February 2020 Comics Sales Early Look
Comics and Graphic Novels Reordered by North American Comics Shops
Based on Reports from Diamond Comic Distributors
February 2020 has four shipping weeks, the same as February 2019, so the year-to-year comparison will be an even one. The month was a weak one, with the smallest number of new comics releases since Diamond Comic Distributors began reporting overall figures in July 2013. There were no first issues in the top nine at all, indicating few publishers were interested in launching big projects into the month. DC, which had announced plans to reduce its periodical offerings, was responsible for nearly half of the drop in the number of new comics released. Its Batman Who Laughs #3 was the top seller, with 101,771 copies shipped. Overall, retailers in February 2019 ordered $34.73 million in comics and graphic novels, down 5% and the lowest figure since March 2012.
Feb. 7 sees the release of the Birds of Prey movie.
The estimated comics sales for the month will become available sometime in March 2020, likely in the second week or so. Follow @Comichron on Twitter to get the alert when the report becomes available. In the meantime, you can get a sense of what sales might be like from noting what products were most reordered by retailers.
Advance Reorders
Several weeks ago, retailers began placing advance reorders for items whose initial order deadlines had passed, but which had not yet released at the time the reorders were placed. These reorders, placed further out than regular reorders, tend to be more speculative in nature, as there is less certainty that stock will still be available. But they do give us the farthest-into-the-future look at potential sales. To see potential sales for this month, you generally want to look at the advance reorders placed from the month before.
Note that the listings mix hardcovers, softcovers, and comics together, and that they also rank items by dollars rather than units. Note, too, that advance reorder charts are ranked by retail dollars, so retailers' discounts have not yet been applied.
There is no guarantee that these advance reorders will be filled. It's also likely that a lot of books in these lists won't synch up exactly with this month; reorders are placed all the time and reported weekly, while comics sales are reported monthly.
Advance reorder charts will be posted here as soon as they are released. Stay tuned!
Click to skip down to the Reorders placed for issues shipping this month.
REORDERS
Reorders, by contrast, are orders for items that had already been released at the time of the order. In other words, these are the comics customers have been asking for, generally speaking; while deep discounts may also put titles on these lists, the charts are ranked by invoiced dollars, which is what retailers actually paid.
Reorder charts will be released weekly during the month. Stay tuned!
The true top sellers for the month will replace this page once they are released by Diamond.
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