For our first two Facebook Fandom Spotlights we looked at Iron Man and Batman. This week we take a different turn and look at all the Trekkies and Trekkers out there, yes we answer the question as to “Who are the Star Trek Fans?”. With television shows and movies and some comics behind it, we’ll look at the demographic breakdown as well as comparing to our first two spotlights as well as the demographics of the greater comic fandom.

Star Trek has a lot to it. For this study I exhausted every term I could find, movies, television shows, individual episodes and eventually characters and alien races. What I found was, once you got past the movies and television shows, the characters and races added very little showing lots of overlap.

Facebook Star Trek Fan Population: Over 3,973,620 in the United States

Though it boasts the most terms we’ve ever included, Star Trek fans top out just under 4 million fans. That’s less than the general comic fandom showing off possibly why Star Trek has struggled in modern times. It’s an aging population that hasn’t gained enough young fans.

Spanish speakers is a smaller set of the population, 161,780 and 4.07%. That too is on the low-end of things.

Gender and Age

When I think of fans of Star Trek, I think about diversity in gender, orientation, race and age. It’s presented as a welcoming group of fans. What I found was that’s not totally the case. Interestingly enough, the gender breakdown is similar to the general comic fandom which splits 2/3 male 1/3 female. Star Trek fans is a bit more female, but nowhere what I’ve seen with fans of manga. In this case men account for 60.84% of the population while women account for 38.86%. That’s about 5-6 percentage points more in the female population than with general comic fans. Going in, I expected an even higher amount, in the low 40s at least.

The age breakdown is interesting. It shows me an aging population and doesn’t have the sharp decline we see elsewhere. The shape is generally the same, there’s just more fans percentage wise the older you look.

Star Trek

General Comic Fans

Iron Man Fans

Batman Fans

Here’s the full raw numbers as far as age and gender.

Relationship Status

With an older population of fans, I’d expect more “married” individuals and that’s exactly what we see. The “married” segment crushes all others by a double digit difference in the percentages.

And for those who like their pie charts.

Education

Much like the relationship stats, I’d expect an older population to also have a higher amount of college grads. We see that and a significant amount less of those in college or in high school.

Gender Interest

This is another one I expected a divergence from previously studied groups. While this statistic doesn’t translate perfectly into same-sex interest, it does give an idea as that is what many use it for. Since Star Trek is known as LGBT friendly, I’d expect an increase in that and that is what we do indeed see, about 1% for each.

Last Monday we kicked off our Facebook Fandom Spotlight with Iron Man. It’s only appropriate that this week we look at DC Comics‘ resident tinkerer that has starred in his own movies and video games, Batman! Who are the Batman fans and how do they compare with Iron Man fans and the demographics of the greater comic fandom? Find out below!

Like Iron Man, we looked at all the terms we could come up with when it comes to Batman. That includes, movies, comics, the character, television shows, video games, etc. What we didn’t include is any of the other characters, so no Robin, no Joker and so on. This is all about the Dark Knight.

Facebook Batman Fan Population: Over 9,775,800 in the United States

That’s about 2 million more fans than Iron Man and 4.6 million more fans than the general comic fandom. It’s clear there needs to be a strong focus to convert these folks and engage them about a character they’ve shown they care about.

Spanish speakers is a smaller set of the population, 439,660, 4.50%. That’s lower than the Iron Man fans and the greater comic fandom.

Gender and Age

This statistic I actually had major issues with. For some reason, the male and female breakdown is larger than the general population. I have no explanation of the cause of this, but I ran the number numerous times. Each time, the numbers were the same. Consider it a glitch in the system. If we just look at the rough percentages men still make up the bast majority, 63.53% while women make up 36.64%. Women account for a bit more than the Iron Man fans and general population.

In the Iron Man report, it was interesting in that female fans became a majority after a bit. Definitely different than the general fanfom.

General Comic Fans

Iron Man Fans

Batman fans breaks down in a similar way as the general comic population.

Batman Fans

Here’s the full raw numbers as far as age and gender.

Relationship Status

More Batman fans are listed as “single” than the general fandom and Iron Man fans, but they’re also “in relationships” in a greater amount percentage-wise too. Also slightly more are engaged as well.

Education

Female Batman fans dominate this one when it comes to percent of the population. College educated across all our studies are about the same, around a third of the population. But, when it comes to women, more are “in college” percentage wise and more are “in high school.”

Gender Interest

Remember, this doesn’t necessarily mean folks are interested in the same or opposite sex for relationships. There’s a slight up-tick in same-sex interest and women interested in men is a greater portion of the population as well.

This weekend saw the explosive debut of Iron Man 3 on the big screen so, it’s appropriate to kick off our new feature looking at the demographics of the fans of various characters with Iron Man. We have been previously running a feature at the beginning of the month looking at the demographics of the greater comic fandom. Now, every Monday, we’ll be checking out one aspect of that fandom. It might be characters or publishers, it’ll vary week to week depending on what’s occurring around that time.

This will vary a bit differently compared to the breakdown of the greater comic book fandom. Instead, this looks might include generic terms for characters, movies, video games, comic series or more. In the case of Iron Man, we included his movies, but we didn’t include The Avengers.

Facebook Iron Man Fan Population: Over 7,805,760 in the United States

That’s about 2.7 million more fans of Iron Man than comic books. Maybe these people do read comics, but don’t “like” any terms that’d tell us so. But, with April’s sales numbers released, Marvel’s Iron Man comic isn’t even in the top ten. That’s a lot of people who can be engaged and converted!

Spanish speakers is a smaller set of the population, 389,580, 4.99%. That’s lower by 0.16% from the greater comic fandom.

Gender and Age

This statistic is fascinating. The percentage of men versus women is similar to that of the generic population. Men account for 64.58% and women 35.40%, women about 3% more and men about the same amount less.

What’s interesting is the age breakdown. Below is the chart of ages and their genders for the generic comic fandom.

This is that same age breakdown, but for Iron Man fans.

The widening of the gender gap in the case of Iron Man fans is much shorter, and reverses when women become the majority of fans at the age grouping “46-49.” We’ve seen that young women are the majority of manga fans, but this is the only other instance so far where we’ve seen women being the majority of fans. Maybe Marvel should be targeting their prose books to this age group and have it feature their Iron Avenger.

We haven’t dived in to figure out where this comes from, but the majority of the population consists of fans of the first Iron Man film.

(Update) Last night in a discussion with some of our crack staff, we pondered what might be the cause of this. The answer might be simply, the star of the movie. While we can’t tell the overlap of Robert Downey Jr. fans and fans of Iron Man, we do see that his fanbase is very much women, a possible factor in the above. Only in the age segment “Under 17″ are men a majority of the fans. See the graph directly below to see how the age of Robert Downey Jr. fans plays out when it comes to gender.

Here’s the full raw numbers as far as age and gender.

Relationship Status

How do fans match up with the ladies man Tony Stark? They seem to have lucked out better as compared to the generic comic population.  While single individuals are still the majority, they don’t make up the majority. Those that are engaged, “in relationships” or married have a slim majority of 51.64%.

Education

Tony Stark is an educated man, how does his fans compare? When looking at this statistic compared to generic comic fandom, we find that it’s… about the same.

Gender Interest

Remember, this doesn’t necessarily mean folks are interested in the same or opposite sex for relationships. But, in this case the same-sex interest is smaller than the generic comic fandom.

It’s the beginning of the month, so that means we look at who the comic book fanbase on Facebook are. You can check out the previous month’s results here. It seems appropriate to measure this with Free Comic Book Day upon us.

This is the third edition since we expanded the search criteria in this monthly study.

This information is gathered by looking at over 30 different “like” terms in Facebook. All data is for individuals whose location is the United States. To make this clear if someone says they like “comic books” they are included in this, if they say “Superman” then they are not. Just because someone likes a character doesn’t mean they are a fan of comics, same with movies. So, that’s over 30 terms of comic book terms, publishers, etc.

Facebook Comic Book Fan Population: Over 5,172,400 in the United States

That’s an increase of over 1.3 million fans over the past month! I ran the numbers multiple times in the day and got the same result. Spanish speakers saw a boost of over 80,000 individuals, to 266,520 fans, 5.15%. That’s an increase of almost a half a percent.

We have seen large boosts in the past as the summer comic movies kick off, so this gain isn’t surprising. I expect a shedding of fans later in the year or early next year.

Gender and Age

With that huge increase the percentage of men versus women remained pretty stable with men increasing about 1.5% and women decreasing about the same. It’s been a stable 2/3 to 1/3 balance between the genders.

Below is the breakdown by age and gender. Again, percentage wise, the age breakdown is about the same with not a lot of shift. Most of the gain was older segments with some loss of people age 22-25, but gains older than that.

Relationship Status

With a huge bump, we still see a relatively stable set of percentages. The single population dropped about 1.5% from the previous month while the married population gained about the same amount.

Education

Again the percentages are stable from the previous month. The men listed as college grads saw a decline of 2%, the rest remained about the same.

Gender Interest

The biggest shift is that men interested in women increased about 1.5%, women interested in women dropped about 0.5%, while women interesting in men dropped about 1%.

Valiant has announced a partnership with HQM Editora, Brazil’s premier publisher of Portuguese language comic books and graphic novels, to bring the Valiant Universe to a new generation of fans in South America.

Beginning this May, HQM Editora will launch a new, dedicated line of Valiant releases with the first serialized translations of three of Valiant’s best-selling ongoing series in the pages of X-O Manowar Magazine – an oversized monthly anthology re-presenting X-O Manowar by Robert Venditti and Cary Nord; Harbinger by Joshua Dysart and Khari Evans; and Bloodshot by Duane Swierczynski and Manuel Garcia.

Compiling one issue of each series together in HQM’s oversized format, the release of X-O Manowar Magazine #1 will mark the first time Valiant’s monthly titles have been published in a foreign language since the publisher’s much acclaimed relaunch.

After the conclusion of each series’ first story arc, Harbinger and Bloodshot will spin-off into a second monthly title, Universo Valiant Apresenta (Valiant Universe Presents), spotlighting the lead-up to Valiant’s first crossover event, Harbinger Wars. Trade paperback collections of each translated series are slated for release later in 2013.

It’s the beginning of the month, so that means we look at who the comic book fanbase on Facebook are. You can check out the previous month’s results here.

This is the second edition since we expanded the search criteria in this monthly study.

This information is gathered by looking at over 30 different “like” terms in Facebook. All data is for individuals whose location is the United States. To make this clear if someone says they like “comic books” they are included in this, if they say “Superman” then they are not. Just because someone likes a character doesn’t mean they are a fan of comics, same with movies. So, that’s over 30 terms of comic book terms, publishers, etc.

Facebook Comic Book Fan Population: Over 3,841,200 in the United States

That’s a decrease of about 20,000 fans over the past month. Not a huge shift at all. Spanish speakers decreased slightly, to 182,540 fans, 4.75%.

Gender and Age

Compared to last month, most of the loss was from female fandom. The female comic book fans dropped about 32,000, while male fans increased in population by 6,000. For the female fans, the loss was across all age breakdown. Male fandom increased for those age 37 and under, but dropped over that.

Below is the breakdown by age and gender.

Relationship Status

Were the 20,000 people who dropped out all single? It’s almost the same amount of people loss from each. Also more people are in relationships, while less are married.

Education

There’s an interesting drop in the college graduate stats but a massive increase in folks in college.

Gender Interest

Generally these stats remained the same from the previous month with percentages remaining pretty steady.

It’s the beginning of the month, so that means we look at who the comic book fanbase on Facebook are. You can check out the previous month’s results here.

This month is special, as I’ve expanded the search terms and have returned even more fans with much more data than ever before. We’ll be looking at how some of the percentages compare from this super size set versus the previous smaller set of search terms.

This information is gathered by looking at over 30 different “like” terms in Facebook. All data is for individuals whose location is the United States. To make this clear if someone says they like “comic books” they are included in this, if they say “Superman” then they are not. Just because someone likes a character doesn’t mean they are a fan of comics, same with movies. So, that’s over 30 terms of comic book terms, publishers, etc.

Facebook Comic Book Fan Population: Over 3,864,140 in the United States

Spanish speakers increases as a count and percentage, to 182,800 fans, 7.73%. That’s an increase of about .50% from the previous month.

Gender and Age

Even with a huge increase in population from the previous month, the percentage shift isn’t quite as crazy as one would expect. Overall the fanbase is about 2/3 men and 1/3 women, but some of the terms I added were digital comic related, which skews very male in a breakdown of just those terms.

The biggest shift though is in the age breakdowns. Women are no longer the majority when it comes to fans under the age of 18. The vast majority of fans still fall in the age range of under 25.

Below is the breakdown by age and gender.

Relationship Status

Relationship stats are almost the same from the previous population. The percents barely shift from the previous universe.

Education

College grads remained the same when it comes to percents, but in college and high school both dropped. While the universe of those in high school or younger increased, the percentage is about the same. You’d expect all the percentages to be about the same, but in this case we have some hold steady and others drop.

Gender Interest

Like education, you’d expect this to remain fairly steady, but like education it didn’t. Men interested in men stayed steady, men interested in women increased and women interested in either men or women both decreased.

Wizard World, Inc. Announces Approval For Listing On OTC Bulletin Board (OTCBB)

February 19, 2013 — New York, New York – Wizard World, Inc. (the “Company”) (OTCBB: WIZD), a producer of Comic Cons and pop culture conventions, is pleased to announce that it received approval from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) for quotation and trading on the Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board (OTCBB) under the stock symbol “WIZD”.  The Company’s common stock will continue to trade on the OTCQB.

Mr. Macaluso, the Company’s Chief Executive Officer, stated, “Having our Company approved for a quotation on the OTCBB is part of our ongoing efforts of increasing Company transparency and increasing our access to the investment community. In addition, we will continue moving forward on additional initiatives aimed at increasing consistent investor awareness with the ultimate goal of applying for a listing on a more senior exchange.”

About Wizard World:

Wizard World, Inc. produces Comic Cons and pop culture conventions across North America that celebrate graphic novels, comic books, movies, TV shows, gaming, technology, toys and social networking. The events often feature celebrities from movies and TV, artists and writers, and events such as premieres, gaming tournaments, panels and costume contests.

Wizard World’s full event schedule can be found at www.wizardworld.com.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Statements in this press release relating to Wizard World, Inc.’s future plans, expectations, beliefs, intentions and prospects are “forward-looking statements” and are subject to material risks and uncertainties. When used in this press release, the words “will,” “future,” “expect,” “look forward to,” similar expressions and any other statements that are not historical facts are intended to identify those assertions as forward-looking statements. Any such statement may be influenced by a variety of factors, many of which are beyond the control of Wizard World that could cause actual outcomes and results to be materially different from those projected, described, expressed or implied in this press release due to a number of risks and uncertainties. Accordingly, no assurances can be given that any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements will transpire or occur. A detailed discussion of these factors and other risks that affect Wizard World’s business is contained in its SEC filings, including its most recent reports on Form 10-Q, particularly under the heading “Risk Factors.” Copies of these filings are available online from the SEC or by contacting Jerry Milani, Public Relations, at (212) 209-3879.  All information set forth in this press release is current as of February 19, 2013. Wizard World undertakes no duty to update any statement in light of new information or future events.

Dark Horse is pleased to announce the promotion of Jim Gibbons to associate editor! Gibbons, perhaps the “comics industry’s youngest veteran,” came to the Dark Horse PR department in 2009, following a brief career in the comics media as a writer and associate editor for Wizard magazine and a contributor to Comic Book Resources. In 2011, he moved over to the Dark Horse Editorial department as an assistant editor.

In his time at Dark Horse, Gibbons has worked directly under Mike Richardson on the Eisner and Harvey Award–winning anthology Dark Horse Presents, and has also assisted on Brian Wood’s critically acclaimed, epic ongoing series The Massive and Guillermo del Toro’s The Strain.

In addition, Jim Gibbons has edited Francesco Francavilla’s bona-fide smash-hit series, The Black Beetle, as well as Tom Morello’s politically charged, postapocalyptic comics debut, Orchid, which wrapped up last week.

“Jim has quickly established himself as one of Dark Horse’s bright, up-and-coming editorial staffers,” said Dark Horse president Mike Richardson. “His hard work on Dark Horse Presents helped to win us the industry’s two major awards. I am certain that with the same level of dedication he has shown thus far, he and the books he works on will win many more for Dark Horse in the future. Congratulations, Jim.”

“Jim brings all the best qualities a creator can hope for from an editor: he pushes you to do your best work, kicks your butt when you are behind, and buys you a beer when you are done. I’m lucky to have him on my team,” said Francesco Francavilla, creator of The Black Beetle.

This news comes after the departure of associate editor Rachel Edidin, who is leaving Dark Horse after seven years in the Editorial department. Edidin helped shape the Dark Horse prose line with projects such as Ellen Datlow’s Lovecraft Unbound and Yahtzee Croshaw’s Mogworld, while also working on critically acclaimed comics series like Caitlín R. Kiernan’s Alabaster. Edidin plans to focus on work as a freelance editor.

Please join us in congratulating Jim Gibbons!

I’m a day late with this post, but, the data was pulled at the usual time that I do it, so it really is month to month and not a month and one day extra. You can check out the previous month’s results here.

This information is gathered by looking at over 30 different “like” terms in Facebook. All data is for individuals whose location is the United States. To make this clear if someone says they like “comic books” they are included in this, if they say “Superman” then they are not. Just because someone likes a character doesn’t mean they are a fan of comics, same with movies. So, that’s over 30 terms of comic book terms, publishers, etc.

Facebook Comic Book Fan Population: Over 1,879,340 in the United States

That’s a decrease of almost 18,000 individuals from the previous month, negating the gains of that month. What segments grew gets interesting and we’ll talk more about that below.

Spanish speakers dropped negating the previous month’s fain of 3000 individuals, to 79,360 fans a decrease in the percentage to 4.22%, down 0.13%.

Gender and Age

From the previous month it’s primarily those aged 21 and under that have been lost. 22 and up relatively stayed the same or gained fans. Why the loss of the younger fans? I couldn’t say, but there’s a chance lack of big budget movies might be the cause. We’ll see what patterns hold this summer when movie season begins again.

Women also decreased more than men. They shed 10,000 fans compared to a little over 7000 men. The unknown population as shrank as it did the previous month too.

You can see below the raw numbers and what age ranges gained and lost fans.

Relationship Status

Overall, there’s no major change, just lots of less of everything.

Education

Generally everywhere there were drops, except for women marking themselves down as college grads, that increased.

Gender Interest

Mem interested in men is the only statistic that gained here as well, all the rest saw a drop.