I usually wait for ICv2 to post their sales figures so that I can be sure the month-to-month numbers are comparable, but I don’t see them yet, and I believe these CBR estimates for June are based on the same numbers.
So: The Flash #3 climbed from #12 to #11 in sales rank, while the number of comics sold dropped 10.1% to 68,799 copies.
Let’s compare that to the other recent Flash relaunches again:
| Issue | Rank | Month | Units Sold | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flash:TFMA #1 | 7 | June 2006 | 120,404 | |
| Flash:TFMA #2 | 25 | July 2006 | 77,487 | (-35.6%) |
| Flash:TFMA #3 | 30 | August 2006 | 70,633 | (- 8.9%) |
| All-Flash #1 | 22 | July 2007 | 78,955 | |
| Flash v.2 #231 | 26 | August 2007 | 72,898 | |
| Flash v.2 #232 | 32 | Sep 2007 | 56,969 | (-21.9%) |
| Flash v.2 #233 | 41 | Oct 2007 | 51,152 | (- 10.2%) |
| Flash: Rebirth #1 | 2 | April 2009 | 102,429 | |
| Flash: Rebirth #2 | 4 | May 2009 | 86,183 | (-15.9%) |
| Flash: Rebirth #3 | 10 | June 2009 | 83,086 | (-3.6%) |
| Flash v.3 #1 | 2 | April 2010 | 100,903 | |
| Flash v.3 #2 | 12 | May 2010 | 76,560 | (-24.1%) |
| Flash v.3 #3 | 11 | June 2010 | 68,799 | (-10.1%) |
It’s still selling less than Flash: The Fastest Man Alive and dropping as quickly as “The Wild Wests.” That’s kind of disappointing. Though the real test is still going to be looking at orders for #4, because that’s where retailers will have had a chance to react to the way #1 actually sold, and how their customers actually liked it.
On the plus side, it did a lot better than Velocity, which clocked in at 8,171 copies sold. But then, Velocity was Top Cow’s #2 title, just behind The Magdalena at 8,326.
The size difference between the Marvel/DC superhero audience and the indie superhero audience is just astonishing. Numbers that would signal immediate cancellation (like, say, cutting off Magog in the middle of a storyline before part 1 goes on sale) from DC can be respectable successes for smaller publishers. If you want an eye opener, check out The Beat’s indie sales analysis series sometime.
Disappointing numbers. I’ve enjoyed the start of the V3 series more then all of the other issues listed up there.
Come what may, it’s been gratifying to see Flash ranked in the top ten (or thereabouts) this past year.
I cannot- for the life of me- find Velocity anywhere… looks like I’m going to have to order it online which I hate doing for single issues.
So if sales continue to drop, how long will they run with Barry before killing him off and trying like John Fox as the Flash for a while?
That’s a fairly steep drop off ain’t it?
Do these figures take into account variants?
If so, it’s even more disheartening. I think the sooner we move past the initial storyline and start wading into the Flash-verse the better.
Actually that’s a fairly standard drop and unless it falls off the table like Flash FMA did, i’m sure DC is pretty happy with the number for Rebirth and the current book.