Big time comics events including Marvel Legacy #1 and Dark Nights Metal continued to lead periodical comics sales charts for September, according to the numbers released by Diamond this week.
Legacy was the #1 book, with estimated sales of 298,000 copies according to Comichron, making it the #1 book of the year thus far. Venomverse #1 also made the top 10 periodicals, while DC has seven titles in the top 10. The Walking Dead rounded it out.
Marvel Comics was September’s top publisher with a 37.97% dollar share and a 38.13% unit share. DC Entertainment was second with a 30.21% dollar share and a 36.68% unit share.
This is a close race in units, which is interesting since Marvel has so many variants and incentives and overships and what not. However they also shipped ONLY 88 titles, the fewest for any month this year.
The Walking Dead Vol. 28 was the #1 graphic novel for the month.
Comparative numbers continue to be blah, with comics and GNs down in units and dollars in every category. Year to date, Comics and GNs are down 10% in dollars — it’s not a disaster but it’s someone where on t border between blah and uh oh.
John Jackson Miller spins things in a more positive light, highlighting Marvel’s IMPROVED year-over-year figures.
I had mentioned on Twitter earlier this week that while last September was a strong month for the Direct Market thanks to DC’s Rebirth program, the month’s sales levels offered a relatively reachable target. While information released today by Diamond Comic Distributors shows that September 2017 comics and graphic novel orders, at $43.52 million, fell six points short, that represents the smallest year-over-year drop since May.
Perhaps more significant, given the narrative we’ve seen in 2017, is that according to Comichron’s analysis, orders for Marvel comics and graphic novels were up 14% in dollar terms over last September. That’s an increase of about $2 million at retail, representing the publisher’s best year-over-year performance since June 2016. The chart-topping Marvel Legacy #1 has something do with it, of course, and while there’s always some level of deep-discounting on graphic novels, Marvel’s unit and dollar shares were pretty close to one another — right around 38% — so there can’t be too much of it involved. Marvel’s 88 new comic books in September was also the smallest number of periodical releases for the publisher in any month this year.
I think this is a LEEEEETLE optimistic, since when sales are up because of a once in a lifetime nothing will be the same ever event doesn’t really mean things are shored 0up otherwise but, you know, it’s nice to see a little positivity here.
TOP COMIC BOOK PUBLISHERS
|
PUBLISHER |
DOLLAR SHARE |
UNIT SHARE |
| MARVEL COMICS |
37.97% |
38.13% |
| DC ENTERTAINMENT |
30.21% |
36.68% |
| IMAGE COMICS |
9.55% |
8.81% |
| IDW PUBLISHING |
4.30% |
3.67% |
| DARK HORSE COMICS |
2.44% |
1.70% |
| BOOM! STUDIOS |
1.99% |
1.77% |
| DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT |
1.94% |
1.91% |
| VIZ MEDIA |
1.40% |
0.49% |
| TITAN COMICS |
1.16% |
0.85% |
| ONI PRESS |
1.10% |
0.72% |
| OTHER NON-TOP 10 |
7.94% |
5.27% |
COMPARATIVE SALES STATISTICS
|
DOLLARS |
UNITS |
|
|
SEPTEMBER 2017 VS. AUGUST 2017 |
||
| COMICS |
-0.44% |
1.26% |
| GRAPHIC NOVELS |
-14.41% |
-15.46% |
| TOTAL COMICS/GN |
-4.81% |
-0.08% |
| TOYS |
-18.35% |
-15.27% |
|
SEPTEMBER 2017 VS. SEPTEMBER 2016 |
||
| COMICS |
-2.98% |
-5.49% |
| GRAPHIC NOVELS |
-13.14% |
-16.98% |
| TOTAL COMICS/GN |
-6.07% |
-6.37% |
| TOYS |
-13.86% |
-30.78% |
|
YEAR-TO-DATE 2017 VS. YEAR-TO-DATE 2016 |
||
| COMICS |
-9.20% |
-6.15% |
| GRAPHIC NOVELS |
-11.83% |
-13.22% |
| TOTAL COMICS/GN |
-10.00% |
-6.71% |
| TOYS |
-11.33% |
-18.24% |
NEW TITLES SHIPPED
|
PUBLISHER |
COMICS SHIPPED |
GRAPHIC NOVELS SHIPPED |
MAGAZINES SHIPPED |
TOTAL SHIPPED |
| MARVEL COMICS |
88 |
42 |
0 |
130 |
| DC ENTERTAINMENT |
77 |
34 |
0 |
111 |
| IMAGE COMICS |
58 |
25 |
0 |
83 |
| IDW PUBLISHING |
40 |
21 |
0 |
61 |
| VIZ MEDIA |
0 |
43 |
0 |
43 |
| BOOM! STUDIOS |
28 |
10 |
0 |
38 |
| DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT |
29 |
7 |
0 |
36 |
| TITAN COMICS |
19 |
10 |
3 |
32 |
| DARK HORSE COMICS |
16 |
13 |
0 |
29 |
| ONI PRESS |
8 |
6 |
0 |
14 |
| OTHER NON-TOP 10 |
123 |
154 |
17 |
294 |
TOP 10 COMIC BOOKS
|
RANK |
DESCRIPTION |
PRICE |
ITEM CODE |
VENDOR |
|
1 |
MARVEL LEGACY #1 |
$5.99 |
JUL170990-M | MAR |
|
2 |
DARK NIGHTS: METAL #2 |
$3.99 |
JUL170300-M | DC |
|
3 |
VENOMVERSE #1 |
$4.99 |
JUL171050-M | MAR |
|
4 |
BATMAN #30 |
$2.99 |
JUL170338-M | DC |
|
5 |
BATMAN #31 |
$2.99 |
JUL170340-M | DC |
|
6 |
HARLEY QUINN 25TH-ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL #1 |
$4.99 |
JUL170413-M | DC |
|
7 |
THE WALKING DEAD #171 (MR) |
$2.99 |
JUL170918-M | IMA |
|
8 |
BATMAN: THE RED DEATH #1 |
$3.99 |
JUL170308 | DC |
|
9 |
BATMAN: THE MURDER MACHINE #1 |
$3.99 |
JUL170309 | DC |
|
10 |
ACTION COMICS #987 LENTICULAR EDITION |
$3.99 |
JUL170323 | DC |
TOP 10 GRAPHIC NOVELS & TRADE PAPERBACKS
|
RANK |
DESCRIPTION |
PRICE |
ITEM CODE |
VENDOR |
|
1 |
THE WALKING DEAD VOLUME 28 TP (MR) |
$16.99 |
JUL170919 | IMA |
|
2 |
BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT III: MASTER RACE HC |
$29.99 |
JUN170390 | DC |
|
3 |
STAR WARS: DARTH MAUL TP |
$16.99 |
MAY170950 | MAR |
|
4 |
EAST OF WEST VOLUME 7 TP (MR) |
$16.99 |
APR170796 | IMA |
|
5 |
DC SUPER HERO GIRLS VOL. 4: PAST TIMES AT SUPER HERO HIGH TP |
$9.99 |
JUN170333 | DC |
|
6 |
SEX CRIMINALS VOLUME 4: FOURGY TP (MR) |
$16.99 |
JUL170876 | IMA |
|
7 |
ALL-STAR BATMAN VOL. 1: MY OWN WORST ENEMY TP |
$16.99 |
JUN170378 | DC |
|
8 |
ROYAL CITY VOL. 1: NEXT OF KIN TP |
$9.99 |
JUL170757-M | IMA |
|
9 |
HARLEY QUINN VOL. 3: RED MEAT TP |
$16.99 |
JUN170383 | DC |
|
10 |
WOLVERINE: OLD MAN LOGAN VOL. 5: PAST LIVES TP |
$17.99 |
JUL171218 | MAR |
TOP 10 BOOKS
|
RANK |
DESCRIPTION |
PRICE |
ITEM CODE |
VENDOR |
|
1 |
MOUSE GUARD ALPHABET BOOK HC |
$16.99 |
MAY171234 | BOO |
|
2 |
ART OF RICK & MORTY HC |
$39.99 |
MAY170019 | DAR |
|
3 |
DC SUPER HERO GIRLS: FINDERS KEEPERS |
$4.99 |
JUL172420 | RAN |
|
4 |
DC SUPER HERO GIRLS: HARLEY QUINN BRAIN SQUEEZERS |
$5.99 |
JUL172421 | RAN |
|
5 |
DC SUPER HERO GIRLS: SHOWDOWN IN SPACE |
$4.99 |
JUL172423 | RAN |
|
6 |
DC SUPER HERO GIRLS: POWER PLAY |
$9.99 |
JUL172422 | RAN |
|
7 |
STAR WARS: A NEW HOPE OFFICIAL COLLECTOR EDITION SC |
$10.99 |
MAY171880-M | TTN |
|
8 |
POKEMON: LET’S FIND POKEMON SPECIAL EDITION HC |
$16.99 |
AUG172181 | VIZ |
|
9 |
THE SHADOW DOUBLE NOVEL VOLUME 121 |
$14.95 |
JUN172308 | SAN |
|
10 |
STAR TREK ADULT COLORING BOOK VOLUME 2 TP |
$14.99 |
MAY170057 | DAR |
TOP 10 TOYS
|
RANK |
DESCRIPTION |
ITEM CODE |
VENDOR |
|
1 |
BATMAN VS. HARLEY QUINN BATTLE STATUE | MAR170452 | DC |
|
2 |
DC BOMBSHELLS: HARLEY QUINN DELUXE STATUE | MAR170453 | DC |
|
3 |
MARVEL GALLERY: BLACK PANTHER PVC FIGURE | APR172656 | DST |
|
4 |
DRAGONBALL Z MASTER STARS PIECE MANGA DIMENSIONS: TRUNKS FIG | NOV168294 | BAN |
|
5 |
BATMAN ANIMATED: GCPD ROGUES GALLERY FIGURE 5-PACK | FEB170344 | DC |
|
6 |
DC DESIGNER SERIES: WONDER WOMAN BY FRANK CHO STATUE | MAR170457 | DC |
|
7 |
MARVEL GALLERY: NETFLIX THE PUNISHER PVC FIGURE | MAR172720 | DST |
|
8 |
DC ICONS: ROBIN & SUPERBOY ACTION FIGURE 2-PACK | MAR170456 | DC |
|
9 |
THOR LEGENDS 6-INCH ACTION FIGURES | JUN178405 | HAS |
|
10 |
DC ICONS: SUPERGIRL ACTION FIGURE | MAR170455 | DC |
TOP 10 GAMES
|
RANK |
DESCRIPTION |
ITEM CODE |
VENDOR |
|
1 |
WIZKIDS HEROCLIX: UNDEAD | MAR173404 | NEC |
|
2 |
DRAGON BALL SUPER CCG BOOSTER 1 | FEB178467 | BAN |
|
3 |
CLUE: LEGEND OF ZELDA BOARD GAME | JUL173383 | USA |
|
4 |
YU-GI-OH! TCG: LEGENDARY DUELISTS | JUL173370 | KON |
|
5 |
YU-GI-OH! TCG: MEGA TINS | JUN173366 | KON |
|
6 |
OUTPOST SIBERIA CARD GAME | MAY170588 | IDW |
|
7 |
SEIKATSU GAME | JUL170677 | IDW |
|
8 |
WONDER WOMAN 1000-PIECE JIGSAW PUZZLE | JUL173357 | NMR |
|
9 |
MAGIC THE GATHERING TCG: ARCHENEMY NICOL BOLAS | APR173298 | WIZ |
|
10 |
MARVEL DICE MASTERS: GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY | OCT168614 | NEC |
Legacy #1 wasn’t the only component of the increase, so there was some strength elsewhere, at least. (Meanwhile, the once-in-a-lifetime-ness of this — or any — comics event, I leave to the readers’ historical judgment!)
The problems with Marvel can be seen in looking at three things.
1. Spider-Man. If it weren’t for the late 90s/early 00s, I believe these would be the worst sales for AMAZING in its 50+ year history. They’ve expanded the franchise to X-Men levels but not only do the non-AMAZING books sell as poorly as anything else, the sales of both the GENERATIONS book and SPIDER-MEN II make it look like there just aren’t any extra Spider-fans out there any more.
2. X-Men. Even after all the nonsense of the last 20 years, the mutant franchise still sells, though at a much lower baseline. This may seem like a good thing but actually illustrates what a terrible job Marvel has done creating new comics or attracting new readers.
3. The Avengers. Not that long ago, this book/franchise was arguably bigger than either Spider-Man or the X-Men and Marvel expanded the brand accordingly. Now it’s all gone. All of it. Anyone who thinks the issue here is something other than Marvel’s own actions should concentrate of that.
Mike
Re: Avengers – Marvel really needs to just strip Avengers down to one title and focus on that for a while. Make it feel special for a character to be an avenger, then build it back up from its base.
They can renumber and re-adjective books all day long but as long as there as 5(?) books and 30+ Avengers running around, it’s all just so much noise, IMO.
As long as it is number one why should marvel have to care about complaints or negative reviews?
Do the folks at this site really not know about Marvel’s notorious overshipping practices?
Legacy did not sell 300,000 copies. This is the number of copies that Marvel shipped to retailers.
Note: This is NOT the number of copies that shops ordered. Marvel has become increasingly prone to overshipping, without warning. Search the web and you can find plenty of recent photocopies of invoices and sales receipts showing insane things like:
“Hi, I own a comic shop and look at this invoice. I ordered 6 copies of All-New Guardians of the Galaxy #4. They sent me 46 copies. I didn’t have to pay for the extra 40 copies, but I had to pay for the extra cost to ship them to me.”
These extra shipped copies count as “sales” on the Diamond charts.
Really at this point we have no idea what Marvel is actually selling.
“If it weren’t for the late 90s/early 00s, I believe these would be the worst sales for AMAZING in its 50+ year history.”
^No. During those “terrible” times, ASM was selling roughly TWICE as well as it is now. It never declined below 113,000 PAID copies during that time.
http://www.comichron.com/titlespotlights/amazingspiderman.html
it was very good!
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