Diamond Comic Distributors has released its rundown of the top comics and graphic novels for 2019, and it looks like Detective Comics #1000 was the top selling comic for the year.
As the cornerstone of Batman’s 80th anniversary, the 96-page tribute to Gotham City’s Dark Knight featured an unbelievable lineup of storytelling talent, a series of decade-spanning variant covers, and a robust retailer variant program, as well as introducing a new version of the Super-Villain Arkham Knight into DC continuity. The book was praised as an incredible tribute to Batman, receiving rave reviews from fans, retailers, and comics trade media alike.
While the news is good for DC, marvel ended up once again as the top comic book publisher of the year.
Marvel Comics was 2019’s top publisher in the comic book specialty market, with a 40.20% dollar market share and a 44.72% unit share. Marvel Comics’ top comic book for the year, Jonathan Hickman and Leinil Francis Yu’s X-Men #1, ranked #3. Overall, Marvel had seven titles in the top ten comics of the year, including Black Cat #1 at #4; Absolute Carnage #1, the first issue of Marvel Comics’ winter event, at #6; Marvel Comics #1000, a special issue celebrating the 80th anniversary of the publication of Marvel Comics #1 in 1939, at #7; Hickman and Pepe Larraz’s House of X #1, beginning Marvel’s X-Men relaunch, at #8; Powers of X #1 at #9; and War of the Realms #1 at #10.
While there may be a lot of back and forth coming from the publishers as far as who is the best of the best, what really matters is overall sales for the year. According to Diamond Comic Distributors, the specialty market increased in 2019 by 4%, while graphic novel sales declined by 2%.
| 2019 TOP COMIC BOOK PUBLISHERS | ||
|---|---|---|
| PUBLISHER | DOLLAR SHARE | UNIT SHARE |
| MARVEL COMICS | 40.20% | 44.72% |
| DC | 29.29% | 30.74% |
| IMAGE COMICS | 8.04% | 7.69% |
| IDW PUBLISHING | 3.55% | 3.29% |
| DARK HORSE COMICS | 3.19% | 2.33% |
| BOOM! STUDIOS | 2.56% | 2.42% |
| DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT | 2.16% | 1.88% |
| VIZ MEDIA | 1.45% | 0.55% |
| ONI PRESS | 0.61% | 0.43% |
| TITAN COMICS | 0.60% | 0.49% |
| OTHER NON-TOP 10 | 8.34% | 5.47% |
So, what other titles made the Top 10 for 2019?
| 2019 TOP 10 COMIC BOOKS | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| QTY RANK | DESCRIPTION | PRICE | VENDOR |
| 1 | DETECTIVE COMICS #1000 | $9.99 | DC |
| 2 | SPAWN #300 | $7.99 | IMAGE COMICS |
| 3 | X-MEN #1 | $4.99 | MARVEL COMICS |
| 4 | BLACK CAT #1 | $4.99 | MARVEL COMICS |
| 5 | DCEASED #1 | $3.99 | DC |
| 6 | ABSOLUTE CARNAGE #1 | $7.99 | MARVEL COMICS |
| 7 | MARVEL COMICS #1000 | $9.99 | MARVEL COMICS |
| 8 | HOUSE OF X #1 | $5.99 | MARVEL COMICS |
| 9 | POWERS OF X #1 | $5.99 | MARVEL COMICS |
| 10 | WAR OF REALMS #1 | $5.99 | MARVEL COMICS |
And for those wondering about those graphic novel sales, here is that list.
| 2019 TOP 10 GRAPHIC NOVELS & TRADE PAPERBACKS | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| QTY RANK | DESCRIPTION | PRICE | VENDOR |
| 1 | WATCHMEN TP | $24.99 | DC |
| 2 | SAGA VOLUME 1 TP (MR) | $9.99 | IMAGE COMICS |
| 3 | UMBRELLA ACADEMY VOL. 1: APOCALYPSE SUITE TP | $17.99 | DARK HORSE COMICS |
| 4 | MONSTRESS VOLUME 1 TP (MR) | $9.99 | IMAGE COMICS |
| 5 | MISTER MIRACLE TP (MR) | $24.99 | DC |
| 6 | DIE VOL. 1: FANTASY HEARTBREAKER TP (MR) | $9.99 | IMAGE COMICS |
| 7 | BATMAN: WHITE KNIGHT TP | $19.99 | DC |
| 8 | THE WALKING DEAD VOL. 31 TP (MR) | $16.99 | IMAGE COMICS |
| 9 | BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE HC | $17.99 | DC |
| 10 | BATMAN: DAMNED HC (MR) | $29.99 | DC |
I am sure we will see more from Diamond Comic Distributors in the coming days, including the best selling comics for the year.
via Diamond Comic Distributors and DC Comics
