Marvel Comics closed out 2015 as the top publisher in the Direct Market, selling more comics than any other single publisher according to Diamond Comic Distributors' December sales data.

Marvel titles accounted for 6 of the top 10 best-selling issues in December, with "Secret Wars" #8 taking the top spot overall. DC Comics' "Dark Knight III: The Master Race" #2 was the second best-selling comic for the month. #3 was Marvel's "Star Wars" #13, and the DC/IDW Publishing crossover, "Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" miniseries debuted at #4. "Guardians of Infinity" #1, "Star Wars Annual" #1 and "Darth Vader Annual" #1 debuted in the top ten for Marvel, while DC also saw "Batman" #47 and "Harley's Little Black Book" land at the top of the charts.

The hardcover edition of Brian K. Vaughn and Marcos Martin's "The Private Eye" debuted as the best-selling graphic novel for the month, ahead of new trade paperbacks featuring "Harley Quinn," "Avatar: The Last Airbender" and "Saga."

Marvel commanded 37.09% of the Direct Market in dollar shares, and 41.87% unit shares. DC Comics accounted for approximately 20% of both dollars and units, while Image was third, making up approximately 10% of the market.

Monthly comics were down slightly from November, but up 25.05% in dollars from December 2014, and up 18.63% in unit sales over last December.

Overall, the 2015 market saw an 8.99% increase in dollars over 2014, off of a 6.54% increase in units.

TOP COMIC BOOK PUBLISHERS

PUBLISHER

DOLLAR

SHARE

UNIT

SHARE

MARVEL COMICS

37.09%

41.87%

DC ENTERTAINMENT

29.32%

29.93%

IMAGE COMICS

10.29%

10.65%

IDW PUBLISHING

5.31%

4.10%

DARK HORSE COMICS

3.05%

2.43%

BOOM! STUDIOS

1.91%

1.71%

DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT

1.63%

1.55%

TITAN COMICS

1.38%

1.21%

ONI PRESS

0.89%

0.74%

VIZ MEDIA

0.82%

0.31%

OTHER NON-TOP 10

8.31%

5.50%

COMPARATIVE SALES STATISTICS

DOLLARS

UNITS

DECEMBER 2015 VS. NOVEMBER 2015

COMICS

-2.14%

0.68%

GRAPHIC NOVELS

12.73%

7.36%

TOTAL COMICS/GN

1.53%

1.09%

DECEMBER 2015 VS. DECEMBER 2014

COMICS

25.05%

18.63%

GRAPHIC NOVELS

14.12%

7.03%

TOTAL COMICS/GN

21.85%

17.80%

YEAR 2015 VS. YEAR 2014

COMICS

8.99%

6.54%

GRAPHIC NOVELS

3.14%

3.35%

TOTAL COMICS/GN

7.17%

6.28%

TOP 10 COMIC BOOKS

RANK

DESCRIPTION

PRICE

ITEM CODE

VENDOR

1

SECRET WARS #8

$3.99

AUG150653-M

MAR

2

DARK KNIGHT III: THE MASTER RACE #2

$5.99

OCT150141-M

DC

3

STAR WARS #13

$3.99

SEP150832-M

MAR

4

BATMAN/TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES #1

$3.99

OCT150148-M

DC

5

BATMAN #47

$3.99

OCT150202-M

DC

6

GUARDIANS OF INFINITY #1

$4.99

OCT150747-M

MAR

7

DARTH VADER #14

$3.99

OCT150943-M

MAR

8

HARLEY'S LITTLE BLACK BOOK #1

$4.99

OCT150151-M

DC

9

STAR WARS ANNUAL #1

$4.99

OCT150941

MAR

10

DARTH VADER ANNUAL #1

$4.99

OCT150939-M

MAR

TOP 10 GRAPHIC NOVELS & TRADE PAPERBACKS

RANK

DESCRIPTION

PRICE

ITEM CODE

VENDOR

1

THE PRIVATE EYE DELUXE EDITION HC (MR)

$49.99

OCT150484

IMA

2

HARLEY QUINN VOLUME 2: POWER OUTAGE TP

$16.99

SEP150302

DC

3

AVATAR THE LAST AIRBENDER VOLUME 11: SMOKE & SHADOW PART 2 TP

$10.99

AUG150057

DAR

4

BATMAN VS. SUPERMAN TP

$9.99

SEP150285

DC

5

SAGA VOLUME 5 TP (MR)

$14.99

JUL150565

IMA

6

WE CAN NEVER GO HOME TP (MR)

$9.99

SEP151091

BLA

7

HARLEY QUINN VOLUME 3: KISS KISS BANG STAB HC

$24.99

AUG150272

DC

8

STAR WARS: DARTH VADER VOLUME 1: VADER TP

$19.99

JUL150827

MAR

9

CIVIL WAR TP

$24.99

JAN072436

MAR

10

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN: RENEW YOUR VOWS TP

$17.99

SEP150861

MAR

Tags: sales report

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