In July, DC Comics had managed to pull ahead of Marvel Comics share of dollars, rising month on month from 28.27% to 29.57% to 32.50% while Marvel fell from 33.36% to 32.77% to 32.34%.

In August, this was reversed, with DC share falling to 30.16% and Marvel rising to 33.7% marketshare.

But in the actual amount of comics sold, Marvel retained its lead, even though its share slipped, from 36.47% to 36.3%. While DC's marketshare slipped from 34.07% to 33.14%. So where did the missing marketshare go? Well, Image's unit share jumped from 6.79% to 8.51%. After all, there was a new Walking Dead hardcover out.

There was a sizeable drop in sales between July to August but much of that could be seen as the difference between a five Wednesday July and a four Wednesday August, but it was a much greater drop than from 2012's five week August. Year on year, 2013 is still doing better than 2012 so far.

DC have managed to put five titles in the top ten comics, but only one in the top ten graphic novels which, again, is dominated by Image. Marvel grabbed the top spot, by DC the next five, with a combination of Trinity War, Superman Unchained and Batman Superman. It's also worth noting how well Superior Spider-Man continues to perform in the market…

Oh and in September, DC will crush Marvel as the 3D Covers lift their backlist considerably…

PUBLISHER MARKET SHARES

RETAIL MARKET SHARE PUBLISHER SHARE MARVEL COMICS 33.70% DC COMICS 30.16% IMAGE COMICS 7.86% IDW PUBLISHING 5.70% DARK HORSE COMICS 5.47% DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT 3.01% BOOM! STUDIOS 2.05% EAGLEMOSS PUBLICATIONS LTD 1.34% AVATAR PRESS INC 0.95% ZENESCOPE ENTERTAINMENT INC 0.94% OTHER NON-TOP 10 8.83% UNIT MARKET SHARE PUBLISHER SHARE MARVEL COMICS 36.30% DC COMICS 33.14% IMAGE COMICS 8.51% IDW PUBLISHING 4.98% DARK HORSE COMICS 4.80% DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT 2.93% BOOM! STUDIOS 2.07% ZENESCOPE ENTERTAINMENT INC 1.03% VALIANT ENTERTAINMENT LLC 0.97% ASPEN MLT INC 0.65% OTHER NON-TOP 10 4.63%

NEW TITLES SHIPPED

PUBLISHER COMICS SHIPPED GRAPHIC NOVELS SHIPPED MAGAZINES SHIPPED TOTAL SHIPPED MARVEL COMICS 67 34 0 101 DC COMICS 83 23 1 107 IMAGE COMICS 39 9 0 48 IDW PUBLISHING 35 18 0 53 DARK HORSE COMICS 29 15 0 44 DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT 49 4 0 53 BOOM! STUDIOS 20 2 0 22 EAGLEMOSS PUBLICATIONS LTD 0 0 6 6 AVATAR PRESS INC 7 4 0 11 ZENESCOPE ENTERTAINMENT INC 11 3 0 14 OTHER NON-TOP 10 66 100 27 193

COMPARATIVE SALES STATISTICS

DOLLARS UNITS AUGUST 2013 VS. JULY 2013 COMICS -15.30% -14.93% GRAPHIC NOVELS -24.55% -24.81% TOTAL COMICS/GN -18.33% -15.77% AUGUST 2013 VS. AUGUST 2012 COMICS -10.39% -11.21% GRAPHIC NOVELS -22.09% -25.68% TOTAL COMICS/GN -14.29% -12.50% YEAR-TO-DATE 2013 VS. YEAR-TO-DATE 2012 COMICS 9.82% 7.38% GRAPHIC NOVELS 6.59% 4.55% TOTAL COMICS/GN 8.79% 7.16%

TOP 10 COMIC BOOKS

RANK DESCRIPTION PRICE VENDOR 1 INFINITY #1 $4.99 MAR 2 SUPERMAN UNCHAINED #3 $3.99 DC 3 BATMAN #23 $3.99 DC 4 JUSTICE LEAGUE #23 $3.99 DC 5 JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA#7 $3.99 DC 6 BATMAN SUPERMAN #3 $3.99 DC 7 SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #15 $3.99 MAR 8 SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #16 $3.99 MAR 9 AVENGERS #18 $3.99 MAR 10 ALL-NEW X-MEN #15 $3.99 MAR

TOP 10 GRAPHIC NOVELS

RANK DESCRIPTION PRICE VENDOR 1 THE WALKING DEAD VOL. 1: DAYS GONE BYE TP $14.99 IMA 2 CHEW VOLUME 7: BAD APPLES TP $12.99 IMA 3 ROCKET RACCOON: TALES FROM THE HALF WORLD TP $7.99 MAR 4 SAGA VOLUME 1 TP $9.99 IMA 5 SAGA VOLUME 2 TP $14.99 IMA 6 MY LITTLE PONY DIGEST VOLUME 1 TP $6.99 IDW 7 DEADPOOL VOLUME 2: SOUL HUNTER TP $15.99 MAR 8 SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN VOLUME 2: TROUBLED MIND TP $17.99 MAR 9 THE FLASH VOLUME 1: MOVE FORWARD TP $16.99 DC 10 B.P.R.D.: HELL ON EARTH VOLUME 6: RETURN OF THE MASTER TP $19.99 DAR