Phil Juliano from the Iowa Comic Book Club Show
SPECIAL FEATURES
Thursday, October 30, 2014
Monday, October 13, 2014
An Informative Report Courtesy of Lisa Aquilina From the ICv2 Conference
The
retail panel at the ICv2 Conference (l. to r.) Andrew Mcintire (Things From Another World), Terrence Irvins (Kinokuniya), Jim Crocker (Modern Myths),
Tucker Stone (Bergen Street Comics), David Steinberger (Comixology) and ICv2
CEO Milton Griepp, moderator.
There’s
a new comics reader in town, and she’s a girl and a more casual customer, drawn
to specific stories, rather than long-running superhero franchises. That was
the overwhelming theme of the ICv2 Conference: “Understanding The New Comics
Customer” held the Wednesday prior to New York Comic Con. The conference
offered data on the new comics customer, the explosive growth of comics
festivals, retailer responses and a discussion of what this new customer is
reading.
ICv2
founder Milton Griepp kicked things off with his annual white paper on industry
sales, recapping 2013 numbers which showed that comics are a $870 million industry including sales in comics shops,
bookstores and digital. So far in 2014 graphic novel sales are up in “double
digits,” periodical comics are up 3% and digital is “flat.”
Griepp’s
annual survey of graphic novels by genre showed that the number of books being
published is down in most genres except fiction/reality (essentially non
superhero comics) which was up 26%, possibly the result of new customers who
are interested in non-genre storytelling.
The
manga market rebounded in 2013 with an 8% rise after years of steep decline,
thanks to the hit Attack on Titan. Griepp noted that anime is now available via
streaming and this helped some properties.
With
increasing interest in the children’s graphic novel market, Griepp made a study
of sales over the summer 2014 period and estimated the kids GN market at about
$60-70 million a year. “That’s a significant and growing part of the business,”
Griepp said. “It’s not only a segment that wasn’t there 10 years ago but, also
younger readers turn into older, lifelong readers.”
Three
other sessions covered comics conventions, retailing and publishing, and all of
them stressed that there are new customers coming into the industry, drawn by
strong material such as Saga and The Walking Dead. Although many are drawn in
by media properties and movies, they stay for the variety of stories in
different formats.
The
growing presence of female customers was also noted in all channels and events.
A survey conducted by online ticketing service Eventbrite, customer data
gathered by convention organizer Wizard World at its summer shows, and New York
Comic Con organizer ReedPOP’s own internal numbers all showed somewhere between
40-47% of attendees are female. According to Eventbrite’s figures, which were
presented by consultant Rob Salkowitz, among convention goers under thirty,
it’s a 50-50 split.
Given
recent controversy over whether cosplayers and other experience oriented
attendees are buying at shows—there has been much online discussion about the
popularity of cosplayers and whether they interfere with buying at
shows—Salkowitz reported that female attendees tended to go to shows to shop as
much as males, but more women than men reported spending higher amounts.
On
the retailing panel, a variety of store owners reported they are seeing more
“casual consumers” who are not wedded to continuity and connected superhero
universes. All retail panelists—which included Comixology CEO David
Steinberger—praised digital distribution for “growing the market,” according to
Jim Cocker of Modern Myths. Steinberger said Comixology’s newest consumers are
likely to be women, 18 years old and up.
“Tucker
Stone of Bergen Street comics noted that “When we started selling YA and
children’s comics they were about 5-10% of sales, and now they are a third.
About 1/3 of our customers are female but among graphic novel buyers, it’s
50/50.” Stone was equally bullish on libraries and urged retailers to “stop
whatever you’re doing and work with librarians,” emphasizing that it will pay
off in increased sales.
Terence
Irvins, the graphic novel buyer at Kinokuniya Books new comics section,
recalled that comics writer Warren Ellis had once predicted there would be “a
casual customer who has no interest in back issues, but will browse the
shelves. And that’s what we’re seeing now.” Indeed Steinberger emphasized that
digital comics “are for reading, not for collecting,” and noted that
Comixology’s list of bestselling titles looked very much like that of
conventional print bookstore.
On
the publishing panel IDW’s Ted Adams relayed the success they’ve had with their
Micro Comic Fun Packs, a low-priced grab bag sold at mass market that
introduces readers to comics via included mini comics. “A casual kid goes
wandering around WalMart and sees Skylander fun packs. This is as casual as it
gets.” Panelists Joseph Illidge of Verge Entertainment and Cassandra Pelham of
Scholastic/Graphix addressed issues of diversity, as did Archie CEO Jon
Goldwater, who outlined editorial process that led to the launch of Kevin
Keller, Archie’s first gay character.
Panelists
emphasized the importance of diversity—ethnic, gender, sexual preference and
more—pointing out titles such as Ms. Marvel and its Pakistani-American heroine,
which present nontraditional heroes for a modern audience, reflecting the world
of today. A continuing theme throughout the day was the rise of a new
contemporary “golden age” of comics content, driven by such bestselling comics
works as Roz Chast’s Can’t We Talk about Something More Pleasant and Raina
Telgemeier’s Sisters, which are drawing huge numbers of readers to the comics
category.
As
Archie publisher Jon Goldwater stressed, “The foundation for us is always
telling great stories.”
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