Super-heroes may rule the longbox, but the bookshelf belongs to zombies.
Diamond Comic Distributors has released the final sales rankings for 2014. While the overall market share for monthly books was dominated by traditional Big Two powerhouses DC Comics and Marvel Comics, the graphic novel segment of the comic book market was completely owned by Image.
Of the top ten books, nine were published by Image with only the number nine slot coming from a Big Two publisher as DC squeaked in with Volume 1 of Scott Snyder and Greg Capllo’s Batman: Court of Owls.
The continuing success of Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead is owed, in large part, to the ratings dominance of the television adaptation, which this year beat out Monday Night Football in a move which shocked network executives. Of greater note is the runaway success of Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples Saga, which claimed three of the top five slots, including the top two.
Image’s continued growth didn’t stop with the trade market, however. Image also released the #2 comic of the year in terms of sales, with Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead No. 132 and finished with 9.43% dollar share in the monthly periodical market and jumped to a 10.41% unit share on the year.
Josh Epstein
Josh Epstein is the Publisher for the Capeless Crusader website. He’s a lifelong comic nerd, and “Superman” is the first word he ever read aloud. He is also an actor, singer, and resident of a real-world Smallville.
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