Diamond Comic Distributors released its information for the top books of 2014 today. It was a big year for comics with the start of a lot of new series and major events and story lines taking place. Let's get right down to business and check out who is on top.
For 2014, taking both the top dollar and unit share is Marvel by a pretty decent margin, followed by DC Comics, then Image.
For those of you who like your data in pie chart form, we have you covered as well.
As far as top books go, Marvel dominated this section getting nine out of ten of the spot, with AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #1 taking the number one position, followed by Image Comic's THE WALKING DEAD #132. You'll also notice that DEATH OF WOLVERINE gets all four issues on this list as well.
As you may have guessed, when it comes to graphic novels and trade paperbacks, Image leads the way. Volume three of SAGA was the top selling trade of the year. In fact, eight of the ten top trades were either SAGA or WALKING DEAD, proving once again that some folks just love trade waiting on those series. The other two trades featured on this list were the first volume of SEX CRIMINALS and the first volume of BATMAN.
Finally, here's how many titles each company shipped out the past year. DC, in total, shipped out 100 more readable products than Marvel in 2014.
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.
There you have it! That's how 2014 wrapped up in the comic book industry! What are your thoughts on all these numbers?