Each October, New York’s Jacob Javits Center becomes a nerd mecca for comic book enthusiasts. As with many large gatherings, New York Comic Con 2022 (NYCC) had a rocky return last year as the city struggled to recover from the COVID lockdowns. The major comic book companies were nowhere in sight on the convention floor last year. Attendance was down in 2021, when compared to 2019. But this year the October 6-9 con still felt like it was starting to recover from a nuclear apocalypse: Alive, but mutating into a new form.
Each year the comic industry publication ICv2 holds an Insider Talk for comic and games industry professionals on Thursday afternoon at NYCC. Milton Griepp, the founder of ICv2, started off with the good news that comic book sales are up, and that Trade Paperbacks, which collect several issues of a comic into a single book, make up the largest portion of those sales (as compared to sales of single issues). Japanese manga was the best-selling form of comic book, as well as the most prevalent presence on the show floor of the convention. Traditional American superhero comics continue to be overshadowed by the likes of Naruto, Dragonball Z, and newcomer Chainsaw Man. Continue Reading at Chelsea Community News.