Comics Sales numbers

[Dragon]

The best selling issues of "The Other" are still selling well below the worst selling issues of "Sins Past".

Getting the hint Joe & Joe?

 

[The Joker™]

What?

Isn't it clear yet that Joe is Green Goblin.

Norman obviously knew the only way to effect Spidey is to become the editor in cheif of marvel.

Its kind of like nightmare on elm streets new nightmares

 

[The Joker™]

..ssecond

 

[Dragon]

What?

Isn't it clear yet that Joe is Green Goblin.

Norman obviously knew the only way to effect Spidey is to become the editor in cheif of marvel.

Its kind of like nightmare on elm streets new nightmares

So, first Norman screws Gwen, then he screws Spidey..

Clever plan...

 

[The Joker™]

He gets around.

 

[Kirk Langstrom]

That last comment is also why, in part, movies have also done poorly this year. Initially, more mature PG-13 and R rated films start of high at the box office but then fall after opening weekend while more family oriented or films geared for all ages are by and large far more successful.

Comics have been having the same problem and have since the last decade. Ever since Alan Moore and Frank Miller got popular, many comic creators assumed that part of their success had to do with their "dark and gritty" themes, so they adopted it for their own books, whether it was appropriate or not. After the initial appeal wore off, sales started to decline. Sure part of it had to do with attempting to catter to investment speculators, but I think that many readers just got turned off by what they were reading.

I think one of the reasons DC is kicking Marvels butt right now is because they're implying that the past 20 years or so have been TOO DARK and they want to LIGHTEN UP a bit. It is possible to tell stories that deal with dark themes and yet still make them appealing for readers of all ages. Its also possible to tell more upbeat stories without making them seem juvenile.

HUH? Did you read Identity Crisis, Countdown To Infinite Crisis, or Infinite Crisis? I don't think Peter's eye gouging comes CLOSE to what happened to Sue Dibny.

Blue Beetle getting his brains blown out, and The Freedom Fighters getting beaten to death by an army of super villains didn't strike me as "appealing to all ages" either. Nor the brutal, bone-breaking battle between Superman and Wonder Woman.

No. I'd have to disagree with that, and say that DC is no less violent than Marvel, and is in fact, doing the complete opposite of "Lightening Up"...the difference, i think, is that right now DC's "go to guys", are far more versed in their respective univere's continuity than Marvel's "go to guys", and are more interested in guiding the characters along than "leaving their mark" (Straz, Bendis, et. al.)...


I'm not sure what the ramifications will be for the Industry's future, but right now, both Industry leaders are definitely writing for adults, for the most part. I'm not seeing any less violence or darkness from the DC comics of today, compared to 20 odd years ago (Watchmen, Killing Joke, etc.,) in the least.

 

[Galactus]

3. NEW AVENGERS
Dec 01 Avengers #49 - 57,715
Dec 02 Avengers #61 - 55,506
Dec 03 Avengers #75 - 57,814
======
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 - 158,303 ( +6.3%)
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 - 124,300 ( -1.5%)
6 mnth ( -24.5%)
1 year ( -55.7%)
2 year (+115.0%)

Commemorating the first anniversary of the new title, and it's still light years ahead of the book's previous incarnation. True, it's down by over 55% from issue #1, but that's only to be expected - not only were the early issues heavily hyped, but they were also artificially inflated by variant covers. The last few issues, after that programme stopped, have fallen back to more realistic levels that are still undeniably impressive.

Issue #14 is the first half of a Spider-Woman two-parter. Her origin miniseries also starts this month, and we'll come to that later on.

10. AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
Dec 01 Amazing Spider-Man #38 - 88,666
Dec 02 Amazing Spider-Man #48 - 93,867
Dec 03 Amazing Spider-Man #502 - 90,484
======
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 - 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 - 81,348 (-11.3%)
Dec 05 Amazing Spider-Man #527 - 79,261 ( -2.6%)
6 mnth ( +6.9%)
1 year ( -5.2%)
2 year (-12.4%)

The highest Spider-Man title, and part of the "Other" crossover. Once again, the ordering is a little erratic on this storyline. The story is running through AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN and MARVEL KNIGHTS SPIDER-MAN. They're effectively just one series for the duration of the storyline. Yet, once again, AMAZING comfortably outsells the other two books. FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN is 7,000 behind, and MARVEL KNIGHTS SPIDER-MAN is over 10,000 behind.

Which is... odd. It means that a decent-sized chunk of AMAZING's readers are sticking with this book and ignoring the rest of the crossover. This isn't even creator loyalty, since the creators are swapping books. They bought AMAZING in the last two months, even though it wasn't by regular writer J M Straczynski. And they didn't buy the other two books this month, even though Straczynski was writing them. I honestly don't fathom the logic of that. Who are these people who are so completist that they buy one third of the crossover simply because it's appearing in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, yet aren't completist enough to buy the other two Spider-Man comics for the rest of the plot?

There's a few re-orders topping up earlier issues. Issue #526 has re-orders of 1,674 and scrapes into the chart at number 300. Issue #525 picks up another 2,210 re-orders and charts at number 281. Those numbers are incorporated into the figures above. There's no separate listing for a variant cover (unlike the other two Spider-Man titles), so presumably AMAZING's variant didn't ship in time for the December charts.

15,17. ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN
Dec 01 Ultimate Spider-Man #16 - 80,875
Dec 02 Ultimate Spider-Man #33 - 99,404
Dec 03 Ultimate Spider-Man #50 - 109,819
======
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%)
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 - 72,984 ( -2.1%)
6 mnth ( -8.1%)
1 year (-18.0%)
2 year (-33.5%)

Returning to normal levels. Presumably the jump for issue #86 was to do with the Ultimate Vision back-up strip, but there's also one in issues #87 and #88, so it can't have made an enormous difference in the long run.

18. 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 - 72,314 (-12.9%)

More of "The Other", and since this isn't even the regular creative team, it's a bit pointless trying to read much into these figures. Issue #2 picks up 8,222 orders for its variant cover, and charts at number 189.

21. MARVEL KNIGHTS SPIDER-MAN
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%)
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 - 71,940 ( -4.7%)
Dec 05 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #21 - 68,323 ( -5.0%)
6 mnth (+26.3%)
1 year ( +6.0%)

Another "Other" crossover, and while it doesn't get the book up to the levels of AMAZING, it's undeniably boosting sales. Issue #20's variant cover picks up 7,193 copies to chart at number 196.

24. SPIDER-WOMAN: ORIGIN
Dec 05 Origin #1 (of 5) - 63,953

A surprisingly high debut considering that Spider-Woman is hardly an A-list character, and that this miniseries is simply a retelling of her established origin story. Exposure through NEW AVENGERS has obviously helped her a lot, and this bodes well for her upcoming solo series

31,33. SPIDER-MAN/BLACK CAT: EVIL THAT MEN DO
Jun 02 Spider-Man/Black Cat #1 (of 4) - 118,204
Jul 02 Spider-Man/Black Cat #2 (of 4) - 101,607 (-14.0%)
Aug 02 Spider-Man/Black Cat #3 (of 4) - 99,110 ( -2.5%)
Sep 02 Spider-Man/Black Cat #4 (of 4) - 94,749 ( -4.4%)
Oct 02 Spider-Man/Black Cat #5 (of 5) - 88,956 ( -6.1%)
======
Dec 05 Spider-Man/Black Cat #4 (of 6) - 57,089 (-35.8%)
Dec 05 Spider-Man/Black Cat #5 (of 6) - 53,849 ( -5.7%)

Ah, this. Yes, after a mere three years, Kevin Smith has finally found time to complete a professional commitment he gave in 2002.

Readers may wonder what's going on with some of the earlier numbers, and how issues #4 and #5 have managed to chart twice. Well, back when this miniseries started, the charts worked on a different basis. They showed the initial orders for a comic, not the number that shipped. This means that comics appeared on the charts for the month in which they'd been solicited, whether or not they actually came out. That's why issues #1 to #3 are listed as if they'd come out on time, and issues #4 and #5 managed to chart in autumn 2002 despite not existing at all.

Obviously, there's a limit to the level of delay readers will put up with. If issue #4 had come out on time, almost 40,000 more copies would have been in circulation.

And no, those aren't misprints - Marvel have changed the length of the miniseries twice as it went along.

113. MARVEL TEAM-UP
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%)
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%)
6 mnth (-15.0%)
1 year (-31.2%)

Apparently last month's spike really was for the INVINCIBLE crossover, because MARVEL TEAM-UP goes straight back to normal levels with its new arc. We're now at the 20K mark, and surely we must be starting to test the limits of Marvel's tolerance.

125. SPIDER-GIRL
Dec 01 Spider-Girl #41 - 23,573
Dec 02 Spider-Girl #54 - 24,389
Dec 03 Spider-Girl #67 - 21,403
======
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%)
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%)
6 mnth (-13.0%)
1 year (-16.5%)
2 year (-20.3%)

Cancelled with issue #100, although we've all heard that before. That said, after years of relatively solidity, SPIDER-GIRL has started to shed readers over the last year or so. This time, things may be different.

163. SPIDER-MAN LOVES MARY JANE
Dec 05 Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane #1 - 11,171

Ongoing series following on from the MARY JANE and MARY JANE: HOMECOMING miniseries. Neither of those books did particularly good business in the direct market, so the driving force here must be digest sales - which was always the aim. It's not a great debut by direct market standards, but it really doesn't matter.

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

+27.8% - New X-Men
+26.3% - Marvel Knights Spider-Man
+ 6.9% - Amazing Spider-Man
- 1.7% - Exiles
- 2.8% - Ultimate Fantastic Four
- 4.7% - Ultimates 2
- 4.7% - Captain America
- 5.3% - Cable & Deadpool
- 5.3% - Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe
- 5.7% - X-Men
- 6.0% - Punisher
- 7.4% - Powers
- 8.1% - Ultimate Spider-Man
- 8.1% - New Thunderbolts
-10.1% - Daredevil
-10.9% - Uncanny X-Men
-11.1% - Runaways
-11.6% - Wolverine
-12.9% - X-Men Unlimited
-13.0% - Spider-Girl
-14.6% - Incredible Hulk
-15.0% - Marvel Team-Up
-16.4% - Fantastic Four
-19.2% - Marvel Knights 4
-21.6% - Black Panther
-24.3% - Amazing Fantasy
-24.5% - New Avengers
-28.0% - Marvel Adventures Spider-Man
-36.5% - Araña: Heart of the Spider
-47.4% - Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four
-47.8% - New Warriors
-58.1% - Ultimate Iron Man


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

+23.4% - She-Hulk
+19.8% - Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe
+19.1% - Incredible Hulk / Hulk & Thing
+ 6.0% - Marvel Knights Spider-Man
+ 1.0% - New X-Men
+ 0.4% - Exiles
- 1.9% - Fantastic Four
- 5.2% - Amazing Spider-Man
- 9.6% - Uncanny X-Men
-11.9% - Punisher
-13.2% - Ultimate Fantastic Four
-13.4% - Cable & Deadpool
-14.1% - X-Men
-14.2% - Daredevil
-14.3% - Wolverine
-15.7% - Captain America
-16.5% - Powers
-16.5% - Spider-Girl
-18.0% - Ultimate Spider-Man
-23.3% - New Thunderbolts
-26.6% - X-Men Unlimited
-30.3% - Marvel Knights 4
-31.2% - Marvel Team-Up
-31.7% - Black Widow
-35.4% - Ultimates 2
-55.7% - New Avengers


2 year comparison
=================

+115.0% - New Avengers / Avengers
+ 23.6% - Runaways
+ 4.5% - Captain America
- 7.1% - Fantastic Four
- 7.8% - Punisher
- 5.3% - Wolverine
- 9.6% - Ultimates
- 10.0% - Uncanny X-Men
- 12.1% - Exiles
- 12.4% - Amazing Spider-Man
- 19.3% - Daredevil
- 20.3% - Spider-Girl
- 28.9% - Incredible Hulk
- 32.7% - X-Men / New X-Men
- 33.1% - Thor: Blood Oath / Thor
- 33.5% - Ultimate Spider-Man
- 60.6% - Ultimate Fantastic Four

 

[Mara Jane]

I wonder if the reason so many people are buying Amazing and not the other parts of "the Other" crossover is that some collectors buy more than one issue of a title, especially now with the grading system that requires sealing them for eternity. Amazing Spider-Man will hold it's value over the long run better than any other title. So they buy one to read, and one to seal. It's a pretty big discrepancy of numbers, so I'm sure there are other reasons for it, but I'm not sure what. Maybe casual readers at newsstands or bookstores?

 

[iloveclones]

Mommy-to-be, due July 5, 2006. :*)

Just noticed that. Congratulations (to both of you)!

 

[Mara Jane]

Thanks!

 

[Chasm]

Could you give me please a link or something, where i can see more details regarding the sales numbers? I take great interest in DC comics sales numbers but I don't know where can I found them.

 

[Galactus]

Could you give me please a link or something, where i can see more details regarding the sales numbers? I take great interest in DC comics sales numbers but I don't know where can I found them.

I usually find the numbers here: http://www.comicon.com/pulse/

Just scroll down and you'll find the DC numbers for December

 

[Chasm]

Thanks for your help!

 

[Galactus]

Top 300 in January
http://www.newsarama.com/marketreport/January06charts.htm

Funny that despite all complains about crappy stories all three major Spidey-titles are in top ten

 

[stillanerd]

Top 300 in January
http://www.newsarama.com/marketreport/January06charts.htm

Funny that despite all complains about crappy stories all three major Spidey-titles are in top ten

Perhaps it's because it was those were the last three parts of the Other and people wanted to see how it ended. Also, I wonder if those sales for Amazing, Friendly Neighborhood, and Marvel Knights all during the Other are somewhat skewed because they're also counting issues with the varient covers which would mean the same person buys more than one copy. Guess it wouldn't matter either way since a sale is a sale. Also, it's interesting to note that part one of Sins Past still outsold part 12 of "The Other: Evolve or Die":

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
Jan Amazing Spider-Man #503 - 87,341
Feb Amazing Spider-Man #504 - 84,064
Mar Amazing Spider-Man #505 - 83,613
Apr Amazing Spider-Man #506 - 83,152
May Amazing Spider-Man #507 - 81,944
Jun Amazing Spider-Man #508 - 82,268
Jun Amazing Spider-Man #509 - 101,632 (Sins Past, part 1)
Jul Amazing Spider-Man #510 - 86,181 (Sins Past, part 2)
Aug Amazing Spider-Man #511 - 88,118 (Sins Past, part 3
Sep Amazing Spider-Man #512 - 88,628 (Sins Past, part 4)
Oct Amazing Spider-Man #513 - 89,615 (Sins Past, part 5)
Nov Amazing Spider-Man #514 - 87,121 (Sins Past, part 6)
Dec Amazing Spider-Man #515 - 83,637
Jan 05 Amazing Spider-Man #516 - 79,842
Feb 05 Amazing Spider-Man #517 - 78,584
Mar 05 Amazing Spider-Man #518 - 77,025
Apr 05 Amazing Spider-Man #519 - 79,668
May 05 Amazing Spider-Man #520 - 76,143
Jun 05 Amazing Spider-Man #521 - 74,117
Jul 05 Amazing Spider-Man #522 - 73,130
Aug 05 Amazing Spider-Man #523 - 72,046
Sep 05 Amazing Spider-Man #524 - 71,065
Oct 05 Amazing Spider-Man #525 - 91,707 (The Other, part 3)
Nov 05 Amazing Spider-Man #526 - 81,348 (The Other, part 6
Dec 05 Amazing Spider-Man #527 - 79,261 (The Other, part 9)
Jan 06 Amazing Spider-Man #528 - 95,415 (The Other, part 12)

 

[Niobe]

Oct 05 Amazing Spider-Man #525 - 91,707 (The Other, part 3)
Nov 05 Amazing Spider-Man #526 - 81,348 (The Other, part 6
Dec 05 Amazing Spider-Man #527 - 79,261 (The Other, part 9)
Jan 06 Amazing Spider-Man #528 - 95,415 (The Other, part 12)

Hmm...looks like everybody buys the Other even though everybody hates it. And I was wondering why JMS doesnt give a damn to all the complaints

 

[Dragon]

Hmm...looks like everybody buys the Other even though everybody hates it. And I was wondering why JMS doesnt give a damn to all the complaints

But based on the numbers, no one cared about the story, since there was such a wide variation in the numbers. People read certain issues and skipped others. People buying the last 3 issues only reflects curiosity about Spidey's new powers. I'm sure sales on #529 will be through the roof. But maintaining good, consistent sales is the problem.

 

[Kirk Langstrom]

What do i have to do to get more of you people to buy Marvel Team-Up?

 

[Captivated]

What do i have to do to get more of you people to buy Marvel Team-Up?

I bought a few when I noticed Spider-man was in the story... but then he wasn't... for several issues... and I lost interest.

 

[Citizen_Kaine]

What do i have to do to get more of you people to buy Marvel Team-Up?

I started reading when Kirkman took over. Basically never read it prior due to my disdain for team up comics, but this Legion of Loser's stuff is good

 

[Captivated]

With the Other, I planned on getting all the various covers, as well as the first issues... but I started finding the direction of the story so depressing (stingers and spider-gods... it was like Spidey had really died...), that not even my obsessive need to have a complete set could overcome it.

I did get two of ASM #528 though... only because Deodato's cover art rocked my world, and I wanted to do something with it.

 

[Galactus]

3. NEW AVENGERS
Jan 02 Avengers #50 - 56,009
Jan 03 Avengers #63 - 55,447
Jan 04 n/a
======
Jan 05 New Avengers #2 - 155,742 (-44.3%)
Feb 05 New Avengers #3 - 148,973 ( -4.3%)
Mar 05 New Avengers #4 - 158,303 ( +6.3%)
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 - 121,758 ( -3.8%)
6 mnth (-23.3%)
1 year (-21.8%)

Issue #14 picks up 2,283 re-orders, which are included in the numbers above. Strangely enough, this means the book has now gone slightly up from the previous month. It doesn't affect the overall trend, though, as the book continues to slip back from its initial high sales. Of course, a lot of the drop-off is due to the variant covers programme ending, and the book is still selling more than twice as many copies as it used to in its previous incarnation, so there's plenty to be happy about here.

4. AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
Jan 02 Amazing Spider-Man #39 - 90,788
Jan 03 Amazing Spider-Man #49 - 90,032
Jan 04 Amazing Spider-Man #503 - 87,341
======
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 - 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 - 95,415 ( +6.1%)
6 mnth (+30.5%)
1 year (+19.5%)
2 year ( +9.2%)

The final month of "The Other" sees a healthy climb. AMAZING is always the highest selling Spider-Man book, and also had the advantage in January of being promoted as a key issue in the storyline. Meanwhile, variant covers continue to top up the sales of earlier issues: issue #526 picks up another 8,995 copies to chart at number 158, and issue #527 sells a further 10,661 to chart at number 146.

With the earlier chapters, the variant covers were released on a delayed schedule so that they didn't show up until the next month's chart. This time round, the variants seem to have made it out during January. But nonetheless, it's still a significant increase over earlier months of the same story - unequivocally a success.

8. 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%)

More of "The Other." December's issue #3 ships another 8,995 in variant covers, to place at number 159. Issue #4, on the other hand, gets its variants onto this month's chart.

These are very healthy numbers for the opening of a new title, obviously, and now the question is what happens when it turns into an ordinary book. February's issue #5 will be the first issue without the benefit of a crossover tie-in.

9. MARVEL KNIGHTS SPIDER-MAN
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%)
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%)
6 mnth (+47.3%)
1 year (+21.2%)

The last issue under this title, before it changes its name to SENSATIONAL SPIDER-MAN in February. It's also bringing up the rear in the "Other" crossover for the fourth month in a row. As with the other Spider-Man books, the variant cover for this month's issue came out in time to be included in the number above, but delayed variants continue to top up sales from earlier months: issue #21 charts at number 164 with 8,440 more sales.

A second printing of issue #20 picks up 1,322 re-orders to chart at number 274. Those are probably more conventional re-orders, given that MARVEL KNIGHTS SPIDER-MAN was significantly under-ordered compared to other parts of the crossover.

Re-orders at that level often go unnoticed, because they don't make it into the top 300. In December, for example, the number 300 book sold 1,674 copies. But January was a very quiet month - the number 300 book, TWILIGHT WAR X #2, sold only 929. This means there are quite a few low-level re-orders clogging up the listings, which normally would have disappeared beneath the radar.

These are the lowest numbers we've seen on the charts since May 2005 (when DRAWN & QUARTERLY #8 scraped into the number 300 position on the strength of 860 copies). Every chart since then has stayed above the 1,000 mark.

Anyway. Back to superheroes!

14. ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN
Jan 02 Ultimate Spider-Man #17 - 79,203
Jan 03 Ultimate Spider-Man #34 - 93,789
Jan 04 Ultimate Spider-Man #52 - 95,854
======
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%)
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%)
6 mnth ( -6.5%)
1 year (-14.3%)
2 year (-25.0%)

Continuing the downward drift. Issue #88 picks up 1,229 re-orders to chart at number 280

26. SPIDER-MAN/BLACK CAT: EVIL THAT MEN DO
Jun 02 Spider-Man/Black Cat #1 (of 4) - 118,204
Jul 02 Spider-Man/Black Cat #2 (of 4) - 101,607 (-14.0%)
Aug 02 Spider-Man/Black Cat #3 (of 4) - 99,110 ( -2.5%)
Sep 02 Spider-Man/Black Cat #4 (of 4) - 94,749 ( -4.4%)
Oct 02 Spider-Man/Black Cat #5 (of 5) - 88,956 ( -6.1%)
======
Dec 05 Spider-Man/Black Cat #4 (of 6) - 57,089 (-35.8%)
Dec 05 Spider-Man/Black Cat #5 (of 6) - 54,909 ( -3.8%)
Jan 06 Spider-Man/Black Cat #6 (of 6) - 51,538 ( -6.1%)

End of series, hell freezes over. When Marvel launched this book, they can't have imagined that their four-issue miniseries would finish up with issue #6, almost four years later, placing below the second issue of a Quicksilver miniseries.

Issue #5 picks up 1,090 re-orders to chart at number 294.

99. MARVEL TEAM-UP
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%)
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%)
6 mnth (-11.5%)
1 year (-26.7%)

Down by forty-five copies from last month, MARVEL TEAM-UP may finally have found its level at around the 20K mark.

112. SPIDER-GIRL
Jan 02 Spider-Girl #43 - 23,076
Jan 03 Spider-Girl #55 - 23,564
Jan 04 Spider-Girl #68 - 20,544
======
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%)
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%)
6 mnth ( -9.7%)
1 year (-14.3%)
2 year (-16.5%)

Cancelled with issue #100, so naturally it chooses this month to go up in sales. Mind you, it's only by 91 copies, so I wouldn't read too much into it.

126. SPIDER-MAN UNLIMITED
Jan 04 Spider-Man Unlimited #1 - 53,413
======
Jan 05 Spider-Man Unlimited #7 - 18,316 (-12.7%)
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%)
6 mnth (-14.4%)
1 year (-24.8%)
2 year (-74.2%)

This is starting to get silly. Most of the books down at this end of the chart have at least a reasonable hope of making their money back in digest or trade paperback format. SPIDER-MAN UNLIMITED doesn't get reprinted anywhere, and I'm honestly amazed that it's still going. Issue #14 has a David Finch story, so it'll be interesting to see if he makes any difference.

162. 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%)

A nasty drop, but this is a title aimed at the digest audience, and the direct market sales aren't critical.

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

+47.3% - Marvel Knights Spider-Man
+30.5% - Amazing Spider-Man
+ 1.8% - X-Men: The End
- 1.0% - Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe
- 2.7% - Exiles
- 4.0% - X-Men
- 6.5% - Ultimate Spider-Man
- 7.1% - Punisher
- 7.4% - Wolverine
- 7.4% - Daredevil
- 8.7% - Runaways
- 9.7% - Spider-Girl
- 9.9% - New Thunderbolts
-11.5% - Marvel Team-Up
-12.4% - Uncanny X-Men
-12.8% - New X-Men
-14.4% - Spider-Man Unlimited
-15.4% - Ultimate X-Men
-21.5% - Black Panther
-22.4% - Marvel Knights 4
-23.3% - New Avengers
-24.4% - Marvel Adventures Spider-Man
-28.6% - Amazing Fantasy
-29.6% - Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four
-30.2% - Defenders
-31.6% - Cable & Deadpool
-38.6% - Hulk
-51.1% - Pulse


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

+21.4% - She-Hulk
+21.2% - Marvel Knights Spider-Man
+19.5% - Amazing Spider-Man
+13.2% - Ultimate Galactus Trilogy
+12.4% - Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe
+ 6.8% - New X-Men
+ 2.2% - Exiles
- 8.7% - Uncanny X-Men
- 8.9% - Cable & Deadpool
- 9.2% - Daredevil
-11.8% - Punisher
-13.1% - Wolverine
-14.3% - Spider-Girl
-20.4% - Pulse
-21.5% - Black Panther
-21.8% - New Avengers
-23.7% - Hulk
-24.8% - Spider-Man Unlimited
-25.0% - Ultimate Spider-Man
-25.9% - Ultimate X-Men
-26.2% - New Thunderbolts
-26.7% - Marvel Team-Up
-31.7% - Marvel Knights 4
-40.3% - X-Men


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

+49.8% - Iron Man
+24.3% - Runaways
+ 9.2% - Amazing Spider-Man
- 0.6% - Wolverine
- 9.8% - Uncanny X-Men
-11.9% - Exiles
-16.5% - Spider-Girl
-18.1% - X-Statix
-21.5% - Daredevil
-25.0% - Ultimate Spider-Man
-25.9% - Ultimate X-Men
-26.6% - Hulk
-38.4% - Punisher
-40.3% - X-Men / New X-Men
-74.2% - Spider-Man Unlimited

 

[moffball]

Do you do this professionally or something? Month after month you have amazing insights. Thanks for this!

 

[Galactus]

Do you do this professionally or something? Month after month you have amazing insights. Thanks for this!

No, I just find the numbers on the net. Sadly, it's nothing more remarkable than that...

 

[moffball]

Oh, well, I respectfully withdraw my admiration