DC Comics Blackest Night crossover event continued to dominate the sales charts in December led by the sixth issue of the eponymous flagship title, which was the only December comic to break 100,000. The final week of the year was a skip week, which likely affected reorders and depressed sales totals somewhat. Blackest Night accounted for six of the top ten titles, giving DC the majority at the top of the charts.
Marvel still dominated the top 25 however, by accounting for 15 of the top 25 spots. Marvel’s top title was Captain America: Reborn #5, which came in at #3 and was originally slated to ship in November. The finale of the Cap Reborn saga is slated for the end of this month, but Cap was already back in Captain America Reborn: Who Will Wield the Shield? at #4 as well as in the pages of the New Avengers and Dark Avengers Annuals. Another top 25 Marvel title Thor #604 also slipped into December though it was originally scheduled for a November debut. Marvel and DC dominated the top of the charts with only Dark Horse’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Willow One Shot at #38 breaking the stranglehold of the big two on the top 50 spots.
No title in the top 25 posted an increase in sales in December and some of the top titles such as Blackest Night #6 declined precipitously from 144K to 100K, though a lack of time for reorders and the “Green Christmas” shipping event (retailers could choose to get the BN #6 titles in week early, but couldn’t sell them until the “skip” week) certainly hurt December sales on this title, though chances are the “lost” purchases were mostly delayed until January and BN #6 will show up on the January Top 300 Comics list with a pretty substantial number.
Graphic novel numbers were no better with the top title, Brian K. Vaughan’s Ex Machina Vol. 8 barely topping 5,000. The publishers on the top graphic novel list were a much more diverse lot with Dark Horse claiming the #3 spot for Star Wars: The Clone Wars Vol. 4 (just one of 4 Dark Horse Star Wars titles in the top 25), and Mark Waid’s Irredeemable Vol. 2 from BOOM! Studios coming in at #4, while Viz Media’s Bleach Vol. 29 took the fifth spot making it the bestselling manga title in the direct market in December.
Here are ICv2's estimates of the sales by Diamond Comic Distributors to comic stores on the top 25 comic titles in December:
100,651 Blackest Night #6
97,285 Green Lantern #49
91,790 Captain America: Reborn #5
80,771 Captain American Reborn: Who Will Wield the Shield?
80,313 Blackest Night: The Flash #1
77,774 Green Lantern Corps #43
72,790 New Avengers #60
70,758 Blackest Night: Wonder Woman #1
69,799 Dark Avengers #12
68,721 Blackest Night: JSA #1
68,672 Justice League of
68,655 Siege: The Cabal
68,572 Uncanny X-Men #518
67,043 Uncanny X-Men #519
65,908 Batman #694
63,738 Amazing Spider-Man #615
62,785 Fall of Hulks Alpha
61,608 Thor #604
61,435 New Avengers Annual #3
60,524 Dark Avengers Annual #1
59,876 Adventure Comics #5
59,696 Amazing Spider-Man #614
58,856 Amazing Spider-Man #616
57,592 Astonishing X-Men #33
55,242 Thor #605
For an analysis of the dollar trends in December, see "Comics, Graphic Novels Slip in December."
For our estimates of actual orders to Diamond
For our estimates of actual orders to Diamond
For our estimates of actual orders to Diamond
For our estimates of actual orders to Diamond
For our index to our reports on the top comic and graphic novel preorders for January 2000 through December 2009, see "ICv2's Top 300 Comics and Top 300 GNs Index."
