http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/19327.html
The list came out almost a week ago, I just finally saw it today. FF's big death issue #587, topped the charts as the only title cracking 100K. Everything else was still down. The 2 issues of Brightest Day came in at 2 and 3 and were the only books that cracked 70K. Everything else was no higher than 65K.
Spawn's 200th issue made an appearance at #4.
Avengers sold about 3K less but ranked 4 spots higher, New Avengers remained at #8 (selling 6K less), Secret Avengers is hanging around the top 20 still, selling 3K less and Avengers Academy dropped 3K in sales.
X-Men had a sales boost as it put vampires in it's rear view mirror, going from #19 to #6 on the list and gaining 9K in sales. UXM sold a few hundred less copies than December, Legacy had a small boost in sales but dropped lower in the charts (most likely due to the anniversary issues of Spawn and Iron Man).
ASM #651 and #652 came in at 10 and 14 selling just as much as ASM #650, which came in at 13 the previous month.
In general, comic sales for Jan. 2011 were down a whopping 22% or so. This got a lot of rumbling around the internet. A major caveat is that January is often a poor sales months for comics. Similar sales drops occurred in 1998, 2005, and 2009. And in terms of year long sales, those years were terrible, great, and "no gain", respectively. That said, this Jan. 2011 comes off a 4th quarter of 2010 that was very poor. ICv2 claimed they hadn't seen sales this low since about 2001 - which was around around our last major recession, which wasn't nearly as bad as this one.
The print media got clobbered during the Great Recession, and when comics escaped it seemingly no worse for ware in 2009, I think the big two thought the worst was over. As 2010 ended, I think both changed their tune. Suddenly DC is eager to keep prices at $2.99 even if it means trimming pages. Suddenly Marvel is willing to make token price cutting gestures as well as release fewer mini's and cancel some more lower sellers. Just last week, David Gabriel "joked" at the ComicsPRO panel that Marvel will kill off a major character every sales quarter - he claims he wasn't meant to be serious, but he also claimed it "wasn't a joke".
FF #587 was not only the best seller in Jan. 2011, it was the best selling comic book since July 2010, when X-MEN #1 was released and sold over 143,000 copies (it is down to under 65k in Jan. 2011, which is actually up from December, where it sold under 55k). But, yes, it was a very poor selling month. Aside for FF #587, which is a freak death success that can't be replicated every issue, Marvel's top seller didn't even garner 65k, and was outsold by SPAWN #200. That issue, BTW, was likely Image's best seller in about a decade. Even THE WALKING DEAD rarely cracks the Top 80 monthly. I think Marvel knows it is in panic mode when even Bendis Avengers titles can't hang onto sales and continue to lose thousands of readers a month.
How bad was the month? The 100th selling comic didn't even sell 15k. That was impossible even a few months ago, when you needed about 19k to even hope of selling in the Top 100. The #300 seller didn't even ship 1,300 copies; just a few months ago, DYNAMO 5 was selling over 3,000 copies a month of it's latest mini and rarely made the Top 300.
No wonder, then, that Marvel and DC are resorting to more relaunches, more crossovers, and more stunts. But will the same old tricks work? In an era of nearly 10% unemployment (over 8% in NYC), of fewer comic shops, less spending power, and less ad revenue? Digital sales won't be saviors for some time yet; currently, they make up 1% of all comic sales. Whether that is because demand is overstated, or because people would rather illegally download for free, or because a lot of legal digital sales methods are over priced and/or incompetently sold is unknown.
How did those beloved little books do?
HEROES FOR HIRE #2 sold just over 23k. The debut issue sold over 30k. Given that a 20% drop between a #1 issue and a #2 issue isn't uncommon, this is nearly the average. However, it will have to get stable to remain around past a certain point. Marvel usually considers or announces or "hiatus-es" comics once sales fall or are projected to fall below about 17k or so. Just because issues are solicited for the future is no guarantee that they will ship. YOUNG ALLIES #7 was solicited and never shipped due to cancellation, and that crossover between the Young Allies, Spider-Girl and Avengers Academy has been solicited three times as three separate packages because books keep tanking and Marvel has no clue how to sell it.
AVENGERS ACADEMY #8 slipped to just over 24k. That is the lowest sales yet on the title; which is a shame as in December, it sold 27k and that was a 6% jump from November; I suppose people really liked that TRON Quicksilver cover. It has been solicited for a 13th and 14th issue (a rarity these days), but if sales don't hold steady, those issues shipping may be in jeopardy. As it is, few new launches have survived CAPTAIN BRITAIN AND MI-13's record of 15 issues and an annual, at least beyond the NEW MUTANTS relaunch. It is a shame because it is the best Avengers books on the racks.
CHAOS WAR finished up at over 24,500 copies. That's better than INCREDIBLE HERCULES #139 sold in Dec. 2009. Thus, it is perhaps easy to see why Marvel was willing to give Pak & Van Lente another go at an ongoing title based on CHAOS WAR successfully boosting sales, albeit modestly. The only spin-off that sold within the Top 100 was CHAOS WAR: X-MEN, which had nothing to do with the event itself; people just over order X-Men crap.
For the record, Marvel may want to rethink their phasing out of the space line. THANOS IMPERATIVE DEVASTATION sold over 26k - outselling THUNDERBOLTS, AVENGERS ACADEMY, ASTONISHING THOR, and two issues of X-FACTOR. Perhaps that is why THE ANNIHILATORS and the Groot & Rocket mini are being packaged together; Marvel figures that one space book can usually sell better than two. It will be interesting how well, or poorly, SILVER SURFER's relaunch does.
While BIG TIME has boosted sales for some ASM issues, it remains selling in the series' usual range of 52-56k an issue, only now it is twice a month rather than thrice. That is usually where ASM has sold since the BND era when it began shipping more than once a month, barring any heavily promoted story, crossover, stunts, or Barack Obama. It is easy to nitpick, but to be honest more Marvel titles probably wish they were as stable over these last 2+ years in sales as ASM has been. Bendis Avengers books can't hold onto any gains; they just sell better overall. For the moment.
NEW AVENGERS falls to 61k - the lowest sales that comic has seen in well over a year. In November it fell to 66k and it has lost 5k since then; in fact, in one month, as sales rose to 67k in December (likely due to a variant cover). The book has likely seen nearly a 10% drop in the past year, and nearly 50% in the past 6 months. AVENGERS slipped from 67k in December to 64k now; both of Bendis' Avengers books are bleeding readers, but at varying rates. Still, in terms of AVENGERS, this means more than half of the people who bought the first issue are gone. Is it really worth having a writer who can no longer claim he is the highest selling ongoing series writer in monthly comics, not even always the highest selling writer at Marvel, be the sole captain of the Marvel Universe? Given exclusive rights to the best toys? Perhaps this is why Bendis is being shifted onto things like TAKIO and MOON KNIGHT to get out of his rut. It is a rough economy when Bendis isn't the be all anymore, and few people at Marvel are overtaking him.
Still, look at how many of those top books, as poor selling as they are, are $3.99. You think maybe if Marvel cut the prices on those big books, sales down the line might get more stable?
DAREDEVIL REBORN #1 sold at over 34k. That is better than SHADOWLAND: AFTER THE FALL and even better than BLACK PANTHER: MAN WITHOUT FEAR #513 sold in December. BP:MWF #514 slipped to 27k in January and I imagine it will get worse from there. Marvel has tried this "have a character take over another's book and fool the audience" before. It worked modestly well for INCREDIBLE HERCULES - helped by the fact that it was good, and the stunt was new-ish. But then Marvel tried it with Daken onto WOLVERINE, and it backfired. DAREDEVIL wasn't a healthy franchise in terms of sales to begin with, and BLACK PANTHER has not had good luck lately. And by lately I mean the past decade.
THUNDERBOLTS is hanging in there; it is one of few titles that is selling better than it was at certain points in 2005 and 2006.
WALKING DEAD #80 sold 29k and cracked the Top 50. That's amazing. That is one of few titles that has steadily gained readers throughout it's run. It was launched at $2.99. It was never renumbered. Trade collections are sold regularly and not at price gouge levels. It is not renumbered. There is a lesson here, but it won't be learned.
Overall, Jan. 2011 was a month Marvel would rather forget. Given that February barely has 4 weeks, they hope it looks better. Because there is a real sense this past year of things hitting rock bottom and not rising.
