Archie Sales Figures (Almost Complete)

It’s time for part two of looking at Archie sales figures. I’ve copied over the numbers from the previous post. Remember, 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.

This is now all of the Archie titles except for Veronica (which should have the figures in #187, which I haven’t received yet) and Sonic X (should be #30, not yet released). Update: Here are the Veronica numbers.

Let’s do some (very basic) analysis. Here are the titles in order of best- to worst-selling based on average sales (the first number).

1. Betty & Veronica Double Digest
2. Archie’s Double Digest
3. Archie’s Pals ‘n’ Gals Double Digest
4. Jughead’s Double Digest
5. Archie Digest
6. Betty & Veronica Digest
7. Tales From Riverdale Digest
8. Jughead and Friends Digest
9. Sonic the Hedgehog
10. Archie
11. Betty & Veronica
12. Archie & Friends
13. Jughead
14. Sabrina the Teenage Witch
15. Betty
16. Betty & Veronica Spectacular

I suspect that Veronica’s solo title will be down there in the bottom, too. The last title listed is the magazine-format one, by the way. As expected, the digests do better than the comic-format titles, and the bigger books are more popular than the smaller. Digests are 96 pages for $2.59; double digests are 192 for $3.69, making them the best deal out there in newsstand comics, especially now that DC and Marvel are pushing the $3.99 barrier (for 32 pages, usually with “upgraded” cover). The top-selling digest sells roughly three times the top-selling comic, and in issues, Sonic sells 6-7,000 more than the top Archie book.

Sorting by most recent sales, the only changes are that Archie Digest and Jughead’s Double Digest swap places and, surprisingly, Betty jumps up three places to wind up ahead of Archie & Friends. That’s significant in light of this next measurement. I’m looking at percentage growth based on comparing the average figure to the (usually higher) most recent issue figure.

Here’s the books in order:

1. Archie Digest — over 35% growth
2. Archie’s Pals ‘n’ Gals Double Digest — this and the next three show double-digit growth of 11-15%
3. Betty & Veronica Digest
4. Betty & Veronica Double Digest
5. Jughead’s Double Digest
6. Tales From Riverdale Digest — here it drops to single-digit rises
7. Archie’s Double Digest
8. Betty & Veronica
9. Jughead and Friends Digest
10. Archie
11. Betty
12. Sonic the Hedgehog — effectively zero point, no change
13. Betty & Veronica Spectacular — here’s where the declines start, down 6.4%
14. Jughead — down 9.7%
15. Archie & Friends — down 10.6%
16. Sabrina the Teenage Witch — down 11.1%

Now, I have no idea if that stat means anything. These numbers might be seasonal, or my assumption that one wants the most recent to show growth compared to last year’s average might be too simplistic. I do note, however, that Sabrina is in the middle of a lengthy storyline pushing towards issue #100, and Archie comics traditionally do best with stand-alone stories, not continuing. I also see that some of these latest issues include an ad promoting an upcoming World Tour storyline in Archie & Friends #117-120.

If anyone knows more stats than I do, I welcome more conclusions. And if anyone has access to the Veronica number, please let me know so I can update the lists.