Diamond Comic Distributors has released the market share results for comics that shipped to the direct market in December 2011. For fans of the New 52, DC Comics captured 80% of the titles in the Top Ten, but fell behind Marvel for the overall market share for the month.
| RANK | TITLE | PRICE | PUBLISHER |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | JUSTICE LEAGUE #4 | $3.99 | DC |
| 2 | BATMAN #4 | $2.99 | DC |
| 3 | ACTION COMICS #4 | $3.99 | DC |
| 4 | GREEN LANTERN #4 | $2.99 | DC |
| 5 | AVENGERS: X-SANCTION #1 | $3.99 | MAR |
| 6 | DETECTIVE COMICS #4 [*] | $2.99 | DC |
| 7 | DEFENDERS #1 | $3.99 | MAR |
| 8 | THE FLASH #4 | $2.99 | DC |
| 9 | BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT #4 [*] | $2.99 | DC |
| 10 | SUPERMAN #4 [*] | $2.99 | DC |
Even with the huge showing in the Top Ten, DC was not able to maintain the market share for the month as Marvel Comics flipped the ratio from November with DC bringing in 37.72% of the unit share, and Marvel claiming 39.05%. Once again, the margin between the two is slim, and the Dollar Share margin is even closer.
| PUBLISHER | DOLLAR SHARE | UNIT SHARE |
|---|---|---|
| MARVEL COMICS | 34.43% | 39.05% |
| DC COMICS | 33.74% | 37.72% |
| IMAGE COMICS | 6.75% | 4.89% |
| IDW PUBLISHING | 5.26% | 4.43% |
| DARK HORSE COMICS | 3.97% | 3.34% |
| DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT | 3.35% | 3.27% |
| EAGLEMOSS PUBLICATIONS | 1.63% | 0.37% |
| BOOM! STUDIOS | 1.41% | 1.32% |
| VIZ LLC | 1.19% | 0.50% |
| ARCHIE COMICS | 0.82% | 0.98% |
| OTHER NON-TOP 10 | 7.44% | 4.12% |
Now for some good news/bad news. Let’s rip the Band-Aid off and get to the bad news first. Compared to November 2011, sales fell just over 12%, which is not good for those shops hoping to have a surge in sales. However, compared to December 2010, sales were up nearly 12% (11.83% to be exact). And if you compare all of 2011 to all of 2010, comic sales rose 4.57% for single issues.
Overall, graphic novel sales were down in 2011 compared to 2010.
We’ll have a complete rundown of the Top 300 Comics next week.
NOTE: Comics marked with an asterisk have had their reported quantities reduced due to retailer returnability, and thus may rank lower on the charts than their actual sales would reflect.
