This month’s Diamond Comic Distributors Publisher Market Share report for comics and magazines shows some interesting contrasts with a year ago.  One of the biggest movers is IDW, which ranked fifth in both pieces and dollars a year ago, but ranks fourth in dollars and third in pieces in March 2009.  IDW was the fifth ranked publisher in both categories in 2008, but has been hitting fourth in both in recent months, outselling Image.

Diamond Comics Market Share*--

March 2009

 

 

 

 

Publisher

Dollar Share

Unit Share

Marvel Comics

42.74%

47.24%

DC Comics

27.34%

27.77%

Dark Horse

5.63%

4.80%

IDW Publishing

5.01%

5.10%

Image Comics

3.60%

3.18%

VIZ Media

1.88%

1.09%

Dynamite Entertainment

1.82%

2.10%

Eaglemoss Pubs

0.89%

0.32%

Avatar Press

0.83%

0.69%

Boom Studios

0.78%

0.84%

* Includes graphic novels and magazines

 

Another move in an upward direction, albeit at a lower sales rank, has been Boom Studios breaking into the Top 10 over the past few months.  It’s publishing more books, with stronger licenses, and starting to get some regular traction.

 

Companies that are slipping a little in market share include manga companies other than Viz, and Wizard, which with fewer titles was out of the Top 10 in both pieces and dollars in March.