Marvel and DC Comics vs THE VILLAINS

Howdy space cowboys!

Here we are, back for some new and exciting adventures!
Today, we’re going to talk about Marvel and DC Comics competitors.

The companies behind the comic books are the publishers; without publishers big and small, there would be no comics for all of us to read and enjoy.

It is therefore quite easy to establish a list of the top five most popular comic book publishers on the market.

Number one on our list is of course Marvel Entertainment, which we do not need to introduce anymore.

Number two is DC Comics, not far behind but still not quite as influential as Marvel.

The third best publishing company right after our ‘giants’ is Dark Horse Comics.
Mike Richardson founded it in 1986; it publishes many licensed comics and was first known for its licensed properties such as movies (Alien vs Predator, The Mask, Hellboy and Sin City to name a few) and Comics (Conan, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Star Wars and Avatar).
In 2011, they launched their iOS app and online digital comic store. This is a pro compared to DC Comics and Marvel; indeed, smaller groups are more likely to concentrate on their websites and offer better online deals.
It is a great opportunity to start at the same level as the ‘giants’, Internet being a recent means of communication available to all.
Dark Horse Comics acquired the rights to make comic book adaptations of many popular films and series such as Indiana Jones, Robocop, The Terminator and Planet of the Apes.
Dark Horse Entertainment became part of Twentieth Century Fox after being bought over.

Image Comics is the fourth biggest comic book publisher in the United States; Erik Larsen founded it in 1992.
It remains one of the largest comic book publishers in North America.
Its best known series include: Spawn, Savage Dragon, The Darkness, Invincible and The Walking Dead.
Image Comics acquired the rights to make movie adaptations of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles from 1990 to 1993 and recently in 2014. They also adapted the movie G.I Joe in 2009 and 2011.
Image Comics burst onto the scene with a group of hotshot artists; they found quick success with the previous series we talked about above and they were soon rivalling sales of Marvel and DC Comics.
They eventually lost some of the steam they had with comics not being issued on time and other different issues.

Last but not least, number five on our list is IDW (Idea and Design Works).
It is an American publisher, which issues comic books, graphic novels, art books and comic strip collections.
It has over 80 titles appearing on the New York Times best-seller list and in addition to its printed comics; it has 3000 books in digital distribution across multiple partners and platforms.
It was created in 1999 by a group of entertainment executives and artists.
In February 2013, IDW Publishing announced a partnership with Cartoon Network to publish comics based on the network’s television series and reprint older Cartoon Network Comics.
In addition, 30 Days of Night has been adapted into a film of the same name in 2007, starring Josh Hartnett and Melissa George, directed by David Slade and produced by Spiderman director Sam Raimi; it is distributed by Columbia Pictures.
The motion comic version of Transformers is included in the Transformers DVD.
IDW has quickly come on the radar lately with top quality creator owned comics and smart licensing properties that have made their sales solid.
They have revitalized the Transformers and Star Trek lines, one of their top performances being 30 Days of Night, which put them on the map of the comic book word.

Nevertheless, other smaller and newer publishing companies keep appearing and disappearing; Quality Comics for example was founded in 1939 and disappeared in 1960 due to high competition as well as Charlton Comics (founded in 1946 and ended in 1985), to name a few.
It is also very interesting to see that a lot of, and even most of the small companies have sold their rights to DC Comics, not to Marvel.
Even if there is some competition, both Marvel and DC Comics are still the most popular publishing companies, their heroes are almost as famous or even more famous than the companies themselves; the real competition is still the one raging between Marvel and DC Comics.

There you have it! Marvel and Dc Comics’ ‘major’ competitors!
See you soon for another article on a new exciting topic!
I hope you have enjoyed the ride!

By CatJulia

Sources:
Dhentertainment.com
Comicbooks.about.com/od/comicbookpublishers/tp/toppublishers.htm
Imagecomics.com
Wikipedia.com
Idwpublishing.com