DC scored with Convergence and Marvel scored with Star Wars in the April sales figures just released by Diamond Comic Distributors. Star Wars #4 was the biggest comic of the month, but all five of DC’s nü-DC kicking off Convergence mini made the top 10. This led the way to DC’s best performance in a while, but they still trailed Marvel in both dollars and units.
April was a five Wednesday month so direct comparisons were not useful—periodical sales were up a gaudy 40% in both dollars and units—however comics remain up in double digits for the year, up 12% in dollars and, perhaps more significantly, 14.47% in units, although that has to be laid at the feet of variants.
Image was #3 with a 10.23% dollar share and a 11.18% unit share, staying in double digits. This was perhaps buoyed by a new Walking Dead trade, the #1 GN of the month. Marvel’s Avengers: Rage of Ultron was #2, a pretty good showing for a movie sort of tie-in. The first collection of Lumberjanes comics also cracked the top ten.
Jeffrey Brown’s latest all-ages Star Wars book, Star Wars: Darth Vader & Friends, from Chronicle Books was April’s best-selling book.
TOP COMIC BOOK PUBLISHERS
| PUBLISHER | DOLLAR
SHARE |
UNIT
SHARE |
| MARVEL COMICS | 34.15% | 36.33% |
| DC ENTERTAINMENT | 30.91% | 33.90% |
| IMAGE COMICS | 10.23% | 11.18% |
| IDW PUBLISHING | 6.00% | 4.78% |
| DARK HORSE COMICS | 3.65% | 2.92% |
| BOOM ENTERTAINMENT | 2.17% | 1.98% |
| DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT | 2.05% | 1.78% |
| TITAN PUBLISHING | 0.95% | 0.90% |
| AVATAR PRESS | 0.94% | 0.73% |
| ONI PRESS | 0.89% | 0.54% |
| OTHER NON-TOP 10 | 8.05% | 4.97% |
NEW TITLES SHIPPED
| PUBLISHER | COMICS SHIPPED | GRAPHIC NOVELS SHIPPED | MAGAZINES SHIPPED | TOTAL
SHIPPED |
| MARVEL COMICS | 88 | 40 | 1 | 129 |
| DC ENTERTAINMENT | 88 | 33 | 1 | 122 |
| IDW PUBLISHING | 61 | 31 | 0 | 92 |
| IMAGE COMICS | 74 | 15 | 0 | 89 |
| DARK HORSE COMICS | 32 | 24 | 0 | 56 |
| BOOM ENTERTAINMENT | 39 | 11 | 0 | 50 |
| DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT | 35 | 4 | 0 | 39 |
| AVATAR PRESS | 12 | 2 | 1 | 15 |
| TITAN PUBLISHING | 7 | 3 | 4 | 14 |
| ONI PRESS | 8 | 5 | 0 | 13 |
| OTHER NON-TOP 10 | 101 | 146 | 37 | 284 |
COMPARATIVE SALES STATISTICS
| DOLLARS | UNITS | |
| APRIL 2015 VS. MARCH 2014 | ||
| COMICS | 32.70% | 27.45% |
| GRAPHIC NOVELS | 41.29% | 41.25% |
| TOTAL COMICS/GN | 35.22% | 28.45% |
| APRIL 2015 VS. APRIL 2014 | ||
| COMICS | 19.75% | 22.50% |
| GRAPHIC NOVELS | 13.45% | 10.03% |
| TOTAL COMICS/GN | 17.75% | 21.40% |
| YEAR-TO-DATE 2015 VS. YEAR-TO-DATE 2014 | ||
| COMICS | 15.58% | 16.22% |
| GRAPHIC NOVELS | 4.37% | -3.63% |
| TOTAL COMICS/GN | 12.00% | 14.47% |
TOP 10 COMIC BOOKS
| RANK | DESCRIPTION | PRICE | ITEM CODE | VENDOR |
| 1 | STAR WARS #4 | $3.99 | FEB150684-M | MAR |
| 2 | CONVERGENCE #0 [*] | $4.99 | JAN150218-M | DC |
| 3 | CONVERGENCE #1 [*] | $4.99 | FEB150137-M | DC |
| 4 | BATMAN #40 | $4.99 | JAN150306-M | DC |
| 5 | DARTH VADER #4 | $3.99 | FEB150682-M | MAR |
| 6 | CONVERGENCE #2 [*] | $3.99 | FEB150142-M | DC |
| 7 | CONVERGENCE #3 [*] | $3.99 | FEB150146-M | DC |
| 8 | KANAN: THE LAST PADAWAN #1 | $3.99 | FEB150675-M | MAR |
| 9 | CONVERGENCE #4 [*] | $3.99 | FEB150150-M | DC |
| 10 | PRINCESS LEIA #3 | $3.99 | FEB150680-M | MAR |
TOP 10 GRAPHIC NOVELS & TRADE PAPERBACKS
| RANK | DESCRIPTION | PRICE | ITEM CODE | VENDOR |
| 1 | THE WALKING DEAD VOLUME 23 TP | $14.99 | FEB150545 | IMA |
| 2 | AVENGERS: RAGE OF ULTRON HC | $24.99 | DEC140948 | MAR |
| 3 | FABLES VOLUME 21: HAPPILY EVER AFTER TP (MR) | $17.99 | JAN150397 | DC |
| 4 | BATMAN VOL. 5: ZERO YEAR: DARK CITY TP (N52) | $16.99 | JAN150363 | DC |
| 5 | SAGA VOLUME 4 TP (MR) | $14.99 | OCT140644 | IMA |
| 6 | JUPITER’S LEGACY VOLUME 1 TP (MR) | $9.99 | FEB150526 | IMA |
| 7 | HARLEY QUINN VOL. 1: HOT IN THE CITY TP (N52) | $16.99 | JAN150369 | DC |
| 8 | BATMAN VOLUME 6: THE GRAVEYARD SHIFT HC (N52) | $24.99 | DEC140379 | DC |
| 9 | THE WALKING DEAD VOLUME 1: DAYS GONE BYE TP | $14.99 | NOV128157 | IMA |
| 10 | LUMBERJANES VOLUME 1 TP | $14.99 | FEB151172 | BOO |
TOP 10 BOOKS
| RANK | DESCRIPTION | PRICE | ITEM CODE | VENDOR |
| 1 | STAR WARS: DARTH VADER & FRIENDS HC | $14.95 | FEB151837 | CHR |
| 2 | THE ART OF HE-MAN AND THE MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE HC | $39.99 | DEC140098 | DAR |
| 3 | WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’S STAR WARS: FORSOOTH, THE PHANTOM MENACE HC | $14.95 | FEB151839 | RAN |
| 4 | JOHN ROMITA’S AMAZING SPIDER MAN ARTIFACT EDITION | $112.50 | OCT140523 | IDW |
| 5 | DC SUPER HEROES: MY FIRST BOOK OF GIRL POWER BOARD BOOK | $9.99 | SEP148145 | POC |
| 6 | STARLING: ASHLEY WOOD BOOK 1 HC | $17.99 | OCT140520 | IDW |
| 7 | NEIL GAIMAN’S CHU’S DAY AT BEACH HC | $17.99 | FEB151829 | HAR |
| 8 | THE SHADOW DOUBLE NOVEL VOLUME 94 SC | $14.95 | FEB151834 | SAN |
| 9 | THE SHADOW DOUBLE NOVEL VOLUME 95 SC | $14.95 | MAR151764 | SAN |
| 10 | GAME OF THRONES: HAND OF THE KING WAX SEAL KIT | $12.95 | DEC141885 | RUN |
TOP 10 TOYS
| RANK | DESCRIPTION | ITEM CODE | VENDOR |
| 1 | BATMAN ANIMATED: BATMAN THE ANIMATED SERIES: THE JOKER FIGURE | JUL140292 | DC |
| 2 | STAR TREK: USS ENTERPRISE NCC-1701-A SHIP | AUG142285 | DST |
| 3 | MARVEL: CAPTAIN AMERICA 8-INCH RETRO ACTION FIGURE SET | SEP142256 | DST |
| 4 | DC COMICS: BATWOMAN BISHOUJO STATUE | SEP142327 | KOT |
| 5 | BACK TO THE FUTURE: FLUX CAPACITOR UNLIMITED EDITION | OCT088076 | DST |
| 6 | BATMAN ARKHAM KNIGHT: BATMAN ACTION FIGURE | SEP140356 | DC |
| 7 | AVENGERS INFINITE LEGENDS 6-INCH ACTION FIGURES | FEB152176 | HAS |
| 8 | BATMAN ARKHAM KNIGHT: HARLEY QUINN ACTION FIGURE | SEP140357 | DC |
| 9 | ONE:12 COLLECTIVE: BATMAN THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS FIGURE | AUG148295 | MEZ |
| 10 | ARROW: ARROW ACTION FIGURE | OCT140411 | DC |
TOP 10 GAMES
| RANK | DESCRIPTION | ITEM CODE | VENDOR |
| 1 | MARVEL HEROCLIX: AVENGERS AGE OF ULTRON FOIL PACKS | FEB152705 | NEC |
| 2 | DC DICE MASTERS: JUSTICE LEAGUE FOIL PACKS | JAN152660 | NEC |
| 3 | MARVEL HEROCLIX AVENGERS QUICK START KIT | SEP140018 | NEC |
| 4 | THE WALKING DEAD PRISON BOARD GAME | JUN142630 | MEG |
| 5 | STAR WARS: ARMADA BOARD GAME | DEC142545 | FAN |
| 6 | MARVEL HEROCLIX: AVENGERS AGE OF ULTRON STARTER SET | FEB152706 | NEC |
| 7 | JAY & SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK MONOPOLY | DEC142209 | DIA |
| 8 | DC DICE MASTERS: JUSTICE LEAGUE STARTER SET | JAN152664 | NEC |
| 9 | MONOPOLY: THE WALKING DEAD SURVIVAL EDITION | OCT128266 | USA |
| 10 | DC HEROCLIX: JUSTICE LEAGUE TRINITY WAR BOOSTER BRICK | DEC142573 | NEC |
Star Wars is unstoppable. Wow. It’s good, too!
Noticed that all 10 of the top ten comics have a price of $3.99 and up. No $2.99s in the lot. Will be interesting to see April’s individual sales charts to see what and where the highest-ranking $2.99 title stands. The last holdout, DC, has raised a lot of their titles to $3.99 starting in June. Looks like that’s the new starting price point in the comics world. Oh, well. With DC’s “soft” relaunch and Marvel’s (reportedly bigger) post Secret Wars relaunch, it seems like a great time to modify (i.e. “shrink”) my pull list in order to meet my monthly comics budget (which, unfortunately, is at the highest ceiling possible and cannot be raised).
Comments are closed.