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 * 1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Age_of_Comic_Books (English Wikipedia)
 * 2) https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%82ge_moderne_des_comics (French Wikipedia)

The Modern Age of Comics is a period in American comics history spanning from 1986–1987 to the present. After the Golden Age (from the first comic books in 1938 to the establishment of censorship in 1954) and the Silver Age (from the end of the 1950s to the beginning of the 1970s) comics experienced a new period called the Bronze Age. During this period, which lasted from the 1970s to 1986, the world of comics, after having experienced a brilliant period, lost its splendor. Sales are declining, superheroes are competing with kung fu or heroic fantasy and the economic and social crisis that the United States is going through finds a dark echo in the colorful pages of comics. Many publishers are disappearing and it is not the underground comics publishers – whose sales remain confidential – who can save the industry. In 1986, four series revived readers' interest in comics. Crisis on Infinite Earths, The Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen , all three published by DC Comics , show that superhero comics can also deal with adult subjects. As for Maus, it highlights alternative production. From this date, comic book sales increased until reaching millions of copies in the early 1990s. However, this surge is driven in part by a speculative bubble. When it broke out in 1994, sales collapsed, leading to the disappearance of publishers, distribution companies and stores specializing in the sale of comics. It takes several years for the sector to stabilize but without sales returning to previous peaks.

This crisis affects alternative publishers less, whose readers are much less sensitive to fashion, but the closure of many stores limits their sales. This type of comics shows how writing qualities play an important role in retaining readership. The other editors will also highlight the scenarios. This improves sales but other elements must be taken into account: crossovers which span several series and the regular recreation of characters.

This period is marked by the development of characters who are much darker and with less clear morality than those of previous decades. In addition, female characters who are as sexy as they are dangerous contribute to this ambiguity that appeals to readers of the 1990s who are mainly young white adults. This has been evolving since the 2000s as publishers seek to broaden their readership by highlighting characters closer to the diversity of the American population. In addition, the number of female authors is increasing.

Apart from comic books, American comics are also found in graphic novels which are also distributed in bookstores and help attract readers who do not frequent specialized stores. This form of comic strip is recent and is developing like webcomics while newspaper comic strips are becoming rarer, have less space and are increasingly confined to the humorous genre.

As American comics, and especially alternative comics, have shown that they are not condemned to only telling superhero fights, the way they are viewed has evolved. Some comics are sold in bookstores, newspaper articles talk about them, books are devoted to them and university studies are interested in them. The broadcast of adaptations into films, series and video games also improves the visibility of original works.

Background
The Modern Age of Comic Books follows the Bronze Age of Comic Books, which was preceeded by the Golden Age—lasting from 1938, when the first comic books appeared, to the establishment of the Comics Code Authority in 1954—and the Silver Age, which lasted from 1956 to 1970, and saw the renaissance of superhero comics; first at DC Comics, then at Marvel Comics. During the Bronze Age, which lasted from the early 1970s to the mid-1980s, the world of American comics underwent many changes. The decline in the number of readers was significant, and several old publishing houses ceased their operations. Although the reading audience had become more diversified and now included more adults, this was not enough to stop a crisis from happening.


 * 1) https://screenrant.com/comics-history-golden-silver-bronze-age-explained/
 * 2) https://www.gamesradar.com/golden-age-silver-age-comic-books/

Revival at DC Comics
Three comics, all published by DC Comics, are generally regarded as the starting point of the Modern Age of Comic Books. In 1985, DC recreated its fictional universe by launching the 12-issue limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths, written by Marv Wolfman and drawn by George Pérez. At the end of Crisis, the different Earths of the DC Multiverse were merged into one, with the Superman from Earth-Two—who launched the Golden Age—disappearing, and the Flash from Earth-One—the first superhero of the Silver Age—dying. The conclusion of this series and creation of a new universe allowed authors to wipe away DC's convoluted past, and rewrite the origins of superheroes.

In 1986, two limited series set the tone for this Modern Age; The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller, and Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. These comics were aimed at an older and more mature reading audience than that usually targeted by comics. Both addressed themes such sexuality, drugs, and violence, which were prohibited by the comics monitoring body, the Comics Code Authority (CCA), being published without a seal of approval. DC had previously started to defy the CCA with titles such as Swamp Thing, also scripted by Alan Moore, which continued being published without CCA approval starting with issue #29 in October 1984.

"British Invasion"
Alan Moore's arrival at DC Comics in 1983 heralded what has been described as a "British Invasion". Writers such as Jamie Delano (Hellblazer), Grant Morrison (Animal Man, Doom Patrol, and The Invisibles), Neil Gaiman (The Sandman), Garth Ennis (Preacher), Warren Ellis (Transmetropolitan) and Peter Milligan (Shade, the Changing Man) all arrived at DC in the late 1980s to early 1990s; there, they create or revamped variious comics intended for more mature readers. From 1987 onwards, these publications carried the warning label "For Mature Readers" on their covers. In 1993, the Vertigo imprint was established under the editorship of Karen Berger, going on to publishing these titles, which took place outside the mainstream universe of classic superheroes. The addition of the "For Mature Readers" warning label followed a decision by DC officials concerned about a possible return of censorship.

Threat of censorship
In 1986, two events showcase that artistic freedom was still under threat. Steve Geppi, president of the distribution company Diamond Comic Distributors, told his retail clients to make complaints to publishers over the lack of censorship and unhealthy content of certain comics; one such comic singled out being issue #9 of Miracleman, written by Moore and drawn by Rick Veitch, which depicted a graphic childbirth scene in several panels. DC reacted to this campaign by announced the creation of instructions for its creators, so that they do not cross certain limit, while Marvel reaffirmed its compliance with the CCA's rules.

Moreover, in December 1986 a comic book store owner was indicted for selling pornographic products. The following year, the federal state 's financial support for art was accused of supporting pornographic works; comics began to suffer the repercussions of this debate, being singled out in several newspapers and television reports. This did not prevent the store owner from being found innocent in 1989, but this legal action demonstrated to publishers the need to unite to combat threats over free speech. For this purpose, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund was created in 1987, with the mission of providing financial and legal assistance to people working in this field and threatened with legal action.

Independent and alternative
While independent comics are a clearly defined group—comics not distributed by mainstream publishers who have existed for decades—they are also very diverse. Indeed, sticking to this definition alone, all comics that are not distributed by Marvel, DC, or Archie Comics—the only publishing houses to survive the drop in readership in the 1970s—are to be classified as independent. A finer division according to published genre distinguishes between independent and alternative comics; the former pertains to classic genres (superheroes, science fiction, fantasy) but with respect to copyright, while the latter relates to genres such as autobiography, reporting, or "fictionalized" representations of everyday life.

Independents
At the end of the 1970s and the beginning of the 1980s, independent publishers, taking advantage of the rise of the direct market—the appearance of bookstores specializing in the sale of comics—found an area to market their works. The enormous success of Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in 1984 led to the proliferation of independent black and white comics; however, by 1986, this overproduction caused a sales crisis and many publishing houses were forced to close. Despite this setback, that same year also saw the creation of Dark Horse Comics. Mike Richardson and Randy Stradley launched the anthologies Dark Horse Presents and Boris the Bear, expecting about 10,000 copies to be sold; sales exceed their expectations by reaching 50,000. Dark Horse consolidated further success by translating manga, including Oh My Goddess! by Kosuke Fujishima, Ghost in the Shell by Masamune Shirow, and Blade of the Immortal by Hiroaki Samura, making them as one of the first publishers in this sector. Another success came from adaptating and publishing comcis based on pre-existing film franchises, with titles such as Alien in 1988, Predator in 1989, and Star Wars in 1991. Finally, to attract important authors, Dark Horse chose to publish miniseries, rather than creating series with no planned end, and leaving ownership of their creations to authors in addition to sharing profits more equitably; These miniseries were intended to be published in graphic novel format. Among the authors inspired by Richardson's approach included Frank Miller, creator of Sin City, and Mike Mignola, creator of Hellboy.

The rise of alternative comics
The year 1986 also represents an important date in the history of comics with the publication of the first volume of Maus (titled Maus: A Survivor's Tale ) by Art Spiegelman 19. The second volume Maus: from Mauschwitz to the Catskills was released in 1991 and earned the author a special Pulitzer Prize in 1992. Art Spiegelman got his start in the 1960s drawing underground comics. When this genre of comics collapsed in the mid-1970s, Spiegelman launched comics magazines, Arcade in 1975 then RAW in 1980. These magazines, as well as Robert Crumb 's Weirdo, made the link between the underground and the alternative. The essential difference between these two types of comics remains the target audience. While the underground was aimed at a minority of politicized readers already living in a rebellious world, the alternative seeks to reach the general public. In this sense, Art Spiegelman with Maus achieves this since the work is commented on and recommended by established newspapers such as the New York Times 21. Other authors managed to make a name for themselves in the years that followed, such as Daniel Clowes, Howard Cruse , Joe Sacco and Chris Ware. But if all the alternatives do not have the echo of Spiegelman, they agree on one objective: to make comics an artistic expression which can allow itself to touch any subject 22.

Many alternative authors choose self-publishing in order to maintain control over their work, imitating Dave Sim who since 1977 has successfully published Cerebus the Aardvark 23. However, not everyone chooses this path. Companies were founded in the 1980s and 1990s and managed to publish demanding works, reach an audience different from that of superhero comics and ensure sufficient income. In 1989, Canadian Chris Oliveros founded Drawn and Quarterly ; this publisher welcomes Canadian authors like Julie Doucet or Chester Brown but also Americans like Adrian Tomine. In 1997, Top Shelf was formed, which published stories by several authors such as Eddie Campbell , Alan Moore , Craig Thompson 24.

World of Images
Even if some comics stand out through the work on the writing and are successful, they cannot hide the growing disinterest of readers in these publications and in general sales continue to decline 25. However, the trend subsequently reversed thanks to several factors. The first is the arrival of a new generation of artists at Marvel Comics : Todd McFarlane on Amazing Spider-Man then Spider-Man, Jim Lee on Uncanny X-men then X-men , Erik Larsen on Amazing Spider-Man , Rob Liefeld on New Mutants turned X-Force , Marc Silvestri on Wolverine , Whilce Portacio on Uncanny X-men and Jim Valentino on Guardians of the Galaxy. The comics on which these artists work see their sales increase 26 ; thus the first issue of Spider-Man by McFarlane sold 3 million copies, X-Force 1 at 5 million and X-men 1 at 8 million 27. Another cause of the rise in sales is the creation of a speculative bubble. As some Golden Age and Silver Age comics are worth thousands of dollars, speculators are betting that the same would be true for modern comics. To supply this market, publishers are multiplying series and special issues and using modern printing techniques to create original covers ( embossing, cut-outs, phosphorescent ink, etc.). The hope is to attract enough collectors who buy multiple copies to resell at a profit. The increase in the number of buyers is accompanied by the proliferation of new publishing houses launching their superhero lines 28.

Among these are Valiant Comics founded by Jim Shooter in 1989 which became the third publishing house behind Marvel and DC 27 and Image Comics founded in 1992 by the star authors of Marvel who, wishing to remain masters of their creations, s come together to edit them. These two publishing houses have opposing editorial policies. Valiant builds reader loyalty by focusing on stories. In addition, readers can receive free special issues by sending this publisher coupons included in the issues. Thus the first seven issues of Magnus, Robot Fighter include such coupons, allowing you to receive number zero of series 29. Conversely, the founders of Image, especially designers, favor the artistic aspect, at the expense of the depth of the scenarios. This policy is a huge success. The first comic book published by this new publishing house was Youngblood by Liefeld and sold nearly a million copies. The following titles do as well, or even better. McFarlane's Spawn and Jim Lee's WildCATS exceed 30 million. The success was such that in August, when Image only published six comics, it became the second publisher in terms of number of copies sold, behind Marvel (93 comics) and ahead of DC Comics (61 comics) 31. However, Image is more a “meeting of individuals” than a publishing house with a clear editorial line. This also causes numerous problems such as significant delays in publication, the proliferation of series which do not find their readers and, within Image itself, tensions between the founding members 25.

Crisis
The year 1993 marked the peak of comic book sales. InFebruary 1993, 190 million publications were ordered by specialist stores and two months later the number rose to 400 million. In addition, comic book sales brought in $500 million in 1992 and $800 million in 1993 32. Special issues achieve extraordinary sales figures. Thus issue 75 of Superman, datedNovember 1993and which shows the death of the hero, sold six million copies 33. However, this exceptional event is the last peak reached before the rapid fall. That same month of November, the number of comics sold was 200 million and the speculative bubble burst. All publishers are affected and experiencing difficulties. Comics no longer appear as an object that can quickly increase in value. As they are published in several hundred thousand copies, or even several million, they are not rarities like those from the 1940s to 1960s: the expected added value on resale is zero. Speculators stop buying comics and readers are satisfied with a single copy 28.

The effects of this turnaround affect all types of businesses linked to this sector. The number of stores selling these publications collapsed: in 1996 it went from 10,000 to 4,000. The distribution companies closed down one after the other and in 1994, only Diamond Comic Distributors 34 remained. As for publishers, many disappeared, including Valiant Comics, which was bought in 1994 by Acclaim Entertainment to use the characters in video games 35.

In 1996, Marvel Comics was on the verge of bankruptcy. The company owes its salvation to a request for protection under Chapter 11 of the United States bankruptcy law 36. However, this does not prevent it from still being the leading comic book publishing house 34. Image, for its part, was torn apart, and two founders left the company: Rob Liefeld founded his publishing house Awesome Entertainment in 1997 and Jim Lee left with his creations for DC Comics, which became the publisher of his series but which leaves Jim Lee as collection director 37. This severe crisis finally subsided, but sales no longer reached the peaks of the early 1990s; they return to the level of the 1980s. Thus, inJanuary 1998, Uncanny X-men only sold 154,000 copies 34. On the other hand, certain stocks are benefiting from this crisis. Sandman has sales figures of around 100,000 copies: it is in 70th place in the sales ranking. When the collapse of sales occurs, those of Sandman do not change and it automatically rises in the ranking to end up overtaking the sales of Superman and Batman 38.

Importance of scenarios
After the period of euphoria and the crisis that followed it, publishers changed strategy and tried to keep or attract readers who bought comics for their intrinsic qualities and not to speculate. This is done through several means. First of all, more attention is paid to the storyline. The Vertigo collection at DC Comics had shown the way by promoting English screenwriters and original writing 39. After the crisis, since the reader grew tired of comics which were just images without content, publishers are looking for writers who, thanks to strong stories, will make the reader want to come back the following month to buy the new episode of the series that it follows 40. Thus, screenwriters such as Kurt Busiek or James Robinson produce complex stories that focus on the characters and not just the fights of the heroes against the villains. Furthermore, film and television screenwriters and novelists are called upon to write comic book scenarios. Thus Kevin Smith scripts the adventures of Green Arrow for DC and those of Daredevil for Marvel 41 ; Joss Whedon continues the story of the adventures of Buffy the Vampire Slayer in comics after the end of the television series 42 and Denise Mina takes over Hellblazer 43.

Crossovers
Another way to sell comics is to offer crossovers which require the purchase of several series to understand the story. So Batman: Knightfall is a story that has 20 episodes spread over four series. A variation of this is the publication of a mini-series which can be read alone but which has repercussions on numerous series: this was the case for Infinity War, published by Marvel, to which 19 series were attached. Crossovers tend to become a regular event and allow a story to be told for months, affecting several series and significantly changing the superhero universe. At Marvel, each year brings its new crossover which affects the entire Marvel universe and whose consequences lead to the next one. Thus, in 2004 Secret War n 2 was published, having consequences on the Secret Invasion crossover four years later. In 2004-2005, Avengers Disassembled began a series of crossovers which followed House of M (2005) then Civil War (2006-2007), Secret Invasion (2008), Dark Reign (2009) 44, Siege (2010) 45 and Heroic Age (2010) 46. Other independent publishers sometimes follow this example and tell a story featuring several characters from their catalog. Thus IDW published a crossover which links GI Joe and Transformers 47 and Dynamite is released inJune 2012a crossover featuring Vampirella, Red Sonja , Allan Quatermain , etc. 48.

At DC, the superhero universe experienced a series of “crises” which were published each year from 2004 to 2008: Identity Crisis (2004) developed into Countdown to Infinite Crisis (2005), Infinite Crisis (2005-2006), 52 (2006-2007), Countdown to Finale Crisis (2007), Final Crisis 2008 44.

In 2009, a crossover highlighted Green Lantern : it was called Blackest Night 49 and gave birth to that of the following year Brightest Day 50. Finally, in 2011, Flash is in the spotlight with the Flashpoint 51 crossover which is followed in 2011-2012 by the complete recreation of the DC universe. All series then start again with a new number 1 52. This aims to attract new readers who may be disoriented in a teeming universe, where so many characters fight each other, love each other, betray each other for so many years that it is difficult to immediately grasp all the mechanisms of history 53.

Recreations
Randy Duncan and Matthew J. Smith speak of an age of reiteration to characterize this period in which heroes are constantly recreated. They are not only in their classic world but also in parallel versions 53. Thus Marvel has created an Ultimate collection in which the most important superheroes have new origins placed in the current world 54 ; there is also a MAX collection with more adult content 55 and a collection presenting the adventures of Marvel heroes aimed at children, with graphics inspired by cartoons 56.

Jean-Paul Gabilliet does not say anything else when he notices the propensity of publishers to relaunch their series with new number 1s. Thus in 1996, the Iron Man, Fantastic Four , Hulk and Captain America series were taken over by defectors from Image Comics that recreate the eponymous characters to modernize them. A variation of this strategy, which should allow new readers to enter a series without having to know everything that has happened since the 1960s, is to publish miniseries telling the origins of a character. Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale take on Batman ( A Long Halloween and Bitter Victory ) and Superman ( Superman for All Seasons ) at DC and Daredevil, Spider-Man , Hulk and Captain America at Marvel, each time telling the first years of the heroes 57.

Among the alternatives
The crisis of the 1990s did not affect alternative authors and publishers in the same way as those targeting the general public. Indeed, speculators did not turn to this type of comics and fans of this type of comics remained after 1993. However, the alternative suffered a repercussion from the crisis. In fact, many stores have closed and distribution channels have become restricted 58. Alternative authors reject the mainstream system with its Manichean stories, its publishers who seize authors' rights, but they need this system to survive. The majority of comic book readers buy superhero comics and it is these sales that allow specialized bookstores to survive and offer comics other than the general 59. From the 2000s, alternatives found a new circuit which complemented that of specialized stores. The graphic novel format is growing in importance and is also of interest to major publishers. In this case, graphic novels are compilations of several comic book episodes forming a complete story. These graphic novels are distributed not only in the usual stores but are also found in general bookstores, which find a way to attract younger readers. For alternatives, this diffusion goes hand in hand with the development of collaborations with publishers who also publish novels. Random House, WW Norton , Scholastic , Penguin , and Simon and Schuster all publish graphic novels as of 200558.

Darker characters
color photo of a man dressed as a Punisher (gray suit with a stylized skull on the torso) raising a fake machine gun with his right hand The Punisher, a violent vigilante with questionable morals. The beginning of the modern age of comics has often been considered the period that saw comics come of age as narrative techniques became more complex, as seen in the Watchmen series, and characters appeared darker. . However, as Shirrel Rhoades explains, based on a university study, this ultimately only concerns superhero comics 60. The success of Watchmen and Batman: Dark Knight pushed publishers to create characters or transform existing ones by developing their psychology and making them darker. The adjectives “ grim and gritty  ” (“sinister and realistic”) are often associated with this period. At Marvel Comics, the equivalent is found in the characters of Wolverine and the Punisher , two successful characters whose morality is questionable 19.

Bad Girl Art
The representation of women evolved significantly in the 1970s. Previously, female characters remained confined to a secondary role, the hero's eternal fiancées; during this decade they reached a new place in comics. Thus, heroines are capable of the same feats as men and have a more assertive character. This representation continued in the 1980s and 1990s until leading to what was called Bad Girl Art, in reference to the Good Girl Art of the Second World War and the immediate post-war period. The character launching this fashion is Elektra created in the early 1980s by Frank Miller. She is a dangerous character following a very personal moral path. Many other female characters will follow this model but most add a caricatured drawn representation. The sexual characters are exaggerated, the clothes are very short and the positions are sometimes impossible but serve to emphasize the extreme sexualization of these women 61. This affects both mainstream publishers ( Catwoman drawn by Jim Balent or Wonder Woman by Mike Deodato Jr. ) and independents ( Lady Death at Chaos! Comics or Witchblade at Image Comics ) 62.

Copyright
At the beginning of the modern age, authors' rights began to be recognized. Among independent publishers, which follow underground publishers, the authors remain the owners of their creations. They also receive a higher percentage of sales than mainstream publishers. In the latter, evolution is slower. In the 1970s, designers won the right to keep their boards. In the 1980s, collections appeared, such as Epic Comics at Marvel, for which the authors retained their rights to their creations 63. At DC, the Vertigo collection also offers this possibility. This results in the existence of several collections for these major publishers for which the authors retain the copyrights on their creations. The amounts paid by the publishers are in this case more significant. Thus, DC not only grants royalties for the writers and artists but also for the creators [Who?] 40.

Authors' place
During the Bronze Age of comics, few authors worked for the big publishing houses 64. They are proportionally more numerous in underground comics, where they can imagine stories whose subjects are more relevant to the female audience and are more often feminist. During the modern age, new authors took over like Julie Doucet with Dirty Plotte n 3 or Roberta Gregory, who created the character of Bitchy Bitch in Naughty Bits 65. Authors like Jaime and Gilbert Hernandez, with Love and Rockets, also include a feminist message in their comics. Despite the diversity of stories and styles, women's comics all carry, according to Paul Williams, the desire to be not only a testimony against the daily violence that women suffer but also a refusal to let the situation continue 66.

Underground comics authors relied on an independent distribution system so that their works could reach their readers. In the 1990s, authors did the same so that their feminist comics reached female readers. Linked to the Riot grrrl musical movement, they offer photocopied comics in a few dozen copies and distributed on order or in specialized bookstores or at record stores. One of the essential elements of this movement is the refusal to be subject to patriarchal propriety and to express oneself freely on desired subjects 67. Although this refusal of the rules imposed by a masculine system prevents the large-scale distribution of comics, some authors achieve notoriety like Jessica Abel. She began self-publishing a minicomics titled Artbabe before it was taken over by the alternative publisher Fantagraphics 68.

This little-publicized movement, heir in part to the authors of underground comics, is not the only tool used to fight against male domination. Other personalities, such as the members of Friends of Lulu, on the contrary seek to establish themselves in mainstream comics in order to increase the number of readers and authors 69.

Readership
In the 1990s, a study commissioned by DC Comics described the average comic book reader with these words: "24 years old, male and highly educated" n 4, 70. The time when comics were placed on turnstiles crowned with the slogan “ Hey Kids!” Comics  ", because they were aimed at children, is far away 71 . On the other hand, one aspect seems frozen in the 1990s. The readership appears essentially male. While until the 1970s, young girls read comics as much as young boys, the gradual disappearance of comics in drugstores or supermarkets in favor of specialized stores led to the departure of female readers 72 . The comics in the Vertigo collection are among the first to reconnect with young women. Not only do they not have superheroes as main characters, but they also present complex female characters and above all, according to Karen Berger, they are more interested in emotions 70 . Since the 2010s, female readers have been returning and statistics show that in 2014 the share of readership which is increasing the most is that of women between 17 and 33 years old 73.

Reflections of American society
Comics have always been the echo of American society and social issues find their place there. Over the years, the Comics Code has been rewritten several times and mainstream comic book authors do not hesitate to criticize the American way of life. However, it is the abandonment of the code for certain series which makes it possible to address more head-on subjects which until then were only mentioned.

LGBT
Related article: Homosexuality in comics. DC in January 1988 presented Extraño, a superhero who takes up the stereotype of the extroverted homosexual but whose sexual orientation is never clearly stated 74. On the other hand, in the Sandman series, homosexual characters are presented as such 75. It was not until 1992 that a person from a major publishing house clearly affirmed his homosexuality. In Alpha Flight issue #106, Vega screams while fighting the supervillain " I am gay  ". The importance of this event is highlighted by newspapers such as the New York Times, which explains that "Vega's revelation will one day be seen for what it is: a welcome sign of changes in society" n 5 , 76. Vega is also the first homosexual superhero to marry someone of the same sex. In June 2012, in issue #51 of Astonishing X-men, he married his companion Kyle Jinadu #77. At DC, several heroes have been openly homosexual since the end of the 1990s, and it is at this publisher that we find for the first time a lesbian superheroine, Batwoman, who has her own comic book 75.

Trans or non-binary characters are also heroes of comics or webcomics 78. At Marvel Comics, Sera, assigned as a man in her kingdom, asserts herself as a woman after the intervention of Angela with whom she then lives as a couple 79. But we also find more realistic characters in Backstagers published by Boom! Studios or characters in children's comics like Cucumber Quest 78.

MeToo movement
Changes in the expectations of part of American society and the search for a new readership are leading publishers to change their policy. So in2014, Marvel highlights female authors and heroines as well as artists or characters from minorities with the slogan “ All-New, All-Different  ”. However, readers denounced this editorial line, which led Marvel to abandonmars 2017Project 80.

The MeToo movement also affects comics. Rather, it is authors or publishers who are accused of sexual harassment 81, while at the same time authors are vilified on social networks. The most publicized case took place in the summer of 2017 when Marvel authors were victims of harassment on the Internet 80. This violent attack on diversity in comics has since been named Comicsgate. If several writers and artists took sides against this movement, Marvel, like the majority of publishers, refrained from any comment 82.

At conventions too, the harassment to which cosplayers are sometimes victims has been revealed, and actions are taken to ensure that disguised women no longer suffer the inappropriate gestures of certain visitors 83. Finally, even if Metoo is not a comic book subject, the effects of women speaking out can be seen in some comics. Thus, Cecil Castellucci presents his mini-series Female Furies as an echo of the changes in American society on the subject of women's consent 84 and Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson deals with rape and the difficulty of talking about it 85.

Ethnic minorities
Over the decades, African-Americans gained greater visibility in comics, and in the 1970s, comics starring a black superhero hit the shelves. In 1993, Milestone Media, a company founded by African-American artists, including Dwayne McDuffie and Denys Cowan , was the first to offer comics created by black authors and whose characters were also black. Milestone Media is supported by DC Comics, but a month later, a new independent publisher, ANIA, also launched several series whose heroes are African-Americans or Africans. If Milestone lasted until 1997 and if its characters sometimes reappeared in the DC universe, ANIA disappeared very quickly since none of its comics went beyond the first issue 86. Founded in 2013, the Black Lives Matter movement finds an echo in comics. In 2020, the American Library Association established a list of graphic novels on this theme 87 and, inmars 2021, the heroes of Milestone return: the origin of their powers is then linked to a Black Lives Matter demonstration against police violence 88. DC also supports this movement by distributing the webcomics Represent! , whose first episode, It's a Bird, written by Christian Cooper deals with this subject and whose last pages relate, without images, the deaths of several black people, including Amadou Diallo , Breonna Taylor and George Floyd , killed by the police 89.

On a smaller scale, American authors of Asian origin have also made their voices heard more since the 2010s. While for decades, these authors were very few in number and the representations of Asians were most often caricatures, some sought to depict more realistic Asian characters during the 2010s, whether in mainstream comics or more confidential independent ones 90.

Printing techniques
Technological developments in the field of printing have an impact on the creation of comics. If offset publishing has been the norm since the 1950s, the arrival of digital technology is changing the coloring and printing of magazines. The largest publishing houses are creating a department for computerized coloring and printers are also switching to digital when flashing 38. The move to computerized coloring becomes a way to stand out and attract readers. In 1992, the six founders of Image Comics left Marvel Comics and chose Malibu Comics as printer and distributor: they did so in part because this company was one of the rare publishing houses to already use computers for coloring comics. 91.

Graphic novels
The first graphic novels date from the 1970s, but it was only in 1978 with A Pact with God by Will Eisner that the term became widespread to describe long but complete stories, comprising several dozen pages. After their success in a comic book format, The Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen were each reissued as graphic novels. Maus is also a collection of plates pre-published mainly in the magazine RAW. In this format which makes it possible to maintain sales over a long period, unlike comic books, profits remain appreciable 92. Until the mid-1990s, however, sales were hampered by publishers' policies. In fact, booksellers are forced to take several copies when they want to order a graphic novel with the risk that it will not sell. In the mid-1990s, DC Comics agreed to deliver graphic novels individually. Booksellers can therefore order the exact number that meets readers' demands 93. This leads to a proliferation of comic books sold in specialized stores but also in bookstores. Publishers like Doubleday or Pantheon Books sign agreements with authors or publishers to publish graphic novels 92. Sales were initially very satisfactory before stagnating, especially during the recession of the early 1990s. The format can be used by an alternative author as well as by mainstream publishers to compile an adventure, spanning several episodes, of any superhero 94. The disappearance of publishers and the collapse in the number of readers limit the number of graphic novels published. Thereafter, sales increased steadily 58.

Comic strips
Comic strips, like comic books, are experiencing a drop in readership. The primary cause is the crisis in the written press. In 1920, 2,398 daily newspapers were distributed across the country and, in 2009, there were only 1,422, even though the American population had tripled in the meantime. In addition, the space given to strips is decreasing and fewer and fewer newspapers are publishing them. A consequence of this crisis is the disappearance of adventure strips which need more space to develop. They are almost all replaced by humorous strips, which manage to immediately touch the reader with increasingly simple drawings in less and less space.

Political bands
Among humorous strips, political strips are also tending to disappear. The success of Doonesbury since the 1970s is the exception which poorly hides this phenomenon 97. Other authors sometimes include a critique of American society and its political personnel, but less and less directly. The political cartoon which often commented on the news on the front page tends to disappear, and authors come to produce strips where political analysis, understood in a broad sense, resurfaces from time to time. This is the case for Jeff MacNelly who in Shoe makes fun of the failings of the press thanks to his main character, Shoe, a journalist bird. Doug Marlette with Kudzu, Mike Peters with Grimmy and Jim Borgman with Zits each create a work which is not in essence a satire but in which a questioning of the American way of life emerges. They thus reconnect with the political cartoon which earned MacNelly, Marlette and Peters the Pulitzer Prize for press cartoons 98. Finally, although it is not strictly speaking a political series, Dilbert by Scott Adams paints a caustic picture of the world of work. This strip, distributed nationally in numerous newspapers, is also the first of its type to appear on the internet 99.

Other comedians
Other authors are very successful, such as Bill Watterson with Calvin and Hobbes or Patrick McDonnell with Mutts. The first is a family strip in which the child, Calvin, chats with his stuffed tiger Hobbes. The strip, which lasted ten years, was stopped in 1995 according to Watterson's wishes. This received numerous awards, including the Harvey Prize for best comic strip each year from 1990 to 1996 100 and the Grand Prix de la ville d'Angoulême in 2014 101. The second is an animal strip created in 1994 and considered by Charles Schulz as “one of the best comic strips of all time” 102. Distributed in 700 daily newspapers 103, it earned its author Patrick McDonnell numerous awards, including the Reuben Award in 1999 104 and a Harvey Award several times 103.

Webcomics
A new format appeared in the mid-1980s to distribute comic books. Thanks to networks, first CompuServe then the Internet, authors managed to reach readers without worrying about the printing and distribution of their works. The first author to open this path was Eric Millikin who in 1985 created Witches and Stitches, the first comic book distributed online thanks to CompuServe 105. In 1993, the first two webcomics available on the web appeared almost simultaneously : Netboy by Stafford Huyler and Doctor Fun by David Farley. Since then, many artists have chosen to distribute their creations through the Internet and through this have acquired a reputation allowing them to publish their works in paper format 106. So, for example, Brian Fies ' Mom's Cancer was first produced as a webcomic, which earned it a Harvey Award in 2005, before being published by the Harry N. Abrams publishing house. 107.

Conversely, comic book publishers distribute paper works on the Internet, whether DC Comics 108, Marvel, Top Cow, Boom, etc. 109.

Webtoons
In the mid-2000s, in South Korea, webtoons appeared , platforms that offer comics by independent authors. These platforms are not publishers and have no copyright on the content. These platforms are gaining importance and the creation of applications dedicated to reading multiplies it even more to the point that in Korea, they are causing a drop in the distribution of manhwas published in paper format 110. The development of webtoons allows them to reach other countries such as the United States: the Webtoon company arrived there in 2014 111 and for this company alone the number of American readers is estimated at ten million 112. Although initially translated Korean content was offered, original American works are now available. Independent authors like Dean Haspiel but also major publishers like DC Comics or Top Cow 113, 112 are finding new outlets there and can reach a younger and more female readership who have found themselves excluded from comics in paper format 111.

Recognitions
color photo of a bald man with glasses Chris Ware, latest recipient of the Grand Prix de la ville d'Angoulême. Comics in the 2000s found their place in public libraries. A change in the distribution system allows them to directly order a single copy of a graphic novel ; previously they had to go through comic book stores. They were also forced by publishers to order several copies of these graphic novels even though sales were not at all assured. From the moment DC Comics agrees to deliver an order with a single graphic novel, these have more often been ordered to meet specific requests from readers and libraries benefit from this. In fact, they do not have to go through specialized bookstores but can order directly from the publisher. From then on, these comic book collections circulated much more and library borrowing increased. In 2002, the proportion of comics in libraries increased the most among books 93.

Alongside this entry into libraries, comics also gained recognition thanks to literary criticism. If the adventures of superheroes have long been ignored, alternative graphic novels stand out for the subjects they treat, such as Palestine, a comic report on the situation of the Palestinians, by Joe Sacco or the semi-autobiographical graphic novels of Will Eisner 93.

Finally, academic works look at comics and analyze different aspects of this popular literature. Thus, the University of Massachusetts in 1988 organized a three-day conference with guest Will Eisner. Furthermore, the University of Mississippi publishes a collection of works devoted to comics 12.

This is accompanied by literary prizes apart from those awarded at comic book festivals. Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess received the World Fantasy Award in 1991 and, in 1992, Art Spiegelman a Pulitzer for Maus 114. Abroad too, American comics are rewarded. Chris Ware received the Guardian First Book Award in 2001 for Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth. This series was also rewarded at the Angoulême festival in 2003 115. The Angoulême festival has also rewarded numerous American authors: Robert Crumb in 1999, Art Spiegelman in 2011, Bill Watterson in 2014, Richard Corben in 2018 and Chris Ware in 2021 116.

Licenses
Even though comic book sales remain low at the start of the 21st century, publishers have found ways to make money by using their creations in other media, whether films, television series, cartoons, or even console games 25. Characters emerge from the pages of comics to adorn confectionery or appear in video games. The development of the direct market and stores specializing in comics have enabled this multiplication of objects bearing the image of paper heroes 114.

Audiovisual
Comics have had, almost since their appearance, important links with other media. They are adapted for radio, in serials or feature films in cinema, in cartoons or in series on television. Even an underground author like Robert Crumb saw one of his works, Fritz the Cat, successfully transposed into an animated feature film by Ralph Bakshi 117.

DC Comics
heartfelt photo of a wax statue representing the bust of a man disguised as a circus august Wax statue of Jack Nicholson in his role as The Joker. While there had only been two films adapting DC comics since its founding, starting in the late 1970s, their production increased considerably, driven by the success of Richard Donner 's Superman and its sequels which attracted audiences. million spectators. The modern age is not left out since in 1989 Tim Burton 's Batman was released, which had several sequels 117. Batman returns from 2005 in a trilogy directed by Christopher Nolan. It was followed by Watchmen: Guardians by Zack Snyder in 2009, Green Lantern by Martin Campbell in 2011 and Man of Steel, a revival of Superman, by Zack Snyder in 2013. The latter became responsible for the DC 118 cinematographic universe and imposed a dark vision of superheroes. However, this choice, which distorts the character of comic book characters like Superman, does not satisfy critics and spectators. The results are therefore mixed, even if the revenues are satisfactory 119. DC is struggling to create a shared universe like Marvel does. Ultimately, the strategy evolves and rather than creating at all costs a coherent universe from film to film, Warner tends to favor unique films based on characters and a story. When success is achieved, sequels can then be put into production 120. From this set of films stands out Joker, which exceeds one billion in revenue and won numerous awards including the Golden Lion at the 2019 Venice Film Festival 121.

On the small screen too, DC heroes are present. We thus find series like Flash in 1990-1991 122, Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman in 1993-1997 123 , Smallville in 2001-2011. Cartoons reinforce this presence such as Batman in 1992 124. This series created by Bruce Timm is considered one of the best animated series 125 and after 4 seasons led to the creation of other series including Batman Beyond and The Justice League 126.

Since 2012 and the broadcast of the series Arrow, several series in live action or animation and featuring DC superheroes have been broadcast and form the arrowerse. Arrow was joined by Flash, Constantine , Supergirl , Legends of Tomorrow , Black Lightning , Batwoman and Superman & Lois 127.

Marvel Comics
photograph of a man standing with his hands in the pockets of his suit Sam Raimi at the Paris premiere of his film Spider-Man 3, in April 2007. At the same time, Marvel Comics was not left behind, but initially with much less success. Indeed, Howard... a new breed of heroes (1986) was a commercial and critical failure 128, Punisher and Captain America were released directly on video and The Fantastic Four , filmed in 1994, was never distributed 129. It was not until 1998 that an adaptation was finally a success thanks to Blade, followed by Blade 2 in 2002 and Blade: Trinity in 2004 130. Two years later, the film X-men was released, directed by Bryan Singer , whose revenues amounted to 296 million dollars and which also led to several sequels 131. Another Marvel star hit the screens in 2002 with Spider-Man, followed by Spider-Man 2 in 2004 and Spider-Man 3 in 2007, all directed by Sam Raimi. In the 2010s, Marc Webb proposed another version of the hero 132. In the 2000s, many Marvel heroes were adapted: Hulk and Daredevil in 2003, Fantastic Four in 2005, Ghost Rider 133.

Marvel's film production experienced an important turning point in 2008. In 1993, Marvel founded Marvel Films, which later became Marvel Studios. Marvel must first recover the rights to characters ceded to other companies and it is only in 2008 that the company can release its first film, Iron Man. The success of this film allowed the founding of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Thirty-three films and numerous live-action and animated series are part of this coherent universe designed as the counterpart of comics 134. This strategy bore fruit until Avengers: Endgame which became the most lucrative film in cinema history with revenues amounting to more than 2.79 billion dollars 135.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe then expanded to the small screen with numerous series launched from 2013. Marvel: Agents of SHIELD was the first to air from 2013 to 2020 on ABC. Next comes Agent Carter and Inhumans still on ABC, Daredevil, Iron Fist , Luke Cage , The Defenders on Netflix , Helstrom and Runaways on Hulu , Cloack and Dagger on Freeform 136. Since 2009, Marvel has been owned by The Walt Disney Company. In 2019, Disney launched a new video-on-demand platform called Disney+ on which new series belonging to the Marvel cinematic universe are broadcast: WandaVision, Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Loki 137.

Independents
Independent comic book authors also sometimes manage to translate their works to the screen. This can lead to significant successes such as that of the Ninja Turtles who are the heroes of an animated series and then three films 138. Other adaptations are also a success such as The Crow by Alex Proyas with Brandon Lee taken from a comic book by James O'Barr published by Caliber Comics 139 or Men in Black inspired by the comic book published by Aircel 140. Besides this, adaptations fail to find their audience like Barb Wire. This film inspired by a series published by Dark Horse only brought in 3.8 million dollars for a budget of 9 million 141. From the outset, Dark Horse has had close links with cinema by having the rights to films such as Alien, Predator , Robocop and then Star Wars but also by co-producing films inspired by comics. Timecop and The Mask in 1994 were early successes. The latter was then adapted into an animated series 142. Other successes followed such as Hellboy and Hellboy 2 (2008) directed by Guillermo del Toro 142, Sin City co-directed by Frank Miller , the author of the comics 143.

Image Comics is also a publisher that publishes many works subsequently adapted. WildCATS was the first series to leave the comic pages and arrived as an animated series in 1994. Indeed, it was first on television that the heroes of Image arrived, such as The Maxx 145 or Savage Dragon 146. In 1997, Spawn was released at the cinema, the first film to feature a black superhero 147. But it is on the small screen that an adaptation of comics published by Image has the most success. The Walking Dead began in 2010 and has ten seasons. The starting point of the comics and the series is the same, but they have since diverged a lot 149.

Alternative comics are also being adapted. Some manage to achieve critical or public success on the big screen. Among these are the comics of Daniel Clowes, who are at the origin of the films Ghost World , Art School Confidential and Wilson 150 , From Hell by Alan Moore and American Splendor by Harvey Pekar 151.

From screen to paper
Comic book adaptations of films appeared long before the modern age; Gold Key was even a publishing house specializing in this segment. Starting in the late 1980s, Dark Horse Comics published adaptations of Alien, Predator , Star Wars , Robocop , Terminator 17. With these licenses, Dark Horse mixes universes in crossovers like RoboCop versus The Terminator written by Frank Miller and drawn by Walt Simonson or Alien vs. Predator 14 which is the origin of the homonymous film 152.

DC Comics also experiences this back and forth between media. The cartoons created by Bruce Timm and Paul Dini, initially inspired by Batman comics and then by Superman and the Justice League, are adapted into comics intended for children. The very refined graphic style of the series is imitated in these comics thanks to artists like Ty Templeton, Rick Burchett or Joe Staton 153.

Video games
The development of arcade machines and then individual consoles allows comic book characters to be present on another media. It begins at the end of the Bronze Age of comics with games like BC's Quest for Tires released in 1983. In the history of video games, there is no break in 1986 and adaptations follow technological developments. Thus in 1986, Batman is the hero of a horizontal scrolling video game, in 1989 on Nintendo Entertainment System the game mode is action type - platforms 155 and in 2009, he is the hero of a game third-person action-adventure 156. The most important publishers all offer video games that allow the player to embody comic book heroes. If the results of these adaptations vary, some games are remarkable: Batman: Arkham Asylum enters the Guinness Book of Records [why?] 157. We thus find at Marvel Comics the X-Men arcade game which is still considered one of the best games with Marvel 158 characters. A special case is that of Valiant Comics, which until 2020 had not sought to produce films with the characters of this universe but which had produced numerous video games. Indeed, Valiant was bought by the video game company Acclaim Entertainment and 10 games were developed between 1996 and 2008, six of which had Turok 159 as their hero.