After enjoying the last few months on top of the comic book sales charts (including making up over half of the industry's sales back in October), DC Comics slipped in December 2011 as Marvel overtook them by a slight margin.
Marvel clocked in at 33.43% Dollar Share and 39.05% Unit Share, while DC came in at 33.74% and 37.72% respectively. However, comic book sales in general are up slightly from December 2010 (though graphic novel sales are down nearly 20%). And despite their drop to the #2 comic book publisher, DC was able to snag 8 out of the top 10 comics of the month.
December 2011's top 10 comics were:
1. Justice League #4 (DC)
2. Batman #4 (DC)
3. Action Comics #4 (DC)
4. Green Lantern #4 (DC)
5. Avengers: X-Sanction #1 (Marvel)
6. Detective Comics #4 (DC)
7. Defenders #1 (Marvel)
8. The Flash #4 (DC)
9. Batman: The Dark Knight #4 (DC)
10. Superman #4 (DC)
The top 10 trade paperbacks and graphic novels were:
1. The Walking Dead Vol. 15 TPB (Image)
2. Fables Vol. 16: Super Team TPB (DC)
3. The Walking Dead Vol. 1: Days Gone Bye (Image)
4. The Last Battle One-Shot (Image)
5. Criminal Vol. 6: Last of the Innocent TPB (Marvel)
6. Naruto Vol. 53 TPB (Viz)
7. Brightest Day Vol. 1 TPB (DC)
8. The Walking Dead Vol. 2: Miles Behind Us TPB (Image)
9. X-Men: Schism HC (Marvel
10. Ultimate Comics Spider-Man Vol. 3: Death of Spider-Man Prelude TPB (Marvel)
It'll be interesting to watch the coming months to see if this is a fluke or if DC will take to try and regain the dominance they enjoyed in the fall.
After a few months of enjoying their time on top of the sale...