What superheroes and supervillains are popular that AREN'T DC or Marvel characters?

I should have said I want to do research on these comics; I want to read about them and look at them to see what they are about.

Judging by the names "The Darkness" and "Hellboy" alone I know I wouldn't like these comics.

I know Spawn and Blade were popular back in the '90s. I have no intention of ever reading the comics or watching the movies.

Then how come you didn't research on the comics that were mentioned when you asked this question back in 2017? And 2018?

People keep answering with the same comics from third party publishers, but for some reason, you never use the information for your benefit.

What superheroes and supervillains debuted this century that are popular that aren't DC or Marvel characters?

There are barely any new and popular non-Marvel/DC superheroes at all. Most people prefer other genres (as discussed in the other comic book genre thread you posted a few days ago).

The only major exceptions are Invincible from Image Comics and The Boys from Dynamite Comics (Invincible was mentioned in Page 1 of this thread, and the other times in that other Q&A site you used). You will not like either comic.

Amazon is currently working on an animated adaptation of Invincible, slated for a possible 2020 release.
https://www.ign.com/articles/invincible-animated-series-character-designs-art-cory-walker-amazon

Amazon is also producing a live action adaptation of The Boys. Season 2 will air in September 2020.
They recently released a trailer [contains blood, gore, profanity]

Someone told me about the supervillain Homelander from The Boys.

What about supervillains?

There are even fewer standalone supervillain-focused comics.

Only two come to mind: Irredeemable (about a Superman style hero having a mental breakdown and going on a mass killing spree) and its companion book Incorruptible (about a supervillain becoming a hero after witnessing the fallen hero's killing spree).

I did like the ending of Irredeemable (where the fallen hero meets his final fate)

There are more non mainstream supervillain focused films than there are comics:

Brightburn


Megamind


Chronicle


Split

Because why not?: here are some non-superhero long-running comic series I have read in their entirety:

Fables by Bill Willingham (2002-2015) - About a group of fairy tale characters being forced out of their Homelands and moved to New York. The main cast include Snow White, Rose Red, The Big Bad Wolf (aka Bigby Wolf), Prince Charming, Pinocchio, Beauty & Beast, and The Frog Prince (aka Flycatcher). Had several spinoff series and standalone books, as well as a video game prequel, The Wolf Among Us.

American Vampire by Scott Snyder and Rafael Albuquerque (2010-2021?) - About a 1920s Hollywood actress who, after being killed by a group of European vampires, is revived by a 1880s outlaw vampire and seeks revenge. The story spans from the 1880s to the 1970s. Had a couple miniseries focusing on minor characters.

The Wicked + The Divine by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie (2014-2019) - Every 90 years, 12 gods are reincarnated and are awaken in their late teens. After 2 years, they die again. Had several standalone issues taking place in different points in history.

Chew by John Layman and Rob Guillory (2009-2016) - About an agent of the Food and Drug Administration who has the ability to see the past of anything he eats, as in he can eat an apple and he would learn which farm it came from and who else touched the apple. Had a couple standalone issues focusing on supporting character, the killer chicken Poyo.

Why are superheroes and supervillains so popular this century?

Because they are.

Really though, what does it matter? If they happen to be popular and you can see forward to designing/creating your own, then success may be within your reach. Even if they lose their appeal to the masses, you still might come up with a winning set of characters and themes. But, ya know, the odds are better if you get busy creating and stop wondering why they are popular.

They have been popular since the 1930s.

In general, people like Good vs Evil stories, and superheros stories exemplifies those kind of stories.

The various DC/Marvel films were being produced now due to the overwhelming success of the 90s Batman films and Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy in the 2000s.
Plus, Marvel's gambit in creating a cinematic universe paid off, and the plan is being copied by DC and other studios for their own projects (Godzilla, Transformers, Universal Monsters, etc).

In related news, DC Comics got hit with massive layoffs, as part of their parent company WarnerMedia's company-wide restructuring.

Longtime editor-in-chief Bob Harras and several group editors were all let go, and DC will be reducing their comics output by 25%, which means several of their ongoing comics (Hawkman, Suicide Squad, Young Justice) will be cancelled. However, all previously announced projects will still move forward.

Jim Lee will remain as publisher of DC Comics (the previous publisher Dan Didio was fired a few months ago for reasons not yet detailed), while the company will look for a general manager to handle the business side. They have also hired two interim editors-in-chief to replace Harras.
They also plan to bring all of the exclusive shows from the DC Universe streaming service to HBO MAX, while DCU only offer access to the company's 80+ years backlog of comics.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/dcs-jim-lee-companys-future-we-are-still-business-publishing-comics-1307413

Marvel is faced with layoffs too:


https://d-rezzed.clownfishtv.com/video/marvel-comics-layoffs-as-comic-book-industry-grinds-to-a-halt/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=marvel-comics-layoffs-as-comic-book-industry-grinds-to-a-halt

Yes, that's true. But they seem far more popular now than in the late 20th century. If I were to guess it's because we have a tool like the Internet getting the word out about comics and comics-related media a lot faster and to a lot more people than by the means we had in the late 20th century; back then news about anything comic-related was just limited to TV, radio, mags and newspapers. Not to mention the internet helps hypes things up to the point of overhype due to oversaturation on the Internet.

Filmmakers aren't bound by the restrictions they once had when making comic book movies.

I assume another reason superheroes and supervillains are very popular now is because publishers like DC and Marvel are actually taking the time to dig into their catalogues of comics properties that haven't been used much and bring them out of retirement, and/or bring them to the big and small screens and to other media.

I'm guessing no one ever thought a Legion of Superheroes cartoon series or a Teen Titans one, for example, was ever going to made.

Even back in the 80s, studios could plan extensive marketing campaign for their films. The 1989 Batmam film had a very influential marketing campaign that it triggered a "Bat-mania" frenzy in the US. There were Batman toys, cereal, clothes, etc.

The only significant difference between then and now is that the international box office has become very important. It is one of the reasons why there are more billion dollar grossing films.



Those were popular comics in the 80s, and those who did read them probably went on to work on the animated shows in the 2000s. Which is why the 2004 Teen Titans animated series had the 1980s team roster and adapted the popular 80s story The Judas Contract, rather than use the 2000s team roster (Superboy, Wonder Girl II, Impulse, Robin III)

You might want to check your sources. Those videos greatly exaggerate the situation at Marvel.

"The furloughs will go into effect April 26th, according to a report from Newsarama. Marvel didn't comment on the number of employees that will be affected, or for which division of the company they work. But they will continue to receive any work medical benefits, the source confirms, and are eligible for state unemployment until work returns to normal.

A furlough doesn't necessarily mean that a person's position has been terminated, only that their services are temporarily no longer currently needed as more and more cities and states shelter in place."
https://screenrant.com/marvel-coronavirus-furlough-employees/

This happened in April 2020, when Marvel and DC suspended most comic production due to lockdowns in the US. They didn't resume normal production until June. I can't find amy reports of any Marvel editors being fired en masse.

I doubt many people are actually aware of the events and newer characters in current comics. People are aware of some popular characters' origins and what they can do, but that is it really.

For example, general audiences know Batman has a sidekick named Robin. Most people probably know his name is Dick Grayson. A lot of people don't know that Dick hasn't been Robin since the early 80s or that there have been 3 Robins since Dick. Outside of geek and comic fandom (which has indeed grown since the 60s), Jason Todd, Tim Drake, and Damian Wayne are completely unknown to general audiences.

On a related note (and you have inquired about fundraising):

Comic writer Scott Snyder (Batman, American Vampire, Justice League) and artist Tony Daniel (Batman, Suicide Squad, Superman) launched a Kickstarter campaign for a new comic series, Nocternal. The rewards for the campaign include a signed copy of the first issue and a master creative class with Snyder and Daniel.

The goal for the campaign is $40,000, which "will cover the book printing, rewards production, and fees from Kickstarter, Stripe, and BackerKit. Any funds we raise over that will help cover all production costs (Tony for art, Tomeu Morey for coloring, Deron for lettering, Will Dennis for editorial, Emma Price for design, and more) for the first story arc, up until issue #6."

Personally, I'm going to fund the project purely because I'm a fan of both Snyder and Daniel.
As of now, the campaign launched this morning and it already has over $20,000 pledged.


https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/scottsnyder/scott-snyder-and-tony-daniels-nocternal-1-collectors-edition

That was fast: the Kickstarter reached its goal after being active for only a few hours.
As of now, 782 people backed the project, which is at $47,227, and the campaign is active until 17 September 2020.