The comic book industry has seen a resurgence in recent years, thanks in part to the success of films based on comic book characters. This has led to a renewed interest in comic book collecting, and the industry has been able to capitalize on this. Major players in the global comic book market include Naver Corporation, Shueisha, Shogakukan, The Walt Disney Company, Kodansha and Kadokawa Future Publishing. The comic book industry is unique in that it relies heavily on personal interaction and physical media.
Events such as Comic-Con have helped to increase the acceptance of comics among people. Compiled formats have been dominating comic book sales for some time now, and the culture of comic books has become an amalgam of passionate fans from all over the world. The COVID-19 pandemic has had an unexpected effect on the comic book market. Diamond, a major distributor, had to shut down temporarily, which caused cash flow problems and delayed payments to publishers.
This led to a virtual shutdown of the comic book market. However, it also led to an increase in sales of back issues and existing inventory from both physical stores and online retailers. The opening Free Comic Book Day event was a great success and exceeded expectations. There were double-digit increases in the book channel, which included online retailers, large chains and mass retailers, as well as school book fairs.
This reflects the growing popularity of graphic novels among children. For many expert administrators who own and operate these comic book stores, their experience and backlog catalogs are invaluable and irreplaceable. Nearly twenty years later, the event is still going on, as is the comic book industry it helped save.
