The following is a commentary on our annual report which can be found here:
https://wonderworldcomics.com/amazon-retailer-sales-data-2018-annual-report/
It is notable that, of all the books that made our lists, only 23 publishers are represented. The top ten publishers from our rankings are as follows:
The
top ten:
|
1
|
Marvel
|
239 Books Ranked
|
|
2
|
DC
|
32 Books Ranked
|
|
3
|
Image
|
17 Books Ranked
|
|
4
|
Boom!
|
9 Books Ranked
|
|
5
|
Devil’s Due
|
4 Books Ranked
|
|
6
|
Dark Horse
|
3Books Ranked
|
|
7
|
Lion’s Forge
|
2 Books Ranked
|
|
7
|
Action Lab
|
2 Books Ranked
|
|
7
|
Dynamite
|
2 Books Ranked
|
|
7
|
IDW
|
2 Books Ranked
|
This
rankings are based only the number of titles that appear on our
lists, and do not necessarily correspond to any units total or gross
sales ranking for each publisher.
It
is notable that Marvel’s top seller was The Weeknd Presents Starboy
#1, a comic book scripted by a rapper, about a character that is not
part of the Marvel Universe. This shows that a comic that appeals to
a non-traditional comic market can be a top seller. Though this
single outstanding title was a true star, with a high unit sales and
gross ranking, Marvel’s mainstream superhero books that dominate
the list overall.
The
other top Marvel performer was “Warlock By Jim Starlin: The
Complete Collection”, a trade paperback that we purchased in bulk
through a Marvel clearance sale. We would like to thank Marvel for
making their clearance books available to local comic shops, unlike
their largest competitor, who liquidates their books to Ollie’s
Discount outlet. Clearanced paperback’s make up a large portion of
our ranked Marvel books, and if that competitor would make their
liquidation stock available to local comic ships, they would
undoubtedly also be a significant part of our sales.
DC
is second, trailing far behind Marvel with 32 titles to Marvel’s
239. Batman Damned #1 was their topped performer; this magazine
format horror-themed comic that introduced DC’s new “Black Label”
imprint made the news due to a page spread in which a nude Bruce
Wayne shows a bit more than readers expect to see of a mainstream
superhero character. Also notable are several Batman/ Teenage Mutant
Ninja Turtles comics that made the list. Mad Max Fury Road #2 was a
strong seller; issue probably would have ranked if hadn’t sold out
of it before the beginning of 2018. For the high performance of this
title, we have to thank other retailers who cut their orders after
the first issue, creating the shortage that fed our sales.
Of
Image Comics’ 17 ranking titles, Walking Dead Back Issues, eight
were Walking Dead issues, and of those eight, five were published
before 2017, demonstrating the importance of back issues.
Boom
studies made the list with 9 ranked titles, 6 of which are Mighty
Morphin’ Power Rangers single issues, of which three were variant
covers of issue #25, part one of the landmark “Shattered Grid”
story line.
Devil’s
Due’s four ranked books consist entirely of back issue paperbacks
that we bought on liquidation when the small publisher had financial
problems several years ago. The two Voltron paperbacks were
dependable sellers, boosted by the recent Dreamworks TV series on
streaming services, and the release of new Voltron comics by Lion
Forge.
Dark
Horse’s ranking books included two issue of the Gerard Way’s
Umbrella Academy series, and the Empowered Vol. 8 paperback.
Action
Lab ranks on the strength of two Zombie Tramp comics. The Zombie
Tramp series has generally been a strong seller for us, but that
sales volume is divided into multiple issues with multiple variant
covers, which are not well represented in the ranking methodology
used to compile this report. If we were to create a series based top
100 list ranking the total sales of all of the issues in each series,
Zombie Tramp would place very high on the list. If you are not
familiar with the title, it is a comedic horror book aimed at an
adult audience, with cartoonish story art and cheesecake cover art by
multiple artists.
Dynamite
Entertainment’s ranked titles were both John Wick #1; the Main “A”
cover and the “C” Photo Covers are both good sellers, and there
is a renewed interest every time IDW publishes a new issue on their
very slow release schedule.
IDW’s
books included a back stock Magic the Gathering Comic, which came
poly bagged and included a playable card; many buyers probably bought
the comic just to get the card.
Lion
Forge’s ranked books were Rolled and Told #0 and #1; a comic-format
series containing supplemental material for the Dungeons &
Dragons role playing game. The #0 book was a promotional giveaway
sent free to comic shops, and Wonderworld was one of the few stores
to attempt to sell it on Amazon. We ordered the subsequent issues
based the on strength of the sales for the Zero issue, and they have
been good performers for us.
The other 21 publishers that made the list were 12 Gauge (publisher of the Boondock Saints Comic), Terry Moore’s Abstract Studio Inc., Albatross Funnybooks, Archie (their Sabrina comic made the list), Autism at Face Value (publisher of a steampunk themed educational comic), Bongo Comics (publisher of Mylo Xyloto), the late lamented Desperado Publishing who published a Clive Barker book that performed will this year, Humanoids, Inc., the Marvel/DC partnership that published the Marvel vs. DC Comic, Oni Press (Invader Zim), Pow! Entertainment (Stan Lee’s Manga publisher), Slave Labor Graphics (Jhonen Vasquez’s “I Feel Sick”), and the Topps card company, who’s 1990’s foray into comics publishing produced several Jurassic Park comics that sell well when we can get them.
Wonderworld presents something different from our usual new releases. This Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters #1 exclusive variant is from 2011, and was one of Wonderworld’s earliest exclusive variant comics. The cover depicts the original Wonderword Comics store in Taylor, Michigan during a Godzilla rampage. We have not made any available for sale for several years, so we thought it appropriate to announce that this comic, “from the vault”, is available for sale again.
From Wonderworld Comics along with Ssalefist Comics of North Carolina comes what we believe to be our best store exclusive variant yet, and we say this without hyperbole.
From Wonderworld Comics along with Ssalefist Comics of North Carolina comes another great store exclusive variant; Marvel Voices: Heritage #1 with exclusive cover art by 
From Wonderworld Comics along with Ssalefist Comics of North Carolina and our newest partner Hive Comics comes another great store exclusive variant; What’s the Furthest Place from Here? #1 with exclusive virgin cover art by 
Wonderworld Comics along with Ssalefist Comics of North Carolina are proud to announce what might be our best store exclusive variant yet. It is a facsimile edition of the scarce and valuable Marko Djurdjevic 1-in-25 variant of Ultimate Comics Fallout #4, the comic that introduced Miles Morales, and the same variant that sells for thousands of dollars on the collector’s market in high grade. And the comic differs from the 2011 original in a significant way in that it is a virgin variant, meaning that Djurdjevic’s art is untouched by title, issue number, or other trade dress, and can be seen and appreciated as Djurdjevic created it.
