Indie Comic Blew Away DC and Marvel Titles on ComiXology Internationally in September

Earlier this week, self-publishing icon Terry Moore--creator of Strangers in Paradise and Rachel Rising--shared a number of international sales charts from ComiXology which showed that, during the month of September 2012, Moore's Echo appeared in--and sometimes dominated--the digital top ten lists around the world. The comic was featured in the top ten lists for China, Japan, Ireland and the United Kingdom--but it's places like Gemany, Italy, Brazil and Spain that really tell a surprising story. Those countries all featured several entries for Echo, which beat out comics like Before Watchmen, Justice League and Avengers vs. X-Men on the sales chart. In both Germany and Italy, all six of the Echo collected editions not only appeared on the bestseller list, but took up positions two through seven on the charts in one case, exceeded only by The Walking Dead #102. In the other case, it was ranked second, then fourth through eighth, with The Walking Dead at #1 and Justice League coming in third. Echo, which was one of ComiXology's featured 99-cent sales for two days during the month, sold primarily collected editions, meaning that in addition to taking a number of top ten spots on the sales charts, it also probably generated more revenue than most of its competition, much of which was made up of single issues from Marvel and DC (plus, of course, The Walking Dead). "Just thought I'd share this with you," Moore blogged. "Maybe indy creators will find some encouragement from it." What's particularly interesting about the success of Echo is that the comic itself has been out of print for about two years, and because Moore's self-publishing philosophy revolves around timely delivery of the trades, all of the collected editions were available to readers within a couple of months of the series ending. These, then, are older products that can be found inexpensively used on Amazon. Does the success of this unconventional book (it's a sci-fi thriller starring a female lead, not a superhero title) perhaps say something about the nature of its audience, or the audience for independent comics in general, and the way they interact with the digital market? Being a small book with no new, monthly magazine-format comics to prop it up, it's likely that most direct market retailers carry few if any collected editions of Echo as part of their regular stock. While it's not difficult to special order, fans of the book may opt for digital when they see there's a sale. Additionally, while there's clearly some crossover, the fandom that Moore built for himself with Strangers in Paradise--which received numerous awards and gained him accolades from cult heroes like Kevin Smith and Neil Gaiman--seems at least anecdotally to be composed of quite a few readers who don't consider themselves "comic book collectors." Things like speculating value, then, and even the fascination that many comics readers have with the physical product of a comic, likely don't play into the equation for those readers, making digital a better, more viable choice. Check out the charts, compiled by ComiXology and passed along by Terry Moore, below. ComiXology International Sales Report September 2012 For Terry Moore's Echo UK 1. The Walking Dead #102 £1.99 2. Justice League (2011-) #0 £2.49 3. Spider-Men #5 (of 5) £2.49 4. Smallville: Season 11 #17 £0.69 5. Avengers vs. X-Men #11 (of 12) £2.49 6. Ultimate Comics Spider-Man Vol. 2 #15 £2.49 7. Batman (2011-) #0 £2.49 8. Terry Moore's Echo Vol. 1: MoonLake £2.49 9. Before Watchmen: Nite Owl #3 (of 4) £2.49 10. Nightwing (2011-) #0 £1.99 Eire (Ireland) 1. The Walking Dead #102 2,39 € 2. Smallville: Season 11 #17 0,79 € 3. Justice League (2011-) #02,99 € 4. Spider-Men #5 (of 5)2,99 € 5. Legends of the Dark Knight (2012-) #16 0,79 € 6. Batman (2011-) #02,99 € 7. Green Lantern: New Guardians (2011-) #0 2,39 € 8. Terry Moore's Echo Vol. 1: MoonLake2,99 € 9. The Walking Dead #101 2,39 € 10. Before Watchmen: Nite Owl #3 (of 4)2,99 € Brazil 1. The Walking Dead #102USD 2.99 2. Justice League (2011-) #0USD 3.99 3. Avengers vs. X-Men #11 (of 12)USD 3.99 4. Terry Moore's Echo Vol. 1: MoonLakeUSD 6.99 5. Spider-Men #5 (of 5)USD 3.99 6. Ultimate Comics Spider-Man Vol. 2 #15USD 3.99 7. The Thanos Imperative: Ignition #1USD 0.99 8. Terry Moore's Echo Vol. 2: Atomic DreamsUSD 7.99 9. The Thanos Imperative #1 (of 6)USD 0.99 10. The Thanos Imperative #6 (of 6)USD 0.99 Spain 1. The Walking Dead #102 2,39 € 2. Terry Moore's Echo Vol. 1: MoonLake 5,49 € 3. Terry Moore's Echo Vol. 3: Desert Run 5,99 € 4. Terry Moore's Echo Vol. 2: Atomic Dreams 5,99 € 5. Terry Moore's Echo Vol. 6: Last Day 5,99 € 6. Terry Moore's Echo Vol. 5 5,99 € 7. Terry Moore's Echo Vol. 4: Collider 5,99 € 8. Irresistible #3 (of 4) 2,39 € 9. Before Watchmen: Nite Owl #3 (of 4)2,99 € 10. Justice League (2011-) #02,99 € Germany 1. The Walking Dead #102 2,39 € 2. Terry Moore's Echo Vol. 1: MoonLake 5,49 € 3. Terry Moore's Echo Vol. 3: Desert Run 5,99 € 4. Terry Moore's Echo Vol. 2: Atomic Dreams 5,99 € 5. Terry Moore's Echo Vol. 4: Collider 5,99 € 6. Terry Moore's Echo Vol. 6: Last Day 5,99 € 7. Terry Moore's Echo Vol. 5 5,99 € 8. Star Trek: The Next Generation – Hive #12,99 € 9. He-Man and the Masters of the Universe #2 (of 6) 2,39 € 10. Smallville: Season 11 #17 0,79 € Italy 1. The Walking Dead #102 2,39 € 2. Terry Moore's Echo Vol. 5 5,99 € 3. Justice League (2011-) #02,99 € 4. Terry Moore's Echo Vol. 4: Collider 5,99 € 5. Terry Moore's Echo Vol. 3: Desert Run 5,99 € 6. Terry Moore's Echo Vol. 2: Atomic Dreams 5,99 € 7. Terry Moore's Echo Vol. 6: Last Day 5,99 € 8. Terry Moore's Echo Vol. 1: MoonLake 5,49 € 9. Before Watchmen: Nite Owl #3 (of 4)2,99 € 10. Batman (2011- ) #1 0,79 € Japan 1. Hitman #18 ¥170 2. The Walking Dead #102 ¥250 3. Hitman #19 ¥170 4. Justice League (2011-) #0 ¥350 5. Hitman #4 ¥170 6. Hitman #15 ¥170 7. Batman #1: The Dark Knight Returns ¥85 8. Spider-Man/Fantastic Four #1 (of 4) ¥170 9. Hitman #1 ¥85 10. Terry Moore's Echo Vol. 1: MoonLake ¥600 China 1. Diablo #5 (of 5) ¥18.00 2. Angel: Masks ¥12.00 3. Terry Moore's Echo Vol. 1: MoonLake ¥45.00 4. Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #6 ¥12.00 5. Proof #15 ¥12.00 6. The Claudio Sanchez Collection ¥118.00 7. Saga #2 ¥12.00 8. Prelude To Avengers #2 (of 4) ¥6.00 9. Catwoman (2002-2008) #18 ¥12.00 10. Missing the Boat ¥12.00