As has been the case most of the time recently, comics did better than graphic novels, up 15.32%, while graphic novel sales were up 11.98%.
Marvel had a significant share lead of around 9.5% in January.
January 2019 Comic Store Market Share (Dollar Share)
39.24% Marvel Comics
29.70% DC Entertainment
7.56% Image Comics
3.95% Dark Horse Comics
3.65% IDW Publishing
2.32% BOOM! Studios
2.13% Dynamite Entertainment
1.55% VIZ Media
0.80% Titan Comics
0.78% Archie Comics
8.31% Other Non-Top 10
Marvel Comics and DC Entertainment evenly split the top ten titles in comic stores.
Top 10 Comics by Units Shipped – January 2019
1. The Batman Who Laughs #2 (DC Comics)
2. Captain Marvel #1 (Marvel Comics)
3. Guardians of the Galaxy #1 (Marvel Comics)
4. Conan The Barbarian #1 (Marvel Comics)
5. Amazing Spider-Man #14 (Marvel Comics)
6. Batman #62 (DC Comics)
7. Batman #63 (DC Comics)
8. Heroes in Crisis #4 (DC Comics)
9. Heroes in Crisis #5 (DC Comics)
10. Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #1 (Marvel Comics)
This month had the interesting phenomenon of having two titles with identical cover prices flipping ranks between the units and dollar charts. The Batman Who Laughs #2 was the top-selling comic in units, while Captain Marvel #1 was the top selling comic by dollars. Both were $4.99. The reason is that the dollar ranks are based on wholesale dollars, so the wholesale price of The Batman Who Laughs must have been lower than the wholesale price of Captain Marvel #1.
Top 10 Comics by Dollars Invoiced – January 2019
1. Captain Marvel #1 (Marvel Comics)
2. The Batman Who Laughs #2
3. Guardians of the Galaxy #1 (Marvel Comics)
4. Conan the Barbarian #1 (Marvel Comics)
5. Amazing Spider-Man #14 (Marvel Comics)
6. Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #1 (Marvel Comics)
7. Young Justice #1 (DC Comics)
8. Batman #62 (DC Comics)
9. Batman #63 (DC Comics)
10. Heroes in Crisis #4 (DC Comics)
DC Comics had the top graphic novel with the Dark Nights: Metal collection, while Marvel took the #2 slot with The Infinity Gauntlet, which may keep selling right up until the next Avengers movie. Dark Horse Comics' Black Hammer Vol. 3 and Image Comics' Farmhand Vol. 1 were the two volumes not from the Big Two in the Top 10.
Top 10 Graphic Novels by Units Shipped – January 2019
1. Dark Nights: Metal TP (DC Comics)
2. The Infinity Gauntlet TP (Marvel Comics)
3. The Life of Captain Marvel TP (Marvel Comics)
4. Star Wars: Darth Vader: Dark Lord of The Sith Vol. 4 TP (Marvel Comics)
5. Cosmic Ghost Rider: Baby Thanos Must Die TP (Marvel Comics)
6. Black Hammer Vol. 3: Age of Doom Part I TP (Dark Horse Comics)
7. Farmhand Vol. 1 TP (Image Comics)
8. Dark Days: The Road to Metal TP (DC Comics)
9. Batman: White Knight TP (DC Comics)
10. Spider-Geddon: Edge of Spider-Geddon TP (Marvel Comics)
Marvel Comics ended up with the top two titles and three of the top four when January graphic novel sales were ranked by dollars invoiced, behind Conan the Barbarian and X-Men omnibi. Six of the top ten graphic novel titles by dollars invoiced were $49.99 or more.
Top 10 Graphic Novels by Dollars Invoiced – January 2019
1. Conan The Barbarian Omnibus Vol. 1 HC (Marvel Comics)
2. The Infinity Gauntlet TP (Marvel Comics)
3. Dark Nights: Metal TP (DC Comics)
4. Marvel Masterworks: Uncanny X-Men Vol. 11 HC (Marvel Comics)
5. House of Mystery: The Bronze Age Omnibus Vol. 1 HC (DC Comics)
6. Infinity TP (Marvel Comics)
7. Marvel Masterworks: Marvel Team-Up Vol. 4 HC (Marvel Comics)
8. Star Wars: Darth Vader: Dark Lord of The Sith Vol. 4 TP (Marvel Comics)
9. Black Hammer Vol. 3: Age of Doom Part I TP (Dark Horse Comics)
10. Spider-Man: Ben Reilly Omnibus Volume 1 HC (Marvel Comics)
For our estimates of actual sales by Diamond U.S. from comic specialty stores on comic books shipped during January, see "Top 500 Comics Actual--January 2019."
For our estimates of actual sales by Diamond U.S. from comic specialty stores on graphic novels shipped during January, see "Top 500 Graphic Novels Actual--January 2019."
For links to all previous Top 300 Comic and Top 300 Graphic Novel articles, see "ICv2 Top 300 Comics and Top 300 GNs Index."