As described here on Friday, the Direct Market slowdown accelerated into July, as North American comic shop orders could not keep up with the blistering pace set by DC’s Rebirth a year before, according to our analysis based on data released by Diamond Comic Distributors. Click to see our comics sales estimates for July 2017.
Much information is in that Friday article, including a look at where the industry is relative to previous years, with an eye to the odds for a recovery in the months remaining; it is worth a look. The estimates provide some additional insights. Top 300 comics sales, led by DC‘s Dark Days: The Casting #1 with more than 128,000 copies shipped to North America, were off almost exactly the same percentage in units and dollars as all comics were off, suggesting that the losses were evenly distributed between the better sellers and the “long tail.”
Graphic novels, while also down, performed relatively better than they had in recent months, and Image‘s Monstress Vol. 2 was the first graphic novel to top 10,000 in orders since winter, and only the third all year.
The rise in cover prices in June to record levels abated, with the average price for new comics dropping down to $3.87; it had been up above $4.
The summary data for the month:
| TOP 300 COMICS SHIPPED (in UNITS) |
||
| July 2017 | 6.27 million copies | |
| 1 Year Ago | 8.58 million copies | -27% |
| 5 Years Ago | 6.9 million copies | -9% |
| 10 Years Ago | 7.64 million copies | -18% |
| 15 Years Ago | 6.07 million copies | +3% |
| 20 Years Ago | 8.23 million copies | -24% |
| ALL Comics Shipped in Month (Units) |
6.95 million copies | -27% |
| Year To Date | 47.03 million copies | |
| 1 Year Ago | 48.62 million copies | (3.0) |
| 5 Years Ago | 45.22 million copies | 4 |
| 10 Years Ago | 49.77 million copies | -6 |
| 15 Years Ago | 39.63 million copies | 19 |
| ALL Comics Shipped Year to Date (Units) |
48.62 million copies | -3% |
| TOP 300 COMICS SHIPPED (in DOLLARS) |
||
| July 2017 | $24.01 million | |
| 1 Year Ago | $31 million | -23% |
| 5 Years Ago | $24.9 million | -4% |
| 10 Years Ago | $24.02 million | 0% |
| 15 Years Ago | $17 million | +41% |
| 20 Years Ago | $20.28 million | +18% |
| ALL Comics Shipped during Month (Dollars) |
-23% | |
| Year To Date | $180.72 million | |
| 1 Year Ago | $190.74 million | -5% |
| 5 Years Ago | $158.48 million | +14% |
| 10 Years Ago | $156.6 million | +15% |
| 15 Years Ago | $112 million | +61% |
| ALL Comics Shipped Year to Date (Dollars) |
-7% | |
| TOP GRAPHIC NOVELS SHIPPED (in DOLLARS) |
||
| July 2017 (Top 300 GNs) | $6.03 million | |
| July 2017 (Top 100 GNs) |
$3.87 million | |
| July 2017 (Top 50 GNs) |
$2.44 million | |
| July 2017 (Top 25 GNs) |
$1.41 million | |
| Versus 1 Year Ago |
$6.74 million | -11% |
| Versus 5 Years Ago (Top 300) |
$7.13 million | -15% |
| Versus 10 Years Ago (Top 100) |
$4.37 million | -11% |
| Versus 15 Years Ago (Top 50) |
$2.74 million | -11% |
| ALL Graphic Novel Shipped in Month (Dollars) |
-8% | |
| Year To Date | $51.01 million | |
| 1 Year Ago | $55.95 million | -9% |
| ALL Graphic Novel Dollars Shipped Year to Date (Dollars) |
-12% | |
| TOP 300 COMICS plus TOP GNs SHIPPED (in DOLLARS) |
||
| July 2017 (including Top 300 GNs) |
$30.03 million | |
| July 2017 (including Top 300 GNs) |
$27.88 million | |
| July 2017 (including Top 100 GNs) |
$26.45 million | |
| July 2017 (including Top 25 GNs) |
$25.42 million | |
| Versus 1 Year Ago |
$37.74 million | -20% |
| Versus 5 Years Ago (Top 300) |
$32.03 million | -13% |
| Versus 10 Years Ago (Top 50) |
$28.38 million | -15% |
| Versus 15 Years Ago (Top 50) |
$19.74 million | +41% |
| All Comics & GNs Shipped in Month (Dollars) |
-19% | |
| Year To Date | $231.76 million | |
| 1 Year Ago | $246.07 million | -6% |
| ALL Comics & GNs Shipped Year to Date (Dollars) |
-9% | |
| ALL COMICS AND GNs SHIPPED (in Dollars) |
||
| July 2017 | $40.76 million | |
| Versus 1 Year Ago |
$50.52 million | -19% |
| Versus 5 Years Ago |
$40.09 million | +2% |
| Versus 10 Years Ago |
$36.82 million | +11% |
| Year To Date | $301.94 million | |
| 1 Year Ago | $330.69 million | -9% |
| TITLE SPECIFICS | ||
| TOP SELLING COMIC BOOK | ||
| Weapon X #6 | 35,607 copies at | $3.99 |
| 50th PLACE COMIC BOOK |
||
| Dark Days The Casting #1 |
128,261 copies at | $4.99 |
| 100th PLACE COMIC BOOK |
||
| Iron Fist #5 | 22,420 copies at | $3.99 |
| 150th PLACE COMIC BOOK |
||
| Hawkeye #8 | 13,772 copies at | $3.99 |
| 200th PLACE COMIC BOOK |
||
| Predator Hunters #3 |
9,369 copies at | $3.99 |
| 300th PLACE COMIC BOOK |
||
| Shadows on the Grave #6 |
4,435 copies at | $3.99 |
| NEW RELEASE VOLUME |
||
| New Comics Released |
486 | |
| New Graphic Novels Released |
310 | |
| New Magazines Released |
20 | |
| Total New Print Items Released |
816 | |
| PRICING | ||
| Average Cover Price of Comics in the Top 300 |
$3.87 | |
| Average Cover Price of Comics in the Top 300, weighted by orders |
$3.83 | |
| Average Cover Price of Comics in the Top 25 |
$3.75 | |
| Median Cover Price of Comics in the Top 300 |
$3.99 | |
| Most Common Cover Price of Comics in the Top 300 |
$3.99 |
The picture for August, as noted last week, may be similar, given the strength of the month last year, but the fall may offer opportunities for stabilization.
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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