Book News: New York Comic Con Draws Record Crowds Despite Economy

Michael Rogers -- Library Journal, 02/09/2009

• Publishers say overall comics sales down, but superstars holding
• Piracy becoming an issue
• Watchmen footage wows the crowd.

Despite the ailing economy and the alleged death of the book, the New York Comic Con drew a crushing crowd of 77,000 (up 10,000 from last year) to Manhattan’s Jacob Javits Convention Center, February 6–9. The economy nonetheless was on the minds of publishers and booksellers, who offered their insights at the Publishers Weekly sponsored panel, “Selling Good Books in a Bad Economy.” Overall, the panelists agreed that sales are down, although there are some runaway titles that continue to sell vigorously, and those balance the titles lagging. TOKYOPOP’s Stuart Levy (above, left) said that midlist manga/graphic novel titles especially have fallen victim to the times. “Customers are still there,” Levy said, “but they’re cautious.” Judith Hansen of Hansen Literary Agency added that “quality does sell” and panelists found that the caliber of children’s comics has improved and the international market is strong.

“Free is a great price”
Levy (right) added that like the music industry, piracy is becoming a serious threat to comics/graphic novel houses and that TOKYOPOP has discovered numerous sites offering their content. “Free is a great price” he said, especially now, but publishers have to be vigilant to ensure that their property isn’t bootlegged online and that they’re not cheated out of profits.

Graphic novels are particularly ripe for film tie-ins, and the success of recent adaptations like 2008’s Iron Man and The Dark Knight have fueled massive sales of related titles and introduced a new audience previously unfamiliar with the medium. Panelists commented that anticipation for the big screen version of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’s Watchmen has catapulted sales of that and other titles. DC Comics’s John Cunningham (panel, far right) revealed that while Watchmen has enjoyed steady sales of roughly 45,000 annually, in 2008 that number ballooned to 300,000 when images from the film began appearing.

Rorschach test
With so many banking on the Watchmen film to drive sales, just what can publishers realistically expect? A lot if the reaction to the first 18 minutes of footage shown at the Warner Bros preview session is any indication. Introduced by artist Dave Gibbons (left), the film’s opener met with thunderous applause by the audience, who marveled at how visually accurate it appeared to the source material. Although not as mainstream as Batman, the production seems to have the hallmarks of another blockbuster, and libraries would do well to have tie-in materials on order (see LJ’s roundup of Watchmen-related titles in the March 5, 2009 edition of BookSmack!).

[Click here for LJ's album of exclusive ComicCon pix.]