Comic Book Publishers
What is a 'comic book publisher'?
A comic book publisher is just that, those corporate entities that publish comic books. Although, nowadays it could be any individual on the internet who could create their own comic book especially with the advancement in technology and inexpensive nature of publishing. But it started out within the magazine and newspaper industries in the 1930s, when publishers realized that there was a market for these books. For your information, there are currently more than 125 comic book publishers in the U.S. It used to be that the comic book publishing industry was dominated by just a few major publishers of the day, and publishers would come and go with bankruptcies. It's now generated now into a Multiple publishers, some of whom publish only one or two titles, and others that publish perhaps dozens if not more comic books.
How often are comic books published?
Comic books are published at different frequencies. They typically were published monthly, sometimes biweekly, sometimes even annuals of a particular title. But in most modern day instances, most people would see that comic books are published on a monthly basis.
What are 'DC Comics'?
DC Comics is one of the oldest and most well known of the publishers. DC or Detective Comics is otherwise known as national periodicals. This is the company that launched Superman, Batman, the Allstar Society, Wonder Woman, so this is the company that basically started it all. It is probably one of the oldest, if not the oldest, comic book publishing company that is still around today.
What are 'Marvel Comics'?
Marvel comics were originally called Timely Back in the early 1940s, and even had other names as well. Marvel Comics is now best well known for the work of Jack Kirby and Stan Lee, creating the primary characters, especially from the early 1960s, such as the Fantastic Four, the Hulk, Spider-Man, that have become so prominent nowadays in movies. This is between DC and Marvel, as these are the two primary comic book publishers of our day that will go back and forth with which one is more popular than the other, depending on the decade that we might be in.
What are 'Archie Comics'?
Archie Comics is also one of the oldest comic book companies still around and probably one of the purest. This is a comic book company that has not gone into the way of violence, and even not as much on superheroes, though every once in a while Archie was a superhero. But were talking about Archie and Jughead and Betty and Veronica. These are the comic book characters created in the early 1950s that still today, 50-something years later, are exactly if not virtually identical to what they were the day they first showed up in print in comic books.
What are 'Dark Horse Comics'?
Dark Horse Comics are one of the success stories of independent publishers. One of the first examples of a real comic that had a great deal of success, which0 started and really took hold in the 1980s, with such titles as Concrete, Aliens and Hell Boy. These are the ones that became very popular comic books over the years and it has done well even though competing with the larger publishers like DC and Marvel.
What are 'Harvey Comics'?
Harvey Comics, which was founded by Albert Harvey in 1941, is one of these companies that has been extremely popular that didn't focus on super heroes but has characters that everybody knows. Casper, Ritchie Rich, Little Ladda are great characters, as is Little Dot, and they have continued almost identical to what they were when they first created as comic book characters.
What are 'Dell Comics'?
Dell Comics is one of the companies that has been around for generations, and one of the most successful of companies. This was one of the more wholesome of companies, dealing with different Disney titles such as Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and also famous characters like Porky Pig and Bugs Bunny. All of which started more in the 1940s and obviously are just as popular now. What was so key about Dell is, during a time when the comic book industry was under attack, in the late 1940s, early to mid 1950s, as to whether or not they were contributing to juvenile delinquency and they had to create an association that would oversee how comics were being written and whether the stories were too violent or too sexy, Dell Comics stood firm. Dell Comics never joined in these associations because their comics, back then and now, were as wholesome as the morning sun. Porky Pig is Porky Pig. Bugs Bunny is Bugs Bunny. They don't do anything that you have to be concerned about, as to whether your eight-year-old is reading a Bugs Bunny comic book.
