WonderWorldComics

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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:

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.