Anime News

Graphic Novel Gains Outpace Comics Again In Both June and Q2
Date: 7/25/2005
While sales of periodical comics in comic stores registered a solid 13% gain in June versus sales in the same month in 2004, graphic novel sales in the channel surged ahead of 2004 by 53%, producing an over-all gain in comic and graphic novel sales of 17% for June versus 2004. Periodical comics sales in June, spurred on by the continuing strength of summer "event" releases (see "''House of M' Boffo at 233K"), reversed two months of decline (April and May) to secure a 1% gain for comic sales in Q2, 2005 versus Q2 2004. Meanwhile graphic novel sales rose a robust 38% for the quarter and raised total comics and graphic novels sales in Q2 2005 a full 8% over the combined sales in the second quarter of 2004.



Graphic novel sales in June rose by double digits for the sixth consecutive month, while periodical comics rose just 3% in Q1 and 1% in Q2. Interestingly the rise in sales of graphic novels in June was not concentrated in the top few titles, but spread throughout a growing list of graphic novel releases.



For the top 300 comics in June, see "Top 300 Comics Actual--June 2005."

For the top 100 graphics novels in June, see "Top 100 Graphic Novels Actual--May 2005."

For an overview and analysis of the best-selling comics and graphic novels in June, see "'House of M' Bofo at 233K."

For the top 300 comics in May, see "Top 300 Comics Actual--May 2005."

For the top 100 graphics novels in May, see "Top 100 Graphic Novels Actual--May 2005."

For an over-view and analysis of the best-selling comics and graphic novels in May, see "Green Lantern #1 Tops 168K." For an analysis of the dollar trends in May, see "Graphic Novels Keep Dollars Up Again."

For our index to our reports on the top comic and graphic novel preorders for January 2000 through June 2005, see "ICv2's Top 300 Comics and Top 100 GNs Index."
Source: ICv2