After a summer of “bombshell” covers, anniversary covers, high-profile relaunches, and giant purchases by online retailers, August appears to have been something more resembling a generic month in the comics industry. Comic-book retailers purchased more than $41 million in comic books, trade paperbacks, and magazines in August 2014, according Comichron’s analysis of data released today by Diamond Comic Distributors. Dollar sales for the month were up 7.6% year over year, bringing annual sales to $344 million, up nearly 3% over 2013.
July’s sales, the highest recorded dollar amount paid for comics and graphic novels in the seventeen-year long Diamond Exclusive Era, were boosted in part by a fifth week to the month, by the addition of thousands of Rocket Raccoon #1 copies bought by Loot Crate, and by DC’s Batman 75th Anniversary covers, among other things. August’s sales appear to have returned to a more regular pattern, with Batman #34 taking the top slot.
The leading new series launch was DC’s Multiversity #1, in fourth place, with the Thanos: The Infinity Revelation hardcover from Marvel leading the graphic novel list.
The aggregate change statistics:
| DOLLARS | UNITS | |
| AUGUST 2014 VS. JULY 2014 |
||
| COMICS | -23.77% | -22.73% |
| GRAPHIC NOVELS |
-22.06% | -20.96% |
| TOTAL COMICS/GN |
-23.26% | -22.60% |
| AUGUST 2014 VS. AUGUST 2013 |
||
| COMICS | 7.30% | 4.20% |
| GRAPHIC NOVELS |
8.31% | 9.95% |
| TOTAL COMICS/GN |
7.60% | 4.63% |
| YEAR-TO-DATE 2014 VS. YEAR-TO-DATE 2013 |
||
| COMICS | 2.40% | -2.32% |
| GRAPHIC NOVELS |
3.81% | 5.79% |
| TOTAL COMICS/GN |
2.84% | -1.69% |
PRODUCTS SHIPPED
Diamond shipped 778 new releases in August; all variants for a single title are counted together as one in the chart below. That’s 113 fewer releases than July, including 79 fewer comics and 32 fewer graphic novels; still, it’s 45 more comic books than were released last July. So 11% more comics came out this year versus last and 7% more comics units sold. Changes in the number of releases are strongly tied to changes in overall performance; when trying to explain massive shifts one way or another, it is advisable to look there first.
| PUBLISHER | COMICS | GRAPHIC NOVELS |
MAGAZINES | TOTAL SHIPPED |
| DC | 85 | 22 | 1 | 108 |
| Marvel | 78 | 29 | 0 | 107 |
| Image | 63 | 5 | 0 | 68 |
| IDW | 42 | 17 | 0 | 59 |
| Dark Horse Comics |
36 | 18 | 0 | 54 |
| Dynamite | 25 | 12 | 0 | 37 |
| Boom | 23 | 9 | 0 | 32 |
| Random House | 1 | 27 | 0 | 28 |
| Eaglemoss | 0 | 0 | 25 | 25 |
| Viz | 0 | 24 | 0 | 24 |
| Other | 98 | 117 | 21 | 236 |
| TOTAL | 451 | 280 | 47 | 778 |
MARKET SHARES
Marvel led in both unit and dollar shares. Remember, this chart includes magazine sales, which is why we see Eaglemoss in eighth. It shipped 25 magazines this month.
| PUBLISHER | DOLLAR SHARE |
UNIT SHARE |
| Marvel | 34.27% | 35.85% |
| DC | 28.71% | 32.56% |
| Image | 8.83% | 10.97% |
| IDW | 5.43% | 4.67% |
| Dark Horse | 4.73% | 4.03% |
| Dynamite | 2.59% | 2.40% |
| Boom | 2.32% | 2.14% |
| Eaglemoss | 1.65% | 0.43% |
| Random House | 1.14% | 0.38% |
| Viz | 1.04% | 0.42% |
| Other | 9.28% | 6.17% |
TOP PRODUCTS
| TOP COMIC BOOKS | PRICE | VENDOR | |
| 1 | Batman #34 | $3.99 | DC |
| 2 | Amazing Spider-Man #5 | $3.99 | Marvel |
| 3 | Original Sin #7 | $3.99 | Marvel |
| 4 | Multiversity #1 | $4.99 | DC |
| 5 | Superior Spider-Man #32 |
$4.99 | Marvel |
| 6 | The Walking Dead #130 | $2.99 | Image |
| 7 | Harley Quinn #9 | $2.99 | DC |
| 8 | Amazing Spider-Man #1.4 |
$3.99 | Marvel |
| 9 | Guardians Of The Galaxy #18 |
$3.99 | Marvel |
| 10 | Batman Eternal #18 | $2.99 | DC |
| TOP GRAPHIC NOVELS | PRICE | VENDOR | |
| 1 | Thanos: The Infinity Revelation OGN Hc |
$24.99 | Marvel |
| 2 | Fables Volume 20: Camelot |
$19.99 | DC |
| 3 | Deadpool Vs. Carnage | $16.99 | Marvel |
| 4 | Trillium | $16.99 | DC |
| 5 | Batman: Earth-One | $12.99 | DC |
| 6 | Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 1: Cosmic Avengers |
$19.99 | Marvel |
| 7 | Saga Volume 3 | $14.99 | Image |
| 8 | Watchmen Hc | $39.99 | DC |
| 9 | Saga Volume 1 | $9.99 | Image |
| 10 | Saga Volume 2 | $14.99 | Image |
The final estimates for August are expected next week.
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.
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