Blackest Night #6Media Release -- The battle against Nekron continued as long-established heroes and villains were deputized into the Lantern Corps in Blackest Night #6, the latest chapter of the cosmic crossover event from writer Geoff Johns and artist Ivan Reis, joining the series' previous five issues atop the sales charts and giving DC Comics the best-selling comic book title for December 2009, based upon total unit sales to comic book specialty shops, according to Diamond Comic Distributors.

Marvel Comics took the top publisher spot in December, leading in both the Unit Market and Dollar Shares categories, with a 49.31% Unit Market Share and a 44.57% Dollar Share for the month.

The emergence of new masked adventurer and the Republican National Convention both complicate the life of New York City Mayor Mitchell Hundred in Ex Machina Volume 8: Dirty Tricks, the latest collected volume of the political superhero series from Brian K. Vaughn and Tony Harris, giving DC Comics' Wildstorm imprint the best-selling graphic novel for the month of December.

DC Direct's partnership with Hong Kong toymaker Hot Toys resulted in the best-selling Toy product in December with The Dark Knight: Policeman Joker 1/6-Scale Figure, which recreated actor Heath Ledger's Academy Award-winning performance. For the second month in a row, NECA/WizKids Marvel HeroClix: Hammer of Thor Booster Packs, which relaunched the best-selling HeroClix miniatures game, was the best-selling Game product to comics specialty shops.

TOP COMIC BOOK PUBLISHERS

PUBLISHER UNIT SHARE DOLLAR SHARE
MARVEL COMICS 49.31% 44.57%
DC COMICS 30.21% 27.20%
IMAGE COMICS 3.62% 3.41%
IDW PUBLISHING 3.22% 4.45%
DARK HORSE COMICS 3.17% 4.32%
BOOM! STUDIOS 1.92% 2.14%
DYNAMIC FORCES 1.57% 1.98%
ARCHIE COMICS 0.83% 0.52%
VIZ MEDIA 0.64% 1.40%
AVATAR PRESS 0.55% 0.67%
OTHER NON-TOP 10 4.95% 9.34%

TOP 10 COMICS

RANK DESCRIPTION PRICE ITEM CODE VENDOR
1 BLACKEST NIGHT #6 $3.99 OCT090176-M DC
2 GREEN LANTERN #49 $2.99 OCT090179-M DC
3 CAPTAIN AMERICA: REBORN #5 $3.99 SEP090373-M MAR
4 CAPTAIN AMERICA: REBORN -- WHO WILL WIELD THE SHIELD? ONE-SHOT $3.99 OCT090468-M MAR
5 BLACKEST NIGHT: THE FLASH #1 $2.99 OCT090183-M DC
6 GREEN LANTERN CORPS #43 $2.99 OCT090181-M DC
7 NEW AVENGERS #60 $3.99 OCT090534 MAR
8 BLACKEST NIGHT: WONDER WOMAN #1 $2.99 OCT090187-M DC
9 DARK AVENGERS #12 $3.99 OCT090502 MAR
10 BLACKEST NIGHT: JSA #1 $2.99 OCT090185-M DC

TOP 10 GRAPHIC NOVELS & TRADE PAPERBACKS

RANK DESCRIPTION PRICE ITEM CODE VENDOR
1 EX MACHINA VOLUME 8: DIRTY TRICKS TP (MR) $12.99 SEP090201 DC
2 DEADPOOL VOLUME 2: DARK REIGN TP $14.99 OCT090622 MAR
3 STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS VOLUME 4: COLOSSUS OF DESTINY TP $7.99 OCT090097 DAR
4 IRREDEEMABLE VOLUME 2 TP $16.99 OCT090788 BOO
5 BLEACH VOLUME 29 TP $9.99 SEP091004 VIZ
6 BATMAN: THE CAT AND THE BAT TP $12.99 SEP090160 DC
7 MARVEL ZOMBIES RETURN HC $24.99 OCT090596 MAR
8 THE ROCKETEER: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION HC $29.99 AUG090961 IDE
9 THE GOON VOLUME 6: CHINATOWN AND THE MYSTERY OF MR. WICKER TP $15.95 AUG090047 DAR
10 ULTIMATUM: X-MEN/FANTASTIC FOUR TP $19.99 OCT090624 MAR

TOP 10 TOYS & STATUES

RANK DESCRIPTION ITEM CODE VENDOR
1 HOT TOYS: THE DARK KNIGHT -- POLICEMAN JOKER 1/6-SCALE FIGURE MAY090273 DC
2 COVER GIRLS OF THE DCU: CATWOMAN STATUE MAR090252 DC
3 JLA TROPHY ROOM: GREEN LANTERN RINGS PROP REPLICA MAR090250 DC
4 WORLD OF WARCRAFT SERIES 5 ACTION FIGURES MAR090270 DC
5 HISTORY OF THE DCU SERIES 3 ACTION FIGURES MAY090282 DC
6 GREEN LANTERN 1/4-SCALE MUSEUM QUALITY STATUE APR090295 DC
7 BATMAN FAMILY MULTI-PART STATUE PART 3 MAY090279 DC
8 COVER GIRLS OF THE DCU STATUE: WONDER WOMAN NOV080248 DC
9 RETRO GREY HULK STATUE AUG091520 BOW
10 JUNGLE GIRL STATUE APR090774 DYN

TOP 10 GAMES

RANK DESCRIPTION ITEM CODE VENDOR
1 MARVEL HEROCLIX: HAMMER OF THOR BOOSTER PACK JUL098192 NEC
2 WORLD OF WARCRAFT TCG: SCOURGEWAR BOOSTER PACKS SEP091632 UPP
3 YU-GI-OH TCG: 5DS STARDUST OVERDRIVE BOOSTER PACKS SEP091601 KON
4 MAGIC THE GATHERING TCG: ZENDIKAR BOOSTER PACKS AUG091778 WIZ
5 MARVEL HEROCLIX CLASSICS BATTLEPACK AUG098135 NEC
6 YU-GI-OH TCG: 5DS STARDUST OVERDRIVE SPECIAL EDITION OCT091741 KON
7 MAGIC THE GATHERING TCG: 2010 CORE SET BOOSTER PACKS MAY091798 WIZ
8 AXIS & ALLIES PACIFIC 1940 EDITION BOARD GAME OCT091698 WIZ
9 BOWL O' DICE AUG091721 KOP
10 DOCTOR WHO RPG CORE RULEBOOK BOX SET AUG091701 CUB

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.