May was another down month for comic stores (after a big decline last month, see "Then the Yo-Yo Went Down Again"), according to information released by Diamond Comics Distributors today, with sales of comics and graphic novels to comic stores down 4.15% vs. May of last year (both were five-week months).  Comics led the way downward, with a 7.81% decline, vs. a 5.36% gain for graphic novels.  May pulled the year-to-date numbers negative; comics and graphic novel sales for the first five months of the year were down 0.66%, with comics down 0.45% and graphic novels down 1.21%.

Marvel Comics once again had a market share over 40%, with more than a 10-point spread vs. #2 publisher DC Comics.

Comic Store Market Share (Dollar & Unit Share) – May 2019

Publisher                               Dollar Share          Unit Share
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Marvel Comics                        40.46%                   39.75%
Dc Comics                               28.22%                   38.58%
Image Comics                           6.88%                     5.53%
Dark Horse Comics                  3.78%                     2.19%
IDW Publishing                         3.61%                     2.98%
Boom! Studios                          2.21%                     1.76%
Viz Media                                   1.84%                     0.65%
Dynamite Entertainment        1.78%                     1.50%
Oni Press                                   0.84%                     0.56%
Titan Comics                             0.67%                     0.49%
Other Non-Top 10                    9.72%                     9.72%

DC had the top three comic titles in units, and four out of the top five, a better performance than its market share (above) would indicate.

Top 10 Comics by Units Shipped – May 2019
  1.     DCeased #1 (DC Comics)
  2.     Doomsday Clock #10 (DC Comics)
  3.     Batman: Last Knight on Earth #1 (DC Comics)
  4.     Savage Avengers #1 (Marvel Comics)
  5.     The Batman Who Laughs #5 (DC Comics)
  6.     Amazing Spider-Man #21 (Marvel Comics)
  7.     The Immortal Hulk #17 (Marvel Comics)
  8.     Batman #70 (DC Comics)
  9.     Batman #71 (DC Comics)
10.     Amazing Spider-Man #22 (Marvel Comics)

DC Comics also had the top four comics by dollars invoiced

Top 10 Comics by Dollars Invoiced – May 2019
  1.     DCeased #1 (DC Comics)
  2.     Batman: Last Knight on Earth #1 (DC Comics)
  3.     Doomsday Clock #10 (DC Comics)
  4.     The Batman Who Laughs #5 (DC Comics)
  5.     Savage Avengers #1 (Marvel Comics)
  6.     The Immortal Hulk #17 (Marvel Comics)
  7.     Amazing Spider-Man #21 (Marvel Comics)
  8.     War of Realms #3 (Marvel Comics)
  9.     War of Realms #4 (Marvel Comics)
10.     Batman #70 (DC Comics)

Two of the top four graphic novel titles (by units sold) in May were The Umbrella Academy volumes from Dark Horse Comics, although the first season of the TV show should be running to about the end of its influence soon.

Top 10 Graphic Novels by Units Shipped – May 2019
  1.     Under the Moon: A Catwoman Tale TP (DC Comics)
  2.     The Umbrella Academy Vol. 1: The Apocalypse Suite TP (Dark Horse Comics)
  3.     Middlewest Book 1 TP (Image Comics)
  4.     The Umbrella Academy Vol. 2: Dallas TP (Dark Horse Comics)
  5.     East of West Vol. 9 TP (Image Comics)
  6.     DC Super Hero Girls: Spaced Out TP (DC Comics)
  7.     The Immortal Hulk Vol. 3: Hulk in Hell TP (Marvel Comics)
  8.     Legend of Korra Part 1: Ruins of Empire TP (Dark Horse Comics)
  9.     Rat Queens Vol. 6: Infernal Path TP (Image Comics)
10.     Saga Deluxe Edition Vol. 3 HC (Image Comics)

There were fewer omnibi in the top 10 graphic novels by dollars invoiced this month than has been typical recently, but an omnibus, Amazing Spider-Man Omnibus Vol. 4, was the top dollar graphic novel in comic stores in May.

Top 10 Graphic Novels by Dollars Invoiced – May 2019
  1.     Amazing Spider-Man Omnibus Vol. 4 HC (Marvel Comics)
  2.     Saga Deluxe Edition Vol. 3 HC (Image Comics)
  3.     Amazing Spider-Man by J. Michael Straczynski Omnibus Vol. 1 HC (Marvel Comics)
  4.     The Umbrella Academy Vol. 1: The Apocalypse Suite TP (Dark Horse Comics)
  5.     Under the Moon: A Catwoman Tale TP (DC Comics)
  6.     The Umbrella Academy Vol. 2: Dallas TP (Dark Horse Comics)
  7.     East of West Vol. 9 TP (Image Comics)
  8.     Six Days: The Incredible Story of D-Day's Lost Chapter HC (DC Comics)
  9.     Absolute Batman: The Black Mirror HC (DC Comics)
10.     Batman: White Knight HC (DC Comics)

For our estimates of actual sales by Diamond U.S. from comic specialty stores on comic books shipped during May, see "Top 500 Comics Actual--May 2019."

For our estimates of actual sales by Diamond U.S. from comic specialty stores on graphic novels shipped during May, see "Top 500 Graphic Novels Actual--May 2019."

For links to all previous Top 300 Comic and Top 300 Graphic Novel articles, see "ICv2 Top 300 Comics and Top 300 GNs Index."