Diamond Announces the Top Selling Comics and Graphic Novels of 2018 as Annual Sales Increased
Diamond Comic Distributors has announced the top selling comics and graphic novels of 2018. Marvel was the top publisher of the year with The Infinity Gauntlet taking the slot for bestselling graphic novel of the year. That’s not surprising due to all of the excitement and success around Avengers: Infinity War in theaters. DC Comics came in second place for publishers and had the bestselling comic of the year with Action Comics #1000. Image Comics ranked third for publishers and lead the graphic novel chart with six out of the top ten titles.
Annual comic book sales to the comic book specialty market increased in 2018, up +3.3% for the year, while graphic novel sales dipped -6.6% from 2017. Combined, annual sales of comic book and graphic novels to comic book shops were up slightly in 2018, by .6%.
Marvel Comics finished the year as the comic book specialty market’s top publisher, leading in both Dollar and Unit Market Shares, with a 38.24% Dollar Market Share and a 40.4% Unit Market Share. Marvel Comics top comic book, Amazing Spider-Man #800, the ten-year landmark issue led by Dan Slott and Stuart Immomen, charted at #2 for the year. Overall, Marvel had seven titles in the top ten comics of the year, including the preceding Amazing Spider-Man #798 and #799, as well as Fantastic Four #1, Amazing Spider-Man #1, Return of Wolverine #1, and Venom #1. That’s four comics written by Dan Slott in the top ten. Marvel Comics also had the top graphic novel of the year with The Infinity Gauntlet, the epic crossover event from Jim Starlin, George Pérez, and Rom Lim.
DC Entertainment was the comic book specialty market’s number two publisher in 2018 with a 30.04% Dollar Market Share and a 33.82% Unit Market Share. DC Entertainment had three of the year’s top ten comics; in addition to Action Comics #1000, Batman #50, and The Batman Who Laughs #1 were among the top ten.
Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples’ award-winning science fiction epic, Saga from Image Comics once again dominated the top ten graphic novels chart and solidified Image Comics as the year’s third largest comic book publisher, with a 9.93% Dollar Market Share and a 9.9% Unit Market Share. Image Comics took six of the top ten graphic novel spots, with Saga Volume 9 charting as the #2 best-selling graphic novel for 2018. Saga Volumes 1 and 8 also placed in the top ten, along with The Walking Dead Volume 29 Lines We Cross (#6), Paper Girls Volume 1 (#7), and Monstress Volume 1 (#10). The best-selling comic book for the year from Image was Mark Millar’s The Magic Order #1 at #18.
IDW Publishing was the comic book specialty market’s fourth largest publisher, propelled by its licensed titles from Hasbro, Disney, and Lucasfilm. The company’s Dollar Market Share was 3.83% for the year. Marvel Action: Spider-Man #1, was IDW’s top-selling comic book, landing at #460 for the year.
Dark Horse Comics‘ mix of creator-owned and licensed titles helped the company to be the fifth-ranked publisher in the comic book specialty market in 2018 with a 2.92% Dollar Market Share. Dark Horse’s top comic book for the year Stranger Things #1, based upon the popular Netflix series, at #184.
BOOM! Studios was the sixth ranked publisher at 2.24%, and Dynamite Entertainment was seventh at 1.86%. Viz Media, Titan Comics, and Oni Press rounded out the top ten comic book publishers for 2018.
2018 TOP COMIC BOOK PUBLISHERS
| PUBLISHER | DOLLARSHARE | UNITSHARE |
| MARVEL COMICS | 38.24% | 40.40% |
| DC ENTERTAINMENT | 30.04% | 33.82% |
| IMAGE COMICS | 9.93% | 9.90% |
| IDW PUBLISHING | 3.83% | 3.30% |
| DARK HORSE COMICS | 2.92% | 2.10% |
| BOOM! STUDIOS | 2.24% | 1.90% |
| DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT | 1.86% | 1.73% |
| VIZ MEDIA | 1.22% | 0.46% |
| TITAN COMICS | 0.87% | 0.61% |
| ONI PRESS | 0.83% | 0.54% |
| OTHER NON-TOP 10 | 8.01% | 5.25% |
2018 TOP 10 COMIC BOOKS
| QTYRANK | RETAILRANK | DESCRIPTION | PRICE | ITEM CODE | VENDOR |
| 1 | 1 | ACTION COMICS #1000 | $7.99 | FEB180142-M | DC ENTERTAINMENT |
| 2 | 2 | AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #800 | $9.99 | MAR180831-M | MARVEL COMICS |
| 3 | 3 | BATMAN #50 | $4.99 | MAY180450-M | DC ENTERTAINMENT |
| 4 | 4 | FANTASTIC FOUR #1 | $5.99 | JUN180771-M | MARVEL COMICS |
| 5 | 5 | AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #1 | $5.99 | MAY180784-M | MARVEL COMICS |
| 6 | 6 | RETURN OF WOLVERINE #1 | $4.99 | JUL180968-M | MARVEL COMICS |
| 7 | 9 | VENOM #1 | $4.99 | MAR180803-M | MARVEL COMICS |
| 8 | 10 | AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #798 | $3.99 | FEB180832-M | MARVEL COMICS |
| 9 | 8 | BATMAN WHO LAUGHS #1 | $4.99 | OCT180464-M | DC ENTERTAINMENT |
| 10 | 13 | AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #799 | $3.99 | FEB180836-M | MARVEL COMICS |
2018 TOP 10 GRAPHIC NOVELS & TRADE PAPERBACKS
| QTYRANK | RETAILRANK | DESCRIPTION | PRICE | ITEM CODE | VENDOR |
| 1 | 1 | INFINITY GAUNTLET TP | $24.99 | JUL110745 | MARVEL COMICS |
| 2 | 4 | SAGA TP VOL 09 (MR) | $14.99 | JUL180297 | IMAGE COMICS |
| 3 | 19 | SAGA TP VOL 01 (MR) | $9.99 | AUG120491 | IMAGE COMICS |
| 4 | 6 | SAGA TP VOL 08 (MR) | $14.99 | OCT170715 | IMAGE COMICS |
| 5 | 2 | ACTION COMICS 80 YEARS OF SUPERMAN HC | $29.99 | DEC170241 | DC ENTERTAINMENT |
| 6 | 8 | WALKING DEAD TP VOL 29 LINES WE CROSS | $16.99 | JAN180844 | IMAGE COMICS |
| 7 | 38 | PAPER GIRLS TP VOL 01 | $9.99 | JAN160645 | IMAGE COMICS |
| 8 | 7 | BATMAN WHITE KNIGHT TP | $19.99 | JUL180733 | DC ENTERTAINMENT |
| 9 | 3 | DARK NIGHTS METAL DELUXE ED HC | $29.99 | JAN180379 | DC ENTERTAINMENT |
| 10 | 33 | MONSTRESS TP VOL 01 (MR) | $9.99 | APR160803-M | IMAGE COMICS |
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