~ Comics Books ~
Norman Yee, Fall 2008
Comic Books: aka comic strips, aka
graphic novels, aka…
• Can be defined as visual narratives with juxtaposed
images.
• Words and text are not required, but in general adds to
the narrative flow.
Comic Books
Comic Strips
Graphic Novels and Novellas
Comic Magazines
Fumetti (Italian)
Bande Dessine (French)
Manga (Japanese)
History:
or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Wikipedia
• Prehistory – Cave Paintings
• Ancient Times – Egyptian Hieroglyphics
• 1895 - Richard Felton Outcault’s The Yellow Kid, in Joseph
Pulitzer’s The New York World newspaper
• 1930-1950 – The Adventures begin (The Golden Age)
• 1956-1971 – Creation of the Comic Code Authority (The Silver Age)
• 1971-1980 – Comics as Art (The Bronze Age)
• 1980-1987 – Death of a Superhero (The Iron Age)
• 1987-Present – Out of the Basement and into the Big Screen
1895 : Congratulations! It’s a Comic!
• Richard Felton Outcault’s The Yellow Kid – first “real” comic strip
• Primarily humoristic – called the Funnies, the Famous Funnies, the
Comics, etc.
1930-1950: It’s a bird! It’s a plane!
• Jerome Siegal and Joseph
Shuster create Superman in
June 1938.
• Detective Comics (DC)
introduces Batman in 1939.
• Marvel Comics introduces the
Human Torch and Captain
America.
• Will Eisner’s The Spirit (1940).
• World War II a boon for comic
books.
– DC stressed a common interest in
public welfare and a strong
government
– Marvel stressed patriotism
1956-1971: It’s a Comic! Burn it with fire!
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Loss of readers after WWII due to lack of purpose and competition with
television and radio.
Attracted attention of Senate investigations, particularly popular
“horror” themed comics.
Dr. Fredric Wertham’s The Seduction of the Innocent (1954).
Comics Code Authority – to self-police the industry.
Comic themes moved from consensus to critical.
Marvel introduces heroes with weaknesses such as the Hulk (i.e., anger
management) and Spiderman (i.e., teenage angst).
1971-1980: We’re artists and
we need money!
• Shift from social issues to an emphasis on
form and stylistic details
– Sharp rise in non-superhero comics such as Conan
the Barbarian and Ghost Rider.
• Reshuffling of comic creators and reimagining
of popular characters.
• Creation of the Academy of Comic-Book Arts
(ACBA) and the Comic Guild.
– Largely unsuccessful.
• First update of the Comics Code Authority.
• DC And Marvel began to license out their
characters to movie and television shows deals
to make revenue.
1980-1987: Why so
Serious? :(
• Form becomes content.
• Heroes began questioning their
own heroism and face their
mortality.
• Growing popularity of antiheroes.
– Grim and gritty genres and stories.
• Comic distribution shifts to
specialty retail shops.
– Rising prices and profits.
– Targets loyal fanbase over casual
readers.
– Creates the “nerd niche” in comic
book readership.
1987-Present: From nerd closets to
Summer Blockbusters
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Reconstruction of genre.
Comics become collector’s items by the 1990’s (TinTin @ A$1.32
million).
Marvel became first comic book publisher to be listed on the New York
Stock Exchange (as MVL).
CGI: Superhero movies’ best friend.
Manga: What the Neighbors were Doing
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Widely by readers of all ages.
Broad range of genres and subjects.
Increasingly popular worldwide.
Originated during the US occupation of
Japan.
– Influenced by the American comic books that were
brought over by soldiers. (1945-1952) But held onto
Japanese culture and aesthetic traditions.
• Creation of Astroboy by Tezuka Osamu and
Sazae-san by Hasegawa Machiko.
• 1969 saw the first major entry of women
artists into manga. (Year 24 Group aka The
Magnificent 24s)
Manga Genres: Like Baskin-Robbins ice
cream for your eyes!
Shonen Manga
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Action-Adventure – usually with
a male hero with slapstick
humor and themes of honor.
Popular settings and themes
include: science fiction, sports,
robots, technology, and the
supernatural.
Shojo Manga
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Romance – usually done along
themes of self-realizations with
emotional and intense
narratives.
Superheroine – developed into
teams of girls and women
working together.
Web Comics: In your webs, stealing your
work hours!
• T.H.E. Fox - Arguably the first webcomic published on Compuserve
and Quantum Link in 1986.
• The late nineties saw an exponential rise in webcomics.
• Austin Osueke launches eigoMANGA in 2000, an independent
comic book publisher that published his online “webmanga”.
Garners attention from comic book industry and featured in comic
book magazines.
• Scott McCloud’s Reinventing Comics, a treatise on webcomics.
Advocates digital comics as well as micropayments.
Cool Links: For the cool kids
References
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http://www.randomhistory.com/1-50/033comic.html
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/5537/hist.htm
http://www.wikipedia.com
http://www.mangafox.com/
Sample Webcomics
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http://www.sinfest.net/
http://www.snafu-comics.com/
http://www.nuklearpower.com/
http://penny-arcade.com/
http://www.megatokyo.com/
http://vgcats.com/
http://keychain.patternspider.net/