Sales of the Top 300 graphic novels through Diamond Comic Distributors in March were down a substantial 18.6%, while sales of the Top 300 periodical comics fell 4.28%.  Combined sales of the Top 300 Graphic Novels and Comics in March were off by 7.58%.
 
Graphic novels were hurt by the lack of anything close to a breakout hit in March.  Only two titles sold over 4 thousand copies, which means that the top titles were barely selling one copy per store.  Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead is hot, but the presence of Vol. 1, which was originally published over 5 years ago, at #8 is a testament to the overall weakness of graphic novel sales in March.
 
Top 300 numbers for the first quarter were bleak for both comics and graphic novels.  Comics were down 9.37%, while graphic novels were off by 10.67% and combined sales dropped 9.66%.
 
Note that the year-over-year declines in the Top 300 comics calculated by ICv2 are substantially more pronounced than Diamond Comic Distributors’ March year-over-year totals, which include totals from comics and graphic novels below the Top 300 that ICv2 reported on Friday (see “Comics Decline Again in March”).  Periodical comics were down just 2.43% in the Diamond numbers versus 4.28% for the Top 300. Diamond reported overall graphic novel sales declined by 10.01%, while ICv2 calculated that Top 300 graphic novel sales were down 18.6% for March, 2011 versus March 2010.

For an overview and analysis of comic sales in March, see "'FF' #1 Top Comic in March."

For our estimates of actual sales by Diamond U.S. from comic specialty stores on comic books shipped during March, see "Top 300 Comics Actual--March 2011."

For our estimates of actual sales by Diamond U.S. from comic specialty stores on graphic novels shipped during March, see "Top 300 Graphic Novels Actual--March 2011."

For our estimates of actual sales by Diamond U.S. from comic specialty stores on comic books shipped during February, see "Top 300 Comics Actual--February 2011."

For our estimates of actual sales by Diamond U.S. from comic specialty stores on graphic novels shipped during February, see "Top 300 Graphic Novels Actual--February 2011."

For an overview and analysis of the best-selling comics and graphic novels in February, see "Top Tier Titles Weak in February."  For an analysis of the dollar trends in February, see "The Long Tail Wags the Comics Dog in Feb."

For our index to our reports on the top comic and graphic novel preorders for January 2000 through March 2011, see "ICv2's Top 300 Comics and Top 300 GNs Index."