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What Were The Top Selling Comics Of January? 

Last week, Diamond Distributors released the details behind January’s releases, including the top ten books and graphic novels of the month. 

Some things to note:

Marvel is currently leading in both dollar and unit share, with DC as a close second.  Marvel’s numbers are probably higher right now due to January’s line-wide launch of All-New Marvel NOW, though it’s worth noting that DC took five of the top ten slots for comics this month, including the #1 and #2 spot with Batman #27 and Detective Comics #27. 

Only one new #1 made the list this month, with all the others (save for Harley Quinn) already being established series. 

Graphic Novel sales were down drastically compared to last year’s January numbers, as well as December’s sales.  It’s also one of the first times The Walking Dead Volume 1 did NOT take the top slot, with Saga taking over the top spot. 

Sales in general were down across the board, although comics themselves were only down a hair compared to last months sales. 

Despite the series ending in April, Superior Spider-Man’s two issues (including the $4.99 issue) took two of the spots this month, meaning that the series as a whole has had at least one issue in the top ten since it started, with the other issue usually making the top fifteen. 

Only one book in the top ten was $2.99.  All the others were either $3.99, $4.99 (SSM #25) or $7.99 (Detective Comics #27)

With those thoughts out of the way, check out the numbers for yourself:

TOP COMIC BOOK PUBLISHERS

PUBLISHER

DOLLAR

SHARE

UNIT

SHARE

MARVEL COMICS

34.09%

37.39%

DC COMICS

28.06%

30.77%

IMAGE COMICS

8.78%

10.10%

IDW PUBLISHING

5.71%

5.08%

DARK HORSE COMICS

4.74%

4.22%

DYNAMIC FORCES

2.81%

2.69%

BOOM ENTERTAINMENT

2.25%

1.99%

EAGLEMOSS PUBLICATIONS LTD

2.14%

0.43%

VIZ LLC

1.26%

0.51%

AVATAR PRESS INC

1.05%

0.87%

OTHER NON-TOP 10

9.11%

5.95%

NEW TITLES SHIPPED

PUBLISHER

COMICS SHIPPED

GRAPHIC NOVELS SHIPPED

MAGAZINES SHIPPED

TOTAL

SHIPPED

DC ENTERTAINMENT

83

23

0

106

MARVEL COMICS

79

27

0

106

IMAGE COMICS

53

11

0

64

IDW PUBLISHING

38

15

0

53

VIZ MEDIA

0

45

0

45

DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT

36

4

0

40

DARK HORSE COMICS

26

12

0

38

BOOM!  STUDIOS

26

7

0

33

AVATAR PRESS

16

2

1

19

EAGLEMOSS PUBLICATIONS

0

0

14

14

OTHER

77

108

21

206

COMPARATIVE SALES STATISTICS

DOLLARS

UNITS

JANUARY 2014 VS.  DECEMBER 2013

COMICS

-5.87%

-7.17%

GRAPHIC NOVELS

-11.65%

-9.89%

TOTAL COMICS/GN

-7.71%

-7.39%

JANUARY 2014 VS.  JANUARY 2013

COMICS

-0.42%

-7.45%

GRAPHIC NOVELS

-14.28%

-6.99%

TOTAL COMICS/GN

-5.09%

-7.42%

TWELVE-MONTH ROLLING COMPARISON

COMICS

8.52%

4.61%

GRAPHIC NOVELS

2.57%

2.48%

TOTAL COMICS/GN

6.63%

4.44%

TOP 10 COMIC BOOKS

RANK

DESCRIPTION

PRICE

ITEM CODE

VENDOR

1

BATMAN #27

$3.99

NOV130172-M

DC

2

DETECTIVE COMICS #27

$7.99

NOV130175-M

DC

3

AVENGERS WORLD #1

$3.99

NOV130569-M

MAR

4

JUSTICE LEAGUE #27

$3.99

NOV130123-M

DC

5

SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #25

$4.99

NOV130660-M

MAR

6

ALL NEW X-MEN #22.NOW

$3.99

NOV130557-M

MAR

7

SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #26

$3.99

NOV130662

MAR

8

HARLEY QUINN #2

$2.99

NOV130171

DC

9

AVENGERS #25

$3.99

NOV130579-M

MAR

10

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #11

$3.99

NOV130126-M

DC

TOP 10 GRAPHIC NOVELS & TRADE PAPERBACKS

RANK

DESCRIPTION

PRICE

ITEM CODE

VENDOR

1

SAGA VOLUME 1 TP (MR)

$9.99

AUG120491

IMA

2

THE WALKING DEAD VOL.  1: DAYS GONE BYE TP

$14.99

NOV128157

IMA

3

ALL-NEW X-MEN VOLUME 1: YESTERDAY’S X-MEN TP

$19.99

OCT130757

MAR

4

SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN VOL.  4: NECESSARY EVIL TP

$17.99

OCT130759

MAR

5

BATMAN ’66: THE TV STORIES TP

$14.99

OCT130248

DC

6

SAGA VOLUME 2 TP (MR)

$14.99

APR130443

IMA

7

X-MEN: BATTLE OF THE ATOM HC

$49.99

OCT130747

MAR

8

THE UNWRITTEN VOLUME 8: ORPHEUS IN THE UNDERWORLDS TP (MR)

$16.99

OCT130295

DC

9

BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT VOLUME 2: CYCLE OF VIOLENCE TP (N52)

$14.99

OCT130236

DC

10

THOR: GOD OF THUNDER VOL.  1: GOD BUTCHER TP

$19.99

OCT130763

MAR

What are your thoughts on January’s sales?  Any surprises?  Leave your thoughts in the comments below.