Comichron

 

Comic Book Sales Figures for 1965

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

A singularly peculiar year for Statements of Ownership, 1965 saw DC running two sets of forms in many of its comics: Ones without sales figures, and then again later on with them. Whatever the reason, it brings in many new data points, giving us more than 90 titles with circulation figures for the first time.

Marvel's super-hero titles continued to grow in circulation — although only Thor's title, Journey into Mystery, cracked the top 50.

Non-super-hero publishers continued to hemhorrage readers. In five years, Uncle Scrooge had lost fully two thirds of its readership. And every single one of the bottom 13 titles on the list is from Charlton.

Also worthy of note is that this is the last full pre-TV show year for Batman. As a comparison with 1966 will show, super-heroes would only get hotter.

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

—John Jackson Miller


Links lead to current listings for these titles on eBay. Further detail may be found in our Title Spotlights.



TitlePublisherAverage Copies Sold
Per Issue
1SupermanDC823,829
2SuperboyDC672,681
3Superman's Girlfriend Lois LaneDC556,091
4Superman's Pal Jimmy OlsenDC554,931
5Action ComicsDC525,254
6Adventure ComicsDC520,440
7ArchieArchie467,552
8World's Finest ComicsDC465,842
9BatmanDC453,745
10Walt Disney's Comics & StoriesGold Key410,209
11Justice League of AmericaDC389,285
12Treasure ChestCatholic Guild386,171
13FlintstonesGold Key374,322
14TarzanGold Key356,699
15Metal MenDC334,245
16Uncle ScroogeGold Key330,925
17Betty and VeronicaArchie328,969
18G.I. CombatDC320,607
19Detective ComicsDC304,414
20FlashDC298,151
21Walt Disney's Donald DuckGold Key298,144
22Life with ArchieArchie293,651
23Bugs BunnyGold Key291,816
24The Three StoogesGold Key288,967
25KorakGold Key278,800
26Tom and JerryGold Key276,980
27Archie's Joke BookArchie273,679
28Green LanternDC273,527
29Our Army at WarDC270,100
30Laugh ComicsArchie269,747
31Archie's Pal JugheadArchie269,512
32Archie Giant SeriesArchie256,516
33Twilight ZoneGold Key256,050
34AtomDC255,254
35Archie's Pals 'n' GalsArchie253,860
36Woody WoodpeckerGold Key250,340
37Turok, Son of StoneGold Key250,316
38Yogi BearGold Key250,175
39Brave & BoldDC249,768
40All-American Men of WarDC247,717
41AquamanDC247,140
42Little LuluGold Key246,650
43Top CatGold Key245,387
44BonanzaGold Key244,042
45Daffy DuckGold Key243,825
46Star-Spangled ComicsDC243,700
47Beetle BaileyGold Key237,700
48MagnusGold Key236,713
49ShowcaseDC235,091
50Journey into MysteryMarvel232,644
51MadhouseArchie231,934
52Mickey MouseGold Key231,814
53Strange TalesMarvel230,285
54TomahawkDC229,979
55PhantomGold Key229,890
56Doctor SolarGold Key226,720
57Tales to AstonishMarvel224,346
58Tales of SuspenseMarvel222,060
59Challengers of the UnknownDC220,965
60Pep ComicsArchie220,010
61Millie the ModelMarvel219,427
62Lost in SpaceGold Key216,775
63CombatDell210,687
64Wonder WomanDC209,918
65Adventures of Jerry LewisDC209,691
66Young LoveDC206,456
67Doom PatrolDC200,188
68House of MysteryDC196,677
69Kid Colt OutlawMarvel193,506
70Rawhide KidMarvel192,540
71Adventures of Bob HopeDC191,656
72Sea DevilsDC182,866
73Mystery in SpaceDC182,376
74ThirteenDell175,169
75Sugar & SpikeDC175,089
76Forbidden WorldsACG172,270
77Unknown WorldsACG168,330
78Adventures into the UnknownACG163,049
79Fox & The CrowDC160,515
80Adventures of the FlyArchie160,235
81Fightin' ArmyCharlton144,865
82Fightin' MarinesCharlton144,487
83Hot Rods and Racing CarsCharlton143,342
84SweetheartsCharlton142,208
85Love DiaryCharlton141,333
86Billy the KidCharlton140,635
87Romantic StoryCharlton140,528
88I Love YouCharlton139,689
89Strange Suspense StoriesCharlton131,350
90Space WarCharlton130,490
91Texas Rangers in ActionCharlton126,665
92Outlaws of the WestCharlton126,012
93Cheyenne KidCharlton118,124
999MadEC1,532,926




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