Bestselling Comics of September 2008
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
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Comic Book Sales: September 2008
John Mayo at the Comic Book Resources web site works out the numbers for the top 300 selling comic books through September 2008, and also tracks sales in general from 2003 'til now. What he sees is Marvel regularly outselling DC, but DC is stable and steady in an upward trend of higher sales overall, with Marvel more erratic (only Batman from Jim Lee and Frank Miller pierced the top ten). Other publishers have been riding a downward spiral, though.
In regards to the way comic book sales are pigeoned into the sub-culture of comic readers, Mayo points out something worth pondering when the huge successes of superhero movie-licensing is compared to actually moving units of four-color funny paper:
With the “Iron Man” DVD having sold well over 7 million units, it would be a shame if the full demand for the comic book version of the character really is down around 60,000 units. Not everyone who bought the DVD is going to suddenly become a comic book reader. But all of them don't have to. If just a single percent of the people that bought the DVD picked up "Invincible Iron Man" #6, the sales for that title would double from the 60,427 units for "Invincible Iron Man" #5 to around 110,000 units. That would put the title up near the top of the list. It is within the realm of possibility, given the first issue sales of an estimated 120,618 units.
Ironically, it might be a best-case scenario if the current direct market infrastructure isn't meeting the full demand for the products. After all, that would mean there is a larger demand for these products and room for the industry to grow.
If you're interested in the numbers for comic book sales, be sure to click on Mayo's graph. There is an enlargement that makes it easy to see what's happening.
Related:
Comic Book Sales Clobbered in January 2011
Comic Book Sales September 2008
Comic Book Sales November 2008
Comic Books Tougher Than Other Mediums - Tom Spurgeon
