Top 10 Best-selling Comics for July 2019

July was a good month for comic fans and collectors. We’ve had a chance to look at the details from comic sales for the month and compile stats for the top 10 issues. The issues you might have expected are all here, as well as a couple of surprise hits. Sales estimates are based on figures provided by Diamond Comic Distributors.

The Top Ten

1 — House of X #1 (Marvel) — 185,630
2 — Powers of X #1 (Marvel) — 167,840

Commentary: Revamping and relaunching the X-Men line after a decade in the doldrums was bound to be a success. Having Jonathan Hickman return to Marvel and helm said revamp guaranteed it. The result is that both House of X and Powers of X top the charts for July and, thus far, are two of the best-selling comics of the year. Of course, each issue having eighteen and fifteen different covers between them also helps.

As for the issues themselves, you can see my full thoughts on both House of #1 and Powers of X #1 HERE and HERE.

3 — DCeased #3 (DC) — 132,072 (-13.74%)*

Commentary: The latest issue of DC Comic’s answer to Marvel Zombies has an odd quirk when it comes to its estimates. According to Diamond Comics Distributors official rankings, DCeased #3 ranks 14th in unit sales. But as Comichron.com reports, DCeased #3 had both a regular cover and a “Year of the Villain” cover printed on special cardstock. As both editions have different prices, Diamond counted them as two separate issues. By combining the estimated totals of both editions, this technically catapults DCeased #3 into third place.

4 — Amazing Spider-Man #25 (Marvel) — 113,272 (+26.36%)

Commentary: Amazing Spider-Man reaches twenty-five issues for the fourth time? With twelve different covers? And also extra-sized? Of course, it would make it into the top ten. Its success, however, appears to have come at a price (aside from $7.99 plus tax.) Amazing Spider-Man #26, which came out the same month, dropped to 18th place with 59,646 estimated units. Likely, retailers lowered orders for issue #26, believing a “milestone issue” would sell more.

If you wish to know what I thought about Amazing Spider-Man #25, you can read the review HERE.

5 — The Walking Dead #193 (Image) — 111,121 (+29.66%)

Commentary: The Walking Dead #193 doesn’t just mark the end of the series, it marks the end of an era. Robert Kirkman’s zombie apocalypse magnum opus proved that comics are more than just superheroes. It showed that independent creators can compete with the big two publishers and achieve mainstream success. And while The Walking Dead’s popularity has waned in recent years, the mark its left on popular culture remains. It will be a long time before we see anything like this happen with comics again.

6 — Batman: Last Knight on Earth #2 (DC) — 105,012 (-7.3%)

Commentary: Speaking of post-apocalyptic comic books, Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s “final Batman story” is still going strong. Between it, Frank Miller and John Romita Jr.’s Superman: Year One and Brian Azzarello and Bermejo’s Batman: Damned, DC’s Black Label imprint can definitely be called a success. As both issues of Batman: Last Knight on Earth also have 100K in orders a piece, there’s a safe bet the last issue will too.

7 — Batman #75 (DC) — 100,161* (+27.52%)

Commentary: For the first time in months, DC’s ongoing Batman series has reached over 100K in sales estimates. That is if you combine the totals for the regular issue and the “Year of the Villain” cardstock edition. Otherwise, Batman #74, at 78,544, outperformed the regular edition of Batman #75 by an additional 8,000 copies. Batman may still be DC Comic’s most popular superhero, but fans certainly are souring on the direction Tom King took him in.

8 — Batman: Curse of the White Knight #1 (DC) — 91,205

Commentary: Sean Murphy’s Batman: White Knight became a breakout hit between the Fall 2017 and Spring of 2018. Yet even without its popularity, the final issue all but guaranteed a sequel. Thus, we have Murphy’s anticipated follow-up, which not only reinterprets Batman and the Joker, but also Azarel. And as a comparison, Batman: Curse of the White Knight #1 did better than Batman: White Knight #1. So far, so good.

9 — The Batman Who Laughs #7 (DC) — 88,012 (-10.68%)

Commentary: When Dark Nights: Metal came out, I had no idea it would take off the way that it did. I certainly didn’t expect the leader of a group of evil Batmen from alternate dimensions would become one of DC’s best new villains. Nor that a series centered around said evil Batman would be so popular. And yet The Batman Who Laughs has exceeded all those expectations. Then again, it’s a Batman who acts like the Joker. Of course, he’d be popular in hindsight.

10 — Black Cat #2 (Marvel) — 83,298 (-67.42%)

Commentary: With Black Cat #1 overwhelmingly topping the charts in June, it’s not a surprise that issue #2 would have a drop in the estimates. But why such a drastic drop? Because unlike issue #1, Black Cat #2 doesn’t have anywhere near the amount of variant covers and retailer incentives. Sure, making into the top ten at 80K plus is decent, but shows a clear downward trend. Expect this title to stay in the top twenty over the next few months, but not in the top ten.

Honorable Mention

11 — Immortal Hulk #20 (Marvel) — 83,059 (-5.72%)

Commentary: Without the combined totals of Batman #75, Immortal Hulk is still outselling DC’s Dark Knight. At least far as the 20th issue is concerned. Immortal Hulk #21 (which I reviewed HERE), with 54,333, didn’t perform nearly as well.

13 —Vampirella #1 (Dynamite) — 76,940

Commentary: Another relaunch from Dynamite Comics of Forrest J. Ackerman and Trina Roberts’ sexy Vampire heroine, and it looks to have done okay. Then again, it’s also Vampirella’s 50th Anniversary, so that helps.

14 — Aero #1 (Marvel) — 71,704
47 — Sword Master (Marvel) — 41,605

Commentary: Originally created in partnership with Chinese internet company, NetEase, Aero #1 and Sword Master #1 are American reprints of what were digital-only comics.

Let us here some of your feedback, as well which comics you think may or may not make it into next month’s Top Ten.