May's Sales Estimates

I was going to write another article on DC, and how they added Carlos Pacheco to Final Crisis to assist JG Jones with art chores, and how it has not been a good couple of weeks for DC, but I decided against it. Instead, I am gonna comment on the Diamond sales estimates. Fun.

I like the estimates posted on CBR more so than the one posted on Newsarama. CBR has actual number of units, number of units the last issues sold, percentage change, and weeks late. Before discussing these, it should be noted that these are what Diamond sold to the comic shops. There is no way to tell what was actually bought from the stores, as not everyone uses a point-of-sale inventory system.

It is not surprising that Secret Invasion #2 outsold Final Crisis #1; 200,344 to 159,036. While both of these numbers seem high, neither of them is close to Secret Invasion #1, which sold over 267,000 copies. For comparison, Civil War #1 sold 260,700 copies with #2 only dropping to 253, 900 copies. Infinite Crisis #1 sold 249,265 copies. With the inevitable decrease in sales that most series experience, the lower starting point for Final Crisis does not look good.

Events have been good some of both companies ongoing titles. New and Mighty Avengers maintained an increase in sales with their Secret Invasion tie-ins. Both issues of Batman released in May as the first two parts of the RIP storyline saw a dramatic increase in sales. Justice League also saw an increase with its "Sightings" tag. Invincible Iron Man had a good debut, but issue 2 will bring about a better view of how this book is doing.

Personally, it disturbs me how poorly Nightwing and Robin are selling. Both are in the 30,000 area. Fortunately, there are ongoing titles selling worse, but they are below Supergirl. For comparison, Catwoman, selling 19,000 copies has been canceled. Some titles below that sales mark include: Checkmate, X-men First Class, Shadowpact, Spirit, Marvel Comics Present. Not saying these books are in danger, but it is something to keep an eye on.