Fortress of Solitude
FORTRESS
  • Movies
  • TV
  • Gaming
  • Tech
  • Comics
  • Toys
  • Sneakers
  • Win
Fortress of Solitude
FORTRESS

Home Comics

The Bestselling Comic Book of All Time Isn’t Batman or Spider-Man

bySergio Pereira
July 9, 2022
The Bestselling Comic Book of All Time Isn't Batman or Spider-Man

Thanks to comic book movies, the funny books are in vogue again. Granted, they aren’t selling the same number of units as the tickets for the latest Marvel movie, but the reports of the industry’s demise have been wildly exaggerated. So what is the bestselling comic book of all time?

Hint: It doesn’t feature Batman or Spider-Man

The Bestselling Comic Book of All Time Isn't Batman or Spider-Man

While the average person would expect the likes of Batman #1 or Amazing Fantasy #15 to be the highest-selling issues of all time, that isn’t the case. The books may fetch a pretty penny on the collectors’ market, but they weren’t immediate smash hits upon arrival.

It makes sense, though. Like with anything else, the Dark Knight and Spider-Man weren’t runaway hits when they debuted. They needed some time to build the momentum to becoming the pop culture juggernauts they have become now.

The bestselling comic book of all time is…

The Bestselling Comic Book of All Time Marvel's X-Men #1 by Chris Claremont and Jim Lee

The honour of the bestselling comic book of all time goes to Marvel’s X-Men #1 by Chris Claremont and Jim Lee, which was released in 1991. According to Comichron, the book sold 8,186,500 copies. The X-Men wasn’t a new name to comic book fans, though, since this was effectively just a drop of the “Uncanny” from the title and a reboot of the numbers.

The Uncanny X-Men had already been pulling in fantastic numbers for Marvel Comics and seeing how well Spider-Man #1 had done in 1990, the publisher decided to try something similar here. However, there was a gimmick attached to it: variant covers that were effectively puzzle pieces. Five covers were released that formed a larger image, which incentivised the readers to collect all five editions (and helped Marvel Comics sell five times the number of issues for a single floppy). It worked, and kickstarted the X-mania of the ’90s. X-Force #1 by Fabian Nicieza and Rob Liefeld, which was also released in 1991, sits pretty in second place with around five million copies sold.

Collectively, Superman, Batman, and Spider-Man still rule the roost

Despite the Marvel’s mutants‘ single-issue success, they still can’t hold a torch to the collective sales of Superman, Batman, and Spider-Man over the years. According to stats released by Statista in 2015, Superman is still the Man of Sales, bringing in over 600 million issues sold worldwide. In second place, the Dark Knight proves that punching Gotham City’s criminals is pure money with 460 million issues. Then, in third, Spider-Man swings in an impressive 360 million issues sold around the globe.

Of course, these are comic book sales and not manga, because those numbers are simply unbeatable and squash the western superhero market like it’s a bug. Still, it’s interesting to see how the perfect storm of smart marketing and fanfare helped to make X-Men #1 the bestselling comic of all time.

Tell us, are you surprised that neither Spider-Man nor Batman feature as the bestselling comic book of all time? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section down below.

Tags: Comic Book NewsFeatured
 

Related Posts

the most powerful mutant Franklin Richards
Comics

Franklin Richards: Marvel’s Most Powerful Mutant Character

August 13, 2022
The MCU Is About To Correct A HUGE Spider-Man Mistake
Movies

The MCU Is About To Correct A HUGE Spider-Man Mistake

August 10, 2022
Marvel Superhero Height Comparison - Who Is The Tallest
Comics

Marvel Superhero Height Comparison – Who Is The Tallest?

August 9, 2022

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • About Us
  • Privacy & Site Disclaimer
  • Contact Fortress of Solitude

© 2022 Fortress of Solitude, a division of Fortress Entertainment. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • HOMEPAGE
  • MOVIES
  • TV
  • GAMING
  • TECH
  • COMICS
  • BOARD GAMES
  • TOYS
  • SNEAKERS
  • INTERNET
  • WIN
  • NEWSLETTER
  • ABOUT US
  • CONTACT US

© 2022 Fortress of Solitude, a division of Fortress Entertainment. All Rights Reserved.