For the second month in a row DC Comics swept all ten top spots on the chart tracking sales of periodical comics via Diamond Comic Distributors in February.  Only two comic titles posted circulation numbers over 100,000 in February down from three in January and four in December as the top DC titles, which reached their sixth issues since the launch of the “New 52,” continue to shed some sales as the series continue.
 
While the sales of the top tier titles continued to slowly erode in February, overall comic sales were up sharply especially when compared with February of 2011, when the top comic sold just over 71,000 copies.  Six titles posted far larger totals than that last month, and while there were 17 comics that sold over 50K in February of 2011, there were 27 in February of 2012. February comic sales were strong in spite of the lack of potent new debuting titles--Ed Brubaker’s Captain America spin-off, Winter Soldier #1 was the only #1 that made it into the “Top 25” (at #24).
 
The DC titles that swept the “Top Ten” remained in exactly the same order with the exception of Aquaman, whichmoved up from #10 to #9 in February as it nudged ahead of Batman and Robin, which slipped from #9 to #10.  DC’s Justice League remained in the top spot for the sixth consecutive month, and together with Batman, which is a very strong number two, gives DC a potent one-two punch at the top of the charts.
 
DC place 12 titles in the “Top 25,” while Marvel had 13. Marvel’s strength in the ranks just below the Top Ten along with the number of its releases and their higher cover prices explains how The House of Ideas managed to widen its dollars marketshare even while vacating all the spots in the Top Ten (see “Comic Sales Boom in February”).  The top non-Marvel and DC title was Image Comics’ The Walking Dead #94, which came in at #63 on the February chart.
 
The circulation numbers for the graphic novels released in February were uninspiring, but high price points on a number of the bestselling books definitely helped the graphic novel numbers. DC took five of the Top Ten spots, while Marvel and Image each had two.  Scott Snyder, who is quickly becoming the hottest writer in comics, had two volumes in the "Top Ten," the number one-selling Batman: Gates of Gotham and his Vertigo title, American Vampire Vol. 3 hardcover, which came in at #4.  The first volume of IDW’s new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles took the tenth spot.  The bestselling manga release in the direct market in February was Viz Media’s Bleach Vol. 38, which came in a #13.
 
Here are ICv2’s estimates of the sales of the “Top 25” comic titles sold through Diamond Comic Distributors in February:
 
135,374   Justice League #6
128,459   Batman #6
  96,592   Action Comics #6
  94,415   Detective Comics #6
  94,087   Green Lantern #6
  77,140   Batman: The Dark Knight #6
  69,633   Superman #6
  68,061   Flash #6
  63,450   Aquaman #6
  63,093   Batman and Robin #6
  59,834   Uncanny X-Men #6
  59,200   Uncanny X-Men #7
  55,788   Wolverine and the X-Men #5
  55,341   Wolverine and the X-Men #6
  54,190   Wonder Woman #6
  54,105   New Avengers #21
  53,730   Avengers X-Sanction #3
  53,123   Teen Titans #6
  52,683   Avengers #22
  52,564   Amazing Spider-Man #679
  52,222   Avengers #23
  51,872   Amazing Spider-Man #680
  51,235   New Avengers #22
  50,932   Winter Soldier #1
  50,564   Uncanny X-Force #21

For an analysis of the dollar trends in January, see "Comic Sales Boom in February."

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 2012."

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 2012."

For our estimates of actual sales by Diamond U.S. from comic specialty stores on comic books shipped during January, see "Top 300 Comics Actual--January 2012."

For our estimates of actual sales by Diamond U.S. from comic specialty stores on graphic novels shipped during January, see "Top 300 Graphic Novels Actual--January 2012."

For an overview and analysis of the best-selling comics and graphic novels in January, see "Three Comics Over 100K."  For an analysis of the dollar trends in January, see "Comic Store Sales Surge in January."

For our index to our reports on the top comic and graphic novel preorders for January 2000 through February 2012, see "ICv2's Top 300 Comics and Top 300 GNs Index."