Towards the end of November, DC Comics made an announcement surrounding their upcoming "Justice League of America" launch that made headlines both for its novelty and the perception that it may be the nadir of the current variant cover sales trend.

Namely, when the first issue of the series by Geoff Johns and David Finch ships in February it will carry 53 different covers. The majority of these variants will feature different state flags that retailers can order individually.

Today, capitalizing on the reaction to the move, the publisher released a ranking of state variants with the most orders so far-recasting the promotion as a contest between states in an effort to boost a few more sales between now and its final order cutoff date. Still, the results of the rankings reveal some facets of the comic book Direct Market that don't always see the light of day. Unsurprisingly, the top three states of Texas, California and New York are the population and media anchors of the country. But with the commonwealth of Puerto Rico coming in fourth, it appears that the heavy-hitting New York City retail community is ordering up on the book with hopes of catching the attention of the city's large Puerto Rican population.

The rest of the top ten is filled in with the kinds of states one would suspect -Midwestern and East Coast locations that make up the brunt of Diamond's network of comic and hobby stores. But perhaps the bottom of the list tells the most about where gaps in comics retail exist as flyover states hold the smallest sway since there are precious few comic shops serving potential fans in those areas.

Check out the full ranking list below, and stay tuned to CBR for more on "Justice League of America" and the retail perspective.

1. Texas

2. California

3. New York

4. Puerto Rico

5. Ohio

6. New Jersey

7. Pennsylvania

8. Michigan

9. Illinois

10. North Carolina

11. Florida

12. Virginia

13. Massachusetts

14. Washington

15. Tennessee

16. Indiana

17. Maryland

18. Alabama

19. Washington, D.C.

20. Hawaii

21. Arizona

22. Wisconsin

23. Colorado

24. Kentucky

25. Minnesota

26. Georgia

27. Oklahoma

28. Iowa

29. New Hampshire

30. Alaska

31. Missouri

32. Connecticut

33. South Carolina

34. New Mexico

35. Nebraska

36. Louisiana

37. Oregon

38. Rhode Island

39. Maine

40. Arkansas

41. Kansas

42. Delaware

43. West Virginia

44. Nevada

45. Mississippi

46. Utah

47. Montana

48. Idaho

49. North Dakota

50. South Dakota

51. Vermont

52. Wyoming