Marvel led DC again in the ongoing Big Two battle, but overall numbers show that comics and GN sales in 2016 were essentially flat – either up or down by a percentage point. December and the quarter were generally down, although GNs were up from 4Q 2015. December was a four week month compared to November’s five weeks, so direct comparisons aren’t all that useful there.
Justice League vs. Suicide Squad #1 was the top periodical and Love is Love, the LGBTQ tribute anthology was the top graphic novel.
Marvel’s lead over DC in dollars shrank quite a bit from November, while the unit gap was wider. Given all that talk of overships, one has to wonder….
John Jackson Miller’s commentary is up
As projected here a ways back, comics shop orders of comic books, graphic novels, and magazines finished up for the year, just barely, after a fourth quarter that lost much of the momentum gained in a strong summer. That’s according to my preliminary analysis of retailer orders just released by Diamond Comic Distributors, which found Direct Market orders at $580.9 million for last year, up just three tenths of a percent — or $1.7 million — over 2015.
That said, it’s the fifth straight growth year, and the comics and graphic novel market overall is doing quite well, thanks to continued strength in the book channel and its reported 12% increase over 2015. And while there will be more analysis here in the coming days, 2016 looks a lot less disappointing when you consider that our year-by-year comparisons are with a black swan (or is that black wampa?) event, the monumental return of Star Wars to Marvel’s comics line in 2015.
2015 also included mega-ships for several loot crate books so there were a lot of extra numbers in the system. All that said, the numbers show a slow down, which might be nothing, painful, mildly painful or pretty troubling depending on many things.
TOP COMIC BOOK PUBLISHERS
PUBLISHER | DOLLAR
SHARE |
UNIT
SHARE |
MARVEL COMICS | 36.73% | 40.50% |
DC ENTERTAINMENT | 29.47% | 29.04% |
IMAGE COMICS | 8.81% | 7.70% |
IDW PUBLISHING | 5.49% | 4.10% |
DARK HORSE COMICS | 3.17% | 2.43% |
BOOM! STUDIOS | 2.40% | 1.64% |
DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT | 1.99% | 6.97% |
TITAN COMICS | 1.16% | 0.99% |
VALIANT ENTERTAINMENT LLC | 1.10% | 1.20% |
VIZ MEDIA | 1.09% | 0.34% |
OTHER NON-TOP 10 | 8.59% | 5.09% |
COMPARATIVE SALES STATISTICS
DOLLARS | UNITS | |
DECEMBER 2016 VS. NOVEMBER 2016 | ||
COMICS | -9.01% | -1.79% |
GRAPHIC NOVELS | -11.19% | 1.10% |
TOTAL COMICS/GN | -9.69% | -1.56% |
TOYS | -12.28% | -11.75% |
DECEMBER 2016 VS. DECEMBER 2015 | ||
COMICS | -18.84% | -8.39% |
GRAPHIC NOVELS | -4.24% | 18.44% |
TOTAL COMICS/GN | -14.84% | -6.66% |
TOYS | -36.78% | -46.07% |
FOURTH QUARTER 2016 VS. THIRD QUARTER 2016 | ||
COMICS | -7.42% | -5.96% |
GRAPHIC NOVELS | 0.07% | 1.88% |
TOTAL COMICS/GN | -5.36% | -5.42% |
TOYS | -1.80% | -11.85% |
FOURTH QUARTER 2016 VS. FOURTH QUARTER 2015 | ||
COMICS | -8.92% | -0.53% |
GRAPHIC NOVELS | 1.53% | 12.21% |
TOTAL COMICS/GN | -6.11% | 0.30% |
TOYS | -22.29% | -30.42% |
YEAR 2016 VS. YEAR 2015 | ||
COMICS | -0.11% | 1.02% |
GRAPHIC NOVELS | 1.24% | 2.10% |
TOTAL COMICS/GN | 0.30% | 1.10% |
TOYS | -9.74% | -14.18% |
NEW TITLES SHIPPED
PUBLISHER | COMICS SHIPPED | GRAPHIC NOVELS SHIPPED | MAGAZINES SHIPPED | TOTAL
SHIPPED |
MARVEL COMICS | 89 | 42 | 0 | 131 |
DC ENTERTAINMENT | 84 | 33 | 1 | 118 |
IMAGE COMICS | 47 | 18 | 1 | 66 |
IDW PUBLISHING | 42 | 17 | 0 | 59 |
BOOM! STUDIOS | 26 | 12 | 0 | 38 |
DARK HORSE COMICS | 26 | 10 | 0 | 36 |
TITAN COMICS | 21 | 5 | 4 | 30 |
DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT | 18 | 9 | 0 | 27 |
ARCHIE COMIC PUBLICATIONS | 11 | 2 | 0 | 13 |
VIZ MEDIA | 0 | 13 | 0 | 13 |
OTHER NON-TOP 10 | 114 | 133 | 25 | 272 |
TOP 10 COMIC BOOKS
RANK | DESCRIPTION | PRICE | ITEM CODE | VENDOR |
1 | JUSTICE LEAGUE VS. SUICIDE SQUAD #1 | $3.99 | OCT160147-M | DC |
2 | INHUMANS VS. X-MEN #1 | $5.99 | SEP160868-M | MAR |
3 | DARK KNIGHT III: THE MASTER RACE #7 | $5.99 | OCT160259-M | DC |
4 | BATMAN #12 | $2.99 | OCT160173-M | DC |
5 | BATMAN #13 | $2.99 | OCT160175-M | DC |
6 | CIVIL WAR II #8 | $4.99 | SEP161000-M | MAR |
7 | STAR WARS #26 | $3.99 | OCT160988-M | MAR |
8 | STAR WARS: DOCTOR APHRA #1 | $4.99 | OCT160975-M | MAR |
9 | HULK #1 | $3.99 | OCT160788-M | MAR |
10 | ALL-STAR BATMAN #5 | $4.99 | OCT160160-M | DC |
TOP 10 GRAPHIC NOVELS & TRADE PAPERBACKS
RANK | DESCRIPTION | PRICE | ITEM CODE | VENDOR |
1 | LOVE IS LOVE SC | $9.99 | OCT160480 | IDW |
2 | BATMAN VOLUME 9: BLOOM TP | $16.99 | SEP160335 | DC |
3 | DESCENDER VOLUME 3: SINGULARITIES TP | $14.99 | SEP160801 | IMA |
4 | WOLVERINE: OLD MAN LOGAN TP | $29.99 | JUL100692 | MAR |
5 | I HATE FAIRYLAND VOLUME 2: FLUFF MY LIFE TP | $14.99 | OCT160683-M | IMA |
6 | INVINCIBLE IRON MAN VOLUME 1: REBOOT TP | $17.99 | OCT161021 | MAR |
7 | STAR WARS: POE DAMERON VOL. 1: BLACK SQUADRON TP | $19.99 | AUG160999 | MAR |
8 | DOCTOR STRANGE VOLUME 1: WAY OF WEIRD TP | $19.99 | SEP161127 | MAR |
9 | BATMAN VOLUME 10: EPILOGUE HC | $22.99 | AUG160317 | DC |
10 | BLACK SCIENCE VOL. 5: TRUE ATONEMENT TP (MR) | $14.99 | OCT160677 | IMA |
TOP 10 BOOKS
RANK | DESCRIPTION | PRICE | ITEM CODE | VENDOR |
1 | DOCTOR WHO: DEATH RIDERS SC | $9.99 | JUN158023 | PEN |
2 | DOCTOR WHO: SYSTEM WIPE SC | $9.99 | JUN158025 | PEN |
3 | THE PRINCESS BRIDE: A STORYBOOK TO COLOR TP | $16.99 | SEP160611 | IDW |
4 | BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER ADULT COLORING BOOK | $14.99 | AUG160020 | DAR |
5 | THE POKEMON COOKBOOK HC | $14.99 | OCT162035 | VIZ |
6 | STAR TREK: THE ORIGINAL SERIES ADULT COLORING BOOK | $14.99 | AUG160018 | DAR |
7 | STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION ADULT COLORING BOOK | $14.99 | AUG160019 | DAR |
8 | DOCTOR WHO: THE GOOD THE BAD & THE ALIEN SC | $9.99 | NOV158049 | PEN |
9 | THE SHADOW DOUBLE NOVEL VOLUME 112 SC | $14.95 | SEP162252 | SAN |
10 | THE WALKING DEAD ADULT COLORING BOOK (MR) | $14.99 | FEB160615 | IMA |
TOP 10 TOYS
RANK | DESCRIPTION | ITEM CODE | VENDOR |
1 | DC DESIGNER SERIES: HARLEY QUINN BY BRUCE TIMM STATUE | MAR160333 | DC |
2 | MARVEL GALLERY: THE HULK PVC FIGURE | AUG162570 | DST |
3 | DC TV: ARROW/THE FLASH ACTION FIGURE 2-PACK | APR160456 | DC |
4 | DC FILMS: ARMORED BATMAN PREMIUM ACTION FIGURE | MAR160323 | DC |
5 | BATMAN ANIMATED SERIES: NEW BATMAN ADVENTURES HARLEY QUINN ACTION FIGURE | MAR160314 | DC |
6 | HARLEY QUINN: RED WHITE & BLACK STATUE | APR160452 | DC |
7 | BATMAN ANIMATED SERIES: NEW BATMAN ADVENTURES CLAYFACE DELUXE ACTION FIGURE | MAR160318 | DC |
8 | DC COMICS DESIGNER SERIES BY LEE BERMEJO: BATMAN FIGURE | FEB160280 | DC |
9 | DC DESIGNER SERIES: THE FLASH BY FRANCIS MANAPUL STATUE | JUL160449 | DC |
10 | DARKSEID AND GRAIL ACTION FIGURE 2-PACK | APR160448 | DC |
TOP 10 GAMES
RANK | DESCRIPTION | ITEM CODE | VENDOR |
1 | BACK TO THE FUTURE MONOPOLY | JUL152198 | DST |
2 | MACHI KORO CARD GAME | MAY142831 | IDW |
3 | MOUSE GUARD ROLEPLAYING GAME BOXED SET (2ND EDITION) | FEB151158 | BOO |
4 | EXPLODING KITTENS CARD GAME NSFW EDITION | OCT163224 | EXP |
5 | EXPLODING KITTENS CARD GAME ORIGINAL EDITION | OCT163223 | EXP |
6 | PANDEMIC: IBERIA BOARD GAME | AUG163183 | ZMA |
7 | GAME OF THRONES PLAYING CARDS | JAN120128 | DAR |
8 | TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: SHADOWS OF THE PAST BOARD GAME | APR160482 | IDW |
9 | BATMANL THE ANIMATED SERIES DICE GAME | SEP163193 | PSI |
10 | STAR TREK 50TH-ANNIVERSARY 3000-PIECE DIECUT JIGSAW PUZZLE | JUN168685 | NMR |