DC Sales & Estimates

[ilovelocust]

Comixology's Top Ten Comics for the week of July 6-

1. Walking Dead #156
2. Batman #2
3. Justice League Rebirth #1
4. Superman #2
5. Green Arrow #2
6. Green Lanterns #2
7. Aquaman #2
8. Amazing Spider-Man #15
9. Invincible Iron Man #11
10. Poe Dameron #4

Not bad, seems like Marvel is starting to take back some slots though. Was going DC could keep dominating for a little longer.

[Lee Stone]

Not bad, seems like Marvel is starting to take back some slots though. Was going DC could keep dominating for a little longer.

DC had 13 releases this last week.
Two were Vertigo: Sheriff of Babylon and Unfollow.
Six were Rebirth titles, which all charted in top ten.
Flintstones #1 and Future Quest #2, also released last week, didn’t make it into top ten. (However, Future Quest #2 did outsell Flintstones #1.)

Also interesting is that Poe Dameron #4 outsold Han Solo #2, which came it at #11.
This could be a sign of the difference of the age range of digital readers, as older readers may be more interested in Han.

[ilovelocust]

http://www.previewsworld.com/Home/1/...ticleID=181134

I'm not sure how reliable this site is, but it claims to have the sales rankings for last month. Take it or leave it.

[Thomas Crown]

Now, let's talk about what will happen in the next months. In October, Marvel will launch "Marvel Now 2: The Search for More Money", less than one year after the last relaunch. And, with the usual scheme of dozens of variant covers and higher prices, will start to take back market share from DC again. And the internet will predictably restart the "It's all DC's fault! DC is doomed! Didio/Lee/Harras/Nelson need to be fired!" mantra.

[RobinFan4880]

Regardless of what Marvel does, DC will be in a much stronger position going forward than they were in last year. Their comics were simply not selling. Rebirth has rectified that problem. Marvel is going to gimmick their way to #1 and 40% market share. There's no getting around it. However, considering how poling on CBR has been thrashing Marvel Now 2, my bet is that Marvel will be headed towards a big rebirth in October of 2017. Take the best of what they created, slough off the rest and hoist the classics back up.

[Lee Stone]

Regardless of what Marvel does, DC will be in a much stronger position going forward than they were in last year. Their comics were simply not selling. Rebirth has rectified that problem. Marvel is going to gimmick their way to #1 and 40% market share. There's no getting around it. However, considering how poling on CBR has been thrashing Marvel Now 2, my bet is that Marvel will be headed towards a big rebirth in October of 2017. Take the best of what they created, slough off the rest and hoist the classics back up.

I agree.
I actually think the success of Rebirth and the lukewarm reception for DC You, Civil War 2 and Marvel Now 2 will lead to a period of stability for the Big2 again, with less relaunches/reboots and titles possibly reaching high issue numbers again.
It appears that the #1/first issue/reboot/relaunch craze has begun to lose favor and Marvel and DC will begin pushing towards an emphasis on longevity.

And with DC returning to the original numbering on Action and Detective, and it not effecting sales in a negative way, we may see both of them slowly bring long-running books to original numberings. Especially if there's an Anniversary issue possible.

Also worth noting... is that all the Rebirth titles were marked 'returnable' and were adjusted down because of that, even though we know that most (if not all) of those titles were reported 'sold out' and were probably never returned.

[The Darknight Detective]

Now, let's talk about what will happen in the next months. In October, Marvel will launch "Marvel Now 2: The Search for More Money", less than one year after the last relaunch. And, with the usual scheme of dozens of variant covers and higher prices, will start to take back market share from DC again. And the internet will predictably restart the "It's all DC's fault! DC is doomed! Didio/Lee/Harras/Nelson need to be fired!" mantra.

Heh - wash, rinse, and repeat.

[Lee Stone]

Also worth noting is that Green Arrow Rebirth, which ranks at #19, was reported as breaking 90k in sales.
Which mean that the top 18 titles quite possibly reached over 100k each.

And in other news...
Comics had their best sales in 20 years.

[RobinFan4880]

Also worth noting is that Green Arrow Rebirth, which ranks at #19, was reported as breaking 90k in sales.
Which mean that the top 18 titles quite possibly reached over 100k each.

And in other news...
Comics had their best sales in 20 years.

This doesn't even account for digital sales, which boost the total even higher.

Comics had a good month.

[GlennSimpson]

All numbers are based on the Top 300 sales chart as provided by icv2.com. I am using Paul Newell's numbers from 2015 back. Numbers for 2016 forward are gathered by me.

June 2016 update:

DC Sales - Top 300 (Jan-June) 2016 - 12,064,859
DC Sales - Top 300 (Jan-June) 2015 - 12,724,823

And here are the figures for 1997-2015:
2015 - 24,387,995 estimated units
2014 - 26,836,455 estimated units
2013 - 28,184,085 estimated units
2012 - 29,602,125 estimated units
2011 - 26,522,201 estimated units - The New52 (Aug)
2010 - 23,528,000 estimated units
2009 - 24,126,336 estimated units
2008 - 25,760,378 estimated units
2007 - 29,597,217 estimated units
2006 - 30,243,575 estimated units
2005 - 26,995,698 estimated units
2004 - 23,895,322 estimated units
2003 - 22,344,120 estimated units
2002 - 20,687,488 estimated units - Dan Didio joins DC as VP of Editorial.
2001 - 21,220,332 estimated units
2000 - 23,243,656 estimated units
1999 - 25,141,760 estimated units
1998 - 22,869,060 estimated units
1997 - 26,323,968 estimated units

And, out of interest, here's the Marvel numbers:

Marvel Sales - Top 300 (Jan-June) - 2016 - 20,225,008
Marvel Sales - Top 300 (Jan-June) - 2015 - 18,381,091

And here are the figures for 1997-2015:
2015 - 37,290,894 estimated units
2014 - 30,398,670 estimated units
2013 - 31,243,347 estimated units
2012 - 30,278,745 estimated units.
2011 - 29,522,809 estimated units
2010 - 29,998,200 estimated units
2009 - 34,167,744 estimated units
2008 - 37,269,988 estimated units
2007 - 38,132,744 estimated units
2006 - 34,647,105 estimated units
2005 - 32,461,832 estimated units
2004 - 32,021,066 estimated units
2003 - 28,974,336 estimated units
2002 - 28,473,404 estimated units
2001 - 25,349,296 estimated units
2000 - 21,948,494 estimated units - Joe Quesada becomes EIC.
1999 - 24,111,104 estimated units
1998 - 27,015,555 estimated units
1997 - 32,664,192 estimated units

[Atlanta96]

The 2nd printing of DC Universe Rebirth sold 42,000 copies, increasing the total sales to almost 300,000. If it gets a 3rd printing that will definitely push it past that figure. Slightly disappointed that Titans Rebirth didn't do a little better, but the official #1 will have stronger sales since all other #1s outsold their respective Rebirth issues. Except for Green Arrow, I wonder why.

[GlennSimpson]

The 2nd printing of DC Universe Rebirth sold 42,000 copies, increasing the total sales to almost 300,000. If it gets a 3rd printing that will definitely push it past that figure. Slightly disappointed that Titans Rebirth didn't do a little better, but the official #1 will have stronger sales since all other #1s outsold their respective Rebirth issues. Except for Green Arrow, I wonder why.

Worth noting there is also another 8400 copies of a "DC Universe: Rebirth" that shows up. I guess these were copies of the 1st printing that didn't get delivered till after June 1 or something?

[GlennSimpson]

The 2nd printing of DC Universe Rebirth sold 42,000 copies, increasing the total sales to almost 300,000. If it gets a 3rd printing that will definitely push it past that figure. Slightly disappointed that Titans Rebirth didn't do a little better, but the official #1 will have stronger sales since all other #1s outsold their respective Rebirth issues. Except for Green Arrow, I wonder why.

Superman #1 also sold less than Superman Rebirth #1.

[Atlanta96]

Superman #1 also sold less than Superman Rebirth #1.

I missed that one, thanks. So did Green Lanterns #1, but I don't count that one since GL Rebirth also set up Hal Jordan's book, and many people may have bought the Rebirth issue just for him.

[Lee Stone]

New52 vs. Rebirth

Batman #1
New52: 188,420
Rebirth: 280,360
(Note the New52 Batman had a boost from being the first #1 since 1940)

Wonder Woman #1
New52: 76,214
Rebirth: 107,737

Superman #1
New52: 118,376
Rebirth: 105,380

Flash #1
New52: 129,260
Rebirth: 100,392

Detective Comics #934/#1
New52: 103,392
Rebirth: 96,581
(Note the New52 Detective Comics had a boost from being the first #1 since 1937)

Green Lanterns #1/New Guardians #1
(Note that I'm using New Guardians for Green Lanterns, as Hal Jordan and the GLC would be more of a successor to both Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps)
New52: 84,033
Rebirth: 84,910

Aquaman #1
New52: 72,272
Rebirth: 77,041

Action Comics #957/1
New52: 182,748
Rebirth: 75,349
(Note that the New52 Action Comics had a boost from being the first #1 since 1938)

Green Arrow #1
New52: 55,512
Rebirth: 69,833