Comics Market Bigger Now Than In Any Time Since The Early Nineties - And It's Thanks To The Comic Shop

[Rich Johnston]

Through a combination of addition, a little guesswork and a few entertaining assumptions, John Jackson Miller has one again given us an esitimate of comic publisher's revenue in 2012, namely $715 million. Which is about 5% higher than 2011 and, he estimates, the highest point the industry has reached since 1994/1994, though of course this does not take into account inflation... which would make it a rather less impressive statistic.

But the growth, 2011 to 2012, he attributed almost entirely down to the expanding comic shop market., rather than bookstores which shrank a little.

His research makes for a rewarding read...

[Acrid_Gunsmoke]

Fewer people are reading comics, though.

Its the ridiculously high prices that show this false "trend."

[zehgnomo]

""...the highest point the industry has reached since 1994/1994, though of course this does not take into account inflation... which would make it a false statement."

Fixed that for you.

[Candletric]

The headline is misleading. Guess you just want the "clicks".

[nealadams]

Remember a few things.

1. More people are indeed reading more comics, for a number of reasons. Internet reads are making comics accessible to Aunt Bea, and Grandma, who don't have to face-down the invisible geek barrier at comicbook shop doors any longer.

2. Comic books are being collected into graphic novels, making the space in stores, versus dollar-drop, more profitable for stores, as well as publishers. Customers can buy one at a time, and the collection. Media, films and television as well
as computer games, increase awareness of characters and themes.

Comic books are making their slow, and tedious desperate climb back up to the time, when those gray-haired older gents who owned comic stores were buying comic books out of the back doors of the 410 newsstand distributors, destroying the industry, that the affidavit return system, began the ultimate destruction of.

Our industry nearly destroyed itself with these shenanigans. Maybe now it can save itself, through good and smart business practices. We're all in this together, guys. Let's not screw the pooch again.

Neal Adams

[nealadams]

Remember a few things.

1. More people are indeed reading more comics, for a number of reasons. Internet reads are making comics accessible to Aunt Bea, and Grandma, who don't have to face-down the invisible geek barrier at comicbook shop doors any longer.

2. Comic books are being collected into graphic novels, making the space in stores, versus dollar-drop, more profitable for stores, as well as publishers. Customers can buy one at a time, and the collection. Media, films and television as well
as computer games, increase awareness of characters and themes.

Comic books are making their slow, and tedious desperate climb back up to the time, when those gray-haired older gents who owned comic stores were buying comic books out of the back doors of the 410 newsstand distributors, destroying the industry, that the affidavit return system, began the ultimate destruction of.

Our industry nearly destroyed itself with these shenanigans. Maybe now it can save itself, through good and smart business practices. We're all in this together, guys. Let's not screw the pooch again.

Neal Adams

[Joe Kalicki]

Fewer people are reading comics, though.

Its the ridiculously high prices that show this false "trend."

Where do you get that fewer people are reading comics?

[Stink Monkey Pop Pop]

$715,000,000 in 1994 would be $1,107,690,351 in 2013.

Or an annual rate of inflation of 55%

A $4 comic book in 1994 would be $6.20 in 2013.

SOURCE: Inflation Calculator | Find US Dollar's Value from 1913-2013

[JohnJacksonMiller]

I'm seeing this on a few sites today -- people are tripping over comparisons, when that's not really what my post is about. All my post says about comparisons with the past is near the end: "That figure, by the way, is the highest seen since probably 1993 or 1994, although those markets were far larger considering the effects of inflation since." I think that covers it. These are whole dollar figures we haven't seen in a while -- as the tables on the middle of this page will show you: Yearly Rankings for Comic Book Sales . But there's no doubt that the market is much smaller than it was in 1993, when the market had four times as many comics shops. I don't claim otherwise.

The best way to take inflation completely out of the picture is to forget dollars and focus on units. We just don’t tend to do that when TPBs are in the mix, because their pricing varies so much; a count of TPB and hardcovers together is pretty meaningless. But we know in general that we’re selling WAY fewer comics than in the early 1990s, and WAY more graphic novels (and, obviously, digital versions); the net being that whatever the whole dollars are, we’re still quite a lot behind the early 1990s in adjusted dollars.

[Franklin Royce Raymond]

...

OH GOD THE COMMAS
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