1990 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops
Estimated Comics Shipped to North American Comics Shops
Based on Reports from Direct Market Distributors
Covers and issue links on this page lead to current eBay listings. This site may be compensated if you make a purchase.
Neither Diamond Comic Distributors nor Capital City Distribution appears to have released end-of-year top-seller lists for this year, but it's certain that Marvel's Spider-Man #1 from Todd McFarlane was the year's bestselling issue. The issue was sold in a polybag which many collectors thought could not be removed lest the value of the issue be impacted.
Capital City's known initial orders suggest the sixth, seventh, second, and third issues of that series likely filled out the top five both there and at Diamond, but more research is needed.
Capital City and Diamond differed only twice in their bestsellers: in April and May. Diamond's charts then were led by issues of the regular Batman title, while Capital was led by a Legends of the Dark Knight issue in April and then a different Batman from Diamond in May.
We'll be able to generate annual reports retroactively as time goes on, but in the meantime this serves as a hub for the year's monthly reports. Only some of the links below are populated, but when they are you'll be able to visit the individual pages for the months.
—John Jackson Miller
DIAMOND TOP SELLERS BY MONTH
Listed are all the top sellers for each month at Diamond.
Distributor charts are regional commodity reports, not measures of a work's total reach. Read our FAQ.
Title links below lead to current listings for the issues on eBay. As an eBay Partner, this site may be compensated if you make a purchase.
| Month | Comic-book Title | Issue | Price | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 1990 | Legends of the Dark Knight | 5 | $1.50 | DC |
| February 1990 | Legends of the Dark Knight | 6 | $1.50 | DC |
| March 1990 | Legends of the Dark Knight | 7 | $1.50 | DC |
| April 1990 | Batman | 448 | $1.00 | DC |
| May 1990 | Batman | 450 | $1.00 | DC |
| June 1990 | Spider-Man | 1 Direct Bagged Ed. | $1.75 | Marvel |
| July 1990 | Spider-Man | 2 | $1.75 | DC |
| August 1990 | Spider-Man | 3 | $1.75 | Marvel |
| September 1990 | Spider-Man | 4 | $1.75 | DC |
| October 1990 | Spider-Man | 5 | $1.75 | DC |
| November 1990 | Spider-Man | 6 | $1.75 | Marvel |
| December 1990 | Spider-Man | 7 | $1.75 | Marvel |
CAPITAL CITY TOP SELLERS BY MONTH
Listed are all the top sellers for each month at Capital City.
Est. units are the number of copies preordered just from Capital, Overall totals would be much higher.
Distributor charts are regional commodity reports, not measures of a work's total reach. Read our FAQ.
Title links below lead to current listings for the issues on eBay. As an eBay Partner, this site may be compensated if you make a purchase.
| Month | Comic-book Title | Issue | Price | Publisher | Est. units |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 1990 | Legends of the Dark Knight | 5 | $1.50 | DC | 126,200 |
| February 1990 | Legends of the Dark Knight | 6 | $1.50 | DC | 106,650 |
| March 1990 | Legends of the Dark Knight | 7 | $1.50 | DC | 95,750 |
| April 1990 | Legends of the Dark Knight | 8 | $1.50 | DC | 84,950 |
| May 1990 | Batman | 451 | $1.00 | DC | 83,350 |
| June 1990 | Spider-Man | 1 Direct Bagged Ed. | $1.75 | Marvel | 426,200 |
| July 1990 | Spider-Man | 2 | $1.75 | Marvel | 168,600 |
| August 1990 | Spider-Man | 3 | $1.75 | Marvel | 151,900 |
| September 1990 | Spider-Man | 4 | $1.75 | Marvel | 141,000 |
| October 1990 | Spider-Man | 5 | $1.75 | Marvel | 143,400 |
| November 1990 | Spider-Man | 6 | $1.75 | Marvel | 202,500 |
| December 1990 | Spider-Man | 7 | $1.75 | Marvel | 180,500 |
When available, my analyses of preorders from Diamond Comic Distributors for individual months can be found here:
When available, my analyses of preorders from Capital City Distribution for individual months can be found here:
