New York City Comic Con (NYCC) is a great place to see the latest comics and catch up with your favorite artists. While fans enjoy festivities, many retailers and industry members join panels to learn the latest trends in the marketplace.
Journalist Heidi MacDonald of Comics Beat took to Twitter to share some revelations and changes that the industry is undergoing.
First, Viz Media is quickly becoming a big game player as they have overtaken DC and Marvel. It’s strange thinking that 10 years ago insiders were claiming that manga couldn’t grab an audience in the States due to rampant piracy.
(GNS stands for graphic novels and you can see Viz Media in bright green in the chart below)
In the book channel, VIz is biggest book publisher with 23% market share. DC 14% Marvel 10% other 25% #bookscan #icv2 #nycc
— Heidi MacDonald (@Comixace) October 5, 2017
Image via Comics Beat
The broad picture painted is that the graphic novel audience is getting younger thanks to chain retailers (Target & Wal-Mart), online marketplaces, and book fairs. Basically, younger people have more access to graphic novels and are buying them, in contrast to older fans.
Kids are discovering GNS in Targets and book fairs, leading to a whole new audience for the medium. #icv2 #nycc #bookscan
— Heidi MacDonald (@Comixace) October 5, 2017
Another big thing is how people are buying graphic novels, comics, and manga. Specialty shops are becoming a dying breed as shoppers flock to chain retailers and online shops, like Comixology.
Sales up in book channel CAGE 9.9% in last FJ e years. LCS channel down. In the middle of a channel shift #icv2 #nycc17 #bookscan pic.twitter.com/IRWUJvz7bs
— Heidi MacDonald (@Comixace) October 5, 2017
Share of GNS sold in indie bookstores is 4% higher than for all books – 12% to 8%. Discoverability is key. #icv2 #nycc #bookscan
— Heidi MacDonald (@Comixace) October 5, 2017
It’s interesting to see how different male and female shoppers buy comics. Despite the pop-culture trope that comics are a male-oriented hobby, about a third of buyers are female.
Comics shop audience is aging up. More male. Younger audience is not patronizing comics shops as much as chains and online. #icv2 #nycc
— Heidi MacDonald (@Comixace) October 5, 2017
Women prefer to buy comics at chains. 1 in 3 GNs is purchased by a woman. #nycc #icv2
— Heidi MacDonald (@Comixace) October 5, 2017
57% of of C&GN buyers being reported to Bookscan now is by 18-29 year olds. Hugely youthful audience. #icv2 #nycc
— Heidi MacDonald (@Comixace) October 5, 2017
