I seem to recall someone observing that further declines in the traditional comics market are highly probable.
Marvel managed to take lead for both sales numbers and revenue raised in terms of that marketshare. Marvel Comics had a 34.86{a298dadb698b5d9f7b1e1aa14f0e41ed4811cd67f55ba9a1b19c355a24d2c8ed} retailer dollar share and a 36.94{a298dadb698b5d9f7b1e1aa14f0e41ed4811cd67f55ba9a1b19c355a24d2c8ed} unit share compared to DC’s 31.79{a298dadb698b5d9f7b1e1aa14f0e41ed4811cd67f55ba9a1b19c355a24d2c8ed} dollar share and a 36.61{a298dadb698b5d9f7b1e1aa14f0e41ed4811cd67f55ba9a1b19c355a24d2c8ed} unit share…. However the market itself is still slumping. 2017 was down around 10{a298dadb698b5d9f7b1e1aa14f0e41ed4811cd67f55ba9a1b19c355a24d2c8ed} on 2016. And the year to date for 2018 is down on January and February 2017 by 6.8{a298dadb698b5d9f7b1e1aa14f0e41ed4811cd67f55ba9a1b19c355a24d2c8ed}. Not a great start.
Let’s see, a 6.8{a298dadb698b5d9f7b1e1aa14f0e41ed4811cd67f55ba9a1b19c355a24d2c8ed} decline from $79.7 million is… $73.4 million, only $1.4 million more than my forecast. Considering the nature of the changes at DC and Marvel, we can be confident that 2018 will be down more than 6.8{a298dadb698b5d9f7b1e1aa14f0e41ed4811cd67f55ba9a1b19c355a24d2c8ed} by the end of the year. And, in fact, year-to-date unit sales are down 15.61{a298dadb698b5d9f7b1e1aa14f0e41ed4811cd67f55ba9a1b19c355a24d2c8ed} already. But don’t worry, real change is coming… and it is off the chain. What is exciting is that more and more veteran illustrators and colorists are hearing about us and getting in touch, learning about our new, flexible business models that give them a real interest in the success of their creations, and signing on with both Arkhaven and Dark Legion.
