(BALTIMORE, MD) — (May 10, 2019) — Malekith and his armies, fresh from conquering nine of the cosmic realms, invades Midgard, better known as Earth, in Jason Aaron and Russell Dauterman’s War of the Realms #1, the first chapter of the new crossover event from Marvel Comics and the best-selling comic book of April 2019 according to information provided by Diamond Comic Distributors, the world’s largest distributor of comics, graphic novels, and pop culture merchandise.
Marvel Comics was April’s top publisher with a dollar share of 45.50% and a unit share of 50.70%. DC Comics placed second with a 24.73% dollar share and a 25.89% unit share. In third was Image Comics with a 7.93% dollar share and a 7.60% unit share. IDW Publishing ranked fourth with a 3.26% dollar share and 2.76% unit share, followed by Dark Horse Comics with a 2.89% dollar share and a 1.92% unit share, then BOOM! Studios with a 2.46% dollar share and a 2.75% unit share, and Dynamite Entertainment with a 1.71% dollar share and a 1.53% unit share.
Marvel Comics had six of the month’s top ten best-selling comic books. In addition to War of the Realms #1, Peter David and Greg Land’s Symbiote Spider-Man #1 ranked #2, The Immortal Hulk #16 ranked #4, Thanos #1 ranked #7, Web of Venom: Cult of Carnage #1 ranked #9, and Amazing Spider-Man #20 ranked #10. DC Comics had four titles in the top ten: Scott Snyder and Jock’s The Batman Who Laughs #4 ranked #3, Batman #69 ranked #5, Batman #68 ranked #6, and Heroes in Crisis #8 ranked #8. Among the premier publishers, Image Comics’ The Walking Dead #190 ranked #31, BOOM! Studios’ Buffy the Vampire Slayer #4 ranked #78, IDW Publishing’s Marvel Action: Black Panther #1 ranked #115, Dynamite Entertainment’s Red Sonja #3 ranked #136, and Dark Horse Comics’ Neil Gaiman’s American Gods: The Moment of the Storm #1 ranked #150.
Mark Millar and Olivier Coipel’s The Magic Order Volume 1 from Image Comics was the best-selling graphic novel of April. Also in the top ten from Image Comics was Gideon Falls Volume 2: Original Sins at #3 and Unnatural Volume 2 at #9. Marvel Comics had three titles in the top ten: Venom by Donny Cates Volume 2 at #2, Star Wars Volume 10: Escape at #6, and Jessica Jones: Purple Daughter at #10. Dark Horse Comics had two titles in the top ten, Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá’s The Umbrella Academy Volume 1: The Apocalypse Suite at #4 and The Umbrella Academy Volume 2: Dallas at #8, thanks to the new Umbrella Academy television series on Netflix. DC Comics also had two titles in the top ten: Catwoman Volume 1: Copycats at #5 and Batman: Detective Comics Volume 9: Deface the Face at #7.
No Game No Life Volume 8, a light novel from Yen Press, was April’s best-selling book. Graphix’s Share Your Smile: Raina’s Guide to Telling Your Own Story, a how-to book on writing and drawing from best-selling graphic novelist Raina Telgemeier, ranked #2. Marvel Comics’ The Road to Avengers: Endgame — The Art of the Cinematic Universe ranked #7. Dark Horse Comics’ Hellboy: The Art of the Motion Picture ranked #9.
Based on Blizzard Entertainment’s best-selling video game, the Overwatch: Torbjörn “Classic Skin” Nendoroid was the best-selling toy of April. Funko’s POP! DC Heroes: John Constantine Vinyl Figure, a PREVIEWS exclusive figure of the hard-boiled mage released for Free Comic Book Day, ranked #2 for the month. DC Collectibles had three products in the top ten: the Batman Black & White: White Knight Batman Statue by Sean Murphy ranked #3, the DC Bombshells: Batwoman “Away Uniform” Statue ranked #8, and the DC Designer Series: Green Lantern by Ivan Reis Statue ranked #10. Diamond Select Toys also had three products in the top ten: the Marvel Gallery: Symbiote Spider-Man Statue, a PREVIEWS exclusive statue released for Free Comic Book Day, ranked #4; the Aliens Colonial marines: Armored Personnel Carrier 1/18-Scale Vehicle ranked #4; and the John Wick 2 Gallery PVC Figure ranked #9.
Hasbro’s Dungeons & Dragons: Stranger Things Edition, a version of the classic tabletop role-playing game inspired by the events of the hit Netflix series Stranger Things, was the best-selling game product of April.
TOP COMIC BOOK PUBLISHERS
PUBLISHER |
DOLLAR SHARE |
UNIT SHARE |
MARVEL COMICS |
45.50% |
50.70% |
DC COMICS |
25.73% |
25.89% |
IMAGE COMICS |
7.93% |
7.60% |
IDW PUBLISHING |
3.26% |
2.76% |
DARK HORSE COMICS |
2.89% |
1.92% |
BOOM! STUDIOS |
2.46% |
2.75% |
DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT |
1.71% |
1.53% |
VIZ MEDIA |
1.07% |
0.40% |
VALIANT ENTERTAINMENT |
0.76% |
0.91% |
AFTERSHOCK COMICS |
0.70% |
0.71% |
OTHER NON-TOP 10 |
7.99% |
4.83% |
COMPARATIVE SALES STATISTICS
|
DOLLARS |
UNITS |
APRIL 2019 VS. MARCH 2019 |
||
COMICS |
-11.12% |
0.07% |
GRAPHIC NOVELS |
-19.02% |
-27.69% |
TOTAL COMICS/GN |
-13.26% |
-2.22% |
TOYS |
-11.38% |
-8.24% |
APRIL 2019 VS. APRIL 2018 |
||
COMICS |
-14.67% |
-13.92% |
GRAPHIC NOVELS |
-25.37% |
-31.39% |
TOTAL COMICS/GN |
-17.65% |
-15.24% |
TOYS |
15.41% |
18.74% |
YEAR TO DATE 2019 VS. YEAR TO DATE 2018 |
||
COMICS |
1.83% |
-5.35% |
GRAPHIC NOVELS |
-3.18% |
-6.11% |
TOTAL COMICS/GN |
0.41% |
-5.40% |
TOYS |
19.14% |
27.48% |
NEW TITLES SHIPPED
PUBLISHER |
COMICS SHIPPED |
GRAPHIC NOVELS SHIPPED |
MAGAZINES SHIPPED |
TOTAL SHIPPED |
MARVEL COMICS |
106 |
37 |
0 |
143 |
DC COMICS |
52 |
32 |
1 |
85 |
IMAGE COMICS |
47 |
13 |
0 |
60 |
IDW PUBLISHING |
32 |
9 |
0 |
41 |
BOOM! STUDIOS |
20 |
11 |
0 |
31 |
DARK HORSE COMICS |
19 |
7 |
0 |
26 |
YEN PRESS |
0 |
24 |
0 |
24 |
DYNAMITE |
16 |
4 |
0 |
20 |
AFTERSHOCK COMICS |
11 |
4 |
0 |
15 |
VALIANT ENTERTAINMENT LLC |
9 |
1 |
0 |
10 |
OTHER |
101 |
133 |
18 |
252 |
TOTAL |
413 |
275 |
19 |
707 |
TOP 10 COMIC BOOKS BY UNITS SHIPPED
RANK |
DESCRIPTION |
PRICE |
ITEM CODE |
VENDOR |
1 |
WAR OF THE REALMS #1 |
$5.99 |
JAN190870-M | MAR |
2 |
SYMBIOTE SPIDER-MAN #1 |
$4.99 |
FEB190822-M | MAR |
3 |
THE BATMAN WHO LAUGHS #4 |
$4.99 |
FEB190484-M | DC |
4 |
THE IMMORTAL HULK #16 |
$3.99 |
FEB190849-M | MAR |
5 |
BATMAN #69 |
$3.99 |
FEB190480-M | DC |
6 |
BATMAN #68 |
$3.99 |
FEB190478-M | DC |
7 |
THANOS #1 |
$4.99 |
FEB190810-M | MAR |
8 |
HEROES IN CRISIS #8 |
$3.99 |
FEB190462-M | DC |
9 |
WEB OF VENOM: CULT OF CARNAGE #1 |
$4.99 |
FEB190858-M | MAR |
10 |
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #20 |
$3.99 |
FEB190837-M | MAR |
TOP 10 COMIC BOOKS BY DOLLARS INVOICED
RANK |
DESCRIPTION |
PRICE |
ITEM CODE |
VENDOR |
1 |
WAR OF THE REALMS #1 |
$5.99 |
JAN190870-M | MAR |
2 |
SYMBIOTE SPIDER-MAN #1 |
$4.99 |
FEB190822-M | MAR |
3 |
THE BATMAN WHO LAUGHS #4 |
$4.99 |
FEB190484-M | DC |
4 |
DETECTIVE COMICS #1000 |
$9.99 |
JAN190542-M | DC |
5 |
WEB OF VENOM: CULT OF CARNAGE #1 |
$4.99 |
FEB190858-M | MAR |
6 |
THANOS #1 |
$4.99 |
FEB190810-M | MAR |
7 |
THE IMMORTAL HULK #16 |
$3.99 |
FEB190849-M | MAR |
8 |
BATMAN #69 |
$3.99 |
FEB190480-M | DC |
9 |
BATMAN #68 |
$3.99 |
FEB190478-M | DC |
10 |
WAR OF THE REALMS #2 |
$4.99 |
FEB190759-M | MAR |
TOP 10 GRAPHIC NOVELS & TRADE PAPERBACKS BY UNITS SHIPPED
RANK |
DESCRIPTION |
PRICE |
ITEM CODE |
VENDOR |
1 |
THE MAGIC ORDER VOLUME 1 TP (MR) |
$19.99 |
FEB190095-M | IMA |
2 |
VENOM BY DONNY CATES VOLUME 2 TP |
$17.99 |
JAN191101 | MAR |
3 |
GIDEON FALLS VOLUME 2: ORIGINAL SINS TP (MR) |
$16.99 |
FEB190077 | IMA |
4 |
THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY VOL. 1: APOCALYPSE SUITE TP |
$17.99 |
SEP108136 | DAR |
5 |
CATWOMAN VOLUME 1: COPYCATS TP |
$16.99 |
JAN190665 | DC |
6 |
STAR WARS VOLUME 10: ESCAPE TP |
$17.99 |
JAN191095 | MAR |
7 |
BATMAN: DETECTIVE COMICS VOL. 9: DEFACE THE FACE TP |
$16.99 |
JAN190661 | DC |
8 |
THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY VOL. 2: DALLAS TP |
$17.99 |
DEC098005 | DAR |
9 |
UNNATURAL VOLUME 2 TP (MR) |
$16.99 |
FEB190120 | IMA |
10 |
JESSICA JONES: PURPLE DAUGHTER TP |
$19.99 |
JAN191027 | MAR |
TOP 10 GRAPHIC NOVELS & TRADE PAPERBACKS BY DOLLARS INVOICED
RANK |
DESCRIPTION |
PRICE |
ITEM CODE |
VENDOR |
1 |
INFINITY WAR OMNIBUS HC |
$125.00 |
OCT181002 | MAR |
2 |
THE DEATH & RETURN OF SUPERMAN OMNIBUS HC |
$150.00 |
SEP180566 | DC |
3 |
THE MAGIC ORDER VOLUME 1 TP (MR) |
$19.99 |
FEB190095-M | IMA |
4 |
INFINITY BY STARLIN & HICKMAN OMNIBUS HC |
$125.00 |
OCT181005 | MAR |
5 |
AVENGERS: EARTH’S MIGHTIEST BOX SET SLIPCASE |
$500.00 |
OCT181006 | MAR |
6 |
MARVEL MASTERWORKS: AVENGERS VOL. 19 HC |
$75.00 |
OCT181009-M | MAR |
7 |
VENOM BY DONNY CATES VOLUME 2 TP |
$17.99 |
JAN191101 | MAR |
8 |
PAPER GIRLS DELUXE EDITION VOLUME 2 HC |
$34.99 |
NOV180079 | IMA |
9 |
GIDEON FALLS VOLUME 2: ORIGINAL SINS TP (MR) |
$16.99 |
FEB190077 | IMA |
10 |
BATMAN/SUPERMAN SILVER AGE OMNIBUS VOL. 2 HC |
$99.99 |
SEP180539 | DC |
TOP 10 BOOKS BY UNITS SHIPPED
RANK |
DESCRIPTION |
PRICE |
ITEM CODE |
VENDOR |
1 |
NO GAME NO LIFE VOLUME 8 LIGHT NOVEL SC |
$14.00 |
DEC182289 | YEN |
2 |
SHARE YOUR SMILE: RAINA’S GUIDE TO TELLING YOUR OWN STORY HC |
$12.99 |
FEB191785 | SCH |
3 |
BLOODBORNE OFFICIAL ARTWORKS SC |
$44.99 |
MAR172148 | UDO |
4 |
THE SHADOW DOUBLE NOVEL VOLUME 140 SC |
$14.95 |
JAN192066 | SAN |
5 |
MARVEL ENCYCLOPEDIA HC (NEW EDITION) |
$40.00 |
JAN191813 | DK |
6 |
SAMURAI PIZZA CATS OFFICIAL FAN BOOK SC |
$39.99 |
NOV182128 | UDO |
7 |
THE ROAD TO MARVEL’SS AVENGERS: ENDGAME: THE ART OF THE CINEMATIC UNIV HC SLIPCASE |
$50.00 |
JAN191086 | MAR |
8 |
FAMILY TRAITS HC |
$29.99 |
DEC182218 | UDO |
9 |
HELLBOY: THE ART OF THE MOTION PICTURE HC |
$39.99 |
JAN190452 | DAR |
10 |
FLCL ARCHIVES TP |
$39.99 |
DEC182217 | UDO |
TOP 10 TOYS BY DOLLARS INVOICED
RANK |
DESCRIPTION |
ITEM CODE |
VENDOR |
1 |
OVERWATCH: TORBJRN NENDOROID | SEP188531 | GOO |
2 |
POP! DC HEROES: JOHN CONSTANTINE FCBD 2019 VINYL FIGURE | NOV180015 | FUN |
3 |
BATMAN BLACK & WHITE: WHITE KNIGHT STATUE BY SEAN MURPHY | SEP180641 | DC |
4 |
MARVEL GALLERY: SYMBIOTE SPIDER-MAN FCBD 2019 PVC STATUE | AUG188000 | DST |
5 |
ALIENS COLONIAL MARINES: ARMORED PERSONNEL CARRIER 1/18-SCALE VEHICLE | APR182281 | DST |
6 |
HELLRAISER 3: HELL ON EARTH: PINHEAD BISHOUJO STATUE | JUL189121 | KOT |
7 |
SPIDER-MAN LEGENDS 6-INCH ACTION FIGURES | NOV188096 | HAS |
8 |
DC COMICS BOMBSHELLS: BATWOMAN “AWAY UNIFORM” STATUE | SEP180642 | DC |
9 |
JOHN WICK 2 GALLERY PVC FIGURE | JUN182313 | DST |
10 |
DC DESIGNER SERIES: GREEN LANTERN BY IVAN REIS STATUE | SEP180631 | DC |
TOP 10 GAMES BY DOLLARS INVOICED
RANK |
DESCRIPTION |
ITEM CODE |
VENDOR |
1 |
DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: STRANGER THINGS EDITION | JAN198565 | HAS |
2 |
DC HEROCLIX REBIRTH BOOSTER BRICK | NOV182895 | NEC |
3 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA CARD GAME | JUL183082 | SHI |
4 |
STARFINDER RPG: CORE RULEBOOK HC | JUN173371 | PAI |
5 |
PATHFINDER PAWNS: BESTIARY BOX | FEB168541 | PAI |
6 |
PATHFINDER RPG: CORE RULEBOOK | JUN091729 | PAI |
7 |
STARFINDER ADVENTURE PATH: DAWN OF FLAME PART 2 | JAN193202 | PAI |
8 |
CREATURE CODEX HC | JUL183073 | PAI |
9 |
CRITICAL ROLE: TAL’DOREI CAMPAIGN SETTING HC | JUN173357 | GRE |
10 |
STARFINDER RPG: CRITICAL FUMBLE DECK | JAN193205 | PAI |
How does Diamond calculate the charts? It all starts at the comic book shop.
Data for Diamond’s sales charts — which includes the monthly market shares and all top product charts — are compiled by Diamond Comic Distributors from sales made to thousands of comic book specialty shops located in North America and around the world. Additional sales made to online merchants and other specialty retailers may be included as well.
Unit and dollar market shares are calculated based upon orders for comic books, graphic novels, and magazines invoiced and shipped to Diamond customers during any given month, which comprises 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 New Titles Count Chart 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.