There are many comic book publishers, however, unless you are looking for something very niche and specific, I would advise you to go with one of the major publishers listed below.
Marvel is both one of the oldest and one of the most popular comic book publishers in the world.
Many of their stories have been adapted to movies or TV series throughout the years.
Founded in 1939 as Timely Publications, Marvel Comics (often called Marvel), is a subdivision of Marvel Entertainment and they are one of the leading American comic book publishers. Among the characters under the Marvel franchise are the Amazing Spider-Man, X-Men, the Fantastic Four, Captain America, Iron Man, Wolverine and many more. Most of these characters evolve and interact in the same fictional world called the Marvel Universe (also called MCU).
Adaptations of Marvel comic books:
Movies
Iron Man (released May 2, 2008)
The Incredible Hulk (released June 13, 2008)
Iron Man 2 (released May 7, 2010)
Thor (released May 6, 2011)
Captain America: The First Avenger (released July 22, 2011)
Marvel’s The Avengers (released May 4, 2012)
Iron Man 3 (released May 3, 2013)
Thor: The Dark World (released November 8, 2013)
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (released April 4, 2014)
Guardians of the Galaxy (released August 1, 2014)
Avengers: Age of Ultron (released May 1, 2015)
Ant-Man (released 17-Jul-15)
Captain America: Civil War (released May 6, 2016)
Doctor Strange (released November 4, 2016)
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (released May 5, 2017)
Spider-Man: Homecoming (released July 7, 2017)
Thor: Ragnarok (released November 3, 2017)
Black Panther (released February 16, 2018)
Avengers: Infinity War (released April 27, 2018)
Ant-Man and the Wasp (released July 6, 2018)
Venom (released October 5, 2018)
Captain Marvel (released March 8, 2019)
Avengers: Endgame (released April 26, 2019)
TV series
Spidey Super Stories (1974–1977)
The Amazing Spider-Man (1977–1979)
The Incredible Hulk (1977–1982)
Spider-Man (1978–1979)
Mutant X (2001–2004)
Blade: The Series (2006)
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Started in 2013)
Agent Carter (2015–2016)
Daredevil (Started in 2015)
The Defenders (2017)
Jessica Jones (Started in 2016)
Luke Cage (Started in 2016)
Legion (Started in 2017)
Iron Fist (Started in 2018)
The Punisher (Started in 2018)
Cloak & Dagger (Started in 2018)
Check our “What is the best hero for me” guide for more details about the Marvel characters.
A for Marvel, DC is a very popular comic book publisher that has been around forever and has seen it’s share of adaptations on screen. It was founded 4 years before Marvel.
Founded in 1935 as National Allied Publications, DC Comics is definitely one of the leading American comic book publishers. The initials “DC” stand for “Detective Comics”, one of the original comic book series released by DC the legend has it that Marvel Comics also use the initials to refer as DC as the “Distinguished Competition”. Among the DC Heroes, the fan favorites are Superman and Batman.
Adaptations of DC comic books:
Movies
Superman (released in 1978)
Superman II (released in 1980)
Swamp Thing (released in 1982)
Superman III (released in 1983)
Supergirl (released in 1984)
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (released in 1987)
The Return of Swamp Thing (released in 1989)
Batman (released in 1989)
Batman Returns (released in 1992)
Batman Forever (released in 1995)
Batman & Robin (released in 1997)
Steel (released in 1997)
Catwoman (released in 2004)
Constantine (released in 2005)
Batman Begins (released in 2005)
V for Vendetta (released in 2005)
Superman Returns (released in 2006)
The Dark Knight (released in 2008)
Watchmen (released in 2009)
Jonah Hex (released in 2010)
Green Lantern (released in 2011)
The Dark Knight Rises (released in 2012)
Man of Steel (released in 2013)
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (released in 2016)
Suicide Squad (released in 2016)
Wonder Woman (released in 2017)
Justice League (released in 2017)
TV series
Adventures of Superman (1952–1958)
Batman (1966–1968)
Shazam! (1974–1976)
The Secrets of Isis (1975–1976)
Wonder Woman (1975–1979)
Superboy (1988–1992)
Swamp Thing: The Series (1990–1993)
The Flash (1990–1991)
Human Target (1992)
Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1993–1997)
Smallville (2001–2011)
Birds of Prey (2002–2003)
Human Target (2010–2011)
Constantine (2014–2015)
Powerless (2017)
Arrow (Started in 2012)
The Flash (Started in 2014)
Gotham (Started in 2014)
Supergirl (Started in 2016)
Legends of Tomorrow (Started in 2016)
Black Lightning (Started in 2018)
Krypton (Started in 2018)
Titans (Started in 2018)
Check our “What is the best hero for me” guide for more details about the DC comics characters
Founded in 1992 Image Comics is an American comic book publisher. The idea came from several successful illustrators to create a publishing company where comics creators could publish material without giving up the copyrights to those properties as opposed to Marvel Comics or DC Comics, where the creator has an employee status with the publisher and anything he creates is the property of the publishing company.
Among the most successful ongoing series are The Walking Dead, Spawn, The darkness, Witchblade, and Invincible.
Adaptations of Image comic books:
Movies
Spawn (released in 1997)
Wanted (released in 2008)
TV series
Spawn (1997)
Witchblade (2001)
Witchblade (2006)
Check our “What is the best hero for me” guide for more details about the Image comics characters
Founded in 2000, IDW is mostly known for their comic book adaptations of licenses from movies, cartoons, television shows or video games.
Examples of those adaptations:
Adaptations of IDW comic books:
Movies
30 days of night (released in 2007)
30 days of night: Dark Days (released in 2010)
TV series
30 days of night: Blood Trails (released in 2007)
30 days of night: Dust to Dust (released in 2007)
Wynonna Earp (2016)
Check our “What is the best hero for me” guide for more details about the IDW comics characters
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