History GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff / ComicBooks

* While there's a niche fandom for American comics in Japan, by and large the most popular characters there have had some sort of mainstream media exposure. This leads to (for example) Psylocke, a fairly minor member of the ''XMen'', being inordinately popular simply because she was in ''VideoGame/XMenChildrenOfTheAtom'', ''VideoGame/MarvelSuperHeroes'' and ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom2'' despite hardly mattering to anyone in the country of her creation.

** The ''XMen'' themselves have been among the more popular American comics franchises in Japan ever since their 90s cartoon began airing there. Now, after four movies and two further cartoons, it's bigger than ever - Madhouse is made a ''Anime/{{X-Men}}'' anime.

* In ChrisClaremont's first ''Comicbook/XMen'' run, the X-Men were well-received in Japan, despite being hated and feared in their native USA. Little Japanese girls were even shown to idolize Storm.
** This carried over into "World Tour" arc in ''UltimateXMen'' as well, where the team got treated like celebrities while visiting Tokyo.

* Mort Walker's ''BeetleBailey'' comic strip has been a very popular comic book series in Denmark since the late 1950s.

* While there's a niche fandom for American comics in Japan, by and large the most popular characters there have had some sort of mainstream media exposure. This leads to (for example) Psylocke, a fairly minor member of the ''XMen'', being inordinately popular simply because she was in ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom2'' despite hardly mattering to anyone in the country of her creation.
** A much larger example would be Shuma-Gorath, a Comicbook/DoctorStrange antagonist who was all but forgotten in America when he appeared in ''Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighter''. Shuma became wildly popular with the Japanese, and was added as DLC to ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom3'' for exactly that reason. Venom, on the other hand, while well-known in the US, is ''insanely'' popular in Japan, and it's easy to make the connection between his popularity and his appearances in the CapcomVsWhatever games.

** Donald's alter ego in some Italian comics isn't a gentleman thief but a Batman-like superhero (although his name and appearance are based on a gentlemen thief whose old run-down mansion ends up in the possession of Donald after he receives a contest prize meant for Gladstone by mistake). Eventually it got to the point where about ''90 percent'' of Disney characters had their own superhero alterego. Some of these include Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Fethry Duck (whose identity, the "Red Bat", was an even more explicit parody of the Silver Age Batman) his girlfriend Gloria, Goofy, Gilbert, Huey, Dewey and Louie (all pretending to be the same person) Zé Carioca (whose identity, the "''Green'' Bat" was ''yet another'' Batman spoof, in this case of the gritty modern Batman) and his nephews. In fact, the first five at one point had their own ''Justice League''.

* As a general note, America is the only place where SuperHero comics are the "standard". And only ''recent'' America at that. For most of American comics' history, the superhero genre existed alongside many other genres -- romance, {{Funny Animal}}s, teen humor, science fiction, westerns, etc. -- which the two dominant companies, {{Marvel}} and what used to be called "[[DCComics Detective Comics]]", used to publish but have now all but left for dead (with even reprints or revivals of such material extremely rare or non-existent). However, other American companies (such as ArchieComics or various {{manga}} and independent publishers) seem to have found success publishing such genres. That said, the largest independent publisher, ImageComics, also deals primarily in superheroes.

* Speaking of American superheroes, {{Japan}} really, ''really'' loves {{Batman}} and ''especially'' {{Spider-Man}}. They're some of the few American heroes who got their very own manga series, and Spidey even had his own [[{{JapaneseSpider-Man}} Japanese exclusive television show]]. Batman's had ''several'' manga - ''Batman: Death Mask'', ''Batman: Child of Dreams'', and a story in ''Batman: Black and White'' by KatsuhiroOtomo. Spidey himself even got a manga adaptation that stayed relatively faithful to the spirit of the American comics.
** Spider-Man is considered a ''national icon'' in Japan. Not bad for a kid from Queens, NY.

* SuperHero comics first appeared in Poland in TheNineties, thanks to the publisher TM-Semic. As a result, TM-Semic's three main initial titles ( ''{{Spider-Man}}'', ''{{X-Men}}'' and ''ThePunisher'') have much larger fanbases than other MarvelComics heroes or teams (the biggest Polish Marvel fansite evolved from a strictly X-Men website, then ran out of material). And because the only three DC titles TM-Semic published were ''{{Superman}}'', ''{{Batman}}'', and ''Comicbook/GreenLantern'', while later they brought a few Image comics, much more people will recognize {{Spawn}} than WonderWoman (who possibly never even appeared in any TM-Semic comics). However, Vertigo titles and European Comics are still much more popular than the SuperHero genre.

** The ''XMen'' themselves have been among the more popular American comics franchises in Japan ever since their 90s cartoon began airing there. Now, after four movies and two further cartoons, it's bigger than ever - Madhouse is even making an X-Men anime.

* Regarding John D. Rockerduck, this character was created by Carl Barks in 1961, and very rarely used in American stories. In France and Italy, Rockerduck has been long since established as the ''true'' rival to Scrooge [=McDuck=], and he's popular on his own (he even was the eponymous character of a few stories), while Flintheart Glomgold (of ''DuckTales'' fame) is practically unknown and never used. To the point where a celebration of Scrooge's 40th anniversary (1987) in the Italian weekly Mickey Mouse magazine described Glomgold as the character who later evolved into Rockerduck.

"Oh! Well, that's two good ideas the Germans have had: [[GodwinsLaw putting people into ovens]], and [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotHeinous listening to that shit]]. You'll excuse me if I don't go running out to buy it on their say so."

* A famous example are the {{Disney}} Comics. Largely faded out of American culture (especially once WDC&S went into the prestige format, and it started to be marketed to collectors rather than children, in general making it really hard to get besides actually subscribing), these continue to be produced in most other areas of the world, especially Europe, where they continue to outsell SuperHero comics. More specifically, relatively obscure characters can get their own books (such as Italy's love for Clarabelle Cow), or familiar ones can get very different interpretations; Mickey as a gritty detective, Donald as a GentlemanThief (see ''PaperinikNewAdventures''), Goofy as a Comicbook/{{Superman}} parody, etc. This may be related to their look, which is closer to old {{Franco-Belgian Comics}} than to American comics.

*** As a matter of fact, Daisy's Dutch mag is still running, and there are special issues with, say, Halloween (Publishing Halloween stories in the regular weekly and montly series is hurting bussinesss in the Bible belt, the rest of the country does not care much either way.) The pockets and the albums are technically not magazines, (i.e. regular shops can, and often do, offer more than one issue at the same time, they are in that aspect more like regular books.

* The ''{{Transformers}}'' comics published by IDW feature street-racing samurai-type Drift, who is often accused of being a CreatorsPet, if not an out-and-out Japan-fanboy MarySue. Japanese fans seem to ''adore'' the guy, if the amount of fanart from there is of any indication. Of course, they don't actually get IDW's comics in Japan, and [[MerchandiseDriven Drift's toy itself]] is considered decent.

* Regarding John D. Rockerduck, this character was created by Carl Barks in 1961, and very rarely used in American stories. In France and Italy, Rockerduck has been long since established as the ''true'' rival to Scrooge [=McDuck=], and he's popular on his own (he even was the eponymous character of a few stories), while Flintheart Glomgold (of ''DuckTales'' fame) is practically unknown and never used. To the point where a celebration of Scrooge's 40th anniversary (1987) in the Italian weekly Mickey Mouse magazine [[DidNotDoTheResearch described Glomgold as the character who later evolved into Rockerduck]].

** This concept was used again in 2008, in an Italian story arc called ''Ultraheroes'', which saw even more characters taking a costumed secret identity, along with the already-established ones: John D. Rockerduck and Peg Leg Pete (wearing a [[{{Spider-Man}} Doc Ock]]-like costume) on the villains' side, Gladstone and Gus Goose with the good guys, the latter as an ''IronMan'' parody.

*** Even during the revival of superheroes' popularity in the SilverAge, DC and Marvel (and other companies) published various other genres alongside the superheroes (teen humor, funny animals, romance, etc.). It's mainly since the latter part of the BronzeAge that Marvel and DC have abandoned anything not related to superheroes (aside from a few licensed comics based on LooneyTunes or ScoobyDoo for DC's case, as well as their "mature readers" Vertigo line).

** Still a hotbed of Phantom fandom compared to the Netherlands, where no less than FOUR publishers tried to launch the Phantom, all four stopped after exactly TWO issues, appearances in Dutch anthologies were just as shortlived.

** To elaborate, here's a list of Disney characters ''more'' popular (and prolific) in the Netherlands than Mickey Mouse: Hiawatha, [[ClassicDisneyShorts Horace Horsecollar]], [[Disney/ThreeLittlePigs Big Bad and Lil' Bad Wolf]], [[SongOfTheSouth Bre'r Rabbit]], Disney/{{Dumbo}}, [[MeaningfulName Basil]] The Great Mouse Detective, [[Disney/TheThreeCaballeros Panchito]], [[Disney/SaludosAmigos Jose Carioca]], [[Disney/TheLionKing Timon & Pumbaa]], [[PunnyName April & May & June]], [[Disney/TheSwordInTheStone Madam Mim]], [[Disney/TheLittleMermaid Flounder]], [[Disney/{{Mulan}} Mushu]], [[Disney/{{Aladdin}} Genie]], [[DisneyComics Gyro Gearloose]], and [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg Clara Cluck]]. At least three of the above can be expected to show up in the comics each week, almost always as main characters.

*** As a matter of fact, Daisy's Dutch mag is still running, and there are special issues with, say, Halloween (Publishing Halloween stories in the regular weekly and montly series is hurting bussinesss in the Bible belt, the rest of the country does not care much either way.) The pockets and the albums are technically not magazines, (i.e. regular shops can, and often do, offer more than one issue at the same time, they are in that aspect more like regular books.
* More specifically, while American comics fans have usually heard of CarlBarks and possibly DonRosa, few have ever heard of Romano Scarpa, who is definitively one of the more important duck-scribes.

* Generally speaking, ArchieComics aren't popular outside North America, but Archie is also a big seller in India.
* Judging by the major British comics writers (Morrison, Moore, Ennis, Robinson, etc.), British audiences are more fond of DC's heroes than Marvel's. GrantMorrison attributes this to DC reprints being more widely available than Marvel comics.

* Italian comic book ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Ford_%28comics%29 Alan Ford]]'', a [[PrintLongRunners long-running]] (since 1969) comedy/satire series about bumbling espionage agents, is fairly known in its home country but not really popular anymore; however, the translations for the former Yugoslav countries became unexpectedly popular, to the point that catchphrases from the comics became part of national slang, rock bands were named after characters, and so on. According to TheOtherWiki, various scenes in EmirKusturica's film ''Black Cat, White Cat'' were inspired by the comic.

** To elaborate, here's a list of Disney characters ''more'' popular (and prolific) in the Netherlands than Mickey Mouse: [[LittleHunterHiawatha Hiawatha]], [[ClassicDisneyShorts Horace Horsecollar]], [[ThreeLittlePigs Big Bad and Lil' Bad Wolf]], [[SongOfTheSouth Bre'r Rabbit, [[Dumbo]], [[MeaningfulName Basil]] [[The Great Mouse Detective]], [[TheThreeCaballeros Panchito]], [[SaludosAmigos Jose Carioca]], [[Timon & Pumbaa]], [[PunnyNames April & May & June]], [[TheSwordInTheStone Madam Mim]], [[Disney/TheLittleMermaid Flounder]], [[Disney/Mulan Mushu]], [[Disney/Aladdin Genie]], [[DisneyComics Gyro Gearloose]], [[FishAndAndChips and]] [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg Clara Cluck]]. At least three of the above can be expected to show up in the comics each week, almost always as main characters.

** A much larger example would be Shuma-Gorath, a DoctorStrange antagonist who was all but forgotten in America when he (she?) appeared in ''Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighter''. Shuma became wildly popular with the Japanese, and was added as DLC to ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom3'' for exactly that reason. Venom, on the other hand, while well-known in the US, is ''insanely'' popular in Japan, and it's easy to make the connection between his popularity and his appearances in the CapcomVsWhatever games.

* ''{{Transformers}}'' comics published by IDW at the moment is quite fluctuating on opinions, especially newcomer Drift in the US and UK (and maybe the occasional English-speaking country), who has been accused of being a CreatorsPet at the worst. On the flip side, Japanese fans seems to ''adore'' Drift, if the amount of fanart from there is of any indication. This is... interesting, because the reason Drift isn't well-regarded in the US or UK is the fact that he's a street racing samurai (i.e., he would be a silly Japanese CaptainEthnic if he were human).
** This pretty much has to do with the fact that IDW's Transformers comics aren't ported over to Japan, which leaves them utterly unexposed to the horrible fiction accompanying the character.

** To elaborate, here's a list of Disney characters ''more'' popular (and prolific) in the Netherlands than Mickey Mouse: Hiawatha, Horace Horsecollar, Big Bad and Lil' Bad Wolf, Bre'r Rabbit, Dumbo, Basil The Great Mouse Detective, Jose Carioca, Panchito, Timon & Pumbaa, April & May & June, Madam Mim, Flounder, Mushu, Genie, Gyro Gearloose, and Clara Cluck. At least three of the above can be expected to show up in the comics each week, almost always as main characters.

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* As a general note, America is the only place where SuperHero comics are the "standard". And only ''recent'' America at that. For most of American comics' history, the superhero genre existed alongside many other genres -- romance, {{Funny Animal}}s, teen humor, science fiction, etc. -- which the two dominant companies, {{Marvel}} and what used to be called "[[DCComics Detective Comics]]", used to publish but have now all but left for dead (with even reprints or revivals of such material extremely rare or non-existent). However, other American companies (such as ArchieComics or various {{manga}} and independent publishers) seem to have found success publishing such genres. That said, the largest independent publisher, ImageComics, also deals primarily in superheroes.

* The ''{{Animaniacs}}'' comic book featured a story about Dot in a "trading siblings" scenario with a HelloKitty knockoff. When Dot arrives in Japan, she finds that she's really popular over there.

* ThePhantom is pretty much the most popular costumed hero in the world, but not America.

* ''{{Transformers}}'' comics published by IDW at the moment is quite fluctuating on opinions, especially newcomer Drift in the US and UK (and maybe the occasional English-speaking country), who has been accused of being TheWesley at the worst. On the flip side, Japanese fans seems to ''adore'' Drift, if the amount of fanart from there is of any indication. This is... interesting, because the reason Drift isn't well-regarded in the US or UK is the fact that he's a street racing samurai (i.e., he would be a silly Japanese CaptainEthnic if he were human).