Year-to-date sales are now up 5.89% overall, with sales of comics up 7.54% and graphic novels up 2.24% for the first 11 months of the year.
Despite a very strong showing for DC’s Dark Knight III #1, which was the top book in November, market shares were similar to recent months, with Marvel over 40% and DC in the 20s. While DC can take some solace in the increase in its share to the mid-20s from the low 20s, that jump came from its smaller competitors rather than its New York rival.
November 2015 Comic Store Market Share
43.20% Marvel Comics
26.35% DC Entertainment
8.67% Image Comics
4.42% IDW Publishing
3.17% Dark Horse Comics
1.96% BOOM! Studios
1.90% Dynamite Entertainment
1.06% Oni Press
0.73% Titan Comics
The Top 10 comics list helps explains overall growth in market size and the share positions, with nine of the top 10 titles occupied by Marvel titles, including six up-priced books. Star Wars: Vader Down #1, which premiered very strong, was the #2 book of the month and one of three Star Wars titles in the top 10. The long-delayed Uncanny X-Men #600 finally shipped, which at $5.99 contributed strongly to Marvel’s dollars for the month.
Top 10 Comics – November 2015
- Dark Knight III: The Master Race #1
- Star Wars: Vader Down #1
- Deadpool #1
- Secret Wars #7
- Extraordinary X-Men #1
- All-New All-Different Avengers #1
- Star Wars #11
- Uncanny X-Men #600
- Star Wars #12
- All New Wolverine #1
Neil Gaiman’s Sandman: Overture Deluxe Ed. was the top graphic novel in the direct market. It placed #2 in the bookstores in November, but was topped only by Walking Dead Compendium #3 in that channel (see “November 2015 Bookscan – Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels”), which was unusually strong due to an exclusive cover (see “B&N Gets ‘Walking Dead’ Exclusive”).
Surprisingly, no The Walking Dead volumes charted in the Top 10 Graphic Novels in comic stores despite the fact that the TV season was running during the period.
The media tie-in action on the comic store graphic novel chart is now provided by Star Wars; three Star Wars volumes appeared in the Top 10, including the Force Awakens prequel at #2.
Top 10 Graphic Novels – November 2015
- Sandman Overture Deluxe Edition HC
- Star Wars: Journy To The Force Awakens: Shattered Empire
- Star Wars: Princess Leia Vol. 1
- Ms. Marvel Vol. 4
- Spider-Gwen Vol. 0: Most Wanted
- Deadpool Vs. Thanos Vol. 1
- Low Volume 2: Before the Dawn Burn Us Vol. 1
- Vampirella #1969
- Star Wars: Kanan Vol 1: The Last Padawan
- Saga Vol.
For an overview of comic sales in November, see "'Dark Knight III' #1 Orders Top 440,000."
For our estimates of actual sales by Diamond U.S. from comic specialty stores on comic books shipped during November, see "Top 300 Comics Actual--November 2015."
For our estimates of actual sales by Diamond U.S. from comic specialty stores on graphic novels shipped during November, see "Top 300 Graphic Novels Actual--November 2015."
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 2015."
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 Actual--October 2015."
For an overview and analysis of the best-selling comics and graphic novels in October, see “Comics Sales Slide Continued in October”).
For our index to our reports on the top comic and graphic novel preorders for January 2000 through November 2015, see "ICv2's Top 300 Comics and Top 300 GNs Index."