New data compiled by ICv2's Milton Griepp and Comichron's John Jackson Miller found that sales of both comics and graphic novels hit a new high in 2020, likely due in part to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
According to Griepp and Miller's findings, comics and graphic novel sales to consumers in the U.S. and Canada were approximately $1.28 billion in 2020, marking a 6% increase over sales in the previous year.
"The challenges of retailing in the pandemic had profound impacts on the market, including the acceleration of trends that have been in place for years," Griepp said of the estimates. "The book channel increased its share dramatically vs. comic stores, and graphic novels increased their share vs. periodical comics, while digital sales were turbocharged."
Miller added that, while the comic periodical market was ahead for the year before the pandemic struck, production cutbacks resulted in 30% fewer new comic books being released by major publishers in 2020 and a 20% drop in new comic sales. However, the pair also found that the collectible side of the comics industry did well in 2020, with Miller noting, "The collector market flourished during the year, allowing comics shops to earn significant revenue from their back-issue inventories."
"Many new releases also saw significant levels of markup that our charts would not be able to capture," he added. "All of which helped stores offset the lack of new product."
As shown in the provided infographics, the analysis by Comichron and ICv2 was divided up between periodical comics ("floppies" or "pamphlets"), graphic novels and digital download-to-own sales. Additionally, all print figures were calculated based on the full retail price of books sold into the market. As such, they do not reflect any discounts or markups or subscription-based "all you can read" services.
Meanwhile, sales categorized as "Other" include periodical sales via specialty retail and mass merchant chains and crowdfunding channels. Specifically, Kickstarter played a big part in continued growth, with comic funding up 60% in 2020.
In fact, one of the most recent Kickstarters to launch was a campaign for HELP, a new graphic novel anthology benefiting The Hero Initiative. Created by comic book writer Omar Spahi and editor Hannah Means-Shannon, HELP is comprised of several one-page stories from a line-up of creators including Kieron Gillen, Dennis Calero, Tim Seeley, Magdalene Visaggio, Sina Grace and Tony Fleecs. The campaign launched on June 15 and has raised nearly $13,000 to date.
The latest report marks the eighth joint market size analysis from ICv2 and Comichron, who first partnered to evaluate sales in 2013.