Marvel sales - January 2005
Paul O'Brien
JANUARY 2005
============
Marvel get off to a flying start with the first chart of 2005, sweeping
the top 13 and holding 20 out of the top 25. This might at first seem
like a remarkable achievement. In fact, the success is a little more
modest than it appears. In December 2004, DC had five books in the top
10 - IDENTITY CRISIS, SUPERMAN/BATMAN (twice), GREEN LANTERN: REBIRTH
and SUPERMAN. None of those books shipped in January. IDENTITY CRISIS
is finished; the others are just late. And let's face it, it's not that
hard to sweep the top ten when DC fail to ship any of their most popular
titles.
But this does illustrate a slightly different side to Marvel's success.
Over the last couple of years DC has managed to get a handful of books
into the top of the charts. But most of their superhero line continues
to lag below Marvel's. The average Marvel superhero book sells rather
better than the average DC book. Take away the top three DC titles, and
that becomes very clear
Anyhow. If Marvel had realised that DC weren't going to show up for a
fight in January, they might have gone for a big launch or something
along those lines. Instead, it's the first wave of Marvel Next - which
means an X-23 miniseries, and the relaunch of ARAÑA. There's also the
X-MEN: PHOENIX miniseries, and an assortment of lower-profile minis.
And that's about it.
As always, thanks to Milton Griepp and ICV2 for permission to use their
figures for these calculations. Their original figures can be found at:
http://www.icv2.com/articles/home/1850.html
1. NEW AVENGERS / AVENGERS
Jan Avengers #77 - ??,??? ( ??? )
Feb Avengers #78 - 58,798 ( +2.3%)
Feb Avengers #79 - 55,014 ( -6.4%)
Mar Avengers #80 - 55,533 ( +0.9%)
Apr Avengers #81 - 54,987 ( -1.0%)
May Avengers #82 - 55,711 ( +1.3%)
May Avengers #83 - 55,280 ( -0.8%)
Jun Avengers #84 - 57,083 ( +3.3%)
Jul Avengers #500 - 140,033 (+145.3%)
Aug n/a
Sep Avengers #501 - 91,054 ( -35.0%)
Sep Avengers #502 - 93,105 ( +2.3%)
Oct n/a
Nov Avengers #503 - 105,761 ( +13.6%)
Nov Avengers Finale - 101,431 ( -4.1%)
Dec New Avengers #1 - 280,286 (+176.3%)
Jan New Avengers #2 - 153,751 ( -45.1%)
6 mnth ( +9.8%)
1 year (+116.1%)
NEW AVENGERS falls back drastically with its second issue, but 153,751
still allows it to claim the top spot with 40,000 sales to spare.
Besides, the numbers for issue #1 are artificially inflated by the
Director's Cut edition. The regular version only did 240,724, which
makes that drop-off look slightly better. It's still comfortably ahead
of the sales for AVENGERS #500, and in a completely different league
from pre-relaunch numbers. Plenty to be happy about here.
If you're wondering about the blank number for issue #77, that was a
low-priced gimmick issue. Comics with a token cover price don't appear
on the chart, because they're regarded as closer to promotional freebies
than proper products. Consequently, we don't know how many copies it
sold. The one-year comparison is drawn with the first issue from
February 2004 instead.
In a generally quiet month on the charts, a lot of re-orders creep into
the bottom end of the top 300. NEW AVENGERS #1 shows up at number 283
on the charts, with reorders of 797. The Director's Cut edition turns
up at number 299, with reorders of 692. All of which makes virtually no
difference to numbers of this scale, but I've included them anyway in
the figures above.
2. ULTIMATES
Jan n/a
Feb n/a
Mar Ultimates #13 - 102,994 ( -1.5%)
Apr n/a
May n/a
Jun n/a
Jul n/a
Aug n/a
Sep n/a
Oct n/a
Nov n/a
Dec Ultimates 2 #1 - 146,271 (+42.0%)
Jan Ultimates 2 #2 - 113,379 (-22.5%)
6 mnth ( n/a )
1 year ( n/a )
ULTIMATES also falls back with its second issue, and looks to be heading
for roughly the same levels that the first series achieved. Marvel
should be entirely happy with that.
3. X-MEN: PHOENIX - ENDSONG
Jan X-Men: Phoenix - Endsong #1 (of 5) - 108,466
Very impressive numbers for an X-books miniseries. Remember, the line
is no longer the juggernaut that it once was - look at the sales of some
of the recent spin-off titles. Presumably Greg Land is the big draw
here, coupled with the promise of important plot developments. It's
actually rather good, too, so I'm pleasantly surprised to see it selling
so well.
4,5. ULTIMATE X-MEN
Jan Ultimate X-Men #41 - 99,532 ( -4.7%)
Feb Ultimate X-Men #42 - 97,299 ( -2.2%)
Mar Ultimate X-Men #43 - 97,002 ( -0.3%)
Apr Ultimate X-Men #44 - 96,264 ( -0.8%)
May Ultimate X-Men #45 - 96,698 ( +0.5%)
May Ultimate X-Men #46 - 96,652 ( -0.0%)
Jun Ultimate X-Men #47 - 95,254 ( -1.4%)
Jun Ultimate X-Men #48 - 94,238 ( -1.1%)
Jul Ultimate X-Men #49 - 93,572 ( -0.7%)
Aug Ultimate X-Men #50 - 103,154 (+10.2%)
Sep Ultimate X-Men #51 - 94,965 ( -7.9%)
Oct Ultimate X-Men #52 - 93,833 ( -1.2%)
Nov Ultimate X-Men #53 - 92,133 ( -1.8%)
Dec n/a
Jan Ultimate X-Men #54 - 90,619 ( -1.6%)
Jan Ultimate X-Men #55 - 87,447 ( -3.5%)
6 mnth ( -6.5%)
1 year (-12.1%)
Continuing the downward drift which has been apparent over the last
year.
6. UNCANNY X-MEN
Jan Uncanny X-Men #437 - 89,897 ( +0.9%)
Jan Uncanny X-Men #438 - 88,490 ( -1.6%)
Feb Uncanny X-Men #439 - 86,259 ( -2.5%)
Feb Uncanny X-Men #440 - 85,712 ( -0.6%)
Mar Uncanny X-Men #441 - 86,431 ( +0.8%)
Apr Uncanny X-Men #442 - 86,975 ( +0.6%)
Apr Uncanny X-Men #443 - 86,002 ( -1.1%)
May Uncanny X-Men #444 - 112,129 (+30.4%)
Jun Uncanny X-Men #445 - 98,660 (-12.0%)
Jul Uncanny X-Men #446 - 96,961 ( -1.7%)
Aug Uncanny X-Men #447 - 95,838 ( -1.2%)
Sep Uncanny X-Men #448 - 95,908 ( +0.1%)
Sep Uncanny X-Men #449 - 93,839 ( -2.2%)
Oct Uncanny X-Men #450 - 101,506 ( +8.2%)
Oct Uncanny X-Men #451 - 99,411 ( -2.1%)
Nov Uncanny X-Men #452 - 92,051 ( -7.4%)
Dec Uncanny X-Men #453 - 89,952 ( -2.3%)
Jan Uncanny X-Men #454 - 87,411 ( -2.8%)
6 mnth ( -9.8%)
1 year ( -2.8%)
And another book moving slowly downwards. In the next couple months, if
this continues, UNCANNY will drop below the level of sales inherited
from Chuck Austen.
7. X-MEN
Jan New X-Men #151 - 124,012 (+12.1%)
Jan New X-Men #152 - 120,638 ( -2.7%)
Feb New X-Men #153 - 116,422 ( -3.5%)
Mar New X-Men #154 - 117,253 ( +0.7%)
Apr New X-Men #155 - 100,088 (-14.6%)
Apr New X-Men #156 - 98,785 ( -1.3%)
May X-Men #157 - 107,185 ( +8.5%)
Jun X-Men #158 - 96,759 ( -9.7%)
Jul X-Men #159 - 93,164 ( -3.7%)
Aug X-Men #160 - 91,790 ( -1.5%)
Sep X-Men #161 - 90,591 ( -1.3%)
Sep X-Men #162 - 90,752 ( +0.2%)
Oct X-Men #163 - 88,615 ( -2.4%)
Nov X-Men #164 - 88,620 ( +0.0%)
Dec X-Men #165 - 86,633 ( -2.2%)
Jan X-Men #166 - 85,934 ( -0.8%)
6 mnth ( -7.8%)
1 year (-30.7%)
Peter Milligan's first issue, but Marvel didn't promote the change of
writer as a big deal. So the existing trend continues.
8. ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN
Jan Ultimate Spider-Man #52 - 95,854 ( -2.3%)
Feb Ultimate Spider-Man #53 - 92,540 ( -3.5%)
Mar Ultimate Spider-Man #54 - 93,025 ( +5.2%)
Mar Ultimate Spider-Man #55 - 91,525 ( -1.6%)
Apr Ultimate Spider-Man #56 - 91,585 ( +0.1%)
Apr Ultimate Spider-Man #57 - 90,784 ( -0.9%)
May Ultimate Spider-Man #58 - 90,963 ( +0.2%)
May Ultimate Spider-Man #59 - 89,863 ( -1.2%)
Jun Ultimate Spider-Man #60 - 104,789 (+16.6%)
Jun Ultimate Spider-Man #61 - 101,159 ( -3.5%)
Jul Ultimate Spider-Man #62 - 98,963 ( -2.2%)
Aug Ultimate Spider-Man #63 - 96,279 ( -2.7%)
Aug Ultimate Spider-Man #64 - 94,682 ( -1.7%)
Sep Ultimate Spider-Man #65 - 94,174 ( -0.5%)
Oct Ultimate Spider-Man #66 - 95,917 ( +1.9%)
Oct Ultimate Spider-Man #67 - 95,071 ( -0.9%)
Nov Ultimate Spider-Man #68 - 91,075 ( -4.2%)
Nov Ultimate Spider-Man #69 - 90,010 ( -1.2%)
Dec Ultimate Spider-Man #70 - 88,960 ( -1.2%)
Jan Ultimate Spider-Man #71 - 83,987 ( -5.6%)
6 mnth (-15.1%)
1 year (-12.4%)
A surprisingly steep drop, and easily the lowest sales that the book's
had in the last year. This was the second half of a two-parter guest
starring Ultimate Doctor Strange, for what it's worth.
9. AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
Jan Amazing Spider-Man #503 - 87,341 ( -3.5%)
Feb Amazing Spider-Man #504 - 84,064 ( -3.7%)
Mar Amazing Spider-Man #505 - 83,613 ( -0.5%)
Apr Amazing Spider-Man #506 - 83,152 ( -0.6%)
May Amazing Spider-Man #507 - 81,944 ( -1.5%)
Jun Amazing Spider-Man #508 - 82,268 ( +0.4%)
Jun Amazing Spider-Man #509 - 101,632 (+23.5%)
Jul Amazing Spider-Man #510 - 86,181 (-15.2%)
Aug Amazing Spider-Man #511 - 88,118 ( +2.2%)
Sep Amazing Spider-Man #512 - 88,628 ( +0.6%)
Oct Amazing Spider-Man #513 - 89,615 ( +1.1%)
Nov Amazing Spider-Man #514 - 87,121 ( -2.8%)
Dec Amazing Spider-Man #515 - 83,637 ( -4.0%)
Jan Amazing Spider-Man #516 - 79,842 ( -4.5%)
6 mnth ( -7.4%)
1 year ( -8.6%)
Issue #515 charts at number 284 with reorders of 797 copies. Meanwhile,
with "Sins Past" over and done with, AMAZING goes straight back to the
important business of shedding readers. This is really just the trend
that was in place before "Sins Past" anyway, and I wouldn't take this as
necessarily validating the claims that people would drop the book at the
end of that controversial storyline. But it's equally clear that the
storyline failed utterly to bring in new readers and keep them - only
two months after the story finished, AMAZING finds itself with its
lowest sales in quite some time.
10. WOLVERINE
Jan Wolverine #10 - 71,374 ( -4.4%)
Feb Wolverine #11 - 69,686 ( -2.4%)
Mar Wolverine #12 - 69,815 ( +0.2%)
Apr Wolverine #13 - 71,060 ( +1.8%)
Apr Wolverine #14 - 70,881 ( -0.3%)
May Wolverine #15 - 68,728 ( -3.0%)
Jun Wolverine #16 - 67,519 ( -1.8%)
Jul Wolverine #17 - 66,589 ( -1.4%)
Aug Wolverine #18 - 65,304 ( -1.9%)
Sep Wolverine #19 - 65,046 ( -0.4%)
Oct Wolverine #20 - 118,553 (+82.3%)
Oct Wolverine #21 - 85,760 (-27.7%)
Nov Wolverine #22 - 81,841 ( -4.6%)
Dec Wolverine #23 - 82,525 ( +0.8%)
Jan Wolverine #24 - 79,831 ( -3.3%)
6 mnth (+19.9%)
1 year (+11.8%)
Daredevil guest stars, and the Millar/Romita WOLVERINE remains
comfortably ahead of the previous run. Meanwhile, issue #23 appears at
number 218 with orders of 1,847, turning it into a slight climber.
11. WOLVERINE: THE END
Jan Wolverine: The End #2 (of 6) - 100,111 (-13.9%)
Feb n/a
Mar n/a
Apr Wolverine: The End #3 (of 6) - 93,131 ( -7.0%)
May n/a
Jun Wolverine: The End #4 (of 6) - 83,947 ( -9.9%)
Jul n/a
Aug n/a
Sep Wolverine: The End #5 (of 6) - 79,578 ( -5.2%)
Oct n/a
Nov n/a
Dec n/a
Jan Wolverine: The End #6 (of 6) - 74,730 ( -6.1%)
6 mnth (-11.0%)
1 year (-25.4%)
Finally crawling to a conclusion. If you ignore how stretched out they
are, these are actually perfectly respectable numbers for a miniseries.
12. ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR
Jan Ultimate Fantastic Four #2 - 126,693 (-32.8%)
Feb Ultimate Fantastic Four #3 - 109,801 (-13.3%)
Mar Ultimate Fantastic Four #4 - 108,396 ( -1.3%)
Apr Ultimate Fantastic Four #5 - 104,063 ( -4.0%)
May n/a
Jun Ultimate Fantastic Four #6 - 100,972 ( -3.0%)
Jun Ultimate Fantastic Four #7 - 99,445 ( -1.5%)
Jun Ultimate Fantastic Four #8 - 96,694 ( -2.8%)
Jul Ultimate Fantastic Four #9 - 94,094 ( -2.7%)
Aug Ultimate Fantastic Four #10 - 90,670 ( -3.6%)
Sep Ultimate Fantastic Four #11 - 87,620 ( -3.4%)
Oct n/a
Nov Ultimate Fantastic Four #12 - 84,417 ( -3.7%)
Nov Ultimate Fantastic Four #13 - 109,997 (+30.3%)
Dec Ultimate Fantastic Four #14 - 78,717 (-28.4%)
Jan Ultimate Fantastic Four #15 - 74,501 ( -5.4%)
6 mnth (-20.8%)
1 year (-41.2%)
Issue #13 was clearly just a blip - otherwise, the downward course
continues unimpeded.
13,20. X-23
Jan X-23 #1 (of 6) - 68,339
Jan X-23 #2 (of 6) - 56,367 (-17.5%)
The first of the Marvel Next books. Promotion has clearly paid off here
- X-23 debuts with sales far above those of parent book NYX, which
normally does around 35K. Well, when it actually turns up. X-23 sold
more than twice as many copies as its fellow Marvel Next book ARAÑA, by
the way.
16. MARVEL KNIGHTS SPIDER-MAN
Apr Marvel Knights Spider-Man #1 - 137,314
May Marvel Knights Spider-Man #2 - 99,320 (-27.7%)
Jun Marvel Knights Spider-Man #3 - 82,715 (-16.7%)
Jul Marvel Knights Spider-Man #4 - 75,508 ( -8.7%)
Aug Marvel Knights Spider-Man #5 - 75,562 ( +0.1%)
Sep Marvel Knights Spider-Man #6 - 71,492 ( -5.4%)
Oct Marvel Knights Spider-Man #7 - 69,918 ( -2.2%)
Nov Marvel Knights Spider-Man #8 - 68,290 ( -2.3%)
Dec Marvel Knights Spider-Man #9 - 64,461 ( -5.6%)
Jan Marvel Knights Spider-Man #10 - 61,831 ( -4.1%)
6 mnth (-18.1%)
Falling, but there's only two issues of Millar's run to go, so it's
going to sustain a decent level of sales throughout.
17. X-MEN/FANTASTIC FOUR
Dec X-Men/Fantastic Four #1 (of 5) - 74,515
Jan X-Men/Fantastic Four #2 (of 5) - 60,465 (-18.9%)
A rather stiff drop, but then the book's taken a general hammering from
critics and readers alike.
21. CAPTAIN AMERICA
Jan Captain America #22 - 41,266 ( -4.1%)
Feb Captain America #23 - 39,695 ( -3.8%)
Mar Captain America #24 - 39,168 ( -1.3%)
Apr Captain America #25 - 38,584 ( -1.5%)
May Captain America #26 - 37,558 ( -2.7%)
Jun Captain America #27 - 36,212 ( -3.6%)
Jun Captain America #28 - 35,664 ( -1.5%)
Jul Captain America #29 - 40,221 (+12.8%)
Aug Captain America #30 - 38,464 ( -4.4%)
Sep Captain America #31 - 37,128 ( -3.5%)
Oct Captain America #32 - 37,309 ( +0.5%)
Nov Captain America #1 - 67,225 (+80.2%)
Dec n/a
Jan Captain America #2 - 53,306 (-20.7%)
6 mnth (+32.5%)
1 year (+29.2%)
Again, a slightly stiff drop for this second issue. But the book is
miles ahead of previous levels, and for the moment, these are still
numbers that Marvel should be happy with. Reaction has been good, as
well.
23,25. SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN
Jan Spectacular Spider-Man #9 - 58,711 ( -6.4%)
Feb Spectacular Spider-Man #10 - 55,746 ( -5.1%)
Mar Spectacular Spider-Man #11 - 54,066 ( -3.0%)
Mar Spectacular Spider-Man #12 - 53,549 ( -1.0%)
Apr Spectacular Spider-Man #13 - 52,835 ( -1.3%)
May Spectacular Spider-Man #14 - 51,036 ( -3.4%)
Jun Spectacular Spider-Man #15 - 50,997 ( -0.0%)
Jun Spectacular Spider-Man #16 - 50,515 ( -0.9%)
Jul Spectacular Spider-Man #17 - 51,335 ( +1.6%)
Aug Spectacular Spider-Man #18 - 52,271 ( +1.8%)
Sep Spectacular Spider-Man #19 - 51,874 ( -0.8%)
Oct Spectacular Spider-Man #20 - 51,159 ( -1.4%)
Nov Spectacular Spider-Man #21 - 50,633 ( -1.0%)
Dec Spectacular Spider-Man #22 - 47,513 ( -6.2%)
Jan Spectacular Spider-Man #23 - 48,727 ( +2.6%)
Jan Spectacular Spider-Man #24 - 47,824 ( -1.9%)
6 mnth ( -6.8%)
1 year (-18.5%)
Cancelled with issue #27 following Paul Jenkins' departure, although
he's nowhere to be seen here anyway. Issues #23 and #24 are the first
half of "Sins Remembered", a sequel to "Sins Past" written by one of J
Michael Straczynski's protégés. Every issue of "Sins Past" sold over
80,000, so you'd think this might be good for a sales boost. In fact,
issue #23 gets a boost which is somewhere between desultory and
derisory, and that's about it. I think this says a lot about the
reaction to "Sins Past", actually. People bought it because it was an
event - but boy, the retailers don't seem to think that they want any
more of it.
24. DAREDEVIL
Jan Daredevil #56 - 56,351 ( +5.0%)
Feb Daredevil #57 - 54,644 ( -3.0%)
Mar Daredevil #58 - 54,400 ( -0.4%)
Apr Daredevil #59 - 54,398 ( -0.0%)
May Daredevil #60 - 54,012 ( -0.7%)
Jun Daredevil #61 - 53,770 ( -0.4%)
Jul Daredevil #62 - 52,936 ( -1.6%)
Aug Daredevil #63 - 52,090 ( -1.6%)
Sep Daredevil #64 - 52,259 ( +0.3%)
Sep Daredevil #65 - 57,841 (+10.7%)
Oct Daredevil #66 - 53,138 ( -8.1%)
Nov Daredevil #67 - 51,347 ( -3.4%)
Dec Daredevil #68 - 50,491 ( -1.7%)
Jan Daredevil #69 - 48,727 ( -3.5%)
6 mnth ( -8.0%)
1 year (-13.5%)
Gently declining.
26. INCREDIBLE HULK
Jan Incredible Hulk #65 - 49,049 ( -5.6%)
Jan Incredible Hulk #66 - 48,560 ( -1.0%)
Feb Incredible Hulk #67 - 47,632 ( -1.9%)
Mar Incredible Hulk #68 - 46,138 ( -3.1%)
Mar Incredible Hulk #69 - 45,754 ( -0.8%)
Apr Incredible Hulk #70 - 46,161 ( +0.9%)
Apr Incredible Hulk #71 - 46,837 ( +1.5%)
May Incredible Hulk #72 - 45,385 ( -3.1%)
Jun Incredible Hulk #73 - 44,249 ( -2.5%)
Jul Incredible Hulk #74 - 43,383 ( -2.0%)
Aug Incredible Hulk #75 - 44,066 ( +1.6%)
Aug Incredible Hulk #76 - 42,298 ( -4.0%)
Sep Hulk & Thing: Hard Knocks #1 (of 4) - 44,302 ( +4.7%)
Oct Hulk & Thing: Hard Knocks #2 (of 4) - 37,519 (-15.3%)
Nov Hulk & Thing: Hard Knocks #3 (of 4) - 34,129 ( -9.0%)
Dec Hulk & Thing: Hard Knocks #4 (of 4) - 31,003 ( -9.2%)
Jan Incredible Hulk #77 - 47,180 (+52.2%)
6 mnth ( +8.8%)
1 year ( -3.8%)
Peter David returns to INCREDIBLE HULK with... well, let's call it
moderate publicity. That 52.2% increase looks rather good, but let's
not overlook the fact that sales tanked over the four months when HARD
KNOCKS was running in place of the regular series. Basically, David
starts off roughly where Bruce Jones was a year ago. Personally, I'd
regard that as slightly disappointing. But it's a solid number.
27. FANTASTIC FOUR
Jan Fantastic Four #509 - 50,260 (-0.1%)
Feb Fantastic Four #510 - 49,129 (-2.3%)
Mar Fantastic Four #511 - 50,089 (+2.0%)
Apr Fantastic Four #512 - 52,953 (+5.7%)
May Fantastic Four #513 - 50,936 (-3.8%)
Jun Fantastic Four #514 - 49,895 (-2.0%)
Jul Fantastic Four #515 - 48,449 (-2.9%)
Jul Fantastic Four #516 - 48,580 (+0.3%)
Aug Fantastic Four #517 - 50,247 (+3.4%)
Sep Fantastic Four #518 - 48,939 (-2.6%)
Oct Fantastic Four #519 - 47,969 (-2.0%)
Nov Fantastic Four #520 - 51,685 (+7.7%)
Dec Fantastic Four #521 - 47,634 (-7.8%)
Jan Fantastic Four #522 - 46,335 (-2.7%)
6 mnth (-4.6%)
1 year (-7.8%)
Again, gently declining. A new creative team is just around the corner.
33,38. NEW X-MEN / NEW MUTANTS
Jan n/a
Feb New Mutants #8 - 37,609 ( -3.1%)
Feb New Mutants #9 - 36,037 ( -4.2%)
Mar New Mutants #10 - 34,841 ( -3.3%)
Apr New Mutants #11 - 34,148 ( -2.0%)
Apr New Mutants #12 - 33,481 ( -2.0%)
Apr New Mutants #13 - 32,994 ( -1.5%)
May New X-Men: Academy X #1 - 76,416 (+131.6%)
Jun New X-Men #2 - 58,844 ( -23.0%)
Jul New X-Men #3 - 55,304 ( -6.0%)
Aug New X-Men #4 - 51,902 ( -6.2%)
Sep New X-Men #5 - 48,526 ( -6.5%)
Oct New X-Men #6 - 45,647 ( -5.9%)
Nov n/a
Dec New X-Men #7 - 43,024 ( -5.7%)
Jan New X-Men #8 - 40,179 ( -6.6%)
Jan New X-Men #9 - 38,197 ( -4.9%)
6 mnth ( -30.9%)
1 year ( +1.6%)
Continuing to decline, with no end in sight. And rather quickly, at
that. There's no immediate cause to panic here, but NEW X-MEN really
has to do something to start levelling out. There's always HOUSE OF M
later in 2005, of course.
35. PUNISHER
Jan Punisher #1 - 56,334 (+46.1%)
Jan Punisher #2 - 49,183 (-12.7%)
Feb Punisher #3 - 46,396 ( -5.7%)
Mar Punisher #4 - 47,096 ( +1.5%)
Apr Punisher #5 - 49,080 ( +4.2%)
May Punisher #6 - 48,576 ( -1.0%)
Jun Punisher #7 - 48,124 ( -0.9%)
Jun Punisher #8 - 47,476 ( -1.3%)
Jul Punisher #9 - 46,882 ( -1.3%)
Aug Punisher #10 - 45,396 ( -3.2%)
Sep Punisher #11 - 44,038 ( -3.0%)
Oct Punisher #12 - 42,072 ( -4.5%)
Nov Punisher #13 - 42,088 ( +0.0%)
Nov Punisher #14 - 41,514 ( -1.4%)
Dec Punisher #15 - 40,357 ( -2.8%)
Jan Punisher #16 - 39,341 ( -2.5%)
6 mnth (-16.1%)
1 year (-30.2%)
We're now up to the first anniversary of the relaunch. It's a general
downward trend, but on the whole, these numbers are very respectable for
a mature readers title.
45. PULSE
Feb Pulse #1 - 51,130 (+81.8%)
Mar Pulse #2 - 45,479 (-11.1%)
Apr n/a
May Pulse #3 - 43,655 ( -4.0%)
Jun n/a
Jul Pulse #4 - 39,883 ( -8.6%)
Aug n/a
Sep Pulse #5 - 37,812 ( -5.2%)
Oct n/a
Nov Pulse #6 - 40,895 ( +8.2%)
Dec n/a
Jan Pulse #7 - 34,779 (-15.0%)
6 mnth (-12.8%)
Back to normal numbers after the SECRET WARS tie-in. The title doesn't
seem to be holding on to its readers all that well. The bimonthly
format may not be helping.
48,52. AVENGERS: EARTH'S MIGHTIEST HEROES
Nov Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes #1 (of 8) - 46,877
Nov Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes #2 (of 8) - 41,864 (-10.7%)
Dec Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes #3 (of 8) - 36,667 (-12.4%)
Dec Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes #4 (of 8) - 35,625 ( -2.8%)
Jan Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes #5 (of 8) - 32,768 ( -8.0%)
Jan Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes #6 (of 8) - 32,006 ( -2.3%)
Levelling out rather nicely with the last few issues. By this point,
the miniseries is holding on to its audience rather well.
51. EXILES
Jan Exiles #40 - 37,277 ( -2.7%)
Jan Exiles #41 - 37,072 ( -0.5%)
Feb Exiles #42 - 37,147 ( +0.2%)
Feb Exiles #43 - 37,054 ( -0.3%)
Mar Exiles #44 - 37,575 ( +1.4%)
Apr Exiles #45 - 37,878 ( +0.8%)
May Exiles #46 - 38,788 ( +2.4%)
May Exiles #47 - 38,327 ( -1.2%)
Jun Exiles #48 - 38,120 ( -0.5%)
Jul Exiles #49 - 37,184 ( -2.5%)
Aug Exiles #50 - 37,958 ( +2.1%)
Aug Exiles #51 - 36,946 ( -2.7%)
Sep Exiles #52 - 36,245 ( -1.9%)
Oct Exiles #53 - 35,323 ( -2.5%)
Nov Exiles #54 - 34,180 ( -3.2%)
Dec Exiles #55 - 33,744 ( -1.3%)
Dec Exiles #56 - 33,396 ( -1.0%)
Dec Exiles #57 - 33,183 ( -0.6%)
Jan Exiles #58 - 32,129 ( -3.2%)
6 mnth (-13.6%)
1 year (-13.8%)
Same as usual, really. Gently drifting downwards. The upcoming Age of
Apocalypse tie-in might draw some attention back to the book.
53. NEW THUNDERBOLTS
Nov New Thunderbolts #1 - 45,793
Nov New Thunderbolts #2 - 40,104 (-12.4%)
Dec New Thunderbolts #3 - 32,720 (-18.4%)
Jan New Thunderbolts #4 - 31,725 ( -3.0%)
After two alarmingly stiff drops, NEW THUNDERBOLTS fans can breathe a
sigh of relief with a much more tolerable fourth issue drop. Not that
31,725 is a particularly good number with issue #4, but at least it's
not plummeting any more.
55. STORMBREAKER
Jan Stormbreaker: The Saga of Beta Ray Bill #1 (of 6) - 31,297
That's a decent number for a Beta Ray Bill miniseries, to be honest.
It's from the same creative team who delivered large sales increases on
the closing issues of THOR, which must have helped.
56. MARVEL KNIGHTS 4
Feb Marvel Knights 4 #1 - 61,388
Feb Marvel Knights 4 #2 - 53,459 (-12.9%)
Mar Marvel Knights 4 #3 - 45,604 (-14.7%)
Apr Marvel Knights 4 #4 - 45,926 ( +0.7%)
Apr Marvel Knights 4 #5 - 45,227 ( -1.5%)
May n/a
Jun Marvel Knights 4 #6 - 44,076 ( -2.5%)
Jul Marvel Knights 4 #7 - 43,010 ( -2.4%)
Jul Marvel Knights 4 #8 - 41,312 ( -3.9%)
Aug Marvel Knights 4 #9 - 39,743 ( -3.8%)
Sep Marvel Knights 4 #10 - 38,318 ( -3.6%)
Oct Marvel Knights 4 #11 - 36,820 ( -3.9%)
Nov Marvel Knights 4 #12 - 34,525 ( -6.2%)
Dec Marvel Knights 4 #13 - 32,623 ( -5.5%)
Jan Marvel Knights 4 #14 - 31,291 ( -4.1%)
6 mnth (-24.3%)
Falling with no end in sight. But they're hardly going to pull the plug
with the film around the corner, are they?
59. SPIDER-MAN/HUMAN TORCH
Jan Spider-Man/Human Torch #1 (of 5) - 30,617
Not bad numbers, considering that it's a historical continuity series.
Those tend not to do very well.
60. FANTASTIC FOUR: FOES
Jan Fantastic Four: Foes #1 (of 6) - 30,329
Presumably a project intended to generate trade paperbacks to tie in
with the Fantastic Four film. Counting SPIDER-MAN/HUMAN TORCH, this
means that Marvel had five Fantastic Four titles in January, which seems
a tad excessive.
61. ARAÑA
Jun Amazing Fantasy #1 - 62,056
Jul n/a
Aug Amazing Fantasy #2 - 37,047 (-40.3%)
Aug Amazing Fantasy #3 - 33,917 ( -8.4%)
Sep Amazing Fantasy #4 - 30,325 (-10.6%)
Oct Amazing Fantasy #5 - 26,349 (-13.1%)
Nov Amazing Fantasy #6 - 23,913 ( -9.2%)
Dec n/a
Jan Araña: Heart of the Spider #1 - 29,843 (+24.8%)
6 mnth (-19.4%)
Because you demanded it! And even if you didn't, we'll keep telling you
did until you agree with us!
ARAÑA gets an increase on AMAZING FANTASY #6, but that still leaves the
new title with a debut issue selling below 30,000. For such a highly
promoted book, that's just plain horrid. Marvel's persistence with this
character, in the face of universal indifference, remains utterly
baffling.
Before someone points it out, yes, I know that AMAZING FANTASY is
continuing as a separate title. However, ARAÑA is also clearly a
continuation from AMAZING FANTASY #1-6. So I'm going to list AMAZING
FANTASY #1-6 in the history for both titles. Make sense?
63. POWERS
Jan Powers #36 - 25,433 ( -2.7%)
Feb n/a
Mar Powers #37 - 25,028 ( -1.6%)
Apr n/a
May n/a
Jun n/a
Jul Powers #1 - 40,387 (+61.4%)
Jul Powers #2 - 36,537 ( -9.5%)
Aug Powers #3 - 33,628 ( -8.0%)
Sep Powers #4 - 33,046 ( -1.7%)
Oct Powers #5 - 32,504 ( -1.6%)
Nov Powers #6 - 30,431 ( -6.4%)
Dec Powers #7 - 30,687 ( +0.8%)
Jan Powers #8 - 29,438 ( -4.1%)
6 mnth (-19.4%)
1 year (+15.7%)
Very slow decline, but still ahead of Image sales, so Brian Bendis won't
mind. The Icon titles exist in a completely different economic universe
to other Marvel books, anyway. Icon is a creator-ownership boutique
imprint for exclusive creators; it's not primarily there to make money
for Marvel.
66. MARVEL TEAM-UP
Nov Marvel Team-Up #1 - 44,530
Nov Marvel Team-Up #2 - 37,515 (-15.7%)
Dec Marvel Team-Up #3 - 29,085 (-22.5%)
Jan Marvel Team-Up #4 - 27,216 ( -6.4%)
As with NEW THUNDERBOLTS, the title levels out a bit with its fourth
issue. But these numbers are worryingly low.
69. NIGHTCRAWLER
Sep Nightcrawler #1 - 46,547
Oct n/a
Nov Nightcrawler #2 - 36,533 (-21.5%)
Dec Nightcrawler #3 - 31,436 (-14.0%)
Dec Nightcrawler #4 - 29,292 ( -6.8%)
Jan Nightcrawler #5 - 26,442 ( -9.7%)
Not solicited past issue #6, but artist Darick Robertson insists that it
hasn't been cancelled. Apparently some sort of relaunch is in prospect.
At least that suggests Marvel might have got the message from this
latest wave of X-Men spin-offs; the line simply no longer has the
audience demand to sustain all these titles. A rethink is required.
71. CABLE/DEADPOOL
Mar Cable/Deadpool #1 - 47,130
Apr Cable/Deadpool #2 - 39,472 (-16.2%)
May Cable/Deadpool #3 - 36,820 ( -6.7%)
Jun Cable/Deadpool #4 - 34,966 ( -5.0%)
Jul Cable/Deadpool #5 - 32,594 ( -6.8%)
Aug Cable/Deadpool #6 - 31,033 ( -4.8%)
Sep Cable/Deadpool #7 - 30,325 ( -2.3%)
Oct Cable/Deadpool #8 - 28,986 ( -4.4%)
Nov Cable/Deadpool #9 - 27,612 ( -4.7%)
Dec Cable/Deadpool #10 - 26,911 ( -2.5%)
Jan Cable/Deadpool #11 - 25,844 ( -4.0%)
6 mnth (-20.7%)
Still clinging in there, but the numbers are not healthy at all. The May
solicits show issue #15 starting a new three-part story, so it's safe
through to issue #17.
75. ROGUE
Jul Rogue #1 - 50,727
Aug Rogue #2 - 39,910 (-21.3%)
Sep Rogue #3 - 34,934 (-12.5%)
Oct Rogue #4 - 31,301 (-10.4%)
Nov n/a
Dec Rogue #5 - 28,835 ( -7.9%)
Dec Rogue #6 - 26,905 ( -6.7%)
Jan Rogue #7 - 24,865 ( -7.6%)
6 mnth (-51.0%)
Tony Bedard and Karl Moline take over, and sales plummet ever downwards.
The book is safe through to issue #12 (when the current storyline ends),
but the prospects beyond that point must be bleak.
78. GAMBIT
Sep Gambit #1 - 46,994
Sep Gambit #2 - 40,013 (-14.9%)
Oct Gambit #3 - 34,952 (-12.6%)
Nov Gambit #4 - 29,385 (-15.9%)
Dec Gambit #5 - 25,413 (-13.5%)
Jan Gambit #6 - 23,528 ( -7.4%)
Again, unpleasant numbers. It's been solicited up through issue #11,
but it's hard to see the book turning things around at this point.
79. SHE-HULK
Mar She-Hulk #1 - 34,499
Apr She-Hulk #2 - 30,779 (-10.8%)
May She-Hulk #3 - 29,662 ( -3.6%)
Jun She-Hulk #4 - 27,648 ( -6.8%)
Jul She-Hulk #5 - 25,788 ( -6.7%)
Aug She-Hulk #6 - 24,751 ( -4.0%)
Sep She-Hulk #7 - 25,303 ( +2.2%)
Oct She-Hulk #8 - 24,929 ( -1.5%)
Nov She-Hulk #9 - 23,869 ( -4.2%)
Dec She-Hulk #10 - 23,848 ( -0.0%)
Jan She-Hulk #11 - 23,235 ( -2.6%)
6 mnth ( -9.9%)
Ends with issue #12, with a relaunch pencilled in for a few months down
the line.
80. BLACK WIDOW
Sep Black Widow #1 (of 6) - 38,653
Oct Black Widow #2 (of 6) - 30,489 (-21.1%)
Nov Black Widow #3 (of 6) - 26,840 (-12.0%)
Dec Black Widow #4 (of 6) - 24,371 ( -9.2%)
Jan Black Widow #5 (of 6) - 22,596 ( -7.3%)
Fairly normal miniseries numbers.
81. DISTRICT X
May District X #1 - 45,439
Jun District X #2 - 35,844 (-21.1%)
Jul District X #3 - 33,257 ( -7.2%)
Aug District X #4 - 30,816 ( -7.3%)
Sep District X #5 - 28,979 ( -6.0%)
Oct District X #6 - 27,097 ( -6.5%)
Nov District X #7 - 25,488 ( -6.0%)
Dec District X #8 - 23,683 ( -7.1%)
Jan District X #9 - 22,244 ( -6.1%)
6 mnth (-33.1%)
Still dropping with no end in sight. It's running up to at least issue
#14 (which will be in the June solicitations), but the long term
prospects are poor. After all, look what's immediately below it.
82. MYSTIQUE
Jan Mystique #9 - 34,579 ( -6.8%)
Jan Mystique #10 - 32,361 ( -6.4%)
Feb Mystique #11 - 31,354 ( -3.1%)
Mar Mystique #12 - 30,489 ( -2.8%)
Apr Mystique #13 - 29,759 ( -2.4%)
May Mystique #14 - 29,439 ( -1.1%)
May Mystique #15 - 28,940 ( -1.7%)
Jun Mystique #16 - 28,189 ( -2.6%)
Jul Mystique #17 - 26,706 ( -5.3%)
Aug Mystique #18 - 25,944 ( -2.9%)
Sep Mystique #19 - 25,467 ( -1.8%)
Oct Mystique #20 - 24,446 ( -4.0%)
Nov Mystique #21 - 23,665 ( -3.2%)
Dec Mystique #22 - 22,557 ( -4.7%)
Jan Mystique #23 - 21,728 ( -3.7%)
6 mnth (-18.6%)
1 year (-37.2%)
Axed with issue #24. We're now getting into the outright cancelled
titles.
83. CAPTAIN AMERICA & THE FALCON
Mar Captain America & The Falcon #1 - 41,519
Apr Captain America & The Falcon #2 - 36,763 (-11.5%)
May Captain America & The Falcon #3 - 33,975 ( -7.6%)
Jun Captain America & The Falcon #4 - 30,688 ( -9.7%)
Jul Captain America & The Falcon #5 - 31,020 ( +1.1%)
Aug Captain America & The Falcon #6 - 30,252 ( -2.5%)
Sep Captain America & The Falcon #7 - 28,886 ( -4.5%)
Oct Captain America & The Falcon #8 - 27,859 ( -3.6%)
Nov Captain America & The Falcon #9 - 25,380 ( -8.9%)
Dec Captain America & The Falcon #10 - 23,233 ( -8.5%)
Jan Captain America & The Falcon #11 - 21,494 ( -7.5%)
6 mnth (-30.7%)
Axed with issue #14.
84. MADROX
Sep Madrox #1 (of 5) - 33,752
Oct Madrox #2 (of 5) - 26,167 (-22.5%)
Nov Madrox #3 (of 5) - 23,971 ( -8.4%)
Dec Madrox #4 (of 5) - 22,551 ( -5.9%)
Jan Madrox #5 (of 5) - 21,300 ( -5.5%)
Well, it levelled out a bit, I suppose. There's been talk of an
X-FACTOR title spinning off from this. Perhaps the good word of mouth
will spark interest in that - it's been known to happen before.
85. BULLSEYE: GREATEST HITS
Sep Bullseye: Greatest Hits #1 (of 5) - 34,371
Oct Bullseye: Greatest Hits #2 (of 5) - 28,986 (-15.7%)
Nov Bullseye: Greatest Hits #3 (of 5) - 25,176 (-13.1%)
Dec Bullseye: Greatest Hits #4 (of 5) - 22,952 ( -8.8%)
Jan Bullseye: Greatest Hits #5 (of 5) - 21,294 ( -7.2%)
Respectable enough, considering it's a Bullseye miniseries.
88. OFFICIAL HANDBOOK OF THE MARVEL UNIVERSE
May X-Men 2004 - 39,380
Jun Spider-Man 2004 - 32,013 (-18.7%)
Jul Avengers 2004 - 28,791 (-10.1%)
Aug Hulk 2004 - 22,011 (-23.5%)
Sep Daredevil/Elektra 2004 - 22,781 ( +3.5%)
Oct Wolverine 2004 - 32,553 (+42.9%)
Nov Book of the Dead 2004 - 25,131 (-22.8%)
Dec Golden Age 2004 - 17,356 (-30.9%)
Jan Women of Marvel 2005 - 20,837 (+20.1%)
6 mnth (-27.6%)
Women: more popular than the Golden Age, but not as popular as dead
people.
92. SPIDER-GIRL
Jan Spider-Girl #68 - 20,544 ( -4.0%)
Jan Spider-Girl #69 - 20,384 ( -0.8%)
Feb Spider-Girl #70 - 20,541 ( +0.8%)
Mar Spider-Girl #71 - 20,709 ( +0.8%)
Apr Spider-Girl #72 - 20,533 ( -0.8%)
May Spider-Girl #73 - 20,275 ( -1.3%)
May Spider-Girl #74 - 19,959 ( -1.6%)
Jun Spider-Girl #75 - 24,674 (+23.6%)
Jul Spider-Girl #76 - 22,157 (-10.2%)
Aug Spider-Girl #77 - 21,758 ( -1.8%)
Sep Spider-Girl #78 - 22,076 ( +1.5%)
Oct Spider-Girl #79 - 21,893 ( -0.8%)
Nov Spider-Girl #80 - 21,146 ( -3.4%)
Dec Spider-Girl #81 - 20,419 ( -3.4%)
Jan Spider-Girl #82 - 20,005 ( -2.0%)
6 mnth ( -9.7%)
1 year ( -1.9%)
Well, it's SPIDER-GIRL. It hovers in its own area of 19-21K, and it's
happy in its little sales bubble. And why shouldn't it be?
94. NEW INVADERS
Jul Invaders #0 - 46,537
Aug New Invaders #1 - 42,577 ( -8.5%)
Sep New Invaders #2 - 32,576 (-23.5%)
Oct New Invaders #3 - 27,286 (-16.2%)
Nov New Invaders #4 - 23,709 (-13.1%)
Dec New Invaders #5 - 20,791 (-12.3%)
Jan New Invaders #6 - 19,758 ( -5.0%)
6 mnth (-57.5%)
Axed with issue #9.
95. SPIDER-MAN INDIA
Nov Spider-Man India #1 (of 4) - 37,783
Dec Spider-Man India #2 (of 4) - 24,779 (-34.4%)
Jan Spider-Man India #3 (of 4) - 18,474 (-25.4%)
Boy, the novelty value sure wore off quickly with this one, didn't it?
96. SPIDER-MAN UNLIMITED
Jan Spider-Man Unlimited #1 - 53,413
Feb n/a
Mar Spider-Man Unlimited #2 - 37,550 (-29.7%)
Apr n/a
May Spider-Man Unlimited #3 - 31,661 (-15.7%)
Jun n/a
Jul Spider-Man Unlimited #4 - 26,506 (-16.3%)
Aug n/a
Sep Spider-Man Unlimited #5 - 24,156 ( -8.9%)
Oct n/a
Nov Spider-Man Unlimited #6 - 20,974 (-13.2%)
Dec n/a
Jan Spider-Man Unlimited #7 - 18,316 (-12.7%)
6 mnth (-30.9%)
1 year (-65.7%)
Now the lowest-selling Marvel title which hasn't been cancelled yet. In
fact, it's been solicited up through to issue #9. You'd think that the
book couldn't possibly be worth Marvel's effort at this level of sales,
and it's not like it has a particularly vocal fan base... but somehow,
it's hanging in there.
97. ALPHA FLIGHT
Mar Alpha Flight #1 - 42,586
Apr Alpha Flight #2 - 36,551 (-14.2%)
May Alpha Flight #3 - 32,684 (-10.6%)
Jun Alpha Flight #4 - 29,384 (-10.1%)
Jul Alpha Flight #5 - 26,879 ( -8.5%)
Aug Alpha Flight #6 - 25,004 ( -7.0%)
Sep Alpha Flight #7 - 23,280 ( -6.9%)
Oct Alpha Flight #8 - 21,956 ( -5.7%)
Nov Alpha Flight #9 - 20,336 ( -7.4%)
Dec Alpha Flight #10 - 19,055 ( -6.3%)
Jan Alpha Flight #11 - 18,298 ( -4.0%)
6 mnth (-31.9%)
Axed with issue #12.
104. THOR: SON OF ASGARD
Mar Thor: Son of Asgard #1 - 29,588
Mar Thor: Son of Asgard #2 - 26,962 ( -8.9%)
Apr Thor: Son of Asgard #3 - 25,110 ( -6.9%)
May Thor: Son of Asgard #4 - 22,696 ( -9.6%)
Jun Thor: Son of Asgard #5 - 20,850 ( -8.1%)
Jul Thor: Son of Asgard #6 - 19,445 ( -6.7%)
Aug Thor: Son of Asgard #7 - 18,990 ( -2.3%)
Sep Thor: Son of Asgard #8 - 18,856 ( -0.7%)
Oct Thor: Son of Asgard #9 - 18,368 ( -2.6%)
Nov Thor: Son of Asgard #10 - 17,798 ( -3.1%)
Dec Thor: Son of Asgard #11 - 16,930 ( -4.9%)
Jan Thor: Son of Asgard #12 - 16,205 ( -4.3%)
6 mnth (-16.7%)
Axed with issue #12.
106. TOMB OF DRACULA
Oct Tomb of Dracula #1 (of 4) - 29,762
Nov Tomb of Dracula #2 (of 4) - 21,331 (-28.3%)
Dec Tomb of Dracula #3 (of 4) - 17,794 (-16.6%)
Jan Tomb of Dracula #4 (of 4) - 15,420 (-13.3%)
Crash and burn.
123. JUBILEE
Sep Jubilee #1 (of 6) - 31,287
Oct Jubilee #2 (of 6) - 22,236 (-28.9%)
Nov Jubilee #3 (of 6) - 15,770 (-29.1%)
Dec Jubilee #4 (of 6) - 13,026 (-17.4%)
Jan Jubilee #5 (of 6) - 11,480 (-11.9%)
Officially Marvel is claiming this as a six-issue miniseries - something
which they conveniently forgot to mention until after the sales for
issue #1 came in. The rushed wrap-up in issue #6 is, shall we say, not
entirely consistent with that claim.
JUBILEE now has the remarkable distinction of being the worst selling
X-book... well, ever. The Marvel Age logo probably played a part in
driving away the comics stores, too. However you look at it, though,
there's just no sugar-coating numbers like these. They're disastrous.
128. MARVEL AGE SPIDER-MAN
Mar Marvel Age Spider-Man #1 - 36,700
Apr Marvel Age Spider-Man #2 - 30,363 (-16.5%)
May Marvel Age Spider-Man #3 - 24,180 (-20.4%)
May Marvel Age Spider-Man #4 - 23,442 ( -3.1%)
Jun Marvel Age Spider-Man #5 - 21,556 ( -8.0%)
Jun Marvel Age Spider-Man #6 - 21,116 ( -2.0%)
Jul Marvel Age Spider-Man #7 - 17,650 (-16.4%)
Jul Marvel Age Spider-Man #8 - 17,243 ( -2.3%)
Aug Marvel Age Spider-Man #9 - 16,077 ( -6.7%)
Aug Marvel Age Spider-Man #10 - 16,134 ( +0.4%)
Sep Marvel Age Spider-Man #11 - 16,007 ( -0.8%)
Sep Marvel Age Spider-Man #12 - 15,601 ( -2.5%)
Oct Marvel Age Spider-Man #13 - 14,437 ( -7.5%)
Oct Marvel Age Spider-Man #14 - 14,080 ( -2.5%)
Nov Marvel Age Spider-Man #15 - 13,079 ( -7.1%)
Nov Marvel Age Spider-Man #16 - 12,862 ( -1.7%)
Dec Marvel Age Spider-Man #17 - 11,644 ( -9.5%)
Dec Marvel Age Spider-Man #18 - 11,412 ( -2.0%)
Jan Marvel Age Spider-Man #19 - 10,178 (-10.8%)
6 mnth (-41.0%)
Axed with issue #20, to make way for the Marvel Adventures line.
130. STOKER'S DRACULA
Oct Stoker's Dracula #1 (of 4) - 18,053
Nov n/a
Dec Stoker's Dracula #2 (of 4) - 11,692 (-35.2%)
Jan Stoker's Dracula #3 (of 4) - 10,096 (-13.7%)
Horrible numbers. But to be fair, the Marvel horror books have done
relatively well in the Essentials format, so Marvel may well be viewing
this as a bookstore product.
149,150. MARVEL AGE FANTASTIC FOUR
Apr Marvel Age Fantastic Four #1 - 29,641
May Marvel Age Fantastic Four #2 - 21,074 (-28.9%)
Jun Marvel Age Fantastic Four #3 - 16,694 (-20.8%)
Jul Marvel Age Fantastic Four #4 - 13,039 (-21.9%)
Aug Marvel Age Fantastic Four #5 - 12,050 ( -7.6%)
Sep Marvel Age Fantastic Four #6 - 11,184 ( -7.2%)
Oct Marvel Age Fantastic Four #7 - 9,995 (-10.6%)
Nov Marvel Age Fantastic Four #8 - 9,202 ( -7.9%)
Dec Marvel Age Fantastic Four #9 - 8,118 (-11.8%)
Dec Marvel Age Fantastic Four #10 - 7,953 ( -2.0%)
Jan Marvel Age Fantastic Four #11 - 7,053 (-11.3%)
Jan Marvel Age Fantastic Four #12 - 6,948 ( -1.5%)
6 mnth (-46.7%)
Axed with issue #12, again to make way for a MARVEL ADVENTURES book.
228. MARVEL 2005
Jan Marvel 2005 New Year Deal - 1,571
Don't ask me. It wasn't in the solicitations, and other than the fact
that there was a limit of 2 copies per account, Google doesn't tell me
anything about it either.
Skip months
===========
ASTONISHING X-MEN
May Astonishing X-Men #1 - 265,134
Jun Astonishing X-Men #2 - 136,158 (-48.6%)
Jul Astonishing X-Men #3 - 129,362 ( -5.0%)
Aug Astonishing X-Men #4 - 148,209 (+14.6%)
Sep Astonishing X-Men #5 - 134,154 ( -9.5%)
Oct n/a
Nov Astonishing X-Men #6 - 134,840 ( +0.5%)
Dec Astonishing X-Men #7 - 135,475 ( +0.5%)
Jan n/a
Issue #7 charts again at number 243 with reorders of 1,372, turning the
trend into a very small climb over the last two issues.
SECRET WAR
Feb Secret War #1 (of 5) - 154,777
Mar n/a
Apr n/a
May Secret War #2 (of 5) - 132,841 (-14.2%)
Jun n/a
Jul n/a
Aug n/a
Sep n/a
Oct Secret War #3 (of 5) - 109,745 (-17.4%)
Nov n/a
Dec n/a
Jan n/a
Late.
ULTIMATE NIGHTMARE
Aug Ultimate Nightmare #1 (of 5) - 102,655
Sep Ultimate Nightmare #2 (of 5) - 88,088 (-14.2%)
Oct Ultimate Nightmare #3 (of 5) - 83,208 ( -5.5%)
Nov n/a
Dec Ultimate Nightmare #4 (of 5) - 76,658 ( -7.9%)
Jan n/a
Late. Issue #5 finally shipped in February.
DAREDEVIL: FATHER
Apr Daredevil: Father #1 (of 5) - 69,487
May n/a
Jun n/a
Jul n/a
Aug n/a
Sep n/a
Oct n/a
Nov n/a
Dec n/a
Jan n/a
M.I.A.
SUPREME POWER
Jan Supreme Power #6 - 67,340 ( -4.2%)
Feb Supreme Power #7 - 65,423 ( -2.8%)
Mar Supreme Power #8 - 64,429 ( -1.5%)
Apr Supreme Power #9 - 64,284 ( -0.2%)
May Supreme Power #10 - 63,292 ( -1.5%)
Jun n/a
Jul Supreme Power #11 - 63,007 ( -0.5%)
Aug Supreme Power #12 - 61,798 ( -1.9%)
Sep n/a
Oct n/a
Nov Supreme Power #13 - 61,556 ( -0.4%)
Dec Supreme Power #14 - 58,843 ( -4.4%)
Jan n/a
Skip month. Issue #14 charts at number 275 with reorders of 868.
IRON MAN
Jan Iron Man #76 - 30,197 ( -5.3%)
Feb Iron Man #77 - 29,748 ( -1.5%)
Mar Iron Man #78 - 29,680 ( -0.2%)
Apr Iron Man #79 - 29,138 ( -1.8%)
Apr Iron Man #80 - 28,809 ( -1.1%)
May Iron Man #81 - 28,232 ( -2.0%)
May Iron Man #82 - 28,002 ( -0.8%)
May Iron Man #83 - 28,055 ( +0.2%)
Jun Iron Man #84 - 29,629 ( +5.6%)
Jun Iron Man #85 - 29,615 ( -0.0%)
Jul Iron Man #86 - 34,520 ( +16.6%)
Aug Iron Man #87 - 33,512 ( -2.9%)
Sep Iron Man #88 - 32,932 ( -1.7%)
Oct Iron Man #89 - 33,483 ( +1.7%)
Nov Iron Man #1 - 68,992 (+106.1%)
Dec Iron Man #2 - 55,051 ( -20.2%)
Jan n/a
Late - IRON MAN is spiralling off into the great scheduling unknown,
from the look of it. Meanwhile, issue #2 charts at 220 with reorders of
1,759.
EXCALIBUR
May Excalibur #1 - 75,257
Jun Excalibur #2 - 59,791 (-20.6%)
Jul Excalibur #3 - 57,740 ( -3.4%)
Aug Excalibur #4 - 56,153 ( -2.7%)
Sep Excalibur #5 - 53,776 ( -4.2%)
Oct Excalibur #6 - 48,410 (-10.0%)
Nov Excalibur #7 - 44,753 ( -7.6%)
Dec Excalibur #8 - 42,440 ( -5.2%)
Jan n/a
Late.
STRANGE
Sep Strange #1 (of 6) - 59,974
Oct Strange #2 (of 6) - 48,410 (-19.3%)
Nov n/a
Dec Strange #3 (of 6) - 41,015 (-15.3%)
Jan n/a
Skip month.
X-FORCE
Aug X-Force #1 (of 6) - 66,620
Sep X-Force #2 (of 6) - 50,991 (-23.5%)
Oct X-Force #3 (of 6) - 46,528 ( -8.8%)
Nov X-Force #4 (of 6) - 41,533 (-10.7%)
Dec X-Force #5 (of 6) - 38,006 ( -8.5%)
Jan n/a
Late.
NYX
Jan n/a
Feb n/a
Mar n/a
Apr n/a
May NYX #4 - 37,028 ( -7.5%)
Jun n/a
Jul n/a
Aug n/a
Sep n/a
Oct NYX #5 - 35,749 ( -3.5%)
Nov n/a
Dec n/a
Jan n/a
Hopelessly late, and cancelled with issue #7.
DOCTOR SPECTRUM
Aug Doctor Spectrum #1 (of 6) - 44,218
Sep Doctor Spectrum #2 (of 6) - 39,244 (-11.0%)
Oct Doctor Spectrum #3 (of 6) - 36,582 ( -6.8%)
Nov n/a
Dec Doctor Spectrum #4 (of 6) - 34,852 ( -4.7%)
Jan n/a
Late.
X-MEN UNLIMITED
Feb X-Men Unlimited #1 - 52,865
Mar n/a
Apr X-Men Unlimited #2 - 42,597 (-19.4%)
May n/a
Jun X-Men Unlimited #3 - 36,737 (-13.8%)
Jul n/a
Aug X-Men Unlimited #4 - 33,895 ( -7.7%)
Sep n/a
Oct X-Men Unlimited #5 - 32,910 ( -2.9%)
Nov n/a
Dec X-Men Unlimited #6 - 30,138 ( -8.4%)
Jan n/a
Skip month.
KABUKI
Jul Kabuki #1 - 25,305
Aug n/a
Sep Kabuki #2 - 16,705 (-34.0%)
Oct n/a
Nov n/a
Dec Kabuki #3 - 13,885 (-16.9%)
Jan n/a
Skip month.
6 month comparisons
===================
+32.5% - Captain America
+19.9% - Wolverine
+ 9.8% - New Avengers / Avengers
+ 8.8% - Incredible Hulk
- 4.6% - Fantastic Four
- 6.5% - Ultimate X-Men
- 6.8% - Spectacular Spider-Man
- 7.4% - Amazing Spider-Man
- 7.8% - X-Men
- 8.0% - Daredevil
- 9.7% - Spider-Girl
- 9.8% - Uncanny X-Men
- 9.9% - She-Hulk
-11.0% - Wolverine: The End
-12.8% - Pulse
-13.6% - Exiles
-15.1% - Ultimate Spider-Man
-16.1% - Punisher
-16.7% - Thor: Son of Asgard
-18.1% - Marvel Knights Spider-Man
-18.6% - Mystique
-19.4% - Araña
-19.4% - Powers
-20.7% - Cable & Deadpool
-20.8% - Ultimate Fantastic Four
-24.3% - Marvel Knights 4
-27.6% - Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe
-30.7% - Captain America & The Falcon
-30.9% - New X-Men
-30.9% - Spider-Man Unlimited
-31.9% - Alpha Flight
-33.1% - District X
-41.0% - Marvel Age Spider-Man
-46.7% - Marvel Age Fantastic Four
-51.0% - Rogue
-57.5% - New Invaders
1 year comparisons
==================
+116.1% - New Avengers / Avengers
+ 29.2% - Captain America
+ 11.8% - Wolverine
+ 1.6% - New X-Men / New Mutants
- 1.9% - Spider-Girl
- 2.8% - Uncanny X-Men
- 3.8% - Incredible Hulk
- 7.8% - Fantastic Four
- 8.6% - Amazing Spider-Man
- 12.1% - Ultimate X-Men
- 12.4% - Ultimate Spider-Man
- 13.5% - Daredevil
- 13.8% - Exiles
- 18.5% - Spectacular Spider-Man
- 25.4% - Wolverine: The End
- 30.2% - Punisher
- 30.7% - X-Men
- 37.2% - Mystique
- 41.2% - Ultimate Fantastic Four
--
Paul O'Brien
THE X-AXIS - http://www.thexaxis.com
ARTICLE 10 - http://www.ninthart.com
LIVEJOURNAL - http://www.livejournal.com/~paulobrien
Weapon MMIV
> A surprisingly steep drop, and easily the lowest sales that the
book's
> had in the last year. This was the second half of a two-parter guest
>starring Ultimate Doctor Strange, for what it's worth.
Not much, considering this version of Doctor Strange, who at points
resembled Micky Mouse doing "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" in Fantasia
than to 616. Many Ultimazations have been improvements over existing
characters, some (e.g. Arcade) have been tolerable, albeit I wouldn't
care to see any more of them. But this version of Strange didn't cut
it...
> 88. OFFICIAL HANDBOOK OF THE MARVEL UNIVERSE
> Women: more popular than the Golden Age, but not as popular as dead
> people.
Ah, yes. The Emma Frost complaint.
Ben P
Paul O'Brien <pa...@SPAMBLOCK.esoterica.demon.co.uk> wrote
>
> 1. NEW AVENGERS / AVENGERS
> Jan New Avengers #2 - 153,751 ( -45.1%)
> 6 mnth ( +9.8%)
> 1 year (+116.1%)
>
>
> Dec Ultimates 2 #1 - 146,271 (+42.0%)
> Jan Ultimates 2 #2 - 113,379 (-22.5%)
> 6 mnth ( n/a )
> 1 year ( n/a )
>
What I'm really interested in seeing here is whether New Avengers can stay
ahead of Ultimates in the long run. NA has the huge hype and variant covers
for the first six issues, but Ultimates has a history of solid sales over
100,000, so obviously a loyal fanbase, at least a good proportion of which
was earned by the quality of the story and art. Obviously there are lots of
other variables too (good art on Ultimates, Young Gun art on Avengers...),
but I think it makes for an interesting gauge of what approach is going to
sell best for Marvel.
Isn't it more that (despite what Marvel seem to think) retailers make a
distinction between books written by J Michael Straczynski and books written
by someone with no previous experience who got the job by virtue of knowing
J Michael Straczynski? See also Doctor Spectrum and Araña.
It looks like producing more than one issue a month of titles is giving
Marvel's sales quite a bit of help. Retailers obviously adjust their orders
by month, rather than by issue. Exiles is the best example, but it looks
like the same thing has happened for Earth's Mightiest Heroes and others.
>
> 53. NEW THUNDERBOLTS
> Nov New Thunderbolts #1 - 45,793
> Nov New Thunderbolts #2 - 40,104 (-12.4%)
> Dec New Thunderbolts #3 - 32,720 (-18.4%)
> Jan New Thunderbolts #4 - 31,725 ( -3.0%)
>
> After two alarmingly stiff drops, NEW THUNDERBOLTS fans can breathe a
> sigh of relief with a much more tolerable fourth issue drop. Not that
> 31,725 is a particularly good number with issue #4, but at least it's
> not plummeting any more.
>
That's very good to see. And maybe I'm just being wildly over-optimistic,
but I could see New T-Bolts settling down to a comfortable level not far
below 30K, which is good for a nice long run these days, if Marvel are
reasonably generous.
>
> 61. ARAÑA
> Jun Amazing Fantasy #1 - 62,056
> Jul n/a
> Aug Amazing Fantasy #2 - 37,047 (-40.3%)
> Aug Amazing Fantasy #3 - 33,917 ( -8.4%)
> Sep Amazing Fantasy #4 - 30,325 (-10.6%)
> Oct Amazing Fantasy #5 - 26,349 (-13.1%)
> Nov Amazing Fantasy #6 - 23,913 ( -9.2%)
> Dec n/a
> Jan Araña: Heart of the Spider #1 - 29,843 (+24.8%)
> 6 mnth (-19.4%)
>
> Because you demanded it! And even if you didn't, we'll keep telling you
> did until you agree with us!
>
> ARAÑA gets an increase on AMAZING FANTASY #6, but that still leaves the
> new title with a debut issue selling below 30,000. For such a highly
> promoted book, that's just plain horrid. Marvel's persistence with this
> character, in the face of universal indifference, remains utterly
> baffling.
>
These figures are just unbelievably bad. Are people boycotting the title
just because Marvel have been pushing it so dramatically?
Samy Merchi
>> ARAÑA gets an increase on AMAZING FANTASY #6, but that still
>> leaves the new title with a debut issue selling below 30,000.
> These figures are just unbelievably bad. Are people boycotting
> the title just because Marvel have been pushing it so
> dramatically?
No, people are boycotting the title because no prior exposure was
given.
Whatever happened to the days when Punisher or Cloak & Dagger spent
five years doing guest spots in various Spidey books before meriting
a title of their own? That way you could actually gauge reader
interest and see if anybody would buy the book.
Now, they just throw shit on the streets and hope people pick up
random litter.
If they want to sell a character, then expose it first. Don't expect
people to buy blind.
--
Samy Merchi | sa...@iki.fi | http://www.iki.fi/samy | #152235689
Reader of superhero comic books, writer of superhero fanfiction
"*Astrolabe*...whirls...*twirls*!"
Paul O'Brien
<b...@p.freeserve.co.uk> writes
>
>Isn't it more that (despite what Marvel seem to think) retailers make a
>distinction between books written by J Michael Straczynski and books
>written by someone with no previous experience who got the job by
>virtue of knowing J Michael Straczynski?
The problem with that theory is that it wouldn't account for the sales
boost on "Sins Past" itself, which was a hype-related blip in an
otherwise downward trend.
I wouldn't have expected SPECTACULAR to suddenly leap up 30,000 to
AMAZING's level - but if people really cared about "Sins Past" as a
story rather than a hyped event, you'd think at least a few thousand
extra readers would be checking out the Straczynski-approved storyline
in SPECTACULAR, wouldn't you?
Paul O'Brien
<sa...@iki.fi> writes
>
>No, people are boycotting the title because no prior exposure was
>given.
If that were the case then people would be queuing up to complain about
RUNAWAYS. The problem with ARANA is that Marvel insists on promoting it
even though it long since became apparent that the audience doesn't want
to know; it's now passed the point where it could quietly fail, and has
become a great big ugly bomb that confuses and baffles everyone. Why is
Marvel sticking with it when it's now a proven failure? It's hard to see
a convincing reason.
Jeremy Henderson
<pa...@SPAMBLOCK.esoterica.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>228. MARVEL 2005
>Jan Marvel 2005 New Year Deal - 1,571
>
>Don't ask me. It wasn't in the solicitations, and other than the fact
>that there was a limit of 2 copies per account, Google doesn't tell me
>anything about it either.
I think this was a calendar.
Paul O'Brien
Henderson <hel...@BABYJESUSHATESSPAMTAMPABAY.RR.COM> writes
>
>I think this was a calendar.
Ah, really? I wonder how that made it into the charts. They don't
normally include promotional items, posters and so forth.
Sean Walsh
>
> 3. X-MEN: PHOENIX - ENDSONG
> Jan X-Men: Phoenix - Endsong #1 (of 5) - 108,466
>
> Very impressive numbers for an X-books miniseries. Remember, the
line
> is no longer the juggernaut that it once was - look at the sales of
some
> of the recent spin-off titles. Presumably Greg Land is the big draw
> here, coupled with the promise of important plot developments. It's
> actually rather good, too, so I'm pleasantly surprised to see it
selling
> so well.
Now are these sales factoring in the extra "limited edition," which
shipped (what seems like) like a week after the regular edition of #1?
(And I believe there was an additional 2nd printing, but I assume that
shipped later and doesn't figure here)
Wow, that's scary. I mean.......this is Claremont and Davis (albeit,
Davis has had some fill-ins pinch hit for him a couple times, but
still...)
> 7. X-MEN
> Jan New X-Men #151 - 124,012 (+12.1%)
> Jan New X-Men #152 - 120,638 ( -2.7%)
> Feb New X-Men #153 - 116,422 ( -3.5%)
> Mar New X-Men #154 - 117,253 ( +0.7%)
> Apr New X-Men #155 - 100,088 (-14.6%)
> Apr New X-Men #156 - 98,785 ( -1.3%)
> May X-Men #157 - 107,185 ( +8.5%)
> Jun X-Men #158 - 96,759 ( -9.7%)
> Jul X-Men #159 - 93,164 ( -3.7%)
> Aug X-Men #160 - 91,790 ( -1.5%)
> Sep X-Men #161 - 90,591 ( -1.3%)
> Sep X-Men #162 - 90,752 ( +0.2%)
> Oct X-Men #163 - 88,615 ( -2.4%)
> Nov X-Men #164 - 88,620 ( +0.0%)
> Dec X-Men #165 - 86,633 ( -2.2%)
> Jan X-Men #166 - 85,934 ( -0.8%)
> 6 mnth ( -7.8%)
> 1 year (-30.7%)
>
> Peter Milligan's first issue, but Marvel didn't promote the change of
> writer as a big deal. So the existing trend continues.
Only way they seemed to mark his arrival was with a new look to the
cover. More along the lines of what the X-Men: The End covers look
like. Of course, as seen this week, they went right back to the old
look with his second issue....
Marvel must have liked it; Peter David's run was extended to the end of
2005 not long after it shipped. Marvel told him they'd do that if they
liked the sales figures...
> 27. FANTASTIC FOUR
> Jan Fantastic Four #509 - 50,260 (-0.1%)
> Feb Fantastic Four #510 - 49,129 (-2.3%)
> Mar Fantastic Four #511 - 50,089 (+2.0%)
> Apr Fantastic Four #512 - 52,953 (+5.7%)
> May Fantastic Four #513 - 50,936 (-3.8%)
> Jun Fantastic Four #514 - 49,895 (-2.0%)
> Jul Fantastic Four #515 - 48,449 (-2.9%)
> Jul Fantastic Four #516 - 48,580 (+0.3%)
> Aug Fantastic Four #517 - 50,247 (+3.4%)
> Sep Fantastic Four #518 - 48,939 (-2.6%)
> Oct Fantastic Four #519 - 47,969 (-2.0%)
> Nov Fantastic Four #520 - 51,685 (+7.7%)
> Dec Fantastic Four #521 - 47,634 (-7.8%)
> Jan Fantastic Four #522 - 46,335 (-2.7%)
> 6 mnth (-4.6%)
> 1 year (-7.8%)
>
> Again, gently declining. A new creative team is just around the
corner.
JMS and Mike McKone. Should be interesting to see how sales adjust for
them: JMS hasn't exactly been on fire (like he's been in the past) as
of late, and McKone moves from Teen Titans, which is doing about these
Waid/Ringo numbers as it is. And the solicit for their first issue is
as uninformative as it could get.
> 45. PULSE
> Feb Pulse #1 - 51,130 (+81.8%)
> Mar Pulse #2 - 45,479 (-11.1%)
> Apr n/a
> May Pulse #3 - 43,655 ( -4.0%)
> Jun n/a
> Jul Pulse #4 - 39,883 ( -8.6%)
> Aug n/a
> Sep Pulse #5 - 37,812 ( -5.2%)
> Oct n/a
> Nov Pulse #6 - 40,895 ( +8.2%)
> Dec n/a
> Jan Pulse #7 - 34,779 (-15.0%)
> 6 mnth (-12.8%)
>
> Back to normal numbers after the SECRET WARS tie-in. The title
doesn't
> seem to be holding on to its readers all that well. The bimonthly
> format may not be helping.
Didn't Bendis say Pulse would be moving to a monthly schedule soon? I
thought the only reason it was bimonthly was to accomodate Bagley's
workload. Now that Michael Lark is taking over with #8, I think he's
said it's going monthly...
> 60. FANTASTIC FOUR: FOES
> Jan Fantastic Four: Foes #1 (of 6) - 30,329
>
> Presumably a project intended to generate trade paperbacks to tie in
> with the Fantastic Four film. Counting SPIDER-MAN/HUMAN TORCH, this
> means that Marvel had five Fantastic Four titles in January, which
seems
> a tad excessive.
I remember them trying to get a lot of Spidey/Doc Ock projects done
months ahead of Spidey 2 so that the TPBs would hit in time for the
movie's opening. Same kind of tactic was used for the Elektra movie:
that Hand miniseries was TPBized the week after its last issue shipped,
just in time for the movie. I suspect Marvel will be doing this kind of
thing more and more as their movies come out. Not necessarily the
dumbest thing, but I'm sure it'll get old quick.
At least all the movies aren't X-Men movies, though. THAT'D be
worse.... ;p
> 66. MARVEL TEAM-UP
> Nov Marvel Team-Up #1 - 44,530
> Nov Marvel Team-Up #2 - 37,515 (-15.7%)
> Dec Marvel Team-Up #3 - 29,085 (-22.5%)
> Jan Marvel Team-Up #4 - 27,216 ( -6.4%)
>
> As with NEW THUNDERBOLTS, the title levels out a bit with its fourth
> issue. But these numbers are worryingly low.
With the rotating cast of characters (meaning Spidey isn't in every
issue), I dunno if this will survive past #12 (the Marvel-guaranteed
point, I believe). Like anthologies, team up books like this won't do
well without more character stability...
> 84. MADROX
> Sep Madrox #1 (of 5) - 33,752
> Oct Madrox #2 (of 5) - 26,167 (-22.5%)
> Nov Madrox #3 (of 5) - 23,971 ( -8.4%)
> Dec Madrox #4 (of 5) - 22,551 ( -5.9%)
> Jan Madrox #5 (of 5) - 21,300 ( -5.5%)
>
> Well, it levelled out a bit, I suppose. There's been talk of an
> X-FACTOR title spinning off from this. Perhaps the good word of
mouth
> will spark interest in that - it's been known to happen before.
Runaways Vol.2 sure benefited from word of mouth like that: they
overshipped that first ish and still sold out within a week.
> 95. SPIDER-MAN INDIA
> Nov Spider-Man India #1 (of 4) - 37,783
> Dec Spider-Man India #2 (of 4) - 24,779 (-34.4%)
> Jan Spider-Man India #3 (of 4) - 18,474 (-25.4%)
>
> Boy, the novelty value sure wore off quickly with this one, didn't
it?
There was novelty value?
Is this another one that was magically made a mini after #1 shipped?
(Maybe not, but I never remember anything originally said that it was
only a mini)
> 123. JUBILEE
> Sep Jubilee #1 (of 6) - 31,287
> Oct Jubilee #2 (of 6) - 22,236 (-28.9%)
> Nov Jubilee #3 (of 6) - 15,770 (-29.1%)
> Dec Jubilee #4 (of 6) - 13,026 (-17.4%)
> Jan Jubilee #5 (of 6) - 11,480 (-11.9%)
>
> Officially Marvel is claiming this as a six-issue miniseries -
something
> which they conveniently forgot to mention until after the sales for
> issue #1 came in. The rushed wrap-up in issue #6 is, shall we say,
not
> entirely consistent with that claim.
>
> JUBILEE now has the remarkable distinction of being the worst selling
> X-book... well, ever. The Marvel Age logo probably played a part in
> driving away the comics stores, too. However you look at it, though,
> there's just no sugar-coating numbers like these. They're disastrous.
At least it didn't crack into the below-10K dimension.
Wow.......lowest selling X-book ever....creepy to read, man...
--
Sean
Aaron Forever
"Paul O'Brien" <pa...@SPAMBLOCK.esoterica.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
news:kR7$vZA1qG...@esoterica.demon.co.uk...
> >
> 88. OFFICIAL HANDBOOK OF THE MARVEL UNIVERSE
> May X-Men 2004 - 39,380
> Jun Spider-Man 2004 - 32,013 (-18.7%)
> Jul Avengers 2004 - 28,791 (-10.1%)
> Aug Hulk 2004 - 22,011 (-23.5%)
> Sep Daredevil/Elektra 2004 - 22,781 ( +3.5%)
> Oct Wolverine 2004 - 32,553 (+42.9%)
> Nov Book of the Dead 2004 - 25,131 (-22.8%)
> Dec Golden Age 2004 - 17,356 (-30.9%)
> Jan Women of Marvel 2005 - 20,837 (+20.1%)
> 6 mnth (-27.6%)
>
> Women: more popular than the Golden Age, but not as popular as dead
> people.
>
>
LOL
Nathan P. Mahney
Sean Walsh <mad...@comicboards.com> wrote in message
news:1109461998.1...@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
> Paul O'Brien wrote:
> >
> > 123. JUBILEE
> > Sep Jubilee #1 (of 6) - 31,287
> > Oct Jubilee #2 (of 6) - 22,236 (-28.9%)
> > Nov Jubilee #3 (of 6) - 15,770 (-29.1%)
> > Dec Jubilee #4 (of 6) - 13,026 (-17.4%)
> > Jan Jubilee #5 (of 6) - 11,480 (-11.9%)
> >
> > Officially Marvel is claiming this as a six-issue miniseries -
> > something
> > which they conveniently forgot to mention until after the sales for
> > issue #1 came in. The rushed wrap-up in issue #6 is, shall we say,
> > not
> > entirely consistent with that claim.
> >
> > JUBILEE now has the remarkable distinction of being the worst selling
>
> > X-book... well, ever. The Marvel Age logo probably played a part in
> > driving away the comics stores, too. However you look at it, though,
> > there's just no sugar-coating numbers like these. They're disastrous.
>
> At least it didn't crack into the below-10K dimension.
Ah, but there's still one issue to go!
--
- Nathan P. Mahney -
Writing:
http://free.hostdepartment.com/n/npmahney/index.html
The Whole Story Comic Reviews:
http://free.hostdepartment.com/n/npmahney/ReviewIndex.html
Gamebook Scenic Solutions:
http://free.hostdepartment.com/n/npmahney/SSIndex.html
Paul O'Brien
Walsh <mad...@comicboards.com> writes
>
>Now are these sales factoring in the extra "limited edition," which
>shipped (what seems like) like a week after the regular edition of #1?
>(And I believe there was an additional 2nd printing, but I assume that
>shipped later and doesn't figure here)
There's only one listing for the book on the charts. However, as a
general rule, Diamond only list multiple versions of the same title
separately if they have different price points.
Samy Merchi
>>No, people are boycotting the title because no prior exposure was
>>given.
> If that were the case then people would be queuing up to complain
> about RUNAWAYS.
I'm not exactly seeing RUNAWAYS burning up the charts either.
I will bet you anything, RUNAWAYS would have sold better from the
start if they'd done a year's worth of guest appearances on Spidey,
Cap, X-Men and Pulse first.
Sean Walsh
Wow.
JUBILEE was so low-selling that I didn't even bother to notice the last
ish listed was #5..... ;p
--
Sean
Samy Merchi
> In message <Xns960AB752B...@130.232.1.14>, Samy Merchi
> <sa...@iki.fi> writes
>>I'm not exactly seeing RUNAWAYS burning up the charts either.
> Apparently issue #1 has sold out an overprint, so we'll see.
I hope it does do well.
> You couldn't do the RUNAWAYS concept very well beginning as guest
> stars in other books, anyway. It'd kill the story.
Mmmm. I could think of a few ways to pull it off fairly organically.
Paul O'Brien
<sa...@iki.fi> writes
>
>I'm not exactly seeing RUNAWAYS burning up the charts either.
Apparently issue #1 has sold out an overprint, so we'll see.
You couldn't do the RUNAWAYS concept very well beginning as guest stars
in other books, anyway. It'd kill the story.
--
Marc-Oliver Frisch
: Peter Milligan's first issue, but Marvel didn't promote the change of
: writer as a big deal.
It's still a rather disappointing reaction. I would have expected a very slight
increase, at least.
: 16. MARVEL KNIGHTS SPIDER-MAN
: Apr Marvel Knights Spider-Man #1 - 137,314
: May Marvel Knights Spider-Man #2 - 99,320 (-27.7%)
: Jun Marvel Knights Spider-Man #3 - 82,715 (-16.7%)
: Jul Marvel Knights Spider-Man #4 - 75,508 ( -8.7%)
: Aug Marvel Knights Spider-Man #5 - 75,562 ( +0.1%)
: Sep Marvel Knights Spider-Man #6 - 71,492 ( -5.4%)
: Oct Marvel Knights Spider-Man #7 - 69,918 ( -2.2%)
: Nov Marvel Knights Spider-Man #8 - 68,290 ( -2.3%)
: Dec Marvel Knights Spider-Man #9 - 64,461 ( -5.6%)
: Jan Marvel Knights Spider-Man #10 - 61,831 ( -4.1%)
: 6 mnth (-18.1%)
:
: Falling, but there's only two issues of Millar's run to go, so it's
: going to sustain a decent level of sales throughout.
Ho-hum. More than half the sales of #1 are gone already. I'd imagine they
wouldn't have minded if had been a little more sustaining.
: 33,38. NEW X-MEN / NEW MUTANTS
:
: Continuing to decline, with no end in sight. And rather quickly, at
: that. There's no immediate cause to panic here, but NEW X-MEN really
: has to do something to start levelling out.
Marvel's answer, apparently, is to add a spin-off limited series to the monthly
and ship two issues each in May. They're called the House of Ideas for a
reason, you see.
: 45. PULSE
: Feb Pulse #1 - 51,130 (+81.8%)
: Mar Pulse #2 - 45,479 (-11.1%)
: Apr n/a
: May Pulse #3 - 43,655 ( -4.0%)
: Jun n/a
: Jul Pulse #4 - 39,883 ( -8.6%)
: Aug n/a
: Sep Pulse #5 - 37,812 ( -5.2%)
: Oct n/a
: Nov Pulse #6 - 40,895 ( +8.2%)
: Dec n/a
: Jan Pulse #7 - 34,779 (-15.0%)
: 6 mnth (-12.8%)
:
: Back to normal numbers after the SECRET WARS tie-in.
I notice #7 is still a SECRET WAR tie-in. Makes me wonder whether some copies
fell off a truck again. Otherwise, it would seem that people are... losing
interest... in SECRET WAR.
: Because you demanded it! And even if you didn't, we'll keep telling you
: did until you agree with us!
At Megacon, Joe Quesada said his spider sense kept tingling about the book, or
something.
: 92. SPIDER-GIRL
: Jan Spider-Girl #68 - 20,544 ( -4.0%)
: Jan Spider-Girl #69 - 20,384 ( -0.8%)
: Feb Spider-Girl #70 - 20,541 ( +0.8%)
: Mar Spider-Girl #71 - 20,709 ( +0.8%)
: Apr Spider-Girl #72 - 20,533 ( -0.8%)
: May Spider-Girl #73 - 20,275 ( -1.3%)
: May Spider-Girl #74 - 19,959 ( -1.6%)
: Jun Spider-Girl #75 - 24,674 (+23.6%)
: Jul Spider-Girl #76 - 22,157 (-10.2%)
: Aug Spider-Girl #77 - 21,758 ( -1.8%)
: Sep Spider-Girl #78 - 22,076 ( +1.5%)
: Oct Spider-Girl #79 - 21,893 ( -0.8%)
: Nov Spider-Girl #80 - 21,146 ( -3.4%)
: Dec Spider-Girl #81 - 20,419 ( -3.4%)
: Jan Spider-Girl #82 - 20,005 ( -2.0%)
: 6 mnth ( -9.7%)
: 1 year ( -1.9%)
:
: Well, it's SPIDER-GIRL. It hovers in its own area of 19-21K, and it's
: happy in its little sales bubble. And why shouldn't it be?
It's the book's lowest sales in at least a year, though.
--
Marc-Oliver Frisch
POPP'D! >> http://poppd.blogspot.com
COMIKADO >> http://comikado.blogspot.com
SUPERCRITICAL >> http://supercritic.blogspot.com
In dubio pro bono.
--
[This is a Usenet message, posted to the rec.arts.comics.* groups.]
Paul O'Brien
<Dersc...@hotmail.com> writes
>
>It's the book's lowest sales in at least a year, though.
Issue #74 sold lower. Only very marginally, though, I'd accept.
Marc-Oliver Frisch
: >It's the book's lowest sales in at least a year, though.
:
: Issue #74 sold lower.
Never mind; I forgot to clean my glasses.
Ivan_Isaacs
> Jan Marvel 2005 New Year Deal - 1,571
>
> Don't ask me. It wasn't in the solicitations, and other than the
fact
> that there was a limit of 2 copies per account, Google doesn't tell
me
> anything about it either.
It was a package with "Marvel Must-Haves: Avengers #500-#502", "Marvel
Must Haves: Wolverine #20-#22", and "Astonishing X-Men #1 John Cassaday
Variant Cover".
~consul
>>23,25. SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN
>>Cancelled with issue #27 following Paul Jenkins' departure, although
>>he's nowhere to be seen here anyway. Issues #23 and #24 are the first
>>half of "Sins Remembered", a sequel to "Sins Past" written by one of J
>>Michael Straczynski's protégés. Every issue of "Sins Past" sold over
>>80,000, so you'd think this might be good for a sales boost. In fact,
>>issue #23 gets a boost which is somewhere between desultory and
>>derisory, and that's about it. I think this says a lot about the
>>reaction to "Sins Past", actually. People bought it because it was an
>>event - but boy, the retailers don't seem to think that they want any
>>more of it.
> Isn't it more that (despite what Marvel seem to think) retailers make a
> distinction between books written by J Michael Straczynski and books written
> by someone with no previous experience who got the job by virtue of knowing
> J Michael Straczynski? See also Doctor Spectrum and Araña.
Are you saying Paul Jenkins has no previous experience? He's had lots, he's a
very good writer.
--
"... to satisfy the honours and place, I had to leave her in silence ..."
--till next time, Jameson Stalanthas Yu -x- <<poetry.dolphins-cove.com>>
con...@INVALIDdolphins-cove.com ((remove the INVALID to email))
billbickel
Apr Daredevil: Father #1 (of 5) - 69,487
May n/a
Jun n/a
Jul n/a
Aug n/a
Sep n/a
Oct n/a
Nov n/a
Dec n/a
Jan n/a
M.I.A.
---------------------
Okay, I never understood how something like this happens. Does the
writer finish the first issue, wait for it to be released and then say
"Damn, I can't think of what happens next"? Does the artist suddenly
develop carpal-tunnel and there's literally nobody else available to
draw the pictures?
I'm serious here: A full year delay is just such an embarrassment to
everybody involved -- or at least it should be -- and I'm really
curious about how this can happen logistically.
Bill Bickel
http://www.comicsidontunderstand.com
http://www.missing-kids.us
Ibn Tumart
Wow, I forgot I even *bought* this comic... almost a full year already, eh?
I can't remember the story or why the miniseries was supposed to be a
big deal in the first place now.
Lord Hatred
"billbickel" <billb...@gmail.com> wrote:
> DAREDEVIL: FATHER
> Apr Daredevil: Father #1 (of 5) - 69,487
> May n/a
> Jun n/a
> Jul n/a
> Aug n/a
> Sep n/a
> Oct n/a
> Nov n/a
> Dec n/a
> Jan n/a
>
> M.I.A.
> ---------------------
> Okay, I never understood how something like this happens. Does the
> writer finish the first issue, wait for it to be released and then say
> "Damn, I can't think of what happens next"? Does the artist suddenly
> develop carpal-tunnel and there's literally nobody else available to
> draw the pictures?
>
> I'm serious here: A full year delay is just such an embarrassment to
> everybody involved -- or at least it should be -- and I'm really
> curious about how this can happen logistically.
>
"Everybody involved" is Joe Quesada.
Ralf Haring
<con...@INVALIDdolphins-cove.com> wrote:
>Ben P wrote:
>
>> Isn't it more that (despite what Marvel seem to think) retailers make a
>> distinction between books written by J Michael Straczynski and books written
>> by someone with no previous experience who got the job by virtue of knowing
>> J Michael Straczynski? See also Doctor Spectrum and Araña.
>
>Are you saying Paul Jenkins has no previous experience? He's had lots, he's a
>very good writer.
No, the current writers of Spectacular Spider-Man and Araña are Samm
Barnes and Fiona Avery, respectively. Jenkins will be back on
Spectacular to write the final issue.
-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
Ralf Haring
wrote:
>
>DAREDEVIL: FATHER
>
>Okay, I never understood how something like this happens. Does the
>writer finish the first issue, wait for it to be released and then say
>"Damn, I can't think of what happens next"? Does the artist suddenly
>develop carpal-tunnel and there's literally nobody else available to
>draw the pictures?
>
>I'm serious here: A full year delay is just such an embarrassment to
>everybody involved -- or at least it should be -- and I'm really
>curious about how this can happen logistically.
It is both being written and drawn by Joe Quesada. He's got his
regular gig as editor-in-chief to worry about. The inks are by Danny
Miki and the colors by Richard Isanove, who I'm sure have lined up
other gigs in the interim. If Quesada wants them to finish out the
miniseries, they've got to work around whatever else they've committed
to.
On a more conceptual level, it happens because the company does not
accommodate adequately for delays in the pace of the comic's creation.
They get overeager when they have an issue or two on hand and think
production on the subsequent issues will continue apace. Then shit
happens and it doesn't.
When the creators involved have a history of delays or of being slower
than other creators, they really should know better.
~consul
>>stars in other books, anyway. It'd kill the story.
> Mmmm. I could think of a few ways to pull it off fairly organically.
Number one being the Pride meeting with "associates" on the East Coast.
~consul
> On Tue, 01 Mar 2005 15:46:02 -0800, ~consul
>>very good writer.
> No, the current writers of Spectacular Spider-Man and Araña are Samm
> Barnes and Fiona Avery, respectively. Jenkins will be back on
> Spectacular to write the final issue.
Ah, I see. Okay then. Don't be dissin' Paul Jenkins. After his Inhumans, he's my
#2 go to man. (Priest is #1.)
Dario Delfino
This is one of many reasons why it's so difficult to trust and respect
Marvel editorial. Joey Q went on and on about how this was an important
series that would delve into Matt's relationship with his father, which he
wanted to do because he was dealing with issues with his own father; that,
plus it was the first pre-Bendis-style story published in some time
(meaning, Matt's secret identity is still a secret).
This also happened with Daredevil: The Target, though Kevin Smith claims
he finished those scripts and sent them to the artists.
Whatever. Less talk, more comics.
-DD
--
"You can beat the young-at-heart comics fan with a crowbar and blow him
up, but his basic optimism endures."
- Tony Isabella
hogfat
> On a more conceptual level, it happens because the company does not
> accommodate adequately for delays in the pace of the comic's creation.
> They get overeager when they have an issue or two on hand and think
> production on the subsequent issues will continue apace. Then shit
> happens and it doesn't.
I believe it has much less to do with Marvel as a company than it does with
the fact that the creator hired himself to do the job. Therefore, Quesada's
not really got anyone to answer to regarding the book's lateness, since such
matters are the responsibility of the editor (in chief) -- the man, himself.
> When the creators involved have a history of delays or of being slower
> than other creators, they really should know better.
Who, exactly, is this "they"? Quesada? Given that he likely greenlit the
books, what should he care that he's slow about them?
--
http://www.fermium.org/
no-so-extremely preliminary "x-database"
Bort
came out monthly, they may be more likely to continue picking up the
mini?
Hal Shipman
I'd always assumed that (one of Dave Sim's mantras of
self-publishing), but it seems that's not always true. For example,
Paul O'Brien has observed that incredible, ongoing lateness has not
affected the Ultimates at all. Go figure.
Hal.
I don't wear no Stetson
But I'm willing to bet, son
That I'm as big a Texan as you are
- Robert Earl Keen, "Amarillo Highway"
Paul O'Brien
<bro...@hotmail.com> writes
>Um, because delays cause people to not buy the second issue, when if it
>came out monthly, they may be more likely to continue picking up the
>mini?
Insane delays never did ULTIMATES any harm. Admittedly, disappearing
for almost a year may be pushing their luck.
Paul O'Brien
<hshipma...@ix.netcom.com> writes
>
>I'd always assumed that (one of Dave Sim's mantras of self-publishing),
>but it seems that's not always true.
It's probably more true about self-publishing simply because of the need
to generate word of mouth, which requires continual new product.
However, in the modern market, that audience tends to gravitate
increasingly to graphic novels, or series which are collected in regular
trade paperbacks - and the issue of keeping product on the shelves
becomes less urgent.
Ralf Haring
wrote:
>"Ralf Haring" said:
>
>> On a more conceptual level, it happens because the company does not
>> accommodate adequately for delays in the pace of the comic's creation.
>> They get overeager when they have an issue or two on hand and think
>> production on the subsequent issues will continue apace. Then shit
>> happens and it doesn't.
>
>I believe it has much less to do with Marvel as a company than it does with
>the fact that the creator hired himself to do the job.
It's not like they were looking to produce a Daredevil miniseries and
couldn't find anyone else to do it. It's Quesada's show. Without him,
there would be no reason for the miniseries to exist.
>Therefore, Quesada's
>not really got anyone to answer to regarding the book's lateness, since such
>matters are the responsibility of the editor (in chief) -- the man, himself.
Of course he has to answer to his boss or his boss's boss or his
boss's boss's boss. The editor in chief is middle management.
hogfat
> On Wed, 2 Mar 2005 22:22:23 -0600, "hogfat" <hog...@dizzle.orgies>
> wrote:
>>"Ralf Haring" said:
>>
>>I believe it has much less to do with Marvel as a company than it does
>>with
>>the fact that the creator hired himself to do the job.
>
> It's not like they were looking to produce a Daredevil miniseries and
> couldn't find anyone else to do it. It's Quesada's show. Without him,
> there would be no reason for the miniseries to exist.
That's my entirely my point: he has been almost wholly responsible for the
project, creatively and administratively.
>>Therefore, Quesada's
>>not really got anyone to answer to regarding the book's lateness, since
>>such
>>matters are the responsibility of the editor (in chief) -- the man,
>>himself.
>
> Of course he has to answer to his boss or his boss's boss or his
> boss's boss's boss. The editor in chief is middle management.
For sure, but his bosses likely don't care to bother themselves by taking on
the authority they've delegated to the man. And why should they, unless the
numbers they get aren't what they want?
kingalt
"Bort" <bro...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1109828885.3...@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> Um, because delays cause people to not buy the second issue, when if it
> came out monthly, they may be more likely to continue picking up the
> mini?
>
kingalt
"billbickel" <billb...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1109736993.2...@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
> DAREDEVIL: FATHER
> Apr Daredevil: Father #1 (of 5) - 69,487
> May n/a
> Jun n/a
> Jul n/a
> Aug n/a
> Sep n/a
> Oct n/a
> Nov n/a
> Dec n/a
> Jan n/a
>
> M.I.A.
> ---------------------
> Okay, I never understood how something like this happens. Does the
> writer finish the first issue, wait for it to be released and then say
> "Damn, I can't think of what happens next"? Does the artist suddenly
> develop carpal-tunnel and there's literally nobody else available to
> draw the pictures?
>
> I'm serious here: A full year delay is just such an embarrassment to
> everybody involved -- or at least it should be -- and I'm really
> curious about how this can happen logistically.
>
I dont believe it CAN happen.
Marc-Oliver Frisch
: Insane delays never did ULTIMATES any harm. Admittedly, disappearing
: for almost a year may be pushing their luck.
Disappearing for two years cost both MINISTRY OF SPACE and RISING STARS about
10,000 units, at any rate.
Shawn H
: Um, because delays cause people to not buy the second issue, when if it
: came out monthly, they may be more likely to continue picking up the
: mini?
It doesn't effect some books, if the hype, interest or quality level is
high enough. Ultimates, Secret War, Nyx ... sales stay high regardless of
tardiness.
Shawn
Paul O'Brien
<har...@SPAMBLOCK.preypacer.com> writes
>
>It's not like they were looking to produce a Daredevil miniseries and
>couldn't find anyone else to do it. It's Quesada's show. Without him,
>there would be no reason for the miniseries to exist.
That's true, and the real question for this book is why the schedule was
so unrealistic in the first place. If Quesada wanted to labour quietly
over the book for two years and then release it when it was actually
ready, nobody would begrudge him taking that long. And it's
understandable, on occasion, that a creator with a lot of other
commitments might misjudge the schedule by a month or two. But by
eleven months? On top of botching NYX into oblivion? It's hard to see
how anyone can misjudge matters quite that badly without being
recklessly over-optimistic.