COMICS, COMIX, & THE GRAPHIC NOVEL
by Don L. F. Nilsen and
Alleen Pace Nilsen
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The first comic book appeared in 1933.
Little Lulu appeared in the 1930s.
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The cost of each comic book
was a dime (10 cents).
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You can tell the age of a comic
book by looking at the price.
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However, now the early comic
books are rare and cost a lot of
money.
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There is a huge discrepancy
between the price on the cover
and the actual price of the
comic book.
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Super Heroes
D. C. Comics: The Justice League
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Captain Marvel: Shazam!
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Marvel Comics
The Fantastic Four
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Marvel Comics:
Wolverine—Comic Book vs. Movies
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The Avengers vs. The X-Men
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Early Comics: World War II
Everybody hates Hitler!
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Even the Fantastic Four are after Hitler!
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Today’s Comics
• “There are dozens of humorous comic strips ranging
from simple domestic humor such as ‘The Family
Circus’ to the sophisticated social and political satire
of Gary Trudeau’s ‘Doonesbury’ and Aaron
McGruder’s ‘The Boondocks.’ Strips like ‘Cathy’
take on the problems of single professional women,
‘Tank McNamara’ goes after big time sports in
America, and strips like ‘BC,’ ‘The Wizard of Id,’
‘Broom Hilda,’ ‘Zippy’ and many more offer a
combination of simple amusement and allegorical
meaning.”
(Mintz in Raskin [2008] 290)
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UNDERGROUND COMIX
• The term “comix” is a co-mix of image and
words.
• Underground comix deals with the
underbelly of society as they make fun of
drugs, sex, violence, racism, elitism,
blasphemy, risque music, bodily functions,
and crude language.
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• Robert Crumb is known as “the Father
of Underground Comix.
• The shrunken head and enlarged feet
of Crumb’s “Keep on Truckin’” series
came from his L.S.D.-distorted view of
people and symbols.
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• Gilbert Shelton is another drug-inspired
underground comix writer of the 1960s.
• Shelton’s “Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers”
featured three dope-and-sex-hunting heroes.
• This was a well-received parody of the 1960s
hippie drug culture, and was designed not to
preach, but to entertain.
• Shelton also created “Wonder Wart-Hog” as a
parody of superhero comics.
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ABOVEGROUND COMICS
• At the opposite end of the spectrum from
underground comix are the coffee table
comic books:
– Joe Anderson’s Bugs Bunny: Fifty Years and Only
One Grey Hare
– Berkeley Breathed’s Bloom County Babylon: Five
Years of Basic Naughtiness
– Walt Kelly’s Pluperfect Pogo
– Bill Watterson’s The Calvin and Hobbes Tenth
Anniversary Book
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Parodies of Batman
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MIDDLEGROUND COMICS
• Between the underground comix, and
the coffee table comics, there are some
mainstream collections:
– Scott Adams’s The Dilbert Principle
– Charles Schulz’s Happiness Is a Warm
Puppy, Home Is on Top of a Dog House, I
Need All the Friends I Can Get, and
Security is a Thumb and a Blanket
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JOHN CALLAHAN’S DISABILITY CARTOONS
• John Callahan was paralized in an
automobile accident shortly after his 21st
birthday. His cartoons about disabilities are
quite controversial.
• One of his cartoons shows a dark-skinned
street beggar carrying a sign that reads,
“Please help me. I am blilnd and black, but
not musical.”
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• In another Callahan cartoon there is a man in a bar
with two prosthetic hooks in place of hands.
• The bartender is saying, “Sorry Sam, you can’t hold
your liquor.”
• Another Callahan cartoon is entitled “The Alzheimer
Hoedown.” It shows confused couples at a square
dance trying to follow the instructions, “Return to
the girl that you just left.”
• Callahan got an angry letter from the St. Louis
chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association.”
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HALL OF FAME
Members of the International Museum of Cartoon Art’s Hall of Fame
include:
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Dik Browne: Hi and Lois, & Hagar the Horrible
Milton Caniff: Terry and the Pirates, & Steven Canyon
Al Capp: L’il Abner
Roy Crane: Wash Tubbs, Captain Easy, & Buzz Sawyer
Billy DeBeck: Barney Google
Rudolph Dirks: The Katzenjammer Kids & The Captain and the Kids
Budd Fisher: Mutt and Jeff
Harold Foster: Tarzan & Prince Valiant
Chester Gould: Dick Tracy
Harold Gray: Little Orphan Annie
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Dik Browne’s “Hagar the Horrible”
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Milton Caniff’s “Terry and the Pirates”
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Al Capp’s “L’il Abner”
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Billy DeBeck’s “Barney Google”
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Rudolph Dirks’s “Katzenjammer Kids
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Budd Fisher’s “Mutt and Jeff”
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Harold Foster’s “Tarzan”
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Chester Gould’s “Dick Tracy”
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Harold Gray’s “Little Orphan Annie”
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George Herriman: Krazy Kat
Walt Kelly: Pogo
Winsor McCay: Little Nemo in Slumberland
George McManus: Bringing up Father (Maggie and
Jiggs)
Richard Oucault: The Yellow Kid & Buster Brown
Alex Raymond: Flash Gordon, Jungle Jim, Secret
Agent X-9 & Rip Kirby
Charles Schulz: Peanuts
Elzie Segar: Thimble Theater & Popeye
Jimmie Swinnerton: Little Bears, Mr. Jack, & Canyon
Kiddies
Mort Walker: Beetle Bailey, Hi and Lois, Boner’s Ark
Chic Young: Blondie and Dagwood
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George Herriman’s “Krazy Kat and Ignatz”
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Walt Kelly’s “Pogo”
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Walt Kelly’s “Simple J. Malarkey” alluded to Senator McCarthy.
When newspapers said they would no longer show Malarkey’s head,
Kelly placed a brown paper bag over his head.
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Winsor McCay’s “Little Nemo in Slumberland”
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George McManus’s “Bringing Up Father”
“Maggie and Jiggs”
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Richard Oucault’s “The Yellow Kid”
and “Buster Brown and Tide”
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Alex Raymond’s “Flash Gordon”
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Charles Schulz’s “Peanuts”
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Elzie Segar’s “Popeye”
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Mort Walker’s “Beetle Bailey”
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Chic Young’s “Blondie and Dagwood”
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JOHNNY HART CARTOON
• When the following Johnny Hart strip was run in The
Arab News, both the feature editor and the editor-inchief were sentenced to lashing and prison terms for
failing to recognize the blasphemy.
• Their sentences were reduced after the incident
caused an international furor.
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Arizona’s Governor Evan Meacham
• In Garry Trudeau’s
Doonesbury there is
a Mecham-like
character who
reacts to claims that
he is insensitive:
• “Lies! Lies spread
by queers and
pickanninies.”
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THE GRAPHIC NOVEL
• People are also starting to respect the
power of the graphic novel.
• In 1986, Art Spiegelman won the
Pulitzer Prize for his Maus.
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Art Spiegelman’s “In the
Shadow of No Towers”
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Art Spiegelman’s “In the Shadow
of No Towers”
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COMIC ANIMATION WEB SITES:
XKCD
http://xkcd.com
Perry Bible Fellowship
http://pbfcomics.com/
ART SPIEGELMAN:
http://lambiek.net/artists/s/spiegelman.htm
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