Marvel Dominates November With Marvel NOW!

[Just Endless]

Wow, I actually really agree with that.

Marvel pulled this weird bait-and-switch, I think, and now I've gone from indie-underdog (ish) titles of Journey Into Mystery and FF to, like, literally all of the main Avengers books.

[Libaax]

It's a credit to Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo that Batman #14 is at the second spot amidst all the number 1 issues.

No its the credit of Batman fame and his history with all those great creators like Frank Miller and co. Batman has been in top as the bestselling american superhero for the last 10 years. Only Amazing Spiderman combined sales of weekly sales was close. Batman will sell in top 3 even if with the most unknown,disliked writer.

I dig Snyder but lets not overrate his popularity when Batman is bigger name than him by far.

[Circleoffire]

Marvel Comics' new Marvel NOW! #1 issues dominated the single issue sales charts in November, while DC continued its spread over the top graphic novels and trade paperbacks for the month.


Full article here.

I have always been a fan of Marvel Comics and up until 15 months ago i would have never, ever thought that could ever change; but it did!! For the life of me, I don't know how Marvel is outselling DC Comics! DC is kicking Marvel's butt right NOW! The writing and art is just so much more superior to Marvel and has been for over a year! DC finally has it right and Marvel, who for a few years had a dynasty going, has lost their edge due to a change in leadership at the company and the loss of writers, editors, and artists. I think the sales figures Marvel is reporting are quite possibly caused by Disney padding the sales figures, because if this contest was judged on pure greatness of product being put out, DC Comics would win hands down!!!

[Iangould]

I have always been a fan of Marvel Comics and up until 15 months ago i would have never, ever thought that could ever change; but it did!! For the life of me, I don't know how Marvel is outselling DC Comics! DC is kicking Marvel's butt right NOW! The writing and art is just so much more superior to Marvel and has been for over a year! DC finally has it right and Marvel, who for a few years had a dynasty going, has lost their edge due to a change in leadership at the company and the loss of writers, editors, and artists. I think the sales figures Marvel is reporting are quite possibly caused by Disney padding the sales figures, because if this contest was judged on pure greatness of product being put out, DC Comics would win hands down!!!

Not unless hundreds of comic shop owners are in on it - these sales figures are based on orders from comic shops to Diamond Comics.

[Circleoffire]

Not unless hundreds of comic shop owners are in on it - these sales figures are based on orders from comic shops to Diamond Comics.

In a way, the comic shop owners are "in on it"!! A lot of Comic shop owners still think that Marvel is putting out the same great material they were putting out a few years ago, so they keep over-ordering. The bad thing about this is, slightly off the subject, is, I go to three comic shops. Out of the three shops only one, one, actually reads comics! I buy my comics from the owner who actually reads comics and knows what he is talking about. My point being, the one comic shop owner puts and sells more DC's than Marvel's. The other two owners put out vastly more Marvel's than DC's! Just because they assume Marvel's are still what they were a few years ago. So, they keep pushing them on their customers! I wonder if that could be a trend all over the nation? I certainly hope not! I wonder how many comic shop owners actually read comics? I would love for someone to take an anonymous poll to find out the results. My friend Dave and and I have spent many a Wendsday arguing about the virtues of a comic shop owner actually reading comics! Is it possible CBR could poll comic shop owners, anonymously of course, to find out how many of them read/don't read comics? I think a lot of people would be interested in the poll results!

[Iangould]

In a way, the comic shop owners are "in on it"!! A lot of Comic shop owners still think that Marvel is putting out the same great material they were putting out a few years ago, so they keep over-ordering. The bad thing about this is, slightly off the subject, is, I go to three comic shops. Out of the three shops only one, one, actually reads comics! I buy my comics from the owner who actually reads comics and knows what he is talking about. My point being, the one comic shop owner puts and sells more DC's than Marvel's. The other two owners put out vastly more Marvel's than DC's! Just because they assume Marvel's are still what they were a few years ago. So, they keep pushing them on their customers! I wonder if that could be a trend all over the nation? I certainly hope not! I wonder how many comic shop owners actually read comics? I would love for someone to take an anonymous poll to find out the results. My friend Dave and and I have spent many a Wendsday arguing about the virtues of a comic shop owner actually reading comics! Is it possible CBR could poll comic shop owners, anonymously of course, to find out how many of them read/don't read comics? I think a lot of people would be interested in the poll results!

Just so you know - I am a comic shop owner. Trust me, regardless of their personal reading habits, most shop owners know what sells in their stores.

[bringthenoise]

Yeah, as Ian says, the question isn't whether owners read comics, it's whether they're competent enough to order the right number of books for their shop - and well, you won't last long if you don't.

[Charles RB]

headlined by a relatively well known comedian

Who is it?

The real story is that:

a. year on year sales continue to grow at ca. 14% despite the launch month for the New 52 dropping out.

b. Sales at publishers other than Marvel and DC continue to grow faster than Marvel or DC sales.

That is good news!

[StoneGold]

Who is it?

Brian Posehn.

[Iangould]

Looking at the comparative statistics, Marvel's total unit sales are down 3.8% on October's, and DC's are down 8.6%. Everyone else's combined are down 3.8% and as per the article, the market overall is down 5.4%.

Of the total year to date unit sales, Marvel has a 38% market share, and DC is right behind them with 36.5%. This time last year, Marvel had 40% of the market, with DC at 35%, and for Jan to Nov 2010, Marvel had 44% of the market, with DC at 34%.

Still looking at total year to date unit sales, Marvel's unit sales have increased by 4%, DC's by 13%, and everyone else's combined by 21.5%. YTD sales for the market overall are up 11.5%. Looking at the 12 monthly sales (i.e. Dec to Nov '11 vs Dec to Nov '12) gives us roughly similar figures.

There were 5 ship weeks in October 2012 but only 4 in November - so adjusting for that November sales were up strongly which isn't surprising considering the number of Marvel #1s.

[Spike-X]

In a way, the comic shop owners are "in on it"!! A lot of Comic shop owners still think that Marvel is putting out the same great material they were putting out a few years ago, so they keep over-ordering. The bad thing about this is, slightly off the subject, is, I go to three comic shops. Out of the three shops only one, one, actually reads comics! I buy my comics from the owner who actually reads comics and knows what he is talking about. My point being, the one comic shop owner puts and sells more DC's than Marvel's. The other two owners put out vastly more Marvel's than DC's! Just because they assume Marvel's are still what they were a few years ago. So, they keep pushing them on their customers!

Or to put it another way, their customers are buying more Marvel comics than DC comics, therefore retailers order more Marvel comics than DC comics, because they're not idiots who want to send themselves broke ordering more comics than they can sell just so they can give one particular company's books a bit of a sales boost.

Seriously, that's basically what you're saying here. And it's really not a very well-thought-out proposition to make, is it? If you're enjoying the current output of DC comics more than you are the current output of Marvel comics, that's all well and good. You like what you like, I'm not gonna argue with that. But to claim the only reason comics you don't personally care for are selling well is because of some huge conspiracy? That retailers are knowingly ordering more comics than they expect to sell just to give Marvel a boost? Seriously?

[Prof. Warren]

If this contest was judged on pure greatness of product being put out, DC Comics would win hands down!!!

Umm...no. It's nice that you like DC and all but Marvel NOW has been hugely impressive so far and several heavy hitters have yet to debut.

[Rheged]

Man. Marvel really should have given Red-She Hulk and Journey Into Mystery with Sif #1.

[Omega Alpha]

It's a credit to Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo that Batman #14 is at the second spot amidst all the number 1 issues.

Surely the fact it's Batman, and it's the start of an event, has nothing to do with it.

[Ottmeister X]

The New 52 did what I expected for all of its pomp and flash and glamour of the headlining creative teams: they have all started leaving the titles. I expect the same thing from Marvel Now! titles; it looks like Cassady has already jumped ship. I'm sure his contract was setup for just the first story arc but comics is sure like professional sports where there isn't much loyalty in sticking with a title for a few years. Just how I feel personally as I like some stability in a title with a solid creative team.

What's the bet on Loeb and McGuinness sticking with Nova? Six issues at the most would be my guess. Loeb will stay longer, maybe 12 issues, but I would be surprised to see McGuinness draw Nova for more than 6 issues.

I don't get Batman as one of my monthly pulls but kudos to Snyder and Capullo.