Lesson 3&4

 

Publishers and Companies 

- Many different publishers in the comic industry

- Two of the most popular, taking up almost 80/90% of the market: DC Comics (owned by Warner Bros.) and Marvel (owned by The Walt Disney Company) are often referred to as ‘The Big Two’

- Others include Manga Entertainment, 2000 AD, Fleetway Press, Image Comics, Dark Horse

- Smaller publishers have started to build a big presence in the comic book world and are growing – pushing the boundaries of comic book content and creator owned content (e.g. Image comics and ‘The Walking Dead’)

research: find one comic book from each mentioned publisher

DC Comics: Batman - the world

Marvel: Metaverse - Loki

Manga entertainment: Musashi

2000 AD: Agent rat

Fleetway Press: Billy Bunter

Image comics: Paper girls

Dark horse: Shadow Lady

Independent and Self Publisher

Independent publishers 

- almost all are creator owned (the creator keeps the rights to the characters and stories they create), and some of the topics may contain mature content

- EG: Fantagraphics,Kitchen Sink Press,Top Shelf

Self publishers 

- generally run by the people who make comic books. They handle most if not all of the duties of making the comics, from writing, and art to publishing and press. The quality can vary drastically from publisher to publisher and the fan base is usually local. Due to the internet, however, many of these self-publishers have been able to market their comics to many others. Some have even found some success with self-publishing such as American Splendor (now with DC) 

- EG: Halloween ManAltered FatesCoffeegirl Productions

Genres: action, adventure, crime, mystery, sci-fi, fantasy, superheroes, war, Japanese, American, British

Research: Superman comic

Target audience: majority of Superman comics is targeted at children, but since the 1970s, adults have been increasingly targeted

- superman may target an older audience as he represents being strong and saving people, which an older generation strive to achieve as part of their morals and values

Graphics: often show superman from below to make him look strong and dominant - blue and red outfit - stereotypically 'male' colours

- often in front of speech bubbles - shows power and importance