The comics sales estimates for February 2018 based on Diamond Comic Distributors’ reports are now online here, and the information adds some insights to what was already reported here on Friday.
It is, firstly, a weak February of the sort we have often seen, with few high-profile releases — particularly when it comes to graphic novels, with no new release breaking 3,000 copies, and the repeat bestseller Saga Vol. 8 not much above that level. The top seller among comics, furthermore, Dark Nights Rising: Wild Hunt #1 weighed in with more than 101,000 copies shipped in this Doomsday Clock-less month — and that’s the lowest level for a bestseller since May 2011, a short while before the DC “New 52” relaunch. (Overall unit sales remain 15% higher than that month.)
That said — and I have long tried to look for contrary indicators in both up months and down ones — last February’s bestseller wasn’t much above that level. At the lower rankings, the 300th place beat the comic at the same level in the previous February — and this February’s comics unit sales beat those of this past December, our last four-week month for comparison, achieving higher sales levels at 50th, 100th, 150th, 300th, 400th, and 500th places. Observers should want to see it beat the previous year’s totals at more than just the 300th place level before thinking much of that, of course; we won’t get a straight comparison in March 2018, though, as March 2017 had one more shipping week.
Black Panther came out in February, but while the blockbuster film generated significant reorder traffic, most of that will be reflected in March.
The year-to-date page will be updated soon. In the meantime, the vital statistics:
| TOP 300 COMICS SHIPPED (in UNITS) |
||
| February 2018 | 5.75 million copies | |
| 1 Year Ago | 6.33 million copies | -9% |
| 5 Years Ago | 7.01 million copies | -18% |
| 10 Years Ago | 6.26 million copies | -8% |
| 15 Years Ago | 5.86 million copies | -2% |
| 20 Years Ago | 6.6 million copies | -13% |
| Top 500 Comics Shipped (Units) | 6.18 million copies | |
| ALL Comics Shipped in Month (Units) |
6.3 million copies | -20% |
| Year To Date | 11.75 million copies | |
| 1 Year Ago | 13.36 million copies | -12 |
| 5 Years Ago | 13.73 million copies | -14 |
| 10 Years Ago | 13.02 million copies | -10 |
| 15 Years Ago | 11.46 million copies | 3 |
| ALL Comics Shipped Year to Date (Units) |
13.01 million copies | -16% |
| TOP 300 COMICS SHIPPED (in DOLLARS) |
||
| February 2018 | $22.69 million | |
| 1 Year Ago | $23.06 million | -2% |
| 5 Years Ago | $25.32 million | -10% |
| 10 Years Ago | $19.62 million | +16% |
| 15 Years Ago | $16.54 million | +37% |
| 20 Years Ago | $15.71 million | +44% |
| Top 500 Comics Shipped (Dollars) |
$24.47 million | |
| ALL Comics Shipped during Month (Dollars) |
-3% | |
| Year To Date | $46.23 million | |
| 1 Year Ago | $49.34 million | -6% |
| 5 Years Ago | $29.27 million | -6% |
| 10 Years Ago | $40.65 million | +14% |
| 15 Years Ago | $32.08 million | +44% |
| ALL Comics Shipped Year to Date (Dollars) |
-4% | |
| TOP GRAPHIC NOVELS SHIPPED (in DOLLARS) |
||
| February 2018 (Top 300 GNs) | $4.92 million | |
| February 2018 (Top 100 GNs) |
$2.86 million | |
| February 2018 (Top 50 GNs) |
$1.6 million | |
| February 2018 (Top 25 GNs) |
$0.95 million | |
| Versus 1 Year Ago |
$8.45 million | -42% |
| Versus 5 Years Ago (Top 300) |
$6.5 million | -24% |
| Versus 10 Years Ago (Top 100) |
$4.01 million | -38% |
| Versus 15 Years Ago (Top 50) |
$2.59 million | -29% |
| Top 500 Graphic Novel Shipped in Month (Dollars) |
$5.78 million | |
| ALL Graphic Novel Shipped in Month (Dollars) |
-19% | |
| Year To Date | $10.6 million | |
| 1 Year Ago | $14.32 million | -29% |
| ALL Graphic Novel Dollars Shipped Year to Date (Dollars) |
-8% | |
| TOP 300 COMICS plus TOP GNs SHIPPED (in DOLLARS) |
||
| February 2018 (including Top 300 GNs) |
$27.61 million | |
| February 2018 (including Top 300 GNs) |
$25.55 million | |
| February 2018 (including Top 100 GNs) |
$24.29 million | |
| February 2018 (including Top 25 GNs) |
$23.64 million | |
| Versus 1 Year Ago |
$31.56 million | -13% |
| Versus 5 Years Ago (Top 300) |
$31.82 million | -20% |
| Versus 10 Years Ago (Top 50) |
$23.63 million | -4% |
| Versus 15 Years Ago (Top 50) |
$19.13 million | +37% |
| Top 500 Comics & Top 500 GNs Shipped in Month (Dollars) |
$30.25 million | |
| All Comics & GNs Shipped in Month (Dollars) |
-8% | |
| Year To Date | $56.39 million | |
| 1 Year Ago | $63.7 million | -11% |
| ALL Comics & GNs Shipped Year to Date (Dollars) |
-5% | |
| ALL COMICS AND GNs SHIPPED (in Dollars) |
||
| February 2018 | $36,631,000.00 | |
| Versus 1 Year Ago |
$39.77 million | -8% |
| Versus 5 Years Ago |
$39.58 million | -7% |
| Versus 10 Years Ago |
$32.53 million | +13% |
| Year To Date | $75.97 million | |
| 1 Year Ago | $79.88 million | -5% |
| TITLE SPECIFICS | ||
| TOP SELLING COMIC BOOK | ||
| Dark Knights Rising The Wild Hunt #1 |
101,373 copies at | $4.99 |
| 50th PLACE COMIC BOOK |
||
| Venom #162 | 34,211 copies at | $3.99 |
| 100th PLACE COMIC BOOK |
||
| Rogue & Gambit #2 |
22,201 copies at | $3.99 |
| 150th PLACE COMIC BOOK |
||
| Descender #27 | 12,130 copies at | $3.99 |
| 200th PLACE COMIC BOOK |
||
| Wildstorm Michael Cray #5 |
7,968 copies at | $3.99 |
| 300th PLACE COMIC BOOK |
||
| Multiple Warheads Ghost Throne (One-Shot) #0 |
4,169 copies at | $4.99 |
| 400th PLACE COMIC BOOK |
||
| Warhammer 40000 Fallen #4 |
2,177 copies at | $4.99 |
| 500th PLACE COMIC BOOK |
||
| Action Comics #996 |
647 copies at | $4.99 |
| 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 |
$3.99 | |
| Average Cover Price of Comics in the Top 300, weighted by orders |
$3.94 | |
| Average Cover Price of Comics in the Top 25 |
$3.87 | |
| 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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