Broken Frontier

The dawn of the new DC Universe and the launch of DC Comics' "New 52" began with Geoff Johns and Jim Lee's Justice League #1, August's best-selling comic book to comics specialty retailers — and the best-selling comic in 2011 to date — according to information provided by Diamond Comic Distributors, the world's largest distributor of comics, graphic novels, and pop culture merchandise.

Marvel Comics continued as the leading publisher in overall sales, taking 37.44% of the market in dollars and 42.47% of the market in units sold for the month.

August's sales overall increased over July's, with comics up 9% and graphic novels up 24%, and on the year-to-year comparison, comics sales increased 15% over the previous August while graphic novel sales were up 31%. Merchandise (Non-Print) sales increased by 23% over the previous month, with the collectibles category as the stand-out, increasing by over 180% over July's sales.

Dark Horse Comics returned to Joss Whedon's fan-favorite Serenity universe in August with Serenity: Better Days and Other Stories, a collection of mini-series and specials in an omnibus hardcover, giving the Oregon-based publisher the month's best-selling graphic novel.

DC Comics' Flashpoint mini-series saw The Flash trapped in a dark, alternate universe and led into the relaunch of the DC Universe. DC Direct's Flashpoint Series 1 Action Figures, which recreated some the characters from the series, including the armored Wonder Woman and the alternate Batman, was August's top-selling Toy product to comics retailers.

David Petersen's acclaimed Mouse Guard series, a medieval fantasy set in a world of heroic mice, served as the basis for Archaia Studios' award-winning Mouse Guard Role-Playing Game, which was the best-selling Games product to comics retailers in August.

TOP 10 COMIC BOOKS

1.    JUSTICE LEAGUE #1
2.    FLASHPOINT #5
3.    FEAR ITSELF #5
4.    FLASHPOINT #4
5.    ULTIMATE COMICS FALLOUT #4
6.    AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #667
7.    AVENGERS #16
8.    WAR OF THE GREEN LANTERNS AFTERMATH #2
9.    AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #668
10.    NEW AVENGERS #15

TOP 10 GRAPHIC NOVELS & TRADE PAPERBACKS

1.    SERENITY: BETTER DAYS & OTHER STORIES HC
2.    STAR WARS ADVENTURES: CHEWBACCA AND THE SLAVERS OF THE SHADOWLAND TP
3.    WE 3 DELUXE EDITION HC (MR)
4.    B.P.R.D. HELL ON EARTH VOLUME 1: NEW WORLD
5.    BATMAN: MAD LOVE AND OTHER STORIES TP
6.    FF BY JONATHAN HICKMAN VOLUME 1 HC
7.    THE WALKING DEAD VOL. 14: NO WAY OUT TP
8.    THE WALKING DEAD VOL. 1: DAYS GONE BYE TP
9.    BATMAN: UNDER THE RED HOOD TP
10.    INVINCIBLE IRON MAN VOLUME 6: STARK RESILIENT BOOK 2 TP