September 2009 was the best month of last year for comics sales, and this September had a difficult time keeping pace. Unit and dollar sales for comic books in the Top 300 were down 14% and 12% respectively, while top-selling trade paperbacks held firmer, off only 2%. Backlist sales and sales of comics below 300th … Read more
With publishers announcing some fine-tuning to the pricing structure for new comics — DC, in particular, plans to move some titles from $3.99 with 22 story pages to $2.99 with 20 story pages, among other changes — I’ve been asked whether publishers have ever done line-wide price decreases before. In a word, yes. Several times, … Read more
by John Jackson Miller and T.M. Haley Diamond Comic Distributors released its initial reports for comic-book orders for September 2010, and the last month of the third quarter found Wolverine titles atop both the Top Comic Books and the Top Trade Paperback and Graphic Novels charts. Click to see the rankings and market shares for … Read more
Following the report on comics orders for August 2010, here’s a look back at what was going on in previous years… August 2009‘s top seller was DC’s Blackest Night #2, with first-month orders of 145,600 copies. By the end of the year, it would have orders of more than 161,400, making it the fifth-best-selling … Read more
by John Jackson Miller, with T.M. Haley Another soft month for comics sales overall, August saw the lowest sales yet seen for a top-selling title in the direct market. Brighest Day #7 led the market with first-month orders of around 93,500 copies, just slightly underselling the previous record-holder. (Diamond-era records can be found here.) Trade … Read more
Diamond Comic Distributors announced that Brightest Day #7 from DC was the top-selling comic book in North America in August, based on orders from comics shops. And in the second spot? Brightest Day #8 — marking the first time this year that both issues of the two-a-month limited series have taken the top spots. Click … Read more