Driven by press coverage (see “Ultimate Spider-Man Death Issue Gets Advance Press”), the “Death of Spider-Man” storyline brought big sales in June, with the polybaged Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #160 selling over 159,000 copies to comic stores, according to our estimates of comic sales number based on sales indexes released by Diamond Comic Distributors.  That was best sales number for the top comic in over a year; Avengers #1 sold 163,000 last May (see “Avengers Launch Is Over 163K”).  This issue increased sales on Ultimate Comics Spider-Man by over a factor of three. 
Marvel’s Fear Itself was the #2 book at around 96,000, the #3 issue holding strong at only slightly less the sales on #2.  DC’s Flashpoint event came in behind Fear Itself, but sales on Flashpoint #2 actually came in higher than the first month sales on #1 (and issue #1 picked up another 8,864 copies this month).  
Despite the strong sales on the books at the very top of the chart, over-all sales were down from the year ago period (see “Comics Slide Continues in June”). 
DC had only eight of the top 25 issues this month; not shipping the titles Green Lantern or Green Lantern Corps hurt. 
Top 25 decliners outnumbered advances by a significant margin in June; 14 of the top 25 titles declined in sales; eight increased. 
On the graphic novel chart, The Walking Dead Vol. 14 was the top title with over 20,000 copies in first month sales, a great performance when compared to other top graphic novels in recent months.   And if you needed more than the continuing sales on The Walking Dead Vol. 1 to show the series is gaining new readers, the 6% increase between first month sales of Vol. 14 and Vol. 13 (see “Top 300 Graphic Novel s Actual—November 2010”) should help.
Here are ICv2’s estimates for the sales by Diamond Comic Distributors to comic stores on the Top 25 comic titles in June of 2011:
159,355               Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #160
 95,621                 Fear Itself #3
 87,505                 Flashpoint #2
 64,057                 Avengers #14
 58,925                 FF #5
 57,682                 New Avengers #13
 57,040                 Amazing Spider-Man #663
 56,108                 Batman Incorporated #7
 54,984                 Batman and Robin #24
 54,808                 Amazing Spider-Man #664
 54,284                 Uncanny X-Men #539
 53,927                 Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #11
 53,319                 Uncanny X-Men #538
 53,199                 Uncanny X-Force #11
 53,113                 Batman #711
 51,928                 Brightest Day: Aftermath the Search #1
 51,766                 Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #159
 49,898                 Secret Avengers #14
 48,114                 Mighty Thor #3
 46,851                 Alpha Flight #1
 45,786                 X-Men #12
 45,442                 Justice League of America #58
 45,129                 Flashpoint: Batman Knight of Vengeance #1
 45,070                 X-Men Legacy #250
 44,796                 Captain America #619

For an analysis of the dollar trends in June, see "Comics' Slide Continues in June."

For our estimates of actual sales by Diamond U.S. from comic specialty stores on comic books shipped during June, see "Top 300 Comics Actual--June 2011."

For our estimates of actual sales by Diamond U.S. from comic specialty stores on graphic novels shipped during June, see "Top 300 Graphic Novels Actual--June 2011."

For our estimates of actual sales by Diamond U.S. from comic specialty stores on comic books shipped during May, see "Top 300 Comics Actual--May 2011."

For our estimates of actual sales by Diamond U.S. from comic specialty stores on graphic novels shipped during May, see "Top 300 Graphic Novels Actual--May 2011."

For an overview and analysis of the best-selling comics and graphic novels in May see "No Titles Over 100K Again."  For an analysis of the dollar trends in May see "Top 300 Comics Down 17.3% in May."

For our index to our reports on the top comic and graphic novel preorders for January 2000 through June 2011, see "ICv2's Top 300 Comics and Top 300 GNs Index."