For as much as we talk about Walt Disney's (DIS -9.51%) Marvel Comics and Time Warner's (TWX) DC Comics here, Fool contributor Tim Beyers says there's reason to believe Image Comics chief Eric Stephenson when he says the company is aiming for the Big Two.
Last month, at the company's Image Expo conference, Stephenson said dollar sales were up 40% in 2012 and 38% throughout the first six months of 2013. The numbers, he said, were reflective of Image's "making significant gains" on both Disney and Warner, Comic Book Resources reports. Digital sales are a likely catalyst.
Does that mean you should sell Disney and Warner before Image, Dark Horse, BOOM! Studios, Valiant, and other indies eat into Marvel and DC's established franchises? Not at all, Tim says, but a talent exodus is certainly possible.
Just as AMC Networks (AMCX 1.92%) profited when Matthew Weiner and Vince Gilligan brought the network Mad Men and Breaking Bad, Image today has several of the comics industry's big names making strong books such as The Walking Dead, Saga, and Thief of Thieves, among others, many of which have cross-media potential.
Should Disney or Warner make a bid for Image? Would you? Or, alternatively, would you invest in Image were it a public company? Leave a comment to let us know what you think of the indie comics opportunity and what, if any, indie series you're reading right now.
