Buoyed by a March that included five shipping days, shipments of periodical comics from Diamond Comic Distributors soared by a full 20%, which more than enough to overcome a 10% drop in graphic novel revenues for the month.  Combined sales of comics and graphic novels were up 11% over March of 2009.

The March gain for comics and graphic novels was strong enough to overcome 2% drops in combined comic and graphic novel sales in both January and February.  Comics were up 6% for the quarter, which was more than enough to overcome an 8% decline in graphic novel sales over the same period.  Combined sales of comics and graphic novels for the first quarter were up 2% over the first quarter of 2009.  Still it is worth noting that the first quarter of 2009 marked what was arguably the deepest point of the Great Recession, and that the Q1 2009 comic total was down 5% from the first quarter of 2008.  So beating Q1 2009 is a good sign, but it is also clear that the comic market has not necessarily made it all the way back to pre-recessionary levels.

Another factor that should be taken into account is the higher price of comics as more titles have moved to $3.99.  The higher sales totals do not necessarily mean that more units were sold.