It should come as no surprise that DC Universe: Rebirth #1 took the number one spot in the direct comic sales market for May 2016, but overall sales weren’t rosy.
DC Entertainment was able to place three comics in the top ten for May (DC Universe: Rebirth #1, Batman #52, Justice League #50), while Marvel took the remaining seven slots lead by Civil War II #0. Heck, the Punisher #1 did better than Batman #52, but that may be a continued holdover from the second season of Netflix’s Daredevil series.
| RANK | DESCRIPTION | PRICE | ITEM CODE | VENDOR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DC UNIVERSE: REBIRTH #1 | $2.99 | APR160273-M | DC |
| 2 | CIVIL WAR II #0 | $4.99 | MAR168949-M | MAR |
| 3 | THE PUNISHER #1 | $3.99 | MAR160728-M | MAR |
| 4 | BATMAN #52 | $3.99 | MAR160223-M | DC |
| 5 | CAPTAIN AMERICA: STEVE ROGERS #1 | $4.99 | MAR160721-M | MAR |
| 6 | STAR WARS #19 | $3.99 | MAR160891-M | MAR |
| 7 | JUSTICE LEAGUE #50 | $5.99 | FEB160134-M | DC |
| 8 | DARTH VADER #20 | $4.99 | MAR160897-M | MAR |
| 9 | BLACK PANTHER #2 | $3.99 | MAR160829-M | MAR |
| 10 | AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #12 | $3.99 | MAR160781-M | MAR |
Marvel shipped 102 issues in May, compared to DC Entertainment’s 74, giving The House of Ideas a 44.8% share compared to DC’s 26.34%. Dark Horse continued to hang out in fifth place in the dollar share at 3.25%, but BOOM! Studios actually shipped more comics (24) than Dark Horse’s 20. Image Comics and IDW Publishing continue to hang out in the third and fourth place, but as Dark Horse continues to work out its place in the comic industry post Star Wars loss and recent conclusion to Hellboy in Hell, the fifth place battle could get very interesting in the months to come.
| PUBLISHER | DOLLAR SHARE | UNIT SHARE |
|---|---|---|
| MARVEL COMICS | 39.64% | 44.80% |
| DC ENTERTAINMENT | 26.45% | 26.34% |
| IMAGE COMICS | 8.38% | 7.95% |
| IDW PUBLISHING | 5.70% | 4.99% |
| DARK HORSE COMICS | 3.25% | 2.31% |
| BOOM! STUDIOS | 2.51% | 2.34% |
| DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT | 1.66% | 1.51% |
| TITAN COMICS | 1.39% | 1.48% |
| VALIANT ENTERTAINMENT LLC | 1.09% | 1.25% |
| ONI PRESS INC. | 0.98% | 0.89% |
| OTHER NON-TOP 10 | 8.95% | 6.13% |
What is really concerning is that overall comic sales dropped in May, slipping 6.54% in the dollar share category. Compared to May 0f 2015, sales dropped even further, plunging 14.34% on the dollar share, and 17.60% on the number of comics sold. Combined, comic sales dropped 9.23% compared to the same time last year. Though graphic novel sales also dropped substantially (11% compared to April and 3.39% compared to May 2015), overall graphic novel sales this year is up slightly (3.46%).
So, where did your favorite comic place in the May 2016 ranking? Check out the table below where you can sort and sort to your heart’s content.
via Diamond Comic Distributors
