Diamond Comic Distributors released its list of the top selling comics for September 2009, and it was a very good month for DC as Blackest Night and the related tie-in issues helped the company dominate the top ten comics sold for the month.
1Â Â Â BLACKEST NIGHT #3Â Â Â $3.99
2Â Â Â CAPTAIN AMERICA: REBORN #3Â Â Â $3.99
3Â Â Â BATMAN AND ROBIN #4Â Â Â $2.99
4Â Â Â GREEN LANTERN #46Â Â Â $2.99
5Â Â Â WOLVERINE: GIANT-SIZE OLD MAN LOGAN #1Â Â Â $4.99
6Â Â Â BLACKEST NIGHT: BATMAN #2Â Â Â $2.99
7Â Â Â NEW AVENGERS #57Â Â Â $3.99
8Â Â Â GREEN LANTERN CORPS #40Â Â Â $2.99
9Â Â Â DARK AVENGERS #9Â Â Â $3.99
10Â Â Â BLACKEST NIGHT: SUPERMAN #2Â $2.99
One would think capturing six of the spots in the top ten would make DC the top publisher for the month, but as my uncle Arthur used to say, “Volume, kid. Volume. That’s how you make your money.” And that saying seems to hold true for Marvel who was able to capture 47% of the market share. DC did come in with a respectable second, taking 32% of the market, which left a mere 21% for the rest of the publishers to fight over. And the rest did make a stand, with less than a percentage separating Dark Horse and Image Comics.
It is interesting to note that in the Top Ten list, the only DC book that was more than $2.99 was Blackest Night #3, while Marvel’s showings were all $3.99 and higher. With that in mind, it is easy to see why Marvel also captured the largest percentage of the dollar share for the direct market as well. While Marvel has had the $3.99 cover price for a while, it will be interesting to see how many Marvel titles remain in the top ten in the months to come if DC keeps their regular titles below the $3.00 mark.
We’ll have a complete listing of the Top 300 Comics for September in a few days when Diamond releases the information to us.
3 Comments
Ah, DC is on the up-and-up. Good times, good times.
Not sure of how I feel about a Bat-title being beat by a Wolverine-title.
In regards to the pricing issue:
I was always a 100% Marvel purchaser. But lately, so many of their books have jumped in price, that I have had to chose between buying fewer books at the higher price, or dropping high priced books and replacing them with $2.99 books. Its pretty much the only reason I gave the new Batman and Robin and chance. Same goes for Power Girl. Now I’m hooked on both.
I hope Marvel looks at these standings and gets a clue.