Very interesting! Despite not having the #1 selling comic or trade, DC snagged the Dollar & Unit share of the market from Marvel for the first time in about a year and a half. DARK HORSE also seems to be making a surge, having BUFFY naturally continue to sell in the Top 10 and the terrific UMBRELLA ACADEMY selling at #77. Hey, it is hard for any non-"Big Two" comic to sell in the Top 100 these days.
Of course, October was also a month where a slew of Marvel's titles, including their big WORLD WAR HULK event, didn't ship. No THOR, no IMMORTAL IRON FIST, and so on. But DC obviously plugged these gaps with a lot of titles; only 2 within the Top 10, but 9 within the Top 20, dead even with Marvel, a lot of titles elsewhere.
Lateness kills, folks.
Anyway, random thoughts:
- Great to see CAPTAIN AMERICA still selling within the Top 20. An A-List quality book selling like an A-List book should. It is rare, folks. Appreciate it.
- NEW AVENGERS selling at #1, thanks to losers like me. AAARRAAAGGGHHH!
- X-MEN: MESSIAH COMPLEX selling at #6, bodes well for the X-event.
- WOLVERINE is a top 10 selling book?
- Where is AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE #6?
- Tie-in's to events sometimes DO work; PUNISHER WAR JOURNAL #12 shot up about 20 slots into #21. Normally this book has sold around the Top 40-50 for months. It was a hilarious issue, too.
- ULTIMATE X-MEN shot back into the Top 25 too, after being in the Top 30-40 for months. Guess the slew of late titles helped some of the straddlers down the line. It is Kirkman's worst book, though.
- Despite the lack of extra Marvel books, ULTIMATE POWER didn't budge. Obviously, an event that wasn't.
- The delayed RUNAWAYS #28 sold #46; not as high as Whedon's first issue of the run, but still miles ahead of BKV's last issues in terms of sales (NOT quality, although Whedon's improving). Marvel will be pleased. Enjoy pre-Ramos issues while they last, kiddies.
- ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR remains the first Ultimate book to sell outside the Top 50. This is a harsh sign considering even 2 years ago, they were all Top 25 locks.
- MOON KNIGHT's slipped out of the Top 40's where it had been for months, but still isn't anywhere dire yet. I am glad for the creative change, though.
- NEW WARRIORS #5 at #62. Moderate, probably better than last month due to some comics missing from the shelves. And better than the last stab at NW at this phase, showing that CW did spark interest in the franchise, and that there is interest in the cast (mostly Ex-X's) and the mystery storyline.
- NOVA selling at #69 still is the best of the ANNIHILATION books, given that it is the only ongoing and it predated the mini's by at least 1-3 issues.
- GHOST RIDER used to sell within the Top 50, now it is at #70 despite some late Marvel books. No wonder they want Way out.
- It is nice seeing BLUE BEETLE back in the Top 100. It is a fun little book.
- MCP #1 sold at around #58 or so of the Top 100 in Sept., and issue #2 has fallen nearly 40 slots; once again proving that the market simply has no interest in anthologies. This title looks dead @ #12, folks. Enjoy it while you can. Ironically, MARVEL COMICS PRESENTS debuted selling about as many issues as BLADE #1 did, so call it a bad omen. Besides, few books that can't sell a #1 issue within the Top 50 from Marvel survive. The title's fun but hardly essential to me right now.
- ANNIHILATION CONQUEST is officially selling worse than the original, with WRAITH and QUASAR hovering within the Top 95. The first ANNIHILATION books rarely dipped out of the Top 85. STARLORD also didn't ship in October.
- HOWARD THE DUCK #1 selling at #100. I didn't read it, but it looks like that annoying Duck Hunt mutt managed to grab this one. It's a...dead duck. I mean it was outsold by AMAZING SPIDER-GIRL, for chrissakes.
- It is worth noting that DARK HORSE managed 2 comics in the Top 100, and Image has none. For info's sake, for the past 10 years, Dark Horse has managed to squeak out a 3%-7% share of the market rather consistantly. Whereas over the past 10 years, Image has fallen from 13% of the market to 3%. That means since 1997, while the same four companies (Marvel, DC, Dark Horse & Image) dominate the market, Image's power has fallen a bit, and it has been gobbled by the Big Two.
