Updated on December 10, 2021
It’s rebooting time again at DC Comics, with “DC Universe: Rebirth” #1 as the top-selling comic for May 2016. A few of DC’s final pre-Rebirth books are also in the top 10.
However, not to be outdone, Marvel’s “Civil War II” #0 came in second place. Also appearing in the top 10 is the now-controversial “Captain America: Steve Rogers” #1 comic. Last month‘s #1, “Black Panther,” has come in in ninth place, keeping with the usual inflated numbers for first issues.
Here’s a list of the top 10 selling books for May 2016. Figures are from Diamond and Comichron.com.
| Rank | Title | Price | Publisher |
| 1 | DC UNIVERSE: REBIRTH #1 | $2.99 | DC |
| 2 | CIVIL WAR II #0 | $4.99 | MAR |
| 3 | THE PUNISHER #1 | $3.99 | MAR |
| 4 | BATMAN #52 | $3.99 | DC |
| 5 | CAPTAINAMERICA: STEVE ROGERS #1 | $4.99 | MAR |
| 6 | STAR WARS #19 | $3.99 | MAR |
| 7 | JUSTICE LEAGUE #50 | $5.99 | DC |
| 8 | DARTH VADER #20 | $4.99 | MAR |
| 9 | BLACK PANTHER #2 | $3.99 | MAR |
| 10 | AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #12 | $3.99 | MAR |
On the trade paperback and graphic novel side, the top seller is, once again, the nearly-30-year-old “The Killing Joke.” I’m wondering if the hype related to the upcoming direct-to-video animated version of this comic helped boost sales. Fortunately, the rest of the top 10 are books written after the Reagan administration, including “Chew,” “Star Wars,” and “Spider-Gwen.” See the full list of top graphic novels below.
| Rank | Title | Price | Publisher |
| 1 | BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE SPECIAL EDITION HC | $17.99 | DC |
| 2 | DESCENDER VOLUME 2 TP (MR) | $14.99 | IMA |
| 3 | CIVIL WAR TP | $24.99 | MAR |
| 4 | BLACK SCIENCE VOLUME 4: GODWORLD TP (MR) | $14.99 | IMA |
| 5 | WE STAND ON GUARD DELUXE HC (MR) | $24.99 | IMA |
| 6 | CHEW VOLUME 11: LAST SUPPERS TP (MR) | $14.99 | IMA |
| 7 | THE JOKER: ENDGAME TP | $24.99 | DC |
| 8 | STAR WARS: KANAN VOLUME 2: FIRST BLOOD TP | $17.99 | MAR |
| 9 | SPIDER-GWEN VOLUME 1: GREATER POWER TP | $17.99 | MAR |
| 10 | SPIDER-MAN/DEADPOOL: DON’T CALL IT A TEAM UP TP | $34.99 | MAR |
The top five comics publishers’ sales, by dollar share:
- Marvel, 39.64%
- DC, 26.45%
- Image, 8.38%
- IDW, 5.7%
- Dark Horse, 3.25%
The top five comics publishers by unit share:
- Marvel, 44.8%
- DC, 26.34%
- Image, 7.95%
- IDW, 4.99%
- Boom! Studios, 2.34%
Total comics/graphic novel sales have dropped by 6.46%/4.77% (by dollars/units respectively) since April 2016. Since May 2015, they’ve dropped by 9.05%/16.58%. For the year to date, comics sales are down by 5.11%/12.72% compared to 2015.
As usual, Marvel’s got a comfortable lead and dominance of comics sales. But we’ll see if June (at least for that month) finally sees DC beat Marvel with the first big wave of Rebirth books.
