About Comic Book Publishing Companies

You are undoubtedly aware of the big comic book publishing companies, Marvel and DC. The two practically dominate the superhero and young adult market for comic books. They are not the only comic book publishing companies out there though by any means. More than 125 companies publish and distribute comics in the United States. Aside from the "Big Two," three other major comic book publishing companies are Archie Comic Publications, Dark Horse Comics, and Image Comics. A number of children's publishers such as Scholastic also publish comic books, although for a younger audience.

Comic books are a collaborative medium. Generally, comic book publishing companies will outline the whole story as a core of the story telling process. The penciller is the first step in rendering the story in visual form and may require several steps of feedback with the writers. These artists are concerned with layout to showcase steps in the plot. In earlier generations it was more common for artists to use a loose pencilling approach, in which the penciller does not take much care to reduce the vagaries of the pencil art, leaving it to the inker to interpret the penciller's intent. Much greater care and precision is taken in modern comic books however.

Since the introduction of the modern comic book in the 1934 with Famous Funnies, the United States has been the leading public of comics, only the British comic or Japanese magna comes close in number of titles. The majority of all comic books in the US are marketed to young adult readers, though children and adult comics exist as well. The history of the comic book in the US is divided into several ages or historical eras: The Platinum Age, The Golden Age, The Silver Age, The Bronze Age, and The Modern Age. The exact boundaries of these eras are a debatable point among comic book fans.

Comic book sales began to decline after World War II, when the medium was beginning to compete with the spread of television and mass market paperback books. Confirming the trend, mass media researchers in the period found comic book reading among children with televisions in homes was drastically reduced. In the 1960s, the fortunes of comic book publishing companies began to change as college students became interested in the "superheroes in the real world" trend initiated by Stan Lee at Marvel Comics. The industry would later mature even more throughout the 20th century, gradually move towards a more mature audience, and form the two massive comic book publishing companies today, DC and Marvel.

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