‘Origin II’ claws it’s way to the top of December Sales Charts

(CBR) Led by the debut issue of Kieron Gillen and Adam Kubert’s Wolverine-starring “Origin II,” Marvel Comics was once again the top publisher in the United States in December, according to Diamond Distributor’s numbers. In fact, Marvel increased the gap between itself and DC Comics significantly over the past several months, topping the second place publisher 35.42% to 27.22% in Dollar Share and 36.56% to 31.13% in Unit Share.
“Origin II” was joined by “Avengers” #24.NOW, “Inhumanity” #1 and Marvel’s perennial top ten series “Superior Spider-Man.” DC took the other six positions with the latest installments of “Batman,” “Forever Evil,” “Superman Unchained,” “Justice League” (2 issues, two spots) and the impressively strong “Harley Quinn” #1.
IDW and Image flipped positions from October, coming in third and fourth, respectively, while Dark Horse remained in the #5 slot. Overall, sales in the direct market ticked up from November, rising .63% in dollars and 1.6% in units sold. The rise over December 2012 was more impressive, with dollars increasing 9.04% and units bumping up 6.58%.
In graphic novels, Vertigo’s “Fables” Vol. 19 was the top seller, followed by BOOM! Studios’ “Adventure Time” vol. 2 and IDW and Darwyn Cooke’s latest Parker adaptation, “Slayground.”
 TOP COMIC BOOK PUBLISHERS

PUBLISHER

DOLLAR

SHARE

UNIT

SHARE

MARVEL COMICS

35.42%

36.56%

DC ENTERTAINMENT

27.22%

31.13%

IDW PUBLISHING

8.18%

6.17%

IMAGE COMICS

7.32%

8.07%

DARK HORSE COMICS

6.28%

6.35%

DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT

3.22%

3.25%

BOOM! STUDIOS

2.06%

2.12%

VALIANT ENTERTAINMENT

1.11%

1.16%

EAGLEMOSS PUBLICATIONS

0.98%

0.18%

ZENESCOPE ENTERTAINMENT

0.91%

0.91%

OTHER NON-TOP 10

7.32%

4.08%

COMPARATIVE SALES STATISTICS

DOLLARS

UNITS

DECEMBER 2013 VS. NOVEMBER 2013

COMICS

0.63%

1.60%

GRAPHIC NOVELS

-1.40%

3.67%

TOTAL COMICS/GN

-0.03%

1.76%

DECEMBER 2013 VS. DECEMBER 2012

COMICS

1.09%

-3.64%

GRAPHIC NOVELS

18.02%

20.38%

TOTAL COMICS/GN

5.93%

-2.07%

YEAR 2013 VS. YEAR 2012

COMICS

10.22%

6.70%

GRAPHIC NOVELS

6.50%

5.12%

TOTAL COMICS/GN

9.04%

6.58%

FOURTH QUARTER 2013 VS. THIRD QUARTER 2013

COMICS

-0.72%

-2.39%

GRAPHIC NOVELS

5.79%

2.09%

TOTAL COMICS/GN

1.23%

-2.06%

FOURTH QUARTER 2013 VS. FOURTH QUARTER 2012

COMICS

4.16%

-0.97%

GRAPHIC NOVELS

7.80%

9.50%

TOTAL COMICS/GN

5.28%

-0.22%

TOP 10 COMIC BOOKS

RANK

DESCRIPTION

PRICE

ITEM CODE

VENDOR

1

ORIGIN II #1

$4.99

OCT130650

MAR

2

AVENGERS #24.NOW

$4.99

OCT130656

MAR

3

BATMAN #26

$3.99

OCT130190

DC

4

FOREVER EVIL #4

$3.99

OCT130115

DC

5

SUPERMAN UNCHAINED #5

$3.99

SEP130208

DC

6

JUSTICE LEAGUE #25

$3.99

SEP130170

DC

7

HARLEY QUINN #1

$2.99

OCT130185

DC

8

JUSTICE LEAGUE #26

$3.99

OCT130121

DC

9

INHUMANITY #1

$3.99

OCT130637

MAR

10

SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #23

$3.99

OCT130686

MAR

TOP 10 GRAPHIC NOVELS

RANK

DESCRIPTION

PRICE

ITEM CODE

VENDOR

1

FABLES VOLUME 19: SNOW WHITE TP (MR)

$16.99

SEP130305

DC

2

ADVENTURE TIME VOLUME 2: PIXEL PRINCESSES GN

$11.99

SEP131012

BOO

3

RICHARD STARK’S PARKER: SLAYGROUND HC

$17.99

OCT130333

IDW

4

DEADPOOL KILLS DEADPOOL TP

$14.99

SEP130799

MAR

5

STAR LORD: WORLDS ON THE BRINK

$7.99

OCT130698

MAR

6

NIGHTWING VOLUME 3: DEATH OF THE FAMILY TP (N52)

$16.99

SEP130273

DC

7

SAGA VOLUME 1 TP (MR)

$9.99

AUG120491

IMA

8

DEADPOOL VOLUME 3: GOOD BAD AND UGLY TP

$15.99

SEP130800

MAR

9

SAGA VOLUME 2 TP (MR)

$14.99

APR130443

IMA

10

THE WALKING DEAD VOLUME 1: DAYS GONE BYE TP

$14.99

NOV128157

IMA