Marvel Comics dominated the Top 10 comic book sales chart in August 2019 and the market share charts overall, but four shipping weeks compared to five in August 2018 leaves the Direct Market still uncertain if the year is going to be up or down.
According to figures released by Diamond Comic Distributors Friday morning, Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman’s Absolute Carnage #1 and Marvel’s 80th anniversay themed celebration Marvel Comics #1000 flip-flopped as the bestselling titles in August. The $7.99 Absolute Carnage #1 was the most ordered title of the month, while the $9.99 Marvel Comics #1000 generated the most dollars by retailers.
In terms of units ordered, Marvel had 7 of the Top 10 titles in Marvel, including the second and third issues of Jonathan Hickman’s House of X and Powers of X, which together occupy the 4 through 7 chart positions. Interestingly, House of X #3 charted higher than House of X #2, which is a dynmic worth watching when the September charts release.
Joshua Williamson and David Marquez’s Batman/Superman #1, spinning out of The Batman Who Laughs, ranked #3 for August, one of three DC titles in the unit Top 10.
With Image’s The Walking Dead now off the table as a periodical, IDW Publishing’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #97 at #44 was the highest-charting non Marvel-DC title.
But speaking of, The Walking Dead Volume 32, the final (new) volume of Image series, was August’s best-selling graphic novel.
Marvel’s August domination was both a product of comic book chart-toppers and volume. The publisher accounted for half – or 49.6% to be exact – of all comic book and graphic novel units ordered. DC was second in with 25.96%, a little more than half less.
Marvel’s dollar share was 46.15% to DC’s 24.86%.
Again, largely due to one-less ship week compared to last year and a big dip in graphic novel sales, overall August 2019 dollar sales were down 5.76% compared to August 2018 and with one more month left in Q3, overall dollar sales are down 0.26% year-to-date and 4.68% in units.
“In short, the big events were offset by the one-less-shipping-week, the smaller slates at DC and Image, and the fact that last August had a major sale of graphic novels,” explains John Jackson Miller of Comichron. “We won’t see more impact from the big events until the fourth quarter, when we’re no longer comparing against ‘normal’slates at DC in 2018 that were north of 75 comics a month. Then the effect of the hits will be easier to perceive.”
The August 2019 Market Share, Comparative Sales Data, New Titles Shipped and Top 10 Comic Books Units and Dollars and Top 10 Graphic Novels Units and Dollars charts can be seen below:
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COMPARATIVE SALES STATISTICS
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DOLLARS |
UNITS |
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AUGUST 2019 VS. JULY 2019 |
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COMICS |
-6.01% |
-9.70% |
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GRAPHIC NOVELS |
-5.13% |
0.26% |
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TOTAL COMICS/GN |
-5.78% |
-9.06% |
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TOYS |
-21.40% |
-20.06% |
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AUGUST 2019 VS. AUGUST 2018 |
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COMICS |
0.64% |
-4.44% |
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GRAPHIC NOVELS |
-20.11% |
-21.96% |
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TOTAL COMICS/GN |
-5.76% |
-5.94% |
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TOYS |
-9.65% |
11.91% |
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YEAR TO DATE 2019 VS. YEAR TO DATE 2018 |
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COMICS |
0.92% |
-4.37% |
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GRAPHIC NOVELS |
-3.24% |
-8.55% |
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TOTAL COMICS/GN |
-0.26% |
-4.68% |
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TOYS |
24.37% |
31.96% |
NEW TITLES SHIPPED
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PUBLISHER |
COMICS |
GRAPHIC NOVELS |
MAGAZINES |
TOTAL |
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MARVEL COMICS |
88 |
42 |
0 |
130 |
|
DC |
64 |
27 |
1 |
92 |
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IMAGE COMICS |
47 |
9 |
0 |
56 |
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IDW PUBLISHING |
32 |
12 |
0 |
44 |
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DARK HORSE COMICS |
21 |
18 |
0 |
39 |
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BOOM! STUDIOS |
19 |
15 |
0 |
34 |
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DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT |
17 |
7 |
0 |
24 |
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VIZ MEDIA |
0 |
21 |
0 |
21 |
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TITAN COMICS |
8 |
6 |
1 |
15 |
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VALIANT ENTERTAINMENT |
7 |
2 |
0 |
9 |
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OTHER NON-TOP 10 |
128 |
169 |
22 |
319 |
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TOTAL |
431 |
328 |
24 |
783 |
TOP 10 COMIC BOOKS BY UNITS SHIPPED
|
RANK |
DESCRIPTION |
PRICE |
VENDOR |
|
1 |
ABSOLUTE CARNAGE #1 |
$7.99 |
MAR |
|
2 |
MARVEL COMICS #1000 |
$9.99 |
MAR |
|
3 |
BATMAN/SUPERMAN #1 [*] |
$3.99 |
DC |
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4 |
HOUSE OF X #3 |
$4.99 |
MAR |
|
5 |
POWERS OF X #2 |
$4.99 |
MAR |
|
6 |
HOUSE OF X #2 |
$4.99 |
MAR |
|
7 |
POWERS OF X #3 |
$4.99 |
MAR |
|
8 |
ABSOLUTE CARNAGE #2 |
$4.99 |
MAR |
|
9 |
BATMAN #77 |
$3.99 |
DC |
|
10 |
BATMAN: CURSE OF THE WHITE KNIGHT #2 |
$4.99 |
DC |
TOP 10 COMIC BOOKS BY DOLLARS INVOICED
|
RANK |
DESCRIPTION |
PRICE |
VENDOR |
|
1 |
MARVEL COMICS #1000 |
$9.99 |
MAR |
|
2 |
ABSOLUTE CARNAGE #1 |
$7.99 |
MAR |
|
3 |
BATMAN/SUPERMAN #1 [*] |
$3.99 |
DC |
|
4 |
SUPERMAN: YEAR ONE #2 (MR) [*] |
$7.99 |
DC |
|
5 |
POWERS OF X #2 |
$4.99 |
MAR |
|
6 |
HOUSE OF X #3 |
$4.99 |
MAR |
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7 |
HOUSE OF X #2 |
$4.99 |
MAR |
|
8 |
POWERS OF X #3 |
$4.99 |
MAR |
|
9 |
ABSOLUTE CARNAGE #2 |
$4.99 |
MAR |
|
10 |
BATMAN: CURSE OF THE WHITE KNIGHT #2 |
$4.99 |
DC |
TOP 10 GRAPHIC NOVELS & TRADE PAPERBACKS BY UNITS SHIPPED
|
RANK |
DESCRIPTION |
PRICE |
VENDOR |
|
1 |
THE WALKING DEAD VOLUME 32 TP |
$16.99 |
IMA |
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2 |
THE BATMAN WHO LAUGHS HC |
$29.99 |
DC |
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3 |
HARLEY QUINN: BREAKING GLASS TP |
$16.99 |
DC |
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4 |
WATCHMEN TP |
$24.99 |
DC |
|
5 |
WAR OF THE REALMS TP |
$29.99 |
MAR |
|
6 |
MARVEL’S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. DECLASSIFIED SLIPCASE HC |
$49.99 |
MAR |
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7 |
STAR WARS: VADER: DARK VISIONS TP |
$15.99 |
MAR |
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8 |
MIRACULOUS: TALES OF LADYBUG AND CAT NOIR SEASON 2 VOL. 4: NO EVIL DOING TP |
$8.99 |
ACT |
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9 |
DISNEY DESCENDANTS: EVIE’S WICKED RUNWAY VOL. 2 TP |
$15.99 |
TOK |
|
10 |
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 1: FINAL GAUNTLET TP |
$17.99 |
MAR |
TOP 10 GRAPHIC NOVELS & TRADE PAPERBACKS BY DOLLARS INVOICED
|
RANK |
DESCRIPTION |
PRICE |
VENDOR |
|
1 |
THE WALKING DEAD VOLUME 32 TP |
$16.99 |
IMA |
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2 |
THE BATMAN WHO LAUGHS HC |
$29.99 |
DC |
|
3 |
SAGA COMPENDIUM VOLUME 1 TP (MR) |
$59.99 |
IMA |
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4 |
WAR OF THE REALMS TP |
$29.99 |
MAR |
|
5 |
THE JOKER: THE BRONZE AGE OMNIBUS HC |
$99.99 |
DC |
|
6 |
WATCHMEN TP |
$24.99 |
DC |
|
7 |
MARVEL MASTERS OF SUSPENSE: LEE & DITKO OMNIBUS VOLUME 1 HC |
$100.00 |
MAR |
|
8 |
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN: HUNTED TP |
$39.99 |
MAR |
|
9 |
THE BOYS OMNIBUS VOLUME 1 TP (MR) |
$29.99 |
DYN |
|
10 |
MISTER MIRACLE HC (MR) |
$34.99 |
DC |