Monthly Comic Sales Thread

[Mr. Dent]

I have a feeling that's about to change. Marvel's high prices always give them the edge in sales, but DC's stepping up to their price range, so I expect that to mix it up quite a bit more. As much as I hate the $4 price point, I can't really get mad at DC for doing it because Marvel's pretty much forced their hand. I appreciate that they TRIED to keep prices for the most part at $3. And at least their $4 has more content than Marvel's. Every DC comic in September is $4, and come November a lot of the #25 issues are $4. I'm curious how things will fall when DC plays closer to Marvel's price point.

The list is based off of units sold, not how much money they brought in. If DC jacked up their prices they'd be in even worse shape.

Why is Guardians of the Galaxy so high? When did that happen and what is Marvel doing? That seemed to come out of nowhere

Damn, DC is dominating. Do they have an event or something to explain all those sales about or over 100K?

The first issue of Guardians sold 200,000 btw. But yeah, Angela was in this issue.

And it's the two Scott Snyder Superman and Batman comics and Geoff Johns's Justice League...that's why. Beyond that Marvel is killing them.

 

[JewishHobbit]

The list is based off of units sold, not how much money they brought in. If DC jacked up their prices they'd be in even worse shape.

Ah, my mistake.

 

[JewishHobbit]

I don't understand Aquaman's numbers. A-list creative team and quality that's as good or better than anything in the top 20. Aquaman has been consistently one of the best books put out since the New 52 began, and it's been excelling since Throne of Atlantis.

The same goes for Thor: God of Thunder. While I'm not a Thor fan, I can't deny how amazing Aaron's run has been. Both should be a top 10 book.

 

[Havok83]

He's Aquaman. That's why. I don't mean that as a dig, but he's no Batman or Superman and out of the JL core members, he's one that tends to get ragged on the most and dismissed

 

[JewishHobbit]

I think that's why I ended up liking his run. I didn't even bother with it until the JLA crossover, then I saw how good his stuff was. When I went back, the first arc played with the idea of him being a joke. People he saved would be embarrassed that they were rescued by Aquaman. Then Johns took him from there and is evolving him like how he evolved Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern mythos. It's been an amazing read.

His Green Lantern was the first thing to ever get me buying DC on a regular basis, which eventually led me to buy more DC than Marvel... but I like Johns' Aquaman WAY better than any of his Green Lantern. And it's kicking the crap out of his Justice League stuff.

 

[Mr. Dent]

August sales:

1 Infinity 1 $4.99 Marvel 205,819
2 Superman Unchained 3 $3.99 DC 136,319
3 Batman 23 $3.99 DC 128,230
4 Justice League 23 $3.99 DC 103,936
5 Justice League of America 7 $3.99 DC 93,777
6 Batman Superman 3 $3.99 DC 87,337
7 Superior Spider-Man 15 $3.99 Marvel 78,636
8 Superior Spider-Man 16 $3.99 Marvel 78,087
9 Avengers 18 $3.99 Marvel 74,697
10 All New X-Men 15 $3.99 Marvel 73,035
11 Uncanny X-Men 10 $3.99 Marvel 70,903
12 Walking Dead 113 $2.99 Image 70,273
13 Avengers 17 $3.99 Marvel 68,962
14 Uncanny X-Men 11 $3.99 Marvel 65,700
15 Uncanny Avengers 11 $3.99 Marvel 65,447
16 Justice League Dark 23* $3.99 DC 64,041
17 X-Men 4 $3.99 Marvel 64,010
18 Detective Comics 23 $3.99 DC 61,448
19 New Avengers 9 $3.99 Marvel 60,534
20 Green Lantern 23 $2.99 DC 59,176

http://www.comichron.com/monthlycomicssales/2013/2013-08.html

 

[Havok83]

dang DC is killing it up there.

Avengers beat out the flagship X-men book for the month as well

 

[JewishHobbit]

Talon is the lowest selling book I buy. I'm honestly not expecting it to last much longer. I'm actually shocked to see Birds of Prey right down there with it. I assumed that sold a lot better than that.

Phantom Stranger and especially Justice League Dark got a massive boost from Trinity War. Hopefully those sales will stick (or at least a portion of them) to keep them out of cancellation territory.

Young Avengers is my lowest ranked Marvel title at 76 followed by Daredevil at 54.

While Marvel always beats out Marvel on these things, I do find it interesting that DC's best ongoing title sells just shy of double Marvel's best ongoing title.

 

[Mr. Dent]

I can see why Marvel feels the need to release event comics perpetually while DC doesn't, since Marvel ongoings don't have near the staying power of Batman and Justice League (and now Superman thanks to Scott Snyder's name).

 

[JewishHobbit]

I'm curious how Marvel's sales would be if they didn't constantly rely on events and renumbering gimmicks? If they just let the stories run and the titles stand on their own. I'm not being snarky here. I'm genuinely curious. Would sales go up or down? Where would they stand against DC?

 

[Mr. Dent]

Well before all the events started being prevalent (i.e. pre-Bendis) X-Men and Ultimate titles dominated sales pretty well for Marvel. Obviously that wouldn't be the case anymore. You can check out sales from the late 90's-early 2000s here.

 

[runawayboulder]

God Damn Infinity #1 sold well!

And I am so happy to see Superior Spider-Man always up there as Marvel's top seller. I'm telling y'all...there's some great stuff going on in that book.

Now if there was any justice in this world, Thor: God of Thunder should be right with it....but it's not.....sadly.

 

[Havok83]

but with Superior doing so well, what does that mean for Peter? I guess it justifies that Peter Parker isn't needed. Are people not clamoring for his return or are they satisfied with Doc Ock in the role?

 

[runawayboulder]

but with Superior doing so well, what does that mean for Peter? I guess it justifies that Peter Parker isn't needed. Are people not clamoring for his return or are they satisfied with Doc Ock in the role?

We have threads that have long been discussing that here:

http://forums.superherohype.com/showthread.php?t=464411

and here:

http://forums.superherohype.com/showthread.php?t=464219

It seems like pretty much everyone wants Peter back at some point but is enjoying riding this wave while it's happening.

 

[JewishHobbit]

Correction... those reading it are fine riding the wave. Everyone else is waiting for Peter to return. I personally can't stand this direction... though admittedly I only skim the comic. I've only read read his guest stint in Daredevil and the newest issue of Superior (for Spidey 2099) and SpOck nearly ruined both issues for me.

But then again, I've never liked Doc Ock.

 

[hippie_hunter]

God Damn Infinity #1 sold well!

And I am so happy to see Superior Spider-Man always up there as Marvel's top seller. I'm telling y'all...there's some great stuff going on in that book.

Now if there was any justice in this world, Thor: God of Thunder should be right with it....but it's not.....sadly.

If there were any justice in the world, the Top 10 would also have Daredevil, Indestructible Hulk, Aquaman, and Wonder Woman alongside Thor: God of Thunder.

 

[JewishHobbit]

I enjoy Daredevil, but it's nowhere near top 10 good. Aquaman and Thor I agree with though.

 

[runawayboulder]

I consider DD a fringe top 10 book. If we're to rank books on principle, I'd put it at #10 because it's got the structure and style to it's storytelling that every other comic should emulate. Incredible Hulk isn't a bad book, it's just not as strong as Waid's other current comic. I prefer what he's doing on DD.

 

[Havok83]

LMAO at not a single Wolverine title anywhere near that Top 20. His highest rank title is 41. Guess he's not the cash cow he was once. Overexposure can do that to you

 

[StreetWarrior]

Great for Infinity! For once, an event is deserving of such a high sales volume. I still wish Marvel would quit with the event overkill but, if future events are as good as Infinity, they'll be a lot more bearable.

 

[Mr. Dent]

September sales:

1 Forever Evil 1 $3.99 DC 139,976
2 Infinity 2 $3.99 Marvel 125,985
3 Infinity 3 $3.99 Marvel 123,285
4 X-Men Battle of Atom 1 $3.99 Marvel 113,928
5 Batman (Joker) 23.1 $3.99 DC 107,680
6 Batman (Riddler) 23.2 $3.99 DC 107,413
7 Mighty Avengers 1 $3.99 Marvel 101,921
8 Batman (Bane) 23.4 $3.99 DC 95,298
9 Avengers 19 $3.99 Marvel 92,489
10 Batman (Penguin) 23.3 $3.99 DC 89,850

11 Superior Spider-Man 17 $3.99 Marvel 89,118
12 All New X-Men 16 $3.99 Marvel 84,218
13 Superior Spider-Man 18 $3.99 Marvel 80,178
14 The Star Wars 1 $3.99 Dark Horse 78,467
15 Justice League (Darkseid) 23.1 $3.99 DC 78,200
16 Uncanny X-Men 12 $3.99 Marvel 76,790
17 Avengers 20 $3.99 Marvel 74,388
18 X-Men 5 $3.99 Marvel 73,357
19 Walking Dead 114 $2.99 Image 70,440
20 Guardians of Galaxy 6 $3.99 Marvel 69,030

21 Batman Superman (Doomsday) 3.1 $3.99 DC 68,150
22 Uncanny Avengers 12 $3.99 Marvel 66,353
23 Batman Black & White 1 $4.99 DC 65,018
24 New Avengers 10 $3.99 Marvel 60,682
25 Wolverine And X-Men 36 $3.99 Marvel 59,684
26 Saga 14 $2.99 Image 55,585
27 Action Comics (Cyborg Superman) 23.1 $3.99 DC 50,146
28 Batman and Robin (Two Face) 23.1 $3.99 DC 49,917
29 Justice League of America (Black Adam) 7.4 $3.99 DC 49,625
30 Action Comics (Zod) 23.2 $3.99 DC 49,557

31 Batman and Robin (Ras al Ghul) 23.3 $3.99 DC 49,452
32 Action Comics (Lex Luthor) 23.3 $3.99 DC 49,310
33 Batman and Robin (Court of Owls) 23.2 $3.99 DC 49,205
34 Detective Comics (Posion Ivy) 23.1 $3.99 DC 49,200
35 Detective Comics (Harley Quinn) 23.2 $3.99 DC 48,776
36 Detective Comics (Scarecrow) 23.3 $3.99 DC 48,671
37 Green Lantern (Sinestro) 23.4 $3.99 DC 48,263
38 Batman and Robin (Killer Croc) 23.4 $3.99 DC 48,152
39 Thor God of Thunder 13 $3.99 Marvel 48,007
40 Detective Comics (Man Bat) 23.4 $3.99 DC 46,590

41 Deadpool 16 $2.99 Marvel 45,675
42 Deadpool 17 $2.99 Marvel 45,348
43 Kick-Ass 3 3 $2.99 Marvel 44,540
44 Justice League (Secret Society) 23.4 $3.99 DC 44,008
45 Jupiters Legacy 3 $2.99 Image 43,766
46 Superman (Parasite) 23.4 $3.99 DC 43,631
47 Indestructible Hulk 13 $3.99 Marvel 41,805
48 Deadpool Kills Deadpool 3 $2.99 Marvel 41,023
49 Batman (Joker) 23.1 Std* $2.99 DC 39,304
50 Powerpuff Girls 1 $3.99 IDW 38,992

http://www.comichron.com/monthlycomicssales/2013/2013-09.html

 

[runawayboulder]

Ugh, Thor should be selling way higher than it is.

 

[JewishHobbit]

How bad is an $80,000 decrease between Infinity 1 and 2? How's that compare to other event drop offs? Seems kinda steep to me.

 

[JewishHobbit]

I like the rare times when DC comes out on top. If only they could maintain that momentum beyond the brief blips.

 

[Mr. Dent]

It's normal for event comics.