Which Comics Don't Have Superheroes?

There's no denying that the most popular comic books in North America — both currently and historically — star superheroes. There's also no denying that despite the enormous box office returns for films like "The Dark Knight," not everybody wants to read about the adventures of caped crimefighters in comic books.

In fact, the idea that comic books are filled with nothing but dudes in brightly colored costumes beating each other up to the accompaniment of onomatopoeic sound effects keeps a good number of folks away from the medium all together, and contributes to why comics haven't found mainstream acceptance.

But even though titles such as "Amazing Spider-Man" and "Green Lantern" still dominate sales charts , there have always been plenty of non-superhero comics, in a variety of genres.

In the early days of comic books , when they were primarily marketed to kids, many contained non-superhero kids' fare, such as the "Archie" Comics. The titular character debuted and 1941 and is still publishing today. And even in the 1940s and 1950s—dubbed the golden age of comics — there were still plenty of titles that dealt with the genres of science-fiction, romance and horror.

The 1970s and 1980s also brought non-superhero comic books. For example, "Cerebus," written and drawn by Dave Sim, depicts an irascible aardvark amid an elaborate mythology. The series unfolded over 300 issues from 1977 to 2004—unprecedented for a comic by a single creator.

And in 1986, Art Spiegelman published the first volume of "Maus," illustrating his father's experience as a Polish Jew during the Holocaust by using animals as different nationalities and races (Jews were represented by mice; Germans by cats). After publication of the second and final volume in 1991, the work won a Pulitzer Prize Special Award in 1992.

DC Comic's Vertigo line launched in 1993, and has published a number of influential comics that are usually far from the superhero genre, but have some sort of supernatural, science-fiction or other-worldly element. Their most famous product is "Sandman," a real-world set fantasy written by "Coraline" author Neil Gaiman. Sandman introduced comics to new, highbrow audiences throughout the 1990s and beyond. Other prominent titles include "Preacher," in which a Texas preacher becomes as powerful as God, and "Y the Last Man," in which an average joe winds up the last male on Earth.

And there are plenty of comics that are just about ordinary people in the ordinary world, like "Eightball" by Daniel Clowes—which provided material for the 2001 film "Ghost World." Adrian Tomine's "Optic Nerve" focuses on realistic and poignant interactions between people. Terry Moore's "Strangers in Paradise" chronicles the friendship of two women, and brought many female readers to comic books for the first time.

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