DC Comics once again topped the charts in December 2017, but comic sales were down nearly 10% for the year.
After achieving all-time highs in 2015 and 2016, the comic book specialty market took a step back in 2017 but still recorded its 4th highest year of sell-in to comic shops. Annual sales decreased -10.09% over the previous year; with comic book sales down -10.40%, while graphic novel sales were off by -9.38%. Over 89 million comic books were sold to comic book specialty stores in 2017, with over 7.4 million graphic novels units shipped.
| PUBLISHER | DOLLAR SHARE | UNIT SHARE |
|---|---|---|
| DC ENTERTAINMENT | 34.54% | 37.65% |
| MARVEL COMICS | 33.80% | 38.81% |
| IMAGE COMICS | 8.69% | 7.20% |
| IDW PUBLISHING | 3.92% | 2.92% |
| DARK HORSE COMICS | 2.69% | 2.06% |
| BOOM! STUDIOS | 2.28% | 1.98% |
| DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT | 2.08% | 1.84% |
| ONI PRESS | 1.00% | 0.52% |
| VIZ MEDIA | 0.96% | 0.35% |
| VALIANT ENTERTAINMENT LLC | 0.96% | 1.08% |
| OTHER NON-TOP 10 | 9.08% | 5.59% |
| DOLLARS | UNITS | |
|---|---|---|
| DECEMBER 2017 VS. NOVEMBER 2017 | ||
| COMICS | -16.13% | -14.05% |
| GRAPHIC NOVELS | -21.95% | -10.88% |
| TOTAL COMICS/GN | -18.11% | -13.77% |
| TOYS | -33.23% | -30.05% |
| DECEMBER 2017 VS. DECEMBER 2016 | ||
| COMICS | -16.54% | -24.11% |
| GRAPHIC NOVELS | -10.17% | -13.37% |
| TOTAL COMICS/GN | -14.57% | -23.23% |
| TOYS | -27.60% | -37.11% |
| FOURTH QUARTER 2017 VS. THIRD QUARTER 2017 | ||
| COMICS | -2.41% | -5.19% |
| GRAPHIC NOVELS | 8.49% | 7.61% |
| TOTAL COMICS/GN | 0.82% | -4.24% |
| TOYS | 9.14% | 2.15% |
| FOURTH QUARTER 2017 VS. FOURTH QUARTER 2016 | ||
| COMICS | -13.90% | -19.53% |
| GRAPHIC NOVELS | -1.77% | -7.71% |
| TOTAL COMICS/GN | -10.37% | -18.66% |
| TOYS | -15.67% | -24.40% |
| YEAR 2017 VS. YEAR 2016 | ||
| COMICS | -10.40% | -9.69% |
| GRAPHIC NOVELS | -9.38% | -11.86% |
| TOTAL COMICS/GN | -10.09% | -9.86% |
| TOYS | -12.55% | -19.90% |
While Diamond Comic Distributors is trying to put a positive spin on the news, and while a lot of creators say the comics industry is better than it has ever been, one has to wonder what the heck is going on.
Coming up, we’ll have the top 300 comics for December 2017.
