(Update: The estimated sales are now online.)
Last week, I tweeted that the fact that March 2017 was a month with five New Comic Book Days instead of four meant that this March’s comics and graphic novel sales to the Direct Market would very likely be down in comparison, as it had one less Wednesday. But I also noted that January and February’s performances had been just good enough that even if sales remained flat from February to March, it would represent an improvement in the overall quarter’s trajectory. March’s orders managed that feat and a little more, according to my analysis of data released today by Diamond Comic Distributors.
Diamond shipped $38.48 million in comics, graphic novels, and magazines in an especially wintry March, down an ugly 16%; graphic novels were again produced the biggest shortfall, down 22% in dollars. The fifth week, however, explains more than usual this time out. Almost a hundred fewer new comics were released this March, a reduction in new-release volume of 18%; all the major publisher slates were smaller, and IDW went from 60 periodical releases in the month to 40. Graphic novel slates were also 14% smaller overall.
March’s new comics unit sales stood at 6.55 million copies, down 12% — but the release slate shrank more, so the ones that did release punched their weight a little better. March was up 5% over February, exceeding the aforementioned target — and it nearly caught January, which is where our extra week this quarter went. Overall shipments of comics and graphic novels for the quarter totaled $114.45 million, down a little less than 9% — and, as noted above, that single digit is something we’ve been looking to see since the first in a string of quarterly declines at the end of 2016:
comics/graphic novel sales to the Direct Market
So for the pessimists: things are still getting worse. But for the optimists: since last fall, they’ve been getting worse by progressively smaller amounts. There’s an easy explanation for that: DC‘s Rebirth event made 2016’s numbers very hard to hit — but by this time last year, that event had already seen its biggest numbers, and while Marvel‘s slowdown was underway, it had yet to see its nastiest declines. This quarter just past, DC’s overall sales were up slightly year over year, with Dynamite‘s up a bit more; Marvel remains off year-over-year, but it’s slightly outpacing the overall market.
The second quarter of 2017, incidentally, saw $135.5 million in shipments; while that may seem a stretch to hit this time out, increases of $20 million from the first to the second quarter have happened this decade. Even 2017 saw $10 million more in product shipped in the second quarter than in the first. People can actually get to the stores (unless you live where I do, where we had 14″ of snow on Monday) — and as DC revealed on Thursday, Action Comics #1000 will account for at least $4 million on its own in April.
The monthly and quarterly comparatives:
| Dollars | Units | |
|---|---|---|
| March 2018 Vs. February 2018 | ||
| Comics | 2.92% | 4.04% |
| Graphic Novels | 10.36% | 3.69% |
| Total Comics/Graphic Novels | 4.95% | 4.02% |
| Toys | 5.32% | -1.93% |
| March 2018 Vs. March 2017 | ||
| Comics | -13.20% | -12.28% |
| Graphic Novels | -22.12% | -25.63% |
| Total Comics/Graphic Novels | -15.96% | -13.35% |
| Toys | -29.83% | -38.04% |
| Year-To-Date 2018 Vs. Year-To-Date 2017 | ||
| (First Quarter 2018 Vs. First Quarter 2017) | ||
| Comics | -0.0709 | -0.1452 |
| Graphic Novels | -13.17% | -12.28% |
| Total Comics/Graphic Novels | -8.92% | -14.37% |
| Toys | ||
| First Quarter 2018 Vs. Fourth Quarter 2017 | ||
| Comics | -8.44% | -7.25% |
| Graphic Novels | -21.69% | -20.85% |
| Total Comics/Graphic Novels | -12.67% | -8.38% |
| Toys | -14.91% | -11.81% |
The market shares for the month:
| Publisher | Dollar Share | Unit Share |
|---|---|---|
| Marvel | 35.92% | 38.38% |
| DC | 31.06% | 35.10% |
| Image | 10.98% | 10.43% |
| IDW | 3.96% | 3.28% |
| Boom | 2.40% | 2.13% |
| Dark Horse | 2.38% | 1.58% |
| Dynamite | 1.83% | 1.61% |
| Viz | 1.23% | 0.46% |
| Oni | 1.16% | 0.80% |
| Valiant | 0.93% | 0.99% |
| Other | 8.15% | 5.25% |
The top-sellers lists in comics, both in units and dollars, were led by Dark Nights: Metal #6 and Doomsday Clock #4, back from a one-month hiatus. We’d noticed in our running year-to-date tally that a Metal issue had taken the top spot from Doomsday Clock, and its finale seems to have led this month. This time we added on-sale dates, making it clear that the top two books of the month actually had the smallest number of days on sale.
Otherwise, performances of note include Amazing Spider-Man #797, on the way to an issue #800 which Marvel announced yesterday had garnered at least 300,000 in orders for May; Weapon H #1, which placed fourth despite a higher price and only having made one reorder list; and Image‘s Oblivion Song #1, which made almost every advance reorder and regular reorder list this year and placed ninth. It shows that while reorders can make a difference, it’s initial orders that usually have the greater impact.
Here’s the comics chart, in units:
| TOP COMIC BOOKS (by units) | PRICE | PUBLISHER | ON SALE | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dark Nights: Metal #6 | $4.99 | DC | 3/28/18 |
| 2 | Doomsday Clock #4 | $4.99 | DC | 3/28/18 |
| 3 | Amazing Spider-Man #797 | $3.99 | Marvel | 3/7/18 |
| 4 | Weapon H #1 | $4.99 | Marvel | 3/21/18 |
| 5 | Batman #42 | $2.99 | DC | 3/7/18 |
| 6 | Mighty Thor #705 | $3.99 | Marvel | 3/21/18 |
| 7 | Infinity Countdown #1 | $4.99 | Marvel | 3/7/18 |
| 8 | Batman #43 | $2.99 | DC | 3/21/18 |
| 9 | Oblivion Song By Kirkman & De Felici #1 | $3.99 | Image | 3/7/18 |
| 10 | Batman: White Knight #6 | $3.99 | DC | 3/7/18 |
By dollars, the chart doesn’t look that much different, except that Weapon H’s position improves and Daredevil #600 makes the list.
| TOP COMIC BOOKS (by dollars) | PRICE | PUBLISHER | ON SALE | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dark Nights: Metal #6 | $4.99 | DC | 3/28/18 |
| 2 | Doomsday Clock #4 | $4.99 | DC | 3/28/18 |
| 3 | Weapon H #1 | $4.99 | Marvel | 3/21/18 |
| 4 | Amazing Spider-Man #797 | $3.99 | Marvel | 3/7/18 |
| 5 | Infinity Countdown #1 | $4.99 | Marvel | 3/7/18 |
| 6 | Daredevil #600 | $5.99 | Marvel | 3/28/18 |
| 7 | Mighty Thor #705 | $3.99 | Marvel | 3/21/18 |
| 8 | Walking Dead #177 | $3.99 | Image | 3/7/18 |
| 9 | Batman: White Knight #6 | $3.99 | DC | 3/7/18 |
| 10 | Oblivion Song By Kirkman & De Felici #1 | $3.99 | Image | 3/7/18 |
I’m not going to include dates on graphic novels as the chart often includes older books, but this month’s top seller in both units and dollars was new: Walking Dead Vol. 29: Lines We Cross. The Green Lantern: Earth One hardcover had also gotten some reorder play, and was the top reordered hardcover last week. The chart by units:
| TOP GRAPHIC NOVELS (by units) | PRICE | PUBLISHER | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Walking Dead Vol. 29: Lines We Cross | $16.99 | Image |
| 2 | Green Lantern: Earth One Vol. 1 HC | $24.99 | DC |
| 3 | The Flash Vol. 5: Negative | $14.99 | DC |
| 4 | Super Sons Vol. 2: Planet of The Capes | $14.99 | DC |
| 5 | Realm Vol. 1 | $9.99 | Image |
| 6 | Black Science Vol. 7: Extinction Is The Rule | $16.99 | Image |
| 7 | Invincible Vol. 25: The End of All Things Part 2 | $16.99 | Image |
| 8 | Batman & Harley Quinn HC | $24.99 | DC |
| 9 | Port of Earth Vol. 1 | $9.99 | Image |
| 10 | Saga Vol. 8 | $14.99 | Image |
The same chart sorted by dollars finds a regular reorder champ, the $500 Infinity Gauntlet Slipcase Set, in second, followed by a lot of hundred-dollar hardcovers. One thing I haven’t explored is just how much retailer cash flow is being absorbed each month by these prestige items, as opposed to in previous years; that might be interesting.
| TOP GRAPHIC NOVELS (by dollars) | PRICE | PUBLISHER | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Walking Dead Vol. 29: Lines We Cross | $16.99 | Image |
| 2 | Infinity Gauntlet Box HC Slipcase Set | $500.00 | Marvel |
| 3 | Green Lantern: Earth One Vol. 1 HC | $24.99 | DC |
| 4 | Avengers Omnibus Vol. 3 HC | $100.00 | Marvel |
| 5 | Kamandi By Jack Kirby Omnibus HC | $125.00 | DC |
| 6 | Justice League of America: The Bronze Age Omnibus Vol. 2 HC | $125.00 | DC |
| 7 | Daredevil By Waid & Samnee Omnibus Vol. 2 HC | $100.00 | Marvel |
| 8 | Absolute WildCA.T.S By Jim Lee HC | $125.00 | DC |
| 9 | Marvel Masterworks: Marvel Two In One Vol. 3 HC | $75.00 | Marvel |
| 10 | Batman & Harley Quinn HC | $24.99 | DC |
Finally, the number of new releases, which, as discussed above, was down quite a bit across the board:
| Publisher | Comics shipped |
Graphic Novels shipped |
Magazines shipped |
Total shipped |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
DC
|
84
|
35
|
0
|
119
|
|
Marvel
|
81
|
33
|
0
|
114
|
|
Image
|
57
|
13
|
0
|
70
|
|
IDW
|
40
|
18
|
0
|
58
|
|
Boom
|
25
|
9
|
0
|
34
|
|
Dark Horse
|
12
|
14
|
0
|
26
|
|
Dynamite
|
15
|
8
|
0
|
23
|
|
Valiant
|
7
|
3
|
0
|
10
|
|
Viz
|
0
|
9
|
0
|
9
|
|
Oni
|
4
|
4
|
0
|
8
|
|
Other
|
113
|
135
|
11
|
259
|
|
TOTAL
SHIPPED
|
438
|
281
|
11
|
730
|
The final order estimates will be posted early next week, and will appear on this page. Set your bookmark now, and check again on Monday!
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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