Beginning the release of information for January 2009, Diamond has released its market shares and top sellers for the month — and as expected, Amazing Spider-Man #583, the Barack Obama issue, led the charts:
1 ) Amazing Spider-Man #583 • $3.99 • Marvel Comics
2) Dark Avengers #1 • $3.99 • Marvel Comics
3) Final Crisis #6 • $3.99 • DC Comics
4) Final Crisis #7 • $3.99 • DC Comics
5) New Avengers #49 • $3.99 • Marvel Comics
6) Captain America #46 • $2.99 • Marvel Comics
7) Batman #685 • $2.99 • DC Comics
8) Astonishing X-Men #28 • $2.99 • Marvel Comics
9) Justice League of America #29 • $2.99 • DC Comics
10) Buffy the Vampire Slayer #21 • $2.99 • Dark Horse Comics
Looking at the market share, word from retailers, and other information at hand, I feel confident that my initial hunch was close to correct, and that the issue’s sales roughly quintupled across all versions. (I’d figured somewhere between quadrupling and quintupling — with the new printings increasingly piling on more.) That would put the issue’s direct-market sales in the mid 300,000s — and add a little more than $1 million to the market for the month. Again, this would have the effect of offsetting a 4% drop in unit sales elsewhere, should January be its usual slow self.
How does this answer my own question of how the issue would rank in Spider-history? Unless the newsstand adds more than I’m expecting (I think it initially got the “cougar” cover, but I don’t know for sure), it’ll be better than anything in the last 15 years, and up there past most of the 1960s and 1970s issues, too. So it’s likely the best seller for the series outside of the early 1990s boom period.
To the trades:
1) Walking Dead Vol. 9: Here We Remain • $14.99 • Image Comics
2) Watchmen • $19.99 • DC Comics
3) Secret Invasion • $29.99 • Marvel Comics
4) Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 21: War of the Symbiotes • $15.99 • Marvel Comics
5) Justice Vol. 3 • $14.99 • DC Comics
6) House of Mystery Vol. 1: Room and Boredom • $9.99 • DC Comics
7) Star Wars: Vector Vol. 1: Chapters 1 & 2 • $17.95 • Dark Horse Comics
8) Batman: The Man Who Laughs • $14.99 • DC Comics
9) Joker HC • $19.99 • DC Comics
10) Criminal Vol. 4: Bad Night • $14.99 • Marvel Comics
Watchmen still right up there, in advance of the movie; I would guess Secret Invasion is the top dollar book. And, full disclosure, I did write that Star Wars book, along with Mick Harrison — as with everything, I’m just conveying Diamond’s report.
And finally, the market shares:
DOLLAR SHARES
Marvel • 42.82%
DC • 31.24%
Dark Horse • 5.22%
Image • 4.19%
IDW • 3.00%
Dynamic Forces • 1.75%
Viz • 1.52%
Wizard • 1.35%
Avatar Press • 0.88%
Tokyopop • 0.90%
Other • 7.14%
UNIT SHARES
Marvel • 45.86%
DC • 33.45%
Dark Horse • 4.55%
IDW • 3.10%
Image • 3.05%
Dynamic Forces • 1.88%
Wizard • 1.10%
Avatar Press • 0.86%
Viz • 0.81%
Tokyopop • 0.39%
Other • 4.94%
That’s it. Look for further data as the next week unfolds.
Comichron founder John Jackson Miller has tracked the comics industry for more than 25 years, including a decade editing the industry’s retail trade magazine; he is the author of several guides to comics, as well as more than a hundred comic books for various franchises.
He is the author of novels including Star Wars: Kenobi, Star Wars: A New Dawn, Star Trek: Discovery – The Enterprise War, and his upcoming release, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – The High Country. Read more about them at his fiction site.
Be sure to follow Comichron on Twitter and Facebook, and check out our Youtube channel. You can also support us on Patreon!