{"id":3612,"date":"2019-06-07T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-06-07T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2020-07-30T16:13:11","modified_gmt":"2020-07-30T21:13:11","slug":"dceased-1-leads-may-2019-comics-orders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/comichron.com\/blog\/2019\/06\/07\/dceased-1-leads-may-2019-comics-orders\/","title":{"rendered":"DCeased #1 leads May 2019 comics orders; Marvel’s new comics slate may be largest since 1993"},"content":{"rendered":"
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May’s orders of comic books and graphic novels in the comics shop market were higher than in any month since last October, but not quite good enough to beat May 2018<\/b><\/a>, which had Amazing Spider-Man<\/em> #800<\/a><\/strong> among other blockbusters in the mix. Retailers ordered almost exactly $47 million in comic books and graphic novels from Diamond Comic Distributors<\/a><\/b> this May, including 7.27 million comic books; both of those figures were down 4% year-over-year versus last May.<\/p>\n

DC’s DCeased<\/i> #1<\/a><\/b> led new comics periodicals; we’ll report on its estimated sales on Monday, when you’ll be able to click here to find estimated sales figures for May 2019<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The tale of two strategies we’ve seen in 2019 continued with Marvel<\/b> publishing more different periodical titles, and DC<\/b> and Image<\/b> publishing fewer. Diamond reported that market-share leader Marvel shipped 118 new comic books to market, a figure that’s higher than any since Diamond began reporting monthly release counts in 2013. We’re not absolutely certain that figure represents only unique new comic books, with no second or later printings included; it depends on how Diamond is keeping track. But if that 118 number holds, it\u2019s likely to be the highest figure this century. Marvel placed 119 comics in the Top 300 in June 2009<\/a><\/b>, but several of those were previously listed books that had been reordered.<\/p>\n

(Update<\/b>: I’ve confirmed the understanding I previously assumed to be correct \u2014 that second and later printings are not counted as new titles, but $1 reprints like the True Believers<\/b> books are counted as new and distinct publications. So the 118 number is solid. Variants are only counted separately if they’re at a different price point as the “regular” version.)<\/i><\/p>\n

The month’s total wouldn’t be an all-time record, though. At the peak of the early 1990s comics boom, Marvel shipped 126 new comic books to retailers in August 1993<\/a><\/b>, of which 123 issues made Diamond’s Top 300. That appears to be the all-time record for it or any other American publisher.<\/p>\n

Regardless, Marvel’s May total was 26 more comics than it released in May 2018 \u2014 and necessary to allow the publisher to come close to its Spidey<\/em>-fortified performance from that month. The total retail dollar value of Marvel’s shipments to retailers was off single digits percentage-wise from that month. The publisher remains up 6% for the year.<\/p>\n

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DC’s 60 comics released in May 2019 was 14 fewer than last May, yet the publisher does appear to be succeeding at its stated goal: releasing fewer comics while increasing the sales of the ones it releases. Taking four of the top five slots on the comics charts, DC’s shipments to retailers were up 5% in dollar terms versus last May, and its year-to-date shortfall narrowed to 4%. DC also had the top graphic novel by units in Lauren Myracle’<\/b>s\u00a0Under the Moon: A Catwoman Tale<\/a><\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n

(Update<\/b>: I’ve confirmed that DC’s 25-cent\u00a0Year of the Villain #1<\/b> was counted toward its unit market share, which is part of why the unit gap between DC and Marvel is narrow.)<\/i><\/p>\n

Image, meanwhile, cut its offerings even more than DC did versus last May \u2014 releasing 38 new comic books in the month, the publisher’s smallest slate since at least 2013. That’s down from 65 comic books released in May 2018 \u2014 and the bottom line shows the impact, as Image’s year-to-year sales to retailers for the month were greatly diminished. By this point in 2018, Image had shipped at least $4 million more in comics and graphic novels to retailers; that’s twice the size of the industry’s year-to-date shortfall.<\/p>\n

Dark Horse<\/b>, meanwhile, benefited from Umbrella Academy<\/a><\/strong><\/em>‘s Netflix show, placing fourth in dollar market share and landing three of the series’ collections in the Top 10 Graphic Novels by units. The publisher’s overall sales are up significantly year-over-year and also year-to-date.<\/p>\n

May had one more shipping week than April (though the same number as last May), explaining part, but not all, of the boost in sales from that month; a 51% increase in graphic novel dollars over April is significant. We saw several hardcover-laden reorder charts<\/a><\/b> in May, usually an indicator of sales and promotions. Graphic novel units are down versus last May by the same percentage that dollars are up, something explained partially by the fact that the $7.99 Tag & Bink Were Here<\/i> #1<\/b> was classified as a graphic novel last May; it led the charts then with more than 16,000 units but didn’t translate to as many dollars.<\/p>\n

The year-to-date total slipped into the red for the first time in 2019, down less than 1%; orders through May 31 are $1.4 million shy of the total last year. That’s less than a third of what\u00a0Spidey<\/em>\u00a0#800 brought in last year, so the margin is fairly narrow.<\/p>\n

The comparative sales statistics:<\/strong><\/p>\n