Comics and graphic novel sales in comic stores surged 11.08% vs. the previous year in April, as two Action releases topped both the comics and graphic novel charts for the month, according to information released by Diamond Comic Distributors.  The growth was primarily in comics, which were up 15.67% for the month.  Graphic novels grew a more sedate 0.72% vs. April of last year.

April was the first up month since May of last year (see "Good News for Comics Market, But…"), which in turn was the only up month in all of 2017.  Things started to look better in March, which had sales fairly typical for flat comps in a five to four week comparison (see "Q1 Comic Sales Down Around 9%").  These trends reflect our reporting on comic retailer sentiment earlier this year (see "Cautious Optimism in Comic Stores").

Year-to-date sales improved substantially as a result of the strong Apirl.  Comics and graphic novel sales through the first four months of 2018 were down 3.97%, with comics down 1.51% and graphic novels down 9.68%


Despite the fact that up-price Action releases from DC were at the tops of their respective charts, Marvel grew by a similar amount; the market share spread between the two was fairly typical for recent months, 5.2%.

April 2018 Comic Store Market Share (Dollar Share)
37.59%         Marvel Comics
32.39%         DC Entertainment
  9.16%         Image Comics
  4.08%         IDW Publishing
  2.36%         Dark Horse Comics
  2.20%         BOOM! Studios
  1.60%         Dynamite Entertainment
  1.19%         VIZ Media
  1.13%         Oni Press
  0.73%         Titan Comics
  7.57%         Other Non-Top 10

With preorders on Action #1000 hitting a half million copies (see "’Action Comics’ #1000 Preorders Hit 500,000"), it was an easy lift to top the piece sales comics chart. 

Top 10 Comics by Units Shipped – April 2018
  1.     Action Comics #1000
  2.     Amazing Spider-Man #798
  3.     Amazing Spider-Man #799
  4.     Hunt For Wolverine #1
  5.     Batman #44
  6.     Venomized #1
  7.     Batman #45
  8.     Domino #1
  9.     Captain America #700
10.     The Walking Dead #178

With a cover price double the typical comic, Action Comics #1000 also topped the dollars chart, but Marvel held strong, with six of the Top 10 piece sale comics, and seven of the top ten dollar books.


Top 10 Comics by Dollars Invoiced – April 2018
  1.     Action Comics #1000
  2.     Amazing Spider-Man #798
  3.     Hunt For Wolverine #1
  4.     Amazing Spider-Man #799
  5.     Venomized #1
  6.     Captain America #700
  7.     Domino #1
  8.     Batman #44
  9.     Infinity Countdown #2
10.     The Walking Dead #178

The Paul Levitz-curated collection of stories and features celebrating the #1000 issue of Action Comics topped the graphic novel piece sale chart in April, one of only two DCs in the Top 10.

Top 10 Graphic Novels by Units Shipped – April 2018
  1.     Action Comics: 80 Years of Superman HC
  2.     Paper Girls Vol. 4 TP
  3.     Thanos: The Infinity Siblings OGN HC
  4.     Saga Vol. 1 TP
  5.     Batman Vol. 5: Rules of Engagement TP
  6.     The Infinity Gauntlet TP
  7.     Star Wars: Darth Vader Vol. 2: Legacy’s End TP
  8.     Saga Vol. 8 TP
  9.     Phoenix Resurrection: The Return of Jean Grey TP
10      Paper Girls Vol. 1 TP

Two-up price collections pushed two much less expensive Image collections out of the Top 10 when ranked by dollars (as opposed to pieces). 

Top 10 Graphic Novels by Dollars Invoiced – April 2018
  1.     Action Comics: 80 Years of Superman HC
  2.     Paper Girls Vol. 4 TP
  3.     Thanos: The Infinity Siblings OGN HC
  4.     The Infinity Gauntlet TP
  5.     X-Men: Grand Design TP
  6.     Batman Vol. 5: Rules of Engagement TP
  7.     Harley Quinn & The Gotham City Sirens Omnibus HC
  8.     Marvel Masterworks: Avengers Vol. 18 HC
  9.     Star Wars: Darth Vader Vol. 2: Legacy’s End TP
10.     Superman: Exile and Other Stories Omnibus HC

For our estimates of actual sales by Diamond U.S. from comic specialty stores on comic books shipped during April, see "Top 500 Comics Actual--April 2018."

For our estimates of actual sales by Diamond U.S. from comic specialty stores on graphic novels shipped during April, see "Top 500 Graphic Novels Actual--April 2018."

For an overview and analysis for the month of April, see "Big Numbers for the 'Action' Titles."

For links to all previous Top 300 Comic and Top 300 Graphic Novel articles, see "ICv2 Top 300 Comics and Top 300 GNs Index."