COMICS IN JAPAN VS. NORTH AMERICA: LET'S CRUNCH THE NUMBERS

So how is it that manga creators like Eiichiro Oda (One Piece) and Rumiko Takahashi (Ranma ½) often make the list of Japan's top tax-payers (meaning they make some serious money)? Well, maybe because the Japanese manga publishing business pumps out and sells way more manga than its North American counterparts.

Simply said, manga is read by a higher proportion of the Japanese population on an everyday basis.

In Japan, kids, teens, adults, and even seniors read manga. Japanese people are practically cradle-to-grave comics consumers.

Compare and contrast this with North America, where the vast majority of Americans can't remember the last time they ever walked into a comics shop, much less read comics that wasn't in their Sunday newspaper.

You want some numbers to back this up? I've got some for you.

Graphic novel sales in 2011

• North America (not just manga): $680 million *
• Japan: ¥271.71 billion yen / $3.533 billion** (yes, billion with a "b")

Best-selling single volume graphic novel in 2011:

• North America:Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not-So-Popular Party Girl (Aladdin) by Rachel Renee Russell - 157,786 copies sold*
• Japan:One Piece Volume 61 by Eiichiro Oda (Shueisha) - 3.3 million copies sold**

The North American bestseller list reflects Bookscan numbers, which primarily captures sales in online and offline bookstores, and not a lot of comic shops. That said, you have to go pretty far down the Bookscan list to get to the top-selling 'comic shop' graphic novel, The Walking Dead Compendium Volume 1 by Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard, Cliff Rathburn, and Tony Moore (Image Comics), which sold 35,365 copies.
Best selling graphic novel series in 2011:

• North America:The Walking Dead sold 359,000 copies, generating $8.7 million in sales.
• Japan:One Piece Almost 38 million copies (37,996,373 copies)

Yep. One Piece outsold The Walking Dead by a ratio of almost 100:1. Okay, I admit that in 2011, there were 61 volumes of One Piece available at about $5 each (in Japan), plus various art books and companion books, compared to say, 13 volumes of The Walking Dead + the $60 hardcover compendium and various other editions. But even when you take those factors into account, the difference of scale is staggering.
Best-selling 'original' manga in 2011*:

• Twilight: The Graphic Novel Volume 2 by Stephenie Meyer and Young Kim (Yen Press) - 34,297 copies sold
• Scott Pilgrim Volume 1 by Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni Press) - 30,885 copies sold
• Maximum Ride Volume 4 by James Patterson and NaRae Lee (Yen Press) - 23,349 copies sold

Just want to compare manga sales in Japan and North America? We can do that too. I compared the May 2012 Bookscan and the June 2011Oricon sales reports for sales of Naruto Volume 56 by Masashi Kishimoto (Shueisha / VIZ Media), which captures the sales of this volume when it went on sale in North America and Japan. As the end of May 2012, the year-to-date sales of VIZ Media's edition of Naruto Volume 56 (which hit N. American shelves on May 8, 2012) was 6,348 copies. In Japan, Shueisha's edition of Naruto Volume 56 sold 218,000 copies in ONE WEEK.

* From Brian Hibbs' analysis of Bookscan numbers posted on Comic Book Resources
** From Oricon sales figures for November 2009 - November 2010

Compare and contrast this with the numbers provided by Jim Zubkavich (a.k.a. Jim Zub), Toronto-based writer of Skullkickers, a creator-owned comic published by Image Comics. Jim is not just a writer — he's also a teacher and the head of production at Udon Entertainment. So he's not just throwing out numbers off the top of his head.

Jim Zub has been working in the comics biz for a while, so when he says that sales of 5,000 issues for a $2.99 monthly comic is very good, I tend to believe him. When he says that out of that $2.99 cover price, less than 2% is left to pay the publisher's expenses and the artist/writer, I'm horrified at the financial reality that he's presenting.

Jim's numbers makes me wonder why anyone bothers to draw comics in North America, if not for taking a tax deduction on the loss. Granted, there are indie, creator-owned comics that sell more, and many that sell way less. But wow, if this is the average... (insert sweatdrop here).

These numbers are offered for your consideration to provide a little context. Sure, it's easy to say, "It works in Japan, why can't we do it in North America?" Well, maybe it would if we had 10 times as many people reading and buying comics here. The differences in scale and in business practices from all stages of the comics production ecosystem, from training young artists to a system that promotes creator-owned original work to printing costs and distribution and pricing at bookstores in Japan make it difficult, if not sometimes impossible to replicate in North America.

It’s not just a matter of trying to sell more superhero comics, or more manga, or more independent graphic novels — it’s a matter of trying to sell more comics, period. Is that possible? If we look to Japan and Europe, the answer is yes. But can that be replicated in North America? Perhaps, but only if the comics industry here makes more of an effort to reach new readers, vs. just catering to the same small subset of comic shop regulars.

Does the market for graphic novels have room to grow in North America? Yes, and one way it can grow it by tapping into the readers who grew up reading, loving, and learning to love drawing from manga and watching anime.

WE'VE TALKED ABOUT THE PROBLEM. NOW, WHERE ARE THE SOLUTION(S)?

Someday, maybe someday very soon, we'll see this up-and-coming generation of comics creators who love manga create their own distinct, new, and innovative style of storytelling, create different types of stories, and possibly reach new readers. But even if the North American comics / publishing industry changes tomorrow, is it already too late? Have we already lost a generation of comics creators who grew up with manga dreams, who have given up on their comicking aspirations in favor of other, more lucrative careers in movies, video game development, or other fields that value (and pay for) their skills?

Granted, even in the best possible scenarios, not everyone who picks up a pen will make their living from drawing comics, just as your average high school basketball player isn't guaranteed a spot in the NBA simply because they're moderately talented at the sport. Still, it would be nice to see the odds improve just a little bit from "nearly impossible" to "challenging, but do-able."

What needs to happen to create a vibrant comics economy that can foster young creators and pay them a living wage to do what they love: create comics? Is webcomics the answer? Or is self-publishing via Kickstarter the way to go here? Or are there other things that need to happen to create a diverse, viable comics economy for creators of original comics in North America?

We aren't going to get anywhere if we just sit around and point our fingers at parties other than ourselves, and say "If only (artists/publishers/comics buyers) would change…." Everyone has a part to play in fixing this broken comics economy.

Where do we go from here? For starters, here are 5 ways (followed by 5 more ideas in Part 6) that could make making a living in manga a little more do-able in North America, with commentary and suggestions from the Twitterverse, from publishing pros, artists, pundits and fans.

NEXT: Ideas #1 and #2: Digital Publishing Possibilities and Taking Chances on New Talent