Comics Sales Records in the Diamond Exclusive Era
High and low points in sales to comics shops in North America
from 1997-present
These records detail the high and low points observed on the charts published by Diamond Comic Distributors during the period in which it was the sole distributor for the North American comic-book store market, from April 1997 onward.
These totals do not reflect comics that might have been sold in the newsstand, bookstore, or overseas markets — and for individual books, those sales may be substantial. For example, Pokémon: The Electric Tale of Pikachu #1 is reported to have had sales topping 1 million copies across multiple printings in 1999 — almost entirely outside the comics shop market.
And, of course, if you go further back, you reach many higher sales records — the top-selling comic book ever, X-Men Vol. 2, #1 in 1991, had sales over 8 million copies. But the records here for average prices represent all-time averages (for obvious reasons).
INDUSTRY-WIDE RECORDS
Most Comic Books Ordered in a Single Month (Top 300 Comics), 1997-present
9,360,000 copies
Fewest Comic Books Ordered in a Single Month (Top 300 Comics), 1997-present
4,402,000 copies
Most Comic Books Ordered in a Single Month (ALL Comics), 1997-present
10,260,000 copies
Highest Dollar Volume for Comic Books Ordered in a Single Month (Top 300 Comics) 1997-present
$34.73 million
Lowest Dollar Volume for Comic Books Ordered in a Single Month (Top 300 Comics)
$13,000,000
Highest Dollar Volume for Top 300 Trade Paperbacks Ordered in a Single Month
$10.51 million
Highest Dollar Volume for Top 300 Comic Books and Top 300 Trade Paperbacks Ordered in a Single Month
$43.58 million
Highest Dollar Volume for All Comic Books, Trade Paperbacks, and Magazines Ordered from Diamond in a Single Month, 2003-present
$58.59 million
Lowest Dollar Volume for All Comic Books, Trade Paperbacks, and Magazines Ordered from Diamond in a Single Month, 2003-present
$21.9 million
Highest Dollar Volume for Comic Books, Trade Paperbacks, and Magazines Ordered in a Single Quarter, 2003-present
$154.51 million
ISSUE, PUBLISHER, AND PRICE RECORDS
Highest Orders for a Comic Book in a Single Month, 1997-present
985,976 copies*
Star Wars #1 (all variants), Marvel Comics
*Includes sales to the reseller Loot Crate, possibly on the order of 400,000 copies
Highest Orders for a Comic Book in a Single Year, 1997-present
1,073,027 copies*
Star Wars #1 (all variants), Marvel Comics
*Includes sales to the reseller Loot Crate, possibly on the order of 400,000 copies
Lowest Number of Copies Ordered for the #1 Comic Book in a Single Month, 1997-present
71,517 copies
Green Lantern #62, DC
First Month with No Title Selling More than 100,000 Copies in a Single Month
Most Comic Books in the Top 300 Comics List by Publisher, 1997-present
129
DC Comics
Most Consecutive Months for a Publisher to Have the #1 Comic Book,
1996-present
27 months
Marvel Comics
Number of Different Publishers with the #1 Comic Book, 1996-present
4*
Marvel, DC, Image, Dreamwave
(*Two additional publishers, IDW and Boom, had titles that took the top slot — but most of their copies were not sold in comics shops but rather through the repackager, Loot Crate)
Largest Number of Different Publishers in the Top 300, 1996-present
58
Smallest Number of Different Publishers in the Top 300, 1996-present
13
Most Consecutive Months for a Title at #1, 1996-present
10
Uncanny X-Men #366-375, Marvel Comics
Most Comic Books Sold by a 300th-place title in a five-week month, 1996-present
6,699 copies
Immortal Hulk: Director's Cut #5, Marvel
Most Comic Books Sold by a 300th-place title in a four-week month, 1996-present
6,448 copies
Hoax Hunters #10, Image Comics
Fewest Comic Books Sold by a 300th-place title, 1996-present
654 copies
Tomb Raider Gallery #1 (reoffered), Image Comics
Highest Average Price for Comics in Diamond’s Top 300 Comics List
$4.22
July 2019 • October 2019 • November 2019
Highest Weighted Average Price for All Comics Ordered within Diamond’s Top 300 Comics List
$4.67
Highest Final Order Dollar Market Shares registered for the Following Companies, 1997-present:
Marvel: 46.15%, August 2019
DC: 42.47%, October 2011
Image: 17.09%, May 1998
Dark Horse: 13.62%, May 1999
IDW: 8.18%, December 2013
CrossGen: 4.58%, June 2002
Dynamite: 4.2%, February 2012
Boom: 4.03%, December 2019
Archie: 2.04%, July 2014
Titan: 1.61%, November 2016
Updated Jan. 27, 2020
