In the American comic book market, comics generally come in two large categories followed by numerous smaller ones. The largest two are the superhero and the alternative, esoteric genres. Other categories like horror, romance, fantasy, science fiction, and others are published in much smaller frequencies. Comic books in any category can cross over into another category, so the barriers between different types of books are far from rock solid. No matter their classification, comics of all types come in varying degrees of seriousness and lightheartedness.
Most superhero comic books are produced by the DC Comics and Marvel Comics companies. However, the Big Two (as many comic book readers think of them) do offer a broader selection of publications that may be gritty, kid-friendly, or more literate and existential. Collectively, smaller independent publishers produce the majority of comic books that don’t involve superheroes, though some of them delve into that arena as well.
International comic books span a wide breadth of subject matter, and literary or post-modern publications are more prominent in other countries, especially European ones, than superhero comics are. What follows is a brief rundown of different types of comic books, and what you can expect from them.