Top 25 Small Press Comics and Graphic Novels: December 2010

Joe Benitez's Lady Mechanika #1 combines the steampunk aesthetic with superheroics, giving Aspen MLT the best-selling Small Press Comic Book in December; in addition, the book was the top selling Non-Premier Comic Book for the month. Other publishers in the top ten best-selling Small Press Comic Books include Abstract Studios, Archaia Studios, Archie Comics, Cartoon Books, and Zenescope Entertainment.

A little girl's adventures growing up — and the skewed way in which she approaches the world — was the subject of Yen Press' Yotsuba & ! Volume 9, the best-selling Small Press Graphic Novel for the month; in addition, the book was the #2 best-selling manga to comic specialty retailers in December. Other publishers in the top ten include Archie Comics, Oni Press (with two volumes of Bryan Lee O'Malley's Scott Pilgrim series), Tokyopop, UDON Entertainment, Wizard Entertainment, and Zenescope Entertainment.

Diamond Comic Distributors defines Small Presses as publishers outside the top-10 bestselling publishers over the previous six months. In offering these breakdowns of the bestselling small press comics and graphic novels, a spotlight is shown on these publishers, affording them recognition for their strong sales in a crowded marketplace. To help retailers contextualize the relationship between the Small Press sales rankings, each chart offers for each book the overall ranking for the month amongst all publishers.

TOP 25 SMALL PRESS COMICS
Based on Total Unit Sales of Products Invoiced in December 2010

TOP 25 SMALL PRESS GRAPHIC NOVELS
Based on Total Unit Sales of Products Invoiced in December 2010

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

Item codes followed by -M indicate multiple covers and skus at the standard SRP.

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.