Ultimate Sales Discussions

[Peter Wisdom]

This doesn't count digital sales

This doesn't count any actual sales. It's just the numbers shops ordered from Diamond. For all you know, all those comic books might be still lying on the shelfs, because nobody bought them. I just hope in this age this isn't the only way publishers measure book's sales, because I might as well be pirating the things.

[NapoleonBlownapart]

Damn, Ultimate Spider-Man is less than 4000 copies below Amazing Spider-Man. That's pretty impressive.

[magnuskn]

So, I guess killing off Peter did not work out as well as Bendis hoped.

[Robbie_Jee]

So, I guess killing off Peter did not work out as well as Bendis hoped.

Well it's gotten a sales boost since the relaunch so I'd say it was a success.

[MarvelMaster616]

Numbers don't lie and while I think Marvel is usually content with steady sales, if they keep going down long enough then it's only a matter of time before ANOTHER relaunch of sorts. Based on some of the people I talk to, they just find Ultimate too depressing and predictable now. It's all superheroes are jerks, Miles is always in Peter's shadow, and the mutants are screwed. That and they all seem more interested in the events of AvX and Before Watchmen. Oh lord how some people won't shut up about Before Watchmen. I have a feeling that's going to dominate the headlines and the sales charts more than AvX in the coming months.

[Robbie_Jee]

Numbers don't lie and while I think Marvel is usually content with steady sales, if they keep going down long enough then it's only a matter of time before ANOTHER relaunch of sorts. Based on some of the people I talk to, they just find Ultimate too depressing and predictable now. It's all superheroes are jerks, Miles is always in Peter's shadow, and the mutants are screwed. That and they all seem more interested in the events of AvX and Before Watchmen. Oh lord how some people won't shut up about Before Watchmen. I have a feeling that's going to dominate the headlines and the sales charts more than AvX in the coming months.

Um, excuse me but have you seen how much the DCnU titles have dropped. DC's relaunch was quite simply nothing more than a pile of poo and AvX has been terrible so far. I don't see why these heroes always have to fight eachother and get so arrogantly obnoxious and stupidly proud as they beat eachother up, despite any freindship or memorable experiences that may have been shared in the past. All Ultimate characters are jerks? Give me a break. See the recent fight between Cap and Wolverine in AvX. That's a good example of how superheroes generally act and I HATE IT. Superman is also incredibly naive and has more tantrums than most 14 year old teenagers.

The Ultimate Universe is one of the very few superhero universes that actually don't have their characters having hissy-fits all the time. The same cannot be said for 616 and DCnU.

[CaptainMarvell]

Its interesting that Ultimates started out the lowest, but has fallen slower than everything else. Spider-man is down 50% and X-Men is down by more than 50%. Its really surprising to see these books drop in sales though, especially Ultimates. I mean, who is picking up Ultimates, reading it and saying "Meh, i don't care what happens next"? Seriously. The only thing I can figure is that people don't want to pay the extra dollar each month. I quit buying Ultimate X-Men after a couple issues because it was $4 and it wasn't moving quickly enough. I'm guessing that's what others are doing.

Numbers don't lie and while I think Marvel is usually content with steady sales, if they keep going down long enough then it's only a matter of time before ANOTHER relaunch of sorts. Based on some of the people I talk to, they just find Ultimate too depressing and predictable now.

Another relaunch? If sales continue to drop, I think they'll drop the line altogether, which really sucks. I wonder if they'll consider resurrections before discontinuation. Ultimate is dark, which is the reason I like it. Predictable? Not in the least. If it were predictable, I wouldn't be shelling out money for Ultimates every month.

[MarvelMaster616]

Um, excuse me but have you seen how much the DCnU titles have dropped. DC's relaunch was quite simply nothing more than a pile of poo and AvX has been terrible so far. I don't see why these heroes always have to fight eachother and get so arrogantly obnoxious and stupidly proud as they beat eachother up, despite any freindship or memorable experiences that may have been shared in the past. All Ultimate characters are jerks? Give me a break. See the recent fight between Cap and Wolverine in AvX. That's a good example of how superheroes generally act and I HATE IT. Superman is also incredibly naive and has more tantrums than most 14 year old teenagers.

The Ultimate Universe is one of the very few superhero universes that actually don't have their characters having hissy-fits all the time. The same cannot be said for 616 and DCnU.

Considering how many DC titles were in the top 10 for a number of months and considering the high 200k plus sales of AvX, I think it's really unreasonable to say they're flawed. And the fight between Cap and Wolverine wasn't just them being jerks. They both had genuinely solid arguments and it was written in a way that had neither one of them coming off as the bad guy. In Ultimate, pretty much everyone comes off as either a jerk or a selfish tool. And Ultimate has characters that don't have hissy fits all the time? What universe are you reading?

But I don't want to get into another argument about the status of Ultimate again. This is a discussion about sales. Right now, Ultimate isn't really doing much and I don't think that's because it's in a rapid decline. I think it's just a result of Avengers vs. X-men and the new 52. But if the trend continues, it could lead Marvel to try and shake things up again. They're already resorting to a crossover gimmick with Spider-Men. I think that's a sign they may be running out of ideas.

Another relaunch? If sales continue to drop, I think they'll drop the line altogether, which really sucks. I wonder if they'll consider resurrections before discontinuation. Ultimate is dark, which is the reason I like it. Predictable? Not in the least. If it were predictable, I wouldn't be shelling out money for Ultimates every month.

I don't see Marvel dropping this line. The Ultimate brand is too strong. But I do see a problem with a line that is too dark, too predictable, and too many gimmicks. The fact that it's dark is what makes it predictable. I can just assume that every issue of Ultimates and X-men will involve the world getting prorgressively worse and every hero becoming more and more a jerk. I can also predict Miles basically living in Peter Parker's shadow and trying to live up to that role every single issue. I just don't find that very interesting. Ultimate still has it's moments (most of them are in Ultimates), but I've found far better stories in 616 and the new 52.

But that's just my opinion. I know a lot of people here don't agree and I have no desire to get into another heated debate. So if you just want to write me off as a crazy naysayer, by all means.

[Flamer]

Surprised to see Ultimates getting such low sales figures. Then again, they must be doing something right because compared to the other two they really haven't dropped off much, which is a good sign. X-Men could probably learn something from that. In my opinion, there's just too many story threads going on at the moment to really get any sort of momentum going. Too many plot points that have been introduced and then not touched upon again. Whilst I'm sure its gonna all make for one hell of a conclusions, readers coming onto the book after re-launch aren't likely to wait around for months to see how its all gonna tie to together. You wanna be giving out answers as you move along, with those answers providing more questions etc.

[sage6paths]

Numbers don't lie and while I think Marvel is usually content with steady sales, if they keep going down long enough then it's only a matter of time before ANOTHER relaunch of sorts. Based on some of the people I talk to, they just find Ultimate too depressing and predictable now. It's all superheroes are jerks, Miles is always in Peter's shadow, and the mutants are screwed. That and they all seem more interested in the events of AvX and Before Watchmen. Oh lord how some people won't shut up about Before Watchmen. I have a feeling that's going to dominate the headlines and the sales charts more than AvX in the coming months.

I still don't understand why people read The Ultimates expecting Superheroics. The Ultimates have never been about being superheros and it's because they are soldiers not moral role models they just get the job done. If people want to read about the heroes winning ever single time then there is the 616 but I find that boring and predictable. And really depressing? It's always been like that and that's why it has a dedicated fanbase. I haven't thought this metaphor up before so I will use it. The Ultimate Universe is Game of Thrones and the 616 is The Lord of The Rings. People love Game of Thrones because it's more mature but people love Lord of The Rings because it's awesome but there will always be both around because people have different tastes.

[MagnaInferno]

Sales estimates for May are out. http://www.comichron.com/monthlycomi...2/2012-05.html

Positions are little out of whack due to Night of the Owls and Avengers vs X-Men.
Spider-Man lost a little bit, but should see an increase for June due to Spider-Men. Ultimates is pretty much stablized, and X-Men lost a little bit again, but might see an increase due to Wood taking over? And if not should see some small bumps on Ultimates/X-Men in July due to Divided We Fall.

44 Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #10 [42,356]
79 Ultimate Comics Ultimates #10 [31,344]
80 Ultimate Comics Ultimates #11 [31,257]
89 Ultimate Comics X-Men #12 [28,839]
90 Ultimate Comics X-Men #11 [28,711]

ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN #01 [87,237]
ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN #02 [52,569]
ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN #03 [52,521]
ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN #04 [51,558]
ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN #05 [48,308]
ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN #06 [49,840]
ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN #07 [45,266]
ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN #08 [46,290]
ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN #09 [43 724]

ULTIMATE COMICS ULTIMATES #01 [47,630]
ULTIMATE COMICS ULTIMATES #02 [42,728]
ULTIMATE COMICS ULTIMATES #03 [40,792]
ULTIMATE COMICS ULTIMATES #04 [39,342]
ULTIMATE COMICS ULTIMATES #05 [36,396]
ULTIMATE COMICS ULTIMATES #06 [34,865]
ULTIMATE COMICS ULTIMATES #07 [33,863]
ULTIMATE COMICS ULTIMATES #08 [32,222]
ULTIMATE COMICS ULTIMATES #09 [31 336]

ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN #01 [62,080]
ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN #02 [44,399]
ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN #03 [39,657]
ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN #04 [37,115]
ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN #05 [35,402]
ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN #06 [33,975]
ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN #07 [32,353]
ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN #08 [30,822]
ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN #09 [30,080]
ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN #10 [29 743]

[MagnaInferno]

June numers are out http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/23332.html
Spider-Man stayed the same due to small bump from Spider-Men most likely. X-Men saw a small bump as well due to the writer change, and Ultimates had a small loss.

09 SPIDER-MEN #1 [94,548]
20 SPIDER-MEN #2 [68,283]
46 ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN #11 [42,549]
77 ULTIMATE COMICS ULTIMATES #12 [30,845]
84 ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN #13 [29,159]

ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN #01 [87,237]
ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN #02 [52,569]
ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN #03 [52,521]
ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN #04 [51,558]
ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN #05 [48,308]
ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN #06 [49,840]
ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN #07 [45,266]
ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN #08 [46,290]
ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN #09 [43 724]
ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN #10 [42,356]

ULTIMATE COMICS ULTIMATES #01 [47,630]
ULTIMATE COMICS ULTIMATES #02 [42,728]
ULTIMATE COMICS ULTIMATES #03 [40,792]
ULTIMATE COMICS ULTIMATES #04 [39,342]
ULTIMATE COMICS ULTIMATES #05 [36,396]
ULTIMATE COMICS ULTIMATES #06 [34,865]
ULTIMATE COMICS ULTIMATES #07 [33,863]
ULTIMATE COMICS ULTIMATES #08 [32,222]
ULTIMATE COMICS ULTIMATES #09 [31 336]
ULTIMATE COMICS ULTIMATES #10 [31,344]
ULTIMATE COMICS ULTIMATES #11 [31,257]

ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN #01 [62,080]
ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN #02 [44,399]
ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN #03 [39,657]
ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN #04 [37,115]
ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN #05 [35,402]
ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN #06 [33,975]
ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN #07 [32,353]
ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN #08 [30,822]
ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN #09 [30,080]
ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN #10 [29 743]
ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN #12 [28,839]
ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN #11 [28,711]

[Plawsky]

I'd say that's great news. Two titles gaining a few in sales and the other losing less than 500; can't complain about that. And that's a great debut for Spider-men. More copies of that sold than all four of last year's Ultimate #1s. I'd imagine we'll probably see a bump for all the ongoings next month thanks to DWF.

[CaptainMarvell]

ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN #01 [62,080]
ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN #02 [44,399]
ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN #03 [39,657]
ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN #04 [37,115]
ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN #05 [35,402]
ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN #06 [33,975]
ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN #07 [32,353]
ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN #08 [30,822]
ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN #09 [30,080]
ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN #10 [29 743]
ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN #12 [28,839]
ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN #11 [28,711]

That is quite a fall for X-Men. I wonder if this fall is attributed to the writing or if its the characters. I don't know what good or bad numbers would be, but losing more than half of your audience since the first issue has to be bad.

[Chaos_Alfa]

That is quite a fall for X-Men. I wonder if this fall is attributed to the writing or if its the characters. I don't know what good or bad numbers would be, but losing more than half of your audience since the first issue has to be bad.

Spider-Man also lost lost half of its audience.

From what I have seen it happens often with comic books.