The DC empire struck back in November, with Dark Knight III issue #1 and the collected Sandman Overture leading periodicals and graphic novels sales respectively, according to November sales charts just released by Diamond. But it wasn’t enough to dislodge Marvel from the top spot in both dollars and units, despite the $5.99 price tag of DKIII. However Marvel’s lead shrank a bit, down 5% in both dollars and units. DC’s dollar share went to 26.35% in November, up from 21.85% in October, so you can see where those high ticket items floated the boat.
Although DKIII led the charts, it was the only DC periodical to make the top ten. Morvel flooded the zone with twp issues of Star Wars and the launch of the crossover Star Wars: Vader Down.
In comparisons, graphic novels were down sharply from October, but up from 2014.
Year to date, despite the evidence of shrinkage at several publishers, sales are up overall a little more than 5% in both units and dollars, with periodicals up 7.54% in dollars and 5.45% in units. Is this just a variant bubble? Or continued solid growth? I look forward to seeing more number crunching on all of this.
TOP COMIC BOOK PUBLISHERS
| PUBLISHER | DOLLAR
SHARE |
UNIT
SHARE |
| MARVEL COMICS | 43.20% | 47.65% |
| DC ENTERTAINMENT | 26.35% | 26.09% |
| IMAGE COMICS | 8.67% | 10.02% |
| IDW PUBLISHING | 4.42% | 3.50% |
| DARK HORSE COMICS | 3.17% | 2.69% |
| BOOM! STUDIOS | 1.96% | 1.67% |
| DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT | 1.90% | 1.60% |
| ONI PRESS INC. | 1.06% | 0.61% |
| TITAN COMICS | 0.73% | 0.64% |
| VALIANT ENTERTAINMENT LLC | 0.73% | 0.87% |
| OTHER NON-TOP 10 | 7.82% | 4.66% |
NEW TITLES SHIPPED
| PUBLISHER | COMICS SHIPPED | GRAPHIC NOVELS SHIPPED | MAGAZINES SHIPPED | TOTAL
SHIPPED |
| MARVEL COMICS | 72 | 39 | 0 | 111 |
| DC ENTERTAINMENT | 77 | 27 | 0 | 104 |
| IMAGE COMICS | 61 | 14 | 0 | 75 |
| IDW PUBLISHING | 42 | 22 | 0 | 64 |
| DARK HORSE COMICS | 36 | 15 | 0 | 51 |
| BOOM ENTERTAINMENT | 27 | 11 | 0 | 38 |
| DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT | 19 | 5 | 0 | 24 |
| TITAN COMICS | 11 | 6 | 5 | 22 |
| VALIANT ENTERTAINMENT LLC | 9 | 5 | 0 | 14 |
| ONI PRESS INC. | 6 | 6 | 0 | 12 |
| OTHER NON-TP 10 | 110 | 131 | 34 | 275 |
COMPARATIVE SALES STATISTICS
| DOLLARS | UNITS | |
| NOVEMBER 2015 VS. OCTOBER 2015 | ||
| COMICS | 8.62% | 4.93% |
| GRAPHIC NOVELS | -11.93% | -10.96% |
| TOTAL COMICS/GN | 2.70% | 3.80% |
| NOVEMBER 2015 VS. NOVEMBER 2014 | ||
| COMICS | 30.05% | 18.19% |
| GRAPHIC NOVELS | -17.50% | -21.76% |
| TOTAL COMICS/GN | 13.84% | 14.63% |
| YEAR-TO-DATE 2015 VS. YEAR-TO-DATE 2014 | ||
| COMICS | 7.54% | 5.45% |
| GRAPHIC NOVELS | 2.24% | 3.06% |
| TOTAL COMICS/GN | 5.89% | 5.26% |
TOP 10 COMIC BOOKS
| RANK | DESCRIPTION | PRICE | ITEM CODE | VENDOR |
| 1 | DARK KNIGHT III: THE MASTER RACE #1 | $5.99 | SEP150179-M | DC |
| 2 | STAR WARS: VADER DOWN #1 | $4.99 | SEP150827-M | MAR |
| 3 | DEADPOOL #1 | $4.99 | SEP150699-M | MAR |
| 4 | SECRET WARS #7 | $3.99 | JUL150718-M | MAR |
| 5 | EXTRAORDINARY X-MEN #1 | $4.99 | AUG150752-M | MAR |
| 6 | ALL-NEW ALL-DIFFERENT AVENGERS #1 | $4.99 | SEP150651-M | MAR |
| 7 | STAR WARS #11 | $3.99 | AUG150870-M | MAR |
| 8 | UNCANNY X-MEN #600 | $5.99 | MAR150760-M | MAR |
| 9 | STAR WARS #12 | $3.99 | SEP150835-M | MAR |
| 10 | ALL NEW WOLVERINE #1 | $4.99 | SEP150716-M | MAR |
TOP 10 GRAPHIC NOVELS & TRADE PAPERBACKS
| RANK | DESCRIPTION | PRICE | ITEM CODE | VENDOR |
| 1 | SANDMAN OVERTURE DELUXE EDITION HC (MR) | $24.99 | JUL150333-M | DC |
| 2 | STAR WARS: JOURNEY TO THE FORCE AWAKENS: SHATTERED EMPIRE TP | $16.99 | AUG150915 | MAR |
| 3 | STAR WARS: PRINCESS LEIA TP | $16.99 | JUN150822 | MAR |
| 4 | MS. MARVEL VOLUME 4: LAST DAYS TP | $17.99 | AUG150888 | MAR |
| 5 | SPIDER-GWEN VOLUME 0: MOST WANTED TP | $16.99 | SEP150873 | MAR |
| 6 | DEADPOOL VS. THANOS TP | $16.99 | SEP150876 | MAR |
| 7 | LOW VOLUME 2: BEFORE THE DAWN BURNS US TP | $14.99 | AUG150536 | IMA |
| 8 | VAMPIRELLA #1969 | $7.99 | SEP151219-M | DE |
| 9 | STAR WARS: KANAN VOLUME 1: THE LAST PADAWAN TP | $19.99 | AUG150916 | MAR |
| 10 | SAGA VOLUME 5 TP (MR) | $14.99 | JUL150565 | IMA |
TOP 10 BOOKS
| RANK | DESCRIPTION | PRICE | ITEM CODE | VENDOR |
| 1 | J. SCOTT CAMPBELL TIME CAPSULE HC (MR) | $49.99 | MAY150496 | IMA |
| 2 | ALIEN NEXT DOOR HC | $14.95 | SEP151844 | RAN |
| 3 | THE ART OF JOSE GONZALEZ HC | $39.99 | JUL151216 | DE |
| 4 | THE SHADOW DOUBLE NOVEL VOLUME 101 SC | $15.95 | SEP151863 | SAN |
| 5 | STAR WARS: THE ORIGINAL TOPPS TRADING CARD SERIES VOLUME 1 HC | $24.95 | JUN151749 | ABR |
| 6 | SPECTRUM VOLUME 22 TP | $35.00 | AUG151902 | PUB |
| 7 | DOC SAVAGE DOUBLE NOVEL VOLUME 85 SC | $14.95 | AUG151991 | SAN |
| 8 | DC SUPER HEROES BATMAN: SCARECROW’S PANIC PLOT SC | $5.95 | JUN151731 | CAP |
| 9 | MIRACLEMAN ARTIFACT EDITION HC | $95.00 | APR150415 | IDW |
| 10 | DOCTOR WHO: LIGHT UP WEEPING ANGEL & BOOK KIT | $12.95 | JUL151829 | RUN |
TOP 10 TOYS
| RANK | DESCRIPTION | ITEM CODE | VENDOR |
| 1 | THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: WIND WAKER: LINK NENDOROID | MAY142613 | GOO |
| 2 | MARVEL SELECT: DEADPOOL ACTION FIGURE | MAR101468 | DST |
| 3 | STAR WARS: SNOWTROOPER ARTFX+ STATUE 2-PACK | MAY152428 | KOT |
| 4 | THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: SKYWARD SWORD: LINK FIGMA | JUN132070 | GOO |
| 5 | BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES: BATMOBILE | APR150335 | DC |
| 6 | DC COMICS BOMBSHELLS: THE JOKER & HARLEY QUINN STATUE | MAY150291 | DC |
| 7 | BATMAN BLACK & WHITE: HARLEY QUINN STATUE BY DINI | MAY150294 | DC |
| 8 | BATMAN ARKHAM KNIGHT: RED HOOD STATUE | MAY150284 | DC |
| 9 | GOTHAM CITY GARAGE: HARLEY QUINN STATUE | APR150346 | DC |
| 10 | BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES: HARLEY QUINN FIGURE | JUN150335 | DC |
TOP 10 GAMES
| RANK | DESCRIPTION | ITEM CODE | VENDOR |
| 1 | DC HEROCLIX: SUPERMAN/WONDER WOMAN BOOSTER BRICK | SEP152648 | NEC |
| 2 | BACK TO THE FUTURE MONOPOLY | JUL152198 | DST |
| 3 | MARVEL DICE MASTERS: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN | SEP152653 | NEC |
| 4 | MOUSE GUARD ROLEPLAYING GAME BOXED SET HC (2ND ED) | FEB151158 | BOO |
| 5 | SUPERFIGHT CARD GAME CORE DECK | AUG150606 | IMA |
| 6 | THE WALKING DEAD MONOPOLY SURVIVAL EDITION | OCT128266 | USA |
| 7 | MARVEL DICE MASTERS: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN STARTER | SEP152656 | NEC |
| 8 | MOUSE GUARD ROLEPLAYING GAME HC (2ND ED) | FEB151159 | BOO |
| 9 | MUNCHKIN STEAMPUNK DELUXE EDITION | SEP152641 | PSI |
| 10 | SETTLERS OF CATAN (NEW EDITION) | NOV074603 | MAY |
My guess is that DK III’s reign at the top will be short-lived, probably not as quickly as Before Watchmen started to disappear, but by about Issue 3 or 4 it’ll end up towards the back-half of the Top 10.
Interesting that the TOP 10 GRAPHIC NOVELS & TRADE PAPERBACKS had 4 titles with female lead characters-Princess Leia, Ms Marvel, Spider-Gwen, and Vampirella, and arguably a fifth if you include, and a strong argument exists for it, Saga.
That seems to be an unusual line-up and hopefully points to a changing, more inclusive marketplace for mainstream American comics.
So much derision, yet DK is number one? Anyone have an analysis?
“So much derision, yet DK is number one?”
Yes: people didn’t know what it was like before they bought it. It usually goes in that order.
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