The Forbidden Planet International Blog Log

At the end of last year, the French Association of Comic Critics and Journalists released its Bilan, or annual report on the state of the industry (rather than the art, even though we are in France).  They were rather optimistic, seeing many new publishers and publications, and a growing number of authors working in the field.  Especially when compared with other media, comics in France seemed to be booming.

Last week, however, Xavier Guilbert of the influential comics news and review site Du9 presented his annual analysis of sales figures in French comics, simply entitled Numérologie, and he sees little reason for optimism.  Guilbert’s analysis, which is repeated in the online magazine BoDoï, is simply alarming.  Even though the average price of a comic has risen some 3 %, the total market value has only grown with a meagre 0.3 %.  Nearly all large publishers, with the exception of Flammarion, have seen a reduction in their issues sold, with Soleil even plumetting no less than 11 %. Similarly, the five large publishing houses (Média participations, Glénat, Flammarion, Soleil and Delcourt) have seen their market share fall back from more than 80 % in 2002 to 70 % in 2009

(Blistering blue barnacles, this news would give any comics character a shock; Tintin characters (c) Moulinsart)

All publishers have reacted to this trend  in the same way, by deluging the market with new publications, thus spreading the risk of failure.    When compared to the situation in 2006, the five largest houses boosted their publishing schedule by no less than 25 %, but still saw a drop in sales with a 10 % dip.  Compared to 2003, they even put out 76 % more material (for a total o 4863 books in 2009 alone), and yet still saw a drop in sales.

Interestingly, though, the total market share of the five traditional publishers has remained quite stable, around 44 %, whereas the number of publishers has risen from 150 in 2001 to 288 in 2009.  This is often cited as the reason for the inflation in publication and the drop in sales, but one has to take into account that it’s the larger publishers that create the traffic jams in the book and comics stores, with large publishing runs, and a never ending stream of new titles or re-issues.

But the large publishers have every reason to keep pumping new books into the market, as the impact of the best-sellers (and their print runs) seems to follow the trends sketched above.  In 2001 the fifty best-selling books accounted for 28 % of total sales.  By 2006, this had dropped until 13 %, and by 2007, no comic sold more than the symbolic figure of 300,000 copies.

This trend also has an impact on a more cultural (rather than purely economical) level.   In the first decade of the 21st century, new books from established titles (Thorgal, Largo Wynch, Lanfeust, Spirou, etc.) typically sold 40-60 % fewer copies than before.  This trend is also reflected in catalogue sales, which, between a typical year in 2003-2005, and 2009, have fallen between 35 % (Astérix) to no less than 68 % (Titeuf).

In the next piece, I’ll review Du9′s conclusions.