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Subject: CBG analysis: All-Star fastest seller since 1997’s Darkness #11 | Author | Messages | 
John Jackson Miller
Posts: 1010
 | Posted: 8/16/2005 12:48:36 PM | More copies of All-Star Batman and Robin #1 were ordered by comics shops in July than any other comic book since 2003’s Batman #619, also from DC – and more were sold in a single month than any comic book since Top Cow’s Darkness #11 back in 1997, according to CBG’s analysis of the sales reports released by Diamond Comic Distributors on Aug. 12.
More than 261,100 copies of All-Star were ordered by retailers, outpacing all non-promotional-price releases since the end of the “Hush” storyline nearly two years ago, said John Jackson Miller, CBG editorial director and compiler of the world’s largest collection of comics circulation figures, the CBG Standard Catalog of Comic Books (fourth edition shipping in two weeks). CBG’s chart analysis appears here.
“Actually, it’s hard enough to parse Diamond’s sales figures from 2003 that All-Star might be a brighter star, still,” Miller said. “Diamond sold 235,000 copies of Batman #619 in September 2003 across both direct covers and the newsstand version – and then sold another 71,000 copies in October. But the order codes are aggregated, and the specific reprint order code from the special solicitation in Diamond Dateline appears nowhere in any of Diamond’s charts. So it’s hard to sort out what are true reorders for the original copies from the orders for the gatefold-less second printing, which shipped Oct. 22 of that year.”
Either way, Miller said, “All-Star had a stronger first month – and may yet surpass the total number of Batman #619s out there.”
The top-selling single issue before Batman #619 was Darkness #11, which had preorders of 357,000 copies across its 11 different covers. That issue shipped the final week of 1997.
The top-selling DC comic book prior to 2003 was Superman: The Wedding Album, which had Diamond preorders of 346,000 copies in its November 1996 release. A contemporaneous Marvel peak could be found in the “Heroes Reborn” Fantastic Four Vol. 2, #1, which had preorders of 314,000 copies from Heroes World Distribution. The comic book with the largest print run of all time was 1991’s X-Men Vol. 2, #1, with 7.1 million copies across five covers.
A decent July. Thanks to All-Star and a strong line of new series launches, July sales of comic books and trade paperbacks to comics shops increased 3% over the same month in the previous year, keeping alive a year that’s flirting with double-digit growth overall. Sales of comic books and trade paperbacks to comics shops have increased 8% in the first seven months of 2005 to $192 million, Miller said.
“While July was slower than June – which had an extra shipping week – it nonetheless showed year-over-year increases in all categories,” Miller said. “Retailers have been reporting strong rack sales, indicating high sell-through levels and bettering their bottom lines.”
Comics unit sales: The Top 300 comic books had retailer orders of 6.53 million copies in July, 6% more than July 2004, which also had four shipping weeks.
Dynamite’s Red Sonja #1 placed 14th, one of the highest debuts by an independent publisher since the 1980s nostalgia wave landed several smaller companies high spots in the early part of this decade.
New publishers posting in the Top 300 included BuyMeToys.com, with its Oz/Wonderland Chronicles Preview landing in 233rd, and Boom Studios, with its Hero Squared #1 evidently placing in 236th.
“We’re saying ‘evidently’ on that because of a typographical error in the charts Diamond sent out, in which that issue’s order index number appears to have had its decimal point moved by one space to the left,” Miller said. Despite its order-index number being boosted by a factor of 10, the issue is ranked 236th, nonetheless, and Boom Studios is absent from Diamond’s market-share list – where it might be, if the larger number was correct. “If the larger number is the correct one, it would boost the month’s sales by $100,000.”
Comics dollar sales: The Top 300 comic books had sales worth $19.03 million in July, 7% more than July 2004.
For the first seven months of 2005, the Top 300 comics from each month have sold a combined $123 million, a 3% increase over the same half-year period.
Trade paperbacks : The Top 100 trade paperbacks and graphic novels reported by Diamond had orders worth $3.47 million at full retail in July. Adding those to the Top 300 comics for the month yields $22.5 million, an increase of 6% over July 2004.
For the first seven months of 2005, the Top 300 comics and the Top 100 trade paperbacks from each month had orders worth $149 million, an increase of 6% over the same six months in 2004.
Exclusive: Diamond’s “overall” sales: In the most inclusive category calculated by anyone in comics, CBG is able to estimate Diamond’s total sales for comics and trade paperbacks, including all those not in the Top 300/100 every month.
“Diamond publishes dollar market shares for its top 20 publishers across all comics, trade paperbacks, and magazines,” Miller said. “Knowing the exact total orders of any publisher on that list right down to the oldest backlist item allows you to calculate Diamond’s total orders across these product groups.”
The July 2005 total was $28.96 million, which increases to $31.36 million, when Diamond’s United Kingdom orders are added. The figure is up 3% over July 2005. Overall, the last seven months stand at $192.4 million, as mentioned above – up nearly 8%.
“Interestingly, July-to-July comics sales grew at a faster rate than July-to-July sales overall, suggesting that the lower backlist – the thousands of trade paperbacks that do not make Diamond’s Top 100 list each month – wasn’t where the action was for this month,” Miller said. “There’s a lot of high-octane events on the periodical side of things, and that may be drawing some of the new dollars away from the shelves and toward the racks.”
CBG cautions that the “overall” category overstates comics’ actual performance to the extent that magazines that do not have comics content are included. The comics publishers’ market shares would actually be slightly higher, if ancillary items were removed.
Market shares: Marvel led DC in Diamond’s reported overall unit and dollar market shares, and that held true for each of CBG’s narrower calculations. DC had 98 comics in the Top 300 versus Marvel’s 80; and Image again posted a strong month, with 31 titles making the list. Dark Horse’s strength continues to be in its backlist – coming in third in Diamond’s overall dollar list, despite having only 14 comics in the Top 300, the same number as Archie.
Price analysis: The average comic book on Diamond’s Top 300 list cost $3.19, up from $3.16 in July 2004.
The weighted average price – that is, the cost of the average comic book Diamond sold – was $2.92, up from $2.91 last year.
The average price of the comics that made the Top 25 was $2.69, up three cents from July 2004.
Methodology: Diamond keys orders for all comics it lists sales for to Batman, with one “order index point” being equal to 1% of that title’s orders. Using actual Diamond final orders from titles accounting for more than 25% of Diamond’s Top 300, CBG determined that one point on Diamond’s order index was likely to equal 654 comic books – with a 95% probability that the real figure was between 653 and 655.
For more information: Historical graphics for several categories tracked above appear in Comics & Games Retailer magazine. Also, check issues of Comics Buyer’s Guide and CBGXtra.com for further analysis. The June 2005 report can be found here.
Best,
John Jackson Miller
Comics & Fiction at Faraway Press
Comics circulation resarch at The Comics Chronicles
Webcomic: Sword & Sarcasm | 
IamBrandolp
Posts: 69
| Posted: 8/16/2005 1:34:50 PM | Very interesting... I knew that All-Star would be big, but didn' t know it would be that BIG.
By the way, this thread item, will this be in an upcoming issue of CBG? I only ask because if it is, then I could skip over reading it now an read it in the magazine.... so I can spend more time here looking at other important things (like manly covers)
Brian O.Randolph
Support All Good Comics
#1 fan of Quicksilver~~~!
www.avengersforever.org | 
TheTrades
Posts: 98
| Posted: 8/16/2005 3:15:00 PM | Soon to be followed by "Most precipitous dropoff between first and second issues since Brother Power, The Geek." 
--
Howard Price
Sr Editor, The Trades
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John Jackson Miller
Posts: 1010
| Posted: 8/16/2005 3:20:41 PM | >>Will this be in an upcoming issue of CBG? I only ask because if it is, then I could skip over reading it now an read it in the magazine.... so I can spend more time here looking at other important things (like manly covers)
This material is presented in print in several different ways:
1) The tables appear both as tables and as graphs across time in our trade magazine, Comics & Games Retailer every month;
2) The aggregate sales totals appear in CBG every month in the first page of the Comics Market Report;
3) and the tables and some of the analysis now appears in the "Databank" page following "The Blurbs" in CBG.
The actual article online here is a "CBGXtra" -- it will not appear in this long form anywhere in print. But the printed versions have some things we don't have here, like what retailers said they sold in their reports directly to us. That's a second table that we put next to the distributor orders table -- so people can see that while this thing was #24 in orders, it was #12 in sales, etc.
In fact, this material is repurposed in so many ways from the web to our magazines to our database to our books -- that each new month's sales figures result in a couple of days' work here. But given how little we know now about what comics sold way back when, we're willing to spend the time now to get this information preserved for posterity.
--John Jackson Miller
Best,
John Jackson Miller
Comics & Fiction at Faraway Press
Comics circulation resarch at The Comics Chronicles
Webcomic: Sword & Sarcasm |
John Jackson Miller
Posts: 1010
| Posted: 8/16/2005 3:22:27 PM | >>Soon to be followed by "Most precipitous dropoff between first and second issues since Brother Power, The Geek."
Actually, there are probably an equal number of both issues -- no first-issue-driven direct market back then!
--John Jackson Miller
Best,
John Jackson Miller
Comics & Fiction at Faraway Press
Comics circulation resarch at The Comics Chronicles
Webcomic: Sword & Sarcasm | 
Bob Pfeffer
Posts: 10
| Posted: 8/17/2005 12:56:01 PM | Okay, I admit that Darkness #11 came out during my not-paying-attention comic book stage, but what the heck is the deal with that book? I NEVER heard of it. What made it such a big deal that is was the top selling comic for nearly a decade?
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John Jackson Miller
Posts: 1010
| Posted: 8/17/2005 1:07:23 PM | It's a Garth Ennis book with 11 different covers -- and was the last gasp of the multiple-cover go-around (well, the first one, anyway). It was also right during Top Cow's temporary split from Image, as I recall, so it may have benefited from some controversy.
The Hildebrandts did one of the covers. So did Michael Turner and Whilce Portacio.
Best,
John Jackson Miller
Comics & Fiction at Faraway Press
Comics circulation resarch at The Comics Chronicles
Webcomic: Sword & Sarcasm | WLLilly
Posts: 1284
| Posted: 8/17/2005 11:40:14 PM | ...While I don't mind a bit of boosyer-ism , and , it's an interesting story - I will assume that the lead-off sentences of the fifth and sixth paragraphs just had the modifiers " of the decade/century/millenium/Age , whatever one it is " kidnapped by - Gremlins ? Globoniks ? Witch Hazel ? - somehow - Any issue of DEBBI'S DATES was likely to have , officially , sold more than 200,000...
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John Jackson Miller
Posts: 1010
| Posted: 8/18/2005 12:34:58 PM | Oh, we don't deny comics sold more in the past. Although we do know that no comic book ever outsold X-Men Vol. 2, #1 in 1991 -- and we're fairly confident that more comics were sold in 1993 than in any single year of the Golden Age. (Or ordered by dealers, anyway...)
One thing to keep in mind about sales of some previous eras is the number of monthlies coming out then versus now. As you may have seen in our FAQ section here, recent years have had more than double the number of releases seen in 1968.
--John Jackson Miller
Best,
John Jackson Miller
Comics & Fiction at Faraway Press
Comics circulation resarch at The Comics Chronicles
Webcomic: Sword & Sarcasm | metron12001
Posts: 17
| Posted: 8/19/2005 4:47:26 AM | I guess I'm just lazy, but what would sales of 200,000 copies of a comic at 15 cents per comic, in 1968, amount to in current 2005 money, given total inflation since 1968? Like I said, I'm too lazy to figure it out myself, but since you guys are experts, I'll let you do it...
Allen Smith
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Tony Isabella
Posts: 1882
| Posted: 8/19/2005 7:01:28 AM | Try THE INFLATION CALCULATOR:
http://www.westegg.com/inflation
It's fun, it's free, it's easier than doing the math myself.
Tony Isabella
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John Jackson Miller
Posts: 1010
| Posted: 8/19/2005 10:45:19 AM | Using Tony's link: 200,000 1968 copies at 15 cents equals $165,989.35 today...
...or the equivalent of 52,034 copies at today's average prices cited above. That's around 38th place on the Diamond list for July -- just below Wonder Woman. But remember that these don't include newsstand or UK figures, so the total copy count is higher.
Nor does it take into account the money now made from repurposing the material into trade paperbacks, which I would guess to be perhaps a quarter again what was originally made on the work -- at least for the initial TPB release. So, yes, most Marvel and DC titles that would have been doing 200,000 copies in 1968 are probably making comparable money today -- before you throw in licensing or anything else.
Wonder Woman was doing, incidentally, 166,000 copies for every bimonthly issue in 1968. So if we take things a step further, yes, adjusted for inflation, today's monthly Wonder Woman selling only a third of the copies absolutely represents more money in a year, adjusted for inflation, than the six issues DC sold in 1968 did.
--John Jackson Miller
Best,
John Jackson Miller
Comics & Fiction at Faraway Press
Comics circulation resarch at The Comics Chronicles
Webcomic: Sword & Sarcasm | metron12001
Posts: 17
| Posted: 8/19/2005 4:35:41 PM | Which explains, in great part, why comics with low circulation figures can survive, and why the price point for comics is usually around three dollars per nowadays. Thanks to all who answered.
Allen Smith
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John Jackson Miller
Posts: 1010
| Posted: 8/19/2005 4:46:18 PM | Well, I would add to that price point explanation three factors worth noting. Today's comics also cost more...
1) because they're on better paper
2) because the creators and others involved are (we hope) being better compensated than they were in 1968
3) and because the comics of the past were historically underpriced, to serve as loss-leaders in the newsstand outlets that sold them. They're definitely not loss-leaders for today's comics shops -- they must be priced to make a profit.
For starters, anyway...
--John Jackson Miller
Best,
John Jackson Miller
Comics & Fiction at Faraway Press
Comics circulation resarch at The Comics Chronicles
Webcomic: Sword & Sarcasm |
John Jackson Miller
Posts: 1010
| Posted: 8/19/2005 6:07:17 PM | I have added down in "The Knowledge Base" a directory page leading to each of these sales reports posted thus far -- and also each of the charts pages.
Because we have the data, I will also be posting the older months a little at a time. I have just posted May 2005, which predates the launch of CBGXtra -- and there will be more to come as I get time to sift the old data and post it.
--John Jackson Miller
Best,
John Jackson Miller
Comics & Fiction at Faraway Press
Comics circulation resarch at The Comics Chronicles
Webcomic: Sword & Sarcasm | 
Earl
Posts: 98
| Posted: 8/20/2005 2:01:41 AM | Always love to talk comics order numbers. At the moment I find the sales at the lower end of the Top 300 to be more interesting that the sales at the top.
Earl.
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Earl
Posts: 98
| Posted: 8/20/2005 2:04:28 AM | Here are the estimated initial Alias order stats so far...
Elisnore
#1 - Data not provided
#2 - 3,360
Tenth Muse
#1 - 4,945 for all four covers together
#2 - 3,663 for all three covers together
#3 - 3,514 for all three cover together
Tenth Muse TPB -
#1 - Less than 1,166 (did not chart)
Deal with the Devil
#1 - data not provided by Diamond
#2 - 2,937
#3 - 2,349
Judo Girl
#1 3,605 for all 3 covers together
#2 2,917 for both covers together
#3 2,617 for both covers together
Legend of Isis
#1 5,708 for all 3 covers together
#2 4,005 (1 cover only?)
XIII
#1 7,534
Soulcatcher TPB - less than 1,166 (did not chart)
Pakkins Land
#1 - 1,599
#2 - Less than 2527 (Did not chart)
#3 - 1,171
Legacy Managa Digest
#1 - less than 1,166 (did not chart)
Killer Stunts
#1 - data not provided by Diamond
#2 - Less than 2,527 failed to chart
#3 - 2,114
Lethal Instinct
#1 7,836
#2 2,729
David Shepherds Song
#1 1,289
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Earl
Posts: 98
| Posted: 8/20/2005 2:10:40 AM | Its amazing if we take a look at one of their titles; 'The Tenth Muse'...
Tenth Muse
#1 - 4,945 for all four covers together
#2 - 3,663 for all three covers together
#3 - 3,514 for all three cover together
That it's only selling just over 1,000 copies per cover. - A shame as it's a nice little title. When you think, that it's only a few years ago that 'Limited Edition' variant covers from the likes of Dynamic Forces were being printed in levels of around 10,000 a copy.
I collect a lot of modern comics. If you miss one it can be easier to find a copy of most Silver Age comics that track down the missing modern. It's not surprising with many titles now selling below 1,000!
Earl.
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Earl
Posts: 98
| Posted: 8/20/2005 2:11:55 AM | By way of comparision, here are the Speakeasy numbers...
Atomika
1: 7,756
2: 6,116
3: 5,726
Beowulf
1: 4,663
2: 4,086
3: 3,717
Gatesville Company
1: 2,002
Hunger
1: 2,552
2: Below 2,527
Mutation
1: 2,244
The Grimoire
1: 4,814
2: 3,379
3: 3,305
4: 3,246
Earl.
| metron12001
Posts: 17
| Posted: 8/20/2005 8:33:06 AM | One reason I've never really objected to the price increases in comics is that I figured that the creative talent was being better compensated than in the past. Even way back in '68, I wouldn't have minded a little price increase if guys like Kirby, Ditko, Wood, and the rest were getting the money.
Allen Smith
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Nathan Melby
Posts: 59
| Posted: 8/20/2005 8:53:03 AM | Its amazing if we take a look at one of their titles; 'The Tenth Muse'...
Tenth Muse
#1 - 4,945 for all four covers together
#2 - 3,663 for all three covers together
#3 - 3,514 for all three cover together
That it's only selling just over 1,000 copies per cover. - A shame as it's a nice little title. When you think, that it's only a few years ago that 'Limited Edition' variant covers from the likes of Dynamic Forces were being printed in levels of around 10,000 a copy.
Maybe it should stick to one cover. I get so annoyed by this gimmick I will not even by one of a book (unless it is one of my absolute favorites). Print one freaking cover please. The last thing I want are the people coming back who car enothing about comics and only want to make money off of collectors.
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Earl
Posts: 98
| Posted: 8/21/2005 12:03:31 PM | This came up on the publisher’s own forums (www.aliasenterprises.com), and the studio conceded that they may have gone a bit OTT with the variants and are limiting it to 2 covers in future.
Earl.
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Earl
Posts: 98
| Posted: 8/21/2005 12:07:52 PM | This is of course nothing to publishers like Avatar who produce 15 variant covers of an issue like this...
http://www.comicspriceguide.com/p-issues.asp?t_ID=25416
Earl
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