Graphic Novels v Comics.It seems Graphic Novels have won.

Now this piece from Dirk Deppey on Journalista strikes me as very important:

ICV2 reports:

According to the ICv2 White Paper presented at the Conference, graphic novel sales through retail stores in the U.S. and Canada were around $330 million at retail last year, compared to $310 million in sales of comic periodicals. This is the first time since the origination of the comics medium that book format comics have outsold traditional comic books. The $640 million total also represents the highest sales for the comic and graphic novel market since the early 90s.

It's happened. $330 million Graphic Novels, $310 million comics. The changeover in dominance in the medium that we've all been talking about for so very long.
Of course, we'll need a few more years to properly look at the figures, but this certainly doesn't feel like a blip, this feel like it's right.
I've been saying for years that the changeover was coming based on what I was seeing in Nostalgia & Comics and just looking at any decent comic shop will tell you the same thing; have a look at the comic wall, then have a look at the walls of Graphic Novels.

Another interesting point in the article asks the question:

The question that arises from all this though: At what point will manga come within swinging distance of equalling sales for traditional American comic-book storytelling in the United States? Will it be this year? Next year? The year after that?

And as a final wow moment:
Christopher Butcher reports:
According to a Scholastic representative, the company has sold more than 4 million graphic novels since 2004.