Though Marvel Comics was the most successful comics publisher of 2018, DC Comics managed to have the single highest-selling comic issue of the year.
With a wealth of superheroes in film and television, it's not a surprise to see that major comic publishers are reaching larger audiences than ever. Sales from the comic book specialty market were up 3.3% over the previous year, although graphic novel sales dipped 6.6% as the digital market continues to expand. Now that the official numbers are in, we know which publisher "won" 2018.
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Marvel Comics was the most successful publisher of the year, with a 40.4% controlled share of the market. Seven issues from Marvel were also among the ten most successful single issues of the year. However, the publisher failed to produce the single most lucrative comic of the year. That distinction goes to DC Comics, whose Action Comics #1000 was the best-selling single issue of the year. DC Comics also had two other comics in the top ten, both of which were Batman comics: Batman #50 and The Batman Who Laughs #1.
Thanks to the continued success of Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples' award-winning Saga, Image Comics was the third most successful comics publisher of the year and dominated the trade paperback market.
Check out the full list of top ten publishers and single issues of 2018 below.