DC Comics eked out a comic store market share win in July, topping Marvel by 16/100 of a point in dollars, 32.5% to 32.34%, according to information released by Diamond Comic Distributors.  Marvel won in piece share by 2.4% (36.47% to 34.07%). 

Diamond began reporting a new statistic this month, the number of new titles shipped by the top comic publishers.  DC shipped 121 titles:  91 comics, 29 graphic novels, and 1 magazine (Mad).  Marvel shipped a few less at 118:  81 comics and 37 graphic novels.

Sales of comics and graphic novels to comic stores rose 16.73% in July (up 12.65% in comics, and 26.11% in graphic novels), but that’s perhaps less notable than it appears because the comparison is between a five week month in 2013 and a four week month in 2012.

Year to date dollars stayed fairly stable compared to the first half numbers (see "Comic Market Growth Slowed in Q2"):  comics grew 13.16% in the first seven months of 2013, graphic novels were up 11.72%, and the combined total was up 12.71%.

DC had the #1 comic in July with Superman Unchained #2, followed by Batman #22, Guardians of the Galaxy #5, Justice League #22, and the Batman Annual #2. 

The top graphic novel in comic stores in July was Hawkeye Vol. 2: Little Hits, followed by the latest Avatar: The Last Airbender volume (Vol. 5) from Dark Horse Comics.  Coming in at #3 was Saga Vol. 2, from Image Comics, which dropped only one slot from its debut month in June.  Saga Vol. 1 also made the top five at #4.  The two Saga volumes also both appeared in the top 10 in bookstores in July (see "July BookScan--Top 20 Graphic Novels").

For an overview and analysis of comic sales in July, see "Article Coming."

For our estimates of actual sales by Diamond U.S. from comic specialty stores on comic books shipped during July, see "Top 300 Comics Actual--July 2013."

For our estimates of actual sales by Diamond U.S. from comic specialty stores on graphic novels shipped during July, see "Top 300 Graphic Novels Actual--July 2013."

For our estimates of actual sales by Diamond U.S. from comic specialty stores on comic books shipped during June, see "Top 300 Comics Actual--June 2013."

For our estimates of actual sales by Diamond U.S. from comic specialty stores on graphic novels shipped during June, see "Top 300 Graphic Novels Actual--June 2013."

For an overview and analysis of the best-selling comics and graphic novels in June, see "Supes' Million Dollar Book Leads June Titles."  For an analysis of the dollar trends in June, see "Comic Market Growth Slowed in Q2."