Comichron SALES report 2021 biggest increase in decades

[Menacer]

Comics had one of their biggest years ever in 2021, with more than $2 billion in sales.

https://www.comicsbeat.com/report-co...er-60-in-2021/

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So is the comic industry dead or not?

[CaptainEurope]

Damn Wokerati killed the comics industry, I see.

[James Cameron]

The perpetual dying industry that has its most successful year ever every single year

[Iron Maiden]

Glad to see that the movie and animation industry has helped to get people to read the material!

[CaptainEurope]

Glad to see that the movie and animation industry has helped to get people to read the material!

Yes... The first Ms. Marvel trade is doing really well again recently. I think the series gets a lot of people to try comics for the first time, even if the streaming numbers are not as high as for previous Marvel series on Disney+.

[GOLGO 13]

It's true that the American comic book market has made money. However, it's all mostly on the backs of MANGA & KIDS GRAPHIC NOVELS. Manga has approximately a 43% market share while superheroes carry 16% market share.

GRAPHIC NOVEL MARKET SHARE AND GROWTH SHOWS THAT MANGA RULES ALL
By Rokk / July 6, 2022

ICv2 and Comichron announced the results of a joint analysis of comics and graphic novels sales in North America that showed a huge 62% increase over 2020. Now, this was to be expected given that the pandemic created numerous issues for the market in 2020. While this was interesting news, what I was waiting for was more detailed information concerning which of the four categories of comics and graphic novels were driving that increase. The four main categories of Graphic Novels are Manga, Kids, Author, and Superhero. Well, wait no longer, because ICv2 rolled out their numbers to show how each category grew in 2021.

As always, ICv2’s analysis of graphic novel content types uses data based on sales tracked at point-of-sale by the ComicHub system at over 100 stores. That data is then used to build a model of sales for the entire comic store channel using comparisons developed during periods in which ComicHub and Diamond Comic Distributors reporting of the total market overlapped.

The book channel portion of the analysis was based on data provided by NPD BookScan. NPD BookScan collects weekly point-of-sale data on print books from over 16,000 locations including e-tailers, chains, mass merchandisers, independent bookstores, and more. NPD BookScan covers approximately 85% of the overall U.S. trade print book market. And since NPD began incorporating ComicHub data into its reports in 2020, ICv2’s analysis accounts for the ComicHub portion when estimating the size of the book channel.

https://www.comicbookrevolution.com/...nga-rules-all/

As you can see from the chart, Manga rules the Graphic Novels market share and it is not even close. In 2021, Manga accounted for a whopping 43% of the market. The Kids category took second place with a respectable 27% of the market. Superhero graphic novels, which include Marvel Comics and DC Comics, took third place with just 16% of the market. This barely beat out the Author graphic novels category which took last place with 15% of the market.

This should come as no surprise. The increased sales of the Comics and Graphic Novels market in 2021 has come largely on the backs of Manga and Kids titles. It should be alarming to both Marvel Comics and DC Comics that they have ceded so much of the market to their competitors. But, this is great news for everyone else. Manga continues to remain unchallenged as the most popular form of comics in North America. But, what is great to see is that the Kids category is doing well, too. This is important since maintaining the interest of the younger demographic is vital to sustained growth for the industry.

I would expect to see the Manga category’s share of the market expand even more in 2022. Manga publishers seem to be intent on releasing even more manga titles in North America in 2022. Plus, we have so many big anime series coming out in the latter half of 2022. This should certainly help to further fuel the American demand for manga.

The Kids category continues to impress with a solid market share. Now, I know much of the Kids category’s success comes down to the incredible success of anything with Dan Pilkey’s name on it. And, wow, how amazing is Pilkey’s sales success? But, there are some other solid franchises in the Kids category. I am glad that there are authors who are still squarely targeting the kids demographic. Especially since it seems that Marvel Comics and DC Comics have largely abandoned this demographic.

Now, I know that the Authors category came in last place. But, it was barely a last-place finish as they almost broke past the Superhero category. There are good reasons to be bullish about the Authors category. And that is because of the information in the next chart. The outlook looks even better for Manga, Kids, and Author graphic novels when you look at the percentage of growth in 2021 compared to 2020. Unfortunately, Superhero graphic novels do not have as rosy of an outlook.


(more at the link & emphasis mine)

A single floppy carries either a US$4 or $5 price tag, that's almost half what a typical single volume of a manga costs. Meanwhile a typical manga always has way more that 2x the # of pages than an American floppy.

So while the US has record comic sales it absolutely pales next to Japanese manga sales.

Record High Comic Sales in Japan for Second Consecutive Year

https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-data/h01292/

Comic sales in Japan have been strong due to demand from people who have been spending more time at home amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and because of the ease of purchasing via mobile devices.

Total sales of print and electronic comic books and magazines in Japan increased year on year in 2021 by 10.3%, to ¥675.9 billion, marking the second consecutive annual record high. The share of comic sales within the overall publishing market was 40.4%, exceeding 40% for the first time. This is the estimate of the All Japan Magazine and Book Publishers’ and Editors’ Association and the Research Institute for Publications, two research organizations specializing in the publishing industry.

Sales of comics in 2020 exceeded ¥600 billion for the first time due to explosive sales of the Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba series, in addition to increased demand during the pandemic, as people spend more time at home. Expectations were that sales would decline in 2021, but in fact a high growth rate of over 10% continued.

2021 manga sales.jpg

Japan's manga sales were hovering about US$5 Billion in sales! So about 2 1/2 times larger than the American market.

[mburns]

Comics had one of their biggest years ever in 2021, with more than $2 billion in sales.

https://www.comicsbeat.com/report-co...er-60-in-2021/

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So is the comic industry dead or not?

No the comic industry is fine if you include Manga, Young Adult and other categories. But most people when they say the comic industry is dead are referring to just Marvel and DC superhero comics maybe Image as well and they are just barely hanging on.