Unit Share May 2011Media Release -- The heroes of the Marvel Universe come together to battle a rising tide of fear and intolerance in Matt Fraction and Stuart Immonen's Fear Itself #2, the second part of Marvel Comics' summer mini-series event and May's top 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 May with a Dollar Market Share of 42.45% and a Unit Market Share of 46.35%.

Dollar Market Share May 2011While comic book sales in May declined by 3.35 percent over April, graphic novel sales increased by almost 5 percent, resulting in an overall print decline in May of less than one percent over the previous month. Merchandise sales year-to-date remain up over 20 percent over 2010's sales, with strong performances in May by Trading Cards (up 151 percent, led by the Marvel Beginnings Trading Cards), Games (up 41 percent), and Collectibles (up 25 percent, led by the Star Trek Bottle Opener).

David Lapham and Gianluca Pagliarani took Garth Ennis' zombie series Crossed into the third-dimension with Crossed 3-D, an original graphic novel printed in 3-D that shipped with 3-D glasses, giving Avatar Press the best-selling graphic novel to comic shops in May.

Sony's best-selling video game God of War, which put gamers in the middle of the myths of ancient Greece as a warrior against the gods, provided the inspiration for DC Direct's God of War Series 1 Action Figures, May's best-selling Toy product to comics specialty retailers.

The adventures in the world of Mirrodin for Wizards of the Coast's Magic the Gathering trading card game continued in May's Magic the Gathering TCG: New Phyrexia expansion, the best-selling Games product to comics specialty retailers for the month.

TOP COMIC BOOK PUBLISHERS

PUBLISHER DOLLAR SHARE UNIT SHARE
MARVEL COMICS 42.45% 46.35%
DC COMICS 26.68% 28.37%
DARK HORSE COMICS 4.89% 3.59%
IMAGE COMICS 4.88% 5.35%
IDW PUBLISHING 4.60% 4.26%
DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT 2.83% 3.38%
BOOM! STUDIOS 2.33% 2.00%
ZENESCOPE ENTERTAINMENT 1.04% 0.96%
VIZ MEDIA 1.03% 0.47%
AVATAR PRESS 0.93% 0.76%
OTHER NON TOP-10 8.34% 4.51%

COMPARATIVE SALES STATISTICS

DOLLARS UNITS
MAY 2011 VS. APRIL 2011
COMICS -3.35% -2.66%
GRAPHIC NOVELS 4.99% 12.69%
TOTAL COMICS/GN -0.64% -1.42%
MAY 2011 VS. MAY 2010
COMICS -14.39% -15.46%
GRAPHIC NOVELS -4.42% -3.14%
TOTAL COMICS/GN -11.21% -14.46%
YEAR-TO-DATE 2011 VS. YEAR-TO-DATE 2010
COMICS -8.50% -8.80%
GRAPHIC NOVELS -5.41% -9.80%
TOTAL COMICS/GN -7.51% -8.89%

TOP 10 COMIC BOOKS

RANK DESCRIPTION PRICE ITEM CODE VENDOR
1 FEAR ITSELF #2 $3.99 MAR110612-M MAR
2 FLASHPOINT #1 $3.99 MAR110276-M DC
3 GREEN LANTERN #66 $2.99 MAR110267-M DC
4 AVENGERS #13 $3.99 MAR110620-M MAR
5 FF #3 $2.99 MAR110682-M MAR
6 GREEN LANTERN CORPS #60 $2.99 MAR110269-M DC
7 FF #4 $2.99 MAR110685-M MAR
8 BATMAN INCORPORATED #6 $2.99 FEB110141-M DC
9 NEW AVENGERS #12 $3.99 MAR110649-M MAR
10 AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #661 $3.99 MAR110664-M MAR

TOP 10 GRAPHIC NOVELS & TRADE PAPERBACKS

RANK DESCRIPTION PRICE ITEM CODE VENDOR
1 CROSSED 3D GN VOL 01 (MR) $8.99 AUG100795 AVA
2 STAR WARS ADVENTURES VOLUME 5: BOBA FETT AND THE SHIP OF FEAR TP $7.99 OCT100033 DAR
3 DELIRIUM'S PARTY: A LITTLE ENDLESS STORYBOOK HC $14.99 NOV100264 DC
4 BATMAN AND ROBIN DELUXE VOLUME 3: BATMAN MUST DIE HC $24.99 JAN110321 DC
5 BRIGHTEST DAY VOLUME 2 TP $29.99 JAN110320 DC
6 DMZ VOLUME 10: COLLECTIVE PUNISHMENT TP $14.99 FEB110260 DC
7 GREEN LANTERN: SECRET ORIGIN TP $14.99 JAN110337-M DC
8 IRREDEEMABLE VOLUME 6 TP $16.99 MAR110975 BOO
9 BATMAN: LONG SHADOWS TP $14.99 FEB110195 DC
10 AMERICAN VAMPIRE VOLUME 2 HC $24.99 JAN110418 DC

TOP 10 TOYS

RANK DESCRIPTION ITEM CODE VENDOR
1 GOD OF WAR SERIES 1 ACTION FIGURES APR100324 DC
2 DC X BISHOUJO: WONDER WOMAN STATUE NOV101562 KOT
3 DC UNIVERSE ONLINE: WONDER WOMAN STATUE AUG100282 DC
4 WOLVERINE: X-FORCE STATUE OCT101609 BOW
5 MARVEL X BISHOUJO: MS. MARVEL STATUE NOV101565 KOT
6 AME-COMI HEROINE SERIES 2 MINI-FIGURES SEP100333 DC
7 HALO: REACH SERIES 3 ACTION FIGURES FEB110477 TMP
8 STAR WARS: DARTH VADER ARTFX+ STATUE NOV101561 KOT
9 WOMEN OF THE DCU SERIES 3: STAR SAPPHIRE BUST MAY100312 DC
10 MARVEL COMICS ACTION FIGURE 2-PACKS FEB111596 KEN

TOP 10 GAMES

RANK DESCRIPTION ITEM CODE VENDOR
1 MAGIC THE GATHERING TCG: NEW PHYREXIA BOOSTER PACKS MAR112030 WIZ
2 DC HEROCLIX: GREEN LANTERN 2011 FAST FORCES 6-PACKS MAR112034 NEC
3 MAGIC THE GATHERING TCG: NEW PHYREXIA FAT PACK MAR112033 WIZ
4 MAGIC THE GATHERING TCG: NEW PHYREXIA INTRO DECKS MAR112031 WIZ
5 POKEMON TCG: BLACK & WHITE BOOSTER PACKS DEC108324 POK
6 MARVEL HEROCLIX: GIANT SIZED X-MEN BRICK JAN111976 NEC
7 YU-GI-OH! TCG: 5D'S EXTREME VICTORY BOOSTERS JAN118134 KON
8 WORLD OF WARCRAFT TCG: WAR OF THE ELEMENTS BOOSTER PACKS JAN111929 CRY
9 MOUSE GUARD RPG HC APR098450 ARA
10 PATHFINDER ROLEPLAYING GAME: ULTIMATE MAGIC MAR112011 PAI

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.