Posted in: Comics, Current News | Tagged: dog man, london book fair

Kids Graphic Novels Sold a Record £20 Million in the UK in 2024

Kids graphic novels sold a record £20 million in the UK in 2024, thanks to Dav Pilkey, Jamie Smart and Alice Oseman... but David Walliams failed to make an impact

London Book Fair, kicking off today, has a greater graphic novel and comic book presence than ever, and it's not hard to see why. Publishers and presses at the IPG Conference at the end of last month saw Wilson talk about a shrinking children's book market in the UK as birth rates fall, cost-of-living pressures rise, and kids' literacy levels decline. Kate Wilson of book and graphic novel publisher Nosy Crow stated that some books are more effective in getting children and young people reading, noting the increasing popularity of graphic novels. "These are very visually literate children. We're finding that what is working are shorter books with greater illustrative support."

Nielsen's BookScan reports that the biggest sub-categories in kids publishing in the UK was in Children's Comic Strip Fiction & Graphic Novels, increasing sales from 2023 by 18.3% recording total sales of £19.8m, four times the £5 million it was getting back in 2019. Kids graphic novel mainstays Dav Pilkey of Dog Man and Jamie Smart of Bunny vs Monkey saw their UK sales up 41% and 74 and their combined £14.4 million sales were responsible for 75% of the kids graphic novel sector. Add the £1.3 million of sales from Alice Oseman's Heartstopper series earned, and that would be 81%. While John Patrick Green's InvestiGators and spin-off Agents of S.U.I.T series, earned a million in sales as well, with the four authors claiming a whopping 85% of the $20 million of UK kids graphic novel sales between them.

David Walliams' entry into the graphic novel entry didn't work as well as his other kids books though. In the last decade, Walliams never had fewer than two titles earn over £1 million through BookScan, and never less than three sell over 100,000 comics. That was not the case in 2024, with no titles in the Top 50 for the first time in eleven years. His first graphic novel with Adam Stower, Astrochimp from HC Children's still sold 90,984 copies and brought in £714,554, so it's not exactly chicken feed. Just maybe not enough to make the kind of impact that other more established graphic novel creators can.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!