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 excited for the upcoming release of the IF Anthology 2016 which he has two stories in. You can order from Amazon here and make him happy.

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. Chuck Norris wished he could read as many comics as Ray could.

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. If you’d like to hear what me and Ray sound like, give it a listen! We talk about this sales chart (among many, many other things) here.

Full top 300 for September available here!

Note: Sorry about the delay folks :)

Glenn: Welcome friends to the report on what’s hot and what’s not in terms of comic sales for September! More than halfway through the year and a lot has changed in a short space of time! DC now dominates the top of the charts with Flash outselling every Marvel book apart from the latest issue of Civil War II. Sales aren’t as crazy as they have been however as things start to settle down but that doesn’t mean there’s a bunch to go over.

Ray: The overall numbers are going down a good deal as we enter month four of Rebirth (I believe this is where the majority of books are no longer returnable), but the overall line is still incredibly healthy. DC is dominating the top of the charts like never before in recent history, and it looks like the majority will stay there. To put this in perspective, every Rebirth book and one additional title, for a total of 50, landed in the top 68.

Glenn: Taking the top spot is Batman with sales of over 138.8! Now we’re into the period where the books aren’t returnable but it doesn’t seem to have made a big difference in the main Batman title. It seems that Tom King is filling the shoes of Scott Snyder rather well as we finish the first part of his first story. Continued brilliant sales for Batman here and at 3 where issue 7 sells over 135.5. A very minimal drop with the first part of “Night Of The Monster Men” which will be also crossing over with Nightwing and Detective not seeing much of an impact on an already high selling title. Given his appearances in team books, Batman is in 5 of the top ten titles which is just crazy.

Speaking of which, All-Star Batman issue 2 is in between the 6th and 7th issue of the main book with sales over 137.7k. This is the Batbook by Snyder and a whole range of top talent artists and that seems to be enough to not have retailers or fans put off by the 4.99 monthly price tag. Snyder’s name continues to be a huge draw and that has no signs of slowing down.

Ray: The power of Batman! DC has a pulled off a pretty amazing hat trick, giving the main Batman book a strong enough creative team and enough buzz that it maintains the sales of the previous book with the blockbuster creative team – and taking that same A-list writer, giving him his own side book, and watching as that does the same. They’ve turned one megahit title into three megahit issues per month, and they’ve pretty much locked down the top of the charts for now. Especially with All-Star at $4.99, this is an incredible feat.

Glenn: I agree, the strategy on the Batman line has been flawless by DC. You can’t forget about Detective Comics which charts at 12 and 17 this month with sales of just under 83k and 81k respectively. They’ve given this book to a someone who has worked extensively in the Bat line the last number of years and was mentored by the main title’s a-list writer you alluded to. There was no wrong decisions here and its paid off across five books.

Ray: There’s an interesting sales pattern developing with Detective Comics. It didn’t sell as high as the other Batman books when it started out, but it’s been climbing up the charts as other books sink below it. It seems to have found its level at around 80K, although this month had the boost of both an event issue and a crossover tie-in. The entire Bat-line has been firmly established as a huge hit in Rebirth, and we’ll talk more about this in a bit.

Glenn: Coming back this month is Civil War II at number 4 on the charts with 120k and its still holding in there. The story is not in the same league as its predecessor but compared to the many other Marvel events, its performing around the same level. Sadly the tie-ins aren’t seeing the same benefit but this will be one that continues to produce a solid number for the remainder of its run which as of this writing concludes in January.

Ray: Civil War II seems to have found its level somewhat, although we’ll see how that plays out with three issues (over five months or so) to go. This is an event that no one is talking about, with the tie-ins providing zero benefits. It’s still Marvel’s biggest hit at the moment, but this likely bodes very ill for the numbers of the Marvel Now books being unveiled next month.

Glenn: The books rolling out of Civil War II have an uphill battle to climb for sure. I’m also wondering how retailers will treat all future events by Marvel following the overall underwhelming performance Civil War II has had for its tie-in books. I’m not seeing a lot of hype for Monsters Unleashed or IvX so next year might not be pretty for Marvel.

At 5 is Justice League with sales of over 95.5 which is still a solid showing for DC’s top team with sales . The book has seemingly become a place for big screen action but people are buying into it because its still the Justice League which has been a rock solid performer for DC since the Johns/Lee relaunch over five years ago. It’ll be books like this that have the brand power that helps DC keep their dominance at the top of the chart currently. The following issue also takes the number 10 spot with sales over 89k. There’s definitely a slow slide and the book might be out of the top ten next month but its still a very strong performer, especially at twice a month.

Ray: Justice League has its own brand, but there’s no real buzz around this book right now. I sort of expect that to change with the upcoming JL vs. Suicide Squad event, which should lift both books as they tie into the overall Rebirth picture.

Glenn: A surprise at number 6 in the form of Image’s Walking Dead which leaps up in sales by about 20k to 94.3k. As discussed last month, last issue was the start of the books latest big storyline and apparently this issue was hyped a significant death or plot development, It seems that much like the zombies in the book, the title can still get comic fans in the stores of their local stores by the rabid thousands. Always a solid performer, Walking Dead is a comic that I feel is history in the making due to its astonishing success.

The top three superheroes at DC (yes, including that Batman chap) star in Trinity which launches strongly at 7 with sales over 93.7k. Batman always had a strong pull but Rebirth has done great service for Wonder Woman and Superman so there is no doubt going to be a lot of interest in a book starring all three. The writer/artist is Francis Manipul who is a big draw also so his involvement should not be discounted either. This is going to be another 70kish performer when things settle down I think, which is another huge win for DC.

Ray: Given that this is a replacement for the lower-selling Batman/Superman and the widely disliked Superman/Wonder Woman, this is a very good number from Trinity. Helps that this has Francis Manapul’s amazing art, and the issue was very well received as a whole. I have a feeling that if Manapul stays on art for most issues, this could find a very solid niche much the way Spider-Man/Deadpool has.

Glenn: I think it manage better than that by a smidge. Spider-Man/Deadpool is at 28 with sales of just over 65.5k, which is very good but I think Trinity can settle about 5k better.

The biggest selling DC book not starring Batman in some way is Supergirl, launching the series proper at 8 with sales over 90k. Like I said with Trinity, Rebirth has done wonders for the Superman line and the proof is right here. I could see Supergirl cracking 50k easily which would put it double what it was selling before her title vanished. Astonishing.

Ray: Supergirl is probably the most impressive sales success of Rebirth, although we have yet to see how it performs when it’s not a #1. Still, while New Super-Man and Superwoman plunged in numbers (more on that later) past their first issue, this seems to be maintaining an incredibly high sales level. The character’s been gone for a long time and people are excited to have her back. And Steve Orlando seems to be following in the footsteps of Snyder and King as a DC up-and-comer who has very quickly graduated to the A-list.

Glenn: The New 52 relied heavily on names of the past apart from a few exceptions but Rebirth is the exact flip side of that. DC has put a lot of trust in a crop of writers never given these level of books before and its paying off big for them thus far. I think we should copyright this as the ‘Scott Snyder effect’.

Next up is the second issue of Suicide Squad, checking in at 9 with sales over 89k. Movie hype and a big push from DC has made this book seem important to retailers and this is the result. Although the film garnered a mixed reaction (to put it kindly) the fact that it was made raises the Squad’s profile significantly. We’re seeing here the same effect that the Guardians film had for Marvel a number of years ago even though it was a much, much, much, much (50 years later) much better thought of movie.

Ray: Suicide Squad is still finding its level, dropping 7K between issues 2 and 3. The event should help it much like it does JL, but the unusual division in the story each issue is going to make it a bit of a hard sell long-term, I think. It probably needs a more consistent creative team if it’s going to maintain its movie boost.

Glenn: Keeping the big name artists on the back ups will help but it does seem to be in a bit of an unusual trend creatively. Promising Jim Lee as one of the artists on a bi-weekly book was ambitious so they’ve had to rearrange a fair bit. Hopefully they get a solid grasp of this soon.

Ray: The franchise has been in such deep trouble for a while that Teen Titans: Rebirth at #11 with 84K has to be considered a huge boost. The team’s completely cut ties from the Lobdell era, instead focusing on a combo of the Wolfman/Perez characters and the new kids, and it’s been received fairly well. It won’t hold these numbers, but if TT can hold at around 40K long term, our long national nightmare may finally be over.

Glenn: Given how the Teen Titans book has been received for close to over a decade, this is a sensational debut. I thought perhaps, the book may not be salvageable but I think the Rebirth branding has given people a chance to trust DC with this property one more time. Given the reception the first issue got, I think it can easily do 40k or better which would be brilliant. If Rebirth can make Teen Titans a success, it might be the best relaunch any company has done since…well maybe ever.

Ray: A book that’s the opposite of Detective Comics would be Harley Quinn, which shocked the world with the best sales numbers of the entire Rebirth wave last month – and has shed the vast majority of the boost it got in only one month. Issue #3 is down to 81K, and then issue #4 falls to 73K. This is rather quickly dropping down to the consistent 50K level it found in the previous run, which makes sense – this is the exact same book. But I think this is the first example we’ve seen of a DC pointless relaunch performing exactly like a Marvel pointless relaunch!

Glenn: They can’t all be winners and yeah, this is the book that probably needed the Rebirth branding the least apart from the Batman line (which one could argue its a part of but still…). Even if it drops to its previous level, its still an unqualified success and is now coming out twice a month, so even better.

Ray: Although DC is obviously tops this month, there’s more Marvel books in the top of the charts than last month, but they’re all continuing to shed sales. Star Wars is at #23 with 82K, which is pretty steady. I’m surprised to see the big drops for both Amazing Spider-Man (24 with 71K) and Black Panther (down to 34 with 58K), especially since this ASM issue was a very pivotal one for Clone Conspiracy. No book seems to be safe from Marvel’s consistent sales slide right now.

Glenn: The Amazing one is a head scratcher. Last month saw a huge boost because of Clone Conspiracy so you think this issue would be the same? This issue also was very much in the vein of the Superior sales of Superior Spider-Man so I thought that would have got some interest. It’ll be interesting if the tie-in issues to the Clone Conspiracy mini will have the same roller coaster effect.

Ray: Maybe the most surprising debut of the month is Doom Patrol #1, from Young Animal. This performed almost exactly like a Rebirth title, selling 76K at #19. In fact, I think it might have performed better than a Rebirth Doom Patrol book would have. If Young Animal is essentially a re-branded Vertigo, that’s a very big win for DC. This book sold more than 60K higher than the two new Vertigo launches of the month. (More on those later).

Glenn: A fantastic start for Doom Patrol which may benefit from an outside fandom influence that Gerard Way would bring along. Getting him to do anything is a big coo for DC and even if this book does about 30k when all is said and done that would be amazing. If all Young Animal books perform like this, could it be time to put Vertigo out to pasture? Sometimes all a brand needs is a name change.

Ray: Speaking of Rebirth lifting all boats, the Batman Beyond number is extremely impressive as well, selling 67K at #27. This is a book in a side timeline that was only selling 17K with its final issue in its previous incarnation. I don’t think there’s ever been a more dramatic display of the power of Rebirth. We’ll see if this holds its numbers at all, but either way, it’s got a huge cushion to beat its previous numbers.

Glenn: The return of Terry McGuinness and the jettison of the previous odd status quo may have helped too. No one liked Tim Drake Batman Beyond and the sales reflected that. The brand still holds some weight so it may be able to manage a respectable following, I doubt DC will be expecting anything massive from this book so anything above its previous level will be a bonus.

Ray: I’m always puzzled by the difference in sales numbers when it comes to crossovers between titles. “Night of the Monster Men” was a hard crossover playing out in three different titles over a month, but the Batman chapter sold about 50K more than the Detective chapter and almost 70K more than the Nightwing chapter. Solid numbers for a Nightwing book, still, but those 50K Batman readers are going to be awfully confused!

Glenn: Personally, my store didn’t make me aware of the crossover when I picked up my copy of Batman. I knew about but yeah, maybe the crossover wasn’t pushed hard enough in that case? Still good sales for Nightwing historically of course though. I thought doing an inter title crossover this early into Rebirth was an odd move but it doesn’t seem to have done any harm in any case unlike some other tie-ins…

Ray: It’s rare that we have overt bad news for a Rebirth title right away, but I think these debut numbers for Cyborg qualify. The Rebirth issue sells 64K at #31, and the #1 issue falls down to 37 with only 56K. That’s really weak, and only about 20K above the debut numbers of the last Cyborg series which launched with the ill-fated DC You branding. A title that debuts at this level can’t really sustain a biweekly schedule – and I think it’s worth noting that DC only solicited one issue of Cyborg to ship in January, the first adjustment like this we’ve seen.

Glenn: Cyborg is very much DC’s version of the Inhumans. He hasn’t been a thing for decades and now suddenly, DC saying he is suddenly one doesn’t seem to make it so. Cyborg, to my knowledge has never had his own ongoing and being a member of the Justice League doesn’t necessarily increase his likelihood of being able to have sales on one. Its not a disastrous debut but the slide is concerning for sure. Given that he has a major film based on him coming out as a part of the DCCU, this is the reason they’re pushing him but I’m not sure anyone is particularly bothered right now. If it can settle about 40k it won’t be what they want but it could be the best they could hope for.

Ray: Blue Beetle loses about 20K from its Rebirth issue, but still holds above 50K for its first issue. This was always going to be the hardest sell of the line, given how the original titles struggled, so DC still has to be pretty happy with this. Rebirth lifts all boats, unless you’re Cyborg. If they want more of a sales boost, though, maybe he should call himself Bat-Beetle?

Glenn: He doesn’t need Bat anything, he’s got Ted! Blue Beetle is one of those great characters that a lot of people outside of comics don’t know about (any version really) so DC will have minimal expectations for this book too. Given that he’s the only Charleston character to have his own book (even though Jamie is vastly different from that version) it could be a book to watch when the big Watchmen story hinted at in Rebirth comes around.

Ray: All the Bat-books continue to dominate, but the same can’t be said for Superman’s family. While the two main Superman titles and Supergirl remain extremely strong, Superwoman loses almost half its sales in month two. Some might claim this is due to the controversy over the twist, but I think it might just be due to this being an unknown quantity. I have doubts a Lana Lang solo title is sustainable. More surprising and depressing is the way New Super-man is plunging down the charts. It’s now the second-lowest selling Rebirth book this month, selling only 41K two months out from its six-digit debut. I’m hoping it levels out and soon, the way Moon Knight (the title directly above it on the charts) did.

Glenn: I doubt the twist will have effected numbers much as when retailers were ordering this book, they wouldn’t have known about it. The Superman line has been a shaky one for years and while we’re seeing Action, Superman and yes, Supergirl do very well now, retailers may have found these two books ‘two too many’. Still, both books are clear passion projects from their respective creators so they may be allowed to carry them on rather than risk losing them all together.

Ray: Someone’s always got to be on the bottom, and for Rebirth this month the dishonor goes to Hellblazer. Constantine has always sold not that great since his debut in the main DCU (and the original Hellblazer was never a direct market dynamo either), so this isn’t a surprise. If it levels out quickly, it could still wind up well above the previous volume. If not, well, Rebirth can’t pull off a miracle for everyone.

Glenn: Just over 40.7k is good for Hellblazer and probably has about 10k-15k to fall before we can start to be ‘worried’ about the book. I think even though Constantine probably has a more dedicated audience than most characters, he’s one to always end up at the bottom end of the charts no matter what. With talk of him featuring more in the CWverse, in other media and a Justice League Dark movie, DC will keep this book around regardless.

Ray: Other than that, the Rebirth line mostly continues to level off, as books still find their level while most remain at more than double the level they were selling pre-Rebirth. Superman, Green Arrow, Flash, Nightwing, Titans, and Green Lanterns all still look pretty strong, while Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps and Aquaman look to be struggling. A couple of interesting patterns are emerging, though. For one thing, the bottom of the sales charts for Rebirth right now is Hellblazer, New Super-man, Batgirl, Aquaman, Batgirl and the Birds of Prey, Deathstroke, Red Hood and the Outlaws, and Superwoman. Aside from Aquaman and Deathstroke, these are all the monthly titles. Could the audience be seeing the monthly titles as less important? Going biweekly on the central titles seems to have paid off for DC in a big way. We’ll see if future adjustments prioritize these books.

Glenn: As I mentioned on Rabbitt Stew (dong!) asking someone to invest in a comic story these days is a big ask, even at $2.99. You’re waiting 6 months or more in the past to get one story but now you’re waiting three…or less! I think readers are enjoying the fast paced nature of the books and waiting around for the monthlies must seem extra slow by comparison so yeah, you could be onto something there!

Ray: Second, we’ll just jump ahead a bit on the charts to discuss the power of the Rebirth branding, because the first major DC book without the Rebirth branding, Raven, just debuted at #87 with sales of 28K. Needless to say, that’s pretty grim. It’s feast or famine right now for DC, with Rebirth (and Young Animal) dominating and everything else struggling. DC has got to be regretting their decision to do next month’s cavalcade of minis without the Rebirth branding.

Glenn: The decision not to play the Rebirth card is a puzzling one. Perhaps they didn’t want to make the same mistake Marvel has by diminishing a strong brand by sticking a certain label on it? Mini’s and such may not seem very ‘Rebirthlike’ so it makes it a hard decision for DC. They either kill material already paid for, risk tarnishing the Rebirth brand or this. Not a lot of good options and we’re going to see the fallout of that next month for sure on a bunch of DC monthlies.

Remember all the annuals last month? It’s still a thing with the Extraordinary X-Men, Deadpool and Doctor Strange annuals. All sell close to their main books with Deadpool at over 51.6k at 45, Doc Strange at 62 with sales of over 44.7k and Extraordinary just over 38.8k at 72 just a smidge below the main book at 70 with sales of over 39k. Again, having the writer of the main book just makes the annual feel like another issue…at a higher price worked for Deadpool and Extraordinary while Doctor Strange seems to have had enough of renaissance to outsell the X-Men when its written by one of the biggest names in comics right now, go figure.

Ray: As I recall, Deadpool did have the main writer on board for the annual, while Doctor Strange and Extraordinary X-Men definitely didn’t, so it seems like there isn’t a big impact either way based on creative team. Marvel seems to have made Annuals seem relevant again – which makes me wonder how well the November Batman and Superman annuals will do for Rebirth. Maybe almost as good as the main books, especially in the case of Batman.

Glenn: Well shut my mouth more than Deadpool in Wolverine: Origins! I would say the Rebirth annuals will do very well, especially Batman. People have reinvested in DC so will be up for any extras I’d wager.

New Image launch from Rick Remender at 81 selling over 32.7k in Seven To Eternity, the highest selling Image book not featuring zombies or whatever Saga is about. Its a decent launch but I would have thought we’d get more from this creative team, it’ll likely settle down quick at this level but I’m puzzled why it didn’t launch higher but its a strong start.

Ray: That is a slightly lower debut than I expected for Seven to Eternity, given that this was the fan favorite Uncanny X-Force team. However, over the last few months we’ve seen this happen quite a few times – an Image book with an a-list creative team debuts a little lower than expected, but then holds their first issue sales extremely well. Maybe retailers are just getting more consistent when it comes to ordering Image books and they don’t over-order the first issues anymore? Either way, this will probably do similar numbers to Black Science overall, which would make it very healthy for Image.

Glenn: IDW’s Revolution which sees a mash up of various properties like Transformers, G.I. Joe, Rom and more sells just under 29k at 85 which I think is rather brilliant. Considering that this comic is equivalent of when you’re 7 or 8, you get a bunch of toys and you just yell and bash them against each other just cause, this is pretty great, especially when a lot of these properties are well past their prime. I mean it has Action Man, ACTION MAN!!!!

Ray: IDW always launches these odd crossover events with a lot of fanfare and variant covers, so they deliver solid numbers but always drop off quickly. Still, this is a company that usually slips under the radar, so to see them get an event in the top 100 on a month like this is pretty impressive. Action Man outsold Captain America: Sam Wilson!

Glenn: Then again, Action Man is the greatest hero of them all so can we be surprised? (Yes, yes we can)

Just under it is the newest of Archie’s relaunches in their vast relaunch/reboot in Josie and The Pussycats (long tails and ears for hats) which sells over 28.7k at 86. Its a good debut for an Archie property but not as strong as the sales the main book or Jughead had upon their releases. I doubt Archie could have expected a whole lot better, if it sells about 8-9k after all is said and done, they’ll probably be very happy.

Ray: This is by far the lowest of any of the new Archie debuts, and that’s not a surprise. It was announced without much fanfare a few months ago, and despite a lot of variant covers, there wasn’t much buzz surrounding it. Any numbers Archie does in the direct market these days are above what they would have done previously, where they had virtually no presence, but I see this one bottoming out around the level of Jughead (8K last month, didn’t ship this month) as opposed to Archie (still healthy at around 14K).

Glenn: Harley Quinn and the Gang of Harleys ends its run at 89 with sales just under 28k which isn’t bad for a spin off mini. Given the sales of Harley last month, we can likely expect a lot of books starring everyone’s female clown.

As predicted by Ray last month, Kill Or Be Killed barely loses any readers with a 23.8 and change performance giving it the 100th spot. The dedicated audience that Brubaker has is something a lot of other creators would love to have on their creator owned books.

Ray: Both Kill or Be Killed and Black Monday Murders, a little further down the charts at #117, shed about 7K in sales which is a pretty healthy drop from 1 to 2. Both Brubaker/Philipps and Hickman are very known quantities in the creator-owned world, and retailers know what they’re doing. In the big scheme of Image books, they’re fifth and ninth overall and very healthy.

Glenn: Next new debut is from BOOM! in the form of Skybourne by writer/artist big hitter and controversy stirrer, Frank Cho. It sells just over 22k which is very good for a BOOM! title. It probably would have done much better at Image but I would say Cho had his choice of publishers and went to BOOM! specifically to tell this story. It’ll probably have a strong hold on these numbers as long as it can stay on schedule.

Ray: For a comic with an a-list name like Frank Cho on board, this book got very little hype. I barely knew it was coming out until I saw it on the order form. That being said, for a BOOM! comic, 22K is a very healthy number. We’ve talked a lot about their problems getting sales and buzz for their original properties, so I imagine they’re happy with this.

Glenn: Surprisingly low down the charts is the much praised Gotham Academy and the start of its second semester. This is a bat title all the way down at 106 with sales just over 22k. I mean…where to start? The book gets critical acclaim, has a lot of goodwill and DC didn’t do much to push it. Unlike Raven its not a mini, its priced at 2.99 and is for all intents and purposes a Rebirth book but without the branding that could have seen it have a sales bump of 30-40k if not more. This seems like a missed opportunity to me and is a decision I fail to understand.

Ray: I’m gonna cry on your shoulder now, Glenn. *weeps in a totally manly fashion* Gotham Academy is such a good book, with one of the best, most diverse casts in comics, and DC missed out on a golden opportunity to give this book a much needed boost. It was originally listed as a Rebirth title, and their decision to strip it of that branding likely cut its sales in half. This is still close to double what the title was doing before the relaunch, so that’s some good news, but unfortunately, it’s likely to fall down to its previous levels again.

Glenn: *pats Ray* It’ll be alllll right. The decision is even more baffling then if they said they were going to do it. Perhaps there was some sort of disagreement behind closed doors? A lot of unanswered questions in Gotham Academy with the ultimate bottom line that its going to be one that likely lives at the lower end of the charts.

Ray: Decent numbers for Brittania, Valiant’s latest number one. Almost 20K at #115, which is surprisingly strong for a book that doesn’t actually tie into the main Valiant universe as far as I can tell. Valiant’s doing a number of unconventional stories in the coming months, including the Turok-esque Savage, and this probably bodes well for the line as a whole.

Glenn: It seems that Valiant have pretty similar numbers across all their books. Since they have a relatively small output, they could be one of the few companies that sells all their comics to the same audience. Still has a decent place among the rest of the chart. Consistency is key where Valiant and companies at a similar level are concerned.

Ray: It’s wrapping up next month, but we should give a shout out to Vision, which sank to the 25K range by its fourth issue and then has amazingly held above 20K all the way to #11. This book has carved out a small but loyal audience, and it’s likely going to be regarded as a classic for years to come when it wraps. Another feather in Tom King’s cap this year.

Glenn: Vision will have a long and healthy life in collection form as Tom King’s star continues to rise. The series has been universally loved and while it was never going to be a smash hit, mid 20k throughout its run and a story that we’ll likely still be talking about in 10 years is not the worst investment Marvel could have made here.

Ray: Speaking of consistent sales, besides Revolution, IDW’s top book this month is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, with sales of around 15K at #135. What’s really impressive is that this is issue #62, which makes this the longest-running book so far on the charts without a relaunch besides Walking Dead (Action and Detective don’t count – they’ve relaunched twice since TMNT began this run). Given how long it’s been running with relatively little in the way of stunts to boost sales, it just goes to show the enduring power of this franchise.

Speaking of long runners, X-O Manowar approximately doubles its sales for its #50 grand finale. A relaunch is coming next year with a new status quo, so Valiant seems to have gained some buzz around their oldest workhorse.

Two Image books without big names attached, Surgeon X and Glitterbomb, both have relatively healthy debuts of around 14K, which is standard for a lower-profile Image book. They seem to have gotten good reviews out of the gate, so I could see them both stabilizing at a healthy level.

…This is a first for your resident comic book geek, but there’s a book on the charts that I genuinely do not know of! Lady Mechanika: La Dama De La Muerte, from Benitez Productions, does over 14K in sales, which is very surprising. I’ve seen titles from Benitez on the charts before, but never this high up.

Glenn: Lady Mechanika actually rings a bell with me. I think its an existing property that has an existing (albeit small fan base). This would likely explain the numbers if that’s correct. I doubt it’ll hold close to this but not a bad start for a property that seems at best to be very obscure if not completely new.

Ray: We’ve talked at length about the struggles Vertigo faces right now, and he’s some titles that illustrate this. We just saw a Doom Patrol relaunch from Young Animal debut with almost 70K. Meanwhile, we have a creator-owned title from one of DC’s hottest new writers, Josh Williamson, debut with… just under 14K at #151. Granted, Frostbite is only a six-issue miniseries and will probably maintain acceptable numbers for the duration of its run, but not even an A-list creative team can deliver big numbers for a Vertigo book right now.

Glenn: The good news with Frostbite is that like you say, its a mini and I don’t think any of Williamson’s Image books launched that much higher. Of course, Williamson is now the guy writing Flash and the upcoming Justice League vs Suicide Squad so you would have thought this might have made an impact. Perhaps at Image, it would have. Sadly this isn’t the worst news for Vertigo this month.

Ray: Much more grim is the numbers we see for the book down at #167 – Everafter: From the Pages of Fables. The first Fables spin-off released since the series’ grand finale can only pull just over 11K in sales for its debut issue. Part of this is undoubtedly Vertigo’s brand problem, but the bigger issue might be Fables being seen as done and the fact that this series features characters not many people care about. No one wants the next After MASH. To put this into perspective, this book just got outsold by the second issue of Marvel Tsum Tsum.

Glenn: Fables was the book that kept Vertigo alive for over a decade so the logic of seeing it bring some attention back to the imprint is there but the practicality of it is clearly not. As we continue to see more Young Animal books launch, it could be the final hurrah for Vertigo apart from collections and the occasional special whenever someone like Gaiman takes a whim.

Ray: At #152, we find Black Hammer #3, which is stablilizing extremely quickly with sales in the 13K range – and is also the top-selling Dark Horse book this month. The ceiling for Dark Horse books is still worryingly low, but they seem to have a well-deserved hit on their hands here.

Glenn: The acclaim for Black Hammer is considerable, I think Dark Horse will be very pleased they got it locked down with them. This is a book that like Vision, may not be making sales records but has people talking and will be ultimately a book Dark Horse can add to its library and sell to more and more new fans as the series progresses.

Ray: Their next book down is a new Aliens #1, which manages to do just over 13K at #155. It seems like new Aliens and Predator books are their most consistent seller outside of Black Hammer, so it’s not a surprise that these launches are becoming more and more common.

Glenn: This franchise does seem to have more life in it and is the only licenced property Dark Horse has apart from the Buffyvere. Aliens is as popular now with its fans since the first movie’s release and the people that have come to it along the way. Its something that Dark Horse can depend on, which is something they desperately need at the moment.

Ray: This also seems to be where most of the Revolution tie-ins from IDW are landing. ROM, MASK, and Micronauts all do in the 12K-10K range. While not particularly impressive numbers, these are IDW’s highest selling books other than the main event title and TMNT, plus My Little Pony which is obviously a different audience. By IDW’s standards, these are healthy numbers – especially for a cavalcade of 80’s toy properties.

Glenn: I suppose 80’s nostalgia definitely has its own audience and people might want a dose of properties they grew up loving with seeing them through the mind of someone like Michael Bay. This is a decent to good performance to IDW might try stuff like this in the future.

Ray: We find two smaller Image properties a little further down the charts. First is Top Cow sci-fi mystery Eclipse, which does around 12K at #162. Top Cow usually struggles a bit in sales, so this is healthier than quite a few of their recent debuts. I was surprised to see Hadrian’s Wall, by the COWL creative team, barely crack 10K at #178, though. Not sure what went wrong there, although COWL was also a hard sell.

Glenn: I do remember also being puzzled at COWL‘s sales back in the day. The writer, Kyle Higgins was someone who worked with Snyder at DC so you think his name would carry more weight but it seems not. He has been out of DC for a while and was never someone who was on anything overly memorable while he was there so perhaps the comic buying public have simply forgotten about him? He could probably use another round at DC before launching any of own properties.

Ray: Red One comes back from a length hiatus with a big drop, barely breaking 10K at #179. And by the time I write this column, the book is on hiatus again indefinitely after releasing two issues. They’ve got a plan, I guess. Not sure it’s a good one, but it’s a plan!

Glenn: Like I said a few articles ago, no matter who you are, the comic market has become very unforgiving in regards to delays. High profile books with top creative teams could disappear for months at a time and see little to no impact when they do put out a book. Those days are long gone with more choice and higher prices than ever. Comic fans don’t have the patience to wait on a book that may not know is ever going when they will just go and pick up something else that looks interesting. The Dodsons are great but they seem to indeed be misjudging the amount of people wiling to to pick up an issue of Red One when it does indeed come out.

Ray: Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur is now in the four-digit range, selling 9.7K at 183. Marvel’s fully committed to this book and is announcing upcoming storylines, so they’re clearly seeing something we’re not.

Glenn: Could be digital making the difference with Moon Girl. Marvel could also be keeping it on thinking the “Monsters Unleashed” tie-in may boost sales. I don’t think we should hold our breath but stranger things have happened.

Ray: Briggs Land had a very impressive debut last month for Dark Horse, but it quickly sheds over half those sales in month to and lands at #189 with sales in the 9K range. Unlike Black Hammer, this book is not defying gravity for Dark Horse. Brian Wood’s books have a loyal but small audience, so this will probably perform similarly to The Massive.

Glenn: Yeah, at Dark Horse you need to be one of the biggest names in comics to get to stick with you or work on a popular, existing property to have a chance. By and large, they just don’t have the power they once had to properly promote new ideas by creators and encourage stores to check it out when they might want to use that money to check out the new Batman title that features Bat-Mite. Dark Horse seems to be battening down and willing to weather this storm but its difficult to see sunlight at this point.

Ray: Another new Aftershock title, Paul Jenkins’ Alters, has a healthy debut at 9.3K at #190. Aftershock hasn’t had that breakout hit yet, but these are decent numbers for a new company.

Glenn: Considering the company started like, 5 minutes ago they’ve managed to craft themselves a decent place in the charts. They have a lot of top tier talent which helps of course but will only get you so far. It seems that people are enjoying the output they have and like Valiant, they’re one of the few comic companies in the market today where they don’t sell big numbers but you could reasonably buy all their comics since they’re wisely keeping their line to the minimum at the moment.

Ray: BPRD spin-off Rise of the Black Flame barely makes the top 200, selling 8.4K at #199. This has been Dark Horse’s most enduring franchise, so these numbers for a new #1 have to be pretty troubling for them.

Glenn: BPRD/Hellboy is past its peak popularity but yeah, Dark Horse needs more books like Black Hammer or better to start to make themselves relevant again. They’ve become completely lost since losing the Star Wars books and there doesn’t seem to be any hint of that changing. At this point, the best they can hope for is a minor miracle while they continue to truck along.

Like DC though, Dark Horse doesn’t seem to mind sharing their toys as they team with IDW to produce Tarzan and the Planet Of The Apes which debuts at 205 with sales just under 8k. The Tarzan film this year didn’t indicate that many people were clamoring for more of this character, even if the crossover with Planet Of The Apes seems too good an opportunity not to do. DC is getting great traction out of inter-company crossovers but this one seems to have landed a bit flat. On paper it sounds like a great idea but neither franchise is a huge draw in comics anyway.

Ray: That’s definitely the strangest crossover I’ve seen yet, and it has a heavy-duty creative team attached with Tim Seeley and David Walker. These numbers are a bit disappointing given that, but not out of the standard for Dark Horse. Next time they should team with DC and set it in Gorilla City. That’ll boost those sales!

Glenn: That may not actually be a half bad idea where Dark Horse is concerned, you know. They could even pair him up with Kamadi and boom, there you go.

Titan releases yet another Doctor Who comic starring the Third Doctor portrayed by Patrick Troughton. It sells just over 7.7k. Not terrible but not great but given this is old school Who, only the die hard fans will be turning out for it, even if its written by Paul Cornell. Titan is definitely getting their value out of the Doctor Who property, that’s for sure but given that its only reached a wider audience since its return in 2005, anything prior to that will be a struggle to move copies of.

In an astonishing accomplishment, DC Rebirth charts AGAIN with sales just over 7.6k at 211. The fact that people are still interest in this one shot is amazing and the total number of issues sold has to make it one of the highest selling comics in the last decade if not more. There is no bad news here.

Ray: DC Rebirth will still be charting in reorders when we’re all dead and gone. I’ve never seen anything like this before, where it keeps on getting reorders month after month. This has to be the top-selling comic of the decade by now.

Glenn: If it isn’t, it has to be damn close and still probably has a few more months to claim that title if it hasn’t already

Just below that is the second issue of oddball continuation and Garth Ennis vehicle, Sixpack and Dog Welder Hard-Travelin Heroz selling just over 7.6k also at 212. This is only the second issue and it got outsold by a one shot that is now nearly 6 months old. That really says it all here. This book is for the die hard Ennis fans and DC likely agreed to put it out to keep him in their good books in the hope he might do something a bit more…commercial in the future.

Ray: Much like Bloodlines (which finishes out its run at #257 with sales of 5.5K), this is one of DC’s strange niche properties that they keep on trotting out. I’m assuming that this is essentially a pet project for Garth Ennis, which means he gets to do it whenever he wants regardless of the sales. These sales are disastrous, but given that, likely irrelevant.

Glenn: Next new debut is from Black Mask in The Forevers which sells just over 7.2k at 218. Not bad from a company that is continuing to get good buzz with titles by unknown creators. When Black hits stands, I would say its really going to increase Black Mask’s presence in the market as a whole but for now, this is what you would expect from a publisher at this level putting out a book with no big name creators.

Ray: Black Mask has quickly been building itself a reputation as the home for offbeat, dark crime comics. However, this one didn’t seem to have much advanced buzz and got some mixed reviews. Thus, this debut well below things like 4 Kids or Kim and Kim isn’t really surprising.

Glenn: At #225 is the second issue of Demonic from Image, selling just over 6.9k. Probably lucky this one is only a mini series, haven’t heard much hype about this one and I don’t recognize the names so it gets lost in the shuffle as a result.

Issue two of Generation Zero from Valiant sells just over 6.8k at #227. Not disastrous but certainty a the lower end of Valients usual sales range for sure.

Ray: That’s pretty rough for Generation Zero, losing well over half its sales with the second issue. I wonder if part of this is that unlike things like X-O Manowar, Bloodshot, Ninjak, etc, this property has no real name recognition and has never had a title before. Still, Valiant books tend to stabilize quickly, so it may be okay if it holds these numbers.

Glenn: Next at #228 is a Street Fighter swimsuit special selling over 6.6k. Priced at $3.99 and essentially doing something that screams 90’s gimmick, I think its astonishing it charted at all. Maybe there is a serious market out there for seeing M. Bison in a mankini?

Ray: …And we have this month’s winner for the strangest comic in the top 300! Bring on the spreads of Blanka and Dhalsim at the beach!

Glenn: I’ve personally always found Johnny Vega rather dreamy, its all in the mask

At #230 is Star Trek Weypoint selling just over 6.5k. This is a mini telling stories from various Trek properties in a celebration of the franchise’s 50th birthday. I really would have thought there would have been more interest here but apart from the release of the film, I’ve found the celebration of Trek’s 50th year a bit lackluster. No one seems overly bothered, hopefully IDW will benefit from having the franchise when the new series launches next year.

Ray: Surprisingly, IDW’s Star Trek comics have never really made much of an impact in the direct market. I think Star Trek may be more of a niche franchise without casual appeal, unlike Star Wars. As such, this is only going to reach really hard-core Trekkies.

Glenn: I would have thought general comic fans and Star Trek would have seriously overlapped (we nerds travel in packs) but you’re likely right. I suppose die hard Trekkies are probably this books only audience, I would personally consider myself a big Trek fan and I’ve never felt compelled to try out the comics so…there you go.

On its second issue, Aminosity is selling 6.3 at #234, again these Aftershock books definitely seem to find an audience, even if its a small one. Certainty a book in the same vein from Marguerite Bennett from say, Image would likely do a lot better but Aftershock seems to have an appeal to those currently putting out their work through them Perfectly fine for a company their size.

Ray: That’s a fairly decent second-issue hold for Animosity. As Aftershock ramps up its promotion, I imagine more and more fans will pick up these books and become aware of the company. Next month will bring their highest-profile book yet, Shipwreck from Warren Ellis.

Glenn: Charting again is last months insane success, Harley Quinn 1 with an extra 6.1 and change k being ordered at 238. Given the mega number it hit last month, you would have thought that the issue would have found every Harley fan in the direct, American market but it would seem not!

Ray: Joe Books is coming off their biggest success ever two months ago, the first issue of their Frozen comic (although issue #2 has yet to ship). That success isn’t replicated this month with the first issue of Pirates of the Caribbean, which only manages to sell 5.8K at #248. Joe Books seems like it’s mainly playing to kids, so low numbers aren’t a surprise, but this just goes to show how Frozen is pretty much a singular phenomenon for Disney.

Glenn: I kind of think Pirates may have had its day. I didn’t get much excitement from the new trailer and the last movie had a very lukewarm reaction. I don’t see many people venturing out to read the further adventures of Jack Sparrow in comic form when so many other much more currently popular adaptions struggle.

Ray: Ted Naifeh is one of those creators who has been around for a while, telling brilliant stories as a writer/artist for Oni, but he never sells what he should. His latest, the supernatural fantasy heist thriller Night’s Dominion, follows in that pattern with sales of 5.6K at #255. I think these numbers are acceptable for Oni if they level out quickly, but it’s disappointing that books like this and Princess Ugg can’t get more momentum in the direct market.

Glenn: Oni’s market is very niche. I think they probably do better outside the direct market but with so much crazy going on at the top of the chart, its always going to be hard for anyone to get their book out there, even from a relatively well known company like Oni.

Ray: The epic battle between dogs and cats has been settled. Boo, The World’s Cutest Dog sells only 5.5K at #258, a far cry from the top 100 finish of Grumpy Cat’s first comic. Cats 1, Dogs 0! Also, maybe “cute” isn’t quite enough to make a comic book character.

Glenn: The thing is as well as that you can publish a Grumpy Cat book and basically make it Garfield but with a different name. I’m not sure how many exciting adventures a cute dog can have. I think they should jump to the inevitable zombie spin off, watch it kick DC Rebirth right in the Dr. Manhattan’s.

Ray: I don’t think the actual numbers increased much, but Sheriff of Babylon did improve its chart position a lot, as its 5.2K was enough for #268 this month. That should hopefully be enough to carry it through for two more issues so it wraps its critically acclaimed run in the top 300.

Glenn: Like Vision, this is another Tom King title that got a lot of praise but far less readers. However, like Vision it’ll probably have a long healthy life in trade, especially with King making DC his home for at least the next few years.

Ray: Top Cow’s crossover event Eden’s Fall will be lucky to finish its run in the top 300, as its second issue only manages to pull 4.5K at #288. This has to be a bit of a disaster for them, although not surprising given the sales of the parent books.

Glenn: The last Top Cow comic of note that I really recall was Wanted and that certainty wasn’t yesterday. Even Witchblade (if it still comes out?) can’t make the top 300 any more. I’m sure if one of the Image founders weren’t at the head of the imprint it would have been silently shuffled off years ago.

Ray: And now, we close out the charts with Three Stooges: Red, White, and Stooge at #299. ‘Kay.

Glenn: Sales just over 4.3k for the Stooges. I just get the feeling that the publisher putting out this book found the contract for the property under a comically placed ladder and after a bump to the head, decided it would be ‘swell’ to put it out there.

Ray: Looking ahead, it’s another busy month for all the major companies. DC has the next two Young Animal books, Shade the Changing Girl and Cave Carson has a Cybernetic Eye, both of which have landed with strong reviews. They also drop the #1 issues of Teen Titans and Batman Beyond, and test their luck with a cavalcade of new miniseries without the Rebirth branding, including Deadman, Death of Hawkman, Midnighter and Apollo, and Vigilante, among others.

After taking what seems to be several months off, Marvel gets back into it with their latest relaunch. They’ll have the likely #1 book of the month in Champions #1, as well as some likely hits like Jessica Jones and Infamous Iron Man...as well as a few less likely hits like Solo, Mosaic, and Great Lakes Avengers. All odds are on Deadpool: Back in Black, which has Deadpool in the Venom costume, outselling most of them. And of course, there’s a little comic called Amazing Spider-Man: The Clone Conspiracy, which may just put Civil War II to shame in sales.

Image certainly isn’t taking the month off, with a host of new #1s, the top attraction almost definitely being Reborn #1 by Millar and Capullo. Would not be surprised at all to see this break six figures and have a top ten debut. There’s also Moonshine #1 by the 100 Bullets creative team of Azzarello/Risso, which should have a strong debut. We’ve also got Green Valley by Max Landis, Cannibal by Brian Buccellato. There’ll also be some smaller launches like Spell on Wheels from Dark Horse, Angel City from Oni, and Warlords of Appalachia from BOOM!. And Valiant is kicking off their latest event comic, Bloodshot USA, spinning out of Jeff Lemire’s acclaimed Bloodshot run.

All in all, looking like October will be an exciting month.

Glenn: A lot of risks being taken by the big two next month with a bunch of non Rebirth mini’s from DC and D list and below characters getting ‘ongoings’ from Marvel. There will be a lot more stiff competition in the top ten I think but I still believe that DC will come out on top again, although there will be a bit of a narrower gap.

We’ll find out next month, hope you all come with us to see for yourselves!