It’s time once again to look back at the month that was and see how good (or bad) it was for the comic book industry.
Marvel came out on top in December 2016, claiming a 36.73% dollar share and a 40.50% unit share. As expected, DC Comics came in second with Image Comics, IDW Publishing, and Dark Horse Comics rounding out the top five.
| PUBLISHER | DOLLAR SHARE | UNIT SHARE |
|---|---|---|
| MARVEL COMICS | 36.73% | 40.50% |
| DC ENTERTAINMENT | 29.47% | 29.04% |
| IMAGE COMICS | 8.81% | 7.70% |
| IDW PUBLISHING | 5.49% | 4.10% |
| DARK HORSE COMICS | 3.17% | 2.43% |
| BOOM! STUDIOS | 2.40% | 1.64% |
| DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT | 1.99% | 6.97% |
| TITAN COMICS | 1.16% | 0.99% |
| VALIANT ENTERTAINMENT LLC | 1.10% | 1.20% |
| VIZ MEDIA | 1.09% | 0.34% |
| OTHER NON-TOP 10 | 8.59% | 5.09% |
With Marvel grabbing that much of the pie, one might think it had the most comics in the top ten. However, in a super rare occurrence, DC and Marvel split the top ten comics list.
| RANK | DESCRIPTION | PRICE | VENDOR |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | JUSTICE LEAGUE VS. SUICIDE SQUAD #1 | $3.99 | DC |
| 2 | INHUMANS VS. X-MEN #1 | $5.99 | MAR |
| 3 | DARK KNIGHT III: THE MASTER RACE #7 | $5.99 | DC |
| 4 | BATMAN #12 | $2.99 | DC |
| 5 | BATMAN #13 | $2.99 | DC |
| 6 | CIVIL WAR II #8 | $4.99 | MAR |
| 7 | STAR WARS #26 | $3.99 | MAR |
| 8 | STAR WARS: DOCTOR APHRA #1 | $4.99 | MAR |
| 9 | HULK #1 | $3.99 | MAR |
| 10 | ALL-STAR BATMAN #5 | $4.99 | DC |
The big news everyone wants to know is how did the month and year do compared to others? Comic sales were down compared to November, but not as much as graphic novels which dropped 11-percent in dollar sales. When looking at December 2016 sales against the 2015 numbers, comic dollar sales fell dramatically, taking an 18.84-percent plunge. That means nearly 10-percent fewer comics were sold during the month. The most nerve-wracking data shows that fourth quarter sales were down 7.42% compared to the July-September time period.
| DOLLARS | UNITS | |
|---|---|---|
| DECEMBER 2016 VS. NOVEMBER 2016 | ||
| COMICS | -9.01% | -1.79% |
| GRAPHIC NOVELS | -11.19% | 1.10% |
| TOTAL COMICS/GN | -9.69% | -1.56% |
| TOYS | -12.28% | -11.75% |
| DECEMBER 2016 VS. DECEMBER 2015 | ||
| COMICS | -18.84% | -8.39% |
| GRAPHIC NOVELS | -4.24% | 18.44% |
| TOTAL COMICS/GN | -14.84% | -6.66% |
| TOYS | -36.78% | -46.07% |
| FOURTH QUARTER 2016 VS. THIRD QUARTER 2016 | ||
| COMICS | -7.42% | -5.96% |
| GRAPHIC NOVELS | 0.07% | 1.88% |
| TOTAL COMICS/GN | -5.36% | -5.42% |
| TOYS | -1.80% | -11.85% |
| FOURTH QUARTER 2016 VS. FOURTH QUARTER 2015 | ||
| COMICS | -8.92% | -0.53% |
| GRAPHIC NOVELS | 1.53% | 12.21% |
| TOTAL COMICS/GN | -6.11% | 0.30% |
| TOYS | -22.29% | -30.42% |
| YEAR 2016 VS. YEAR 2015 | ||
| COMICS | -0.11% | 1.02% |
| GRAPHIC NOVELS | 1.24% | 2.10% |
| TOTAL COMICS/GN | 0.30% | 1.10% |
| TOYS | -9.74% | -14.18% |
Is there an upside to this news? 2016 had some very amazing months, but when balanced out with the really bad months, comic sales (dollar amount) dropped a mere .11-percent compared to all of 2015. With a big shift in how dollars are allocated for comic book fans going forward, it will be very interesting to see if there is a surge in comic sales, or if looming fears by a large number of people around the world have a negative impact.
