Welcome back to TBU By The Numbers. Here we take a look at the sales numbers for DC Comics, in particular, the books TBU considers Bat-Books from January 2020. All numbers presented in this article are from the January 2020 Comichron page. These numbers only represent comics distributed by Diamond to the United States comic book stores. They do not include sales outside the US, digital, newsstand, or any other distribution method.
DC and TBU Overall Numbers
* Includes ALL DC comic sales, including reorders
** TBU titles are defined by that month’s releases and does NOT include reorders
Nothing major to report this month. Unit sales overall were down 10%, which could partially be because the first Wednesday was New Years’. Most shops were open, but new books weren’t moving as much as normal. DC had another month with card stock covers and that helped sales a little.
Ongoing TBU Books
All market positions adjusted to include the issues featuring a higher price for cardstock covers
There’s a whole lot more on the docket than normal because many books didn’t ship in December, due to Christmas, and were delayed until January. As it stands, many of the Bat-Family books are currently in the cancelation zone. Batman Beyond saw a tiny bump in sales with #39 over the previous average, and Catwoman (which featured a card stock copy) saw small improvement from the previous issue, but overall, that was it for increases in sales. All books seem to be on a downward trajectory, though TEC appears to have kept a steady readership. Batman is the only Bat-Book that is in the top 10, which makes sense since this reader has been enjoying it immensely, and it deserves to be there.
Limited Issue TBU Books
All market positions adjusted to include the issues featuring a higher price for cardstock covers
* indicates book with reported numbers reduced 10% due to returnability
Harley Quinn & Poison Ivy had a little bump in sales, but overall, sales are down on that book. Joker/Harley: Criminal Sanity went down over 40% in sales, which is about normal for a #2. White Knight isn’t doing as well as it’s predecessor, which saw pretty stable readership all the way through.
Other TBU Books of Interest
All market positions adjusted to include the issues featuring a higher price for cardstock covers
Though not strictly a series, the dollar rerelease comics and the facsimile comics are interesting to follow. This month we saw some new TBU books including Batman Adventures, Detective Comics (Facsimile ed.), The Brave and The Bold #197, which features Batman and Catwoman getting married and living happily ever after, and Batman/Huntress Cry for Blood. Batman and Detective Comics have already come out in dollar comics form, and sales are down from those previous issues, but I’m glad they’re continuing with this.
