March sales figures

[Digifiend]

Unstoppable Wasp was brought back as an ongoing, and so far has 10 issues solicited. It just isn't on March's list as issue 6 got delayed to the start of April. It's sales have unfortunately been as low as Squirrel Girl's.

Champions might get a boost with the War of the Realms/Cyke return tie-in, but it's not looking good. Even more for the others.

Champions sales actually seem to be improving. February's orders were for 18,953 copies - so March's issue sold around 600 more! And December's only sold 18,199 (January's would be an unfair comparison, being an issue 1).

[Username taken]

who would buy that book month to month when the pacing is slower than the expansion of the sun

THIS.

I tried reading the galactic Wakanda stuff but Coates is writing the book like its entirely prose.

Wordy and slow.

[comicscollector]

Three Spider-Man comic books in the Top 10.
And Venom,Hulk and Fantastic Four are other of my favorite comic books that are in the Top 20.

[Prof. Warren]

An Avengers B-Title getting like 30-40k every issue and going for second printings 10 times is much better than a six month X-Men event having 4 of its 6 minis around a regular ongoing book's cancellation range with no additional printings. On. Month. Two.

Well, the fact that the Avengers book is just one book and one singular storyline and set in the main universe as opposed to six minis where you're not quite sure which ones "count" more than the others and it's all an alt universe to begin with gives No Road Home a distinct advantage. What I read of Age of X-Man was decent enough but with so much material and the feeling (rightly or wrongly) that, well, none of this is going to impact the main books that much, it was easy to walk away from them.

I'll probably get the final Omega issue or whatever wraps it all up just to see what went on.

[CaptainMarvell]

Stuff like this really gets me bummed out.

However, in the same vein, I don't feel sorry for Marvel Comics right now. They seem to enjoy soiling their own beds and wallowing in their own filth.

They need new management that focuses on delivering good stories and characters people want to read.

The quality of Marvel comics has really taken a steep decline since Secret Wars ended. I used to get excited for each new issue and now I'm like "Well, I guess I'll see what happens now...". Infinity Wars really jaded me. That event was such garbage. I do have hope though with Hickman returning. I never read a Hickman story I didn't like.

[DragonsChi]

They also overshipped Marvel Comics Presents.

Don't forget about the numerous VARIANT COVERS that are perpetually inflating their numbers.

The quality of Marvel comics has really taken a steep decline since Secret Wars ended. I used to get excited for each new issue and now I'm like "Well, I guess I'll see what happens now...". Infinity Wars really jaded me. That event was such garbage. I do have hope though with Hickman returning. I never read a Hickman story I didn't like.

I would say that's when quality fell across the board. But before that there was still issues but they where more sporadic and harder to pin down.

But yes I generally agree with you. The whole thing is incredibly disappointing and depressing all in the same swing.

[catbellysqueezer]

Does Marvel keep track of what people are reading on Marvel Unlimited?

[Prof. Warren]

Don't forget about the numerous VARIANT COVERS that are perpetually inflating their numbers.

DC does variants, too, you know. Should we count all the Detective Comics #1000 variants?

I would say that's when quality fell across the board. But before that there was still issues but they where more sporadic and harder to pin down.

But yes I generally agree with you. The whole thing is incredibly disappointing and depressing all in the same swing.

Obviously most readers don't share your disappointment or depression as Marvel consistently leads the market.

It's not even a regular back and forth between Marvel and DC. It's pretty much Marvel in the lead, across the board, month in and month out.

The last time Marvel and DC split the Diamond charts was way back in January of 2018 (not 2019, 2018) when DC led in overall units and Marvel led in dollars. The month before that, in December of 2017, Marvel led in units and DC in dollars. In November of 2017, DC led in units and Marvel in dollars. So that was a fairly competitive stretch. But that was well over a year ago and they were splitting the charts.

To get another month where they split the charts before that, you'd have to go back to March of 2017 (two years ago!) when DC led in overall units and Marvel led in dollars.

And to get to a month where DC led both categories and single handedly led the market, you have to go all the way back to September of 2016. That's over two and a half years ago.

If someone doesn't care for what Marvel is doing, that's fair. Some DC fans have their own issues with DC. Someone's always unhappy about something.

But if we're talking about sales and how a publisher is performing in the actual market, Marvel is doing really fu*king good and has maintained a healthy lead over their competition over a long, long stretch of time. To deny that fact and spout nonsense like Marvel is merely content to wallow in their own filth is to be living in a delusional bubble.

[Digifiend]

September 2016... yeah, that'll be because of the Rebirth hype.

[Colossus1980]

Marvel has the MCU and with the Endgame shattering records, the comic line is going to stay for a long time, no matter if titles can't last for more than a year. Media related properties is where the money is at. The print division is a lost leader.

[Prof. Warren]

Marvel has the MCU and with the Endgame shattering records, the comic line is going to stay for a long time, no matter if titles can't last for more than a year. Media related properties is where the money is at. The print division is a lost leader.

I don't think any publisher operates with that mentality.

Yes, the big money is in the movies and the merchandise (and as much money as the movies make, I'm sure the revenue from merchandise dwarfs it) but the print division is profitable as well and rakes in a substantial amount of money. Whether we're talking Marvel or DC, I think the feeling is that the comics are where it all starts and that's the coal that fuels the furnace. The other stuff might make more money but it doesn't exist without the publishing side.

[Username taken]

Not sure why some people are saying Marvel comics are so bad right now. For my money, they're been better than they've been for a good long while.

Immortal Hulk (probably one of the best books on the stands now), Daredevil, Guardians of the Galaxy, Uncanny X-men, Thor, Captain America, Amazing Spider-man (another great one), Venom, Avengers, Thor (even though i have some problems with some creative decisions here) and Invaders have been good to great. Even the minis like Darth Vader and Wolverine and the Infinity Watch have been very good.

Quality is obviously subjective but Marvel has been pretty good for my money right now.

[cranger]

But if we're talking about sales and how a publisher is performing in the actual market, Marvel is doing really fu*king good and has maintained a healthy lead over their competition over a long, long stretch of time.

Marvel released 99 new comics in March compared to DCs 66 (both of which are too high in my opinion,) how many of those books do you think are actually turning a profit for Marvel? There is no doubt Marvel is king of playing the market game, but don't you think Marvel should expect to see books like Amazing Spider-Man, Avengers, Uncanny X-Men all selling over 100K? Forget the fact that Batman can't sell that anymore, DC sucks and all, right? But surely Marvel should be able to have their top talent on their top books and dominate the sales charts. If not, if you think they are happy with how these titles sell individually, then do you honestly think it is unfair to say that Marvel is just settling and happy to be seen on top?

[SuperiorIronman]

Well to be completely honest, Marvel heavy hitters seem to be doing just fine for the books they're putting out. Going down into the hundreds is where things starts to really drop off, but because around 18-19 thousand you can at least reasonably expect digital sales to help back that up its not that worrisome. It's not a lost cause around there but I'm also not surprised some titles sold for the amount they did. Dropping below 15,000 unless does really well in a trade format is kind of bad, but I genuinely had no idea a Black Widow book was even happening and I would've thought Iron Heart was doing better for as much as the book had improved post-Bendis.

[MajorHoy]

. . . Because it would read a lot better in trades due to the slow pacing, and different audiences, like maybe the ones who do like it, sometimes favor different formats.

There are some titles I will always trade-wait because to me they read better that way, especially if the title has problems meeting a regular schedule.

Not exactly a new phenomenon, though it seems lately the non-direct market audiences are getting larger and are being paid more attention by the publishers. Squirrel Girl has been scraping the bottom of the direct market charts for years, but it's strong trade sales keep it going, as one example. The person above who listed the books selling below 20k missed both it and Moon Girl, they are both below 10k, but other markets keep them alive. Moon Girl has had over 40 issues now, Squirrel Girl has had over 50, if you add in her first volume. Both Iceman and the new Wasp were brought back from cancellation for a mini due to trade sales. So basically these charts can be completely inconsequential to certain books, because their audiences don't get them at comic shops, they get them digitally or in trades, or are far more popular overseas than in North America.

The fact that Marvel (and many other comic books) aren't available for newsstand distribution any longer here in the U.S. does limit the options people have for buying single copies to either visiting a comic book store or a subscription service, so it makes sense that some books may do better either digitally or through collected versions that can be more easily found through larger bookstore chains or sometimes the Scholastic inserts available to school kids.

These Diamond charts are becoming less and less representative of the health of every book on it as time goes on, but it's all we have numbers for.

And it's especially annoying because those numbers only show what owners of stores order, not how many copies are actually sold to readers. And since most comic books sold through Diamond are non-returnable, stores may be less likely to take as many chances with titles that don't feature characters like Batman or Spider-Man.

Don't forget about the numerous VARIANT COVERS that are perpetually inflating their numbers.

DC does variants, too, you know. Should we count all the Detective Comics #1000 variants?

In general, it seems DC is more likely to offer a regular and one variant option for the main universe title, with the exceptions sometimes being first issues or anniversary issues (like an issue #1000).
Marvel has tended to go a bit more overboard, and sometimes does things like offer variants that don't even feature any characters connected with the issue, like this month's "Spider-Man Villains" variant featuring Spider-Man and Mysterio for Captain America #9?