June 2021 Sales Data

Aaand we finally have another sales update from Diamond Comic Distributors as calculated and compiled over at Comichron.com, so it’s time to dive in and see where we’re at. First, though, after such a long break, let’s take a quick look back at where we’ve been so far.

From all the way back in March 2018 to March 2020, we had continual sales data from for issues 1–27 and were nearing the end of the sixteen-issue Metal Virus Saga when problems indirectly related to our own real-life virus saga caused Diamond to stop reporting sales numbers.

Due to the freeze on sales reporting at the time, we have no sales information for issues 28–30. Comichron was, however, able to provide some rough estimates for August and September, issues 31–33.

Being what they are, these estimates should not be taken as a perfect comparison to the sales figures we have for previous issues or those that follow, but they do make for an interesting comparison among the three issues themselves.

This is because they mark, in issues 31 and 32, the end of the Metal Virus saga and, in issue 33, the change from writer Ian Flynn to Evan Stanly as writer and primary artist, a change that seemed to coincide with a bit of a bump in sales at least initially.

And That Brings Us to the Present

We’ve yet to receive any sales data for issues 34–39, but the fresh figures for June land in just the right spot to bookend the sales for issues 31–33 since, just as those issues marked the end of an arc and a switch in creative teams, issues 40 and 41 mark the end of another set of arcs and a creative switch back.

Issue 40, which ends Evan Stanly’s run, clocked in at 10,372 units sold, while issue 41, which brings Ian back for the start of his Zeti Hunt arc, sold 10,619. Evan certainly added a lot to the book in only eight issues (and previews indicate she will be writing for the book again after Zeti Hunt), but it’s nice to see that Flynn isn’t down for the count either, and I look forward to more work from both of them and the rest of the team going forward.

For a visual comparison of sales for the main book versus the spin-offs, Tangle & Whisper and Sonic the Hedgehog: Bad Guys, see below. Unfortunately, the only issue of Bad Guys that we have sales data for is the first, so it stands alone as a single purple dot.

For a comparison of Sonic comic sales over time between both Archie and IDW publishers, see the updated plain and annotated charts below.

It’s worth noting also, that the Sonic The Hedgehog 30th Anniversary Special, which also released in June, sold 13,755 units, but since it’s a stand-alone issue, it is not tracked in the above graphs. Here’s hoping for continued release of sales figures going forward and more issues for readers to continue to enjoy.