Marvel took the #1 comic slot in July in a strong month that was big enough to turn the year positive in comic stores after a soft first half, according to information released today by Diamond Comic Distributors.  Sales through mid-year had been down fractionally (see "First Half Direct Market Comics Flat"), but after July growth of 14.52% combined (19.23% in comics and 4.84% in graphic novels), year-to-date through July is up 2.22% overall, behind 3.25% graphic novel growth and 1.76% comics growth.  

Marvel had a good month in July, with 35.09% market share and six of the top ten comic titles, including two tied to Guardians of the Galaxy, a big movie hit (see "'Guardians' Sets New August Record").

IDW held on to the #4 spot in its back-and-forth tussle with Dark Horse this year; Archie was up a point behind the death of Archie (see "Archie Takes a Bullet for Kevin"); and other positions were pretty typical.

July Comic Store Market Share
35.09%  Marvel Comics
28.18%  DC Entertainment
  9.25%  Image Comics
  5.21%  IDW Publishing
  5.02%  Dark Horse Comics
  2.18%  Dynamite Entertainment
  2.04%  Archie Cmoics
  1.76%  BOOM! Studios
  1.05%  Eaglemoss Publications
  1.05%  Zenescope Entertainment
 
Marvel’s Rocket Raccoon #1 was the top comic in comic stores in July, and The Legendary Star-Lord #1 was #9, in a month with four launches in the Top 10 (Peter David’s Amazing Spider-Man #1 and DC’s Grayson #1 were the others). 
 
Top 10 Comics--July 2014
  1.  Rocket Raccoon #1
  2.  Batman #33
  3.  Amazing Spider-Man #4
  4.  Original Sin #5
  5.  Spider-Man 2099 #1
  6.  Original Sin #6
  7.  Justice League #21
  8.  Grayson #1
  9.  The Legendary Star-Lord #1
10.  Harley Quinn #8
 
The Walking Dead and Avatar took the top two graphic novel slots in comic stores in July, but #3 was a new Image property, Deadly Class, by Rick Remender and Wesley Craig.  The first volume of Saga is holding incredibly strong at #4.  And, Seconds: A Grphic Novel, Bryan Lee O’Malley’s follow-up to Scott Pilgrim, makes a strong direct market showing for a free-standing OGN at #5 (after also rocking the book channel chart, see "July BookScan--Top 20 Graphic Novels").
 
Top 10 Graphic Novels—July 2014
  1.  The Walking Dead Vol. 21
  2.  Avatar:  The Last Airbender Vol. 8
  3.  Deadly Class Vol. 1
  4.  Saga Vol. 1
  5.  Bryan Lee O’Malley:  Seconds
  6.  Deadpool Vol. 5
  7.  Saga Vol. 3
  8.  Star Wars:  The Lucas Draft
  9.  Batman Vol. 1:  The Court of Owls
10.  Lazarus Vol. 2
 
For an overview and analysis of comic sales in July, see "'Rocket Raccoon' Nearly 300K."

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 2014."

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--July 2014."

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 2014."

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--June 2014."

For an overview and analysis of the best-selling comics and graphic novels in June, see "Only Two Titles Over 100,000."  For an analysis of the dollar trends in June, see "First Half Direct Market Comics Flat."
 
For our index to our reports on the top comic and graphic novel preorders for January 2000 through July 2014, see "ICv2's Top 300 Comics and Top 300 GNs Index."