• Sales Figures For August 2013 Titles

    ICV2 have published the estimated sales figures for the month of August 2013 of Comic sales via Diamond to the North American Direct Market, which includes the placement of Uncanny X-Force & Astonishing X-Men (which double shipped in August), both including former Alpha Flight characters:


    Uncanny X-Force:

    53 27.55 UNCANNY X-FORCE #10 $3.99 MAR 35,329

    So #10 drops 1,649 from #9:

    #9: 36,978
    #8: 37,781

    #7: 40,380
    #6: 42,496

    #5: 45,674

    #4: 47,727
    #3: 51,721

    #2: 56,713
    #1: 86,817

    Astonishing X-Men:

    95 17.16 ASTONISHING X-MEN #65 $3.99 MAR 22,010
    97 16.97 ASTONISHING X-MEN #66 $3.99 MAR 21,757
    The drop between issues slowing down even more, which may possibly increase the likelihood of an All-New Marvel Now relaunch in 2014, though with Northstar moving to Amazing X-Men in Dec it's doubtful he'd be in it anyway.

    Previous months:

    #64: 22,649
    #63: 23,326
    #62: 24,121
    #61: 27,090
    #60: 27,683
    #59: 24,195
    #58: 25,159

    Note: Northstar did not appear in Astonishing X-Men #65 & only briefly in #66
    Comments 21 Comments
    1. Flightpath07's Avatar
      Flightpath07 -
      Be interesting to see if Uncanny X Force continues to drop, or finally levels out. Drops have become less over time, but are still steady drops. Until things level off completely, who knows? Should it continue to drop at these levels for another issue or two, it could very well be in danger of being axed very quickly - or at least changed to drive up consumerism, perhaps a new creative team attached?
    1. Phil's Avatar
      Phil -
      It's still one of the best selling Marvel titles though.
    1. Le Messor's Avatar
      Le Messor -
      One of those was me...
    1. Flightpath07's Avatar
      Flightpath07 -
      It's still one of the best selling Marvel titles though.
      Seriously?!?

      Wow. The industry really IS in trouble!
    1. Phil's Avatar
      Phil -
      Exactly.
    1. Flightpath07's Avatar
      Flightpath07 -
      Yeah, I was shocked. Your answer actually shocked me, Phil. I guess this is why I don't pay that much attention to the numbers...
    1. Phil's Avatar
      Phil -
      This is pretty much the kind of junk that I deal with 5 days a week, so it's easy enough for me to see it converted into comics.
    1. Le Messor's Avatar
      Le Messor -
      It's the sort of figure we've been seeing for a long time - a tenth what they were in the 80s, if that.
    1. Flightpath07's Avatar
      Flightpath07 -
      I can see now why comic companies are so quick to do things like change creative teams, cancel series, and do constant company-wide events. ANYTHING for a quick spike in sales.

      The big question is, what is the long-term answer?

      Digital comics?

      No comics?

      Another answer?

      Maybe kill Alpha Flight again (okay, that won't help sales, but it might at least bring a smile to a couple of faces in the Marvel offices...)?

      Anybody? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhiCFdWeQfA
    1. DIGGER's Avatar
      DIGGER -
      Not to blame technology, but in the '80's there were not as many distractions for kids growing up. There was no internet, no youtube, facebook, etc. The only video game consoles were atari, colecovision and gameboy. The comics were geared more for youth rather than young adults. Kids were learning to read thanks to those comics. Parents today are more than likely to give a child an i-phone or leapster, sit them in front of the t.v. or computer. Unless you grew up reading comics your child will not read comics. It is a passion/love that we have for this medium and as we get older (more mature?--not) the medium will not experience growth unless a new generation stumbles upon this wonderful thing called comics. Digital is not the solution. There is a thrill in buying a comic or any book for that matter and feeling it in your hands, turning the pages, and if you can't wait, going to the last page (which I guess was our version of spoilers). I personally have purchased all three volumes of Alpha classic and donated them to my local library in the hope that a child takes them out and discovers the joy of comic reading. Maybe what the industry needs to do is whenever there is a comic based movie released they should provide comics of that character to give to kids going to the movie (if the industry can do free comicbook day or $1 comic promos why not), this is your potential target reading audience. If they are excited about the movie, maybe they will get excited about the comic. Don't know if anyone agrees with this.... guess I should have started with IMHO.
    1. Le Messor's Avatar
      Le Messor -
      Quote Originally Posted by DIGGER View Post
      Not to blame technology, but in the '80's there were not as many distractions for kids growing up. There was no internet, no youtube, facebook, etc. The only video game consoles were atari, colecovision and gameboy.
      I keep hearing that, but it always comes across as an excuse to me; the comics companies keep doing things that drive me away, that make not want to read their stuff - but then blame outside things for their sales drops.

      Quote Originally Posted by DIGGER View Post
      The comics were geared more for youth rather than young adults. Kids were learning to read thanks to those comics.
      Case in point. There aren't many comics now I'd let a kid read, and fewer that I'd expect them to enjoy.

      Quote Originally Posted by DIGGER View Post
      There is a thrill in buying a comic or any book for that matter and feeling it in your hands, turning the pages,
      I agree, but we're a dying breed here.

      Quote Originally Posted by DIGGER View Post
      Maybe what the industry needs to do is whenever there is a comic based movie released they should provide comics of that character to give to kids going to the movie (if the industry can do free comicbook day or $1 comic promos why not)
      That is a great idea!

      ~ Le Messor
      "Life is like a talk show. In the words of Johnny Carson, "If you buy the premise, you'll buy the bit." And in the words of David Letterman, "It's just an exhibition, it's not a competition, so please - no wagering."
      ~ Mark T. Shirey
    1. Flightpath07's Avatar
      Flightpath07 -
      Diggin' your idea, Digger.

      Unfortunately, most youth today (at least those in the developed or developing nations) live in a fast-pleasure lifestyle. As such, even the waiting-a-month for a new issue, seems to be too big of a time-swing for them. The focus isn't there. If they want something, they get it, and they get it now. Download, it, preview it before it is out, blog and FB and Tweet about it in quick "sentences" (many of which lack most major vowels) with online 'friends' that they don';t even know, then move on to the next fad/craze.

      I ain't sayin' kids today are bad...just far different.

      In my day, we had patience. Anticipation was a good thing.

      We're a dying breed.

      Its a different time, and expecting people today to act like we did (twenty, thirty, whatever years ago)...its a nice thought, but it won't happen.

      It s not just comics. Look at the book industry. How many libraries would there be nowadays, if they hadn't put computers in them with internet access (and if governments didn't prop up libraries with funding)? Anybody notice the struggle of the newspaper business?
    1. Phil's Avatar
      Phil -
      The magazine/periodical industry is having the same issue too.
    1. Flightpath07's Avatar
      Flightpath07 -
      Quote Originally Posted by Phil View Post
      The magazine/periodical industry is having the same issue too.
      Dang true.
    1. TSOG's Avatar
      TSOG -
      Honestly, I never thought I would really like digital, but once I got started, I got won over very quickly.

      I tried it for a few books that I wasn't sure about, or some indy stuff that would be very hard (and expensive) to get in print. Now the majority of my purchases are digital through either comixology or drivethru.

      I don't believe that sales figures take digital into account and they really should. They will be misleading otherwise.
    1. Phil's Avatar
      Phil -
      I'm a big fan of digital now, but my issue is that anything you buy through comixology or marvel/dc you don't actually own.
      If comixology were to go bankrupt & close over night I'd lose everything I have because you can't back up the files to your own pc.
    1. Le Messor's Avatar
      Le Messor -
      That sucks. That's kind of one of the reasons I've always liked to have solid media rather than just digital - why I insist on buying every bit of music I own on CD, even if the first thing I do is put them on my iPod, and never listen to the actual solid CD more than once.
      My CDs have never been known to spontaneously erase themselves. My computer files? Not so much...

      ~ Le Messor
      "Don't take life too serious, it ain't nohow permanent."
      ~ Pogo
    1. TSOG's Avatar
      TSOG -
      That's true, of course. However...

      Drivethru sells books in pdf format that you download, but you can download them multiple times. So if you lose your first download, you can dowload it again later. Personally, I upload them onto my Google drive so I never lose them (unless Google goes out of business AND my computer crashes).

      As far as Comixology goes, I doubt there's any cause to be concerned that the business will close. To the best of my knowledge, they are very successul.

      I could also have a similar concern that if there's a fire or flood in my house, I could lose all my print books. I guess neither way is foolproof. ("there's a chance") but I feel more confident with Comixology.
    1. Phil's Avatar
      Phil -
      Yeah, the fire/flood point is valid.
      That's why I like Marvel's free digital copies with $3.99 titles so I get the best of both worlds.
    1. Le Messor's Avatar
      Le Messor -
      The Best of Both Worlds? But Marvel aren't doing Star Trek at the moment...