Diamond Comic Distributors has released its initial comic sales and market share data for October 2015, and one thing is clear – All-New All-Different dominated the market.
In a press release, Diamond Comic Distributors revealed that Marvel Comics took 48.26% of the unit share of comics sold in the direct market last month. That is up from 36.67% from August 2015. Star Wars certainly played a role in that jump, as Star Wars #10, Chewbacca #1, and Shattered Empire #2, all featured in the Top Ten. The rest of the books that made it to the top ten included the all-new all=different relaunches for Marvel. You did read that correctly ALL of the top ten books released in the direct market were Marvel books. DC did not make it on the short list.
| RANK | DESCRIPTION | PRICE | VENDOR |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #1 | $3.99 | MAR |
| 2 | AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #1 | $5.99 | MAR |
| 3 | SPIDER-GWEN #1 | $3.99 | MAR |
| 4 | SECRET WARS #6 | $3.99 | MAR |
| 5 | DOCTOR STRANGE #1 | $4.99 | MAR |
| 6 | STAR WARS #10 | $3.99 | MAR |
| 7 | CHEWBACCA #1 | $3.99 | MAR |
| 8 | JOURNEY TO STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS: SHATTERED EMPIRE #2 | $3.99 | MAR |
| 9 | GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #1 | $3.99 | MAR |
| 10 | AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #2 | $3.99 | MAR |
I don’t remember the last time this happened.
Their sales fueled by the All-New All-Different Marvel launch, Marvel Comics was October’s top publisher with a 43.65% dollar share and a 48.26% unit share. DC Entertainment was the month’s number two publisher with a 21.85% dollar share and a 22.92% unit share. October’s number three publisher was Image Comics with an 9.17% dollar share and a 9.27% unit share. In fourth was IDW Publishing with a 6.16% dollar share and a 4.96% unit share. Dark Horse Comics placed fifth for the month with a 4.04% dollar share and a 3.10% unit share. Overall, periodical sales in the comic book specialty market increased by 22.33% in October over September in spite of having one fewer shipping week than the previous month.
The complete rundown of the top 300 comics should arrive on Monday, and I can’t wait to see how the rest of the list shakes out.
