Comparing the industry today to 3 years ago

I was going through Deja Goo and found a list from May 1999 of Direct Sales. I thought I'd compare it to the current sales and see what sort of state the industry is in of late.

The first line is 99 the second is 03.

1 Uncanny X-Men #370 124.500 1 Wolverine #1 158,787

Not that good a comparison considering wolvie is a #1.

2 X-Men #90 122,200 2 Batman #615 144,090

3 Spawn #86 91,500 3 Ultimates #10 105,546

Notice how in 99 there was a 30K drop and today there's a 40K drop, then relatively small drops there after.

4 Star Wars: Episode One #1 86,600 Ultimate Spider-Man #40 104,480

5 JLA #31 84,700 5 Ultimate Spider-Man #41 102,794

6 Avengers #18 84.1 6 New X-Men #141 95,805

7 Wolverine #140 84,000 7 Amazing Spider-Man #53 95,777

8 Earth X #4 83,200 8 Amazing Spider-Man #53 95,777

9 Star Wars: Episode One #2 81,900 9 Ultimate X-Men #33 93,125

10 Star Wars: Episode One #3 80,600 10 May Venom #1 92,592

11 Star Wars: Episode One #4 80,300 11 TRANSFORMERS GENERATION ONE VOL 2 #2 74,322

Looking at the top 10 you can say the industry (well Marvel) are in much better shape than 4 years ago. Although that's where this thought ends. Once we hit #11 Today's chart drops by almost 15,000 copies below 99's where before it was 12K more copies than 99's.

12 Daredevil #9 79,500 12 X-Treme X-Men #25 66,339

13 Spawn The Dark Ages #3 70,900 13 X-Treme X-Men #26 66,166

14 Spawn Annual #1 70,800 14 Incredible Hulk #54 61,426

15 Amazing Spider-Man #7 70,100 15 Daredevil #47 61,368

16 Magneto Rex #3 68,700 16 JLA #81 60,316

17 Star Wars: Ep. One Anakin 67.900 17 Avengers #67 58,097

18 Star Wars: Ep. One Obi Wan 67,800 18 New Mutants #1 57,016

19 Fantastic Four #19 67,300 19 LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN VOL II #5 54,106

20 Spider-Woman #1 65,500 20 GREEN ARROW #25 52,535

21 Thor #13 64,900 21 Fantastic Four #69 52,103

22 Peter Parker, Spider-Man #7 64,700 22 Marvel Universe: The End #5 - 51,037

23 Captain America #19 64,600 23 Peter Parker, Spider-Man #56 50,475

24 Wolverine/Punisher:Rev #2 61,600 24 GREEN ARROW #26 50,475

25 Avengers 1999 61,500 25 Captain America #13 49,279

26 Avengers Forever #8 61,500 26 The Authority 44,351

27 Wildcats vol.2 #3 59,000 27 GREEN LANTERN #164 44,351

28 Iron Man #18 58,900 28 JSA #48 44,019

29 Mutant X #10 56,3 00 29 JSA ALL STARS #1 43,558

30 Witchblade #32 52,900 30 Wolverine: Snikt! #1 42,463

31 Gambit #6 52,900 31 Mystique #2 41,037

32 Incredible Hulk vs Superman 52,100 32 SPAWN #125 40,950

Hulk v Supes? was this a reprint of a 70's clash or something new? I have NO recollection of this book.

33 Hulk #4 52,100 33 TRANSFORMERS ARMADA #11 40,734

34 Aria #5 52,000 34 VOLTRON DEFENDER O/T UNIVERSE #1 40,504

35 Crimson #11 51,200 35 Punisher #26 40,014

36 Darkness #24 51,000 36 Punisher #27 39,812

37 Batman #567 50,900 37 Inhumans #1 38,818

38 Black Widow #2 50,800 38 DETECTIVE COMICS #782 38,443

39 Spiderman Chapter 1 #9 49,800 39 GREEN LANTERN #165 37,997

40 Detective Comics #734 48,900 40 TITANS/YOUNG JUSTICE GRADUATION DAY #1 37,579

41 Generation X #53 48,600 41 Exiles #26 37,089

42 X-Force #92 47,800 42 Exiles #27 37,204

43 Inhumans #9 46,500 43 Namor #2 36,945

44 Green Lantern #114 46,400 44 X-Men Unlimited #46 35,547

45 Titans #5 45,700 45 THUNDERCATS RETURN #4 35,057

46 Thunderbolts #28 44,600 46 SUPERMAN #193 34,927

47 Cable #69 44,000 47 X-Men Unlimited #47 34,567

Interest: Solider X #11 sold 18,299

48 Spidergirl #10 43,500 48 Thor #64 34,337

Interest: spidergirl #60 now sold 23,112

49 X-Man #53 43,300 49 TITANS/YOUNG JUSTICE GRADUATION DAY #2 34,164

50 Batman Shadow of Bat #87 43,100 50 AQUAMAN #6 33,213

-Ralf Haring 'The mind must be the harder, the heart the keener, the spirit the greater, as our strength grows less.' -Byrhtwold, The Battle of Maldon

The percentage drop is nearly identical, though. And is actually smaller in '03. (74% vs. 72%)

Of course, this is just one random month. So the sample is essentially meaningless. But it is interesting to note, as you do, that the Top 10 titles are selling better now than they were 4 years ago. But, beyond that, the industry is clearly in worse shape overall.

Justin Bacon

: of state the industry is in of late.

I don't think such a comparison is all that meaningful, since we simply don't have any consistent numbers.

For one thing, the numbers currently projected by Newsarama and ICV2.com already differ from each other a lot. For another, the numbers we have today refer to actual sales, while the old numbers, I believe, only include initial orders.

Very true. But I figured it'd be an interesting comparison, which I thought it was. Are we meant to gain any real insights? God no, hence very few comments.

Then I don't think you can accurately say the industry is better today, it looks like nothing more than consolidation at the top with a rapid dropoff outside the Top 10. Looks like fewer books overall sold unless my guestimates are off.

Surprising to see Superman so far down the list. Out sold by Green Arrow? Oh, the humiliation!

Good book, in the style of Avengers 1.5, which I believe came out not long before.

Well some of the top performers this month are 'stunts.' Wolvie No. 1, Jim Lee on Batman, Transformers nostalgia. If you look at the 'regular' titles, there's quite a drop

Don't forget how hard Marvel is pushing the Ultimate books. They get previews, tie-ins, the best distribution and they still aren't doing that great outside the collector's market.

From what Millar's said in the past this isn't accurate, although that's never been an issue to you.