Marvel sales - July 2005
Paul O'Brien
JULY 2005
=========
It's the second month of the HOUSE OF M storyline, and this time all the
tie-in books hit the shelves. And you can probably guess the result -
every book participating in the crossover sees its sales shoot up, often
by massive amounts. Once again, Marvel beats DC in terms of both dollar
share and unit share. It's precisely the response Marvel must have been
hoping for, and it can surely only increase the pressure to come up with
more of the same.
It's also "Ultimate Starts Month", a tenuously linked promotion based on
the idea that all the Ultimate books are starting new storylines at the
same time. They're not actually linked or anything, but as I've noted
over recent months, sales on the core Ultimate books have been slipping
of late, and it was probably time to do something about it. But with
HOUSE OF M in full swing, will anyone notice...?
The usual preliminaries: where applicable, I've included the numbers for
July 2001, 2002 and 2003. Bear in mind that the charts for 2001-2 were
based solely on initial orders, so they aren't directly comparable with
the figures for 2003-2005, which are based on copies actually shipped,
including re-orders. Mind you, given Marvel's print-to-order policy,
the earlier numbers probably aren't a million miles out, and if
anything, they're likely to be on the low side.
As always, thanks to Milton Griepp and ICV2 for permission to use their
figures for these calculations. See http://www.icv2.com for more.
On with the charts. To nobody's surprise, ALL STAR BATMAN & ROBIN, THE
BOY WONDER #1 enters at number one with phenomenal sales. But Marvel
get the rest of the top five.
2. NEW AVENGERS
Jul 01 Avengers #44 - 62,604
Jul 02 Avengers #56 - 51,798
Jul 03 n/a
======
Jul 04 Avengers #500 - 140,033 (+145.3%)
Aug 04 n/a
Sep 04 Avengers #501 - 91,054 ( -35.0%)
Sep 04 Avengers #502 - 93,105 ( +2.3%)
Oct 04 n/a
Nov 04 Avengers #503 - 105,761 ( +13.6%)
Nov 04 Avengers Finale - 101,431 ( -4.1%)
Dec 05 New Avengers #1 - 280,286 (+176.3%)
Jan 05 New Avengers #2 - 155,742 ( -44.3%)
Feb 05 New Avengers #3 - 148,973 ( -4.3%)
Mar 05 New Avengers #4 - 158,303 ( +6.3%)
Apr 05 New Avengers #5 - 168,556 ( +6.5%)
May 05 n/a
Jun 05 New Avengers #6 - 164,592 ( -2.4%)
Jul 05 New Avengers #7 - 158,693 ( -3.6%)
6 mnth ( +1.9%)
1 year ( +13.3%)
2 year ( n/a )
The NEW AVENGERS sales juggernaut ploughs on, as the book enters its
second storyline. Of course, every single issue continues to enjoy
variant covers, and no doubt that plays its part in inflating the
orders. On the other hand, NEW AVENGERS is outselling every other
Marvel title, and beating the second placed ongoing book - ASTONISHING
X-MEN - by over 30,000 copies. Seven issues in, you don't achieve those
sorts of sales by gimmickry alone.
Having said that, it's worth pointing out that NEW AVENGERS has a lower
price tag than other Marvel books, at only $2.25 compared with the
standard $2.99. Consequently, despite being Marvel's biggest seller in
terms of quantity, it's actually only number 5 on the dollar chart,
beaten by HOUSE OF M and ASTONISHING.
Re-orders continue to hit the charts, with issue #6 picking up another
3,017 sales, issue #5 getting another 2,559, and issue #4 getting 1,557.
As always, those numbers are included in the figures above.
3,4. HOUSE OF M
Jun 05 House of M #1 (of 8) - 254,663
Jun 05 House of M #2 (of 8) - 175,374 (-31.1%)
Jul 05 House of M #3 (of 8) - 151,744 (-13.5%)
Jul 05 House of M #4 (of 8) - 146,259 ( -3.6%)
Levelling out nicely - that 3.6% drop for issue #4 is remarkably low at
this stage and suggests that retailers have a lot of confidence in the
book to sustain its performance. As you might expect, issues #1 and #2
both shift some extra copies this month. There are 6,400 reorders of
issue #2, and 2,964 of issue #1. On top of that, there's also the
Director's Cut edition of issue #1, which places at number 113 with
orders of 17,936. Once again, all of those sales are included above.
5. ASTONISHING X-MEN
Jul 04 Astonishing X-Men #3 - 129,362 ( -5.0%)
Aug 04 Astonishing X-Men #4 - 148,209 (+14.6%)
Sep 04 Astonishing X-Men #5 - 134,154 ( -9.5%)
Oct 04 n/a
Nov 04 Astonishing X-Men #6 - 134,840 ( +0.5%)
Dec 04 Astonishing X-Men #7 - 153,516 (+13.9%)
Jan 05 n/a
Feb 05 Astonishing X-Men #8 - 153,395 ( -0.0%)
Mar 05 Astonishing X-Men #9 - 135,325 (-11.8%)
Apr 05 n/a
May 05 Astonishing X-Men #10 - 156,298 (+15.5%)
Jun 05 n/a
Jul 05 Astonishing X-Men #11 - 127,768 (-18.3%)
6 mnth (-16.7%)
1 year ( -1.2%)
Once again, ASTONISHING bounces straight back to previous levels after
getting an artificial boost from a variant cover.
7. ULTIMATES
Jul 02 Ultimates #7 - 102,396
Jul 03 Ultimates #11 - 103,192
======
Dec 05 Ultimates 2 #1 - 146,271 (+42.0%)
Jan 05 Ultimates 2 #2 - 114,963 (-21.4%)
Feb 05 Ultimates 2 #3 - 108,378 ( -5.7%)
Mar 05 Ultimates 2 #4 - 105,255 ( -2.9%)
Apr 05 Ultimates 2 #5 - 104,971 ( -0.3%)
May 05 Ultimates 2 #6 - 102,026 ( -2.8%)
Jun 05 n/a
Jul 05 Ultimates 2 #7 - 99,134 ( -2.8%)
6 mnth (-32.2%)
1 year ( n/a )
2 year ( -3.9%)
Nominally part of Ultimate Starts Month, although you'd be hard pressed
to notice, since the issue reads as a straightforward continuation of
what had gone before. Retailers ignore the promotion entirely and
simply order it as normal.
9. ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR
Jul 04 Ultimate Fantastic Four #9 - 94,094 ( -2.7%)
Aug 04 Ultimate Fantastic Four #10 - 90,670 ( -3.6%)
Sep 04 Ultimate Fantastic Four #11 - 87,620 ( -3.4%)
Oct 04 n/a
Nov 04 Ultimate Fantastic Four #12 - 84,417 ( -3.7%)
Nov 04 Ultimate Fantastic Four #13 - 109,997 (+30.3%)
Dec 04 Ultimate Fantastic Four #14 - 78,717 (-28.4%)
Jan 05 Ultimate Fantastic Four #15 - 74,501 ( -5.4%)
Feb 05 n/a
Mar 05 Ultimate Fantastic Four #16 - 73,987 ( -0.7%)
Apr 05 Ultimate Fantastic Four #17 - 72,207 ( -2.4%)
May 05 Ultimate Fantastic Four #18 - 71,478 ( -1.0%)
Jun 05 Ultimate Fantastic Four #19 - 70,300 ( -1.6%)
Jun 05 Ultimate Fantastic Four #20 - 69,097 ( -1.7%)
Jul 05 Ultimate Fantastic Four #21 - 91,321 (+32.2%)
6 mnth (+22.6%)
1 year ( -2.9%)
Another Ultimate Starts Month book, and this time it shoots up in sales.
This, of course, is the first part of "Crossover", which was promoted in
such a way as to heavily suggest, without actually saying so, that it's
a crossover with the Marvel Universe. It isn't, and while it would be
going a bit far to describe this as false advertising, it's hard to deny
that it was intentionally misleading.
Given that Ultimate Starts Month did nothing for ULTIMATES or ULTIMATE
SPIDER-MAN, it's tempting to suggest that this stunt brought in a lot of
readers who might not be exactly happy about it. Then again, it's also
the first issue by Mark Millar and Greg Land, and on top of that there's
a variant cover. So sales would have jumped significantly in any event.
10. UNCANNY X-MEN
Jul 01 Uncanny X-Men #396 - 117,560
Jul 02 Uncanny X-Men #409 - 86,942
Jul 03 Uncanny X-Men #428 - 93,546
======
Jul 04 Uncanny X-Men #446 - 96,961 ( -1.7%)
Aug 04 Uncanny X-Men #447 - 95,838 ( -1.2%)
Sep 04 Uncanny X-Men #448 - 95,908 ( +0.1%)
Sep 04 Uncanny X-Men #449 - 93,839 ( -2.2%)
Oct 04 Uncanny X-Men #450 - 101,506 ( +8.2%)
Oct 04 Uncanny X-Men #451 - 99,411 ( -2.1%)
Nov 04 Uncanny X-Men #452 - 92,051 ( -7.4%)
Dec 04 Uncanny X-Men #453 - 89,952 ( -2.3%)
Jan 05 Uncanny X-Men #454 - 87,411 ( -2.8%)
Feb 05 Uncanny X-Men #455 - 88,920 ( +1.7%)
Feb 05 Uncanny X-Men #456 - 86,767 ( -2.4%)
Mar 05 Uncanny X-Men #457 - 86,365 ( -0.5%)
Apr 05 Uncanny X-Men #458 - 85,299 ( -1.2%)
May 05 Uncanny X-Men #459 - 83,547 ( -2.1%)
Jun 05 Uncanny X-Men #460 - 82,457 ( -1.3%)
Jun 05 Uncanny X-Men #461 - 91,221 (+10.6%)
Jul 05 Uncanny X-Men #462 - 91,125 ( -0.1%)
6 mnth ( +4.2%)
1 year ( -6.0%)
2 year ( -2.6%)
The first HOUSE OF M crossover. It actually posts a slight decline, but
that's only because issue #461 had a variant cover by Andy Kubert. Sales
on a variant cover usually vanish the next month (for obvious reasons),
so in practice this is a 10% rise for UNCANNY - which had a healthy base
to start with
This is one of the more significant crossover arcs, since it also leads
into autumn's NEW EXCALIBUR, which should have some momentum behind it
now.
13. ULTIMATE X-MEN
Jul 01 Ultimate X-Men #8 - 99,527
Jul 02 Ultimate X-Men #20 - 92,927
Jul 03 Ultimate X-Men #35 - 109,687
======
Jul 04 Ultimate X-Men #49 - 93,572 ( -0.7%)
Aug 04 Ultimate X-Men #50 - 103,154 (+10.2%)
Sep 04 Ultimate X-Men #51 - 94,965 ( -7.9%)
Oct 04 Ultimate X-Men #52 - 93,833 ( -1.2%)
Nov 04 Ultimate X-Men #53 - 92,133 ( -1.8%)
Dec 04 n/a
Jan 05 Ultimate X-Men #54 - 90,619 ( -1.6%)
Jan 05 Ultimate X-Men #55 - 87,447 ( -3.5%)
Feb 05 Ultimate X-Men #56 - 86,130 ( -1.5%)
Mar 05 Ultimate X-Men #57 - 83,835 ( -2.7%)
Apr 05 Ultimate X-Men #58 - 82,606 ( -1.5%)
May 05 Ultimate X-Men #59 - 81,321 ( -1.6%)
Jun 05 Ultimate X-Men #60 - 78,613 ( -3.3%)
Jul 05 Ultimate X-Men #61 - 87,094 (+10.8%)
6 mnth ( -0.4%)
1 year ( -6.9%)
2 year (-20.6%)
Back to Ultimate Starts Month, and ULTIMATE X-MEN goes up almost 11%.
But since the promotion did nothing for ULTIMATES or ULTIMATE
SPIDER-MAN, I'm inclined to attribute a lot of this rise to the fact
that issue #61 had a variant cover. We'll find out next month,
depending on whether sales crash straight back to normal levels.
16,18. ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN
Jul 01 Ultimate Spider-Man #11 - 79,267
Jul 02 Ultimate Spider-Man #24 - 92,459
Jul 03 Ultimate Spider-Man #43 - 101,316
======
Jul 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #62 - 98,963 ( -2.2%)
Aug 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #63 - 96,279 ( -2.7%)
Aug 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #64 - 94,682 ( -1.7%)
Sep 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #65 - 94,174 ( -0.5%)
Oct 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #66 - 95,917 ( +1.9%)
Oct 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #67 - 95,071 ( -0.9%)
Nov 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #68 - 91,075 ( -4.2%)
Nov 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #69 - 90,010 ( -1.2%)
Dec 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #70 - 88,960 ( -1.2%)
Jan 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #71 - 83,987 ( -5.6%)
Feb 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #72 - 86,685 ( +3.2%)
Mar 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #73 - 83,943 ( -3.2%)
Mar 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #74 - 83,817 ( -0.2%)
Apr 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #75 - 83,940 ( +0.1%)
Apr 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #76 - 82,244 ( -2.0%)
May 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #77 - 81,034 ( -1.5%)
Jun 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #78 - 79,420 ( -2.0%)
Jul 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #79 - 78,404 ( -1.3%)
Jul 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #80 - 76,906 ( -1.9%)
6 mnth ( -8.4%)
1 year (-22.3%)
2 year (-24.1%)
Ultimate Starts Month. Nobody notices.
17. X-MEN
Jul 01 New X-Men #116 - 120,703
Jul 02 New X-Men #129 - 98,817
Jul 03 New X-Men #143 - 99,850
======
Jul 04 X-Men #159 - 93,164 ( -3.7%)
Aug 04 X-Men #160 - 91,790 ( -1.5%)
Sep 04 X-Men #161 - 90,591 ( -1.3%)
Sep 04 X-Men #162 - 90,752 ( +0.2%)
Oct 04 X-Men #163 - 88,615 ( -2.4%)
Nov 04 X-Men #164 - 88,620 ( +0.0%)
Dec 04 X-Men #165 - 86,633 ( -2.2%)
Jan 05 X-Men #166 - 85,934 ( -0.8%)
Feb 05 X-Men #167 - 84,155 ( -2.1%)
Mar 05 X-Men #168 - 83,979 ( -0.2%)
Apr 05 X-Men #169 - 82,793 ( -1.4%)
May 05 X-Men #170 - 81,048 ( -2.1%)
Jun 05 X-Men #171 - 80,307 ( -0.9%)
Jun 05 X-Men #172 - 78,889 ( -1.8%)
Jul 05 X-Men #173 - 77,154 ( -2.2%)
6 mnth (-10.2%)
1 year (-17.2%)
2 year (-22.7%)
Continuing its gentle decline.
19. WOLVERINE
Jul 01 Wolverine #166 - 70,933
Jul 02 Wolverine #179 - 68,083
Jul 03 Wolverine #3 - 90,717
======
Jul 04 Wolverine #17 - 66,589 ( -1.4%)
Aug 04 Wolverine #18 - 65,304 ( -1.9%)
Sep 04 Wolverine #19 - 65,046 ( -0.4%)
Oct 04 Wolverine #20 - 118,553 (+82.3%)
Oct 04 Wolverine #21 - 85,760 (-27.7%)
Nov 04 Wolverine #22 - 81,841 ( -4.6%)
Dec 04 Wolverine #23 - 82,525 ( +0.8%)
Jan 04 Wolverine #24 - 81,618 ( -1.1%)
Feb 05 Wolverine #25 - 83,180 ( +1.9%)
Mar 05 Wolverine #26 - 108,677 (+30.7%)
Apr 05 Wolverine #27 - 101,228 ( -6.9%)
May 05 Wolverine #28 - 80,961 (-20.0%)
Jun 05 Wolverine #29 - 79,951 ( -1.2%)
Jul 05 Wolverine #30 - 76,651 ( -4.1%)
6 mnth ( -6.1%)
1 year (+15.1%)
2 year (-15.5%)
Starting to drop off a little, but Mark Millar and John Romita are still
going to finish their run comfortably ahead of the level of sales they
inherited.
21. AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
Jul 01 Amazing Spider-Man #33 - 79,564
Jul 02 Amazing Spider-Man #43 - 98,980
Jul 03 Amazing Spider-Man #55 - 95,467
======
Jul 04 Amazing Spider-Man #510 - 86,181 (-15.2%)
Aug 04 Amazing Spider-Man #511 - 88,118 ( +2.2%)
Sep 04 Amazing Spider-Man #512 - 88,628 ( +0.6%)
Oct 04 Amazing Spider-Man #513 - 89,615 ( +1.1%)
Nov 04 Amazing Spider-Man #514 - 87,121 ( -2.8%)
Dec 04 Amazing Spider-Man #515 - 83,637 ( -4.0%)
Jan 05 Amazing Spider-Man #516 - 79,842 ( -4.5%)
Feb 05 Amazing Spider-Man #517 - 78,584 ( -1.6%)
Mar 05 Amazing Spider-Man #518 - 77,025 ( -2.0%)
Apr 05 Amazing Spider-Man #519 - 79,668 ( +3.4%)
May 05 Amazing Spider-Man #520 - 76,143 ( -4.4%)
Jun 05 Amazing Spider-Man #521 - 74,117 ( -2.7%)
Jul 05 Amazing Spider-Man #522 - 73,130 ( -1.3%)
6 mnth ( -8.4%)
1 year (-15.1%)
2 year (-23.4%)
Gently dropping.
22. SPIDER-MAN: HOUSE OF M
Jun 05 Spider-Man: House of M #1 (of 5) - 89,052
Jul 05 Spider-Man: House of M #2 (of 5) - 71,586 (-19.6%)
23. IRON MAN: HOUSE OF M
Jul 05 Iron Man: House of M #1 (of 3) - 71,259
25. FANTASTIC FOUR: HOUSE OF M
Jul 05 Fantastic Four: House of M #1 (of 3) - 70,827
The second issue drop for SPIDER-MAN: HOUSE OF M is a little stiff, but
not completely out of the normal range for a miniseries. Issue #1 picks
up 3,926 re-orders, and the three HOUSE OF M tie-in minis all place
comfortably just above the 70K range. It's pretty obvious that
retailers have just ordered all three in similar numbers, and it won't
be surprising if they continue to move in lockstep.
31. SECRETS OF THE HOUSE OF M
Jul 05 Secrets of the House of M - 58,433
A respectable performance for a book of profiles by any standard, but
thanks to its $3.99 price tag, this reaches a remarkable number 10 on
the dollar chart. This event is a real moneyspinner - which is why
nobody should be surprised if we get more of the same for the
foreseeable future.
33,35. INCREDIBLE HULK
Jul 01 Incredible Hulk #30 - 34,408
Jul 02 Incredible Hulk #43 - 48,077
Jul 03 Incredible Hulk #57 - 64,959
======
Jul 04 Incredible Hulk #74 - 43,383 ( -2.0%)
Aug 04 Incredible Hulk #75 - 44,066 ( +1.6%)
Aug 04 Incredible Hulk #76 - 42,298 ( -4.0%)
Sep 04 Hulk & Thing: Hard Knocks #1 (of 4) - 44,302 ( +4.7%)
Oct 04 Hulk & Thing: Hard Knocks #2 (of 4) - 37,519 (-15.3%)
Nov 04 Hulk & Thing: Hard Knocks #3 (of 4) - 34,129 ( -9.0%)
Dec 04 Hulk & Thing: Hard Knocks #4 (of 4) - 31,003 ( -9.2%)
Jan 05 Incredible Hulk #77 - 47,180 (+52.2%)
Feb 05 Incredible Hulk #78 - 44,721 ( -5.2%)
Mar 05 Incredible Hulk #79 - 43,508 ( -2.7%)
Apr 05 Incredible Hulk #80 - 48,404 (+11.3%)
May 05 Incredible Hulk #81 - 43,822 (-10.5%)
Jun 05 Incredible Hulk #82 - 43,248 ( -1.3%)
Jul 05 Incredible Hulk #83 - 55,940 (+29.3%)
Jul 05 Incredible Hulk #84 - 53,905 ( -3.6%)
6 mnth (+14.3%)
1 year (+24.3%)
2 year (-17.0%)
Another HOUSE OF M tie-in, and it gives HULK the best sales it's seen
since the height of the Bruce Jones run a couple of years back. Marvel
should be delighted with these numbers.
37. FANTASTIC FOUR
Jul 01 Fantastic Four #45 - 51,686
Jul 02 Fantastic Four #58 - 42,661
Jul 03 Fantastic Four #501 - 56,002
======
Jul 04 Fantastic Four #515 - 48,449 ( -2.9%)
Jul 04 Fantastic Four #516 - 48,580 ( +0.3%)
Aug 04 Fantastic Four #517 - 50,247 ( +3.4%)
Sep 04 Fantastic Four #518 - 48,939 ( -2.6%)
Oct 04 Fantastic Four #519 - 47,969 ( -2.0%)
Nov 04 Fantastic Four #520 - 51,685 ( +7.7%)
Dec 04 Fantastic Four #521 - 47,634 ( -7.8%)
Jan 05 Fantastic Four #522 - 46,335 ( -2.7%)
Feb 05 Fantastic Four #523 - 46,276 ( -0.1%)
Mar 05 Fantastic FOur #524 - 46,660 ( +0.8%)
Apr 05 Fantastic Four #525 - 45,561 ( -2.4%)
May 05 Fantastic Four #526 - 44,935 ( -1.4%)
May 05 Fantastic Four #527 - 75,525 (+68.1%)
Jun 05 Fantastic Four #528 - 55,937 (-25.9%)
Jul 05 Fantastic Four #529 - 52,963 ( -5.3%)
6 mnth (+14.3%)
1 year ( +9.3%)
2 year ( -5.4%)
J Michael Straczynski continues to settle in, and sales continue to find
their level under the new creative team. It looks like the book's going
to settle somewhere around its usual level over the past few years.
38. X-MEN: THE END
Aug 04 X-Men: The End, Book One #1 (of 6) - 109,587
Aug 04 X-Men: The End, Book One #2 (of 6) - 98,578 (-10.0%)
Sep 04 X-Men: The End, Book One #3 (of 6) - 84,001 (-14.8%)
Oct 04 X-Men: The End, Book One #4 (of 6) - 75,073 (-10.6%)
Nov 04 X-Men: The End, Book One #5 (of 6) - 69,642 ( -7.2%)
Dec 04 X-Men: The End, Book One #6 (of 6) - 66,220 ( -4.9%)
Jan 05 n/a
Feb 05 n/a
Mar 05 X-Men: The End, Book Two #1 (of 6) - 71,230 ( +7.6%)
Apr 05 X-Men: The End, Book Two #2 (of 6) - 63,005 (-11.5%)
May 05 X-Men: The End, Book Two #3 (of 6) - 58,870 ( -6.6%)
Jun 05 X-Men: The End, Book Two #4 (of 6) - 54,875 ( -6.8%)
Jul 05 X-Men: The End, Book Two #5 (of 6) - 51,949 ( -5.3%)
6 mnth ( n/a )
Still dropping, and there's a third book still to go. These wouldn't be
considered good sales by the standards of an ongoing title - it's shed
more than half its audience in less than a year. But for an
eighteen-issue mini, it's arguably not so bad.
39. MARVEL KNIGHTS SPIDER-MAN
Jul 04 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #4 - 75,508 ( -8.7%)
Aug 04 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #5 - 75,562 ( +0.1%)
Sep 04 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #6 - 71,492 ( -5.4%)
Oct 04 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #7 - 69,918 ( -2.2%)
Nov 04 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #8 - 68,290 ( -2.3%)
Dec 04 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #9 - 64,461 ( -5.6%)
Jan 05 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #10 - 61,831 ( -4.1%)
Feb 05 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #11 - 60,460 ( -2.2%)
Mar 05 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #12 - 59,983 ( -0.8%)
Apr 05 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #13 - 60,542 ( +0.9%)
May 05 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #14 - 57,270 ( -5.4%)
Jun 05 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #15 - 54,102 ( -5.5%)
Jul 05 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #16 - 50,876 ( -6.0%)
6 mnth (-17.7%)
1 year (-32.6%)
The audience is drifting away, but the "Other" crossover looms on the
horizon to haul them back in.
40. PULSE
Jul 02 Alias #12 - 30,165
Jul 03 Alias #24 - 28,103
======
Jul 04 Pulse #4 - 39,883 ( -8.6%)
Aug 04 n/a
Sep 04 Pulse #5 - 37,812 ( -5.2%)
Oct 04 n/a
Nov 04 Pulse #6 - 40,895 ( +8.2%)
Dec 04 n/a
Jan 05 Pulse #7 - 34,779 (-15.0%)
Feb 05 n/a
Mar 05 Pulse #8 - 33,367 ( -4.1%)
Apr 05 n/a
May 05 n/a
Jun 05 Pulse #9 - 32,771 ( -1.8%)
Jul 05 Pulse #10 - 50,234 (+53.3%)
6 mnth (+44.4%)
1 year (+26.0%)
2 year (+78.7%)
HOUSE OF M, of course. Huge sales by the standards of this title,
although historically this sort of boost evaporates the moment the
crossover ends.
42. DAREDEVIL
Jul 01 Daredevil #21 - 54,271
Jul 02 Daredevil #35 - 50,045
Jul 03 Daredevil #49 - 60,165
======
Jul 04 Daredevil #62 - 52,936 ( -1.6%)
Aug 04 Daredevil #63 - 52,090 ( -1.6%)
Sep 04 Daredevil #64 - 52,259 ( +0.3%)
Sep 04 Daredevil #65 - 57,841 (+10.7%)
Oct 04 Daredevil #66 - 53,138 ( -8.1%)
Nov 04 Daredevil #67 - 51,347 ( -3.4%)
Dec 04 Daredevil #68 - 50,491 ( -1.7%)
Jan 05 Daredevil #69 - 48,727 ( -3.5%)
Feb 05 Daredevil #70 - 48,702 ( -0.0%)
Mar 05 Daredevil #71 - 49,715 ( +2.1%)
Apr 05 Daredevil #72 - 48,803 ( -1.8%)
May 05 Daredevil #73 - 48,681 ( -0.2%)
Jun 05 Daredevil #74 - 48,175 ( -1.0%)
Jul 05 Daredevil #75 - 47,800 ( -0.8%)
6 mnth ( -1.9%)
1 year ( -9.7%)
2 year (-20.6%)
Rock solid.
43. MUTOPIA X
Jul 04 District X #3 - 33,257 ( -7.2%)
Aug 04 District X #4 - 30,816 ( -7.3%)
Sep 04 District X #5 - 28,979 ( -6.0%)
Oct 04 District X #6 - 27,097 ( -6.5%)
Nov 04 District X #7 - 25,488 ( -6.0%)
Dec 04 District X #8 - 23,683 ( -7.1%)
Jan 05 District X #9 - 22,244 ( -6.1%)
Feb 05 District X #10 - 21,252 ( -4.5%)
Mar 05 District X #11 - 20,546 ( -3.3%)
Apr 05 District X #12 - 20,218 ( -1.6%)
May 05 District X #13 - 19,459 ( -3.8%)
Jun 05 District X #14 - 18,798 ( -3.4%)
Jul 05 Mutopia X #1 (of 5) - 46,341 (+146.5%)
6 mnth (+108.3%)
1 year ( +39.3%)
HOUSE OF M, and now the jumps are just getting silly. 146.5%? It'll be
interesting to see how some of the more tenuous crossovers, based on
less popular books, sustain their sales as the event progresses.
45. NEW X-MEN
Jul 03 New Mutants #3 - 43,614
======
Jul 04 New X-Men #3 - 55,304 ( -6.0%)
Aug 04 New X-Men #4 - 51,902 ( -6.2%)
Sep 04 New X-Men #5 - 48,526 ( -6.5%)
Oct 04 New X-Men #6 - 45,647 ( -5.9%)
Nov 04 n/a
Dec 04 New X-Men #7 - 43,024 ( -5.7%)
Jan 05 New X-Men #8 - 40,179 ( -6.6%)
Jan 05 New X-Men #9 - 38,197 ( -4.9%)
Feb 05 New X-Men #10 - 36,910 ( -3.4%)
Mar 05 New X-Men #11 - 35,549 ( -3.7%)
Apr 05 New X-Men #12 - 35,779 ( +0.6%)
May 05 New X-Men #13 - 35,033 ( -2.1%)
May 05 New X-Men #14 - 34,579 ( -1.3%)
Jun 05 New X-Men #15 - 34,007 ( -1.7%)
Jul 05 New X-Men #16 - 44,836 (+31.8%)
6 mnth (+17.4%)
1 year (-18.9%)
2 year ( +2.8%)
HOUSE OF M, and while the book has done better than this within the last
year, it's still a big increase on current sales. A change of creative
team, and the addition of the popular X-23, are just around the corner
once the crossover ends.
46. WEAPON X
Jul 03 Weapon X #10 - 28,015
======
Jul 04 Weapon X #26 - 25,823 ( -2.5%)
Aug 04 Weapon X #27 - 25,604 ( -0.8%)
Sep 04 Weapon X #28 - 25,196 ( -1.6%)
Oct 04 n/a
Nov 04 n/a
Dec 04 n/a
Jan 05 n/a
Feb 05 n/a
Mar 05 n/a
Apr 05 n/a
May 05 n/a
Jun 05 n/a
Jul 05 Weapon X: Days of Future Now #1 (of 5) - 43,881 (+74.2%)
1 year (+69.9%)
2 year (+56.6%)
After being bizarrely cancelled mid-storyline, WEAPON X returns for one
last miniseries to tie everything up. These are surprisingly high sales
considering that it's a book which exists to resolve storylines from a
much lower-selling title, and one wonders whether the retailers have
misjudged this one. Then again, if it really does continue to sell at
this level, Frank Tieri will have every right to feel vindicated.
48. DEFENDERS
Jul 01 Defenders #7 - 27,550
Jul 02 Order #6 (of 6) - 26,502
Jul 03 n/a
======
Jul 05 Defenders #1 (of 5) - 39,510
The creators of FORMERLY KNOWN AS THE JUSTICE LEAGUE take a crack at
DEFENDERS, and get shoved onto the market in a month when nobody's
really paying any attention because of the enormo-crossovers. But they
still get a respectable 40K for the first issue, which isn't bad at all.
MARVEL MILESTONES reprints some Defenders-related material and charts at
number 183 with orders of 5,294.
50,59. DAREDEVIL VS PUNISHER
Jul 05 Daredevil vs Punisher #1 (of 6) - 38,306
Jul 05 Daredevil vs Punisher #2 (of 6) - 35,073 (-8.4%)
David Lapham does superheroes, and gets respectable orders for the first
two issues.
53. PUNISHER
Jul 01 Punisher #2 - 79,276
Jul 02 Punisher #14 - 45,156
Jul 03 Punisher #29 - 38,849
======
Jul 04 Punisher #9 - 46,882 ( -1.3%)
Aug 04 Punisher #10 - 45,396 ( -3.2%)
Sep 04 Punisher #11 - 44,038 ( -3.0%)
Oct 04 Punisher #12 - 42,072 ( -4.5%)
Nov 04 Punisher #13 - 42,088 ( +0.0%)
Nov 04 Punisher #14 - 41,514 ( -1.4%)
Dec 04 Punisher #15 - 40,357 ( -2.8%)
Jan 05 Punisher #16 - 39,341 ( -2.5%)
Feb 05 Punisher #17 - 38,714 ( -1.6%)
Mar 05 Punisher #18 - 38,348 ( -0.9%)
Apr 05 Punisher #19 - 38,753 ( +1.1%)
Apr 05 Punisher #20 - 38,130 ( -1.6%)
May 05 Punisher #21 - 37,998 ( -0.3%)
Jun 05 Punisher #22 - 37,811 ( -0.5%)
Jul 05 Punisher #23 - 37,376 ( -1.2%)
6 mnth ( -5.0%)
1 year (-20.3%)
2 year ( -3.8%)
Still dropping, but very, very slowly.
55. NYX
Jul 04 n/a
Aug 04 n/a
Sep 04 n/a
Oct 04 NYX #5 - 35,749 ( -3.5%)
Nov 04 n/a
Dec 04 n/a
Jan 05 n/a
Feb 05 n/a
Mar 05 n/a
Apr 05 n/a
May 05 n/a
Jun 05 n/a
Jul 05 NYX #6 - 36,892 ( +3.2%)
See what I mean about long delays not hurting sales? NYX returns after
nine months away, and sales go up. X-23 has gathered a lot of
popularity while the book's been missing, and reprints of the earlier
issues have sold respectable amounts. The book is axed with issue #7,
which at this rate should be with us in April 2006.
58. BLACK PANTHER
Jul 01 Black Panther #34 - 19,876
Jul 02 Black Panther #47 - 19,185
Jul 03 Black Panther #62 - 15,774
======
Feb 05 Black Panther #1 - 69,930
Mar 05 Black Panther #2 - 47,533 ( -32.0%)
Apr 05 Black Panther #3 - 44,925 ( -5.5%)
May 05 Black Panther #4 - 40,804 ( -9.2%)
Jun 05 Black Panther #5 - 37,401 ( -8.1%)
Jul 05 Black Panther #6 - 35,256 ( -5.7%)
6 mnth ( n/a )
1 year ( n/a )
2 year (+123.5%)
Losing readers, although it's still doing much better than BLACK PANTHER
books have tended to in the past. Next month is a HOUSE OF M tie-in,
after which there's a two-issue crossover with X-MEN, all of which
should help to boost sales nicely.
60. SHANNA THE SHE-DEVIL
Feb 05 Shanna the She-Devil #1 (of 7) - 47,953
Mar 05 Shanna the She-Devil #2 (of 7) - 40,877 (-14.8%)
Apr 05 Shanna the She-Devil #3 (of 7) - 38,678 ( -5.4%)
May 05 Shanna the She-Devil #4 (of 7) - 37,212 ( -3.8%)
Jun 05 Shanna the She-Devil #5 (of 7) - 35,412 ( -4.8%)
Jul 05 Shanna the She-Devil #6 (of 7) - 34,445 ( -2.7%)
Holding up nicely.
61. CABLE/DEADPOOL
Jul 04 Cable/Deadpool #5 - 32,594 ( -6.8%)
Aug 04 Cable/Deadpool #6 - 31,033 ( -4.8%)
Sep 04 Cable/Deadpool #7 - 30,325 ( -2.3%)
Oct 04 Cable/Deadpool #8 - 28,986 ( -4.4%)
Nov 04 Cable/Deadpool #9 - 27,612 ( -4.7%)
Dec 04 Cable/Deadpool #10 - 26,911 ( -2.5%)
Jan 05 Cable/Deadpool #11 - 25,844 ( -4.0%)
Feb 05 Cable/Deadpool #12 - 25,349 ( -1.9%)
Mar 05 Cable/Deadpool #13 - 25,551 ( +0.8%)
Apr 05 Cable/Deadpool #14 - 24,994 ( -2.2%)
May 05 Cable/Deadpool #15 - 24,837 ( -0.6%)
Jun 05 Cable/Deadpool #16 - 24,612 ( -0.9%)
Jul 05 Cable/Deadpool #17 - 34,393 (+39.7%)
6 mnth (+33.1%)
1 year ( +5.5%)
HOUSE OF M again, and another huge leap upwards. This, bizarrely, is
both a HOUSE OF M tie-in and the third chapter of an ongoing storyline.
Nicieza is trying the same trick in NEW THUNDERBOLTS, and it'll be
interesting to see whether it's any more effective in persuading readers
to stick around to see how things turn out.
63,64. EXILES
Jul 01 Exiles #2 - 52,389
Jul 02 Exiles #15 - 38,955
Jul 03 Exiles #29 - 40,696
======
Jul 04 Exiles #49 - 37,184 ( -2.5%)
Aug 04 Exiles #50 - 37,958 ( +2.1%)
Aug 04 Exiles #51 - 36,946 ( -2.7%)
Sep 04 Exiles #52 - 36,245 ( -1.9%)
Oct 04 Exiles #53 - 35,323 ( -2.5%)
Nov 04 Exiles #54 - 34,180 ( -3.2%)
Dec 04 Exiles #55 - 33,744 ( -1.3%)
Dec 04 Exiles #56 - 33,396 ( -1.0%)
Dec 04 Exiles #57 - 33,183 ( -0.6%)
Jan 05 Exiles #58 - 32,129 ( -3.2%)
Feb 05 Exiles #59 - 32,337 ( +0.6%)
Mar 05 Exiles #60 - 42,898 (+32.7%)
Mar 05 Exiles #61 - 42,217 ( -1.6%)
Apr 05 Exiles #62 - 33,965 (-19.5%)
Apr 05 Exiles #63 - 33,728 ( -0.7%)
May 05 Exiles #64 - 34,033 ( +0.9%)
Jun 05 Exiles #65 - 34,484 ( +1.3%)
Jul 05 Exiles #66 - 34,092 ( -1.1%)
Jul 05 Exiles #67 - 33,751 ( -1.0%)
6 mnth ( +5.0%)
1 year ( -9.2%)
2 year (-17.1%)
Rock solid.
71. HULK: DESTRUCTION
Jul 05 Hulk: Destruction #1 (of 4) - 29,459
Perhaps a little disappointing, considering that it's a Hulk mini by the
title's regular writer. I'd expected it to place a little closer to the
book's normal levels, but apparently not.
72. SPIDER-MAN: BREAKOUT
Apr 05 Spider-Man: Breakout #1 (of 5) - 44,353
May 05 Spider-Man: Breakout #2 (of 5) - 35,476 (-20.0%)
Jun 05 Spider-Man: Breakout #3 (of 5) - 32,596 ( -8.1%)
Jul 05 Spider-Man: Breakout #4 (of 5) - 29,243 (-10.3%)
Losing sales, but it's going to wrap up next month at an acceptable
level.
77. MARVEL KNIGHTS 4
Jul 04 Marvel Knights 4 #7 - 43,010 ( -2.4%)
Jul 04 Marvel Knights 4 #8 - 41,312 ( -3.9%)
Aug 04 Marvel Knights 4 #9 - 39,743 ( -3.8%)
Sep 04 Marvel Knights 4 #10 - 38,318 ( -3.6%)
Oct 04 Marvel Knights 4 #11 - 36,820 ( -3.9%)
Nov 04 Marvel Knights 4 #12 - 34,525 ( -6.2%)
Dec 04 Marvel Knights 4 #13 - 32,623 ( -5.5%)
Jan 05 Marvel Knights 4 #14 - 31,291 ( -4.1%)
Feb 05 Marvel Knights 4 #15 - 30,230 ( -3.4%)
Mar 05 Marvel Knights 4 #16 - 29,600 ( -2.1%)
Apr 05 Marvel Knights 4 #17 - 29,189 ( -1.4%)
May 05 Marvel Knights 4 #18 - 28,649 ( -1.9%)
Jun 05 Marvel Knights 4 #19 - 28,153 ( -1.7%)
Jul 05 Marvel Knights 4 #20 - 27,548 ( -2.1%)
6 mnth (-12.0%)
1 year (-35.9%)
Drifting down. What is this book for, exactly?
78. RUNAWAYS
Jul 03 Runaways #4 - 20,246
======
Jul 04 n/a
Aug 04 Runaways #17 - 18,563 ( -2.6%)
Sep 04 Runaways #18 - 18,614 ( +0.3%)
Oct 04 n/a
Nov 04 n/a
Dec 04 n/a
Jan 05 n/a
Feb 05 Runaways #1 - 43,128 (+131.7%)
Mar 05 Runaways #2 - 31,330 ( -27.4%)
Apr 05 Runaways #3 - 30,332 ( -3.2%)
May 05 Runaways #4 - 28,968 ( -4.5%)
Jun 05 Runaways #5 - 28,409 ( -1.9%)
Jul 05 Runaways #6 - 27,365 ( -3.7%)
6 mnth ( n/a )
1 year ( +47.4%)
2 year ( +35.2%)
Drifting down, but still comfortably ahead of its previous incarnation.
80. NEW X-MEN: HELLIONS
May 05 New X-Men: Hellions #1 (of 4) - 33,193
Jun 05 New X-Men: Hellions #2 (of 4) - 28,563 (-13.9%)
Jul 05 New X-Men: Hellions #3 (of 4) - 26,501 ( -7.2%)
Fairly usual drops for a miniseries.
82. NEW THUNDERBOLTS
Jul 01 Thunderbolts #54 - 34,338
Jul 02 Thunderbolts #68 - 28,023
Jul 03 Thunderbolts #81 - 17,211
======
Nov 04 New Thunderbolts #1 - 45,793
Nov 04 New Thunderbolts #2 - 40,104 (-12.4%)
Dec 04 New Thunderbolts #3 - 32,720 (-18.4%)
Jan 05 New Thunderbolts #4 - 31,725 ( -3.0%)
Feb 05 New Thunderbolts #5 - 29,377 ( -7.4%)
Mar 05 New Thunderbolts #6 - 29,103 ( -0.9%)
Apr 05 New Thunderbolts #7 - 28,977 ( -0.4%)
May 05 New Thunderbolts #8 - 27,769 ( -4.2%)
Jun 05 New Thunderbolts #9 - 27,300 ( -1.7%)
Jul 05 New Thunderbolts #10 - 25,978 ( -4.8%)
6 mnth (-18.1%)
1 year ( n/a )
2 year (+50.9%)
Still dropping. HOUSE OF M crosses over next month.
83. X-MEN: KITTY PRYDE - SHADOW & FLAME
Jun 05 Kitty Pryde #1 (of 5) - 33,785
Jul 05 Kitty Pryde #2 (of 5) - 25,814 (-23.6%)
Bit of a stiff drop-off, but really, who did Marvel think was going to
be interested in a sequel to KITTY PRYDE & WOLVERINE twenty years later?
You've got to wonder why they're bothering with stuff like this, other
than to make budget.
86. G.L.A.
Apr 05 G.L.A. #1 (of 4) - 35,150
May 05 G.L.A. #2 (of 4) - 29,995 (-14.7%)
Jun 05 G.L.A. #3 (of 4) - 28,248 ( -5.8%)
Jul 05 G.L.A. #4 (of 4) - 25,611 ( -9.3%)
Wrapping up at surprisingly high levels for such obscure characters.
This has to be considered a success, judged against reasonable
expectations, and a Christmas special has already been announced.
87. TOXIN
Apr 05 Toxin #1 (of 6) - 42,138
May 05 Toxin #2 (of 6) - 34,093 (-19.1%)
Jun 05 Toxin #3 (of 6) - 29,249 (-14.2%)
Jul 05 Toxin #4 (of 6) - 25,585 (-12.5%)
Still dropping, and rather too fast.
92. OFFICIAL HANDBOOK OF THE MARVEL UNIVERSE
Jul 04 Avengers 2004 - 28,791 ( -10.1%)
Aug 04 Hulk 2004 - 22,011 ( -23.5%)
Sep 04 Daredevil/Elektra 2004 - 22,781 ( +3.5%)
Oct 04 Wolverine 2004 - 32,553 ( +42.9%)
Nov 04 Book of the Dead 2004 - 25,131 ( -22.8%)
Dec 04 Golden Age 2004 - 17,356 ( -30.9%)
Jan 05 Women of Marvel 2005 - 20,837 ( +20.1%)
Feb 05 Marvel Knights 2005 - 18,182 ( -12.7%)
Mar 05 X-Men: Age of Apocalypse 2005 - 37,056 (+103.8%)
Apr 05 Spider-Man 2005 - 25,530 ( -31.1%)
May 05 Teams 2005 - 22,564 ( -11.6%)
Jun 05 Fantastic Four 2005 - 21,970 ( -2.6%)
Jul 05 Avengers 2005 - 23,668 ( +7.7%)
6 mnth ( +13.6%)
1 year ( -17.8%)
As always, a big name theme means a sales boost.
95. MARVEL TEAM-UP
Nov 04 Marvel Team-Up #1 - 44,530
Nov 04 Marvel Team-Up #2 - 37,515 (-15.7%)
Dec 04 Marvel Team-Up #3 - 29,085 (-22.5%)
Jan 05 Marvel Team-Up #4 - 27,216 ( -6.4%)
Feb 05 Marvel Team-Up #5 - 28,141 ( +3.4%)
Mar 05 Marvel Team-Up #6 - 24,762 (-12.0%)
Apr 05 Marvel Team-Up #7 - 24,800 ( +0.2%)
May 05 Marvel Team-Up #8 - 24,270 ( -2.1%)
Jun 05 Marvel Team-Up #9 - 23,530 ( -3.0%)
Jul 05 Marvel Team-Up #10 - 22,549 ( -4.2%)
6 mnth (-17.1%)
Still dropping. Bizarrely, this has been guaranteed a second year,
despite poor sales and muted reviews. Still, somebody in Marvel seems
to like it.
98. NIGHTCRAWLER
Sep 04 Nightcrawler #1 - 46,547
Oct 04 n/a
Nov 04 Nightcrawler #2 - 36,533 (-21.5%)
Dec 04 Nightcrawler #3 - 31,436 (-14.0%)
Dec 04 Nightcrawler #4 - 29,292 ( -6.8%)
Jan 05 Nightcrawler #5 - 26,442 ( -9.7%)
Feb 05 Nightcrawler #6 - 24,641 ( -6.8%)
Mar 05 n/a
Apr 05 n/a
May 05 n/a
Jun 05 Nightcrawler #7 - 22,400 ( -9.1%)
Jul 05 Nightcrawler #8 - 21,011 ( -6.2%)
6 mnth (-20.5%)
To nobody's surprise, NIGHTCRAWLER continues to drop at the same rate as
before. Issue #12 is solicited as a one-part story called "Loose Ends",
which rather suggests that the inevitable axe has fallen.
104. SPIDER-GIRL
Jul 01 Spider-Girl #36 - 24,215
Jul 02 Spider-Girl #49 - 24,849
Jul 03 Spider-Girl #62 - 23,104
======
Jul 04 Spider-Girl #76 - 22,157 (-10.2%)
Aug 04 Spider-Girl #77 - 21,758 ( -1.8%)
Sep 04 Spider-Girl #78 - 22,076 ( +1.5%)
Oct 04 Spider-Girl #79 - 21,893 ( -0.8%)
Nov 04 Spider-Girl #80 - 21,146 ( -3.4%)
Dec 04 Spider-Girl #81 - 20,419 ( -3.4%)
Jan 05 Spider-Girl #82 - 20,005 ( -2.0%)
Feb 05 Spider-Girl #83 - 20,382 ( +1.9%)
Mar 05 Spider-Girl #84 - 20,050 ( -1.6%)
Apr 05 Spider-Girl #85 - 19,682 ( -1.8%)
May 05 Spider-Girl #86 - 19,452 ( -1.2%)
Jun 05 Spider-Girl #87 - 19,605 ( +0.8%)
Jul 05 Spider-Girl #88 - 18,983 ( -3.2%)
6 mnth ( -5.1%)
1 year (-14.3%)
2 year (-17.8%)
Still drifting slowly downward.
105. ORORO: BEFORE THE STORM
Jun 05 Ororo #1 (of 4) - 26,372
Jul 05 Ororo #2 (of 4) - 18,898 (-28.3%)
Poor sales, although this really shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone.
109. MARVEL NEMESIS: THE IMPERFECTS
May 05 Marvel Nemesis #1 (of 6) - 32,600
Jun 05 Marvel Nemesis #2 (of 6) - 22,407 (-31.3%)
Jul 05 Marvel Nemesis #3 (of 6) - 18,433 (-17.7%)
Dropping like a stone, but again, that shouldn't really be unexpected.
120. SPIDER-MAN UNLIMITED
Jul 04 Spider-Man Unlimited #4 - 26,506 (-16.3%)
Aug 04 n/a
Sep 04 Spider-Man Unlimited #5 - 24,156 ( -8.9%)
Oct 04 n/a
Nov 04 Spider-Man Unlimited #6 - 20,974 (-13.2%)
Dec 04 n/a
Jan 05 Spider-Man Unlimited #7 - 18,316 (-12.7%)
Feb 05 n/a
Mar 05 Spider-Man Unlimited #8 - 17,640 ( -3.7%)
Apr 05 n/a
May 05 Spider-Man Unlimited #9 - 16,953 ( -3.9%)
Jun 05 n/a
Jul 05 Spider-Man Unlimited #10 - 16,104 ( -5.0%)
6 mnth (-12.1%)
1 year (-39.2%)
Another book that seems inexplicably immune to cancellation, despite
consistently dismal sales.
122. NEW WARRIORS
Jun 05 New Warriors #1 (of 6) - 20,841
Jul 05 New Warriors #2 (of 6) - 15,449 (-25.9%)
Horrible sales for a perfectly good book. Again, though, Marvel only
have themselves to blame if they insist on launching books without any
real publicity push behind them.
128. AMAZING FANTASY
Jul 04 n/a
Aug 04 Amazing Fantasy #2 - 37,047 (-40.3%)
Aug 04 Amazing Fantasy #3 - 33,917 ( -8.4%)
Sep 04 Amazing Fantasy #4 - 30,325 (-10.6%)
Oct 04 Amazing Fantasy #5 - 26,349 (-13.1%)
Nov 04 Amazing Fantasy #6 - 23,913 ( -9.2%)
Dec 04 n/a
Jan 05 n/a
Feb 05 n/a
Mar 05 n/a
Apr 05 Amazing Fantasy #7 - 21,802 ( -8.9%)
May 05 Amazing Fantasy #8 - 17,773 (-18.5%)
Jun 05 Amazing Fantasy #9 - 15,606 (-12.2%)
Jul 05 Amazing Fantasy #10 - 14,729 ( -5.6%)
6 mnth ( n/a )
1 year (-60.2%)
Dreadfully low sales, although Marvel seem to have high hopes for issue
#15. Personally, I have my doubts that Robert Kirkman, Daniel Way or
Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa are the sort of people who are likely to boost
sales, but we shall see.
130. GIANT-SIZE SPIDER-WOMAN
Jul 05 Giant-Size Spider-Woman #1 - 14,651
Erk. Retailers have evidently gotten wise to the fact that it's only an
eight-page original story. For a NEW AVENGERS-related book, even a
reprint one, this is a horrid number, and suggests that Marvel have a
lot of work to do to drum up enthusiasm for the upcoming SPIDER-WOMAN
series.
131,132. HERCULES
Apr 05 Hercules #1 (of 5) - 26,222
May 05 Hercules #2 (of 5) - 19,499 (-25.6%)
Jun 05 Hercules #3 (of 5) - 16,459 (-15.6%)
Jul 05 Hercules #4 (of 5) - 14,500 (-11.9%)
Jul 05 Hercules #5 (of 5) - 14,317 ( -1.3%)
Levelling out at the last moment, but still winding up rather too low
for comfort.
137. GRAVITY
Jun 05 Gravity #1 (of 5) - 20,304
Jul 05 Gravity #2 (of 5) - 13,342 (-34.3%)
A horrible second-issue drop for another good book - but once again,
this is just inevitable when books aren't promoted properly.
154. SPELLBINDERS
Mar 05 Spellbinders #1 (of 6) - 20,995
Apr 05 Spellbinders #2 (of 6) - 14,632 (-30.3%)
May 05 Spellbinders #3 (of 6) - 12,069 (-17.5%)
Jun 05 Spellbinders #4 (of 6) - 10,189 (-15.6%)
Jul 05 Spellbinders #5 (of 6) - 9,050 (-11.2%)
Disastrous, but again, what did they really expect?
161. MARVEL ADVENTURES SPIDER-MAN
Mar 05 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #1 - 14,351
Apr 05 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #2 - 10,305 (-28.2%)
May 05 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #3 - 9,110 (-11.6%)
Jun 05 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #4 - 8,878 ( -2.5%)
Jul 05 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #5 - 8,075 ( -9.0%)
Not really aimed at the direct market, so these numbers don't mean a
great deal.
163. MACHINE TEEN
May 05 Machine Teen #1 (of 5) - 16,527
Jun 05 Machine Teen #2 (of 5) - 9,812 (-40.6%)
Jul 05 Machine Teen #3 (of 5) - 7,499 (-23.6%)
Owww.
168. 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%)
Again, this at least has the excuse of being a Marvel Adventures book.
239. YOUNG GUNS 2004 SKETCH BOOK
Jul 05 Young Guns 2004 Sketch Book - 2,447
Erm... what?
248. MARVEL TALES
Jul 05 Marvel Tales #1 - 2,192
The last of the flip books, all of which are virtually invisible in the
direct market.
262. ULTIMATE TALES
Jun 05 Ultimate Tales #1 - 3,495
Jul 05 Ultimate Tales #2 - 1,806 (-48.3%)
265. MARVEL HEROES
Jun 05 Marvel Heroes #1 - 3,528
Jul 05 Marvel Heroes #2 - 1,773 (-49.7%)
267. MARVEL SELECT
Jun 05 Marvel Select #1 - 3,246
Jul 05 Marvel Select #2 - 1,727 (-46.8%)
271. ULTIMATE MARVEL
Jun 05 Ultimate Marvel #1 - 3,266
Jul 05 Ultimate Marvel #2 - 1,656 (-49.3%)
More flipbooks, and uniformly terrible sales. Not that it really
matters.
299. MARVEL ADVENTURES
Jun 05 Marvel Adventures #1 - <2,527
Jul 05 Marvel Adventures #2 - 1,139 (??.?%)
Ah, and here's a first. MARVEL ADVENTURES is direct market poison - not
only is it a flipbook, but it reprints Marvel Adventures stories, which
the direct market doesn't care about in the first place. Issue #1
shipped in June, and achieved something that I'm pretty sure is
unprecedented for a Marvel title - it missed the Top 300 altogether. To
be fair, sales were unusually high in June and the cut-off for making
the charts was higher than normal - but still.
As a result, we don't know how many copies issue #1 actually sold. It
must have been less than 2,527, since that's how many copies were sold
of June's number 300 title, NYC MECH BETA LOVE #2. Incidentally, none
of the flip books reached that level of sales this month.
Skip months
===========
SECRET WAR
Jul 04 n/a
Aug 04 n/a
Sep 04 n/a
Oct 04 Secret War #3 (of 5) - 109,745 (-17.4%)
Nov 04 n/a
Dec 04 n/a
Jan 05 n/a
Feb 05 n/a
Mar 05 Secret War #4 (of 5) - 94,893 (-13.5%)
Apr 05 n/a
May 05 n/a
Jun 05 n/a
Jul 05 n/a
Hopelessly late.
ULTIMATE IRON MAN
Mar 05 Ultimate Iron Man #1 (of 5) - 150,869
Apr 05 n/a
May 05 Ultimate Iron Man #2 (of 5) - 90,197 (-40.2%)
Jun 05 n/a
Jul 05 n/a
Late, although issue #3 will be on the August charts. Issue #1 picks up
a further 7,172 re-orders, presumably thanks to a variant.
ULTIMATE GALACTUS TRILOGY
Aug 04 Ultimate Nightmare #1 (of 5) - 102,655
Sep 04 Ultimate Nightmare #2 (of 5) - 88,088 (-14.2%)
Oct 04 Ultimate Nightmare #3 (of 5) - 83,208 ( -5.5%)
Nov 04 n/a
Dec 04 Ultimate Nightmare #4 (of 5) - 76,658 ( -7.9%)
Jan 05 n/a
Feb 05 Ultimate Nightmare #5 (of 5) - 73,082 ( -4.6%)
Mar 05 Ultimate Secret #1 (of 4) - 89,132 (+22.0%)
Apr 05 Ultimate Secret #2 (of 4) - 77,914 (-12.6%)
May 05 n/a
Jun 05 n/a
Jul 05 n/a
On hiatus until September.
YOUNG AVENGERS
Feb 05 Young Avengers #1 - 112,803
Mar 05 Young Avengers #2 - 79,952 (-29.1%)
Apr 05 Young Avengers #3 - 75,015 ( -6.2%)
May 05 Young Avengers #4 - 69,925 ( -6.8%)
Jun 05 Young Avengers #5 - 69,956 ( +0.0%)
Jul 05 n/a
Late. Issue #5 picks up 1,269 reorders.
SUPREME POWER
Jul 04 Supreme Power #11 - 63,007 ( -0.5%)
Aug 04 Supreme Power #12 - 61,798 ( -1.9%)
Sep 04 n/a
Oct 04 n/a
Nov 04 Supreme Power #13 - 61,556 ( -0.4%)
Dec 04 Supreme Power #14 - 58,843 ( -4.4%)
Jan 05 n/a
Feb 05 Supreme Power #15 - 55,510 ( -5.7%)
Mar 05 n/a
Apr 05 Supreme Power #16 - 55,068 ( -0.8%)
May 05 n/a
Jun 05 Supreme Power #17 - 52,288 ( -5.0%)
Jul 05 n/a
Skip month. Cancelled with issue #18, to be followed by a HYPERION
miniseries, a NIGHTHAWK miniseries, and then a new volume under the
Marvel Knights banner.
IRON MAN
Jul 01 Iron Man #44 - 40,498
Jul 02 Iron Man #57 - 35,992
Jul 03 Iron Man #70 - 32,208
======
Jul 04 Iron Man #86 - 34,520 ( +16.6%)
Aug 04 Iron Man #87 - 33,512 ( -2.9%)
Sep 04 Iron Man #88 - 32,932 ( -1.7%)
Oct 04 Iron Man #89 - 33,483 ( +1.7%)
Nov 04 Iron Man #1 - 68,992 (+106.1%)
Dec 04 Iron Man #2 - 55,051 ( -20.2%)
Jan 05 n/a
Feb 05 n/a
Mar 05 n/a
Apr 05 Iron Man #3 - 51,390 ( -6.7%)
May 05 n/a
Jun 05 n/a
Jul 05 n/a
Hopelessly late. Issue #4 finally shipped in August.
CAPTAIN AMERICA
Jul 01 Captain America #45 - 36,551
Jul 02 Captain America #4 - 65,631
Jul 03 Captain America #15 - 45,520
======
Jul 04 Captain America #29 - 40,221 (+12.8%)
Aug 04 Captain America #30 - 38,464 ( -4.4%)
Sep 04 Captain America #31 - 37,128 ( -3.5%)
Oct 04 Captain America #32 - 37,309 ( +0.5%)
Nov 04 Captain America #1 - 67,225 (+80.2%)
Dec 04 n/a
Jan 05 Captain America #2 - 53,306 (-20.7%)
Feb 05 Captain America #3 - 48,104 ( -9.8%)
Mar 05 Captain America #4 - 46,654 ( -3.0%)
Apr 05 Captain America #5 - 46,976 ( +0.7%)
May 05 Captain America #6 - 58,660 (+24.9%)
Jun 05 Captain America #7 - 47,160 (-19.6%)
Jul 05 n/a
Late, but the issue shipped in August.
POWERS
Jul 01 Powers #14 - 26,712
Jul 02 Powers #23 - 26,875
Jul 03 n/a
======
Jul 04 Powers #1 - 40,387 (+61.4%)
Jul 04 Powers #2 - 36,537 ( -9.5%)
Aug 04 Powers #3 - 33,628 ( -8.0%)
Sep 04 Powers #4 - 33,046 ( -1.7%)
Oct 04 Powers #5 - 32,504 ( -1.6%)
Nov 04 Powers #6 - 30,431 ( -6.4%)
Dec 04 Powers #7 - 30,687 ( +0.8%)
Jan 05 Powers #8 - 29,438 ( -4.1%)
Feb 05 Powers #9 - 28,512 ( -3.1%)
Mar 05 n/a
Apr 05 Powers #10 - 28,360 ( -0.5%)
May 05 n/a
Jun 05 Powers #11 - 27,703 ( -2.3%)
Jul 05 n/a
Late. Issue #13 should have been out in July.
X-MEN UNLIMITED
Jul 01 X-Men Unlimited #32 - 42,881
Jul 02 X-Men Unlimited #37 - 37,381
Jul 03 X-Men Unlimited #50 - 36,606
======
Jul 04 n/a
Aug 04 X-Men Unlimited #4 - 33,895 ( -7.7%)
Sep 04 n/a
Oct 04 X-Men Unlimited #5 - 32,910 ( -2.9%)
Nov 04 n/a
Dec 04 X-Men Unlimited #6 - 30,138 ( -8.4%)
Jan 05 n/a
Feb 05 X-Men Unlimited #7 - 27,009 (-10.4%)
Mar 05 n/a
Apr 05 X-Men Unlimited #8 - 25,686 ( -4.9%)
May 05 n/a
Jun 05 X-Men Unlimited #9 - 25,398 ( -1.1%)
Jul 05 n/a
Bimonthly.
DAREDEVIL: REDEMPTION
Feb 05 Daredevil: Redemption #1 (of 6) - 33,091
Feb 05 Daredevil: Redemption #2 (of 6) - 30,137 ( -8.9%)
Mar 05 Daredevil: Redemption #3 (of 6) - 24,810 (-17.7%)
Apr 05 n/a
May 05 Daredevil: Redemption #4 (of 6) - 21,118 (-14.9%)
Jun 05 Daredevil: Redemption #5 (of 6) - 19,658 ( -6.9%)
Jul 05 n/a
Late.
ARAÑA: HEART OF THE SPIDER
Jul 04 n/a
Aug 04 Amazing Fantasy #2 - 37,047 (-40.3%)
Aug 04 Amazing Fantasy #3 - 33,917 ( -8.4%)
Sep 04 Amazing Fantasy #4 - 30,325 (-10.6%)
Oct 04 Amazing Fantasy #5 - 26,349 (-13.1%)
Nov 04 Amazing Fantasy #6 - 23,913 ( -9.2%)
Dec 04 n/a
Jan 05 Araña #1 - 29,843 (+24.8%)
Feb 05 n/a
Mar 05 Araña #2 - 22,131 (-25.8%)
Mar 05 Araña #3 - 20,002 ( -9.6%)
Apr 05 n/a
May 05 Araña #4 - 18,752 ( -6.2%)
Jun 05 Araña #5 - 16,379 (-12.7%)
Jul 05 n/a
Late.
KABUKI
Jul 04 Kabuki #1 - 25,305
Aug 04 n/a
Sep 04 Kabuki #2 - 16,705 (-34.0%)
Oct 04 n/a
Nov 04 n/a
Dec 04 Kabuki #3 - 13,885 (-16.9%)
Jan 05 n/a
Feb 05 n/a
Mar 05 n/a
Apr 05 Kabuki #4 - 14,327 ( +3.2%)
May 05 n/a
Jun 05 n/a
Skip month.
LIVEWIRES
Feb 05 Livewires #1 (of 6) - 20,944
Mar 05 Livewires #2 (of 6) - 14,688 (-29.9%)
Apr 05 Livewires #3 (of 6) - 12,581 (-14.3%)
May 05 Livewires #4 (of 6) - 11,089 (-11.9%)
Jun 05 Livewires #5 (of 6) - 9,960 (-10.2%)
Jul 05 n/a
Late.
6 month changes
===============
+108.3% - Mutopia X / District X
+ 44.4% - Pulse
+ 33.1% - Cable & Deadpool
+ 22.6% - Ultimate Fantastic Four
+ 17.4% - New X-Men
+ 14.3% - Incredible Hulk
+ 14.3% - Fantastic Four
+ 13.6% - Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe
+ 5.0% - Exiles
+ 4.2% - Uncanny X-Men
+ 1.9% - New Avengers
- 0.4% - Ultimate X-Men
- 1.9% - Daredevil
- 5.0% - Punisher
- 5.1% - Spider-Girl
- 6.1% - Wolverine
- 8.4% - Ultimate Spider-Man
- 8.4% - Amazing Spider-Man
- 10.2% - X-Men
- 12.0% - Marvel Knights 4
- 12.1% - Spider-Man Unlimited
- 16.7% - Astonishing X-Men
- 17.1% - Marvel Team-Up
- 17.7% - Marvel Knights Spider-Man
- 18.1% - New Thunderbolts
- 20.5% - Nightcrawler
- 32.2% - Ultimates 2
1 year changes
==============
+47.4% - Runaways
+69.9% - Weapon X
+39.3% - Mutopia X / District X
+26.0% - Pulse
+24.3% - Incredible Hulk
+15.1% - Wolverine
+13.3% - New Avengers / Avengers
+ 9.3% - Fantastic Four
+ 5.5% - Cable & Deadpool
- 1.2% - Astonishing X-Men
- 2.9% - Ultimate Fantastic Four
- 6.0% - Uncanny X-Men
- 6.9% - Ultimate X-Men
- 9.2% - Exiles
- 9.7% - Daredevil
-14.3% - Spider-Girl
-15.1% - Amazing Spider-Man
-17.2% - X-Men
-17.8% - Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe
-18.9% - New X-Men
-20.3% - Punisher
-22.3% - Ultimate Spider-Man
-32.6% - Marvel Knights Spider-Man
-35.9% - Marvel Knights 4
-39.2% - Spider-Man Unlimited
-60.2% - Amazing Fantasy
2 year comparisons
==================
+123.5% - Black Panther
+ 78.7% - Pulse
+ 56.6% - Weapon X
+ 50.9% - New Thunderbolts
+ 35.2% - Runaways
+ 2.8% - New Mutants
- 2.6% - Uncanny X-Men
- 3.8% - Punisher
- 3.9% - Ultimates
- 5.4% - Fantastic Four
- 15.5% - Wolverine
- 17.0% - Incredible Hulk
- 17.1% - Exiles
- 17.8% - Spider-Girl
- 20.6% - Ultimate X-Men
- 20.6% - Daredevil
- 22.7% - X-Men
- 23.4% - Amazing Spider-Man
- 24.1% - Ultimate Spider-Man
--
Paul O'Brien
THE X-AXIS - http://www.thexaxis.com
ARTICLE 10 - http://www.ninthart.com
LIVEJOURNAL - http://www.livejournal.com/~paulobrien
Jerry B. Ray, Jr.
Paul O'Brien <pa...@SPAMBLOCK.esoterica.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>It's the second month of the HOUSE OF M storyline, and this time all the
>tie-in books hit the shelves. And you can probably guess the result -
>every book participating in the crossover sees its sales shoot up, often
>by massive amounts. Once again, Marvel beats DC in terms of both dollar
>share and unit share. It's precisely the response Marvel must have been
>hoping for, and it can surely only increase the pressure to come up with
>more of the same.
Which is too bad, really. I've been reading comics since the 80s, and I
can't recall ever being this bored by comics in general, and a major
crossover event in particular. I guess the overall level of craft on the
titles is quite high (especially compared to the last big low point, the
"image over substance" period of the 90s), but things are just really
boring.
We're 5 issues into _House of M_ (plus innumerable pointless crossover
issues), and nothing exciting has happened. Almost nothing AT ALL has
happened, and there's not much sign that things are really going to
get much better in the remaining 3 issues (plus innumerable pointless
crossover issues).
I was already dreading reading even more boring follow-on issues after
I read something recently (maybe on Newsarama or somewhere) where Marvel
talked about how they're already setting up other major events for the
next year or two based on House of M. The fact that it's selling well
just ensures that we'll get more of the same boring non-events, I guess.
JRjr
--
%%%%% Jerry B. Ray, Jr. %%%%%%%% www.prism.gatech.edu/~jr70 %%%%%%%%%%%%%%
"Some will shake off the sloth of faithlessness
While others simply languish in their sleep
Me, I just fight to stay awake..." -- VOL, "Black Cloud O'er Me"
Billy Bissette
news:hTqiM4FJ...@esoterica.demon.co.uk:
> 137. GRAVITY
>
> A horrible second-issue drop for another good book - but once again,
> this is just inevitable when books aren't promoted properly.
>
> 154. SPELLBINDERS
>
> Disastrous, but again, what did they really expect?
I somewhat wonder what Marvel actually wants. They know unadvertised
new/no-name books are going to do numbers like the above, so what are
they actually trying to achieve?
With those debut numbers, even if a book happens to be pure gold, it
will take time for word of mouth to actually cause people to notice and
then find or order the book just to try it out. The miracle of a
reversal would most likely take months. The numbers still wouldn't be
healthy for a conversion to ongoing.
I can only guess that is what they are trying for though. Releasing
books with the hope and the dream that something will click for at least
critical success and more importantly somehow click for commercial
success. Where commercial success itself would be measured as something
at least slightly above danger level.
And presumably, they have little or no hope of any actual success on
any of these, as they've decided it is better to not waste more money
advertising them. (Or perhaps they simply believe the small number of
sales gained advertising wouldn't cover the cost of advertising.)
Marc-Oliver Frisch
: I somewhat wonder what Marvel actually wants. They know unadvertised
: new/no-name books are going to do numbers like the above, so what are
: they actually trying to achieve?
Presumably, they're throwing things out there and see if they stick, in which
case -- see RUNAWAYS, SHE-HULK or SENTINEL -- they bring the book back and try
to build on the critical success it achieved the first time around.
It's not the worst approach, actually, given that they at least seem to have
abandoned the idea of randomly launching ongoing titles only to bury them a year
down the road (well, mostly, at least -- I'm still a little bit skeptical
whether launching a THING ongoing series was a great idea, although touting it
as a tie-in with Straczynski's FANTASTIC FOUR might help). Quesada has
repeatedly stated that Marvel prefer to invest their marketing power in those
places where it's going to have the largest effect, i.e. the big franchises
which are already making the company most of its money.
If you take that stance, releasing limited series and hoping them to fend well
enough for themselves to merit an encore may be the next best thing.
In the case of LIVEWIRES, SPELLBINDERS or MACHINE TEEN, there's the additional
factor that they mostly seem to be created in order to be repackaged as digests
and sold at bookstores later on, of course.
--
Marc-Oliver Frisch
POPP'D! >> http://poppd.blogspot.com
COMIKADO << http://comikado.blogspot.com
SUPERCRITICAL >> http://supercritic.blogspot.com
"Time to get kids back where they belong - up chimneys, down mines, and tied to
the printing presses!"
-- Grant Morrison
--
[This is a Usenet message, posted to the rec.arts.comics.* groups.]
Ben P
Marc-Oliver Frisch <Dersc...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:3mlv6bF...@individual.net...
> Billy Bissette wrote:
>
> : I somewhat wonder what Marvel actually wants. They know unadvertised
> : new/no-name books are going to do numbers like the above, so what are
> : they actually trying to achieve?
>
> Presumably, they're throwing things out there and see if they stick, in
which
> case -- see RUNAWAYS, SHE-HULK or SENTINEL -- they bring the book back and
try
> to build on the critical success it achieved the first time around.
>
> It's not the worst approach, actually, given that they at least seem to
have
> abandoned the idea of randomly launching ongoing titles only to bury them
a year
> down the road (well, mostly, at least -- I'm still a little bit skeptical
> whether launching a THING ongoing series was a great idea, although
touting it
> as a tie-in with Straczynski's FANTASTIC FOUR might help). Quesada has
> repeatedly stated that Marvel prefer to invest their marketing power in
those
> places where it's going to have the largest effect, i.e. the big
franchises
> which are already making the company most of its money.
>
I'm a bit concerned that they're not giving these things enough time to
stick any more. Would Runaways have been as popular if Marvel had only given
it a six-issue limited series? All that Gravity, Livewires etc have to work
with is a single digest, and by the time that's come out and Marvel have had
time to get feedback, commission a new series and eventually collect that in
digest form (which seems to still be the policy), the audience might well
have lost interest and moved onto something else.
I prefer to get my superheroes in single issues still, but since new series
seem almost guaranteed to make a loss nowadays, maybe it's time to move all
the new launches like this to digest first.
MrFlibble
> 122. NEW WARRIORS
> Jun 05 New Warriors #1 (of 6) - 20,841
> Jul 05 New Warriors #2 (of 6) - 15,449 (-25.9%)
>
> Horrible sales for a perfectly good book. Again, though, Marvel only
> have themselves to blame if they insist on launching books without any
> real publicity push behind them.
And for a concept that seems to have alienated the fan base. I said it
once I'll say it again. This books is NOT NW. The characters are off,
the art work is passable and the series too kiddy.
MrFlibble
> And presumably, they have little or no hope of any actual success on
> any of these, as they've decided it is better to not waste more money
> advertising them. (Or perhaps they simply believe the small number of
> sales gained advertising wouldn't cover the cost of advertising.)
Personally I'm a believer in the proposition 'you can make anything sell
if you advertise enough'.
I wish Marvel thought that way. Hell add an extra 4 pages per book
reserved specifically for ads for upcoming books or SOMETHING.
I didn't even know there was a new Thing book coming out until I glanced
at the solicites (which I do every so often but not monthly).
Paul O'Brien
<Dersc...@hotmail.com> writes
>
>It's not the worst approach, actually, given that they at least seem to
>have abandoned the idea of randomly launching ongoing titles only to
>bury them a year down the road (well, mostly, at least -- I'm still a
>little bit skeptical whether launching a THING ongoing series was a
>great idea, although touting it as a tie-in with Straczynski's
>FANTASTIC FOUR might help).
Not sure it will, really. Straczynski's FANTASTIC FOUR sales, while
perfectly respectable, are about normal for a relatively new creative
team on that book, looking back over the past few years. And virtually
every FF spin-off book published recent has sunk without trace (the
exception being ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR, which isn't really a spin-off,
and still underperforms compared to the other Ultimate books). I'm
entirely unconvinced that there's enough of an audience out there crying
out for a THING solo title. If it does succeed, then the creative team
will deserve most of the credit.
Nathan P. Mahney
news:C8pNe.10486$CM....@newsfe7-win.ntli.net...
At least with Gravity and Livewires they might be able to do a relaunch
hyping them as critically acclaimed. It's much the same thing they're doing
with Madrox and She-Hulk.
--
- Nathan P. Mahney -
THE MAHNEY PIT -- http://free.hostdepartment.com/n/npmahney
NERDBLOG -- http://www.livejournal.com/users/nathanpmahney
Marc-Oliver Frisch
: Not sure it will, really. Straczynski's FANTASTIC FOUR sales, while
: perfectly respectable, are about normal for a relatively new creative
: team on that book, looking back over the past few years.
That's a fair point. With sales almost back at their usual level already, it
doesn't seem like Straczynski's name is the same kind of sales draw he did five
years ago.
It's certainly odd to see that he gets no better numbers on FANTASTIC FOUR than
he did on SUPREME POWER a few months ago.
: And virtually
: every FF spin-off book published recent has sunk without trace (the
: exception being ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR, which isn't really a spin-off,
: and still underperforms compared to the other Ultimate books).
None of them were as closely tied to the mother title as THING appears to be,
though. That factor shouldn't be underestimated in the current climate.
: I'm
: entirely unconvinced that there's enough of an audience out there crying
: out for a THING solo title.
I agree, but I think promoting the title as a book which will actually "matter"
in terms of continuity increases its chances at sticking around.
Gerard
> Jul 05 Young Guns 2004 Sketch Book - 2,447
>
> Erm... what?
They're reorders of a book that originally shipped in Dec 04, selling
14701 copies at the time. Why the hell it's reappeared like this is
anyone's guess.
Jim Connick
news:1124557134....@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
: > 239. YOUNG GUNS 2004 SKETCH BOOK
I have a vague memory of reading somewhere that this was being offered as
part of an incentive deal with another book. Can't remember what other book,
or where I read that though, so I could be way wrong.
Ralf Haring
wrote:
I was as skeptical as anybody when the book was announced and hadn't
preordered it based on the creative team. In flipping through the
issues at the store though, the art has really been growing on me. It
seems like a much better fit than on the recent Human Torch series. I
plan to pick up the collection.
-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
MrFlibble
> I was as skeptical as anybody when the book was announced and hadn't
> preordered it based on the creative team. In flipping through the
> issues at the store though, the art has really been growing on me. It
> seems like a much better fit than on the recent Human Torch series. I
> plan to pick up the collection.
The art work is MUCH better than the HT series and is suited to the type
of book the NW mini is. It's just... not NW and appears from comments
from fans, to have alienated them.
With a relaunch like this if you alienate your fan base, the chances of
success are minimal. It would have been better to launch it with a
concept the fans would have been a little more happy with and pick up
new readers than to essentially start from scratch.
Ralf Haring
wrote:
>
>The art work is MUCH better than the HT series and is suited to the type
>of book the NW mini is. It's just... not NW and appears from comments
>from fans, to have alienated them.
>
>With a relaunch like this if you alienate your fan base, the chances of
>success are minimal. It would have been better to launch it with a
>concept the fans would have been a little more happy with and pick up
>new readers than to essentially start from scratch.
Nicieza's New Warriors is one of my favorite runs of the early 90s, so
I'm part of that "alienated fanbase". ;-)
That said, I honestly don't think a new straight New Warriors series
with the same publicity (nil) would last longer than most other such
relaunches Marvel tries.
Billy Bissette
> I'm
> entirely unconvinced that there's enough of an audience out there
crying
> out for a THING solo title.
The Thing does have a history of marketability outside of his parent
book though, which may be what Marvel is looking at.
Marvel Two-In-One lasted 100 issues, which was basically The Thing
meeting different guest stars every month. (I'd kind of like to see
a Marvel Two-In-One revival, which managed some pretty decent stories
and even arcs for a book that tried to have a new character guest-star
in at least one panel every issue. Mind, they did cheat several times.
A new costume or name was a new character and some characters really
did show up for only a few panels.)
As well, Stan Lee and Marvel have said a few times in the past that
there was licensing for a Thing movie specifically, in addition to a
Fantastic Four movie.
While the odds aren't good for survival, Marvel is at least backing
what they see as the marketable character. Heck, maybe they are even
hopeful that a possible success might actually bring some new readers
to the floundering Fantastic Four itself.
Donnacha DeLong
"MrFlibble" <junk...@dikfhk.com> wrote in message
news:GCSNe.5991$FA3....@news-server.bigpond.net.au...
> Ralf Haring wrote:
>
> With a relaunch like this if you alienate your fan base, the chances of
> success are minimal. It would have been better to launch it with a concept
> the fans would have been a little more happy with and pick up new readers
> than to essentially start from scratch.
Two words - Alpha Flight.
D.
Paul O'Brien
Bissette <bai...@coastalnet.com> writes
>
> Marvel Two-In-One lasted 100 issues, which was basically The Thing
>meeting different guest stars every month.
That's true, but you're going back a long way. And even in that much
more friendly environment, the Thing wasn't able to sustain a true solo
series for very long.
--
Paul O'Brien
THE X-AXIS - http://www.thexaxis.com
ARTICLE 10 - http://www.ninthart.com
IF DESTROYED - http://ifdestroyed.blogspot.com
MrFlibble
>
> Nicieza's New Warriors is one of my favorite runs of the early 90s, so
> I'm part of that "alienated fanbase". ;-)
>
> That said, I honestly don't think a new straight New Warriors series
> with the same publicity (nil) would last longer than most other such
> relaunches Marvel tries.
I agree. But doing a concept that they have, using such bad
characterisation isn't the way to go either. There needed to be a new
concept that DOESN'T alienate the fans. It's a tougher to produce sure,
but is possible.
Ralf Haring
wrote:
>
>I agree. But doing a concept that they have, using such bad
>characterisation isn't the way to go either. There needed to be a new
>concept that DOESN'T alienate the fans. It's a tougher to produce sure,
>but is possible.
I just look at it as a humor book, like the current Defenders mini.
Straight stories have been told about the characters, but humor can
work too. See also Hercules or She-Hulk. Humor stories don't have to
make sense. They just have to be funny.
Nathan P. Mahney
news:uDbhYECA...@esoterica.demon.co.uk...
> In message <Xns96B92D874814...@207.217.125.201>, Billy
> Bissette <bai...@coastalnet.com> writes
> >
> > Marvel Two-In-One lasted 100 issues, which was basically The Thing
> >meeting different guest stars every month.
>
> That's true, but you're going back a long way. And even in that much
> more friendly environment, the Thing wasn't able to sustain a true solo
> series for very long.
And a book involving John Byrne at that.
Kurt Busiek
> "Paul O'Brien" <pa...@SPAMBLOCK.esoterica.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:uDbhYECA...@esoterica.demon.co.uk...
>> In message <Xns96B92D874814...@207.217.125.201>, Billy
>> Bissette <bai...@coastalnet.com> writes
>>>
>>> Marvel Two-In-One lasted 100 issues, which was basically The Thing
>>> meeting different guest stars every month.
>>
>> That's true, but you're going back a long way. And even in that much
>> more friendly environment, the Thing wasn't able to sustain a true solo
>> series for very long.
>
> And a book involving John Byrne at that.
John left with #13 -- the book was cancelled with #36.
kdb
Marc-Oliver Frisch
: : They're reorders of a book that originally shipped in Dec 04, selling
: : 14701 copies at the time. Why the hell it's reappeared like this is
: : anyone's guess.
:
: I have a vague memory of reading somewhere that this was being offered as
: part of an incentive deal with another book. Can't remember what other book,
: or where I read that though, so I could be way wrong.
Yes. Rich Johnston covered the story two weeks ago:
"I told you people were taking more interest in variant covers. Both Marvel and
DC have opened the box on this particular industry-boom-and-busting practice.
And with cover allocation being strictly adhered to, there's been quite a
trading market in the rarer variant covers.
"Except that adherence has got a lot less sticky in the last month. Variant
editions are being offered again to the market under different allocations,
after their initial distribution - which is likely to reduce their
market-trading price.
"Retailers have been able to get free copies of the "New Avengers" variant
covers by ordering books like "Tales Of Suspense: Captain America & Iron Man,"
"Young Guns Sketchbook" or "Marvel Milestones Iron Man" - one for each copy they
order. Compared to the prices the variants have been getting on eBay, this is a
real bargain which has led, in some cases, to people buying up all the copies
they can.
"And some people just seem to be able to get their hands on job lots.
"Take the eBay seller markfcg from Collector's Universe in NYC. He's selling
hundreds of copies of the 1 in 20 variant edition of "New Avengers" 3 (with
Wolverine on the cover).
"100 copies for $599
"50 copies for $299
"10 set of 5 copies for $50 each
"With others already sold, that's enough variants from ordering around 10,000
copies of the original issue. Or by wiping out the Buy One Get One Free deal
single-handedly."
The column is at
http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/index.cgi?column=litg&article=2208 .
It's an interesting way of getting rid of inventory, certainly.
Marc-Oliver Frisch
: That said, I honestly don't think a new straight New Warriors series
: with the same publicity (nil) would last longer than most other such
: relaunches Marvel tries.
Probably not, no.
I would expect it to sell better than the current series, however, and --
depending on a variety of other factors -- arguably at least have a chance at
sticking around longer.
Likewise, I'd expect a series featuring new characters by Wells and Young
probably would have resulted in depressing sales as well, but it would have had
at least a chance at doing better.
The current NEW WARRIORS doesn't even have that chance. Most of the people who
might enjoy it will never touch it, because it says "New Warriors" on the cover.
And most of the people who might enjoy a NEW WARRIORS title are going to be
disappointed because the book is not what they expect, or aren't even
considering to pick it up to start with.
It's tragic, because creators like Wells and Young have the potential to break
out in a big way, if they're only given the chance. This isn't it, though.
Shawn H
: In message <Xns96B92D874814...@207.217.125.201>, Billy
: >
: > Marvel Two-In-One lasted 100 issues, which was basically The Thing
: >meeting different guest stars every month.
: That's true, but you're going back a long way. And even in that much
: more friendly environment, the Thing wasn't able to sustain a true solo
: series for very long.
But these characters DO go back a long way, and are too many degrees
unchanged from their classic formats (or not unrecognizably so). Fans of
the character have back issues and essentials and trades and online
websites and encyclopedias, etc., to add to their knowledge of the
character in question.
If I think of a Thing solo title not working, it has more to do with his
character concept than with his popularity.
Shawn H.
Andrew Krieg
Paul O'Brien <pa...@SPAMBLOCK.esoterica.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>71. HULK: DESTRUCTION
>Jul 05 Hulk: Destruction #1 (of 4) - 29,459
>
>Perhaps a little disappointing, considering that it's a Hulk mini by the
>title's regular writer. I'd expected it to place a little closer to the
>book's normal levels, but apparently not.
This book is a promotional tie-in to the new video game "Incredible
Hulk: Ulmiate Destruction". Given the quality of promo comics in the
past, I can understand why people were reluctant to dive in.
Thanks for this list. I really enjoy reading it each month. Any chance
the sales numbers for the Marvel Masterworks books could be added? The
limited edition versions all list the number of copies printed on the
back of the dust jacket.
--
=__ __ __ _ __ _= Andrew Krieg - Professional Newsgroup Junkie =
=_ __ _ __ _ _ __= =
=_ _ _ ___= E-mail: kr...@execpc.SPAM.BLOCK.com.ME.TO =
=_ __ _ __ _ __ _= WWW: http://my.execpc.com/~krieg =
~consul
> Billy Bissette wrote:
> : I somewhat wonder what Marvel actually wants. They know unadvertised
> : new/no-name books are going to do numbers like the above, so what are
> : they actually trying to achieve?
> Presumably, they're throwing things out there and see if they stick, in which
> case -- see RUNAWAYS, SHE-HULK or SENTINEL -- they bring the book back and try
> to build on the critical success it achieved the first time around.
> enough for themselves to merit an encore may be the next best thing.
> In the case of LIVEWIRES, SPELLBINDERS or MACHINE TEEN, there's the additional
> factor that they mostly seem to be created in order to be repackaged as digests
> and sold at bookstores later on, of course.
I'm fine with these little mini-series, as they are tailored to specific"ish" genres. They
don't have to have the huge numbers. It's a way to introduce others to the Marvel product
line, as they have the ads for all the standards as well.
--
"... respect, all good works are not done by only good folk. For within these Trials, we
shall do what needs to be done."
--till next time, Jameson Stalanthas Yu -x- <<poetry.dolphins-cove.com>>
~consul
> : > Jul 05 Young Guns 2004 Sketch Book - 2,447
> : > Erm... what?
> : They're reorders of a book that originally shipped in Dec 04, selling
> : 14701 copies at the time. Why the hell it's reappeared like this is
> : anyone's guess.
> I have a vague memory of reading somewhere that this was being offered as
> part of an incentive deal with another book. Can't remember what other book,
> or where I read that though, so I could be way wrong.
What's the storyline? Related to the very excellant Blaze of Glory from ... what, 2 or 3
years ago?
Ralf Haring
<con...@INVALIDdolphins-cove.com> wrote:
>
>> : > 239. YOUNG GUNS 2004 SKETCH BOOK
>
>years ago?
It's completely unrelated. "Young Guns" was the name Marvel was using
to promote six artists - Finch, Cheung, Granov, McNiven, Coipel,
Hairsine. This is literally just a sketchbook of some of their
upcoming-at-the-time books.