Diamond Announces Top Products For May 2014

Diamond Announces Top Products For May 2014

(BALTIMORE, MD) — (June 13, 2014) — The murder of the Watcher drew Earth’s heroes to the Moon’s surface and prompted an investigation to find the perpetrator in Jason Aaron and Mike Deodato, Jr.’s Original Sin #1 from Marvel Comics, the best-selling comic book of May 2014 according to information provided by Diamond Comic Distributors, the world’s largest distributor of comics, graphic novels, and pop culture merchandise.

Marvel Comics had four titles place among the month’s top ten best-selling comics. DC Entertainment had five titles in the top ten, led by Batman #31 at #4. Also in the top ten was Image Comics with The Walking Dead #127 at #8.

Marvel Comics was May’s top publisher with a 34.38% dollar market share and a 36.46% unit market share. DC Entertainment was second with a 30.04% dollar share and 33.52% unit share. Image Comics was third with a 8.86% dollar share, followed by IDW Publishing at 6.38% and Dark Horse Comics at 5.96%. Sales overall slipped in May, a four-week month, when compared to April with its five shipping weeks.

Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo are revisiting Batman’s origins in the “Zero Year” storyline, and the collected edition of the first story arc — Batman Volume 4: Zero Year: Secret City — from DC Entertainment was May’s best-selling graphic novel and one of the publisher’s four in the top ten. Also notable, Image Comics had four titles in the top ten, led by Rick Remender Matteo Scalera’s Black Science Volume 1: How to Fall Forever at #3. Additionally, Mike Mignola’s Hellboy In Hell Volume 1: Descent from Dark Horse Comics ranked #7.

Released to coincide with the new Transformers: Age of Extinction film, Running Press’ Transformers: Light-Up Optimus Prime Bust & Book Set was May’s best-selling book. Dark Horse Comics’ Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia continued its run as a best-seller as the month’s #2 best-selling book.

DC Collectibles launched a new action figure line in May with the DC Comics Designer Series 1: Greg Capullo Figures, and the Batman figure from the line was the month’s best-selling toy product. All four figures from the line were among the top ten, and DC Collectibles had five of the month’s top ten products.

NECA/WizKids newest expansion for the Marvel HeroClix game, the Marvel HeroClix: Deadpool Booster Brick, was May’s best-selling games product. April’s top selling product, USAopoly’s Monopoly: The Walking Dead Survival Edition, dropped to #5 in May.

TOP COMIC BOOK PUBLISHERS

NEW TITLES SHIPPED

COMPARATIVE SALES STATISTICS

TOP 10 COMIC BOOKS

TOP 10 GRAPHIC NOVELS & TRADE PAPERBACKS

TOP 10 BOOKS

TOP 10 TOYS

TOP 10 GAMES

How does Diamond calculate the charts? It all starts at the comic book shop.

Data for Diamond’s sales charts — which include the monthly market shares and all top product charts — are compiled by Diamond Comic Distributors from a universe of over 3,500 comic book specialty shops located in North America and around the world. The account base includes brick-and-mortar comic book specialty shops, Internet merchants, and other specialty stores.

Unit and dollar market shares are calculated based upon orders for comic books, graphic novels, and magazines invoiced and shipped to Diamond accounts during any given month, which comprises initial 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 count of new titles shipped 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.

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ABOUT DIAMOND COMIC DISTRIBUTORS (DCD)—Diamond is at the nexus of comics and pop culture merchandise. Based in Baltimore, MD, DCD is the world’s largest distributor of English-language comic books and pop-culture related merchandise, servicing more than 4,000 specialty retailers worldwide. For more information, visit Diamond on the web at www.diamondcomics.com.

© 2014 Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc. All rights reserved. Diamond, the Diamond logo, Diamond Books logo, and PREVIEWS are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Diamond Comic Distributors in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective copyright owners.

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Jay Katz

InvestComics CEO

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