Comics and graphic novel sales at 20-year high in North America

3 July 2015 Books+Publishing

The sale of graphic novels and periodical comics in North America reached a combined total of US$935m (A$1225m) in 2014, a 7% increase on 2013, reports comics trade news sites ICv2 and Comichron. In the book trade (including bricks-and-mortar bookstores, online retailers such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble, and book fairs), graphic novel sales grew 16% to US$285m (A$373m). In comic stores, graphic novel sales grew 3% to US$175m (A$229m) and periodical comics sales grew 4% to US$355m (A$464m). Digital sales are slowing; the report showed sales of US$100m (A$131m) in 2014, an increase of 11%, compared to 29% increase in 2013. The report noted that ‘digital appears to be complementing, rather than cannibalising, print’. Growth occurred in every channel and format except for sales of periodical comics in newsstands, as Marvel withdrew from the market. ‘According to our tracking at Comichron, 2014 was the biggest year for print since 1995, adjusting for inflation; without adjusting for inflation dollar sales hit a mark unseen since 1993,’ said Comichron owner John Jackson Miller.

Category: International news