Amazing Spider-Man #583 (5th Printing Obama Cover Edition)Marvel Comics' Amazing Spider-Man #583 was the bestselling comic book title for 2009 based on total unit sales to comic book specialty shops, according to Diamond Comic Distributors, the world's largest distributor of comics, graphic novels, and pop-culture products.

Driven by massive media attention and demand, the issue topped over a half million copies in sales – and five printings – in 2009. DC Comics' Geoff John- penned Blackest Night mini-series was also a big winner, securing six of the ten top spots on the list of the bestselling issues of 2009.

Marvel Comics finished the year as the top publisher, leading both Unit and Retail Dollar Market Shares, with a 46% Unit Market Share, and a 41% Retail Dollar Market Share. DC Comics was the comic book industry's second leading publisher in 2009 with 32% Unit Market Share, and a 30% Retail Dollar Market Share.

2009's top-selling graphic novel to comic book specialty shops was the perennially bestselling Watchmen trade paperback, which enjoyed renewed success in the wake of the feature film's release. Written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons, Watchmen is the only graphic novel to win the prestigious Hugo Award and the only graphic novel to appear on Time's 2005 list of the 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to the present. Overall, DC Comics claimed five of the overall top ten spots, with Image Comics' acclaimed Walking Dead books taking three spots.

"Comic book and graphic novel sales through comic book specialty shops were extremely resilient in 2009, despite a down economy," remarked Diamond CEO Steve Geppi. "Overall, sales were almost on par with 2008 as publishers took great steps to create books that fans wanted to buy. We're very optimistic for 2010, with some great projects already scheduled by publishers—and our annual Free Comic Book Day event on the first Saturday in May already shaping up to be a sales winner."

Diamond Announces 2009 Top Comic Books and Graphic Novels

2009 TOP COMIC BOOK PUBLISHERS

UNIT MARKET SHARE RETAIL DOLLAR MARKET SHARE
MARVEL COMICS 45.63% 40.47%
DC COMICS 32.22% 29.28%
DARK HORSE COMICS 4.05% 5.16%
IDW PUBLISHING 3.49% 4.17%
IMAGE COMICS 3.25% 3.67%
DYNAMIC ENTERTAINMENT 2.16% 2.17%
BOOM ENTERTAINMENT 1.22% 1.31%
OTHER 7.98% 13.76%

2009 TOP 10 COMIC BOOKS

Quantity Rank Description Price Publisher
1 AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #583 OBAMA $3.99 MARVEL COMICS
2 BLACKEST NIGHT #1 (OF 8) $3.99 DC COMICS
3 CAPTAIN AMERICA REBORN #1 (OF 6) $3.99 MARVEL COMICS
4 BATMAN AND ROBIN #1 $2.99 DC COMICS
5 BLACKEST NIGHT #2 (OF 8) $3.99 DC COMICS
6 BLACKEST NIGHT #5 (OF 8) $3.99 DC COMICS
7 BLACKEST NIGHT #3 (OF 8) $3.99 DC COMICS
8 BLACKEST NIGHT #4 (OF 8) $3.99 DC COMICS
9 CAPTAIN AMERICA #600 $4.99 MARVEL COMICS
10 DARK AVENGERS #1 $3.99 MARVEL COMICS

2009 TOP 10 GRAPHIC NOVELS & TRADE PAPERBACKS

Quantity Rank Description Price Publisher
1 WATCHMEN TP $19.99 DC COMICS
2 LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN III: CENTURY #1 1910 $7.95 TOPSHELF PRODUCTIONS
3 WALKING DEAD TP VOL 09: HERE WE REMAIN $14.99 IMAGE COMICS
4 WALKING DEAD TP VOL: 10 WHAT WE BECOME $14.99 IMAGE COMICS
5 WALKING DEAD TP VOL 01: DAYS GONE BYE $9.99 IMAGE COMICS
6 WATCHMEN TP INTERNATIONAL EDITION $19.99 DC COMICS
7 SECRET INVASION TP $29.99 MARVEL COMICS
8 BATMAN RIP DELUXE EDITION HC $24.99 DC COMICS
9 FABLES TP VOL 12: THE DARK AGES $17.99 DC COMICS
10 FABLES TP VOL 01: LEGENDS IN EXILE $9.99 DC COMICS

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 dollars sales are calculated based upon orders 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.

ABOUT DIAMOND COMIC DISTRIBUTORS—the world's largest distributor of English-language comic books and pop-culture related merchandise, Diamond is based in Baltimore, MD, and services more than 3,500 specialty retailers worldwide. For more information, visit Diamond on the web at www.diamondcomics.com.