{"id":4729,"date":"2014-05-12T16:57:00","date_gmt":"2014-05-12T16:57:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2020-08-01T14:57:11","modified_gmt":"2020-08-01T19:57:11","slug":"full-april-2014-comics-sales-estimates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/comichron.com\/blog\/2014\/05\/12\/full-april-2014-comics-sales-estimates\/","title":{"rendered":"Full April 2014 comics sales estimates: Amazing Spider-Man #1 tops 532,000 copies"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n
\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/CCAmz1\"<\/div>\n

The final comics sales estimates for April are out from Diamond Comic Distributors<\/b><\/a>, and as reported here on Friday, Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 3<\/i> #1<\/b><\/a>
\nwas the best-selling title in the last 15 years in the comics market
\noverall, and since the mid-1990s if we’re looking at just the comics
\nshop market. (It was definitely a high-interest issue, as Friday’s post <\/b><\/a>within a day became the most-read article in this site’s history!) With the new information, Comichron estimates that Marvel sold retailers nearly
\n532,600 copies of the $5.99 comic book, including all its different
\nvariant cover editions. Click to see the sales estimates for comics ordered in April 2014<\/b><\/a>.
\n <\/b>
\nThe Top Comics of the Century List<\/b><\/a> <\/b>won’t
\nbe updated until year-end, but barring any further blockbusters, expect
\nto see this issue topping it. The sales of the previous leader,\u00a0 Amazing Spider-Man<\/i> #583<\/b><\/a>, sales reached 530,500 copies over the course of an entire calendar year in 2009; Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 3<\/i>
\n#1’s sales already top it. Unless something happens to reduce the total
\n\u2014 like Diamond accepting a lot of returns because of damaged copies \u2014
\nwe should expect it to hold its position relative to #583.<\/p>\n

Some have noted that to a far greater degree than many previous top entrants on the record-setter list, sales of Amazing Spider-Man<\/i>
\nVol. 3 <\/i>#1 were largely boosted by retailers ordering many copies in
\norder to earn incentive special editions. That’s true, but the practice is nothing
\nnew \u2014 and, in fact, every comic book Diamond sells retailers has a sales incentive
\nattached: the more copies retailers order, the higher their discount
\ngets. Amazing<\/i> certainly lies on the extreme in its use of
\nincentives, but if we’re handing out asterisks based on the presence of promotions, the
\nhistorical records will be replete with them.<\/p>\n

RECORDS:<\/b> In addition to the performance of the top-selling title this month, April set some new marks, one of which is reflected on the Diamond-era records page<\/b><\/a>:
\n
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/CCDeadpool27\"<\/div>\n

\u2022 April saw the highest weighted average price for comic books<\/b> ordered by retailers within the Top 300 \u2014 exactly $4 even<\/b>, blowing away the previous record of $3.77. (We get this number by dividing the total dollars spent on comics in the Top 300 by the total number of Top 300 comics sold.)<\/p>\n

This huge jump is entirely due to Amazing Spider-Man #1 and Marvel’s Deadpool<\/i> #27<\/b><\/a>,
\nwhich had a $9.99 cover price: excising those two titles, the average
\nweighted price is just $3.78. There’s not much of a case to be made for
\neither issue \u2014 even Deadpool<\/i>, at 100 pages \u2014 to not being
\nincluded in the comics list, however: each is simply a special issue of
\nan ongoing series, and there have been plenty of 100-page specials
\nbefore.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

It should be noted that we’ve seen many past
\noccasions where a special issue bumps the average price far ahead
\nbriefly. The first time the weighted average passed $3 was December 2001<\/b><\/a>, when the $7.95 Dark Knight Strikes Again <\/i>#1<\/b> distorted the pricing curve. But the average weighted price was not to go above $3 for good until more than four years later.<\/p>\n

The average weighted price went above $2 for the first time, incidentally, sometime before 1996.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Marvel’s dollar sales of Top 300 comics<\/b> reached $14.79 million, its highest figure seen in the Diamond Exclusive Era, which began in 1997. The records page does not track these individual marks for publishers, but we do keep tabs on them internally at Comichron.<\/p>\n

The aggregate changes:<\/p>\n

TOP 300 COMICS UNIT SALES<\/b><\/div>\n

April 2014<\/a>: <\/b>6.98 million copies
\nVersus 1 year ago this month<\/b><\/a>: +3%
\nVersus 5 years ago this month<\/b><\/a>: +4%
\nVersus 10 years ago this month<\/b><\/a>: +9%
\nVersus 15 years ago this month<\/b><\/a>: +11%
\nYEAR TO DATE: 25.28 million copies, -9% vs. 2013, +8% vs. 2009, +9% vs. 2004, +2 vs. 1999
\nALL COMICS UNIT SALES<\/b>
\nApril 2014 versus one year ago this month: +6.96%<\/b>
\nYEAR TO DATE: -6.91%<\/b>
\n—<\/p>\n

TOP 300 COMICS DOLLAR SALES<\/b><\/div>\n

April 2014: $25.28 million
\nVersus 1 year ago this month: -9%
\nVersus 5 years ago this month: +8%
\nVersus 10 years ago this month: +9%
\nVersus 15 years ago this month: +2%
\nYEAR TO DATE: $95.96 million, -4% vs. 2013, +22% vs. 2009, +44% vs. 2004, +52% vs. 1999
\nALL COMICS DOLLAR SALES<\/b>
\nApril 2014 versus one year ago this month: +17.37%<\/b>
\nYEAR TO DATE:<\/b> -0.89%<\/b>
\n—<\/p>\n

TOP 300 TRADE PAPERBACK DOLLAR SALES<\/b><\/div>\n

April 2014: $7.58 million
\nVersus 1 year ago this month: -14%
\nVersus 5 years ago this month: -3%
\nVersus 10 years ago this month, just the Top 100 vs. the Top 100: +47%
\nVersus 15 years ago this month, just the Top 25 vs. the Top 25: +16%
\nYEAR TO DATE: $28.21 million, -11% vs. 2013
\nALL TRADE PAPERBACK\u00a0 SALES<\/b>
\nApril 2014 versus one year ago this month: +16.78%<\/b>
\nYEAR TO DATE: +5.44%<\/b>
\n—<\/p>\n

TOP 300 COMICS + TOP 300 TRADE PAPERBACK DOLLAR SALES<\/b><\/div>\n

April 2014: $35.54 million
\nVersus 1 year ago this month: +8%
\nVersus 5 years ago this month: +7%
\nVersus 10 years ago this month, counting just the Top 100 TPBs: +41%
\nVersus 15 years ago this month, counting just the Top 25 TPBs: +85%
\nYEAR TO DATE: $124.18 million, -5% vs. 2013
\nALL COMICS AND TRADE PAPERBACK\u00a0 SALES<\/b>
\nApril 2014 versus one year ago this month: +17.18%<\/b>
\nYEAR TO DATE: +1.04%<\/b>
\n—<\/p>\n

OVERALL DIAMOND SALES (including all comics, trades, and magazines)<\/b><\/div>\n

April 2014: approximately $48.17 million (subject to revision)
\nVersus 1 year ago this month: +17%
\nVersus 5 years ago this month: +15%
\nVersus 10 years ago this month: +80%
\nYEAR TO DATE: $164.77 million, +1% vs. 2013<\/b><\/p>\n

RELEASES<\/b><\/span>
\nNew comic books released: 481<\/b>
\nNew graphic novels released: 299<\/b>
\nNew magazines released: 63<\/b>
\nAll new releases: 843<\/b><\/p>\n

As noted above, the average comic book in the Top 300 cost $3.72; the average comic book
\nretailers ordered cost $4.00. The median and most common price for comics offered was $3.99. Click to see comics prices across time.<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

One
\ncuriosity in the charts: sales of graphic novels in the Top 300 were
\noff 14% against last April, whereas Diamond reported that sales for the
\ncategory overall were up nearly 17%. There’s no disconnect here. The
\nfirst measure is calculated based on full price of everything sold,
\nwhereas Diamond’s overall figure is based on wholesale prices, or what
\nit received from retailers. As last April’s report<\/b><\/a>
\nnotes, Marvel put a lot of hardcovers into the market back then at deep
\ndiscounts, which is why the Top 300 dollar value was inflated. This
\nApril’s total more realistically reflects what was sold.<\/b>
\n
\n<\/b>
\nThe 300th-place comic book, incidentally, sold almost exactly 1% of the units that the #1 comic book sold. That’s a spread we haven’t seen in a long time (and it’s not a bad thing, as the 300th-place book still sold over 5,000 copies).
\n<\/b><\/p>\n

Next month’s report will reflect any reorders from Amazing #1, as well as sales activity spurred by Free Comic Book Day. Find your local comic shop here<\/b><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The final comics sales estimates for April are out from Diamond Comic Distributors, and as reported here on Friday, Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 3 #1 was the best-selling title in the last 15 years in the comics market overall, and since the mid-1990s if we’re looking at just the comics shop market. (It was definitely a … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4730,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[72,77,17,46],"class_list":["post-4729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-2014-sales","tag-barack-obama","tag-diamond-monthly-reports","tag-record-setters"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/comichron.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4729","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=4729"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/comichron.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4729\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6432,"href":"https:\/\/comichron.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4729\/revisions\/6432"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/comichron.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/comichron.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/comichron.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/comichron.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}