Columnist Rob Salkowitz explains why 1986 was the year when the Direct Market model proved that creating comics for the most devoted and discerning readers was the future of the business.

Richardson talks about his early days as a retailer and how that led to the creation of Dark Horse Comics.

Griepp describes working for local co-op distributors handling alternative publications to becoming a distributor himself.

Landau talks about his time editing 2000AD and his move into retailing with the opening of the first Forbidden Planet.

We profile a key store in the history of the comics Direct Market.

Sales were down for the top titles in all three categories.

These are unit and dollar sales rankings based on sales tracked at point-of-sale by the ComicHub system at stores selling American comics around the world.

This week, columnist Scott Thorne looks at the controversy over the use of artificial intelligence-generated art in the new Terraforming Mars expansion.

These are unit and dollar sales rankings based on sales tracked at point-of-sale by the ComicHub system at stores selling American comics around the world.

These are unit and dollar sales rankings based on sales tracked at point-of-sale by the ComicHub system at stores selling American comics around the world.