{"id":5051,"date":"2012-09-07T18:39:00","date_gmt":"2012-09-07T18:39:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2020-08-01T15:59:39","modified_gmt":"2020-08-01T20:59:39","slug":"strong-august-2012-comics-sales-suggest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/comichron.com\/blog\/2012\/09\/07\/strong-august-2012-comics-sales-suggest\/","title":{"rendered":"Strong August 2012 comics sales suggest $470 million year"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

For most of the year, the industry has been going like gangbusters \u2014 but there’s always been a slight asterisk in that the year-to-year comparatives were against months before the start of the DC relaunch in 2011. With the August data previewed today by Diamond Comic Distributors<\/b><\/a>, we finally hit a comparison with month \u2014 er, a day<\/i><\/b> \u2014 from that relaunch, which started with the release of Justice League #1 on Aug. 31, 2011.<\/p>\n

That first day’s sales, plus strength from other titles, helped the industry erase half its losses for the year in 2011<\/b><\/a>. It was a strong month, up 20% in overall dollars to $37.85 million. So how did August 2012’s direct market orders for comic books and graphic novels compare? Up 18.41% over that<\/i> month, to around $44.6 million. That figure would be just a smidgen less than the number for this past May<\/b><\/a>, which saw the highest non-adjusted sales for one month since the Diamond Exclusive era began in 1997. Both this August and last August had five shipping weeks, as did the record-setting May.<\/p>\n

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

COMPARATIVE SALES
\nSTATISTICS<\/div>\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
DOLLARS<\/span><\/b><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
UNITS<\/span><\/b><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
AUGUST 2012 VS. JULY 2012<\/span><\/b><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
COMICS<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
6.49%<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
6.38%<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
GRAPHIC NOVELS<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
22.13%<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
19.48%<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
TOTAL COMICS\/GN<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
11.23%<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
7.43%<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
AUGUST 2012 VS. AUGUST 2011<\/span><\/b><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
COMICS<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
19.27%<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
14.22%<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
GRAPHIC NOVELS<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
14.95%<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
24.74%<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
TOTAL COMICS\/GN<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
17.80%<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
15.09%<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
YEAR-TO-DATE 2012 VS. YEAR-TO-DATE 2011<\/span><\/b><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
COMICS<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
20.51%<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
17.97%<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
GRAPHIC NOVELS<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
14.13%<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
12.78%<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
TOTAL COMICS\/GN<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
18.41%<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
17.54%<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

Avengers Vs. X-Men <\/i>#9<\/b><\/a> was the top-selling comic book of the month, as seen here:<\/p>\n