{"id":4804,"date":"2013-11-08T17:44:00","date_gmt":"2013-11-08T17:44:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2020-08-01T15:11:13","modified_gmt":"2020-08-01T20:11:13","slug":"october-2013-first-50-million-comics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/comichron.com\/blog\/2013\/11\/08\/october-2013-first-50-million-comics\/","title":{"rendered":"October 2013: First $50 million comics sales month in Diamond Exclusive Era"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n
\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/CCWD115\"<\/div>\n

Last October was the best month in all of 2012<\/b><\/a> for retailer orders of comic books and graphic novels \u2014 and still, this October was able to better its mark, passing $50 million in merchandise for the first time in the 16 years that Diamond Comic Distributors<\/b><\/a> has been the exclusive sales agent for all the major publishers.<\/p>\n

It’s a five-shipping-week month versus a five-shipping-week month, so this is a straight-up comparison \u2014 and with comics shops ordering approximately $50.3 million worth of comics and graphic novels in the month, we can see what’s been added to the market in the slightly more than two years since the DC relaunch. June 2011, the last five-week month before the relaunch, had orders of $36.5 million. So that’s a increase on the order of 37%, over a period when average comic book cover prices have only gone up by about 4%.<\/p>\n

With October sales this strong, odds are good for the year-over-year growth to hold up through November and December. Last November and December’s combined orders were $80.6 million: two flat months would finish off 2013 at $514 million, up 8%. Two months at October’s 6% growth level would end the year at $519 million, while two months at 2013’s 10% growth pace would end the year at $522 million. That’s the likely range, then somewhere around $519 million for the year, an increase of $45 million over 2012. The “gravy day” for the industry \u2014 on which we move ahead of 2012’s total sales \u2014 should be right at Thanksgiving, no pun intended.<\/p>\n

The aggregate change figures:<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\n\n
DOLLARS<\/span><\/b><\/b><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
UNITS<\/span><\/b><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
OCTOBER 2013 VS. SEPTEMBER 2013<\/span><\/b><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
COMICS<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
0.30%<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
-0.57%<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
GRAPHIC NOVELS<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
16.57%<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
16.62%<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
TOTAL COMICS\/GN<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
4.68%<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
0.55%<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
OCTOBER 2013 VS. OCTOBER 2012<\/span><\/b><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
COMICS<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
11.90%<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
8.69%<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
GRAPHIC NOVELS<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
-4.65%<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
0.05%<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
TOTAL COMICS\/GN<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
6.36%<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
7.98%<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
YEAR-TO-DATE 2013 VS. YEAR-TO-DATE 2012<\/span><\/b><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
COMICS<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
12.42%<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
9.46%<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
GRAPHIC NOVELS<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
4.69%<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
3.25%<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
TOTAL COMICS\/GN<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
9.95%<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
8.96%<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

The Walking Dead <\/i>#115<\/b><\/a> was the most-ordered comic book in the month <\/b>and is expected to be in contention for the top seller of the year. Diamond noted in its press release that Image had taken over 10% of the unit market share in October:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\n
PUBLISHER<\/span><\/b><\/b><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
DOLLAR<\/span><\/b><\/div>\n
SHARE<\/span><\/b><\/b><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
UNIT<\/span><\/b><\/div>\n
SHARE<\/span><\/b><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
DC ENTERTAINMENT<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
31.02%<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
33.15%<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
MARVEL COMICS<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
30.47%<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
33.63%<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
IMAGE COMICS<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
9.26%<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
10.85%<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
IDW PUBLISHING<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
6.27%<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
4.96%<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
DARK HORSE COMICS<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
5.36%<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
4.70%<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
2.47%<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
2.54%<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
BOOM! STUDIOS<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
1.84%<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
1.78%<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
EAGLEMOSS PUBLICATIONS LTD<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
1.40%<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
0.32%<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
ARCHIE COMICS<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
1.01%<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
1.24%<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
AVATAR PRESS<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
1.01%<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
0.90%<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
OTHER NON-TOP 10<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
9.88%<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
5.94%<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

The dollar sales track is the one that Comichron has paid more attention to across time (see the charts here<\/b><\/a>), and Image’s 9.26% dollar market share this month is only its highest level since July 2012<\/b><\/a>, when Walking Dead<\/i> #100 came out. Meanwhile, Image’s unit share this month is its highest since February 2003<\/a><\/b>, when its unit sales mark that month was 11.24%. Image was regularly above 10% in unit market share in the late 1990s.<\/p>\n

Image, we can see from the below, released 59 comics in October to Marvel’s 78; that kind of ratio squares with the last time Image was above 10% in unit sales (in February 2003, it had 35 new comic book titles on the market compared to Marvel’s 53). The total number of new items shipped:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\n
PUBLISHER<\/span><\/b><\/b><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
COMICS\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/div>\n
SHIPPED<\/span><\/b><\/b><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
GRAPHIC NOVELS SHIPPED<\/span><\/b><\/b><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
MAGAZINES\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/div>\n
SHIPPED<\/span><\/b><\/b><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
TOTAL<\/span><\/b><\/div>\n
SHIPPED<\/span><\/b><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
DC ENTERTAINMENT<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
100<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
29<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
0<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
129<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
MARVEL COMICS<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
78<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
35<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
0<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
113<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
IDW PUBLISHING<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
48<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
29<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
0<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
77<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
IMAGE COMICS<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
59<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
17<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
0<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
76<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
DARK HORSE COMICS<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
38<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
18<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
0<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
56<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
40<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
2<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
0<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
42<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
BOOM ENTERTAINMENT<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
25<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
3<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
0<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
28<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
VIZ MEDIA<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
0<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
25<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
0<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
25<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
ARCHIE COMIC PUBLICATIONS<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
16<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
6<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
0<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
22<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
RANDOM HOUSE<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
0<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
21<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
1<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
22<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
OTHER<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
111<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
157<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
36<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
304<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

Diamond shipped 515 new comics issues in the month, and 342 new graphic novels.<\/p>\n

Comic books, up 11.9% over a year ago, saw a $7 title in the #2 slot, Batman<\/i> #24<\/b>:<\/p>\n

\n