First half direct market comics and graphic novel sales were near flat (down .08%), and Archie Comics had the top graphic novel in June according to information released by Diamond Comic Distributors today. The June results continued a soft first half, with total periodical comics down 2.93%, graphic novels up 8.09%, and a .33% increase overall vs. June 2013.
Second quarter was up 13.96% overall (comics up 14.13%, graphic novels up 13.59%) behind a big April, but was not enough to pull the first half positive.
Market share rankings were fairly typical, with DC slipping back under 30% and IDW Publishing hanging on to the #4 slot over Dark Horse Comics by the narrowest of hairs:
33.71% Marvel
29.88% DC
8.93% Image Comics
5.60% IDW Publishing
5.57% Dark Horse Comics
2.62% Dynamite Entertainment
2.52% BOOM! Studios
1.20% Valiant Entertainment
1.10% Avatar Press
0.93% Archie Comics
The big news on the top title lists was that Archie had the #1 graphic novel with its Afterlife with Archie Vol. 1 trade paperback, the first collection of the amazing comic by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Francesco Francavilla (see "Zombies in Riverdale?--'Afterlife with Archie'"). And Image’s Saga is holding incredibly strong, with two volumes in the top five, and three in the top 10; Image also placed the first collection of Velvet at #3.
Top 10 Graphic Novels & Trade Paperbacks
1. Afterlife with Archie (Archie)
2. Night of the Living Deadpool (Marvel)
3. Velvet Volume 1: Before the Living End (Image)
4. Saga Vol. 3 (Image)
5. Saga Vol. 4 (Image)
6. Superior Spider-Man Vol. 6: Goblin Nation (Marvel)
7. Batman & Robin Vol. 3: Death of the Family (DC)
8. Injustice: Gods among Us Vol. 1 (DC)
9. Injustice: Gods Among Us Vol. 2 HC (DC)
10. Saga Vol. 2 (Image)
The Top 10 Comics chart, as indicated by the weak overall sales results, was uninspiring, with Batman holding its usual spot at #1 and not a single launch among the top ten titles.
The Top Ten Comics
1. Batman #32
2. Amazing Spider-Man #3
3. Original Sin #3
4. Harley Quinn #7
5. Superman #32
6. Original Sin #4
7. Amazing Spider-Man #1.2
8. Justice League #31
9. The Walking Dead #128
10. Detective Comics #32
For an overview and analysis of comic sales in June, see "Only Two Titles Over 100,000."
For our estimates of actual sales by Diamond U.S. from comic specialty stores on comic books shipped during June, see "Top 300 Comics Actual--June 2014."
For our estimates of actual sales by Diamond U.S. from comic specialty stores on graphic novels shipped during June, see "Top 300 Graphic Novels--June 2014."
For our estimates of actual sales by Diamond U.S. from comic specialty stores on comic books shipped during May, see "Top 400 Comics Actual--May 2014."
For our estimates of actual sales by Diamond U.S. from comic specialty stores on graphic novels shipped during May, see "Top 300 Graphic Novels--May 2014."
For an overview and analysis of the best-selling comics and graphic novels in May, see "Four Titles Over 100K in May." For an analysis of the dollar trends in May, see "Comics Down Slightly in May."
For our index to our reports on the top comic and graphic novel preorders for January 2000 through June 2014, see "ICv2's Top 300 Comics and Top 300 GNs Index."