Marc-Oliver Frisch is over at The Beat looking at November’s sales figures for DC books, and also uses the chance to comment on 2006 in general for the House of Superman:

52 and Justice League of America appear to be the only major successes in the publisher’s stable right now. Other recent relaunches, such as Wonder Woman and Flash: The Fastest Man Alive, are dropping down the chart at an alarming rate. New high-profile creative teams on Action Comics and Superman are commercial disappointments so far. The more successful creative changes on Detective Comics and Batman are interrupted through potentially damaging fill-ins. Writer Jeph Loeb’s departure in May has left former sales juggernauts Superman/Batman and Supergirl in a dramatic decline. The vast majority of books involved in March’s “One Year Later” stunt are sinking like stones. And the All-Star line of titles seems to have disappeared in publishing limbo.

It’s not surprising that DC Comics dignitaries are now openly doubting the merits of self-contained titles and are eager to reassure us that the “Infinite Crisis” and “One Year Later” events were just the first steps in a much, much larger plan. Oblivious to the notion of diminished returns, it seems the direct market is back to its old tricks, after all, chasing one short-lived sales spike after the next with increasing levels of desperation. (March’s Action Comics #848 will ship in two variants, a regular one and a more expensive “3-D” one, complete with a 3-D cover and 3-D glasses.)

(Also, sales of Supergirl are said to be “shedding units at a very unhealthy rate”, which means that DC have to give the book to me and Philip Bond to take it to the creative heights it deserves to hit. You heard me, Didio.)

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