These are estimates of the sales by Diamond U.S. to comic specialty stores during May 2003.
 
For an overview and analysis of comic sales in May, see 'Wolverine Debuts On Top In May.'
 
For our estimates of actual orders to Diamond U.S. from comic specialty stores on comic books scheduled to ship during May, see 'Top 300 Comics Actual -- May 2003'
 

QtyRank

Index

 

Title

Price

 

Pub

Est.Qty

1

7.33

 

LOEG BOOK ONE TP

$14.95

 

DC

10,562

2

3.81

 

MARVEL ENCYCLOPEDIA VOL 3 HULK HC

$19.99

 

MAR

5,490

3

3.68

 

TRANSMETROPOLITAN VOL 8 DIRGE TP

$14.95

 

DC

5,303

4

3.39

 

POWERS VOL 4 SUPERGROUP TP

$19.95

 

IMA

4,885

5

3.2

 

SPIDER-MAN BLUE HC

$21.99

 

MAR

4,611

6

3.17

 

NEW X-MEN VOL 4 RIOT AT XAVIERS TP

$11.99

 

MAR

4,568

7

3.17

 

BATMAN HUSH HC

$19.95

 

DC

4,568

8

3.17

 

ALAN MOORE PORTRAIT O/EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMAN

$14.95

 

ABI

4,568

9

2.98

 

HULK MOVIE TP

$12.99

 

MAR

4,294

10

2.85

 

LOVE HINA VOL 10 GN

$9.99

 

TKP

4,107

11

2.69

 

DAREDEVIL VOL 6 LOWLIFE TP

$13.99

 

MAR

3,876

12

2.63

 

JLA OBSIDIAN AGE BOOK ONE TP

$12.95

 

DC

3,790

13

2.61

 

YU-GI-OH VOL 1 MILLENNIUM PUZZLE TP

$7.95

 

VIZ

3,761

14

2.47

 

30 DAYS O/NIGHT TP

$17.99

 

IDW

3,559

15

2.34

 

HELLBLAZER FREEZES OVER TP

$14.95

 

DC

3,372

16

2.26

 

HEROBEAR & THE KID VOL 1 INHERITANCE TP

$19.95

 

AST

3,256

17

2.22

 

OH MY GODDESS VOL 16 MYSTERY CHILD TP

$18.95

 

DAR

3,199

18

2.18

 

UNCANNY X-MEN VOL 2 DOMINANT SPECIES TP

$11.99

 

MAR

3,141

19

2.17

 

DAREDEVIL LEGENDS VOL 4 TYPHOID MARY TP

$19.99

 

MAR

3,127

20

2.16

 

PROMETHEA BOOK THREE TP

$14.95

 

DC

3,112

21

1.95

 

X-TREME X-MEN VOL 3 SCHISM TP

$16.99

 

MAR

2,810

22

1.81

 

THUNDER AGENTS ARCHIVES VOL 2 HC

$49.95

 

DC

2,608

23

1.8

 

SOJOURN VOL 3 TP

$15.95

 

CRO

2,594

24

1.78

 

MARVEL MANGAVERSE VOL 3 SPIDER-MAN LEGEND SPIDER-CLAN TP

$11.99

 

MAR

2,565

25

1.78

 

BATTLE ROYALE VOL 1 GN (OF 5) (MR)

$9.99

 

TKP

2,565

26

1.7

 

ASTRO BOY VOL 15 TP

$9.95

 

DAR

2,450

27

1.66

 

KARE KANO VOL 3 GN

$9.99

 

TKP

2,392

28

1.65

 

ORIGIN TP

$14.99

 

MAR

2,377

29

1.6

 

GTO VOL 11 GN

$9.99

 

TKP

2,305

30

1.6

 

BARNUM HC

$29.95

 

DC

2,305

31

1.59

 

ROBOTECH MACROSS SAGA VOL 2 TP

$14.95

 

DC

2,291

32

1.54

 

BEST O/SPIDER-MAN VOL 2 HC

$29.99

 

MAR

2,219

33

1.54

 

THOR VOL 3 GODS ON EARTH TP

$21.99

 

MAR

2,219

34

1.5

 

CLAMP SCHOOL DETECTIVES VOL 1 GN

$9.99

 

TKP

2,161

35

1.49

 

BATTLE O/T PLANETS VOL 1 KEY COMICS TP

$19.99

 

DYN

2,147

36

1.46

 

BATMAN CONTAGION TP

$19.95

 

DC

2,104

37

1.43

 

MARS VOL 10 GN

$9.99

 

TKP

2,060

38

1.41

 

GI JOE VOL 3 MALFUNCTION TP

$15.95

 

IMA

2,032

39

1.39

 

BTVS WILLOW & TARA TP

$9.95

 

DAR

2,003

40

1.37

 

HOUSE O/T BORDERLAND SC

$19.95

 

DC

1,974

41

1.34

 

ULTIMATE X-MEN VOL 1 TOMORROW PEOPLE TP

$14.95

 

MAR

1,931

42

1.31

 

JIMMY CORRIGAN SMARTEST KID ON EARTH SC

$17.95

 

FAN

1,888

43

1.26

 

KODOCHA VOL 7 SANAS STAGE GN

$9.99

 

TKP

1,816

44

1.23

 

PEACH GIRL CHANGE O/HEART VOL 2 TP

$9.99

 

TKP

1,772

45

1.17

 

MARVEL MASTERWORKS INCREDIBLE HULK VOL 1 2ND ED HC

$39.99

 

MAR

1,686

46

1.16

 

SHANG CHI MASTER O/KUNG FU VOL 1 TP

$14.99

 

MAR

1,671

47

1.14

 

DRAGONBALL Z VOL 11 TP SHONEN JUMP ED

$7.95

 

VIZ

1,643

48

1.14

 

DRAGONBALL VOL 11 TP SHONEN JUMP ED

$7.95

 

VIZ

1,643

49

1.07

 

MAN O/MANY FACES VOL 1 GN

$9.99

 

TKP

1,542

50

1.06

 

ASTRO BOY VOL 14 TP

$9.95

 

DAR

1,527

 
Notes on this chart:

Some titles have been truncated or abbreviated for space reasons.

Publisher abbreviations have also been used.

Mar = Marvel

Dar = Dark Horse

Dre = Dreamwave

Ima = Image

Bla = Black Bull

Car = Cartoon Books

Har = Harris

Cro = CrossGen

Bon = Bongo

Tok = Tokyo Pop

 

 

These estimates are based on ICv2 estimates of comic sales by Diamond North America during May, 2003.  They do not include sales made by Diamond UK, orders on these titles placed after the end of May, or copies purchased by Diamond but held in inventory at the end of May.  

 

Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, CrossGen, and Image distribute 100% of their comic store orders through Diamond.  Some other publishers distribute directly to stores or through other distributors and as a result this analysis may underestimate their sales. 

 

Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, Image, and CrossGen distribute some of their titles through channels other than comic specialty stores, e.g., newsstands and bookstores.  These quantity estimates do not reflect distribution through those channels. 

 

Most of the titles on this chart are also distributed to Europe by Diamond UK, which can account for significant sales for the publisher, ranging from 3-20% of the US numbers.  Sales by Diamond UK are not included in the numbers above.

 

One other factor to consider is that sales through Diamond and other comic distributors are non-returnable to retailers.  That means that there is a considerable unknown percentage of books unsold at the retailer level, probably amounting to 5-20% of sales.

 

For the top 50 graphic novels actual orders in April, see 'Top 50 Graphic Novels Actual -- April 2003.'

 

For the top 300 comic actual orders in April, see 'Top 300 Comics Actual--April 2003.'

 

For an overview and analsysis of the actual April orders and an explanation of the transition to our new reporting, see 'April Comics Up Over March' and 'ICv2 Kicks Off New Top 300 Reporting.'

 

For links to all previous Top 300 Comic and Top 50 Graphic Novel articles (going back over three years, including preorder analysis through March 2003 and actual order analysis beginning March 2003) see: 'ICv2's Top 300 Comics and Top 50 GNs Index.'