First the good news; DC Comics unit share grew five-percent from last month. The bad news, Marvel still dominated the market in January 2016. Diamond Comic Distributors has released a rundown of the top ten comics released in February, and DC was able to place in several key spots.
Marvel Comics was February’s top publisher with a 42.19% dollar share and a 40.78% unit share. DC Entertainment was the month’s number two publisher with a 29.01% dollar share and a 26.00% unit share. January’s number three publisher was Image Comics with a 10.13% dollar share and a 9.18% unit share. In fourth was IDW Publishing with a 4.14% dollar share and a 4.78% unit share. Dark Horse Comics placed fifth for the month with a 2.59% dollar share and a 3.07% unit share.
How is this good for DC? Dark Knight III: The Master Race #3 took the top spot for the month, with Batman #49 coming in third.
| RANK | DESCRIPTION | PRICE | PUBLISHER |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DARK KNIGHT III: THE MASTER RACE #3 | $5.99 | DC |
| 2 | STAR WARS #16 | $3.99 | MAR |
| 3 | BATMAN #49 | $3.99 | DC |
| 4 | SPIDER-MAN #1 | $3.99 | MAR |
| 5 | DEADPOOL: THE MERCS FOR MONEY #1 | $3.99 | MAR |
| 6 | DEADPOOL #7 | $9.99 | MAR |
| 7 | DARTH VADER #16 | $3.99 | MAR |
| 8 | POWER MAN AND IRON FIST #1 | $3.99 | MAR |
| 9 | AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #7 | $3.99 | MAR |
| 10 | JUSTICE LEAGUE #48 | $3.99 | DC |
As far as comparative sales go, here’s the rundown of the numbers.
| COMPARATIVE SALES STATISTICS | ||
|---|---|---|
| DOLLARS | UNITS | |
| FEBRUARY 2016 VS. JANUARY 2016 | ||
| COMICS | 0.14% | -5.26% |
| GRAPHIC NOVELS | -0.63% | 8.21% |
| TOTAL COMICS/GN | -0.10% | -4.24% |
| FEBRUARY 2016 VS. FEBRUARY 2015 | ||
| COMICS | -6.73% | -14.62% |
| GRAPHIC NOVELS | 12.00% | 18.12% |
| TOTAL COMICS/GN | -1.69% | -12.54% |
| YEAR-TO-DATE 2016 VS. YEAR-TO-DATE 2015 | ||
| COMICS | -5.32% | -9.52% |
| GRAPHIC NOVELS | 1.13% | 2.92% |
| TOTAL COMICS/GN | -3.43% | -8.63% |
Overall, things are progressing as I expect for a month that had fewer days (but the same number of Wednesdays).
We’ll have the complete rundown of comics sold in the direct market next week, but are you seeing anything interesting in the trends compared to previous months?
