Over 94 million copies of comic books and graphic novels were sold in 2021 in the United States.
2021 was a record year for comic book sales, as well as fiction book sales overall, over the last 5 years and very close to 2016 levels when 99 million copies were sold to comic book stores.
2020 was the worst year for comic books, as only 63.2 million copies were sold to comic stores.
Over the last 10 years, over 881 million copies of comic books have been sold to comic book stores, or 88.1 million copies on average.
Year
Comic books sales by year (million copies)
Change
2012
86
2013
91.8
6.74%
2014
92
0.22%
2015
98
6.52%
2016
99
1.02%
2017
89.4
-9.70%
2018
84.4
-5.59%
2019
83.2
-1.42%
2020
63.2
-24.04%
2021
94
48.73%
Comic books sales revenue by year
Comic book sales generated over $2.07 billion in revenue in 2021, setting a new historical record.
Comic book revenue in 2021 was 62.1% higher compared to 2020.
Over the last 10 years, over $11,4 billion have been generated from comic book sales or around $1.14 billion per year.
Year
Comic book sales revenue by year ($ million)
Change
2012
$805
2013
$870
8.07%
2014
$935
7.47%
2015
$1,030
10.16%
2016
$1,085
5.34%
2017
$1,015
-6.45%
2018
$1,095
7.88%
2019
$1,210
10.50%
2020
$1,280
5.79%
2021
$2,075
62.11%
In 2021, comic print sales generated over $1.9 billion in revenue, accounting for over 91.8% of all comic book sales.
Printed comic sales were 70% higher compared to 2020, when they accounted for 87.5% of all comic sales.
Digital comic sales, after having a record year during the pandemic, jumped by 6.25% in 2021 and stood at $170 million.
Even though this is a record revenue for digital comics, they took a step back from 2020, falling from 12.5% of all comics sales to 8.19% in 2021.
Year
Print comic book sales by year ($ million)
Print comics share
Digital comic book sales by year ($ million)
Digital comics book share
2012
$735
91.30%
$70
8.70%
2013
$780
89.66%
$90
10.34%
2014
$835
89.30%
$100
10.70%
2015
$940
91.26%
$90
8.74%
2016
$995
91.71%
$90
8.29%
2017
$925
91.13%
$90
8.87%
2018
$995
90.87%
$100
9.13%
2019
$1,120
92.56%
$90
7.44%
2020
$1,120
87.50%
$160
12.50%
2021
$1,905
91.81%
$170
8.19%
Comic book sales by format
Graphic novels are the driving force behind comic sales, while comic books face a significant decline:
In 2021, over $1.4 billion was generated from the sales of graphic novels, representing over 70.8% of all comic book sales.
10 years ago, graphic novels accounted for only 47.7% of all comic sales.
On the other hand, comic books accounted for 42% of all comic sales in 2013, and now their share dropped to only 20.9%.
In 2021, comic books generated $435 in revenue, an increase from $285 million in 2020.
Year
Graphic novels ($ million)
Comic books ($ million)
Graphic novels share
Comic books share
2013
$415
$365
47.70%
41.95%
2014
$460
$375
49.20%
40.11%
2015
$535
$405
51.94%
39.32%
2016
$590
$405
54.38%
37.33%
2017
$570
$355
56.16%
34.98%
2018
$635
$360
57.99%
32.88%
2019
$765
$355
63.22%
29.34%
2020
$835
$285
65.23%
22.27%
2021
$1,470
$435
70.84%
20.96%
Comic book sales by channel
In 2019, comic book sales faced a shift in the main sales channel as bookstores became the dominant source of revenue:
Over $1.16 billion of comic sales in 2021 were generated through bookstores, which presents 56.14% of total comic book revenue.
At the same time, only 33.9% of revenue came from comic book stores in 2021, accounting for $705 million in sales revenue.
Comic book sales from newsstands remain stable, standing at $35 million in 2021, unchanged from 2020.
In 2013, only 28% of all comic sales went through bookstores, while over 58% came from comic stores.
This shows that comic books became a part of bookselling mainstream and came out of the niche genre that they were up until a few years ago.
Year
Bookstore sales ($ million)
Comic stores ($ million)
Newsstands ($ million)
2013
$245
$510
$25
2014
$285
$530
$20
2015
$350
$570
$20
2016
$405
$570
$20
2017
$400
$515
$10
2018
$465
$510
$20
2019
$570
$525
$25
2020
$645
$440
$35
2021
$1,165
$705
$35
Average comic book price by year
The average price of a comic book in 2020 is estimated at $4.19, increasing by 1.2% compared to 2019.
This is also the highest average price for a comic book in history and the third consecutive year that the average price is over $4.
Since 2011, comic book prices had positive annual growth every year.
The largest increase occurred in 2019, jumping by 3.5% compared to 2018.
Looking at monthly average prices since 2011, the best time to buy comic books is in April, while August is the most expensive month for comic books purchase:
Since 2011, the average comic book price for the month of April stands at $3.76, the lowest over the year.
On the other hand, buying a comic book in August will cost $3.87 on average, making it the most expensive month.
The tendency is that comic books get the most expensive over the last few months of the year, while the prices drop over the first few months of the year.
Comic book market share
Since 2011, Marvel Comics has accounted for 37% of total comic book sales revenue, making them the highest-earning comic book company.
2019 was a record year for Marvel, whose sales accounted for 40.3% of total sales.
DC Comics is responsible for 29.6% of total revenue, generating over $2.59 billion since 2011.
Together, Marvel and DC hold over 66.6% of total comic book sales revenue since 2011, peaking at 69.53% in 2019.
Image Comics accounts for 8.7% of revenue share, and no other company holds over 5%.
