The comic book industry has seen a decline in sales, despite the success of superhero movies and live-action adaptations. It's not a complete collapse, but it's certainly coming. It's wrong to assume that just because people watch the movie, they'll buy the comics. The manga industry has seen success, but it doesn't necessarily mean that it's a success for the comic book industry as a whole.
There are still avid comic book readers, as evidenced by subscriptions to Marvel and DC apps, and the rediscovery of Archie Comics. The seven-week closure of Diamond Comic Distributors and subsequent cuts by publishers in periodicals had a negative effect on sales, even though demand increased in the second half of the year. The banning of comics like Maus in different school districts may lead readers to seek them out even more. The article Demon Slayer Sells More Than The Entire Comic Book Industry provides evidence that manga outsells comics.
Over the years, Diamond has achieved a virtual monopoly on comic book distribution since the mid-90s. As political tension increased in North America and Western Europe, many comic book readers grew tired of being told what to think and how to think. This has led to the re-emergence of the comic book collector market, capitalizing on the success of recent films. The opening Free Comic Book Day event was a resounding success and surpassed expectations.
The comic book industry has benefited from the massive successes (and sometimes failures) of major popular franchises, attracting new audiences to their world and encouraging avid fans to welcome them. In addition, many have attributed the pandemic and the closure of movie releases as reasons why people, especially younger audiences, have sought other forms of entertainment such as comics. The compiled format has dominated comic book sales in recent years, according to Schatz. Comic book culture is now an all-encompassing amalgam of passionate fans with varying degrees of fanaticism.
Schatz's solution is to turn single-issue comics into anthological numbers containing several stories supported by popular characters. DC Comics, the second largest comic book publisher in North America, responded to the closure of its main distributor by parting ways with Diamond after a quarter of a century of business together. Comics are accessible all over the world and their success is a global phenomenon, paving the way for big events such as Comic-Con in San Diego and FanDome in DC.
