Paul O'Brien writes at The Beat:
It's an uneventful month, in every sense of the word. By ICV2's estimates, sales were down a massive 19% compared with the previous year. But then, that's hardly surprising. May 2008 saw the release of FINAL CRISIS #1, SECRET INVASION #2, INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #1, GIANT-SIZE ASTONISHING X-MEN #1 and two issues of the "Batman R.I.P." storyline. There was a lot out.
By comparison, there wasn't much going on in May 2009, either at Marvel or DC. Yes, there are the Dark Reign tie-ins, and yes, there's a crossover going on in the third-tier X-books. But the biggest new launch of the month was NEW MUTANTS, at the bottom end of the top 20.
So it's not really a case of would-be events failing to deliver; it's more that the would-be events don't exist in the first place. Well, there's ULTIMATUM, but that didn't come out in May. And there's "Dark Reign", but that's more comparable to the "Initiative" books that came out after CIVIL WAR - though admittedly, they had a more visible effect on sales.
