Mighty A's vs New A's saleswise

[freedomfighter]

I've been looking at the numbers for a couple of issues of Mighty Avengers and noticed something of interest...

www.icv2.com/articles/home/11941.html

www.icv2.com/articles/home/12098.html

seems that new Avengers well into its run is selling significantly better than Mighty even though Mighty is a newer title.
Now I'm not a numbers whiz and can't say I know all about sales, but it seems that the addition of Spider man and Wolverine have been a factor in New Avengers retaining its staying power.
That's only my take on it.
Feel free to offer up your own opinions.

[Shiryu]

I had seen similar numbers some months ago. As far as I know, NA has always been selling better than MA, which I think it's due to a combination of Bendis as writer and Spidey/Logan as members.
As much as we don't like it, adding those two to the book has made the series skyjump like Quesada had planned, which is also why I think it's unlikely that either will quit for the time being.

[Doctor Doom]

Just a few other things to throw in- New Avengers has been established as the single main book of the Marvel line. It is THE top selling monthly comic on the market. Mighty was always going to be a "spin-off", not as succesful.

I wouldn't be surprised to see sales drop with Bendis leaving the book, unfortunately, even as it becomes more of an Avengers book than it has in years.

[freedomfighter]

Dec 4, 2008 12:24:07 GMT -5 Doctor Doom said:

Just a few other things to throw in- New Avengers has been established as the single main book of the Marvel line. It is THE top selling monthly comic on the market. Mighty was always going to be a "spin-off", not as succesful.

I wouldn't be surprised to see sales drop with Bendis leaving the book, unfortunately, even as it becomes more of an Avengers book than it has in years.

Ok, but let me postulate this, if Bendis had come out with Mighty Avengers first and then come out with New Avengers, which title do you think would be selling better and more consistently?
And the sales will likely drop, but it has the chance to be a consistent seller if even enough fans of the old stuff remain. Not every book can or needs to be top ten. Marvel makes a fair amount of money off books that can utilize talents that aren't Bendis like Slott or Gage (who I'm guessing usually aren't paid as much) and can consistently stay in the top 25 as well.

[Doctor Doom]

Dec 4, 2008 12:55:20 GMT -5 freedomfighter said:

Ok, but let me postulate this, if Bendis had come out with Mighty Avengers first and then come out with New Avengers, which title do you think would be selling better and more consistently?

I don't think that's a fair comparison, because it was New Avengers which caught and made the audience at first, which then radically expanded due to the launch of New Avengers. I think had Bendis started with Mighty Avengers, it would have had a much smaller audience from the start and had New then come along, it would also have done less numbers. The gap might be smaller, but both would still be underselling what they are now.

[freedomfighter]

Dec 4, 2008 14:06:55 GMT -5 Doctor Doom said:

Dec 4, 2008 12:55:20 GMT -5 freedomfighter said:

Ok, but let me postulate this, if Bendis had come out with Mighty Avengers first and then come out with New Avengers, which title do you think would be selling better and more consistently?

I don't think that's a fair comparison, because it was New Avengers which caught and made the audience at first, which then radically expanded due to the launch of New Avengers. I think had Bendis started with Mighty Avengers, it would have had a much smaller audience from the start and had New then come along, it would also have done less numbers. The gap might be smaller, but both would still be underselling what they are now.

Well, it's not really a comparison per se; we're dealing in abstracts and idle speculation. I'm not verifying any numbers or using statistical information- this is just off my own opinion.
My point is I'm betting that if Bendis had started out with a bang with the Mighty Avengers cast, it still wouldn't have made a huge impact. My theory is the title really needs two of the biggest selling comic heroes in the world to maintain its status. I don't think the title would've sold anywhere near as well without them.
How about this to blow your mind, I think if Chuck Austen had the same cast, he would be doing great numbers (not as good), but great numbers as well.