Top 100 Graphic Novels: October 2010

The Man of Steel was reimagined for a new generation by Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski and artist Shane Davis for DC Comics' original graphic novel, Superman: Earth One, garnering the publisher mainstream media notice and giving the publisher the best-selling graphic novel in the month of October.

With their sales fueled by customer interest in the new AMC television series The Walking Dead, Image Comics had five books in the top ten graphic novels in October, all collections of Robert Kirkman's best-selling series The Walking Dead. The first volume, Days Gone Bye, ranked #2; the second volume, Miles Behind Us, ranked #4; the third volume, Safety Behind Bars, ranked #6; and volume 4, Heart's Desire, ranked #7. The fifth Walking Dead volume in the top ten — The Walking Dead Volume 6 hardcover, a compilation of volumes 11 and 12 of the series — ranked #10.

San Diego's IDW Publishing had one book in the top ten — Richard Stark's Parker: The Outfit, Darwyn Cooke's follow-up to his best-selling and Eisner Award-winning Richard Stark's Parker: The Hunter, ranked #3 for the month.

Closing out the top ten was Naruto Volume 49 from Viz Media at #9, which was also the best-selling manga title for October.

Finally, rounding out the premier publishers, Marvel Comics' Ultimate Comics Avengers: Next Generation ranked #21.

TOP 100 GRAPHIC NOVELS
Based on Total Unit Sales of Products Invoiced in October 2010

This information may not be reproduced in any format without the express permission of Diamond Comic Distributors.

For retailers, Diamond offers the Top 300 Comics and Top 300 Graphic Novels sales charts on the Diamond Tools page of the Diamond Retailer Services website to provide more information about the industry's top selling publications.

How does Diamond calculate the charts? It all starts at the comic book shop.

Data for Diamond’s sales charts – which include the monthly market shares and all top product charts – are compiled by Diamond Comic Distributors from a universe of over 3,500 accounts, comprised of comic book specialty shops and other merchant stores and buyers. The shops are primarily located in North America, with a percentage of sales also to international stores and buyers located throughout the world. The account base includes not only brick-and-mortar comic book specialty shops, but also Internet stores, chain stores, and other specialty stores.

Unit and dollars sales are calculated based upon orders invoiced and shipped to Diamond accounts during any given month, which comprises initial pre-orders, advance reorders, and reorders, minus any copies that are received back from a title marked as returnable.

About the Diamond Sales Index: The Sales Index of selected monthly Best Seller Charts is presented as a comparative tool for retailers and publishers. It presents Diamond’s monthly sales for individual titles in relation to Diamond’s total sales for the issue of DC Comics' monthly Batman comic book. (Batman is used as the control title – with a value of 100 – because sales of Batman usually remain relatively stable.) This allows for easy comparison to other titles and helps retailers gauge their orders for all other titles. This formula is only a guide, other factors may impact a titles’ ability to sell in certain locations and clientele.