It makes sense to announce good news when everyone is watching the industry — and with Avengers: Endgame hitting theaters, that’s just what Diamond Comic Distributors did by releasing its preliminary March sales charts this morning. The Top 10s are below; the full estimates will appear here on Monday.
To no one’s surprise, Batman’s 80th anniversary gave comics shop market orders a boost; retailers ordered more than $43.5 million in comic books, graphic novels, and magazines, 13% more than they did in March 2018.
That March, which also had four shipping weeks, was seen as a disappointment compared with the year prior; this March’s sales were $5 million greater, and doubtless having Detective Comics #1000 and the Detective Comics: 80 Years of Batman hardcover around made much of the difference.
The month completes a $123.2 million first quarter, up 8% over the same quarter in 2018; that makes three growth quarters out of four. Essentially bookended by April 2018’s Action #1000 and March 2019’s higher-priced Detective Comics #1000, the last 12 months stand at $525.3 million, up from $511 million in the same period prior, an increase of 3%. The business spent most of 2018 clawing back from a weak first quarter, so a solid winter is a good thing to have for 2019.
Retailers ordered at least 6.34 million new comic books in the month, down 3% versus the same month in the previous year. There were 477 new periodical releases, up 9% year-over-year. Once again, DC offered fewer new comics, 18 less than last March; once again, Marvel picked up the slack, releasing 18 more than its 2018 total. That fact combined with the high price on Detective #1000 to result in a month in which DC led dollar sales overall, while Marvel led unit sales.
DC published the six bestselling comics, and improved on its overall dollar sales by 32% over its performance in March 2019, while Marvel’s dollar sales rose 8%.
Graphic novel dollar sales were up 6%, against hugely expanded output: 387 new books were released, an increase of 38% over the spare offerings of March 2018, when publishers saw relatively less from the previous year worth reprinting. Marvel’s slate grew significantly, while Image went from 13 graphic novel releases to 27. By far the largest grouping of new titles, however, came from firms outside the Top Seven publishers; Monday’s charts will give us a better idea who published them.
The comparative sales statistics:
| Dollars | Units | |
|---|---|---|
| March 2019 Vs. February 2019 | ||
| Comics | +26.89% | +9.90% |
| Graphic Novels | +21.20% | +33.41% |
| Total Comics/Graphic Novels | +25.30% | +11.52% |
| Toys | -8.40% | -10.17% |
| March 2019 Vs. March 2018 | ||
| Comics | +15.82% | -3.32% |
| Graphic Novels | +6.35% | +17.77% |
| Total Comics/Graphic Novels | +13.10% | -1.87% |
| Toys | +4.67% | +8.49% |
| Year-To-Date 2019 Vs. Year-To-Date 2018 | ||
| Comics | +8.51% | -2.12% |
| Graphic Novels | +5.46% | +3.95% |
| Total Comics/Graphic Novels | +7.64% | -1.68% |
| Toys | +20.14% | +29.77% |
| First Quarter 2019 Vs. Fourth Quarter 2018 | ||
| Comics | -4.89% | -7.30% |
| Graphic Novels | +0.40% | +2.03% |
| Total Comics/Graphic Novels | -3.46% | -6.66% |
| Toys | +14.61% | +23.82% |
| First Quarter 2019 Vs. First Quarter 2018 | ||
| Comics | +8.51% | -2.12% |
| Graphic Novels | +5.46% | +3.95% |
| Total Comics/Graphic Novels | +7.64% | -1.68% |
| Toys | +20.14% | +29.77% |
The market shares:
| Publisher | Dollar Share | Unit Share |
|---|---|---|
| DC | 36.20% | 34.00% |
| Marvel | 34.46% | 40.94% |
| Image | 9.63% | 9.36% |
| Dark Horse | 3.26% | 2.45% |
| IDW | 3.19% | 3.19% |
| Boom | 2.19% | 2.13% |
| Dynamite | 1.24% | 1.08% |
| Viz | 1.23% | 0.50% |
| Archie | 0.80% | 0.86% |
| Oni | 0.74% | 0.64% |
| Other | 7.07% | 4.85% |
The top-selling comics by units:
| TOP COMIC BOOKS (by units) | PRICE | PUBLISHER | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Detective Comics #1000 | $9.99 | DC |
| 2 | Batman Who Laughs: The Grim Knight #1 | $4.99 | DC |
| 3 | Doomsday Clock #9 | $4.99 | DC |
| 4 | Batman #67 | $3.99 | DC |
| 5 | Batman #66 | $3.99 | DC |
| 6 | Heroes In Crisis #7 | $3.99 | DC |
| 7 | Amazing Spider-Man #17 | $4.99 | Marvel |
| 8 | Amazing Spider-Man #18 | $3.99 | Marvel |
| 9 | Spider-Man: City At War #1 | $3.99 | Marvel |
| 10 | Justice League #20 | $3.99 | DC |
The top-selling comics by dollars:
| TOP COMIC BOOKS (by dollars) | PRICE | PUBLISHER | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Detective Comics #1000 | $9.99 | DC |
| 2 | Batman Who Laughs: The Grim Knight #1 | $4.99 | DC |
| 3 | Doomsday Clock #9 | $4.99 | DC |
| 4 | Amazing Spider-Man #17 | $4.99 | Marvel |
| 5 | Batman #67 | $3.99 | DC |
| 6 | Spider-Man: City At War #1 | $3.99 | Marvel |
| 7 | Batman #66 | $3.99 | DC |
| 8 | Heroes In Crisis #7 | $3.99 | DC |
| 9 | Amazing Spider-Man #18 | $3.99 | Marvel |
| 10 | Spider-Man: Life Story #1 | $4.99 | Marvel |
The top-selling graphic novels by units:
| TOP GRAPHIC NOVELS (by units) | PRICE | PUBLISHER | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Walking Dead Vol. 31 | $16.99 | Image |
| 2 | Detective Comics: 80 Years Of Batman HC | $29.99 | DC |
| 3 | Saga Vol. 1 | $9.99 | Image |
| 4 | Monstress Volume 1 | $9.99 | Image |
| 5 | Wicked &The Divine Vol. 8: Old Is The New New | $17.99 | Image |
| 6 | Seven To Eternity Vol. 3 | $16.99 | Image |
| 7 | Batman Vol. 9: The Tyrant Wing | $16.99 | DC |
| 8 | Super Sons: The Polarshield Project | $9.99 | DC |
| 9 | Saga Vol. 9 | $14.99 | Image |
| 10 | Mera: Tidebreaker | $16.99 | DC |
The top-selling graphic novels by dollars:
| TOP GRAPHIC NOVELS (by dollars) | PRICE | PUBLISHER | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Detective Comics: 80 Years Of Batman HC | $29.99 | DC |
| 2 | Savage Sword Of Conan: The Original Marvel Years Omnibus Vol. 1 HC | $125.00 | Marvel |
| 3 | Walking Dead Vol. 31 | $16.99 | Image |
| 4 | Avengers Omnibus Vol. 4 HC | $100.00 | Marvel |
| 5 | Thanos Wars: The Infinity Origin Omnibus HC | $100.00 | Marvel |
| 6 | Uncanny X-Men Vol. 1: X-Men Disassembled | $39.99 | Marvel |
| 7 | Dark Nights Metal: Dark Knights Rising | $24.99 | DC |
| 8 | Wicked & The Divine Vol. 8: Old Is The New New | $17.99 | Image |
| 9 | Earth X Trilogy Omnibus Omega HC | $100.00 | Marvel |
| 10 | Seven To Eternity Vol. 3 | $16.99 | Image |
Finally, the number of new items offered:
| Publisher | Comics shipped |
Graphic Novels shipped |
Magazines shipped |
Total shipped |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marvel | 86 | 44 | 0 | 128 |
| DC | 60 | 23 | 0 | 83 |
| Image | 46 | 14 | 0 | 60 |
| Dark Horse | 19 | 25 | 0 | 44 |
| IDW | 30 | 11 | 0 | 41 |
| Boom | 22 | 6 | 0 | 28 |
| Viz | 0 | 22 | 0 | 22 |
| Seven Seas | 0 | 22 | 0 | 22 |
| Yen | 0 | 21 | 0 | 21 |
| Dynamite | 11 | 6 | 0 | 17 |
| Other | 121 | 135 | 21 | 263 |
| TOTAL | 395 | 327 | 21 | 743 |
The estimated sales for all comics will appear here 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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