Rip Hunter Time Master Sales Figures
Circulation as Reported in Publishers' Statements of Ownership
Filed with the United States Postal Service
The 29 issues of the Rip Hunter, Time Master series were published on a bimonthly schedule in the early 1960s.
For the years in which DC reported sales figures, the title stayed fairly consistent, with only a 20,000-copy difference between the low of 195,000 and the high of 215,000. However, the title never achieved the same level of success as the thematically similar Jack Kirby-created concept, Challengers of the Unknown, which ran from 1958 to 1971 before its first hiatus.
Some direct-market only information is available in the monthly reports.
—John Jackson Miller
| 1960 | 1961 | 1962 | 1963 | 1964 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Issue Statement appearing in: | #7 March/April | #13 Mar-Apr | #21 Jul-Aug Also #19 Mar-Apr | #25 Mar-Apr | |
| Date of filing: | 10/1/61 | 10/1/62 | 10/1/63 | 10/1/64 | |
| Issues published during year: | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | |
| Annual subscription price: | $0.90 | $0.90 | $0.70 | $0.70 | |
| Cover price during year: | $0.12 | $0.12 | $0.12 | $0.12 | |
| Total Copies PRINTED (avg): | 328,000 | 313,000 | |||
| Sales through DEALERS (avg): | 194,000 | 197,000 | |||
| Sales by SUBSCRIPTION (avg): | 150 | 398 | |||
| Total PAID circulation (avg): | 215,000 | 195,000 | 194,150 | 197,398 | |
| Samples by MAIL (avg): | 370 | 387 | |||
| Samples OUTSIDE mail (avg): | 0 | 0 | |||
| Total FREE circulation (avg): | 370 | 387 | |||
| TOTAL DISTRIBUTION: | 194,520 | 197,785 | |||
| Copies not distributed (office): | |||||
| Copies not distributed (RETURNS): | 133,480 | 115,215 | |||
| Reported % Paid/Requested: | |||||
| Copies existent: | 215,000 | 195,000 | 194,520 | 197,785 |
Statement history
DC printed many circulation statements without sales figures from 1963 to 1965 — but in several cases, the publisher ran a second form later in the year with numbers. That was the case for Rip Hunter for 1963, where a data-less form ran in #19 and a corrected form with data in #21.
Only total paid circulation was required to be reported through 1962.
As the title was canceled at the end of 1965, no form for that year could appear.
Understanding Statements of Ownership
The figures above are taken directly from the annual Statements of Ownership, Management, and Circulation filed by publishers with the United States Postal Service. The sales figure is the Average Paid Circulation figure and includes all copies sold through newsstands, comics shops, and postal subscription. It does not count copies the publisher gave away for free, or copies that were kept for office use.
More information can be found in the FAQ section.
