Marc-Oliver Frisch writes As Paul O’Brien points out in the Marvel column, the margin between Marvel and DC Comics’ market shares in September is smaller than it’s been in months. The reason for that has more to do with Marvel’s performance losing steam than with DC gaining momentum, however. In fact, DC’s total and average sales were both down from August, despite September being a pretty packed month for DC’s mainstream line. There was a deluge of new one-shots and series, including three specials devoted to the wedding of characters Green Arrow and Black Canary, as well as five new series total spun off of the 52 and Countdown titles and the “Sinestro Corps War” story, among others. Additionally, DC’s perennial best-seller Justice League of America got a new writer, The Flash stopped being supported with gimmicks and incentives, and Outsiders concluded.
The company’s Vertigo and WildStorm imprints, meanwhile, both managed to increase their average and total sales in the North American periodical market in September, for a change. That’s not due to any sudden trend reversals or successful new launches either, mind you, but simply because three of their best-selling titles - the now bimonthly, soon-to-be-concluding Y: The Last Man for Vertigo and the irregularly shipping, dwindling Astro City and Ex Machina for WildStorm - all showed up in stores that month. Speaking of showing up, the number of DC books failing to do so was down to a manageable three in September, with Action Comics #856, Green Arrow: Year One #6 and Green Lantern Corps #16, and the former two only slipped by one week and came out in the first week of October. See below for the details.
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