JLA #13 came in at #3, but was down from #12, which was the final Brad Meltzer issue. Dark Horse's Buffy the Vampire Slayer reappeared in the top ten with issue #6 -- and every other issue of the series made the Top 300 list, a good indication that new fans are jumping on this 'Buffy Season 8' series plotted by series creator Joss Whedon.
DC's Countdown series lost some circulation but actually moved up in the top 25 versus their positions in August. Following a pattern that has held through 2005 and 2006, comic sales were down from August to September, a decline that was reflected in the top 25 where fifteen titles were down, while seven posted gains (3 were #1 issues). Marvel took seven out of the top ten spots, while DC held two places and Dark Horse one. Overall DC had 11 titles in the top 25.
Graphic novels posted the big gains in September led by Robert Kirkman's The Walking Dead Vol.7 -- the latest volume in a series that has become dominant in the direct market and is picking up considerable momentum in the bookstores. The first Walking Dead trade paperback also made the list, testimony to the serious velocity that the backlist of this zombie series continues to exhibit. The Marvel Zombies/Army of Darkness Marvel/Dynamite zombie crossover was the second most popular trade paperback and further proof that we are living in the golden age of the undead.
DC's 52 Vol. 3 and Dark Horse's Hellboy Vol.7 posted typically strong performances, but mention should be made of Brian Wood's daring near future political thriller DMZ from Vertigo, a title that is still growing in the direct market and which has considerable potential in the bookstores.
Despite some shipping issues Viz Media's first trifecta of simultaneously-released Naruto volumes performed solidly with all landing in the top ten. The only other manga in the top 25 were both seinen series from Dark Horse, Berserk Vol. 19 (at #16) and Path of the Assassin Vol.7 (at #25). Another interesting phenomenon is the performance of the first volume of Viz Media's Death Note manga, which sold 1220 copies in September even though the series ended in July -- an indication that the series is still attracting new readers. In the bookstores the first volume of Death Note also sells extremely well, though it lags behind the initial volumes of Naruto and Bleach, but that is not the case in the direct market where Death Note was the only backlist manga #1 to make the top 50.
Here are ICv2's estimates of the sales by Diamond Comic Distributors to comic stores on the top 25 comic titles in September:
148,610 World War Hulk #4
146,215 Amazing Spider-Man #544
119,471 Justice League of
112,815 New Avengers #34
109,964 Thor #3
100,582 All Star Batman & Robin #7
96,385 Incredible Hulk #110
96,556 Buffy the Vampire Slayer #6
87,952 Uncanny X-Men #490
85,652 X-Men #203
84,117 Justice Society of
82,537 Countdown #34
81,744 Countdown #33
81,097 Countdown #32
80,127 Countdown #31
79,554 Captain America #30
79,084 Green Lantern #23
74,588 Wolverine #57
74,184 Avengers Initiative #6
73,471 Batman #669
72,075 JLA Wedding Special #1
67,527 Captain America
67,476 Ultimate Spider-Man #113
66,682 Ultimate Spider-Man #114
65,911 Tales of Sinestro Corps Parallax #1
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.
For an analysis of the dollar trends in September, see 'Comics Post 6% Growth in Q3.'
For our estimates of actual orders to Diamond U.S. from comic specialty stores on comic books scheduled to ship during September, see 'Top 300 Comics Actual--September 2007.'
For our estimates of actual orders to Diamond U.S. from comic specialty stores on graphic novels scheduled to ship during September, see 'Top 100 Graphic Novels Actual--September 2007.'
For our estimates of actual orders to Diamond U.S. from comic specialty stores on comic books scheduled to ship during August, see 'Top 300 Comics Actual--August 2007.'
For our estimates of actual orders to Diamond U.S. from comic specialty stores on graphic novels scheduled to ship during August, see 'Top 100 Graphic Novels Actual--August 2007.'
For our index to our reports on the top comic and graphic novel preorders for January 2000 through September 2007, see 'ICv2's Top 300 Comics and Top 100 GNs Index.'