Marvel had a 41.05% share of comics sold to comic stores in January, according to information released by Diamond Comic Distributors, besting #2 DC by nearly 17 points.  Marvel’s direct market share in January was more than the next three largest publishers (DC, Image, and IDW) combined.

Marvel’s strong showing was in a big month, with direct market comics and graphic novel sales in January 2015 up 12.27% over sales in January 2014.  Graphic novels were up 16.83% and comics up 10.27% for the month.

January 2015 Comic Store Market Share

41.05%  Marvel Comics
24.18%  DC Entertainment
  9.21%  Image Comics   
  5.78%  IDW Publishing
  4.01%  Dark Horse Comics
  2.41%  Dynamite Entertainment
  2.26%  BOOM! Studios
  1.46%  Eaglemoss Publications
  1.08%  Avatar Press
  0.95%  VIZ Media

The driving force in Marvel’s January market share dominance was the release of Star Wars #1, the best-selling comic in recent years, at a premium priced $4.99.  But Marvel was also dominant throughout the rest of the Top 10, with eight of the top ten slots and seven of the top eight.

Top 10 Comics--January 2015

  1. Star Wars #1
  2. Batman #38
  3. Amazing Spider-Man #12
  4. Amazing Spider-Man #13
  5. Uncanny Avengers #1
  6. Wolverines #1
  7. Ant-Man #1
  8. Thor #4
  9. Justice League #38
  10. The Walking Dead #136


And in the graphic novel category, Image had seven of the top ten and Marvel the other three.  That’s another reason for DC’s weak share showing; at one time, DC was dominant in graphic novels and now has reached the point that it doesn’t have a single title in the top ten.

Image Comics placed all four Saga volumes in the Top 10, with interest climbing in the wake of the release of Volume 4 last month.

Top 10 Graphic Novels--January 2015

  1. Death of Wolverine HC
  2. Outcast by Kirkman and Azaceta Vol. 1
  3. Saga Vol. 4
  4. Black Science Vol. 2
  5. Saga Vol. 1
  6. Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 2
  7. Saga Vol. 3
  8. Saga Vol. 2
  9. The Walking Dead Vol. 1
  10. Deadpool: The Ones with Deadpool
     

For an overview and analysis of comic sales in January, see "'Star Wars' #1 Is Big"
 
For our estimates of actual sales by Diamond U.S. from comic specialty stores on comic books shipped during January, see "Top 300 Comics Actual--January 2015."
 
For our estimates of actual sales by Diamond U.S. from comic specialty stores on graphic novels shipped during January, see "Top 300 Graphic Novels Actual--January 2015."
 
For our estimates of actual sales by Diamond U.S. from comic specialty stores on comic books shipped during December, see "Top 300 Comics Actual--December 2014."
 
For our estimates of actual sales by Diamond U.S. from comic specialty stores on graphic novels shipped during December, see "Top 300 Graphic Novels Actual--December 2014."
 
For an overview and analysis of the best-selling comics and graphic novels in December, see "Only Two December Comics Above 100,000."  For an analysis of the dollar trends in December, see "Solid Finish to 2014 for Comic Sales."
 
For our index to our reports on the top comic and graphic novel preorders for January 2000 through January 2015, see "ICv2's Top 300 Comics and Top 300 GNs Index."