Marvel’s Midnight Universe Launch Sells Over One Million Copies

Here’s a million dollar idea: sell more than one million copies of Marvel’s Midnight Universe comic books at launch. And while we don’t know exactly how it breaks down title by title, Marvel has indeed announced that the three launch books for the new universe have collectively surpassed one million copies in orders.

I’ll put my usual caveat here that this is sales to comic book stores, not to customers. It can include pre-orders customers made, but also includes multiple copies bought by stores to snag rare variants, or just have copies on hand for midnight sales events on October 7. But any way you cut it: dang, that’s an average of 333,333 copies per book, which is a lot of comics.

Also perhaps of note? These are the only three titles Marvel is putting on sale on October 7. While the publisher doesn’t share sales figures regularly, it would be interesting to see what kind of orders it gets on a regular week, i.e. one with 10+ comics being released.

In response, Marvel has already announced second printings of the launch books, which will hit on October 28 and feature, per PR from Marvel, “fully revealed versions of the regular cloaked covers by Steve Beach, Kev Walker and Dike Ruan.”

Here’s the official synopsis/tease of the Midnight Universe, which includes Midnight Spider-Man, Midnight Fantastic Four, and Midnight X-Men. For more on the former, check out our interview with writer Phillip Kennedy Johnson, it sounds like a million bucks.

Blending the power of Marvel Comics storytelling with the thrills of horror, Midnight is a bold, interconnected new Universe that completely reimagines the Marvel mythos through a horror lens. In the debut issues, readers will witness the cursed fate of mutantkind, the gruesome transformation of Peter Parker, and the lengths the Fantastic Four are willing to go in the name of scientific discovery. And this is only the beginning for the creator’s long-term vision for this new publishing line! 

Comic Book Club Live Info:

Want to watch Comic Book Club live? We stream every Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET on YouTube and Twitch. Come hang out, and ask questions of our guests (and us!). And you could potentially win a $25 gift card to Midtown Comics. You can check out a current list of upcoming guests and other live appearances on our Shows page.