November 2006
Marvel Adventures Spider-Man      25,029
Ultimate Spider-Man                            7,696
Amazing Spider-Man                            11,162
Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man     2,517
Sensational Spider-Man                        1,373
“regular” total:                                  15,052

May 2006
Marvel Adventures Spider-Man       21,213
Ultimate Spider-Man                            15,251
Amazing Spider-Man                            10,051
Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man     2,432
Sensational Spider-Man                        783
“regular” total:                                  13,266

November 2005
Marvel Adventures Spider-Man      21,213
Ultimate Spider-Man                            16,113
Amazing Spider-Man                            10,657
Spider-Man: House of M                      2,515
Marvel Knights Spider-Man                 shipped, but no subscribers
“regular” total:                                  13,172

May 2005

Marvel Adventures Spider-Man      8,429
Ultimate Spider-Man                            20,960
Amazing Spider-Man                            11,138
Spectacular Spider-Man                       3,137
Marvel Knights Spider-Man                 shipped, but no subscribers
“regular” total:                                  14,275

November 2004
Marvel Age Spider-Man                       No subscriptions reported
Ultimate Spider-Man                            No subscriptions reported
Amazing Spider-Man                            No subscriptions reported
Spectacular Spider-Man                       6,093
Marvel Knights Spider-Man                 shipped, but no subscribers
“regular” total:                                  6,093

May 2004
Marvel Age Spider-Man                       16
Ultimate Spider-Man                            17,150
Amazing Spider-Man                            8,777
Spectacular Spider-Man                       6,036
Marvel Knights Spider-Man                 no issue
“regular” total:                                  14,813

November 2003
Ultimate Spider-Man                            7,949
Amazing Spider-Man                            9,146
Spectacular Spider-Man                       3,252
Peter Parker: Spider-Man                     no issue
“regular” total:                                  12,398

May 2003
Ultimate Spider-Man                            20,582
Amazing Spider-Man                            10,681
Peter Parker: Spider-Man                     3,932
“regular” total:                                  14,613

November 2002
Ultimate Spider-Man                            12,044
Amazing Spider-Man                            10,170
Peter Parker: Spider-Man                     3,821
Spider-Man: Tangled Web                   779
“regular” total:                                  14,770

And just for giggles, all the way back to:

November 1999
Amazing Spider-Man                            8,149
Peter Parker: Spider-Man                     3,497
“regular” total:                                 11,646

What can we learn from the subscription numbers over the years?

• The “entry level” comic, Ultimate Spider-Man and later Marvel Adventures Spider-Man, frequently has more subscribers than all the “regular” titles together.
• Amazing Spider-Man has consistently sold disproportionally higher than the other “regular” titles.
• By absorbing the other two Spider-Man titles into Amazing Spider-Man, Marvel has effectively doubled the number of subscription issues per month for the “regular” Spider-Man flavor.  (Maybe more than doubled, maybe a bit less than doubled, depending on your benchmark month, but you get the picture.)

Eyeballing the newsstand sales as I was pulling these numbers, I’d say the single issue sales follow a similar, but perhaps not quite as drastic, pattern of Amazing Spider-Man selling better.  Add that to subscription numbers (and remember, subscriptions are a one-year commitment: great for business planning), and I can say that the thrice monthly Amazing Spider-Man looks like a definite success outside the direct market, at least for the audit periods available.  The direct market, perhaps not as much, but you do need to combine the two parts. (And they haven’t been missing deadlines, either as you’ll note a few audit periods with a missing book – this also helps.)

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