Top seller of the month with over 138.4k in sales is the launch of New Mutants under the Hickman era which is the largest of the spin off books in terms of sales. Its no surprise since this is the one that has Hickman’s name on it (for the moment at least) and its solid right out of the gate. The second issue sells over 60.5k at 14 which again due to Hickman’s involvement likely gives us an indication of where the ceiling is on these spin off books which is very impressive given the X franchises up and down history for the last decade or so. This new era has caught on it seems and if the 70 or so X-Men titles we have coming can all deliver around 50-60k then Marvel will be sitting very pretty indeed.

Ray: This is a pretty strong debut, as I think this one is considered the book most closely linked to the main Hickman book. The second issue sales are great, but there’s a wrinkle here. The third issue is out now, and it’s a completely different story focusing on the next generation of mutant kids. It seems like Hickman will be writing the original class in space and Brisson will be writing the Morrison/Academy X kids on Earth. That could affect sales going forward.

Glenn: Number 2 this month is the main X-Men book which sells over 117.5k so this book solely written by Hickman is being treated as the MVP line…which it is. If this is where it has settles after a monster debut last month, that is Marvel’s biggest success story in quite some time. This could very well be a top ten staple for as long as Hickman is around and be the equivalent for Marvel that Batman was for DC for close to ten years.

Ray: Yeah, that is a fantastic hold and it seems likely this will be the #1 ongoing going forward for a while. The hype here is real and well-deserved.

Glenn: Breaking up the avalanche of X-Men success is the final issue of Absolute Carnage selling over 106.8k at number 3 this month which means a slight uptick in sales for the send off. This mini event has been a monster, outperforming many of Marvel’s bigger events in recent years and puts more stock in Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman than ever.

Ray: Both the main event and the tie-ins for this one did a lot better than War of the Realms and other recent Marvel events. This reminds me of how DC had a lot of success with smaller, line-centric events recently. Marvel would be smart to copy that – as well as giving Donny Cates anything he wants to keep writing symbiotes as long as he wants.

Glenn: Back to X-Madness now with number 4 in the charts being the launch of X-Force which sells over 105.1k. Historically this has been one of the franchises most successful spin off titles so its no surprise it to take the silver medal in the spin off races this month. The second issue this month sells over 53.6k at 18 which is still very good for what has been a once successful franchise long thought past its heyday.

Ray: This one didn’t get a lot of hype in advance, but it seems to be very key to the overall Krakoa status quo. Percy’s one of those few writers Marvel has managed to poach from DC recently, and it seems like they have a lot of faith in him as he’s launching a Wolverine book shortly.

Glenn: More X-Men at 5 with Bryan Hill bringing back the Fallen Angels spin off which launches at over 86.6k in sales with the second issue at 27 selling over 46.8k. Still decent to put it at a mid tier hit if it was sticking around but the book is going on ‘hiatus’ as Hill is off to look into other opportunities. This then can be looked at a very good selling spin off X-Men mini which we’ll be seeing a lot of in the coming months.

Ray: If there’s any proof that the Hickman X-line is bulletproof right now, it’s this. This is a book starring New Psylocke, Kid Cable, and X-23 minus her Tom Taylor character development, by a well-liked writer who hasn’t launched a major hit yet, and it still does great numbers for its content. It’s being replaced by a strange-looking Hellions book in March, so we’ll see if the aura holds till then.

Glenn: Writer Kelly Thompson gets a crack at possibly her biggest property to date in Deadpool with a new relaunch selling over 83k at number 6 in the charts. This is a very good launch but low compared to other recent Deadpool relaunches but since there has been 4 of them in the last few years (including this one) as well as an infinite number of mini’s and spin offs, fatigue is going to set in eventually. I do think its a lot to be said for Thompson and legendary artist Chris Bachalo that they got as much interest for their launch considering how frequently Marvel has gone to the Deadpool well. Lets hope it settles to a level the creative team deserve.

Ray: The addition of Jeff the Land Shark will surely make this a megahit! The character’s a long way from the days he was a franchise headliner for Marvel, partially due to overuse, but this is a good debut and not the only good news for Kelly Thompson on this month’s charts.

Glenn: Crawling (heh, get it?) back into the top ten is Amazing Spider-Man in one of its odd bumps for no reason at spot 7 in the top ten for issue 33 which sells over 77.8k which has been the upper tier of its level not counting crossovers. Its back to normalish levels for this run at the tenth and final top ten spot selling over 67.9k. With the weird fluctuation the book has it indicates that Marvel is playing games with the numbers or retailers don’t know what to do with this run and either is equally possible. Its hard to know where Amazing’s actual level is at the moment and that could be very well be the point.

Ray: *shrug* I got nothing. This is the middle of a 2099 tie-in that has only barely played into the main title, and the larger story involves Chameleon and Doctor Doom. There’s no real reason things should be ticking up now. Wacky Marvel numbers. More on those…laytor.

Glenn: In what we knew was going to be a hit for Image Comics due to the creative team, concept and hype is Undiscovered Country at 8 selling over 73k. I actually expected higher but this is still very impressive for Image and I doubt there will be much decline next month and this could turn into a Walking Dead type monster very quickly. Big kudos to the creative team because this is the biggest Image launch I can recall for several months at least.

Ray: Yeah, this is a monster debut from a pair of top writers and an artist who has been steadily building a very impressive brand for years. It had a good number of covers, but nothing like the wave of Millar or Spawn covers that drove those sales. It’s just a combination of a great creative team and a concept that immediately got people talking. I was sold from minute one, and I think a lot of people were too. We almost definitely have our regular new top Image title.

Glenn: We’re getting to the end of the epic Tom King run on Batman with issue 82 selling over 71.3k for the acetate cover but there was also a stock card cover (cause DC hates us and likes to make us use…ugh….math) at 116 selling over 18.2k which means the book actually sold around 90k which would mean its the number 4 selling book of the month and the subsequent issue charts at 15 selling over 60.3k which is abysmal for this title but then we have another fancy variant version at 92 selling over 21.6k which means it actually sold about 81k which makes it the number 7 selling book of the month so after a lot of redirection its business as usual for the title as it reaches its finale next month. I need to lie down now after all that punching numbers into a calculator.

Glenn: Don’t care how, I want it now!

Glenn: Scream is the distant third most famous symbiote but that still counts for something. This will likely settle as a solid middle tier performer which for a book starring a character (kinda/sorta) that hasn’t been referenced that much since the mid 90’s, that’s very good.

Glenn: Bring on the dark Marvelverse! Seriously this is all it takes to get people interested, good stories and Thompson can deliver that in spades.

Glenn: This universe continues to deliver solid numbers and DC are clearly very happy since they’ve already green lit a third chapter. No doubt the first collection did magnificent numbers which doesn’t hurt.

Glenn: Falling faster than I would have guessed but it was inevitable. Still double where it usually is, we’ll see if it continues to fall or can hold on to some new fans in the new year.

Glenn: We’ll see if they can keep it chugging along until the movie. I’m going to wager…no. This is not a character that should have his own book, we learned that back when the last ‘ongoing’ launched around Amazing 700 but Marvel clearly didn’t.

Glenn: Side events at a smaller scale that Marvel seems to think will have juice. The only thing they do is bump up the number of comics they can sell us to retain their ever important market share and little else.

Glenn: Absolutely but it is a good debut for a new character by a writer that’s unknown to the industry in terms of comic work. Could this be DC’s Ms. Marvel?

Glenn: Why not both?! Yeah so Venom + Spider-Man = money and this will have a YA readers appeal that Donny Cates current run definitely does not have. It’ll do well for its tenure and probably better in collections land.

Glenn: I might have expected a tad more for Blackest Night since it was the hottest thing going back in the day but while Grant Morrison has turned Green Lantern into a property worth taking note of once more, its not the powerhouse it used to be.

Glenn: My memory isn’t what it used to be but this is around double what the last Hellblazer title was doing before DC moved him over to the ‘proper’ universe so there’s seemingly new interest to see the character go back to his roots. The Sandman universe line is obviously delivering what the company wants if they’re adding new books to it and Hellblazer always sells oodles of collections. By having this and John still pop up in main continuity is the very definition of having your cake and eating it too.

Glenn: The bat wedding this was not.

Glenn: I would have expected more since The Batman Who Laughs is so popular but retailers may be seeing the concept being stretched too much too soon. We’ll see how Hell Arisen does in a couple of months.

Glenn: Also most of the original versions of these 2099 characters only had a cult audiance to begin with and according to our 2099 Rabbitt Stew Expert Brandon, these one shots are not about those characters.

Glenn: Comic fans know any retrofitting to align with the films is often an eyebrow raising moment (see also Nick Fury jr). Marvel fails to realize that we will quite happily love two different versions in two different mediums. Don’t cross the streams!

Glenn: Vampires are having a moment again it seems, I wonder if any of them sparkle?

Glenn: Like most Lemire books I think this will find its audience fast and pick up good sales in trades. It is a little more unusual than his usual (which for Lemire is saying something) but no doubt will find its readers, quality always does.

Glenn:This actually has a card stock variant selling over 9.6k at 193 so this sells around 30k which is brilliant. Especially compared to any of the Vertigo launches we saw before that lines death and this mini may have been retrofitted from that so DC will be very happy.

Glenn: I would say so. They are very entertaining side characters too who maybe have their own fanbase.

Glenn: This might be a repurposed story from the Yancy Street anthology that debuted a while back and has mysteriously vanished. This does better than that so if this is the case then Marvel came out ahead.

Glenn: I love Andolfo’s work and although this comic isn’t my taste, I’m thrilled with her success here. I hope she starts getting the work her talent deserves but she seems to be happy doing European comics which are then translated into well selling Image maxi’s which is not a bad position to be in.

The next to points of interest are two second issues from DC comics in the form of Batman Giant at 136 selling over 15.1k and Metal Men selling over 14.8k at 138. I think the former of the two is a good result considering this is material aimed at Walmart so anything they get here in the direct market is a bonus while Metal Men is kind of to be expected. The franchise has never been a hot seller in the modern day and while Shane Davis is certainly an artist with weight to his name, Dan Didio’s books have all a certain identity to them so readers here knew what they were getting and interest was appointed appropriately. It probably won’t last too long.

Ray: Hine and Haberlin are creators who hadn’t been heard from in a while, but their hit series Sonata (currently on hiatus until the second arc) has driven up interest in this too.

Ray: This property rebooted itself for the new cartoon and the current version is sort of controversial, so I think that might have kept this issue from breaking out as well.

Ray: No name creator here and a concept that seems oddly similar to a lot of books recently, so I’m not thinking this had much to drive first issue sales. If it gets buzz as the series goes on, we could see some reorders.

Ray: This series has a lot of fans and a major creator on board in Lilah Sturges, but Boom has been putting out OGNs with these characters for a while and the audience is likely more in that market.

Ray: The only previous comic work of the writer, Gabby Rivera, was the short-lived America series at Marvel. This is a clever book with an inventive world, but it’s not the type to have good sales in the direct market.

Ray: This is a Lonnie Nadler period piece supernatural drama set in the Canadian north, so I don’t think it’s exactly a concept that will get immediate sales attention. But it got great reviews and feels like another feather in Vault’s cap as they assemble an impressive lineup.

Glenn: They just announced more Money Shot (errrr) so Vault must be very pleased, as they should be!

Glenn: Image, BOOM and even Vault are showing off as better prospects these days for creators. It’s weird times for Dark Horse.

Glenn: I would say they’re looking for a new writer for starters. I’m sure most people don’t even consider this a comic based property to start with and treat it like every other Disney spin off that is long past the corresponding movie’s release date.

Glenn: It might do okay elsewhere but the movie seems to have come and gone with little fanfare.

Glenn: ‘She’s definitely upgraded her enhancements’. I feel dirty now.

Glenn: Just started Crazy Ex Girlfriend Series 4, thinking of that makes me happier than anything Zenescope related.

Glenn: Not bad for a new publisher at all, the name of the lass I’ve never heard of helped I would say quite a bit. I’m sure the company will be thrilled.

Glenn: This version has been going for some time, she’s probably one of the companies core characters. I think a modern day take on Robin Hood (especially a female) would be great but not from this company.

Glenn: Non-regulation?! This required a very strongly worded letter. ‘Dear Charles Soule…’

Glenn: This is one of Netflix’s more cult hits so I doubt many fans are that interested in stories outside the core show. Interestingly enough, this is co-written by former WWE wrestler AJ Brooks (AJ Lee) and actress Aimee Garcia.

Glenn: D and D is facing something of a rejuvenation lately so this might do well in gaming stores.

Glenn: Source point is getting some traction but not enough to still be largely overlooked. Perhaps their back catalog will find an audience as they continue their slow but steady growth.

Glenn: Well if its something we definitely need as an audience, its more white variants of minority heroes.

Glenn: It’ll also sell better elsewhere. If our thinking is right, Ray and Cassie gets suited up in Ant-Man 3 I could see her comics being popular with young girls outside the direct market which would be awesome.

Glenn: This one sounds great, I hope it catches on.

Glenn: Don’t let them near any super expensive (also: stupid) art exhibits.

Glenn: Thompson’s name should be good for the collection market if nothing else.

Glenn: At this level its mostly reorder city until we get to 413 and Casper’s Classic Christmas which sells over 1,2k at 413. At this point I’m betting its nostalgic parents buying their kids Casper comics and explaining about how, once upon a time, a friendly ghost was cool and them thinking their parent has lost it.

A very small press company, Uncivilized releases a Jack Kirby bio comic in ‘For Real‘ at 414 which is priced at $6 but sells over 1.2k. Kirby is of course one of the most legendary comic creators ever and his life story in as fascinating as any of his character origins but this seems very much like a specialist item. It’s a labor of love by the creator and may pick up steam once its collected and becomes very well thought of critically.

Ray: This is from the same company as Ginseng Roots, and they launched their first fiction series Breathers in December. They put out oversized books aimed at the indie comics market, so this one should be interesting.

Glenn: At 421 we have the first issue of Badass from Antartic Press which sells over 1.1k. Unknown creator and a small publisher is exactly what delivers a sales results like this.

I’m more surprised by the sales of the second issue of Vampire State building at 422 which drops hugely to selling over 1.1k at 422. This is the Charlie Adlard that took me and Ray by surprise with its strong debut last month. This publisher is so new and so small that this is likely the best they can do despite having Adlard on board. We’ll have to see if they can weather the rough waters of starting fresh and end up on the other side.

Ray: That’s a gigantic drop of over 95% from its first issue sales. The first issue sales were incredible, but I guess it was almost all down to the covers and hype. That’s got to be a massive disappointment for the people involved and the company. Wow.

Glenn: From Cave Pictures Publishing *shrugs* is Shapes an all ages type deal by Jason Brubaker (no relation I’m assuming to Ed) and Rekedel with art by the former of the two. This sells over 1.1k at 423. I’ve never heard of this publisher or these creators so they’re probably thrilled to make it into the top 500 at all.

Ray: This month saw a lot of creator-owned books from small press with no real hype or names behind them. This is what I mean when I talk about “peak comics” and the way many books never get a second look because of the cavalcade of material.

Glenn: The remains of the Edgar Rice Burrows properties that Marvel didn’t scoop up are alive and…not well? Is that a thing? At 429 for Monster Men: Soul Of Bast which sells over 1k from American Mythology. Unless its Marvel or maybe Dark Horse, I doubt many people are interested in what Burrows properties crop up in comic form.

Ray: My favorite part of this fantastically titled book is that it teases a modern-day sequel to its Visgoth-themed thriller.

Glenn: Keenspot pop up at 432 for Ruwans which sells over 1k. Small publisher, unknown creators, you guys know the story by now.

Ray: This title had some weird, massive delays and apparently just reprinted the first issues to catch people up on this comic about a little girl who gets eaten by a demon and then becomes a demon. The delays were so long, when it first came out Antarctica wasn’t associated with any bad elements yet!

Glenn: Source Point usually averages a little higher than around this are but a one shot which is the first of a series of one shot (why not bundle it as a Crypt Keeper mini some idiot writing an article asked) called Goth: Young Lovers At War sells 971 copies at 437. This is horror too so on paper this should have at least done four digits so not sure what went wrong.

A local comic shop day treasury edition of Invader Zim sells 891 copies at 440 but its priced at 14.99 so I assume its more like a graphic novel? Zim is a cartoon with a very sparce cult following so with this price I’m not sure what else could have been expected.

In a similar vein, Lion Force offers a 9.99 one shot at 443 for Catalyst Prime which sells 854 copies. Its odd since this seems like a format aimed outside the direct market but literally is an edition aimed at comic shops.

Full Moon Comix *shrugs* offers a one shot horror comic in Deadly Ten Presents Necropolis Legion. I tried saying the title ten times fast and lost consciousness, this has been your By The Numbers safety warning. This is an adaption of a script written by the Puppetmaster scribe (good lord) Shawn Gabborin selling 811 copies at 449. Kids ask your parents about Puppetmaster and when they don’t know, just get them to Google it.

At 454 is Apex Predator Cavewoman, more booby comics selling poorly because we’re not all 12 years old. It sells 811 copies.

Antartic Press is back again with a decent horror comic Teether at 459 selling 706 copies but this seems like a republish of an old series so this is small press selling us old comics too I guess? The second issue is here too at 491 selling 498 copies which maybe the closest we’ve ever gotten to the comic selling the same number of units as its sales number so…yay?

This is the land of tiny reorders and small selling indies until we finish at last with 500 selling 472 which is the fourth issue of Boston Metaphysical Society. Considering the entry unit level is so low this may be their first and last time on the charts so grant them a hearty wave. This sales here at the bottom are really low compared to the last few months, really poor month overall.

Ray: This is one of Source Point’s few ongoings, and it’s struggled to maintain momentum. They do better with one-shots and short minis. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m starting to think DC does this to make us cry.

Ray: They won’t scare us off, Glenn!

Glenn: As anyone with any sense could have predicted, the top selling comic of the month is X-Men 1 the start of the proper Hickman run with art by Lenil Yu which sells over a huge 255.7k! This is a massive immediate hit and Hickman has brought the X-Men back to prominance in a huge way…at least where his name is on it in any case. Nothing but celebrations abound here I’d say. This could be a solid top ten performer that Marvel’s been lacking in an ongoing since Slott left Amazing Spider-Man. I’d say it’ll settle to around 85-120k. Hard to predict exactly more than that given how distrustful retailers are of Marvel in recent times but it may be that Hickman’s name overwrites that.

Ray: This feels like one of those rare runs where the hype is genuine. Sure, the numbers are inflated by the sheer number of covers, but given how the miniseries performed issue to issue it feels like this is the most buzz around a Marvel run since Donny Cates’ Venom first broke the doors down. I expect it to lock down its place as the top ongoing for a while, but we’ll see if it can consistently head above 100K. This could be the line that breaks Marvel’s bad luck streak.

Glenn: Next is issue 301 of Spawn which sells over 186k at 2 this month after the monster number for the big anniversary issue last month. There’s a few things at work here because since Walking Dead has ended, Image is missing a top franchise and the one before that one was Spawn so it could be that. It could be residual hype over 300 or the astonishing Marvel level of variants or the return of the titles most iconic villain in the Violator who may be a sales driver like Venom, Joker or the Batman Who Laughs is. It seems like for whatever the reason, Spawn has risen back to prominence and will likely spend the next year getting back to its previous level.

Ray: Violator does have a big fanbase, but it’s still odd – I haven’t heard anyone talking about Spawn in years. Image did an amazing job of hyping this up as an event rather than a simple anniversary, so they’re reaping the rewards. I think it’ll continue to drop, but if it can eventually settle down around the top fifty, that’s a big win. 

Ray: They kept going up through the run, which is unheard of. This is a monster and well-deserved. Hickman used these books to build hype for his regular run, and it paid off.

Glenn: Speaking of Joker, his year of the villain one shot brings big numbers at 5 selling over 128.6k. This could very much be attributed to the much publicized involvement of legendary director John Carpenter or it could be just because its the Joker. Either way this is the biggest year of the villain one shot by quite a fair margin which is funny since the link between this and the main story that Snyder/Tynion are telling is loose at best. Still, DC has made the Joker an event to be seen all in on himself through clever seldom use. Could an attempt at a Joker ongoing of some sort be far behind?

Ray: It’s not even in the same category, selling almost four times as much as the average one of these one-shots. It’s a perfect storm of factors to create a hit book, but as for a Joker ongoing, I think they’re trying to have their cake and eat it too. If there’s always a Joker miniseries of some kind with a top creative team, don’t we essentially have a Joker ongoing?

Glenn: Excellent point, ongoings can go down in sales but a new high profile mini through Black Label or the like can keep hype alive and not have to worry about the characters sketchy characterization on a consistent basis. He can be whatever the creative team needs him to be.

So in a new record in recent times, it takes us a whole 6 spots to get to the nonsense that is Amazing Mary Jane that sells over 116.1k. Uh-huh. Right. This is a spin off of the middling Amazing Spider-Man run by two creators who are very talented but not bankable on a mini series starring a character who’s never had her own title outside of the exceptionally underrated all ages Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane which had Spidey still in the title too. I’d say figures were doubled here as sales of 58k makes a lot more sense. Its all noise, just like Black Cat was.

Ray:...Look. I’m all in favor of more books for popular female characters in comics. The Lois Lane book by Rucka and Perkins, her first solo title in decades, is fantastic. But there is not this much demand for a title starring 616 Mary Jane. Especially not spinning out of a run that ranges from mediocre to terrible. This is one of the biggest non-X-men debuts in recent months, so to believe this number is genuine, you’re asking me to believe that Mary Jane and Black Cat are a-list sales powerhouses alongside Batman and the X-Men. Nope. Marvel probably doubled sales alongside a host of variants.

Glenn: What isn’t noise is the continued success of Absolute Carnage at 7 which sells over 99.7k for its penultimate issue. This main mini has been rock solid and will no doubt benefit the main title hugely whenever Stegman returns in a few months. Marvel continues to be betting high on Cates and so far, its working.

Ray: It’s locked down at this place in the charts and will be wrapping shortly, so I think we can safely say this was a hit. Far from the level of hit it could have been if it wasn’t for years of Marvel driving down faith in their events, but I think they’ll be calling Cates again for crossovers in the future. 

Glenn: I’m sure they have him on speed dial now.

What might be nonsense is the sales of 95.2k for the relaunch of Ghost Rider by Ed Brisson at 8. The character has never been a sales hit but he’s been gone for a long time, has had an Absolute Carnage lead in and the character is getting a Marvel movie and has been used pretty prominently in Jason Aaron’s Avengers. All these factors go some way towards explaining the number but I’d still say its a little high. Could be genuine interest, could be some fluffing on Marvel’s part, its hard to say. Expect it to drop to around 30-40k shortly.

Ray: This reminds me a lot of the Iron Fist ongoing that mysteriously jumped into the top ten and then promptly lost 75% the next month. It’s due to a combination of event tie-ins, a long time since a traditional Ghost Rider series, and a ton of covers. I don’t think is sustainable, but this might do well enough to be a mid-level title for a while.

Glenn: The runaway hit that is Immortal Hulk gets a bump for that all important sales friendly 25th issue at 9 delivering over 87.5k. One of Marvel’s best reviewed titles at the moment this is a great case of word of mouth and critical success actually leading to sales. It’ll be back to normal or maybe a bit higher next month but Al Ewing is clearly building a success story all future Hulk runs will be measured by.

Ray: Much like Venom, this is a completely new take on a Marvel favorite by a breakout creator, and they’re being rewarded. The previous issue, also this month, is down at #34 with sales of 53K, so this anniversary issue actually showed some juice.

Glenn: Final spot on the top ten with these face value numbers is Marauders 1, the first Hickman X-Menverse spin off which sells over 86.8k. Even without Hickman on board, this is a great launch that shows there’s some buzz here for these era even without Hickman’s name on the cover. We’ll see how things go in a few months but right now, it all seems very promising.

Glenn: I think anything non Hickman will score about 50-60k rather solidly. A vast improvement on the line overall, especially since there’s a huge amount of X books coming and some of the titles have been defunct for decades.

Glenn: I’m surprised this outsold Harleen since the writer isn’t well known in comics but since this is a 9 part series at a normal price as opposed to a 3 part pricey pestige format. They may have ordered with room to drop over 9 months.

Glenn: DCeased has made super hero zombies cool again and there’s a hunger (heh, hunger) for zombies now Walking Dead is gone. I doubt any inevitable follow up will perform as well as the recently announced 4 part DCeased follow up.

Glenn: That’s what I’d wager plus this is a proven creative team that retailers have more familiarity with. Given how good (terrifying) this was, I’d say this is more likely for reorders than Criminal Sanity.

Glenn: Given the movie was last year I think it shows how good it was that the brand is strong enough to still get a debut like this. It won’t stick but we’ll doubtlessly see more ideas akin to this in the future. People love their alt Spideys.

Glenn: Or Iron Man: When In Vegas or many others. This is decent for what is bare bones, an alt Spidey throwaway story but I would imagine that Marvel were expecting an X-Men level hit out of this given the hype it got.

Glenn: Villain titles are a hard sell and this is roughly where Doom was selling when he was the star of Iron Man not too long ago. I think Marvel is hoping to produce more character focused critical darlings ala Vision with things like this. It’ll settle to a number that will earn its keep for 12 issues.

Glenn: I wonder if retailers missed that King wrote this or considered it irrelevant since it didn’t tie into the larger story. It’ll definitely see some reorders, one of the best single issues of the year.

Glenn: Not sure what happened here, it seemed a recipe for a much better outcome. This was one of the more last minute tie-ins so maybe retailers didn’t catch it as standout.

Glenn: People love Marvel’s old content and anything with Stan’s name will have an extra nostalgia factor following his passing.

Glenn: The tie-in was announced very late in the game after the main hype for the event had been done and they had began hyping the next big thing. Avenger’s can’t sell itself anymore.

Glenn: Given the price and the content I’d say this is very good. Considering the names attached it could have maybe done better but I don’t know if many people really knew what this was. Retailers might be holding out for the hardcover version which was solicited not soon after also.

Glenn: Annuals seem to be being treated as unimportant again no matter what (see also: Batman). I think the issue is a lot of throwaway stories by the non regular creative teams have devalued them, they had a moment again for a time.

Glenn: A fantastic success for BOOM, good for them.

Glenn: Also Fantastic Four isn’t as popular as X-Men, it could be as simple as that.

Glenn: If it can stay here it should be okay. If you consider this strictly a Valkyrie book rather than the character that used to be Thor, its still a very good number.

Glenn: These things aren’t made to succeed in the direct market so this is all bonus money (for DC for a change) I’m sure they’ll be very pleased. No surprise that the Batman one of these is the best performing.

Glenn: Pretty much, Didio tends to stick to older more niche characters to so retailers and long time fans probably know what type of book this will be and ordered appropriately. It’ll be interested to see if a Nth metal member of the team will make any long term difference.

Highest selling Image launch this month is Nomen Omen at 113 which sells over 22.5k, a horror orientated title from a creative team I don’t really know but this is a great start from them. More proof that horror is the way to go outside of superheroes these days.

Ray: Given that neither of these books have creators who command sales on their own (although Sonata is getting some buzz), this is pretty impressive. Image as a whole still has a decent brand to sell its books with.

Glenn: An exceptional launch from Charlie Adlard’s new publishing company with Vampire State building selling over 22.3k at 114. It loses about half the same month with the second issue also coming out at 207 with sales over 11.7k which is still very impressive for a new publisher out of the gate. Obviously after decades drawing the Walking Dead, Adlard is able to command a respectful audience in of itself. Look for this to be a dark horse (the concept not the company) hit.

Ray: That’s an incredible debut for a new company’s new book, and it shows that Kirkman and Adlard can probably write their own tickets from here on out. When you create a monster of a hit like they did with Walking Dead, the audience is going to be there for anything you do.

Glenn: One of the many things it impressively outsells is Black Adam: Year Of The Villain which sells over 22.3k at 115. Adam has been a prominent background character for a few years now (if that makes sense) but look for his stock to rise with the Rock led film coming out year after next.

Another huge boon for BOOM in the launch of their first Buffy event since getting their hands on the franchise with the first issue of Hellmouth launching at 117 selling over 21.9k. This makeover has done both the franchise and the new publisher that puts it out wonders.

Ray: Boom’s done well with Buffy books since the start, and even though this is pretty early for a crossover, this is a good sign. It is interesting, though, that the sales here are dwarfed by two recent creator-owned hits for the company.

Glenn: In the past few months, we’ve talked about the rise of sales on TNMT on the lead up to the 100^th issue but this month sees a downtrend with issue 99 selling over 21.8k at 118. It’s a bit odd until you take note of the price tag of 7.99. Retailers likely ordered a bit more warily on that alone but its still a great number for that price on this property. We’ll see how issue 100 goes, I think top 20 is a real possibility.

Next new Image launch at 123 is Marked which debuts with sales of over 21.1k. This comic is co-written by David Hine who had some big two work a few years ago and is double the size at 3.99 which likely encouraged retailers to invest in it. It seems most decent Image concepts by non big creators seem to manage around the 20k mark by default which is nothing to sneeze at.

At 124 is the third Wonder Woman annual, this one written by Steve Orlando who will be taking over the book in a few months. Once again, its treated as an afterthought with sales over 21k.

Enforcing why these annuals are doing so-so is Doctor Strange Annual 1 at 129 which isn’t by the regular writer or any significance to anything. It sells over 20.6k and it’s to be expected.

 

Ray: Retailers don’t seem to trust annuals. The Wonder Woman one might get reorders, since it launches the new run and introduces a major new villain.

Glenn: A dollar comics reprint of Watchmen’s first issue pulls in ales over 19.1k at 137 which is likely to tie in with the new HBO show. Considering this has been reprinted in every variation you could think of (coming next year, Watchmen the upside down edition) this is excellent but its Watchmen what else is it going to do but sell?

Future Fights Firsts Luna Snow and Future Fights First White Fox may jointly win the prize for oddest title name this month. They are new Marvel books tying into a mobile game I’ve just learned about so a debut of over 18.7k at 140 for Snow and over 18.1k at 147 for Fox  eems to be exceptional in my book. It almost seems a little too high so I’m wondering if the sales are genuine. All seems well at first glance.

Ray: I think this is just basically the basement for what a Marvel book will do with a first issue now. I imagine a lot of these will get sold in video game stores.

Glenn: Another classic gets a good result for a dollar priced reprint for Swamp Thing 1 which I assume is for the original number 1 written by the late, great Len Wein. It sells over 17.8k at 150, DC has learned from Marvel that old material can be profitable as heck.

The quarterly anthology DC puts out continues to deliver solid numbers for its price tag at 153 for Secrets Of Sinister House which sells over 17.3k. These are always great reads and they offer a chance to see a lot of different creators tackling a similar subject, DC has no reason to end these anytime soon.

Ray: This is a little above the average anthology, probably because horror always has an audience. DC does a really good job of getting great talent for these, so they sell even though the price is so high.

Glenn: Right below it at 154 is very impressive reorders for Abrams and Abrams Spider-Man which brings in another 17.2k+. That would be encouraging if the book hadn’t gone walkies schedule wise.

This months True Believers theme (the cheap Marvel comics) is X-Men starting with Pyro at 155 selling over 17.7k. If you’re to do anything X-Men related, this is the month to do it but most of the major X-Men stories from years past have already had this treatment so these are the leftovers, still good results for old material regardless.

Ray: Free sales of old comics are free sales of old comics, so Marvel’s got to be happy with these either way. Some of the single issues are really odd choices for this treatment, though.

Glenn: Speaking of old material doing well is two dollar comics, Batman issue 497 (the back breaking issue) and Superman 75 (the Death Of Superman issue) which sell over 17.1k for Supes at 157 and 16.5k for Bats at 158. These were released to coincide with the Dark Multiverse tie-ins and both have been reprinted to death so these are easy money.

In what is an interesting experiment but seems to have not been a worthwhile one is Mark Millar’s second Chrononaughts mini which launches all four issues in the same month. I’d say issue 1 is on the low side at 159 selling over 16.5k but then it gets worse with issue 2 at 231 with sales over 10.2k, 3 at 240 with sales over 9.8k and 4 at 245 with over 9.7k in sales (the last issue to be noted is priced at 5.99 as it is slightly longer). I admire the ingenuity but clearly retailers didn’t want to invest in four issues of one mini all in the same day and likely expected their customers instead wanting to wait for the trade which will work out cheaper. Millar’s sales oomph has seemingly waned since his Netflix deal and it’ll be interesting if his next gamble, a mystery comic with no details apart from the fact he’s writing it and its a return of one of his most popular properties in December will pay off or crash and burn like this did.

Ray: Honestly, this is a disaster and one we’re never going to see repeated. Millar has a brand of his own and thought he could do something clever, but asking people to pay $18 on a single day for four comics is a bit much, and retailers were likely worried about the buy-in. The next Millarworld experiment in December will be a secret comic that won’t be revealed until release date.

Glenn: At 160 is Dead Eyes, on the surface its a low start from two well known creators on an Image book selling over 16.5k but this is simply a brand change and republication from the very recent Dead Rabbit. There were some legalities to clear up and now the comic is back so these are essentially reorders which are great, we’ll see how the book fares once it actually catches up with itself in a few months.

Ray: The whole story here is so bizarre. Whatever the copyright issue was, it was so serious they had to scrub the comic of any reference to his old name. I worry it’s really blunted the book’s momentum.

Glenn: More annuals getting lost in the shuffle with Nightwing selling over 16.3k at 162, Batman and the Outsiders selling over 15.9k at 165 and Aquaman selling over 15.7k at 168 but again this is a result of  slew of unimportant annuals hurting everyone.

Ray: Ironically, the Nightwing annual was the most important issue of this run and made the last year of stories fall into place. No one really noticed.

Glenn: Gotham City monsters drops quite a bit with the second issue selling over 15.3k at 169. This is a quirky book so is likely selling this on the fact that Gotham is on the cover alone. An acceptable number for Orlando to do whatever he wants with it.

Speaking of odd titles, Bizarre Adventures launches from Marvel at 15.4k at 170 which is really a ‘what else could it have been expected to do?’ case.

Ray: Lots of oddball anthologies this month, with most being $4.99 instead of the larger DC ones. I don’t think you can expect these to sell unless you have a really strong concept or a fantastic list of creators.

Glenn: Right below it is another DC Giant, this time focusing on Villains who if you haven’t been paying attention are having a moment at the company. It sells over 15.3k at 171 which again is very good for a mix of reprint and new material that is meant to tell in truckloads in other markets.

Crazy, Marvel’s answer to MAD sells over 15.1k at 173. Seems a bit high for such an oddball title but here we are.

Another giant at 175 for the Flash this time selling over 14.6k. Again this is just bonus money for DC.

RWBY from DC comics is some sort of tie in to an anime which sells over 13.6k at 186 which I think is quite good given how odd a concept this is for the company. This is likely targeted at a non direct market audience and if it can a slice of the manga market it could do insane numbers.

Ray: RWBY actually gets another 10K in orders for a special cover down at #239, so I’d say this is a pretty big hit for DC’s expansion into licensed properties.

Glenn: Another BOOM launch at 187 for Strange Skies Over East Berlin which sells over 13.6k which is more in line with the companies previous levels. Its not the freight train success of Once and Future or Killing The Children but its still a very good launch, I would say that BOOM has done considerable work in the last year to raise their profile as a publisher.

Ray: Jeff Loveness is a cult creator who’s slowly been building his reputation, so I’d say this is pretty good for him. His previous work was mostly at Aftershock.

Glenn: Two more giants this time for Wonder Woman at 188 with sales over 13,2k and Swamp Thing at 195 with sales over 12.9k. Same deal here with all the others.

Another impressive launch for Vault who have seemingly worked their ass off like BOOM to try to gain some traction. This month its Money Shot at 210 which sells over 11.6k. This has Tim Seeley co-writing and has such an over the top concept it has to be seen to be believed. This is another win for them along with the Plot and the Mall recently.

Ray: Money Shot has an additional 5K in sales from a Black Bag cover down at #342, and that officially makes it the top-selling Vault debut ever. Tim Seeley has been promoting this book non-stop, and the hilarious concept has gotten it a lot of press. It feels like Vault is stepping up and will probably be the next company to jump into the B-tier of publishers from the scrum of small ones.

Glenn: Both of these have been going for years and have their own set audiences. It’ll be interesting if Copra sees an uptick in sales once Image starts rereleasing the early trades, the older content will be more available than ever and could attract some new readers.

Glenn: Not much but its there! I wonder if there was some renewed interest due to the upcoming Disney+ show starring Bucky and the forthcoming MCU Blade movie.

Glenn: Very much a niche audience for this one. I wonder if all these copies were bought by Barney Stinson.

Glenn: Most of these sales may have been on Bunn’s name alone. It just shows that he will give anything a go!

The second issue of the long awaited continuation of Pretty Deadly suffers quite a fall to 307 selling over 6.4k. Its likely only the most dedicated picking up the singles after the title going awol for so long and the rest of the audience moving to trades. 

Dymanite rejuvenates yet another long dormant franchise in Black Terror from noted writer Max Bemis which debuts at 313 selling over 6.1k. Nothing to write home about but this is a very obscure property and Bemis name value will only do so much.

Ray: Dynamite has made many attempts to make these characters happen, but even Gail Simone and Max Bemis can only do so much.

Glenn: At 315 we have a Bettie Page Halloween One Shot selling over 6k. The original pin up goes all spooky and stuff! Not much else can be said here, it is what it is.

Reorders for first issues of uber successful titles House Of X selling over another 5.8k at 320 and Something Is Killing The Children selling over another 5.7k at 322. Both are like printing money for their respective publishers it seems.

A new Lady Death title sells over 5.7k at 324 so there’s likely only the dedicated audience left for one of comics more cheesecake orientated characters.

Ray: Lady Death’s status as the only Chaos Comics character still at an independent publisher is puzzling.

Glenn: It seemed to have an amusing premise but Aftershock still struggles to gain momentum as their latest title Shoplifters Will Be Liquidated sells over 5.5k at 326. This is just where the publisher lives at the moment.

Ray: They tend to do a little better when they have a name creator attached, but I believe this was by a first-time Aftershock creator.

Glenn: There’s reorders for last month’s top book Spawn 300 at 334 as it picks up an additional 5.3+ sales. It seems that retailers got this one pretty much on the money and probably went a little overboard.

Disney=money in most cases but Dark Horse’s adaption of the Little Mermaid does little in the first issue debuting with over 5.3k in sales at 336 but this is not really the place for it. Once it is collected and released to Disney stores and other book retailers around the world, it won’t be a problem, especially when the live action remake swims along.

Ray: Unlike the recent Snow White remake by the same creative team, I don’t think this story needed to be retold with a remake already coming. But these three-issue miniseries are aimed at the bookstore market anyway.

Glenn: At 339 is a zero issue of an…anthlogy? Okay then. This is Savage Tales Halloween Special from Dynamite that has Red Sonja on the cover but likely stars a variety of the characters they licence. It sells over 5.2k, I don’t think fans of each of the Dynamite characters would be fans of the other ones necessarily so mixing them together likely kept only the die hards around.

Ray: This is actually a Mark Russell-penned oversized Red Sonja issue, flashing back to before his run began. The title may have confused retailers a bit.

Glenn: It certainty confused me.

Vault comics releases another new title in Cult Classic Creature Feature which sells over 5k at 344 so while the company has had some promising hits recently, they can’t all be winners. This is a generic sounding horror concept by names I don’t recognize so this will be likely the bottom line for Vault while they continue to build their current reach.

Ray: This is oddly the second installment in a series of genre tales by writer Eliot Rahal – same creator, different genres and characters. The previous installment, Return to Whisper, had massive delays and was eventually released in oversized issues combining the last four issues over a month

Glenn: Another horror book from Zenescope at 349 selling over 4.7k as they seem to move away from their more bawdy work to horror but it doesn’t seem many people are buying in. Of course this still has a variant with a sexy…dragon lady? I think? They have a similar offering at 355 with their Halloween special selling over 4.4k which features many sexy lady covers!

This months first ‘why, oh lord why’ is at 358 with Superior AOC which sells over 4.3k. Its no Trump That Laughs, that’s for sure.

Ray: But did this issue commit copyright infringement and then dare a multi-billion dollar company to sue them for lols?

Glenn: I’m not reading this tripe to find out.

Action Lab brings together its various supernatural female characters including By The Numbers sponsor, Zombie Tramp for Amalgama Space Zombie at 363 selling over 4.2k. I don’t think the Avenger’s have to worry about their jobs at this rate but next year, you never know.

Ray: But when are we getting our Amalgama Space Zombie/Zombie Tramp crossover?

Glenn: Not soon enough!

IDW’s adaption for Island Of Dr. Moreau seems to have been a bit of a dud with sales over 4.2k at 363 despite having Locke and Key artist, Gabriel Rodriquez delivering some damn fine art. This will likely sell better when collected but you have to imagine IDW wanted more.

Ray: I think all short-run miniseries, especially those by prestige creators, have retailers already looking towards the trade.

Glenn: Albatross Comics has their own Halloween special with Spook House at 370 with sale over 3.9k. This seems more aimed at younger readers so might sell better elsewhere but it did have the involvement of Eric Powell which I thought might have gotten a bit more direct market attention.

Gail Simone’s captainship of Lion Forge continues with a new mini in Catalyst Prime: Seven Days which sells over 3.6k at 379. If memory serves me, this universe is on its way out and when even Gail Simone can only get you sales like this, its not surprising.

Ray: This is close to four times what an average issue of a Catalyst Prime issue sold before the event, so I think this is actually a win for the struggling shared universe. The question is whether Gail will stick around after this miniseries.

Glenn: Despite several months later, the first issue of Absolute Carnage continues to pick up reorders with over 3.5k at 384. That sound you hear is Disney wrapping its arms around Donny Cates leg begging him to never leave.

Many reorders and low selling small press around here until we get to the first issue of Unbound from Zenescope selling over 3.2k at 394. This one sounds pretty dull and likely sold accordingly, oh Zenescope, don’t try to be more than you are.

Wolvenhart, a time travel supernatural thingey from Mad Cave studios debuts at 399 selling over 3.1k. Probably happy they scraped into the top 400.

A relaunch from Avatar for Warrior Nun Dora which apparently is getting a Netflix series soon (??!!??!?!) sells over 3k at 401. If a relaunch happens when no one notices, does it happen?

Ray: I still can’t believe Warrior Nun Dora is a real comic, but hey, there are like 20 variant covers while I’m trying to order comics.

Glenn: Right under it is a Archie Comic reprint anthology focusing on Halloween which sells over 3k at 402. As we say every month, these are not the place these books are meant for.

Ray: These single-issue sized digests are Archie’s latest line, and they seem to be making a minimal impact in the direct market. Business as usual for their older comics.

Glenn: I’m surprised WWE Smackdown didn’t do better than 405 and sales over 2.8k. The brands mega money deal move to FOX was heavily publicised and I thought might get some buzz. I guess they only have a certain ceiling no matter what.

Another horror orientated book in Edgar Allen Poe’s Snifter Of Terror at 406 selling over 2.8k. Too many horror books so this one got lost in the shuffle. I doubt many comic fans are visiting their LCS for namesakes of classic literature.

Low sales for this years Thought Bubble Anthology at 415 selling over 2.7k but I would assume people at the namesake con got given these as handouts and or had the opportunity to buy them en mass there so the sales here are largely irrelevant.

Ray: Yeah, a lot of people – myself included – didn’t know what to make of Thought Bubble. A jam issue from established and indie creators, it didn’t have any real through-line. But it did have Kimjoy!

Glenn: All hail Kimjoy!

An odd sounding semi biographical comic from writer/artist Craig Thompson at 419 selling over 2.6k is Gasling Roots. I think this is a very personal story from a small press publisher so likely just got lost in the shuffle.

Ray: Craig Thompson is a legendary name, but he’s never worked in single issues before and Ginseng Roots is definitely a niche project from a tiny start-up company. I think his name alone got it into the top five hundreds.

Glenn: Another writer/artist offering at 420 is Pink Lemonade by Nick Cagetti selling over 2.6k. Everything I said about Gasling Roots applies here…apart from the semi biographical content…I mean maybe.

Ray: This was definitely a month with a lot of odd projects reminiscent of underground comics. This has to be a hit for the creator’s unusual output.

Glenn: Scout Comics releases a 5.99 Snow White zombie one shot at 421 selling over 2.6k. She’s undead and eating more than apples kids!

Ray: This was like reading Fables as published by Joel Schumacher. What an odd comic.

Glenn: Schumacher gave us Lost Boys, he could do better.

Among many low selling small press and reorders is…is…*looks at 430 at what sells over 2.3k* is….*gets up, packs bag, leaves house, leaves planet*

Glenn: I look forward to checking it out in the new year!

Glenn: You gotta guess that most people that wanted to read this already have.

Glenn: This year seems to be ending in a decent way for the industry overall, may it continue.

 

 

 

 

 

Its another month where all is not what it seems as once more, DC had an issue of two types of covers for two different prices which means that sales are once again wonky. We’re going to do our commentary on actual combined sales rather than split hairs. It makes our lives harder but we feel it gives things a more accurate projection overall.

For the full top 500 uncombined numbers click here.

It turns out my time travel machine works because Image’s longest running ongoing Spawn is at the top of the charts! The long running Todd Mcfarland creation speeds to the top of the charts with a result of over 262.5k in sales making it one of the highest selling comics of the year. This book has a lot going for it including having a big anniversary number, nostalgia, big creators doing stories like Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo while also having a bunch of variants. Of course all this creates some smoke and mirrors but I think this is a very definitive accomplishment. Will it last? Not likely but reports on sales for issue 301 are strong so we could get a long time before Spawn returns to its previous level. Its great to see Image at the top of the charts but this overall was a poor, poor month for them. More on that as we go along.

Ray: Image successfully turned this into an event, which is rare for them. The combination of big-name covers and top guest creators, plus a celebration of the history of the property, delivered exactly what they were hoping for. I’m skeptical that this will work long-term, because I don’t know the last time anyone actually talked about the events in a Spawn issue, but at the very least they got back to 90s numbers for one issue.

Glenn: At number 2 is Marvel’s much hyped Spider-Man comic written by JJ Abrams, his son Henry and drawn by Sara Pichelli which sells over 156.3k. This is a great number but considering how big a media mogul JJ is I would have expected closer to the number that Spawn got. On our podcast, Rabbit Stew (dong!) Ray made some good points on how this is still a good result but it seems lacking to me. I know a lot of people were hoping the earliest tease for this comic meant a comic version of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 4 and this is obviously not that and details about what it was were very sparse. Did playing their cards close to their chest hurt Marvel or do big names outside the industry not pack the punch they used to? This will deliver very solid numbers for a (spoilers) out of continuity Spidey tale throughout but I still think compared to other things like Doomsday Clock and DCCeased the results from this will be sub par, time will tell.

Ray: I think Marvel has to be happy about this, actually. They very rarely see numbers this high unless it’s for first issues that they have dozens of variant covers for. They didn’t even reveal the concept of this series until release, so people were buying this almost entirely based on the name of JJ Abrams. I have some friends who insist Abrams is overrated and has no real sales pull, but the man showran the #1 domestic movie of all time and one of the top TV series. People want to see what he’ll do, even if he’s only co-writing. We’ll have to see how it holds up, but it’s another in a streak of stand-alone hit Spider-man miniseries lately.

Glenn: Abrams is one of the biggest name directors and media successes out there. I can think of maybe 4 or 5 directors/producers who can pull in as much attention on name alone. Your friend is mad, mad I tell you.

From 3-6 its all Hickman X-Men as his monster two prelude mini’s continue to rack up the sales with issues 5 of House Of X and Powers Of X outselling issue 4. Issues 5 and 4 of House sell over 139.3k and 119.3k at 3 and 6 respectfully while Powers sells over 137.5k and 127k respectfully at 4 and 5. Obviously Hickman getting free reign on the X line has done wonders and his newly coming X-Men book will be a top ten staple. How this will benefit the other X titles not written by him remain to be seen but the numbers here are very encouraging.

Ray: Insanely dominant, with the sales going up as it goes along. There’s no other way to describe it. This is another megahit that just keeps growing much like DCeased, but unlike that stand-alone thriller, Marvel should have no problem spinning this success off into the next month’s new titles. I think it’s likely X-Men #1 is the top book in October.

Glenn: At 7 is the always dependable Doomsday Clock which clocks (hah,see what I did there?) in sales of over 115.8k despite the infamous and numerous delays. The series is hopefully ending in December where even if it sells a small fraction of what Watchman has over the last 30 or so years all the waiting will have been worth it.

Ray: A bunch of other books have lapped it, but Doomsday Clock has not lost a step. The final issue is coming out in December, and then it’s likely to be an evergreen hit for years to come. We don’t know how much this series will play into coming stories, but it’s definitely been the hit DC was hoping for.

Glenn: The first victim of the split numbers is the new Harley and Ivy mini by Jody Houser which sells over 110.3k in total placing it at 8. This is a Heroes In Crisis sequel of sorts but I doubt given that events so-so performance that has anything to do with this. This is due to Harley being a star character, people liking her relationship with Ivy and Houser being a rising star for years. Its a great and unexpected hit for DC and is encouraging for the multitude of Harley related books we have coming over the next few months. More on Harley in a short while.

Ray: It’s a massive hit, and I wonder if this might light a fire under DC’s butt to finally give Ivy a solo series. Harley’s always been a hit, but the combination of her with her on-again-off-again-occasionally-dead girlfriend took the sales to a new level.

Glenn: At 9 is the amazingly successful Absolute Carnage which sells over 95.5k on its third issue this month. Obviously this is outperforming a lot of recent Marvel events that were seen to have much bigger impacts and had much more hype. This is what happens when a dynamite creative team is left to do their own thing, see also: Metal.

Ray: I don’t think this is the level of hit Marvel was hoping for, and that’s mostly down to Marvel’s ongoing problems in the industry. I do think it’s held up well from month to month, and the short-run event will close out as a hit. Definitely a step up from War of the Realms.

Glenn: Final spot in the top ten is DCeased: A Good Way To Die, a bonus one shot printed alongside the insanely well performing mini series no saw coming. It sells over 90k which is amazing considering how this was a late addition to the overall story. We’re definitely getting more of this universe in one form or another sooner rather than later.

Ray: As of this typing the final issue drops next week, but everything it touches is gold. I expect a season two as soon as the creative team is ready – unless everyone’s dead. 

Glenn: Great number for a comic in an unusual format (not a winner historically) and given the cover price. The Harley hype train is for real.

Glenn: Sticking steadily to that 80k at this point. Weird to think King is gone before so long.

Glenn: I don’t think that will spike the interest Marvel is hoping it will. Willing to be surprised of course.

Glenn: At first I was really shocked by the sales of King Thor, I would have expected that to be a top ten debut. However, thinking it over it is a case of this is merely the final arc of a very long run. People aren’t going to jump on out of nowhere now no matter if it is a top team or a major story. I’d say we’ll get strong numbers for Cates start of course and Aaron’s run will sell in multiple collective forms for the company until the stars turn cold.

Glenn: Very much so, I think it’ll settle to be a solid upper tier DC book while Williamson is on board.

Glenn: This is the base level for an Adams level Batman title and considering its off to the side of everything else and is mostly an artist specific project this is still solid.

Glenn: It’ll be interesting to see what bells and whistles they pull out come next March when the film hits.

Glenn: Again, a good bit higher than 99% of Image output, an astounding number from BOOM who have had a quiet renaissance. Good for them, its clear why this was made an ongoing.

Glenn: This event that wasn’t didn’t seem stir any great excitement but it gave us the Punisher/JJJ team we never knew we needed so whose to say it was all for naught?

Glenn: Retailers don’t seem to think these one shots are essential which by and large, they probably aren’t. It shows how much the modern audience has been trained to treat spin offs for big stories after being batted over the head with them for like 15 years.

Glenn: Hoping for some reorders based on it actually being one of the better ones and Moon Knight’s stock will soon be on the rise.

Ray: This was probably been the most influential event comic of all time, setting the stage for the next few decades of DC, so I’m not surprised it still has some sales pull.

Glenn: Right’s issues make Glenn’s head hurt.

Ray: The whole X line seems like it’s going to be a monster, both in reorders and in upcoming series launches.

Glenn: We also know that Lemire is cooking another one so Dark Horse must be pleased with how they do and the Justice League mini will hopefully grow the audience or benefit the collections,

Glenn: Literally! This is definitely something Marvel will get great benifit from in its collection library in regards to recent output.

Glenn: Agreed, this whole line is built for outside the direct market so can’t expect much for those meddling kids and their dogs. It’ll be interesting to see how the others do next month, I would expect solid but unspectacular, these are new reader friendly stuff that has no greater consequence to anything and likely will see minimal interest outside the direct market except perhaps for Batman.

Glenn: Isn’t it odd what licences that are lying around suddenly become a thing again? This was a cult hit a long time ago so the sales here can’t be too surprising.

Glenn: The sales on all these comics are not too important, they’re exta money for old material and in this case, something that has little other value in todays market. You are right though, it is an odd choice.

Glenn: Very obvious why we’re getting more Sabrina. Again, Archie has lost a lot of momentum from the relaunch a number of years ago. They need to bring in a new voice to regain interest and not you know…hire the writer of Secret Empire.

Glenn: Black Hammer and Hellboy as well as the odd Bunn series seem to be the main highlights of Dark Horse’s creator owned stuff. Another trend the last few years is them at a bit of a loss at what to do since they lost Star Wars and haven’t found really anything else to replace it. They’re likely benefiting hugely from the collections of the Disney properties they have outside the direct market.

Glenn: Good question, considering the talent they’ve been able to attract there’s clearly some magic going on that we’re not seeing.

Glenn: Vault seems to be putting out some high quality work as of late but yeah, marketing is the key factor here. There’s no reason why this couldn’t have done close to the numbers of the Plot.

Down at 315 we have a new Zenescope launch in Mystere about a female voodoo priestess or something. She looks sexy and has bountiful bosoms, that’s what the audience will care about. It sells over 3.9k which is pretty standard for the company outside of the odd blip from Grim Fairy Tales here and there.

Ray: I’m sure this is a totally respectful tribute to the Voodoo religion.

Glenn: Reorders or stock dumping on Fantastic Four 1 at 318 ‘selling’ over 3.7k which I’m guessing is that latest Slott run? Random.

We got Street Fighter Akuma vs Hell at 321 selling over 3.5k. I mean the sales aren’t great but considering this franchise is making any dent at all any more is something. Likely only the few dedicated left.

Ray: Udon Entertainment has locked down this franchise for a long time and they seem to be kept afloat by die-hards.

Glenn: The 8th issue of Captain Marvel which had the debut of new character Star continues to get some more reorders at 332 selling over 3.1k. Maybe there will be some juice for that upcoming mini after all.

More Zenescope at 333 with a horror themed book in Tales Of Terror Bridgewater Triangle selling over 3.1k. The main cover is a callback to old school horror titles like House Of Mystery but is there  sexy variant of a chesty woman dressed as the grim reaper? Of course!

Ray: Zenoscope has really tried to rebrand themselves as a horror publisher lately. But it’s good to know they’re staying on brand.

Glenn: A decent debut from Scout Comics in Forever Maps at 335 selling over 3.1k, this is especially impressive since if you want the rest of the story you’ll have to buy it again plus the rest all at once in a trade at some point in the future. Its an odd business model but nobody seems to realize that quite yet.

Ray: At least Scout is up-front with this plan, unlike other companies where series just mysteriously stop and then show up completed in the trade.

Glenn: Lots of Marvel reorders for new launches such as Spider-Gwen, Captain Marvel 9 and Absolute Carnage tie-ins around this level all at around 2.9k. Nothing too heavy duty here but the Absolute Carnage ones are a few months old so that event has serious traction.

Another Kickstarter project hits the direct market in Starcadia Quest from IDW which launches at 356 selling over 2.7k. Even for IDW creator owned, that’s not great but most of the interest would have been picked up by those who backed the project initially. Anyone wanting more are more likely to go back for a sequel project through the same method which was the case for Gail Simone’s Leaving Metropolis which saw substandard number for the sequel of its uber successful Kickstarter predecessor.

Ray: This is apparently a comic book spin-off of a Kickstarter game campaign, which is one of the oddest paths to the comic book world I’ve seen in a while. I imagine a lot of people got the comic that way instead. 

Glenn: Not often we comment on long running ongoings but Image’s Beauty at 357 selling over 2.6k is an interesting story. Its just been announced that for no apparent reason the series is being cancelled with the final two issues not to be published at this time. Sales aren’t great here of course but there’s over 2000 people who have stuck around for (as of this sales chart) 29 issues. Its a bit odd and I doubt its up to Image, the company doesn’t cancel a series unless there’s something shady or a legal dispute. They don’t really take active interest on how their books sell since they are the middle man only. As long as its a good read that doesn’t damage their brand and they get their share as the publisher they won’t strong arm a creative team into stopping, especially this far into a run. I genuinely hope the fans of the series get answers.

Ray: This definitely isn’t the lowest an Image series has slipped, so it seems likely there’s something going on behind the scenes. The writer still has the title listed in his bio and has been very tight-lipped about this affair, so hopefully it’ll be resolved eventually.

Glenn: Reorders on the first issue of Jason Aaron’s Conan at 364 could be reorders on what is becoming a very well thought of ans successful run or stock dumping. Its hard to tell with something relatively recent. There’s over 2.5k more copies in this months chart either way.

Action Comics new title, Going To The Chapel sells over 2.5k at 366. Pretty standard for such a small press title with no known creators. The concept actually sounds like a lot of fun.

Ray: I’ve really enjoyed this one. Action Lab seems to have trouble gaining traction as a whole, though – I think they have a reputation for some dodgy books and the good ones like this and The Harcourt Legacy get lost in the shuffle

Glenn: First of a two part mini from Alterna comics at 370 in the form of Red Koi which sells over 2.4k. The company still continues to try to regain the momentum they had before things got fishy a number of years ago.

Ray: Heh. Red Koi. Fishy. I see what you did there.

Glenn: Totally on purpose!

Archie and Friends Go Back To School is this month’s Archie reprint thingey that sells over 2.3k at 371. Doesn’t really matter what these do, they’re for elsewhere.

Mythos comics (?!?!?!) launches a new title in Vamp about Vampires running Vegas which sells over 2.3k at 376. I would say this publisher is thrilled to be even here.

Butcher Queen, a new sci-fi mini from Red 5 comics (??!?!?!?!?!?!) sells over 1.9k at 390, again considering they’re likely not well known they’re probably thrilled to be here.

Ray: These are both definitely startup publishers that haven’t done much in the market yet. All it takes is one book to gain a company buzz, though, as we saw with Source Point Press not long ago.

Glenn: Lots of suspect Marvel dumping here like with Meet The Skrull’s, the 6th issue of Captain America, Domino Hotshots and a random issue of Moon Knight all suspiciously close together selling around the 1.8k mark. We see you Marvel!

Ray: Meet the Skrulls? Seriously? You mean The Americans but also Vision? This is definitely stock-dumping month.

Glenn: A random Zorro comic where he apparently takes on the old gods sells over 1.8k at 396. This is not a market that will be kind to poor Zorro.

Ray: I’m still surprised that a company other than Dynamite has Zorro, honestly.

Glenn: A one shot of *checks notes* Chainsaw Reindeer sells over 1.8k at 398. Perhaps they should have waited until closer to Christmas.

Ray: Speaking of dodgy books! Yeah, it was a one-joke concept and the joke was ultraviolence. And somehow it wasn’t released either for Christmas or Halloween.

Glenn: Among a little more stock dumps, small reorders and the small press usuals is the launch of an Edgar Rice Burrough’s property in Pellucidar Wings Of Death which sells over 1.6k at 409. When Marvel scooped up a lot of the author’s properties, this one likely flew under the radar for good reason.

Another Alterna launch, this time a new 4 issue mini in Gods and Gears which sells over 1.5k at 413. I wonder often what could have been.

Ray: This one was previewed in their anthology, It Came Out on a Wednesday. Standard sales for the company, unfortunately.

Glenn: A lot of very telling stock dumping from Marvel (Man-Thing 1, COMEON) here but amongst that is Beware Witch’s Shadow from American Mythology. It seems to be a horror title with a buxom host. I guess Elvira was busy? It sells over 1.4k at 419.

Glenn: When’s Vampira getting in on this? She came first damn it!

Glenn: No one remembers it, its just excess that Marvel themselves forgot about that they found in a bin in the office.

Glenn: Really interesting concept, hopefully it picks up steam.

Glenn: Could be genuine interest, could be stock dumping. Quite a high end market for the top 500 for a change in any case.

Glenn: This month’s top seller on the surface in the two first issues of the two Jonathan Hickman X-Men mini’s with House Of X selling over 185.6k and Powers Of X selling over 167.8k at 1 and 2 respectfully. After Secret Wars some years back, no one expected Hickman back at Marvel and while we all expected him to maybe do something at DC no one could have foreseen him helming a major property again but here we are. The last few years have told us that there is a decent amount of interest in X-Men but all it needed was a supercharge to launch it back to the top which Hickman more than covers. These two mini’s will likely sell over 100k or close enough to it during the duration and Hickman’s solo X-Men book will undoubtedly become one of Marvel’s heavy hitters. Its a big grab by the company to get him back and its already playing dividends.

Ray: These books definitely had a lot of covers, but I do think the interest here is genuine. This is the first true a-list X-men launch in a while, as neither the Blue/Gold/Red era nor the recent weekly garnered too much buzz. The return of Hickman to the Marvel Universe is a huge development and he’s returning from a high point. I think the flagship book will likely perform similarly to Venom as one of Marvel’s top guns.

Glenn: At 3 is the anniversary issue of Amazing Spider-Man which is oversized and overpriced at 7.99 cover price but once again expensive comics don’t seem to deter retailers with sales over 113.2k for the title. Now that hunted is over though and without a fancy multiple of 25 to support it the next issue is down at 18 selling over 59.6 which still puts it at the top of Marvel’s upper tier but the lowest the title has sold in years. The reaction to writer Nick Spencer’s run has been so-so and without a much hyped event or anything of interest to support it, interest is decreasing. Luckily Venom is coming in the form of Absolute Carnage and some tie-ins so we can all continue pretending that all is fine.

Ray: Overhyped Marvel anniversary issues always get big numbers, even if this one was a little silly coming just a year or so into the run. I think the second number is more significant, as we’re seeing some real attrition for the first time and the upcoming Superior Foes themed arc likely won’t help.

Glenn: At 4 is the final issue of the long running and ridiculously successful Walking Dead which sells over 111.1k which is Image taking some pity on retailers who didn’t know this was the last issue and upping orders a bit. Rumours are legit orders are around 80k but while there are some over shipping shenanigans again this month, in Walking Dead’s case its justified. Had this been made known what it was, this could have cracked anywhere between 200-300k easy and Image will see healthy reorders from this book until the end of the year and maybe even beyond. Will we ever see a runaway success from an indie book like this again? Time will tell but Walking Dead sales will continue to reap rewards for Image long after the corpse is cold but somehow still stirring.

Ray: I think this is going to be like DC Rebirth, Marvel Legacy, and Doomsday Clock in that we’re going to see these last few issues of Walking Dead show up on the charts for months on end as reorders come in. And more on that…lay-tor.

Glenn: At 5 is the second issue of Batman: Last Knight on earth which sees an uptick in sales to deliver over 105k units for DC. It seems the confusion about the future of Black Label has been partly settled in retailers minds and given last months strong reorders, demand for this title is high. Its a great number, still less for what I might have expected from the last Batman tale by Snyder and Capullo but this one will continue to do strong in reorders and well in collection form. Perhaps Black Label’s odd print format is seen as a bit of a potential risk to retailers, its hard to call. Still at 5.99 a pop, its still yet another Batman line hit for DC.

Ray: That’s a pretty significant increase and shows some real momentum for this title, as Snyder and Capullo are probably the closest thing DC has to an absolute gold standard creative team now. The last issue is unfortunately delayed – landing in November rather than October as planned – but I doubt it’ll hurt the sales at all.

Glenn: Delays can be a Black Label tradition!

Following up the mega hit he delivered two years ago, Sean Murphy is back with the follow up in the form of Batman Curse Of The White Knight at 6 which sells over 91.2k which is a strong debut and very close to where the previous mini ended. It seems most retailers have treated this as a straight up continuation but this is another Batman related mini that will deliver great numbers for DC during its run.

Ray: This is really exactly where Batman: White Knight left off, so I’m expecting there’ll be very little attrition here. This is a bona fide alternate universe hit for DC, and they just announced a spin-off focusing on Von Freeze with art by Klaus Janson in November.

Glenn: This one may not be drawn by Murphy but obviously Janson has all the Batman cred it the world and his name will still be there along with the all important branding so this universe looks to be branching out.

Finishing up the run of Batman mini’s is the final issue of Batman Who Laughs at 7 with sales over 88k. The hype died down a little but this was the issue we didn’t know would exist until very recently so retailers may have been caught by surprise but the entire mini was a runaway hit and its clear DC are not letting the character rest any time soon.

Ray:  Yeah, this is a not-insignificant drop for the final issue and I think it’s partially due to the hurried addition of the last issue. But this is a monster hit.

Glenn: At 8 we either get the indication me and Ray are wrong or Marvel is still messing us all around as the second issue of Black Cat which sells over 82.2k and while I don’t want to say we’re never wrong…we’re not wrong on this one. Its already known some mini debuts which we’ll get to have had their sales bolstered this month and its clear Marvel is wanting this title to be a hit and is just pushing out thousands of unordered copies. How much more? Its unclear but I would be willing to maybe accept this at 50-60k but no…this number for this character and creative team makes no sense. In this case Marvel can’t be trusted but its unclear how much that is the case across the line.

Ray: Yeah, we’ll have to see how this goes in coming months, but something weird is going on here. There is NO reason for this title to be doing so well. The character doesn’t have a mainstream media presence. The event this title spins out of was not well-relieved. The creative team isn’t likely to have strong feelings either way, as they were last on the digital-first Daughters of the Dragon series. This is likely spill-over from the WalMart release and the crash will be coming.

Glenn: At 9 is Immortal Hulk which seems to be selling not due to shenanigans but due to the creative team delivering a high quality book (the horror!). It continues to be a surprise hit with sales over 83k although the following issue drops sharply down to 23 with sales over 54.3k. That still puts it among the upper tier of Marvel’s books and above where it was but its odd the book dropped so suddenly. Is news of the supposed relaunch killing the titles momentum or there something else at play? So many questions this month.

Ray: It doesn’t seem like a relaunch is coming, so it seems like this is just whatever the weird Marvel sales pattern is – the first issue of the month gets a huge jump over the second. I’m assuming the second number is the “Real” one, so that’s still a strong hit for the company as Hulk gets some real buzz for the first time since Loeb/McGuinness.

Glenn: Final part of the top ten is Batman issue 74 trailing behind a lot of shenanigans and successful launches and books also starring Batman. It sells over 78.5k as it continues its slow decend down the charts. Now as always, two Batman issues shipped this month and this might be the first time in 10 years an issue isn’t in the top ten but that seems weird when its the much hyped 75th issue which starts King’s final arc on the title. On first glance the issue is bizarringly at 13 selling over 70.2k which for most ongoings would be pretty solid if not great but for Batman and the start of a major arc and an anniversary issue, its a disaster. However to make this month even more confusing, DC released two covers for a lot of their books and a special variant specifically had a different price point so is charted separately. This issue shows up again on the charts at 74 selling over 29.9k meaning that actually the issue sold over 100.1k which is probably still a little on the low side but makes a hell of a lot more sense. This means that it would be the fifth highest selling book of the month sandwiched between Last Knight and White Knight. King’s run has lost some steam likely due to the news he was leaving being broken early and the incorrect label that he’d been fired off the book being attached to that fact. Momentum on the book has been stalted but I don’t see why the book can’t perform around the 80k mark for this last 10 issue arc with his final issue delivering about the same numbers as 75 did total. Given that this has messed up the entire charts for DC, they have tried to get diamond to make sure this doesn’t happen again because at first glance, it makes them look that they did much worse than they did while their main competitor effortlessly gets away with making themselves look better than they are.

Ray: Yeah…this is where the insanity begins. I think this is a decent number for the anniversary issue of Batman – 100K is always impressive, but I do wonder if the false reports about King being abruptly fired from Batman and his run being unfinished drove down sales a bit. But the decision to do these extra-priced covers has essentially kneecapped DC on the charts this month, making the sales on all their titles look worse than they are. DC kneecaps themselves, Marvel artificially boosts themselves, and here we are. 

Glenn: It may be inflated but 36k ain’t bad especially when you consider this is a comic largely already bought and paid for. Much like many of Marvel’s reprint comics that are free money this is probably much the same here so this line of books could work to rules all their own.

Glenn: The series at least continues to perform well. Like Morgan Freeman once said, we’re going to see more of these.

Glenn: Decent for the real sales as you can expect from a character who like you said has never had much solo success. Most of these sales will be Waid pulling it along but by the end, it will probably remind Marvel that even though Sue is a fantastic character (pun intended) you can’t change a mindset the company has laid into us for 80 years in regards to her sales potential.

Glenn: It depends what shenanigans go on next month but until the anniversary issue hype dies down, this will be Image’s new top ongoing all over again. Party like the early 90’s!

Glenn: Loki is now one of movies greatest kinda/sorta villains even outside of comic book movies. His profile is higher than ever and he’s had a good run of critically acclaimed books starring him in the last decade or so, people don’t want to miss the boat here. This will likely settle to high 20’s to mid 30’s which should be okay for a decent run.

Glenn:  For sure, this is before people realized what this was. This is still a great number historically for Silver Surfer and a mini especially.

Glenn: That does explain it. Among one of the better tie-ins for that reason.

Glenn: I think the same or maybe people were put off by how much comic vs. price there was. Of course this will now be packaged in with all future Marvels collections so it ultimately didn’t matter. I really believed a top ten number for the first Alex Ross interiors in what feels like forever wasn’t out of line but there you go.

Glenn: Robert Kirkman, how do you sleep at night?

Kirkman: On a bed of money with many beautiful corpses.

Glenn: I think this is really good, Blade hasn’t had a major spotlight in forever (this will sure change soon) and its 5.99, can’t argue with much here.

Glenn: I thought maybe the solicited and cover boasting ‘City Of Bane tie-in!’ might have been good for a few more but it ultimately was nothing of the sort. This sold along the lines of what it actually was. If King had been among the writers that could have maybe got it 10-20k more.

Glenn: Free money for DC this time. This will have made a ton from the Wall Mart thing and will do great in collections land. This is a great number, especially priced at 4.99

Glenn: Not sure what happened here, I thought Millar’s name would have been enough even if you don’t consider Scalera a superstar (which his talent warrants). These Millar books haven’t been doing so hot since the Netflix deal, perhaps people are content to wait for the inevitable adaption as other comics which could use their money take priority.

Glenn: Everyone like ‘don’t care, Hickman here, bye now’ and you can’t blame them since Marvel is doing that themselves.

At 111 is the next re purpose of Wal-Mart material with Wonder Woman: Come Back to me by the former creative team of Harley Quinn. I would have thought since this is the team that helped propel Quinn into a sales success against all odds this would have been capable of more than the over 20.3k it does. While the main Wonder Woman title is gaining some momentum thanks to G. Willow Wilson, the character has never performed well in spin offs or that. Again the sales here aren’t really a big deal because this material is all bought and paid for.

Ray: *runs around with his shirt off* NOTHING MAKES SENSE!!!

Glenn: Anime adaptions will obviously sell bananas in the regular market once collected and could be big, big money if they’re translated and sold overseas.

Glenn: Puns, we got em

Glenn: Its hard to shelve out just another super hero universe, even if it is good or slightly different since there’s so much more to the market now. It really underlines how well Black Hammer does in a way.

Glenn: Not soon enough.

Ray: He actually issued a statement that he wouldn’t sign these comics and he wasn’t affiliated with them!

Ray: This was released through Scout, so that’s a pretty decent number given that a lot of the sales were elsewhere.

Ray: Porg Pops Adventures comic when????

Glenn:  If this happens, I might have to kill you.

Wait…

In a surprising upset, the number one with a bullet this month is the Elseworld zombie story DCeased written by Tom Taylor which launches at 242.3k which is an astonishingly good number. A mix of zombies still having somewhat of a moment, Taylor having some serious momentum right now, a lot of hype and some lovely variants seems to have been a formula for success. This seems to have struck a surprising cord, the same way Marvel Zombies did over a decade previous. Already we’re getting additional content to the previously scheduled 6 issue mini presumably due to the success. Taylor is a writer who has done some great work and elevated Injustice beyond ‘just’ a video game tie in to a critical and commercial success. With Tom King leaving Batman is it time for one of the big two to give him a shot at the big time? I think these sales would indicate so. Since this mini is so short, I wouldn’t imagine it dropping too badly over its period but this is a brilliant start regardless.

Ray: This is probably one of the most surprising upsets in recent sales chart history – not just DCeased winning the month, but the margin by which it won. This is a monster (pun intended) debut, and I think the covers have a lot to do with it. This is the first time in a while I can remember the variant covers feeling like an actual event rather than just a money grab. We’ll have to see how the future issues do, but the variants are continuing and I could see this being a dominant force for the entire run.

Glenn: Next is the all powerful Doomsday Clock which still sells a bundle at 2 with sales over 117.4, there’s no surprises here. I would say that there will be reorders given the contents of the issue but at this point with regards to Doomsday Clock, that’s an inevitability here.

Ray: Nothing stops this comic, not even bigger and bigger delays. The reorders continue to rack up too. DC’s strategy of doing mini-events without much of a buy-in in the form of tie-ins is really paying dividends so far – although that may be about to end, a little further down.

Glenn: Finally claiming the bronze prize this month is Last Knight On Earth selling over 113.2k which is a great number don’t get me wrong but with the amount of hype, the creative and this being Snyder and Capullo’s last solo Batman story I expect something closer to what DCeased got this month. I think with all that in mind this is a big surprise. Now, this could be because of price point but the most likely explanation is the Black Label association. Retailers are still waiting for the conclusion of Batman: Damned and there’s been a lot of messing about with the line. Given all that, the Black Label line might be more of a detriment. I have little doubt we’ll see some serious reorders but quick stability. I mean this will be a success, no question as it’ll be a nice collection that’ll be in print that will sell till the end of time but I expected more out of the gate by two of the hottest creators in comics.

Ray: Yeah, I think the format and the controversy over Batman: Damned drove sales down a lot. I also don’t think there were any variant covers here, so that’s a big difference-maker between it and DCeased. But this is very similar in numbers to Damned and White Knight, so I think retailers ordered what they knew it could do. Expect lots of long-term reorders here. I believe this is a bimonthly three-issue series, so it should hold very well for the duration.

Glenn: A strong debut at Marvel with Savage Avenger’s which sees a debut launching at 4 with sales over 111.7k which is an impressive debut. The Avenger’s brand isn’t what it once was so I think the success here is all down to A) how hot Venom is right now and B) the inclusion of Conan. I think we’ll see this one settle to about the 45k range swiftly from here due to it not really being a Venom book but that’ll still give it some legs.

Ray: Yeah, this is a weird comic but it feels like it’s an intersection of multiple Marvel events and hot characters under one cover. This is a very good debut, but I don’t think it’s sustainable. It’ll play out similar to the second-tier Avengers books used to, but with a Venom boost.

Glenn: Venom without Cates though can be hit and miss though as we’ve seen. An interesting one to watch.

At 5 is the Batman Who Laughs which continues its selling ways. This month it racks up over 108.6 which is an increase on last issue. There is nothing but winning here and the character will be around to sell other books for a good time to come.

Ray: Laughing all the way to the bank!

Glenn: At 6 is the continually baffling Amazing Spider-Man which sees one of its random sales boosts with sales on issue 21 selling over 92.5 but issue 22 charting at 10 selling over 78.1. Why is this happening every month? Whose to say and its hard to really judge where the title is at the moment with that in mind. On paper it is still one of Marvel’s strongest sellers but the vast swing in shifts every month is an oddity.

Ray: Marvel’s scheduling games aside, this book has been in flux for a while with an event and then an anniversary coming up. But after that, it sinks into a Superior Foes sequel arc and we should see the truth of the numbers a little more. The last .HU issue is down at #22 selling 52K, so there’s definitely an interest gap here.

Glenn: After Hulking up last month in sales, Immortal Hulk places at 7 this month with 87.4k as one of Marvel’s best regarded books sees some sales boost off that quality. At 13 the following issue sells over 75.9k which is a decline but still an amazing achievement by the title since at those numbers its barely being outsold by Marvel’s mega hyped War Of The Realms. Quality and critical acclaim does sell occasionally, who knew?

Ray: Whatever numbers are the actual interest level, I think it’s clear that Immortal Hulk has caught fire with Marvel fans in a way no book since Venom did. Like Venom, it has a horror twist on a popular character. But unlike that book, it doesn’t have a powerhouse name writer like Cates. Ewing has been a workmanlike writer for Marvel for a long time and many of his books struggled sales-wise, so I’m really happy to see this book catch fire.

Glenn: At 8 and 9 is top ten tenant Batman were Tom King’s run continues is slowwwwwww decline in sales. We see sales here of over 83.5k and 82.7k. We’re just spinning wheels until the big jump for 75 but then 10 issues later, King’s run is wrapping up to make way for a new 12 issue Batman/Catwoman mini and a new creative team. This is an interesting gamble by DC comics in an attempt to seemingly have their cake and eat it too. Will this gamble pay off? We’ll find out here early next year.

Glenn: This is Fett’s first comic he’s starred in since Marvel got the licence whereas Han has had a mini starring his older and younger selves. Maybe the novelty of seeing the mega popular bounty hunter in his own comic made the difference?

Glenn: A big win considering what this is and the pricing of it, I totally want to see that mini now too. Make it happen Marvel!

Glenn: Well deserved too.

Glenn: So they are, you only get the real pro analysis here at By The Numbers you know.

Glenn: It does seem that retailers are ordering based on theme rather than names which is interesting. I suppose with antholigies since there’s so many teams, big names sometimes aren’t enough to make a sale where a simple ‘this is a horror book’ or whatnot would be easier to convey to a potential consumer.

Glenn: There’s so much stupidity here my brain hurts.

Glenn: I love Book About Things, now lets get back to counting with numbers.

A new Goosebumps series, Horrors Of The Witch House sells over 3.6k at 316. Given how massive and enduring the franchise is, I doubt it needs the business in the direct market. It’ll be interesting to see how Stine’s upcoming original non weird Man Thing project delivers in the coming months.

Ray: Like all of IDW’s all-ages books, Goosebumps makes its money elsewhere.

Ray: Boom seems to do these $7.99 one-shots for all their popular books at least once a year. This one had Seanan McGuire on board, but it didn’t really help – at least in the single issue market.

Ray: Black Crown actually seems to do worse than other IDW creator-owned books for some reason. I think we’ll see the line folded soon.

This is also by the VERY niche cartoonist Dash Shaw, known for his surreal stylings. Unlike the previous Clue book, this wasn’t aimed for mainstream audiences.

Ray: I would say to look out for War of the Donalds in several months, but I don’t know if War of the Realms even gets a Keenspot parody.

Ray: Metalshark Bro is one of the first of Scout’s new “Binge!” line, where they release a first issue and then a $12 trade of the whole series, so sales are mostly irrelevant to this single issue.

Ray: This is much improved from the sales of the first one, I believe, so this indie horror franchise seems to be picking up steam. The art was different this time and the controversial subject matter might get people talking.

Ray: I wonder if there are any couriers in this one.

Ray: This was previously a backup in Ahoy’s less-popular launch comic High Heaven. It doesn’t seem to have helped the first-issue sales.

Glenn: Hashtag: Danger is a new comedy book from Ahoy Comics that seems to be partially a comic parody of the Fantastic Four. It sells 2.6k at 376 so people seem to have missed out on this clearly hilarious joke.

Jungle Comics from Antartic Press at 384 sells over 2.5k. This seems to be a clear rip of Ka-Zar and Shanna with the main characters even having a sabretooth tiger at hand. Nobody is particularly bothered about the real Ka-Zar so I doubt many will be interested in the new Coke version.

Ray: Antarctic’s whole brand seems to be sexier versions of other companies’ properties.

Glenn: At 391 is the Secret Life Of Pets getting its own comic tie in. I’m surprised this didn’t do better than over  2.4k since its a popular enough kids franchise. This is clearly meant for elsewhere.

Ray: Titan’s odd business model extends here, as this is only a two-issue miniseries for the pets and the trade is already out.

Glenn: Many a reorder or continuations of low selling books from small publishers until we get to Underdog & Pals at 416 selling over 2k. Poor Underdog, someone needs to take him to see a vet stat.

Ray:  Valiant picks up almost 2K more in sales for the first issue of Ninja-K as part of their dollar debuts line, at #418. Good sales, but odd as the comic its showing off is already over and is about to be relaunched by a new creative team.

Glenn: Super weird, even Scooby Doo never fought a rapping ghost…I think.

Glenn: She’ll be back, just a matter of where and when.

Glenn: Ugh, look at my eye twitching.

Glenn: A reason to end on a nice note for a change! Let us thank Tom Taylor and his DC zombies for no reason apart from ’cause we can’.

Glenn: So its April’s turn for sales and while Marvel got a huge market share (double over the next biggest company, DC comics) they had also double the about of comics (Marvel released 106 while DC released 52). The amount of comics coming from Marvel is bridging on insanity and something may have to give though and here it might just be happening…

Ray: Yeah, the market share thing doesn’t even feel like a competition at this point with the amount of content Marvel is putting out. It just makes DC’s win last month more impressive.

Glenn: So predictably the newest Marvel big line wide event War Of The Realms took the top spot at 1 with sales over 187,8k which is the big main event of Jason Aaron’s long running and critically/commercially successful Thor run. This is of course a very impressive number, while I might have thought it would be good for over 200k its not a million miles off. Its a great start BUT the second issue also charted this month 12 (yes 12) selling over 70.7k which is well over half. I had thought that this event after a series of big mis fires on behalf of Marvel in the last few years would have legs and a lot of potential. 70k is very good in this market but not for a comic like this that has a lot of hype, a lot of focus and Marvel’s biggest name writer at the helm. It seems the company has still to fully recover from the Secret Empire debacle. I think Marvel is fortunate this event is only lasting a brief time because of the rapid fire schedule. This is a serious problem that needs addressed yesterday.

Ray: This is about where I would have expected War of the Realms to debut, spinning out of a popular long-term run. I’ve said on Rabbitt Stew (dong!) that this event reminded me the most of Blackest Night, in that it’s one character’s status quo going global. The first issue numbers are good. The second, disastrous. Secret Empire did an enormous amount of damage, but I think it goes deeper than that. Marvel burned retailers badly on every event following Secret Wars, and the larger the event the more skeptical retailers are. This is far from the only bad news this event brings Marvel this month.

Glenn: A big surprise at 2 is Symbiote Spider-Man, the mini series that goes back to the 80’s where Peter had the alien costume. It seems that Venom popularity is even benefiting Marvel’s most iconic character so we can assume that Absolute Carnage in a few months will put War Of The Realms to shame. Sales over 165.8k are amazing for a retro series by a respectable creative team that deliver but don’t usually attract these numbers. I can definitely foresee Marvel trying to capitalize on the success of this series. Even if by issue 6 this thing is selling like 30k that’ll still be a big win.

Ray: Spider-Man + Venom = $$$$. At this point, Venom is giving Spider-Man a run for his money as Marvel’s most bankable hero, and yeah, Absolute Carnage should be a juggernaut. This mini would have been better if it had the Symbiote trying to convince Spider-Man to eat brains, though.

Glenn: At 3 is the Batman Who Laughs who continues his selling ways with over 103.6k worth of chuckles. What else can be said? 3 issues in a character not even 2 years old is beating a heavily hyped Marvel story that’s been 8 years in the making. No wonder he’s going to be showing up in Batman/Superman and everywhere DC can probably stuff him.

At 4 we have the usual highest selling ongoing in the market with Batm….wait what? *refresh* Erm…*refresh* its….its Immortal Hulk? Shooting up the charts in shocking and near unprecedented fashion, Immortal Hulk sells over 90.3k for…now real reason. The series has been a critical darling and apparently value of early issues are through the roof. Is this finally leading to a spike in sales due to *gasps* quality alone?! It may be a blip but its certainty an odd wrinkle this morning.

Ray: That’s a 37K jump from last month. I do think this comic has real buzz – it’s finally the hit Al Ewing’s deserved for some time – but this isn’t natural growth. Something went on here, and I expect we’ll see it in the 60-65K range next month. Never trust Marvel sales bumps.

Glenn: We return to the nice comforting land of familiarity with 5 and 6 with Batman with issues 69 selling higher than 68 at over 88.6k and 87.1k respectfully. The series continues to very slowly lose steam but it seems that most were wanting to see the conclusion to the Knightmare arc. I think the latest arc was an interesting experiment that wasn’t to everyone’s taste and with the interruption for the Price felt it went on longer than it did. The series will doubtfully rebound soon, especially with King hyping issue 75 like no tomorrow.

Ray: I think we’re likely to see a slow climb per issue as we get to the next big anniversary issue, especially with the way King is hyping the massive status quo change there.

Glenn: At 7 we have the first issue of a new Thanos mini series to capitalize on a certain record breaking movie you may have heard of. Capitilize it does with sales over 81.3k. Its not surprise as Thanos is red hot right now and this series will like perform very well during its duration, this is a big get for newcomer Tini Howard who Marvel seem to be putting a lot of faith in very quickly.

Ray: Obviously, sales on Marvel #1s are suspect when it comes to staying power, but I think Thanos is hot enough right now that it should hold well in the 40K range by the end of the mini. Tini Howard is rising fast and this should get her an ongoing gig sooner rather than later, especially since she just signed an exclusive.

Glenn: Amazing Spider-Man needs a writer, wait, what?

At 8 is the latest issue of Heroes In Crisis which continues to sell despite upsetting everyone and their mother. This issue sells over 79.5k which is an increase on previous issues likely to the fact that it promised answers (which it did give). I’m expecting a boost next month and then nobody to speak of this ever again.

Ray: The most impressive thing about DC’s lineup right now is how many of their books – especially event comics – lock down at a place in the charts and don’t budge. Marvel would kill for this sort of stability.

Glenn: Ninth spot in the top ten is another Web Of Venom one shot Cult Of Carnage which sells over 77.7k and this is interesting for a few reasons. Neither Donny Cates or Ryan Stegman are anywhere near this one and its actually a kinda sequel to a Carnage mini from YEARS ago. The Venom brand is so strong at the moment though that it still performed brilliantly. Further evidence that Absolute Carnage be the event Marvel may actually get a big return on.

Ray: Venom’s name on a book alone seems to guarantee massive sales right now, because this is much higher than the title it spins out of could dream of.

Glenn: Final spot is the 20th issue of Amazing Spider-Man which sells over 76.9k which outpaces the previous issue which is just outside the top 10 at 11 with sales over 74k. The Hunted storyline has brought some stability to what is usually Marvel’s top book even though it is objectively eye bleedingly awful.

Ray: It feels like the “event” has stabilized this title’s numbers just a bit, and it’s going from this event to the 25th issue reveal. I suspect it’ll hold or increase for a bit – and then crash hard when the multiple events end. 

Glenn: Carrie Fisher>EVERYTHING

Glenn: The big reveals are hitting now so there will  be some interest from people that have been hooked as more is known about the character.

Glenn: It’ll nevah be ovah Ahn Ahnderson!

Glenn: Likely just ordered on their concept alone and the similarity in sales is coincidence.

Glenn: Around 2 years later and Doomsday Clock 1 is still selling. This will definitely be a worthy addition to DC’s library when it eventually finishes around the time Tom Holland plays Iron Man in a crazy stunt casting move.

Glenn: I missed this one! To eBay!

Glenn: I am almost tempted to Google this to see what the story is with this comic. Almost.

Glenn: They clearly missed an opportunity to team the three up and get even more sales!

Glenn: Well we thought War Of The Realms might make things interesting but seemingly not so much. Year Of the Villain and Absolute Carnage to the rescue!