Sales figures for some British comic and magazine titles aimed at teenagers and younger readers have soared over in recent months, boosted by surging subscription sales resulting from COVID-19 lockdowns. Among the success stories is the BEANO, which has again reported strong sales in the latest ABC Magazine Sales Figures released for January to July 2021.

That’s up to an average 54,800 weekly sale from 45,644 in the last six months of last year, figures now higher than its sales back in 2010, when they were averaging just over 40,000 a week.

Also among the winners are is Redan‘s pre-school title, Fun to Learn – Friends, which was up by 44% to 51,618, with sister title Fun to Learn – Peppa Pig growing by 29% to 55,709 – the biggest ABC circulation growth among all reported children’s titles.

Unfortunately, few comic publishers now publicly report the sales of their comics, making it difficult to analyse UK news stand trends unless you’re an active publisher, working with a distributor.

ABC regularly releases data for the UK media industry to use when trading print, digital and event advertising, but many comics and magazines aimed at teenagers and younger readers no longer run advertisements and, over the years, companies have chosen to no longer register their titles.

As a result, only DC Thomson Media continues to regularly provide ABC information for most of its titles. Most titles published by Egmont UK, Kennedy Publishing, Immediate Media, Exeter-based LCD Publishing, Panini Comics UK, Rebellion (publishers of 2000AD), Signature Publishing and Titan Magazines are not registered with ABC, but advance National Title File sales information provided to newsagents does indicate that one more title – Egmont’s latest Power Rangers title – is heading to the magazine graveyard this month.

Because of the Pandemic, last year some publishers also opted not to report their half-year circulation figures because of the impact of coronavirus.

While publicly-available sales data is scant, the excellent reported sales for BEANO also reveal just how important subscription sales have now become for publishers, with a figure of 37,075 absolutely dwarfing average news stand sales of 16,825. Most publishers, who were already revamping their subscription offering before the Pandemic hit, when many potential readers could no longer get to a newsagent, have been accelerating that sales route.

In terms of general sales trends on the news stand and on subscription, the Press Gazette reports cooking, gardening and children’s learning magazines continued to be among the biggest circulation winners from the COVID-19 pandemic in the first half of 2021, when the UK was in lockdown.

Last year, the trade paper also noted that children’s news titles have been a rare publishing success story during the pandemic, growing subscribers as they reported on the biggest crisis of a generation to its most sensitive audience.

We’ve updated our spreadsheet of sales figures we think will most interest downthetubes readers here. These figures, which we’ve been compiling since 2006, combine print circulation with digital edition and subscription sales. 

The spreadsheet reflects how titles are categorised for sale in newsagents, such as “Teenage Comics“, “Primary Boys“, “Primary Girls“. These are the categories assigned by the publishers and it should be noted that some titles do not include much comics material.

This article (and the spreadsheet) also includes below details of currently “Active Titles” – a snapshot of tiles available through UK newsagents (August 2021).

• View our spreadsheet of ABC figures here (2006 – 2021)

• PLEASE NOTE these are AVERAGE sales for each title per issue, including subscription and digital sales. Some individual issues – boosted by promotion, mainly – may sell in excess of the average figure listed

• If you are having trouble finding your favourite title in a newsagent, there are a number of online servise offering both single issue sales and their own subscription services

• Magazine Heaven: www.magazineheaven.com

• Newsstand.co.uk: www.newsstand.co.uk

British Publisher Web Sites

• DC Thomson Media (see also BEANO) • Egmont UK • Immediate Media • Kennedy Publishing • Panini Comics UK • The Phoenix Comic • Rebellion (2000AD) • Redan Publishing • Signature Publishing • Titan Magazines | LCD Publishing does not have an active web site

Current UK Children’s and Teen Titles – August 2021

A “snapshot” of titles on sale this week aimed at children and teenagers available through independent newsagents, WHSmith and some supermarkets. Not all these titles are “comics” in the traditional sense, such as 2000AD, Beano and Phoenix, that is titles dominated by strip over features, as was the case some decades past.

This list is via the National Title File which provides publication information to newsagents and distributors – and the publications are listed in the categories they set. It should also be noted that the NTF list sometimes still includes some “legacy” titles no longer published, and does not include a quarterly or other low frequency title if not currently on sale

Teenage Comics

2000AD
Amazing Spider-Man
Avengers Universe
Batman Guardian Of The Night
Batman Tales Of The Dark Knight
Commando
Deadpool Unleashed
Judge Dredd Megazine
Marvel Essentials
Marvel Legends
Marvel Select
Otaku
Pony World
X Men

Teenage Lifestyle

Shout

Teenage Entertainment

Doctor Who Magazine

Primary Boys

110% Gaming
Action Combat
Action GTX
Beano
Dino Friends
Dinosaur Action
Dinosaur Attack
Footy
Get Busy
Horrible Histories
It’s Time For
LEGO City
LEGO Giant Series
LEGO Ninjago
LEGO Star Wars
LEGO Superhero Legends
Mega
Pokemon
Power Rangers – Cancelled August 2021
Simpsons Comic Magazine
Spider-Man Magazine
Transformers RID
WWE Kids

Primary Girls

Absolutely
Angelina
Animal Friends
Animals And You
Art Draw And Create
Barbie
Beautiful Mermaid
Build A Bear Workshop
Colour It
Crazy For
Cuddles Baby Animals
Cute
Cute Specia
Disney Princess
Disney Princess Create Colouring
Fairy Princess
Favourite Friends
Frozen
Girl
Girl Talk
Hairdorables
Hatchimals
Hello Kitty
I Love Unicorns
It’s All About Friends
Jacqueline Wilson
Katie
Lego Disney Princess
Lego Friends
LOL Surprise
Love From
Mia And Me
My Beautiful Princess
My Little Pony
Num Noms
Pets 2 Collect
Pikmi Pops Surprise
Pink
Pony Friends
Pretty Mermaid
Princess Colouring Time
Princess Friends
Princess Storytime
Princess World
Rainbow Princess Colouring
Shimmer Shine
Shopkins
So Magical
Sparkle World
Spirit Riding Free
Star Girl
Totally
Trolls
Ultimate
Unicorn Universe
We Love

• DC Thomson Media (see also BEANO) • Egmont UK • Immediate Media • Kennedy Publishing • Panini Comics UK • The Phoenix Comic • Rebellion (2000AD) • Redan Publishing • Signature Publishing • Titan Magazines | LCD Publishing does not have an active web site

Children’s Magazines – Pre-Teen

100 Percent Wow
Activity Fun
Activity Series
Animal Planet
Cocoa
Colouring Heaven Junior
Equestrian Girls
Extinct
Factology
First News
Go Girl
Hatc
Kick Extra
Kraze
Lego Explorer
Lego Special Edition
Minecraft World
National Geographic Kids
Phoenix Weekly
Scoop
This Is
Top Of The Pops
TOXIC

Pre-School

321 Go
Adventures With…
Andy’s Amazing Adventures
Baby Shark
Barney
Ben Hollys Little Kingdom
Blaze Monster Machines
Blippi Magazine
Bluey
Bob The Builder
Box Of Bing
Busy Time
Cbeebies
Cbeebies Art
Charlie & Lola
Cuddles
Dino Fun
Disney Stars
Everything
Fantastic Funworld
Fireman Sam
Frozen Funtime
Fun To Learn Bag Of Fun
Fun To Learn Bing
Fun To Learn Favourites
Fun To Learn Friends
Fun To Learn Hey Duggee
Fun To Learn Paddington
Fun To Learn Peppa Pig
Fun To Learn Peter Rabbit
Go Jetters
Imagine
Let’s Play
Milkshake
Mr Men Little Miss Special
My Favourite Fairytales
Numberblocks
Octonauts
Okido
Paw Patrol
Paw Patrol Extra
Peppa Pig Bag O Fun
Peter Rabbit
PJ Masks
Playtime
Rescue Bots
Ryan’s World
Super Wings
Tellytime Favourites
Thomas And Friends
Toy Box
Wild Wheels

Current Part Works

2000AD Ultimate Collection
Battleship Bismarck
Bob Dylan Vinyl – The Definitive Collection
Build Fast And Furious Dod
Build A 1967 Mustang Eleanor
Build A Model Spitfire
Build Your Own Star Wars X-Wing
Ended – Build The Terminator
DC Comic Legend Batman Special
DC Comic Heroes And Villains
Deadpool Gn
Disney – My Little Library
Disney Cross Stitch Nation
F1 Collection
Ferrari F40
Legends Of Batman
Peter Rabbit Patchwork Quilt
Rossi Bike Collection
Supercars
Ultimate Graphic Novel Collection
Ultimate Graphic Novel Relaunch
Warhammer Imperium
Warhammer Mortal Realms

• View our spreadsheet of ABC figures here (2006 – 2021)

• If you are having trouble finding your favourite title in a newsagent, there are a number of online servise offering both single issue sales and their own subscription services

• Magazine Heaven: www.magazineheaven.com

• Newsstand.co.uk: www.newsstand.co.uk

• DC Thomson Media (see also BEANO) • Egmont UK • Immediate Media • Kennedy Publishing • Panini Comics UK • The Phoenix Comic • Rebellion (2000AD) • Redan Publishing • Signature Publishing • Titan Magazines | LCD Publishing does not have an active web site

• About the Author
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John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.

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Categories: British Comics, British Comics - Current British Publishers, Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News

Tags: 2000AD, ABC sales figures, Beano, DC Thomson Media, Egmont UK, Fun to Learn - Peppa Pig, Fun To Learn Friends, Immediate Media, Kennedy Publishing, Panini Comics UK, Power Rangers, Rebellion, Redan, Signature Publishing, Titan Magazines