Dollar Market Share – March 2011Media Release -- Reeling from the death of one of their own, the Fantastic Four was reborn for a new era with a new member — Spider-Man — as the Future Foundation in Jonathan Hickman and Steve Epting's FF #1, March's best-selling comic book to comics specialty retailers, according to information provided by Diamond Comic Distributors, the world's largest distributor of comics, graphic novels, and pop-culture merchandise.

Marvel Comics was the leading comic book publisher in March with a Dollar Market Share of 39.63% and a Unit Market Share of 45.28%.

Sales of comic books and graphic novels soared in March over February's, with comic books sales up over February by 17.13% and graphic novel sales up 13.86%. For the first quarter, comic sales declined by 8.57% compared to the same period in 2010, while graphic novel sales declined by 7.24%.

Unit Market Share– March 2011Mike Carey and Peter Gross' acclaimed fantasy series The Unwritten for DC Comics' Vertigo imprint gave the the publisher the best-selling graphic novel in March with the third volume of the series, The Unwritten Volume 3: Dead Man's Knock, which revealed more of the secrets and mysteries surrounding Tommy Taylor.

Popular characters Judge Malthred and Garona from Blizzard Entertainment's best-selling World of WarCraft massively multiplayer online roleplaying game were brought to life by DC Direct for the World of WarCraft Series 7 Action Figures, the best-selling Toy product to comics specialty retailers in March.

The X-Men come to the HeroClix table in a massive way with WizKids/NECA's Marvel HeroClix: Giant Sized X-Men Brick, providing gamers with dozens of their favorite mutants and giving the manufacturer March's best-selling Games product sold to comics specialty retailers.

TOP COMIC BOOK PUBLISHERS

PUBLISHER DOLLAR SHARE UNIT SHARE
MARVEL COMICS 39.63% 45.28%
DC COMICS 27.62% 31.50%
IMAGE COMICS 5.45% 5.09%
IDW PUBLISHING 5.03% 4.14%
DARK HORSE COMICS 4.27% 2.86%
DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT 3.02% 2.74%
BOOM! STUDIOS 2.09% 1.66%
VIZ MEDIA 1.15% 0.50%
AVATAR PRESS 0.96% 0.80%
EAGLEMOSS PUBLICATIONS LTD 0.88% 0.22%
OTHER NON-TOP 10 9.90% 5.20%

COMPARATIVE SALES STATISTICS

DOLLARS UNITS
MARCH 2011 VS. FEBRUARY 2011
COMICS 17.13% 18.97%
GRAPHIC NOVELS 13.86% 18.38%
TOTAL COMICS/GN 16.07% 18.93%
MARCH 2011 VS. MARCH 2010
COMICS -2.43% 0.81%
GRAPHIC NOVELS -10.01% -16.61%
TOTAL COMICS/GN -4.98% -0.81%
FIRST QUARTER 2011 VS. FIRST QUARTER 2010
COMICS -8.57% -8.05%
GRAPHIC NOVELS -7.24% -13.25%
TOTAL COMICS/GN -8.14% -8.49%

TOP 10 COMIC BOOKS

RANK DESCRIPTION PRICE ITEM CODE VENDOR
1 FF #1 $3.99 JAN110748-M MAR
2 GREEN LANTERN #64 $2.99 JAN110237-M DC
3 GREEN LANTERN #63 $2.99 DEC100180-M DC
4 BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT #2 $2.99 OCT100174-M DC
5 BRIGHTEST DAY #21 $2.99 JAN110243-M DC
6 BRIGHTEST DAY #22 $2.99 JAN110245-M DC
7 BATMAN INCORPORATED #3 $2.99 NOV100164-M DC
8 AVENGERS #11 $3.99 JAN110694-M MAR
9 BATMAN INCORPORATED #4 $2.99 DEC100192-M DC
10 FEAR ITSELF: BOOK OF THE SKULL #1 $3.99 JAN110692-M MAR

TOP 10 GRAPHIC NOVELS & TRADE PAPERBACKS

RANK DESCRIPTION PRICE ITEM CODE VENDOR
1 THE UNWRITTEN VOL. 3: DEAD MAN'S KNOCK TP $14.99 DEC100305 DC
2 BATMAN AND ROBIN: BATMAN REBORN TP $14.99 DEC100246 DC
3 TAKIO HC $9.95 DEC100634 MAR
4 BATMAN: TIME AND THE BATMAN HC $19.99 NOV100225 DC
5 BATMAN BEYOND: HUSH BEYOND TP $14.99 DEC100245 DC
6 IZOMBIE VOLUME 1: DEAD TO THE WORLD TP $14.99 DEC100299 DC
7 BLEACH VOLUME 34 TP $9.99 DEC101080 VIZ
8 THE WALKING DEAD VOLUME 1: DAYS GONE BYE $9.99 JUL068351 IMA
9 MORNING GLORIES VOL. 1: FOR A BETTER FUTURE $9.99 DEC100470 IMA
10 THE THANOS IMPERATIVE HC $24.99 DEC100645 MAR

TOP 10 TOYS

RANK DESCRIPTION ITEM CODE VENDOR
1 WORLD OF WARCRAFT SERIES 7 ACTION FIGURES MAR100358 DC
2 COVER GIRLS OF THE DCU: SUPERGIRL STATUE JUN100300 DC
3 WORLD OF WARCRAFT: LICH KING ARTHAS DLX FIGURE APR100323 DC
4 JOKER 1/4-SCALE MUSEUM QUALITY STATUE APR100304 DC
5 DC X BISHOUJO: CATWOMAN STATUE OCT101632 KOT
6 BATMAN: ARKHAM ASYLUM SERIES 1 ACTION FIGURES JUN100288 DC
7 BATMAN BLACK & WHITE STATUE: BATMAN BY TONY DANIEL JUN100299 DC
8 HEROES OF THE DCU: BLACKEST NIGHT HAL JORDAN BUST JUN100297 DC
9 MYSTIQUE STATUE MAY101624 BOW
10 WOMEN OF THE DCU SERIES 3: POISON IVY BUST JUL100279 DC

TOP 10 GAMES

RANK DESCRIPTION ITEM CODE VENDOR
1 MARVEL HEROCLIX: GIANT SIZED X-MEN BRICK JAN111976 NEC
2 MARVEL HEROCLIX: GIANT SIZED X-MEN SUPER BOOSTER JAN111977 NEC
3 YU-GI-OH! TCG 5DS: STORM OF RAGNAROK SPECIAL EDITION BOX JAN111944 KON
4 MARVEL HEROCLIX: GIANT SIZED X-MEN ORGANIZED PLAY KIT JAN111978 NEC
5 MAGIC THE GATHERING TCG: MIRRODIN BESIEGED BOOSTER PACKS DEC101712 WIZ
6 YU-GI-OH! TCG 3D BONDS BEYOND TIME MOVIE PACKS DEC101687 KON
7 YU-GI-OH! TCG: DRAGUNITY LEGION STRUCTURE DECK JAN111945 KON
8 DC HEROCLIX: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD BOOSTER PACK JAN101703 NEC
9 MARVEL HEROCLIX: WEB OF SPIDER-MAN BOOSTER PACK JUN101864 NEC
10 MAGIC THE GATHERING TCG: DECK BUILDERS TOOLKIT 2011 EDITION JAN111972 WIZ

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 (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.

© 2011 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.