Legion sales data: Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics for January 2020 (LSH v8 #3)

The drop from issue #1 to #2 was due to it being a #2 with two covers (instead of four) and no flight ring, so it's completely expected that sales would drop. The drop from #2 to #3, however, is very small and very hopeful for a quick leveling off of sales - but that remains to be seen.

LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES (volume 8) #3 - January 15, 2020

Issue 3 had two variants: one $3.99 regular cover and one $4.99 cardstock cover. Sales data below via Comichron.

LSH volume 8 #3 Standard cover Art by Ryan Sook	LSH volume 8 #3 Cheung cardstock variant Art by Jim Cheung

TL;DR version: LSH #3 sold 34,732 copies (down from 35,653 the previous month) and was the #44 book for the month and the #15 DC book. 

Context:

• Combining both covers, LSH #3 was the #44 book for the month, with total sales of 34,732 (down from 35,653 the previous month). It was the #15 book for DC (behind 9 Batman or Harley Quinn books, 3 Superman books, and 1 JLA and 1 Wonder Woman). The #1 book of the month was Wonder Woman #750 with sales of 167,377.
• The $3.99 regular cover was the #63 book for January 2020, with sales of  26,933 (down from 27,177 the previous month). It was the #19 DC book.
• The $4.99 cardstock cover variant was the #82 DC book and the #230 overall book for January, with sales of 7,799 (down from 8,476 the previous month). 
• Too early to guesstimate the point where sales will level off, where the book has found its base, but after the large drop from issue #1 to #2, there was a surprisingly small drop from #2 to #3.
• Digital sales of issues are generally not known to the public, but anecdotally the digital market as a whole is about 10% of the traditional market. This does not necessarily apply to any particular comic from any particular company. Diamond does not report digital sales, and it's the Diamond data going to Comichron.

Color key for tables below:

• Brown = 5 Years Later
• Orange = Reboot
• Green = Threeboot
• Yellow = Retroboot/New 52
• White = Rebirth
• Blue = none of the above

LSH v8 sales and rank 

Issue	Total sales (all covers)	overall #	DC #	#1 book
1	75,611	10	3	138,434
2	35,653	50	17	117,926
3	34,732	44	15	167,377

Sales drop historical comparison: ongoing series *

Date	Title	#1 to #2	#2 to #3	#3 to #4
Dec 1989	LSH v4 (5 Years Later)	-33.5%	-10.2%	+2.5%
Dec 2001	The Legion	-14.0%	+0.0%	+0.2%
March 2005	LSH Vol 5 (Threeboot)	-19.0%	-7.7%	-7.0%
Nov 2009	Adventure Comics v3	-16.6%	-6.1%	** +91.6%
Aug 2010	LSH v6 (Retroboot)	-22.0%	-7.0%	-5.8%
Dec 2011	LSH v7 (New 52)	-20.2%	-25.9%	-20.4%
Dec 2011	Legion Lost v2	-23.2%	-26.8%	-23.1%
Oct 2019	LSH: Millennium	-18.4%	n/a	n/a
Dec 2019	LSH v8	-52.8%	-2.6%	TBD

* Note: sales data from April 1993 to October 1994 is not publicly available, which coincidentally covers the entirety of the "Legionnaires" title in the Reboot era, so that title is not included in this chart. Also not counting "Valor" or any miniseries except for "Millennium".
** Adventure Comics #4 included a Blackest Night ring promotion

What is the bottom of the sales curve?

Year	Series	Sales at series end	Notes
2000	LSH v4 (Reboot)	17,500	Series cancelled for new Abnett/Lanning Legion Lost v1
2000	Legionnaires (Reboot)	17,200	Series cancelled for new Abnett/Lanning Legion Lost v1
2004	The Legion (Reboot)	23,300	Series cancelled for Threeboot
2009	LSH v5 (Threeboot)	22,300	Series cancelled for Retroboot
2011	LSH v6 (Retroboot)	21,400	Series cancelled for New 52
2011	Adventure Comics (Retroboot)	19,200	Series cancelled for New 52
2013	LSH v7 (New 52)	15,500	Series cancelled due to sales
2013	Legion Lost v2 (New 52)	13,500	Series cancelled due to sales

Not counting miniseries, which are known to have a finite end.

Top selling Legion books, 2004-present (since the start of the Threeboot)

Rank	Cover date	Sales	Series	Issue
1	Jan 2010	85,145	Adventure Comics v3	4
2	Nov 2019	75,611	LSH v8	1
3	Oct 2008	73,914	Legion of Three Worlds	1
4	Dec 2008	64,412	Legion of Three Worlds	2
5	Apr 2009	61,358	Legion of Three Worlds	3
6	Oct 2004	61,047	Teen Titans/The Legion Special	1
7	Feb 2005	59,944	LSH v5	1
8	Feb 2010	59,876	Adventure Comics v3	5
9	Jun 2009	56,888	Legion of Three Worlds	4
10	Oct 2009	56,706	Adventure Comics v3	1
11	Sep 2009	55,970	Legion of Three Worlds	5
12	May 2006	54,826	Supergirl & the LSH	16
13	Mar 2010	53,721	Adventure Comics v3	7
14	Nov 2011	53,285	LSH v7	1
15	Jul 2010	50,106	LSH v6	1
16	Nov 2011	49,952	Legion Lost v2	1
17	Mar 2005	48,584	LSH v5	2
18	Sep 2019	48,389	LSH: Millennium	1
19	Sep 2019	47,857	Superman	15
20	Aug 2019	47,777	Superman	14
21	Jun 2006	47,697	Supergirl & the LSH	17
22	Nov 2009	47,296	Adventure Comics v3	2
23	Feb 2008	45,803	Supergirl & the LSH	37
24	Jul 2006	45,520	Supergirl & the LSH	18
25	Apr 2005	44,824	LSH v5	3
26	Dec 2009	44,431	Adventure Comics v3	3
27	Aug 2006	43,918	Supergirl & the LSH	19
28	May 2005	43,408	LSH v5	4
29	Mar 2010	42,514	Adventure Comics v3	6
30	Dec 2011	42,504	LSH v7	2
31	Sep 2006	41,679	Supergirl & the LSH	20
32	Jun 2005	41,664	LSH v5	5
33	Dec 2006	41,554	Supergirl & the LSH	23
34	Jul 2005	40,970	LSH v5	6
35	Oct 2006	39,852	Supergirl & the LSH	21
36	Oct 2019	39,489	LSH: Millennium	2
37	Apr 2010	39,351	Adventure Comics v3	8
38	Aug 2005	39,155	LSH v5	7
39	Aug 2010	39,102	LSH v6	2
40	Dec 2011	38,385	Legion Lost v2	2
41	Dec 2011	38,248	Legion Secret Origin	1
42	Dec 2011	38,248	Star Trek/Legion of Super-Heroes	1
43	Jun 2010	37,573	Adventure Comics v3	10
44	May 2010	37,515	Adventure Comics v3	9
45	Sep 2005	37,272	LSH v5	8
46	Nov 2006	36,735	Supergirl & the LSH	22
47	Sep 2010	36,360	LSH v6	3
48	Oct 2005	35,834	LSH v5	9
49	Nov 2005	35,800	LSH v5	10
50	Dec 2019	35,653	LSH v8	2
51	Jul 2010	34,794	Adventure Comics v3	11
52	Jan 2020	34,732	LSH v8	3
53	Aug 2010	34,663	Adventure Comics v3	12
54	Oct 2010	34,239	LSH v6	4
55	Dec 2005	34,100	LSH v5	11