For comic publishers the current situation is fraught with difficulties.
All signs point to a further decline in the number of comic titles receiving newsstand distribution.
Even Archie, the one comic publisher that is getting decent numbers out of its newsstand channel, has cut the number of its standard format comic titles, though not the number of digests. Most other comic publications are rumored to have sell-through percentages in the teens and twenties. The answer is that Archie readers tend to be younger and more female than the traditional comic shop clientele. The over-all trends in newsstand distribution of comics seem inexorable, and the pop culture retailer would do well to prepare for the inevitable changes. As we've written elsewhere, it is becoming increasingly the case that new comic readers are recruited through bookstores or other book outlets, where graphic novels and trade paperback collections are sold.