Recent sales patterns continued in the April comics sales figures just released by Diamond. While DC had the top selling books with Batman #19. Marvel continue to dominate both units and dollars—especially units, where they opened up a 14% lead over DC.
In a month without a lot of strong graphic novels, The Walking Dead Volume 1: Days Gone Bye led the charts yet again. while Injustice: Gods Among Us, and DC Collectibles’ new Injustice: Deathstroke Vs. Green Arrow Action Figure 2-Pack led the video game and toy categories.
Despite the lack of a blockbuster graphic novels in April, GN sales were up in all comparative categories, while periodical sales dropped a bit from last month, but were still up in double digits—nearly 20%!—over last year.
Image had a strong month with two comics in the top ten—Jupiter’s Legacy and Walking Dead—and the top FOUR graphic novels. It made for nearly 10% of market share in both units and dollars.
TOP COMIC BOOK PUBLISHERS
PUBLISHER | DOLLAR
SHARE |
UNIT
SHARE |
MARVEL COMICS | 37.95% | 41.78% |
DC ENTERTAINMENT | 25.98% | 27.72% |
IMAGE COMICS | 9.04% | 9.87% |
IDW PUBLISHING | 7.54% | 5.59% |
DARK HORSE COMICS | 4.35% | 4.09% |
DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT | 2.98% | 2.60% |
BOOM! STUDIOS | 1.92% | 1.97% |
VALIANT ENTERTAINMENT | 1.04% | 1.11% |
EAGLEMOSS PUBLICATIONS | 0.94% | 0.19% |
ZENESCOPE ENTERTAINMENT | 0.80% | 0.72% |
OTHER NON-TOP 10 | 7.46% | 4.37% |
COMPARATIVE SALES STATISTICS
DOLLARS | UNITS | |
APRIL 2013 VS. MARCH 2013 | ||
COMICS | -4.95% | -5.73% |
GRAPHIC NOVELS | 10.32% | 10.11% |
TOTAL COMICS/GN | -0.56% | -4.56% |
APRIL 2013 VS. APRIL 2012 | ||
COMICS | 13.87% | 11.71% |
GRAPHIC NOVELS | 14.83% | 19.00% |
TOTAL COMICS/GN | 14.18% | 12.29% |
YEAR-TO-DATE 2013 VS. YEAR-TO-DATE 2012 | ||
COMICS | 19.44% | 16.85% |
GRAPHIC NOVELS | 15.85% | 14.15% |
TOTAL COMICS/GN | 18.32% | 16.64% |
TOP 10 COMIC BOOKS
RANK | DESCRIPTION | PRICE | ITEM CODE | VENDOR |
1 | BATMAN #19 | $3.99 | FEB130151-M | DC |
2 | THANOS RISING #1 | $3.99 | FEB130488-M | MAR |
3 | JUPITER’S LEGACY #1 (MR) [*] | $2.99 | FEB130379-M | IMA |
4 | AGE OF ULTRON #4 | $3.99 | FEB130474-M | MAR |
5 | JUSTICE LEAGUE #19 | $3.99 | FEB130121-M | DC |
6 | AGE OF ULTRON #5 | $3.99 | FEB130477-M | MAR |
7 | AGE OF ULTRON #6 | $3.99 | FEB130480-M | MAR |
8 | THE WALKING DEAD #109 (MR) | $2.99 | FEB130472-M | IMA |
9 | BATMAN AND RED ROBIN #19 | $2.99 | FEB130150 | DC |
10 | GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #2 | $3.99 | FEB130512-M | MAR |
TOP 10 GRAPHIC NOVELS & TRADE PAPERBACKS
RANK | DESCRIPTION | PRICE | ITEM CODE | VENDOR |
1 | THE WALKING DEAD VOL. 1: DAYS GONE BYE TP | $14.99 | NOV128157 | IMA |
2 | THE MANHATTAN PROJECTS VOLUME 2 TP | $14.99 | JAN130500 | IMA |
3 | HAPPY TP (MR) | $12.99 | FEB130420 | IMA |
4 | SAGA VOLUME 1 TP | $9.99 | AUG120491 | IMA |
5 | PUNK ROCK JESUS TP (MR) | $16.99 | JAN130330 | DC |
6 | BATMAN: DETECTIVE COMICS VOLUME 1: FACES OF DEATH TP (N52) | $16.99 | JAN130296 | DC |
7 | BATMAN: DETECTIVE COMICS VOLUME 2: SCARE TACTICS HC (N52) | $29.99 | DEC120324 | DC |
8 | BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE SPECIAL EDITION HC | $17.99 | NOV070226 | DC |
9 | SWAMP THING VOLUME 2: FAMILY TREE TP | $14.99 | JAN130301 | DC |
10 | HAWKEYE VOL. 1: MY LIFE AS A WEAPON TP | $16.99 | DEC120744 | MAR |
TOP 10 TOYS
RANK | DESCRIPTION | ITEM CODE | VENDOR |
1 | INJUSTICE: DEATHSTROKE VS. GREEN ARROW 2-PACK | JAN130347 | DC |
2 | MAGNETO ACTION STATUE | JUN121914 | BOW |
3 | INJUSTICE: WONDER WOMAN VS. SOLOMON GRUNDY2-PACK | JAN138219 | DC |
4 | THE WALKING DEAD SERIES 3: BLOODY FIGURE 3-PACK | JAN130626 | TMP |
5 | STAR TREK: KLINGON DISRUPTOR | JUL121719 | DST |
6 | METAL GEAR RISING REVENGEANCE PLAY ARTS KAI: RAIDEN ACTION FIGURE | DEC121765 | SQU |
7 | WE CAN BE HEROES: JUSTICE LEAGUE 7-PACK BOX SET | AUG120308 | DC |
8 | AARDMAN BATMAN & ROBIN CLASSIC FIGURE 2-PACK | FEB130259 | DC |
9 | STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION — ENTERPRISE-D SHIP | APR084696 | DST |
10 | TOKIDOKI UNICORNO SERIES 2 MINI-FIGURES | NOV121757 | TOK |
TOP 10 GAMES
RANK | DESCRIPTION | ITEM CODE | VENDOR |
1 | MARVEL HEROCLIX: IRON MAN 3 MOVIE BOOSTER PACKS | JAN132018 | NEC |
2 | MARVEL HEROCLIX: IRON MAN 3 MOVIE STARTER SET | JAN132019 | NEC |
3 | ADVENTURE TIME MONOPOLY | FEB131928 | USA |
4 | THE WALKING DEAD TV CARD GAME | NOV122033 | CRY |
5 | MAGIC THE GATHERING TCG: GATECRASH BOOSTERS | DEC121918 | WIZ |
6 | MARVEL HEROCLIX: IRON MAN 3 MOVIE MINI GAME | JAN132021 | NEC |
7 | DUNGEONS & DRAGONS CLUE | FEB131930 | USA |
8 | WARHAMMER 40,000: RELIC BOARD GAME | OCT121997 | FAN |
9 | TICKET TO RIDE | MAR043750 | DAY |
10 | SMALL WORLD | FEB095181 | DAY |
2 Image books in the top 10? Am I reading that correctly? Why is that not the main story? Do I have nothing to add other than questions?
With Image’s rise over the past few years, and DC’s circling the wagons around the New 52niverse, you’re seeing a paradigm shift.
It seems that DC cannot make a “creator-owned” title work for them, given ancillary rights and the difficulty of producing comics in other media. So they are concentrating monies and energies on work-for-hire properties.
Image requires creators to pay for the production of the comic, so the new titles are generally strong. Almost every title is independent of every other title in the Image catalog, so it makes marketing easier.
Okay, Batman #19 beat ALL the single digit issues from Marvel? And then Justice League #19 and Batman and Red Robin #19 beat every single Marvel title, except the ones still in single digits? Batman #19 even beat Thanos Rising #1!
I think it is safe to say DC won this one, by a landslide, even though the dollar numbers say Marvel is ahead. The durability of Marvel Now! has pretty much shown itself to not last beyond the first few issues.
As for graphic novels/TPBs, we all know Marvel refuses to mine the potential they have there (seriously, package the Claremont/Byrne X-Men in an attractive way, and you will have something that could actually compete with Watchmen).
I think it’s safe to say that saying DC won anything is absurd.
@Kim- Surely you’re being sarcastic. DCs market share has fallen under 30%. That’s a major issue.
Basically, all DC can do is rely on the top tier of Bat-titles (not even just “the Bat-titles”, because Batwing and others are failing). It’s incredibly impressive that 19th issues of Batman, Justice League, and Batman & Robin can do so well . . . but the success of three titles doesn’t nearly cancel out the negatives for DC.
On the other hand, I don’t think Marvel NOW in its first six months has worked as well as DC’s New 52 did in its first six months. When your major franchises (X-Men, Avengers) are already falling down the charts (i.e., behind many of DC’s titles with much higher issue numbers on the covers) you can’t call Marvel NOW a huge success.
But the thing is, Marvel seems to really know how to keep rolling reboots/relaunches going. Just when the first wave of Marvel NOW gets boring, here comes the big Guardians of the Galaxy stuff and the Ultron event. As soon as those start to lose their luster, the Infinity event and the X-Men 50th anniversary event will be imminent.
Marvel has new #1 issues and big relaunches ALMOST every month. DC is committed to relying mostly on the 19th issues of books, and then sometimes trying to plan new mini-waves of #1s every 6-8 months or so. Whatever the quality of the actual comics (and Batman Inc. has been my favorite mainstream comic for a while now), Marvel’s tactic is simply working better right now. In a few months we might look at the sales charts and say, “Okay, Aquaman #24 is outselling the Avengers and Batgirl is outselling Uncanny X-Men — How the heck is Marvel winning?” But… they are.
LOL DC is now selling LOWER than most pre-reboot months and dollar share is probably one of their worse ever and they only have 3 books in the Top10 when they had about 5 pre-New 52 and they spent millions promoting the reboot hoping to get new fans but it seems they lost the old ones instead! And yet some people claim DC won April when they are falling sooo further behind Marvel each passing month! Does the word “denial” mean anything to you guys?
Wow. Print comics sales are really hurting Year-to-Date compared to last year. Only up 19.44%!
Mark Millar was right. Digital comics and Day-and-Date releases are the end of the world for comics. Good thing Millar saved the entire comics industry by keeping Jupiter’s Legacy print only.
While DC’s market share is low, I would not be too worried about it. DC have no big launches or projects in April, with the exception of the formerly-known-as-WTF-month, which probably boosted sales slightly on most titles, but I suspect not by much. That’s going against Marvel NOW still in its launch phase, as well as the Age of Ultron event which triple-ships. When DC gets to its next big launches and projects, you can bet their shares will rise again. Also, two of DC’s top selling titles, Aquaman and JLofA, are late and missed the April chart.
So looking ahead, May will see double-ships on Aquaman and JLofA, the final Geoff Johns Green Lantern at 8$, the release of four Annuals, and the start of The Movement and Green Team ongoings, which will probably not set sales records, but will certainly sell more than the two cancelled titles they are replacing on the schedule. Add to that two collected editions each for Aquaman and Grant Morrison’s Action Comics, the softcover edition of Superman: Earth One and a new volume for Girl with the dragon tattoo. and May should be OK for DC.
And then there’s four new New 52 launches in June, including Superman Unchained and Batman/Superman which should do strong business, and Trinity War kicks off in July.
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