By WIKI SU

Hollywood’s spree of superhero adaptations helps boost comic book sales, according to comic book stores.

Hollywood movie Avengers: Age of Ultron, adapted from superhero comics, has dominated the Australian box office since it opened in late April. 

The Marvel film recorded an opening weekend box office of $15.7 million, the third best on record in this country, after Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 and the Twilight Saga: New Moon, according to Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia.

Two months later, it is still playing in theatres and is the second-most popular film of the year. Internationally, gross revenue is more than $1.3 billion.

Superhero films such as the Avengers, Captain America and Spider-Man are not just popular with movie fans, their success contributes to the continuing success of the entire comics industry.

All Star Comics Melbourne employee Anthony Corrigan said the new Avengers film boosted   sales.

“The movie affects us greatly,” Mr Corrigan said. “There are new guests popping in to look for reference points in the movie.”

Mr Corrigan said more customers had visited the store since The Avengers was released in Australia.

“The movie has a broad appeal for everyone,” he said.

The growing success of comic book adaptations has become a beacon for move makers, who have drawn increasingly on superheroes as an inspiration for blockbusters.

In the 1990s, only two films based on Marvel comic characters – Captain America and Blade – were released. The boom began between 2000 and 2009, when Hollywood produced 20 films based on Marvel’s superhero stories.

And for the decade 2010-2019, another 32 films are either completed, in production or planned.

Melbourne Central’s Classics Comics’ employee Giuseppe Savaglio said that in the long term, film adaptations of the superhero comics would help the comic book industry thrive.

He said as long as the comics are kept in the public eye, there will always be new readers coming in.

The original comic book series of The Avengers was published in September 1963 and has inspired new stories for more than  50 years, according to the official website of Marvel Entertainment.

Today people still read the Avengers series and they are still on the bestsellers’ lists. 

The latest Avengers issue was released in April this year. In the same month, the issue ranked among the top 21 best-sold comic books, recording an estimated sales volume to the North American market of 62,939 copies, according to Comichron, an online repository of comics circulation research.

The film enhanced the comic book's visibility,  Mr Savaglio said. New customers come to the store to learn more about aspects of the movie, including characters.

“A few new people come to look for [the] Ultron character,” he said.

Not just for kids

Comic books are aimed at a broader audience than just children.

The bookstores’ customers include regular comics readers of 20-30-years-old, children, employees, women of all ages, and older men, according to Mr Savaglio and Mr Corrigan.

Monash University student Jennifer Bui read through Jason Aaron’s Thor: God of Thunder series, about 600 pages in total, in one night.

Some fans read the comics before they watch the related movies. Others, including Monash University student Michael Jong, prefer to watch the movies instead, as they do not have enough time to read the whole comics series.

“I like superhero comics, but there's just too many to begin and finish with,” Mr Jong said.

“I'm more of a Marvel fan, the only movies I actually watch in cinemas are all the Marvel movies.”

Comic book readership in Australia

Superhero comics gained popularity during World War II and the Great Depression in the United States. In Australia, the comic book industry started to take off in the 1930s.

Former president of the Australian Cartoonists’ Association Lindsay Foyle told news website New Matilda that by 1954 there were over 60 million comic books produced in Australia each year.

According to the latest data available from Australian Bureau of Statistics, in 2009-2010 Australians spent $827.6 million on magazines and comics.