Diamond's Top 500 Sellers of 2015

David_D

For those that are interested in following the numbers (and, of course, these direct market numbers don't tell the whole story of what readers as the end user are actually buying, but I think they still say something) Diamond has released their Top 500 of 2015.

I find the graphic novel/collected edition charts the most interesting part of it. Unlike #1s, those more often reflect sales of books that are either published in prior years, but continuing to be in demand, as well as showing what titles got enough buzz and reviews (as usually the trade is solicited a few months or more into people actually reading the title) to reflect the success of what something actually turned out to be, rather than what retailers hope a #1 issue will do, if you know what I mean.

hauberk

David_D said:

For those that are interested in following the numbers (and, of course, these direct market numbers don't tell the whole story of what readers as the end user are actually buying, but I think they still say something) Diamond has released their Top 500 of 2015.

I find the graphic novel/collected edition charts the most interesting part of it. Unlike #1s, those more often reflect sales of books that are either published in prior years, but continuing to be in demand, as well as showing what titles got enough buzz and reviews (as usually the trade is solicited a few months or more into people actually reading the title) to reflect the success of what something actually turned out to be, rather than what retailers hope a #1 issue will do, if you know what I mean.

I completely agree. I do find it interesting to see what seems to be evergreen and conduct the mental exercise as to what might be driving sales. Marvel's top selling trade was Civil War - I would assume that sales were largely driven by the movie announcement? Possibly similar with DC's positioning for Dark Knight Returns? From a personal preference standpoint, I was pleased to see two of my favorite books represented - both Lazarus and Black Science have 3 volumes on the list.

mwhitt80

It looks like the winner was Star Wars. Everything else is a distant second

David_D

mwhitt80 said:

It looks like the winner was Star Wars. Everything else is a distant second

Not on the graphic novel/TPB charts, though. There, every existing volume of Saga, including ones from a few years ago, charted ahead of the very first, and new to this year, volume of the new Star Wars series (as did the first, and and 23rd volumes of Walking Dead). And, yes, Saga and Walking Dead are indie superstars and outliers, but it is nice to see at least one format where creator-owned is consistently winning out over the corporate-owned and licensed.

(And I cheer for that, not out of some general 'corporations down indies up!' sentiment because, don't get me wrong, I'm loving the Star Wars books from Marvel. Rather, the fact that there are creators, at least some, making a living at Image with their own work, including the revenue streams from perennial trade and digital sales as audiences continue to hear about and discover their work, just means there is more chance of more of that kind of work existing. I think we are in a golden age of creator-owned books representing a variety of genres right now, especially at Image. So seeing that they can compete in the trade market even against the Big 2 event books and Star Wars is a good sign to me.)

deadpool

Still weird seeing so much DEADPOOL titles in high places, but man DC seems to be copping it hard this year. Credit to them for not rebooting any numbers on ongoings since new 52 so easy sales but they need to shake that line up somehow . so much eggs in the batman basket it aint funny . glad to see Saga going strong.Rat Queens to .

zikaatlaw

Very interesting to see the difference between types of top comics and top trades. It does seem to support what many have been saying, most of the quality is outside traditional titles. The superhero trades are mostly ones that aren't just grind-it-out repetitive crap. I really wonder how long Marvel and DC can keep pumping sales with more #1s. It's gotten to the point where I just assume, you can't keep a title going into higher issue numbers, it must not be that good.

mwhitt80

zikaatlaw said:

Very interesting to see the difference between types of top comics and top trades. It does seem to support what many have been saying, most of the quality is outside traditional titles. The superhero trades are mostly ones that aren't just grind-it-out repetitive crap. I really wonder how long Marvel and DC can keep pumping sales with more #1s. It's gotten to the point where I just assume, you can't keep a title going into higher issue numbers, it must not be that good.

DC isn't though.

Marvel's core line is getting reset every 11 to 22 months. The sales fall back to what the previous series sold at after about issue 3 of the relaunch.

DC relaunched their entire line in 2011 (closing in on 5 years), and has not relaunched since then. They've tried new titles, but that's completely different than what Marvel has done.

mphil

deadpool said:

Still weird seeing so much DEADPOOL titles in high places, but man DC seems to be copping it hard this year. Credit to them for not rebooting any numbers on ongoings since new 52 so easy sales but they need to shake that line up somehow . so much eggs in the batman basket it aint funny . glad to see Saga going strong.Rat Queens to .

In June DC released their DC You initiative with a diverse range of new titles; stuff like Prez, Omega Men, Dr Fate. Their titles are probably more diverse (in terms of characters and tone) than Marvel right now. But it didn't matter, no one bought them.

The Batman titles are so prominent in this list... because Batman is really popular. DC is seeing the effects of Marvel killing it in the box office, I mean why else would Spider Gwen and Deadpool outsell Justice League and Superman?

Actually DC needs to adopt Marvel's thing of rebooting every year. It's effective. As a fan I'm ready to give up long issue numbers. Just give me some way to know the real issue number so that when I'm collecting I can know what I have and don't have. Put it in tiny letters on the back page. Do some type of year based scheme like 2016-1, just give me a way of putting a chronology together without pulling my hair out. Do that and reboot every 3 months for all I care.

bralinator

Comic book digital sales were down 10% in 2015.

Do you think it was:

1) Digital comics aren't collectible - can't sell a digital back issue.
2) Those who want it, largely have it already
3) Retro Chic - physical books are coming back with younger crowds
4) Tablet sales have declined - fewer new customers
5) Marvel Unlimited and similar subscription services

I think it's a combination of all 5, but I'd love to know how many people have signed up for the all-you-can eat subscriptions like Marvel Unlimited or Comixology / Amazon Prime, which may be why sales of issues are actually down. Why pay cover price for a digital comic (DC) when you can have 17,000 back issues 6 months older and further back for $69 a year?

nweathington

bralinator said:

Comic book digital sales were down 10% in 2015.

Do you think it was:

1) Digital comics aren't collectible - can't sell a digital back issue.
2) Those who want it, largely have it already
3) Retro Chic - physical books are coming back with younger crowds
4) Tablet sales have declined - fewer new customers
5) Marvel Unlimited and similar subscription services

I think it's a combination of all 5, but I'd love to know how many people have signed up for the all-you-can eat subscriptions like Marvel Unlimited or Comixology / Amazon Prime, which may be why sales of issues are actually down. Why pay cover price for a digital comic (DC) when you can have 17,000 back issues 6 months older and further back for $69 a year?

Too hard to say without any real data to go by. If I had to speculate I'd rank them in terms of impact as:
1) Decline in tablet sales
2) Already have it (though this is heavily tied to the decline in tablet sales)
3) Subscription services
...
...
...
4) Desire for physical books
5) Collectibility

I think 4) and 5) have very little impact on sales in relation to the first three items.

bralinator

I think that's probably the order it breaks down too.

Any insight on how many Marvel U subscribers there are?

nweathington

bralinator said:

I think that's probably the order it breaks down too.

Any insight on how many Marvel U subscribers there are?

None at all. I haven’t seen or heard any numbers, but I haven’t exactly gone looking for them either.

bralinator

I wouldn't even know where to look. It would probably require insider information or corporate espionage. At the moment I can't think of any motivation for Marvel to release those numbers.

nweathington

bralinator said:

I wouldn't even know where to look. It would probably require insider information or corporate espionage. At the moment I can't think of any motivation for Marvel to release those numbers.

Is there any advertising in the MU app? If there is, Marvel would certainly release the numbers to those advertisors.

SolitaireRose

nweathington said:

bralinator said:

I wouldn't even know where to look. It would probably require insider information or corporate espionage. At the moment I can't think of any motivation for Marvel to release those numbers.

Is there any advertising in the MU app? If there is, Marvel would certainly release the numbers to those advertisors.

Nope. They even strip the ads out of the old comics.

We wont' ever see those numbers, but they have to be good enough, as they are adding more old books every week. USUALLY something connected with an upcoming story or event, but this week they added an old Tigra mini-series that even I had forgotten about.

David_D

They are also having a one day sale today, $69 for a year of Marvel Unlimited. (A price they have had before, but don't always have.)

That might get me to sign back up. I've loved MU, but I got so behind on my reading that I let it lapse. But might get back in.

Amazing_Bagman

I think $69 is the standard one year price, but according to the email it is $55 for 1 year with promo code "summer". Looks like that is a one day only deal.

David_D

Amazing_Bagman said:

I think $69 is the standard one year price, but according to the email it is $55 for 1 year with promo code "summer". Looks like that is a one day only deal.

That's the one (looked at it quick before heading out). Thanks- that makes sense, and even better!

bralinator

$55!! Good grief. I am really beginning to think it IS mostly the subscription model shutting down the individual digital purchases.

Netflix has similarly affected both cable television and video rental during it's run.

SolitaireRose

bralinator said:

$55!! Good grief. I am really beginning to think it IS mostly the subscription model shutting down the individual digital purchases.

Netflix has similarly affected both cable television and video rental during it's run.

The other big part of it was price. $5 to rent a DVD was insane, but Blockbuster had to raise the rates to that when they lost the "late fee" lawsuit. Cable TV prices are pretty crazy as well, my local cable is $140 for 1st and second tier channels with HiDef.

With comics at $4, I just buy the Marvel Unlimited. It's good not to have the clutter, and I have saved HUNDREDS of dollars. Too bad DC can never do it because of royalty contracts and Comixology's is mostly for introducing people to books. It's like Kindle Unlimited...streaming and choice is the future.

SolitaireRose

bralinator said:

$55!! Good grief. I am really beginning to think it IS mostly the subscription model shutting down the individual digital purchases.

Netflix has similarly affected both cable television and video rental during it's run.

By the way, comics had their biggest month of sales in June in over 20 years. For all of the "Sky is falling" talk, the numbers do not bear that out.

bralinator

SolitaireRose said:

bralinator said:

$55!! Good grief. I am really beginning to think it IS mostly the subscription model shutting down the individual digital purchases.

Netflix has similarly affected both cable television and video rental during it's run.

By the way, comics had their biggest month of sales in June in over 20 years. For all of the "Sky is falling" talk, the numbers do not bear that out.

I see your point, but in a month that has 30 new #1 issues in the top 100, two of which are Batman and a big, brand-new Marvel event steeped in nostalgia, it shouldn't be a surprise.

I'm a bit hesitant to embrace those June numbers as a sure sign of renewal too since they only show how many books retailers bought. Not a clear indicator of how many books consumers actually purchased. With Civil War II and Rebirth slightly skewing things, those numbers may not be perfectly accurate. Thankfully Diamond lowers the DC numbers considerably to figure in return-ability, but I actually expect those numbers to potentially bump up with the way that reboot is being received. On the other hand, the way Marvel handles things, I'm betting many of us will be able to find several issues of CWII in the quarter-bins by Christmas.

While I am hopeful with those increased June numbers, I still believe on a long enough timeline, paper comics are going to continue to decline. These numbers are an interesting topic, for sure.

bralinator

Digital comics require tablets, and it's clear that the market has become saturated. As Eric surmised, lagging tablet sales has probably had the greatest impact on digital sales overall. Most people who wanted tablets now have them. So unless something changes, digital sales will likely continue to be flat or decline, which I think as long as subscription services exist and remain affordable, that will be the case. Apple has been experiencing lagging sales. Perhaps the peak has been reached.



More: https://www.yahoo.com/tech/great-tablet-gold-rush-over-165927100.html

Again, does anyone have an informed guesstimate or care to speculate how many people subscribe to Marvel Unlimited?