These are estimates of the sales by Diamond U.S. to comic specialty stores during December 2004.
 
For an overview and analysis of comic sales in December, see 'New Avengers #1 Tops 240K.'
 
For an analysis of the dollar trends in December, see 'December Comic Dollars Up 7%.'
 
For our estimates of actual orders to Diamond U.S. from comic specialty stores on comic books scheduled to ship during December, see 'Top 300 Comics Actual--December 2004.'
 

QtyRank

Index

Title

Price

Pub

 

Est.Qty

1

17.9

ASTONISHING X-MEN VOL 1 GIFTED TP

$14.99

MAR

 

10,901

2

13.67

CREATURES OF THE NIGHT HC

$12.95

DAR

 

8,325

3

9.28

SAMURAI EXECUTIONER VOL 2 TP (MR)

$9.95

DAR

 

5,651

4

9.16

ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR VOL 2 DOOM TP

$12.99

MAR

 

5,578

5

9.06

POWERS VOL 7 FOREVER TP (MR)

$19.95

MAR

 

5,517

6

8.74

CHRONICLES O/CONAN VOL 6 CURSE O/T GOLDEN SKULL TP

$15.95

DAR

 

5,322

7

7.91

HELLSING VOL 5 TP

$13.95

DAR

 

4,817

8

7.89

AVENGERS DISASSEMBLED THOR TP

$16.99

MAR

 

4,805

9

7.81

JLA ANOTHER NAIL TP

$12.95

DC

 

4,756

10

7.76

MATRIX COMICS VOL 2 TP

$21.95

BUR

 

4,726

11

7.76

FRUITS BASKET VOL 6 GN

$9.99

TKP

 

4,726

12

7.33

ESSENTIAL IRON MAN VOL 2 TP

$16.99

MAR

 

4,464

13

7.22

BATTLE ROYALE VOL 10 GN (MR)

$9.99

TKP

 

4,397

14

6.87

DC THE NEW FRONTIER VOL 1 TP

$19.95

DC

 

4,184

15

6.54

WHAT IF CLASSIC VOL 1 TP

$24.99

MAR

 

3,983

16

6.41

GLOBAL FREQUENCY DETONATION RADIO TP (MR)

$14.95

DC

 

3,904

17

6.32

RUROUNI KENSHIN VOL 9 TP

$7.95

VIZ

 

3,849

18

6.09

UNCANNY X-MEN NEW AGE VOL 1 END O/HISTORY TP

$12.99

MAR

 

3,709

19

5.75

VENOM VS CARNAGE TP

$9.99

MAR

 

3,502

20

5.61

X-MEN DREAMS END TP

$17.99

MAR

 

3,416

21

5.54

INU YASHA VOL 20 TP

$8.95

VIZ

 

3,374

22

5.34

SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN VOL 4 DISASSEMBLED TP

$14.99

MAR

 

3,252

23

5.22

TALES O/T VAMPIRES TP

$15.95

DAR

 

3,179

24

5.19

FANTASTIC FOUR VOL 5 DISASSEMBLED TP

$14.99

MAR

 

3,161

25

5.19

DONALD DUCK ADVENTURES VOL 9 TP

$7.95

GEM

 

3,161

26

5.14

ARKHAM ASYLUM ANNIV ED HC (MR)

$29.95

DC

 

3,130

27

5.13

SW CLONE WARS VOL 5 THE BEST BLADES TP

$17.95

DAR

 

3,124

28

5.04

AVENGERS DISASSEMBLED IRON MAN TP

$14.99

MAR

 

3,069

29

5.02

NARUTO VOL 5 TP

$7.95

VIZ

 

3,057

30

5.01

AVENGERS DISASSEMBLED CAPTAIN AMERICA TP

$17.99

MAR

 

3,051

31

4.97

MARGES LITTLE LULU VOL 1 TP

$9.95

DAR

 

3,027

32

4.87

BATMAN JAM PACKED ACTION

$7.99

DC

 

2,966

33

4.69

BATMAN DARK KNIGHT ARCHIVES VOL 1 HC

$19.95

DC

 

2,856

34

4.49

VERY BIG MONSTER SHOW GN

$7.49

IDW

 

2,734

35

4.36

FANTASTIC FOUR VISIONARIES JOHN BYRNE VOL 3 TP

$24.99

MAR

 

2,655

36

4.24

DC COMICS RARITIES ARCHIVES VOL 1 HC

$75.00

DC

 

2,582

37

4.2

HELL HOUSE VOL 1 TP

$6.49

IDW

 

2,558

38

4.13

ADVENTURES I/T RIFLE BRIGADE TP (MR)

$14.95

DC

 

2,515

39

4.01

NEW X-MEN ACADEMY X VOL 1 CHOOSING SIDES TP

$14.99

MAR

 

2,442

40

3.99

SWAMP THING BAD SEED TP (MR)

$9.95

DC

 

2,430

41

3.97

SPIDER-MAN MAXIMUM CARNAGE TP

$29.99

MAR

 

2,418

42

3.97

BATTLE VIXENS VOL 5 GN (MR)

$9.99

TKP

 

2,418

43

3.88

MARVEL HOLIDAY SPECIAL TP

$15.99

MAR

 

2,363

44

3.85

YU GI OH THE MOVIE ANI MANGA GN

$13.99

VIZ

 

2,345

45

3.84

TRANSFORMERS GEN 1 MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE VOL 2 TP

$24.95

DRE

 

2,338

46

3.77

IDENTITY DISC TP

$13.99

MAR

 

2,296

47

3.66

SAMURAI DEEPER KYO VOL 10 GN (MR)

$9.99

TKP

 

2,229

48

3.56

JUSTICE LEAGUE O/AMERICA ARCHIVES VOL 9 HC

$49.95

DC

 

2,168

49

3.49

ART O/GREG HORN HC

$39.95

IMA

 

2,125

50

3.48

ELFQUEST THE GRAND QUEST VOL 6 TP

$9.95

DC

 

2,119

51

3.43

MYSTIQUE VOL 3 UNNATURAL TP

$13.99

MAR

 

2,089

52

3.42

ASTRO CITY LOCAL HEROES HC

$24.95

DC

 

2,083

53

3.35

INITIAL D VOL 15

$9.99

TKP

 

2,040

54

3.28

KONG KING O/SKULL ISLAND HC

$24.95

DAR

 

1,997

55

3.24

AMERICAN SPLENDOR OUR MOVIE YEAR GN

$16.95

RAN

 

1,973

56

3.22

BATMAN HUSH VOL 1 TP

$12.95

DC

 

1,961

57

3.09

GET BACKERS VOL 6 GN

$9.99

TKP

 

1,882

58

3.02

YU GI OH VOL 7 TP

$7.95

VIZ

 

1,839

59

3.02

MARVEL AGE SPIDER-GIRL FATHER LIKE DAUGHTER VOL 2 DIGEST TP

$7.99

MAR

 

1,839

60

2.97

BATMAN HUSH VOL 2 TP

$12.95

DC

 

1,809

61

2.89

STAR TREK KEY COLLECTION VOL 2 TP

$22.95

CHE

 

1,760

62

2.88

BLEACH VOL 4 TP

$7.95

VIZ

 

1,754

63

2.81

ALPHA FLIGHT VOL 1 YOU GOTTA BE KIDDIN ME TP

$14.99

MAR

 

1,711

64

2.77

ULTIMATE X-MEN VOL 7 BLOCKBUSTER TP

$12.99

MAR

 

1,687

65

2.7

ANGEL SANCTUARY VOL 5 GN

$9.99

VIZ

 

1,644

66

2.7

THUNDER AGENTS ARCHIVES VOL 5 HC (MR)

$49.95

DC

 

1,644

67

2.69

BLOOD A TALE TP NEW PTG (MR)

$19.95

DC

 

1,638

68

2.63

WILL EISNERS JOHN LAW VOL 1 TP

$14.99

IDW

 

1,602

69

2.63

COMIC PARTY VOL 4 GN (TKP)

$9.99

TKP

 

1,602

70

2.55

WALKING DEAD VOL 1 DAYS GONE BYE TP (MR)

$9.95

IMA

 

1,553

71

2.54

Y THE LAST MAN VOL 4 SAFEWORD TP (MR)

$12.95

DC

 

1,547

72

2.5

FUSHIGI YUGI VOL 13 GN

$9.95

VIZ

 

1,522

73

2.48

KING OF HELL VOL 8 GN

$9.99

TKP

 

1,510

74

2.44

VAGABOND VOL 17 TP

$9.95

VIZ

 

1,486

75

2.41

REMAINS TP (MR)

$19.99

IDW

 

1,468

76

2.38

WALKING DEAD VOL 2 MILES BEHIND US TP (MR)

$12.95

IMA

 

1,449

77

2.3

STRANGERS IN PARADISE POCKET VOL 3 TP

$17.95

ABS

 

1,401

78

2.3

RAVE MASTER VOL 12 GN

$9.99

TKP

 

1,401

79

2.29

KRAZY & IGNATZ 1933-34 NECROMANCY BY THE BLUE BEAN BUSH

$14.95

FAN

 

1,395

80

2.28

MARVEL MASTERWORKS INCREDIBLE HULK VOL 2 NEW ED HC

$49.99

MAR

 

1,388

81

2.23

WATCHMEN TP

$19.95

DC

 

1,358

82

2.19

MARVEL MASTERWORKS INCREDIBLE HULK VOL 2 2ND ED HC VAR DUST

$54.99

MAR

 

1,334

83

2.18

MIDNIGHT NATION TP NEW PRTG

$24.99

IMA

 

1,328

84

2.17

MAGE VOL 1 THE HERO DISCOVERED HC

$49.95

IMA

 

1,321

85

2.13

ART OF USAGI YOJIMBO HC

$39.95

DAR

 

1,297

86

2.11

BATMAN DARK KNIGHT RETURNS TP

$14.95

DC

 

1,285

87

2.04

LORE TP (MR)

$19.99

IDW

 

1,242

88

1.98

TALES OF THE REALM TP

$14.95

IMA

 

1,206

89

1.96

DARE DETECTIVES VOL 1 SNOWPEA PLOT TP

$5.95

DAR

 

1,194

90

1.93

DEADY THE TERRIBLE TEDDY GN (MR)

$5.95

SIR

 

1,175

91

1.9

CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON VOL 9 GN

$13.95

HK

 

1,157

92

1.89

SERAPHIC FEATHER VOL 5 WAR CRIMES TP (MR)

$17.95

DAR

 

1,151

93

1.83

KINGDOM COME TP

$14.95

DC

 

1,114

94

1.83

TRAMPS LIKE US VOL 3 GN (MR)

$9.99

TKP

 

1,114

95

1.82

NECK & NECK VOL 1 GN (OF 4)

$9.99

TKP

 

1,108

96

1.82

DIABLO VOL 2 GN (MR)

$9.99

TKP

 

1,108

97

1.79

AWAKENING GN (MR)

$9.95

ONI

 

1,090

98

1.76

VAMPIRELLA CRIMSON CHRONICLES VOL 2 TP

$19.95

HAR

 

1,072

99

1.76

DRAGON KNIGHTS VOL 17 GN

$9.99

TKP

 

1,072

100

1.67

SIN CITY THAT YELLOW BASTARD TP

$19.00

DAR

 

1,017

 
Notes on this chart:
Some titles have been truncated or abbreviated for space reasons.  Publisher abbreviations have also been used:
MAR = Marvel Comics
DC = DC Comics
DAR = Dark Horse Comics
IMA = Image Comics
DRE = Dreamwave Productions
DEV = Devil's Due Publishing
ABS = Abstract Studio
AVA = Avatar Press
ADV = A.D. Vision
BON = Bongo Comics
CAR = Cartoon Books
GEM = Gemstone Publishing
FAN = Fantagraphics Books
IDW = IDW Publishing
ONI = Oni Press Inc.
TIT = Titan Publishing
TKP = Tokyopop
VIZ = Viz LLC
 
We are estimating actual sales by Diamond U.S. (primarily to North American comic stores), using Diamond's published sales indexes and publisher sales data to estimate a sales number for Batman (the anchor title Diamond uses in its calculations), and using that number and the indexes to estimate Diamond's sales on the remaining titles.  We can check the accuracy of our numbers by comparing the Batman number that we calculate using multiple data points; our numbers for Batman are within 1/10 of 1% of each other, ensuring a high degree of accuracy.They do not include sales made by Diamond UK, orders on these titles placed after the end of December, or copies purchased by Diamond but held in inventory at the end of December.
 
Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, Image, Devil's Due, and Dreamwave distribute 100% of their comic store orders through Diamond.  Some other publishers distribute directly to stores or through other distributors and as a result this analysis may underestimate their sales.
 
Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, Image, and Archie distribute some of their titles through channels other than comic specialty stores, e.g., newsstands and bookstores.  These quantity estimates do not reflect distribution through those channels.
 
Most of the titles on this chart are also distributed to Europe by Diamond UK, which can account for significant sales for the publisher, ranging from 3-20% of the US numbers.  Sales by Diamond UK are not included in the numbers above.
 
One other factor to consider is that sales through Diamond and other comic distributors are non-returnable to retailers.  That means that there is a considerable unknown percentage of books unsold at the retailer level, probably amounting to 5-20% of sales.
 
For the top 100 graphic novels actual orders in November, see 'Top 100 Graphic Novels Actual--November 2004.'
 
For the top 300 comic actual orders in November, see 'Top 300 Comics Actual--November 2004.'
 
For an overview and analsysis of the actual November orders and an explanation of the transition to our new reporting, see 'Sales Still Sliding on Top Comics' and 'ICv2 Kicks Off New Top 300 Reporting.'  For an analysis of the dollar trends in November, see 'Comic Sales Up 2% in November.'
 
For links to all previous Top 300 Comic and Top 100 Graphic Novel articles (going back over three years, including preorder analysis through March 2003 and actual order analysis beginning March 2003) see: 'ICv2's Top 300 Comics and Top 100 GNs Index.'