Joe Field of Flying Colors Comics in Concord, California saw Paul Stock's comments on the direct market (see 'Paul Stock of Astro Books on ComicSuite') and his appreciation of Stock's analysis leads him to wonder if it's time to break out manga sales:
I want to applaud Paul Stock of Astro Books in
I'd like to point out that manga as a merchandise category is acting more than ever like up-priced periodicals. Even the mega-hit title Naruto has had a new volume released on the equivalent of a monthly basis in 2007. While some titles still have long legs, most are doing the bulk of their sales in the first few weeks of release.
It's also worth pointing out that more non-manga trade paperbacks are being sold in direct market outlets than through other channels. Maybe it's time to break manga out into a separate sales category?
Paul was also astute to point out the fun with numbers that the book market is growing at a faster rate because it is still a relatively new market, while comic specialty retailers have been building the current readers' market for 15 years, if not longer.
The opinions expressed in this Talk Back article are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.
