Comix Experience Best Sellers 2014: Books

I love the end of the year, always a good time to reflect back and see what worked, what didn't, what's selling, what's not.  Well, I like that stuff; I'm weird! Below the cut, for weirdos like me: charts and figures and some analysis of why 2014 is the Best Year of Comics Ever.

So, stellar freakin' year for Comix Experience -- not only does Dec' 14 mark the end of the first full year of operating Outpost, but the main store shattered Personal Best record-after-record.  Best single day, best year ever, bam, CE is up by 18% year-over-year which I never ever would have guessed to be possible for a 25 year old store.

Much of the credit for this I give to my staff, who are really exceptional. Staff

Insofar as the big picture stats, the Mothership was 58% books, and 39% comics which looks to be a small climb.  However, I think a lot of that climb (since it is based on dollars not pieces) comes from the SAGA HC and the BKV signing in November.

Publisher break-down-wise, the SAGA HC also lead the way for the giant upset of 2014: Image Comics is now our #1 publisher at the mothership, entirely trading places with DC who is now down at #3.  Here is what our Top 20 publishers look like looks like:

IMAGE COMICS 20.70%
MARVEL COMICS 20.00%
DC COMICS 19.96%
DARK HORSE COMICS 7.29%
IDW PUBLISHING 4.52%
BOOM! STUDIOS 2.93%
FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS 2.03%
AVATAR PRESS INC 1.38%
ONI PRESS INC. 1.21%
HUMANOIDS INC 1.16%
D. E. 1.14%
:01 FIRST SECOND 1.07%
DRAWN & QUARTERLY 1.00%
REBELLION / 2000AD 0.91%
VIZ MEDIA LLC 0.86%
ARCHIE COMIC PUBLICATIONS 0.78%
KODANSHA COMICS 0.64%
TOP SHELF PRODUCTIONS 0.56%
PANTHEON BOOKS 0.52%
GRAPHIX 0.42%

I'm not sure if this is a fluke (the SAGA HCs are absolutely what put Image of the edge), or something that can now be duplicated, but it's a big big change for the store, and, in many ways, a long-overdue validation of how I've tried to run my store for the last three decades: focused more on creator than character or brand. That it happened in our biggest year ever is even more personally satisfying for what I think comics has the potential to be.

So, let's take a look at CE's best-selling books for 2014. The first few are not likely to be a surprise.

1 SAGA TP VOL 01
2 SAGA DLX ED HC VOL 01
3 SAGA TP VOL 03
4 SAGA TP VOL 02
5 SEX CRIMINALS TP VOL 01
6 EAST OF WEST TP VOL 01 THE PROMISE
7 NOWHERE MEN TP VOL 01 FATES WORSE THAN DEATH
8 BRYAN LEE O MALLEY SECONDS GN
9 SAGA TP VOL 04
10 HAWKEYE TP VOL 01 MY LIFE AS A WEAPON
11 ZERO TP VOL 01 AN EMERGENCY
12 BATTLING BOY SC GN VOL 01
EAST OF WEST TP VOL 02 WE ARE ALL ONE
14 BLACK SCIENCE TP VOL 01 HOW TO FALL FOREVER
DEADLY CLASS TP VOL 01 REAGAN YOUTH
16 MANHATTAN PROJECTS TP VOL 01 SCIENCE BAD
17 SANDMAN TP VOL 01 PRELUDES & NOCTURNES
18 WALKING DEAD TP VOL 20 ALL OUT WAR PT 1
19 PROPHET TP VOL 01 REMISSION
20 PROPHET TP VOL 03 EMPIRE
21 AFTERLIFE WITH ARCHIE TP VOL 01 ESCAPE FROM RIVERDALE
22 PRETTY DEADLY TP VOL 01
23 BONE COLOR ED SC VOL 01 OUT FROM BONEVILLE
PROPHET TP VOL 02 BROTHERS
25 HAWKEYE TP VOL 02 LITTLE HITS NOW
WALKING DEAD TP VOL 01 DAYS GONE BYE
27 EAST OF WEST TP VOL 03 THERE IS NO US
THROUGH THE WOODS GN
Y THE LAST MAN TP VOL 01 UNMANNED
30 NEMO ROSES OF BERLIN HC
V FOR VENDETTA NEW EDITION TP (MR)
VELVET TP VOL 01 BEFORE THE LIVING END
33 LOCKE & KEY TP VOL 01 WELCOME TO LOVECRAFT
RAT QUEENS TP VOL 01 SASS & SORCERY
35 BATMAN TP VOL 01 THE COURT OF OWLS
LOCKE & KEY HC VOL 06 ALPHA & OMEGA
MANHATTAN PROJECTS TP VOL 04 FOUR DISCIPLINES
WALKING DEAD TP VOL 21 ALL OUT WAR PT 2
39 FATALE TP VOL 01 DEATH CHASES ME
MANHATTAN PROJECTS TP VOL 02
OGLAF BOOK ONE
SANDMAN TP VOL 02 THE DOLLS HOUSE NEW ED
SISTERS GN
VADERS LITTLE PRINCESS HC
Y THE LAST MAN DELUXE EDITION HC VOL 01
46 ADVENTURE TIME TP VOL 01
BLACK HOLE COLLECTED SC NEW PTG
MANHATTAN PROJECTS TP VOL 03
MANIFEST DESTINY TP VOL 01
MS MARVEL TP VOL 01 NO NORMAL
THIS ONE SUMMER GN
TRANSMETROPOLITAN TP VOL 01 BACK ON THE STREET
53 AMULET SC VOL 01 STONEKEEPER
BARTKIRA
BATMAN DARK KNIGHT RETURNS TP
BATTLING BOY RISE OF AURORA WEST GN VOL 01 (OF 2)
CHI SWEET HOME GN VOL 01
COMPLETE MULTIPLE WARHEADS TP
HYPERBOLE AND A HALF SC
60 FATALE TP VOL 04 PRAY FOR RAIN
HAWKEYE TP VOL 03 LA WOMAN
MEANWHILE IN SAN FRANCISCO THE CITY IN ITS OWN WORDS
SOUTHERN BASTARDS TP VOL 01 HERE WAS A MAN
WATCHMEN TP NEW ED
65 BATMAN TP VOL 02 THE CITY OF OWLS
DAYTRIPPER TP
DEATH NOTE BLACK ED TP VOL 01 (OF 6)
GOODNIGHT DARTH VADER HC
GUARDIANS OF GALAXY TP VOL 01 COSMIC AVENGERS
OATMEAL HOW TO TELL IF YOUR CAT IS PLOTTING TO KILL YOU
WILL YOU STILL LOVE ME IF I WET THE BED GN
72 FROM HELL TP
HABIBI GN
NINJAGO GN VOL 09
PREACHER TP BOOK 01
VERY CASUAL
WALKING DEAD COMPENDIUM TP VOL 01
WALKING DEAD TP VOL 19 MARCH TO WAR
WICKED & DIVINE TP VOL 01 THE FAUST ACT
80 ATTACK ON TITAN GN VOL 01
BATMAN THE KILLING JOKE SPECIAL ED HC
BATMAN YEAR ONE DELUXE SC
CAT PERSON
FABLES TP VOL 01 LEGENDS IN EXILE
FABLES TP VOL 20 CAMELOT
IN REAL LIFE GN
PRIDE OF BAGHDAD SC
Y THE LAST MAN TP VOL 02 CYCLES
89 ADVENTURE TIME ORIGINAL GN VOL 03 SEEING RED
AVATAR LAST AIRBENDER TP VOL 07 RIFT PART 1
CHEW TP VOL 08 FAMILY RECIPES
EX MACHINA TP BOOK 01
FABLES TP VOL 19 SNOW WHITE
JEFFREY BROWN KIDS ARE WEIRD OBSERVATIONS FROM PARENTHOOD HC
MY FRIEND DAHMER SC
NINJAGO GN VOL 01 CHALLENGE OF SAMUKAI
SANDMAN TP VOL 04 SEASON OF MISTS
WALKING DEAD TP VOL 22 A NEW BEGINNING
99 ALL STAR SUPERMAN TP
BATMAN TP VOL 03 DEATH OF THE FAMILY
HELLBOY IN HELL TP VOL 01 DESCENT
HELLBOY TP VOL 01 SEED OF DESTRUCTION
INCAL HC NEW PTG
LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN OMNIBUS TP
NEIL GAIMAN AMERICAN GODS MMPB
RUNAWAYS COMPLETE COLLECTION TP VOL 01
STITCHES GN
STRAY BULLETS UBER ALLES ED TP
WOLVERINE OLD MAN LOGAN TP
Y THE LAST MAN TP VOL 03 ONE SMALL STEP

SAGA continues to sell a lot of copies.  A LOT. This is not a fluke any longer, it's a machine, which is beautiful to behold. And, note, that while there are Marvel and DC superhero volumes on this list, they're almost all works that are STRONGLY associated with a specific creator and not "well, I like Spider-Man, so I'll buy any old Spider-Man comic", y'know?

Anyway, I continue to be in love with our diversity of sales.

On the other side of The City at Comix Experience Outpost, it is a very different kind of store -- much more comic book periodical oriented and it actually sells a pretty significant number of back issues for a San Francisco store -- Outpost breaks out as only 23% books and a whopping 61% comics (which doesn't count the 9% from "Back issues", so 70% if you consider it that way!)

A year ago as I convinced my family to lend me the money to buy Outpost, I wrote some number down on (pretty much) the back of an envelope with what costs were likely to be, and so where I needed sales to be in order to at least break even on this hasty purchase.  Actual real sales ended up just a scootch up from that number, but then so did expenses, but at least we're breaking even, which is just where I wanted to be at the end of year one.  Lots of potential.

Being overwhelmingly comics-focused, their Top 20 Publishers looks pretty different:

MARVEL COMICS 41.41%
DC COMICS 26.67%
IMAGE COMICS 12.08%
DARK HORSE COMICS 3.58%
IDW PUBLISHING 3.12%
BOOM! STUDIOS 2.64%
D. E. 1.18%
GRAPHITTI DESIGNS 0.96%
ARCHIE COMIC PUBLICATIONS 0.58%
KODANSHA COMICS 0.57%
ONI PRESS INC. 0.42%
AKA COMICS 0.36%
VIZ MEDIA LLC 0.32%
TITAN COMICS 0.31%
AVATAR PRESS INC 0.30%
VALIANT ENTERTAINMENT LLC 0.29%
BONGO COMICS 0.27%
:01 FIRST SECOND 0.25%
GRAPHIX 0.21%
BROADSWORD COMICS 0.20%

That's a lot more like you think a "traditional comics store" is going to look like, right?

But, the odd thing is, when you actually look at the books that are selling, the charts look kind of similar in many many ways.  Here is Outpost's Top 100.

1 SAGA TP VOL 01
2 SAGA TP VOL 03
3 SAGA TP VOL 02
4 NOWHERE MEN TP VOL 01 FATES WORSE THAN DEATH
5 SEX CRIMINALS TP VOL 01
6 BLACK SCIENCE TP VOL 01 HOW TO FALL FOREVER
7 BONE COLOR ED SC VOL 01 OUT FROM BONEVILLE
8 DEADLY CLASS TP VOL 01 REAGAN YOUTH
SAGA DLX ED HC VOL 01
WALKING DEAD TP VOL 01 DAYS GONE BYE
WALKING DEAD TP VOL 20 ALL OUT WAR PT 1
12 BRYAN LEE O MALLEY SECONDS GN
EAST OF WEST TP VOL 01 THE PROMISE
14 ADVENTURE TIME TP VOL 01
AVATAR LAST AIRBENDER TP VOL 07 RIFT PART 1
BATMAN THE KILLING JOKE SPECIAL ED HC
BATMAN TP VOL 01 THE COURT OF OWLS
DOCTOR WHO 11TH DOCTOR SONIC SCREWDRIVER BOOK KIT
SANDMAN TP VOL 01 PRELUDES & NOCTURNES
WALKING DEAD TP VOL 19 MARCH TO WAR
WICKED & DIVINE TP VOL 01 THE FAUST ACT
AFTERLIFE WITH ARCHIE TP VOL 01 ESCAPE FROM RIVERDALE
RAT QUEENS TP VOL 01 SASS & SORCERY
24 SAGA TP VOL 04
SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN TP VOL 01 MY OWN WORST ENEMY NOW
26 CIVIL WAR TP
DARTH VADER AND SON HC
SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN TP VOL 02 TROUBLED MIND NOW
VADERS LITTLE PRINCESS HC
30 AKIRA KODANSHA ED GN VOL 01
BATMAN TP VOL 02 THE CITY OF OWLS
INFINITY GAUNTLET TP
WALKING DEAD TP VOL 21 ALL OUT WAR PT 2
WATCHMEN TP
35 GUARDIANS OF GALAXY TP VOL 01 COSMIC AVENGERS
MOON KNIGHT TP VOL 01 FROM DEAD
MS MARVEL TP VOL 01 NO NORMAL
PRETTY DEADLY TP VOL 01
37 AVENGERS VS X-MEN TP
BATMAN DARK KNIGHT RETURNS TP
CHEW TP VOL 01
DEADPOOL KILLS MARVEL UNIVERSE TP
EAST OF WEST TP VOL 02 WE ARE ALL ONE
HAWKEYE TP VOL 01 MY LIFE AS A WEAPON
MANHATTAN PROJECTS TP VOL 02
SAILOR MOON TP KODANSHA ED VOL 01
TANK GIRL REMASTERED ED TP VOL 01
X-MEN DARK PHOENIX SAGA TP
X-MEN DAYS OF FUTURE PAST TP
X-MEN NO MORE HUMANS OGN HC
51 ADVENTURE TIME TP VOL 04
COMPLETE PERSEPOLIS TP
DAREDEVIL BY MARK WAID TP VOL 01
DEADPOOL BY DANIEL WAY COMPLETE COLL TP VOL 01
FATALE TP VOL 01 DEATH CHASES ME
MANHATTAN PROJECTS TP VOL 01 SCIENCE BAD
MANHATTAN PROJECTS TP VOL 03
SIEGE TP
SUPERGIRL COSMIC ADVENTURES IN THE EIGHTH GRADE TP
SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN TP VOL 03 NO ESCAPE
THOR GOD OF THUNDER TP VOL 01 GOD BUTCHER
WALKING DEAD TP VOL 18 WHAT COMES AFTER
WONDER WOMAN TP VOL 01 BLOOD
64 AGE OF ULTRON TP
AMULET SC VOL 01 STONEKEEPER
AVATAR LAST AIRBENDER TP VOL 06 SEARCH PART 3
AVATAR LAST AIRBENDER TP VOL 08 RIFT PART 2
BATMAN & ROBIN TP VOL 02 PEARL
BATMAN HUSH COMPLETE TP
BATMAN THE LONG HALLOWEEN TP
BATMAN TP VOL 03 DEATH OF THE FAMILY
BATTLING BOY SC GN VOL 01
DEADPOOL TP VOL 01 DEAD PRESIDENTS NOW
DOCTOR WHO K-9 LIGHT & SOUND FIGURINE & BOOK KIT
FATALE TP VOL 02 DEVILS BUSINESS
GOTG BY ABNETT AND LANNING COMPLETE COLL TP VOL 01
HELLBLAZER TP VOL 01 ORIGINAL SINS
HOBBIT TP
HULK WWH TP
JUSTICE LEAGUE TP VOL 02 THE VILLAINS JOURNEY
MMW X-MEN TP VOL 01
NEIL GAIMAN AMERICAN GODS MMPB
NEIL GAIMANS GOOD OMENS ($7.99 VERSION)
ODYSSEY GN CANDLEWICK ED
PROPHET TP VOL 01 REMISSION
R CRUMBS HEROES OF BLUES JAZZ & COUNTRY WITH CD HC
SAILOR MOON TP KODANSHA ED VOL 02
SIMPSONS FUTURAMA CROSSOVER CRISIS SLIPCASE HC
THANOS INFINITY REVELATION OGN HC
TINY TITANS TP VOL 02 ADVENTURES IN AWESOMENESS
V FOR VENDETTA BOOK AND MASK SET
V FOR VENDETTA NEW EDITION TP
WALKING DEAD COMPENDIUM TP VOL 01
WALKING DEAD TP VOL 02 MILES BEHIND US
WALKING DEAD TP VOL 06 SORROWFUL LIFE
WALKING DEAD TP VOL 17 SOMETHING TO FEAR
WOLVERINE OLD MAN LOGAN TP
YOUNG AVENGERS TP VOL 01 STYLE SUBSTANCE NOW
99 AKIRA KODANSHA ED GN VOL 02
BATMAN THE BLACK MIRROR TP
BATMAN YEAR ONE DELUXE SC
CENTURY WEST OGN
DEADPOOL VS CARNAGE TP
DIARY OF A WIMPY KID HC VOL 08 HARD LUCK
DRAGON BALL FULL COLOR TP VOL 01 SAIYAN ARC
ECONOMIX HOW & WHY OUR ECONOMY WORKS & DOESNT WORK GN
FABLES TP VOL 01 LEGENDS IN EXILE
FATALE TP VOL 03 WEST OF HELL
FILTH TP
JOKER A CELEBRATION OF 75 YEARS HC
JOKER DEATH OF THE FAMILY HC
JOKER DEATH OF THE FAMILY TP
JUSTICE LEAGUE TP VOL 03 THRONE OF ATLANTIS
MANHATTAN PROJECTS TP VOL 04 FOUR DISCIPLINES
MAUS SURVIVORS TALE COMPLETE HC
METAL GEAR SOLID OMNIBUS TP
MY FRIEND DAHMER SC
NEIL GAIMANS NEVERWHERE TP
NEW X-MEN BY MORRISON ULTIMATE COLL TP BOOK 01
POLARITY TP VOL 01
PRINCELESS TP VOL 01 NEW PTG
RUNAWAYS COMPLETE COLLECTION TP VOL 01
SANDMAN TP VOL 04 SEASON OF MISTS NEW ED
SISTERS GN
SMILE SC NEW PTG
SOUTHERN BASTARDS TP VOL 01 HERE WAS A MAN
SUICIDE SQUAD TP VOL 01 KICKED IN THE TEETH
SUPER FRIENDS HEAD OF THE CLASS TP
SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN TP VOL 04 NECESSARY EVIL
SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN TP VOL 06 GOBLIN NATION
THE ARRIVAL GN
TINY TITANS TP VOL 01 WELCOME TO THE TREEHOUSE
TINY TITANS TP VOL 08 AW YEAH TITANS
TRANSMETROPOLITAN TP VOL 01 BACK ON THE STREET
TRANSMETROPOLITAN TP VOL 02
VELVET TP VOL 01 BEFORE THE LIVING END
WALKING DEAD TP VOL 04 HEARTS DESIRE
WALKING DEAD TP VOL 05 BEST DEFENSE
X-FORCE BY KYLE AND YOST COMPLETE COLLECTION TP VOL 01

It is different, but it does have a ton of commonalities -- especially where it counts at the top.  SAGA v1 sold twice as many copies as book #5, even if it was only 1/5 of the number of copies the Mothership sold.  There's a real lot of Superhero comics that make it on to this list, but only the top thirteen best-sellers at Outpost would even make it on to the Top 100 at Experience.

If anything, this most closely looks like a CE list from, say, 4 to 5 years ago.

Check the next post for the real crazy differences between stores.

Obviously, I'm always curious to hear your musings on these lists

-B