March 2010 top-sellers: Blackest Night finishes on top

by John Jackson Miller and T.M. Haley    

DC's raise-the-dead event comic book Blackest Night shipped in the last week of March, but interest in the Geoff Johns series was enough to make it the top comic book ordered by comics shops in the month, according to top-sellers lists released by Diamond Comic Distributors. The top-sellers lists, along with a first look at market shares, can be found here.

All eight issues of Blackest Night took the top spot; only the skip month of January prevented the series from racking up those months consecutively. It worked the same way for Secret Invasion's eight issues in 2008. Will the string of #1s continue? The first issue of the follow-on-series, Brightest Day #0 is slotted for April release — and while many #0 issues are promotional editions priced too low to be counter in Diamond's rankings, the book is a 56-page issue at $3.99, so it definitely will be in the mix.

The hardcover for Kick-Ass took the top spot in the bound-edition list, in advance of the movie. The Twilight manga from Yen Press came in tenth. The first comics adaptation of Stephanie Meyer's novel series generated significant interest in the mass market, and the amount of direct-market retailer demand was subject to much speculation. How well retailers gauged demand for this crossover project will become more apparent when April reorders appear.

Analysis of the full Diamond charts will appear here after they are released.

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