Final July 2013 comics sales estimates: Graphic novels turn up the volume

The final comics sales estimates are out from Diamond Comic Distributors, and they complete the picture of the best summer month thus far for the comics shop market in the Diamond
Exclusive Era. Click to see the sales estimates for comics ordered in July 2013.

July’s orders of $46.8 million topped every previous month (in non-inflation adjusted terms) with the exception of October 2012, which had set a mark of $47.3 million. That
puts the market up 12.71% for the year, to nearly $297 million. The
market is now running $35 million ahead of where it was last year at
this time.

Superman Unchained #2
from DC led the comics periodical list, with orders of approximately
165,700 copies in its first month.

Graphic novel orders, meanwhile, overall greatly
exceeded those in the Top 300 — up 26% versus a 11% increase for the Top 300. These gaps in growth rates are usually explained by the long tail — the thousands of graphic novels outside the Top 300 — and if the difference seems extreme, consider the unit sales volume: The 300th place graphic novel this July had orders of 503 copies. Last July: just 346 copies. The typical “bubbling under” book is selling many more copies than usual, and there are lots more of those than there are Top 300 entries, so it all adds up.

The fifth shipping week explains a portion of the difference, but it’s pretty clear that volume is simply a lot higher. The 381th place graphic novel this July would have been in 244th place last year!

The aggregate sales:

July 2013: 7.32 million copies
Versus 1 year ago this month: +6%
Versus 5 years ago this month: +2%
Versus 10 years ago this month: +15%
Versus 15 years ago this month: +1%
YEAR TO DATE: 49.02 million copies, +8% vs. 2012, +5% vs. 2008, +21% vs. 2003, unchanged vs. 1998

ALL COMICS UNIT SALES
July 2013 versus one year ago this month: +11.02%
YEAR TO DATE: +10.36%

—

July 2013: $26.59 million
Versus 1 year ago this month: +8%
Versus 5 years ago this month: +15%
Versus 10 years ago this month: +51%
Versus 15 years ago this month: +53%
YEAR TO DATE: $177.34 million, +12% vs. 2012, +19% vs. 2008, +55% vs. 2003, +48% vs. 1998

ALL COMICS DOLLAR SALES
July 2013 versus one year ago this month: +12.55%
YEAR TO DATE: +13.16%

—

July 2013: $7.93 million
Versus 1 year ago this month: +11%
Versus 5 years ago this month, just the Top 100 vs. the Top 100: -15%
Versus 10 years ago this month, just the Top 50 vs. the Top 50: +13%
Versus 15 years ago this month, just the Top 25 vs. the Top 25: +52%
YEAR TO DATE: $39.38 million, +19% vs. 2012

ALL TRADE PAPERBACK  SALES
July 2013 versus one year ago this month: +26.11%
YEAR TO DATE: +11.72%

—

July 2013: $34.52 million
Versus 1 year ago this month: +8%
Versus 5 years ago this month, counting just the Top 100 TPBs: +9%
Versus 10 years ago this month, counting just the Top 50 TPBs: +41%
Versus 15 years ago this month, counting just the Top 25 TPBs: +63%
YEAR TO DATE: $231.15 million, +12% vs. 2012

ALL COMICS AND TRADE PAPERBACK  SALES
July 2013 versus one year ago this month: +16.73%
YEAR TO DATE: +12.71%

—

July 2013: approximately $46.84 million (subject to revision)
Versus 1 year ago this month: +17%
Versus 5 years ago this month: +13%
Versus 10 years ago this month: +68%
YEAR TO DATE: $296.55 million, +13% vs. 2012

The average comic book in the Top 300 cost $3.61; the average comic book
retailers ordered cost $3.63. The median and most common price for comics offered was $3.99. Click to see comics prices across time.

As reported last Friday, Diamond also released the total number of new items that the Top 10 publishers released. This data has been added to the market share column of the monthly page, but we can also learn something from it by comparing it with what ranked in the Top 300. Here’s the number of comics releases, versus the number that made the Top 300:

Publisher	Comics shipped	Comics in Top 300	Graphic novels shipped
DC	91	80	29
Marvel	81	79	37
Image	42	26	14
IDW	38	28	22
Dark Horse	35	23	20
Dynamic Forces	37	17	1
Boom	24	10	2
Avatar	18	6	1
Zenescope	15	7	1
Valiant	7	7	1
Other	77	17	167
TOTAL	465	300	295

As you can see, almost every comic book that DC and Marvel release makes the Top 300, and Image, IDW, and Dark Horse all chart at least 50% of their offerings. Valiant bats 1.000, with all its comics making the Top 300. In all, the Top 10 publishers released 388 comic books, of which 283, or 73%, made the Top 300.

Note, however, that not every release in the Top 300 is necessarily a new one, so this chart will never exactly be apples versus apples. It is for that reason that I did not conduct a Top 300 comparison for the graphic novels, because that list is dominated by past releases. Image, for example, shipped 14 trade paperbacks and hardcovers in July, but charted 37!

So that’s July. Things keep going along very well, in general, for the Direct Market, and $500 million remains an achievable goal for the year. There are always potholes out there to be feared, and cover price inflation is one of them. But this might well be the healthiest market I’ve seen in 20 years of reporting, and more of the same would be very good to see.