Superman, Fantastic Four, Justice League.

If you factor in those franchises alone, they have made billions and billions of dollars in merchandising, publishing sales, and box office receipts. These titles are familiar to all of us and has become a part of the pop culture since they were initially introduced. Other comic titles have also contributed heavily to pop culture, whether they were based on properties published by Dark Horse like The Mask, 300, Hellboy, Big Guy and Rusty, and Sin City, Image titles like Spawn, Witchblade, and Savage Dragon, or indy titles like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Ghost World, American Splendor, and others.

Manga titles make up a huge chunk of the comic publishing sales in this country with many manga collections breaking records in the publishing industry, not just the comic industry. Manga attracts male and female readers, which is a rarity in the male-dominated comics industry and a fact that should make the industry and the mainstream stand on notice.

The support is definitely present for a comic-themed network. The fanbase is there. Conventions draw in hundreds of thousands every year all over the country. Every summer is punctuated by a comic-inspired blockbuster. Comic-based programming dot the television landscape. The lone breakout new series in the 2006-07 season was NBC's Heroes, which has comic-inspired elements, featured references to comic and manga titles and creators (Stan Lee even cameoed in an episode), had a comic book subplot for much of the season, and had an exclusive online comic featuring backstories and scenes that weren't on the actual series.

Just as there was enough support for an all-anime network (we now have two of them in the US), there's just as much support, if not more, for someone to create a comic-themed network. The audience is there.

But who would control it?