FEBRUARY 2007 SALES CHARTS & MARKET SHARE

[MattBrady]

<a href=http://www.newsarama.com/marketreport/feb07sales.html><img src=http://www.newsarama.com/marvelnew/CivilWar/07/CIVILWAR-07cov-CMYKcrop_tt.jpg align=right border=0></a>Diamond released their monthly Direct Market Sales Charts and Market Share report Monday, this month for titles that went on sale in <b>February 2007</b>, and Marvel Comics had one of the most dominant sales charts month in recent memory, selling the six bestselling comic books of the month along with the bestselling trade paperback of the month, and showing substantial margins in market share over Februarys #2 publisher, DC.

<b>Civil War #7</b> of course ruled the February roost, again selling a substantial amount more than even the second bestselling title of the month, <b>Stephen King’s Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Reborn #1</b>.

DC Comics’ first enters the chart at #6 with Alex Ross’ <b>Justice #12</b>, followed immediately by the four February issues of <b>52</b>, DC’s sales guardian angel at this stage.

DC’s <b>The Brave and the Bold #1</b> debuted at #13.

Dark Horse’s <b>Star Wars: Legacy #8</b> was the first title to break Marvel and DC’s monopoly at the top of the charts, coming in at #57. In fact, DHC charted the first three of only four non-Marvel/DC titles in the Top 100, which of course means only four publishers represent the entire Top 100.

On the trade/graphic novel side, the strength of Marvel’s <b>Civil War</b> is again demonstrated, as their first collection, <b>Civil War: Road to Civil War</b> top the charts, portending months of strong trades sales as the entire series (including the main series and <b>Frontline</b>) is eventually collected.

<b>Justice</b> again is DC’s top charter for the month, with the hardcover volume 2 of that series coming in as the #2 bestselling graphic novel of the month, and the top dollar earner.

As standard, the Top 100 trade chart is much more diverse from a publisher standpoint than the Top 100 comics, though Marvel and DC together did register the ten bestselling titles on that list too.

From a Market Share standpoint, <b>Civil War</b> and Stephen King’s 1-2 punch helped Marvel register two of the highest unit <i>and</i> dollar shares in the current Diamond era, 47.38% and 42.35%, respectively.

At 34.93% and 32.80% market share respectively, the 12.45% margin in unit share and 9.55% in dollar share between Marvel and DC represents some of the largest in months, and their combined market shares of 82.31% unit and 75.15% dollar also represent significant - though not all-time - highs.

As per usual, look for an update within the next few days from our partners at <i>Comics Buyer’s Guide</i> with much more analysis of these sales figures along with sales estimates for the entire Top 300 Comic Books and Top 100 Trade Paperbacks.

Click <a href=http://www.newsarama.com/marketreport/feb07sales.html>here</a> for the full story...

[BanMan]

Of course crossovers/events sell.

[biffordmichael]

I hate seeing all my favourite titles grouped in the middle but I guess that's better than them being all bunched up at the end...

Exiles, Legion Of Super-Heroes, Ms. Marvel, Iron-Fist, Squadren Supreme, New Excaliber, She-Hulk, and Runaways...

Yeah I actually liked the Claremont X-titles...as I've said before on The 'Rama, Claremeont's X-stories in the 70's and 80's meant so much to me I can throw 6.00 bucks a month his way...and thankfully on these two titles he's much better than he was on that last Uncanny run from last 04 to last year...

Love seeing X-Men and Uncanny in the top 20 best sellers as well!

Biff

[nickmaynard]

marvel dominates again!

the top 6 books, all marvel!

suck it dc.

[The Guvnor]

Pretty much expected that Civil War would top. Although that is a great position for Dark Tower to chart and an excellent start. I'm impressed with Iron Man and Sensational Spider-man making the the top 30.

I don't collect DC, but could it be considered a disappointment that Brave and Bold didn't chart higher?

[BanMan]

Editted for incorrect information.

[KyleCowstar]

marvel dominates again!

the top 6 books, all marvel!

suck it dc.

Classy......

[RedRonin]

I hate seeing all my favourite titles grouped in the middle but I guess that's better than them being all bunched up at the end...

Exiles, Legion Of Super-Heroes, Ms. Marvel, Iron-Fist, Squadren Supreme, New Excaliber, She-Hulk, and Runaways... Well the good thing is the lack of tons of tie-in or event comics actually made a little boost for some titles. Runaways, Iron Fist, and X-Factor are all up a little bit from last month. Hopefully this means more people are jumping the bandwagon.

[Hrungr]

You know, looking at that list it seems comics may be selling more in general - 25K isn't bad for #100. It looks a little higher than I'm used to.
Don't confuse the index for actual sales. The index only represents their sales relative to Batman (who is the benchmark "100") which is currently selling around 70-75,000 copies/mo (not counting the European sales IIRC). CBGExtra will have the "real" numbers sometime later here: http://www.cbgxtra.com/Default.aspx?tabid=695

But yeah, it's definitely been a dominating month for Marvel and I expect March will follow very well, if not as overshadowing as this month... (with a couple of high profile books selling out).

[biffordmichael]

Well the good thing is the lack of tons of tie-in or event comics actually made a little boost for some titles. Runaways, Iron Fist, and X-Factor are all up a little bit from last month. Hopefully this means more people are jumping the bandwagon.

Totally missed X-Factor's numbers...I swear I'm like the last mutant-head on the planet! Hope this Summer's mutant event boosts those titles back into the top ten! :)

Biff

[Johnny Triangles]

I think a big problem for DC is that most of their sales comes from big crossovers, miniseries, and events like 52. But their regular titles seem to not doing so well. I wonder if 52 has cannibalized the rest of the line at all rather than adding to the overall total readership?

[biffordmichael]

I don't collect DC, but could it be considered a disappointment that Brave and Bold didn't chart higher?

Considering how great it was and the fact that it featured Batman and Green Lantern both A-list top-selling characters...yeah maybe...but considering it was right behind the 52 and Civil War stuff I assume it had pretty high numbers...it was a great book, really felt like old school DC stuff that I loved as a kid in the 80's...the Perez art really helped with that vibe too I guess. I think the "real' numbers that'll be up soon will show that B&B did very well!

Biff

[Jed Saxon]

Sad. I expected "Dark Tower" to sell around 500.000 copies.
It sold extremely well at our store (as are "Gargoyles", "Buffy" and to an extent "Anita Blake") and It really brought in new faces. Kudos for Marvel. Stephen King seems to be like a licence to print money. :)

[biffordmichael]

Another observation...I never expected that awesome retro Shazam! title to sell that well at the price point it was at...5.99 I think it was...hopefully someone at DC will realize this is the Captain Marvel people want to see, the guy in "Monster Society" and "Justice" not Winnick's wack-ass "Trials Of Shazam!" version...

(Bitter) Biff

[clemsonfn]

Nightwing and Green Arrow higher than Supergirl and the LOSH? I'm a big LOSH fan, but not crazy over the current reboot (although I still buy it). I wonder how long it'll last without names like Waid and Kitson attached. I've enjoyed some of Bedard's other work (Exiles)......hope he comes in with a hook of some type.

Other books that I read that may not be long for this world: Shadowpact, JLA Classified (fun arc with Slott and Jurgens, but whatever happened to only A-List talent? I know of the upcoming Kid Amazo arc, and another with Stern and Byrne......after that?).

She-Hulk should be doing better, as should Runaways. Still no Manhunter in the Top 100 :-(

[xdemon]

Sad. I expected "Dark Tower" to sell around 500.000 copies.
It sold extremely well at our store (as are "Gargoyles", "Buffy" and to an extent "Anita Blake") and It really brought in new faces. Kudos for Marvel. Stephen King seems to be like a licence to print money. :)

I imagine the trade may sell extremely well.

[ascloseasme]

Lookie there. Kirkman is still destroying Ultimate X-Men sales.

WAKE UP MARVEL!

[Colonsus]

You know, looking at that list it seems comics may be selling more in general - 25K isn't bad for #100. It looks a little higher than I'm used to.

Also seems to be a healthy mix in there.

It's been said before, but a chart index of 25 does NOT equal 25,000 comics UNLESS Batman sells exactly 100,000 copies, and it isn't selling that these days.

I'm curious to see how DC's countdown will sell even with a higher price than 52. Seems to me, even outside of Civil War, Marvel has a MUCH stronger overall line than DC these days. Marvel has 10-15 superhero titles that consistently rock month in and month out while DC has maybe 5-8, and some other good ones, but they really don't sell too much.

[0bsessions]

All together now:

"Mark my words, these delays are going to kill Civil War's sales! Joe Q's reign of tyranny will soon be at an end when this flops!"
~Signed, A Very Vocal Minority of Whiners

I'd hate to think of the numbers Civil War would've pulled had it been on time.

Congrats to Marvel for the huge upswing in sales.

Also, while we're at it: kudos to DC for managing to keep 52 in the top ten (For the most part) in a month that saw Civil War #7, Dark Tower and the semi-annual issue of Astonishing X-Men hit the stands.

Am I the only one surprised that Wolverine charted so high, though?

[Colonsus]

Lookie there. Kirkman is still destroying Ultimate X-Men sales.

WAKE UP MARVEL!

OH HOLY GOD, YES!!!

That = truth!!!

PLEEEEEAAAAASE Marvel take Kirkman off this book. He's a good writer but is crapping out absolute shite on UXM and many readers, including myself, have dropped the book because of him.

[worldsfinest]

WAKE UP CALL for Dan Didio- Your replacement universe isn't selling. Look at what your top comicbook of the month is and play real close attention. DC fans are sick of you sucking up the DC Universe. Take care of it now not two more 52 part events from now.

[0bsessions]

OH HOLY GOD, YES!!!

That = truth!!!

PLEEEEEAAAAASE Marvel take Kirkman off this book. He's a good writer but is crapping out absolute shite on UXM and many readers, including myself, have dropped the book because of him.

I wouldn't call it crap, personally, just uninspired and disiniteresting. I can continue to read an utter crap book just for the sheer anger (I find it to be a good motivator and makes every other book I read afterward to be that much better. Must be why I loved Reign and Confession so much after reading last week's New X-Men). Ultimate X-Men has not been remotely interesting, in my opinion, since Return of the King. While a horrible title will stand out in the weekly shipping lists and a great title has me salivating and counting the days to the next issue, I simply outright forget when Ultimate X-Men hits to the point that I'm not even sure what number they're on (I picked up the end of the Cable arc where Xavier got killed, haven't noticed an issue since, though I figure there's been one).

My guess? Kirkman's writing it poorly on purpose. He's thinking "If I do poorly enough, they'll feel they should put the book in Bendis' hands or something, and if Bendis is on UXM, maybe then I can FINALLY write USM! MUAHAHA!!!"

I'd like to see Frank Tierri take a crack at it. He's got a narrative voice similar enough to Millar that it might work out well, and I don't particularly care for his 616 work, typically (Though I can see the merits behind it).

[Comic-Reader]

If Dark Tower maintains its sales, it could take the place of Civil War at the top of the charts and maintain a comfortable lead for Marvel over DC.

I'm a DC fan at heart even when I don't like everything they are doing, but I have to say that because of all the botched and missed opportunities since Infinite Crisis ended, they really do deserve the comparitively low sales they are getting.

52 is really the ONLY thing that they've done that has gone as planned.

[The Holy Cow]

I think a big problem for DC is that most of their sales comes from big crossovers, miniseries, and events like 52. But their regular titles seem to not doing so well. I wonder if 52 has cannibalized the rest of the line at all rather than adding to the overall total readership?

No, DC real problem is that their big books don't ship on time.

[jgphenom]

WAKE UP CALL for Dan Didio- Your replacement universe isn't selling. Look at what your top comicbook of the month is and play real close attention. DC fans are sick of you sucking up the DC Universe. Take care of it now not two more 52 part events from now.
First of all I'm a huge DC fan and you don't speak for me.
Second, I think most if not almost all of the DC fans are totally on board with the direction that Didio is taking the DC universe. You are the minority.

I think the problem isn't with DC putting out "sucky" books. I just think Marvel has more fans than DC. That's it. I don't think one company is better than the other. The two companies are different and attract different readers. Marvel just has more bodies picking up their books.

[SpyGuy]

Qty Rank Retail Rank Index Title Price Ven
6 14 5.59 JUSTICE SOCIETY VOL 2 TP $14.99 DC


Glad to see the 2nd JUSTICE SOCIETY trade chart so well. Okay, DC, time to finally collect the 8-issue JSofA mini-series from 1991 and the great Strazewski/Parobeck 10-issue series from 1992 that introduced Jesse Quick.

[0bsessions]

If Dark Tower maintains its sales, it could take the place of Civil War at the top of the charts and maintain a comfortable lead for Marvel over DC.

I'm a DC fan at heart even when I don't like everything they are doing, but I have to say that because of all the botched and missed opportunities since Infinite Crisis ended, they really do deserve the comparitively low sales they are getting.

52 is really the ONLY thing that they've done that has gone as planned.

Agreed completely. I've been a lifelong Marvel zombie and DC has missed some HUGE opportunities these last couple of years. I've always had a soft spot for Batman, and upon a friend's recommendation I checked out Green Lantern and Outsiders (He knew I was a big fan of Winnick's Exiles). From there, he conned me into giving Identity Crisis a shot. I loved it and followed the Countdown rabidly. I started checking out backissues and trades (Finally read Crisis, got into the old Loeb Long Halloween era trades, JLA Year One, some Morrison JLA trades, Death in the Family, Kingdom Come, etc...). By the time Infinite Crisis started, I was reading Batman, Detective Comics, Flash, Green Lantern (Up until Kyle left, I never cared about Ion), Teen Titans, Outsiders, Superman/Batman, JLA, and pretty much anything with a "Countdown to Infinite Crisis" stamp on it. I had grown very fond of the grim and gritty Batman, the fun-loving Teen Titans (Kid Flash, Robin and Superboy in particular), Kyle Rayner, Wally West, etc...I read the first issue of Infinite Crisis and was utterly disappointed. It was only, the first issue though, so I kept going. It grew on me towards the middle, but by the end it fell completely flat for me, and that's nothing to say for the horribly underwhelming aftermath. Even as a Marvel zombie, I found myself screaming "I don't care what happens, Batman's NOT going to shoot someone!" and "If they kill off Nightwing, I swear to God I will punch Didio in the mouth!"

Then all the buildup, all the detailed and excellent work they'd built towards for years was reduced to a OYL stamp and an unrecognizable universe compared to what they'd been sucking me into. The Titans were decimated. Kyle and Wally were gone, replaced by an old school throwback and my favorite Titan reduced to a whiny emo-brat, Batman was boring me to tears, the JLA was...ummm, a committee, my favorite Outsider was nowhere to be found (I stopped caring andf am still not sure what happened to Shift) and Jason Todd is being eaten by some weird hentai monster. They did all this work and progression and just wiped it all away to put it right back where it was. Simply put: they dropped the ball and alienated the potential new readers.

Meanwhile, Civil War has received mixed reviews. I personally loved it. The one constant I see, though, is every review, positive or negative, ends with "But the places this could go are VERY intriguing." Civil War proved as a great setup and is, thus far, knocking it out of the park in the aftermath for many and, much more importantly, bringing in the new readers.

Before Identity Crisis, I was a Marvel zombie who occasionally looked in on GL or Outsiders. During the Countdown to Infinite Crisis, I was at about fifty/fifty, I was so enamoured in what DC was venturing into. Now, in the afterglow of both IC and CW, I'm reading more Marvel than ever (I was primarily an X-Men/Spider-Man fan. Now I read those, plus both Avengers titles, Captain America, Iron Man, Fantastic Four, I will definitely check out Thor) and am reduced to just 52 regularly and checking in on an occasional Teen Titans to see if any of them bring me to give a crap and poking in to see if there is a Justice League to be spoken of yet. The only Marvel title I'm on the considering of dropping right now (As a result of changes made after Civil War) is Thunderbolts (I wish Born Better would turn into an ongoing, every time I read that back to back with 'bolts, I miss Nicieza), and that's just considering.

[Johnny Triangles]

No, DC real problem is that their big books don't ship on time.

Marvel's big books are chronically late too, and have been for a while, so I don't think that alone is it.

[0bsessions]

I think the problem isn't with DC putting out "sucky" books. I just think Marvel has more fans than DC. That's it. I don't think one company is better than the other. The two companies are different and attract different readers. Marvel just has more bodies picking up their books.

Well, yeah, but isn't that the entire point? DC is, by no means, lacking in iconic characters compared to Marvel, but they just don't seem to be enticing the readers into picking up the books. if Didio were doing his job well, those readers would there.

For someone who catches as much heat as Quesada, Marvel's got the most sizable lead over DC in sales and market share they've had since Identity Crisis (If I recall correctly, that is). DC was onto something for a while there, and as I recall they weren't just making it a close race, but actually beating Marvel in sales. It's got nothing to do with the fandom, it's in pulling the readers in. Something Didio is clearly failing to do in comparrison.

[pez dispenser]

It looks like everyone's going to have to wait at least one more month for Quesada to be fired.

Oh well.....

[EmeraldGuy32]

I don't want to even think about how many comics CW had to sell to beat DT in retail rating. Considering it was a dollar less.

[0bsessions]

Marvel's big books are chronically late too, and have been for a while, so I don't think that alone is it.

Eh, I dunno. Civil War's a given, but New Avengers is arguably their flagship title now, and it's typically on time as I recall. Astonishing X-Men is the only big Marvel regular title that's consistantly late. Meanwhile: Action Comics, Wonder Woman and JLA have all had scheduling issues.

I personally think it's more a matter of DC lacking any clear and specific direction right now. All the titles seem to be going their own way, while 52 is paving in its own direction (And DC is dropping the ball to an insane degree by NOT capitalizing on it more. Given that Countdown takes place in current tandem with the DC titles, I get the feeling it will bring more overall success to the company due to potential tie-ins).

Everything in Marvel, while having its bumps, seems to have a larger sense of coordination and a more intimate and connected feel to it, IMO. This is serving them well as it entices readers to branch out and look into what's going on with other characters. As a reader of Black Panther, I may be curious to see what's going on in Fantastic Four to see his further adventues there, and by extension I may be inclined to look into Uncanny X-Men later this year what with his wife being a presence there. It all spreads in a domino effect.

Meanwhile, if I'm reading 52, what's going to drag me into another DC title? None of the important players in 52 are anywhere else to be seen in the DCU (For a story-driven reason, but it detracts from marketability). Or what if I read Teen Titans? At best, I might check out Robin and the Batman titles, but other than that, they don't have much of any connection to the rest. The characters are just too independant. I like a feel of a shared universe, it tempts me to investigate further into the periphery and piques my curiosity.

[0bsessions]

It looks like everyone's going to have to wait at least one more month for Quesada to be fired.

Oh well.....

With Cap getting killed off this month? Hell, that'll probably outsell Civil War #7. Looks like they wait another month.

[worldsfinest]

First of all I'm a huge DC fan and you don't speak for me.
Second, I think most if not almost all of the DC fans are totally on board with the direction that Didio is taking the DC universe. You are the minority.

I think the problem isn't with DC putting out "sucky" books. I just think Marvel has more fans than DC. That's it. I don't think one company is better than the other. The two companies are different and attract different readers. Marvel just has more bodies picking up their books.

Sorry but by your logic there is only about 20,000 DC fans and Dan Didio has only managed to only temporarily capture Marvel fans. You would be wrong. Didio's Brave new replacement world is repelling more DC fans than its attacting. Firestorm, Atom, Hawkgirl, Shadowpact, Checkmate, Aquaman all have been sales busts. If you are a fan of iconic DC heroes, Dan isn't letting you have them. Without 52, Dan would be out the door. Just because you like the crap coming out, doesn't make you the majority. "Justice" shows what fans really want.

[clemsonfn]

Sorry but by your logic there is only about 20,000 DC fans and Dan Didio has only managed to only temporarily capture Marvel fans. You would be wrong. Didio's Brave new replacement world is repelling more DC fans than its attacting. Firestorm, Atom, Hawkgirl, Shadowpact, Checkmate, Aquaman all have been sales busts. If you are a fan of iconic DC heroes, Dan isn't letting you have them. Without 52, Dan would be out the door. Just because you like the crap coming out, doesn't make you the majority. "Justice" shows what fans really want.

What they really want? Alex Ross would be my guess.

Tell you what......let's trade the artists of Ion and Justice and see which one is higher on the sales chart.

[worldsfinest]

What they really want? Alex Ross would be my guess.

Tell you what......let's trade the artists of Ion and Justice and see which one is higher on the sales chart.

Or "tell you what" put Ross on Ion and see if it sells that high.

[cleazer]

For the folks wondering about actual numbers, this month's index multiplier should be somewhere around 830 (maybe somewhere between 820-840). So if you want to have an early estimate of what the books sold, before icv2 and cbg come out with their estimates in a few days, just multiply the index number by 830:

1. Civil War #7 - 265,400
2. Dark Tower #1 - 171,800
3. Amazing Spider-Man #538 - 142,670
4. New Avengers #27 - 130,270
5. Astonishing X-Men #20 - 119,500
6. Wolverine #51 - 97,000
7. Justice #10 - 94,770
8. 52 Week #40 - 94,500

13. Brave and Bold #1 - 91,900


trades:
1. Road to Civil War TP - 9,320



and as has been discussed above, the #100 title didn't sell 25K copies,
by my estimate:

100. Nextwave #12 - 21,530

[Jed Saxon]

Another observation...I never expected that awesome retro Shazam! title to sell that well at the price point it was at...5.99 I think it was...hopefully someone at DC will realize this is the Captain Marvel people want to see, the guy in "Monster Society" and "Justice" not Winnick's wack-ass "Trials Of Shazam!" version...

It not selling that well because it's Shazam! - it's selling that well because it's by Jeff Smith. If some other people would've done a retro book (let's say Chuck Dixon and Guy Davis) it would've been way more down the line.
It helps that this is book is a good as it is, but Jeff Smith should be the main reason for the sales.

I imagine the trade may sell extremely well.

Nah. The hardcover will sell extremely well. The trade will sell good, but the hardcover should really bring Marvel lots of $$$ :D

Lookie there. Kirkman is still destroying Ultimate X-Men sales.

WAKE UP MARVEL!

Ignoring several stunts on Ultimate Spidey (variant covers, clone saga) ALL Ultimate titles are in decline. Even when Vaughan was writing UXM the title was in decline. Why? Because Marvel is keeping the trades in print and I guess with the latest volumes most of the time hitting the shelves 2-4 weeks after the last issue of the last arc has been published many people just switched to trades.

[clemsonfn]

Or "tell you what" put Ross on Ion and see if it sells that high.

Did you just use paratheses on me? :mad:

[Michael Bunge]

For the folks wondering about actual numbers, this month's index multiplier should be somewhere around 830 (maybe somewhere between 820-840). So if you want to have an early estimate of what the books sold, before icv2 and cbg come out with their estimates in a few days, just multiply the index number by 830:

1. Civil War #7 - 265,400
2. Dark Tower #1 - 171,800

It'll be interesting if your estimates are close to the mark. It would not give CIVIL WAR any real sales boost for its final issue and would put DARK TOWER at just selling incredibly well for a non-super-hero book but not quite at the "Oh my god!" level some people were predicting.

Mike

[cleazer]

It'll be interesting if your estimates are close to the mark. It would not give CIVIL WAR any real sales boost for its final issue and would put DARK TOWER at just selling incredibly well for a non-super-hero book but not quite at the "Oh my god!" level some people were predicting.

Mike171,000 is still pretty darn strong for a book that's primarily aimed at the bookstore market.

[BanMan]

It's been said before, but a chart index of 25 does NOT equal 25,000 comics UNLESS Batman sells exactly 100,000 copies, and it isn't selling that these days.


Oops. My bad. Somehow I knew but got caught up in the high numbers.

[Innagroove]

Did you just use paratheses on me? :mad:


Good thing he didn't use quotation marks.

[ColonelLee]

I don't have a team. I don't care whether Marvel sells more than DC. I don't own stock in either company.

When I plunk down my cash for a book, all I want is good entertainment value. As far as that goes?

- I see Marvel as way down.

- DC is holding steady.

- Image is way up.

- Dark Horse is holding steady.

- Avatar is way up.

- Dynamite is up slightly

And some promising contenders from a variety of new independent sources. The way I see it is? All these people dropping coins on Marvel are getting a poor return on their dollar.

Whereas I, on the other hand, am showing a strong entertainment value profit. :)

[Kolimar]

Impressive, even though not really surprising, debut for Dark Tower. :)

[Prof. Warren]

I don't have a team. I don't care whether Marvel sells more than DC. I don't own stock in either company.

When I plunk down my cash for a book, all I want is good entertainment value. As far as that goes?

- I see Marvel as way down.

- DC is holding steady.

- Image is way up.

- Dark Horse is holding steady.

- Avatar is way up.

- Dynamite is up slightly

And some promising contenders from a variety of new independent sources. The way I see it is? All these people dropping coins on Marvel are getting a poor return on their dollar.

Whereas I, on the other hand, am showing a strong entertainment value profit. :)

I've been buying more Marvel than ever because their books have been consistently hooking me month after month. If I felt I was getting a poor return on my dollar, I would spend my money elsewhere. And judging by the sales charts, I'm not alone in enjoying Marvel's current direction. The only thing that's "way down" is DC's sales.

[ZEBULON]

If Dark Tower maintains its sales, it could take the place of Civil War at the top of the charts and maintain a comfortable lead for Marvel over DC.

I'm a DC fan at heart even when I don't like everything they are doing, but I have to say that because of all the botched and missed opportunities since Infinite Crisis ended, they really do deserve the comparitively low sales they are getting.

52 is really the ONLY thing that they've done that has gone as planned.

I absolutely agree with you. I've said over and over again that didio has squandered every opportunity dc had, and according to the sales, dc is slipping more and more every month. What happens when didio cant pull off any more gimmicks? Instead it's month after month of garbage. imagine if montoya had been the new spectre, imagine jason todd came back because of the ra's al ghul pit rather then some lame superboy punch. imagine the batman family and other human heroes at war with the super powered heroes due to the mind wipes and omac stuff. imagine the entire dc universe wasnt didioized just so superman, wonderwoman and batman could smile more often and be golly gee whiz nicer. It's seems to me that every big storyline from the last few years from dc has dropped the ball, while marvel's events blend seemlessly into one another and lead to some "oh I cant believe they did that" moments. Hopefully 52 wont end as bad as identity crisis, infinite crisis, one year later, and everything winnick has done.

Its time for ted turner to drop didio and offer quesada anything he wants.

[RolandGunner]

It'll be interesting if your estimates are close to the mark. It would not give CIVIL WAR any real sales boost for its final issue and would put DARK TOWER at just selling incredibly well for a non-super-hero book but not quite at the "Oh my god!" level some people were predicting.

Mike

Those numbers are probably right, at least within a thousand units or so. Given the failry steady nature of 52's slide you could just subtract 1% off the last issue from January's salies and get a good # for February's first.

Whats really going to be interesting is Dark Tower #2 and #3's sales. Marvel did a wonderful job of hyping this series and evidently it sold really well in some stores. My LCS didn't do the big midnight lauch thing and when #2 came out they still had like 30 copies of #1 stoked. So I have to wonder how much was real fan interest and how much was good marketing.

[Toneloak]

I say DC unmask Batman. Sound like a good time to me.

[Evan Waters]

Firestorm, Atom, Hawkgirl, Shadowpact, Checkmate, Aquaman all have been sales busts. If you are a fan of iconic DC heroes, Dan isn't letting you have them.

Except in SUPERMAN, BATMAN, GREEN LANTERN, JLA, JSA and arguably WONDER WOMAN.

What iconic heroes is Didio "not letting us have"?

[Grobbel]

For the folks wondering about actual numbers, this month's index multiplier should be somewhere around 830 (maybe somewhere between 820-840). So if you want to have an early estimate of what the books sold, before icv2 and cbg come out with their estimates in a few days, just multiply the index number by 830:


Based on Y the Last Man's usually incredibly solid sales and even accounting for a slight loss in sales, I think the multiplier will be 834; so by my estimation sales will be slightly higher than the ones projected in your post. :)

It'll be interesting if your estimates are close to the mark. It would not give CIVIL WAR any real sales boost for its final issue and would put DARK TOWER at just selling incredibly well for a non-super-hero book but not quite at the "Oh my god!" level some people were predicting.

Mike

Well, CW #6 sold an estimated 259,264 copies, and the usual trend for mini-series is downwards, not upwards - so this 7 or 8k sales increase for CW's final issue is pretty decent nonetheless. :)

[jgphenom]

Sorry but by your logic there is only about 20,000 DC fans and Dan Didio has only managed to only temporarily capture Marvel fans. You would be wrong. Didio's Brave new replacement world is repelling more DC fans than its attacting. Firestorm, Atom, Hawkgirl, Shadowpact, Checkmate, Aquaman all have been sales busts. If you are a fan of iconic DC heroes, Dan isn't letting you have them. Without 52, Dan would be out the door. Just because you like the crap coming out, doesn't make you the majority. "Justice" shows what fans really want.
Um sorry but I have no idea what you're talking about... I never said anything about the # of DC fans out there so I don't know where you got 20,000 "by your logic".

Listen, I understand you're a Marvel fan and will defend them tooth and nail, but the truth is, for every post like this bashing Didio and what he's done to DC there's another post bashing Quesada for Marvel. The reason that Marvel sold so much better than DC this month is because this month was the last issue and culmination of a huge event. A couple of months from now the sales will go back to the way they usually are: Marvel beating DC by a small margin.

I used to be a Marvel zombie when I was younger (think New Mutants and X-Force) but stopped reading Marvel almost completely when almost every one of their titles began intersecting every month. I didn't have the money or the will to pick up enough of the books to get a clear picture of the MU. A lot of people here have said that DC dropped the ball because they haven't capitalised on the success of 52. I like the fact that they haven't done just that. 52 is great on it's own, I don't need to buy a whole slew of other books just to read the core story. Have any of you gone back to read Civil War without all the tie-ins? Just the 7 issues? It's practically unreadable.

As for iconic characters... seriously Shadowpact, Atom, Firestorm...??
To paraphrase Evan Waters: Don't you mean Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, JLU, JLA, Green Lantern, Teen Titans, the Legion... Who is Didio not letting us have?

[ColonelLee]

I've been buying more Marvel than ever because their books have been consistently hooking me month after month. If I felt I was getting a poor return on my dollar, I would spend my money elsewhere. And judging by the sales charts, I'm not alone in enjoying Marvel's current direction. The only thing that's "way down" is DC's sales.

Marvel is up on this chart. One reason is, I am one of those that bought Civil War, drawn in by the hype and previous satisfaction with Millar's work. But I won't be buying any future Marvel. So next month, you can subtract at least one sale from several Marvel titles, as my pull list at the store is now adjusted to reflect current conditions.

My DC pulls are holding steady. My Image pulls are way up. and so on.

Due to the way comic sales are done these day, it all has to do with the thousands of pull lists out there in comic shops.

It would be great if they had a pull list chart. Or they may have one, and I ain't seen it.

[CaptainCanad]

Another big month for Marvel. If only they could get AXM to come out on time (and weren't purposefully delaying it by assigning its artist to other things).

I was expecting DC's Brave and the Bold #1 to be higher, but given that almost everything ahead of it is event books, that's still a strong debut.

[Steve J.]

My February numbers:

DC = 68% of dollars spent and titles purchased
Marvel = 32% of dollars spent and titles purchased

34 titles purchased, total $105.21

Highest charting Marvel title = Civil War #7 (of 7)
Highest charting DC title = Justice #10 (of 12)

[Drcharles]

Marvel is looking very strong,
Can't understand why GunSlinger Born # 1 was so popular ? I never bought it so I don't know. Must have been good.........
Nice to see 52 Weekly is in there, DC will never let go of the Weekly now. its the only thing thats keeping them afloat

[worldsfinest]

Um sorry but I have no idea what you're talking about... I never said anything about the # of DC fans out there so I don't know where you got 20,000 "by your logic".

Listen, I understand you're a Marvel fan and will defend them tooth and nail, but the truth is, for every post like this bashing Didio and what he's done to DC there's another post bashing Quesada for Marvel. The reason that Marvel sold so much better than DC this month is because this month was the last issue and culmination of a huge event. A couple of months from now the sales will go back to the way they usually are: Marvel beating DC by a small margin.

I used to be a Marvel zombie when I was younger (think New Mutants and X-Force) but stopped reading Marvel almost completely when almost every one of their titles began intersecting every month. I didn't have the money or the will to pick up enough of the books to get a clear picture of the MU. A lot of people here have said that DC dropped the ball because they haven't capitalised on the success of 52. I like the fact that they haven't done just that. 52 is great on it's own, I don't need to buy a whole slew of other books just to read the core story. Have any of you gone back to read Civil War without all the tie-ins? Just the 7 issues? It's practically unreadable.

As for iconic characters... seriously Shadowpact, Atom, Firestorm...??
To paraphrase Evan Waters: Don't you mean Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, JLU, JLA, Green Lantern, Teen Titans, the Legion... Who is Didio not letting us have?

I only buy a half dozen marvel books and always have been a DC person. But I cannot stand Dan Didio killing off and replacing all the characters that I have loved for years.
On that note even still, the fact that you can't understand or follow Civil War kind of sheds light on your intelligence level.

[Michael Bunge]

171,000 is still pretty darn strong for a book that's primarily aimed at the bookstore market.

It's pretty darn strong for any sort of book. It's just that some folks were talking about THE DARK TOWER like it was going to do CIVIL WAR or higher level numbers, which would have been absolutely mind-blowing instead of "merely" hugely impressive.

Mike

[Evan Waters]

I only buy a half dozen marvel books and always have been a DC person. But I cannot stand Dan Didio killing off and replacing all the characters that I have loved for years.

Make no mistake, I'm not happy with a lot of the deaths either. The whole "legacy" thing has gotten kind of insane- I think at this point EVERY superhero has a youthful heir waiting in the wings. I'd be glad to have Ted Kord, Sue Dibny, et. al. back. Hope it happens sooner rather than later.

But I'm willing to give the new characters a fair shake too, and the new ATOM is excellent despite lack of sales. And I'm not sure a Ray Palmer-helmed version would do much better.

[superboy072]

Sorry but by your logic there is only about 20,000 DC fans and Dan Didio has only managed to only temporarily capture Marvel fans. You would be wrong. Didio's Brave new replacement world is repelling more DC fans than its attacting. Firestorm, Atom, Hawkgirl, Shadowpact, Checkmate, Aquaman all have been sales busts. If you are a fan of iconic DC heroes, Dan isn't letting you have them. Without 52, Dan would be out the door. Just because you like the crap coming out, doesn't make you the majority. "Justice" shows what fans really want.

Yes, I have always been disappointed that Dan DiDio hasn't gotten Firestorm, Atom, Hawkgirl, Checkmate, or Aquaman in the top 10 books. Until he does, he's clearly sitting around with his thumb up his you-know-what.

And a team book where the most recognizable person is Blue Devil? I mean, how the Hell does Dan not have that neck-and-neck with Civil War???

(Dude. Chill.)

[Iron-Fist]

Nice for Marvel once again. And it's good to see Immortal Iron Fist jump up 9 spots!

[Drink]

The Big Two are, needless to say, relying too much on Events these days. Marvel is most definitely riding the wave at the moment, and DC is essentially depending on 52 to make their bottom line look better than what it actually is.

DC especially has issues now. Most books are in steady decline, and those that actually do sell well are almost all chronically delayed. All the new series that spun out of Infinite Crisis are now below the Top 100 mark, and are in real danger of being cancelled. True, they're not exactly 100K books, but I'm sure they were expected to sell better than what they are.

Although in fairness, I'm sure Marvel's sales will soon decompress, at least until WWH.

[astronato]

WAKE UP CALL for Dan Didio- Your replacement universe isn't selling. Look at what your top comicbook of the month is and play real close attention. DC fans are sick of you sucking up the DC Universe. Take care of it now not two more 52 part events from now.
First of all I'm a huge DC fan and you don't speak for me.
Second, I think most if not almost all of the DC fans are totally on board with the direction that Didio is taking the DC universe. You are the minority.

Not to pick a fight (it's all just opinion anyway) but he speaks for me. Am I the minority? Maybe. I don't know. But I don't think you or anyone else knows for sure why DC seems to be sliding. I know that evertime DC kills off a character and replaces them, I buy fewer DC comics. Fear of change and all that psuedo intellectual nonsense I guess ;)

And I think Justice would still sell well if it were only Doug Braithwaite on art chores. I am sure Alex Ross's name alone sells books but I also think someone else with that photo realistic style would do just as well. And I do think that Justice represents the DC that a lot of people want.

Anyway. I am happy for Marvel and Joe Q. They give me what I want. DC does not.

You go on with your bad self Joe!

[ZEBULON]

Anyone taking bets on how far behind marvel dc will slip? hopefully not too far before they get rid of didio.

[FixerMX]

It's pretty darn strong for any sort of book. It's just that some folks were talking about THE DARK TOWER like it was going to do CIVIL WAR or higher level numbers, which would have been absolutely mind-blowing instead of "merely" hugely impressive.

Mike

Just goes to show how poorly positioned the Direct Market is in attracting non-comics fans. Buffy's sales will also be pretty telling here.

[beta-ray]

I don't have a team. I don't care whether Marvel sells more than DC. I don't own stock in either company.

When I plunk down my cash for a book, all I want is good entertainment value. As far as that goes?

- I see Marvel as way down.

- DC is holding steady.

- Image is way up.

- Dark Horse is holding steady.

- Avatar is way up.

- Dynamite is up slightly

And some promising contenders from a variety of new independent sources. The way I see it is? All these people dropping coins on Marvel are getting a poor return on their dollar.

Whereas I, on the other hand, am showing a strong entertainment value profit. :)

all these people dropping coins are getting a poor return because you don't like Marvel? Interesting thought.

[jgphenom]

I only buy a half dozen marvel books and always have been a DC person. But I cannot stand Dan Didio killing off and replacing all the characters that I have loved for years.
On that note even still, the fact that you can't understand or follow Civil War kind of sheds light on your intelligence level.
Wow, the one thing I try not to do in these discussions is to be insulting. Nice job dude. Way to keep things classy.

Yeah, make mine Marvel for sure now!

[0bsessions]

Wow, the one thing I try not to do in these discussions is to be insulting. Nice job dude. Way to keep things classy.

Yeah, make mine Marvel for sure now!

Bluntly speaking, he's got a point. Civil War was the comic book equivelant of a popcorn action flick. I've gone back and read through it twice, it's not exactly the hardest to grasp subject matter ever written.

Issue #1: Stamford blows up, registration is introduced to the Heroes. Cap goes rogue after being attacked by Maria Hill on the Helicarrier for not going along with hunting other heroes. Iron Man starts up the pro-reg group.
Issue #2: The registration act is passed. Cap's underground starts striking out at villains and springing captures unregistered heroes, infuriates Hill. Tony fails to recruit the X-Men, but is assured they will stay out of it, except Bishop who joins up with him. Reed rationalizes his stance via a sociological formula. Spider-Man unmasks, shocking the world.
Issue #3: Cap's secret Avengers adopt new identities and are ambushed by the pro-Reg heroes when they report a fake chemical explosion. Before anyone can aid Cap against Iron Man, Thor shows up.
Issue #4: Thor kills Goliath in the ensuing battle, is revealed to be a cyborg clone of the real deal. The anti-regs escape. Cap is peeved off. Some people defect from each side due to the events, either for fear of getting killed or for moral questions toward the registration group's acts. Both Hank Pym, Sue Storm and Spider-Man start to question their judgment. Sue leaves her husban with her brother to join up with Cap. We are introduced to the new Thunderbolts program, intended to capture rogue heroes.
Issue #5: Spider-Man has an attack of conscience and decides to go AWOL, but is intercepted by Iron Man. After Iron Man makes a remark about Peter's family, Peter sends him through a wall and tries to escape. He makes his way through the sewers before being attacked by Thunderbolts. The two Thunderbolts are shot before Peter passes out. Reed explains that he believes he has repaired the problems with "Clor's" programming. Cloak and Dagger are captured. Cap mentions having very specific missions for Hulkling and Invisible Woman. Tigra is shown sending text messages to someone. Punisher shows up at the anti-reg's HQ with an unconscious Spider-Man. Daredevil is captured by cape killers and brought in to the Project 42 prison, located in the Negative Zone, describes the 50-State Initiative.
Issue #6: We are introduced to the Champions, a group of Initiative heroes Hank Pym is training. Invisible Woman fails to recruit Namor and the Punisher sneaks into the Baxter Building to steal the plans for Project 42. While Cap is meeting with two villains who wish to side with the anti-regs, Punisher guns said villains down. Cap beats him down and kicks him out of the group. The anti-regs break in to the Negative Zone prison. They are ambushed by Iron Man's group. Cap reveals that that was expected and he knew Tigra was a spy. He reveals he had his own spy, Hank Pym is revealed to be Hulkling. Iron Man and Mr. Fantastic realize that if Hulkling could mimic Hank, then he had full access to 42. The captured anti-reg heroes are all sprung from their cells.
Issue #7: The huge battle begins in the prison. SHIELD closes off the exit to Ryker's and attempts to close off the exit through to the Baxter Building. Black Panther and Dagger are only able to hold it for a brief time. Cloak then teleports everyone present through the portal into NYC. The battle rages there, until Cap's side is joined by Namor and Atlantis. Tony calls in Clor and some members of the Initiative as backup. While Cap and Iron Man fight, Vision phases through Tony's armor, disabling it. Cap contemplates a killing blow before being taken down by emergency workers. Realizing that the people are all scared of them and he's going about defeating registration the wrong way, he surrenders. Sue and Reed reconcile and Tony is named head of SHIELD. All heroes who agree to register are given amnesty. The end.

And that's all from memory. It's not exactly complicated. Everyone satisfied?

[Drink]

Physical numbers are here if they haven't been posted yet

http://www.icv2.com/articles/home/10270.html

Someone pointed out on another forum that DC doesn't have any books over 100K in sales anymore. Not that it's a big deal I suppose, but an interesting observation all the same.

[jgphenom]

Bluntly speaking, he's got a point. Civil War was the comic book equivelant of a popcorn action flick. I've gone back and read through it twice, it's not exactly the hardest to grasp subject matter ever written.
Jesus! I understood the mini, that's not the point. I meant unreadable because like almost all of marvel's other big events, if you don't read all the other crossovers you get a sense that you're missing a huge part of the overall story. Not true of, say, infinite crisis, for example.

[Grobbel]

Although in fairness, I'm sure Marvel's sales will soon decompress, at least until WWH.

WWH is only a few months away from now, though. Only a few titles will tie in to it however, so I think WWH has little to no positive effects on 95% of the books Marvel will put out in the upcoming months. So it'll be interesting to see what happens. :)
By the way, while I personally expect a number of the new launches to perform very well (like Mighty Avengers), but I'm not so sure about untested concepts like The Initiative and the New New Warriors book. The first few issues may very well sell over 100k, but I think they'll drop to a more realistic level of around 40k-ish within 6 to 8 issues. As for Loners and Omega Flight, I doubt they'll sell all that well (I think in the 30-40k range at best), great fan expectations on Newsarama notwithstanding.

[Dan Koller]

Jesus! I understood the mini, that's not the point. I meant unreadable because like almost all of marvel's other big events, if you don't read all the other crossovers you get a sense that you're missing a huge part of the overall story. Not true of, say, infinite crisis, for example.

Are you kidding? While I'll admit that Civil War sometimes gave me the vibe that I should be reading something else to get the entire picture, Infinite Crisis had major plot points addressed in those "specials" that came out between issues of the main series.

[0bsessions]

Jesus! I understood the mini, that's not the point. I meant unreadable because like almost all of marvel's other big events, if you don't read all the other crossovers you get a sense that you're missing a huge part of the overall story. Not true of, say, infinite crisis, for example.

That's the point of a bloody event. If the entire story were self contained in the mini, it wouldn't recieve the hype. Civil War works fine and dandy on its own and is completely understandable as you just readily admitted. Anyone can pick it up and read it from #1-7 and understand it completely (Which is a complete contradiction to your last entry, I might add).

And the fact that you say that that's NOT true of Infinite Crisis isn't just questionable, it's outright laughable. If you don't start with Identity Crisis, you'd be completely lost. Hell, the first ten pages of it is enough to lose you without reading all the buildup.

What destroyed the watchtower? I don't think that was even answered in the mini to begin with.
Why's everyone so mad at Wonder Woman?
What's Batman so paranoid for?


Forget about it if you've never read Crisis on Infinite Earths. If I hadn't had the foresight to read that beforehand, I'd have been absolutely clueless. It wasn't Zero Hour bad, as far as confusion from reading the mini on its own (I tried that once...still not sure what the Hell happened), but it was up there. There's a problem when, aside from five or six countdown mini-series being a prerequisite going in, you need to read a twenty year old Maxi-Series to have the slightest clue what's going on. You have to have had a pretty vast working knowledge of the last two or three years of very heavy and steep DC Continuity to come out of the experience understanding it (And don't get me started on how ineffective the recap issues were. They just essentially pointed me at out of print storylines and said "good luck").

Everything necessary to understanding the story went into Civil War. As long as you had a working knowledge of who the main players were (And most of them have had movies, so that makes them pretty well known), you could pick it up and understand. Everything else was just periphery and enhanced the story.

[ME5]

Hello.

While I am a major Marvel fan, myself, I would like to make a comment about some people who have claimed that Marvel sales patterns are somehow better than DC's. Overall, Marvel is obviously selling more books than DC, that is undeniably evident in the numbers. However, when some claim that DC's sales show consistent drops, I feel compelled to point out that Marvel's titles ALSO show consistent drops...between "events", in any case. This is the cyclical nature of the market, and what it has been like for the last 6 years (something I have been arguing with a certain "responsible" retailer I have teased for years, now). Something "big" will happen (relaunch, death, "event", or some other gimmick) at Marvel or DC which will spur big numbers for a title (NA #1, Flash #1, Civil War tie-in, Infinite Crisis tie-in, etc...), and then the title will show consistent, steady sales decreases. This is the trend for BOTH Marvel AND DC. So, please do not try and claim that only DC sales are dropping. It all depends upon when and where you examine the sales charts. Various Marvel books have spiked over the last few months due to Civil War. Various DC titles had sales spikes due to OYL and relaunches. Now we are seeing the sales decline for all of those DC titles because that is what happens, overall, in today's market. No need to worry, DC fans, Marvel titles that were spiked due to CW will see various drops over the next few months.

Overall, though, SOME Marvel titles do seem to hold higher sales levels than various DC titles. New Avengers and Astonishing X-Men are the only 2 titles that have consistently stayed above the 110 000 sales level for around 2 years worth of issues. ASB&R has a chance to do that for DC...although I may not live long enough to see 2 years worth of issues come out to judge it...:p (Come on, Kev, I AM still allowed to tease DC a bit, no?). However, DC does not have any other ongoing monthly title that comes close to doing that. It CAN be argued that DC did have 52 put out sales over 100 000 units for the equivalent of 2 years worth of issues (maybe longer, I am not certain), but that is a special case, and rather unique.

Be Well...:)

[Snowspinner]

Well.

I guess that settles rather neatly what people want out of a Shazam book.