After an abysmal showing in January (see "How Low Can DC Go?"), DC shipped the third issue of Dark Knight III: The Master Race in February, pulling its market share back up to 26%, but the overall market for comics and graphic novels still declined vs. the same month a year ago, by 1.69%, according to information released by Diamond Comic Distributors.  There was a big divergence between comics and graphic novels, with periodical comics down 6.73% and graphic novels up 12.00%.

This was the second consecutive month of declines; comics and graphic novel sales to comic stores were down 5.1% in January (see "Comic Sales Slip in January").

The market share spread between Marvel and DC was around 15%, a more typical spread in recent years, and down from the 22% spread last month.

February 2016 Comic Store Market Share

40.78%                  Marvel Comics
26.00%                  DC Entertainment
  9.18%                  Image Comics
  4.78%                  IDW Publishing
  3.07%                  Dark Horse Comics
  2.12%                  BOOM! Studios
  2.09%                  Dynamite Entertainment
  1.04%                  Oni Press
  0.94%                  VIZ Media
  0.92%                  Titan Comics

On the comic charts, Dark Knight III: The Master Race is back in the #1 slot, after relinquishing it to the penultimate issue of Secret Wars in December.  The core Star Wars title remains strong, taking the #2 spot, although there were no secondary Star Wars titles in the Top 10 as the movie effect fades.

The Deadpool movie was the media event driving sales in February, with two Deadpool comic issues in the Top 10.

Power-Man and Iron Fist debuted strong, perhaps in anticipation of the upcoming Netflix series.

Top 10 Comics – February 2016

  1. Dark Knight III:  The Master Race #3
  2. Star Wars #16
  3. Batman #49
  4. Spider-Man #1
  5. Deadpool:  The Mercs for Money #1
  6. Deadpool #7
  7. Darth Vader #16
  8. Power Man and Iron Fist #1
  9. Amazing Spider-Man #7
  10. Justice League #48

Image Comics took four of the top 10 graphic novel slots, including the top spot with The Wicked & the Divine Vol. 3, in February, continuing its strong performance in the format.

On other fronts, as was the case in the book channel (see "February 2016 BookScan – Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels"), sales of Star Wars graphic novels are dropping in the comic store channel; there was just one Star Wars volume in the Top 10 in February, down from four in the Top 10 in January.

The third volume of Lumberjanes was the #3 graphic novel in comic stores in February; the second volume came in at #9 in October, indicating that this offbeat title from BOOM! Studios is still gaining new audience.

Top 20 Graphic Novels – February 2016

  1. The Wicked & the Divine Vol. 3
  2. Star Wars:  Chewbacca TP
  3. Lumberjanes  Vol. 3
  4. Batman:  The Dark Knight Returns TP
  5. Batman:  Harley and Ivy Deluxe Edition HC
  6. Sunstone Vol. 4 OGN
  7. New Suicide Squad Vol. 2:  Monsters
  8. The Fade-Out Vol. 3
  9. Amazing Spider-Man Edge of Spider-Verse TP
  10. Saga Vol. 5

For an overview of comic sales in January, see "'Deadpool' #7 Was Top Dollar Book."

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 2016."

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 2016."

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 2016."

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 2016."

For an overview and analysis of the best-selling comics and graphic novels in January, see "How Low Can DC Go?"

​For our index to our reports on the top comic and graphic novel preorders for January 2000 through February 2016, see "ICv2's Top 300 Comics and Top 300 GNs Index."