February 2016 Diamond charts available

The February 2016 Diamond charts are now available, here at Comichron and see the sidebar for the other usual sources.

The Graphic Novel chart has around 129 new entries and 171 backlist, which is more heavy on the backlist than normal. This is mostly due to Marvel providing heavy discounts on some older books to clear out the inventory, which meant that no less than 43 old ESSENTIAL black and white volumes placed on the top 300, as well as a few high priced OMNIBUS volumes.  This was also the case last month with the OMNIBUS books, and partly explains the atypically high Marvel market share in recent months.

Interesting trio at #12 - #14 on the GN chart:

STUMPTOWN HC VOL 02
ALICE COOPER HC VOL 01 WELCOME TO MY NIGHTMARE
PUT THE BOOK BACK ON SHELF BELLE & SEBASTIAN ANTHOLOGY GN

These are all backlist books (though the ALICE COOPER one didn't seem to have made it to the Top 300 the month it was first published), and this month each sold around 3000 copies (3009, 3002 and 3000 respectively, by the Comichron estimates). Their retail rankings indicate that they were sold at a high discount, probably to the Comics Bento subscription box service (that can be verified in a few weeks), which gives us a good idea of what their sales are. There have been a number of older books showing up on the chart in the last year with several thousand in sales, probably due to this Diamond account.

On the comic chart, second issue drops are still big and getting bigger, especially at Marvel, where a 50% drop from #1 to #2 is almost becoming the rule. Expect things to be unsettled for the next few months, as DC's lead-in to the "Rebirth" event, and subsequent double shipping of many titles, distorts the market. 

Observations on the Diamond 2014 Charts

Sorry I haven't been able to update much here, for those few who might still be following. I have some ideas for things to post, but haven't gotten around to doing the grunt work in getting the data ready.

The year-end 2015 numbers from Diamond did come out recently. Here are the Top 1000 charts at ComiChron, which has the best formatted version, follow the links in sidebar to see them at the other usual sites.

As usual, no real surprises on the Comics side, just the stuff that's in the Top 100 every month, with a few things drifting up or down a few places based on reorders or returns, and possibly some overships from Marvel (it's hard to figure out the Marvel numbers, since they're now relaunching books with the same title in the same calendar year). The only real news is the 25 cent issue of INVINCIBLE, which Diamond didn't include in the monthly numbers under their "promotional items" exemption, but did include in the year-end, so we know it shipped 46.3k, almost four times the normal sales for the book. And had almost no impact on sales of the ongoing book, which jumped up just a bit over normal sales on the next issue, then drifted down and currently sells less than it did before the 25 cent issue.

Much more new information in the Graphic Novels chart. As I noted on both the 2013 and 2014 charts, it's quite possible for a book to make the Top 1000 for the year but never make the Top 300 for any given month. With a cut-off of 1778 copies for the year, average sales of 148 copies a month would suffice. Taking out a few category errors, I come up with 147 such books on the chart, the highest being HULK: WORLD WAR HULK at #333 with 3600 copies, or 300 a month.

DC has the most, with 70 such entries. A mix of stuff, quite a few Vertigo (FABLES, SANDMAN, single volumes of other series), lots of the early New 52 collections and some collections of earlier stuff.

Marvel has 30 books on the list, with over a quarter being DEADPOOL books, plus various old crossovers, single volumes of some series and old standbys like THE PHOENIX SAGA and DAYS OF FUTURE PAST.

Image has 15, including five middle volumes of CHEW, several MANHATTAN PROJECT volumes and a few WALKING DEAD hardcovers.

12 from Dark Horse, most of the them AVATAR THE LAST AIRBENDER, plus a few HELLBOY books and some single volumes.

IDW has 9, LOCKE AND KEY representing 5 of them (all but the first book, which does make the Top 300 more often than not), plus MY LITTLE PONY twice and a few others.

A few other publishers had a handful of books in this category, usually one volume of a longer series, titles like ATTACK ON TITAN, BONE, CROSSED, SCOTT PILGRIM and others.

For those curious, here's the full list:

#333 - Hulk WWH (Marvel) - 3600
#368 - Deadpool By Daniel Way Complete Coll Vol. 3 (Marvel) - 3381
#377 - Sandman Vol. 4 Season of Mists (DC) - 3325
#395 - Batgirl Vol. 1 The Darkest Reflection (DC) - 3213
#403 - Wonder Woman Vol. 2 Guts (DC) - 3188
#410 - Justice League Vol. 4 The Grid (DC) - 3145
#417 - Green Lantern Vol. 1 Sinestro (DC) - 3103
#426 - Batman The Man Who Laughs (DC) - 3043
#428 - American Vampire Vol. 1 (DC) - 3038
#432 - Locke & Key Vol. 2 Head Games (IDW) - 3027
#441 - Deadpool Classic Vol. 2 (Marvel) - 2992
#456 - Infinity War (Marvel) - 2952
#480 - Death of Superman (DC) - 2838
#486 - Harley Quinn Welcome To Metropolis (DC) - 2819
#490 - Deadpool By Daniel Way Complete Coll Vol. 4 (Marvel) - 2805
#496 - Harley Quinn Night And Day (DC) - 2778
#505 - Batman Rip (DC) - 2758
#514 - Aquaman Vol. 2 The Others (DC) - 2720
#518 - Fables Vol. 4 March of the Wooden Soldiers (DC) - 2716
#535 - Avatar Last Airbender Vol. 5 Search Part 2 (Dark Horse) - 2686
#537 - Civil War Captain America (Marvel) - 2682
#547 - Fables Vol. 20 Camelot (DC) - 2661
#551 - Batman HC Vol. 3 Death of the Family (DC) - 2652
#553 - Nightwing Vol. 2 Night of the Owls (DC) - 2641
#562 - Avatar Last Airbender Vol. 7 Rift Part 1 (Dark Horse) - 2604
#568 - Teen Titans Vol. 1 Its Our Right To Fight (DC) - 2593
#575 - True Lives of Fabulous Killjoys (Dark Horse) - 2575
#577 - Avatar Last Airbender Vol. 9 Rift Part 3 (Dark Horse) - 2572
#581 - Deadpool Vs. Marvel Universe (Marvel) - 2568
#582 - Batman Dark Knight Vol. 1 Knight Terrors (DC) - 2567
#591 - Avatar Last Airbender Vol. 6 Search Part 3 (Dark Horse) - 2535
#592 - Harley Quinn Vengeance Unlimited (DC) - 2534
#598 - Manhattan Projects Vol. 2 (Image) - 2515
#599 - Avatar Last Airbender Vol. 2 Promise Part 2 (Dark Horse) - 2514
#609 - Justice League Trinity War (DC) - 2487
#612 - Chew Vol. 8 Family Recipes (Image) - 2480
#613 - Red Hood and the Outlaws Vol. 2 Starfire (DC) - 2479
#621 - Crossed Vol. 1 (Avatar) - 2457
#628 - Miles Morales Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 1 Revival (Marvel) - 2439
#630 - Superman Earth One Vol. 1 (DC) - 2437
#632 - Life After Vol. 1 (Oni) - 1924
#633 - Thor God of Thunder Vol. 1 God Butcher (Marvel) - 2429
#634 - New Teen Titans Vol. 1 (DC) - 2428
#635 - Bone Color Ed Sc Vol. 1 Out Boneville (Scholastic) - 2427
#636 - Sandman Vol. 5 A Game of You (DC) - 2425
#638 - Chew Vol. 4 Flambe (Image) - 2411
#641 - Inhuman Vol. 1 Genesis (Marvel) - 2407
#648 - X-Men Days of Future Past (Marvel) - 2381
#649 - Deathstroke Vol. 1 Legacy (DC) - 2378
#650 - Marvel Zombies Vol. 1 Complete Collection (Marvel) - 2378
#651 - Locke & Key Vol. 3 Crown of Shadows (IDW) - 2377
#659 - Avatar Last Airbender Vol. 8 Rift Part 2 (Dark Horse) - 2362
#667 - Civil War Amazing Spider-Man (Marvel) - 2340
#670 - Batman HC Vol. 1 The Court of Owls (DC) - 2332
#671 - Flashpoint World of Flashpoint Batman (DC) - 2324
#677 - Avatar Last Airbender Vol. 3 Promise Part 3 (Dark Horse) - 2311
#679 - Captain Marvel Vol. 1 In Pursuit of Flight (Marvel) - 2307
#683 - Attack On Titan Vol. 3 (Random House) - 2290
#684 - Teen Titans Go Titans Together New Ptg (DC) - 2290
#688 - Preacher Book 6 (DC) - 2284
#693 - Sandman Vol. 6 Fables And Reflections (DC) - 2273
#695 - Wonder Woman Vol. 3 Iron (DC) - 2272
#696 - TMNT Ongoing Vol. 1 (IDW) - 2271
#713 - Venom Vs. Carnage (Marvel) - 2238
#719 - All New X-Men Vol. 1 Yesterdays X-Men (Marvel) - 2226
#721 - Avengers Vol. 1 Avengers World (Marvel) - 2219
#724 - Fables Vol. 5 The Mean Seasons (DC) - 2217
#725 - Locke & Key Vol. 6 Alpha & Omega (IDW) - 2217
#732 - Batman Detective Comics Vol. 2 Scare Tactics (DC) - 2202
#734 - Prophet Vol. 1 Remission (Image) - 2201
#738 - Phonogram Vol. 1 Rue Britanna (Image) - 2191
#746 - Aquaman Vol. 3 Throne of Atlantis (DC) - 2180
#751 - Nightwing Vol. 1 Bludhaven (DC) - 2170
#753 - Nightwing Vol. 3 Death of the Family (DC) - 2168
#754 - Batman & Robin Vol. 2 Pearl (DC) - 2155
#756 - Batman Superman Vol. 1 Cross World (DC) - 2153
#758 - Chew Vol. 5 Major League Chew (Image) - 2147
#760 - Green Lantern Rebirth New Edition (DC) - 2143
#764 - Locke & Key Vol. 4 Keys To The Kingdom (IDW) - 2136
#766 - Chew Vol. 7 Bad Apples (Image) - 2135
#769 - Manhattan Projects Vol. 3 (Image) - 2128
#770 - Manhattan Projects Vol. 4 Four Disciplines (Image) - 2128
#773 - Legend of Zelda Vol. 3 Majoras Mask (Viz) - 2122
#783 - She-Hulk Vol. 1 Law And Disorder (Marvel) - 2093
#788 - Game of Thrones HC Vol. 1 (Random House) - 2080
#791 - Green Lantern Vol. 2 Revenge of Black Hand (DC) - 2075
#798 - Justice League Dark Vol. 1 In The Dark (DC) - 2068
#800 - Walking Dead HC Vol. 2 (Image) - 2067
#802 - Red Hood and the Outlaws Vol. 3 Death of Family (DC) - 2066
#803 - Revival Vol. 2 Live Like You Mean It (Image) - 2064
#808 - Transmetropolitan Vol. 2 Lust For Life (DC) - 2054
#809 - Wolverine Origin (Marvel) - 2053
#810 - Green Arrow Vol. 4 The Kill Machine (DC) - 2050
#811 - I Kill Giants Fifth Annv Ed (Image) - 2046
#814 - Green Arrow Vol. 2 Triple Threat (DC) - 2038
#815 - Batman And Robin Vol. 1 Batman Reborn (DC) - 2037
#816 - Civil War Road To Civil War (Marvel) - 2036
#818 - Locke & Key Vol. 5 Clockworks (IDW) - 2035
#820 - Sandman Vol. 7 Brief Lives (DC) - 2033
#821 - Superman Action Comics Vol. 1 Superman Men of Steel (DC) - 2033
#822 - JLA Vol. 1 (DC) - 2032
#823 - Wonder Woman Vol. 4 War (DC) - 2032
#825 - Black Butler Vol. 1 New Ptg (Hachette) - 2027
#826 - Chew Vol. 6 Space Cakes (Image) - 2026
#829 - League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Omnibus (DC) - 2022
#837 - Nightwing Vol. 5 Setting Son (DC) - 2014
#852 - God Is Disappointed In You HC (IDW) - 1996
#853 - Hellboy In Hell Vol. 1 Descent (Dark Horse) - 1993
#858 - Fables Vol. 6 Homelands (DC) - 1991
#861 - Batgirl Vol. 2 Knightfall Descends (DC) - 1985
#863 - Princeless Vol. 1 New Ptg (Action Lab) - 1981
#876 - Batman & Robin Vol. 3 Death of the Family (DC) - 1954
#877 - Nightwing Vol. 4 Second City (DC) - 1953
#883 - New Avengers Vol. 1 Everything Dies (Marvel) - 1941
#884 - Scott Pilgrim Color HC Vol. 2 (Oni) - 1941
#889 - Deadpool Vs. X-Force (Marvel) - 1934
#891 - Spider-Man Maximum Carnage (Marvel) - 1929
#892 - Saga of the Swamp Thing Book 2 (DC) - 1927
#893 - Avatar Last Airbender Lost Adventures Vol. 1 (Dark Horse) - 1926
#896 - Batman Knightfall Vol. 2 Knightquest (DC) - 1925
#898 - Deadpool Classic Vol. 3 (Marvel) - 1924
#902 - Batman HC Vol. 2 The City of Owls (DC) - 1916
#904 - My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic Vol. 2 (IDW) - 1916
#910 - Deadpool By Posehn And Duggan HC Vol. 1 (Marvel) - 1908
#911 - X-Men Dark Phoenix Saga (Marvel) - 1908
#917 - Earth 2 Vol. 1 The Gathering (DC) - 1894
#921 - Attack On Titan No Regrets Vol. 1 (Random House) - 1888
#926 - My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic Vol. 3 (IDW) - 1882
#932 - Superman Vol. 1 What Price Tomorrow (DC) - 1877
#938 - Daredevil By Mark Waid Vol. 1 (Marvel) - 1864
#939 - Sandman Vol. 9 The Kindly Ones (DC) - 1863
#940 - Blacksad HC (Dark Horse) - 1859
#944 - 100 Bullets Book 1 (DC) - 1850
#946 - Hellboy Vol. 2 Wake The Devil (Dark Horse) - 1848
#952 - Aquaman Vol. 4 Death of A King (DC) - 1844
#957 - Izombie Vol. 3 Six Feet Under And Rising (DC) - 1838
#958 - Fables Deluxe Edition HC Vol. 1 (DC) - 1836
#966 - Superior Spider-Man Vol. 2 Troubled Mind Now (Marvel) - 1827
#967 - Morning Glories Vol. 1 For A Better Future (Image) - 1825
#968 - Astonishing X-Men Whedon Cassaday Ult Coll Book 1 (Marvel) - 1823
#969 - Walking Dead HC Vol. 10 (Image) - 1822
#975 - Shazam Vol. 1 (DC) - 1811
#976 - Joker Death of the Family HC (DC) - 1810
#978 - Green Arrow Vol. 5 Outsiders War (DC) - 1809
#980 - Legend of Zelda Vol. 2 Ocarina Time Pt 2 (Viz) - 1807
#992 - Deadpool Vol. 4 Monkey Business (Marvel) - 1786
#998 - Fables Vol. 19 Snow White (DC) - 1780

March 2015 Diamond Charts available

The March 2015 Diamond numbers are up. Here's John Mayo's version at CBR, see the sidebar for links to other charts and columns.

The Graphic Books chart has 147 new items and 153 backlist items, give or take, depending on whether you choose to count the movie cover edition of KINGSMAN or the new edition of DRAGONLANCE CHRONICLES (previously from Devil's Due, now from IDW) as new or backlist. I counted both of those as new.

The top 10 backlist items were:

SAGA TP VOL 04
SAGA TP VOL 01
WALKING DEAD TP VOL 01 DAYS GONE BYE
CIVIL WAR TP
SAGA TP VOL 02
SEX CRIMINALS TP VOL 01
YU-GI-OH 5DS GN VOL 07
BATMAN TP VOL 01 THE COURT OF OWLS (N52)
SAGA TP VOL 03
WICKED & DIVINE TP VOL 01 THE FAUST ACT

Over on the Comics chart, a few anomalies with Star Wars still having a big effect with its recent publisher shift, now accounting for four of the top 10. Presumably this will continue through the year as the hype machine for the the next movie grinds on and more comics directly dealing with the movie (preludes, adaptations and probably eventually follow-ups) come out. DC had kind of an odd month, with several of their top books (most notably BATMAN and JUSTICE LEAGUE) running late and missing the month. It'll be quite a while before there's anything approaching a normal month again, with DC's CONVERGENCE and subsequent launch of almost two dozen new books and Marvel's SECRET WARS and whatever comes after that both taking up the next few months.

Second issues averaged a drop of 37%, although that somewhat unfairly includes the 97.9% drop of ORPHAN BLACK #2 after the Loot Crate propelled half-million sales of #1. Without that the #2 drop was around 34%, which is close to normal.

Various new charts

Brian Hibbs has his analysis of the 2014 Bookscan charts in his Tilting at Windmills column, including a link to a spreadsheet of the top 750 comics.

ICV2 has their Bookscan Top 20 for February up now. Note for those comparing past charts, this particular chart was recently changed to include non-fiction, so now includes several books (those by Roz Chast and John Lewis this month) which wouldn't have been included before.

The February 2015 Diamond numbers are also up at the usual places, including Comichron. See sidebar for links to the other usual charts and articles.

A few quick notes on the Diamond numbers, since I probably won't get around to any longer post this month. Obviously, as noted everywhere, the ORPHAN BLACK debut at #1 with 497k is almost entirely due to it being included in Loot Crate. For comparison, the previous highest selling IDW book was MY LITTLE PONY FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC #1 in 2012, at 80k. Also, note that it only ranked #3 in Diamond's Dollar Rank, indicating a higher than normal discount off cover price (previous Loot Crate propelled #1 books outsold the other books that month by such a margin that a higher discount wouldn't be evident).

It would be incredibly surprising if #2 sells more than 10% of what #1 did. Which means the 84% drop that STAR WARS #2 posted probably won't last as the highwater mark for second issue drops (if you ignore books with promotionally priced $1 first issues). Second issues as a whole dropped an average of 35%.

The Top 300 Graphic Novels chart was almost evenly split, 152 new items, 148 backlist, which seems to be about normal now in months where there's no evidence of massive backlist sales from Marvel or DC. There are around 90 books which you can count on to chart almost every month (I'll try to update that list this month), not too many surprises overall.

January 2015 Diamond Charts

Diamond has up the preliminary January 2015 numbers, Top 100 Comics here, Top 100 Graphic Novels here and Top Charts here. The usual sources should have the full Top 300 charts and estimates up tomorrow.

The index value should wind up being around 1120-1140. That should mean that STAR WARS #1 will just make it over 1 million copies (it needs the index value to be over 1118 to hit that mark).

Looks like I guessed on the high side, with the numbers at Comichron coming in with an index of 1102.32, putting STAR WARS just 14k shy of 1 million. It probably makes that up with Diamond UK numbers, and the second printing in February will put it over for Diamond US.

Observations on the Diamond 2014 Charts

Comichron has the Diamond Top 1000 Comics and Graphic Novels charts over here.

No big surprises in the Comics chart that you couldn't glean from the monthly charts. The two big anomalies are AVENGERS #35 and WINTER SOLDIER BITTER MARCH #1. The monthly charts suggest sales around 50.6k and 31.1k respectively, while the year-end numbers come in at 105.5k and 65.7k, slightly more than double the expected sales. Apparently Marvel double shipped those books to retailers, and Diamond didn't count the free copies in the monthly numbers, but did in the year-end. Another double-shipped book, INHUMAN #8, counted the free copies in both the monthly year-end charts. Other than those anomalies, most books are within a few percentage points of their expected sales from the monthly charts, with a few moving up or down a few places due to their monthly numbers being reduced for returnability or having consistent below-the-radar reorder activity.

The Top 1000 Graphic Novels list is much more interesting, because it's actually possible for a book to never make the monthly Top 300 but still accumulate enough sales over the year to make the Top 1000. The list bottoms out at 1749 copies in 2014, which means an average monthly sale of 146 copies will get you on the list. I discussed the topic for the 2013 charts over here. For 2014, there were 145 titles on the chart that were never on the monthly list.

Three can be dismissed as categorization errors:
46 Minecraft Official Mojang Essential Handbook HC - 10711
824 Mike Mignola Hellboy Artist Ed - 2054
902 Steranko Nick Fury Agent of Shield Artist Ed HC - 1918

Those were put on the "Books" chart by Diamond in their initial release months, but moved to the "Graphic Novel" chart for year-end numbers. Other Minecraft and Artist Edition books were sometimes classed as "Books", other times as "Graphic Novels".

That leaves 142 books which stayed under-#300 during the year but still sold over 1749 copies. The top book in that category is #288, Aquaman Vol. 2 The Others, with 4101 copies, or about 342 a month on average.  Here's the breakdown of the 142 by publisher:

DC -- 90
Marvel -- 14
Image -- 12
Dark Horse -- 10
Oni -- 4
Boom -- 3
IDW -- 2
Scholastic -- 2
Abstract -- 1
Avatar -- 1
Dynamite -- 1
Random House -- 1
Viz -- 1

DC has a lot of Vertigo (Fables, Y The Last Man, Sandman, etc) and a lot of Batman, plus early volumes of their New 52 books and some old crossovers (including Crisis on Infinite Earths).

Deadpool is the most common Marvel book in this category with five books, plus two each of Hulk and X-Men and some single books.

Image has a few later volumes of series like Chew and Fatale, a few first volumes of on-going books and some Walking Dead hardcovers.

Dark Horse has two each of Serenity and Umbrella Academy, plus various single books, mostly first volumes.

Oni is all Scott Pilgrim, the new colour volumes mostly.

Boom has their cartoon adaptations, Adventure Time and Bravest Warrior.

IDW is all Locke & Key.

Scholastic has the first volumes of Bone and Amulet.

Abstract, Avatar, Dynamite, Random House and Viz all are represented by the first volumes of Crossed, Sailor Moon, Boys, Rachel Rising and Legend of Zelda, not necessarily in that order.

More on the charts later.

December 2014 Diamond Charts

Diamond charts for December are starting to come out. Here are ICV2's versions of the Comics and Graphic Novels Top 300. Other usual sources will update in the next few days, use the links in the sidebar.

First thing to note, DC does not appear to have used Diamond as the middleman in the Loot Crate version of BATMAN #36, which has the potential to be an order in the range of 250k. This probably cost them slightly in the Diamond marketshare, but saved them a lot otherwise.

No big comics debuts this month, so the top two comics and only ones over 100k are BATMAN and AMAZING SPIDER-MAN. Top debut is SHIELD at #3 with 94.5k. The AVENGERS AND X-MEN AXIS event finished weakly at under 70k for the last issue. ANGELA ASGARD'S ASSASSIN debuts at 61.4k, expect that to be down in the 30k range within a few issues. SANDMAN OVERTURE took a pretty big tumble with #4, over 19%, but it's marked as returnable (presumably for lateness) so sales might have been adjusted down. MULTIVERSITY continues to underwhelm, dropping below 48k.

Average second issue drop is up to 37%, and that's with SPIDER-VERSE TEAM UP keeping down the average with just a 3% drop. Biggest drop was GEORGE PEREZ SIRENS at over 60%, but INTERSECT, HUMANS and ALL NEW CAPTAIN AMERICA not far behind at over 58% each.

Only a few noteworthy increases this month. SAVAGE DRAGON makes the Top 300 for the first time in almost a year with #200, hard to quantify the increase without more data, but probably over 50%.  Likely out of the Top 300 again with #201. SHUTTER and EAST OF WEST return from short breaks with new storylines launching and 40%+ increases in orders. INFINITY MAN AND THE FOREVER PEOPLE got a 20% increase for tying in with the Green Lantern books. That increase will be gone soon, as will the title. DOCTOR WHO 11TH saw a small 8% increase for some reason while AFTERLIFE WITH ARCHIE returned from a long unscheduled publishing gap with a 6% increase.

Haven't had a chance to really go over the Graphic Novels chart yet, but it looks like it's nearly evenly split with 157 new items and 143 backlist. SAGA TP VOL 04 did very well, outselling the next item that should be on the chart by a better than five to one margin (the #2 book, Marvel's CAPTAIN AMERICA PEGGY CARTER AGENT OF SHIELD #1 should be on the comics chart based on most factors). Overall it was a pretty standard month on the charts. More when I have the full numbers and the year-end numbers.

2014 Year End Sales

We're starting to get the 2014 year end sales. I'll update this post with relevant links as they come in.

Diamond's Top 500 Comics with index
Diamond's Top 500 Graphic Novels with index

The index point for those charts will probably end up being around 1133 [edited to add, turned out to be 1132.55 according to Comichron, so almost nailed it. Here are the definitive Top 1000 charts, if I ever cite 2014 Diamond sales that's the page I'm using].

Using that, on the Comics chart AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #1 will come in at about 559k, WALKING DEAD #132 at 326k, BATMAN #32 at 133k, SERENITY LEAVES ON THE WIND #1 at 70k and LIFE WITH ARCHIE COMIC #36 at 57k.

On the books side, SAGA TP VOL 03 is about 62.2k, BATMAN TP VOL 01 THE COURT OF OWLS is about 24.8k, GUARDIANS OF GALAXY TP VOL 01 COSMIC AVENGERS is about 23.8k, AFTERLIFE WITH ARCHIE TP VOL 01 is about 13.8k, AVATAR LAST AIRBENDER TP VOL 07 RIFT PART 1 is about 11.5k, NEMO ROSES OF BERLIN HC is about 10.8k.

ICV2 has the Top 1000 for each category (501-1000 for Comics, 501-1000 for Graphic Novels). Unfortunately no index values, although they do have the retail rank which points out a few interesting anomalies, like comics which the publisher overshipped or older books which were blown out at high discounts. I'll wait to see if the info is posted elsewhere with index values or estimated sales (at Comichron, most likely) before looking too closely, but here are the top publishers by number of entries on each chart:

Comics - Entries in Top 1000
Marvel - 512
DC - 407
Image - 57
Dark Horse - 14
Archie - 4
Titan - 3
Dynamite - 1
Valiant - 1
IDW - 1

Graphic Novels - Entries in Top 1000

DC - 393

Marvel - 251

Image - 115

Dark Horse - 88

IDW - 36

Random House - 25

Boom - 19

Viz - 17

Oni - 10

The Beat has five Top 100 charts, one for Manga and two each (Comics and GNs) for Small Press and Indie publishers, as Diamond defines them. There's a lot of overlap in those categories, if you combine them you get 367 distinct titles. 

November Diamond Books Chart, color-coded

Playing around with a different way to present the Diamond book chart, here are the November numbers. New books are listed in white, relist books which also charted in October are listed in green (with their October ranking noted), and relist books last appearing September or earlier are listed in orange, with the number of months since their last appearance on the Top 300 noted. Also listed for each book is the price, publisher, estimated November sales and the year-to-date sales (only counting months where the book appeared on the Diamond charts).

Let me know if there's anything that can be done to improve the readability of this, and any other information you think it might be good to include. I'm thinking of learning enough coding to turn this into a table you can sort and filter, so for example you could isolate all the Dark Horse books listed.

A few stats:

• In the Top 300, 161 books are new releases, 139 were on the charts before.
• The average new item that charted shipped 1729 copies, although without that outlier at #1 it's closer to 1600 copies. Note, though, that many books never make the Top 300, probably around 140 new books this month shipping fewer than 445 copies, so the actual average new book sold somewhere in the 900 to 1100 copies range.
• Of the 139 backlist items, 87 were also on the October chart. Another 13 were on the chart at least once earlier this year. The remaining 39 hit the charts for the first time in 2014 in November. A few of those are new printings of books which had been out of print or evergreen titles which usually just miss the Top 300 but had a small blip last month, but the majority appear to be books that were liquidated at massive discounts (for example, AVENGERS ORIGIN HC at #96 shipped more copies last month than it did when published in November 2010, the only other month it hit the Top 300. Tellingly, the retail rank is way down at #466 and you can find multiple copies for sale on-line for as little as $3, meaning the wholesale price was even less than that).

#001 - WALKING DEAD TP VOL 22 A NEW BEGINNING - $15 - IMA - 22.92k - new book
#002 - TEEN TITANS EARTH ONE HC VOL 01 - $23 - DC - 8.85k - new book
#003 - SAGA DLX ED HC VOL 01 - $50 - IMA - 8.38k - new book
#004 - WICKED & DIVINE TP VOL 01 THE FAUST ACT - $10 - IMA - 7.7k - new book
#005 - SAGA TP VOL 01 - $10 - IMA - 7.29k - last month rank 13 - 51.45k YTD
#006 - SERENITY LEAVES ON WIND HC - $20 - DAR - 6.67k - new book
#007 - AVATAR LAST AIRBENDER TP VOL 09 RIFT PART 3 - $11 - DAR - 6.13k - new book
#008 - BATMAN ETERNAL TP VOL 01 (N52) - $40 - DC - 5.03k - new book
#009 - WAKE HC - $25 - DC - 5.02k - new book
#010 - DEADPOOL TP VOL 06 ORIGINAL SIN - $18 - MAR - 4.74k - new book
#011 - MOUSE GUARD BALDWIN BRAVE OTHER TALES HC - $15 - BOO - 4.2k - new book
#012 - GOTG BY ABNETT AND LANNING COMPLETE COLL TP VOL 02 - $35 - MAR - 3.9k - new book
#013 - WALKING DEAD TP VOL 01 DAYS GONE BYE - $15 - IMA - 3.73k - last month rank 36 - 33.63k YTD
#014 - DISNEY FROZEN CINESTORY - $15 - JOE - 3.69k - new book
#015 - INVINCIBLE TP VOL 20 FRIENDS - $17 - IMA - 3.68k - new book
#016 - CIVIL WAR TP - $25 - MAR - 3.67k - last month rank 85 - 13.04k YTD
#017 - DEADPOOL VS X-FORCE TP - $16 - MAR - 3.6k - new book
#018 - GUARDIANS OF GALAXY PREM HC VOL 03 GUARDIANS DISASSEMBLED - $25 - MAR - 3.51k - new book
#019 - JUSTICE LEAGUE TRINITY WAR TP - $20 - DC - 3.45k - new book
#020 - ADVENTURE TIME ORIGINAL GN VOL 04 BITTER SWEETS - $13 - BOO - 3.38k - new book
#021 - BATMAN SUPERMAN TP VOL 01 CROSS WORLD (N52) - $15 - DC - 3.35k - new book
#022 - MILES MORALES ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN TP VOL 01 REVIVAL - $18 - MAR - 3.23k - new book
#023 - BATMAN & ROBIN TP VOL 04 REQUIEM FOR DAMON (N52) - $17 - DC - 3.1k - new book
#024 - FAIREST IN ALL THE LAND TP - $15 - DC - 3.04k - new book
#025 - BATMAN ADVENTURES TP VOL 01 - $20 - DC - 2.93k - new book
#026 - BATMAN DETECTIVE COMICS TP VOL 04 THE WRATH (N52) - $18 - DC - 2.88k - new book
#027 - ATTACK ON TITAN GN VOL 14 - $11 - RAN - 2.87k - new book
#028 - BTVS SEASON 10 TP VOL 01 - $19 - DAR - 2.84k - new book
#029 - SAGA TP VOL 03 - $15 - IMA - 2.83k - last month rank 17 - 59.99k YTD
#030 - SHUTTER TP VOL 01 WANDERLOST - $10 - IMA - 2.74k - new book
#031 - ORIGINAL SIN TP THOR AND LOKI TENTH REALM - $17 - MAR - 2.7k - new book
#032 - WOLVERINE TP BOOK 02 THREE MONTHS TO DIE - $20 - MAR - 2.63k - new book
#033 - BATMAN ARKHAM ASYLUM 25TH ANNIV DLX ED TP - $20 - DC - 2.63k - new book
#034 - AMERICAN VAMPIRE TP VOL 06 - $15 - DC - 2.6k - new book
#035 - SAGA TP VOL 02 - $15 - IMA - 2.59k - last month rank 21 - 37.69k YTD
#036 - DEADPOOL CLASSIC TP VOL 10 - $30 - MAR - 2.55k - new book
#037 - BATMAN SUPERMAN HC VOL 02 GAME OVER - $25 - DC - 2.54k - new book
#038 - AQUAMAN TP VOL 04 DEATH OF A KING (N52) - $17 - DC - 2.54k - new book
#039 - THOR GOD OF THUNDER TP VOL 03 ACCURSED - $20 - MAR - 2.48k - new book
#040 - BATMAN DETECTIVE COMICS HC VOL 05 GOTHTOPIA (N52) - $25 - DC - 2.46k - new book
#041 - WALKING DEAD TP VOL 02 MILES BEHIND US - $15 - IMA - 2.4k - last month rank 79 - 19.55k YTD
#042 - MY LITTLE PONY FRIENDS FOREVER TP VOL 02 - $18 - IDW - 2.39k - new book
#043 - AMAZING SPIDER-MAN LEARNING TO CRAWL TP VOL 01 - $18 - MAR - 2.39k - new book
#044 - INHUMAN TP VOL 01 GENESIS - $18 - MAR - 2.27k - new book
#045 - IRON FIST LIVING WEAPON TP VOL 01 RAGE - $18 - MAR - 2.27k - new book
#046 - ANIMAL MAN TP VOL 05 EVOLVE OR DIE (N52) - $15 - DC - 2.09k - new book
#047 - ELEKTRA TP VOL 01 BLOODLINES - $17 - MAR - 2.08k - new book
#048 - MS MARVEL TP VOL 01 NO NORMAL - $16 - MAR - 2.05k - last month rank 1 - 9.84k YTD
#049 - ASTONISHING X-MEN GIFTED GN HC W/MOTION COMIC DVD - $25 - MAR - 2.02k - return after 27 months - 2.02k YTD
#050 - BATWOMAN TP VOL 05 WEBS (N52) - $20 - DC - 1.94k - new book
#051 - CATWOMAN TP VOL 05 RACE OF THIEVES (N52) - $18 - DC - 1.94k - new book
#052 - BATMAN ARKHAM ASYLUM 25TH ANNIV DLX ED HC - $30 - DC - 1.92k - new book
#053 - BATMAN BEYOND 2.0 TP REWIRED - $17 - DC - 1.89k - new book
#054 - AQUAMAN HC VOL 05 SEA OF STORMS (N52) - $25 - DC - 1.88k - new book
#055 - THOR GOD OF THUNDER PREM HC VOL 04 LAST DAYS MIDGARD - $25 - MAR - 1.85k - new book
#056 - NIGHTCRAWLER TP HOMECOMING VOL 01 - $17 - MAR - 1.83k - new book
#057 - HINTERKIND TP VOL 02 - $15 - DC - 1.67k - new book
#058 - SILVER SURFER EPIC COLLECTION TP WHEN CALLS GALACTUS - $35 - MAR - 1.66k - new book
#059 - ZENITH HC PHASE ONE - $25 - POC - 1.65k - new book
#060 - BATMAN TP VOL 01 THE COURT OF OWLS (N52) - $17 - DC - 1.65k - last month rank 72 - 22.95k YTD
#061 - TOMB RAIDER TP VOL 01 SEASON OF WITCH - $20 - DAR - 1.62k - new book
#062 - FANTASTIC FOUR TP VOL 02 ORIGINAL SIN - $16 - MAR - 1.61k - new book
#063 - AVENGERS PREM HC VOL 06 INFINITE AVENGERS - $25 - MAR - 1.6k - new book
#064 - HELLBOY WEIRD TALES HC - $25 - DAR - 1.57k - new book
#065 - SEX CRIMINALS TP VOL 01 - $10 - IMA - 1.57k - last month rank 67 - 27.97k YTD
#066 - THOR GOD OF THUNDER HC VOL 01 - $35 - MAR - 1.55k - new book
#067 - RUNAWAYS COMPLETE COLLECTION TP VOL 02 - $35 - MAR - 1.54k - new book
#068 - BATMAN THE KILLING JOKE SPECIAL ED HC - $18 - DC - 1.53k - last month rank 78 - 21.31k YTD
#069 - DAY MEN TP VOL 01 - $10 - BOO - 1.52k - new book
#070 - BLEACH GN VOL 62 - $10 - VIZ - 1.52k - new book
#071 - WALKING DEAD TP VOL 21 ALL OUT WAR PT 2 - $15 - IMA - 1.51k - last month rank 103 - 30.38k YTD
#072 - NEW AVENGERS PREM HC VOL 04 PERFECT WORLD - $25 - MAR - 1.5k - new book
#073 - MIND MGMT HC VOL 04 MAGICIAN - $20 - DAR - 1.5k - new book
#074 - BATMAN TP VOL 02 THE CITY OF OWLS (N52) - $17 - DC - 1.48k - last month rank 81 - 17.11k YTD
#075 - AVENGERS WORLD TP VOL 02 ASCENSION - $17 - MAR - 1.44k - new book
#076 - ATTACK ON TITAN JUNIOR HIGH GN VOL 02 - $17 - RAN - 1.43k - new book
#077 - AVENGERS EPIC COLLECTION TP EARTHS MIGHTIEST HEROES - $35 - MAR - 1.38k - new book
#078 - REALM OF KINGS TP - $35 - MAR - 1.37k - return after 48 months - 1.37k YTD
#079 - AGE OF ULTRON TP - $35 - MAR - 1.35k - last month rank 230 - 8.09k YTD
#080 - BATMAN TP VOL 03 DEATH OF THE FAMILY (N52) - $17 - DC - 1.33k - last month rank 87 - 16.08k YTD
#081 - BLACK SCIENCE TP VOL 01 HOW TO FALL FOREVER - $10 - IMA - 1.32k - last month rank 120 - 16.07k YTD
#082 - LAZARUS HC VOL 01 - $35 - IMA - 1.32k - new book
#083 - INFINITY GAUNTLET TP - $25 - MAR - 1.28k - last month rank 136 - 8.46k YTD
#084 - MARVEL UNIVERSE VS PUNISHER HC - $20 - MAR - 1.27k - return after 47 months - 1.27k YTD
#085 - CAPTAIN AMERICA EPIC COLLECTION TP CAPTAIN LIVES AGAIN - $35 - MAR - 1.26k - new book
#086 - BATMAN DEATH OF THE FAMILY BOOK & JOKER MASK SET (N52) - $40 - DC - 1.23k - last month rank 10 - 20.03k YTD
#087 - SIEGE PREM HC - $25 - MAR - 1.23k - return after 46 months - 1.23k YTD
#088 - ALL NEW INVADERS TP VOL 02 ORIGINAL SIN - $17 - MAR - 1.2k - new book
#089 - GOD IS DEAD TP VOL 03 - $20 - AVA - 1.2k - new book
#090 - GUARDIANS OF GALAXY TP VOL 01 COSMIC AVENGERS - $20 - MAR - 1.19k - last month rank 27 - 22.92k YTD
#091 - MMW INCREDIBLE HULK HC VOL 08 - $70 - MAR - 1.19k - new book
#092 - WALKING DEAD COMPENDIUM TP VOL 01 - $60 - IMA - 1.18k - last month rank 193 - 9.07k YTD
#093 - OZ TP ROAD TO OZ - $18 - MAR - 1.17k - new book
#094 - AVENGERS UNDERCOVER TP VOL 02 GOING NATIVE - $15 - MAR - 1.17k - new book
#095 - ARCHIE THE MARRIED LIFE TP VOL 06 - $20 - ARC - 1.16k - new book
#096 - AVENGERS ORIGIN HC - $25 - MAR - 1.16k - return after 48 months - 1.16k YTD
#097 - PUNK ROCK JESUS DELUXE EDITION HC - $40 - DC - 1.15k - new book
#098 - CHRONICLES OF CONAN TP VOL 28 BLOOD & ICE - $20 - DAR - 1.14k - new book
#099 - ALL YOU NEED IS KILL 2IN1 MANGA GN - $15 - VIZ - 1.14k - new book
#100 - DEADPOOL BY DANIEL WAY COMPLETE COLL TP VOL 01 - $35 - MAR - 1.13k - last month rank 298 - 7.69k YTD
#101 - MASS EFFECT FOUNDATION TP VOL 03 - $17 - DAR - 1.12k - new book
#102 - KINSKI TP - $15 - IMA - 1.1k - new book
#103 - EAST OF WEST TP VOL 01 THE PROMISE - $10 - IMA - 1.07k - last month rank 108 - 17.34k YTD
#104 - DEADPOOL KILLS MARVEL UNIVERSE TP - $15 - MAR - 1.07k - last month rank 123 - 12.73k YTD
#105 - BATMAN DARK KNIGHT RETURNS TP - $20 - DC - 1.06k - last month rank 138 - 14.95k YTD
#106 - FANTASTIC FOUR BY HICKMAN OMNIBUS HC VOL 02 - $125 - MAR - 1.06k - new book
#107 - TRINITY OF SIN PANDORA TP VOL 02 (N52) - $17 - DC - 1.06k - new book
#108 - BATGIRL HC VOL 01 THE DARKEST REFLECTION (N52) - $23 - DC - 1.05k - return after 25 months - 1.05k YTD
#109 - BLUE EXORCIST GN VOL 12 - $10 - VIZ - 1.04k - new book
#110 - ANGRY BIRDS COMICS HC VOL 01 WELCOME TO THE FLOCK - $10 - IDW - 1.04k - new book
#111 - PRINCESS UGG TP VOL 01 - $16 - ONI - 1.03k - new book
#112 - HAWKEYE TP VOL 03 LA WOMAN - $16 - MAR - 1.02k - last month rank 2 - 8.77k YTD
#113 - RAT QUEENS TP VOL 01 SASS & SORCERY - $10 - IMA - 1.01k - last month rank 53 - 18.7k YTD
#114 - WALKING DEAD TP VOL 03 SAFETY BEHIND BARS - $15 - IMA - 1k - last month rank 132 - 13.6k YTD
#115 - NEW YORK FOUR DARK HORSE ED TP - $20 - DAR - 1k - new book
#116 - BATMAN COURT OF OWLS BOOK & MASK SET (N52) - $25 - DC - 1k - return after 3 months - 3.31k YTD
#117 - WALKING DEAD TP VOL 04 HEARTS DESIRE - $15 - IMA - 0.98k - last month rank 216 - 10.55k YTD
#118 - SUPER HERO SQUAD TP VOL 01 GET YER HERO ON DIGEST - $10 - MAR - 0.95k - return after 56 months - 0.95k YTD
#119 - BATMAN HUSH COMPLETE TP - $25 - DC - 0.95k - last month rank 131 - 15.4k YTD
#120 - DEADPOOL TP VOL 01 DEAD PRESIDENTS NOW - $16 - MAR - 0.94k - last month rank 121 - 11.37k YTD
#121 - RESIDENT EVIL MARHAWA DESIRE GN VOL 01 - $13 - VIZ - 0.94k - new book
#122 - TRANSFORMERS ROBOTS IN DISGUISE TP VOL 06 - $20 - IDW - 0.93k - new book
#123 - MARVEL ZOMBIES 04 HC - $20 - MAR - 0.93k - return after 28 months - 0.93k YTD
#124 - MARVEL ZOMBIES 5 HC - $25 - MAR - 0.92k - return after 49 months - 0.92k YTD
#125 - HAWKEYE TP VOL 01 MY LIFE AS WEAPON NOW - $17 - MAR - 0.91k - last month rank 149 - 11.68k YTD
#126 - FLASH TP VOL 01 MOVE FORWARD (N52) - $17 - DC - 0.9k - last month rank 166 - 7k YTD
#127 - GRANDVILLE NOEL HC - $20 - DAR - 0.9k - new book
#128 - HELLBLAZER TP VOL 01 ORIGINAL SINS NEW ED - $20 - DC - 0.9k - last month rank 225 - 4.88k YTD
#129 - BATMAN TP VOL 04 ZERO YEAR SECRET CITY (N52) - $17 - DC - 0.9k - last month rank 3 - 8.45k YTD
#130 - CASANOVA COMPLETE ED HC VOL 01 LUXURIA - $30 - IMA - 0.89k - new book
#131 - WATCHMEN TP - $20 - DC - 0.89k - last month rank 111 - 13.09k YTD
#132 - HARLEY QUINN PRELUDES AND KNOCK KNOCK JOKES TP - $20 - DC - 0.87k - return after 3 months - 4.87k YTD
#133 - WOLVERINE BY AARON COMPLETE COLLECTION TP VOL 04 - $35 - MAR - 0.87k - new book
#134 - AXE COP TP VOL 06 AMERICAN CHOPPERS - $13 - DAR - 0.86k - new book
#135 - LOCKE & KEY TP VOL 01 WELCOME TO LOVECRAFT - $20 - IDW - 0.86k - return after 2 months - 7.48k YTD
#136 - MANARA BORGIAS HC - $60 - DAR - 0.85k - new book
#137 - UNCANNY X-MEN MANIFEST DESTINY TP - $25 - MAR - 0.84k - return after 61 months - 0.84k YTD
#138 - ASSASSINS CREED GN VOL 05 EL CAKR - $10 - RAN - 0.84k - new book
#139 - SATOSHI KON OPUS TP - $20 - DAR - 0.83k - new book
#140 - WALKING DEAD TP VOL 20 ALL OUT WAR PT 1 - $15 - IMA - 0.83k - last month rank 106 - 39.36k YTD
#141 - DEADLY CLASS TP VOL 01 REAGAN YOUTH - $10 - IMA - 0.83k - last month rank 187 - 9.75k YTD
#142 - SANDMAN TP VOL 01 PRELUDES & NOCTURNES NEW ED - $20 - DC - 0.83k - last month rank 130 - 12.12k YTD
#143 - BOUNCE TP - $25 - IMA - 0.82k - new book
#144 - JUSTICE LEAGUE TP VOL 01 ORIGIN (N52) - $17 - DC - 0.81k - last month rank 150 - 11.34k YTD
#145 - WORST OF EERIE PUBLICATIONS HC - $28 - IDW - 0.81k - new book
#146 - STRONG FEMALE PROTAGONIST GN BOOK 01 - $20 - TOP - 0.8k - new book
#147 - AVENGERS PREM HC FIRST TO LAST - $35 - MAR - 0.8k - return after 42 months - 0.8k YTD
#148 - MONSTER MUSUME GN VOL 05 - $13 - STM - 0.8k - new book
#149 - LOCKE & KEY TP SLIPCASE SET HOLIDAY ED - $100 - IDW - 0.8k - new book
#150 - ARMOR HUNTERS TP VOL 01 - $15 - VAL - 0.79k - new book
#151 - BATMAN THE LONG HALLOWEEN TP - $25 - DC - 0.79k - last month rank 181 - 11.7k YTD
#152 - CLAYMORE GN VOL 25 - $10 - VIZ - 0.78k - new book
#153 - PRETTY DEADLY TP VOL 01 - $10 - IMA - 0.78k - last month rank 146 - 12.5k YTD
#154 - SUPERMAN GOLDEN AGE SUNDAYS 1946-1949 HC - $50 - IDW - 0.78k - new book
#155 - TMNT LEGENDS SOULS WINTER MICHAEL ZULLI HC - $25 - IDW - 0.77k - new book
#156 - TERMINATOR SALVATION FINAL BATTLE TP VOL 01 - $20 - DAR - 0.77k - new book
#157 - EAST OF WEST TP VOL 03 THERE IS NO US - $15 - IMA - 0.76k - last month rank 4 - 8.1k YTD
#158 - MARVEL 75TH ANNIVERSARY OMNIBUS HC - $100 - MAR - 0.76k - new book
#159 - MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS GN VOL 02 GOING GREEN - $8 - NBM - 0.76k - new book
#160 - WALKING DEAD COMPENDIUM TP VOL 02 - $60 - IMA - 0.75k - return after 2 months - 4.71k YTD
#161 - SOUTHERN BASTARDS TP VOL 01 HERE WAS A MAN - $10 - IMA - 0.75k - last month rank 6 - 7.24k YTD
#162 - FABLES TP VOL 01 LEGENDS IN EXILE NEW ED - $13 - DC - 0.75k - last month rank 101 - 13.31k YTD
#163 - MARVEL UNIVERSE AVENGERS ASSEMBLE DIGEST TP VOL 03 - $10 - MAR - 0.75k - new book
#164 - ABSOLUTE BATMAN HAUNTED KNIGHT HC - $100 - DC - 0.74k - new book
#165 - TALES OF HONOR TP VOL 01 - $20 - IMA - 0.74k - new book
#166 - LITTLEST PET SHOP HC - $10 - IDW - 0.74k - new book
#167 - SAVAGE WOLVERINE PREM HC VOL 04 BEST THERE IS - $25 - MAR - 0.74k - new book
#168 - MANIFEST DESTINY TP VOL 01 - $10 - IMA - 0.74k - last month rank 286 - 9.8k YTD
#169 - VAMPIRE DIARIES TP - $25 - DC - 0.73k - new book
#170 - POKEMON ADVENTURES GN VOL 25 FIRERED LEAFGREEN - $10 - VIZ - 0.73k - new book
#171 - DANGER GIRL MAYDAY TP - $18 - IDW - 0.73k - new book
#172 - ASTONISHING THOR HC - $25 - MAR - 0.73k - return after 38 months - 0.73k YTD
#173 - DOOMWAR HC - $25 - MAR - 0.73k - return after 49 months - 0.73k YTD
#174 - BRYAN LEE O MALLEY SECONDS GN - $25 - RAN - 0.72k - last month rank 126 - 8.83k YTD
#175 - V FOR VENDETTA BOOK AND MASK SET - $30 - DC - 0.72k - return after 2 months - 2.5k YTD
#176 - BATMAN KNIGHTFALL TP PART 01 BROKEN BAT - $20 - DC - 0.71k - return after 15 months - 0.71k YTD
#177 - HELLO KITTY GN WORK OF ART - $8 - VIZ - 0.7k - new book
#178 - DC COMICS THE NEW 52 ZERO OMNIBUS HC (N52) - $150 - DC - 0.7k - return after 23 months - 0.7k YTD
#179 - FAIRY TAIL GN VOL 44 - $11 - RAN - 0.69k - new book
#180 - SANDMAN ENDLESS NIGHTS TP NEW EDITION - $20 - DC - 0.69k - return after 13 months - 0.69k YTD
#181 - MARCH GN BOOK 01 - $15 - TOP - 0.69k - last month rank 301 - 6.1k YTD
#182 - UNITY TP VOL 03 ARMOR HUNTERS - $15 - VAL - 0.68k - new book
#183 - V FOR VENDETTA NEW EDITION TP - $20 - DC - 0.68k - last month rank 189 - 8.07k YTD
#184 - WALKING DEAD TP VOL 19 MARCH TO WAR - $15 - IMA - 0.68k - last month rank 168 - 14.66k YTD
#185 - CAPTAIN MARVEL TP VOL 01 HIGHER FURTHER FASTER MORE - $18 - MAR - 0.68k - last month rank 28 - 3.58k YTD
#186 - FOREVER SMURFETTE GN - $6 - NBM - 0.67k - new book
#187 - DRAGONS RIDERS OF BERK GN VOL 02 - $7 - RAN - 0.67k - new book
#188 - INCREDIBLE CHANGE BOTS TWO POINT SOMETHING GN - $20 - TOP - 0.67k - new book
#189 - GREEN LANTERN v1 HC VOL 01 THE SINESTRO CORPS WAR - $25 - DC - 0.66k - return after 67 months - 0.66k YTD
#190 - WALTER SIMONSON MANHUNTER ARTIST ED HC - $95 - IDW - 0.66k - new book
#191 - WALKING DEAD TP VOL 05 BEST DEFENSE - $15 - IMA - 0.66k - last month rank 196 - 8.79k YTD
#192 - EAST OF WEST TP VOL 02 WE ARE ALL ONE - $15 - IMA - 0.66k - last month rank 143 - 15.63k YTD
#193 - BATMAN HC VOL 05 ZERO YEAR DARK CITY (N52) - $25 - DC - 0.66k - last month rank 5 - 7.43k YTD
#194 - BATMAN YEAR ONE DELUXE SC - $15 - DC - 0.66k - last month rank 259 - 11.41k YTD
#195 - MOON KNIGHT TP VOL 01 FROM DEAD - $18 - MAR - 0.66k - last month rank 9 - 5.63k YTD
#196 - GUARDIANS OF GALAXY TP VOL 02 ANGELA - $20 - MAR - 0.65k - last month rank 93 - 7.24k YTD
#197 - JOKER DEATH OF THE FAMILY TP (N52) - $25 - DC - 0.65k - last month rank 152 - 11.68k YTD
#198 - WOLVERINE OLD MAN LOGAN TP - $30 - MAR - 0.64k - last month rank 169 - 6.59k YTD
#199 - ROYAL BLOOD HC - $17 - RAN - 0.63k - new book
#200 - BATMAN ARKHAM ASYLUM MADNESS HC - $20 - DC - 0.63k - return after 52 months - 0.63k YTD
#201 - DEADPOOL TP VOL 03 GOOD BAD AND UGLY NOW - $16 - MAR - 0.63k - last month rank 96 - 6.66k YTD
#202 - SAMURAI EXECUTIONER OMNIBUS TP VOL 03 - $20 - DAR - 0.63k - new book
#203 - ARCHIE GIANT COMICS FESTIVAL TP - $8 - ARC - 0.63k - new book
#204 - WALKING DEAD OMNIBUS HC VOL 05 - $100 - IMA - 0.62k - new book
#205 - HULK GREEN HULK RED HULK HC - $40 - MAR - 0.62k - return after 50 months - 0.62k YTD
#206 - DREAM STATES THE COLLECTED DREAMING COVERS HC - $50 - DC - 0.62k - new book
#207 - SUICIDE SQUAD TP VOL 01 KICKED IN THE TEETH (N52) - $15 - DC - 0.62k - last month rank 294 - 3.9k YTD
#208 - REGULAR SHOW SKIPS TP - $20 - BOO - 0.62k - new book
#209 - HULK VISIONARIES JOHN BYRNE TP VOL 01 - $25 - MAR - 0.61k - return after 78 months - 0.61k YTD
#210 - MARVEL SUPER HERO SQUAD INFINITY SWORD QUEST HC - $25 - MAR - 0.61k - return after 55 months - 0.61k YTD
#211 - MY LITTLE PONY DIGEST TP VOL 01 - $7 - IDW - 0.61k - return after 14 months - 0.61k YTD
#212 - WALKING DEAD TP VOL 06 SORROWFUL LIFE - $15 - IMA - 0.61k - last month rank 227 - 7.45k YTD
#213 - GRINDHOUSE MIDNIGHT TP VOL 02 BRIDE BLOOD FLESH DOLL - $18 - DAR - 0.61k - new book
#214 - MARVEL ADVENTURES BLACK WIDOW & AVENGERS TP DIGEST - $10 - MAR - 0.61k - return after 40 months - 0.61k YTD
#215 - MMW GOLDEN AGE ALL WINNERS TP VOL 02 - $30 - MAR - 0.61k - new book
#216 - STRAIN TP VOL 01 - $20 - DAR - 0.61k - last month rank 167 - 2.92k YTD
#217 - AVENGERS VS X-MEN TP AVX - $35 - MAR - 0.6k - last month rank 231 - 7.1k YTD
#218 - KISS OF THE ROSE PRINCESS GN VOL 01 - $10 - VIZ - 0.6k - new book
#219 - ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW TP - $18 - CAL - 0.6k - return after 23 months - 0.6k YTD
#220 - TALES O/T TMNT TP VOL 06 - $20 - IDW - 0.6k - new book
#221 - WALKING DEAD TP VOL 17 SOMETHING TO FEAR - $15 - IMA - 0.6k - last month rank 211 - 9.07k YTD
#222 - XXXHOLIC REI GN VOL 02 - $11 - RAN - 0.6k - new book
#223 - NISEKOI FALSE LOVE GN VOL 06 - $10 - VIZ - 0.59k - new book
#224 - ATTACK ON TITAN BEGINNING BOX SET - $44 - RAN - 0.59k - new book
#225 - WALKING DEAD HC VOL 01 - $35 - IMA - 0.58k - return after 2 months - 3.31k YTD
#226 - NAILBITER TP VOL 01 THERE WILL BE BLOOD - $10 - IMA - 0.58k - last month rank 11 - 4.96k YTD
#227 - WALKING DEAD TP VOL 18 WHAT COMES AFTER - $15 - IMA - 0.58k - last month rank 195 - 10.49k YTD
#228 - GOTHAM CITY SIRENS TP BOOK 01 - $25 - DC - 0.57k - last month rank 15 - 4.43k YTD
#229 - PUNISHER HC FRANKEN-CASTLE - $40 - MAR - 0.57k - return after 48 months - 0.57k YTD
#230 - WONDER WOMAN TP VOL 01 BLOOD (N52) - $15 - DC - 0.57k - last month rank 250 - 6.98k YTD
#231 - WHITE SUITS TP - $18 - DAR - 0.57k - new book
#232 - HAUNTED HORROR HC VOL 02 COMICS MOTHER WARNED ABOUT - $25 - IDW - 0.57k - new book
#233 - ZENITH HC PHASE TWO - $25 - POC - 0.57k - new book
#234 - BETTY & VERONICA SHOPPING SPREE TP - $10 - ARC - 0.57k - new book
#235 - CIVIL WAR HC - $40 - MAR - 0.57k - return after 71 months - 0.57k YTD
#236 - POKEMON ADV BLACK & WHITE GN VOL 05 - $10 - VIZ - 0.56k - new book
#237 - HARLEY QUINN HC VOL 01 HOT IN THE CITY - $25 - DC - 0.56k - last month rank 7 - 6.17k YTD
#238 - BATMAN WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE CAPED CRUSADER TP - $15 - DC - 0.56k - return after 36 months - 0.56k YTD
#239 - PARADISE X TP VOL 01 - $30 - MAR - 0.56k - return after 88 months - 0.56k YTD
#240 - DISNEY MICKEY MOUSE HC VOL 06 LOST LANDS LONG AGO - $35 - FAN - 0.56k - new book
#241 - DEADPOOL CLASSIC TP VOL 01 - $30 - MAR - 0.55k - last month rank 251 - 4.43k YTD
#242 - PAINKILLER JANE 22 BRIDES TP - $18 - MAR - 0.55k - new book
#243 - TEEN TITANS A CELEBRATION OF 50 YEARS HC - $40 - DC - 0.55k - new book
#244 - AVENGERS WEST COAST AVENGERS ASSEMBLE PREM HC - $30 - MAR - 0.55k - return after 51 months - 0.55k YTD
#245 - SUPERMAN RED SON TP - $18 - DC - 0.54k - last month rank 224 - 8.49k YTD
#246 - SILVER TP VOL 01 - $13 - DAR - 0.52k - new book
#247 - CONSTANTINE TP VOL 01 SPARK AND THE FLAME (N52) - $15 - DC - 0.52k - return after 9 months - 3.2k YTD
#248 - SUPERMAN EARTH ONE TP VOL 01 - $13 - DC - 0.52k - return after 5 months - 1.5k YTD
#249 - DRAGONAR ACADEMY GN VOL 04 - $13 - STM - 0.52k - new book
#250 - PREACHER TP BOOK 01 - $20 - DC - 0.52k - last month rank 218 - 7.61k YTD
#251 - IRON MAN PREM HC LEGACY OF DOOM - $20 - MAR - 0.52k - return after 42 months - 0.52k YTD
#252 - MY LITTLE PONY FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC TP VOL 01 - $18 - IDW - 0.52k - last month rank 277 - 4.08k YTD
#253 - HEROIC AGE TP - $25 - MAR - 0.52k - return after 48 months - 0.52k YTD
#254 - LEGO LEGENDS OF CHIMA GN VOL 03 CHI QUEST - $8 - NBM - 0.51k - new book
#255 - DEADPOOL VS CARNAGE TP - $17 - MAR - 0.51k - last month rank 212 - 7.36k YTD
#256 - SOLAR MAN OF THE ATOM TP VOL 01 NUCLEAR FAMILY - $17 - DE - 0.51k - new book
#257 - JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA HC VOL 01 (N52) - $25 - DC - 0.51k - return after 12 months - 0.51k YTD
#258 - ORPHAN BLADE GN - $20 - ONI - 0.51k - new book
#259 - ATTACK ON TITAN GN VOL 01 - $11 - RAN - 0.51k - last month rank 242 - 8.92k YTD
#260 - UQ HOLDER GN VOL 03 - $11 - RAN - 0.5k - new book
#261 - X-FILES SEASON 10 HC VOL 03 - $25 - IDW - 0.5k - new book
#262 - IRON MAN TP MANY ARMORS OF IRON MAN - $25 - MAR - 0.5k - return after 81 months - 0.5k YTD
#263 - ORIGINAL SIN HC - $75 - MAR - 0.5k - last month rank 23 - 3.72k YTD
#264 - SANDMAN TP VOL 02 THE DOLLS HOUSE NEW ED - $20 - DC - 0.49k - last month rank 300 - 6.03k YTD
#265 - DEADPOOL KILLS DEADPOOL TP - $15 - MAR - 0.49k - last month rank 204 - 8.08k YTD
#266 - NIGHT OF LIVING DEADPOOL TP - $17 - MAR - 0.49k - last month rank 232 - 8.62k YTD
#267 - GREEN LANTERN v1 HC VOL 02 THE SINESTRO CORPS WAR - $25 - DC - 0.49k - return after 67 months - 0.49k YTD
#268 - JSA OMNIBUS HC VOL 02 - $150 - DC - 0.49k - new book
#269 - INJUSTICE GODS AMONG US TP VOL 01 - $15 - DC - 0.49k - last month rank 201 - 6.53k YTD
#270 - X-MEN SECOND COMING REVELATIONS HC - $25 - MAR - 0.49k - return after 49 months - 0.49k YTD
#271 - NEW AVENGERS HC VOL 02 - $30 - MAR - 0.49k - return after 79 months - 0.49k YTD
#272 - WALKING DEAD TP VOL 10 WHAT WE BECOME - $15 - IMA - 0.49k - return after 2 months - 4.53k YTD
#273 - DEADPOOL TP VOL 05 WEDDING OF DEADPOOL - $16 - MAR - 0.49k - last month rank 163 - 7.44k YTD
#274 - DEADPOOL TP VOL 02 SOUL HUNTER NOW - $16 - MAR - 0.49k - last month rank 184 - 6.92k YTD
#275 - LUCIFER AND THE BISCUIT HAMMER TP VOL 01 - $19 - STM - 0.48k - new book
#276 - AVENGERS WORLD TRUST PREM HC - $25 - MAR - 0.48k - return after 58 months - 0.48k YTD
#277 - HELLBOY TP VOL 01 SEED OF DESTRUCTION - $18 - DAR - 0.47k - return after 6 months - 2.37k YTD
#278 - AMAZING SPIDER-MAN TP VOL 01 PARKER LUCK - $18 - MAR - 0.47k - last month rank 8 - 5.47k YTD
#279 - CHEW TP VOL 01 - $10 - IMA - 0.47k - last month rank 222 - 7.46k YTD
#280 - PUNKROCKPAPERSCISSORS TP - $30 - IMA - 0.47k - new book
#281 - EC GEORGE EVANS ACES HIGH HC - $30 - FAN - 0.47k - new book
#282 - WALKING DEAD TP VOL 07 THE CALM BEFORE - $15 - IMA - 0.47k - last month rank 262 - 6.26k YTD
#283 - MODESTY BLAISE TP VOL 25 GRIM JOKER - $20 - TTN - 0.47k - new book
#284 - SKY ART OF FINAL FANTASY HC VOL 03 - $25 - DAR - 0.47k - new book
#285 - DIARY OF A WIMPY KID HC VOL 09 LONG HAUL - $14 - ABR - 0.46k - new book
#286 - WALKING DEAD TP VOL 11 FEAR THE HUNTERS - $15 - IMA - 0.46k - last month rank 297 - 3.88k YTD
#287 - SKY ART OF FINAL FANTASY HC VOL 02 - $35 - DAR - 0.46k - new book
#288 - WALKING DEAD TP VOL 08 MADE TO SUFFER - $15 - IMA - 0.46k - last month rank 285 - 5.5k YTD
#289 - AVATAR LAST AIRBENDER TP VOL 04 SEARCH PART 1 - $11 - DAR - 0.46k - return after 2 months - 2.8k YTD
#290 - GREEN LANTERN SECRET ORIGIN HC - $20 - DC - 0.46k - return after 48 months - 0.46k YTD
#291 - JUDGE DREDD CITY LIMITS GN - $30 - IDW - 0.46k - new book
#292 - METALLICA NOTHING ELSE MATTERS GN - $20 - PUT - 0.46k - new book
#293 - SUPERMAN EARTH ONE TP VOL 02 - $15 - DC - 0.46k - return after 8 months - 3.68k YTD
#294 - AVATAR LAST AIRBENDER TP VOL 01 PROMISE PART 1 - $11 - DAR - 0.45k - return after 2 months - 2.43k YTD
#295 - GI JOE A REAL AMERICAN HERO TP VOL 10 - $20 - IDW - 0.45k - new book
#296 - HIGH SCHOOL DXD GN VOL 03 - $13 - HAC - 0.45k - new book
#297 - CABLE CLASSIC TP VOL 02 - $30 - MAR - 0.45k - return after 64 months - 0.45k YTD
#298 - FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST 3IN1 TP VOL 09 - $15 - VIZ - 0.45k - new book
#299 - BLACKEST NIGHT TP - $20 - DC - 0.45k - last month rank 237 - 6.45k YTD
#300 - ALICE I/T COUNTRY OF CLOVER KNIGHTS KNOWLEDGE GN VOL 03 - $14 - STM - 0.45k - new book

The November charts are up

November numbers are up at the usual places, including Comichron. Check the other links in the sidebar. It might be the last fairly normal month for a while, with a lot of chart deforming events coming up, including a Loot Crate exclusive cover for BATMAN #36 which will probably more than double the 115k it shipped in November, various Star Wars launches at Marvel next year, with a print run for #1 reportedly already over 1 million (and dozens of covers), possibly not all of those going through the direct market.

Top book was AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #9, which launched an event and had many extra covers. Not surprisingly, #10 dropped right down to normal sales for the title, which are still respectable in the current market. The actual main SPIDER-VERSE event it launched is down a bit further in the charts, about half of what #9 sold. Second issues continue to have average drops in the 33% range, which seems to be the new normal. A big increase for INHUMAN #8, about 70%, apparently engineered by shipping many free copies. The retail rank indicates that it saw a pretty big drop in actual paid copies. The 64% increase for the new creative team on WONDER WOMAN #36 was probably more genuine, though probably short-lived.

On the books chart, 161 new items, 139 backlist, which is about normal for a month without DC or Marvel doing a huge high-discount dump (although there is some of that on this chart). New WALKING DEAD TP book is of course on top, only a few books can ship over 20k out of the gate like that. TEEN TITANS EARTH ONE HC VOL 01 did pretty good at almost 9k, but still only about half the first month sales of the previous EARTH ONE books. SAGA DLX ED HC VOL 01 did remarkably well for a $50 book at over 8k, which also gives it the top retail rank.

Maybe more later this week if I have time, otherwise look forward to the year-end numbers coming up soon.

New Chart Day Early Links

Some charts are up early this time around. I'll have the full summary of links up early next week, but until then here's ICV2's version of the Top 300 Comics and Top 300 Graphic Novels.

As you'd expect, last month's top comic, ROCKET RACCOON #1, took a big dive with #2, down over 80% to a still highly unrealistically high 56.6k. That's one of the biggest single issue drops on the chart in the time that we have comparable statistics (I suspect some early 1990s second issue drops beat it with ease), especially if you discount cases where the drop was after a bargain priced $1 first issue.. MULTIVERSITY is the top debut at 90.5k, which is pretty good for a $5 book, it'll be interesting to see how its release as a series of one-shots does. I'm guessing about 50-60k by the last issue. Two issues of HARLEY QUINN came out and demonstrate the difference between open order variants (#9, 71.5k) and limited variants (#10, 58.5k). Average second issue drops were about 35%.

Over on the Graphic Novels side, THANOS INFINITY REVELATION was the top book, and the most successful of Marvel's current series of original graphic novels. None of the previous ones have shown much legs as backlist, we'll see if this one is different. The Top 300 was almost evenly split new releases (155 books) and backlist (145). DC had a lot of backlist stuff on sale this time around. SAGA continues to do well as backlist, with all three books in the top 10, and representing the top three Image books.

More on these charts soon.

Observations on July 2014 Comics Chart

This month let's just try going through the Top 300 Comics chart and commenting on anything that seems interesting. Mostly in order, though I've grouped together some books with common themes.

#1. ROCKET RACCOON #1 (MAR) - 293.9k copies
As has been mentioned elsewhere, this rather insane number is bolstered by a number of factors, chief among them a company called "Loot Crate" buying a custom branded cover edition for all their customers, numbering over 100k. There were also a few other custom branded variants and the usual array of Marvel first-issue sales inflating gimmicks. Obviously we'll see a massive drop with #2, probably to under 100k, which is still pretty good for a ROCKET RACCOON series. A year ago we'd probably have seen 30k for the first issue and cancellation numbers by #6.

I do find it curious that Marvel decided to funnel a 100k+ single issue single customer order through Diamond, rather than cutting out the middleman, but I don't know enough to guess whether that was to comply with their exclusive distribution contract with Diamond or a desire to have those numbers be a part of their marketshare in the direct market breakdown.

#2. BATMAN #33 (DC) - 118k copies - down 9.3%
Most of the DC books that saw big increases last month from the "bombshell" cover variants saw some decrease this month with the "Batman 75" variants, but still higher than their May sales. BATMAN is pretty typical, going from 107k to 130k to 118k.

#3. AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #4 (MAR) - 117.9k copies - up 8.2%
Starting a run of issues crossing over with ORIGINAL SIN, then another crossover after that. It's been several years since an on-going Marvel book has sustained sales over 100k for more than one or two issues, so this has to be seen as a success.

#4. ORIGINAL SIN #5 (MAR) - 91.4k copies - up 3.3%
#6. ORIGINAL SIN #6 (MAR) - 89.3k copies - down 2.3%

Pretty steady, will probably see a small jump with the last issues.

#5. SPIDER-MAN 2099 #1 (MAR) - 90.7k copies
Decent launch, higher than you'd expect (I'd have guessed 60-70k), and going to be involved in a Spider-Man crossover in a few issues which should keep the numbers steady.

#7. JUSTICE LEAGUE #32 (DC) - 88.2k copies - up 16.3%
A late "bombshell" variant cover boost.

#8. GRAYSON #1 (DC) - 81.4k copies
Better numbers than any issue of NIGHTWING managed, as far back as we have comparable numbers, over double what it was selling recently.

#9. LEGENDARY STAR LORD #1 (MAR) - 78.5k copies
Over twice what you'd have expected if the character weren't appearing in a new movie. I imagine most of the curiosity will be sated by the first issue, but the big launch should give it enough momentum to last longer than the 6-8 issues you'd expect from a STAR LORD series.

#10. HARLEY QUINN #8 (DC) - 76.8k copies - down 17.6%
#16. HARLEY QUINN INVADES COMIC CON #1 (DC) - 65k copies

#80. SECRET ORIGINS #4 (DC) - 37.2k copies - up 31.1%

The new HARLEY QUINN book has been surprisingly successful, down this month only because the popular "bombshell" variant was last month. The COMIC CON special sold in the expected range for an Annual, and the presence of Quinn gave a big boost to SECRET ORIGINS which should be all gone next issue.

#13. SANDMAN OVERTURE #3 (DC) - 72.6k copies - down 19.1%
Falling a bit fast, I don't think slipping from an already slow bi-monthly release schedule to once every four months helps it.  At this rate the ending is still a year away, while originally it should be ending in a few weeks.

#14. SUPERMAN UNCHAINED #7 (DC) - 69.5k copies - down 26.2%
A few issues left to stagger out, has to be seen as a disappointing showing for such a high profile creative team.

#15. BATMAN SUPERMAN #12 (DC) - 68.3k copies - up 27.7%
Another late "bombshell" cover.

#17. BATMAN ETERNAL #13 (DC) - 63.8k copies - up 7.4%
#18. BATMAN ETERNAL #14 (DC) - 63.1k copies - down 1.1%
#22. BATMAN ETERNAL #15 (DC) - 62.1k copies - down 1.6%
#23. BATMAN ETERNAL #16 (DC) - 61.1k copies - down 1.6%
#25. BATMAN ETERNAL #17 (DC) - 60k copies - down 1.9%

No longer returnable with #13, so that accounts for the small jump there as Diamond no longer takes off a portion of sales. Very steady seller overall.

#19. SUPERMAN #33 (DC) - 63k copies - down 34.4%
I'd have to think that they were hoping for a bit more with the new creative team that began with #32, but sales of the book were pretty anemic before.

#20. GUARDIANS OF GALAXY #17 (MAR) - 63k copies - up 14.9%
Small bump to have copies on hand for the film release, most should be gone by the next issue.

#27. LIFE WITH ARCHIE #36 (ARC) - 57.1k copies - up 2664.2%
#42. LIFE WITH ARCHIE #37 (ARC) - 48.8k copies - down 14.4%

#297. LIFE WITH ARCHIE MAGAZINE #36 (ARC) - 6.7k copies

This is the "Death of Alternate Universe Archie" story. Technically I suppose the sales comparison with #35 should be with the magazine version of #36 (which has the story content of the the standard comic version of #36 and #37), since that matched the format. The book always had anemic direct market sales, in the 2-3k range, selling primarily in the mass market until this finale. Don't expect the interest in this to translate to any future interest in any standard Archie books.

#32. OUTCAST #2 (IMA) - 55.1k copies - down 23.2%
Less of a drop than I expected, still returnable so probably shipped closer to 60k. I'll be most curious to see if the first collection can put up anywhere near WALKING DEAD numbers, and how the first issue after the collection does.

#35. TEEN TITANS #1 (DC) - 52.4k copies
#41. NEW SUICIDE SQUAD #1 (DC) - 49.3k copies

Both about twice the sales of the books they replace with similar/identical names. As a quick rule of thumb, an average relaunch will return to previous sales levels in six issues, so if #6 of either stays ahead of those levels I'd chalk it up as a success.

#44. JUSTICE LEAGUE UNITED #3 (DC) - 47.9k copies - down 23.9%
A bit of a delayed second issue drop thanks to the variant on #2.

#46. STORM #1 (MAR) - 47.6k copies
Seems to be about the expect range for recent solo X-Men books, with NIGHTCRAWLER at 49.4k and CYCLOPS at 47.4k. Given that trend, expect to see this in the 25k range within a few issues.

#59. DOCTOR WHO 11TH #1 (TIT) - 41.1k copies
#67. DOCTOR WHO 10TH #1 (TIT) - 39.7k copies

Interestingly, these sold over twice what any non-crossover DOCTOR WHO book from IDW did, and over four times what any previous Titan comic (in their current incarnation) has managed. Looks like a good marriage of publisher and licence for now, with DOCTOR WHO benefiting from being the biggest book at Titan rather than the fifth most important licensed title at IDW, and DOCTOR WHO being in the Titan listings maybe encouraging a few readers and retailers to pay more attention to those listings in the future. And Titan being a bigger deal outside the US direct market should mean a lot of sales in venues not included in this chart. It'll be interesting to see how the "12th Doctor" book does.

#78. MILES MORALES ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #3 (MAR) - 37.2k copies - down 2.6%
Stabilized very quickly, not sure if the Ultimate line will continue with only one book, or if they'll permanently fold the character into the main Marvel Universe.

#86. MS MARVEL #6 (MAR) - 36k copies - up 6.6%
The endless hype the book has been getting finally translates to a modest increase in sales in the direct market.

#101. BLACK SCIENCE #7 (IMA) - 28.1k copies - up 13.1%
Decent uptick with the "first after collection" issue, and that collection has been selling very well.

#106. STAR WARS #19 (DAR) - 27.2k copies - down 2.5%
One more issue to go, it'll be interesting to see how the Marvel relaunch does. I'm guessing the initial numbers will be high, maybe the 100k range, but down to this range within a few issues, at least until the hype machine for the next movie really starts to rev up.

#111. SUPREME BLUE ROSE #1 (IMA) - 26.1k copies
Significantly higher than any of the previous "Extreme Studios" revivals have done, we'll see if it can sustain decent numbers (or the interest of its creators) for more than a handful of issues.

#115. AFTERLIFE WITH ARCHIE #6 (ARC) - 25.7k copies - down 5.1%
So, turns out the secret to direct market success for Archie was death.

#134. ALL NEW X-FACTOR #10 (MAR) - 22.6k copies - down 4.9%
#135. ALL NEW X-FACTOR #11 (MAR) - 22.4k copies - down 0.6%
#136. ALL NEW INVADERS #7 (MAR) - 22.3k copies - down 4.8%
#137. ALL NEW GHOST RIDER #5 (MAR) - 21.8k copies - down 11.4%
#148. ALL NEW INVADERS #8 (MAR) - 19.9k copies - down 11%

#161. ALL NEW ULTIMATES #5 (MAR) - 18.2k copies - down 11.5%

#209. ALL NEW DOOP #4 (MAR) - 11k copies - down 12.9%

Maybe "All New" isn't as enticing a descriptor as Marvel thinks it is for anything but X-MEN...

#143. RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS #33 (DC) - 20.7k copies - down 37.5%
#154. CATWOMAN #33 (DC) - 18.9k copies - down 43.8%

What happens when you go from having a "bombshell" variant to no variant.

#159. STAR SPANGLED WAR STORIES GI ZOMBIE #1 (DC) - 18.8k copies
Taking the crown from INFINITY MAN AND THE FOREVER PEOPLE for lowest launching "New 52" book, by a wide margin. It'll be interesting to see if this gets even the usual 8-issue minimum that "New 52" books have gotten.

#163. MIRACLEMAN #8 (MAR) - 17.7k copies - down 7.7%
Not having quite the sales impact that might have been expected.

#169. NAILBITER #3 (IMA) - 16.6k copies - up 9.1%
A fairly rare jump for a third issue indicates some good word-of-mouth.

#172. INFINITY MAN AND THE FOREVER PEOPLE #2 (DC) - 15.9k copies - down 36.2%
Can't be long for the world at this rate.

#173. RAGNAROK #1 (IDW) - 15.6k copies
Decent launch for a creator-owned IDW book.

#184. GROO VS CONAN #1 (DAR) - 13.9k copies
Pretty good sales for both GROO and CONAN in 2014.

#191. DEVILERS #1 (DE) - 12.3k copies
First in a line of books which appear to be company owned but branded "Creators Unleashed". Still a leash on them if the company owns the property, I'd think. Not a bad launch for an original concept book from Dynamite.

#208. ARMOR HUNTERS #2 (VAL) - 11.2k copies - down 31.9%
Top Valiant book for the month, most of the line is under 10k, and some are starting to fall off the Top 300.

#228. LUMBERJANES #4 (BOO) - 10k copies - up 9.2%
Back to the sales level of #2.

#233. NEW VAMPIRELLA #2 (DE) - 9.4k copies - down 58.7%
Steep drop, but still double what OLD VAMPIRELLA finished with.

#267. UBER #15 (AVA) - 7.5k copies - down 0.5%
Coming soon, LYFT and HAXI.

#272. DOCTOR SPEKTOR #2 (DE) - 7.3k copies - down 55.6%
Another massive second issue drop from the new Gold Key revival. Not sure how long that line can continue, although I think it's surpassed the Dark Horse version.

#290. BLACK KISS XXXMAS IN JULY SPECIAL ONE SHOT (IMA) - 6.8k copies
Pretty much held the sales of the last issue of BLACK KISS II, which is pretty good for a book seven months late and double the price.

#299. ANGRY BIRDS COMICS #2 (IDW) - 6.6k copies - down 44.5%
Can't see this having any legs in the direct market, but maybe will be a successful in other markets.

New Chart Day Link Roundup

Been slow on the linking lately, so some catch-up here on new chart day.

July numbers are up, Comichron has the charts, the market summary and  some commentary, as does ICV2 (comic chart, books chart, summary and analysis) and John Mayo at CBR (charts and commentary) It looks like the short period of Diamond releasing the Top 400 for comics is over, unfortunately. I looked briefly as what those extra 100 entries a month included over here, I was looking forward to seeing more as we got enough months of information.

And just catching up, we got the July Bookscan numbers from ICV2 up here. Basically a lot of Batman, a lot of ATTACK ON TITAN, Bryan Lee O'Malley's first post-SCOTT PILGRIM book doing very well  (even with the sales bifurcated by an exclusive edition in one major store).

Beat articles for June are up for DC and Marvel. Note that the writer of the Indie chart for The Beat is stepping down and they're looking for a replacement, so contact them if you're interested.

John Mayo's sales report podcasts are catching up from the convention season, June Trades episode is up now, expect the Comics one up soon, and the July episodes probably soon after that.

To be discussed here on the July numbers in the next few weeks, obviously the absurdly high sales of ROCKET RACCOON. There's the expected across-the-board drop in the DC books that got the "bombshell variant" bump last month, generally losing about half the increase, with most of them having "Batman 75" variants. There's the continuing success of HARLEY QUINN, which this month saw SECRET ORIGINS get a 30% bump with #4. The Books chart is about typical, with around 55% new books and 45% backlist (I'm still going through it trying to weed out a few "new editions" and deciding which should be counted as new books). As you'd expect, a new WALKING DEAD book is always going to dominate (unless a new SAGA comes in the same month). O'Malley's SECONDS does well there as well, it'll be interesting to see if it has the legs in the direct market that SCOTT PILGRIM did (the SCOTT PILGRIM books don't hit the Top 300 much anymore, but the first one was a pretty consistent presence there for about four years bracketing the release of the film adaptation). More soon.

Observations on June 2014 Comics Chart - Launches

A few thoughts on some of the new series on the June 2014 charts.

OUTCAST #1 (IMA) - 71.8k
This was returnable, so it probably shipped closer to 80k in North America, plus no doubt a good amount to other markets, I wouldn't be surprised if this reports sales over 100k by the end of the year. It'll be interesting to see if this follows the standard current Image trends of a 30-40% drop with #2.

ORIGINAL SIN 3.x #1 (MAR) - 45.3k
Confusingly numbered tie-in to the current crossover from Marvel, not selling great compared to the main series, but better than the regular Hulk and Iron Man books that it most closely connects with.

SAVAGE HULK #1 (MAR) - 44.2k
The main Hulk title isn't likely to sell more than 35-40k these days, so you'd expect a spin-off to be doing good selling 25-30k, which this will be within a few issues.

WICKED & DIVINE #1 (IMA) - 42.9k
Strong start for an Image book, especially compared to the sub-5k sales on previous Image books by the same creators before their recent Marvel work.

ORIGINAL SINS #1 (MAR) - 39.7k
Also confusingly numbered as a plural of the parent series, selling about half the level of the main series.

BATMAN 66 MEETS GREEN HORNET #1 (DC) - 33k
A "digital first" book, but with a much smaller digital exclusive window than most of DC's digital first books (just a few weeks), and with an interesting hook. Should continue to do well.

INFINITY MAN AND THE FOREVER PEOPLE #1 (DC) - 24.9k
I think this is the lowest launch of any New 52 "on going" title, below even books like GREEN TEAM. So far every book has been given at least eight issues before cancellation, but this might beat that.

BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA #1 (BOO) - 24.2k
Seriously, this is a comic being published in 2014.

NEW VAMPIRELLA #1 (DE) - 22.9k
Doesn't really seem too different from old Vampirella.

ARMOR HUNTERS #1 (VAL) - 16.5k


TMNT TURTLES IN TIME #1 (IDW) - 13.8k


RISE OF THE MAGI #1 (IMA) - 13.3k


TINY TITANS RETURN TO THE TREEHOUSE #1 (DC) - 13k
The previous series maintained sales in the 7-8k range a couple of years ago, this might wind up slightly ahead of that.

FIGMENT #1 (MAR) - 12.7k


WILDFIRE #1 (IMA) - 12.6k


STAR TREK CITY ON THE EDGE OF FOREVER #1 (IDW) - 12k


ANGRY BIRDS COMICS #1 (IDW) - 11.9k


BLOOD QUEEN #1 (DE) - 10.4k


CARTOON NETWORK SUPER SECRET CRISIS WAR #1 (IDW) - 10.2k


RED CITY #1 (IMA) - 9.9k


WINTERWORLD #1 (IDW) - 8k


EMPTY MAN #1 (BOO) - 7.7k


WITCHFINDER MYSTERIES OF UNLAND #1 (DAR) - 7.4k


SUPERANNUATED MAN #1 (IMA) - 7.3k


AMAZING WORLD OF GUMBALL #1 (BOO) - 7.3k


THOMAS ALSOP #1 (BOO) - 6.3k


PAINKILLER JANE 22 BRIDES #1 (MAR) - 6.1k


PRINCESS UGG #1 (ONI) - 6k


DOODLE JUMP #1 (DE) - 5.9k


JIM BUTCHER DRESDEN FILES WAR CRY #1 (DE) - 5.8k


EYE OF NEWT #1 (DAR) - 5.1k