Posted in: Comics | Tagged:


Could Batman #21 Have Actually Beaten Secret Empire #0 In April 2017 Marketshare Figures?

Time to look at the figures from April 2017, of comics books ordered by comic stores in North America through the direct market served by Diamond Comic Distributors.

In March, Marvel Comics made more money but DC Comics sold more comics. In April, Marvel did more of both, but the two are far closer together than they have been in previous months.

To recap, unit share measures how many comics are sold (or sent for free) to retailers. Retail share measures a share of the money spent by retailers.  Overshipping can bump up unit shares and chart placing, discount promotions can lower retail share or chart placing. A higher priced comic can mean a higher retail share. Marvel usually charge the reader $3.99 or $4.99 a comic while DC usually charge $2.99 or $3.99.

In March, Marvel slipped a point in unit share as DC Comics took the lead with 35.46%  compared to Marvel's 34.34%, while Marvel published 131 titles compared to DC's 123.

But in April, Marvel has a four point unit share lead with 38.23% compared to DC's 34.34% with Marvel's 134 titles compared to DC's 112 titles.

But Marvel's retail lead was down from seven points to 4-and-a-half points. In March they were on 35.41% to DC's 28.75%, but in April DC have closed the gap and crossed back over the 30% line with Marvel on 34.95%, to DC's 30.49%.

The change may be down to Marvel not having a best-selling $9.99 title this month, bit their overall dominance is down to a mix of Secret Empire and X-Men ResurrXion,

The big question will be regarding DC's perennial chart topper, Batman, being knocked off the top of the chart by Secret Wars #0 despite a boost from The Button storyline. But orders for Batman #21 were split across variant covers, lenticular and non-lenticular – if you added them up could Batman have beaten Secret Empire? We'll have to wait for further breakdowns to work that out.

While Image Comics, despite all these rushes for marketshare from the Big Two maintains it's around 10% marketshare, a repatedly impressive achievement.

The non-lenticular edition of The Flash #21 fell just outside April's top 10 at #11. Dark Horse Comics' Neil Gaiman's American Gods: Shadows #2 ranked #66 and Star Trek/Green Lantern Volume 2 #5 is at #158.

And overall? While markets rise and fall from month to month, for 2017 overall, it is currently beating 2016 by 5.04% in sales at this period in the year.

PUBLISHER MARKET SHARES

RETAIL MARKET SHARE
PUBLISHER SHARE
MARVEL COMICS 34.95%
DC ENTERTAINMENT 30.49%
IMAGE COMICS 10.54%
DARK HORSE COMICS 4.46%
IDW PUBLISHING 3.63%
BOOM! STUDIOS 2.27%
DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT 1.44%
VIZ MEDIA 1.30%
TITAN COMICS 1.30%
ARCHIE COMICS 0.90%
OTHER NON-TOP 10 8.73%
UNIT MARKET SHARE
PUBLISHER SHARE
MARVEL COMICS 38.23%
DC ENTERTAINMENT 34.34%
IMAGE COMICS 9.86%
DARK HORSE COMICS 3.06%
IDW PUBLISHING 2.95%
BOOM! STUDIOS 1.95%
DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT 1.60%
TITAN COMICS 1.20%
VALIANT ENTERTAINMENT LLC 0.87%
ARCHIE COMICS 0.79%
OTHER NON-TOP 10 5.15%

COMPARATIVE SALES STATISTICS

  DOLLARS UNITS
APRIL 2017 VS. MARCH 2017
COMICS -9.47% -5.31%
GRAPHIC NOVEL -10.77% -6.00%
TOTAL COMICS/GN -9.87% -5.36%
TOYS -45.50% -39.17%
APRIL 2017 VS. APRIL 2016
COMICS -11.28% -4.66%
GRAPHIC NOVELS -17.18% -15.47%
TOTAL COMICS/GN -13.18% -5.62%
TOYS -20.01% -21.08%
YEAR-TO-DATE 2017 VS. YEAR-TO-DATE 2016
COMICS -2.53% 6.89%
GRAPHIC NOVELS -12.41% -14.02%
TOTAL COMICS/GN -5.74% 5.04%
TOYS -6.38% -5.57%

NEW TITLES SHIPPED

PUBLISHER COMICS SHIPPED GRAPHIC NOVELS SHIPPED MAGAZINES SHIPPED TOTAL SHIPPED
MARVEL COMICS 93 41 0 134
DC ENTERTAINMENT 78 33 1 112
IMAGE COMICS 57 11 1 69
IDW PUBLISHING 47 15 0 62
DARK HORSE COMICS 20 21 0 41
BOOM ENTERTAINMENT 26 12 0 38
VIZ MEDIA 0 30 0 30
TITAN COMICS 23 2 1 26
DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT 15 6 0 21
ARCHIE COMIC PUBLICATIONS 12 3 0 15
OTHER NON-TOP 10 108 112 31 251

TOP 10 COMIC BOOKS

RANK DESCRIPTION PRICE ITEM CODE VENDOR
1 SECRET EMPIRE #0 $4.99 FEB170758-M MAR
2 BATMAN #21 LENTICULAR EDITION (THE BUTTON) $3.99 NOV169200 DC
3 X-MEN GOLD #1 $4.99 FEB170777-M MAR
4 X-MEN BLUE #1 $4.99 FEB170767-M MAR
5 THE FLASH #21 LENTICULAR EDITION (THE BUTTON) $3.99 NOV169204 DC
6 BATMAN #20 $2.99 FEB170191-M DC
7 BATMAN #21 (THE BUTTON) $2.99 NOV169198-M DC
8 STAR WARS #30 $3.99 FEB170955-M MAR
9 WEAPON X #1 $3.99 FEB170790-M MAR
10 THE WALKING DEAD #166 (MR) $2.99 FEB170686 IMA

TOP 10 GRAPHIC NOVELS & TRADE PAPERBACKS

RANK DESCRIPTION PRICE ITEM CODE VENDOR
1 BATMAN VOLUME 2: I AM SUICIDE TP $16.99 JAN170376 DC
2 HELLBOY: INTO THE SILENT SEA HC $14.99 DEC160056 DAR
3 SAGA VOLUME 7 TP (MR) $14.99 JAN170850 IMA
4 SUPERMAN VOL. 2: TRIALS OF THE SUPER SON TP $16.99 JAN170383 DC
5 ALL-STAR BATMAN VOL. 1: MY OWN WORST ENEMY HC $24.99 JAN170374 DC
6 SAGA DELUXE EDITION VOLUME 2 HC (MR) $49.99 FEB170708 IMA
7 BATMAN VOLUME 10: EPILOGUE TP $16.99 JAN170385 DC
8 JUSTICE LEAGUE VOLUME 2: OUTBREAK TP $16.99 JAN170380 DC
9 AVATAR THE LAST AIRBENDER VOL. 15 TP $10.99 DEC160088 DAR
10 RED HOOD & THE OUTLAWS VOL. 1: DARK TRINITY TP $16.99 JAN170381 DC

TOP 10 BOOKS

RANK DESCRIPTION PRICE ITEM CODE VENDOR
1 WONDER WOMAN TALKING FIGURE & ILLUSTRATED BOOK KIT $12.95 FEB172203 HAC
2 MASTERS OF SPANISH COMIC BOOK ART HC $39.99 NOV161453 DE
3 THE SHADOW DOUBLE NOVEL VOLUME 116 SC $14.95 JAN172333 SAN
4 STAR WARS BIG GOLDEN BOOK: A NEW HOPE $10.99 FEB172246 RAN
5 ATTACK ON TITAN ADVENTURE SC $10.99 DEC161774 KOT
6 LEGEND OF ZELDA: ART & ARTIFACTS HC $39.99 JUL168360 DAR
7 LEGEND OF ZELDA: HYRULE HISTORIA HC $34.99 SEP120055 DAR
8 TOKYO GHOUL: PAST SC NOVEL $12.99 FEB172098 VIZ
9 STAR TREK: CATS HC $14.95 FEB172242 CHR
10 STAR WARS: CLASSIC STICKER BOOK SC $12.95 FEB172243 ABR

TOP 10 TOYS

RANK DESCRIPTION ITEM CODE VENDOR
1 SUICIDE SQUAD: HARLEY QUINN PX MAF EX AUG162979 MED
2 HARLEY QUINN: RED WHITE & BLACK STATUE BY JIM LEE SEP160380 DC
3 DC ICONS: WONDER WOMAN ACTION FIGURE OCT160343 DC
4 DC COMICS BOMBSHELLS: RAVEN STATUE OCT160332 DC
5 POP! MARVEL: BLADE VINYL FIGURE JUL168820 FUN
6 STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES 40TH-ANNIVERSARY 6-INCH FIGURES JAN178152 HAS
7 HARLEY QUINN: RED WHITE & BLACK STATUE: INJUSTICE 2 OCT160338 DC
8 DC ICONS: DEATHSTROKE ACTION FIGURE OCT160344 DC
9 DC DESIGNER SERIES: STARFIRE BY AMANDA CONNER STATUE SEP160381 DC
10 POWER RANGERS LEGACY 6-INCH ACTION FIGURES NOV169036 BAN

TOP 10 GAMES

RANK DESCRIPTION ITEM CODE VENDOR
1 MAGIC THE GATHERING TCG: SHADOWS OVER INNISTRAD BOOSTERS FEB162979 WIZ
2 PATHFINDER ROLEPLAYING GAME: BEGINNER BOX NEW EDITION SEP138188 PAI
3 MARVEL HEROCLIX: MERCS FOR MONEY FAST FORCES 6-PACK NOV162999 NEC
4 MARVEL HEROCLIX: GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY OCT168616 NEC
5 TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: SHADOWS OF THE PAST BOARD GAME APR160482 IDW
6 MOUSE GUARD ROLEPLAYING GAME BOXED SET (2ND EDITION) FEB151158 BOO
7 TRIVIAL PURSUIT: STAR WARS GAME OCT168253 HAS
8 YU-GI-OH! DUELIST SAGA FEB173203 KON
9 DC HEROCLIX: THE JOKER'S WILD BOOSTER BRICK JUL163367 NEC
10 SUPERNATURAL TRIVIAL PURSUIT FEB173217 USA

 

image-5
Dollar Market Share – April 2017
image-4
Unit Market Share – April 2017

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.