This week’s Title Spotlight is shining on DC Comics’ Metal Men series from the ’60s. The Metal Men were created for a last-minute filler feature in Showcase #37-40 in 1962, and the characters proved popular enough for DC to give them their own bimonthly series the following year. Click to see the circulation reports for the title!
For the first few years, the average circulation on Metal Men climbed steadily, peaking in 1966. The fact that DC released circulation figures for Metal Men starting in 1964 is notable by itself; the company printed many of its circulation statements without any sales figures from 1963-65.
After 1966, sales declined sharply until the series went on hiatus at the end of 1969. The title resurfaced for three reprint issues (Metal Men #42-44) in 1973. The series returned one more time in 1976 with new stories and art by Walt Simonson, lasting until early 1979. No circulation statements were published for these periods.
Comichron founder John Jackson Miller has tracked the comics industry for more than 25 years, including a decade editing the industry’s retail trade magazine; he is the author of several guides to comics, as well as more than a hundred comic books for various franchises.
He is the author of novels including Star Wars: Kenobi, Star Wars: A New Dawn, Star Trek: Discovery – The Enterprise War, and his upcoming release, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – The High Country. Read more about them at his fiction site.
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