Secret Invasion dominates year-end sales charts

USA Today’s report on Diamond’s year-end sales numbers show absolute domination from Marvel and Secret Invasion in particular. Had the series gone ten issues (instead of the already-too-many eight issues) it may well have swept the top 10.

Matt Brady at Newsarama provided some perspective on the chart’s translation to real sales.

While Diamond does not release total numbers sold to retailers, the range of the top 10 can be roughly estimated by looking at estimates of initial orders – Secret Invasion #1 sold an estimated 250,250 copies to retail outlets, while Secret Invasion #7 sold an estimated 155,000 copies, and Final Crisis #1 sold an estimated 145,000 copies. […]

For comparison’s sake, the range of the Top Ten monthly comics sold in 2007 starts with Captain America #25 at #1 with 291,000 copies initially ordered by retailers (which saw multiple reprints) to Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America – Iron Man at #10, which with initial orders of 170,000 copies.

If there’s any consolation for DC, it’s that it dominated the graphic novel sales chart. I was a little surprised that graphic novel sales only increased by five percent in 2008. With the format becoming even more popular — particularly as stories become less accessible in the monthly serialized format — and the increased availability in mainstream bookstores, I fully expected that number to be higher.