Last month, we noted that DC Comics had recovered marketshare from Marvel Comics closing a 15 point lead to 11-13 points. But in September, that lead was shrunk even further, to 6-12 points. Placing three Star Wars titles in the top ten indicates that without them, Marvel and DC could have been a lot closer – with DC potentially ahead on retail share. Much of this may, however, be down to Marvel having many late books, with sales being pushed into later months. It is likely that October will see this current situation reversed.

Meanwhile, Image Comics have consistently maintained and improved on their performance, pushing forward from the usual ten percent share into the twelve percents, as Walking Dead again returns to the top ten. And Marvel can also rejoice in a Deadpool Vs Thanos series launching very strongly indeed

TOP COMIC BOOK PUBLISHERS

RETAIL MARKET SHARE PUBLISHER SHARE MARVEL COMICS 32.67% DC ENTERTAINMENT 26.01% IMAGE COMICS 11.81% IDW PUBLISHING 5.72% DARK HORSE COMICS 4.42% BOOM! STUDIOS 2.11% DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT 1.79% AVATAR PRESS INC 1.55% VIZ MEDIA 1.32% TITAN COMICS 1.31% OTHER NON-TOP 10 11.29% UNIT MARKET SHARE PUBLISHER SHARE MARVEL COMICS 38.12% DC ENTERTAINMENT 26.32% IMAGE COMICS 12.07% IDW PUBLISHING 4.84% DARK HORSE COMICS 3.64% BOOM! STUDIOS 2.08% DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT 1.80% VALIANT ENTERTAINMENT LLC 1.58% TITAN COMICS 1.25% AVATAR PRESS INC 1.19% OTHER NON-TOP 10 7.12%

NEW TITLES SHIPPED

PUBLISHER COMICS SHIPPED GRAPHIC NOVELS SHIPPED MAGAZINES SHIPPED TOTAL SHIPPED MARVEL COMICS 80 23 0 103 DC ENTERTAINMENT 70 25 0 95 IMAGE COMICS 73 18 0 91 IDW PUBLISHING 42 20 0 62 DARK HORSE COMICS 29 26 0 55 BOOM ENTERTAINMENT 30 9 0 39 DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT 20 7 0 27 TITAN COMICS 11 12 3 26 VALIANT ENTERTAINMENT LLC 10 5 0 15 ONI PRESS INC. 7 2 0 9 OTHER NON TOP 10 118 190 49 357

COMPARATIVE SALES STATISTICS

DOLLARS UNITS SEPTEMBER 2015 VS. AUGUST 2015 COMICS 0.89% -1.10% GRAPHIC NOVELS 8.71% 14.79% TOTAL COMICS/GN 3.49% 0.30% SEPTEMBER 2015 VS. SEPTEMBER 2014 COMICS -19.62% -20.15% GRAPHIC NOVELS 12.51% 30.61% TOTAL COMICS/GN -10.73% -16.89% YEAR-TO-DATE 2015 VS. YEAR-TO-DATE 2014 COMICS 7.21% 6.58% GRAPHIC NOVELS 7.06% 8.48% TOTAL COMICS/GN 7.16% 6.73% THIRD QUARTER 2015 VS. SECOND QUARTER 2015 COMICS -12.07% -14.18% GRAPHIC NOVELS -0.26% 1.14% TOTAL COMICS/GN -8.49% -12.94% THIRD QUARTER 2015 VS. THIRD QUARTER 2014 COMICS -8.08% -10.07% GRAPHIC NOVELS 9.32% 17.13% TOTAL COMICS/GN -2.98% -8.07%

TOP 10 COMIC BOOKS

RANK DESCRIPTION PRICE VENDOR 1 JOURNEY TO STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS: SHATTERED EMPIRE #1 $3.99 MAR 2 STAR WARS #9 $3.99 MAR 3 BATMAN #44 $4.99 DC 4 DEADPOOL VS. THANOS #1 $3.99 MAR 5 DARTH VADER #9 $3.99 MAR 6 AMAZING SPIDER-MAN: RENEW YOUR VOWS #5 $3.99 MAR 7 BATMAN ANNUAL #4 $4.99 DC 8 JUSTICE LEAGUE #44 $3.99 DC 9 THE WALKING DEAD #146 (MR) $2.99 IMA 10 DEADPOOL VS. THANOS #2 $3.99 MAR

TOP 10 GRAPHIC NOVELS & TRADE PAPERBACKS

RANK DESCRIPTION PRICE VENDOR 1 SAGA VOLUME 5 TP (MR) $14.99 IMA 2 DESCENDER VOLUME 1: TIN STARS TP (MR) $9.99 IMA 3 BATMAN VOLUME 7: ENDGAME HC $24.99 DC 4 CHRONONAUTS VOLUME 1 TP (MR) $9.99 IMA 5 BATMAN VOLUME 6: GRAVEYARD SHIFT TP (N52) $16.99 DC 6 AVATAR THE LAST AIRBENDER VOLUME 10: SMOKE & SHADOW PART 1 TP $10.99 DAR 7 MAD MAX: FURY ROAD TP (MR) $14.99 DC 8 BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE SPECIAL EDITION HC $17.99 DC 9 THE JOKER: ENDGAME HC $29.99 DC 10 SAGA VOLUME 1 TP (MR) $9.99 IMA

TOP 10 BOOKS

RANK DESCRIPTION PRICE VENDOR 1 NEIL GAIMAN: THE SLEEPER & THE SPINDLE HC $19.99 HAR 2 WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE'S STAR WARS: THE TRAGEDY OF THE SITH'S REVENGE HC $14.95 QUI 3 LEGEND OF KORRA: ART OF THE ANIMATED SERIES BOOK 4: BALANCE $34.99 DAR 4 THE SHADOW DOUBLE NOVEL VOLUME 99 SC $14.95 SAN 5 DOC SAVAGE DOUBLE NOVEL VOLUME 83 SC $14.95 SAN 6 AMAZING ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN: SUPERGIRL'S PET PROBLEM PB $3.95 CAP 7 THE WALKING DEAD VOLUME 6: INVASION HC $26.99 STM 8 AMAZING ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN: MAGIC MONSTERS $3.95 CAP 9 AMAZING ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN: BUBBLE TROUBLE $3.95 CAP 10 DC SUPER HEROES SUPERMAN: LEX LUTHOR'S POWER GRAB $5.95 CAP

TOP 10 TOYS

RANK DESCRIPTION VENDOR 1 BATMAN ARKHAM KNIGHT: ARKHAM KNIGHT ACTION FIGURE DC 2 AVENGERS AGE OF ULTRON: HULKBUSTER VS. IRON MAN ARTFX+ STATUE KOT 3 ARKHAM: BATMAN ACTION FIGURE 5-PACK DC 4 BATMAN ARKHAM KNIGHT PLAY ARTS KAI: ARKHAM KNIGHT FIGURE SQU 5 BATMAN ARKHAM KNIGHT: BATMAN ACTION FIGURE DC 6 DC COMICS: ZATANNA BISHOUJO STATUE KOT 7 AVENGERS AGE OF ULTRON: THE HULK ARTFX+ STATUE KOT 8 TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: LEONARDO PVC FIGURE GOO 9 ELECTROCUTIONER/LADY SHIVA/HARLEEN QUINZELL FIGURE 3-PACK DC 10 BATMAN ARKHAM KNIGHT PLAY ARTS KAI: BATMAN FIGURE SQU

TOP 10 GAMES

RANK DESCRIPTION VENDOR 1 MINECRAFT OFFICIAL MOJANG CONSTRUCTION -­ UPDATED EDITION HC SCH 2 MINECRAFT OFFICIAL MOJANG REDSTONE -­ UPDATED EDITION HC SCH 3 MINECRAFT OFFICIAL MOJANG ESSENTIAL ­- UPDATED EDITION HC SCH 4 MINECRAFT OFFICIAL MOJANG COMBAT ­- UPDATED EDITION HC SCH 5 BACK TO THE FUTURE MONOPOLY DST 6 DC DICE MASTERS WAR OF LIGHT FOIL PACKS NEC 7 D&D MINIATURES SET THREE BOOSTERS NEC 8 DC BOMBSHELLS 1000-PIECE JIGSAW PUZZLE NMR 9 MACHI KORO CARD GAME DELUXE EDITION IDW 10 DC DICE MASTERS: WAR OF LIGHT STARTER SET NEC

Dollar Market Share – September 2015

Unit Market Shares for September 2015