DC Comics relaunched their entire superhero line in September with new #1 issues for 52 titles. The event has certainly been a best-case scenario for sales with multiple printings and sell-outs. DC even edged out Marvel for overall sales for the first time in recent memory.
How did DC and Marvel really stack up for September sales? For that answer, we need to look at line averages.
Strictly looking at the core superhero universes and ICV2’s September sales estimates, DC launched 52 new #1 issues, ranging from Batman #1 at 188K to OMAC #1 at 33.5K. The average estimated sales for a DCU title were 61,649. The median seller was The Savage Hawkman with an estimated 50,359 copies.
These are astonishingly good numbers, especially when you consider most industry observers believe Diamond reduced the reported numbers by 10% to account for returnability and the Diamond sales estimates are usually 10-20% low as they don’t include UK sales. Given the near universal sell-outs, returns should be minimal and it seems reasonable to bump those number by 20% and make an educated guess that the average title sold closer to 73,979 and that the median seller was closer to 60,431 copies.
This does not account for the second printings or third printings, for that matter. DC had a very good month. What was the line average for the DCU prior to the relaunch? In July, as the Flashpoint event was running it’s course, the average title sold 28,586. That’s right, DC more than doubled the line average.
Marvel (throwing out the literary adaptions, licensed comics and Icon creator-owned line; but keeping the Max and Ultimates lines) pumped out 91 titles in September, ranging from Fear Itself #6 with 93K to Kazar with 5,731 copies. The average sales total for a Marvel comic in September was 29,332. The median title was X-Factor #225 with 23,507.
How did this happen? Comics, like most entertainment industries, is a hit-based business. DC’s hits spiked high with Marvel’s best seller only coming in at #8 on the September chart. Marvel also produces a number of fairly low selling titles. In September, Marvel had 35 titles estimated to sell less than 20K. Five titles were estimated to have sold less than 10K.
If Marvel capped its line at 52 titles, the range would be 93K-20.9K. The line average would go up to 38,805 and the median title becomes Wolverine #15 with estimated sales of 37,951. And suddenly the median and the average are very close.
Still, the overall line average of 29K is similar to DC’s pre-relaunch average, though it’s still an open question if there will be a new status quo. Normally, you expect sales to drop significantly from issue 1 to issue 2, but given the sellouts and multiple printings, it isn’t immediately obvious what DC’s sales will look like when October has come and gone. Marvel’s greater number of titles could buoy it back to top of overall sales if DC dips a little. It would take a sudden sales collapse for DC not to maintain a lead on sales per title, on the other hand.
