Led by the debut issue of Kieron Gillen and Adam Kubert's Wolverine-starring "Origin II," Marvel Comics was once again the top publisher in the United States in December, according to Diamond Distributor's numbers. In fact, Marvel increased the gap between itself and DC Comics significantly over the past several months, topping the second place publisher 35.42% to 27.22% in Dollar Share and 36.56% to 31.13% in Unit Share.
"Origin II" was joined by "Avengers" #24.NOW, "Inhumanity" #1 and Marvel's perennial top ten series "Superior Spider-Man." DC took the other six positions with the latest installments of "Batman," "Forever Evil," "Superman Unchained," "Justice League" (2 issues, two spots) and the impressively strong "Harley Quinn" #1.
IDW and Image flipped positions from October, coming in third and fourth, respectively, while Dark Horse remained in the #5 slot. Overall, sales in the direct market ticked up from November, rising .63% in dollars and 1.6% in units sold. The rise over December 2012 was more impressive, with dollars increasing 9.04% and units bumping up 6.58%.
In graphic novels, Vertigo's "Fables" Vol. 19 was the top seller, followed by BOOM! Studios' "Adventure Time" vol. 2 and IDW and Darwyn Cooke's latest Parker adaptation, "Slayground."
TOP COMIC BOOK PUBLISHERS
|
PUBLISHER |
DOLLARSHARE |
UNITSHARE |
|
MARVEL COMICS |
35.42% |
36.56% |
|
DC ENTERTAINMENT |
27.22% |
31.13% |
|
IDW PUBLISHING |
8.18% |
6.17% |
|
IMAGE COMICS |
7.32% |
8.07% |
|
DARK HORSE COMICS |
6.28% |
6.35% |
|
DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT |
3.22% |
3.25% |
|
BOOM! STUDIOS |
2.06% |
2.12% |
|
VALIANT ENTERTAINMENT |
1.11% |
1.16% |
|
EAGLEMOSS PUBLICATIONS |
0.98% |
0.18% |
|
ZENESCOPE ENTERTAINMENT |
0.91% |
0.91% |
|
OTHER NON-TOP 10 |
7.32% |
4.08% |
COMPARATIVE SALES STATISTICS
|
|
DOLLARS |
UNITS |
|
DECEMBER 2013 VS. NOVEMBER 2013 |
||
|
COMICS |
0.63% |
1.60% |
|
GRAPHIC NOVELS |
-1.40% |
3.67% |
|
TOTAL COMICS/GN |
-0.03% |
1.76% |
|
DECEMBER 2013 VS. DECEMBER 2012 |
||
|
COMICS |
1.09% |
-3.64% |
|
GRAPHIC NOVELS |
18.02% |
20.38% |
|
TOTAL COMICS/GN |
5.93% |
-2.07% |
|
YEAR 2013 VS. YEAR 2012 |
||
|
COMICS |
10.22% |
6.70% |
|
GRAPHIC NOVELS |
6.50% |
5.12% |
|
TOTAL COMICS/GN |
9.04% |
6.58% |
|
FOURTH QUARTER 2013 VS. THIRD QUARTER 2013 |
||
|
COMICS |
-0.72% |
-2.39% |
|
GRAPHIC NOVELS |
5.79% |
2.09% |
|
TOTAL COMICS/GN |
1.23% |
-2.06% |
|
FOURTH QUARTER 2013 VS. FOURTH QUARTER 2012 |
||
|
COMICS |
4.16% |
-0.97% |
|
GRAPHIC NOVELS |
7.80% |
9.50% |
|
TOTAL COMICS/GN |
5.28% |
-0.22% |
TOP 10 COMIC BOOKS
|
RANK |
DESCRIPTION |
PRICE |
ITEM CODE |
VENDOR |
|
1 |
ORIGIN II #1 |
$4.99 |
OCT130650 |
MAR |
|
2 |
AVENGERS #24.NOW |
$4.99 |
OCT130656 |
MAR |
|
3 |
BATMAN #26 |
$3.99 |
OCT130190 |
DC |
|
4 |
FOREVER EVIL #4 |
$3.99 |
OCT130115 |
DC |
|
5 |
SUPERMAN UNCHAINED #5 |
$3.99 |
SEP130208 |
DC |
|
6 |
JUSTICE LEAGUE #25 |
$3.99 |
SEP130170 |
DC |
|
7 |
HARLEY QUINN #1 |
$2.99 |
OCT130185 |
DC |
|
8 |
JUSTICE LEAGUE #26 |
$3.99 |
OCT130121 |
DC |
|
9 |
INHUMANITY #1 |
$3.99 |
OCT130637 |
MAR |
|
10 |
SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #23 |
$3.99 |
OCT130686 |
MAR |
TOP 10 GRAPHIC NOVELS
|
RANK |
DESCRIPTION |
PRICE |
ITEM CODE |
VENDOR |
|
1 |
FABLES VOLUME 19: SNOW WHITE TP (MR) |
$16.99 |
SEP130305 |
DC |
|
2 |
ADVENTURE TIME VOLUME 2: PIXEL PRINCESSES GN |
$11.99 |
SEP131012 |
BOO |
|
3 |
RICHARD STARK'S PARKER: SLAYGROUND HC |
$17.99 |
OCT130333 |
IDW |
|
4 |
DEADPOOL KILLS DEADPOOL TP |
$14.99 |
SEP130799 |
MAR |
|
5 |
STAR LORD: WORLDS ON THE BRINK |
$7.99 |
OCT130698 |
MAR |
|
6 |
NIGHTWING VOLUME 3: DEATH OF THE FAMILY TP (N52) |
$16.99 |
SEP130273 |
DC |
|
7 |
SAGA VOLUME 1 TP (MR) |
$9.99 |
AUG120491 |
IMA |
|
8 |
DEADPOOL VOLUME 3: GOOD BAD AND UGLY TP |
$15.99 |
SEP130800 |
MAR |
|
9 |
SAGA VOLUME 2 TP (MR) |
$14.99 |
APR130443 |
IMA |
|
10 |
THE WALKING DEAD VOLUME 1: DAYS GONE BYE TP |
$14.99 |
NOV128157 |
IMA |