EDITOR: The original version of this story stated that graphic novel sales declined from March 2012. Diamond has issued a revised chart indicating that sales actually rose for graphic novels while also revising the year-to-year sales for comics upward.
Diamond Comics has released its Top Ten charts for products released in March 2013 which found Marvel sitting atop the charts with 40% of the market share in retail dollars and just under 44% in units. DC Comics was second with 27% and 30% respectively. Image Comics ranked third, with IDW Publishing and Dark Horse rounding out the top five spots.
Looking at the month to month numbers, the market as a whole saw a slight uptick of 3% in comics sales, while graphic novel sales rose by 7% in dollars and 17% in units. Overall, both comic and graphic novel sales rose compared to March, 2012.
The top selling comic was Marvel's "Guardians of the Galaxy" #1, followed by the debut issue of "Age of Ultron." AoU 2 and 3 ranked in the top ten as well, along with "Wolverine" #1, "Superior Spider-Man" #5 and All New X-Men" #8. DC's "Batman" #18 ranked third, with "Justice League" and Justice League of America" being the publisher's only other titles to break the top ten.
TOP COMIC BOOK PUBLISHERS
|
PUBLISHER |
DOLLARSHARE |
UNITSHARE |
|
MARVEL COMICS |
39.96% |
43.78% |
|
DC COMICS |
27.09% |
29.88% |
|
IMAGE COMICS |
8.01% |
7.88% |
|
IDW PUBLISHING |
6.34% |
5.24% |
|
DARK HORSE COMICS |
4.72% |
4.16% |
|
DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT |
2.16% |
1.87% |
|
BOOM! STUDIOS |
1.68% |
1.49% |
|
EAGLEMOSS PUBLICATIONS LTD |
0.97% |
0.20% |
|
VALIANT ENTERTAINMENT LLC |
0.86% |
0.84% |
|
AVATAR PRESS INC |
0.83% |
0.60% |
|
OTHER NON-TOP 10 |
7.38% |
4.06% |
COMPARATIVE SALES STATISTICS
|
|
DOLLARS |
UNITS |
|
MARCH 2013 VS. FEBRUARY 2013 |
||
|
COMICS |
3.05% |
2.78% |
|
GRAPHIC NOVELS |
7.77% |
17.00% |
|
TOTAL COMICS/GN |
4.36% |
3.71% |
|
MARCH 2013 VS. MARCH 2012 |
||
|
COMICS |
26.28% |
21.43% |
|
GRAPHIC NOVELS |
14.33% |
7.78% |
|
TOTAL COMICS/GN |
22.59% |
20.31% |
|
FIRST QUARTER 2013 VS. FOURTH QUARTER 2012 |
||
|
COMICS |
-4.13% |
-3.62% |
|
GRAPHIC NOVELS |
-6.00% |
-2.09% |
|
TOTAL COMICS/GN |
-4.70% |
-3.51% |
|
FIRST QUARTER 2013 VS. FIRST QUARTER 2012 |
||
|
COMICS |
21.38% |
18.62% |
|
GRAPHIC NOVELS |
16.22% |
12.38% |
|
TOTAL COMICS/GN |
19.78% |
18.15% |
TOP 10 COMIC BOOKS
|
RANK |
DESCRIPTION |
PRICE |
ITEM CODE |
VENDOR |
|
1 |
GUARDIANS OF GALAXY #1 |
$3.99 |
JAN130642 |
MAR |
|
2 |
AGE OF ULTRON #1 |
$3.99 |
JAN130627 |
MAR |
|
3 |
BATMAN #18 |
$3.99 |
JAN130234 |
DC |
|
4 |
WOLVERINE #1 |
$3.99 |
JAN130653 |
MAR |
|
5 |
AGE OF ULTRON #2 |
$3.99 |
JAN130634 |
MAR |
|
6 |
JUSTICE LEAGUE #18 |
$3.99 |
JAN130205 |
DC |
|
7 |
AGE OF ULTRON #3 |
$3.99 |
JAN130637 |
MAR |
|
8 |
SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #5 |
$3.99 |
JAN130712 |
MAR |
|
9 |
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #2 |
$3.99 |
JAN130195 |
DC |
|
10 |
ALL NEW X-MEN #8 |
$3.99 |
JAN130674 |
MAR |