It's Official: Marvel Comics is Now Second to DC

In September, DC Comics outsold Marvel.  This was expected.  DC’s New 52 reboot kicked off that month and everyone knew that the excitement surrounding this massive event would result in DC selling more comics than anyone else.  However, when people who discussed comic sales figures talked with each other, everyone kept saying; “Wait to see what October’s numbers look like”, meaning the real test of DC’s new selling power would come when all of their books were issue 2′s.  Well, October’s numbers are in and DC beat the holy piss out of Marvel, by an even larger margin than in September.

Before getting into some analysis, let’s first take a look at the data (courtesy of Diamond Comics)…

Top Ten Selling Comics in October

1. Justice League #2 (DC Comics)
2. Batman #2 (DC Comics)
3. Action Comics #2 (DC Comics)
4. Green Lantern #2 (DC Comics)
5. Flash #2 (DC Comics)
6. Detective Comics #2 (DC Comics)
7. Incredible Hulk #1 (Marvel Comics)
8. Wolverine and the X-Men #1 (Marvel Comics)
9. Fear Itself #7 (Marvel Comics)
10. Superman #2 (DC Comics)

50.97% of all comic books sold in October were DC books vs. Marvel's 30.29%

DC Comics now owns 42.47 of the market share vs. Marvel's 29.1%

Anyway you look at the above data, DC Comics wins.  DC had 7 of the top 10 books in October, with Marvel not even breaking into the top 5 with any of their much anticipated books like Incredible Hulk #1 or Wolverine and the X-Men #1.  Additionally, the majority of comic books sold in October were those published by DC.  And finally, in what is possibly the most important number, DC now controls 42% of the market share, with Marvel plummeting to 29%.  Anyone who was trying to make an argument that DC’s reboot wouldn’t work doesn’t have any data to support their case.  Simply put, DC is winning the comic book war and not the combined force of Wolverine, The Incredible Hulk, Fear Itself, and the rest of the Marvel Universe seems to be able to put a dent into DC’s war machine.