http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=27979
X-Men #1 was the big winner with 140,332 which was high above Brightest Day #6 which had 94K.
New Avengers had a massive drop off between #1 and 2 which is common but I didn't expect it to be that much. I think it'll bounce back. SA #3 rounded out the top 10 despite it's so-so opening arc beating out all things Spidey and X-Men.
I'm VERY shocked Shadowland #1 debuted at 54K #21 on the list......
Dread, I'm sure you'll read this thread......what was that site you gave that has this stuff about 2 weeks earlier than CBR? I wanna bookmark it.
The website is called ICV2 -
www.icv2.com
Their Top 300 Comic list -
http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/18166.html
Their Top 300 Graphic Novels list -
http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/18167.html
Their Dollar Trends article -
http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/18169.html
Their Overall July 2010 sales summary -
http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/18168.html
ICV2 tends to publish their sales articles around the middle of the month, before the end of the 3rd week. They get their figures straight from Diamond. These figures only cover sales in the direct market to retailers in North America; it does not cover downloads or sales overseas. All sales are usually print to order; stores order X amount of copies and that is how many the publishers will print. Companies often print a few thousand extra in case of damages or if they expect reorders; I've heard anecdotes about DC being better about that than Marvel. Whenever a comic is said to have "sold out", that just means a company sold all of their print-to-order copies AND the extras, a number that is never given. These sales also do not track subscriptions.
July 2010 was a weak month for comics. X-MEN #1 defied expectations and sold over 140k; it was the only title that sold over 100k or even over 95k (and only one title sold over 90k). Sales for comics overall fell 12%. Graphic novel sales saw about a 9% rise, although that was almost exclusively due to mania over SCOTT PILGRIM driving up sales for the 6th volume as well as prior volumes. It is worth mention that the Top 20 graphic novel list was dominated by Scott Pilgrim, Blackest Night/Green Lantern stuff, and Walking Dead; Marvel only saw 2 in the top 20, both selling under 5k trades. DC better appreciates trade sales and has penetrated bookstores better over the years. For perspective, in May and June sales for monthly comics rose 16% over those two months (although June's increase was 1%, which is basically holding steady). This means July was so bad a month it almost gave back two months worth of growth.
The other big story is SHADOWLAND debuting around 55k. It is worth mention that it has gotten I believe two reprints for #1, so that tally will increase. But say it moves up to a 60k debut for #1; some will bemoan how that is more than half what SIEGE debuted at. However, sales for DAREDEVIL saw a spike of about 4k from it in July, which cut back on months of bleeding sales and got the title back to selling where it sold around December '09. Unless Marvel editorial is completely mad, they don't expect SHADOWLAND to sell at the levels of Bendis-written Avengers mania, but will be satisfied if it gives DD a bump before it is canceled/relaunched and dominates the Top 50 list. The fact that a DD event debuted within the Top 25 is impressive. The true story will be how sales hold up. A sales drop of, say, 20-30% in a second issue of anything is about average these days. One wonders how the spin-off's will do, though. Especially SHADOWLAND: POWER MAN, which has already been given a six issue sequel mini, so for all intents and purposes it is an ongoing series that will last ten issues, like VENGEANCE OF THE MOON KNIGHT.
AVENGERS: THE CHILDREN'S CRUSADE #1 debuted with over 41k sales, and there'll be a reprint of that debut as well. Considering some issues of YOUNG AVENGERS PRESENTS last year fell to below 30k sales, that's not bad. When it was an ongoing series, I believe it ended around 50k-60k, but those days for the franchise may be long over. It will be interesting seeing how it holds up over 18 months, even if all issues come out on time.
For DC fans, you shouldn't be overjoyed that BRIGHTEST DAY seemed to "gain" 20% sales between issues this month. The series is partially returnable to retailers (i.e., Diamond allows retailers to return X amount of copies that don't move). Therefore, Diamond often shaves off 20% sales for the first few issues to compensate. SIEGE had that same deal, which was why sales were all over the place for that.
It is amazing to see how the chart has waxed and waned. I remember when THE ORDER debuted in 2006 and at 50k it barely cracked the Top 40. This month a book could crack the Top 50 at just barely over 35k sales. The entire chart is dominated by the Top 25 sellers, and especially the Top 15; if a slew of them sell 100k, everything moves down. When they don't, you have months like this where HAWKEYE & MOCKINGBIRD sold 20.5k and still cracked the Top 100 (albeit at #100).
As an FYI, CAPTAIN AMERICA skipped July (I barely noticed, either). Two issues will ship this month to compensate, I think. STEVE ROGERS: SOLDIER SOLDIER #1 debuted instead it cracked the Top 25 at under 53k, which is very solid. That's not far from where CA sells. Marvel may very well have pulled off the perfect switch for this franchise; replacing Captain America and being able to sell both the new and old Cap at the same time. Expect SR:SS to be a test mini to see how well Brubaker could sell a Rogers ongoing alongside Barnes' CA, especially with a film coming next year.
SUPERMAN and WONDER WOMAN have proven to not be able to hold onto those massive sales for their triple digit issues. Maybe JMS' bubble has popped. They're both up from pre JMS levels, but the question is how long that will last.
The Hickman run of FF continues to fade in sales, now on the verge of falling out of the Top 50 at just over 35.5k. Sales for months have seen declines and any gains from a variant cover or two are handed back any month there isn't one. Sales for the Four at at a five year low. When ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR sold around this level, Marvel canned it. That said, I doubt Marvel would ever seriously cancel this title, so I expect a relaunch after the "death of one of the Four" arc as NEW FF or ASTONISHING FF or X-TREME FF or YOUNG FF or so on.
YOUNG ALLIES #2 sold at below 16.5k and sold below WEB OF SPIDER-MAN, which was canceled months ago. I am amazed I haven't heard a cancellation announcement about this series yet. Issue six was solicited in November and by then sales should be very ugly. The first issue saw a reprint but even that debut was barely over 20k. The only reason I can think of for why this series hasn't been canceled yet is either McKeever knows where Bendis hid a body, or Marvel wants to keep the book alive for the debut of SPIDER-GIRL (which is basically Arana Vol. 2).
I don't read either, but BLACK WIDOW and HAWKEYE & MOCKINGBIRD's sales are not healthy at all. All recent series that have sold that poorly have been canceled by issue 5 or 6, such as SWORD or DOCTOR VOODOO. Yet, BLACK WIDOW will get a second arc and so may H&M as well, so they may limp to a 10th or even 11th issue. For the record, both are doing better than YOUNG ALLIES.
THANOS IMPERATIVE #2 sold at over 31k. It's selling far worse than WAR OF KINGS did, although it is still selling better than both NOVA and GOTG sold individually in years (both titles ended their runs at about 22k). If Marvel remains interested in the space line, it may justify relaunching both titles as a single entity, at least after the Rocket & Groot mini.
AVENGERS ACADEMY #2 sold at just over 38k, or rather, right where it's parent series, AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE, ended. Which is neither good or bad news, but expected news. Unless things prove to be a disaster, the title should be safe a year or possibly see some spikes from variant covers or promotions. I doubt a crossover with THUNDERBOLTS, which sells 7k less, will help much. Hopefully THUNDERBOLTS sees a spike from it this month. Until hopping onto HULK, is was/is Jeff Parker's best selling title.
That sound you hear is some of those WORLD WAR HULKS mini's and some of Deadpool's spare titles hitting the walls of the pipe on their way to oblivion. Also, there is little interest in HIT-MONKEY.
Did ASTONISHING SPIDER-MAN & WOLVERINE really shed over 40% of the sales of the first issue in May? Ouch. Given how badly that spare Spider-Man mini's or one shots, or for that matter how badly spare Wolverine mini's or one shots have sold this year, a spare mini starring both of them is doing okay for now. At any rate, AMAZING SPIDER-MAN is still holding up about where it usually does. The first issue of the month sold 68k and the other two around 55-56k, which is average for the thrice a month title. The format will shift to twice a month once Dan Slott takes the helm. Meanwhile, Marvel has created a market in which Daken's title outsells Logan's by several thousand, and Logan's best selling title was the final issue of WOLVERINE ORIGINS. While Marvel's various "moves" have worked wonders for Captain America and Thor, and even with all the stress over ASM, sales have held steady around the 54k mark per issue for over a year (and can spike higher on occasion), all of their moves have backfired on Wolverine, who is selling lower than he ever has. He literally sells better alongside the Avengers, the X-Men, and Spider-Man than he does alone. The character who used to be near the top of the heap every month now is reduced to needing his SON to crack the Top 35. Were Marvel a genuine business, whoever approved that decision would at least be demoted. Shifting Daken onto Wolverine's core title, while promoting WOLVERINE: WEAPON X as the third, most expensive Wolverine title no one wanted has backfired in every possible fashion. Marvel will attempt to right things with a new WOLVERINE #1 with Logan back at the helm, but I wonder how that will do. It is also possible that after 25 years, Wolverine is finally off his peak and tumbling back to midcard status after an entire generation of beating that franchise flat.
As a fan of DYNAMO 5, I was appalled to see SINS OF THE FATHER selling at the bottom of the Top 300 list at under 3700 copies. It sold worse than an issue of the Marvel Index. I have no clue how the trades of it sell, but I cannot imagine Image giving it another mini after this unless they expect sales to spike or just really like Jay Faerber (or the sales of trades make up losses for single issues). Image has a far lower sales threshold than Marvel or DC, or even sometimes Dark Horse, but that's bad. Which sucks, because I enjoy the title, and it's really no worse than, say, THUNDERBOLTS, which sells almost ten times as much.
Are sales now lower than they were a decade ago? Yes and no. The 300th seller in the Top 300 list sold over 3600 copies; years ago, the lowest sellers used to be in 1k and 2k territory. That is likely due to the fact that the bigger companies have pushed them out, and Diamond increased their threshold for carrying low press comics. The #10 seller for July 2010, SECRET AVENGERS #3, sold over 72k. In July 2000, the #10 seller was an issue of ELEKTRA and that sold about over 73k. Comics have weathered the economic storm better than most magazines. The elephant in the room no one wants to talk about are prices. Ten years ago, most comics were still $1.99 and ones that crept into $2.25 and $2.50 territory were more rare. Marvel is pushing for $3.99 to be the default price on over 50% of what they put out in a month, and the figure is probably closer to 60% of what they publish these days (ongoings, mini's, one shots, debut issues, etc.). DC and even Image are following suit. That would have been about a 101% price increase since 2000. From 1999-2010, the national rate of inflation is just under 30% (that is, $1 had 29% less value from 1999 to 2010, so it was like only having .71). Yet the fact that the price of comics has doubled within the decade isn't usually treated as that major an effect on sales by most online commentators, even professionals. Most of that jump has happened within the past five years, when Bill Jemas left Marvel and Joe Q raised prices across the board to $2.99, regardless of sales or target audience. The fact that sales remained there for two years was why Joe Q expected a humanitarian award when in the midst of the recession he hiked them an extra buck all at once. After all, when Dubya was just being re-elected, many comics were still $2.50. Think about that for a second.
Basic economics dictates that raising the price will cause sales to fall off; the question is how low do they fall before you make less than if you kept the old price. Psychologically, many fans feel that $3.99 is too much for many comics and if even 5% of all comic readers adjust habits due to that, than can hugely effect the comic market. BOOM! studios had a panel at the SDCC that claimed via research that the current readership of comics in America is about 300,000 people - or at least those are the people who actually pay for them. That's about 10% less than a figure Mark Millar and someone else cited a few years ago. Some feel that comics will weather the storm as they usually do; others see the pattern as unsustainable. The figures I see show that $3.99 prices don't have major effects on franchises that were doing very well to begin with, but they break the backs of anything that is selling low or at midcard level. INCREDIBLE HERCULES' free-fall was aided by the increased price. Marvel has had a difficult time launching any title with a $4 debut issue unless it is something already big like an Avengers or X-Men title. It also is worth mentioning that NEW AVENGERS is giving back it's sales boost from the relaunch very quickly. Relaunches and renumberings and events and variant covers have inflated sales figures for many comics for at least four years now, but at this point they seem to be less effective than they were even a year ago. Retailers and fans are catching wise. The question is, do the Big Two have any new tricks? Are they repeating strategies that don't work so well out of sheer ignorance, or because they have no other strategies?
Untold Tales of FF? 
FF Super Stories? FF and Their Amazing Friends? 
