Comic sales figures for May

[angelophile]

I only just realized that Diamond's estimated sales figures were released while I was away on holiday and I missed them. Which makes this month's rundown a little late. So I'll be skimming through more briefly than normal. New Mutants debuts this month, so it'll be interesting to see how that does.

May saw a huge crash in the comics market, down 19% on this time last year. Despite staying ahead so far this year, that sudden and major downturn's attributed to both the lack of huge "name" titles hitting the streets this month, but also the rising cover prices seeing a large number of people deciding that an increased financial drag isn't justified in the current financial times.

Not one title broke the 100k mark and that's a bad sign that will most likely see the big two cutting back. In the long term it's likely to see more of those big flashy crossovers to pull people in, rather than focusing on smaller books, and also (and perhaps wisely) less obscure spin-offs.

Speaking of spin-offs, last time I mentioned Wolverine: Weapon X debuting at #3 with sales of 98k. The second issue sees a huge drop off, down to 59k. That's kinda steep for a second issue drop, but understandable if sales are dropping across the board. It'll be interesting to see if it levels out, however. Ahead of it, the parent Wolverine title shipped #92 and #93 to sales of 87k and 83k respectively.

Uncanny X-men sees something of a revival this month, bucking the trend. It jumps from 69k up to 75k, more healthy levels. Seeing as it's mid arc and no change in creative team, this has to be attributed to the variant cover which again sees a massive leap. Expect a sharp drop again next month if there's no variant. I'm still surprised that people are so desperate for variants, though.

Amazing Spider-man continues to remain steadyish, although generally well down on that magical 63k an issue, but given the state of the market in general, the rebellion over Brand New Day clearly failed to materialize. #593 and #594 clock up 58k a piece, while a new story arc for #595 along with a variant cover and Dark Reign tie-in means sales of nearly 72k.

I was bemused last month by X-men Legacy's supposed leap from 55k to 72k with no reason I could see. In actual fact, there were three covers for the issue, something that escaped me. This month it's back down to 54k, so presumably that was the sole reason for the, admittedly unexpectedly large, jump.

Ahead of it is X-Force, out-selling what's supposed to be a core X-title with figures of 58k for the continuing crossover. It appears the event's paid off for Marvel, bumping figures that were already solid. It's up 1k on last issue, even.

New Mutants debuts this month. I predicted a 47-50k debut. It actually smashes into the charts at 55k, higher than I expected. The sustainability is the real test, but given the final issue of Young X-men only managed 25k, that's already a good debut. Sustainability is the real test, of course, but it appears to have pleased fans of the characters. Whether that translates into sales for new readers, we shall see. I found the second issue to be rather less instantly accessible and I wonder if others will agree.

Deadpool also bucks the trend and climbs again to hit sales of 51k. Good word of mouth, interest in the character and a Dark Reign tie-in adds another 2.5k to the readership and, apparently, the issue sold out and a reprint will bump those sales even further. It seems Marvel have finally got a successful Deadpool book on their hands. Even the Suicide Kings mini is selling a nice 35k.

X-Factor, still steady, 31.5k, only a bare blip from last issue. But I don't really care any more.

Alas, the ever entertaining Incredible Hercules isn't so lucky. Now at 28k, I see cancellation looming on the horizon. But probably some kind of Mighty Avengers tie in before they call time to see if they can boost sales again.

Now firmly in the trouble zone:

Captain Britain and MI-13 is, of course, cancelled. Its latest issue hits at 18k, the jump it saw in the previous issue lost again. Not that it really matters. Interesting, Paul Cornell's other work, the Dark Reign: Young Avengers book debuts at 35k. But actually, that's low for a Young Avengers book.

Runaways… what to say? #10 only manages 17.5k. I think that's the lowest the book's ever gone. On the other hand, this is a filler issue before the new creative team joins, albeit a good one. Next issue will be the real test, because if things don't improve I'm sensing a dead man walking, even if Marvel are supportive of this title.

If you're selling less than Lockheed and the Pet Avengers it's definitely time to worry, but on the other hand, Marvel are still putting out the First Class and Marvel Adventures stuff at 10k levels, presumably because it does okay in digest form. But even so…

Next month, X-men Forever. Now that WILL be interesting. I'm predicting it'll beat out Legacy quite comfortably. Top 15.