LO1: Comic production company report

Due to the rising popularity of comics and mangas, many new production companies are rising in both the east and west. Though, companies like Marvel and DC comics, Viz media and Shueisha still own and distribute a considerable amount of the comics that are produced today.

DC comics is the oldest American comic book company with their first comic book published in 1937. They create comics and stories in the superhero, action genre, producing many iconic super hero characters like Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman etc. The company has now branched off into creating feature live action and animated films, tv shows and games. Over the years of it's comic production, DC comics has created many successful franchises that are loved by generations of loyal fans, which is why the company is able to branch off and create content in multiple media formats. Similarly, another comic production company is Viz media that has been at the forefront of comic production for decades. Viz media is the biggest comic book publisher, followed by DC comics and Marvel comics in third place. The reason why it is able to outperform the likes of DC and Marvel is due to the rising popularity of Japanese comics, i.e., manga, which is the main genre/type of comics that Viz media publish. DC comics is a subsidiary of DC entertainment and Warner Media, working together to produce most films and games inhouse, while Viz media solely focus on comics/mangas belonging to multiple franchises, striking deals with multiple animation companies to get the comics adapted into other media formats.

DC COMICS

Wonder Woman

She is a popular female character from the DC comic superheroes and is featured as a founding member of their superhero team, the Justice League. She first appeared in All Star Comics in 1941 and was officially featured in Sensation comics in 1942. She has been called Wonder Woman by DC comics ever since. There have been many variations of her origin story, the very first and most memorable being Queen Hippolyta of Themiscyra sculpting Diana out of clay and begging Zeus to bring her to life, who granted her superpowers. She is raised as an Amazonian princess and later travels to the world of man under the alias Diana Prince. Newer variations involve her being the child of Zeus and Hippolyta, being raised by her and her aunts Antiope and Menalippe. Her appearance also changed over the years where she was originally based on the original creators wife and mistress, but was later modified and was made different versions of based on contextual factors like her Amazonian heritage (she was made to look more athletic and her skin was tanned due to her living on an island.) Diana has been portrayed by numerous authors in a variety of personas and tones, ranging from that of a worldly warrior to that of a serene and empathetic envoy, and depending on the author, even as an innocent and naive person. The contrast between her nurturing humanity and her dominant force component- her unwavering conviction in love, empathy, compassion, and having a strong conscience- has persisted throughout and is a fundamental aspect of the character.

Christopher Moeller - Justice League: A League of One

Christopher Moeller worked as both a writer and artist for DC comics ‘Justice League: League of One’ He’s primarily worked in the comic industry, creating works for a variety of comic book publications. He is known for his creation ‘ iron empires’ in the science fiction universe, also creating fully painted, graphic novels for it. he has done iconic covers for James Bond and Star Wars, with his latest endeavours being in DC comics, creating a monthly comic book series called ‘ shadow of the bat’. he both wrote and painted the graphic novel ‘JLA: A League of One’ primarily, featuring Wonder Woman as she has to make a difficult choice between betraying her teammates and saving their lives. She decides to sacrifice her own life by defeating her own comrades, so that she can fight the evil alone. The story follows her journey as she tries to complete this quest, and then hopefully gain back the trust of her teammates.

Batman

He is one of the most popular DC superhero characters with his debut in the 27th issue of the Detective Comics in 1939, then recieved his own spin off series in 1940, titled Batman. Batman changed from being a vicious vigilante who regularly killed or injured criminals to a person with a strict moral code and a strong sense of justice. Batman, in contrast to the majority of superheroes, does not have any superpowers but uses his wealth and intelligence. His real identity is Bruce Wayne, billionaire, genius and philanthropist. His personality has varied over the years as his story went through multiple versions as writers but his backstory has stayed the same. The reason he became batman in the first place is due to him experiencing his parent's traumatic murder, vowing to train and protect his city from criminals.

Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli - Batman: Year One

Writer Frank Miller and artist David Mazzucchelli create the popular comic series called Batman:year one. Miller has exclusively worked on a lot of Batman and Batman spinoff comics over many years of his career. Aside from being a writer. He is also an illustrator, who originally scripted and illustrated the highly acclaimed, 1986, Dark Knight series. He presumably has worked as a freelancer, but has been continually invited back to DC to expand the Dark Knight universe. David Mazzucchelli is an artist known for his collaborations with Frank Miller in comics. After working on a successful version of daredevil at Marvel, he was invited to do a retelling of Batman‘s origin story in the series Batman: year one. Not only has he illustrated comics, but also popular covers for various comic production companies. Though, a lot of his work is for well-known Batman comic series. Batman year one is a gritty retelling of Bruce, Wayne’s original story, with him, returning from abroad after training in martial arts, man hunting, and science for nearly 12 years. It follows Batman‘s first year as a crime fighter while also exploring the life of a recent transferred police detective Jim Gordon, leading to their alliance.

VIZ MEDIA

Yuji Itadori

Yuji Itadori is the main protagonist of the manga and anime series Jujutsu Kaisen. The story follows his journey, going from a regular high school student to being a part of a secret school, that aims to exorcise evil beings called curses. He is a kind and caring young man who is trying to understand the value of life and his role in this new society that he has joined when all forces are against him. a powerful curse called Ryoumen Sukuna resides within him, making him a threat to everyone in the Jujutsu society. Despite this, the tone of the initial story is quite lighthearted, slowly descending into a grim and gritty story about death, friendship, love and politics.

Gege Akutami - Jujutsu Kaisen

Jujutsu Kaisen is both written and illustrated by Gege Akutami, who is known for his spinoff series Jujutsu Kaisen 0 and his one shot comic Kamishori Sosa that follows a similar storyline. He is known for his unique art, style and realistic character types, gripping the audiences attention with unpredictable plot, twists and unforgiving, character deaths. He was originally only going to create a one shot comic called Jujutsu Kaisen 0, but after it, sudden popularity, Shonen Jump urged him to create a longer series. It was then adapted into an anime by Mappa studios, and now has two seasons with one spinoff film.

Denji

Denji is the protagonist of the popular manga and anime series, Chainsaw Man. He’s a young boy who inherits his father’s debt, and has to work odd jobs to pay off the yakuza. The world in which he lives has evil creatures known as devils, that people kill for money. After refusing to take any more ill treatment from the yakuza, they decide to try and kill him, when his pet devil decides to form a contract with him and merges into his soul. Denji is then recruited by Makima who is a part of the Public Safety Devil Hunters. He is an outgoing, mischievous, teenage boy whose goal life is to simply make friends and have meaningful connections.

Tatsuki Fujimoto - Chainsaw Man

Chainsaw man is both written and illustrated by Tatsuki Fujimoto, a popular Japanese mangaka known for his previous series, Fire Punch. He has also worked on many one-shoe comics like Look Back and Goodbye Eri. A lot of his works are sentimental and deep or extremely gory and gritty; sometimes a combination of both. He has created many works that look at themes of love, friendship and social realism in an abstract manner. He is celebrated for his expressive panel layouts and unique art style. His comic Chainsaw Man got an anime adaptation by studio Mappa and has one season, with the second in production. His popular one-shot Look Back is also in the works of getting a short film.