Marvel dominated in January, more than doubling the sales of its nearest competitor, DC. Marvel put out 131 titles in January, compared to only 98 for DC, roughly flipping the relative number of titles from December. Eaglemoss had a big month, hitting the #6 share.
January 2016 Comic Store Market Share
44.38% Marvel Comics
22.16% DC Entertainment
9.67% Image Comics
4.11% IDW Publishing
3.06% Dark Horse Comics
2.26% Eaglemoss Publications
1.98% BOOM! Studios
1.18% VIZ Media
1.15% Titan Comics
1.15% Dynamite Entertainment
The Walking Dead topped the comics charts for January with its landmark 150th issue, but below #1 it was a Marvel world in the Top 10, with the next six ranks and eight of the top 10. The final Secret Wars issue was Marvel’s top book. Four of Marvel’s Top 10 titles were Star Wars books, with the other three arguably tied to the X-Men (depending on how you count Spider-Man/Deadpool #1).
DC placed one book, its flagship Batman title, in the Top 10. Noticably absent was the second issue of Dark Knight III, which appears to have dropped out of the Top 10 in its second month.
Top 10 Comics – January 2016
- The Walking Dead #150
- Secret Wars #9
- Spider-Man/Deadpool #1
- Star Wars #14
- Star Wars #15
- Old Man Logan #1
- Star Wars: Obi-Wan and Anakin #1
- Batman #48
- Darth Vader #15
- Uncanny X-Men #1
Star Wars was the story in graphic novels in January, with the top two titles and four of the Top 10. An adult coloring book, for Deadpool, hit #3 (is the adult coloring book fad over yet?). The first volume of Invader Zim, which has been selling well in periodical form, placed even better as a graphic novel, taking the #7 slot for January.
Top 10 Graphic Novels – January 2016
- Star Wars: Darth Vader Vol. 2
- Star Wars Vol. 2
- Color Your Own Deadpool
- Death of Wolverine
- Star Wars: Lando
- Deadpool’s Secret Secret Wars
- Invader Zim Vol. 1
- Thor Vol. 1
- Star Wars: Darth Vader Vol. 1
- Civil War
For an overview of comic sales in January, see "How Low Can DC Go?"
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 2016."
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 2016."
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 2015."
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 2015."
For an overview and analysis of the best-selling comics and graphic novels in December, see "Variants' Influence Felt in December Comic Numbers."
For our index to our reports on the top comic and graphic novel preorders for January 2000 through January 2016, see "ICv2's Top 300 Comics and Top 300 GNs Index."