H2SH tops March’s best-selling comic books. Books are exempt from China tariffs. Spider-Man takes on the Sinister Sixteen in new comic book.
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Episode Transcript:
H2SH tops March’s best-selling comic books.
Books exempt from China tariffs.
Spider-Man takes on Sinister Sixteen.
This is Comic Book Club News for April 9, 2025.
H2SH Tops March’s Best-Selling Comic Books:
March’s best-selling comic books are here, and no surprise, the 400,000 copy-selling Batman #158, aka the kick-off of H2SH from Jim Lee and Jeph Loeb is number one. But what is surprising? DC Comics is dominating the top five.
Per ICv2, in countdown order after H2SH the top comics are Absolute Flash #1, Absolute Batman #6, Absolute Martian Manhunter #1, Absolute Superman #5, and Absolute Wonder Woman #6. Overall, DC snagged 14 of the Top 50 slots on the list, a solid, though top-heavy showing.
Lest you cry for Marvel Comics… Well, don’t. Ultimate Spider-Man #15 came in at number seven, One World Under Doom #2 at number eight, and Ultimate Wolverine #3 at number nine. Overall, the House of Ideas snagged 34 of the Top 50 slots, more than double those grabbed by DC.
The other two slots were for Skybound’s Transformers #18, and GI Joe #5.
As these rankings don’t include exact sales figures, it’s tough to offer up some sort of analysis. But we know that the Absolute Universe line is regularly selling over 100,000 copies, meaning the top of the list is the strongest the comic book industry has been in a long while. As for the bottom? As a wise owl licking a Tootsie Roll pop once said: we may never know.
Books Are Exempt From China Tariffs:
Some sort of good news: books are exempt from the US government’s tariffs on China, meaning the price of graphic novels should hopefully hold steady, for the moment.
Per Publisher’s Weekly, printed matter from China is not beholden to the new tariffs, though still is hit with a 7.5% tariff from the first Trump administration. And with the bulk of graphic novels printed in China, that means that bound comic books printed in the country could stay the same price.
The issue is that it is far from covering all the related costs for comic book companies. Floppies are mostly printed in Canada, and collectibles — which generally get more revenue for stores than comic books anyway — are being hit hard by the new tariffs. Same with trading card games, tabletop games, and other goods that stores make their money on.
Short version, while the printing of graphic novels has escaped the Trump Tax for now, local comic book stores and comic book companies are still being hit hard. More on this as it develops.
Spider-Man Takes On Sinister Sixteen:
Writer J. Michael Straczynski has been releasing a series of weird team-ups for Marvel. And the final issue is less of a team-up than a battle royale: Spider-Man Vs. The Sinister Sixteen.
With art by Phil Noto, the story finds Peter Parker on a night out with Mary Jane, only to discover there are a ton of villains — and heroes — in attendance, as well. Why is this happening? According to Straczynski, via a press release, “One of the most common tropes in the super hero world is that of the amount of destruction that comes when heroes and villains lock horns. We all accept that it just happens. This led to thinking: What if the owner of a popular restaurant has run it into the ground and needs the place to be destroyed for the insurance money, and invites a ton of heroes and villains to dine all at the same time in the hope that a fight breaks out? What if initially everyone tries to stay calm to enjoy the experience, but sooner or later, with that roster…the storm comes.”
Spider-Man Vs. The Sinister Sixteen #1 hits stores on July 30.
For Comic Book Club News, I’m Alex Zalben. And I’m just saying but if that owl could restrain from biting the lollipop, maybe we would have an answer.
Got tips or stories you’d like us to cover? Email us at comicbookclublive@gmail.com.
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