Portal:Comics

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Introduction

Comics is a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically takes the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicate dialogue, narration, sound effects, or other information. There is no consensus among theorists and historians on a definition of comics; some emphasize the combination of images and text, some sequentiality or other image relations, and others historical aspects such as mass reproduction or the use of recurring characters. Cartooning and other forms of illustration are the most common image-making means in comics; Photo comics is a form that uses photographic images. Common forms include comic strips, editorial and gag cartoons, and comic books. Since the late 20th century, bound volumes such as graphic novels, comic albums, and tankōbon have become increasingly common, along with webcomics as well as scientific/medical comics.

The English term comics is used as a singular noun when it refers to the medium itself (e.g. "Comics is a visual art form."), but becomes plural when referring to works collectively (e.g. "Comics are popular reading material."). (Full article...)

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Self-portrait, 1922

George Joseph Herriman III (August 22, 1880 – April 25, 1944) was an American cartoonist best known for the comic strip Krazy Kat (1913–1944). More influential than popular, Krazy Kat had an appreciative audience among those in the arts. Gilbert Seldes' article "The Krazy Kat Who Walks by Himself" was the earliest example of a critic from the high arts giving serious attention to a comic strip. The Comics Journal placed the strip first on its list of the greatest comics of the 20th century. Herriman's work has been a primary influence on cartoonists such as Elzie C. Segar, Will Eisner, Charles M. Schulz, Robert Crumb, Art Spiegelman, Bill Watterson, and Chris Ware.

Herriman was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, to mixed-race Creole parents, and grew up in Los Angeles. After he graduated from high school in 1897, he worked in the newspaper industry as an illustrator and engraver. He moved on to cartooning and comic strips—a medium then in its infancy—and drew a variety of strips until he introduced his most famous character, Krazy Kat, in his strip The Dingbat Family in 1910. A Krazy Kat daily strip began in 1913, and from 1916 the strip also appeared on Sundays. It was noted for its poetic, dialect-heavy dialogue; its fantastic, shifting backgrounds; and its bold, experimental page layouts.

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Anniversaries for April 18

1828: birth of Frank Bellew, American cartoonist and pioneering comics author
1916: birth of Carl Burgos, American comic book artist best known as creator of the Human Torch
1953: first appearance of Roger the Dodger, ongoing British comic strip created by Ken Reid in The Beano
1969: birth of Keith DeCandido, American science fiction and fantasy writer, known for his media tie-ins
1997: death of Edward Barker, English cartoonist and underground comix creator
2002: last volume of Flame of Recca, Japanese manga created by Nobuyuki Anzai
2006: death of Dick Rockwell, American comics artist best known for his work on Steve Canyon

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General images

The following are images from various comics-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Image of bathers from the Hokusai manga (from History of manga)
Image 2Cover to 27 December 1884 edition of Ally Sloper's Half Holiday. (from British comics)
Image 3The San Diego Convention Center during Comic-Con in 2013 (from San Diego Comic-Con)
Image 4The French comic Les Pieds Nickelés (1954 book cover): an early 20th-century forerunner of the modern Franco-Belgian comic (from Bande dessinée)
Image 5Comic-Con crowd inside the second floor of the convention center in 2011 waiting for the exhibition hall to open (from San Diego Comic-Con)
Image 6A page by Rodolphe Töpffer, whose work is considered influential in shaping the comics form. (from History of comics)
Image 7Chōjū-giga (12th century), traditionally attributed to a monk-artist Kakuyū (Toba Sōjo) (from History of manga)
Image 8A Fallout Cosplayer photographed at a Comic Con in a Fallout Themed area (from Comic book convention)
Image 9Convention crowd outside of Golden Hall in 1982 (from San Diego Comic-Con)
Image 10Close Hergé collaborator and magazine contributor Bob de Moor (from Bande dessinée)
Image 11Cover of Illustrated Chips in 1896 featuring the first appearance of the long-running comic strip of the tramps Weary Willie and Tired Tim. (from British comics)
Image 12
Comics artist Mœbius (2008), who achieved international renown through Métal Hurlant
(from Bande dessinée)
Image 13Phoenix Fan Fusion's 2017 convention in Phoenix, Arizona (from Comic book convention)
Image 14During panels at comic book conventions, the audience is sometimes invited to line up and ask questions using a dedicated microphone. (from Comic book convention)
Image 15Comic Con crowds in 2011 as seen from a helicopter (from San Diego Comic-Con)
Image 16Sequential depictions on Trajan's Column in Rome, Italy (from History of comics)
Image 17Japanese wood block illustration from 19th century (from History of manga)
Image 18Hokusai Manga (early 19th century) (from History of manga)

Did you know (auto-generated) - load new batch

... that the robotic enemies in the video game The Incredible Hulk were influenced by Marvel Comics' objection to the Hulk killing humanoid characters?
... that the USC Trojans team that won the 2022 NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship had been compared to the Marvel Comics' Avengers?
... that Pinky & Pepper Forever is a graphic novel that follows two anthropomorphic dog girlfriends through hell?
... that John Romita Sr. has been credited with introducing romance comic themes to Spider-Man comic books?
... that the writer of Poison Ivy: Thorns felt the titular DC Comics character was "tailor made for [her] interests as a nature-loving, gay makeup enthusiast"?
... that The Steranko History of Comics has been described as the first piece of cultural analysis on American comic books?
... that although its publisher Dark Horse Comics is American, a significant proportion of artists involved with the comic book series The Witcher have been Polish?
... that a teacher of medieval literature and comic books writes the blog Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle?

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Credit: Winsor McCay

A panel is an individual frame, or single drawing, in the multiple-panel sequence of a comic strip or comic book. A panel consists of a single drawing depicting a frozen moment. Newspaper daily strips typically consist of either four panels (Doonesbury, For Better or For Worse) or three panels (Garfield, Dilbert), all of the same size. The horizontal newspaper strip can also employ only a single panel, as sometimes seen in Wiley Miller's Non Sequitur.

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More did you know...

...that Joye Hummel (pictured) wrote 70 of the early Wonder Woman comics but she was not included in official histories?

...that the abuses suffered by Ben Affleck and Shia LaBeouf in the webcomic Theater Hopper stemmed from the artist's dislike of the actors?

... that Darktown Comics, a series of racist caricatures, was a perennial bestseller for Currier and Ives and by 1884 represented a third of the company's production?

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Selected quote

A lot of the people who read comics think of comics as a culture—or as a subculture; something with its own private codes that mark its members as belonging, and everybody else as not belonging.

— Douglas Wolk, 2006

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This is a list of recognized content, updated weekly by JL-Bot (talk · contribs) (typically on Saturdays). There is no need to edit the list yourself. If an article is missing from the list, make sure it is tagged (e.g. {{WikiProject Comics}}) or categorized correctly and wait for the next update. See WP:RECOG for configuration options.