Marvel sales - May 2006
Paul O'Brien
MARVEL SALES
MAY 2006
============
It's a busy month all round, as DC unleash the sales juggernaut of 52,
while Marvel debut CIVIL WAR. As expected, the crossover issues have
done enormously well. Other than that, the major titles to look out for
are the second months of WOLVERINE: ORIGINS, MOON KNIGHT and the various
ANNIHILATION books. There are two new miniseries - X-MEN: FAIRY TALES
and the Max book HAUNT OF HORROR: EDGAR ALLAN POE. Oh, and there's one
new ongoing title, but it's MARVEL ADVENTURES AVENGERS, which isn't
really significant in the direct market.
Despite the enormous success of CIVIL WAR, DC still win the market share
race for May. In unit share, they win by a convincing 41.2% to 36.9%.
Dollar share is rather closer - 36.7% to 35.1%. Nitpickers might point
out that 52 is returnable, raising the possibility of phantom sales. But
by all accounts that book has been shifting nicely, so the sales shown
on the chart are probably for real. The real good news is that these
stunts appear to be generating extra sales rather than simply
cannibalising audiences from lesser selling comics.
Thanks as always to Milton Griepp and ICV2 for permission to use their
figures for these calculations.
1. CIVIL WAR
May 06 Civil War #1 (of 7) - 260,804
An enormous debut for CIVIL WAR. The record for the highest first-month
sales since the current chart format was introduced still belongs to
last year's ALL-STAR BATMAN & ROBIN THE BOY WONDER #1, which shifted
261,046 in its first month. But it's awfully close, and when re-orders
are taken into account, CIVIL WAR could still end up on top. Marvel
claim that the total is going to be somewhere north of 300,000, and with
opening month sales like this, that's very easy to believe.
True, there are three separate editions making up this number. But this
number is way too high to be accounted for simply by variant cover
stunts (and besides, ALL-STAR BATMAN #1 had variants as well). It's a
spectacular debut and a huge success by any sensible standard.
5. WOLVERINE: ORIGINS
Apr 06 Wolverine: Origins #1 - 158,271
May 06 Wolverine: Origins #2 - 131,522 (-16.9%)
Issue #1 picks up 7,988 in re-orders, and as usual, they're included in
the number above. With that in mind, the second issue drop is fairly
modest for this sort of book, and Marvel should be quite happy with
this. The caveat is that once again, there's a variant cover on this
issue, so it remains to be seen how WOLVERINE: ORIGINS will bear up when
Marvel stop boosting its sales in that way. But thus far, it's a hit,
selling roughly as many copies as the current WOLVERINE series did when
it was launched.
8. NEW AVENGERS
May 01 Avengers #42 - 63,326
May 02 Avengers #54 - 52,874
May 03 Avengers #67 - 58,097
May 04 Avengers #82 - 55,711
======
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 - 134,125 ( -6.2%)
Oct 05 New Avengers #12 - 130,110 ( -3.0%)
Nov 05 New Avengers #13 - 126,148 ( -3.0%)
Dec 05 New Avengers #14 - 126,583 ( +0.3%)
Jan 06 New Avengers #15 - 124,143 ( -1.9%)
Feb 06 New Avengers #16 - 124,256 ( +0.1%)
Mar 06 New Avengers #17 - 122,847 ( -1.1%)
Apr 06 New Avengers #18 - 121,550 ( -1.1%)
May 06 New Avengers #19 - 123,318 ( +1.5%)
6 mnth ( -2.2%)
1 year ( -25.1%)
2 year (+121.4%)
3 year (+112.3%)
Settling down to a very respectable level in the 120K range. Last
month's Annual picks up 5,045 reorders to chart at number 241, which
brings it to a total of 106,922. And the NEW AVENGERS: ILLUMINATI
one-shot from two months ago is still piling up the re-orders, charting
at number 281 with orders of 3,245. That brings the total to 126,165,
roughly equivalent to the sales on a regular issue.
13. ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR
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%)
Oct 05 Ultimate Fantastic Four #24 - 70,549 ( -1.3%)
Nov 05 Ultimate Fantastic Four #25 - 70,032 ( -0.7%)
Dec 05 Ultimate Fantastic Four #26 - 69,689 ( -0.5%)
Jan 06 n/a
Feb 06 Ultimate Fantastic Four #27 - 67,922 ( -2.5%)
Mar 06 Ultimate Fantastic Four #28 - 67,480 ( -0.7%)
Apr 06 Ultimate Fantastic Four #29 - 67,554 ( +0.1%)
May 06 Ultimate Fantastic Four #30 - 102,582 (+51.9%)
6 mnth (+46.5%)
1 year (+43.5%)
There's a variant cover here, but the increase is surely too big for
that to be the sole cause. The other obvious factor is that this is the
first part of "Frightful", featuring the zombie Fantastic Four. The
earlier zombie storyline spawned the surprise hit MARVEL ZOMBIES
miniseries, so presumably retailers are racking up the orders in the
hope of similar good news.
14. AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
May 01 Amazing Spider-Man #31 - 68,937
May 02 Amazing Spider-Man #41 - 97,947
May 03 Amazing Spider-Man #53 - 95,777
May 04 Amazing Spider-Man #507 - 81,944
======
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%)
Oct 05 Amazing Spider-Man #525 - 91,707 (+29.0%)
Nov 05 Amazing Spider-Man #526 - 90,343 ( -1.5%)
Dec 05 Amazing Spider-Man #527 - 89,922 ( -0.5%)
Jan 06 Amazing Spider-Man #528 - 97,807 ( -8.8%)
Feb 06 Amazing Spider-Man #529 - 130,852 (+33.8%)
Mar 06 Amazing Spider-Man #530 - 99,343 (-24.1%)
Apr 06 Amazing Spider-Man #531 - 94,216 ( -5.2%)
May 06 Amazing Spider-Man #532 - 95,544 ( +1.4%)
6 mnth ( +5.8%)
1 year (+25.5%)
2 year (+16.6%)
3 year ( -0.2%)
A CIVIL WAR tie-in. So were the previous three issues and so, for that
matter, are the next six. Doubtless the events of CIVIL WAR #2 will
bring even more attention to this title over the next few months.
Meanwhile, re-order activity remains high on the three-issue prologue
arc. Issue #529 charts at number 265 with another 3,901 orders. Issue
#530 is at number 290, with 2,967. And issue #531 is at number 206,
with 7,332.
Between the Other, the new costume, the Civil War prologue, and Civil
War itself, AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #525 to #538 will all be boosted to some
extent by crossovers and stunts. Arguably, when it goes on for that
long, it's no longer an artificial boost but simply a sign that the book
is running a string of particularly popular stories. Can you really
talk about a fourteen-month artificial boost?
15. WOLVERINE
May 01 Wolverine #164 - 67,936
May 02 Wolverine #176 - 69,061
May 03 Wolverine #1 - 158,787
May 04 Wolverine #15 - 68,728
======
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%)
Oct 05 Wolverine #34 - 75,664 ( -3.6%)
Oct 05 Wolverine #35 - 73,684 ( -2.6%)
Nov 05 Wolverine #36 - 94,355 (+28.1%)
Dec 05 Wolverine #37 - 73,866 (-21.7%)
Jan 06 Wolverine #38 - 73,815 ( -0.0%)
Feb 06 Wolverine #39 - 75,285 ( +2.0%)
Mar 06 Wolverine #40 - 77,627 ( +3.1%)
Apr 06 Wolverine #41 - 70,965 ( -8.6%)
May 06 Wolverine #42 - 93,558 (+31.8%)
6 mnth ( -0.8%)
1 year (+15.6%)
2 year (+36.1%)
3 year (-41.1%)
Beginning a six-month CIVIL WAR crossover. Admittedly, the jump looks
higher than it is, because last month's fill-in was an unusually
low-selling issue. But it's still a very healthy jump for a title that
does good business to start with.
16. X-MEN
May 01 New X-Men #114 - 135,394
May 02 New X-Men #126 - 103,189
May 03 New X-Men #141 - 95,805
May 04 X-Men #157 - 107,185
======
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%)
Oct 05 X-Men #176 - 74,635 ( -2.5%)
Nov 05 X-Men #177 - 78,405 ( +5.1%)
Nov 05 X-Men #178 - 76,195 ( -2.8%)
Dec 05 X-Men #179 - 77,189 ( +1.3%)
Dec 05 X-Men #180 - 75,559 ( -2.1%)
Jan 06 X-Men #181 - 74,094 ( -1.9%)
Feb 06 X-Men #182 - 78,653 ( +6.2%)
Feb 06 X-Men #183 - 79,477 ( +1.0%)
Mar 06 X-Men #184 - 79,480 ( +0.0%)
Apr 06 X-Men #185 - 78,815 ( -0.8%)
May 06 X-Men #186 - 79,536 ( +0.9%)
6 mnth ( +4.4%)
1 year ( -1.9%)
2 year (-25.8%)
3 year (-17.0%)
Very solid over the last few months. A change of creative team is
imminent.
17. UNCANNY X-MEN
May 01 Uncanny X-Men #394 - 127,211
May 02 Uncanny X-Men #406 - 91,356
May 03 Uncanny X-Men #424 - 94,638
May 04 Uncanny X-Men #444 - 112,129
======
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%)
Oct 05 Uncanny X-Men #465 - 84,271 ( -1.9%)
Nov 05 Uncanny X-Men #466 - 82,825 ( -1.7%)
Dec 05 Uncanny X-Men #467 - 81,282 ( -1.9%)
Jan 06 Uncanny X-Men #468 - 79,808 ( -1.8%)
Feb 06 Uncanny X-Men #469 - 79,039 ( -1.0%)
Mar 06 Uncanny X-Men #470 - 79,389 ( +0.4%)
Mar 06 Uncanny X-Men #471 - 78,286 ( -1.4%)
Apr 06 Uncanny X-Men #472 - 79,157 ( +1.1%)
May 06 Uncanny X-Men #473 - 79,335 ( +0.2%)
6 mnth ( -4.2%)
1 year ( -5.0%)
2 year (-29.2%)
3 year (-16.2%)
Nudging slightly upwards as Chris Claremont's run draws to an end.
Again, there's a change of creative team just around the corner, as the
book embarks on a twelve-month sequel to...
19. X-MEN: DEADLY GENESIS
Nov 05 Deadly Genesis #1 (of 6) - 117,042
Dec 05 Deadly Genesis #2 (of 6) - 83,159 (-28.9%)
Jan 06 Deadly Genesis #3 (of 6) - 78,238 ( -5.9%)
Feb 06 Deadly Genesis #4 (of 6) - 77,549 ( -0.9%)
Mar 06 Deadly Genesis #5 (of 6) - 77,585 ( +0.0%)
Apr 06 n/a
May 06 Deadly Genesis #6 (of 6) - 77,419 ( -0.2%)
6 mnth (-33.9%)
Rock solid over the last few months - a good sign.
21. MOON KNIGHT
Apr 06 Moon Knight #1 - 108,962
May 06 Moon Knight #2 - 75,333 (-30.9%)
At first sight, a little steep. But issue #1 had a variant cover, and
issue #2 doesn't. On top of that, issue #1 picks up 5,292 reorders, to
chart at number 230. Taking those into account, the real drop is
probably much more modest.
22,23. ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN
May 01 Ultimate Spider-Man #9 - 79,201
May 02 Ultimate Spider-Man #22 - 90,905
May 03 Ultimate Spider-Man #40 - 104,480
May 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #58 - 90,963
======
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 - 75,539 ( -0.3%)
Oct 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #84 - 74,670 ( -1.2%)
Nov 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #85 - 74,264 ( -0.5%)
Nov 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #86 - 76,864 ( +3.5%)
Dec 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #87 - 74,537 ( -3.0%)
Dec 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #88 - 74,213 ( -0.4%)
Jan 06 Ultimate Spider-Man #89 - 71,935 ( -3.1%)
Feb 06 Ultimate Spider-Man #90 - 71,470 ( -0.6%)
Mar 06 Ultimate Spider-Man #91 - 74,028 ( +3.6%)
Mar 06 Ultimate Spider-Man #92 - 72,269 ( -2.4%)
Apr 06 Ultimate Spider-Man #93 - 72,831 ( +0.8%)
May 06 Ultimate Spider-Man #94 - 74,051 ( +1.7%)
May 06 Ultimate Spider-Man #95 - 73,564 ( -0.7%)
6 mnth ( -4.3%)
1 year ( -9.2%)
2 year (-19.1%)
3 year (-29.6%)
Business as usual.
25. ULTIMATE X-MEN
May 01 Ultimate X-Men #6 - 99,990
May 02 Ultimate X-Men #18 - 94,143
May 03 Ultimate X-Men #33 - 93,125
May 04 Ultimate X-Men #45 - 96,698
======
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%)
Oct 05 Ultimate X-Men #64 - 75,118 ( +0.5%)
Nov 05 Ultimate X-Men #65 - 74,264 ( -1.1%)
Dec 05 n/a
Jan 06 Ultimate X-Men #66 - 73,720 ( -0.7%)
Feb 06 Ultimate X-Men #67 - 72,700 ( -1.4%)
Mar 06 Ultimate X-Men #68 - 72,765 ( +0.1%)
Apr 06 Ultimate X-Men #69 - 73,188 ( +0.6%)
May 06 Ultimate X-Men #70 - 72,235 ( -1.3%)
6 mnth ( -2.7%)
1 year (-11.1%)
2 year (-25.3%)
3 year (-22.4%)
And the same goes for this one. Both titles seem to have levelled out
in the low 70K range after dropping in 2005.
26. ULTIMATE GALACTUS TRILOGY
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%)
Oct 05 Ultimate Secret #4 (of 4) - 64,909 ( -3.2%)
Nov 05 n/a
Dec 05 n/a
Jan 06 Ultimate Extinction #1 (of 5) - 85,439 (+31.6%)
Feb 06 Ultimate Extinction #2 (of 5) - 75,869 (-11.2%)
Mar 06 Ultimate Extinction #3 (of 5) - 75,773 ( -0.1%)
Apr 06 Ultimate Extinction #4 (of 5) - 73,151 ( -3.5%)
May 06 Ultimate Extinction #5 (of 5) - 71,756 ( -1.9%)
ULTIMATE EXTINCTION wraps up with higher sales than the previous volume,
ULTIMATE SECRET. Perfectly good numbers.
35. FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN
Oct 05 Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #1 - 100,430
Nov 05 Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #2 - 82,988 (-17.4%)
Dec 05 Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #3 - 81,309 ( -2.0%)
Jan 06 Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #4 - 78,672 ( -3.2%)
Feb 06 n/a
Mar 06 Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #5 - 59,900 (-23.9%)
Mar 06 Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #6 - 58,853 ( -1.7%)
Apr 06 Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #7 - 55,381 ( -5.9%)
May 06 Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #8 - 53,910 ( -2.7%)
6 mnth (-46.3%)
37. SENSATIONAL SPIDER-MAN
May 04 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #2 - 99,320
======
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%)
Oct 05 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #19 - 75,461 (+58.4%)
Nov 05 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #20 - 73,262 ( -2.9%)
Dec 05 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #21 - 76,763 ( +4.8%)
Jan 06 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #22 - 74,923 ( -2.4%)
Feb 06 Sensational Spider-Man #23 - 59,051 (-21.2%)
Mar 06 Sensational Spider-Man #24 - 53,910 ( -8.7%)
Apr 06 Sensational Spider-Man #25 - 51,992 ( -3.6%)
May 06 Sensational Spider-Man #26 - 52,496 ( +1.0%)
6 mnth (-28.3%)
1 year ( -8.3%)
2 year (-47.1%)
Virtually nothing to choose between the two Spider-Man satellite books.
Both will doubtless get a big boost from the Unmasked tie-ins over the
next few months.
Now, then...
When Marvel announced the decision to move SUPREME POWER out of the Max
imprint, Newsarama asked Joe Quesada why they were doing it. "It's
really simple," said Quesada. "First, the quality of the book is
amazing. JMS and Gary Frank are just knocking this out of the park, but
after talking to a couple of retailer pals it all made sense. The
concern from those we talked to was that they could sell more copies of
SUPREME POWER if the rating was toned down. What made the argument most
compelling was that looking at SUPREME POWER, there is rarely reason why
it has the adult label as JMS and Gary only resort to over the top words
or imagery from time to time. So in discussing it with the team, we
felt very little would be lost by mving the book out of MAX and into
Marvel Knights while improving sales and exposing the book to more
readers."
40. SQUADRON SUPREME
May 04 Supreme Power #10 - 63,292
======
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%)
Sep 05 n/a
Oct 05 n/a
Nov 05 n/a
Dec 05 n/a
Jan 06 n/a
Feb 06 n/a
Mar 06 Squadron Supreme #1 - 61,625 (+21.8%)
Apr 06 Squadron Supreme #2 - 51,197 (-16.9%)
May 06 Squadron Supreme #3 - 49,205 ( -3.9%)
6 mnth ( n/a )
1 year ( -5.9%)
2 year (-22.3%)
Well, if they did actually gain any sales by dropping the rating, it
wasn't enough to offset other readers leaving. SQUADRON SUPREME is
already below the final issue of SUPREME POWER, and while they certainly
haven't done the book any serious harm (except by compromising its
content in the hope of getting higher sales), the stated aim of this
relaunch was, quite openly, to boost sales. It's failed.
42. X-MEN: THE 198
Jan 06 The 198 #1 (of 5) - 68,698
Feb 06 The 198 #2 (of 5) - 58,540 (-14.8%)
Mar 06 The 198 #3 (of 5) - 53,882 ( -8.0%)
Apr 06 The 198 #4 (of 5) - 50,038 ( -7.1%)
May 06 The 198 #5 (of 5) - 48,139 ( -3.8%)
Standard miniseries numbers.
43. DAREDEVIL
May 01 Daredevil #18 - 58,666
May 02 Daredevil #33 - 47,227
May 03 Daredevil #47 - 61,368
May 04 Daredevil #60 - 54,012
======
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%)
Oct 05 Daredevil #78 - 45,071 ( -1.9%)
Nov 05 Daredevil #79 - 44,250 ( -1.8%)
Dec 05 Daredevil #80 - 43,309 ( -2.1%)
Jan 06 Daredevil #81 - 44,252 ( +2.2%)
Feb 06 Daredevil #82 - 53,058 (+19.9%)
Mar 06 Daredevil #83 - 46,804 (-11.8%)
Apr 06 Daredevil #84 - 47,123 ( +0.7%)
May 06 Daredevil #85 - 47,899 ( +1.6%)
6 mnth ( +8.2%)
1 year ( -1.6%)
2 year (-11.3%)
3 year (-21.9%)
Nudging slightly up as Ed Brubaker and Michael Lark's opening story arc
progresses. A good sign.
44. SON OF M
Dec 05 Son of M #1 (of 6) - 62,254
Jan 06 Son of M #2 (of 6) - 52,704 (-15.3%)
Feb 06 Son of M #3 (of 6) - 52,227 ( -0.9%)
Mar 06 Son of M #4 (of 6) - 49,973 ( -4.3%)
Apr 06 Son of M #5 (of 6) - 48,785 ( -2.4%)
May 06 Son of M #6 (of 6) - 47,165 ( -3.3%)
Good miniseries numbers.
45. CAPTAIN AMERICA
May 01 Captain America #43 - 36,700
May 02 Captain America #2 - 67,348
May 03 Captain America #13 - 49,279
May 04 Captain America #26 - 37,558
======
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%)
Oct 05 Captain America #11 - 45,162 (-14.2%)
Nov 05 Captain America #12 - 45,038 ( -0.3%)
Dec 05 Captain America #13 - 44,954 ( -0.2%)
Jan 05 n/a
Feb 06 Captain America #14 - 44,041 ( -0.2%)
Feb 06 Captain America #15 - 43,350 ( -1.6%)
Mar 06 Captain America #16 - 44,717 ( +3.2%)
Apr 06 Captain America #17 - 45,541 ( +1.8%)
May 06 Captain America #18 - 46,740 ( +2.6%)
6 mnth ( +3.8%)
1 year (-20.3%)
2 year (+24.4%)
3 year ( -5.2%)
Another Ed Brubaker title nudging slowly up with no apparent explanation
besides good old fashioned buzz.
46. INCREDIBLE HULK
May 01 Hulk #28 - 35,185
May 02 Hulk #40 - 45,115
May 03 Hulk #54 - 61,426
May 04 Hulk #72 - 45,385
======
May 05 Hulk #81 - 43,822 (-10.5%)
Jun 05 Hulk #82 - 43,248 ( -1.3%)
Jul 05 Hulk #83 - 63,881 (+47.7%)
Jul 05 Hulk #84 - 58,583 ( -8.3%)
Aug 05 Hulk #85 - 53,177 ( -9.2%)
Sep 05 Hulk #86 - 52,992 ( -0.3%)
Oct 05 Hulk #87 - 42,454 (-19.9%)
Nov 05 Hulk #88 - 41,141 ( -3.1%)
Nov 05 Hulk #89 - 39,635 ( -3.7%)
Dec 05 Hulk #90 - 36,924 ( -6.8%)
Jan 06 Hulk #91 - 35,980 ( -2.6%)
Feb 06 Hulk #92 - 53,661 (+49.1%)
Mar 06 Hulk #93 - 47,437 (-11.6%)
Apr 06 Hulk #94 - 47,966 ( +1.1%)
May 06 Hulk #95 - 46,571 ( -2.9%)
6 mnth (+17.5%)
1 year ( +6.3%)
2 year ( +2.6%)
3 year (-24.2%)
"Planet Hulk" continues to perform respectably, and issue #94 picks up
3,059 reorders to chart at number 287. But historically, these are not
exceptionally high sales for the title.
50. X-FACTOR
Dec 05 X-Factor #1 - 64,861
Dec 05 X-Factor #2 - 52,705 (-18.7%)
Jan 06 n/a
Feb 06 X-Factor #3 - 48,307 ( -8.3%)
Mar 06 X-Factor #4 - 48,183 ( -0.3%)
Mar 06 X-Factor #5 - 46,490 ( -3.5%)
Apr 06 X-Factor #6 - 45,220 ( -2.7%)
May 06 X-Factor #7 - 44,315 ( -2.0%)
Levelling out very nicely.
51. ANNIHILATION: SILVER SURFER
May 04 Silver Surfer #9 - 24,142
======
Apr 06 Silver Surfer #1 (of 4) - 49,120
May 06 Silver Surfer #2 (of 4) - 44,230 (-10.0%)
2 year (+83.2%)
Perfectly acceptable second issue drop.
52. X-MEN: THE END
May 05 Book Two #3 (of 6) - 58,870 ( -6.6%)
Jun 05 Book Two #4 (of 6) - 54,875 ( -6.8%)
Jul 05 Book Two #5 (of 6) - 51,949 ( -5.3%)
Aug 05 Book Two #6 (of 6) - 49,565 ( -4.6%)
Sep 05 n/a
Oct 05 n/a
Nov 05 n/a
Dec 05 n/a
Jan 06 Book Three #1 (of 6) - 52,891 ( +6.7%)
Feb 06 Book Three #2 (of 6) - 47,370 (-10.4%)
Mar 06 Book Three #3 (of 6) - 44,899 ( -5.2%)
Apr 06 Book Three #4 (of 6) - 44,586 ( -0.7%)
May 06 Book Three #5 (of 6) - 43,581 ( -2.3%)
6 mnth ( n/a )
1 year (-26.0%)
Levelling out as you'd expect for the tail end of a lengthy maxiseries.
53,85. SHE-HULK
May 04 She-Hulk #3 - 29,662
======
Oct 05 She-Hulk #1 - 37,220 (+60.4%)
Nov 05 She-Hulk #2 - 31,610 (-15.1%)
Dec 05 She-Hulk #3 - 29,428 ( -6.9%)
Jan 06 She-Hulk #4 - 28,214 ( -4.1%)
Feb 06 She-Hulk #5 - 27,183 ( -3.7%)
Mar 06 She-Hulk #6 - 26,631 ( -2.0%)
Apr 06 n/a
May 06 She-Hulk #7 - 26,561 ( -0.3%)
May 06 She-Hulk #8 - 43,812 (+64.9%)
6 mnth (+38.6%)
1 year ( n/a )
2 year (+47.7%)
Two issues this month. One of them is a CIVIL WAR crossover. Can you
guess which? Hint: it's the highest selling issue of the series to
date. And that's counting the previous volume too.
54. MS MARVEL
Mar 06 Ms Marvel #1 - 73,407
Apr 06 Ms Marvel #2 - 46,204 (-37.1%)
May 06 Ms Marvel #3 - 43,048 ( -6.8%)
Levelling out nicely.
58. NEW X-MEN
May 03 New Mutants #1 - 57,016
May 04 New X-Men #1 - 76,416
======
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%)
Oct 05 New X-Men #19 - 41,691 ( -3.7%)
Nov 05 New X-Men #20 - 59,466 (+42.6%)
Dec 05 New X-Men #21 - 43,473 (-26.9%)
Jan 06 New X-Men #22 - 42,923 ( -1.3%)
Feb 06 New X-Men #23 - 41,463 ( -3.4%)
Mar 06 New X-Men #24 - 42,044 ( +1.4%)
Apr 06 New X-Men #25 - 40,176 ( -4.4%)
May 06 New X-Men #26 - 40,073 ( -0.3%)
6 mnth (-32.6%)
1 year (+14.4%)
2 year (-47.6%)
3 year (-29.7%)
Levelling out at around the 40K mark, some way up on the previous
format.
59. ANNIHILATION: NOVA
Apr 06 Nova #1 (of 4) - 42,458
May 06 Nova #2 (of 4) - 39,602 (-6.7%)
Another eminently acceptable second-issue drop.
60. FANTASTIC FOUR: A DEATH IN THE FAMILY
May 06 A Death in the Family - 39,247
Without the benefit of crossovers, FANTASTIC FOUR usually sells in the
low 40K range, so this is a good number for a throwaway one-shot.
62. IRON MAN
May 01 Iron Man #42 - 37,101
May 02 Iron Man #55 - 40,859
May 03 Iron Man #68 - 33,213
May 04 Iron Man #81 - 28,232
======
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
Oct 05 n/a
Nov 05 n/a
Dec 05 n/a
Jan 06 Iron Man #5 - 45,243 ( -6.5%)
Feb 06 n/a
Mar 06 Iron Man #6 - 40,264 (-11.0%)
Apr 06 Iron Man #7 - 49,404 (+22.7%)
May 06 Iron Man #8 - 38,860 (-21.3%)
6 mnth ( n/a )
1 year ( n/a )
2 year (+37.6%)
3 year (+17.0%)
Returning to normal levels after last month's sales were distorted by a
variant cover, as well as the usual boost for the arrival of a new
creative team. This is still comfortably above IRON MAN's previous
range.
63. NEW EXCALIBUR
Nov 05 New Excalibur #1 - 58,333
Dec 05 New Excalibur #2 - 48,816 (-16.3%)
Jan 06 New Excalibur #3 - 47,196 ( -3.3%)
Feb 06 New Excalibur #4 - 45,071 ( -4.5%)
Mar 06 New Excalibur #5 - 43,523 ( -3.4%)
Apr 06 New Excalibur #6 - 40,687 ( -6.5%)
May 06 New Excalibur #7 - 38,744 ( -4.8%)
6 mnth (-33.6%)
Not really levelling out, and it's hard to see how months of fill-in
stories caused by Chris Claremont's health problems are going to help.
64. ANNIHILATION: SUPER-SKRULL
Apr 06 Super-Skrull #1 (of 4) - 42,779
May 06 Super-Skrull #2 (of 4) - 38,327 (-10.4%)
66. ANNIHILATION: RONAN
Apr 06 Ronan #1 (of 4) - 39,010
May 06 Ronan #2 (of 4) - 36,311 (-6.9%)
Proof that if you market something properly, you really can get decent
numbers with the D-listers.
68. PUNISHER
May 02 Punisher #12 - 42,359
May 03 Punisher #26 - 40,014
May 04 Punisher #6 - 48,576
======
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%)
Oct 05 Punisher #26 - 36,450 ( -1.9%)
Nov 05 Punisher #27 - 36,072 ( -1.0%)
Dec 05 Punisher #28 - 35,535 ( -1.5%)
Jan 05 Punisher #29 - 34,708 ( -2.3%)
Feb 06 Punisher #30 - 34,293 ( -1.2%)
Mar 06 Punisher #31 - 34,505 ( +0.6%)
Apr 06 Punisher #32 - 34,076 ( -1.2%)
May 06 Punisher #33 - 34,480 ( +1.2%)
6 mnth ( -4.4%)
1 year ( -9.3%)
2 year (-29.0%)
3 year (-13.8%)
Rock solid.
69,70. EXILES
May 02 Exiles #13 - 38,306
May 03 Exiles #27 - 37,204
May 04 Exiles #46 - 38,788
======
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%)
Oct 05 Exiles #71 - 41,131 ( -3.1%)
Nov 05 Exiles #72 - 34,329 (-16.5%)
Nov 05 Exiles #73 - 34,008 ( -0.9%)
Dec 05 Exiles #74 - 33,881 ( -0.4%)
Jan 06 Exiles #75 - 33,485 ( -1.2%)
Jan 06 Exiles #76 - 32,843 ( -1.9%)
Feb 06 Exiles #77 - 32,998 ( +0.5%)
Mar 06 Exiles #78 - 33,506 ( +1.5%)
Apr 06 Exiles #79 - 34,119 ( +1.8%)
May 06 Exiles #80 - 34,039 ( -0.2%)
May 06 Exiles #81 - 33,908 ( -0.4%)
6 mnth ( -0.3%)
1 year ( -0.4%)
2 year (-12.6%)
3 year ( -8.9%)
And much the same applies here - EXILES just won't be budged from the
low 30K range, making it one of Marvel's most consistent performers.
74,80. LAST PLANET STANDING
May 06 Last Planet Standing #1 (of 5) - 32,232
May 06 Last Planet Standing #2 (of 5) - 29,165 (-9.6%)
A SPIDER-GIRL spin-off, and the sequel to last year's LAST HERO
STANDING. These are very good numbers, comfortably outselling the
parent book.
77. NEXTWAVE: AGENTS OF H.A.T.E.
Jan 06 Nextwave #1 - 41,041
Feb 06 n/a
Mar 06 Nextwave #2 - 29,911 (-27.1%)
Mar 06 Nextwave #3 - 27,126 ( -9.3%)
Apr 06 Nextwave #4 - 26,728 ( -1.5%)
May 06 Nextwave #5 - 30,818 (+15.3%)
The boost is presumably due to the appropriately bizarre Crayon Butchery
Variant edition, published as a colouring book.
81. X-MEN: APOCALYPSE VS DRACULA
Feb 06 Apocalypse vs Dracula #1 (of 4) - 37,057
Mar 06 Apocalypse vs Dracula #2 (of 4) - 31,719 (-14.4%)
Apr 06 Apocalypse vs Dracula #3 (of 4) - 29,010 ( -8.5%)
May 06 Apocalypse vs Dracula #4 (of 4) - 28,129 ( -3.0%)
Good numbers for a villain book set in the 19th century - not normally a
recipe for success.
82. BLACK PANTHER
May 01 Black Panther #32 - 20,226
May 02 Black Panther #44 - 19,571
May 03 Black Panther #59 - 16,383
======
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 - 46,239 ( +7.8%)
Oct 05 Black Panther #9 - 40,173 (-13.1%)
Nov 05 Black Panther #10 - 31,987 (-20.4%)
Dec 05 Black Panther #11 - 29,327 ( -8.3%)
Jan 06 Black Panther #12 - 27,933 ( -4.7%)
Feb 06 Black Panther #13 - 26,054 ( -6.7%)
Mar 06 Black Panther #14 - 28,809 (+10.6%)
Apr 06 Black Panther #15 - 28,361 ( -1.6%)
May 06 Black Panther #16 - 28,091 ( -1.0%)
6 mnth (-12.2%)
1 year (-31.2%)
2 year ( n/a )
3 year (+71.5%)
The build-up to the "wedding of the century" between Black Panther and
Storm has at least arrested the book's decline, but doesn't seem able to
budge it over the 29K mark. Meanwhile, this month's MARVEL MILESTONES
sells 4,211 by reprinting some previous Black Panther and Storm stories.
86. PUNISHER: TYGER
May 06 Tyger - 26,012
Another Garth Ennis one-shot, doing very nicely for a $4.99 book.
89. CABLE & DEADPOOL
May 04 Cable & Deadpool #3 - 36,820
======
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%)
Oct 05 Cable & Deadpool #21 - 25,030 ( +0.2%)
Nov 05 Cable & Deadpool #22 - 23,746 ( -5.1%)
Dec 05 Cable & Deadpool #23 - 23,296 ( -1.9%)
Jan 06 Cable & Deadpool #24 - 23,542 ( +1.1%)
Feb 06 Cable & Deadpool #25 - 22,918 ( -2.7%)
Mar 06 Cable & Deadpool #26 - 25,584 (+11.6%)
Apr 06 Cable & Deadpool #27 - 26,153 ( +2.2%)
May 06 Cable & Deadpool #28 - 25,665 ( -1.9%)
6 mnth ( +8.1%)
1 year ( +3.3%)
2 year (-30.3%)
Settling down in the mid-twenties, CABLE & DEADPOOL seems to have turned
a corner and stabilised.
93. RUNAWAYS
May 03 Runaways #2 - 23,328
May 04 Runaways #15 - 19,306
======
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%)
Oct 05 Runaways #9 - 26,800 ( -0.6%)
Nov 05 Runaways #10 - 25,761 ( -3.9%)
Dec 05 Runaways #11 - 25,260 ( -1.9%)
Jan 06 Runaways #12 - 24,989 ( -1.1%)
Feb 06 Runaways #13 - 24,313 ( -2.7%)
Mar 06 Runaways #14 - 24,536 ( +0.9%)
Apr 06 Runaways #15 - 24,046 ( -2.0%)
May 06 Runaways #16 - 23,842 ( -0.8%)
6 mnth ( -7.4%)
1 year (-17.7%)
2 year (+23.5%)
3 year ( +2.2%)
Very slow decline.
95. THUNDERBOLTS
May 01 Thunderbolts #52 - 35,282
May 02 Thunderbolts #64 - 28,596
May 03 Thunderbolts #79 - 19,755
======
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%)
Oct 05 New Thunderbolts #13 - 29,250 (+12.9%)
Oct 05 New Thunderbolts #14 - 27,864 ( -4.7%)
Nov 05 New Thunderbolts #15 - 25,245 ( -9.4%)
Dec 05 New Thunderbolts #16 - 25,084 ( -0.6%)
Jan 06 New Thunderbolts #17 - 23,417 ( -6.7%)
Feb 06 New Thunderbolts #18 - 23,735 ( +1.4%)
Mar 06 Thunderbolts #100 - 26,798 (+12.9%)
Apr 06 Thunderbolts #101 - 24,170 ( -9.8%)
May 06 Thunderbolts #102 - 23,741 ( -1.8%)
6 mnth ( -5.6%)
1 year (-14.5%)
2 year ( n/a )
3 year (+20.2%)
Returning to previous levels after issue #100. A CIVIL WAR crossover
storyline is imminent.
96. POWERS
May 01 Powers #12 - 25,791
May 02 Powers #21 - 27,096
May 03 Powers #31 - 26,830
May 04 n/a
======
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
Oct 05 Powers #13 - 26,535 (-12.4%)
Nov 05 Powers #14 - 26,109 ( -1.6%)
Dec 05 Powers #15 - 25,633 ( -1.8%)
Jan 06 n/a
Feb 06 Powers #16 - 24,924 ( -2.8%)
Mar 06 Powers #17 - 24,139 ( -3.1%)
Apr 06 n/a
May 06 Powers #18 - 23,617 ( -2.2%)
6 mnth ( -9.5%)
1 year (-14.7%)
2 year ( n/a )
3 year (-12.0%)
Slow decline.
99. X-MEN: FAIRY TALES
May 06 Fairy Tales #1 (of 4) - 22,922
Realistically, about what you'd expect for a project like this. It's
fairy tales retold with the X-Men, the point of which eludes me, to be
honest.
101. STORM
Feb 06 Storm #1 (of 6) - 32,831
Mar 06 Storm #2 (of 6) - 25,905 (-21.1%)
Apr 06 Storm #3 (of 6) - 24,214 ( -6.5%)
May 06 Storm #4 (of 6) - 22,513 ( -7.0%)
Doesn't seem to be levelling out, but not too unusual for a miniseries.
102. BOOKS OF DOOM
Nov 05 Books of Doom #1 (of 6) - 34,413
Dec 05 Books of Doom #2 (of 6) - 27,767 (-19.3%)
Jan 06 Books of Doom #3 (of 6) - 25,157 ( -9.4%)
Feb 06 n/a
Mar 06 Books of Doom #4 (of 6) - 23,804 ( -5.4%)
Mar 06 Books of Doom #5 (of 6) - 22,715 ( -4.6%)
Apr 06 n/a
May 06 Books of Doom #6 (of 6) - 22,304 ( -1.8%)
6 mnth (-35.2%)
Quietly disappeared off the radar, really.
107. OFFICIAL HANDBOOK OF THE MARVEL UNIVERSE
May 04 X-Men 2004 - 39,380
======
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%)
Oct 05 Horror 2005 - 15,849 (-15.2%)
Nov 05 X-Men 2005 - 22,986 (+45.0%)
Dec 05 Ultimates/Ultimate X-Men 2005 - 20,795 ( -9.5%)
Jan 06 A to Z #1 (of 12) - 23,423 (+12.6%)
Feb 06 A to Z #2 (of 12) - 21,828 ( -6.8%)
Mar 06 A to Z #3 (of 12) - 21,681 ( -0.7%)
Apr 06 A to Z #4 (of 12) - 21,531 ( -0.7%)
May 06 A to Z #5 (of 12) - 21,331 ( -0.9%)
6 mnth ( -7.2%)
1 year ( -5.5%)
2 year (-45.8%)
Incredibly solid sales. It's clear that A TO Z is not going to shed
readers to any great extent during its run. And given the obscure
characters being covered in this series, it seems there are 21,000
fairly hardcore continuity fans out there.
112. SENTINEL SQUAD O*N*E
Jan 06 Sentinel Squad O*N*E #1 (of 5) - 34,988
Feb 06 Sentinel Squad O*N*E #2 (of 5) - 26,971 (-22.9%)
Mar 06 Sentinel Squad O*N*E #3 (of 5) - 24,334 ( -9.8%)
Apr 06 Sentinel Squad O*N*E #4 (of 5) - 21,874 (-10.1%)
May 06 Sentinel Squad O*N*E #5 (of 5) - 20,349 ( -7.0%)
114. IRON MAN: INEVITABLE
Dec 05 Inevitable #1 (of 6) - 31,032
Jan 06 Inevitable #2 (of 6) - 25,382 (-18.2%)
Feb 06 Inevitable #3 (of 6) - 22,997 ( -9.4%)
Mar 06 Inevitable #4 (of 6) - 21,430 ( -6.8%)
Apr 06 Inevitable #5 (of 6) - 20,329 ( -5.1%)
May 06 Inevitable #6 (of 6) - 19,724 ( -3.0%)
Two miniseries which drifted from view after decent opening sales.
117. THING
Nov 05 Thing #1 - 30,188
Dec 05 Thing #2 - 23,606 (-21.8%)
Jan 06 Thing #3 - 21,839 ( -7.5%)
Feb 06 Thing #4 - 21,190 ( -3.0%)
Mar 06 Thing #5 - 20,348 ( -4.0%)
Apr 06 Thing #6 - 20,577 ( +1.1%)
May 06 Thing #7 - 19,592 ( -4.8%)
6 mnth (-35.1%)
Axed with issue #8.
119. FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST FAMILY
Mar 06 First Family #1 (of 6) - 26,435
Apr 06 First Family #2 (of 6) - 21,444 (-18.9%)
May 06 First Family #3 (of 6) - 19,314 ( -9.9%)
Levelling out a bit, but these are disappointingly low sales.
120. MARVEL TEAM-UP
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%)
Oct 05 Marvel Team-Up #13 - 21,048 ( -0.9%)
Nov 05 Marvel Team-Up #14 - 26,200 (+24.5%)
Dec 05 Marvel Team-Up #15 - 20,000 (-23.7%)
Jan 06 Marvel Team-Up #16 - 19,955 ( -0.2%)
Feb 06 Marvel Team-Up #17 - 19,422 ( -2.7%)
Mar 06 Marvel Team-Up #18 - 18,944 ( -2.5%)
Apr 06 Marvel Team-Up #19 - 19,891 ( +5.0%)
May 06 Marvel Team-Up #20 - 18,843 ( -5.3%)
6 mnth (-28.1%)
1 year (-22.4%)
Surprisingly, still not cancelled despite stubbornly poor sales.
123. FURY: PEACEMAKER
Feb 06 Peacemaker #1 (of 6) - 27,423
Mar 06 Peacemaker #2 (of 6) - 21,612 (-21.2%)
Apr 06 Peacemaker #3 (of 6) - 19,177 (-11.3%)
May 06 Peacemaker #4 (of 6) - 18,379 ( -4.2%)
Levelling out.
125. SPIDER-GIRL
May 01 Spider-Girl #34 - 23,928
May 02 Spider-Girl #47 - 24,060
May 03 Spider-Girl #60 - 23,112
May 04 Spider-Girl #73 - 20,275
======
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%)
Oct 05 Spider-Girl #91 - 18,159 ( -1.0%)
Nov 05 Spider-Girl #92 - 17,597 ( -3.1%)
Dec 05 Spider-Girl #93 - 17,057 ( -3.1%)
Jan 06 Spider-Girl #94 - 17,148 ( +0.5%)
Feb 06 Spider-Girl #95 - 16,778 ( -2.2%)
Mar 06 Spider-Girl #96 - 16,739 ( -0.2%)
Apr 06 Spider-Girl #97 - 17,508 ( +4.6%)
May 06 Spider-Girl #98 - 17,738 ( +1.3%)
6 mnth ( +0.8%)
1 year ( -8.8%)
2 year (-12.5%)
3 year (-23.3%)
Axed with issue #100. The minor climbs over the last couple of months
are too little too late, for reasons which are obvious when you look to
the sales of earlier years.
129. SPIDER-MAN UNLIMITED
May 04 Spider-Man Unlimited #3 - 31,661
======
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%)
Oct 05 n/a
Nov 05 Spider-Man Unlimited #12 - 15,150 ( -3.4%)
Dec 05 n/a
Jan 06 Spider-Man Unlimited #13 - 13,780 ( -9.0%)
Feb 06 n/a
Mar 06 Spider-Man Unlimited #14 - 20,188 (+46.5%)
Apr 06 n/a
May 06 Spider-Man Unlimited #15 - 16,286 (-19.3%)
6 mnth ( +7.5%)
1 year ( -3.9%)
2 year (-48.6%)
SPIDER-MAN UNLIMITED unexpectedly holds on to some of the gain from last
month's issue, which featured David Finch on art. This month's star
artist is Klaus Janson, who doesn't normally make that much difference
to sales, but I'm struggling to work out what else might be a factor
here.
130. ARES
Jan 06 Ares #1 (of 5) - 20,541
Feb 06 Ares #2 (of 5) - 16,884 (-17.8%)
Mar 06 Ares #3 (of 5) - 15,895 (-14.4%)
Apr 06 n/a
May 06 Ares #4 (of 5) - 16,255 ( +2.3%)
A bit late in the day to be a reaction to the hints that he's joining
the Avengers, so presumably people just like the book.
137. X-STATIX PRESENTS DEAD GIRL
May 01 X-Force #116 - 49,051
May 02 X-Force #128 - 41,124
May 03 n/a
May 04 X-Statix #23 - 24,080
======
Jan 06 Dead Girl #1 (of 5) - 20,685
Feb 06 Dead Girl #2 (of 5) - 17,369 (-16.0%)
Mar 06 Dead Girl #3 (of 5) - 16,048 ( -7.6%)
Apr 06 Dead Girl #4 (of 5) - 15,606 ( -2.8%)
May 06 Dead Girl #5 (of 5) - 15,382 ( -1.4%)
2 year (-36.1%)
A disappointing performance given that X-STATIX used to do much better.
138. ETERNALS SKETCHBOOK
May 06 Eternals Sketchbook - 15,351
Always a good sign when you can sell 15,000 copies of a promotional
item. ETERNALS will doubtless do huge business.
142. HAUNT OF HORROR: EDGAR ALLAN POE
May 06 Haunt of Horror #1 (of 3) - 14,517
Richard Corben adapts Edgar Allan Poe poetry, in a project that
presumably has at least one eye on the bookstores. Way off the beaten
track for Marvel, and I'm sure they'll be happy with these numbers.
146. MARVEL LEGACY HANDBOOKS
Feb 06 1960s Handbook - 12,957
Mar 06 n/a
Apr 06 n/a
May 06 1970s Handbook - 14,161 (+9.3%)
Either there's more interest in the 70s, or the appeal of the 60s
HANDBOOK was underestimated. I suspect it's more likely to be the
latter.
149. MARVEL ADVENTURES AVENGERS
May 06 Marvel Adventures Avengers #1 - 13,891
For what it's worth, a good debut by the standards of MARVEL ADVENTURES
books. But they're not really aimed at this market anyway, so whatever
they sell is a pleasant top-up rather than the main story.
164. DAUGHTERS OF THE DRAGON
Jan 06 Daughters of the Dragon #1 (of 6) - 17,522
Feb 06 n/a
Mar 06 Daughters of the Dragon #2 (of 6) - 13,256 (-24.3%)
Mar 06 Daughters of the Dragon #3 (of 6) - 12,104 ( -8.7%)
Apr 06 Daughters of the Dragon #4 (of 6) - 11,604 ( -4.1%)
May 06 Daughters of the Dragon #5 (of 6) - 11,164 ( -3.8%)
This is supposed to be leading into the new HEROES FOR HIRE series, and
the creators must be thanking their lucky stars that they've got a CIVIL
WAR tie-in to boost the first few months.
181. NEW MANGAVERSE
May 02 Marvel Mangaverse #2 - 39,292
======
Jan 06 New Mangaverse #1 (of 5) - 14,403
Feb 06 New Mangaverse #2 (of 5) - 11,462 (-20.4%)
Mar 06 New Mangaverse #3 (of 5) - 10,427 ( -9.0%)
Apr 06 New Mangaverse #4 (of 5) - 9,723 ( -6.8%)
May 06 New Mangaverse #5 (of 5) - 9,503 ( -2.3%)
Past time to put this concept to bed, I think.
189. DOC SAMSON
Jan 06 Doc Samson #1 (of 5) - 18,240
Feb 06 Doc Samson #2 (of 5) - 13,230 (-27.5%)
Mar 06 Doc Samson #3 (of 5) - 10,827 (-18.2%)
Apr 06 Doc Samson #4 (of 5) - 9,621 (-11.1%)
May 06 Doc Samson #5 (of 5) - 8,738 ( -9.2%)
Horrendously bad sales, losing more than half its readers over the
course of the run.
196. UNDERWORLD
Feb 06 Underworld #1 (of 5) - 12,479
Mar 06 Underworld #2 (of 5) - 11,134 (-10.8%)
Apr 06 Underworld #3 (of 5) - 8,667 (-22.2%)
May 06 Underworld #4 (of 5) - 8,158 ( -5.9%)
Well, it's levelling out, but that's not much comfort when you're in the
four digit range. Of course, it's hard to see what more they can expect
from a book with no big star creators, no big star characters, and no
publicity.
And now, the books aimed largely at the digest audience, where the
direct market sales don't really matter:-
210. SPIDER-MAN LOVES MARY JANE
Dec 05 Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane #1 - 11,171
Jan 06 Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane #2 - 8,590 (-23.1%)
Feb 06 Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane #3 - 7,648 (-11.0%)
Mar 06 Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane #4 - 7,672 ( +0.3%)
Apr 06 Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane #5 - 7,165 ( -6.6%)
May 06 Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane #6 - 7,069 ( -1.3%)
213. AVENGERS & POWER PACK ASSEMBLE!
Apr 06 Avengers & Power Pack Assemble #1 (of 4) - 7,857
May 06 Avengers & Power Pack Assemble #2 (of 4) - 6,613 (-15.8%)
222. MARVEL ADVENTURES SPIDER-MAN
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%)
Oct 05 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #8 - 7,088 ( -1.5%)
Nov 05 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #9 - 6,637 ( -6.4%)
Dec 05 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #10 - 6,391 ( -3.7%)
Jan 06 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #11 - 6,107 ( -4.4%)
Feb 06 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #12 - 6,087 ( -0.3%)
Mar 06 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #13 - 5,899 ( -3.1%)
Apr 06 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #14 - 5,970 ( +1.2%)
May 06 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #15 - 6,165 ( +3.3%)
6 mnth ( -7.1%)
1 year (-32.3%)
245. 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%)
Oct 05 Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #5 - 5,969 ( -1.6%)
Nov 05 Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #6 - 5,522 ( -7.5%)
Dec 05 Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #7 - 5,058 ( -8.4%)
Jan 06 Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #8 - 4,834 ( -4.4%)
Feb 06 Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #9 - 4,711 ( -2.5%)
Mar 06 Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #10 - 4,663 ( -1.0%)
Apr 06 Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #11 - 4,526 ( -2.9%)
May 06 Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #12 - 4,836 ( +6.8%)
6 mnth (-12.4%)
1 year (-50.3%)
And finally...
252. MARVEL ROMANCE REDUX
Feb 06 But He Said He Loved Me - 7,070
Mar 06 Guys & Doll - 6,150 (-13.0%)
Apr 06 Restraining Orders Are For Other Girls - 4,359 (-29.1%)
May 06 I Should Have Been Blonde - 4,473 ( +2.6%)
Levelling out, but at a horribly low level.
Skip months
===========
ASTONISHING X-MEN
May 04 Astonishing X-Men #1 - 209,389
======
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 - 134,693 ( +5.4%)
Sep 05 n/a
Oct 05 n/a
Nov 05 n/a
Dec 05 n/a
Jan 06 n/a
Feb 06 Astonishing X-Men #13 - 147,119 ( +9.2%)
Mar 06 n/a
Apr 06 Astonishing X-Men #14 - 119,545 (-18.7%)
May 06 n/a
Bimonthly.
ULTIMATE WOLVERINE VS HULK
Dec 05 Ultimate Wolverine vs Hulk #1 (of 6) - 115,492
Jan 06 n/a
Feb 06 Ultimate Wolverine vs Hulk #2 (of 6) - 105,770 (-8.4%)
Mar 06 n/a
Apr 06 n/a
May 06 n/a
Late. The "Director's Cut" reprint of issues #1-2 charts at number 133
with orders of 15,938.
ULTIMATES
May 02 Ultimates #5 - 102,524
May 03 Ultimates #10 - 105,546
May 04 n/a
======
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%)
Oct 05 n/a
Nov 05 n/a
Dec 05 Ultimates 2 #9 - 94,493 ( -1.5%)
Jan 06 n/a
Feb 06 n/a
Mar 06 Ultimates 2 #10 - 94,900 ( +0.4%)
Apr 06 n/a
May 06 n/a
Late.
FANTASTIC FOUR
May 01 Fantastic Four #43 - 50,311
May 02 Fantastic Four #55 - 43,563
May 03 Fantastic Four #69 - 52,103
May 04 Fantastic Four #513 - 50,936
======
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%)
Oct 05 n/a
Nov 05 Fantastic Four #532 - 47,771 ( -4.0%)
Dec 05 Fantastic Four #533 - 46,751 ( -2.1%)
Jan 05 n/a
Feb 06 Fantastic Four #534 - 44,573 ( -4.7%)
Feb 06 Fantastic Four #535 - 43,124 ( -3.3%)
Mar 06 Fantastic Four #536 - 79,680 (+84.8%)
Apr 06 Fantastic Four #537 - 78,160 ( -1.9%)
May 06 n/a
Skip month, oddly enough. Issues #536 and #537 pick up reorders of
18,681 and 15,220 respectively, partly because of a CIVIL WAR tie-in but
mainly because of variant covers by Bryan Hitch on the second printings.
YOUNG AVENGERS
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 - 67,036 ( -2.5%)
Oct 05 Young Avengers #8 - 63,873 ( -4.7%)
Nov 05 Young Avengers #9 - 63,213 ( -1.0%)
Dec 05 n/a
Jan 06 n/a
Feb 06 Young Avengers #10 - 56,347 (-10.9%)
Mar 06 n/a
Apr 06 Young Avengers #11 - 56,613 ( +0.5%)
May 06 n/a
Late.
MARVEL ZOMBIES
Dec 05 Marvel Zombies #1 (of 5) - 85,547
Jan 06 Marvel Zombies #2 (of 5) - 55,197 (-35.5%)
Feb 06 Marvel Zombies #3 (of 5) - 59,932 ( +8.6%)
Mar 06 Marvel Zombies #4 (of 5) - 60,399 ( +0.8%)
Apr 06 Marvel Zombies #5 (of 5) - 64,156 ( +6.2%)
Finished last month, but it's still raking in the re-orders. This
month, issue #1 ships another 14,215 copies, and issue #5 ships 11,195.
Absolutely staggering success.
DAREDEVIL: FATHER
May 05 n/a
Jun 05 n/a
Jul 05 n/a
Aug 05 Father #2 (of 5) - 39,745 (-42.8%)
Sep 05 Father #3 (of 5) - 37,571 ( -5.5%)
Oct 05 n/a
Nov 05 Father #4 (of 5) - 33,562 (-10.7%)
Dec 05 Father #5 (of 6) - 30,249 ( -9.9%)
Jan 06 n/a
Feb 06 n/a
Mar 06 n/a
Apr 06 n/a
May 06 n/a
Late.
X-MEN UNLIMITED
May 02 X-Men Unlimited #36 - 39,998
May 03 X-Men Unlimited #
46 - 35,547
May 04 n/a
======
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
Oct 05 X-Men Unlimited #11 - 23,344 ( -1.6%)
Nov 05 n/a
Dec 05 X-Men Unlimited #12 - 22,134 ( -5.2%)
Jan 06 n/a
Feb 06 X-Men Unlimited #13 - 25,257 (+14.1%)
Mar 06 n/a
Apr 06 X-Men Unlimited #14 - 22,749 ( -9.9%)
May 06 n/a
Bimonthly.
FOUR
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%)
Oct 05 Marvel Knights 4 #23 - 25,100 ( -5.1%)
Nov 05 Marvel Knights 4 #24 - 24,129 ( -3.9%)
Dec 05 Marvel Knights 4 #25 - 22,753 ( -5.7%)
Jan 06 Marvel Knights 4 #26 - 21,365 ( -6.1%)
Feb 06 Marvel Knights 4 #27 - 20,977 ( -1.8%)
Mar 06 Four #28 - 20,976 ( -0.0%)
Apr 06 Four #29 - 21,233 ( +1.2%)
May 06 n/a
Late, and axed with issue #30.
KABUKI
May 05 n/a
Jun 05 n/a
Aug 05 n/a
Sep 05 n/a
Oct 05 Kabuki #5 - 11,420 (-20.3%)
Nov 05 n/a
Dec 05 n/a
Jan 06 n/a
Feb 06 Kabuki #6 - 11,349 ( -0.6%)
Mar 06 n/a
Apr 06 n/a
May 06 n/a
This is the point where I normally say that KABUKI comes out when it's
ready. But KABUKI #7 was solicited for May, so this time, it's actually
late.
MARVEL SPOTLIGHT
Dec 05 John Cassaday & Sean McKeever - 9,763
Jan 06 Warren Ellis & Jim Cheung - 6,843 (-29.9%)
Feb 06 Joss Whedon & Michael Lark - 5,947 (-13.1%)
Mar 06 David Finch & Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa - 4,146 (-30.3%)
Apr 06 Daniel Way & Olivier Coipel - 3,309 (-20.2%)
May 06 n/a
Late. It's a CIVIL WAR issue, which should presumably boost sales. But
then again, Joss Whedon didn't boost sales, and nor did David Finch, the
man who added thousands of sales to SPIDER-MAN UNLIMITED. So you never
know. If MARVEL SPOTLIGHT does continue to drop at this rate, there's a
real risk of it disappearing off the bottom of the charts altogether.
This month's number 300 book was LOONEY TUNES #138, with orders of
2,774.
6 month comparisons
===================
+46.5% - Ultimate Fantastic Four
+38.6% - She-Hulk
+17.5% - Incredible Hulk
+ 8.2% - Daredevil
+ 8.1% - Cable & Deadpool
+ 7.5% - Spider-Man Unlimited
+ 5.8% - Amazing Spider-Man
+ 4.4% - X-Men
+ 3.8% - Captain America
+ 0.8% - Spider-Girl
- 0.3% - Exiles
- 0.8% - Wolverine
- 2.7% - Ultimate X-Men
- 2.2% - New Avengers
- 4.2% - Uncanny X-Men
- 4.3% - Ultimate Spider-Man
- 4.4% - Punisher
- 5.6% - Thunderbolts
- 7.1% - Marvel Adventures Spider-Man
- 7.2% - Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe
- 7.4% - Runaways
- 9.5% - Powers
-12.2% - Black Panther
-12.4% - Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four
-28.1% - Marvel Team-Up
-28.3% - Sensational Spider-Man
-32.6% - New X-Men
-33.6% - New Excalibur
-33.9% - X-Men: Deadly Genesis
-35.1% - Thing
-35.2% - Books of Doom
-46.3% - Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man
1 year comparisons
==================
+43.5% - Ultimate Fantastic Four
+25.5% - Amazing Spider-Man
+15.6% - Wolverine
+14.4% - New X-Men
+ 6.3% - Incredible Hulk
+ 3.3% - Cable & Deadpool
- 0.4% - Exiles
- 1.6% - Daredevil
- 1.9% - X-Men
- 3.9% - Spider-Man Unlimited
- 5.0% - Uncanny X-Men
- 5.5% - Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe
- 5.9% - Squadron Supreme
- 8.3% - Sensational Spider-Man
- 9.2% - Ultimate Spider-Man
- 9.3% - Punisher
-11.1% - Ultimate X-Men
-12.5% - Spider-Girl
-14.5% - Thunderbolts
-14.7% - Powers
-17.7% - Runaways
-20.3% - Captain America
-22.4% - Marvel Team-Up
-25.1% - New Avengers
-26.0% - X-Men: The End
-31.2% - Black Panther
-32.3% - Marvel Adventures Spider-Man
-50.3% - Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four
2 year comparisons
==================
+121.4% - New Avengers
+ 47.7% - She-Hulk
+ 37.6% - Iron Man
+ 36.1% - Wolverine
+ 24.4% - Captain America
+ 23.5% - Runaways
+ 16.6% - Amazing Spider-Man
+ 2.6% - Incredible Hulk
- 11.3% - Daredevil
- 12.5% - Spider-Girl
- 12.6% - Exiles
- 19.1% - Ultimate Spider-Man
- 22.3% - Squadron Supreme
- 25.3% - Ultimate X-Men
- 25.8% - X-Men
- 29.0% - Punisher
- 29.2% - Uncanny X-Men
- 30.3% - Cable & Deadpool
- 36.1% - Dead Girl / X-Statix
- 45.8% - Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe
- 47.1% - Sensational Spider-Man
- 47.6% - New X-Men
- 48.6% - Spider-Man Unlimited
3 year comparisons
==================
+112.3% - New Avengers
+ 71.5% - Black Panther
+ 20.2% - Thunderbolts
+ 17.0% - Iron Man
+ 2.2% - Runaways
- 0.2% - Amazing Spider-Man
- 5.2% - Captain America
- 8.9% - Exiles
- 13.8% - Punisher
- 16.2% - Uncanny X-Men
- 17.0% - X-Men
- 21.9% - Daredevil
- 22.4% - Ultimate X-Men
- 23.3% - Spider-Girl
- 24.2% - Incredible Hulk
- 29.6% - Ultimate Spider-Man
- 29.7% - New X-Men / New Mutants
- 41.1% - Wolverine
--
Paul O'Brien
THE X-AXIS - http://www.thexaxis.com
IF DESTROYED - http://ifdestroyed.blogspot.com
NINTH ART - http://www.ninthart.com
Sean Walsh
>
>
> 13. ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR
> 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%)
> Oct 05 Ultimate Fantastic Four #24 - 70,549 ( -1.3%)
> Nov 05 Ultimate Fantastic Four #25 - 70,032 ( -0.7%)
> Dec 05 Ultimate Fantastic Four #26 - 69,689 ( -0.5%)
> Jan 06 n/a
> Feb 06 Ultimate Fantastic Four #27 - 67,922 ( -2.5%)
> Mar 06 Ultimate Fantastic Four #28 - 67,480 ( -0.7%)
> Apr 06 Ultimate Fantastic Four #29 - 67,554 ( +0.1%)
> May 06 Ultimate Fantastic Four #30 - 102,582 (+51.9%)
> 6 mnth (+46.5%)
> 1 year (+43.5%)
>
> There's a variant cover here, but the increase is surely too big for
> that to be the sole cause. The other obvious factor is that this is the
> first part of "Frightful", featuring the zombie Fantastic Four. The
> earlier zombie storyline spawned the surprise hit MARVEL ZOMBIES
> miniseries, so presumably retailers are racking up the orders in the
> hope of similar good news.
Y'know, this really says a lot about the success of MARVEL ZOMBIES.
Remember, the original attraction of that UFF story last July was that
it was a supposed crossover with the 616 Marvel Universe; but instead,
whoops, it's a similar Earth but full of zombies.
Then Marvel Zombies hits the scene, picking up after the original story
ended (and sales fell back to their usual levels) and BAM! not only do
those sales dramatically increase to levels certainly not expected, but
now a return to that zombie concept (now set in the UFF universe) lifts
sales up to beyond where they went the first time.
If the doubters were looking for something that should absolutely
cement another zombies project, it should be this - MARVEL ZOMBIES
managing to increase sales on a different book.
> 146. MARVEL LEGACY HANDBOOKS
> Feb 06 1960s Handbook - 12,957
> Mar 06 n/a
> Apr 06 n/a
> May 06 1970s Handbook - 14,161 (+9.3%)
>
> Either there's more interest in the 70s, or the appeal of the 60s
> HANDBOOK was underestimated. I suspect it's more likely to be the
> latter.
There was a cow on the cover of the 70's book.
It's like that old rule about gorillas on comic covers.
Only with cows.
Make Moo Marvel!
(Sean takes his meds now........mmmm...)
> 222. MARVEL ADVENTURES SPIDER-MAN
> 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%)
> Oct 05 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #8 - 7,088 ( -1.5%)
> Nov 05 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #9 - 6,637 ( -6.4%)
> Dec 05 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #10 - 6,391 ( -3.7%)
> Jan 06 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #11 - 6,107 ( -4.4%)
> Feb 06 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #12 - 6,087 ( -0.3%)
> Mar 06 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #13 - 5,899 ( -3.1%)
> Apr 06 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #14 - 5,970 ( +1.2%)
> May 06 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #15 - 6,165 ( +3.3%)
> 6 mnth ( -7.1%)
> 1 year (-32.3%)
According to Quesada, this is their best selling book thru
subscriptions. Do these sales charts even account for those sales?
> 252. MARVEL ROMANCE REDUX
> Feb 06 But He Said He Loved Me - 7,070
> Mar 06 Guys & Doll - 6,150 (-13.0%)
> Apr 06 Restraining Orders Are For Other Girls - 4,359 (-29.1%)
> May 06 I Should Have Been Blonde - 4,473 ( +2.6%)
>
> Levelling out, but at a horribly low level.
I'm kinda surprised they didn't axe the final issue, with sales so low
(the trend certainly exists). But again, must've been rather cheap to
do this series anyway...
--
Sean
Billy Bissette
news:Th7TP8Ca...@esoterica.demon.co.uk:
>
> MARVEL SALES
> MAY 2006
> ============
>
> Nitpickers might point out that 52 is returnable, raising the
> possibility of phantom sales. But by all accounts that book has been
> shifting nicely, so the sales shown on the chart are probably for
> real.
Local shop owner said he thinks he may have over ordered only starting
around issue 5 or 6, I forget which one exactly. 1-4 certainly sold
well enough for him, and he wasn't ordering small amounts.
> 1. CIVIL WAR
> May 06 Civil War #1 (of 7) - 260,804
>
> It's a spectacular debut and a huge success by any sensible standard.
Civil War is interesting... I've heard plenty of people showing
interest in it, but at the same time I've been hearing people say they
expect 52 to be the better series. (Mind, I've also heard some saying
52 is garbage and that Civil War will be much better. But I've been
hearing 52 support from some somewhat less biased people.)
Just interesting to see the differences... And the receptions...
> 14. AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
>
> Can you really talk about a fourteen-month artificial boost?
Uhm, yes? Certainly worth continuing to mention them.
And it is an extended run on artificial boosts, with variations
continually thrown into the mix to keep people buying. I wouldn't
be surprised to see some excuse for multiple covers be thrown in at
some point, or some other major revelation to come through Civil
War or immediately afterwards, to keep the boost running.
The big question to ask is how will this affect readers. Will
Amazing Spider-Man drop hard at the end of Civil War, or will it
stay semi-strong? The latter would likely lead Marvel to try the
same trick with other books.
Although it will be hard to judge just how much it should drop,
even then... There was a 20k bump with #525, which immediately
started eroding. Then a near 10k bump with #528. Then a 33k
bump on #529 that immediately almost vanishes, as #530 is less than
2k over #528. And then the book is down to "only" 24k above where
it was when this all started (while it peaked at nearly 60k over.)
If you account for expected decline, it is a bit better than
that, as the book was losing about 1k per month before #525. If that
trend had continued (and it is really only a question of when it might
slow,) then the book is currently well more thank 24k above where it
otherwise would have been. Without even considering potential further
reorders.
> 40. SQUADRON SUPREME
>
> SQUADRON SUPREME is already below the final issue of SUPREME POWER,
> and while they certainly haven't done the book any serious harm
> (except by compromising its content in the hope of getting higher
> sales), the stated aim of this relaunch was, quite openly, to boost
> sales. It's failed.
They might have done serious harm. It will take a few more months
of sales figures to see, though. We haven't seen how fast the
book will continue to drop readers.
There is also the question of trade sales to consider. Will they
improve (as wasn't part of the issue that some places didn't want to
stock Supreme Power?,) stay the same, or drop?
> 53,85. SHE-HULK
> May 06 She-Hulk #7 - 26,561 ( -0.3%)
> May 06 She-Hulk #8 - 43,812 (+64.9%)
>
> Two issues this month. One of them is a CIVIL WAR crossover. Can you
> guess which? Hint: it's the highest selling issue of the series to
> date. And that's counting the previous volume too.
Considering two books shipping in the same month have almost no drop
under normal circumstances, this is about as good as it gets in
comparing how much Civil War boosted She-Hulk.
Hrm... If She-Hulk weren't doing such low numbers to begin with, I'd
wonder if Civil War actually managed to slightly help #7 as well...
The drop from #6 to #7 is almost non-existant compared to what the
prior months were shedding, and with two issues in one month, maybe a
few owners figured a few people picking up #8 might also pick up a #7
that was still on the shelf...
> 63. NEW EXCALIBUR
>
> Not really levelling out, and it's hard to see how months of fill-in
> stories caused by Chris Claremont's health problems are going to help.
Depends on whether or not they do better than Claremont...
Questionable on whether the book was going to last *with* Claremont
anyway. His dedicated base has to be shrinking.
> 107. OFFICIAL HANDBOOK OF THE MARVEL UNIVERSE
>
> And given the obscure characters being covered in this series, it
> seems there are 21,000 fairly hardcore continuity fans out there.
Or just curious fans.
> 137. X-STATIX PRESENTS DEAD GIRL
>
> A disappointing performance given that X-STATIX used to do much
> better.
If I happened to have liked it as I liked X-Statix, I would have
continued to buy it after the first issue.
I didn't, and thus didn't.
kathaven
Billy Bissette wrote:
> Paul O'Brien <pa...@esoterica.demon.co.uk> wrote in
> news:Th7TP8Ca...@esoterica.demon.co.uk:
>
> >
> > MARVEL SALES
> > MAY 2006
> > ============
> >
> > Nitpickers might point out that 52 is returnable, raising the
> > possibility of phantom sales. But by all accounts that book has been
> > shifting nicely, so the sales shown on the chart are probably for
> > real.
>
> Local shop owner said he thinks he may have over ordered only starting
> around issue 5 or 6, I forget which one exactly. 1-4 certainly sold
> well enough for him, and he wasn't ordering small amounts.
>
afterwards. I actually ordered a restock of #1 in the hope of
generating a few sales on the rest.
Dave Brzeski
Jim Connick
"Sean Walsh" wrote
>> 146. MARVEL LEGACY HANDBOOKS
>> Feb 06 1960s Handbook - 12,957
>> Mar 06 n/a
>> Apr 06 n/a
>> May 06 1970s Handbook - 14,161 (+9.3%)
>>
>> Either there's more interest in the 70s, or the appeal of the 60s
>> HANDBOOK was underestimated. I suspect it's more likely to be the
>> latter.
>
> There was a cow on the cover of the 70's book.
>
Not just a cow, a Hellcow!
Think what the numbers will be like on the regular handbook when it gets to
Spider-Ham.
>> 222. MARVEL ADVENTURES SPIDER-MAN
>> 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%)
>> Oct 05 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #8 - 7,088 ( -1.5%)
>> Nov 05 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #9 - 6,637 ( -6.4%)
>> Dec 05 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #10 - 6,391 ( -3.7%)
>> Jan 06 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #11 - 6,107 ( -4.4%)
>> Feb 06 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #12 - 6,087 ( -0.3%)
>> Mar 06 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #13 - 5,899 ( -3.1%)
>> Apr 06 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #14 - 5,970 ( +1.2%)
>> May 06 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #15 - 6,165 ( +3.3%)
>> 6 mnth ( -7.1%)
>> 1 year (-32.3%)
>
> According to Quesada, this is their best selling book thru
> subscriptions. Do these sales charts even account for those sales?
Nah, these charts are just the direct market, ie comic shops. No
subscriptions or newsstand sales.
Marc-Oliver Frisch
: Nah, these charts are just the direct market, ie comic shops. No
: subscriptions or newsstand sales.
If anyone has an issue of MARVEL ADVENTURES: SPIDER-MAN with a "Statement of
Ownership" handy, though (presuming there is one), you can look up the number of
subscriptions -- both an average for the previous year and the actual number for
a recent issue.
--
Marc-Oliver Frisch
POPP'D! >> http://poppd.blogspot.com
COMIKADO << http://comikado.blogspot.com
SUPERCRITICAL >> http://supercritic.blogspot.com
If we didn't exist, Grant Morrison would have to invent us.
--
[This is a Usenet message, posted to the rec.arts.comics.* groups.]
Paul O'Brien
Walsh <sean...@gmail.com> writes
>
>According to Quesada, this is their best selling book thru
>subscriptions. Do these sales charts even account for those sales?
No, this is purely the Diamond sales chart. Direct market sales in
North America.
Samy Merchi
> No, this is purely the Diamond sales chart. Direct market sales in
> North America.
Diamond ships worldwide, doesn't it? Not just North America?
--
Samy Merchi
I make comics! | http://www.retcomics.com | Retroactive Comics
Old school superheroes, old school stories!
No gritty, no trenchcoats, no decompression!
First issue aiming for late 2006.
Ralf Haring
wrote:
>Paul O'Brien <pa...@esoterica.demon.co.uk> wrote in
>
>> No, this is purely the Diamond sales chart. Direct market sales in
>> North America.
>
>Diamond ships worldwide, doesn't it? Not just North America?
The sales charts only count North America.
-Ralf Haring
"The mind must be the harder, the heart the keener,
the spirit the greater, as our strength grows less."
-Byrhtwold, The Battle of Maldon
Jim Connick
> 120. MARVEL TEAM-UP
> 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%)
> Oct 05 Marvel Team-Up #13 - 21,048 ( -0.9%)
> Nov 05 Marvel Team-Up #14 - 26,200 (+24.5%)
> Dec 05 Marvel Team-Up #15 - 20,000 (-23.7%)
> Jan 06 Marvel Team-Up #16 - 19,955 ( -0.2%)
> Feb 06 Marvel Team-Up #17 - 19,422 ( -2.7%)
> Mar 06 Marvel Team-Up #18 - 18,944 ( -2.5%)
> Apr 06 Marvel Team-Up #19 - 19,891 ( +5.0%)
> May 06 Marvel Team-Up #20 - 18,843 ( -5.3%)
> 6 mnth (-28.1%)
> 1 year (-22.4%)
>
> Surprisingly, still not cancelled despite stubbornly poor sales.
Done with issue 25, according to Marte Garcia, the colourist in Billy
Tucci's Newsara,a column.
"I'm colouring Marvel Team Up, this book is nothing but FUN, FUN, FUN. It's
written by Robert Kirkman and has been drawn by many artists during its two
year run like Scott Kollins, Paco Medina and now Roger Cruz. I've had the
chance to colour many characters I like - the book ends on issue #25, and
Robert is cooking an amazing ending for this series, so if you have a chance
grab the book! "
Shawn H
wrote:
: > 137. X-STATIX PRESENTS DEAD GIRL
: >
: > A disappointing performance given that X-STATIX used to do much
: > better.
: If I happened to have liked it as I liked X-Statix, I would have
: continued to buy it after the first issue.
: I didn't, and thus didn't.
I did and did. Milligan writes a very funny Dr. Strange. I can only hope
that Vaughan's new series maintains some of that witty charm. I can't stand
imperious bossy Dr. Strange, as Bendis and Busiek have written.
Shawn H.