Determining what to label as "popular" is somewhat of a subjective process, but I endeavoured to thoroughly consider interview responses, store layout, shelving conventions, pricing, and the manifestation of the print in the commercial and entertainment realm--namely, movies and TV series. If we are focusing solely on availability, something like Archie might be considered very popular because it can be found at most grocery stores. However, the target audience of, say, Superstore is quite different from that of comic stores, which might explain why you don’t see periodical Batman comics on the magazine rack next to the grocery store till.

Statistics displayed on the Diamond Distributor site suggest Superheroes and Sci Fi tend to dominate the comic scene. When considering Edmonton specifically, I found these trends were generally consistent. Batman and Spiderman were mentioned repeatedly in my interviews, and have generally maintained an ongoing popular status. Other popular contemporary characters include Deadpool and the Avengers, which are possibly tied into recent film releases. Star Wars Comics, published by Marvel, are exhibiting a similar movie-based popularity, except the hype has permeated our culture so thoroughly that you can’t go to a store without seeing a Star Wars themed product.

Harley Quinn, one of Batman’s adversaries, was notably one of the most popular costumes at Comic Expo 2015; however, according to Ben, this popularity was not reflected in the comic sales around that same time. He suggested that this might be because the comic portrayal is quite different from the cartoon and video games, so cosplayers could be fans of these alternate portrayals. However, store demographics likely factor in here as well. As for creator-owned comics, Brandon Schatz (from Variant Edition) noted an upswing in titles like The Walking Dead, Wicked and The Divine, and Lazarus.

Last Updated: Dec 22, 2016