Marvel’s First Family returned in August, with nearly 369,000 copies of Fantastic Four #1 shipping to retailers in the United States and Canada. Click to see our comics sales estimates for August 2018.
As reported here on Friday, August was a fourth growth month out of five, despite a dearth of new comics releases. Comics dollar sales were up 5% and units were down 5% in a five-week month that saw 11% fewer new comics released than the same month in the previous year. August 2017 was one of the most disappointing months of the comics recession that year, so a rebound was welcome. Graphic novels were also up, thanks to significant deep-discount sales; it was just the second month both comics and graphic novels were up since 2016.
Marvel’s Fresh Start relaunch mostly past, the month saw only three comics selling over 100,000 copies. But DC saw a strong launch for Sandman Universe #1, placing third in dollars and sixth in units with more than 83,500 copies shipped to the United States and Canada, a large number for a Vertigo launch.
The average cover price of comics in the Top 300 set a new record, $4.12; the previous record had been set in June 2017. Click to see monthly cover prices across time, and also all of our Diamond Exclusive Era records.
Batman #50 did not chart again, despite having led the comics reorder charts twice in July. The comic book was made retroactively returnable. You can see the year-to-date bestsellers here; we’ve doubled the length of both the comics and graphic novel charts to 200 items each.
The first two-thirds of the year closed down 1.1%, but prospects for a slight year-over-year improvement remain good.
The vital statistics:
-->| TOP 300 COMICS SHIPPED (in UNITS) |
||
| August 2018 | 6.6 million copies | |
| 1 Year Ago | 6.59 million copies | 0% |
| 5 Years Ago | 6.36 million copies | +4% |
| 10 Years Ago | 6.86 million copies | -4% |
| 15 Years Ago | 6.02 million copies | +10% |
| 20 Years Ago | 7.03 million copies | -6% |
| Top 500 Comics Shipped (Units) | 7.04 million copies | |
| ALL Comics Shipped in Month (Units) |
7.2 million copies | -5% |
| Year To Date | 51.61 million copies | |
| 1 Year Ago | 53.62 million copies | -4 |
| 5 Years Ago | 55.38 million copies | -7 |
| 10 Years Ago | 53.6 million copies | -4 |
| 15 Years Ago | 46.68 million copies | 11 |
| ALL Comics Shipped Year to Date (Units) |
56.52 million copies | -7% |
| TOP 300 COMICS SHIPPED (in DOLLARS) |
||
| August 2018 | $28.19 million | |
| 1 Year Ago | $25.52 million | +10% |
| 5 Years Ago | $23.13 million | +22% |
| 10 Years Ago | $22.27 million | +27% |
| 15 Years Ago | $16.81 million | +68% |
| 20 Years Ago | $18.49 million | +52% |
| Top 500 Comics Shipped (Dollars) |
$30.09 million | |
| ALL Comics Shipped during Month (Dollars) |
+5% | |
| Year To Date | $211.19 million | |
| 1 Year Ago | $206.27 million | +2% |
| 5 Years Ago | $200.47 million | +5% |
| 10 Years Ago | $171.4 million | +23% |
| 15 Years Ago | $130.98 million | +61% |
| ALL Comics Shipped Year to Date (Dollars) |
+1% | |
| TOP GRAPHIC NOVELS SHIPPED (in DOLLARS) |
||
| August 2018 (Top 300 GNs) | $7.14 million | |
| August 2018 (Top 100 GNs) |
$3.99 million | |
| August 2018 (Top 50 GNs) |
$2.5 million | |
| August 2018 (Top 25 GNs) |
$1.49 million | |
| Versus 1 Year Ago |
$6.69 million | +7% |
| Versus 5 Years Ago (Top 300) |
$6.02 million | +19% |
| Versus 10 Years Ago (Top 100) |
$5.36 million | -26% |
| Versus 15 Years Ago (Top 50) |
$2.42 million | +3% |
| Top 500 Graphic Novel Shipped in Month (Dollars) |
$8.58 million | |
| ALL Graphic Novel Shipped in Month (Dollars) |
+3% | |
| Year To Date | $48.39 million | |
| 1 Year Ago | $57.7 million | -16% |
| ALL Graphic Novel Dollars Shipped Year to Date (Dollars) |
-7% | |
| TOP 300 COMICS plus TOP GNs SHIPPED (in DOLLARS) |
||
| August 2018 (including Top 300 GNs) |
$35.33 million | |
| August 2018 (including Top 300 GNs) |
$32.18 million | |
| August 2018 (including Top 100 GNs) |
$30.69 million | |
| August 2018 (including Top 25 GNs) |
$29.67 million | |
| Versus 1 Year Ago |
$32.21 million | +10% |
| Versus 5 Years Ago (Top 300) |
$29.15 million | +10% |
| Versus 10 Years Ago (Top 50) |
$27.63 million | +2% |
| Versus 15 Years Ago (Top 50) |
$19.23 million | +68% |
| Top 500 Comics & Top 500 GNs Shipped in Month (Dollars) |
$38.67 million | |
| All Comics & GNs Shipped in Month (Dollars) |
+4% | |
| Year To Date | $259.76 million | |
| 1 Year Ago | $264 million | -2% |
| ALL Comics & GNs Shipped Year to Date (Dollars) |
-1% | |
| ALL COMICS AND GNs SHIPPED (in Dollars) |
||
| August 2018 | $47,709,375.00 | |
| Versus 1 Year Ago |
$45.72 million | +4% |
| Versus 5 Years Ago |
$38.25 million | +25% |
| Versus 10 Years Ago |
$36.26 million | +32% |
| Year To Date | $343.801 million | |
| 1 Year Ago | $347.666 million | -1% |
| TITLE SPECIFICS | ||
| TOP SELLING COMIC BOOK | ||
| Fantastic Four #1 |
368,914 copies at | $5.99 |
| 50th PLACE COMIC BOOK |
||
| Weapon H #6 | 33,907 copies at | $3.99 |
| 100th PLACE COMIC BOOK |
||
| Green Lanterns #53 |
23,923 copies at | $3.99 |
| 150th PLACE COMIC BOOK |
||
| Damage #8 | 13,778 copies at | $2.99 |
| 200th PLACE COMIC BOOK |
||
| TMNT Bebop Rocksteady Hit The Road #2 |
7,738 copies at | $3.99 |
| 300th PLACE COMIC BOOK |
||
| Aphrodite V #2 | 4,001 copies at | $3.99 |
| 400th PLACE COMIC BOOK |
||
| Gasolina #11 | 2,143 copies at | $3.99 |
| 500th PLACE COMIC BOOK |
||
| Cavewoman Raptorellas Revenge #2 |
770 copies at | $3.99 |
| NEW RELEASE VOLUME |
||
| New Comics Released |
449 | |
| New Graphic Novels Released |
318 | |
| New Magazines Released |
26 | |
| Total New Print Items Released |
793 | |
| PRICING | ||
| Average Cover Price of Comics in the Top 300 |
$4.12 | |
| Average Cover Price of Comics in the Top 300, weighted by orders |
$4.27 | |
| Average Cover Price of Comics in the Top 25 |
$4.27 | |
| Median Cover Price of Comics in the Top 300 |
$3.99 | |
| Most Common Cover Price of Comics in the Top 300 |
$3.99 |
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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