2014-04-18
Elsewhere: Mayo Report podcast March Diamond Trades Chart
Latest episode of John Mayo's podcast, discussing the March 2014 Diamond Trades chart with Chris Marshall, is now available.
2014-04-17
Elsewhere: Beat Marvel March Sales Analysis
The Beat has Jason Enright's analysis of the month-to-month sales trends for Marvel for the March 2014 Diamond comics chart.
2014-04-16
Elsewhere: Mayo Report podcast March 2014 Comics
John Mayo's monthly podcast on the Diamond Comics Chart for March 2014 is now available.
2014-04-14
Elsewhere: Beat DC Chart March 2014
David Carter has the DC Month-to-Month comparisons for March up at The Beat.
Observations on March 2014 Comics Chart - The Rising
Quick look at the comics to post a more-than-trivial increase in sales in the March 2014 Diamond Top 300.
GI JOE A REAL AMERICAN HERO #200 (IDW) : 11780 - +77%
This series carries on the numbering and continuity (and writer) from the old Marvel series, so it gets up to #200, a rarity in modern comics. However, big landmark numbering increases usually get completely reversed within a few issues.
STRAY BULLETS #41 (IMA) : 8297 - +59%
This concludes the story from the self-published version, which ended in 2005. I wonder how close to a record that is for consecutive issues of a book? Well, I guess a case could be made for GI JOE, above. Pretty good, though far below the 14208 the new STRAY BULLETS THE KILLERS #1 sold, also in March.
IRON MAN #23 .NOW (MAR) : 43912 - +51%
Marvel's ".NOW" starting point issues are heavily promoted with variant covers, ordering incentives and sometimes include digital codes for not only the issue in question but also a collection of an earlier run on the series. They also almost invariably lose most of their increases with the following issue. The temporary increase this buys varies wildly, this is one of the better ones.
CROSSED BADLANDS #50 (AVA) : 8685 - +48%
Landmark numbered issue, even more covers than usual, and the original writer (but not The Original Writer) returning. Don't expect it to hold most of this increase next month.
TRANSFORMERS REGENERATION ONE #100 (IDW) : 11153 - +39%
Another series that continues from the old Marvel numbering so reaches an unusually high landmark number for comics in 2014. This is the last issue, so nothing more to learn from these numbers.
X-MEN LEGACY #300 (MAR) : 22422 - +29%
A few numbering tricks to get to a landmark number for the final issue of this series, as the previous issue was #24. In theory this is the final issue of the series which launched with X-MEN #1 in 1991 with claimed sales of 8.1 million copies, so it held 0.27% of the sales. Another way to look at is an average drop of 1.9504% per issue (if my calculations are right), so there's your standard attrition right there.
FOX #5 (ARC) : 4993 - +27%
Archie comics are always hard to get a handle on since they so frequently fall off the Top 300, and the direct market is far from their primary market. Anyway, this is the last issue, so I guess we'll have to wait to see if there's another series to see if this is a trend or an anomaly.
UNCANNY AVENGERS #18 .NOW (MAR) : 63516 - +19%
DEADPOOL #25 .NOW (MAR) : 48775 - +18%
UNCANNY X-MEN #19 .NOW (MAR) : 64514 - +17%
About average for Marvel's ".NOW" promoted books, expect matching drops with the next issues.
ZERO #6 (IMA) : 8081 - +16%
Good sign for the first issue after the first collection, which sold well in February and had decent re-orders in March.
UNITY #5 (VAL) : 12268 - +15%
BLOODSHOT & HARD CORPS #20 (VAL) : 7929 - +8%
Valiant seems to occasionally have these small increases, which are never sustained, in fact usually followed by even larger drops. Not sure why, as I don't really follow their line, so these could be content driven, but are more likely marketing driven (variant covers, order incentives).
APHRODITE IX #9 (IMA) : 5352 - +7%
FATALE #21 (IMA) : 14799 - +6%
MANIFEST DESTINY #5 (IMA) : 14152 - +6%
Looks like there might be some genuine interest in these, worth watching for a few months to see if they're bucking the old "standard attrition" trend.
UNWRITTEN VOL 2 APOCALYPSE #3 (DC) : 7890 - +4%
A small uptick for the relaunched DC/Vertigo series at a point when most books are still shedding sales at a 10% clip has to be encouraging, although the sales are still well below any of the 54 issues of the first series.
NEW AVENGERS #16 .NOW (MAR) : 48731 - +3%
An almost trivial increase for this Marvel ".NOW" issue, mostly of interest to see if it sees the same kind of trivial drop next month, or something bigger.
This series carries on the numbering and continuity (and writer) from the old Marvel series, so it gets up to #200, a rarity in modern comics. However, big landmark numbering increases usually get completely reversed within a few issues.
STRAY BULLETS #41 (IMA) : 8297 - +59%
This concludes the story from the self-published version, which ended in 2005. I wonder how close to a record that is for consecutive issues of a book? Well, I guess a case could be made for GI JOE, above. Pretty good, though far below the 14208 the new STRAY BULLETS THE KILLERS #1 sold, also in March.
IRON MAN #23 .NOW (MAR) : 43912 - +51%
Marvel's ".NOW" starting point issues are heavily promoted with variant covers, ordering incentives and sometimes include digital codes for not only the issue in question but also a collection of an earlier run on the series. They also almost invariably lose most of their increases with the following issue. The temporary increase this buys varies wildly, this is one of the better ones.
CROSSED BADLANDS #50 (AVA) : 8685 - +48%
Landmark numbered issue, even more covers than usual, and the original writer (but not The Original Writer) returning. Don't expect it to hold most of this increase next month.
TRANSFORMERS REGENERATION ONE #100 (IDW) : 11153 - +39%
Another series that continues from the old Marvel numbering so reaches an unusually high landmark number for comics in 2014. This is the last issue, so nothing more to learn from these numbers.
X-MEN LEGACY #300 (MAR) : 22422 - +29%
A few numbering tricks to get to a landmark number for the final issue of this series, as the previous issue was #24. In theory this is the final issue of the series which launched with X-MEN #1 in 1991 with claimed sales of 8.1 million copies, so it held 0.27% of the sales. Another way to look at is an average drop of 1.9504% per issue (if my calculations are right), so there's your standard attrition right there.
FOX #5 (ARC) : 4993 - +27%
Archie comics are always hard to get a handle on since they so frequently fall off the Top 300, and the direct market is far from their primary market. Anyway, this is the last issue, so I guess we'll have to wait to see if there's another series to see if this is a trend or an anomaly.
UNCANNY AVENGERS #18 .NOW (MAR) : 63516 - +19%
DEADPOOL #25 .NOW (MAR) : 48775 - +18%
UNCANNY X-MEN #19 .NOW (MAR) : 64514 - +17%
About average for Marvel's ".NOW" promoted books, expect matching drops with the next issues.
Good sign for the first issue after the first collection, which sold well in February and had decent re-orders in March.
UNITY #5 (VAL) : 12268 - +15%
BLOODSHOT & HARD CORPS #20 (VAL) : 7929 - +8%
Valiant seems to occasionally have these small increases, which are never sustained, in fact usually followed by even larger drops. Not sure why, as I don't really follow their line, so these could be content driven, but are more likely marketing driven (variant covers, order incentives).
APHRODITE IX #9 (IMA) : 5352 - +7%
FATALE #21 (IMA) : 14799 - +6%
MANIFEST DESTINY #5 (IMA) : 14152 - +6%
Looks like there might be some genuine interest in these, worth watching for a few months to see if they're bucking the old "standard attrition" trend.
UNWRITTEN VOL 2 APOCALYPSE #3 (DC) : 7890 - +4%
A small uptick for the relaunched DC/Vertigo series at a point when most books are still shedding sales at a 10% clip has to be encouraging, although the sales are still well below any of the 54 issues of the first series.
NEW AVENGERS #16 .NOW (MAR) : 48731 - +3%
An almost trivial increase for this Marvel ".NOW" issue, mostly of interest to see if it sees the same kind of trivial drop next month, or something bigger.
2014-04-13
Observations on March 2014 Graphic Books Chart - New Release Breakdown
So, there were 141 new releases on Diamond's March 2014 Top 300 Graphic Books chart. Just a quick overview of them this month, there's some stuff I want to get into when we have a month where there are more new books listed, not as much backlist, unless the type of liquidation sale flood we've seen the last few months is the new normal. The books that made the chart this month can be broken down into five categories for more easy mental digestion.
There are 24 manga books from the major manga publishers, Viz, Kodansha, Yen and Seven Seas. The best selling ones are the two first volumes of the ATTACK ON TITAN spin-off books. There are also a few manga books from the other publishers, like Dark Horse and Fantagraphics. I have to admit my knowledge of manga is pretty spotty, so you won't see much on this blog about these books.
Marvel had 34 entries, a bit of a heavy month for them, starting with ALL NEW X-MEN TP VOL 02 HERE TO STAY. Last month's breakdown has more detail on a typical Marvel month.
DC has a typical month, with 27 entries on the list, topped by the hardcover JUSTICE LEAGUE TRINITY WAR HC. You can see last month's breakdown for a more detailed look at DC's current graphic books publishing line. The top Vertigo book was AMERICAN VAMPIRE TP VOL 05.
The other three publishers that Diamond classifies as "premier publishers" form a convenient group, and they collectively have 29 entries, 10 from Dark Horse, 7 from IDW and 12 from Image. The top two are the latest volumes of WALKING DEAD and SAGA from Image, with over 25k and 21k respectively. That's a pretty unusually high sell-in for anything. WALKING DEAD has had first month sell-ins of over 20k since volume 14 (and more relevantly, since shortly after the TV show began), it's a first for SAGA. Dark Horse's top book is the latest AVATAR THE LAST AIRBENDER book and IDW's is a collection of Batman newspaper strips.
That leaves the ever popular "Other" as the catch-all for 27 other books, led by NEMO ROSES OF BERLIN HC, the latest LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN book as the top book. Here's the full list:
NEMO ROSES OF BERLIN HC (TOP) : 8777 copies
ADVENTURE TIME ORIGINAL GN VOL 03 SEEING RED (BOO) : 4288 copies
GAME OF THRONES HC GN VOL 03 (RAN) : 1946 copies
SONIC MEGA MAN WORLDS COLLIDE TP VOL 02 (ARC) : 1840 copies
CROSSED TP VOL 08 (AVA) : 1541 copies
UBER TP VOL 01 (AVA) : 1410 copies
UNITY TP VOL 01 TO KILL A KING (VAL) : 1237 copies
QUANTUM & WOODY TP VOL 02 IN SECURITY (VAL) : 1092 copies
CANNON WALLY WOOD TP (FAN) : 1071 copies
GARTH ENNIS RED TEAM TP VOL 01 SEASON ONE (DE) : 1047 copies
GRIMM FAIRY TALES TP VOL 15 (ZEN) : 1013 copies
HELHEIM TP VOL 01 WITCH WAR (ONI) : 965 copies
GFT WONDERLAND TP VOL 04 (ZEN) : 885 copies
OCCUPY COMICS TP (BLA) : 883 copies
PEANUTS TP VOL 03 (BOO) : 787 copies
GFT OZ HC (ZEN) : 751 copies
SIMON & KIRBY HC LIBRARY HORROR (RAN) : 746 copies
SMURFS GN VOL 17 LAZY SMURF (NBM) : 730 copies
OKKO HC VOL 04 CYCLE OF FIRE (BOO) : 727 copies
WALT KELLY POGO COMP DELL COMICS HC VOL 01 (HER) : 606 copies
LORDS OF MARS TP VOL 01 (DE) : 604 copies
SUICIDE RISK TP VOL 02 (BOO) : 584 copies
NIJIGAHARA HOLOGRAPH HC (FAN) : 574 copies
SHADOW GREEN HORNET TP VOL 01 DARK NIGHTS (DE) : 539 copies
ROBOCOP TP VOL 02 LAST STAND PT 1 (BOO) : 508 copies
BEST OF ARCHIE COMICS BETTY & VERONICA TP VOL 01 (ARC) : 508 copies
SHADOW TP VOL 03 LIGHT O/T WORLD (DE) : 507 copies
There are 24 manga books from the major manga publishers, Viz, Kodansha, Yen and Seven Seas. The best selling ones are the two first volumes of the ATTACK ON TITAN spin-off books. There are also a few manga books from the other publishers, like Dark Horse and Fantagraphics. I have to admit my knowledge of manga is pretty spotty, so you won't see much on this blog about these books.
Marvel had 34 entries, a bit of a heavy month for them, starting with ALL NEW X-MEN TP VOL 02 HERE TO STAY. Last month's breakdown has more detail on a typical Marvel month.
DC has a typical month, with 27 entries on the list, topped by the hardcover JUSTICE LEAGUE TRINITY WAR HC. You can see last month's breakdown for a more detailed look at DC's current graphic books publishing line. The top Vertigo book was AMERICAN VAMPIRE TP VOL 05.
The other three publishers that Diamond classifies as "premier publishers" form a convenient group, and they collectively have 29 entries, 10 from Dark Horse, 7 from IDW and 12 from Image. The top two are the latest volumes of WALKING DEAD and SAGA from Image, with over 25k and 21k respectively. That's a pretty unusually high sell-in for anything. WALKING DEAD has had first month sell-ins of over 20k since volume 14 (and more relevantly, since shortly after the TV show began), it's a first for SAGA. Dark Horse's top book is the latest AVATAR THE LAST AIRBENDER book and IDW's is a collection of Batman newspaper strips.
That leaves the ever popular "Other" as the catch-all for 27 other books, led by NEMO ROSES OF BERLIN HC, the latest LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN book as the top book. Here's the full list:
NEMO ROSES OF BERLIN HC (TOP) : 8777 copies
ADVENTURE TIME ORIGINAL GN VOL 03 SEEING RED (BOO) : 4288 copies
GAME OF THRONES HC GN VOL 03 (RAN) : 1946 copies
SONIC MEGA MAN WORLDS COLLIDE TP VOL 02 (ARC) : 1840 copies
CROSSED TP VOL 08 (AVA) : 1541 copies
UBER TP VOL 01 (AVA) : 1410 copies
UNITY TP VOL 01 TO KILL A KING (VAL) : 1237 copies
QUANTUM & WOODY TP VOL 02 IN SECURITY (VAL) : 1092 copies
CANNON WALLY WOOD TP (FAN) : 1071 copies
GARTH ENNIS RED TEAM TP VOL 01 SEASON ONE (DE) : 1047 copies
GRIMM FAIRY TALES TP VOL 15 (ZEN) : 1013 copies
HELHEIM TP VOL 01 WITCH WAR (ONI) : 965 copies
GFT WONDERLAND TP VOL 04 (ZEN) : 885 copies
OCCUPY COMICS TP (BLA) : 883 copies
PEANUTS TP VOL 03 (BOO) : 787 copies
GFT OZ HC (ZEN) : 751 copies
SIMON & KIRBY HC LIBRARY HORROR (RAN) : 746 copies
SMURFS GN VOL 17 LAZY SMURF (NBM) : 730 copies
OKKO HC VOL 04 CYCLE OF FIRE (BOO) : 727 copies
WALT KELLY POGO COMP DELL COMICS HC VOL 01 (HER) : 606 copies
LORDS OF MARS TP VOL 01 (DE) : 604 copies
SUICIDE RISK TP VOL 02 (BOO) : 584 copies
NIJIGAHARA HOLOGRAPH HC (FAN) : 574 copies
SHADOW GREEN HORNET TP VOL 01 DARK NIGHTS (DE) : 539 copies
ROBOCOP TP VOL 02 LAST STAND PT 1 (BOO) : 508 copies
BEST OF ARCHIE COMICS BETTY & VERONICA TP VOL 01 (ARC) : 508 copies
SHADOW TP VOL 03 LIGHT O/T WORLD (DE) : 507 copies
2014-04-12
Observations on March 2014 Comics Chart - Launches
Some notable first issues from the March 2014 Diamond Top 300.
Boom
RUSH CLOCKWORK ANGELS #1 : 11602 copies
EVIL EMPIRE #1 : 9296 copies
RETURNING #1 : 5090 copies
I'll have to admit, CLOCKWORK ANGELS did a lot better than I was expecting. I didn't think retailers would guess the crossover between fans of old Canadian progressive rockers and people interested in buying single issue comic was nearly that high, especially for a tie-in to a 2-year-old album. Boom second issues drop in the 30% range, so expect that to drop below 9000, and similar drops for the other two.
Dark Horse
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER SEASON 10 #1 : 27851 copies
VEIL #1 : 14445 copies
WITCHER #1 : 6525 copies
BLACKOUT #1 : 5513 copies
BUFFY is up substantially from the last "Season 9" issue, but way down from the "Season 9" debut. Hard to imagine a "Season 11" with this trend. And then maybe we can stop calling comic book series "seasons". VEIL has a pretty decent launch for a new creator-owned book from Dark Horse. WITCHER is based on a game and it's hard to predict how that kind of thing will do. It could end up selling really well to fans of the game, though possibly not in the direct market. BLACKOUT faces the general indifference of the market to Dark Horse's latest attempt at a company-owned line.
DC
SUICIDE SQUAD AMANDA WALLER #1 : 16534 copies
Only one on-going book debut from DC, the return of AMERICAN VAMPIRE from its hiatus, with a 40% jump from the last regular issue. Not bad, but I would think they'd have hoped for more with the higher profile of the writer since then. By comparison, THE WAKE began at about 45k and is still selling over 26k per issue. BATMAN SUPERMAN ANNUAL sells in the high end of the expected range for an Annual, 90% of the parent title, while the SUICIDE SQUAD one-shot sells 75% of the parent title. They might have been better off calling it SUICIDE SQUAD ANNUAL #1.
Dynamite
MAGNUS ROBOT FIGHTER #1 : 27497 copies
SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN SEASON 6 #1 : 11493 copies
As expected, the second Gold Key revival comes in below the first, TUROK, by about 10%. TUROK already saw a huge decline with #2, so I'd expect MAGNUS to follow suit and lose over half those numbers by #2. SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN launches with over three time the sale of the last issue of the BIONIC MAN series, which unlike the new one didn't use the continuity or likenesses from the TV show, but still over 30% less than BIONIC MAN launched with. I'd be curious how much better it would have done if the previous series hadn't diluted the brand. Anyway, probably under 10k by #2.
IDW
MONSTER & MADMAN #1 : 7065 copies
ROCKY & BULLWINKLE #1 : 7022 copies
ROGUE TROOPER #1 : 6259 copies
CROW PESTILENCE #1 : 5149 copies
STAR SLAMMERS REMASTERED #1 : 3812 copies
Some pretty uninspiring launches all around. These are all the types of books that trend towards at least a 25% drop, so probably all in the 5000 or lower range with #2, maybe all below the chart radar within a few issues.
Image
STARLIGHT #1 : 34080 copies
REAL HEROES #1 : 23716 copies
STRAY BULLETS THE KILLERS #1 : 14208 copies
TALES OF HONOR #1 : 13827 copies
SOVEREIGN #1 : 13204 copies
Also of note, STRAY BULLETS #41 at 8297, concluding the El Capitán series from 2005. That series ended selling steadily at about 5200 per issue, so that's a pretty healthy bump up, especially with over 3800 copies of the $60 collection with all 41 issues. That'll be the most interesting one of these to watch over the next few months. Image's second issue drops seem to be increasing lately, so we'll see if that trend continues with this group.
Marvel
DAREDEVIL #1 : 76006 copies
SILVER SURFER #1 : 64919 copies
MOON KNIGHT #1 : 58022 copies
MAGNETO #1 : 55337 copies
WOLVERINE AND X-MEN #1 : 54675 copies
ALL NEW GHOST RIDER #1 : 50072 copies
CAPTAIN MARVEL #1 : 44248 copies
SECRET AVENGERS #1 : 34036 copies
AVENGERS UNDERCOVER #1 : 31936 copies
IRON PATRIOT #1 : 31773 copies
That's a lot of first issues from Marvel. The top ones there actually have pretty good numbers for what are generally second or third tier characters, and I could see them settling down in the 30-40k range within a few months, which should be enough for Marvel to keep them going for a long run (which these days is anything over 20 issues). Those bottom three, though, that's a rough level for an on-going Marvel title to launch at, I'd be surprised to see a #7 solicited for any of those.
BoomRUSH CLOCKWORK ANGELS #1 : 11602 copies
EVIL EMPIRE #1 : 9296 copies
RETURNING #1 : 5090 copies
I'll have to admit, CLOCKWORK ANGELS did a lot better than I was expecting. I didn't think retailers would guess the crossover between fans of old Canadian progressive rockers and people interested in buying single issue comic was nearly that high, especially for a tie-in to a 2-year-old album. Boom second issues drop in the 30% range, so expect that to drop below 9000, and similar drops for the other two.
Dark HorseVEIL #1 : 14445 copies
WITCHER #1 : 6525 copies
BLACKOUT #1 : 5513 copies
BUFFY is up substantially from the last "Season 9" issue, but way down from the "Season 9" debut. Hard to imagine a "Season 11" with this trend. And then maybe we can stop calling comic book series "seasons". VEIL has a pretty decent launch for a new creator-owned book from Dark Horse. WITCHER is based on a game and it's hard to predict how that kind of thing will do. It could end up selling really well to fans of the game, though possibly not in the direct market. BLACKOUT faces the general indifference of the market to Dark Horse's latest attempt at a company-owned line.
DC
BATMAN SUPERMAN ANNUAL #1 : 52937 copies
AMERICAN VAMPIRE SECOND CYCLE #1 : 18966 copiesSUICIDE SQUAD AMANDA WALLER #1 : 16534 copies
Only one on-going book debut from DC, the return of AMERICAN VAMPIRE from its hiatus, with a 40% jump from the last regular issue. Not bad, but I would think they'd have hoped for more with the higher profile of the writer since then. By comparison, THE WAKE began at about 45k and is still selling over 26k per issue. BATMAN SUPERMAN ANNUAL sells in the high end of the expected range for an Annual, 90% of the parent title, while the SUICIDE SQUAD one-shot sells 75% of the parent title. They might have been better off calling it SUICIDE SQUAD ANNUAL #1.
SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN SEASON 6 #1 : 11493 copies
As expected, the second Gold Key revival comes in below the first, TUROK, by about 10%. TUROK already saw a huge decline with #2, so I'd expect MAGNUS to follow suit and lose over half those numbers by #2. SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN launches with over three time the sale of the last issue of the BIONIC MAN series, which unlike the new one didn't use the continuity or likenesses from the TV show, but still over 30% less than BIONIC MAN launched with. I'd be curious how much better it would have done if the previous series hadn't diluted the brand. Anyway, probably under 10k by #2.
MONSTER & MADMAN #1 : 7065 copies
ROCKY & BULLWINKLE #1 : 7022 copies
ROGUE TROOPER #1 : 6259 copies
CROW PESTILENCE #1 : 5149 copies
STAR SLAMMERS REMASTERED #1 : 3812 copies
Some pretty uninspiring launches all around. These are all the types of books that trend towards at least a 25% drop, so probably all in the 5000 or lower range with #2, maybe all below the chart radar within a few issues.
STARLIGHT #1 : 34080 copies
REAL HEROES #1 : 23716 copies
STRAY BULLETS THE KILLERS #1 : 14208 copies
TALES OF HONOR #1 : 13827 copies
SOVEREIGN #1 : 13204 copies
Also of note, STRAY BULLETS #41 at 8297, concluding the El Capitán series from 2005. That series ended selling steadily at about 5200 per issue, so that's a pretty healthy bump up, especially with over 3800 copies of the $60 collection with all 41 issues. That'll be the most interesting one of these to watch over the next few months. Image's second issue drops seem to be increasing lately, so we'll see if that trend continues with this group.
MarvelSILVER SURFER #1 : 64919 copies
MOON KNIGHT #1 : 58022 copies
MAGNETO #1 : 55337 copies
WOLVERINE AND X-MEN #1 : 54675 copies
ALL NEW GHOST RIDER #1 : 50072 copies
CAPTAIN MARVEL #1 : 44248 copies
SECRET AVENGERS #1 : 34036 copies
AVENGERS UNDERCOVER #1 : 31936 copies
IRON PATRIOT #1 : 31773 copies
That's a lot of first issues from Marvel. The top ones there actually have pretty good numbers for what are generally second or third tier characters, and I could see them settling down in the 30-40k range within a few months, which should be enough for Marvel to keep them going for a long run (which these days is anything over 20 issues). Those bottom three, though, that's a rough level for an on-going Marvel title to launch at, I'd be surprised to see a #7 solicited for any of those.
2014-04-09
Observations on March 2014 Graphic Books Chart - Noteworthy Backlist
Diamond's Top 300 Graphic Books Chart had 141 new books and 159 backlist books which had been on the charts before. Of those 159, 71 were Marvel books which seemed to be part of a big sale, including 35 different softcover Marvel Masterworks volumes, a few of which shipped more copies last month than they did in their initial month of publication. Of the remaining 88, there are 68 which have been on the charts enough over the last two years or since they've been published (whichever is shorter) that I classify them as perennials, including 36 which have been on the charts every month of their availability in that period.
So that leaves a more manageable list of 20 books which merit some greater attention.
The first group have been on the chart every month since they were published, that just wasn't long enough ago to qualify for the perennial list. Some of them will continue to appear on the list and join that list (almost certainly the WALKING DEAD and DEADPOOL books, based on past history) while others will drop off for the most part and only occasionally sell enough to make the Top 300, including the hardcovers which will eventually be replaced by softcovers by their publishers' normal marketing patterns.
WALKING DEAD TP VOL 19 MARCH TO WAR (IMA) : 1956 books
UNCANNY AVENGERS TP VOL 01 RED SHADOW (MAR) : 1317 books
SECRET SERVICE TP (MAR) : 1094 books
LOCKE & KEY HC VOL 06 ALPHA & OMEGA (IDW) : 998 books
ZERO TP VOL 01 AN EMERGENCY (IMA) : 728 books
DEADPOOL KILLS DEADPOOL TP (MAR) : 654 books
DEADPOOL TP VOL 03 GOOD BAD AND UGLY NOW (MAR) : 612 books
INJUSTICE GODS AMONG US HC VOL 01 (DC) : 572 books
FATALE TP VOL 04 PRAY FOR RAIN (IMA) : 524 books
A few other recent books haven't made the list every month since they were published. MANHATTAN PROJECTS might continue to appear most months, like the first two books do. GUARDIANS will almost certainly fall off in this format after the softcover edition come out in a few months. HIP HOP FAMILY TREE is an interesting case. It sold out on publication last November, and the second printing came out (and sold out) in March. So there's a good chance it'll show up again in a few months when the third printing comes out. It's not the type of material that typically becomes a permanent fixture in the direct market Top 300, but then neither is John Lewis' autobiographical MARCH which has been on the chart 7 of 8 months since it was published.
The last group are books more than a year old which show up on the list occasionally, but less than half the time. Sometimes it's obvious why they showed up in this month, like that WINTER SOLDIER book which ties in to a movie that just came out, or that DAREDEVIL book out the same month as the book relaunches with the same writer. That first ATTACK ON TITAN book is a special case, having been on the list for the last six months after being off the chart for over a year after it was first published. It's the only one of these likely to eventually fall into what I define as a perennial, the rest will show up a few times a year and sell steadily at the sub-Top 300 level the other months.
So that leaves a more manageable list of 20 books which merit some greater attention.
WALKING DEAD TP VOL 19 MARCH TO WAR (IMA) : 1956 books
UNCANNY AVENGERS TP VOL 01 RED SHADOW (MAR) : 1317 books
SECRET SERVICE TP (MAR) : 1094 books
LOCKE & KEY HC VOL 06 ALPHA & OMEGA (IDW) : 998 books
ZERO TP VOL 01 AN EMERGENCY (IMA) : 728 books
DEADPOOL KILLS DEADPOOL TP (MAR) : 654 books
DEADPOOL TP VOL 03 GOOD BAD AND UGLY NOW (MAR) : 612 books
INJUSTICE GODS AMONG US HC VOL 01 (DC) : 572 books
FATALE TP VOL 04 PRAY FOR RAIN (IMA) : 524 books
MANHATTAN PROJECTS TP VOL 03 (IMA) : 649 books
GUARDIANS OF GALAXY PREM HC VOL 02 ANGELA (MAR) : 743 books
HIP HOP FAMILY TREE GN VOL 01 (FAN) : 671 books
DAREDEVIL BY MARK WAID TP VOL 01 (MAR) : 1376 books
ATTACK ON TITAN GN VOL 01 (RAN) : 817 books
CAPTAIN AMERICA WINTER SOLDIER ULTIMATE COLLECTION TP (MAR) : 1029 books
MARVEL ZOMBIES TP VOL 01 (MAR) : 678 books
FABLES TP VOL 03 STORYBOOK LOVE (DC) : 540 books
SERENITY HC VOL 01 THOSE LEFT BEHIND (DAR) : 537 books
SAGA OF THE SWAMP THING TP BOOK 01 (DC) : 666 books
ALL STAR SUPERMAN TP (DC) : 514 books
Elsewhere: Beat Indie Chart Analysis Feb. 2014
Paul Mellerick has the Month-to-Month numbers for Indie comics up at The Beat. Also via The Beat, David Harper has an interesting article on the current state of the market at Multiversity Comics.
2014-04-08
Elsewhere: EARTH ONE total sales
SUPERMAN: EARTH ONE was a #1 New York Times Bestseller for 7 weeks; spent 37 total weeks on the list.
Total copies sold: 109,254 (50,549 direct market, 58,705 book trade)
Not often you see such precise numbers, instead of a more vague "over 100,000 copies". For comparison, the combined year-end estimates from Comichron for the four years the book was available (2010-2013) put direct market sales at 53,300 for the hardcover of EARTH ONE. It's possible that the last few thousand copies don't count since it looks like the remaining stock was sold off at higher discounts before the softcover came out and sold an additional 7700 copies. On the BookScan charts provided by Brian Hibbs the hardcover had combined sales of 51,530 copies over four years, with the softcover selling 8977 copies in 2013, so it looks like BookScan does capture a pretty large percentage of the book trade for this book, at least. If those numbers are just for the hardcover, as seems to be the case, then BookScan numbers account for over 87% of the book trade sales.
On the other hand, the listing for the hardcover edition of PUNK ROCK JESUS says that "The trade paperback edition of PUNK ROCK JESUS has sold over 20,000 copies", and the combined direct market charts and BookScan numbers for that only come up to 11,418 during 2013 (7,500 direct, 3918 BookScan), so that leaves a significant percentage of sales for that one outside those reporting markets, assuming it didn't have huge sales in the first few months of 2014.
On the other hand, the listing for the hardcover edition of PUNK ROCK JESUS says that "The trade paperback edition of PUNK ROCK JESUS has sold over 20,000 copies", and the combined direct market charts and BookScan numbers for that only come up to 11,418 during 2013 (7,500 direct, 3918 BookScan), so that leaves a significant percentage of sales for that one outside those reporting markets, assuming it didn't have huge sales in the first few months of 2014.
Observations on March 2014 Comics Chart - Second Issue Falls
Notable changes (always negative) for second issues on the March comics chart. I wrote about the launches for most of these last month, with predictions on where I thought the sales would head. In most cases I was too optimistic. Format is:
TITLE (PUB) : Percentage drop including re-orders for #1 (drop without reorders) : Sales of second issue
TUROK DINOSAUR HUNTER (DE) : -66% (-63% without re-orders) : 11.3k
That's a pretty massive fall, even bigger than I expected, which was already high ("maybe over 50%"). Doesn't speak well for the future of Dynamite's Gold Key line, unless they can stem the bleeding quickly.
ONE HIT WONDER (IMA) : -45% : 5.4k
BUNKER (ONI) : -45% (-24% without re-orders) : 7.9k
CITY THE MIND IN THE MACHINE (IDW) : -44% : 2.3k
Kind of some oddly high drops. Sometimes these smaller books end up with their shipments split across months, maybe that's the case here. We'll see with future issues if this is a trend.
NEW WARRIORS (MAR) : -43% : 26k
FANTASTIC FOUR (MAR) : -43% : 37.6k
APOCALYPSE AL (IMA) : -43% : 8k
REVENGE (IMA) : -42% : 10.1k
FUSE (IMA) : -38% : 9.9k
UNDERTOW (IMA) : -38% : 9.2k
ROYALS MASTERS OF WAR (DC) : -38% : 7.9k
That's a much bigger fall for this Vertigo mini-series than I was expecting. I predicted before it would be down around 7k by the last issue, so I'll have to revise that to 5k.
LOKI AGENT OF ASGARD (MAR) : -37% (-33% without re-orders) : 28k
LOKI RAGNAROK & ROLL (BOO) : -35% : 2.7k
SHE-HULK (MAR) : -36% : 26.7k
MS MARVEL (MAR) : -33% (-24% without re-orders) : 38.4k
WOLVERINE AND X-MEN (MAR) : -26% : 40.4k
On one hand, a better than normal Marvel drop (from the first issue also out in March). On the other hand, the last time a book had this title, way back in 2011, the second issue sold 83k.
GFT ASCENSION (ZEN) : -25% : 4k
GHOST (DAR) : -24% : 7.4k
WHITE SUITS (DAR) : -24% : 3.8k
TERMINATOR ENEMY OF MY ENEMY (DAR) : -23% : 4.7k
MERCENARY SEA (IMA) : -21% : 8.5k
WINTER SOLDIER BITTER MARCH (MAR) : -20% : 24.8k
DEXTER DOWN UNDER (MAR) : -19% : 10.7k
This is pretty much the standard range for a second issue drop until recently, so not too shabby. It'll be a few issues before we know if these can stabilize at a sustainable level, for those that aren't mini-series.
ELFQUEST FINAL QUEST (DAR) : -15% : 8.4k
Dropped a bit more than I expected, I figured retailers would think at this point that the people who are still in for buying ELFQUEST in serialized form are there, but I guess it's been long enough since there was an ELFQUEST series that there's not much history to go on.
SANDMAN OVERTURE (DC) : -14% (-4% without re-orders) : 89.7k
Held onto the initial orders for the first issue remarkably well, with the larger drop only because that first issue continued to sell well in re-orders in the long gap between issues (plus the "Special Edition" uncoloured version sold well, over 14k, not counted here). Might still be over 75k by the final issue, which might be out in 2015 if they pick up the pace a bit.
LEGENDS DARK KNIGHT 100 PAGE SUPER SPECTACULAR (DC) : -11% : 9.9k
Not bad for a $10 quarterly anthology of material already published digitally.
KING CONAN CONQUEROR (DAR) : -12% : 8.5k
About as small as a drop on a #2 can get. HELLBOY spin-offs, CONAN minis and random Zenescope stuff are pretty much known quantities at this point, so retailers know to order a few extra of #1 for the browsers and samplers and adjust for a modest drop after that..
TITLE (PUB) : Percentage drop including re-orders for #1 (drop without reorders) : Sales of second issue
TUROK DINOSAUR HUNTER (DE) : -66% (-63% without re-orders) : 11.3kThat's a pretty massive fall, even bigger than I expected, which was already high ("maybe over 50%"). Doesn't speak well for the future of Dynamite's Gold Key line, unless they can stem the bleeding quickly.
ONE HIT WONDER (IMA) : -45% : 5.4k
BUNKER (ONI) : -45% (-24% without re-orders) : 7.9k
CITY THE MIND IN THE MACHINE (IDW) : -44% : 2.3k
Kind of some oddly high drops. Sometimes these smaller books end up with their shipments split across months, maybe that's the case here. We'll see with future issues if this is a trend.
NEW WARRIORS (MAR) : -43% : 26k
FANTASTIC FOUR (MAR) : -43% : 37.6k
A typical Marvel drop these days, it's more surprising that the other second issues from Marvel this month didn't fall as much. For comparison, last time Marvel did an FF #2 it sold 58k, and the last NEW WARRIORS #2 was at 46k, so both of these are doing substantially worse.
APOCALYPSE AL (IMA) : -43% : 8k
REVENGE (IMA) : -42% : 10.1k
FUSE (IMA) : -38% : 9.9k
UNDERTOW (IMA) : -38% : 9.2k
Most of the mid-range Image launches of last month, all falling around around the same amount. I said before "I'd expect at least a 20-25% range drop for #2 on each", so I guess I was overly optimistic. I still expect at least one of these to quickly level off and perhaps start gaining sales soon.
That's a much bigger fall for this Vertigo mini-series than I was expecting. I predicted before it would be down around 7k by the last issue, so I'll have to revise that to 5k.
LOKI AGENT OF ASGARD (MAR) : -37% (-33% without re-orders) : 28k
LOKI RAGNAROK & ROLL (BOO) : -35% : 2.7k
Kind of funny that the two Loki books are falling almost in lockstep, with one at 10% of sales of the other.
SHE-HULK (MAR) : -36% : 26.7kMS MARVEL (MAR) : -33% (-24% without re-orders) : 38.4k
X-FORCE (MAR) : -30% : 33.1k
More on-going Marvels, not falling quite as fast as most recent ones. MS MARVEL is the only one with enough re-orders on #1 to chart, so it's the most likely to stabilize quickly, maybe at the 30k level.
TOMB RAIDER (DAR) : -26% : 13.6k
About the drop I expected, and it might settle down around 10k. For comparison, the last time there was a TOMB RAIDER #2, published by Image in 1999, it sold over 105k.WOLVERINE AND X-MEN (MAR) : -26% : 40.4k
On one hand, a better than normal Marvel drop (from the first issue also out in March). On the other hand, the last time a book had this title, way back in 2011, the second issue sold 83k.
GFT ASCENSION (ZEN) : -25% : 4k
GHOST (DAR) : -24% : 7.4k
WHITE SUITS (DAR) : -24% : 3.8k
TERMINATOR ENEMY OF MY ENEMY (DAR) : -23% : 4.7k
MERCENARY SEA (IMA) : -21% : 8.5k
WINTER SOLDIER BITTER MARCH (MAR) : -20% : 24.8k
DEXTER DOWN UNDER (MAR) : -19% : 10.7k
This is pretty much the standard range for a second issue drop until recently, so not too shabby. It'll be a few issues before we know if these can stabilize at a sustainable level, for those that aren't mini-series.
ELFQUEST FINAL QUEST (DAR) : -15% : 8.4k
Dropped a bit more than I expected, I figured retailers would think at this point that the people who are still in for buying ELFQUEST in serialized form are there, but I guess it's been long enough since there was an ELFQUEST series that there's not much history to go on.
SANDMAN OVERTURE (DC) : -14% (-4% without re-orders) : 89.7k
Held onto the initial orders for the first issue remarkably well, with the larger drop only because that first issue continued to sell well in re-orders in the long gap between issues (plus the "Special Edition" uncoloured version sold well, over 14k, not counted here). Might still be over 75k by the final issue, which might be out in 2015 if they pick up the pace a bit.
LEGENDS DARK KNIGHT 100 PAGE SUPER SPECTACULAR (DC) : -11% : 9.9k
Not bad for a $10 quarterly anthology of material already published digitally.
KING CONAN CONQUEROR (DAR) : -12% : 8.5k
GFT WONDERLAND CLASH OF QUEENS (ZEN) : -10% : 6.1k
LOBSTER JOHNSON GET LOBSTER (DAR) : -7% : 7.7kAbout as small as a drop on a #2 can get. HELLBOY spin-offs, CONAN minis and random Zenescope stuff are pretty much known quantities at this point, so retailers know to order a few extra of #1 for the browsers and samplers and adjust for a modest drop after that..
2014-04-07
Elsewhere: Diamond March 2014 Charts
Diamond has released their full March 2014 numbers, and the sales estimates derived from them are showing up at the usual places.
John Jackson Miller has the most comprehensive list over at Comichron, including the full Top 400 Comics and Top 300 Graphic Novels, plus a few lower items pulled from the charts of the smaller publishers. He also has some commentary here.
ICV2 has the Graphic Novel Top 300 and the Comics Top 300 and commentary (link to come).
John Mayo has the charts and some commentary at CBR (links to come).
Still mostly quiet, with no big debuts on the comic side, and the power of Marvel's relaunches really waning. April should be more interesting, with AMAZING SPIDER-MAN already announced as being a big seller, and a few launches like DC's weekly book BATMAN ETERNAL.
Over on the books side, Marvel had another backlist flood, this time softcover Marvel Masterworks editions (35 backlist entries, sometimes selling more last month than they did in their initial month of release) and other older paperbacks. That meant the Top 300 only had 141 new entries and 159 backlist entries (the average is about 170 new, 130 backlist). Hopefully we'll get a normal month without such a deforming event soon, but this might just be the new normal, especially if DC decides to liquidate some stock. For new releases it was a pretty good month, with new volumes of SAGA and WALKING DEAD both shipping over 20,000 copies, and sure to be regulars on the charts for quite a while and several other books doing well enough to be the top book most months.
More on some interesting bits from the chart later this week.
John Jackson Miller has the most comprehensive list over at Comichron, including the full Top 400 Comics and Top 300 Graphic Novels, plus a few lower items pulled from the charts of the smaller publishers. He also has some commentary here.
ICV2 has the Graphic Novel Top 300 and the Comics Top 300 and commentary (link to come).
John Mayo has the charts and some commentary at CBR (links to come).
Still mostly quiet, with no big debuts on the comic side, and the power of Marvel's relaunches really waning. April should be more interesting, with AMAZING SPIDER-MAN already announced as being a big seller, and a few launches like DC's weekly book BATMAN ETERNAL.
Over on the books side, Marvel had another backlist flood, this time softcover Marvel Masterworks editions (35 backlist entries, sometimes selling more last month than they did in their initial month of release) and other older paperbacks. That meant the Top 300 only had 141 new entries and 159 backlist entries (the average is about 170 new, 130 backlist). Hopefully we'll get a normal month without such a deforming event soon, but this might just be the new normal, especially if DC decides to liquidate some stock. For new releases it was a pretty good month, with new volumes of SAGA and WALKING DEAD both shipping over 20,000 copies, and sure to be regulars on the charts for quite a while and several other books doing well enough to be the top book most months.
More on some interesting bits from the chart later this week.
2014-04-04
Elsewhere: March 2014 Diamond overview
And, relatively quickly this month, Diamond has the first look at their March numbers, and Comichron has the usual summary and some analysis. Expect full numbers early next week. Of the numbers we have so far (only rankings of the Top 10), I'm most surprised by how well SILVER SURFER did among the comics, and that $60 STRAY BULLETS volume among books. Also curious about the high rankings of that backlist MARVEL MASTERWORKS volume in the Top 10, which is unusual, and if that means we'll see a flood of backlist entries for that line on the chart like we got for other Marvel books last month. I don't think so, it might be some promotion related to the Spider-Man movie coming out (turns out to be the biggest surge of another backlist flood, including 25 Masterworks books).
2014-04-03
Elsewhere: March 2014 BookScan chart
ICV2 has the BookScan Top 20 for March posted. Note that despite what they state, this is not the first time since they've had the charts that DC and Marvel haven't appeared for two months in a row. If they checked their own archives, they'd see that there is nothing from either publisher in February 2012, March 2012 and April 2012 (not counting the DK Publishing Avengers reference book, which also charted last month). So it would have to be two more months before we have an unprecedented run without either publisher.
Other than that, nothing really of note. The new volumes of WALKING DEAD and SAGA were expected to top the chart. The order wasn't too surprising, since WALKING DEAD came out the first week of the month and SAGA came out the last week (BookScan measures retail sell-through, unlike the direct market chart which measures retail sell-in). I think they'll be pretty close in the direct market charts.
Other than that, nothing really of note. The new volumes of WALKING DEAD and SAGA were expected to top the chart. The order wasn't too surprising, since WALKING DEAD came out the first week of the month and SAGA came out the last week (BookScan measures retail sell-through, unlike the direct market chart which measures retail sell-in). I think they'll be pretty close in the direct market charts.
2014-04-02
Elsewhere: ICV2 on AMAZING SPIDER-MAN sales
ICV2 has an article about Marvel's announcement of direct market pre-orders of over 500,000 copies for their upcoming AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #1. It'll be interesting when we get numbers for that, but more interesting when we get the numbers for #2, which probably won't be preceded by an announcement to the press. Sales drops on second issues for new on-going books at Marvel have tended to be 40%+ for the last little while, with drops greater than 50% not being unheard of. The biggest drop has been for the book with the biggest launch, UNCANNY AVENGERS going from 303,000 for #1 to 114,000 for #2 (down 62%) and now down to 53,000 with the latest issue (down 82% from #1). I'm guessing that AMAZING SPIDER-MAN will drop in excess of 70% with #2, maybe even over 80%.
For those curious, last time Marvel published AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #1 it was the #4 book of the month, behind the core X-MEN titles, just under 125,000 copies, and only 10,000 copies ahead of the also re-launched that month PETER PARKER SPIDER-MAN #1. That was less than double what AMAZING has been selling before (an average of 66,000 in the year prior to the re-launch) and the book was back down to that level by #10.
For those curious, last time Marvel published AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #1 it was the #4 book of the month, behind the core X-MEN titles, just under 125,000 copies, and only 10,000 copies ahead of the also re-launched that month PETER PARKER SPIDER-MAN #1. That was less than double what AMAZING has been selling before (an average of 66,000 in the year prior to the re-launch) and the book was back down to that level by #10.
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