From Panels to Profit: Market Trends from 2024

While comic books are packed with rich stories and beautiful art, they also have their own metrics that determine financial success and insight into trends on what readers are picking up.

ICv2 is the leader in comic book metrics and uses point-of-sales data from comic book stores to track sales and give retailers and publishers quantified ways to know how the market is doing. While Marvel and DC Comics tend to lead in sales, it’s clear that indie or creator owned titles are still making their own waves.

Whether you’re into data or creating a comic of your own, some of the insights from the ICv2 Insider Panel at the 2024 New York Comic Con are sure to offer interesting perspectives.

The Post Covid Discussion

While Covid-19 is still around, the discussion of a pre and post-covid world in respect to comic books sales is a major point of reference when it comes to comic book data. And it makes sense, during lockdown people were at home more and this meant an increased interest in the medium. As such, talking about how comic books sales were in the early 2000s for example isn’t a fair comparison—the world has changed.

Graphic novels are clearly the leader when it comes to comic book sales. Its portion was 70% in 2019 and according to ICv2, the percentage of graphic novel comic book sales have increased. Graphic novel sales make up 78% of the market. In my humble opinion, small press creators need to keep this in mind as its clear graphic novel formats—not single issues—are where the market for readers is heaviest.

In hindsight, it’s kind of a ‘duh’ statistic to ingest. It’s easy to pick up a trade at your local comic book store, Barnes and Noble, or sometimes even at airports. Their self-contained design means the bar to entry is relatively low, and they’re fun to pass along to a friend or family member to encourage them to read the story. While there are obviously benefits to producing single issues, there is still a correlation in the data that hints graphic novels are where the money is.

It’s All About the Manga, Baby

ICv2 noted that while Manga has had the biggest decline in terms of sales, their market share is still more than 40% of graphic novels sales. While the genre is popular, there are elements of style in manga storytelling that readers are clearly resonating with and small press creators have a unique opportunity to fuse styles and create interesting stories. Additionally, their compact design against oversized formats are likely to contribute to readers picking them up and taking them on the go. DC Comics is even getting in on the format and ICv2 noted how this was a huge win.

Take Those Comic Books on Vacation

Data also suggests that like movies, readers have more time to consume comic books during the summer with graphic novels increasing by 5.7% in sales in the summer of 2024. This contrasts to graphic novels sales being down in the first half of the year. True, these correlations do not prove causation—but with summer being the time when readers take vacations or are no longer in school—that free time fosters picking up a trade or two. This type of market research is notable—especially as small press creators can leverage consumer habits to their benefits.

So Who Leads in Sales?

Let’s not kid ourselves, Marvel dominates comic books sales with Q3 2024 data showing 39.9% share and within the past year this percentage has remained steady with DC Comics losing ground.

Image Comics, IDW Publishing, BOOM! Studios, and Dark Horse follow after making up a collective 24%, and the two creator owned titles that also take the top two spots in graphic novel sales for Summer 2024 are Houses of the Unholy and Something is Killing the Children.

So if Marvel and DC Comics make up about 60% of comic books sales, consider this a calling to make your mark in that 40% for those who are wanting to get into creating comic books.

Location, Location, Location

If there is ever a need to remind readers why they should order their comics from their local comic books store instead of supporting billionaires, it would be this statistic: Comic book stores only make 36% of comic book sales—and this share is decreasing. The book channel is 61% of the sales volume and while this is not to discourage going to a small book store, just remember the little guys next time you want to buy a comic book instead of buying off of Amazon. Bookshop is a perfect alternative to get access to large options while supporting small chains.

Can Indie/Small Press Comics Truly Leverage this Data?

While the data presented doesn’t show the full picture—for example, the sales data is based on new purchases and not reselling of key issues at a mark up—it still arguably tells an interesting story. Getting someone to invest in a comic book means getting them to invest in the medium. While the average comic book reader might not shy away from a small press creators at an interaction at a convention, there still needs to be an effort to create new readers and adapt to how they read comics.

So for those producing, marketing, and selling their self-published work, maybe consider that while new readers may not have a short box to put your comic, it certainly wouldn’t look bad on the book shelf.

All data mentioned in this article derived from the ICv2 Insider Talks at the 2024 NYCC. A formal thank you to ICv2 for putting together this presentation and for providing Pages and Panels press access to the discussion.