Comichron

 

Comic Book Sales Figures for 1969

Average Total Paid Circulation as Reported in Publishers' Statements of Ownership and Filed with the United States Postal Service

This list includes only those titles which offered subscriptions via the USPS Second or Periodical Class, and which published their sales reports in their titles.

#1 Most Ordered Issue
#1
#2 Most Ordered Issue
#2
#3 Most Ordered Issue
#3
#4 Most Ordered Issue
#4
#5 Most Ordered Issue
#5

Covers and issue links on this page lead to current eBay listings. This site may be compensated if you make a purchase.

The same way the Batman TV show helped Batman sales, another extraneous event helped propel a title to the top of the charts. The Archie Show debuted on CBS's Saturday morning line-up in September of the previous year, and Don Kirshner, who had manufactured a multimedia phenomenon with The Monkees, did so again by organizing a bubbblegum pop band, The Archies. It was pure sugar (sorry — it couldn't be helped) for the comics sales, and Archie went to first place.

DC and Marvel each increased their cover prices by 25% to 15¢ — with starkly different results. Painful declines hit Superman and Batman, and even mid-range titles like Green Lantern were off 20%. Marvel, meanwhile, switched its prices later in the year and saw less dramatic drops. Amazing Spider-Man sales were nearly flat, but in this market that still allowed it to reach the Top 10 for the first time. Spidey's own cartoon show was on its second (and last) season on ABC.

So while the 1960s close with the super-heroes of the Silver Age in ascendance, it was really only ascendance relative to the other genres in the field. Marvel, with a slate increasingly devoted to super-heroes, was better positioned than other publishers to enter the 1970s — but all publishers would find it one of the tougher decades in the history of comics.

Magazines with comics content (like Mad) are sorted separately at the bottom.

—John Jackson Miller


Title links below lead to current listings for the issues on eBay. As an eBay Partner, this site may be compensated if you make a purchase.



TitlePublisherAverage Copies Sold
Per Issue
1ArchieArchie515,356
2SupermanDC511,984
3SuperboyDC465,462
4Superman's Girlfriend Lois LaneDC397,346
5Betty and VeronicaArchie384,789
6Action ComicsDC377,535
7Amazing Spider-ManMarvel372,352
8World's Finest ComicsDC366,618
9BatmanDC355,782
10Adventure ComicsDC354,123
11Archie and MeArchie345,869
12Fantastic FourMarvel340,363
13Life with ArchieArchie326,488
14Reggie and MeArchie276,275
15Walt Disney's Comics & StoriesGold Key272,672
16Archie Giant SeriesArchie271,699
17ThorMarvel266,368
18Incredible HulkMarvel262,472
19FlintstonesGold Key258,821
20Archie's Pals 'n' GalsArchie253,206
21DaredevilMarvel245,422
22Captain AmericaMarvel243,798
23Sgt. Fury and his Howling CommandosMarvel242,897
24Brave & BoldDC242,501
25AvengersMarvel239,986
26Uncanny X-MenMarvel235,811
27Justice League of AmericaDC233,000
28Treasure ChestCatholic Guild231,531
29Reggie's Wise Guy JokesArchie222,732
30FlashDC221,470
31Detective ComicsDC221,267
32Little DotHarvey213,070
33Little LottaHarvey211,039
34MadhouseArchie209,897
35Turok, Son of StoneGold Key209,813
36Rawhide KidMarvel204,896
37PhantomCharlton199,045
38Beetle BaileyCharlton198,020
39G.I. CombatDC186,264
40Unusual TalesCharlton178,545
41Adventures of Jerry LewisDC174,125
42House of MysteryDC173,206
43Sugar & SpikeDC171,227
44Wonder WomanDC171,197
45Green LanternDC160,423
46AquamanDC156,307
47Tales of the UnexpectedDC155,110
48Star-Spangled ComicsDC149,170
49Fightin' ArmyCharlton141,335
50Strange AdventuresDC141,179
51Challengers of the UnknownDC140,238
52Texas Rangers in ActionCharlton136,378
53ShowcaseDC130,219
999MadEC1,884,502




About a hundred more Statements exist for this year and have been collected by Comichron. They'll appear here soon!