Star Wars Sales Figures
Circulation as Reported in Publishers' Statements of Ownership
Filed with the United States Postal Service
When the first Star Wars movie was adapted by Marvel in 1977, early issues of the comic book released before the movie came out. The first issue appeared in two different first printings, both newsstand editions for Curtis Circulation; one was a special rare variant with a test-marketed price. Beginning with the second issue, first printings were also released as part of Western Publishing's Whitman bagged comics program.
Once retailers knew they had a blockbuster on their hands, multiple printings were ordered, both by Curtis Circulation and, most consequentially, by Western for special Star Wars three-packs sold by its Whitman program. The result was that early issues of the title were the first comics to exceed 1 million copies per issue in sales since 1960; according to Jim Shooter, "Star Wars saved Marvel."
No circulation data was required to be published in the first two years of the series' existence, but Star Wars was certainly the #1 title in the industry in 1977 and 1978; in 1979, when data first appeared, the Whitman factor had played out, and it was likely the #2 title, not far behind Amazing Spider-Man and just ahead of Incredible Hulk.
Sales declined every year after that, though 1984's sales were very close to those of 1983, when Return of the Jedi came out. By the last full year of the title's initial run, it was a lower-tier book at Marvel, selling less than a third of the copies of the market-leading Uncanny X-Men.
When Star Wars returned to Marvel in 2015, it repeated its initial feat, with the first issue selling more than a million copies. Star Wars' return to Marvel wound up adding more than $31 million to the Direct Market in 2015.
Some direct-market only information is available in the monthly reports.
—John Jackson Miller
| 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Issue Statement appearing in: | No statement filed | No statement filed | #33 March | ||
| Date of filing: | 10/1/79 | ||||
| Issues published during year: | 12 | ||||
| Annual subscription price: | $5.00 | ||||
| Cover price during year: | $0.40 | ||||
| Total Copies PRINTED (avg): | 497,018 | ||||
| Sales through DEALERS (avg): | 255,590 | ||||
| Sales by SUBSCRIPTION (avg): | 23,169 | ||||
| Total PAID circulation (avg): | 278,759 | ||||
| Samples by MAIL (avg): | 615 | ||||
| Samples OUTSIDE mail (avg): | |||||
| Total FREE circulation (avg): | 615 | ||||
| TOTAL DISTRIBUTION: | 279,374 | ||||
| Copies not distributed (office): | 2,095 | ||||
| Copies not distributed (RETURNS): | 215,549 | ||||
| Reported % Paid/Requested: | |||||
| % of RUN RETURNED: | 43.4% | ||||
| Copies existent: | 281,469 | ||||
| SELL-THROUGH at RETAIL: | 56.1% | ||||
| 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | |
| Issue Statement appearing in: | #46 April | #58 April | #70 April | #82 April | #94 March |
| Date of filing: | 10/1/80 | 10/1/81 | 10/11/82 | 10/6/83 | 9/28/84 |
| Issues published during year: | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 |
| Annual subscription price: | $6.00 | $7.20 | $7.20 | $7.20 | $7.20 |
| Cover price during year: | $0.50 | $0.60 | $0.60 | $0.60 | $0.60 |
| Total Copies PRINTED (avg): | 484,446 | 455,651 | 447,075 | 389,772 | 343,390 |
| Sales through DEALERS (avg): | 230,308 | 209,023 | 173,285 | 142,681 | 144,451 |
| Sales by SUBSCRIPTION (avg): | 25,677 | 20,876 | 31,894 | 37,532 | 35,466 |
| Total PAID circulation (avg): | 255,985 | 229,901 | 205,179 | 180,213 | 179,917 |
| Samples by MAIL (avg): | 620 | 627 | 719 | 784 | 859 |
| Samples OUTSIDE mail (avg): | |||||
| Total FREE circulation (avg): | 620 | 627 | 719 | 784 | 859 |
| TOTAL DISTRIBUTION: | 256,606 | 230,528 | 205,898 | 180,997 | 180,776 |
| Copies not distributed (office): | 7,267 | 4,353 | 5,211 | 6,855 | 4,177 |
| Copies not distributed (RETURNS): | 220,574 | 220,770 | 235,966 | 201,920 | 157,987 |
| Reported % Paid/Requested: | |||||
| % of RUN RETURNED: | 45.5% | 48.5% | 52.8% | 51.8% | 46.0% |
| Copies existent: | 263,872 | 234,879 | 211,109 | 187,852 | 184,953 |
| SELL-THROUGH at RETAIL: | 52.8% | 50.5% | 45.9% | 46.2% | 52.4% |
| 1985 | 1986 | ||||
| Issue Statement appearing in: | #105 May | No statement filed | |||
| Date of filing: | 10/1/85 | ||||
| Issues published during year: | 12 | ||||
| Annual subscription price: | $9.00 | ||||
| Cover price during year: | $0.75 | ||||
| Total Copies PRINTED (avg): | 303,029 | ||||
| Sales through DEALERS (avg): | 117,881 | ||||
| Sales by SUBSCRIPTION (avg): | 23,208 | ||||
| Total PAID circulation (avg): | 141,489 | ||||
| Samples by MAIL (avg): | 877 | ||||
| Samples OUTSIDE mail (avg): | |||||
| Total FREE circulation (avg): | 877 | ||||
| TOTAL DISTRIBUTION: | 142,366 | ||||
| Copies not distributed (office): | 813 | ||||
| Copies not distributed (RETURNS): | 160,050 | ||||
| Reported % Paid/Requested: | |||||
| % of RUN RETURNED: | 52.8% | ||||
| Copies existent: | 142,779 | ||||
| SELL-THROUGH at RETAIL: | 46.7% | ||||
Statement history
Marvel did not publish any Statements in the first two years of the title's run, and as the series ended with #107 in the summer of 1986, there was no Statement for that year either.
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.
