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Vulture: Comics Circulation Just Hit a 20-Year High

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From the Vulture:
The comics industry has undergone a pretty radical turnaround in the past three years. After a massive, speculator-bubble-induced sales spike in the early 1990s, the comics market crashed and publishers spent more than a decade in the wilderness, struggling to find their way again. But due to momentum that’s hard to pin down but is likely owed to the increasing dominance of comics adaptations at the box office, companies have found their footing — and a wider readership — again. In fact, circulation just hit its highest level in 20 years.

According to the industry’s leading sales analyst, John Jackson Miller of Comichron, the monopolistic comics distributor Diamond shipped 10.26 million copies of comic books and graphic novels to comic-book shops in August. That’s the biggest distribution month since December of 1996. What’s more, DC Comics had a 44.59 percent share in that circulation, which is remarkable because the company lagged behind eternal rival Marvel for nearly five years before clobbering the latter in July. DC's ascendance continues, and they had the most-ordered comic of August with the first issue of their Harley Quinn reboot.

The "bubble" they're talking about was The Great Comics Crash of 1996 which was part of the reason why Marvel entered into bankruptcy if you'll recall.

Comichron has more of the numbers and info if you're interested.

The 10 top selling comics:
  1. Harley Quinn #1
  2. All-Star Batman #1
  3. Suicide Squad #1
  4. Amazing Spider-Man #16
  5. Suicide Squad Rebirth #1
  6. Batman #4
  7. Batman #5
  8. Justice League #2
  9. Harley Quinn #2
  10. Supergirl Rebirth #1

Here's the top 100.
 
I'm so happy to read stuff like this. For a while in the early 00s people were taking it for granted that comics were a medium of the past and that digital piracy meant nobody would ever pay for anything once the world caught on. Only actual wizard Grant Morrison predicted the comeback.
 
I'm impressed Supergirl is doing so well. How is the new run so far?

There's only been two issues but it's pretty fun so far. Nothing mindblowing but it's entertaining and I like her new status quo. She now has a civilian identity, adoptive parents and is a high school student.

It's nice that the comic industry is doing well but I hope it's sustainable. I'm sure DC sales will drop significantly over the coming months but that's to be expected. Still, their decision to stick to 2.99$ is fantastic and I hope it pays off for them. Just looking at the cover price for Civil War 2 drives me crazy. A low quality floppy should never cost this much.
 
Really great to see and I hope DC can keep up a good momentum after the Rebirth effect wears off. They are putting out good books at a reasonable price. I've been dropping more and more Marvel stuff due to the Civil War 2 bullshit and would love to see them be more aggressive in pricing vs DC.
 
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