2013’s Best Selling Comics

Here it is, courtesy of worldwide comics (and many other cool things) distributor, Diamond.

DIAMOND LOGO color

Diamond Announces Top Comic Books & Graphic Novels of 2013

Marvel Comics top publisher; Image Comics’ The Walking Dead #115 was the year’s top comic 

Image Comics’ The Walking Dead #115 was the best-selling comic book published in 2013 based on total unit sales to comic book specialty shops, according to Diamond Comic Distributors, the world’s largest distributor of comics, graphic novels, and pop-culture merchandise.

Written by creator Robert Kirkman and illustrated by Charlie Adlard, The Walking Dead #115 celebrated the zombie series’ 10th-anniversary and kicked off the “All-Out War” storyline with twelve different covers, ten of which interlocked to create one large image.

Demonstrating the strength of the comic book specialty market, comics and graphic novels had another strong year, with 2013’s annual sales increasing 9.04% over the previous year, as comic book sales were up 10.22%, while graphic novel sales were up by 6.5%.

Marvel Comics finished the year as the comic book specialty market’s top publisher, leading both Dollar and Unit Market Shares, with a 33.50% Dollar Market Share and a 36.97% Unit Market Share.  Marvel Comics had six titles in the top ten, led by Guardians of the Galaxy #1 in the third spot.

DC Entertainment was the comic book specialty market’s number two publisher in 2013 with a 30.33% Dollar Market Share and a 33.35% Unit Market Share. DC Entertainment published three of the year’s top ten comic books and thirteen of the top twenty, with Justice League of America #1 charting as 2013’s second best-selling comic book title.

The first volume of Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples’ Saga from Image Comics was the year’s top-selling graphic novel and helped propel Image Comics to be the third largest comic book publisher, with a with a 8.00% Dollar Market Share and a 8.49% Unit Market Share. A science-fiction epic of love and family in a time of interstellar war, Saga received the Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story from the wider science-fiction community in September. Image Comics had seven of the top ten graphic novels, including five volumes of Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead.

IDW Publishing’s mix of licensed comic books, creator-owned titles and groundbreaking art books fortified the company as the comic book specialty market’s fourth largest publisher. The company’s market share rose .90% in 2013, up to 6.47% dollar market share. My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic Volume 1 based on the fan-favorite animated series was IDW’s top-selling graphic novel for the year.

Dark Horse Comics was the fifth leading comic book publisher to the comic book specialty market in 2013 with a 5.17% retail dollar market share, gaining .36% over its 2012 total. Coupled with the year’s top-selling book, The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia, Dark Horse solidified its position as a top seller in both the comic book specialty and book markets worldwide.

TOP COMIC BOOK PUBLISHERS

PUBLISHER

DOLLAR

SHARE

UNIT

SHARE

MARVEL COMICS

33.50%

36.97%

DC ENTERTAINMENT

30.33%

33.35%

IMAGE COMICS

8.00%

8.49%

IDW PUBLISHING

6.47%

5.10%

DARK HORSE COMICS

5.17%

4.50%

DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT

2.72%

2.59%

BOOM! STUDIOS

1.99%

1.92%

EAGLEMOSS PUBLICATIONS

1.25%

0.26%

VALIANT ENTERTAINMENT

0.98%

1.06%

AVATAR PRESS

0.89%

0.74%

OTHER NON-TOP 10

8.70%

5.02%

TOP 10 COMIC BOOKS

RANK

DESCRIPTION

PRICE

ITEM CODE

VENDOR

1

THE WALKING DEAD #115 (MR)

$2.99

AUG130518-M IMAGE COMICS

2

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #1

$3.99

DEC120237-M DC ENTERTAINMENT

3

SUPERMAN UNCHAINED #1

$4.99

APR130107-M DC ENTERTAINMENT

4

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #1

$3.99

JAN130642-M MARVEL COMICS

5

SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #1

$3.99

FEB138598-M MARVEL COMICS

6

INFINITY #1

$4.99

JUL138068-M MARVEL COMICS

7

X-MEN #1

$3.99

FEB130497-M MARVEL COMICS

8

AGE OF ULTRON #1

$3.99

JAN130627-M MARVEL COMICS

9

UNCANNY X-MEN #1

$3.99

DEC120608-M MARVEL COMICS

10

SUPERMAN UNCHAINED #2

$3.99

MAY130128-M DC ENTERTAINMENT

TOP 10 GRAPHIC NOVELS & TRADE PAPERBACKS

RANK

DESCRIPTION

PRICE

ITEM CODE

VENDOR

1

SAGA VOLUME 1 TP (MR)

$9.99

AUG120491 IMAGE COMICS

2

THE WALKING DEAD VOLUME 1: DAYS GONE BYE TP

$14.99

NOV128157 IMAGE COMICS

3

SAGA VOLUME 2 TP (MR)

$14.99

APR130443 IMAGE COMICS

4

THE WALKING DEAD VOLUME 18: WHAT COMES AFTER TP

$14.99

APR130482 IMAGE COMICS

5

THE WALKING DEAD VOLUME 2: MILES BEHIND US TP

$14.99

SEP088204 IMAGE COMICS

6

THE WALKING DEAD VOLUME 19: MARCH TO WAR TP

$14.99

SEP130566 IMAGE COMICS

7

HAWKEYE VOLUME 1: MY LIFE AS WEAPON TP

$16.99

DEC120744 MARVEL COMICS

8

BATMAN VOLUME 1: THE COURT OF OWLS TP

$16.99

DEC120323 DC ENTERTAINMENT

9

BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE SPECIAL EDITION HC

$17.99

NOV070226 DC ENTERTAINMENT

10

THE WALKING DEAD VOLUME 3: SAFETY BEHIND BARS TP

$14.99

NOV082245 IMAGE COMICS

dollar-share

unit-share

Walking Dead #115

Justice League of America #1

Superman Unchained #1

Saga Volume 1

 Saga Volume 2Walking Dead Volume 1

 

 

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