I’ve observed here that the comics industry isn’t so much “recession-proof” as it is insulated from external market forces. When things go very right — or very wrong — it’s usually been due to internal factors. The reason the “recession-proof” term started to be associated with comics has nothing to do with new comics publishing … Read more
by John Jackson Miller and T.M. Haley Despite having the best-selling direct market comic book of the decade after reprints figured in — the Obama appearance in Amazing Spider-Man #583 — last January was a pretty bad month in comparison with January 2008. So this January didn’t have a lot to live up to — … Read more
When I launched The Comics Chronicles nearly three years ago, one of the major missions was to get all my earlier research into Diamond’s monthly comics sales online. Now, with the assistance of T.M. Haley, that mission is finally complete. Estimates from every month, from September 1996 forward, are now online. That’s 160 months of … Read more
Things are beyond busy here at The Comichron datafarm — but it’s worth noting that Brian Hibbs has produced his annual analysis of graphic novel sales in the mass market according to Bookscan. It’ll take some time for us here to digest the data and take a look at it beside the direct market, but … Read more
The first Monday of the month is normally when the Top 300 lists are released — but against the great snowstorm, not even comics sales charts can stand. Power is out at the Diamond home offices in Timonium, Md., this morning, affecting all websites (including the Comics Shop Locator service), e-mail, and phone traffic, according … Read more
As a new decade dawned for comics shops, Marvel’s Siege #1 was first off the UPS truck — and first in the preliminary rankings released by Diamond Comic Distributors for January orders. Comics shops ordered more copies of the new Marvel event title in a month that did not see a new Blackest Night issue, … Read more