Marc-Oliver Frisch writes: DC Comics’ successful “Sinestro Corps War” and “Resurrection of Ra’s al Ghul” crossovers both concluded in December, and with Green Lantern #25 and Justice League of America #15, two bestselling stragglers from November helped to touch up the performance. The big new launch in December was the weekly Countdown: Arena miniseries, whose numbers don’t particularly impress, but are better than those of previous Countdown spin-offs. In other news, Birds of Prey and The Legion of Super-Heroes got new creative teams, and the Western miniseries Bat Lash debuted. The average periodical numbers of the mainstream DC Universe line weren’t especially high compared to the rest of the year, but were up from their low point in November.

The publisher’s Vertigo and WildStorm imprints continued a slow recovery in December, meanwhile, in terms of average periodical sales. At Vertigo, the modest increase was due to Brian Wood’s ongoing Viking saga Northlanders, which launched with fairly decent numbers. At WildStorm, as there were no new launches in December, the slight upturn was mostly due to the absence of a number of low-selling titles. Overall, DC’s average sales in December were stronger than they had been for most of the year, rebounding from their low point in November. It’s safe to say that 2007 wasn’t a banner year for DC’s periodical business, compared to previous years and to the competition, but they’re ending it on a moderately optimistic note.

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