Archie Sales Figures for 2008
- Posted by Johanna on March 7, 2009 at 7:38 pm
- Category: Archie Comics
It’s that time of year again. Due to the way they mail subscriptions, Archie Comics are required to file Statements of Ownership, Management, and Circulation in their publications. So I collect the figures to see how an often-overlooked comic franchise is doing.
These are the Total Paid and/or Requested Circulation figures that Archie files with the government. The first number is the Average No. Copies Each Issue During Preceding 12 Months; the second is No. Copies of Single Issue Published Nearest to Filing Date. (My thanks to Mike Sterling for his assistance compiling these.)
| Title | Issue | Average | Nearest Issue | Percent Difference |
| Archie | #593 | 13,259 | 13,305 | 0.3% |
| Archie & Friends | #127 | 9,388 | 10,133 | 7.9% |
| Betty | #178 | 8,864 | 10,322 | 16.4% |
| Betty & Veronica | #240 | 11,963 | 12,953 | 8.3% |
| Betty & Veronica Spectacular | #87 | 8,891 | 9,364 | 5.3% |
| Jughead | #193 | 10,718 | 30,046 | 180.3% |
| Sabrina the Teenage Witch | #100 | 7,404 | 7,421 | 0.2% |
| Sonic the Hedgehog | #196 | 29,613 | 32,009 | 8.1% |
| Veronica | #193 | 8,230 | 9,149 | 11.2% |
| Title | Issue | Average | Nearest Issue | Percent Difference |
| Archie Digest | #251 | 66,005 | 70,896 | 7.4% |
| Archie’s Double Digest | #195 | 97,584 | 101,917 | 4.4% |
| Archie’s Pals ‘n’ Gals Double Digest | #128 | 74,430 | 86,338 | 16.0% |
| Betty & Veronica Digest | #191 | 57,961 | 64,764 | 11.7% |
| Betty & Veronica Double Digest | #168 | 100,073 | 103,868 | 3.8% |
| Jughead and Friends Digest | #31 | 49,829 | 53,394 | 7.2% |
| Jughead’s Double Digest | #147 | 82,035 | 89,152 | 8.7% |
| Tales From Riverdale Digest | #32 | 57,177 | 59,885 | 4.7% |
Sonic X ended in December with issue #40, to be replaced with Sonic Universe, which began at the end of February. For comparison, here are last year’s figures.
Here are the titles in order of best- to worst-selling based on average sales (the first number).
- Betty & Veronica Double Digest
- Archie’s Double Digest
- Jughead’s Double Digest
- Archie’s Pals ‘n’ Gals Double Digest
- Archie Digest
- Betty & Veronica Digest
- Tales From Riverdale Digest
- Jughead and Friends Digest
- Sonic the Hedgehog
- Archie
- Betty & Veronica
- Jughead
- Archie & Friends
- Betty & Veronica Spectacular
- Betty
- Veronica
- Sabrina the Teenage Witch
Well, now we know why Sabrina ended with #100. It’s not just that its sales put it last, but that it wasn’t showing any growth. Note that the two titles closest to it demonstrate a double-digit percent change from Average to Most Recent numbers.
This list is in roughly the same order as last year, with the digests selling better than Sonic, which beats the Archie titles. (And the bigger digests sell better than the smaller ones.) The top-selling digest does more than 100K, while Sonic is in the 30,000 range. The top-selling Archie comic is around 13,000, with declines from there. Pals’n'Gals (which contains the latest “new look” gimmick story) swapped places with Jughead’s Double. The only other changes come in the last six books on the list. Archie & Friends (which is now doing continued stories) and Betty & Veronica Spectacular climbed; Sabrina and Veronica (which, in my opinion, has no distinct purpose or approach) dropped.
Now, let’s order them in terms of percentage change:
- Jughead — sales almost tripled
- Betty
- Archie’s Pals ‘n’ Gals Double Digest
- Betty & Veronica Digest
- Veronica
- Jughead’s Double Digest
- Betty & Veronica
- Sonic the Hedgehog
- Archie & Friends
- Archie Digest
- Jughead and Friends Digest
- Betty & Veronica Spectacular
- Tales From Riverdale Digest
- Archie’s Double Digest
- Betty & Veronica Double Digest
- Archie
- Sabrina the Teenage Witch
I don’t really believe that Jughead figure, and I can think of no reason for it. The interesting thing about this list is that last year, four titles declined. This year, everything shows growth except for the last two books on the list.
March 8, 2009 at 10:44 am
I don’t remember buying any Jugheads in the past year but I do remember a few that have interesting enough covers that I almost wanted to buy it. I like Jughead but Jughead and Sonic are probably the least appealing of those to my daughter. Nice to see positive numbers in comics these days. The sad news is that the Anderson bankruptcy still has about 100 Food City stores sans Archie books so I am currently sans Archie access. It’s only been about a week and a half now and I don’t know how much damage losing 100 stores would be but it certainly can’t help.
March 8, 2009 at 7:21 pm
It’s interesting to see Archie’s actually numbers. Sonic sells better that most superhero comics. Looking at the digest numbers, I’m surprised Marvel & DC don’t try something similar with all the old material they could reprint. I bet a Spider-Man or Batman digest could sell to kids.
March 8, 2009 at 8:02 pm
There was a Spider-Man digest back in the 80’s. Shrinking the format and very pulpy newsprint really hurt readability. There was a DC Blue Ribbon (?) digest that featured reprints. Mickey and Donald also had reprint digests back then, but only Archie survived.
I have recently seen a magazine-sized Spider-Man comic on the newsstand aimed at kids . No idea if it’s still around.
March 8, 2009 at 8:03 pm
First I want to thank you for putting these figures together. It’s interesting to see them – I just don’t want to do the work myself. ;)
Sonic is still the best-moving comic in my elementary library – the 2nd graders and kindergarteners are very big on him this year. And the Sonic Archives also do well.
A Sabrina anecdote. When the manga storyline started, it had a lot of fans. But when Harvey was basically written out last year and the focus shifted entirely to the Magic Realm, some of the girls lost interest. One of the comments I heard was that it wasn’t enough like the reruns of the TV show they watched on cable. While I loved what Del Rio did, I wonder if she had kept the focus more on the love triangle/school aspect would it have done better. Or are my girls just odd? I’m still hoping Archie will collect all the issues in manga style volumes and a new group of readers will find and love it.
March 8, 2009 at 8:20 pm
Well, I can’t argue with those girls, because I felt the same way. I liked the school romance better than the Magic Realm wars.
I fear the window for the collections has closed.
March 9, 2009 at 7:57 am
[...] Johanna Draper Carlson looks at Archie Comics’ reported sales figures for 2008. [...]
March 9, 2009 at 10:43 am
[...] Johanna Draper Carlson compiles 2008 circulation figures for Archie Comics, which help to explain why Sabrina the Teenage Witch was [...]
March 9, 2009 at 11:23 am
Johanna, these numbers are the sum total of all the direct market, mail-subscription, and newsstand sales for the U.S., correct? Or does this also include circulation numbers for sales in other countries, Canada for example?
March 9, 2009 at 12:00 pm
So the monthly comics are published so that those stories can be reprinted in the digests at a later date?
I also wonder what effect the upcoming “marriage” stories in Archie #600-605 will have on circulation. Any information on sales of the graphic novel collections (anthologies and New Look)?
March 9, 2009 at 3:55 pm
Ejulp, the Statement figures are the total of all the direct market, subscription, and newsstand sales for whatever title has the Periodical class license, and no other printings. What this means is that the Statement figures have generally covered all comics sold in North America, plus any copies of the U.S. printing that are sold overseas. I’m guessing Canadian cover variants of comics in earlier years would likely have been bundled in total numbers, as well, being treated just like Whitman versions of Marvel, DC, and Gold Key comics.
As to the digests, there have been reports that since Archie helped create the grocery point-of-sale digest racking program decades ago, it receives a grandfathered position in those otherwise prohibitively expensive racks. (As with many other choice locations in stores, the suppliers have to pay to be there.) Archie did a lot of work on product placement through the CMAA over the years.
March 9, 2009 at 4:02 pm
I would also quickly note that the “Nearest Issue” totals are almost always higher than the averages, because all the returns have not come in on the issues being reported in the Statement. It’s why I never use the Nearest Issue figures in The Comics Chronicles — they’re accurate as to most recent print run and subscriber counts, but the total sales numbers are not very meaningful since the issues in question are still cycling. The Average figure is the more reliable.
March 9, 2009 at 4:35 pm
[...] Draper-Carlson has some info that’s rarely seen online – actual sales numbers for Archie Comics, plus some rather astute analysis. I have to admit, I’m kind of surprised at how poorly the monthly issues sell, with most of [...]
March 10, 2009 at 7:40 am
For some time, I’ve thought that the comics industry was being hurt by the lack of a presence in supermarkets, drug stores and what-not, as it decreased the amount of “impulse buying” (either by a kid or by the adult trying to keep the kid quiet). These figures seem to bear this up – monthly books don’t do nearly as well as those that are sitting right there while someone is in line to buy their groceries.
March 10, 2009 at 10:03 am
I also feel the newsstand is the place where price resistance is highest — parents remember what they think everything “used to cost” — and so digests do well in comparison. Parents don’t remember what they paid for digests, so they’re less likely to balk. TPBs have less price resistance for the same reason, I think.
I’ve worked for a publisher that paid to be in POS displays — I can’t remember what the fee was, but it’s startling. You sell way more copies, but it costs.
March 13, 2009 at 11:13 am
Interesting stuff, Johanna.
Jughead was just made bi-monthly, right? I wonder why, its sales don’t seem any different from the other titles.
March 13, 2009 at 5:33 pm
I haven’t been following release schedules, so I don’t know about the bimonthly status, sorry.
June 30, 2009 at 5:06 pm
[...] for that number to increase, and at least one title (one of the weaker sellers, from the looks of their ABC figures) will move away from print and become a download-only [...]
October 8, 2009 at 8:12 am
[...] over 54,000″ while #597 sold about 2,500 copies. However, that doesn’t consider newsstand sales, which last year were around 13,000 an issue, or five times the sales in dedicated comic stores. [...]
October 20, 2009 at 8:02 pm
My experience is that there is a big market for used digests. I would imagine that many of th digests are sold two or three times in the second hand market.
Are there any numbers (advertising survey or whatever) on what the readership of the digests are?