This post features the sales of established comics titles published by Marvel, DC, and Archie during the 1973-1974 sales year. A few series from other publishers are also included. Established titles are ones that have had 20 issues or more. The sales year is approximately the spring of 1973 through the 1973-1974 winter.
The first group is of titles for which U. S. Postal Service Statement of Ownership forms were filed in late 1974. The forms were published in early 1975 in the titles' letter columns. The accompanying numbers are the average per-issue paid circulations reported in the forms. The titles are listed from the highest sellers to the lowest.
An estimate is provided for one title, Archie's Girls Betty and Veronica. It's not clear whether the series printed a Statement of Ownership in 1975 or not. But if it did, the form was not available for review. The estimate is the rounded average of the average sales for the 1972-1973 and 1974-1975 sales years.
Mad  2,132,655
Amazing Spider-Man  288,232
Superman  285,634
Archie  272,272
World’s Finest  242,726
Action Comics  237,166
Superboy  225,427
Tarzan  223,710
Fantastic Four  218,330
Life with Archie  206,361
Thor  205,838
Archie’s Girls Betty and Veronica  205,000  (est.)
Jughead  204,610
Incredible Hulk 202,592
Archie’s Pals ‘n’ Gals  199,448
Laugh  198,709
Pep  193,289
Betty and Me  193,240
Batman  193,223
Brave and the Bold  191,722
Justice League of America  189,392
Archie and Me  189,334
Everything’s Archie  188,842
Avengers  188,084
Archie’s Joke Book  187,099
Flash  184,749
Captain America 183,344
Little Archie  178,824
Superman Family 178,416
Our Army at War  178,134
Witching Hour  175,787
Unexpected  175,016
House of Mystery  174,504
Archie Giant Series  173,179
Reggie and Me  172,305
G. I. Combat  168,042
Daredevil  161,910
Our Fighting Forces  161,417
House of Secrets  161,190
Rawhide Kid  151,165
Wonder Woman  149,917
Jughead’s Jokes 147,793
Phantom Stranger  147,710
Detective Comics  145,832
Star Spangled War Stories  144,765
Adventure Comics  144,055
Young Romance  130,802
Josie and the Pussycats  129,607
Young Love  127,972
Vampirella  95,735
The biggest sales story of the year was Mad having its highest-selling issue ever. According to editor Al Feldstein, issue #161, cover-dated September 1973, sold 2.4 million copies. The sales year's 2.1 million per-issue average was also the highest in the publication's history.
Marvel's Amazing Spider-Man became the year's highest-selling color comic for the first time. A small increase in sales, coupled with declines in the numbers for Superman and Archie, was responsible. The sales year also marked the first time a second Marvel title--Fantastic Four--made it into the top ten.
The following group are titles that had 20 or more issues published by early 1975, but had no Statement of Ownership filed in 1974. Publishers often did not file the form for titles that had not published at least 20 issues when forms were due to be submitted, so those are not listed. Marvel did not file forms for any new titles from 1968-onward until 1978. Titles that were published during the sales year, but were cancelled before the Statement of Ownership could be printed, are not listed, either.
Amazing Adventures
Archie at Riverdale High
Astonishing Tales
Captain Marvel
Conan the Barbarian
Creatures on the Loose
Defenders
Ghost Rider
Ghosts
Iron Man 
Kamandi
Kid Colt Outlaw
Marvel Premiere
Marvel Super-Heroes
Marvel Tales
Marvel Team-Up
Marvel Triple Action
Marvel’s Greatest Comics
 
Master of Kung Fu
Mighty Marvel Western
My Love
Our Love Story
Outlaw Kid
Power Man
Sgt. Fury
Tomb of Dracula
Weird War Tales
Werewolf by Night
Western Gunfighters
Where Monsters Dwell
X-Men
Other Comics Sales Posts
--1969-1970
--1970-1971
--1971-1972
--1972-1973
--1974-1975
--1975-1976
--1976-1977
--1977-1978
--1978-1979
--1979-1980
--1980-1981
--1981-1982
--1982-1983
--1983-1984
--1984-1985
--1985-1986
--1986-1987
--1987-1988
--1988-1989

 
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