The latest relaunch of The Flash continues to hold steady around #10-15 in Diamond’s sales rankings, fitting into December’s chart at #12 for Flash #7 and #18 for Flash #8.*
ICv2’s sales estimates for the month have Flash #7 selling 56,304 copies, and Flash #8 selling 53,975.
| Issue | Rank | Month | Units Sold | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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%) |
| Flash v.3 #4 | 15 | July 2010 | 64,832 | (-5.8%) |
| Flash v.3 #5 | 14 | September 2010 | 62,063 | (-4.3%) |
| Flash v.3 #6 | 15 | November 2010 | 57,673 | (-7.1%) |
| Flash v.3 #7 | 12 | December 2010 | 56,304 | (-2.4%) |
| Flash v.3 #8 | 18 | December 2010 | 53,975 | (-4.1%) |
Some things to consider when interpreting these numbers:
- Overall comics sales were down in December, as reflected in the fact that #7 went up in rankings even though it sold fewer copies than #6.
- The book shipped twice this month.
- A storyline concluded last month, making #7 a good jumping-off point.
- #8 is the first issue without the Brightest Day banner on the cover.
- #8 shipped the last week of the year, between Christmas and New Year’s. Any late shipments or reorders won’t factor into these numbers.
- They’re fill-in issues. Good fill-in issues, but still stand-alone comics by a different creative team, pushed in between major stories to get the book back on schedule. The only thing today’s market hates as much as a late book is a fill-in issue. It will be interesting to see if #9 (the start of a new story, not to mention some high-profile speedster guest stars) climbs back up a bit or continues to drop.
Other interesting items of note:
- Green Lantern #60, featuring a Parallax-possessed Flash on the cover, took the #2 spot.
- Of the 11 books ranked higher, 4 were Green Lantern or Brightest Day, 4 were Batman titles, 2 were Avengers and 1 was Wolverine. That’s some solid company for the Flash.
- T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #2, focusing on the team’s speedster Lightning, sold 11,227 copies for a rank of #165.
- Velocity #3 clocked in at 5,305 copies, ranked #263. I seem to recall that Top Cow considers this book a success (though it’s pulling half the numbers of Artifacts or Witchblade), which should tell you just how big a gap there is between the size of the DC/Marvel market and the size of the Indie market.
*Yesterday on Twitter & Facebook I mistakenly reported that they were #26 and #29, a big drop, but when looking back at the chart, I realized I’d been looking at the wrong column. Those were the dollar rankings, which differ from the units-sold rankings depending on cover price.
I still haven’t picked up #8 just because of holiday stuff has kept me too busy to make it to the shop. Should make it there later this week.