Comics and graphic novel sales followed up a strong Q3 with a big start for Q4: total comics and graphic novel sales to comic stores in October were up 11.46% vs. the previous year, according to Diamond Comic Distributors. Comics and graphic novel increases were fairly even, with comics up 10.84% and graphic novels up 12.90%. The big October brings the year-to-date number up to 4.15% growth vs. the first 10 months of 2013, with graphic novels up 5.31% and comics up 3.64%.
After its annual cover stunt gave DC the top market share for September, its only win in 2014, DC’s share dropped back to the familiar # spot, with a 27.53% share for October, well below Marvel’s 34.82% share. Image Comics nearly hit double digits, with a 9.77% share, and the remainder of the top ten market shares were fairly typical.
October Comic Store Market Share
34.82% Marvel Comics
27.53% DC Entertainment
9.77% Image Comics
5.18% IDW Publishing
4.74% Dark Horse Comics
2.60% Dynamite Entertainment
2.39% BOOM! Studios
1.19% Archie Comics
1.18% Avatar Press
1.17% Eaglemoss Publications
Ms. Marvel Vol. 1: No Normal, the first collection of Marvel’s new Ms. Marvel, featuring a teenage Muslim girl from New Jersey as the title character (see "A Muslim Ms. Marvel"), was the top graphic novel in comic stores in October, another sign of the changing gender mix of comic readers (see "Broadening Demo Driving GN Growth").
Top 10 Graphic Novels--October 2014
- Ms. Marvel Vol. 1 (Marvel)
- Hawkeye Vol. 3 (Marvel)
- Batman Vol. 4 (DC)
- East of West Vol. 3 (Image)
- Batman Vol. 5 (DC)
- Southern Bastards Vol. 1 (Image)
- Harley Quinn Vol. 1 (DC)
- Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 1 (Marvel)
- Moon Knight Vol. 1 (Marve)
- Batman Death of the Family Book & Mask (DC)
The Walking Dead #132 was the top comic in October, with the rest of the Top 10 dominated by Marvel, which took seven slots, including two Death of Wolverine issues (#3 and #4). Thor #1, another title featuring a female character, was the #3 comic title in comic stores in October.
Top 10 Comics—October 2014
1. The Walking Dead #132 (Image)
2. Death of Wolverine #4 (Marvel)
3. Thor #1 (Marvel)
4. Death of Wolverine #3 (Marvel)
5. Avengers and X-Men: Axis #1 (Marvel)
6. Batman #35 (DC)
7. Amazing Spider-Man #7 (Marvel)
8. Amazing Spider-Man #8 (Marvel)
9. Harley Quinn Annual #1 (DC)
10. Avengers and X-Men: Axis #2 (Marvel)
For an overview and analysis of comic sales in October, see Loot Crate Wakes 'The Walking Dead'.”
For our estimates of actual sales by Diamond U.S. from comic specialty stores on comic books shipped during October, see "Top 300 Comics Actual--October 2014."
For our estimates of actual sales by Diamond U.S. from comic specialty stores on graphic novels shipped during October, see "Top 300 Graphic Novels--October 2014."
For our estimates of actual sales by Diamond U.S. from comic specialty stores on comic books shipped during September, see "Top 300 Comics Actual--September 2014."
For our estimates of actual sales by Diamond U.S. from comic specialty stores on graphic novels shipped during September, see "Top 300 Graphic Novels--September 2014."
For an overview and analysis of the best-selling comics and graphic novels in September, see "Four Titles Over 100K in September." For an analysis of the dollar trends in September, see "Comic Shop Market Turns Positive in Q3."
For our index to our reports on the top comic and graphic novel preorders for January 2000 through October 2014, see "ICv2's Top 300 Comics and Top 300 GNs Index."