Chiffres de vente des séries Marvel

Hyperion a écrit:la sauver de l'annulation).

Galactica a écrit:Chez Marvel, en dessous de 20.000 ventes, c'est mort.
La zone dangereuse c'est entre 20 et 25.000.

Pour septembre 2009, X-factor #48 s'est vendu à 30.528.

A moins de 20.000: Ghost rider, Agent of Atlas, les immortals weapons.
Dans la zone dangereuse tu trouves: Son of Hulk #15 à 22.875, BP2 #8 à 23174, X-men forever #8 à 23.589.

Les séries cosmiques (Nova, GOG, WOK) font toutes environ 25.000, Inkredible Hercule est à 25.000.

Belziane a écrit:Mais c'est chaud tu trouve où les ventes?

Galactica a écrit:Chez Marvel, en dessous de 20.000 ventes, c'est mort.
La zone dangereuse c'est entre 20 et 25.000.

Pour septembre 2009, X-factor #48 s'est vendu à 30.528.

A moins de 20.000: Ghost rider, Agent of Atlas, les immortals weapons.
Dans la zone dangereuse tu trouves: Son of Hulk #15 à 22.875, BP2 #8 à 23174, X-men forever #8 à 23.589.

Les séries cosmiques (Nova, GOG, WOK) font toutes environ 25.000, Inkredible Hercule est à 25.000.

Belziane a écrit:Je suis content, Ultimate Marvel se vend toujours bien.

5. ULTIMATE COMICS AVENGERS
08/09 Ultimate Comics Avengers #1 - 94,985The first of the two relaunched Ultimate books, now with added word. Actually, the cover logo just says ULTIMATE AVENGERS, so something tells me the full title is going to be quietly dropped after a discreet interval. There are three covers on this issue, including 1:15 and 1:25 variants. One of them even came with HoloFoil, something we haven’t seen in quite a few years.

Despite being written by Mark Millar and featuring some of the ULTIMATES cast, this is apparently not the next volume of ULTIMATES. That would be Jeph Loeb and Frank Cho’s NEW ULTIMATES, which is still to come.

But ULTIMATES is still the nearest comparison for this book. By most standards, 95K and a top five placing is a very good start for any book. But it’s roughly what previous ULTIMATES volumes were selling at the end of their run, not the start. ULTIMATES 3, for example, launched in December 2007 with first month sales of 131,401. ULTIMATES 2, in December 2004, started with 146,271. And by those standards, 95K isn’t really that fantastic.

On the other hand, judge this as a completely new book or as an ULTIMATES spin-off, and 95K is very good. Still, if you’re looking for signs of an reinvigoration of the Ultimate imprint, the signals are mixed.

11. ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN
08/04 Ult. Spider-Man #64 - 94,682
08/05 Ult. Spider-Man #81 - 75,572
08/06 Ult. Spider-Man #99 - 76,075
08/07 Ult. Spider-Man #112 - 76,523
=====
08/08 Ult. Spider-Man #125 - 54,746 ( -0.9%)
09/08 Ult. Spider-Man #126 - 54,604 ( -0.3%)
10/08 Ult. Spider-Man #127 - 52,584 ( -3.7%)
11/08 Ult. Spider-Man #128 - 52,187 ( -0.8%)
12/08 Ult. Spider-Man #129 - 51,071 ( -2.1%)
01/09 Ult. Spider-Man #130 - 49,637 ( -2.8%)
02/09 Ult. Spider-Man #131 - 49,565 ( -0.1%)
03/09 —
04/09 —
05/09 Ult. Spider-Man #132 - 50,144 ( +1.2%)
06/09 Ult. Spider-Man #133 - 57,364 ( +14.4%)06/09 USM: Requiem #1 of 2 - 44,988 ( -21.6%)
07/09 USM: Requiem #2 of 2 - 41,374 ( -8.0%)
08/09 U.C. Spider-Man #1 - 86,008 (+107.9%)
6 mnth ( +73.5%)
1 year ( +57.1%)
2 year ( +12.4%)
3 year ( +13.1%)
4 year ( +13.8%)
5 year ( -9.2%)Not bad at all. Sales on ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN had slid down as far as the 50K level before the relaunch, so while 86K isn’t up there with the book’s heyday, it’s still a marked improvement.

That said, this book has three variant covers, including 1:15 and 1:25 incentives - so you can expect a drop next month.

Hyperion a écrit:Ils ont relancés aussi Ultimate Spidey ???

Marvel Month-to-Month Sales: September 2009
By Paul O’Brien

It’s an unusually hectic month on Marvel’s release schedule. Aside from the usual raft of Dark Reign tie-ins, major releases include the OLD MAN LOGAN one-shot, the second month of the relaunched Ultimate imprint, the DARK AVENGERS/UNCANNY X-MEN crossover “Utopia”, the LIST one-shots, and relaunches of SPIDER-WOMAN and MOON KNIGHT.

As usual, Marvel had the biggest share of the North American direct market. They beat DC by 41% to 30% in dollar terms, and 48% to 33% in units.

Thanks as always to Milton Griepp and ICV2 for permission to use their figures for these calculations.

2. CAPTAIN AMERICA: REBORN
09/04 Captain America #31 - 37,128
09/05 Captain America #10 - 52,609
09/06 Captain America #22 - 82,230
09/07 Captain America #30 - 79,554
=====
09/08 Captain America #42 - 75,574 ( -11.1%)
10/08 Captain America #43 - 72,405 ( -4.2%)
11/08 Captain America #44 - 75,493 ( +4.3%)
12/08 Captain America #45 - 71,186 ( -5.7%)
01/09 Captain America #46 - 73,184 ( +2.8%)
02/09 Captain America #47 - 62,850 ( -14.1%)
03/09 Captain America #48 - 62,108 ( -1.2%)
04/09 Captain America #49 - 63,874 ( +2.8%)
05/09 Captain America #50 - 72,708 ( +13.8%)
06/09 Captain America #600 - 123,152 ( +69.4%)
07/09 Captain America #601 - 87,844 ( -28.7%)
07/09 Reborn #1 of 5 - 197,565 (+124.9%)
08/09 Reborn #2 of 5 - 125,366 ( -36.5%)
09/09 Reborn #3 of 5 - 108,331 ( -13.6%)
6 mnth ( +74.4%)
1 year ( +43.3%)
2 year ( +36.2%)
3 year ( +31.7%)
4 year (+105.9%)
5 year (+191.8%)This one comes with two variant covers, with 1:10 and 1:25 incentives. Since issue #2 had three 1:25 variants, the drop’s actually quite modest. Meanwhile, issue #1 picks up estimate reorders of 4,423, which is enough to scrape the bottom of the chart at number 289.

When you bear in mind that REBORN is effectively a CAPTAIN AMERICA story arc, these are great numbers. The “death of Steve Rogers” storyline has been boosting sales for years now already, but this has sent them even further skyward. If you judge this as CAPTAIN AMERICA #604 - which it could easily have been - the numbers are clearly stellar.

5. WOLVERINE: GIANT-SIZE OLD MAN LOGAN
09/09 Old Man Logan - 93,823This is the concluding part of Mark Millar and Steve McNiven’s late-running “Old Man Logan” storyline, the rest of which appeared in WOLVERINE #66-72. The book had settled down to around 91K by the end of that run, so this is a slight increase.

7. NEW AVENGERS
09/04 Avengers #502 - 93,105
09/05 New Avengers #10 - 143,014
09/06 —
09/07 New Avengers #34 - 112,815
=====
09/08 New Avengers #45 - 103,326 ( -2.9%)
10/08 New Avengers #46 - 99,513 ( -3.7%)
11/08 —
12/08 New Avengers #47 - 95,703 ( -3.8%)
12/08 New Avengers #48 - 95,688 ( -0.0%)
01/09 New Avengers #49 - 94,291 ( -1.5%)
02/09 New Avengers #50 - 106,831 (+13.3%)
03/09 New Avengers #51 - 95,340 (-10.8%)
04/09 New Avengers #52 - 93,975 ( -1.4%)
05/09 New Avengers #53 - 94,367 ( +0.4%)
06/09 New Avengers #54 - 93,878 ( -0.5%)
07/09 New Avengers #55 - 84,745 ( -9.7%)
08/09 New Avengers #56 - 89,996 ( +6.2%)
09/09 New Avengers #57 - 85,598 ( -4.9%)
6 mnth (-10.2%)
1 year (-17.2%)
2 year (-24.1%)
3 year ( — )
4 year (-40.1%)
5 year ( -8.1%)NEW AVENGERS regains its place as the top-selling Avengers title this month, as DARK AVENGERS slips below it for the first time. This issue has a “Super Hero Squad” variant cover, but with an unusually low incentive of 1:5. It ends up slightly ahead of issue #55, which was a rare issue that only had one cover.

9. DARK AVENGERS
01/09 Dark Avengers #1 - 139,239
02/09 Dark Avengers #2 - 102,277 (-26.5%)
03/09 Dark Avengers #3 - 101,978 ( -0.3%)
04/09 Dark Avengers #4 - 99,694 ( -2.2%)
05/09 —
06/09 Dark Avengers #5 - 95,746 ( -4.0%)
06/09 Dark Avengers #6 - 93,634 ( -2.2%)
07/09 Dark Avengers #7 - 94,189 ( +0.6%)
08/09 Dark Avengers #8 - 94,191 ( +0.0%)
09/09 Dark Avengers #9 - 79,729 (-15.4%)
6 mnth (-21.8%)Returning to regular stories after the two-month crossover with UNCANNY X-MEN. Sales held steady during that arc, but at first glance the crossover seems to have disguising an underlying sales drop. Actually, it’s not quite that simple: issue #9 is also the first issue of DARK AVENGERS without a variant cover, while issue #8 had two variant covers and a crossover to boost it. So the drop’s not as bad as it looks.

12. DARK AVENGERS/UNCANNY X-MEN: EXODUS
09/09 Exodus - 75,662The final chapter of the crossover, selling in X-Men rather than Avengers numbers.

13. UNCANNY X-MEN
09/04 Uncanny X-Men #448 - 94,708
09/05 Uncanny X-Men #464 - 85,885
09/06 Uncanny X-Men #478 - 89,850
09/07 Uncanny X-Men #490 - 87,592
=====
09/08 Uncanny X-Men #502 - 82,883 ( -2.9%)
10/08 Uncanny X-Men #503 - 87,196 ( +5.2%)
11/08 Uncanny X-Men #504 - 77,773 (-10.8%)
12/08 Uncanny X-Men #505 - 82,271 ( +5.8%)
01/09 —
02/09 Uncanny X-Men #506 - 71,684 (-12.9%)
03/09 Uncanny X-Men #507 - 77,957 ( +8.8%)
04/09 Uncanny X-Men #508 - 76,442 ( -1.9%)
04/09 Uncanny X-Men #509 - 69,185 ( -9.5%)
05/09 Uncanny X-Men #510 - 75,139 ( +8.6%)
06/09 Uncanny X-Men #511 - 71,148 ( -5.3%)
06/09 Uncanny X-Men #512 - 76,283 ( +7.2%)
07/09 Uncanny X-Men #513 - 87,582 (+14.8%)
08/09 Uncanny X-Men #514 - 90,316 ( +3.1%)
09/09 Uncanny X-Men #515 - 73,585 (-18.5%)
6 mnth ( -5.6%)
1 year (-11.2%)
2 year (-16.0%)
3 year (-18.1%)
4 year (-14.3%)
5 year (-22.3%)Also returning to its regular stories after the crossover. However, this is also the first part of “Nation X” - not so much a crossover as an anchor storyline for the other X-books to revolve around.

Sales are basically back to pre-crossover levels. But in fairness, this issue doesn’t have any variant covers. The last variant-free issue was #511, and sales are up slightly from that point.

14,18,19,20. AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
09/04 Amazing Spider-Man #412 - 87,236
09/05 Amazing Spider-Man #524 - 71,065
09/06 Amazing Spider-Man #535 - 117,056
09/07 Amazing Spider-Man #544 - 146,215
=====
09/08 Amazing Spider-Man #570 - 89,516 ( +3.6%)
09/08 Amazing Spider-Man #571 - 80,178 (-10.4%)
09/08 Amazing Spider-Man #572 - 80,220 ( +0.1%)
10/08 Amazing Spider-Man #573 - 82,550 ( +2.9%)
10/08 Amazing Spider-Man #574 - 69,069 (-16.3%)
10/08 Amazing Spider-Man #575 - 68,913 ( -0.2%)
11/08 Amazing Spider-Man #576 - 68,956 ( +0.1%)
11/08 Amazing Spider-Man #577 - 76,625 (+11.1%)
11/08 Amazing Spider-Man #578 - 66,564 (-13.1%)
12/08 Amazing Spider-Man #579 - 69,784 ( +4.8%)
12/08 Amazing Spider-Man #580 - 62,979 ( -9.8%)
12/08 Amazing Spider-Man #581 - 68,905 ( +9.4%)
01/09 Amazing Spider-Man #582 - 59,932 (-13.0%)
01/09 Amazing Spider-Man #583 - 525,050 (+776.1%)
01/09 Amazing Spider-Man #584 - 63,754 (-87.9%)
02/09 Amazing Spider-Man #585 - 60,286 ( -5.4%)
02/09 Amazing Spider-Man #586 - 59,521 ( -1.3%)
02/09 Amazing Spider-Man #587 - 60,118 ( +1.0%)
03/09 Amazing Spider-Man #588 - 61,334 ( +2.0%)
03/09 Amazing Spider-Man #589 - 58,832 ( -4.1%)
04/09 Amazing Spider-Man #590 - 66,415 (+12.9%)
04/09 Amazing Spider-Man #591 - 60,508 ( -8.9%)
04/09 Amazing Spider-Man #592 - 65,940 ( +9.0%)
05/09 Amazing Spider-Man #593 - 58,363 (-11.5%)
05/09 Amazing Spider-Man #594 - 58,464 ( +0.2%)
05/09 Amazing Spider-Man #595 - 71,837 (+22.9%)
06/09 Amazing Spider-Man #596 - 63,525 (-11.6%)
06/09 Amazing Spider-Man #597 - 61,646 ( -3.0%)
06/09 Amazing Spider-Man #598 - 61,585 ( -0.0%)
07/09 Amazing Spider-Man #599 - 72,412 (+17.6%)
07/09 Amazing Spider-Man #600 - 116,857 (+61.4%)
08/09 Amazing Spider-Man #601 - 74,279 (-36.4%)
08/09 Amazing Spider-Man #602 - 71,532 ( -3.7%)
08/09 Amazing Spider-Man #603 - 71,051 ( -0.7%)
09/09 Amazing Spider-Man #604 - 63,435 (-10.7%)
09/09 Amazing Spider-Man #605 - 62,831 ( -1.0%)
09/09 Amazing Spider-Man #606 - 70,177 (+11.7%)
09/09 Amazing Spider-Man #607 - 62,570 (-10.8%)
6 mnth ( +6.4%)
1 year (-30.1%)
2 year (-57.2%)
3 year (-46.5%)
4 year (-12.0%)
5 year (-28.3%)Four issues this month - and yes, that’s how they solicited it. Issue #605 is a giant-size issue, which doesn’t seem to have made much difference one way or the other. Issue #606 has a J Scott Campbell variant cover, and the impact is much more visible. Overall, though, the basic Spider-Man sales seem to have stabilised at around 62-63K - up slightly from the high 50Ks earlier in the year.

15. ULTIMATE COMICS AVENGERS
08/09 U.C. Avengers #1 - 99,701
09/09 U.C. Avengers #2 - 68,597 (-31.2%)Issue #1 picks up re-orders of 4,716, and as usual they’re added in to the number above. The drop isn’t as bad as it looks - issue #1 had 1:15 and 1:25 variants, while issue #2 has just a single cover. Nonetheless, 68K seems a bit underwhelming for the second issue of a new Ultimate book. As I pointed out last month, this is some way below ULTIMATES numbers. In fact, at present, we’re talking about numbers roughly equivalent to writer Mark Millar’s FANTASTIC FOUR run (98K in month one, 67K in month two).

16. THOR
09/04 Thor #84 - 37,342
09/05 —
09/06 —
09/07 —
=====
09/08 —
10/08 Thor #11 - 78,673 ( -6.1%)
11/08 —
12/08 Thor #12 - 73,784 ( -6.2%)
01/09 —
02/09 Thor #600 - 96,718 (+31.1%)
03/09 —
04/09 Thor #601 - 82,742 (-14.5%)
05/09 —
06/09 Thor #602 - 69,568 (-15.3%)
07/09 —
08/09 —
09/09 Thor #603 - 65,265 ( -6.2%)
6 mnth ( — )
1 year ( — )
2 year ( — )
3 year ( — )
4 year ( — )
5 year (+74.8%)Still drifting downwards.

21. DARK WOLVERINE
09/04 Wolverine #19 - 65,046
09/05 Wolverine #32 - 89,026
09/06 Wolverine #46 - 107,865
09/07 Wolverine #57 - 74,588
=====
09/08 —
10/08 —
11/08 Wolverine #69 - 93,914 ( -3.5%)
12/08 Wolverine #70 - 98,915 ( +5.3%)
01/09 —
02/09 —
03/09 Wolverine #71 - 91,229 ( -7.8%)
04/09 —
05/09 Wolverine #72 - 91,333 ( +0.1%)
05/09 Wolverine #73 - 83,324 ( -8.8%)
06/09 Wolverine #74 - 66,186 (-20.6%)
06/09 Dark Wolverine #75 - 80,780 (+22.0%)
07/09 Dark Wolverine #76 - 74,017 ( -8.4%)
08/09 Dark Wolverine #77 - 68,593 ( -7.3%)
09/09 Dark Wolverine #78 - 60,702 (-11.5%)
6 mnth (-33.5%)
1 year ( — )
2 year (-18.6%)
3 year (-43.7%)
4 year (-31.8%)
5 year ( -6.7%)Just one variant cover, compared to two last month. Even so, sales look to be dropping pretty steeply. A likely explanation is that retailers and readers have figured out that this is not a short-term stunt but the soft launch of a Daken solo title, and they’re still adjusting their orders accordingly. We saw something similar with INCREDIBLE HERCULES, which launched in much the same way.

22,30,51. DARK REIGN: THE LIST
09/09 Avengers - 60,337
09/09 X-Men - 53,869
09/09 Daredevil - 41,734Three Dark Reign tie-in stories which. Marvel went to some lengths to hype these as important issues. “There’ll be a new Marvel Universe in 2010 and it all starts with THE LIST,” says the press release. “No Marvel fan can afford to miss a single chapter of THE LIST!”

With promotion like that, I’d rate these numbers as disappointing. They’re certainly being taken more seriously than your typical random Dark Reign spin-off project, but they aren’t selling in event numbers.

23. HULK
09/08 Hulk #6 - 117,807 (+15.4%)
10/08 Hulk #7 - 110,261 ( -6.4%)
11/08 Hulk #8 - 90,776 (-17.7%)
12/08 Hulk #9 - 87,786 ( -3.3%)
01/09 —
02/09 Hulk #10 - 77,217 (-12.0%)
03/09 —
04/09 Hulk #11 - 82,726 ( +7.1%)
05/09 Hulk #12 - 73,105 (-11.6%)
06/09 —
07/09 —
08/09 Hulk #13 - 71,369 ( -2.4%)
08/09 Hulk #14 - 77,455 ( +8.5%)
09/09 Hulk #15 - 58,667 (-24.3%)
6 mnth ( — )
1 year (-50.2%)Owww. This book was consistently selling at 100K in its first six months, but it’s gone into freefall over the last year.

To be fair, you can ignore the sales boost for issue #14, which had a 1:200 Deadpool cover alongside two other variants. Issue #15 only has a 1:15 variant, which is positively conservative by the standards of this title. But to put this in perspective, INCREDIBLE HULK was selling around 53K three years ago. Just as Marvel is expanding the line and announcing crossovers, goodwill seems to be running out.

24. ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN
09/04 Ult. Spider-Man #65 - 94,174
09/05 Ult. Spider-Man #82 - 75,756
09/06 Ult. Spider-Man #100 - 116,197
09/07 Ult. Spider-Man #114 - 66,682
=====
09/08 Ult. Spider-Man #126 - 54,604 ( -0.3%)
10/08 Ult. Spider-Man #127 - 52,584 ( -3.7%)
11/08 Ult. Spider-Man #128 - 52,187 ( -0.8%)
12/08 Ult. Spider-Man #129 - 51,071 ( -2.1%)
01/09 Ult. Spider-Man #130 - 49,637 ( -2.8%)
02/09 Ult. Spider-Man #131 - 49,565 ( -0.1%)
03/09 —
04/09 —
05/09 Ult. Spider-Man #132 - 50,144 ( +1.2%)
06/09 Ult. Spider-Man #133 - 57,364 ( +14.4%)
06/09 USM: Requiem #1 of 2 - 44,988 ( -21.6%)
07/09 USM: Requiem #2 of 2 - 41,374 ( -8.0%)
08/09 U.C. Spider-Man #1 - 86,008 (+107.9%)
09/09 U.C. Spider-Man #2 - 57,477 ( -33.2%)
6 mnth ( — )
1 year ( +5.3%)
2 year ( -13.8%)
3 year ( -50.5%)
4 year ( -24.1%)
5 year ( -39.0%)The relaunched ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN looks to be heading rapidly back towards its previous sales level. That’s not a good sign for the relaunch of the Ultimate imprint.

29. MIGHTY AVENGERS
09/07 —
=====
09/08 Mighty Avengers #18 - 90,799 ( -2.3%)
10/08 Mighty Avengers #19 - 87,258 ( -3.9%)
11/08 —
12/08 Mighty Avengers #20 - 86,085 ( -1.3%)
01/09 —
02/09 Mighty Avengers #21 - 76,247 (-11.4%)
02/09 Mighty Avengers #22 - 72,865 ( -4.4%)
03/09 Mighty Avengers #23 - 71,333 ( -2.1%)
04/09 Mighty Avengers #24 - 68,231 ( -4.3%)
05/09 —
06/09 Mighty Avengers #25 - 65,010 ( -4.7%)
06/09 Mighty Avengers #26 - 63,178 ( -2.8%)
07/09 Mighty Avengers #27 - 64,680 ( +2.4%)
08/09 Mighty Avengers #28 - 61,323 ( -5.2%)
09/09 Mighty Avengers #29 - 54,476 (-11.2%)
6 mnth (-23.6%)
1 year (-40.0%)
2 year ( — )The unusually steep drop this month is because issues #27 and #28 both had variant covers. But that said, issues #23-26 all had a single cover, so it does look as though MIGHTY AVENGERS has lost a fair number of readers over the last six months.

32. INCREDIBLE HULK
09/04 —
09/05 Incredible Hulk #86 - 52,992
09/06 Incredible Hulk #98 - 52,987
09/07 Incredible Hulk #110 - 96,835
08/08 Hulk #5 - 102,105
=====
07/09 Incredible Hulk #600 - 92,343
08/09 Incredible Hulk #601 - 64,120 (-30.6%)
09/09 Incredible Hulk #602 - 51,582 (-19.6%)
6 mnth ( — )
1 year (-49.5%)
2 year (-46.7%)
3 year ( -2.7%)
4 year ( -2.7%)
5 year ( — )The relaunched INCREDIBLE HULK is selling in roughly the same quantities as it was three or four years ago - which would be fine, except it’s still finding its level after the recent relaunch, so it’s probably going to dip further over the next couple of months.

33. ULTIMATE COMICS ARMOR WARS
09/09 U.C. Armor Wars #1 of 4 - 51,035Again, not a great sign for the relaunched Ultimate imprint, particularly considering that there’s two variant covers on this issue, with 1:15 and 1:25 incentives. By way of comparison, this is lower than the entire run of last year’s ULTIMATE ORIGINS miniseries, which shifted an estimated 61K of its final issue.

34. DEADPOOL
09/08 Deadpool #1 - 75,058
09/08 Deadpool #2 - 65,400 (-12.9%)
10/08 Deadpool #3 - 61,833 ( -5.5%)
11/08 Deadpool #4 - 49,577 (-19.8%)
12/08 Deadpool #5 - 46,856 ( -5.5%)
01/09 Deadpool #6 - 46,549 ( -0.7%)
02/09 Deadpool #7 - 44,082 ( -5.3%)
03/09 Deadpool #8 - 53,109 (+20.5%)
04/09 Deadpool #9 - 54,556 ( +2.7%)
05/09 Deadpool #10 - 56,123 ( +2.9%)
06/09 Deadpool #11 - 55,343 ( -1.4%)
07/09 Deadpool #12 - 58,807 ( +6.3%)
08/09 Deadpool #13 - 55,442 ( -5.7%)
08/09 Deadpool #14 - 50,263 ( -9.3%)
09/09 Deadpool #15 - 50,479 ( +0.4%)
6 mnth ( -5.0%)
1 year (-32.7%)This is the start of a new story arc, but that aside, it’s just a regular issue. The book appears to be legitimately holding steady at a very respectable 50K.

35. DARK X-MEN: THE CONFESSION
09/09 Confession - 49,939A one-shot which serves as the pay-off for a long-running UNCANNY X-MEN subplot, and it tails in over 20K behind the parent book. Of course, UNCANNY is still a $2.99 title, and this book was priced at $3.99 - so the difference in dollar value isn’t quite so marked.

36. KICK-ASS [Icon]
09/08 —
10/08 —
11/08 —
12/08 Kick-Ass #5 - 52,142 (-14.3%)
01/09 —
02/09 —
03/09 —
04/09 Kick-Ass #6 - 50,037 ( -4.0%)
05/09 —
06/09 —
07/09 —
08/09 —
09/09 Kick-Ass #7 - 49,937 ( -0.2%)
6 mnth ( — )
1 year ( — )The schedule may be erratic, to put it mildly, but sales are holding up well. Issue #8 is currently supposed to be shipping in December.

37. X-FORCE
09/08 X-Force #7 - 64,911 ( -5.9%)
10/08 X-Force #8 - 59,745 ( -8.0%)
11/08 X-Force #9 - 57,241 ( -4.2%)
12/08 X-Force #10 - 58,801 ( +2.7%)
01/09 X-Force #11 - 51,817 (-11.9%)
02/09 X-Force #12 - 51,449 ( -0.7%)
03/09 X-Force #13 - 51,797 ( +0.7%)
04/09 X-Force #14 - 62,674 (+21.0%)
05/09 X-Force #15 - 58,340 ( -6.9%)
06/09 X-Force #16 - 58,818 ( +0.8%)
07/09 X-Force #17 - 61,104 ( +3.9%)
08/09 X-Force #18 - 56,421 ( -7.7%)
09/09 X-Force #19 - 49,817 (-11.7%)
6 mnth ( -3.8%)
1 year (-23.3%)This seems to be a case of a delayed return to normal sales levels after the “Messiah War” crossover. Another crossover, “X-Necrosha”, is just around the corner.

38,46. INVINCIBLE IRON MAN
09/04 Iron Man #88 - 32,932
09/05 —
09/06 Iron Man #12 - 36,278
09/07 Iron Man #22 - 46,691
=====
09/08 Invincible Iron Man #5 - 60,444 ( +3.9%)
10/08 Invincible Iron Man #6 - 53,332 (-11.8%)
11/08 Invincible Iron Man #7 - 49,356 ( -7.5%)
12/08 Invincible Iron Man #8 - 56,708 (+14.9%)
01/09 Invincible Iron Man #9 - 52,364 ( -7.7%)
02/09 Invincible Iron Man #10 - 56,381 ( +7.7%)
03/09 Invincible Iron Man #11 - 52,165 ( -7.5%)
04/09 Invincible Iron Man #12 - 51,774 ( -0.7%)
05/09 Invincible Iron Man #13 - 51,311 ( -0.9%)
06/09 Invincible Iron Man #14 - 53,229 ( +3.7%)
07/09 Invincible Iron Man #15 - 50,554 ( -5.0%)
08/09 Invincible Iron Man #16 - 53,782 ( +6.4%)
09/09 Invincible Iron Man #17 - 47,182 (-12.3%)
09/09 Invincible Iron Man #18 - 48,039 ( +1.8%)
6 mnth ( -7.9%)
1 year (-20.5%)
2 year ( +2.9%)
3 year (+32.4%)
4 year ( — )
5 year (+45.9%)No variant covers here; this is just a regular issue, apparently holding steady on its merits.

40. MARVELS PROJECT
08/09 Marvels Project #1 of 8 - 89,062
09/09 Marvels Project #2 of 8 - 47,744 (-46.4%)That’s a huge second issue drop, but then the first issue had six covers (one of which had a 1:75 incentive ratio), and this only has three. Besides, stories set in the Marvel Universe Golden Age aren’t traditionally a draw - if anything, it’s more surprising that issue #1 did so well.

41. THOR ANNUAL
09/09 Thor Annual #1 - 47,718About 17K behind the parent title, which isn’t bad for an essentially random one-shot.

42. FANTASTIC FOUR
09/04 Fantastic Four #518 - 48,939
09/05 Fantastic Four #531 - 49,745
09/06 —
09/07 —
=====
09/08 Fantastic Four #560 - 58,258 ( -2.6%)
10/08 —
11/08 Fantastic Four #561 - 61,331 ( +5.3%)
12/08 Fantastic Four #562 - 54,062 (-11.9%)
01/09 Fantastic Four #563 - 52,747 ( -2.4%)
02/09 Fantastic Four #564 - 49,520 ( -6.1%)
03/09 Fantastic Four #565 - 48,378 ( -2.3%)
04/09 —
05/09 Fantastic Four #566 - 46,653 ( -3.6%)
06/09 Fantastic Four #567 - 46,225 ( -0.9%)
07/09 Fantastic Four #568 - 45,828 ( -0.9%)
07/09 Fantastic Four #569 - 44,710 ( -2.4%)
08/09 Fantastic Four #570 - 62,401 (+39.6%)
09/09 Fantastic Four #571 - 47,468 (-23.4%)
6 mnth ( -1.9%)
1 year (-18.5%)
2 year ( — )
3 year ( — )
4 year ( -4.6%)
5 year ( -3.0%)Straight back to normal sales after the blip for the new creative team last month.

45. SPIDER-WOMAN
09/09 Spider-Woman #1 - 47,202Also available as a “motion comic”, whatever that is. (It sounds suspiciously like a euphemism for “low-budget animation”, but since they aren’t available in the United Kingdom, I can’t check for myself.)

This long-delayed series has been in the works for years. It’s a NEW AVENGERS spin-off, and while it comes in some way behind the parent book, the character’s exposure in that title does seem to have gathered an audience.

47. X-MEN: LEGACY ANNUAL
09/09 X-Men: Legacy Annual #1 - 46,822The parent title is on a skip month. But that’s more form than substance, because this actually the first part of “Devil at the Crossroads”, a four-parter which continues in LEGACY #228. That wasn’t made terribly clear in the solicitations. In any event, some 13,000 readers of the regular series ended up sitting this one out.

49. DEADPOOL: MERC WITH A MOUTH
07/09 Merc With A Mouth #1 - 59,628
08/09 Merc With A Mouth #2 - 51,147 (-14.2%)
09/09 Merc With A Mouth #3 - 43,855 (-14.3%)The first two issues had 1:10 variants, this one doesn’t. Allowing for that, sales are settling down quite nicely.

50. WOLVERINE: ORIGINS
09/06 Origins #6 - 101,013
09/07 Origins #17 - 62,235
=====
09/08 Origins #28 - 49,950 ( +5.1%)
10/08 Origins #29 - 58,841 (+17.8%)
11/08 Origins #30 - 50,359 (-14.4%)
12/08 Origins #31 - 45,043 (-10.6%)
01/09 Origins #32 - 44,697 ( -0.8%)
02/09 Origins #33 - 44,935 ( +0.5%)
03/09 Origins #34 - 45,579 ( +1.4%)
04/09 Origins #35 - 44,976 ( -1.3%)
05/09 Origins #36 - 45,451 ( +1.1%)
06/09 Origins #37 - 44,930 ( -1.1%)
07/09 Origins #38 - 47,211 ( +5.1%)
08/09 Origins #39 - 44,968 ( -4.8%)
09/09 Origins #40 - 42,724 ( -5.0%)
6 mnth ( -6.3%)
1 year (-14.5%)
2 year (-31.4%)
3 year (-57.7%)

52. WOLVERINE: WEAPON X
04/09 Wolverine: Weapon X #1 - 97,896
05/09 Wolverine: Weapon X #2 - 59,192 (-39.5%)
06/09 Wolverine: Weapon X #3 - 51,076 (-13.7%)
07/09 —
08/09 Wolverine: Weapon X #4 - 49,284 ( -3.5%)
09/09 Wolverine: Weapon X #5 - 40,975 (-16.9%)WEAPON X dips below ORIGINS for the first time. As already noted, the re-titled DARK WOLVERINE series appears to be a Hercules-style soft launch of a new Daken ongoing series. If so, WEAPON X was presumably intended to replace WOLVERINE.
Instead, it’s being ordered as if it were an unwanted extra spin-off book. Which would suggest that while this launch technique might have got Daken’s title off to a good start, it’s inadvertantly torpedoed Wolverine himself.

To be fair, there’s only one variant on this issue (with no incentive ratio), compared to two variants on the previous issue. Even so, the numbers aren’t stellar.

54,67. THUNDERBOLTS
09/04 —
09/05 New Thunderbolts #12 - 25,912
09/06 Thunderbolts #106 - 31,527
09/07 —
=====
09/08 Thunderbolts #124 - 43,429 ( -4.3%)
10/08 Thunderbolts #125 - 41,358 ( -4.8%)
11/08 Thunderbolts #126 - 34,640 (-16.2%)
12/08 Thunderbolts #127 - 36,378 ( +5.0%)
01/09 Thunderbolts #128 - 45,745 (+25.7%)
02/09 Thunderbolts #129 - 45,401 ( -0.7%)
03/09 Thunderbolts #130 - 52,264 (+15.1%)
04/09 Thunderbolts #131 - 49,155 ( -5.9%)
05/09 Thunderbolts #132 - 43,911 (-10.7%)
06/09 Thunderbolts #133 - 39,479 (-10.1%)
07/09 Thunderbolts #134 - 40,885 ( +3.6%)
08/09 —
09/09 Thunderbolts #135 - 39,961 ( -2.3%)
09/09 Thunderbolts #136 - 34,031 (-14.8%)
6 mnth (-34.9%)
1 year (-21.6%)
2 year ( — )
3 year ( +7.9%)
4 year (+31.3%)
5 year ( — )Two issues this month, thanks to issue #135 slipping from August. Issues #134 and #135 both had 1:10 variants, so the underlying trend is a lot less erratic than it looks.

62,78,82,86,88. MARVEL ZOMBIES RETURN
09/09 Marvel Zombies Return #1 - 35,295
09/09 Marvel Zombies Return #2 - 30,198 (-14.4%)
09/09 Marvel Zombies Return #3 - 30,628 ( +1.4%)
09/09 Marvel Zombies Return #4 - 29,396 ( -4.0%)
09/09 Marvel Zombies Return #5 - 28,770 ( -2.2%)Although this weekly series is listed on the charts as issues #1-5, it’s actually a set of five one-shots, each with a different creative team and lead character - hence the slightly odd ordering pattern. (Issue #3 was Wolverine, if you’re wondering.)

64. DARK TOWER
09/07 —
=====
09/08 Treachery #1 of 6 - 82,541 (+10.1%)
10/08 Treachery #2 of 6 - 65,732 (-20.4%)
11/08 Treachery #3 of 6 - 58,279 (-11.3%)
12/08 Treachery #4 of 6 - 53,735 ( -7.8%)
01/09 Treachery #5 of 6 - 50,683 ( -5.7%)
02/09 Treachery #6 of 6 - 48,127 ( -5.0%)
03/09 —
04/09 Sorcerer #1 - 39,210 (-18.5%)
05/09 Fall of Gilead #1 of 6 - 43,580 (+11.1%)
06/09 Fall of Gilead #2 of 6 - 39,978 ( -8.3%)
07/09 Fall of Gilead #3 of 6 - 36,982 ( -7.5%)
08/09 Fall of Gilead #4 of 6 - 35,607 ( -3.7%)
09/09 Fall of Gilead #5 of 6 - 34,522 ( -3.0%)
6 mnth ( — )
1 year (-58.2%)
2 year ( — )Sales seem to be levelling out somewhat as we approach the end of this miniseries, but the general trend of diminishing returns remains clear.

68. CABLE
09/08 —
10/08 Cable #7 - 43,358 ( -3.8%)
11/08 Cable #8 - 37,315 (-13.9%)
12/08 Cable #9 - 34,527 ( -7.5%)
01/09 Cable #10 - 33,319 ( -3.5%)
02/09 Cable #11 - 31,817 ( -4.5%)
03/09 Cable #12 - 32,407 ( +1.9%)
04/09 Cable #13 - 47,638 (+47.0%)
05/09 Cable #14 - 52,245 ( +9.7%)
06/09 Cable #15 - 49,912 ( -4.5%)
07/09 Cable #16 - 39,646 (-20.6%)
08/09 Cable #17 - 39,424 ( -0.6%)
09/09 Cable #18 - 33,958 (-13.9%)
6 mnth ( +4.8%)
1 year ( — )As with X-FORCE, a delayed return to normal after the “Messiah War” crossover.

70. SECRET WARRIORS
02/09 Secret Warriors #1 - 62,764
03/09 Secret Warriors #2 - 48,086 (-23.4%)
04/09 Secret Warriors #3 - 50,126 ( +4.2%)
05/09 Secret Warriors #4 - 42,781 (-14.7%)
06/09 Secret Warriors #5 - 40,849 ( -4.5%)
07/09 Secret Warriors #6 - 41,749 ( +2.2%)
08/09 Secret Warriors #7 - 38,990 ( -6.6%)
09/09 Secret Warriors #8 - 33,893 (-13.1%)
6 mnth (-29.5%)Issues #6 and #7 both had 1:10 variant covers, which makes this month’s drop look steeper than it is. Nonetheless, issues #4 and #5 had no gimmicks, so the book does seem to be noticeably losing sales.

71. AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE
09/07 Initiative #6 - 74,184
=====
09/08 Initiative #17 - 59,037 ( -2.2%)
10/08 Initiative #18 - 61,159 ( +3.6%)
11/08 —
12/08 Initiative #19 - 52,558 (-14.1%)
12/08 Initiative #20 - 51,230 ( -2.5%)
01/09 Initiative #21 - 47,734 ( -6.8%)
02/09 Initiative #22 - 46,932 ( -1.7%)
03/09 —
04/09 Initiative #23 - 45,146 ( -3.8%)
05/09 Initiative #24 - 42,510 ( -5.8%)
06/09 Initiative #25 - 40,101 ( -5.7%)
07/09 Initiative #26 - 38,215 ( -4.7%)
08/09 Initiative #27 - 39,014 ( +2.1%)
09/09 Initiative #28 - 33,855 (-13.2%)
6 mnth ( — )
1 year (-42.7%)
2 year (-54.4%)Last issue had a 1:10 variant, which exaggerates this month’s drop. Still, the downward trend remains evident.

73. VENGEANCE OF MOON KNIGHT
09/06 Moon Knight #5 - 64,736
09/07 Moon Knight #12 - 47,521
=====
09/08 Moon Knight #22 - 26,380 (-14.6%)
10/08 Moon Knight #23 - 25,216 ( -4.4%)
11/08 Moon Knight #24 - 23,947 ( -5.0%)
12/08 Moon Knight #25 - 23,283 ( -2.8%)
01/09 Moon Knight #26 - 21,796 ( -6.4%)
02/09 Moon Knight #27 - 21,413 ( -1.8%)
03/09 Moon Knight #28 - 20,866 ( -2.6%)
04/09 Moon Knight #29 - 22,689 ( +8.7%)
05/09 Moon Knight #30 - 19,693 (-13.2%)
06/09 —
07/09 —
08/09 —
09/09 Moon Knight #1 - 32,397 (+64.5%)
6 mnth (+55.3%)
1 year (+22.8%)
2 year (-31.8%)
3 year (-50.0%)The relaunch generates a respectable sales spike, but the series remains some way distant from the sales of two years ago.

76. AMAZING SPIDER-MAN PRESENTS ANTI-VENOM
09/09 Anti-Venom #1 of 3 - 32,128The other recent miniseries about a Spider-Man villain, DARK REIGN: MISTER NEGATIVE, opened at 26K, so this is an improvement.

77. NEW MUTANTS
05/09 New Mutants #1 - 60,972
06/09 New Mutants #2 - 43,230 (-29.1%)
07/09 New Mutants #3 - 42,961 ( -0.6%)
08/09 New Mutants #4 - 38,558 (-10.2%)
09/09 New Mutants #5 - 31,502 (-18.3%)To be fair, this is another case of variant covers making a drop look worse than it is. This is just a regular issue, while issue #4 had both a 1:10 and 1:15 variant. Having said that, the shortlived predecessor title YOUNG X-MEN was doing better than this, five issues in to its run.

79. MS MARVEL
09/06 Ms Marvel #7 - 64,973
09/07 Ms Marvel #19 - 32,371
=====
09/08 Ms Marvel #30 - 40,041 ( -2.9%)
09/08 Ms Marvel #31 - 32,145 (-19.7%)
10/08 Ms Marvel #32 - 25,892 (-19.5%)
11/08 Ms Marvel #33 - 23,980 ( -7.4%)
12/08 Ms Marvel #34 - 29,770 (+24.1%)
01/09 Ms Marvel #35 - 26,824 (-10.0%)
02/09 Ms Marvel #36 - 25,864 ( -3.6%)
03/09 Ms Marvel #37 - 25,053 ( -3.1%)
04/09 Ms Marvel #38 - 27,535 (+10.0%)
05/09 Ms Marvel #39 - 24,757 (-10.1%)
06/09 Ms Marvel #40 - 25,216 ( +1.9%)
07/09 Ms Marvel #41 - 27,187 ( +7.8%)
07/09 Ms Marvel #42 - 25,103 ( -7.7%)
08/09 Ms Marvel #43 - 28,261 (+12.6%)
08/09 Ms Marvel #44 - 25,550 ( -9.6%)
09/09 Ms Marvel #45 - 30,528 (+19.5%)
6 mnth (+21.9%)
1 year (-23.8%)
2 year ( -5.7%)
3 year (-53.0%)Curious. There’s a variant cover on this issue, but they don’t normally have this much effect on sales. And there’s no other obvious reason for a spike - this is the penultimate part of “War of the Marvels”, a storyline that’s been running for months. So beneath the variant, there may be an underlying sales increase here.

80,84. X-FACTOR
09/06 X-Factor #11 - 43,431
09/07 X-Factor #23 - 53,311
=====
09/08 X-Factor #35 - 44,481 (-11.8%)
10/08 X-Factor #36 - 38,552 (-13.3%)
11/08 X-Factor #37 - 35,754 ( -7.3%)
12/08 X-Factor #38 - 34,425 ( -3.7%)
01/09 X-Factor #39 - 32,796 ( -4.7%)
02/09 X-Factor #40 - 31,943 ( -2.6%)
03/09 X-Factor #41 - 31,888 ( -0.2%)
04/09 X-Factor #42 - 32,000 ( +0.4%)
05/09 X-Factor #43 - 31,543 ( -1.4%)
06/09 X-Factor #44 - 31,552 ( +0.0%)
06/09 X-Factor #45 - 31,109 ( -1.4%)
07/09 X-Factor #46 - 31,213 ( +0.3%)
08/09 X-Factor #47 - 33,052 ( +5.9%)
09/09 X-Factor #48 - 30,305 ( -8.3%)
09/09 X-Factor #49 - 29,934 ( -1.2%)
6 mnth ( -6.1%)
1 year (-32.7%)
2 year (-43.9%)
3 year (-31.1%)Holding fairly steady. A renumbering is imminent.

81. WAR OF KINGS: WHO WILL RULE
09/09 Who Will Rule - 30,237An epilogue to the “War of Kings” crossover, obviously enough. The series itself wrapped up last month at 40K, so this is a bit of a drop.

89. PUNISHER
09/07 War Journal #11 - 47,220
=====
09/08 War Journal #23 - 27,384 ( +7.2%)
10/08 War Journal #24 - 31,785 ( +16.1%)
11/08 War Journal #25 - 29,982 ( -5.7%)
12/08 War Journal #26 - 22,423 ( -25.2%)
01/09 Punisher #1 - 49,222 (+119.5%)
02/09 Punisher #2 - 40,928 ( -16.9%)
03/09 Punisher #3 - 37,570 ( -8.2%)
04/09 Punisher #4 - 36,995 ( -1.5%)
05/09 Punisher #5 - 35,621 ( -3.7%)
06/09 Punisher #6 - 32,982 ( -7.4%)
07/09 Punisher #7 - 31,227 ( -5.3%)
08/09 Punisher #8 - 33,057 ( +5.9%)
09/09 Punisher #9 - 28,424 ( -14.1%)
6 mnth ( -24.3%)
1 year ( +3.8%)
2 year ( -39.8%)The August issue had a variant cover spike, so the underlying decline is still more shallow. And in fairness, the book remains slightly up on a year ago.

91. SPIDER-MAN CLONE SAGA
09/09 Clone Saga #1 of 6 - 27,697A retelling of the clone saga written by Howard Mackie and Tom DeFalco, the premise apparently being to do the story that they would have done if the whole thing hadn’t spiralled out of control. It’s not a million miles from X-MEN FOREVER, another out of continuity series based on the premise of writers returning to their old stories.

To be honest, 28K for an out-of-continuity miniseries about the much-maligned clone saga isn’t bad at all. I’d imagine Marvel will be more than satisfied with this.

92. TORCH
09/09 Torch #1 of 8 - 26,921This is a revival of the Golden Age Human Torch, tying in with Marvel’s 70th anniversary celebrations. Golden Age characters are rarely big sellers, but with Alex Ross’s name attached (even as co-writer), I’d expected this to do slightly better.

95,98. INCREDIBLE HERCULES
09/08 Hercules #121 - 47,363 ( -7.3%)
10/08 Hercules #122 - 42,876 ( -9.5%)
11/08 Hercules #123 - 35,780 (-16.6%)
12/08 Hercules #124 - 36,855 ( +3.0%)
01/09 Hercules #125 - 31,888 (-13.5%)
02/09 Hercules #126 - 31,000 ( -2.8%)
03/09 Hercules #127 - 31,890 ( +2.9%)
04/09 Hercules #128 - 33,739 ( +5.8%)
05/09 Hercules #129 - 28,995 (-14.1%)
06/09 Hercules #130 - 27,872 ( -3.9%)
07/09 Hercules #131 - 29,188 ( +4.7%)
08/09 Hercules #132 - 32,680 (+12.0%)
08/09 Hercules #133 - 27,491 (-15.9%)
09/09 Hercules #134 - 25,380 ( -7.7%)
09/09 Hercules #135 - 26,344 ( +3.8%)
6 mnth (-17.4%)
1 year (-44.4%)The slight increase is presumably due to the Super Hero Squad variant cover.

97. PUNISHER ANNUAL
09/09 Punisher Annual #1 - 25,550Only about 3,000 behind the parent title, which is pretty good.

Next up is DARK REIGN: SINISTER SPIDER-MAN at number 99, but to save repetition, let’s just cover all the DARK REIGN: INSERT NAME HERE stuff at once, since there’s really not much to say about them.

99. DARK REIGN: SINISTER SPIDER-MAN
06/09 Spider-Man #1 of 4 - 40,887
07/09 Spider-Man #2 of 4 - 29,711 (-27.3%)
08/09 Spider-Man #3 of 4 - 27,498 ( -7.4%)
09/09 Spider-Man #4 of 4 - 25,157 ( -8.5%)

110. DARK REIGN: YOUNG AVENGERS
05/09 Young Avengers #1 of 5 - 32,266
06/09 Young Avengers #2 of 5 - 26,974 (-16.4%)
07/09 Young Avengers #3 of 5 - 24,237 (-10.1%)
08/09 —
09/09 Young Avengers #4 of 5 - 22,875 ( -5.6%)

124. DARK REIGN: MADE MEN
09/09 Made Men - 19,011

129. DARK REIGN: HOOD
05/09 Hood #1 of 5 - 29,857
06/09 Hood #2 of 5 - 24,076 (-19.4%)
07/09 Hood #3 of 5 - 21,162 (-12.1%)
08/09 Hood #4 of 5 - 19,912 ( -5.9%)
09/09 Hood #5 of 5 - 18,427 ( -7.5%)

156. DARK REIGN: LETHAL LEGION
06/09 Lethal Legion #1 of 3 - 23,430
07/09 Lethal Legion #2 of 3 - 16,529 (-29.5%)
08/09 —
09/09 Lethal Legion #3 of 3 - 14,346 (-13.2%)Well, no great surprises there. MADE MEN is a reprint of five stories which originally appeared on Marvel’s “Digital Comics Unlimited” site.

Returning to the countdown in progress, one place below SINISTER SPIDER-MAN, we find…

100. GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY
09/08 Guardians o/Galaxy #5 - 42,104 ( +4.5%)
10/08 Guardians o/Galaxy #6 - 36,546 (-13.2%)
11/08 Guardians o/Galaxy #7 - 30,516 (-16.5%)
12/08 Guardians o/Galaxy #8 - 31,564 ( +3.4%)
01/09 Guardians o/Galaxy #9 - 28,502 ( -9.7%)
02/09 Guardians o/Galaxy #10 - 27,648 ( -3.0%)
03/09 Guardians o/Galaxy #11 - 27,415 ( -0.8%)
03/09 Guardians o/Galaxy #12 - 26,764 ( -2.4%)
04/09 Guardians o/Galaxy #13 - 27,107 ( +1.3%)
05/09 Guardians o/Galaxy #14 - 27,130 ( +0.1%)
06/09 Guardians o/Galaxy #15 - 26,808 ( -1.2%)
07/09 Guardians o/Galaxy #16 - 26,605 ( -0.8%)
08/09 Guardians o/Galaxy #17 - 27,893 ( +4.8%)
09/09 Guardians o/Galaxy #18 - 24,896 (-10.7%)
6 mnth ( -7.0%)
1 year (-40.9%)Returning to normal levels after getting a slight bump from a variant cover last month. It’s also the first issue after the “War of Kings” crossover, which didn’t actually help sales noticeably, but might explain why some people seem to have waited to this point to jump off.

103,108. X-MEN FOREVER
06/09 X-Men Forever #1 - 36,213
06/09 X-Men Forever #2 - 31,767 (-12.3%)
07/09 X-Men Forever #3 - 28,651 ( -9.8%)
07/09 X-Men Forever #4 - 28,645 ( -0.0%)
08/09 X-Men Forever #5 - 27,825 ( -2.9%)
08/09 X-Men Forever #6 - 24,875 (-10.6%)
09/09 X-Men Forever #7 - 24,115 ( -3.1%)
09/09 X-Men Forever #8 - 23,174 ( -3.9%)That’s pretty steady. Chris Claremont has announced a NEW MUTANTS FOREVER spin-off for 2010, though it’s not clear yet whether it’s an ongoing or a miniseries.

104. NOVA
09/07 Nova #6 - 36,978
=====
09/08 Nova #17 - 37,015 ( -3.5%)
10/08 Nova #18 - 38,417 ( +3.8%)
11/08 Nova #19 - 28,306 (-26.3%)
12/08 Nova #20 - 29,405 ( +3.9%)
01/09 Nova #21 - 25,647 (-12.8%)
02/09 Nova #22 - 25,065 ( -2.3%)
03/09 Nova #23 - 26,413 ( +5.4%)
04/09 Nova #24 - 26,240 ( -0.7%)
05/09 Nova #25 - 26,172 ( -0.3%)
06/09 Nova #26 - 28,107 ( +7.4%)
07/09 Nova #27 - 25,677 ( -8.6%)
08/09 Nova #28 - 27,038 ( +5.3%)
09/09 Nova #29 - 23,924 (-11.5%)
6 mnth ( -9.4%)
1 year (-35.4%)
2 year (-35.3%)See GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, basically.

107. WAR MACHINE
12/08 War Machine #1 - 54,396
01/09 War Machine #2 - 39,835 (-26.8%)
02/09 War Machine #3 - 33,818 (-15.1%)
03/09 War Machine #4 - 32,693 ( -3.3%)
04/09 War Machine #5 - 34,254 ( +4.8%)
05/09 War Machine #6 - 27,703 (-19.1%)
06/09 War Machine #7 - 28,757 ( +3.8%)
07/09 —
08/09 War Machine #8 - 23,961 (-16.7%)
09/09 War Machine #9 - 23,589 ( -1.6%)
6 mnth (-27.8%)Axed with issue #12.

109. BLACK PANTHER
09/05 Black Panther #8 - 40,494
09/06 Black Panther #20 - 26,585
09/07 —
=====
09/08 Black Panther #41 - 33,620 ( +0.1%)
10/08 —
11/08 —
12/08 —
01/09 —
02/09 Black Panther #1 - 52,991 (+57.6%)
03/09 Black Panther #2 - 33,755 (-36.3%)
04/09 Black Panther #3 - 33,356 ( -1.2%)
05/09 Black Panther #4 - 30,984 ( -7.1%)
06/09 Black Panther #5 - 29,762 ( -3.9%)
07/09 Black Panther #6 - 29,727 ( -0.1%)
08/09 Black Panther #7 - 27,619 ( -7.1%)
09/09 Black Panther #8 - 23,020 (-16.7%)
6 mnth (-31.8%)
1 year (-31.5%)
2 year ( — )
3 year (-13.4%)
4 year (-43.2%)The last two issues actually had variant covers, which didn’t increase sales, but did serve to slow the decline. So this month’s 17% drop is exaggerated - but even so, the underlying trend doesn’t look great.

112. SON OF HULK
09/08 —
10/08 Skaar, Son of Hulk #4 - 44,310 (-12.8%)
11/08 Skaar, Son of Hulk #5 - 34,779 (-21.5%)
12/08 Skaar, Son of Hulk #6 - 34,593 ( -0.5%)
01/09 Skaar, Son of Hulk #7 - 31,096 (-10.1%)
02/09 Skaar, Son of Hulk #8 - 28,771 ( -7.5%)
03/09 Skaar, Son of Hulk #9 - 27,137 ( -5.7%)
04/09 Skaar, Son of Hulk #10 - 27,317 ( +0.7%)
05/09 —
06/09 Skaar, Son of Hulk #11 - 28,633 ( +4.8%)
06/09 Skaar, Son of Hulk #12 - 35,920 (+25.4%)
07/09 Son of Hulk #13 - 29,195 (-18.7%)
08/09 Son of Hulk #14 - 27,171 ( -6.9%)
09/09 Son of Hulk #15 - 22,722 (-16.4%)
6 mnth (-16.3%)
1 year ( — )Axed with issue #17, though the character has effectively been transferred over to the higher-selling INCREDIBLE HULK title.

114. INCOGNITO [Icon]
12/08 Incognito #1 - 27,958
01/09 —
02/09 Incognito #2 - 22,962 (-17.9%)
03/09 —
04/09 Incognito #3 - 24,280 ( +5.7%)
05/09 —
06/09 Incognito #4 - 23,584 ( -2.9%)
07/09 Incognito #5 - 23,311 ( -1.2%)
08/09 —
09/09 Incognito #6 - 22,524 ( -3.4%)
6 mnth ( — )Remarkably consistent sales.

121. PUNISHER: FRANK CASTLE [Max]
09/04 Punisher #11 - 44,038
09/05 Punisher #25 - 37,149
09/06 Punisher #38 - 33,389
09/07 —
=====
09/08 Punisher #62 - 26,906 ( -5.2%)
10/08 Punisher #63 - 25,933 ( -3.6%)
11/08 Punisher #64 - 24,660 ( -4.9%)
12/08 Punisher #65 - 23,881 ( -3.2%)
01/09 Frank Castle #66 - 22,806 ( -4.5%)
02/09 Frank Castle #67 - 22,267 ( -2.4%)
03/09 Frank Castle #68 - 22,255 ( -0.0%)
04/09 Frank Castle #69 - 21,843 ( -1.9%)
05/09 Frank Castle #70 - 21,864 ( +0.1%)
06/09 Frank Castle #71 - 21,319 ( -2.5%)
07/09 Frank Castle #72 - 21,049 ( -1.3%)
08/09 Frank Castle #73 - 20,375 ( -3.2%)
09/09 Frank Castle #74 - 20,259 ( -0.6%)
6 mnth ( -9.0%)
1 year (-24.7%)
2 year ( — )
3 year (-39.3%)
4 year (-18.5%)
5 year (-54.0%)Set to be relaunched in November as PUNISHERMAX. Yes, that’s one word. Yes, I know.

125. EXILES
09/04 Exiles #52 - 36,245
09/05 Exiles #69 - 43,794
09/06 Exiles #86 - 33,080
09/07 Exiles #98 - 28,308
=====
09/08 New Exiles #11 - 22,630 ( -1.8%)
10/08 New Exiles #12 - 21,682 ( -4.2%)
10/08 New Exiles #13 - 21,058 ( -2.9%)
11/08 New Exiles #14 - 20,493 ( -2.7%)
12/08 New Exiles #15 - 19,498 ( -4.9%)
12/08 New Exiles #16 - 19,227 ( -1.4%)
01/09 New Exiles #17 - 18,381 ( -4.4%)
02/09 New Exiles #18 - 17,925 ( -2.5%)
03/09 —
04/09 Exiles #1 - 31,136 (+73.7%)
05/09 Exiles #2 - 22,148 (-28.9%)
06/09 Exiles #3 - 21,654 ( -2.2%)
07/09 Exiles #4 - 20,548 ( -5.1%)
08/09 Exiles #5 - 21,799 ( +6.1%)
09/09 Exiles #6 - 18,941 (-13.1%)
6 mnth ( — )
1 year (-16.3%)
2 year (-33.1%)
3 year (-42.7%)
4 year (-56.7%)
5 year (-47.7%)Axed. If it hadn’t been for the two recent relaunches, this would have been issue #124, and that’s a very respectable run.

130. GHOST RIDERS: HEAVENS ON FIRE
08/09 Heavens on Fire #1 of 6 - 21,944
09/09 Heavens on Fire #2 of 6 - 18,262 (-16.8%)Holding up fairly well, actually. GHOST RIDER had dropped to 20K when it was cancelled in May, so this is basically selling like a continuation of the series.

132. NOMAD: GIRL WITHOUT A WORLD
09/09 Nomad #1 of 4 - 18,069A miniseries about the Heroes Reborn version of Bucky, who’s now being repackaged as the latest version of Nomad. Not stellar sales, but the aim is really to draw some attention to the character before she moves into CAPTAIN AMERICA as a back-up strip in issue #602.

134. MODELS INC
09/09 Models Inc #1 of 4 - 17,918Because nobody in particular demanded it: a miniseries about Marvel’s long-cancelled model characters, released to tie in with New York Fashion Week. The sales are actually slightly better than I’d have expected.

135,136. AGENTS OF ATLAS
02/09 Agents of Atlas #1 - 34,449
03/09 Agents of Atlas #2 - 26,783 (-22.3%)
04/09 Agents of Atlas #3 - 29,748 (+11.1%)
05/09 Agents of Atlas #4 - 25,377 (-14.7%)
05/09 Agents of Atlas #5 - 25,207 ( -0.7%)
06/09 Agents of Atlas #6 - 22,579 (-10.4%)
07/09 Agents of Atlas #7 - 23,217 ( +2.8%)
07/09 Agents of Atlas #8 - 20,540 (-11.5%)
08/09 Agents of Atlas #9 - 20,828 ( +1.4%)
09/09 Agents of Atlas #10 - 17,877 (-14.2%)
09/09 Agents of Atlas #11 - 17,529 ( -1.9%)
6 mnth (-34.6%)Axed, but Marvel aren’t giving up on this one just yet - an array of minis and back-up strips are on their way.

137,139. IMMORTAL WEAPONS
09/07 Immortal Iron Fist #9 - 34,282
=====
09/08 —
10/08 Immortal Iron Fist #19 - 25,861 ( -5.7%)
11/08 —
12/08 Immortal Iron Fist #20 - 24,966 ( -3.5%)
12/08 Immortal Iron Fist #21 - 24,134 ( -3.3%)
01/09 —
02/09 Immortal Iron Fist #22 - 23,259 ( -3.6%)
03/09 Immortal Iron Fist #23 - 22,691 ( -2.4%)
03/09 Immortal Iron Fist #24 - 22,326 ( -1.6%)
04/09 Immortal Iron Fist #25 - 22,309 ( -0.0%)
05/09 Immortal Iron Fist #26 - 21,864 ( -2.0%)
06/09 Immortal Iron Fist #27 - 27,376 (+25.2%)
07/09 Immortal Weapons #1 of 5 - 22,151 (-18.7%)
08/09 —
09/09 Immortal Weapons #2 of 5 - 17,493 (-21.0%)
09/09 Immortal Weapons #3 of 5 - 17,029 ( -2.7%)
6 mnth (-23.7%)
1 year ( — )
2 year (-50.3%)Levelling out very quickly, and that’s a good sign.

141. HULK TEAM-UP
09/09 Hulk Team-Up - 16,745Apparently this is a Hulk/X-Men one-shot, but to be honest, even I failed to notice it had come out. Which might explain why it’s selling 17K.

142. SHANG-CHI: MASTER OF KUNG-FU
09/09 Black and white one-shot - 16,698Exactly what it says on the tin. Seventies retro isn’t for everyone, so I’d say this was a solid number.

144. STRANGE TALES
09/09 Strange Tales #1 of 3 - 16,266An anthology of indie creators doing Marvel superhero characters. The main selling point is the serialisation of the long-shelved Peter Bagge “Incorrigible Hulk” strip. Again, it’s doing perfectly well for that sort of product.

148. RUNAWAYS
09/04 Runaways #18 - 18,614
09/05 Runaways #8 - 26,954
09/06 Runaways #20 - 23,561
09/07 —
=====
09/08 Runaways #2 - 27,958 (-15.9%)
10/08 Runaways #3 - 25,757 ( -7.9%)
11/08 Runaways #4 - 23,496 ( -8.8%)
12/08 Runaways #5 - 21,918 ( -6.7%)
01/09 Runaways #6 - 20,459 ( -6.7%)
02/09 Runaways #7 - 19,684 ( -3.8%)
03/09 Runaways #8 - 19,000 ( -3.5%)
04/09 Runaways #9 - 19,851 ( +4.5%)
05/09 Runaways #10 - 17,523 (-11.7%)
06/09 Runaways #11 - 16,988 ( -3.1%)
07/09 Runaways #12 - 16,323 ( -3.9%)
08/09 Runaways #13 - 17,347 ( +6.3%)
09/09 Runaways #14 - 15,547 (-10.4%)
6 mnth (-18.2%)
1 year (-44.4%)
2 year ( — )
3 year (-34.0%)
4 year (-42.3%)
5 year (-16.5%)Axed, though a relaunch is supposed to be in the works for 2010.

150. PUNISHER NOIR
08/09 Punisher Noir #1 of 4 - 18,315
09/09 Punisher Noir #2 of 4 - 15,466 (-15.6%)

173. LUKE CAGE NOIR
08/09 Luke Cage Noir #1 of 4 - 14,776
09/09 Luke Cage Noir #2 of 4 - 12,176 (-17.6%)We might as well take the two Noir books together, because there’s not much to say about them. As you’d expect, the higher-profile character sells more.

153. IRON MAN: ARMOR WARS
08/09 Armor Wars #1 of 4 - 19,935
09/09 Armor Wars #2 of 4 - 14,781 (-25.9%)One of the all-ages books, and doing quite well by their standards.

161. HOUSE OF M: MASTERS OF EVIL
08/09 Masters of Evil #1 of 4 - 17,528
09/09 Masters of Evil #2 of 4 - 13,794 (-21.3%)Surely the time for House of M tie-ins has passed by now?

166. FANTASTIC FORCE
04/09 Fantastic Force #1 of 4 - 21,865
05/09 Fantastic Force #2 of 4 - 16,541 (-24.3%)
06/09 Fantastic Force #3 of 4 - 14,359 (-13.2%)
07/09 —
08/09 —
09/09 Fantastic Force #4 of 4 - 12,577 (-12.4%)Pretty much catastrophic when you consider that it was originally solicited as an ongoing title.

170. MARVEL DIVAS
07/09 Marvel Divas #1 of 4 - 21,616
08/09 Marvel Divas #2 of 4 - 14,662 (-32.2%)
09/09 Marvel Divas #3 of 4 - 12,238 (-16.5%)Crashing and burning, I’m afraid.

177. UNCANNY X-MEN: FIRST CLASS
09/06 First Class #1 of 8 - 39,859
09/07 First Class #4 - 19,088
=====
09/08 First Class #16 - 12,842 ( -3.1%)
10/08 Giant-Size Special - 13,263 ( +3.3%)
11/08 —
12/08 —
01/09 —
02/09 Finals #1 of 4 - 15,736 (+18.6%)
03/09 Finals #2 of 4 - 11,533 (-26.7%)
04/09 Finals #3 of 4 - 10,870 ( -5.7%)
05/09 Finals #4 of 4 - 10,579 ( -2.7%)
06/09 Giant-Size Special - 12,614 (+19.2%)
07/09 Uncanny #1 of 8 - 18,363 (+45.6%)
08/09 Uncanny #2 of 8 - 12,978 (-29.3%)
09/09 Uncanny #3 of 8 - 11,954 ( -7.9%)
6 mnth ( +3.7%)
1 year ( -6.9%)
2 year (-37.4%)
3 year (-70.0%)Celebrating its third birthday, and sales seem to be settling into the 10-11K range - not bad for an all ages book. This was originally announced as an eight-issue miniseries, but later solicitations seem to be treating it as an ongoing.

178. HALO: HELLJUMPER
07/09 Helljumper #1 of 5 - 15,809
08/09 Helljumper #2 of 5 - 12,602 (-20.3%)
09/09 Helljumper #3 of 5 - 11,827 ( -6.1%)Levelling out. However, video game licences are said to sell in vast quantities outside the direct market, so take this number with a pinch of salt.

181. WOLVERINE: FIRST CLASS
09/08 First Class #7 - 16,168 (-16.8%)
10/08 First Class #8 - 14,936 ( -7.6%)
11/08 First Class #9 - 13,857 ( -7.2%)
12/08 First Class #10 - 13,441 ( -3.0%)
01/09 First Class #11 - 12,845 ( -4.4%)
02/09 First Class #12 - 12,403 ( -3.4%)
03/09 First Class #13 - 12,430 ( -0.0%)
04/09 First Class #14 - 13,695 (+10.2%)
05/09 First Class #15 - 12,221 (-10.8%)
06/09 First Class #16 - 11,623 ( -4.9%)
07/09 First Class #17 - 12,441 ( +7.0%)
08/09 First Class #18 - 13,110 ( +5.4%)
09/09 First Class #19 - 11,723 (-10.6%)
6 mnth ( -5.7%)
1 year (-27.5%)Back to normal levels after a variant cover last month.

188. DARING MYSTERY COMICS
09/09 70th Anniversary Special - 11,145This month’s obligatory anniversary publication.

189. ANITA BLAKE, VAMPIRE HUNTER
09/07 —
=====
09/08 —
10/08 Laughing Corpse #1 of 5 - 22,493 (+13.2%)
11/08 Laughing Corpse #2 of 5 - 17,187 (-23.6%)
12/08 Laughing Corpse #3 of 5 - 15,665 ( -8.9%)
01/09 Laughing Corpse #4 of 5 - 14,422 ( -7.9%)
02/09 Laughing Corpse #5 of 5 - 14,095 ( -2.3%)
03/09 —
04/09 Necromancer #1 of 5 - 15,308 ( +8.6%)
05/09 —
06/09 Necromancer #2 of 5 - 12,907 (-15.7%)
07/09 Necromancer #3 of 5 - 12,143 ( -5.9%)
08/09 Necromancer #4 of 5 - 11,597 ( -4.5%)
09/09 Necromancer #5 of 5 - 11,142 ( -3.9%)
6 mnth ( — )
1 year ( — )
2 year ( — )Levelling out as the miniseries wraps up.

203. ENDERS GAME: COMMAND SCHOOL
09/09 Command School #1 of 5 - 9,840

212. ENDERS SHADOW: COMMAND SCHOOL
09/09 Command School #1 of 5 - 8,972You’d think they’d sell in the same quantities, but apparently not…

205. STARR THE SLAYER [Max]
09/09 Starr the Slayer #1 of 4 - 9,744Fairly typical Max sales (once you leave the Punisher out of the picture).

206. MODOK: REIGN DELAY
09/09 Reign Delay - 9,735Another reprint from the Marvel website.

209. THOR: TALES OF ASGARD BY LEE AND KIRBY
05/09 Tales of Asgard #1 of 6 - 13,488
06/09 Tales of Asgard #2 of 6 - 11,022 (-18.3%)
07/09 Tales of Asgard #3 of 6 - 10,618 ( -3.7%)
08/09 Tales of Asgard #4 of 6 - 10,048 ( -5.4%)
09/09 Tales of Asgard #5 of 6 - 9,440 ( -6.1%)Perfectly good sales for a Silver Age reprint book.

243. DOMINIC FORTUNE [Max]
08/09 Dominic Fortune #1 of 4 - 9,157
09/09 Dominic Fortune #2 of 4 - 6,976 (-23.8%)Vanishing. Of course, another way of looking at it is that the market for Howard Chaykin reviving Dominic Fortune in 2009 was always going to be tiny, and Marvel deserve some credit for publishing the thing anyway.

246. MARVEL SUPER HERO SQUAD
09/09 Super Hero Squad #1 of 4 - 6,760Tie-in to the new cartoon series. On the low side for the launch of an all-ages book, to be honest, but then the direct market isn’t its natural home.

248. MARVEL MYSTERY HANDBOOK
09/09 70th Anniversary Special - 6,565A Handbook issue featuring characters from Marvel’s first year of publication. Again, it’s a bit of a narrow market.

269. MARVEL ADVENTURES SPIDER-MAN [All ages]
09/05 M.A. Spider-Man #7 - 7,199
09/06 M.A. Spider-Man #19 - 6,057
09/07 M.A. Spider-Man #31 - 6,723
=====
09/08 M.A. Spider-Man #43 - 5,505 ( -3.7%)
10/08 M.A. Spider-Man #44 - 5,155 ( -6.4%)
11/08 M.A. Spider-Man #45 - 5,003 ( -2.9%)
12/08 M.A. Spider-Man #46 - 4,851 ( -3.0%)
01/09 M.A. Spider-Man #47 - 4,592 ( -5.3%)
02/09 M.A. Spider-Man #48 - 4,622 ( +0.7%)
03/09 M.A. Spider-Man #49 - 4,640 ( +0.4%)
04/09 M.A. Spider-Man #50 - 4,780 ( +3.0%)
05/09 M.A. Spider-Man #51 - 4,557 ( -4.7%)
06/09 M.A. Spider-Man #52 - 4,612 ( +1.2%)
07/09 M.A. Spider-Man #53 - 5,710 (+23.8%)
08/09 M.A. Spider-Man #54 - 5,684 ( -0.5%)
09/09 M.A. Spider-Man #55 - 5,668 ( -0.3%)
6 mnth (+22.2%)
1 year ( +3.0%)
2 year (-15.7%)
3 year ( -6.4%)
4 year (-21.3%)

294. MARVEL ADVENTURES SUPER HEROES
09/08 M.A. Super Heroes #3 - 4,857 (-18.5%)
10/08 M.A. Super Heroes #4 - 4,542 ( -6.5%)
11/08 M.A. Super Heroes #5 - 4,233 ( -6.8%)
12/08 M.A. Super Heroes #6 - ?,??? ( ??? )
01/09 M.A. Super Heroes #7 - 4,141 ( ??? )
02/09 M.A. Super Heroes #8 - 3,993 ( -3.6%)
03/09 M.A. Super Heroes #9 - 3,716 ( -6.9%)
04/09 M.A. Super Heroes #10 - 3,699 ( -0.5%)
05/09 M.A. Super Heroes #11 - 3,474 ( -6.1%)
06/09 M.A. Super Heroes #12 - 3,508 ( +1.0%)
07/09 M.A. Super Heroes #13 - 4,439 (+26.5%)
08/09 M.A. Super Heroes #14 - 4,355 ( -1.9%)
09/09 M.A. Super Heroes #15 - 4,268 ( -2.0%)
6 mnth (+14.9%)
1 year (-12.1%)Both books seem to have got a modest but lasting increase from their recent promotional push.

272. MARVEL SPOTLIGHT
09/06 Lee/Kirby - 6,313
09/07 Thor - 11,300
=====
09/08 Marvel Knights - 5,936 ( -5.1%)
10/08 Ultimatum - 6,819 (+14.9%)
11/08 Punisher Movie - 4,342 (-36.3%)
12/08 S.I. Aftermath - 8,085 (+86.2%)
01/09 Dark Reign - 7,527 ( -6.9%)
02/09 War of Kings - 6,075 (-19.3%)
03/09 Wolverine - 6,670 ( +9.8%)
04/09 —
05/09 New Mutants - 4,661 (-30.1%)
06/09 Captain America - 6,733 (+44.5%)
07/09 —
08/09 Summer Events - 5,999 (-10.9%)
09/09 Marvel Zombies Return - 5,546 ( -7.6%)
6 mnth (-16.9%)
1 year ( -6.6%)
2 year (-50.9%)
3 year (-12.1%)When they did “Marvel Zombies” as a theme in October 2007, the estimated sales were 16,697. But hey, diminishing returns and all that.

297. OFFICIAL INDEX TO THE MARVEL UNIVERSE
01/09 Index #1 - 9,852
02/09 Index #2 - 7,278 (-26.1%)
03/09 Index #3 - 6,331 (-13.0%)
04/09 Index #4 - 5,517 (-12.9%)
05/09 Index #5 - 4,913 (-10.9%)
06/09 Index #6 - 4,743 ( -3.5%)
07/09 Index #7 - 4,518 ( -4.7%)
08/09 Index #8 - 4,263 ( -5.6%)
09/09 Index #9 - 4,144 ( -2.8%)
6 mnth (-34.5%)Clinging in there at the bottom of the chart. Sales are actually pretty steady at this point - after all, if you’ve stuck with it this far, chances are you’re in for the long haul - but it’s plainly in some danger of dropping off the bottom of the top 300.

And three Marvel titles did just that in September: RIFTWAR #4, TROJAN WAR #5 and SCOURGE OF THE GODS: FALL #3. All three missed the charts entirely, selling fewer copies than the number 300 book (BLACKEST NIGHT: TALES OF THE CORPS #2, with re-orders of 4,098).

6 month comparisons
===================

+ 74.4% - Captain America
+ 55.3% - Vengeance of Moon Knight
+ 22.2% - Marvel Adventures Spider-Man
+ 21.9% - Ms Marvel
+ 14.9% - Marvel Adventures Super Heroes
+ 6.4% - Amazing Spider-Man
+ 4.8% - Cable
+ 3.7% - X-Men: First Class
- 1.9% - Fantastic Four
- 3.8% - X-Force
- 5.0% - Deadpool
- 5.6% - Uncanny X-Men
- 5.7% - Wolverine: First Class
- 6.1% - X-Factor
- 6.3% - Wolverine: Origins
- 7.0% - Guardians of the Galaxy
- 7.9% - Invincible Iron Man
- 9.0% - Punisher: Frank Castle
- 9.4% - Nova
- 10.2% - New Avengers
- 16.3% - Son of Hulk
- 16.9% - Marvel Spotlight
- 17.4% - Incredible Hercules
- 18.2% - Runaways
- 21.8% - Dark Avengers
- 23.6% - Mighty Avengers
- 23.7% - Immortal Weapons/Iron Fist
- 24.3% - Punisher
- 27.8% - War Machine
- 29.5% - Secret Warriors
- 31.8% - Black Panther
- 33.5% - Dark Wolverine
- 34.5% - Official Index to the Marvel Universe
- 34.6% - Agents of Atlas
- 34.9% - Thunderbolts

1 year comparisons
==================

+ 43.3% - Captain America
+ 22.8% - Vengeance of Moon Knight
+ 5.3% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
+ 3.8% - Punisher
+ 3.0% - Marvel Adventures Spider-Man
- 6.6% - Marvel Spotlight
- 6.9% - X-Men: First Class
- 11.2% - Uncanny X-Men
- 12.1% - Marvel Adventures Super Heroes
- 14.5% - Wolverine: Origins
- 16.3% - Exiles
- 17.2% - New Avengers
- 18.5% - Fantastic Four
- 20.5% - Invincible Iron Man
- 21.6% - Thunderbolts
- 23.3% - X-Force
- 23.8% - Ms Marvel
- 24.7% - Punisher: Frank Castle
- 27.5% - Wolverine: First Class
- 30.1% - Amazing Spider-Man
- 31.5% - Black Panther
- 32.7% - Deadpool
- 32.7% - X-Factor
- 35.4% - Nova
- 40.0% - Mighty Avengers
- 40.9% - Guardians of the Galaxy
- 42.7% - Avengers: The Initiative
- 44.4% - Incredible Hercules
- 44.4% - Runaways
- 49.5% - Incredible Hulk
- 50.2% - Hulk
- 58.2% - Dark Tower

2 year comparisons
==================

+ 36.2% - Captain America
+ 2.9% - Invincible Iron Man
- 5.7% - Ms Marvel
- 13.8% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
- 15.7% - Marvel Adventures Spider-Man
- 16.0% - Uncanny X-Men
- 18.6% - Dark Wolverine
- 24.1% - New Avengers
- 31.4% - Wolverine: Origins
- 31.8% - Vengeance of Moon Knight
- 33.1% - Exiles
- 35.3% - Nova
- 37.4% - X-Men: First Class
- 39.8% - Punisher
- 43.9% - X-Factor
- 46.7% - Incredible Hulk
- 50.3% - Immortal Weapons / Iron Fist
- 50.9% - Marvel Spotlight
- 54.4% - Avengers: The Initiative
- 57.2% - Amazing Spider-Man

3 year comparisons
==================

+ 32.4% - Invincible Iron Man
+ 31.7% - Captain America
+ 7.9% - Thunderbolts
- 2.7% - Incredible Hulk
- 6.4% - Marvel Adventures Spider-Man
- 12.1% - Marvel Spotlight
- 13.4% - Black Panther
- 18.1% - Uncanny X-Men
- 31.1% - X-Factor
- 34.0% - Runaways
- 39.3% - Punisher: Frank Castle
- 42.7% - Exiles
- 43.7% - Dark Wolverine
- 46.5% - Amazing Spider-Man
- 50.0% - Vengeance of Moon Knight
- 50.5% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
- 53.0% - Ms Marvel
- 57.7% - Wolverine: Origins
- 70.0% - X-Men: First Class

4 year comparisons
==================

+105.9% - Captain America
+ 31.3% - Thunderbolts
- 2.7% - Incredible Hulk
- 4.6% - Fantastic Four
- 12.0% - Amazing Spider-Man
- 14.3% - Uncanny X-Men
- 18.5% - Punisher: Frank Castle
- 21.3% - Marvel Adventures Spider-Man
- 24.1% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
- 31.8% - Dark Wolverine
- 40.1% - New Avengers
- 42.3% - Runaways
- 43.2% - Black Panther
- 56.7% - Exiles

5 year comparisons
==================

+191.8% - Captain America
+ 74.8% - Thor
+ 45.9% - Invincible Iron Man
- 3.0% - Fantastic Four
- 6.7% - Dark Wolverine
- 8.1% - New Avengers
- 16.5% - Runaways
- 22.3% - Uncanny X-Men
- 28.3% - Amazing Spider-Man
- 39.0% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
- 47.7% - Exiles
- 54.0% - Punisher: Frank Castle

Marvel Month-to-Month Sales: October 2009
By Paul O’Brien

Usually, Marvel are the largest publisher in the North American direct market by a comfortable margin. But October was close. Marvel still held on to first place, beating DC by 40% to 38% in unit share, and 36.5% to 34% in dollars. That’s an unusually narrow gap.

What’s more, DC took the top six places on the chart, leaving Marvel’s top book - NEW AVENGERS - to tail in at number 7. Now, normally I’d expect something like this to happen in a month when Marvel’s major titles failed to ship. But there’s really only one book in that category, namely REBORN. In fact, the explanation seems to be simply that DC’s BLACKEST NIGHT crossover is doing very well, and and Marvel’s output for October just didn’t grab the same sort of attention.

Major releases this month include the second wave of DARK REIGN: THE LIST one-shots, the beginning of the “Necrosha-X” crossover between the second-tier X-books, and the launches of WEB OF SPIDER-MAN, DR VOODOO and a third ongoing Deadpool series.

Thanks as always to Milton Griepp and ICV2 for permission to use their figures for these calculations.

===============

7. NEW AVENGERS
10/04 —
10/05 New Avengers #12 - 127,949
10/06 New Avengers #24 - 136,811
10/07 New Avengers #35 - 111,481
=====
10/08 New Avengers #46 - 99,513 ( -3.7%)
11/08 —
12/08 New Avengers #47 - 95,703 ( -3.8%)
12/08 New Avengers #48 - 95,688 ( -0.0%)
01/09 New Avengers #49 - 94,291 ( -1.5%)
02/09 New Avengers #50 - 106,831 (+13.3%)
03/09 New Avengers #51 - 95,340 (-10.8%)
04/09 New Avengers #52 - 93,975 ( -1.4%)
05/09 New Avengers #53 - 94,367 ( +0.4%)
06/09 New Avengers #54 - 93,878 ( -0.5%)
07/09 New Avengers #55 - 84,745 ( -9.7%)
08/09 New Avengers #56 - 89,996 ( +6.2%)
09/09 New Avengers #57 - 85,598 ( -4.9%)
10/09 New Avengers #58 - 76,656 (-10.4%)
6 mnth (-18.4%)
1 year (-23.0%)
2 year (-31.2%)
3 year (-44.0%)
4 year (-40.1%)
5 year ( — )For a change, an issue of NEW AVENGERS without a variant cover. The last two issues both had variants, as did issues #50-54, so the drop is somewhat exaggerated. Issue #55 is a reasonable comparison, though, so there’s still an underlying decline.


8. DARK AVENGERS
01/09 Dark Avengers #1 - 139,239
02/09 Dark Avengers #2 - 102,277 (-26.5%)
03/09 Dark Avengers #3 - 101,978 ( -0.3%)
04/09 Dark Avengers #4 - 99,694 ( -2.2%)
05/09 —
06/09 Dark Avengers #5 - 95,746 ( -4.0%)
06/09 Dark Avengers #6 - 93,634 ( -2.2%)
07/09 Dark Avengers #7 - 94,189 ( +0.6%)
08/09 Dark Avengers #8 - 94,191 ( +0.0%)
09/09 Dark Avengers #9 - 79,729 (-15.4%)
10/09 Dark Avengers #10 - 75,618 ( -5.2%)
6 mnth (-24.1%)The first eight issues all had variant covers, so the drop with last month’s issue #9 was fairly predictable. A further 5% drop this month is slightly more worrying, but we may still be in the territory of retailers trying to figure out what this book actually sells without the assistance of variant covers.

9. UNCANNY X-MEN
10/04 Uncanny X-Men #432 - 92,472
10/05 Uncanny X-Men #450 - 101,506
10/06 Uncanny X-Men #479 - 89,052
10/07 Uncanny X-Men #491 - 85,638
=====
10/08 Uncanny X-Men #503 - 87,196 ( +5.2%)
11/08 Uncanny X-Men #504 - 77,773 (-10.8%)
12/08 Uncanny X-Men #505 - 82,271 ( +5.8%)
01/09 —
02/09 Uncanny X-Men #506 - 71,684 (-12.9%)
03/09 Uncanny X-Men #507 - 77,957 ( +8.8%)
04/09 Uncanny X-Men #508 - 76,442 ( -1.9%)
04/09 Uncanny X-Men #509 - 69,185 ( -9.5%)
05/09 Uncanny X-Men #510 - 75,139 ( +8.6%)
06/09 Uncanny X-Men #511 - 71,148 ( -5.3%)
06/09 Uncanny X-Men #512 - 76,283 ( +7.2%)
07/09 Uncanny X-Men #513 - 87,582 (+14.8%)
08/09 Uncanny X-Men #514 - 90,316 ( +3.1%)
09/09 Uncanny X-Men #515 - 73,585 (-18.5%)
10/09 Uncanny X-Men #516 - 73,916 ( +0.4%)
6 mnth ( +6.8%)
1 year (-15.2%)
2 year (-13.7%)
3 year (-17.0%)
4 year (-27.2%)
5 year (-20.1%)Holding steady, more or less. There hasn’t been a variant cover since August, so it’s interesting to note that after dipping down to 69K earlier in the year, UNCANNY seems to have pulled itself back up to 74K. This issue has the return of Magneto, which might well have proved a draw.

10,16. AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
10/04 Amazing Spider-Man #513 - 89,615
10/05 Amazing Spider-Man #525 - 79,520
10/06 —
10/07 —
=====
10/08 Amazing Spider-Man #573 - 82,550 ( +2.9%)
10/08 Amazing Spider-Man #574 - 69,069 (-16.3%)
10/08 Amazing Spider-Man #575 - 68,913 ( -0.2%)
11/08 Amazing Spider-Man #576 - 68,956 ( +0.1%)
11/08 Amazing Spider-Man #577 - 76,625 (+11.1%)
11/08 Amazing Spider-Man #578 - 66,564 (-13.1%)
12/08 Amazing Spider-Man #579 - 69,784 ( +4.8%)
12/08 Amazing Spider-Man #580 - 62,979 ( -9.8%)
12/08 Amazing Spider-Man #581 - 68,905 ( +9.4%)
01/09 Amazing Spider-Man #582 - 59,932 (-13.0%)
01/09 Amazing Spider-Man #583 - 525,050 (+776.1%)
01/09 Amazing Spider-Man #584 - 63,754 (-87.9%)
02/09 Amazing Spider-Man #585 - 60,286 ( -5.4%)
02/09 Amazing Spider-Man #586 - 59,521 ( -1.3%)
02/09 Amazing Spider-Man #587 - 60,118 ( +1.0%)
03/09 Amazing Spider-Man #588 - 61,334 ( +2.0%)
03/09 Amazing Spider-Man #589 - 58,832 ( -4.1%)
04/09 Amazing Spider-Man #590 - 66,415 (+12.9%)
04/09 Amazing Spider-Man #591 - 60,508 ( -8.9%)
04/09 Amazing Spider-Man #592 - 65,940 ( +9.0%)
05/09 Amazing Spider-Man #593 - 58,363 (-11.5%)
05/09 Amazing Spider-Man #594 - 58,464 ( +0.2%)
05/09 Amazing Spider-Man #595 - 71,837 (+22.9%)
06/09 Amazing Spider-Man #596 - 63,525 (-11.6%)
06/09 Amazing Spider-Man #597 - 61,646 ( -3.0%)
06/09 Amazing Spider-Man #598 - 61,585 ( -0.0%)
07/09 Amazing Spider-Man #599 - 72,412 (+17.6%)
07/09 Amazing Spider-Man #600 - 116,857 (+61.4%)
08/09 Amazing Spider-Man #601 - 74,279 (-36.4%)
08/09 Amazing Spider-Man #602 - 71,532 ( -3.7%)
08/09 Amazing Spider-Man #603 - 71,051 ( -0.7%)
09/09 Amazing Spider-Man #604 - 63,435 (-10.7%)
09/09 Amazing Spider-Man #605 - 62,831 ( -1.0%)
09/09 Amazing Spider-Man #606 - 70,177 (+11.7%)
09/09 Amazing Spider-Man #607 - 62,570 (-10.8%)
10/09 Amazing Spider-Man #608 - 72,035 (+15.1%)
10/09 Amazing Spider-Man #609 - 61,176 (-15.1%)
6 mnth ( -7.2%)
1 year (-25.9%)
2 year ( — )
3 year ( — )
4 year (-23.1%)
5 year (-31.7%)Issue #608 is the first part of “Who Was Ben Reilly?”, a three-part storyline revisiting the notorious Clone Saga. But the sales increase is probably thanks to Marko Djurdjevic’s variant cover.

Issue #610 was also solicited for October, but it slipped into the first week of November.

13. ASTONISHING X-MEN
10/04 —
10/05 —
10/06 —
10/07 —
=====
10/08 Astonishing X-Men #27 - 86,770 ( -7.9%)
11/08 —
12/08 —
01/09 Astonishing X-Men #28 - 72,610 (-16.3%)
02/09 —
03/09 —
04/09 Astonishing X-Men #29 - 67,774 ( -6.7%)
05/09 —
06/09 Astonishing X-Men #30 - 64,608 ( -4.7%)
07/09 —
08/09 —
09/09 —
10/09 Astonishing X-Men #31 - 67,064 ( +3.8%)
6 mnth ( -1.0%)
1 year (-22.7%)
2 year ( — )
3 year ( — )
4 year ( — )
5 year ( — )The first issue of a new storyline following a planned hiatus. This issue has two variants, a 1:25 Travis Charest cover, and a 1:100 sketch variant. You’d normally expect that to result in a significant sales boost. (For comparison, ASTONISHING hasn’t had a variant since issue #25 in 2008.) So an increase of only 4% is decidedly anaemic. The most likely explanation is that the boost from the variants is being partly cancelled out by an underlying decline.

Next up is ULTIMATE COMICS AVENGERS, but let’s take all three Ultimate books together.

15. ULTIMATE COMICS AVENGERS
08/09 U.C. Avengers #1 - 99,701
09/09 U.C. Avengers #2 - 68,597 (-31.2%)
10/09 U.C. Avengers #3 - 62,716 ( -8.6%)

24. ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN
10/04 Ult. Spider-Man #67 - 95,071
10/05 Ult. Spider-Man #84 - 74,670
10/06 Ult. Spider-Man #101 - 78,963
10/07 Ult. Spider-Man #115 - 74,310
=====
10/08 Ult. Spider-Man #127 - 52,584 ( -3.7%)
11/08 Ult. Spider-Man #128 - 52,187 ( -0.8%)
12/08 Ult. Spider-Man #129 - 51,071 ( -2.1%)
01/09 Ult. Spider-Man #130 - 49,637 ( -2.8%)
02/09 Ult. Spider-Man #131 - 49,565 ( -0.1%)
03/09 —
04/09 —
05/09 Ult. Spider-Man #132 - 50,144 ( +1.2%)
06/09 Ult. Spider-Man #133 - 57,364 ( +14.4%)06/09 USM: Requiem #1 of 2 - 44,988 ( -21.6%)
07/09 USM: Requiem #2 of 2 - 41,374 ( -8.0%)
08/09 U.C. Spider-Man #1 - 86,008 (+107.9%)
09/09 U.C. Spider-Man #2 - 57,477 ( -33.2%)
10/09 U.C. Spider-Man #3 - 52,813 ( -8.1%)
6 mnth ( — )
1 year ( +0.4%)
2 year ( -28.9%)
3 year ( -33.1%)
4 year ( -29.3%)
5 year ( -44.4%)

75. ULTIMATE COMICS ARMOR WARS
09/09 U.C. Armor Wars #1 of 4 - 51,035
10/09 U.C. Armor Wars #2 of 4 - 27,087 (-46.9%)Let’s start with the two ongoing titles. They both had incentive variants on the first issue, straightforward variants on the second, and no variants on the third. So there’s nothing particularly alarming about the drops themselves. As for ARMOR WARS, the first issue had 1:15 and 1:25 variants, while this month the book has none at all. Again, that means you’d expect a hefty decline.

On the other hand… ULTIMATE COMICS AVENGERS is clearly not going to sell in ULTIMATES quantities, despite featuring writer Mark Millar and much of that book’s cast. ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN is already more or less back where it was before the relaunch.

And ARMOR WARS seems to have fallen off a cliff. This time last year, the final issue of ULTIMATE ORIGINS was shifted 61K. So when the first miniseries after the much-hyped relaunch crashes down to 27K in its second month… well, that’s a real surprise. In fairness, it’s not unknown for remarkably low sales to be cancelled out by “re-orders” on the following month’s chart, presumably reflecting distribution delays at Diamond. And ARMOR WARS did ship in the last week of the month. But this doesn’t look very promising.

On the strength of these numbers, ULTIMATUM doesn’t seem to have worked. It doesn’t seem to have done much harm, either - Spider-Man’s back where he was before - but if the idea was to reinvigorate interest in the flagging imprint, there’s no sign of that happening.

18. DARK WOLVERINE
10/04 Wolverine #20 - 116,831
10/05 Wolverine #34 - 75,664
10/06 Wolverine #47 - 106,201
10/07 Wolverine #58 - 83,810
=====
10/08 —
11/08 Wolverine #69 - 93,914 ( -3.5%)
12/08 Wolverine #70 - 98,915 ( +5.3%)
01/09 —
02/09 —
03/09 Wolverine #71 - 91,229 ( -7.8%)
04/09 —
05/09 Wolverine #72 - 91,333 ( +0.1%)
05/09 Wolverine #73 - 83,324 ( -8.8%)
06/09 Wolverine #74 - 66,186 (-20.6%)
06/09 Dark Wolverine #75 - 80,780 (+22.0%)
07/09 Dark Wolverine #76 - 74,017 ( -8.4%)
08/09 Dark Wolverine #77 - 68,593 ( -7.3%)
09/09 Dark Wolverine #78 - 60,702 (-11.5%)
10/09 Dark Wolverine #79 - 60,076 ( -1.0%)
6 mnth ( — )
1 year ( — )
2 year (-27.7%)
3 year (-43.4%)
4 year (-20.6%)
5 year (-48.6%)On the face of it, holding steady. But it’s not quite that simple. Last month, issue #78 had a 1:15 variant. This month, issue #79 has two variants, with 1:10 and 1:15 incentives. (Oh, and one of them was a zombie cover, if those still mean anything.) So you’d expect sales to do up. Again, if sales are holding steady, that probably means the extra variant is just cancelling out an underlying decline.

To be fair, this seems to have been the soft launch of a new title disguised as a short-term storyline. We saw the same thing with INCREDIBLE HERCULES, and it took a while for sales to drop from the inherited level to one that reflected the popularity of the new title character. It’s no surprise that something similar is happening here.

20. WEB OF SPIDER-MAN
10/09 Web of Spider-Man #1 - 58,412Behold the power of marketing in action. This is a replacement for AMAZING SPIDER-MAN FAMILY, which was cancelled in July, and which sold about 8,000 copies at the end. They’ve tied it a bit more closely to the main Spider-Man title, and they’ve promoted it as a proper second Spider-Man ongoing, and now it’s doing 58K.

Actually, there’s a 1:10 zombie variant on this issue, so the core sales will be somewhat less. Still, Marvel should be happy enough with this debut, considering that WEB is very much a distant second Spider-Man title.

21. HULK
10/08 Hulk #7 - 110,261 ( -6.4%)
11/08 Hulk #8 - 90,776 (-17.7%)
12/08 Hulk #9 - 87,786 ( -3.3%)
01/09 —
02/09 Hulk #10 - 77,217 (-12.0%)
03/09 —
04/09 Hulk #11 - 82,726 ( +7.1%)
05/09 Hulk #12 - 73,105 (-11.6%)
06/09 —
07/09 —
08/09 Hulk #13 - 71,369 ( -2.4%)
08/09 Hulk #14 - 77,455 ( +8.5%)
09/09 Hulk #15 - 58,667 (-24.3%)
10/09 Hulk #16 - 56,811 ( -3.2%)
6 mnth (-31.3%)
1 year (-48.5%)HULK always has a 1:15 variant cover, but this issue also had a second Deadpool variant with a massive 1:200 incentive ratio. That should have caused a big spike, so the 3% drop suggests that the underlying trend is cause for concern.

To be fair, there’s another interpretation, which is that underlying sales are fairly steady but the 1:200 variant failed. They did this before with issue #14, and as you can see, it worked quite well. But to get meet the incentive, stores would have to up their orders by a huge amount. Since they clearly don’t believe they can sell that many copies (or they’d have ordered them in the first place), it only makes sense if they think they can find somebody willing to pay a truly astronomical price for a variant cover, in order to recoup their costs. So perhaps a lot of retailers got burnt on issue #14 and decided not to touch this one.

My bet would be that it’s a bit of both - but that still points to a worrying decline in sales.

23. X-MEN: LEGACY
10/04 X-Men #163 - 88,615
10/05 X-Men #176 - 74,635
10/06 X-Men #192 - 81,816
10/07 X-Men #204 - 83,456
=====
10/08 X-Men: Legacy #217 - 65,888 ( -0.8%)
11/08 X-Men: Legacy #218 - 63,512 ( -3.6%)
12/08 X-Men: Legacy #219 - 60,587 ( -4.6%)
01/09 X-Men: Legacy #220 - 59,286 ( -2.1%)
02/09 X-Men: Legacy #221 - 56,517 ( -4.7%)
03/09 X-Men: Legacy #222 - 55,606 ( -1.6%)
04/09 X-Men: Legacy #223 - 71,935 (+29.4%)
05/09 X-Men: Legacy #224 - 54,008 (-24.9%)
06/09 X-Men: Legacy #225 - 58,374 ( +8.1%)
07/09 X-Men: Legacy #226 - 59,298 ( +1.6%)
08/09 X-Men: Legacy #227 - 63,316 ( +6.8%)
09/09 —
10/09 X-Men: Legacy #228 - 52,855 (-16.5%)
6 mnth (-26.5%)
1 year (-19.8%)
2 year (-36.7%)
3 year (-35.4%)
4 year (-29.2%)
5 year (-40.4%)There’s no variant cover this month. The closest comparison is issue #224, which suggests that underlying sales are fairly steady.

25. MIGHTY AVENGERS
10/07 Mighty Avengers #5 - 99,544
=====
10/08 Mighty Avengers #19 - 87,258 ( -3.9%)
11/08 —
12/08 Mighty Avengers #20 - 86,085 ( -1.3%)
01/09 —
02/09 Mighty Avengers #21 - 76,247 (-11.4%)
02/09 Mighty Avengers #22 - 72,865 ( -4.4%)
03/09 Mighty Avengers #23 - 71,333 ( -2.1%)
04/09 Mighty Avengers #24 - 68,231 ( -4.3%)
05/09 —
06/09 Mighty Avengers #25 - 65,010 ( -4.7%)
06/09 Mighty Avengers #26 - 63,178 ( -2.8%)
07/09 Mighty Avengers #27 - 64,680 ( +2.4%)
08/09 Mighty Avengers #28 - 61,323 ( -5.2%)
09/09 Mighty Avengers #29 - 54,476 (-11.2%)
10/09 Mighty Avengers #30 - 52,708 ( -3.2%)
6 mnth (-22.8%)
1 year (-40.6%)
2 year (-47.1%)Like many books in October, this has a 1:15 “Super Hero Squad” variant cover. None of them seem to have made much difference to sales, which suggests that people weren’t very interested. Not hugely surprising, really - the show doesn’t seem to be targetted at the direct market collector demographic.

27. DEADPOOL TEAM-UP
10/09 Deadpool #900 - 51,337An anthology of Deadpool stories, parodying Marvel’s increasingly contrived anniversary issues. Actually, the “cover gallery” at the end gets up to 200 more or less legitimately, by counting assorted minis and the whole of CABLE & DEADPOOL.

This is also effectively the first issue of DEADPOOL TEAM-UP, a third ongoing monthly Deadpool title which will start at issue #900 and count backwards. Which, if nothing else, tells us that Marvel are pretty confident that the book will be cancelled before hitting issue #0 in 2084.

30. INCREDIBLE HULK
10/04 —
10/05 Incredible Hulk #87 - 42,454
10/06 Incredible Hulk #99 - 47,878
10/07 —
10/08 Hulk #7 - 110,261
=====
07/09 Incredible Hulk #600 - 92,343
08/09 Incredible Hulk #601 - 64,120 (-30.6%)
09/09 Incredible Hulk #602 - 51,582 (-19.6%)
10/09 Incredible Hulk #603 - 49,126 ( -4.8%)
6 mnth ( — )
1 year (-55.4%)
2 year ( — )
3 year ( +2.6%)
4 year (+15.7%)
5 year ( — )This has a Super Hero Squad variant - for the second month running! - plus a 1:10 zombie cover. Again, it’s starting to look like Marvel might be expanding the Hulk line just as the audience is losing interest in the current direction.

31. X-FORCE
10/08 X-Force #8 - 59,745 ( -8.0%)
11/08 X-Force #9 - 57,241 ( -4.2%)
12/08 X-Force #10 - 58,801 ( +2.7%)
01/09 X-Force #11 - 51,817 (-11.9%)
02/09 X-Force #12 - 51,449 ( -0.7%)
03/09 X-Force #13 - 51,797 ( +0.7%)
04/09 X-Force #14 - 62,674 (+21.0%)
05/09 X-Force #15 - 58,340 ( -6.9%)
06/09 X-Force #16 - 58,818 ( +0.8%)
07/09 X-Force #17 - 61,104 ( +3.9%)
08/09 X-Force #18 - 56,421 ( -7.7%)
09/09 X-Force #19 - 49,817 (-11.7%)
10/09 X-Force #20 - 48,921 ( -1.8%)
6 mnth (-21.9%)
1 year (-18.1%)

32. X-NECROSHA
10/09 X-Necrosha #1 - 47,894“X-Necrosha” is notionally a crossover between X-FORCE, NEW MUTANTS and X-MEN: LEGACY, although in practice X-FORCE seems to get the main plot with the other two books tying in. X-NECROSHA #1 is a one-shot to kick-start the story. I’m slightly surprised that it came in this far below LEGACY. It does more or less match the sales on core title X-FORCE, but it does so with the aid of a 1:20 incentive. To be honest, I’m a little surprised it didn’t do better than this.

33. INVINCIBLE IRON MAN
10/04 Iron Man #89 - 33,483
10/05 —
10/06 —
10/07 Iron Man #23 - 42,608
=====
10/08 Invincible Iron Man #6 - 53,332 (-11.8%)
11/08 Invincible Iron Man #7 - 49,356 ( -7.5%)
12/08 Invincible Iron Man #8 - 56,708 (+14.9%)
01/09 Invincible Iron Man #9 - 52,364 ( -7.7%)
02/09 Invincible Iron Man #10 - 56,381 ( +7.7%)
03/09 Invincible Iron Man #11 - 52,165 ( -7.5%)
04/09 Invincible Iron Man #12 - 51,774 ( -0.7%)
05/09 Invincible Iron Man #13 - 51,311 ( -0.9%)
06/09 Invincible Iron Man #14 - 53,229 ( +3.7%)
07/09 Invincible Iron Man #15 - 50,554 ( -5.0%)
08/09 Invincible Iron Man #16 - 53,782 ( +6.4%)
09/09 Invincible Iron Man #17 - 47,182 (-12.3%)
09/09 Invincible Iron Man #18 - 48,039 ( +1.8%)
10/09 Invincible Iron Man #19 - 47,178 ( -1.8%)
6 mnth ( -8.9%)
1 year (-11.5%)
2 year (+10.7%)
3 year ( — )
4 year ( — )
5 year (+40.9%)Another Super Hero Squad variant, but as we’ll see, they really don’t seem to make any difference. Sales appear to be legitimately holding steady on this title.

35. DEADPOOL
10/08 Deadpool #3 - 61,833 ( -5.5%)
11/08 Deadpool #4 - 49,577 (-19.8%)
12/08 Deadpool #5 - 46,856 ( -5.5%)
01/09 Deadpool #6 - 46,549 ( -0.7%)
02/09 Deadpool #7 - 44,082 ( -5.3%)
03/09 Deadpool #8 - 53,109 (+20.5%)
04/09 Deadpool #9 - 54,556 ( +2.7%)
05/09 Deadpool #10 - 56,123 ( +2.9%)
06/09 Deadpool #11 - 55,343 ( -1.4%)
07/09 Deadpool #12 - 58,807 ( +6.3%)
08/09 Deadpool #13 - 55,442 ( -5.7%)
08/09 Deadpool #14 - 50,263 ( -9.3%)
09/09 Deadpool #15 - 50,479 ( +0.4%)
10/09 Deadpool #16 - 46,288 ( -8.3%)
6 mnth (-15.2%)
1 year (-25.1%)No obvious reason for the drop here. It’s actually got a variant cover, unlike the previous issue. Still, even this only takes DEADPOOL back to the sales level of issue #6.

36,43,48,52. DARK REIGN: THE LIST
09/09 Avengers - 64,059
09/09 X-Men - 53,869
09/09 Daredevil - 45,092
10/09 Wolverine - 45,959
10/09 Hulk - 41,695
10/09 Secret Warriors - 37,890
10/09 Punisher - 36,791The AVENGERS issue adds 3,722 with its second printing, while DAREDEVIL adds 3,358. As usual, those are added in above.

As I said last month, the LIST one-shots were hyped as a pretty big deal, but the sales suggest that retailers weren’t convinced. I gather many of these issues do in fact contain major developments for their own titles.

37. DAREDEVIL
10/04 Daredevil #66 - 53,138
10/05 Daredevil #78 - 45,071
10/06 Daredevil #90 - 50,500
10/07 Daredevil #101 - 47,189
=====
10/08 Daredevil #112 - 46,202 ( -0.2%)
11/08 Daredevil #113 - 41,200 (-10.8%)
12/08 Daredevil #114 - 44,351 ( +7.6%)
01/09 Daredevil #115 - 40,214 ( -9.3%)
02/09 —
03/09 Daredevil #116 - 41,261 ( +2.6%)
03/09 Daredevil #117 - 41,046 ( -0.5%)
04/09 Daredevil #118 - 44,982 ( +9.6%)
05/09 —
06/09 Daredevil #119 - 41,403 ( -8.0%)
07/09 —
08/09 Daredevil #500 - 73,486 (+77.5%)
09/09 —
10/09 Daredevil #501 - 45,181 (-38.5%)
6 mnth ( +0.4%)
1 year ( -2.2%)
2 year ( -4.3%)
3 year (-10.5%)
4 year ( +0.2%)
5 year (-15.0%)As you’d expect, sales drop back towards normal levels after the anniversary issue.

42. FANTASTIC FOUR
10/04 Fantastic Four #519 - 47,969
10/05 —
10/06 Fantastic Four #540 - 88,933
10/07 Fantastic Four #550 - 57,906
=====
10/08 —
11/08 Fantastic Four #561 - 61,331 ( +5.3%)
12/08 Fantastic Four #562 - 54,062 (-11.9%)
01/09 Fantastic Four #563 - 52,747 ( -2.4%)
02/09 Fantastic Four #564 - 49,520 ( -6.1%)
03/09 Fantastic Four #565 - 48,378 ( -2.3%)
04/09 —
05/09 Fantastic Four #566 - 46,653 ( -3.6%)
06/09 Fantastic Four #567 - 46,225 ( -0.9%)
07/09 Fantastic Four #568 - 45,828 ( -0.9%)
07/09 Fantastic Four #569 - 44,710 ( -2.4%)
08/09 Fantastic Four #570 - 62,401 (+39.6%)
09/09 Fantastic Four #571 - 47,468 (-23.4%)
10/09 Fantastic Four #572 - 41,939 (-11.6%)
6 mnth ( — )
1 year ( — )
2 year (-27.6%)
3 year (-52.8%)
4 year ( — )
5 year (-12.6%)Two variants on this issue, as in September. The book still seems to be finding its level with the new creative team.

44. DEADPOOL: MERC WITH A MOUTH
07/09 Merc With A Mouth #1 - 59,628
08/09 Merc With A Mouth #2 - 51,147 (-14.2%)
09/09 Merc With A Mouth #3 - 43,855 (-14.3%)
10/09 Merc With a Mouth #4 - 40,154 ( -8.4%)The big drop in issue #3 was because the first two issues had variants; this month, the decline isn’t as big. 8% is a bit on the high side for a fourth issue, but perhaps there’s the added factor of retailers trying to figure out what the book sells without variants.

45. WOLVERINE: ORIGINS
10/06 Origins #7 - 103,273
10/07 Origins #18 - 60,050
=====
10/08 Origins #29 - 58,841 (+17.8%)
11/08 Origins #30 - 50,359 (-14.4%)
12/08 Origins #31 - 45,043 (-10.6%)
01/09 Origins #32 - 44,697 ( -0.8%)
02/09 Origins #33 - 44,935 ( +0.5%)
03/09 Origins #34 - 45,579 ( +1.4%)
04/09 Origins #35 - 44,976 ( -1.3%)
05/09 Origins #36 - 45,451 ( +1.1%)
06/09 Origins #37 - 44,930 ( -1.1%)
07/09 Origins #38 - 47,211 ( +5.1%)
08/09 Origins #39 - 44,968 ( -4.8%)
09/09 Origins #40 - 42,724 ( -5.0%)
10/09 Origins #41 - 39,453 ( -7.7%)
6 mnth (-12.3%)
1 year (-32.9%)
2 year (-34.3%)
3 year (-61.8%)This is the first issue without a variant since issue #37, hence the drop. There’s still a fairly steep decline in evidence. With supporting character Daken shifted into DARK WOLVERINE, the series is apparently slated to wrap up some time around issue #50 when Daniel Way completes his storyline.

46. MARVELS PROJECT
08/09 Marvels Project #1 of 8 - 89,062
09/09 Marvels Project #2 of 8 - 47,744 (-46.4%)
10/09 Marvels Project #3 of 8 - 39,313 (-17.7%)Levelling out, obviously. The variants are the same as last month.

47. WOLVERINE: WEAPON X
04/09 Weapon X #1 - 97,896
05/09 Weapon X #2 - 59,192 (-39.5%)
06/09 Weapon X #3 - 51,076 (-13.7%)
07/09 —
08/09 Weapon X #4 - 49,284 ( -3.5%)
09/09 Weapon X #5 - 40,975 (-16.9%)
10/09 Weapon X #6 - 38,446 ( -6.2%)
6 mnth (-60.7%)Well, it’s levelling out… but if this is supposed to be the new main Wolverine title following the re-branding of DARK WOLVERINE, then something’s gone awry.

49. SPIDER-WOMAN
09/09 Spider-Woman #1 - 47,202
10/09 Spider-Woman #2 - 37,255 (-21.1%)That’s not bad at all. Issue #1 had a variant cover, this one doesn’t - so the drop’s pretty reasonable.

54. SECRET WARRIORS
02/09 Secret Warriors #1 - 62,764
03/09 Secret Warriors #2 - 48,086 (-23.4%)
04/09 Secret Warriors #3 - 50,126 ( +4.2%)
05/09 Secret Warriors #4 - 42,781 (-14.7%)
06/09 Secret Warriors #5 - 40,849 ( -4.5%)
07/09 Secret Warriors #6 - 41,749 ( +2.2%)
08/09 Secret Warriors #7 - 38,990 ( -6.6%)
09/09 Secret Warriors #8 - 33,893 (-13.1%)
10/09 Secret Warriors #9 - 36,385 ( +7.4%)
6 mnth (-27.4%)Two variant covers. One’s a Super Hero Squad variant, which probably makes no difference, but the other is a 1:10 zombie cover.

57. NEW MUTANTS
05/09 New Mutants #1 - 60,972
06/09 New Mutants #2 - 43,230 (-29.1%)
07/09 New Mutants #3 - 42,961 ( -0.6%)
08/09 New Mutants #4 - 38,558 (-10.2%)
09/09 New Mutants #5 - 31,502 (-18.3%)
10/09 New Mutants #6 - 34,967 (+11.0%)Another 1:10 zombie cover. It’s also a Necrosha-X tie-in.

62. X-MEN VS AGENTS OF ATLAS
10/09 X-Men vs Agents of Atlas #1 of 2 - 32,743Marvel really are committed to the Agents of Atlas characters. Despite the cancellation of their monthly title, they’ve got a string of miniseries coming up, plus guest appearances and back-up strips. Considering that AGENTS OF ATLAS was doing 18K last month, I’m sure Marvel will be very happy with these numbers.

63. THUNDERBOLTS
10/05 New Thunderbolts #13 - 29,250
10/06 Thunderbolts #107 - 29,624
10/07 Thunderbolts #117 - 47,151
=====
10/08 Thunderbolts #125 - 41,358 ( -4.8%)
11/08 Thunderbolts #126 - 34,640 (-16.2%)
12/08 Thunderbolts #127 - 36,378 ( +5.0%)
01/09 Thunderbolts #128 - 45,745 (+25.7%)
02/09 Thunderbolts #129 - 45,401 ( -0.7%)
03/09 Thunderbolts #130 - 52,264 (+15.1%)
04/09 Thunderbolts #131 - 49,155 ( -5.9%)
05/09 Thunderbolts #132 - 43,911 (-10.7%)
06/09 Thunderbolts #133 - 39,479 (-10.1%)
07/09 Thunderbolts #134 - 40,885 ( +3.6%)
08/09 —
09/09 Thunderbolts #135 - 39,961 ( -2.3%)
09/09 Thunderbolts #136 - 34,031 (-14.8%)
10/09 Thunderbolts #137 - 32,409 ( -4.8%)
6 mnth (-34.1%)
1 year (-21.6%)
2 year (-31.3%)
3 year ( +9.4%)
4 year (+10.8%)Drifting down. But since the current set-up is tied to Dark Reign, common sense dictates that some sort of relaunch or change of direction must be in the offing.

66. AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE
10/07 —
=====
10/08 Initiative #18 - 61,159 ( +3.6%)
11/08 —
12/08 Initiative #19 - 52,558 (-14.1%)
12/08 Initiative #20 - 51,230 ( -2.5%)
01/09 Initiative #21 - 47,734 ( -6.8%)
02/09 Initiative #22 - 46,932 ( -1.7%)
03/09 —
04/09 Initiative #23 - 45,146 ( -3.8%)
05/09 Initiative #24 - 42,510 ( -5.8%)
06/09 Initiative #25 - 40,101 ( -5.7%)
07/09 Initiative #26 - 38,215 ( -4.7%)
08/09 Initiative #27 - 39,014 ( +2.1%)
09/09 Initiative #28 - 33,855 (-13.2%)
10/09 Initiative #29 - 31,412 ( -7.2%)
6 mnth (-30.4%)
1 year (-48.6%)
2 year ( — )This is another of the Super Hero Squad variant covers, and once again, it doesn’t seem to have made any difference. INITIATIVE is rumoured to be set for a relaunch after Dark Reign ends.

67. CABLE
10/08 Cable #7 - 43,358 ( -3.8%)
11/08 Cable #8 - 37,315 (-13.9%)
12/08 Cable #9 - 34,527 ( -7.5%)
01/09 Cable #10 - 33,319 ( -3.5%)
02/09 Cable #11 - 31,817 ( -4.5%)
03/09 Cable #12 - 32,407 ( +1.9%)
04/09 Cable #13 - 47,638 (+47.0%)
05/09 Cable #14 - 52,245 ( +9.7%)
06/09 Cable #15 - 49,912 ( -4.5%)
07/09 Cable #16 - 39,646 (-20.6%)
08/09 Cable #17 - 39,424 ( -0.6%)
09/09 Cable #18 - 33,958 (-13.9%)
10/09 Cable #19 - 31,009 ( -8.7%)
6 mnth (-34.9%)
1 year (-28.5%)Dropping back to pre-crossover levels from the start of the year.

69. X-FACTOR
10/06 X-Factor #12 - 42,909
10/07 X-Factor #24 - 52,085
=====
10/08 X-Factor #36 - 38,552 (-13.3%)
11/08 X-Factor #37 - 35,754 ( -7.3%)
12/08 X-Factor #38 - 34,425 ( -3.7%)
01/09 X-Factor #39 - 32,796 ( -4.7%)
02/09 X-Factor #40 - 31,943 ( -2.6%)
03/09 X-Factor #41 - 31,888 ( -0.2%)
04/09 X-Factor #42 - 32,000 ( +0.4%)
05/09 X-Factor #43 - 31,543 ( -1.4%)
06/09 X-Factor #44 - 31,552 ( +0.0%)
06/09 X-Factor #45 - 31,109 ( -1.4%)
07/09 X-Factor #46 - 31,213 ( +0.3%)
08/09 X-Factor #47 - 33,052 ( +5.9%)
09/09 X-Factor #48 - 30,305 ( -8.3%)
09/09 X-Factor #49 - 29,934 ( -1.2%)
10/09 X-Factor #50 - 30,138 ( +0.7%)
6 mnth ( -5.8%)
1 year (-21.8%)
2 year (-42.1%)
3 year (-29.8%)With the next issue, the book jumps to issue #200. The anniversary bump will probably come then.

73. THE STAND
10/08 Captain Trips #2 of 5 - 64,443 (-22.0%)
11/08 Captain Trips #3 of 5 - 55,076 (-14.5%)
12/08 Captain Trips #4 of 5 - 49,211 (-10.6%)
01/09 Captain Trips #5 of 5 - 46,702 ( -5.1%)
02/09 —
03/09 Nightmares #1 of 5 - 47,473 ( +1.7%)
04/09 Nightmares #2 of 5 - 38,909 (-18.0%)
05/09 Nightmares #3 of 5 - 36,364 ( -6.5%)
06/09 —
07/09 Nightmares #4 of 5 - 34,292 ( -5.7%)
08/09 Nightmares #5 of 5 - 31,506 ( -8.1%)
10/09 Soul Survivors #1 of 5 - 27,725 (-12.0%)
6 mnth (-28.7%)
1 year (-57.0%)Plainly it’s not holding up at all well as a direct market title. But I suspect it’s the sort of project which, by its nature, ought to do better as a collection.

74. PUNISHER
10/07 War Journal #12 - 66,548
=====
10/08 War Journal #24 - 31,785 ( +16.1%)
11/08 War Journal #25 - 29,982 ( -5.7%)
12/08 War Journal #26 - 22,423 ( -25.2%)
01/09 Punisher #1 - 49,222 (+119.5%)
02/09 Punisher #2 - 40,928 ( -16.9%)
03/09 Punisher #3 - 37,570 ( -8.2%)
04/09 Punisher #4 - 36,995 ( -1.5%)
05/09 Punisher #5 - 35,621 ( -3.7%)
06/09 Punisher #6 - 32,982 ( -7.4%)
07/09 Punisher #7 - 31,227 ( -5.3%)
08/09 Punisher #8 - 33,057 ( +5.9%)
09/09 Punisher #9 - 28,424 ( -14.1%)
10/09 Punisher #10 - 27,167 ( -4.4%)
6 mnth ( -26.6%)
1 year ( -14.5%)
2 year ( -59.2%)Drifting down. We’re now looking at the same sort of numbers that the previous incarnation had shortly before it was relaunched.

78. VENGEANCE OF THE MOON KNIGHT
10/06 —
10/07 Moon Knight #13 - 44,082
=====
10/08 Moon Knight #23 - 25,216 ( -4.4%)
11/08 Moon Knight #24 - 23,947 ( -5.0%)
12/08 Moon Knight #25 - 23,283 ( -2.8%)
01/09 Moon Knight #26 - 21,796 ( -6.4%)
02/09 Moon Knight #27 - 21,413 ( -1.8%)
03/09 Moon Knight #28 - 20,866 ( -2.6%)
04/09 Moon Knight #29 - 22,689 ( +8.7%)
05/09 Moon Knight #30 - 19,693 (-13.2%)
06/09 —
07/09 —
08/09 —
09/09 Moon Knight #1 - 35,706 (+81.3%)
10/09 Moon Knight #2 - 26,493 (-25.8%)
6 mnth (+16.8%)
1 year ( +5.1%)
2 year (-39.9%)Issue #1 picks up re-orders of 3,309, but sales look to be heading back to previous levels fairly quickly.

79,87. INCREDIBLE HERCULES
10/08 Hercules #122 - 42,876 ( -9.5%)
11/08 Hercules #123 - 35,780 (-16.6%)
12/08 Hercules #124 - 36,855 ( +3.0%)
01/09 Hercules #125 - 31,888 (-13.5%)
02/09 Hercules #126 - 31,000 ( -2.8%)
03/09 Hercules #127 - 31,890 ( +2.9%)
04/09 Hercules #128 - 33,739 ( +5.8%)
05/09 Hercules #129 - 28,995 (-14.1%)
06/09 Hercules #130 - 27,872 ( -3.9%)
07/09 Hercules #131 - 29,188 ( +4.7%)
08/09 Hercules #132 - 32,680 (+12.0%)
08/09 Hercules #133 - 27,491 (-15.9%)
09/09 Hercules #134 - 25,380 ( -7.7%)
09/09 Hercules #135 - 26,344 ( +3.8%)
10/09 Hercules #136 - 26,447 ( -0.4%)
10/09 Hercules #137 - 23,463 (-11.3%)
6 mnth (-30.5%)
1 year (-45.3%)The previous issue had a 1:10 variant, which slightly exaggerates the book’s gradual drop.

80. DARK AVENGERS: ARES
10/09 Ares #1 of 3 - 25,995Interestingly, not billed as a Dark Reign title. Nonetheless, these are the sort of sales that books like DARK REIGN: THE HOOD were getting.

81. MS MARVEL
10/06 Ms Marvel #8 - 62,893
10/07 Ms Marvel #20 - 37,930
=====
10/08 Ms Marvel #32 - 25,892 (-19.5%)
11/08 Ms Marvel #33 - 23,980 ( -7.4%)
12/08 Ms Marvel #34 - 29,770 (+24.1%)
01/09 Ms Marvel #35 - 26,824 (-10.0%)
02/09 Ms Marvel #36 - 25,864 ( -3.6%)
03/09 Ms Marvel #37 - 25,053 ( -3.1%)
04/09 Ms Marvel #38 - 27,535 (+10.0%)
05/09 Ms Marvel #39 - 24,757 (-10.1%)
06/09 Ms Marvel #40 - 25,216 ( +1.9%)
07/09 Ms Marvel #41 - 27,187 ( +7.8%)
07/09 Ms Marvel #42 - 25,103 ( -7.7%)
08/09 Ms Marvel #43 - 28,261 (+12.6%)
08/09 Ms Marvel #44 - 25,550 ( -9.6%)
09/09 Ms Marvel #45 - 30,528 (+19.5%)
10/09 Ms Marvel #46 - 25,717 (-15.8%)
6 mnth ( -6.6%)
1 year ( -0.7%)
2 year (-32.2%)
3 year (-59.1%)Cancelled with issue #50, though I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a relaunch
in the offing.
There’s a 1:10 zombie variant on this book, but issue #45 had a 70th anniversary cover.

85. AMAZING SPIDER-MAN PRESENTS ANTI-VENOM
09/09 Anti-Venom #1 of 3 - 32,128
10/09 Anti-Venom #2 of 3 - 23,870 (-25.7%)Fairly typical for a miniseries.

86. GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY
10/08 Guardians o/Galaxy #6 - 36,546 (-13.2%)
11/08 Guardians o/Galaxy #7 - 30,516 (-16.5%)
12/08 Guardians o/Galaxy #8 - 31,564 ( +3.4%)
01/09 Guardians o/Galaxy #9 - 28,502 ( -9.7%)
02/09 Guardians o/Galaxy #10 - 27,648 ( -3.0%)
03/09 Guardians o/Galaxy #11 - 27,415 ( -0.8%)
03/09 Guardians o/Galaxy #12 - 26,764 ( -2.4%)
04/09 Guardians o/Galaxy #13 - 27,107 ( +1.3%)
05/09 Guardians o/Galaxy #14 - 27,130 ( +0.1%)
06/09 Guardians o/Galaxy #15 - 26,808 ( -1.2%)
07/09 Guardians o/Galaxy #16 - 26,605 ( -0.8%)
08/09 Guardians o/Galaxy #17 - 27,893 ( +4.8%)
09/09 Guardians o/Galaxy #18 - 24,896 (-10.7%)
10/09 Guardians o/Galaxy #19 - 23,597 ( -5.2%)
6 mnth (-12.9%)
1 year (-35.4%)Sales on the cosmic books seem to be tailing off a little now that the “War of Kings” crossover is finished.

89. DOCTOR VOODOO, AVENGERS OF THE SUPERNATURAL
10/09 Dr Voodoo #1 - 23,328Uh-oh. This is only slightly better than the first issue of DARK REIGN: ZODIAC, and it’s got a 1:15 variant cover to help it out. I don’t see this sticking around very long.

92. NOVA
10/07 Nova #7 - 34,876
=====
10/08 Nova #18 - 38,417 ( +3.8%)
11/08 Nova #19 - 28,306 (-26.3%)
12/08 Nova #20 - 29,405 ( +3.9%)
01/09 Nova #21 - 25,647 (-12.8%)
02/09 Nova #22 - 25,065 ( -2.3%)
03/09 Nova #23 - 26,413 ( +5.4%)
04/09 Nova #24 - 26,240 ( -0.7%)
05/09 Nova #25 - 26,172 ( -0.3%)
06/09 Nova #26 - 28,107 ( +7.4%)
07/09 Nova #27 - 25,677 ( -8.6%)
08/09 Nova #28 - 27,038 ( +5.3%)
09/09 Nova #29 - 23,924 (-11.5%)
10/09 Nova #30 - 22,845 ( -4.5%)
6 mnth (-12.9%)
1 year (-40.5%)
2 year (-34.5%)See GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, basically.

94,97. X-MEN FOREVER
06/09 X-Men Forever #1 - 36,213
06/09 X-Men Forever #2 - 31,767 (-12.3%)
07/09 X-Men Forever #3 - 28,651 ( -9.8%)
07/09 X-Men Forever #4 - 28,645 ( -0.0%)
08/09 X-Men Forever #5 - 27,825 ( -2.9%)
08/09 X-Men Forever #6 - 24,875 (-10.6%)
09/09 X-Men Forever #7 - 24,115 ( -3.1%)
09/09 X-Men Forever #8 - 23,174 ( -3.9%)
10/09 X-Men Forever #9 - 21,926 ( -5.4%)
10/09 X-Men Forever #10 - 22,287 ( +1.6%)The slight increase on issue #10 is thanks to a zombie variant.

95. PUNISHER: FRANK CASTLE [Max]
10/04 Punisher #12 - 42,702
10/05 Punisher #26 - 36,450
10/06 Punisher #39 - 33,962
10/07 Punisher #51 - 33,771
=====
10/08 Punisher #63 - 25,933 ( -3.6%)
11/08 Punisher #64 - 24,660 ( -4.9%)
12/08 Punisher #65 - 23,881 ( -3.2%)
01/09 Frank Castle #66 - 22,806 ( -4.5%)
02/09 Frank Castle #67 - 22,267 ( -2.4%)
03/09 Frank Castle #68 - 22,255 ( -0.0%)
04/09 Frank Castle #69 - 21,843 ( -1.9%)
05/09 Frank Castle #70 - 21,864 ( +0.1%)
06/09 Frank Castle #71 - 21,319 ( -2.5%)
07/09 Frank Castle #72 - 21,049 ( -1.3%)
08/09 Frank Castle #73 - 20,375 ( -3.2%)
09/09 Frank Castle #74 - 20,259 ( -0.6%)
10/09 Frank Castle #75 - 22,210 ( +9.6%)
6 mnth ( +1.7%)
1 year (-14.4%)
2 year (-34.2%)
3 year (-34.6%)
4 year (-39.1%)
5 year (-48.0%)The series relaunches in November as PUNISHERMAX. I’d love to see the names they turned down.

99. SPIDER-MAN CLONE SAGA
09/09 Clone Saga #1 of 6 - 27,697
10/09 Clone Saga #2 of 6 - 21,473 (-22.5%)Standard miniseries behaviour.

101. DARK REIGN: YOUNG AVENGERS
05/09 Young Avengers #1 of 5 - 32,266
06/09 Young Avengers #2 of 5 - 26,974 (-16.4%)
07/09 Young Avengers #3 of 5 - 24,237 (-10.1%)
08/09 —
09/09 Young Avengers #4 of 5 - 22,875 ( -5.6%)
10/09 Young Avengers #5 of 5 - 21,285 ( -7.0%)That’s better than a lot of Dark Reign minis, so evidently there’s still some interest in these characters.

104. CRIMINAL [Icon]
10/07 —
10/08 Criminal #6 - 15,134
=====
10/09 Sinners #1 - 20,580The crime book launches a new run with a pleasing increase in sales.

105. SON OF HULK
10/08 Skaar, Son of Hulk #4 - 44,310 (-12.8%)
11/08 Skaar, Son of Hulk #5 - 34,779 (-21.5%)
12/08 Skaar, Son of Hulk #6 - 34,593 ( -0.5%)
01/09 Skaar, Son of Hulk #7 - 31,096 (-10.1%)
02/09 Skaar, Son of Hulk #8 - 28,771 ( -7.5%)
03/09 Skaar, Son of Hulk #9 - 27,137 ( -5.7%)
04/09 Skaar, Son of Hulk #10 - 27,317 ( +0.7%)
05/09 —
06/09 Skaar, Son of Hulk #11 - 28,633 ( +4.8%)
06/09 Skaar, Son of Hulk #12 - 35,920 (+25.4%)
07/09 Son of Hulk #13 - 29,195 (-18.7%)
08/09 Son of Hulk #14 - 27,171 ( -6.9%)
09/09 Son of Hulk #15 - 22,722 (-16.4%)
10/09 Son of Hulk #16 - 20,504 ( -9.8%)
6 mnth (-24.9%)
1 year (-53.7%)Axed with issue #17.

106. BLACK PANTHER
10/05 Black Panther #9 - 40,173
10/06 Black Panther #21 - 26,077
10/07 Black Panther #31 - 33,673
=====
10/08 —
11/08 —
12/08 —
01/09 —
02/09 Black Panther #1 - 52,991 (+57.6%)
03/09 Black Panther #2 - 33,755 (-36.3%)
04/09 Black Panther #3 - 33,356 ( -1.2%)
05/09 Black Panther #4 - 30,984 ( -7.1%)
06/09 Black Panther #5 - 29,762 ( -3.9%)
07/09 Black Panther #6 - 29,727 ( -0.1%)
08/09 Black Panther #7 - 27,619 ( -7.1%)
09/09 Black Panther #8 - 23,020 (-16.7%)
10/09 Black Panther #9 - 20,346 (-11.6%)
6 mnth (-39.0%)
1 year ( — )
2 year (-39.6%)
3 year (-22.0%)
4 year (-49.4%)We’re now back at the levels which prompted the last relaunch.

107. WAR MACHINE
12/08 War Machine #1 - 54,396
01/09 War Machine #2 - 39,835 (-26.8%)
02/09 War Machine #3 - 33,818 (-15.1%)
03/09 War Machine #4 - 32,693 ( -3.3%)
04/09 War Machine #5 - 34,254 ( +4.8%)
05/09 War Machine #6 - 27,703 (-19.1%)
06/09 War Machine #7 - 28,757 ( +3.8%)
07/09 —
08/09 War Machine #8 - 23,961 (-16.7%)
09/09 War Machine #9 - 23,589 ( -1.6%)
10/09 War Machine #10 - 20,207 (-14.3%)
6 mnth (-41.0%)Axed with issue #12.

115. X-BABIES
10/09 X-Babies #1 of 4 - 18,383A miniseries apparently intended to promote the upcoming collections of Marvel’s short-lived, largely forgotten Star Comics imprint from over twenty years ago. Probably one for the completists.

116. SPIDER-MAN 1602
10/09 Spider-Man 1602 #1 of 5 - 18,273And ditto here, I suspect. They’ve taken this property as far as it can go.

117. TORCH
09/09 Torch #1 of 8 - 26,921
10/09 Torch #2 of 8 - 18,115 (-32.7%)That’s a hefty drop, even for a miniseries. Not much interest in the Golden Age hero, evidently. With eight issues in this run, the numbers will need to level out quickly.

120. GHOST RIDERS: HEAVENS ON FIRE
08/09 Heavens on Fire #1 of 6 - 21,944
09/09 Heavens on Fire #2 of 6 - 18,262 (-16.8%)
10/09 Heavens on Fire #3 of 6 - 16,879 ( -7.6%)On the steep side for the third issue.

125. STRANGE TALES
09/09 Strange Tales #1 of 3 - 16,266
10/09 Strange Tales #2 of 3 - 16,018 (-1.5%)An exceptionally small drop. For some reason, retailers apparently think that if you were on board for issue #1, you’ll want the lot. Very unusual.

131. IRON MAN: IRON PROTOCOLS
10/09 Iron Protocols - 14,854Well, it’s one of those generic one-shots that Marvel chuck out there from time to time. And they never sell especially well.

136. CAPTAIN AMERICA: THEATER OF WAR
10/09 Ghosts of My Country - 14,071This month’s Captain America flashback story.

140. DARK REIGN: ZODIAC
06/09 Zodiac #1 of 3 - 22,076
07/09 —
08/09 Zodiac #2 of 3 - 15,960 (-27.7%)
09/09 —
10/09 Zodiac #3 of 3 - 13,632 (-14.6%)About as good as could be expected for a miniseries about a completely new character, thrown out there as part of an oversaturated event.

141. PUNISHER NOIR
08/09 Punisher Noir #1 of 4 - 18,315
09/09 Punisher Noir #2 of 4 - 15,466 (-15.6%)
10/09 Punisher Noir #3 of 4 - 13,609 (-12.0%)Modest numbers, but Marvel are still apparently committed to the imprint.

149. IRON MAN AND THE ARMOR WARS
08/09 Armor Wars #1 of 4 - 19,935
09/09 Armor Wars #2 of 4 - 14,781 (-25.9%)
10/09 Armor Wars #3 of 4 - 12,422 (-16.0%)An all-ages Iron Man miniseries. It’s doing a lot better than the Marvel Adventures books.

152. HOUSE OF M: MASTERS OF EVIL
08/09 Masters of Evil #1 of 4 - 17,528
09/09 Masters of Evil #2 of 4 - 13,794 (-49.6%)
10/09 Masters of Evil #3 of 4 - 11,569 (-16.1%)Surely this has to be the last HOUSE OF M mini.

161. UNCANNY X-MEN: FIRST CLASS
10/06 First Class #2 of 8 - 33,688
10/07 First Class #5 - 18,134
=====
10/08 Giant-Size Special - 13,263 ( +3.3%)
11/08 —
12/08 —
01/09 —
02/09 Finals #1 of 4 - 15,736 (+18.6%)
03/09 Finals #2 of 4 - 11,533 (-26.7%)
04/09 Finals #3 of 4 - 10,870 ( -5.7%)
05/09 Finals #4 of 4 - 10,579 ( -2.7%)
06/09 Giant-Size Special - 12,614 (+19.2%)
07/09 Uncanny #1 of 8 - 18,363 (+45.6%)
08/09 Uncanny #2 of 8 - 12,978 (-29.3%)
09/09 Uncanny #3 of 8 - 11,954 ( -7.9%)
10/09 Uncanny #4 of 8 - 11,260 ( -5.8%)
6 mnth ( +3.6%)
1 year (-15.1%)
2 year (-37.9%)
3 year (-66.6%)Very solid, and consistent with the sales on the previous miniseries.

163. ANITA BLAKE, VAMPIRE HUNTER
10/06 Guilty Pleaures #1 of 12 - 53,277
10/07 First Death #2 of 2 - 36,035
=====
10/08 Laughing Corpse #1 of 5 - 22,493 (+13.2%)
11/08 Laughing Corpse #2 of 5 - 17,187 (-23.6%)
12/08 Laughing Corpse #3 of 5 - 15,665 ( -8.9%)
01/09 Laughing Corpse #4 of 5 - 14,422 ( -7.9%)
02/09 Laughing Corpse #5 of 5 - 14,095 ( -2.3%)
03/09 —
04/09 Necromancer #1 of 5 - 15,308 ( +8.6%)
05/09 —
06/09 Necromancer #2 of 5 - 12,907 (-15.7%)
07/09 Necromancer #3 of 5 - 12,143 ( -5.9%)
08/09 Necromancer #4 of 5 - 11,597 ( -4.5%)
09/09 Necromancer #5 of 5 - 11,142 ( -3.9%)
10/09 Executioner #1 of 5 - 11,205 ( +0.6%)
6 mnth (-26.8%)
1 year (-50.2%)
2 year (-68.9%)
3 year (-79.0%)Only a token sales boost for the first issue of the new arc. Still, sales have been reasonably steady over the last few months.

166. MARVEL DIVAS
07/09 Marvel Divas #1 of 4 - 21,616
08/09 Marvel Divas #2 of 4 - 14,662 (-32.2%)
09/09 Marvel Divas #3 of 4 - 12,238 (-16.5%)
10/09 Marvel Divas #4 of 4 - 10,827 (-11.5%)Not great sales, but the premise of four B-list Marvel heroines doing Sex And The City was never particularly commercial.

167. HALO: HELLJUMPER
07/09 Helljumper #1 of 5 - 15,809
08/09 Helljumper #2 of 5 - 12,602 (-20.3%)
09/09 Helljumper #3 of 5 - 11,827 ( -6.1%)
10/09 Helljumper #4 of 5 - 10,784 ( -8.8%)Video game adaptations reportedly do very well outside the direct market, so I’d take this with a pinch of salt.

175. GENEXT UNITED
05/09 GeNext United #1 of 5 - 17,766
06/09 GeNext United #2 of 5 - 14,091 (-20.7%)
07/09 GeNext United #3 of 5 - 12,347 (-12.4%)
08/09 GeNext United #4 of 5 - 11,003 (-10.9%)
09/09 —
10/09 GeNext United #5 of 5 - 10,357 ( -5.9%)This was the second miniseries featuring Chris Claremont’s GeNext characters (a sort of next-generation X-Men from an alternate future). The previous series launched at 34K and dropped to 17K over its run in summer 2008. That was evidently enough to get a sequel commissioned, but I’d be surprised to see a third series given these sales.

176,183. MODELS INC
09/09 Models Inc #1 of 4 - 17,918
10/09 Models Inc #2 of 4 - 10,321 (-42.4%)
10/09 Models Inc #3 of 4 - 9,997 ( -3.1%)

177. NOMAD: GIRL WITHOUT A WORLD
09/09 Nomad #1 of 4 - 18,069
10/09 Nomad #2 of 4 - 10,296 (-43.0%)Two very low-selling minis. NOMAD is being set up for a run as a back-up strip in CAPTAIN AMERICA; if the book gets decent reviews and can attract some buzz, the poor sales may not matter so much.

178. WOLVERINE: FIRST CLASS
10/08 First Class #8 - 14,936 ( -7.6%)
11/08 First Class #9 - 13,857 ( -7.2%)
12/08 First Class #10 - 13,441 ( -3.0%)
01/09 First Class #11 - 12,845 ( -4.4%)
02/09 First Class #12 - 12,403 ( -3.4%)
03/09 First Class #13 - 12,430 ( -0.0%)
04/09 First Class #14 - 13,695 (+10.2%)
05/09 First Class #15 - 12,221 (-10.8%)
06/09 First Class #16 - 11,623 ( -4.9%)
07/09 First Class #17 - 12,441 ( +7.0%)
08/09 First Class #18 - 13,110 ( +5.4%)
09/09 First Class #19 - 11,723 (-10.6%)
10/09 First Class #20 - 10,208 (-12.9%)
6 mnth (-25.5%)
1 year (-31.7%)On a very slow drift down.

180. LUKE CAGE NOIR
08/09 Luke Cage Noir #1 of 4 - 14,776
09/09 Luke Cage Noir #2 of 4 - 12,176 (-17.6%)
10/09 Luke Cage Noir #3 of 4 - 10,084 (-11.3%)Tailing in about 3,000 behind the Punisher mini, which is quite a lot at this point on the chart.

189. SKRULL KILL KREW
04/09 Skrull Kill Krew #1 of 5 - 22,234
05/09 Skrull Kill Krew #2 of 5 - 15,795 (-29.0%)
06/09 —
07/09 Skrull Kill Krew #3 of 5 - 12,904 (-18.3%)
08/09 Skrull Kill Krew #4 of 5 - 11,082 (-14.1%)
09/09 —
10/09 Skrull Kill Krew #5 of 5 - 9,581 (-13.5%)
6 mnth (-56.9%)I doubt we’ll be hearing of these characters again any time soon, after sales like this.

199. THOR: TALES OF ASGARD BY LEE AND KIRBY
05/09 Tales of Asgard #1 of 6 - 13,488
06/09 Tales of Asgard #2 of 6 - 11,022 (-18.3%)
07/09 Tales of Asgard #3 of 6 - 10,618 ( -3.7%)
08/09 Tales of Asgard #4 of 6 - 10,048 ( -5.4%)
09/09 Tales of Asgard #5 of 6 - 9,440 ( -6.1%)
10/09 Tales of Asgard #6 of 6 - 8,831 ( -6.5%)Perfectly good numbers for Silver Age reprints.

203. ENDERS GAME: COMMAND SCHOOL
09/09 Command School #1 of 5 - 9,840
10/09 Command School #2 of 5 - 8,428 (-14.3%)

220. ENDERS SHADOW: COMMAND SCHOOL
09/09 Command School #1 of 5 - 8,972
10/09 Command School #2 of 5 - 7,547 (-15.9%)The twin novel adaptations remain in synch.

214. WOLVERINE: ART APPRECIATION
10/09 Art Appreciation - 7,964A collection of the Wolverine variant covers from a few months back. Well, they are rather good.

224. MARVEL SPOTLIGHT
10/06 Onslaught Reborn - 4,557
10/07 Marvel Zombies - 16,697
=====
10/08 Ultimatum - 6,819 (+14.9%)
11/08 Punisher Movie - 4,342 (-36.3%)
12/08 S.I. Aftermath - 8,085 (+86.2%)
01/09 Dark Reign - 7,527 ( -6.9%)
02/09 War of Kings - 6,075 (-19.3%)
03/09 Wolverine - 6,670 ( +9.8%)
04/09 —
05/09 New Mutants - 4,661 (-30.1%)
06/09 Captain America - 6,733 (+44.5%)
07/09 —
08/09 Summer Events - 5,999 (-10.9%)
09/09 Marvel Zombies Return - 5,546 ( -7.6%)
10/09 Deadpool - 7,284 (+31.3%)
6 mnth ( — )
1 year ( +6.8%)
2 year (-56.4%)
3 year (+59.9%)Sales on this title always vary according to the topic, and evidently Deadpool is a draw.

230. MARVEL HOLIDAY SPECTACULAR
10/09 Marvel Holiday Spectacular - 7,060A ten dollar magazine, so it’ll still have taken a decent amount of money.

238. STARR THE SLAYER [Max]
09/09 Starr the Slayer #1 of 4 - 9,744
10/09 Starr the Slayer #2 of 4 - 6,535 (-32.9%)

247. DOMINIC FORTUNE [Max]
08/09 Dominic Fortune #1 of 4 - 9,157
09/09 Dominic Fortune #2 of 4 - 6,976 (-23.8%)
10/09 Dominic Fortune #3 of 4 - 5,980 (-14.3%)A couple of characteristically low-selling minis from the Max imprint.

269. MARVEL ADVENTURES SPIDER-MAN [All ages]
10/05 M.A. Spider-Man #8 - 7,088
10/06 M.A. Spider-Man #20 - 6,131
10/07 M.A. Spider-Man #32 - 6,355
=====
10/08 M.A. Spider-Man #44 - 5,155 ( -6.4%)
11/08 M.A. Spider-Man #45 - 5,003 ( -2.9%)
12/08 M.A. Spider-Man #46 - 4,851 ( -3.0%)
01/09 M.A. Spider-Man #47 - 4,592 ( -5.3%)
02/09 M.A. Spider-Man #48 - 4,622 ( +0.7%)
03/09 M.A. Spider-Man #49 - 4,640 ( +0.4%)
04/09 M.A. Spider-Man #50 - 4,780 ( +3.0%)
05/09 M.A. Spider-Man #51 - 4,557 ( -4.7%)
06/09 M.A. Spider-Man #52 - 4,612 ( +1.2%)
07/09 M.A. Spider-Man #53 - 5,710 (+23.8%)
08/09 M.A. Spider-Man #54 - 5,684 ( -0.5%)
09/09 M.A. Spider-Man #55 - 5,668 ( -0.3%)
10/09 M.A. Spider-Man #56 - 4,579 (-19.2%)
6 mnth ( -4.2%)
1 year (-11.2%)
2 year (-27.9%)
3 year (-25.3%)
4 year (-35.4%)

290. MARVEL ADVENTURES SUPER HEROES
10/08 M.A. Super Heroes #4 - 4,542 ( -6.5%)
11/08 M.A. Super Heroes #5 - 4,233 ( -6.8%)
12/08 M.A. Super Heroes #6 - ?,??? ( ??? )
01/09 M.A. Super Heroes #7 - 4,141 ( ??? )
02/09 M.A. Super Heroes #8 - 3,993 ( -3.6%)
03/09 M.A. Super Heroes #9 - 3,716 ( -6.9%)
04/09 M.A. Super Heroes #10 - 3,699 ( -0.5%)
05/09 M.A. Super Heroes #11 - 3,474 ( -6.1%)
06/09 M.A. Super Heroes #12 - 3,508 ( +1.0%)
07/09 M.A. Super Heroes #13 - 4,439 (+26.5%)
08/09 M.A. Super Heroes #14 - 4,355 ( -1.9%)
09/09 M.A. Super Heroes #15 - 4,268 ( -2.0%)
10/09 M.A. Super Heroes #16 - 3,250 (-23.9%)
6 mnth (-12.1%)
1 year (-28.4%)Out of order, but I’ll take these two together. Both Marvel Adventures books saw a surge of interest over the last three months, but it seems to have worn off now.

270. MARVEL SUPER HERO SQUAD
09/09 Super Hero Squad #1 of 4 - 6,760
10/09 Super Hero Squad #2 of 4 - 4,496 (-33.5%)That’s a very steep drop. There’s little sign of the direct market taking an interest in this property, but then, that was hardly the target audience.

275. OFFICIAL INDEX TO THE MARVEL UNIVERSE
01/09 Index #1 - 9,852
02/09 Index #2 - 7,278 (-26.1%)
03/09 Index #3 - 6,331 (-13.0%)
04/09 Index #4 - 5,517 (-12.9%)
05/09 Index #5 - 4,913 (-10.9%)
06/09 Index #6 - 4,743 ( -3.5%)
07/09 Index #7 - 4,518 ( -4.7%)
08/09 Index #8 - 4,263 ( -5.6%)
09/09 Index #9 - 4,144 ( -2.8%)
10/09 Index #10 - 3,980 ( -4.0%)
6 mnth (-27.9%)Clinging in there. It’s been solicited through to issue #14, and it looks as though Marvel are committed to bringing the AMAZING SPIDER-MAN index up to date.

Number 285 is a Deadpool poster book, selling 3,501.

295. RIFTWAR
06/09 Riftwar #1 of 5 - 7,051
07/09 Riftwar #2 of 5 - 4,090 (-42.0%)
08/09 Riftwar #3 of 5 - 3,766 ( -7.9%)
09/09 Riftwar #4 of 5 - ?,??? ( ??? )
10/09 Riftwar #5 of 5 - 2,908 ( ??? )

298. SPIN ANGELS [Soleil]
08/09 Spin Angels #1 - 5,595
09/09 Spin Angels #2 - ?,??? ( ??? )
10/09 Spin Angels #3 - 2,774 ( ??? )A couple of minis hovering around the botom end of the chart.

strong>6 month comparisons
===================

+ 16.8% - Moon Knight
+ 6.8% - Uncanny X-Men
+ 3.6% - X-Men: First Class
+ 1.7% - Punisher: Frank Castle
+ 0.4% - Daredevil
- 1.0% - Astonishing X-Men
- 4.2% - Marvel Adventures Spider-Man
- 5.8% - X-Factor
- 6.6% - Ms Marvel
- 7.2% - Amazing Spider-Man
- 8.9% - Invincible Iron Man
- 12.1% - Marvel Adventures Super Heroes
- 12.3% - Wolverine: Origins
- 12.9% - Guardians of the Galaxy
- 12.9% - Nova
- 15.2% - Deadpool
- 18.4% - New Avengers
- 21.9% - X-Force
- 22.8% - Mighty Avengers
- 24.1% - Dark Avengers
- 24.9% - Son of Hulk
- 25.5% - Wolverine: First Class
- 26.5% - X-Men: Legacy
- 26.6% - Punisher
- 26.8% - Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter
- 27.4% - Secret Warriors
- 27.9% - Official Index to the Marvel Universe
- 28.7% - The Stand
- 30.4% - Avengers: The Initiative
- 30.5% - Hercules
- 31.3% - Hulk
- 34.1% - Thunderbolts
- 34.9% - Cable
- 39.0% - Black Panther
- 41.0% - War Machine
- 56.9% - Skrull Kill Krew
- 60.7% - Wolverine: Weapon X

1 year comparisons
==================

+ 6.8% - Marvel Spotlight
+ 5.1% - Moon Knight
+ 0.4% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
- 0.7% - Ms Marvel
- 2.2% - Daredevil
- 11.2% - Marvel Adventures Spider-Man
- 11.5% - Invincible Iron Man
- 14.4% - Punisher (Max)
- 14.5% - Punisher
- 15.1% - X-Men: First Class
- 15.2% - Uncanny X-Men
- 18.1% - X-Force
- 19.8% - X-Men: Legacy
- 21.6% - Thunderbolts
- 21.8% - X-Factor
- 22.7% - Astonishing X-Men
- 23.0% - New Avengers
- 25.1% - Deadpool
- 25.9% - Amazing Spider-Man
- 28.4% - Marvel Adventures Super Heroes
- 28.5% - Cable
- 31.7% - Wolverine: First Class
- 32.9% - Wolverine: Origins
- 35.4% - Guardians of the Galaxy
- 40.5% - Nova
- 40.6% - Mighty Avengers
- 45.3% - Hercules
- 48.5% - Hulk
- 48.6% - Avengers: The Initiative
- 50.2% - Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter
- 53.7% - Son of Hulk
- 55.4% - Incredible Hulk / Hulk
- 57.0% - The Stand

2 year comparisons
==================

+ 10.7% - Iron Man
- 4.3% - Daredevil
- 13.7% - Uncanny X-Men
- 27.6% - Fantastic Four
- 27.7% - Dark Wolverine
- 27.9% - Marvel Adventures Spider-Man
- 28.9% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
- 31.2% - New Avengers
- 31.3% - Thunderbolts
- 32.2% - Ms Marvel
- 34.2% - Punisher (Max)
- 34.3% - Wolverine: Origins
- 34.5% - Nova
- 36.7% - X-Men: Legacy
- 37.9% - X-Men: First Class
- 39.6% - Black Panther
- 39.9% - Moon Knight
- 42.1% - X-Factor
- 47.1% - Mighty Avengers
- 56.4% - Marvel Spotlight
- 59.2% - Punisher
- 68.9% - Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter

3 year comparisons
==================

+ 59.9% - Marvel Spotlight
+ 9.4% - Thunderbolts
+ 2.6% - Incredible Hulk
- 10.5% - Daredevil
- 17.0% - Uncanny X-Men
- 22.0% - Black Panther
- 25.3% - Marvel Adventures Spider-Man
- 29.8% - X-Factor
- 33.1% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
- 34.6% - Punisher (Max)
- 35.4% - X-Men: Legacy
- 43.4% - Dark Wolverine
- 44.0% - New Avengers
- 52.8% - Fantastic Four
- 59.1% - Ms Marvel
- 61.8% - Wolverine: Origins
- 66.6% - X-Men: First Class
- 79.0% - Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter

4 year comparisons
==================

+ 15.7% - Incredible Hulk
+ 10.8% - Thunderbolts
+ 0.2% - Daredevil
- 20.6% - Dark Wolverine
- 23.1% - Amazing Spider-Man
- 27.2% - Uncanny X-Men
- 29.2% - X-Men: Legacy
- 29.3% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
- 35.4% - Marvel Adventures Spider-Man
- 39.1% - Punisher (Max)
- 40.1% - New Avengers
- 49.4% - Black Panther

5 year comparisons
==================

+ 40.9% - Invincible Iron Man
- 12.6% - Fantastic Four
- 15.0% - Daredevil
- 20.1% - Uncanny X-Men
- 31.7% - Amazing Spider-Man
- 40.4% - X-Men: Legacy
- 44.4% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
- 48.0% - Punisher (Max)
- 48.6% - Dark Wolverine

Hyperion a écrit:

Par contre, trop trop trop (trop ?) content de la déconfiture des titres First Class. Franchement j'attend que ça que ça se casse la gueule.

Hyperion a écrit:Je pensais que pour toute série confondue le seuil d'annulation était de 20 000.

Hyperion a écrit:Les séries Marvel oui, face à DC cette fois.

Marvel Month-to-Month Sales: November 2009
by Paul O’Brien

For the second month running, DC dominated the top 10 in November, with only REBORN preventing another clean sweep of the top 5. However, taking a broader view, it’s something of a return to normal. In October, Marvel’s lead over DC was whittled down to only 2% in market share, and 2.5% in dollar terms. But with November, the margin is wider: Marvel led DC by 42% to 35% in unit share, and 38% to 32% in dollars.

It’s also worth bearing in mind that November was a quiet month in terms of new product. This is fairly standard for Marvel; they’re gearing up for a major crossover in January with SIEGE, and as we’ve seen before, they tend to hold back new Marvel Universe titles to launch out of the big event. Consequently, the months immediately before a crossover tend to be comparatively quiet. That’s compounded this month by a relative dearth of variant covers. DC, in contrast, are in the middle of their BLACKEST NIGHT crossover.

November did see the launch of a third ongoing Deadpool title, DEADPOOL TEAM-UP (depending on whether you count October’s DEADPOOL #900 as the first issue); a new S.W.O.R.D. series; the relaunch of PUNISHER MAX; the return of POWERS; a second WIZARD OF OZ miniseries; and the beginning of another cosmic crossover, REALM OF KINGS.

Thanks as always to Milton Griepp and ICV2 for permission to use their figures for these calculations.



3. CAPTAIN AMERICA: REBORN
11/04 Captain America #1 - 67,225
11/05 Captain America #12 - 45,038
11/06 Captain America #24 - 79,885
11/07 Captain America #32 - 73,310
=====
11/08 Captain America #44 - 75,493 ( +4.3%)
12/08 Captain America #45 - 71,186 ( -5.7%)
01/09 Captain America #46 - 73,184 ( +2.8%)
02/09 Captain America #47 - 62,850 ( -14.1%)
03/09 Captain America #48 - 62,108 ( -1.2%)
04/09 Captain America #49 - 63,874 ( +2.8%)
05/09 Captain America #50 - 72,708 ( +13.8%)
06/09 Captain America #600 - 123,152 ( +69.4%)
07/09 Captain America #601 - 87,844 ( -28.7%)
07/09 Reborn #1 of 5 - 197,565 (+124.9%)
08/09 Reborn #2 of 5 - 125,366 ( -36.5%)
09/09 Reborn #3 of 5 - 108,331 ( -13.6%)
10/09 —
11/09 Reborn #4 of 5 - 96,571 ( -10.9%)
6 mnth ( +32.8%)
1 year ( +27.9%)
2 year ( +31.7%)
3 year ( +20.9%)
4 year (+114.4%)
5 year ( +43.7%)REBORN has slipped off schedule, which has led to the ending being given away in other titles. Mind you, some would say the ending was pretty clearly signalled when they called the book REBORN. Presumably Marvel couldn’t delay the other books involved, because that would have screwed up the SIEGE crossover.

This issue has three covers, which is fairly standard for REBORN - although Marvel have been scaling back the ordering incentives slightly over the course of the series. Needless to say, these remain very good numbers even by the standards of recent CAPTAIN AMERICA issues, which themselves have seen big increases over the last couple of years thanks to the “death of Captain America” storyline.

8. NEW AVENGERS
11/04 Avengers #503 - 105,761
11/05 New Avengers #13 - 126,148
11/06 New Avengers #25 - 136,504
11/07 New Avengers #36 - 107,715
=====
11/08 —
12/08 New Avengers #47 - 95,703 ( -3.8%)
12/08 New Avengers #48 - 95,688 ( -0.0%)
01/09 New Avengers #49 - 94,291 ( -1.5%)
02/09 New Avengers #50 - 106,831 (+13.3%)
03/09 New Avengers #51 - 95,340 (-10.8%)
04/09 New Avengers #52 - 93,975 ( -1.4%)
05/09 New Avengers #53 - 94,367 ( +0.4%)
06/09 New Avengers #54 - 93,878 ( -0.5%)
07/09 New Avengers #55 - 84,745 ( -9.7%)
08/09 New Avengers #56 - 89,996 ( +6.2%)
09/09 New Avengers #57 - 85,598 ( -4.9%)
10/09 New Avengers #58 - 76,656 (-10.4%)
11/09 New Avengers #59 - 74,379 ( -3.0%)
6 mnth (-21.2%)
1 year ( — )
2 year (-30.9%)
3 year (-57.7%)
4 year (-45.5%)
5 year (-29.7%)The second straight issue with no variant cover, which goes some way towards explaining the sales drop in October. The book ought to get a boost from the upcoming SIEGE crossover, after which one imagines a general revamp of the Avengers franchise is on its way.

10. DARK AVENGERS
01/09 Dark Avengers #1 - 139,239
02/09 Dark Avengers #2 - 102,277 (-26.5%)
03/09 Dark Avengers #3 - 101,978 ( -0.3%)
04/09 Dark Avengers #4 - 99,694 ( -2.2%)
05/09 —
06/09 Dark Avengers #5 - 95,746 ( -4.0%)
06/09 Dark Avengers #6 - 93,634 ( -2.2%)
07/09 Dark Avengers #7 - 94,189 ( +0.6%)
08/09 Dark Avengers #8 - 94,191 ( +0.0%)
09/09 Dark Avengers #9 - 79,729 (-15.4%)
10/09 Dark Avengers #10 - 75,618 ( -5.2%)
11/09 Dark Avengers #11 - 72,225 ( -4.5%)
6 mnth ( — )The third straight issue without a variant cover, which again explains the downward lurch in September. Orders are down 5% for the second month running, and normally I’d say that was caused for concern almost a year into the title’s life. But DARK AVENGERS is an unusual case, since it’s hard to see how the title can continue in its present form once “Dark Reign” ends; at the very least, a drastic revamp has to be on its way.

11. UNCANNY X-MEN
11/04 Uncanny X-Men #452 - 92,051
11/05 Uncanny X-Men #466 - 82,825
11/06 Uncanny X-Men #480 - 88,584
11/07 Uncanny X-Men #492 - 102,511
=====
11/08 Uncanny X-Men #504 - 77,773 (-10.8%)
12/08 Uncanny X-Men #505 - 82,271 ( +5.8%)
01/09 —
02/09 Uncanny X-Men #506 - 71,684 (-12.9%)
03/09 Uncanny X-Men #507 - 77,957 ( +8.8%)
04/09 Uncanny X-Men #508 - 76,442 ( -1.9%)
04/09 Uncanny X-Men #509 - 69,185 ( -9.5%)
05/09 Uncanny X-Men #510 - 75,139 ( +8.6%)
06/09 Uncanny X-Men #511 - 71,148 ( -5.3%)
06/09 Uncanny X-Men #512 - 76,283 ( +7.2%)
07/09 Uncanny X-Men #513 - 87,582 (+14.8%)
08/09 Uncanny X-Men #514 - 90,316 ( +3.1%)
09/09 Uncanny X-Men #515 - 73,585 (-18.5%)
10/09 Uncanny X-Men #516 - 73,916 ( +0.4%)
11/09 Uncanny X-Men #517 - 69,557 ( -5.9%)
6 mnth ( -7.4%)
1 year (-10.6%)
2 year (-32.1%)
3 year (-21.5%)
4 year (-16.0%)
5 year (-24.4%)Again, the third straight issue with no variant. Last month’s slight upward tick was presumably connected to the return of Magneto, trailed with house ads, since there’s no other obvious reason. That probably has the effect of exaggerating this month’s drop, but sales are still drifting downwards. It’s only fair to note, though, that sales were slightly lower back in April, so the book does seem to have won some readers back with recent stories.

13,14,15,17. AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
11/04 Amazing Spider-Man #514 - 87,121
11/05 Amazing Spider-Man #526 - 79,674
11/06 Amazing Spider-Man #536 - 118,833
11/07 —
=====
11/08 Amazing Spider-Man #576 - 68,956 ( +0.1%)
11/08 Amazing Spider-Man #577 - 76,625 (+11.1%)
11/08 Amazing Spider-Man #578 - 66,564 (-13.1%)
12/08 Amazing Spider-Man #579 - 69,784 ( +4.8%)
12/08 Amazing Spider-Man #580 - 62,979 ( -9.8%)
12/08 Amazing Spider-Man #581 - 68,905 ( +9.4%)
01/09 Amazing Spider-Man #582 - 59,932 (-13.0%)
01/09 Amazing Spider-Man #583 - 525,050 (+776.1%)
01/09 Amazing Spider-Man #584 - 63,754 (-87.9%)
02/09 Amazing Spider-Man #585 - 60,286 ( -5.4%)
02/09 Amazing Spider-Man #586 - 59,521 ( -1.3%)
02/09 Amazing Spider-Man #587 - 60,118 ( +1.0%)
03/09 Amazing Spider-Man #588 - 61,334 ( +2.0%)
03/09 Amazing Spider-Man #589 - 58,832 ( -4.1%)
04/09 Amazing Spider-Man #590 - 66,415 (+12.9%)
04/09 Amazing Spider-Man #591 - 60,508 ( -8.9%)
04/09 Amazing Spider-Man #592 - 65,940 ( +9.0%)
05/09 Amazing Spider-Man #593 - 58,363 (-11.5%)
05/09 Amazing Spider-Man #594 - 58,464 ( +0.2%)
05/09 Amazing Spider-Man #595 - 71,837 (+22.9%)
06/09 Amazing Spider-Man #596 - 63,525 (-11.6%)
06/09 Amazing Spider-Man #597 - 61,646 ( -3.0%)
06/09 Amazing Spider-Man #598 - 61,585 ( -0.0%)
07/09 Amazing Spider-Man #599 - 72,412 (+17.6%)
07/09 Amazing Spider-Man #600 - 116,857 (+61.4%)
08/09 Amazing Spider-Man #601 - 74,279 (-36.4%)
08/09 Amazing Spider-Man #602 - 71,532 ( -3.7%)
08/09 Amazing Spider-Man #603 - 71,051 ( -0.7%)
09/09 Amazing Spider-Man #604 - 63,435 (-10.7%)
09/09 Amazing Spider-Man #605 - 62,831 ( -1.0%)
09/09 Amazing Spider-Man #606 - 70,177 (+11.7%)
09/09 Amazing Spider-Man #607 - 62,570 (-10.8%)
10/09 Amazing Spider-Man #608 - 72,035 (+15.1%)
10/09 Amazing Spider-Man #609 - 61,176 (-15.1%)
11/09 Amazing Spider-Man #610 - 61,170 ( -0.0%)
11/09 Amazing Spider-Man #611 - 64,514 ( +5.5%)
11/09 Amazing Spider-Man #612 - 68,459 ( +6.1%)
11/09 Amazing Spider-Man #613 - 64,499 ( -5.8%)
6 mnth (+10.3%)
1 year ( -6.5%)
2 year ( — )
3 year (-45.7%)
4 year (-19.0%)
5 year (-26.0%)Four issues this month, thanks to issue #609 slipping from October. AMAZING is still making heavy use of variant covers, but issue #611 isn’t one of them. The 5% climb seems to be attributable to a guest appearance by Deadpool, written by Joe Kelly.

Issue #612, on the other hand, is the first part of the “Gauntlet” storyline, and has two variants: one by Adi Granov, and a 1:15 by Ed McGuinness. Issue #613 has a 1:15 variant by Joe Quinones. Still, not a bad month, all told.

16. ASTONISHING X-MEN
11/04 Astonishing X-Men #6 - 134,840
11/05 —
11/06 Astonishing X-Men #18 - 118,285
11/07 Astonishing X-Men #23 - 112,920
=====
11/08 —
12/08 —
01/09 Astonishing X-Men #28 - 72,610 (-16.3%)
02/09 —
03/09 —
04/09 Astonishing X-Men #29 - 67,774 ( -6.7%)
05/09 —
06/09 Astonishing X-Men #30 - 64,608 ( -4.7%)
07/09 —
08/09 —
09/09 —
10/09 Astonishing X-Men #31 - 67,064 ( +3.8%)
11/09 Astonishing X-Men #32 - 62,154 ( -7.3%)
6 mnth ( — )
1 year ( — )
2 year (-45.0%)
3 year (-47.5%)
4 year ( — )
5 year (-53.9%)Now some way adrift of UNCANNY. This issue has a 1:15 “Super Hero Squad” variant cover, but that compares to the October issue having both a 1:25 incentive and a 1:100 wraparound sketch variant. With that sort of firepower, it’s actually surprising that the drop is so small.

As we’ll see, October’s 1:200 variant on HULK #16 seems to have had no visible effect on sales either. It may be that ratios like this are simply too high to affect sales, because retailers don’t believe they can justify the cost of upping their orders to get the variant cover.

18. ULTIMATE COMICS AVENGERS
08/09 U.C. Avengers #1 - 99,701
09/09 U.C. Avengers #2 - 68,597 (-31.2%)
10/09 U.C. Avengers #3 - 62,716 ( -8.6%)
11/09 U.C. Avengers #4 - 59,023 ( -5.9%)Levelling out somewhat, but clearly not in the same league as ULTIMATES. It remains to be seen whether this is because readers and retailers are treating ULTIMATE COMICS AVENGERS as a lesser title, or alternatively whether it reflects a general decline in interest in the imprint. It’ll be very interesting to see what happens when ULTIMATE X comes out.

20. DARK REIGN: THE LIST
09/09 Avengers - 64,059
09/09 X-Men - 56,853
09/09 Daredevil - 45,092
10/09 Wolverine - 45,959
10/09 Hulk - 41,695
10/09 Secret Warriors - 37,890
10/09 Punisher - 36,791
11/09 Spider-Man - 56,214After a slightly anaemic performance, THE LIST ends with fairly strong sales for the Spider-Man issue - though still below what they’d have achieved by simply selling it as an extra issue of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN. The X-Men issue picks up re-orders of 2,984, which is enough to scrape the November chart at number 292. They’re added in to the figure above.

21. INVINCIBLE IRON MAN
11/04 Iron Man #1 - 68,992
11/05 —
11/06 Iron Man #13 - 76,800
11/07 —
=====
11/08 Invincible Iron Man #7 - 49,356 ( -7.5%)
12/08 Invincible Iron Man #8 - 56,708 (+14.9%)
01/09 Invincible Iron Man #9 - 52,364 ( -7.7%)
02/09 Invincible Iron Man #10 - 56,381 ( +7.7%)
03/09 Invincible Iron Man #11 - 52,165 ( -7.5%)
04/09 Invincible Iron Man #12 - 51,774 ( -0.7%)
05/09 Invincible Iron Man #13 - 51,311 ( -0.9%)
06/09 Invincible Iron Man #14 - 53,229 ( +3.7%)
07/09 Invincible Iron Man #15 - 50,554 ( -5.0%)
08/09 Invincible Iron Man #16 - 53,782 ( +6.4%)
09/09 Invincible Iron Man #17 - 47,182 (-12.3%)
09/09 Invincible Iron Man #18 - 48,039 ( +1.8%)
10/09 Invincible Iron Man #19 - 47,178 ( -1.8%)
11/09 Invincible Iron Man #20 - 55,160 (+16.9%)
6 mnth ( +7.5%)
1 year (+11.8%)
2 year ( — )
3 year (-28.2%)
4 year ( — )
5 year (-20.0%)This has two variant covers, which probably accounts for the increase. Admittedly, the October issue had a 1:15 Super Hero Squad variant, but the Squad covers seem to have been generally ineffective in boosting sales.

23. X-FORCE
11/08 X-Force #9 - 57,241 ( -4.2%)
12/08 X-Force #10 - 58,801 ( +2.7%)
01/09 X-Force #11 - 51,817 (-11.9%)
02/09 X-Force #12 - 51,449 ( -0.7%)
03/09 X-Force #13 - 51,797 ( +0.7%)
04/09 X-Force #14 - 62,674 (+21.0%)
05/09 X-Force #15 - 58,340 ( -6.9%)
06/09 X-Force #16 - 58,818 ( +0.8%)
07/09 X-Force #17 - 61,104 ( +3.9%)
08/09 X-Force #18 - 56,421 ( -7.7%)
09/09 X-Force #19 - 49,817 (-11.7%)
10/09 X-Force #20 - 48,921 ( -1.8%)
11/09 X-Force #21 - 53,967 (+10.3%)
6 mnth ( -7.5%)
1 year ( -5.7%)This is part of the Necrosha-X crossover, and it also has a 1:15 variant cover pastiching “Interview with a Vampire.”

25. THOR
11/07 Thor #4 - 106,541
=====
11/08 —
12/08 Thor #12 - 73,784 ( -6.2%)
01/09 —
02/09 Thor #600 - 96,718 (+31.1%)
03/09 —
04/09 Thor #601 - 82,742 (-14.5%)
05/09 —
06/09 Thor #602 - 69,568 (-15.3%)
07/09 —
08/09 —
09/09 Thor #603 - 65,265 ( -6.2%)
10/09 —
11/09 Finale - 53,566 (-17.9%)
6 mnth ( — )
1 year ( — )
2 year (-49.7%)This one-shot, which ends the J Michael Straczynski run, is effectively issue #603A, so I’ve included it in the regular listing. It comes with both 1:20 and 1:50 variant covers, so the downward lurch in sales is cause for concern, especially when THOR (without Straczynski) is expected to play a major role in the SIEGE crossover.

26. HULK
11/08 Hulk #8 - 90,776 (-17.7%)
12/08 Hulk #9 - 87,786 ( -3.3%)
01/09 —
02/09 Hulk #10 - 77,217 (-12.0%)
03/09 —
04/09 Hulk #11 - 82,726 ( +7.1%)
05/09 Hulk #12 - 73,105 (-11.6%)
06/09 —
07/09 —
08/09 Hulk #13 - 71,369 ( -2.4%)
08/09 Hulk #14 - 77,455 ( +8.5%)
09/09 Hulk #15 - 58,667 (-24.3%)
10/09 Hulk #16 - 56,811 ( -3.2%)
11/09 Hulk #17 - 52,653 ( -7.3%)
6 mnth (-28.0%)
1 year (-42.0%)This has a 1:15 Ed McGuinness variant, compared to 1:15 and 1:200 variants on the previous issue. It looks very much as though the 1:200 variant had no impact on sales, presumably because retailers were not prepared to order so many extra copies just to get a single copy which they would then have to sell at an inordinate price in order to make their money back. Obviously, that makes it a rather ineffective gimmick.

The continuing decline in HULK sales must be cause for concern, given that Marvel have expanded the line and are due to go into a major crossover. If you count this book as a continuation of INCREDIBLE HULK, then the number hasn’t been this low since March 2007, shortly before WORLD WAR HULK, when the book was hovering around the 47K mark - but without the benefit of variant covers.

28. DARK WOLVERINE
11/04 Wolverine #22 - 81,841
11/05 Wolverine #36 - 85,969
11/06 Wolverine #48 - 99,991
11/07 Wolverine #59 - 65,725
=====
11/08 Wolverine #69 - 93,914 ( -3.5%)
12/08 Wolverine #70 - 98,915 ( +5.3%)
01/09 —
02/09 —
03/09 Wolverine #71 - 91,229 ( -7.8%)
04/09 —
05/09 Wolverine #72 - 91,333 ( +0.1%)
05/09 Wolverine #73 - 83,324 ( -8.8%)
06/09 Wolverine #74 - 66,186 (-20.6%)
06/09 Dark Wolverine #75 - 80,780 (+22.0%)
07/09 Dark Wolverine #76 - 74,017 ( -8.4%)
08/09 Dark Wolverine #77 - 68,593 ( -7.3%)
09/09 Dark Wolverine #78 - 60,702 (-11.5%)
10/09 Dark Wolverine #79 - 60,076 ( -1.0%)
11/09 Dark Wolverine #80 - 52,394 (-12.8%)
6 mnth (-37.1%)
1 year (-44.2%)
2 year (-20.3%)
3 year (-47.6%)
4 year (-39.1%)
5 year (-36.0%)This has a 1:15 variant cover, compared to 1:10 and 1:15 variants on the previous issue. Nonetheless, the 13% drop is concerning.

We saw something similar with INCREDIBLE HERCULES, another “stealth launch” where a new character took over an existing title in circumstances where it might have been a short-term gimmick. After a while, readers twigged that it was a new series, and sales started dropping to the level you’d expect for the new character. So if this is viewed as a new Daken book which inherited WOLVERINE’s numbering, the drop isn’t so surprising.

What’s more interesting is that readers don’t appear to have accepted WOLVERINE: WEAPON X as a replacement for the WOLVERINE title, treating it instead as an unwanted third monthly book. Consequently, we’re now in a situation where the top selling Wolverine series is WOLVERINE ORIGINS, with orders at around 38K. This is not good. Frankly, even DARK WOLVERINE’ 52K is lousy by Wolverine standards, but it’s closer to the mark.

Of course, it’s always possible that this was always intended to be a temporary thing during Dark Reign - though that would still leave them with some rebuilding to do, and a third monthly title that hasn’t taken.

By the way, if you’re wondering, it’ll be some time before Marvel can pull a renumbering stunt with this book. WOLVERINE had reached issue #189 when it was arbitrarily rebooted in 2004, so this would be issue #269. Throw in WOLVERINE ORIGINS and WOLVERINE: WEAPON X, on the other hand - which would be stupid, but no more stupid than some of the things they’ve done - and you overshoot issue #300 by a mile. I suppose they could renumber to issue #275, but it’s not exactly anniversary material.

32. X-MEN LEGACY
11/04 X-Men #164 - 88,620
11/05 X-Men #177 - 78,405
11/06 X-Men #193 - 80,102
11/07 X-Men #205 - 101,401
=====
11/08 X-Men Legacy #218 - 63,512 ( -3.6%)
12/08 X-Men Legacy #219 - 60,587 ( -4.6%)
01/09 X-Men Legacy #220 - 59,286 ( -2.1%)
02/09 X-Men Legacy #221 - 56,517 ( -4.7%)
03/09 X-Men Legacy #222 - 55,606 ( -1.6%)
04/09 X-Men Legacy #223 - 71,935 (+29.4%)
05/09 X-Men Legacy #224 - 54,008 (-24.9%)
06/09 X-Men Legacy #225 - 58,374 ( +8.1%)
07/09 X-Men Legacy #226 - 59,298 ( +1.6%)
08/09 X-Men Legacy #227 - 63,316 ( +6.8%)
09/09 —
10/09 X-Men Legacy #228 - 52,855 (-16.5%)
11/09 X-Men Legacy #229 - 50,789 ( -3.9%)
6 mnth ( -6.0%)
1 year (-20.0%)
2 year (-49.9%)
3 year (-36.6%)
4 year (-35.2%)
5 year (-42.7%)This is the second straight issue without a variant cover, and yes, I’m afraid in this day and age, that’s notable. Sales are still drifting down.

33. DARK X-MEN
11/09 Dark X-Men #1 of 5 - 50,167Miniseries about the ersatz X-Men team that Norman Osborn created in the “Utopia” crossover between DARK AVENGERS and UNCANNY X-MEN. It also features the return of Nate Grey from the 1990s X-MAN series. Sales are pretty good.

34. MIGHTY AVENGERS
11/07 —
=====
11/08 —
12/08 Mighty Avengers #20 - 86,085 ( -1.3%)
01/09 —
02/09 Mighty Avengers #21 - 76,247 (-11.4%)
02/09 Mighty Avengers #22 - 72,865 ( -4.4%)
03/09 Mighty Avengers #23 - 71,333 ( -2.1%)
04/09 Mighty Avengers #24 - 68,231 ( -4.3%)
05/09 —
06/09 Mighty Avengers #25 - 65,010 ( -4.7%)
06/09 Mighty Avengers #26 - 63,178 ( -2.8%)
07/09 Mighty Avengers #27 - 64,680 ( +2.4%)
08/09 Mighty Avengers #28 - 61,323 ( -5.2%)
09/09 Mighty Avengers #29 - 54,476 (-11.2%)
10/09 Mighty Avengers #30 - 52,708 ( -3.2%)
11/09 Mighty Avengers #31 - 49,480 ( -6.1%)
6 mnth ( — )
1 year ( — )
2 year ( — )Declining at some speed, but as I say, a revamp of the Avengers books is clearly imminent.

36. ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN
11/04 Ult. Spider-Man #68 - 91,075
11/05 Ult. Spider-Man #86 - 76,864
11/06 Ult. Spider-Man #102 - 77,121
11/07 Ult. Spider-Man #116 - 61,534
=====
11/08 Ult. Spider-Man #128 - 52,187 ( -0.8%)
12/08 Ult. Spider-Man #129 - 51,071 ( -2.1%)
01/09 Ult. Spider-Man #130 - 49,637 ( -2.8%)
02/09 Ult. Spider-Man #131 - 49,565 ( -0.1%)
03/09 —
04/09 —
05/09 Ult. Spider-Man #132 - 50,144 ( +1.2%)
06/09 Ult. Spider-Man #133 - 57,364 ( +14.4%)06/09 USM: Requiem #1 of 2 - 44,988 ( -21.6%)
07/09 USM: Requiem #2 of 2 - 41,374 ( -8.0%)
08/09 U.C. Spider-Man #1 - 86,008 (+107.9%)
09/09 U.C. Spider-Man #2 - 57,477 ( -33.2%)
10/09 U.C. Spider-Man #3 - 52,813 ( -8.1%)
11/09 U.C. Spider-Man #4 - 49,106 ( -7.0%)
6 mnth ( -2.1%)
1 year ( -5.9%)
2 year ( -20.2%)
3 year ( -36.3%)
4 year ( -36.1%)
5 year ( -46.1%)We are now officially back where we started, only four months into the relaunch. And since it’s dropping at 7% a month, there’s a good chance the book will be considerably lower in short order.

Before putting all the blame on ULTIMATUM, though, it’s worth noting that Marvel have relaunched quite a few books recently, for no greater reason than the arrival of a new creative team, and it generally hasn’t made a lasting difference. It’s one thing to renumber a book if you’re changing the lead character, as they did with BLACK PANTHER; it’s rather more questionable to start fresh from issue #1 just because a new creative team is taking over EXILES or MOON KNIGHT. At any rate, merely starting a book over from issue #1 no longer seems to be a reliable method of boosting sales beyond the very short term.

37. DEADPOOL
11/08 Deadpool #4 - 49,577 (-19.8%)
12/08 Deadpool #5 - 46,856 ( -5.5%)
01/09 Deadpool #6 - 46,549 ( -0.7%)
02/09 Deadpool #7 - 44,082 ( -5.3%)
03/09 Deadpool #8 - 53,109 (+20.5%)
04/09 Deadpool #9 - 54,556 ( +2.7%)
05/09 Deadpool #10 - 56,123 ( +2.9%)
06/09 Deadpool #11 - 55,343 ( -1.4%)
07/09 Deadpool #12 - 58,807 ( +6.3%)
08/09 Deadpool #13 - 55,442 ( -5.7%)
08/09 Deadpool #14 - 50,263 ( -9.3%)
09/09 Deadpool #15 - 50,479 ( +0.4%)
10/09 Deadpool #16 - 46,288 ( -8.3%)
11/09 Deadpool #17 - 46,765 ( +1.0%)
6 mnth (-16.7%)
1 year ( -5.7%)There’s no variant on this issue, but the slight uptick might reflect the fact that this storyline ties the character more closely to the higher-selling X-Men.

44. INCREDIBLE HULK
11/04 —
11/05 Incredible Hulk #88 - 41,141
11/06 Incredible Hulk #100 - 84,169
11/07 Incredible Hulk #111 - 101,536
11/08 Hulk #8 - 90,776
=====
07/09 Incredible Hulk #600 - 92,343
08/09 Incredible Hulk #601 - 64,120 (-30.6%)
09/09 Incredible Hulk #602 - 51,582 (-19.6%)
10/09 Incredible Hulk #603 - 49,126 ( -4.8%)
11/09 Incredible Hulk #604 - 40,652 (-17.2%)
6 mnth ( — )
1 year (-55.2%)
2 year (-60.0%)
3 year (-51.7%)
4 year (-51.7%)
5 year ( -1.2%)There’s no variant cover on this, in contrast to the previous issue, which had two. So the 17% drop is probably exaggerated. Even so, there are clearly big drops going on here, and the market seems reluctant to support a second ongoing Hulk title.

If you regard this book as the successor to the previous INCREDIBLE HULK title, then these are the lowest orders since January 2006, immediately before the “Planet HulK” storyline led to a resurgence in interest in the character. In fairness, this must have seemed like a much better idea when Jeph Loeb’s HULK was a huge hit; it’s bad timing, more than anything else, that has led to a spin-off title emerging just as sales went into decline. But that’s where we are.

45. DAREDEVIL
11/04 Daredevil #67 - 51,347
11/05 Daredevil #79 - 44,250
11/06 Daredevil #91 - 49,335
11/07 Daredevil #102 - 45,030
=====
11/08 Daredevil #113 - 41,200 (-10.8%)
12/08 Daredevil #114 - 44,351 ( +7.6%)
01/09 Daredevil #115 - 40,214 ( -9.3%)
02/09 —
03/09 Daredevil #116 - 41,261 ( +2.6%)
03/09 Daredevil #117 - 41,046 ( -0.5%)
04/09 Daredevil #118 - 44,982 ( +9.6%)
05/09 —
06/09 Daredevil #119 - 41,403 ( -8.0%)
07/09 —
08/09 Daredevil #500 - 73,486 (+77.5%)
09/09 —
10/09 Daredevil #501 - 45,181 (-38.5%)
11/09 Daredevil #502 - 40,354 (-10.7%)
6 mnth ( — )
1 year ( -2.1%)
2 year (-10.4%)
3 year (-18.2%)
4 year ( -8.8%)
5 year (-21.4%)Back to regular sales after the anniversary (and renumbering) blip. Last issue had a variant cover, which further exaggerates the decline. Screen out issues #500-501, though, and things look okay.

46. DEADPOOL TEAM-UP
10/09 Deadpool #900 - 51,337
11/09 Deadpool Team-Up #899 - 39,584 (-22.9%)A third monthly Deadpool series, this time picking up its numbering from October’s spoof DEADPOOL #900 and counting backwards. The solicitations confused quite a few people, which may have made a difference to sales; it’s also hard to judge whether retailers have ordered this as a first issue, or treated it as a second issue drop. I have my doubts that the market will support three Deadpool titles a month, but we shall see.

47. FANTASTIC FOUR
11/04 Fantastic Four #520 - 51,685
11/05 Fantastic Four #532 - 47,771
11/06 —
11/07 Fantastic Four #551 - 58,617
=====
11/08 Fantastic Four #561 - 61,331 ( +5.3%)
12/08 Fantastic Four #562 - 54,062 (-11.9%)
01/09 Fantastic Four #563 - 52,747 ( -2.4%)
02/09 Fantastic Four #564 - 49,520 ( -6.1%)
03/09 Fantastic Four #565 - 48,378 ( -2.3%)
04/09 —
05/09 Fantastic Four #566 - 46,653 ( -3.6%)
06/09 Fantastic Four #567 - 46,225 ( -0.9%)
07/09 Fantastic Four #568 - 45,828 ( -0.9%)
07/09 Fantastic Four #569 - 44,710 ( -2.4%)
08/09 Fantastic Four #570 - 62,401 (+39.6%)
09/09 Fantastic Four #571 - 47,468 (-23.4%)
10/09 Fantastic Four #572 - 41,939 (-11.6%)
11/09 Fantastic Four #573 - 39,433 ( -6.0%)
6 mnth (-15.5%)
1 year (-35.7%)
2 year (-32.7%)
3 year ( — )
4 year (-17.5%)
5 year (-23.7%)This has a variant cover, but so did the previous issue, so the decline is probably legitimate. (Actually, the October issue had two variants, but one of them was a Super Hero Squad cover, and those don’t seem to have much impact on sales.)

Sales are clearly down under the new creative team, but that’s not entirely surprising since they’re much less well known.

48. WOLVERINE: ORIGINS
11/06 Origins #8 - 91,585
11/07 Origins #19 - 55,999
=====
11/08 Origins #30 - 50,359 (-14.4%)
12/08 Origins #31 - 45,043 (-10.6%)
01/09 Origins #32 - 44,697 ( -0.8%)
02/09 Origins #33 - 44,935 ( +0.5%)
03/09 Origins #34 - 45,579 ( +1.4%)
04/09 Origins #35 - 44,976 ( -1.3%)
05/09 Origins #36 - 45,451 ( +1.1%)
06/09 Origins #37 - 44,930 ( -1.1%)
07/09 Origins #38 - 47,211 ( +5.1%)
08/09 Origins #39 - 44,968 ( -4.8%)
09/09 Origins #40 - 42,724 ( -5.0%)
10/09 Origins #41 - 39,453 ( -7.7%)
11/09 Origins #42 - 37,903 ( -3.9%)
6 mnth (-16.6%)
1 year (-24.7%)
2 year (-32.3%)
3 year (-58.6%)On the face of it, sales are levelling out somewhat, but that’s actually confused by the fact that issue #40 had a variant cover. It’s odd that sales have started dropping after being so solid earlier in the year, but in any event it’s largely academic at this point; Daniel Way’s storyline seems to be entering the home stretch.

49. DEADPOOL: MERC WITH A MOUTH
07/09 Merc With A Mouth #1 - 59,628
08/09 Merc With A Mouth #2 - 51,147 (-14.2%)
09/09 Merc With A Mouth #3 - 43,855 (-14.3%)
10/09 Merc With A Mouth #4 - 40,154 ( -8.4%)
11/09 Merc With A Mouth #5 - 37,781 ( -5.9%)Dropping off rather quickly for the fifth issue, but still doing pretty well by the standards of Marvel’s recent launches.

50. WOLVERINE: WEAPON X
04/09 Weapon X #1 - 97,896
05/09 Weapon X #2 - 59,192 (-39.5%)
06/09 Weapon X #3 - 51,076 (-13.7%)
07/09 —
08/09 Weapon X #4 - 49,284 ( -3.5%)
09/09 Weapon X #5 - 40,975 (-16.9%)
10/09 Weapon X #6 - 38,446 ( -6.2%)
11/09 Weapon X #7 - 36,108 ( -6.1%)
6 mnth (-39.0%)Last issue had a variant cover and this one doesn’t, so underlying sales are probably steadier than they appear. The book has basically dropped to the same range as WOLVERINE: ORIGINS.

ULTIMATE COMICS ARMOR WARS
09/09 U.C. Armor Wars #1 of 4 - 51,035
10/09 U.C. Armor Wars #2 of 4 - 34,141 (-33.1%)
11/09 —This didn’t ship in November. But as I pointed out last month, the initial sales on issue #2 were remarkably low, leading me to suggest that a distribution glitch might have led some of them to fall into the November chart. And indeed, that’s what seems to have happened, as issue #2 appears at number 214 on the November chart with a further 7,054 sales. Those are added into the number above.

55. NEW MUTANTS
05/09 New Mutants #1 - 60,972
06/09 New Mutants #2 - 43,230 (-29.1%)
07/09 New Mutants #3 - 42,961 ( -0.6%)
08/09 New Mutants #4 - 38,558 (-10.2%)
09/09 New Mutants #5 - 31,502 (-18.3%)
10/09 New Mutants #6 - 34,967 (+11.0%)
11/09 New Mutants #7 - 33,328 ( -4.7%)
6 mnth (-45.3%)The second part of a Necrosha-X tie-in. The October issue also had the benefit of a variant cover, so the drop is actually fairly modest.

57. DARK TOWER
11/07 —
=====
11/08 Treachery #3 of 6 - 58,279 (-11.3%)
12/08 Treachery #4 of 6 - 53,735 ( -7.8%)
01/09 Treachery #5 of 6 - 50,683 ( -5.7%)
02/09 Treachery #6 of 6 - 48,127 ( -5.0%)
03/09 —
04/09 Sorcerer #1 - 39,210 (-18.5%)
05/09 Fall of Gilead #1 of 6 - 43,580 (+11.1%)
06/09 Fall of Gilead #2 of 6 - 39,978 ( -8.3%)
07/09 Fall of Gilead #3 of 6 - 36,982 ( -7.5%)
08/09 Fall of Gilead #4 of 6 - 35,607 ( -3.7%)
09/09 Fall of Gilead #5 of 6 - 34,522 ( -3.0%)
10/09 —
11/09 Fall of Gilead #6 of 6 - 32,531 ( -5.8%)
6 mnth (-25.4%)
1 year (-44.2%)
2 year ( — )Another DARK TOWER series wraps up, and sales remain on a clear downward trend.

58. SPIDER-WOMAN
09/09 Spider-Woman #1 - 50,344
10/09 Spider-Woman #2 - 37,255 (-26.0%)
11/09 Spider-Woman #3 - 32,437 (-12.9%)Issue #1 picks up re-orders of 3,142 to chart at number 289; those are added in above. Sales are levelling out, at least.

60. WEB OF SPIDER-MAN
10/09 Web of Spider-Man #1 - 58,412
11/09 Web of Spider-Man #2 - 32,093 (-45.1%)Ah. I was surprised by how well WEB OF SPIDER-MAN #1 sold in October, since it’s essentially a repackaging of the low-selling AMAZING SPIDER-MAN FAMILY. This month we get a huge second-issue crash, taking the book more into the territory I would have expected. (Issue #1 also had a 1:10 variant, for whatever that’s worth.)

I’m inclined to say that this drop is largely due to issue #1 being overordered, and so I wouldn’t panic too much about it. It’s still a vast improvement from the book’s previous incarnation.

61. SECRET WARRIORS
02/09 Secret Warriors #1 - 62,764
03/09 Secret Warriors #2 - 48,086 (-23.4%)
04/09 Secret Warriors #3 - 50,126 ( +4.2%)
05/09 Secret Warriors #4 - 42,781 (-14.7%)
06/09 Secret Warriors #5 - 40,849 ( -4.5%)
07/09 Secret Warriors #6 - 41,749 ( +2.2%)
08/09 Secret Warriors #7 - 38,990 ( -6.6%)
09/09 Secret Warriors #8 - 33,893 (-13.1%)
10/09 Secret Warriors #9 - 36,385 ( +7.4%)
11/09 Secret Warriors #10 - 31,567 (-13.2%)
6 mnth (-26.2%)Issue #9 had a variant cover, so the month-to-month drop is vastly exaggerated. A fairer comparison is issue #8, and on that basis, it’s not looking too bad.

62. THUNDERBOLTS
11/04 New Thunderbolts #1 - 45,792
11/05 New Thunderbolts #15 - 25,245
11/06 Thunderbolts #108 - 27,890
11/07 —
=====
11/08 Thunderbolts #126 - 34,640 (-16.2%)
12/08 Thunderbolts #127 - 36,378 ( +5.0%)
01/09 Thunderbolts #128 - 45,745 (+25.7%)
02/09 Thunderbolts #129 - 45,401 ( -0.7%)
03/09 Thunderbolts #130 - 52,264 (+15.1%)
04/09 Thunderbolts #131 - 49,155 ( -5.9%)
05/09 Thunderbolts #132 - 43,911 (-10.7%)
06/09 Thunderbolts #133 - 39,479 (-10.1%)
07/09 Thunderbolts #134 - 40,885 ( +3.6%)
08/09 —
09/09 Thunderbolts #135 - 39,961 ( -2.3%)
09/09 Thunderbolts #136 - 34,031 (-14.8%)
10/09 Thunderbolts #137 - 32,409 ( -4.8%)
11/09 Thunderbolts #138 - 31,238 ( -3.6%)
6 mnth (-28.9%)
1 year ( -9.8%)
2 year ( — )
3 year (+12.0%)
4 year (+23.7%)
5 year (-31.8%)Clearly in decline, but the book is plainly getting some sort of revamp after the end of “Dark Reign.”

64. BLACK WIDOW: DEADLY ORIGIN
11/09 Deadly Origin #1 of 4 - 29,352Precisely what it says: a Black Widow origin mniseries. Not a bad number, actually.

65. CABLE
11/08 Cable #8 - 37,315 (-13.9%)
12/08 Cable #9 - 34,527 ( -7.5%)
01/09 Cable #10 - 33,319 ( -3.5%)
02/09 Cable #11 - 31,817 ( -4.5%)
03/09 Cable #12 - 32,407 ( +1.9%)
04/09 Cable #13 - 47,638 (+47.0%)
05/09 Cable #14 - 52,245 ( +9.7%)
06/09 Cable #15 - 49,912 ( -4.5%)
07/09 Cable #16 - 39,646 (-20.6%)
08/09 Cable #17 - 39,424 ( -0.6%)
09/09 Cable #18 - 33,958 (-13.9%)
10/09 Cable #19 - 31,009 ( -8.7%)
11/09 Cable #20 - 29,245 ( -5.7%)
6 mnth (-44.0%)
1 year (-21.6%)CABLE hasn’t had a variant cover since issue #17, so the drops over the last couple of months are real. This isn’t very encouraging, but a crossover, and most likely a return to the mainstream Marvel Universe afer two years in alternate timelines, are imminent.

67. PUNISHERMAX [Max]
11/04 Punisher #13 - 42,088
11/05 Punisher #27 - 36,072
11/06 Punisher #41 - 33,164
11/07 Punisher #52 - 32,909
=====
11/08 Punisher #64 - 24,660 ( -4.9%)
12/08 Punisher #65 - 23,881 ( -3.2%)
01/09 Frank Castle #66 - 22,806 ( -4.5%)
02/09 Frank Castle #67 - 22,267 ( -2.4%)
03/09 Frank Castle #68 - 22,255 ( -0.0%)
04/09 Frank Castle #69 - 21,843 ( -1.9%)
05/09 Frank Castle #70 - 21,864 ( +0.1%)
06/09 Frank Castle #71 - 21,319 ( -2.5%)
07/09 Frank Castle #72 - 21,049 ( -1.3%)
08/09 Frank Castle #73 - 20,375 ( -3.2%)
09/09 Frank Castle #74 - 20,259 ( -0.6%)
10/09 Frank Castle #75 - 22,210 ( +9.6%)
11/09 PunisherMax #1 - 29,119 (+31.1%)
6 mnth (+33.2%)
1 year (+18.1%)
2 year (-11.5%)
3 year (-12.2%)
4 year (-19.3%)
5 year (-30.8%)Relaunch of the Max version of the Punisher, which went into decline after Garth Ennis left. This version has Jason Aaron and Steve Dillon, which may well be a bigger draw for lapse Ennis readers. First month sales are encouraging, but as we’ll see below, I could have said the same about MOON KNIGHT (and in fact, the Marvel Universe version of this book got a much bigger bounce when it relaunched earlier in 2009). It all depends on how well the book can hold on to these extra sales.

Unusually for the Max imprint, this issue has a 1:10 variant.

68. AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE
11/07 Initiative #7 - 66,455
=====
11/08 —
12/08 Initiative #19 - 52,558 (-14.1%)
12/08 Initiative #20 - 51,230 ( -2.5%)
01/09 Initiative #21 - 47,734 ( -6.8%)
02/09 Initiative #22 - 46,932 ( -1.7%)
03/09 —
04/09 Initiative #23 - 45,146 ( -3.8%)
05/09 Initiative #24 - 42,510 ( -5.8%)
06/09 Initiative #25 - 40,101 ( -5.7%)
07/09 Initiative #26 - 38,215 ( -4.7%)
08/09 Initiative #27 - 39,014 ( +2.1%)
09/09 Initiative #28 - 33,855 (-13.2%)
10/09 Initiative #29 - 31,412 ( -7.2%)
11/09 Initiative #30 - 28,688 ( -8.7%)
6 mnth (-32.5%)
1 year ( — )
2 year (-56.8%)Another satellite Avengers book in clear decline, but almost guaranteed to get a new direction once “Dark Reign” is out of the way.

70. REALM OF KINGS
11/09 Realm of Kings - 28,181One-shot leading in to the new cosmic crossover, a direct sequel to the recently completed “War of Kings.”

75. PSYLOCKE
11/09 Psylocke #1 of 4 - 26,144That’s less than a Black Widow origin miniseries, you’ll note. I doubt whether the X-books brand is strong enough at the moment to support (or justify) spin-offs like this.

77. THE STAND
11/08 Captain Trips #3 of 5 - 55,076 (-14.5%)
12/08 Captain Trips #4 of 5 - 49,211 (-10.6%)
01/09 Captain Trips #5 of 5 - 46,702 ( -5.1%)
02/09 —
03/09 Nightmares #1 of 5 - 47,473 ( +1.7%)
04/09 Nightmares #2 of 5 - 38,909 (-18.0%)
05/09 Nightmares #3 of 5 - 36,364 ( -6.5%)
06/09 —
07/09 Nightmares #4 of 5 - 34,292 ( -5.7%)
08/09 Nightmares #5 of 5 - 31,506 ( -8.1%)10/09 Soul Survivors #1 of 5 - 27,725 (-12.0%)
11/09 Soul Survivors #2 of 5 - 25,600 ( -7.7%)
6 mnth (-29.6%)
1 year (-53.5%)Continuing its downward plunge; SOUL SURVIVORS didn’t even get a token sales bump for issue #1. But of course, comics like this should in theory be well placed to sell through other avenues, or in the collected format.

78. ASSAULT ON NEW OLYMPUS
11/09 Assault on New Olympus - 25,558Essentially an extra issue of INCREDIBLE HERCULES, this is a one-shot leading into that book’s next storyline.

79. MARVELOUS LAND OF OZ
12/08 Wizard of Oz #1 of 8 - 25,116
01/09 Wizard of Oz #2 of 8 - 17,608 (-29.9%)
02/09 Wizard of Oz #3 of 8 - 15,668 (-11.0%)
03/09 Wizard of Oz #4 of 8 - 16,159 ( +3.1%)
04/09
Wizard of Oz #5 of 8 - 16,110 ( -0.3%)
05/09 Wizard of Oz #6 of 8 - 15,774 ( -2.1%)
06/09 Wizard of Oz #7 of 8 - 15,473 ( -1.9%)
07/09 Wizard of Oz #8 of 8 - 15,487 ( +0.1%)
08/09 —
09/09 —
10/09 —
11/09 Marvelous Land #1 of 8 - 25,338 (+63.6%)
6 mnth (+60.6%)A sequel to the well-received WIZARD OF OZ mini from earlier in the year, which sold in far greater quantities than most all-ages Marvel books. This issue has two variant covers, but the same was true of the first issue of the previous series. Normally diminishing returns set in with a sequel miniseries, so equalling its first issue sales is impressive.

81. X-MEN VS AGENTS OF ATLAS
10/09 X-Men vs Atlas #1 of 2 - 32,743
11/09 X-Men vs Atlas #2 of 2 - 25,222 (-23.0%)The Agents of Atlas push continues. Bearing in mind that the ongoing AGENTS OF ATLAS title was selling around 18K when it was cancelled, Marvel should be perfectly happy with these numbers.

82. INCREDIBLE HERCULES
11/08 Hercules #123 - 35,780 (-16.6%)
12/08 Hercules #124 - 36,855 ( +3.0%)
01/09 Hercules #125 - 31,888 (-13.5%)
02/09 Hercules #126 - 31,000 ( -2.8%)
03/09 Hercules #127 - 31,890 ( +2.9%)
04/09 Hercules #128 - 33,739 ( +5.8%)
05/09 Hercules #129 - 28,995 (-14.1%)
06/09 Hercules #130 - 27,872 ( -3.9%)
07/09 Hercules #131 - 29,188 ( +4.7%)
08/09 Hercules #132 - 32,680 (+12.0%)
08/09 Hercules #133 - 27,491 (-15.9%)
09/09 Hercules #134 - 25,380 ( -7.7%)
09/09 Hercules #135 - 26,344 ( +3.8%)
10/09 Hercules #136 - 26,447 ( -0.4%)
10/09 Hercules #137 - 23,463 (-11.3%)
11/09 Hercules #138 - 25,116 ( +7.0%)
6 mnth (-13.4%)
1 year (-29.8%)Rich Johnston has reported that the series ends with issue #150. If that’s true, it’s far enough in the future that it probably indicates a relaunch in the offing. The book has certainly been well enough received.

This issue has a wraparound cover, but no variants. Other possible explanations for the sales boost are the start of the “Assault on New Olympus” storyline, and the arrival of the “Agents of Atlas” back-up strip - which will presumably have brought with it a few AGENTS OF ATLAS readers who weren’t previously reading this title.

83. PUNISHER
11/06 War Journal #1 - 102,727
11/07 War Journal #13 - 41,783
=====
11/08 War Journal #25 - 29,982 ( -5.7%)
12/08 War Journal #26 - 22,423 ( -25.2%)
01/09 Punisher #1 - 49,222 (+119.5%)
02/09 Punisher #2 - 40,928 ( -16.9%)
03/09 Punisher #3 - 37,570 ( -8.2%)
04/09 Punisher #4 - 36,995 ( -1.5%)
05/09 Punisher #5 - 35,621 ( -3.7%)
06/09 Punisher #6 - 32,982 ( -7.4%)
07/09 Punisher #7 - 31,227 ( -5.3%)
08/09 Punisher #8 - 33,057 ( +5.9%)
09/09 Punisher #9 - 28,424 ( -14.1%)
10/09 Punisher #10 - 27,167 ( -4.4%)
11/09 Punisher #11 - 24,900 ( -8.3%)
6 mnth ( -30.1%)
1 year ( -17.0%)
2 year ( -40.4%)
3 year ( -75.8%)This was relaunched back in January, and initially saw a huge increase (though it helped that the first arc was a Dark Reign tie-in). But it’s already back in the sales territory that got it relaunched. Hmm. In fairness, the month-to-month drop is exaggerated, because the last three issues all had 1:15 variants.

85. REALM OF KINGS: INHUMANS
11/09 Inhumans #1 of 5 - 24,213

86. MARVEL ZOMBIES: EVIL EVOLUTION
11/09 Evil Evolution - 23,751

88. REALM OF KINGS: IMPERIAL GUARD
11/09 Imperial Guard #1 of 5 - 23,450

89. STRANGE
11/09 Strange #1 of 4 - 23,362A cluster of minis selling about the same amount, so we might as well take them together. The two REALM OF KINGS minis are tie-ins to the latest crossover among the cosmic books. EVIL EVOLUTION is a Marvel Zombies vs Marvel Apes one-shot, eking a little more mileage out of the joke. And STRANGE follows up on the NEW AVENGERS storyline where Dr Strange lost his position as Sorcerer Supreme.

90. VENGEANCE OF THE MOON KNIGHT
11/06 Moon Knight #6 - 74,017
11/07 —
=====
11/08 Moon Knight #24 - 23,947 ( -5.0%)
12/08 Moon Knight #25 - 23,283 ( -2.8%)
01/09 Moon Knight #26 - 21,796 ( -6.4%)
02/09 Moon Knight #27 - 21,413 ( -1.8%)
03/09 Moon Knight #28 - 20,866 ( -2.6%)
04/09 Moon Knight #29 - 22,689 ( +8.7%)
05/09 Moon Knight #30 - 19,693 (-13.2%)
06/09 —
07/09 —
08/09 —
09/09 Moon Knight #1 - 35,706 (+81.3%)
10/09 Moon Knight #2 - 26,493 (-25.8%)
11/09 Moon Knight #3 - 23,359 (-11.8%)
6 mnth (+18.6%)
1 year ( -2.5%)
2 year ( — )
3 year (-68.4%)Another relaunch with an initially promising sales boost, returning almost immediately to its previous numbers. That doesn’t bode well.

92. GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY
11/08 Guardians o/Galaxy #7 - 30,516 (-16.5%)
12/08 Guardians o/Galaxy #8 - 31,564 ( +3.4%)
01/09 Guardians o/Galaxy #9 - 28,502 ( -9.7%)
02/09 Guardians o/Galaxy #10 - 27,648 ( -3.0%)
03/09 Guardians o/Galaxy #11 - 27,415 ( -0.8%)
03/09 Guardians o/Galaxy #12 - 26,764 ( -2.4%)
04/09 Guardians o/Galaxy #13 - 27,107 ( +1.3%)
05/09 Guardians o/Galaxy #14 - 27,130 ( +0.1%)
06/09 Guardians o/Galaxy #15 - 26,808 ( -1.2%)
07/09 Guardians o/Galaxy #16 - 26,605 ( -0.8%)
08/09 Guardians o/Galaxy #17 - 27,893 ( +4.8%)
09/09 Guardians o/Galaxy #18 - 24,896 (-10.7%)
10/09 Guardians o/Galaxy #19 - 23,597 ( -5.2%)
11/09 Guardians o/Galaxy #20 - 22,965 ( -2.7%)
6 mnth (-15.4%)
1 year (-24.7%)This is a REALM OF KINGS tie-in. Since the book has only just come out of a WAR OF KINGS tie-in arc, it’s understandable that there’s no obvious impacton sales.

93. MS MARVEL
11/06 Ms Marvel #9 - 37,881
11/07 Ms Marvel #21 - 26,484
=====
11/08 Ms Marvel #33 - 23,980 ( -7.4%)
12/08 Ms Marvel #34 - 29,770 (+24.1%)
01/09 Ms Marvel #35 - 26,824 (-10.0%)
02/09 Ms Marvel #36 - 25,864 ( -3.6%)
03/09 Ms Marvel #37 - 25,053 ( -3.1%)
04/09 Ms Marvel #38 - 27,535 (+10.0%)
05/09 Ms Marvel #39 - 24,757 (-10.1%)
06/09 Ms Marvel #40 - 25,216 ( +1.9%)
07/09 Ms Marvel #41 - 27,187 ( +7.8%)
07/09 Ms Marvel #42 - 25,103 ( -7.7%)
08/09 Ms Marvel #43 - 28,261 (+12.6%)
08/09 Ms Marvel #44 - 25,550 ( -9.6%)
09/09 Ms Marvel #45 - 30,528 (+19.5%)
10/09 Ms Marvel #46 - 25,717 (-15.8%)
11/09 Ms Marvel #47 - 22,937 (-10.8%)
6 mnth ( -7.4%)
1 year ( -4.3%)
2 year (-13.4%)
3 year (-39.4%)Cancelled with issue #50 - although that isn’t to say it won’t be relaunched.

94. NOVA
11/07 Nova #8 - 32,110
=====
11/08 Nova #19 - 28,306 (-26.3%)
12/08 Nova #20 - 29,405 ( +3.9%)
01/09 Nova #21 - 25,647 (-12.8%)
02/09 Nova #22 - 25,065 ( -2.3%)
03/09 Nova #23 - 26,413 ( +5.4%)
04/09 Nova #24 - 26,240 ( -0.7%)
05/09 Nova #25 - 26,172 ( -0.3%)
06/09 Nova #26 - 28,107 ( +7.4%)
07/09 Nova #27 - 25,677 ( -8.6%)
08/09 Nova #28 - 27,038 ( +5.3%)
09/09 Nova #29 - 23,924 (-11.5%)
10/09 Nova #30 - 22,845 ( -4.5%)
11/09 Nova #31 - 22,928 ( +0.4%)
6 mnth (-12.4%)
1 year (-19.0%)
2 year (-28.6%)Another REALM OF KINGS tie-in; see GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, really.

95. S.W.O.R.D.
11/09 S.W.O.R.D. #1 - 21,988Ongoing series for the interstellar S.H.I.E.L.D. counterparts that Joss Whedon created for his ASTONISHING X-MEN run. And the debut sales are… not good, frankly. This is about 1,400 below last month’s DR VOODOO #1, although that issue had the benefit of a 1:15 variant. (Surprisingly, this issue doesn’t.)

We will come to DR VOODOO in a bit, and it won’t be pretty.

102. DEATHLOK
11/09 Deathlok #1 of 7 - 20,855This is an out-of-continuity miniseries from the Marvel Knights imprint, so it was never going to do huge numbers. Still, with a 21K debut, this might not be pretty by issue #7.

106. DARK AVENGERS: ARES
10/09 Ares #1 of 3 - 25,995
11/09 Ares #2 of 3 - 20,256 (-22.1%)About standard for a low-end Dark Reign tie-in.

107. POWERS [Icon]
11/04 Powers #6 - 30,431
11/05 Powers #14 - 26,109
11/06 Powers #21 - 22,134
11/07 Powers #27 - 19,843
=====
11/09 Powers #1 - 20,146
6 mnth ( — )
1 year ( — )
2 year ( +1.5%)
3 year ( -9.0%)
4 year (-22.8%)
5 year (-33.8%)The last issue of POWERS shipped in September 2008, so starting over with a fresh issue #1 is justifiable. The book was selling 18K when it ended, so there’s a slight bump for the third volume.

108,109. X-MEN FOREVER
06/09 X-Men Forever #1 - 36,213
06/09 X-Men Forever #2 - 31,767 (-12.3%)
07/09 X-Men Forever #3 - 28,651 ( -9.8%)
07/09 X-Men Forever #4 - 28,645 ( -0.0%)
08/09 X-Men Forever #5 - 27,825 ( -2.9%)
08/09 X-Men Forever #6 - 24,875 (-10.6%)
09/09 X-Men Forever #7 - 24,115 ( -3.1%)
09/09 X-Men Forever #8 - 23,174 ( -3.9%)
10/09 X-Men Forever #9 - 21,926 ( -5.4%)
10/09 X-Men Forever #10 - 22,287 ( +1.6%)
11/09 X-Men Forever #11 - 20,130 ( -9.7%)
11/09 X-Men Forever #12 - 19,541 ( -2.9%)Drifting slowly down. With the announcement of NEW MUTANTS FOREVER and X-FACTOR FOREVER miniseres in 2010, Marvel are evidently happy enough with numbers like these.

110. SPIDER-MAN CLONE SAGA
09/09 Clone Saga #1 of 6 - 27,697
10/09 Clone Saga #2 of 6 - 21,473 (-22.5%)
11/09 Clone Saga #3 of 6 - 19,478 ( -9.3%)An alternate-reality retelling of a none-more-nineties storyline was always going to have a limited audience. To be honest, this is doing better than I’d expected.

112. BLACK PANTHER
11/05 Black Panther #10 - 31,987
11/06 Black Panther #22 - 41,268
11/07 Black Panther #32 - 28,426
=====
11/08 —
12/08 —
01/09 —
02/09 Black Panther #1 - 52,991 (+57.6%)
03/09 Black Panther #2 - 33,755 (-36.3%)
04/09 Black Panther #3 - 33,356 ( -1.2%)
05/09 Black Panther #4 - 30,984 ( -7.1%)
06/09 Black Panther #5 - 29,762 ( -3.9%)
07/09 Black Panther #6 - 29,727 ( -0.1%)
08/09 Black Panther #7 - 27,619 ( -7.1%)
09/09 Black Panther #8 - 23,020 (-16.7%)
10/09 Black Panther #9 - 20,346 (-11.6%)
11/09 Black Panther #10 - 19,147 ( -5.9%)
6 mnth (-38.2%)
1 year ( — )
2 year (-32.6%)
3 year (-53.6%)
4 year (-40.1%)The previous volume of BLACK PANTHER was doing 19K when Marvel relaunched it (disregarding the final three issues, which were SECRET INVASION tie-ins). So, once again, this is a relaunched title which finds itself back where it started within a year. In an interesting strategy, the book is going on hiatus in February, to be replaced by a five-issue miniseries called DOOMWAR, which will continue the storylines with a ton of extra guest stars.

113. SON OF HULK
11/08 Skaar, Son of Hulk #5 - 34,779 (-21.5%)
12/08 Skaar, Son of Hulk #6 - 34,593 ( -0.5%)
01/09 Skaar, Son of Hulk #7 - 31,096 (-10.1%)
02/09 Skaar, Son of Hulk #8 - 28,771 ( -7.5%)
03/09 Skaar, Son of Hulk #9 - 27,137 ( -5.7%)
04/09 Skaar, Son of Hulk #10 - 27,317 ( +0.7%)
05/09 —
06/09 Skaar, Son of Hulk #11 - 28,633 ( +4.8%)
06/09 Skaar, Son of Hulk #12 - 35,920 (+25.4%)
07/09 Son of Hulk #13 - 29,195 (-18.7%)
08/09 Son of Hulk #14 - 27,171 ( -6.9%)
09/09 Son of Hulk #15 - 22,722 (-16.4%)
10/09 Son of Hulk #16 - 20,504 ( -9.8%)
11/09 Son of Hulk #17 - 19,097 ( -6.9%)
6 mnth ( — )
1 year (-45.1%)Axed.

114. X-MEN ORIGINS: ICEMAN
11/09 Iceman - 19,004Another low-selling X-Men one-shot. That said, it does make sense to have a more up-to-date version of these origin stories, for use in trade paperbacks. (The original Iceman origin story is from an undistinguished late sixties back-up strip, and most would agree that there was room to improve on it.)

117. WAR MACHINE
12/08 War Machine #1 - 54,396
01/09 War Machine #2 - 39,835 (-26.8%)
02/09 War Machine #3 - 33,818 (-15.1%)
03/09 War Machine #4 - 32,693 ( -3.3%)
04/09 War Machine #5 - 34,254 ( +4.8%)
05/09 War Machine #6 - 27,703 (-19.1%)
06/09 War Machine #7 - 28,757 ( +3.8%)
07/09 —
08/09 War Machine #8 - 23,961 (-16.7%)
09/09 War Machine #9 - 23,589 ( -1.6%)
10/09 War Machine #10 - 20,207 (-14.3%)
11/09 War Machine #11 - 18,545 ( -8.2%)
6 mnth (-33.1%)Axed with issue #12.

124. DOCTOR VOODOO, AVENGER OF THE SUPERNATURAL
10/09 Dr Voodoo #1 - 23,328
11/09 Dr Voodoo #2 - 16,681 (-28.5%)This is FANTASTIC FORCE territory. Barring a swift turnaround, it doesn’t look good for this book.

127. GHOST RIDERS: HEAVENS ON FIRE
08/09 Heavens on Fire #1 of 6 - 21,944
09/09 Heavens on Fire #2 of 6 - 18,262 (-16.8%)
10/09 Heavens on Fire #3 of 6 - 16,879 ( -7.6%)
11/09 Heavens on Fire #4 of 6 - 16,193 ( -4.1%)Fairly level, considering it’s a miniseries.

129,133. IMMORTAL WEAPONS
11/06 Immortal Iron Fist #1 - 60,079
11/07 Immortal Iron Fist #10 - 41,368
=====
11/08 —
12/08 Immortal Iron Fist #20 - 24,966 ( -3.5%)
12/08 Immortal Iron Fist #21 - 24,134 ( -3.3%)
01/09 —
02/09 Immortal Iron Fist #22 - 23,259 ( -3.6%)
03/09 Immortal Iron Fist #23 - 22,691 ( -2.4%)
03/09 Immortal Iron Fist #24 - 22,326 ( -1.6%)
04/09 Immortal Iron Fist #25 - 22,309 ( -0.0%)
05/09 Immortal Iron Fist #26 - 21,864 ( -2.0%)
06/09 Immortal Iron Fist #27 - 27,376 (+25.2%)
07/09 Immortal Weapons #1 of 5 - 22,151 (-18.7%)
08/09 —
09/09 Immortal Weapons #2 of 5 - 17,493 (-21.0%)
09/09 Immortal Weapons #3 of 5 - 17,029 ( -2.7%)
10/09 —
11/09 Immortal Weapons #4 of 5 - 15,931 ( -6.4%)
11/09 Immortal Weapons #5 of 5 - 15,511 ( -2.6%)
6 mnth (-29.1%)
1 year ( — )
2 year (-62.5%)
3 year (-74.2%)Marvel previously announced that IRON FIST would pick up again after this miniseries was complete, but there’s no sign of it being solicited. (Unless the March solicitations have come out by the time you read this, in which case, who knows, maybe there is.)

130. CRIMINAL [Icon]
11/06 Criminal #2 - 21,115
11/07 Criminal #10 - 14,539
=====
10/09 Sinners #1 of 5 - 20,580
11/09 Sinners #2 of 5 - 15,628 (-24.1%)
6 mnth ( — )
1 year ( — )
2 year ( +7.5%)
3 year (-26.0%)Fairly typical for this title.

135. TORCH
09/09 Torch #1 of 8 - 26,921
10/09 Torch #2 of 8 - 18,115 (-32.7%)
11/09 Torch #3 of 8 - 15,209 (-16.0%)

147. SPIDER-MAN 1602
10/09 Spider-Man 1602 #1 of 5 - 18,273
11/09 Spider-Man 1602 #2 of 5 - 12,802 (-29.9%)Not much interest in either of these. I’m surprised that TORCH isn’t doing better on the strength of its creative team; the 1602 universe, on the other hand, seems to have reached its natural end point.

148. STRANGE TALES
09/09 Strange Tales #1 of 3 - 16,266
10/09 Strange Tales #2 of 3 - 16,018 ( -1.5%)
11/09 Strange Tales #3 of 3 - 12,259 (-23.5%)Unusual. You’d have expected that drop on the second issue. Anyhow, these sales are perfectly decent for an anthology of indie creators riffing on Marvel characters.

149. X-BABIES
10/09 X-Babies #1 of 4 - 18,383
11/09 X-Babies #2 of 4 - 12,429 (-32.4%)Again, not much interest in this project, but then a revival of characters from the 1980s Star imprint never seemed like an obvious selling point.

155. BLACK KNIGHT
11/09 Black Knight #1 - 11,646This one-shot is the print edition of a comic from Marvel’s digital subscription service, so it’s also brought in some money elsewhere.

157. IRON MAN: ARMOR WARS
08/09 Armor Wars #1 of 4 - 19,935
09/09 Armor Wars #2 of 4 - 14,781 (-25.9%)
10/09 Armor Wars #3 of 4 - 12,422 (-16.0%)
11/09 Armor Wars #4 of 4 - 11,276 ( -9.2%)Not bad numbers, if you compare it to Marvel’s other all-ages comics.

163. HOUSE OF M: MASTERS OF EVIL
08/09 Masters of Evil #1 of 4 - 17,528
09/09 Masters of Evil #2 of 4 - 13,794 (-49.6%)
10/09 Masters of Evil #3 of 4 - 11,569 (-16.1%)
11/09 Masters of Evil #4 of 4 - 10,774 ( -6.9%)Again, probably time to put this alternate reality out to pasture.

166. UNCANNY X-MEN: FIRST CLASS
11/06 First Class #3 of 8 - 30,805
11/07 First Class #6 - 16,965
=====
11/08 —
12/08 —
01/09 —
02/09 Finals #1 of 4 - 15,736 (+18.6%)
03/09 Finals #2 of 4 - 11,533 (-26.7%)
04/09 Finals #3 of 4 - 10,870 ( -5.7%)
05/09 Finals #4 of 4 - 10,579 ( -2.7%)
06/09 Giant-Size Special - 12,614 (+19.2%)
07/09 Uncanny #1 of 8 - 18,363 (+45.6%)
08/09 Uncanny #2 of 8 - 12,978 (-29.3%)
09/09 Uncanny #3 of 8 - 11,954 ( -7.9%)
10/09 Uncanny #4 of 8 - 11,260 ( -5.8%)
11/09 Uncanny #5 of 8 - 10,589 ( -6.0%)
6 mnth ( +0.1%)
1 year ( — )
2 year (-37.6%)
3 year (-65.6%)Steady sales over the last few months.

171. HALO: HELLJUMPER
07/09 Helljumper #1 of 5 - 15,809
08/09 Helljumper #2 of 5 - 12,602 (-20.3%)
09/09 Helljumper #3 of 5 - 11,827 ( -6.1%)
10/09 Helljumper #4 of 5 - 10,784 ( -8.8%)
11/09 Helljumper #5 of 5 - 10,235 ( -5.1%)Modest sales in the direct market, but don’t forget that video game adaptations reputedly do big business in other channels.

176. WOLVERINE: FIRST CLASS
11/08 First Class #9 - 13,857 ( -7.2%)
12/08 First Class #10 - 13,441 ( -3.0%)
01/09 First Class #11 - 12,845 ( -4.4%)
02/09 First Class #12 - 12,403 ( -3.4%)
03/09 First Class #13 - 12,430 ( -0.0%)
04/09 First Class #14 - 13,695 (+10.2%)
05/09 First Class #15 - 12,221 (-10.8%)
06/09 First Class #16 - 11,623 ( -4.9%)
07/09 First Class #17 - 12,441 ( +7.0%)
08/09 First Class #18 - 13,110 ( +5.4%)
09/09 First Class #19 - 11,723 (-10.6%)
10/09 First Class #20 - 10,208 (-12.9%)
11/09 First Class #21 - 9,727 ( -4.7%)
6 mnth (-20.4%)
1 year (-29.8%)The decline seems to be speeding up on this one, for some reason.

182. LUKE CAGE NOIR
08/09 Luke Cage Noir #1 of 4 - 14,776
09/09 Luke Cage Noir #2 of 4 - 12,176 (-17.6%)
10/09 Luke Cage Noir #3 of 4 - 10,084 (-11.3%)
11/09 Luke Cage Noir #4 of 4 - 9,013 (-10.6%)The NOIR books don’t sell in huge numbers, but Marvel are evidently happy enough, as there’s more to come in the new year.

185. NOMAD: GIRL WITHOUT A WORLD
09/09 Nomad #1 of 4 - 18,069
10/09 Nomad #2 of 4 - 10,296 (-43.0%)
11/09 Nomad #3 of 4 - 8,772 (-14.8%)Sales on the miniseries are tiny, but the character is set to get a higher profile as a back-up strip in CAPTAIN AMERICA.

193. SKY DOLL: DOLL FACTORY [Soleil]
11/09 Doll Factory #1 of 2 - 8,077European reprint. Throw in the higher price tag, and the economics for this sort of thing are entirely different.

199. ENDERS GAME: COMMAND SCHOOL
09/09 Command School #1 of 5 - 9,840
10/09 Command School #2 of 5 - 8,428 (-14.3%)
11/09 Command School #3 of 5 - 7,735 ( -8.2%)

215. MODELS INC
09/09 Models Inc #1 of 4 - 17,918
10/09 Models Inc #2 of 4 - 10,321 (-42.4%)
10/09 Models Inc #3 of 4 - 9,997 ( -3.1%)
11/09 Models Inc #3 of 4 - 7,014 (-29.8%)

218. ENDERS SHADOW: COMMAND SCHOOL
09/09 Command School #1 of 5 - 8,972
10/09 Command School #2 of 5 - 7,547 (-15.9%)
11/09 Command School #3 of 5 - 6,938 ( -8.1%)The two Orson Scott Card adaptations, still moving in synch. Sandwiched between them, the much-maligned MODELS INC, which really didn’t find an audience at all.

At number 220, last month’s X-NECROSHA one-shot picks up 6,858 reorders, bringing its total sales to 54,752.

221. POWERS ENCYCLOPAEDIA [Icon]
11/09 Powers Encyclopaedia #1 - 6,780Profile book, released to tie in with the relaunch of POWERS itself.

239. DOMINIC FORTUNE [Max]
08/09 Dominic Fortune #1 of 4 - 9,157
09/09 Dominic Fortune #2 of 4 - 6,976 (-23.8%)
10/09 Dominic Fortune #3 of 4 - 5,980 (-14.3%)
11/09 Dominic Fortune #4 of 4 - 5,657 ( -5.4%)More modest sales from the Max imprint.

247. KOOKABURRA K [Soleil]
11/09 Kookaburra K #1 of 3 - 5,253In theory, this Soleil reprint sounds like it ought to have more appeal to the American audience, since it’s drawn by Humberto Ramos. In practice, though, sales are in typical Soleil territory.

248. STARR THE SLAYER [Max]
09/09 Starr the Slayer #1 of 4 - 9,744
10/09 Starr the Slayer #2 of 4 - 6,535 (-32.9%)
11/09 Starr the Slayer #3 of 4 - 5,235 (-19.9%)And yet more modest sales from the Max imprint. Presumably these stories are selling somewhere else.

And to wrap up, a few more all-ages books, and the MARVEL INDEX.

266. MARVEL ADVENTURES SPIDER-MAN [All ages]
11/05 M.A. Spider-Man #9 - 6,637
11/06 M.A. Spider-Man #21 - 6,529
11/07 M.A. Spider-Man #33 - 6,126
=====
11/08 M.A. Spider-Man #45 - 5,003 ( -2.9%)
12/08 M.A. Spider-Man #46 - 4,851 ( -3.0%)
01/09 M.A. Spider-Man #47 - 4,592 ( -5.3%)
02/09 M.A. Spider-Man #48 - 4,622 ( +0.7%)
03/09 M.A. Spider-Man #49 - 4,640 ( +0.4%)
04/09 M.A. Spider-Man #50 - 4,780 ( +3.0%)
05/09 M.A. Spider-Man #51 - 4,557 ( -4.7%)
06/09 M.A. Spider-Man #52 - 4,612 ( +1.2%)
07/09 M.A. Spider-Man #53 - 5,710 (+23.8%)
08/09 M.A. Spider-Man #54 - 5,684 ( -0.5%)
09/09 M.A. Spider-Man #55 - 5,668 ( -0.3%)
10/09 M.A. Spider-Man #56 - 4,579 (-19.2%)
11/09 M.A. Spider-Man #57 - 4,501 ( -1.7%)
6 mnth ( -1.2%)
1 year (-10.0%)
2 year (-26.5%)
3 year (-31.1%)
4 year (-32.2%)

272. MARVEL SUPER HERO SQUAD
09/09 Super Hero Squad #1 of 4 - 6,760
10/09 Super Hero Squad #2 of 4 - 4,496 (-33.5%)
11/09 Super Hero Squad #3 of 4 - 4,384 ( -2.5%)

281. OFFICIAL INDEX TO THE MARVEL UNIVERSE
01/09 Index #1 - 9,852
02/09 Index #2 - 7,278 (-26.1%)
03/09 Index #3 - 6,331 (-13.0%)
04/09 Index #4 - 5,517 (-12.9%)
05/09 Index #5 - 4,913 (-10.9%)
06/09 Index #6 - 4,743 ( -3.5%)
07/09 Index #7 - 4,518 ( -4.7%)
08/09 Index #8 - 4,263 ( -5.6%)
09/09 Index #9 - 4,144 ( -2.8%)
10/09 Index #10 - 3,980 ( -4.0%)
11/09 Index #11 - 3,739 ( -6.1%)
6 mnth (-23.9%)

287. MARVEL ADVENTURES SUPER HEROES
11/08 M.A. Super Heroes #5 - 4,233 ( -6.8%)
12/08 M.A. Super Heroes #6 - ?,??? ( ??? )
01/09 M.A. Super Heroes #7 - 4,141 ( ??? )
02/09 M.A. Super Heroes #8 - 3,993 ( -3.6%)
03/09 M.A. Super Heroes #9 - 3,716 ( -6.9%)
04/09 M.A. Super Heroes #10 - 3,699 ( -0.5%)
05/09 M.A. Super Heroes #11 - 3,474 ( -6.1%)
06/09 M.A. Super Heroes #12 - 3,508 ( +1.0%)
07/09 M.A. Super Heroes #13 - 4,439 (+26.5%)
08/09 M.A. Super Heroes #14 - 4,355 ( -1.9%)
09/09 M.A. Super Heroes #15 - 4,268 ( -2.0%)
10/09 M.A. Super Heroes #16 - 3,250 (-23.9%)
11/09 M.A. Super Heroes #17 - 3,308 ( +1.8%)
6 mnth ( -4.8%)
1 year (-21.9%)

6 month comparisons
===================

+60.6% - Marvelous Land of Oz
+33.2% - PunisherMax
+32.8% - Captain America/Reborn
+18.6% - Moon Knight
+10.3% - Amazing Spider-Man
+ 7.5% - Invincible Iron Man
+ 0.1% - X-Men: First Class
- 1.2% - Marvel Adventures Spider-Man
- 2.1% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
- 4.8% - Marvel Adventures Super Heroes
- 6.0% - X-Men Legacy
- 7.4% - Uncanny X-Men
- 7.4% - Ms Marvel
- 7.5% - X-Force
-12.4% - Nova
-13.4% - Incredible Hercules
-15.4% - Guardians of the Galaxy
-15.5% - Fantastic Four
-16.6% - Wolverine: Origins
-16.7% - Deadpool
-20.4% - Wolverine: First Class
-21.2% - New Avengers
-23.9% - Official Index
-25.4% - Dark Tower
-26.2% - Secret Warriors
-28.0% - Hulk
-28.9% - Thunderbolts
-29.1% - Iron Fist/Immortal Weapons
-29.6% - Stand
-30.1% - Punisher
-32.5% - Avengers: The Initiative
-33.1% - War Machine
-37.1% - Dark Wolverine
-38.2% - Black Panther
-39.0% - Wolverine: Weapon X
-44.0% - Cable
-45.3% - New Mutants

1 year comparisons
==================

+27.9% - Captain America/Reborn
+18.1% - PunisherMax
+11.8% - Invincible Iron Man
- 2.1% - Daredevil
- 2.5% - Moon Knight
- 4.3% - Ms Marvel
- 5.7% - X-Force
- 5.7% - Deadpool
- 5.9% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
- 6.5% - Amazing Spider-Man
- 9.8% - Thunderbolts
-10.0% - Marvel Adventures Spider-Man
-10.6% - Uncanny X-Men
-17.0% - Punisher
-19.0% - Nova
-20.0% - X-Men Legacy
-21.6% - Cable
-21.9% - Marvel Adventures Super Heroes
-24.7% - Wolverine: Origins
-24.7% - Guardians of the Galaxy
-29.8% - Incredible Hercules
-29.8% - Wolverine: First Class
-35.7% - Fantastic Four
-42.0% - Hulk
-44.2% - Dark Wolverine
-44.2% - Dark Tower
-45.1% - Son of Hulk
-53.5% - Stand
-55.2% - Incredible Hulk

2 year comparisons
==================

+31.7% - Captain America/Reborn
+ 7.5% - Criminal
+ 1.5% - Powers
-10.4% - Daredevil
-11.5% - PunisherMax
-13.4% - Ms Marvel
-20.2% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
-20.3% - Dark Wolverine
-26.5% - Marvel Adventures Spider-Man
-28.6% - Nova
-30.9% - New Avengers
-32.1% - Uncanny X-Men
-32.3% - Wolverine Origins
-32.6% - Black Panther
-32.7% - Fantastic Four
-37.6% - X-Men: First Class
-40.4% - Punisher
-45.0% - Astonishing X-Men
-49.7% - Thor
-49.9% - X-Men Legacy
-56.8% - Avengers: The Initiative
-60.0% - Incredible Hulk
-62.5% - Iron Fist/Immortal Weapons

3 year comparisons
==================

+20.9% - Captain America/Reborn
+12.0% - Thunderbolts
- 9.0% - Powers
-12.2% - PunisherMax
-18.2% - Daredevil
-21.5% - Uncanny X-Men
-26.0% - Criminal
-28.2% - Invincible Iron Man
-31.1% - Marvel Adventures Spider-Man
-36.3% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
-36.6% - X-Men Legacy
-39.4% - Ms Marvel
-45.7% - Amazing Spider-Man
-47.5% - Astonishing X-Men
-47.6% - Dark Wolverine
-51.7% - Incredible Hulk
-53.6% - Black Panther
-57.7% - New Avengers
-58.6% - Wolverine: Origins
-65.6% - X-Men: First Class
-68.4% - Moon Knight
-74.2% - Iron Fist/Immortal Weapons
-75.8% - Punisher

4 year comparisons
==================

+114.4% - Captain America/Reborn
+ 23.7% - Thunderbolts
- 8.8% - Daredevil
- 16.0% - Uncanny X-Men
- 17.5% - Fantastic Four
- 19.0% - Amazing Spider-Man
- 19.3% - PunisherMax
- 22.8% - Powers
- 32.2% - Marvel Adventures Spider-Man
- 35.2% - X-Men Legacy
- 36.1% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
- 39.1% - Dark Wolverine
- 40.1% - Black Panther
- 45.5% - New Avengers
- 51.7% - Incredible Hulk

5 year comparisons
==================

+43.7% - Captain America/Reborn
- 1.2% - Incredible Hulk
-20.0% - Invincible Iron Man
-21.4% - Daredevil
-23.7% - Fantastic Four
-24.4% - Uncanny X-Men
-26.0% - Amazing Spider-Man
-29.7% - New Avengers
-30.8% - PunisherMax
-31.8% - Thunderbolts
-33.8% - Powers
-36.0% - Dark Wolverine
-42.7% - X-Men Legacy
-46.1% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
-53.9% - Astonishing X-Men

"While the series is concluding with issue #5, Jericho is very much a part of the Avengers universe and will continue to be a presence in upcoming events," promises Remender.

DOCTOR VOODOO: AVENGER OF THE SUPERNATURAL #4 preview art by Jefte Palo
Before that, though, Doctor Voodoo has to make it out of his final issue in one piece.

3. CAPTAIN AMERICA: REBORN
12/04 ---
12/05 Captain America #13 - 44,945
12/06 ---
12/07 Captain America #33 - 78,279
=====
12/08 Captain America #45 - 71,186 ( -5.7%)
01/09 Captain America #46 - 73,184 ( +2.8%)
02/09 Captain America #47 - 62,850 ( -14.1%)
03/09 Captain America #48 - 62,108 ( -1.2%)
04/09 Captain America #49 - 63,874 ( +2.8%)
05/09 Captain America #50 - 72,708 ( +13.8%)
06/09 Captain America #600 - 123,152 ( +69.4%)
07/09 Captain America #601 - 87,844 ( -28.7%)
07/09 Reborn #1 of 6 - 197,565 (+124.9%)
08/09 Reborn #2 of 6 - 125,366 ( -36.5%)
09/09 Reborn #3 of 6 - 108,331 ( -13.6%)
10/09 ---
11/09 Reborn #4 of 6 - 96,571 ( -10.9%)
12/09 Reborn #5 of 6 - 91,790 ( -5.0%)
6 mnth ( -25.5%)
1 year ( +28.9%)
2 year ( +17.3%)
3 year ( --- )
4 year (+104.2%)
5 year ( --- )

4. CAPTAIN AMERICA REBORN
12/09 Who Will Wield The Shield - 80,771WHO WILL WIELD… is an epilogue to REBORN, but in a curious scheduling snafu, it came out before that miniseries actually finished. While artist Bryan Hitch has taken some flak over this, the book has only slipped a month behind schedule. It’s hardly another ULTIMATES, and if they hadn’t extended REBORN to six issues at the last minute, everything would have gone fine. As so often with these one-shots, it looks as though they’d probably have sold more copies by caling it REBORN #7, but such is life.

Meanwhile, REBORN continues to hold up well, selling far above the usual range for CAPTAIN AMERICA. This issue has two variant covers, one with a 1:25 incentive ratio.

7. NEW AVENGERS
12/04 New Avengers #1 - 240,724
12/05 New Avengers #14 - 124,300
12/06 New Avengers #26 - 122,670
12/07 New Avengers #37 - 105,545
=====
12/08 New Avengers #47 - 95,703 ( -3.8%)
12/08 New Avengers #48 - 95,688 ( -0.0%)
01/09 New Avengers #49 - 94,291 ( -1.5%)
02/09 New Avengers #50 - 106,831 (+13.3%)
03/09 New Avengers #51 - 95,340 (-10.8%)
04/09 New Avengers #52 - 93,975 ( -1.4%)
05/09 New Avengers #53 - 94,367 ( +0.4%)
06/09 New Avengers #54 - 93,878 ( -0.5%)
07/09 New Avengers #55 - 84,745 ( -9.7%)
08/09 New Avengers #56 - 89,996 ( +6.2%)
09/09 New Avengers #57 - 85,598 ( -4.9%)
10/09 New Avengers #58 - 76,656 (-10.4%)
11/09 New Avengers #59 - 74,379 ( -3.0%)
12/09 New Avengers #60 - 72,790 ( -2.1%)
6 mnth (-22.5%)
1 year (-23.9%)
2 year (-31.0%)
3 year (-40.7%)
4 year (-41.4%)
5 year (-69.8%)

9. DARK AVENGERS
01/09 Dark Avengers #1 - 139,239
02/09 Dark Avengers #2 - 102,277 (-26.5%)
03/09 Dark Avengers #3 - 101,978 ( -0.3%)
04/09 Dark Avengers #4 - 99,694 ( -2.2%)
05/09 ---
06/09 Dark Avengers #5 - 95,746 ( -4.0%)
06/09 Dark Avengers #6 - 93,634 ( -2.2%)
07/09 Dark Avengers #7 - 94,189 ( +0.6%)
08/09 Dark Avengers #8 - 94,191 ( +0.0%)
09/09 Dark Avengers #9 - 79,729 (-15.4%)
10/09 Dark Avengers #10 - 75,618 ( -5.2%)
11/09 Dark Avengers #11 - 72,225 ( -4.5%)
12/09 Dark Avengers #12 - 69,799 ( -3.4%)
6 mnth (-25.5%)Both titles are officially cancelled in April, the last month of SIEGE, along with MIGHTY AVENGERS and AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE. Obviously this is heading towards a retooling of the Avengers line. NEW AVENGERS is the successor title to the original AVENGERS series, and presumably it’ll be back in May with a new number #1. DARK AVENGERS is more obviously linked to the “Dark Reign” storyline, and it’s hard to see how it can continue in any recognisable form beyond May – but I wouldn’t be shocked to see some sort of replacement title, given the sales.

Both books are drifting down right now, but with SIEGE next month and a relaunch in the spring, that’s no real concern.

12. SIEGE: CABAL
12/09 Cabal - 68,855This is the prologue issue for SIEGE, and it has three variant covers, with incentives of 1:50, 1:75 and 1:200.

There’s been some talk that SIEGE doesn’t have the buzz of DC’s BLACKEST NIGHT event – time will tell on that score. Arguably the closest comparison to this book ought to be WORLD WAR HULK: PROLOGUE, but you can’t really generalise with books like this. For what it’s worth, that book sold 111K, but it did so in May 2007, when the event book mania was at its height, and you needed to sell over 100K just to make the top 10. Different time.

13,14. UNCANNY X-MEN
12/04 Uncanny X-Men #453 - 89,952
12/05 Uncanny X-Men #467 - 81,282
12/06 Uncanny X-Men #481 - 85,995
12/07 Uncanny X-Men #493 - 102,114
=====
12/08 Uncanny X-Men #505 - 82,271 ( +5.8%)
01/09 ---
02/09 Uncanny X-Men #506 - 71,684 (-12.9%)
03/09 Uncanny X-Men #507 - 77,957 ( +8.8%)
04/09 Uncanny X-Men #508 - 76,442 ( -1.9%)
04/09 Uncanny X-Men #509 - 69,185 ( -9.5%)
05/09 Uncanny X-Men #510 - 75,139 ( +8.6%)
06/09 Uncanny X-Men #511 - 71,148 ( -5.3%)
06/09 Uncanny X-Men #512 - 76,283 ( +7.2%)
07/09 Uncanny X-Men #513 - 87,582 (+14.8%)
08/09 Uncanny X-Men #514 - 90,316 ( +3.1%)
09/09 Uncanny X-Men #515 - 73,585 (-18.5%)
10/09 Uncanny X-Men #516 - 73,916 ( +0.4%)
11/09 Uncanny X-Men #517 - 69,557 ( -5.9%)
12/09 Uncanny X-Men #518 - 68,572 ( -1.4%)
12/09 Uncanny X-Men #519 - 67,043 ( -2.2%)
6 mnth (-12.1%)
1 year (-18.5%)
2 year (-34.3%)
3 year (-22.0%)
4 year (-17.5%)
5 year (-25.5%)The “Nation X” branding across the X-Men titles doesn’t seem to be making much difference to sales one way or the other. But there’s the “Second Coming” crossover due in the spring, which is a rather bigger deal.

16,22,23. AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
12/04 Amazing Spider-Man #515 - 82,840
12/05 Amazing Spider-Man #527 - 79,261
12/06 ---
12/07 Amazing Spider-Man #545 - 124,481
=====
12/08 Amazing Spider-Man #579 - 69,784 ( +4.8%)
12/08 Amazing Spider-Man #580 - 62,979 ( -9.8%)
12/08 Amazing Spider-Man #581 - 68,905 ( +9.4%)
01/09 Amazing Spider-Man #582 - 59,932 (-13.0%)
01/09 Amazing Spider-Man #583 - 525,050 (+776.1%)
01/09 Amazing Spider-Man #584 - 63,754 (-87.9%)
02/09 Amazing Spider-Man #585 - 60,286 ( -5.4%)
02/09 Amazing Spider-Man #586 - 59,521 ( -1.3%)
02/09 Amazing Spider-Man #587 - 60,118 ( +1.0%)
03/09 Amazing Spider-Man #588 - 61,334 ( +2.0%)
03/09 Amazing Spider-Man #589 - 58,832 ( -4.1%)
04/09 Amazing Spider-Man #590 - 66,415 (+12.9%)
04/09 Amazing Spider-Man #591 - 60,508 ( -8.9%)
04/09 Amazing Spider-Man #592 - 65,940 ( +9.0%)
05/09 Amazing Spider-Man #593 - 58,363 (-11.5%)
05/09 Amazing Spider-Man #594 - 58,464 ( +0.2%)
05/09 Amazing Spider-Man #595 - 71,837 (+22.9%)
06/09 Amazing Spider-Man #596 - 63,525 (-11.6%)
06/09 Amazing Spider-Man #597 - 61,646 ( -3.0%)
06/09 Amazing Spider-Man #598 - 61,585 ( -0.0%)
07/09 Amazing Spider-Man #599 - 72,412 (+17.6%)
07/09 Amazing Spider-Man #600 - 116,857 (+61.4%)
08/09 Amazing Spider-Man #601 - 74,279 (-36.4%)
08/09 Amazing Spider-Man #602 - 71,532 ( -3.7%)
08/09 Amazing Spider-Man #603 - 71,051 ( -0.7%)
09/09 Amazing Spider-Man #604 - 63,435 (-10.7%)
09/09 Amazing Spider-Man #605 - 62,831 ( -1.0%)
09/09 Amazing Spider-Man #606 - 70,177 (+11.7%)
09/09 Amazing Spider-Man #607 - 62,570 (-10.8%)
10/09 Amazing Spider-Man #608 - 72,035 (+15.1%)
10/09 Amazing Spider-Man #609 - 61,176 (-15.1%)
11/09 Amazing Spider-Man #610 - 61,170 ( -0.0%)
11/09 Amazing Spider-Man #611 - 64,514 ( +5.5%)
11/09 Amazing Spider-Man #612 - 68,459 ( +6.1%)
11/09 Amazing Spider-Man #613 - 64,499 ( -5.8%)
12/09 Amazing Spider-Man #614 - 59,696 ( -7.4%)
12/09 Amazing Spider-Man #615 - 63,738 ( +6.8%)
12/09 Amazing Spider-Man #616 - 58,856 ( -7.7%)
6 mnth ( -4.4%)
1 year (-15.7%)
2 year (-52.7%)
3 year ( --- )
4 year (-25.7%)
5 year (-29.0%)Issue #615 has a variant cover, as if you couldn’t guess. Otherwise, sales seem to be at the lower end of the range this month. But cast an eye back over the last year and you’ll see that it’s fluctuated down to this level before.

17,35. FALL OF THE HULKS
12/09 Alpha - 62,785
12/09 Gamma - 46,883This is curious. These are prologue issues to next month’s FALL OF THE HULKS crossover, both with the same variant cover programmes. I’m surprised to see such a difference between the two issues, especially since GAMMA has the big-name creative team of Jeph Loeb and John Romita Jr attached. GAMMA was part of the last shipment of December, though, so it’s possible this is another case of a distribution screw-up leading to some sales slipping into the next month.

18,25. THOR
12/04 ---
12/05 ---
12/06 ---
12/07 Thor #5 - 101,551
=====
12/08 Thor #12 - 73,784 ( -6.2%)
01/09 ---
02/09 Thor #600 - 96,718 ( +31.1%)
03/09 ---
04/09 Thor #601 - 82,742 ( -14.5%)
05/09 ---
06/09 Thor #602 - 69,568 ( -15.3%)
07/09 ---
08/09 ---
09/09 Thor #603 - 65,265 ( -6.2%)
10/09 ---
11/09 Finale - 53,566 ( -17.9%)
12/09 Thor #604 - 61,608 ( +15.0%)
12/09 Thor #605 - 55,242 ( -10.3%)
6 mnth ( -20.6%)
1 year ( -25.1%)
2 year ( -45.6%)
3 year ( --- )
4 year ( --- )
5 year ( --- )With J Michael Straczynski’s run over, THOR starts to catch up on its schedule under the new creative team of Kieron Gillen and Billy Tan. Obviously there’s some urgency here, because THOR is a key title for the SIEGE crossover.

Issue #604 has a 1:15 variant cover. Marvel have also cut the price back to $2.99, presumably on the basis that Gillen isn’t expected to have the same drawing power as a star writer like Straczynski. To be honest, sales hold up surprisingly well here, bearing in mind that the book was falling sharply during the last few issues of Straczynski’s run. Needless to say, a SIEGE tie-in is imminent.

19. NEW AVENGERS ANNUAL
12/09 New Avengers Annual #3 - 61,435

20. DARK AVENGERS ANNUAL
12/09 Dark Avengers Annual #1 - 60,524A couple of one-shots written by Brian Bendis. The DARK AVENGERS one was solicited as a major story (“this very important chapter”), but in practice retailers seem to have just ordered them in tandem.

24. ASTONISHING X-MEN
12/04 Astonishing X-Men #7 - 134,103
12/05 ---
12/06 Astonishing X-Men #19 - 124,033
12/07 ---
=====
12/08 ---
01/09 Astonishing X-Men #28 - 72,610 (-16.3%)
02/09 ---
03/09 ---
04/09 Astonishing X-Men #29 - 67,774 ( -6.7%)
05/09 ---
06/09 Astonishing X-Men #30 - 64,608 ( -4.7%)
07/09 ---
08/09 ---
09/09 ---
10/09 Astonishing X-Men #31 - 67,064 ( +3.8%)
11/09 Astonishing X-Men #32 - 62,154 ( -7.3%)
12/09 Astonishing X-Men #33 - 57,592 ( -7.3%)
6 mnth (-10.9%)
1 year ( --- )
2 year ( --- )
3 year (-53.6%)
4 year ( --- )
5 year (-57.1%)Not quite as bad as it looks. Issue #31 had three covers, issue #32 had two, and issue #33 just has a single cover. So it isn’t really dropping as quickly as these figures suggest. Nonetheless, ASTONISHING is clearly not the A-list title it used to be.

26. HULK
12/08 Hulk #9 - 87,786 ( -3.3%)
01/09 ---
02/09 Hulk #10 - 77,217 (-12.0%)
03/09 ---
04/09 Hulk #11 - 82,726 ( +7.1%)
05/09 Hulk #12 - 73,105 (-11.6%)
06/09 ---
07/09 ---
08/09 Hulk #13 - 71,369 ( -2.4%)
08/09 Hulk #14 - 77,455 ( +8.5%)
09/09 Hulk #15 - 58,667 (-24.3%)
10/09 Hulk #16 - 56,811 ( -3.2%)
11/09 Hulk #17 - 52,653 ( -7.3%)
12/09 Hulk #18 - 53,222 ( +1.1%)
6 mnth ( --- )
1 year (-39.4%)This is a prologue to FALL OF THE HULKS. But the slight sales increase is probably because this issue has three covers, and last month there were only two.

28. X-FORCE
12/08 X-Force #10 - 58,801 ( +2.7%)
01/09 X-Force #11 - 51,817 (-11.9%)
02/09 X-Force #12 - 51,449 ( -0.7%)
03/09 X-Force #13 - 51,797 ( +0.7%)
04/09 X-Force #14 - 62,674 (+21.0%)
05/09 X-Force #15 - 58,340 ( -6.9%)
06/09 X-Force #16 - 58,818 ( +0.8%)
07/09 X-Force #17 - 61,104 ( +3.9%)
08/09 X-Force #18 - 56,421 ( -7.7%)
09/09 X-Force #19 - 49,817 (-11.7%)
10/09 X-Force #20 - 48,921 ( -1.8%)
11/09 X-Force #21 - 53,967 (+10.3%)
12/09 X-Force #22 - 51,859 ( -3.9%)
6 mnth (-11.8%)
1 year (-11.8%)Continuing the Necrosha crossover which started last month. There’s a small increase from the book’s regular sales, although the crossover issues have variant covers, which will also be a factor.

29,30. X-MEN LEGACY
12/04 New X-Men #150 - 110,591
12/05 X-Men #165 - 86,633
12/06 X-Men #194 - 78,114
12/07 X-Men #206 - 97,871
=====
12/08 X-Men Legacy #219 - 60,587 ( -4.6%)
01/09 X-Men Legacy #220 - 59,286 ( -2.1%)
02/09 X-Men Legacy #221 - 56,517 ( -4.7%)
03/09 X-Men Legacy #222 - 55,606 ( -1.6%)
04/09 X-Men Legacy #223 - 71,935 (+29.4%)
05/09 X-Men Legacy #224 - 54,008 (-24.9%)
06/09 X-Men Legacy #225 - 58,374 ( +8.1%)
07/09 X-Men Legacy #226 - 59,298 ( +1.6%)
08/09 X-Men Legacy #227 - 63,316 ( +6.8%)
09/09 ---
10/09 X-Men Legacy #228 - 52,855 (-16.5%)
11/09 X-Men Legacy #229 - 50,789 ( -3.9%)
12/09 X-Men Legacy #230 - 49,776 ( -2.0%)
12/09 X-Men Legacy #231 - 50,929 ( +2.3%)
6 mnth (-12.8%)
1 year (-15.9%)
2 year (-48.0%)
3 year (-34.8%)
4 year (-41.2%)
5 year (-53.9%)Beginning a Necrosha tie-in arc, and getting a modest sales boost for it.

32. MIGHTY AVENGERS
12/07 Mighty Avengers #6 - 90,709
=====
12/08 Mighty Avengers #20 - 86,085 ( -1.3%)
01/09 ---
02/09 Mighty Avengers #21 - 76,247 (-11.4%)
02/09 Mighty Avengers #22 - 72,865 ( -4.4%)
03/09 Mighty Avengers #23 - 71,333 ( -2.1%)
04/09 Mighty Avengers #24 - 68,231 ( -4.3%)
05/09 ---
06/09 Mighty Avengers #25 - 65,010 ( -4.7%)
06/09 Mighty Avengers #26 - 63,178 ( -2.8%)
07/09 Mighty Avengers #27 - 64,680 ( +2.4%)
08/09 Mighty Avengers #28 - 61,323 ( -5.2%)
09/09 Mighty Avengers #29 - 54,476 (-11.2%)
10/09 Mighty Avengers #30 - 52,708 ( -3.2%)
11/09 Mighty Avengers #31 - 49,480 ( -6.1%)
12/09 Mighty Avengers #32 - 48,662 ( -1.7%)
6 mnth (-23.0%)
1 year (-43.5%)
2 year (-46.4%)Axed in April after SIEGE, as part of the Avengers relaunch.

33. DARK WOLVERINE
12/04 Wolverine #23 - 80,678
12/05 Wolverine #37 - 70,716
12/06 Wolverine #49 - 78,807
12/07 Wolverine #60 - 63,194
=====
12/08 Wolverine #70 - 98,915 ( +5.3%)
01/09 ---
02/09 ---
03/09 Wolverine #71 - 91,229 ( -7.8%)
04/09 ---
05/09 Wolverine #72 - 91,333 ( +0.1%)
05/09 Wolverine #73 - 83,324 ( -8.8%)
06/09 Wolverine #74 - 66,186 (-20.6%)
06/09 Dark Wolverine #75 - 80,780 (+22.0%)
07/09 Dark Wolverine #76 - 74,017 ( -8.4%)
08/09 Dark Wolverine #77 - 68,593 ( -7.3%)
09/09 Dark Wolverine #78 - 60,702 (-11.5%)
10/09 Dark Wolverine #79 - 60,076 ( -1.0%)
11/09 Dark Wolverine #80 - 52,394 (-12.8%)
12/09 Dark Wolverine #81 - 48,102 ( -8.2%)
6 mnth (-40.5%)
1 year (-51.4%)
2 year (-23.9%)
3 year (-39.0%)
4 year (-32.0%)
5 year (-40.4%)The drop is exaggerated because the November issue had a variant cover, but nonetheless sales are clearly dropping fast. Chances are it’s the same thing we saw with INCREDIBLE HERCULES, which inherited the sales of a much stronger title, and spent a long time finding its level.

34. INVINCIBLE IRON MAN
12/04 Iron Man #2 - 53,292
12/05 ---
12/06 Iron Man #14 - 73,388
12/07 Iron Man #24 - 28,834
=====
12/08 Invincible Iron Man #8 - 56,708 (+14.9%)
01/09 Invincible Iron Man #9 - 52,364 ( -7.7%)
02/09 Invincible Iron Man #10 - 56,381 ( +7.7%)
03/09 Invincible Iron Man #11 - 52,165 ( -7.5%)
04/09 Invincible Iron Man #12 - 51,774 ( -0.7%)
05/09 Invincible Iron Man #13 - 51,311 ( -0.9%)
06/09 Invincible Iron Man #14 - 53,229 ( +3.7%)
07/09 Invincible Iron Man #15 - 50,554 ( -5.0%)
08/09 Invincible Iron Man #16 - 53,782 ( +6.4%)
09/09 Invincible Iron Man #17 - 47,182 (-12.3%)
09/09 Invincible Iron Man #18 - 48,039 ( +1.8%)
10/09 Invincible Iron Man #19 - 47,178 ( -1.8%)
11/09 Invincible Iron Man #20 - 61,667 (+30.7%)
12/09 Invincible Iron Man #21 - 47,330 (-23.2%)
6 mnth (-11.1%)
1 year (-16.5%)
2 year (+64.1%)
3 year (-35.5%)
4 year ( --- )
5 year (-11.2%)Issue #20 picks up re-orders of 6,507, which are added in above. That issue also had three covers, compared to two this month, so again the drop is exaggerated. Ignore last month’s blip and ales are holding very steady.

36. DEADPOOL
12/08 Deadpool #5 - 46,856 ( -5.5%)
01/09 Deadpool #6 - 46,549 ( -0.7%)
02/09 Deadpool #7 - 44,082 ( -5.3%)
03/09 Deadpool #8 - 53,109 (+20.5%)
04/09 Deadpool #9 - 54,556 ( +2.7%)
05/09 Deadpool #10 - 56,123 ( +2.9%)
06/09 Deadpool #11 - 55,343 ( -1.4%)
07/09 Deadpool #12 - 58,807 ( +6.3%)
08/09 Deadpool #13 - 55,442 ( -5.7%)
08/09 Deadpool #14 - 50,263 ( -9.3%)
09/09 Deadpool #15 - 50,479 ( +0.4%)
10/09 Deadpool #16 - 46,288 ( -8.3%)
11/09 Deadpool #17 - 46,765 ( +1.0%)
12/09 Deadpool #18 - 45,914 ( -1.8%)
6 mnth (-17.0%)
1 year ( -2.0%)Holding steady.

37. ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN
12/04 Ult. Spider-Man #70 - 88,960
12/05 Ult. Spider-Man #88 - 72,984
12/06 Ult. Spider-Man #103 - 76,251
12/07 Ult. Spider-Man #117 - 60,361
=====
12/08 Ult. Spider-Man #129 - 51,071 ( -2.1%)
01/09 Ult. Spider-Man #130 - 49,637 ( -2.8%)
02/09 Ult. Spider-Man #131 - 49,565 ( -0.1%)
03/09 ---
04/09 ---
05/09 Ult. Spider-Man #132 - 50,144 ( +1.2%)
06/09 Ult. Spider-Man #133 - 57,364 ( +14.4%)06/09 USM: Requiem #1 of 2 - 44,988 ( -21.6%)
07/09 USM: Requiem #2 of 2 - 41,374 ( -8.0%)
08/09 U.C. Spider-Man #1 - 86,008 (+107.9%)
09/09 U.C. Spider-Man #2 - 57,477 ( -33.2%)
10/09 U.C. Spider-Man #3 - 52,813 ( -8.1%)
11/09 U.C. Spider-Man #4 - 49,106 ( -7.0%)
12/09 U.C. Spider-Man #5 - 45,849 ( -6.6%)
6 mnth ( +1.9%)
1 year ( -10.2%)
2 year ( -24.0%)
3 year ( -39.9%)
4 year ( -37.2%)
5 year ( -48.5%)ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN drops decisively below the level of the previous series, after only five issues. We’ve seen a number of relaunches lately where Marvel have simply renumbered a title, and it hasn’t made much difference to sales beyond the first month – EXILES, for example. ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN could be part of that pattern, but the fact that it’s still dropping at this rate five issues in makes me wonder whether the relaunch has actually done some damage to the book, either because the poorly-received ULTIMATUM event drove people away, or because readers simply viewed it as a jumping-off point.

39. INCREDIBLE HULK
12/04 ---
12/05 Incredible Hulk #90 - 36,924
12/06 Incredible Hulk #101 - 47,927
12/07 Incredible Hulk #112 - 77,119
12/08 Hulk #9 - 87,786
=====
07/09 Incredible Hulk #600 - 92,343
08/09 Incredible Hulk #601 - 64,120 (-30.6%)
09/09 Incredible Hulk #602 - 51,582 (-19.6%)
10/09 Incredible Hulk #603 - 49,126 ( -4.8%)
11/09 Incredible Hulk #604 - 40,652 (-17.2%)
12/09 Incredible Hulk #605 - 43,964 ( +8.1%)
6 mnth ( --- )
1 year (-49.9%)
2 year (-43.0%)
3 year ( -8.3%)
4 year (+19.1%)
5 year ( --- )This has a 70th Anniversary variant cover, hence the spike.

41. X-FORCE ANNUAL
12/09 X-Force Annual #1 - 43,113

43. DARK X-MEN
11/09 Dark X-Men #1 of 5 - 50,167
12/09 Dark X-Men #2 of 5 - 42,207 (-15.9%)

44. NATION X
12/09 Nation X #1 of 4 - 41,796

46. X-NECROSHA: THE GATHERING
12/09 Gathering - 40,766An assortment of X-book spin-off projects. X-FORCE ANNUAL has a lead story by Robert Kirkman and Jason Pearson, plus a back-up strip which is part of the Necrosha crossover. (And has Deadpool in it. What doesn’t?) X-FORCE is usually in the high 40K range, so this isn’t bad at all.

DARK X-MEN is holding up pretty well with its second issue. NATION X is another of the X-books’ anthology titles. The last was X-MEN: MANIFEST DESTINY, which launched in September 2008 with 49K, dropping to around 30K by the end of its run. This book seems to be coming in a little lower.

THE GATHERING is part of the Necrosha tie-in, and it’s basically an anthology showing how Selene recruited her hangers-on. It comes in reasonably close to X-FORCE, the lead title for the crossover.

49. DAREDEVIL
12/04 Daredevil #55 - 53,660
12/05 Daredevil #68 - 50,491
12/06 Daredevil #92 - 48,035
12/07 Daredevil #103 - 43,874
=====
12/08 Daredevil #114 - 44,351 ( +7.6%)
01/09 Daredevil #115 - 40,214 ( -9.3%)
02/09 ---
03/09 Daredevil #116 - 41,261 ( +2.6%)
03/09 Daredevil #117 - 41,046 ( -0.5%)
04/09 Daredevil #118 - 44,982 ( +9.6%)
05/09 ---
06/09 Daredevil #119 - 41,403 ( -8.0%)
07/09 ---
08/09 Daredevil #500 - 73,486 (+77.5%)
09/09 ---
10/09 Daredevil #501 - 45,181 (-38.5%)
11/09 Daredevil #502 - 40,354 (-10.7%)
12/09 Daredevil #503 - 38,680 ( -4.1%)
6 mnth ( -6.6%)
1 year (-12.8%)
2 year (-11.8%)
3 year (-19.5%)
4 year (-23.4%)
5 year (-27.9%)Still finding its level under the new creative team.

50. FANTASTIC FOUR
12/04 Fantastic Four #521 - 47,634
12/05 Fantastic Four #533 - 46,751
12/06 Fantastic Four #541 - 84,895
12/07 Fantastic Four #552 - 51,320
=====
12/08 Fantastic Four #562 - 54,062 (-11.9%)
01/09 Fantastic Four #563 - 52,747 ( -2.4%)
02/09 Fantastic Four #564 - 49,520 ( -6.1%)
03/09 Fantastic Four #565 - 48,378 ( -2.3%)
04/09 ---
05/09 Fantastic Four #566 - 46,653 ( -3.6%)
06/09 Fantastic Four #567 - 46,225 ( -0.9%)
07/09 Fantastic Four #568 - 45,828 ( -0.9%)
07/09 Fantastic Four #569 - 44,710 ( -2.4%)
08/09 Fantastic Four #570 - 62,401 (+39.6%)
09/09 Fantastic Four #571 - 47,468 (-23.4%)
10/09 Fantastic Four #572 - 41,939 (-11.6%)
11/09 Fantastic Four #573 - 39,433 ( -6.0%)
12/09 Fantastic Four #574 - 38,431 ( -2.5%)
6 mnth (-16.9%)
1 year (-28.9%)
2 year (-25.1%)
3 year (-54.7%)
4 year (-17.8%)
5 year (-19.3%)This has a 1:44 variant, compared to a 1:18 variant on the previous issue, so the underlying trend is probably a little steeper than this makes it look.

52. DEADPOOL: MERC WITH A MOUTH
07/09 Merc With A Mouth #1 - 59,628
08/09 Merc With A Mouth #2 - 51,147 (-14.2%)
09/09 Merc With A Mouth #3 - 43,855 (-14.3%)
10/09 Merc With A Mouth #4 - 40,154 ( -8.4%)
11/09 Merc With A Mouth #5 - 37,781 ( -5.9%)
12/09 Merc With A Mouth #6 - 37,051 ( -1.9%)Seems to be levelling out. Deadpool does indeed seem to be sustaining three monthly titles with respectable sales, although I still have my doubts about the wisdom of flooding the market with even more Deadpool comics. There surely has to be a limit, and it seems Marvel are determined to find it.

53. X-FACTOR
12/05 X-Factor #2 - 52,705
12/06 X-Factor #14 - 40,208
12/07 X-Factor #26 - 74,699
=====
12/08 X-Factor #38 - 34,425 ( -3.7%)
01/09 X-Factor #39 - 32,796 ( -4.7%)
02/09 X-Factor #40 - 31,943 ( -2.6%)
03/09 X-Factor #41 - 31,888 ( -0.2%)
04/09 X-Factor #42 - 32,000 ( +0.4%)
05/09 X-Factor #43 - 31,543 ( -1.4%)
06/09 X-Factor #44 - 31,552 ( +0.0%)
06/09 X-Factor #45 - 31,109 ( -1.4%)
07/09 X-Factor #46 - 31,213 ( +0.3%)
08/09 X-Factor #47 - 33,052 ( +5.9%)
09/09 X-Factor #48 - 30,305 ( -8.3%)
09/09 X-Factor #49 - 29,934 ( -1.2%)
10/09 X-Factor #50 - 30,138 ( +0.7%)
11/09 ---
12/09 X-Factor #200 - 36,577 (+21.4%)
6 mnth (+17.6%)
1 year ( +6.3%)
2 year (-51.0%)
3 year ( -9.0%)
4 year (-30.6%)The latest book to resume its original numbering. This issue also has two variant covers contributing to its sales, so I’d expect it to return to previous numbers fairly quickly.

54. WOLVERINE: ORIGINS
12/06 Origins #9 - 84,733
12/07 Origins #20 - 53,548
=====
12/08 Origins #31 - 45,043 (-10.6%)
01/09 Origins #32 - 44,697 ( -0.8%)
02/09 Origins #33 - 44,935 ( +0.5%)
03/09 Origins #34 - 45,579 ( +1.4%)
04/09 Origins #35 - 44,976 ( -1.3%)
05/09 Origins #36 - 45,451 ( +1.1%)
06/09 Origins #37 - 44,930 ( -1.1%)
07/09 Origins #38 - 47,211 ( +5.1%)
08/09 Origins #39 - 44,968 ( -4.8%)
09/09 Origins #40 - 42,724 ( -5.0%)
10/09 Origins #41 - 39,453 ( -7.7%)
11/09 Origins #42 - 37,903 ( -3.9%)
12/09 Origins #43 - 36,528 ( -3.6%)
6 mnth (-18.7%)
1 year (-18.9%)
2 year (-31.8%)
3 year (-56.9%)Still drifting down, but the book is now in the home stretch for its multi-year storyline, and is clearly going to finish off at a respectable level.

55. DEADPOOL TEAM-UP
10/09 Deadpool #900 - 51,337
11/09 Deadpool Team-Up #899 - 39,584 (-22.9%)
12/09 Deadpool Team-Up #898 - 36,308 ( -8.3%)The third monthly Deadpool title is still levelling out, but by the standards of recent Marvel Universe launches, it’s doing pretty well.

57. MARVELS PROJECT
08/09 Marvels Project #1 of 8 - 89,062
09/09 Marvels Project #2 of 8 - 47,744 (-46.4%)
10/09 Marvels Project #3 of 8 - 39,313 (-17.7%)
11/09 ---
12/09 Marvels Project #4 of 8 - 34,775 (-11.5%)I’d say that’s on the steep side, halfway through the run.

59. WOLVERINE: WEAPON X
04/09 Weapon X #1 - 97,896
05/09 Weapon X #2 - 59,192 (-39.5%)
06/09 Weapon X #3 - 51,076 (-13.7%)
07/09 ---
08/09 Weapon X #4 - 49,284 ( -3.5%)
09/09 Weapon X #5 - 40,975 (-16.9%)
10/09 Weapon X #6 - 38,446 ( -6.2%)
11/09 Weapon X #7 - 36,108 ( -6.1%)
12/09 Weapon X #8 - 33,470 ( -7.3%)
6 mnth (-34.5%)Much as I like this book, the numbers aren’t looking too great. As I’ve said before, the repackaging of WOLVERINE as DARK WOLVERINE, a Daken series, appears to have backfired quite badly so far as Wolverine himself is concerned. Since WOLVERINE no longer exists, his biggest selling title is now ORIGINS, which isn’t even in the top 50. Considering that the character has been a top 10 mainstay for years, it’s hard to avoid the feeling that something has gone very badly wrong here.

62. AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE
12/07 Initiative #8 - 58,126
=====
12/08 Initiative #19 - 52,558 (-14.1%)
12/08 Initiative #20 - 51,230 ( -2.5%)
01/09 Initiative #21 - 47,734 ( -6.8%)
02/09 Initiative #22 - 46,932 ( -1.7%)
03/09 ---
04/09 Initiative #23 - 45,146 ( -3.8%)
05/09 Initiative #24 - 42,510 ( -5.8%)
06/09 Initiative #25 - 40,101 ( -5.7%)
07/09 Initiative #26 - 38,215 ( -4.7%)
08/09 Initiative #27 - 39,014 ( +2.1%)
09/09 Initiative #28 - 33,855 (-13.2%)
10/09 Initiative #29 - 31,412 ( -7.2%)
11/09 Initiative #30 - 28,688 ( -8.7%)
12/09 Initiative #31 - 32,291 (+12.6%)
6 mnth (-19.5%)
1 year (-38.6%)
2 year (-44.4%)This is an early Siege tie-in, and it picks up the expected crossover boost. That said, the rate of decline on INTIATIVE is such that the book is still down on September. However, like the other Avengers titles, the book is due for a relaunch in the spring.

63. NEW MUTANTS
05/09 New Mutants #1 - 60,972
06/09 New Mutants #2 - 43,230 (-29.1%)
07/09 New Mutants #3 - 42,961 ( -0.6%)
08/09 New Mutants #4 - 38,558 (-10.2%)
09/09 New Mutants #5 - 31,502 (-18.3%)
10/09 New Mutants #6 - 34,967 (+11.0%)
11/09 New Mutants #7 - 33,328 ( -4.7%)
12/09 New Mutants #8 - 32,240 ( -3.3%)
6 mnth (-25.4%)This is the concluding part of a three-issue “Necrosha” tie-in, hence the boost relative to issue #5.

67,77. DARK TOWER
12/07 ---
=====
12/08 Treachery #4 of 6 - 53,735 ( -7.8%)
01/09 Treachery #5 of 6 - 50,683 ( -5.7%)
02/09 Treachery #6 of 6 - 48,127 ( -5.0%)
03/09 ---
04/09 Sorcerer #1 - 39,210 (-18.5%)
05/09 Fall of Gilead #1 of 6 - 43,580 (+11.1%)
06/09 Fall of Gilead #2 of 6 - 39,978 ( -8.3%)
07/09 Fall of Gilead #3 of 6 - 36,982 ( -7.5%)
08/09 Fall of Gilead #4 of 6 - 35,607 ( -3.7%)
09/09 Fall of Gilead #5 of 6 - 34,522 ( -3.0%)
10/09 ---
11/09 Fall of Gilead #6 of 6 - 32,531 ( -5.8%)
12/09 Jericho Hill #1 of 5 - 30,756 ( -5.5%)
12/09 Jericho Hill #2 of 5 - 28,350 ( -7.8%)
6 mnth (-29.1%)
1 year (-47.2%)
2 year ( --- )The first two issues of the latest DARK TOWER mini. From the look of this, retailers are just treating it as a continuing series. There’s no longer even a token bump for the first issue of each arc.

68. SECRET WARRIORS
02/09 Secret Warriors #1 - 62,764
03/09 Secret Warriors #2 - 48,086 (-23.4%)
04/09 Secret Warriors #3 - 50,126 ( +4.2%)
05/09 Secret Warriors #4 - 42,781 (-14.7%)
06/09 Secret Warriors #5 - 40,849 ( -4.5%)
07/09 Secret Warriors #6 - 41,749 ( +2.2%)
08/09 Secret Warriors #7 - 38,990 ( -6.6%)
09/09 Secret Warriors #8 - 33,893 (-13.1%)
10/09 Secret Warriors #9 - 36,385 ( +7.4%)
11/09 Secret Warriors #10 - 31,567 (-13.2%)
12/09 Secret Warriors #11 - 30,748 ( -2.6%)
6 mnth (-24.7%)If you leave issue #9’s spike out of account, this is actually levelling out nicely enough.

70. THUNDERBOLTS
12/04 New Thunderbolts #3 - 32,720
12/05 New Thunderbolts #16 - 25,084
12/06 Thunderbolts #109 - 27,300
12/07 ---
=====
12/08 Thunderbolts #127 - 36,378 ( +5.0%)
01/09 Thunderbolts #128 - 45,745 (+25.7%)
02/09 Thunderbolts #129 - 45,401 ( -0.7%)
03/09 Thunderbolts #130 - 52,264 (+15.1%)
04/09 Thunderbolts #131 - 49,155 ( -5.9%)
05/09 Thunderbolts #132 - 43,911 (-10.7%)
06/09 Thunderbolts #133 - 39,479 (-10.1%)
07/09 Thunderbolts #134 - 40,885 ( +3.6%)
08/09 ---
09/09 Thunderbolts #135 - 39,961 ( -2.3%)
09/09 Thunderbolts #136 - 34,031 (-14.8%)
10/09 Thunderbolts #137 - 32,409 ( -4.8%)
11/09 Thunderbolts #138 - 31,238 ( -3.6%)
12/09 Thunderbolts #139 - 29,957 ( -4.1%)
6 mnth (-24.1%)
1 year (-17.7%)
2 year ( --- )
3 year ( +9.7%)
4 year (+19.4%)
5 year ( -8.4%)Orders are dropping, but since the book is closely tied to “Dark Reign”, it must be headed for a relaunch or at least a new direction in the spring.

71. SPIDER-WOMAN
09/09 Spider-Woman #1 - 50,344
10/09 Spider-Woman #2 - 37,255 (-26.0%)
11/09 Spider-Woman #3 - 32,437 (-12.9%)
12/09 Spider-Woman #4 - 29,755 ( -8.3%)Levelling out somewhat.

73. ULTIMATE COMICS ARMOR WARS
09/09 U.C. Armor Wars #1 of 4 - 51,035
10/09 U.C. Armor Wars #2 of 4 - 34,141 (-33.1%)
11/09 ---
12/09 U.C. Armor Wars #3 of 4 - 29,439 (-13.8%)These are pretty big drops for a miniseries, and again, it tends to suggest that the Ultimate imprint remains troubled despite its recent relaunch.

74. WEB OF SPIDER-MAN
10/09 Web of Spider-Man #1 - 58,412
11/09 Web of Spider-Man #2 - 32,093 (-45.1%)
12/09 Web of Spider-Man #3 - 29,368 ( -8.5%)A more reasonable drop this month, but still miles adrift of the main Spider-Man book.

75. CABLE
12/08 Cable #9 - 34,527 ( -7.5%)
01/09 Cable #10 - 33,319 ( -3.5%)
02/09 Cable #11 - 31,817 ( -4.5%)
03/09 Cable #12 - 32,407 ( +1.9%)
04/09 Cable #13 - 47,638 (+47.0%)
05/09 Cable #14 - 52,245 ( +9.7%)
06/09 Cable #15 - 49,912 ( -4.5%)
07/09 Cable #16 - 39,646 (-20.6%)
08/09 Cable #17 - 39,424 ( -0.6%)
09/09 Cable #18 - 33,958 (-13.9%)
10/09 Cable #19 - 31,009 ( -8.7%)
11/09 Cable #20 - 29,245 ( -5.7%)
12/09 Cable #21 - 29,094 ( -0.5%)
6 mnth (-41.7%)
1 year (-15.7%)Cancelled with issue #25.

82,85,86,98,102. WHAT IF...?
12/09 Astonishing X-Men - 25,060
12/09 Secret Invasion - 24,966
12/09 World War Hulk - 24,582
12/09 Spider-Man: House of M - 22,287
12/09 Daredevil vs Elektra - 21,411The annual selection of WHAT IF one-shots, all selling roughly the same.

84. PUNISHER
12/06 ---
12/07 War Journal #14 - 38,471
=====
12/08 War Journal #26 - 22,423 ( -25.2%)
01/09 Punisher #1 - 49,222 (+119.5%)
02/09 Punisher #2 - 40,928 ( -16.9%)
03/09 Punisher #3 - 37,570 ( -8.2%)
04/09 Punisher #4 - 36,995 ( -1.5%)
05/09 Punisher #5 - 35,621 ( -3.7%)
06/09 Punisher #6 - 32,982 ( -7.4%)
07/09 Punisher #7 - 31,227 ( -5.3%)
08/09 Punisher #8 - 33,057 ( +5.9%)
09/09 Punisher #9 - 28,424 ( -14.1%)
10/09 Punisher #10 - 27,167 ( -4.4%)
11/09 Punisher #11 - 24,900 ( -8.3%)
12/09 Punisher #12 - 24,985 ( +0.3%)
6 mnth ( -24.2%)
1 year ( +11.4%)
2 year ( +35.1%)A tiny increase, but at least it’s not dropping. There’s no obvious reason for the change, so presumably the “Franken-Castle” storyline has attracted some curiosity.

87. THE STAND
12/08 Captain Trips #4 of 5 - 49,211 (-10.6%)
01/09 Captain Trips #5 of 5 - 46,702 ( -5.1%)
02/09 ---
03/09 Nightmares #1 of 5 - 47,473 ( +1.7%)
04/09 Nightmares #2 of 5 - 38,909 (-18.0%)
05/09 Nightmares #3 of 5 - 36,364 ( -6.5%)
06/09 ---
07/09 Nightmares #4 of 5 - 34,292 ( -5.7%)
08/09 Nightmares #5 of 5 - 31,506 ( -8.1%)10/09 Soul Survivors #1 of 5 - 27,725 (-12.0%)
11/09 Soul Survivors #2 of 5 - 25,600 ( -7.7%)
12/09 Soul Survivors #3 of 5 - 24,308 ( -5.0%)
6 mnth ( --- )
1 year (-50.6%)Orders to continue to drop on both Stephen King adaptations – but of course, these are the sorts of projects which you’d expect to do unusually well outside the direct market.

90. INCREDIBLE HERCULES
12/08 Hercules #124 - 36,855 ( +3.0%)
01/09 Hercules #125 - 31,888 (-13.5%)
02/09 Hercules #126 - 31,000 ( -2.8%)
03/09 Hercules #127 - 31,890 ( +2.9%)
04/09 Hercules #128 - 33,739 ( +5.8%)
05/09 Hercules #129 - 28,995 (-14.1%)
06/09 Hercules #130 - 27,872 ( -3.9%)
07/09 Hercules #131 - 29,188 ( +4.7%)
08/09 Hercules #132 - 32,680 (+12.0%)
08/09 Hercules #133 - 27,491 (-15.9%)
09/09 Hercules #134 - 25,380 ( -7.7%)
09/09 Hercules #135 - 26,344 ( +3.8%)
10/09 Hercules #136 - 26,447 ( -0.4%)
10/09 Hercules #137 - 23,463 (-11.3%)
11/09 Hercules #138 - 25,116 ( +7.0%)
12/09 Hercules #139 - 23,591 ( -6.1%)
6 mnth (-15.4%)
1 year (-36.0%)That’s actually up slightly from issue #137. Some sort of relaunch seems to be in the offing for the spring, a strategy which has worked in the past for well-reviewed titles.

92. PUNISHERMAX [Max]
12/04 Punisher #15 - 40,357
12/05 Punisher #28 - 35,535
12/06 Punisher #42 - 33,003
12/07 Punisher #53 - 31,772
=====
12/08 Punisher #65 - 23,881 ( -3.2%)
01/09 Frank Castle #66 - 22,806 ( -4.5%)
02/09 Frank Castle #67 - 22,267 ( -2.4%)
03/09 Frank Castle #68 - 22,255 ( -0.0%)
04/09 Frank Castle #69 - 21,843 ( -1.9%)
05/09 Frank Castle #70 - 21,864 ( +0.1%)
06/09 Frank Castle #71 - 21,319 ( -2.5%)
07/09 Frank Castle #72 - 21,049 ( -1.3%)
08/09 Frank Castle #73 - 20,375 ( -3.2%)
09/09 Frank Castle #74 - 20,259 ( -0.6%)
10/09 Frank Castle #75 - 22,210 ( +9.6%)
11/09 PunisherMax #1 - 29,119 (+31.1%)
12/09 PunisherMax #2 - 23,110 (-20.4%)
6 mnth ( +8.4%)
1 year ( -3.2%)
2 year (-27.3%)
3 year (-30.0%)
4 year (-35.0%)
5 year (-42.7%)We’re already more or less back at previous sales levels, something which seems to be an increasing problem with arbitrary renumberings. Bluntly, my feeling is that Marvel have squandered this gimmick on too many relaunches that amounted to nothing more than a change of creative team, and now it doesn’t work any more. That said, if this HAD simply been PUNISHER #77, it wouldn’t be a bad number.

93. PSYLOCKE
11/09 Psylocke #1 of 4 - 26,144
12/09 Psylocke #2 of 4 - 23,018 (-12.0%)An off-the-radar X-Men miniseries.

96. MS MARVEL
12/06 Ms Marvel #10 - 34,350
12/07 Ms Marvel #22 - 25,450
=====
12/08 Ms Marvel #34 - 29,770 (+24.1%)
01/09 Ms Marvel #35 - 26,824 (-10.0%)
02/09 Ms Marvel #36 - 25,864 ( -3.6%)
03/09 Ms Marvel #37 - 25,053 ( -3.1%)
04/09 Ms Marvel #38 - 27,535 (+10.0%)
05/09 Ms Marvel #39 - 24,757 (-10.1%)
06/09 Ms Marvel #40 - 25,216 ( +1.9%)
07/09 Ms Marvel #41 - 27,187 ( +7.8%)
07/09 Ms Marvel #42 - 25,103 ( -7.7%)
08/09 Ms Marvel #43 - 28,261 (+12.6%)
08/09 Ms Marvel #44 - 25,550 ( -9.6%)
09/09 Ms Marvel #45 - 30,528 (+19.5%)
10/09 Ms Marvel #46 - 25,717 (-15.8%)
11/09 Ms Marvel #47 - 22,937 (-10.8%)
12/09 Ms Marvel #48 - 22,527 ( -1.8%)
6 mnth (-10.7%)
1 year (-24.3%)
2 year (-11.5%)
3 year (-34.4%)Cancelled with issue #50.

97. SPIDER-MAN AND THE SECRET WARS
12/09 Secret Wars #1 of 4 - 22,397An all-ages miniseries. As usual, playing that down and stressing the Marvel Universe angle seems to result in higher direct market sales. (What it does in other channels, who can tell.)

99. GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY
12/08 Guardians o/Galaxy #8 - 31,564 ( +3.4%)
01/09 Guardians o/Galaxy #9 - 28,502 ( -9.7%)
02/09 Guardians o/Galaxy #10 - 27,648 ( -3.0%)
03/09 Guardians o/Galaxy #11 - 27,415 ( -0.8%)
03/09 Guardians o/Galaxy #12 - 26,764 ( -2.4%)
04/09 Guardians o/Galaxy #13 - 27,107 ( +1.3%)
05/09 Guardians o/Galaxy #14 - 27,130 ( +0.1%)
06/09 Guardians o/Galaxy #15 - 26,808 ( -1.2%)
07/09 Guardians o/Galaxy #16 - 26,605 ( -0.8%)
08/09 Guardians o/Galaxy #17 - 27,893 ( +4.8%)
09/09 Guardians o/Galaxy #18 - 24,896 (-10.7%)
10/09 Guardians o/Galaxy #19 - 23,597 ( -5.2%)
11/09 Guardians o/Galaxy #20 - 22,965 ( -2.7%)
12/09 Guardians o/Galaxy #21 - 22,271 ( -3.0%)
6 mnth (-16.9%)
1 year (-29.4%)

100. NOVA
12/07 Nova #9 - 30,469
=====
12/08 Nova #20 - 29,405 ( +3.9%)
01/09 Nova #21 - 25,647 (-12.8%)
02/09 Nova #22 - 25,065 ( -2.3%)
03/09 Nova #23 - 26,413 ( +5.4%)
04/09 Nova #24 - 26,240 ( -0.7%)
05/09 Nova #25 - 26,172 ( -0.3%)
06/09 Nova #26 - 28,107 ( +7.4%)
07/09 Nova #27 - 25,677 ( -8.6%)
08/09 Nova #28 - 27,038 ( +5.3%)
09/09 Nova #29 - 23,924 (-11.5%)
10/09 Nova #30 - 22,845 ( -4.5%)
11/09 Nova #31 - 22,928 ( +0.4%)
12/09 Nova #32 - 22,202 ( -3.2%)
6 mnth (-21.0%)
1 year (-24.5%)
2 year (-27.1%)The two cosmic titles, currently in the “Realm of Kings” crossover, which follows on more or less directly from “War of Kings.” This makes it hard to figure out a baseline sales level for the titles, but there’s clearly a steady core audience for the cosmic stories.

101. VENGEANCE OF MOON KNIGHT
12/06 ---
12/07 ---
=====
12/08 Moon Knight #25 - 23,283 ( -2.8%)
01/09 Moon Knight #26 - 21,796 ( -6.4%)
02/09 Moon Knight #27 - 21,413 ( -1.8%)
03/09 Moon Knight #28 - 20,866 ( -2.6%)
04/09 Moon Knight #29 - 22,689 ( +8.7%)
05/09 Moon Knight #30 - 19,693 (-13.2%)
06/09 ---
07/09 ---
08/09 ---
09/09 Moon Knight #1 - 35,706 (+81.3%)
10/09 Moon Knight #2 - 26,493 (-25.8%)
11/09 Moon Knight #3 - 23,359 (-11.8%)
12/09 Moon Knight #4 - 21,482 ( -8.0%)
6 mnth ( --- )
1 year ( -7.7%)
2 year ( --- )
3 year ( --- )Another relaunch that doesn’t seem to have produced a lasting sales increase.

104. REALM OF KINGS: INHUMANS
11/09 Inhumans #1 of 5 - 24,213
12/09 Inhumans #2 of 5 - 21,242 (-12.3%)

107. BLACK WIDOW: DEADLY ORIGIN
11/09 Deadly Origin #1 of 4 - 29,352
12/09 Deadly Origin #2 of 4 - 20,925 (-28.7%)

109. REALM OF KINGS: IMPERIAL GUARD
11/09 Imperial Guard #1 of 5 - 23,450
12/09 Imperial Guard #2 of 5 - 20,647 (-12.0%)The two REALM OF KINGS tie-in miniseries are moving more or less in unison, as you’d expect. They’re also within spitting distance of NOVA and GUARDIANS, which goes to show what a loyal audience the cosmic books have. Also in here, the Black Widow origin miniseries, with a hefty second issue drop.

111. AMAZING SPIDER-MAN PRESENTS ANTI-VENOM
09/09 Anti-Venom #1 of 3 - 32,128
10/09 Anti-Venom #2 of 3 - 23,870 (-25.7%)
11/09 ---
12/09 Anti-Venom #3 of 3 - 20,364 (-14.7%)Drifting off the radar.

112,135. IRON MAN VS WHIPLASH
12/09 Whiplash #1 of 4 - 20,126
12/09 Whiplash #2 of 4 - 15,494 (-23.0%)Whiplash is the villain in the second Iron Man movie, hence this miniseries. It’s not doing especially great numbers in the direct market, but of course the point here is to have the collected edition ready in time for the movie to come out.

114. WOLVERINE: UNDER THE BOARDWALK
12/09 Under the Boardwalk - 19,271This month’s obligatory Wolverine one-shot.

115,117. X-MEN FOREVER
06/09 X-Men Forever #1 - 36,213
06/09 X-Men Forever #2 - 31,767 (-12.3%)
07/09 X-Men Forever #3 - 28,651 ( -9.8%)
07/09 X-Men Forever #4 - 28,645 ( -0.0%)
08/09 X-Men Forever #5 - 27,825 ( -2.9%)
08/09 X-Men Forever #6 - 24,875 (-10.6%)
09/09 X-Men Forever #7 - 24,115 ( -3.1%)
09/09 X-Men Forever #8 - 23,174 ( -3.9%)
10/09 X-Men Forever #9 - 21,926 ( -5.4%)
10/09 X-Men Forever #10 - 22,287 ( +1.6%)
11/09 X-Men Forever #11 - 20,130 ( -9.7%)
11/09 X-Men Forever #12 - 19,541 ( -2.9%)
12/09 X-Men Forever #13 - 18,870 ( -3.4%)
12/09 X-Men Forever #14 - 18,376 ( -2.6%)
6 mnth (-42.2%)Still drifting down. But Marvel are evidently happy with these numbers, given that X-FACTOR FOREVER and NEW MUTANTS FOREVER miniseries have been commissioned.

116. DARK AVENGERS: ARES
10/09 Ares #1 of 3 - 25,995
11/09 Ares #2 of 3 - 20,256 (-22.1%)
12/09 Ares #3 of 3 - 18,597 ( -8.2%)Standard behaviour for a miniseries. Not particularly high sales, but that’s probably a reflection of coming at the tail end of the Dark Reign period.

118. SPIDER-MAN CLONE SAGA
09/09 Clone Saga #1 of 6 - 27,697
10/09 Clone Saga #2 of 6 - 21,473 (-22.5%)
11/09 Clone Saga #3 of 6 - 19,478 ( -9.3%)
12/09 Clone Saga #4 of 6 - 18,324 ( -5.9%)For an out-of-continuity miniseries revisiting a rather divisive 1990s storyline, I’d have to say this is doing better than I predicted.

119. STRANGE
11/09 Strange #1 of 4 - 23,362
12/09 Strange #2 of 4 - 18,005 (-22.9%)This looks to have got lost in the shuffle somewhat. Of course, Dr Strange has always struggled to support his own title even at the best of times.

120. BLACK PANTHER
12/05 Black Panther #11 - 29,327
12/06 Black Panther #23 - 54,762
12/07 Black Panther #33 - 25,906
=====
12/08 ---
01/09 ---
02/09 Black Panther #1 - 52,991 (+57.6%)
03/09 Black Panther #2 - 33,755 (-36.3%)
04/09 Black Panther #3 - 33,356 ( -1.2%)
05/09 Black Panther #4 - 30,984 ( -7.1%)
06/09 Black Panther #5 - 29,762 ( -3.9%)
07/09 Black Panther #6 - 29,727 ( -0.1%)
08/09 Black Panther #7 - 27,619 ( -7.1%)
09/09 Black Panther #8 - 23,020 (-16.7%)
10/09 Black Panther #9 - 20,346 (-11.6%)
11/09 Black Panther #10 - 19,147 ( -5.9%)
12/09 Black Panther #11 - 17,989 ( -6.0%)
6 mnth (-29.6%)
1 year ( --- )
2 year (-30.6%)
3 year (-67.2%)
4 year (-38.7%)Plainly, not looking good. We’ve now dropped below the orders of the previous volume, which bottomed out at 19,459 in July 2008. The series is going on hiatus shortly, to be replaced by a miniseries called DOOMWAR.

122. WAR MACHINE
12/08 War Machine #1 - 54,396
01/09 War Machine #2 - 39,835 (-26.8%)
02/09 War Machine #3 - 33,818 (-15.1%)
03/09 War Machine #4 - 32,693 ( -3.3%)
04/09 War Machine #5 - 34,254 ( +4.8%)
05/09 War Machine #6 - 27,703 (-19.1%)
06/09 War Machine #7 - 28,757 ( +3.8%)
07/09 ---
08/09 War Machine #8 - 23,961 (-16.7%)
09/09 War Machine #9 - 23,589 ( -1.6%)
10/09 War Machine #10 - 20,207 (-14.3%)
11/09 War Machine #11 - 18,545 ( -8.2%)
12/09 War Machine #12 - 17,572 ( -5.2%)
6 mnth (-38.9%)
1 yearr (-67.7%)Axed.

123. POWERS [Icon]
12/04 Powers #7 - 30,687
12/05 Powers #15 - 25,633
12/06 ---
12/07 ---
=====
11/09 Powers #1 - 20,146
12/09 Powers #2 - 17,181 (-14.7%)
6 mnth ( --- )
1 year ( --- )
2 year ( --- )
3 year ( --- )
4 year (-33.0%)
5 year (-44.0%)A fairly small second-issue drop, which suggests there’s still a reasonably loyal audience for this book despite the hiatus.

127. SPIDER-MAN NOIR: EYES WITHOUT A FACE
12/09 Eyes Without a Face #1 of 4 - 16,447

130. X-MEN NOIR: MARK OF CAIN
12/09 Mark of Cain #1 of 4 - 16,043The two latest NOIR miniseries enter right next to one another. It’s in roughly the same range as the last two – PUNISHER NOIR, which launched with 18K, and LUKE CAGE NOIR, at 15K.

132. MARVELOUS LAND OF OZ
12/08 Wizard of Oz #1 of 8 - 25,116
01/09 Wizard of Oz #2 of 8 - 17,608 (-29.9%)
02/09 Wizard of Oz #3 of 8 - 15,668 (-11.0%)
03/09 Wizard of Oz #4 of 8 - 16,159 ( +3.1%)
04/09
Wizard of Oz #5 of 8 - 16,110 ( -0.3%)
05/09 Wizard of Oz #6 of 8 - 15,774 ( -2.1%)
06/09 Wizard of Oz #7 of 8 - 15,473 ( -1.9%)
07/09 Wizard of Oz #8 of 8 - 15,487 ( +0.1%)
08/09 ---
09/09 ---
10/09 ---
11/09 Marvelous Land #1 of 8 - 25,338 (+63.6%)
12/09 Marvelous Land #2 of 8 - 15,783 (-37.7%)
6 mnth ( +0.1%)
1 year (-37.2%)Straight back to the sales of the previous series – but that’s pretty good for a project like this.

140. GHOST RIDERS: HEAVENS ON FIRE
08/09 Heavens on Fire #1 of 6 - 21,944
09/09 Heavens on Fire #2 of 6 - 18,262 (-16.8%)
10/09 Heavens on Fire #3 of 6 - 16,879 ( -7.6%)
11/09 Heavens on Fire #4 of 6 - 16,193 ( -4.1%)
12/09 Heavens on Fire #5 of 6 - 15,128 ( -6.6%)Standard miniseries behaviour.

141. S.W.O.R.D.
11/09 S.W.O.R.D. #1 - 21,988
12/09 S.W.O.R.D. #2 - 15,113 (-31.3%)

143. DOCTOR VOODOO, AVENGER OF THE SUPERNATURAL
10/09 Dr Voodoo #1 - 23,328
11/09 Dr Voodoo #2 - 16,681 (-28.5%)
12/09 Dr Voodoo #3 - 14,769 (-11.5%)Two new launches, both insta-cancelled with issue #5. A shame.

144. CRIMINAL [Icon]
12/06 Criminal #3 - 17,702
12/07 ---
12/08 Criminal #7 - 14,703
=====
10/09 Sinners #1 of 5 - 20,580
11/09 Sinners #2 of 5 - 15,628 (-24.1%)
12/09 Sinners #3 of 5 - 14,624 ( -6.4%)Levelling out nicely, and the book seems to be holding onto its core audience.

146. DEATHLOK
11/09 Deathlok #1 of 7 - 20,855
12/09 Deathlok #2 of 7 - 14,059 (-32.6%)A steep drop, but to be honest, it’s not doing badly for an out-of-continuity Marvel Knights miniseries.

147,166. BLACK WIDOW & THE MARVEL GIRLS
12/09 Marvel Girls #1 of 4 - 13,873
12/09 Marvel Girls #2 of 4 - 12,087 (-12.9%)Another miniseries designed to get some Black Widow collections out in time for the next Iron Man movie. This is an all-ages title, so by the standards of those books it’s doing just fine. As is often the case, shipping the first two issues close together results in a smaller second issue drop. (But it’s often balanced out by a bigger drop in the next month.)

148. TORCH
09/09 Torch #1 of 8 - 26,921
10/09 Torch #2 of 8 - 18,115 (-32.7%)
11/09 Torch #3 of 8 - 15,209 (-16.0%)
12/09 Torch #4 of 8 - 13,782 ( -9.4%)This is losing readers quite fast, considering that it’s a Marvel Universe miniseries with some fairly well-known creators attached. There just doesn’t seem to be much interest in the character.

149. HULK: WINTER GUARD
12/09 Winter Guard - 13,611Random one-shot, backed up with a Peter David HULK reprint. The orders are much as we’ve come to expect for one-off Marvel Universe projects without much promotion behind them.

151. CAPTAIN AMERICA: THEATER OF WAR
12/09 Prisoners of Duty - 13,511Yet another flashback story.

160. PUNISHER NOIR
08/09 Punisher Noir #1 of 4 - 18,315
09/09 Punisher Noir #2 of 4 - 15,466 (-15.6%)
10/09 Punisher Noir #3 of 4 - 13,609 (-12.0%)
11/09 ---
12/09 Punisher Noir #4 of 4 - 12,603 (-27.9%)Slipping slightly off schedule. Sales are standard for the Noir imprint.

170. X-BABIES
10/09 X-Babies #1 of 4 - 18,383
11/09 X-Babies #2 of 4 - 12,429 (-32.4%)
12/09 X-Babies #3 of 4 - 11,184 (-10.0%)Weird miniseries featuring the Star Comics characters, presumably to promote the collected editions of their original 1980s comics. The orders are modest, but again, the product is so niche that I can’t honestly say they’re bad.

172. IRON MAN: REQUIEM
12/09 Requiem - 11,008A couple of reprints with a new framing sequence. Orders are perfectly fine for that sort of thing.

176. HALO: BLOOD LINE
12/09 Blood Line #1 of 5 - 10,551Video game adaptation. These projects notoriously sell much better through other channels.

177. ANITA BLAKE, VAMPIRE HUNTER
12/06 Glt. Pleasures #3 of 12 - 36,091
12/07 ---
=====
12/08 Laughing Corpse #3 of 5 - 15,665 ( -8.9%)
01/09 Laughing Corpse #4 of 5 - 14,422 ( -7.9%)
02/09 Laughing Corpse #5 of 5 - 14,095 ( -2.3%)
03/09 ---
04/09 Necromancer #1 of 5 - 15,308 ( +8.6%)
05/09 ---
06/09 Necromancer #2 of 5 - 12,907 (-15.7%)
07/09 Necromancer #3 of 5 - 12,143 ( -5.9%)
08/09 Necromancer #4 of 5 - 11,597 ( -4.5%)
09/09 Necromancer #5 of 5 - 11,142 ( -3.9%)
10/09 Executioner #1 of 5 - 11,205 ( +0.6%)
11/09 ---
12/09 Executioner #2 of 5 - 10,454 ( -6.7%)
6 mnth (-19.0%)
1 year (-33.3%)
2 year ( --- )
3 year (-71.0%)Still drifting slowly down. Again, this book is an obvious candidate for sales outside the direct market.

178. SPIDER-MAN 1602
10/09 Spider-Man 1602 #1 of 5 - 18,273
11/09 Spider-Man 1602 #2 of 5 - 12,802 (-29.9%)
12/09 Spider-Man 1602 #3 of 5 - 10,392 (-18.8%)Spiralling down the charts. Surely the end of the line for the 1602 franchise?

185. UNCANNY X-MEN: FIRST CLASS
12/06 First Class #4 of 8 - 28,455
12/07 First Class #7 - 16,195
=====
12/08 ---
01/09 ---
02/09 Finals #1 of 4 - 15,736 (+18.6%)
03/09 Finals #2 of 4 - 11,533 (-26.7%)
04/09 Finals #3 of 4 - 10,870 ( -5.7%)
05/09 Finals #4 of 4 - 10,579 ( -2.7%)
06/09 Giant-Size Special - 12,614 (+19.2%)
07/09 Uncanny #1 of 8 - 18,363 (+45.6%)
08/09 Uncanny #2 of 8 - 12,978 (-29.3%)
09/09 Uncanny #3 of 8 - 11,954 ( -7.9%)
10/09 Uncanny #4 of 8 - 11,260 ( -5.8%)
11/09 Uncanny #5 of 8 - 10,589 ( -6.0%)
12/09 Uncanny #6 of 8 - 10,021 ( -5.4%)
6 mnth (-20.6%)
1 year ( --- )
2 year (-38.1%)
3 year (-64.8%)Marvel haven’t solicited anything for March, so apparently the franchise comes to an end after this miniseries. No doubt it’ll be back in some form when the First Class movie comes around.

205. NOMAD: GIRL WITHOUT A WORLD
09/09 Nomad #1 of 4 - 18,069
10/09 Nomad #2 of 4 - 10,296 (-43.0%)
11/09 Nomad #3 of 4 - 8,772 (-14.8%)
12/09 Nomad #4 of 4 - 8,031 ( -8.4%)Pretty awful sales. However, the series lives on as a back-up in CAPTAIN AMERICA.

220. ENDERS GAME: COMMAND SCHOOL
09/09 Command School #1 of 5 - 9,840
10/09 Command School #2 of 5 - 8,428 (-14.3%)
11/09 Command School #3 of 5 - 7,735 ( -8.2%)
12/09 Command School #4 of 5 - 7,129 ( -7.8%)

222. ENDERS GAME: WAR OF GIFTS
12/09 War of Gifts - 6,995

229. DR VOODOO: ORIGIN OF JERICHO DRUMM
12/09 Origin - 6,743

232. ENDERS SHADOW: COMMAND SCHOOL
09/09 Command School #1 of 5 - 8,972
10/09 Command School #2 of 5 - 7,547 (-15.9%)
11/09 Command School #3 of 5 - 6,938 ( -8.1%)
12/09 Command School #4 of 5 - 6,628 ( -4.5%)The ENDERS books cluster together as usual. In amongst them, we have a Brother Voodoo reprint – obviously something Marvel decided on when they had higher hopes for his solo series.

275. STARR THE SLAYER [Max]
09/09 Starr the Slayer #1 of 4 - 9,744
10/09 Starr the Slayer #2 of 4 - 6,535 (-32.9%)
11/09 Starr the Slayer #3 of 4 - 5,235 (-19.9%)
12/09 Starr the Slayer #4 of 4 - 4,832 ( -7.7%)Max titles don’t seem to sell that well in the direct market, except for PUNISHER. It’s possible, of course, that they’re doing better elsewhere – but the fact that the March solicitations see the imprint back to just Punisher comics suggests otherwise.

281. MARVEL 70TH ANNIVERSARY FRAME ART
12/09 70th Frame Art - 4,411A collection of the 70th Frame variant cover art.

282. MARVEL ADVENTURES SPIDER-MAN [All ages]
12/05 M.A. Spider-Man #10 - 6,391
12/06 M.A. Spider-Man #22 - 6,396
12/07 M.A. Spider-Man #34 - 6,115
=====
12/08 M.A. Spider-Man #46 - 4,851 ( -3.0%)
01/09 M.A. Spider-Man #47 - 4,592 ( -5.3%)
02/09 M.A. Spider-Man #48 - 4,622 ( +0.7%)
03/09 M.A. Spider-Man #49 - 4,640 ( +0.4%)
04/09 M.A. Spider-Man #50 - 4,780 ( +3.0%)
05/09 M.A. Spider-Man #51 - 4,557 ( -4.7%)
06/09 M.A. Spider-Man #52 - 4,612 ( +1.2%)
07/09 M.A. Spider-Man #53 - 5,710 (+23.8%)
08/09 M.A. Spider-Man #54 - 5,684 ( -0.5%)
09/09 M.A. Spider-Man #55 - 5,668 ( -0.3%)
10/09 M.A. Spider-Man #56 - 4,579 (-19.2%)
11/09 M.A. Spider-Man #57 - 4,501 ( -1.7%)
12/09 M.A. Spider-Man #58 - 4,352 ( -3.3%)
6 mnth ( -5.6%)
1 year (-10.3%)
2 year (-28.8%)
3 year (-32.0%)
4 year (-31.9%)Relaunching in April with a fresh issue #1. As you might have gathered, I’m a bit sceptical about whether this device still works in the direct market, but we shall see. And besides, the MARVEL ADVENTURES books are aimed at a wider audience – maybe it’s still more effective with those customers.

285. MARVEL SUPER HERO SQUAD
09/09 Super Hero Squad #1 of 4 - 6,760
10/09 Super Hero Squad #2 of 4 - 4,496 (-33.5%)
11/09 Super Hero Squad #3 of 4 - 4,384 ( -2.5%)
12/09 Super Hero Squad #4 of 4 - 4,132 ( -5.7%)Pretty solid after that initial drop.

295. OFFICIAL INDEX TO THE MARVEL UNIVERSE
01/09 Index #1 - 9,852
02/09 Index #2 - 7,278 (-26.1%)
03/09 Index #3 - 6,331 (-13.0%)
04/09 Index #4 - 5,517 (-12.9%)
05/09 Index #5 - 4,913 (-10.9%)
06/09 Index #6 - 4,743 ( -3.5%)
07/09 Index #7 - 4,518 ( -4.7%)
08/09 Index #8 - 4,263 ( -5.6%)
09/09 Index #9 - 4,144 ( -2.8%)
10/09 Index #10 - 3,980 ( -4.0%)
11/09 Index #11 - 3,739 ( -6.1%)
12/09 Index #12 - 3,689 ( -1.3%)
6 mnth (-22.2%)Ends with issue #14, which would be roughly when their coverage of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN reaches the present day. So it’s always possible this could be a relaunch.

Number 299 is last month’s DARK REIGN: THE LIST – PUNISHER, with re-orders of 3,459. That brings its total to 40,250.

And three Marvel titles missed the top 300 altogether: the Soleil reprints KOOKABURRA K #2 and SPIN ANGELS #5, and MARVEL AVENTURES SUPER HEROES #18.

6 month comparisons
===================

+17.6% - X-Factor
+ 8.4% - PunisherMax
+ 1.9% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
+ 0.1% - Marvelous Land of Oz
- 4.4% - Amazing Spider-Man
- 5.6% - Marvel Adventures Spider-Man
- 6.6% - Daredevil
-10.7% - Ms Marvel
-10.9% - Astonishing X-Men
-11.1% - Iron Man
-11.8% - X-Force
-12.1% - Uncanny X-Men
-12.8% - X-Men Legacy
-15.4% - Incredible Hercules
-16.9% - Fantastic Four
-16.9% - Guardians of the Galaxy
-17.0% - Deadpool
-18.7% - Wolverine: Origins
-19.0% - Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter
-19.5% - Avengers: The Initiative
-20.6% - Thor
-20.6% - X-Men First Class
-21.0% - Nova
-22.2% - Official Index to the Marvel Universe
-22.5% - New Avengers
-23.0% - Mighty Avengers
-24.1% - Thunderbolts
-24.2% - Punisher
-24.7% - Secret Warriors
-25.4% - New Mutants
-25.5% - Captain America / Reborn
-25.5% - Dark Avengers
-29.1% - Dark Tower
-29.6% - Black Panther
-34.5% - Wolverine: Weapon X
-38.9% - War Machine
-40.5% - Dark Wolverine
-41.7% - Cable
-42.2% - X-Men Forever

1 year comparisons
==================

+28.9% - Captain America: Reborn
+11.4% - Punisher
+ 6.3% - X-Factor
- 2.0% - Deadpool
- 3.2% - PunisherMax
- 7.7% - Moon Knight
-10.2% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
-10.3% - Marvel Adventures Spider-Man
-11.8% - X-Force
-12.8% - Daredevil
-15.7% - Amazing Spider-Man
-15.7% - Cable
-15.9% - X-Men Legacy
-16.5% - Invincible Iron Man
-17.7% - Thunderbolts
-18.5% - Uncanny X-Men
-18.9% - Wolverine: Origins
-23.9% - New Avengers
-24.3% - Ms Marvel
-24.5% - Nova
-25.1% - Thor
-28.9% - Fantastic Four
-29.4% - Guardians of the Galaxy
-33.3% - Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter
-36.0% - Incredible Hercules
-37.2% - Marvelous Land of Oz
-38.6% - Avengers: The Initiative
-39.4% - Hulk
-43.5% - Mighty Avengers
-47.2% - Dark Tower
-49.9% - Incredible Hulk
-50.6% - The Stand
-51.4% - Dark Wolverine
-67.7% - War Machine

2 year comparisons
==================

+64.1% - Invincible Iron Man
+35.1% - Punisher
+17.3% - Captain America / Reborn
-11.5% - Ms Marvel
-11.8% - Daredevil
-23.9% - Dark Wolverine
-24.0% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
-25.1% - Fantastic Four
-27.1% - Nova
-27.3% - PunisherMax
-28.8% - Marvel Adventures Spider-Man
-30.6% - Black Panther
-31.0% - New Avengers
-31.8% - Wolverine: Origins
-34.3% - Uncanny X-Men
-38.1% - X-Men: First Class
-43.0% - Incredible Hulk
-44.4% - Avengers: The Initiative
-45.6% - Thor
-46.4% - Mighty Avengers
-48.0% - X-Men Legacy
-51.0% - X-Factor
-52.7% - Amazing Spider-Man

3 year comparisons
==================

+ 9.7% - Thunderbolts
- 8.3% - Incredible Hulk
- 9.0% - X-Factor
-19.5% - Daredevil
-22.0% - Uncanny X-Men
-30.0% - PunisherMax
-32.0% - Marvel Adventures Spider-Man
-34.4% - Ms Marvel
-34.8% - X-Men Legacy
-35.5% - Invincible Iron Man
-39.0% - Dark Wolverine
-39.9% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
-40.7% - New Avengers
-53.6% - Astonishing X-Men
-54.7% - Fantastic Four
-56.9% - Wolverine: Origins
-64.8% - X-Men: First Class
-67.2% - Black Panther
-71.0% - Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter

4 year comparisons
==================

+104.2% - Captain America: Reborn
+ 19.4% - Thunderbolts
+ 19.1% - Incredible Hulk
- 17.5% - Uncanny X-Men
- 17.8% - Fantastic Four
- 23.4% - Daredevil
- 25.7% - Amazing Spider-Man
- 30.6% - X-Factor
- 31.9% - Marvel Adventures Spider-man
- 32.0% - Dark Wolverine
- 33.0% - Powers
- 35.0% - PunisherMax
- 37.2% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
- 38.7% - Black Panther
- 41.2% - X-Men Legacy
- 41.4% - New Avengers

5 year comparisons
==================

- 8.4% - Thunderbolts
-11.2% - Invincible Iron Man
-19.3% - Fantastic Four
-25.5% - Uncanny X-Men
-27.9% - Daredevil
-29.0% - Amazing Spider-Man
-40.4% - Dark Wolverine
-42.7% - PunisherMax
-44.0% - Powers
-48.5% - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
-53.9% - X-Men Legacy
-57.1% - Astonishing X-Men
-69.8% - New Avengers