec 04 Supreme Power #14 - 58,843 ( -4.4%)
Jan 05 n/a
Feb 05 Supreme Power #15 - 55,510 ( -5.7%)
Mar 05 n/a
Apr 05 Supreme Power #16 - 55,068 ( -0.8%)
May 05 n/a
Jun 05 Supreme Power #17 - 52,288 ( -5.0%)
Jul 05 n/a
Aug 05 Supreme Power #18 - 50,594 ( -3.2%)
6 mnth ( -8.9%)
1 year (-18.1%)
2 year (-27.6%)
Cancelled, to be followed by HYPERION and NIGHTHAWK miniseries, and then
a new volume under the Marvel Knights banner in 2006.
40. X-MEN: THE END
Aug 04 X-Men: The End, Book One #1 (of 6) - 109,587
Aug 04 X-Men: The End, Book One #2 (of 6) - 98,578 (-10.0%)
Sep 04 X-Men: The End, Book One #3 (of 6) - 84,001 (-14.8%)
Oct 04 X-Men: The End, Book One #4 (of 6) - 75,073 (-10.6%)
Nov 04 X-Men: The End, Book One #5 (of 6) - 69,642 ( -7.2%)
Dec 04 X-Men: The End, Book One #6 (of 6) - 66,220 ( -4.9%)
Jan 05 n/a
Feb 05 n/a
Mar 05 X-Men: The End, Book Two #1 (of 6) - 71,230 ( +7.6%)
Apr 05 X-Men: The End, Book Two #2 (of 6) - 63,005 (-11.5%)
May 05 X-Men: The End, Book Two #3 (of 6) - 58,870 ( -6.6%)
Jun 05 X-Men: The End, Book Two #4 (of 6) - 54,875 ( -6.8%)
Jul 05 X-Men: The End, Book Two #5 (of 6) - 51,949 ( -5.3%)
Aug 05 X-Men: The End, Book Two #6 (of 6) - 49,565 ( -4.6%)
6 mnth ( n/a )
1 year (-54.8%)
Continuing its gentle slide. There's another six issue miniseries still
to come.
42. MARVEL KNIGHTS SPIDER-MAN
Aug 04 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #5 - 75,562 ( +0.1%)
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%)
6 mnth (-19.7%)
1 year (-35.7%)
Dropping a little too quickly for comfort. Of course, the big
Spider-Man crossover, "The Other", is just around the corner.
44. IRON MAN
Aug 01 Iron Man #45 - 36,754
Aug 02 Iron Man #58 - 36,051
Aug 03 Iron Man #71 - 30,823
======
Aug 04 Iron Man #87 - 33,512 ( -2.9%)
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%)
6 mnth ( n/a )
1 year ( +44.4%)
2 year ( +57.0%)
Despite the excruciating delays, these are pretty much the sort of sales
you'd expect to have seen on a monthly schedule.
46,58. MARVEL 1602
Aug 03 Marvel 1602 #1 (of 8) - 150,569
======
Aug 05 Marvel 1602: New World #1 (of 5) - 48,190
Aug 05 Marvel 1602: New World #2 (of 5) - 40,488 (-16.0%)
6 mnth ( n/a )
1 year ( n/a )
2 year (-73.1%)
Okay, perhaps it's a little unfair to compare NEW WORLD to the original
MARVEL 1602 book from 2003, which was sold largely on the name value of
Neil Gaiman. On the other hand, why bother doing a MARVEL 1602
miniseries if you look at things that way...? Compared with the huge
sales of the original book, these aren't good numbers, and a 16% drop is
especially bad considering that both issues shipped in the same month -
something that normally seems to moderate the second-issue drop.
49. DAREDEVIL
Aug 01 Daredevil #23 - 52,642
Aug 02 Daredevil #36 - 50,210
Aug 03 Daredevil #50 - 65,398
======
Aug 04 Daredevil #63 - 52,090 ( -1.6%)
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%)
6 mnth ( -4.7%)
1 year (-10.9%)
2 year (-29.0%)
Sliding very slowly down. A change of creative team is imminent.
54. NEW X-MEN
Aug 03 New Mutants #4 - 41,448
======
Aug 04 New X-Men #4 - 51,902 ( -6.2%)
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 - 44,836 (+31.8%)
Aug 05 New X-Men #17 - 43,908 ( -2.1%)
6 mnth (+19.0%)
1 year (-15.4%)
2 year ( +5.9%)
Another HOUSE OF M crossover storyline, and once again, it's way above
normal levels for this title. On the other hand, it still doesn't bring
the book back up to its levels from a year ago. A new creative team is
just around the corner, along with what sounds like an overhaul of the
concept.
56. BLACK PANTHER
Aug 01 Black Panther #35 - 19,465
Aug 02 Black Panther #48 - 19,496
======
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%)
6 mnth ( -38.6%)
HOUSE OF M, and another big jump. Next month, a crossover with X-MEN -
which should be interesting, since it sells much better than BLACK
PANTHER, but it also has the weakest sales of the four monthly X-Men
titles.
57. MUTOPIA X
Aug 04 District X #4 - 30,816 ( -7.3%)
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%)
6 mnth ( +92.4%)
1 year ( +32.7%)
HOUSE OF M yet again. Issue #1 racks up 7,038 re-orders to chart at
number 199, and yes, there's a variant cover. Obviously, the book is
now selling in a completely different league.
59. DAREDEVIL: FATHER
Apr 04 Daredevil: Father #1 (of 5) - 69,487
May 04 n/a
Jun 04 n/a
Jul 04 n/a
Aug 04 n/a
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%)
Generally, big delays haven't had much of an impact on books like
ULTIMATES or even NYX. But apparently there are limits, as DAREDEVIL:
FATHER posts a precipitous 42.8% drop from its first issue, sixteen
months previously.
There's also a director's cut of issue #1 at number 143, which picked up
sales of 14,607. I haven't added them into the numbers above, because
it's not really a re-order - it's a reprint, 16 months down the line. If
you do want to add in those sales, though, it would give issue #1 a
total of 84,094, and a second issue drop of 52.7%.
It is reassuring to see that issue #3 shipped in September. If
DAREDEVIL: FATHER had maintained the remarkable schedule shown above, it
wouldn't have finished until 2009.
64. NEW THUNDERBOLTS
Aug 01 Thunderbolts #55 - 33,747
Aug 02 Thunderbolts #70 - 28,092
======
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%)
6 mnth (-19.1%)
1 year ( n/a )
Yet another HOUSE OF M crossover - this time a single issue. Rather
boldly, it's also part two of a three-part story, although more in name
than in substance. Anyhow, the crossover delivers a healthy boost to
sales.
65. PUNISHER
Aug 01 Punisher #3 - 70,017
Aug 02 Punisher #16 - 44,501
Aug 03 Punisher #30 - 37,870
======
Aug 04 Punisher #10 - 45,396 ( -3.2%)
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%)
6 mnth ( -4.4%)
1 year (-18.4%)
2 year ( -2.2%)
Rock solid.
66. WEAPON X
Aug 02 Weapon X: Wild Child - 38,797
Aug 03 Weapon X #12 - 26,908
======
Aug 04 Weapon X #27 - 25,604 ( -0.8%)
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%)
1 year (+41.7%)
2 year (+34.8%)
Actually, there were a ton of WEAPON X one-shots in August 2002, of
which WILD CHILD was the highest selling. But you get the idea. The
DAYS OF FUTURE NOW miniseries has a fairly standard drop for its second
issue, and continues to sell far better than the ongoing title did -
despite being a resolution to that book's storylines, largely set in an
alternate timeline. I'd have thought that it wouldn't have much appeal
ouside the 26,000-odd people who were buying WEAPON X, but evidently the
retailers disagree with me.
71. EXILES
Aug 01 Exiles #3 - 48,259
Aug 02 Exiles #16 - 39,133
Aug 03 Exiles #32 - 40,548
======
Aug 04 Exiles #50 - 37,958 ( +2.1%)
Aug 04 Exiles #51 - 36,946 ( -2.7%)
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%)
6 mnth ( +4.6%)
1 year (-10.9%)
2 year (-16.6%)
Still hovering around its usual area. A HOUSE OF M crossover begins
next issue.
72. SHANNA THE SHE-DEVIL
Feb 05 Shanna the She-Devil #1 (of 7) - 47,953
Mar 05 Shanna the She-Devil #2 (of 7) - 40,877 (-14.8%)
Apr 05 Shanna the She-Devil #3 (of 7) - 38,678 ( -5.4%)
May 05 Shanna the She-Devil #4 (of 7) - 37,212 ( -3.8%)
Jun 05 Shanna the She-Devil #5 (of 7) - 35,412 ( -4.8%)
Jul 05 Shanna the She-Devil #6 (of 7) - 34,445 ( -2.7%)
Aug 05 Shanna the She-Devil #7 (of 7) - 32,932 ( -4.7%)
6 mnth (-31.3%)
Wrapping up the miniseries with very comfortable sales.
73. DEFENDERS
Jul 05 Defenders #1 (of 5) - 39,510
Aug 05 Defenders #2 (of 5) - 32,853 (-16.8%)
About normal for a second issue drop. DEFENDERS is being lost in the
crowd, with all the attention on the big events.
79. POWERS
Aug 01 Powers #½ - 22,507
Aug 02 Powers #24 - 26,544
Aug 03 Powers #33 - 26,174
======
Aug 04 Powers #3 - 33,628 ( -8.0%)
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%)
6 mnth ( +6.2%)
1 year ( -9.9%)
2 year (+15.7%)
An anniversary issue, with a $3.95 price tag. Consequently, it does
much better on the dollar chart, where it makes number 56.
81. 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%)
An example of the first two issues being solicited in the same month,
and the second-issue drop being deferred to issue #3 as a result.
Nothing to worry about yet.
83. SPIDER-MAN: BREAKOUT
Apr 05 Spider-Man: Breakout #1 (of 5) - 44,353
May 05 Spider-Man: Breakout #2 (of 5) - 35,476 (-20.0%)
Jun 05 Spider-Man: Breakout #3 (of 5) - 32,596 ( -8.1%)
Jul 05 Spider-Man: Breakout #4 (of 5) - 29,243 (-10.3%)
Aug 05 Spider-Man: Breakout #5 (of 5) - 28,411 ( -2.8%)
A token drop for the final issue of the miniseries.
88. RUNAWAYS
Aug 03 Runaways #5 - 19,332
======
Aug 04 Runaways #17 - 18,563 ( -2.6%)
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%)
6 mnth ( -37.2%)
1 year ( +45.8%)
2 year ( +40.0%)
Virtually no change, and still way ahead of sales on the previous run.
The relaunch has to be considered a success, on that basis.
89. MARVEL KNIGHTS 4
Aug 04 Marvel Knights 4 #9 - 39,743 ( -3.8%)
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%)
6 mnth (-10.6%)
1 year (-32.0%)
Again, virtually no change from the previous issue. The book is still
sliding very slowly, but seems to have more or less found its range now.
91. NEW X-MEN: HELLIONS
May 05 New X-Men: Hellions #1 (of 4) - 33,193
Jun 05 New X-Men: Hellions #2 (of 4) - 28,563 (-13.9%)
Jul 05 New X-Men: Hellions #3 (of 4) - 26,501 ( -7.2%)
Aug 05 New X-Men: Hellions #4 (of 4) - 25,974 ( -2.0%)
Another token drop for a final issue.
92. WHAT IF...?
Dec 04 Magneto Had Formed The X-Men With Professor X - 37,879
Dec 04 Karen Page Had Lived - 32,312
Dec 04 Aunt May Had Died Instead Of Uncle Ben - 31,783
Dec 04 Dr Doom Had Become The Thing - 30,930
Dec 04 Jessica Jones Had Joined The Avengers - 30,839
Dec 04 General Ross had Become The Hulk - 29,785
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 Wha...Huh? - 25,755
The final book from last December's WHAT IF? event belatedly reaches the
shelves. Obviously we'll never know for certain, but going by the
orders for the other books, I'd say it would probably have done about
the same number even if it had come out on schedule.
93. OFFICIAL HANDBOOK OF THE MARVEL UNIVERSE
Aug 04 Hulk 2004 - 22,011 ( -23.5%)
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%)
6 mnth ( +39.9%)
1 year ( +15.6%)
As usual, a big-name theme means a sales jump.
94. CABLE & DEADPOOL
Aug 04 Cable & Deadpool #6 - 31,033 ( -4.8%)
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%)
6 mnth ( -0.2%)
1 year (-18.5%)
Straight back to the usual range after the HOUSE OF M tie-in last month,
albeit with a slight increase.
97. HULK: DESTRUCTION
Jul 05 Hulk: Destruction #1 (of 4) - 29,459
Aug 05 Hulk: Destruction #2 (of 4) - 24,075 (-18.3%)
Fairly standard drop for the second issue of a miniseries.
98. 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%)
As usual, the drops slow down as the miniseries goes on.
99. X-MEN UNLIMITED
Aug 04 X-Men Unlimited #4 - 33,895 ( -7.7%)
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%)
6 mnth (-12.2%)
1 year (-30.0%)
Continuing its inexorable decline, but despite their poor sales, the
UNLIMITED titles seem to be bulletproof. Marvel seem to value them as
try-out books.
103. 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%)
6 mnth (-21.3%)
Well, at least it's stabilising. The problem is that it's stabilising
at a low level.
105. 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%)
Dropping rather quickly for a third issue. As I've noted in the past,
the X-books no longer have the power to automatically sell decent
numbers of their satellite books.
116. 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%)
6 mnth (-18.6%)
Missing from the December solicitations, so presumably cancelled with
November's issue #12.
120. DAREDEVIL: REDEMPTION
Feb 05 Daredevil: Redemption #1 (of 6) - 33,091
Feb 05 Daredevil: Redemption #2 (of 6) - 30,137 ( -8.9%)
Mar 05 Daredevil: Redemption #3 (of 6) - 24,810 (-17.7%)
Apr 05 n/a
May 05 Daredevil: Redemption #4 (of 6) - 21,118 (-14.9%)
Jun 05 Daredevil: Redemption #5 (of 6) - 19,658 ( -6.9%)
Jul 05 n/a
Aug 05 Daredevil: Redemption #6 (of 6) - 18,790 ( -4.4%)
Well, this disappeared off the radar in a hurry, didn't it?
121. SPIDER-GIRL
Aug 01 Spider-Girl #37 - 24,177
Aug 02 Spider-Girl #50 - 26,420
Aug 03 Spider-Girl #63 - 22,584
======
Aug 04 Spider-Girl #77 - 21,758 ( -1.8%)
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%)
6 mnth ( -9.0%)
1 year (-14.8%)
2 year (-17.9%)
Sliding slowly, but sales on the digests are reputedly excellent, in
which case SPIDER-GIRL has nothing to worry about.
126. 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%)
Complete lack of interest.
131. 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%)
Again, virtually no interest in the direct market, but Marvel have it
earmarked for a digest, which means that the DM sales are only part of
the equation.
136,142. ARAÑA: HEART OF THE SPIDER
Aug 04 Amazing Fantasy #2 - 37,047 (-40.3%)
Aug 04 Amazing Fantasy #3 - 33,917 ( -8.4%)
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%)
6 mnth (-33.9%)
1 year (-60.5%)
Persistently horrible sales in the direct market, but presumably the
digests are doing better.
139,150. MEGA MORPHS
Aug 05 Mega Morphs #1 (of 4) - 14,952
Aug 05 Mega Morphs #2 (of 4) - 12,974 (-13.2%)
Absolutely horrid numbers, but presumably the real target audience is
the kids who buy the toys, and they'll be getting the digest version.
Let's take a moment to acclaim the cynicism of shipping a first issue
that reveals that, in order to find out why everyone's running around in
a giant robot, you need to read the MEGA MORPHS minicomics, which are
only available by... buying the toys.
147. 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%)
Dreadful numbers, and this one surely can't be aimed at the digest
audience. A shame, because it's really quite good.
152. AMAZING FANTASY
Aug 04 Amazing Fantasy #2 - 37,047 (-40.3%)
Aug 04 Amazing Fantasy #3 - 33,917 ( -8.4%)
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%)
6 mnth ( n/a )
1 year (-65.5%)
Crashing ever downwards. Marvel apparently want to keep this book
around as a venue for trying out new characters, which is laudable, but
they really need to do something to attract readers to it.
169. 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%)
Dire sales, despite generally positive reviews. Well, there's always
the digest.
177. LIVEWIRES
Feb 05 Livewires #1 (of 6) - 20,944
Mar 05 Livewires #2 (of 6) - 14,688 (-29.9%)
Apr 05 Livewires #3 (of 6) - 12,581 (-14.3%)
May 05 Livewires #4 (of 6) - 11,089 (-11.9%)
Jun 05 Livewires #5 (of 6) - 9,960 (-10.2%)
Jul 05 n/a
Aug 05 Livewires #6 (of 6) - 9,123 ( -8.4%)
6 mnth (-56.4%)
184. SPELLBINDERS
Mar 05 Spellbinders #1 (of 6) - 20,995
Apr 05 Spellbinders #2 (of 6) - 14,632 (-30.3%)
May 05 Spellbinders #3 (of 6) - 12,069 (-17.5%)
Jun 05 Spellbinders #4 (of 6) - 10,189 (-15.6%)
Jul 05 Spellbinders #5 (of 6) - 9,050 (-11.2%)
Aug 05 Spellbinders #6 (of 6) - 8,578 ( -5.2%)
Two miniseries which completely tanked in the direct market - hardly
surprising considering that they were barely publicised. But, repeat
after me, "there's always the digest."
195. 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%)
Aimed at the digest audience, so the direct market sales are pretty much
irrelevant.
201. KABUKI
Aug 04 n/a
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%)
KABUKI changes format to a 48-page squarebound book with a $4.99 price
tag. Sales duly crash through the floor.
202. 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%)
Another book aimed at the digest market.
208. 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%)
Oww. This is another one aimed at the digest audience, but even by
those standards, it's selling appallingly in the direct market. At this
rate, there's a serious risk of the final issue selling fewer than 5,000
copies.
273. GIANT-SIZE SPIDER-WOMAN
Jul 05 Giant-Size Spider-Woman #1 - 17,327
Picks up 2,676 reorders and charts at number 273. The number still
doesn't look great.
And that's it for the Marvel books that made the charts. None of the
numerous flipbooks charted in August. That's hardly surprising, because
the number 300 book - ZORRO #3 - had orders of 2,098, and most of them
didn't even reach that level last month. It's possible that these
titles will waver in and out of the charts from month to month,
depending on how the rest of the market's doing, but whatever happens,
it's clear that their direct market sales are going to be insignificant
compared to their sales in other venues. For that reason, I'm not going
to bother tracking them further even if they do manage to make it onto
the charts again.
Skip months
===========
ULTIMATES
Aug 02 Ultimates #8 - 112,570
Aug 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
Late, although at least they managed to get the annual out.
SECRET WAR
Aug 04 n/a
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
Late.
ULTIMATE GALACTUS TRILOGY
Sep 04 Ultimate Nightmare #2 (of 5) - 88,088 (-14.2%)
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
On hiatus while artist Steve McNiven draws a NEW AVENGERS arc. Due to
resume in September.
PULSE
Aug 02 Alias #13 - 29,546
Aug 03 Alias #25 - 27,674
======
Aug 04 n/a
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 - 52,438 (+60.0%)
Aug 05 n/a
Bimonthly. Issue #10, the HOUSE OF M crossover, picks up re-orders of
2,204.
NYX
Aug 04 n/a
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
Axed with issue #7.
SPIDER-MAN UNLIMITED
Aug 04 n/a
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
Bimonthly.
6 month comparisons
===================
+92.4% - Mutopia X / District X
+39.9% - Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe
+19.0% - New X-Men
+18.9% - Incredible Hulk
+11.9% - Fantastic Four
+ 6.2% - Powers
+ 4.6% - Exiles
+ 1.0% - Uncanny X-Men
- 0.2% - Cable & Deadpool
- 2.2% - New Avengers
- 3.0% - Ultimate Fantastic Four
- 4.4% - Punisher
- 4.7% - Daredevil
- 7.2% - Captain America
- 8.3% - Amazing Spider-Man
- 8.9% - Supreme Power
- 9.0% - Spider-Girl
- 9.1% - Wolverine
- 9.3% - X-Men
-10.6% - Marvel Knights 4
-11.5% - Ultimate X-Men
-12.2% - X-Men Unlimited
-12.8% - Ultimate Spider-Man
-18.0% - Astonishing X-Men
-18.6% - Nightcrawler
-19.1% - New Thunderbolts
-19.7% - Marvel Knights Spider-Man
-21.3% - Marvel Team-Up
-31.3% - Shanna the She-Devil
-33.9% - Araña: Heart of the Spider
-37.2% - Runaways
-38.6% - Black Panther
-40.1% - Young Avengers
-56.4% - Livewires
1 year comparisons
==================
+60.0% - New Avengers / Avengers
+45.8% - Runaways
+44.4% - Iron Man
+41.7% - Weapon X
+32.7% - Mutopia X / District X
+20.7% - Incredible Hulk
+16.1% - Captain America
+15.8% - Wolverine
+15.6% - Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe
+ 3.1% - Fantastic Four
- 8.6% - Uncanny X-Men
- 9.9% - Powers
-10.9% - Daredevil
-10.9% - Exiles
-14.8% - Spider-Girl
-15.1% - Astonishing X-Men
-15.4% - New X-men
-16.8% - X-Men
-18.1% - Supreme Power
-18.2% - Amazing Spider-Man
-18.4% - Punisher
-18.5% - Cable & Deadpool
-20.8% - Ultimate Fantastic Four
-21.5% - Ultimate Spider-Man
-26.1% - Ultimate X-Men
-30.0% - X-Men Unlimited
-32.0% - Marvel Knights 4
-35.7% - Marvel Knights Spider-Man
-54.8% - X-Men: The End
-60.5% - Araña / Amazing Fantasy
-65.5% - Amazing Fantasy
2 year comparisons
==================
+151.8% - New Avengers / Avengers
+ 57.0% - Iron Man
+ 40.0% - Runaways
+ 34.8% - Weapon X
+ 15.7% - Powers
+ 10.4% - Wolverine
+ 5.9% - New X-Men / New Mutants
+ 3.5% - Captain America
- 2.2% - Punisher
- 3.7% - Fantastic Four
- 6.7% - Uncanny X-Men
- 10.4% - Incredible Hulk
- 16.6% - Exiles
- 17.9% - Spider-Girl
- 22.9% - Amazing Spider-Man
- 23.5% - X-Men
- 24.9% - Ultimate Spider-Man
- 27.6% - Supreme Power
- 29.0% - Daredevil
- 31.0% - Ultimate X-Men
- 73.1% - Marvel 1602
--
Paul O'Brien
THE X-AXIS - http://www.thexaxis.com
ARTICLE 10 - http://www.ninthart.com
IF DESTROYED - http://ifdestroyed.blogspot.com
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