June 2019 comics sales

[Comic-Reader Lad]

Preliminary data for June 2019 is now available.

Here are the top 10 comics by UNITS ordered by stores. Black Cat 1 was the top comic for June.

1 Black Cat #1 $4.99 Marvel
2 DCeased #2 $3.99 DC
3 Silver Surfer: Black #1 $3.99 Marvel
4 Batman: Damned #3 $6.99 DC
5 Batman Who Laughs #6 $4.99 DC
6 Amazing Spider-Man #24 $3.99 Marvel
7 Immortal Hulk #19 $3.99 Marvel
8 Walking Dead #192 $3.99 Image
9 Batman #73 $3.99 DC
10 Batman #72 $3.99 DC


Here are the top 10 comics by DOLLARS. Black Cat was still #1, and Frank Miller's Superman: Year 1 jumped into the top 10 based on its $8 price.

1 Black Cat #1 $4.99 Marvel
2 Batman: Damned #3 $6.99 DC
3 Superman: Year One #1* $7.99 DC
4 Dceased #2 $3.99 DC
5 Silver Surfer: Black #1 $3.99 Marvel
6 Batman Who Laughs #6 $4.99 DC
7 War of the Realms #6 $5.99 Marvel
8 Immortal Hulk #19 $3.99 Marvel
9 Amazing Spider-Man #24 $3.99 Marvel
10 Walking Dead #192 $3.99 Image


Here are the MARKET SHARE numbers for June.

Marvel 43.38% 48.93%
DC 26.71% 26.44%
Image 7.58% 8.01%
Dark Horse 3.23% 2.16%
IDW 3.08% 2.83%
Boom 2.43% 2.31%
Dynamite 2.15% 2.02%
Viz 1.61% 0.59%
Oni 0.74% 0.53%
Archie 0.57% 0.60%
Other 8.52% 5.59%


Here is the VOLUME that each company shipped:

Publisher / Comics /GNs / Mags / Total shipped
Marvel 104 43 0 147
DC 50 20 1 71
Image 46 11 0 57
IDW 30 17 0 47
Dark Horse 19 22 0 41
Boom 20 11 0 31
Dynamite 18 7 0 25
Viz 0 23 0 23
Archie 11 2 0 13
Oni 5 5 0 10
Other 121 184 18 323
TOTAL 424 345 19 788



So, while Marvel shipped more than twice as many comics as DC, it did not double DC's Market Share. A lot of this is due to all the True Believers dollar specials and the fact that Marvel publishes a lot of low-selling comics in general whereas DC has cut back on their very low sellers over the last few months.


Anyone else surprised that Black Cat made it all the way to #1? Was it good enough to sustain readership?

Notice Immortal Hulk is still in the Top 10 and outsells every other regular monthly title on the stands except Amazing Spider-Man.

[cranger]

So, while Marvel shipped more than twice as many comics as DC, it did not double DC's Market Share. A lot of this is due to all the True Believers dollar specials and the fact that Marvel publishes a lot of low-selling comics in general whereas DC has cut back on their very low sellers over the last few months.

They had 10 True Believers, take them out and Marvel still shipped almost double, so it mostly comes down to the 'low sellers.' Although it is not like DC is not putting them out as the Vertigo/Sandman, Wonder Comics and some other stuff are still being published.

Anyone else surprised that Black Cat made it all the way to #1? Was it good enough to sustain readership?

It also had 36 variants or some crazy number I think which means Marvel really pushed it. So I guess it depends on how well the second highest book did, the bar looks a lot lower than, say Catwoman #1 last July which sold around 120K.

Notice Immortal Hulk is still in the Top 10 and outsells every other regular monthly title on the stands except Amazing Spider-Man.

This is a pleasant surprise. I still think the numbers are pretty weak for this months top 10, but obviously the book has stabilized. Hopefully Marvel can figure out how to keep that and maybe get a few more books up into that range.

[Colossus1980]

To me that's complete garbage Marvel pumping out 36 variant covers for Black Cat. What a farce!

[Frontier]

To me that's complete garbage Marvel pumping out 36 variant covers for Black Cat. What a farce!

I'm a fan of the character, so if it helps her book maintain strong numbers, a part of me kind of doesn't mind .

[PlatinumThorns]

Are people still gonna say the only reason IH is selling so high is because of speculators?

[Iron Maiden]

I don't see why, Immortal Hulk has been a bit of a surprise hit for Marvel.

[Immortal Hulk]

Are people still gonna say the only reason IH is selling so high is because of speculators?

Of course they will. People love excuses.

[cranger]

Are people still gonna say the only reason IH is selling so high is because of speculators?

As a person who said that speculators did, as a fact, contribute to such high sales, I also always pointed out it was a book with a lot of reader buzz as well. A book can have both, but "selling so high" is, yes, due to the speculators. We saw the 90K it spiked to in April, The 87K it slipped to the first issue in May and the 75K it yet again slipped to in the second issue in May. The exact number we don't have for June could it be higher or lower? Let's at least look at real numbers (estimated, of course) before we call out people for pointing out the obvious, as I for one am still curious to see if Batman falls again, and just how much off Superman Year One and Event Leviathan missed out being in the top 10 due to returnability.

[skyvolt2000]

To me that's complete garbage Marvel pumping out 36 variant covers for Black Cat. What a farce!

As long as you have folks willing to pay for them. It keeps happening. I say that as someone who agrees with you.

[catbellysqueezer]

Black cat is probably going to have a massive drop off for issue 2, but issue 2 was really good, so it deserves better sales.

I really don't want to see people say it is a junk title that doesn't deserve it's numbers.

[KangMiRae]

Black cat is probably going to have a massive drop off for issue 2, but issue 2 was really good, so it deserves better sales.

I really don't want to see people say it is a junk title that doesn't deserve it's numbers.

The interiors are just rough.

[Drops Of Venus]

To me that's complete garbage Marvel pumping out 36 variant covers for Black Cat. What a farce!

Were retailers forced to order all of the variants or something? 'Cause if they were not, I don't see how it's a farce. I guess the book could've been overshipped as well, but it was also the #1 book in dollars (when it wasn't even the most expensive book in the top 10), so apparently it DID sell well enough to beat the likes of Batman and Superman. Obviously, we will only really know if the book has any staying power judging by the sales of future issues, but it's definitely an impressive debut for a supporting, antagonist character like Black Cat.

[Frontier]

Were retailers forced to order all of the variants or something? 'Cause if they were not, I don't see how it's a farce. I guess the book could've been overshipped as well, but it was also the #1 book in dollars (when it wasn't even the most expensive book in the top 10), so apparently it DID sell well enough to beat the likes of Batman and Superman. Obviously, we will only really know if the book has any staying power judging by the sales of future issues, but it's definitely an impressive debut for a supporting, love interest character like Black Cat.

Fixed for you .

[Digifiend]

Yeah, she's an anti-hero, not a villain. Antagonist was a poor choice of word there.

[DragonsChi]

Were retailers forced to order all of the variants or something? 'Cause if they were not, I don't see how it's a farce. I guess the book could've been overshipped as well, but it was also the #1 book in dollars (when it wasn't even the most expensive book in the top 10), so apparently it DID sell well enough to beat the likes of Batman and Superman. Obviously, we will only really know if the book has any staying power judging by the sales of future issues, but it's definitely an impressive debut for a supporting, antagonist character like Black Cat.

The Company over ships the books to the stores for free. The retailers are stuck with the shipping and left over comics. Ergo IF the books are not sold in the stores it's a complete farce.


Sidebar, overall units sold is still down and the prices went up. So we have signs of the companies treading water. Shm.