Comics March Sales Figure Estimates (Another Sales Decrease)

[Eye Doc]

The first issue of the month, AMZ #552 fell below the 90,000 mark. The last iss, #554, almost dipped below the 81,000 mark. If the current trend continues AMZ may fall under 80,000 per month and sale worse than than the pre-OMD issues.


http://www.icv2.com:80/articles/home/12433.html

Here are ICv2's estimates of the sales by Diamond Comic Distributors to comic stores on the top 25 comic titles in March:

123,839 Dark Tower: The Long Road Home #1 (of 5)

103,046 New Avengers #39

97,491 Thor #7

89,835 Amazing Spider-Man #552

89,054 Uncanny X-Men #496

88,930 Buffy the Vampire Slayer #12

87,482 Justice League of America #19

82,648 Amazing Spider-Man #553

82,253 Mighty Avengers #11

82,243 X-Men Legacy #209

82,149 Mighty Avengers #10

81,714 X-Force #2

81,378 Captain America #36

81,072 Amazing Spider-Man #554

73,574 All Star Superman #10

68,651 Cable #1

68,073 Green Lantern #28

68,038 Countdown to Final Crisis 8

68,019 Countdown to Final Crisis 7

67,895 Countdown to Final Crisis 6

67,688 Countdown to Final Crisis 5

67,416 Fantastic Four #555

66,536 Green Lantern #29

64,475 Wolverine #63

63,289 Logan #1 (of 3)

 

[Blader5489]

Monthly sales are still high compared to pre-OMD numbers. While ASM isn't selling as highly as it did pre-OMD (though there are other reasons for that), it's still outselling FNSM and SSM, so the total monthly sales are still higher than they used to be.

 

[Donald Thomas]

Aloha,
Comics Slip in Q1
First Since 2004
April 22, 2008

Sales of comics to the direct market by Diamond Comic Distributors slipped 7% in the first quarter of 2008 vs. the year ago period, the first quarterly drop since Q4 of 2004, when comic sales were down 4%. Graphic novel sales were up 5% for the quarter, ameliorating the over-all decline to 5% for the quarter in combined comic and graphic novel dollars. Q1 2008 was also the first over-all decline since Q4 of 2004, when combined comic and graphic novel sales were down 3% vs. the year ago period.

March was the ugliest month of the quarter for comic sales, with a 15% drop in comic sales vs. March 2007. Graphic novels were up 4%, bringing the over-all annual rate of change to a positive 4% for the month.

Tough comparables were the story for comic sales. Not only was there considerable Civil War activity in the comic ranks in March of 2007, that was also the month when Captain America #25, a million dollar book, was released to comic stores.

That graphic novels held up better was a bit of a surprise, since 300 was rocking and rolling a year ago, but there was enough strength below the top titles to make the Top 100 for this March come out ahead of March 2007.

Seems to be a Comic book Market trend for ALL comics.
Spidey rules

 

[spider greg]

Aloha,
Comics Slip in Q1
First Since 2004
April 22, 2008

Sales of comics to the direct market by Diamond Comic Distributors slipped 7% in the first quarter of 2008 vs. the year ago period, the first quarterly drop since Q4 of 2004, when comic sales were down 4%. Graphic novel sales were up 5% for the quarter, ameliorating the over-all decline to 5% for the quarter in combined comic and graphic novel dollars. Q1 2008 was also the first over-all decline since Q4 of 2004, when combined comic and graphic novel sales were down 3% vs. the year ago period.

March was the ugliest month of the quarter for comic sales, with a 15% drop in comic sales vs. March 2007. Graphic novels were up 4%, bringing the over-all annual rate of change to a positive 4% for the month.

Tough comparables were the story for comic sales. Not only was there considerable Civil War activity in the comic ranks in March of 2007, that was also the month when Captain America #25, a million dollar book, was released to comic stores.

That graphic novels held up better was a bit of a surprise, since 300 was rocking and rolling a year ago, but there was enough strength below the top titles to make the Top 100 for this March come out ahead of March 2007.

Seems to be a Comic book Market trend for ALL comics.
Spidey rules

The economy sucks right now.

 

[farmernudie]

During a tough time in our economy, it is even more of a reason not to be experimenting with a flagship title...and ruining something that fans have clearly shown thru polls to be in support of.

Thumbing your nose at the fans during tough times, telling the customers they are always wrong, is not gonna help your business.

During tough times, is when you should go with what is proven to work. Not a time to expirement and harshly divide your loyal customer base....regardless of your opinions of omd/bnd.

 

[spider greg]

During a tough time in our economy, it is even more of a reason not to be experimenting with a flagship title...and ruining something that fans have clearly shown thru polls to be in support of.

Thumbing your nose at the fans during tough times, telling the customers they are always wrong, is not gonna help your business.

During tough times, is when you should go with what is proven to work. Not a time to expirement and harshly divide your loyal customer base....regardless of your opinions of omd/bnd.

I disagree. Without the BND storyline boosting it, I believe sales would be a lot worse. IMO.

 

[Donald Thomas]

I disagree. Without the BND storyline boosting it, I believe sales would be a lot worse. IMO.

Aloha,

The first issue of Stephen King’s Dark Tower: The Long Road Home from Marvel was the #1 book in comic stores in March, selling in at around 124,000 copies. But this was a significant drop from the first issue of the last Stephen King adaptation, Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born, which sold in at over 172,000 copies in February 2007. In fact, the first issue of The Long Road Home was even below the second issue of Gunslinger, which sold in at around 136,000 copies one year ago in March.

DC’s Countdown is picking up as it approaches the climax, with significant upticks vs. the month-ago issues.

Other than Countdown, there wasn’t a lot of happy news in the Top 300 comics, where only two other issues, Buffy The Vampire Slayer #12 and Green Lantern #29, gained sales vs. the previous issues.

Marvel had 16 of the top titles, Dark Horse one (the aforementioned Buffy issue), and DC had eight titles.

So when it comes to marketing their books, someone at Marvel still seems to know what they are doing for the Mass Market.

Spidey rules

 

[Eye Doc]

Monthly sales are still high compared to pre-OMD numbers. While ASM isn't selling as highly as it did pre-OMD (though there are other reasons for that), it's still outselling FNSM and SSM, so the total monthly sales are still higher than they used to be.

The cummulative for Spidey are still higher than the pre-OMD books. However, it'll be interesting to see if that remains the case. If AMZ ever hits the 70,000 mark, then you'd be right back where you were before OMD.

Also, let's not forget that JQ is putting out the flagship book 3x per month. You pretty much have to read all 3 issues to get the full picture. That was never done prior to OMD. If that had been the case the total sales on AMZ would've been higher. In order to keep the sales where they currently are, he's going to have to maintain that schedule. The 2nd tier Spidey books have never sold as well as AMZ. If Marvel goes back to the old schedule the total monthly sales will probably worse than before the relaunch.

 

[Blader5489]

Also, let's not forget that JQ is putting out the flagship book 3x per month. You pretty much have to read all 3 issues to get the full picture.

That won't be the case every time though. For example, between May and June (a total of six issues), there will be four separate stories by different writer/artist teams.

 

[farmernudie]

I disagree. Without the BND storyline boosting it, I believe sales would be a lot worse. IMO.

So, are you saying that when the economy is doing bad, THAT is a GREAT TIME to do something that all polls show that the majority of your consumers are AGAINST???



I think numbers would be even HIGHER by FAR, if Joe had done all this gimmicky stuff...with the creative teams and all...IF it included the marriage and hadn't done something that has ticked so many fans off.

Slott writing a regualr spidey story with no agenda would had been gold.

Slott on a regular (un-controversial) untampered 12 issues a year and an annual would have united the spidey fan base and and not have been devisive.

 

[Donald Thomas]

The cummulative for Spidey are still higher than the pre-OMD books. However, it'll be interesting to see if that remains the case. If AMZ ever hits the 70,000 mark, then you'd be right back where you were before OMD.

Also, let's not forget that JQ is putting out the flagship book 3x per month. You pretty much have to read all 3 issues to get the full picture. That was never done prior to OMD. If that had been the case the total sales on AMZ would've been higher. In order to keep the sales where they currently are, he's going to have to maintain that schedule. The 2nd tier Spidey books have never sold as well as AMZ. If Marvel goes back to the old schedule the total monthly sales will probably worse than before the relaunch.

Aloha,
True but when there was Amazing,PP Spectacular,Web etc, the stories often overlapped.If I were studying the market, there would be no reason to not keep Amazing at 3 x a month.There was a time when Amazing was twice amonth during the summer. Essentially you're getting a bigger bang for the buck than having multiple titles.
Spidey rules

 

[farmernudie]

Well, you're taking CHOICE away from your buyer.

AND

You're also forcing those that DO buy to have to spend MORE to read it.

 

[Hobgoblin]

starting in Feb
101,048
90,817 (-10,231)
89,835 (-982)
82,648 (-7,187)
81,072 (-1,571)

Wow, those are some lousy numbers. Wasnt Spect Spider-Man vol 2 cancelled once it was in the 50,000 area?

 

[Eye Doc]

Aloha,
True but when there was Amazing,PP Spectacular,Web etc, the stories often overlapped.If I were studying the market, there would be no reason to not keep Amazing at 3 x a month.There was a time when Amazing was twice amonth during the summer. Essentially you're getting a bigger bang for the buck than having multiple titles.
Spidey rules

Point taken. but, it's still a little different.

Since JMS took over at the start of the decade, there really hasn't been much crossing over on the titles. His agenda was not affected by other writers. You could read his book without reading the others and vice versa with the exception of crossovers like "The Other".

Now, if you want the full picture you have to purchase AMZ 3x per month. You have no other options but to buy AMZ. In the past Marvel has said they liked it better that way because readers weren't forced to buy all the titles. Now they seem to feel it'll be better for the books if only one title comes out 3x per month. Where was this logic prior to BND?

 

[spider greg]

So, are you saying that when the economy is doing bad, THAT is a GREAT TIME to do something that all polls show that the majority of your consumers are AGAINST???

If these almighty polls you speak of were accurate, Spider-man would be in the tank by now.

I think numbers would be even HIGHER by FAR, if Joe had done all this gimmicky stuff...with the creative teams and all...IF it included the marriage and hadn't done something that has ticked so many fans off.

Not really, the economy would still be bad. Even though readers left, there are others that have come back. Go to other Spidey boards if you don't believe me.

Slott writing a regualr spidey story with no agenda would had been gold.

Slott on BND is Double Platinum.

(Anybody who can tell me the Rock band that has an album called "Double Platinum' gets a big thumbs up from me.)

Slott on a regular (un-controversial) untampered 12 issues a year and an annual would have united the spidey fan base and and not have been devisive.

And you forgot about it bringing World Peace.

t:

 

[Norman Osborn]

(Anybody who can tell me the Rock band that has an album called "Double Platinum' gets a big thumbs up from me.)



t:

Kiss!....and yes I did own it ....

 

[Donald Thomas]

Point taken. but, it's still a little different.

Since JMS took over at the start of the decade, there really hasn't been much crossing over on the titles. His agenda was not affected by other writers. You could read his book without reading the others and vice versa with the exception of crossovers like "The Other".

Now, if you want the full picture you have to purchase AMZ 3x per month. You have no other options but to buy AMZ. In the past Marvel has said they liked it better that way because readers weren't forced to buy all the titles. Now they seem to feel it'll be better for the books if only one title comes out 3x per month. Where was this logic prior to BND?

Aloha,
Don't forget Sins Past was also crossed over. Now,I started with Amazing Spider-Man #18 which was a continuation of #17. It took me years before I got that issue. Marvel has always been serialized, that's why years ago, they started doing Recaps of the previous issue at the beginning of the comic. They still do that so that the new reader can have an idea as what preceeded. Based upon what was the flag ship and major seller, I'm sure the suits at Marvel felt that going with Amazing would allow them to consolidate sales. There will and still are, mini series, one shots etc but at least for the forseeable future, consolidating the title with an ALL star writer and artist line up, makes better marketing sense.You have to remember, its the MASS market that makes things happen now adays, not the fan boys and girls. I know that sounds like we're being kicked to the curb but the truth is, Fan boys complained about Special events like Civil War and the Death of Capt America but that's what drove sales for Marvel big time last year.
Spidey rules

 

[fifthfiend]

Well, you're taking CHOICE away from your buyer.

AND

You're also forcing those that DO buy to have to spend MORE to read it.

I'm just gonna throw it out there that from Marvel's perspective this is not what you would call a downside.

Granted, how it pans out long-term remains to be seen.

 

[ragingdemon155]

Well usually I would get a bit giddy at the prospect of sales dropping for ASM. However, sales are dropping for comics in general so that's not really surprising. The industry has continued to drop off in sales year after year. I already stated that I believe ASM is going to drop month after month anyway. Combination of the industry suffering and the hype of OMD dying down.

 

[Eye Doc]

Whether you like the reboot or hate it, one thing does seem quite apparent. Making Peter single again didn't result in a dramtic increase of new readers for AMAZING SPIDERMAN. If sales stay at the current level the experiment can be considered a success. However, if the sales continue to fall at the curent rate I don't see how anyone could come to the conclusion that OMD is not the main reason for the sales decline.

 

[shinlyle]

Considering a gallon of gasoline is 3.40 on average, and that the average comic is 3.00, I would say that a sales drop in all comcis is pretty much standard.

When the economy picks up, we'll be able to get a better look at the sales numbers. In my own personal opinion, I think that 3 books a month is still flooding the market a little too much. I think alot of the potential buyers out there would risk buying Brand New Day if it wasn't a book that came out three times a month.

In fact, that was one of my main reasons for dropping ASM. I love the other books I read too much to drop them so that I can get more of a book that I've been lukewarm about for years.

The other reason...well, we all know that one.

 

[spider greg]

Kiss!....and yes I did own it ....

You wanted the best, you got the best!! The Hottest band in the world...KISS!!!

Nice job bud!!!

 

[moraldeficiency]

One, KISS does not rock nearly as hard as you old people remember.


Two, I'm not sure we're seeing any indicators here yet because this is only comic store purchases not direct consumer numbers so they've been adjusting after a big event. In another couple of months those numbers will be a much better indicator.

Three, the only thing I'm going by is the number of issues I see on the shelf. So far my LCS, Tates (one of the biggest in South Florida) has a crapload of all BND issues on the shelf where before ASM would sell out in about a week. So from my personal observations BND and the hype around it is quite overinflated and not doing nearly as well as marvel hoped.

Four, Sublime FTW.

That is all.

 

[Kirk Langstrom]

Aloha,
Comics Slip in Q1
First Since 2004
April 22, 2008

Sales of comics to the direct market by Diamond Comic Distributors slipped 7% in the first quarter of 2008 vs. the year ago period, the first quarterly drop since Q4 of 2004, when comic sales were down 4%. Graphic novel sales were up 5% for the quarter, ameliorating the over-all decline to 5% for the quarter in combined comic and graphic novel dollars. Q1 2008 was also the first over-all decline since Q4 of 2004, when combined comic and graphic novel sales were down 3% vs. the year ago period.

March was the ugliest month of the quarter for comic sales, with a 15% drop in comic sales vs. March 2007. Graphic novels were up 4%, bringing the over-all annual rate of change to a positive 4% for the month.

Tough comparables were the story for comic sales. Not only was there considerable Civil War activity in the comic ranks in March of 2007, that was also the month when Captain America #25, a million dollar book, was released to comic stores.

That graphic novels held up better was a bit of a surprise, since 300 was rocking and rolling a year ago, but there was enough strength below the top titles to make the Top 100 for this March come out ahead of March 2007.

Seems to be a Comic book Market trend for ALL comics.
Spidey rules

Yeah, man. With this economy the way it is, im not surprised. This time last year, all the top ten books were selling over 100k each...now only two are.(Thank you, Stephen King and Brian Bendis)...

 

[Kirk Langstrom]

Considering a gallon of gasoline is 3.40 on average, and that the average comic is 3.00, I would say that a sales drop in all comcis is pretty much standard.

When the economy picks up, we'll be able to get a better look at the sales numbers. In my own personal opinion, I think that 3 books a month is still flooding the market a little too much. I think alot of the potential buyers out there would risk buying Brand New Day if it wasn't a book that came out three times a month.

In fact, that was one of my main reasons for dropping ASM. I love the other books I read too much to drop them so that I can get more of a book that I've been lukewarm about for years.

The other reason...well, we all know that one.

Also the fact that while all four writers are extremely talented, they are, essentially, writing Spider-man the way Joe Q TELLS them to. VERY formulaic. Sure, the book is enjoyable for what it is, but it basically has all the "oomph" of a castrated eunuch.

Sadly, Spider-Man is currently at the bottom of my reading list each week...very close to dropping it completely.