Posted in: Comics | Tagged:


DC and Image Squeeze the Difference But Marvel Maintains October 2018 Marketshare Lead

In August, Marvel Comics had a 40.87% dollar share and a 43.12% unit share of the North American direct market. In September, the dollars were down with a 39.86% dollar share and a 43.24% unit share

And in October? A massive drop by five and a half points to a 34.22% dollar share and a 37.89% unit share. That's huge. But not huge enough to stop them having the lead.

In August, DC Comics had a 27.51% dollar share and a 31.02% unit share of the North American direct market. In September, that built to 29.06% dollar share and a 32.76% unit share.

And in October, that jumped to 30.48% dollar share and a 32.99% unit share. But where did the rest of the 5.5 points go?

Take a look at Image Comics. They have had a softer year since Saga went on hiatus. But a little Millarworld and Walking Dead anniversary action may have helped. In August, they had 8.90% and 9.08%. In September they had 10.13% and 8.74%, And in October, a 12.62% dollar share and a 12.64% unit share, a 2.5 and 4 point bump. IDW and Dynamite also had around a point bump each as well.

Batman #57 topped the chart, followed by the Walking Dead 15th Anniversary Edition – which was interesting and makes me wonder what other markets it may have been sold into. Lots of stores had retailer variant covers – were there some shows involved with this? Worked for Millarworld.

Outside of the top ten, Dark Horse Comics' Stranger Things #2 ranked #63; IDW Publishing's Batman/The MaxxArkham Dreams #1 ranked #64; BOOM! Studios' Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #32 ranked #160; and Dynamite Entertainment's KISS: Blood and Stardust #1 ranked #216.

While Sean Murphy's Batman: White Knight was October's best-selling graphic novel, followed by Wonder Woman Earth One Vol 2, it is also worth noting that Image's stats may have been helped by My Heroes Have Always Been Junkies, Isola, The Wicked + The Divine and Gideon Falls all outselling the first volume of the new Avengers series.

TOP COMIC BOOK PUBLISHERS

PUBLISHER

DOLLAR

SHARE

UNIT

SHARE

MARVEL COMICS

34.22%

37.89%

DC ENTERTAINMENT

30.48%

32.99%

IMAGE COMICS

12.62%

12.64%

IDW PUBLISHING

4.03%

3.74%

DARK HORSE COMICS

3.32%

2.41%

DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT

2.37%

2.06%

BOOM! STUDIOS

1.86%

1.52%

VIZ MEDIA

1.34%

0.48%

TITAN COMICS

0.87%

0.57%

RANDOM HOUSE

0.78%

0.16%

OTHER NON-TOP 10

8.11%

5.55%

 

 COMPARATIVE SALES STATISTICS

DOLLARS

UNITS

OCTOBER 2018 VS. SEPTEMBER 2018

COMICS

11.93%

11.51%

GRAPHIC NOVELS

3.28%

-0.76%

TOTAL COMICS/GN

9.32%

10.49%

TOYS

19.04%

22.50%

OCTOBER 2018 VS. OCTOBER 2017

COMICS

9.66%

5.33%

GRAPHIC NOVELS

5.30%

14.38%

TOTAL COMICS/GN

8.38%

5.95%

TOYS

21.58%

47.81%

YEAR-TO-DATE 2018 VS. YEAR-TO-DATE 2017

COMICS

2.13%

-5.56%

GRAPHIC NOVELS

-3.76%

-4.45%

TOTAL COMICS/GN

0.38%

-5.48%

TOYS

-2.16%

-1.15%

 

NEW TITLES SHIPPED

PUBLISHER

COMICS SHIPPED

GRAPHIC NOVELS SHIPPED

MAGAZINES SHIPPED

TOTAL

SHIPPED

MARVEL COMICS

95

41

0

136

DC ENTERTAINMENT

78

38

1

117

IMAGE COMICS

78

24

0

102

IDW PUBLISHING

34

16

0

50

DARK HORSE COMICS

23

20

0

43

BOOM! STUDIOS

26

14

0

40

DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT

27

9

0

36

VIZ MEDIA

0

26

0

26

TITAN COMICS

12

12

1

25

ARCHIE COMICS

11

4

0

15

OTHER NON-TOP 10

142

236

36

414

TOTAL

526

440

38

1004

 

TOP 10 COMIC BOOKS BY UNITS SHIPPED

RANK

DESCRIPTION

PRICE

ITEM CODE

VENDOR

1

BATMAN #56

$3.99

AUG180501-M DC

2

THE WALKING DEAD #1 15TH-ANNIVERSARY EDITION

$2.99

JUL188116-M IMA

3

SPIDER-GEDDON #1

$3.99

AUG180842-M MAR

4

BATMAN #57

$3.99

AUG180503-M DC

5

SPIDER-GWEN: GHOST-SPIDER #1

$3.99

AUG180854-M MAR

6

HEROES IN CRISIS #2

$3.99

AUG180462-M DC

7

VENOM #7

$3.99

AUG180979-M MAR

8

JUSTICE LEAGUE #10

$3.99

AUG180480-M DC

9

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #7

$3.99

AUG180971-M MAR

10

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #8

$3.99

AUG180975-M MAR

 

TOP 10 COMIC BOOKS BY DOLLARS INVOICED

RANK

DESCRIPTION

PRICE

ITEM CODE

VENDOR

1

BATMAN #56

$3.99

AUG180501-M DC

2

SPIDER-GEDDON #1

$3.99

AUG180842-M MAR

3

VENOM #7

$3.99

AUG180979-M MAR

4

BATMAN #57

$3.99

AUG180503-M DC

5

VENOM ANNUAL #1

$4.99

AUG180977 MAR

6

SPIDER-GWEN: GHOST-SPIDER #1

$3.99

AUG180854-M MAR

7

HEROES IN CRISIS #2

$3.99

AUG180462-M DC

8

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #7

$3.99

AUG180971-M MAR

9

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #8

$3.99

AUG180975-M MAR

10

JUSTICE LEAGUE #10

$3.99

AUG180480-M DC

 

TOP 10 GRAPHIC NOVELS & TRADE PAPERBACKS BY UNITS SHIPPED

RANK

DESCRIPTION

PRICE

ITEM CODE

VENDOR

1

BATMAN: WHITE KNIGHT TP

$19.99

JUL180733 DC

2

WONDER WOMAN EARTH ONE VOLUME 2 HC

$24.99

JUL180591 DC

3

MY HEROES HAVE ALWAYS BEEN JUNKIES HC (MR)

$16.99

JUL180133 IMA

4

BATMAN VOLUME 7: THE WEDDING TP

$16.99

JUL180717 DC

5

GIDEON FALLS VOLUME 1: BLACK BARN TP (MR)

$9.99

AUG180153-M IMA

6

ISOLA VOLUME 1 TP

$9.99

JUL180153-M IMA

7

THE WICKED & THE DIVINE VOLUME 7 TP (MR)

$17.99

AUG180194 IMA

8

DEATH OR GLORY VOLUME 1 TP (MR)

$16.99

AUG180126-M IMA

9

AVENGERS BY JASON AARON VOLIME 1: FINAL HOST TP

$17.99

JUL181176-M MAR

10

BATMAN & THE JUSTICE LEAGUE MANGA VOLUME 1 TP

$12.99

JUN180436 DC

 

TOP 10 GRAPHIC NOVELS & TRADE PAPERBACKS BY DOLLARS INVOICED

RANK

DESCRIPTION

PRICE

ITEM CODE

VENDOR

1

WONDER WOMAN: EARTH ONE VOLUME 2 HC

$24.99

JUL180591 DC

2

BATMAN: WHITE KNIGHT TP

$19.99

JUL180733 DC

3

MY HEROES HAVE ALWAYS BEEN JUNKIES HC (MR)

$16.99

JUL180133 IMA

4

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN BY MICHELINIE & MCFARLANE OMNIBUS HC

$100.00

APR180851 MAR

5

THE WALKING DEAD COMPENDIUM 15TH ANNV BOX SET

$200.00

APR188923 IMA

6

BATMAN VOLUME 7: THE WEDDING TP

$16.99

JUL180717 DC

7

THE WICKED & THE DIVINE VOLUME 7 TP (MR)

$17.99

AUG180194 IMA

8

X-MEN: GRAND DESIGN: SECOND GENESIS TP

$29.99

JUL181178 MAR

9

TOMB OF DRACULA OMNIBUS VOLUME 1 HC

$100.00

APR180852 MAR

10

MARVELOCITY: THE MARVEL COMIC ART OF ALEX ROSS HC

$50.00

JUL182072 PAN

 

TOP 10 BOOKS BY UNITS SHIPPED

RANK

DESCRIPTION

PRICE

ITEM CODE

VENDOR

1

MEGA MAN: OFFICIAL COMPLETE WORKS TP

$39.99

AUG182411 UDO

2

THE YEAR'S BEST DARK FANTASY & HORROR 2018

$19.95

FEB188260 PRI

3

SUPER MARIO ENCYCLOPEDIA HC

$39.99

JUN180310 DAR

4

DARK SOULS II: DESIGN WORKS HC

$49.99

AUG151751 UDO

5

OKAMI: OFFICIAL COMPLETE WORKS SC

$39.99

MAY073783 UDO

6

BILL SIENKIEWICZ: MUTANTS & MOON KNIGHTS ARTIFACT EDITION HC

$90.00

APR180447 IDW

7

BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE NOVEL HC

$24.95

JUL182219 TTN

8

LULU IS A RHINOCEROS

$16.99

FEB188267 WIC

9

ART OF TROMA HC (MR)

$34.99

JUL181247 DE

10

THE SHADOW DOUBLE NOVEL VOLUME 135

$14.95

AUG182175 SAN

 

TOP 10 TOYS BY DOLLARS INVOICED

RANK

DESCRIPTION

ITEM CODE

VENDOR

1

OVERWATCH: MERCY 12-INCH STATUE MAR188055 BLI

2

MARVEL GALLERY: AVENGERS INFINITY WAR: THOR PVC FIGURE APR182164 DST

3

POP! MARVEL: GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY: COMIC ROCKET RACCOON CLASSIC VINYL FIGURE APR188340 FUN

4

DC GALLERY: THE BATMAN WHO LAUGHS PVC FIGURE MAY182303 DST

5

POP! MARVEL: GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY: STAR-LORD CLASSIC HALLOWEEN COMIC FEST 2018 VINYL FIGURE APR188339 FUN

6

DC DESIGNER SERIRES: TRINITY BY JASON FABOK STATUE MAR180386 DC

7

MARVEL GALLERY: AVENGERS INFINITY WAR: BLACK WIDOW PVC FIGURE APR182160 DST

8

MARVEL GALLERY: WOLVERINE COMIC PVC FIGURE APR182171 DST

9

THE IRON GIANT DIECAST 1/12 SCALE ACTION FIGURE JAN188313 100

10

VENOM LEGENDS 6-INCH ACTION FIGURES JUL178802 HAS

 

TOP 10 GAMES BY DOLLARS INVOICED

RANK

DESCRIPTION

ITEM CODE

VENDOR

1

STARFINDER RPG: ALIEN ARCHIVE 2 HC AUG183177 PAI

2

CREATURE CODEX HC JUL183073 PAI

3

MARVEL HEROCLIX: SECRET WARS BOOSTER BRICK JUN182958 NEC

4

PATHFINDER RPG ADVANCED RACE GUIDE POCKET EDITION AUG183170 PAI

5

BATMAN THE ANIMATED SERIES: GOTHAM UNDER SIEGE GAME JUN180756 IDW

6

PATHFINDER RPG: NPC CODEX POCKET EDITION AUG183171 PAI

7

STARFINDER RPG: CORE RULEBOOK HC JUN173371 PAI

8

PATHFINDER CAMPAIGN SETTING: SANDPOINT: LIGHT OF THE LOST COAST AUG183172 PAI

9

STARFINDER ADVENTURE PATH: AGAINST THE AEON THRONE PART 3 AUG183178 PAI

10

PATHFINDER FLIP-MAT: BASIC TERRAIN MULTI-PACK JUN132387 PAI

 

DC and Image Squeeze the Difference But Marvel Maintains October 2018 Marketshare Lead DC and Image Squeeze the Difference But Marvel Maintains October 2018 Marketshare Lead


Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!

Rich JohnstonAbout Rich Johnston

Founder of Bleeding Cool. The longest-serving digital news reporter in the world, since 1992. Author of The Flying Friar, Holed Up, The Avengefuls, Doctor Who: Room With A Deja Vu, The Many Murders Of Miss Cranbourne, Chase Variant. Lives in South-West London, works from Blacks on Dean Street, shops at Piranha Comics. Father of two. Political cartoonist.
twitterfacebookinstagramwebsite
Comments will load 20 seconds after page. Click here to load them now.