| Title | Monthly Rank | Estimated Sales | Last Estimated Sales | Percent Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Darth Maul | 1 | 1 | 105,177 | N/A | N/A |
| Star Wars | 28 | 8 | 74,002 | 72,331 | +2.31% |
| Doctor Aphra | 4 | 33 | 43,475 | 48,592 | -10.53% |
| Poe Dameron | 11 | 40 | 40,235 | 40,091 | +0.36% |
The main Star Wars title increased unit sales slightly in February. If you consider the over-shipping by Marvel last month, Star Wars actually saw a bigger increase in units sold to retailers than shown. Did retailers adjust down orders last month anticipating the 10% overage or was this month a correction? Regardless, it is nice to see the title holding steady.
Doctor Aphra continues to disappoint with regards to units sold. It fell another 5,000 units or 10% of last month's sales. With it's 4th issue, it is only selling approximately 3,000 more units than Poe Dameron #11. With this being the 3rd month since issue #1, retailers would have adjusted their numbers upwards if they had underestimated sales on this title. Like last month, Doctor Aphra is only beating the numbers of The Force Awakens 4th issue and that is not good since movie adaptations generally sell poorly. Did Marvel overestimate the demand for this character? Or is the direction of the story to blame for the lukewarm sales? I tend to believe the demand is there for the character and this initial story arc is not exactly what fans were clamoring for. Marvel is finding out what Dark Horse had learned; Star Wars titles starring the major characters do much better than comics starring original characters. Marvel will get another chance for readers to sample Doctor Aphra with the upcoming The Screaming Citadel event.
Poe Dameron saw another slight increase this month, making that back to back increases. Hopefully this title which ties into the newest Star Wars trilogy holds steady and survives until the next installment of the franchise in December.
The first issue of the 5-part Darth Maul mini-series debuted with numbers roughly equivalent to the Obi-Wan and Anakin mini-series. Expect this title to have a similar trajectory as the series continues.
Marvel's over-shipment program seems to have had minimum effect on Star Wars sales. I tend to believe retailers adjusted their orders down last month to save money by using the extra copies Marvel sent out to fulfill their subscriptions and rack copies.
The following table shows the total number of Star Wars units sold per month since January 2015 along with the average number of sales per issue.
| Month/Year | Total Estimated Sales | # Issues | Average Sale per Issue |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 2015 | 985,976 | 1 | 985,976 |
| February 2015 | 526,451 | 3 | 175,484 |
| March 2015 | 596,299 | 4 | 149,075 |
| April 2015 | 537,812 | 4 | 134,453 |
| May 2015 | 324,835 | 3 | 108,278 |
| June 2015 | 396,931 | 4 | 99,232 |
| July 2015 | 597,023 | 5 | 119,404 |
| August 2015 | 430,241 | 5 | 86,048 |
| September 2015 | 551,880 | 5 | 110,376 |
| October 2015 | 953,289 | 10 | 95,329 |
| November 2015 | 1,003,954 | 8 | 125,494 |
| December 2015 | 507,545 | 6 | 84,591 |
| January 2016 | 465,698 | 5 | 93,139 |
| February 2016 | 288,355 | 4 | 72,088 |
| March 2016 | 355,554 | 5 | 71,110 |
| April 2016 | 533,976 | 5 | 106,795 |
| May 2016 | 299,189 | 4 | 74,797 |
| June 2016 | 545,833 | 6 | 90,972 |
| July 2016 | 359,166 | 5 | 71,833 |
| August 2016 | 322,499 | 5 | 64,500 |
| September 2016 | 174,420 | 3 | 58,140 |
| October 2016 | 339,778 | 5 | 67,956 |
| November 2016 | 269,975 | 5 | 53,995 |
| December 2016 | 303,886 | 4 | 75,972 |
| January 2017 | 161,014 | 3 | 53,671 |
| February 2017 | 262,889 | 4 | 65,722 |
The average sale per issue of 65,722 would rank 10th on the top 300 chart for the month of February, a significant increase from last month thanks to the sales of Darth Maul #1. Star Wars trade paperbacks, reprint titles, and reorders are not accounted for with these numbers. The Star Wars trade paperbacks are strong sellers.
Take a look at the Star Wars Sales Estimate Chart and please read the blog posting February 2017 comics sales estimates now online.
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