May proved to be a Crisis that wasn’t limited to the pantheon of DC Comics, as comic book sales plummeted by double-digit percentage points.
ICv2 reports that comic book sales dropped 19 percent in May from the previous year, with graphic novel sales dropping 13 percent. The overall drop totals at 18 percent. Here’s some more details:
A lack of potent #1 issues as well as the absence of Dark Avengers certainly didn’t help comic sales this May, a month in which no single title even came close to breaking the 100K barrier. In contrast in May of 2008, which boasted seven titles over 100,000, comic sales were boosted by Final Crisis #1, Avengers/Invaders #1, Invincible Iron Man #1, and Giant Size Astonishing X-Men #1, all of which made the top ten along with 4 Secret Invasion titles and two issues of Batman RIP. The paucity of big event titles and strong #1s, the continuing deep recession, and the financial drag of higher cover prices all worked together to help produce the steep decline in comic numbers in May.
The top three comics of May 2009 were New Avengers #53 (94,367 copies sold), Battle for the Cowl #3 (89,170 copies sold), and Wolverine #72 (87,075 copies sold).
This drop is the largest ever reported by ICv2. In addition, April 2008 and 2009 both had five weeks of shipping, whereas May had the typical four.
June 16th, 2009 at 8:50 am
Why is this even news? Is it a surprise that sales were down considering what was on sale last year?
June 16th, 2009 at 9:16 am
Not at all surprising given the economy, massive disappointment over what DC and Marvel have been offering up of late, and Marvel’s unconscionable price hikes. Oh, and given the popularity of the Batman, Iron Man and (to a lesser extent) Hulk movies last year but really nothing to match it this year (Wolverine, but after a huge opening that’s proven to be a disappointment) no one should be surprised to see sales plummet.
June 16th, 2009 at 9:18 am
I suspect that I am not the only one for whom the recession started taking a bigger bite, even as there just seemed to be less worth getting. I dropped Angel and Booster Gold, and will drop REBELS. In a stronger economy, I might have held on longer, but it’s not worth it. And I’ve even cut back my TPB buying, since I can find things in the libraries.
June 16th, 2009 at 9:36 am
GOOD! Maybe this will encourage the price hikes to go away, and for unnecessary variant covers, multiple Spidey/Wolverine/X-Men/Avengers/Superman/Batman books, and pointless mini-series that could be fully integrated into the core titles to disappear as well. Imagine how strong the core characters would become if they weren’t so diluted.
Wishful thinking, I know.
June 16th, 2009 at 11:59 am
I know big event books and #1 issues are big sellers, but it looks like this is what happens after all that hoopla settles- neither of the big two had anything to carry that momentum, as the stories in the books had to wrap up in some way. I say just let the writers do what they want to keep the stories fresh, and we’ll buy. There’s a difference between the incentive to buy a #1 issue and the incentive to follow a series every month.
And yes, to hell with the price hike. This will be the first month since 2004 that I haven’t purchased a Punisher comic, and it’s because the issue this month is $4.
June 16th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
@Mike – Not a chance. Those are the things that aging “collectors” still buy in large numbers. All a dip in sales will do is kill titles like “Captain Britain” and “Secret Six” when they aren’t bringing a high enough margin in. The books that the comics faithful are tired of seeing (but continue inexplicably to support) aren’t going anywhere.