Monthly Sales Figures 0

[Aweandlorder]

November 2016

 

Sales were down pretty big but still up 1% for the year overall. Rebirth pulled the fat out of the fire...again. Marvel had 1 issue #0 and 5 issue #1's in the top 18 but none busted 100,000 copies.

 

Ghost Rider and Thanos were at 57,000+ and 54,000+ respectively.

 

The Walking Dead is on issue #160 and was in the top 10. This is how it should be imo. Story driven books driving sales. Only 3 titles outsold TWD that weren't issue #1's. Batman, All-star Batman, and Civil War II.

 

Saga sold under 45,000 copies. This is surprising and down over 25% from it's peak. Having said that, its still in the top 52. Not too shabby for an Image book.

 

Mother Panic was at over 40,000 copies and I didn't hear a peep about it.

 

Seven to Eternity is getting big hype but its sales are at 27,000+ on issue #3. By comparison, East of West didn't drop that low until issue #12. Then again, Monstress sales have dropped from 36,000 for issue #1 to 18,000+ for issue #8.

 

Outcast is selling under 20,000 copies. Its a good book and the rating on IMDB and Rotten tomatoes are both relatively high at 7.7 and 8.1 out of 10 overall. It appears that demons can't compete with zombies.

 

Black Hammer came in just under 13,000 books while Brigg's Land is somewhere around 6,600. That is just WAY too low for a book of this quality. If I was pinned down and forced to pick the next non big 2 breakout book, I'd lean toward BL.

 

The last issue of Sheriff of Babylon was at 5241. I hear lots of great stuff about this book and intend to pick up the TPB.

 

A few final thoughts. Unbeatable Squirrel Girl and Hellcat are both hovering around 12,000 and 9,000 copies. Seems low for Marvel or DC and I'm curious. Who is the target audience for these books ? When I first read USG, I thought it was funny but by issue 3 or 4, not much new. Is this just protecting IP for their movie and TV shows ?

 

Batman #1 Director's Cut outsold over 300 other issues released in November. Batman is THE character in comic sales as of today.

 

 

 

Yup and sales are definitely down big time compared to November of last year.

As always, thank you for the detailed report sir

[Jordysnordy]

Geez when's the last time ASM sold only 63000 copies

[shockmatrix]

November 2016

 

Outcast is selling under 20,000 copies. Its a good book and the rating on IMDB and Rotten tomatoes are both relatively high at 7.7 and 8.1 out of 10 overall. It appears that demons can't compete with zombies.

 

Black Hammer came in just under 13,000 books while Brigg's Land is somewhere around 6,600. That is just WAY too low for a book of this quality. If I was pinned down and forced to pick the next non big 2 breakout book, I'd lean toward BL.

 

Like many Image books, Outcast definitely reads better in trade form. Individual issues had a very slow pace.

 

Brigg's Land is surprisingly low, but it feels like something that's a prelude to the show, an accessory that won't stand on its own. Recent Vikings books I've read are similar, quality written and well illustrated but a side note to the TV show.

 

[CBT]

Looks like all the rebooting is reaping what it sowed. Speculators, variant chasing and horde buying of new series, has been hiding some of the decline for a while imo.

 

I hope when its all said and done, the final end result is a return to original titles and numbering, and a return to the original incarnation of all characters.

[the authority]

November 2016

 

Outcast is selling under 20,000 copies. Its a good book and the rating on IMDB and Rotten tomatoes are both relatively high at 7.7 and 8.1 out of 10 overall. It appears that demons can't compete with zombies.

 

Black Hammer came in just under 13,000 books while Brigg's Land is somewhere around 6,600. That is just WAY too low for a book of this quality. If I was pinned down and forced to pick the next non big 2 breakout book, I'd lean toward BL.

 

Like many Image books, Outcast definitely reads better in trade form. Individual issues had a very slow pace.

 

Brigg's Land is surprisingly low, but it feels like something that's a prelude to the show, an accessory that won't stand on its own. Recent Vikings books I've read are similar, quality written and well illustrated but a side note to the TV show.

 

I love the Vikings TV show. I'm glad to hear that the comic stories are nice rads. I actually thought they were just a telling of the show. Think I'll try them out.

[romanheart]

I noticed both Superman issues beat the ASM title. That has to send shockwaves to Marvel.

 

Batman titles are doing well. Without the Marvel #1s that's an extremely bad month for them but I can't see how they got 39% market share.

[aerischan]

Then again, Monstress sales have dropped from 36,000 for issue #1 to 18,000+ for issue #8.

Another title that's better read in collected form. The wait times between issues can be quite frustrating. That said, the TPB seems to be doing quite well.

 

Monstress TP Vol 1

Jul 2016 11,489

Aug 2016 4,330

Sep 2016 3,446

Oct 2016 1,974

Nov 2016 3,431

 

 

[natevegas]

Geez when's the last time ASM sold only 63000 copies

[revat]

I noticed both Superman issues beat the ASM title. That has to send shockwaves to Marvel.

 

Batman titles are doing well. Without the Marvel #1s that's an extremely bad month for them but I can't see how they got 39% market share.

 

Marvel can wipe their tears with their Dr Strange monies.

 

I'm sure they'll expect a big boost and be tops again after the movie. But it is an 'issue'

[Erndog]

Geez when's the last time ASM sold only 63000 copies

 

I've collected ASM my entire life.... had long box after long box of the series.

 

I finally had enough and called it quits during this incarnation's #1 issue.

 

I haven't enjoyed a thing about Slott's run. My ASM run has ended.

[kimik]

Disney does not care re: how the comics are doing. TV and Movies are where the action and real money is. As long as comics are still printed under the Marvel banner they retain the underlying IP for the TV/Movie/video game franchises. Even a weak box office return likely generates more in revenue

 

That being said, the quality of Marvel comics has been in a major downtrend for what, a decade or more now? Outside of the odd decent run on an individual book, most titles have been bad to unreadable. The approach they have taken on Mutant related books for the past couple of years in a failed attempt to pump up the Inhumans (again - Movie and TV driven), as well as Otto-Spidey and now Playboy-Spidey, and they have destroyed a lot of the long time collector base that they had for two of their three main (the Avengers being the other one) comic franchises. Add in the constant rebooting of all of their titles every couple of years, and it is not difficult to see whey their sales are flagging.

 

 

[natevegas]

Good points made here. It all comes down to where you want to spend your money on.

 

So is Marvel out of ideas after 800 k of their sales is from #1 issues?

 

[Aweandlorder]

It has just been a month for comics overall. I wouldnt take it out on Spidey, especially when there are 2 spidey related books in the top 10...

[revat]

there's some good marvel stuff left, its just not in their flagship books, also its hard to randomly walk into a store and know what their flagship books are anymore, which might be by design, I'm not sure.

 

I think Daredevil has generally been good (although maybe not great) for the past few years, with the art being very inconsistent (although sometimes awesome), probably the only 'major/old' title I've consistently been happy with for a long long time, like maybe the last 15 years? More? Since Brubaker and before.

 

 

 

[kimik]

Marvel has been out of ideas for a while now. Personally, I view them has having been in a downward swirl since the launch of the Ultimate lines way back in 2000. They really have not had anything like that since then.

 

From a back issue sales perspective, there is way more demand for DC and Image post-2000 back issues at shows than there is for Marvel. Outside of Deadpool, there is no consistent recent modern back issue seller from Marvel. Sure, some of the key 1st apps sell well, but that can be said for all companies. Most post-2000 Marvels are just $0.50 - $1 bin books.

 

As a collector that started out as an X-Men fanboy with UXM #211 being the first comic I purchased as a kid (I love that cover and still have my original beater copy), it is really sad to see how far the X-Franchise has fallen in funny books.

Edited December 14, 2016 by kimik

[CBT]

destroying characters to pander to PC politics, and failing to resist the renumbering party that DC had started with new 52, did them in. I am close to shutting Marvel out of my pull list altogether, for the first time since I quit comic collecting around the time of the Onslaught story line in late 90s

Edited December 14, 2016 by CBT

[Aweandlorder]

Marvel has been out of ideas for a while now. Personally, I view them has having been in a downward swirl since the launch of the Ultimate lines way back in 2000. They really have not had anything like that since then.

 

From a back issue sales perspective, there is way more demand for DC and Image post-2000 back issues at shows than there is for Marvel. Outside of Deadpool, there is no consistent recent modern back issue seller from Marvel. Sure, some of the key 1st apps sell well, but that can be said for all companies. Most post-2000 Marvels are just $0.50 - $1 bin books.

 

As a collector that started out as an X-Men fanboy with UXM #211 being the first comic I purchased as a kid (I love that cover and still have my original beater copy), it is really sad to see how far the X-Franchise has fallen in funny books.

 

Did you say...

 

UXM #211

[aerischan]

Marvel has been out of ideas for a while now. Personally, I view them has having been in a downward swirl since the launch of the Ultimate lines way back in 2000. They really have not had anything like that since then.

 

From a back issue sales perspective, there is way more demand for DC and Image post-2000 back issues at shows than there is for Marvel. Outside of Deadpool, there is no consistent recent modern back issue seller from Marvel. Sure, some of the key 1st apps sell well, but that can be said for all companies. Most post-2000 Marvels are just $0.50 - $1 bin books.

 

As a collector that started out as an X-Men fanboy with UXM #211 being the first comic I purchased as a kid (I love that cover and still have my original beater copy), it is really sad to see how far the X-Franchise has fallen in funny books.

I do agree on Marvel Comic's creative void. There are some enjoyable titles (big fan of Waid/Samnee Black Widow and the Edmondson/Noto and Liu/Acuna runs before that) but for the most part, right now I find writing on DC Rebirth better. It's a bit sad what they've done to the X-Men. I'm a child of the 90s and have fond memories of the X-Men and Spider-Man cartoons. Then again, I liked WildCATS, too, so what do I know?

 

Image probably has the best titles right now (at least ones that are readily visible without going through smaller publishers on Previews). My main problem with Image is not having enough funds to catch up on all the great stuff on their backlist.

 

As for Marvel back issues, there is Marvel Unlimited. It may not be perfect but at less than $6/mo, it's darned cheap. Aside from keys/favorites and fancy deluxe editions, I'm not likely to buy Marvel back issues when I can just read them on Marvel Unlimited. I'd rather use majority of discretionary funds to buy Image TPBs and Deluxe Ed HCs. I will say this, Marvel Unlimited's extremely affordable pricing got me started reading American comics. Mostly just stuck to Japanese manga before.

Edited December 17, 2016 by aerischan

[Aweandlorder]

http://www.comicsbeat.com/why-are-the-comics-retailers-worried-about-mass-store-closings/

[kimik]

http://www.comicsbeat.com/why-are-the-comics-retailers-worried-about-mass-store-closings/

 

Interesting. I would also like to see some additional info on why the comic stores are struggling:

 

1) How many new stores have opened in the municipallity/region since 2009/2010?

 

2) What is the socioeconomic and demographic composition of the communities/municipalities that the stores are located in?

 

We have had one new store (opened post 2010) close up here in Edmonton, another one close its second location (rent raised in mall led to closure), and there are one or two others that may be struggling as well due to the economy.