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DCeased #1 Top in May (If You Don't Count Year Of The Villain), as DC Closes Gap on Marvel Marketshare

April 2019 marketshare, released by Diamond a couple of weeks after the March marketshare, saw Marvel Comics take over 50% of the marketshare for sales numbers for that month. May still sees Marvel in the marketshare lead, but the gap is narrowed, even as Marvel continues to publish many more titles than DC Comics.

In March, Marvel had a 40.94% market share in items sold and a 34.46% market share in dollars, compared to DC's 34% unit share and a 36.20% dollar share, with a Detective Comics #1000 in their bag,

In April, Marvel had consolidated with a unit share of 50.70% and a dollar share of 45.50% compared to DC's 25.89% unit share and a 24.73% dollar share. It was a rout.

In May, it's back closer to March numbers, with Marvel having a unit share of 39.75% and a dollar share of 40.46% against DC Comics' 38.58% unit share and 28.22% dollar share. The impact of the DC Year Of The Villain at 25 cents an issue can be seen in an increased unit share but far lower dollar count.

DCeased #1, Most-Ordered Comic in May (If You Don't Count Year Of The Villain), as DC Closes Gap on Marvel Marketshare

Because of its low price, it isn't counted on Diamond's chart sales statistics, however, which is how DCeased #1 tops the charts, still a surprisingly strong performance. I'm going to add Year Of The Villain to the charts below where I can…

DCeased #1, Most-Ordered Comic in May (If You Don't Count Year Of The Villain), as DC Closes Gap on Marvel Marketshare

Overall though, May's numbers were down where they should have been. Upon April, sure, with a 24.51% increase in dollars and a 16.35% increase in units sold, but that was a four week compared to a five-week month. Compared to May 2018, also a five-week month, dollars were down 4.15% and unit sales were down 4.38%. Which means, for a year which was beginning to turn things around, year on year from January to May 2019 compared to 2018, dollars raised are down 0.66% and sales numbers are down 5.18%. This is not great.

Image Comics are on a relative slump, have seen their usual ten per cent share drop to a 7.93% dollar share and a 7.60% unit share in April and further to a 6.88% dollar share and a 5.53% unit share in May. Dark Horse Comics and IDW share fourth and fifth place, as Dark Horse makes some recovery from their April 2.89% dollar share and 1.92% unit share rising toa 3.78% dollar share and 2.19% unit share as  IDW Publishing see their April 3.26% dollar share and 2.76% unit share, rising to 3.61% dollar share and a 2.98% unit share. BOOM! Studios had a slight increase in April with a 2.46% dollar share and a 2.75% unit share, but falling back in May with a 2.21% dollar share and a 1.76% unit share. And Dynamite Entertainment with a 1.71% dollar share and a 1.53% unit share in April, are pretty much level pegging in May with a 1.78% dollar share and a 1.50% unit share.

So yes, if you include the excluded Year Of The Villain, DC has the top four with Year Of The Villain #1, DCeased #1, Batman: Last Knight On Earth #1 and Doomsday Clock #10. Promotional discounts saw Savage Avengers #1 beat Batman Who Laughs #5 to the next place, but if you look at dollars raised by the same-priced titles, The Batman Who Laughs beats Savage Avengers.

And, yes, event and launch issues aside, regular issues of Immortal Hulk are still outselling Batman. It was not a one-off. But this is the kind of thing that enabled DC editorial to be able to justify dropping Tom King from Batman.

Aside from the top ten, Image Comics' The Walking Dead #191 ranked #27; Dark Horse Comics' Stranger Things: Six #1 ranked #82; BOOM! Studios' Firefly #6 ranked #98; Dynamite Entertainment's Red Sonja and Vampirella Meet Betty & Veronica #1,  ranked #107; and IDW Publishing's Transformers #4 ranked #156.

Lauren Myracle and Issac Goodhart's Under the Moon: A Catwoman Tale, an original graphic novel from DC's DC Ink imprint, was May's best-selling graphic novel.

VIZ Media's My Hero Academia: School Briefs Volume 1 was May's best-selling book.

1000 Toys' Hellboy: Standard Version 1/12-Scale Figure was May's best-selling toy.

Paizo Publishing's Starfinder RPG Beginner Box, an introductory set to the space opera role-playing game, was May's best-selling game product.

TOP COMIC BOOK PUBLISHERS

PUBLISHER

DOLLAR

SHARE

UNIT

SHARE

MARVEL COMICS

40.46%

39.75%

DC COMICS

28.22%

38.58%

IMAGE COMICS

6.88%

5.53%

DARK HORSE COMICS

3.78%

2.19%

IDW PUBLISHING

3.61%

2.98%

BOOM! STUDIOS

2.21%

1.76%

VIZ MEDIA

1.84%

0.65%

DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT

1.78%

1.50%

ONI PRESS

0.84%

0.56%

TITAN COMICS

0.67%

0.49%

OTHER NON-TOP 10

9.72%

9.72%

 COMPARATIVE SALES STATISTICS

DOLLARS

UNITS

MAY 2019 VS. APRIL 2019

COMICS

15.60%

14.51%

GRAPHIC NOVELS

50.97%

44.63%

TOTAL COMICS/GN

24.51%

16.35%

TOYS

27.91%

46.27%

MAY 2019 VS. MAY 2018

COMICS

-7.81%

-4.30%

GRAPHIC NOVELS

5.36%

-5.36%

TOTAL COMICS/GN

-4.15%

-4.38%

TOYS

40.65%

40.25%

YEAR TO DATE 2019 VS. YEAR TO DATE 2018

COMICS

-0.45%

-5.12%

GRAPHIC NOVELS

-1.21%

-5.94%

TOTAL COMICS/GN

-0.66%

-5.18%

TOYS

23.04%

30.09%

 

NEW TITLES SHIPPED

PUBLISHER

COMICS SHIPPED

GRAPHIC NOVELS SHIPPED

MAGAZINES SHIPPED

TOTAL

SHIPPED

MARVEL COMICS

118

36

0

154

DC COMICS

60

33

0

93

IMAGE COMICS

38

23

0

61

IDW PUBLISHING

37

18

0

55

DARK HORSE COMICS

22

30

0

52

VIZ MEDIA

0

45

0

45

BOOM! STUDIOS

22

13

0

35

DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT

19

4

0

23

TITAN COMICS

10

6

2

18

ONI PRESS

9

5

0

14

OTHER NON-TOP 10

151

190

27

368

TOTAL

486

403

29

918

TOP 10 COMIC BOOKS BY UNITS SHIPPED

RANK

DESCRIPTION

PRICE

ITEM CODE

VENDOR

1

DCEASED #1

$3.99

MAR190464-M DC

2

DOOMSDAY CLOCK #10

$4.99

JAN190585-M DC

3

BATMAN: LAST KNIGHT ON EARTH #1 (MR)

$5.99

MAR190458-M DC

4

SAVAGE AVENGERS #1

$4.99

MAR190757-M MAR

5

THE BATMAN WHO LAUGHS #5

$4.99

MAR190495-M DC

6

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #21

$3.99

MAR190831-M MAR

7

THE IMMORTAL HULK #17

$3.99

MAR190845-M MAR

8

BATMAN #70

$3.99

MAR190487-M DC

9

BATMAN #71

$3.99

MAR190489-M DC

10

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #22

$3.99

MAR190835-M MAR

TOP 10 COMIC BOOKS BY DOLLARS INVOICED

RANK

DESCRIPTION

PRICE

ITEM CODE

VENDOR

1

DCEASED #1

$3.99

MAR190464-M DC

2

BATMAN: LAST KNIGHT ON EARTH #1 (MR)

$5.99

MAR190458-M DC

3

DOOMSDAY CLOCK #10

$4.99

JAN190585-M DC

4

THE BATMAN WHO LAUGHS #5

$4.99

MAR190495-M DC

5

SAVAGE AVENGERS #1

$4.99

MAR190757-M MAR

6

THE IMMORTAL HULK #17

$3.99

MAR190845-M MAR

7

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #21

$3.99

MAR190831-M MAR

8

WAR OF REALMS #3

$4.99

MAR190765-M MAR

9

WAR OF REALMS #4

$4.99

MAR190773-M MAR

10

BATMAN #70

$3.99

MAR190487-M DC

TOP 10 GRAPHIC NOVELS & TRADE PAPERBACKS BY UNITS SHIPPED

RANK

DESCRIPTION

PRICE

ITEM CODE

VENDOR

1

UNDER THE MOON: A CATWOMAN TALE TP

$16.99

JAN190554 DC

2

THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY VOL. 1: THE APOCALYPSE SUITE TP

$17.99

SEP108136 DAR

3

MIDDLEWEST BOOK 1 TP (MR)

$9.99

MAR190092-M IMA

4

THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY VOL. 2: DALLAS TP

$17.99

DEC098005 DAR

5

EAST OF WEST VOL. 9 TP

$16.99

FEB190059 IMA

6

DC SUPER HERO GIRLS: SPACED OUT TP

$9.99

JAN190555 DC

7

THE IMMORTAL HULK VOL. 3: HULK IN HELL TP

$15.99

FEB190998 MAR

8

LEGEND OF KORRA PART 1: RUINS OF EMPIRE TP

$10.99

JAN190482 DAR

9

RAT QUEENS VOL. 6: INFERNAL PATH TP (MR)

$16.99

MAR190119 IMA

10

SAGA DELUXE EDITION VOL. 3 HC (MR)

$49.99

MAR190127 IMA

TOP 10 GRAPHIC NOVELS & TRADE PAPERBACKS BY DOLLARS INVOICED

RANK

DESCRIPTION

PRICE

ITEM CODE

VENDOR

1

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN OMNIBUS VOL. 4 HC

$125.00

NOV181004-M MAR

2

SAGA DELUXE EDITION VOL. 3 HC (MR)

$49.99

MAR190127 IMA

3

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN BY J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI OMNIBUS VOL. 1  HC

$125.00

NOV181006 MAR

4

THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY VOL. 1: THE APOCALYPSE SUITE TP

$17.99

SEP108136 DAR

5

UNDER THE MOON: A CATWOMAN TALE TP DC INK

$16.99

JAN190554 DC

6

THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY VOL. 2: DALLAS TP

$17.99

DEC098005 DAR

7

EAST OF WEST VOL. 9 TP

$16.99

FEB190059 IMA

8

SIX DAYS: THE INCREDIBLE STORY OF D-DAY'S LOST CHAPTER HC

$24.99

FEB190468 DC

9

ABSOLUTE BATMAN: THE BLACK MIRROR HC

$99.99

AUG180594 DC

10

BATMAN: WHITE KNIGHT HC

$29.99

JAN198939 DC

TOP 10 BOOKS BY UNITS SHIPPED

RANK

DESCRIPTION

PRICE

ITEM CODE

VENDOR

1

MY HERO ACADEMIA: SCHOOL BRIEFS VOL. 1 SC

$10.99

FEB192175 VIZ

2

LULU IS A RHINOCEROS

$16.99

FEB188267 WIC

3

DOCTOR WHO: SCRATCHMAN HC

$23.99

DEC181681 PEN

4

OVERLORD VOLUME 10 HC (MR)

$20.00

MAR192224 YEN

5

BLOODBORNE: OFFICIAL ARTWORKS SC

$44.99

MAR172148 UDO

6

TALES OF THE LOST CITADEL PROSE ANTHOLOGY SC

$15.99

JAN193197 GRE

7

THE SHADOW DOUBLE NOVEL VOL. 141 SC

$14.95

FEB191942 SAN

8

AVENGERS ENDGAME: OFFICIAL MOVIE SPECIAL HC

$19.99

JAN192125 TTN

9

DOCTOR WHO: 13 DOCTORS 13 STORIES SC

$17.99

DEC181677 PEN

10

DOCTOR WHO: THE WOMEN WHO LIVED HC

$23.99

FEB188707 PEN

TOP 10 TOYS BY DOLLARS INVOICED

RANK

DESCRIPTION

ITEM CODE

VENDOR

1

HELLBOY: STANDARD VERSION 1/12-SCALE FIGURE MAY189233 100

2

POP! MARVEL: SPIDER-PUNK VINYL FIGURE SEP188215 FUN

3

MARVEL SELECT: ROGUE ACTION FIGURE SEP182338 DST

4

MARVEL GALLERY: SPIDER-MAN COMIC PVC FIGURE SEP182341 DST

5

DC COVER GIRLS: WONDER WOMAN BY JOELLE JONES STATUE OCT180633 DC

6

DARK KNIGHTS METAL: BATMAN THE DAWNBREAKER STATUE OCT180626 DC

7

MARVEL SELECT: JUGGERNAUT ACTION FIGURE JUN101512 DST

8

DC GALLERY METAL: THE RED DEATH PVC FIGURE OCT182228 DST

9

ONE-12 COLLECTIVE: MARVEL: BLADE ACTION FIGURE MAR188185 MEZ

10

BATMAN BLACK & WHITE STATUE: WHITE KNIGHT JOKER BY SEAN MURPHY NOV180600 DC

TOP 10 GAMES BY DOLLARS INVOICED

RANK

DESCRIPTION

ITEM CODE

VENDOR

1

STARFINDER RPG BEGINNER BOX FEB193069 PAI

2

CRITICAL ROLE: TAL'DOREI CAMPAIGN SETTING HC JUN173357 GRE

3

THE EXPANSE RPG HC NOV182869 GRE

4

MY HERO ACADEMIA CARD GAME JUL183082 S7

5

STARFINDER RPG: CORE RULEBOOK HC JUN173371 PAI

6

PATHFINDER PAWNS BESTIARY BOX FEB168541 PAI

7

TOME OF BEASTS HC JUN168476 PAI

8

THE EXPANSE RPG: GAME MASTERS KIT HC NOV182870 GRE

9

PATHFINDER RPG: CORE RULEBOOK POCKET EDITION APR168770 PAI

10

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: STRANGER THINGS EDITION JAN198565 HAS

 

 


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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.
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