When it comes to the direct market, there is a lot of speculation that can be made on exactly how many copies of a comic were sold, but when it comes to Amazing Spider-man #800 one thing is clear, it dominated the direct market in May 2018.
| Top 10 Comic Books by Units Shipped | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RANK | DESCRIPTION | PRICE | ITEM CODE | VENDOR |
| 1 | AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #800 | $9.99 | MAR180826-M | MAR |
| 2 | VENOM #1 | $4.99 | MAR180796-M | MAR |
| 3 | DOOMSDAY CLOCK #5 | $4.99 | MAR180233-M | DC |
| 4 | AVENGERS #1 | $4.99 | MAR180776-M | MAR |
| 5 | BLACK PANTHER #1 | $4.99 | MAR180786-M | MAR |
| 6 | BATMAN #47 | $2.99 | MAR180256-M | DC |
| 7 | BATMAN #46 | $2.99 | MAR180254-M | DC |
| 8 | JUSTICE LEAGUE: NO JUSTICE #1 | $3.99 | MAR180228-M | DC |
| 9 | THE MAN OF STEEL #1 [*] | $3.99 | APR180145 | DC |
| 10 | THE WALKING DEAD #179 (MR) | $3.99 | MAR180767-M | IMA |
When you have a $9.99 book on the market, it is is the number one book shipped in the direct market, it should come as no surprise that this gave Marvel a significant chunk of the dollar share for the month, compared to DC Entertainment’s 25% take. That being said, by the time you look at the number of units shipped, DC and Marvel were very close to one another.
| TOP COMIC BOOK PUBLISHERS | ||
|---|---|---|
| PUBLISHER | DOLLAR SHARE | UNIT SHARE |
| MARVEL COMICS | 42.64% | 38.35% |
| DC ENTERTAINMENT | 25.71% | 37.87% |
| IMAGE COMICS | 10.83% | 9.67% |
| IDW PUBLISHING | 3.65% | 3.07% |
| DARK HORSE COMICS | 2.54% | 1.63% |
| BOOM! STUDIOS | 1.96% | 1.58% |
| DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT | 1.64% | 1.30% |
| VIZ MEDIA | 1.12% | 0.40% |
| ONI PRESS | 1.03% | 0.48% |
| VALIANT ENTERTAINMENT | 0.84% | 0.90% |
| OTHER NON-TOP 10 | 8.03% | 4.75% |
So, how did May compare to this time last year?
| DOLLARS | UNITS | |
|---|---|---|
| MAY 2018 VS. APRIL 2018 | ||
| COMICS | 7.00% | 2.99% |
| GRAPHIC NOVELS | 6.94% | 4.85% |
| TOTAL COMICS/GN | 6.98% | 3.13% |
| TOYS | 4.95% | 23.84% |
| MAY 2018 VS. MAY 2017 | ||
| COMICS | 6.23% | -8.63% |
| GRAPHIC NOVELS | -8.04% | -13.85% |
| TOTAL COMICS/GN | 1.84% | -9.06% |
| TOYS | -28.63% | -30.85% |
| YEAR-TO-DATE 2018 VS. YEAR-TO-DATE 2017 | ||
| COMICS | 0.22% | -9.80% |
| GRAPHIC NOVELS | -9.31% | -10.56% |
| TOTAL COMICS/GN | -2.67% | -9.85% |
| TOYS | -12.06% | -17.25% |
Month to month looks positive, as I know how important a 4% growth is to a company. That being said, if it wasn’t for Spider-Man #800 the numbers would be quiet different, and I’m very surprised that the graphic novels category took a big dump in the number of units sold, as that market tends to be fairly stable over time. The climb out of the hole from the slump the industry has been in continues to be a slow one. At this point, one would expect sales to climb significantly – especially now that everyone will have to wait until November to get their hands on new games announced at E3.
via Diamond Comic Distributors
