Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Comics, david gabriel, donald trump, election, ike perlmutter, marvel, marvel retailers summit, trump
Marvel Blames Comics Market Sales Slump On Election Angst
David Gabriel, Marvel's Senior Vice President – Sales and Marketing, has been having some pretty frank conversations over at the Marvel Retailer Summit.
One element which was very frank indeed was when Gabriel discussed the sales slump in the comics market in general. Gabriel says,
"There was just a big shift in the entire industry, and there were a lot of factors behind that. I think everybody had a modicum of blame publisher-wise. I think the economy had a little bit to blame. By economy, I'm talking about what was going on in the outside world which led to people not necessarily wanting to spend money in that October-November time frame."
That October-November time-frame is quite telling. Just what kind of significant event was going on in the 'outside world' as he calls it at that time last year? Well, I believe there was a certain major election going on that resulted in the current President of the United States, Donald Trump.
Of course, he doesn't say it explicitly. After all, Marvel's CEO Ike Perlmutter is somewhat close with the new President right now, so making it plainly outright might not be entirely wise for him.
It is not entirely out of the blue. Much was made at the time about how the election seemed to be causing troubles in the markets too, with the US Election being feared as killing the economy due to the angst and uncertainty for the future surrounding those tumultuous final months of the election run.
One wonders what he makes of it now, as we approach 70 days into Donald Trump's presidency? Does he think the 'outside world' is more stable and thus the markets will see strength return to them?