Comments on: Archie Sales Figures for 2008

By: Jim Welch

Jim Welch — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:02:37 +0000

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?

By: Media Discover Archie/Veronica Marriage an Imaginary Story » Comics Worth Reading

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 12:12:19 +0000

[...] 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. [...]

By: Robot 6 @ Comic Book Resources - Covering Comic Book News and Entertainment » Unbound: Calling Riverdale on your iPhone

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 21:06:06 +0000

[...] 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 [...]

By: Johanna

Johanna — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 22:33:44 +0000

I haven’t been following release schedules, so I don’t know about the bimonthly status, sorry.

By: Brian Cronin

Brian Cronin — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 16:13:28 +0000

Interesting stuff, Johanna.

Jughead was just made bi-monthly, right? I wonder why, its sales don’t seem any different from the other titles.

By: John Jackson Miller

John Jackson Miller — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 15:03:32 +0000

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.

By: Sean Murphy

Sean Murphy — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 12:40:40 +0000

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.

By: Archie Comics Sales Figures | Nerd Dads!

Archie Comics Sales Figures | Nerd Dads! — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 21:35:06 +0000

[...] 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 [...]

By: John Jackson Miller

John Jackson Miller — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 21:02:15 +0000

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.

By: John Jackson Miller

John Jackson Miller — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 20:55:23 +0000

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.

By: Torsten Adair

Torsten Adair — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 17:00:48 +0000

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)?

By: ejulp (John)

ejulp (John) — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 16:23:05 +0000

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?

By: Robot 6 @ Comic Book Resources - Covering Comic Book News and Entertainment » Food or Comics | A roundup of money-related news

Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:43:42 +0000

[...] Johanna Draper Carlson compiles 2008 circulation figures for Archie Comics, which help to explain why Sabrina the Teenage Witch was [...]

By: Journalista - the news weblog of The Comics Journal » Blog Archive » March 9, 2009: Many, many bullet lists

Mon, 09 Mar 2009 12:57:23 +0000

[...] Johanna Draper Carlson looks at Archie Comics’ reported sales figures for 2008. [...]

By: Johanna

Johanna — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 01:20:22 +0000

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.

By: Kiki

Kiki — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 01:03:37 +0000

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.

By: jdh417

jdh417 — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 01:02:13 +0000

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.

By: CoreyBean

CoreyBean — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 00:21:16 +0000

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.

By: Shannon Smith

Shannon Smith — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 15:44:08 +0000

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.