amazing spider man #5

by Jason Enright

This was a tough month for Marvel. Original Sin is ending and none of their other events have really started yet. They also don’t have any real high profile series launches. So there are no books that really pop. There is a lot of attrition this month. Of the 72 books that also had an issue last month, only 12 saw growth in their numbers. That leaves 60 books that dropped in sales. 39 books dropped more than 5% or what might be considered a standard attrition. Luckily there are several major events coming soon which will drive sales up and a lot of books will be relaunching after these events which always bumps up the numbers at least temporarily. It is worrying however, that there are several series that just relaunched a year or for some 6 months ago and are already in trouble again. Let’s look at a breakdown of what came out this month:

76 books in total

11 double shipped books
5 X-Men books (7 if you count X-Factor and X-Force)
7 Avengers books (8 if you count the Ultimates)
5 100th Anniversary specials
11 Original Sin and Original Sin Tie-In books

1 titles over 100,000 copies
2 titles between 75,000 and 100,000 copies
9 titles between 50,000 and 75,000 copies
35 titles between 25,000 and 50,000 copies
29 titles under 25,000
2 $5.99 books
4 $4.99 books
64 $3.99 books
6 $2.99 books

Now let’s dive into the deep end with these numbers.

Thanks as always to ICV2.com and Milton Griepp for their permission to use these figures.

2. Amazing SPIDER-MAN
08/04  Am Spi #511  –  88,120
08/09  Am Spi #603  -	70,976
08/11  Am Spi #668  -	57,533
08/12  Am Spi #692  -  91,071
---
08/13  Superior #15 -  78,636 (  -2.7%)
08/13  Superior #16 -  78,087 (  -0.7%)
09/13  Superior #17 -  89,118 ( +14.1%)
09/13  Superior #18 -  80,178 ( -10.0%)
10/13  Superior #19 -  83,671 (  +4.4%)
10/13  Superior #20 -  85,309 (  +2.0%)
11/13  Superior #21 -  74,940 ( -12.2%)
11/13  Superior #22 -  81,250 (  +8.4%)
12/13  Superior #23 -  77,105 (  -5.1%)
12/13  Superior #24 -  76,131 (  -1.3%)
01/14  Superior #25 -  77,311 (   1.5%)
01/14  Superior #26 -  72,591 (  -6.1%)
02/14  Supr #27.Now -  86,405 (  19.0%)
02/14  Superior #28 -  75,477 ( -12.6%)
03/14  Superior #29 -  76,568 (   1.4%)
03/14  Superior #30 -  75,431 (  -1.5%)
04/14  Superior #31 – 135,484 (  79.6%)[13,234]
04/14  Amazing v3 #1- 532,586 ( 293.1%)[23,871]
05/14  Amazing v3 #2- 123,945 ( -76.7%)
06/14  Amazing v3 #3- 109,029 ( -12.0%)
07/14  Amazing v3 #4- 117,917 (   8.2%)O.S. Tie-In
08/14  Amazing v3 #5- 101,655 ( -13.8%)O.S. Tie-In
---
6 mnth  (  17.6%)
1 year  (  30.2%)
2 year  (  12.0%)
3 year  (  76.7%)
5 year  (  43.2%)
10 year (  15.4%)

Spider-Man drops 16k despite being an original sin tie-in. However, the wall-crawler stayed above 100k which is still good. This is really good considering that Spider-Verse is coming soon, which will likely help keep this book’s numbers high for the next few months.

3. Original Sin #0
04/14  Original Sin #0 -  73,024 [6,166] 
05/14  Original Sin #1 - 147,045  (101.4%)
05/14  Original Sin #2 -  92,643  (-37.0%)
06/14  Original Sin #3 –  93,351  (  0.8%)
06/14  Original Sin #4 -  88,508  ( -5.2%)
07/14  Original Sin #5 -  91,420  (  3.3%)
07/14  Original Sin #6 -  89,324  ( -2.3%)
08/14  Original Sin #7 -  91,291  (  2.2%)

Original Sin 8 was also solicited for this month but got pushed into the first week of September. This event series has stayed very steady around 90k and bodes well for Marvel’s next event Axis, which is right around the corner.

5. SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN
---
08/13  Superior #15 -  78,636  (  -2.7%)
08/13  Superior #16 -  78,087  (  -0.7%)
09/13  Superior #17 -  89,118  ( +14.1%)
09/13  Superior #18 -  80,178  ( -10.0%)
10/13  Superior #19 -  83,671  (  +4.4%)
10/13  Superior #20 -  85,309  (  +2.0%)
11/13  Superior #21 -  74,940  ( -12.2%)
11/13  Superior #22 -  81,250  (  +8.4%)
12/13  Superior #23 -  77,105  (  -5.1%)
12/13  Superior #24 -  76,131  (  -1.3%)
01/14  Superior #25 -  77,311  (   1.5%)
01/14  Superior #26 -  72,591  (  -6.1%)
02/14  Supr #27.Now -  86,405  (  19.0%)
02/14  Superior #28 -  75,477  ( -12.6%)
03/14  Superior #29 -  76,568  (   1.4%)
03/14  Superior #30 -  75,431  (  -1.5%)
04/14  Superior #31 – 135,484  (  79.6%)[13,234]
08/14  Superior #32 -  87,604  ( -35.3%)
---
6 mnth  (   1.4%)
1 year  (  12.2%)

Continuing the numbering from the Doc-Ock-as-Spidey run that ended in in April, this series serves as the starting point for Spider-verse the upcoming event which will run across several Spider-man books. It pulls in good numbers compared to its second to last issue from March. This concept continues to sell very well for Marvel.

8. Amazing Spider-Man #1.X
05/14  Amazing Spi #1.1  - 116,555 
06/14  Amazing Spi #1.2  -  86,315  (-25.9%)
07/14  Amazing Spi #1.3  -  74,285  (-13.9%)
08/14  Amazing Spi #1.4  -  66,431  (-10.6%)

This Spider-Man year one type story sees another 10% drop. One issue to go and it will probably sell around 55k.

9. GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY
08/09  Guardians v2 #17 -  27,864
---
08/13  ---
09/13  Guardians v3 #6  -  69,030  ( -37.5%)
10/13  Guardians v3 #7  -  68,647  (  -0.6%)
10/13  Guardians v3 #8  -  63,494  (  -7.5%)
11/13  ---
12/13  Guardians v3 #9  -  57,665  (  -9.2%)
12/13  Guardians v3 #10 -  53,527  (  -7.2%)
01/14  Guardian #11.NOW -  61,111  (  14.7%)
02/14  Guardians v3 #12 -  55,454  (  -9.3%)
03/14  Guardians v3 #13 -  56,764  (   2.4%)
04/14  Guardians v3 #14 -  53,976  (  -4.9%)
05/14  Guardians v3 #15 -  54,332  (   0.7%)
06/14  Guardians v3 #16 -  54,827  (   0.9%)
07/14  Guardians v3 #17 -  62,986  (  14.9%)
08/14  Guardians v3 #18 -  60,657  (  -3.7%) O.S. Tie-In
---
6 mnth  (    9.4%)
5 year  (  117.7%)

Guardians stays above 60k for a second month thanks to help from a cool Alex Ross variant and its tie-in to Original Sin. Plus there’s a little Guardians movie that may be driving increased interest.

12, 22. ALL-NEW X-MEN
---
08/13  All-New X-Men #15 -  73,035  ( -2.4%)
09/13  All-New X-Men #16 -  84,218  (+15.3%)
10/13  All-New X-Men #17 -  82,843  ( -1.6%)
11/13  All-New X-Men #18 -  82,365  ( -0.6%)
11/13  All-New X-Men #19 -  71,044  (-13.7%)
12/13  All-New X-Men #20 -  68,189  ( -4.0%)
01/14  All-New X-Men #21 -  62,876  ( -7.8%)
01/14  All-New #22.NOW   -  76,565  (+21.8%)
02/14  All-New X-Men #23 -  64,625  (-15.6%)
03/14  All-New X-Men #24 -  63,739  ( -1.4%)
04/14  All-New X-Men #25 -  63,827  (  0.1%)
04/14  All-New X-Men #26 -  58,918  ( -7.7%)
05/14  All-New X-Men #27 -  62,269  (  5.7%)
06/14  All-New X-Men #28 -  57,135  ( -8.2%)
07/14  All-New X-Men #29 -  58,817  (  2.9%)
08/14  All-New X-Men #30 -  54,882  ( -6.7%)
08/14  All-New X-Men #31 -  58,535  (  6.7%)
---
6 mnth  (  -9.4%)
1 year  ( -19.9%)

This issue had an Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. variant cover that maybe boosted sales a bit, but it also just seems to be pretty steady around 57k. There’s also an upcoming foray into the Ultimate Universe to meet Miles Morales. We’ll see if that helps boost sales.

17. ROCKET RACCOON
07/14  Rocket Raccoon #1 - 293,913  ( --- )[7,738]
08/14  Rocket Raccoon #2 -  56,597  (-80.7%)

So this reads like a huge drop, but it was also because the #1 issue did so well. Remember as well that 100k issues of #1 were ordered by LootCrate as a one-time offer. So really this should read as a 70% drop instead of 80%. There were re-orders on issue 1, so some stores sold out as well. It will be interesting to watch this series over the next few months, will it drop quickly, or will it steady out around 40-50k?

23. AVENGERS
08/11  Avengers v4 #16 –  60,295
08/12  Avengers v4 #29 -  61,653
---
08/13  Avengers v5 #17 -  68,962  (  -5.3%)
08/13  Avengers v5 #18 -  74,697  (  +8.3%)
09/13  Avengers v5 #19 -  92,489  ( +23.8%)
09/13  Avengers v5 #20 -  74,388  ( -19.6%)
10/13  Avengers v5 #21 -  71,751  (  -3.5%)
10/13  Avengers v5 #22 -  70,735  (  -1.4%)
11/13  Avengers v5 #23 -  66,501  (  -6.0%)
12/13  Avengers#24.NOW - 127,466  ( +91.7%)
01/14  Avengers v5 #25 -  65,591  ( -48.5%)
02/14  Avengers v5 #26 –  59,775  (  -8.9%)
03/14  Avengers v5 #27 -  53,966  (  -9.7%)
04/14  Avengers v5 #28 -  52,808  (  -2.1%)
05/14  Avengers v5 #29 -  58,661  (  11.1%)
05/14  Avengers v5 #30 -  57,099  (  -2.7%)
06/14  Avengers v5 #31 -  53,933  (  -5.5%) O.S. Tie-In
07/14  Avengers v5 #32 -  56,595  (   4.9%) O.S. Tie-In
07/14  Avengers v5 #33 -  51,874  (  -8.3%) O.S. Tie-In
08/14  Avengers v5 #34 -  54,413  (   4.9%) O.S. Tie-In
---
6 mnth  (  -9.0%)
1 year  ( -27.2%)
2 year  ( -12.0%)
3 year  (  -9.8%)

So this is the last issue before the Avengers jump forward 8 months into the future and not only wraps up many current storylines but tees up Axis and the 8-month time jump. Also this issue was an Original Sin Tie-in. Also this help boost the book’s sales up and position it nicely for the next arc to do well.

***This is normally where Uncanny X-men would rank, but this month’s issue got pushed back to the first week of September so there are no numbers this month. However, issue 23 did get 5,627 re-orders this month.

25. UNCANNY AVENGERS
---
08/13  Uncanny Avengers #11 - 65,447  ( -4.8%)
09/13  Uncanny Avengers #12 - 73,357  (+12.1%)
10/13  Uncanny Avengers #13 - 60,597  (-17.4%)
11/13  Uncanny Avengers #14 - 60,750  ( +0.3%)
12/13  Uncanny Avengers #15 - 57,035  ( -6.1%)
01/14  Uncanny Avengers #16 - 54,670  ( -4.1%)
02/14  Uncanny Avengers #17 – 53,181  ( -2.7%)
03/14  U Avengers #18.NOW   - 63,516  ( 19.4%)
04/14  Uncanny Avengers #19 – 52,381  (-17.5%)
05/14  Uncanny Avengers #20 – 51,886  ( -0.9%)
06/14  Uncanny Avengers #21 – 49,762  ( -4.1%)
07/14  Uncanny Avengers #22 – 50,253  (  1.0%)
08/14  Uncanny Avengers #23 – 50,974  (  1.4%)
---
6 mnth  (  -4.1%)
1 year  ( -22.1%)

This issue had an Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. variant cover and tees up AXIS, which leads to a bit of a sales bump. Interestingly, the next two months will be Axis set-up stories, and then this book goes on hiatus and is essentially replaced by Axis in October.

26, 29. WOLVERINE
08/04  Wolverine v3 #18 –  65,306
08/09  Wolverine v3 #77 -  68,521
08/11  Wolverine v4 #14 -  38,869	 
08/12	 Wolverine #312	 -  41,030	 
---	
08/13  Wolverine v5 #8  -  39,830  (  -3.2%)
09/13  Wolverine v5 #9  -  35,920  (  -9.8%)
10/13  Wolverine v5 #10 -  34,651  (  -3.5%)
11/13  Wolverine v5 #11 -  35,394  (  +2.1%)
12/13  Wolverine v5 #12 -  32,274  (  -8.8%)
01/14  Wolverine v5 #13 -  31,164  (  -3.4%)
02/14  Wolverine v6 #1  -  88,923  ( 185.3%)
02/14  Wolverine v6 #2  -  47,339  ( -46.8%)
03/14  Wolverine v6 #3  -  40,735  ( -14.0%)
04/14  Wolverine v6 #4  -  37,732  (  -7.4%)
04/14  Wolverine v6 #5  -  37,563  (  -0.4%)
05/14  Wolverine v6 #6  -  35,571  (  -5.3%)
05/14  Wolverine v6 #7  -  35,039  (  -1.5%)
06/14  Wolverine v6 #8  -  40,491  (  15.6%)
06/14  Wolverine v6 #9  -  32,333  (   4.5%)
07/14  Wolverine v6 #10 -  47,813  (  12.9%)
08/14  Wolverine v6 #11 -  49,181  (   2.9%)
08/14  Wolverine v6 #12 -  50,570  (   2.8%)
---
6 mnth  ( -43.1%)
1 year  (  27.0%)
2 year  (  23.0%)
3 year  (  30.1%)
5 year  ( -26.2%)
10 year ( -22.6%)

These were the last two issues before September’s Death of Wolverine and the increase in sales and interest has pushed this title back above 50K.

28. DEADPOOL
08/09  Deadpool v3 #14  - 50,210  
08/11  Deadpool v3 #42 -  26,794 
08/12  Deadpool v3 #59 -  28,507 
---
08/13  Deadpool v4 #14 -  45,870  (  -2.4%)
08/13  Deadpool v4 #15 -  46,169  (  +0.7%)
09/13  Deadpool v4 #16 -  45,675  (  -1.1%)
09/13  Deadpool v4 #17 -  45,348  (  -0.7%)
10/13  Deadpool v4 #18 -  47,096  (  +3.9%)
11/13  Deadpool v4 #19 -  44,184  (  -6.2%)
12/13  Deadpool v4 #20 -  43,653  (  -1.2%)
12/13  Deadpool v4 #21 -  43,066  (  -1.3%)
01/14  Deadpool v4 #22 -  41,765  (  -3.0%)
02/14  Deadpool v4 #23 -  41,204  (  -1.3%)
02/14  Deadpool v4 #24 -  41,130  (  -0.2%)
03/14  D'pool #25.NOW  -  48,775  (  18.6%)
03/14  Deadpool v4 #26 -  44,141  (  -9.5%)
04/14  Deadpool v4 #27 -  62,037  (  40.5%)[1,992]
05/14  Deadpool v4 #28 -  45,858  (  26.1%)
05/14  Deadpool v4 #29 -  52,403  (  14.3%) O.S. Tie-In
06/14  Deadpool v4 #30 -  54,072  (  14.3%) O.S. Tie-In
07/14  Deadpool v4 #31 -  49,930  (  -7.7%) O.S. Tie-In
07/14  Deadpool v4 #32 -  46,829  (  -6.2%) O.S. Tie-In
08/14  Deadpool v4 #33 -  50,023  (   6.8%) O.S. Tie-In
---
6 mnth  (  21.6%)
1 year  (   8.3%)
2 year  (  75.0%)
3 year  (  86.7%)
5 year  (  -0.4%)

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. variant cover and Original Sin Tie-in equate to a nice bump in sales for this already very popular title.

30. SPIDER-MAN 2099
07/14  Spider-Man 2099 #1 - 90,690  ( --- )[6,461]
08/14  Spider-Man 2099 #2 - 47,512  (-47.6%)

So normally, a title is expected to drop 40% from issue #1 to #2, so this is a bit bigger drop, but there was decent re-order activity on #1 this month, so basically the jury is still out on this book. Plus in a few months it will tie-in with Spider-verse which should boost its sales anyway.

33. ORIGINAL SIN #5.X
---
07/14  Original Sin #5.1 – 48,596
07/14  Original Sin #5.2 – 46,110 (  -5.1%)
08/14  Original Sin #5.3 – 44,139 (  -4.3%)
08/14  Original Sin #5.4 – 42,665 (  -3.3%)

This Original Sin tie-in followed Thor, Loki, and Angela. It ended up selling better than the Thor or Loki books normally do and will hopefully serve as a good lead-in to the new Angela series starting in a few months.

35, 43. NEW AVENGERS
08/09  New Avengers v1 #56 -  89,901  
08/11  New Avengers v2 #14 -  56,035  
08/12  New Avengers v2 #24 -  59,441  
---
08/13  New Avengers v3 #9  -  60,534  (  4.3%)
09/13  New Avengers v3 #10 -  60,682  (  0.2%)
10/13  New Avengers v3 #11 -  63,231  (  4.2%)
11/13  New Avengers v3 #12 -  58,807  ( -7.0%)
12/13  N Avengers #13.INH  -  56,624  ( -3.7%)
01/14  ---
02/14  New Avengers v3 #14 -  50,668  (-10.5%)
03/14  New Avengers v3 #15 -  47,178  ( -6.9%)
03/14  N Avengers #16.NOW  -  48,731  (  0.0%)
04/14  New Avengers v3 #17 -  45,885  ( -5.8%)
05/14  New Avengers v3 #18 -  43,668  ( -4.8%)
06/14  New Avengers v3 #19 -  41,989  ( -3.8%)
06/14  New Avengers v3 #20 -  43,962  ( -0.1%)
07/14  New Avengers v3 #21 -  42,699  (  1.8%)
08/14  New Avengers v3 #22 -  42,797  (  0.2%)
08/14  New Avengers v3 #23 -  40,018  ( -6.3%)
---
6 mnth  ( -21.0%)
1 year  ( -33.9%)
2 year  ( -33.0%)
3 year  ( -28.6%)
5 year  ( -55.5%)

Final 2 issues before this book jumps 8 months into the future, which will hopefully give a nice boost to this book’s sales figures.

45. ORIGINAL SIN #3.X
---
06/14  Original Sin #3.1 – 45,338
07/14  Original Sin #3.2 – 41,756 ( -7.9%)
07/14  Original Sin #3.3 – 40,402 ( -3.2%)
08/14  Original Sin #3.4 – 38,899 ( -3.7%)

This O.S. tie-in was a crossover between Hulk and Iron and sold slightly better than either of them would have on its own.

48. DEADPOOL vs.
04/14  Dpool vs. Carnage #1 – 57,275 [4,497]
04/14  Dpool vs. Carnage #2 – 49,374  (-13.8%)[2,757]
05/14  Dpool vs. Carnage #3 – 46,688  ( -5.4%)
06/14  Dpool vs. Carnage #4 – 47,228  (  1.2%)
07/14  Dpool vs. X-Force #1 -  54,762 ( --- )
07/14  Dpool vs. X-Force #2 -  45,047 (-17.7%)
08/14  Dpool vs. X-Force #3 -  38,471 (-14.6%)

This book is not doing as well as the Carnage series that preceded it. Next month this book wraps up and the Deadpool versus Hawkeye series starts. It will be interesting to see if the downward trend continues.

49. MOON KNIGHT
08/11  Moon Knight v4 #4  -  30,237  
---
03/14  Moon Knight v5 #1  -  58,022 (  --- ) [7,266]
04/14  Moon Knight v5 #2  -  40,885 (-29.5%) [3,621]
05/14  Moon Knight v5 #3  -  42,607 (  4.2%)
06/14  Moon Knight v5 #4  -  40,348 ( -5.3%)
07/14  Moon Knight v5 #5  -  38,630 ( -4.3%)
08/14  Moon Knight v5 #6  -  37,646 ( -2.5%)
---
3 year  ( 24.5%)

Last issue of the critically acclaimed Ellis/Shalvey/Bellaire run on Moon Knight and the sales are still remarkably high. As Ellis and Shalvey move on to their new Image book, this series will be taken over by Brian Wood and Greg Smallwood. Next month should be interesting, will the numbers drop with the new team?

51, 63. INHUMAN 
04/14  Inhuman #1 - 58,309  
05/14  Inhuman #2 - 41,810 ( -28.3%) 
08/14  Inhuman #3 - 37,159 ( -11.1%) 
08/14  Inhuman #4 - 34,215 (  -7.9%)

After a 3 month delay Inhuman returns and honestly the drops aren’t that bad. Still, if Marvel has plans to make the Inhumans as popular as the Guardians of the Galaxy, a book plagued by creative changes and art delays was probably not the way to do it.

53. LEGENDARY STAR LORD
07/14  Leg. Star Lord #1 - 78,501 (---)[6,054]
08/14  Leg. Star Lord #2 - 37,109 (-52.7%)

Pretty big drop for Star Lord issue 2, but there were re-orders on issue 1, so retailers may be making adjustments to their orders still as this books finds its level.

54. DAREDEVIL
08/04  Daredevil v2 #63  – 52,091
08/09  Daredevil    #500 – 73,409
08/11  Daredevil v3 #2   – 40,990
08/12  Daredevil v3 #17  - 38,149 
---
08/13  Daredevil v3 #30 - 35,240  ( +0.9%)
09/13  Daredevil v3 #31 - 36,666  ( +4.0%)
10/13  Daredevil v3 #32 - 34,957  ( -4.7%)
11/13  Daredevil v3 #33 - 32,966  ( -5.7%)
12/13  Daredevil v3 #34 - 32,331  ( -1.9%)
01/14  Daredevil v3 #35 - 32,067  ( -0.8%)
02/14  Daredevil v3 #36 – 31,494  ( -1.8%)
03/14  Daredevil v4 #1  - 76,006  (141.3%)[1,948]
04/14  Daredevil #1.50  - 48,462  (-36.2%)
04/14  Daredevil v4 #2  - 42,811  (-11.7%)
05/14  Daredevil v4 #3  - 39,316  (-8.2%)
06/14  Daredevil v4 #4  - 37,902  (-3.6%)
07/14  Daredevil v4 #5  - 36,825  (-2.8%)
07/14  Daredevil v4 #6  - 37,959  ( 3.1%)
07/14  Daredevil  #0.1  - 33,437
08/14  Daredevil v4 #7  - 36,785  (-3.1%)
---
6 Mnth  (  16.8%)
1 Year  (   4.4%)
2 Year  (  -4.0%)
3 Year  ( -10.3%)
5 Year  ( -49.9%)
10 Year ( -29.4%)

Daredevil has a small drop from last month. This book has stayed right around his 36k level for a long time now.

55. AMAZING X-MEN
08/04  Astonishing X-Men #3  - 145,546  
08/11  Astonishing X-Men #41 -  33,470  
08/12  Astonishing X-Men #53 -  32,268  
---
08/13  Astonishing X-Men #65 -  22,010  (  -2.8%)
08/13  Astonishing X-Men #66 -  21,757  (  -1.1%)
09/13  Astonishing X-Men #67 -  21,044  (  -3.3%)
10/13  Astonishing X-Men #68 -  21,023  (  -0.0%)
11/13  Amazing X-Men v2 #1   - 112,337  (+434.4%)
12/13  Amazing X-Men v2 #2   -  60,870  ( -45.8%)
01/14  Amazing X-Men v2 #3   -  51,431  ( -15.5%)
02/14  Amazing X-Men v2 #4   -  48,161  (  -6.4%)
03/14  Amazing X-Men v2 #5   -  46,242  (  -4.0%)
04/14  Amazing X-Men v2 #6   -  45,095  (  -2.5%)
05/14  Amazing X-Men v2 #7   -  42,512  (  -5.7%)
06/14  Amazing X-Men v2 #8   -  41,613  (  -2.1%)
07/14  Amazing X-Men v2 #9   -  40,562  (  -2.5%)
08/14  Amazing X-Men v2 #10  -  36,405  ( -10.2%)
---
6  mnth  ( -43.7%)
1  year  (  67.3%)
2  year  (  13.0%)
3  year  (   8.8%)
10 year  ( -75.0%)

This is a pretty big drop for the Amazing X-men as they hit the mid-way point of their second arc. This is when a book should be stabilizing, which makes me wonder if stores saw a lot of people dropping the series after the initial arc ended.

56. WOLVERINE ANNUAL
---
08/14  Wolverine Annual #1 – 36,210

This annual sells about as many copies as Wolverine was selling before the countdown to his death started.

57. X-MEN
08/04  X-Men v2 #160 -  91,792  
08/11  X-Men v3 #16  -  43,161  
08/12  X-Men v3 #34  -  33,354  
---
08/13  X-Men v4 #4  -  64,010  (  -1.9%)
09/13  X-Men v4 #5  -  73,357  ( +14.6%)
10/13  X-Men v4 #6  -  71,990  (  -1.9%)
11/13  X-Men v4 #7  -  56,968  ( -20.9%)
12/13  X-Men v4 #8  -  53,201  (  -6.6%)
01/14  X-Men v4 #9  -  49,412  (  -7.1%)
02/14  X-M  #10.Now -  52,486  (   6.2%)
02/14  X-Men v4 #11 -  47,498  (  -9.5%)
03/14  X-Men v4 #12 -  44,135  (  -7.1%)
04/14  X-Men v4 #13 -  42,065  (  -4.7%)
05/14  X-Men v4 #14 -  39,499  (  -6.1%)
06/14  X-Men v4 #15 -  38,271  (  -3.1%)
07/14  X-Men v4 #16 -  38,937  (   1.7%)
07/14  X-Men v4 #17 -  36,255  (  -6.9%)
08/14  X-Men v4 #18 -  35,543  (  -2.0%)
---
6  mnth  ( -28.1%)
1  year  ( -44.5%)
2  year  (   7.0%)
3  year  ( -17.7%)
10 year  ( -61.3%)

This issue was the first from a new creative team that didn’t really get much press at all, so it doesn’t really see any kind of sales boost.

58. HULK
08/04  Incred Hulk v3 #76  - 42,499
08/09  Incred Hulk    #601 - 64,053
08/11  Incred Hulks   #635 – 38,223
08/12  Incred Hulk v4 #12  - 36,860
---
08/13  Indestructible #12  - 43,673  (  -3.5%)
09/13  Indestructible #13  - 41,805  (  -4.3%)
10/13  Indestructible #14  - 40,963  (  -2.0%)
11/13  Indestructible #15  - 37,025  (  -9.6%)
11/13  Indestructible #16  - 35,871  (  -3.1%)
12/13  Hulk #17.INH        - 35,679  (  -0.5%)
01/14  Hulk #18.INH        - 33,056  (  -7.4%)
02/14  Indestructible #19  - 31,192  (  -5.6%)
03/14  Indestructible #20  - 30,042  (  -3.7%)
04/14  Hulk v3 #1          - 73,551  ( 144.8%)
04/14  Hulk v3 #2          - 40,590  ( -44.8%)
05/14  Hulk v3 #3          - 37,639  (  -7.3%)
06/14  Hulk v3 #4          - 35,377  (  -6.0%)
08/14  Hulk v3 #5          - 34,903  (  -1.3%)
---
6 Mnth  (  11.9%)
1 Year  ( -20.1%)
2 Year  (  -5.0%)
3 Year  (  -8.7%)
5 Year  ( -45.5%)
10 Year ( -17.9%)

Gerry Duggan takes over for Mark Wait this issue and sales stayed relatively stable. Over the next few months it will be interesting to see how this affects sales for better or worse.

59. MILES MORALES ULT SPIDER-MAN
08/04  Ult. Spider-Man v1 #64 –  94,684
08/09  Ult. Spider-Man v2 #1  –  85,917
08/12  Ult. Spider-Man v3 #12 -  42,642
---
08/13  Ult. Spider-Man v3 #26 - 32,932  ( -1.0%)
09/13  Ult. Spider-Man v3 #27 - 32,200  ( -2.2%)
10/13  Ult. Spider-Man v3 #28 - 31,462  ( -2.3%)
11/13  Cataclysm USM #1 of 3  - 36,541  (+16.1%)
12/13  Cataclysm USM #2 of 3  - 30,293  (-17.1%)
01/14  Cataclysm USM #3 of 3  - 27,650  ( -8.7%)
02/14  ---
03/14  ---
04/14  Ult. Spider-Man #200   - 41,608  ( 50.5%)
05/14  M.M. Ult Spider-Man #1 - 45,864  ( 10.2%)
06/14  M.M. Ult Spider-Man #2 - 38,231  (-16.6%)
07/14  M.M. Ult Spider-Man #3 - 37,240  ( -2.6%)
08/14  M.M. Ult Spider-Man #4 - 34,836  ( -6.5%)
---
1 year  (   5.8%)
2 year  ( -18.0%)
5 year  ( -59.5%)
10 year ( -63.2%)

The flagship book of the Ultimate line drops a big but is still pretty health compared to its fellow Ultimate books.

62. KICK-ASS 3  [Icon]
08/11  Kick-Ass 2 #3 of 8 - 54,270
---
06/13  Kick-Ass 3 #1 of 8 - 78,035
07/13  ---
08/13  Kick-Ass 3 #2 of 8 - 50,102  (-35.8%)
09/13  Kick-Ass 3 #3 of 8 - 44,540  (-11.1%)
10/13  Kick-Ass 3 #4 of 8 - 40,412  ( -9.3%)
11/13  Kick-Ass 3 #5 of 8 - 38,639  ( -4.4%)
02/14  Kick-Ass 3 #6 of 8 – 39,534  (  2.3%)
03/14  ---
04/14  Kick-Ass 3 #7 of 8 – 38,818  ( -6.9%)
08/14  Kick-Ass 3 #8 of 8 – 34,322  (-11.6%)
---
6 Mnth  ( -13.2%)
1 Year  ( -31.5%)
3 Year  ( -36.8%)

Kick-Ass 3 ends with sales at about half of where it debuted.

64, 67, 68. DEADPOOL DRACULA’S GAUNTLET #1
---
07/14  Deadpool Dracula’s Gauntlet #1 – 40,790
07/14  Deadpool Dracula’s Gauntlet #2 – 38,683 ( -5.2%)
07/14  Deadpool Dracula’s Gauntlet #3 – 37,449 ( -3.2%)
07/14  Deadpool Dracula’s Gauntlet #4 – 36,581 ( -2.3%)
08/14  Deadpool Dracula’s Gauntlet #5 – 33,774 ( -7.7%)
08/14  Deadpool Dracula’s Gauntlet #6 – 32,117 ( -4.9%)
08/14  Deadpool Dracula’s Gauntlet #7 – 31,568 ( -1.7%)

Not bad sales for a reprint of a digital first comic. Plus they are going to be selling the 280-page hardcover for $35. Deadpool is just printing money for Marvel these days.

66. MS. MARVEL
02/14  Ms. Marvel #1 -  50,286  (  --- ) [15,155]
03/14  Ms. Marvel #2 -  38,357  (-23.7%) [3,440]
04/14  Ms. Marvel #3 -  37,140  ( -3.2%)
05/14  Ms. Marvel #4 -  34,839  ( -6.2%)
06/14  Ms. Marvel #5 -  33,795  ( -3.0%)
07/14  Ms. Marvel #6 -  36,041  (  6.6%)
08/14  Ms. Marvel #7 -  32,866  ( -8.8%)
---
6 Mnth  ( -34.6%)

8% drop for this issue but since it had growth last month that means it is very stable. Plus look at this 6-month drop percentage. That is less than most books drop on their second issue. This is one of the most successful new series launches I’ve seen from Marvel. This brand new character sells in the same range as books like Captain America, Iron Man, Hulk, and Thor and those books have a huge history with the company and several movies backing them up.

69. SILVER SURFER
08/04  Silver Surfer v5 #12-  20,776  
---
03/14  Silver Surfer v7 #1 -  64,919  (  --- )[2,757]
04/14  Silver Surfer v7 #2 -  39,132  (-39.7%)
06/14  Silver Surfer v7 #3 -  36,075  ( -7.8%)
07/14  Silver Surfer v7 #4 -  32,747  ( -9.2%)
08/14  Silver Surfer v7 #5 -  31,125  ( -5.0%)
---
10 year ( 49.8%)

The drops on Silver Surfer are shrinking. Hopefully it will level out soon.

70. CAPTAIN AMERICA
08/04  Captain America v4 #30  - 38,465  
08/09  Cap America Reborn #2   –125,234  
08/11  Captain America    #2   - 54,384 
08/12  Captain America v6 #16  - 35,155  
---
08/13  Captain America v7 #10 - 39,356  (  -3.5%)
09/13  Captain America v7 #11 - 38,521  (  -2.1%)
10/13  Captain America v7 #12 - 38,684  (  +0.4%)
11/13  Captain America v7 #13 - 36,147  (  -6.6%)
12/13  Captain America v7 #14 - 34,532  (  -4.5%)
01/14  Captain America v7 #15 - 33,433  (  -3.2%)
02/14  Capt AmericaV7 #16.Now – 36,534  (   9.3%)
02/14  Captain America v7 #17 – 33,312  (  -8.8%)
03/14  Captain America v7 #18 – 33,642  (   1.0%)
04/14  Captain America v7 #19 – 34,420  (   2.3%)
05/14  Captain America v7 #20 – 30,341  (  -9.3%)
06/14  Captain America v7 #21 – 30,427  (   0.3%)
07/14  Captain America v7 #22 – 34,563  (  13.6%)
08/14  Captain America v7 #23 – 30,927  ( -10.5%)
---
6 Mnth  (  -7.2%)
1 Year  ( -21.4%)
2 Year  ( -12.0%)
3 Year  ( -43.1%)
5 Year  ( -75.3%)
10 Year ( -19.6%)

Last month’s boost was due to a few variants, so this series is back to where it has stayed the last few months. Cap relaunches in November with a new #1 and a different hero wielding the shield and should see a nice boost to sales.

71. FANTASTIC FOUR
08/04  Fantastic Four #517   – 50,248
08/09  Fantastic Four #570   – 62,335
08/12  Fantastic Four #609   - 36,496
---
08/13  Fantastic Four v5 #11 - 32,665  (  -4.0%)
09/13  Fantastic Four v5 #12 - 31,426  (  -3.8%)
10/13  Fantastic Four v5 #13 - 31,561  (  +0.4%)
11/13  Fantastic Four v5 #14 - 28,679  (  -9.1%)
12/13  Fantastic Four v5 #15 - 27,610  (  -3.7%)
01/14  Fantastic Four v5 #16 - 28,045  (   1.6%)
02/14  Fantastic Four v6 #1  - 65,775  ( 134.5%)
03/14  Fantastic Four v6 #2  - 37,569  ( -42.9%)
04/14  Fantastic Four v6 #3  - 34,930  (  -7.0%)
05/14  Fantastic Four v6 #4  - 33,263  (  -4.8%)
05/14  Fantastic Four v6 #5  - 33,336  (   0.2%)
06/14  Fantastic Four v6 #6  - 33,177  (  -0.5%) O.S. Tie-In
07/14  Fantastic Four v6 #7  - 33,687  (   1.5%) O.S. Tie-In
08/14  Fantastic Four v6 #8  - 30,674  (  -8.9%) O.S. Tie-In
08/14  Fantastic Four v6 #9  - 28,827  (  -6.0%)
---
6 mnth  ( -56.2%)
1 year  ( -11.7%)
2 year  ( -21.0%)
5 year  ( -53.8%)
10 year ( -42.6%)

This series continues to drop and now 6 months after its relaunch is right back at nearly the same number it was at before. It is still solicited for an issue 13 in November with the return of the old costumes. Maybe that will help the sales?

72, 73. WOLVERINE & THE X-MEN
08/12  Wolverine/X-Men #12  - 58,441  
---
08/13  Wolverine/X-Men #34 - 38,473  ( -9.0%)
08/13  Wolverine/X-Men #35 - 38,046  ( -1.1%)
09/13  Wolverine/X-Men #36 - 59,684  (+56.9%)
10/13  Wolverine/X-Men #37 - 57,434  ( -3.8%)
11/13  Wolverine/X-Men #38 - 39,098  (-31.9%)
12/13  Wolverine/X-Men #39 - 39,063  ( -0.1%)
01/14  Wolverine/X-Men #40 - 36,855  ( -5.7%)
02/14  Wolverine/X-Men #41 – 35,800  ( -2.9%)
02/14  Wolverine/X-Men #42 – 35,392  ( -1.1%)
03/14  Wolver/X-Men v2 #1  - 54,675  ( 54.5%)
03/14  Wolver/X-Men v2 #2  - 40,386  (-26.1%)
04/14  Wolver/X-Men v2 #3  - 36,407  ( -9.9%)
05/14  Wolver/X-Men v2 #4  - 33,521  ( -7.9%)
06/14  Wolver/X-Men v2 #5  - 32,511  ( -3.0%)
07/14  Wolver/X-Men v2 #6  - 32,995  (  1.5%)
08/14  Wolver/X-Men v2 #7  - 30,409  ( -7.8%)
08/14  Wolver/X-Men v2 #8  - 29,795  ( -2.0%)
---
6 Mnth  ( -16.8%)
1 Year  ( -22.6%)
2 Year  ( -49.0%)

This book drops a little but for the most part is relatively stable. It was recently announced that after Death of Wolverine, this series will be replaced by a new book called Spider-Man and the X-men where the wall crawler takes on a guidance counselor role at the Jean Grey School. Wolverine and the X-Men wraps up in November with issue 12.

74. Magneto
---
03/14  Magneto #1 – 55,337
04/14  Magneto #2 – 35,772  (-35.4%)[2,297]
05/14  Magneto #3 – 35,504  ( -0.7%)
05/14  Magneto #4 – 33,070  ( -6.9%)
06/14  Magneto #5 – 32,837  ( -0.7%)
07/14  Magneto #6 – 32,675  ( -0.5%)
07/14  Magneto #7 – 31,001  ( -5.1%)
08/14  Magneto #8 – 29,727  ( -4.1%)

This series should hopefully get a boost with some Axis tie-in issues coming up soon. It is not in trouble but could use help leveling out before it gets too low.

77. ORIGINAL SINS
---
06/14  Original Sins #1 – 39,660
06/14  Original Sins #2 – 36,099 ( -9.0%)
07/14  Original Sins #3 – 34,686 ( -3.9%)
07/14  Original Sins #4 – 32,076 ( -7.5%)
08/14  Original Sins #5 – 29,250 ( -8.8%)

This book was a Young Avengers tie-in to Original Sin, but wasn’t solicited as one until issue 3 to preserve its secrets. I for one would have bought it if I knew it was Young Avengers. Still it sold pretty decently.

83. NOVA SPECIAL
---
08/14  Nova Special #1 – 26,743

This special is a crossover with Uncanny X-men and Iron Man and it sells a bit better than the main Nova book.

86. PUNISHER
08/04  Punisher v7 #10 – 45,397
08/09  Punisher v8 #8  – 33,022
08/11  Punisher v9 #2  - 42,459
08/12  Punisher v9 #14 - 22,046
---
09/13  Trial #1 of 2   - 22,626
10/13  Trial #2 of 2   - 20,143  (-11.0%)
11/13  ---
12/13  ---
01/14  ---
02/14  Punisher v10 #1 – 54,558  (   --- )
02/14  Punisher v10 #2 – 31,709  ( -41.9%)
03/14  Punisher v10 #3 – 29,636  (  -5.6%)
04/14  Punisher v10 #4 – 28,435  (  -5.0%)
05/14  Punisher v10 #5 – 27,471  (  -3.4%)
06/14  Punisher v10 #6 – 26,606  (  -3.1%)
06/14  Punisher v10 #7 – 26,192  (  -1.6%)
07/14  Punisher v10 #8 – 25,957  (  -0.9%)
08/14  Punisher v10 #9 – 25,876  (  -0.3%)
---
6 mnth  ( -52.6%)
2 year  (  17.0%)
3 year  ( -39.1%)
5 year  ( -21.6%)
10 year ( -43.0%)

Punisher has been pretty stable since June, which is great.

87. Nightcrawler
04/14  Nightcrawler #1 – 49,426
05/14  Nightcrawler #2 – 35,356 (-28.5%)
06/14  Nightcrawler #3 – 31,743 (-10.2%)
07/14  Nightcrawler #4 – 27,990 (-11.8%)
08/14  Nightcrawler #5 – 25,627 ( -8.4%)

Continued drops like this are not good for Nightcrawler.

88. STORM
---
07/14  Storm #1 – 47,566
08/14  Storm #2 – 25,268 ( -46.9%)

That is a big drop for Storm, which is pretty troubling.

90. BLACK WIDOW
01/14  Black Widow #1 - 53,879
01/14  Black Widow #2 - 31,260  ( -42.0%)
02/14  Black Widow #3 – 28,127  ( -10.0%)
03/14  Black Widow #4 – 27,378  (  -2.7%)
04/14  Black Widow #5 – 27,055  (  -1.2%)
05/14  Black Widow #6 – 26,136  (  -3.4%)
06/14  Black Widow #7 – 25,423  (  -2.7%)
07/14  Black Widow #8 – 24,555  (  -3.4%)
08/14  Black Widow #9 – 24,885  (   1.3%)
---
6 Mnth  (  -11.5%)

Black Widow has actually very stable around 24-25k since June, which is pretty good.

91. SAVAGE HULK
---
06/14  Savage Hulk #1 – 44,177
07/14  Savage Hulk #2 – 31,194 ( -29.4%)
08/14  Savage Hulk #3 – 24,774 ( -20.6%)

There just doesn’t seem to be a lot of interest in these anthology books from Marvel.

94. NOVA
08/09  Nova v4 #28 - 27,010
---
08/13  Nova v5 #7  - 31,937  ( -6.7%)
09/13  Nova v5 #8  - 37,767  (+18.3%)
10/13  Nova v5 #9  - 32,323  (-14.4%)
11/13  Nova v5 #10 - 32,716  ( +1.2%)
12/13  Nova v5 #11 - 27,982  (-14.5%)
01/14  Nova v5 #12 - 25,043  ( -10.5%)
02/14  Nova#13.Now – 26,147  (   4.4%)
03/14  Nova v5 #14 – 23,459  ( -10.3%)
03/14  Nova v5 #15 – 22,996  (  -2.0%)
04/14  Nova v5 #16 – 22,020  (  -4.2%)
05/14  Nova v5 #17 – 21,652  (  -1.7%)
06/14  Nova v5 #18 – 25,875  (  19.5%) O.S. Tie-In
07/14  Nova v5 #19 – 24,580  (  -5.0%) O.S. Tie-In
08/14  Nova v5 #20 – 24,377  (  -0.8%) O.S. Tie-In
---
6 Mnth  (  -6.8%)
1 Year  ( -23.7%)
5 Year  (  -9.7%)

The Original Sin tie-in has helped this book a lot. It will be interesting to see if it drops a lot next month or if the tie-in helped it find new readers.

95. Iron Fist: Living Weapon
08/04  Iron Fist #5    -  17,985  
---
04/14  Iron Fist LW #1 -  53,613 (  --- )[2,350]
05/14  Iron Fist LW #2 -  33,643 ( -37.2%)
06/14  Iron Fist LW #3 -  29,816 ( -11.4%)
07/14  Iron Fist LW #4 -  26,147 ( -12.3%)
08/14  Iron Fist LW #5 -  24,178 (  -7.5%)
---
10 year (34.4%)

This series continues to drop and could be in trouble in a few months.

99.  AVENGERS WORLD
01/14  Avengers World #1 - 86,727
01/14  Avengers World #2 - 53,693  (-38.1%)
02/14  Avengers World #3 – 39,999  (-25.5%)
03/14  Avengers World #4 – 34,397  (-14.0%)
04/14  Avengers World #5 – 31,110  ( -9.6%)
05/14  Avengers World #6 – 28,969  ( -6.9%)
06/14  Avengers World #7 – 27,854  ( -3.8%)
06/14  Avengers World #8 – 26,912  ( -3.4%)
07/14  Avengers World #9 – 24,771  ( -8.0%)
07/14  Avengers World #10– 24,196  ( -2.3%)
08/14  Avengers World #11– 23,493  ( -2.9%)
---
6 Mnth  ( -41.3%)

Not a huge drop but still falling and still solicited through issue 15 in November.

100. CYCLOPS
---
05/14  Cyclops #1 – 47,468
06/14  Cyclops #2 – 31,132 ( -34.4%)
07/14  Cyclops #3 – 25,925 ( -16.7%)
08/14  Cyclops #4 – 23,305 ( -10.1%)

Cyclops continues to drop a lot of issues each month, which is very troubling. It needs to stabilize soon.

102. SHE-HULK
08/04  She-Hulk v1  #6  - 24,752
---
02/14  She-Hulk #1      - 41,921  (  --- )[3,270]
03/14  She-Hulk #2      - 26,675  (-36.3%)
04/14  She-Hulk #3      - 27,398  (  2.7%)
05/14  She-Hulk #4      - 25,543  ( -6.8%)
06/14  She-Hulk #5      - 24,736  ( -3.2%)
07/14  She-Hulk #6      - 23,562  ( -3.2%)
08/14  She-Hulk #7      - 22,883  ( -2.9%)
---
6 Mnth   (-45.4%)
10 Year  ( -7.6%)

She-Hulk’s drops are shrinking but it is already pretty low, which stinks as this is actually a very entertaining book.

104. MIGHTY AVENGERS
08/09  Mighty Avengers   #28 -  61,258  
---
09/13  Mighty Avengers v2 #1 - 101,921
10/13  Mighty Avengers v2 #2 -  54,862  (-46.2%)
11/13  Mighty Avengers v2 #3 -  42,210  (-23.1%)
12/13  Mighty Avengers v2 #4 -  35,740  (-15.3%)
01/14  Mighty Avengers#5.INH -  30,251  (-15.4%)
02/14  Mighty Avengers v2 #6 -  27,195  (-10.1%)
02/14  Mighty Avengers v2 #7 -  26,512  ( -2.5%)
03/14  Mighty Avengers v2 #8 -  24,933  ( -6.0%)
04/14  Mighty Avengers v2 #9 -  23,903  ( -4.1%)
05/14  Mighty Avengers v2 #10 - 28,711  ( 20.1%)
06/14  Mighty Avengers v2 #11 - 26,221  ( -8.7%) O.S. Tie-In
07/14  Mighty Avengers v2 #12 - 24,851  ( -5.2%) O.S. Tie-In
08/14  Mighty Avengers v2 #13 - 22,490  ( -9.5%)
---
6 Mnth  ( -15.2%)
5 Year  ( -63.3%)

This is going to be relaunched in November to include the new Captain America which will hopefully help its sales.

106. X-FORCE
08/04  X-Force v2 #1  - 66,621  
08/09  X-Force v3 #18 - 56,362  
08/11  X-Force v4 #14 - 50,770 
08/12  X-Force v4 #30 - 44,918  
---
08/13  X-Force v5 #10 - 35,329  ( -4.5%)
09/13  X-Force v5 #11 - 36,186  ( +2.4%)
10/13  X-Force v5 #12 - 32,559  (-10.0%)
10/13  X-Force v5 #13 - 30,567  ( -6.1%)
11/13  X-Force v5 #14 - 28,885  ( -5.5%)
12/13  X-Force v5 #15 - 27,567  ( -4.6%)
01/14  X-Force v5 #16 - 27,701  (  0.5%)
01/14  X-Force v5 #17 - 27,319  ( -1.4%)
02/14  X-Force v6 #1  - 47,427  ( 73.6%)
03/14  X-Force v6 #2  - 33,079  (-30.3%)
04/14  X-Force v6 #3  - 29,541  (-10.7%)
04/14  X-Force v6 #4  - 28,067  ( -5.0%)
05/14  X-Force v6 #5  - 26,215  ( -6.6%)
06/14  X-Force v6 #6  - 24,358  ( -7.1%)
07/14  X-Force v6 #7  - 23,675  ( -2.8%)
08/14  X-Force v6 #8  - 22,299  ( -5.8%)
---
6 mnth  ( -53.0%)
1 year  ( -36.9%)
2 year  ( -50.0%)
3 year  ( -56.1%)
5 year  ( -60.4%)
10 year ( -66.5%)

X-Force continues to drop and is now 5k below where it was last time it was relaunched only 6 months ago.

110. ALL-NEW X-FACTOR
08/09  X-Factor #47    - 33,017  
08/11  X-Factor #224   - 23,681  
08/12  X-Factor #242   - 22,782  
---
08/13  X-Factor #260   - 19,982  ( -0.4%)
08/13  X-Factor #261   - 19,781  ( -1.0%)
09/13  X-Factor #262   - 20,382  ( +3.0%)
10/13  ---
11/13  ---
12/13  ---
01/14  X-Factor v4 #1  - 45,727  (
01/14  X-Factor v4 #2  - 32,228  ( -29.5%)
02/14  X-Factor v4 #3  - 29,915  (  -3.2%)
03/14  X-Factor v4 #4  - 27,337  (  -8.6%)
03/14  X-Factor v4 #5  - 26,656  (  -2.5%)
04/14  X-Factor v4 #6  - 26,029  (  -2.4%)
05/14  X-Factor v4 #7  - 24,873  (  -4.4%)
05/14  X-Factor v4 #8  - 24,283  (  -2.4%)
06/14  X-Factor v4 #9  - 23,720  (  -2.3%)
07/14  X-Factor v4 #10 - 22,563  (  -4.9%)
07/14  X-Factor v4 #11 - 22,428  (  -0.6%)
08/14  X-Factor v4 #12 - 21,352  (  -4.8%)
---
6 Mnth  ( -28.6%)
1 Year  (   7.9%)
2 Year  (  -6.0%)
3 Year  (  -9.8%)
5 Year  ( -35.3%)

X-Factor continues to drop as well.

111. CAPTAIN MARVEL
08/09  Ms. Marvel #44        - 25,523  
08/12  Captain Marvel #3     - 27,649  
---
08/13  Captain Marvel v6 #15 - 23,511  (+21.7%)
09/13  Captain Marvel v6 #16 - 22,845  ( -2.8%)
10/13  ---
11/13  Captain Marvel v6 #17 - 18,173  (-20.5%)
12/13  ---
01/14  ---
02/14  ---
03/14  Captain Marvel v7 #1  - 44,248  
04/14  Captain Marvel v7 #2  - 28,008 (-36.7%)
05/14  Captain Marvel v7 #3  - 26,057 ( -7.0%)
06/14  Captain Marvel v7 #4  - 24,062 ( -7.7%)
07/14  Captain Marvel v7 #5  - 23,666 ( -1.6%)
08/14  Captain Marvel v7 #6  - 21,221 (-10.3%)
---
1 year  (  -9.7%)
2 year  ( -23.0%)
5 year  ( -16.9%)

Captain Marvel drops a bit over 2000 issues this month and creeps towards that 20k mark.

112, 113. THUNDERBOLTS
08/11  Thunderbolts  #162  - 25,990  
---
08/13  Thunderbolts v2 #14 - 30,620  ( +7.3%)
09/13  Thunderbolts v2 #15 - 29,703  ( -3.0%)
10/13  Thunderbolts v2 #16 - 29,334  ( -1.2%)
10/13  Thunderbolts v2 #17 - 28,324  ( -3.4%)
11/13  Thunderbolts v2 #18 - 26,502  ( -6.4%)
12/13  Thunderbolts v2 #19 - 24,959  ( -5.8%)
01/14  Thunderblts #20.NOW - 28,994  ( 16.2%)
01/14  Thunderbolts v2 #21 - 24,293  (-16.2%)
02/14  Thunderbolts v2 #22 – 23,629  ( -2.7%)
03/14  Thunderbolts v2 #23 – 22,701  ( -3.9%)
04/14  Thunderbolts v2 #24 – 22,619  ( -0.4%)
04/14  Thunderbolts v2 #25 – 22,092  ( -2.3%)
05/14  Thunderbolts v2 #26 – 21,771  ( -1.5%)
06/14  Thunderbolts v2 #27 – 21,778  (  0.0%)
07/14  Thunderbolts v2 #28 – 21,652  ( -0.6%)
08/14  Thunderbolts v2 #29 – 21,144  ( -2.3%)
08/14  Thunderbolts v2 #30 – 21,016  ( -0.6%)
---
6 Mnth  ( -11.1%)
1 Year  ( -31.4%)
3 Year  ( -19.1%)

Cancelled with issue #32.

115. ALL NEW GHOST RIDER
08/11  Ghost Rider #1 - 24,440 
---
03/14  All New Ghost Rider  #1  -  50,072 (  --- )[2,567]
04/14  All New Ghost Rider  #2  -  29,429 (-41.2%)
05/14  All New Ghost Rider  #3  -  27,756 ( -5.7%)
06/14  All New Ghost Rider  #4  -  24,627 (-11.3%)
07/14  All New Ghost Rider  #5  -  21,820 (-11.4%)
08/14  All New Ghost Rider  #6  -  20,679 ( -5.2%)
---
3 year (-15.4%)

Ghost Rider gets a new creative team and only a slight drop.

118. SECRET AVENGERS
08/11  Secret Avengers    #15 - 46,712
08/12  Secret Avengers    #29 - 41,653
---
08/13  Secret Avengers v2 #7  - 27,222  (  -5.8%)
08/13  Secret Avengers v2 #8  - 26,150  (  -3.9%)
09/13  Secret Avengers v2 #9  - 24,870  (  -4.9%)
10/13  Secret Avengers v2 #10 - 29,134  ( +17.1%)
11/13  Secret Avengers v2 #11 - 25,326  ( -13.1%)
12/13  Secret Avengers v2 #12 - 23,863  (  -5.8%)
12/13  Secret Avengers v2 #13 - 23,172  (  -2.9%)
01/14  Secret Avengers v2 #14 - 21,372  (  -7.8%)
02/14  Secret Avengers v2 #15 – 20,059  (  -6.1%)
02/14  Secret Avengers v2 #16 – 20,022  (  -0.2%)
03/14  Secret Avengers v3 #1  - 34,036  (  70.0%)
04/14  Secret Avengers v3 #2  - 24,724  ( -27.4%)
05/14  Secret Avengers v3 #3  - 22,860  (  -7.5%)
06/14  Secret Avengers v3 #4  - 21,335  (  -6.7%)
07/14  Secret Avengers v3 #5  - 20,088  (  -5.8%)
07/14  Secret Avengers v3 #6  - 19,435  (  -3.3%)
08/14  Secret Avengers v3 #7  - 20,017  (   3.0%)
---
6 Mnth  (   0.0%)
1 Year  ( -26.5%)
2 Year  ( -48.0%)
3 Year  ( -56.8%)

The only thing different about this issue from the last was that Deadpool guest-starred in it. No variants, or creative team changes… just Deadpool. Apparently, that is enough to boost sales by 3%. This will now be called the Deadpool effect.

120. SAVAGE WOLVERINE
08/13  ---
09/13  Savage Wolverine #8  -  38,208  ( -6.7%)
10/13  Savage Wolverine #9  -  36,451  ( -4.6%)
10/13  Savage Wolverine #10 -  33,627  ( -7.7%)
11/13  Savage Wolverine #11 -  30,338  ( -9.8%)
11/13  Savage Wolverine #12 -  29,739  ( -2.0%)
12/13  Savage Wolverine #13 -  27,490  ( -7.6%)
01/14  Savage #14.NOW       -  30,370  ( 10.5%)
02/14  Savage Wolverine #15 -  25,190  (-17.1%)
03/14  Savage Wolverine #16 -  24,008  ( -4.7%)
04/14  Savage Wolverine #17 -  22,350  ( -6.9%)
05/14  Savage Wolverine #18 -  21,599  ( -3.4%)
05/14  Savage Wolverine #19 -  21,144  ( -2.1%)
06/14  Savage Wolverine #20 -  20,725  ( -2.0%)
07/14  Savage Wolverine #21 -  20,050  ( -3.3%)
08/14  Savage Wolverine #22 -  19,124  ( -4.6%)
---
6 Mnth  ( -24.1%)

Savage doesn’t tie in to the Death of Wolverine at all, so it doesn’t get a sales boost from the extra attention that series is giving the ol’ Canucklehead. Instead it continues its steady decline.

122. ALL-NEW INVADERS
08/04  Invaders #1          - 42,578  
---
01/14  All-New Invaders  #1 - 55,167
02/14  All-New Invaders  #2 – 32,293  (-41.5%)
03/14  All-New Invaders  #3 – 27,329  (-15.4%)
04/14  All-New Invaders  #4 – 22,927  (-16.1%)
05/14  All-New Invaders  #5 – 21,843  ( -4.7%)
06/14  All-New Invaders  #6 – 23,470  (  7.4%) O.S. Tie-In
07/14  All-New Invaders  #7 – 22,332  ( -4.8%) O.S. Tie-In 
07/14  All-New Invaders  #8 – 19,865  (-11.0%) 
08/14  All-New Invaders  #9 – 18,666  ( -6.0%) 
---
6  Mnth  ( -42.2%)
10 Year  ( -56.2%)

As soon as this series O.S. Tie-In issues ended, it dropped right back to the sales decline it had before, completely erasing any good that tie-in did. Invaders is still solicited through issue 12 in November and by that point I imagine it will be around 16k and we’ll be discussing its cancelation or relaunch.

131. Elektra
---
04/14  Elektra #1 -  47,676 (  --- )
05/14  Elektra #2 -  26,612 (-44.2%)
06/14  Elektra #3 -  22,773 (-14.4%)
07/14  Elektra #4 -  19,125 (-16.0%)
08/14  Elektra #5 -  17,209 (-10.0%)

This series was really cool, but just never found its audience in the direct market. It is solicited through November with issue 8 at this point. It will be interesting to see if they give it some wiggle room and see if the first trade helps it find an audience or if they cancel it.

133, 134. All NEW ULTIMATES
08/11  Ult comics Ultimates #1  - 47,630
08/12  Ult comics Ultimates #14 - 30,311
-
08/13  Ultimates v5 #29 -  19,657  ( -1.0%)
09/13  Ultimates v5 #30 -  19,420  ( -1.2%)
10/13  ---
11/13  Cataclysm #1 of 3 - 28,422  (+46.4%)
12/13  Cataclysm #2 of 3 - 24,819  (-12.7%)
01/14  Cataclysm #3 of 3 - 21,705  (-12.5%)
02/14  ---
03/14  ---
04/14  All-New Ult #1   - 30,308  ( 39.6%)
05/14  All-New Ult #2   - 24,165  (-20.3%)
06/14  All-New Ult #3   - 21,898  ( -9.4%)
06/14  All-New Ult #4   - 20,561  ( -6.1%)
07/14  All-New Ult #5   - 18,199  (-11.5%)
08/14  All-New Ult #6   - 16,605  ( -8.8%)
08/14  All-New Ult #7   - 16,654  (  0.3%)
---
6 Mnth  ( -35.3%)
1 Year  ( -15.3%)
2 Year  ( -45.0%)
3 Year  ( -57.4%)

This series (and some could say the Ultimate Universe) has been in trouble sales wise for a while. According to the November solicits, issue #10 begins a 3-issue climax, but the wording is unclear for sure if that means the cancellation of the series.

135. SUPERIOR FOES OF SPIDER-MAN
07/13  Superior Foes #1 - 61,413
08/13  Superior Foes #2 - 34,300  (-44.1%)
09/13  Superior Foes #3 - 30,081  (-12.3%)
10/13  Superior Foes #4 - 26,884  (-10.6%)
11/13  Superior Foes #5 - 23,694  (-11.9%)
11/13  Superior Foes #6 - 21,367  ( -9.8%)
12/13  Superior Foes #7 - 20,858  ( -2.4%)
01/14  ---
02/14  Superior Foes #8 – 19,193  ( -8.0%)
03/14  Superior Foes #9 – 18,620  ( -3.0%)
03/14  Superior Foes #10- 18,437  ( -1.0%)
04/14  Superior Foes #11- 18,143  ( -1.6%)
05/14  ---
06/14  Superior Foes #12- 17,826  ( -1.7%)
07/14  Superior Foes #13- 16,903  ( -5.2%)
08/14  Superior Foes #14- 16,604  ( -1.8%)
---
6 Mnth  ( -13.5%)
1 Year  ( -51.6%)

Issue 17 will be the final issue.

136. MIRACLEMAN
01/14  Miracleman #1 - 52,313
01/14  Miracleman #2 - 36,927  ( -29.4%)
02/14  Miracleman #3 – 25,970  ( -32.6%)  
03/14  Miracleman #4 – 23,557  (  -9.3%)
04/14  ---
05/14  Miracleman #5 – 22,399  (  -4.9%)
05/14  Miracleman #6 – 20,598  (  -8.0%)
06/14  Miracleman #7 – 19,123  (  -7.2%)
07/14  Miracleman #8 – 17,654  (  -7.7%)
08/14  Miracleman #9 – 16,466  (  -6.7%)
---
6 Mnth  ( -36.6%)

Since this is just recolored reprints, I guess Marvel can afford to have it not sell very well.

138. NEW WARRIORS
---
02/14  New Warriors #1  -  45,765  (  --- )
03/14  New Warriors #2  -  26,006  (-43.2%)
04/14  New Warriors #3  -  23,105  (-11.2%)
05/14  New Warriors #4  -  19,900  (-13.9%)
06/14  New Warriors #5  -  18,576  ( -6.7%)
06/14  New Warriors #6  -  18,156  ( -2.3%)
07/14  New Warriors #7  -  17,304  ( -4.7%)
08/14  New Warriors #8  -  16,081  ( -7.1%)
---
6 Mnth  ( -64.9%)

Cancelled with issue 12 in November

139, 140. AVENGERS UNDERCOVER
08/11  Avengers Academy #18  - 24,538  
08/12  Avengers Academy #35  - 26,381  
---
08/13  Avengers Arean #13 - 22,955  ( -4.2%)
08/13  Avengers Arena #14 - 23,204  ( +1.1%)
09/13  Avengers Arena #15 - 22,180  ( -4.4%)
10/13  Avengers Arena #16 - 22,179  ( -0.0%)
11/13  Avengers Arena #17 - 20,744  ( -6.5%)
11/13  Avengers Arena #18 - 20,712  ( -0.2%)
12/13  ---
01/14  ---
02/14  ---
03/14  Avengers Undrcvr #1- 31,936
04/14  Avengers Undrcvr #2- 23,746  (-25.65)
04/14  Avengers Undrcvr #3- 21,830  ( -8.1%)
05/14  Avengers Undrcvr #4- 19,696  ( -9.8%)
06/14  Avengers Undrcvr #5- 18,115  ( -8.0%)
06/14  Avengers Undrcvr #6- 17,771  ( -9.8%)
07/14  Avengers Undrcvr #7- 16,705  ( -6.0%)
08/14  Avengers Undrcvr #8- 15,864  ( -5.0%)
08/14  Avengers Undrcvr #9- 15,715  ( -0.9%)
---
1 year  ( -32.3%)
2 year  ( -40.0%)
3 year  ( -36.0%)

Cancelled with issue 10 in September, no word yet if there will be a relaunch or where these characters might appear next.

159. FIGMENT
---
06/14  Figment #1  -  12,735  (  --- )
07/14  Figment #2  -  11,929  ( -6.3%)
08/14  Figment #3  -  13,105  (  9.9%)

Apparently issue 1 sold out and drove retailers to order more issue 3. Cool. Marvel could use more all-ages fare.

183. Ultimate FF
---
04/14  Ultimate FF v2 #1 -  23,316  (  --- )
05/14  Ultimate FF v2 #2 -  17,059  (-26.8%)
06/14  Ultimate FF v2 #3 -  14,413  (-15.5%)
07/14  Ultimate FF v2 #4 -  12,187  (-15.4%)
07/14  Ultimate FF v2 #5 -  11,778  ( -3.4%)
08/14  Ultimate FF v2 #6 -  10,617  ( -9.9%)

Final issue.

186. UNITED STATES OF MURDER INC
---
05/14 Murder Inc #1  -  18,474  (  --- )
06/14 Murder Inc #2  -  13,561  (-26.6%)
07/14 Murder Inc #3  -  11,444  (-15.6%)
08/14 Murder Inc #4  -  10,419  ( -9.0%)

These numbers seem pretty low for a Bendis book, but I know a lot of creator-owned books that would kill for these kind of sales.

205. DEADLY HANDS OF KUNG FU
---
05/14 Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #1 - 19,315 (  --- )
06/14 Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #2 - 13,093 (-32.2%)
07/14 Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #3 - 10,221 (-21.9%)
08/14 Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #4 -  8,563 (-16.2%)

Final issue.

6-Month Comparisons

---

21.6%	Deadpool #33 (O.S. Tie-In)
17.6%	Amazing Spider-Man #5 (O.S. Tie-In)
16.8%	Daredevil #7 (O.S. Tie-In)
11.9%	Hulk #5
9.4%	Guardians o/t Galaxy #18 (O.S. Tie-In)
1.4%	Superior Spider-Man #32
0.0%	Secret Avengers #7
-4.1%	Uncanny Avengers #23
-6.8%	Nova #20 (O.S. Tie-In)
-7.2%	Captain America #23
-9.0%	Avengers #34 (O.S. Tie-In)
-9.4%	All New X-Men #31
-10.5%	Thunderbolts #29
-11.1%	Thunderbolts #30
-11.5%	Black Widow #9
-13.2%	Kick-Ass 3 #8
-13.5%	Superior Foes of Spider-Man #14
-15.1%	Wolverine And X-Men #7
-15.1%	All New X-Men #30
-15.2%	Mighty Avengers #13
-15.5%	New Avengers #22
-16.8%	Wolverine And X-Men #8
-21.0%	New Avengers #23
-23.2%	Original Sin #3.4
-24.1%	Savage Wolverine #22
-28.1%	X-Men #18
-28.6%	All New X-Factor #12
-34.6%	Ms. Marvel #7
-35.3%	All New Ultimates #7
-35.5%	All New Ultimates #6
-36.6%	Miracleman #9
-41.3%	Avengers World #11
-42.2%	All New Invaders #9
-43.1%	Wolverine #12
-43.7%	Amazing X-Men #10
-44.7%	Wolverine #11
-45.4%	She-Hulk #7
-52.6%	Punisher #9
-53.0%	X-Force #8
-53.4%	Fantastic Four #8 (O.S. Tie-In)
-56.2%	Fantastic Four #9
-64.9%	New Warriors #8

1 Year Comparisons

---

67.3%	Amazing X-Men #10
30.2%	Amazing Spider-Man #5 (O.S. Tie-In)
27.0%	Wolverine #12
23.5%	Wolverine #11
12.2%	Superior Spider-Man #32
8.3%	Deadpool #33 (O.S. Tie-In)
7.9%	All New X-Factor #12
5.8%	Miles Morales Ultimate Spider-Man #4
4.4%	Daredevil #7 (O.S. Tie-In)
-6.1%	Fantastic Four #8 (O.S. Tie-In)
-9.7%	Captain Marvel #6
-11.7%	Fantastic Four #9
-15.3%	All New Ultimates #7
-15.5%	All New Ultimates #6
-19.9%	All New X-Men #31
-20.1%	Hulk #5
-21.0%	Wolverine And X-Men #7
-21.4%	Captain America #23
-22.1%	Uncanny Avengers #23
-22.6%	Wolverine And X-Men #8
-23.7%	Nova #20 (O.S. Tie-In)
-24.9%	All New X-Men #30
-26.5%	Secret Avengers #7
-27.2%	Avengers #34 (O.S. Tie-In)
-29.3%	New Avengers #22
-30.9%	Thunderbolts #29
-31.4%	Thunderbolts #30
-31.5%	Kick-Ass 3 #8
-31.6%	Avengers Undercover #8
-32.3%	Avengers Undercover #9
-33.9%	New Avengers #23
-36.9%	X-Force #8
-44.5%	X-Men #18
-51.6%	Superior Foes of Spider-Man #14

2 Year Comparisons

---

75%	Deadpool #33 (O.S. Tie-In)
23%	Wolverine #12
20%	Wolverine #11
17%	Punisher #9
13%	Amazing X-Men #10
12%	Amazing Spider-Man #5 (O.S. Tie-In)
7%	X-Men #18
-4%	Daredevil #7 (O.S. Tie-In)
-5%	Hulk #5
-6%	All New X-Factor #12
-12%	Avengers #34 (O.S. Tie-In)
-12%	Captain America #23
-16%	Fantastic Four #8 (O.S. Tie-In)
-18%	Miles Morales Ultimate Spider-Man #4
-21%	Fantastic Four #9
-23%	Captain Marvel #6
-28%	New Avengers #22
-33%	New Avengers #23
-40%	Avengers Undercover #8
-40%	Avengers Undercover #9
-45%	All New Ultimates #7
-45%	All New Ultimates #6
-48%	Secret Avengers #7
-48%	Wolverine And X-Men #7
-49%	Wolverine And X-Men #8
-50%	X-Force #8

3 Year Comparisons

---

86.7%	Deadpool #33 (O.S. Tie-In)
76.7%	Amazing Spider-Man #5 (O.S. Tie-In)
30.1%	Wolverine #12
26.5%	Wolverine #11
24.5%	Moon Knight #6
8.8%	Amazing X-Men #10
-8.7%	Hulk #5
-9.8%	Avengers #34 (O.S. Tie-In)
-9.8%	All New X-Factor #12
-10.3%	Daredevil #7 (O.S. Tie-In)
-15.4%	All New Ghost Rider #6
-17.7%	X-Men #18
-18.6%	Thunderbolts #29
-19.1%	Thunderbolts #30
-23.6%	New Avengers #22
-28.6%	New Avengers #23
-35.3%	Avengers Undercover #8
-36.0%	Avengers Undercover #9
-36.8%	Kick-Ass 3 #8
-39.1%	Punisher #9
-43.1%	Captain America #23
-56.1%	X-Force #8
-56.8%	Secret Avengers #7
-65.0%	All New Ultimates #7
-65.1%	All New Ultimates #6

5 Year Comparisons

---

117.7%	Guardians o/t Galaxy #18 (O.S. Tie-In)
43.2%	Amazing Spider-Man #5 (O.S. Tie-In)
-0.4%	Deadpool #33 (O.S. Tie-In)
-9.7%	Nova #20 (O.S. Tie-In)
-16.9%	Captain Marvel #6
-21.6%	Punisher #9
-26.2%	Wolverine #12
-28.2%	Wolverine #11
-35.3%	All New X-Factor #12
-45.5%	Hulk #5
-49.9%	Daredevil #7 (O.S. Tie-In)
-50.8%	Fantastic Four #8 (O.S. Tie-In)
-52.4%	New Avengers #22
-53.8%	Fantastic Four #9
-55.5%	New Avengers #23
-59.5%	Miles Morales Ultimate Spider-Man #4
-60.4%	X-Force #8
-63.3%	Mighty Avengers #13
-75.3%	Captain America #23

10 Year Comparisons

---

49.8%	Silver Surfer #5
34.4%	Iron Fist Living Weapon #5
15.4%	Amazing Spider-Man #5 (O.S. Tie-In)
-7.6%	She-Hulk #7
-17.9%	Hulk #5
-19.6%	Captain America #23
-22.6%	Wolverine #12
-24.7%	Wolverine #11
-29.4%	Daredevil #7 (O.S. Tie-In)
-39.0%	Fantastic Four #8 (O.S. Tie-In)
-42.6%	Fantastic Four #9
-43.0%	Punisher #9
-56.2%	All New Invaders #9
-61.3%	X-Men #18
-63.2%	Miles Morales Ultimate Spider-Man #4
-66.5%	X-Force #8
-75.0%	Amazing X-Men #10

It is always interesting to look at these normal months where there aren’t any giant launches or major events, because you see more the real sales numbers when they aren’t inflated by other factors. We often talk a lot about Marvel’s top books, the ones that sell over 50k. What really keeps Marvel on top are those mid-tier books, the 25k to 50k books which make up 47% of Marvel’s units sold. This month we saw quite a few of those books drop below 25k, some of which are very new series. So the question then becomes why have some of these new series dropped so fast? Is it just that people aren’t interested in She-Hulk or Cyclops or Ghost Rider? Is it due to poor marketing, too many new launches? Which of these mid-tier books have caught your interest? Which ones failed to catch your eye? What should they do with future mid-tier book launches to catch reader interest and boost their sales?

Think about those questions and discuss below in the comments. Then prepare yourself for next month as the March to Axis begins, we visit the Edge of Spider-Verse, and we say goodbye to dear old Logan.

20 COMMENTS

  1. 17. ROCKET RACCOON
    There were re-orders on issue 1, so some stores sold out as well.
    30. SPIDER-MAN 2099
    there was decent re-order activity on #1 this month, so basically the jury is still out on this book.
    53. LEGENDARY STAR LORD
    but there were re-orders on issue 1, so retailers may be making adjustments to their orders

    The perception I’ve been getting (from purely anecdotal evidence) is that recently some retailers and customers are treating second printings as yet another variant, so that some of the sales aren’t to retailers who sold out of the first printing and will sell them to people who just want to read it but missed out, but to retailers who might still have first printings to sell to people who want a complete set of variants. That would explain the trend of healthy second print sales on the first issue having no noticeable effect on the declining sales of subsequent issues.

  2. I’ve heard of the above theory as well – even that in some situations, a second printing can be more expensive in the secondary market. Because the demand for the first printing is offset by the limited supply of the second print.

  3. Yeah She-Hulk is a very interesting read unfortunately for a couple of issues it had the most atrocious artwork I’ve ever seen. Bad enough that I stopped buying it.

    If had some done in one issues I could skip those but with the modern trend of stories written to fill trade I’m not prepared to skip issues with awful artwork and miss part of the story.

  4. Re: Amazing X-Men: I was certainly one of the folks who dropped it after the first arc. I was down for Jason Aaron and Ed McGuinness as the creative team. But once Marvel made it clear that neither of them were staying and their replacements wouldn’t be very good, I was out. With the number of X-Men books out there, editors really need to make sure that good creators are on them. It’s not as though there isn’t some other place to see your beloved characters when there’s 12 x-books a month.

  5. David, if you really enjoyed She-Hulk 1-4, you owe it to yourself to pick up issues 7 and 8. I completely understand your reluctance to skip issues with the way stories are written for the trade/omnibus these days–you certainly can’t skip issues of series by Hickman, Remender, and most of Marvel’s current writers and hope to have any idea of what’s going on–but in this particular case, the two-part story in She-Hulk 5-6 has essentially nothing to do with the following issues.

    Issue 7 is a completely stand-alone story, and issue 8 begins a new three-parter, neither of which even mentions the Blue File from 5-6 (I believe that story picks up in 11-12). Soule really deserves credit for crafting accessible stories in an age that doesn’t seem to value that skill.

    Oh, and as someone who adored 1-4, I think issue 8 is the most charming and delightful issue of the series to date.

    It is curious that two of the very few Marvel series still priced at $2.99, She-Hulk and Ms. Marvel, are among the very best of the publishers’ series. I just wish She-Hulk were selling more copies. With its current sales level, I’d imagine a dollar price increase is likely in the near future, in the manner of Superior Foes, but frankly, as long as the team of Soule and Javier Pulido remains on board, it’s one of the few series I’ll likely continue purchasing at $4 a pop.

  6. Challenge for next month: Write the column without any entry having “so” or “this” as the first word.

    Seriously. Especially for “so”.

  7. “This was a tough month for Marvel. Original Sin is ending and none of their other events have really started yet. They also don’t have any real high profile series launches. So there are no books that really pop. There is a lot of attrition this month.”

    It’s pretty clear Marvel has gotten stale. Maybe the last buzz I heard on them was Hawkeye a few years back, some people like Ms Marvel now. These events that used be a reliable money-upping device now just highlight their desperation to be relevant again. The print market might be reflecting how tired people are buying the same old box of stale donuts repackaged over and over again, this time for a dollar more. Movie this, movie that doesn’t mean you are putting out good comics. Its just a place were people make money or gain readership now. Marvel’s mojo has left the building.

  8. I’m glad Marvel is how it is. You’d think, going by how CBR or AVClub rave on about Marvel, or the way Alonso talks in his CBR Weekly as though Marvel is bringing in new readers, that Marvel is doing ground-breaking work. But the sales speak for themselves. I’m now an ex-Marvel fan, and would never go back to buying their books unless there was a Marvel management change, one which cared about the original core aspects of the characters. I find the X-Men books nowadays all bland (it’s not about what it means to be a mutant; it’s all time-travel stuff), same goes with Avengers. Everything there feels plot-driven, phoned-in. There’s no character drama or tension in the books, no story risk or even actual storytelling. I miss Quesada as EIC. There was more soul and fun back then, more real ideas back when he was around.

  9. Jason, i appreciate the effort you put into these columns and enjoy your commentary. Please ignore the “challenge” to avoid using certain words. What a weird and trivial complaint.

  10. Additional challenge for next month:
    Completely avoid using the word “hopefully”.

    If a book is doing well, of course it will “hopefully” continue to do so.
    If a book is tanking, of course it will “hopefully” turn things around.

  11. Challenge to those not writing this: Go write your own column on your own site and stop complaining about this one.

    As for the books, Inhuman is going to start to be pumped out quicker, and I think it’ll really start slowing down as far as drops.

    Ms. Marvel is such a success story. woohoo

    I wonder what Learning to Crawl would’ve sold if it didn’t have ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ in the title.

    56K to North America for a Rocket Raccoon book? Wow, that’s good.

    Glad to see US of Murder Inc keep up sales. It’s a really good book, people.

    My guess is the Figment trade will sell well in the Disney stores. This isn’t meant to sell to ‘us’.

  12. I have to say that this and the DC sales charts are my favorite comic book columns each month. I’m a bit of a data nerd, but seeing the numbers helps to deflate any hype you’d see on other sites.

    I’m between jobs at the moment but I do have a Marvel Unlimited subscription, which is just now getting the first few issues of She-Hulk. I second (third?) its unique perspective on heroes in the Marvel Universe, and am bummed that it’s not seeing respectable sales numbers. Fingers crossed that it’ll pick up/stabilize and we can get a few more stories out of the creators.

  13. I get the sense from all these interviews with Soule and others about him signing exclusive with him that they are sort of viewing that title as Soule’s playground, so it’ll have a low floor as far as these kinds of numbers. I think they’re also waiting on the trade sales for a lot of these

  14. Marvel is not stale.
    Yet somehow, the most “fresh” books they have like She-Hulk, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Ms Marvel, Elektra and Moon Knight are sometimes outsold by DC’s by-the-numbers superhero Nu52 stuff that is sometimes produced by the most stale 90s writers.
    I don’t get the market.

  15. I think Marvel is spreading itself too thin. Too many titles with too many tie-ins asking for too much money. You’re bleeding your consumers dry.

  16. Re: Ms. Marvel: “8% drop for this issue but since it had growth last month that means it is very stable.”

    Two things: 1) The previous issue had a variant cover. 2) Septembers issue #9 sold 32,000 copies as well. Yes, the sales are totally stable. Win. On the other hand, on September’s chart you’ll see that Ms. Marvel #8 is just one spot higher than Magneto #9, which is a $4 book. So, yes, it’s a success. On the other hand, calm down with all the cheerleading and look at things rationally. I really like your column and you have good insights, but it’s kinda annoying that you are clearly rooting for certain books a little too hard and it clouds your judgment. (You even missed the fact that the previous issue of Ms. Marvel had a variant. So, if you like Ms. Marvel, you should know about that, because it makes the title more impressive. Sorry if this sounds like too much criticism or whatever. It’s just that by and large your a great analyst. But when your “hopeful”ness gets involved, you tend to miss things.)

    “Re: Amazing X-Men: I was certainly one of the folks who dropped it after the first arc. I was down for Jason Aaron and Ed McGuinness as the creative team. But once Marvel made it clear that neither of them were staying and their replacements wouldn’t be very good, I was out.”

    The replacements ARE pretty good, though! Kyle & Yost are no slouches! And McGuinness did a few issues after Aaron left. I agree that Marvel really needs to stop this habit of only putting on A-list creators for the first arc of titles that all along were supposed to be second-tier books, because that just causes confusion. But don’t blame people like Kyle & Yost, who are fine B-list creators, just because Marvel got your expectations too high in the first place. The title is still pretty good.

  17. I’ve enjoyed Amazing X-Men post Aaron and McGuinness as well. Really digging the Alpha Flight arc right now.

    I agree with the other poster who pointed out your obvious fondness/bias towards Ms. Marvel. There’s zero buzz about it at the local shops here.

  18. “Hopefully” means “full of hope”. It does NOT mean “I hope” or “With any luck”.

    A correct usage would be “Hopefully, I stand by the window and wait for someone to open the door and let me out.”

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