Portal:Comics

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Introduction

Comics are 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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An ashcan comic is a form of the American comic book originally created solely to establish trademarks on potential titles and not intended for sale. The practice was common in the 1930s and 1940s when the comic book industry was in its infancy, but was phased out after updates to US trademark law. The term was revived in the 1980s by Bob Burden, who applied it to prototypes of his self-published comic book. Since the 1990s, the term has been used to describe promotional materials produced in large print runs and made available for mass consumption. In the film and television industries, the term "ashcan copy" has been adopted for low-grade material created to preserve a claim to licensed property rights.

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Anniversaries for May 10

1900: birth of V. T. Hamlin, American comic strip creator best known for Alley Oop
1905: birth of Alex Schomburg, Puerto Rican painter, commercial artist, and comic-book artist
1943: debut of Claire Voyant, American comic strip by Jack Sparling which ran until 1948
1957: death of Henry C. Kiefer, American artist best remembered for his contributions to Classics Illustrated
1968: birth of Steve Buccellato, American comics artist best known as colorist with Electric Crayon
2004: Jeff Smith draws the last page of Bone, his award-winning self-published comic
2006: first appearance of 52, a comic book limited series published by DC Comics
2006: final publication of Samurai Deeper Kyo, Japanese manga created by Akimine Kamijyo
2010: death of Frank Frazetta, American illustrator who worked on many comics between 1944 and 1964

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General images

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

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

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

... that otomechikku, a subgenre of Japanese girls' comics focusing on stories about ordinary teenaged protagonists, has been compared to monogatari and the genre of Bildungsroman?
... that the Franco-Belgian comic book Hans had its title changed in Poland due to lingering ill-feeling toward Germany?
... that the first time The Witcher universe was portrayed outside the novels was in the 1993–1995 Polish comic book series of the same name?
... that circulation numbers for early comic books featuring Captain America remained close to a million copies per month, outstripping news magazines such as Time?
... that Steve Englehart wrote the Captain America comic book storyline "Secret Empire" as an allegory for the Watergate scandal?
... that comic book artist Barry Windsor-Smith wrote, drew, inked, and lettered every page of his graphic novel Monsters by himself?
... 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 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"?

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Credit: Julian Tysoe

Dave Gibbons, artist and designer of the Watchmen comic book series.

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...that while Al Jaffee (pictured) created the comics character Ziggy Pig, it was Stan Lee who named him?

...that after 25 years of aging in real time, John Constantine is getting younger?

...that The Punisher can be distinguished from other beat 'em up games by its frequent use of firearms?

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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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