Marvel Was the Top Comics Publisher of 2017

Marvel Legacy #1 is the best-selling comic book published in 2017. That’s based on unit sales to comic shops, according to Diamond Comic Distributors.

Jason Aaron wrote Marvel Legacy #1. The issue featured art by Esad Ribic and several other top Marvel artists. The issue shipped with a wraparound cover by Joe Quesada.

Marvel also claimed the top publisher spot based on dollar and unit market shares. Marvel claimed 36.36 percent dollar and 38.3 percent unit share.

Marvel also had five of the top ten selling issues of the year: Marvel Legacy #1, Peter Parker: Spectacular Spider-Man #1, Secret Empire #0, Secret Empire #1, and Phoenix Resurrection: The Return of Jean Grey #1.

DC Entertainment was the comics market’s number two publisher in 2017. DC had a 30.07 percent dollar and a 33.93 unit share. DC’s top comic of the years was Dark Nights: Metal #1. The event issue comes from Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, and Jonathan Glapion. It was the second bestselling comic of the year. DC had five titles in the top ten comics for the year: Dark Nights: Metal #1-4 and Doomsday Clock #2.

Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples’ Saga dominated the top ten graphic novels chart. This helped make Image Comics the number three publisher of the year. Image earned a 9.8 percent dollar and a 10.12 percent unit share. Image claimed eight of the top ten graphic novel spots. Saga Volume 7 was the best-selling graphic novel for 2017. Other Image books in the top 10 include:Saga Volumes 1 and 4, Paper Girls Volume 1, Monstress Volume 1, and Seven to Eternity Volume 1. Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard’s The Walking Dead #146 was Image’s best-selling comic of the year. The issue came in at number 82.

IDW Publishing was 2017’s fourth largest publisher. The publisher built it’s success on licensed titles from Hasbro, Disney, and Lucasfilm. IDW’s dollar share was 4.54 in 2017. Star Wars Adventures #1 was IDW’s top-selling comic book at number 381.

Dark Horse Comics was the fifth-ranked publisher in 2017 with a 3.12 percent dollar share. Dark Horse’s top comic book for the year was Neil Gaiman’s American Gods: Shadows #1 at #292.