Diamond Comic Distributors has released the top ten books for March 2016, and with the Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo’s Batman #50 hitting a big milestone, it’s no surprise it took the top spot. What is a surprise is how the publishers ranked this month.
Marvel Comics had seven of March’s top ten best-selling titles, led by Jason Aaron and Leinil Francis Yu’s Star Wars #17 at #3. Also in the top ten were series debuts Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev’s International Iron Man #1 at #9 and Nick Spencer and Jesus Saiz’s Avengers Standoff: Assault on Pleasant Hill Alpha at #10. DC Entertainment had two titles in the top ten; in addition to Batman #50, Gene Luen Yang and Howard Porter’s Superman #50, the conclusion to the “Strange Dawn” story arc, ranked #4. Rounding out the top ten, BOOM! Studios’ Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #1 ranked #2 for the month. Among the premier publishers, Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead #152 was Image Comics’ top book for the month at #12; Dark Horse Comics’ Fight Club 2 #10, the finale to Chuck Palahniuk’s sequel to his novel, ranked #72; and IDW Publishing’s Back to the Future #6 ranked #109 for the month.
| RANK | TITLE | PRICE | VENDOR |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BATMAN #50 | $5.99 | DC |
| 2 | MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS #1 | $3.99 | BOO |
| 3 | STAR WARS #17 | $3.99 | MAR |
| 4 | SUPERMAN #50 | $4.99 | DC |
| 5 | AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #9 | $3.99 | MAR |
| 6 | DARTH VADER #17 | $3.99 | MAR |
| 7 | DARTH VADER #18 | $3.99 | MAR |
| 8 | DEADPOOL #8 | $3.99 | MAR |
| 9 | INTERNATIONAL IRON MAN #1 | $3.99 | MAR |
| 10 | AVENGERS STANDOFF: ASSAULT ON PLEASANT HILL ALPHA #1 | $4.99 | MAR |
What is really surprising is that Dark Horse Comics took a dramatic tumble in March. In years past, Dark Horse would routinely hit the number three spot in the publisher ranking, but since it lost Star Wars, the publisher has fallen to sixth position behind Image Comics, IDW Publishing, and BOOM! Studios.
| TOP COMIC BOOK PUBLISHERS | ||
|---|---|---|
| PUBLISHER | DOLLAR SHARE | UNIT SHARE |
| MARVEL COMICS | 37.39% | 42.71% |
| DC ENTERTAINMENT | 26.32% | 25.94% |
| IMAGE COMICS | 8.73% | 8.63% |
| IDW PUBLISHING | 5.82% | 4.41% |
| BOOM! STUDIOS | 3.26% | 4.07% |
| DARK HORSE COMICS | 2.82% | 2.47% |
| DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT | 1.69% | 1.56% |
| VIZ MEDIA | 1.45% | 0.63% |
| TITAN COMICS | 1.42% | 1.48% |
| EAGLEMOSS PUBLICATIONS LTD | 1.21% | 0.34% |
| OTHER NON-TOP 10 | 9.88% | 7.77% |
Finally, when we look at comic sales compared to previous months and years show that comic sales were up 3.62% from February 2016, and up slightly compared to March 2015, even though the number of issues shipped dropped 8.45%. More concerning is that overall comic sales have dropped 3.40% in the first three months of 2016 compared to the same period in 2015, and single issue sales have dropped 9.16%.
Is this something to be concerned about? Maybe, but with summer just around the corner, and DC’s Rebirth launching a whole slew of new comics, I expect there will be an overall rebound in 2016 compared to 2015.
A full rundown of the top comics sold in March 2016 should arrive tomorrow, and we’ll share it with you then.
