A general study by Publishers Weekly confirms there's a lot of good news in the physical retail of comics. Female-friendliness has long been a growing trend, but comic book shops appear to be getting increasingly kid-friendly, too. Image Comics has solidified its place as the #3 comics publisher, relying not only on its longtime mainstay The Walking Dead but also on new performers like Saga, Sex Criminals and The Wicked and the Divine. Marvel trades have done less well, and Marvel and DC have seen sluggish growth in general (with the Convergence series an especially notable flop), though one character continues to perform well in trade paperback and periodical form: Ms. Marvel. Note that this doesn't mean Marvel and DC don't still own the biggest piece of the pie, only that the size has shrunk. Key quote: "Once associated primarily with essentially one genre and male readers, todays comics market can offer something to any segment of the comics marketplace."
T Campbell has written quite a few online comics series and selected work for Marvel, Archie and Tokyopop. His longest-running works are Fans, Penny and Aggie-- and his current project with co-writer Phil Kahn, Guilded Age.
