Comic books have been around for decades, and the industry has seen its fair share of successes and failures. But which comic books have been the most successful? In this article, we'll take a look at the 10 best-selling single-issue American comics of all time, based on the most concrete figures in the industry's irregular history. One of the most popular and commercially successful superheroes, Spider-Man, has maintained cult status in the eyes of geeks (and even normal people) for decades. His versatility makes him one of the best comics of all time.
The best part is that Spider-Man's civilian life is fully identifiable to the average teenager who goes to school. Asterix, or The Adventures of Asterix, is a French comic book series that follows a village of Gauls as they resist Roman occupation in the 50s BC. C. They do this with the help of a magic potion made by Druids that gives them superhuman strength.
Honestly, learning history has never been more fun. Perhaps the most iconic comic book series, Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz followed the main character Charlie Brown, his dog Snoopy and all his friends, each with unique and intelligent personality traits that allowed the story to continue for 50 years. This American series focuses on characters such as Professor X and Wolverine, humans with supernatural abilities.
Like other American classics, X-Men has been adapted into multiple successful films. Captain America was designed as a patriotic supersoldier during World War II, fighting against Axis powers and showing pride in American soldiers. Captain America was the first Marvel Comics character to appear in the media outside of the comic strip when it became a 1944 movie starring Dick Purcell. The Adventures of Tintin is a French comic book series often referred to as one of the most popular 20th century series in Europe. The series follows a young Belgian reporter and his canine sidekick, Snowy.
Other beloved characters include whiskey-loving Captain Haddock, Professor Calculus and the clumsy twin detectives, Thompson and Thomson. An anthology of children's humor, The Beano dates back to 1938 and was one of the most popular comic book series made in the United Kingdom, specifically in Scotland. The X-Men wasn't a new name for comic book fans, as it was really just a drop of the title's “Uncanny” and a reset of the numbers. The so-called American comic book format consists of thinner stapled periodicals, not volumes. DC Comics printed the 80-page giant with 11 different covers, which is on par with a book of its magnitude and time. First of all, Batman was clearly outperformed, as the reported sales of all his comics (starting with their first appearance in 1993) only reached 484 million. This comic shows many literary classics that are being adapted to this art form, with books such as Hamlet or Moby Dick being some of the most outstanding in the long history of this title. As you can imagine, One Piece has become one of the two literary works in history to reach 500 million copies in circulation and has become the best-selling comic book series of all time. Like its predecessor, Batman received instant success and led to new adaptations of the comics.
However, his legacy lives on, so instead, what are the 10 best-selling comics? While the dream team has since changed to include other notable superheroes, Marvel Comics has garnered most of its success in this comic book series.