The bookstore market charts are in for May, and it’s filled with some interesting moves. For one thing, with The Walking Dead off air on AMC, the title’s domination of the charts drops significantly from eight titles in the top 20 to three – I almost wrote “just three,” but, come on; three titles in there is kind of great. Also worth noting: Hawkeye is hanging in there are Marvel’s big bookstore hit for another month running – but what’s missing in the month that saw the release of Iron Man 3? Oh, that’s right; any Iron Man title whatsoever:
The five additional slots cleared by The Walking Dead did not go to Marvel and DC, which together dominate the comic store market. As was the case last month, DC placed only three titles in the Top 20 (this month none above #15), and Marvel one (Matt Fraction’s Hawkeye at #16, down one from #15). DK Publishing did place two older licensed titles, its Marvel Avengers: The Ultimate Character Guide and DC Comics: The Ultimate Character Guide, we suspect behind promotional activity (given their age).
Still, with Iron Man 3 in theaters, Man of Steel on the way, weaker competition, and roughly a 2/3 share in comic stores, it’s surprising how few books the Big Two manage to place among the bestsellers in the book market.
I’m curious to see how well Superman books perform around the release of Man of Steel next week, if only because DC tends to perform better in bookstores than Marvel. But Man of Steel, like Iron Man 3, feels like it suffers from not having one core tie-in title to immediately point to for moviegoers wanting more. All Star Superman, perhaps? Superman: Last Son?



















