INFO: Top 150 comics for March 1999
Michael Burns
I had no numbers from Matt High to check my numbers against, the
numbers I used I got from a friend at Oktane Comics, but he could
only get me figures for three books which is too little for reliable
statistics.
Top-selling comics, comics-related magazines, and graphic
novels for March 1999. For a detailed explanation on how
these sales figures were calculated, see the end of the list.
estimated #
# Title Publisher sold (1000's)
1 Uncanny X-Men #368 Marvel 129.9 - 0,7%
2 X-Men #88 Marvel 126.9 - 1,9%
3 Spawn The Dark Ages #1 Image 112.3
4 Spawn #84 Image 96.0 - 2,1%
5 Avengers #16 Marvel 92.2 2,4%
6 Wolverine #138 Marvel 87.2 - 1,6%
7 Earth X #2 Marvel 86.6 -12,4%
8 JLA #24 DC 85.5 - 0,6%
9 Magneto Rex #1 Marvel 81.6
10 Daredevil #7 Marvel 80.4 1,1%
11 Fathom #6 Image 77.7
12 Amazing Spider-Man #5 Marvel 75.9 - 3,6%
13 Fantastic Four #17 Marvel 70.0 - 2,9%
14 Peter Parker, Spider-Man #5 Marvel 69.8 - 5.0%
15 Thor #11 Marvel 66.0 - 1,9%
16 Captain America #17 Marvel 66.0 - 1,2%
17 Hulk #2* Marvel 63.9 -17,9%
18 Gambit #4 Marvel 62.8 - 5,6%
19 Avengers Forever #6 Marvel 62.1 - 0,7%
20 Iron Man #16 Marvel 62.0 - 2,7%
21 Wildcats vol.2 #2 DC 60.0
22 Mutant X #8 Marvel 59.6 - 4,8%
23 Spiderman Chapter 1 #0 Marvel 55.6
24 Spiderman Chapter 1 #7 Marvel 54.8 - 7,4%
25 Darkness #23 Image 53.4 - 2,9%
26 Crimson #10 DC 53.0 - 7,8%
27 Witchblade Infinity Image 51.3
28 All Star Comics #1 DC 50.0
29 Generation X #51 Marvel 49.3 - 8,7%
30 Batman #565 DC 48.9 7,0%
31 X-Force #90 Marvel 48.4 - 2,4%
32 All Star Comics #2 DC 48.2 - 3,6%
33 Inhumans #7 Marvel 47.6 - 2,1%
34 Green Lantern #112 DC 47.4 - 1,9%
35 Titans #3 DC 46.9 0%
36 Mutant X 1999 Marvel 46.0
37 Detective Comics #732 DC 45.6 5,6%
38 Cable #67 Marvel 45.3 - 1,5%
39 Astro City vol.2 #17 (res) DC 45.0
40 X-Man #51 Marvel 44.8 -10,2%
41 Spidergirl #8 Marvel 44.7 - 4,1%
42 Buffy Vampire Slayer #7 DHC 44.3 - 1,3%
43 Thunderbolts #25 Marvel 43.5 - 3,1%
44 All American Comics #1 DC 43.1
45 Natural Comics #1 DC 42.9
46 Adventure Comics #1 DC 42.8
47 Sensation Comics #1 DC 42.7
48 Kiss Psycho Circus #18 Image 42.6 - 2,5%
49 Nightwing #31 DC 42.4 - 1,4%
50 Thrilling Comics #1 DC 42.0
51 Smash Comics #1 DC 41.7
52 Star Spangled Comics #1 DC 41.6
53 Nova #1 Marvel 40.9
54 Buffy Vampire Slayer Ori.#3 DHC 40.7 - 0,2%
55 Preacher #49 DC 39.9 1,0%
56 Authority #1 DC 39.6
57 Superman #144 DC 39.6 - 2,9%
58 Batman Shadow of Bat #85 DC 39.1 7,4%
59 Action Comics #754 DC 39.1 - 4,9%
60 Black Panther #7 Marvel 39.1 - 6,9%
61 Adventures of Superman #563 DC 38.8 - 2,5%
62 Superman: Man Steel #88 DC 38.5
63 Flash #148 DC 38.2 1,3%
64 Batman&Superman:World Fin#2 DC 37.8 - 3,6%
65 Batman Legends Dark Kn #117 DC 37.7 8,3%
66 Young Justice #8 DC 36.6 - 1,9%
67 Deadpool #28 Marvel 36.3 - 1,1%
68 Gen 13 #39 Image 35.9 - 5,3%
69 Star Wars: Vader´s Quest #2 DHC 35.6 -12,7%
70 Star Wars: Bobba Fatt #3 DHC 35.3 - 2,5%
71 Cap. America:Sold. Of Lib #9 Marvel 35.3 - 8,1%
72 Star Wars #4 DHC 34.5 - 6,8%
73 Webspinners: Tales of Spi.#5 Marvel 34.0 -13,3%
74 Ascension #15 Image 33.8 - 2,0%
75 Undertaker #1 Chaos 33.8
76 Robin #64 DC 32.9 - 0,9%
77 Star Wars: Crimson Emp.II #5 DHC 32.7 - 2,4%
78 Doctor Strange #4 Marvel 32.5 - 4,1%
79 A Next #8 Marvel 31.9 - 5,9%
80 Catwoman #68 DC 30.9 0,3%
81 Planetary #2 Image 30.5 -18,9%
82 Crow #2 Image 30.4 -28,8%
83 League of Ext. Gentleman #3 DC 29.8 0,7%
84 Tenth: Black Embrace #1 Image 29.5
85 Aria Blanc & Noir #1 Image 29.3
86 Supergirl #32 DC 28.9 - 2,7%
87 Glory #0 Awesome 28.5
88 J2 #8 Marvel 28.2 - 3,4%
89 Batman: Joker´s Aprentice DC 28.1
90 Anarky #1 DC 27.9
91 Wonder Woman #144 DC 27.8 0,4%
92 Lady Pendragon #0 Image 27.6
93 Hourman #2 DC 27.3 -27,2%
94 Martian Manhunter #6 DC 26.9 - 0,7%
95 Starman #53 DC 26.9 - 0,4%
96 Pokemon vol.2 #1 Viz 26.5
97 Legends of the DC Univ #16 DC 26.3 - 3,7%
98 JLA Spectacular DC 26.0
99 Slingers #6 Marvel 25.6 - 8,6%
100 Birds of Prey #5 DC 25.4 0,4%
101 Azrael #52 DC 23.2 6.0%
102 Young Justice 80-pg Giant DC 24.5
103 Batman Nosferatu DC 24.4
104 Superboy #62 DC 24.1 1,7%
105 Batman Beyond #3 DC 24.0 - 2,8%
106 Superman: Secret Files #2 DC 23.9
107 Superman Nemesis:Lex Luthor#2DC 23.5 - 5,6%
108 Sandman Presents: Lucifer #3 DC 23.4 - 3,3%
109 Lady Death #15 Chaos 23.4 - 4,9%
110 Stone II #2 Image 23.1 -18,1%
111 Alan Moore´s Awesome Univ. Awesome 22.9
112 Coven II #4 Image 22.8 - 5,8%
113 Aquaman #55 DC 22.6 - 2,6%
114 BattleChasers Col.Ed #2 DC 21.8
115 Hitman #37 DC 21.4 1,4%
116 Avengelyne #2 Awesome 21.1 -35,1%
117 Doctor Midnite #3 DC 20.8 2,0%
118 Savage Dragon #58 Image 20.4 - 1,0%
119 Bone #37 Cartoon 20.4
120 Trenchcoat Brigade #3 DC 20.1 8,1%
121 Sailor Moon #6 Mix 19.6 8,3%
122 Hellblazer #137 DC 19.3 1,3%
123 Legion of Superheroes #115 DC 19.1 - 2,6%
124 Crypt of Dawn #6 Sirius 19.0
125 Purgatori #7 Chaos 18.9 - 4,1%
126 DV8 #26 DC 18.7
127 Legionnaires #71 DC 18.7 - 1,1%
128 Batman Gotham Adventures #12 DC 18.5 0,5
129 Strangers in Paradise #22 Abstract 17.6
130 Dark Horse Presents #141 DHC 17.4
131 Rising Stars Preview Image 17.1
132 Books of Magic #60 DC 17.1 - 1,2%
133 Impulse #48 DC 17.0 - 1,7%
134 Invisibles vol.3 #11 DC 16.7
135 Transmetropolitan #21 DC 16.6 - 1,2%
136 Dreaming #36 DC 16.6 - 1,8%
137 Tsunami Girl #2 Image 16.1
138 Gen 13 Grunge Saves World DC 15.6
139 Human Target #2 DC 14.8 -14,9%
140 Resurrection Man #24 DC 14.8 - 3,9%
141 Scene of The Crime DC 14.7
142 Fanboy #3 DC 14.7 - 5,8%
143 Conjurors #2 DC 14.6 -17,1%
144 Gifts of the Night #4 DC 13.9 - 5,4%
145 Solar of the Lord #1 Image 13.9
146 Sergio Aragonés: Groo/Ruff #4DHC 13.5 - 2,9%
147 Evil Ernie #10 Chaos 13.5 - 2,9%
148 Magneto Ascendant Marvel 13.4
149 World Below #1 DHC 13.3
150 Superman Adventures #27 DC 13.1 - 1,5%
WHAT DO THESE SALES FIGURES MEAN?
Approximately two months before a comic book is published,
comic book retailers and specialty stores in the direct
market place advance orders for comic books and other
related items. The "estimated number sold" listed above is
an estimate of the total number of copies pre-ordered
through Diamond Distribution, measured in thousands. This
includes sales up to mid-February, 1999 (the cut-off date
for pre-orders), and does not include advance reorders,
regular reorders, or other sales outside of Diamond
Distribution. On average, advance reorders (orders placed
after the cut-off date, but before the book actually ships)
usually add an additional two percent in sales in the two
weeks following the cut-off date. Regular reorders (orders
placed after the book ships) can vary widely depending
upon how well the book is received by retailers and fans.
Diamond Distribution is currently the largest and only
nation-wide (U.S. and Canada) distributor of direct-market
comic books. Diamond currently handles around 98-99%
of the comic book direct market, and the following
publishers are currently available exclusively through
Diamond: Archie, Awesome, Brainstorm, Dark Horse, DC Comics,
Gemstone, Image, Marvel, and Wizard Press. Other direct market
distributors include FM International, Hobbies Hawaii,
and Cold Cut Distribution -- all of which are very small
compared to Diamond, but may be a significant percent of
sales for smaller publishers.
The "comic book direct market" currently consists of
around 4100 specialty stores (primarily in the United
States and Canada) that order comic books and other
specialty items from Diamond Distribution and other
distributors on a non-returnable basis. This is different
from the newsstand or mass market, where comic books
are sold on a non-returnable basis. Only a few of the
largest publishers sell their books on newsstands,
including Marvel, DC, Image, Dark Horse, and Archie.
Sales levels for newsstand comics are not widely known,
but it is generally estimated that the newsstand accounts
for roughly 25% of all comic books sold in the United
States. For some publishers (such as Archie and Gladstone),
newsstand sales represent a majority of their sales, but
this is the exception rather than the rule.
Note that the "estimated sales" listed above are for sales
to comic book stores, and do not reflect actual sales of
comic books in stores to customers. Currently, there is
no accurate measure for actual sales, but it is estimated
that roughly 80% of the comics ordered by stores are sold
to customers within four weeks (80% sell-through). Sell-
through varies widely from title to title. The "estimated
sales" also do not include sales outside of comic book
stores (such as mail order, subscriptions, special orders,
convention sales, or comic books sold directly to stores
by the publisher).
Estimated sales are included for comics-related magazines and
graphic novels in addition to comic books. Sales figures are not
included for non-printed items (such as action figures, posters,
and t-shirts) or for non-comics-related books (such as science-
fiction paperbacks) and non-comics-related magazines.
Note: This information is made available by Diamond
Distribution, and is published monthly in DIAMOND
DIALOGUE (available to comic store owners). I do
not make any claims as to the absolute accuracy of
the information above, and none of these sales
figures should be considered absolute fact.
For reference, 1 order index point from the Diamond
Dialogue = 489 comics sold.
Mike
Morning Glory
However inaccurate, this is more info than I had before.
Keep at it.
--
Loran Gayton
MORNING GLORY THE FAERIE is published by Radio Comix!
http://www.morning-glory-faerie.com
Peter Williams
>Top-selling comics, comics-related magazines, and graphic
>novels for March 1999. For a detailed explanation on how
>these sales figures were calculated, see the end of the list.
>
> estimated #
> # Title Publisher sold (1000's)
>
> 1 Uncanny X-Men #368 Marvel 129.9 - 0,7%
> 2 X-Men #88 Marvel 126.9 - 1,9%
> 3 Spawn The Dark Ages #1 Image 112.3
> 4 Spawn #84 Image 96.0 - 2,1%
> 5 Avengers #16 Marvel 92.2 2,4%
> 6 Wolverine #138 Marvel 87.2 - 1,6%
> 7 Earth X #2 Marvel 86.6 -12,4%
> 8 JLA #24 DC 85.5 - 0,6%
> 9 Magneto Rex #1 Marvel 81.6
> 10 Daredevil #7 Marvel 80.4 1,1%
<snippage>
Cool stuff, and thanks for the figs. For those who
are interested in the market share side of things,
here's how it pans out. (Note: For the sake of
simplicity it is assumed that the sub-300 books have
a minimal impact on the market. Standard disclaimers
apply.):
Top 25 companies by quantity of books ordered:
-----------------------------------------
No Company Market share %
-----------------------------------------
1 DC Comics 37.39%
-- Other DCU titles 10.01%
-- Batman family 7.61%
-- JSA event week 6.15%
-- Wildstorm 5.66%
-- Superman family 4.20%
-- Vertigo 3.47%
-- Cartoon Network 0.29%
2 Marvel Comics 33.50%
-- X-Men family 12.46%
-- Marvel Heroes 11.29%
-- Spiderman family 5.00%
-- Marvel Knights 3.11%
-- M2 family 1.63%
3 Image Comics 11.29%
-- Todd McF. Productions 4.38%
-- Top Cow 3.64%
-- Other Image titles 2.45%
-- Avalon Studios 0.82%
4 Dark Horse 6.13%
5 Awesome Entertainment 1.85%
6 Chaos! Comics 1.74%
7 Viz Communications 1.60%
8 Archie Comics 1.01%
9 Sirius Entertainment 0.60%
10 Antarctic Press 0.37%
11 Harris Comics 0.34%
12 CPM Manga 0.34%
13 Cartoon Books 0.32%
14 Crusade/BattleBooks Inc 0.31%
15 Mixx Entertainment 0.31%
16 Fantagraphics Books 0.30%
17 Abstract Studios 0.27%
18 Eros Comix 0.24%
19 Oni Press Inc 0.23%
20 Ironcat 0.23%
21 Gemstone Publishing 0.23%
22 Aardvark Vanaheim 0.13%
23 Slave Labor Graphics 0.13%
24 New England Comics 0.13%
25 Warp Graphics 0.12%
Top 25 companies by retail value of books ordered:
-----------------------------------------
No Company Market share %
-----------------------------------------
1 DC Comics 37.51%
-- Other DCU titles 10.47%
-- Batman family 7.09%
-- Wildstorm 6.79%
-- JSA event week 5.45%
-- Superman family 3.84%
-- Vertigo 3.64%
-- Cartoon Network 0.23%
2 Marvel Comics 29.93%
-- X-Men family 10.75%
-- Marvel Heroes 10.11%
-- Spiderman family 4.45%
-- Marvel Knights 3.33%
-- M2 family 1.29%
3 Image Comics 11.70%
-- Top Cow 4.20%
-- Todd McF. Productions 3.96%
-- Other Image titles 2.72%
-- Avalon Studios 0.81%
4 Dark Horse 7.28%
5 Chaos! Comics 2.04%
6 Awesome Entertainment 1.97%
7 Viz Communications 1.97%
8 Archie Comics 0.85%
9 Sirius Entertainment 0.68%
10 Crusade/BattleBooks Inc 0.49%
11 Antarctic Press 0.44%
12 Fantagraphics Books 0.43%
13 Harris Comics 0.40%
14 CPM Manga 0.40%
15 Cartoon Books 0.37%
16 Mixx Entertainment 0.36%
17 Eros Comix 0.33%
18 Abstract Studios 0.30%
19 Oni Press Inc 0.27%
20 Ironcat 0.26%
21 Gemstone Publishing 0.22%
22 Avatar Press 0.19%
23 New England Comics 0.18%
24 Slave Labor Graphics 0.16%
25 Warp Graphics 0.14%
Regards,
Pete -- statshacker and carbon-based search engine...
--
Read COPYBOOK TALES at http://www.mania.com/comics/strips/copy/copy1.html
Peter Williams (pet...@zip.com.au). Toolsmith, Analyst, Philosopher-Librarian.
"If we knew what we were doing, it wouldn't be called research!"
Disclaimer: Any opinions lurking above are mine, all mine! Bwahahaha!
WindyTWise
Diamond:
>
>Cool stuff, and thanks for the figs. For those who
>are interested in the market share side of things,
>here's how it pans out. (Note: For the sake of
>simplicity it is assumed that the sub-300 books have
>a minimal impact on the market.
Looks like all book sales in the 25-150 positions are holding steady. It's the
top 25 sales figures that are really cratering. The segments within the
100-150, for example, are about the same as I've seen given in the past. Same
for 50 - 100 range. Individual books will do their own thing, but the segments
move down the list as a group, as others push them lower from above.
>Standard disclaimers
>apply.):
>
>Top 25 companies by quantity of books ordered:
>-----------------------------------------
>No Company Market share %
>-----------------------------------------
> 1 DC Comics 37.39%
>
> 2 Marvel Comics 33.50%
Marvel's titles are not looking very healthy in the direct market.
Their rate of decline per book is higher than DC.
It's hard to guess on the newstand trends, though.
Walt Stone
SOMETHING PICKLE #12, an online commentary
is available now:
http://members.aol.com/windytwise/some12.htm