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GA Sales and Circulation Question
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Started by telerites,

16 posts in this topic

telerites

telerites

Posted
Posted

I think there was a thread some time ago about but I could not find it.  I am curious who the top publishers of the GA were based on sales and circulation.  I checked Comichron but it only goes back to the 60s.  Interested only in a publisher's comic book sales as some like Fiction House published pulls or Ace and their paperback books.

Not looking for actual numbers just a ranking.  I also realize it could vary by year but maybe cumulatively from 1939 through 1945.  Not even sure if my request makes sense ?

I would guess DC would be #1 and Fawcett #2?

Factual data, educated guesses, shots in the dark for a top ten ranking.

 

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Scrooge

Scrooge

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2 hours ago, telerites said:

Factual data

From: CArchivist@aol.com
Date: Sun, 15 Nov 1998 18:44:17 EST
To: comixschl-list@socolow.com
Subject: Re:  Re: Query: DC Management
In a message dated 11/15/98 6:54:43 PM, Paul Gravett wrote:
<<Maybe that Blue Book can provide more details over the years?
Cheers,
Paul Gravett>>
Russ Maheras, over at the Grand Comics Database reflector posted his research
at the Audit Bureau of Circulation on that reflector. Following is the posts I
saved and the information he gave. It is lenghty so be forwarned...all
research is copyrighted by Russ...the data is copyrighted by ABC...
-Ray Bottorff Jr
<<Hi
My name's Russ Maheras, and I'm the new kid on the block, thanks to Bob
Beerbohm.
Below is comic book circulation data I gleaned from the Audit Bureau of
Circulations microfilm covering the period of 1937-'43, '44, and '49-50. The
only ABC location that has data more than 15 years or so years old is the main
branch in Schaumburg, Ill. (a suburb just west of Chicago).  There
is no cost to access this data for research purposes.  However, although the
viewer has the capability, you are not allowed to make direct copies of the
data.  ABC's policy is that you must hand write everything.  The point of
contact is Mary Buchanan.  I don't have the phone number for ABC with me,
but it should be easy to get through directory assistance.  I went to the
ABC offices twice before I shipped off to South Korea in December of last
year (I'm in the Air Force), and I spent a total of about 10 hours going
blind looking through dozens of spools of microfilm.  But the comic book
(and pulp magazine) circulation data in those ABC spools is priceless, in my
opinion, and well worth the time I invested in gathering the data below.  It
includes circulation data on Famous Funnies ('37-'42), some pulps,
DC/National ('38-'43, '44, and '49), Fawcett ('42 and '44), Magazine House
('44, '45) and Archie ('49, '50).  Keep in mind that I have already gone
line-by-line through all the ABC microfilm rolls from 1937-43, and gotten
every bit of comic book-related data there was.  So if any of you decide to
do follow-up research, I suggest you don't re-invent the wheel - unless, of
course you are just curious or want to confirm my data - the searching is
very, VERY tedious.  There's plenty of untapped data out there still.  I
wanted so bad to get to the '50s, but I forced myself to be as methodical as
I could.  The sad part about ABC listings is that they only include member
publisher circulation tallies.  Hence, for example, there is no ABC data on
Timely/Marvel during the years up through at least 1944.  "Marvel" did have
a listing in 1949, however, but that data was not included in my CAPA-alpha
mailing.  I will try and provide that and some other miscellaneous data I
still haven't input from my notes. Here is the data I provided CAPA-alpha
folks in CAPA-alpha #399 (Jan 98).  I hope you get as big a kick out of it
as I did.

Circulation search: Part II
 I managed to stop by the Audit Bureau of Circulation for a few hours
in Schaumburg, Ill., before I left the Chicago area for South Korea. I found
some more interesting data, but had to skip around a little more than I
wanted to.  I've combined the new data with the previous data, which is here
for your perusal.  Instead of a graph, however, I'm just going to list the
raw circulation figures and let anyone who's interested sort it out.  I
apologize for that, but I want the information to get out there as soon as
possible, and I don't have the tools or time to analyze it here.

Famous Funnies

Jan 37 485,136 
Feb 37 460,468 
Mar 37 380,427 
Apr 37 396,371 
May 37 351,913 
Jun 37 371,202 
Jul 37 438,824 
Aug 37 485,151 
Sep 37 530,824 
Oct 37 440,837 
Nov 37 429,298 
Dec 37 456,050 
Jan 38 438,937 
Feb 38 420,162 
Mar 38 401,002 
Apr 38 349,070 
May 38 324,698 
Jun 38 323,795 
Jul 38 378,122 
Aug 38 373,295 
Sep 38 425,970 
Oct 38 343,233 
Nov 38 312,589 
Dec 38 331,827 
Jan 39 357,386 
Feb 39 356,893 
Mar 39 348,914 
Apr 39 334,377 
May 39 280,350 
Jun 39 328,153 
Jul 39 367,736 
Aug 39 389,005 
Sep 39 408,545 
Oct 39 311,541 
Nov 39 310,173 
Dec 39 327,685 
Jan 40 329,629 
Feb 40 319,277 
Mar 40 266,483 
Apr 40 241,918 
May 40 218,009 
Jun 40 203,608 
Jul 40 239,716 
Aug 40 249,258 
Sep 40 281,761 
Oct 40 225,236 
Nov 40 198,228 
Dec 40 214,825 
Jan 41 251,900 
Feb 41 224,942 
Mar 41 219,904 
Apr 41 227,062 
May 41 165,922 
Jun 41 175,561 
Jul 41 193,805 
Aug 41 212,435 
Sep 41 204,397 
Oct 41 191,517 
Nov 41 191,406 
Dec 41 186,991 
Jan 42 183,938 
Feb 42 167,988 
Mar 42 163,628 
Apr 42 201,141 
May 42 185,609 
Jun 42 208,536 

Street and Smith Publications, Inc.  (Pulp magazine circulation listing
sampling)
Data is based on sales of the following pulps:  Astounding Science Fiction
(m), Clues-Detective (m), Crime Busters (m), Detective Story (m), Doc Savage
(m), Love Story (w), Romantic Range (m), The Shadow (sm), Smart Love Stories
(m), Sport Story (sm), Unknown (m), Western Story (w), and Wild West Weekly
(w).  "m" denotes monthly; "sm" denotes semi-monthly; and "w" denotes
weekly. 

Jul 38 861,805 Nov 38 925,413 Mar 39 993,106 
Aug 38 940,995 Dec 38 937,488 Apr 39 960,127 
Sep 38 908,271 Jan 39 952,346 May 39 881,480 
Oct 38 916,097 Feb 39 977,928 Jun 39 817,628 

What I find incredible about the figures above is how low the pulp magazine
circulation figures are, per issue, at this juncture.  By my rough
estimation (which is complicated by the combination of weekly, monthly and
semi-monthlies in the circulation figures), it looks like Street and Smith
pulps only averaged about 40,000 - 50,000 copies sold per issue!  Depending
on how pulp production costs compared to comics, the comics may have been a
lot more lucrative, based on their far larger average circulations.  It
surprised the hell out of me, to say the least.  This also means, boys and
girls, that pulp magazines are probably far more rare than their 4-color
counterparts by a factor of 10!  This holds true with the pulps published by
Popular Publications and Thrilling from the same time frame, of which I also
have figures.  For example, Popular Publications' average monthly sales were
about 1,500,000 during 1938, based on the sales from 26 titles.  Using quick
math, average monthly sales were, at best, in the 59,000 range.  Figuring in
Popular's weekly titles would probably knock that amount down even more.  By
comparison, the sales figures from Golden Age comics kicks butt! How about
THEM apples!!!
 
Detective Comics Group, consisting of Action, Adventure, Detective and More
Fun Comics

Jul 38 494,136 
Aug 38 596,480 
Sep 38 639,027 
Oct 38 647,599 
Nov 38 604,671 
Dec 38 667,166 
Jan 39 709,879 
Feb 39 751,549 
Mar 39 795,029 
Apr 39 830,163 
May 39 895,866 
Jun 39 955,203 
Jul 39 1,081,564 
Aug 39 1,299,364 
Sep 39 1,393,010 
Oct 39 1,432,218 
Nov 39 1,406,917 
Dec 39 1,465,712 
Jan 40 1,585,654 
Feb 40 1,828,124 
Mar 40 1,823, 896 
Apr 40 1,810,849 
May 40 1,808,054 
Jun 40 1,594,200 
Jul 40 1,627,640 
Aug 40 1,861,608 
Sep 40 1,900,028 
Oct 40 1,898,962 
Nov 40 1,880,820 
Dec 40 1,755,773 
Jan 41 1,928,672 
Feb 41 2,068,866 
Mar 41 1,749,874 
Apr 41 1,728,487 
May 41 1,685,821 
Jun 41 1,318,985 
Jul 41 1,332,540 
Aug 41 1,403,395 
Sep 41 1,549,118 
Oct 41 1,381,544 
Nov 41 1,181,324 
Dec 41 1,233,261 

Note:  Beginning with January 1942, Star Spangled Comics has been added to
the Detective Comics group's circulation totals, making a total of five
titles in the group.

Jan 42 1,363,886 
Feb 42 1,364,307 
Mar 42 1,509,812 
Apr 42 1,360,771 
May 42 1,347,487 
Jun 42 1,338,917 
Jul 42 1,462,750 
Aug 42 1,505,136 
Sep 42 1,839,439 
Oct 42 1,966,019 
Nov 42 2,013,468 
Dec 42 1,847,213 

Note:  Beginning with January 1943, Detective Comics Group was redesignated
National Comics Group, incorporating 11 titles from four "different"
companies.  Detective Comics, Inc., included Action, Adventure, Batman,
Detective, More Fun, and Star-Spangled Comics;  JoLaine Publications, Inc.,
published Green Lantern Comics;  J.R. Publishing Co., included All-American,
Flash, and Sensation Comics; and Superman, Inc., published Superman Comics.
This clumping of titles makes it more difficult to guesstimate individual
title circulations.

Jan 43 4,772,559 
Feb 43 5,170,229 
Mar 43 4,780,450 
Apr 43 4,134,302 
May 43 4,191,653 
Jun 43 3,898,392 

Note:  Some comics historians have speculated that there was a surge in
comic sales during World War II due to the fact that many servicemembers
supposedly read comics in great numbers.  A note in the ABC circulation
pamphlet for average sales for the six months ending June 30, 1943 casts
serious doubt on that theory.  The note read as follows:  "Net single copy
sales to Men in Service averaging 3,261 copies per group (per month),
representing copies sold in bulk to War Department."  The reason the note
says "per group" is because also included in the pamphlet were the
circulation figures for National's "Quarterly Unit," which I haven't
included in this 'zine.  In any case, an average of only 3,261 copies of
National's comics per month went directly to the War Department's PXs in
1943. The rest of the average circulation per month (4,226,613) were sold by
newsdealers.  So direct sales of National's comics to the War Department was
really just a paltry drop in the bucket.  This is not to say that GIs didn't
buy comics at their local Walgreens or something and carry them to places
overseas.  But there was apparently nothing like the equivalent government
sponsored paperback program for the comics industry - at least not in 1943.
 
Note:  Data from Jul 43 through Jun 44 not transcribed. Circulation data
below is still based on the 11 National Comics Group titles listed earlier.
 
Jul 44 4,738,317 
Aug 44 4,945,727 
Sep 44 5,269,861 
Oct 44 5,362,669 
Nov 44 5,328,510 
Dec 44 5,019,734 
Jan 45 5,144,925 
Feb 45 5,401,673 
Mar 45 5,317,467 
Apr 45 4,925,711 
May 45 4,540,463 
Jun 45 4,518,967 

Note:  Data from Jul 45 through Jun 49 not transcribed. Circulation data
below is for National Comics' Blue Unit, which consists of the following 19
titles: Action, Star Spangled, Sensation, All American Western, Batman, Date
With Judy, Leave it to Binky, Funny Folks, Real Screen, Superboy, Mr.
District Attorney, Wonder Woman, World's Finest, Buzzy, Animal Antics, Alan
Ladd, Jimmy Wakely, Peter Porkchops, and Miss Melody Lane.

Jul 49 3,372,786 
Aug 49 4,065,464 
Sep 49 4,421,716 
Oct 49 4,091,799 
Nov 49 4,181,928 
Dec 49 3,917,153 
Jan 50 3,854,656 
Feb 50 4,334,984 
Mar 50 3,913,729 
Apr 50  4,010,162 
May 50 3,448,955 
Jun 50 3,729,116 

Note: Circulation data below is for National Comics' Red Unit, which
consists of the following 20 titles:  Detective, Adventure, Funny Stuff,
Mutt & Jeff, Gangbusters, All Star, Comic Cavalcade, Leading, Scribbly,
Ozzie & Harriet, Superman, Dale Evans, Miss Beverly Hills, Romance Trail,
Western, Boy Commandos, Real Facts, Bob Hope, Peter Porkchops (Transferred
from Blue Group Jan/Feb 50), and Feature Films.

Jul 49 3,758,229 
Aug 49 3,546,216 
Sep 49 4,521,347 
Oct 49 3,899,713 
Nov 49 3,696,278 
Dec 49 3,556,656 
Jan 50 3,585,858 
Feb 50 4,225,909 
Mar 50 4,004,854 
Apr 50  3,943,393 
May 50 3,379,022 
Jun 50 3,589,073 

Fawcett Comics Group.  Circulation data below is for Fawcett's Blue Unit,
which consists of the following 4 titles:  Whiz (every 4 weeks); Master
(monthly to Oct., then every 4 weeks);  Wow (quarterly until Aug., then
bi-monthly); and Captain Marvel Jr. (established Oct. 42).

Jul 42 577,278 
Aug 42 878,143 
Sep 42 756,853 
Oct 42 793,441 
Nov 42 1,302,124 
Dec 42 1,064,024 

Note: Circulation data below is for Fawcett's Red Unit, which consists of
the following 3 titles:  Captain Marvel Adventures (every 4 weeks); Captain
Midnight (every six weeks until Nov, then monthly); and Funny Animals
(monthly).

Jul 42 479,674 
Aug 42 573,717 
Sep 42 651,935 
Oct 42 979,063 
Nov 42 952,352 
Dec 42 1,324,599 

Note:  By Jan 44, the circulation for Whiz Comics had increased such that
Fawcett decided to give the title a separate ABC listing.  Thus, the
following data is for Whiz Comics only:

Jan 44 788,871 
Feb 44 779,920 
Mar 44 779,899 
Apr 44 775,230 
May 44 763,432 
Jun 44 755,229 
Jul 44 696,639 
Aug 44 735,306 
Sep 44 739,325 
Oct 44 732,217 
Nov 44 712,549 
Dec 44  No issue 
 
Note:  By Jan 44, the circulation for Captain Marvel Adventures had
increased such that Fawcett decided to give the title a separate ABC
listing.  Thus, the following data is for Captain Marvel Adventures only:

Jan 44 1,245,600 
Feb 44 1,340,299 
Mar 44 1,364,090 
Apr 44 1,339,859 
May 44 1,360,051 
Jun 44 1,285,516 
Jul 44 1,157,530 
Aug 44 1,250,661 
Sep 44 1,264,668 
Oct 44 1,239,036 
Nov 44 1,213,412 
Dec 44 No issue 

Magazine House Group. Circulation data below consists of the circulations of
the following three titles:  Boy Comics, Crime Does Not Pay, and Daredevil.

Aug/Sep 44 1,854,000 
Oct/Nov 44 1,882,397 
Dec/Jan 45 1,856,624 
Feb/Mar 45 1,980,553 
Apr/May 45 1,968,834 

Archie Comics Group.  The circulation data below is based on the
circulations of the following six titles of the group:  Archie, Laugh, Pep,
Wilbur, Super Duck, and Suzie.

Jul/Aug 49 3,559,964 
Sep/Oct 49 3,813,941 
Nov/Dec 49 3,477,429 
Jan/Feb 50 3,671,906 
Mar/Apr 50 3,645,549 
May/Jun 50 3,358,622 
 
Russ Maheras
russell.maheras@osan.af.mil <mailto:russell.maheras@osan.af.mil>
Russ Maheras wrote:
>Bob
>The article below is a perfect example of a glaring circulation error in
>understanding by whoever wrote this back in 1950:
>
>>"1950 (July):  COMIC SALES CLIMB
>Newest Tabulation by ABC ID Leaders
>In Same Top Four Positions of S-M Box Score
>
>>The strength of Independently-distributed comics is reflected in the current
>S-M News Co's BOX SCORE, an authoritative and reliable guide for display of
>periodicals.  The Audit Buerau of Circulations (popularly known as "ABC")
>which compiles the sales performances of magazines so accurately, also shows
>that 14 of 22 comics publishers reporting sales are from the
>Independently-distributed family.
>Those titles with the ID symbol accounted for a total of 3,881,519 average
>newsstand sales per issue during the last six months of 1949.  The gain in
>average sales per issue over the same period of 1948 was 906,129 (though one
>publisher was unreported in the 1948 period).  This is certainly an
>excellent showing and one in which every dealer must be keenly aware."<<
>Whoever wrote this, did not understand what he was looking at.  The number
>"3,881,519 average newstand sales per issue" should actually say "per
>month."  These numbers are for the entire GROUP, per month, and have been
>misconstrued as a single issue number.  It ISN'T, and if you looked at as
>many of the ABC pamphlets on microfiche as I did, you'd understand.  This
>guy is assuming he's looking at a single magazine, like Time or Reader's
>Digest.  But comics and pulp magazines usually were lumped together in a
>group.  "Famous Funnies" was one of the few exceptions. Occasionally,
>another single title would pop up, as did "Captain Marvel Adventures" in
>1944, mainly due to the fact that its circulation had by then consistently
>jumped over the 1 million mark each and every month.  But single comic book
>titles with their own ABC listing were NOT the norm.  That article is a big
>time error in fact!
Actually, what the distribution fellow who wrote the COMICS SALES CLIMB
article for the July 1950 NEWSDEALER has one do is divide the number
3,881,519 by 6 since it is a 6 month's accumulated number.  That is how i
interpret the paragraph.  One gets an average monthly number of 646,920
that way for all comics published using that number.  Is this closer to
what you show from ABC records?
Back in 1950, when these numbers were "new", there most likely were more of
them to use for statistical purposes.  Now, 50 years later, all we have are
ABC, Avery's, and a few other sources which all have to be taken with a few
grains of salt before we use any as gospel.
However, your take on the numbers game might be entirely correct.  Me, I
just want the "truth" for my book as near as we can collectively figure
out.  I surely appreciate you sending me all that ABC circulation info you
spent the time to transcribe.
Bob Klein had already done the Avery's numbers so that saved me a lot of
work digging those out.  Do you have those numbers?  I (or Bob Klein)
could send them onto you you if you need them.
Maybe in the near future we will get that much closer to a partial reality.
>Regarding this info you provided:
>"Superman-DC Publications, we can say with full authority, sold 26,264,000
>copies in the first four months of 1945 . . . and 34,020,000 copies in the
>same period od 1946 - a gain of 29 per cent!"
>
>Superman-DC Publications means EVERY title DC puts out.
That is exactly what the NEWSDEALER writer was saying.  Group sales.
>Divide the first
>number by four, and you get a publishing house monthly sales average of
>6,566,000.  In 1945, how many titles was DC publishing?  If you only count
>the 11 they had ABC tally in 1944, you get an average monthly circulation
>per individual title of about 597,000.  That's very, very consistent with
>the data I've dug up. And by 1946, I'll bet my paycheck DC's total number of
>monthly titles was 20 or more, pumping up the group's total circulation even
>though INDIVIDUAL titles' circulations may have been dropping.
>Russ Maheras
Here is the list of titles used for this article as DC listed them back
then in this ad trying to show circulations were OK and actually growing.
Of course any company wants to bend statistics to make them in the most
favorable light possible.
Action
Adventure
All-American
All-Flash
All-Funny
All-Star
Batman
Boy Commandos
Buzzy
Comic Cavalcade
Detective
Flash
Funny Folk
Funny Stuff
Green Lantern
Leading
More Fun
Mutt & Jeff
Real Fact
Real Screen
Sensation
Star Spangled
Superman
Wonder Woman
World's Finest
A total of 25 altogether.  Obviously, SUPERMAN and a few others were much
higher than the average norm.  Maybe books like the 25 cent COMIC CAVALCADE
or MORE FUN were lower.  These are a year or two before the radical format
changes from super heroes to funny animals, war and western - or
cancelation.
Robert Beerbohm
I dug out my notebook to transcribe the Audit Bureau of Circulations
circulation data that was not published in CAPA-alpha 399, and after
thumbing through the pages, it looks like there's more data left than I
realized.  This may take several more installments.  If a title or company
is not listed in this data or the previous data I sent out, then it was not
an ABC member during that time frame, and thus, no ABC circulation data
exists. 

Remaining 1937 data:

Dell Comics Group:  This two title group consists of "The Funnies" and
"Popular Comics."  The numbers below are the monthly circulation totals for
both titles put together.  So obviously, average monthly circulation for one
title would be approximately half.
Jul 1937 - 463,262
Aug 1937 - 544,981
Sep 1937 - 562,411
Oct 1937 - 557,599
Nov 1937 - 471,724
Dec 1937 - 460,154
Jan 1938 - 486,936
Feb 1938 - 503,688
Mar 1938 - 465,838
Apr 1938 - 410,804
May 1938 - 328,401
Jun 1938 - 278,661

Feature Funnies:  Note that this is a single title entry, making the monthly
circulation easy to track.
Jan 1938 - 240,014
Feb 1938 - 250,432
Mar 1938 - 231,555
Apr 1938 - 227,622
May 1938 - 221,928
Jun 1938 - 245,757

Mickey Mouse Magazine: 10 cents per copy.  Note that this is a single title
entry, making the monthly circulation easy to track.
Jan 1937 - 109,685
Feb 1937 - 95,663
Mar 1937 - 94,782
Apr 1937 - 95,508
May 1937 - 95,936
Jun 1937 - 85,395
Jul 1937 - 91,474
Aug 1937 - 111,355
Sep 1937 - 106,800
Oct 1937 - 91,169
Nov 1937 - 95,069
Dec 1937 - 112,436

Tip Top Comics: Note that this is a single title entry, making the monthly
circulation easy to track.
Jan 1937 - 308,083
Feb 1937 - 320,366
Mar 1937 - 297,684
Apr 1937 - 286,310
May 1937 - 287,258
Jun 1937 - 269,938
Jul 1937 -- 351,196
Aug 1937 - 381,762
Sep 1937 - 404,793
Oct 1937 - 358,464
Nov 1937 - 379,834
Dec 1937 - 364,756

Remaining 1938 data:

Comics on Parade: Note that this is a single title entry, making the monthly
circulation easy to track.
Apr 1938 - 194,358 (first issue)
May 1938 - 153,164
Jun 1938 - 160,361
Jul 1938 - 189,362
Aug 1938 - 219,642
Sep 1938 - 236,052
Oct 1938 - 189,265
Nov 1938 - 177,173
Dec 1938 - 203,100

Dell Super Comics Group (Apparently, I did not transcribe this group from
the microfilm for the 1938 year - can't remember why - so I don't have any
data available)

Feature Comics: Note that this is a single title entry, making the monthly
circulation easy to track.
Jul 1938 - 248,622
Aug 1938 - 272,131
Sep 1938 - 324,134
Oct 1938 - 299,688
Nov 1938 - 253,757
Dec 1938 - 302,106
Jan 1939 - 304,798
Feb 1939 - 323,532
Mar 1939 - 316,196
Apr 1939 - 282,337
May 1939 - 284,645
Jun 1939 - 280,169

Popular Publications -- Note: this is for the pulp magazine group,
consisting of 26 titles.  To figure approximate average circulation for one
title (which is about all you can do under this group lump sum format),
divide the numbers below by 26.  I'm not going to list all the pulps in this
group, but they include stuff like Adventure, The Spider, Dime Mystery,
Terror Tales, Rangeland Romances, Captain Satan, etc.  If you REALLY have to
know, e-mail me separately.
Jan 1938 - 1,836,466
Feb 1938 - 1,845,240
Mar 1938 - 1,809,954
Apr 1938 - 1,544,651
May 1938 - 1,447,181
Jun 1938 - 1,362,691
Jul 1938 - 1,326,365
Aug 1938 - 1,382,064
Sep 1938 - 1,409,193
Oct 1938 - 1,503,569
Nov 1938 - 1,503,096
Dec 1938 - 1,468,209

Tip Top Comics: Note that this is a single title entry, making the monthly
circulation easy to track.
Jan 1938 - 354,822
Feb 1938 - 354,432
Mar 1938 - 347,751
Apr 1938 - 324,717
May 1938 - 322,364
Jun 1938 - 265,336
Jul 1938 - 316,315
Aug 1938 - 366,104
Sep 1938 - 424,781
Oct 1938 - 333,340
Nov 1938 - 318,812
Dec 1938 - 320,556

That's it for this installment.  More to follow.  Hope some of you find this
data useful.

Russ Maheras
Here's even more historical comic book circulation data from the microfilm
rolls of the Audit Bureau of Circulations in Schaumburg, Ill.  If a title or
company is not listed in this or previous data, then it was not an ABC
member during that time frames listed, and thus, no ABC circulation data
exists. 

Remaining 1939 data:

Comics on Parade: Note that this is a single title entry, making the monthly
circulation easy to track.

Jan 1939 - 195,849
Feb 1939 - 206,395
Mar 1939 - 204,154
Apr 1939 - 200,402
May 1939 - 182,910
Jun 1939 - 164,320
Jul 1939 - 192,180
Aug 1939 - 273,128
Sep 1939 - 271,383
Oct 1939 - 197,510
Nov 1939 - 217,154
Dec 1939 - 196,237

Dell Super Comics Group.  This group consisted of four titles:  The Funnies,
Popular Comics, Crackajack Funnies, and Super Comics.  I don't know what
this means, but the circulation for this group is broken down by "Dell,"
"Whitman," and "total" each month. (D) denotes Dell; (W) denotes Whitman;
and (T) denotes total.  A "---" denotes that there was no tally in that
category for that month.

Jan 1939 - (D) 312,736; (W) 391,943; (T) 704,679
Feb 1939 - (D) 343,533; (W) --- ; (T) 343,533
Mar 1939 - (D) --- ; (W) 355,170; (T) 355,170
Apr 1939 - (D) 294,072; (W) 319,799; (T) 613,871
May 1939 - (D) 319,125; (W) 331,380; (T) 650,505
Jun 1939 - (D) 278,997; (W) 300,337; (T) 579,334
Jul 1939 - (D) 350,832; (W) 328,609; (T) 679,441
Aug 1939 - (D) 413,016; (W) 409,123; (T) 822,139
Sep 1939 - (D) 463,568; (W) 406,253; (T) 869,821
Oct 1939 - (D) 410,774; (W) 388,963; (T) 799,737
Nov 1939 - (D) 348,739; (W) 370,442; (T) 719,181
Dec 1939 - (D) 356,125; (W) 311,098; (T) 667,223

Feature Comics. Note that this is a single title entry, making the monthly
circulation easy to track.

Jul 1939 - 310,910
Aug 1939 - 327,483
Sep 1939 - 387,914
Oct 1939 - 355,660
Nov 1939 - 305,721
Dec 1939 - 320,961
Jan 1940 - 312,567
Feb 1940 - 339,588
Mar 1940 - 284,220
Apr 1940 - 258,072
May 1940 - 227,463
Jun 1940 - 184,045

Fox Comics Group.  Consists of the following three titles: Fantastic Comics,
Mystery Comics, and Wonderworld Comics. To find average monthly circulation
of a single title in the group, divide the monthly amount by three.

Jul 1939 - 227,533
Aug 1939 - 418,597
Sep 1939 - 628,529
Oct 1939 - 683,698
Nov 1939 - 657,364
Dec 1939 - 890,701

Tip Top Comics. Note that this is a single title entry, making the monthly
circulation easy to track.

Jan 1939 - 354,845
Feb 1939 - 341,378
Mar 1939 - 386,103
Apr 1939 - 347,569
May 1939 - 342,227
Jun 1939 - 326,893
Jul 1939 - 351,794
Aug 1939 - 420,351
Sep 1939 - 441,618
Oct 1939 - 409,269
Nov 1939 - 333,833
Dec 1939 - 348,630

That's it for now.  More to follow.

Russ Maheras
Deja vu all over again.  Here's even more historical comic book
circulation data from the microfilm rolls of the Audit Bureau of
Circulations in Schaumburg, Ill.  If a title or company is not listed
in this or previous data, then it was not an ABC member during that
time frames listed, and thus, no ABC circulation data exists.
Remaining 1940 data (some '41 data mixed in):
Fox Comics Group:  During the reporting period, the Fox group
consisted of the following 11 titles - Fantastic Comics, Mystery Men
Comics, Wonderworld Comics, Science Comics, Weird Comics, The Blue
Beetle, The Flame, The Green Mask, Samson, Rex Darter, and Big 3.  To
calculate the average monthly circulation of any one title in the
group, divide the numbers below by 11.  Sorry, that's the best that
can be done under ABC's lump sum format.
Jan 1940 - 990,171
Feb 1940 - 1,372,230
Mar 1940 - 1,123,279
Apr 1940 - 1,136,476
May 1940 - 1,412,872
Jun 1940 - 862,878
Jul 1940 - 1,164,251
Aug 1940 - 965,441
Sep 1940 - 1,121,828
Oct 1940 - 959,991
Nov 1940 - 1,008,529
Dec 1940 - 1,077,887
Quality Comics Group:  During the reporting period, the Quality group
consisted of the following eight titles - Feature Comics, Smash
Comics, Crack Comics, Hit Comics, National Comics, Police Comics, The
Doll Man Quarterly, and Uncle Sam Quarterly. To calculate the average
monthly circulation of any one title in the group, divide the numbers
below by eight.  I'm not sure which months the quarterly issues were
published.  This info is in the ABC pamphlet, but I did not have time
to copy down all the additional detailed data.
Jul 1940 - 773,361
Aug 1940 - 854,238
Sep 1940 -- 1,064,712
Oct 1940 - 1,117,508
Nov 1940 - 1,014,636
Dec 1940 - 1,055,832
Jan 1941 - 1,114,935
Feb 1941 - 1,202,213
Mar 1941 - 1,070,922
Apr 1941 - 1,007,391
May 1941 - 939,261
Jun 1941 - 774,450
Jul 1941 - 1,195,820
Aug 1941 - 1,286,912
Sep 1941 - 1,810,589
Oct 1941 - 1,276,592
Nov 1941 - 1,096,423
Dec 1941 - 1,130,534
United Feature Comics Group:  During the reporting period, the United
Feature group consisted of the following five titles - Comics on
Parade, Okay Comics, Sparkler Comics, Tip Top Comics, and United
Comics. To calculate the average monthly circulation of any one title
in the group, divide the numbers below by five.  I do not know why
there was a spike in circulation during the months of July and August
1940.
Jan 1940 - 503,187
Feb 1940 - 593,926
Mar 1940 - 435,624
Apr 1940 - 512,717
May 1940 - 376,679
Jun 1940 - 336,986
Jul 1940 - 862,860
Aug 1940 - 796,664
Sep 1940 - 498,048
Oct 1940 - 291,048
Nov 1940 - 250,454
Dec 1940 - 275,316
Remaining 1941 data
All American Comics Group (JR Publishing Company):  This group had to
be a subsidiary of DC/National, otherwise they were later bought out
by them.  The All American group consisted of the following two titles
- All American Comics and Flash Comics. To calculate the average
monthly circulation of any one title in the group, divide the numbers
below by two.
Jan 1941 - 523,973
Feb 1941 - 646, 720
Mar 1941 - 540,587
Apr 1941 - 550,854
May 1941 - 505,896
Jun 1941 - 446,891
Jul 1941 - 460,034
Aug 1941 - 477,177
Sep 1941 - 529,259
Oct 1941 - 510,076
Nov 1941 - 451,769
Dec 1941 - 423,242
Quality Comics Group:  During the reporting period, the Quality group
consisted of the following nine titles - Feature Comics, Smash Comics,
Crack Comics, Hit Comics, National Comics, Police Comics, Military
Comics, The Doll Man Quarterly, and Uncle Sam Quarterly. To calculate
the average monthly circulation of any one title in the group, divide
the numbers below by nine.  I'm not sure which months the quarterly
issues were published.  This info is in the ABC pamphlet, but I did
not have time to copy down all the additional detailed data.
Jul 1940 - 773,361
Aug 1940 - 854,238
Sep 1940 - 1,064,712
Oct 1940 - 1,117,508
Nov 1940 - 1,014,636
Dec 1940 - 1,055,832
Jan 1941 - 1,114,935
Feb 1941 - 1,202,213
Mar 1941 - 1,070,922
Apr 1941 - 1,007,391
May 1941 - 939,261
Jun 1941 - 774,450
Jul 1941 - 1,195,820
Aug 1941 - 1,286,912
Sep 1941 - 1,810,589
Oct 1941 - 1,276,592
Nov 1941 - 1,096,423
Dec 1941 - 1,130,534
Th-th-th that's all, folks!  More to follow...
Here's the fifth chunk of data I gleaned from the microfilm files of
the Audit Bureau of Circulations in Schaumburg, Ill.
Remaining data from 1941 through 1943
United Features Comics group:  Consisted of the following titles - Tip
Top Comics (monthly), Comics on Parade (quarterly), and Sparkler
Comics (monthly).  Since the numbers below are the sum total of the
circulations of all three titles combined, and Comics on Parade is a
quarterly, it's easy to see from the data that COP was probably
published in January, April, July, and October of 1941.  I'm not sure
why December's numbers are so large, however.
Jan 1941 - 657,095
Feb 1941 - 314,720
Mar 1941 - 311,102
Apr 1941 -  668,811
May 1941 - 295,312
Jun 1941 - 253,433
Jul 1941 - 776,090
Aug, 1941 - 513,701
Sep, 1941 - 545,863
Oct 1941 - 853,058
Nov 1941 - 269,992
Dec 1941 - 779,410
Street & Smith Comics Group:  The S&S group consisted of the following
eight titles - Army and Navy Comics, Bill Barnes American Ace Comics,
Doc Savage Comics, Pioneer Picture Stories, Shadow Comics, Sports
Comics (later True Sports Picture Stories), Super Magician Comics, and
Trail Blazer Comics (later Trail Blazer Picture Stories).  I'm not
sure why the circulation data for the group below is reported only on
a quarterly basis, unless these were all quarterly titles. If they ARE
all quarterlies, then to calculate the average circulation of any one
title, divide the figures below by eight.  Otherwise, go punt -
because I don't have a clue how to guesstimate the individual
circulations at this point.
Third quarter 1941 - 1,082,466
Fourth quarter 1941 - 1,405,278
All American Comics Group:  The All American group consisted of the
following three titles (one more than in last year's reporting period)
- All American Comics, Flash Comics, and Sensation Comics.  To
estimate the average monthly circulation of any one title, divide the
numbers below by three.
Jan 1942 -- 607,025
Feb 1942 -- 649,188
Mar 1942 -- 629,683
Apr 1942 -- 589,121
May 1942 -- 641,492
Jun 1942 -- 596,154
Jul 1942 - 627,290
Aug 1942 - 691,572
Sep 1942 - 806,603
Oct 1942 - 889,803
Nov 1942 - 929,709
Dec 1942 - 970,744
Comic House Group:  The Comic House Group consisted of the following
three bimonthly titles - Boy Comics, Crime Does Not Pay, and
Daredevil.  To figure out the average bimonthly circulation totals for
any one title, divide the total by three.
Jan-Feb 1943 - 767,929
Mar-Apr 1943 - 838,491
May-Jun 1943 - 923,991
Famous Funnies/Heroic Comics Group.  When this ABC reporting period
started, the only title being tracked was Famous Funnies.  Part-way
through the reporting period, the publisher added another title to the
tracking process, in effect making a group of two titles.  And from
the looks of the numbers, Heroic comics must have started out as a
bimonthly.
Jul 1942 - 205,493 (FF only)
Aug 1942 - 226,995 (FF only)
Sep 1942 - 279,705 (FF only)
Oct 1942 - 237,332 (FF only)
Nov 1942 - 234,611 (FF only)
Dec 1942 - 407,395
Jan 1943 - 265,717
Feb 1943 - 407,165
Mar 1943 - 266,753
Apr 1943 - 469,819
May 1943 - 273,623
Jun 1943 - 524,723
National Comics Group (Quarterly Unit):  National's quarterly unit was
separate from their monthly unit, and consisted of the following seven
titles - All-Star Comics (BM), Comic Cavalcade (Q), All-Flash Comics
(BM), Wonder Woman (BM), Boy Commandos (Q), Leading Comics (Q), and
World's Finest Comics (Q).  What really makes these numbers difficult
to make individual title circulation assumptions from is the fact that
there are bimonthly titles mixed with quarterlies in the final
circulation tallies.  I think the best way to guess an individual
title's average unit circulation is to divide each quarterly total
below by 10.  This is assuming the three bimonthly titles would have
two issues published in any quarterly period.  Hence, quarterlies (4)
+ bimonthlies (3x2=6) gives you a total of 10 equivalent units per
quarter.  (BM) denotes bimonthly; (Q) denotes quarterly.
First quarter 1943 - 3,707,593
Second quarter 1943 - 4,752,155
Quality Comics Group:  The Quality group consisted of the following
nine titles - Feature Comics, Doll Man Quarterly, Smash Comics, Crack
Comics, Hit Comics, Military Comics, National Comics, Police Comics,
and Uncle Sam Quarterly.  The ABC pamphlets break down which month the
quarterly issues are published, unfortunately, I did not have time to
copy all that info down.  Keep in mind the numbers below are the
cumulative totals of ALL titles published in that month.
Jan 1942 - 1,117,696
Feb 1942 - 1,243,309
Mar 1942 - 865,696
Apr 1942 - 765,426
May 1942 - 711,809
Jun 1942 - 964,086
Jul 1942 - 1,006,411
Aug 1942 - 913,406
Sep 1942 - 1,419,546
Oct 1942 - 1,702,093
Nov 1942 - 1,327,729
Dec 1942 - 1,863,778
Street & Smith Comics Group:  The S&S group consists of the following
titles (Due to a little confusion in my notes on my part, I'm placing
question marks in the two places I'm not sure about) - Army and Navy
Comics (becomes Supersnipe???), Bill Barnes America's Ace Comics, Doc
Savage Comics, Pioneer Picture Stories, Shadow Comics, Super Magician
Comics, Trail Blazers Picture Stories (becomes Red Dragon???), and
True Sport Picture Stories.  Again, I don't know if these are all
quarterly titles or not, it's just that they were only reported by ABC
on a quarterly basis.  The numbers below are cumulative totals of all
books in the group.
First quarter 1942 - 1,247,032
Second quarter 1942 -- 1,541,438
Third quarter 1942 - 1,912,254
Fourth quarter 1942 - 2,263,605
True Comics:  This is one title, making the actual monthly circulation
a no-brainer.
July 1942 - 272,866
Aug 1942 - 304,088
Sep 1942 - 344,466
Oct 1942 - 346,636
Nov 1942 - 337,841
Dec 1942 - 324,303
That's it for this time around -- there's more to follow.
Any help that can be obtained from possible older DC archives would be
appreciated.  I have been conducting an intensive examination of the scope
and breadth of the entire comics field.
***********************************
Detective Comics Group
consisting of Action, Adventure, Detective and More Fun Comics
extrapolating figures Russ obtained from Audit Bureau of Circulation
and other information I have gotten from Mike Uslan.  Maybe Mike has more
info.
Unless I missed something in Russ's posts, we only have A.B.C. sales
figures from July 1938 onwards.  Anything earlier?
TOTAL SALES  ACTION SALES DIFFERENCE AVERAGE OF
for all four titles      OTHER THREE
   #1  130,000 *
Jul 38 494,136  #2  136,000 358,136  119,379
Aug 38 596,480  #3  159,000 437,480  145,827
Sep 38 639,027  #4  190,000 449,027  149,675
Oct 38 647,599  #5  197,000 450,599  150,200
Nov 38 604,671  #6  195,000 409,671  136,557
Dec 38 667,166  #7  222,000 * 445,166  148,389
Jan 39 709,879  #8  227,000 482,880  160,960
Feb 39 751,549  #9  263,000 488,549  162,850
Mar 39 795,029  10  316,000 * 479,029  159,676
Apr 39 830,163  11  340,000 490,163  163,388
May 39 895,866  12  375,000 520,866  173,622
Jun 39 955,203  13  415,000 * 540,203  180,068
Jul 39 1,081,564 14  445,000 636,564  212,188
Aug 39 1,299,364 15  550,000 * 749,364  249,788
Sep 39 1,393,010 16  625,000 768,010  256,003
Asterisk (*) denotes Superman cover.  What this doesn't take into account
is when DC listed SUPERMAN #1 (Summer) which appeared for sale in June 1939
with the following history:
#1 FIRST PRINT 500,000
#1 2ND PRINT 250,000
#1 3RD PRINT 150,000
TOTAL   900,000
***************************
We need to figure out when SUPERMAN #2 2nd and 3rd printings came out to
factor the numbers plus SUPERMAN #2 appeared towards the end of 1939:
#2 FIRST PRINT 850,000
#2 2ND PRINT 150,000
TOTAL               1,000,000
to be worked upon yet:
Oct 39 1,432,218
Nov 39 1,406,917
Dec 39 1,465,712
Jan 40 1,585,654
Feb 40 1,828,124

plus NEW YORK WORLD'S FAIR 1939 figures into the mix for the above numbers.
We need a reporting date if it was ever reported at all.
***************************************
Here are Russ's other ABC circ numbers for DC Comics so I can keep this
archive nice & tidy.
Mar 40 1,823, 896
Apr 40 1,810,849
May 40 1,808,054
Jun 40 1,594,200
Jul 40 1,627,640
Aug 40 1,861,608
Sep 40 1,900,028
Oct 40 1,898,962
Nov 40 1,880,820
Dec 40 1,755,773
Jan 41 1,928,672
Feb 41 2,068,866
Mar 41 1,749,874
Apr 41 1,728,487
May 41 1,685,821
Jun 41 1,318,985
Jul 41 1,332,540
Aug 41 1,403,395
Sep 41 1,549,118
Oct 41 1,381,544
Nov 41 1,181,324
Dec 41 1,233,261
Note:  Beginning with January 1942, Star Spangled Comics has been added to
the Detective Comics group's circulation totals, making a total of five
titles in the group.
Jan 42 1,363,886
Feb 42 1,364,307
Mar 42 1,509,812
Apr 42 1,360,771
May 42 1,347,487
Jun 42 1,338,917
Jul 42 1,462,750
Aug 42 1,505,136
Sep 42 1,839,439
Oct 42 1,966,019
Nov 42 2,013,468
Dec 42 1,847,213
All American Comics Group:  The All American group consisted of the
following three titles (one more than in last year's reporting period)
- All American Comics, Flash Comics, and Sensation Comics.  To
estimate the average monthly circulation of any one title, divide the
numbers below by three.
Jan 1942 -- 607,025
Feb 1942 -- 649,188
Mar 1942 -- 629,683
Apr 1942 -- 589,121
May 1942 -- 641,492
Jun 1942 -- 596,154
Jul 1942 -- 627,290
Aug 1942 -- 691,572
Sep 1942 -- 806,603
Oct 1942 -- 889,803
Nov 1942-- 929,709
Dec 1942 -- 970,744
Note:  Beginning with January 1943, Detective Comics Group was redesignated
National Comics Group, incorporating 11 titles from four "different"
companies.  Detective Comics, Inc., included Action, Adventure, Batman,
Detective, More Fun, and Star-Spangled Comics;  JoLaine Publications, Inc.,
published Green Lantern Comics;  J.R. Publishing Co., included All-American,
Flash, and Sensation Comics; and Superman, Inc., published Superman Comics.
This clumping of titles makes it more difficult to guesstimate individual
title circulations.
Jan 43 4,772,559
Feb 43 5,170,229
Mar 43 4,780,450
Apr 43 4,134,302
May 43 4,191,653
Jun 43 3,898,392
Note:  Some comics historians have speculated that there was a surge in
comic sales during World War II due to the fact that many servicemembers
supposedly read comics in great numbers.  A note in the ABC circulation
pamphlet for average sales for the six months ending June 30, 1943 casts
serious doubt on that theory.  The note read as follows:  "Net single copy
sales to Men in Service averaging 3,261 copies per group (per month),
representing copies sold in bulk to War Department."  The reason the note
says "per group" is because also included in the pamphlet were the
circulation figures for National's "Quarterly Unit," which I haven't
included in this 'zine.  In any case, an average of only 3,261 copies of
National's comics per month went directly to the War Department's PXs in
1943. The rest of the average circulation per month (4,226,613) were sold by
newsdealers.  So direct sales of National's comics to the War Department was
really just a paltry drop in the bucket.  This is not to say that GIs didn't
buy comics at their local Walgreens or something and carry them to places
overseas.  But there was apparently nothing like the equivalent government
sponsored paperback program for the comics industry - at least not in 1943.
National Comics Group (Quarterly Unit):  National's quarterly unit was
separate from their monthly unit, and consisted of the following seven
titles - All-Star Comics (BM), Comic Cavalcade (Q), All-Flash Comics
(BM), Wonder Woman (BM), Boy Commandos (Q), Leading Comics (Q), and
World's Finest Comics (Q).  What really makes these numbers difficult
to make individual title circulation assumptions from is the fact that
there are bimonthly titles mixed with quarterlies in the final
circulation tallies.  I think the best way to guess an individual
title's average unit circulation is to divide each quarterly total
below by 10.  This is assuming the three bimonthly titles would have
two issues published in any quarterly period.  Hence, quarterlies (4)
+ bimonthlies (3x2=6) gives you a total of 10 equivalent units per
quarter.  (BM) denotes bimonthly; (Q) denotes quarterly.
First quarter 1943 - 3,707,593
Second quarter 1943 - 4,752,155
Note:  Data from Jul 43 through Jun 44 not transcribed. Circulation data
below is still based on the 11 National Comics Group titles listed earlier.
Jul 44 4,738,317
Aug 44 4,945,727
Sep 44 5,269,861
Oct 44 5,362,669
Nov 44 5,328,510
Dec 44 5,019,734
Jan 45 5,144,925
Feb 45 5,401,673
Mar 45 5,317,467
Apr 45 4,925,711
May 45 4,540,463
Jun 45 4,518,967
Note:  Data from Jul 45 through Jun 49 not transcribed. Circulation data
below is for National Comics' Blue Unit, which consists of the following 19
titles: Action, Star Spangled, Sensation, All American Western, Batman, Date
With Judy, Leave it to Binky, Funny Folks, Real Screen, Superboy, Mr.
District Attorney, Wonder Woman, World's Finest, Buzzy, Animal Antics, Alan
Ladd, Jimmy Wakely, Peter Porkchops, and Miss Melody Lane.
Jul 49 3,372,786
Aug 49 4,065,464
Sep 49 4,421,716
Oct 49 4,091,799
Nov 49 4,181,928
Dec 49 3,917,153
Jan 50 3,854,656
Feb 50 4,334,984
Mar 50 3,913,729
Apr 50  4,010,162
May 50 3,448,955
Jun 50 3,729,116
Note: Circulation data below is for National Comics' Red Unit, which
consists of the following 20 titles:  Detective, Adventure, Funny Stuff,
Mutt & Jeff, Gangbusters, All Star, Comic Cavalcade, Leading, Scribbly,
Ozzie & Harriet, Superman, Dale Evans, Miss Beverly Hills, Romance Trail,
Western, Boy Commandos, Real Facts, Bob Hope, Peter Porkchops (Transferred
from Blue Group Jan/Feb 50), and Feature Films.
Jul 49 3,758,229
Aug 49 3,546,216
Sep 49 4,521,347
Oct 49 3,899,713
Nov 49 3,696,278
Dec 49 3,556,656
Jan 50 3,585,858
Feb 50 4,225,909
Mar 50 4,004,854
Apr 50  3,943,393
May 50 3,379,022
Jun 50 3,589,073
There is more, but I cut it here.  This is to give you an idea of part of
what I am up to.  Many moons ago when you and Mike Uslan were intern cubs,
the DC archives contained a wealth of older corporate records.  It would be
a shame if that early history were actually gone.
Best,
Robert Beerbohm
Here's the sixth chunk of data I gleaned from the microfilm files of
the Audit Bureau of Circulations in Schaumburg, Ill.
One more straggler listing from 1942...
United Features Comics Group:  The United Features group consists of
the following three titles - Tip Top Comics, Comics on Parade, and
Sparkler Comics
Note:  after this point, I started skipping ahead, because I knew I
was running out of time (I had to finish up and be out of ABC by 3
p.m. - their rules).  But between 1937 and the last listing, I went
through every single periodical listed in the ABC microfilm.  So if
you didn't see a company or group of titles whose circulation you were
curious about, ABC didn't track it during those six years.  Sorry.
1944-45 listings
Famous Funnies-Heroic Comics (Group).  This group consisted of the two
titles listed in the name of the croup.  Again, judging by the numbers
below, I'd hazard a guess that one of the two titles is a bimonthly.
Jul 1944 - 422,715
Aug 1944 - 823,680
Sep 1944 - 455,392
Oct 1944 - 866,734
Nov 1944 - 451,832
Dec 1944 - 865,134
Jan 1945 - 452,654
Feb 1945 - 862,359
Mar 1945 - 450,044
Apr 1945 - 927,337
May 1945 - 477,405
Jun 1945 - 934,996
4Most Comics:  This is a single title, so circulation calculations are
easy
Fall 1944 - 403,999
Winter 1944 - 401,679
Magazine House Group:  the Magazine House Group consisted of the
following three titles - Boy Comics, Crime Does Not Pay, and
Daredevil.  To calculate the average monthly circulation of any one
title, divide the numbers below by three.  I'm assuming all three
titles are bimonthly, of course.
Aug/Sep 1944 - 1,854,000
Oct/Nov 1944 - 1,882,397
Dec 1944/Jan 1945 - 1,856,624
Feb/Mar 1945 - 1,980,553
Apr/May 1945 - 1,968,834
National Comics Group Quarterly Unit:  I have previously given the
figures for the monthly National titles, but here are the quarterly
unit figures.  The quarterly group consisted of the following 12
titles (note:  as I mentioned in my previous National quarterly
figures, some of these titles are actually bimonthly.  Unfortunately,
for these figures, I did not copy down which ones.  But that shouldn't
be too hard to figure out, based on my previous quarterly listing) --
All Star, Funny Stuff, Buzzy, Real Screen Funnies, Comic Cavalcade,
Mutt & Jeff, All Flash, All Funny, Wonder Woman, Boy Commandos,
Leading, and World's Finest.  Remember that the numbers below are a
cumulative sales total of all 12 titles published during a quarter.
Third quarter 1944 - 5,008,843
Fourth quarter 1944 -- 5,137,887
First quarter 1945 - 5,224,594
Second quarter 1945 - 6,214,952
Premium Group of Comics:  The Premium group consisted of the following
two titles - Target Comics and Blue Bolt Comics.  To calculate the
average monthly sales of one title, divide the numbers below by two.
Note: It looks as if these titles started out as bimonthlies when the
reporting period started, and then changed to monthlies in November
1944.
Jul/Aug 1944 - 799,871
Sep/Oct 1944 - 797,027
Nov 1944 - 799,598
Dec 1944 - 791,749
Quality Comics Group:  The Quality group consisted of the following
seven titles - Feature Comics, Smash Comics, Crack Comics, Hit Comics,
Military Comics, National Comics, and Police Comics.  To calculate the
average monthly circulation of any one title, divide the numbers below
by seven.
Jan 1944 -- 1,746,482
Feb 1944 - 1,701,442
Mar 1944 - 1,668,297
Apr 1944 - 2,143,548
May 1944 - 1,675,992
Jun 1944 - 887,967
Jul 1944 - 1,084,051
Aug 1944 - 1,684,062
Sep 1944 - 1,591,434
Oct 1944 - 1,689,975
Nov 1944 - 1,094,863
Dec 1944 - 1,489,323
Street & Smith Comics Group:  The S&S group consisted of the following
five titles - Air Ace, Shadow, Super Magician, Supersnipe, and True
Sport Picture Stories.  To calculate the average monthly circulation
of any one title, divide the numbers below by five.
Jul 1944 -- 1,134,367
Aug 1944 - 1,025,702
Sep 1944 - 1,217,059
Oct 1944 - 1,066,329
Nov 1944 - 1,202,431
Dec 1944 - 1,094,595
Jan 1945 - 1,204,098
Feb 1945 - 1,051,740
Mar 1945 - 1,214,056
Apr 1945 - 1,067,254
May 1945 - 1,242,365
Jun 1945 - 1,107,556
Thrilling Comics Group:  The Thrilling group consisted of the
following 10 titles - Exciting, Startling, Thrilling, America's Best,
Black Terror, Coo Coo, Fighting Yank, Goofy, Happy, and Real Life.  To
calculate the average monthly circulation of any one title, divide the
numbers below by 10.
Jul 1944 - 2,183,048
Aug 1944 - 1,750,112
Sep 1944 - 1,823,727
Oct 1944 - 1,804,086
Nov 1944 - 1,873,539
Dec 1944 - 1,809,092
Jan 1945 - 2,363,437
Feb 1945 - 1,957,032
Mar 1945 - 1,925,547
Apr 1945 - 1,959,213
May 1945 - 2,772,260
Jun 1945 - 2,135,579
True Comics:  This is a single title. Note:  The data below for
Sep/Oct is correct.  This is precisely how it was listed in the ABC
pamphlet.
Jan 1944 - 475,607
Feb 1944 - 534,614
Mar 1944 - 528,557
Apr 1944 - 506,829
May 1944 - 506,289
Jun 1944 -- 500,087
Jul 1944 - 490,439
Aug 1944 - 505,831
Sep/Oct 1944 - 530,851
Nov 1944 - 559,625
Dec 1944 - 546,040
(Skipped the United Features Comic Group listing for 1944)
That's it for now.  The next listing will jump to 1949-50
Russ Maheras>>
 
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Sqeggs

Sqeggs

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On 4/10/2018 at 7:04 PM, MrBedrock said:

I think Dell was #1

Even during 1939-1945?  I know they had a huge circulation during the 1950s.  I seem to remember reading that, at its peak in the 1950s, WDC&S was selling something like 4 million copies per issue.

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telerites

telerites

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15 hours ago, Sqeggs said:

Even during 1939-1945?  I know they had a huge circulation during the 1950s.  I seem to remember reading that, at its peak in the 1950s, WDC&S was selling something like 4 million copies per issue.

The high circulation in the 50s makes sense.  Both Mickey Mouse Club and Wonderful World of Disney tv shows debuted in 1955 and 1954.  And every other comic save DC and Classics was being burned by Werthamites :nyah:

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Sqeggs

Sqeggs

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20 minutes ago, telerites said:
15 hours ago, Sqeggs said:

Even during 1939-1945?  I know they had a huge circulation during the 1950s.  I seem to remember reading that, at its peak in the 1950s, WDC&S was selling something like 4 million copies per issue.

The high circulation in the 50s makes sense.  Both Mickey Mouse Club and Wonderful World of Disney tv shows debuted in 1955 and 1954.  And every other comic save DC and Classics was being burned by Werthamites :nyah:

I think demographics played a role as well, with the first wave of baby boomers hitting the prime ages to read funny animal books. 

Another point occurs to me wrt the effects of Wertham:  Presumably, newsstands in the 1950s had for a couple of decades been devoting substantial space to comics.  With whole genres disappearing, sales of many DC and Atlas titles falling off, the disappearance of Fawcett after they settled the suit with DC, EC abandoning comics, and St. John closing, Dell may have been able to expand into the newly available shelf space.

I don't know how important that was, but it seems to make sense that it may have been another factor helping Dell reach such a large circulation.

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Sqeggs

Sqeggs

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11 minutes ago, Microbia said:

 How did Dell manage to escape the CCA?  Were their books just “too wholesome“? 

Here's a thread from a few years ago.  Note the circulation number mentioned in the Dell ad. 

 

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Scrooge

Scrooge

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18 hours ago, Sqeggs said:

I seem to remember reading that, at its peak in the 1950s, WDC&S was selling something like 4 million copies per issue.

From Funnybooks - The improbable glories of the best American comic books by Michael Barrier (2015) - Page 297 -

"As Western's comic books flourished in the late 1940s and early 1950s, WDCS was easily the most successful, accounting for about 10 percent of all the Dell comics printed. The print run - the number of copies on which Western paid a royalty to Disney - crested at 3,038,000 copies with the September 1953 issue [1]. The figures for the Dell line as a whole were no less impressive: an in-house publication said that year that "we create and manufacture no less than 375,000,000 comic magazines annually, at the current rate of 30,000,000 or more per month, or about 1,400,000 to 1,500,000 every working day."[2]"

[1] - Malcolm Willits, "George Sherman: an interview with another one of the 'Men behind the Mouse'", Vanguard (a comic book fan magazine published by Robert Latona), 1968, p. 34.

[2] - Those figures are in a "Family Day" program for Western's Poughkeepsie plant, undated but datable through internal evidence to 1953. Thanks to Dana Gabbard for providing photocopies of two such programs, both originating with the Poughkeepsie Public Library.

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Scrooge

Scrooge

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Going back to the late '40's, here's the info I could gather from Barrier's book -

Page 164 - "By 1947, Western Printing was paying Walt Disney Productions royalties  on more than two million copies of WDCS every month. Most remarkably, hundreds of thousands of those comic books were going to mail subscribers who sent K.K. Publications a dollar for twelve monthly issues. "At its peak," the Western executive Howard Anderson wrote, "we had over 400,000 paid subscribers to Disney Comics, ran a direct mail campaign every fall using a self-mailer with only full cash payment up front and felt that any mailing not generating a 3 percent pull" - about twice a typical return rate for direct mail - "was unsuccessful!""

Page 166 - "Dell had published only one Donald Duck one-shot each year from 1942 to 1946, but for 1947 there would be three. The print runs, which had hovered around a million copies of each issue, began to rise as the nagging postwar paper shortages finally began to ease: for the first 1947 issue, Four Color no. 147, Western Printing paid royalties to Disney on more than 1.2 million copies."

 

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Scrooge

Scrooge

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Page 192 - "The number of copies [of WDCS] on which Disney received royalties - the number of copies printed - ranged in the course of the year [1950] from 2.5 million to 2.875 million, with the high figure for the August 1950 issue, the low for the November 1950 issue."

Page 192 - "The figures for Donald Duck showed a similar patterns with summer print runs higher. Print runs for that title actually rose in 1951, to well above two million copies per issue [..]"

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AJD

AJD

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5 hours ago, Scrooge said:

From Funnybooks - The improbable glories of the best American comic books by Michael Barrier (2015) - Page 297 -

"As Western's comic books flourished in the late 1940s and early 1950s, WDCS was easily the most successful, accounting for about 10 percent of all the Dell comics printed. The print run - the number of copies on which Western paid a royalty to Disney - crested at 3,038,000 copies with the September 1953 issue [1]. The figures for the Dell line as a whole were no less impressive: an in-house publication said that year that "we create and manufacture no less than 375,000,000 comic magazines annually, at the current rate of 30,000,000 or more per month, or about 1,400,000 to 1,500,000 every working day."[2]"

 

That's staggering.

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thunsicker

thunsicker

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Posted (edited)

So I was googling this exact question and came up with this thread.  Scrooge gave tons of information, but I'm not sure if this has the information asked contained within it and there is too much for me to go through to determine if it does.  Did anyone use this to figure out the OP question?  In the early days  ('38-'45) I assume DC was #1, was Timely #2?  Dell?  Quality?  Fawcett?

Edited by thunsicker
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