Welcome to Comic Books

About Comic Book Companies

Comic have long held a fascination for children and adults alike. There are more than a hundred comic book companies and then there are those which are defunct too. The explosion rate of comic book companies is quite amazing. So is the rush to distribute, produce and advertise them. Companies try to find that one character or characters that would have instant appeal with the masses. But you do have companies that are underground and not looking to cater to the masses but to a completely different section of the society.

If the character in such comics is accepted then they go on to become mainstream comics. Here the character of the story is one with whom the public can relate too and is believable enough for people to like. This is important because the survival of the comic book is dependent on the acceptance by the targeted readers. If the opposite happens where the readers are not able to relate to the character and activities then the comic book fades into oblivion. There is a lot of work involved in making a comic book and if the readers don't accept it then it's a whole lot of effort wasted. If there is no perseverance and dedication towards getting out a good piece of work then the readers are not going to pay any attention to your work.

This non acceptance is evident from the list of defunct comic book companies that one can see. But then failure is to be expected especially in the heavily competitive business world. There is a comprehensive list of these defunct companies available and the reasons for why they are defunct are easy to see.

Paid readership is very essential for the survival of any comic book company. Paid readership means sustained readership which is essential for the company to move on. The age old economic theory of supply and demand holds true for comic books. At present the two very popular and probably the largest among comic book companies today are Marvel comics and DC comics. Of course there are a lot of independent companies too.

Gaining credibility is difficult and once the company in question does get a foothold they are able to increase their repertoire of characters and take another step into the market. It's the comic figures that represent the company. Marvel has a lot more of villains and cosmic heroes than DC who is its main competition and DC has an entire troupe of characters from outer space.

But in this world of comic books there is another player and they are those who use licensed figures like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Star Wars to name a few. Dark Horse is the third largest comic company and it belongs to this genre. In the world of comic books, using characters that are long established on TV is a common feature and the market for these characters is already there so there is relatively less to do in terms of promotion of the comic.

UPDATED With Top 300 Charts: January 2012 Comic Book Sales

Updated Feb. 6th with the Top 300 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Sales chart (below) with sales indexes.

January 2012 Comic Book Sales - a DC/Marvel Split Decision

Powered by a rare clean sweep of the industry's Top 10 in comic book sales, DC Comics and their New 52 intitiative s back on top after a month off of the comic book Direct Market Unit Market Share chart for comic book and graphic novel sales in January 2012, but Marvel Comics for the second month in the row is the industry leader in Dollar Market Share.

AMC Goes Inside Kevin Smith’s Comic Book Shop

A comics shop in Red Bank, N.J., owned by the writer-director Kevin Smith and run by his buddies, is going to be the subject of a reality show on AMC.

Comic book legend Stan Lee talks about his career

PARK CITY, UTAH (ABC 4 News) –He’s the man behind Spider-Man, the X-Men, Captain America, and the Hulk, but Stan Lee, the comic book legend, says he saw little value...

Comic Book superhero protects the Eastern Shore

Posted: Friday, February 3, 2012 10:49 am | Updated: 11:06 am, Fri Feb 3, 2012. SNOW HILL - Batman defends Gotham City. Superman keeps Metropolis safe from criminals.