There’s a lot to take in every month in the sales charts, so we do what we can to break them down for you in a simple fashion with five main thoughts we’ve taken from them. If you want more in-depth thoughts, please check out John Jackson Miller’s Comichron. That should be your sales chart bible. For now, here are my five thoughts on the charts.
1. Marvel’s Infinity dominates at the top, even though DC’s on their heels
Infinity, the latest Marvel event, debuted this past month with towering sales of 205,000+ surpassing the debut of Age of Ultron earlier this year. Even more impressive? Infinity was a $4.99 book, so it brought in nearly $1 mill in revenue for Marvel. It faced staunch competition from DC, as they took the 2 through 6 spots with various Batman and Superman related books. Curious to see how things shake out next month with two more issues of Infinity coming, as events tend to drop off pretty precipitously after their debuts.
2. Saga, One Year Later
Well, a full year of issues if it was a monthly later, at least. Saga, arguably the most buzzed about comic around, released its 13th issue after a lengthy gap in its release schedule. Here’s what the first issue did compared to the 13th:
Saga #1: #40, estimates of 37,641 issues sold
Saga #13: #22, estimates of 55,372 issues sold
That’s growth of over 47% in a 12 issue span! That is freaking gigantic, and speaks volumes about the buzz behind this book and the viability of the way they release the book. Incredible stuff from the team for Saga and Image.
3. Speaking of Image
The vaunted #3 publisher continues to have a banner year, as five Image books placed in the top 100 (including the debut of the latest from Joe’s Comics, “Sidekick”) with another placing at #101, and overall they took 8.51% of the total market. That, my friends, is damn fine work, and it’s great to see that they’re not succeeding from strictly double-shipping books, but seeing growth in the books they’re already releasing like Saga and The Walking Dead. They also saw books from folks like Sina Grace and Daniel Freedman have strong debuts, as their book Burn the Orphanage opened at #159 with well over 11,000 issues sold. All of that, plus they continue to dominate the collections charts. That, my friends, is a great example of a publisher doing things right.
4. Cancellation Now!
Taking a quick cursory glance at the charts, two books to me stand out as potential cancellation bets for Marvel Now! First off, you have Fearless Defenders, a well liked book that since its debut has dropped to the lowest selling non-canceled Marvel book around. Second off, you have X-Men Legacy, a book a bit higher up on the list that has developed a pretty strong fanbase that – sadly – just happens to be pretty small. With Phase Two of Marvel Now! on the horizon, you have to imagine books are on their way out. These two seem pretty likely, even if they do have strong pockets of support.
5. READ GREAT PACIFIC!
This month wasn’t one of many surprises, so in lieu of talking about any other key stats that may have been picked up, I have to throw my support behind this book. Great Pacific from Joe Harris and Martin Morazzo isn’t one of the best books around, but it is a really well crafted book that is thoughtful, inventive and one of the most beautifully illustrated comics period. It finished way down at #290 on the list, and that is simply not what it deserves. I highly recommend checking out the first trade – just $9.99 from your shop, $8.99 on Amazon – and catching up. This book is excellent, and doesn’t deserve to end up on the trash pile.
