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Post by Red Oak Kid on Jun 19, 2016 16:52:56 GMT -5
I'm not really asking which comic book actually is/was number 1. I think that is impossible to answer.
The subject line of this thread was at the top of the Mar. 1972 issue of Superman(249).
I'm not interested in whether this was a true statement. I'm wondering if a Marvel comic book ever had something like this on the cover. I know FF had a blurb that said something like "World's Greatest Comic Mag" or something similar.
I think that at some point Spider-Man outsold Superman.
Did Marvel ever have a cover blurb that layed claim to being the Best Selling Comics Magazine?
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Post by Phil Maurice on Jun 19, 2016 17:34:27 GMT -5
Captain Marvel Adventures boasted "Largest Circulation of any Comics Magazine" and Gleason's Crime Does Not Pay claimed "Over 100 Million Copies Sold." Those were Golden Age numbers and if true, would have given Superman quite a run for his money.
I'd be skeptical that Spider-Man outsold Superman on any sort of consistent basis until well into the 70's. As an avid reader of the various Spider-Man titles through the 70s and 80s, I don't recall ever seeing a cover reference to his circulation numbers. It would be more likely that he would be referred to as Marvel's "most popular," "wildest," "grooviest," or some other largely unmeasurable description.
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Post by jkosmicki on Jun 19, 2016 19:10:55 GMT -5
I have read several interviews that discuss that part of the reason Infantino got his editorial jobs were because Marvel was outselling DC and National's management had no idea how or why. The whole 25 cent experiment where Goodman pulled back after a month also has been stated as being THE point where Marvel and DC switched roles in terms of overall sales levels
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shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,872
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Post by shaxper on Jun 19, 2016 19:42:21 GMT -5
I would expect that Dell's Four Color had circ numbers in the 1940s to place it in the Top 5 of best selling comic magazines of all time., but they never advertised this on the cover, nor did they even display the title of the magazine on most covers.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 19, 2016 20:43:45 GMT -5
I don't recall Marvel ever putting this on a cover.... |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 19, 2016 20:47:24 GMT -5
I do remember reading that Capt Marvel outsold Superman in the 40's. Also Superman was DC's best seller until the late 80's when Batman became DC's best seller. And Marvel started outselling DC sometime in the mid 70's.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Jun 19, 2016 21:07:16 GMT -5
The three issues of Fantastic Four in which the FF were Ghost Rider, Hulk, Wolverine and Spider-man had tongue -in-cheek blurbs like " the world's most commercialest magazine". Not quite what you're looking for, but trying to!
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Post by Cei-U! on Jun 20, 2016 8:32:20 GMT -5
Although I can't conjure up exact figures, the most consistent seller of the Golden and Atomic Ages was Walt Disney's Comics & Stories which, by the late '40s, sold a million copies month in and month out (buoyed by the largest subscription rate in American comics history). Titles like Crime Does Not Pay and Captain Marvel Adventures (which went bi-weekly at the peak of its popularity) might occasionally outperform it for a time but WDC&S reigned supreme right up until the Dell/Western Printing split in '62.
Cei-U!
I summon the four-color juggernaut!
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Jun 20, 2016 9:02:15 GMT -5
Although I can't conjure up exact figures, the most consistent seller of the Golden and Atomic Ages was Walt Disney's Comics & Stories which, by the late '40s, sold a million copies month in and month out (buoyed by the largest subscription rate in American comics history). Titles like Crime Does Not Pay and Captain Marvel Adventures (which went bi-weekly at the peak of its popularity) might occasionally outperform it for a time but WDC&S reigned supreme right up until the Dell/Western Printing split in '62. Cei-U! I summon the four-color juggernaut! Didn't the original Daredevil sell in those numbers as well for a while? I remember the character bragging about it to his modern counterpart in The Daredevil chronicles. A million copies a month. The mind boggles. |
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Post by MWGallaher on Jun 20, 2016 9:40:38 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Jun 20, 2016 9:48:20 GMT -5
Speaking of superlatives in cover blurbs, I've long been a little amused by Marvel's mid-70's hangup on declaring their characters "The most _______ of all!"    and    I've got a hunch that I'm still missing a few of them... I never thought of that and I like your thinking here and you've nailed it in a totally unique way! |
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Post by speakerdad on Jun 20, 2016 18:15:44 GMT -5
I can't count how many times I've seen those '70's Marvels (not to mention owning quite a few) and never made "The most _______ of all!" cover blurb connections. Shame on me!
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Post by Nowhere Man on Jun 22, 2016 15:44:37 GMT -5
"The Latest and Greatest Team of All!" Not reaching for superlatives or hyperbolic with that one. Not only was Power Man & Iron Fist new, they were also greater than the Avengers, the X-Men and the FF!
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Post by Batflunkie on Jun 22, 2016 17:11:29 GMT -5
Captain Marvel Adventures boasted "Largest Circulation of any Comics Magazine" and Gleason's Crime Does Not Pay claimed "Over 100 Million Copies Sold." Those were Golden Age numbers and if true, would have given Superman quite a run for his money. I think what gave and still gives Captain Marvel that kind of popularity is the fact that it's roots are steeped in mythology without being explicitly "magic based" like say Dr. Fate in More Fun Comics. It also had a more salt of the earth main character, an orphan who sells newspapers and later hosts a radio program who can turn into a full grown powerhouse with a single flick of the tounge. This isn't to say that I don't think that Superman isn't "down to earth", but he still has that "outsider looking in" thing going for him as he's a humanoid alien who can never truly be an earthling no matter how hard he tries |
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Post by hondobrode on Jun 22, 2016 17:39:22 GMT -5
Kids having instant wish fulfillment / empowerment. What's not to like ?
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