Just back from New York Comic-Con, an amazingly busy event — and while attendance numbers have not been released, the outside observer certainly wouldn’t have suspected it was taking place in a year in which comics and graphic novel orders had been, through September, down 10% in the Direct Market, as was reported here Friday. Of course, we don’t know how independent the variables of convention attendance and comics sales are, but a strongly attended event is still likely to be a much better sign than the opposite. And on the print side, there’s at least a change in trajectory because, again as noted Friday, this summer’s losses have been pared somewhat, and Marvel’s September beat its previous September by 14%, thanks in part to Marvel Legacy #1 moving more than 298,000 copies. Click to see our comics order estimates for September 2017.
That makes it the top-seller of 2017 thus far, beating out last month’s new leader, Dark Nights: Metal #1; the second issue of that came in second place with nearly 150,000 copies shipped. It seems positive that we’re getting new entries atop the top-sellers for 2017 list; again, better than the alternative. It’ll be interesting to see how Legacy shakes up that list in October once the event is fully underway.
Another element that’s noteworthy is that the 50th place issue for the month, Saga #47, had orders above 40,000 copies; that’s the first time that’s happened since January. In the past, years that were much better than 2017 saw sales average at that level or higher, so getting and staying above that threshold would be a positive sign, if it happens.
The 100th place issue was also above 25,000 copies, a number we haven’t averaged above for the year since 1999. Click to see more about past 100th-place benchmark titles.
As Marvel’s lenticular and non-lenticular covers were the same price, Diamond combined all orders for its entry in the sales charts; not so for DC’s two Action Comics issues, where the variant had a different price. Those issues, combined, would have made the Top 10 this month and are combined in our annual top sellers chart.
The vital stats for the month:
-->| TOP 300 COMICS SHIPPED (in UNITS) |
||
| September 2017 | 6.83 million copies | |
| 1 Year Ago | 7.54 million copies | -9% |
| 5 Years Ago | 6.51 million copies | +5% |
| 10 Years Ago | 6.69 million copies | +2% |
| 15 Years Ago | 6.06 million copies | +13% |
| 20 Years Ago | 7.87 million copies | -13% |
| ALL Comics Shipped in Month (Units) |
7.7 million copies | -5% |
| Year To Date | 60.45 million copies | |
| 1 Year Ago | 65.52 million copies | -8% |
| 5 Years Ago | 58.83 million copies | +3% |
| 10 Years Ago | 64.15 million copies | -6% |
| 15 Years Ago | 52.3 million copies | +16% |
| ALL Comics Shipped Year to Date (Units) |
68.35 million copies | -6% |
| TOP 300 COMICS SHIPPED (in DOLLARS) |
||
| September 2017 | $27.12 million | |
| 1 Year Ago | $27.2 million | 0% |
| 5 Years Ago | $22.8 million | +19% |
| 10 Years Ago | $21.5 million | +26% |
| 15 Years Ago | $16.8 million | +61% |
| 20 Years Ago | $19.31 million | +40% |
| ALL Comics Shipped during Month (Dollars) |
-3% | |
| Year To Date | $233.39 million | |
| 1 Year Ago | $252.1 million | -7% |
| 5 Years Ago | $206.81 million | +13% |
| 10 Years Ago | $202.72 million | +15% |
| 15 Years Ago | $147.01 million | +59% |
| ALL Comics Shipped Year to Date (Dollars) |
-9% | |
| TOP GRAPHIC NOVELS SHIPPED (in DOLLARS) |
||
| September 2017 (Top 300 GNs) | $6.78 million | |
| September 2017 (Top 100 GNs) |
$4.52 million | |
| September 2017 (Top 50 GNs) |
$2.85 million | |
| September 2017 (Top 25 GNs) |
$1.66 million | |
| Versus 1 Year Ago |
$7.41 million | -9% |
| Versus 5 Years Ago (Top 300) |
$7.15 million | -5% |
| Versus 10 Years Ago (Top 100) |
$4.49 million | +1% |
| Versus 15 Years Ago (Top 50) |
$2.97 million | -4% |
| ALL Graphic Novel Shipped in Month (Dollars) |
+13% | |
| Year To Date | $64.48 million | |
| 1 Year Ago | $70.91 million | -9% |
| ALL Graphic Novel Dollars Shipped Year to Date (Dollars) |
-12% | |
| TOP 300 COMICS plus TOP GNs SHIPPED (in DOLLARS) |
||
| September 2017 (including Top 300 GNs) |
$33.9 million | |
| September 2017 (including Top 300 GNs) |
$31.63 million | |
| September 2017 (including Top 100 GNs) |
$29.97 million | |
| September 2017 (including Top 25 GNs) |
$28.78 million | |
| Versus 1 Year Ago |
$34.61 million | -2% |
| Versus 5 Years Ago (Top 300) |
$29.95 million | +6% |
| Versus 10 Years Ago (Top 50) |
$25.99 million | +4% |
| Versus 15 Years Ago (Top 50) |
$19.77 million | +61% |
| All Comics & GNs Shipped in Month (Dollars) |
-6% | |
| Year To Date | $297.9 million | |
| 1 Year Ago | $322.39 million | -8% |
| ALL Comics & GNs Shipped Year to Date (Dollars) |
-10% | |
| ALL COMICS AND GNs SHIPPED (in Dollars) |
||
| September 2017 | $43.52 million | |
| Versus 1 Year Ago |
$46.33 million | -6% |
| Versus 5 Years Ago |
$38.93 million | +12% |
| Versus 10 Years Ago |
$32.68 million | +33% |
| Year To Date | $391.18 million | |
| 1 Year Ago | $434.68 million | -10% |
| TITLE SPECIFICS | ||
| TOP SELLING COMIC BOOK | ||
| Saga #47 | 40,582 copies at | $2.99 |
| 50th PLACE COMIC BOOK |
||
| Marvel Legacy #1 |
298,242 copies at | $5.99 |
| 100th PLACE COMIC BOOK |
||
| Nightwing The New Order #2 |
25,027 copies at | $3.99 |
| 150th PLACE COMIC BOOK |
||
| U.S. Avengers #10 |
13,397 copies at | $3.99 |
| 200th PLACE COMIC BOOK |
||
| TMNT Universe #14 |
8,937 copies at | $4.99 |
| 300th PLACE COMIC BOOK |
||
| Uber Invasion #8 |
4,053 copies at | $3.99 |
| NEW RELEASE VOLUME |
||
| New Comics Released |
486 | |
| New Graphic Novels Released |
365 | |
| New Magazines Released |
20 | |
| Total New Print Items Released |
871 | |
| PRICING | ||
| Average Cover Price of Comics in the Top 300 |
$3.94 | |
| Average Cover Price of Comics in the Top 300, weighted by orders |
$3.97 | |
| Average Cover Price of Comics in the Top 25 |
$3.99 | |
| Median Cover Price of Comics in the Top 300 |
$3.99 | |
| Most Common Cover Price of Comics in the Top 300 |
$3.99 |
More features to come soon, after I've caught up on sleep lost at the convention!
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!