{"id":3809,"date":"2018-07-13T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-07-13T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2020-07-28T02:57:47","modified_gmt":"2020-07-28T02:57:47","slug":"comics-and-graphic-novel-sales-down-65","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/comichron.com\/blog\/2018\/07\/13\/comics-and-graphic-novel-sales-down-65\/","title":{"rendered":"Comics and graphic novel sales down 6.5% in 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\nAccording to new estimate by ICV2 and Comichron<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\nThe comics and graphic novel market slipped 6.5% in 2017, with sharper declines in comic store and newsstand sales mitigated by stronger sales in the book channel and digital, according to a new joint estimate by ICv2<\/b>\u2019s Milton Griepp<\/b> and Comichron<\/b>\u2019s John Jackson Miller<\/b>. Total comics and graphic novel sales to consumers in the U.S. and Canada remained above $1 billion at $1.015 billion in 2017, a $70 million decrease from sales in 2016.<\/p>\n

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\n\u201cAfter a multiyear growth run, the comics shop market gave back some of its gains in 2017, with lackluster response to new periodical offerings and, consequently, graphic novel sales,\u201d Miller said. \u201cThe third quarter of 2017 saw the worst of the year-over-year declines, leading into what has turned out to be a stronger spring for stores in 2018.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cWhile there was some softness to the market in 2017 (which we attribute to cyclical rather than secular change), there were positive signs,\u201d Griepp said. \u201cThe relative strength in the graphic novel and digital markets, especially the growing market for kids titles across print channels, bodes well for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\nDigital sales were flat, the strongest performance of any channel in 2017. The book channel (mass and specialty retail chains, online, independent bookstores, book fairs) was the strongest print channel, with only about a 1% decline, helped by booming sales of kids\u2019 graphic novels. The comic store channel, the largest channel overall, dropped around 10%, while the smallest channel, newsstand, shrank to a size not seen since the dawn of comics as the last remaining DC comics left newsstands in August.<\/p>\n

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As presented above and in the accompanying infographics, the analysis by Comichron and ICv2 was divided up between periodical comics (what some call \u201cfloppies\u201d or \u201cpamphlets\u201d), graphic novels, and digital download-to-own sales. All print figures are calculated based on the full retail price of books sold into the market, and do not account for discounting or markup. Digital sales do not include subscription or \u201call you can read\u201d services.<\/p>\n

This is the fifth joint market size analysis from ICv2 and Comichron; the first four reports were for 2013<\/a><\/b>, 2014<\/a><\/b>, 2015<\/a><\/b>, and 2016 sales<\/a><\/b>. ICV2 and Comichron also previously collaborated on revised estimates for 2011 and 2012<\/a><\/b>. There is also a video version<\/b><\/a> of this report:<\/p>\n

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