Under the Moon A Catwoman Tale may sales
After a pretty glum April, comics sales were a bit better in May, according to sales figures just released by Diamond. DC had a dream month with a new issue of Doomsday Clock, lots of Batman and a new blockbuster in DCeased #1. which was the top periodical for the month.
Marvel still led DC in dollars, but DC came close in units, losing by a mere 1% despite publishing half as many books! Very interesting. Maybe less is more after all.
DC also led graphic novels sales units with Catwoman: Under the Moon, the first release in the YA Ink line. What did I tell ya about everyone pivoting to all ages? If you’d told me an explicitly YA Catwoman graphic novel would one day lead sales in comics shops I would have plotzed.
, and some funky stuff is happening overalls with several publishers adjusting their output, John Jackson Miller reports (quoted with permission):

The tale of two strategies we’ve seen in 2019 continued with Marvel publishing more different periodical titles, and DC and Image publishing fewer. Diamond reported that market-share leader Marvel shipped 118 new comic books to market, a figure that’s higher than any since Diamond began reporting monthly release counts in 2013. We’re not absolutely certain that figure represents only unique new comic books, with no second or later printings included; it depends on how Diamond is keeping track. But if that 118 number holds, it’s likely to be the highest figure this century. Marvel placed 119 comics in the Top 300 in June 2009, but several of those were previously listed books that had been reordered.

The month’s total wouldn’t be an all-time record, though. At the peak of the early 1990s comics boom, Marvel shipped 126 new comic books to retailers in August 1993, of which 123 issues made Diamond’s Top 300. That appears to be the all-time record for it or any other American publisher.

DCeased #1 may salesMarvel’s “keep pumping it out” strategy appears to be working in the short term but it rarely works out well.
Umbrella Academy collections did well, buoyed by the Netflix series. GN sales were up quite a bit in May over April, and I’ll be curious to see the sales estimates on these.
Although I don’t really report on it, Diamond also includes toy sales in these charts and toys have been booming. This was mentioned at the retailer summit last month as well. I don’t know the details on what’s driving that but you must admit, it is a grand time for tchatchkes.

dollar-share may salesunit-share may sales
TOP COMIC BOOK PUBLISHERS

PUBLISHER

DOLLAR

SHARE

UNIT

SHARE

MARVEL COMICS

40.46%

39.75%

DC COMICS

28.22%

38.58%

IMAGE COMICS

6.88%

5.53%

DARK HORSE COMICS

3.78%

2.19%

IDW PUBLISHING

3.61%

2.98%

BOOM! STUDIOS

2.21%

1.76%

VIZ MEDIA

1.84%

0.65%

DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT

1.78%

1.50%

ONI PRESS

0.84%

0.56%

TITAN COMICS

0.67%

0.49%

OTHER NON-TOP 10

9.72%

9.72%

 COMPARATIVE SALES STATISTICS

DOLLARS

UNITS

MAY 2019 VS. APRIL 2019

COMICS

15.60%

14.51%

GRAPHIC NOVELS

50.97%

44.63%

TOTAL COMICS/GN

24.51%

16.35%

TOYS

27.91%

46.27%

MAY 2019 VS. MAY 2018

COMICS

-7.81%

-4.30%

GRAPHIC NOVELS

5.36%

-5.36%

TOTAL COMICS/GN

-4.15%

-4.38%

TOYS

40.65%

40.25%

YEAR TO DATE 2019 VS. YEAR TO DATE 2018

COMICS

-0.45%

-5.12%

GRAPHIC NOVELS

-1.21%

-5.94%

TOTAL COMICS/GN

-0.66%

-5.18%

TOYS

23.04%

30.09%

NEW TITLES SHIPPED

PUBLISHER

COMICS
SHIPPED

GRAPHIC NOVELS SHIPPED

MAGAZINES SHIPPED

TOTAL

SHIPPED

MARVEL COMICS

118

36

0

154

DC COMICS

60

33

0

93

IMAGE COMICS

38

23

0

61

IDW PUBLISHING

37

18

0

55

DARK HORSE COMICS

22

30

0

52

VIZ MEDIA

0

45

0

45

BOOM! STUDIOS

22

13

0

35

DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT

19

4

0

23

TITAN COMICS

10

6

2

18

ONI PRESS

9

5

0

14

OTHER NON-TOP 10

151

190

27

368

TOTAL

486

403

29

918

TOP 10 COMIC BOOKS BY UNITS SHIPPED

RANK

DESCRIPTION

PRICE

ITEM CODE

VENDOR

1

DCEASED #1

$3.99

MAR190464-M DC

2

DOOMSDAY CLOCK #10

$4.99

JAN190585-M DC

3

BATMAN: LAST KNIGHT ON EARTH #1 (MR)

$5.99

MAR190458-M DC

4

SAVAGE AVENGERS #1

$4.99

MAR190757-M MAR

5

THE BATMAN WHO LAUGHS #5

$4.99

MAR190495-M DC

6

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #21

$3.99

MAR190831-M MAR

7

THE IMMORTAL HULK #17

$3.99

MAR190845-M MAR

8

BATMAN #70

$3.99

MAR190487-M DC

9

BATMAN #71

$3.99

MAR190489-M DC

10

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #22

$3.99

MAR190835-M MAR

TOP 10 COMIC BOOKS BY DOLLARS INVOICED

RANK

DESCRIPTION

PRICE

ITEM CODE

VENDOR

1

DCEASED #1

$3.99

MAR190464-M DC

2

BATMAN: LAST KNIGHT ON EARTH #1 (MR)

$5.99

MAR190458-M DC

3

DOOMSDAY CLOCK #10

$4.99

JAN190585-M DC

4

THE BATMAN WHO LAUGHS #5

$4.99

MAR190495-M DC

5

SAVAGE AVENGERS #1

$4.99

MAR190757-M MAR

6

THE IMMORTAL HULK #17

$3.99

MAR190845-M MAR

7

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #21

$3.99

MAR190831-M MAR

8

WAR OF REALMS #3

$4.99

MAR190765-M MAR

9

WAR OF REALMS #4

$4.99

MAR190773-M MAR

10

BATMAN #70

$3.99

MAR190487-M DC

TOP 10 GRAPHIC NOVELS & TRADE PAPERBACKS BY UNITS SHIPPED

RANK

DESCRIPTION

PRICE

ITEM CODE

VENDOR

1

UNDER THE MOON: A CATWOMAN TALE TP

$16.99

JAN190554 DC

2

THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY VOL. 1: THE APOCALYPSE SUITE TP

$17.99

SEP108136 DAR

3

MIDDLEWEST BOOK 1 TP (MR)

$9.99

MAR190092-M IMA

4

THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY VOL. 2: DALLAS TP

$17.99

DEC098005 DAR

5

EAST OF WEST VOL. 9 TP

$16.99

FEB190059 IMA

6

DC SUPER HERO GIRLS: SPACED OUT TP

$9.99

JAN190555 DC

7

THE IMMORTAL HULK VOL. 3: HULK IN HELL TP

$15.99

FEB190998 MAR

8

LEGEND OF KORRA PART 1: RUINS OF EMPIRE TP

$10.99

JAN190482 DAR

9

RAT QUEENS VOL. 6: INFERNAL PATH TP (MR)

$16.99

MAR190119 IMA

10

SAGA DELUXE EDITION VOL. 3 HC (MR)

$49.99

MAR190127 IMA

TOP 10 GRAPHIC NOVELS & TRADE PAPERBACKS BY DOLLARS INVOICED

RANK

DESCRIPTION

PRICE

ITEM CODE

VENDOR

1

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN OMNIBUS VOL. 4 HC

$125.00

NOV181004-M MAR

2

SAGA DELUXE EDITION VOL. 3 HC (MR)

$49.99

MAR190127 IMA

3

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN BY J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI OMNIBUS VOL. 1  HC

$125.00

NOV181006 MAR

4

THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY VOL. 1: THE APOCALYPSE SUITE TP

$17.99

SEP108136 DAR

5

UNDER THE MOON: A CATWOMAN TALE TP DC INK

$16.99

JAN190554 DC

6

THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY VOL. 2: DALLAS TP

$17.99

DEC098005 DAR

7

EAST OF WEST VOL. 9 TP

$16.99

FEB190059 IMA

8

SIX DAYS: THE INCREDIBLE STORY OF D-DAY’S LOST CHAPTER HC

$24.99

FEB190468 DC

9

ABSOLUTE BATMAN: THE BLACK MIRROR HC

$99.99

AUG180594 DC

10

BATMAN: WHITE KNIGHT HC

$29.99

JAN198939 DC

TOP 10 BOOKS BY UNITS SHIPPED

RANK

DESCRIPTION

PRICE

ITEM CODE

VENDOR

1

MY HERO ACADEMIA: SCHOOL BRIEFS VOL. 1 SC

$10.99

FEB192175 VIZ

2

LULU IS A RHINOCEROS

$16.99

FEB188267 WIC

3

DOCTOR WHO: SCRATCHMAN HC

$23.99

DEC181681 PEN

4

OVERLORD VOLUME 10 HC (MR)

$20.00

MAR192224 YEN

5

BLOODBORNE: OFFICIAL ARTWORKS SC

$44.99

MAR172148 UDO

6

TALES OF THE LOST CITADEL PROSE ANTHOLOGY SC

$15.99

JAN193197 GRE

7

THE SHADOW DOUBLE NOVEL VOL. 141 SC

$14.95

FEB191942 SAN

8

AVENGERS ENDGAME: OFFICIAL MOVIE SPECIAL HC

$19.99

JAN192125 TTN

9

DOCTOR WHO: 13 DOCTORS 13 STORIES SC

$17.99

DEC181677 PEN

10

DOCTOR WHO: THE WOMEN WHO LIVED HC

$23.99

FEB188707 PEN

TOP 10 TOYS BY DOLLARS INVOICED

RANK

DESCRIPTION

ITEM CODE

VENDOR

1

HELLBOY: STANDARD VERSION 1/12-SCALE FIGURE MAY189233 100

2

POP! MARVEL: SPIDER-PUNK VINYL FIGURE SEP188215 FUN

3

MARVEL SELECT: ROGUE ACTION FIGURE SEP182338 DST

4

MARVEL GALLERY: SPIDER-MAN COMIC PVC FIGURE SEP182341 DST

5

DC COVER GIRLS: WONDER WOMAN BY JOELLE JONES STATUE OCT180633 DC

6

DARK KNIGHTS METAL: BATMAN THE DAWNBREAKER STATUE OCT180626 DC

7

MARVEL SELECT: JUGGERNAUT ACTION FIGURE JUN101512 DST

8

DC GALLERY METAL: THE RED DEATH PVC FIGURE OCT182228 DST

9

ONE-12 COLLECTIVE: MARVEL: BLADE ACTION FIGURE MAR188185 MEZ

10

BATMAN BLACK & WHITE STATUE: WHITE KNIGHT JOKER BY SEAN MURPHY NOV180600 DC

TOP 10 GAMES BY DOLLARS INVOICED

RANK

DESCRIPTION

ITEM CODE

VENDOR

1

STARFINDER RPG BEGINNER BOX FEB193069 PAI

2

CRITICAL ROLE: TAL’DOREI CAMPAIGN SETTING HC JUN173357 GRE

3

THE EXPANSE RPG HC NOV182869 GRE

4

MY HERO ACADEMIA CARD GAME JUL183082 S7

5

STARFINDER RPG: CORE RULEBOOK HC JUN173371 PAI

6

PATHFINDER PAWNS BESTIARY BOX FEB168541 PAI

7

TOME OF BEASTS HC JUN168476 PAI

8

THE EXPANSE RPG: GAME MASTERS KIT HC NOV182870 GRE

9

PATHFINDER RPG: CORE RULEBOOK POCKET EDITION APR168770 PAI

10

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: STRANGER THINGS EDITION JAN198565 HAS

 

6 COMMENTS

  1. Books of Scholastic’s that are sold by Diamond are already reflected in the charts. Scholastic never makes the Top 10 publishers list at Diamond, in part because many retailers order Scholastic’s books elsewhere. You wouldn’t expect to see those copies reflected in a chart released by Diamond (and indeed, that data would be impossible to obtain).
    Remember, distributor sales charts are not scoreboards, and do not attempt to say what everyone is selling everywhere; they’re commodity reports so the particular distributor’s customers can know how much supply is in the system.

Comments are closed.