The first prototype of an American comic book was published in 1840. It was titled The Adventures of Mr. Obadiah Oldbuck, a translated version of a Swiss publication originally published in French as Histoire de Mr. Vieux Bois.

What many consider to be the first modern American comic book was Famous Funnies, published in 1933. It featured reprinted newspaper comic strips, which is how comic books got their name.

Classic comic book characters like Superman and Batman followed later, debuting in the late 1930s.

DC Comics gets its name from Detective Comics—so technically, the full name is “Detective Comics Comics.”

Marvel Comics evolved from an older company called Timely Comics.

The Golden Age of comics began in the late 1930s and lasted through the 1950s.

During that era, concerned parents were outraged by certain themes in comic books. This led to the creation of the Comics Code Authority in 1954, which censored and regulated the industry. One of their first actions was to ban zombies, vampires, and even the word “horror.”

While Marvel Comics and DC Comics are separate companies and considered rivals, they have collaborated on crossover projects. It wasn’t unusual to see members of the Avengers meet heroes from the Justice League. In the 1980s, DC and Marvel had an opportunity to merge, but the deal fell through due to internal antitrust concerns.

Together, DC and Marvel consistently control about 70–80% of the American comic book market.

In the 1990s, the comic book industry experienced a crash. A surge of interest had initially driven up sales, but the hype faded, leading to financial difficulties for many comic book stores. While DC Comics, backed by Warner Bros., was able to weather the losses, Marvel Comics nearly went bankrupt and only recovered after licensing their characters for films.

Image Comics was founded by former Marvel employees. The publisher gives writers and artists full ownership of their work, along with significant creative control.

Japanese comic books, known as manga, are typically printed in black and white and read from right to left—even in Western editions. Manga consistently outsell their American counterparts by impressive margins.

In a unique tribute during the publication of Spider-Man issue #700, Marvel included ashes from a departed fan who wished to be immortalized in a comic book.

Donald Duck comics in Italy were far more popular than Spider-Man or Superman.

The term and trend of “graphic novels” emerged mostly in the 1970s.

Finally, licensed material tied to comic books—such as toys, TV shows, and movies—typically generates far more revenue than the comic books themselves.