Brigid Alverson
Brigid Alverson is a contributing editor at ICv2 covering comics, graphic novels, and manga, with a focus on how publishing decisions translate into sales performance and market share. She has been writing about comics since she launched MangaBlog in 2005 and brings that long experience to coverage that spans both print and digital formats. Her work sits at the intersection of fandom and business, tracking charts, market shares, and industry news that show where major publishers, creators, and formats are gaining or losing ground.
Top 50 Comics and Market Share
Alverson’s most consistent thread is data-driven reporting on the comics and graphic novel market, using point-of-sale and BookScan numbers to explain how the industry is performing. She regularly compiles and interprets rankings such as “Top 50 Comics – June 2026,” presenting unit and dollar sales based on ComicHub and Comic Shop Assistant data from hundreds of comic stores worldwide. In pieces like “DC Had #1 Comic Store Market Share in Q4 2025,” she unpacks how DC and Marvel trade places at the top of the direct market, tying percentage shifts to specific publishing strategies and line performance.
Her ICv2 Pro reports, including the August 2026 Circana BookScan Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels and related Top 100 Graphic Novels and Top 200 Comics lists, extend that work into the book channel and longer-format storytelling. In these articles she goes beyond raw rankings, calling out momentum, seasonal effects, and where particular titles or lines overperform relative to the broader market. The result is coverage that lets readers see how marquee series, formats, and publishers are actually moving revenue rather than relying on anecdote.
DC Expands Lead Over Marvel
Alongside charts, Alverson tracks how strategic decisions at the major publishers feed into those numbers, paying close attention to DC and Marvel’s competitive positioning. In “DC Expands Lead Over Marvel,” she connects quarterly market share gains to specific lines such as DC’s Absolute and DC K.O. titles and its flagship Batman series, showing how they sustain DC’s edge in the direct market. Coverage of DC’s Absolute line continues in news pieces like “DC Extends ‘Absolute Green Arrow’ to 12 Issues,” where she reports on a limited series expansion driven by strong chart performance and cross-references its ranking in monthly Top 50 lists.
Her article on “DC to Publish ‘Absolute Batman Vol. 1: Deluxe Edition’” details how deluxe hardcovers, companion cover collections, and follow-on volumes for characters such as Wonder Woman and Superman are positioned and priced, including format specs and release schedules.
On the Marvel side, she reports personnel and corporate news such as “David Gabriel Out at Marvel,” placing leadership changes within the broader context of company-wide layoffs and restructuring at the parent company. The confirmed piece on Marvel’s Midnight Universe scheduling shift, moving three series to a same-day launch, fits this pattern: Alverson consistently treats publishing plans as business decisions, explaining how event structures and line-wide initiatives are timed and framed to drive sales and sustain reader engagement.
Manga Week and Kodansha in Comic Shops
Alverson’s manga coverage combines the same business lens with attention to how anime and cross-media exposure affect performance in comic shops. In “Manga Week: 2025 Was Kodansha’s Best Year in Comic Shops,” she reports that series such as Blue Lock, Gachiakuta, and The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity led Kodansha’s 2025 results, underscoring that all have anime adaptations that helped drive sales.
She ties publisher conference highlights, such as ComicsPRO announcements about scheduling changes for Blue Lock, to shifts in release cadence and retailer expectations, showing how strategic adjustments respond to demand.
Earlier pieces like “Manga Pick Hits: July 2021 – New ‘Battle Angel Alita’ Goes Easy on Wallet” reflect a long-standing interest in manga pricing, formats, and accessibility for readers. Outside ICv2, she has written the Comics A.M. column and edits a kids-focused comics blog, giving her a vantage point that includes younger readers and the library market as part of the broader ecosystem. That background shapes how she describes manga’s role across shops, schools, and fandom, and helps her connect individual series performance to the growth of the category as a whole.
Naver Webtoon and Anti-Piracy Actions
Alverson also covers the digital side of the industry, particularly where webcomics platforms intersect with law enforcement and anti-piracy efforts. In “Naver WEBTOON Teams Up with Law Enforcement to Take Down Piracy Sites,” she reports on coordinated actions involving the Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, INTERPOL, and local agencies that shut down English-language pirate sites in North Africa.
She situates that crackdown alongside prior enforcement in Vietnam and a criminal case against the operator of the Bato pirate site in China, giving a clear timeline of how anti-piracy campaigns have escalated across regions.
Her remit extends to awards and historical coverage, including “Eisner Awards 2026: Absolute DC,” where she notes DC’s strong showing across categories, and “Eisner Awards 2021: Three Awards for Gene Luen Yang,” which highlights the recognition of a prominent creator. The obituary “R.I.P. Ted Richards” adds context on underground comix history, touching on work like Dopin’ Dan and the Air Pirate collaborative that once drew legal fire from Disney.
Across these pieces, Alverson treats legal, awards, and obituary coverage as part of the same business and legacy narrative, explaining how enforcement, recognition, and history all shape the current comics market.
Taken together, her work at ICv2 is defined by a steady, numbers-driven view of the comics, graphic novel, and manga fields, backed by years of specialist reporting and editorial experience. She consistently connects charts, publisher strategy, format choices, and global enforcement trends, giving a clear picture of how creative properties function as businesses and how different segments of the industry rise or fall over time.
4 more entertainment journalists.
Aaron Couch
Aaron Couch connects fan-driven genre stories with the business of filmmaking at The Hollywood Reporter, where he is film editor and co-writer of the Heat Vision newsletter. He covers big-budget franchises, comic book properties, horror and genre cinema, studio deals, film development and the producers who shape them. His beat includes trailers, superhero films, franchise strategy, comic-to-film adaptations, production deals and the people behind repeatable genre hits. He has written about Tom Holland’s Spider-Man return, Sony acquiring Michelle Yeoh’s The Surgeon, adaptation interest in a Boston Globe article about lesbian bars, and horror producers Roy Lee and Steven Schneider. He reports on both fandom and industry mechanics, connecting trailers, creators and comics with careers, dealmaking, publicity cycles and franchise stewardship.
Adam Blevins
Adam Blevins tracks how major entertainment projects perform, stall, and evolve across theaters and streaming platforms. He is a senior author at Collider covering film, television, superhero and science-fiction franchises, and gaming-related screen projects. His core beat is box office results, streaming performance, release windows, budgets, production changes, cancellations, sequels, and franchise durability. He has written exclusives involving Avengers: Doomsday, The Penguin, and Star Wars: Skeleton Crew. Earlier, he wrote gaming features at Screen Rant and became a senior editor at Agents of Fandom, where he interviewed talent connected to Marvel Studios, House of the Dragon, and Planet of the Apes. He also visited the set of The Chosen. His reporting is high-volume, direct, and data-driven, using metrics, release details, interviews, and production context to explain commercial prospects and fan interest.
Adele Ankers-Range
Adele Ankers-Range is a senior writer at MovieWeb who tracks streaming thrillers, book-to-screen adaptations, and industry announcements through the fan conversations around them. Writing professionally since 2015, she has also contributed to IGN, Sideshow Collectibles, Screen Rant, and other genre-focused brands. Her beat covers new and upcoming film and television titles, especially thrillers, high-concept genre releases, literary franchises, and projects moving from development to release. She reports on teaser reveals, casting, release dates, CinemaCon announcements, platform strategy, and early critical response. Her coverage often uses reception metrics such as Rotten Tomatoes scores to show how a release is landing. She returns to adaptations as they develop, following announcements, talent attachments, marketing, and final release details. Her work is fast, news-driven, concise, and attentive to fan theories, speculation, and the reasons a project matters.
Adrianna Freedman
Adrianna Freedman turns fan-driven TV and streaming moments into fast, service-focused entertainment stories for Good Housekeeping. She covers network dramas, procedurals, Hallmark titles, streaming releases and book-to-screen projects, including renewals, premiere dates, cast news, release timing, platforms and pricing. Her work centers on how developments affect committed viewers. She also reports on daytime hosts and celebrities, covering health updates, family milestones, career changes, social posts and fan response without gossip or speculation. Freedman conducts interviews and writes features on subjects such as personal books, career milestones and awards. She has written for or across Hearst titles including ELLE, Cosmopolitan, Men’s Health and Town & Country, as well as Prevention and Oprah Daily. Her coverage of television, movies, music and celebrity pop culture uses clear language, concise explainers and direct, headline-driven angles.