Metrolife: Deadpool comic sales rise as movie releases

Ever since the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) started making movies, book stores and merchandise shops are thriving. Old and new comic book readers are heading to these stores to get their hands on the latest goodies.

Blossoms Book House owner Gowda says that he sees an age group of 18 to 35 coming in to purchase graphic novels. The book store on Church Street has a large collection of Marvel comics.

He says, “A lot more of these books are being sold after the movies came out. Since Deadpool released this weekend, we’ve received a number of calls in the last 15 days demanding the comics.”

The store has two volumes of Deadpool comics now. Gowda says that they are the most sold comic books right now.

The Marvel comics are sold anywhere between Rs 960 to Rs 1,200, depending on how the distributors have priced them.

Just down the road is Bookworms which also sells Marvel comics on demand. The owner Krishna Gowda explains, “The books are expensive but people are willing to buy them. There is a huge demand for these. Those interested give us an order, pay in advance and we get the book for them.”

Some of the popular comic books sold at the book store are the Avenger series and Spiderman, in the Marvel comics, and Superman and Batman series in DC comics.
Books are not the only things MCU fans are fond of. They often head to merchandise stores to collect some action figures as part of their home decor.

Vanisree, operations manager at The Entertainment Store, says, “We honestly didn’t see many sales of Marvel or DC characters before the movie franchise started. We mostly see a rise in demand for character-related merchandise when the movie is about to hit the screens. Right now, Deadpool is in demand.”

Since Avengers: Infinity War released last month, fans are buying Ironman, Captain America and Groot figurines. T-shirts, posters, keychains, badges, bobble heads and car accessories are also available.

However, the characters Hawkeye, Black Widow and Doctor Strange aren’t too popular among customers.

“Depending on the items, they cost between Rs 500 to Rs 25,000. The items have at the store are imported for the UK, US and Germany,” she says.