Pretty much means it's the 3rd best selling comic for the month not from Marvel or DC.

And the top 2 best selling comics for Darkhorse with Angel and Faith being the third. It's all great news!

[ edited by IrrationaliTV on 2012-09-11 20:38 ]

IrrationaliTV | September 11, 20:36 CET

Third highest non-DC/Marvel book, behind The Walking Dead and Saga. I don't read the former, but everyone should totally be reading the latter.

The One True b!X | September 11, 20:42 CET

Kinda. It used to sell a lot better though. Maybe it will again when Joss eventually returns. (Also it's a durable series so Dark Horse is likely going to make money out of it for years down the line.)

daylight | September 11, 20:44 CET

Everyone should be reading BOTH Walking Dead and Saga. :)

daylight | September 11, 20:45 CET

I've edited your entry to include Angel & Faith. Don't forget that that the rankings/guestimates don't include non-US sales and digital downloads (extra 30 - 40%?).

Simon | September 11, 20:51 CET

It means that the title is selling considerably less than it was when season seven first came out. And this doesn't mean anything except that its sales have fallen to a more realistic level. The title selling 100,000+ copies a month was never going to be sustainable. The comics industry just doesn't work that way.

Things get hyped up and promoted, they sell incredibly well initially, and then sales quickly begin to drop off when comic buyers move onto the next big thing. Look how quickly the sales of "Before Watchmen" have been falling. The "Before Watchmen" #1 comics that debuted in June moved over 100,000 copies each. The final round of "Before Watchmen" #1 comics that launched in August have dipped to 85,000 and 77,000.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is still Dark Horse's best selling individual title, and still its top property. It is still doing incredibly well when we consider that the franchise has been off the air for almost a decade. Walking Dead has a television program that's currently being played; though the TV show is a spin-off from the comic book, it's still going to drive sales of the comic.

I am a bit dismayed that Angel & Faith is selling about half of what BTVS is, but I'm not surprised at all. Even though A&F receives higher praise than its parent title, this is also par for the course when dealing with comics. The relaunch of Rob Liefeld's "Prophet" series has been receiving accolades right and left from reviewers and bloggers, but it's not even selling 6000 copies (per the chart, which aren't always accurate for sales figures) and lands at #279.

pacer | September 11, 21:13 CET

Buffy Season 8 also came in during Joss' bestselling X-run. I have a feeling that brought in a fair number of readers that wouldn't have normally picked Buffy up.

Simon | September 11, 21:22 CET

You forgot Spike #1 at 131 ahead of Angel & Faith.

obillow | September 11, 22:07 CET

Isn't Spike a Buffyverse comic? It's at 131..

zianna | September 11, 22:09 CET

Well spotted, I completely forgot it came out last month.

Simon | September 11, 22:09 CET

One thing to keep in mind, these are only direct market sales. The Buffyverse comics are one of the few non marvel/dc comics available on news stands. I'd be curious how much that effects sales figures since books like Saga and Walking Dead are only available through the direct market.

A_Leaf | September 11, 22:54 CET

Are they? I never knew that. Cheers. There's also something new to learn.

Simon | September 11, 23:08 CET

Yes, I was really not sure how to interpret the results. I think that sales of 25000 is pretty good, but it pales compared to the TV show and its 2 million viewers. And the 25000 is not a firm count, either.

Dana5140 | September 11, 23:28 CET

I really wish Angel and Faith had better sales, because it's my favorite Dark Horse title by a mile right now.

Erbine | September 12, 00:38 CET

I am so glad that Spike is doing well. I absolutely love the character and am excited to see where he's going to go.

And yes, Angel and Faith is my favorite comic right now.

lisatwingomez | September 12, 02:17 CET

Angel and Faith can be really hard to find. Buffy gets sold at bookstores and newsstands, A&F doesn't.

In Louisville, KY, a moderate size city, comic stores are having trouble keeping A&F on the shelves while Buffy is easier to find. I had to play thunder trying to find Angel and Faith's earlier issues back in the day before I finally got a subscription at a local comic store. I don't know if this is a case were dealers aren't ordering enough of Angel and Faith compared to Buffy, but there have been complaints in the letters published for both comics that there are multiple readers having a hard time trying to buy Angel and Faith.

Which is sad, because Angel and Faith is by far the better book.

Elf | September 12, 04:12 CET

The Beat has last month's July sales of independent comics, which I point to as they compare the latest months with previous month's sales. You can see both Buffy Season 9 and Angel & Faith dropping slowly each month. However, you can also see just about every title dropping every month, with the Walking Dead and Saga being two of the rare exceptions.

That said, I do wonder how many are lost readers and how much of it is that readers moved to the trade paperbacks or digital.

Matt_Fabb | September 12, 04:20 CET

As for Spike's numbers, we must remember that it was a new title. #1 almost 100% of the times sales more than #2. Usually dealers order more than they will actually sell, or readers buy the 1st issue and then drop the story because they don't like it.

It also happened with A&F, I think there was a huge difference of almost 3.000 from #1 to #2.

zianna | September 12, 15:52 CET

@elf - I agree with you. The comic book shop I go to is the biggest one in the region. When I went today they had maybe 50 extra copies of saga #6, probably 100 extra issues of each AVX issue, 20 something copies of the last Buffy issue and only about 10 total back issues of Angel and Faith. The last issue was completly sold out. When I want to pick up both covers - if I'm not there by Friday they're usually out. It seems like they over order every book except Angel& Faith and Walking Dead.

If anyone is having problem finding it in the states you might want to try Barnes and Nobles. My local one also sells A&F. They are newsstand editions so they are always late to put them out.

A_Leaf | September 12, 20:08 CET