2010 in Review Best Selling Comics

Diamond Comic Distributors announced this January 6th the leaders in sales for 2010, calculated based on total unit sales to comic book specialty shops most of us go to every Wednesday to grab weekly books.

Avengers #1

The best-selling comic book of the year was Marvel’s Avengers #1, written by Brian Bendis with art from John Romita Jr. The publisher snagged the #2 spot as well, courtesy of X-Men #1. Marvel also took the top spot as the leading industry publisher, boasting a 43% Unit Market Share and a 38% Dollar Market Share. For comparison, the industry’s second leading publisher, DC Comics, had a 34% Unit Market Share with a 30% Dollar Market Share. DC’s best-seller of the year was Blackest Night #8, coming in at #3 behind Marvel’s titles.

The complete top ten looks like this:

1. Avengers #1
2. X-Men #1
3. Blackest Night #8
4. Siege #1
5. Blackest Night #7
6. New Avengers #1
7. Brightest Day #0
8. Brightest Day #1
9. Siege #2
10. Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #1

With the price of comics these days it is interesting to note that the only title that is not $3.99 is Brightest Day #1, which came in at #8 priced at $2.99. With 77% Unit Market Share only Marvel and DC Comics made the top ten. 7 of the 10 were Big Event comics, with sales like that looks like more Big Event series will be coming from Marvel and DC in the future. There was a decline from 2009, 3.5% Down in sales for the calender year reported from Diamond.

“While sales for the year were down, there have been a lot of positive signs in the last quarter. Sales have steadily picked up and most retailers reported better than average holiday shopping sales,” said Diamond President & CEO Steve Geppi. “We believe comic books and graphic novels offer a great entertainment value for consumers, and 2011 is shaping up with some very exciting and creative story lines and titles from the industry’s top publishers.”

The Walking Dead Vol. 1: Days Gone By

For graphic novels and trade paperbacks, Image’s collections of The Walking Dead out sold the others taking up 5 slots of the top ten. Image should send a thank you card to AMC for their marketing of the smash hit television adaptation. The only graphic novel in the top ten that received very little multimedia attention was Superman: Earth One which was the best of the top ten in my opinion, it finished #5.

The complete top ten wound up as follows:

1. The Walking Dead Vol. 1: Days Gone By
2. Kick-Ass Hardcover
3. The Walking Dead Vol. 11: Fear the Hunters
4. Scott Pilgrim Vol. 6: Finest Hour
5. Superman: Earth One Hardcover
6. Scott Pilgrim Vol. 1: Precious Little Life
7. The Walking Dead Vol. 12: Life Among Them
8. The Walking Dead Vol. 2: Miles Behind Us
9. The Walking Dead Vol. 3: Too Far Gone
10. Scott Pilgrim Vol. 2: Vs. The World

Well that’s how it went last year, that’s what the comic buyers bought. Comic sales were good even with the slight drop. So let me know what you think of 2010 sales and quality stories and art. I have my ears on and I will see you at the comic shop in 2011. Stay tuned comic faithful for more. 🙂 Walt


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