Comic Book Page: The Mayo Report: 2006-11

Mayo Report for 2006-11


Mayo Report: 2006-11 Comics podcast episode	Mayo Report: 2006-11 Trades podcast episode

Below are the rough notes I put together in preparation for the podcasts. I've added linked to the charts for the titles mentioned. I use these notes as a guide for the podcast be we never cover all of the titles I have in the notes and we frequently discuss many other things that I don't have in my notes.

Top Comics List Top Comics Breakdown Top Trades List Top Trades Breakdown

2006-11 IndexPointValue:

CBG = ~943.42

Up about ~319.40 from 2006-10 (~624.02)

ICv2 = ~946.49

Up about ~322.18 from 2006-10 (~624.31)

MARKET SHARES

Marvel

Comic book units: 47.99% (3,820,000)
Comic book dollars: 48.37% ($11,899,499.00)

Comic book units: 39.24% (3,123,400)
Comic book dollars: 37.85% ($9,310,427.00)

Dark Horse

Comic book units: 3.33% (265,500)
Comic book dollars: 3.22% ($793,845.00)

Image

Comic book units: 2.47% (196,600)
Comic book dollars: 2.51% ($617,903.00)

Dynamic

Comic book units: 1.57% (125,000)
Comic book dollars: 1.61% ($396,037.00)

COMICS

Top 300 Comics (~7,959,500)

Up about ~1,861,800 (30.53%) from 2006-10 (~6,097,700)

1 titles sold over 200,000 copies

Civil War #5 (~272,600)

12 titles sold between 100,000 and 199,999 copies

Justice League of America #3 (~140,900)
New Avengers #25 (~136,500)
Amazing Spider-Man #536 (~118,800)
Astonishing X-Men #18 (~118,300)
52 #26 (~104,600)
52 #27 (~104,300)
52 #28 (~103,500)
Punisher War Journal #1 (~102,700)
52 #29 (~102,700)
52 #30 (~102,600)
Civil War Front Line #8 (~100,900)
Wolverine #48 (~100,000)

17 titles had more than one new issue released this month

52 (5 issues released)
American Virgin (2 issues released)
Aquaman: Sword Of Atlantis (2 issues released)
Army Of Darkness (2 issues released)
Avengers Earths Mightiest Heroes II (2 issues released)
Avengers Next (2 issues released)
Batman (2 issues released)
Black Panther (2 issues released)
Blue Beetle (2 issues released)
Fantastic Four End (3 issues released)
Ghost in the Shell 1.5 Human Error Processor (2 issues released)
Green Lantern (2 issues released)
Punisher (2 issues released)
Sonic The Hedgehog (2 issues released)
Star Wars Legacy (2 issues released)
Teen Titans (2 issues released)

MARVEL

New Items: 90, Reorder Items: 4, Total Items: 94

Minimum Cover Price: $2.95, Average Cover Price: $3.24, Maximum Cover Price: $4.99

Rank #1: Civil War #5 (~272,600)

Top selling title for Marvel
Down about ~7,800 (-2.78%) from #4 (~280,400)
Number of new issues (since 1996-09) that sold:
Less: 0 Same: 0 More: 4
This is still topping the charts by a wide margin. Even if there are tens of thousands of copies sitting on store shelves, it begs the question as to why retailers think that this series might sell so much more than everything else out there. Who are these additional readers and why are they buying other titles? It is getting to where there can be a drop of 40% to 50% between the first two items on the list. This huge gap between the first and second items on the list is very puzzling.

Rank #4: Amazing Spider-Man #536 (~118,800)

Down about ~4,100 (-3.34%) from #535 (~122,900)
Number of new issues (since 1996-09) that sold:
Less: 115 Same: 0 More: 7
This took a minor hit, possibly from the 8 week delay. But it is still doing very well thanks to the Civil War crossover. This is the seventh highest Amazing Spider-Man issue over the past ten years or so.

Rank #18: Incredible Hulk #100 (~84,200)

Up about ~36,300 (75.78%) from #99 (~47,900)
Number of new issues (since 1996-09) that sold:
Less: 110 Same: 1 More: 4
Huge gain here due to the "magic number" of 100 and the extra long issue. This will most likely drop back down with the next issue with at best minimal increase over #99 if any.

Rank #25: Iron Man #13 (~76,800)

Up about ~40,500 (111.57%) from #12 (~36,300)
Number of new issues (since 1996-09) that sold:
Less: 76 Same: 0 More: 12
Massive gains here for the first Civil War tie in issue.

Rank #26: Ultimate Power #2 (~74,700)

Down about ~27,900 (-27.19%) from #1 (~102,600)
Number of new issues (since 1996-09) that sold:
Less: 0 Same: 0 More: 1
Bigger than normal second issue drop here. Still a strong seller but this may not be a good sign for this limited series.

Rank #50: Black Panther #22 (~41,300)

Up about ~15,200 (58.24%) from #21 (~26,100)
Number of new issues (since 1996-09) that sold:
Less: 45 Same: 0 More: 21
Big jump here due to the Civil War tie in.

Rank #54: Annihilation #4 (~39,600)

WatchList: Event: Annihilation
Down about ~1,700 (-4.12%) from #3 (~41,300)
Number of new issues (since 1996-09) that sold:
Less: 0 Same: 0 More: 3

Rank #57: Heroes For Hire #4 (~38,100)

Down about ~22,600 (-37.23%) from #3 (~60,700)
This is sort of the first non-Civil War issue of this series which explains the drop. Interestingly, this puts the title right around the level of the previous Heroes for Hire #4 back in 1997-08 of 38,000.

Rank #59: Ms Marvel #9 (~37,900)

Down about ~25,000 (-39.75%) from #8 (~62,900)
Number of new issues (since 1996-09) that sold:
Less: 0 Same: 0 More: 8
This drop is due to the end of the Civil War tie in. This is about 1,000 units below #5 and in line with how the series was doing before the Civil War tie in issues.

Rank #84: Doctor Strange Oath #2 (~29,800)

Down about ~10,500 (-26.05%) from #1 (~40,300)
Number of new issues (since 1996-09) that sold:
Less: 0 Same: 0 More: 1
Bigger than normal second issue drop here.

Rank #88: Amazing Spider-Girl #2 (~28,100)

Down about ~19,200 (-40.59%) from #1 (~47,300)
Number of new issues (since 1996-09) that sold:
Less: 1 Same: 0 More: 1
Okay, this dropped right back to only about 900 units above #0 (~27,200). That puts it a good 10,000 or so units above how it had been doing in the previous series (Spider-Girl). I'm kind of expecting this to head back down towards around 20,000 or so units within the next 6 issues or so. I think that there is a loyal fan base and market for this title. But, it seems to only be between 17,000 to 28,000 strong. And while that is sustainable, it may come down to how Marvel can repackage the content into trades, digests and other formats that really determines the long term future for this title, character and, heck, the entire MC2 universe for that matter. So, I guess you could say that the fate of a universe rests in the hands of the Amazing Spider-Girl...

Rank #147: All New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A To Z #11 (~18,300)

Down about ~500 (-2.66%) from #10 (~18,800)
Number of new issues (since 1996-09) that sold:
Less: 0 Same: 0 More: 10
You know, there are some titles that are just to damn long. I mean, come on, this title is nearly 50 characters long�
This title is down about 5,000 (-21.79%) from where it started. Which, all things considered, isn't too bad. But I am a bit surprised by this. I would have figured that it would have levelled off much faster and been a lot more stable. You know going in what to expect with a reference series like this.

Rank #149: Hellstorm Son Of Satan #2 (~17,400)

Down about ~9,600 (-35.56%) from #1 (~27,000)
Number of new issues (since 1996-09) that sold:
Less: 0 Same: 0 More: 1
Bigger than normal second issue drop here.

Rank #171: Agents Of Atlas #4 (~12,400)

Down about ~500 (-3.88%) from #3 (~12,900)
Number of new issues (since 1996-09) that sold:
Less: 0 Same: 0 More: 3
The descent is slowing down considerably on this title. But, it launched well within the presumed "danger zone" for a Marvel title and is now firmly in it. I doubt will see a follow up to this mini-series any time soon based on these sales. If it hadn't started as a limited series, it no doubt would have quickly become one.

Rank #207: Black Panther #21 (~8,200)

Down about ~17,900 (-68.58%) from #21 (~26,100)
Number of new issues (since 1996-09) that sold:
Less: 1 Same: 0 More: 65
Strong reorders. Presumably this is on the strength of this issue being an originally unmarked Civil War tie in.

New Items: 93, Reorder Items: 4, Total Items: 97

Minimum Cover Price: $2.25, Average Cover Price: $3.02, Maximum Cover Price: $5.99

Rank #2: Justice League Of America #3 (~140,900)

Top selling title for DC
Down about ~14,000 (-9.04%) from #2 (~154,900)
Number of new issues (since 1996-09) that sold:
Less: 0 Same: 0 More: 3
A drop of this size on a third issue is not unexpected. I suspect that this title might level out soon. But I could be wrong on that�

Rank #6: 52 #26 (~104,600)

WatchList: Event: 52
Down about ~1,700 (-1.60%) from #25 (~106,300)
Number of new issues (since 1996-09) that sold:
Less: 7 Same: 0 More: 22
52 is still going strong. While there is still a minor drop from issue to issue it has managed to stay above 100,000 through issue #30. I'm wondering if it is going to keep slowly creeping down or if it might level off or start climbing. I'm really curious how this will play out over the remaining 22 issues.

Rank #7: 52 #27 (~104,300)

WatchList: Event: 52
Down about ~300 (-0.29%) from #26 (~104,600)
Number of new issues (since 1996-09) that sold:
Less: 6 Same: 0 More: 23

Rank #8: 52 #28 (~103,500)

WatchList: Event: 52
Down about ~800 (-0.77%) from #27 (~104,300)
Number of new issues (since 1996-09) that sold:
Less: 5 Same: 0 More: 24

Rank #10: 52 #29 (~102,700)

WatchList: Event: 52
Down about ~800 (-0.77%) from #28 (~103,500)
Number of new issues (since 1996-09) that sold:
Less: 4 Same: 0 More: 25

Rank #11: 52 #30 (~102,600)

WatchList: Event: 52
Down about ~100 (-0.10%) from #29 (~102,700)
Number of new issues (since 1996-09) that sold:
Less: 3 Same: 0 More: 26

Rank #19: Superman/Batman #30 (~84,000)

Down about ~6,500 (-7.18%) from #29 (~90,500)
Number of new issues (since 1996-09) that sold:
Less: 2 Same: 0 More: 29
This title is still dropping. But it is still doing very well. It is selling about a third of what it was at the peak of sales (#8 @~224,600) but it still routinely in the top 20 almost every month.

Rank #32: Action Comics #845 (~66,700)

Down about ~16,200 (-19.54%) from #844 (~82,900)
Number of new issues (since 1996-09) that sold:
Less: 111 Same: 0 More: 9
This is essentially a second issue situation since the previous issue was a major shift of direction with the start of a new creative team. Second issue drop offs seem to usually be around 20% or so which fits what we are seeing here.

Rank #60: Ion #8 (~36,500)

WatchList: Event: Infinite Crisis Aftermath
Down about ~2,300 (-5.93%) from #7 (~38,800)
Number of new issues (since 1996-09) that sold:
Less: 0 Same: 0 More: 7

Rank #71: Gen 13 #2 (~33,500)

Down about ~14,000 (-29.47%) from #1 (~47,500)
Number of new issues (since 1996-09) that sold:
Less: 48 Same: 0 More: 21
Bigger than normal second issue drop here.

Rank #99: Shadowpact #7 (~25,700)

WatchList: Event: Infinite Crisis Aftermath
Down about ~1,600 (-5.86%) from #6 (~27,300)
Number of new issues (since 1996-09) that sold:
Less: 0 Same: 0 More: 6

Rank #104: All New Atom #5 (~25,600)

Down about ~2,800 (-9.86%) from #4 (~28,400)
Number of new issues (since 1996-09) that sold:
Less: 0 Same: 0 More: 4
This book is still dropping. It is now selling a little about half what it started at. But, DC is making the right choice and bringing in Mike Norton with issue #7 so hopefully the sales with go up with that issue.

Rank #108: Checkmate #8 (~24,900)

WatchList: Event: Infinite Crisis Aftermath
Down about ~1,400 (-5.32%) from #7 (~26,300)
Number of new issues (since 1996-09) that sold:
Less: 0 Same: 0 More: 7

Rank #113: Tales Of The Unexpected #2 (~24,200)

Down about ~11,300 (-31.83%) from #1 (~35,500)
Number of new issues (since 1996-09) that sold:
Less: 0 Same: 0 More: 1
Bigger than normal second issue drop here.

Rank #126: Deathblow #2 (~22,900)

Down about ~11,100 (-32.65%) from #1 (~34,000)
Number of new issues (since 1996-09) that sold:
Less: 0 Same: 0 More: 1
Bigger than normal second issue drop here.

Rank #141: Ex Machina #24 (~19,800)

Down about ~300 (-1.49%) from #23 (~20,100)
Number of new issues (since 1996-09) that sold:
Less: 0 Same: 0 More: 23
The monthly series launched with 33,200 units for the first issue. The second issue dropped by 6,800 units (or 20.48%) which is a fairly standard second issue drop. And the title has been trending down ever since. The month recent issue sold around 19,800 which is about 59.64% of where it launched at.

Rank #150: Omega Men #2 (~17,400)

Down about ~6,100 (-25.96%) from #1 (~23,500)
Number of new issues (since 1996-09) that sold:
Less: 0 Same: 0 More: 1
Bigger than normal second issue drop here.

Rank #166: 100 Bullets #78 (~13,000)

Unchanged from #77 (~13,000)
Number of new issues (since 1996-09) that sold:
Less: 5 Same: 1 More: 74
This title started out around 17,300 and dropped for the first nine issues down to around 11,600. It then did a turn around climbing back upwards and peaked around 19,400 with issue #26 .It between 18,100 to 19,400 until around issue #42. It then started a downward slide with issue #43, getting a bump with issue #50 (which seemed to carry over a bit into #51 and #52). The title seemed to level off for a while from issue #57 to #63 at around 14,900. It then started sliding downward again with issue #63 down to the current level around 13,000 with issue #78.

Rank #183: American Virgin #8 (~11,300)

Down about ~500 (-4.24%) from #7 (~11,800)
Number of new issues (since 1996-09) that sold:
Less: 1 Same: 0 More: 7
This title is seeing a steady drop off. Two issues came out this month and there is about a 700 unit difference between them.

Rank #186: American Virgin #9 (~10,600)

Down about ~700 (-6.19%) from #8 (~11,300)
Number of new issues (since 1996-09) that sold:
Less: 0 Same: 0 More: 8
This titles launched ~19,500 and it now at about 54.35% of that. I'm not sure how much further down the sales can go before this might get cancelled.

Rank #203: Rush City #3 (~8,500)

Down about ~3,400 (-28.57%) from #2 (~11,900)
Number of new issues (since 1996-09) that sold:
Less: 0 Same: 0 More: 2
Big drop here between issues #2 and #3. Not a good sign even for a miniseries.

Rank #213: American Splendor #3 (~7,700)

Down about ~1,500 (-16.30%) from #2 (~9,200)
Number of new issues (since 1996-09) that sold:
Less: 0 Same: 0 More: 2
This four issue mini-series is dropping fairly fast. It launched with ~11,500 and is now at around 66.96% of that.

Rank #276: Action Comics #844 (~4,100)

Reorder activity
Solid reorder activity for this. I'm never sure what to make of it when a previous issue does noticible reorder activity while the current issue sees a drop off.

DARK HORSE

New Items: 17, Reorder Items: 2, Total Items: 19

Minimum Cover Price: $2.99, Average Cover Price: $2.99, Maximum Cover Price: $2.99

IMAGE

New Items: 24, Reorder Items: 0, Total Items: 24

Minimum Cover Price: $1.99, Average Cover Price: $3.30, Maximum Cover Price: $4.99

Rank #133: Walking Dead #32 (~21,200)

WatchList: Robert Kirkman
Down about ~200 (-0.93%) from #31 (~21,400)
Number of new issues (since 1996-09) that sold:
Less: 30 Same: 0 More: 1

Rank #162: Invincible #36 (~13,500)

WatchList: Robert Kirkman
Up about ~200 (1.50%) from #35 (~13,300)
Number of new issues (since 1996-09) that sold:
Less: 34 Same: 0 More: 1

Rank #243: Cross Bronx #3 (~5,600)

WatchList: CGS Indie Challenge: July 2006
Down about ~400 (-6.67%) from #2 (~6,000)
Number of new issues (since 1996-09) that sold:
Less: 0 Same: 0 More: 2

Rank #246: Nightly News #1 (~5,600)

WatchList: CGS Indie Challenge: September 2006

OTHER PUBLISHERS

Rank #156: Fathom #11 (~14,900)

Down about ~500 (-3.25%) from #10 (~15,400)
Number of new issues (since 1996-09) that sold:
Less: 2 Same: 0 More: 19
This is a clear case of how the mighty have fallen and how radically the sales of some titles can change over the course of a decade.
The first volume of Fathom launched in July 1998 from Image and #1 sold around 257,100 units to comic book stores. Over a quarter million units.
The second issue sold only ~117,700 when it came out a few months later. The title then cooled off rapidly in terms of issue numbers but not so rapidly in terms of when those issues were released. Issue #14 would have sold ~75,700 had it come out when it was first solicited. But only sold ~45,000 when it was resolicited a 18 or so months later.
Those kinds of delays on a title can really hurt sales.
The first volume of Fathom ended with issue #16 which sold ~39,200 units in June 2002.
The second volume of Fathom launched from Aspen in March 2005 with issue #0 which sold ~28,500 units. The actual #1 issue sold ~31,400 and the title trended down from there. There was a bump on isse @4 to 26,500 but that didn't last beyond that issue. The next issue sold ~19,900 and the title has been dropping ever since to the current level of ~14,900. So, this latest issue of Fathom (#11) sold about 5.80% of what the first issue sold from Image a little over eight years ago.
And the fact that this issue was 17 weeks late probably didn't help it any either...

Rank #164: Soulfire Chaos Reign #2 (~13,400)

Down about ~2,400 (-15.19%) from #1 (~15,800)
Number of new issues (since 1996-09) that sold:
Less: 0 Same: 0 More: 2
The #0 issue of this title sold ~15,500. The #1 issue went up about 300 to 15,800. It is too early to tell what direction the sales or going to head in for this title but a drop of only 15% or so between the #1 and #2 issues isn't that bad.

Rank #188: Mouse Guard #5 (~10,400)

WatchList: CGS Indie Challenge: ???
Down about ~2,000 (-16.13%) from #4 (~12,400)
Number of new issues (since 1996-09) that sold:
Less: 0 Same: 0 More: 4
While this looks initially to be a drop from the previous issue, it really isn't. When Mouse Guard #5 appeared on the list last month, it came it way below what the other issues had been doing. As I suspected at the time, most of the sales appeared this month. When you factor in the approximately 3,700 units that this issue did last month, it totals to around 14,100 units. That works out to an increase of ~1,700 above #4 which is about 13.71% up. This is a case in which comparing the overall sales of the two issues results in a very different picture than comparing the sales for the month to the total sales for the previous issue. This title is doing exceptionally well in the direct market and it should be interesting to see how the inevitable trade does.

Rank #201: Strangers In Paradise #85 (~8,800)

Up about ~100 (1.15%) from #84 (~8,700)
Number of new issues (since 1996-09) that sold:
Less: 1 Same: 0 More: 14
This title has been around for a really long time. Back around issues #5 and #6 it was selling around 27,100 units. It then suffered a sharp drop from 25,900 to 23,00 between issues #8 and #9 when it made the transition from Image to Abstract. Since then it has slowly been losing ground a little each month with a couple of bumps here and there. It is seems to have basically stabilized around the current level of 8,800 to 9,200 for the past ten or twelve issues. It is currently selling about 32.47% of what it did back at the high point. But, since it was published by Image at that time and that was abotu 80 issues ago, it isn't doing too bad. It is all too rare for an indy title to have this kind of longevity.

Rank #206: Shrugged #3 (~8,200)

Down about ~1,400 (-14.58%) from #2 (~9,600)
Number of new issues (since 1996-09) that sold:
Less: 0 Same: 0 More: 3
This title started out strong with 12,000 for the #0 issue. The first issue outsold that by 900 units for a total of 12,900. But then it dropped by about 25.58% with the #2 issue down to 9,600. And now it has dropped another 14.58% down to 8,200. This isn't a good sign for the title. I read the #0 and #1 issues and enjoyed them. But, I had to make some serious cuts to what I was getting each month and this didn't make that cut. The strong and art are good and it is a very unique story concept. But, since it was a new title, I hadn't gotten attached enough to it to warrant keeping getting it. But it is worth checking out.

Rank #219: Warren Ellis Black Gas 2 #1 (~7,400)

This is a not a bad launch for an indy title. Unforunately it seems to be down about 700 units from where the previous miniseries ended (Black Gas #3 @ ~8,100) and down about 2,500 from where that previous miniseries started (Black Gas #1 @ ~9,900).
It would be nice to see more of the fans of the mainstream work of Warren Ellis checking out his indy work.

Rank #223: Sonic The Hedgehog #168 (~7,300)

Unchanged from #167 (~7,300)
Number of new issues (since 1996-09) that sold:
Less: 72 Same: 6 More: 50
This is a really interesting title in terms of the sales charts. I've got data covering issues #41 to #169. The title was selling between 5,600 to 7,000 from #41 to #49.
It then got a bump to ~8,700 with #50. What is interesting it that the title then climbed from ~7,900 with issue #51 to a peak of ~9,500 at issue #55.
Then the title started to trend downward. While sometimes issue-to-issue sales went up, the declines out paced the gains until the title has slid all the wya down to around 4,400 on issues #95 and #98.
Like the bump at #50, Issue #100 bumped up to 6,100. This helped the title regain some ground and #101 sold ~5,200 units and started an upward trend for the title. The next highwater mark was at ~8,700 units for issue #150. But this time the bump from the "magic number" was only a few hundred above the sales of the last 12 issues or so.
Butm since then, the title has been trending down again. It hovered around ~7,500 to ~7,600 from issues #160 to #166 but seem to be sliding down again.
I'm not much of a gamer so I don't know how these peaks and valleys in the chart correspond to when Sonic the Hedgehog games were released.

Rank #227: Sonic The Hedgehog #169 (~7,100)

Down about ~200 (-2.74%) from #168 (~7,300)
Number of new issues (since 1996-09) that sold:
Less: 68 Same: 3 More: 57
Again, while the title seemed to have stabilized for a bit, it seems to be trending downward again.

Rank #229: 24 Nightfall #1 (~7,000)

This came in well over twice what the last 24 comic did (24 Midnight Sin One Shot: ~3,100 back in 2005-08). But, if came in at roughtly the same level at the 24 One-Shot from 2004-07 which sold around 7,000. But a closer look at the numbers shows that it really sold closer to around 7,041 units which this new comic sold closer to 6,962 units. So, even thought it looks like it did the same as the previous one-shot, it did about 80 unit or so less. That works out to about 1% less which is still a fairly minor difference. But, I would expect this series will see a drop in sales over the course of this six issue series.

Rank #247: Sonic X #14 (~5,600)

Down about ~100 (-1.75%) from #13 (~5,700)
Number of new issues (since 1996-09) that sold:
Less: 0 Same: 1 More: 12
This title launched around 11,200 and has dropped to about half that recently. This issue and the previous two have all sold around 5,600 to 5,700 units so it might be levelling off within the direct market. But Archie titles historically do very well outside the direct market.

Rank #255: Lady Death Blacklands #1 (~5,000)

Down about ~2,100 (-29.58%) from #1/2 (~7,100)
Number of new issues (since 1996-09) that sold:
Less: 0 Same: 0 More: 1
The numbers for this issue split across September and October. What is interesting about that is that last month it ranked a few slots higher on the list at rank 250 with a lower Diamond Order Index value (4.02) and about half the sales it had this month (2,500). The total sales for this issue are ~7,500 which is about 400 units (or 5.63%) above what the #1/2 issue did.

Rank #272: Escape Of The Living Dead Airborne #2 (~4,200)

Down about ~1,900 (-31.15%) from #1 (~6,100)
Number of new issues (since 1996-09) that sold:
Less: 0 Same: 0 More: 1
This saw a sharp drop between the first and second issues. It is also selling well below what the previous Escape of the Living Dead miniseries sold. That series launched with 11,800 for #1, dropped to 9,,600 for #2, 7,600 for #3, 7,400 for #4 and ended at 6,800 for #5. It looks like sales are escaping from the Living Dead...

Rank #273: Lady Death Dark Horizons # (~4,200)

The numbers for this issue split across September and October. What is interesting about that is that last month it ranked a few slots higher on the list at rank 261 with a lower Diamond Order Index value (3.41) and about half the sales it had this month (2100). The total sales for this issue are ~6,300 which is not too bad for a new indy title. But, it is about 4,500 units (or 41.66%) below the 10,800 units that Lady Death Dark Alliance #5 did last month.

Rank #295: Gold Digger Vol 2 #78 (~3,300)

Unchanged from #77 (~3,300)
Number of new issues (since 1996-09) that sold:
Less: 1 Same: 0 More: 8
This volume of Gold Digger launched at ~3,800. It then jumped to ~5,300 with the second issue. It managed to stay about 5,000 units until issue #26 which sold around 4,800 units. From there we see the standard attrition trend with it ending at the current level of around 3,300 units.
What is unfortunate about the nature of the data from Diamond is that sometimes data for a title like this will drop below the bottom of the chart. And while this title is solidly in a range that ensures that it will make the top 300, sometimes the numbers for an issue will be split between months and the "reorder" portion of it drops "below the radar". This seems to have happened with issues #13, #70 and #76. Given the stability of this title, it is reasonable to believe that those titles sold on par with the surrounding issues.

TRADES

Rank #1: Y The Last Man Vol. 8 Kimono Dragons (~10,800, Total Known Sales: ~10,800)

Top selling trade for Image
This series of trades seems to be selling better and better. This volume opened at 10,800 which is about 500 units above what the previous volume (#7) opened with. Volumes 5 and 6 both opened with 8,500 and v4 with ~7,700, v3 with ~7,300 and v2 with ~8,000. The first volume opened with only 1,900 but did another 4,700 the following month and has appeared on the top trades list over a dozen times (13 to be exact) with a total known sales of about 20,000 units. All of the other trades except v4 had total known sales over 10,000 with v4 having total known sales of only about 9,200.

Rank #2: Family Guy Vol. 3 (~8,600, Total Known Sales: ~8,600)

This thrid volume of Family Guy opened at 8,600 units which is a little stronger than the second volume opened with at 8,400. But the first issue is by far the best seller with opening numbers of 15,800 and total known sales of 17,200. That means that the third issue opened at about half the total known sales of the first issue. All in all, thise quarterly series is off to a strong start and looks to be doing well.

Rank #3: X-Men Complete Age of Apocalypse Epic Book 4 (~5,700, Total Known Sales: ~5,700)

This is another case of a large event storyline getting collected into a series of trades. This is the final trade in the series and contain the 4th issue of the various miniseries and bookend issues. The first of these trades opened with sales of ~6,600 and has a total known sales of ~8,500. The second volume opened at ~6,100 units and hasn't been seen on the top trades list since. Likewise the third volume opened at 5,400 units and hasn't made it back on the top trades list either. This final volume sold about 300 units more than the third volume with about 5,700 units. That puts it about 400 units behind the second volume and about 900 behind where the first volume opened and about 1,800 behind the total known sales for that first volume.

Rank #4: Ex Machina Vol. 4 March To War (~5,600, Total Known Sales: ~5,600)

Ex Machina is an excellent title and one that I think could and should be selling better.
Both this current volume and the previous one (v3) opened at 5,600.
The second volume opened stronger at ~6,000 but has been seen on the list since.
The first volume of the trades opened at 5,500 units and has total known sales of ~9,700.
For comparison, the monthly series launched with 33,200 units for the first issue. The second issue dropped by 6,800 units (or 20.48%) which is a fairly standard second issue drop. And the title has been trending down ever since. The month recent issue sold around 19,800 which is about 59.64% of where it launched at.
The trades seem to be around a third or so of the monthly sales and the monthly title is not seeing any bump from the trades.

Rank #5: Superman Batman Vol. 3 Absolute Power (~5,500, Total Known Sales: ~5,500)

This volume collects Superman/Batman #14 to 18. It opened about 1,000 units above where the previous volume opened (4,500) and about 1,400 below the first volume (6,900). The total known sales of the second volume are up to about 11,600 and to about 14,600 for the first volume.
This series is also getting collected in hardcover format and those hardbacks seem to open stronger than the trades. The first volume of the hardback opened at 7,800 with total known sales reaching 9,500. The second hardcover opened at 7,800 with total known sales reaching 9,700. The third hardcover opened at 6,100 with no additional known sales so far. The fourth hadcover opened at 5,700 and has been back on the top trades chart since.
While the hardcovers open stronger than the trades, the trades make it back on the list much more often.

Rank #6: Marvel Zombies HC (~5,300, Total Known Sales: ~22,500)

This has now sold more than double what it opened at with total known sales reaching 22,500. One again this seems to be performing exceptionally well. So far it has been on the list every month since it came out.

Rank #7: Secret War (~5,200, Total Known Sales: ~5,200)

The trade paperback has out done the hardcover of this by about 500 units. Given that the miniseries sold over 100,000 units for most of the run, I expected this to do a bit better.

Rank #8: 300 HC (~5,100, Total Known Sales: ~12,100)

This is getting a bump from the movie that is in the works.

Rank #10: Fables 1001 Nights of Snowfall HC (~4,200, Total Known Sales: ~19,500)

Impressive reorder activity. It will be interesting to see how this fairly long term. This is getting it much closer to the level that the monthly title is selling at.

Rank #11: Showcase Presents Unknown Soldier Vol. 1 (~4,200, Total Known Sales: ~4,200)

This is one of the lowest openings for a Showcase Presents. The only ones to open lower were the Challenges of the Unknown (~4100) and Metamorpho (~4,000). The Phantom Stranger opened slight ahead of this by about 20 units.
Few of the Showcase Presents trades make it back on the list after the first month. So far only Showcase Presents Green Lantern v1 and Showcase Presents Superman v1 have done so.

Rank #70: Fables Vol. 1 Legends in Exile (~1,700, Total Known Sales: ~6,900)

WatchList: CGS Book of the Month: September 2005

Rank #75: Walking Dead Vol. 1 Days Gone Bye (~1,600, Total Known Sales: ~47,400)

WatchList: Robert Kirkman, CGS Book of the Month: August 2005

Rank #91: Walking Dead Vol. 4 Hearts Desire (~1,400, Total Known Sales: ~23,800)

WatchList: Robert Kirkman

Rank #93: Walking Dead Vol. 2 Miles Behind Us (~1,400, Total Known Sales: ~26,600)

WatchList: Robert Kirkman

Rank #97: Watchmen (~1,300, Total Known Sales: ~33,500)

WatchList: CGS Book of the Month: March 2006
Eventually everybody is going to have a copy of this�