The X-books in 2008, part 2
We'll kick off by looking at the three core titles: Astonishing X-Men, Uncanny X-Men and the book currently known as X-Men: Legacy. In the past, it's been possible to argue that there's no difference between the titles. In 2008, Marvel took steps to address that.
And the books now have defined roles. Uncanny is the lynchpin of the line, which runs the major stories that affect continuity. Legacy has turned into a Professor X solo title, revisiting old stories in flashback and trying to knit them back into a coherent mythology, after years when that sort of thing was desperately unfashionable. And Astonishing is a star vehicle for big name creators - formerly Joss Whedon and John Cassaday, and now Warren Ellis and Simone Bianchi.
So, how has this worked out for them?
The Whedon/Cassaday run finally stumbled to a halt in May, a mere two years behind schedule. It's a hangover from another era, really. Not surprisingly, sales took a downturn after they finished; Whedon was a major catch for the X-Men back in 2004, and few creative teams were going to match that drawing power. Ellis and Bianchi have done pretty well, in the circumstances.
Of course, their run has already been lent a sour note by the indefensible Astonishing X-Men: Ghost Boxes spin-off miniseries - not so much because of the content, as the outrageous price tag. Sadly, it may yet prove that the format of Ghost Boxes sums up the times more than the actual content of the Ellis/Bianchi run, which has so far been a diverting but inessential read.
The October sales were boosted by the inclusion of 6,122 sketch variants. If you confine it to regular sales, the November drop was only 4%. Still, that's a little disappointing, and from the look of these numbers, "Manifest Destiny" hasn't exactly been setting the world on fire. In sales terms, we're roughly where we were in mid-2006.
Matt Fraction is rightly regarded as one of Marvel's rising star writers; his work is usually witty, inventive and clever. Nonetheless, his run on Uncanny has been hit and miss; it hasn't reached the heights of his excellent work on Iron Fist or his swiftly-cancelled Order. Part of the problem might be the limitations of M-Day; part of it might be the limitations of a major franchise; some of it is certainly to do with the art of Greg Land, whose plastic characters have the emotional range of an airbrushed brick, sucking the life out of the story. The recent issues drawn by Terry Dodgson have been significantly better.
Nonetheless, although there's a ton of potential in these stories, and plenty of interesting ideas, something isn't quite clicking yet. Let's hope they nail it in 2009, because Fraction is certainly capable of doing it.
For my part, I rather enjoy it - Mike Carey is an underrated superhero writer, and I've come round to Scot Eaton's art. But then, I'm a hardcore fan, and I'd be the first to admit that the interest in this series lies more in the way it knits together old continuity and patches up the mythos, than in the present day storyline that serves to frame it all. It's a shame that sales have taken this sort of hit, but I can't say I'm entirely surprised.
So much for the three core X-Men titles. But there's another two off to the side...
The sales on all-ages books don't mean a great deal, but I've included them anyway.
And finally...
The Ultimate imprint has been struggling of late, and Ultimate X-Men is no exception. You only have to look back at the sales from previous years to see how this book has fallen. The problem, I think, is that the Ultimate imprint has lost its aura of being "special." Books which once featured big-name creators and wild reinventions of old ideas have started to coast along under the aegis of competent but little-known TV writers. They've become inertia titles - books which continue to be published simply because they already exist. Ultimate X-Men is squarely in that category, and if it is truly cancelled, it won't be much missed.
The November sales are surprising. Issue #98 is an Ultimatum crossover, but that seems to have had no effect at all. Much the same applies to Ultimate Fantastic Four (where sales nudged up by a trivial 1,132). This is almost unheard of for a major crossover at Marvel, and casts at least some doubt on whether the event is succeeding in its wider goal of reviving interest in the Ultimate line.
Five X-Men books, then, could be down to three in the relatively near future. And that's to be welcomed: five is too many, diluting the brand. Three, to be honest, is still more than I'd prefer - as a storytelling framework, I rather like the current set-up of Amazing Spider-Man, with creative teams taking turns on different arcs. But with the mixed success of that book, I doubt the format is spreading any time soon.
Next time, we'll look at the many publications of Wolverine...
And the books now have defined roles. Uncanny is the lynchpin of the line, which runs the major stories that affect continuity. Legacy has turned into a Professor X solo title, revisiting old stories in flashback and trying to knit them back into a coherent mythology, after years when that sort of thing was desperately unfashionable. And Astonishing is a star vehicle for big name creators - formerly Joss Whedon and John Cassaday, and now Warren Ellis and Simone Bianchi.
So, how has this worked out for them?
ASTONISHING X-MEN
11/04 Astonishing X-Men #6 - 134,840
11/05 ---
11/06 Astonishing X-Men #18 - 118,285
=====
11/07 Astonishing X-Men #23 - 112,920 ( -3.8%)
12/07 ---
01/08 Astonishing X-Men #24 - 107,631 ( -4.7%)
02/08 ---
03/08 ---
04/08 ---
05/08 Giant-Size Ast. #1 - 105,508 ( -2.0%)
06/08 ---
07/08 Astonishing X-Men #25 - 121,974 (+15.6%)
08/08 Astonishing X-Men #26 - 94,244 (-22.7%)
09/08 ---
10/08 Astonishing X-Men #27 - 86,770 ( -7.9%)
11/08 ---
The Whedon/Cassaday run finally stumbled to a halt in May, a mere two years behind schedule. It's a hangover from another era, really. Not surprisingly, sales took a downturn after they finished; Whedon was a major catch for the X-Men back in 2004, and few creative teams were going to match that drawing power. Ellis and Bianchi have done pretty well, in the circumstances.
Of course, their run has already been lent a sour note by the indefensible Astonishing X-Men: Ghost Boxes spin-off miniseries - not so much because of the content, as the outrageous price tag. Sadly, it may yet prove that the format of Ghost Boxes sums up the times more than the actual content of the Ellis/Bianchi run, which has so far been a diverting but inessential read.
5. UNCANNY X-MEN
11/03 Uncanny X-Men #433 - 90,764
11/04 Uncanny X-Men #452 - 92,051
11/05 Uncanny X-Men #466 - 82,825
11/06 Uncanny X-Men #480 - 88,584
=====
11/07 Uncanny X-Men #492 - 111,160 (+29.8%)
12/07 Uncanny X-Men #493 - 109,176 ( -1.8%)
01/08 Uncanny X-Men #494 - 105,520 ( -3.3%)
02/08 Uncanny X-Men #495 - 96,183 ( -8.8%)
03/08 Uncanny X-Men #496 - 89,054 ( -7.4%)
04/08 Uncanny X-Men #497 - 93,369 ( +4.8%)
05/08 Uncanny X-Men #498 - 82,090 (-12.1%)
06/08 Uncanny X-Men #499 - 81,100 ( -1.2%)
07/08 Uncanny X-Men #500 - 160,876 (+98.4%)
08/08 Uncanny X-Men #501 - 85,398 (-46.9%)
09/08 Uncanny X-Men #502 - 82,883 ( -2.9%)
10/08 Uncanny X-Men #503 - 87,196 ( +5.2%)
11/08 Uncanny X-Men #504 - 77,773 (-10.8%)
6 mnth ( -5.3%)
1 year (-30.0%)
2 year (-12.2%)
3 year ( -6.1%)
4 year (-15.5%)
5 year (-14.3%)
The October sales were boosted by the inclusion of 6,122 sketch variants. If you confine it to regular sales, the November drop was only 4%. Still, that's a little disappointing, and from the look of these numbers, "Manifest Destiny" hasn't exactly been setting the world on fire. In sales terms, we're roughly where we were in mid-2006.
Matt Fraction is rightly regarded as one of Marvel's rising star writers; his work is usually witty, inventive and clever. Nonetheless, his run on Uncanny has been hit and miss; it hasn't reached the heights of his excellent work on Iron Fist or his swiftly-cancelled Order. Part of the problem might be the limitations of M-Day; part of it might be the limitations of a major franchise; some of it is certainly to do with the art of Greg Land, whose plastic characters have the emotional range of an airbrushed brick, sucking the life out of the story. The recent issues drawn by Terry Dodgson have been significantly better.
Nonetheless, although there's a ton of potential in these stories, and plenty of interesting ideas, something isn't quite clicking yet. Let's hope they nail it in 2009, because Fraction is certainly capable of doing it.
15. X-MEN: LEGACYThe new direction hasn't done wonders for the sales of X-Men: Legacy. Off on the fringes of today's X-universe, and scrutinising stories from twenty or thirty years ago, the book is often a treat for long-time fans, but the extent of its broader appeal is more questionable. With this revamp, Marvel may have unintentionally repositioned Legacy as a B-title.
11/03 New X-Men #149 - 102,591
11/04 X-Men #164 - 88,620
11/05 X-Men #177 - 78,405
11/06 X-Men #193 - 80,102
=====
11/07 X-Men #205 - 101,401 (+21.5%)
12/07 X-Men #206 - 104,815 ( +3.4%)
01/08 X-Men #207 - 104,793 ( -0.0%)
02/08 X-Men: Legacy #208 - 88,132 (-16.0%)
03/08 X-Men: Legacy #209 - 82,243 ( -6.7%)
04/08 X-Men: Legacy #210 - 77,441 ( -5.8%)
05/08 X-Men: Legacy #211 - 79,818 ( +3.1%)
05/08 X-Men: Legacy #212 - 74,033 ( -7.2%)
06/08 X-Men: Legacy #213 - 71,893 ( -2.9%)
07/08 X-Men: Legacy #214 - 69,863 ( -2.8%)
08/08 X-Men: Legacy #215 - 68,047 ( -2.6%)
09/08 X-Men: Legacy #216 - 66,434 ( -2.4%)
10/08 X-Men: Legacy #217 - 65,888 ( -0.8%)
11/08 X-Men: Legacy #218 - 63,512 ( -3.6%)
6 mnth (-14.2%)
1 year (-37.4%)
2 year (-20.7%)
3 year (-19.0%)
4 year (-28.3%)
5 year (-38.1%)
For my part, I rather enjoy it - Mike Carey is an underrated superhero writer, and I've come round to Scot Eaton's art. But then, I'm a hardcore fan, and I'd be the first to admit that the interest in this series lies more in the way it knits together old continuity and patches up the mythos, than in the present day storyline that serves to frame it all. It's a shame that sales have taken this sort of hit, but I can't say I'm entirely surprised.
So much for the three core X-Men titles. But there's another two off to the side...
X-MEN: FIRST CLASSFirst Class ended with issue #16, but there's a miniseries scheduled for 2009. To be honest, charming as some issues were, the series was starting to degenerate into a parade of random guest stars, and perhaps it's for the best that they're calling it a day. On the other hand, the Marvel Girl back-up strips drawn by Colleen Coover were wonderful, and I'll certainly miss those; hopefully they can find another suitable vehicle for her.
11/07 First Class #6 - 17,050 ( -6.0%)
12/07 First Class #7 - 16,195 ( -5.0%)
01/08 First Class #8 - 15,986 ( -1.3%)
02/08 First Class #9 - 15,320 ( -4.2%)
03/08 First Class #10 - 14,907 ( -2.7%)
04/08 First Class #11 - 14,896 ( -0.0%)
05/08 First Class #12 - 14,566 ( -2.2%)
06/08 First Class #13 - 14,157 ( -2.8%)
07/08 First Class #14 - 13,870 ( -2.0%)
08/08 First Class #15 - 13,249 ( -4.5%)
09/08 First Class #16 - 12,842 ( -3.1%)
10/08 Giant-Size Special - 13,263 ( +3.3%)
11/08 ---
The sales on all-ages books don't mean a great deal, but I've included them anyway.
And finally...
33. ULTIMATE X-MENThis book is being cancelled with issue #100, as part of the Ultimatum crossover - although chances are it'll be revived as New Ultimate X-Men or some such nonsense within a couple of months.
11/03 Ultimate X-Men #39 - 105,737
11/04 Ultimate X-Men #53 - 92,133
11/05 Ultimate X-Men #65 - 74,264
11/06 Ultimate X-Men #76 - 69,054
=====
11/07 ---
12/07 Ultimate X-Men #88 - 51,633 (-18.1%)
12/07 Ultimate X-Men #89 - 50,516 ( -2.2%)
01/08 Ultimate X-Men #90 - 49,634 ( -1.7%)
02/08 Ultimate X-Men #91 - 49,062 ( -1.2%)
03/08 Ultimate X-Men #92 - 49,015 ( -0.0%)
04/08 Ultimate X-Men #93 - 49,107 ( +0.2%)
05/08 Ultimate X-Men #94 - 49,779 ( +1.4%)
06/08 Ultimate X-Men #95 - 48,137 ( -3.3%)
07/08 Ultimate X-Men #96 - 48,011 ( -0.3%)
08/08 Ultimate X-Men #97 - 47,050 ( -2.0%)
09/08 ---
10/08 ---
11/08 Ultimate X-Men #98 - 46,446 ( -1.3%)
6 mnth ( -6.7%)
1 year ( --- )
2 year (-32.7%)
3 year (-37.5%)
4 year (-49.6%)
5 year (-56.1%)
The Ultimate imprint has been struggling of late, and Ultimate X-Men is no exception. You only have to look back at the sales from previous years to see how this book has fallen. The problem, I think, is that the Ultimate imprint has lost its aura of being "special." Books which once featured big-name creators and wild reinventions of old ideas have started to coast along under the aegis of competent but little-known TV writers. They've become inertia titles - books which continue to be published simply because they already exist. Ultimate X-Men is squarely in that category, and if it is truly cancelled, it won't be much missed.
The November sales are surprising. Issue #98 is an Ultimatum crossover, but that seems to have had no effect at all. Much the same applies to Ultimate Fantastic Four (where sales nudged up by a trivial 1,132). This is almost unheard of for a major crossover at Marvel, and casts at least some doubt on whether the event is succeeding in its wider goal of reviving interest in the Ultimate line.
Five X-Men books, then, could be down to three in the relatively near future. And that's to be welcomed: five is too many, diluting the brand. Three, to be honest, is still more than I'd prefer - as a storytelling framework, I rather like the current set-up of Amazing Spider-Man, with creative teams taking turns on different arcs. But with the mixed success of that book, I doubt the format is spreading any time soon.
Next time, we'll look at the many publications of Wolverine...
posted by Paul O'Brien at 4:38 pm
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