Diamond just released their top sellers for November, and nothing was amiss, as much ballyhooed launches for Uncanny X-men, Green Lantern and Venom led the way. Venom got a surprising movie bump with the first collection of Donny Cates’ run topping the graphic novel charts in units.

Venom Volume 1.jpgMarvel led DC comfortably – no one has really been talking about it after the disasters of 2017, but Marvel seems to have stabilized quite a bit, bringing back strong #1s of characters people like reading. Look for Ironheart #1 to do well for December sales, as well. Getting some juice from the Venom movie is a nice bonus. Heck, a Black Panther Little Golden Book was the #2 book for the month. Those movies are selling books.

DC had a good launch with The Green Lantern, but there’s only one Grant Morrison, and if the rumors I’m hearing are true, 2019 should be the year everyone starts worrying more about DC. But more about that later.

Still, it was a blah month overall, and 2018 will be a blah year. John Jackson Miller points out that it was a puny month, with 121 fewer titles shipping in November than in October. He also notes:

It was Marvel’s smallest new comics slate since October 2015. DC shipped 67 comics, down from 95 last November. Fully 22% fewer new comics out. The bright side is that even with so much less material out, Marvel was still up slightly year-over-year versus last November. 
 
The graphic novel category was worse off — there, the dynamic also looks supply-side, as publishers appear to be increasingly trying to get retailers to stock for the holidays in October.
 
Six percent fewer comics have come out in 2018 so far; unit sales are down 6%. Pretty direct connection there. Since comics dollar sales are slightly up — and 2017’s unit sales were inflated by overships and 25¢ books — the comics that did come out did a little better relative, per issue, than last year.

black panther LGB.jpg

Thogh the ^5 drop may be explained by fewer comics, graphic novels are down 6-7% for the year, and that’s a troubling trend. 2018 held its own but it still didn’t quite have the kind of break out hit that makes everyone stand up and cheer.

dollar-shareunit-share

 

TOP COMIC BOOK PUBLISHERS

PUBLISHER

DOLLAR

SHARE

UNIT

SHARE

MARVEL COMICS

40.80%

43.75%

DC ENTERTAINMENT

26.74%

29.51%

IMAGE COMICS

8.57%

8.50%

IDW PUBLISHING

3.62%

3.39%

DARK HORSE COMICS

3.37%

2.58%

BOOM! STUDIOS

2.95%

2.49%

DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT

2.24%

2.11%

VIZ MEDIA

1.26%

0.48%

TITAN COMICS

1.20%

0.80%

ONI PRESS INC.

0.97%

0.80%

OTHER NON-TOP 10

8.28%

5.58%

 

 COMPARATIVE SALES STATISTICS

DOLLARS

UNITS

NOVEMBER 2018 VS. OCTOBER 2018

COMICS

-16.49%

-19.71%

GRAPHIC NOVELS

-21.10%

-23.49%

TOTAL COMICS/GN

-17.81%

-19.99%

TOYS

6.76%

-23.81%

NOVEMBER 2018 VS. NOVEMBER 2017

COMICS

-4.98%

-11.24%

GRAPHIC NOVELS

-30.36%

-31.11%

TOTAL COMICS/GN

-13.61%

-13.02%

TOYS

-10.88%

-19.52%

YEAR-TO-DATE 2018 VS. YEAR-TO-DATE 2017

COMICS

1.48%

-6.06%

GRAPHIC NOVELS

-6.67%

-7.25%

TOTAL COMICS/GN

-0.98%

-6.15%

TOYS

-3.25%

-3.25%

 

NEW TITLES SHIPPED

PUBLISHER

COMICS SHIPPED

GRAPHIC NOVELS SHIPPED

MAGAZINES SHIPPED

TOTAL

SHIPPED

MARVEL COMICS

79

39

0

118

DC COMICS

67

40

0

107

IMAGE COMICS

57

18

0

75

IDW PUBLISHING

33

14

0

47

BOOM! STUDIOS

23

16

0

39

DARK HORSE COMICS

16

19

0

35

TITAN COMICS

10

13

5

28

VIZ MEDIA LLC

0

26

0

26

DYNAMITE

17

4

0

21

ONI PRESS INC.

8

4

0

12

OTHER NON-TOP 10

113

206

17

336

TOTAL

423

399

22

844

 

TOP 10 COMIC BOOKS BY UNITS SHIPPED

RANK

DESCRIPTION

PRICE

ITEM CODE

VENDOR

1

UNCANNY X-MEN #1

$7.99

SEP180791-M MAR

2

THE GREEN LANTERN #1

$4.99

SEP180430-M DC

3

WEB OF VENOM: CARNAGE BORN #1

$4.99

SEP180855-M MAR

4

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #10

$3.99

SEP180916-M MAR

5

BATMAN #58

$3.99

SEP180450-M DC

6

BATMAN #59

$3.99

SEP180452-M DC

7

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #9

$3.99

SEP180914-M MAR

8

HEROES IN CRISIS #3

$3.99

SEP180434-M DC

9

AVENGERS #10

$5.99

SEP180829-M MAR

10

VENOM #8

$3.99

SEP180918-M MAR

 

TOP 10 COMIC BOOKS BY DOLLARS INVOICED

RANK

DESCRIPTION

PRICE

ITEM CODE

VENDOR

1

UNCANNY X-MEN #1

$7.99

SEP180791-M MAR

2

WEB OF VENOM: CARNAGE BORN #1

$4.99

SEP180855-M MAR

3

THE GREEN LANTERN #1

$4.99

SEP180430-M DC

4

AVENGERS #10

$5.99

SEP180829-M MAR

5

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #10

$3.99

SEP180916-M MAR

6

BATMAN #58

$3.99

SEP180450-M DC

7

BATMAN #59

$3.99

SEP180452-M DC

8

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #9

$3.99

SEP180914-M MAR

9

HEROES IN CRISIS #3

$3.99

SEP180434-M DC

10

VENOM #8

$3.99

SEP180918-M MAR

 

TOP 10 GRAPHIC NOVELS & TRADE PAPERBACKS BY UNITS SHIPPED

RANK

DESCRIPTION

PRICE

ITEM CODE

VENDOR

1

VENOM BY DONNY CATES VOLUME 1: REX TP

$17.99

AUG181081 MAR

2

THANOS: THE INFINITY CONFLICT HC

$24.99

AUG181076 MAR

3

JUSTICE LEAGUE VOLUME 1: THE TOTALITY TP

$17.99

AUG180630 DC

4

BLACK EYED PEAS PRESENTS: MASTERS OF THE SUN: THE  ZOMBIE CHRONICLES TP

$24.99

APR171143 MAR

5

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN BY NICK SPENCER VOLUME 1: BACK TO BASICS TP

$15.99

SEP181008 MAR

6

THE IMMORTAL HULK VOLUME 1: OR IS HE BOTH? TP

$15.99

AUG181082 MAR

7

BATMAN: WHITE KNIGHT TP

$19.99

JUL180733 DC

8

UNNATURAL VOLUME 1: AWAKENING TP (MR)

$9.99

SEP180132 IMA

9

STAR WARS: LANDO: DOUBLE OR NOTHING TP

$15.99

JUL181171 MAR

10

DOMINO VOLUME 1: KILLER INSTINCT TP

$17.99

AUG181085 MAR

 

TOP 10 GRAPHIC NOVELS & TRADE PAPERBACKS BY DOLLARS INVOICED

RANK

DESCRIPTION

PRICE

ITEM CODE

VENDOR

1

X-MEN MUTANT: MASSACRE OMNIBUS HC

$100.00

MAY180951 MAR

2

THANOS: THE INFINITY CONFLICT HC

$24.99

AUG181076 MAR

3

ABSOLUTE TRANSMETROPOLITAN VOLUME 3 HC (MR)

$125.00

MAR180362 DC

4

SILVER SURFER BY SLOTT AND ALLRED OMNIBUS HC

$75.00

MAY180954 MAR

5

BLACK EYED PEAS PRESENTS: MASTERS OF THE SUN: THE ZOMBIE CHRONICLES TP

$24.99

APR171143 MAR

6

VENOM BY DONNY CATES VOLUME 1: REX TP

$17.99

AUG181081 MAR

7

FIREFLY: BIG DAMN HEROES BOX SET

$150.00

SEP181294 BOO

8

WONDER WOMAN: THE GOLDEN AGE OMNIBUS VOL. 3 HC

$125.00

APR180285 DC

9

MARVEL MASTERWORKS: THE MIGHTY THOR VOLUME 17 HC

$75.00

MAY180957-M MAR

10

JUSTICE LEAGUE VOLUME 1: THE TOTALITY TP

$17.99

AUG180630 DC

 

TOP 10 BOOKS BY UNITS SHIPPED

RANK

DESCRIPTION

PRICE

ITEM CODE

VENDOR

1

LEGEND OF ZELDA: BREATH OF THE WILD: CREATING A CHAMPION HC

$39.99

JUL180425 DAR

2

BLACK PANTHER LITTLE GOLDEN BOOK

$4.99

NOV172179 GOL

3

GIGER HC

$15.00

SEP181990 TAS

4

ART MATTERS: BECAUSE YOUR IMAGINATION CAN CHANGE WORLD

$19.99

OCT182016 WIL

5

DARK SOULS III DESIGN WORKS HC

$49.99

JUN182173 UDO

6

SPECTRUM ART BOOK 25 SC

$35.00

SEP181796 FLE

7

FIREFLY: BIG DAMN HERO HC

$22.95

AUG182286 TTN

8

GHOSTBUSTERS LITTLE GOLDEN BOOK

$4.99

JUL162266 GOL

9

FINAL FANTASY VII: ON THE WAY TO A SMILE SC

$14.00

AUG182452 YEN

10

MARVEL STUDIOS: THE FIRST 10 YEARS HC

$24.99

SEP182051 TTN

 

TOP 10 TOYS BY DOLLARS INVOICED

RANK

DESCRIPTION

ITEM CODE

VENDOR

1

DC COMICS BOMBSHELLS: BATMAN & CATWOMAN STATUE MAY180613 DC

2

BATMAN BLACK & WHITE: THE BATMAN WHO LAUGHS STATUE MAY180609 DC

3

MARVEL GALLERY: VENOM COMIC PVC FIGURE MAY182304 DST

4

MARVEL GALLERY: AVENGERS INFINITY WAR: DR. STRANGE PVC FIGURE AUG178008 DST

5

LEGEND OF ZELDA: BREATH OF THE WILD: GUARDIAN NENDOROID JAN188701 GOO

6

EVIL DEAD 2: DEAD BY DAWN: ASH WILLIAMS BISHOUJO STATUE MAY182647 KOT

7

MARVEL UNIVERSE: BLACK PANTHER ARTFX+ STATUE MAY182646 KOT

8

MARVEL GALLERY: BLACK PANTHER MOVIE (VER. 2) PVC FIGURE MAY182305 DST

9

MARVEL SELECT: JUGGERNAUT FIGURE JUN101512 DST

10

DC COVER GIRLS: CATWOMAN BY JOELLE JONES STATUE MAY180610 DC

 

TOP 10 GAMES BY DOLLARS INVOICED

RANK

DESCRIPTION

ITEM CODE

VENDOR

1

MY HERO ACADEMIA CARD GAME JUL183082 SHI

2

MAGIC THE GATHERING TCG: GUILDS OF RAVNICA BOOSTERS AUG183192 WIZ

3

D&D ICONS OF THE REALM SET 10 AUG183199 NEC

4

BATMAN THE ANIMATED SERIES: GOTHAM UNDER SIEGE GAME JUN180756 IDW

5

RISK RICK & MORTY BOARD GAME OCT182927 USA

6

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES MUNCHKIN MAY180770 IDW

7

PATHFINDER BATTLES: KINGMAKER BOOSTER BRICK AUG183201 NEC

8

RICK AND MORTY DBG: THE RICKSHANK RICKDEMPTION MAY188741 PSI

9

FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDYS MONOPOLY BOARD GAME SEP182828 USA

10

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS RPG: WATERDEEP DRAGON HEIST HC AUG183190 WIZ

How does Diamond calculate the charts? It all starts at the comic book shop.

4 COMMENTS

  1. 3 observations: 1) There is some noticeable slippage in the Batman sales. 2) No wonder comic prices are edging upward when you see that dollars are up double units are down. 3) That Silver Surfer omnibus is worth every penny. Just got my copy this week.

  2. The second and third issues of Uncanny X-Men (also published in November), dropping straight out of the Top 10, don’t bode well for this latest relaunch. Did retailers guess that readers (beyond first issue speculators) would be scared off by the very expensive #1 ?

Comments are closed.