It is time to review the July, 2006 comic book sales chart. You can check it out here. As always, the Revolution has never blindly followed the sales chart in order to determine the quality of a comic book. It is merely a convenient tool to determine the popularity of a comic book. That enables us to then predict what a comic book company may or may not do with that title.
Once again, Marvel dominated the Top 10 placing 7 titles in the top 10 compared to DC’s 3 titles in the top 10. When you look at Marvel’s top 10 titles, it is painfully obvious that actually publishing a quality comic book is not a requirement in order to hit the top 10.
Civil War #3 came in at the coveted #1 spot and Civil War: X-Men #1 came in at the #9 spot. Civil War Frontline, which I find to be horrendously written, sits at #7. Civil War tie-in issue New Avengers #22, which I thought was below average, came in at a mind boggling #3. Civil War tie-in issue Amazing Spider-Man #534, which is terribly average, came in at a stunning #6. That just goes to show that Civil War is a wildly popular event and talent and well written stories are simply not necessary to sell a comic. Just slap Civil War on the cover and you get a top 10 issue.
Wolverine: Origins #4, which is practically unreadable, is at #8. Wolverine #44, which is average, is at #10. That is a testament to the marketing power of Wolverine’s character.
DC’s three titles were Justice League of America #0 at an impressive #2, 52 #11 at #4 and Batman #655 at #5.
The Top 15 consists of 10 Marvel titles and 5 DC titles. Uncanny X-Men #475 comes in just outside the top 10 at #11. Ghost Rider #1 debuts at #15.
The top 25 consists of 15 Marvel titles and 10 titles for DC. This has to be discouraging for DC. Out of the 7 titles that DC has in the top 25, 4 of them are issues of 52. 52 #11(at #4), 52 #9 (at #13), 52 #10 (at #14), 52 #12 (at #16). That means that DC just placed 6 titles other than 52 in the top 25. You had JLA and Batman in the top 10 and then Superman/Batman #28 at #18, Supergirl at #21, Green Lantern #12 at #24 and Flash #2 at #25. That is it.
DC has been obsessed with massive renovations of the DC Universe after the conclusion of Infinite Crisis. They unleashed the “One Year Later” storylines and drastically changed existing titles. They debuted brand new versions of numerous heroes including Aquaman, Flash, Atom and Blue Beetle. And what have they gotten for all their drastic efforts to change the DCU? They are still losing the battle to Marvel. They are getting crushed in the top 15 and are still losing when looking at the top 25. And, the titles that rank in the top 25 are titles that had little changes to them after Infinite Crisis. Batman, Superman/Batman, Supergirl and Green Lantern are all the same characters and didn’t undergo massive changes.
Where are all the titles that DC drastically changed? Just one cracked the top 25, Flash #2. And that was after Flash #1 debuted at #7. Wow. Talk about a massive drop. DC has to be nervous that all their drastic changes may have actually turned off more fans than it attracted.
The top 50 consists of 29 Marvel titles and 21 DC titles.
The top 75 has 39 Marvel titles, 33 DC titles, 1 Image title, 1 Dark Horse title and 1 Dynamic title.
The top 100 has 45 Marvel titles, 46 DC titles, 5 Dark Horse titles, 2 IDW titles, 1 Image title and 1 Dynamic title.
The top 150 has 67 Marvel titles, 63 DC titles, 7 Dark Horse titles, 3 IDW titles, 4 Image titles, 3 Dynamic titles, 1 Udon title, 1 Devil’s Due title and 1 Burlyman title.
Which of the Revolution’s favorite titles that are doing poorly in the sales chart? Seeing Captain America #20 at #47 and Daredevil #87 at #44 is totally depressing. Brubaker is doing an excellent job on both titles. To see them ranked below some of the absolute garbage in the top 50 is just ridiculous. It makes me worry about the taste of your average comic book fan. I guess all you need to get big sales number is a little blonde girl flashing her belly button or a short hairy guy with claws. Great. X-Factor #9 at #33 is both a positive and a negative. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting X-Factor to be this high so that is a positive. However, it should be ranked much higher than #33 and that a negative. Then there is Teen Titans #37 at #29. This is arguably the best title that DC is publishing right now. Too see it ranked under so many less than impressive titles is too bad.
How are DC’s new titles that they are pushing on the market? Well, let’s see. Blue Beetle #5 at #66. The All New Atom #1 debut at an abysmal #42. Flash dropped like a rock from its debut spot at #7 all the way down to #25 for the second issue. Then there is Aquaman #43 is wallowing down at #82. Those are all some lousy numbers. My initial gut reaction was that all these drastic changes to “update” exist heroes would backfire. It seems that the usual result of a title going to drastic changes leads to the original being re-introduced at some point down the road in order to revive flagging sales numbers. I would be surprised if Blue Beetle, the Atom and Aquaman all had their monthly titles in a year or two. Flash will continue to be published because DC won’t give up on the Flash. However, I think sales are going to continue to drop forcing DC to make some kind of change on this title. Then there is Teen Titans #37 at #29. This is arguably the best title that DC is publishing right now. Too see it ranked under so many less than impressive titles is too bad.
How are DC’s new titles that they are pushing on the market? Well, let’s see. Blue Beetle #5 at #66. The All-New Atom #1 debut at an abysmal #42. Flash dropped like a rock from its debut spot at #7 all the way down to #25 for the second issue.
Oh yeah, Supergirl and the Legion of Super Heroes #20 ranking in at #53. Now let’s compare that to two critical sales rankings. The issue just before Supergirl hi-hijacked this title was Legion of Super Heroes #15. Issue #15 ranked in at #65 in the sales chart. Now, the debut issue of Supergirl and the Legion of Super Heroes was with Issue #16. Issue #16 popped a huge sales ranking of #41. Now, 5 issues later, Supergirl and the Legion of Super Heroes has slid 12 spots all the way down to #53. Yeah, the addition of Supergirl really made a drastic difference in the sales of this title. In another year, Supergirl and the Legion of Super Heroes will be at the same sales ranking as it was just before Supergirl hi-jacked this title.
1 thought on “July 2006 Comic Book Sales Chart”
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You are absolutely right. I love when I see a new issue of daredevil is out. This used to be a title I didnt even care for,but now it deffinately is in my top five.What can I say about civil war?It is atlest an exciting read for me. I cant wait to see who dies. (for a few months atleast)Anyway Rokk,you keep up the good reviews.I check your site daily looking for new stuff.Love it!