Marvel's Business

[iloveclones]

And last but not least (well, actually it is the least)....

121. GIANT-SIZE MS MARVEL
Feb 06 Giant-Size Ms Marvel #1 - 15,808

Not a bad number for a mostly-reprint trailer. The ongoing series will debut on the March charts.


122,124. BLACK WIDOW
Feb 05 Black Widow #6 (of 6) - 21,478 ( -4.9%)
Mar 05 n/a
Apr 05 n/a
May 05 n/a
Jun 05 n/a
Jul 05 n/a
Aug 05 n/a
Sep 05 Black Widow 2 #1 (of 6) - 27,390 (+27.5%)
Oct 05 Black Widow 2 #2 (of 6) - 20,867 (-23.8%)
Nov 05 Black Widow 2 #3 (of 6) - 19,493 ( -6.6%)
Dec 05 Black Widow 2 #4 (of 6) - 16,647 (-14.6%)
Jan 06 n/a
Feb 06 Black Widow 2 #5 (of 6) - 15,595 ( -6.3%)
Feb 06 Black Widow 2 #6 (of 6) - 15,143 ( -2.9%)
6 mnth ( n/a )
1 year (-29.5%)

Probably safe to say we won't see a third miniseries with sales rounding off at this level.


132. DOC SAMSON
Jan 06 Doc Samson #1 (of 5) - 18,240
Feb 06 Doc Samson #2 (of 5) - 13,230 (-27.5%)

Horrific sales.


135. MARVEL LEGACY HANDBOOKS
Feb 06 1960s Handbook - 12,957

A niche product, so a fairly respectable number by those standards. There's a higher price tag as well, of course.


137. UNDERWORLD
Feb 06 Underworld #1 (of 5) - 12,479

Oww. This is a miniseries about a Marvel Universe henchman, which means there's no established fanbase for the character. Launched with the obligatory lack of publicity, it was always going to crash to the lower end of the charts. But this is disappointing even by the standards of this type of book. A surprise, actually, because writer Frank Tieri did unexpectedly well with his WEAPON X miniseries earlier in the year. I thought UNDERWORLD would at least do a few thousand better than this.


142. BOOK OF LOST SOULS
Oct 05 Book of Lost Souls #1 - 24,365
Nov 05 Book of Lost Souls #2 - 20,002 (-17.9%)
Dec 05 Book of Lost Souls #3 - 15,308 (-23.5%)
Jan 06 Book of Lost Souls #4 - 13,455 (-12.1%)
Feb 06 Book of Lost Souls #5 - 11,941 (-11.3%)

An Icon book, so the sales don't matter as long as J Michael Straczynski still wants to publish it. Remarkably low numbers for such a high profile writer, though - I'm amazed this isn't doing much better, given his very loyal fanbase.


146. NEW MANGAVERSE
Jan 06 New Mangaverse #1 (of 5) - 14,403
Feb 06 New Mangaverse #2 (of 5) - 11,462 (-20.4%)

You think they'll take the hint this time?


147. SENTINEL
Feb 04 Sentinel #12 - 15,008
======
Nov 05 Sentinel #1 (of 5) - 18,866 (+25.7%)
Dec 05 Sentinel #2 (of 5) - 14,108 (-25.2%)
Jan 06 Sentinel #3 (of 5) - 12,438 (-11.8%)
Feb 06 Sentinel #4 (of 5) - 11,402 ( -8.3%)
6 mnth ( n/a )
1 year ( n/a )
2 year (-24.0%)

Dire numbers, but the miniseries exists to generate a third digest and resolve the cliffhanger, so it doesn't ultimately matter. If there's an audience for SENTINEL, it's in the bookstores.


150. KABUKI
Feb 05 n/a
Mar 05 n/a
Apr 05 Kabuki #4 - 14,327 ( +3.2%)
May 05 n/a
Jun 05 n/a
Aug 05 n/a
Sep 05 n/a
Oct 05 Kabuki #5 - 11,420 (-20.3%)
Nov 05 n/a
Dec 05 n/a
Jan 06 n/a
Feb 06 Kabuki #6 - 11,349 ( -0.6%)

David Mack's Icon book makes one of its occasional appearances on the shelves. Numbers are virtually unchanged from last month, although from Marvel's point of view it really doesn't matter how much it sells.


154. SABLE & FORTUNE
Jan 06 Sable & Fortune #1 (of 4) - 15,451
Feb 06 Sable & Fortune #2 (of 4) - 10,751 (-30.4%)

Crashing into oblivion. A shame, because it's really not that bad.


163. NICK FURY'S HOWLING COMMANDOS
Oct 05 Howling Commandos #1 - 29,743
Nov 05 Howling Commandos #2 - 17,360 (-41.6%)
Dec 05 Howling Commandos #3 - 13,331 (-23.2%)
Jan 06 Howling Commandos #4 - 11,297 (-15.3%)
Feb 06 Howling Commandos #5 - 9,914 (-12.2%)

This, on the other hand, is precisely that bad. Cancelled with issue #6, and one of the highest profile flops Marvel have published in years.


165,170,179,183. I HEART MARVEL
Feb 06 Web of Romance - 9,442
Feb 06 My Mutant Heart - 8,837
Feb 06 Marvel AI - 8,133
Feb 06 Outlaw Love - 7,588

This month's obligatory set of one-shots, with the theme being Valentine's Day. The whole lot of them sink without trace.


166. FANTASTIC FOUR & IRON MAN: BIG IN JAPAN
Oct 05 Big in Japan #1 (of 4) - 17,690
Nov 05 Big in Japan #2 (of 4) - 12,354 (-30.2%)
Dec 05 Big in Japan #3 (of 4) - 10,313 (-16.5%)
Jan 06 n/a
Feb 06 Big in Japan #4 (of 4) - 9,243 ( -9.4%)

Pretty much disappearing off everyone's radar, unfortunately.


167. FRANKLIN RICHARDS, SON OF A GENIUS
Feb 06 Everybody Loves Franklin - 9,176

Calvin & Hobbes meet the Fantastic Four. Genuinely charming, but it's not doing huge business in the direct market, and I'm struggling to imagine how they could package it for the bookstores.


182. SPIDER-MAN LOVES MARY JANE
Dec 05 Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane #1 - 11,171
Jan 06 Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane #2 - 8,590 (-23.1%)
Feb 06 Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane #3 - 7,648 (-11.0%)

Aimed at the digest audience, so the direct market sales don't matter.


186. MARVEL ROMANCE REDUX
Feb 06 But He Said He Loved Me #1 (of 5) - 7,070

Old romance comics with new dialogue. Horrible numbers in the direct market, but it's potentially the sort of thing that might do well as a comedy book - except for the occasional comics fandom in-jokes.


188. MARVEL ADVENTURES SPIDER-MAN
Mar 05 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #1 - 14,351
Apr 05 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #2 - 10,305 (-28.2%)
May 05 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #3 - 9,110 (-11.6%)
Jun 05 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #4 - 8,878 ( -2.5%)
Jul 05 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #5 - 8,075 ( -9.0%)
Aug 05 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #6 - 7,636 ( -5.4%)
Sep 05 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #7 - 7,199 ( -5.7%)
Oct 05 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #8 - 7,088 ( -1.5%)
Nov 05 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #9 - 6,637 ( -6.4%)
Dec 05 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #10 - 6,391 ( -3.7%)
Jan 06 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #11 - 6,107 ( -4.4%)
Feb 06 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #12 - 6,087 ( -0.3%)
6 mnth (-20.3%)

Again, aimed at the digest readers.


189. MARVEL SPOTLIGHT
Dec 05 John Cassaday & Sean McKeever - 9,763
Jan 06 Warren Ellis & Jim Cheung - 6,843 (-29.9%)
Feb 06 Joss Whedon & Michael Lark - 5,947 (-13.1%)

Okay, if even Joss Whedon's name can't sell more than 6,000, it's time for a serious rethink here. They'd genuinely be better off putting all this material on their website for free, I suspect.


210. MARVEL ADVENTURES: FANTASTIC FOUR
May 05 Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #0 - 9,723
Jun 05 Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #1 - 9,617 ( -1.1%)
Jul 05 Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #2 - 6,864 (-28.6%)
Aug 05 Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #3 - 6,447 ( -6.1%)
Sep 05 Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #4 - 6,064 ( -5.9%)
Oct 05 Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #5 - 5,969 ( -1.6%)
Nov 05 Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #6 - 5,522 ( -7.5%)
Dec 05 Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #7 - 5,058 ( -8.4%)
Jan 06 Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #8 - 4,834 ( -4.4%)
Feb 06 Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #9 - 4,711 ( -2.5%)
6 mnth (-26.9%)

Aimed at the digest readers.


252. MARVEL MILESTONES
Feb 06 Dragon Lord, Speedball & Man in the Sky - 2,605

A particularly baffling selection this month. "Man in the Sky" is the first Marvel mutant story from AMAZING ADULT FANTASY #14, but I've no idea why we've got a reprint of Dragon Lord's debut from MARVEL SPOTLIGHT #5. And judging from the sales, neither have the retailers.


Skip months
===========

ULTIMATES
Feb 02 Ultimates #2 - 107,342
Feb 03 Ultimates #9 - 101,490
======
Feb 05 Ultimates 2 #3 - 108,378 ( -5.7%)
Mar 05 Ultimates 2 #4 - 105,255 ( -2.9%)
Apr 05 Ultimates 2 #5 - 104,971 ( -0.3%)
May 05 Ultimates 2 #6 - 102,026 ( -2.8%)
Jun 05 n/a
Jul 05 Ultimates 2 #7 - 99,134 ( -2.8%)
Aug 05 n/a
Sep 05 Ultimates 2 #8 - 95,980 ( -3.2%)
Oct 05 n/a
Nov 05 n/a
Dec 05 Ultimates 2 #9 - 94,493 ( -1.5%)
Jan 06 n/a
Feb 06 n/a

Late.


FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN
Oct 05 Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #1 - 100,430
Nov 05 Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #2 - 82,988 (-17.4%)
Dec 05 Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #3 - 81,309 ( -2.0%)
Jan 06 Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #4 - 78,672 ( -3.2%)
Feb 06 n/a

Late.


IRON MAN
Feb 02 Iron Man #51 - 37,526
Feb 03 Iron Man #65 - 32,600
Feb 04 Iron Man #77 - 29,748
======
Feb 05 n/a
Mar 05 n/a
Apr 05 Iron Man #3 - 51,390 ( -6.7%)
May 05 n/a
Jun 05 n/a
Jul 05 n/a
Aug 05 Iron Man #4 - 48,403 ( -5.8%)
Sep 05 n/a
Oct 05 n/a
Nov 05 n/a
Dec 05 n/a
Jan 06 Iron Man #5 - 45,243 ( -6.5%)
Feb 06 n/a

Late.


DAREDEVIL: FATHER
Feb 05 n/a
Mar 05 n/a
Apr 05 n/a
May 05 n/a
Jun 05 n/a
Jul 05 n/a
Aug 05 Father #2 (of 5) - 39,745 (-42.8%)
Sep 05 Father #3 (of 5) - 37,571 ( -5.5%)
Oct 05 n/a
Nov 05 Father #4 (of 5) - 33,562 (-10.7%)
Dec 05 Father #5 (of 6) - 30,249 ( -9.9%)
Jan 06 n/a
Feb 06 n/a

Late.


NEXTWAVE
Jan 06 Nextwave #1 - 31,715
Feb 06 n/a

Late - although it ships in the last week of the month, so it only takes one week and it misses the chart. Issue #1 picks up 3,170 re-orders to chart at number 237, which brings the total to the number shown above. But Warren Ellis points out that according to the numbers he was given by Marvel, the initial orders for issue #1 were 37,000 and re-orders took it over the 40,000 mark.

It's possible, of course, that ICV2 are simply getting their estimates wrong - although in that case, you'd have to explain how they can possibly have that sort of margin of error and still be creating such consistent trends. And for what it's worth, Newsarama's figures are more or less the same.

The other explanation, which is rather more likely, is that the missing copies are going to Europe. Sales outside North America don't register at all on this chart, and that includes sales to Diamond UK. Back in the days when there were separate UK charts, they were often wildly at odds with the American ones. NEXTWAVE may simply be a much bigger hit in the UK than it is in America.


PULSE
Feb 02 Alias #6 - 34,385
Feb 03 Alias #19 - 26,583
Feb 04 Pulse #1 - 51,130
======
Feb 05 n/a
Mar 05 Pulse #8 - 33,367 ( -4.1%)
Apr 05 n/a
May 05 n/a
Jun 05 Pulse #9 - 32,771 ( -1.8%)
Jul 05 Pulse #10 - 56,628 (+72.8%)
Aug 05 n/a
Sep 05 Pulse #11 - 34,919 (-38.3%)
Oct 05 n/a
Nov 05 Pulse #12 - 30,418 (-12.9%)
Dec 05 n/a
Jan 06 Pulse #13 - 27,671 ( -9.0%)
Feb 06 n/a

Bimonthly, and axed with issue #14.


BOOKS OF DOOM
Nov 05 Books of Doom #1 (of 6) - 34,413
Dec 05 Books of Doom #2 (of 6) - 27,767 (-19.3%)
Jan 06 Books of Doom #3 (of 6) - 25,157 ( -9.4%)
Feb 06 n/a

Late.


DAUGHTERS OF THE DRAGON
Jan 06 Daughters of the Dragon #1 (of 6) - 17,522
Feb 06 n/a

Late.


SPIDER-MAN UNLIMITED
Feb 05 n/a
Mar 05 Spider-Man Unlimited #8 - 17,640 ( -3.7%)
Apr 05 n/a
May 05 Spider-Man Unlimited #9 - 16,953 ( -3.9%)
Jun 05 n/a
Jul 05 Spider-Man Unlimited #10 - 16,104 ( -5.0%)
Aug 05 n/a
Sep 05 Spider-Man Unlimited #11 - 15,684 ( -2.6%)
Oct 05 n/a
Nov 05 Spider-Man Unlimited #12 - 15,150 ( -3.4%)
Dec 05 n/a
Jan 06 Spider-Man Unlimited #13 - 13,780 ( -9.0%)
Feb 06 n/a

Bimonthly.


AMAZING FANTASY
Feb 05 n/a
Mar 05 n/a
Apr 05 Amazing Fantasy #7 - 21,802 ( -8.9%)
May 05 Amazing Fantasy #8 - 17,773 (-18.5%)
Jun 05 Amazing Fantasy #9 - 15,606 (-12.2%)
Jul 05 Amazing Fantasy #10 - 14,729 ( -5.6%)
Aug 05 Amazing Fantasy #11 - 12,788 (-13.2%)
Sep 05 Amazing Fantasy #12 - 11,983 ( -6.3%)
Oct 05 Amazing Fantasy #13 - 11,973 ( -0.0%)
Oct 05 Amazing Fantasy #14 - 11,623 ( -2.9%)
Nov 05 Amazing Fantasy #15 - 13,958 (+20.1%)
Dec 05 Amazing Fantasy #16 - 11,816 (-15.3%)
Jan 06 Amazing Fantasy #17 - 10,517 (-11.0%)
Feb 06 n/a

Cancelled with issue #20.


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

+25.5% - Amazing Spider-Man
+21.6% - Sensational Spider-Man / Marvel Knights Spider-Man
+14.3% - Daredevil
+ 6.5% - X-Men Unlimited
+ 4.4% - Astonishing X-Men
+ 0.1% - X-Men
- 2.4% - Exiles
- 2.9% - Captain America
- 4.2% - New X-Men
- 4.4% - X-Men: The End
- 4.5% - Wolverine
- 4.6% - Ultimate X-Men
- 5.4% - Ultimate Spider-Man
- 5.4% - Ultimate Fantastic Four
- 7.4% - Punisher
- 9.4% - Cable & Deadpool
- 9.5% - Spider-Girl
- 9.8% - Uncanny X-Men
-10.2% - Runaways
-12.3% - Marvel Team-Up
-14.2% - Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe
-16.7% - Fantastic Four
-17.6% - New Avengers
-17.7% - Powers
-18.0% - Young Avengers
-20.3% - Marvel Adventures Spider-Man
-22.4% - Marvel Knights 4
-26.2% - Incredible Hulk
-26.9% - Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four
-35.9% - New Thunderbolts
-39.3% - Black Panther


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

+20.1% - Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe
+17.2% - She-Hulk
+15.1% - Amazing Spider-Man
+12.3% - New X-Men
+ 3.8% - Ultimate Galactus Trilogy
+ 2.0% - Exiles
- 2.3% - Sensational Spider-Man / Marvel Knights Spider-Man
- 2.9% - Daredevil
- 6.5% - X-Men Unlimited
- 6.8% - Fantastic Four
- 8.2% - Astonishing X-Men
- 8.2% - Ultimate Fantastic Four
- 9.2% - X-Men
- 9.6% - Cable & Deadpool
- 9.9% - Captain America
-11.1% - Uncanny X-Men
-11.4% - Punisher
-12.3% - Incredible Hulk
-12.6% - Powers
-13.1% - Wolverine
-15.6% - Ultimate X-Men
-17.6% - Ultimate Spider-Man
-17.7% - Spider-Girl
-18.4% - New Avengers
-19.2% - New Thunderbolts
-29.5% - Black Widow
-30.6% - Marvel Knights 4
-30.9% - Marvel Team-Up
-43.6% - Runaways
-50.0% - Young Avengers
-62.7% - Black Panther


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

+106.6% - New Avengers / Avengers
+ 21.7% - Runaways
+ 15.1% - New X-Men
+ 9.2% - Captain America
+ 7.6% - Amazing Spider-Man
+ 3.7% - Wolverine
- 2.9% - Daredevil
- 8.4% - Uncanny X-Men
- 11.2% - Exiles
- 12.2% - Fantastic Four
- 17.7% - Incredible Hulk
- 18.3% - Spider-Girl
- 22.8% - Ultimate Spider-Man
- 25.3% - Ultimate X-Men
- 26.1% - Punisher
- 32.9% - X-Men
- 38.1% - Ultimate Fantastic Four
- 52.1% - X-Men Unlimited
- 65.8% - Marvel Knights 4


Paul O'Brien

 

[DBM]

It's always amazing to see how little progress ever get's made with comics. A decline in sales in a comic is pretty much expected across the board.

 

[iloveclones]

It's always amazing to see how little progress ever get's made with comics. A decline in sales in a comic is pretty much expected across the board.

Sad, but true. It seems like the model is: shake things up (new artist/writer, shocking development, start at #1), and hope that the sales will go up enough that the slide will be slow enough to sustain the title until the next shake-up.

I can think of very few occasions where the title has actually grown over time. Amazing did this after JMS came on board. Most people assume that it jumped immediately to where it is now(or was about a year ago), but it really didn't. About half of it's sales-growth took about 14 issues. But, that seems to be the exception. Which is why Thing (and my favorite, MTU) will soon be heading to the chopping block, despite being pretty solid books. Unless, of course, somebody dies.

 

[iloveclones]

26. YOUNG AVENGERS
Feb 05 Young Avengers #1 - 112,803
Mar 05 Young Avengers #2 - 79,952 (-29.1%)
Apr 05 Young Avengers #3 - 75,015 ( -6.2%)
May 05 Young Avengers #4 - 69,925 ( -6.8%)
Jun 05 Young Avengers #5 - 69,956 ( +0.0%)
Jul 05 n/a
Aug 05 Young Avengers #6 - 68,733 ( -1.7%)
Sep 05 Young Avengers #7 - 67,036 ( -2.5%)
Oct 05 Young Avengers #8 - 63,873 ( -4.7%)
Nov 05 Young Avengers #9 - 63,213 ( -1.0%)
Dec 05 n/a
Jan 06 n/a
Feb 06 Young Avengers #10 - 56,347 (-10.9%)
6 mnth (-18.0%)
1 year (-50.0%)

Hmm. All is not well.

For one thing, that's a surprisingly big drop from the last issue. Perhaps the delays are starting to take their toll on the book. Also, the title is now scheduled to go on hiatus after issue #12 - an interesting creative decision, given that issue #10 was solicited as part 2 of 6, meaning that the storyline was supposed to run to issue #14. It's now been cut back to a four-parter, but we've clearly deviated from the original plan.

According to Joe Quesada, the delay is due to writer Allan Heinberg's "other commitments." One of those "other commitments", of course, is Heinberg's upcoming monthly run on DC's WONDER WOMAN. No doubt there's an excellent reason why WONDER WOMAN should take priority over completing this book on the advertised schedule, although I have no earthly idea what it might be.

Unacceptable. I don't mind JQ being accommadating (and with Kevin Smith he took it to a ridiculous level), but he is running a business. Young Avengers is one of the titles that fans really like and are actually buying. If Heinberg can't do it, get a fill in. I don't mind the wait, but it's clear that they are shedding readers. And once you've lost them, good luck getting them back.

 

[DBM]

Continued from this thread

DBM, recently I've been going round and round on this subject of advertising, and Marvel's seemingly misplacement of ad money. I'm not a business type person, and would like to hear your thoughts on the subject (you can move the discussion over to the Business thread if you want.)

Can you give me an example of what you're talking about?

 

[iloveclones]

Sure. I keep hearing this thought bandied about that Marvel doesn't advertise certain titles enough (Spider-Girl, MTU, Thing), while they give too much to others (New Avengers, Howling Commandos-hard for me to disagree with that one). While I don't think that a good ad campaign can hurt, I don't think it's the magic bullet that most fans want it to be. I read Joey Q mention that advertising really only works on the high end, not the low end (I'm paraphrasing). In other words, some ads placed about Civil War can mean a couple 10K in sales, where it might bump MTU from 20K to 23K. Just wanted a more business-type perspective on the issue.

 

[iloveclones]

April Sales ptI

MARVEL SALES
APRIL 2006
============


The busiest month for Marvel in quite some time, as a range of new
projects hit the shelves. The logic, presumably, is that CIVIL WAR
starts in May, so they've got a better chance in April. So say hello to
all four of the ANNIHILATION miniseries, plus new ongoing titles
WOLVERINE: ORIGINS and MOON KNIGHT. Civil War crossovers are already
appearing in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN and FANTASTIC FOUR, and the build-up to
the alleged "wedding of the century" continues in BLACK PANTHER and the
STORM miniseries. On top of that, there's a NEW AVENGERS annual and,
way off on the margins, a POWER PACK/AVENGERS miniseries.


Once again, with INFINITE CRISIS out of the way, Marvel comfortably take
the lead in the charts. They beat DC 38.4% to 34.9% in dollar share,
and 43.9% to 36.1% in unit share. And next month, CIVIL WAR comes along
to tilt matters even further in Marvel's direction - although four
issues of 52 may complicate matters.


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


2. WOLVERINE: ORIGINS
Apr 06 Wolverine: Origins #1 - 150,283


A very strong debut for WOLVERINE: ORIGINS. Marvel's purpose in
creating this series is a little obscure. The official line is that
they wanted to do a Civil War crossover with the ongoing WOLVERINE
title, so they set up this title to continue Daniel Way's storyline. But
if that was the only problem, they'd have taken the simpler route and
published a CIVIL WAR: WOLVERINE miniseries. Really, it seems more like
Marvel are seizing the opportunity to get some more Wolverine on the
shelves.


Considering that sales on WOLVERINE have been unspectcular during the
Daniel Way period, this has to rate as an extremely impressive start. Of
course, it also benefits from a variant cover by Michael Turner. Issue
#2 will have a variant cover by Bryan Hitch, and issue #3 has a variant
by Simone Bianchi. So it's going to be a little time before we find out
what this book can do without stunts. But then, people said that about
NEW AVENGERS, and in the long run its sales have held up nicely.


3. NEW AVENGERS
Apr 01 Avengers #41 - 62,532
Apr 02 Avengers #53 - 53,828
Apr 03 Avengers #66 - 58,312
Apr 04 Avengers #81 - 54,987
======
Apr 05 New Avengers #5 - 168,556 ( +6.5%)
May 05 n/a
Jun 05 New Avengers #6 - 164,592 ( -2.4%)
Jul 05 New Avengers #7 - 158,693 ( -3.6%)
Aug 05 New Avengers #8 - 156,037 ( -1.7%)
Aug 05 New Avengers #9 - 147,501 ( -5.5%)
Sep 05 New Avengers #10 - 143,014 ( -3.0%)
Sep 05 New Avengers #11 - 134,125 ( -6.2%)
Oct 05 New Avengers #12 - 130,110 ( -3.0%)
Nov 05 New Avengers #13 - 126,148 ( -3.0%)
Dec 05 New Avengers #14 - 126,583 ( +0.3%)
Jan 06 New Avengers #15 - 124,143 ( -1.9%)
Feb 06 New Avengers #16 - 124,256 ( +0.1%)
Mar 06 New Avengers #17 - 122,847 ( -1.1%)
Apr 06 New Avengers #18 - 121,550 ( -1.1%)
6 mnth ( -6.6%)
1 year ( -27.9%)
2 year (+121.1%)
3 year (+108.4%)


Despite the post-variants drop-off, NEW AVENGERS continues to sell in
very healthy quantities. Issue #17 ships 1,749 reorders to chart at
number 285. As always, those are included in the number above.
Frequently 1,749 wouldn't be enough to make the charts - April, however,
was pretty quiet overall, with the number 300 comic selling only 1,421.
In March it was almost double that.


4. ASTONISHING X-MEN
Apr 05 n/a
May 05 Astonishing X-Men #10 - 156,298 (+15.5%)
Jun 05 n/a
Jul 05 Astonishing X-Men #11 - 127,768 (-18.3%)
Aug 05 Astonishing X-Men #12 - 134,693 ( +5.4%)
Sep 05 n/a
Oct 05 n/a
Nov 05 n/a
Dec 05 n/a
Jan 06 n/a
Feb 06 Astonishing X-Men #13 - 147,119 ( +9.2%)
Mar 06 n/a
Apr 06 Astonishing X-Men #14 - 119,545 (-18.7%)
6 mnth ( n/a )
1 year (-23.5%)


No, it's not running late - ASTONISHING X-MEN is on a bimonthly schedule
after returning from its hiatus. In part, this is a kind of
second-issue drop, but it's also significant that issue #13 had a
variant and this one doesn't. ASTONISHING figures waver all over the
place depending on the scattershot application of variant covers, and
this isn't an enormous number by the standards the book has reached in
the past, but it's still miles ahead of the rest of the X-books.


6. MOON KNIGHT
Apr 06 Moon Knight #1 - 103,670


You see what happens when you promote a new launch properly? And there
was me thinking Marvel had forgotten how. Moon Knight has been a C-list
hero for years, so Marvel can take justifiable pride in shifting over
100K of his first issue. A large part of the credit, of course, has to
go to artist David Finch, who seems to be a significant sales draw on
his own. There's also - say it with me, now - a variant cover. Still,
a very good start for a Moon Knight series, and the reaction seems to be
generally positive.


7. NEW AVENGERS ANNUAL
Apr 06 New Avengers Annual #1 - 101,877


Not too far behind the parent book, which is about what you'd expect.
The main point of interest here is the wedding of Luke Cage and Jessica
Jones, although that's actually an epilogue to a big fight with the new
Super-Adaptoid. (And in fairness, the solicitation text reflects that.)


8. AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
Apr 01 Amazing Spider-Man #30 - 71,392
Apr 02 Amazing Spider-Man #40 - 99,273
Apr 03 Amazing Spider-Man #52 - 96,624
Apr 04 Amazing Spider-Man #506 - 83,152
======
Apr 05 Amazing Spider-Man #519 - 79,668 ( +3.4%)
May 05 Amazing Spider-Man #520 - 76,143 ( -4.4%)
Jun 05 Amazing Spider-Man #521 - 74,117 ( -2.7%)
Jul 05 Amazing Spider-Man #522 - 73,130 ( -1.3%)
Aug 05 Amazing Spider-Man #523 - 72,046 ( -1.5%)
Sep 05 Amazing Spider-Man #524 - 71,065 ( -1.4%)
Oct 05 Amazing Spider-Man #525 - 91,707 (+29.0%)
Nov 05 Amazing Spider-Man #526 - 90,343 ( -1.5%)
Dec 05 Amazing Spider-Man #527 - 89,922 ( -0.5%)
Jan 06 Amazing Spider-Man #528 - 97,807 ( -8.8%)
Feb 06 Amazing Spider-Man #529 - 126,951 (+29.8%)
Mar 06 Amazing Spider-Man #530 - 96,376 (-24.1%)
Apr 06 Amazing Spider-Man #531 - 86,884 ( -9.8%)
6 mnth ( -5.3%)
1 year ( +9.1%)
2 year ( +4.5%)
3 year (-10.1%)


Issue #529, featuring the debut of the Iron Spider costume, goes into a
third printing with - altogether now - a variant cover, and shifts a
further 14,053 copies. Issue #530 also picks up a respectable quantity
of re-orders to chart at number 194 with 6,502 extra sales. And issues
#529-531 are all Civil War tie-ins - as are the next several months - so
not surprisingly, the book continues to perform above its normal,
pre-Other levels. Despite the constant re-orders on issue #529, my
inclination is to credit the recent high sales to the Civil War
crossover rather than the new crossover, since that would be consistent
with the sales boost on FANTASTIC FOUR.


11. UNCANNY X-MEN
Apr 01 Uncanny X-Men #393 - 97,780
Apr 02 Uncanny X-Men #405 - 93,909
Apr 03 Uncanny X-Men #421 - 86,503
Apr 04 Uncanny X-Men #442 - 86,975
======
Apr 05 Uncanny X-Men #458 - 85,299 ( -1.2%)
May 05 Uncanny X-Men #459 - 83,547 ( -2.1%)
Jun 05 Uncanny X-Men #460 - 82,457 ( -1.3%)
Jun 05 Uncanny X-Men #461 - 91,221 (+10.6%)
Jul 05 Uncanny X-Men #462 - 91,125 ( -0.1%)
Aug 05 Uncanny X-Men #463 - 87,610 ( -3.9%)
Sep 05 Uncanny X-Men #464 - 85,885 ( -2.0%)
Oct 05 Uncanny X-Men #465 - 84,271 ( -1.9%)
Nov 05 Uncanny X-Men #466 - 82,825 ( -1.7%)
Dec 05 Uncanny X-Men #467 - 81,282 ( -1.9%)
Jan 06 Uncanny X-Men #468 - 79,808 ( -1.8%)
Feb 06 Uncanny X-Men #469 - 79,039 ( -1.0%)
Mar 06 Uncanny X-Men #470 - 79,389 ( +0.4%)
Mar 06 Uncanny X-Men #471 - 78,286 ( -1.4%)
Apr 06 Uncanny X-Men #472 - 79,157 ( +1.1%)
6 mnth ( -6.1%)
1 year ( -7.2%)
2 year ( -9.0%)
3 year ( -8.5%)


Stable over the last few months. A new creative team is just around the
corner.


12. X-MEN
Apr 01 X-Men #113 - 95,696
Apr 02 New X-Men #125 - 104,185
Apr 03 New X-Men #139 - 95,981
Apr 04 New X-Men #155 - 100,088
======
Apr 05 X-Men #169 - 82,793 ( -1.4%)
May 05 X-Men #170 - 81,048 ( -2.1%)
Jun 05 X-Men #171 - 80,307 ( -0.9%)
Jun 05 X-Men #172 - 78,889 ( -1.8%)
Jul 05 X-Men #173 - 77,154 ( -2.2%)
Aug 05 X-Men #174 - 76,342 ( -1.1%)
Sep 05 X-Men #175 - 76,555 ( +0.3%)
Oct 05 X-Men #176 - 74,635 ( -2.5%)
Nov 05 X-Men #177 - 78,405 ( +5.1%)
Nov 05 X-Men #178 - 76,195 ( -2.8%)
Dec 05 X-Men #179 - 77,189 ( +1.3%)
Dec 05 X-Men #180 - 75,559 ( -2.1%)
Jan 06 X-Men #181 - 74,094 ( -1.9%)
Feb 06 X-Men #182 - 78,653 ( +6.2%)
Feb 06 X-Men #183 - 79,477 ( +1.0%)
Mar 06 X-Men #184 - 79,480 ( +0.0%)
Apr 06 X-Men #185 - 78,815 ( -0.8%)
6 mnth ( +5.6%)
1 year ( -4.8%)
2 year (-21.3%)
3 year (-17.9%)


Again, solid sales during the current Apocalypse storyline, although
like UNCANNY, it's done far better in the past. Issue #184 picks up
reorders of 1,480 to chart at number 298; without taking those into
account, the April issue would have been a marginal climber.


15. ULTIMATE X-MEN
Apr 01 Ultimate X-Men #5 - 101,270
Apr 02 Ultimate X-Men #17 - 95,887
Apr 03 Ultimate X-Men #32 - 90,484
Apr 04 Ultimate X-Men #44 - 96,264
======
Apr 05 Ultimate X-Men #58 - 82,606 ( -1.5%)
May 05 Ultimate X-Men #59 - 81,321 ( -1.6%)
Jun 05 Ultimate X-Men #60 - 78,613 ( -3.3%)
Jul 05 Ultimate X-Men #61 - 87,094 (+10.8%)
Aug 05 Ultimate X-Men #62 - 76,229 (-12.5%)
Sep 05 Ultimate X-Men #63 - 74,760 ( -1.9%)
Oct 05 Ultimate X-Men #64 - 75,118 ( +0.5%)
Nov 05 Ultimate X-Men #65 - 74,264 ( -1.1%)
Dec 05 n/a
Jan 06 Ultimate X-Men #66 - 73,720 ( -0.7%)
Feb 06 Ultimate X-Men #67 - 72,700 ( -1.4%)
Mar 06 Ultimate X-Men #68 - 72,765 ( +0.1%)
Apr 06 Ultimate X-Men #69 - 73,188 ( +0.6%)
6 mnth ( -2.6%)
1 year (-11.4%)
2 year (-24.0%)
3 year (-19.1%)


Robert Kirkman seems to have arrested the book's decline, perhaps in
part on the strength of his recent MARVEL ZOMBIES miniseries.


16. ULTIMATE GALACTUS TRILOGY
Apr 05 Ultimate Secret #2 (of 4) - 77,914 (-12.6%)
May 05 n/a
Jun 05 n/a
Jul 05 n/a
Aug 05 n/a
Sep 05 Ultimate Secret #3 (of 4) - 67,046 (-13.9%)
Oct 05 Ultimate Secret #4 (of 4) - 64,909 ( -3.2%)
Nov 05 n/a
Dec 05 n/a
Jan 06 Ultimate Extinction #1 (of 5) - 85,439 (+31.6%)
Feb 06 Ultimate Extinction #2 (of 5) - 75,869 (-11.2%)
Mar 06 Ultimate Extinction #3 (of 5) - 75,773 ( -0.1%)
Apr 06 Ultimate Extinction #4 (of 5) - 73,151 ( -3.5%)
6 mnth (+12.7%)
1 year ( -6.1%)


Perfectly normal miniseries numbers, as the trilogy nears its
conclusion.


18. ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN
Apr 01 Ultimate Spider-Man #8 - 78,028
Apr 02 Ultimate Spider-Man #21 - 84,485
Apr 03 Ultimate Spider-Man #39 - 103,531
Apr 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #56 - 91,585
======
Apr 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #75 - 83,940 ( +0.1%)
Apr 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #76 - 82,244 ( -2.0%)
May 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #77 - 81,034 ( -1.5%)
Jun 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #78 - 79,420 ( -2.0%)
Jul 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #79 - 78,404 ( -1.3%)
Jul 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #80 - 76,906 ( -1.9%)
Aug 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #81 - 75,572 ( -1.7%)
Sep 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #82 - 75,756 ( +0.2%)
Sep 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #83 - 75,539 ( -0.3%)
Oct 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #84 - 74,670 ( -1.2%)
Nov 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #85 - 74,264 ( -0.5%)
Nov 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #86 - 76,864 ( +3.5%)
Dec 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #87 - 74,537 ( -3.0%)
Dec 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #88 - 74,213 ( -0.4%)
Jan 06 Ultimate Spider-Man #89 - 71,935 ( -3.1%)
Feb 06 Ultimate Spider-Man #90 - 71,470 ( -0.6%)
Mar 06 Ultimate Spider-Man #91 - 74,028 ( +3.6%)
Mar 06 Ultimate Spider-Man #92 - 72,269 ( -2.4%)
Apr 06 Ultimate Spider-Man #93 - 72,831 ( +0.8%)
6 mnth ( -2.5%)
1 year (-13.2%)
2 year (-20.5%)
3 year (-29.7%)


Nudging slightly up, presumably on the strength of an appearance by the
X-Men.


19. WOLVERINE
Apr 01 Wolverine #163 - 67,457
Apr 02 Wolverine #175 - 75,528
Apr 03 Wolverine #189 - 61,282
Apr 04 Wolverine #13 - 71,060
======
Apr 05 Wolverine #27 - 101,228 ( -6.9%)
May 05 Wolverine #28 - 80,961 (-20.0%)
Jun 05 Wolverine #29 - 79,951 ( -1.2%)
Jul 05 Wolverine #30 - 76,651 ( -4.1%)
Aug 05 Wolverine #31 - 75,618 ( -1.3%)
Sep 05 Wolverine #32 - 89,026 (+17.7%)
Sep 05 Wolverine #33 - 78,508 (-11.8%)
Oct 05 Wolverine #34 - 75,664 ( -3.6%)
Oct 05 Wolverine #35 - 73,684 ( -2.6%)
Nov 05 Wolverine #36 - 94,355 (+28.1%)
Dec 05 Wolverine #37 - 73,866 (-21.7%)
Jan 06 Wolverine #38 - 73,815 ( -0.0%)
Feb 06 Wolverine #39 - 75,285 ( +2.0%)
Mar 06 Wolverine #40 - 77,627 ( +3.1%)
Apr 06 Wolverine #41 - 70,965 ( -8.6%)
6 mnth ( -3.7%)
1 year (-29.9%)
2 year ( -0.1%)
3 year (+15.8%)


A fill-in story between the Daniel Way run and the Civil War crossover,
so the sales drop is only to be expected. Issue #40, which was Way's
final issue, picks up re-orders of 2,070.


20. ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR
Apr 04 Ultimate Fantastic Four #5 - 102,648
======
Apr 05 Ultimate Fantastic Four #17 - 72,207 ( -2.4%)
May 05 Ultimate Fantastic Four #18 - 71,478 ( -1.0%)
Jun 05 Ultimate Fantastic Four #19 - 70,300 ( -1.6%)
Jun 05 Ultimate Fantastic Four #20 - 69,097 ( -1.7%)
Jul 05 Ultimate Fantastic Four #21 - 91,321 (+32.2%)
Aug 05 Ultimate Fantastic Four #22 - 71,767 (-21.4%)
Sep 05 Ultimate Fantastic Four #23 - 71,494 ( -0.4%)
Oct 05 Ultimate Fantastic Four #24 - 70,549 ( -1.3%)
Nov 05 Ultimate Fantastic Four #25 - 70,032 ( -0.7%)
Dec 05 Ultimate Fantastic Four #26 - 69,689 ( -0.5%)
Jan 06 n/a
Feb 06 Ultimate Fantastic Four #27 - 67,922 ( -2.5%)
Mar 06 Ultimate Fantastic Four #28 - 67,480 ( -0.7%)
Apr 06 Ultimate Fantastic Four #29 - 67,554 ( +0.1%)
6 mnth ( -4.2%)
1 year ( -6.4%)
2 year (-34.2%)


Holding level.


22. FANTASTIC FOUR
Apr 01 Fantastic Four #42 - 48,996
Apr 02 Fantastic Four #54 - 44,808
Apr 03 Fantastic Four #68 - 51,405
Apr 04 Fantastic Four #512 - 52,953
======
Apr 05 Fantastic Four #525 - 45,561 ( -2.4%)
May 05 Fantastic Four #526 - 44,935 ( -1.4%)
May 05 Fantastic Four #527 - 75,525 (+68.1%)
Jun 05 Fantastic Four #528 - 55,937 (-25.9%)
Jul 05 Fantastic Four #529 - 52,963 ( -5.3%)
Aug 05 Fantastic Four #530 - 51,782 ( -2.2%)
Sep 05 Fantastic Four #531 - 49,745 ( -3.9%)
Oct 05 n/a
Nov 05 Fantastic Four #532 - 47,771 ( -4.0%)
Dec 05 Fantastic Four #533 - 46,751 ( -2.1%)
Jan 05 n/a
Feb 06 Fantastic Four #534 - 44,573 ( -4.7%)
Feb 06 Fantastic Four #535 - 43,124 ( -3.3%)
Mar 06 Fantastic Four #536 - 60,999 (+41.5%)
Apr 06 Fantastic Four #537 - 62,940 ( +3.2%)
6 mnth (+31.8%)
1 year (+38.1%)
2 year (+18.9%)
3 year (+22.4%)


Issues #536 and #537 are Civil War crossovers, on top of which they're
teasing the return of Thor. Sales duly go through the roof, which has
to be great news for next month's Civil War tie-ins. Issue #536 picks
up a healthy 3,054 re-orders to chart at number 242.


24. YOUNG AVENGERS
Apr 05 Young Avengers #3 - 75,015 ( -6.2%)
May 05 Young Avengers #4 - 69,925 ( -6.8%)
Jun 05 Young Avengers #5 - 69,956 ( +0.0%)
Jul 05 n/a
Aug 05 Young Avengers #6 - 68,733 ( -1.7%)
Sep 05 Young Avengers #7 - 67,036 ( -2.5%)
Oct 05 Young Avengers #8 - 63,873 ( -4.7%)
Nov 05 Young Avengers #9 - 63,213 ( -1.0%)
Dec 05 n/a
Jan 06 n/a
Feb 06 Young Avengers #10 - 56,347 (-10.9%)
Mar 06 n/a
Apr 06 Young Avengers #11 - 56,613 ( +0.5%)
6 mnth (-11.4%)
1 year (-24.5%)


Holding steady after last issue's alarming drop-off, but it does seem
that the erratic schedule has taken its toll slightly. It took the book
five months to drop from 70K to 63K, and then only one month to drop
from 63K to 56K? In mid-storyline? That's a worrying sign.


26. FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN
Oct 05 Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #1 - 100,430
Nov 05 Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #2 - 82,988 (-17.4%)
Dec 05 Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #3 - 81,309 ( -2.0%)
Jan 06 Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #4 - 78,672 ( -3.2%)
Feb 06 n/a
Mar 06 Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #5 - 59,900 (-23.9%)
Mar 06 Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #6 - 58,853 ( -1.7%)
Apr 06 Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #7 - 55,381 ( -5.9%)
6 mnth (-44.9%)


Business as usual, from the looks of it.


28. MARVEL ZOMBIES
Dec 05 Marvel Zombies #1 (of 5) - 71,332
Jan 06 Marvel Zombies #2 (of 5) - 55,197 (-22.6%)
Feb 06 Marvel Zombies #3 (of 5) - 59,932 ( +8.6%)
Mar 06 Marvel Zombies #4 (of 5) - 60,399 ( +0.8%)
Apr 06 Marvel Zombies #5 (of 5) - 52,961 (-12.3%)


Once again, MARVEL ZOMBIES continues to sell more copies of its earlier
issues. The second printing of issue #4 hits the shelves, and sells
16,087 to chart at 122. There are also re-orders of issues #2 (3,827)
and #3 (3,236). All of that's shown above, which makes April's final
issue look like it's dropped. In fact, it's a big climber from the
first-month sales of issue #4, and no doubt it'll continue to sell in
the next few months. This has been an unexpected sleeper hit of the
sort that we very rarely see.

 

[Darthphere]

Alright, lets punch some numbers.

 

[iloveclones]

part II

30. SENSATIONAL SPIDER-MAN
Apr 04 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #1 - 137,314
======
Apr 05 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #13 - 60,542 ( +0.9%)
May 05 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #14 - 57,270 ( -5.4%)
Jun 05 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #15 - 54,102 ( -5.5%)
Jul 05 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #16 - 50,876 ( -6.0%)
Aug 05 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #17 - 48,555 ( -4.6%)
Sep 05 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #18 - 47,654 ( -1.9%)
Oct 05 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #19 - 75,461 (+58.4%)
Nov 05 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #20 - 73,262 ( -2.9%)
Dec 05 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #21 - 76,763 ( +4.8%)
Jan 06 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #22 - 74,923 ( -2.4%)
Feb 06 Sensational Spider-Man #23 - 59,051 (-21.2%)
Mar 06 Sensational Spider-Man #24 - 53,910 ( -8.7%)
Apr 06 Sensational Spider-Man #25 - 51,992 ( -3.6%)
6 mnth (-31.1%)
1 year (-14.1%)
2 year (-62.1%)


Still dropping back towards its normal levels after the "Other"
crossover.


31. SQUADRON SUPREME
Apr 04 Supreme Power #9 - 64,284
======
Apr 05 Supreme Power #16 - 55,068 ( -0.8%)
May 05 n/a
Jun 05 Supreme Power #17 - 52,288 ( -5.0%)
Jul 05 n/a
Aug 05 Supreme Power #18 - 50,594 ( -3.2%)
Sep 05 n/a
Oct 05 n/a
Nov 05 n/a
Dec 05 n/a
Jan 06 n/a
Feb 06 n/a
Mar 06 Squadron Supreme #1 - 61,625 (+21.8%)
Apr 06 Squadron Supreme #2 - 51,197 (-16.9%)
6 mnth ( n/a )
1 year ( -7.0%)
2 year (-20.4%)


Issue #1 ships another 1,946 in re-orders. But the bigger story is that
April's number crashes straight back to the level of the Max book from
the end of its run. The stated aim of this relaunch was to expose the
book to a wider audience by making it all-ages, enable Marvel to promote
it more enthusiastically (which was duly done), and thereby boost sales.
It appears to have failed.


32. X-MEN: THE 198
Jan 06 The 198 #1 (of 5) - 68,698
Feb 06 The 198 #2 (of 5) - 58,540 (-14.8%)
Mar 06 The 198 #3 (of 5) - 53,882 ( -8.0%)
Apr 06 The 198 #4 (of 5) - 50,038 ( -7.1%)


Holding up quite well.


33. IRON MAN
Apr 01 Iron Man #41 - 36,482
Apr 02 Iron Man #53 - 37,636
Apr 03 Iron Man #67 - 32,479
Apr 04 Iron Man #79 - 29,138
======
Apr 05 Iron Man #3 - 51,390 ( -6.7%)
May 05 n/a
Jun 05 n/a
Jul 05 n/a
Aug 05 Iron Man #4 - 48,403 ( -5.8%)
Sep 05 n/a
Oct 05 n/a
Nov 05 n/a
Dec 05 n/a
Jan 06 Iron Man #5 - 45,243 ( -6.5%)
Feb 06 n/a
Mar 06 Iron Man #6 - 40,264 (-11.0%)
Apr 06 Iron Man #7 - 49,404 (+22.7%)
6 mnth ( n/a )
1 year ( -3.9%)
2 year (+69.6%)
3 year (+52.1%)


A remarkably large jump, considering that the new creative team on this
book are the writers of the not-exactly-mainstream CARNIVALE and the
artist from CABLE & DEADPOOL. But wait! What's this? Why, there's a
Bryan Hitch variant cover as well, on a 1-in-15 ratio, which distorts
the numbers. Still a very solid debut, though, even allowing for that
factor.


35. ANNIHILATION: SILVER SURFER
Apr 04 Silver Surfer #8 - 25,542
======
Apr 06 Silver Surfer #1 (of 4) - 49,120


The first of the four ANNIHILATION lead-in miniseries. Not surprisingly,
the Silver Surfer gets the best sales, since he's far and away the
biggest star. It's a big improvement from two years ago, when the
Surfer was appearing in a swiftly cancelled and horrendously pretentious
ongoing series.


36. SON OF M
Dec 05 Son of M #1 (of 6) - 62,254
Jan 06 Son of M #2 (of 6) - 52,704 (-15.3%)
Feb 06 Son of M #3 (of 6) - 52,227 ( -0.9%)
Mar 06 Son of M #4 (of 6) - 49,973 ( -4.3%)
Apr 06 Son of M #5 (of 6) - 48,785 ( -2.4%)


Again, the Decimation tie-in miniseries performs very solidly.


37. DAREDEVIL
Apr 01 Daredevil #17 - 59,122
Apr 02 Daredevil #32 - 47,576
Apr 03 Daredevil #46 - 60,517
Apr 04 Daredevil #59 - 54,398
======
Apr 05 Daredevil #72 - 48,803 ( -1.8%)
May 05 Daredevil #73 - 48,681 ( -0.2%)
Jun 05 Daredevil #74 - 48,175 ( -1.0%)
Jul 05 Daredevil #75 - 47,800 ( -0.8%)
Aug 05 Daredevil #76 - 46,424 ( -2.9%)
Sep 05 Daredevil #77 - 45,945 ( -1.0%)
Oct 05 Daredevil #78 - 45,071 ( -1.9%)
Nov 05 Daredevil #79 - 44,250 ( -1.8%)
Dec 05 Daredevil #80 - 43,309 ( -2.1%)
Jan 06 Daredevil #81 - 44,252 ( +2.2%)
Feb 06 Daredevil #82 - 53,058 (+19.9%)
Mar 06 Daredevil #83 - 46,804 (-11.8%)
Apr 06 Daredevil #84 - 47,123 ( +0.7%)
6 mnth ( +4.6%)
1 year ( -3.4%)
2 year (-13.4%)
3 year (-22.1%)


A very marginal increase, which at least shows continuing interest in Ed
Brubaker and Michael Lark's run.


39. MS MARVEL
Mar 06 Ms Marvel #1 - 73,407
Apr 06 Ms Marvel #2 - 46,204 (-37.1%)


Erk. That's an awfully big drop. But then, MS MARVEL #1 had two
variant covers by Michael Turner - one normal cover, on a 1-in-15 ratio,
and one sketch cover, on a 1-in-35 ratio. MS MARVEL #2 doesn't. The
"real" drop - from the actual readers on issue #1, rather than the
number including variant collectors - is probably much more sensible.
Nonetheless, it's a powerful illustration of the degree to which variant
covers are now distorting sales.


41. CAPTAIN AMERICA
Apr 01 Captain America #42 - 36,754
Apr 02 Captain America #1 - 90 567
Apr 03 Captain America #12 - 51,804
Apr 04 Captain America #25 - 38,584
======
Apr 05 Captain America #5 - 46,976 ( +0.7%)
May 05 Captain America #6 - 58,660 (+24.9%)
Jun 05 Captain America #7 - 47,160 (-19.6%)
Jul 05 n/a
Aug 05 Captain America #8 - 51,842 ( +9.9%)
Aug 05 Captain America #9 - 44,638 (-13.9%)
Sep 05 Captain America #10 - 52,609 (+17.9%)
Oct 05 Captain America #11 - 45,162 (-14.2%)
Nov 05 Captain America #12 - 45,038 ( -0.3%)
Dec 05 Captain America #13 - 44,954 ( -0.2%)
Jan 05 n/a
Feb 06 Captain America #14 - 44,041 ( -0.2%)
Feb 06 Captain America #15 - 43,350 ( -1.6%)
Mar 06 Captain America #16 - 44,717 ( +3.2%)
Apr 06 Captain America #17 - 45,541 ( +1.8%)
6 mnth ( +0.8%)
1 year ( -3.1%)
2 year (+18.0%)
3 year (-12.1%)


Nudging slightly up this month. In the absence of stunts and
crossovers, CAPTAIN AMERICA continues to place solidly in the mid-40K
range.


42. X-FACTOR
Dec 05 X-Factor #1 - 64,861
Dec 05 X-Factor #2 - 52,705 (-18.7%)
Jan 06 n/a
Feb 06 X-Factor #3 - 48,307 ( -8.3%)
Mar 06 X-Factor #4 - 48,183 ( -0.3%)
Mar 06 X-Factor #5 - 46,490 ( -3.5%)
Apr 06 X-Factor #6 - 45,220 ( -2.7%)


Still finding its level, but nothing to worry about.


43. INCREDIBLE HULK
Apr 01 Hulk #27 - 33,608
Apr 02 Hulk #39 - 44,517
Apr 03 Hulk #53 - 57,837
Apr 04 Hulk #71 - 46,837
======
Apr 05 Hulk #80 - 48,404 (+11.3%)
May 05 Hulk #81 - 43,822 (-10.5%)
Jun 05 Hulk #82 - 43,248 ( -1.3%)
Jul 05 Hulk #83 - 63,881 (+47.7%)
Jul 05 Hulk #84 - 58,583 ( -8.3%)
Aug 05 Hulk #85 - 53,177 ( -9.2%)
Sep 05 Hulk #86 - 52,992 ( -0.3%)
Oct 05 Hulk #87 - 42,454 (-19.9%)
Nov 05 Hulk #88 - 41,141 ( -3.1%)
Nov 05 Hulk #89 - 39,635 ( -3.7%)
Dec 05 Hulk #90 - 36,924 ( -6.8%)
Jan 06 Hulk #91 - 35,980 ( -2.6%)
Feb 06 Hulk #92 - 53,661 (+49.1%)
Mar 06 Hulk #93 - 47,437 (-11.6%)
Apr 06 Hulk #94 - 44,907 ( -5.3%)
6 mnth ( +5.8%)
1 year ( -7.2%)
2 year ( -4.1%)
3 year (-22.4%)


Issues #92 and #93 both pick up re-orders (2,012 and 3,746
respectively), which tends to support Marvel's claim that Planet Hulk is
generating real buzz. On the other hand, it's still not delivering
especially high numbers by the historical standards of this book. Mixed
signals, then.


45. X-MEN: THE END
Apr 05 Book Two #2 (of 6) - 63,005 (-11.5%)
May 05 Book Two #3 (of 6) - 58,870 ( -6.6%)
Jun 05 Book Two #4 (of 6) - 54,875 ( -6.8%)
Jul 05 Book Two #5 (of 6) - 51,949 ( -5.3%)
Aug 05 Book Two #6 (of 6) - 49,565 ( -4.6%)
Sep 05 n/a
Oct 05 n/a
Nov 05 n/a
Dec 05 n/a
Jan 06 Book Three #1 (of 6) - 52,891 ( +6.7%)
Feb 06 Book Three #2 (of 6) - 47,370 (-10.4%)
Mar 06 Book Three #3 (of 6) - 44,899 ( -5.2%)
Apr 06 Book Three #4 (of 6) - 44,586 ( -0.7%)
6 mnth ( n/a )
1 year (-29.2%)


Remaining solid as the end draws near, which tends to be the way things
go on titles like this. After all, if you've stuck with it this far,
you're not going to give up now. Fortunately, since no co-writers have
been announced, Chris Claremont presumably completed his scripts on this
book before his recent ill health.


47. ANNIHILATION: SUPER-SKRULL
Apr 06 Super-Skrull #1 (of 4) - 42,779


48. ANNIHILATION: NOVA
Apr 06 Nova #1 (of 4) - 42,458


I'd have expected NOVA to be the number two title in ANNIHILATION, but
it turns out that he's officially 321 copies less popular than the
Super-Skrull. Funny old world, isn't it? Still, good solid numbers for
the start of a miniseries.


49. NEW EXCALIBUR
Nov 05 New Excalibur #1 - 58,333
Dec 05 New Excalibur #2 - 48,816 (-16.3%)
Jan 06 New Excalibur #3 - 47,196 ( -3.3%)
Feb 06 New Excalibur #4 - 45,071 ( -4.5%)
Mar 06 New Excalibur #5 - 43,523 ( -3.4%)
Apr 06 New Excalibur #6 - 40,687 ( -6.5%)


Still dropping, and rather too quickly for comfort by this point. Writer
Chris Claremont is absent for the time being with ill health, which
can't help matters - NEW EXCALIBUR seems to exist for the purpose of
catering to the Claremont fanbase, which is a perfectly good reason to
exist, but only if you've got Chris Claremont to write it.


50. NEW X-MEN
Apr 04 New Mutants #11 - 34,148
======
Apr 05 New X-Men #12 - 35,779 ( +0.6%)
May 05 New X-Men #13 - 35,033 ( -2.1%)
May 05 New X-Men #14 - 34,579 ( -1.3%)
Jun 05 New X-Men #15 - 34,007 ( -1.7%)
Jul 05 New X-Men #16 - 49,217 (+44.7%)
Aug 05 New X-Men #17 - 43,908 (-10.8%)
Sep 05 New X-Men #18 - 43,286 ( -1.4%)
Oct 05 New X-Men #19 - 41,691 ( -3.7%)
Nov 05 New X-Men #20 - 59,466 (+42.6%)
Dec 05 New X-Men #21 - 43,473 (-26.9%)
Jan 06 New X-Men #22 - 42,923 ( -1.3%)
Feb 06 New X-Men #23 - 41,463 ( -3.4%)
Mar 06 New X-Men #24 - 42,044 ( +1.4%)
Apr 06 New X-Men #25 - 40,176 ( -4.4%)
6 mnth ( -3.6%)
1 year (+12.3%)
2 year (+17.7%)


Dropping back somewhat, but still considerably up on the book's previous
incarnations.


51. ANNIHILATION: RONAN
Apr 06 Ronan #1 (of 4) - 39,010


The straggler of ANNIHILATION, but he's not too far behind the pack. And
39K for the debut issue of a Ronan the Accuser miniseries is pretty
good, to be fair.


52. SPIDER-WOMAN: ORIGIN
Dec 05 Origin #1 (of 5) - 66,791
Jan 06 Origin #2 (of 5) - 43,684 (-34.6%)
Feb 06 Origin #3 (of 5) - 40,553 ( -7.2%)
Mar 06 Origin #4 (of 5) - 39,768 ( -1.9%)
Apr 06 Origin #5 (of 5) - 38,602 ( -2.9%)


A fairly typical miniseries decline, bearing in mind that issue #1 was
boosted by variants.


58. SENTRY
Sep 05 Sentry #1 (of 8) - 93,021
Oct 05 Sentry #2 (of 8) - 53,384 (-42.6%)
Nov 05 Sentry #3 (of 8) - 47,903 (-10.3%)
Dec 05 Sentry #4 (of 8) - 41,901 (-12.5%)
Jan 06 n/a
Feb 06 Sentry #5 (of 8) - 39,257 ( -6.3%)
Feb 06 Sentry #6 (of 8) - 37,230 ( -5.2%)
Mar 06 Sentry #7 (of 8) - 35,203 ( -5.4%)
Apr 06 Sentry #8 (of 8) - 34,192 ( -2.9%)
6 mnth (-36.0%)


Levelling off in the later months, but still a bit of an underperformer
considering that he's in NEW AVENGERS.


59. EXILES
Apr 02 Exiles #12 - 38,766
Apr 03 Exiles #25 - 36,414
Apr 04 Exiles #45 - 37,878
======
Apr 05 Exiles #62 - 33,965 (-19.5%)
Apr 05 Exiles #63 - 33,728 ( -0.7%)
May 05 Exiles #64 - 34,033 ( +0.9%)
Jun 05 Exiles #65 - 34,484 ( +1.3%)
Jul 05 Exiles #66 - 34,092 ( -1.1%)
Jul 05 Exiles #67 - 33,751 ( -1.0%)
Aug 05 Exiles #68 - 33,815 ( +0.2%)
Sep 05 Exiles #69 - 43,794 (+29.5%)
Sep 05 Exiles #70 - 42,434 ( -3.1%)
Oct 05 Exiles #71 - 41,131 ( -3.1%)
Nov 05 Exiles #72 - 34,329 (-16.5%)
Nov 05 Exiles #73 - 34,008 ( -0.9%)
Dec 05 Exiles #74 - 33,881 ( -0.4%)
Jan 06 Exiles #75 - 33,485 ( -1.2%)
Jan 06 Exiles #76 - 32,843 ( -1.9%)
Feb 06 Exiles #77 - 32,998 ( +0.5%)
Mar 06 Exiles #78 - 33,506 ( +1.5%)
Apr 06 Exiles #79 - 34,119 ( +1.8%)
6 mnth (-17.0%)
1 year ( +0.5%)
2 year ( -9.9%)
3 year ( -6.3%)


Nudging slightly upwards as "World Tour" continues. This time, it's the
Future Imperfect world from Peter David's INCREDIBLE HULK run.
Basically, though, EXILES continues to hover stubbornly in the mid-30K
range. One of Marvel's most consistent mid-table performers.


60. PUNISHER
Apr 02 Punisher #11 - 44,956
Apr 03 Punisher #24 - 40,503
Apr 04 Punisher #5 - 34,234
======
Apr 05 Punisher #19 - 38,753 ( +1.1%)
Apr 05 Punisher #20 - 38,130 ( -1.6%)
May 05 Punisher #21 - 37,998 ( -0.3%)
Jun 05 Punisher #22 - 37,811 ( -0.5%)
Jul 05 Punisher #23 - 37,376 ( -1.2%)
Aug 05 Punisher #24 - 37,022 ( -0.9%)
Sep 05 Punisher #25 - 37,149 ( +0.3%)
Oct 05 Punisher #26 - 36,450 ( -1.9%)
Nov 05 Punisher #27 - 36,072 ( -1.0%)
Dec 05 Punisher #28 - 35,535 ( -1.5%)
Jan 05 Punisher #29 - 34,708 ( -2.3%)
Feb 06 Punisher #30 - 34,293 ( -1.2%)
Mar 06 Punisher #31 - 34,505 ( +0.6%)
Apr 06 Punisher #32 - 34,076 ( -1.2%)
6 mnth ( -6.5%)
1 year (-12.1%)
2 year ( -0.5%)
3 year (-15.9%)


Another book with extremely solid sales, although there's a slow
downward slide visible in the long run.


66. X-MEN: APOCALYPSE VS DRACULA
Feb 06 Apocalypse vs Dracula #1 (of 4) - 37,057
Mar 06 Apocalypse vs Dracula #2 (of 4) - 31,719 (-14.4%)
Apr 06 Apocalypse vs Dracula #3 (of 4) - 29,010 ( -8.5%)


Pretty good numbers when you consider that it's an Apocalypse versus
Dracula miniseries.


69. BLACK PANTHER
Apr 01 Black Panther #31 - 19,699
Apr 02 Black Panther #43 - 19,883
Apr 03 Black Panther #57 - 16,431
======
Apr 05 Black Panther #3 - 44,925 ( -5.5%)
May 05 Black Panther #4 - 40,804 ( -9.2%)
Jun 05 Black Panther #5 - 37,401 ( -8.1%)
Jul 05 Black Panther #6 - 35,256 ( -5.7%)
Aug 05 Black Panther #7 - 42,905 (+21.7%)
Sep 05 Black Panther #8 - 46,239 ( +7.8%)
Oct 05 Black Panther #9 - 40,173 (-13.1%)
Nov 05 Black Panther #10 - 31,987 (-20.4%)
Dec 05 Black Panther #11 - 29,327 ( -8.3%)
Jan 06 Black Panther #12 - 27,933 ( -4.7%)
Feb 06 Black Panther #13 - 26,054 ( -6.7%)
Mar 06 Black Panther #14 - 28,809 (+10.6%)
Apr 06 Black Panther #15 - 28,361 ( -1.6%)
6 mnth (-29.4%)
1 year (-36.9%)
2 year ( n/a )
3 year (+72.6%)


Part two of a five-part arc leading into the wedding. It's arrested the
slide, bt that's really all you can say for it. There's no sign of this
generating anything like the sort of interest Marvel seemed to be hoping
for. The wedding issue itself will do fine - it's a CIVIL WAR
crossover. Then again, given that this stunt has been aggressively
hyped to a mainstream, non-comics-reading black audience, you really
have to question the wisdom of bringing them in and then delivering them
a tie-in issue of a seventy part crossover. Who IS this storyline aimed
at, exactly?


74, NEXTWAVE: AGENTS OF H.A.T.E.
Jan 06 Nextwave #1 - 41,041
Feb 06 n/a
Mar 06 Nextwave #2 - 29,911 (-27.1%)
Mar 06 Nextwave #3 - 27,126 ( -9.3%)
Apr 06 Nextwave #4 - 26,728 ( -1.5%)


Levelling out nicely.


77. CABLE & DEADPOOL
Apr 04 Cable & Deadpool #2 - 39,472
======
Apr 05 Cable & Deadpool #14 - 24,994 ( -2.2%)
May 05 Cable & Deadpool #15 - 24,837 ( -0.6%)
Jun 05 Cable & Deadpool #16 - 24,612 ( -0.9%)
Jul 05 Cable & Deadpool #17 - 34,393 (+39.7%)
Aug 05 Cable & Deadpool #18 - 25,304 (-26.4%)
Sep 05 Cable & Deadpool #19 - 25,298 ( -0.0%)
Sep 05 Cable & Deadpool #20 - 24,982 ( -1.2%)
Oct 05 Cable & Deadpool #21 - 25,030 ( +0.2%)
Nov 05 Cable & Deadpool #22 - 23,746 ( -5.1%)
Dec 05 Cable & Deadpool #23 - 23,296 ( -1.9%)
Jan 06 Cable & Deadpool #24 - 23,542 ( +1.1%)
Feb 06 Cable & Deadpool #25 - 22,918 ( -2.7%)
Mar 06 Cable & Deadpool #26 - 25,584 (+11.6%)
Apr 06 Cable & Deadpool #27 - 26,153 ( +2.2%)
6 mnth ( +4.5%)
1 year ( +4.6%)
2 year (-33.7%)


Nudging marginally up. Issues #26 and #27 are a prequel to the "Blood
of Apocalypse" storyline in X-MEN, which is the likely explanation.


83. STORM
Feb 06 Storm #1 (of 6) - 32,831
Mar 06 Storm #2 (of 6) - 25,905 (-21.1%)
Apr 06 Storm #3 (of 6) - 24,214 ( -6.5%)


Levelling out. In fairness, it's substantially outselling the ORORO:
BEFORE THE STORM miniseries from last summer. But again, the hype would
lead you to expect more.


84. THUNDERBOLTS
Apr 01 Thunderbolts #51 - 34,746
Apr 02 Thunderbolts #63 - 29,042
Apr 03 Thunderbolts #78 - 21,806
======
Apr 05 New Thunderbolts #7 - 28,977 ( -0.4%)
May 05 New Thunderbolts #8 - 27,769 ( -4.2%)
Jun 05 New Thunderbolts #9 - 27,300 ( -1.7%)
Jul 05 New Thunderbolts #10 - 25,978 ( -4.8%)
Aug 05 New Thunderbolts #11 - 37,036 (+42.6%)
Sep 05 New Thunderbolts #12 - 25,912 (-30.0%)
Oct 05 New Thunderbolts #13 - 29,250 (+12.9%)
Oct 05 New Thunderbolts #14 - 27,864 ( -4.7%)
Nov 05 New Thunderbolts #15 - 25,245 ( -9.4%)
Dec 05 New Thunderbolts #16 - 25,084 ( -0.6%)
Jan 06 New Thunderbolts #17 - 23,417 ( -6.7%)
Feb 06 New Thunderbolts #18 - 23,735 ( +1.4%)
Mar 06 Thunderbolts #100 - 26,798 (+12.9%)
Apr 06 Thunderbolts #101 - 24,170 ( -9.8%)
6 mnth (-13.3%)
1 year (-16.6%)
2 year ( n/a )
3 year (+10.8%)


Back to normal after the anniversary issue.

 

[Darthphere]

Looks like the move to MK didnt hurt Squadron Supreme much.

 

[iloveclones]

Part III

86. RUNAWAYS
Apr 03 Runaways #1 - 25,833
Apr 04 Runaways #14 - 19,363
======
Apr 05 Runaways #3 - 30,332 ( -3.2%)
May 05 Runaways #4 - 28,968 ( -4.5%)
Jun 05 Runaways #5 - 28,409 ( -1.9%)
Jul 05 Runaways #6 - 27,365 ( -3.7%)
Aug 05 Runaways #7 - 27,063 ( -1.1%)
Sep 05 Runaways #8 - 26,954 ( -0.4%)
Oct 05 Runaways #9 - 26,800 ( -0.6%)
Nov 05 Runaways #10 - 25,761 ( -3.9%)
Dec 05 Runaways #11 - 25,260 ( -1.9%)
Jan 06 Runaways #12 - 24,989 ( -1.1%)
Feb 06 Runaways #13 - 24,313 ( -2.7%)
Mar 06 Runaways #14 - 24,536 ( +0.9%)
Apr 06 Runaways #15 - 24,046 ( -2.0%)
6 mnth (-10.3%)
1 year (-20.7%)
2 year (+24.2%)
3 year ( -6.9%)


Slow but steady decline.


91. X-MEN UNLIMITED
Apr 01 X-Men Unlimited #31 - 43,274
Apr 02 X-Men Unlimited #35 - 39,897
Apr 03 X-Men Unlimited #43 - 35,756
Apr 04 X-Men Unlimited #2 - 42,597
======
Apr 05 X-Men Unlimited #8 - 25,686 ( -4.9%)
May 05 n/a
Jun 05 X-Men Unlimited #9 - 25,398 ( -1.1%)
Jul 05 n/a
Aug 05 X-Men Unlimited #10 - 23,717 ( -6.6%)
Sep 05 n/a
Oct 05 X-Men Unlimited #11 - 23,344 ( -1.6%)
Nov 05 n/a
Dec 05 X-Men Unlimited #12 - 22,134 ( -5.2%)
Jan 06 n/a
Feb 06 X-Men Unlimited #13 - 25,257 (+14.1%)
Mar 06 n/a
Apr 06 X-Men Unlimited #14 - 22,749 ( -9.9%)
6 mnth ( -2.5%)
1 year (-11.4%)
2 year (-46.6%)
3 year (-36.4%)


Back to its normal range.


93. SENTINEL SQUAD O*N*E
Jan 06 Sentinel Squad O*N*E #1 (of 5) - 34,988
Feb 06 Sentinel Squad O*N*E #2 (of 5) - 26,971 (-22.9%)
Mar 06 Sentinel Squad O*N*E #3 (of 5) - 24,334 ( -9.8%)
Apr 06 Sentinel Squad O*N*E #4 (of 5) - 21,874 (-10.1%)


Disappearing off the radar altogether.


95. OFFICIAL HANDBOOK OF THE MARVEL UNIVERSE
Apr 05 Spider-Man 2005 - 25,530 (-31.1%)
May 05 Teams 2005 - 22,564 (-11.6%)
Jun 05 Fantastic Four 2005 - 21,970 ( -2.6%)
Jul 05 Avengers 2005 - 23,668 ( +7.7%)
Aug 05 Ultimate Universe 2005 - 25,436 ( +7.5%)
Sep 05 Alternate Universes 2005 - 18,680 (-26.6%)
Oct 05 Horror 2005 - 15,849 (-15.2%)
Nov 05 X-Men 2005 - 22,986 (+45.0%)
Dec 05 Ultimates/Ultimate X-Men 2005 - 20,795 ( -9.5%)
Jan 06 A to Z #1 (of 12) - 23,423 (+12.6%)
Feb 06 A to Z #2 (of 12) - 21,828 ( -6.8%)
Mar 06 A to Z #3 (of 12) - 21,681 ( -0.7%)
Apr 06 A to Z #4 (of 12) - 21,531 ( -0.7%)
6 mnth (+35.9%)
1 year (-15.7%)


Well, my assumption that the A TO Z series would go into a typical
miniseries decline has been comprehensively disproved. Since it doesn't
cover characters already featured in earlier volumes, this is largely a
tour around the obscure corners of the Marvel Universe, but it's still
drawing 21,000 readers religiously every month. (Interestingly,
"Horror" was apparently a significantly less enticing theme than "a
bunch of random characters with names between D and G.")


96. FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST FAMILY
Mar 06 First Family #1 (of 6) - 26,435
Apr 06 First Family #2 (of 6) - 21,444 (-18.9%)


Normal second-issue drop.


101. FOUR
Apr 04 Marvel Knights 4 #4 - 45,926
======
Apr 05 Marvel Knights 4 #17 - 29,189 ( -1.4%)
May 05 Marvel Knights 4 #18 - 28,649 ( -1.9%)
Jun 05 Marvel Knights 4 #19 - 28,153 ( -1.7%)
Jul 05 Marvel Knights 4 #20 - 27,548 ( -2.1%)
Aug 05 Marvel Knights 4 #21 - 27,023 ( -1.9%)
Sep 05 Marvel Knights 4 #22 - 26,446 ( -2.1%)
Oct 05 Marvel Knights 4 #23 - 25,100 ( -5.1%)
Nov 05 Marvel Knights 4 #24 - 24,129 ( -3.9%)
Dec 05 Marvel Knights 4 #25 - 22,753 ( -5.7%)
Jan 06 Marvel Knights 4 #26 - 21,365 ( -6.1%)
Feb 06 Marvel Knights 4 #27 - 20,977 ( -1.8%)
Mar 06 Four #28 - 20,976 ( -0.0%)
Apr 06 Four #29 - 21,233 ( +1.2%)
6 mnth (-15.4%)
1 year (-27.3%)
2 year (-53.8%)


Cancelled with issue #30, and the marginal increase is too little too
late.


102. THING
Nov 05 Thing #1 - 30,188
Dec 05 Thing #2 - 23,606 (-21.8%)
Jan 06 Thing #3 - 21,839 ( -7.5%)
Feb 06 Thing #4 - 21,190 ( -3.0%)
Mar 06 Thing #5 - 20,348 ( -4.0%)
Apr 06 Thing #6 - 20,577 ( +1.1%)


The same applies here. O'Brien's first law of comics sales: by the time
the creative team are publicly lobbying for you to buy their comic, it's
probably too late. THING is axed with issue #8, and the very marginal
increase in sales - less than 200 copies - really doesn't undermine that
decision. Plenty of books see marginal increases and then resume their
decline the next month. Genuine turnarounds are few and far between and
remember, Marvel have already seen the sales figures for the following
issues.


104. IRON MAN: INEVITABLE
Dec 05 Inevitable #1 (of 6) - 31,032
Jan 06 Inevitable #2 (of 6) - 25,382 (-18.2%)
Feb 06 Inevitable #3 (of 6) - 22,997 ( -9.4%)
Mar 06 Inevitable #4 (of 6) - 21,430 ( -6.8%)
Apr 06 Inevitable #5 (of 6) - 20,329 ( -5.1%)


Quietly forgotten.


108. MARVEL TEAM-UP
Apr 05 Marvel Team-Up #7 - 24,800 ( +0.2%)
May 05 Marvel Team-Up #8 - 24,270 ( -2.1%)
Jun 05 Marvel Team-Up #9 - 23,530 ( -3.0%)
Jul 05 Marvel Team-Up #10 - 22,549 ( -4.2%)
Aug 05 Marvel Team-Up #11 - 22,150 ( -1.8%)
Sep 05 Marvel Team-Up #12 - 21,240 ( -4.1%)
Oct 05 Marvel Team-Up #13 - 21,048 ( -0.9%)
Nov 05 Marvel Team-Up #14 - 26,200 (+24.5%)
Dec 05 Marvel Team-Up #15 - 20,000 (-23.7%)
Jan 06 Marvel Team-Up #16 - 19,955 ( -0.2%)
Feb 06 Marvel Team-Up #17 - 19,422 ( -2.7%)
Mar 06 Marvel Team-Up #18 - 18,944 ( -2.5%)
Apr 06 Marvel Team-Up #19 - 19,891 ( +5.0%)
6 mnth ( -5.5%)
1 year (-19.8%)


The lowest selling Marvel Universe title that hasn't been cancelled yet.


110. FURY: PEACEMAKER
Feb 06 Peacemaker #1 (of 6) - 27,423
Mar 06 Peacemaker #2 (of 6) - 21,612 (-21.2%)
Apr 06 Peacemaker #3 (of 6) - 19,177 (-11.3%)


Another miniseries disappearing off the radar, which is surprising
considering the creators involved.


115. SPIDER-GIRL
Apr 01 Spider-Girl #33 - 23,995
Apr 02 Spider-Girl #46 - 23,781
Apr 03 Spider-Girl #59 - 23,199
Apr 04 Spider-Girl #72 - 20,533
======
Apr 05 Spider-Girl #85 - 19,682 ( -1.8%)
May 05 Spider-Girl #86 - 19,452 ( -1.2%)
Jun 05 Spider-Girl #87 - 19,605 ( +0.8%)
Jul 05 Spider-Girl #88 - 18,983 ( -3.2%)
Aug 05 Spider-Girl #89 - 18,538 ( -2.3%)
Sep 05 Spider-Girl #90 - 18,344 ( -1.0%)
Oct 05 Spider-Girl #91 - 18,159 ( -1.0%)
Nov 05 Spider-Girl #92 - 17,597 ( -3.1%)
Dec 05 Spider-Girl #93 - 17,057 ( -3.1%)
Jan 06 Spider-Girl #94 - 17,148 ( +0.5%)
Feb 06 Spider-Girl #95 - 16,778 ( -2.2%)
Mar 06 Spider-Girl #96 - 16,739 ( -0.2%)
Apr 06 Spider-Girl #97 - 17,508 ( +4.6%)
6 mnth ( -3.6%)
1 year (-11.0%)
2 year (-14.7%)
3 year (-24.5%)


Cancelled with issue #100. Again, this month's increase really isn't
that significant in the bigger picture, when you compare the sort of
sales that SPIDER-GIRL was regularly generating between 2001 and 2003.
It just isn't the solid (albeit modest) performer that it used to be.


125. X-STATIX PRESENTS DEAD GIRL
Apr 01 X-Force #115 - 36,361
Apr 02 X-Force #127 - 42,014
Apr 03 X-Statix #10 - 31,009
Apr 04 X-Statix #21 - 25,911
======
Jan 06 Dead Girl #1 (of 5) - 20,685
Feb 06 Dead Girl #2 (of 5) - 17,369 (-16.0%)
Mar 06 Dead Girl #3 (of 5) - 16,048 ( -7.6%)
Apr 06 Dead Girl #4 (of 5) - 15,606 ( -2.8%)
2 year (-39.8%)
3 year (-49.7%)


A book which seems to have been generally ignored. Oh well.


145. DAUGHTERS OF THE DRAGON
Jan 06 Daughters of the Dragon #1 (of 6) - 17,522
Feb 06 n/a
Mar 06 Daughters of the Dragon #2 (of 6) - 13,256 (-24.3%)
Mar 06 Daughters of the Dragon #3 (of 6) - 12,104 ( -8.7%)
Apr 06 Daughters of the Dragon #4 (of 6) - 11,604 ( -4.1%)


Leading in to a new HEROES FOR HIRE title, which debuts as part of CIVIL
WAR. To judge by the sales on this miniseries, it'll need all the help
it can get.


154. BOOK OF LOST SOULS
Oct 05 Book of Lost Souls #1 - 24,365
Nov 05 Book of Lost Souls #2 - 20,002 (-17.9%)
Dec 05 Book of Lost Souls #3 - 15,308 (-23.5%)
Jan 06 Book of Lost Souls #4 - 13,455 (-12.1%)
Feb 06 Book of Lost Souls #5 - 11,941 (-11.3%)
Mar 06 n/a
Apr 06 Book of Lost Souls #6 - 10,627 (-11.0%)
6 mnth (-56.4%)


An Icon book, so Marvel don't really care how well it sells.
Nonetheless, this is a remarkably low number for a title written by one
of their star creators. Admittedly, Straczynski wouldn't be the first
writer whose fanbase didn't follow him beyond superhero comics, but the
difference is that he already had a vocal fanbase before coming to
comics. I'd always assumed there were rather more of them, but
apparently not. The book goes on hiatus after this, although the
creators say that issue #7 will be solicited in due course.


161. NEW MANGAVERSE
Jan 06 New Mangaverse #1 (of 5) - 14,403
Feb 06 New Mangaverse #2 (of 5) - 11,462 (-20.4%)
Mar 06 New Mangaverse #3 (of 5) - 10,427 ( -9.0%)
Apr 06 New Mangaverse #4 (of 5) - 9,723 ( -6.8%)


162. DOC SAMSON
Jan 06 Doc Samson #1 (of 5) - 18,240
Feb 06 Doc Samson #2 (of 5) - 13,230 (-27.5%)
Mar 06 Doc Samson #3 (of 5) - 10,827 (-18.2%)
Apr 06 Doc Samson #4 (of 5) - 9,621 (-11.1%)


File under "Well, what did they expect?"


166. AMAZING FANTASY
Apr 05 Amazing Fantasy #7 - 21,802 ( -8.9%)
May 05 Amazing Fantasy #8 - 17,773 (-18.5%)
Jun 05 Amazing Fantasy #9 - 15,606 (-12.2%)
Jul 05 Amazing Fantasy #10 - 14,729 ( -5.6%)
Aug 05 Amazing Fantasy #11 - 12,788 (-13.2%)
Sep 05 Amazing Fantasy #12 - 11,983 ( -6.3%)
Oct 05 Amazing Fantasy #13 - 11,973 ( -0.0%)
Oct 05 Amazing Fantasy #14 - 11,623 ( -2.9%)
Nov 05 Amazing Fantasy #15 - 13,958 (+20.1%)
Dec 05 Amazing Fantasy #16 - 11,816 (-15.3%)
Jan 06 Amazing Fantasy #17 - 10,517 (-11.0%)
Feb 06 n/a
Mar 06 Amazing Fantasy #18 - 10,108 ( -3.9%)
Mar 06 Amazing Fantasy #19 - 9,535 ( -5.7%)
Apr 06 Amazing Fantasy #20 - 8,929 ( -6.4%)
6 mnth (-23.2%)
1 year (-59.0%)


Axed, as reality finally catches up on the beleaguered anthology.


169. UNDERWORLD
Feb 06 Underworld #1 (of 5) - 12,479
Mar 06 Underworld #2 (of 5) - 11,134 (-10.8%)
Apr 06 Underworld #3 (of 5) - 8,667 (-22.2%)


Disastrous. UNDERWORLD really isn't that bad, but with two issues yet
to go, it looks set to break records for a Marvel Universe title. If it
carries on dropping at this rate, it's in serious danger of falling
below MARVEL ADVENTURES SPIDER-MAN, and I can't remember any Marvel
Universe book doing that before.


178. AVENGERS & POWER PACK ASSEMBLE!
Apr 06 Avengers & Power Pack Assemble #1 (of 4) - 7,857


The third POWER PACK miniseries, which must be doing good business in
digest format, since they're certainly not selling in the direct market.


186. SPIDER-MAN LOVES MARY JANE
Dec 05 Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane #1 - 11,171
Jan 06 Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane #2 - 8,590 (-23.1%)
Feb 06 Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane #3 - 7,648 (-11.0%)
Mar 06 Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane #4 - 7,672 ( +0.3%)
Apr 06 Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane #5 - 7,165 ( -6.6%)


Solid, if nothing else.


189. SABLE & FORTUNE
Jan 06 Sable & Fortune #1 (of 4) - 15,451
Feb 06 Sable & Fortune #2 (of 4) - 10,751 (-30.4%)
Mar 06 Sable & Fortune #3 (of 4) - 7,755 (-27.9%)
Apr 06 Sable & Fortune #4 (of 4) - 6,968 (-10.1%)


Cut back from an initial six issues. This issue features fill-in art
that might tactfully be described as unfortunate. The artist, who is
capable of much better and was presumably working on a tight deadline,
can perhaps take some comfort in knowing that very few people saw it.


200. MARVEL ADVENTURES SPIDER-MAN
Apr 05 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #2 - 10,305 (-28.2%)
May 05 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #3 - 9,110 (-11.6%)
Jun 05 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #4 - 8,878 ( -2.5%)
Jul 05 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #5 - 8,075 ( -9.0%)
Aug 05 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #6 - 7,636 ( -5.4%)
Sep 05 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #7 - 7,199 ( -5.7%)
Oct 05 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #8 - 7,088 ( -1.5%)
Nov 05 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #9 - 6,637 ( -6.4%)
Dec 05 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #10 - 6,391 ( -3.7%)
Jan 06 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #11 - 6,107 ( -4.4%)
Feb 06 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #12 - 6,087 ( -0.3%)
Mar 06 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #13 - 5,899 ( -3.1%)
Apr 06 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #14 - 5,970 ( +1.2%)
6 mnth (-15.8%)
1 year (-42.1%)


215. MARVEL ADVENTURES: FANTASTIC FOUR
May 05 Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #0 - 9,723
Jun 05 Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #1 - 9,617 ( -1.1%)
Jul 05 Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #2 - 6,864 (-28.6%)
Aug 05 Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #3 - 6,447 ( -6.1%)
Sep 05 Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #4 - 6,064 ( -5.9%)
Oct 05 Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #5 - 5,969 ( -1.6%)
Nov 05 Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #6 - 5,522 ( -7.5%)
Dec 05 Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #7 - 5,058 ( -8.4%)
Jan 06 Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #8 - 4,834 ( -4.4%)
Feb 06 Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #9 - 4,711 ( -2.5%)
Mar 06 Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #10 - 4,663 ( -1.0%)
Apr 06 Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #11 - 4,526 ( -2.9%)
6 mnth (-24.2%)


The Marvel Adventures titles are aimed primarily at the digest market,
so their direct market sales aren't particularly important.


220. MARVEL ROMANCE REDUX
Feb 06 But He Said He Loved Me - 7,070
Mar 06 Guys & Doll - 6,150 (-13.0%)
Apr 06 Restraining Orders Are For Other Girls - 4,359 (-29.1%)


Well, this is looking like a disaster. Still, at least there are no
artists to pay. My initial theory was that Marvel might get their money
back by repackaging it as a humour book for the bookstores, but
bizarrely, the series is full of comics industry jokes, which puts paid
to that idea.


This month's MARVEL MILESTONES reprint is AMAZING ADVENTURES #11 (the
story from 1972 where the Beast becomes furry) backed up with UNCANNY
X-MEN #153 ("Kitty's Fairy Tale", presumably to tie in with May's X-MEN:
FAIRY TALES miniseries). It sells 3,367 copies to chart at number 233.
One has to wonder, even as reprint books, whether the MILESTONES books
are really worth Marvel's time when they sell at this level.


235. MARVEL SPOTLIGHT
Dec 05 John Cassaday & Sean McKeever - 9,763
Jan 06 Warren Ellis & Jim Cheung - 6,843 (-29.9%)
Feb 06 Joss Whedon & Michael Lark - 5,947 (-13.1%)
Mar 06 David Finch & Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa - 4,146 (-30.3%)
Apr 06 Daniel Way & Olivier Coipel - 3,309 (-20.2%)


Incredibly, Marvel continue to solicit these things. They're 32-page
interview and sketch books with no adverts, which makes you wonder how
they can possibly be making anything but a massive loss. If sales
continue to drop at this rate, there's a real likelihood of MARVEL
SPOTLIGHT becoming Marvel's first ongoing, non-reprint series to drop
off the top 300 altogether. In fact, if sales continue to drop at this
rate, it'll be selling less than zero in six months time.


Skip months
===========


NEW AVENGERS: ILLUMINATI
Mar 06 Illuminati - 122,920


March's one-shot sells 15,008 more copies in re-orders, placing at
number 127.


ULTIMATE WOLVERINE VS HULK
Dec 05 Ultimate Wolverine vs Hulk #1 (of 6) - 115,492
Jan 06 n/a
Feb 06 Ultimate Wolverine vs Hulk #2 (of 6) - 105,770 (-8.4%)
Mar 06 n/a
Apr 06 n/a


Late. (Given that this involves a writer from TV, it's worth mentioning
that it's a bimonthly title, not just a very late monthly.)


ULTIMATES
Apr 02 Ultimates #
4 - 103,153
Apr 03 n/a
Apr 04 n/a
======
Apr 05 Ultimates 2 #5 - 104,971 ( -0.3%)
May 05 Ultimates 2 #6 - 102,026 ( -2.8%)
Jun 05 n/a
Jul 05 Ultimates 2 #7 - 99,134 ( -2.8%)
Aug 05 n/a
Sep 05 Ultimates 2 #8 - 95,980 ( -3.2%)
Oct 05 n/a
Nov 05 n/a
Dec 05 Ultimates 2 #9 - 94,493 ( -1.5%)
Jan 06 n/a
Feb 06 n/a
Mar 06 Ultimates 2 #10 - 94,900 ( +0.4%)
Apr 06 n/a


Late. Hey, remember when they said they were going to get a good head
start on this series so that it would all run through without any
delays?


X-MEN: DEADLY GENESIS
Nov 05 Deadly Genesis #1 (of 6) - 117,042
Dec 05 Deadly Genesis #2 (of 6) - 83,159 (-28.9%)
Jan 06 Deadly Genesis #3 (of 6) - 78,238 ( -5.9%)
Feb 06 Deadly Genesis #4 (of 6) - 77,549 ( -0.9%)
Mar 06 Deadly Genesis #5 (of 6) - 77,585 ( +0.0%)
Apr 06 n/a


Slightly late - the book slipped into May. Issue #5 picks up 2,901
re-orders.


ANNIHILATION: PROLOGUE
Mar 06 Prologue - 63,869


Another 2,085 re-orders, charting at 264.


DAREDEVIL: FATHER
Apr 04 Father #1 (of 5) - 66,050
======
Apr 05 n/a
May 05 n/a
Jun 05 n/a
Jul 05 n/a
Aug 05 Father #2 (of 5) - 39,745 (-42.8%)
Sep 05 Father #3 (of 5) - 37,571 ( -5.5%)
Oct 05 n/a
Nov 05 Father #4 (of 5) - 33,562 (-10.7%)
Dec 05 Father #5 (of 6) - 30,249 ( -9.9%)
Jan 06 n/a
Feb 06 n/a
Mar 06 n/a
Apr 06 n/a


Incredibly, still not finished, two years after the series started. Not
exactly a glowing example of professionalism from the editor-in-chief.


SHE-HULK
Apr 04 She-Hulk #2 - 30,779
======
Oct 05 She-Hulk #1 - 37,220 (+60.4%)
Nov 05 She-Hulk #2 - 31,610 (-15.1%)
Dec 05 She-Hulk #3 - 29,428 ( -6.9%)
Jan 06 She-Hulk #4 - 28,214 ( -4.1%)
Feb 06 She-Hulk #5 - 27,183 ( -3.7%)
Mar 06 She-Hulk #6 - 26,631 ( -2.0%)
Apr 06 n/a


Late.

 

[iloveclones]

Part IV and some analysis:

POWERS
Apr 01 Powers #11 - 24,977
Apr 02 Powers #20 - 27,333
Apr 03 Powers #30 - 26,690
Apr 04 n/a
======
Apr 05 Powers #10 - 28,360 ( -0.5%)
May 05 n/a
Jun 05 Powers #11 - 27,703 ( -2.3%)
Jul 05 n/a
Aug 05 Powers #12 - 30,290 ( +9.3%)
Sep 05 n/a
Oct 05 Powers #13 - 26,535 (-12.4%)
Nov 05 Powers #14 - 26,109 ( -1.6%)
Dec 05 Powers #15 - 25,633 ( -1.8%)
Jan 06 n/a
Feb 06 Powers #16 - 24,924 ( -2.8%)
Mar 06 Powers #17 - 24,139 ( -3.1%)
Apr 06 n/a


Late.


BOOKS OF DOOM
Nov 05 Books of Doom #1 (of 6) - 34,413
Dec 05 Books of Doom #2 (of 6) - 27,767 (-19.3%)
Jan 06 Books of Doom #3 (of 6) - 25,157 ( -9.4%)
Feb 06 n/a
Mar 06 Books of Doom #4 (of 6) - 23,804 ( -5.4%)
Mar 06 Books of Doom #5 (of 6) - 22,715 ( -4.6%)
Apr 06 n/a


Late.


SPIDER-MAN UNLIMITED
Apr 04 n/a
======
Apr 05 n/a
May 05 Spider-Man Unlimited #9 - 16,953 ( -3.9%)
Jun 05 n/a
Jul 05 Spider-Man Unlimited #10 - 16,104 ( -5.0%)
Aug 05 n/a
Sep 05 Spider-Man Unlimited #11 - 15,684 ( -2.6%)
Oct 05 n/a
Nov 05 Spider-Man Unlimited #12 - 15,150 ( -3.4%)
Dec 05 n/a
Jan 06 Spider-Man Unlimited #13 - 13,780 ( -9.0%)
Feb 06 n/a
Mar 06 Spider-Man Unlimited #14 - 20,188 (+46.5%)
Apr 06 n/a


Bimonthly.


ARES
Jan 06 Ares #1 (of 5) - 20,541
Feb 06 Ares #2 (of 5) - 16,884 (-17.8%)
Mar 06 Ares #3 (of 5) - 15,895 (-14.4%)
Apr 06 n/a


Late.


KABUKI
Apr 05 Kabuki #4 - 14,327 ( +3.2%)
May 05 n/a
Jun 05 n/a
Aug 05 n/a
Sep 05 n/a
Oct 05 Kabuki #5 - 11,420 (-20.3%)
Nov 05 n/a
Dec 05 n/a
Jan 06 n/a
Feb 06 Kabuki #6 - 11,349 ( -0.6%)
Mar 06 n/a
Apr 06 n/a


World of its own.


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


+35.9% - Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe
+31.8% - Fantastic Four
+12.7% - Ultimate Galactus Trilogy
+ 5.8% - Incredible Hulk
+ 5.6% - X-Men
+ 4.6% - Daredevil
+ 4.5% - Cable & Deadpool
+ 0.8% - Captain America
- 2.5% - Ultimate Spider-Man
- 2.5% - X-Men Unlimited
- 2.6% - Ultimate X-Men
- 3.6% - New X-Men
- 3.6% - Spider-Girl
- 3.7% - Wolverine
- 4.2% - Ultimate Fantastic Four
- 5.3% - Amazing Spider-Man
- 5.5% - Marvel Team-Up
- 6.1% - Uncanny X-Men
- 6.5% - Punisher
- 6.6% - New Avengers
-10.3% - Runaways
-11.4% - Young Avengers
-13.3% - Thunderbolts
-15.4% - Four
-15.8% - Marvel Adventures Spider-Man
-17.0% - Exiles
-23.2% - Amazing Fantasy
-24.2% - Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four
-29.4% - Black Panther
-31.1% - Sensational Spider-Man
-36.0% - Sentry
-44.9% - Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man
-56.4% - Book of Lost Souls


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


+38.1% - Fantastic Four
+12.3% - New X-Men
+ 9.1% - Amazing Spider-Man
+ 4.6% - Cable & Deadpool
+ 0.5% - Exiles
- 3.1% - Captain America
- 3.4% - Daredevil
- 3.9% - Iron Man
- 4.8% - X-Men
- 6.1% - Ultimate Galactus
- 6.4% - Ultimate Fantastic Four
- 7.0% - Squadron Supreme
- 7.2% - Uncanny X-Men
- 7.2% - Incredible Hulk
-11.0% - Spider-Girl
-11.4% - Ultimate X-Men
-11.4% - X-Men Unlimited
-12.1% - Punisher
-13.2% - Ultimate Spider-Man
-14.1% - Sensational Spider-Man
-15.7% - Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe
-16.6% - Thunderbolts
-19.8% - Marvel Team-Up
-20.7% - Runaways
-23.5% - Astonishing X-Men
-24.5% - Young Avengers
-27.3% - Four
-27.9% - New Avengers
-29.2% - X-Men: The End
-29.9% - Wolverine
-36.9% - Black Panther
-42.1% - Marvel Adventures Spider-Man
-59.0% - Amazing Fantasy


2 years comparison
==================


+121.1% - New Avengers
+ 92.3% - Silver Surfer
+ 69.9% - Iron Man
+ 24.2% - Runaways
+ 18.9% - Fantastic Four
+ 18.0% - Captain America
+ 17.7% - New X-Men
+ 4.5% - Amazing Spider-Man
- 0.1% - Wolverine
- 0.5% - Punisher
- 4.1% - Incredible Hulk
- 9.0% - Uncanny X-Men
- 9.9% - Exiles
- 13.4% - Daredevil
- 14.7% - Spider-Girl
- 20.4% - Squadron Supreme
- 20.5% - Ultimate Spider-Man
- 21.3% - X-Men
- 24.0% - Ultimate X-Men
- 33.7% - Cable & Deadpool
- 34.2% - Ultimate Fantastic Four
- 39.8% - X-Statix
- 46.6% - X-Men Unlimited
- 53.8% - Four
- 62.1% - Sensational Spider-Man


3 years comparison
==================


+108.4% - New Avengers
+ 72.6% - Black Panther
+ 52.1% - Iron Man
+ 22.4% - Fantastic Four
+ 15.8% - Wolverine
+ 10.8% - Thunderbolts
- 6.3% - Exiles
- 6.9% - Runaways
- 8.5% - Uncanny X-Men
- 10.1% - Amazing Spider-Man
- 12.1% - Captain America
- 15.9% - Punisher
- 17.9% - X-Men
- 19.1% - Ultimate X-Men
- 22.1% - Daredevil
- 22.4% - Incredible Hulk
- 24.5% - Spider-Girl
- 29.7% - Ultimate Spider-Man
- 36.4% - X-Men Unlimited
- 49.7% - X-Statix
--
Paul O'Brien

 

[iloveclones]

Looks like the move to MK didnt hurt Squadron Supreme much.

Yeah, but the problem is: it didn't help anything, which is the reason for the move.

 

[Darthphere]

I didnt know Marvel Team-Up sold that badly.

 

[Darthphere]

Yeah, but the problem is: it didn't help anything, which is the reason for the move.

Sure, but at least you can attain theres a solid fan base present.

 

[iloveclones]

I didnt know Marvel Team-Up sold that badly.

Yeah, it bums me out. It has everything that the "fans" scream for, and performs that badly. And the sad thing is, if you made it MTU featuring Wolverine or Spider-Man, it would probably sell like hotcakes. I give Marvel major kudos, not just for trying out the concept, but sticking with it with such low sales.

 

[iloveclones]

Some numbers from May for you guys to look over:

MARVEL SALES
MAY 2006
============


It's a busy month all round, as DC unleash the sales juggernaut of 52,
while Marvel debut CIVIL WAR. As expected, the crossover issues have
done enormously well. Other than that, the major titles to look out for
are the second months of WOLVERINE: ORIGINS, MOON KNIGHT and the various
ANNIHILATION books. There are two new miniseries - X-MEN: FAIRY TALES
and the Max book HAUNT OF HORROR: EDGAR ALLAN POE. Oh, and there's one
new ongoing title, but it's MARVEL ADVENTURES AVENGERS, which isn't
really significant in the direct market.


Despite the enormous success of CIVIL WAR, DC still win the market share
race for May. In unit share, they win by a convincing 41.2% to 36.9%.
Dollar share is rather closer - 36.7% to 35.1%. Nitpickers might point
out that 52 is returnable, raising the possibility of phantom sales. But
by all accounts that book has been shifting nicely, so the sales shown
on the chart are probably for real. The real good news is that these
stunts appear to be generating extra sales rather than simply
cannibalising audiences from lesser selling comics.


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


1. CIVIL WAR
May 06 Civil War #1 (of 7) - 260,804


An enormous debut for CIVIL WAR. The record for the highest first-month
sales since the current chart format was introduced still belongs to
last year's ALL-STAR BATMAN & ROBIN THE BOY WONDER #1, which shifted
261,046 in its first month. But it's awfully close, and when re-orders
are taken into account, CIVIL WAR could still end up on top. Marvel
claim that the total is going to be somewhere north of 300,000, and with
opening month sales like this, that's very easy to believe.


True, there are three separate editions making up this number. But this
number is way too high to be accounted for simply by variant cover
stunts (and besides, ALL-STAR BATMAN #1 had variants as well). It's a
spectacular debut and a huge success by any sensible standard.


5. WOLVERINE: ORIGINS
Apr 06 Wolverine: Origins #1 - 158,271
May 06 Wolverine: Origins #2 - 131,522 (-16.9%)


Issue #1 picks up 7,988 in re-orders, and as usual, they're included in
the number above. With that in mind, the second issue drop is fairly
modest for this sort of book, and Marvel should be quite happy with
this. The caveat is that once again, there's a variant cover on this
issue, so it remains to be seen how WOLVERINE: ORIGINS will bear up when
Marvel stop boosting its sales in that way. But thus far, it's a hit,
selling roughly as many copies as the current WOLVERINE series did when
it was launched.


8. NEW AVENGERS
May 01 Avengers #42 - 63,326
May 02 Avengers #54 - 52,874
May 03 Avengers #67 - 58,097
May 04 Avengers #82 - 55,711
======
May 05 n/a
Jun 05 New Avengers #6 - 164,592 ( -2.4%)
Jul 05 New Avengers #7 - 158,693 ( -3.6%)
Aug 05 New Avengers #8 - 156,037 ( -1.7%)
Aug 05 New Avengers #9 - 147,501 ( -5.5%)
Sep 05 New Avengers #10 - 143,014 ( -3.0%)
Sep 05 New Avengers #11 - 134,125 ( -6.2%)
Oct 05 New Avengers #12 - 130,110 ( -3.0%)
Nov 05 New Avengers #13 - 126,148 ( -3.0%)
Dec 05 New Avengers #14 - 126,583 ( +0.3%)
Jan 06 New Avengers #15 - 124,143 ( -1.9%)
Feb 06 New Avengers #16 - 124,256 ( +0.1%)
Mar 06 New Avengers #17 - 122,847 ( -1.1%)
Apr 06 New Avengers #18 - 121,550 ( -1.1%)
May 06 New Avengers #19 - 123,318 ( +1.5%)
6 mnth ( -2.2%)
1 year ( -25.1%)
2 year (+121.4%)
3 year (+112.3%)


Settling down to a very respectable level in the 120K range. Last
month's Annual picks up 5,045 reorders to chart at number 241, which
brings it to a total of 106,922. And the NEW AVENGERS: ILLUMINATI
one-shot from two months ago is still piling up the re-orders, charting
at number 281 with orders of 3,245. That brings the total to 126,165,
roughly equivalent to the sales on a regular issue.


13. ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR
May 05 Ultimate Fantastic Four #18 - 71,478 ( -1.0%)
Jun 05 Ultimate Fantastic Four #19 - 70,300 ( -1.6%)
Jun 05 Ultimate Fantastic Four #20 - 69,097 ( -1.7%)
Jul 05 Ultimate Fantastic Four #21 - 91,321 (+32.2%)
Aug 05 Ultimate Fantastic Four #22 - 71,767 (-21.4%)
Sep 05 Ultimate Fantastic Four #23 - 71,494 ( -0.4%)
Oct 05 Ultimate Fantastic Four #24 - 70,549 ( -1.3%)
Nov 05 Ultimate Fantastic Four #25 - 70,032 ( -0.7%)
Dec 05 Ultimate Fantastic Four #26 - 69,689 ( -0.5%)
Jan 06 n/a
Feb 06 Ultimate Fantastic Four #27 - 67,922 ( -2.5%)
Mar 06 Ultimate Fantastic Four #28 - 67,480 ( -0.7%)
Apr 06 Ultimate Fantastic Four #29 - 67,554 ( +0.1%)
May 06 Ultimate Fantastic Four #30 - 102,582 (+51.9%)
6 mnth (+46.5%)
1 year (+43.5%)


There's a variant cover here, but the increase is surely too big for
that to be the sole cause. The other obvious factor is that this is the
first part of "Frightful", featuring the zombie Fantastic Four. The
earlier zombie storyline spawned the surprise hit MARVEL ZOMBIES
miniseries, so presumably retailers are racking up the orders in the
hope of similar good news.


14. AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
May 01 Amazing Spider-Man #31 - 68,937
May 02 Amazing Spider-Man #41 - 97,947
May 03 Amazing Spider-Man #53 - 95,777
May 04 Amazing Spider-Man #507 - 81,944
======
May 05 Amazing Spider-Man #520 - 76,143 ( -4.4%)
Jun 05 Amazing Spider-Man #521 - 74,117 ( -2.7%)
Jul 05 Amazing Spider-Man #522 - 73,130 ( -1.3%)
Aug 05 Amazing Spider-Man #523 - 72,046 ( -1.5%)
Sep 05 Amazing Spider-Man #524 - 71,065 ( -1.4%)
Oct 05 Amazing Spider-Man #525 - 91,707 (+29.0%)
Nov 05 Amazing Spider-Man #526 - 90,343 ( -1.5%)
Dec 05 Amazing Spider-Man #527 - 89,922 ( -0.5%)
Jan 06 Amazing Spider-Man #528 - 97,807 ( -8.8%)
Feb 06 Amazing Spider-Man #529 - 130,852 (+33.8%)
Mar 06 Amazing Spider-Man #530 - 99,343 (-24.1%)
Apr 06 Amazing Spider-Man #531 - 94,216 ( -5.2%)
May 06 Amazing Spider-Man #532 - 95,544 ( +1.4%)
6 mnth ( +5.8%)
1 year (+25.5%)
2 year (+16.6%)
3 year ( -0.2%)


A CIVIL WAR tie-in. So were the previous three issues and so, for that
matter, are the next six. Doubtless the events of CIVIL WAR #2 will
bring even more attention to this title over the next few months.
Meanwhile, re-order activity remains high on the three-issue prologue
arc. Issue #529 charts at number 265 with another 3,901 orders. Issue
#530 is at number 290, with 2,967. And issue #531 is at number 206,
with 7,332.


Between the Other, the new costume, the Civil War prologue, and Civil
War itself, AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #525 to #538 will all be boosted to some
extent by crossovers and stunts. Arguably, when it goes on for that
long, it's no longer an artificial boost but simply a sign that the book
is running a string of particularly popular stories. Can you really
talk about a fourteen-month artificial boost?


15. WOLVERINE
May 01 Wolverine #164 - 67,936
May 02 Wolverine #176 - 69,061
May 03 Wolverine #1 - 158,787
May 04 Wolverine #15 - 68,728
======
May 05 Wolverine #28 - 80,961 (-20.0%)
Jun 05 Wolverine #29 - 79,951 ( -1.2%)
Jul 05 Wolverine #30 - 76,651 ( -4.1%)
Aug 05 Wolverine #31 - 75,618 ( -1.3%)
Sep 05 Wolverine #32 - 89,026 (+17.7%)
Sep 05 Wolverine #33 - 78,508 (-11.8%)
Oct 05 Wolverine #34 - 75,664 ( -3.6%)
Oct 05 Wolverine #35 - 73,684 ( -2.6%)
Nov 05 Wolverine #36 - 94,355 (+28.1%)
Dec 05 Wolverine #37 - 73,866 (-21.7%)
Jan 06 Wolverine #38 - 73,815 ( -0.0%)
Feb 06 Wolverine #39 - 75,285 ( +2.0%)
Mar 06 Wolverine #40 - 77,627 ( +3.1%)
Apr 06 Wolverine #41 - 70,965 ( -8.6%)
May 06 Wolverine #42 - 93,558 (+31.8%)
6 mnth ( -0.8%)
1 year (+15.6%)
2 year (+36.1%)
3 year (-41.1%)


Beginning a six-month CIVIL WAR crossover. Admittedly, the jump looks
higher than it is, because last month's fill-in was an unusually
low-selling issue. But it's still a very healthy jump for a title that
does good business to start with.


16. X-MEN
May 01 New X-Men #114 - 135,394
May 02 New X-Men #126 - 103,189
May 03 New X-Men #141 - 95,805
May 04 X-Men #157 - 107,185
======
May 05 X-Men #170 - 81,048 ( -2.1%)
Jun 05 X-Men #171 - 80,307 ( -0.9%)
Jun 05 X-Men #172 - 78,889 ( -1.8%)
Jul 05 X-Men #173 - 77,154 ( -2.2%)
Aug 05 X-Men #174 - 76,342 ( -1.1%)
Sep 05 X-Men #175 - 76,555 ( +0.3%)
Oct 05 X-Men #176 - 74,635 ( -2.5%)
Nov 05 X-Men #177 - 78,405 ( +5.1%)
Nov 05 X-Men #178 - 76,195 ( -2.8%)
Dec 05 X-Men #179 - 77,189 ( +1.3%)
Dec 05 X-Men #180 - 75,559 ( -2.1%)
Jan 06 X-Men #181 - 74,094 ( -1.9%)
Feb 06 X-Men #182 - 78,653 ( +6.2%)
Feb 06 X-Men #183 - 79,477 ( +1.0%)
Mar 06 X-Men #184 - 79,480 ( +0.0%)
Apr 06 X-Men #185 - 78,815 ( -0.8%)
May 06 X-Men #186 - 79,536 ( +0.9%)
6 mnth ( +4.4%)
1 year ( -1.9%)
2 year (-25.8%)
3 year (-17.0%)


Very solid over the last few months. A change of creative team is
imminent.


17. UNCANNY X-MEN
May 01 Uncanny X-Men #394 - 127,211
May 02 Uncanny X-Men #406 - 91,356
May 03 Uncanny X-Men #424 - 94,638
May 04 Uncanny X-Men #444 - 112,129
======
May 05 Uncanny X-Men #459 - 83,547 ( -2.1%)
Jun 05 Uncanny X-Men #460 - 82,457 ( -1.3%)
Jun 05 Uncanny X-Men #461 - 91,221 (+10.6%)
Jul 05 Uncanny X-Men #462 - 91,125 ( -0.1%)
Aug 05 Uncanny X-Men #463 - 87,610 ( -3.9%)
Sep 05 Uncanny X-Men #464 - 85,885 ( -2.0%)
Oct 05 Uncanny X-Men #465 - 84,271 ( -1.9%)
Nov 05 Uncanny X-Men #466 - 82,825 ( -1.7%)
Dec 05 Uncanny X-Men #467 - 81,282 ( -1.9%)
Jan 06 Uncanny X-Men #468 - 79,808 ( -1.8%)
Feb 06 Uncanny X-Men #469 - 79,039 ( -1.0%)
Mar 06 Uncanny X-Men #470 - 79,389 ( +0.4%)
Mar 06 Uncanny X-Men #471 - 78,286 ( -1.4%)
Apr 06 Uncanny X-Men #472 - 79,157 ( +1.1%)
May 06 Uncanny X-Men #473 - 79,335 ( +0.2%)
6 mnth ( -4.2%)
1 year ( -5.0%)
2 year (-29.2%)
3 year (-16.2%)


Nudging slightly upwards as Chris Claremont's run draws to an end.
Again, there's a change of creative team just around the corner, as the
book embarks on a twelve-month sequel to...


19. X-MEN: DEADLY GENESIS
Nov 05 Deadly Genesis #1 (of 6) - 117,042
Dec 05 Deadly Genesis #2 (of 6) - 83,159 (-28.9%)
Jan 06 Deadly Genesis #3 (of 6) - 78,238 ( -5.9%)
Feb 06 Deadly Genesis #4 (of 6) - 77,549 ( -0.9%)
Mar 06 Deadly Genesis #5 (of 6) - 77,585 ( +0.0%)
Apr 06 n/a
May 06 Deadly Genesis #6 (of 6) - 77,419 ( -0.2%)
6 mnth (-33.9%)


Rock solid over the last few months - a good sign.


21. MOON KNIGHT
Apr 06 Moon Knight #1 - 108,962
May 06 Moon Knight #2 - 75,333 (-30.9%)


At first sight, a little steep. But issue #1 had a variant cover, and
issue #2 doesn't. On top of that, issue #1 picks up 5,292 reorders, to
chart at number 230. Taking those into account, the real drop is
probably much more modest.


22,23. ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN
May 01 Ultimate Spider-Man #9 - 79,201
May 02 Ultimate Spider-Man #22 - 90,905
May 03 Ultimate Spider-Man #40 - 104,480
May 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #58 - 90,963
======
May 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #77 - 81,034 ( -1.5%)
Jun 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #78 - 79,420 ( -2.0%)
Jul 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #79 - 78,404 ( -1.3%)
Jul 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #80 - 76,906 ( -1.9%)
Aug 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #81 - 75,572 ( -1.7%)
Sep 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #82 - 75,756 ( +0.2%)
Sep 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #83 - 75,539 ( -0.3%)
Oct 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #84 - 74,670 ( -1.2%)
Nov 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #85 - 74,264 ( -0.5%)
Nov 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #86 - 76,864 ( +3.5%)
Dec 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #87 - 74,537 ( -3.0%)
Dec 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #88 - 74,213 ( -0.4%)
Jan 06 Ultimate Spider-Man #89 - 71,935 ( -3.1%)
Feb 06 Ultimate Spider-Man #90 - 71,470 ( -0.6%)
Mar 06 Ultimate Spider-Man #91 - 74,028 ( +3.6%)
Mar 06 Ultimate Spider-Man #92 - 72,269 ( -2.4%)
Apr 06 Ultimate Spider-Man #93 - 72,831 ( +0.8%)
May 06 Ultimate Spider-Man #94 - 74,051 ( +1.7%)
May 06 Ultimate Spider-Man #95 - 73,564 ( -0.7%)
6 mnth ( -4.3%)
1 year ( -9.2%)
2 year (-19.1%)
3 year (-29.6%)


Business as usual.


25. ULTIMATE X-MEN
May 01 Ultimate X-Men #6 - 99,990
May 02 Ultimate X-Men #18 - 94,143
May 03 Ultimate X-Men #33 - 93,125
May 04 Ultimate X-Men #45 - 96,698
======
May 05 Ultimate X-Men #59 - 81,321 ( -1.6%)
Jun 05 Ultimate X-Men #60 - 78,613 ( -3.3%)
Jul 05 Ultimate X-Men #61 - 87,094 (+10.8%)
Aug 05 Ultimate X-Men #62 - 76,229 (-12.5%)
Sep 05 Ultimate X-Men #63 - 74,760 ( -1.9%)
Oct 05 Ultimate X-Men #64 - 75,118 ( +0.5%)
Nov 05 Ultimate X-Men #65 - 74,264 ( -1.1%)
Dec 05 n/a
Jan 06 Ultimate X-Men #66 - 73,720 ( -0.7%)
Feb 06 Ultimate X-Men #67 - 72,700 ( -1.4%)
Mar 06 Ultimate X-Men #68 - 72,765 ( +0.1%)
Apr 06 Ultimate X-Men #69 - 73,188 ( +0.6%)
May 06 Ultimate X-Men #70 - 72,235 ( -1.3%)
6 mnth ( -2.7%)
1 year (-11.1%)
2 year (-25.3%)
3 year (-22.4%)


And the same goes for this one. Both titles seem to have levelled out
in the low 70K range after dropping in 2005.


26. ULTIMATE GALACTUS TRILOGY
May 05 n/a
Jun 05 n/a
Jul 05 n/a
Aug 05 n/a
Sep 05 Ultimate Secret #3 (of 4) - 67,046 (-13.9%)
Oct 05 Ultimate Secret #4 (of 4) - 64,909 ( -3.2%)
Nov 05 n/a
Dec 05 n/a
Jan 06 Ultimate Extinction #1 (of 5) - 85,439 (+31.6%)
Feb 06 Ultimate Extinction #2 (of 5) - 75,869 (-11.2%)
Mar 06 Ultimate Extinction #3 (of 5) - 75,773 ( -0.1%)
Apr 06 Ultimate Extinction #4 (of 5) - 73,151 ( -3.5%)
May 06 Ultimate Extinction #5 (of 5) - 71,756 ( -1.9%)


ULTIMATE EXTINCTION wraps up with higher sales than the previous volume,
ULTIMATE SECRET. Perfectly good numbers.


35. FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN
Oct 05 Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #1 - 100,430
Nov 05 Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #2 - 82,988 (-17.4%)
Dec 05 Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #3 - 81,309 ( -2.0%)
Jan 06 Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #4 - 78,672 ( -3.2%)
Feb 06 n/a
Mar 06 Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #5 - 59,900 (-23.9%)
Mar 06 Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #6 - 58,853 ( -1.7%)
Apr 06 Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #7 - 55,381 ( -5.9%)
May 06 Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #8 - 53,910 ( -2.7%)
6 mnth (-46.3%)


37. SENSATIONAL SPIDER-MAN
May 04 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #2 - 99,320
======
May 05 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #14 - 57,270 ( -5.4%)
Jun 05 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #15 - 54,102 ( -5.5%)
Jul 05 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #16 - 50,876 ( -6.0%)
Aug 05 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #17 - 48,555 ( -4.6%)
Sep 05 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #18 - 47,654 ( -1.9%)
Oct 05 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #19 - 75,461 (+58.4%)
Nov 05 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #20 - 73,262 ( -2.9%)
Dec 05 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #21 - 76,763 ( +4.8%)
Jan 06 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #22 - 74,923 ( -2.4%)
Feb 06 Sensational Spider-Man #23 - 59,051 (-21.2%)
Mar 06 Sensational Spider-Man #24 - 53,910 ( -8.7%)
Apr 06 Sensational Spider-Man #25 - 51,992 ( -3.6%)
May 06 Sensational Spider-Man #26 - 52,496 ( +1.0%)
6 mnth (-28.3%)
1 year ( -8.3%)
2 year (-47.1%)


Virtually nothing to choose between the two Spider-Man satellite books.
Both will doubtless get a big boost from the Unmasked tie-ins over the
next few months.


Now, then...


When Marvel announced the decision to move SUPREME POWER out of the Max
imprint, Newsarama asked Joe Quesada why they were doing it. "It's
really simple," said Quesada. "First, the quality of the book is
amazing. JMS and Gary Frank are just knocking this out of the park, but
after talking to a couple of retailer pals it all made sense. The
concern from those we talked to was that they could sell more copies of
SUPREME POWER if the rating was toned down. What made the argument most
compelling was that looking at SUPREME POWER, there is rarely reason why
it has the adult label as JMS and Gary only resort to over the top words
or imagery from time to time. So in discussing it with the team, we
felt very little would be lost by mving the book out of MAX and into
Marvel Knights while improving sales and exposing the book to more
readers."


40. SQUADRON SUPREME
May 04 Supreme Power #10 - 63,292
======
May 05 n/a
Jun 05 Supreme Power #17 - 52,288 ( -5.0%)
Jul 05 n/a
Aug 05 Supreme Power #18 - 50,594 ( -3.2%)
Sep 05 n/a
Oct 05 n/a
Nov 05 n/a
Dec 05 n/a
Jan 06 n/a
Feb 06 n/a
Mar 06 Squadron Supreme #1 - 61,625 (+21.8%)
Apr 06 Squadron Supreme #2 - 51,197 (-16.9%)
May 06 Squadron Supreme #3 - 49,205 ( -3.9%)
6 mnth ( n/a )
1 year ( -5.9%)
2 year (-22.3%)


Well, if they did actually gain any sales by dropping the rating, it
wasn't enough to offset other readers leaving. SQUADRON SUPREME is
already below the final issue of SUPREME POWER, and while they certainly
haven't done the book any serious harm (except by compromising its
content in the hope of getting higher sales), the stated aim of this
relaunch was, quite openly, to boost sales. It's failed.

 

[iloveclones]

ptII

42. X-MEN: THE 198
Jan 06 The 198 #1 (of 5) - 68,698
Feb 06 The 198 #2 (of 5) - 58,540 (-14.8%)
Mar 06 The 198 #3 (of 5) - 53,882 ( -8.0%)
Apr 06 The 198 #4 (of 5) - 50,038 ( -7.1%)
May 06 The 198 #5 (of 5) - 48,139 ( -3.8%)


Standard miniseries numbers.


43. DAREDEVIL
May 01 Daredevil #18 - 58,666
May 02 Daredevil #33 - 47,227
May 03 Daredevil #47 - 61,368
May 04 Daredevil #60 - 54,012
======
May 05 Daredevil #73 - 48,681 ( -0.2%)
Jun 05 Daredevil #74 - 48,175 ( -1.0%)
Jul 05 Daredevil #75 - 47,800 ( -0.8%)
Aug 05 Daredevil #76 - 46,424 ( -2.9%)
Sep 05 Daredevil #77 - 45,945 ( -1.0%)
Oct 05 Daredevil #78 - 45,071 ( -1.9%)
Nov 05 Daredevil #79 - 44,250 ( -1.8%)
Dec 05 Daredevil #80 - 43,309 ( -2.1%)
Jan 06 Daredevil #81 - 44,252 ( +2.2%)
Feb 06 Daredevil #82 - 53,058 (+19.9%)
Mar 06 Daredevil #83 - 46,804 (-11.8%)
Apr 06 Daredevil #84 - 47,123 ( +0.7%)
May 06 Daredevil #85 - 47,899 ( +1.6%)
6 mnth ( +8.2%)
1 year ( -1.6%)
2 year (-11.3%)
3 year (-21.9%)


Nudging slightly up as Ed Brubaker and Michael Lark's opening story arc
progresses. A good sign.


44. SON OF M
Dec 05 Son of M #1 (of 6) - 62,254
Jan 06 Son of M #2 (of 6) - 52,704 (-15.3%)
Feb 06 Son of M #3 (of 6) - 52,227 ( -0.9%)
Mar 06 Son of M #4 (of 6) - 49,973 ( -4.3%)
Apr 06 Son of M #5 (of 6) - 48,785 ( -2.4%)
May 06 Son of M #6 (of 6) - 47,165 ( -3.3%)


Good miniseries numbers.


45. CAPTAIN AMERICA
May 01 Captain America #43 - 36,700
May 02 Captain America #2 - 67,348
May 03 Captain America #13 - 49,279
May 04 Captain America #26 - 37,558
======
May 05 Captain America #6 - 58,660 (+24.9%)
Jun 05 Captain America #7 - 47,160 (-19.6%)
Jul 05 n/a
Aug 05 Captain America #8 - 51,842 ( +9.9%)
Aug 05 Captain America #9 - 44,638 (-13.9%)
Sep 05 Captain America #10 - 52,609 (+17.9%)
Oct 05 Captain America #11 - 45,162 (-14.2%)
Nov 05 Captain America #12 - 45,038 ( -0.3%)
Dec 05 Captain America #13 - 44,954 ( -0.2%)
Jan 05 n/a
Feb 06 Captain America #14 - 44,041 ( -0.2%)
Feb 06 Captain America #15 - 43,350 ( -1.6%)
Mar 06 Captain America #16 - 44,717 ( +3.2%)
Apr 06 Captain America #17 - 45,541 ( +1.8%)
May 06 Captain America #18 - 46,740 ( +2.6%)
6 mnth ( +3.8%)
1 year (-20.3%)
2 year (+24.4%)
3 year ( -5.2%)


Another Ed Brubaker title nudging slowly up with no apparent explanation
besides good old fashioned buzz.


46. INCREDIBLE HULK
May 01 Hulk #28 - 35,185
May 02 Hulk #40 - 45,115
May 03 Hulk #54 - 61,426
May 04 Hulk #72 - 45,385
======
May 05 Hulk #81 - 43,822 (-10.5%)
Jun 05 Hulk #82 - 43,248 ( -1.3%)
Jul 05 Hulk #83 - 63,881 (+47.7%)
Jul 05 Hulk #84 - 58,583 ( -8.3%)
Aug 05 Hulk #85 - 53,177 ( -9.2%)
Sep 05 Hulk #86 - 52,992 ( -0.3%)
Oct 05 Hulk #87 - 42,454 (-19.9%)
Nov 05 Hulk #88 - 41,141 ( -3.1%)
Nov 05 Hulk #89 - 39,635 ( -3.7%)
Dec 05 Hulk #90 - 36,924 ( -6.8%)
Jan 06 Hulk #91 - 35,980 ( -2.6%)
Feb 06 Hulk #92 - 53,661 (+49.1%)
Mar 06 Hulk #93 - 47,437 (-11.6%)
Apr 06 Hulk #94 - 47,966 ( +1.1%)
May 06 Hulk #95 - 46,571 ( -2.9%)
6 mnth (+17.5%)
1 year ( +6.3%)
2 year ( +2.6%)
3 year (-24.2%)


"Planet Hulk" continues to perform respectably, and issue #94 picks up
3,059 reorders to chart at number 287. But historically, these are not
exceptionally high sales for the title.


50. X-FACTOR
Dec 05 X-Factor #1 - 64,861
Dec 05 X-Factor #2 - 52,705 (-18.7%)
Jan 06 n/a
Feb 06 X-Factor #3 - 48,307 ( -8.3%)
Mar 06 X-Factor #4 - 48,183 ( -0.3%)
Mar 06 X-Factor #5 - 46,490 ( -3.5%)
Apr 06 X-Factor #6 - 45,220 ( -2.7%)
May 06 X-Factor #7 - 44,315 ( -2.0%)


Levelling out very nicely.


51. ANNIHILATION: SILVER SURFER
May 04 Silver Surfer #9 - 24,142
======
Apr 06 Silver Surfer #1 (of 4) - 49,120
May 06 Silver Surfer #2 (of 4) - 44,230 (-10.0%)
2 year (+83.2%)


Perfectly acceptable second issue drop.


52. X-MEN: THE END
May 05 Book Two #3 (of 6) - 58,870 ( -6.6%)
Jun 05 Book Two #4 (of 6) - 54,875 ( -6.8%)
Jul 05 Book Two #5 (of 6) - 51,949 ( -5.3%)
Aug 05 Book Two #6 (of 6) - 49,565 ( -4.6%)
Sep 05 n/a
Oct 05 n/a
Nov 05 n/a
Dec 05 n/a
Jan 06 Book Three #1 (of 6) - 52,891 ( +6.7%)
Feb 06 Book Three #2 (of 6) - 47,370 (-10.4%)
Mar 06 Book Three #3 (of 6) - 44,899 ( -5.2%)
Apr 06 Book Three #4 (of 6) - 44,586 ( -0.7%)
May 06 Book Three #5 (of 6) - 43,581 ( -2.3%)
6 mnth ( n/a )
1 year (-26.0%)


Levelling out as you'd expect for the tail end of a lengthy maxiseries.


53,85. SHE-HULK
May 04 She-Hulk #3 - 29,662
======
Oct 05 She-Hulk #1 - 37,220 (+60.4%)
Nov 05 She-Hulk #2 - 31,610 (-15.1%)
Dec 05 She-Hulk #3 - 29,428 ( -6.9%)
Jan 06 She-Hulk #4 - 28,214 ( -4.1%)
Feb 06 She-Hulk #5 - 27,183 ( -3.7%)
Mar 06 She-Hulk #6 - 26,631 ( -2.0%)
Apr 06 n/a
May 06 She-Hulk #7 - 26,561 ( -0.3%)
May 06 She-Hulk #8 - 43,812 (+64.9%)
6 mnth (+38.6%)
1 year ( n/a )
2 year (+47.7%)


Two issues this month. One of them is a CIVIL WAR crossover. Can you
guess which? Hint: it's the highest selling issue of the series to
date. And that's counting the previous volume too.


54. MS MARVEL
Mar 06 Ms Marvel #1 - 73,407
Apr 06 Ms Marvel #2 - 46,204 (-37.1%)
May 06 Ms Marvel #3 - 43,048 ( -6.8%)


Levelling out nicely.


58. NEW X-MEN
May 03 New Mutants #1 - 57,016
May 04 New X-Men #1 - 76,416
======
May 05 New X-Men #13 - 35,033 ( -2.1%)
May 05 New X-Men #14 - 34,579 ( -1.3%)
Jun 05 New X-Men #15 - 34,007 ( -1.7%)
Jul 05 New X-Men #16 - 49,217 (+44.7%)
Aug 05 New X-Men #17 - 43,908 (-10.8%)
Sep 05 New X-Men #18 - 43,286 ( -1.4%)
Oct 05 New X-Men #19 - 41,691 ( -3.7%)
Nov 05 New X-Men #20 - 59,466 (+42.6%)
Dec 05 New X-Men #21 - 43,473 (-26.9%)
Jan 06 New X-Men #22 - 42,923 ( -1.3%)
Feb 06 New X-Men #23 - 41,463 ( -3.4%)
Mar 06 New X-Men #24 - 42,044 ( +1.4%)
Apr 06 New X-Men #25 - 40,176 ( -4.4%)
May 06 New X-Men #26 - 40,073 ( -0.3%)
6 mnth (-32.6%)
1 year (+14.4%)
2 year (-47.6%)
3 year (-29.7%)


Levelling out at around the 40K mark, some way up on the previous
format.


59. ANNIHILATION: NOVA
Apr 06 Nova #1 (of 4) - 42,458
May 06 Nova #2 (of 4) - 39,602 (-6.7%)


Another eminently acceptable second-issue drop.


60. FANTASTIC FOUR: A DEATH IN THE FAMILY
May 06 A Death in the Family - 39,247


Without the benefit of crossovers, FANTASTIC FOUR usually sells in the
low 40K range, so this is a good number for a throwaway one-shot.


62. IRON MAN
May 01 Iron Man #42 - 37,101
May 02 Iron Man #55 - 40,859
May 03 Iron Man #68 - 33,213
May 04 Iron Man #81 - 28,232
======
May 05 n/a
Jun 05 n/a
Jul 05 n/a
Aug 05 Iron Man #4 - 48,403 ( -5.8%)
Sep 05 n/a
Oct 05 n/a
Nov 05 n/a
Dec 05 n/a
Jan 06 Iron Man #5 - 45,243 ( -6.5%)
Feb 06 n/a
Mar 06 Iron Man #6 - 40,264 (-11.0%)
Apr 06 Iron Man #7 - 49,404 (+22.7%)
May 06 Iron Man #8 - 38,860 (-21.3%)
6 mnth ( n/a )
1 year ( n/a )
2 year (+37.6%)
3 year (+17.0%)


Returning to normal levels after last month's sales were distorted by a
variant cover, as well as the usual boost for the arrival of a new
creative team. This is still comfortably above IRON MAN's previous
range.


63. NEW EXCALIBUR
Nov 05 New Excalibur #1 - 58,333
Dec 05 New Excalibur #2 - 48,816 (-16.3%)
Jan 06 New Excalibur #3 - 47,196 ( -3.3%)
Feb 06 New Excalibur #4 - 45,071 ( -4.5%)
Mar 06 New Excalibur #5 - 43,523 ( -3.4%)
Apr 06 New Excalibur #6 - 40,687 ( -6.5%)
May 06 New Excalibur #7 - 38,744 ( -4.8%)
6 mnth (-33.6%)


Not really levelling out, and it's hard to see how months of fill-in
stories caused by Chris Claremont's health problems are going to help.


64. ANNIHILATION: SUPER-SKRULL
Apr 06 Super-Skrull #1 (of 4) - 42,779
May 06 Super-Skrull #2 (of 4) - 38,327 (-10.4%)


66. ANNIHILATION: RONAN
Apr 06 Ronan #1 (of 4) - 39,010
May 06 Ronan #2 (of 4) - 36,311 (-6.9%)


Proof that if you market something properly, you really can get decent
numbers with the D-listers.


68. PUNISHER
May 02 Punisher #12 - 42,359
May 03 Punisher #26 - 40,014
May 04 Punisher #6 - 48,576
======
May 05 Punisher #21 - 37,998 ( -0.3%)
Jun 05 Punisher #22 - 37,811 ( -0.5%)
Jul 05 Punisher #23 - 37,376 ( -1.2%)
Aug 05 Punisher #24 - 37,022 ( -0.9%)
Sep 05 Punisher #25 - 37,149 ( +0.3%)
Oct 05 Punisher #26 - 36,450 ( -1.9%)
Nov 05 Punisher #27 - 36,072 ( -1.0%)
Dec 05 Punisher #28 - 35,535 ( -1.5%)
Jan 05 Punisher #29 - 34,708 ( -2.3%)
Feb 06 Punisher #30 - 34,293 ( -1.2%)
Mar 06 Punisher #31 - 34,505 ( +0.6%)
Apr 06 Punisher #32 - 34,076 ( -1.2%)
May 06 Punisher #33 - 34,480 ( +1.2%)
6 mnth ( -4.4%)
1 year ( -9.3%)
2 year (-29.0%)
3 year (-13.8%)


Rock solid.


69,70. EXILES
May 02 Exiles #13 - 38,306
May 03 Exiles #27 - 37,204
May 04 Exiles #46 - 38,788
======
May 05 Exiles #64 - 34,033 ( +0.9%)
Jun 05 Exiles #65 - 34,484 ( +1.3%)
Jul 05 Exiles #66 - 34,092 ( -1.1%)
Jul 05 Exiles #67 - 33,751 ( -1.0%)
Aug 05 Exiles #68 - 33,815 ( +0.2%)
Sep 05 Exiles #69 - 43,794 (+29.5%)
Sep 05 Exiles #70 - 42,434 ( -3.1%)
Oct 05 Exiles #71 - 41,131 ( -3.1%)
Nov 05 Exiles #72 - 34,329 (-16.5%)
Nov 05 Exiles #73 - 34,008 ( -0.9%)
Dec 05 Exiles #74 - 33,881 ( -0.4%)
Jan 06 Exiles #75 - 33,485 ( -1.2%)
Jan 06 Exiles #76 - 32,843 ( -1.9%)
Feb 06 Exiles #77 - 32,998 ( +0.5%)
Mar 06 Exiles #78 - 33,506 ( +1.5%)
Apr 06 Exiles #79 - 34,119 ( +1.8%)
May 06 Exiles #80 - 34,039 ( -0.2%)
May 06 Exiles #81 - 33,908 ( -0.4%)
6 mnth ( -0.3%)
1 year ( -0.4%)
2 year (-12.6%)
3 year ( -8.9%)


And much the same applies here - EXILES just won't be budged from the
low 30K range, making it one of Marvel's most consistent performers.


74,80. LAST PLANET STANDING
May 06 Last Planet Standing #1 (of 5) - 32,232
May 06 Last Planet Standing #2 (of 5) - 29,165 (-9.6%)


A SPIDER-GIRL spin-off, and the sequel to last year's LAST HERO
STANDING. These are very good numbers, comfortably outselling the
parent book.


77. NEXTWAVE: AGENTS OF H.A.T.E.
Jan 06 Nextwave #1 - 41,041
Feb 06 n/a
Mar 06 Nextwave #2 - 29,911 (-27.1%)
Mar 06 Nextwave #3 - 27,126 ( -9.3%)
Apr 06 Nextwave #4 - 26,728 ( -1.5%)
May 06 Nextwave #5 - 30,818 (+15.3%)


The boost is presumably due to the appropriately bizarre Crayon Butchery
Variant edition, published as a colouring book.


81. X-MEN: APOCALYPSE VS DRACULA
Feb 06 Apocalypse vs Dracula #1 (of 4) - 37,057
Mar 06 Apocalypse vs Dracula #2 (of 4) - 31,719 (-14.4%)
Apr 06 Apocalypse vs Dracula #3 (of 4) - 29,010 ( -8.5%)
May 06 Apocalypse vs Dracula #4 (of 4) - 28,129 ( -3.0%)


Good numbers for a villain book set in the 19th century - not normally a
recipe for success.


82. BLACK PANTHER
May 01 Black Panther #32 - 20,226
May 02 Black Panther #44 - 19,571
May 03 Black Panther #59 - 16,383
======
May 05 Black Panther #4 - 40,804 ( -9.2%)
Jun 05 Black Panther #5 - 37,401 ( -8.1%)
Jul 05 Black Panther #6 - 35,256 ( -5.7%)
Aug 05 Black Panther #7 - 42,905 (+21.7%)
Sep 05 Black Panther #8 - 46,239 ( +7.8%)
Oct 05 Black Panther #9 - 40,173 (-13.1%)
Nov 05 Black Panther #10 - 31,987 (-20.4%)
Dec 05 Black Panther #11 - 29,327 ( -8.3%)
Jan 06 Black Panther #12 - 27,933 ( -4.7%)
Feb 06 Black Panther #13 - 26,054 ( -6.7%)
Mar 06 Black Panther #14 - 28,809 (+10.6%)
Apr 06 Black Panther #15 - 28,361 ( -1.6%)
May 06 Black Panther #16 - 28,091 ( -1.0%)
6 mnth (-12.2%)
1 year (-31.2%)
2 year ( n/a )
3 year (+71.5%)


The build-up to the "wedding of the century" between Black Panther and
Storm has at least arrested the book's decline, but doesn't seem able to
budge it over the 29K mark. Meanwhile, this month's MARVEL MILESTONES
sells 4,211 by reprinting some previous Black Panther and Storm stories.


86. PUNISHER: TYGER
May 06 Tyger - 26,012


Another Garth Ennis one-shot, doing very nicely for a $4.99 book.


89. CABLE & DEADPOOL
May 04 Cable & Deadpool #3 - 36,820
======
May 05 Cable & Deadpool #15 - 24,837 ( -0.6%)
Jun 05 Cable & Deadpool #16 - 24,612 ( -0.9%)
Jul 05 Cable & Deadpool #17 - 34,393 (+39.7%)
Aug 05 Cable & Deadpool #18 - 25,304 (-26.4%)
Sep 05 Cable & Deadpool #19 - 25,298 ( -0.0%)
Sep 05 Cable & Deadpool #20 - 24,982 ( -1.2%)
Oct 05 Cable & Deadpool #21 - 25,030 ( +0.2%)
Nov 05 Cable & Deadpool #22 - 23,746 ( -5.1%)
Dec 05 Cable & Deadpool #23 - 23,296 ( -1.9%)
Jan 06 Cable & Deadpool #24 - 23,542 ( +1.1%)
Feb 06 Cable & Deadpool #25 - 22,918 ( -2.7%)
Mar 06 Cable & Deadpool #26 - 25,584 (+11.6%)
Apr 06 Cable & Deadpool #27 - 26,153 ( +2.2%)
May 06 Cable & Deadpool #28 - 25,665 ( -1.9%)
6 mnth ( +8.1%)
1 year ( +3.3%)
2 year (-30.3%)


Settling down in the mid-twenties, CABLE & DEADPOOL seems to have turned
a corner and stabilised.


93. RUNAWAYS
May 03 Runaways #2 - 23,328
May 04 Runaways #15 - 19,306
======
May 05 Runaways #4 - 28,968 ( -4.5%)
Jun 05 Runaways #5 - 28,409 ( -1.9%)
Jul 05 Runaways #6 - 27,365 ( -3.7%)
Aug 05 Runaways #7 - 27,063 ( -1.1%)
Sep 05 Runaways #8 - 26,954 ( -0.4%)
Oct 05 Runaways #9 - 26,800 ( -0.6%)
Nov 05 Runaways #10 - 25,761 ( -3.9%)
Dec 05 Runaways #11 - 25,260 ( -1.9%)
Jan 06 Runaways #12 - 24,989 ( -1.1%)
Feb 06 Runaways #13 - 24,313 ( -2.7%)
Mar 06 Runaways #14 - 24,536 ( +0.9%)
Apr 06 Runaways #15 - 24,046 ( -2.0%)
May 06 Runaways #16 - 23,842 ( -0.8%)
6 mnth ( -7.4%)
1 year (-17.7%)
2 year (+23.5%)
3 year ( +2.2%)


Very slow decline.


95. THUNDERBOLTS
May 01 Thunderbolts #52 - 35,282
May 02 Thunderbolts #64 - 28,596
May 03 Thunderbolts #79 - 19,755
======
May 05 New Thunderbolts #8 - 27,769 ( -4.2%)
Jun 05 New Thunderbolts #9 - 27,300 ( -1.7%)
Jul 05 New Thunderbolts #10 - 25,978 ( -4.8%)
Aug 05 New Thunderbolts #11 - 37,036 (+42.6%)
Sep 05 New Thunderbolts #12 - 25,912 (-30.0%)
Oct 05 New Thunderbolts #13 - 29,250 (+12.9%)
Oct 05 New Thunderbolts #14 - 27,864 ( -4.7%)
Nov 05 New Thunderbolts #15 - 25,245 ( -9.4%)
Dec 05 New Thunderbolts #16 - 25,084 ( -0.6%)
Jan 06 New Thunderbolts #17 - 23,417 ( -6.7%)
Feb 06 New Thunderbolts #18 - 23,735 ( +1.4%)
Mar 06 Thunderbolts #100 - 26,798 (+12.9%)
Apr 06 Thunderbolts #101 - 24,170 ( -9.8%)
May 06 Thunderbolts #102 - 23,741 ( -1.8%)
6 mnth ( -5.6%)
1 year (-14.5%)
2 year ( n/a )
3 year (+20.2%)


Returning to previous levels after issue #100. A CIVIL WAR crossover
storyline is imminent.


96. POWERS
May 01 Powers #12 - 25,791
May 02 Powers #21 - 27,096
May 03 Powers #31 - 26,830
May 04 n/a
======
May 05 n/a
Jun 05 Powers #11 - 27,703 ( -2.3%)
Jul 05 n/a
Aug 05 Powers #12 - 30,290 ( +9.3%)
Sep 05 n/a
Oct 05 Powers #13 - 26,535 (-12.4%)
Nov 05 Powers #14 - 26,109 ( -1.6%)
Dec 05 Powers #15 - 25,633 ( -1.8%)
Jan 06 n/a
Feb 06 Powers #16 - 24,924 ( -2.8%)
Mar 06 Powers #17 - 24,139 ( -3.1%)
Apr 06 n/a
May 06 Powers #18 - 23,617 ( -2.2%)
6 mnth ( -9.5%)
1 year (-14.7%)
2 year ( n/a )
3 year (-12.0%)


Slow decline.


99. X-MEN: FAIRY TALES
May 06 Fairy Tales #1 (of 4) - 22,922


Realistically, about what you'd expect for a project like this. It's
fairy tales retold with the X-Men, the point of which eludes me, to be
honest.


101. STORM
Feb 06 Storm #1 (of 6) - 32,831
Mar 06 Storm #2 (of 6) - 25,905 (-21.1%)
Apr 06 Storm #3 (of 6) - 24,214 ( -6.5%)
May 06 Storm #4 (of 6) - 22,513 ( -7.0%)


Doesn't seem to be levelling out, but not too unusual for a miniseries.


102. BOOKS OF DOOM
Nov 05 Books of Doom #1 (of 6) - 34,413
Dec 05 Books of Doom #2 (of 6) - 27,767 (-19.3%)
Jan 06 Books of Doom #3 (of 6) - 25,157 ( -9.4%)
Feb 06 n/a
Mar 06 Books of Doom #4 (of 6) - 23,804 ( -5.4%)
Mar 06 Books of Doom #5 (of 6) - 22,715 ( -4.6%)
Apr 06 n/a
May 06 Books of Doom #6 (of 6) - 22,304 ( -1.8%)
6 mnth (-35.2%)


Quietly disappeared off the radar, really.


107. OFFICIAL HANDBOOK OF THE MARVEL UNIVERSE
May 04 X-Men 2004 - 39,380
======
May 05 Teams 2005 - 22,564 (-11.6%)
Jun 05 Fantastic Four 2005 - 21,970 ( -2.6%)
Jul 05 Avengers 2005 - 23,668 ( +7.7%)
Aug 05 Ultimate Universe 2005 - 25,436 ( +7.5%)
Sep 05 Alternate Universes 2005 - 18,680 (-26.6%)
Oct 05 Horror 2005 - 15,849 (-15.2%)
Nov 05 X-Men 2005 - 22,986 (+45.0%)
Dec 05 Ultimates/Ultimate X-Men 2005 - 20,795 ( -9.5%)
Jan 06 A to Z #1 (of 12) - 23,423 (+12.6%)
Feb 06 A to Z #2 (of 12) - 21,828 ( -6.8%)
Mar 06 A to Z #3 (of 12) - 21,681 ( -0.7%)
Apr 06 A to Z #4 (of 12) - 21,531 ( -0.7%)
May 06 A to Z #5 (of 12) - 21,331 ( -0.9%)
6 mnth ( -7.2%)
1 year ( -5.5%)
2 year (-45.8%)


Incredibly solid sales. It's clear that A TO Z is not going to shed
readers to any great extent during its run. And given the obscure
characters being covered in this series, it seems there are 21,000
fairly hardcore continuity fans out there.

 

[iloveclones]

pt III

112. SENTINEL SQUAD O*N*E
Jan 06 Sentinel Squad O*N*E #1 (of 5) - 34,988
Feb 06 Sentinel Squad O*N*E #2 (of 5) - 26,971 (-22.9%)
Mar 06 Sentinel Squad O*N*E #3 (of 5) - 24,334 ( -9.8%)
Apr 06 Sentinel Squad O*N*E #4 (of 5) - 21,874 (-10.1%)
May 06 Sentinel Squad O*N*E #5 (of 5) - 20,349 ( -7.0%)


114. IRON MAN: INEVITABLE
Dec 05 Inevitable #1 (of 6) - 31,032
Jan 06 Inevitable #2 (of 6) - 25,382 (-18.2%)
Feb 06 Inevitable #3 (of 6) - 22,997 ( -9.4%)
Mar 06 Inevitable #4 (of 6) - 21,430 ( -6.8%)
Apr 06 Inevitable #5 (of 6) - 20,329 ( -5.1%)
May 06 Inevitable #6 (of 6) - 19,724 ( -3.0%)


Two miniseries which drifted from view after decent opening sales.


117. THING
Nov 05 Thing #1 - 30,188
Dec 05 Thing #2 - 23,606 (-21.8%)
Jan 06 Thing #3 - 21,839 ( -7.5%)
Feb 06 Thing #4 - 21,190 ( -3.0%)
Mar 06 Thing #5 - 20,348 ( -4.0%)
Apr 06 Thing #6 - 20,577 ( +1.1%)
May 06 Thing #7 - 19,592 ( -4.8%)
6 mnth (-35.1%)


Axed with issue #8.


119. FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST FAMILY
Mar 06 First Family #1 (of 6) - 26,435
Apr 06 First Family #2 (of 6) - 21,444 (-18.9%)
May 06 First Family #3 (of 6) - 19,314 ( -9.9%)


Levelling out a bit, but these are disappointingly low sales.


120. MARVEL TEAM-UP
May 05 Marvel Team-Up #8 - 24,270 ( -2.1%)
Jun 05 Marvel Team-Up #9 - 23,530 ( -3.0%)
Jul 05 Marvel Team-Up #10 - 22,549 ( -4.2%)
Aug 05 Marvel Team-Up #11 - 22,150 ( -1.8%)
Sep 05 Marvel Team-Up #12 - 21,240 ( -4.1%)
Oct 05 Marvel Team-Up #13 - 21,048 ( -0.9%)
Nov 05 Marvel Team-Up #14 - 26,200 (+24.5%)
Dec 05 Marvel Team-Up #15 - 20,000 (-23.7%)
Jan 06 Marvel Team-Up #16 - 19,955 ( -0.2%)
Feb 06 Marvel Team-Up #17 - 19,422 ( -2.7%)
Mar 06 Marvel Team-Up #18 - 18,944 ( -2.5%)
Apr 06 Marvel Team-Up #19 - 19,891 ( +5.0%)
May 06 Marvel Team-Up #20 - 18,843 ( -5.3%)
6 mnth (-28.1%)
1 year (-22.4%)


Surprisingly, still not cancelled despite stubbornly poor sales.


123. FURY: PEACEMAKER
Feb 06 Peacemaker #1 (of 6) - 27,423
Mar 06 Peacemaker #2 (of 6) - 21,612 (-21.2%)
Apr 06 Peacemaker #3 (of 6) - 19,177 (-11.3%)
May 06 Peacemaker #4 (of 6) - 18,379 ( -4.2%)


Levelling out.


125. SPIDER-GIRL
May 01 Spider-Girl #34 - 23,928
May 02 Spider-Girl #47 - 24,060
May 03 Spider-Girl #60 - 23,112
May 04 Spider-Girl #73 - 20,275
======
May 05 Spider-Girl #86 - 19,452 ( -1.2%)
Jun 05 Spider-Girl #87 - 19,605 ( +0.8%)
Jul 05 Spider-Girl #88 - 18,983 ( -3.2%)
Aug 05 Spider-Girl #89 - 18,538 ( -2.3%)
Sep 05 Spider-Girl #90 - 18,344 ( -1.0%)
Oct 05 Spider-Girl #91 - 18,159 ( -1.0%)
Nov 05 Spider-Girl #92 - 17,597 ( -3.1%)
Dec 05 Spider-Girl #93 - 17,057 ( -3.1%)
Jan 06 Spider-Girl #94 - 17,148 ( +0.5%)
Feb 06 Spider-Girl #95 - 16,778 ( -2.2%)
Mar 06 Spider-Girl #96 - 16,739 ( -0.2%)
Apr 06 Spider-Girl #97 - 17,508 ( +4.6%)
May 06 Spider-Girl #98 - 17,738 ( +1.3%)
6 mnth ( +0.8%)
1 year ( -8.8%)
2 year (-12.5%)
3 year (-23.3%)


Axed with issue #100. The minor climbs over the last couple of months
are too little too late, for reasons which are obvious when you look to
the sales of earlier years.


129. SPIDER-MAN UNLIMITED
May 04 Spider-Man Unlimited #3 - 31,661
======
May 05 Spider-Man Unlimited #9 - 16,953 ( -3.9%)
Jun 05 n/a
Jul 05 Spider-Man Unlimited #10 - 16,104 ( -5.0%)
Aug 05 n/a
Sep 05 Spider-Man Unlimited #11 - 15,684 ( -2.6%)
Oct 05 n/a
Nov 05 Spider-Man Unlimited #12 - 15,150 ( -3.4%)
Dec 05 n/a
Jan 06 Spider-Man Unlimited #13 - 13,780 ( -9.0%)
Feb 06 n/a
Mar 06 Spider-Man Unlimited #14 - 20,188 (+46.5%)
Apr 06 n/a
May 06 Spider-Man Unlimited #15 - 16,286 (-19.3%)
6 mnth ( +7.5%)
1 year ( -3.9%)
2 year (-48.6%)


SPIDER-MAN UNLIMITED unexpectedly holds on to some of the gain from last
month's issue, which featured David Finch on art. This month's star
artist is Klaus Janson, who doesn't normally make that much difference
to sales, but I'm struggling to work out what else might be a factor
here.


130. ARES
Jan 06 Ares #1 (of 5) - 20,541
Feb 06 Ares #2 (of 5) - 16,884 (-17.8%)
Mar 06 Ares #3 (of 5) - 15,895 (-14.4%)
Apr 06 n/a
May 06 Ares #4 (of 5) - 16,255 ( +2.3%)


A bit late in the day to be a reaction to the hints that he's joining
the Avengers, so presumably people just like the book.


137. X-STATIX PRESENTS DEAD GIRL
May 01 X-Force #116 - 49,051
May 02 X-Force #128 - 41,124
May 03 n/a
May 04 X-Statix #23 - 24,080
======
Jan 06 Dead Girl #1 (of 5) - 20,685
Feb 06 Dead Girl #2 (of 5) - 17,369 (-16.0%)
Mar 06 Dead Girl #3 (of 5) - 16,048 ( -7.6%)
Apr 06 Dead Girl #4 (of 5) - 15,606 ( -2.8%)
May 06 Dead Girl #5 (of 5) - 15,382 ( -1.4%)
2 year (-36.1%)


A disappointing performance given that X-STATIX used to do much better.


138. ETERNALS SKETCHBOOK
May 06 Eternals Sketchbook - 15,351


Always a good sign when you can sell 15,000 copies of a promotional
item. ETERNALS will doubtless do huge business.


142. HAUNT OF HORROR: EDGAR ALLAN POE
May 06 Haunt of Horror #1 (of 3) - 14,517


Richard Corben adapts Edgar Allan Poe poetry, in a project that
presumably has at least one eye on the bookstores. Way off the beaten
track for Marvel, and I'm sure they'll be happy with these numbers.


146. MARVEL LEGACY HANDBOOKS
Feb 06 1960s Handbook - 12,957
Mar 06 n/a
Apr 06 n/a
May 06 1970s Handbook - 14,161 (+9.3%)


Either there's more interest in the 70s, or the appeal of the 60s
HANDBOOK was underestimated. I suspect it's more likely to be the
latter.


149. MARVEL ADVENTURES AVENGERS
May 06 Marvel Adventures Avengers #1 - 13,891


For what it's worth, a good debut by the standards of MARVEL ADVENTURES
books. But they're not really aimed at this market anyway, so whatever
they sell is a pleasant top-up rather than the main story.


164. DAUGHTERS OF THE DRAGON
Jan 06 Daughters of the Dragon #1 (of 6) - 17,522
Feb 06 n/a
Mar 06 Daughters of the Dragon #2 (of 6) - 13,256 (-24.3%)
Mar 06 Daughters of the Dragon #3 (of 6) - 12,104 ( -8.7%)
Apr 06 Daughters of the Dragon #4 (of 6) - 11,604 ( -4.1%)
May 06 Daughters of the Dragon #5 (of 6) - 11,164 ( -3.8%)


This is supposed to be leading into the new HEROES FOR HIRE series, and
the creators must be thanking their lucky stars that they've got a CIVIL
WAR tie-in to boost the first few months.


181. NEW MANGAVERSE
May 02 Marvel Mangaverse #2 - 39,292
======
Jan 06 New Mangaverse #1 (of 5) - 14,403
Feb 06 New Mangaverse #2 (of 5) - 11,462 (-20.4%)
Mar 06 New Mangaverse #3 (of 5) - 10,427 ( -9.0%)
Apr 06 New Mangaverse #4 (of 5) - 9,723 ( -6.8%)
May 06 New Mangaverse #5 (of 5) - 9,503 ( -2.3%)


Past time to put this concept to bed, I think.


189. DOC SAMSON
Jan 06 Doc Samson #1 (of 5) - 18,240
Feb 06 Doc Samson #2 (of 5) - 13,230 (-27.5%)
Mar 06 Doc Samson #3 (of 5) - 10,827 (-18.2%)
Apr 06 Doc Samson #4 (of 5) - 9,621 (-11.1%)
May 06 Doc Samson #5 (of 5) - 8,738 ( -9.2%)


Horrendously bad sales, losing more than half its readers over the
course of the run.


196. UNDERWORLD
Feb 06 Underworld #1 (of 5) - 12,479
Mar 06 Underworld #2 (of 5) - 11,134 (-10.8%)
Apr 06 Underworld #3 (of 5) - 8,667 (-22.2%)
May 06 Underworld #4 (of 5) - 8,158 ( -5.9%)


Well, it's levelling out, but that's not much comfort when you're in the
four digit range. Of course, it's hard to see what more they can expect
from a book with no big star creators, no big star characters, and no
publicity.


And now, the books aimed largely at the digest audience, where the
direct market sales don't really matter:-


210. SPIDER-MAN LOVES MARY JANE
Dec 05 Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane #1 - 11,171
Jan 06 Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane #2 - 8,590 (-23.1%)
Feb 06 Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane #3 - 7,648 (-11.0%)
Mar 06 Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane #4 - 7,672 ( +0.3%)
Apr 06 Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane #5 - 7,165 ( -6.6%)
May 06 Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane #6 - 7,069 ( -1.3%)


213. AVENGERS & POWER PACK ASSEMBLE!
Apr 06 Avengers & Power Pack Assemble #1 (of 4) - 7,857
May 06 Avengers & Power Pack Assemble #2 (of 4) - 6,613 (-15.8%)


222. MARVEL ADVENTURES SPIDER-MAN
May 05 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #3 - 9,110 (-11.6%)
Jun 05 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #4 - 8,878 ( -2.5%)
Jul 05 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #5 - 8,075 ( -9.0%)
Aug 05 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #6 - 7,636 ( -5.4%)
Sep 05 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #7 - 7,199 ( -5.7%)
Oct 05 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #8 - 7,088 ( -1.5%)
Nov 05 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #9 - 6,637 ( -6.4%)
Dec 05 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #10 - 6,391 ( -3.7%)
Jan 06 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #11 - 6,107 ( -4.4%)
Feb 06 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #12 - 6,087 ( -0.3%)
Mar 06 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #13 - 5,899 ( -3.1%)
Apr 06 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #14 - 5,970 ( +1.2%)
May 06 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #15 - 6,165 ( +3.3%)
6 mnth ( -7.1%)
1 year (-32.3%)


245. MARVEL ADVENTURES: FANTASTIC FOUR
May 05 Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #0 - 9,723
Jun 05 Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #1 - 9,617 ( -1.1%)
Jul 05 Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #2 - 6,864 (-28.6%)
Aug 05 Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #3 - 6,447 ( -6.1%)
Sep 05 Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #4 - 6,064 ( -5.9%)
Oct 05 Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #5 - 5,969 ( -1.6%)
Nov 05 Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #6 - 5,522 ( -7.5%)
Dec 05 Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #7 - 5,058 ( -8.4%)
Jan 06 Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #8 - 4,834 ( -4.4%)
Feb 06 Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #9 - 4,711 ( -2.5%)
Mar 06 Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #10 - 4,663 ( -1.0%)
Apr 06 Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #11 - 4,526 ( -2.9%)
May 06 Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #12 - 4,836 ( +6.8%)
6 mnth (-12.4%)
1 year (-50.3%)


And finally...


252. MARVEL ROMANCE REDUX
Feb 06 But He Said He Loved Me - 7,070
Mar 06 Guys & Doll - 6,150 (-13.0%)
Apr 06 Restraining Orders Are For Other Girls - 4,359 (-29.1%)
May 06 I Should Have Been Blonde - 4,473 ( +2.6%)


Levelling out, but at a horribly low level.


Skip months
===========


ASTONISHING X-MEN
May 04 Astonishing X-Men #1 - 209,389
======
May 05 Astonishing X-Men #10 - 156,298 (+15.5%)
Jun 05 n/a
Jul 05 Astonishing X-Men #11 - 127,768 (-18.3%)
Aug 05 Astonishing X-Men #12 - 134,693 ( +5.4%)
Sep 05 n/a
Oct 05 n/a
Nov 05 n/a
Dec 05 n/a
Jan 06 n/a
Feb 06 Astonishing X-Men #13 - 147,119 ( +9.2%)
Mar 06 n/a
Apr 06 Astonishing X-Men #14 - 119,545 (-18.7%)
May 06 n/a


Bimonthly.


ULTIMATE WOLVERINE VS HULK
Dec 05 Ultimate Wolverine vs Hulk #1 (of 6) - 115,492
Jan 06 n/a
Feb 06 Ultimate Wolverine vs Hulk #2 (of 6) - 105,770 (-8.4%)
Mar 06 n/a
Apr 06 n/a
May 06 n/a


Late. The "Director's Cut" reprint of issues #1-2 charts at number 133
with orders of 15,938.


ULTIMATES
May 02 Ultimates #5 - 102,524
May 03 Ultimates #10 - 105,546
May 04 n/a
======
May 05 Ultimates 2 #6 - 102,026 ( -2.8%)
Jun 05 n/a
Jul 05 Ultimates 2 #7 - 99,134 ( -2.8%)
Aug 05 n/a
Sep 05 Ultimates 2 #8 - 95,980 ( -3.2%)
Oct 05 n/a
Nov 05 n/a
Dec 05 Ultimates 2 #9 - 94,493 ( -1.5%)
Jan 06 n/a
Feb 06 n/a
Mar 06 Ultimates 2 #10 - 94,900 ( +0.4%)
Apr 06 n/a
May 06 n/a


Late.


FANTASTIC FOUR
May 01 Fantastic Four #43 - 50,311
May 02 Fantastic Four #55 - 43,563
May 03 Fantastic Four #69 - 52,103
May 04 Fantastic Four #513 - 50,936
======
May 05 Fantastic Four #526 - 44,935 ( -1.4%)
May 05 Fantastic Four #527 - 75,525 (+68.1%)
Jun 05 Fantastic Four #528 - 55,937 (-25.9%)
Jul 05 Fantastic Four #529 - 52,963 ( -5.3%)
Aug 05 Fantastic Four #530 - 51,782 ( -2.2%)
Sep 05 Fantastic Four #531 - 49,745 ( -3.9%)
Oct 05 n/a
Nov 05 Fantastic Four #532 - 47,771 ( -4.0%)
Dec 05 Fantastic Four #533 - 46,751 ( -2.1%)
Jan 05 n/a
Feb 06 Fantastic Four #534 - 44,573 ( -4.7%)
Feb 06 Fantastic Four #535 - 43,124 ( -3.3%)
Mar 06 Fantastic Four #536 - 79,680 (+84.8%)
Apr 06 Fantastic Four #537 - 78,160 ( -1.9%)
May 06 n/a


Skip month, oddly enough. Issues #536 and #537 pick up reorders of
18,681 and 15,220 respectively, partly because of a CIVIL WAR tie-in but
mainly because of variant covers by Bryan Hitch on the second printings.


YOUNG AVENGERS
May 05 Young Avengers #4 - 69,925 ( -6.8%)
Jun 05 Young Avengers #5 - 69,956 ( +0.0%)
Jul 05 n/a
Aug 05 Young Avengers #6 - 68,733 ( -1.7%)
Sep 05 Young Avengers #7 - 67,036 ( -2.5%)
Oct 05 Young Avengers #8 - 63,873 ( -4.7%)
Nov 05 Young Avengers #9 - 63,213 ( -1.0%)
Dec 05 n/a
Jan 06 n/a
Feb 06 Young Avengers #10 - 56,347 (-10.9%)
Mar 06 n/a
Apr 06 Young Avengers #11 - 56,613 ( +0.5%)
May 06 n/a


Late.


MARVEL ZOMBIES
Dec 05 Marvel Zombies #1 (of 5) - 85,547
Jan 06 Marvel Zombies #2 (of 5) - 55,197 (-35.5%)
Feb 06 Marvel Zombies #3 (of 5) - 59,932 ( +8.6%)
Mar 06 Marvel Zombies #4 (of 5) - 60,399 ( +0.8%)
Apr 06 Marvel Zombies #5 (of 5) - 64,156 ( +6.2%)


Finished last month, but it's still raking in the re-orders. This
month, issue #1 ships another 14,215 copies, and issue #5 ships 11,195.
Absolutely staggering success.


DAREDEVIL: FATHER
May 05 n/a
Jun 05 n/a
Jul 05 n/a
Aug 05 Father #2 (of 5) - 39,745 (-42.8%)
Sep 05 Father #3 (of 5) - 37,571 ( -5.5%)
Oct 05 n/a
Nov 05 Father #4 (of 5) - 33,562 (-10.7%)
Dec 05 Father #5 (of 6) - 30,249 ( -9.9%)
Jan 06 n/a
Feb 06 n/a
Mar 06 n/a
Apr 06 n/a
May 06 n/a


Late.


X-MEN UNLIMITED
May 02 X-Men Unlimited #36 - 39,998
May 03 X-Men Unlimited #
46 - 35,547
May 04 n/a
======
May 05 n/a
Jun 05 X-Men Unlimited #9 - 25,398 ( -1.1%)
Jul 05 n/a
Aug 05 X-Men Unlimited #10 - 23,717 ( -6.6%)
Sep 05 n/a
Oct 05 X-Men Unlimited #11 - 23,344 ( -1.6%)
Nov 05 n/a
Dec 05 X-Men Unlimited #12 - 22,134 ( -5.2%)
Jan 06 n/a
Feb 06 X-Men Unlimited #13 - 25,257 (+14.1%)
Mar 06 n/a
Apr 06 X-Men Unlimited #14 - 22,749 ( -9.9%)
May 06 n/a


Bimonthly.


FOUR
May 05 Marvel Knights 4 #18 - 28,649 ( -1.9%)
Jun 05 Marvel Knights 4 #19 - 28,153 ( -1.7%)
Jul 05 Marvel Knights 4 #20 - 27,548 ( -2.1%)
Aug 05 Marvel Knights 4 #21 - 27,023 ( -1.9%)
Sep 05 Marvel Knights 4 #22 - 26,446 ( -2.1%)
Oct 05 Marvel Knights 4 #23 - 25,100 ( -5.1%)
Nov 05 Marvel Knights 4 #24 - 24,129 ( -3.9%)
Dec 05 Marvel Knights 4 #25 - 22,753 ( -5.7%)
Jan 06 Marvel Knights 4 #26 - 21,365 ( -6.1%)
Feb 06 Marvel Knights 4 #27 - 20,977 ( -1.8%)
Mar 06 Four #28 - 20,976 ( -0.0%)
Apr 06 Four #29 - 21,233 ( +1.2%)
May 06 n/a


Late, and axed with issue #30.


KABUKI
May 05 n/a
Jun 05 n/a
Aug 05 n/a
Sep 05 n/a
Oct 05 Kabuki #5 - 11,420 (-20.3%)
Nov 05 n/a
Dec 05 n/a
Jan 06 n/a
Feb 06 Kabuki #6 - 11,349 ( -0.6%)
Mar 06 n/a
Apr 06 n/a
May 06 n/a


This is the point where I normally say that KABUKI comes out when it's
ready. But KABUKI #7 was solicited for May, so this time, it's actually
late.


MARVEL SPOTLIGHT
Dec 05 John Cassaday & Sean McKeever - 9,763
Jan 06 Warren Ellis & Jim Cheung - 6,843 (-29.9%)
Feb 06 Joss Whedon & Michael Lark - 5,947 (-13.1%)
Mar 06 David Finch & Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa - 4,146 (-30.3%)
Apr 06 Daniel Way & Olivier Coipel - 3,309 (-20.2%)
May 06 n/a


Late. It's a CIVIL WAR issue, which should presumably boost sales. But
then again, Joss Whedon didn't boost sales, and nor did David Finch, the
man who added thousands of sales to SPIDER-MAN UNLIMITED. So you never
know. If MARVEL SPOTLIGHT does continue to drop at this rate, there's a
real risk of it disappearing off the bottom of the charts altogether.
This month's number 300 book was LOONEY TUNES #138, with orders of
2,774.

 

[iloveclones]

Wrapping it up with some analysis:

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


+46.5% - Ultimate Fantastic Four
+38.6% - She-Hulk
+17.5% - Incredible Hulk
+ 8.2% - Daredevil
+ 8.1% - Cable & Deadpool
+ 7.5% - Spider-Man Unlimited
+ 5.8% - Amazing Spider-Man
+ 4.4% - X-Men
+ 3.8% - Captain America
+ 0.8% - Spider-Girl
- 0.3% - Exiles
- 0.8% - Wolverine
- 2.7% - Ultimate X-Men
- 2.2% - New Avengers
- 4.2% - Uncanny X-Men
- 4.3% - Ultimate Spider-Man
- 4.4% - Punisher
- 5.6% - Thunderbolts
- 7.1% - Marvel Adventures Spider-Man
- 7.2% - Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe
- 7.4% - Runaways
- 9.5% - Powers
-12.2% - Black Panther
-12.4% - Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four
-28.1% - Marvel Team-Up
-28.3% - Sensational Spider-Man
-32.6% - New X-Men
-33.6% - New Excalibur
-33.9% - X-Men: Deadly Genesis
-35.1% - Thing
-35.2% - Books of Doom
-46.3% - Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man


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


+43.5% - Ultimate Fantastic Four
+25.5% - Amazing Spider-Man
+15.6% - Wolverine
+14.4% - New X-Men
+ 6.3% - Incredible Hulk
+ 3.3% - Cable & Deadpool
- 0.4% - Exiles
- 1.6% - Daredevil
- 1.9% - X-Men
- 3.9% - Spider-Man Unlimited
- 5.0% - Uncanny X-Men
- 5.5% - Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe
- 5.9% - Squadron Supreme
- 8.3% - Sensational Spider-Man
- 9.2% - Ultimate Spider-Man
- 9.3% - Punisher
-11.1% - Ultimate X-Men
-12.5% - Spider-Girl
-14.5% - Thunderbolts
-14.7% - Powers
-17.7% - Runaways
-20.3% - Captain America
-22.4% - Marvel Team-Up
-25.1% - New Avengers
-26.0% - X-Men: The End
-31.2% - Black Panther
-32.3% - Marvel Adventures Spider-Man
-50.3% - Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four


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


+121.4% - New Avengers
+ 47.7% - She-Hulk
+ 37.6% - Iron Man
+ 36.1% - Wolverine
+ 24.4% - Captain America
+ 23.5% - Runaways
+ 16.6% - Amazing Spider-Man
+ 2.6% - Incredible Hulk
- 11.3% - Daredevil
- 12.5% - Spider-Girl
- 12.6% - Exiles
- 19.1% - Ultimate Spider-Man
- 22.3% - Squadron Supreme
- 25.3% - Ultimate X-Men
- 25.8% - X-Men
- 29.0% - Punisher
- 29.2% - Uncanny X-Men
- 30.3% - Cable & Deadpool
- 36.1% - Dead Girl / X-Statix
- 45.8% - Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe
- 47.1% - Sensational Spider-Man
- 47.6% - New X-Men
- 48.6% - Spider-Man Unlimited


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


+112.3% - New Avengers
+ 71.5% - Black Panther
+ 20.2% - Thunderbolts
+ 17.0% - Iron Man
+ 2.2% - Runaways
- 0.2% - Amazing Spider-Man
- 5.2% - Captain America
- 8.9% - Exiles
- 13.8% - Punisher
- 16.2% - Uncanny X-Men
- 17.0% - X-Men
- 21.9% - Daredevil
- 22.4% - Ultimate X-Men
- 23.3% - Spider-Girl
- 24.2% - Incredible Hulk
- 29.6% - Ultimate Spider-Man
- 29.7% - New X-Men / New Mutants
- 41.1% - Wolverine


--
Paul O'Brien

 

[Darthphere]

Squadron Supreme needs to get back on MAX like yesterday.

 

[iloveclones]

Yeah, that was definately a mistake. Probably seemed like a good idea, but I doubt most people pay attention to that MAX label. It's not like movies, where a PG-13 rating will draw from the general audience better than an R. I was all in favor of this move, but in retrospect, it does seem a bit stupid. And it doesn't help that they seem to be telling the same story every issue (S.S. go into a town/village and defeat the local army)

 

[iloveclones]

Also wanted to point out that big increase for UFF. It's fast becoming the premiere Ultimate title, which probably wouldn't be the case if you didn't have to wait 6 months between every Ultimates issue.

 

[iloveclones]

Can't remember the last time I saw almost the whole top 20 100K+. I hope this is a good indication for the industry as a whole. (Although, it may be a lot like looking at stock prices. Don't get too excited about today's increase. It could vanish overnight.)

Rank Title Est.Qty
1 CIVIL WAR #2 (Of 7)* 253,856
2 DCU BRAVE NEW WORLD #1 140,844
3 NEW AVENGERS #21 CW 134,278
4 WONDER WOMAN #1* 132,580
5 NEW AVENGERS #20 125,600
6 CIVIL WAR FRONT LINE #1 122,057
7 FLASH FASTEST MAN ALIVE #1 120,404
8 ASTONISHING X-MEN #15 119,991
9 WOLVERINE ORIGINS #3 116,058
10 AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #533 112,982
11 52 WEEK #5** 111,895
12 ALL STAR SUPERMAN #4 111,420
13 52 WEEK #7** 110,188
14 JUSTICE #6 (Of 12) 110,188
15 52 WEEK #6** 110,028
16 52 WEEK #8** 105,107
17 ETERNALS #1 (Of 6) 103,217
18 CIVIL WAR FRONT LINE #2 102,742
19 WOLVERINE #43 CW 97,807
20 ULTIMATES 2 #11 96,751

 

[iloveclones]

Saw this great link by Galactus and thought I'd put it here.

If anyone's interested you can find a sales charts archive (going back to September 1996) here: http://www.cbgxtra.com/Default.aspx?tabid=695