Diamond's Top 300 Graphic Novels for December 2011

Media Release -- Rick Grimes and his band of survivors of the zombie apocalypse continue their difficult journey toward safety in Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard's The Walking Dead Volume 15: We Find Ourselves from Image Comics, December's top-selling graphic novel to comics retailers.

In total, Image Comics had four titles in the top ten best-selling graphic novels in December, including two more Walking Dead collections. The Walking Dead Volume 1: Days Gone Bye, the basis for the first season of AMC's hit adaptation of the series, ranked #3 and The Walking Dead Volume 2: Miles Behind Us ranked #8. Also in the top ten was Tito Faraci and Daniel Brereton's tale of the Roman Empire, The Last Battle, which ranked #4 for the month.

DC Comics had two titles in the top ten, led by Bill Willingham's Fables Volume 16: Super Team from the Vertigo imprint at #2. Also in the top ten was Geoff Johns and Peter Tomasi's Brightest Day Volume 1 at #7.

Marvel Comics had three titles in the top ten, with Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips' crime graphic novel Criminal Volume 6: Last of the Innocent from the publisher's Icon imprint at #5. Also in the top ten were the collected hardcover edition of X-Men: Schism at #9 and Ultimate Comics Spider-Man Volume 3: The Death of Spider-Man Prelude at #10.

Rounding out the top ten was VIZ Media with Naruto Volume 53 at #6.

Among the Premier Publishers, Dark Horse Comics' top-selling graphic novel in December was Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden's Baltimore: The Plague Ships, continuing the story of their acclaimed steampunk vampire novel, at #17. IDW Publishing's top book in December was The Rocketeer Adventures Volume 1, collecting the mini-series anthology based on Dave Stevens' beloved pulp-era character, which ranked at #27 for the month.

Data for Diamond's sales charts – which include the monthly market shares and all top product charts – are compiled by Diamond Comic Distributors from a universe of over 3,500 accounts, comprised of comic book specialty shops and other merchant stores and buyers. The shops are primarily located in North America, with a percentage of sales also to international stores and buyers located throughout the world. The account base includes not only brick-and-mortar comic book specialty shops, but also Internet stores, chain stores, and other specialty stores.

Unit and dollars sales are calculated based upon orders invoiced and shipped to Diamond accounts during any given month, which comprises initial pre-orders, advance reorders, and reorders, minus any copies that are received back from a title marked as returnable.

About the Diamond Sales Index: The Sales Index of selected monthly Best Seller Charts is presented as a comparative tool for retailers and publishers. It presents Diamond's monthly sales for individual titles in relation to Diamond's total sales for the issue of DC Comics' monthly Batman comic book. (Batman is used as the control title – with a value of 100 – because sales of Batman usually remain relatively stable.) This allows for easy comparison to other titles and helps retailers gauge their orders for all other titles. This formula is only a guide, other factors may impact a titles' ability to sell in certain locations and clientele.