Reality seems to differ, unless this is false:Comic Sales Figures Prove To Marvel: Diversity Isn't The Problem
On the surface, it may seem that the top comic sales back up the idea that 'diverse' titles aren't selling. Diamond Comic Distributors' data is most commonly used to see which titles are selling, and their single-issue figures show a trend toward less diverse titles doing well. Overall in 2017, the top sellers included Marvel Legacy #1, Peter Parker: Spectacular Spider-Man #1, Secret Empire and Doomsday, with only one female-fronted title making it into the top ten (Phoenix Resurrection: The Return Of Jean Grey #1). Month to month throughout the year, a similar trend emerges. Over the past twelve months, Diamond's data shows only and handful of 'diverse' titles in the top ten sellers; The Mighty Thor #700, Harley Quinn 25th Anniversary Special, and The Return of Jean Grey.
However, there are two major issues with considering only the top single-issue sellers when making decisions on what fans want to see. First of all, the majority of top-selling comics are always the true heavy hitters: Batman, Spider-Man, X-Men, Justice League, Avengers, etc. Expecting any newer title with a lesser-known hero at the helm to do as well as these goliaths is simply unrealistic - and were that the expectation for all titles, a much wider range would be getting the chop. In addition, these sales figures only take into account one thing: single issue sales. Trades and digital subscribers are not included in this data, and the sales of trade paperbacks paint a very different story.
For the year as a whole, the top sellers in trade paperback format are overwhelmingly more diverse titles; three of the top sellers are volumes of Saga, with Paper Girls and Monstress also making an appearance. Of the titles that traditionally sell well in single issue format, only Batman is found on the top ten list for the year, and only one trade makes it into that list. Throughout the year, trade sales continue to support the idea that diverse comics do well, appearing in the top ten every month; Wonder Woman, Captain Phasma, Rat Queens, Harley Quinn, DC SuperHero Girls, Paper Girls, Thor... compared to the single issue sales, trade paperbacks are killing it when it comes to diversity. This isn't a secret, either - it has long been accepted that titles like The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl and Ms Marvel (which has even made it to the coveted top-seller spot and onto the New York Times bestseller lists) find the majority of their success in the form of trade sales. The deeper that we delve into the figures, the clearer it becomes: diversity sells, but in trade format, not single issue. -snip