Comics Sales numbers

[Donald Thomas]

I encourage everyone to boycott Amazing Fantasy. Unless you advocate the classic Spider-Man rogues gallery created by Lee and Ditko getting "re-vamped" by a bunch of no name wannabes.

I mean, the utter NERVE of some people! It's like Charles ****ing Manson escaped from the nut house, and is currently the CEO at Marvel Comics or something.

Aloha,
Desperate times. Has Marvel EVER done a focus group with REAL comic book readers and collectors?Have they ever polled their readership to see what we might be interested in reading and of course buying?We fans will do what we can regarding keeping the comic book industry afloat, but ultimately leadership starts at the top.
Spidey rules

 

[Galactus]

1. NEW AVENGERS / AVENGERS
Jan Avengers #77 - ??,??? ( ??? )
Feb Avengers #78 - 58,798 ( +2.3%)
Feb Avengers #79 - 55,014 ( -6.4%)
Mar Avengers #80 - 55,533 ( +0.9%)
Apr Avengers #81 - 54,987 ( -1.0%)
May Avengers #82 - 55,711 ( +1.3%)
May Avengers #83 - 55,280 ( -0.8%)
Jun Avengers #84 - 57,083 ( +3.3%)
Jul Avengers #500 - 140,033 (+145.3%)
Aug n/a
Sep Avengers #501 - 91,054 ( -35.0%)
Sep Avengers #502 - 93,105 ( +2.3%)
Oct n/a
Nov Avengers #503 - 105,761 ( +13.6%)
Nov Avengers Finale - 101,431 ( -4.1%)
Dec New Avengers #1 - 280,286 (+176.3%)
Jan New Avengers #2 - 153,751 ( -45.1%)
6 mnth ( +9.8%)
1 year (+116.1%)

NEW AVENGERS falls back drastically with its second issue, but 153,751 still allows it to claim the top spot with 40,000 sales to spare. Besides, the numbers for issue #1 are artifically inflated by the Director's Cut edition. The regular version only did 240,724, which makes that drop-off look slightly better. It's still comfortably ahead of the sales for AVENGERS #500, and in a completely different league from pre-relaunch numbers. Plenty to be happy about here.

If you're wondering about the blank number for issue #77, that was a low-priced gimmick issue. Comics with a token cover price don't appear on the chart, because they're regarded as closer to promotional freebies than proper products. Consequently, we don't know how many copies it sold. The one-year comparison is drawn with the first issue from February 2004 instead.

In a generally quiet month on the charts, a lot of re-orders creep into the bottom end of the top 300. NEW AVENGERS #1 shows up at number 283 on the charts, with reorders of 797. The Director's Cut edition turns up at number 299, with reorders of 692. All of which makes virtually no difference to numbers of this scale, but I've included them anyway in the figures above.


8. ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN
Jan Ultimate Spider-Man #52 - 95,854 ( -2.3%)
Feb Ultimate Spider-Man #53 - 92,540 ( -3.5%)
Mar Ultimate Spider-Man #54 - 93,025 ( +5.2%)
Mar Ultimate Spider-Man #55 - 91,525 ( -1.6%)
Apr Ultimate Spider-Man #56 - 91,585 ( +0.1%)
Apr Ultimate Spider-Man #57 - 90,784 ( -0.9%)
May Ultimate Spider-Man #58 - 90,963 ( +0.2%)
May Ultimate Spider-Man #59 - 89,863 ( -1.2%)
Jun Ultimate Spider-Man #60 - 104,789 (+16.6%)
Jun Ultimate Spider-Man #61 - 101,159 ( -3.5%)
Jul Ultimate Spider-Man #62 - 98,963 ( -2.2%)
Aug Ultimate Spider-Man #63 - 96,279 ( -2.7%)
Aug Ultimate Spider-Man #64 - 94,682 ( -1.7%)
Sep Ultimate Spider-Man #65 - 94,174 ( -0.5%)
Oct Ultimate Spider-Man #66 - 95,917 ( +1.9%)
Oct Ultimate Spider-Man #67 - 95,071 ( -0.9%)
Nov Ultimate Spider-Man #68 - 91,075 ( -4.2%)
Nov Ultimate Spider-Man #69 - 90,010 ( -1.2%)
Dec Ultimate Spider-Man #70 - 88,960 ( -1.2%)
Jan Ultimate Spider-Man #71 - 83,987 ( -5.6%)
6 mnth (-15.1%)
1 year (-12.4%)

A surprisingly steep drop, and easily the lowest sales that the book's had in the last year. This was the second half of a two-parter guest starring Ultimate Doctor Strange, for what it's worth.

9. AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
Jan Amazing Spider-Man #503 - 87,341 ( -3.5%)
Feb Amazing Spider-Man #504 - 84,064 ( -3.7%)
Mar Amazing Spider-Man #505 - 83,613 ( -0.5%)
Apr Amazing Spider-Man #506 - 83,152 ( -0.6%)
May Amazing Spider-Man #507 - 81,944 ( -1.5%)
Jun Amazing Spider-Man #508 - 82,268 ( +0.4%)
Jun Amazing Spider-Man #509 - 101,632 (+23.5%)
Jul Amazing Spider-Man #510 - 86,181 (-15.2%)
Aug Amazing Spider-Man #511 - 88,118 ( +2.2%)
Sep Amazing Spider-Man #512 - 88,628 ( +0.6%)
Oct Amazing Spider-Man #513 - 89,615 ( +1.1%)
Nov Amazing Spider-Man #514 - 87,121 ( -2.8%)
Dec Amazing Spider-Man #515 - 83,637 ( -4.0%)
Jan Amazing Spider-Man #516 - 79,842 ( -4.5%)
6 mnth ( -7.4%)
1 year ( -8.6%)

Issue #515 charts at number 284 with reorders of 797 copies. Meanwhile, with "Sins Past" over and done with, AMAZING goes straight back to the important business of shedding readers. This is really just the trend that was in place before "Sins Past" anyway, and I wouldn't take this as necessarily validating the claims that people would drop the book at the end of that controversial storyline. But it's equally clear that the storyline failed utterly to bring in new readers and keep them - only two months after the story finished, AMAZING finds itself with its lowest sales in quite some time.

16. MARVEL KNIGHTS SPIDER-MAN
Apr Marvel Knights Spider-Man #1 - 137,314
May Marvel Knights Spider-Man #2 - 99,320 (-27.7%)
Jun Marvel Knights Spider-Man #3 - 82,715 (-16.7%)
Jul Marvel Knights Spider-Man #4 - 75,508 ( -8.7%)
Aug Marvel Knights Spider-Man #5 - 75,562 ( +0.1%)
Sep Marvel Knights Spider-Man #6 - 71,492 ( -5.4%)
Oct Marvel Knights Spider-Man #7 - 69,918 ( -2.2%)
Nov Marvel Knights Spider-Man #8 - 68,290 ( -2.3%)
Dec Marvel Knights Spider-Man #9 - 64,461 ( -5.6%)
Jan Marvel Knights Spider-Man #10 - 61,831 ( -4.1%)
6 mnth (-18.1%)

Falling, but there's only two issues of Millar's run to go, so it's going to sustain a decent level of sales throughout.

23,25. SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN
Jan Spectacular Spider-Man #9 - 58,711 ( -6.4%)
Feb Spectacular Spider-Man #10 - 55,746 ( -5.1%)
Mar Spectacular Spider-Man #11 - 54,066 ( -3.0%)
Mar Spectacular Spider-Man #12 - 53,549 ( -1.0%)
Apr Spectacular Spider-Man #13 - 52,835 ( -1.3%)
May Spectacular Spider-Man #14 - 51,036 ( -3.4%)
Jun Spectacular Spider-Man #15 - 50,997 ( -0.0%)
Jun Spectacular Spider-Man #16 - 50,515 ( -0.9%)
Jul Spectacular Spider-Man #17 - 51,335 ( +1.6%)
Aug Spectacular Spider-Man #18 - 52,271 ( +1.8%)
Sep Spectacular Spider-Man #19 - 51,874 ( -0.8%)
Oct Spectacular Spider-Man #20 - 51,159 ( -1.4%)
Nov Spectacular Spider-Man #21 - 50,633 ( -1.0%)
Dec Spectacular Spider-Man #22 - 47,513 ( -6.2%)
Jan Spectacular Spider-Man #23 - 48,727 ( +2.6%)
Jan Spectacular Spider-Man #24 - 47,824 ( -1.9%)
6 mnth ( -6.8%)
1 year (-18.5%)

Cancelled with issue #27 following Paul Jenkins' departure, although he's nowhere to be seen here anyway. Issues #23 and #24 are the first half of "Sins Remembered", a sequel to "Sins Past" written by one of J Michael Straczynski's protegees. Every issue of "Sins Past" sold over 80,000, so you'd think this might be good for a sales boost. In fact, issue #23 gets a boost which is somewhere between desultory and derisory, and that's about it. I think this says a lot about the reaction to "Sins Past", actually. People bought it because it was an event - but boy, the retailers don't seem to think that they want any more of it.

59. SPIDER-MAN/HUMAN TORCH
Jan Spider-Man/Human Torch #1 (of 5) - 30,617

Not bad numbers, considering that it's a historical continuity series. Those tend not to do very well.

66. MARVEL TEAM-UP
Nov Marvel Team-Up #1 - 44,530
Nov Marvel Team-Up #2 - 37,515 (-15.7%)
Dec Marvel Team-Up #3 - 29,085 (-22.5%)
Jan Marvel Team-Up #4 - 27,216 ( -6.4%)

As with NEW THUNDERBOLTS, the title levels out a bit with its fourth issue. But these numbers are worryingly low.

92. SPIDER-GIRL
Jan Spider-Girl #68 - 20,544 ( -4.0%)
Jan Spider-Girl #69 - 20,384 ( -0.8%)
Feb Spider-Girl #70 - 20,541 ( +0.8%)
Mar Spider-Girl #71 - 20,709 ( +0.8%)
Apr Spider-Girl #72 - 20,533 ( -0.8%)
May Spider-Girl #73 - 20,275 ( -1.3%)
May Spider-Girl #74 - 19,959 ( -1.6%)
Jun Spider-Girl #75 - 24,674 (+23.6%)
Jul Spider-Girl #76 - 22,157 (-10.2%)
Aug Spider-Girl #77 - 21,758 ( -1.8%)
Sep Spider-Girl #78 - 22,076 ( +1.5%)
Oct Spider-Girl #79 - 21,893 ( -0.8%)
Nov Spider-Girl #80 - 21,146 ( -3.4%)
Dec Spider-Girl #81 - 20,419 ( -3.4%)
Jan Spider-Girl #82 - 20,005 ( -2.0%)
6 mnth ( -9.7%)
1 year ( -1.9%)

Well, it's SPIDER-GIRL. It hovers in its own area of 19-21K, and it's happy in its little sales bubble. And why shouldn't it be?

95. SPIDER-MAN INDIA
Nov Spider-Man India #1 (of 4) - 37,783
Dec Spider-Man India #2 (of 4) - 24,779 (-34.4%)
Jan Spider-Man India #3 (of 4) - 18,474 (-25.4%)

Boy, the novelty value sure wore off quickly with this one, didn't it?

96. SPIDER-MAN UNLIMITED
Jan Spider-Man Unlimited #1 - 53,413
Feb n/a
Mar Spider-Man Unlimited #2 - 37,550 (-29.7%)
Apr n/a
May Spider-Man Unlimited #3 - 31,661 (-15.7%)
Jun n/a
Jul Spider-Man Unlimited #4 - 26,506 (-16.3%)
Aug n/a
Sep Spider-Man Unlimited #5 - 24,156 ( -8.9%)
Oct n/a
Nov Spider-Man Unlimited #6 - 20,974 (-13.2%)
Dec n/a
Jan Spider-Man Unlimited #7 - 18,316 (-12.7%)
6 mnth (-30.9%)
1 year (-65.7%)

Now the lowest-selling Marvel title which hasn't been cancelled yet. In fact, it's been solicited up through to issue #9. You'd think that the book couldn't possibly be worth Marvel's effort at this level of sales, and it's not like it has a particularly vocal fanbase... but somehow, it's hanging in there

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

+32.5% - Captain America
+19.9% - Wolverine
+ 9.8% - New Avengers / Avengers
+ 8.8% - Incredible Hulk
- 4.6% - Fantastic Four
- 6.5% - Ultimate X-Men
- 6.8% - Spectacular Spider-Man
- 7.4% - Amazing Spider-Man
- 7.8% - X-Men
- 8.0% - Daredevil
- 9.7% - Spider-Girl
- 9.8% - Uncanny X-Men
- 9.9% - She-Hulk
-11.0% - Wolverine: The End
-12.8% - Pulse
-13.6% - Exiles
-15.1% - Ultimate Spider-Man
-16.1% - Punisher
-16.7% - Thor: Son of Asgard
-18.1% - Marvel Knights Spider-Man
-18.6% - Mystique
-19.4% - Araña
-19.4% - Powers
-20.7% - Cable & Deadpool
-20.8% - Ultimate Fantastic Four
-24.3% - Marvel Knights 4
-27.6% - Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe
-30.7% - Captain America & The Falcon
-30.9% - New X-Men
-30.9% - Spider-Man Unlimited
-31.9% - Alpha Flight
-33.1% - District X
-41.0% - Marvel Age Spider-Man
-46.7% - Marvel Age Fantastic Four
-51.0% - Rogue
-57.5% - New Invaders


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

+116.1% - New Avengers / Avengers
+ 29.2% - Captain America
+ 11.8% - Wolverine
+ 1.6% - New X-Men / New Mutants
- 1.9% - Spider-Girl
- 2.8% - Uncanny X-Men
- 3.8% - Incredible Hulk
- 7.8% - Fantastic Four
- 8.6% - Amazing Spider-Man
- 12.1% - Ultimate X-Men
- 12.4% - Ultimate Spider-Man
- 13.5% - Daredevil
- 13.8% - Exiles
- 18.5% - Spectacular Spider-Man
- 25.4% - Wolverine: The End
- 30.2% - Punisher
- 30.7% - X-Men
- 37.2% - Mystique
- 41.2% - Ultimate Fantastic Four

 

[Cullen]

Most interesting. Thanks for the update.

 

[Larry "Bud" Mellman]

great thread.

 

[BLAQUE-SPIDERMAN]

103. SPIDER-GIRL:
Aug Spider-Girl #63 - 22,584 ( -2.3%)
Sep Spider-Girl #64 - 22,442 ( -0.6%)
Oct Spider-Girl #65 - 22,561 ( +0.5%)
Nov Spider-Girl #66 - 21,864 ( +0.3%)
Dec Spider-Girl #67 - 21,403 ( -2.1%)
Jan Spider-Girl #68 - 20,544 ( -4.0%)
Jan Spider-Girl #69 - 20,384 ( -0.8%)
Feb Spider-Girl #70 - 20,541 ( +0.8%)
Mar Spider-Girl #71 - 20,709 ( +0.8%)
Apr Spider-Girl #72 - 20,533 ( -0.8%)
May Spider-Girl #73 - 20,275 ( -1.3%)
May Spider-Girl #74 - 19,959 ( -1.6%)
Jun Spider-Girl #75 - 24,674 (+23.6%)
Jul Spider-Girl #76 - 22,157 (-10.2%)
Aug Spider-Girl #77 - 21,758 ( -1.8%)
6 mnth ( +5.9%)
1 year ( -3.7%)

A Marvel Age book, so it has more leeway than some.

Spider-Girl isn't a Marvel Age book, but DAMN- such a great title, with great fans, and such low sales numbers. It's all good though, slow and steady wins the race!

 

[LarryLegend]

Interesting that ASM has dropped so much. Under 80,000 is kind of sad.

 

[Auntie May]

Interesting that ASM has dropped so much. Under 80,000 is kind of sad.

Chances are it would be around 83,000 without Sins Past. I don't want Sins Past defenders jumping on me saying I blame Sins Past (though I have personally not bought an issue since 512)....maybe this would have happened without it. Sins Past probably didn't reel in any new readers that were willing to stay after the arc was over and maybe caused a small percentage of people (including me) to drop...but who knows for sure? I think I actually predicted the comic would fall below 80,000 within a couple of months of Sins Past being over..but I really didn't want to be right.

Maybe the Avengers tie-in will help sales if the story doesn't drag out or disinterest people right away.


Interesting that another comic I gave up on recently (USM) has fallen so dramaticly. I really feel both ASM and USM would benefit from shorter story arcs and speeding things up a bit.

 

[Adrian_Tepes]

Sins Past was a car crash storyarc done without any real thought or planning behind it so it's not really a surprise to see the end result:

Old readers are pissed and leave the book.
New Readers aren't interested in the actual source material just the car crash and leave the book.

Quesada won't act and will be looking for excuses so I wonder what the magic number will be for Avi to act and save his company.

 

[Captivated]

Sins Past was a car crash storyarc... Old readers are pissed and leave the book. New Readers aren't interested in the actual source material just the car crash and leave the book.

Well put.

Think they realize that? Or are they plotting more "pile-ups" as we speak? *shudder*

 

[Auntie May]

Well put.

Think they realize that? Or are they plotting more "pile-ups" as we speak? *shudder*

Doesn't it drive you crazy when people slow down traffic for 30 minutes (through an area that usually takes 5 or 10 minutes to get through) looking at car crashes? I guess they are hoping they will see a dead body of something

I don't look at car crashes myself, which is why I dropped after ASM 512 and am avoiding SSM right now.

 

[dan1]

Doesn't it drive you crazy when people slow down traffic for 30 minutes (through an area that usually takes 5 or 10 minutes to get through) looking at car crashes? I guess they are hoping they will see a dead body of something

I don't look at car crashes myself, which is why I dropped after ASM 512 and am avoiding SSM right now.

The numbers don't lie, and I think it's funny that they want us to think so much of Sins Past and Sins Remembered. They want us to truly treat it like some of the most important events of Spider-Man's life, but no one gives a crap.

The story was/is a car wreck. It has no redeeming value and just makes the old readers take another road and the new readers say, "ok, now what?"

 

[Adrian_Tepes]

Well put.

Think they realize that? Or are they plotting more "pile-ups" as we speak? *shudder*

Just going by past experience, they're probably looking for an even BIGGER rock to throw.

My guess is we'll get another 'revelation' of sorts tying Norman to Uncle Ben somehow.

 

[Galactus]

1. NEW AVENGERS / AVENGERS
Feb 04 Avengers #78 - 58,798 ( +2.3%)
Feb 04 Avengers #79 - 55,014 ( -6.4%)
Mar 04 Avengers #80 - 55,533 ( +0.9%)
Apr 04 Avengers #81 - 54,987 ( -1.0%)
May 04 Avengers #82 - 55,711 ( +1.3%)
May 04 Avengers #83 - 55,280 ( -0.8%)
Jun 04 Avengers #84 - 57,083 ( +3.3%)
Jul 04 Avengers #500 - 140,033 (+145.3%)
Aug 04 n/a
Sep 04 Avengers #501 - 91,054 ( -35.0%)
Sep 04 Avengers #502 - 93,105 ( +2.3%)
Oct 04 n/a
Nov 04 Avengers #503 - 105,761 ( +13.6%)
Nov 04 Avengers Finale - 101,431 ( -4.1%)
Dec 05 New Avengers #1 - 280,286 (+176.3%)
Jan 05 New Avengers #2 - 155,742 ( -44.3%)
Feb 05 New Avengers #3 - 148,973 ( -4.3%)
6 mnth ( +63.6%)
1 year (+153.4%)

Considering the huge numbers that NEW AVENGERS has delivered so far, that's a remarkably modest drop. Marvel have got to be delighted with these figures. Three issues in, NEW AVENGERS remains in a completely different league from the book's previous incarnations. Even AVENGERS #500 didn't do this well.

Issue #1 gets a further 1,991 re-orders to chart at number 260. As always, the re-orders are included in the numbers above

11. ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN
Feb 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #53 - 92,540 ( -3.5%)
Mar 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #54 - 93,025 ( +5.2%)
Mar 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #55 - 91,525 ( -1.6%)
Apr 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #56 - 91,585 ( +0.1%)
Apr 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #57 - 90,784 ( -0.9%)
May 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #58 - 90,963 ( +0.2%)
May 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #59 - 89,863 ( -1.2%)
Jun 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #60 - 104,789 (+16.6%)
Jun 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #61 - 101,159 ( -3.5%)
Jul 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #62 - 98,963 ( -2.2%)
Aug 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #63 - 96,279 ( -2.7%)
Aug 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #64 - 94,682 ( -1.7%)
Sep 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #65 - 94,174 ( -0.5%)
Oct 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #66 - 95,917 ( +1.9%)
Oct 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #67 - 95,071 ( -0.9%)
Nov 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #68 - 91,075 ( -4.2%)
Nov 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #69 - 90,010 ( -1.2%)
Dec 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #70 - 88,960 ( -1.2%)
Jan 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #71 - 83,987 ( -5.6%)
Feb 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #72 - 86,685 ( +3.2%)
6 mnth ( -8.4%)
1 year ( -6.3%)

Bouncing back from last month's curiously low sales, although the general trend is still downhill.

15. AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
Feb 04 Amazing Spider-Man #504 - 84,064 ( -3.7%)
Mar 04 Amazing Spider-Man #505 - 83,613 ( -0.5%)
Apr 04 Amazing Spider-Man #506 - 83,152 ( -0.6%)
May 04 Amazing Spider-Man #507 - 81,944 ( -1.5%)
Jun 04 Amazing Spider-Man #508 - 82,268 ( +0.4%)
Jun 04 Amazing Spider-Man #509 - 101,632 (+23.5%)
Jul 04 Amazing Spider-Man #510 - 86,181 (-15.2%)
Aug 04 Amazing Spider-Man #511 - 88,118 ( +2.2%)
Sep 04 Amazing Spider-Man #512 - 88,628 ( +0.6%)
Oct 04 Amazing Spider-Man #513 - 89,615 ( +1.1%)
Nov 04 Amazing Spider-Man #514 - 87,121 ( -2.8%)
Dec 04 Amazing Spider-Man #515 - 83,637 ( -4.0%)
Jan 05 Amazing Spider-Man #516 - 79,842 ( -4.5%)
Feb 05 Amazing Spider-Man #517 - 78,584 ( -1.6%)
6 mnth (-10.8%)
1 year ( -6.5%)

Drifting down.

20. MARVEL KNIGHTS SPIDER-MAN
Apr 04 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #1 - 137,314
May 04 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #2 - 99,320 (-27.7%)
Jun 04 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #3 - 82,715 (-16.7%)
Jul 04 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #4 - 75,508 ( -8.7%)
Aug 04 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #5 - 75,562 ( +0.1%)
Sep 04 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #6 - 71,492 ( -5.4%)
Oct 04 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #7 - 69,918 ( -2.2%)
Nov 04 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #8 - 68,290 ( -2.3%)
Dec 04 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #9 - 64,461 ( -5.6%)
Jan 05 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #10 - 61,831 ( -4.1%)
Feb 05 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #11 - 60,460 ( -2.2%)
6 mnth (-20.0%)

Drifting down, but Millar and Dodson's run is still going to finish with healthy numbers.

31. SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN
Feb 04 Spectacular Spider-Man #10 - 55,746 ( -5.1%)
Mar 04 Spectacular Spider-Man #11 - 54,066 ( -3.0%)
Mar 04 Spectacular Spider-Man #12 - 53,549 ( -1.0%)
Apr 04 Spectacular Spider-Man #13 - 52,835 ( -1.3%)
May 04 Spectacular Spider-Man #14 - 51,036 ( -3.4%)
Jun 04 Spectacular Spider-Man #15 - 50,997 ( -0.0%)
Jun 04 Spectacular Spider-Man #16 - 50,515 ( -0.9%)
Jul 04 Spectacular Spider-Man #17 - 51,335 ( +1.6%)
Aug 04 Spectacular Spider-Man #18 - 52,271 ( +1.8%)
Sep 04 Spectacular Spider-Man #19 - 51,874 ( -0.8%)
Oct 04 Spectacular Spider-Man #20 - 51,159 ( -1.4%)
Nov 04 Spectacular Spider-Man #21 - 50,633 ( -1.0%)
Dec 04 Spectacular Spider-Man #22 - 47,513 ( -6.2%)
Jan 05 Spectacular Spider-Man #23 - 48,727 ( +2.6%)
Jan 05 Spectacular Spider-Man #24 - 47,824 ( -1.9%)
Feb 05 Spectacular Spider-Man #25 - 47,727 ( -0.2%)
6 mnth ( -8.7%)
1 year (-14.4%)

Axed with issue #27. Although when I say axed, what I really mean is that it's going to be replaced by the SPIDER-MAN: HOUSE OF M miniseries for a few months, after which there's going to be a new ongoing title taking its place. The official line is that it's being cancelled because of writer Paul Jenkins' departure, of course.

Meanwhile, the Jenkins-free "Sins Remembered" continues, to overwhelming indifference. Of course, you'd never expect it to reach the sales of the parent storyline, but you'd have thought that a spin-off from a much-hyped story, written by one of Straczynski's hand-picked protegees, would do better than this.

71. MARVEL TEAM-UP
Nov 04 Marvel Team-Up #1 - 44,530
Nov 04 Marvel Team-Up #2 - 37,515 (-15.7%)
Dec 04 Marvel Team-Up #3 - 29,085 (-22.5%)
Jan 05 Marvel Team-Up #4 - 27,216 ( -6.4%)
Feb 05 Marvel Team-Up #5 - 28,141 ( +3.4%)

This month, Spider-Man and X-23. Apparently she really does sell comics.

89. SPIDER-MAN/HUMAN TORCH
Jan 05 Spider-Man/Human Torch #1 (of 5) - 30,617
Feb 05 Spider-Man/Human Torch #2 (of 5) - 22,448 (-26.7%)

More truly horrible sales from the FF spin-off machine, although to be fair, miniseries set in past continuity never tend to do that well. Still, these are not good numbers. By issue #5, sales could be awfully low

101. SPIDER-GIRL
Feb 04 Spider-Girl #70 - 20,541 ( +0.8%)
Mar 04 Spider-Girl #71 - 20,709 ( +0.8%)
Apr 04 Spider-Girl #72 - 20,533 ( -0.8%)
May 04 Spider-Girl #73 - 20,275 ( -1.3%)
May 04 Spider-Girl #74 - 19,959 ( -1.6%)
Jun 04 Spider-Girl #75 - 24,674 (+23.6%)
Jul 04 Spider-Girl #76 - 22,157 (-10.2%)
Aug 04 Spider-Girl #77 - 21,758 ( -1.8%)
Sep 04 Spider-Girl #78 - 22,076 ( +1.5%)
Oct 04 Spider-Girl #79 - 21,893 ( -0.8%)
Nov 04 Spider-Girl #80 - 21,146 ( -3.4%)
Dec 04 Spider-Girl #81 - 20,419 ( -3.4%)
Jan 05 Spider-Girl #82 - 20,005 ( -2.0%)
Feb 05 Spider-Girl #83 - 20,382 ( +1.9%)
6 mnth ( -6.3%)
1 year ( -0.8%)

Rock solid, as ever. SPIDER-GIRL isn't going anywhere; the digests seem to be doing well, and while its direct market audience may be relatively small, they're clearly unusually loyal.

122. SPIDER-MAN INDIA
Nov 04 Spider-Man India #1 (of 4) - 37,783
Dec 04 Spider-Man India #2 (of 4) - 24,779 (-34.4%)
Jan 05 Spider-Man India #3 (of 4) - 18,474 (-25.4%)
Feb 05 Spider-Man India #4 (of 4) - 15,669 (-15.2%)

Dropped off very badly after the initial interest.

151. MARVEL AGE SPIDER-MAN
Mar 04 Marvel Age Spider-Man #1 - 36,700
Apr 04 Marvel Age Spider-Man #2 - 30,363 (-16.5%)
May 04 Marvel Age Spider-Man #3 - 24,180 (-20.4%)
May 04 Marvel Age Spider-Man #4 - 23,442 ( -3.1%)
Jun 04 Marvel Age Spider-Man #5 - 21,556 ( -8.0%)
Jun 04 Marvel Age Spider-Man #6 - 21,116 ( -2.0%)
Jul 04 Marvel Age Spider-Man #7 - 17,650 (-16.4%)
Jul 04 Marvel Age Spider-Man #8 - 17,243 ( -2.3%)
Aug 04 Marvel Age Spider-Man #9 - 16,077 ( -6.7%)
Aug 04 Marvel Age Spider-Man #10 - 16,134 ( +0.4%)
Sep 04 Marvel Age Spider-Man #11 - 16,007 ( -0.8%)
Sep 04 Marvel Age Spider-Man #12 - 15,601 ( -2.5%)
Oct 04 Marvel Age Spider-Man #13 - 14,437 ( -7.5%)
Oct 04 Marvel Age Spider-Man #14 - 14,080 ( -2.5%)
Nov 04 Marvel Age Spider-Man #15 - 13,079 ( -7.1%)
Nov 04 Marvel Age Spider-Man #16 - 12,862 ( -1.7%)
Dec 04 Marvel Age Spider-Man #17 - 11,644 ( -9.5%)
Dec 04 Marvel Age Spider-Man #18 - 11,412 ( -2.0%)
Jan 05 Marvel Age Spider-Man #19 - 10,178 (-10.8%)
Feb 05 Marvel Age Spider-Man #20 - 10,127 ( -0.5%)
6 mnth (-37.2%)

Axed, with MARVEL ADVENTURES in the wings waiting to replace it.

162. MARVEL AGE SPIDER-MAN TEAM-UP
Sep 04 Marvel Age Spider-Man Team-Up #1 - 20,801
Oct 04 Marvel Age Spider-Man Team-Up #2 - 14,892 (-28.4%)
Nov 04 Marvel Age Spider-Man Team-Up #3 - 12,174 (-18.3%)
Dec 04 Marvel Age Spider-Man Team-Up #4 - 10,340 (-15.1%)
Jan 05 n/a
Feb 05 Marvel Age Spider-Man Team-Up #5 - 8,844 (-14.5%)

Ditto.

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

+63.8% - Runaways
+63.6% - New Avengers / Avengers
+27.4% - Wolverine
+25.1% - Captain America
+ 5.7% - Incredible Hulk
- 6.3% - She-Hulk
- 6.3% - Spider-Girl
- 6.5% - Daredevil
- 7.9% - Fantastic Four
- 8.3% - X-Men
- 8.4% - Ultimate Spider-Man
- 8.7% - Spectacular Spider-Man
- 9.5% - Astonishing X-Men
- 9.5% - Uncanny X-Men
-10.2% - Supreme Power
-10.8% - Amazing Spider-Man
-12.9% - Exiles
-14.7% - Punisher
-15.2% - Powers
-17.4% - Mystique
-17.4% - Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe
-18.3% - Cable/Deadpool
-18.8% - Ultimate X-Men
-20.0% - Marvel Knights Spider-Man
-20.3% - X-Men Unlimited
-23.9% - Marvel Knights 4
-28.7% - Alpha Flight
-28.8% - Ultimate Nightmare
-28.9% - New X-Men
-31.0% - District X
-31.6% - Captain America & The Falcon
-33.1% - Excalibur
-37.2% - Marvel Age Spider-Man
-41.6% - Rogue
-57.4% - X-Force / X-Force: Shatterstar
-57.6% - New Invaders


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

+153.4% - New Avengers / Avengers
+ 52.2% - Runaways
+ 21.2% - Captain America
+ 19.4% - Wolverine
+ 13.9% - Powers
+ 5.2% - Ultimates
+ 0.6% - Uncanny X-Men
- 0.8% - Spider-Girl
- 1.9% - New X-Men / New Mutants
- 5.8% - Fantastic Four
- 6.1% - Incredible Hulk
- 6.3% - Ultimate Spider-Man
- 6.5% - Amazing Spider-Man
- 10.9% - Daredevil
- 12.9% - Exiles
- 14.0% - Ultimate X-Men
- 14.4% - Spectacular Spider-Man
- 15.2% - Supreme Power
- 16.6% - Punisher
- 27.7% - X-Men / New X-Men
- 31.7% - Mystique
- 48.9% - X-Men Unlimited
- 50.8% - Marvel Knights 4

 

[Adrian_Tepes]

15. AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
Feb 04 Amazing Spider-Man #504 - 84,064 ( -3.7%)
Mar 04 Amazing Spider-Man #505 - 83,613 ( -0.5%)
Apr 04 Amazing Spider-Man #506 - 83,152 ( -0.6%)
May 04 Amazing Spider-Man #507 - 81,944 ( -1.5%)
Jun 04 Amazing Spider-Man #508 - 82,268 ( +0.4%)
Jun 04 Amazing Spider-Man #509 - 101,632 (+23.5%)
Jul 04 Amazing Spider-Man #510 - 86,181 (-15.2%)
Aug 04 Amazing Spider-Man #511 - 88,118 ( +2.2%)
Sep 04 Amazing Spider-Man #512 - 88,628 ( +0.6%)
Oct 04 Amazing Spider-Man #513 - 89,615 ( +1.1%)
Nov 04 Amazing Spider-Man #514 - 87,121 ( -2.8%)
Dec 04 Amazing Spider-Man #515 - 83,637 ( -4.0%)
Jan 05 Amazing Spider-Man #516 - 79,842 ( -4.5%)
Feb 05 Amazing Spider-Man #517 - 78,584 ( -1.6%)
6 mnth (-10.8%)
1 year ( -6.5%)

Drifting down.

There's an understatement.

With ASM nosediving and New Avengers increasing in sales, I think we can safely say we're looking at the begining of the end for a lot of things Marvel related.

Now's just limbo time...

How low can they go...

 

[Donald Thomas]

Aloha,
This means that Amazing will be tied into New Avengers closely.
Spidey rules

 

[iloveclones]

Hard to believe with all the Slott-love I've seen around here that Spidey/Torchie isn't doing better.

What really disturbs me, though, are the numbers for MTU. Great title that fans who complain about continuity, etc., should be supporting. And telling your friends to get. And buying for your nieces and nephews.

 

[Adrian_Tepes]

Hard to believe with all the Slott-love I've seen around here that Spidey/Torchie isn't doing better.

What really disturbs me, though, are the numbers for MTU. Great title that fans who complain about continuity, etc., should be supporting. And telling your friends to get. And buying for your nieces and nephews.

Eh.

Marvel has been writing to a certain kind of audience for awhile at the expense of their own old fanbase.

 

[Auntie May]

I am surprised that Spider-Man/Human Torch didn't sell more...though #2 is not as good as #1 and #3 (IMO).


Marvel better hope that the Avengers tie-in helps Spider-Man sales (especially ASM).

 

[Adrian_Tepes]

I am surprised that Spider-Man/Human Torch didn't sell more...though #2 is not as good as #1 and #3 (IMO).


Marvel better hope that the Avengers tie-in helps Spider-Man sales (especially ASM).

Marvel better hope but the fans shouldn't.

A sales BOOST will encourage them to continue their current way of writing.

But if sales continue to sink, MAYBE, JUST maybe, Avi will get the hint about what's going on.

 

[LarryLegend]

You never know, it is interesting how ASM #'s are dropping so much. Looks like Sins Past has cost atleast 10,000 issues a month and 78,000 for a flagship like ASM is sad.

 

[Galactus]

2. NEW AVENGERS / AVENGERS
Mar 01 Avengers #40 - 60,378
Mar 02 Avengers #52 - 53,249
Mar 03 Avengers #65 - 59,155
======
Mar 04 Avengers #80 - 55,533 ( +0.9%)
Apr 04 Avengers #81 - 54,987 ( -1.0%)
May 04 Avengers #82 - 55,711 ( +1.3%)
May 04 Avengers #83 - 55,280 ( -0.8%)
Jun 04 Avengers #84 - 57,083 ( +3.3%)
Jul 04 Avengers #500 - 140,033 (+145.3%)
Aug 04 n/a
Sep 04 Avengers #501 - 91,054 ( -35.0%)
Sep 04 Avengers #502 - 93,105 ( +2.3%)
Oct 04 n/a
Nov 04 Avengers #503 - 105,761 ( +13.6%)
Nov 04 Avengers Finale - 101,431 ( -4.1%)
Dec 05 New Avengers #1 - 280,286 (+176.3%)
Jan 05 New Avengers #2 - 155,742 ( -44.3%)
Feb 05 New Avengers #3 - 148,973 ( -4.3%)
Mar 05 New Avengers #4 - 155,113 ( +4.1%)
6 mnth ( +23.6%)
1 year (+179.3%)
2 year (+162.2%)

Number one on the March charts was DC's COUNTDOWN TO INFINITE CRISIS #1, with orders of 199,704. But of course, COUNTDOWN was priced at $1 for 80 pages, which is effectively a larger version of those 25c giveaway books that usually get excluded from the chart. The cut-off for exclusion apparently depends simply on the price tag, so COUNTDOWN made the chart anyway. I mention all this because it's worth recognising that NEW AVENGERS was only kept off number one by an oddball book with some very odd economics - and, of course, NEW AVENGERS brought in an awful lot more money.

NEW AVENGERS goes back up this month, and seems to be finding its level in the 150K range. Obviously, these are excellent numbers. There's also a "Must Haves" edition of issues #1-3 this month, with 5,501 orders

15,17. ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN
Mar 01 Ultimate Spider-Man #7 - 70,846
Mar 02 Ultimate Spider-Man #20 - 80,515
Mar 03 Ultimate Spider-Man #38 - 112,562
======
Mar 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #54 - 93,025 ( +5.2%)
Mar 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #55 - 91,525 ( -1.6%)
Apr 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #56 - 91,585 ( +0.1%)
Apr 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #57 - 90,784 ( -0.9%)
May 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #58 - 90,963 ( +0.2%)
May 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #59 - 89,863 ( -1.2%)
Jun 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #60 - 104,789 (+16.6%)
Jun 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #61 - 101,159 ( -3.5%)
Jul 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #62 - 98,963 ( -2.2%)
Aug 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #63 - 96,279 ( -2.7%)
Aug 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #64 - 94,682 ( -1.7%)
Sep 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #65 - 94,174 ( -0.5%)
Oct 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #66 - 95,917 ( +1.9%)
Oct 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #67 - 95,071 ( -0.9%)
Nov 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #68 - 91,075 ( -4.2%)
Nov 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #69 - 90,010 ( -1.2%)
Dec 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #70 - 88,960 ( -1.2%)
Jan 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #71 - 83,987 ( -5.6%)
Feb 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #72 - 86,685 ( +3.2%)
Mar 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #73 - 83,943 ( -3.2%)
Mar 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #74 - 83,817 ( -0.2%)
6 mnth (-11.0%)
1 year ( -9.9%)
2 year (-25.5%)

Hovering in the low 80K range. Relatively stable, and ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN has an unusual track record of wandering up and down in sales from story to story. That said, this is still lower than we're used to seeing from the book.

22. AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
Mar 01 Amazing Spider-Man #29 - 45,436
Mar 02 Amazing Spider-Man #41 - 92,896
Mar 03 Amazing Spider-Man #51 - 96,428
======
Mar 04 Amazing Spider-Man #505 - 83,613 ( -0.5%)
Apr 04 Amazing Spider-Man #506 - 83,152 ( -0.6%)
May 04 Amazing Spider-Man #507 - 81,944 ( -1.5%)
Jun 04 Amazing Spider-Man #508 - 82,268 ( +0.4%)
Jun 04 Amazing Spider-Man #509 - 101,632 (+23.5%)
Jul 04 Amazing Spider-Man #510 - 86,181 (-15.2%)
Aug 04 Amazing Spider-Man #511 - 88,118 ( +2.2%)
Sep 04 Amazing Spider-Man #512 - 88,628 ( +0.6%)
Oct 04 Amazing Spider-Man #513 - 89,615 ( +1.1%)
Nov 04 Amazing Spider-Man #514 - 87,121 ( -2.8%)
Dec 04 Amazing Spider-Man #515 - 83,637 ( -4.0%)
Jan 05 Amazing Spider-Man #516 - 79,842 ( -4.5%)
Feb 05 Amazing Spider-Man #517 - 78,584 ( -1.6%)
Mar 05 Amazing Spider-Man #518 - 77,025 ( -2.0%)
6 mnth (-13.1%)
1 year ( -7.9%)
2 year (-20.1%)

Continuing the book's gentle decline. It's perhaps interesting to note that with the exception of issue #509, which was bolstered by variant editions, all of "Sins Past" was outsold by the issue from two years ago. J Michael Straczynski's run on this book seems to have passed its commercial peak.

28. MARVEL KNIGHTS SPIDER-MAN
Apr 04 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #1 - 137,314
May 04 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #2 - 99,320 (-27.7%)
Jun 04 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #3 - 82,715 (-16.7%)
Jul 04 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #4 - 75,508 ( -8.7%)
Aug 04 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #5 - 75,562 ( +0.1%)
Sep 04 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #6 - 71,492 ( -5.4%)
Oct 04 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #7 - 69,918 ( -2.2%)
Nov 04 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #8 - 68,290 ( -2.3%)
Dec 04 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #9 - 64,461 ( -5.6%)
Jan 05 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #10 - 61,831 ( -4.1%)
Feb 05 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #11 - 60,460 ( -2.2%)
Mar 05 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #12 - 59,983 ( -0.8%)
6 mnth (-16.1%)

Mark Millar and Terry Dodson round off their run with sales levelling off at around the 60K mark.

36. SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN
Mar 01 Peter Parker, Spider-Man #29 - 42,865
Mar 02 Peter Parker, Spider-Man #41 - 47,727
Mar 03 Peter Parker, Spider-Man #54 - 48,998
======
Mar 04 Spectacular Spider-Man #11 - 54,066 ( -3.0%)
Mar 04 Spectacular Spider-Man #12 - 53,549 ( -1.0%)
Apr 04 Spectacular Spider-Man #13 - 52,835 ( -1.3%)
May 04 Spectacular Spider-Man #14 - 51,036 ( -3.4%)
Jun 04 Spectacular Spider-Man #15 - 50,997 ( -0.0%)
Jun 04 Spectacular Spider-Man #16 - 50,515 ( -0.9%)
Jul 04 Spectacular Spider-Man #17 - 51,335 ( +1.6%)
Aug 04 Spectacular Spider-Man #18 - 52,271 ( +1.8%)
Sep 04 Spectacular Spider-Man #19 - 51,874 ( -0.8%)
Oct 04 Spectacular Spider-Man #20 - 51,159 ( -1.4%)
Nov 04 Spectacular Spider-Man #21 - 50,633 ( -1.0%)
Dec 04 Spectacular Spider-Man #22 - 47,513 ( -6.2%)
Jan 05 Spectacular Spider-Man #23 - 48,727 ( +2.6%)
Jan 05 Spectacular Spider-Man #24 - 47,824 ( -1.9%)
Feb 05 Spectacular Spider-Man #25 - 47,727 ( -0.2%)
Mar 05 Spectacular Spider-Man #26 - 47,006 ( -1.5%)
6 mnth ( -9.4%)
1 year (-13.1%)
2 year ( -4.1%)

Axed with issue #27. However, it's immediately replaced by SPIDER-MAN: HOUSE OF M, and when that's over, we're getting a new Spider-Man title. So for purposes of this column, I'm going to treat those books as continuations of this title. In the same way, I'm taking PETER PARKER, SPIDER-MAN as the basis for the two-year comparison, because it's essentially the same book to all intents and purposes.

85. MARVEL TEAM-UP
Nov 04 Marvel Team-Up #1 - 44,530
Nov 04 Marvel Team-Up #2 - 37,515 (-15.7%)
Dec 04 Marvel Team-Up #3 - 29,085 (-22.5%)
Jan 05 Marvel Team-Up #4 - 27,216 ( -6.4%)
Feb 05 Marvel Team-Up #5 - 28,141 ( +3.4%)
Mar 05 Marvel Team-Up #6 - 24,762 (-12.0%)

See, here's what I mean - a book which seemed like it might have turned the corner, only to crash to new lows the next month. Bad numbers, and you really have to wonder whether there's a market for a MARVEL TEAM-UP book these days.

93,105. ARAÑA
Jun 04 Amazing Fantasy #1 - 62,056
Jul 04 n/a
Aug 04 Amazing Fantasy #2 - 37,047 (-40.3%)
Aug 04 Amazing Fantasy #3 - 33,917 ( -8.4%)
Sep 04 Amazing Fantasy #4 - 30,325 (-10.6%)
Oct 04 Amazing Fantasy #5 - 26,349 (-13.1%)
Nov 04 Amazing Fantasy #6 - 23,913 ( -9.2%)
Dec 04 n/a
Jan 05 Araña: Heart of the Spider #1 - 29,843 (+24.8%)
Feb 05 n/a
Mar 05 Araña: Heart of the Spider #2 - 22,131 (-25.8%)
Mar 05 Araña: Heart of the Spider #3 - 20,002 ( -9.6%)
6 mnth (-34.0%)

Going straight back to its usual levels - which, of course, are dreadful. Marvel have been remarkably persistent with this book, but unless it's doing incredible business somewhere outside the direct market, surely the axe has got to fall sooner rather than later.

104. SPIDER-GIRL
Mar 01 Spider-Girl #32 - 23,735
Mar 02 Spider-Girl #45 - 23,065
Mar 03 Spider-Girl #58 - 23,776
======
Mar 04 Spider-Girl #71 - 20,709 ( +0.8%)
Apr 04 Spider-Girl #72 - 20,533 ( -0.8%)
May 04 Spider-Girl #73 - 20,275 ( -1.3%)
May 04 Spider-Girl #74 - 19,959 ( -1.6%)
Jun 04 Spider-Girl #75 - 24,674 (+23.6%)
Jul 04 Spider-Girl #76 - 22,157 (-10.2%)
Aug 04 Spider-Girl #77 - 21,758 ( -1.8%)
Sep 04 Spider-Girl #78 - 22,076 ( +1.5%)
Oct 04 Spider-Girl #79 - 21,893 ( -0.8%)
Nov 04 Spider-Girl #80 - 21,146 ( -3.4%)
Dec 04 Spider-Girl #81 - 20,419 ( -3.4%)
Jan 05 Spider-Girl #82 - 20,005 ( -2.0%)
Feb 05 Spider-Girl #83 - 20,382 ( +1.9%)
Mar 05 Spider-Girl #84 - 20,050 ( -1.6%)
6 mnth ( -9.2%)
1 year ( -3.2%)
2 year (-15.7%)

It just won't be budged from the 20K region, will it?

116. SPIDER-MAN/HUMAN TORCH
Jan 05 Spider-Man/Human Torch #1 (of 5) - 30,617
Feb 05 Spider-Man/Human Torch #2 (of 5) - 22,448 (-26.7%)
Mar 05 Spider-Man/Human Torch #3 (of 5) - 18,286 (-18.5%)

Once again, horrid numbers. "Yet another Fantastic Four book" plus "yet another Spider-Man book" plus "set in the past" equals apathy, apparently. (Even though it's really quite good.)

121. SPIDER-MAN UNLIMITED
Mar 04 Spider-Man Unlimited #2 - 37,550 (-29.7%)
Apr 04 n/a
May 04 Spider-Man Unlimited #3 - 31,661 (-15.7%)
Jun 04 n/a
Jul 04 Spider-Man Unlimited #4 - 26,506 (-16.3%)
Aug 04 n/a
Sep 04 Spider-Man Unlimited #5 - 24,156 ( -8.9%)
Oct 04 n/a
Nov 04 Spider-Man Unlimited #6 - 20,974 (-13.2%)
Dec 04 n/a
Jan 05 Spider-Man Unlimited #7 - 18,316 (-12.7%)
Feb 05 n/a
Mar 05 Spider-Man Unlimited #8 - 17,640 ( -3.7%)
6 mnth (-27.0%)
1 year (-53.0%)

Well, it's levelling out a bit, but nobody could describe these as healthy numbers.

123. SPIDER-MAN TEAM-UP SPECIAL
Mar 05 Spider-Man Team-Up Special - 17,311

A mysterious and pointless team-up book that seems to have been dumped on the market for no apparent reason. Those who've read it have observed that it reads awfully like something originally commissioned as an Earth Day giveaway. Anyhow, it showed up in the solicitaitons with little fanfare, and this is the result.

137. MARVEL ADVENTURES SPIDER-MAN
Mar 05 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #1 - 14,351

The all ages line gets another revamp, which has little effect on sales. It doesn't really matter, of course, because these books don't exist to target the direct market audience. If they're doing their job, it'll be happening elsewhere.

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

+62.9% - Wolverine
+62.7% - The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe
+61.7% - Runaways
+25.7% - Captain America
+23.6% - New Avengers / Avengers
+16.5% - Exiles
- 0.0% - Uncanny X-Men
- 1.4% - Astonishing X-Men
- 1.5% - Ultimate Galactus Trilogy
- 1.8% - Incredible Hulk
- 4.7% - Fantastic Four
- 7.5% - X-Men
- 9.2% - Spider-Girl
- 9.4% - Spectacular Spider-Man
- 9.9% - Ultimate Spider-Man
-11.7% - Ultimate X-Men
-11.8% - Pulse
-12.9% - Punisher
-13.1% - Amazing Spider-Man
-14.0% - Daredevil
-15.2% - X-Men: The End
-15.6% - Ultimate Fantastic Four
-15.7% - Cable & Deadpool
-16.1% - Marvel Knights Spider-Man
-22.8% - Marvel Knights 4
-23.4% - Doctor Spectrum
-26.7% - New X-Men
-27.0% - Spider-Man Unlimited
-29.1% - District X
-30.4% - Captain America & The Falcon
-30.6% - Excalibur
-34.0% - Araña
-36.1% - Rogue
-46.2% - Gambit
-47.9% - New Invaders
-54.4% - X-Force


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

+179.3% - New Avengers / Avengers
+ 54.7% - Runaways
+ 51.8% - Wolverine
+ 19.1% - Captain America
+ 12.4% - Exiles
+ 2.2% - Ultimates
+ 2.0% - New X-Men / New Mutants
- 0.0% - Uncanny X-Men
- 3.2% - Spider-Girl
- 5.7% - Incredible Hulk
- 6.8% - Fantastic Four
- 7.9% - Amazing Spider-Man
- 8.6% - Daredevil
- 9.9% - Ultimate Spider-Man
- 13.1% - Spectacular Spider-Man
- 13.6% - Ultimate X-Men
- 18.6% - Punisher
- 19.9% - Doctor Spectrum
- 26.6% - Pulse
- 28.4% - X-Men
- 31.7% - Ultimate Fantastic Four
- 35.1% - Marvel Knights 4
- 45.8% - Cable & Deadpool
- 51.6% - Captain America & The Falcon
- 53.0% - Spider-Man Unlimited


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

+177.2% - Black Panther
+162.2% - New Avengers / Avengers
+ 70.8% - Wolverine
+ 20.8% - Pulse / Alias
+ 17.5% - Exiles
+ 1.0% - Uncanny X-Men
- 0.2% - Ultimates
- 4.1% - Spectacular Spider-Man / Peter Parker, Spider-Man
- 6.4% - Ultimate X-Men
- 8.1% - Captain America
- 8.7% - Punisher
- 11.9% - X-Men / New X-Men
- 12.3% - Fantastic Four
- 15.7% - Spider-Girl
- 20.1% - Amazing Spider-Man
- 22.6% - Incredible Hulk
- 25.5% - Ultimate Spider-Man

 

[Cullen]

For some reason, I find looking at all of these numbers depressing, but facsinating.

 

[Adrian_Tepes]

22. AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
Mar 01 Amazing Spider-Man #29 - 45,436
Mar 02 Amazing Spider-Man #41 - 92,896
Mar 03 Amazing Spider-Man #51 - 96,428
======
Mar 04 Amazing Spider-Man #505 - 83,613 ( -0.5%)
Apr 04 Amazing Spider-Man #506 - 83,152 ( -0.6%)
May 04 Amazing Spider-Man #507 - 81,944 ( -1.5%)
Jun 04 Amazing Spider-Man #508 - 82,268 ( +0.4%)
Jun 04 Amazing Spider-Man #509 - 101,632 (+23.5%)
Jul 04 Amazing Spider-Man #510 - 86,181 (-15.2%)
Aug 04 Amazing Spider-Man #511 - 88,118 ( +2.2%)
Sep 04 Amazing Spider-Man #512 - 88,628 ( +0.6%)
Oct 04 Amazing Spider-Man #513 - 89,615 ( +1.1%)
Nov 04 Amazing Spider-Man #514 - 87,121 ( -2.8%)
Dec 04 Amazing Spider-Man #515 - 83,637 ( -4.0%)
Jan 05 Amazing Spider-Man #516 - 79,842 ( -4.5%)
Feb 05 Amazing Spider-Man #517 - 78,584 ( -1.6%)
Mar 05 Amazing Spider-Man #518 - 77,025 ( -2.0%)
6 mnth (-13.1%)
1 year ( -7.9%)
2 year (-20.1%)

Continuing the book's gentle decline. It's perhaps interesting to note that with the exception of issue #509, which was bolstered by variant editions, all of "Sins Past" was outsold by the issue from two years ago. J Michael Straczynski's run on this book seems to have passed its commercial peak.

Not to mention its creative peak.

At this rate ASM will dip below 70,000 before fall.

 

[LarryLegend]

Yeah Joey the wholoe shock thing is really working out for you

 

[Galactus]

1. NEW AVENGERS / 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 ( -1.0%)
May 04 Avengers #82 - 55,711 ( +1.3%)
May 04 Avengers #83 - 55,280 ( -0.8%)
Jun 04 Avengers #84 - 57,083 ( +3.3%)
Jul 04 Avengers #500 - 140,033 (+145.3%)
Aug 04 n/a
Sep 04 Avengers #501 - 91,054 ( -35.0%)
Sep 04 Avengers #502 - 93,105 ( +2.3%)
Oct 04 n/a
Nov 04 Avengers #503 - 105,761 ( +13.6%)
Nov 04 Avengers Finale - 101,431 ( -4.1%)
Dec 05 New Avengers #1 - 280,286 (+176.3%)
Jan 05 New Avengers #2 - 155,742 ( -44.3%)
Feb 05 New Avengers #3 - 148,973 ( -4.3%)
Mar 05 New Avengers #4 - 156,746 ( +5.2%)
Apr 05 New Avengers #5 - 162,412 ( +3.6%)
6 mnth ( +53.6%)
1 year (+195.4%)
2 year (+178.5%)

Another pleasingly large number for NEW AVENGERS, which has actually seen its sales climb over the last couple of issues. Issue #4 also picks up 1,633 reorders to chart at number 272 - as always, those orders are included above.

Of course, all the early issues of NEW AVENGERS have variant covers, which is arguably distorting the numbers horribly. We'll know for sure when the variant covers finally end and the book has to survive without gimmickry. The charitable way of looking at it, on the other hand, is that the variants are a way of getting more books onto the shelves, in the hope of picking up more readers.

Besides, somebody's reordering issue #4. And the MARVEL MUST HAVE collection of issues #1-3, which already shifted 5,501 copies last month, sold another 1,160 in April. So they can't all be gathering dust on the shelves

9,12. 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 ( +0.1%)
Apr 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #57 - 90,784 ( -0.9%)
May 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #58 - 90,963 ( +0.2%)
May 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #59 - 89,863 ( -1.2%)
Jun 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #60 - 104,789 (+16.6%)
Jun 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #61 - 101,159 ( -3.5%)
Jul 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #62 - 98,963 ( -2.2%)
Aug 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #63 - 96,279 ( -2.7%)
Aug 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #64 - 94,682 ( -1.7%)
Sep 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #65 - 94,174 ( -0.5%)
Oct 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #66 - 95,917 ( +1.9%)
Oct 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #67 - 95,071 ( -0.9%)
Nov 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #68 - 91,075 ( -4.2%)
Nov 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #69 - 90,010 ( -1.2%)
Dec 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #70 - 88,960 ( -1.2%)
Jan 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #71 - 83,987 ( -5.6%)
Feb 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #72 - 86,685 ( +3.2%)
Mar 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #73 - 83,943 ( -3.2%)
Mar 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #74 - 83,817 ( -0.2%)
Apr 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #75 - 83,940 ( +0.1%)
Apr 05 Ultimate Spider-Man #76 - 82,244 ( -2.0%)
6 mnth (-13.5%)
1 year (-10.2%)
2 year (-20.6%)


This title has been shedding readers rather quickly over the last eight months or so - and in fact, you could say the same about ULTIMATE X-MEN and ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR as well. Perhaps the line is in need of a pick-me-up. Of course, let's keep things in proportion. The whole line is also still doing very well compared to the market

14. 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 ( -0.6%)
May 04 Amazing Spider-Man #507 - 81,944 ( -1.5%)
Jun 04 Amazing Spider-Man #508 - 82,268 ( +0.4%)
Jun 04 Amazing Spider-Man #509 - 101,632 (+23.5%)
Jul 04 Amazing Spider-Man #510 - 86,181 (-15.2%)
Aug 04 Amazing Spider-Man #511 - 88,118 ( +2.2%)
Sep 04 Amazing Spider-Man #512 - 88,628 ( +0.6%)
Oct 04 Amazing Spider-Man #513 - 89,615 ( +1.1%)
Nov 04 Amazing Spider-Man #514 - 87,121 ( -2.8%)
Dec 04 Amazing Spider-Man #515 - 83,637 ( -4.0%)
Jan 05 Amazing Spider-Man #516 - 79,842 ( -4.5%)
Feb 05 Amazing Spider-Man #517 - 78,584 ( -1.6%)
Mar 05 Amazing Spider-Man #518 - 77,025 ( -2.0%)
Apr 05 Amazing Spider-Man #519 - 78,535 ( +2.0%)
6 mnth (-12.4%)
1 year ( -5.6%)
2 year (-18.7%)

Edging slightly up. The most obvious reason is that it's the first part of the "New Avengers" storyline, tying in with Marvel's top selling book.

25. MARVEL KNIGHTS SPIDER-MAN
Apr 04 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #1 - 137,314
May 04 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #2 - 99,320 (-27.7%)
Jun 04 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #3 - 82,715 (-16.7%)
Jul 04 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #4 - 75,508 ( -8.7%)
Aug 04 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #5 - 75,562 ( +0.1%)
Sep 04 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #6 - 71,492 ( -5.4%)
Oct 04 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #7 - 69,918 ( -2.2%)
Nov 04 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #8 - 68,290 ( -2.3%)
Dec 04 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #9 - 64,461 ( -5.6%)
Jan 05 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #10 - 61,831 ( -4.1%)
Feb 05 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #11 - 60,460 ( -2.2%)
Mar 05 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #12 - 59,983 ( -0.8%)
Apr 05 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #13 - 60,542 ( +0.9%)
6 mnth (-13.4%)
1 year (-55.9%)

Reginald Hudlin comes aboard, for a story guest starring Wolverine. And nobody much seems to care, giving the book a desultory 0.9% increase. Really, this shouldn't greatly surprise anyone. Wolverine is so over-exposed to start with that readers just aren't that interested in buying his miniseries and his guest appearances - he's in six books a month, and that's just the regular monthly titles. As for Hudlin, he's not as big a name as Millar. BLACK PANTHER is 15,000 copies further down the chart.

MARVEL KNIGHTS SPIDER-MAN also celebrates its first anniversary, and posts a nasty-looking 55.9% drop for its first year-on-year comparison. Not surprisingly, that's the biggest year-on-year drop by a very wide margin. In fairness, most of that stems from the big drops over the first few of issues - the title has been much more level in recent months.

37. SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN
Apr 01 Peter Parker, Spider-Man #30 - 47,658
Apr 02 Peter Parker, Spider-Man #43 - 48,473
Apr 03 Peter Parker, Spider-Man #55 - 47,531
======
Apr 04 Spectacular Spider-Man #13 - 52,835 ( -1.3%)
May 04 Spectacular Spider-Man #14 - 51,036 ( -3.4%)
Jun 04 Spectacular Spider-Man #15 - 50,997 ( -0.0%)
Jun 04 Spectacular Spider-Man #16 - 50,515 ( -0.9%)
Jul 04 Spectacular Spider-Man #17 - 51,335 ( +1.6%)
Aug 04 Spectacular Spider-Man #18 - 52,271 ( +1.8%)
Sep 04 Spectacular Spider-Man #19 - 51,874 ( -0.8%)
Oct 04 Spectacular Spider-Man #20 - 51,159 ( -1.4%)
Nov 04 Spectacular Spider-Man #21 - 50,633 ( -1.0%)
Dec 04 Spectacular Spider-Man #22 - 47,513 ( -6.2%)
Jan 05 Spectacular Spider-Man #23 - 48,727 ( +2.6%)
Jan 05 Spectacular Spider-Man #24 - 47,824 ( -1.9%)
Feb 05 Spectacular Spider-Man #25 - 47,727 ( -0.2%)
Mar 05 Spectacular Spider-Man #26 - 47,006 ( -1.5%)
Apr 05 Spectacular Spider-Man #27 - 45,810 ( -2.5%)
6 mnth (-10.5%)
1 year (-13.3%)
2 year ( -3.6%)

Axed. Well, not really. It's being relaunched in the autumn with Peter David, Mike Weiringo, and a title to be announced. Obviously, that's bound to send it up the charts.

42. SPIDER-MAN: BREAKOUT
Apr 05 Spider-Man: Breakout #1 (of 5) - 42,974

87. MARVEL TEAM-UP
Nov 04 Marvel Team-Up #1 - 44,530
Nov 04 Marvel Team-Up #2 - 37,515 (-15.7%)
Dec 04 Marvel Team-Up #3 - 29,085 (-22.5%)
Jan 05 Marvel Team-Up #4 - 27,216 ( -6.4%)
Feb 05 Marvel Team-Up #5 - 28,141 ( +3.4%)
Mar 05 Marvel Team-Up #6 - 24,762 (-12.0%)
Apr 05 Marvel Team-Up #7 - 24,800 ( +0.2%)

Edging slightly up - but then it did that with issue #5, and crashed again next month. The erratic numbers presumably have something to do with the characters mentioned in the solicitations.

92. AMAZING FANTASY
Jun 04 Amazing Fantasy #1 - 62,056
Jul 04 n/a
Aug 04 Amazing Fantasy #2 - 37,047 (-40.3%)
Aug 04 Amazing Fantasy #3 - 33,917 ( -8.4%)
Sep 04 Amazing Fantasy #4 - 30,325 (-10.6%)
Oct 04 Amazing Fantasy #5 - 26,349 (-13.1%)
Nov 04 Amazing Fantasy #6 - 23,913 ( -9.2%)
Dec 04 n/a
Jan 05 n/a
Feb 05 n/a
Mar 05 n/a
Apr 05 Amazing Fantasy #7 - 21,802 ( -8.9%)
6 mnth (-17.3%)

Not a good number, but it's hard to see how Marvel could realistically have expected anything better. It's only marginally above the cancellation mark as it is.

101. 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 ( -0.8%)
May 04 Spider-Girl #73 - 20,275 ( -1.3%)
May 04 Spider-Girl #74 - 19,959 ( -1.6%)
Jun 04 Spider-Girl #75 - 24,674 (+23.6%)
Jul 04 Spider-Girl #76 - 22,157 (-10.2%)
Aug 04 Spider-Girl #77 - 21,758 ( -1.8%)
Sep 04 Spider-Girl #78 - 22,076 ( +1.5%)
Oct 04 Spider-Girl #79 - 21,893 ( -0.8%)
Nov 04 Spider-Girl #80 - 21,146 ( -3.4%)
Dec 04 Spider-Girl #81 - 20,419 ( -3.4%)
Jan 05 Spider-Girl #82 - 20,005 ( -2.0%)
Feb 05 Spider-Girl #83 - 20,382 ( +1.9%)
Mar 05 Spider-Girl #84 - 20,050 ( -1.6%)
Apr 05 Spider-Girl #85 - 19,682 ( -1.8%)
6 mnth (-10.1%)
1 year ( -4.1%)
2 year (-15.2%)

At the lower end of its range, but still pretty solid.

154. MARVEL ADVENTURES SPIDER-MAN
Mar 05 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #1 - 14,351
Apr 05 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #2 - 10,305 (-28.2%)

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

+53.6%
- New Avengers / Avengers
+53.5% - Iron Man
+29.0% - Incredible Hulk
+23.3% - Captain America
+18.0% - Wolverine
- 4.5% - Exiles
- 5.1% - Fantastic Four
- 6.6% - X-Men
- 8.2% - Daredevil
- 8.3% - Ultimate Galactus Trilogy
- 9.4% - Punisher
-10.1% - Spider-Girl
-10.5% - Supreme Power
-10.5% - Spectacular Spider-Man
-12.0% - Ultimate X-Men
-12.4% - Amazing Spider-Man
-12.7% - Powers
-13.4% - Marvel Knights Spider-Man
-13.5% - Ultimate Spider-Man
-13.8% - Cable/Deadpool
-14.2% - Uncanny X-Men
-14.5% - Ultimate Fantastic Four
-16.1% - X-Men: The End
-17.3% - Amazing Fantasy
-20.7% - Marvel Knights 4
-21.6% - New X-Men
-21.6% - Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe
-22.0% - X-Men Unlimited
-23.6% - Strange
-25.4% - District X
-41.0% - New Invaders
-41.2% - Gambit
-55.0% - X-Force / X-Force: Shatterstar

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

+195.4% - New Avengers / Avengers
+ 78.1% - Iron Man
+ 51.1% - Runaways
+ 42.5% - Wolverine
+ 19.2% - Captain America
+ 4.9% - Incredible Hulk
+ 4.8% - New X-Men / New Mutants
- 1.9% - Uncanny X-Men
- 4.1% - Spider-Girl
- 5.6% - Amazing Spider-Man
- 10.2% - Ultimate Spider-Man
- 10.3% - Daredevil
- 11.0% - Exiles
- 13.3% - Spectacular Spider-Man
- 14.0% - Fantastic Four
- 14.2% - Ultimate X-Men
- 14.3% - Supreme Power
- 17.3% - X-Men / New X-Men
- 22.3% - Punisher
- 30.6% - Ultimate Fantastic Four
- 36.4% - Marvel Knights 4
- 36.7% - Cable/Deadpool
- 39.7% - X-Men Unlimited
- 55.9% - Marvel Knights Spider-Man

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

+178.5% - New Avengers / Avengers
+173.4% - Black Panther
+ 65.2% - Wolverine
+ 58.2% - Iron Man
+ 32.9% - New Thunderbolts / Thunderbolts
+ 13.3% - Runaways
+ 6.2% - Powers
- 0.7% - Uncanny X-Men
- 3.6% - Spectacular Spider-Man / Peter Parker, Spider-Man
- 5.4% - Punisher
- 7.4% - Exiles
- 8.7% - Ultimate X-Men
- 11.2% - Captain America
- 11.4% - Fantastic Four
- 12.8% - X-Men
- 15.2% - Spider-Girl
- 16.3% - Incredible Hulk
- 18.7% - Amazing Spider-Man
- 19.4% - Daredevil
- 20.6% - Ultimate Spider-Man

- 26.6% - X-Men Unlimited