By the Numbers: October Print Run

It is always interesting to look at the print run numbers for comics when speculating, as supply plus demand equals potential increase in value. Here is a snap shot of October’s print run numbers.

Top 10
1 Invincible Iron Man 1 $3.99 Marvel 279,514
2 Amazing Spider-Man 1 $5.99 Marvel 245,873
3 Spider-Gwen 1 $3.99 Marvel 197,103
4 Secret Wars 6 $3.99 Marvel 192,244
5 Doctor Strange 1 $4.99 Marvel 145,456
6 Star Wars 10 $3.99 Marvel 134,613
7 Chewbacca 1 $3.99 Marvel 122,952
8 Star Wars: Shattered Empire 2 $3.99 Marvel 119,508
9 Guardians of Galaxy 1 $3.99 Marvel 118,342
10 Amazing Spider-Man 2 $3.99 Marvel 111,322

Interesting to note that the top 14 issues were all above 100,000 copies sold. The Top 10 were all Marvel. Of the top 14 only one was not Marvel, and of the top 20 only two were not from Marvel.

The Bottom 10
316 Grimm Fairy Tales Grimm Tales of Terror Vol. 2 1 $3.99 Zenescope 3,930
317 Grimm Fairy Tales Oz Reign of Witch Queen 5 $3.99 Zenescope 3,918
322 Grimm Fairy Tales Robyn Hood Ongoing 15 $3.99 Zenescope 3,757
330 Space Riders 4 $3.99 Black Mask 3,534
331 Zombie Tramp Ongoing 15 $4.99 Action Lab 3,528
334 Grimm Fairy Tales Realm War 12 $5.99 Zenescope 3,465
335 Legend of Oz Wicked West 1 $3.99 Aspen 3,462
339 Lola Xoxo Wasteland Madam 3 $3.99 Aspen 3,432
345 Rick & Morty 1 $3.99 Oni 3,304
346 Hip Hop Family Tree 3 $3.99 Fantagraphics 3,238

Books of note
Clandestino 1 $3.99 Black Mask 5,028-Black Mask continues to sell great books with low print runs.
Welcome To Showside 1 $3.99 Z2 5,402- Crazy low for a TV deal already in the works, Pre-orders had been up for months before release.
Blood Feud 1 $3.99 Oni 5,652- Mad love for Cullen Bunn’s new book, great variant on this with a Nightmare on Elm Street Variant.
Black Magick (magazine size) 1 $5.99 Image 5,681- While there were healthy orders of the regular comic, the magazine size was still ordered low.
Wes Craven Coming of Rage 1 $3.99 Liquid 5,755- With Wes Craven’s passing, and with potential option hype, this is a good book to hold.
Survivors Club 1 $3.99 DC 13,194- Low Vertigo initial release.
Clean Room 1 $3.99 DC 14,304- Same as above.
Black Magick 1 $3.99 Image 22,748- Sub 25k order on new Image, but tie in magazine sized and total print run is above 30K
I Hate Fairyland 1 $3.50 Image 50,318- Skottie Young brought people out in droves.
Paper Girls 1 $2.99 Image 75,585- Amazing numbers as demand was so high. Highest ordered Image Comic.

The full list can be found on the Comichron website.

24 thoughts on “By the Numbers: October Print Run”

  1. Any thoughts of what the print runs will do to paper girls #1? Do u think prices will go up or will they go down?

    1. Over time, if it remains popular, attracts more readers while supplies run dry, it will go up. Take a look at Outcast, it had a print run of around 86k and it’s actually doing quite well on the after market. It does have media deal and it’s in the works which helps but honestly, BKV is the superior writer. Kirkman is good but he’s not superior, more lucky than anything. If Walking Dead didn’t take off like it did, you’d find Kirkman in the artists row at about every comic con and not spending his money on Walking Dead shows. 😉

      1. Most of my shops are run pretty dry now. I know 2 of the 3 closest to me are out of stock now.

  2. These numbers make me curious as to what Howard the Duck #1’s print run will be, im expecting over the 100-120k mark, because that’ll make that rare “HTF” 1:25 Variant, not so rare after all.

    1. How do you sell a comic that is really mean for the 10-20k people who actually read it? You print up a back story on Gwen Stacy being in the back of it to boost those numbers to 100k with still only 10-20k people who are going to actually read it. 😉

  3. Anyone know if Hip Hop Family tree 1 has gone to a 2nd printing? 5 copies mysteriously ended up on shelf at my LCS last week and are still in shelf as of yesterday

  4. I’m holding onto a few regular Clandestino #1’s and a Forbidden Planet B&W variant with signed mini print, I have a good feeling about those heating up pretty good into 2016

  5. Does anyone have any idea what the print runs were for the 451 books, sunflower, self storage etc? I’m guessing somewhere around 5k but no idea really…

    1. Yeah, I sold a Sunflower #1 (and gave the money to Larime). I didn’t grab too many extra’s after that, seemed they were slim picking so wanted to give others a chance to grab a copy. (After release day, the rules are dropped though, I’ll buy multiple copies because people had their chance already). 😉

  7. I was surprised to see the shops here buying 2-3 times what they normally would for a new Image book, with multiple Stacks of Paper Girls#1 on the shelves. Now most of them are Sold Out or have only a few copies remaining. And #2 was pretty much gone as soon as it came out.

    I ordered some Vertigo bundles from DCBS for 75% Off the cover price. I was figuring those were going to have a higher print run, since they were being offered so cheap. Apparently not. So far I’ve only read Survivor’s Club & Clean Room, but both of them were excellent. My only beef with the Vertigo line is… what happened with Effigy? I mean, I can figure it out for myself, based on the numbers, but the Book Itself never even acknowledges that it is the final issue, or any indication of if/when it will be resolved, and the second-to-last issue contained a 2-page article about How Popular the book is. Lol. That looks pretty foolish when they already knew when putting that into #6 that the book was cancelled at #7.

      1. Heh.. everyone, welcome Tony to CBAA.. Comic Book Addiction Anonymous.. he too, has a problem!

          1. You’re so addicted, you keep buying Millar books.. that’s when you know you have a problem! 😛

    2. I jumped off of Effigy at issue 2 or 3. It just wasn’t doing it for me. I didn’t hear it was officially canceled. Kind of sucks when books just drop off without a conclusion.

      1. Yeah, that bugs me as well. I’m kind of like Sheldon off Big Bang.. when it comes to comic books I’m reading, I must have some closure..

        1. You put all of this time and money into a series, I think you’re owed a conclusion of some sorts. If a writer burns me I’m much less likely to pick up future books by them.

  8. WD at only 67,000 copies, with millions watching the TV show you’d think the comic would pick up more steady readers

    1. I know a couple of people who love the show but don’t want to read the comics cause they think it will create spoilers in the show for them. Some claim they’ll read the comics when the show ends. One has to also realize that some people simply don’t read either… I swear I never saw my dad read a book, unless it was Playboy.

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