The February 2020 increases come against a very weak February 2019, when comic and graphic novel sales were down 5.27%, but are still up a couple of percent against February 2018.
Year-to-date comics and graphic novel sales are up 1.35%, with comic sales near flat at up .12% and graphic novel sales up 4.44%.
While the spread in market share between Marvel Comics and DC Comics hasn’t budged much (it’s almost 13 share points in February), we do note that the number of DC releases is creeping up toward the Marvel title count the last couple of months; DC released 130 comics and graphic novels in February, only 6% less than Marvel’s 139.
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Comic Store Market Share (Dollar & Unit Share) – February 2020 |
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|
Publisher |
Dollar Share |
Unit Share |
|
Marvel Comics |
41.85% |
47.60% |
|
DC Comics |
29.00% |
30.16% |
|
Image Comics |
6.02% |
5.41% |
|
IDW Publishing |
3.47% |
3.14% |
|
Dark Horse Comics |
2.93% |
2.06% |
|
BOOM! Studios |
2.58% |
2.64% |
|
VIZ Media |
2.24% |
0.87% |
|
Dynamite Entertainment |
2.11% |
2.04% |
|
Random House |
0.62% |
0.18% |
|
Titan Comics |
0.56% |
0.45% |
|
Other Non-Top 10 |
8.61% |
5.74% |
An up-priced Wolverine #1 was the top comic by units in February, one of four X-Men titles in the top five, and five in the top ten. DC had only two issues out of the top 10, both Batman.
Top 10 Comics by Units Shipped – February 2020
- Wolverine #1 (Marvel Comics)
- X-Men #6 (Marvel Comics)
- X-Men #7 (Marvel Comics)
- Gwen Stacy #1 (Marvel Comics)
- Giant Size X-men: Jean Grey & Emma Frost #1 (Marvel Comics)
- Amazing Spider-Man #3 (Marvel Comics)
- Star Wars: Darth Vader #1 (Marvel Comics)
- Batman #88 (DC Comics)
- X-Men/Fantastic Four #1 (Marvel Comics)
- Batman #89 (DC Comics)
DC Comics did a little better on the top ten comics by dollars chart, replacing a $3.99 Amazing Spider-Man issue with a $4.99 Batman: Curse of the White Knight issue, bringing its title count in the top ten to three.
Top 10 Comics by Dollars Invoiced – February 2020
- Wolverine #1 (Marvel Comics)
- X-Men #7 (Marvel Comics)
- X-Men #6 (Marvel Comics)
- Gwen Stacy #1 (Marvel Comics)
- Giant Size X-men: Jean Grey & Emma Frost #1 (Marvel Comics)
- Star Wars: Darth Vader #1 (Marvel Comics)
- X-Men/Fantastic Four #1 (Marvel Comics)
- Batman: Curse of the White Knight #7 (DC Comics)
- The Joker: Killer Smile #7 (DC Comics)
- DC Crimes of Passion #1 (DC Comics)
The chart of the top ten graphic novels by units isn’t very useful for seeing what was going on with new releases, as six of the top ten slots are occupied by years-old Star Wars collections that Marvel was selling at promotional prices in February. The Harleen HC, published under the DC's Black Label imprint, was the top graphic novel in units for the month.
Top 10 Graphic Novels by Units Shipped – February 2020
- Harleen HC (DC Comics)
- Die Vol. 2: Split the Party TP (Image Comics)
- Batman Tales: Once Upon a Crime TP (DC Comics)
- Star Wars: Darth Vader Vol. 4: End of Games TP (Marvel Comics)
- Star Wars: Journey of Star Wars: The Force Awakens: Shattered Empire HC (Marvel Comics)
- Star Wars: Vader Down TP (Marvel Comics)
- Star Wars: Chewbacca TP (Marvel Comics)
- Star Wars Volume 2: Showdown on the Smuggler's Moon TP (Marvel Comics)
- Star Wars Volume 3: Rebel Jail TP (Marvel Comics)
- My Hero Academia Vol. 23 GN (VIZ Media)
The top graphic novels by dollars invoiced chart was heavy with omnibi, as usual. Although Harleen retained its #1 slot, seven of the top ten unit books were replaced on the dollar chart with volumes priced at $100 or above.
Top 10 Graphic Novels by Dollars Invoiced – February 2020
- Harleen HC (DC Comics)
- X-Men Vs. Apocalypse: The Twelve Omnibus HC (Marvel Comics)
- Spider-Man: Miles Morales Omnibus HC (Marvel Comics)
- Marvel Masterworks: Uncanny X-Men Vol. 12 HC (Marvel Comics)
- Daredevil by Bendis & Maleev Omnibus Vol. 2 HC (Marvel Comics)
- Die Vol. 2: Split the Party TP (Image Comics)
- Marvel Masters of Suspense: Stan Lee & Steve Ditko Omnibus Vol. 2 HC (Marvel Comics)
- Ultimates by Mark Millar & Bryan Hitch Omnibus HC (Marvel Comics)
- Berserk Deluxe Edition Vol. 4 HC (Dark Horse Comics)
- Metabarons Box Set HC (Titan Comics)
For our estimates of actual sales by Diamond U.S. from comic specialty stores on comic books shipped during February, see "Top 500 Comics Actual--February 2020."
For our estimates of actual sales by Diamond U.S. from comic specialty stores on graphic novels shipped during February, see "Top 500 Graphic Novels Actual--February 2020."
For links to all previous Top 500/300 Comic and Top 500/300 Graphic Novel articles, see "ICv2 Top 300 Comics and Top 300 GNs Index."