Category Archives: Top 300 Comics

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Top 300 Comics for September 2011

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Diamond Comic Distributors has released the ranking of the top 300 comics sold in the direct market in September 2011.  We’ve already taken a look at the top ten, but now with the complete list, we have a better look at how the rest of DC’s 52 fared.

The good news is all of the 52 books finished in the Top 100 comics sold, but the placement of some of the books may surprise many.  Demon Knights, which has become a favorite of many, placed 72nd on the list, with titles like Mister Terrific, Static Shock and and Grifter falling further down on the list.

Which title had the lowest sales in the relaunch? Omac #1 by Dan DiDio, Kieth Giffen, and Scott Koblish.

Take the jump for the complete list to see where your favorite titles landed during the month.

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Top 300 Comics for August 2011

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Diamond Comic Distributors has released its listing of the Top 300 Comics Sold in the Direct Market for August 2011.  As previously reported, Justice League and Flashpoint took the top two spots, with reported numbers in the 200,000 range.  That seems really good to a point, but when you look at the Index ranking and see that Justice League sold at least three times the number of Batman comics, that isn’t good super great.

Take the jump to see the complete list for August, which you can sort and search to pull your own nuggets of information out of the data.

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MARKET SHARE: Top 300 Comics for July 2011

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The Top 300 Comics for July 2011 list has been released by Diamond Comic Distributors. As we touched on last week, it was a pretty even split between Marvel and DC when it came to the Top 10, with each company posting five titles each.  However, when it comes to total issues sold, Marvel did better with four titles in the top five.

In fact, Marvel and DC dominated the sales charts in July, with the first non-big-two title coming from Image Comics with Walking Dead #87. That title placed 51st on the list, up one spot from June 2011.

After that, one has to drop way down past 100 to the number 103 spot occupied by Aspen Comics Lady Mechanika #2, which received a fair amount of publicity during the solicitation period.

Overall July sales were down from June by 5.25%, but one needs to take into account that June had 5 shipping weeks, compared to July’s four.  That might be some relief, but it won’t last long as year-to-year sales continue to drop from 2010, with overall sales down 7%.

Take the jump for the Major Spoilers Top 300 List, that you can search, and pull more interesting facts from on your own.

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Top 300 Comics for June 2011

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It shouldn’t come as any surprise that Marvel once again took the top spot when it comes to the number of comics sold in the month of June 2011. The company publishes far more titles than anyone else, thus the market share race is always going to come out with the House of Ideas on top, and DC Comics coming in second.

Where the battle really becomes interesting is when we examine the Top 10 comics from the month. Interestingly, it wasn’t Fear Itself or Flashpoint fighting for the top spot, but rather Ultimate (comics) Spider-Man #160 – the Death of Peter Parker that took the gold.  Spider-Man helped Marvel clean house in the Top 10, bringing in seven titles, against DC’s three.

As far as the rest of the publisher’s go, Image Comics took third, with Dark Horse and IDW Publishing close behind.

PUBLISHER
DOLLAR
SHARE
UNIT
SHARE
MARVEL COMICS39.32%43.04%
DC COMICS28.03%33.17%
IMAGE COMICS5.85%5.30%
DARK HORSE COMICS5.28%3.21%
IDW PUBLISHING3.76%3.22%
DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT3.49%3.30%
BOOM! STUDIOS1.95%1.62%
VIZ MEDIA1.36%0.58%
ZENESCOPE ENTERTAINMENT0.95%1.03%
ARCHIE COMICS0.79%1.00%
OTHER NON-TOP 109.22%4.52%

Fortunately, when compared to May, sales were up by 18%, but compared to a year ago, comic sales are down by 4.52%.

And what about the Top 300?  Take the jump for the breakdown.

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Top 300 Comics for May 2011

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The month of may looked grim once again, with no single issue selling above 100,000 in the direct market.  This puts May down 14.3% from this time last year, but only 2.66% down from the number of issues sold compared to last month. On the plus side, graphic novel sales in the direct market were up nearly 5% from the month before.

Fear Itself #2 took the top spot, beating Flashpoint #1, both $3.99 comics – though it should be pointed out that Fear Itself #2 did have an additional week on the shelf compared to Flashpoint #1.    Marvel did take six of the top ten comics for the month, which means, once again, no other publisher besides the top two cracked the Top Ten.  The closest was Image Comics’ The Walking Dead #85, which came in at the very bottom of the Top 40.  Dark Horse Comics, Image Comics, and IDW Publishing rounded out the Top Five publishers for the month when it comes to the Dollar Share perspective, but if you look at the total number of units sold, the ranking would be Marvel, DC, Image, IDW Publishing, and then Dark Horse.

Take the jump for the complete list of the Top 300 Comics sold in the direct market for May 2011, and remember our table is sortable and searchable, so you can run your own analysis.

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Top 300 Comics for March 2011

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Diamond Comics has released the top selling products that were released in the direct market during the month of March 2011.

While the top two position haven’t changed (and probably never will), those companies that come after do tend to shift around a bit. In March, Image Comics once again claimed the number three spot, followed by IDW Publishing, Dark Horse, and Dynamite Entertainment.

VendorName
DollarShare
UnitSHare
MARVEL COMICS39.63%45.28%
DC COMICS27.62%31.50%
IMAGE COMICS5.45%5.09%
IDW PUBLISHING5.03%4.14%
DARK HORSE COMICS4.27%2.86%
DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT3.02%2.74%
BOOM! STUDIOS2.09%1.66%
VIZ MEDIA1.15%0.50%
AVATAR PRESS0.96%0.80%
EAGLEMOSS PUBLICATIONS LTD0.88%0.22%
OTHER NON-TOP 109.90%5.20%
FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS0.85%0.15%
ZENESCOPE ENTERTAINMENT INC0.71%0.70%
ARCHIE COMIC PUBLICATIONS0.65%0.76%
ONI PRESS INC.0.64%0.18%
RANDOM HOUSE0.55%0.12%
HACHETTE BOOK GROUP USA0.26%0.08%
TITAN0.24%0.19%
BONGO COMICS0.23%0.22%
ARCHAIA ENTERTAINMENT LLC0.23%0.07%
SANCTUM PRODUCTIONS0.22%0.06%
OTHER NON-TOP 205.32%2.67%

Take the jump for the complete rundown of the Top 300 for March.

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TOP 300 Comics for February 2011

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Diamond Comic Distributors has released its rankings for the Top 300 Comics sold in the direct market during February 2011.  The sheer volume of books released by Marvel, placed it at the top of the Market Share charts once again, with DC right behind.  However, the big race occurs below the big two, as Image Comics, Dark Horse Comics, IDW Publishing, and Dynamite Entertainment fought for ranking.  The margin between Image, Dark Horse, and IDW in regards to dollar share is very small, with less than a full percentage separating the publishers.

When it comes to the number of comics sold, DC can dance around a cheer, as the publisher took the top three spots for the month with Green Lantern #62, and Brightest Day #19 and #20.  In fact, DC held 60% of the Top Ten comics sold, with Marvel only placing four comics.

But now for the bad news. It’s estimated that Green Lantern #62 sold less than 72,000 copies, which is odd, since Diamond Comic Distributors claims that comic sales were up by 19.72% over January.

We have the complete rundown of the Top 300 Comics sold, after the jump, and don’t forget you can sort, and search our table to come up with your own conclusions about the month that was.

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Top 300 Comics for January 2011

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We’ve received the data for the top comics sold in the direct market in 2011, and while there are some nice chart toppers, the overall trend is bleak. Even with Fantastic Four #587 taking the top spot with all the hype surrounding the death of Johnny Storm (SPOILER WARNING), direct market comic sales fell 27-percent from December, and fell below the year previous with sales tripping 21.92-percent.

The most interesting thing about the Top 300 comics list for January is there are only three non-DC/Marvel books in the Top 50.  Two were released by Image Comics; Spawn #200 placed 4th, and The Walking Dead #80 coming in at 48th, while Buffy the Vampire Slayer #40 from Dark Horse barely made the Top 25.

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Top 20 Comics in the Direct Market for 2010

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2010 was a year of ups and downs for the comic industry, and when it comes to comics in the direct market, there were plenty of downs. In a year that saw several months where the top selling comic sold fewer than 100,000 copies, it’s time to pick through the year to discover what were the top selling comics of 2010.

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Top 300 Comics for November 2010

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Comic book sales were down once again in November, according to Diamond Comic Distributors. The direct market distributor noted sales dropped 6.34% compared to October 2010, with graphic novels slipping 9.30%. One potential reason for the dollar drop from last month could be the drop in the number of units sold, a difference of approximately 3.6%. However, when compared to November 2009, the monthly numbers look even worse, as comic sales dropped 10.2%. On the plus side, graphic novel sales grew almost 15% from a year ago, which may give some credence to DC pulling J. Michael Strazynski to work on graphic novels exclusively.

DC actually ended up at the top of the charts in November with Batman: The Return taking the number one spot. The company also placed eight other titles in the top ten compared to Marvel’s Avengers #7 (3rd place) and Amazing Spider-Man #648 (9th place) showing. Still, Marvel held the dollar and unit share for the month, but just barely, as the two big publishers were separated by 1.36% in terms of money. That is probably the closest margin the two companies have seen in a while.

Rounding out the Top 5 publishers – Image (3), Dark Horse Comics (4), and IDW Publishing (5).

Take the jump for the complete list of the Top 300 Comics for November.

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Top 300 Comics for September 2010

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In August, the direct comic book market saw a huge drop in sales, with no single book breaking the 100,000 mark.  The good news is September did break the 100,000 benchmark, the bad news it was only one comic… and Wolverine at that.  Brightest Day #9 and #10 followed close behind, but the index difference between the two have each issue selling around 85,000 copies each.  DC and Marvel split the top ten equally, though DC did triumph in the Top 5 Comics with four titles.  Still, those titles had to go up against Wolverine…

The range in the number of comics sold varied greatly over the month, with Boom Studios’ Farscape # selling just under 5,000 issue, with most selling less than 50,000 copies.  A lot of people have speculated that the price point woes continue to vex the publishers in this economy, while others are firmly on the Event Fatigue bandwagon, though it is interesting that all the DC titles in the Top 10 were $2.99 and were tied to some event (Brightest Day and Batman), while Marvel didn’t have any big event going on at all.  So, why another month (and a Q3) of low sales?  Could it be that digital comics are taking a bite out of the direct market in a really big way?  While estimates have digital comic sales hitting the $6 million to $8 million range, most comics are still not day and date releases, so that argument can be shot down really quickly.

Take the jump to see the data for yourself (remember, you can sort our table and search for specific data), then share your thoughts on what the heck is going on.

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Top 300 Comics for June 2010

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By now you know the routine, Marvel Comics takes the top spot, DC Comics lands at number two. The real fun begins with Dark Horse once moving in at number three, followed by Image Comics, IDW PUblishing, Dynamite Entertainment, and Boom! Studios. The good news Dark Horse, Dynamite Entertainment, and Boom! Studios is they all saw an increase in their dollar share for the month.

Take the jump for the complete Top 300 rundown.

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