Marvel sales: June 2003

ICV2's estimates of the June sales are now up.

You all know the disclaimers by now: these are 'actual sales' to North American direct market comics stores in the month of June. There is no guarantee how many of these copies were actually sold to paying customers. Also, foreign sales and newsstand sales (and, increasingly, trade paperback reprints) make a significant difference to the totals of many books. Diamond only produce 'index point' data; ICV2 presumably extrapolate backwards from the sales of a minor publisher. They tend to estimate on the low side, historically. The significance is trends rather than actual numbers.

Original data is at http://www.icv2.com/articles/home/3065.html

1. BATMAN Mar Batman #613 - 147,799 Apr Batman #614 - 164,858 (+11.5%) May Batman #615 - 150,964 ( -8.4%) Jun Batman #616 - 141,736 ( -6.1%)

BATMAN returns to the top of the charts, although it does look as though the book peaked with issue #614. Issues #614-615 continue to rack up reorder sales, which are reflected above. However, even without counting this month's re-orders, issue #615 still sold better in May than issue #616. Still dominating the charts, anyhow, and still a mile ahead of anything else in the Batman line.

2. ULTIMATE X-MEN Mar Ultimate X-Men #30 - 89,544 Apr Ultimate X-Men #31 - 90,086 ( +0.6%) Apr Ultimate X-Men #32 - 91,983 ( +2.1%) May Ultimate X-Men #33 - 95,095 ( +3.4%) Jun Ultimate X-Men #34 - 110,753 (+16.5%)

Clearly a lot of interest in Brian Bendis' first issue of ULTIMATE X-MEN, which leaps up the charts - and this in a month where orders were down, on the whole. It's been a while since this title was Marvel's biggest seller. (ULTIMATES didn't ship this month, but ULTIMATES #10 only did around 105K.)

3. ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN Mar Ultimate Spider-Man #37 - 112,318 Mar Ultimate Spider-Man #38 - 112,562 (+2.2%) Apr Ultimate Spider-Man #39 - 103,531 (-8.0%) May Ultimate Spider-Man #40 - 104,480 (+0.9%) May Ultimate Spider-Man #41 - 102,794 (-1.6%) Jun Ultimate Spider-Man #42 - 100,151 (-2.6%)

Bendis, and the Ultimate imprint, produce Marvel's two best sellers this month, as ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN more or less holds ground.

4. WOLVERINE Mar Wolverine #187 - 62,144 Mar Wolverine #188 - 62,049 ( -0.2%) Apr Wolverine #189 - 61,282 ( -1.2%) May Wolverine #1 - 160,998 (+162.7%) Jun Wolverine #2 - 99,867 ( -38.0%)

WOLVERINE #1 did some more business in re-orders, which is included above. It doesn't make a huge difference, though. The drop is clearly at the higher end of the scale for a second issue but still leaves the book comfortably up on the previous run.

It's worth mentioning that because Marvel now allows retailers to adjust their orders until less than a month beforehand, orders for issue #2 are now placed after the retailers have seen issue #1. Like a lot of Marvel books these days - apparently on editorial policy - the book got off to a very slow start. I think that's commercial lunacy, and it'll be interesting to watch the main offenders to see how the retailers react.

5. NEW X-MEN Mar New X-Men #138 - 95,278 Apr New X-Men #139 - 97,163 (+2.0%) Apr New X-Men #140 - 96,654 (-0.5%) May New X-Men #141 - 98,101 (+1.5%) Jun New X-Men #142 - 97,897 (-0.2%)

Issue #141 shifted a couple of thousand more copies on re-order - worth flagging up because it turned a slight fall into a slight rise. The book remains more or less static.

6,7. UNCANNY X-MEN Mar Uncanny X-Men #420 - 85,473 Apr Uncanny X-Men #421 - 86,503 ( +1.2%) Apr Uncanny X-Men #422 - 86,895 ( +0.4%) May Uncanny X-Men #423 - ??,??? May Uncanny X-Men #424 - 97,345 (+12.0%) Jun Uncanny X-Men #425 - 91,547 ( -6.0%) Jun Uncanny X-Men #426 - 89,719 ( -2.0%)

Again, the book picked up some re-orders from issue #424. Looks like any gain from the 25c issue is going to be pretty shortlived, though. Understandable, given that the prevailing wisdom seems to be that the book is terrible.

8. INCREDIBLE HULK Mar Incredible Hulk #51 - 56,220 Apr Incredible Hulk #52 - 57,684 ( +2.6%) Apr Incredible Hulk #53 - 57,837 ( +0.3%) May Incredible Hulk #54 - 61,426 ( +6.2%) Jun Incredible Hulk #55 - ??,??? Jun Incredible Hulk #56 - 68,529 (+11.6%)

Issue #55 was a 25c issue. Diamond don't include those in the charts on the grounds that they're always ordered in astronomical quantities and the figures are largely meaningless. HULK was selling pretty well to start with, but still delivers a reasonable jump back into the top 10.

The Transformers are at number 9 (a return to the top 10 doubtless helped by the fact that ULTIMATES and AMAZING SPIDER-MAN are both on skip months).

10. VENOM May Venom #1 - 92,592 Jun Venom #2 - 66,956 (-27.7%)

Another fairly high drop for the second issue. Nothing happened in the second issue either - the lead character finally turns up in the last panel - so it'll be interesting to see whether the retailers lose patience with issue #3.

11. SPIDER-MAN & WOLVERINE Jun Spider-Man & Wolverine #1 - 66,729

Gratuitous miniseries debuting pretty well.

12. X-TREME X-MEN Mar X-Treme X-Men #22 - 60,453 Mar X-Treme X-Men #23 - 59,506 ( -1.6%) Apr X-Treme X-Men #24 - 59,092 ( -0.7%) May X-Treme X-Men #25 - 66,339 (+12.3%) May X-Treme X-Men #26 - 66,166 ( -0.3%) Jun X-Treme X-Men #27 - 63,923 ( -3.4%)

Drifting back to its usual levels as the film recedes into memory.

13. BORN Jun Born #1 - 63,554

A surprisingly high placing, for two reasons. One, it's a Max book, and they generally don't do all that well. Two, it's around 50% more than the parent book sold.

14. DAREDEVIL Mar n/a Apr Daredevil #45 - 60,272 Apr Daredevil #46 - 60,517 (+0.4%) May Daredevil #47 - 61,368 (+1.4%) Jun Daredevil #48 - 59,689 (-2.7%)

Nothing particularly unusual.

16. AVENGERS Mar Avengers #65 - 59,155 Apr Avengers #66 - 58,312 (-1.4%) May Avengers #67 - 58,097 (-0.4%) Jun Avengers #68 - 57,587 (-0.9%)

And ditto.

17. FANTASTIC FOUR Mar Fantastic Four #67 - 53,218 Apr Fantastic Four #68 - 51,405 (-3.4%) May Fantastic Four #69 - 52,103 (+1.4%) Jun Fantastic Four #70 - 53,066 (+1.8%)

Hey, sales are going up. Let's sack the writer.

18. MARVEL UNIVERSE: THE END Mar Marvel Universe: The End #1 - 60,372 Mar Marvel Universe: The End #2 - 56,707 (-6.1%) Apr Marvel Universe: The End #3 - 51,559 (-9.1%) Apr Marvel Universe: The End #4 - 52,569 (+2.0%) May Marvel Universe: The End #5 - 51,037 (-2.9%) Jun Marvel Universe: The End #6 - 50,004 (-2.0%)

Despite mixed reviews, an impressive sustained performance from this book. It'll be interesting to see how Marvel react to that, since it's completely out of kilter with the sort of titles they're generally pushing these days.

19. PETER PARKER, SPIDER-MAN Mar Peter Parker, Spider-Man #54 - 48,998 Apr Peter Parker, Spider-Man #55 - 47,531 (-3.0%) May Peter Parker, Spider-Man #56 - 50,475 (+6.2%) Jun Peter Parker, Spider-Man #57 - 48,686 (-3.5%)

Drifting to a conclusion with more fill-in issues.

OUTSIDERS debuts at number 20 with estimated orders of 47,666.

22. CAPTAIN AMERICA Mar Captain America #10 - 51,270 Apr Captain America #11 - 50,770 (-1.0%) Apr Captain America #12 - 51,804 (+2.0%) May Captain America #13 - 49,279 (-4.9%) Jun Captain America #14 - 45,639 (-7.4%)

Hmm. Have the retailers and readers finally lost patience with this drivel? The floodgates do seem to be creaking open, as the month-on-month losses increase.

23. NEW MUTANTS May New Mutants #1 - 57,016 Jun New Mutants #2 - 45,568 (-20.0%)

Well, it's not great, but it's more comfortably within the usual range of second issue drops. This book did at least deliver a complete story in its first issue.

26. KINGPIN Jun Kingpin #1 - 40,777

A surprisingly high placing for a crime story set in past continuity. Perhaps it reflects retailer confidence in Bruce Jones. No wonder Marvel decided they'd like to make it an ongoing series.

DC's BATMAN/SUPERMAN/WONDER WOMAN: TRINITY #1 debuts at 27 with orders of 39,870.

28. PUNISHER Mar Punisher #23 - 42,006 Apr Punisher #24 - 40,503 (-3.6%) Apr Punisher #25 - 40,319 (-0.5%) May Punisher #26 - 40,014 (-0.8%) May Punisher #27 - 39,812 (-0.5%) Jun Punisher #28 - 39,431 (-0.1%)

I'd say this one's found its level.

29. EXILES Mar Exiles #23 - 36,380 Mar Exiles #24 - 35,920 (-1.3%) Apr Exiles #25 - 36,414 (+1.4%) May Exiles #26 - 37,089 (+1.9%) May Exiles #27 - 37,204 (+0.3%) Jun Exiles #28 - 39,048 (+5.0%)

The power of a guest appearance by the X-Men. In fact, it's been a good long while since Marvel did guest stars on a regular basis, and towards the end, it made no noticeable difference to sales. Perhaps a couple of years break has revived interest.

DARK DAYS #1 is at number 30 with 38,751. That's the sequel to Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith's 30 DAYS OF NIGHT, and it marks a huge success for IDW Publishing.

33. MYSTIQUE Apr Mystique #1 - 47,562 May Mystique #2 - 41,037 (-13.7%) Jun Mystique #3 - 37,943 ( -7.5%)

Still dropping, but nothing to panic about yet.

34. WOLVERINE: SNIKT! May Wolverine: Snikt! #1 - 42,463 Jun Wolverine: Snikt! #2 - 37,631 (-12.0%)

Fairly standard second issue drop.

36. HULK: NIGHTMERICA Jun Hulk: Nightmerica #1 - 37,347

A respectable enough start, though Marvel might have been hoping for better to tie in with the film.

41. X-MEN UNLIMITED Mar n/a Apr X-Men Unlimited #43 - 35,756 Apr X-Men Unlimited #44 - 34,485 (-3.6%) Apr X-Men Unlimited #45 - 34,975 (+1.4%) May X-Men Unlimited #46 - 35,547 (+1.6%) May X-Men Unlimited #47 - 34,567 (-2.8%) Jun X-Men Unlimited #48 - 34,314 (-0.7%)

Still hovering around the same level. Number 42 is THUNDERCATS: DOGS OF WAR #1, which suggests that their brief period of revival has been exhausted.

43. TRUTH Mar Truth:

I don't know. I'm surprised that issues 10 and 11 didn't see the sales at least flatline instead of continuing down. I'd have thought Evan Dorkin might have SOME kind of nerd draw, especially with the the return of Fight Man. Dorkin might not be a 'big' name, but he damn well ought to be more of a draw than that.

Probably just me though.

Actually, Paul, it did. Issue #61 came in 87th spot (just above Sentinel #3) with 23.429 estimated copies ordered, up 1.4% from last month.

Cheers,

Eric J. Moreels X-Fan Editor-in-Chief Researcher, Marvel Encyclopedia Vol 2: X-Men

Web: http://x-mencomics.com/xfan AIM: XFan2k Yahoo: xfan2k1

Hopefully Marvel with stop doing these bloody miniseries instead of the regular series stuff. It's just not helping sales, as with X-posse or what ever they turned X-Treme into for a couple of months. Could they just have done this as a story in X-Statix?

Which is interesting because the original mini was quite good IMO.

Ouch. Looks like we wont get to the second arc of the crew. Perhaps Marvel can convince Jim Lee to draw the book when he's finished with Batman?

hehehehehe this was the most idiotic decision Marvel has ever made (yes including Street Poet Ray and Marville).

Bitter moi? Naaaah!

Paul O'Brien

D: Usually I don't watch the sales figures that closely. It was fairly interesting. The biggest surprises was how quickly the sales numbers fall off for the top sellers. #1 batman to #10 to #20 is to me a significant drop in over all sales in volumes.

The other shocker (to me anyway) was the lack of DC titles. Batman was # 1, but you go all the way to 20 for Outsiders (and an #1 issue)then 2 minis with Trinity and Lobo unbound. No Superman, no Flash, no JLA. And with DC numbers I wonder about why every one is so dissapointed with Marvels numbers. To me, it looks like Marvel is doing something right as they appear to be easily handing the competition.

Now, the next argument, is the numers reflect a dieing industry where interest seems to be hard to maintain on any title over a long period of time. Are comics about to go the way of the Pulp magazines?

Thanks for the post

Not just you. Those are the only two post-Simone issues I bought, on the strength of Dorkin's writing. I thought they'd go up a percent or two. I didn't really figure Fight Man was a huge draw. (But for those who don't have them and enjoy Dorkin's work, pick up his Fight Man one-shot and Bill & Ted's Excellent Comic Book. They're surprisingly well-done, often hilarious, and can usually be found in quarter bins.)

To be fair to Marvel, this seemed to make sense. The second X-Men movie was released around the same time, and having Wolverine's name prominent on the cover along with it's having a # 1 should've resulted in some sales gain. In theory.

That's one of the biggest jumps this month. And it's only a month or two after the price went up 75 cents. Looks like the bean counters plan is paying off.

That has nothing to do with this. The Wolverine/Doop mini ran INSTEAD of regular issues of X-Statix, not in addition to them. Though now that I reread your comment I'm not sure what you're saying. You think Thor should come out once a year? How does that relate to the Wolverine/Doop mini? And when did Geppi say Thor should come out once a year?

When did they admit to the mistake of using alternative and indie artists? Why are they still publishing work by alt/indie stalwarts such as Evan Dorkin? Dean Haspiel? David Mack? Andi Watson? Mchael Allred?

What is Tang and manga crap inc.?

Yes, I was expecting it to go in a little higher on the strength of generally decent response to the first series.