May 2022 Comics Sales Early Look
Comics and Graphic Novels Reordered by North American Comics Shops
Based on Reports from Diamond Comic Distributors
May 2022 has four New Comic Book Days at Diamond and Penguin Random House, and five for DC's distributor, Lunar. May 2021 had four for both Diamond and Lunar.
Diamond has not yet released its sales charts for this month. It is the fourth break in data releases from the distributor since the pandemic began, but the reports did resume three previous times. Follow @Comichron on Twitter to get the alert when the report becomes available.
In the meantime, you can get a sense of what sales might be like from noting what products were most reordered by retailers.
Several weeks ago, retailers began placing advance reorders for items whose initial order deadlines had passed, but which had not yet released at the time the reorders were placed. These reorders, placed further out than regular reorders, tend to be more speculative in nature, as there is less certainty that stock will still be available. But they do give us the farthest-into-the-future look at potential sales. To see potential sales for this month, you generally want to look at the advance reorders placed from the month before.
Note that the listings mix hardcovers, softcovers, and comics together, and that they also rank items by dollars rather than units. Note, too, that advance reorder charts are ranked by retail dollars, so retailers' discounts have not yet been applied.
There is no guarantee that these advance reorders will be filled. It's also likely that a lot of books in these lists won't synch up exactly with this month; reorders are placed all the time and reported weekly, while comics sales are reported monthly.
Advance reorders placed between April 4-10, 2022
• Top advance-reordered May-shipping comic book:
Grim #1 Cvr F FOC Reveal Var Lee and Chung (Boom)
• Top advance-reordered softcover graphic novel:
The Incal TPB (Humanoids)
• Top advance-reordered hardcover graphic novel:
Dark Room HC (Image)
Grim #1 was the top advance-reordered comic book, with several versions of Image's Twig #1 also making the Top 10.
Advance reorders placed between April 11-17, 2022
• Top advance-reordered May-shipping comic book:
Spawn #329 Cvr C Keane (Image)
• Top advance-reordered softcover graphic novel:
King Spawn Vol. 1 (Image)
• Top advance-reordered box set:
My Hero Academia Box Set Vols. 1-20 (Viz)
IDW Publishing also had a strong launch with Transformers: Last Bot Standing #1 landing in third place overall.
Advance reorders placed between April 18-24, 2022
• Top advance-reordered May-shipping comic book:
Alice Ever After #2 Cvr D FOC Reveal Var Hughes (Boom)
• Top advance-reordered softcover graphic novel:
Bleach 20th Ann GN Vol. 1 (Viz)
• Top advance-reordered hardcover graphic novel:
Fantastic Four Full Circle Alex Ross PX Slipcase Ed (Abrams)
• Top advance-reordered box set:
My Hero Academia Box Set Vols. 1-20 (Viz)
The Alex Ross Abrams slipcase Fantastic Four edition is limited to 3,000 copies. The regular edition will be offered by Diamond in August.
Advance reorders placed between April 25-May 1, 2022
• Top advance-reordered May-shipping comic book:
Department of Truth #18 Cvr A Simmonds (Image)
• Top advance-reordered softcover graphic novel:
Crossover Vol. 2 (Image)
• Top advance-reordered hardcover graphic novel:
Joe Hill Rain HC (Image)
The cocreator of Department of Truth returned to begin a new arc of the series, which placed first in advance reorders.
Advance reorder charts will be released weekly during the month. Stay tuned!
Click to skip down to the Reorders placed for issues shipping this month.
Reorders, by contrast, are orders for items that had already been released at the time of the order. In other words, these are the comics customers have been asking for, generally speaking; while deep discounts December also put titles on these lists, the charts are ranked by invoiced dollars, which is what retailers actually paid.
Reorders placed between May 2-8, 2022
• Top reordered comic book:
Amazing Spider-Man #1 (Marvel)
• Top reordered softcover graphic novel:
My Hero Academia Vol. 1 (Viz)
• Top reordered hardcover graphic novel:
Shiver HC Junji Ito (Viz)
Marvel relaunched Amazing Spider-Man again in April, and the premiere and its variants made the reorder chart for the first week of May.
Reorders placed between May 9-15, 2022
• Top reordered comic book:
Amazing Spider-Man #1 (Marvel)
• Top reordered softcover graphic novel:
Demon Slayer Kimetsu No Yaiba GN Vol. 3 (Viz)
• Top reordered hardcover graphic novel:
Dave Stevens Rocketeer Artists Ed. HC (IDW)
Marvel relaunched Amazing Spider-Man again in April, and the premiere and its variants made the reorder chart for the second week in a row in May.
Reorders placed between May 16-22, 2022
• Top reordered May-shipping comic book:
Hulk Vs. Thor Banner of War Alpha #1 (Marvel)
• Top reordered softcover graphic novel:
Demon Slayer Kimetsu No Yaiba Vol. 1 (Viz)
• Top reordered hardcover graphic novel:
Strangers in Paradise Omnibus Ltsd. HC Signed Bookplate Ed. (Abstract)
The top reordered comic book was the first issue of the five-issue Donny Cates crosover featuring two Marvel characters which are celebrating their 60th anniversaries in 2022.
Reorders placed between May 23-29, 2022
• Top reordered May-shipping comic book:
Frank Frazetta Death Dealer #1 Cvr B Frazetta (Opus)
• Top reordered softcover graphic novel:
Demon Slayer Kimetsu No Yaiba Vol. 1 (Viz)
• Top reordered hardcover graphic novel:
Gyo 2in1 Dlx Ed HC Junji Ito (Viz)
New publisher Opus got its first comic book topping the reorder charts with the first issue of Frank Frazetta Death Dealer.
Reorder charts will be released weekly during the month. Stay tuned!
The true top sellers for the month will replace this page once they are released by Diamond.
