Joss Whedon

Diamond has released the sales data for books shipped in May, and it was a dogfight for the top slot. At the end of the day though, Marvel came out on top with Joss Whedon and John Cassaday’s Astonishing X-Men #1 beating out Superman #205.

In terms of the Top 10, Marvel held eight out of the slots, with DC accounting for two: Superman #205 and Superman/Batman #10. Looking at the Top 25 titles for May, Marvel held 18 slots, with DC landing the remaining 7.

1) Astonishing X-Men #1
2) Superman #205
3) Superman/Batman #10
4) Secret War Book Two
5) Uncanny X-Men #444
6) X-Men #157
7) Marvel Knights Spider-Man #2
8) Ultimate X-Men #45
9) Ultimate X-Men #46
10) Ultimate Spider-Man #58
11) Ultimate Spider-Man #59
12) Amazing Spider-Man #507
13) Batman #627
14) New X-Men Academy X #1
15) Batman #628
16) Excalibur #1
17) JLA #98
18) JLA #99
19) Wolverine #15
20) Teen Titans #11
21) Supreme Power #10
22) Avengers #82
23) Avengers #83
24) Daredevil #60
25) Spectacular Spider-Man #14

For the full listing of the Top 300, click here

While it may look as if New X-Men: Academy X #1 was a surprise debut in the Top 25, regular Newsarama readers will recall that the issue was tied to the Level One Astonishing X-Men #1 variant cover. Speaking of variants, the top three titles in May did have variant covers - Astonishing had two, one by Gabrielle Del’Otto, and one by John Cassaday, while both Superman and Superman/Batman had one each, drawn by the other titles’ artist, S/B by Jim Lee and Superman by Michael Turner.

Variant covers for the DC books shipped as a 50/50 ratio, while variant covers for Astonishing were tied to orders on other books, both May-shipping, and historic retailer orders. As such, many observers feel that all numbers are inflated - although by how much is a good a guess on anyone’s part. That is, would the numbers for the titles, and therefore their rankings be different had the respective issues shipped with only one cover a piece?

Moving away from the variant issue, May was Marvel’s X-Men: Reload month, which saw the launch of several new X-related titles, as well as new teams on Uncanny and X-Men (formerly New X-Men). Uncanny was the major benefactor of the changes, as it was lifted to #5 with the addition of Chris Claremont and Alan Davis as creators. Of the new launches, New X-Men: Academy X was at the top, at #14, while Excalibur #1 landed at #15. District X #1 landed at #35.

The remainder of the Top 25 resembled April’s, with Daredevil replacing DD: Father for the month, while both issues of Avengers landed in the list as well.

Moving down from the Top 25...other notables.

Conan #4 continues to show the series’ strength, landing at #27, up in rank from #34 in April.

Secret War Book One Commemorative Edition performed very respectively, coming in at #32. While the reprint of #1 can’t be exactly viewed in the same form as a re-order, it can’t not be completely thought of as a re-order either. Therefore, it’s notable that the commemorative edition was already released to the direct market, albeit in a slightly different form originally - and the direct market was still hungry for it.

Firestorm #1 had a strong showing at #34, suggesting perhaps that retailers felt at least some of the readers who were threatening to boycott the book because it didn’t feature Ronnie Raymond as Firestorm were bluffing. It was DC’s highest-ranking debut issue in months - no mean feat, considering that at best, Firestorm is a second tier character.

Justice League of America: Another Nail #1 debuted at #43.

Michael Turner’s Soulfire #0 landed at #53.

The first re-order for the month landed at #72 - Superman/Batman #8. Re-orders for the same issue ranked at #41. Soon, every man, woman, and child will have their own copy.

The sold out GI Joe Master & Apprentice #1 ranked at #78

Authority: More Kev #1 ranked at #86, the highest Wildstorm title in the listing.

Richard Dragon #1 by Chuck Dixon and Scott McDaniel rounded out the Top 100, at #100.

Grant Morrison’s Seaguy #1 charted at #103.

In regards to trades and graphic novels, the Top 10 looked like this:

1) Spawn Simony
2) Ultimate Spider-Man vol 8 Cats & Kings
3) Witchblade/Darkminds Return of Paradox
4) Chronicles of Conan vol 4 Red Nails and Other Stories
5) Transmetropolitan vol 10 One More Time
6) New X-Men vol 7 Here Comes Tomorrow
7) Complete Peanuts vol 1 1950-1952
8) Trigun Maximum vol 1 Hero Returns
9) Walking Dead vol 1 Days Gone Bye
10) CSI: Miami: Thou Shalt Not

Within the above, the category of graphic novels and trades seems to be bending a little, with two books, Spawn: Simony and CSI Miami: Thou Shalt Not not exactly fitting in as graphic novels or trades, but rather, more expensive one-shots. Also of note is the divergence between the direct market and the bookstore market, as The Complete Peanuts vol.1 came in at #7, while in the bookstore market, it ranked on the New York Times Bestseller list.

Market Share

In terms of Market Share, Marvel was #1 in both units and dollars, trumping DC 34.92% to 30.74% in dollars and 42.33% to 33.56% in units. In terms of dollars, Dark Horse was #3, followed by Image and Tokyopop. In regards to units, Image was #3, Dark Horse was #4, and Tokyopop was #5.