Over 105,000 copies of Jupiter’s Legacy #1 were sold to North American comic retailers in April, the first Image book other than The Walking Dead to top 100K in many years, according to ICv2 estimates of sales by Diamond Comic Distributors.  Sales were promoted by full returnability if order thresholds were met (Diamond typically calculates indexes using a 10% reserve for returns) and by four covers, each of which could be ordered separately.   Even Saga #1, the biggest Image launch of the last couple of years, took four printings to get to 70,000 (see "'Saga' #1 Approaching 70,000").

Batman continued its strong sales with a top slot win at 132,000.  Marvel’s Thanos Rising miniseries, its top book, sold over 114,000 copies, a respectable, but not blow-out number.  Age of Ultron, with three issues in the top ten and the top issue at over 101,000, was key to Marvel’s dollars in April. 

Sales on Guardians of the Galaxy #2 were down 58% from sales on the first issue, heavy attrition for a second issue, but were still solid for a second tier team book.

As we noted in our analysis of the April Bookscan chart (see "April BookScan--Top 20 Graphic Novels"), it was a weak month for new graphic novel releases, and the comic store numbers also show that.  The top book, The Walking Dead Vol. 1, sold only 6,925 copies.  There were only five new releases in the top ten graphic novel titles in comic stores in April, and the top new release, Image’s The Manhattan Projects Vol. 2, barely cleared 5,000 copies sold. 

Perhaps the most notable difference between bookstore and comic store graphic novel sales in April was the total absence of Max Brooks’ The Zombie Survival Guide:  Recorded Attacks from the comic store chart; it was the #13 graphic novel in bookstores. 

Even with a shortage of standout titles in April, dollar sales were up 14% overall vs. April 2012, with very similar growth rates for both comics and graphic novels, so it was another good month in a long string of them.
 
For an analysis of the dollar trends in April, see "'Jupiter's Legacy' Debuts at #3."

For our estimates of actual sales by Diamond U.S. from comic specialty stores on comic books shipped during April, see "Top 300 Comics Actual--April 2013."
For our estimates of actual sales by Diamond U.S. from comic specialty stores on comic books shipped during March, see "Top 300 Comics Actual--March 2013."

For our estimates of actual sales by Diamond U.S. from comic specialty stores on graphic novels shipped during March, see "Top 300 Graphic Novels Actual--March 2013."

For an overview and analysis of the best-selling comics and graphic novels in March, see "'Guardians' Debuts Over 200K."  For an analysis of the dollar trends in March, see "Comic Market Up 22+% in March."

For our index to our reports on the top comic and graphic novel preorders for January 2000 through April 2013, see "ICv2's Top 300 Comics and Top 300 GNs Index."