This year’s rundown of the top comic industry stories of the year is brought to you by the letter D and the number “as high as $70 million.” The former decently describes the devastation, disruption and drama demarking the domain from digital to direct market, whereas the latter is the high-side estimate of what is still owed by Diamond to its assorted creditors.
Let the reminiscences begin!
Diamond Bankruptcy. Like a bad smell that won’t leave the room, Diamond’s ignominious collapse was, unfortunately, the lingering business story of 2025. And while it may have been deadly, it certainly wasn’t silent. All year, new details kept burbling out, each ranker than the last, but few as purely evil as the efforts of the legacy business to seize and sell inventory consigned by publishers.
The consequences of the distributor sitting on both cash and inventory rippled through the ranks of smaller presses, hitting those who can least afford it the hardest. Having money tied up with Diamond, even for those who could afford it, meant less free cash for new books and new operations. In some cases, it has led or is leading to more general business failures.
On the upside, Diamond’s exit clears the field for a new distribution landscape. PRH and Lunar are mostly up the learning curve. The expansion of Canada’s Universal Distribution into the US bodes well for the overall health of the sector and the opportunities for smaller imprints. With creditors finally pulling the plug on any possible “reorganization” under Chapter 11 and the company moving toward full Chapter 7 liquidation, it’s possible that comics’ own “too big to fail” collapse could finally be entering the terminal phase.
Direct Market Resurgence. As you all remember from the epic ICv2 Insider Talks at this year’s NYCC (what, weren’t there? Shame on you!), one of the big surprises in the market data was renewed strength in both periodical sales and direct market share, reversing decade-long trends relative to the rise of graphic novels and the trade book channel. (see “ICv2 White Paper: It’s a New World.”)
What kind of gains are we talking? According to the report, dollar sales in comic shops were up 13.3% in 2024, and sales of periodical comics grew 12.2%. Data from 2025 suggests that strength continued into this year.
This is good news in a few dimensions. For all the handwringing about the declining value and relevance of the “floppy” (single issue) format, it is still the best way to get creators paid on a regular basis, and the easiest way to turn casual fans into habitual readers. Successful periodicals are also the basis of successful trade collections and the launching point of new story arcs, new characters, and creator reputations. If you want a healthy comics industry, you need a healthy root system.
Best of all, the strong results put the “direct market in death spiral” narrative on pause, even as individual stores continue to have a hard time in some markets. If the overall outlook for the comics retail industry is positive to the tune of double-digit annual growth, and the rising popularity of comics with GenZ/Gen Alpha that some have observed is real, that could attract new money into the retail side and maybe give store owners looking at retirement an exit ramp.
Digital Pandemonium. Remember when digital was boring? When comiXology, tucked neatly into the folds of Amazon, was the only game in town? That era seems to be over, at least until the new money runs out, as a lineup of new and evolving competitors burst into the light with big announcements in 2025, driven partly by a new mindset among the major publishers to let a thousand digital distributors bloom.
Some of this year’s big announcements included the launch of new digital marketplaces like Neon Ichiban, InkyPen and Sweet Shop, expansion and new capital for GlobalComix, and a steady drumbeat of news from WEBTOON, including plans to collaborate with Disney on some kind of new mobile comics app (see “Digital Comics Arms Race Escalates with New Announcements from Neon Ichiban, Inkypen, Sweet Shop” among others).
In most cases, companies came to market with big guns like Marvel, DC, Kodansha, Image Comics and others in tow, not just the usual suspects who sign up to every new platform launch. As I’ve opined before, I think this indicates that some publishers now regard distributor monopolies and exclusives more skeptically than before, and are more open to nothing-to-lose agreements with whoever comes knocking. In the short run, this is great for fans, publishers and creators. Whether the market wants or needs a handful of apps and platforms selling the same product for roughly the same price remains to be seen.
DC Absolute Domination. If we can believe ComicHub data, and of course we can because they are a trusted partner of ICv2, DC is having its best year in a long, long time. The elder statesman of American superhero comics took 9 of the top 10 spots for comics sold in November, closing to within 7% of Marvel’s market share (29.5% for DC compared to 36.6% for Marvel) (see “Top 50 Comics – November 2025”)
A lot of DC’s recent success comes down to Absolute Batman and the Absolute Universe that followed in its wake, along with the DC K.O. event and DC’s side of the Batman/Deadpool Crossover. When you look online and in conventions, DC is also getting a lot of the fan buzz, with people genuinely invested in the characters, storylines and universes.
Every publisher can get on a hot streak now and then, but with DC, it feels like there is a deliberate strategy at work, and it’s paying off. Combined with the popularity of the Compact Edition format as starter packs for new or more recent fans, and the air cover of the resurgent James Gunn-powered DCU, this has probably helped the topline numbers reported above. And, if history is any guide, it will provoke Marvel into a competitive frenzy, pumping more creative juice into the still-critical superhero segment of the market.
Downturns in Unexpected Directions. The flipside of the relative strength of direct market and periodical sales was some notable cooling-off in the previously red-hot manga and kid-oriented graphic novel segments.
The US manga space seems like it’s in one of its periodical resets, where the last generation of hot titles like Attack on Titan have run their course, while the next wave hasn’t quite built momentum yet. With Crunchyroll leading an anime arms race and streamers looking to fill slots with hot new series, it’s only a matter of time before the next big hit pushes the numbers higher.
On the kids side, we might also be seeing a generational shift as publishers look for the next Dog Man or Wimpy Kid. There is inherently less stylistic experimentation when it comes to graphic novels for younger readers, and risk aversion among editors and publishers might make it harder for anything fresh to really break out.
Well, that about does it for 2025. What were your highlights and lowlights, and what are you looking forward to for ’26?
Happy holidays everyone. See you all next year with my annual Industry Forecasts column to kick things off in January!
The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.
Rob Salkowitz (Bluesky @robsalk) is the author of Comic-Con and the Business of Pop Culture, a two-time Eisner Award nominee, and a proud longtime contributor to Eisner-nominated ICv2.
Source: ICv2
