Looking at the top 10 graphic novels of last year is a fascinating peek at an alternative comic-reading audience to the direct market single issue one we’re all more familiar with: Six volumes of Walking Dead? And what’s interesting is seeing that it’s the three most recent volumes and the first three, suggesting two different sizable groups – Clearly, the AMC show is bringing in newcomers to the comic itself, which is great. Also, note the almost complete lack of superheroes, with the exception of the OGN Batman: Noel; is this a sign that superhero readers prefer the single issue format, perhaps? (Also, clearly there’s an audience out there for superhero OGNs, too; I wonder if next year’s chart will feature appearances by Marvel’s various Season One books?)
What’s worth remembering is that this is just the Diamond book chart – Publishers also use other distributors, so this is a potentially misleading idea of where the book market actually is. Don’t both DC and Marvel have additional distribution outside of the direct market? I wonder if that information would significantly change the idea of what sells and what doesn’t? I guess we’ll have to wait until the Bookscan numbers for the year get revealed.
January 11th, 2012 at 1:44 pm
Here’s the thing though: Let’s say you are a new customer and you want to read the Walking Dead. You go to the comic book store, or just a book store, and you go buy Walking Dead Vol 1, and then 2, and then 3. So on with Scott Pilgrim, and Y The Last Man.
Now, lets say you are the same person, and you want to read Spider-Man. Not so easy, as there are 50 years of comics, with numerous vol 1s, un numbered books. Different creators, different stories, different universes.
So it’s no surprise to me that these easy to read books constantly dominate the sales charts. Collected versions of monthly superhero books only sell to former monthly comic buyers.
January 11th, 2012 at 6:48 pm
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January 12th, 2012 at 8:51 am
I agree with you Steve, that superhero collections are harder to jump into. A novice won’t know if they’re getting a complete story or just part of one.
More than that, I think us superhero collectors have a couple of strikes against us:
1) We’ve been trained to expect our weekly fix, and thus waiting is anathema to us.
2) There’s also the issue of wanting to remain in the conversation with what’s happening with events, etc. and avoid spoiers.
I’ve been trying to break out of both of these things and buy more trades. It’s better for my budget and for my enjoyment of the comics, since I buy fewer duds.