I've changed the title of this thread from "Comic Book Sales Trends in 2016" because I keep coming back to it.
My friendly neighborhood comics shop, Fantom Comics of Washington, DC, breaks down what sold at the store in 2016. This information, of course, applies only to the one store, but it's still interesting reading: "2016 In Review – A Comic Book Shop Talks Comic Book Sales Trends"
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I was going to give the next item its own thread, but it fits here, so why not put it here?
I'm a longtime (20 years!) customer of Fantom Comics in Washington, D.C., a friendly neighborhood store in the Dupont Circle neighborhood, described as "one mile from the White House." As such, I'm also well acquainted with the co-owner/manager Jacob Shapiro, a young man well invested in the success of his store. He was interviewed in The Comics Journal back in 2018.
More recently, Jake wrote a piece for Comics Beat about what effect tariffs might have on stores like his, "Retailer Op-ed: Trump vs. the American Comics Industry"
He also appears in this report from CBS Evening News on the subject:
In short: In a store like his, the inventory, from the comics to the graphic novels to the trade paperbacks to the plushies to the Funko dolls to the board games to the T-shirts -- damn near everything -- is produced overseas. In Canada, in Korea, in Japan. There are a few U.S. producers, but they can't ramp up production to the level needed to supplant all or even a few of the overseas producers, not instantly; that would take several years in the long run. Not to mention that the paper most comics are printed on id milled in Canada, and that's subject to tariffs, too.
In the short run? Tariffs could kill a store like his, if his customers cut back on non-necessities, non-essentials like comics.
I know Fantom Comics struggled to survive COVID, with home delivery. Before that, it struggled to survive, but it had a smart manager (during the time Jake left Washington and lived in New York) who pushed to make the store not just a place that sells comics, but a neighborhood destination, with events. Jake has carried that baton, offering book clubs, gaming nights, even salsa dancing lessons and nights with figure models there so people can sit and draw.
But can it survive tariffs? That's a hard question.
Your shop looks like the original location of my old one, on Main Street in historic downtown St. charles (MO), except their brick building was painted red, not green.
Painting bricks is an abomination before the Lord.
That being said, printed matter from China is exempt from the tariffs (which aren't being enforced anyway, since most of them require an act of Congress). I don't know why, but as with most things Trump, he's probably making a buck off it. (Bribe, kickback, scratch-my-back favor -- some flavor of naked corruption.) That doesn't help with paper imported from Canada, so that's still an issue for publishers, who have to decide whether to absorb the cost or pass it on to the retailer, who then have to decide whether to absorb the cost or pass it on to the customer.
Assuming the tariffs are ever enforced.
Painting bricks is an abomination before the Lord.
I don't disagree.
...who have to decide whether to absorb the cost or pass it on to the retailer, who then have to decide whether to absorb the cost or pass it on to the customer.
...who have to decided whether or not to pass.
Assuming the tariffs are ever enforced.
The printed matter from China may be exempt, but the greatest proportion of comics, trade paperbacks and graphic novels comes from Canada. And as noted above, most comics, trade paperbacks and graphic novels are printed on paper milled in Canada. I think Jake is right to be scared.
From the Baltimore Banner: "After Being Sued for Acting in 'Extreme Bad Faith,' Diamond Comic Distributors sale approved"
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