Comichron

 

Top Comics by Year

Estimated Sales to North American Comics Shops
of the top-selling comic book from each month
as Reported by Diamond Comic Distributors

The figures below are the top-sellers from each year based on Comichron's analysis of reports from Diamond Comic Distributors.

The figures for 1992-2002 are estimated preorders from the month the books were solicited, and do not reflect reorders. So they are not the complete direct market circulations for each title. From 2003-2008, the figures aggregate final orders from all months in which the issues made Diamond's Top 300 list. So they are more inclusive, but not complete. From 2009 onward, the figures are based on the entire year's final orders, and are thus all-inclusive — except for 2016, when they are based only on the data from when the comic appeared in the monthly charts.

† Items marked with a dagger include between 200-400,000 copies sold by the repackager Loot Crate.
* Items with asterisks were returnable issues whose final orders may be higher or lower.
Distributor charts are regional commodity reports, not measures of a work's total reach. Read our FAQ.
Title links below lead to current listings for the issues on eBay. As an eBay Partner, this site may be compensated if you make a purchase.

300th Place TitleIssuePricePublisherEst. sales
1991X-Men Vol. 2*1$1.50Marvel8,014,500
1992Superman75$2.50DC n.a.
1993Action Comics687$1.95DCn.a.
1994Spawn/Batman**1$3.95Imagen.a.
1995DC Versus Marvel1$3.95DCn.a.
1996DC Versus Marvel4$3.95DCn.a.
1997Darkness11$2.50Image357,100
1998Fathom1$2.50Image257,100
1999Tomb Raider1$2.50Image189,500
2000Uncanny X-Men381$2.25Marvel119,300
2001Dark Knight Strikes Again1$7.95DC188,700
2002Ultimates1$2.25Marvel160,200
2003Batman619$2.25DC235,100
2004Superman204$2.50DC244,100
2005All Star Batman & Robin1$2.99DC276,000
2006Civil War2$2.99Marvel341,900
2007Captain America25$3.99Marvel317,700
2008Secret Invasion1$3.99Marvel263,000
2009Amazing Spider-Man583$3.99Marvel530,500
2010Avengers1$3.99Marvel175,100
2011Justice League (including Combo Pack)1$3.99DC255,400
2012Walking Dead (including Chromium)100$3.99Image384,800
2013Walking Dead115$2.99Image329,300
2014Amazing Spider-Man1$5.99Marvel559,217
2015Star Wars1†$4.99Marvel1,073,027
2016 Big Trouble in Little China/Escape from New York 1†$4.99 Boom 421,625
2017 Marvel Legacy 1 $5.99 Marvel 305,427
2018 Action Comics 1000 $7.99 DC 504,243
2019 Detective Comics 1000 $7.99 DC 574,705

Beginning in 2014, the bestsellers for the year all included sales to third-party repackagers, including several hundred thousand copies sent to Loot Crate for Star Wars #1 and Big Trouble in Little China/Escape from New York #1. Without those sales, Star Wars #1 still would have been the bestseller for 2015; for 2016 the bestseller would more likely have been either Civil War II #1 or Harley Quinn #1.

Note that the figures do not include newsstand sales, except for the asterisked X-Men #1 in 1991. Based on those sales, for example, 1999's Pokémon: The Electric Tale of Pikachu reportedly had sales of more than 1 million copies over multiple printings through 1999 and 2000. Spawn/Batman is asterisked in 1994 because Diamond listed an erroneous title as #1 that year.





The top-selling graphic novels in the comics shop market are as follows. Note that as we approach the present day, the top-seller in the mass market is likely different and outsells the amount sold to the comics shop market:


Trade Paperback titlePricePublisherEst. sales
1991Punisher: Bloodlines$5.95Marvel n/a
1992Punisher: G-Force$4.95Marveln/a
1993WildC.A.T.S.$9.95Imagen/a
1994Superman: Under a Yellow Sun$5.95DCn/a
1995Sandman Midnight Theater$6.95DCn/a
1996Batman Captain America$5.95DCn/a
1997X-Man$5.99Marvel n/a
1998Battle Chasers Collector's Ed.$5.95Image n/a
1999Batman War on Crime$9.95DCn/a
2000JLA Heaven's Ladder$9.95DCn/a
2001Wonder Woman Spirit of Truth Oversized$9.95DCn/a
2002September 11 Vol. 2$9.95DC n/a
2003Justice League Liberty & Justice$9.95DCn/a
2004Batman Hush Vol. 1 $12.95DCn/a
2005Sin City Vol. 1 Hard Goodbye$17Dark Horsen/a
2006V For Vendetta $19.99DCn/a
2007Civil War$24.99Marveln/a
2008Watchmen$19.99DC n/a
2009Watchmen $19.99DC 70,000
2010Walking Dead Vol. 1 Days Gone Bye$9.99Image43,900
2011Walking Dead Vol. 1 Days Gone Bye$9.99Image34,700
2012Walking Dead Vol. 1 Days Gone Bye$9.99Image74,700
2013Saga Vol. 1$9.99Image60,700
2014Saga Vol. 3$14.99Image62,182
2015Saga Vol. 4$14.99Image46,627
2016 Saga Vol. 6 $14.99Image 47,968
2017 Saga Vol. 7 $14.99Image 47,775
2018 Infinity Gauntlet $24.99 Marvel 40,458
2019 Watchmen $24.99 DC 20,908