August 2017 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops

Estimated Comics Shipped to North American Comics Shops
Based on Reports from Diamond Comic Distributors

Covers and issue links on this page lead to current eBay listings. This site may be compensated if you make a purchase.

The month of August 2016 was the epicenter of the DC Rebirth sales earthquake, with more than 10 million comic books shipping; it was the first time that mark had been seen in two decades, thanks in part to the Rebirth titles being returnable. Consequently, sales for August 2017, when DC's fall Metal event was just starting and Marvel's fall Legacy event had not yet begun, could not compare. Shipments were down 26% in new comic book units, and overall retail dollars spent on comics, graphic novels, and magazines dropped by nearly 21%.

The period from June to August was down 20.5% against those Rebirth/Civil War II months a year before, the worst three-month year-over-year comparison since September 1997 though November 1997. (Marvel’s “Heroes Reborn” event in September 1996 and the wedding of Superman had been succeeded in 1997 by “Heroes Return,” which didn’t fare as well.) But a bigger explanation for the 1997 collapse was the number of comics shop failures, on a scale not seen in 2017 — and given that DC launched so many more books in 2016, the scope of 2017’s comparatives said more about Rebirth’s strength than anything else.

And while DC's orders came nowhere near the levels of the previous August, its sales were higher than the last five-week month before Rebirth in 2016, and its Dark Nights: Metal #1 not only led the market, but at 262,000 $4.99 copies shipped, it became the top-selling issue of the year through August in both units and dollars. More remarkably, it outpaced the first-month sales of DC Universe Rebirth #1, the launch issue for the Rebirth event in May 2016; that book cost $2 less and would eventually ship more than 300,000 copies in North America, reprints included. Marvel's Secret Empire also came to a close, placing three issues in the top 10.

Sales levels in the lower tiers of the charts improved, with the 300th-place comic shipping 5,621 copies, the highest number since December 2015.

Read more in our preliminary and final analysis posts for the month. You can also click to skip to the Top Graphic Novels for the month.

—John Jackson Miller

This list includes all items on Diamond's Top 300 chart plus any post-#300 items from its Top Independent and Small Publisher charts.
If you don't see a book, Diamond released no data for it.
Items marked with asterisks [*] had their reported orders reduced by 10% due to returnability.
Click to read the methodology for this table's estimates.
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.

August 2017 Graphic Novel Sales to Comics Shops

Estimated Graphic Novels and Trade Paperbacks Shipped to North American Comics Shops Based on Reports from Diamond Comic Distributors

This list includes all items on Diamond's Top 300 Graphic Novel charts, plus any post-#300 items from its Top Independent and Manga charts. If you don't see a book, Diamond released no data for it.

The links lead to title details on Amazon (paid links). You can also find the books at your comics shop.

While orders of graphic novels were down, they were relatively better than those for comics. Image had three of the top five, and IDW's Jack Kirby Fantastic Four World's Greatest Artist hardcover was the highest dollar volume book.