For the second month in a row, DC Comics held the top two spots on Diamond's single-issue sales charts, with flash-forward issue "Batman" #28 coming in at No. 1 for February 2014, and "Forever Evil" #5 at No. 2. "Batman" now has a two month streak in the top position; #27 was January's No. 1 estimated sales performer.

However, DC's lead in the top single issues didn't dent Marvel's grip on market share, with the publisher once again finishing at the top in both rankings -- 34.10 percent to DC's 28.73 percent in dollar share, and 37.36 percent to DC's 31.12 percent in unit share. Image Comics finished the month in third, with Dark Horse Comics edging out IDW Publishing for February's fourth spot.

Marvel's highest-ranking individual issue for the month was the relaunched "Wolverine" #1 by Paul Cornell and Ryan Stegman, landing at the No. 3 slot. Marvel had a total of five comics in February's Top 10, DC three and Image two -- both issues of "The Walking Dead".

IDW's hardcover collection of the final "Locke & Key" storylines -- "Locke & Key Volume 6: Alpha & Omega" -- topped Diamond's February 2014's Graphic Novels & Trade Paperbacks chart, with the fourth volume of Image series "Fatale" at No. 2. BOOM! Studios notched No. 3 with the fourth "Adventure Time" collection.

Diamond's comparative sales statistics indicated a drop from February 2014 to January 2014 in each listed category other than graphic novel units, as well as declines from February 2013 to February 2014 -- except, for graphic novels, finishing ahead in both dollars and units.

Check out the charts and graphs below and come back next week for John Mayo's look at the Top 300 and in-depth analysis.

TOP COMIC BOOK PUBLISHERS

PUBLISHER

DOLLARSHARE

UNITSHARE

MARVEL COMICS

34.10%

37.36%

DC COMICS

28.73%

31.12%

IMAGE COMICS

7.85%

8.88%

DARK HORSE COMICS

6.61%

5.59%

IDW PUBLISHING

6.01%

5.00%

DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT

3.51%

3.40%

BOOM! STUDIOS

2.05%

1.94%

EAGLEMOSS PUBLICATIONS

1.28%

0.27%

ZENESCOPE ENTERTAINMENT

1.05%

0.99%

VALIANT ENTERTAINMENT

1.02%

1.08%

OTHER NON-TOP 10

7.78%

4.38%

COMPARATIVE SALES STATISTICS


DOLLARS

UNITS

FEBRUARY 2014 VS. JANUARY 2014

COMICS

-5.48%

-4.47%

GRAPHIC NOVELS

-4.48%

5.98%

TOTAL COMICS/GN

-5.17%

-3.65%

FEBRUARY 2014 VS. FEBRUARY 2013

COMICS

-10.39%

-14.77%

GRAPHIC NOVELS

2.83%

14.99%

TOTAL COMICS/GN

-6.71%

-12.83%

YEAR-TO-DATE 2014 VS. YEAR-TO-DATE 2013

COMICS

-5.53%

-11.18%

GRAPHIC NOVELS

-6.69%

3.16%

TOTAL COMICS/GN

-5.89%

-10.15%

TOP 10 COMIC BOOKS

RANK

DESCRIPTION

PRICE

ITEM CODE

VENDOR

1

BATMAN #28

$3.99

DEC130250

DC

2

FOREVER EVIL #5

$3.99

NOV130118

DC

3

WOLVERINE #1

$3.99

DEC130609

MAR

4

SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #27.NOW

$3.99

DEC130648

MAR

5

JUSTICE LEAGUE #28

$3.99

DEC130202

DC

6

SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #28

$3.99

DEC130653

MAR

7

FANTASTIC FOUR #1

$3.99

DEC130616

MAR

8

THE WALKING DEAD #121 (MR)

$2.99

DEC130604

IMA

9

THE WALKING DEAD #122 (MR)

$2.99

DEC130605

IMA

10

ALL-NEW X-MEN #23

$3.99

DEC130692

MAR

TOP 10 GRAPHIC NOVELS & TRADE PAPERBACKS

RANK

DESCRIPTION

PRICE

ITEM CODE

VENDOR

1

LOCKE & KEY VOLUME 6: ALPHA & OMEGA HC

$29.99

NOV130333

IDW

2

FATALE VOLUME 4: PRAY FOR RAIN TP (MR)

$14.99

OCT130469

IMA

3

ADVENTURE TIME VOLUME 4 TP

$14.99

DEC130995

BOO

4

INVINCIBLE VOLUME 19: THE WAR AT HOME TP

$16.99

DEC130496

IMA

5

SAGA VOLUME 1 TP (MR)

$9.99

AUG120491

IMA

6

STAR-LORD: ANNIHILATION CONQUEST

$7.99

DEC130736

MAR

7

INFINITY HC

$75.00

NOV130707

MAR

8

MY LITTLE PONY TALES VOLUME 2 TP

$17.99

DEC130439

IDW

9

REVIVAL VOLUME 3: A FARAWAY PLACE TP (MR)

$14.99

DEC130527

IMA

10

THE FLASH VOLUME 2: ROGUES REVOLUTION TP (N52)

$16.99

NOV130229

DC