IDW Publishing's comic based on the Canadian science fiction TV series Orphan Black, aired here on BBC America, was the #1 comic in February (see "IDW to Publish 'Orphan Black' Comic"), a month in which comics and graphic novel sales in the comic store channel grew over 14% vs. the previous year, according to information released by Diamond Comic Distributors.

Orphan Black hit the #1 spot behind inclusion in March’s Loot Crate, a phenomenon that has now impacted Diamond’s comic best seller charts several times, once with The Walking Dead #132 (see "Loot Crate Wakes 'The Walking Dead'"), and for the first time with Rocket Raccoon #1 (see "'Rocket Raccoon’ Nearly 300K").

Marvel had seven of the remaining nine slots in the top ten comics in, with three of the titles, including Darth Vader #1 and #2, and Star Wars #2, tied to Star Wars.

Top 10 Comics—February 2015

1. Orphan Black #1
2. Darth Vader #1
3. Spider-Gwen #1
4. Star Wars #2
5. Batman #39
6. Amazing Spider-Man #14
7. Darth Vader #2
8. Amazing Spider-Man #15
9. Silk #1
10. Justice League #39

Although DC took the #1 graphic novel slot with the third volume in its Superman:  Earth One series, Image was the dominant publisher in the Top 10 Graphic Novels, with seven of ten titles and ranks 2 through 7.  The second Sex Criminals collection was Image’s top title and #2 overall.

Top 10 Graphic Novels—February 2015

1. Superman:  Earth One Vol. 3
2. Sex Criminals Vol. 2:  Two Worlds One Cop
3. The Fade-Out Vol. 1
4. Saga Vol. 4
5. Chew Vol. 9:  Chicken Tenders
6. Trees Vol. 1
7. The Walking Dead Vol. 11
8. Ms. Marvel Vol. 1:  No Normal
9. Saga Vol. 1
10. Kick-Ass 3

Although Marvel’s market share was down from its huge win in January (see "Marvel Kills It in Big January"), it still topped DC’s by over 12 points.  Image was in double digits again, and IDW had a strong month behind its big sales on Orphan Black #1.

February 2015 Comic Store Market Share

38.44%  Marvel Comics
25.91%  DC Comics
10.51%  Image Comics
  5.57%  IDW Publishing
  3.48%  Dark Horse Comics
  2.63%  Dynamite Entertainment
  2.12%  BOOM! Studios
  0.95%  Eaglemoss Publications
  0.89%  VIZ Media
  0.85%  Avatar Press

The market was strong again in February, with comics and graphic novel sales up 14.17%, driven almost entirely by comics, which were up 20.42%.  Graphic novels were flat (up less than .1%).

For an overview and analysis of comic sales in February, see "Seven Titles Over 100K in February."
 
For our estimates of actual sales by Diamond U.S. from comic specialty stores on comic books shipped during February, see "Top 300 Comics Actual--February 2015."
 
For our estimates of actual sales by Diamond U.S. from comic specialty stores on graphic novels shipped during February, see "Top 300 Graphic Novels Actual--February 2015."
 
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 an overview and analysis of the best-selling comics and graphic novels in January, see "'Star Wars' #1 Is Big."  For an analysis of the dollar trends in January see "Marvel Kills It in Big January."
 
For our index to our reports on the top comic and graphic novel preorders for January 2000 through February 2015, see "ICv2's Top 300 Comics and Top 300 GNs Index."