Broken Frontier

DC Comics’ Justice League #1 was the bestselling comic book published in 2011 based on total unit sales to comic book specialty shops, according to Diamond Comic Distributors, the world’s largest distributor of comics, graphic novels, and pop-culture merchandise.

Released in September, Justice League #1 saw two of DC’s top creators, Geoff Johns and Jim Lee, team up to re-launch a new Justice League team in concert with DC’s "New 52" line of comic books. Issues #2-4 of the series also topped the comic book charts in October through December, respectively.

Marvel Comics finished the year as the comic book industry’s top publisher, leading both Dollar and Unit Market Shares, with a 37% Dollar Market Share and a 41% Unit Market Share. DC Comics was the industry’s number two publisher in 2011 with a 31% Dollar Market Share and a 37% Unit Market Share.

Marvel Comics’ top titles for 2011 were June's Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #160, the conclusion to "The Death of Spider-Man" storyline, charting as the number five bestselling comic book of 2011, and January's Fantastic Four #587, which saw the death of longtime team member, Johnny Storm.

2011’s top-selling graphic novel to comic book specialty shops was The Walking Dead Volume 1 trade paperback, which continued its strong sales performance as the perfect complement to the hit TV show on AMC.  Overall, Image Comics’ Walking Dead titles took six of the top ten spots, with Top Shelf Productions’ critically acclaimed League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century: 1969 charting as the third bestselling graphic novel of 2011.

Annual sales of comic books to the comic book specialty market increased in 2011, up 1.2% for the year, while graphic novel sales faltered dipped 5% from 2010. “Sales of comic books were quite strong in the second half of the year, led by the September launch of DC’s New 52 comic books and that positive trend has continued in the months since,” remarked Diamond President & CEO Steve Geppi. “With a full slate of high profile new projects scheduled for next year, we are optimistic that comic book sales will increase again in 2012.”

2011 TOP 10 COMIC BOOKS

1. JUSTICE LEAGUE #1
2. BATMAN #1
3. ACTION COMICS #1
4. JUSTICE LEAGUE #2
5. BATMAN #2
6. ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN #160
7. GREEN LANTERN #1
8. JUSTICE LEAGUE #3
9. ACTION COMICS #2
10. DETECTIVE COMICS #1

2011 TOP 10 GRAPHIC NOVELS & TRADE PAPERBACKS

1. WALKING DEAD TP VOL 01 DAYS GONE BYE
2. WALKING DEAD TP VOL 14 NO WAY OUT (MR)
3. LOEG III CENTURY #2 1969 (MR)
4. WALKING DEAD TP VOL 15 (MR)
5. WALKING DEAD TP VOL 02 MILES BEHIND US
6. FABLES TP VOL 15 ROSE RED (MR)
7. BATMAN NOEL DELUXE EDITION HC
8. WALKING DEAD TP VOL 03 SAFETY BEHIND BARS
9. WALKING DEAD TP VOL 13 TOO FAR GONE (MR)
10. MORNING GLORIES TP VOL 01 FOR A BETTER FUTURE