by John Jackson Miller
Last April's sales were up 17% over the same month in 2013, but had the advantage of a fifth shipping week that April 2013 did not have. This April had five shipping weeks so it's an even comparison — and even so, it was up by even more: 17.75%.
A lot can be attributed to strength in graphic novel orders, which have been generally softer than sales for comics this year: with a new Walking Dead volume and the Avengers: Rage of Ultron hardcover in the mix graphic novels were up 13.45%. The industry now stands up 12% year-over year.
The aggregate sales changes:
| DOLLARS | UNITS | |
| APRIL 2015 VS. MARCH 2014 | ||
| Comics | 32.70% | 27.45% |
| Graphic Novels | 41.29% | 41.25% |
| TOTAL COMICS/GNs | 35.22% | 28.45% |
| APRIL 2015 VS. APRIL 2014 | ||
| Comics | 19.75% | 22.50% |
| Graphic Novels | 13.45% | 10.03% |
| TOTAL COMICS/GNs | 17.75% | 21.40% |
| YEAR-TO-DATE 2015 VS. YEAR-TO-DATE 2014 | ||
| Comics | 15.58% | 16.22% |
| Graphic Novels | 4.37% | -3.63% |
| TOTAL COMICS/GNs | 12.00% | 14.47% |
Marvel's Star Wars #4 led the charts; Star Wars titles have taken the #1 slot in the Direct Market comic shops every month this year. (Orphan Black #1 in February topped the charts because of its sales through Loot Crate; there weren't any comics in the April Loot Crate, but it's not clear from the initial lists whether anything in April saw any boosts similar repackagers.) DC's weekly Convergence series had five weeks to work with, and took five slots in the Top 10.
Top 10 Comic Books
| Description | Price | Vendor | |
| 1 | Star Wars #4 | $3.99 | Marvel |
| 2 | Convergence #0* | $4.99 | DC |
| 3 | Convergence #1* | $4.99 | DC |
| 4 | Batman #40 | $4.99 | DC |
| 5 | Darth Vader #4 | $3.99 | Marvel |
| 6 | Convergence #2* | $3.99 | DC |
| 7 | Convergence #3* | $3.99 | DC |
| 8 | Kanan: The Last Padawan #1 | $3.99 | Marvel |
| 9 | Convergence #4* | $3.99 | DC |
| 10 | Princess Leia #3 | $3.99 | Marvel |
Issues of Convergence were returnable, which is what the asterisks in the chart mean. Diamond reduced their reported sales slightly to reflect the possibility of returns, but DC will get credit in the charts at the end of the year for any additional copies sold.
Top 10 Graphic Novels
| Description | Price | Vendor | |
| 1 | The Walking Dead Vol. 23 | $14.99 | Image |
| 2 | Avengers: Rage of Ultron HC | $24.99 | Marvel |
| 3 | Fables Volume 21: Happily Ever After | $17.99 | DC |
| 4 | Batman Vol. 5: Zero Year: Dark City | $16.99 | DC |
| 5 | Saga Volume 4 | $14.99 | Image |
| 6 | Jupiter's Legacy Vol. 1 | $9.99 | Image |
| 7 | Harley Quinn Vol. 1: Hot In The City | $16.99 | DC |
| 8 | Batman Volume 6: The Graveyard Shift HC | $24.99 | DC |
| 9 | The Walking Dead Vol. 1: Days Gone Bye | $14.99 | Image |
| 10 | Lumberjanes Vol. 1 | $14.99 | Boom |
Market Shares
| Dollar Share | Unit Share | |
| Marvel | 34.15% | 36.33% |
| DC | 30.91% | 33.90% |
| Image | 10.23% | 11.18% |
| IDW | 6.00% | 4.78% |
| Dark Horse | 3.65% | 2.92% |
| Boom | 2.17% | 1.98% |
| Dynamite | 2.05% | 1.78% |
| Titan | 0.95% | 0.90% |
| Avatar | 0.94% | 0.73% |
| Oni | 0.89% | 0.54% |
| Other | 8.05% | 4.97% |
Below are the number of items that Diamond reported sales on for the first time in April:
New release volume
| Comics shipped | Graphic Novels shipped | Magazines shipped | Total shipped | |
| Marvel | 88 | 40 | 1 | 129 |
| DC | 88 | 33 | 1 | 122 |
| IDW | 61 | 31 | 0 | 92 |
| Image | 74 | 15 | 0 | 89 |
| Dark Horse | 32 | 24 | 0 | 56 |
| Boom | 39 | 11 | 0 | 50 |
| Dynamite | 35 | 4 | 0 | 39 |
| Avatar | 12 | 2 | 1 | 15 |
| Titan | 7 | 3 | 4 | 14 |
| Oni | 8 | 5 | 0 | 13 |
| Other | 101 | 146 | 37 | 284 |
| TOTAL | 545 | 314 | 44 | 903 |
The full charts with estimates should be out Monday.
John Jackson Miller
has tracked the comics industry for more than 20 years, including a
decade editing the industry's retail trade magazine; he is the author of
several guides to comics, as well as more than a hundred comic books
for various franchises. He is the author of several novels including Star Wars: Kenobi, Star Trek: The Next Generation - Takedown, and Star Wars: A New Dawn, now available in paperback. See him next at Star Wars Day, Saturday, June 6 in at the Joliet Public Library in Joliet, Ill.Visit his fiction site at http://www.farawaypress.com. And be sure to follow Comichron on Twitter and Facebook!
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