201210231409.jpg
By Paul O’Brien

The AVENGERS VS X-MEN crossover built towards its finale in September (though the actual final issue slipped to the next month). And – well, yes, that’s about it in terms of notable releases in September. Schedules don’t get much quieter than this, and with many of the titles also on their way to an imminent relaunch, the main points of interest on this month’s chart really involve seeing how recent launches are getting on.

The quiet schedule is most likely because Marvel are leaving their next wave of new launches for Marvel Now!, starting in October – though it also has the side effect of avoiding direct competition with DC’s Zero Month stunt.

Naturally enough, in these circumstances, DC had the largest share of the North American direct market in September by a comfortable margin, leading Marvel by 36% to 31% in dollar share, and 41% to 34% in units.

Thanks to Milton Griepp and ICv2 for allowing us to use these figures.

1. AVENGERS VS X-MEN
03/12  AvX #0 of 12  - 165,821
04/12  AvX #1 of 12  - 258,586  (+55.9%)
04/12  AvX #2 of 12  - 193,162  (-25.3%)
05/12  AvX #3 of 12  - 184,126  ( -4.7%)
05/12  AvX #4 of 12  - 182,255  ( -1.0%)
06/12  AvX #5 of 12  - 190,705  ( +4.6%)
06/12  AvX #6 of 12  - 186,555  ( -2.2%)
07/12  AvX #7 of 12  - 179,208  ( -3.9%)
07/12  AvX #8 of 12  - 174,910  ( -2.4%)
08/12  AvX #9 of 12  - 174,346  ( -0.3%)
08/12  AvX #10 of 12 - 169,529  ( -2.8%)
09/12  AvX #11 of 12 - 167,327  ( -1.3%)

As already noted, issue #12 was also due out in September, but slipped. Sales continue to hold up very nicely – DC otherwise swept the top ten, but AVENGERS VS X-MEN is still at the top.

(It’s worth noting that if AVENGERS VS X-MEN #12 had come out in October, so too would the directly related AVX: VERSUS #6 – and it’s a pretty safe bet that that would have given Marvel three top ten books, making the top of the chart look a little bit less lopsided.)

13. UNCANNY X-MEN
09/07  Uncanny X-Men #478   -  89,850
09/08  Uncanny X-Men #490   -  87,592
09/09  Uncanny X-Men #502   -  82,883
09/10  Uncanny X-Men #515   -  73,585
=====
09/11  Uncanny X-Men #543   -  58,326  ( +6.4%)
10/11  Uncanny X-Men #544   -  60,212  ( +3.2%)
11/11  Uncanny X-Men v2 #1  - 109,911  (+82.5%)
11/11  Uncanny X-Men v2 #2  -  72,485  (-34.1%)
12/11  Uncanny X-Men v2 #3  -  64,112  (-11.6%)
01/12  Uncanny X-Men v2 #4  -  63,175  ( -1.5%)
01/12  Uncanny X-Men v2 #5  -  63,477  ( +0.5%)
02/12  Uncanny X-Men v2 #6  -  59,834  ( -5.7%)
02/12  Uncanny X-Men v2 #7  -  59,200  ( -1.1%)
03/12  Uncanny X-Men v2 #8  -  57,568  ( -2.8%)
03/12  Uncanny X-Men v2 #9  -  56,976  ( -1.0%)
04/12  Uncanny X-Men v2 #10 -  56,906  ( -0.1%)
04/12  Uncanny X-Men v2 #11 -  75,109  (+32.0%)
05/12  Uncanny X-Men v2 #12 -  69,265  ( -7.8%)
06/12  Uncanny X-Men v2 #13 -  70,521  ( +1.8%)
06/12  Uncanny X-Men v2 #14 -  67,793  ( -3.9%)
07/12  Uncanny X-Men v2 #15 -  66,114  ( -2.5%)
07/12  Uncanny X-Men v2 #16 -  63,835  ( -3.4%)
08/12  Uncanny X-Men v2 #17 -  61,095  ( -4.3%)
09/12  Uncanny X-Men v2 #18 -  59,794  ( -2.1%)
                               6 mnth  ( +4.9%)
                               1 year  ( +2.5%)
                               2 year  (-18.7%)
                               3 year  (-27.9%)
                               4 year  (-31.7%)
                               5 year  (-33.5%)

Still participating in the AvX crossover. The book ends with issue #20, to be replaced by ALL-NEW X-MEN.

14,16. AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
09/07  Amazing #544 - 146,215
09/08  Amazing #572 -  75,574
09/09  Amazing #604 -  63,435
09/10  Amazing #641 -  68,345
=====
09/11  Amazing #669 -  71,944  (+25.0%)
09/11  Amazing #670 -  57,959  (-19.4%)
10/11  Amazing #671 -  59,426  ( +2.5%)
10/11  Amazing #672 -  57,860  ( -2.6%)
11/11  Amazing #673 -  57,159  ( -1.2%)
11/11  Amazing #674 -  57,723  ( +1.0%)
12/11  Amazing #675 -  54,652  ( -5.3%)
12/11  Amazing #676 -  54,001  ( -1.2%)
01/12  Amazing #677 -  57,186  ( +5.9%)
01/12  Amazing #678 -  54,252  ( -5.1%)
02/12  Amazing #679 -  52,564  ( -3.1%)
02/12  Amazing #.1  -  50,624  ( -3.7%)
02/12  Amazing #680 -  51,872  ( +2.5%)
03/12  Amazing #681 -  52,143  ( +0.5%)
03/12  Amazing #682 -  57,143  ( +9.6%)
04/12  Amazing #683 -  59,153  ( +3.5%)
04/12  Amazing #684 -  57,454  ( -2.9%)
05/12  Amazing #685 -  58,121  ( +1.2%)
05/12  Amazing #686 -  58,337  ( +0.4%)
06/12  Amazing #687 -  62,680  ( +7.4%)
06/12  Amazing #688 -  60,409  ( -3.6%)
07/12  Amazing #689 -  59,859  ( -0.9%)
07/12  Amazing #690 -  58,976  ( -1.5%)
08/12  Amazing #691 -  60,767  ( +3.0%)
08/12  Amazing #692 -  91,071  (+49.9%)
09/12  Amazing #693 -  59,772  (-34.4%)
09/12  Amazing #694 -  58,461  ( -2.2%)
                       6 mnth  ( +2.3%)
                       1 year  ( +0.9%)
                       2 year  (-14.5%)
                       3 year  ( -7.8%)
                       4 year  (-22.6%)
                       5 year  (-60.0%)

Relaunching as SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN after issue #700 in December. Meanwhile, it continues to hover in the 58-59K range.

Incidentally, I’m measuring the one-year comparison from issue #670, as issue #669 received a massive sales spike from a customised variant cover promotion.

15. AVENGERS
09/10  Avengers v4 #5  - 82,411
=====
09/11  Avengers v4 #17 - 61,492  ( +2.0%)
10/11  Avengers v4 #18 - 58,897  ( -4.2%)
11/11  Avengers v4 #19 - 56,620  ( -3.9%)
12/11  Avengers v4 #20 - 57,145  ( +0.9%)
01/12  Avengers v4 #21 - 54,803  ( -4.1%)
02/12  Avengers v4 #22 - 52,683  ( -3.9%)
02/12  Avengers v4 #23 - 52,222  ( -0.9%)
03/12  Avengers v4 #24 - 52,242  ( +0.0%)
03/12  Avengers v4 #.1 - 52,164  ( -0.1%)
04/12  Avengers v4 #25 - 65,664  (+25.9%)
05/12  Avengers v4 #26 - 67,744  ( +3.2%)
06/12  Avengers v4 #27 - 68,885  ( +1.7%)
07/12  Avengers v4 #28 - 63,169  ( -8.3%)
08/12  Avengers v4 #29 - 61,653  ( -2.4%)
09/12  Avengers v4 #30 - 58,609  ( -4.9%)
                         6 mnth  (+12.2%)
                         1 year  ( -4.7%)
                         2 year  (-28.9%)

The last of the AvX tie-in issues. The book relaunches after issue #34. (You’ll be reading a lot of comments along those lines today.)

18. NEW AVENGERS
09/07  New Avengers #34    - 112,815
09/08  New Avengers #45    - 103,326
09/09  New Avengers #57    -  85,598
09/10  New Avengers v2 #4  -  77,479
=====
09/11  New Avengers v2 #16 -  57,959  ( +3.4%)
09/11  New Avengers v2 #.1 -  51,506  (-11.1%)
10/11  New Avengers v2 #17 -  55,732  ( +8.2%)
11/11  New Avengers v2 #18 -  54,454  ( -2.3%)
12/11  New Avengers v2 #19 -  52,915  ( -2.8%)
01/12  New Avengers v2 #20 -  52,910  ( -0.0%)
02/12  New Avengers v2 #21 -  54,105  ( +2.3%)
02/12  New Avengers v2 #22 -  51,235  ( -5.3%)
03/12  New Avengers v2 #23 -  51,697  ( +0.9%)
04/12  New Avengers v2 #24 -  64,533  (+24.8%)
04/12  New Avengers v2 #25 -  61,950  ( -4.0%)
05/12  New Avengers v2 #26 -  64,326  ( +3.8%)
06/12  New Avengers v2 #27 -  64,927  ( +0.9%)
07/12  New Avengers v2 #28 -  62,739  ( -3.4%)
08/12  New Avengers v2 #29 -  59,441  ( -5.3%)
09/12  New Avengers v2 #30 -  56,742  ( -4.5%)
                              6 mnth  ( +9.8%)
                              1 year  ( -2.1%)
                              2 year  (-26.8%)
                              3 year  (-33.7%)
                              4 year  (-45.1%)
                              5 year  (-49.7%)

Last of the AvX tie-in issues. The series relaunches after issue #34. (See?)

19,21. WOLVERINE & THE X-MEN
10/11  Wolverine/X-Men #1  - 99,611
11/11  Wolverine/X-Men #2  - 83,356  (-16.3%)
12/11  Wolverine/X-Men #3  - 58,438  (-29.9%)
01/12  Wolverine/X-Men #4  - 59,530  ( +1.9%)
02/12  Wolverine/X-Men #5  - 55,788  ( -6.3%)
02/12  Wolverine/X-Men #6  - 55,341  ( -0.8%)
03/12  Wolverine/X-Men #7  - 54,559  ( -1.4%)
04/12  Wolverine/X-Men #8  - 53,757  ( -1.5%)
04/12  Wolverine/X-Men #9  - 64,984  (+20.9%)
05/12  Wolverine/X-Men #10 - 63,650  ( -2.1%)
05/12  Wolverine/X-Men #11 - 64,936  ( +2.0%)
06/12  Wolverine/X-Men #12 - 64,838  ( -0.2%)
07/12  Wolverine/X-Men #13 - 62,689  ( -3.3%)
07/12  Wolverine/X-Men #14 - 61,029  ( -2.6%)
08/12  Wolverine/X-Men #15 - 58,441  ( -4.2%)
09/12  Wolverine/X-Men #16 - 55,857  ( -4.4%)
09/12  Wolverine/X-Men #17 - 54,768  ( -1.9%)
                             6 mnth  ( +0.4%)

Issue #17 was meant to be the last of the AvX tie-in issues, but (perhaps because it would have spoiled the ending of AVENGERS VS X-MEN #12) it’s been swapped with issue #18, a one-off Doop story with guest artist Mike Allred. The crossover resumes in October, but these orders will of course reflect what Marvel actually solicited.

27. SPIDER-MEN
06/12  Spider-Men #1 of 5 - 94,548
06/12  Spider-Men #2 of 5 - 68,283  (-27.8%)
07/12  Spider-Men #3 of 5 - 57,739  (-15.4%)
08/12  Spider-Men #4 of 5 - 54,215  ( -6.1%)
09/12  Spider-Men #5 of 5 - 52,525  ( -3.1%)

Excellent numbers – the series wraps up a good 12K ahead of parent title ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN.

34. UNCANNY X-FORCE
09/08  X-Force v3 #7  - 64,911
09/09  X-Force v3 #19 - 49,817
09/10  X-F: S&V #3    - 37,283
=====
08/11  X-Force v4 #13 - 53,904  ( -2.7%)
08/11  X-Force v4 #14 - 50,770  ( -5.8%)
09/11  X-Force v4 #15 - 53,771  ( +5.9%)
10/11  X-Force v4 #16 - 52,398  ( -2.6%)
11/11  X-Force v4 #17 - 50,974  ( -2.7%)
12/11  X-Force v4 #18 - 54,274  ( +6.5%)
12/11  X-Force v4 #19 - 55,333  ( +2.0%)
01/12  X-Force v4 #.1 - 50,399  ( -8.9%)
01/12  X-Force v4 #20 - 51,054  ( +1.3%)
02/12  X-Force v4 #21 - 50,654  ( -0.8%)
02/12  X-Force v4 #22 - 49,665  ( -2.0%)
03/12  X-Force v4 #23 - 48,867  ( -1.6%)
04/12  X-Force v4 #24 - 50,667  ( +3.7%)
05/12  X-Force v4 #25 - 50,851  ( +0.4%)
06/12  X-Force v4 #26 - 47,522  ( -6.0%)
07/12  X-Force v4 #27 - 46,325  ( -2.5%)
07/12  X-Force v4 #28 - 46,367  ( +0.1%)
08/12  X-Force v4 #29 - 45,159  ( -2.6%)
08/12  X-Force v4 #30 - 44,918  ( -0.5%)
09/12  X-Force v4 #31 - 44,061  ( -1.9%)
                        6 mnth  ( -9.8%)
                        1 year  (-18.3%)
                        2 year  (+18.2%)
                        3 year  (-11.6%)
                        4 year  (-32.1%)

Relaunching after issue #35 as two separate titles. This seems to coincide quite nicely with Rick Remender’s storylines building to a natural conclusion.

36. HIT-GIRL  [Icon]
06/12  Hit-Girl #1 of 5 - 60,409
07/12  Hit-Girl #2 of 5 - 45,338  (-24.9%)
08/12  ---
09/12  Hit-Girl #3 of 5 - 42,678  ( -5.9%)

Fairly typical behaviour for a miniseries, levelling out quickly after the initial drop. As usual, Mark Millar has the rare ability to make his creator-owned work sell in the same quantities as Marvel and DC’s superhero books.

38,40. ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN
09/07  Spider-Man #114   - 66,682
09/08  Spider-Man #126   - 54,604
09/09  Spider-Man v2 #2  - 57,477
09/10  Spider-Man v2 #14 - 35,776
=====
09/11  Spider-Man v3 #1  - 95,483  (+143.6%)
09/11  Spider-Man v3 #2  - 58,672  ( -38.6%)
10/11  Spider-Man v3 #3  - 52,521  ( -10.5%)
11/11  Spider-Man v3 #4  - 51,558  (  -1.8%)
12/11  Spider-Man v3 #5  - 48,308  (  -6.3%)
01/12  Spider-Man v3 #6  - 49,840  (  +3.2%)
02/12  Spider-Man v3 #7  - 45,266  (  -9.2%)
03/12  Spider-Man v3 #8  - 46,290  (  +2.3%)
04/12  Spider-Man v3 #9  - 43,724  (  -5.5%)
05/12  Spider-Man v3 #10 - 42,356  (  -3.1%)
06/12  Spider-Man v3 #11 - 42,549  (  +0.5%)
07/12  Spider-Man v3 #12 - 42,050  (  -1.2%)
08/12  Spider-Man v3 #13 - 42,642  (  +1.4%)
09/12  Spider-Man v3 #14 - 40,960  (  -3.9%)
09/12  Spider-Man v3 #15 - 40,435  (  -1.3%)
                           6 mnth  ( -12.6%)
                           1 year  ( -57.7%)
                           2 year  ( +13.0%)
                           3 year  ( -29.7%)
                           4 year  ( -25.9%)
                           5 year  ( -39.4%)

Continuing the book’s very slow downward trend.

43. WOLVERINE
09/07  Wolverine v3 #57 -  74,588
09/08  ---
09/09  W: Weapon X #5   -  40,975
09/10  Wolverine v4 #1  - 104,414
=====
09/11  Wolverine v4 #15 -  37,951  ( -2.4%)
09/11  Wolverine v4 #16 -  37,796  ( -0.4%)
10/11  Wolverine v4 #17 -  39,405  ( +4.3%)
11/11  Wolverine v4 #18 -  40,170  ( +1.9%)
11/11  Wolverine v4 #19 -  37,997  ( -5.4%)
12/11  Wolverine v4 #20 -  37,360  ( -1.7%)
01/12  Wolverine #300   -  58,681  (+57.1%)
02/12  Wolverine #301   -  38,891  (-33.7%)
03/12  Wolverine #302   -  37,213  ( -4.3%)
03/12  Wolverine #303   -  36,368  ( -2.3%)
04/12  Wolverine #304   -  37,836  ( +4.0%)
04/12  Wolverine #305   -  37,440  ( -1.0%)
05/12  Wolverine #306   -  34,873  ( -6.9%)
05/12  Wolverine #307   -  34,485  ( -1.1%)
06/12  Wolverine #308   -  35,142  ( +1.9%)
07/12  Wolverine #309   -  33,148  ( -5.7%)
07/12  Wolverine #310   -  60,880  (+83.7%)
08/12  Wolverine #311   -  42,404  (-30.3%)
08/12  Wolverine #312   -  41,030  ( -3.2%)
09/12  Wolverine #313   -  39,262  ( -4.3%)
                           6 mnth  ( +8.0%)
                           1 year  ( +3.5%)
                           2 year  (-62.4%)
                           3 year  ( -4.2%)
                           4 year  (  --- )
                           5 year  (-47.4%)

Relaunching after issue #317. This is the final part of Jeph Loeb and Simone Bianchi’s “Sabretooth Reborn” arc, and by this point sales have drifted back to typical levels from the Jason Aaron run.

47. AVENGERS ASSEMBLE
03/12  Avengers Assemble #1 - 100,883
04/12  Avengers Assemble #2 -  53,024  (-47.4%)
05/12  Avengers Assemble #3 -  43,886  (-17.2%)
06/12  Avengers Assemble #4 -  43,022  ( -2.0%)
07/12  Avengers Assemble #5 -  38,951  ( -9.5%)
08/12  Avengers Assemble #6 -  36,131  ( -7.2%)
09/12  Avengers Assemble #7 -  36,259  ( +0.4%)
                               6 mnth  (-64.1%)

No apparent reason for that slight uptick, so take it as a sign that sales may have finally levelled out.

48. DAREDEVIL
09/07  Daredevil v2 #100 - 78,143
09/08  Daredevil v2 #111 - 46,305
09/09  ---
09/10  Daredevil #510    - 44,728
=====
09/11  Daredevil v3 #3   - 39,477  ( -3.7%)
09/11  Daredevil v3 #4   - 40,311  ( +2.1%)
10/11  Daredevil v3 #5   - 39,413  ( -2.2%)
11/11  Daredevil v3 #6   - 38,302  ( -2.8%)
12/11  Daredevil v3 #7   - 38,824  ( +1.4%)
01/12  Daredevil v3 #8   - 43,494  (+12.0%)
02/12  Daredevil v3 #9   - 37,891  (-12.9%)
03/12  Daredevil v3 #10  - 38,137  ( +0.6%)
04/12  Daredevil v3 #.1  - 38,463  ( +0.9%)
04/12  Daredevil v3 #11  - 46,111  (+19.9%)
05/12  Daredevil v3 #12  - 39,231  (-14.9%)
05/12  Daredevil v3 #13  - 39,056  ( -0.4%)
06/12  Daredevil v3 #14  - 43,865  (+12.3%)
07/12  Daredevil v3 #15  - 38,469  (-12.3%)
08/12  Daredevil v3 #16  - 37,804  ( -1.7%)
08/12  Daredevil v3 #17  - 38,149  ( +0.9%)
09/12  Daredevil v3 #18  - 37,185  ( -2.5%)
                           6 mnth  ( -2.5%)
                           1 year  ( -5.8%)
                           2 year  (-16.9%)
                           3 year  (  --- )
                           4 year  (-19.7%)
                           5 year  (-52.4%)

Still holding steady in the 37-38K range where it’s spent most of the year.

50,54. X-MEN LEGACY
09/07  X-Men v2 #203     - 85,652
09/08  X-Men Legacy #216 - 66,434
09/09  ---
09/10  X-Men Legacy #240 - 50,984
=====
09/11  X-Men Legacy #255 - 39,284  ( -1.5%)
09/11  X-Men Legacy #256 - 38,680  ( -1.5%)
10/11  X-Men Legacy #257 - 38,070  ( -1.6%)
11/11  X-Men Legacy #258 - 38,334  ( +0.7%)
11/11  X-Men Legacy #259 - 41,967  ( +9.5%)
12/11  X-Men Legacy #260 - 37,946  ( -9.6%)
01/12  X-Men Legacy #.1  - 37,160  ( -2.1%)
01/12  X-Men Legacy #261 - 37,577  ( +1.1%)
02/12  X-Men Legacy #262 - 36,461  ( -3.0%)
03/12  X-Men Legacy #263 - 35,999  ( -1.3%)
03/12  X-Men Legacy #264 - 35,953  ( -0.1%)
04/12  X-Men Legacy #265 - 35,712  ( -0.7%)
05/12  X-Men Legacy #266 - 43,199  (+21.0%)
05/12  X-Men Legacy #267 - 46,279  ( +7.1%)
06/12  X-Men Legacy #268 - 49,163  ( +6.2%)
06/12  X-Men Legacy #269 - 46,923  ( -4.6%)
07/12  X-Men Legacy #270 - 44,914  ( -4.3%)
08/12  X-Men Legacy #271 - 37,206  (-17.2%)
08/12  X-Men Legacy #272 - 37,120  ( -0.2%)
09/12  X-Men Legacy #273 - 36,020  ( -3.0%)
09/12  X-Men Legacy #274 - 35,168  ( -2.4%)
                           6 mnth  ( -2.2%)
                           1 year  (-10.5%)
                           2 year  (-31.0%)
                           3 year  (  --- )
                           4 year  (-47.1%)
                           5 year  (-58.9%)

Relaunching as a Legion solo title after issue #275 – which pretty much amounts to cancelling the book and replacing it with an entirely different title of the same, admittedly relevant, name.

51. SECRET AVENGERS
09/10  Secret Avengers #5  - 69,546
=====
09/11  Secret Avengers #17 - 44,890  ( -3.1%)
10/11  Secret Avengers #18 - 43,280  ( -3.6%)
11/11  Secret Avengers #19 - 41,191  ( -4.8%)
12/11  Secret Avengers #20 - 38,202  ( -7.3%)
01/12  Secret Avengers #21 - 38,082  ( -0.3%)
01/12  Secret Avengers #.1 - 35,320  ( -7.3%)
02/12  Secret Avengers #22 - 39,337  (+11.4%)
02/12  Secret Avengers #23 - 37,140  ( -5.6%)
03/12  Secret Avengers #24 - 38,359  ( +3.3%)
04/12  Secret Avengers #25 - 38,466  ( +0.3%)
04/12  Secret Avengers #26 - 54,854  (+42.6%)
05/12  Secret Avengers #27 - 49,851  ( -9.1%)
06/12  Secret Avengers #28 - 51,572  ( +3.5%)
07/12  Secret Avengers #29 - 41,653  (-19.2%)
08/12  Secret Avengers #30 - 38,243  ( -8.2%)
09/12  Secret Avengers #31 - 35,987  ( -5.9%)
                             6 mnth  ( -6.2%)
                             1 year  (-19.8%)
                             2 year  (-48.3%)

Relaunching in February. Sales are drifting down in the meantime.

52. AVENGING SPIDER-MAN
11/11  Avenging Spider-Man #1  - 112,153
12/11  Avenging Spider-Man #2  -  60,682  (-45.9%)
01/12  Avenging Spider-Man #3  -  52,371  (-13.7%)
02/12  Avenging Spider-Man #4  -  45,622  (-12.9%)
03/12  Avenging Spider-Man #5  -  40,877  (-10.4%)
04/12  Avenging Spider-Man #6  -  47,430  (+16.0%)
05/12  Avenging Spider-Man #7  -  38,012  (-19.9%)
06/12  Avenging Spider-Man #8  -  39,861  ( +4.9%)
07/12  Avenging Spider-Man #9  -  37,134  ( -6.8%)
08/12  Avenging Spider-Man #10 -  34,537  ( -7.0%)
08/12  Avenging Spider-Man #11 -  33,808  ( -2.1%)
09/12  Avenging Spider-Man #12 -  35,462  ( +4.9%)
                                  6 mnth  (-13.2%)

No variant covers or crossovers here, so the sales jump is presumably due to the content – a Deadpool guest appearance, written by Kevin Shinick, which has got a bit of press coverage for his involvement.

53. FANTASTIC FOUR
09/07  ---
09/08  Fantastic Four #560 - 58,258
09/09  Fantastic Four #571 - 47,468
09/10  Fantastic Four #583 - 46,267
=====
09/11  FF #9               - 53,091  ( +2.3%)
10/11  FF #10              - 49,642  ( -6.5%)
10/11  FF #11              - 48,433  ( -2.4%)
11/11  Fantastic Four #600 - 73,809  (+52.4%)
12/11  Fantastic Four #601 - 51,080  (-30.8%)
01/12  Fantastic Four #602 - 45,131  (-11.6%)
02/12  Fantastic Four #603 - 42,419  ( -6.0%)
03/12  Fantastic Four #604 - 42,126  ( -0.7%)
04/12  Fantastic Four #605 - 42,372  ( +0.6%)
05/12  Fantastic Four #.1  - 39,475  ( -6.8%)
05/12  Fantastic Four #606 - 39,914  ( +1.1%)
06/12  Fantastic Four #607 - 40,453  ( +1.4%)
07/12  Fantastic Four #608 - 37,776  ( -6.6%)
08/12  Fantastic Four #609 - 36,496  ( -3.4%)
09/12  Fantastic Four #610 - 35,388  ( -3.0%)
                             6 mnth  (-16.0%)
                             1 year  (-33.3%)
                             2 year  (-23.5%)
                             3 year  (-25.4%)
                             4 year  (-39.3%)
                             5 year  (  --- )

Relaunches after issue #611.

57. CAPTAIN AMERICA
09/07  Captain America v6 #30 -  79,554
09/08  Captain America v6 #42 -  75,574
09/09  Reborn #3              - 108,331
09/10  Captain America #610   -  47,986
=====
09/11  Captain America v7 #3  -  54,413  ( +0.1%)
10/11  ---
11/11  Captain America v7 #4  -  54,157  ( -0.5%)
12/11  Captain America v7 #5  -  47,333  (-12.6%)
12/11  Captain America v7 #6  -  47,753  ( +0.9%)
01/12  Captain America v7 #7  -  46,954  ( -1.7%)
02/12  Captain America v7 #8  -  43,487  ( -7.4%)
03/12  Captain America v7 #9  -  41,631  ( -4.3%)
04/12  Captain America v7 #10 -  41,474  ( -0.4%)
05/12  Captain America v7 #11 -  39,012  ( -5.9%)
05/12  Captain America v7 #12 -  38,800  ( -0.5%)
06/12  Captain America v7 #13 -  39,456  ( +1.7%)
07/12  Captain America v7 #14 -  36,812  ( -6.7%)
07/12  Captain America v7 #15 -  36,433  ( -1.0%)
08/12  Captain America v7 #16 -  35,155  ( -3.5%)
09/12  Captain America v7 #17 -  34,279  ( -2.5%)
                                 6 mnth  (-17.7%)
                                 1 year  (-37.0%)
                                 2 year  (-28.6%)
                                 3 year  (-68.4%)
                                 4 year  (-54.6%)
                                 5 year  (-56.9%)

Relaunches after issue #19.

58,59. INCREDIBLE HULK
09/07  Incredible v2 #110    -  96,835
09/08  Hulk #5               - 102,105
09/09  Incredible Hulk #602  -  51,582
09/10  Incredible Hulks #613 -  40,063
=====
09/11  ---
10/11  Incredible v4 #1      - 106,472  (+178.6%)
11/11  Incredible v4 #2      -  80,143  ( -24.7%)
12/11  Incredible v4 #3      -  46,446  ( -42.0%)
01/12  Incredible v4 #4      -  45,876  (  -1.2%)
02/12  Incredible v4 #5      -  42,760  (  -6.8%)
03/12  Incredible v4 #6      -  40,522  (  -5.2%)
04/12  Incredible v4 #7      -  42,135  (  +4.0%)
05/12  Incredible v4 #.1     -  38,472  (  -8.7%)
05/12  Incredible v4 #8      -  42,076  (  +9.4%)
06/12  Incredible v4 #9      -  40,467  (  -3.8%)
06/12  Incredible v4 #10     -  38,122  (  -5.8%)
07/12  Incredible v4 #11     -  36,743  (  -3.6%)
08/12  Incredible v4 #12     -  36,860  (  +0.3%)
09/12  Incredible v4 #13     -  33,858  (  -8.1%)
09/12  Incredible v4 #14     -  33,887  (  +0.1%)
                                6 mnth  ( -16.4%)
                                1 year  (   --- )
                                2 year  ( -15.4%)
                                3 year  ( -36.2%)
                                4 year  ( -66.8%)
                                5 year  ( -65.0%)

Relaunches after issue #15.

60. HAWKEYE
08/12  Hawkeye v4 #1 - 48,346
09/12  Hawkeye v4 #2 - 33,563  (-30.6%)

Issue #1 picks up reorders of 6,394 so that second-issue drop is rather exaggerated. Without the reorders, it would be a drop of 20% – rather more typical for a second issue.

62,63. X-MEN
09/10  X-Men v3 #3  - 66,549
=====
09/11  X-Men v3 #17 - 43,200  ( +0.1%)
09/11  X-Men v3 #18 - 42,066  ( -2.6%)
10/11  X-Men v3 #19 - 40,906  ( -2.8%)
11/11  X-Men v3 #20 - 43,515  ( +6.4%)
11/11  X-Men v3 #21 - 39,919  ( -8.3%)
12/11  X-Men v3 #22 - 39,121  ( -2.0%)
01/12  X-Men v3 #23 - 38,719  ( -1.0%)
02/12  X-Men v3 #24 - 36,906  ( -4.7%)
02/12  X-Men v3 #25 - 36,488  ( -1.1%)
03/12  X-Men v3 #26 - 35,833  ( -1.8%)
04/12  X-Men v3 #27 - 36,843  ( +2.8%)
05/12  X-Men v3 #28 - 35,838  ( -2.7%)
05/12  X-Men v3 #29 - 35,483  ( -1.0%)
06/12  X-Men v3 #30 - 37,690  ( +6.2%)
06/12  X-Men v3 #31 - 35,789  ( -5.0%)
07/12  X-Men v3 #32 - 35,091  ( -2.0%)
08/12  X-Men v3 #33 - 33,695  ( -4.0%)
08/12  X-Men v3 #34 - 33,354  ( -1.0%)
09/12  X-Men v3 #35 - 32,049  ( -3.9%)
09/12  X-Men v3 #36 - 31,996  ( -0.2%)
                      6 mnth  (-10.7%)
                      1 year  (-25.9%)
                      2 year  (-51.9%)

Continuing its steady downward drift.

66. FIRST X-MEN
08/12  First X-Men #1 of 5 - 55,152
09/12  First X-Men #2 of 5 - 31,415  (-43.0%)

Big drop there, but that’s largely a reflection of Marvel putting a big promotional push behind the first issue.

68,69. IRON MAN
09/07  Iron Man v4 #22 - 46,691
09/08  Iron Man v5 #5  - 60,444
09/09  Iron Man v5 #17 - 47,182
09/10  Iron Man v5 #30 - 47,238
=====
09/11  Iron Man #508   - 41,295  ( +3.0%)
10/11  Iron Man #509   - 38,721  ( -6.2%)
11/11  Iron Man #510   - 38,118  ( -1.6%)
12/11  Iron Man #511   - 35,402  ( -7.1%)
01/12  Iron Man #512   - 35,159  ( -0.7%)
02/12  Iron Man #513   - 32,748  ( -6.9%)
03/12  Iron Man #514   - 31,424  ( -4.0%)
04/12  Iron Man #515   - 32,409  ( +3.1%)
05/12  Iron Man #516   - 31,374  ( -3.2%)
05/12  Iron Man #517   - 31,536  ( +0.5%)
06/12  Iron Man #518   - 32,553  ( -3.2%)
06/12  Iron Man #519   - 32,518  ( -0.1%)
07/12  Iron Man #520   - 32,765  ( +0.8%)
07/12  Iron Man #521   - 32,172  ( -1.8%)
08/12  Iron Man #522   - 31,464  ( -2.2%)
08/12  Iron Man #523   - 31,568  ( +0.3%)
09/12  Iron Man #524   - 30,976  ( -1.9%)
09/12  Iron Man #525   - 30,885  ( -0.3%)
                         6 mnth  ( -1.7%)
                         1 year  (-25.2%)
                         2 year  (-34.6%)
                         3 year  (-34.5%)
                         4 year  (-48.9%)
                         5 year  (-33.9%)

Relaunching after issue #527.

71,72. ULTIMATES
08/07  ---
08/08  Ultimates v3 #5  - 86,851
08/09  ---
08/10  ---
=====
09/11  Ultimates v5 #2  - 42,728  (-27.0%)
10/11  Ultimates v5 #3  - 40,792  ( -4.5%)
11/11  Ultimates v5 #4  - 39,342  ( -3.6%)
12/11  Ultimates v5 #5  - 36,396  ( -7.5%)
01/12  Ultimates v5 #6  - 34,865  ( -4.2%)
02/12  Ultimates v5 #7  - 33,863  ( -2.9%)
03/12  Ultimates v5 #8  - 32,222  ( -4.8%)
04/12  Ultimates v5 #9  - 31,336  ( -2.7%)
05/12  Ultimates v5 #10 - 31,257  ( -0.3%)
05/12  Ultimates v5 #11 - 31,344  ( +0.3%)
06/12  Ultimates v5 #12 - 30,845  ( -1.6%)
07/12  Ultimates v5 #13 - 32,380  ( +5.0%)
08/12  Ultimates v5 #14 - 30,311  ( -6.4%)
09/12  Ultimates v5 #15 - 30,382  ( +0.2%)
09/12  Ultimates v5 #16 - 30,533  ( +0.5%)
                          6 mnth  ( -5.2%)
                          1 year  (-28.5%)
                          2 year  (  --- )
                          3 year  (  --- )
                          4 year  (-64.8%)
                          5 year  (  --- )

Interesting – the book seems to have levelled out at 30K and started to very slowly climb again. (Issue #13 had a variant cover, which obscures the trend slightly.)

73,75. THOR
09/07  ---
09/08  ---
09/09  Thor #603   - 65,265
09/10  Thor #614   - 53,505
=====
08/11  Thor v4 #5  - 44,594  ( +0.0%)
09/11  Thor v4 #6  - 45,231  ( +1.4%)
10/11  Thor v4 #7  - 44,017  ( -2.7%)
11/11  Thor v4 #8  - 40,703  ( -7.5%)
12/11  Thor v4 #9  - 38,000  ( -6.6%)
01/12  Thor v4 #10 - 37,577  ( -1.1%)
02/12  Thor v4 #11 - 35,066  ( -6.7%)
03/12  Thor v4 #12 - 33,967  ( -3.1%)
04/12  Thor v4 #.1 - 33,533  ( -1.3%)
04/12  Thor v4 #13 - 34,500  ( +2.9%)
05/12  Thor v4 #14 - 32,550  ( -5.7%)
06/12  Thor v4 #15 - 33,674  ( +3.5%)
06/12  Thor v4 #16 - 31,798  ( -5.6%)
07/12  Thor v4 #17 - 30,879  ( -2.9%)
08/12  Thor v4 #18 - 35,392  (+14.6%)
09/12  Thor v4 #19 - 30,289  (-14.4%)
09/12  Thor v4 #20 - 30,172  ( -0.4%)
                     6 mnth  (-11.2%)
                     1 year  (-32.3%)
                     2 year  (-43.6%)
                     3 year  (-53.8%)
                     4 year  (  --- )
                     5 year  (  --- )

Relaunching after issue #22. This is part of a crossover with the lower-selling JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY, but there’s little apparent effect on sales.

74. ASTONISHING X-MEN
09/07  ---
09/08  ---
09/09  ---
09/10  ---
=====
09/11  Astonishing X-Men #42 - 32,700  ( -2.3%)
10/11  Astonishing X-Men #43 - 32,620  ( -0.2%)
11/11  Astonishing X-Men #44 - 32,729  ( +0.3%)
12/11  Astonishing X-Men #45 - 31,392  ( -4.1%)
01/12  Astonishing X-Men #46 - 31,134  ( -0.8%)
02/12  Astonishing X-Men #47 - 30,490  ( -2.1%)
03/12  Astonishing X-Men #48 - 34,182  (+12.1%)
04/12  Astonishing X-Men #49 - 31,291  ( -8.5%)
05/12  Astonishing X-Men #50 - 61,866  (+97.7%)
06/12  Astonishing X-Men #51 - 82,654  (+33.6%)
07/12  Astonishing X-Men #52 - 35,766  (-56.7%)
08/12  Astonishing X-Men #53 - 32,268  ( -9.8%)
09/12  Astonishing X-Men #54 - 30,225  ( -6.3%)
                               6 mnth  (-11.6%)
                               1 year  ( -7.6%)
                               2 year  (  --- )
                               3 year  (  --- )
                               4 year  (  --- )
                               5 year  (  --- )

Drifting back down to the levels Marjorie Liu inherited when she took over the book with issue #48.

76,89. VENOM
09/11  Venom v2 #7  - 33,130  ( -5.4%)
10/11  Venom v2 #8  - 32,266  ( -2.6%)
11/11  Venom v2 #9  - 32,506  ( +0.7%)
12/11  Venom v2 #10 - 29,465  ( -9.4%)
12/11  Venom v2 #11 - 28,658  ( -2.7%)
01/12  Venom v2 #12 - 28,728  ( +0.2%)
02/12  Venom v2 #13 - 33,174  (+15.5%)
02/12  Venom v2 #.1 - 27,520  (-17.0%)
02/12  Venom v2 #.2 - 27,155  ( -1.3%)
02/12  Venom v2 #.3 - 26,969  ( -0.7%)
02/12  Venom v2 #.4 - 27,135  ( +0.6%)
03/12  Venom v2 #14 - 28,926  ( +6.6%)
04/12  Venom v2 #15 - 28,858  ( -0.2%)
04/12  Venom v2 #16 - 28,440  ( -1.4%)
05/12  Venom v2 #17 - 30,157  ( +6.0%)
05/12  Venom v2 #18 - 28,309  ( -6.1%)
06/12  Venom v2 #19 - 28,702  ( +1.4%)
07/12  Venom v2 #20 - 26,941  ( -6.1%)
07/12  Venom v2 #21 - 26,534  ( -1.5%)
08/12  Venom v2 #22 - 26,734  ( +0.8%)
08/12  Venom v2 #23 - 26,854  ( +0.4%)
09/12  Venom v2 #24 - 30,080  (+12.0%)
09/12  Venom v2 #25 - 25,242  (-16.1%)
                      6 mnth  (-12.7%)
                      1 year  (-23.8%)

Not sure about the reason for the spike on issue #24 – there’s a variant cover, but the same went for the previous two issues.

77. FF
09/11  FF #9  - 53,091  ( +2.3%)
10/11  FF #10 - 49,642  ( -6.5%)
10/11  FF #11 - 48,433  ( -2.4%)
11/11  FF #12 - 49,449  ( +2.1%)
12/11  FF #13 - 44,970  ( -9.1%)
01/12  FF #14 - 42,609  ( -5.3%)
02/12  FF #15 - 40,583  ( -4.8%)
03/12  FF #16 - 37,152  ( -8.5%)
04/12  FF #17 - 37,325  ( +0.5%)
05/12  FF #18 - 34,555  ( -7.4%)
06/12  FF #19 - 34,260  ( -0.9%)
07/12  FF #20 - 31,652  ( -7.6%)
08/12  FF #21 - 30,220  ( -4.5%)
09/12  FF #22 - 29,847  ( -1.2%)
                6 mnth  (-19.7%)
                1 year  (-43.8%)

Relaunching after issue #23.

78,81. DEADPOOL
09/08  Deadpool v3 #2  - 59,850
09/09  Deadpool v3 #15 - 50,479
09/10  Deadpool v3 #27 - 36,404
=====
09/11  Deadpool v3 #43 - 26,643  ( -0.6%)
10/11  Deadpool v3 #44 - 26,678  ( +0.1%)
10/11  Deadpool v3 #45 - 27,552  ( +3.3%)
11/11  Deadpool v3 #46 - 26,260  ( -4.7%)
12/11  Deadpool v3 #47 - 25,910  ( -1.3%)
12/11  Deadpool v3 #48 - 25,458  ( -1.7%)
01/12  Deadpool v3 #49 - 24,783* ( -2.7%)
01/12  Deadpool v3 #.1 - 24,783* (  --- )
02/12  Deadpool v3 #50 - 40,695  (+64.2%)
02/12  Deadpool v3 #51 - 27,458  (-32.5%)
03/12  Deadpool v3 #52 - 27,990  ( +1.9%)
04/12  Deadpool v3 #53 - 29,334  ( +4.8%)
05/12  Deadpool v3 #54 - 29,644  ( +1.1%)
05/12  Deadpool v3 #55 - 29,022  ( -2.1%)
06/12  Deadpool v3 #56 - 29,513  ( +1.7%)
07/12  Deadpool v3 #57 - 29,155  ( -1.2%)
07/12  Deadpool v3 #58 - 28,706  ( -1.5%)
08/12  Deadpool v3 #59 - 28,507  ( -0.7%)
09/12  Deadpool v3 #60 - 28,548  ( +0.1%)
09/12  Deadpool v3 #61 - 28,351  ( -0.7%)
                         6 mnth  ( +1.3%)
                         1 year  ( +6.4%)
                         2 year  (-22.1%)
                         3 year  (-43.8%)
                         4 year  (-52.6%)

Relaunching after issue #63.

79. GAMBIT
08/12  Gambit v5 #1 - 40,418 
08/12  Gambit v5 #2 - 32,336  (-20.0%)
09/12  Gambit v5 #3 - 28,530  (-11.8%)

Levelling out, but that’s still a sharp drop for a third issue.

82. SCARLET SPIDER
01/12  Scarlet Spider #1 - 53,410
02/12  Scarlet Spider #2 - 33,794  (-36.7%)
03/12  Scarlet Spider #3 - 32,616  ( -3.5%)
04/12  Scarlet Spider #4 - 33,097  ( +1.5%)
05/12  Scarlet Spider #5 - 30,932  ( -6.5%)
06/12  Scarlet Spider #6 - 30,722  ( -0.7%)
07/12  Scarlet Spider #7 - 29,140  ( -5.1%)
08/12  Scarlet Spider #8 - 27,690  ( -5.0%)
09/12  Scarlet Spider #9 - 27,140  ( -2.0%)
                           6 mnth  (-16.8%)

Still on a gentle downward trend.

83. ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN
08/07  X-Men v1 #86 - 55,346
08/08  ---
=====
09/11  X-Men v2 #1  - 67,625  (+94.7%)
10/11  X-Men v2 #2  - 44,399  (-34.3%)
11/11  X-Men v2 #3  - 39,657  (-10.7%)
12/11  X-Men v2 #4  - 37,115  ( -6.4%)
12/11  X-Men v2 #5  - 35,153  ( -5.3%)
01/12  X-Men v2 #6  - 33,975  ( -3.4%)
02/12  X-Men v2 #7  - 32,353  ( -4.8%)
02/12  X-Men v2 #8  - 30,822  ( -4.7%)
03/12  X-Men v2 #9  - 30,080  ( -2.4%)
04/12  X-Men v2 #10 - 29,743  ( -1.1%)
05/12  X-Men v2 #11 - 28,711  ( -3.5%)
05/12  X-Men v2 #12 - 28,839  ( +0.4%)
06/12  X-Men v2 #13 - 29,159  ( +1.1%)
07/12  X-Men v2 #14 - 29,879  ( +2.5%)
08/12  X-Men v2 #15 - 27,847  ( -6.8%)
09/12  X-Men v2 #16 - 27,066  ( -2.8%)
                      6 mnth  (-10.0%)
                      1 year  (-60.0%)
                      2 year  (  --- )
                      3 year  (  --- )
                      4 year  (  --- )
                      5 year  (-51.1%)

Another book with the standard gentle decline.

86,88. WINTER SOLDIER
02/12  Winter Soldier #1  - 50,932
02/12  Winter Soldier #2  - 41,164  (-19.2%)
03/12  Winter Soldier #3  - 34,923  (-15.2%)
04/12  Winter Soldier #4  - 33,519  ( -4.0%)
05/12  Winter Soldier #5  - 30,646  ( -8.6%)
06/12  Winter Soldier #6  - 30,386  ( -0.8%)
06/12  Winter Soldier #7  - 28,984  ( -4.6%)
07/12  Winter Soldier #8  - 27,317  ( -5.8%)
08/12  Winter Soldier #9  - 26,255  ( -3.9%)
09/12  Winter Soldier #10 - 25,811  ( -1.7%)
09/12  Winter Soldier #11 - 25,310  ( -1.9%)
                            6 mnth  (-27.5%)

And much the same here.

90. CAPTAIN MARVEL
09/07  Ms Marvel v2 #19     - 32,371
09/08  Ms Marvel v3 #30     - 40,041
09/09  Ms Marvel v2 #45     - 30,528
=====
07/12  Captain Marvel v6 #1 - 41,582
08/12  Captain Marvel v6 #2 - 28,434  (-31.6%)
08/12  Captain Marvel v6 #3 - 27,649  ( -2.8%)
09/12  Captain Marvel v6 #4 - 24,799  (-10.3%)
                              6 mnth  (  --- )
                              1 year  (  --- )
                              2 year  (  --- )
                              3 year  (-18.8%)
                              4 year  (-38.1%)
                              5 year  (-23.4%)

The relatively small drop on issue #3 looks to have been mainly a result of shipping two books in the same month. The overall trend is a bit hard to figure, but it’s dropping rather more quickly than I’d like.

91,99. X-TREME X-MEN
07/12  X-Treme X-Men v2 #1 - 36,802
08/12  X-Treme X-Men v2 #2 - 25,689  (-30.2%)
09/12  X-Treme X-Men v2 #3 - 24,490  ( -4.7%)
09/12  X-Treme X-Men v2 #4 - 22,584  ( -7.8%)

An 8% drop, four issues in, and below the 25K mark? This isn’t looking at all healthy.

93,96. AVENGERS ACADEMY
09/10  Avengers Academy #4  - 31,212
=====
09/11  Avengers Academy #19 - 23,928  ( -2.5%)
10/11  Avengers Academy #20 - 23,412  ( -2.2%)
11/11  Avengers Academy #21 - 22,713  ( -3.0%)
11/11  Avengers Academy #22 - 22,531  ( -0.8%)
12/11  Avengers Academy #23 - 22,422  ( -0.5%)
01/12  Avengers Academy #24 - 21,857  ( -2.5%)
02/12  Avengers Academy #25 - 21,963  ( +0.5%)
02/12  Avengers Academy #26 - 21,633  ( -1.5%)
03/12  Avengers Academy #27 - 21,830  ( +0.9%)
04/12  Avengers Academy #28 - 22,333  ( +2.3%)
05/12  Avengers Academy #29 - 29,460  (+31.9%)
05/12  Avengers Academy #30 - 29,213  ( -0.8%)
06/12  Avengers Academy #31 - 34,040  (+16.5%)
06/12  Avengers Academy #32 - 32,243  ( -5.3%)
07/12  Avengers Academy #33 - 31,687  ( -1.7%)
08/12  Avengers Academy #34 - 26,572  (-16.1%)
08/12  Avengers Academy #35 - 26,381  ( -0.7%)
09/12  Avengers Academy #36 - 23,822  ( -9.7%)
09/12  Avengers Academy #37 - 23,027  ( -3.3%)
                              6 mnth  ( +5.5%)
                              1 year  ( -3.8%)
                              2 year  (-26.2%)

Cancelled with issue #39.

95,97. DARK AVENGERS
09/07  ---
09/08  Thunderbolts #124  - 43,429
09/09  Thunderbolts #135  - 39,961
09/10  Thunderbolts #148  - 32,190
=====
09/11  Thunderbolts #163  - 24,199  (  -6.9%)
09/11  Thunderbolts #.1   - 22,596  (  -6.6%)
10/11  Thunderbolts #164  - 23,712  (  +4.9%)
11/11  Thunderbolts #165  - 22,536  (  -5.0%)
11/11  Thunderbolts #166  - 22,680  (  +0.6%)
12/11  Thunderbolts #167  - 21,167  (  -6.7%)
01/12  Thunderbolts #168  - 20,585  (  -2.7%)
01/12  Thunderbolts #169  - 20,316  (  -1.3%)
02/12  Thunderbolts #170  - 19,505  (  -4.0%)
03/12  Thunderbolts #171  - 19,073  (  -2.2%)
04/12  Thunderbolts #172  - 19,203  (  +0.7%)
04/12  Thunderbolts #173  - 19,017  (  -1.0%)
05/12  Thunderbolts #174  - 18,792  (  -1.2%)
06/12  Dark Avengers #175 - 39,532  (+110.4%)
06/12  Dark Avengers #176 - 34,614  ( -12.4%)
07/12  Dark Avengers #177 - 30,643  ( -11.5%)
07/12  Dark Avengers #178 - 28,572  (  -6.8%)
08/12  Dark Avengers #179 - 25,835  (  -9.6%)
09/12  Dark Avengers #180 - 23,761  (  -8.0%)
09/12  Dark Avengers #181 - 23,044  (  -3.0%)
                            6 mnth  ( +20.8%)
                            1 year  (  -4.8%)
                            2 year  ( -28.4%)
                            3 year  ( -42.3%)
                            4 year  ( -46.9%)
                            5 year  (   --- )

Still drifting back to previous sales levels, from the look of things.

96. AGE OF APOCALYPSE
03/12  Age of Apocalypse #1 - 56,426
04/12  Age of Apocalypse #2 - 39,263  (-30.4%)
05/12  Age of Apocalypse #3 - 32,085  (-18.3%)
06/12  Age of Apocalypse #4 - 30,469  ( -5.0%)
07/12  Age of Apocalypse #5 - 27,223  (-10.7%)
08/12  Age of Apocalypse #6 - 25,393  ( -6.7%)
09/12  Age of Apocalypse #7 - 23,618  ( -7.0%)
                              6 mnth  (-58.1%)

Freefall. I’ll be surprised if it makes it to a second year at this rate.

101,103. X-FACTOR
09/07  X-Factor v3 #23 - 53,311
09/08  X-Factor v3 #35 - 44,481
08/09  X-Factor v3 #48 - 30,305
08/10  X-Factor #209   - 29,626
=====
09/11  X-Factor #.1    - 23,220  ( -1.9%)
09/11  X-Factor #225   - 23,507  ( +1.2%)
10/11  X-Factor #226   - 23,569  ( +0.3%)
11/11  X-Factor #227   - 23,742  ( +0.7%)
12/11  X-Factor #228   - 23,461  ( -1.2%)
12/11  X-Factor #229   - 23,667  ( +0.9%)
01/12  X-Factor #230   - 25,707  ( +8.6%)
02/12  X-Factor #231   - 24,362  ( -5.2%)
02/12  X-Factor #232   - 24,173  ( -0.8%)
03/12  X-Factor #233   - 23,840  ( -1.4%)
04/12  X-Factor #234   - 23,821  ( -0.1%)
05/12  X-Factor #235   - 24,051  ( +1.0%)
05/12  X-Factor #236   - 24,031  ( -0.1%)
06/12  X-Factor #237   - 24,854  ( +3.4%)
06/12  X-Factor #238   - 23,607  ( -5.0%)
07/12  X-Factor #239   - 23,506  ( -0.4%)
07/12  X-Factor #240   - 23,223  ( -1.2%)
08/12  X-Factor #241   - 22,943  ( -1.2%)
08/12  X-Factor #242   - 22,782  ( -0.7%)
09/12  X-Factor #243   - 22,118  ( -2.9%)
09/12  X-Factor #244   - 22,193  ( +0.3%)
                         6 mnth  ( -6.9%)
                         1 year  ( -4.4%)
                         2 year  (-25.1%)
                         3 year  (-26.8%)
                         4 year  (-50.1%)
                         5 year  (-58.4%)

Still hovering steadily around the 22K mark.

106,108. PUNISHER
09/07  Journal v2 #11     - 47,220
09/08  Journal v2 #23     - 27,384
09/09  Punisher v7 #9     - 28,424
09/10  Franken-Castle #21 - 20,036
=====
09/11  Punisher v8 #3     - 26,802  ( -36.9%)
10/11  Punisher v8 #4     - 25,847  (  -3.6%)
11/11  Punisher v8 #5     - 25,399  (  -1.7%)
12/11  Punisher v8 #6     - 23,971  (  -5.6%)
01/12  Punisher v8 #7     - 22,908  (  -4.4%)
02/12  Punisher v8 #8     - 22,488  (  -1.8%)
03/12  Punisher v8 #9     - 22,318  (  -0.8%)
04/12  Punisher v8 #10    - 32,412  ( +45.2%)
05/12  Punisher v8 #11    - 23,303  ( -28.1%)
06/12  Punisher v8 #12    - 23,329  (  +0.1%)
07/12  Punisher v8 #13    - 23,075  (  -1.1%)
08/12  Punisher v8 #14    - 22,046  (  -4.5%)
09/12  Punisher v8 #15    - 21,829  (  -1.0%)
09/12  Punisher v8 #16    - 21,565  (  -1.2%)
                            6 mnth  (  -3.4%)
                            1 year  ( -19.5%)
                            2 year  (  +7.6%)
                            3 year  ( -24.1%)
                            4 year  ( -21.2%)
                            5 year  ( -54.3%)

Final issue, though it’s followed up by the WAR ZONE miniseries next month.

110,113. JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY
09/11  J/into Mystery #627 - 29,678  ( +6.5%)
09/11  J/into Mystery #628 - 28,843  ( -2.8%)
10/11  J/into Mystery #629 - 28,054  ( -2.7%)
10/11  J/into Mystery #630 - 27,701  ( -1.3%)
11/11  J/into Mystery #631 - 27,161  ( -1.9%)
12/11  J/into Mystery #632 - 24,159  (-11.0%)
01/12  J/into Mystery #633 - 23,869  ( -1.2%)
02/12  J/into Mystery #634 - 22,323  ( -6.5%)
03/12  J/into Mystery #635 - 21,617  ( -3.2%)
04/12  J/into Mystery #636 - 21,148  ( -2.2%)
05/12  J/into Mystery #637 - 24,378  (+15.3%)
05/12  J/into Mystery #638 - 23,766  ( -2.5%)
06/12  J/into Mystery #639 - 21,914  ( -7.8%)
06/12  J/into Mystery #640 - 20,714  ( -5.5%)
07/12  J/into Mystery #641 - 19,850  ( -4.2%)
08/12  J/into Mystery #642 - 22,336  (+12.5%)
09/12  J/into Mystery #643 - 21,109  ( -5.5%)
09/12  J/into Mystery #644 - 20,588  ( -2.5%)
                             6 mnth  ( -4.8%)
                             1 year  (-30.6%)

Revamping as a Sif title with issue #646. This is the third part of “Everything Burns”, a crossover with THOR.

116. DEFENDERS
12/11  Defenders v4 #1  - 85,969
01/12  Defenders v4 #2  - 38,935  (-54.7%)
02/12  Defenders v4 #3  - 33,548  (-13.8%)
03/12  Defenders v4 #4  - 29,789  (-11.2%)
04/12  Defenders v4 #5  - 27,893  ( -6.4%)
05/12  Defenders v4 #6  - 25,518  ( -8.5%)
06/12  Defenders v4 #7  - 23,574  ( -7.6%)
07/12  Defenders v4 #8  - 22,504  ( -4.5%)
08/12  Defenders v4 #9  - 21,500  ( -4.5%)
09/12  Defenders v4 #10 - 20,220  ( -6.0%)
                          6 mnth  (-32.1%)

Cancelled with issue #12.

120,124. CAPTAIN AMERICA ANDÉ
09/11  ...Bucky #622       - 34,096  ( -5.5%)
10/11  ...Bucky #623       - 32,041  ( -6.0%)
11/11  ...Bucky #624       - 30,472  ( -4.9%)
12/11  ...Bucky #625       - 28,652  ( -6.0%)
01/12  ...Bucky #626       - 27,632  ( -3.6%)
02/12  ...Bucky #627       - 26,276  ( -4.9%)
03/12  ...Bucky #628       - 24,881  ( -5.3%)
04/12  ...Hawkeye #629     - 24,750  ( -0.5%)
05/12  ...Hawkeye #630     - 23,774  ( -3.9%)
05/12  ...Hawkeye #631     - 22,684  ( -4.6%)
06/12  ...Hawkeye #632     - 21,674  ( -4.5%)
06/12  ...Iron Man #633    - 21,822  ( +0.7%)
07/12  ...Iron Man #634    - 20,641  ( -5.4%)
08/12  ...Iron Man #635    - 19,639  ( -4.9%)
08/12  ...Namor #.1        - 19,152  ( -2.5%)
09/12  ...Black Widow #636 - 19,101  ( -0.3%)
09/12  ...Black Widow #637 - 18,722  ( -2.0%)
                             6 mnth  (-24.8%)
                             1 year  (-45.1%)

Cancelled with issue #640.

121. NEW MUTANTS
09/09  New Mutants v3 #5  - 31,502
09/10  New Mutants v3 #17 - 31,684
=====
09/11  New Mutants v3 #31 - 25,672  ( -3.8%)
10/11  New Mutants v3 #32 - 25,364  ( -1.2%)
11/11  New Mutants v3 #33 - 28,665  (+13.0%)
11/11  New Mutants v3 #34 - 25,847  ( -9.8%)
12/11  New Mutants v3 #35 - 25,564  ( -1.1%)
01/12  New Mutants v3 #36 - 23,891  ( -6.5%)
02/12  New Mutants v3 #37 - 23,262  ( -2.6%)
02/12  New Mutants v3 #38 - 22,656  ( -2.6%)
03/12  New Mutants v3 #39 - 21,508  ( -5.1%)
04/12  New Mutants v3 #40 - 21,343  ( -0.8%)
04/12  New Mutants v3 #41 - 21,012  ( -1.6%)
05/12  New Mutants v3 #42 - 24,572  (+16.9%)
05/12  New Mutants v3 #43 - 24,160  ( -1.7%)
06/12  New Mutants v3 #44 - 22,069  ( -8.7%)
07/12  New Mutants v3 #45 - 20,751  ( -6.0%)
07/12  New Mutants v3 #46 - 20,396  ( -1.7%)
08/12  New Mutants v3 #47 - 19,856  ( -2.6%)
08/12  New Mutants v3 #48 - 19,593  ( -1.3%)
09/12  New Mutants v3 #49 - 18,943  ( -3.3%)
                            6 mnth  (-11.9%)
                            1 year  (-26.2%)
                            2 year  (-40.2%)
                            3 year  (-39.9%)

Cancelled with issue #50.

146. FURY MAX
05/12  Fury Max #1 - 20,620
05/12  Fury Max #2 - 19,021  (-7.8%)
06/12  Fury Max #3 - 17,152  (-9.8%)
07/12  Fury Max #4 - 16,329  (-4.8%)
08/12  Fury Max #5 - 15,646  (-4.2%)
09/12  Fury Max #6 - 14,646  (-6.4%)

The series continues with issue #7 in December.

158. THANOS: THE FINAL THREAT
09/12  One-shot - 13,556

A reprint of AVENGERS ANNUAL #7 and MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE ANNUAL #2.

162. DARK TOWER: GUNSLINGER - MAN IN BLACK
09/07  ---
09/08  Treachery #1       - 82,541
09/09  Fall of Gilead #5  - 34,522
09/10  Gunslinger #5      - 21,323
=====
09/11  Tull #4 of 5       - 15,788  ( -3.4%)
10/11  #5 of 5            - 15,613  ( -1.1%)
11/11  ---
12/11  Way Station #1     - 15,367  ( -1.6%)
01/12  #2 of 5            - 14,827  ( -3.5%)
02/12  #3 of 5            - 14,302  ( -3.5%)
03/12  #4 of 5            - 13,987  ( -2.2%)
04/12  #5 of 5            - 13,823  ( -1.2%)
05/12  ---
06/12  Man in Black #1    - 14,672  ( +6.1%)
07/12  #2 of 5            - 13,831  ( -5.7%)
08/12  #3 of 5            - 13,677  ( -1.1%)
09/12  #4 of 5            - 13,240  ( -3.2%)
                            6 mnth  ( -5.3%)
                            1 year  (-16.1%)
                            2 year  (-37.9%)
                            3 year  (-61.6%)
                            4 year  (-84.0%)
                            5 year  (  --- )

Continuing its downward drift. A further mini has been solicited to start in January.

168. ROAD TO OZ
09/10  ---
=====
09/11  #1 of 8 - 10,648  (+29.6%)
10/11  #2 of 8 -  8,504  (-20.1%)
11/11  #3 of 8 -  8,381  ( -1.4%)
12/11  #4 of 8 -  7,694  ( -8.2%)
01/12  ---
02/12  #5 of 8 -  7,503  ( -2.5%)
03/12  ---
04/12  ---
05/12  #6 of 8 -  7,475  ( -0.4%)
05/12  #7 of 8 -  7,391  ( -1.1%)
06/12  #8 of 8 -  7,258  ( -1.8%)
07/12  ---
08/12  ---
09/12  #1 of 8 - 12,620  (+73.9%)
                 6 mnth  (  --- )
                 1 year  (+18.5%)
                 2 year  (  --- )

Later issues have been solicited as part of a six issue mini, rather than eight.

171. UNTOLD TALES OF THE PUNISHER MAX
06/12  UTotPM #1 of 5 - 16,449
07/12  UTotPM #2 of 5 - 14,148  (-14.0%)
08/12  UTotPM #3 of 5 - 12,734  (-10.0%)
09/12  UTotPM #4 of 5 - 12,074  ( -5.2%)

173. SPACE PUNISHER
07/12  Space Punisher #1 of 4 - 17,446
08/12  Space Punisher #2 of 4 - 13,569  (-22.2%)
09/12  Space Punisher #3 of 4 - 11,713  (-13.7%)

A couple of low-selling minis.

180,192,205,216. DEADPOOL KILLS THE MARVEL UNIVERSE
08/12  Deadpool Kills #1 of 4 - 42,352
08/12  Deadpool Kills #2 of 4 - 38,355  (-9.4%)
08/12  Deadpool Kills #3 of 4 - 36,986  (-3.6%)
08/12  Deadpool Kills #4 of 4 - 36,447  (-1.5%)

This mini shipped weekly in August, but the whole thing charts again in September with substantial sales.  Issue #1 adds 10,993; issue #2 adds 9,451; issue #3 8,536; and issue #4, 7,989.  They're all added into the total above.  This appears to be a case of genuine under-ordering on the first printing, as the effect is for the series to outsell the parent title quite comfortably.


265. MARVEL UNIVERSE AVENGERS
04/12  MU Avengers #1 - 12,874
05/12  MU Avengers #2 -  6,733  (-47.7%)
06/12  MU Avengers #3 -  6,345  ( -5.8%)
07/12  MU Avengers #4 -  6,421  ( +1.2%)
08/12  MU Avengers #5 -  6,134  ( -4.5%)
09/12  MU Avengers #6 -  5,906  ( -3.7%)

267. MARVEL UNIVERSE ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN
04/12  MUU Spider-Man #1 - 10,886
05/12  MUU Spider-Man #2 -  7,581  (-30.4%)
06/12  MUU Spider-Man #3 -  6,756  (-10.9%)
07/12  MUU Spider-Man #4 -  6,447  ( -4.6%)
08/12  MUU Spider-Man #5 -  6,310  ( -2.1%)
09/12  MUU Spider-Man #6 -  5,873  ( -6.9%)

281. MUPPETS
07/12  Muppets #1 of 4 - 7,558
08/12  Muppets #2 of 4 - 5,755  (-23.9%)
09/12  Muppets #3 of 4 - 5,259  ( -8.6%)

Finally, the Icon book TAKIO #3 didn't make the top 300, implying sales below 4,404 (which would be consistent with its sales pattern).

6 month comparisons
===================

+20.8% - Dark Avengers/Thunderbolts
+12.2% - Avengers
+ 9.8% - New Avengers
+ 8.0% - Wolverine
+ 5.5% - Avengers Academy
+ 4.9% - Uncanny X-Men
+ 2.3% - Amazing Spider-Man
+ 1.3% - Deadpool
- 1.7% - Iron Man
- 2.2% - X-Men Legacy
- 2.5% - Daredevil
- 3.4% - Punisher
- 4.8% - Journey into Mystery
- 5.2% - Ultimates
- 5.3% - Dark Tower
- 6.2% - Secret Avengers
- 6.9% - X-Factor
- 9.8% - X-Force
-10.0% - Ultimate Comics X-Men
-10.7% - X-Men
-11.2% - Thor
-11.6% - Astonishing X-Men
-11.9% - New Mutants
-12.6% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
-12.7% - Venom
-13.2% - Avenging Spider-Man
-16.0% - Fantastic Four
-16.4% - Incredible Hulk
-16.8% - Scarlet Spider
-17.7% - Captain America
-19.7% - FF
-24.8% - Captain America And...
-27.5% - Winter Soldier
-32.1% - Defenders
-58.1% - Age of Apocalypse


1 year comparisons
==================

+18.5% - Road to Oz
+ 6.4% - Deadpool
+ 3.5% - Wolverine
+ 2.5% - Uncanny X-Men
+ 0.9% - Amazing Spider-Man
+ 0.4% - Wolverine and the X-Men
- 2.1% - New Avengers
- 3.8% - Avengers Academy
- 4.4% - X-Factor
- 4.7% - Avengers
- 4.8% - Dark Avengers/Thunderbolts
- 5.8% - Daredevil
- 7.6% - Astonishing X-Men
-10.5% - X-Men Legacy
-16.1% - Dark Tower
-18.3% - X-Force
-19.5% - Punisher
-19.8% - Secret Avengers
-23.8% - Venom
-25.2% - Iron Man
-25.9% - X-Men
-26.2% - New Mutants
-28.5% - Ultimates
-30.6% - Journey into Mystery
-32.3% - Thor
-33.3% - Fantastic Four
-37.0% - Captain America
-43.8% - FF
-45.1% - Captain America And...
-57.7% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
-60.0% - Ultimate Comics X-Men


2 year comparisons
==================

+18.2% - X-Force
+13.0% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
+ 7.6% - Punisher
-14.5% - Amazing Spider-Man
-15.4% - Incredible Hulk
-16.9% - Daredevil
-18.7% - Uncanny X-Men
-22.1% - Deadpool
-23.5% - Fantastic Four
-25.1% - X-Factor
-26.2% - Avengers Academy
-26.8% - New Avengers
-28.4% - Dark Avengers/Thunderbolts
-28.6% - Captain America
-28.9% - Avengers
-31.0% - X-Men Legacy
-34.6% - Iron Man
-37.9% - Dark Tower
-40.2% - New Mutants
-43.6% - Thor
-48.3% - Secret Avengers
-51.9% - X-Men
-62.4% - Wolverine
-64.1% - Avengers Assemble


3 year comparisons
==================

- 4.2% - Wolverine
- 7.8% - Amazing Spider-Man
-11.6% - X-Force
-18.8% - Captain Marvel
-24.1% - Punisher
-25.4% - Fantastic Four
-26.8% - X-Factor
-27.9% - Uncanny X-Men
-29.7% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
-33.7% - New Avengers
-34.5% - Iron Man
-36.2% - Incredible Hulk
-39.9% - New Mutants
-42.3% - Dark Avengers/Thunderbolts
-43.8% - Deadpool
-53.8% - Thor
-61.6% - Dark Tower
-68.4% - Captain America


4 year comparisons
==================

-19.7% - Daredevil
-21.2% - Punisher
-22.6% - Amazing Spider-Man
-25.9% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
-31.7% - Uncanny X-Men
-32.1% - X-Force
-38.1% - Captain Marvel
-39.3% - Fantastic Four
-45.1% - New Avengers
-46.9% - Dark Avengers/Thunderbolts
-47.1% - X-Men Legacy
-48.9% - Iron Man
-50.1% - X-Factor
-52.6% - Deadpool
-54.6% - Captain America
-64.8% - Ultimates
-66.8% - Incredible Hulk
-84.0% - Dark Tower


5 year comparisons
==================

-23.4% - Captain Marvel
-33.5% - Uncanny X-Men
-33.9% - Iron Man
-39.4% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
-47.4% - Wolverine
-49.7% - New Avengers
-51.1% - Ultimate Comics X-Men
-52.4% - Daredevil
-54.3% - Punisher
-56.9% - Captain America
-58.4% - X-Factor
-58.9% - X-Men Legacy
-60.0% - Amazing Spider-Man
-65.0% - Incredible Hulk

46 COMMENTS

  1. This is boring. You should get Marc-Oliver to do the Marvel sales analysis in order to spice things up.

    I bet if he looked at these numbers, he’d conclude that the DC 52 re-launch was a failure.

  2. 60. HAWKEYE
    08/12 Hawkeye v4 #1 – 48,346
    09/12 Hawkeye v4 #2 – 33,563 (-30.6%)

    I am feeling conflicted about the drop on this. On the one hand, Hawkeye is one of my favorite characters and he’s had difficulty sustaining titles in the market since the early 90’s and if any creative team could give him a healthy little run, it’s Fraction & Aja. And to his credit, Aja has delivered some strong art but Fraction’s writing has totally left me cold: too snarky, self-indulgent, and inconsistent. That, and having Clint & Kate maim several people in issue #2 was just tonally off and out-of-character. Without Fraction behind it, this title would probably never have launched but I’d like to see him replaced ASAP with someone who actually gets the character and doesn’t use the word “bro” to the point where I want to tear my comic in half.

    It seems like Marvel wants to work the mid-list Daredevil formula that Waid & Samnee are currently rocking and I think this is wise. Hopefully Hawkeye can hang on and survive (though probably without me as a reader unless things change).

  3. 168. ROAD TO OZ
    “Later issues have been solicited as part of a six issue mini, rather than eight.”

    Has the page amount been decreased for the total series, or is Marvel adding more pages per issue so that two books can be solicited each year?

  4. Hawkeye is fun and very exciting to read. It’s got a throw-back campiness to it, so much so that the energy of the panels jumps off the page. For me it’s this, Daredevil, and Uncanny X-Force (FF is over now). The relaunches are using the same business principles that Marvel has been operating under: double shipping & $4 price point. And give them 4 months before the next event. Die hards!

  5. I’ve noticed something a little wonky with the formatting of this column and the three August columns that preceded it (the first to see print on the new web site). If the text lines are too long, the right ends seem to be getting cut off (See the comments for DEADPOOL KILLS… and MUPPETS. I can’t see the ends of those sentences). Either the word wrap isn’t working right, the page isn’t formatted wide enough, or the columns need some, additional, tweaking before they are uploaded. Might want to look into that, Heidi.
    ___

    Regarding WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN…It was evident they switched the contents of #17 and #18. I, kind of, surprised that they didn’t switch the issue numbers, too, like they did, recently, with WOLVERINE (The first part of the Loeb/Bianchi arc shipped before the “previous” issue of the title).

  6. Cerebro, I’ve noticed that same formatting problem with sales charts here at The Beat, although not so much with this particular chart.

    It is pretty tough to feel good about the state of Marvel when so few titles are up on a 6 month, 1 year or 2 year basis and not a single title is up on a 3 or 6 year basis.

  7. Launch. Relaunch. Launch again, Tie in events. A vs X. Aquaman? Trick suckers out of $4 , $12 if they like variant covers as far as they can take it. Launch. Relaunch. Launch again.

    Hollywood actors get rich. Disney gets richer. Time Warner gets rich then steps again on creators just to make sure they are squashed. New 52 or just new4u. Movies get worse. Movies get louder, tie in events, toys, cross over movies that are actually video games repackaged. Trick suckers out of $30-$40 Imax-3D style. More video games and big two events for the rest.

    Launch. Relaunch. Launch again.

  8. I know, that always seems weird to me. However, I think it’s possible that while some Thor-only people started picking up JIM for the crossover, other JIM-only people dropped JIM for the duration of the crossover, since they either couldn’t afford the Thor parts or simply refuse to buy crossovers on principle.

  9. @Mesektet- Because comic fans are a funny bunch. They hate crossovers but buy Avengers vs X-men in droves.

  10. Because it’s extremely rare for good reviews (or, frankly, anything else) to lead to sustained increased sales on a monthly title. I think readers have been trained to believe that if they weren’t there for chapter one, it’s too late. In most books, they’re right.

    That’s not to say good reviews are irrelevant – but I think they’re reflected more in sales of the collections, and in increased interest for future projects by the same creators. (“From the people who brought you X” works even if you’ve never seen X, as long as you’ve heard good things about it.)

  11. RE:first X-men
    ‘Big drop there, but that’s largely a reflection of Marvel putting a big promotional push behind the first issue.’

    that’s one way of looking at it.

    Another is Marvel produced such a rubbish product that 43% of the people interested in it didn’t buy the next. (Assuming retailers didn’t have massive amounts of unsold first issues).

  12. I think people should stop blaming Marvel for not having more female lead titles. Ms Marvel is arguably their biggest female name and these are the kinds of sales she gets.
    They do try but people seem more interested in complaining about the lack of female books than actually buying them when they come out.

    This is counter to my own point and although i have loved the book so far I also think a time travel story right out the gate could have been a turn off for a lot of readers. They should have probably established the “new” Carol’s place in the MU before taking her somewhen else.

  13. I think the problem is so many people flip through Captain Marvel in the store and see the interior art, which is horrible. They need to get the kinds of artists who are doing the covers to do interiors.

  14. You can’t build a new audience overnight; if a CMO at a major media corporation tasked with attracting a new female audience gave up after the first new product, he’d be fired. You not only introduce a series of new products, planned out with purpose over a couple years, but a fully armed sales and marketing plan to target the audience and get the books into their hands.

    “Hey, we published something and the same audience we had yesterday didn’t buy it, so we give up!” isn’t the way the pros do it.

  15. Glenn, if they got the cover artists to do the interiors, the books would never come out. It’s tough enough for some artists to do one cover a month these days much less a full comic that’s supposed to come out monthly.

    I appreciate the hard work Paul puts into this and I read it every month despite not reading many (or any) Marvel books these days. Will be interesting to see how the Marvel NOW! initiative affects things over the next few months, especially with the 2nd issue of the new Avengers book (reportedly) being delayed a few extra weeks. Not a good start in my opinion, but I resisted my own curiosity and my LCS’ hard sell and avoided the book altogether.

  16. @DublDownDrew:

    I’m not saying it has to be the exact same artist, but just someone with a similar style. The covers are done by artists with clear, clean lines and the interiors are just muddy.
    And there are artists with clean styles who do monthly books all the time – you just pair up two of them and they alternate arcs.
    It’s not just the quality of the art, either. You’ve already got a female lead, which tends to hurt sales. So can’t you put somebody who has a following on the artwork? Somebody people have heard of and might pick up the book based on liking that artist’s work regardless of the character?

  17. “I’m not saying it has to be the exact same artist, but just someone with a similar style”

    Well, that is one of the drawbacks of the emphasis on creators. Artists today are encouraged and almost required to develop very distinct and often overly complicated or detailed styles, which makes it harder to meet those monthly deadlines and even harder to cover up when they’re missed.

    Mike

  18. Okay… this might sound a bit wrong, but I’ll put it out there anyway:

    Marvel produces work-for-hire comics.
    Writers and artists are secondary, although they do sell a title.
    Marvel makes a nice profit from licensing.
    Why doesn’t Marvel follow Disney’s route, and require the artists to produce to a specific model sheet and style?
    That is, treat all Marvel 616 titles as being licensed titles, and thus requiring them to meet the licensee’s standards.
    The artist is still able to tell a story, but the pictures have to be in a certain style.
    Then, if a specific artist misses a deadline, another artist can either finish the pages in a similar style, or the artist can be replaced,
    If the artist becomes Rich and Famous, and quits, then another artist can be slotted in.

    Think this might be bad? Well, what if DC required their artists to follow the merchandising style perfected by José Luis García-López? Perhaps the great storytelling of the Batman Adventures comicbook was partly due to the standards set by Bruce Timm and Warner Animation?

    Readers, who would you pick to design “The Marvel Style Manual”?
    Me, I’d hire Alan Davis. But then, how many artists can draw like that? You’d probably need an animator to simplify the style, so that it works both on paper and cel.

  19. The Captain Marvel book seems quite crap to me and everyone I’ve talked to. It gets good reviews, but I think much of that is because the reviewers WANT to see a book like this succeed, so they give it every benefit of the doubt.

    For whatever reason, Marvel has difficulty launching female-led series. DC has found sales success and scored top-10 or top-20 with Wonder Woman and Batwoman. I think that’s somewhat due to those characters being intrinsically more interesting and iconic than characters like She-Hulk and Ms./Captain Marvel. But then again, in recent years DC has actually put top-name creators like JH Williams, Greg Rucka, Gail Simone, Cliff Chiang, and Brian Azzarello on those female-character titles. Marvel gives us, at best, mid-list creators that they hope will become critical darlings, which doesn’t work out because by issue three or four, at the latest, people grow sick of talking themselves into liking these characters and titles just because they have female characters and/or creators attached to them.

    So, there’s all that, plus Marvel near-inability to launch anything successfully anymore, especially relatively “new” ideas or titles. The last Ms. Marvel title lasted 50 issues. I give this current Captain Marvel no more than 12, despite the obnoxious (sorry!) amount of hype that’s been put into this series for the last few months.

  20. I would also bet part of the readership is just picking it up for the Alan Davis artwork, also. And since he’s only doing half the storyline, there could be another reason…

  21. Well, over at Icon (distributed by Marvel), a title featuring two heroines, written and drawn by two top-name creators, failed to make the Top 300 list in September.

    Of course, another Icon title featuring a heroine by a top team did sell very well.

    Personally, I want to see more Galacta stories!

  22. I actually love the art from Cap Marvel, although i do understand why others don’t and Maybe it doesn’t mesh with the tone of the book.

    @LT, You are totally right about their inability to launch new books. Look at all their recent launches that are so close to cancellation, even though they are mostly excellent.
    Scarlet Spider
    Gambit
    Cap Marvel
    Hawkeye (not quite but with those losses it wont be long)
    X-treme X-men
    Age of Apocalypse
    Winter Soldier
    Venom is close although to be fair i think it lasted longer than anyone thought.

    And does anyone think Red She Hulk, JIM or Dark avengers will last a year?

  23. @LT, You are totally right about their inability to launch new books. Look at all their recent launches that are so close to cancellation, even though they are mostly excellent.

    That’s mostly a matter of math, especially when Marvel doesn’t try to attract customers outside the existing pool. Marvel’s new titles are competing against their older titles, to a great extent. Marvel should do more in the way of marketing and research, of course, but then they’d run into the problem that to sell the series, they have to sell the hero instead of promoting the creator and the situation, the setting, the lead–the story as a whole. There’s no comparison between the description of a book on its dust jacket and a Previews listing for an issue.

    SRS

  24. Glad to see Dan Slott’s excellent Spider-Man work is doing well, comparatively. Looking at all of these numbers as a whole does not paint a pretty picture for Marvel’s apparent strategy.

    I like the Hawkeye comic book, I just wish they’d have the title character dress like a superhero.

  25. I thought i was the only one bothered by the maiming. When Kate blinded those guys i almost put it down. not to mention the guy she probably killed by shooting him in the neck. very out of character but then again, when has fraction ever cared about character or continuity?

  26. You guys churned these September charts out quick! Awesome! It surprises me the gap between number one (167k) and number thirteen (60k).
    RE: Hawkeye – The blinding scene was jarring to me too especially as during it Hawkeye’s reiterating how perfect Kate is. If she can hit both eyes at once sheo could hit both arms and incapacitated them without the gouging. It’s nice to have Aja back on a regular book but I’m not sold on the writing.

    Did anybody read that Loeb Sabretooth arc in Wolverine? I hated the previous Wolverine story he wrote that introduced Romulus and was wondering if Loeb’s writing had improved at all.

    I agree with Glenn Simpson that the mismatch between Ms. Marvel’s interior and cover art is too much of a contrast. The cover is bright and sharp and a little retro while the inside is dark, murky, and very computer age. I tried the first issue but there wasn’t enough there for me (and the interior art didn’t click for me). I think what everybody else is saying is correct about Marvel just launching titles without developing an interest for them beforehand.

  27. Because MS MARVEL (not to mention, CAPTAIN MARVEL) comics has a history of not selling well (with the exception of sales stunts/gimmicks).

  28. “Ms Marvel is arguably their biggest female name and these are the kinds of sales she gets.”

    Wrong. That’s the kind of sales DeConnick and I can’t even remember the name of the pencils guy get.

    Put Morrison and Jim Lee on a Carol Danvers book and it will sell. It’s all about the creators.

  29. Not sure if anyone pointed it out, but Ultimates #16 got a HUGE media push for Cap becoming president, which accounts for the very small sales uptick (er, does it?). That’s gotta hurt.

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