A Retrospect: “PW: Graphic Novel Sales Up; Manga Down” (Blamed on Twilight)

Okay so the story behind this post is that, I began writing this a long while ago after coming across an article in Publisher’s Weekly while researching my thesis. Never got around to finishing it, but in light of recent Twilight news this seemed like an interesting draft to salvage with the manga having been announced last week in EW.

From a PW article about Graphic Novel and Manga Sales from February:

“Griepp blamed the decline in manga sales on the tough economy as well as inventory reductions at Borders and the ongoing closing of mall stores. He also cited a decline in exposure of anime on cable TV and the overwhelming popularity of the blockbuster Twilight series, which competed with manga for the consumer dollars of teen girls.”

Bwhaaa?  Really? I fail to see how a set of four books published over a span of years competed for consumer dollars no matter how much merchandising was out there.  It certainly would have had an affect on the profits of specific series and genres.  The decline in exposure of anime on basic cable is the far more likely culprit along with the economy and ever increasing competition for shelf space.

We’re well into the field of personal opinion so feel free to ignore me; I have no delusions of being the Lorax of geeks.  While I can’t agree with the PW article, supposing Griepp was right, the Twilight manga is mildly ironic.  With the adaptation heading towards the Manga aisle will we see a significant sales bump across the format as a whole?  Of course.   So in a sense, Twilight will be saving manga from itself.  My hope is that Twilight fans will also pick up Vampire Knight and Rosario Vampire while they are over there.  (Especially Vampire Knight. <3 I have so much love for that series and one day I will get around to blogging about it.  Team Edward, you’re going to love Kiryuu-kun.)

Anyway as far as the rest of the article went.:

Graphic Novel sales were up 5% in 2008 while manga sales declined by 17%.  5% is a fairly small number so perhaps this is not indicative of a larger trend and was just a fluke.  However based solely on my own buying habits of late the statistics held very true.  And then I got to thinking.  Why was this so?

A lot of it has had to do with recent forms of peer pressure that have popped up in my own life.  Even geeks want to fit in with their fellow nerds and degenerates.  My boyfriend is a comics nerd as are many of my co-workers/former classmates and the bloggers whom I follow.  So now the people I talk with are this kind of geek, but there was a time when my posse was very different.  I mean, hell, I was President of our college anime club.

I don’t know where along the road I fell into these circles and fell out of touch with the same manga crowd  who fed my addictions.

This peer pressure thing is something that is very specific to my life based on the friendships I’m attempting to forge; however, the article prompted me make a few other observations about my current buying habits that perhaps have a broader impact.

In by-gone days I didn’t blink an eyelash at spending $100+ every month for the newest volumes in my favortie lines.  Those were before the darktimes, before the Empire, before tuition, groceries, and utilities.  Now, I struggle with the decision to lay down the money for a b&w,  200-300 page book which will only last me a half hour and yet will remain with me, taking up what limited space I have in my apartment, indefinitely.  Whereas a graphic novel may take me longer to make up my mind about it, but I tend to suffer less guilt after having bought a$19.95 trade hardcover printed in 4-color on a heavy pound, high-gloss paper.  The perceived value is higher, and now I’m at an age where hat kind of thing has begun to matter.

HELP ME!  Oh to young again and haphazard about my personal fiances.  Just kidding, but seriously, winning the lotto right now would be nice.

/End of Line

~ L.