Portal:Comics

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 means of image-making 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, and comic albums, 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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Dream of the Rarebit Fiend was a newspaper comic strip by American cartoonist Winsor McCay which began 10 September 1904. As in McCay's signature strip, Little Nemo, the strip was made up of bizarre dreams. It was McCay's second successful strip, after Little Sammy Sneeze secured him a position on the cartoon staff of the New York Herald. Rarebit Fiend was printed in the Evening Telegram, a newspaper published by the Herald. For contractual reasons, McCay signed the strip with the pen name "Silas". The strip had no continuity or recurring characters. Instead, it had a recurring theme: a character would have a nightmare or other bizarre dream, usually after eating a Welsh rarebit (a cheese-on-toast dish). Rarebit Fiend was the inspiration for a number of films, including Edwin S. Porter's live-action Dream of a Rarebit Fiend in 1906, and four pioneering animated films by McCay himself: How a Mosquito Operates in 1912, and 1921's Bug Vaudeville, The Pet and The Flying House. The strip is said to have anticipated a number of recurring ideas in popular culture, such as giant characters damaging cities (as later popularized by King Kong and Godzilla).

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Anniversaries for June 11

1933: first appearance of Captain Easy, American comic strip by Roy Crane which ran until 1988
1934: debut of Mandrake the Magician, American comic strip created by Lee Falk
1949: birth of Steve Moore, British comics writer known for his collaborations with Alan Moore
1959: birth of Susan van Camp, American artist in gaming and comics
1971: birth of Dame Darcy, American comics creator known for Meatcake
1976: birth of Ivan Reis, Brazilian comics artist
1982: birth of Jared K. Fletcher, American comic book letterer
1992: death of Todd Loren, American comic book publisher, owner of Revolutionary Comics
2003: launch of Count Your Sheep, American webcomic by Adrian Ramos

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General images

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

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

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

... that the comic book Nietzsche, se créer liberté tries to express Friedrich Nietzsche's personality visually?
... that although Blizzard's franchise Overwatch is centered around video games, its lore is mainly told through animated shorts, comics, and novels?
... that the writer of the 2022 comic book miniseries Poison Ivy, starring the eponymous Batman villain, described it as a "love story" that features "plant-based body horror"?
... that Arnie Roth debuted as a gay Marvel Comics character at a time when the publisher maintained a "No Gays in the Marvel Universe" policy?
... that John Romita Sr. has been credited with introducing romance comic themes to Spider-Man comic books?
... that Maystorm, a character from Ultimate X-Men, was initially created for a variant cover for the comic X-Men?
... that while Marvel Comics originally designated the main reality depicted in the MCU multiverse as Earth-199999, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness established it as Earth-616?
... that the 1992 comic book storyline "Man and Wolf", in which Captain America is transformed into a werewolf, has been described as "one of the most bizarre moments of the core Marvel Universe"?

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Credit: He.Who.Wanders

The Joker is a fictional character, a comic book supervillain published by DC Comics. He is the archenemy of Batman, having been directly responsible for numerous tragedies in Batman's life, including the paralysis of Barbara Gordon and the death of Jason Todd, the second Robin. Created by Jerry Robinson, Bill Finger and Bob Kane, the character first appeared in Batman #1 (Spring 1940).

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...that publication of comics in Hungary largely stopped during World War II due to Nazi pressure?

... that the graphic novel Building Stories by Chris Ware was published as a box that contained fourteen printed objects, including cloth-bound books, newspapers, broadsheets, and flip books?

... that Harvey Kurtzman's Jungle Book (1959) was the first book-length work of original comics in the United States?

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You know, I distrust people who 'read' comics ... you don't read a comic book. You look at a comic book. While you're looking at a comic, sure, you read the words; as well, you learn to look at the panels in a certain order, in a certain way ... if you start out to 'read' a comic book, you're starting out with the wrong mind-set.

— Samuel R. Delany

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