Those fifty-two again

I'm almost as interested in the sales figures for DC's New 52 as I am in the comics themselves. Which probably isn't that much of a compliment, if you think about it. Here's the ranking of their sales for January, with Dec-Nov-Oct-Sep in brackets:

1 (1,1,1,1) JUSTICE LEAGUE
2 (2,2,2,2) BATMAN
3 (3,3,3,3) ACTION COMICS
4 (5,5,6,7) DETECTIVE COMICS
5 (4,4,4,4) GREEN LANTERN
6 (7,7,8,8) BATMAN THE DARK KNIGHT
7 (8,8,7,6) SUPERMAN
8 (6,6,5,5) FLASH
9 (9,9,9,9) BATMAN AND ROBIN
10 (10,12,15,15) AQUAMAN
11 (11,10,10,12) WONDER WOMAN
12 (12,14,13,14) TEEN TITANS
13 (14,15,14,10) GREEN LANTERN NEW GUARDIANS
14 (15,13,12,16) BATWOMAN
15 (13,11,11,11) BATGIRL
16 (16,17,18,19) NIGHTWING
17 (17,16,16,13) GREEN LANTERN CORPS
18 (19,19,20,22) SWAMP THING
19 (18,18,17,17) RED LANTERNS
20 (20,21,21,24) CATWOMAN
21 (22,24,24,25) RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS
22 (23,23,23,23) SUPERGIRL
23 (24,20,19,20) JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL
24 (21,22,22,18) JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK
25 (25,25,27,35) ANIMAL MAN
26 (26,26,26,28) SUPERBOY
27 (27,27,25,21) GREEN ARROW
28 (28,30,30,32) SUICIDE SQUAD
29 (30,28,29,29) STORMWATCH
30 (29,29,28,26) BIRDS OF PREY
31 (31,36,41,40) ALL STAR WESTERN
32 (33,34,37,43) DEMON KNIGHTS
33 (34,33,32,31) LEGION OF SUPER HEROES
34 (35,32,35,36) BATWING
35 (32,31,31,27) SAVAGE HAWKMAN
36 (36,35,33,33) DEATHSTROKE
37 (38,37,39,44) FRANKENSTEIN AGENT OF SHADE
38 (39,40,38,37) DC UNIVERSE PRESENTS
39 (40,39,36,34) LEGION LOST
40 (37,38,34,30) FURY OF FIRESTORM THE NUCLEAR MEN
41 (41,42,43,42) RESURRECTION MAN
42 (42,41,40,46) GRIFTER
43 (44,43,42,38) BLUE BEETLE
44 (43,46,48,49) I VAMPIRE
45 (45,49,47,47) VOODOO
46 (46,44,45,41) HAWK AND DOVE
47 (47,45,44,39) CAPTAIN ATOM
48 (48,48,49,52) OMAC
49 (49,47,46,45) MISTER TERRIFIC
50 (50,50,50,50) STATIC SHOCK
51 (52,51,52,51) MEN OF WAR
52 (51,52,51,48) BLACKHAWKS

(American market sales to comic shops as per Diamond distribution, returnable comics arbitrarily adjusted, returns data not included, etc etc... hey, real sales figures aren't published, we have to make do with what we can)

There's some interesting things to see there - naturally, the old established heroes sell much better than the new ones. But Superman is having a bit of a renaissance - before the relaunch he was threatened by comparative johnny-come-latelies Green Lantern and Flash (created in the late fifties, based on heroes created in the early forties...) but now Action Comics (Superman's not-named-after-him comic) is a safe third place behind Justice League (all four of the above heroes, plus Aquaman and Wonder Woman) and Batman.

Detective Comics, the second Batman comic, was underestimated in the initial retailer orders but has now knocked Green Lantern off fourth place. And the second Superman and third Batman comics knock the Flash down into eighth place. First-string heroes are definitely outselling second-stringers now. What does that mean? Beats me.

Aquaman (a great comic) has risen above Wonder Woman (a pretty terrible one), which suggests there might actually be some quality issues involved here too!

At the other end of the chart, Blackhawks once more takes the coveted wooden spoon from Men Of War - they're both pretty dreadful and won't be missed. Static Shock, though, will, by me at least. It's really impressively stayed the 50th-best-selling of the 52 ever since the start.

Biggest climber since September is now Demon Knights, biggest faller is Firestorm. I'm not a fan of either of them.

I like this kind of analysis. Gets my geekiness in full flow.