Comics Sales, 1975-1976

This post features the sales of established comics titles published by Marvel, DC, and Archie during the 1975-1976 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 1975 through the 1975-1976 winter.

The first group is of titles for which U. S. Postal Service Statement of Ownership forms were filed in late 1976. The forms were published in early 1977 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: Kamandi. The series did not publish a Statement of Ownership in 1977. The estimate is the rounded average of the average sales for the 1974-1975 and 1976-1977 sales years.

Mad 1,787,928
Amazing Spider-Man 282,159
Superman 273,000
Superboy 218,000
Action Comics 208,000
Fantastic Four 199,734
Justice League of America 193,000
Incredible Hulk 182,460
Archie 181,827
Batman 178,000
Avengers 172,813
Thor 172,389
Captain America 165,247
Flash 163,000
Superman Family 163,000
Archie’s Girls Betty and Veronica 155,349
Brave and the Bold 153,000
Sgt. Rock (Our Army at War) 152,000
Archie Giant Series 148,964
Detective Comics 148,000
Betty and Me 145,873
Life with Archie 142,353
Archie and Me 141,825
Adventure Comics 141,000
Archie’s Pals ‘n’ Gals 139,943
Kamandi 139,000 (est.)
Weird War Tales 136,000
Laugh 135,257
G. I. Combat 135,000
Ghosts 135,000
Little Archie 134,597
Archie at Riverdale High 134,374
Daredevil 134,319
Witching Hour 134,000
Pep 132,352
Unexpected 131,000
Everything’s Archie 130,998
Jughead 130,919
Archie’s Joke Book 129,941
Archie’s TV Laugh-Out 129,338
House of Mystery 124,000
Unknown Soldier (Star Spangled War Stories) 124,000
Reggie and Me 121,460
Sgt. Fury 120,960
X-Men 116,992
House of Secrets 116,000
Our Fighting Forces 112,000
Jughead’s Jokes 111,876
Rawhide Kid 108,622
Vampirella 90,725

The year's biggest sales story was Marvel's Howard the Duck #1. The comic was the sales-year's principal target for collectible speculators. The majority of the 285,000-copy print run was bought from distributors before it could be delivered to newsstand vendors. The sell-through was believed to be over 70%, with unit sales in excess of 200,000 copies. Marvel ordered print runs of 400,000 for subsequent issues. The company reprinted the issue's story in a Marvel Treasury Edition a year later.

There were few instances of increased sales among reporting titles. Amazing Spider-Man, which reclaimed its spot as the market's top-selling color comic, was the only Marvel title with reported sales that saw an increase. DC had two bright spots: Justice League of America and Batman, whose sales both saw a 16 percent increase over the previous year's.

The following group are titles that had 20 or more issues published by early 1977, but had no Statement of Ownership filed in 1976. 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.

Captain Marvel
Conan the Barbarian
DC Special
Defenders
Doctor Strange
Ghost Rider
Iron Man
Kid Colt Outlaw
Marvel Double Feature
Marvel Premiere
Marvel Spotlight
Marvel Super-Heroes
Marvel Tales
Marvel Team-Up
Marvel Triple Action
Marvel Two-in-One
Marvel’s Greatest Comics
Master of Kung Fu
Power Man
Shazam!
Tomb of Dracula
Weird Western Tales
Weird Wonder Tales
Werewolf by Night
Young Love

Other Comics Sales Posts

--1969-1970
--1970-1971
--1971-1972
--1972-1973
--1973-1974
--1974-1975
--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

Comics Sales, 1974-1975

This post features the sales of established comics titles published by Marvel, DC, and Archie during the 1974-1975 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 1974 through the 1974-1975 winter.

The first group is of titles for which U. S. Postal Service Statement of Ownership forms were filed in late 1975. The forms were published in early 1976 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, Avengers. The series did not publish a Statement of Ownership in 1976. The estimate is the rounded average of the average sales for the 1973-1974 and 1975-1976 sales years.

Mad 1,928,139
Superman 296,000
Amazing Spider-Man 273,773
Action Comics 231,000
Superboy 222,000
Fantastic Four 216,260
Archie 199,291
Thor 197,216
Incredible Hulk 196,499
Our Army at War 191,000
Witching Hour 188,000
Ghosts 186,000
World’s Finest 186,000
Captain America 180,156
Avengers 180,000 (est.)
Swamp Thing 176,000
Flash 169,000
Superman Family 169,000
G. I. Combat 168,000
Kamandi 167,000
Justice League of America 166,000
Betty and Me 162,788
Archie’s Girls Betty and Veronica 161,275
Adventure Comics 160,000
Brave and the Bold 160,000
Daredevil 159,591
Weird War Tales 159,000
Archie Giant Series 156,002
Archie’s Pals ‘n’ Gals 154,110
Batman 154,000
Life with Archie 153,467
Weird Western Tales 152,000
Archie and Me 151,741
Little Archie 151,253
Everything’s Archie 150,190
Wonder Woman 150,000
Laugh 148,942
Our Fighting Forces 148,000
Archie at Riverdale High 147,604
Detective Comics 146,000
House of Mystery 146,000
Star Spangled War Stories 145,000
Tarzan 145,000
Jughead 144,619
Rawhide Kid 143,972
Pep 142,807
Reggie and Me 141,118
Unexpected 141,000
Archie’s Joke Book 139,205
Jughead’s Jokes 128,740
Archie’s TV Laugh-Out 125,786
Josie and the Pussycats 111,643
Tarzan Family 103,000
Vampirella 97,530

There wasn't much good news in the year's comics sales. A few titles--Superman, Our Army at War, Witching Hour--saw modest single-digit gains. But overall, sales were in decline.

The year's biggest loser was Archie Comics. The sales of Archie, the company's top-seller, fell by more than 25 percent. Similar drops were felt across the company's line of titles. The Archie books would never recover their readership.

The following group are titles that had 20 or more issues published by early 1976, but had no Statement of Ownership filed in 1975. 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
Astonishing Tales
Captain Marvel
Chamber of Chills
Conan the Barbarian
Deadly Hands of Kung Fu
Defenders
Ghost Rider
Iron Man
Jungle Action
Kid Colt Outlaw
Marvel Premiere
Marvel Spotlight
Marvel Super-Heroes
Marvel Tales
Marvel Team-Up
Marvel Triple Action
Marvel’s Greatest Comics
Master of Kung Fu
Mighty Marvel Western
My Love
Plop!
Power Man
Ringo Kid
Sgt. Fury
Strange Tales
Tomb of Dracula
Two-Gun Kid
Werewolf by Night
X-Men

Other Comics Sales Posts

--1969-1970
--1970-1971
--1971-1972
--1972-1973
--1973-1974
--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

Comics Sales, 1973-1974

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

Comics Sales, 1972-1973

This post features the sales of established comics titles published by Marvel, DC, and Archie during the 1972-1973 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 1972 through the 1972-1973 winter.

The first group is of titles for which U. S. Postal Service Statement of Ownership forms were filed in late 1973. The forms were published in early 1974 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 Josie and the Pussycats. It's not clear whether the series printed a Statement of Ownership in 1974 or not. But if it did, the form was not available for review.

Mad 2,059,236
Archie 345,087
Superman 309,318
Amazing Spider-Man 273,204
Archie’s Girls Betty and Veronica 249,541
World’s Finest 246,871
Action Comics 240,558
Superboy 238,992
Life with Archie 228,041
Fantastic Four 225,671
Laugh 219,111
Archie Giant Series 212,486
Jughead 211,450
Tarzan 209,790
Pep 205,082
Archie’s Pals ‘n’ Gals 201,791
Archie’s Joke Book 200,838
Batman 200,574
Betty and Me 198,142
Thor 195,239
Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen (Superman Family) 195,157
Archie and Me 190,892
Brave and the Bold 190,047
Incredible Hulk 187,318
Justice League of America 187,051
Avengers 185,039
Sgt. Fury 184,640
Little Archie 184,395
House of Mystery 178,025
Captain America 175,738
Daredevil 170,669
Adventure Comics 168,379
Reggie and Me 165,379
Unexpected 164,344
Flash 163,604
Our Army at War 163,221
Witching Hour 163,156
G. I. Combat 161,702
House of Secrets 160,154
Our Fighting Forces 160,154
Detective Comics 153,942
Phantom Stranger 149,760
Jughead’s Jokes 147,341
Wonder Woman 145,771
Star Spangled War Stories 144,292
Rawhide Kid 138,720
Josie and the Pussycats 134,000 (est.)
X-Men 127,663
Mad House Glads 127,247
Young Romance 119,583
Young Love 117,690

The most positive event of the sales year were the numbers shown by Mad. The publication, the perennial top-seller of periodical comics, saw its per-issue average exceed two million copies for the first time. Its upward trend would continue into the next year.

The rest of the field seemed stuck in the doldrums. Sales tended to be either static or lower for the titles that publicly reported their numbers.

This was the first year in which the comic-book collectible market demonstrated it could impact sales. In December of 1972, DC published the first issue of Shazam!, a revival of the Captain Marvel character of the 1940s and '50s. Collectible speculators targeted the comic, and managed to buy up the majority of the print run before it could be distributed to newsstand vendors. Sales of the issue are believed to be more than 250,000 copies. Subsequent issues are reputed to have shown a substantial drop after the first one.

The following group are titles that had 20 or more issues published by early 1974, but had no Statement of Ownership filed in 1973. 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. 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’s TV Laugh-Out
Astonishing Tales
Captain Marvel
Conan the Barbarian
Everything’s Archie
Ghosts
Iron Man
Kid Colt Outlaw
Marvel Super-Heroes
Marvel Tales
Marvel’s Greatest Comics
Mighty Marvel Western
Outlaw Kid
Reggie’s Wise Guy Jokes
Sub-Mariner
Two-Gun Kid
Weird War Tales
Western Gunfighters
Where Monsters Dwell

Other Comics Sales Posts

--1969-1970
--1970-1971
--1971-1972
--1973-1974
--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

Comics Sales, 1971-1972

This post features the sales of established comics titles published by Marvel, DC, and Archie during the 1971-1972 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 1971 through the 1971-1972 winter.

The first group is of titles for which U. S. Postal Service Statement of Ownership forms were filed in late 1972. The forms were published in early 1973 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.

Mad 1,905,973
Archie 390,408
Superman 317,990
Archie’s Girls Betty and Veronica 293,297
Amazing Spider-Man 288,379
Superboy 265,877
Life with Archie 263,434
Laugh 258,876
Jughead 257,415
Action Comics 252,317
Betty and Me 250,350
Fantastic Four 245,695
Archie’s Joke Book 244,956
World’s Finest 234,878
Superman’s Girlfriend, Lois Lane 232,067
Pep 231,963
Archie’s Pals ‘n’ Gals 222,929
Adventure Comics 216,879
Tarzan 209,064
Archie and Me 208,328
Thor 207,179
Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen 203,492
Archie Giant Series 202,944
Incredible Hulk 202,223
Little Archie 192,219
Avengers 189,961
Batman 185,283
Daredevil 180,765
Brave and the Bold 179,819
Captain America 178,193
Sgt. Fury 176,011
House of Mystery 175,134
Justice League of America 168,871
Unexpected 168,430
House of Secrets 168,256
Witching Hour 168,005
Our Fighting Forces 164,142
Our Army at War 161,861
Rawhide Kid 161,577
Detective Comics 158,638
G. I. Combat 158,312
Phantom Stranger 155,641
Flash 152,221
Millie the Model 146,093
Star Spangled War Stories 145,869
Mad House Glads 143,371
X-Men 140,848
Josie and the Pussycats 138,871
Strange Adventures 135,706
Wonder Woman 133,918
Falling in Love 125,959
Young Love 124,326
Young Romance 124,091
Love Stories 118,749

After two years of mildly declining sales, things at Mad turned around. Sales were not only up, but the year had the best per-issue average in the publication's history up to that point.

The Archie and Superman lines of comics both had substantial drops in sales. The top Archie title saw a decrease of 19% in its per-issue average for the sales-year, and most of the other books in the line saw similarly falling numbers. The main Superman series shed over 25% of its readership from the previous year, and the numbers for the other titles saw declines between 25 and 32 percent.

DC's only significant bright spot for the year came at the beginning. House of Secrets #92, which went on sale in April of 1971, cover-featured a story titled "Swamp Thing" by scriptwriter Len Wein and artist Bernie Wrightson. It was considered responsible for the issue selling approximately 200,000 copies, for a sell-through of over 60 percent. The success of the issue prompted the development of a Swamp Thing series by Wein and Wrightson that would debut in the 1972-1973 sales year.

Gold Key stopped filing Statement of Ownership forms with the 1971-1972 sales year. As such, their titles are no longer listed.

The following group are titles that had 20 or more issues published by early 1972, but had no Statement of Ownership filed in 1971. 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 Statements of Ownership for any series that began publishing in 1968 or later 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.

Captain Marvel
Chili
Conan the Barbarian
Creatures on the Loose
Everything’s Archie
From Beyond the Unknown
Iron Man
Jughead’s Jokes
Kid Colt Outlaw
Marvel’s Greatest Comics
Marvel Super-Heroes
Marvel Tales
Mighty Marvel Western
Monsters on the Prowl
Our Love Story
Sub-Mariner
Where Monsters Dwell
Wyatt Earp

Other Comics Sales Posts

--1969-1970
--1970-1971
--1972-1973
--1973-1974
--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

Comics Sales 1970-1971

This post features the sales of established comics titles published by Marvel, DC, and Archie during the 1970-1971 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 1970 through the 1970-1971 winter.

The first group is of titles for which U. S. Postal Service Statement of Ownership forms were filed in late 1971. The forms were published in early 1972 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.

Mad 1,845,325
Archie 482,101
Superman 421,948
Superboy 353,462
Archie’s Girls Betty and Veronica 349,527
Superman’s Girlfriend, Lois Lane 331,145
Action Comics 325,618
World’s Finest 312,978
Amazing Spider-Man 307,550
Life with Archie 301,045
Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen 299,882
Laugh 299,627
Adventure Comics 288,941
Jughead 286,601
Fantastic Four 275,930
Pep 274,713
Archie’s Joke Book 261,593
Betty and Me 257,368
Reggie and Me 256,551
Bugs Bunny 251,523
Batman 244,488
Incredible Hulk 232,840
Donald Duck 229,933
Thor 229,492
Archie’s Pals ‘n’ Gals 224,425
Uncle Scrooge 222,673
Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories 211,846
Little Archie 211,357
Brave and the Bold 210,708
Mickey Mouse 210,361
Justice League of America 210,108
Captain America 209,315
Marge’s Little Lulu 208,875
Avengers 206,478
Sgt. Fury 205,326
Daredevil 199,872
Detective Comics 199,112
Twilight Zone 198,641
Archie Giant Series 197,765
Rawhide Kid 193,624
Daffy Duck 192,856
Turok, Son of Stone 190,325
House of Mystery 187,408
Woody Woodpecker 184,699
Our Army at War 183,928
Flash 181,380
Josie and the Pussycats 180,149
Unexpected 178,578
Three Stooges 177,111
Millie the Model 176,609
Young Love 173,116
G. I. Combat 167,841
X-Men 164,436
Falling in Love 163,425
Young Romance 162,016
Wonder Woman 159,263
Girls’ Love Stories 157,866
Heart Throbs 157,182
Star Spangled War Stories 156,713
Our Fighting Forces 149,180
Green Lantern 142,657
Tomahawk 141,865
Strange Adventures 135,265

One wouldn't call the 1970-1971 sales year a good one. In general, the per-issue average sales for comics declined. But the declines for the most part weren't a lot. There were also titles that saw modest increases.

The upper end of the field was much the same as the previous year. Mad was the top-selling title, with over three times the sales of Archie, the number-two seller. The rest of the top ten included DC's Superman titles, the better-selling Archie books, and Marvel's Amazing Spider-Man.

A few costumed-superhero titles saw modest gains. These were Incredible Hulk, Justice League of America, and Green Lantern. The Green Lantern series was featuring the "Green Lantern/Green Arrow" stories by scriptwriter Denny O'Neil and artist Neal Adams at the time.

DC's war titles and horror-mystery books saw modest gains as well. Star Spangled War Stories saw a 15% increase, which was the year's largest for any title.

The year's biggest drop was seen by DC's Batman. The series had a sales decline of 17%. DC's decision to repudiate the campy Pop style of the TV series with a dark, pulpy tone was proving a commercial mistake, at least at the time. The TV show had found continued success in syndicated reruns. Those who came to the comics from the TV series found something that had little in common with what they enjoyed. It's no wonder the sales fell (and continued to fall in succeeding years) as dramatically as they did.

The following group are titles that had 20 or more issues published by early 1972, but had no Statement of Ownership filed in 1971. 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 Statements of Ownership for any series that began publishing in 1968 or later 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.

Beep Beep the Road Runner
Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery
House of Secrets
Iron Man
Jughead’s Jokes
Kid Colt Outlaw
Magnus, Robot Fighter
Marvel Tales
Marvel’s Greatest Comics
Porky Pig
Ripley’s Believe It or Not
Sub-Mariner
Tarzan
Teen Titans
Tom and Jerry
Tweety and Sylvester
Two-Gun Kid
Vampirella

Other Comics Sales Posts

--1969-1970
--1971-1972
--1972-1973
--1973-1974
--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

Comics Sales 1969-1970

This post features the sales of established comics titles published by Marvel, DC, and Archie during the 1969-1970 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 1969 through the 1969-1970 winter.

The first group is of titles for which U. S. Postal Service Statement of Ownership forms were filed in late 1970. The forms were published in early 1971 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.

Mad 1,864,443
Archie 482,945
Superman 446,678
Superboy 377,525
Superman’s Girlfriend, Lois Lane 355,561
Archie’s Girls Betty and Veronica 344,478
Superman’s Pal. Jimmy Olsen 333,539
World’s Finest 333,213
Action Comics 329,925
Amazing Spider-Man 322,195
Adventure Comics 310,123
Betty and Me 302,591
Archie and Me 297,739
Batman 293,897
Laugh 290,156
Life with Archie 286,935
Fantastic Four 285,639
Pep Comics 253,368
Tarzan of the Apes 251,736
Reggie and Me 250,094
Archie’s Pals ‘n’ Gals 246,007
Archie Giant Series 233,904
Thor 232,058
Millie the Model 227,733
Uncle Scrooge 226,614
Captain America 225,651
Mickey Mouse 223,396
Incredible Hulk 222,619
Sgt. Fury 221,921
Avengers 217,394
Daredevil 212,935
Brave and the Bold 211,266
Detective Comics 209,630
Twilight Zone 208,992
Rawhide Kid 207,678
Justice League of America 200,715
Josie and the Pussycats 196,442
Woody Woodpecker 196,372
Korak, Son of Tarzan 195,563
Reggie’s Wise Guy Jokes 194,701
Turok, Son of Stone 192,381
Mad House Glads 186,736
Flash 184,479
House of Mystery 180,642
X-Men 180,589
G. I. Combat 178,363
Young Romance 172,606
Wonder Woman 172,536
Our Army at War 171,510
Young Love 165,816
Tales of the Unexpected 159,390
Girls’ Love Stories 158,303
Heart Throbs 157,644
Girls’ Romances 153,649
Jerry Lewis 151,461
Aquaman 141,210
Secret Hearts 140,927
Our Fighting Forces 139,770
Tomahawk 139,555
Star-Spangled War Stories 136,204
Strange Adventures 136,047
Sugar & Spike 135,093
Green Lantern 134,150

The North American comics industry appeared to have sales declines pretty much across the board during the 1969-1970 sales year. Even Mad, for which sales had a general upward trend throughout the 1960s and early 1970s, saw its numbers drop.

The only sales bright spots, and they were small ones, were with DC's horror-mystery titles and their Wonder Woman series. House of Mystery and Tales of the Unexpected saw increases of less than five percent. Wonder Woman's increase was less than one percent.

However, most DC titles saw their sales shrink by double-digit percentages. Marvel and Archie generally saw double-digit declines as well.

The following group are titles that had 20 or more issues published by early 1971, but had no Statement of Ownership filed in 1970. 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 Statements of Ownership for any series that began publishing in 1968 or later 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.

Beep Beep the Road Runner
Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery
Bugs Bunny
Daffy Duck
Donald Duck
House of Secrets
Iron Man
Little Archie
Marvel’s Greatest Comics
Marvel Super-Heroes
Marvel Tales
Porky Pig
Ripley’s Believe it or Not
Sub-Mariner
Teen Titans
Two-Gun Kid
Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories

Other Comics Sales Posts

--1970-1971
--1971-1972
--1972-1973
--1973-1974
--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

Comics Sales 1979-1980

This post features the sales of established comics titles published by Marvel, DC, and Archie during the 1979-1980 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 1979 through the winter of 1979 and 1980.

The first group of titles are those for which U. S. Postal Service Statement of Ownership forms were filed in late 1980. The forms were published in early 1981 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.

Estimates are provided for select titles that did not publish a Statement of Ownership in early 1981. The estimate number is a rounded average of the title's sales from 1978-1979 and 1980-1981.

Mad 1,342,640
Amazing Spider-Man 296,712
Star Wars 255,985
Fantastic Four 243,786
Incredible Hulk 240,000 (est.)
Avengers 235,791
Marvel Team-Up 220,746
Conan the Barbarian 215,243
Spectacular Spider-Man 211,327
X-Men 192,514
Iron Man 188,930
ROM 181,506
Thor 179,842
Superman 178,946
Marvel Two-in-One 176,565
Micronauts 165,968
Captain America 165,498
Defenders 151,520
Marvel Super-Heroes 139,765
Marvel Tales 137,595
DC Comics Presents 132,411
Justice League of America 131,714
Legion of Super-Heroes 130,478
Master of Kung Fu 129,874
Batman 129,299
Spider-Woman 128,006
What If 122,402
Action Comics 118,752
Flash 109,883
Brave and the Bold 109,307
Power Man & Iron Fist 107,231
Sgt. Rock 105,855
Doctor Strange 105,000
Savage Sword of Conan 100,793
Green Lantern 99,915
Archie's Girls Betty and Veronica 97,532
Super Friends 95,993
Ghosts 95,317
Wonder Woman 94,901
Betty and Me 94,362
Marvel Super Action 94,267
Unknown Soldier 93,180
Warlord 90,949
Life with Archie 90,039
Archie 89,409
Archie's Pals 'n' Gals 89,160
House of Mystery 89,003
Everything's Archie 87,491
Sgt. Fury 87,148
Archie and Me 86,928
Jonah Hex 86,549
Little Archie 85,719
Pep 85,355
Jughead 84,229
Archie at Riverdale High 84,200
Weird War Tales 83,929
Unexpected 82,387
Superman Family 82,076
G. I. Combat 78,832
World’s Finest 76,689
Vampirella 76,468
Jughead's Jokes 75,095
Adventure Comics 68,808
Detective Comics 64,672
Marvel Preview 55,807

The improved sales situation for Marvel from last year was not a fluke. While some of the previous year's top titles (Star Wars, Fantastic Four, and probably Incredible Hulk) saw small sales declines, others (X-Men, Thor, and probably Amazing Spider-Man and Captain America) saw double-digit percentage increases.

The year marks the beginning of DC's collapse as a viable publisher of comics for the newsstand market. A few titles (Justice League of America, Flash, Green Lantern) were able to maintain their sales from last year, but most saw their numbers drop. With some key titles, the drop was steep. Superman, the company's perennial top-seller, saw its sales fall 37%, and now had the numbers one finds with mid-list Marvel books. Overall, it appears 24 of Marvel's established titles sold in excess of 100,000 copies a month, with eight averaging better than 200,000. (A ninth, the upward-trending X-Men, was selling more than 200,000 an issue by the sales-year's end.) None of DC's 25 established titles averaged better than 200,000 copies per issue, and only eight were doing better than 100,000.

Archie Comics continued to falter as well. Not one series from the publisher had a per-issue sales average of 100,000 copies or more. There were other discordant notes in the sales reports, such as the flagship Archie series being outsold for the first time by other titles in the line. Archie's Girls Betty and Veronica was the year's top-selling Archie series, followed by Betty and Me and Life with Archie.

The following are titles that had 20 or more issues published by early 1980, but had no Statement of Ownership filed in 1979. 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. Titles that were published during the sales year, but were cancelled before the Statements of Ownership could be published, are not listed, either.

Archie's Joke Book Magazine
Daredevil
Secrets of Haunted House

Other Comics Sales Posts

--1969-1970
--1970-1971
--1971-1972
--1972-1973
--1973-1974
--1974-1975
--1975-1976
--1976-1977
--1977-1978
--1978-1979
--1980-1981
--1981-1982
--1982-1983
--1983-1984
--1984-1985
--1985-1986
--1986-1987
--1987-1988
--1988-1989

Comics Sales 1978-1979

This post features the sales of established comics titles published by Marvel, DC, and Archie during the 1978-1979 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 1978 through the winter of 1978 and 1979.

The first group is of titles for which U. S. Postal Service Statement of Ownership forms were filed in late 1979. The forms were published in early 1980 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. Estimates are provided for select titles that did not publish a Statement of Ownership in early 1980. The estimate number is a rounded average of the title's sales from 1977-1978 and 1979-1980.

Mad 1,561,327
Star Wars 278,759
Amazing Spider-Man 277,000 (est.)
Incredible Hulk 276,805
Fantastic Four 267,511
Superman 246,276
Avengers 229,960
Marvel Two-in-One 180,736
X-Men 171,091
Batman 166,640
Legion of Super-Heroes 162,265
Action Comics 160,928
Wonder Woman 158,678
Brave and the Bold 153,034
Defenders 152,101
Captain America 140,000 (est.)
DC Comics Presents 135,657
Thor 135,599
What If 135,381
Ghost Rider 135,107
Justice League of America 128,660
Master of Kung Fu 128,293
Spider-Woman 126,875
Archie 121,530
Archie's Girls Betty and Veronica 112,215
Betty and Me 108,812
Super Friends 108,520
Archie's Pals 'n' Gals 106,101
Sgt. Rock 105,772
Laugh 103,850
Everything's Archie 102,542
Flash 102,297
Jughead 101,547
Archie and Me 101,291
Pep 100,827
Little Archie 100,107
Archie at Riverdale High 100,047
Unknown Soldier 99,046
Archie's Joke Book Magazine 98,042
Green Lantern 97.249
Archie's TV Laugh-Out 94,764
Jughead's Jokes 93,205
Ghosts 92,687
Reggie and Me 92,684
Unexpected 90,495
Vampirella 90,050
Warlord 89,508
Weird War Tales 85,628
House of Mystery 85,569
Weird Western Tales 85,176
Jonah Hex 84,200
Adventure Comics 83,642
Detective Comics 79,872
G. I. Combat 78,980
World’s Finest 78,044

The Jim Shooter era at Marvel has begun. Several long-running titles began having Statement of Ownership forms filed and published, which was likely due to the tighter administrative ship Shooter ran as editor-in-chief. One also sees the sales of several Marvel titles rise significantly. Incredible Hulk had the most impressive increase at 61%. This was probably because of interest generated by the CBS television series, but other titles saw striking gains as well. The sales of Fantastic Four increased 50%. Avengers increased 41%. X-Men, during the first full year of the landmark John Byrne/Chris Claremont run, saw a 48% gain. The revival of Marvel's fortunes in the newsstand market was in all likelihood a large part of what gave Shooter his clout with the executives of Marvel's parent company. DC's inability to make similar gains all but certainly added to the executives' regard.

The following group are titles that had at least issues published by early 1980, but had no Statement of Ownership filed in 1979. 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. Titles that were published during the sales year, but were cancelled before the Statements of Ownership could be published, are not listed, either.

Conan the Barbarian
Daredevil
Doctor Strange
Iron Man
Marvel Premiere
Marvel Super-Heroes
Marvel Tales
Marvel Team-Up
Marvel's Greatest Comics
Power Man & Iron Fist
Savage Sword of Conan
Secrets of Haunted House
Sgt. Fury
Spectacular Spider-Man

Other Comics Sales Posts

--1969-1970
--1970-1971
--1971-1972
--1972-1973
--1973-1974
--1974-1975
--1975-1976
--1976-1977
--1977-1978
--1979-1980
--1980-1981
--1981-1982
--1982-1983
--1983-1984
--1984-1985
--1985-1986
--1986-1987
--1987-1988
--1988-1989

Comics Sales 1977-1978

This post features the sales of the established comics titles published by Marvel, DC, and Archie during the 1977-1978 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 1977 through the winter of 1977 and 1978.

The first group is of titles for which U. S. Postal Service Statement of Ownership forms were filed in late 1978. The forms were published in early 1979 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.

Mad 1,626,452
Amazing Spider-Man 258,156
Superman 223,222
Action Comics 183,601
Fantastic Four 177,802
Incredible Hulk 171,931
Avengers 162,966
Superboy & the Legion of Super-Heroes 141,386
Archie 137,620
Thor 135,599
Adventure Comics 131,076
Detective Comics 129,901
Justice League of America 126,918
Batman 125,421
Wonder Woman 124,296
Sgt. Rock 123,216
Brave and the Bold 121,668
Archie's Girls Betty and Veronica 119,474
Unknown Soldier 117,110
Betty and Me 116,546
Captain America 116,146
Flash 115,825
X-Men 115,260
Unexpected 115,047
Weird War Tales 113,988
Daredevil 111,559
Everything's Archie 111,141
Archie and Me 110,245
Archie's Pals 'n' Gals 109,891
Laugh 109,778
Life with Archie 109,732
Archie's TV Laugh-Out 109,526
Pep 108,806
Jughead 108,495
Little Archie 106,314
Archie at Riverdale High 104,076
Archie's Joke Book Magazine 102,945
Weird Western Tales 100,519
Ghosts 99,771
Reggie and Me 97,828
Jughead's Jokes 96,248
Vampirella 92,550
Rawhide Kid 89,414
G. I. Combat 85,968
World’s Finest 85,015
House of Mystery 75,759

Marvel's licensed Star Wars title is reputed to be the year's top-selling color comic. The sales of the six movie-adaptation issues are believed to be over a million each. But there was no Statement of Ownership filing for the year, so it is not listed.

This year was one of the few in which Detective Comics outsold Batman. The reason was most likely the boost given Detective Comics by the fan-favorite Steve Englehart/Marshall Rogers run.

The following group are titles that had 20 or more issues published by early 1979, but had no Statement of Ownership filed in 1978. As a rule, the publishers 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. With titles first published in 1968 or later, Marvel did not begin filing forms until 1979.

Captain Marvel
Conan the Barbarian
Defenders
Doctor Strange
Ghost Rider
Godzilla
Green Lantern
Howard the Duck
Invaders
Iron Man
John Carter, Warlord of Mars
Jonah Hex
Kid Colt Outlaw
Marvel Premiere
Marvel Super-Heroes
Marvel Tales
Marvel Team-Up
Marvel Triple Action
Marvel Two-in-One
Marvel's Greatest Comics
Master of Kung Fu
Ms. Marvel
Power Man
Savage Sword of Conan
Sgt. Fury
Spectacular Spider-Man
Star Wars
Super Friends
Tarzan
Tomb of Dracula
Warlord

Other Comics Sales Posts

--1969-1970
--1970-1971
--1971-1972
--1972-1973
--1973-1974
--1974-1975
--1975-1976
--1976-1977
--1978-1979
--1979-1980
--1980-1981
--1981-1982
--1982-1983
--1983-1984
--1984-1985
--1985-1986
--1986-1987
--1987-1988
--1988-1989

Comics Sales 1976-1977

This post features the sales of established comics titles published by Marvel, DC, and Archie during the 1976-1977 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 1976 through the winter of 1976 and 1977.

The first group is of titles for which U. S. Postal Service Statement of Ownership forms were filed in late 1977. The forms were published in early 1978 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.

Mad 1,721,515
Amazing Spider-Man 281,060
Superman 235,430
Fantastic Four 194,661
Superboy & the Legion of Super-Heroes 184,928
Action Comics 179,714
Incredible Hulk 174,287
Avengers 168,164
World’s Finest 161,548
Thor 158,895
Archie 155,252
Flash 153,299
Justice League of America 152,382
Batman 150,853
Brave and the Bold 150,191
Wonder Woman 150,000
Captain America 148,370
Superman Family 141,557
Archie Giant Series 138,506
Archie's Girls Betty and Veronica 138,474
Sgt. Rock 137,803
Witching Hour 132,654
Archie's Pals 'n' Gals 131,395
Unexpected 131,315
Ghosts 130,761
Life with Archie 130,746
Archie's TV Laugh-Out 130,586
Laugh 128,343
Betty and Me 127,498
Everything's Archie 127,269
Detective Comics 126,143
Unknown Soldier 126,071
G. I. Combat 125,396
Daredevil 125,079
Little Archie 124,932
Jughead 124,795
Pep 124,462
Archie's Joke Book 124,215
X-Men 123,725
Archie and Me 122,736
Weird War Tales 122,484
Adventure Comics 120,728
House of Secrets 119,166
Archie at Riverdale High 119,017
Reggie and Me 117,620
Our Fighting Forces 114,226
Kamandi 110,623
Jughead's Jokes 109,916
House of Mystery 109,191
Weird Western Tales 107,334
Rawhide Kid 98,978
Vampirella 92,125

This was the third year in the last four that Marvel's Amazing Spider-Man was the top-selling color comic-book series. The title was now the standard-bearer for the color-comics field, and Marvel was now the most prominent color-comics publisher.

The following group are titles that had 20 or more issues published by early 1978, but had no Statement of Ownership filed in 1977. As a rule, the publishers 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. With titles first published in 1968 or later, Marvel did not begin filing forms until 1979.

All-Star Comics
Captain Marvel
Conan the Barbarian
Defenders
Doctor Strange
Ghost Rider
Green Lantern
Howard the Duck
Invaders
Iron Man
Jughead with Archie
Kid Colt Outlaw
Kull the Destroyer
Marvel Premiere
Marvel Super-Heroes
Marvel Tales
Marvel Team-Up
Marvel Triple Action
Marvel Two-in-One
Marvel's Greatest Comics
Master of Kung Fu
Power Man
Savage Sword of Conan
Sgt. Fury
Shazam!
Tomb of Dracula

Other Comics Sales Posts

--1969-1970
--1970-1971
--1971-1972
--1972-1973
--1973-1974
--1974-1975
--1975-1976
--1977-1978
--1978-1979
--1979-1980
--1980-1981
--1981-1982
--1982-1983
--1983-1984
--1984-1985
--1985-1986
--1986-1987
--1987-1988
--1988-1989