Comics Are STILL Selling Well!

"With the Direct Market effectively shuttered due to Diamond Comic Distributors' shutdown and several state mandates, the booktrade has become the defacto primary distribution channel for comic book publishers including Marvel, DC, BOOM! Studios, and VIZ Media.

ICv2's Milton Griepp has organized a report of booktrade sales in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. According to figures from Bookscan, March 2020's sales for the top 20 kids graphic novel titles "were actually up substantially over" March 2019 and that the top 20 adult graphic novels were "similar" to those from this point last year.

But how?

While Diamond has been shutdown for the past two weeks, several publishers use other distributors for bookstores. BOOM! Studios, for example, uses Simon & Schuster.

"We are evaluating our 2020 release schedule to best balance the needs of our team, partners, and customers while following guidelines from local, state, and federal government officials in this unprecedented time," BOOM! Studios' President of Publishing & Marketing Filip Sablik told ICv2. "At the same time, many distributors in the book market - including BOOM! Studios' distributor Simon & Schuster - are still fulfilling orders. We currently plan to continue shipping new graphic novels to the book channel, and retailers with accounts at Simon & Schuster, or at other wholesalers like Ingram, may continue to order new and current BOOM! Studios original graphic novels or collections, in addition to ordering previously released BOOM! Studios books from Diamond Comic Distributors."

Image Comics and Dynamite Entertainment are not able to sell to the booktrade currently, as they have exclusive booktrade distribution with Diamond's booktrade division.

But the other major publishers - Marvel, DC, BOOM! Studios, IDW Publishing, Dark Horse, Scholastic, and VIZ Media - have booktrade distribution through Simon & Schuster, Penguin Random House, and others which have remained in operation unlike Diamond."