In April the comic market was buoyed by a real hit as Marvel’s Fear Itself #1 debuted with an estimated 128,595, the highest monthly sales of a periodical comic reported by ICv2 since X-Men #1 topped 140K in July of 2010. Fear Itself’s total was 36% better than its closest competitor Marvel’s The Mighty Thor #1, which like Fear Itself was written by Matt Fraction, debuted with estimated sales of 82,071 copies aided by multpile variant covers.
The strong debut of Marvel’s Fear Itself crossover and the strength of the prequel issues for DC’s Flashpoint, which have pushed The Flash comic into the top 25, do provide some hope that this summer’s big events may be able to reverse the downward sales trend in the first quarter of 2011. DC’s Brightest Day, which finished up in April was a remarkably stable seller and the War of the Lanterns storyline, which is weaving its way through DC’s Green Lantern titles helped make sure that all three books landed in the Top 25. If the more extensive Flashpoint event can enjoy that sort of success and if Marvel’s Fear Itself can sustain its strong debut, the outlook for the sales of periodical comics could be positive.
Marvel took six out of the top ten spots and 14 out of the top 25. Nine titles posted gains in circulation while 14 declined. Superman’s return to Action Comics for the anniversary issue #900 created quite a stir thanks to a back-up story in which the Man of Steel appeared to be on the verge of renouncing his American citizenships (see “Supes Citizenship Flap Spreads Like Wildfire”). Another title that experienced an uptick in sales was Uncanny X-Men #535 in which Kieron Gillen took over the writing chores and began a new storyline based on Joss Whedon's "Breakworld."
On the graphic novel side the gap between the #1 title, Bill Willingham’s Fables Vol. 15: Rose Red from DC/Vertigo, and Garth Ennis’ The Boys Vol. 8 from Dynamite Entertainment, was even bigger with the new Fables release selling more than two times as many copies as its nearest competitor.
Robert Kirkman’s Invincible from Image Comics came in a close third on the graphic novel list with sales of over 5 thousand copies, while Green Lantern Secret Origin, which came in fourth, sold over 3,800, and Flash: Rebirth, which was fifth, sold just over three thousand. Dan Clowes’ Mister Wonderful came in at #6 making it the bestselling alternative comic of the month by far.
The top manga release of the month in the direct market was Black Butler Vol. 5 from Yen Press.
Here are ICv2’s estimates for the sales by Diamond Comic Distributors to comic stores on the Top 25 comic titles in April of 2011:
128,595 Fear Itself #1
82,071 The Mighty Thor #1
75,780 Green Lantern #65 (War of GL)
70,289 Brightest Day #23
69,790 FF #2
69,742 Brightest Day #24
63,441 Avengers #12
62,204 Batman Incorporated #5
61,778 New Avengers #11
61,687 Amazing Spider-Man #658
60,445 Avengers #12.1
60,162 Green Lantern Corps #59 (War of GL)
60,152 Action Comics #900
59,076 Batman & Robin #22
58,258 Amazing Spider-Man #659
56,795 Uncanny X-Men #535
56,578 Batman #709
54,953 Flash #10 (Flashpoint)
54,633 Flash #11 (Flashpoint)
54,292 Uncanny X-Force #7
53,502 Uncanny X-Men #536
53,473 Uncanny X-Men #534.1
51,970 X-Men: Legacy #247 (Age of X)
51,784 Green Lantern Emerald Warriors #9 (War of GL)
50,908 Uncanny X-Force #8
For our estimates of actual sales by Diamond
For our estimates of actual sales by Diamond
For our estimates of actual sales by Diamond
For our estimates of actual sales by Diamond
For an overview and analysis of the best-selling comics and graphic novels in March, see "'FF' #1 Top Comic in March." For an analysis of the dollar trends in March see "Top 300 Comics & GNs Down 9.65% in Q1."
For our index to our reports on the top comic and graphic novel preorders for January 2000 through April 2011, see "ICv2's Top 300 Comics and Top 300 GNs Index."
