Sales of graphic novels for children in large stores and on the Internet soon boosted sales of graphic novels and, as the pandemic continued, manga sales took off. On the comic book store channel, the seven-week closure by Diamond Comic Distributors and subsequent cuts by publishers in periodicals were a drag on sales, even as demand increased in the second half of the year. Not only was there a high demand for new comics and graphic novels, but the collectible part of the comic book business was also strong. For both comic book stores and independent bookstores, strong consumer demand, strong community support and help from government programs and the Book Industry Charity Foundation kept the abandonment rate of stores below.
The analysis of Comichron and ICv2 was divided into periodic comics (what some call “floppy disks” or “pamphlets”), graphic novels and downloadable digital sales with option to buy. All printed figures are calculated based on the total retail price of books sold in the market and do not take into account discounts or profit margins. Digital sales don't include subscription-based “all you can read” services. The founder of Comichron, John Jackson Miller, has been tracking the comic book industry for more than 25 years, including a decade editing the industry's retail magazine; he's the author of several comic book guides, as well as more than a hundred comics for various franchises.
The European market is expected to show significant growth during the evaluation period, due to the growing production of comics in EU countries. The market is segmented into bookstores, comic book stores, online stores and others depending on the distribution channel. The growing urban population resulted in the advancement of education, boosted more people interested in reading and helped increase the growth of the comic book market in the region. Today, 90% of all comics are still sold in independent retail stores, and kiosks and digital services such as Amazon Kindle represent only one digit.
In addition, key players in the comic book industry are focusing on establishing collaborations with entertainment-related companies to promote their products. Over the past decade, sales growth was led by graphic novels aimed at younger readers and manga, which were mainly sold in bookstores and not in comic book stores. According to Forbes, two companies drive the vast majority of the global market: DC and Marvel, which together account for 80% of all direct market comic book sales. The growing production of comics with fascinating stories and engaging graphics that help illustrate content is driving the popularity of comics around the world.
The good news is that you can invest in comics indirectly, even if you don't know the difference between Atom and Ant-Man. If you're looking for something more direct than giant top-of-the-line stocks, an investment platform called Otis Funds has a fund that invests in collectibles such as art, video games, trading cards, sneakers and comics. The growing popularity of comic book events, such as Comic-Con, has played an important role in influencing people's adoption of comics. The comic book industry has seen a surge in popularity over recent years due to a variety of factors.
The pandemic has caused an increase in demand for graphic novels online and in mass stores while digital sales have also seen a rise. In addition, key players in this industry have been focusing on collaborations with entertainment-related companies to promote their products. Furthermore, events such as Comic-Con have had a major influence on people's adoption of comics. Finally, there are now investment platforms that allow people to invest directly into collectibles such as comics.
