Diamond Comic Distributors has released the first wave of data regarding direct market comic book sales in January 2018. The good news? Comic sales grew in January.
According to Diamond Comic Distributors, Marvel comics was the top publisher for January with a dollar share of 34.30%, with DC Comics place second with a dollar share of 33.80%.
| PUBLISHER | DOLLAR SHARE | UNIT SHARE |
|---|---|---|
| MARVEL COMICS | 36.36% | 38.30% |
| DC ENTERTAINMENT | 30.07% | 33.93% |
| IMAGE COMICS | 9.80% | 10.12% |
| IDW PUBLISHING | 4.54% | 3.66% |
| DARK HORSE COMICS | 3.12% | 2.25% |
| BOOM! STUDIOS | 2.10% | 1.85% |
| DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT | 1.90% | 2.04% |
| TITAN COMICS | 1.15% | 0.97% |
| VIZ MEDIA | 1.15% | 0.41% |
| ONI PRESS | 1.00% | 0.64% |
| OTHER NON-TOP 10 | 8.81% | 5.83% |
The data is pretty typical. DC had a good couple of months at number one, but because Marvel ships more comics than DC, it makes sense that Marvel would return to the top of the chart.
| PUBLISHER | COMICS SHIPPED | GRAPHIC NOVELS SHIPPED | MAGAZINES SHIPPED | TOTAL SHIPPED |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MARVEL COMICS | 86 | 41 | 0 | 127 |
| DC ENTERTAINMENT | 89 | 28 | 0 | 117 |
| IMAGE COMICS | 62 | 18 | 0 | 80 |
| IDW PUBLISHING | 43 | 25 | 0 | 68 |
| BOOM! STUDIOS | 24 | 12 | 0 | 36 |
| TITAN COMICS | 18 | 10 | 3 | 31 |
| DARK HORSE COMICS | 10 | 14 | 0 | 24 |
| VIZ MEDIA | 0 | 18 | 0 | 18 |
| DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT | 13 | 3 | 0 | 16 |
| ONI PRESS | 5 | 4 | 0 | 9 |
| OTHER NON-TOP 10 | 128 | 123 | 22 | 273 |
| TOTAL | 478 | 296 | 25 | 799 |
The last couple of months, we’ve been concerned about the huge drop in comic sales, especially in November and December, when comic sales should have been on the rise due to holiday shopping. While January 2018 was a much better month than December 2017, it still wasn’t enough to cover the overall drop since October.
| DOLLARS | UNITS | |
|---|---|---|
| JANUARY 2018 VS. DECEMBER 2017 | ||
| COMICS | 6.08% | 7.60% |
| GRAPHIC NOVELS | -6.09% | -11.86% |
| TOTAL COMICS/GN | 2.13% | 5.79% |
| TOYS | 5.72% | 12.29% |
| JANUARY 2018 VS. JANUARY 2017 | ||
| COMICS | -4.29% | -11.40% |
| GRAPHIC NOVELS | 3.96% | 6.09% |
| TOTAL COMICS/GN | -1.97% | -10.26% |
| TOYS | 24.19% | 17.66% |
It should come as no surprise that Doomsday Clock continues to place in the top ten each month since launch. With the series now going to bi-monthly, it will be interesting to see how comics shake out in February.
| RANK | DESCRIPTION | PRICE | PUBLISHER |
| 1 | DOOMSDAY CLOCK #3 | $4.99 | DC |
| 2 | DARK NIGHTS METAL #5 | $3.99 | DC |
| 3 | BATMAN #38 | $2.99 | DC |
| 4 | BATMAN #39 | $2.99 | DC |
| 5 | THE WALKING DEAD #175 (MR) | $3.99 | IMA |
| 6 | AVENGERS #675 | $4.99 | MAR |
| 7 | BATMAN: WHITE KNIGHT #4 | $3.99 | DC |
| 8 | AMAZING SPIDER-MAN/VENOM: VENOM INC. OMEGA #1 | $4.99 | MAR |
| 9 | BATMAN AND THE SIGNAL #1 | $3.99 | DC |
| 10 | OLD MAN HAWKEYE #1 | $3.99 | MAR |
And because YOU demanded it, here are some more charts and things…
| RANK | DESCRIPTION | PRICE | PUBLISHER |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LEGEND OF KORRA VOLUME 2: TURF WARS PT 2 TP | $10.99 | DAR |
| 2 | THE WICKED & THE DIVINE VOLUME 6: IMPERIAL PHASE PART 2 TP (MR) | $16.99 | IMA |
| 3 | DC SUPER HERO GIRLS: DATE WITH DISASTER TP | $9.99 | DC |
| 4 | DESCENDER VOLUME 5: RISE OF THE ROBOTS TP | $16.99 | IMA |
| 5 | KILL OR BE KILLED VOLUME 3 TP (MR) | $16.99 | IMA |
| 6 | SAGA VOLUME 8 TP (MR) | $14.99 | IMA |
| 7 | WOLVERINE: OLD MAN LOGAN VOL. 6: DAYS OF ANGER TP | $17.99 | MAR |
| 8 | VISION HC | $39.99 | MAR |
| 9 | SAGA VOLUME 1 TP (MR) | $9.99 | IMA |
| 10 | HARLEY QUINN VOLUME 4: SURPRISE, SURPRISE TP | $16.99 | DC |
| RANK | DESCRIPTION | VENDOR |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | DRAGONBALL SUPER DRAGON STARS ACTION FIGURES | BAN |
| 2 | ONE-12 COLLECTIVE: MARVEL: X-FORCE DEADPOOL ACTION FIGURE | MEZ |
| 3 | OVERWATCH: D.VA 20-INCH STATUE | BLI |
| 4 | BORUTO -NARUTO NEXT GENERATIONS: NARUTO FIGURE | BAN |
| 5 | MARVEL SELECT: THOR RAGNAROK: GLADIATOR HULK FIGURE | DST |
| 6 | POP! DRAGON BALL SUPER: GOTENKS VINYL FIGURE | FUN |
| 7 | MARVEL SELECT: GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2: DRAX & BABY GROOT ACTION FIGURE | DST |
| 8 | DRAGONBALL Z MANGA DIMENSIONS: VEGITO FIGURE | BAN |
| 9 | OVERWATCH: TRACER FIGMA | GOO |
| 10 | MARVEL SELECT: GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2: STAR-LORD & ROCKET FIGURE | DST |
| RANK | DESCRIPTION | VENDOR |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | VAMPIRELLA TAROT CARDS SET | DE |
| 2 | RICK AND MORTY MONOPOLY | USA |
| 3 | MAGIC THE GATHERING TCG: HOUR OF DEVASTATION BOOSTER PACKS | WIZ |
| 4 | MARVEL DICE MASTERS: MIGHTY THOR 90 GRAVITY FEED PACKS | NEC |
| 5 | MAGIC THE GATHERING TCG: IXALAN BOOSTER PACKS | WIZ |
| 6 | DC DICE MASTERS: BATMAN GRAVITY FEED PACKS | NEC |
| 7 | TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: SHADOWS OF THE PAST BOARD GAME | IDW |
| 8 | FANTASY FLIGHT GAMES STARTER | ASM |
| 9 | MAGIC THE GATHERING TCG: HOUR OF DEVASTATION BUNDLE PACK | WIZ |
| 10 | DROPMIX MUSIC GAMING SYSTEM | HAS |
We should have the Top 300 Comics list early next week.
