Paul O'Brien writes Unlike the previous month, Marvel shipped most of their big titles in November, and managed to complete their autumn crossover. It was another light month for new titles, with only a few miniseries hitting the shelves. But the “Messiah Complex” crossover in the X-books got into full swing, WORLD WAR HULK wrapped up, and “One More Day” continued.

Most of the Marvel Universe superhero titles are, by this point, between events. They completed their WORLD WAR HULK crossovers as originally scheduled, and they’ve stopped carrying “Initiative” banners on the front. Although November saw the first book to carry a “Secret Invasion” banner - NEW AVENGERS: ILLUMINATI #5 - the event proper is still months away. This is presumably the main reason why a lot of former Initiative titles have gone into a dramatic sales decline over the last couple of months, which continued in November.

Still, with Marvel’s major titles reaching the shelves, we’re back to business as usual in terms of market share. Once again, Marvel was the largest publisher in the direct market, leading DC by a tight 37% to 36% in dollar share, and a slightly more comfortable 42% to 36% in units.

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