1940s in comics #20. Batman #1, Cover dated Spring, 1940 introduced The Joker and Catwoman known simply as "The Cat". Created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger Wonder Woman, created by William Moulton Marston, first appears in "All Star Comics" #8. She is among the first and most famous comic book superheroines. Stan Lee becomes editor-in-chief at Timely Comics. "Adventures of Captain Marvel", a twelve-chapter film serial adapted from the popular Captain Marvel comic book character for Republic Pictures, debuts. It was the first film adaptation of a comic book superhero. Archie Andrews, created by Bob Montana first appears in "Pep Comics" #22,
Comic book pseudonymous writer "Drake Waller" (Arnold Drake and Leslie Waller), penciler Matt Baker and inker Ray Osrin, touted as "an original full-length novel" on its cover. In 1971, writer-artist Gil Kane and collaborators devised the paperback "comics novel" "Blackmark". Will Eisner popularized the term "graphic novel" when he used it on the cover of the paperback edition of his work "A Contract with God, and Other Tenement Stories" in 1978. In 2017, the comic book market size for North America was just over $1 billion with digital sales being flat, book stores having a 1 percent decline, and comic book stores