Marvel continued its dominance of DC, although by a lesser margin than January, when DC’s dollars/units were literally half of Marvel’s. However Dark Knight III was back on the charts, helping DC raise its numbers and leading periodical sales. Marvel led DC 42.19% to 29.01% in dollars and 40.78% to $26.00 in units. Image Comics cruised into third with a 10.13% dollar share and a 9.18% unit share.
The Wicked and the Divine Vol. 3 was the top graphic novel, with the rest of the otp 10 divided between such faves as Star Wars, Batman and Lumberjanes, although Image’s Sunstone V.4 charted. Evan Dorkin’s scalding complete Eltingville Club was #2 on the book chart– not sure how that’s decided but good for the Eltingville Four.
The year to year and year to date comparisons aren’t particularly strong, but as John Jackson Miller points out at Comichron, Jan-Feb 2015 were distorted by Star Wars #1 and two straight months of inflated Loot Crate numebrs. Quoting Comichron here:
Preliminary reporting is available on comics and graphic novel sales in February 2016 from Diamond Comic Distributors, and we see in them another month that is just slightly off from the same month a year ago. But since reported sales that month were supercharged by nearly half a million copies of Orphan Black #1, the vast majority of which went to the repackager Loot Crate, the month may not have been off by that much.
Indeed, Comichron estimates that while total orders were at $41.48 million, down about $700,000 from last February, our retail total from last year was inflated by nearly $2 million by the Loot Crate book. We can also estimate that much of the drop in unit sales came from the Loot Crate issue: half a million copies would equate to about half of the reported 14.62% drop in comics unit sales. And remember that last February also had more Star Warslaunches, including continued sales of the first issue from last January.
So the comparisons for the first quarter are the muddle we’d been expecting, and may not say much at all about the health of the market as 2016 began.
Despite these soft numbers, Graphic novels were up sharply — nearly 20∞ — from Feb. 2015. I’d be interested to know if it was a lack of good books in 2015 or a bonus of good titles in 2016 that led to this change.
TOP COMIC BOOK PUBLISHERS
| PUBLISHER | DOLLAR
SHARE |
UNIT
SHARE |
| MARVEL COMICS | 40.78% | 42.19% |
| DC ENTERTAINMENT | 26.00% | 29.01% |
| IMAGE COMICS | 9.18% | 10.13% |
| IDW PUBLISHING | 4.78% | 4.14% |
| DARK HORSE COMICS | 3.07% | 2.59% |
| BOOM! STUDIOS | 2.12% | 1.94% |
| DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT | 2.09% | 1.68% |
| ONI PRESS INC. | 1.04% | 0.85% |
| VIZ MEDIA | 0.94% | 0.38% |
| TITAN COMICS | 0.92% | 0.82% |
| OTHER NON-TOP 10 | 9.09% | 6.29% |
NEW TITLES SHIPPED
| PUBLISHER | COMICS SHIPPED | GRAPHIC NOVELS SHIPPED | MAGAZINES SHIPPED | TOTAL
SHIPPED |
| MARVEL COMICS | 80 | 32 | 0 | 112 |
| DC ENTERTAINMENT | 78 | 28 | 1 | 107 |
| IMAGE COMICS | 53 | 13 | 0 | 66 |
| IDW PUBLISHING | 41 | 22 | 0 | 63 |
| DARK HORSE COMICS | 27 | 16 | 0 | 43 |
| BOOM! STUDIOS | 23 | 13 | 0 | 36 |
| DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT | 20 | 6 | 0 | 26 |
| TITAN COMICS | 14 | 6 | 1 | 21 |
| ONI PRESS | 7 | 3 | 0 | 10 |
| VIZ MEDIA | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| OTHER NON-TOP 10 | 142 | 134 | 31 | 307 |
COMPARATIVE SALES STATISTICS
| DOLLARS | UNITS | |
| FEBRUARY 2016 VS. JANUARY 2016 | ||
| COMICS | 0.14% | -5.26% |
| GRAPHIC NOVELS | -0.63% | 8.21% |
| TOTAL COMICS/GN | -0.10% | -4.24% |
| FEBRUARY 2016 VS. FEBRUARY 2015 | ||
| COMICS | -6.73% | -14.62% |
| GRAPHIC NOVELS | 12.00% | 18.12% |
| TOTAL COMICS/GN | -1.69% | -12.54% |
| YEAR-TO-DATE 2016 VS. YEAR-TO-DATE 2015 | ||
| COMICS | -5.32% | -9.52% |
| GRAPHIC NOVELS | 1.13% | 2.92% |
| TOTAL COMICS/GN | -3.43% | -8.63% |
TOP 10 COMIC BOOKS
| RANK | DESCRIPTION | PRICE | ITEM CODE | VENDOR |
| 1 | DARK KNIGHT III: THE MASTER RACE #3 | $5.99 | NOV150155-M | DC |
| 2 | STAR WARS #16 | $3.99 | DEC150866-M | MAR |
| 3 | BATMAN #49 | $3.99 | DEC150271-M | DC |
| 4 | SPIDER-MAN #1 | $3.99 | DEC150723-M | MAR |
| 5 | DEADPOOL: THE MERCS FOR MONEY #1 | $3.99 | DEC150741-M | MAR |
| 6 | DEADPOOL #7 | $9.99 | DEC150853-M | MAR |
| 7 | DARTH VADER #16 | $3.99 | NOV150919 | MAR |
| 8 | POWER MAN AND IRON FIST #1 | $3.99 | DEC150732-M | MAR |
| 9 | AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #7 | $3.99 | DEC150809-M | MAR |
| 10 | JUSTICE LEAGUE #48 | $3.99 | NOV150171-M | DC |
TOP 10 GRAPHIC NOVELS & TRADE PAPERBACKS
| RANK | DESCRIPTION | PRICE | ITEM CODE | VENDOR |
| 1 | THE WICKED & THE DIVINE VOLUME 3 TP (MR) | $14.99 | NOV150702 | IMA |
| 2 | STAR WARS: CHEWBACCA TP | $16.99 | NOV150951 | MAR |
| 3 | LUMBERJANES VOLUME 3 TP | $14.99 | NOV151165 | BOO |
| 4 | BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS TP | $19.99 | NOV150279-M | DC |
| 5 | BATMAN: HARLEY AND IVY DELUXE EDITION HC | $24.99 | OCT150255 | DC |
| 6 | SUNSTONE VOLUME 4 OGN SC (MR) | $14.99 | OCT150579 | IMA |
| 7 | NEW SUICIDE SQUAD VOLUME 2: MONSTERS TP | $14.99 | NOV150280 | DC |
| 8 | THE FADE-OUT VOLUME 3 TP (MR) | $12.99 | DEC150644 | IMA |
| 9 | AMAZING SPIDER-MAN: EDGE OF SPIDER-VERSE TP | $15.99 | FEB150860 | MAR |
| 10 | SAGA VOLUME 5 TP (MR) | $14.99 | JUL150565 | IMA |
TOP 10 BOOKS
| RANK | DESCRIPTION | PRICE | ITEM CODE | VENDOR |
| 1 | BATMAN CHARACTER ENCYCLOPEDIA HC | $16.99 | JAN161900 | DK |
| 2 | THE ELTINGVILLE CLUB HC | $19.99 | OCT150048 | DAR |
| 3 | DOCTOR WHO COLORING BOOK | $14.99 | DEC151808 | PUT |
| 4 | THE SHADOW DOUBLE NOVEL VOLUME 103 SC | $14.95 | NOV151874 | SAN |
| 5 | WONDER WOMAN: AMAZON WARRIOR SC | $5.99 | DEC151804 | SCH |
| 6 | BATMAN & ROBIN ADVENTURES: THE JOKER’S MAGIC MAYHEM TP | $5.95 | DEC151798 | CAP |
| 7 | BATMAN TALKING BUST & ILLUSTRATED BOOK KIT | $12.95 | OCT151888 | RUN |
| 8 | BATMAN & ROBIN ADVENTURES: TWO-FACE FACE OFF TP | $5.95 | DEC151795 | CAP |
| 9 | BATMAN & ROBIN ADVENTURES: THE SCARECROW’S NIGHTMARE MAZE TP | $5.95 | DEC151797 | CAP |
| 10 | BATMAN & ROBIN ADVENTURES: CLAYFACE’S SLIME SPREE TP | $5.95 | DEC151796 | CAP |
TOP 10 TOYS
| RANK | DESCRIPTION | ITEM CODE | VENDOR |
| 1 | GHOSTBUSTERS SELECT SERIES 1 ACTION FIGURES | MAY152168 | DST |
| 2 | MARVEL SELECT: DEADPOOL ACTION FIGURES | MAR101468 | DST |
| 3 | MOVIE REALIZATION STAR WARS: SAMURAI DARTH VADER “DEATH STAR” ACTION FIGURE | AUG158041 | BLU |
| 4 | ALIENS WARRIOR COOKIE JAR | AUG152314 | DST |
| 5 | THE FLASH STATUE PAPERWEIGHT | AUG152807 | ICO |
| 6 | STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS: FIRST ORDER STORMTROOPER ARTFX+ STATUE 2-PACK | NOV152451 | KOT |
| 7 | MARVEL NOW: MAGNETO ARTFX+ STATUE | AUG152630 | KOT |
| 8 | STREET FIGHTER: POISON BISHOUJO STATUE | MAY158417 | KOT |
| 9 | DC COMICS SUPER HEROES: WONDER WOMAN BUST | JUL150356 | DC |
| 10 | BATMAN 1966: BATMOBILE WITH ACTION FIGURE | JUN158643 | MAT |
TOP 10 GAMES
| RANK | DESCRIPTION | ITEM CODE | VENDOR |
| 1 | DC HEROCLIX: WORLDS FINEST BOOSTER BRICK | DEC152576 | NEC |
| 2 | MAGIC THE GATHERING TCG: OATH OF THE GATEWATCH BOOSTERS | NOV158284 | WIZ |
| 3 | DC HEROCLIX: DAWN OF JUSTICE | DEC152574 | NEC |
| 4 | CTHULHU MONOPOLY | JAN162797 | USA |
| 5 | DUNGEONS & DRAGONS DICE MASTERS: FAERUN UNDER SIEGE | DEC152567 | NEC |
| 6 | DC HEROCLIX: WORLDS FINEST FAST FORCES 6-PACK | DEC152578 | NEC |
| 7 | DC HEROCLIX: DAWN OF JUSTICE FAST FORCES 6-PACK | DEC152575 | NEC |
| 8 | STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS CHESS GAME | OCT158185 | HAS |
| 9 | CTHULHU YAHTZEE | JAN162798 | USA |
| 10 | STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS MONOPOLY | OCT158186 | HAS |
As always, thanks for the information. I wonder if you could provide specific information on Valiant’s titles (market share, etc). I think they probably have the largest group of ongoing published titles that continuously fail to make this chart. They have foreign investors backing a movie deal. How poorly are there titles actually selling? Thank you.
The above data ultimately come from Diamond. If Valiant doesn’t make the Top Ten publishers, then their market share info won’t be broken out in the charts above. But looking at the publishers that did make the Top Ten, it would appear that Valiant’s market share is clearly below 1%.
To see how Valiant’s individual titles are doing, you’ll need to see the Top 300 individual comics list. Comichron and ICv2 make some estimates of the number of paid copies shipped by Diamond to North America retailers. You can see ICv2’s January calculations at this link: http://icv2.com/articles/markets/view/33653/top-300-comics-actual-january-2016
Comichron is able to glean a little more since they also draw on Diamond’s Top 50 Indy & Small Publisher charts, which can include some books from below the overall Top 300:
http://www.comichron.com/monthlycomicssales/2016/2016-01.html
I would imagine that their February 2016 estimates will be out soon.
I shake my head that buy overpriced floppies from Marvel and DC.
I shake my head at people that buy overpriced floppies from Marvel and DC.
@Double Mojo: Valiant’s share of the overall market isn’t publicly available unless they make it into Diamond’s Top Ten Publisher’s list. But looking at the data that Diamond has released, it is clear that Valiant’s share is less than 1%.
As for estimates of the sales of individual Valiant titles in North America, take a look at the ICv2 or Comichron numbers. The ICv2 list is based just on Diamond’s Top 300, but Comichron also uses the data from Diamond’s Top 50 Indy books, so they sometimes capture info on books falling below the Top 300 cutoff. Do a Google search for comichron “January 2016” to find the January numbers. (I don’t think that the Feb 2016 numbers have been posted yet, but they should be up soon.)
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