Diamond's Top 50 Small Press Comics and Graphic Novels for April 2013

Media Release -- Aspen introduced readers to a new sword-and-sorcery heroine in J.T. Krul's new series, Jirni #1, giving the publisher the best-selling Small Press comic sold to direct market specialty retailers for April.

Valiant Entertainment had six titles in the top ten, led by Harbinger Wars #1 at #2.

Archie Comics had two titles in the top ten with Mega Man #24 as their best-selling book at #7. Finally, Oni Press' Helheim #2 rounded at the top ten at #9.

Kodansha Comics continued their reprint of the fan-favorite Sailor Moon manga with Volume 10 in April, the month's best-selling Non-Premier graphic novel.

Other publishers in the top ten include Archie Comics, Bongo Comics, Digital Manga, Drawn & Quarterly, Fantagraphiccs Books, Valiant Entertainment, and Yen Press.

Diamond Comic Distributors defines Small Presses as publishers outside the top-10 bestselling publishers over the previous six months. In offering these breakdowns of the bestselling small press comics and graphic novels, a spotlight is shown on these publishers, affording them recognition for their strong sales in a crowded marketplace. To help retailers contextualize the relationship between the Small Press sales rankings, each chart offers for each book the overall ranking for the month amongst all publishers.

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.