DC is #1 for the 3rd Month…But Why Just Barely?
Diamond Comic Distributor’s sales statistics for November were released this week. Though DC Comics has retained the spot as the number 1 comic book publisher in the United States, it was by such a slim margin that one wonders how much longer their lead can be maintained.
In August 31st 2011, DC used the storyline of Flashpoint to re-launch its entire universe. So on the last day of August, DC only released two books: Flashpoint #5 and Justice League #1. According to Diamond Comic Distributor’s sales information, Justice League #1 sold over 331,000 copies. (Details for that month’s sales can be found here.) Following this re-launch, DC dominated in sales for the months of September and October. 
In September 2011, DC’s retail market share was 35.74% and its unit market share was 43.04%; in contrast, Marvel’s retail market share was 35.37% and its unit market share was 37.88%. (This sales information can be found here.) What then surprised everyone was that in October DC’s market shares increased.
In October, DC’s retail market share increased to 42.7% and its unit market share rose 50.97%. Marvel, on the other hand, only earned 29.10% of the retail market share and 30.29% of the unit market share. (This data can be found here.) This sales increase took everyone by surprise, and everyone thought that this was a sign that DC’s gamble had not only worked, but that it had brought in thousands of new readers.
Now reality is setting in. DC’s move got great buzz in the comic book and related communities, but I never felt that DC really brought in a significant number of new readers. Diamond Comic Distributor’s sales numbers for November are beginning to show that.
Now to reaffirm, DC did come in at the number one spot in November, but just barely. DC’s retail market share for November was 34.69% and its unit market share was 39.66%; in contrast, Marvel’s was 33.30% and its unit share was 37.84%. (This data can be found here.) In other words, the spike in sales that DC had in October was an outlier, and now its sales are coming down. My guess is that they will continue to drop.
The reason why I believe this, is that while DC titles are dominating the top 10 spots, the rest of the books from the New 52 are dropping in sales like a rock. For instance, Justice League #3 was at the number 1 spot with 105,000 issues sold; meaning that it has already lost over 200,000 readers. Even more telling is Flash. Issue 1 sold 68,000 copies, but issue 3 has dropped to 59,000 copies. Superman #1 sold 62,000 copies, but Superman #3 dropped in sales and only moved 51,000. A third example of this is Green Lantern: New Guardians. Issue one of this series sold 44,000 copies in September, but by November, it had dropped to over 39,000 copies. (All this date can be found by looking Diamond Comics Distributors sales records.)
Though many of DC’s books have seen an increase in the number of copies sold, the reality is that as the New 52 moves forward more readers will jump off than jump on. I believe the reason for this is that in the end, DC failed to attract other demographics to their comic books. None of the books that came out would be acceptable for a child, and the majority of the titles did little to appeal to readers who didn’t already by comic books.
I know that many reading this are now curious to know about how DC’s digital sales affected these numbers, but the reality is that no one outside of DC knows this information. This is because DC Comics has yet to release the numbers for its digital sales. As a matter of fact, at the time DC started going day-and-date digital, Marvel’s comic app was still downloaded more times than DC’s. (This source can be found here.) Additionally, though DC has released its top digital sellers to CBR – click here to see – the specific sales numbers have not been released.
To me, this seems like bad news. Let’s face it, if DC’s digital sales numbers were good, this information would have been released by now. Also, I wouldn’t be surprised if Marvel was doing better because of their deal with Starbucks. (Click here for more information about this partnership.) Due to this deal, every time someone uses a Starbucks Wi-fi to go online, they see an offer for a FREE Marvel digital comic. This deal probably exposes more people to Marvel’s comic bookS than any standard advertising campaign could accomplish.
It should be noted that DC’s exclusive deal with Amazon.com will help their digital sales, but the problem remains that we won’t know by how much. The issue of DC’s digital sales is also interesting to me, because I find it fascinating that though DC is owned by a publically traded company – Time Warner (TWX) – it has been able to keep its sales figures from its share holders for so long.
Overall, DC’s New 52 gambit has paid off for now, but it seems that its sales lead is slowly diminishing. In part, this is because they have done little to reach out to new readers. The other driving reason for this is that DC committed to producing 52 new titles; a decision that often causes a spike in sales. However, DC didn’t produce 52 strong concepts and now those titles that are lacking in quality are being dropped by readers.
So this is what I think, but I want to know what you are thoughts are on the subject of DC’s sales figures. Do you think DC will hold onto the number 1 spot? If so, for how long? Also, what are your thoughts on DC’s digital sales? And why do you think DC has yet to release these numbers?
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