Mobile Menu

Diamond Announces Top Products for April 2014

(BALTIMORE, MD) — (May 9, 2014) — Peter Parker has a second chance at life and heroism in Dan Slott and Humberto Ramos' Amazing Spider-Man #1 from Marvel Comics, the best-selling comic book of April 2014 according to information provided by Diamond Comic Distributors, the world's largest distributor of comics, graphic novels, and pop culture merchandise.

Marvel Comics' Amazing Spider-Man #1 was the comic industry's best-selling comic book in both units and dollars in over a decade and was one of four titles placed by Marvel in the top ten. DC Comics took the remaining six spots in the top ten, led by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo's Batman #30 at #3.

Marvel Comics was April's top publisher, with a 39.27% Dollar Share and 41.15% Unit Share, compared to 23.65% and 27.24% respectively for DC Entertainment. Image Comics had a robust April with a 9.34% dollar share, followed by strong showings for Dark Horse Comics at 5.54% and IDW Publishing at 5.10%.

The sci-fi comedy crime caper Sex Criminals by Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky from Image Comics was April's best-selling graphic novel and was one of the publisher's seven titles among the month's top ten. Also of note, Marvel Comics' Amazing Spider-Man: Family Business original graphic novel ranked #5, and DC Comics' The Joker: Death of the Family ranked #7.

BOOM! Studios' first novel in the Jim Henson Archives, A.C.H. Smith's novelization of the film Labyrinth, was April's best-selling prose book. Also in the top ten in April were St. Martin Press' The Walking Dead Book 4: The Fall of the Governor Part 2 by Robert Kirkman and Jay Bonansinga at #2 and Dark Horse Comics' Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia at #3.

The heroes and villains of the DC Comics universe are recreated as cute mini-figures for the Scibblenauts Unmasked Series 2 Figures from DC Collectibles, April's best-selling Toy product.

For the second month in a row, USAopoly's Monopoly: The Walking Dead Survival Edition topped the sales charts as April's best-selling Games product.

TOP PUBLISHERS

RETAIL MARKET SHARE
PUBLISHER SHARE
MARVEL COMICS 39.27%
DC COMICS 23.65%
IMAGE COMICS 9.34%
DARK HORSE COMICS 5.54%
IDW PUBLISHING 5.10%
DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT 2.49%
EAGLEMOSS PUBLICATIONS LTD 2.14%
BOOM! STUDIOS 2.07%
AVATAR PRESS INC 1.15%
VALIANT ENTERTAINMENT LLC 1.04%
OTHER NON-TOP 10 8.21%
 
UNIT MARKET SHARE
PUBLISHER SHARE
MARVEL COMICS 41.15%
DC COMICS 27.24%
IMAGE COMICS 10.31%
DARK HORSE COMICS 5.18%
IDW PUBLISHING 4.24%
DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT 2.47%
BOOM! STUDIOS 1.97%
VALIANT ENTERTAINMENT LLC 1.18%
AVATAR PRESS INC 1.03%
ZENESCOPE ENTERTAINMENT INC 0.73%
OTHER NON-TOP 10 4.50%

TITLES SHIPPED

PUBLISHER COMICS SHIPPED GRAPHIC NOVELS SHIPPED MAGAZINES SHIPPED TOTAL SHIPPED
MARVEL COMICS 80 35 0 115
DC COMICS 79 26 1 106
IMAGE COMICS 71 13 0 84
IDW PUBLISHING 45 24 0 69
DARK HORSE COMICS 38 27 0 65
DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT 43 6 0 49
BOOM ENTERTAINMENT 25 7 0 32
EAGLEMOSS 0 0 26 26
AVATAR PRESS INC 11 2 2 15
VALIANT ENTERTAINMENT LLC 13 2 0 15
OTHER 77 157 35 269

COMPARATIVE SALES STATISTICS

  DOLLARS UNITS
APRIL 2014 VS. MARCH 2014
COMICS 23.22% 14.36%
GRAPHIC NOVELS 8.90% -0.33%
TOTAL COMICS/GN 18.27% 12.90%
APRIL 2014 VS. APRIL 2013
COMICS 17.37% 6.96%
GRAPHIC NOVELS 16.78% 11.20%
TOTAL COMICS/GN 17.18% 7.32%
YEAR-TO-DATE 2014 VS. YEAR-TO-DATE 2013
COMICS -0.89% -6.91%
GRAPHIC NOVELS 5.44% 10.38%
TOTAL COMICS/GN 1.04% -5.61%

TOP 10 COMIC BOOKS

RANK DESCRIPTION PRICE ITEM CODE VENDOR
1 AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #1 $5.99 FEB140664-M MAR
2 SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #31 $5.99 FEB140659-M MAR
3 BATMAN #30 $3.99 FEB140198-M DC
4 BATMAN ETERNAL #1 [*] $2.99 FEB140140-M DC
5 JUSTICE LEAGUE #29 $3.99 JAN140243-M DC
6 BATMAN ETERNAL #2 [*] $2.99 FEB140142 DC
7 HULK #1 $3.99 FEB140684-M MAR
8 ORIGINAL SIN #0 $4.99 FEB140657 MAR
9 BATMAN ETERNAL #3 [*] $2.99 FEB140143 DC
10 BATMAN ETERNAL #4 [*] $2.99 FEB140144 DC

TOP 10 GRAPHIC NOVELS & TRADE PAPERBACKS

RANK DESCRIPTION PRICE ITEM CODE VENDOR
1 SEX CRIMINALS VOLUME 1 TP (MR) $9.99 JAN140558 IMA
2 SAGA VOLUME 3 TP (MR) $14.99 JAN140556 IMA
3 EAST OF WEST VOLUME 2: WE ARE ALL ONE TP $14.99 DEC130494 IMA
4 SAGA VOLUME 1 TP (MR) $9.99 AUG120491 IMA
5 AMAZING SPIDER-MAN: FAMILY BUSINESS HC $24.99 DEC130759 MAR
6 GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 1: COSMIC AVENGERS TP $19.99 JAN140800 MAR
7 THE JOKER: DEATH OF THE FAMILY TP (N52) $24.99 JAN140340 DC
8 SAGA VOLUME 2 TP (MR) $14.99 APR130443 IMA
9 PRETTY DEADLY VOLUME 1 TP (MR) $9.99 FEB140533 IMA
10 THE WALKING DEAD VOLUME 1: DAYS GONE BYE TP $14.99 NOV128157 IMA

TOP 10 BOOKS

RANK DESCRIPTION PRICE ITEM CODE VENDOR
1 JIM HENSON'S LABYRINTH HC $19.99 FEB141067 BOO
2 THE WALKING DEAD VOL. 4: FALL OF THE GOVERNOR PART 2 $25.99 DEC138366 STM
3 LEGEND OF ZELDA: HYRULE HISTORIA HC $34.99 SEP120055 DAR
4 MY LITTLE PONY: FIREFLY WITH BOOK $9.95 FEB141598 RUN
5 THE SHADOW DOUBLE NOVEL VOLUME 83 SC $14.95 FEB141625 SAN
6 MARVEL ENCYCLOPEDIA 75TH-ANNIVERSARY EDITION HC $40.00 DEC131413 DK
7 SPIDER-MAN CHARACTER ENCYCLOPEDIA HC $16.99 JAN141481 DK
8 GODZILLA LIGHT & SOUND MINIATURE BOOK KIT $12.95 JAN141512 RUN
9 SWORD ART ONLINE VOLUME 1: AINCRAD SC $13.00 FEB141540 HAC
10 DARKSTALKERS: OFFICIAL COMPANION WORKS SC $39.99 JAN141345 UDO

TOP 10 TOYS

RANK DESCRIPTION ITEM CODE VENDOR
1 SCRIBBLENAUTS UNMASKED MINI FIGURES SERIES 2 OCT130312 DC
2 THE WALKING DEAD: DIXON WITH CHOPPER BOX SET AUG138265 TMP
3 MARVEL COMICS: AVENGERS NOW: THE HULK ARTFX+ STATUE OCT132006 KOT
4 MARVEL SELECT: CAPTAIN AMERICA 2 ACTION FIGURE DEC131822 DST
5 BATMAN HUSH: BATMAN & CATWOMAN: THE KISS STATUE SEP130322 DC
6 DC COMICS SUPER VILLAINS: SUPERWOMAN ACTION FIGURE SEP130323 DC
7 BATMAN ARKHAM CITY: ARMORED BATMAN STATUE NOV130291 DC
8 THE WALKING DEAD: DARYL DIXON MINI-BUST MAY131926 GEN
9 DC COMICS SUPER VILLAINS: ULTRAMAN ACTION FIGURE SEP130325 DC
10 DC COMICS VARIANT PLAY ARTS KAI: THE FLASH ACTION FIGURE JUL138154 SQU

TOP 10 GAMES

RANK DESCRIPTION ITEM CODE VENDOR
1 MONOPOLY: THE WALKING DEAD SURVIVAL EDITION OCT128266 USA
2 MARVEL HEROCLIX: DEADPOOL FEB142556 NEC
3 YU-GI-OH! HEROCLIX MAY132348 NEC
4 RISK: THE WALKING DEAD SURVIVAL EDITION OCT128267 USA
5 RISK LEGACY JUN118204 HAS
6 MARVEL DICE MASTERS: AVENGERS VS. X-MEN NOV132536 NEC
7 DC HEROCLIX: LEGION OF SUPERHEROES BOOSTER BRICK OCT132418 NEC
8 WONDER WOMAN: COLLAGE 1000-PIECE JIGSAW PUZZLE FEB142427 AQU
9 SUPERMAN: COLLAGE 1000-PIECE JIGSAW PUZZLE FEB142426 AQU
10 RISK: MASS EFFECT: GALAXY AT WAR COLLECTOR'S EDITION DEC132333 USA

 

Dollar Market Shares for April 2014

Dollar Market Share – April 2014

Unit Market Shares for April 2014

Unit Market Share– April 2014

 

How does Diamond calculate the charts? It all starts at the comic book shop.

Data for Diamond’s sales charts — which include the monthly market shares and all top product charts — are compiled by Diamond Comic Distributors from a universe of over 3,500 comic book specialty shops located in North America and around the world. The account base includes brick-and-mortar comic book specialty shops, Internet merchants, and other specialty stores.

Unit and dollar market shares are calculated based upon orders for comic books, graphic novels, and magazines invoiced and shipped to Diamond accounts during any given month, which comprises initial pre-orders, advance reorders, and reorders, minus any copies that are received back from a title marked as returnable.

Please note that comics marked with an asterisk have had their reported quantities reduced due to retailer returnability, and thus may rank lower on the charts than their actual sales would reflect.

The count of new titles shipped includes all titles that were invoiced by Diamond to retailers for the first time during the month and is not the official solicited title count for the month. Variant edition comic books and graphic novels at the same price point count as a single SKU. Variant edition comic books, lenticular covers, digital combo packs, and graphic novels at different price points count as separate SKUs for each edition.

***

ABOUT DIAMOND COMIC DISTRIBUTORS (DCD)—Diamond is at the nexus of comics and pop culture merchandise. Based in Baltimore, MD, DCD is the world's largest distributor of English-language comic books and pop-culture related merchandise, servicing more than 4,000 specialty retailers worldwide. For more information, visit Diamond on the web at www.diamondcomics.com.

© 2014 Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc. All rights reserved. Diamond, the Diamond logo, Diamond Books logo, and PREVIEWS are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Diamond Comic Distributors in theUnited States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective copyright owners.