We've got a lot of big indie launches recently. I think it's a good overall sign for the industry because it makes them less reliant on big 2 comics, and it's also great for creators because they keep the rights for their work.
It blows my mind that in my comic reading lifetime, it’s gone from 20 cents to 4.99. And I’m 59, not 80. By the time I kick the bucket they could be 9.99, or even 19.99 for a comic book.
People say inflation, but when I was a kid, a large cheese pizza eaten out was $3, medium $2. Little Caesar’s has them now for $6. But comics sure aren’t 40 to 60 cents.
You are right, those are still established IPs, I was thinking more about non-big 2 comics, and in general having other publishers getting more of their books in higher and higher spots on the sales charts.
Other people have answered your question but I wanted to also point out that this is an entirely different universe than the original Ultimate Universe.
Though one character from the original Ultimate Universe (The Maker) is back.
Yeah, that's true, but:
* it's the only sales data we have since the big 2 publishers left Diamond (say what you will about Dimond, and there's a lot of bad things to say, but Diamond was very transparent with their sales data by reporting full order numbers to comichron)
* those 4% of shops most likely get more than 4% of customers, that's because they use specific software to keep track of sales not just a basic and old fashioned cash register
* these are what people buy not order by shops, and that's another interesting thing, it bypasses sales gimmicks like incentive convers and other stuff which inflated orders back in the day.
Just because it's the only data does not mean it's good data.
I'd also disagree regarding your statement about the shops using Comic Hub getting more than 4% of comic customers who shop at an LCS. None of the big, big, big names in Chicago, NYC, etc. are listen on their site. None of the other larger metro stores I've visited appear either. It's main selling point seems to be that it's good for comic stores that have multiple locations - at least that's the trend I see. We shouldn't assume that if they're not on ComicHub, they're using a cash register and no software to track sales, trends, etc. Even some the more DIY stores I've been to tend to have a system in place. And I assume the larger stores have a more advanced system that caters to them.
I didn't consider that this is tracking customer purchases and not store orders. But if that's the case, isn't it just measuring what people are buying in a given week? A store could theoretically order 100 copies of USM, knowing it has a dedicated fan base that will sell out and 150 copies of ASM knowing it's an evergreen title that casual fans will come in and buy over time. They sell out all 100 copies of USM that first week and 67 copies of ASM. But that doesn't mean those ASM copies will never sell and the store still ordered more copies of ASM.
That's all hypothetical, but I don't think it's impossible. Marvel has cited within the past year that ASM is consistently their #1 seller, but they're also including metrics besides LCS store sales.
I think this is good data, when I think of bad data I think of biased sampling, I agree that it'd be nice to have more shops, however I don't believe that the customers of the sampled shops are biased against ASM or biased in favor of USM at a disproportional rate when compared to the other shops, I don't see how that would be possible, so as long as that can't be shown I'm willing to consider this a good enough system.
As for the hypothetical example, I think that's unlikely, mostly because I think that shops would order more issues if a book sells out, your example would require a shop running out of copies for a book and never attempting to re-stock or not attempting to make sure that it won't happen again, which is not what retailers typically do.
Yes. Because the other 96% of comic stores in the US may see different trends. Drastically different trends.
It also doesn't take into account international sales, subscriptions, etc.
I'm not a statistician, but looking around at Google, it seems like a good number would at least be 10%. And since there are relatively few comic stores in the country (about 2,500), a better number would be maybe 20%.
4% is not anywhere close to the number needed to get a representative number, with how small the total amount of comic sales can be assumed to be (high end of 200K at the absolute most)
That's true, but it's expected that a newly launched book to outperform a long running one, at least for the first couple of issues, I think we are at a point (from issue #6 going forward) where ASM being outsold by USM will mean more and more than it did previously.
> but ASM is still too high.
That's what happens you publish a book with a cheap gimmick (Peter turning into the Green Goblin) and pump out six variant covers.
Kinda? *USM* #6 shipped with four variant covers (I'm not counting reprints), to *ASM* #52's *nine*. I also don't think *USM* is using any type of gimmick in it's storytelling to sell the book the way *ASM* is.
I'm more talking about the story. What Hickman is doing it telling a unique story, while Wells is recycling his own ideas, since The Spider-Who-Gobbles is just a rehash of "Spider-Man's First Hunt", it's just a gimmick to get people to buy the book.
It depends, Marvel has been doing theme months with their variants, for example in the near future they'll be doing a Godzilla one, so random books will have heroes fighting Godzilla on the cover, back when MvC Infinite was coming out they made a them month where we got Capcom characters on covers (granted the pairings were weird because that was before the Fox deal so no mutants were in that game but just imagine a Morrigan/Spider-Man or Ryu/Cyclops cover in the future, those would sell pretty well)
I poorly formulated my question. Why do people buy variant covers of random issues? I can get buying one or two cool covers, but once you got the book? It feels like you're voting with your wallet when you buy all of them, and you're voting for Marvel to keep doing variant covers, to keep focusing on popular characters, to keep practicing the marketing methods that created the 90's bubble.
I could think of 2 scenarios here, let's pick Thor, just as a stand-in book:
* Let's just say that you're a Thor fan but you don't care about whatever happens in the current run, but you see a cover with Godzilla vs Thor, you might buy that cover because having official Marvel art with both Godzilla and Thor does something for your inner fanboy, that's 1 extra issue of Thor sold that month
* Let's just say that you're a Thor fan who also likes the current run, and you are getting the current issue which has an Alex Ross cover but Marvel is putting out Peach Momoko Nightmare variants (that was a real thing, Peach doing monstrous version of heroes), if you like her style you might be inclined to buy that Nightmare variant as well, that's 1 extra issue of Thor sold that month
So, either way a variant cover could mean extra sells, at least for some people.
I would just buy the cover I like and not the mainline. But that's just me. Idk, I feel like we could have more series, less focused on super popular characters, on big dumb events or outside of the main continuity. I really wish the two editor of comics were more experimental sometimes. They have over 50% of the market, I don't see why they focus on such marketing stunts...
I completely agree with you here, but sadly those publishers are run by massive corporations which want to maximize profits, and taking risks is not seen as an advantageous way to do so.
This run could have been so much better if it was just a low-key crime procedural with Tombstone and Robbie Robertson that alternated with Kraven and Kafka's spirited romance. Cut everything else.
To be fair, the final arc will begin in September, depending how long that lasts he could still be around until 2025, at least that's my understanding.
[Here](https://bleedingcool.com/comics/ultimate-amazing-spider-man-top-bleeding-cool-weekly-bestseller-list/) is the article which contains a full list of shops from which this data has been gathered.
Yeah, but back then Quesada most likely used it as an excuse to undo the marriage because a teenage and single Spider-Man is outselling ASM, , now the shoe is on the other foot and a grown up and married Spider-Man is outselling ASM.
Dan Slott said last year that if readers really wanted the marriage back they should petition for and support a pro-marriage AU title more than the 616 to send a message.
That message has been sent six straight months in a row this year.
The actual article itself says that ASM sales are increasing, which is why it's outselling stuff like Batman. USM is probably causing people to be interested in both.
Yeah, it shows that it’s profitable to provide both the “poison” and the “cure.” ASM will always sell well with collectors, so putting out a “married Spider-Man” comic just allows them to double dip
People acting like Marvel have the top 2 here is a bad thing, or that an issue 52 is selling nearly as well as a brand new comic initiative (new Ultimate line) with the one of biggest comic writer on earth (Hickman) is gonna upset them.
There’s probably a lot of comic readers that aren’t online like the rest of us, or at least aren’t the kind to make posts or comments, and they’re actually enjoying it, or it’s people who don’t follow comics too closely and ASM is one of if not the only book they follow because they grew up loving Spider-Man. And then there’s the completionist aspect as well. I’m sure there’s a solid contingent that buy it just to have it and don’t read it.
I am sure there are a lot of redditors online who just don't talk about ASM here or other comic subreddits, because any even vaguely positive post about it gets downvoted.
A few years back we would actually get to see the raw numbers, now that would be useful.
But I guess its a decent tradeoff for not having to deal with Diamond anymore.
> Damn, that's actually incredibly useful
Not really, it is like 4% of us comic stores. Hard to know if their sales are representative of the general buying public. With how small the total buying audience is, you need a bigger sample size to get an idea of the general trends.
ASM always has. Sins Past sold. Clone Saga sold. One More Day was only behind World War Hulk on the charts.
They’re still terrible stories. Spider-Man just sells regardless.
You just cannot go by internet discussion boards. It's just a general phenomenon that the loudest voices in an echochamber don't speak for a wider audience. Spidey is incredibly popular and pulls in a more general audience who help make his movies the ticket selling juggernaut that they are. You take the regular Spidey crowd, that general audience, the dissatisfied readership, plus throw in Hickman's name and that's how USM is selling so much more.
https://ic.pics.livejournal.com/evandorkin/781303/165826/165826_600.jpg
I’ve come across these kind of readers. Pretty sure I was a diehard Spawn reader long past the point I stopped enjoying it.
One More Day was second only to World War Hulk at release on the charts. It’s still universally agreed upon that it was a terrible comic.
“The worst issue of ASM will outsell the best issue of Hawkeye, Moon Knight, or Daredevil” is something I read once and it’s stuck with me.
You just dont know comics fans. I have picked up a lot of runs i hated just because i had been picking the book up for years, or i was too lazy to cancel my pull.
Comics fans not showing quality with their wallet is how crap keep going way longer than they should
I'm more amazed that 3 books are beating Batman. I know it's not in a great spot right now, but I hear a lot less whining about Batman than I do ASM, so I'm more than a little surprised which is selling more
I don't really like Zeb's run but it's weird to frame this as some kind of L for Marvel and SM editorial.
They get to make twice as much money and we get a good run.
Wells is gone later this year and we await what the next team does. This is more proof that they’ve left money on the table all these years insisting a married Peter wasn’t supported by “their metrics” (per Nick Lowe).
This same argument was used 17 years ago. “Single Teen Peter is selling great! Married Peter is selling great! Why mess with that?” But Quesada had his way despite that.
I know people are gonna try and draw big conclusions from this, but I imagine Hickman's name on this is the biggest selling point, plus it is only 6 issues in.
Not to say I am not enjoying USM, I have been loving it. But it will be interesting to see how it is selling when the new/novelty of it has worn off.
I know people wanna take this a big gotcha, but for alllllllllll complaining about Amazing and allllllll the wanking for Ultimate I expected Ultimate to pull Jim Lee X-men numbers and Amazing to drop out of the top 100.
To note, these are physical rankings and digital is a different matter. Amazon ebooks, for instance, had USM#6 at #1, while ASM#52 is at #48 earlier today on their sales charts.
This is not going to be a popular opinion, and I don’t buy Amazing, but Ultimate has been for me pretty…..boring. My favorite Ultimate book is Black Panther and even that is good not great.
This is good. Amazing Spider-Man is always going to sell well, just by brand recognition alone. But Ultimate Spider-Man selling better on its sixth issue is a remarkable triumph.
It speaks to just how much this series has resonated with audiences, especially those jaded by the mainline Spider-Man comics. It's not just that it gave us a married Peter Parker and Mary Jane. This comic has given us a new version of Peter Parker that's genuinely easy to root for. And whatever happens with the rest of Ultimate Marvel, I think Ultimate Spider-Man has already established itself as special in all the right ways. 😊
I agree with you here, Ultimate Spider-Man has a phenomenal creative, behind it, and it's the center of a new Universe, but I'm still really happy to see a married Spider-Man outselling post-OMD ASM.
I used this argument 17 years ago when we had single teen Spidey from Bendis and married Spidey in the 616, both selling well.
That didn’t matter to Quesada.
Not really the same thing. Everyone is reading the new USM because they want 616 Peter to be mature and have a stable relationship/family etc. Back then it was just more Spidey.
Or the people that don't like the idea they don't know *everything* about the 616 Peter so they got to start with a new one
The only real selling point for current USM is "mature Peter with a family", so if that same thing was allowed to happen in 616 then the sales of USM would absolutely crater.
USM is just Renew Your Vows with an expanded universe. Only USM launched perfectly when so many people hate the current ASM. It's lightning in a bottle
RYV and USM are very different. I enjoy both, but for very different reasons.
I don’t need 616 to suddenly have kids right now, for instance. Many just want the marriage back to start.
The Ultimate universe is still around? I'm way behind on my comics, but wasn't the ultimate universe kind of dissolved after the events of Secret Wars?
It’s still new, so the most recent issues may not be up, but the starting issues absolutely are!
https://cdn.marvel.com/content/1x/mu_cal-2048x1024.jpg
A grown up, more grounded Peter Parker just discovering his powers. Vs, Green Goblin and whatever the hell has been going on with ASM for years. Who would've thought.
I'm shocked that Batman is still selling this well. I mean, I keep buying it so I guess it's partially my fault as well, but I would have thought most people would have jumped ship by now.
Just further proof that people prefer a married Peter Parker with kids over a Peter Parker that sold his soul to the literal devil and whatever he has been up to since OMD/BND.
Honestly, that's the first time where i think that an issue of this comic didn't deserve to be number one(and as for ASM, i can't speak about it because i just read one random issue of this run, and nothing more).
But ASM is selling more than a bunch of good comics, so where’s the victory? We’re basically just proving to them we’ll gobble up any old slop they serve us.
Love seeing Destro selling what it is.
This!! Destro was so good.
Duke and Cobra were good too.
The entire energon universe run is pretty great
I’ve not read any Void Rivals.
It's pretty good, Kirkman is writing that and has a few Transformers in it.
Destro and the Barroness, practicing their clarinets.
We've got a lot of big indie launches recently. I think it's a good overall sign for the industry because it makes them less reliant on big 2 comics, and it's also great for creators because they keep the rights for their work.
Well, the image isn't really indie, but I agree, yea, we've been seeing a lot of non Mavrel and DC selling well.
People just say “indie” to mean “not DC or Marvel.”
Why are some of the big 2 comics 4.99 and others 3.99?
In some cases, there's an increase in page count. In most cases, these companies are greedy bastards.
It blows my mind that in my comic reading lifetime, it’s gone from 20 cents to 4.99. And I’m 59, not 80. By the time I kick the bucket they could be 9.99, or even 19.99 for a comic book. People say inflation, but when I was a kid, a large cheese pizza eaten out was $3, medium $2. Little Caesar’s has them now for $6. But comics sure aren’t 40 to 60 cents.
It seems like $4.99 is the new normal, $3.99 books are slowly disappearing, sadly.
I don't know if I would really call a GI Joe comic an indie title...
You are right, those are still established IPs, I was thinking more about non-big 2 comics, and in general having other publishers getting more of their books in higher and higher spots on the sales charts.
This!! Destro was so good.
I need to check out the GI Joe comics. Void Rivals and Transformers were both pretty good.
They have all been very good so far, Im loving the whole Enegron universe.
Hold up IDW not only lost the license to Transformers, they also lost the license to GI Joe?
Yup, and all the new Joe and Transformers stuff from Image are fantastic and worth a check.
As it should. It’s the better Peter Parker solo comic.
Haven't paid attention to ultimate for a long time. Did the original ultimate parker come back from the dead?
I believe he did, but this is a new Ultimate Peter Parker.
He became Spider-Man after marrying MJ and having two kids.
Yes. Just clarifying that this is a different Spider-Man than the one from the original Ultimate comic.
Yep, just meant to add to that, to say how this one is different.
I like how the phrasing here can imply that marrying MJ and having two kids is what gave him his powers.
Give him the power to have a good book that is loved by fans.
Other people have answered your question but I wanted to also point out that this is an entirely different universe than the original Ultimate Universe. Though one character from the original Ultimate Universe (The Maker) is back.
Reminder: this data only represents 4% of comic book stores in the US.
It also represents how many comics stores buy, not what gets bought by customers.
The article says it is based on sales from customers not what is ordered by the stores.
Yup, these are not orders made by shops, they are what customers bought.
Then there’s no reason to think it’s accurate
Yep. Good point.
Yeah, that's true, but: * it's the only sales data we have since the big 2 publishers left Diamond (say what you will about Dimond, and there's a lot of bad things to say, but Diamond was very transparent with their sales data by reporting full order numbers to comichron) * those 4% of shops most likely get more than 4% of customers, that's because they use specific software to keep track of sales not just a basic and old fashioned cash register * these are what people buy not order by shops, and that's another interesting thing, it bypasses sales gimmicks like incentive convers and other stuff which inflated orders back in the day.
Just because it's the only data does not mean it's good data. I'd also disagree regarding your statement about the shops using Comic Hub getting more than 4% of comic customers who shop at an LCS. None of the big, big, big names in Chicago, NYC, etc. are listen on their site. None of the other larger metro stores I've visited appear either. It's main selling point seems to be that it's good for comic stores that have multiple locations - at least that's the trend I see. We shouldn't assume that if they're not on ComicHub, they're using a cash register and no software to track sales, trends, etc. Even some the more DIY stores I've been to tend to have a system in place. And I assume the larger stores have a more advanced system that caters to them. I didn't consider that this is tracking customer purchases and not store orders. But if that's the case, isn't it just measuring what people are buying in a given week? A store could theoretically order 100 copies of USM, knowing it has a dedicated fan base that will sell out and 150 copies of ASM knowing it's an evergreen title that casual fans will come in and buy over time. They sell out all 100 copies of USM that first week and 67 copies of ASM. But that doesn't mean those ASM copies will never sell and the store still ordered more copies of ASM. That's all hypothetical, but I don't think it's impossible. Marvel has cited within the past year that ASM is consistently their #1 seller, but they're also including metrics besides LCS store sales.
I think this is good data, when I think of bad data I think of biased sampling, I agree that it'd be nice to have more shops, however I don't believe that the customers of the sampled shops are biased against ASM or biased in favor of USM at a disproportional rate when compared to the other shops, I don't see how that would be possible, so as long as that can't be shown I'm willing to consider this a good enough system. As for the hypothetical example, I think that's unlikely, mostly because I think that shops would order more issues if a book sells out, your example would require a shop running out of copies for a book and never attempting to re-stock or not attempting to make sure that it won't happen again, which is not what retailers typically do.
Does that matter though?
Yes. Because the other 96% of comic stores in the US may see different trends. Drastically different trends. It also doesn't take into account international sales, subscriptions, etc.
That assumes that 4% isn't a large enough sample to be representative of the general trend. Do you know at what % the trend would be accurate?
I'm not a statistician, but looking around at Google, it seems like a good number would at least be 10%. And since there are relatively few comic stores in the country (about 2,500), a better number would be maybe 20%.
4% is not anywhere close to the number needed to get a representative number, with how small the total amount of comic sales can be assumed to be (high end of 200K at the absolute most)
USM has been outselling ASM since the start of the year, but ASM is still too high.
It’s ASM, I doubt it will ever sell too poorly comparatively to other DC / Marvel books, no matter how bad or unpopular the run
That's true, but it's expected that a newly launched book to outperform a long running one, at least for the first couple of issues, I think we are at a point (from issue #6 going forward) where ASM being outsold by USM will mean more and more than it did previously.
> but ASM is still too high. That's what happens you publish a book with a cheap gimmick (Peter turning into the Green Goblin) and pump out six variant covers.
The same exact critique applies to USM though.
Kinda? *USM* #6 shipped with four variant covers (I'm not counting reprints), to *ASM* #52's *nine*. I also don't think *USM* is using any type of gimmick in it's storytelling to sell the book the way *ASM* is.
One could argue that the entire premise of USM and the new Ultimate line is a gimmick. (Note that being a gimmick isn't necessarily a bad thing...)
Yeah in general people really work hard to avoid that pretty much every Big 2 comic is leaning hard on collector mentality and fomo to sell comics.
I'm more talking about the story. What Hickman is doing it telling a unique story, while Wells is recycling his own ideas, since The Spider-Who-Gobbles is just a rehash of "Spider-Man's First Hunt", it's just a gimmick to get people to buy the book.
Um... the reprint covers for issue #1 with the constant different costumes?
I said I'm not counting reprints. Without reprints *USM* #6 shipped only four to *ASM* #52's *nine*. It isn't even close.
What are the constant costume covers if not a gimmick?
Why do people still buy variant covers?
It depends, Marvel has been doing theme months with their variants, for example in the near future they'll be doing a Godzilla one, so random books will have heroes fighting Godzilla on the cover, back when MvC Infinite was coming out they made a them month where we got Capcom characters on covers (granted the pairings were weird because that was before the Fox deal so no mutants were in that game but just imagine a Morrigan/Spider-Man or Ryu/Cyclops cover in the future, those would sell pretty well)
I poorly formulated my question. Why do people buy variant covers of random issues? I can get buying one or two cool covers, but once you got the book? It feels like you're voting with your wallet when you buy all of them, and you're voting for Marvel to keep doing variant covers, to keep focusing on popular characters, to keep practicing the marketing methods that created the 90's bubble.
I could think of 2 scenarios here, let's pick Thor, just as a stand-in book: * Let's just say that you're a Thor fan but you don't care about whatever happens in the current run, but you see a cover with Godzilla vs Thor, you might buy that cover because having official Marvel art with both Godzilla and Thor does something for your inner fanboy, that's 1 extra issue of Thor sold that month * Let's just say that you're a Thor fan who also likes the current run, and you are getting the current issue which has an Alex Ross cover but Marvel is putting out Peach Momoko Nightmare variants (that was a real thing, Peach doing monstrous version of heroes), if you like her style you might be inclined to buy that Nightmare variant as well, that's 1 extra issue of Thor sold that month So, either way a variant cover could mean extra sells, at least for some people.
I would just buy the cover I like and not the mainline. But that's just me. Idk, I feel like we could have more series, less focused on super popular characters, on big dumb events or outside of the main continuity. I really wish the two editor of comics were more experimental sometimes. They have over 50% of the market, I don't see why they focus on such marketing stunts...
I completely agree with you here, but sadly those publishers are run by massive corporations which want to maximize profits, and taking risks is not seen as an advantageous way to do so.
This run could have been so much better if it was just a low-key crime procedural with Tombstone and Robbie Robertson that alternated with Kraven and Kafka's spirited romance. Cut everything else.
Wells is leaving soon in sept. Hopefully the new run will bring decent
People said the same when Slott and Spencer left. All three have written great comics so I have to imagine the issue is editorial.
The book is pretty much written by editorial, until that changes the book is gonna be mid
To be fair, the final arc will begin in September, depending how long that lasts he could still be around until 2025, at least that's my understanding.
Crazy how a Jungle Scrooge one-shit sold more than Worlds Finest or Wonder Woman, even at $7.99.
Erurope goes fucking hard for Disney comics, especially for anything connected to Donald Duck.
“Jungle Scrooge one-shit” is quite the typo
Ducking autocorrect!
As it should be. Scrooge McDuck freaking SLAPS and it was a great read. More people should be exposed to the wonderful world of r/duckcomix
Disney people are something.
That's pretty wild, it even made it into the top 5 on the weekly poll from Leagues of Geeks, beating books like Wonder Woman and Immortal Thor.
Hope PKJs Incredible Hulk gets higher. That book deserves it all!
I'm just happy Worlds Finest is in the Top 10.
And after almost 30 issues too!
Wish it was higher though. Easily the best book on this list (not hate to USM, it's great).
After so many issues too that's impressive. Can't for the omni in a couple of years i guess
[Here](https://bleedingcool.com/comics/ultimate-amazing-spider-man-top-bleeding-cool-weekly-bestseller-list/) is the article which contains a full list of shops from which this data has been gathered.
And rightfully so, good on USM. Love that Spidey fans are voting with their money!
Don't worry Marvel will find a way to shit on this like renew your vows to make sure nothing touches asm.
Renew Your Vows is very underrated, it had a pre-Venom Stegman on art, that book deserved a lot more love.
Agreed. Underrated run.
Didn’t this happen 20 years ago?
Yeah, but back then Quesada most likely used it as an excuse to undo the marriage because a teenage and single Spider-Man is outselling ASM, , now the shoe is on the other foot and a grown up and married Spider-Man is outselling ASM.
Dan Slott said last year that if readers really wanted the marriage back they should petition for and support a pro-marriage AU title more than the 616 to send a message. That message has been sent six straight months in a row this year.
It seems to me that the real message is that they can offer both versions of the character and have the two best selling books on the market at once.
I used this excuse the last time Bendis’s young single Peter in USM was selling great alongside 616 married Peter. … they ignored that.
The actual article itself says that ASM sales are increasing, which is why it's outselling stuff like Batman. USM is probably causing people to be interested in both.
A rising tide lifts all boats.
Always good to see Al Ewing in the top 10
I dont think Hickman out selling Wells is all that surprising, the title of a book doesn't mean as much as it used to
Doing my part and buying the floppies every month for Ultimate.
So happy to see Immortal Thor still in the top 10
Marvel Editorial: It doesn't look like anything to me.
It looks like they have the two best selling books.
Exactly. Fans look at this and will hope Marvel takes the hint and stops doing what they do with ASM but in reality Marvel sees this and goes “🤑🤑🤑”
Yeah, it shows that it’s profitable to provide both the “poison” and the “cure.” ASM will always sell well with collectors, so putting out a “married Spider-Man” comic just allows them to double dip
It's like Elvis' manager selling "I hate Elvis" merch.
People acting like Marvel have the top 2 here is a bad thing, or that an issue 52 is selling nearly as well as a brand new comic initiative (new Ultimate line) with the one of biggest comic writer on earth (Hickman) is gonna upset them.
That being said I love that ASM cover, the reference to the first appearance of Venom ASM #300 is dope there
It's 2000 all over again.
I didn’t think Doctor Strange was a Top Ten kinda book so that’s cool. Also it’s a bit disheartening to see only two of these books are $3.99.
I don't hate ASM like some, but USM is amazing and Hickman deserves this win.
Why is this the first time I’m hearing of “Uncle Scrooge and the Infinity Dime.” I should’ve been onto that like a suburban wine mom on Ed Sheeran.
Lower issue number tho
Shouldn’t even be that close but I’ll take it. I don’t know how ASM is selling as well as it is even among the diehard collectors.
There’s probably a lot of comic readers that aren’t online like the rest of us, or at least aren’t the kind to make posts or comments, and they’re actually enjoying it, or it’s people who don’t follow comics too closely and ASM is one of if not the only book they follow because they grew up loving Spider-Man. And then there’s the completionist aspect as well. I’m sure there’s a solid contingent that buy it just to have it and don’t read it.
I am sure there are a lot of redditors online who just don't talk about ASM here or other comic subreddits, because any even vaguely positive post about it gets downvoted.
It’s largely due to variants. Each issue has a fuck ton of variants attached to it.
I mean, so does *USM*.
What does ratio mean in this context? Like how many were sold?
ASM sold 67% of what USM sold.
Ohhhhh, so it measures percentage over the most sold of the month? Damn, that's actually incredibly useful
A few years back we would actually get to see the raw numbers, now that would be useful. But I guess its a decent tradeoff for not having to deal with Diamond anymore.
> Damn, that's actually incredibly useful Not really, it is like 4% of us comic stores. Hard to know if their sales are representative of the general buying public. With how small the total buying audience is, you need a bigger sample size to get an idea of the general trends.
ASM sure selling a lot for all the fucking bitching you see about it on here.
ASM always has. Sins Past sold. Clone Saga sold. One More Day was only behind World War Hulk on the charts. They’re still terrible stories. Spider-Man just sells regardless.
Why is Amazing Spider-man still number 2 but according to everybody it sucks?
You just cannot go by internet discussion boards. It's just a general phenomenon that the loudest voices in an echochamber don't speak for a wider audience. Spidey is incredibly popular and pulls in a more general audience who help make his movies the ticket selling juggernaut that they are. You take the regular Spidey crowd, that general audience, the dissatisfied readership, plus throw in Hickman's name and that's how USM is selling so much more.
Hate buying/reading, collectors, completionists, force of habit, morbid curiosity, take your pick.
Don’t forget outright loyalty to Spider-Man and the possibility that the book might eventually get better
https://ic.pics.livejournal.com/evandorkin/781303/165826/165826_600.jpg I’ve come across these kind of readers. Pretty sure I was a diehard Spawn reader long past the point I stopped enjoying it.
Because Spider-man fans and Batman fans would continue to buy the comics regardless of whether they actually like the run or not.
One More Day was second only to World War Hulk at release on the charts. It’s still universally agreed upon that it was a terrible comic. “The worst issue of ASM will outsell the best issue of Hawkeye, Moon Knight, or Daredevil” is something I read once and it’s stuck with me.
You just dont know comics fans. I have picked up a lot of runs i hated just because i had been picking the book up for years, or i was too lazy to cancel my pull. Comics fans not showing quality with their wallet is how crap keep going way longer than they should
And yet people are still gonna lie awake at night thinking about Zeb Wells.
unless ASM drops significantly Editorial will probably just try to keep both running as long as possible
I’d like both with quality. Give me two good books over one.
Just like old times
I'm more amazed that 3 books are beating Batman. I know it's not in a great spot right now, but I hear a lot less whining about Batman than I do ASM, so I'm more than a little surprised which is selling more
Do people like this current Doctor Strange run? I see that’s high on this list
Good.
I don't really like Zeb's run but it's weird to frame this as some kind of L for Marvel and SM editorial. They get to make twice as much money and we get a good run.
Wells is gone later this year and we await what the next team does. This is more proof that they’ve left money on the table all these years insisting a married Peter wasn’t supported by “their metrics” (per Nick Lowe). This same argument was used 17 years ago. “Single Teen Peter is selling great! Married Peter is selling great! Why mess with that?” But Quesada had his way despite that.
I know people are gonna try and draw big conclusions from this, but I imagine Hickman's name on this is the biggest selling point, plus it is only 6 issues in. Not to say I am not enjoying USM, I have been loving it. But it will be interesting to see how it is selling when the new/novelty of it has worn off.
Or when Hickman leaves the book.
Well… not yet. Great run. So long as this quality continues, I’ll happily support USM.
I know people wanna take this a big gotcha, but for alllllllllll complaining about Amazing and allllllll the wanking for Ultimate I expected Ultimate to pull Jim Lee X-men numbers and Amazing to drop out of the top 100.
To note, these are physical rankings and digital is a different matter. Amazon ebooks, for instance, had USM#6 at #1, while ASM#52 is at #48 earlier today on their sales charts.
That tends to happen when you give fans what they want
This is not going to be a popular opinion, and I don’t buy Amazing, but Ultimate has been for me pretty…..boring. My favorite Ultimate book is Black Panther and even that is good not great.
Cool! *sees where ASM is* ....really? they still read this?
If you haven’t given up after… *gestures to everything*… you aren’t dropping it ever.
This is good. Amazing Spider-Man is always going to sell well, just by brand recognition alone. But Ultimate Spider-Man selling better on its sixth issue is a remarkable triumph. It speaks to just how much this series has resonated with audiences, especially those jaded by the mainline Spider-Man comics. It's not just that it gave us a married Peter Parker and Mary Jane. This comic has given us a new version of Peter Parker that's genuinely easy to root for. And whatever happens with the rest of Ultimate Marvel, I think Ultimate Spider-Man has already established itself as special in all the right ways. 😊
Well done folks. Keep going!!
That's been happening for the last six months.
To no one's surprise
I agree with you here, Ultimate Spider-Man has a phenomenal creative, behind it, and it's the center of a new Universe, but I'm still really happy to see a married Spider-Man outselling post-OMD ASM.
That ASM cover is revolting.
And this is why the things everyone likes about USM will never transfer over to ASM. Why sell us one book when they can sell us two?
I used this argument 17 years ago when we had single teen Spidey from Bendis and married Spidey in the 616, both selling well. That didn’t matter to Quesada.
Not really the same thing. Everyone is reading the new USM because they want 616 Peter to be mature and have a stable relationship/family etc. Back then it was just more Spidey. Or the people that don't like the idea they don't know *everything* about the 616 Peter so they got to start with a new one
I see no reason that can’t apply to the 616. That would be a “great! TWO cakes!” scenario for most, I imagine.
The only real selling point for current USM is "mature Peter with a family", so if that same thing was allowed to happen in 616 then the sales of USM would absolutely crater. USM is just Renew Your Vows with an expanded universe. Only USM launched perfectly when so many people hate the current ASM. It's lightning in a bottle
RYV and USM are very different. I enjoy both, but for very different reasons. I don’t need 616 to suddenly have kids right now, for instance. Many just want the marriage back to start.
How far down does the list go? I would like to see what some of these smaller publishers are selling.
It's bleak for them.
Wow a lot of the Top 10 is not what I'd expect, I am way out of it.
The Ultimate universe is still around? I'm way behind on my comics, but wasn't the ultimate universe kind of dissolved after the events of Secret Wars?
This is a relaunch. It’s 100% new. (And worth checking out!)
Thank you. Do you know if it's on Marvel Unlimited? If so it's time for me to get back on.
It’s still new, so the most recent issues may not be up, but the starting issues absolutely are! https://cdn.marvel.com/content/1x/mu_cal-2048x1024.jpg
Awesome. I've got a lot to catch up on it seems.
People are talking about this like they aren't one-two and haven't been since USM started.
I read Uncle Scrooge as Ultimate Scrooge.
A grown up, more grounded Peter Parker just discovering his powers. Vs, Green Goblin and whatever the hell has been going on with ASM for years. Who would've thought.
Really hope this gets through marvels heads about keeping one more day https://chng.it/b6x2hhrJ29
And a new writer.. albeit not a good one is coming to asm
I'm shocked that Batman is still selling this well. I mean, I keep buying it so I guess it's partially my fault as well, but I would have thought most people would have jumped ship by now.
It's Batman. It and Spider-Man will both sell gangbusters until the heat death of the universe.
IIRC this issue sold better than the past two. So it’s clear word of mouth for this one was decent. It also acted as an ending kinda.
I think the most impressive to me is Destro
[удалено]
As someone who read this comic, the plot of the comic is very interesting, but Peter and mainly MJ's characterization are very weak.
It’s plot-heavy. Issue 4 has no action. It’s character and world building. But the highs are HIGH.
So, instead of the highest-selling title it’s the *second* highest-selling. Take that, Zeb Wells!
Just further proof that people prefer a married Peter Parker with kids over a Peter Parker that sold his soul to the literal devil and whatever he has been up to since OMD/BND.
Lol
I do hope we get a long running “Peter’s life isn’t in the blender” Spider-Man series
Honestly, that's the first time where i think that an issue of this comic didn't deserve to be number one(and as for ASM, i can't speak about it because i just read one random issue of this run, and nothing more).
And on an unrelated note, Nick Lowe was found screaming into a pillow this morning
Because he still had the second best selling book (of the 4% of stores surveyed) at issue 52? I am betting he is celebrating about it.
He’s also editor of She-Hulk. They cancelled it last week. I’m not happy about that.
That the current ASM's sales are still #2 is fucking embarrassing for this entire industry.
If you haven’t dropped it yet after all that’s happened, you’re riding it out. I was turned off hard by issue #25.
But ASM is selling more than a bunch of good comics, so where’s the victory? We’re basically just proving to them we’ll gobble up any old slop they serve us.
Booyah!
The last ronin is such an incredible selling series. Adult fans were hungry.