The comics market is poised for a turnaround, but the effect probably isn’t going to be the same for all formats, according to a report in ICv2’s Internal Correspondence #77 (see “ICv2 Releases 'Internal Correspondence' #77”).  The impact of DC’s New 52 has definitely been a shot in the arm for comic stores (see “New 52’s Remarkable Effects”), but the graphic novel picture is more complex.  The specific content that’s selling well in comic periodical form this fall won’t come out in graphic novel form for month, delaying some of the impact on sales.  And retailers have been telling ICv2 that there are problems that the New 52 aren’t going to solve.

One problem for every retailer except Amazon is the increasing share of the graphic novel business the online behemoth is accumulating, especially on higher priced products.  That’s not going to change because there’s some exciting new content hitting the graphic novel format.

And the pipeline of product hitting graphic novel format is crowded, according to retailer interviews.  Lower sales are getting divided among more titles, making purchasing more difficult.

Digital sales are growing as a percentage of the market, but apparently not at the expense of print sales.  Retailers interviewed by ICv2 do not feel they’re losing sales to digital competition on DC’s day and date titles.

Here are ICv2's top graphic novel properties across eight categories for:

Top 10 Genre Properties--Summer 2011
Top 10 Fiction & Reality Properties--Summer 2011
Top 10 Superhero Properties--Summer 2011
Top 5 Comic Strip Properties--Summer 2011
Top 10 Kids & Tweens GN Properties--Summer 2011
Top 10 Shojo Properties--Summer 2011
Top 10 Shonen Properties--Summer 2011
Top 25 Manga Properties--Summer 2011

For info on how to get your copy of the ICv2's Internal Correspondence #77 with the full market reports, Pick Hits of the best upcoming releases, and reviews, see "ICv2 Releases 'Internal Correspondence' #77."