There was a time when Superman outlined the comics panorama. Shortly after the hero’s debut within the late Nineteen Thirties, Action Comics was promoting 500,000 copies of each situation of Superman comics; by World War Two, the corporate was promoting over one million copies per thirty days.

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However, as time progressed, curiosity in Superman waned. Comics readers as an alternative turned to heroes like Spider Man and Batman — characters that have been darker and had a extra obvious complexity than the famed Superman.

This lack of curiosity in Superman has appeared to final by the comedian ebook hero renaissance that has taken place because the debut of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While Marvel movies have loved important field workplace numbers and excessive crucial reward, latest movie diversifications of Superman have seen a combined response from each critics and followers. 

It is on this panorama the place Esquire put out an article in May 2025 entitled, partly, “Superman’s Popularity Is at an All-Time Low,” with one a part of the article declaring that “by consensus, the last good Superman movie was the first one, which came out in 1978.”

Now, nevertheless, it appears the temper relating to Superman is altering — and it’s seemingly because of James Gunn’s latest movie.

Is Superman cool once more?

In a publish made on X, Jetpack Comics, a comic book ebook and gaming retailer in Rochester, New Hampshire, claimed that they’d seen a rise in curiosity for Superman comics because the launch of the James Gunn-directed Superman movie.

“We’ve had billion dollar comic movies drop and didn’t see a soul in here looking for comics to go along with it,” the publish reads. “But since @JamesGunn’s Superman dropped, it’s been non-stop. Single issues, collected editions, action figures. You name it. Superman is cool again.”

While particular knowledge about Superman comics gross sales is tough to find out earlier than the month’s finish, there are different indications that curiosity in Superman comics is likely to be growing.

For instance, Google Trends for “superman comics” present a large peak within the week of July thirteenth to the nineteenth, and searches for “Absolute Superman,” the latest DC comics collection that includes the hero, present a comparable peak across the similar time.

However, whereas it could be Jetpack Comics’ expertise that motion pictures don’t essentially equate to curiosity, it needs to be famous that different comics shops have reported curiosity in heroes being piqued after the discharge of main movies and tv reveals that includes the characters.

For instance, talking to Morning Consult, Joe Annabi, ordering supervisor at Golden Apple Comics, claimed that there was an “exponential increase in interest” following the trailer launch for WandaVision; a 12 months following the present’s launch, the shop claimed it was nonetheless having issue protecting single points in inventory.

But good gross sales doesn’t essentially imply that the hero is “cool.” So, are folks coming round on Superman?

The Superman rebrand

After years of DC movies being characterised by darkish colours and moody heroes, the brand new Superman takes a decidedly extra colourful — even comical — method. Superman’s costume has shifted from the tight, reptile-skin-like darkish navy and worn pink look sported by Henry Cavill to a model far more impressed by the unique comics: a vivid blue go well with full with a vibrant pink cape. The film itself additionally has a considerably lighter tone than its predecessors.

This dramatic shift aggravated some followers. For instance, the movie skilled some “review bombing” early into its run, the place folks flood evaluate websites like Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb with unfavorable critiques — retailers have alternately blamed bots and Zack Snyder followers for this apply, however there’s not sufficient proof to conclude whether or not this was the case or whether or not these have been real fan reactions.

@arris_quinones The Superman film is doing one thing no different comedian ebook film has carried out. #superman #krypto #motion pictures #dccomics #jamesgunn #greenscreen ♬ authentic sound – arris_quinones

Box workplace efficiency stays regular

However, because the film has lingered within the field workplace, fan response — and, crucially, actual world and cultural influence — has remained sturdy. “Nerd” oriented retailers like Nerdist have proclaimed the movie to be “really, really good,” and different film-related publications have mentioned that the movie gave them a renewed appreciation for the character.

Plus, whereas earlier entries within the Superman movie oeuvre generated memes for the improper causes, this iteration has been a font of fan-generated content material, from memes to behind-the-scenes manufacturing explanations to folks sharing their very own experiences with the actors within the movie.

Not solely that, however it appears that evidently there could also be a hyperlink between the movie’s viewership and different offline conduct. As beforehand reported by the Daily Dot, the canine coaching app Woofz famous that the movie’s canine character Krypto could have sparked a surge in on-line curiosity in canine adoption, with Google searches like “adopt a dog near me” rising over 500% and even particular breeds like Schnauzers seeing an almost 300% spike. 

The optimistic emotional response to the movie from followers can’t be discounted. While earlier Superman movies have been characterised by their darkish, moody ambiance, the brand new Superman movie left viewers so hopeful that the sensation of ‘post-Superman bliss’ itself turned a meme.

The retailer responds

In an e mail to the Daily Dot, Rich Brunelle of Jetpack Comics says that curiosity in Superman has continued.

“We have continued to see people coming in every day getting Superman books and merch and excitedly talking about how they loved the movie — so much that they felt compelled to get down here and get SOMETHING Superman,” Brunelle wrote. “The cool part is that it’s not just one age group. I’ve had all ages interested.”

As for why this film is having such an influence, Brunelle has theories.

“I think part of the reason is the great job DC has done promoting their books since James Gunn and Peter Safran took the helm of the movie universe,” he defined. “We have been impressed seeing them promote the comics at every turn, even having James hold up the actual books and tell you who did them, and that he’s basing lots of what he’s doing on these volumes. Then telling people to ‘GO TO YOUR LOCAL COMIC SHOP’ is huge. We love our friends in the MCU, but I haven’t seen many videos of Kevin Feige holding a trade paperback telling you to go to a comic book store.”

“They also have their new line of DC Compact editions that reprint some of the greatest DC stories of all time in a smaller format for a mere ten bucks,” he added. “Younger readers love these, and we have are constantly restocking them in big numbers.”

The film’s hopeful message performs an element

The aforementioned optimistic vibe of the film, he notes, can also play a task.

“Combine that all with the fact that the world is a rough place for lots of people right now. Escaping to the movies and walking out with a smile on your face is something a lot of people could use, so I feel like a nice hopeful start to this new universe with a hero who is kind and cares for all resonates with many of us,” he shared. “The walk out of the theater, wanting to keep that going — so the next stop is your local comic shop to read more tales of the last son of Krypton.”

Whether this sense interprets into “cool factor” is a matter of debate. For its half, the New York Times just lately declared, after saying that they liked the film, that “Superman Is Not Cool. And That’s Great.”

For followers, possibly it’s merely time for an uncool superhero — or possibly it’s time to alter the thought of cool altogether.

Where to start out with the Superman comics

For those that have but to expertise Superman in comedian ebook type, Brunelle has suggestions.

“For the people looking for single issues, Superman Unlimited by Dan Slott and Rafael Albuquerque is a great series to jump in on because it’s only 3 issues deep so far — fun new series that’s very accessible to new readers,” he wrote. “Yesterday, we had lots of folks grabbing the new issue of Superman’s ongoing series by Joshua Williamson and Dan Mora — another great jumping in point.”

“For collected editions, we’ve seen All Star Superman by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely selling way more than normal, and it already had a big bump from the point that James Gunn told fans he was pulling from that for this new film,” he continued. “Also, Superman Up in the Sky by Tom King and Andy Kubert, Superman Secret Origin by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank, and even a book that has been a best seller since it’s movie got announced, Supergirl Woman of Tomorrow by Tom King and Bilquis Evely has skyrocketed to the point where we are ordering in more copies every week despite stocking it quite deep in store.”

We’ve reached out to Jetpack Comics and @arris_quinones through e mail.

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