Move over, capes: mystery comics are proving an alluring alternative in an industry that netted $1 billion (£820m) in 2015. The genre has been around since the 60s - think DC's House of Mystery - but the success of reprints of Will Eisner's The Spirit in the late 90s set the stage for a comeback.
Publisher Dark Horse has the most titles, including Black Hammer, which follows a super-team trapped in a rural town, prevented from leaving by an unknown force. Elsewhere, Snotgirl by Bryan Lee O'Malley - he of Scott Pilgrim - features a smash-hit YouTuber - but is her stalker real? And is she even famous?
Unfollow explores what happens when 140 social-media users are named as heirs to a billionaire's fortune. Even arch-scribe Alan Moore1 is getting on-trend with his neo-Cthulhu mythos.
DC and Marvel have noticed the upswing. Occasional Avenger the Vision is in the midst of a domestic murder-mystery storyline, while DC's Gotham Academy - which follows the young detectives of Batman's prep school - is one of a series of alt-mystery comics on their new slate. But what caused this mysterious return? It's likely a response to super-saturation in mainstream culture. When will it end? Find out next time…
1. Hellblazer: 59,734
**2. Paper Girls **: 33,731
3. Snotgirl: 23,830
4. Vision: 20,523
5. Black Hammer: 16,201
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
