Posted in: Comics | Tagged:

Marvel Wins March 2018 Marketshare, but Metal and Doomsday Clock Top Diamond's Most Ordered Chart

In March 2018, comic book market rose 4-5% against February. But March was a five-Wednesday month and we would normally expect a 10-20% jump as a result. Which we did not get. As a result 2018 is currently running at a 16% slump in dollars spent against this time last year. And 2017 was a drop on 2016, remember.  But there are plenty of deckchairs to rearrange…

Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo's Dark Nights: Metal #6 topped the charts for comics ordered by North American comic book retailers through the direct market in March, just beating out Doomsday Clock #4, both from DC Comics. While Amazing Spider-Man #797 and Weapon H #1 from Marvel followed suit and all four doing the rare trick of beating Batman #42.

But Diamond Comic Distributors stats place Marvel Comics as March's top publisher with a 35.92% dollar share and a 38.38% unit share. DC Entertainment was second for the month with a 31.06% dollar share and a 35.10% unit share.

This is up for Marvel on their 34.86% retailer dollar share and a 36.94% unit share in February, and slightly down for DC compared to their 31.79% dollar share and a 36.61% unit share in February.

Image Comics level peg it on January with a very similar 10.98% dollar share and a 10.43% unit share, helped by Oblivion Song #1 ranking at number 9. In fourth place was IDW Publishing with a 3.96% dollar share and a 3.28% unit share, though they had to publish a lot more books to get there, compared to BOOM! Studios with a 2.40% dollar share and a 2.13% unit share, Dark Horse Comics with a 2.38% dollar share and a 1.58% unit share, and Dynamite Entertainment with a 1.83% dollar share and a 1.61% unit share.

Also from Boom, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #25 ranked #70 and really should have been higher; Dark Horse Comics' Neil Gaiman's American Gods: My Ainsel #1 ranked #114; Dynamite Entertainment's The Shadow/Batman #6, the final chapter of their co-production with DC Entertainment, ranked #121; and G.I. Joe #250 from IDW Publishing ranked #149 for the month.

Image dominated the graphic novels and collections, with The Walking Dead Volume 29: Lines We Cross  topping the chart, alongside  Realm Volume 1 ranked #5, Black Science Volume 7: Extinction is the Rule ranked #6, Kirkman's Invincible Volume 25: The End of All Things Part 2 ranked #7, Port of Earth Volume 1 ranked #9, and Saga Volume 8 ranked #10.

TOP COMIC BOOK PUBLISHERS

 COMPARATIVE SALES STATISTICS

NEW TITLES SHIPPED

TOP 10 COMIC BOOKS BY UNITS SHIPPED

TOP 10 COMIC BOOKS BY DOLLARS INVOICED

TOP 10 GRAPHIC NOVELS & TRADE PAPERBACKS BY UNITS SHIPPED

TOP 10 GRAPHIC NOVELS & TRADE PAPERBACKS BY DOLLARS INVOICED

TOP 10 BOOKS BY UNITS SHIPPED

TOP 10 TOYS BY DOLLARS INVOICED

TOP 10 GAMES BY DOLLARS INVOICED

How does Diamond calculate the charts? It all starts at the comic book shop.

Data for Diamond's sales charts — which includes the monthly market shares and all top product charts — are compiled by Diamond Comic Distributors from sales made to thousands of comic book specialty shops located in North America and around the world.  Additional sales made to online merchants and other specialty retailers may be included as well.

Unit and dollar market shares are calculated based upon orders for comic books, graphic novels, and magazines invoiced and shipped to Diamond customers during any given month, which comprises pre-orders, advance reorders, and reorders, minus any copies that are received back from a title marked as returnable. Please note that comics marked with an asterisk (*) have had their reported quantities reduced due to retailer returnability, and thus may rank lower on the charts than their actual sales would reflect.

The New Titles Count Chart includes all titles that were invoiced by Diamond to retailers for the first time during the month and is not the official solicited title count for the month. Variant edition comic books and graphic novels at the same price point count as a single SKU. Variant edition comic books, lenticular covers, digital combo packs, and graphic novels at different price points count as separate SKUs for each edition.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

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