HISTORICAL COMIC BOOK SALES FIGURES AND CHARTS 1980'S and 1990's

by comic book historian Terry Hoknes of www.hoknescomics.com    hoknes@hotmail.com 

I need people who have copies of old sales figures, Diamond Previews catalogs, Advance Comics catalogs etc to scan and share data and charts.

John Jackson Miller has done an amazing job of archiving all comic book sales figures since 1996 at www.comichron.com

My goal is to find more and more data that pre-dates that info

Here is what I have found so far.  Please help with this project

Here are some amazing rare charts I have acquired.  

MARVEL - DIRECT SALES RANKS - APRIL 1984

DC COMICS - NOVEMBER 1985

STYX DISTRIBUTORS

Styx was the main distributor of comics for Western Canada throughout the early 1990's until DC and Marvel went off and signed exclusive deals.

Styx published Up N Coming catalog for 57 issues from 1991 to 1995.  At this time I am lucky enough to own a complete set of this super rare catalog.

Styx sales will be only a small portion of the entire North America market but still reflect a good sample of comic sales at the time.

No sales data is given but since I lived through this period I know that any comic that made the top 100 definitely had a print run over 40,000 if not 50,000 copies and higher.   (One example is Rai #3 with a small print run of 35,000 copies from Valiant in 1992 that did NOT chart)

STYX - TOP 100 SALES / ORDERS CHART FOR AUGUST 1992

The first chart they published is very exciting as it shows some of the earliest Image comics dominating the market and yet no sign of Valiant yet as all their orders were still small.   The 90's speculator market was just kicking into full gear at this time.  Note the high rankings of Wizard magazine a year into its run.  Wizard was selling more copies each month than every single DC ongoing series. DC sales were very weak in the pre-Death of Superman era.   Batman only ranked at #42 that month (20 yrs later its the best selling comic!)  Note DC has only 5 comics in the top 40.    Key issues released this month include Batman: Sword Of Azrael #1.  Superman monthly sales were so low that Action Comics was not even ranking in the top 100 at that time !  The very first Dark Horse Star Wars title "Dark Empire" #5 was ranking high.

STYX - TOP 100 SALES / ORDERS CHART FOR SEPTEMBER 1992

Image was the new comic company in 1992 and anything they released seemed to be "gold" to retailers as every single comic they released had gigantic orders making them all super common.   Image had 5 titles that month and all ranked in the top 20.   Marvel owned the rest of the top 20.  DC had only a few titles again in the top 40.  Batman: Shadows Of The Bat #6 was DC's best selling ongoing title.  Valiant Comics had their first title to crack the top 100 - Hard CORPS #1 at #83.   Superman Man Of Steel at #88 was the best selling Superman ongoing title.  Marvel's information title Marvel Age at #50 was outselling most of DC's ongoing titles.  Neil Gaiman's classic Sandman series was ranking at #94.   The new "2099" Marvel line debuted right at #1 with Spider-man 2099.  X-Men titles continued to dominate most of the top 10 and the entire Marvel line. 

STYX - TOP 100 SALES / ORDERS CHART FOR OCTOBER 1992

X-Men returned to #1 while the 2nd 2099 title "Ravage 2099" debuted with very high orders at #5.  Spawn was holding its own continuing in the top 6 every month.   All 6 Image comics released this month made the top 21.  The extremely popular Robin mini-series debuted at #11 as DC's best selling comic.  Batman: Shadow Of The Bat ranked 2 issues in the top 40 as DC's best selling ongoing series as it was fairly new.   Dark Horse teamed up with Valiant for Predator VS Magnus Robot Fighter #1 ranking a high #26.  This was the first time a Valiant comic had super high orders and print run.  Topps debuted very high at #55 with Dracula #1 which I believe came polybagged with a promo card which helped boost sales which is something Wizard magazine had started to do as well.  Ren And Stimpy #1 from Marvel sold out quickly but ranked a respectable #60 making the sales numbers not high but not exactly low either.  Superman: Man  Of Steel #18 featuring 1st Doomsday and the beginning of the death of Superman storyline did boost sales figures up from the month before but nothing crazy was happening yet.  Speculator fever was definitely building as both Wizard Magazine ranked #25 and Overstreet's Price Guide Update even ranked in the top 100.   Key issues this month include Fantastic Four #371 at #27, Spectre #1 at #41 and Batman: Sword Of Azrael at #43. 

STYX - TOP 100 SALES / ORDERS CHART FOR NOVEMBER 1992

Superman died in the 3rd week of November 1992.  I didn't have a reserve file anywhere so I did not get a copy as it was sold out everywhere.  I was in a car accident that week while on a trip where oddly enough I had bought about 200 back issues of Action Comics featuring Superman.   I know of one retailer who got his weekly comics shipment late and was able to sell all his Superman #75 for $75.00 each the next week !

For a 3rd month in a row the hottest new title was part of the 2099 line with huge print runs.  For the first time in many many years Superman had the #1 best selling comic of the month.  At that time any comic that made the top 10 had tremendously large print runs and remember all the local stores would order a truck load of these comics such as Pitt #1.  8 Image comics made the top 28.   Image was selling so well that even the Malibu Comics releases were hitting record high numbers such as Ex-Mutants #1 at #23.  Even though orders for all death of Superman titles was way up some of the issues such as Adventures of Superman and Action Comics were only ranking at #32 and #34 respectively.  For the first time in a long time all the Superman ongoing series were indeed DC's best selling ongoing titles.  The hype for the next new Valiant title was starting to grow as their latest title Bloodshot #1 debuted at a record high #30 for the company with its chromium cover.   Except for the Predator/Magnus teamup issue no other regular Valiant comic was still making the top 100. While Superman sales were at a new record high, Batman sales were hitting a record low as the latest issue #488 only ranked at #62.  This would turn out to be a key issue connecting to the Sword Of Azrael mini-series.  The final issue #4 of Azrael had the lowest sales of the series at #55. Vengeance Of Bane #1 one-shot debuted at a respectable but non-impressive #60.   DC began its long running Showcase series at a fairly low #75.  Neil Gaiman's Sandman #45 ranked at an average #95. 

STYX - TOP 100 SALES / ORDERS CHART FOR DECEMBER 1992

The month after the death of Superman it was a big test on the storytellers to see if people would continue to buy the Superman storyline and they did in droves.  Orders were very high and consistent BUT they did not dominate the best selling comics.  All 4 Superman comics made the top 25 but none of them made the top 10.  Marvel was back to its dominance as the first Venom mini-series debuted at the very top.   A 4th month in a row debuted a high ranking 2099 title.  Spawn sales were up and would pave the way for its dominance in the next couple years.  5 mainstream hero books from Image all ranked in the top 16.  While Image was selling a zillion of everything they released Valiant/Voyager was still lightly ordered by most retailers but this was about to change.  The year ended with the first big gain in orders as for the first time 3 Valiant comics ranked in the top 100 and they weren't even #1 issues.  Spider-man: Chaos In Calgary #4 ranked a decent #46. The storyline takes place in Calgary Alberta Canada and this comic series I believe was only available in Canada so this title likely would not have charted at Capital City or Diamond.  The other issues ranked at #61, 63, 65.   Neil Gaiman's Sandman sales were way up as it jumped to #71.   Conan sales continued to fall for Marvel but for the time being both titles were still making the top 100. 

BEST SELLING COMICS OF 1992

While we do not have sales data for any comics of the year I do know that Superman #75 CE had sold 3 million making it by far the biggest selling comic of 1992.

I have also "heard" that the top 10 comics of the year all sold over a million each which is possible.

Since there are 12 months in a year if we just do a general comparison and assume that a comic like Batman: Vengeance Of Bane #1 ranked #60, that if we times rank of 60 times 12 months that the comic would be approximately the #720 best selling comic of 1992.    Definitely not a high ranking!   

We do know that X-Men 2099 #1 released in 1993 would have an average print run of 362,000 for the entire year and knowing that number #1's can easily have a 3x print run of later issues its very possible to see that book selling anywhere from 750,000 to 1,400,000 copies of #1.  Comparing this to comic sales in 1992 its very easy to see how many 1992 hyped up series could have sold in the same numbers.

The average store orders of Punisher 2099 #1 for the first 12 issues was 360,000 so again we could estimate 750,000 to 1,400,000 copies of #1 in 1992 where it ranked #2 of the month.

The average store orders of Doom 2099 #1 for the first 12 issues was 294,000 so we could safely estimate 500,000 to 1,200,000 copies of #1 in Nov 1992 where it ranked #3 of the month.

Data that might be even more useful is The Avengers which had an average store order of 185,000 copies each month during 1992.

August ranked #76 and #77 (185,000 ?),  Sept ranked #89, Oct ranked #90, Nov ranked #96, Dec ranked #94. 

If it did sell an average of 185,000 copies a month and ranked this low each month then you can see how truly big comic orders were during 1992.  In fact this should mean that the slower selling titles that ranked about #100 of each month still had retail orders of over 150,000 copies each !!

On the other end of the scale lets look at one of the best selling titles of 1992: Amazing Spider-man.

Amazing Spider-man had retail orders on average of 561,000 a month during 1992.

August ranked #14 (561,000 ?), Sept ranked #16 and #17 as the title went bi-weekly for the rest of the year, Oct ranked #19 and #20, Nov ranked #18 and #19, Dec ranked #24th (561,000 ?)

And finally lets look at a comic which sold in between Spider-man and Avengers each month.

Ghost Rider had retail orders on average of 319,000 a month during 1992.

August ranked #16 (319,000 ?) Sept ranked #7, Oct ranked #23, Nov ranked #27, Dec ranked #23 (319,000 ?)

Averaging out the ranks of these titles we could say that based on Amazing Spider-man that comics ranked about #18 could hit 561,000 sales a month, based on Ghost Rider comics ranking about #20 could hit 319,000, and based on Avengers comics that ranked about #85 might still be selling 185,000 copies a month.

Of course these numbers are not exact but at least can be used as a rough guide to "estimate" sales figures for books and at least compare one title to another.

DIAMOND COMICS - TOP COMICS OF 1992

This information is reprinted from www.Comichron.com

http://www.comichron.com/monthlycomicssales/1992.html

Let's step back to earlier in 1992 and look at the only Capital City data I have for February.  Again no sales data but the chart does at least show how the rankings moved up or down from the month before.

This chart shows the very first Image comic debuting at a high #6 with no other Image comics on the chart.  Interestingly this chart shows 4 different Valiant / Voyager titles ranking in the bottom of the top 100. 

Amazing Spider-man falls to #10, Ghost Rider falls out of the top 10 to #13, Avengers ranks a steady high #32.   

I do not have Styx chart for the same month to make true comparison to see if the numbers match or not.  But based on this initial comparison we can see that all 3 Marvel titles ranked higher earlier in the year which could make my estimates of ranking positions sales numbers to be lower as the earlier in the year high rankings would balance out falling sales.  Meaning that Amazing Spider-man for example did not sell 561,000 a month at the end of the year but had higher orders than that at the start of the year.  The 561,000 is simply an average and that number comes direct from Marvel Comics.

X-Men titles dominate the list.  We learn that the first Dark Horse Star Wars series debuted at #19 with #1 and then fell to #39 with #2.   The second issue has always been considered "scarce" in comparison to #1 as sales definitely drop down.  Batman at #18 ranked a lot higher than it did later in the year on any of the Styx charts.   Sandman ranked at a higher #53.  Superman titles also ranked higher starting at #55.  The original Marvel series GI Joe ranks at #86.  

1993

STYX - TOP 100 SALES / ORDERS CHART FOR JANUARY 1993

Spider-man returned to the #1 with a Venom cover appearance on this foil cover.  Spawn sales continued to grow moving back up to #2.  The popularity of the death of Superman actually increased over the month before and 2 Superman titles ranked in the top 10 for the first time.  Interest in Superman was still high that a one-shot of illustrations ranked high at #15.  Neil Gaiman's Death character received her own mini-series coming in a very high #25 considering the regular Sandman series ranked #48 (which was even higher than normal).  Batman ranked only at #53 even though it would later to prove to be a key issue leading up to the Knightfall storyline.   Marvel started a new quarterly series of annuals titled "Unlimited" and the first one came out this month for Fantastic Four ranking at #69.  Image released 5 comics that all ranked in the top 23.  Meanwhile Valiant continued to climb in sales with a record 5 titles in the top 100.  Wizard ranked 2 different magazines in the top 42.   The first 4 "2099" titles all ranked in the top 27 with only Spider-man really holding on its sales numbers month to month.   Ren And Stimpy started making its way back up the chart which caused a growth in value for #1. 

STYX - TOP 100 SALES / ORDERS CHART FOR FEBRUARY 1993

Spawn #10 returned the title to Best selling comic in the market - a run that it would hold for the next few years.  Image in general showed its true dominance with 4 of the top 5 titles.  These books all had massive print runs.   All 7 Image titles ranked in the top 25.  Hype for Valiant made a huge gain as the weak title Rai was re-started and the first issue #9 came in running at a high #22.   This was the same title that issues #3 and #4 had print runs of only 35,000 and are the rarest Valiant titles ever published just the year before.  At this time I was foolishly buying 2-5 of every new #1 on every overprinted new title like everyone else.  DC debuted its new urban universe with titles like Hardware and Blood Syndicate.  Sales were still no improving on Batman as #491 another key issue leading up to Knightfall still ranked at only #57.  Neil Gaiman's Sandman fell way back down to #73 while a new series Sandman Mystery Theatre #1 debuted at a higher #54.  Reprint series Spider-man Classics began reprinting issue to issue all the original appearances from Amazing Fantasy and Amazing Spider-man.  Valiant now had all 9 of its ongoing titles all ranking in the top 100.  This was the point where all issues were overprinted.   Overstreet started a new magazine Comic Book Marketplace which made it to #96 while Wizard was still kicking their butt ranking #26.     DC sales reached a new low when all the Superman titles were cancelled as he was now "dead" and the funeral for a friend storyline had ended.  Only 4 DC titles ranked in the entire top 50.  Legionnaires #1 was the highest ranking DC ongoing series and it was a new debut. 

STYX - TOP 100 SALES / ORDERS CHART FOR MARCH 1993

Spawn spent a 2nd month ranking #1.  A new Unlimited quarterly issue of Spider-man debuted high at #2.  All 7 Image titles ranked high in the top 15.  All 10 Valiant titles made the top 100 and all continued to climb the ranks with Magnus ranking the highest due to being a special cover gimmick.  Batman Knightfall storyline started with #492 but only ranked #54.   Ren And Stimpy continued to climb in sales each month. Detective Comics also tieing into Knightfall ranked a very low #76.  Key issue of Fantastic Four #371 ranked a low #79.  Neil Gaiman's Sandman continued to fall this time at #80.  Only 6 DC titles ranked in the entire top 50 in the second month with no ongoing Superman titles.  Icon #1 was the highest ranking ongoing DC series. 

STYX - TOP 100 SALES / ORDERS CHART FOR APRIL 1993

Superman returned back from the dead in April with the best selling comic of 1993 with orders of 4 Million copies !

For the first time in history Superman had the entire top 5 comics of the month.   Valiant peaked with their first and near last comic to ever place in the top 10 as Turok #1 came in ranking #6 with a print run of over a million copies!      This would be the only time ever that DC and Valiant outsold the best Marvel and Image titles !!

At least 6 comics this month sold over a million each !

Image rankings were finally starting to weaken as they put out more and more titles and they all started to rank lower.  12 different comics in the top 33.

All of the new Superman ongoing titles were re-started with a collectors edition cover and a regular cover.  Predictably the 'plain" covers ranked much lower.  Neil Gaiman's Sandman jumped back up the chart due to its #50 anniversary at #52.    Wizard magazine ranked 2 issues in the top 56. 

Batman went bi-monthly for the big Knightfall storyline and yet sales did NOT pick up and ranked #65 and #67. 

Topps put out a series of comics with legend Jack Kirby ranking 4 titles in the top 100.

Once again all 11 Valiant titles made the top 100 but they were all starting to slowly fall back down the ranks.

STYX - TOP 100 SALES / ORDERS CHART FOR MAY 1993

Spawn returned to #1 after a few months away leading the pack of a record 17 different Image titles in the top 44 with an 18th title at #73.

After the big return of Superman the month before retailers did not feel optimistic interest would stay high and the numbers dropped drastically with Superman Man Of Steel ranking #27 as the highest selling DC comic of the month.  Only 8 of the top 50 comics were DC and 7 of them were Superman related.  The breaking of Batman's back in the historic #497 only ranked #57 of the month. 

Valiant had a record 12 titles in the top 100 with a special gimmick cover of X-O Manowar #0 leading the pack at a high #6.

The 2099 Marvel line was showing tales of being a failure as the 4 titles continued to fall as low as #59 after 8 issues.

Ren And Stimpy #8 continued its massive climb up the charts each month this time breaking the top 50 while ever popular titles like Ghost Rider and Incredible Hulk were hitting record lows in sales.

The Conan empire continued to weaken for Marvel as the magazine ranked #100 and the comic format had disappeared from the chart as did GI Joe. 

Neil Gaiman's Sandman continued to fall this time at #94.

STYX - TOP 100 SALES / ORDERS CHART FOR JUNE 1993

Valiant and Image teamed up for the unique storyline of the year with Deathmate and #1 ranked the biggest comic of the month.  Very high cover price of $6.95 I think it was.  A 2nd Venom mini-series debuted still ranking very high.  Sabretooth also got his first mini-series as well in the top 4. 

The success of the Superman returns storyline saw orders of all titles climb back up the chart into the top 25. 

Batman Knightfall storyline finally got some press and retailers upped their orders a bit but not drastically as #498 ranked at #42. Meanwhile Catwoman #1 debuted at a modest #48.  Showcase 93 #7 jumped the title in orders due to its tie-in to the Batman storyline. 

Malibu debuted its brand new superhero universe with The Strangers, Prime, and Ultra-Monthly #1.

Dark Horse also debuts its brand new superhero universe with individual titles for: X, Ghost, Pit Bulls, and Monster.

Valiant not only had the #1 comic of the month but had 11 different titles in the top 100 and again sales were dropping.

Warrior debuted a new magazine Hero Unlimited to compete with Wizard and it won out with the first issue this month.

Popular long running titles GI Joe, Sandman and Savage Sword Of Conan and Conan The Barbarian were all gone from the top 100 as sales continued to drop.

Image ranked 18 different comics in the top 100 but no longer dominating the top automatically many titles ranking in the mid-range.  Image was competing with DC to become the #2 publisher.    Getting very close!   Unfortunately Image starting have problems with soliciting titles that never would ship on time.

STYX - TOP 100 SALES / ORDERS CHART FOR JULY 1993

Spawn returned to #1 yet again holding off a series of X-Men titles. 

Valiant/Image crossover series Deathmate ranked 4 different heavy cover price issues all in the top 25 this month. 

Image had 16 titles in the top 100 and their market share dropped a bit from competing close with DC the month before.

Valiant ranked 12 comics in the top 100.  To show you how much people speculated on #1 issues - Secret Weapons #1 debuted last month at #15 and this month fell to #50 rank. 

Batman fever was finally building a few months too late as issue #499 jumped way up the list to #12 to rank Batman as the best selling DC comic of the month.  All the ongoing Superman titles continued to rank in the top 25. 

Valeria The She Bat #3 ranked a high #33 for Continuity Comics put out by legend Neal Adams and featured guest appearance by Spawn by Todd McFarlane.  The only problem was the comic had huge orders but the comic NEVER came out !  EVER !

Wizard magazine ranked 2 issues in the top 77 and the regular series outshined Hero Illustrated which took a dive to #51 with issue #2.

STYX - TOP 100 SALES / ORDERS CHART FOR AUGUST 1993

For the first time possibly ever Batman and Superman, the 2 legendary golden age hero icons, ranked in the top 2 due to the highly popular storylines finalizing in both titles with special gimmick collectors edition covers.   

X-Men became the last big name of the 2099 line to debut with a new series in this failing future storyline.

Valeria The She Bat #4 ranked a very high #11 for Continuity Comics put out by legend Neal Adams and featured guest appearance by Spawn by Todd McFarlane.  This was the second issue to feature Spawn.  The only problem was the comic had huge orders but the comic NEVER came out !  EVER !   Therefore issues #3 and #4 never came out and yet had high orders.

Jim Shooter started a new comic company Defiant featuring its first title Plasm #1 to huge orders.

Valiant's latest title Second Life Of Doctor Mirage #1 debuted to high orders at #36 but way down from the previous hype of the last issues as the demand for Valiant was now on a definite downturn.   Only 10 of Valiants titles ranked in the top 100.

Malibu released the very first Star Trek: Deep Space Nine comic to fairly high orders at #49.

Green Lantern #46 tieing into the Superman storyline was much harder to find causing an instant sellout and increase in value as it ranked only #63.

Fantastic Four #381 was another key issue with very small print run selling out quickly ranking only #97.

Classic titles Sandman and Savage Sword Of Conan snuck back in to the top 100 this month.

Wizard and Hero magazines continued to fall in sales each month from their glory.

With no new issue of Spawn listed Image seemed less impressive this month but had 17 titles still dominating the top 50 with an 18th title in the top 100.

Daredevil had recently become a very hot title with a new storyline starting with #319 and sales were very low causing some of the highest increase in prices for any recent Marvel comic.  Issue #321 was helping the popularity grow with a gimmick cover but still only ranked at #86.

STYX - TOP 100 SALES / ORDERS CHART FOR SEPTEMBER 1993

Spawn was back with a new issue and an easy #1 ranking for the most popularity new title of the 1990's.   15 Image titles on the chart.

Wolverine hologram gimmick cover jumped the title way up to the #2 rank.  A 3rd Venom mini-series debuted once again in the top 3.

After 3 successful mini-series Robin was given his first ongoing sreies ranking high at #5

The new Batman storyline began with Bruce Wayne replaced by Azrael with a high ranking at #7.

Superman storyline was still extremely popular and kept all 4 ongoing series still in the top 15.

The new storyline Bloodlines in The Avengers boosted the title way up in sales.

5 titles of note saw sales numbers increase this month including Ren And Stimpy, Wizard, Sandman, Catwoman and Savage Sword Of Conan.

Spider-woman #1 from Marvel debuted to weak smaller print sales at #62.

Daredevil #322 continued the popular Fall From Grace storyline which became hot as this was another issue that didnt even rank in the top 100.

Incredible Hulk, Ghost Rider, Fantastic Four, Punisher are examples of famous Marvel lines that were all selling very poorly at this time.

With no new series debut Valiant was showing its weakest month yet with Turok highest at #48.  10 issues in total in the top 100 in the lower regions.

STYX - TOP 100 SALES / ORDERS CHART FOR OCTOBER 1993

Spawn held onto #1 once again.   16 Image titles in the top 100 but no others in the top 10.   Image's monopoly on high print books was weakened by this point.

Another boost in the Superman storyline propelled all 4 ongoing titles back in the top 10 proving more popular than the new Batman storyline. 

Likely the highest ordered Star Wars comic ever for Dark Horse was the new mini-series Tales Of The Jedi at #22.

DC finally gave Lobo his own ongoing series but it came a few years late after the peak of his popularity and the title only debuted at #29.

Ren And Stimpy from Marvel saw its highest ranking yet even though it was up to #13.

Robin from DC took a big dive in sales from #6 last month to #44 this month.

Daredevil: Fall From Grace storyline hit a new high and boost sales of the series way up with #323 ranking #64 after not even making the top 100 last month.

Many of Marvels classic titles barely ranking in the top 100 including Thor, Iron Man, Savage Sword Of Conan and Fantastic Four, Alpha Flight

The final issue of Conan #275 sneaks onto the list at #98 with small print run.

Turok holds its ground at #48 for Valiant.  But only 9 Valiant titles in total make the top 100.

STYX - TOP 100 SALES / ORDERS CHART FOR NOVEMBER 1993

Spawn ranks #1 for a 3rd month in a row.    15 Image titles in the top 100 but no others in the top 10.

Superman titles gain even more ground all making the top 8.  Batman storyline stays strong at #9.

Valiant's last great sales for a new series occurs with the gimmick foil cover of Ninjak #1 at #12.  10 Valiant titles in the top 10.

Bongo Comics debuts the first issue of The Simpsons at a strong rank of #25 based on the TV series which already been on the air in its 5th season.  Itchy And Scratchy #1 also debuts at a strong #32.

Some titles with big boosts in sales this month include Catwoman, Wizard, Ren And Stimpy, Iron Man, Fantastic Four.

Marvels #1 from Marvel debuts at a low #81 despite amazing reviews.

Sin City: A Dame To Kill For #1 sneaks on the chart at #96 from Dark Horse.

STYX - TOP 100 SALES / ORDERS CHART FOR DECEMBER 1993

Spawn ranks #1 for a 4th month in a row.   Numerous Image titles are resolicited as most titles are way behind schedule which is not good for the company.  There is a low count of only 12 Image titles in the top 100.

Valiant Comics had created the #0 issue which stood for "Origin" issue.  Bloodshot is the latest issue to get larger sales due to a #0 issue.  Only 8 Valiant titles left in the top 100.  Ninjak takes a big dive from #12 last month to #52 this month.

Saskatoon, SK, Canada artist Tom Grummett takes the honors on the new ongoing Superboy series with huge orders at #2 outselling the regular Superman titles which are still super strong and all in the top 10.

X-Men related titles continue to always be Marvel's best selling titles for the past few years. 

Venom gets his 4th mini-series in only a year and this is the first one that shows a weakness in sales coming in at #9.

Due to the popularity of the Superman line, DC debuts a bunch of new Superman family related titles including Superboy, Supergirl and Steel. 

Daredevil: Fall From Grace storyline ends in issue #325 and orders are through the roof boosting it to #25 where the earliest issues of the storyline did not even make the top 100.

Catwoman, Ren And Stimpy and Wizard both continually grow in sales month to month.

Bongo debuts its 3rd and 4th Simpsons TV series this month.

Some random titles that grow in sales this month are Incredible Hulk, Ghost Rider, Sandman, Savage Sword Of Conan,

Green Lantern storyline is very popular but retailers keep under ordering it and #48 and #49 both sneak on the list at #82 and #89 and quickly sell out.

DIAMOND COMICS - TOP COMICS OF 1993

This information is reprinted from www.Comichron.com

http://www.comichron.com/monthlycomicssales/1993.html

The following chart I have combined the year end rankings from both Styx and from Diamond so you can compare numbers.

Most books fall basically in line but there are definitely some drastic changes from one companies list to the other.

Presumably Diamond had the biggest chunk of the overall market by 1993 so would be the more reliable numbers to use

Also note that the Styx list ranks the "most ordered" comics of the year but in fact includes some comics that never did come out (therefore not on the Diamond list).