Like in any industry, comic books and their companies listen most to one thing and that’s your money! What does your money tell them? What does it tell us as fans? What series do people say they adore but can’t seem to catch a break and what books to people hate that sell out? What are the trends? What looks good? What looks rough?

All these questions and more will be answered here, every month in ‘By The Numbers’ by comic writers, editors and fans, Glenn Matchett and Ray Goldfield.

Glenn Matchett is a comic writer and editor. He’s worked in the industry for 6 years but grew up reading comics. He is currently published with Outre Press, Nemeses Studios and Alterna! He is very excited at the release of Altera’s IF Anthology on the 25th of this month. He is also not above self promotion.

Ray Goldfield is a fan of comic books for going on 25 years, starting with the death of Superman. He is a writer and editor for Grayhaven Comics and is working on his first novel. Ray also does a weekly roundup of DC comic reviews for website Geekmom and they’re brilliantly entertaining. His one man war on DC over Teen Titans is currently standing at an uncertain truce over the appointment of Greg Pak as a writer. He’s watching you DC, always watching…

We also do a podcast together with longtime buddy, Brandon James on iTunes with Rabbitt Stew or at the link here! Don’t ask, I didn’t pick the name.

Full sales numbers available.

Sales

Glenn: Its time for another sales look over and although the last few months the sales chart has been in a steady coma while we all wait for Secret Wars to finish (lets hope for early 2016 folks!) its come alive in a big way.
Despite the aforementioned Secret Wars being hugely delayed to the point where everyone is nearly past caring (sort of), Marvel is now launching books that were supposed to launch following the story lines conclusion.

Of course, Marvel where left with two very poor choices given this situation. Release the books and suffer occasional mockery by idiots on the internet like us or not release the books and lose a lot of money.

The lesson here is money beats idiots! It seems to have paid off too because this is the first time in years that sales of 100k have gone outside the top ten but in fact have the top 14 in the six figure sales bracket.

It’s still all about the top ten of course and with a combination on new launches, Secret Wars taking forever and Star Wars being a thing again, Marvel completely swept the top ten. I actually don’t remember this happening ever and criticize their schedule all you want, Marvel have now basically showed why they’re the top dog in the industry. Of course most of these launches were the main features of the new line so we’ll see how off beat outsiders like Karnak and Red Wolf fair in a few months.

Myself and Ray had long predicted that the new volume of Amazing (Marvel’s most consistent superhero book for a while now) and Invincible Iron Man (getting an a-list team) would land the two top spots. We however did get the order wrong with Invincible Iron Man taking the top spot with sales just under 280k. I think this is Marvel finally achieving how popular this character is following the films. They’ve put arguably their biggest writer on the book and it seems to be paying off huge.

Or is it? The second issue is way down at the number 28 spot with sales of 66,664. This is a bit strange to me because the other major launch Amazing kept its numbers in the first two issues really well (more on that in a moment). Did retailers not expect the 214kish people they expected to buy the first issue not to come back for the second? I’d wager to see a rise in sales on issue 3 because this is a really puzzling drop.

That being said, over 66k is wonderful for Iron Man who at best, has enjoyed sales around the 30k range for years. As long as this is the level it stays at, Marvel can consider this a hit, puzzling same month mega drop aside.

The number 2 book Amazing Spider-Man kept most of its first issue numbers by also taking the number 10 spot in the chart by selling just over 118k copies. I’m expecting this to be just as stable as it was prior to the company wide relaunch and expect to see the book as a top ten mainstay for a long time to come. Although it lost the number one spot, selling over 245k copies on an issue that cost 5.99(!!!!!) is not going to be upsetting anyone and I think the title will have the last laugh so to speak.

Ray: On one hand, this is a very impressive month on a lot of levels. We’ve got 15 books selling above 100K. 14! We haven’t seen a month like this in a very long time, and it’s possible that we’ll have more like this as Marvel launches their new line in waves.
On the other hand, I remember past relaunches doing even better in terms of the top books. Didn’t the last ASM relaunch sell over 500K? This one only did just below half that despite the hype coming after Secret Wars. I wonder if the fact that the event isn’t wrapping up for a while has blunted that excitement a bit – it feels like another relaunch coming in the middle of an event, not a true new beginning for the universe.

Invincible Iron Man’s victory is surprising, for sure. The attachment of Bendis, the back-to-basics approach, and the dozens of variant covers here have finally managed to elevate Tony Stark to the top of the comic charts. I was a bit shocked by just how poorly his past title did, and it seems they’re finally making a real push to make him a top comic start. I will say, though, look down at #28 – that’s Invincible Iron Man #2, clocking in at 66K down from 279K. This is pretty strong indication that this relaunch will not be lifting all boats long-term, and the relaunched titles may very well find their previous levels soon enough.

On the other hand, Amazing Spider-Man #2 dipped over 50% from the first one, but stayed clearly above 100K, a very good sign for the title’s future. I think people are liking this new direction.

Glenn: I think there’s a lot of factors to consider when you think that Amazing (just to pick one) launched a lot higher last time. First is price, 5.99 is a lot to pay for a single comic even if it was 64 pages. Next is the fact that retailers had to deal with the demand with not one, not two but three new launches all on the same day. Asking fans to buy one new comic at a slightly higher price is one thing but three is a bit much. There’s also a law of of diminishing returns since it wasn’t that long since Amazing relaunched last time. Marvel has been getting away with this renumbering stunt for a while but perhaps the initial boost it gives the titles will gradually fade and fade. I do think its a good sign that Amazing launched very similar to when it ended up though.
Iron Man quickly dropping to 66k does make me also question to launch a second Iron Man book, even with the creative team of Bendis and Maleev. I think it might be a case of too much too soon on a character that could see its best sales in years IF it stabilizes quickly.

The biggest surprise of the top ten though I feel is Spider-Gwen. Yes she’s back and yes we knew it was going to be huge but not only did she come in at number 3 with sales over 197k, the title outsold the much hyped and universe shattering Secret War book. Despite not exiting a little over a year ago, being a solo female hero, being passed off as a ‘fad’ by some fans, Spider-Girl has become one of Marvel’s most successful properties. The success of the character continues to surprise and amaze and I’m sure Marvel is just thrilled by the amount this character will generate for years to come. We’ve already got Gwen Stacy appearing as Gwenpool, can more Gwen heroes be far behind? It may sound ridiculous but Marvel isn’t exactly known for playing it conservative when they get a good thing going. It’ll be interesting how the second issue does but this launch is fantastic and I wouldn’t be surprised to see her in the top 15 at least for a long time to come.

Ray: Man, every time I think we’ve said all we can do about just how impressive Spider-Gwen is, it manages to blow me away again. This is a character that was planned as a one-off alternate hero, and she just outsold every Marvel title but their two biggest launches of their most popular heroes! The second issue will have a hard fall like all their books do, of course, but with this launch I’d be surprised if it didn’t stay in the top tier of Marvel books as long as the creative team is here. And yeah, there’s no question Gwenpool will be getting at least a miniseries soon. I say bring on Gweneto! Every Marvel hero we talk about from here on out, remember that they got their butts kicked by Spider-Gwen.

Glenn: At the number 4 spot is Secret Wars which manages to get sales of over 192k thanks to the hype machine and people likely wanting to see how Jonathan Hickman finishes his tenure at Marvel for the time being. I think despite its continued sales success, Marvel is just eager for it to end and get that collection on shelves at comic shops everywhere asap.

Ray: As usual, Star Wars continues to utterly dominate. We’ve got six Star Wars titles in the top 20, four above 100K and two just below. The only outlier is Kanan, down at #47 with sales just over 44K. Not in line with the rest of the family, but still amazing for an animated spin-off. At this rate, can an Admiral Ackbar mini be far behind? If so, it’ll land in the top 20.

Glenn: Don’t joke, you might not be far off. I think next year we could see a few comics starring the new characters that will be introduced in the Force Awakens. This is the franchise that keeps on giving and amazingly despite having 8 books out under the Star Wars line, they all (apart from Kanan like you mentioned) manage to stay above 16th spot and have sales just under 93k. I think we’re going to see a lot of new launches find a big drop after the initial buzz but it seems Star Wars is going to be around to dominate for the next number of years.

Ray: Besides the top three, clearly the most noteworthy Marvel debut of the month is Doctor Strange. This is his first ongoing in…I don’t even know how long. Almost as long as I’ve been reading Marvel. Marvel put an A-list creative team on the book and hyped it through the roof – and it paid off. 145K sales, and near-unanimous acclaim. Much like Aaron’s Thor relaunch, I suspect this one will have strong legs and remain a hit for Marvel for a while.

Glenn: Its a great success for Doctor Strange who has been struggling to find his place in the Marvel universe for decades outside of mini’s, team roles and supporting roles. The key here is a great creative team like you said but also a much more darker tone. I read the first issue and was like ‘this is awesome’ and I expect the book to keep most of its audience. This is one launch from post Secret Wars that Marvel is going to be seeing pay off in a big way for a long time to come.

Ray: In general, Marvel managed to deliver big numbers for their launches. Uncanny Avengers, featuring Captain Rogers, Deadpool, and Spider-Man, launched over 100K. Uncanny Inhumans had great numbers for an Inhuman comic – just under 100K – but we’ll see if it holds. We know how the other Inhuman books fared. The clip book Avengers #0 landed towards the end of the top 20, and even the digital-first fight comic Contest of Champions, dropped with relatively little hype, managed a top-twenty debut. I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s because it seems like this comic sheds some light on the nature of the post-Secret Wars Marvel U. The relaunch of Ant-Man did well too, with 75K sales, about in line with the first issue of the last volume. I’m a bit surprised that New Avengers launched below all these books, at #25 with 71K, but maybe the team is just a bit too driven by B-listers for people to treat it as a full Avengers book. Uncanny Avengers’ new direction may have taken its place.

Glenn: These initial launches from Marvel are by and large very impressive. There are a few exceptions which we’ll get to but all those books you have mentioned have got some serious coin behind them. How long shall it last? I don’t think many will find a high stable number apart from the ones you mentioned apart from the Avengers books. The brand of these books are as powerful as ever with New Avenger’s also launching this month to sales over 71k at spot number 25. This team in particular is missing a lot of the big players the other teams enjoy to help with sales so to pick up initial sales of over 71k is a great number.

Ray: With all the Marvel craziness, DC got pushed almost entirely out of the picture, with only two slots in the top 20 – the always-dependable Batman and Justice League. These titles did very well, they were just buried under an avalanche of Marvel launches.

Glenn: I think this is the first time I think Snyder and Capullo’s Batman hasn’t made the top ten I think which shows how aggressive Marvel was this month. This and Justice League still sold great though and will continue to do so long after hype dies down on a number of these books. The real troubling thing for me with DC this month is we don’t get a non Batman title on the chart (counting Harley Quinn who sort of counts and defies all sales logic anyway) until Superman at the 49th spot with sales of 42,893. Batman is carrying a lot of weight for DC at the moment and I think there needs to be some serious rethinking going on.

Ray: DC’s biggest launch of the month is Batman and Robin Eternal, which launched at #21 with 76K and then delivered three more issues at #37, #39, and #43. I expected a bit more of this at first, but these are strong numbers for a weekly. I think that despite the hype, retailers essentially treated this comic like a direct continuation of Eternal and ordered it at the levels of the last one’s later issues, instead of viewing as a new series.

Glenn: I would have thought that a bump for number one of Batman and Robin 1 would have been a safe bet but again the first issue came out the same week a lot of the major Marvel books did. Did that make a difference? Perhaps. Consistency on this weekly though is something DC really needs and its something that Eternal got a follow up in the first place. Despite the amount of weeklies that DC has put out in the last decade or so, this is the first true sequel weekly they’ve done. This will give them a solid to 40-50 performer for 26 weeks while there are maybe some Marvel books on this list and still to come that might face two or three more relaunches in that time.

Ray: In the wave of new launches, I wouldn’t expect to see many non-big-two books up here, but there are two debuts that surprised me. Paper Girls by BKV and Cliff Chiang sold over 75K.

Glenn: This is a great launch for any book and some of the new Marvel number ones will probably be wanting to kill for a launch like this. It also manages to outsell Image’s bread and butter title, Walking Dead which is really impressive also. I doubt it’ll keep that position but even if it loses half its readers, this is another great hit for Image and another proud moment for Vaughn who already has a consistent success with Saga.

Ray: Marvel has a lot of strong debuts this month, but there’s one that stands out as a disappointment, and that’s the new Sam Wilson: Captain America. Unlike Kamala Khan and the new Thor, this new Cap has had a rough rollout, with a divisive previous run and a controversial debut in the AXIS storyline – and no small amount of controversy in this title’s debut. But the numbers here are pretty grim. The first issue landed at #31 with 62K sales (below Karnak at 63K. Karnak outsold Captain America. Think about that for a second), but even more ominously, the second issue fell all the way down to #52, with sales of just over 40K. Captain America is one of the Marvel Universe’s top heroes, but these sales look like those of a B-lister. Unless something changes quickly, I can’t see this new direction lasting long-term no matter how committed Marvel is.

Glenn: We all know Steve will be back in costume in time for the movie so that might effect things (although it didn’t hurt Bucky Barnes when he took on the role) but I think how this direction has been executed has a lot to do with it. Marvel showed with Doctor Strange this month is when they put their minds to it, they can make any character a hit but Captain America is definitely the odd man out this month. Even if sales stabilize soon, expect a relaunch around Civil War time next June with likely a new creative team.

The Deadpool vs Thanos mini finished off this month with sales of over 50k which is just fantastic for what was essentially seemingly a mini done for the lolz. I’m expecting more Deadpool mini’s sooner rather than later.

Ray: There was a new Deadpool mini announced today (11/11/15)! Now that Gwenpool’s coming, we’re only a few more away from PoolVengers!

Glenn: So there was! Another correct prediction right here on ‘By The Numbers’.

I am seriously wondering if a Gwenverse and/or Deadpool War might be on the way. Give them both lightsabers and it could give the book so much power it runs for president.

We see a decent launch for Spider-Man 2099 at spot 34 with sales of just under 58k. I expect this to return to its previous level of roughly 30-35k but that’s a great number for a character who wasn’t being used to any great effect until Dan Slott did his time travel story in Amazing. I’m hoping for this book to stay around and since I expect it not to fire up the sales charts, it will be one of Marvel’s most consistent players for a while.

Ray: The Spider-line is probably the closest thing Marvel has right now to the Bat-line (which, as you said, is essentially keeping DC afloat right now) – a line where the core character is so popular that the brand can keep B-list titles afloat longer than you’d expect and even produce a few breakout hits. Spider-verse was a game-changer for the line, and I expect that success to translate to future launches Web Warriors and Spider-man – at least for a while.

Glenn: We’ll see, I think the ones with Spider-Man in the title will do fairly well but I don’t see it extending to the likes of Spider-Woman but time will tell.

One of the most bizarre new titles in the new Marvel line up, Inhuman Karnak’s book debuts at 29 with sales over 63.6k. Given that Marvel is trying their hardest to make the Inhuman’s a ‘thing’ at the moment, this book may have been seen at a risk. Its a fantastic debut for a character that I’m sure prior to Warren Ellis saying he wanted to write him, a lot of people wouldn’t have been interested in. This book is a big debut for such a character but the title will live and die by Ellis‘ involvement. It’ll be a great hit for Marvel as long as he stay around which history tells us, may not be too long.

Ray: I’m pretty shocked by Karnak’s numbers. I guess the combination of Ellis, the Inhumans being a big thing this month, and the advance hype made people order this heavy! We’ll see how it holds and how long Ellis stays on – I’d be surprised by more than one arc, honestly – but Marvel can definitely be happy with this. I still can’t believe Karnak outsold Cap.

Glenn: Another eyebrow raiser that has done well for Marvel is Howling Commando’s which sells over 44.5k copies and lands at number 46. I don’t see the same stability here as the Ellis vehicle I talked about above. Still a decent debut but expect this to drop quickly I’d think. Still it can still say it outsold the majority of DC’s much better known properties on its first issue so there ya go.

Ray: The top launches for Marvel were really good, but a little under the surface there are some danger signs. Howling Commandos launched at #46 with sales of 44K, and Unbeatable Squirrel Girl relaunched two spots lower with sales just over 43K. Not bad for a pair of niche books, but I expect to see them take a hard hit next month. The news is particularly grim for Angela, Queen of Hel, though, launching at #54 with sales just under 40K. For perspective, the last Angela ongoing landed in the top ten and was out of the top 100 by the end of its run, so this indicates a very short run for this title. It might be time for Marvel to admit that Angela just isn’t happening.

Glenn: They are decent launches for what they are but I don’t see many of these ‘fringe’ books lasting a long time. We could be wrong of course but most of the books you mentioned will be cannon fodder in a year…perhaps less.

The thing with Angela is a puzzling one. Marvel is genuinely trying to make her relevant but like you said, it doesn’t seem to be working. Sometimes they can be really determined with these things or suddenly grow bored and throw the character into obscurity until they need someone to kill in a big event.

Another really well performing Image title this month comes in the form of Scottie Young’s ‘I Hate Fairyland‘ which draws up sales of over 50k and gets in at number 42. The concept of the book is completely banana’s but Young has a big enough pull to make people want to pick it up. He’s really become a big name due to his interior and variant cover work at Marvel so a book like this, where he can really cut loose will appeal to a lot of people. I think much like Saga and Descender, this is going to be another steady hit for Image (along with Paper Girls of course).

Ray: I’m a bit surprised by how well I Hate Fairyland did, actually. But Skottie Young has built quite a fanbase thanks to his odd chibi Marvel covers and the recent miniseries, and this title has the same sort of anarchic ultra violence that makes Deadpool and Harley a hit, so maybe I shouldn’t be? It could be a bit of a one-joke premise, but if it keeps making people laugh, it may just be another big hit for Image.

Glenn: Given how great Young was on Marvel’s Oz books, his own version of an uber violent fairy tale was bound to get a lot of attention, I feel. Even though it sold less than Paper Girls, I feel it’ll hold more of its audience.

Another new launch this month comes from IDW in the form of the Back To The Future comic that launches at number 27 with sales over 67k. It was launched on the Back To The Future ‘future date’ which likely helped numbers a great bit and having the screenwriter, Bob Gale involved may have improved its chances also. Like we’ve already discussed many times, movie and tie-ins are rarely big sellers for comics and I expect Back To The Future to be a lot lower next month but doing this type of marketing stunt that takes 30 years to pay off and has everyone in the world talking about it is something that I doubt we’ll see very often. This book doing well does make me wish there was a Booster Gold comic on the market. Maybe now DC will answer my calls with something else other than ‘Mr. Matchett, we’ve called the police’.

Ray: I’m a bit surprised by the fact that Justice League spin-off Darkseid War: Batman only sold 37K at #58. This was a title spinning directly out of Johns‘ big story, with a top-tier creative team focusing on Batman as a New God. If that’s all the most high-profile of the spin-offs could do, next month might be sort of grim for the rest of them.

Glenn: It also has the writer of Detective Comics on it so this isn’t just a throwaway one shot that you sometimes get out of these things. This would suggest to me that the Justice League brand is quite strong but its ability to create buzz in spin offs or tie ins perhaps isn’t there? It’ll be curious where the rest of the books land and if perhaps the involvement of Francis Manipul will help generate some buzz but it seems that although a lot of people are reading Justice League, most of those readers are content to just stick to the main book. This is one of the things DC needs to take a look at because the Avenger’s line for example does seem to make any spin off books seem to be more vital to those reading the main book.

Ray: You wouldn’t know it with the Marvel hype, but DC did launch a trio of new ongoings spinning out of Convergence this month. They all had sort of muted debuts. The highest was Lois and Clark, a game-changer for the Superman franchise. It only landed at #64 with sales of 35K, but fan reaction was universally positive. This could hold very well. Titans Hunt, bringing the original Teen Titans back into continuity, landed at #75 with sales of 31K, which is a testament to just how low this franchise has sunk, even when they’re giving the fans what they want. People have been burned too many times.

Glenn: I think when the ending of Lois and Clark is made more apparent and how much of a major impact it has on the main DCU that we could see a lot of reorders for the first issue of that book. If it stays at this level (which given reviews, I’d say it has a good chance of doing) then I think DC would be pleased. They might be testing the water to see how a married Superman might be treated by the main market and it doesn’t seem to be seen as much as an event as a married Spider-Man was throughout ‘Renew Your Vows‘.

Ray: Lois and Clark really rewrites the history of the New 52 DCU in a huge way, so I think retailers may have been caught flat-footed by what they thought was an out-of-continuity nostalgia comic. I wouldn’t be surprised to see reorders and even an increase if word gets around. And yeah, I expect Marvel is watching this book closely given the success of Renew Your Vows.

Both of these books look like massive hits compared to the third launch, though. Telos, starring the villain of the event in a face-turn, only managed to chart at #115 with sales of 20K. If there was ever a debut that screamed “Retconned as a miniseries by #6”, it’s this one. Ouch.

Glenn: That’s a really rough debut for Telos but I can’t say I’m surprised. I’ll be honest, I knew the book was coming out but I have no clue who the character is. It seems that DC didn’t learn their lesson with Klarion, we’ll see if this book warrants a trade. At the moment my feelings for this book just make me want more of the fantastic Image series Tellos by Todd Dezago and the late, great Mike Wieringo.

Ray: Besides the launches from the big two, there were a few more interesting stories in the top 100. Archie’s second rebooted title, Jughead by Chip Zdarsky, managed to chart at #71 with sales of 32K. A far cry from Archie’s debut, but still far more than the impact the title used to have in the direct market. Archie’s getting comic fans to check out their product.

Glenn: The fact that a Second Archie book can sell at that level is a big sign as to how this reboot has worked for the company. The main book was selling around 7k prior to that and any spin off book would have been lucky to get half its numbers. We might not see Archie in the top ten again for years to come but if the books can sell around this level for the next few years, I’m sure they’ll be very pleased. I also would think that they’ll do very well in the collection market once they get there.

Ray: The TMNT series from IDW delivered two issues in October, including its landmark #50 which set up a new status quo, and it seems to have boosted sales, landing #50 at 67 on the charts and #51 at 95. This is the best numbers the franchise’s seen in a long time.

Glenn: The markets love of significant issue numbers never ceases to amaze. These heroes in a half shell have really lasted the test of time and even though the new movie wasn’t the best, it brought a new generation of fans. This is one of those existing properties that IDW can set its watch to and that’s something companies like that need in the market today.

Ray: This increase in prominence for TMNT is probably welcome news, as they have the big Batman/TMNT crossover coming soon. Unlike some past inter-company crossovers like Batman/Green Hornet, this is a case where both properties are still high in people’s minds, so I expect that’ll be very successful.

Hey, there’s Grumpy Cat at #97! The power of variant covers and internet memes. Long may Grumpy Cat be grumpy.

Glenn: Dynamite really went to town with this book. It was heavily promoted to heck and had a lot of variants (which isn’t that unusual for them…but still). Sales of over 27.3 k can’t be sneezed at for something started off as an internet meme. I can’t wait to see who launches confused dinosaur in the months to come.

Ray: I’m kind of shocked by Greg Rucka and Nicola Scott’s Black Magick only debuting at #99. This was a book that got a lot of hype, has two top-tier creators attached, and got great reviews. What caused it to do so much less than Paper Girls and I Hate Fairyland? A puzzle. But then, Rucka’s never been a creator who had huge sales in singles, despite critical acclaim.

Glenn: This one is likely going to fare much better in the book market once its collected but year you’re right…why is this one just scraping the top 100? I’ll be curious to how much of its readers it holds because again…keeping a decent sized consistent fanbase isn’t the worst thing for an Image book. This is one of those times where I’m completely thrown and don’t know what to make of it. Everything on this book screams mega hit but while it was nowhere near a flop, I would have thought it could have pulled a similar number to I Hate Fairyland.

Not a bad number for the Jem and the holograms annual with sales just over 30k landing it at the 76th spot. This is an obscure franchise which the market is not usually kind to but this is quite a decent showing, especially this month. It also shows that probably 30 thousand more people read the comic than saw the movie.

Ray: Most Jem fans I’ve talked to say the comic is actually a faithful update of the original cartoon, while the movie was a weak Disney Channel generic musical, so I’m not surprised. And the comic didn’t lose millions of dollars, so double win for them!

Glenn: There was a number of What If issues released from Marvel this month. In the last few years Marvel has relaunched the What If book as a series of mini’s usually focusing on a recent mega event. The strategy has paid off verly well for them in the past and I’d say the same here. The five issues land all close together at numbers 87, 91, 94, 101 and 105 ranging in sales from of over 26k to just over 22k. No surprise of course that the best selling of these was the Thanos tie in due to his direct connection with the crossover (What If: Infinity) but his presence overall at Marvel in general at the moment.

Ray: I’m a bit puzzled by the way Marvel rolls out What If arcs years after the fact. Infinity was the first event of Hickman’s run, years and three line-wide events ago. Given that, I think these sales are actually pretty good for an out-of-continuity tie-in to a long-past event.

Glenn: Another new launch this month (so…many) that will likely be overlooked is Assassin’s Creed from Titan based on the self populating mega successful games franchise. It synchronizes at number 107 with sales of just over 21k. Its a tie in book and apart from the rare exception, those don’t tend to do great in the direct market. This will be for the die hard fans I’d say but I think this is a curious property to bring to comics. The games make you feel like you are living through the particular character rather than just being an observer which in comics is literally what you are. I don’t think it will translate well and I don’t think this will stay in the 5 figure middle of the pack for very long for that reason.

Ray: I don’t follow the franchise, but that’s an impressive debut for Assassin’s Creed. Titan is the same company that does the Doctor Who books recently, right? They seem to have a golden touch when it comes to licensed books at the moment, doing better numbers than many offerings from IDW and Dynamite.

Glenn: Yeah, Titan do Doctor Who and Blacklist among many others. While these some of these tie in books aren’t big sellers, its the way Titan seems to be going. They’re maybe thinking of outside the direct market but even though most of the sales of their tie-in books don’t set the chart alight, they most be happy enough as they pick up more and more books.

The Agents Of Atlas are back again with sales also just over 21k. This is another one that Marvel carts out every so often to see if anyone is interest. As like the last 20 times or so, not many people are, even with a Secret Wars logo to help it on its way.

Ray: Marvel will never cease trying to make Agents of Atlas happen, it seems. This one didn’t have perennial writer Jeff Parker attached, and was only a one-off to tie into the event, so these numbers are about what I would expect. The oddball one-shot tie-ins like Howard the Human, Secret Love, and Hank Johnson, Agent of SHIELD seemed to get the lowest sales of all the SW tie-ins, which makes sense. If there’s any books that aren’t going to reveal key plot lines about the event, it’s these.

Glenn: Some new Vertigo books this month as DC tries to reinvigorate that line after getting the memo that Fables is ending. The main launch is Gail Simone’s creator owned ‘Clean Room‘ which shows at 143 with sales of over 16k. This is obviously a lot less than Vertigo’s last huge creator owned series ‘The Wake‘ but Scott Snyder is probably the safest commercial bet in comics right now and its hard to judge where the success barrier is at Vertigo. If you look at it just as a DC book, its not a great number but Vertigo is a different animal that again seems more focused on the trade market. I am curious how this book may have launched at Image but we’re not living in that world. I do feel the rise of Image will impact the likes of the Vertigo line and the Icon line at Marvel. There will be a long road to rebuilding the brand in today’s market.

Ray: Yeah, these Vertigo properties all seem to have sort of crowded together, with the top seller being Hernandez and Cooke’s Twilight Children at #129. That and Clean Room had prominent creative teams attached, so it makes sense they launched higher than the lower-profile Survivor’s Club and Art Ops. It’s a shame not that many people checked out these first issues, because I thought they were all very strong debuts.

Glenn: We’ve talked on Rabbitt Stew about how Vertigo are putting out a lot of interesting books. Lets hope that DC gives them enough rope to find an audience but it seems that they are committed to rebuilding the Vertigo brand.

I’m surprised that Dark Horse’s Angel and Faith has dropped below 10k sales and is at the number 192 spot. Buffy seems to be missing in action this month but it used to be the Buffy comics from Dark Horse were a big deal. The current ‘season’ is ending soon but even a new launch I doubt will make much of a difference long term. Perhaps the novelty of having new stories featuring characters from Buffy has worn off?

Ray: Buffy and Angel and Faith always get a lift in sales with the new #1s for each season, and this wave is coming to an end soon, so I think this is just the cycle of the comic’s sales. If they do another go-around, which I assume they will, it’ll rebound.

Glenn: You think so? I think it’ll depend on the creative teams (which I think still have to be announced) and the direction. The new issue 1’s will get a boost but I think they might drop to previous numbers soon after. Buffy is more of a solid performer so I’m wondering if perhaps it might be worth Dark Horse’s time doing away with Angel and Faith, having everyone in Buffy and releasing it twice a month? I also wonder that although his name is on every issue if its maybe time that Whedon comes back for a bit to renew interest in this franchise. He’s got plenty of time on his hands these days.

Ray: I’m a bit surprised that Shane Davis’ Axcend from Image didn’t launch higher than 148 with 13K, because this is the guy who was on Superman: Earth One. The glut of launches (soooooooooo many) likely pushed it down, which meant an even harder row for the launches with no A-list creators aside.

Glenn: Its a hard month for anyone launching a new book which really underscores how well Paper Girls and I Hate Fairyland managed to perform. Like you said, Shane Davis exposure in recent years would have made you think this would be around the same level but like Black Magick it seems like a head scratcher. Perhaps Davis could have used a few more years at the big two building his own brand before diving into creator owned?

Ray: Top Cow attempted to revitalize the Witchblade franchise with a reboot/relaunch in Switch, but I think its 11K sales are pretty standard for this type of book? I think a lot of companies are going to regret not holding their launches a month or two, because it was very hard for anything to break out here.

Glenn: I didn’t even though Switch was a Witchblade relaunch. Perhaps it that was clearer in the title then they could have grabbed a few extra thousand copies? I probably don’t keep track of Top Cow as much as I should and I don’t see the reboot bringing much benefit long term.

There are a LOT of new number 1’s from Boom and Dark Horse and more that landed with low sales of 4 figures such as Rook, Cognetic, Train Called Love plus more. This was maybe the hardest month to launch a new book in years and the effect is clear. I’ll be first to admit, I haven’t read any of these books but could one of them maybe…just maybe been the next big thing? I doubt they’ll get a chance to be.

Also down here is Prez with sales of just over 8k. The book has its critics and its supporters but the numbers are just awful. DC is promising the book will be back but I think we have more chance of seeing more Morrison/Lee WildCATS first.

Ray: Looking at the new launches, Cognetic is the sequel to James Tynion IV’s Memetic, a creepy apocalypse series with a new cast. That one should do very well in trade. I’m surprised that A Train Called Love, by the creative team of The Boys, slipped in with such little fanfare. The Rook is one of a huge number of Dark Horse creator-owned genre books that land with little promotion. Some of them, like Harrow County or Death Head, are excellent, but I don’t hear too much about them unless I follow the creator on Twitter. Steam Man and Dead Vengeance are two more in this vein.

Glenn: With the loss of their bread and butter franchise, Star Wars it seems that Dark Horse is trying to go for some of the creator owned pie that is paying off in big ways for Image but yeah, none of the books seem to launch to much fanfare. Usually Image give their new launches a lot of press (such as Imageexpo) so to play in this part of the market, Dark Horse needs to think along the same lines.

Ray: Blood Feud from Oni is Cullen Bunn’s latest horror comic from Oni, and it has a decent debut for Oni at 262. Their sales are never the highest save Invader Zim, but they have a loyal audience and I suspect this book will hold a lot better than some of the other ones launching this month. Retailers know who wants these books and order appropriately.

There’s also the haunted house series Rowan’s Ruin from Boom, with the lowest debut of the month at 280, although this one is just a four issue miniseries. I’m hoping that Boom, Oni, and all the other companies steamrolled this month manage to get the word out when these hit the trades, because there were some hidden gems in this month’s roster.

Looking ahead to November, it’s another crazy month, at least for Marvel. The headliner, of course, is the debut of All-New All-Different Avengers, which should easily take the top spot for Marvel’s books – and maybe the charts overall, but more on that later. There’s also the A-list X-book Extraordinary X-Men, a new female Wolverine making her debut, Deadpool’s new ongoing, the return of the new Mighty Thor, and the start of the first Star Wars event, Vader Down. All of these should easily do 100K or even 200K in a few cases. Competing for attention among this chaos are new titles for Hercules, Howard the Duck, Nova, Drax, Vision, Hawkeye, Carnage, Black Knight, Ms. Marvel, Star-Lord, Venom, Silk, and Devil Dinosaur, plus new team books Web Warriors, Illuminati, and Ultimates. Some will sink, some will swim, but the only thing that’s for sure – Marvel will continue to dominate.

DC has only a few launches, including Superman: American Alien and Batman: Europa, but they have the 800-pound gorilla with The Dark Knight III, which will likely do well over 200K in sales and has an outside chance of beating ANAD Avengers for the top spot. So they won’t be shut out of the top ten again!

Once again, the creator-owned books will have a hard time getting attention, but there’s a few that look like they might be able to stand out. Grant Morrison doing All-Star Santa Claus in Klaus is going to bring out his fans, of course, and should be one of Boom’s bigger hits for the month. Jason Aaron’s got a new title for Image with ultra-violent Bible thriller The Goddamned. Mark Millar’s got a new volume of Jupiter’s Legacy and a new title in Huck, and Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda are launching the dark fantasy Monstress. These are the biggest-name titles. Others, like Joe Keatinge’s Ringside or the supernatural noir Limbo will have a harder time making an impact in this crazy month, but that hasn’t stopped great titles before.

Glenn: I’m not sure that Marvel will sweep the top ten next month like they did this month but I think they will definitely have a lot of those spots with their new launches and some of the holdover successes from this month. I’ll be very interested to see how books like Doctor Strange and Invincible Iron Man hold next month. A new launch success is pretty much a guarantee for most books but we have to look at the long term success too so we’ll see how Marvel fares up in that regard.
Until the end of the year, any other new launch is going to find it difficult. I’m also interested how well Secret Wars will continue to hold up as more books are released following the book making it increasingly irrelevant. I have no doubt it’ll likely finish up over sales of 100k but I’m curious how the strategy of the launching of the post SW books will impact it as it crawls over the finish line.

It’s going to be a very interesting end to 2015 in terms of comic sales as we now start to look forward to each companies strategy for 2016.

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