Marvel Comics needs a hit, but stats don’t tell the whole story
On the ways statistics can lie.
I’ve written previously about Marvel being absent from recent top 10 charts for comic sales. There’s a real problem here for Marvel. Rich Johnston at Bleeding Cool sees the pattern continuing with last week’s chart data.
[…] these are the top ten sellers for last week, from 1st of September to the 7th of September, 2026, including comparative sales ratios, with Batman #13 dominating, and the DC Next Level launch titles doing well, DC taking the top five, with seven in the top ten, against Marvel's three […]
These stats are surely directionally true. DC, especially the Absolute line, is the biggest thing in comics currently. Go to any comic shop and you’ll see rows and rows of Absolute comics, as well as other big hits like Batman. Marvel Comics are still stocked, but DC gets the premium shelf space.
I do wonder how much these week over week stats are skewed by Absolute Batman and other Absolute comic series reorders. A runaway hit will skew statistical trends. Again, this isn’t to say that Marvel isn’t getting it handed to it by DC right now. They are. But what would these stats look like if you removed reorders and additional print runs from the numbers? I suspect the gulf is not as wide as these individual stats make it seem.
Regardless, Marvel needs to correct this. They need hits. I’ve heard good things from those working for Marvel, about the Midnight Universe line and other things in the works with the new editorial leadership. Here’s hoping this new direction does its job. Marvel needs to correct this trend before it becomes a permanent pattern.