Marvel Sales Figures

[jensaltmann]

Over on Bleedinc Cool, a retailer has analyzed Marvel's sales figures based on the Statement of Ownership numbers that Marvel has to issue every year. Arguably, these numbers are more accurate than the numbers Kirk uses every month. I'm copying and pasting the numbers here, check the link for the commentary/analysis.

www.bleedingcool.com/forums/showthread.php?28788-REAL-Marvel-Number-Crunching-Week-2

2004 - Amazing Spider-Man 160,579
2005 - Amazing Spider-Man 150,833 [-9,746]
2008 - Amazing Spider-Man 125,019 [-25,814]
2009 - Amazing Spider-Man 94,006 [-31,013]
2010 - Amazing Spider-Man 85,445 [-8,561]

2004 - Captain America 63,946
2005 - Captain America 73,476
2006 - Captain America 66,018
2007- Captain America 137,932
2008 - Captain America 102,716 [-35,216]
2010 - Captain America 76,632 [-26,082]

2004 - Fantastic Four 78,968
2005 - Fantastic Four 75,422
2007 - Fantastic Four 107,906
2010 - Fantastic Four 53,956 [-53,950]

2004 - Ultimate Spider-Man 121,745
2005 - Ultimate Spider-Man 112,937 [-8,808]]
2006 - Ultimate Spider-Man 95,768 [-17,169]
2007 - Ultimate Spider-Man 102,005 [+6,237]
2008 - Ultimate Spider-Man 95,055 [-6,950]
2010 - Ultimate Spider-Man 72,432 [-22,623]

2004 - Uncanny X-Men 156,651
2005 - Uncanny X-Men 140,829 [-15,822]
2006 - Uncanny X-Men 129,325 [-11,504]
2007 - Uncanny X-Men 127,381 [-1,944]
2009 - Uncanny X-Men 97,112 [-30,269]
2010 - Uncanny X-Men 88,763 [-8,349]

2004 - X-Men 169,350
2005 - X-Men 137,282 [-32,068]
2006 - X-Men 125,495 [-11,787]
2007 - X-Men 130,816 [+5,321]
2008 - X-Men 123,157 [-7,659]
2009 - X-Men Legacy 87,527 [-35,630]
2010 - X-Men Legacy 75,532 [-11,995]

[K-Box]

There's no "arguably" about it - they ARE more accurate, but unfortunately, they're also only released once a year. Part of the reason they're more accurate is because the ICv2 numbers I use only take into account how many copies are sold at the direct sales shops, while these numbers here also include bookstore, newsstand and subscription numbers. Still, the ICv2 numbers are very useful for showing sales TRENDS, since however inaccurate they might be, they're inaccurate to an internally consistent degree. Moreover, these numbers listed here - which come from Marvel itself, so Marvel CAN'T dispute their accuracy, since they're LEGALLY OBLIGATED to report them honestly - actually make my own analyses of Marvel's sales look positively CHEERFUL by comparison.

Heh. Somebody else linked me to this Bleeding Cool thread on my LJ, so I posted those numbers there before I saw them here.