The Skrulls hostile invasion of the Marvel universe translated to a domination of the sales chart while older DC books benefit from renewed interest thanks to films.
Throughout 2008, comic book fans were left wondering who they could trust as the likes of Elektra, Black Bolt and even Spider-Woman revealed themselves to be none other than one of the shape-shifting Skrulls. The Secret Invasion arc lived up to its promise of changing the Marvel universe in significant ways and so the fans placed their trust in the only thing they could, Marvel comics, with all eight issues of the crossover series ranking within the top ten books sold in 2008, making Marvel the top publisher for the year.
Diamond Comics annual list of the top selling comic book and graphic novels shows a successful Skrull takeover, with the only DC book in the top ten being their very own crossover book, Final Crisis #1 placing ninth with Marvel’s own Uncanny X-Men #500 just ahead in the eight position.
While Marvel cleaned house in individual book sales, the exact opposite is true with graphic novels as the House of Ideas failed to chart within the top ten, and DC leading the pack with seven of the top slots. The 1986 classic Watchmen was the best selling trade paperback of the year, thanks heavily in part to the upcoming film. Likewise, Batman: The Killing Joke, widely regarded as the all-time greatest Joker story, found its way to the number two spot thanks to the success of the Joker-heavy film, “The Dark Knight.” Smaller publishers made themselves known in the trade and graphic novel space as well, with Image Comics’ zombie favorite The Walking Dead volume eight placing fifth while Dark Horse and Joss Whedon’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer volume two ranked ninth.
