Walking-Dead-115.jpgIt was kinda a three-way tie in October’s sale charts, according to Diamond’s just released statistics. THE WALKING DEAD #115 was the best selling comic, but DC won the units battle, 31.02% to Marvel’s 30.47%, behind The Sandman: Overture #1 and Batman #24. Marvel won the DOLLARS chart, however, 33.63% to 33.15%, thanks to strong showings by the Avengers: Endless Wartime graphic novel and Infinity #4 and #5.

Image had a 10% market share this month, however, marking one of their strongest showings in a while. (John Jackson Miller will give us perspective very soon I’m sure. )

DC’s Batman Volume 3: Death of the Family by new bestseller chart mainstays Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo topped the GN chart

In comparative stats, October was about level with September 2013 in comics sales, while GN sales surged. Overall sales in both channels are up 9.95% in dollars and 8.9% in units from 2012.

unit-share.png dollar-share.png

TOP COMIC BOOK PUBLISHERS

PUBLISHER

DOLLAR

SHARE

UNIT

SHARE

DC ENTERTAINMENT

31.02%

33.15%

MARVEL COMICS

30.47%

33.63%

IMAGE COMICS

9.26%

10.85%

IDW PUBLISHING

6.27%

4.96%

DARK HORSE COMICS

5.36%

4.70%

DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT

2.47%

2.54%

BOOM! STUDIOS

1.84%

1.78%

EAGLEMOSS PUBLICATIONS LTD

1.40%

0.32%

ARCHIE COMICS

1.01%

1.24%

AVATAR PRESS

1.01%

0.90%

OTHER NON-TOP 10

9.88%

5.94%

NEW TITLES SHIPPED

PUBLISHER

COMICS SHIPPED

GRAPHIC NOVELS SHIPPED

MAGAZINES SHIPPED

TOTAL

SHIPPED

DC ENTERTAINMENT

100

29

0

129

MARVEL COMICS

78

35

0

113

IDW PUBLISHING

48

29

0

77

IMAGE COMICS

59

17

0

76

DARK HORSE COMICS

38

18

0

56

DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT

40

2

0

42

BOOM ENTERTAINMENT

25

3

0

28

VIZ MEDIA

0

25

0

25

ARCHIE COMIC PUBLICATIONS

16

6

0

22

RANDOM HOUSE

0

21

1

22

OTHER

111

157

36

304

 


COMPARATIVE SALES STATISTICS

 

DOLLARS

UNITS

OCTOBER 2013 VS. SEPTEMBER 2013

COMICS

0.30%

-0.57%

GRAPHIC NOVELS

16.57%

16.62%

TOTAL COMICS/GN

4.68%

0.55%

OCTOBER 2013 VS. OCTOBER 2012

COMICS

11.90%

8.69%

GRAPHIC NOVELS

-4.65%

0.05%

TOTAL COMICS/GN

6.36%

7.98%

YEAR-TO-DATE 2013 VS. YEAR-TO-DATE 2012

COMICS

12.42%

9.46%

GRAPHIC NOVELS

4.69%

3.25%

TOTAL COMICS/GN

9.95%

8.96%

 

TOP 10 COMIC BOOKS

RANK

DESCRIPTION

PRICE

ITEM CODE

VENDOR

1

THE WALKING DEAD #115 (MR)

2.99

AUG130518-M IMA

2

BATMAN #24

6.99

AUG130235-M DC

3

INFINITY #4

3.99

AUG130735-M MAR

4

FOREVER EVIL #2

3.99

AUG130159-M DC

5

INFINITY #5

3.99

AUG130740-M MAR

6

JUSTICE LEAGUE #24

3.99

AUG130172-M DC

7

SUPERMAN/WONDER WOMAN #1

3.99

AUG130187-M DC

8

THE SANDMAN: OVERTURE #1 (MR) [*]

4.99

AUG130325-M DC

9

SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #20

3.99

AUG130787-M MAR

10

SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #19

3.99

AUG130784-M MAR

 


TOP 10 GRAPHIC NOVELS & TRADE PAPERBACKS

RANK

DESCRIPTION

PRICE

ITEM CODE

VENDOR

1

BATMAN HC VOL 03 DEATH OF THE FAMILY

$24.99

MAY130216 DC

2

AVENGERS: ENDLESS WARTIME HC

$24.99

JUN130674 MAR

3

THE JOKER: DEATH OF THE FAMILY HC

$29.99

JUN130256 DC

4

BATMAN: THE COURT OF OWLS BOOK & MASK SET

$24.99

MAY130220 DC

5

AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER VOL. 6: THE SEARCH PART 3

$10.99

JUN130051 DAR

6

HELLBOY: MIDNIGHT CIRCUS HC

$14.99

JUN130031 DAR

7

BATMAN VOLUME 2: THE CITY OF OWLS TP

$16.99

JUL130235 DC

8

LAZARUS VOLUME 1 TP (MR)

$9.99

AUG130621 IMA

9

SAGA VOLUME 1 TP (MR)

$9.99

AUG120491 IMA

10

SAGA VOLUME 2 TP (MR)

$14.99

APR130443 IMA

TOP 10 BOOKS

RANK

DESCRIPTION

PRICE

ITEM CODE

VENDOR

1

THE WALKING DEAD: THE FALL OF THE GOVERNOR HC

$24.99

JUL131515 ST.

2

LEGEND OF ZELDA: HYRULE HISTORIA HC

$34.99

SEP120055 DAR

3

STAR WARS: DARTH VADER AND SON HC

$14.95

FEB121318 CHR

4

STAR WARS: VADER’S LITTLE PRINCESS HC

$14.95

FEB131315 CHR

5

DC COMICS GUIDE TO CREATING COMICS SC

$24.99

AUG131609 RAN

6

CAPCOM 30TH-ANNIVERSARY CHARACTER ENCYCLOPEDIA

$16.99

AUG131666 DK

7

THE ART OF CHARLIE ADLARD HC (MR)

$39.99

AUG130532 IMA

8

MY LITTLE PONY: MINI PONY COLLECTOR’S GUIDE

$19.00

AUG131583 HAC

9

THE SECRET HISTORY OF MARVEL COMICS: THE KIRBY EMPIRE HC

$39.99

AUG131307 FAN

10

WORLD OF WARCRAFT TRIBUTE SC

$44.99

JUL131300 UDO

TOP 10 TOYS

RANK

DESCRIPTION

ITEM CODE

VENDOR

1

THE WALKING DEAD SERIES 4 ACTION FIGURES FEB138479-M TMP

2

BATMAN: ARKHAM CITY: BATMAN VS. BANE 2-PACK JUN130320 DC

3

WOLVERINE LEGENDS 6-INCH ACTION FIGURES MAR138356 HAS

4

THE WALKING DEAD: MERLE & DARYL DIXON 2-PACK FEB138485 TMP

5

BATMAN VS. KILLER CROC STATUE (2ND EDITION) MAY130282 DC

6

DC COMICS SUPER VILLAINS: THE JOKER ACTION FIGURE MAY130285 DC

7

DC COMICS BOMBSHELLS: POISON IVY STATUE MAY130275 DC

8

DC COMICS BOMBSHELLS: WONDER WOMAN STATUE MAR130316 DC

9

DC COMICS COVER GIRLS: SUPERGIRL STATUE MAY130276 DC

10

DC COMICS COVER GIRLS: BATWOMAN STATUE JUN130314 DC


TOP 10 GAMES

RANK

DESCRIPTION

ITEM CODE

VENDOR

1

MONOPOLY: THE WALKING DEAD SURVIVAL EDITION OCT128266 USA

2

RISK: THE WALKING DEAD SUVIVAL EDITION OCT128267 USA

3

RISK LEGACY JUN118204 HAS

4

MAGIC THE GATHERING TCG: THEROS BOOSTER PACKS JUN132398 WZK

5

MARVEL HEROCLIX: THOR: THE DARK WORLD JUL138260 NEC

6

STAR TREK TACTICS HEROCLIX SERIES III JUL138333 NEC

7

MAGIC THE GATHERING TCG: THEROS FAT PACK JUN132400 WZK

8

MARVEL HEROCLIX: THOR: THE DARK WORLD MOVIE STARTER SET JUL138261 NEC

9

PATHFINDER BATTLES: LEGENDS OF GOLARION BOOSTER BRICK JUL138263 NEC

10

YU-GI-OH! TCG: LEGENDARY COLLECTION: JOEY’S WORLD MAY138406 KON

14 COMMENTS

  1. It looks like Units and Dollars were mixed up in the first paragraph. Marvel won the Units and DC won the Dollars, not the other way around.

  2. Archie Comics in the direct market isn’t JUST Sonic the Hedgehog and Mega Man anymore — Afterlife, Red Circle and more are here to stay in a big way!

  3. I can never figure out why Diamond’s charts are considered authoritative. The sales data that Diamond shares with the press is based on the publishers and markets that Diamond handles. All others are ignored as though they doesn’t exist.

  4. @Glenn
    It’s a snapshot. A glimpse at one segment of the comics market, with data going back quite a ways. (Wow… December 28, 1994… Where were you when…)

    Most other market segments don’t give out detailed info like this.

    As for your avatar… you set that up on some service, and it automatically inserts it whenever you use your registered email in the comment form. I can’t remember what service I used…

  5. Congrats to Archie comics! I currently don’t read any Archie titles, but it’s good to see a publisher that’s been around since the 40s NOT named DC or Marvel surviving in this day and age.

  6. Thanks for the feedback, Torsten :-)

    I realize that it’s a snapshot, and that’s what gives me pause. Too often, the industry regurgitates these Diamond sales charts as though they were a sort of “Billboard Top 10” for comics.

    “As Diamond goes, so goes the nation” might have been true 10 years ago. But plenty of publishers and marketplaces have long since eliminated the middleman.

    It looks like the avatar is managed through WordPress and Gravatar. Mine should be sorted out by now.

  7. Glenn – when it comes to the comics, it is pretty accurate, the only sales not included are UK and European sales. Certainly the bulk of sales from the big five are included here. It probably is more representative of the overall market than the Billboard chart is, which is a very narrow US-centric chart. Books not so much, but that’s why we don’t analyse that side of things to the same level.

Comments are closed.