I don't usually get into the sales numbers but Diamond Comics have released their
Top 500 Comic Books of 2009. Here's a couple of quick and dirty looks at what was bought by the direct market last year:
By Publisher:Archie-- 1 book (0.20%)
Dark Horse-- 12 books (2.40%)
DC-- 170 books (34.00%)
Image-- 2 books (0.40%)
Marvel-- 315 books (63.00%)
So Marvel and DC make up 97.00% of the top 500 of 2009. The caveat here is that 500 comic books is probably only a fraction (albeit a large fraction) of the total number of individual issues that moved through Diamond warehouses last year. But even if we were talking the top 100 books, Marvel would still command 31% and DC only 17% of the hypothetical top 1000. Just eyeballing that list, it's obvious that comic shops love Bendis, Johns, Brubaker and Morrison.
By Price Point:$2.50-- 1 book (0.20%)
$2.99-- 295 books (59.00%)
$3.50-- 1 book (0.20%)
$3.99-- 190 books (38.00%)
$4.50-- 1 book (0.20%)
$4.99-- 12 books (2.40%)
So, anyone still want to argue that comics need to be cheaper? I don't think the publishers or the distributor will agree with that. This was the year of the $3.99 book with 9 of the top 10 books being $3.99 or more. Even two of the $4.99 books are in the top 20.
I'll leave it to others to analyze the total numbers, trying to figure out how many copies of each issue sold but the domination of Marvel, DC and the rise of the $3.99 price point show a top heavy direct market that's not incredibly diverse or even friendly unless you've got the backing of Warners or Disney behind you. And is that really any surprise?
Expect to pay more for your weekly fixes.
Here's your top 20 books of 2009:
| QUANTITY RANK | DOLLAR RANK | ITEM CODE | DESCRIPTION | PRICE | PUBLISHER |
| 1 | 1 | DEC088074-M | AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #583 | $3.99 | MAR |
| 2 | 2 | AUG098076-M | BLACKEST NIGHT #1 | $3.99 | DC |
| 3 | 4 | MAY098145-M | CAPTAIN AMERICA REBORN #1 | $3.99 | MAR |
| 4 | 7 | APR090147-M | BATMAN AND ROBIN #1 | $2.99 | DC |
| 5 | 3 | JUN090122-M | BLACKEST NIGHT #2 | $3.99 | DC |
| 6 | 5 | SEP090092-M | BLACKEST NIGHT #5 | $3.99 | DC |
| 7 | 6 | JUL090144-M | BLACKEST NIGHT #3 | $3.99 | DC |
| 8 | 8 | AUG090086-M | BLACKEST NIGHT #4 | $3.99 | DC |
| 9 | 9 | APR098394-M | CAPTAIN AMERICA #600 | $4.99 | MAR |
| 10 | 13 | FEB098190-M | DARK AVENGERS #1 | $3.99 | MAR |
| 11 | 28 | OCT098007-M | BATMAN AND ROBIN #2 | $2.99 | DC |
| 12 | 12 | APR098072-M | BATMAN #686 | $3.99 | DC |
| 13 | 27 | JUN090439-M | CAPTAIN AMERICA REBORN #2 | $3.99 | MAR |
| 14 | 14 | NOV088149-M | FINAL CRISIS #6 | $3.99 | DC |
| 15 | 10 | JUN098464-M | AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #600 | $4.99 | MAR |
| 16 | 16 | FEB090172-M | FLASH REBIRTH #1 | $3.99 | DC |
| 17 | 48 | JUL098230-M | GREEN LANTERN #43 | $2.99 | DC |
| 18 | 56 | JUN090146-M | BATMAN AND ROBIN #3 | $2.99 | DC |
| 19 | 60 | MAY090112-M | GREEN LANTERN #44 | $2.99 | DC |
| 20 | 11 | DEC082317-M | NEW AVENGERS #50 | $4.99 | MAR |