Press Release
Weapon-bearing zombies offer a new threat to the survivors of the apocalypse in Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead #132 from Image Comics, the best-selling comic book of October 2014 according to information provided by Diamond Comic Distributors, the world’s largest distributor of comics, graphic novels, and pop culture merchandise.
Marvel Comics was October’s top publisher with a 34.82% dollar market share and a 36.35% unit market share. DC Entertainment was second with a 27.53% dollar share and 31.00% unit share. Image Comics was third with a 9.77% dollar share and a 12.28% unit share. IDW Publishing’s dollar share in October was fourth at 5.18% and Dark Horse Comics was fifth at 4.74%.
Marvel Comics had seven titles among October’s top ten best-selling comics, led by Death of Wolverine #4 at #2. DC Entertainment placed two titles in the top ten, with Batman #35 as the publisher’s top book at #6.
The first arc of G. Willow Wilson’s acclaimed Ms. Marvel was collected in October in Ms. Marvel Volume 1: No Normal, and the book from Marvel Comics was the month’s best-selling graphic novel and one of the publisher’s four books in the top ten. DC Entertainment also had four titles in the top ten, led by Batman Volume 4: Zero Year: Secret City at #3. Rounding out the top ten with two titles was Image Comics with Jonathan Hickman’s East of West Volume 3: There Is No Us leading the way at #4.
Neil Gaiman and Lorenzo Mattotti joined forces for a reimagination of a classic fairy tale in Toon Graphic’s Hansel & Gretel, the best-selling book in October. Also returning to the top ten was Dark Horse Comics’ Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia at #2.

DC Collectibles released a new version of a fan-favorite in October with the Batman Black & White: Harley Quinn by Bruce Timm Statue (Second Edition), the month’s best-selling toy product and one of their seven items in the top ten. Also among the top ten was Diamond Select Toys; their Marvel Select: Deadpool Action Figure ranked #6 for the month.
USApoly’s Monopoly: The Walking Dead Survival Edition, a custom edition of the venerable board game based on Robert Kirkman’s best-selling Image comic book, was October’s best-selling game product.
How does Diamond calculate the charts?
It all starts at the comic book shop.
Data for Diamond’s sales charts — which includes the monthly market shares and all top product charts — are compiled by Diamond Comic Distributors from sales made to thousands of comic book specialty shops located in North America and around the world. Additional sales made to online merchants and other specialty stores may be included as well.
Unit and dollar market shares are calculated based upon orders for comic books, graphic novels, and magazines invoiced and shipped to Diamond customers during any given month, which comprises pre-orders, advance reorders, and reorders, minus any copies that are received back from a title marked as returnable. Please note that comics marked with an asterisk (*) have had their reported quantities reduced due to retailer returnability, and thus may rank lower on the charts than their actual sales would reflect.
The New Titles Count Chart includes all titles that were invoiced by Diamond to retailers for the first time during the month and is not the official solicited title count for the month. Variant edition comic books and graphic novels at the same price point count as a single SKU. Variant edition comic books, lenticular covers, digital combo packs, and graphic novels at different price points count as separate SKUs for each edition.
ABOUT DIAMOND COMIC DISTRIBUTORS (DCD)—Diamond is at the nexus of comics and pop culture merchandise. Based in Baltimore, MD, DCD is the world’s largest distributor of English-language comic books and pop-culture related merchandise, servicing thousands of specialty retailers worldwide. For more information, visit Diamond on the web at www.diamondcomics.com.
