by David Carter

Greetings, sales charts fans! It’s time once again to look at Image Comics’s sales figures.

Just a reminder that I’m not doing this as a permanent gig; just filling in until Heidi finds someone to take on the indy month-to-month chart.

Please refer to July’s column for a preamble and explanation as to why sales standards for Image books are likely to be different than those for DC or Marvel.

Image shipped 67 comics in December, compared to 62 in November, 55 in October and 73 in September. Of those 67 comics, 22 did not place in Diamond’s Top 300, and another 15 placed below the 10K mark.

Warning: The commentary below may contain reasoned analysis, speculation (unfounded and otherwise), opinion, and/or snark. Those looking for a more straightforward analysis are directed to John Jackson Miller’s excellent Comichron analysis, posted earlier this month over at Comichron!

Please consider the fine print at the end of the column. Thanks to Milton Griepp and ICv2.com for the permission to use their figures. An overview of ICv2.com’s estimates can be found here.

(Note that the percentage comparisons are done with total orders including reorder activity, as opposed to initial orders as was the practice of this column under the previous administration.)

26 - THE WALKING DEAD ($2.99) 12/2005: -- 12/2010: -- 12/2011: The Walking Dead #92 -- 31,496 12/2012: The Walking Dead #105 -- 57,781 12/2013: The Walking Dead #118 -- 68,020 ----------------------------------------- 12/2014: The Walking Dead #135 -- 67,361 (- 1.1%) 01/2015: The Walking Dead #136 -- 66,097 (- 1.9%) 02/2015: The Walking Dead #137 -- 65,620 (- 0.7%) 03/2015: The Walking Dead #138 -- 66,778 (+ 1.8%) 03/2015: The Walking Dead #139 -- 67,349 (+ 0.9%) 04/2015: The Walking Dead #140 -- 66,553 (- 1.2%) 05/2015: The Walking Dead #141 -- 68,931 (+ 3.6%) 06/2015: The Walking Dead #142 -- 68,221 (- 1.0%) 06/2015: The Walking Dead #143 -- 67,989 (- 0.3%) 07/2015: The Walking Dead #144 -- 79,496 (+ 16.9%) 08/2015: The Walking Dead #145 -- 82,792 (+ 4.1%) 09/2015: The Walking Dead #146 -- 69,006 (- 16.7%) 10/2015: The Walking Dead #147 -- 67,056 (- 2.8%) 11/2015: The Walking Dead #148 -- 65,526 (- 2.3%) 12/2015: The Walking Dead #149 -- 65,406 (- 0.2%) ----------------- 6 months: - 4.0% 1 year : - 2.9% 2 years : - 3.8% 5 years : n.a. 10 years: n.a.

Once again The Walking Dead is Image’s top-selling book of the month. It is also the highest charting $2.99 book for December. In fact, the first non-Image $2.99 book is Batman & Robin Eternal at #57.

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41 - SAGA ($2.99) 12/2012: Saga #8 -- 42,324 [48,965] 12/2013: Saga #17 -- 53,264 --------------------------- 12/2014: -- 01/2015: -- 02/2015: Saga #25 -- 55,972 (+ 0.8%) 03/2015: Saga #26 -- 54,892 (- 1.9%) 04/2015: Saga #27 -- 54,897 (+ 0.0%) 05/2015: Saga #28 -- 55,239 (+ 0.6%) 06/2015: Saga #29 -- 55,131 (- 0.2%) 07/2015: Saga #30 -- 60,937 (+ 10.5%) 08/2015: -- 09/2015: -- 10/2015: -- 11/2015: Saga #31 -- 53,980 (- 11.4%) 12/2015: Saga #32 -- 51,850 (- 3.9%) ----------------- 6 months: - 6.0% 1 year : n.a. 2 years : - 2.7%

It looks like Saga has hit its peek in individual issue sales, at least for the time being. Nothing to worry about though, as these are excellent numbers and the collection sales are still quite strong.

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53 - PAPER GIRLS ($2.99) 10/2015: Paper Girls #1 -- 75,585 11/2015: Paper Girls #2 -- 46,274 (- 38.8%) 12/2015: Paper Girls #3 -- 43,737 (- 5.5%)

Settling in quite nicely with a lower-than-normal percentage drop for its third issue. For comparison, the third issue of Saga sold about 39K.

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72 - WE STAND ON GUARD ($2.99) 07/2015: We Stand On Guard #1 of 6 -- 78,690 08/2015: We Stand On Guard #2 of 6 -- 51,848 (- 34.1%) 09/2015: We Stand On Guard #3 of 6 -- 44,050 (- 15.0%) 10/2015: We Stand On Guard #4 of 6 -- 40,197 (- 8.7%) 11/2015: We Stand On Guard #5 of 6 -- 37,227 (- 7.4%) 12/2015: We Stand On Guard #6 of 6 -- 34,177 (- 5.5%)

FInal issue. Never really quite found its footing, but still sold well over its run. I’ll be interested to see what sort of numbers the collections put up, especially over the long term (it’s first being released as a ‘deluxe’ hardcover, with a trade paperback to follow presumably at some point).

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96 - I HATE FAIRYLAND ($3.50) 10/2015: I Hate Fairyland #1 -- 50,318 11/2015: I Hate Fairyland #2 -- 31,626 (- 37.1%) 12/2015: I Hate Fairyland #3 -- 27,843 (- 12.0%)

A typical third issue percentage drop for Skottie Young’s series. Will likely settle in to the low-20K range, which is good sales for an Image series.

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112 - TOKYO GHOST ($3.99) 09/2015: Tokyo Ghost #1 -- 39,682 10/2015: Tokyo Ghost #2 -- 27,688 (- 30.2%) 11/2015: Tokyo Ghost #3 -- 25,198 (- 9.0%) 12/2015: Tokyo Ghost #4 -- 24,133 (- 4.2%)

Also looks to settle in to the low-20K range.

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130 - MONSTRESS ($3.99) 11/2015: Monstress #1 -- 33,045 12/2015: Monstress #2 -- 23,367 (- 29.3%)

Returnable, so the figures have been adjusted up 10% from what was reported by Diamond/ICv2. (For an explanation why this is done for returnable items, please see the fine print at the end of this post.)

A typical second issue drop.

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116 - OUTCAST BY KIRKMAN & AZACETA ($2.99) 12/2014: Outcast #6 -- 36,354 (- 9.0%) 01/2015: -- 02/2015: -- 03/2015: Outcast #7 -- 38,077 (+ 4.7%) 04/2015: Outcast #8 -- 36,188 (- 5.0%) 05/2015: Outcast #9 -- 28,961 (- 20.0%) 06/2015: -- 07/2015: Outcast #10 -- 28,012 (- 3.3%) 08/2015: Outcast #11 -- 27,087 (- 3.3%) 09/2015: Outcast #12 -- 26,115 (- 3.6%) 10/2015: -- 11/2015: Outcast #13 -- 24,051 (- 7.9%) 12/2015: Outcast #14 -- 23,319 (- 3.0%) ----------------- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : - 35.9%

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121 - HUCK ($3.50) 11/2015: Huck #1 -- 35,299 12/2015: Huck #2 -- 22,937 (- 35.0%)

A typical second issue drop.

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132 - DESCENDER ($2.99) 03/2015: Descender #1 -- 61,910 [69,011] 04/2015: Descender #2 -- 43,946 (- 36.3%) 05/2015: Descender #3 -- 29,717 (- 32.4%) 06/2015: Descender #4 -- 27,163 (- 8.6%) 07/2015: Descender #5 -- 26,039 (- 4.1%) 08/2015: Descender #6 -- 24,615 (- 5.5%) 09/2015: -- 10/2015: -- 11/2015: Descender #7 -- 23,684 (- 3.8%) 12/2015: Descender #8 -- 20,999 (- 11.3%) ----------------- 6 months: - 22.7%

Yow, that’s a bit of a large percentage drop at this stage in the game. Not that there’s any cause for worry, as 20K is perfectly good in Image-land. Plus, you know, there’s the movie deal.

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137 - THE GODDAMNED ($3.99) 11/2015: The Goddamned #1 -- 33,809 12/2015: The Goddamned #2 -- 20,415 (-39.6%)

Just a bit on the high side for a second issue drop. A crime story set in Biblical times was always going to be a bit of a tough sell, so if this ends up settling in around 15K that would be pretty good.

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147 - SYMMETRY ($3.99) 12/2015: Symmetry #1 -- 19,274

Returnable, so the figures have been adjusted up 10% from what was reported by Diamond/ICv2. (For an explanation why this is done for returnable items, please see the fine print at the end of this post.)

Not very many debuts for Image in December. This is a Top Cow series by Matt Hawkins & Raffaele Ienco.

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139, 140 - EAST OF WEST ($3.50) 12/2013: East of West #8 -- 31,059 ----------------------------------- 12/2014: East of West #16 -- 35,920 (+ 40.4%) 01/2015: -- 02/2015: East of West #17 -- 23,482 (- 34.6%) 03/2015: East of West #18 -- 23,080 (- 1.7%) 04/2015: -- 05/2015: East of West #19 -- 22,482 (- 2.6%) 06/2015: -- 07/2015: -- 08/2015: East of West #20 -- 21,778 (- 3.1%) 09/2015: -- 10/2015: East of West #21 -- 21,075 (- 3.2%) 11/2015: -- 12/2015: East of West #22 -- 19,867 (- 5.7%) 12/2015: East of West #23 -- 19,184 (- 3.4%) ----------------- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : - 45.6% 2 years : - 37.1%

Down from its peak, but these are good numbers for an Image series in its third year.

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142 - THE WICKED + THE DIVINE ($3.50) 12/2014: Wicked + Divine #6 -- 22,159 (- 12.8%) 01/2015: Wicked + Divine #7 -- 20,893 (- 5.7%) 02/2015: Wicked + Divine #8 -- 20,515 (- 1.8%) 03/2015: Wicked + Divine #9 -- 20,360 (- 0.8%) 04/2015: -- 05/2015: Wicked + Divine #10 -- 20,562 (+ 1.0%) 06/2015: Wicked + Divine #11 -- 20,579 (+ 0.1%) 07/2015: Wicked + Divine #12 -- 20,335 (- 1.2%) 08/2015: Wicked + Divine #13 -- 20,161 (- 1.2%) 09/2015: Wicked + Divine #14 -- 20,706 (+ 2.7%) 10/2015: Wicked + Divine #15 -- 20,154 (- 2.7%) 11/2015: Wicked + Divine #16 -- 19,360 (- 3.9%) 12/2015: Wicked + Divine #17 -- 18,479 (- 4.6%) ----------------- 6 months: - 10.2% 1 year : - 16.6%

End of the third story arc. Will take a few months off before resuming in April.

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152 - SPAWN ($2.99) 12/2005: Spawn #151 -- 28,860 12/2010: -- 12/2011: Spawn #214 -- 13,017 12/2012: -- 12/2013: Spawn #238 -- 12,459 ---------------------------------- 12/2014: Spawn #249 -- 12,121 (+ 1.6%) 01/2015: -- 02/2015: Spawn #250 -- 60,357 (+398.0%) 03/2015: Resurrection #1 -- 29,787 (- 50.6%) 04/2015: Spawn #251 -- 17,443 (- 71.1%) 05/2015: Spawn #252 -- 15,904 (- 8.8%) 06/2015: Spawn #253 -- 15,993 (+ 0.6%) 07/2015: Spawn #254 -- 15,421 (- 3.6%) 08/2015: Spawn #255 -- 15,717 (+ 1.9%) 09/2015: Spawn #256 -- 15,087 (- 4.0%) 10/2015: Spawn #257 -- 15,266 (+ 1.2%) 11/2015: Spawn #258 -- 15,163 (- 0.7%) 12/2015: Spawn #259 -- 16,906 (+ 11.5%) ----------------- 6 months: + 5.7% 1 year : + 39.5% 2 years : + 35.7% 5 years : n.a. 10 years: - 41.4%

Image’s longest-running title gets a boost from an adult coloring book variant cover.

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156 - NAMELESS ($2.99) 02/2015: Nameless #1 of 6 -- 43,785 03/2015: Nameless #2 of 6 -- 27,364 (- 37.5%) 04/2015: Nameless #3 of 6 -- 24,266 (- 11.3%) 05/2015: -- 06/2015: Nameless #4 of 6 -- 21,071 (- 11.8%) 07/2015: -- 08/2015: -- 09/2015: Nameless #5 of 6 -- 19,071 (- 10.8%) 10/2015: -- 11/2015: -- 12/2015: Nameless #6 of 6 -- 15,894 (- 16.7%) ----------------- 6 months: - 24.6%

Ran into some scheduling problems there at the end, which may have contributed to the declining sales.

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159 - JUPITER'S CIRCLE ($3.50) 12/2013: -- -------------------------------------- 12/2014: -- 01/2015: Jupiter's Legacy #5 -- 29,055 (- 21.3%) 02/2015: -- 03/2015: -- 04/2015: Jupiter's Circle #1 -- 32,542 (+ 12.0%) 05/2015: Jupiter's Circle #2 -- 24,499 (- 24.7%) 06/2015: Jupiter's Circle #3 -- 21,287 (- 13.1%) 07/2015: Jupiter's Circle #4 -- 19,522 (- 8.3%) 08/2015: Jupiter's Circle #5 -- 18,889 (- 3.2%) 09/2015: Jupiter's Circle #6 -- 18,732 (- 0.8%) 10/2015: -- 11/2015: Jupiter's Crc v2 #1 -- 18,175 (- 3.0%) 12/2015: Jupiter's Crc v2 #2 -- 15,719 (- 13.5%) ----------------- 6 months: - 26.2% 1 year : n.a. 2 years : n.a.

Starting over with a new #1 did Jupiter’s Circle absolutely no favors.

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165 - BLACK MAGICK ($3.99) 10/2015: Black Magick #1 -- 28,429 11/2015: Black Magick #2 -- 17,686 (- 37.8%) 12/2015: Black Magick #3 -- 15,070 (- 14.8%)

169 - BLACK SCIENCE ($3.99) 12/2013: Black Science #2 -- 20,151 ------------------------------------ 12/2014: Black Science #11 -- 19,688 (- 6.8%) 01/2015: -- 02/2015: -- 03/2015: Black Science #12 -- 26,112 (+ 32.6%) 04/2015: Black Science #13 -- 17,876 (- 31.5%) 05/2015: Black Science #14 -- 17,090 (- 4.4%) 06/2015: Black Science #15 -- 17,932 (+ 4.9%) 07/2015: Black Science #16 -- 18,298 (+ 2.0%) 08/2015: -- 09/2015: -- 10/2015: -- 11/2015: Black Science #17 -- 15,094 (- 17.5%) 12/2015: Black Science #18 -- 14,465 (- 4.2%) ----------------- 6 months: - 19.3% 1 year : - 26.5% 2 years : - 28.2%

I am amused by the fact that not only does Image have series named Black Magick and Black Science, but they sell within a few hundred copies of each other.

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172 - PLUTONA ($2.99) 09/2015: Plutona #1 of 5 -- 25,690 10/2015: Plutona #2 of 5 -- 16,656 (- 35.2%) 11/2015: -- 12/2015: Plutona #3 of 5 -- 13,948 (- 16.3%)

Still doing well at the midpoint of the miniseries.

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176 - LAZARUS ($3.50) 12/2013: Lazarus #5 -- 22,695 ------------------------------- 12/2014: -- 01/2015: Lazarus #14 -- 15,896 (- 1.2%) 02/2015: Lazarus #15 -- 15,237 (- 4.1%) 03/2015: -- 04/2015: Lazarus #16 -- 15,138 (- 0.6%) 05/2015: -- 06/2015: Lazarus #17 -- 14,980 (- 1.0%) 07/2015: Lazarus #18 -- 14,563 (- 2.8%) 08/2015: -- 09/2015: Lazarus #19 -- 14,506 (- 0.4%) 10/2015: -- 11/2015: Lazarus #20 -- 14,218 (- 2.0%) 12/2015: Lazarus #21 -- 13,390 (- 5.8%) ----------------- 6 months: - 10.6% 1 year : n.a. 2 years : - 41.0%

Last issue before a several month hiatus.

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179 - TREES ($2.99) 12/2014: -- 01/2015: Trees #8 -- 18,012 (- 6.6%) 02/2015: -- 03/2015: -- 04/2015: -- 05/2015: Trees #9 -- 15,821 (- 12.2%) 06/2015: Trees #10 -- 14,913 (- 5.7%) 07/2015: Trees #11 -- 14,273 (- 4.3%) 08/2015: Trees #12 -- 13,569 (- 4.9%) 09/2015: -- 10/2015: -- 11/2015: -- 12/2015: Trees #13 -- 12,728 (- 6.2%) ----------------- 6 months: - 14.7% 1 year : n.a.

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180 - RAT QUEENS ($3.99) 12/2013: -- --------------------------------- 12/2014: -- 01/2015: Braga Spec #1 -- 15,017 (+ 2.0%) 02/2015: -- 03/2015: Rat Queens #9 -- 14,425 (- 2.0%) 04/2015: Rat Queens #10 -- 14,228 (- 1.4%) 05/2015: -- 06/2015: -- 07/2015: -- 08/2015: Rat Queens #11 -- 14,271 (+ 0.3%) 09/2015: Rat Queens #12 -- 13,615 (- 4.6%) 10/2015: -- 11/2015: Rat Queens #13 -- 13,075 (- 4.0%) 12/2015: Rat Queens #14 -- 12,468 (- 4.6%) ----------------- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : n.a. 2 years : n.a.

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181 - INVINCIBLE ($2.99) 12/2005: -- 12/2010: Invincible #76 -- 15,577 12/2011: Invincible #86 -- 14,457 12/2012: Invincible #98 -- 16,139 12/2012: Invincible #99 -- 15,566 12/2013: Invincible #107 -- 13,268 ---------------------------------- 12/2014: -- 01/2015: Invincible #116 -- 13,125 (- 1.1%) 02/2015: Invincible #117 -- 12,627 (- 3.8%) 03/2015: Invincible #118 -- ?????? 04/2015: Invincible #119 -- 13,492 05/2015: Invincible #120 -- 13,191 (- 2.2%) 06/2015: -- 07/2015: Invincible #121 -- 13,075 (- 0.9%) 08/2015: Invincible #122 -- 13,001 (- 0.6%) 09/2015: Invincible #123 -- 12,758 (- 1.9%) 10/2015: Invincible #124 -- 13,186 (+ 3.4%) 11/2015: Invincible #125 -- 12,561 (- 4.7%) 12/2015: Invincible #126 -- 12,436 (- 1.0%) ----------------- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : n.a. 2 years : - 6.3% 5 years : - 20.2% 10 years: n.a.

Invincible is back to its regular slow but (mostly) steady erosion.

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185 - THE VIOLENT ($2.99) 12/2015: The Violent #1 -- 11,751

New crime series from Ed Brisson & Adam Gorham. Allegedly ongoing, but these aren’t very good numbers for a debut issue, and unless it bucks the normal trends it may not go on for very long.

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188 - THE BEAUTY ($3.50) 08/2015: The Beauty #1 -- 25,245 09/2015: The Beauty #2 -- 17,337 (- 31.3%) 10/2015: The Beauty #3 -- 14,935 (- 13.9%) 11/2015: The Beauty #4 -- 13,369 (- 10.5%) 12/2015: The Beauty #5 -- 11,514 (- 13.9%)

This is the first issue of The Beauty that wasn’t returnable.

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190 - PRETTY DEADLY ($3.50) 12/2013: Pretty Deadly #3 -- 23,187 ------------------------------------ 12/2014: -- 01/2015: -- 02/2015: -- 03/2015: -- 04/2015: -- 05/2015: -- 06/2015: -- 07/2015: -- 08/2015: -- 09/2015: -- 10/2015: -- 11/2015: Pretty Deadly #6 -- 15,494 (- 19.4%) 12/2015: Pretty Deadly #7 -- 11,277 (- 27.2%) ----------------- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : n.a. 2 years : - 51.4%

Oh, that’s a bad drop; retailers seem to have treated issue #7 as if it was a second issue.

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192 - AUTUMNLANDS ($2.99) 12/2014: Autumnlands T&C #2 -- 36,599 (- 11.1%) 01/2015: Autumnlands T&C #3 -- 22,190 (- 39.4%) 02/2015: Autumnlands T&C #4 -- 17,700 (- 20.2%) 03/2015: Autumnlands T&C #5 -- 16,054 (- 9.3%) 04/2015: -- 05/2015: -- 06/2015: Autumnlands T&C #6 -- 15,321 (- 4.6%) 07/2015: -- 08/2015: -- 09/2015: -- 10/2015: -- 11/2015: Autumnlands #7 -- 12,227 (- 20.2%) 12/2015: Autumnlands #8 -- 11,104 (- 9.2%) ----------------- 6 months: - 27.5% 1 year : - 69.7%

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193 - DEADLY CLASS ($3.99) 12/2014: -- 01/2015: Deadly Class #10 -- 13,552 (- 4.2%) 02/2015: Deadly Class #11 -- 12,805 (- 5.5%) 03/2015: -- 04/2015: Deadly Class #12 -- 13,780 (+ 7.6%) 05/2015: Deadly Class #13 -- 12,299 (- 10.7%) 06/2015: -- 07/2015: Deadly Class #14 -- 11,798 (- 4.1%) 08/2015: Deadly Class #15 -- 11,779 (- 0.2%) 09/2015: Deadly Class #16 -- 11,394 (- 3.3%) 10/2015: -- 11/2015: -- 12/2015: Deadly Class #17 -- 11,035 (- 3.2%) ----------------- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : n.a.

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196 - BIRTHRIGHT ($2.99) 12/2014: Birthright #3 -- 14,247 (- 22.9%) 01/2015: Birthright #4 -- 13,506 (- 5.2%) 02/2015: Birthright #5 -- 13,218 (- 2.1%) 03/2015: -- 04/2015: Birthright #6 -- 14,081 (+ 6.5%) 05/2015: Birthright #7 -- 12,561 (- 10.8%) 06/2015: Birthright #8 -- 12,058 (- 4.0%) 07/2015: Birthright #9 -- 11,496 (- 4.7%) 08/2015: Birthright #10 -- 11,072 (- 3.7%) 09/2015: -- 10/2015: -- 11/2015: Birthright #11 -- 10,989 (- 0.7%) 12/2015: Birthright #12 -- 10,633 (- 3.2%) ----------------- 6 months: - 11.8% 1 year : - 25.4%

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232 - CITIZEN JACK ($3.99) 11/2015: Citizen Jack #1 -- 16,605 12/2015: Citizen Jack #2 -- 9,242 (- 44.3%)

Returnable, so the figures have been adjusted up 10% from what was reported by Diamond/ICv2. (For an explanation why this is done for returnable items, please see the fine print at the end of this post.)

A larger than normal second issue percentage drop. Not a good sign.

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223 - NAILBITER ($2.99) 12/2014: Nailbiter #8 -- 12,096 (- 2.1%) 01/2015: Nailbiter #9 -- 11,222 (- 7.2%) 02/2015: Nailbiter #10 -- 10,889 (- 3.0%) 03/2015: -- 04/2015: Nailbiter #11 -- 12,868 (+ 18.2%) 05/2015: Nailbiter #12 -- 10,688 (- 16.9%) 06/2015: Nailbiter #13 -- 10,456 (- 2.2%) 07/2015: Nailbiter #14 -- 10,130 (- 3.1%) 08/2015: Nailbiter #15 -- 9,934 (- 1.9%) 09/2015: -- 10/2015: Nailbiter #16 -- 9,719 (- 2.2%) 11/2015: Nailbiter #17 -- 9,333 (- 4.0%) 12/2015: Nailbiter #18 -- 8,853 (- 5.1%) ----------------- 6 months: - 15.3% 1 year : - 26.8%

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225 - CHEW ($3.50) 12/2010: Chew #16 -- 12,473 12/2011: Chew #22 -- 12,296 12/2012: -- 12/2013: Chew #38 -- 12,068 ------------------------------------ 12/2014: Chew #45 -- 10,407 (- 1.1%) 01/2015: -- 02/2015: Chew #46 -- 15,073 (+ 44.8%) 03/2015: Chew #47 -- 9,785 (- 35.1%) 04/2015: Chew #48 -- 9,707 (- 0.8%) 05/2015: Chew #49 -- 9,583 (- 1.3%) 06/2015: -- 07/2015: Chew #50 -- 10,679 (+ 11.4%) 08/2015: -- 09/2015: -- 10/2015: Chew #51 -- 9,652 (- 9.6%) 11/2015: Chew #52 -- 9,056 (- 6.2%) 12/2015: Chew #53 -- 8,829 (- 2.5%) ----------------- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : - 15.2% 2 years : - 26.8% 5 years : - 29.2%

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226 - HEAD LOPPER ($5.99) 09/2015: Head Lopper #1 of 4 -- 11,337 10/2015: -- 11/2015: -- 12/2015: Head Lopper #2 of 4 -- 8,755 (- 22.8%)

This is an oversized quarterly comic, so the regular economics may not apply.

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239 - BLACK JACK KETCHUM ($3.99) 12/2015: Black Jack Ketchum #1 of 4 -- 8,022

Not a great start for the supernatural western miniseries.

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262 - WAYWARD ($3.50) 12/2014: Wayward #5 -- 10,009 (- 3.0%) 01/2015: -- 02/2015: -- 03/2015: Wayward #6 -- 12,247 (+ 22.4%) 04/2015: Wayward #7 -- 8,389 (- 31.5%) 05/2015: Wayward #8 -- 8,073 (- 3.8%) 06/2015: Wayward #9 -- 7,913 (- 2.0%) 07/2015: Wayward #10 -- 7,859 (- 0.7%) 08/2015: -- 09/2015: -- 10/2015: -- 11/2015: Wayward #11 -- 8,024 (+ 4.4%) 12/2015: Wayward #12 -- 7,015 (- 14.5%) ----------------- 6 months: - 11.3% 1 year : - 29.9%

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270 - PHONOGRAM: THE IMMATERIAL GIRL ($3.99) 08/2015: Immaterial Girl #1 of 6 -- 15,856 (+516.2%) 09/2015: Immaterial Girl #2 of 6 -- 10,615 (- 33.1%) 10/2015: Immaterial Girl #3 of 6 -- 9,012 (- 15.1%) 11/2015: Immaterial Girl #4 of 6 -- 7,660 (- 15.0%) 12/2015: Immaterial Girl #5 of 6 -- 6,777 (- 11.5%)

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297 - FASTER THAN LIGHT ($2.99) 09/2015: Faster Than Light #1 -- 16,711 10/2015: Faster Than Light #2 -- 10,098 (- 39.6%) 11/2015: Faster Than Light #3 -- 7,992 (- 20.9%) 12/2015: Faster Than Light #4 -- 6,530 (- 18.3%)

Returnable, so the figures have been adjusted up 10% from what was reported by Diamond/ICv2. (For an explanation why this is done for returnable items, please see the fine print at the end of this post.)

Not catching on.

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279 - REVIVAL ($3.99) 12/2012: -- 12/2013: Revival #16 -- 11,065 ------------------------------ 12/2014: Revival #26 -- 8,696 (- 8.8%) 01/2015: Revival #27 -- 8,057 (- 7.3%) 02/2015: -- 03/2015: Revival #28 -- 7,913 (- 1.8%) 04/2015: Revival #29 -- 7,786 (- 1.6%) 05/2015: -- 06/2015: Revival #30 -- 7,545 (- 3.1%) 07/2015: Revival #31 -- 7,337 (- 2.8%) 08/2015: Revival #32 -- 7,019 (- 4.3%) 09/2015: Revival #33 -- 6,824 (- 2.8%) 10/2015: Revival #34 -- 6,921 (+ 1.4%) 11/2015: -- 12/2015: Revival #35 -- 6,510 (- 5.9%) ----------------- 6 months: - 13.7% 1 year : - 25.1% 2 years : - 41.2%

Starts a new story arc in issue #36.

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280 - SOUTHERN CROSS ($2.99) 03/2015: Southern Cross #1 -- 29,658 04/2015: Southern Cross #2 -- 12,777 (- 56.9%) 05/2015: Southern Cross #3 -- 9,871 (- 22.7%) 06/2015: Southern Cross #4 -- 8,484 (- 14.1%) 07/2015: -- 08/2015: -- 09/2015: Southern Cross #5 -- 7,288 (- 14.1%) 10/2015: -- 11/2015: -- 12/2015: Southern Cross #6 -- 6,496 (- 10.9%) ----------------- 6 months: - 23.4%

No further issues have been solicited.

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282 - RINGSIDE ($3.99) 11/2015: Ringside #1 -- 14,205 12/2015: Ringside #1 -- 6,447 (- 54.6%)

Ouch.

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283 - ISLAND ($7.99) 07/2015: Island #1 -- 16,677 08/2015: Island #2 -- 11,092 (- 33.5%) 09/2015: Island #3 -- 10,083 (- 9.1%) 10/2015: Island #4 -- 7,553 (- 25.1%) 11/2015: -- 12/2015: Island #5 -- 6,422 (- 15.0%)

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285 - ROCKET GIRL ($3.99) 12/2013: Rocket Girl #3 -- 10,976 ------------------------------------ 12/2014: -- 01/2015: -- 02/2015: -- 03/2015: -- 04/2015: -- 05/2015: Rocket Girl #6 -- 8,519 (- 11.5%) 06/2015: -- 07/2015: -- 08/2015: -- 09/2015: -- 10/2015: -- 11/2015: -- 12/2015: Rocket Girl #7 -- 6,347 (- 25.5%) ----------------- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : n.a. 2 years : - 42.2%

One of my favorite comics.

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286 - RUMBLE ($3.50) 12/2014: Rumble #1 -- 24,780 01/2015: Rumble #2 -- 14,580 (- 41.2%) 02/2015: Rumble #3 -- 12,192 (- 16.4%) 03/2015: Rumble #4 -- 10,138 (- 16.8%) 04/2015: Rumble #5 -- 9,458 (- 6.7%) 05/2015: -- 06/2015: -- 07/2015: -- 08/2015: Rumble #6 -- 8,810 (- 6.9%) 09/2015: Rumble #7 -- 7,613 (- 13.6%) 10/2015: Rumble #8 -- 7,084 (- 6.9%) 11/2015: Rumble #9 -- 6,774 (- 4.4%) 12/2015: Rumble #10 -- 6,324 (- 6.6%) ----------------- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : - 74.5%

No further issues have been solicited.

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288 - THEY'RE NOT LIKE US ($2.99) 12/2014: They're Not Like Us #1 -- 18,015 [24,920] 01/2015: They're Not Like Us #2 -- 10,028 (- 59.8%) 02/2015: They're Not Like Us #3 -- 9,424 (- 6.0%) 03/2015: They're Not Like Us #4 -- 9,255 (- 1.8%) 04/2015: They're Not Like Us #5 -- 8,903 (- 3.8%) 05/2015: They're Not Like Us #6 -- 8,368 (- 6.0%) 06/2015: -- 07/2015: -- 08/2015: They're Not Like Us #7 -- 7,599 (- 9.2%) 09/2015: They're Not Like Us #8 -- 6,988 (- 8.0%) 10/2015: They're Not Like Us #9 -- 6,780 (- 3.0%) 11/2015: -- 12/2015: They're Not Like Us #10 -- 6,294 (- 7.2%) ----------------- 6 months: n.a. 1 year : - 74.7%

WIll run at least through #12.

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Image titles shipping but not making the Top 300 in December include: Astronauts in Trouble, Axcend, Codename Baboushka: Conclave of Death, The Covenant, Dark Corridor, From Under Mountains, The Humans, Invisible Republic, IXth Generation, Where is Jake Ellis, Limbo, Morning Glories, No Mercy, Saints, Savage Dragon (2 issues), Sex, Sidekick, Stray Bullets: Sunshine & Roses, Tales of Honor: Bred to Kill, Tech Jacket, Tithe.

Note that this doesn’t necessarily mean that any of them are in danger of being cancelled; there are many reasons that the creators of these books may desire to keep them going.

The Fine Print (Disclaimers, et cetera)

The numbers above are estimates for comic-book sales in the North American direct market, as calculated by ICv2.com according to the chart and index information provided by Diamond Comic Distributors.

ICv2.com’s estimates are somewhat lower than the actual numbers, but they are consistent from month to month, so the trends they show are fairly accurate. Since it’s a “month-to-month” column, the comments, unless otherwise noted, are on the most recent month.

Bear in mind that the figures measure sales of physical comics to retailers, not customers. Also, these numbers do not include sales to bookstores, newsstands, other mass-market retail chains or the United Kingdom. Re-orders are included, so long as they either reached stores in a book’s initial calendar month of release or were strong enough to make the chart again in a subsequent month. Keep in mind that sales for some titles may include incentives to acquire variants and not every unit sold is necessarily even intended to be sold to a customer.

If additional copies of an issue did appear on the chart after a book’s initial calendar month of release, you can see the total number of copies sold in brackets behind those issues (e.g. “[36,599]”). Should more than one issue have shipped in a month which is relevant for one of the long-term comparisons, the average between them will be used.

Titles which are returnable have their numbers artificially adjusted down by Diamond. To make up for that this column increases the reported numbers for those titles by 10%. Which is likely also wrong, but it’s a different and likely less wrong kind of wrong, and experience has shown that this leads to sales figures which are more consistent.

Please keep in mind that raw sales numbers do not tell us about how profitable a book is for a publisher or for the creators.

Above all, do not allow sales numbers to dictate your purchasing and enjoyment of a particular comic. If you enjoy reading a comic series then go right on buying and reading that comic, no matter what the sales figures say.

** Two asterisks after a given month in the average charts mean that one or more periodical release did not make the Top 300/400 chart in that month. In those cases, it’s assumed that said releases sold as many units as the No. 300/400 comic on the chart for that month for the purposes of the chart, although its actual sales are likely to be less than that.

Opinions expressed in this column are mine alone, and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer, Heidi MacDonald or anyone at The Comics Beat, the Merry Marvel Marching Society, or my former neighbor’s dog Miles.

The author of this column does weekly snapshots of Amazon comic sales charts at http://yetanothercomicsblog.blogspot.com/ and tweets about comics and related subjects on Twitter at @davereadscomics (PM me there is you need to contact me).

As always, we welcome your comments and corrections below. Please try to keep things civilized.