While the numbers you present do not look as strong as we would like, the interesting number, to me, is the total number of the Top 300 books distributed to comic stores.
If we use the same reference point in the article, January 2011, we see that the #300 title sold 1,291 copies while in January 2015, #300 sold 4,419. This could indicated a stronger market overall if people are just diversifying their reading.
Additionally, the market could be even bigger still than reflected in your article. If we assume (and I know we shouldn't) the rumours of old that Diamond's threshold for distributing a comic is 1,500 copies, and the #300 book in January 2015 is moving more than 4,000 units, it is likely that there are more books beyond #300 that are making their way into the marketplace as they are sitting above the threshold.
So, is the market more diverse and potentially healthier or should we only focus on the top selling titles to gage market strength? Can we get totals for each month's Top 300 for comparison?
[Ed. Note: We took a look at the questions Bardyla raised, see "Comic Numbers Show More Diverse Market."]
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