Posted in: Comics | Tagged: , , ,


Marvel Maintains Marketshare, as DC Comics Claws a Little Back – October 2019

Last month, Marvel were down on their their close-to-50% share of August, but with September they still had an impressive 38.81% of dollars bought and 45.51% of units shipped marketshare. In second place was DC, rising with a market share of 27.80% and 29.15%, respectively. Image Comics ranked third, breaking over ten-percent market share thanks to Spawn #300 and other creator owner projects with a 11.01% dollar share and a 8.32% unit share. The top three were followed by Dark Horse Comics, IDW Publishing, Dynamite Entertainment, and Boom Studios, respectively.

In October, it was pretty much level pegging for September when it comes to Marvel marketshare, with Marvel on 39.51% dollar share and 45.20% unit share, though DC upped their numbers with a 31.67% dollar share and a 32.02% unit share, gaining from  Image Comics which dropped to a 7.59% dollar share and a 7.18% unit share, followed by IDW Publishing, Dark Horse Comics, Boom Studios, and Dynamite Entertainment.

The Marvel X-Books dominated the chart as Marvel had eight comics in October's top ten, including X-Men #1 at the top, beating Image's Spawn #301 at number two – which was still a damn fine acheivement, followed by Powers of X #6 at #3, House of X #6 at #4, The Amazing Mary Jane #1 at #6, Absolute Carnage #4 at #7, Ghost Rider #1 at #8, The Immortal Hulk #25 at #9, and Marauders #1 at #10. DC's The Joker: Year of the Villain #1 was their only top ten entry at #5, though we may see more when the split cardstock covers are combined in Monday's Bleeding Cool chart. The dollar top ten also saw Joker/Harley and Harleen make it on on the back of a higher cover price.

Among the premier publishers, Dynamite Entertainment's top book Vengeance of Vampirella #1 ranked #50, Boom Studios' Something Is Killing the Children #2 ranked #96, IDW Publishing's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #99 ranked #101, and Dark Horse Comics' Black Hammer/Justice League #4 ranked #151.

October was a five-week month, but it did over a fifth more business than that year's five-week October. In one month this has turned round sluggish sales for 2019, and means that for the year so far, for comics and graphic novels, 2019 is doing 1.81% better in terms of dollars raised though at a drop of 2.4% units sold. We're selling fewer comics for more money, but making more money as a result. Comic book folk are still an inelastic lot. And it is the comics that are booming more than graphic novels too. Comic stores are also selling a lot more toys as well, 21.81% more in terms of money, 22.21% in numbers sold. A fifth more toys sold in 2019, so far, than in 2018.

DC's Doomsday Clock Part 1, collecting the first half of Geoff Johns and Gary Frank's sequel to Watchmen, was October's best-selling graphic novel and one of the two DC titles in the top ten. Image Comics had three titles in the top ten, with Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie's The Wicked + The Divine Volume 9 as their top book at #2. Marvel Comics had two titles in the top ten, led by Chip Zdarsky and Mark Bagley's Spider-Man: Life Story at #3. Also in the top ten, Dark Horse Comics' Critical Role Volume 1: Vox Machina Origins ranked #8.

UDON Entertainment's Shigenori Soejima & P-Studio Art Unit Art Works, an art book featuring work from the artists behind Persona 5, was October's best-selling book.

Funko's POP! Marvel: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse: Casual Miles Morales Vinyl Figure, a PREVIEWS Exclusive figure based on the award-winning animated film, was October's best-selling toy product. Also in the top ten from Funko was the PREVIEWS Exclusive POP! DC Heroes: The Red Death Vinyl Figure at #2. Diamond Select Toys had three products in the top ten: the Marvel Select: Unleashed Hulk Action Figure at #6, the Marvel Milestones: Thor Ragnarök: Gladiator Hulk Statue at #8, and the Marvel Select: Carnage Action Figure at #10.

Paizo Publishing's Pathfinder: Lost Dimensions Character Guide, a source book for Pathfinder Second Edtion, was the best-selling game product of October and one of the five Paizo products among the top ten.

TOP COMIC BOOK PUBLISHERS

PUBLISHER

DOLLAR

SHARE

UNIT

SHARE

MARVEL COMICS

39.51%

45.20%

DC

31.67%

32.02%

IMAGE COMICS

7.59%

7.18%

IDW PUBLISHING

3.42%

3.16%

DARK HORSE COMICS

2.93%

2.11%

BOOM! STUDIOS

2.32%

2.21%

DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT

2.21%

1.67%

VIZ MEDIA

1.33%

0.51%

ONI PRESS

0.56%

0.33%

TITAN COMICS

0.48%

0.42%

OTHER NON-TOP 10

7.98%

5.19%

 

 COMPARATIVE SALES STATISTICS

DOLLARS

UNITS

OCTOBER 2019 VS. SEPTEMBER 2019

COMICS

22.22%

16.49%

GRAPHIC NOVELS

12.88%

15.87%

TOTAL COMICS/GN

19.82%

16.45%

TOYS

24.94%

51.89%

OCTOBER 2019 VS. OCTOBER 2018

COMICS

21.05%

9.95%

GRAPHIC NOVELS

-3.32%

-7.10%

TOTAL COMICS/GN

14.09%

8.68%

TOYS

15.44%

1.80%

YEAR TO DATE 2019 VS. YEAR TO DATE 2018

COMICS

4.19%

-1.81%

GRAPHIC NOVELS

-4.16%

-9.71%

TOTAL COMICS/GN

1.81%

-2.40%

TOYS

21.81%

22.21%

 

NEW TITLES SHIPPED

PUBLISHER

COMICS SHIPPED

GRAPHIC NOVELS SHIPPED

MAGAZINES SHIPPED

TOTAL

SHIPPED

MARVEL COMICS

110

50

0

160

DC COMICS

107

30

1

138

IMAGE COMICS

50

12

0

62

IDW PUBLISHING

39

16

0

55

DARK HORSE COMICS

26

21

0

47

BOOM! STUDIOS

18

15

0

33

DYNAMITE

15

9

0

24

VIZ MEDIA LLC

0

22

0

22

ONI PRESS INC.

3

9

0

12

TITAN COMICS

6

4

2

12

OTHER NON-TOP 10

147

229

30

406

TOTAL

521

417

33

971

 

TOP 10 COMIC BOOKS BY UNITS SHIPPED

RANK

DESCRIPTION

PRICE

ITEM CODE

VENDOR

1

X-MEN #1

$4.99

AUG190845-M MAR

2

SPAWN #301

$4.99

JUL190084-M IMA

3

POWERS OF X #6

$5.99

AUG190879-M MAR

4

HOUSE OF X #6

$4.99

AUG190870-M MAR

5

THE JOKER: YEAR OF THE VILLAIN #1

$4.99

AUG190440 DC

6

AMAZING MARY JANE #1

$3.99

AUG190933-M MAR

7

ABSOLUTE CARNAGE #4

$4.99

AUG190902-M MAR

8

GHOST RIDER #1

$4.99

AUG190978-M MAR

9

IMMORTAL HULK #25

$5.99

AUG191030-M MAR

10

MARAUDERS #1

$4.99

AUG190863-M MAR

 

TOP 10 COMIC BOOKS BY DOLLARS INVOICED

RANK

DESCRIPTION

PRICE

ITEM CODE

VENDOR

1

X-MEN #1

$4.99

AUG190845-M MAR

2

SPAWN #301

$4.99

JUL190084-M IMA

3

POWERS OF X #6

$5.99

AUG190879-M MAR

4

THE JOKER: YEAR OF THE VILLAIN #1

$4.99

AUG190440 DC

5

HOUSE OF X #6

$4.99

AUG190870-M MAR

6

THE JOKER/HARLEY: CRIMINAL SANITY #1 [*]

$5.99

AUG190443-M DC

7

HARLEEN #2 (MR)

$7.99

AUG190524-M DC

8

IMMORTAL HULK #25

$5.99

AUG191030-M MAR

9

ABSOLUTE CARNAGE #4

$4.99

AUG190902-M MAR

10

AMAZING MARY JANE #1

$3.99

AUG190933-M MAR

 

TOP 10 GRAPHIC NOVELS & TRADE PAPERBACKS BY UNITS SHIPPED

RANK

DESCRIPTION

PRICE

ITEM CODE

VENDOR

1

DOOMSDAY CLOCK PART 1 HC

$24.99

JUL190638 DC

2

THE WICKED & THE DIVINE VOL. 9 TP

$17.99

JUN190046 IMA

3

SPIDER-MAN: LIFE STORY TP

$24.99

JUL191106 MAR

4

THANOS: THE INFINITY ENDING HC

$24.99

JUN191038 MAR

5

ASCENDER VOLUME 1 TP (MR)

$9.99

AUG190065 IMA

6

DC SUPER HERO GIRLS AT METROPOLIS HIGH TP

$9.99

JUL190526 DC

7

THE WALKING DEAD COMPENDIUM VOL. 4 TP

$59.99

JUL190111 IMA

8

CRITICAL ROLE VOL. 1: VOX MACHINA ORIGINS TP

$19.99

JUN190303 DAR

9

MY HERO ACADEMIA VOLUME 1 GN

$9.99

AUG192431 VIZ

10

GIDEON FALLS VOL. 3: STATIONS OF THE CROSS TP

$16.99

AUG190124 IMA

 

TOP 10 GRAPHIC NOVELS & TRADE PAPERBACKS BY DOLLARS INVOICED

RANK

DESCRIPTION

PRICE

ITEM CODE

VENDOR

1

THE WALKING DEAD COMPENDIUM VOL. 4 TP

$59.99

JUL190111 IMA

2

DOOMSDAY CLOCK PART 1 HC

$24.99

JUL190638 DC

3

JOHN BYRN'ES MARVEL CLASSICS ARTIFACT EDITION HC

$75.00

JUL190826 IDW

4

NAMOR SUB-MARINER BY BYRNE AND JAE LEE OMNIBUS HC

$125.00

APR190937-M MAR

5

SPIDER-MAN: LIFE STORY TP

$24.99

JUL191106 MAR

6

THANOS: THE INFINITY ENDING HC

$24.99

JUN191038 MAR

7

BATMAN BY SNYDER & CAPULLO OMNIBUS VOL. 1 HC

$125.00

APR190526 DC

8

THE IMMORTAL HULK VOL. 1 HC

$34.99

APR190949 MAR

9

THE BOYS OMNIBUS VOLUME 1 TP (MR)

$29.99

DEC181256-M DE

10

MARVEL MASTERWORKS: GHOST RIDER VOLUME 1 HC

$75.00

APR190942-M MAR

 

TOP 10 BOOKS BY UNITS SHIPPED

RANK

DESCRIPTION

PRICE

ITEM CODE

VENDOR

1

SHIGENORI SOEJIMA & P-STUDIO ART UNIT ART WORKS 2 TP

$39.99

AUG192423 UDO

2

SHIGENORI SOEJIMA ART WORKS TP

$39.99

AUG192422 UDO

3

DARKSTALKERS OFFICIAL COMPLETE WORKS HC

$44.99

AUG192425 UDO

4

DRAGON'S CROWN OFFICIAL ARTWORKS HC

$49.99

JUL192399 UDO

5

OVERLORD VOLUME 11 HC

$20.00

JUL192435 YEN

6

NO GAME NO LIFE VOLUME 9 SC

$14.00

MAY192173 YEN

7

DOCTOR WHO: TALES OF TERROR SC

$11.99

APR198763 BBC

8

FRANK CHO: BALLPOINT BEAUTIES HC (MR)

$29.95

MAY191709 FLE

9

BLOODBORNE OFFICIAL ARTWORKS SC

$44.99

MAR172148 UDO

10

HARRY POTTER POP UP BOOK: GUIDE TO HOGWARTS

$75.00

AUG182035 INS

 

TOP 10 TOYS BY DOLLARS INVOICED

RANK

DESCRIPTION

ITEM CODE

VENDOR

1

POP! MARVEL: SPIDER-MAN INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE: CASUAL MILES MORALES VINYL FIGURE JAN199071 FUN

2

POP! DC HEROES: THE RED DEATH VINYL FIGURE JUN192566 FUN

3

OVERWATCH: D.VA FIGMA JUL188939 GOO

4

POP! DC HEROES: BATWOMAN VINYL FIGURE JAN199072 FUN

5

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE: FAKER 1/6-SCALE COLLECTIBLE FIGURE NOV188738 MON

6

MARVEL SELECT: UNLEASHED HULK ACTION FIGURE AUG118205 DST

7

ONE-12 COLLECTIVE: MARVEL: CYCLOPS ACTION FIGURE JUL188503 MEZ

8

MARVEL MILESTONES: THOR RAGNAROK: GLADIATOR HULK STATUE MAY182309 DST

9

MARVEL: DOMINO BISHOUJO STATUE JAN199191 KOT

10

MARVEL SELECT: CARNAGE ACTION FIGURE NOV142179 DST

 

TOP 10 GAMES BY DOLLARS INVOICED

RANK

DESCRIPTION

ITEM CODE

VENDOR

1

PATHFINDER: LOST OMENS CHARACTER GUIDE HC (P2) AUG193363 PAI

2

MY HERO ACADEMIA CARD GAME JUL183082 S7

3

CRITICAL ROLE: TAL'DOREI CAMPAIGN SETTING HC JUN173357 GRE

4

MUTANTS & MASTERMINDS RPG GAME: MASTERS GUIDE REVISED EDITION HC MAR198040 GRE

5

PATHFINDER CORE RULEBOOK HC (P2) MAY193227 PAI

6

TOME OF BEASTS HC JUN168476 PAI

7

POP! FUNKOVERSE STRATEGY GAME: DC COMICS 100 BASE SET JUN198702 FUN

8

POP! FUNKOVERSE STRATEGY GAME: HARRY POTTER 100 BASE SET JUN198705 FUN

9

PATHFINDER RPG: BESTIARY 6 POCKET EDITION JUL193268 PAI

10

PATHFINDER RPG: VILLAIN CODEX POCKET EDITION JUL193269 PAI

Marvel Maintains Marketshare, as DC Comics Claws a Little Back – October 2019
Dollar Market Share – October 2019
Marvel Maintains Marketshare, as DC Comics Claws a Little Back – October 2019
Unit Market Share – October 2019


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.