Diamond Comic Distributors has announced that DC Entertainment captured the dollar share and unit share during the month of September – the month the company hit the shelves with its zero month initiative.
In the last couple of months when DC and Marvel have exchanged ranking jabs, DC jumped above Marvel by 3% in the dollar share column, and more than 8% in the number of issues sold. This is big news for DC, but the win has to feel bittersweet considering Marvel took the top ten spot with Avengers vs. X-Men #11.
RANK | TITLE | PRICE | PUBLISHER |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AVENGERS VS X-MEN #11 | $3.99 | MAR |
| 2 | BATMAN #0 | $3.99 | DC |
| 3 | JUSTICE LEAGUE #0 | $3.99 | DC |
| 4 | GREEN LANTERN #0 | $2.99 | DC |
| 5 | DETECTIVE COMICS #0 | $3.99 | DC |
| 6 | ACTION COMICS #0 | $3.99 | DC |
| 7 | BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT #0 | $2.99 | DC |
| 8 | BATMAN AND ROBIN #0 | $2.99 | DC |
| 9 | EARTH 2 #0 | $2.99 | DC |
| 10 | BATMAN INCORPORATED #0 | $2.99 | DC |
Though this information seems to be great for the comic industry, when one compares September sales to August numbers, the comic market dropped by nearly 12% on the dollar side, with nearly 10% fewer comics sold. The year to year data (Sept. 2012 vs. Sept. 2011) also so a drop, with comics dropping just over 4% on the dollar side, and nearly 9% on the number of issues sold. Overall, comic sales continue to be higher than 2011 by 17%.
We should have the complete list of the top 300 comics sold in the direct market on Monday.
via Diamond Comic Distributors
I’m suprised that sales were only down 9% year-over-year, given that DC released 51 new #1 issues last September.