Scott Snyder’s Batman #34 was the top-selling comic book in August, with 112,186 copies sold through Diamond Comic Distributors according to estimates by ICv2 based on information supplied by Diamond—a total that was certainly not hurt by the availability of a “Selfie” cover. Marvel’s Amazing Spider-Man #5 was the only other comic to sell over 100K, during a month in which five ship weeks helped boost both periodical comic and graphic novel numbers into nice positive territory (see "Comics & GNs Up Again in August").
But individually, comics did not fare all that well. August had two titles over 100K, down from July, which had three, and from August of 2013, which had four. In the Top 25, only three comic series posted gains, while 21 showed declines, and there was one #1 issue. Rocket Raccoon, which blasted into the stratosphere of sales with a total just shy of 300K in July (aided by over 100K copies sold via Loot Crate), returned to Earth with a thump as issue #2 sold 56, 597 copies, good enough to rank at #17 in August, but a long way from 293K. However, most of the other drops in circulation were very small with most titles remaining just about steady. DC Comics’ weekly series Batman Eternal continuing to suffer steady declines with the bestselling August issue of the comic down over 8% from the top July volume of the weekly.
DC scored with the new Grant Morrison-written Multiversity, which debuted at #4 with sales of over 90,000. The 13,000-copy spread between Harley Quinn #9 and Harley Quinn #10 can be explained in large part by the fact that #9 had a “Selfie” cover that boosted sales.
As for comic events, Marvel’s Original Sin appears to be holding its ground. Original Sin #7, the series’ penultimate issue, which sold 91,291, was up from #6, which sold 89,324 in July, but slightly below #5, which had a July circulation of 91,420. The Guardians of the Galaxy comic book series was back in the Top Ten thanks to the Guardians movie, the biggest film of the year so far.
On the graphic novel side the top spot went to Jim Starlin’s original graphic novel hardcover from Marvel. Thanos: Infinity Revelation was the leader both in the number of copies sold (9,689) and in dollars generated ($242,128). There were two Vertigo titles in the top four, Bill Willingham’s Fables Vol. 20 at #2 and Jeff Lemire’s Trillium at #4. The success of the Guardians of the Galaxy movie was undoubtedly responsible for the reappearance of The Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1 TP on the list at #6.
The bottom half of the graphic novel top ten was dominated by backlist titles with, in addition to Guardians, the perennial seller Watchmen, and all three volumes of Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples’ Saga. All three Saga volumes also made the BookScan list of the Top 25 graphic novels sold in bookstores demonstrating that this title is a huge in the bookstore market as well.
For an analysis of the dollar trends in August, see "Comics & GNs Up Again in August."
For our estimates of actual sales by Diamond U.S. from comic specialty stores on comic books shipped during August, see "Top 300 Comics Actual--August 2014."
For our estimates of actual sales by Diamond U.S. from comic specialty stores on graphic novels shipped during August, see "Top 300 Graphic Novels--August 2014."
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 an overview and analysis of the best-selling comics and graphic novels in July, see "Only Two Titles Over 100,000." For an analysis of the dollar trends in July, see "Strong July Comic Sales Turn Year Positive."
For our index to our reports on the top comic and graphic novel preorders for January 2000 through August 2014, see "ICv2's Top 300 Comics and Top 300 GNs Index."
OGN Tops Graphic Novel Charts
Posted by ICv2 on September 5, 2014 @ 9:04 pm CT
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