Sales

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 many years but grew up reading comics. He’s had work published with various small press publishers and has is own comic now available on Comixology in Sparks: The Way I Was from Yellow Bear Comics! In a few days Glenn is free from the worst run of Spider-Man ever, he cries tears of joy daily.

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 and has released his first novel. Ray also does a weekly roundup of DC comic reviews for website Geekdad and they’re brilliantly entertaining. Is hoping that all those that sent refusals/legal warnings and such have all left and now will finally get Batspoiler this year.

We also have a new Patreon where you can get a new weekly webcomic linked to our podcast for only $1 a month! Sign up here: https://www.patreon.com/rabbittstewcomics?l=it

No more cover images until WordPress stops being useless in its new format outside the top book. Sorry for the wall of text! We promise laughs in place of images!

Glenn: It’s a slow month in terms of Sales for September but in actuality that means we can get a better idea of where everything ‘really’ stands more or less. Let’s get rolling!

Top seller is the fourth part of the War Of The Bounty Hunters series which sells over 149k. This event continues to be doing gangbuster numbers and may be the best selling Marvel event since Secret Wars finished which is astounding when you think about it. We’ll see if Marvel can resist the temptation to go to the well all too often on this but I think the Star Wars property isn’t quite under their purview as much as other things. Still for now this whole thing has been a great success. 

Ray: This is a pretty solid jump from past issues, maybe as retailers got the word that this is just act one. Star Wars events could get old fast, but I’m guessing that Charles Soule’s trilogy will keep the brand strong. The upcoming sequels could actually blow modern Marvel events out of the water sales-wise.  

Glenn: Next on the list is the penultimate issue of the current Amazing Spider-Man run in issue 73 which sells over 138.8k and the final issue also charts in the top ten this month with sales over 122.2k at 4. So the good news first, it’s finally over and these sales are good. Finally after a lot of jiggery pokery, Marvel has finally gotten the book back to where it was at the height of sales under Dan Slott (minus his big stories and stuff like 700, etc). Marvel have been pushing this conclusion HARD and that’s likely why we have a good number. Now the finale selling a little less is interesting and is likely cause not as many people wanted to pay the inflated price for this run. The last three years has been an odd one sales wise for Amazing with retailers seeming mostly confused. Still, we finally have some decent numbers as the thing is finishing out. Next month is the start of the Beyond status quo and the return of Ben Reilly to the title role. We’ll see how things shake out. I’m just glad I don’t ever have to think about this run again. 

Ray: I think the final issues of Slott’s run sold more than double these numbers, right? Really speaks volumes, as does the fact that the jumbo-sized final issue actually sold less than the issue before it. It’s an increase, sure, but not exactly a vote of confidence in the run. We’re all just so happy it’s over! 

Glenn: End of Slott’s run sold a lot more, yeah. It’s hard to compare since that was three years ago but yeah it says it all. At 3 on the list is the first issue of Inferno, the next (and final?) part of Hickman’s X-Men saga which sells over 135.6k. Not as earth shattering as the two mini’s that started the run or the launch of his X-Men run so retailers seem to be just treating this as an inflated issue of his X-Men stuff. Still once again, this whole era has done gangbusters for the X-Men brand. We’ll see how things shake out after he leaves for now (forever?) 

Ray: Hickman was the real selling point of this run, and I suspect him leaving it will hurt it quite a bit and we’ll see the line as a whole decline. This is a good 60K above any other X-book this month, which really drives that home. Solid numbers, in line with an event, but it’ll be over before Marvel knows it. Maybe they should have just let him stick to the plan? 

Glenn: Next on the charts is Batman which is now in full Fear State mode and its causes a slight uptick in sales again with issue 112 selling 116k at 5 and 113 selling 114k at 6. Nothing completely crazy but Batman is a dependable book that only gets a little bit of juice from these event stories anyway. The book is by far still the healthiest in DC’s catalogue by a fair margin. 

Ray: It’ll be interesting to see if Williamson’s run can keep this momentum going or if retailers will assume (correctly or incorrectly) that this is just a short-term fill-in run. Either way, fantastic numbers and DC is likely still crying over Tynion’s upcoming departure.  

Glenn: At 7 we have the launch of Dark Ages which is where Marvel went to writer Tom Taylor and went ‘make us an Injustice, why not?’ It sells over 111.4k which is excellent for an out of continuity mini. Taylor’s been building himself a solid name and people seem to enjoy his little pocket universe stuff and this concept is right in his wheel house. I would expect his next elseworld mini with medieval takes on DC character will do very well indeed too in the next few months,.

Ray: This book was delayed well over a year, which makes this even more impressive. It was solicited pre-pandemic and then just disappeared from the schedule. I wonder if the time off actually helped instead of hurt – Tom Taylor’s star has risen a lot since then, as have the number of jokes confusing him with Tom King! 

Glenn: At 8 is this month’s symbiote title, Extreme Carnage: Toxin which sells over 110.8. The property is still hot and people are here for it until daddy Venom is back. Nothing more to say really. 

Ray:  This is a bizarre one, because this is a massive increase – almost 100% from past one-shots in this event. It actually sells 40K more than the conclusion of the event down at #31 and 50K more than the Agony one-shot at #46. Toxin is slightly more well-known than Agony, but not to a significant degree. Variant covers? Speculation over Toxin appearing in Venom 3? Who knows! 

Glenn: We have the finale for IDW’s prestige mini ‘TMNT: The Last Ronin’ at 9 which has a dark take on the future of the turtles by some of its original creators. It launched well and ends very well selling over 97k. That’s a brilliant number by any measure but very good for IDW who may consider doing similar alternative takes like this in the future but I’m thinking this is a lightning in a bottle situation. Now it goes off to collection heaven. 

Ray: One more issue to go on this one, actually – not that we know when it’ll come out. But this is a fantastic showing and probably the best moment for the Turtles since they crossed over with the Bats.  

Glenn: Finally at 10 we have Ultimate Comics Fallout 4 which…wait…its 2011 again! I can go outside! No it’s still 2021 sadly but this is the fascimilie edition to celebrate 10 years of Miles Morales which sells over 92.5k which is insanely good for a reprint (at full price!!!!). Since his debut Miles has been brought to the main Marvel universe and been in countless comics, books, games, cartoons and the star of an Oscar winning film. He seems to have crafted his own legacy as one of Marvel’s most popular characters to the point that (again) a reprint of his original appearance for retailers to order in impressive numbers. This is all literally free money for Marvel which is insane.

Ray: The announcement of Spider-Verse 2 details and the release of Miles’ first graphic novel no doubt helped here. Marvel has always been fantastic at getting people to buy their old comics again, but this is especially impressive. 

BRZRKR seems to have firmly entrenched itself as the #1 creator-owned book on the market, selling 90K for its fifth issue at #11. Stunning. The power of Keanu!

Glenn: All it takes to have a successful indie comic is to have the endorsement/involvement of a Hollywood A-lister, indie creators take note!

Ray: Daredevil is also shooting up the charts, likely due to retailers ordering heavily to prepare for Devil’s Reign. The latest issue sells 83K at #12, almost double what the book was selling six months ago. It’s great to see quality being rewarded. 

Glenn: It’s likely due to both Devil’s Reign and the quality driving sales. I call it the Snyder on Detective effect.

Ray: A fantastic debut for the new Lemire/Sorrentino joint, Primordial at #13, selling 81K. This sci-fi thriller might be less nightmarish than Gideon Falls, but they’ve got us covered next year on that front! More evidence that Lemire has become a dominant brand in himself, and more on that later. 

Glenn: Retailers likely have a lot of faith in this team too. They’ll see how Gideon Falls sells in collections and hope that fans there will want to check out the team’s next creative venture.

Ray: After the latest issue of Joker, we’ve got the launch of the latest mini-Marvel event in Death of Doctor Strange. It sells 75K, a solid number for a character who hasn’t sustained an ongoing in a while. Death sells! But we’ll see how the tie-ins do in coming months. 

The second issue of King Spawn sells 75K at #16, down over 80% from its first issue sales. But what’s interesting is that it sells only 58 copies more than the month’s issue of Spawn. Maybe retailers are just going to order these identically from now on? Makes as much sense as anything else – Spawn fans will want all Spawn books. 

Glenn: I still say that’s a pretty solid number all things considered. Spawn seems to have a very loyal fanbase which isn’t insignificant in today’s market.

Ray: It looks like Marvel sales went up quite a bit this month overall, with titles like Miles Morales: Spider-Man and Star Wars: Doctor Aphra all selling in the 70K range up around 30K each.  

Glenn: Aphra could be because of War and I think Miles got some variants cause of the anniversary so that likely explains it. 

Ray: The latest installment of Demon Days – Cursed Web – lands at #20 selling 72K. This one didn’t have a character in the title, but I think these books are mostly selling on the strength of Peach Momoko’s brand and so they’ll all sell in roughly the same area.  Something weird is definitely going on with this month’s Marvel sales, because how else would Ka-Zar: Lord of the Savage Land #1 sell 72K at #21? This is a character with no real momentum behind him, who hasn’t had a solo title in years, and isn’t really tying into any other book. Maybe doubled sales to promote it? 

Glenn: Must have because these sales otherwise make no sense. Even then, half of these sales seems high for a character who’s never had any sales pull. 

Ray: Nice jump for Conan the Barbarian #25 at #24, selling 68K. This is more than double the usual sales, but I’m guessing that’s because this was an oversized issue with several bonus stories from top creators.  

Glenn: Its a numeral of 25 too (duh) which also usually sees a bump too. 

Ray: It’s mostly ongoing titles here in the 60K range, with I Am Batman #1 selling 62K at #32 – pretty even from the #0 issue last month. This isn’t going to sell anywhere near the level of the main Batman title, but if it can maintain the sales of side Bat-books like Nightwing, it’ll be fine long-term. Remember, even Batwing lasted over two years in the New 52. Bats sell.  Speaking of Bats, Batman ’89 settles down at #33 with sales of 61K. This is a modest decrease from the first issue, and proves that this title likely has long-term legs. If they can get the creative team for a second run, DC will definitely want to keep this one going.  

Glenn: All solid numbers which probably means…more bat books to come.

Ray: Pretty steep drop for The Trial of Magneto at #34, selling 58K. Maybe there are too many Marvel events going on at the same time? Or maybe everyone, like me, knows he’s innocent and the whole thing is a damned frame-up!

Glenn: I think running this alongside Inferno was a mistake as both are kinda ‘event’ mini’s from the same line. One will inevitably suffer and this one doesn’t have Hickman.

Ray: Chris Priest did an amazing job of elevating Deathstroke to a headliner a few years back, and it seems to have stuck. His new solo series Deathstroke Inc debuts at #35 with sales of 58K. Strong showing for a villain-led title and it’s another win in Williamson’s DC roster. 

Glenn: Williamson has a decent pull himself and him and Porter are now a legendary Flash team so that was sure to get some interest.

Ray: 57K in sales for both Something is Killing the Children and The Department of Truth this month at #37/38. This is five Tynion books in the top forty for those keeping track!

Glenn: Next month its going to be Tynion’s month in regards to sales. After over a decade or so of work at DC he’s exploded and is doing the work of his career to boot and people are noticing.

Ray: The final issue of Sinister War limps to the finish line at #42 with sales of 55K, barely a third of the sales of the main title. Woof. 

Glenn: No one cared, no one was made to care. Let’s see how Superior Four, the Devil’s Reign tie-in does in a few months so we can gage it against this but I’m gonna bet a LOT better.

Ray: At #44 we’ve got the launch of Harley Quinn: The Eat Bang Kill Tour selling 55K. This is a spin-off from the animated series, written by indie creator Tee Franklin, and I think the sales were probably a bit depressed by the fact that it was released digitally on the DC Universe platform first. 

Glenn: I think its still a very good number considering it’s a tie-in to an adult cartoon with a more finite audience than normal, especially with digital first. I would say that surely this indicates that a more general book starring Harley and Ivy as a proper couple would do better…right?

Ray: 52K in sales for Mazebook by Jeff Lemire seems fantastic. It’s way above Dark Horse’s usual level, and better than we usually see for Lemire’s offbeat work that he draws himself. Add in the fact that this is a challenging story about grief and mental illness, and it’s yet more evidence that Lemire is up there with Tynion as the guy in comics whose name just means money. 

Glenn: Yeah Lemire is a known quantity in of himself. Obviously this will sell like gangbusters and probably win a lot of awards when its finished but this is a great start for Dark Horse.

Ray: Star Wars is hot right now. How hot? Well, we just got 50K in sales for a one-shot starring Boushh at #50. Yes, Boushh! Remember Boushh! That fan-favorite! Either way, this is what it looks like when an event is big enough to lift all boats. 

Glenn: Somehow Boushh returned…to decent sales! Astounding really. I could see Marvel trying to get Soule to stay on the property long term as his direction has definitely lifted the line as a whole.

Ray: This issue of Batman Secret Files, focusing on Miracle Molly, is the first written by Tynion. It does a lot better than previous ones, selling 47K at #55, but I think this anthology format still keeps sales down compared to Tynion’s other books. 

Glenn: Most likely, these are seen as just throwaway add on’s it seems. Most of these new characters are very cool/interesting however so there is more than a little interest to be sure.

Ray: We rarely see Titan books up this high – if ever – but they actually manage to get a big creator-owned hit this month with the female-centric noir series Gun Honey. It lands at #58 with sales of 45K, which is more in line with a mid-level Image debut. Definitely impressive, and it shows that the company has been slowly building their brand for years. 

Glenn: Excellent news for Titan who rarely dip their toe into creator owned. It seems like they got a property which resonated and all it takes is one.

Ray: Rorschach #12 wraps up that run with 45K in sales at #59, as this book goes off to hardcover-land where it’ll live forever and hang out with Vision, Mister Miracle, and the rest.

Glenn: This was a very deep and involved political thriller so I’m not surprised. King’s work seems to have its own set audience and a lot of people prefer his work in one reading. This was a fantastic read though that I hope everyone reads eventually.

Ray: The Gillen/Ribic Eternals series is taking a few months off to let Ribic get ahead, so we’re getting a few one-shots. The first, Thanos Rises, sells 42K at #62, no doubt boosted above the regular series by the name on the cover. The problem is, he barely appears in the issue – but people only find that out after they buy it!

The short run of Way of X comes to a close with the one-shot X-Men: Onslaught Revelation, which sells 38K at #69. Around the level of the main series, I think, and I think there’s probably a base level that any X-men book will get ordered at. The franchise has some die-hard fans. 

Still great numbers for the second issue of Cullen Bunn’s The Last Book You’ll Ever Read at #75. 34K for a second issue from Vault? Fantastic, and more proof the company is growing faster than any other besides Boom right now. 

Glenn: Great news for Bunn too who seems to have largely been disregarded by the big two for reasons unknown. It seems to be their loss as he ventures into properties he gets to own himself.

Ray: Superman: Son of Kal-El has a pretty sharp third-issue drop to #77 with sales of 34K. Odd, given how much hype the book got pre-release –  but I think those sales are about to shoot back up in a big way. 

Glenn: I would wager so.

Ray: At #79 we have the launch of Suicide Squad: King Shark with sales of 33K. This is a digital-first book, being released biweekly on Comixology, but it also has Tim Seeley on board and the fan favorite character from James Gunn’s movie. Not bad for a Suicide Squad spin-off – but King Shark is no Jeff, the rightful king of all sharks. 

Another solid debut for a Boom title with Maw launching at #82. This is a hardcore horror title without any established creators, and it still manages to sell just under 33K. This is a pretty good example of just how solid Boom’s brand is right now. 

Glenn: As we keep saying, Boom’s name alone is starting to have a standard bottom amount of sales attached which is great news for them as they can seem like an appealing choice for any creator looking to publish their work and get it noticed.

Ray: Dynamite has a pretty good hit as well in Army of Darkness 1979, a time-traveling horror-comedy. Its sales of 32K are well above where this franchise usually lands, but this one has Rodney Barnes of Killadelphia fame – he’s also taking over James Bond the following month, so we’ll see how that does. 

Glenn: Way more than the franchise usually does. Random happenstance or Barnes? Like you say, we’ll find out next month.

Ray: The out-of-continuity Titans series Titans United lands at #89, selling 31K. This is meant to be an evergreen series featuring the characters from the live-action drama on HBO Max, but given how rough the franchise has been in recent years and the fact that this was originally solicited as a graphic novel,  I don’t think it attracted much attention. 

Glenn: Could have done worse given all the things you mentioned. The TV show I didn’t rate much but seems to have a loyal audience that likely helped here.

Ray: The Green Lantern annual actually sells 2K more than the main book this month at #90, coming in at 31K. This is probably because this was the Jessica Cruz focused issue that explained how she became a Sinestro Corps member. The character has a genuinely huge fanbase from mass media stuff. 

It’s down here near the last of the top 100, but it’s really impressive how Ed Piskor’s Red Room manages to stay this high. The fourth issue of the disturbing dark web thriller sells just over 30k at #94, probably the only time the company has landed in the top 100 in recent memory. 

Glenn: Again…it only takes one book.

Ray: An Aquaman solo title is always a hard sell in and of itself, so a spin-off? Even more so. But that hasn’t stopped DC from creating quite a few. The first issue of Black Manta lands down at #102 with sales of 29K, which is honestly the best you could expect despite the presence of Bitter Root co-creator Chuck Brown. But this will apparently tie heavily into the upcoming Aquamen series, so look for reorders. 

Glenn: Manta is a relatively iconic villain who’s had appearances in a billion dollar movie, several cartoons and had a main role in Snyder’s Justice League as part of the Legion Of Doom so I thought this might have done better. Then again, villain books always struggle unless you’re a certain jolly fellow from Gotham. This seems like it will have more significance than retailers assumed so yeah, reorders and a decent selling collection seem likely here.

A lot of DC mid tier books around here like Green Lantern, Harley Quinn, Suicide Squad and Action all selling around 29-28k. That seems to be the level for the line as a whole without any juice added to spice the titles up sales wise. DC seem happy enough but the days of the New 52 success wave are long gone for better or worse.

It’s a DC evergreen and a Vertigo classic but Fables never really sold that much in singles back in the day. The franchise returns with Batman Vs. Bigby and after all this time on ice, I would say most fans are collection waiting. Still having the mere wiff of Batman is enough for it to launch at 110 with sales of 27k which isn’t bad for a crossover mini of this nature.

Ray: I would kind of expect anything Bat-related to sell better. It’s been a long time since new Fables, so we’ll see if it holds well – and if any of the other Fables spin-offs happen given Willingham’s recent statements. 

Glenn: I had forgot about that Ray and now I’m sad. Why do you do this to me?

Vampiverse which sees multiple versions of Vampira (no really) meet each other launches from Dynamite at 115 selling over 26.4k. That’s very good for a series which is frankly…a little bit of fun and nonsense. I would credit the trend Spider-Verse seems to have started here more than anything.

Ray: Hey, it worked for Sonjaversal. They’re doing their thing

Glenn: Second issue of Superman 78 sells 26k at 118, a good bit less than its Batman counterpart but not a million miles away from the main Action book. It’s a pretty small drop which I expected, all Super books seem to have the same level, a point echoed that Tom King’s Supergirl mini sells the same units and is listed one spot higher at 117.

Ray: Yeah, this is a really good hold. I suspect that both this and Tom King’s Supergirl are being treated as prestige titles that will sell really well in collections. 

Glenn: The second issue of Darkhawk also see’s a pretty small drop to 120 selling over 25.6 which I think is very, very good given the character hasn’t had much of a profile in forever. I think here we have the brand of Kyle Higgins and his success with similar stuff like Radiant Black and Power Rangers to thank. If they can keep him around, I wouldn’t be surprised if Marvel gets him to do another mini starring the character similar to how the success of the initial Symbiote Spider-Man mini has launched several more.

Ray: That Kyle Higgins and his ordinary people getting magical artifacts from space!

Glenn: Ablaze continues to do well while kindly working away in the corner with no one noticing. Their latest English translation is He Who Fights Monsters, a WW2 offering with the selling point of being drawn by Something Is Killing The Children’s Werther Dell’edera is good enough for sales over 25.1k at 122. We talk a lot about the rise and success of Boom and Vault but Ablaze’s strategy seems to be working for them, this is a great number for a translation comic.

Ray: Yeah, they’ve been a real surprise and they got lucky – or smart – enough to pick up the rights to an old comic of a future legend. 

Glenn: Speaking of Vault, their continued streak of horror hits continues with 123’s Deadbox from Mark Russell which sells 24.3k. Much like Boom, the company is starting to earn faith on company brand alone and horror is right now the second best property to have a good name for. A lot going for Vault.

Ray: Russell has also been building a real brand for himself as a satirist and his books generally sell in the same level, but this is one of his first forays into horror. It’s not on the level of last month’s Bunn debut, but it’s another big win for Vault.

Glenn: Even Kelly Sue Deconnick couldn’t really set sales of Aquaman afire so a debut of 24k at 124 is no surprise for new offering from the character: Aquaman Becoming. This does star Jackson Hyde as opposed to Arthur Curry but it doesn’t seem to have made a significant difference sales wise. Its fine for what it is, no surprises.

Ray: This is a decent debut for a Jackson Hyde solo series but below what I’d expect for a regular Aquaman title, which means DC was likely hoping for the latter but retailers knew what this was. 

Glenn: I kind of forgot Last Annihilation was a thing but the Wakanda tie-in one shot sells 23.8k at 126 which is pretty in line for the dedicated Marvel cosmic fanbase. As usual the slightly higher price point for one shots (4.99) hasn’t made much of a difference so Marvel will keep doing them.

Ray: It really wasn’t a thing? Just a Guardians of the Galaxy arc with a few small tie-ins. I think this basically did the numbers of a Black Panther regular issue, since there isn’t one at the moment. 

Glenn: 23k for the Suicide Squad annual at 129, only 5k less than the main issue this month which is probably about right for annuals in this market for a mid tier selling property.

Very good sales for the second issue of Boom’s Eat The Rich at 134 selling over 22k. This would be considered a hit at Image so ditto here.

Considering how prestigious a property Sandman is and that Joe Hill is a bestselling author, I would have thought both parts of the Locke & Key/Sandman crossover would have done better. The second part sells 22k at 135. This will obviously do much better in various versions of collections for many decades to come anyway but still…perhaps if Gaiman’s name had been on the cover too it would have helped?

Ray: This had a really long wait between issues and even switched from IDW to DC, so I imagine retailers were more than a little confused. Plus it’s the end of an ongoing story in Locke and Key. I imagine it’ll be included in future collections of that series. 

Glenn: An odd looking superhero title, Frontiersman launches from Image with sales over 21.9k at 136. This is better than average for a non-big two superhero launch outside the big two and since I don’t recognize either name, something about the concept must have caught retailers eyes.

Ray: Original superheroes as a whole are a rough area for Image, unless it’s Spawn-related or Radiant Black-related. This was probably about as good as could be expected. 

Glenn: Next launch is from Dark Horse comics in the form of Last Flight Out from Marc Guggenheim sells over 21.7k at 139. This is again is higher than usual from the company. It could be the concept interested retailers and in an otherwise relatively quiet month, they decided to take a chance.

Ray: Guggenheim also has a decent brand as a long-time TV writer. I think a lot of people expect this to be picked up for an adaptation soon and may have wanted to get in on the ground floor. 

Glenn: Right below that at 140 is another Red Sonja title which I believe in this instance is written by Mirka Andolfo. It sells over 20.5k which is slightly below the fourth issue of the Palmiotti/Connor Invincible Red Sonja. Maybe a bit higher than usual for a Sonja book but that’s probably on Andolfo’s name and her maybe contributing a variant or 12. The property has its set level and has lived there for years.

Ray: Dynamite really didn’t hype this one at all, which makes me think Andolfo was only loosely involved. 

Glenn: There’s a zero issue for Star Trek: Mirror War, a mini event for that franchise from IDW. It sells over 20.3k at 141. On the high end of IDW’s usual Star Trek numbers but nothing earth (or space) shattering.

A lot of second issues around this level but nothing too noteworthy until we get our next launch at 154 in the form of The Search For Hu at 154 selling over 18.7k. This is a new Steve Orlando comic so that’s probably why its on the high end for Aftershock, it’s a good debut for them and will probably have a decent life as long as he wants to do it.

Ray: Orlando’s quietly been building a brand with Aftershock for a while, co-writing a couple of graphic novels as well. It seems to be paying off. 

Glenn: Last Annihilation pops up with a Wiccan and Hulking one shot at 158 selling over 18.1k. This is lower given that I would consider these characters somewhat popular. I just think the cosmic side of Marvel is a little more niche so maybe that Wakanda one shot did better than I thought.

Ray: Disappointing, but these two haven’t had a solo title for a long time and Empyre bombed hard, so retailers seem to have ordered cautiously. Meanwhile, over at DC – “Hey, CNN, Superman’s gay.”

Glenn: Kind of all steady/business as usual continuations and/or unsurprising second issue drops. The next Vaders Castle mini sells over 16.7k at 168. That’s pretty much what I would expect from a Star Wars mini from IDW this weather. I’d say this will do well in collections, the first one must have sold well enough to get this the green light after all.

Ray: This is apparently the last in the Vader’s Castle series. I know the IDW Marvel Action line is over, but we’ll see how the Star Wars line continues. 

Glenn: Next we have Boom’s latest Firefly offering in ‘River Run’ selling over 14.4k at 178. This franchise much like Red Sonja has a small but set/loyal audience. It’ll never get any bigger but it’ll also never get any smaller most likely so its nice for Boom to have a steady performer in the background like this.

The Stranger Things comics don’t sell as well in singles as they did when Dark Horse got the property but the show has been off the air for a while and its not ‘fresh’ and ‘new’ anymore. The latest adventure ‘Tomb Of Ybwen’ sells over 13.7k at 184 which could be worse and I would say the collections on these do very well.

Decent launch from Behemoth’s Nine stones at 185 selling over 13.5k. Strong launch from a relatively small publisher, especially with creatives I don’t recognize.

Ray: Behemoth is one of many publishers that’s scraping for a small slice of the market, and they seem to be pulling ahead of many of the competitors.

Glenn: More reorders for Jabba’s Bounty Hunter one shot as it sells over 13.3k additional copies at 188. People love their creepy lizard.

Telepath’s from AWA I might have thought would have done much better given it has a dynamite team of JMS and Steve Epting but it only manages over 13.1k at 191.
I think the publisher’s roll out and the chances people seem to take on some of them being part of a shared universe being 50/50 has confused a lot of retailers and readers. We’ll see how long they can continue with an oddball strategy.

Ray: Yeah, this one actually looked like part of the Resistance-verse but wasn’t. The upcoming dark vigilante comedy Knighted is! Retailers and audiences have no idea what’s going on. 

Glenn: Reorders for Image’s latest horror hit, Me You Love In The Dark which moves over 13k more copies at 192. This is excellent news for the comic that seems to star comic artist Jenn St-Onge.

Die’s final issue gets no bump and the series ends with sales over 12.4k at 197. This was a dense comic and did some really interesting things with the comic genre in general so wasn’t easy to dive into and most may just have collection waited. It’s a stunning series however and I hope it becomes an evergreen in collection heaven.

Ray: Yeah, no one was picking this up at random and the series didn’t go on long enough that its finale would be an event. But it’s a masterpiece and destined to be an evergreen hit. 

Glenn: Vault has another horror offering from Peter Milligan this time in Human Remains at 198 selling over 12.4k. I’m surprised that this didn’t do better given Vault’s hot streak right now and that Milligan is a verly well known name.

Ray: Milligan’s always been sort of an odd case in that he’s never had a hit that kicked him into the A-list. Shade the Changing Man and X-Statix were probably the closest, but he’s always been a bit of an oddball who never broke out. 

This is also Aftershock’s second biopic book, after Shadow Doctor, so it’s new territory for them and more of an experiment that would lead to cautious orders.

Glenn: Not much interest in Ka-Zar Marvel tales at 199 selling over 12.4k but again…this is hardly a fan favorite and at 7.99 for pre-existing material I’m sure no one is too disappointed.

Some TMNT: The Last Ronin first issue reorders for IDW at 201 with another 11.9 plus copies sold. People love their favorite heroes living in horrible future’s where their miserable.

Ray: TMNT: The Last Ronin is really the biggest hit IDW and the Turtles have had in ages. The second issue charts again at #221 with sales of just over 10K.

Glenn: 209 sees Almost American from Aftershock which sells over 11.3k. This is from 90’s creator Ron Marz doing an ‘The Americans’ type thriller. This is much more what I would expect from Aftershock sales wise.

Ray: The big two are still dealing with pandemic-related delays. The RWBY/Justice League crossover was released digitally in early 2020, but the print edition was halted at #5 for over a year. The sixth issue comes out this month at #222 with sales of 10K and likely some very confused retailers. Not terrible for a crossover with a fairly obscure web animation series. 

The month’s Hellboy/BPRD one-shot, 1957 Family Ties, lands at #229 with sales of 9.4K. This is where the Mignolaverse lives now. 

Just three spots after that with sales of 9.2K we’ve got the latest Godzilla Rivals issue – Vs. Mothra. Mothra is one of the most popular rival monsters, but this is still a 7.99 one-shot that doesn’t tie into anything else. 

Glenn: This does seem to be the level for Godzilla books and if they’re getting 7.99 for bigger (some might say…monster) editions they might just purely go that route.

Ray: A pretty big drop to #245 where we find the Transformers Halloween Special selling 8.4K. Do they tell each other scary stories about damage to paint jobs or leaky oil?

Glenn: Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Ray: A very odd case at #247 as we get 8.2K in sales for The Darkhold: Alpha – which is supposed to come out in October. Probably due to printing issues, but this should be added to next month’s numbers for the event launch. 

Glenn: Seems like some people got it early. Likely a mistake with all the shipping/paper confusion going on at the moment but I didn’t know about it until now so it seems to have remained safe from spoilers and the such.

Ray: Source Point enters the chat at #255 with the new horror series The Unborn, which sells 7.9K. This is well above their usual level, so they may have a hit on their hands.

Terry Blas’ Reptil miniseries ends its run at 3257 with sales of 7.8K, one of the lowest sales for a Marvel book in some time. But Blas’ career is taking off in the OGN market at the same time, so this seems like another Runaways situation where Marvel doesn’t know how to sell something. 

Glenn: It was such a random series to announce though. This is a character that hasn’t been seen much in like a decade. I wonder if Marvel published it just to maybe get the favour of someone whose star was on the rise? Reptil and his fellow Avenger’s Academy fellows are unlikely to be seen again apart from supporting roles and the odd nostalgia rollout ala the Slingers from here on.

Ray: Image gets another 7.5K in sales for Echolands #1 via the Raw Cut edition at #260, so that book from Williams III and Blackmun seems to be a hit. 

Glenn: Absolutely and like we said it’ll likely do even better when it gets a nice big collection to really show off the art.

Ray: Aftershock’s prison ghost story 10 Years to Death lands at #265, selling 7.1K. This oversized one-shot sold well below Aftershock’s usual level, and they have other one-shots coming, so I don’t know if this strategy will pay off for them. 

Glenn: Likely trying something different to try to stand out a little but yeah, doesn’;t seem like a sound investment.

Ray: Moon Knight #2 gets almost 7K in reorders this month at #266, so the interest in this book does seem to be genuine. 

Also 6.7K in reorders for Eat the Rich #1, so Boom has to be really happy with this. 

Mad Cave’s horror sci-fi book Bountiful Garden, featuring art by friend of the columnists Kelly Williams, lands at #273 with sales of 6.5K. This is well above Mad Cave’s usual level and it’s brilliant, so keep an eye out for this one. 

Glenn: Really glad for Kelly who you’ve had the pleasure of working with even! He’s insanely talented and I hope he gets some big projects in the future.

Ray: Black Mask somehow manages to get 6K in reorders for White, the new spinoff of Black, down at #281. Surprising, but this is the closest thing the company has to a flagship franchise. 

Glenn: I think much like Black this was a Kickstarter first so all these sales are on top of the people who funded that to get the book so that’s interesting to remember too.

Ray: Two more Behemoth launches, the genre-hopping Turbo Kid: Apple’s Lost Adventure and the dystopian African thriller Nobody’s Child, sell pretty close together at #288 and #290 in the upper 5K range. These aren’t breakouts, but they show Behemoth continuing to rise quickly. 

Glenn: We’ll put them on the growth chart and see if they can maybe be the next Vault/Boom situation.

Ray: 5.4K in reorders for the first issue of Ed Piskor’s Red Room, in a month that seems to be rewarding established hits with bonus sales. 

Glenn: It’s a relatively quiet month so retailers had extras money to order books that they heard their customers talk up most likely.

Ray: Chu #8, obviously a cult hit, sells just under 5K and is our lucky #300 book. This isn’t getting most of its sales in singles, I’m sure. 

Glenn: The previous series is one of Image’s big sellers in collections so the majority of the fandom are likely picking it up there.

Ray: Heading out of the top 300 and into dark and dangerous territory…

Glenn:  Scarier than the Bone Orchard down here.

Ray: There’s another random Trailer Park Boys one-shot at #302, subtitled “Bagged and Boarded” and selling 4.9K. I’m glad these guys are keeping busy. 

Glenn: The very definition of a niche audience.

Ray: Scout’s noir supernatural gang thriller Night of the Cadillacs lands at #314. selling 4.2K. This company continues to struggle to make it into the top 300. 

Jeremy Haun’s The Beauty was abruptly cancelled before its final issues and now has wrapped up with a one-shot over a year later. It wasn’t a high seller before the issues, but this final issue lands at #315 with sales of 4.2K, which makes me wonder if a lot of retailers were scared off. 

Glenn: There seemed to be a lot of controversy with some debate if this would be finished. That combined with the delay likely put a lot of people off.

Ray: Cold Dead War, a new zombie thriller from Heavy Metal, sells 4.1K at #317. This company has made a big push with some top creators, but it doesn’t seem to have made much of a dent here in the US. I know they’re a big brand abroad. 

Same for Taarna: Elements from the company down at #322 selling 4K. 

3.5K in reorders for The Last Book You’ll Ever read at #33, so even better than expected. 

Glenn: Great news for the Bunn clone army

Ray: More Scout down here with Dancing with the Dragon at 335 and Shepherd: Path of Souls at #340, both in the 3K range. 

And this is where we get Zenoscope books like Wonderland Annual: Reign of Madness and Robyn Hood: Swarm in the lower 3K range. Glenn, strike up the band!

Glenn: I hope both Madness and Swarm are sexy ladies.

Ray: Dark Horse has a really low-selling one-shot, Children of the Plague, at #349, selling just 3.1K. It seems like no matter the company, one-shots struggle.

Glenn: Done in one’s just aren’t the trend anymore and are probably seen as something people can pick up later on the cheap if its something they might be interested in.

Ray: Karl Kesel has a new series out from Scout, Impossible Jones. He’s a big name, but it didn’t help this superhero comedy pastiche do more than just under 3K

Glenn: Kesel has worked on some of the biggest properties in comics for a very long time but he’s not a name many might immediately recognize. Plus like we say often, indie superhero books, even one with a skew are always a hard sell.

Ray: Action Lab is going through some rough waters right now, but they still show up on the charts with the first issue of The Citizen at #353, selling 2.8K. 

And a big jump down to #378 and #379 when we find two oddball Scout one-shots, The Corset and Mullet Cop. Both sell 1.9K due to their higher price tags, but both are worth searching out. 

Ahoy is really struggling hard right now, and the latest volume of their Edgar Allan Poe anthology launches at #382 with only 1.8K. They’ve also seemingly stopped putting their new comics on Comixology, so who knows what’s going on there.

Glenn: Hopefully not another Action Lab situation.

Ray: The sure to be tasteful Batvark: Coronavirus from Aardvark-Vanaheim lands at #395 selling 1.6K. I don’t think anything else needs to be said there. 

It’s mostly reorders all the way down until we get to #454, where we wrap things up with 597 copies of Barbaric #1. That book only released a few issues before ending its first arc and going on hiatus, but it does seem to have some real staying power. 

Things pick up in a big way in October, as we have launches from DC including two huge anthologies including Wonder Woman’s 80th anniversary. We’ve also got a new Long Halloween one-shot, the return of the Batman who Laughs in a Fortnite one-shot, and the return of Hill House with a sequel to Basketful of Heads. And a whole lot more!

Marvel launches their newest event in The Darkhold, as well as a new era of Spider-man (we’re in the future. It’s beautiful here). We’ve also seen the finale of Immortal Hulk, but a lot of these books were held back by printer delays. 

Over at Image, we see the launch of the next Rick Remender book, A Righteous Thirst for Vengeance. However, most of their launches were delayed at the last minute. So DC may be primed to dominate this month. 

Glenn: We also have the House Of Slaughter from Boom which seems to be a monster in more ways than one. That looks like it could easily be number 1 with a bullet next month as Tynion continues to ride an unreal hot streak. I doubt anything else next month will come close.

Ray: What will rise? What will fall? Find out next month on…by the numbers!

Liked what you read? Let us know here along with any questions or go seek us out on Twitter @glenn_matchett and @raygoldfield

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 Matchettis a comic writer and editor. He’s worked in the industry for many years but grew up reading comics. He’s had work published with various small press publishers and has is own comic now available on Comixology in Sparks: The Way I Was fromYellow Bear Comics! Blown away by the end of the Mandoloreon, Glenn still finds it hard to believe that Disney managed to get Rodney Dangerfield to appear

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 and has released his first novel. Ray also does a weekly roundup of DC comic reviews for website Geekdad and they’re brilliantly entertaining.  He sees coming to the end of 2020 like a video game boss fight…shame that Ray is made of 99% comics and doesn’t videogame! Snake! Snake! Snaaaaaaaaaaake!

Glenn: Welcome folks to the last By The Numbers article of the horrible, no good year 2020. There hasn’t been as many articles this year and its been odd for all of us but I hope that those reading this will find some reprieve in our little number obsession.

Hitting the hat trick, Three Jokers concludes where it started at the top spot selling at least 195k. Once again this book has lived up to the hype in terms of sales and will now doubtlessly become an evergreen for DC with artist Jason Fabok saying he is blown away by the overall sales. This has done so well that we already have a sequel (Four Jokers?) on the way. I’m sure DC are very pleased and will hope that even though Johns has surprisingly announced his first Image book he will continue to crank out the odd book for them because it means $$$$$ and the next project Fabok touches will be a top seller. No doubt this has been part of the reason for the new Joker ongoing coming March 2021.

Ray: What an amazing performance. This has just been a barn-burner from the moment the first issue debuted, and it barely slowed down at all in its final issue. And this is just the beginning – it’ll head to collections now. Between this and Doomsday Clock, Geoff Johns couldn’t have found a better final act for his extended time as DC’s top writer. 

Glenn: Second is the 100th issue of Batman, the conclusion of Joker War and the continuation of James Tynion’s surprise hit run which sells at least 150k. I’m surprised it maybe didn’t do better but the days of 200-300k sales are becoming increasingly rare. Initially what started as a fill in run has seen Tynion turn the title into a hit once more. The next issue falls slightly to 100k  at 9 which is still very good and it’ll likely have a slow bleed until Tynion spices things up again. No matter what else happens in comics, its hard not to bet for Batman’s continued success.

Ray: I thought it might have hit 200K too, but this is a monster number. Between Punchline and Clownhunter, Tynion has really injected some new blood into the Bat-world and that’s translated to massive success. Not only will this continue to be one of the top ongoings once it returns in March, but the new Joker series (with Punchline backup) might be the only thing that could rival it – also by Tynion!

Glenn: Despite being labelled on the charts as issue 49, the number 3 spot was published as issue 850 for Amazing Spider-Man overall which helps it zoom up to 155k with the next issue also being an anniversary number (cause Marvel) and selling 105k for the 50th issue of the latest volume  at 7 which also has the start of the much hyped ‘Last Remains’ story. DC has proved over the last few years that anniversary numbers still mean something and Marvel take full advantage of that here. With the boost it might make you think that people might be interested in Last Remains but there’s another issue of Amazing this month wayyyyy down at 41 selling 39k which is the lowest the title has sold for years. Now the good news here is that the Last Remains tie-in mini Amazing Spider-Man (number here) .lr sells just one below at 41 with the same low sales ball park.of 39k meaning that for the time being everyone reading the main book want to read the tie-in book. The problem is that not many people want to read Amazing beyond anniversary numbers. Marvel better hope this is a blip because this used to be one of the books they could really depend on but years of poor quality writing on the book might have caught up to it.

Ray: Obviously, big anniversary numbers will create a boost in sales, but the long-term sales trends for this series aren’t good at all. This title has been mired in two much-hyped but poorly received event arcs in a row, and yet the numbers on the regular issues are lower than ever. Makes you wonder just how long Marvel wants this run to go on for. 

Glenn: Venom continues to rack up sales as it marches towards King In Black with sales around 150k for just a normal issue at 4. This has become Marvel’s strongest ongoing by far and King In Black will doubtlessly be a monster hit in terms of the main series and likely at least the Donny Cates written Venom tie-ins.

Ray: This is insane for Venom, and likely indicates that King in Black will top the charts for every issue. After a frankly dreadful year, Marvel finally has something to be happy about. 

Glenn: I’m not sure what has gotten into the water with Spawn but it keeps its random sales bump from last month selling around 125k at 5. The boost for 300 I understood and I also understood the residual higher sales than previous following that but this sudden popularity is…odd. There’s something I’m missing here and I’m not sure what that would be, any readers of Spawn please feel free to let us know but this is the best the title has sold for ages so good for it.

Ray: Yeah, I can’t figure out what would cause this massive surge all of a sudden. But despite these big sales, it may not be the top-selling Image book for long. Cates is coming. 

Glenn: Dark Knights Death Metal continues to also perform strongly at 6 with sales around 120k. The event seems to have become a steady hit with still some way to go as we start to see the future of the DCU that will result from it. Although I suspect Snyder and Capullo might revisit DC for the odd Black Label project now and again this is a hell of a way for them to go out if this is indeed their last work on the main line.

Ray: Rock-solid to the end. This is less accessible than Doomsday Clock or Three Jokers, but it’s the perfect capper to Snyder’s decade-long tenure at the company. It’s still doing numbers most events don’t reach these days, and the limited tie-ins are strong as well. 

Glenn: At 8 we have the other mega hit from Donny Cates and Marvel in the form of Thor. It doesn’t need no King In Black it seems (so far) as it does fine on its own selling around 105k, Whatever Marvel is doing to keep Cates around, they better keep doing it.

Ray: Cates is THE guy right now, one of the only ones who seems to be able to turn books into megahits on his name alone. Marvel nabbing him quickly is basically keeping them afloat right now. 

Glenn: Rounding out the top ten is Jonathan Hickman’s X-Men which I believe is still tying into Swords Of X. Despite tying into a 20+ part crossover the title is selling 90k at minimum and this is the magic of Hickman as his run seems to be doing the near impossible job of pleasing fans old and new. We’ll see if things quiet down ater Swords Of X but I would speculate that this is a best seller in spite of the event, not because of it.

Ray: Swords of X has given every book in the line a bit of a boost, I believe. The line has flagged a little since its beginning, but we’ll see if the new launches in the aftermath of the crossover can lift it again. 

Wolverine also got a pretty big boost at #11 for the crossover, selling at least 85K at #11. This was the issue that introduced Wolverine’s new nemesis, Solem, so retailers were warned to order heavily. 

Far outselling the other tie-ins, we have Dark Nights Death Metal: Robin King at #12. This one focused on the breakout villain of Death Metal and sells at least 70K, pretty strong for a $5.99 book. 

Glenn: Death Metal is a strong brand and people want to see if they can be on the ground floor of the next breakout character but obviously Evil Batman/Joker will trump evil Robin/Joker.

Ray: I would have expected more for Rorschach #1 from Tom King and Jorge Fornes, the next Watchmen spinoff. It sells at least 70K at #13, strong for a Black Label prestige King book. But it’s performing more like the next Strange Adventures than the next Doomsday Clock. I wouldn’t be surprised by some heavy reorders and a strong hold here. 

Glenn: It’ll hold strong but I see this more of a niche thing than an ‘event’ like Doomsday Clock was. This is more like a strong character piece like King’s other works rather than a balls to the wall wacky thing like Doomsday Clock. Retailers are likely just ordering it like most of the other King niche character books and if it holds steady, it’ll be grand and will do great in collections like Vision and Mr. Miracle. Watch to see his new Batman maxi series perform big numbers.

Ray: The White Knight verse still has some strong fan appeal, with the Harley Quinn spinoff co-written by Murphy landing at #14 selling at least 67K. Controversies aside, people like this universe and we’ll likely get more spinoffs unless Murphy blows up his career. 

Glenn: Batman related stuff by a top artist selling? Perish the thought! This is another one that will also do long business in collections.

Ray: The Marvel weirdness starts early this month as Spider-Woman #5 lands at #16 selling at least 66K. That’s a massive jump from last issue and there’s no real reason for that – it’s the end of the first arc. This doesn’t bode well for the rest of the chart making sense. 

Glenn: For the last year or so we’ve seen a lot of odd sales from female characters connected to Spider-Man and I would say this falls under that. We’ll see how long the book goes before being cancelled/relaunched and how we stand next month.

Ray: Dark Nights Death Metal: Rise of the New God lands at #18 selling 60K, another strong showing for an oversized one-shot in this event. 

Glenn: See comments for Robin King basically. This is an event that is performing well across all tie-ins.

Ray: Speaking of oversized one-shots, at #19 we have the halfway-point one-shot X of Swords: Stasis cowritten by Hickman and Tini Howard. It sells at least 61K, a strong showing for a necessary chapter in the event that retailers may have underordered on a bit. 

Glenn: I think retailers are unsure how to treat this event. They’re letting it boost the higher selling books and the others to a lesser degree but its so long and so in depth that it might not appeal to those outside the die hard X-Men fandom the same. With that in mind, this is very good sales and shows Hickman has basically turned the X-line into a talking point once more with a snap of his fingers.

Ray: People aren’t tired of Walking Dead yet, as the colorized reprint Walking Dead Deluxe #1 sells over 48K at #21. This is a crazy cash cow. Can’t wait for the hologram reprint in ten years. 

Glenn: Considering how many reprints and variations there is of this already, this is ridiculous. This property just won’t die (pun very much intended).

Ray: Down at #23, we’ve got the long-delayed launch of Champions selling at least 48K. This was the main series for the Outlawed crossover, which started in March right before the shutdown. This couldn’t have helped its momentum, but I also don’t think there was much hunger for “Civil War III: Adults vs. Kids”. I expect fast drops from here. 

Glenn: If it stayed here it would be fine but yeah, it won’t. I honestly forgot Outlawed was a thing and I think Marvel has too so this title has been left to drift and that’s not a good thing where every book that doesn’t star Batman and isn’t written by Cates or Hickman needs all the help it can get.

Ray: We continue to see weird numbers, with Strange Academy doing another shockingly high number of 46K at #26. Could there be hunger for a Teen Titans-style book in the Marvel Universe that’s helping this? Sure, but this title doing so much more than Waid’s Dr. Strange book did seems odd. 

Glenn: Back in the day, Young Avenger’s was a hit and I don’t think Marvel ever really provided a proper substitute. Obviously sales here are much lower than YA at its beak but that was a LONG time ago and had a Hollywood writer and Jim Cheung. Everything considered, this might be the book people have long awaited and its caught on.

Ray: After a few regular titles, we see one of the highest entries IDW has ever had for the launch of TMNT: The Last Ronin #1 at #31. Selling at least 44.5K, this future-set TMNT thriller focusing on the last Turtle standing against a new Shredder brought back original series creator Kevin Eastman and even had Peter Laird involved. The $8.99 price tag didn’t seem to deter people from what’s essentially Old Man Turtle/The Dark Turtle Returns. 

Glenn: This has a concept that appeals outside the hardcore turtles audience and reunites the original creative team. This is one of those prestige books that IDW has very much lucked into and it reflects in sales. I could see this holding well and doing very well as a collection too.

Ray: I’m still surprised by how popular this Catwoman series is, with the #26 issue (the first regular issue of Ram V’s run) selling 42K at #32, higher than the final issue of Batgirl. This bodes well for next month’s launch of Batman/Catwoman. 

Glenn: King has brought new interest to Catwoman and Joelle Jones didn’t hurt either. The character is having a moment again and DC seems to have faith in this creative team as I think they’re only the second to stick around post Infinity.

Ray: Black Widow’s second issue has an excellent hold, selling at least 41.5K at #36. Great news for Kelly Thompson, even if the series has been beseiged by delays. 

Glenn: Apart from Deadpool oddly, Thompson always has great success with book stabilisation. Hopefully the delays for the book won’t hurt its sales momentum too much.

Ray: It’s been a great year for creator-owned books, and Rick Remender’s joining the party with the launch of The Scumbag. This mature-readers book about the world’s worst accidental super-soldier sells at least 41.5K at #37, easily another hit for Remender at Image. 

Glenn: Although he perhaps doesn’t grab the headlines like some others, Remender is a creator who very much has found a solid niche in creator owned. His books perform always at a good level and very well in collections and are highly thought of. Its something in modern comics that is becoming increasingly common.

Ray: Crossovers are big money, and that apparently goes even when the characters themselves aren’t big draws! Die!Namite, the latest Dynamite crossover pitting John Carter, Red Sonja, Peter Cannon Thunderbolt, and Vampirella against a zombie army sells 41K to start at #38. Most of this is probably due to the massive number of covers, but a zombie crossover is a no-lose proposition right now. 

Glenn: This is an insane concept too that’ll draw some eyes for people that are curious how these things that shouldn’t fit together do. I’m not sure how Dynamite pulled this off with having some licensed properties in here but they did and it seems to have had a good effect. Its rare to have something like this outside of the big two that have multiple properties interacting.

Ray: This is a pretty big jump for Something is Killing the Children at #44, selling at least 39K this month. That’s almost double what it was previously selling. Could this be a side effect of Tynion’s massive Joker War success, or just statistical noise?

Glenn: I think it could be the former of your suggestions or the fact that Tynion is on a hot streak.

Ray: Steve Orlando’s had some forays into creator-owned work before, but he has his biggest hit yet with Commanders in Crisis at #46. This diverse multiversal superhero team concept from Image sells at least 38.5K for its first issue, which puts it solidly in the top tier of Image launches without a superstar attached. That’s just above the second issue of Department of Truth, which is looking like it might be Image’s new top non-Spawn dog – at least until Crossover arrives. 

Glenn: Great debut for Commanders and a great hold for Department, both will become great additions to the Image library.

Ray: Batman: The Adventures Continue continues to impress with its numbers for a digital-first title, selling 34K at #50. DC would be silly not to make this an ongoing, which is why they’re doing an immediate one-shot sequel focusing on Harley and Ivy soon. 

Glenn: The power of the animated series remains long after its conclusion.

Ray: Iron Man has a pretty hefty drop for its second issue, selling 32.5K at #55. That’s definitely not what Marvel wanted to see – it barely outsells a random 13th issue of Batman/Superman – so their search for a successful direction for Tony continues. 

Glenn: It could be worse, its still selling slightly more than the end of Slott’s run but it needs to stop falling or there will be trouble as its not a million miles away from that level.

Ray: Another hit for Boom at #59, with Dune: House Atreides selling at least 32K. I believe this was the first comic adaptation of the cult hit novel series, and this was likely timed to tie in with the movie. That tie-in…is not happening right now, but this is still a healthy number. Remember when this kind of number would have been a huge hit for Boom instead of a normal middle-of-the-road success?

Glenn: I remember! This is a cult property with a very loyal fanbase that will either check out here or in collection, the latter of which will deliver healthy sales once the movie hits theatre’s…or your home.

Ray: After a lot of business-as-usual books down here, we drop to #70 for the launch of Werewolf By Night. This Native American-themed reinvention of the classic horror character had former Black Eyed Peas member Taboo co-writing, but the market is rough and it couldn’t manage more than 29K for a debut issue – below the second issue of Shang-Chi. 

Glenn: It’s Werewolf By Night so they can get all the outside the market cred they want, it’ll still have a ceiling. Hopefully it stabilizes fast or the second issue drop is going to be ugly.

Ray: We Only Find Them When They’re Dead sells at least 26.5K for its second issue at #76. While that’s a significant drop, it’s also worth noting that this is above almost every Image book this month. Boom continues to carve out a significant piece of the creator-owned market. 

Glenn: That’s mental and I would consider this a mid level hit at Image so with it being at Boom…

Ray: The annual giant-sized Halloween anthology from DC, this year titled The Doomed and the Damned, is down at #77. This team-up issue pairing DC heroes with supernatural ones, sells at least 24K. Not bad at all for a $9.99 anthology and higher than the last few anthologies. 

Glenn: The horror aspect likely helped put it ahead of the pack. People love to be spooked.

Ray: Scott Snyder and Rafael Albuquerque’s Vertigo classic has been gone for a while, so American Vampire 1976 #1 landing at #78 with sales of 24K seems healthy. This will likely sell much more in collections. 

Glenn: This is only being released monthly for posterity. It’s selling well above where the series was but its been so long since the last mini and so many fans (including myself) have come along since then that many will just hold out for the collection which will sell gangbusters.

Ray: Venom is a powerhouse, as the 27th issue charts again down at #81, selling an additional 24.5K. 

Glenn: Knull is coming. So are sales. Lots of sales.

Ray: X of Swords put out a handbook featuring character profiles, and it sells 24K at #82. That’s very high and was likely helped by the fact that this story has so many characters it might be genuinely needed, but it points to some real interest in the event. 

Glenn: I’ve never heard of this X-Men with the power to take on the property of a scented candle! He must be made up I…oh no wait here he is. How about that?

Ray: The biggest upset in the top 100 this month has to be down at #83, as Alex Paknadel’s Giga scores a rare top 100 finish for Vault. This giant-robot adventure with a unique hook sells at least 23K, and Vault continues to be the fastest-growing company out there besides Boom. 

Glenn: Another company that has seen insane growth despite the you know…everything. They are bagging bigger creators and doing some interesting books and this is steadily building them a strong brand. In 5 years or less they could be where Boom is now.

Ray: DC released two Halloween anthologies this month, and the smaller Legend of the Swamp Thing Halloween Spectacular sells 21K at #86. Decent numbers for a character who hasn’t had a solo title in a while – although that changes in January. 

Glenn: I’m surprised since this had a singular character focus this was the least selling of both anthologies. Obviously DC are happy because as you mentioned the character gets a new book by the creative team that book ended this anthology.

Ray: If you had told me that Deadpool would be the lowest-selling of Kelly Thompson’s three books at Marvel, I would have laughed at you. But here it is floundering at #87, selling 22.5K. Maybe this King of the Monsters subplot has gone on a bit too long?

Neil Gaiman helps Dark Horse into the top 100 with the debut issue of Norse Mythology from a talented collection of artists. It sells 22.5K at #88, similar numbers to what his American Gods adaptation did. 

Glenn: Bound to sell more through the book market but still a decent little performer.

Ray: Glenn, do you know what a Warhammer 40K? I barely do, but Marvel has started publishing comics based on it. The first – a Marneus Calgar series from Kieron Gillen – sells 22.5K at #89, showing this tabletop game has a big fanbase. 

Glenn: I know they’re apparently fun to paint and what some of the models look like? This is a mega popular property outside comics and model and game workshops will be buying this book in by the barrelful in singles and collections for the die hard audience.

Ray: IDW is known for crossing over EVERYTHING, and they launch another bizarre one with Transformers/Back to the Future. It has a healthy debut at #90 with sales of 22.5K, but oddly – the second issue has not come out yet in December. 

Glenn: Much like Die!No!Mite! People are likely here for the wtf factor.

Ray: Speaking of IDW, they relaunch Star Wars Adventures with a new #1 and it charts at #92 selling 22K. This is still not geared towards the direct market, but it does healthy numbers compared to the similar Marvel books. 

Howard Chaykin is always a bit of an acquired taste, so retailers may have ordered a bit cautiously on Spider-Man Marvels Snapshot as a result. It lands at #94, selling 21K – similar to the other one-shots with no bounce from a bigger character. 

Glenn: When I don’t pick up something Spider-Man related it says something. This was the oddest pairing of creator and character of all of these I think and it reflects in sales.

Ray: The much delayed conclusion to Spider-Man Noir rounds out the top 100 with sales of 19.5K, proving people love any and all Spider-verse content. This also isn’t a bad floor for the top 100 overall. 

Glenn: Could be much worse and I think this will do well in collections, especially when the Spider-Verse sequel hits.

Ray: #104 brings us the first spin-off from the fantasy series The Last God, with Dan Watters‘ one-shot Songs of Lost Children selling 18K. This series is ending with #12 in January and should make an excellent hardcover that will sell in perpetuity.

Glenn: DC are seemingly impressed enough to give the writer Superman so that says a lot,

The Ralph Macchio one shot meant to tie into the much delayed (COVVVVVVVVIDDDDDDD) movie, Black Widow: Widows Sting sells decently enough with at least 18k at 107. At least it’ll be out there when the movie does hit…eventually.

True Lives Fabulous Killjoys National Anthem is the other Gerald Way creator owned book from Dark Horse. I don’t think this one has the mass appeal of Umbrella Academy and seems much more specialist. Its also a continuation of a previous series so I think the sales here of 18k at 109 are very good.

A new Aftershock creator owned at 115 in the form of ‘We Live’ which sells 16.5k which is along the lines of a non big name Image launch so not too bad. Interesting to note that some Vault launches are now leapfrogging Aftershock despite the former not being around nearly as long.

Ray: Aftershock’s record is spotty, but this is one of the better debuts they’ve had in a while. Maybe their model is starting to pay off? This one did get a bit of good advance hype.

Glenn: True Believers has a Black Widow theme this month to again tie in to the movie that we ultimately didn’t get. The highest selling of the bunch is unsurprisingly a Task Master related issue which sells 16k at 118.

Stillwater, the latest horror offering from Image lands at 123 with its second issue making it around your average Image mid level performer. I’m surprised because it is horror and it has a big name creative team but its still fine here and will likely do well in collections.

Ray: That’s a pretty soft drop, which means Zdarsky should be giving us nightmares for some time. 

Glenn: Right below it at 124 is Web Of Venom: Wraith reorders getting the issue another 15k in sales. I would say that once retailers got the memo Knull was in this, they went back to order fast and puts the issue overall at an insanely good number considering it stars a character 5 people know about.

Long running Image series Sex Criminals reaches its climax (arf arf) with issue 69 (arf arf) selling 15k at 126 which is slightly higher than normal. This book of course sells much better in collections and will be one that performs well for new fans in years and decades to come. Its certainly one that can’t be critizised for not being different enough.

Ray: Honestly, I’m shocked this bizarre and wonderful book did as well as it did in singles. The madmen actually did it! They pulled it off!

Glenn: I hear they like to pull it off on the regular.

Pretty standard launch for a non JMS book for new publisher AWA in the form of American Ronin which sells 13k at 132. At this point its unclear what this company expects of itself and what its usp is so it’s hard to judge.

Ray: Of all of AWA’s launches, this had the most Vertigo vibe and was by a veteran creator in Peter Milligan. That might give it a bit more life than some of them – but this company has zero brand identity right now. 

Glenn: Next thing of note is the Stranger Things Halloween special which sells 12.5k at 144 so the comic has lost some of its initial momentum but still performs well for an outside media adaption. Clearly Dark Horse are happy as we continue to get more of these.

Ray: This was a one-shot taking place before the series, so it probably didn’t have the momentum of some of the ones filling in blanks from past seasons. 

Glenn: A Sonic spin off mini focusing on his bad guys does pretty well considering all those things I just typed at 146 selling 12.5k.

The newest Black Hammer mini focusing on Colonel Weird launches at 148 selling 12k and this has pretty much more or less become the standard level for Black Hammer. Obviously this universe is very well received and does great in collections at Dark Horse can’t stop pumping out more and more parts.

Ray: Yeah, I expect all books in this universe will sell close to this level – besides the Visions one-shots featuring megawatt creators. 

Glenn: Vault has another series at 153 in the form of Devil’s Red Bride which sells around 12k which isn’t too bad from a small company and a creative team I’m not familiar with. Its all relative and while Vault has bigger hits, this is still a decent launch all things considered.

Ray: If this is basically Vault’s level for launches without A-list names attached, that’s an amazing coup for them and basically puts them in the top ten publishers after very little time. 

Glenn: Considering its a tie in for a series that has long been MIA and is likely never coming back I thing Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina: Madam Satan sells very well with around 11k at 159. This most likely sold on the strength of the Netflix show more than anything.

Ray: Yeah, but I don’t think there’s much hunger for more spinoffs that don’t actually continue the story. Shame what happened to this universe. 

Glenn: A new Friends like comic at 160 in the form of Getting It Together which sells around 11k. This is from Iceman writer Sina Grace so I might have expected a little more but its a pretty standard no flashy lights Image launch otherwise.

Ray: That’s a pretty rough debut for an Image book, but it’s also a very rare case of an Image book with zero genre elements. I don’t know if there’s the hunger in the market for hard-R dating comics, no matter how diverse the cast is.

Glenn: The newest Rick and Morty thingy from Oni sells 10k at 171 for Oni who could probably plaster the walls of their entire hq with Rick and Morty comics at this point. Once again, these are selling much, much better elsewhere.

Mostly reprings and ongoings of indies and Black Widow True Believer issues until we get to 187 and Sympathy For No Devils from Aftershock which sells 8.4k. Pretty standard stuff from this company these days who have lost a lot of their momentum they had in the early days.

Back in the day, Marvel Zombies was a hot property and sold like bananas, a Marvel Spotlight issue that covers some of that original run is still good for 8k in sales at 191. Its no Walking Dead…now with colour.

Very much a die hard item at 196 in the form of the Conan handbook which sells 7.6k which when you consider its 5.99 for a lot of text and old material isn’t that bad.

King Tank Girl reminds us this property still exists and apparently has somewhat of an audience at 7.4k at 198. Not much more can be said really, it is what it is.

More reprints and ongoing books aplenty until 213 where we get a Life Is Strange book to tie into the cult video game which is good for 6.4k. This game is much more niche than some of the others that are generally on the charts and it lacks the interaction that is the games usp so I’m not surprised its on the low end of video game tie-ins.

Ray: Life is Strange has a massive cult fanbase thanks to its cast, especially among LGBT fans. Titan getting this license is going to pay off for them. 

At #216 we have the latest oversized reprint collection, TMNT: Best of Raphael from IDW. This sells 6.2K and is a collection of classic stories featuring each Turtle in turn. It’s free sales, and the franchise obviously still has a big fanbase. 

At #220 we’ve got the facscimile edition of Marvel Fanfare #10, selling 6K. This was the origin of Black Widow, so another tie-in to what was supposed to be Black Widow’s month. 

A new creator-owned title from Oni, The Vain at #221. This vampire heist/Nazi hunter thriller is by Elliot Rahal, who has been at multiple companies lately. I don’t think Oni has much of a brand for creator-owned books right now, so about 6K is in line with what I’d expect. 

Glenn: Its proven with Scott Pilgrum that Oni’s money with creator owned is in collections so this will likely find an audience there. I’ll be honest and thought they had stopped doing non licenced monthlies for this very reason.

Ray: Amid a bunch of reorders and low-selling creator-owned books, we have the debut of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Song of Glory at #228. It sells 5.6K, but I suspect more orders are going to video game stores where the core audience for this is going to be. 

Glenn: Its a popular franchise and it has Vikings in it so it’ll sell somewhere. Another one that could benefit long term from the Netflix adaption.

Ray: Hey, at #232 we’ve got the Tales of Terror Quarterly 2020 Halloween Special from Zenoscope, selling 5.4K! Do we really need more tales of terror in 2020? Glenn, strike up the band!

Glenn: The breasts that wouldn’t die.

Ray: 5.2K more in reorders for Stillwater #1 at #235, so there’s some clear interest in this.

There’s Zombie Tramp #74 at #237, selling 5.2K. The mascot of By the Numbers should get a boost for the anniversary next month. All I know is, Zombie Tramp #100 better come in at #69 or I’ll throw a barrel. 

Glenn: We quit if it doesn’t.

Brent: No you don’t.

Glenn: No we don’t…

Ray: And it’s followed by the loooooooong running Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose right below it. The bar for scary things on this chart keeps creeping higher and higher every month. 

Glenn: Horror is the second biggest genre in comics right now and its not particularly close.

Ray: It’s mostly reorders and some low-sellers down here, but the kickoff to Firefly: Blue Sun Rising does pick up another 4.8K in reorders at #250. The first Firefly event looks like a hit, and will apparently be leading into a spinoff soon. 

Remember Scream: Curse of Carnage? The Venom spin-off that abruptly had its second arc shitcanned after the pandemic? For some reason, the first issue gets 4.4K in reorders at #253. 

Glenn: Could be stock dumping or Venom being hot right now or retailers getting copies in to go along with the King In Black one shot coming in a few months. Could be all three!

Ray: Lots of odd reorders down here, including the third issue of the offbeat comedy book by industry legend Mariko Tamaki, Spider-Man/Venom: Double Trouble. It charts at #258 selling 4.2K, which helps to explain why a Thor-Loki themed sequel has been greenlit. 

Glenn: I would say collection sales for this book outside the market is the main reason for that more than anything else.

Ray: This is where Scout starts to chart, and a new sci-fi launch called Phantom Starkiller lands at #261 selling 4K. This company still seems to exist in a separate “indie space”, unlike Vault, and hasn’t had a breakout hit in a while. 

Glenn: I think they annoyed some retailers with their first issue then straight to trade program. A risky move for sure.

Ray: I’m always amused when we get really old reorders, and US Avengers #1 is down at #273 selling 4K. To put this into perspective, this came out during the last days of the previous presidency. 

Glenn: That long ago?! What is time?

Ray: The latest mini-digest, Archie’s Halloween Spectacular, is down at #276 selling 3.8K. Pretty routine for these books, which mostly seem to exist to give comic book store readers a chance to read the new stories without buying the digests.

3.4K in reorders for Autumnal #1 down at #282. The two combined covers for this horror series sold close to 20K this month for the second issue, so this seems like it’s quietly become one of Vault’s biggest hits. 

Glenn: That’s amazing for Vault and well deserved, its bloody good.

Ray: More Zenoscope down at #295, with Myths and Legends Quarterly: Ares selling 3.2K. I wonder if Ares is a sexy lady, or if the reason he starts a war is a sexy lady. Call it a hunch. 

A Zenscope book without many sexy ladies – probably – is Conspiracy: Planet X One-Shot at #297. Selling 3K, this seems to be part of their foray into sci-fi and horror. Unless the aliens of Planet X are sexy ladies. 

Glenn: The spaceship is a giant sexy lady.

Ray: A new arc from one of Ahoy’s properties, Edgar Allan Poe’s Snifter of Blood, launches at #298 selling 3K. Ahoy is struggling to find a foothold in the market despite a unique business plan. 

And more Ahoy at #301, with the unique superhero adventure Penultiman launching with 3K. Maybe the sequel to the Wrong Earth series will turn this around next month, but this company is struggling. 

The bizarrely profane supernatural police thriller Concrete Jungle launches from Scout at #303, selling 2.8K. This is one of their hardest sells, yet did close to their other books. Not sure what the overall model for the company is right now. 

Unholy Bastards vs. the Future, a strange spinoff of The Goon, sells 2.6K from Albatross at #306, pretty in line with a cult property like this. 

Glenn: Yeah, retailers will know exactly who to order this for and not expect any surprises.

Ray: Action Lab has a weird model right now, as they released books during the earliest days of the pandemic on Comixology and are now releasing them in print. That makes titles like vampire thriller Carmine – which lands at #308 selling 2.6K – an odd duck where much of the audience has already read it. 

Glenn: Bonus sales? This is for anti-tech weirdo’s like myself he says realizing he is using an online blog to talk about comic sales he saw online…

Ray: The horror series Muertana from niche publisher Verotik launches at #312, selling 2.6K. We’re well down into obscure territory here already. 

Glenn: Already? But I haven’t even poured the brandy yet…

Ray: The Twilight Zone inspired horror series The Electric Black returns with a new one-shot, Electric Black Presents, at #320. This was one of the most hyped series from Scout when it launched, but spotty scheduling has dulled the hype since. 

Glenn: Only big name creators can pull off the disappearing act these days. Even big companies find it hard to keep momentum on missing titles.

Ray: At #327, Red 5 Comics enters the charts with Legacy of Mandrake the Magician #1. This teen adventure from Erica Schultz revamps some of the Flash Gordon supporting heroes in a modern setting. The company and the characters don’t have much of a presence at the moment, but this was enough for 1.8K and it might be aimed more at the Comixology market. 

Glenn: I thought this would have done slightly more even if the heroes its involved with are well past their most prominent. Schultz is a great writer and I hope this finds readers somewhere.

Ray: It’s time for the latest nonsense from the creator of Cerebus, with the Vault of Cerebus one-shot selling 1.8K at #328. 

Another entry from Red 5 at #330, with the sequel to Butcher Queen, titled Planet of the Dead, selling 1.8K – pretty in line with the last volume of this sci-fi thriller. 

American Mythology continues to make the most of public domain licenses that Dynamite doesn’t have, with Zorro in the Land that Time Forgot selling 1.8K at #335.

Glenn: Zorro versus dinosaurs? No wonder they went extinct.

Ray: Mad Cave is another publisher trying to establish a foothold in the market, and their dark-edged superhero thriller Villainous lands at #336 with sales of 1.8K.

Action Lab’s attempt at an all-ages launch, Miranda and the Maelstrom, lands at #345 with sales of 1.6K. This is another one that was released digitally in April, so these sales don’t show the whole picture. 

And at #348, we have the confusingly named Necromorfus from Behemoth, selling 1.6K. I still have never seen a Behemoth comic book.

Glenn: With a company name like that you’d think the comics would be hard to miss!

End of the year and stock dumping a plenty as we have a ‘Enter The Spider-Verse’ one shot from 2018 which sells around 1.4k.

Hollywood Trash which looks to be a comedy of sorts from Mad Cave charts 365 selling 1.4kish too. Looks like it could be fun but its a small company and no name creators so here we are.

Book 3 of the Eternal Thirst of Dracula which is how you know they’re really Eternal since they’re on book 3 and all is at 1.2k at 374. Since they are indeed on the third volume and its a book by American Mythology, retailers are ordering for those that are already reading.

I had to google what 376 was and I care too much about you faithful By The Numbers fans to force you to do the same. This is a pro-Trump comic featuring a parody of the Mandolorian. It sells 1.2k…somehow.

Ray: What will Antarctic do when they don’t have Trump parodies to make anymore?

Glenn: Biden and Harris parody where they both live in a wacky 50’s sitcom.

So much reprinting and low selling and stock printing down here. One of the most comics all among it all is an animated something or other starring funny animals which has the involvement of John Carpenter who directed and wrote *checks notes* Halloween and The Thing. Okay. It sells 1.2k at  382.

Remember Royals? One of the many Inhumans series that Marvel were forcing on us when they were trying to make that franchise a thing? I sure as heck don’t as the last issue ‘mysteriously’ appears at 398 ‘selling’ 1k.

Ray: Looking forward to the hard-sell of a dozen Eternals books in a year. 

Glenn: Its all Marvel landfill down here and stuff like Batvark Xxxxx selling 900 copies at 410. I hope I didn’t miss out an X there, I’d hate to make this title look unprofessional.

I’ll be honest with you folks, there is just a sea of Marvel here with the odd appearance by low selling Mad Cave and Scout offerings so I’ll let you know that the lowest selling charting comic this month was the fourth issue of Scream: Curse Of Carnage which shipped another 400 comics at 539.

Is 2020 over? Is it done?

Ray: And yeah, this is almost entirely reorders down here, including some random books from three or more years ago. I don’t even remember what Civil War II: The Oath was.

Glenn: *opens mouth to speak but then realizes he doesn’t know either*

Ray: Looking ahead to next month, things are ramping up as we head to the end of the year. November from DC is going to bring us the massive hit of a Punchline special, plus John Ridley’s Other History of the DC Universe from Black Label, plus a trio of new Tales from the Dark Multiverse one-shots, and the return of Jeff Lemire’s Sweet Tooth. 

It’s the calm before the storm for Marvel in November, as King in Black is just around the corner. But this month they’re wrapping up X of Swords and launching a few minis like Wolverine: Black, White, and Blood. We’ve also got Chris Priest’s US Agent, but otherwise it’s a pretty quiet month – for now. 

Of course, Donny Cates is busy elsewhere this month – launching Crossover from Image Comics. There’s a good chance this will be the first creator-owned book to top the charts in a long time. 

What will rise? What will fall? When will we finally get November sales? Find out next month on…By the Numbers!

Liked what you read or have any questions or comments? Let us know below or hit us up on Twitter @glenn_matchett and @raygoldfield

There is a cave in a mountain in Northern Ireland where no one has dared go to for months. Only one man, one brave, handsome man who should as their policy give every occupant of such a cave a pay rise, Brett Schenker dares go near it. Inside this cave he finds a figure dressed in rags over a fire, in the flames burns hopes and ambitions and hopes that the poor figure had for the year ahead.

Brett: I come looking for the writer of By The Numbers…

Glenn: Heh…no one…no one’s called me that for a long time…

There is a cave in New Jersey. Buried deep inside it, a crystalline matrix has been sitting since time immemorial. Finally, after eons, it cracks. Into the light steps a mysterious being. A man who they say can read limitless comics. At long last, he is unleashed upon the world once more. 

Ray: Finally. Good thing I had digital comics in stasis. 

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 many years but grew up reading comics. He’s had work published with various small press publishers and has is own comic now available on Comixology in Sparks: The Way I Was from Yellow Bear Comics! During the whole Covid mess, Glenn lost his sanity 2020 times!

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 and has released his first novel. Ray also does a weekly roundup of DC comic reviews for website Geekdad and they’re brilliantly entertaining.  He was largely uneffected by quarentine as he is in fact a sentiant escaped computer from DC Comics.

Sorry about the lack of images folks. I’m out of practive and it took me ages to get it into this state. Next article should be back to normal. I also hate new WordPress. HATES IT.

Glenn: Well its been a hot minute folks but we’re back and since *looks outside to see fire is raining down* that’s going on, its time for the long awaited return of By The Numbers. Since it has been a while we’re going to treat you to not one but TWO articles that will go verly close together (statement not legally binding). In this first one, we’re going to look at the missing months, the ones where the comic industry started to fire up again after Covid ruined everything for everyone. We sadly don’t have actual numbers but we have rankings so we’ll have to surmise for now. Even though they are no longer distributing through Diamond, DC comics are included. How much their new distribution model makes? Who knows?! It’s like the wild west but instead of cowboys we have confusion and instead of indians we have indigestion…

Ray: So, needless to say, we’re back but comics are definitely not what they were. For the first time, we have one of the major comic companies not distributing through Diamond. Will others follow? Maybe, especially with some making big shifts towards the bookstore market. Some companies resumed a full schedule relatively quickly, like DC and Boom. Others, like Marvel and Valiant, have yet to rebound fully even in September. This has been a wild and uncertain year, but it does feel like comics have overall rebounded and may come out of this a healthier, more diversified industry. 

April

Glenn: Only 5 books this month as DC gets out of the gate before anyone else with resuming business. These books are issue 4 of Daphne Byrne, issue 20 of Dreaming, Batman Giant 4 and reprints of Batman 89 and Nightwing 70. Not much to say here except its a good sign that one of the Hill House books not written by Joe Hill himself outselling the much more historical and prestigious Sandman book is something to take note of. We’ll likely not see any new Hill House material for a while but DC will be eager for more considering how they were doing prior to the end of the world and that#s without the juicy, juicy collection sales to come.

Ray: This lineup of books was just DC testing the waters with their new distributors through Midtown Comics and DCBS, putting out a few low-stakes books without any of their heavy hitters. It seemed to go over well, although all these books have since concluded. The Hill House books were solid sellers, even the ones that didn’t have a-list creators attached. The Sandman Universe books struggled a bit more sales-wise and the line’s now been cut back to just G. Willow Wilson’s flagship title. As for the Batman Giant, these books have since been repurposed into digital-exclusive daily stories as DC continues to shake up its product line. The crazy thing is? This rollout happened only a month after the shutdown, when most comic book stores were still closed. The other companies didn’t start up again till late May, and so the only other books released this month were some digital-first Action Lab titles. 

May

Glenn: Things start to get somewhat back to normal as we have nearly 100 comics chart this month as Marvel, Image and others start production themselves. Top book of this month is the 25^th issue of Venom. Anniversary issues always do well and this is Marvel’s best selling ongoing but as we’re often reminded…Knull is coming. After this turned into a sequel to Absolute Carnage and continuing the build to The King In Black which will undoubtedly do tremendous business. The hype train very much starts here.

Ray: The first thing to remember about May is that while DC was the first company out of the gate, they didn’t unleash any of their top comics because this month was essentially still them testing the waters. They wanted to make sure as many stores as possible were open before they unleashed Punchline-mania on us again. So it’s not a surprise Marvel dominated up top, but I kind of suspect Venom might have won the day either way. This book is huge and as The King in Black ramps up, it’s only going to get bigger. 

We don’t know the numbers, but Comichron is using Justice League #45 as the baseline and gives us an index for how many books each comic sold compared to it. Venom sold 2.83 Justice Leagues. 

Glenn: Since everything is so slow to get going again, Amazing Spider-Man gets second place by name alone. Its been selling anywhere between 50-80k randomly so these overall sales for this chart are probably quite low but…its odd times. This is almost a month that won’t count but retailers will be taking what they can get and no matter how bad it is (and its bad) Amazing will sell steadily.

Ray: Amazing has one mini-event followed immediately by another in the coming months, so that should stop any attrition for now. But this run is really trudging along on name recognition alone.

Glenn: Highest selling DC book at 3 is the third issue of DC Unkillables. This has killed into a killer (get it? Get it?) franchise for DC to such an effect that Marvel wants Taylor to work his magic with them too for a similar post apocalyptic themed event. These mini’s aren’t going anywhere and Taylor might have the easiest/best gig in comics where he gets to write all the big icons at once but gets to do what he wants in little pocket side universes.

Ray: I think this is the combined sum of all their covers, which is pretty impressive. Unkillables didn’t sell the numbers of past DCeased comics, because it just featured some supporting players instead of the big guns, but this performance is more than enough to indicate we’ll be seeing future spin-offs as long as Taylor wants to write them. 

Glenn: Next at 4 is the newest issue of Jason Aaron’s Avenger’s, another steady stellar which will give Marvel and retailers some consistency while everything tries to regain some semblance of normalcy.

Same with Marauders at 5, this was the highest selling X book outside of Hickman’s own so again no surprise to see it high while everything is on autopilot.

At 6 is the relaunch of Doctor Aphra, a fan favourite who continues to do well despite the fact she is entirely a creation of Marvel and has yet to appear in any outside media. By being able to add to the franchise in such a manner Marvel will be keeping the big wigs at Disney happy in times where every win counts.

Ray: Doctor Aphra had an odd roll-out, being released unexpectedly three weeks before its print release in digital for “May the Fourth”, so that may have blunted the sales a bit. Still, an original character doing this well is significant. How long before she makes her way into live action or animation?

Glenn: The Black Label Harley/Joker Criminal Sanity charts at 7. With Harleen over with and Birds Of Pray pushed back a bit, this is the default prestige Harley book this month. The character always performs well and Black Label has carved itself out a nice place for reliability for DC in these strange times.

Ray: This title has been besieged by delays for a while and was followed by a Secret Files issue in the coming months. We’ll see if the long waits between issues holds back the sales in coming months, but the names on the title are probably enough to guarantee good sales. 

Glenn: Issues 44 and 45 of Justice League chart at 8 and 9 respectfully and although Snyder’s run is done the title has enough juice to keep it trucking along until the next big direction. There’s a metal crossover headed its way written by DC trusted hand Joshua Williamson on its way which will give it a new lease of life. For now its just another steady performer in a month with very little happening.

Ray: Yeah, this title has been in limbo for a while with decent but underhyped runs from Robert Venditti, Simon Spurrier, and Jeff Loveness. It’ll be interesting to see who gets the call-up to write the title long-term for the next run – there are probably a lot of relaunches coming soon. 

Glenn: Final spot in the top ten is for Image’s Ludocrats which likely got here due to the fact it is co-written by Kieran Gillan who has had quite the success rate in small press recently. I’m not sure how well this sells compared to his other work but given where Justice League was prior to the pandemic I’d estimate 20-25k. This isn’t bad for a quirky book that’s also a miniseries.

Ray: This title was delayed a looooooooooong time and picked up a co-writer along the way. It’s definitely not a mainstream title, but Gillen’s name is likely enough to give it a sales boost. We’ll see how it holds up once people actually try to puzzle it out. 

A trio of DC titles return at 11, 12, and 14 as Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and Flash all sell pretty close to each other. But they’re interrupted at #13 by the second issue of Mirka Andolfo’s Mercy, which indicates that title is probably going to sell in the 30K range for the run of its miniseries. That’s a well-deserved hit for her. 

Glenn: Mirka is also drawing the upcoming Punchline one shot in a few months which will sell big and make her an even bigger name. She’s one of the best artists working today and I’m really happy to see her explode in popularity to this degree.

Ray: At #15, we randomly have a facsimile edition of DC Super Stars #17, which was the first appearance of Huntress. A significant issue, for sure, but not one you’d usually see in the top twenty. This makes me wonder just how low the overall orders were this month, and that’s not the only odd stuff. 

Glenn: I’m guessing this is due to the movie since this comic would have been ordered when it came out. That’s a very different version of the character though so just seems to be a bit of an oddity.

Ray: After an issue of Vengeance of Vampirella and more orders of Daphne Byrne #4, we’ve got the launch of Rogue Planet #1 from Cullen Bunn. That’s an Oni book in the top 20. We’re certainly in crazy town now. 

Glenn: Bunn;s name will definitely help this sell better than likely anything Oni has put out monthly for a while but yeah…its not a normal month for obvious reasons.

Ray: Maybe it’s the Diamond difference vs. a new distributor? After an issue of Red Sonja, we have a lot more DC books, including Harley Quinn, Basketful of Heads, Plunge, and another issue of Flash. I’m sure we’ll see the sales charts recenter themselves in the coming month, but right now the numbers are very odd. 

Glenn: Stupid 2020, they’ve messed everything up!

Ray: Artists, Writers, and Artisans had the misfortune to start publication the week before the shutdown, and they’re also one of the first books to resume with a new #1. Year Zero, Ben Percy and Ramon Rosanos‘ zombie apocalypse thriller, debuts at #24 with sales that are probably in the 20K range. Aside from the JMS/Deodato book, this feels like the AWA title that’s the most set up for success. 

Glenn: Percy has been building some solid name draw for himself and zombies always have a place in the market, especially for those missing Walking Dead so yeah this was likely an easy win for sure.

Ray: At #25, we have the next issue of Mirka Andolfo’s Unsacred, an amazing showing for an indie book from Ablaze and well above the levels of other DC Books like The Dollhouse Family, Suicide Squad, Lois Lane, Justice League Odyssey, Teen Titans, and Batman and the Outsiders – all of whom are likely hovering around the 20K range. It also beats one of Boom’s flagship books, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. 

At this point, we’re seeing a lot of ongoing titles that were selling lower than the average – none of these would normally be in the top 100. DC titles like Batman Beyond, Hawkman, Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen, and He Man and the Masters of the Multiverse, Boom books like King of Nowhere and Go Go Power Rangers, and lower-selling Image titles like Outer Darkness/Chew, Farmhand, and OutCast. Many of these had the misfortune of just starting before the shutdown, and they sell about 40% of Justice League. Surprisingly, at #37 we have the latest issue of The Goon from Albatross Comics, far higher than it normally would be. This is a title that’s always had a strong cult audience. 

At #43 we have another new launch, the Aftershock Joe Harris thriller Disaster Inc. Aftershock has been struggling for a while, and this title sells about 1/3rd of Justice League. Pretty standard, and barely outselling the latest issue of Terry Moore’s creator-owned crossover Five Years from Abstract. 

After a bunch of creator-owned titles like Deadly Class and Alienated, we have a new licensed launch from IDW – the cumbersomely-named Star Wars Adventures: Clone Wars Battle Tales. This sells about 25% of Justice League, which is about right for a title that’s geared towards collections. It’s five issues, which is on the long side for one of IDW’s trades. 

Glenn: That might hold the record for title with the longest title right now so that counts for…something?

Ray: Aside from House of Whispers (cancelled) and some giants, the lowest-selling DC book this month is Red Hood: Outlaw at #55. The longevity of this title is somewhat impressive, and I’m most amazed that they’re keeping it going after Lobdell leaves in a few months. 

Glenn: They’re rebranding it to just Red Hood so we’ll see how that affects the book…if at all. DC might be just keeping it rolling until we get whatever the heck is coming as we’re getting a lot of titles cancelled or in the middle of a bunch of short runs. Obviously the cancellation of 5G threw everything for a loop but something is coming and Red Hood will either be a victim of that or will get a relaunch with more of a strong link to the always popular Batman line.

Ray: At #59, just after the latest issue of the long-running Savage Dragon, we have the launch of the intriguing new Aftershock title Dead Day, about a world where a zombie apocalypse happens one day a year and lets people reunite with the dead. It sells 22% of Justice League, a low debut even from Aftershock. Shame – writer Ryan Parrot actually created something original here. 

Glenn: Is it as sad as Coco? Remember meeeee….

Ray: At #66 is Our Fighting Forces Giant, which featured an Unknown Soldier story from Priest. This was later repurposed into a digital comic, where it probably found a much bigger audience. 

Glenn…it’s official. Comics are healing. At #68, it’s Zombie Tramp #69! Only sells 17% of Justice League, but it sells 145% percent of our hearts. 

Glenn: Why couldn’t it have been 69?! That would have been so perfect for Zombie Tramp and its unlikely to ever get this close again! Damn it! Damn it all to helllllll.

Ray: Vault was one of the only companies to keep publishing, releasing a few digital comics during April. They resumed print publication in May, with Sera and the Royal Stars #7 landing at #69. They seem to be a company that’s growing aggressively, so keep an eye on them. 

Glenn: They’re low key putting out some high quality work too. Boom took a while before it exploded (pun very much intended) look for Vault to do the same in the next 5 years or so.

Ray: At #72, it’s time to get Rachel Bloom out of quarantine and strike up the band! It’s Grimm Fairy Tales #37!

Glenn: Oh Rachel Bloom joke no one either gets or finds funny except us, how I missed you.

Ray: #73 brings the latest low-selling Marvel Action title, Marvel Action Captain Marvel guest-starring Nadia Van Dyne. This was a really fun run by Sam Maggs and Sweeney Boo, but it didn’t make an impact in the direct market. Let’s hope IDW can get the word out there for the trades. 

Glenn: I don’t think these books are really meant for the direct market and are bound to do better elsewhere. The book has just received some award buzz so it could be a dark horse.

Ray: After some low-selling Mignolaverse books and licensed properties, we get the 6th issue of the Image title Exorsisters at #76. This title has been on hiatus for a while, and the sales were so low that the creative team has apparently moved it to digital-exclusive. One of the biggest challenges for Image titles is production delays, as great titles can just get lost in the shuffle. 

Ray: After some more low-selling creator-owned titles wrapping up their run soon at Dark Horse and Boom, we get to some odd entries. Titles like “Green Dante/Green Virgil One-Shot” from Aardvark-Vanaheim and “Cat-Sh*t #1” from Antarctic all sell less than 10% of Justice League, but sneak into the top 100 due to the odd times.

Glenn: I think as well unless a title has a big name attached, books like Exosisters depend on momentum and of course, the pandemic affected everyone’s wallet. People are more likely to keep Batman around than an original property if they’re cutting down…

Ray: I don’t even know what some of these books are towards the end! Exciting Comics! 21st Centurions! Storm Kids: Monica Bleue Werewolf Story! These are probably the titles we never saw because they didn’t make the top 500 in the Before Times. They all sell just over 5% of Justice League this month. 

Glenn: Proof we’re indeed in the darkest timeline.

Ray: And at #91 this month, we have V-Card #4, a vampire thriller from Antarctic. No estimate on its relation to Justice League #45, but it’s the lowest-selling book on the charts on this very odd month. 

Glenn: These companies can boast forever they made it into the top 100 one time. Who cares about the details.

Ray: On to June, when things might start looking a bit more normal.

Glenn: Wazzit June?

June

Things do seem a lot more normal because what’s more normal than a lot of Batman in the top ten? DC swept 9 of the top ten spots with 7 of those being Batman centric or related and one being Metal which is a event focused around…Batman. I sometimes wonder if DC just decided to set up a seperate publisher that just did Batman how much of the market share they would get…

Ray: Yeah, DC played it safe for April and May, but in June they showed just how powerful their lineup is and they absolutely dominated this month with some huge events. Look at the indexes here – Death Metal #1 sold more than 5x the index title of Justice League. Batman #92 sold 4x. Even in this market, we’re talking two titles that undoubtedly sold six figures, maybe more. So Snyder and Tynion can reach a sales level no one else can at the moment, clearly. 

Glenn: So yeah, to no surprise the new event from superstars Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo, Dark Nights: Dark Metal the follow up to the other mega event from the same pair, Dark Nights: Metal is the best seller. We don’t have numbers but I wouldn’t be surprised if this did over 200k with ease. While Marvel has been limping along with Empyre, this event is here to show them how its done. 

Second highest seller is Batman 92 which I believe has the first full appearance of new sensationally popular character Punchline. I think James Tynion is having one hell of a year (with more to come) and I think it’s benefiting this title hugely. The other issue released this month charts at 5 this month. I’m not sure if Batman is back over 100k on the regular but the Tynion run/new character hype and build to 100 are all bringing the title back to its previous dominance.

Ray: I believe Batman is definitely over 100K at the moment, and the odds are Batman #100 will do numbers that are almost never seen outside of megawatt event comics. 

Glenn: At 3 is the Joker 80th anniversary which saw a multitude of top creators, variants and arguably their most popular villain. Its a winning formula and we’ll soon see that these anniversary issues are big winners for the company.

Ray: We knew Joker would be the top-selling of these, with both Snyder and Tynion contributing stories. Punchline’s origin also basically guaranteed this would be a huge hit, even at $10.

Glenn: Did I say soon? I meant right now! At 4 is the 80th anniversary for Catwoman, an iconic character, one of the most important female leads in comics and another issue jam packed with talent. Expect to see more of these…on these very charts even!

Ray: The stunning thing here is that Catwoman sold almost as many copies as Joker, probably right around the 100K mark based on the index. Without the same creative team pull or hit movie, what could explain this? Maybe ongoing hype from the wedding, or maybe the inclusion of iconic Catwoman writer Ed Brubaker, whose story with (REDACTED) was likely the most anticipated vault story of all time. 

Glenn: King continuing his Batman/Catwoman saga kinda/sorta likely helped too.

Third 80th anniversary in a row for Green Lantern this time at 7. The characters heyday is gone but this is another packed issue that had the defining writer for the property Geoff Johns return which helped a great deal on its own no doubt. This issue also has the unfortunate distinction of having Denny O’Neil’s last new story in it. 

Ray: This one clearly sold lower due to not having any Batman ties, but it also had almost every iconic GL writer save Grant Morrison, and a tribute to the late great Dwayne McDuffie. All of these one-shots have put together an amazing creative roster, and that goes a long way to get people to invest in an oversized special like this. 

Glenn: At 7 is Batman: The Smile Killer, essentially the fourth issue of Batman: Killer Smile by the nightmare inducing team of Lemire and Sorrentino. I have a feeling this duo will be back for more of the same, especially with the pant wetting Gideon Falls coming to an end later this year.

Ray: At this point, the sales are getting a little low in the top ten – Smile Killer likely sold about 60K – but that’s still pretty good for a prestige one-shot. I don’t want to go in the clown barn, Glenn. 

Glenn: That rascally Mr. Smiles just wants to be our friend.

Batman + nostalgia wins big at 8 with the first issue of Batman: The Adventures Continue which carries weight on the fact that its a continuation of one of the best animated series ever. This performance is especially impressive since this was digital first so the printed sales are essentially a bonus. I don’t think future issues will chart as high but it shows that people still adore this version of the character and for good reason.

Ray: This is undoubtedly the highest ranking ever for a digital first series. I believe this was supposed to be a six-issue miniseries (Twelve chapters digitally), but with the sales and critical response, there’ll be a lot of temptation to expand it. Bring on the animated Court of Owls, Punchline, and Mr. Bloom!

Glenn: I think we’ll get a lot more. There’s plenty of room pre-Return Of The Joker flashback to cram more stories in.

Batman finally takes a breather at 9 to let Thor carry the load for the launch of his new title written by current Marvel MVP, Donny Cates.  Cates is Marvel’s biggest sales and quality asset combined right now so this is no surprise. If we had numbers, I’d guess this sold anywhere between 70-80kish. It’ll likely settle to just above where it was before under Aaron at high 30k-40k which is great in todays world.

Ray: Damn it, Donny Cates! Always ruining DC’s party. 

Glenn: Last spot goes to Detective Comics which doesn’t usually chart this high but this issue was vaguely attached to the lead in to Joker War which launched properly next month. If a prelude to a tie in to an event can do this well, Joker War is going to be one to watch.

Ray: It’s a good sign for the upcoming Detective Comics #1027 mega-issue as well, as that should probably be one of the top books of the month. 

Ray: Out of the top ten, the list is starting to look normal again, with mainstays like Immortal Hulk, Star Wars: Bounty Hunters, Justice League, Superman, The Green Lantern, and New Mutants. The standout, though, is Strange Adventures, which had the misfortune to launch right before the shutdown. But it’s held very well, landing at #12 and showing those classic King/Gerads legs. 

Glenn: I don’t see why DC won’t just keep throwing King on projects like these. They sell well, they receive acclaim and get ton of awards before becoming evergreens in collections. Its a winning formula. No doubt Rorschach in a few months will be a top ten mainstay.

Ray: #19 brings us our first creator-owned title, as Spawn #307 keeps up the book’s streak. But I think its time on top will be coming to an end as Snyder and Tynion prep new creator-owned books like Department of Truth and Nocterra. 

Glenn: We know Department Of Truth sold over 100k for issue one which would be the biggest Image launch in…quite some time. The fight is still in the giant I.

Ray: Empyre: Avengers lands at #21, selling less than a standard issue of Justice League, which has to bode poorly for the cosmic event that was rushed out the door by Marvel. 

Glenn: Rushed out the exit just as fast too. ‘Don’t look at that…look at Sword Of X oooooo Sword Of X’

Ray: Lots of mainstays at this level, including The Batman’s Grave by Hitch and (REDACTED), Legion of Super-Heroes, Excalibur, Daredevil, two issues of Flash, Deadpool, and Action Comics. At #28 we have the final issue of Power Rangers/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, as the stars of the two most successful DC crossovers in recent years have their own team-up. Dex-Starr Vs. Garfield when, DC and Boom?

Glenn: Yeah both of these weren’t that critical to the overall picture so its just a good sign of both books off shoot brands at the moment.

Ray: A pair of specials for popular DC titles at #31 and #32. First up is Batman Secret Files #2, which was a spotlight for the squad of assassins Joker hired in Tynion’s opening arc. This did have a Punchline cameo, but it wasn’t hyped up. Right below it is Flash Annual #3, which was a Captain Boomerang spotlight and a tie-in with Suicide Squad. Decent sales for oversized side stories. 

Sandwiched by two issues of Wonder Woman, we have the Detective Comics #475 facsimile edition at #34. This was the iconic Joker story The Laughing Fish, so DC is getting some good mileage out of old comics here. 

Glenn: One that is still referred to today and was adapted into one of the best B:TAS episodes so yeah…easy money.

Ray: Amid a bunch of mid-level DC books, we have the hit creator-owned book Undiscovered Country, returning from hiatus at #38. It’s probably still selling in the 20K/30K range, so that’s an unqualified hit for Image and the creative team. 

Glenn: Absolutely and the trades and inevitable adaption will only help.

Ray: At #40 we have the debut of a new Image series, That Texas Blood. This hard-boiled western sells about 2/3rds of Justice League, putting it at around 20K or so. That’s a hit for Image, which is a bit of a surprise since the series got very little advance hype. 

Glenn: Jason Phillips, long time colourist is the writer here so maybe his mere association with some well regarded Image classics (like Criminal) helped here?

Ray: Black Cat still hanging around at #42. Remember when it sold 300K back in the before times? In the long long ago? It’ll be relaunching in December with a King in Black tie-in. 

Glenn: We knew it smelled like kitty litter. We’ll see how long it lasts beyond said tie-in.

Ray: Decorum returns from its long hiatus with a second issue selling .6 Justice Leagues at #48. The unexpected hiatus right after the first issue couldn’t have helped, but I think no Hickman creator-owned book will ever sell too well in singles. 

Glenn: He has his own steady audience and his success with X-Men will help too.

Ray: The Marvel Snapshots launched right before the shutdown and are finally resuming now, starting with the Captain America one. It sells just over half of Justice League at #54, so likely under 20K. These flashback stories are still very much niche books, but they’ll make a good collection for evergreen Marvel stories spanning the eras. 

Ablaze continues to rise pretty quickly as a new company, with their off-brand Conan title launching its second arc, “Red Nails” at #56. This is one of the ten highest-selling non-DC/Marvel books on the charts, so that’s pretty impressive for a company less than one year old. 

Glenn: Abalaze seems to have stumbled on a formula that works and are doing better than companies that have been trying to get to this level for years and/or decades so fair play to them.

Ray: Amid a sea of mid-selling DC books at this level, we see some creator-owned mainstays like Die and The Once and Future – a double-dose of Gillen! They chart at #60 and #66 respectively, both selling in the 15K range most likely. Something is Killing the Children isn’t much lower, at #72. 

#69 brings us the second installment of the Brian Azzarello demonic sex thriller Faithless. Heh. 69. Glenn, it did what Zombie Tramp couldn’t last month!

Glenn: I feel better about the synergy of the universe now.

Ray: At #71 is the second issue of Harley Quinn and the Birds of Prey, selling .45 of Justice League. I’m a little puzzled by the low sales here, given that this is by the iconic creative team of Palmiotti and Conner. I would have expected this to be one of the biggest Black Label titles. 

Glenn: Something isn’t adding up here. Maybe sharing the title with a polarizing movie hurt it? I have no doubt it’ll do well in collections.

Ray: The highest-selling ongoing AWA book, Resistance by JMS and Deodato, returns with its second issue at #74. 

#73 brings us the launch of Adventureman by the crack creative team of Fraction and the Dodsons. I’m really confused by how this pulp adventure-themed superhero story from Image only did 2/3rds of That Texas Blood. 

Glenn: Fraction has been MIA from the industry for a while. Maybe a lot of his drawing power is still too hard to determine for retailers to make a more solid commitment?

Ray: The Boys, one of Garth Ennis‘ longest-running titles, returns with a sequel/prequel, Dear Becky, from Dynamite at #75. I don’t think this franchise is likely to pick up too many new fans since it’s so continuity-deep, despite the ongoing TV series, but this is going to be another hit volume of the series in collections for Dynamite. 

Glenn: Yeah this will be just the dedicated fan base coming back for more but it was always a decent seller for what it was. The Amazon Prime adaption is bringing a new audience in the collections so this one will more than earn its keep eventually.

Ray: As absurd crossovers go, Transformers vs. Terminator is holding up pretty well. After three months off, it returns at #79 and is the highest Dark Horse book and the highest IDW book on the charts. 

Stephanie Phillips has been making her way around the comic book world over the last few months pre-shutdown, and now she makes her way over to Image. The historical pirate adventure A Man Among Ye lands at #83, with sales probably in the 12K range or so. 

DC’s DC Classics line of affordable all-ages comics has an entry in the top 100, with the first issue of The Batman Adventures landing at #86. Similar to what the best-selling True Believers books did. 

Glenn: Its almost like selling comics cheap to kids to get them addic…interested is a good idea or something.

Ray: Remember when DC announced a Brian Azzarello Birds of Prey series? And then it became a three issue Black Label series? And then it became a one-shot? And then it was delayed repeatedly? Well, it’s finally here as DC released it as a $9.99 comic and it charted with a thud at #87. Between this and the box office of the movie, I don’t think dark-and-edgy Birds of Prey is the future for the franchise. 

Glenn: SO much weirdness here. Maybe this also damaged the momentum of the other Harley and the Birds mini because retailers thought THAT was THIS?

Ray: Remember Rick and Morty? They can go to hell! No, literally, Rick and Morty Go to Hell is at #90 from Oni. 

Glenn: I do remember Rick and Morty. This is about the cat and mouse killing each other, right?

Ray: Sabrina: Something Wicked, the sequel to Kelly Thompson’s acclaimed mini, launched in March but almost no one got their hands on it in stores. So it charts again this month at #92, selling in the 10-12K range. Let’s hope it gets more eyes on it. 

Glenn: Better than anything else Archie could manage I’d wager. This one had a weird roll out with the pandemic too so a lot of people may have opted to wait for trade.

Ray: A surprisingly low debut for Nailbiter Returns #1 at #95. Josh Williamson’s star has risen a lot since he sunset this comic in the last run, but it’s also a very firm continuation of the original with no real jumping on point. Maybe retailers just ordered like it was the next issue?

Glenn: Maybe a slight bump, hard to tell without numbers but this seemed like a cult hit and retailers likely weren’t expecting any surprises.

Superman Giant #3 charts at #97, as one of the last of this line to be released before DC changed them to digital stories. 

#100 brings us the second issue of Year Zero, as AWA continues to try to find a foothold in this fast-changing market. The sales were likely roughly in the 8K range for this global zombie thriller.

Glenn: While everyone took a breather, AWA chugged along. Right now, top 100 is not too tricky to land but once the full machine gets really going…well…

A 7.99 Buffy one shot, To Every Generation charts at 101 from BOOM. This franchise seems to still be in far better shape than the Dark Horse days of old.

Ray: This one-shot was hyped as major for the Buffyverse, but the price tag probably offset any boost it would get. 

Glenn: A novel adaption from 103 from IDW in Stephen and Owen King’s Sleeping Beauties. This is charting relatively high for IDW based on King’s name alone no doubt. This will do very handsomely in collections also.

Ray: This is a pretty dense, complex story getting a ten-part adaptation, so I imagine it’ll sell a lot more in a full collection down the line. 

Glenn: It seems that we’re getting vampire comics the same as we used to get zombie comics with another one at 104 in the form of Bleed Them Dry, a ninja based vampiric tale from Vault. This seems to be more targeted to a more specific fandom than some of Vault’s most popular books but is still delivering good numbers.

Ray: This one has kind of a hilarious hodgepodge concept – cyborg ninja vampires in the year 4000! – but Vault is rising fast as a company. I think they’re sort of becoming what Aftershock was trying to be. 

Glenn: Next new book is the Last God sourcebook at 116 and I don’t think that’s too bad considering this isn’t a big hit for Black Label and is essentially just a bonus issue with some handbook type info.

Ray: This one is definitely geared towards completists and tabletop gaming nerds, but the main book is getting some buzz. This will probably be included in the collection as well.

Glenn: Right below it is the third Nightwing Annual at 117, perfectly standard for a Batman offshoot book written by a reliable creator.

Ray: Much lower than the main book, but this was a flashback story focusing on a one-off supporting character. 

Glenn: Justin Jordon launches a new Image mini at 122 with Dead Body Road Bad Blood. His books always kind of sell around 11-15k and I would guess this is the same. Image seems to know what they’re getting when they green light Jordon’s books so no big surprised.

Ray: This is a sequel/anthology follow-up to a Jordan book from years ago, so that probably depressed the opening sales as well. As we saw with Nailbiter Returns, retailers tend to order cautiously for creator-owned revivals. 

Glenn: There’s a new Locke & Key mini at 123 and given how well thought of the main series is plus the Netflix show I thought this would have done a little better. Still since the start, Locke & Key is a collection driver with multiple versions having been released by IDW so that’s where the sales here are no doubt with these single issue sales being a bonus.

Ray: Yeah, Locke and Key is a monster in collections, and this one will likely be no different, especially with the period-piece theme. 

Glenn: Next new book is way down at 144 with Invader Zim Quaterly launching from Oni. I remember this cartoon from when I was in university which was no yesterday. I’m guessing it got the nostalgia relaunch? This will be only for the hardcore fans with Oni hoping to get some magic out of it like they do with Ralph and Murphy.

I think there must be some mistake with Wynd at 145. I mean this book has James Tynion, is all ages, is BOOM and has been universally praised prior and since release. Why is it so low?! There seems to be talk that the book was repurposed from an ogn so maybe retailers are holding out from that but still…this is puzzingly low.

Ray: This is really puzzling, but yeah – this was resolicted as a mini in a hurry. I imagine there will be reorders, and the eventual graphic novel will be huge. But remember – Tynion’s other all-ages property, The Backstagers, also struggled in singles.  

The top ten debut last month for Ludocrats was definitely a fluke driven by Gillen’s name and the VERY low bar, as the second issue is down here at #149 selling .13 Justice Leagues. That’s VERY low. 

#150 brings us a new #1, Grievling, from a small-press publisher named Clover. This is a new horror comic from Steve Niles, and that it’s doing in the same range as Image and Dynamite books is kind of impressive. 

Glenn: Niles name carries some weight to it and this is an odd month.

Ray: #153 has the debut of Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys: The Death of Nancy Drew, selling around the same as Grievling. Given the hype and controversy for this book, I would have expected much more. Not Kelly Thompson’s Nancy, me no care. 

The latest AWA book, Old Haunts, launches at #154 with similar sales. This Mafia ghost story by Ollie Masters, Rob Williams and Lee Loughridge got the least hype of any launch book so far, so it’s not surprising it’s way down here. 

Glenn: Williams name I thought might have been good for a few more units but he’s not at the rockstar level of sales as some of his peers are.

Ray: The new Ahoy comic, Ash & Thorn, is down at #157. This fantasy adventure about an elderly woman who finds out that she’s a magical chosen one was a change of pace for the company, but didn’t get much advance buzz despite good reviews. 

The new publisher Behemoth, which launched in the middle of the pandemic without much hype, has their first launch titled Osiris Path at #165, selling .11 Justice Leagues. 

Glenn: Same old, same old in some cases sadly. Some of these smaller publishers are going to find this to be an especially rough year.

Ray: Similar numbers for Storm Kids: Hyperbreed, the latest spinoff from niche publisher Storm King. These are selling alongside the levels of ongoing titles from bigger publishers like Sonata, Tartarus, and Doctor Tomorrow, so that’s not bad. 

Source Point was one of the first indie publishers to resume publication, and their offbeat superhero comic Danger Devil launches at #176. They launched a lot of new #1s during this month. 

Glenn: Maybe they were hoping to get some people picking up a new jumping on point while things were quiet?

Ray: More Rick and Morty at #185, with a one-shot based on the Council of Ricks. I still don’t know what a Rick or Morty is. 

Glenn: I asked some cool kids the other day but they gave me a wedgie and took my lunch money.

Ray: Lady Zorro from American Mythology launches at #187. I wonder if it’s time to break out the Rachel Bloom here as well. 

Glenn: You go Zorro.

Ray: A new Archie anthology, Geeks and Games, arrives at #188. These comics are an alternative to the digests for the direct market, printing only the original modern stories, but they don’t make much of an impact. 

A new title, Deep Blue from Mythos, lands at #189. Seems to be a sci-fi comic about the last survivors of an AI apocalypse, and it sells. .07 Justice Leagues.

Glenn: We don’t need a prediction of our future Mythos.

Ray: A pair of Source Point one-shots, Classic Pulp Ellery Queen and Monstrous: See No Evil, are down at #192 and #193. Pretty standard for this company. 

The numbers on After Realm Quarterly at #194 are pretty shocking. No wonder the brilliant Michael Avon Oeming norse fantasy is going to Kickstarter instead. 

Another entry from Storm King, with John Carpenter’s Tales: Sci-Fi Vortex 2 at #196. 

It’s a jump down to the next comic of note at #208, as the sci-fi thriller Zero Day Threat from Red 5 sells…well, we don’t know. At this point, the sales are below .05 Justice Leagues, but there’s no estimate from here on out. 

Down at #214 we have Casper Spotlight: Ghostly Trio from American Mythology, as they continue to have the oddest library of books on the market. 

The Grimm Fairy Tales 2020 Annual is down at #226. Strike up the band, Glenn!

Ray: They’ve been out of work since March, poor people.

Glenn: You never used to see Fantagraphics on this chart, but they’re at #231 with something called Psychodrama Illustrated. We’re seeing books on the chart that never used to make the top 500, so this is interesting and surreal. 

#234 and #235 are the first two issues of Gutter Magic: Smoke and Mirrors, the sequel to Rich Douek’s urban fantasy adventure from Source Point, late of Kickstarter. Douek has gone on to much bigger properties at IDW. 

The sci-fi one-shot Remnant from Source Point charts at #239. This one’s actually a hidden gem, so pick it up for $1.99 on Comixology. The same goes for the fantasy adventure Skylin. 

The musical one-shot Holler from It’s Alive is at #240, as this small-press company continues to build its reputation as the home for offbeat books from cartoonists. 

Another entry from It’s Alive at #242, Air War Stories. This $9.99 one-shot is illustrated by actual WW2 veteran and Golden Age comic artist Stan Glanzman. 

Speaking of war, Black Hops: Hare Trigger One-Shot is at #245. Because war bunnies. It’s scary down here, Glenn. 

Glenn: It says very specifically in our contact that the crazy shouldn’t start until 300!

Ray: The Catalyst Prime universe concludes for now with Catalyst Prime: Seven Days down at #246, undoubtedly the lowest-selling book Gail Simone has ever written. This won’t stop dozens of other publishers from trying to prove they can do with Kurt Busiek and Jeff Lemire did with analog superhero universes, though.

The Doctor Sleepless Manual from Avatar is at #247, another odd entry. This appears to be a spinoff from a Warren Ellis book. 

#249, the last regular book on the charts this month, goes to…White Widow #4! Good for Red Giant, getting back in print. I wonder what spine-twisting pose White Widow got up to this month. 

Glenn: It seems retailers have finally realized this isn’t a Marvel book.

Ray: And that’s the three missing months! Next up, we’ll look at July in a coming article, as the big publishers get back to publishing their top books. We’ll see who wins between the big events of Dark Nights: Death Metal and Empyre, and see how the return of Punchline fares as Joker War launches. 

Who will rise? Who will fall? Find out next time, because we’re back from the dead at By the Numbers!

Like what you read? Have any questions or comments? Let us know here or on Twitter @glenn_matchett and @raygoldfield