November Sales Report: Marvel, DC’s dollar share drop to under 30%

(CBR) Below you’ll find the sales estimates for comics and trade paperbacks sold in the direct market for November, 2013. The sales numbers below are estimates based on the information provided by Diamond Comics Distributors earlier this month. Sales estimates for October, 2013 can be found here.

There are a couple of things to keep in mind when reading this data. These numbers are just estimates for the sales through Diamond to direct market retailers. It does not include any sales outside of the Diamond channel such as newstands, book stores or overseas markets. Since the majority of habitual comic book readers are served through this sales channel, these numbers are a good indicator of the core sales trends at the retail level. While not all copies will sell to readers, each retailer is buying what they think they can sell so the trends at the retail level should be a close enough reflection of the sales trends at the reader level for the purposes of discussion.

The breakdowns are for just the top comics and top trades listed below. These are not the overall market share. I only deal with numbers that I can see and kick around in my ever evolving number crunching system. Sometimes the numbers get a bit battered and bruised in the process.

The estimated total sales for the 332 comics was 6,690,324 comics which is down by 1,594,238 units from October and down by 724,645 units from November 2012. Marvel Comics had the largest percentage of the top 332 comics with 36.33% of the total units sold followed by DC Comics with 34.92%.

The top selling comic from Marvel Comics was “Amazing X-Men (2013)” #1 in slot 3 with an estimated 112,337 units and for DC Comics was “Batman (2011)” #25 in rank 1 with an estimated 125,602 units.

The estimated total sales for the 300 trades was 362,717 trades which is down by 37,391 units from October and up by 12,273 units from November 2012.

Topping the trades list in November was “Walking Dead v19: March to War” by Image Comics with 25,194 units.

I’ve got bar charts of this data over on my website: www.ComicBookPage.com. Every month I discuss the comic book and collected editions sales estimates on my Comic Book Page podcast.

I’ll be back later with an analysis of the numbers below.

DIAMOND OVERALL SHARES
Publisher Market Share
By Units
Market Share
By Dollars
MARVEL COMICS 33.65% 29.97%
DC COMICS 31.90% 29.24%
IMAGE COMICS 9.77% 8.67%
IDW PUBLISHING 6.26% 6.68%
DARK HORSE COMICS 4.91% 6.11%
DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT 3.00% 3.20%
BOOM! STUDIOS 1.92% 1.90%
EAGLEMOSS PUBLICATIONS LTD 0.44% 1.86%
VALIANT ENTERTAINMENT 1.74% 1.58%
VIZ MEDIA 0.42% 1.19%
RANDOM HOUSE 0.29% 1.03%
AVATAR PRESS INC 0.91% 0.96%
ARCHIE COMIC PUBLICATIONS 0.81% 0.77%
ZENESCOPE ENTERTAINMENT 0.70% 0.68%
ONI PRESS 0.28% 0.66%
FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS 0.08% 0.43%
HACHETTE BOOK GROUP USA 0.12% 0.37%
ST. MARTINS PRESS 0.10% 0.35%
ASPEN MLT INC 0.64% 0.26%
TITAN 0.12% 0.26%
OTHER NON-TOP 20 1.94% 3.81%
TOP COMICS BREAKDOWN
Publisher NI RI TI Min
Price
Max
Price
Avg
Price
Total
Reported
Units
Total
Reported
Dollars
Percent of
Top Comics
By Units
Percent of
Top Comics
By Dollars
Marvel Comics 72 0 72 $2.99 $5.99 $3.80 2,430,389 $9,672,436.39 36.33% 38.73%
DC Comics 76 1 77 $1.00 $5.99 $3.39 2,336,058 $8,447,321.34 34.92% 33.83%
Image Comics 36 1 37 $2.99 $3.99 $3.21 655,692 $2,109,353.50 9.80% 8.45%
IDW Publishing 33 2 35 $3.99 $3.99 $3.99 379,369 $1,513,682.31 5.67% 6.06%
Dark Horse 19 0 19 $1.00 $3.99 $3.39 236,281 $818,302.15 3.53% 3.28%
Dynamite Entertainment 21 1 22 $3.99 $3.99 $3.99 160,744 $641,368.56 2.40% 2.57%
Valiant 8 0 8 $3.99 $3.99 $3.99 127,793 $509,894.07 1.91% 2.04%
Boom! Studios 8 0 8 $3.99 $3.99 $3.99 89,553 $357,316.47 1.34% 1.43%
Aspen 5 0 5 $1.00 $3.99 $3.39 48,631 $93,002.60 0.73% 0.37%
Zenescope Entertainment 7 0 7 $2.99 $3.99 $3.42 48,302 $162,714.98 0.72% 0.65%
Archie Comics 8 1 9 $2.99 $9.99 $4.43 48,275 $162,222.25 0.72% 0.65%
Avatar 4 0 4 $3.99 $3.99 $3.99 37,697 $150,411.03 0.56% 0.60%
ONI Press 2 1 3 $1.00 $3.99 $2.99 12,663 $43,702.19 0.19% 0.17%
Bongo Comics 2 0 2 $2.99 $4.99 $3.99 10,073 $39,838.27 0.15% 0.16%
Big Dog Ink 3 0 3 $3.50 $3.50 $3.50 8,985 $31,447.50 0.13% 0.13%
Red 5 Comics 3 0 3 $2.75 $3.50 $3.08 7,829 $24,325.42 0.12% 0.10%
Abstract Studios 1 0 1 $3.99 $3.99 $3.99 7,795 $31,102.05 0.12% 0.12%
United 1 0 1 $2.99 $2.99 $2.99 6,741 $20,155.59 0.10% 0.08%
Broadsword Comics 1 0 1 $2.95 $2.95 $2.95 6,252 $18,443.40 0.09% 0.07%
Black Bull 2 0 2 $3.50 $3.50 $3.50 6,040 $21,140.00 0.09% 0.08%
Hermes Press 1 0 1 $3.99 $3.99 $3.99 5,065 $20,209.35 0.08% 0.08%
Kenzer and Company 2 0 2 $5.99 $5.99 $5.99 4,345 $26,026.55 0.06% 0.10%
Antarctic Press 3 0 3 $3.50 $3.99 $3.83 4,012 $15,207.22 0.06% 0.06%
Titan Comics 2 0 2 $3.99 $3.99 $3.99 2,747 $10,960.53 0.04% 0.04%
New Paradigm Studios 1 0 1 $3.99 $3.99 $3.99 2,269 $9,053.31 0.03% 0.04%
Art of Fiction 1 0 1 $3.95 $3.95 $3.95 2,231 $8,812.45 0.03% 0.04%
Astonish 1 0 1 $3.99 $3.99 $3.99 2,102 $8,386.98 0.03% 0.03%
Amigo Comics 1 0 1 $3.99 $3.99 $3.99 1,230 $4,907.70 0.02% 0.02%
Castle Rain 1 0 1 $1.00 $1.00 $1.00 1,161 $1,161.00 0.02% 0.00%
Legend: NI = New Items, RI = Reorder Items, TI = Total Items

TOP TRADES BREAKDOWN

Publisher NI RI TI Min
Price
Max
Price
Avg
Price
Total
Reported
Units
Total
Reported
Dollars
Percent of
Top Trades
By Units
Percent of
Top Trades
By Dollars
DC Comics 26 39 65 $9.99 $150.00 $23.36 105,665 $2,348,676.01 29.13% 31.87%
Image Comics 10 24 34 $9.99 $59.99 $16.90 65,944 $985,226.56 18.18% 13.37%
Marvel Comics 31 23 54 $7.99 $99.99 $27.69 61,453 $1,640,874.64 16.94% 22.26%
Dark Horse 24 10 34 $9.99 $150.00 $24.61 37,245 $785,164.83 10.27% 10.65%
VIZ 15 0 15 $6.99 $22.99 $11.52 17,335 $182,479.65 4.78% 2.48%
Random House 11 5 16 $9.99 $24.99 $13.61 13,090 $181,345.78 3.61% 2.46%
IDW Publishing 14 5 19 $7.99 $75.00 $21.41 12,980 $286,708.39 3.58% 3.89%
Dynamite Entertainment 9 1 10 $19.99 $24.99 $20.49 5,960 $122,220.40 1.64% 1.66%
Boom! Studios 3 4 7 $14.99 $34.99 $18.56 5,250 $118,352.50 1.45% 1.61%
Hachette Book Group/Yen Press 6 0 6 $11.99 $13.00 $12.33 4,970 $60,480.63 1.37% 0.82%
Archie Comics 3 0 3 $11.99 $14.99 $12.99 4,874 $61,880.26 1.34% 0.84%
ONI Press 2 0 2 $24.99 $59.99 $42.49 4,086 $132,734.14 1.13% 1.80%
First Second 6 1 7 $12.99 $17.99 $14.42 4,053 $58,058.47 1.12% 0.79%
Zenescope Entertainment 3 0 3 $15.99 $15.99 $15.99 2,595 $41,494.05 0.72% 0.56%
Valiant 2 0 2 $9.99 $39.99 $24.99 2,312 $39,146.88 0.64% 0.53%
Fantagraphics Books 3 0 3 $22.99 $49.99 $32.66 2,058 $67,597.42 0.57% 0.92%
Arcana Studio 3 0 3 $9.95 $19.95 $14.28 1,502 $21,608.90 0.41% 0.29%
Studio Foglio 1 0 1 $25.00 $25.00 $25.00 1,432 $35,800.00 0.39% 0.49%
Digital Manga Distribution 2 0 2 $12.95 $19.95 $16.45 1,123 $19,652.85 0.31% 0.27%
Top Shelf 0 1 1 $14.95 $14.95 $14.95 1,014 $15,159.30 0.28% 0.21%
Scholastic 1 0 1 $6.99 $6.99 $6.99 829 $5,794.71 0.23% 0.08%
Jey City Comics 1 0 1 $14.95 $14.95 $14.95 761 $11,376.95 0.21% 0.15%
Avatar 1 0 1 $19.99 $19.99 $19.99 711 $14,212.89 0.20% 0.19%
Titan Comics 1 0 1 $19.99 $19.99 $19.99 689 $13,773.11 0.19% 0.19%
Touchstone 0 1 1 $18.99 $18.99 $18.99 679 $12,894.21 0.19% 0.17%
Diamond 1 0 1 $47.99 $47.99 $47.99 571 $27,402.29 0.16% 0.37%
Astonish 1 0 1 $19.95 $19.95 $19.95 568 $11,331.60 0.16% 0.15%
Picturebox 1 0 1 $24.95 $24.95 $24.95 544 $13,572.80 0.15% 0.18%
Adhouse Books 1 0 1 $24.95 $24.95 $24.95 517 $12,899.15 0.14% 0.18%
Drawn and Quarterly 1 0 1 $24.95 $24.95 $24.95 506 $12,624.70 0.14% 0.17%
Big Dog Ink 1 0 1 $17.99 $17.99 $17.99 495 $8,905.05 0.14% 0.12%
Humanoids 1 0 1 $29.95 $29.95 $29.95 473 $14,166.35 0.13% 0.19%
Kenzer and Company 1 0 1 $14.99 $14.99 $14.99 433 $6,490.67 0.12% 0.09%
TOP COMICS

Qty
Rank
Index Price Pub Title # R Est
Sales
Prev
Issue
Prev
Issue
Est
Sales
Delta Delta % WL
1 100.00 $4.99 DC Batman (2011) 25   125,602 24 124,652 950 0.76% 0
2 90.93 $2.99 DC Harley Quinn (2013) 0   114,212          
3 89.44 $3.99 MAR Amazing X-Men (2013) 1   112,337          
4 88.06 $3.99 DC Superman Unchained (2013) 4   110,611 3 136,319 -25,708 -18.86% 4
5 84.20 $3.99 DC Forever Evil (2013) 3   105,755 2 112,944 -7,189 -6.37% 0
6 79.85 $5.99 MAR Infinity (2013) 6   100,292 5 106,567 -6,275 -5.89% 1
7 65.58 $3.99 MAR All New X-Men (2012) 18   82,365 17 82,843 -478 -0.58% 1
8 64.69 $3.99 MAR Superior Spider-Man (2013) 22   81,250 21 74,940 6,310 8.42% 1
9 61.46 $3.99 DC Batman/Superman (2013) 5   77,198 4 82,990 -5,792 -6.98% 0
10 59.66 $3.99 MAR Superior Spider-Man (2013) 21   74,940 20 85,309 -10,369 -12.15% 1
11 56.56 $3.99 MAR All New X-Men (2012) 19   71,044 18 82,365 -11,321 -13.74% 1
12 56.53 $3.99 DC Justice League of America (2013) 9   71,008 8 77,305 -6,297 -8.15% 0
13 55.66 $2.99 IMA Walking Dead (2003) 116   69,913 115 320,608 -250,695 -78.19% 0
14 54.79 $2.99 IMA Walking Dead (2003) 117   68,818 116 69,913 -1,095 -1.57% 0
15 52.95 $3.99 MAR Avengers (2012) 23   66,501 22 70,735 -4,234 -5.99% 1
16 52.27 $3.99 MAR Uncanny X-Men (2013) 14   65,655 13 75,202 -9,547 -12.70% 0
17 51.27 $3.99 DC Detective Comics (2011) 25   64,392 24 59,310 5,082 8.57% 0
18 50.63 $4.99 MAR Superior Spider-Man (2013) Annual 1   63,595         1
19 48.37 $3.99 MAR Uncanny Avengers (2012) 14   60,750 13 60,597 153 0.25% 0
20 47.92 $3.99 DC Superman/Wonder Woman (2013) 2   60,185 1 94,859 -34,674 -36.55% 0
21 47.77 $3.99 VAL Unity (2013) 1   60,003          
22 46.82 $3.99 MAR New Avengers (2013) 12   58,807 11 63,231 -4,424 -7.00% 0
23 45.36 $3.99 MAR X-Men (2013) 7   56,968 6 71,990 -15,022 -20.87% 0
24 43.47 $2.99 IMA Saga (2012) 16   54,593 15 54,816 -223 -0.41% 2
25 43.25 $2.99 DC Green Lantern (2011) 25   54,322 24 57,109 -2,787 -4.88% 0
26 42.49 $2.99 DC Batman and … (2013) 25   53,374 24 52,060 1,314 2.52%  
27 41.27 $3.99 DC Damian: Son of Batman (2013) 2   51,840 1 63,453 -11,613 -18.30% 0
28 40.08 $3.99 DAR Star Wars [Lucas Draft] (2013) 3   50,346 2 56,165 -5,819 -10.36% 0
29 37.06 $3.99 DC Action Comics (2011) 25   46,550 24 39,620 6,930 17.49% 0
30 35.18 $2.99 MAR Deadpool (2012) 19   44,184 18 47,096 -2,912 -6.18% 0
31 35.14 $2.99 DC Forever Evil: Arkham War (2013) 2   44,133 1 52,004 -7,871 -15.14% 0
32 35.06 $3.99 DC Nightwing (2011) 25   44,039 24 39,853 4,186 10.50% 0
33 34.97 $4.99 MAR Deadpool (2012) Annual 1   43,922         0
34 33.61 $3.99 MAR Mighty Avengers (2013) 3   42,210 2 54,862 -12,652 -23.06% 0
35 33.53 $3.99 MAR Cataclysm: Ultimates: Last Stand (2013) 1   42,109          
36 33.31 $3.99 DC Flash (2011) 25   41,838 24 38,190 3,648 9.55% 0
37 33.15 $2.99 DC Batman: The Dark Knight (2011) 25   41,634 24 43,382 -1,748 -4.03% 0
38 32.85 $3.99 DC Aquaman (2011) 25   41,264 24 42,248 -984 -2.33% 0
39 32.85 $3.99 MAR Thor God of Thunder (2012) 15   41,259 14 46,008 -4,749 -10.32% 0
40 32.54 $3.50 IMA Black Science (2013) 1   40,873          
41 32.45 $3.99 DC Batgirl (2011) 25   40,752 24 36,666 4,086 11.14% 0
42 31.74 $2.99 MAR Hawkeye (2012) 14   39,863 13 40,476 -613 -1.51% 13
43 31.72 $2.99 DC Earth 2 (2012) 17   39,846 16 38,389 1,457 3.80% 0
44 31.29 $2.99 DC Superman (2011) 25   39,295 24 39,580 -285 -0.72% 0
45 31.13 $5.99 MAR X-Men: Gold (2013) 1   39,102          
46 31.13 $3.99 MAR Wolverine and X-Men (2011) 38   39,098 37 57,434 -18,336 -31.93% 0
47 30.86 $3.99 DC Justice League Dark (2011) 25   38,760 24 45,401 -6,641 -14.63% 0
48 30.76 $2.99 MAR Kick Ass 3 (2013) 5   38,639 4 40,412 -1,773 -4.39% 6
49 30.55 $3.99 DC Green Lantern Corps (2011) 25   38,369 24 37,312 1,057 2.83% 0
50 29.48 $3.99 MAR Indestructible Hulk (2012) 15   37,025 14 40,963 -3,938 -9.61% 1

Legend: Qty Rank = Quantity Rank, Index = Diamond Order Index, Pub = Publisher, # = Issue Number, R = Reorder, Est Sales = Estimated Sales, Prev Issue = Previous Issue, Prev Issue Est Sales = Previous Issue Estimated Sales, WL = Weeks Late

TOP TRADES

Qty
Rank
Index Price Pub Title Est
Sales
Total
Reported
Est
Sales
1 20.06 $14.99 IMA Walking Dead v19: March to War 25,194 25,194
2 5.73 $9.99 VIZ Yu Gi Oh 5ds v5 7,197 7,197
3 5.14 $22.99 DC Fairest in All the Land 6,459 6,459
4 4.32 $19.99 DC Batman Night of the Owls (N52) 5,425 5,425
5 4.29 $14.99 IMA Manhattan Projects v3 5,393 5,393
6 3.99 $19.99 DC Injustice Gods Among Us v1 5,012 5,012
7 3.30 $9.99 IMA Nowhere Men v1: Fates Worse Than Death 4,142 4,142
8 2.98 $16.99 DC Batman Detective Comics v2: Scare Tactics (N52) 3,749 3,749
9 2.97 $7.99 MAR Shield Origins 3,733 3,733
10 2.89 $34.99 MAR Hawkeye v1 3,632 3,632
11 2.84 $17.99 MAR Superior Spider Man v3: No Escape 3,566 3,566
12 2.81 $17.99 MAR X Men v1: Primer 3,526 7,933
13 2.77 $9.99 IMA Saga v1 3,479 79,748
14 2.76 $24.99 DC Justice League of America v1: (N52) 3,470 10,605
15 2.76 $16.99 DC Batman and Robin v2: Pearl (N52) 3,465 8,025
16 2.75 $22.99 DC Batman and Robin v3: Death of the Family (N52) 3,450 3,450
17 2.71 $14.99 DC Aquaman v2: The Others (N52) 3,401 3,401
18 2.61 $16.99 DC Batman Incorporated (2012) v1: Demon Star 3,283 3,283
19 2.56 $24.99 ONI Scott Pilgrim Color v4 3,211 3,211
20 2.55 $24.99 DC Batman v3: Death of the Family (N52) 3,201 15,575
21 2.49 $24.99 DC Batman Detective Comics v3: Emperor Penguin (N52) 3,132 3,132
22 2.49 $24.99 DC Batman Incorporated v2: Gothams Most Wanted (N52) 3,128 3,128
23 2.49 $24.99 DC Aquaman v3: Throne of Atlantis (N52) 3,122 3,122
24 2.47 $16.99 DC Swamp Thing v3: Rotworld the Green Kingdom (N52) 3,097 4,346
25 2.42 $16.99 DC Joker Clown Prince of Crime 3,040 3,040
26 2.39 $9.99 IMA Sex v1: Summer of Hard 3,003 3,003
27 2.22 $19.99 DAR BPRD Vampire 2,785 2,785
28 2.20 $34.99 MAR Thanos Redemption 2,764 2,764
29 2.17 $14.99 IMA Saga v2 2,728 41,617
30 2.16 $16.99 DC Red Hood and the Outlaws v3: Death of Family (N52) 2,708 2,708
31 2.13 $9.99 VIZ Naruto v63 2,674 2,674
32 2.06 $14.99 IMA Walking Dead v1: Days Gone Bye 2,583 302,749
33 2.05 $11.99 ARC Sonic Mega Man Worlds Collide v1 2,572 2,572
34 1.77 $24.99 MAR Uncanny X Men v2: Broken 2,228 2,228
35 1.76 $19.99 DC Red Lanterns v3: The Second Prophecy (N52) 2,211 2,211
36 1.69 $24.99 DC Django Unchained 2,121 2,121
37 1.65 $19.99 DAR Fifth Beatle the Brian Epstein Story 2,071 2,071
38 1.64 $29.99 DC Superman H’El On Earth (N52) 2,061 2,061
39 1.62 $24.99 DAR Star Wars Darth Vader Ninth Assassin 2,030 2,030
40 1.61 $19.99 DAR Star Wars Legacy II v1: Prisoner of the Floating World 2,028 2,028
41 1.61 $14.99 DAR Berserk v37 2,022 2,022
42 1.59 $9.99 DAR Plants vs Zombies Lawnmageddon 1,991 1,991
43 1.56 $29.99 DC Joker Death of the Family (N52) 1,955 10,566
44 1.54 $14.99 DC Worlds Finest v2: Hunt and Be Hunted (N52) 1,935 1,935
45 1.52 $19.99 DAR Violent Cases 1,915 1,915
46 1.52 $17.99 DC Batman the Killing Joke 1,906 110,356
47 1.49 $19.99 DAR Lone Wolf and Cub Omnibus v3 1,874 1,874
48 1.49 $34.99 BOO Adventure Time Sugary Shorts v1 1,870 1,870
49 1.47 $17.99 MAR Uncanny X Force v2: Torn and Frayed 1,841 6,303
50 1.44 $10.99 RAN Sailor Moon Short Stories v2 1,813 1,813