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May 19, 2005


ICv2.com: April DM Sales Figures

imageThe business analysis site ICv2.com continues its excellent work with industry numbers, providing its monthly array of analysis articles and lists. Of continuing interest to CR readers in terms of the shape of the comics direct market. This month's numbers at key sample points throughout the top 100 indicate in a very non-scientific way that any difference between this month and last might be found in a drop for second-tier comic books, or solid-sellers out of the top 10. Maintaining sales for books beyond the top 10 seems to have been a problem for the DM for a while now.
10 - 82,793 vs. 86777
25 - 60,542 vs. 71230
50 - 38,123 vs. 39580
100 - 19,800 vs. 20313

Noodling for fun also indicates that Marvel takes home 6/10, 16/25, and 31 of the top 50 positions, which could be argued to show that DC is now competing book for book reasonably effectively from month to month. I'm still astonished by the fact that the first non-Big Two book is a Conan comic at #51 and that there seem to be only 16 out of the top 100 that aren't from Marvel and DC. I also think it's interesting to note that the DM's success stories in terms of trade paperbacks don't really match up with the general bookstore's -- more familiar titles with an action-adventure slant than the manga-driven bookstore lists.

I think month after month it becomes increasingly obvious that what we have here is a specialty book market that has been shaped by the big companies to sell big company product and big company-style product (Hello, Red Sonja), and not only that, but a market fashioned over the years in a way to do be that much more responsive with books on which special sales emphasis has been placed within that market. "If we push it, they will come." Despite areas of growth in the overall marketplaces for comics in the last ten years to include viable performances from top arts books, strip books, and non-adventure manga, the American comic book shop in general is just as narrowly focused as it ever was. I'd love for someone smarter with more time to come to a different conclusion and .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

In a really good day for the site, ICv2.com also has a lot to say about the general status of scheduled manga releases.

Among the DM's top GN sellers.
 
posted 7:57 am PST | Permalink
 

 
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