Top Selling Comics & Publisher Market Share: May 2014

The numbers from the second month of the new year are in! Diamond Comic Distributors has compiled the data from May and placed into awesome tables for math nerds, like us, to stare and enjoy. Let's get right down to the numbers.

Once again, Marvel took the top spot over DC. However, DC is really closing the gap, compared to last month's numbers.

ORIGINAL SIN #1, AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #2, and #1.1 took the top spots this month, but overall, DC took 5 of the top 10 slots for May. WALKING DEAD #127 from Image even made it into the top 10.

May was big for graphic novels and trade paperbacks. DC, Marvel, Image, and Dark Horse all made the top 10 this past month.

Finally, here's how many comics and graphic novels each company shipped out during May.

How do they calculate this information? It all starts at the comic book shop.

Data for Diamond’s sales charts — which include the monthly market shares and all top product charts — are compiled by Diamond Comic Distributors from a universe of over 3,500 comic book specialty shops located in North America and around the world. The account base includes brick-and-mortar comic book specialty shops, Internet merchants, and other specialty stores.

Unit and dollars sales are calculated based upon orders invoiced and shipped to Diamond accounts during January to December 2013, which comprises initial pre-orders, advance reorders, and reorders, minus any copies that are received back from a title marked as returnable.

What are your thoughts on all these numbers? What's your predictions for this month?

Valiant at sub .81% - reduced to "other non-top 10"

WHAT THE ACTUAL F*CK

Seems DC is finally gaining sales, instead of losing sales.

Poor Valiant. :(

Glad to see Dynamite doing somewhat well.

FIRST MONTH IN LIKE WHAT? 2-3 YEARS SINCE NEW 52 STARTED THAT BATS DIDNT HAVE A TOP 3 POSITION!!!!

Dayum

That's a pretty big jump for DC from last month, wonder if those weekly books have anything to do with it.........

So.......Valiant's going under again?

It seems like Valiant is dying again.

I hope not.

This

still won the first two places in trades though

Well, I think 2 things played into DC "closing the gap"

1) Marvel didn't have as many #1 issues. In other words their sales gimmick wasn't as much in play. I know the FF has dropped a lot since issue 1, which is too bad IMHO. I guessing same for Hulk and I'm sure even ASM is nowhere near the 500k it sold last month.

2) DC has at least 1 Batman book out every week now. In other words, their sales gimmick is in full play. (Along with Future's End) Yeeshh DC, I'm not made of $ ya know. I got the first 4 issues of Batman Eternal, but I think I'll trade wait for the rest. Or not get them at all, I have enough Batman stories.

As for Valiant..much as I like X-O Manowar, I haven't really seen the big deal about their other titles, and I think Unity was flat-out stupid. (is that still going? i dropped it after issue 2) If you're going to have a cross-over event to plug your characters/titles, it's gotta be better than that was.

Aww. Valiant.

I was hoping Valiant would go up with Rai starting up. Unfortunately it seems not :(

All I find in my comic store is DC(da best), Marvel, and Dark Horse.

It would be cool if this came with a line graph.

@manwhohaseverything: Do you think DC will put out more weekly books for their larger titles like Justice League, Superman, and Green Lanterns? Batman Eternal has to be making them some money.

Doesn't Valiant intentionally limit their number of books to less than ten?

Valiant only have 10 books, of course they're not going to topping charts

Batman is one of the few popular things that can achieve such ridiculously high popularity/success without losing loads of story quality. Imo.

Every publisher rises and falls. Valiant is still hanging in their.

Nice to see DC gain a little.

If I had access to decent line graph making equipment, I'd be tempted to do it. I've been using a simple online program to monitor certain comics sales figures.

Is there a certain aspect of the sales figures that you'd like to see in a graph that I could try and make?

Valiant is the Uncle Ben of comic book companies. Doomed to die.

If I don't get a Ninjak book before that happens I am not going to be happy.

@v_scarlotte_rose: hm... I'm sure there's a few websites to where you can make a line graph, I wouldn't know any of the top of my head..

I'd personally like to see a line graph of the sales of several comic companies like DC, Marvel, Valiant, IDW, etc... Like a yearly progress line graph, each month you'd put in the sales.

Here's an example. Blue would be DC, Red would be Marvel, and have the other companies a different color.

well at least I know Star Trek, Transformers, G.I. Joe, andJudge Dredd comics are still winging it

how does Marvel outkick DC

@ccraft: Yeah, I use http://www.chartgo.com/ . I think it's kind of limited, but there's a decent amount of options, and a years worth would certainly be possible, as I've done that long before:

I can maybe give it a go, or try it yourself if you like. It's not too difficult a site to use. :)

@v_scarlotte_rose: Wow that looks great. I used graph charts before in class, making graphs is fun lol.

I hope not. I don't like that Marvel does bi-weekly titles. At $3 a pop, If I get both Batman Eternal and Futures End every week (I get my comics once a month) That's an extra $24 per month to my cost. I can't justify that. However, if I run DC and I see this working, I'd keep doing it until it didn't work. So..I guess the fair answer to your question is I hope they don't have more weeklies, but they probably will.

@fallschirmjager: What I was thinking! Why no love for Valiant!

valiant is overrated. I prefer image and idw, not to mention marvel and dc

I don't think they're necessarily overrated but I don't read anything from them. Nothing of theirs really interests me.

I swear I keep looking for Valiant books at my store but either they sell out quick, don't order enough, or don't carry them. I was looking forward to Armor Hunters. Amazing Spider man 1.# is something i didnt really enjoy but okay i guess. Original Sin was expected.

Comixology.

Buy them on ComiXology or tell your comic shop owner you want to buy Valiant comics, so he can either hold copies back for you or order more (or both).

March 2012, July 2012 and September 2013 are the only other months that Batman has not been in the top 3. With the former two, Batman placed 4th, with the latter Batman placed 5th, 6th, 8th and 10th (it was villains month).

There is a difference between being overrated and a comic line not appealing to you.

To point number 2: DC has pretty much been publishing a new Batman comic every week since shortly after the digital first books started being sold in print issue form. Even before the weeklies dropped he was most assuredly seeing print at least one time each week.

To your point about Valiant: Unity was not stupid. Unity is an on-going and is no different in scope or purpose to the Justice League or the Avengers. As for other Valiant titles, I do not see how you can hand wave Valiant's two best titles - Harbinger and Archer & Armstrong - away so casually. They are leagues better than X-O (which is itself a solid title).

I prefer Image, Valiant, and IDW more than anything DC or Marvel has been doing.

Good to see Black Science doing well in trade at least.

@scarletbatman:

duh. I know what overrated means. the fact that some people try to say it is better than marvel and/or dc makes my point

Most of the comics produced by Valiant are better than the majority of the books produced by Marvel and DC, especially if you like real character growth, meaningful deaths and plots that do not end with a return to the status quo.

I'm starting to fall out of love with Valiant. I started out reading every book. I have since dropped A&A Q&W and Shadowman. I didn't enjoy the humor in the first two, and Shadowman just didn't keep me interested. I have been disappointed with Unity so far as well. It has been entertaining, but nothing special to me. I am currently only picking up Rai for Crain's artwork. If the story does not pick up, I will be dropping it after the first arc because it has not appealed to me at all. Bloodshot has been a pretty solid title that is entertaining.

That being said, Harbinger and X-O have been two of my favorite books of any publisher over the past year and half. They have consistently been good engaging stories. Harbinger is ending so there will be one less Valiant book for me.

I have been happy with their events so far with Harbinger Wars being fantastic and Armor Hunters starting off strong.

Hmm..I responded before..but guess it didn't get through. Anyhow, I read the first six-issues of Harbinger, and did not like it. Actually hated it, and am sad I spent $ on it. That just my opinion, but not everyone likes it. I've not read Archer and Armstrong, so can't comment on that series. I also didn't enjoy Unity. That it's an on-going and not a cross-over as I thought doesn't change that. Guess I'm saying every month folks are saying "Why no love for Valiant?" And that's okay, as I said, I do like some of their stuff. However, seems the numbers have gone down for them. That means that not all the folks that have tried their titles think everything they do is great. A lot of folks must be dropping their titles if the numbers are going down.

And I know Batman s out at least once a week before Eternals. He has, what? About ten books? I meant DC knows a new series with Batman will sell well, so they knew a weekly series Bat-Centric title would boost sales.

I'm hanging in there with Harbinger and Unity. I hope Armor Hunters is a success but I don't understand the strategy to end titles during the big summer crossover event.

@ccraft: Hi. I was charting for another thread, and remembered we had this conversation. Here's a chart of the percentage of comics sold by the top 5 companies in the last year. Hope it's of some use. :)

Another victory for Marvel over the crap 52 >:) Eat that Didio!

@v_scarlotte_rose: It looks great.

Valiant deserves better.

All their titles are great...

Lol, comment of the day.