{"id":4456,"date":"2016-05-13T17:38:00","date_gmt":"2016-05-13T17:38:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2020-07-31T19:02:50","modified_gmt":"2020-08-01T00:02:50","slug":"black-panther-1-leads-april-2016-comics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/comichron.com\/blog\/2016\/05\/13\/black-panther-1-leads-april-2016-comics\/","title":{"rendered":"Black Panther #1 leads April 2016 comics market; middle-tier publisher release slate cuts impact sales"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align: right;\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/comichron.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/201604BlackPanther1-3.jpg\" border=\"0\" \/><\/div>\n<p>April 2016&#8217;s comics and graphic novel sales, announced today by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.diamondcomics.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><b>Diamond Comic Distributors<\/b><\/a>, were down significantly from the same month a year ago \u2014 a month that had an additional shipping week and a lot more going for it. With the launch of <b><i>Convergence<\/i><\/b>&#8216;s weekly series and higher volumes on <i>Star Wars<\/i> titles, April 2015 was, in fact, <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.comichron.com\/2015\/05\/april-2015-comics-sales-boom-star-wars.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><b>the best month in overall dollar terms in the Diamond Exclusive Era<\/b><\/a><b>.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>By comparison, April 2016&#8217;s comics shop sales of comics an graphic novels, estimated by Comichron at $47.54 million, were down nearly $9 million, with comics dollars falling more than graphic novel dollars.<\/p>\n<p>The 16.19% overall drop is larger than we would expect when comparing a five-week month to a four-week month, but there&#8217;s something else at work here. First, let&#8217;s have a look at the aggregate sales changes:<b> <\/b><\/p>\n<style>table {  }td { padding-top: 1px; padding-right: 1px; padding-left: 1px; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; vertical-align: bottom; border: medium none; white-space: nowrap; }.xl63 { border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; }.xl64 { text-align: center; border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; }.xl65 { text-align: center; }.xl66 { text-align: center; border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; }<\/style>\n<table style=\"border-collapse: collapse; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left; width: 233px;\" border=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\">\n<colgroup>\n<col style=\"mso-width-alt: 4394; mso-width-source: userset; width: 103pt;\" width=\"103\" \/>\n<col style=\"width: 65pt;\" span=\"2\" width=\"65\" \/> <\/colgroup>\n<tbody>\n<tr style=\"height: 15.0pt;\">\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"height: 15.0pt; width: 103pt;\" width=\"103\" height=\"15\"><\/td>\n<td class=\"xl64\" style=\"border-left: none; width: 65pt;\" width=\"65\">Dollars<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl64\" style=\"border-left: none; width: 65pt;\" width=\"65\">Units<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 15.0pt;\">\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;\" height=\"15\">April<br \/>\n2016 vs. March 2016<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl64\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\"><\/td>\n<td class=\"xl64\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 15.0pt;\">\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;\" height=\"15\">Comics<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl66\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">8.18%<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl66\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">8.19%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 15.0pt;\">\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;\" height=\"15\">Graphic<br \/>\nNovels<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl66\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">-8.81%<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl66\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">-8.22%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 15.0pt;\">\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;\" height=\"15\">Total<br \/>\nComics\/GNs<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl66\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">2.06%<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl66\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">6.50%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 15.0pt;\">\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;\" height=\"15\"><\/td>\n<td class=\"xl66\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\"><\/td>\n<td class=\"xl66\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 15.0pt;\">\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;\" height=\"15\">April<br \/>\n2016 vs. April 2015<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl66\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\"><\/td>\n<td class=\"xl66\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 2;\">\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;\" height=\"15\">Comics<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl66\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">-18.05%<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl66\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">-22.28%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 3;\">\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;\" height=\"15\">Graphic<br \/>\nNovels<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl66\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">-11.99%<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl66\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">-12.42%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 4;\">\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;\" height=\"15\">Total<br \/>\nComics\/GNs<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl66\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">-16.19%<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl66\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">-21.49%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 15.0pt;\">\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;\" height=\"15\"><\/td>\n<td class=\"xl66\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\"><\/td>\n<td class=\"xl66\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 15.0pt;\">\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;\" height=\"15\">Year-to-date<br \/>\n2016 vs. Year-to-date 2015<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl66\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\"><\/td>\n<td class=\"xl66\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 2;\">\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;\" height=\"15\">Comics<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl66\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">-7.84%<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl66\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">-13.05%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 3;\">\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;\" height=\"15\">Graphic<br \/>\nNovels<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl66\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">4.87%<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl66\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">5.23%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 4;\">\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;\" height=\"15\">Total<br \/>\nComics\/GNs<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl66\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">-4.06%<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl66\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">-11.69%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<p>Now examine the number of new releases in each category for the month. We see that 420 new comics were offered in April, down from 545 in April 2015:<\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<style>table {  }td { padding-top: 1px; padding-right: 1px; padding-left: 1px; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; vertical-align: bottom; border: medium none; white-space: nowrap; }.xl63 { border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; }.xl64 { white-space: normal; }.xl65 { border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; white-space: normal; }.xl66 { text-align: center; border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; white-space: normal; }.xl67 { text-align: center; border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; }<\/style>\n<\/div>\n<table style=\"border-collapse: collapse; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left; width: 309px;\" border=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\">\n<colgroup>\n<col style=\"width: 65pt;\" width=\"65\" \/>\n<col style=\"mso-width-alt: 2090; mso-width-source: userset; width: 49pt;\" width=\"49\" \/>\n<col style=\"width: 65pt;\" span=\"3\" width=\"65\" \/> <\/colgroup>\n<tbody>\n<tr style=\"height: 45.0pt;\">\n<td class=\"xl65\" style=\"height: 45.0pt; width: 65pt;\" width=\"65\" height=\"45\"><\/td>\n<td class=\"xl66\" style=\"border-left: none; width: 49pt;\" width=\"49\">Comics shipped<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl66\" style=\"border-left: none; width: 65pt;\" width=\"65\">Graphic novels<br \/>\nshipped<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl66\" style=\"border-left: none; width: 65pt;\" width=\"65\">Magazines shipped<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl66\" style=\"border-left: none; width: 65pt;\" width=\"65\">Total<br \/>\nshipped<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 15.0pt;\">\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;\" height=\"15\">Marvel<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">92<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">35<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">1<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">128<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 15.0pt;\">\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;\" height=\"15\">DC<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">80<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">31<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">1<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">112<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 15.0pt;\">\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;\" height=\"15\">Image<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">56<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">17<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">1<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">73<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 15.0pt;\">\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;\" height=\"15\">IDW<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">43<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">21<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">0<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">64<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 15.0pt;\">\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;\" height=\"15\">Dark<br \/>\nHorse<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">27<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">19<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">0<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">46<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 15.0pt;\">\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;\" height=\"15\">Boom<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">27<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">8<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">0<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">35<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 15.0pt;\">\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;\" height=\"15\">Titan<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">22<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">3<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">1<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">26<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 15.0pt;\">\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;\" height=\"15\">Dynamite<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">19<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">6<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">0<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">25<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 15.0pt;\">\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;\" height=\"15\">Viz<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">0<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">21<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">0<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">21<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 15.0pt;\">\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;\" height=\"15\">Oni<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">8<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">4<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">0<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">12<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 15.0pt;\">\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;\" height=\"15\">Other<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">46<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">139<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">26<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">211<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 15.0pt;\">\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;\" height=\"15\">TOTAL<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">420<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">304<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">30<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">753<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<p>That is a steep drop: 23% fewer new comic books were released in April 2016 versus the year before. That figure is higher than the actual 18% drop in new comics dollar sales year-over-year, and much higher than we would expect from the usual four-to-five-week month difference. (The number of graphic novel releases was about the same.) Put another way, publishers released 30% more new comic books in April 2015 than in the following April.<\/p>\n<p>You might think that the addition of a fifth week would result in an increase of 25% in new material &#8212; and a decrease of 20% when that fifth week is gone &#8212; but the numbers are usually much lower. Comics are monthlies, not every-four-weeks; publishers don&#8217;t always increase their slates just to accommodate the extra week. Offerings tend to spread out a little more. This drop in the number of comics offered is significantly higher, and points to reduced offerings by publisher design.<\/p>\n<p>What&#8217;s the source of the drop? The middle-tier publishers, whose increased offerings in recent years helped bulk up the market. <b>IDW <\/b>is the biggest source of the drop, offering 43 periodicals this April versus 63 last April. <b>Image<\/b> is down from 74 to 56 titles, <b>Dynamite<\/b> 35 to 19, <b>Boom<\/b> down from 39 to 27. The middle-tier publishers are playing it more conservatively in 2016, and one result is lower overall volume.<\/p>\n<p>This also shows up in the market shares:<\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<style>table {  }td { padding-top: 1px; padding-right: 1px; padding-left: 1px; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; vertical-align: bottom; border: medium none; white-space: nowrap; }.xl63 { border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; }.xl64 { text-align: center; border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; }.xl65 { text-align: center; }.xl66 { text-align: center; border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; }<\/style>\n<\/div>\n<table style=\"border-collapse: collapse; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left; width: 195px;\" border=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\">\n<colgroup>\n<col style=\"width: 65pt;\" width=\"65\" \/>\n<col style=\"width: 65pt;\" span=\"2\" width=\"65\" \/> <\/colgroup>\n<tbody>\n<tr style=\"height: 15.0pt;\">\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"height: 15.0pt; width: 65pt;\" width=\"65\" height=\"15\"><\/td>\n<td class=\"xl64\" style=\"border-left: none; width: 65pt;\" width=\"65\">Dollar<br \/>\nshare<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl64\" style=\"border-left: none; width: 65pt;\" width=\"65\">Unit share<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 1;\">\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;\" height=\"15\">Marvel<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl66\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">42.98%<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl66\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">47.87%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 2;\">\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;\" height=\"15\">DC<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl66\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">25.82%<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl66\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">25.13%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 3;\">\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;\" height=\"15\">Image<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl66\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">8.72%<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl66\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">8.95%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 4;\">\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;\" height=\"15\">IDW<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl66\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">4.41%<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl66\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">3.67%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 5;\">\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;\" height=\"15\">Dark Horse<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl66\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">3.07%<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl66\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">2.42%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 6;\">\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;\" height=\"15\">Boom<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl66\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">2.39%<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl66\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">2.45%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 7;\">\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;\" height=\"15\">Dynamite<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl66\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">1.53%<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl66\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">1.45%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 8;\">\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;\" height=\"15\">Titan<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl66\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">1.10%<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl66\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">1.09%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 9;\">\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;\" height=\"15\">Viz<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl66\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">0.97%<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl66\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">0.38%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 10;\">\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;\" height=\"15\">Oni<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl66\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">0.87%<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl66\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">0.63%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 11; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;\">\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;\" height=\"15\">Other<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl66\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">8.12%<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl66\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">5.96%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<p>The collective dollar share of <b>Image, IDW, Dark Horse, Boom<\/b>, and <b>Dynamite<\/b> dropped from to 24.1% last April to 20.12% this April. So while there is likely some market softening in 2016, the declining size of publishers&#8217; release slates is clearly playing a role. They&#8217;re releasing fewer books.<\/p>\n<p>The growth of the industry in recent years has been bolstered by the growing slates of the middle-tier publishers; the present adjustment checks that growth somewhat, but may improve per-title profits and make publishing more sustainable.<\/p>\n<p>Among the books that were released, <b>Marvel<\/b>&#8216;s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mycomicshop.com\/search?TID=36323447&amp;AffID=874007P0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><b><i>Black Panther <\/i>#1<\/b><\/a> by <b>Ta-Nehisi Coates <\/b>and<b> Brian Stelfreeze<\/b> led a top ten that had many first issues:<\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<style>table {  }td { padding-top: 1px; padding-right: 1px; padding-left: 1px; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; vertical-align: bottom; border: medium none; white-space: nowrap; }.xl63 { border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; }.xl64 { text-align: left; border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; }.xl65 { text-align: left; }.xl66 { text-align: center; white-space: normal; }.xl67 { text-align: center; border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; white-space: normal; }<\/style>\n<\/div>\n<table style=\"border-collapse: collapse; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left; width: 365px;\" border=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\">\n<colgroup>\n<col style=\"mso-width-alt: 1365; mso-width-source: userset; width: 32pt;\" width=\"32\" \/>\n<col style=\"mso-width-alt: 8661; mso-width-source: userset; width: 203pt;\" width=\"203\" \/>\n<col style=\"width: 65pt;\" width=\"65\" \/>\n<col style=\"width: 65pt;\" width=\"65\" \/> <\/colgroup>\n<tbody>\n<tr style=\"height: 15.0pt;\">\n<td class=\"xl64\" style=\"height: 15.0pt; width: 32pt;\" width=\"32\" height=\"15\"><\/td>\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-left: none; width: 203pt;\" width=\"203\">Title<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; width: 65pt;\" width=\"65\">Price<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-left: none; width: 65pt;\" width=\"65\">Publisher<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 1;\">\n<td class=\"xl64\" style=\"border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;\" height=\"15\">1<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.mycomicshop.com\/search?TID=36323447&amp;AffID=874007P0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Black Panther #1<\/a><\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none; width: 65pt;\" width=\"65\">$4.99<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">Marvel<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 2;\">\n<td class=\"xl64\" style=\"border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;\" height=\"15\">2<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">Star Wars: Poe<br \/>\nDameron #1<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none; width: 65pt;\" width=\"65\">$4.99<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">Marvel<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 3;\">\n<td class=\"xl64\" style=\"border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;\" height=\"15\">3<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">Dark Knight III: The<br \/>\nMaster Race #4<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none; width: 65pt;\" width=\"65\">$5.99<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">DC<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 4;\">\n<td class=\"xl64\" style=\"border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;\" height=\"15\">4<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">Star Wars Special:<br \/>\nC-3PO #1<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none; width: 65pt;\" width=\"65\">$4.99<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">Marvel<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 5;\">\n<td class=\"xl64\" style=\"border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;\" height=\"15\">5<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">Batman #51<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none; width: 65pt;\" width=\"65\">$3.99<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">DC<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 6;\">\n<td class=\"xl64\" style=\"border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;\" height=\"15\">6<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">Gwenpool #1<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none; width: 65pt;\" width=\"65\">$4.99<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">Marvel<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 7;\">\n<td class=\"xl64\" style=\"border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;\" height=\"15\">7<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">Star Wars #18<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none; width: 65pt;\" width=\"65\">$3.99<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">Marvel<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 8;\">\n<td class=\"xl64\" style=\"border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;\" height=\"15\">8<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">Darth Vader #19<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none; width: 65pt;\" width=\"65\">$3.99<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">Marvel<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 9;\">\n<td class=\"xl64\" style=\"border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;\" height=\"15\">9<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">Harley Quinn &amp;<br \/>\nSuicide Squad April Fool&#8217;s Special #1<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none; width: 65pt;\" width=\"65\">$4.99<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">DC<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 10; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;\">\n<td class=\"xl64\" style=\"border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;\" height=\"15\">10<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">Amazing Spider-Man<br \/>\n#10<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none; width: 65pt;\" width=\"65\">$3.99<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">Marvel<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<p>And on the graphic novel side, DC had the top book with the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.shareasale.com\/r.cfm?u=296154&amp;b=44882&amp;m=8908&amp;afftrack=&amp;urllink=www%2Etfaw%2Ecom%2FGraphic%2DNovels%2FProfile%2FWonder%2DWoman%2DEarth%2DOne%2DHC%2DVol%2E%2D01%5F%5F%5F494037\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><i><b>Wonder Woman Earth One<\/b><\/i><\/a> hardcover:<\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<style>table {  }td { padding-top: 1px; padding-right: 1px; padding-left: 1px; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; vertical-align: bottom; border: medium none; white-space: nowrap; }.xl63 { border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; }.xl64 { text-align: left; border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; }.xl65 { text-align: left; }.xl66 { text-align: center; white-space: normal; }.xl67 { text-align: center; border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; white-space: normal; }<\/style>\n<\/div>\n<table style=\"border-collapse: collapse; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left; width: 365px;\" border=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\">\n<colgroup>\n<col style=\"mso-width-alt: 1365; mso-width-source: userset; width: 32pt;\" width=\"32\" \/>\n<col style=\"mso-width-alt: 8661; mso-width-source: userset; width: 203pt;\" width=\"203\" \/>\n<col style=\"width: 65pt;\" width=\"65\" \/>\n<col style=\"width: 65pt;\" width=\"65\" \/> <\/colgroup>\n<tbody>\n<tr style=\"height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 10; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;\">\n<td class=\"xl64\" style=\"height: 15.0pt; width: 32pt;\" width=\"32\" height=\"15\"><\/td>\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-left: none; width: 203pt;\" width=\"203\">Title<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; width: 65pt;\" width=\"65\">Price<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-left: none; width: 65pt;\" width=\"65\">Publisher<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 1;\">\n<td class=\"xl64\" style=\"border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;\" height=\"15\">1<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.shareasale.com\/r.cfm?u=296154&amp;b=44882&amp;m=8908&amp;afftrack=&amp;urllink=www%2Etfaw%2Ecom%2FGraphic%2DNovels%2FProfile%2FWonder%2DWoman%2DEarth%2DOne%2DHC%2DVol%2E%2D01%5F%5F%5F494037\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Wonder Woman: Earth One Book 1 HC<\/a><\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none; width: 65pt;\" width=\"65\">$22.99<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">DC<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 2;\">\n<td class=\"xl64\" style=\"border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;\" height=\"15\">2<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">Star Wars: Vader Down<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none; width: 65pt;\" width=\"65\">$19.99<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">Marvel<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 3;\">\n<td class=\"xl64\" style=\"border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;\" height=\"15\">3<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">Rat Queens Volume 3:<br \/>\nDemons<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none; width: 65pt;\" width=\"65\">$14.99<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">Image<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 4;\">\n<td class=\"xl64\" style=\"border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;\" height=\"15\">4<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">I Hate Fairyland Vol.<br \/>\n1: Madly Ever After<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none; width: 65pt;\" width=\"65\">$9.99<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">Image<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 5;\">\n<td class=\"xl64\" style=\"border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;\" height=\"15\">5<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">Thanos: The Infinity<br \/>\nFinale HC<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none; width: 65pt;\" width=\"65\">$24.99<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">Marvel<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 6;\">\n<td class=\"xl64\" style=\"border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;\" height=\"15\">6<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">Civil War<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none; width: 65pt;\" width=\"65\">$24.99<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">Marvel<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 7;\">\n<td class=\"xl64\" style=\"border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;\" height=\"15\">7<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">Deadpool: World&#8217;s<br \/>\nGreatest Volume 1: A Millionaire With Mouth<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none; width: 65pt;\" width=\"65\">$15.99<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">Marvel<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 8;\">\n<td class=\"xl64\" style=\"border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;\" height=\"15\">8<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">Black Magick Vol. 1:<br \/>\nAwakening Part One<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none; width: 65pt;\" width=\"65\">$9.99<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">Image<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 9;\">\n<td class=\"xl64\" style=\"border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;\" height=\"15\">9<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">Batman: The Killing<br \/>\nJoke Special Edition HC<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none; width: 65pt;\" width=\"65\">$17.99<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">DC<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 10; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;\">\n<td class=\"xl64\" style=\"border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;\" height=\"15\">10<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">Rick &amp; Morty<br \/>\nVolume 2<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl67\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none; width: 65pt;\" width=\"65\">$19.99<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl63\" style=\"border-left: none; border-top: none;\">Oni<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<p>The final estimates will be along next week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>April 2016&#8217;s comics and graphic novel sales, announced today by Diamond Comic Distributors, were down significantly from the same month a year ago \u2014 a month that had an additional shipping week and a lot more going for it. With the launch of Convergence&#8216;s weekly series and higher volumes on Star Wars titles, April 2015 &#8230; <a title=\"Black Panther #1 leads April 2016 comics market; middle-tier publisher release slate cuts impact sales\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/comichron.com\/blog\/2016\/05\/13\/black-panther-1-leads-april-2016-comics\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Black Panther #1 leads April 2016 comics market; middle-tier publisher release slate cuts impact sales\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4457,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[54,17],"class_list":["post-4456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-2016-sales","tag-diamond-monthly-reports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/comichron.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/comichron.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/comichron.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/comichron.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/comichron.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4456"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/comichron.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4456\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6372,"href":"https:\/\/comichron.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4456\/revisions\/6372"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/comichron.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/comichron.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/comichron.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/comichron.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}