Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Batman, Comics, dc comics, film, marvel, spider-man, superman, wolverine

Breaking Down British Superhero Fans By The Numbers

Published Tue, 06 Aug 2013 20:00:25 -0500

A company called Branded 3 did a research poll recently asking 1,000 British Adults their thoughts on various comic book related questions. The answers were rather interesting and a bit lopsided. It appears that the results better show the opinions of non-comic readers to the comic industry after their introduction to it through the movie franchises.

Here are some of the more interesting results:

Question: If you had to choose, would you pick Marvel or DC Comics?

Overall: 59% Marvel 19% DC 22% Neither

Female: 58% Marvel 17% DC 25% Neither

Male: 60% Marvel 21% DC 19% Neither

18-24: 65.5% Marvel 17.5% DC 17% Neither

25-34: 57% Marvel 22% DC 21% Neither

35-44: 58% Marvel 18% DC 24% Neither

45-54: 56% Marvel 15% DC 29% Neither

55+: 59% Marvel 20% DC 20% Neither

Question: Through which medium do you prefer to get your superhero fix?

Overall: 75% Movies 12% Comics 13% Other (cartoons & games)

Female: 80% Movies 8% Comics 12% Other

Male: 71% Movies 15% Comics 14% Other

18-24: 73% Movies 12% Comics 15% Other

25-34: 71% Movies 13% Comics 16% Other

35-44: 76% Movies 12% Comics 12% Other

45-54: 82% Movies 9% Comics 9% Other

55+: 84% Movies 8% Comics 8% Other

There are a few key things to be taken away from these numbers. First, and not surprising, Marvel has a much stronger presence as it has had more successful movies so far. The Batman franchise has done well, but that is just one character where Marvel has seen success for over a decade with everything from Blade to the Avengers and a lot of points in between. Though both companies have their bombs (Elektra and Catwoman).

A second thing to look at here is the medium choice. The best comics do is 15% among males. So we can take the numbers as negative, but lets look at it differently. Comics have always been a sub-culture. It's never seen wide acceptance and this is rather encouraging. At least 1 in 10 people surveyed prefer reading comics over the movies coming out. Out of 1000 people randomly surveyed, 120 of them prefer comics to the films.

These numbers show me that there is still a reading market out there, but they also stress the importance of the film franchises to keeping the characters thriving.

These were the only two industry related questions. The rest were more for fun and I'll give you the highlights of what the British people are thinking:

Question: Excluding Superman, who is the toughest superhero?

24% Hulk 21% Batman 15% Iron Man

Question: Which superhero has the best vehicle?

62% The Batmobile 12% The X-men Blackbird 11% Silver Surfer's Board

Question: What is the best superhero gadget?

38% Web Shooters 21% Mjlonir 14% The Bat Claw

Question: What is the best superhero film?

19% The Dark Knight 18% The Dark Knight Rises 16% The Avengers

Question: What is the worst superhero film?

22% Catwoman 15% Elektra 11% Green Lantern

Question: If you could date any of the following superheroes, who would it be?

17% Catwoman 16% Wonder Woman 12% Iron Man

Question: With Antman around the corner, which superhero should hit the big screen next?

33% Wonder Woman 18% The Flash 14% Hawkeye

Question: Who is the toughest villain?

25% The Joker 16% Magneto 15% Bane

Question: Who should play the next Batman?

26% No One 16% Ryan Gosling 13% Michael Fassbender

Question: Who is the lamest sidekick?

28% Jimmy Olsen 26% Robin 20% Wonder Girl

Question: What is the most-overrated superhero film ever?

18% The Incredible Hulk 12% Kick-Ass 11% Watchmen

Question: Who would you pay to see a fight between?

19% Batman vs Iron Man 19% Wolverine vs. Hulk

Question: What is the worst superhero disguise ever?

47% Superman's Glasses 25% Thing's trenchcoat

And from this we've learned that the British can be cheeky (No-one to play Batman), they like hot comic women (dating Catwoman and Wonder Woman) and they really like Christopher Nolan's take on Batman.

So the British want Catwoman… just not Halle Berry.