Portal:Comics

Introduction

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Graphic novels

Comics denotes a hybrid medium having verbal side of its vocabulary tightly tied to its visual side in order to convey narrative or information only, the latter in case of non-fiction comics, seeking synergy by using both visual (non-verbal) and verbal side in interaction. Although some comics are picture-only, pantomime strips, such as The Little King, the verbal side usually expand upon the pictures, but sometimes act in counterpoint.

The term derives from the mostly humorous early work in the medium, and came to apply to that form of the medium including those far from comic. The sequential nature of the pictures, and the predominance of pictures over words, distinguishes comics from picture books, although some in comics studies disagree and claim that in fact what differentiates comics from other forms on the continuum from word-only narratives, on one hand, to picture-only narratives, on the other, is social context.

Comics as a real mass medium started to emerge in the United States in the early 20th century with the newspaper comic strip, where its form began to be standardized (image-driven, speech balloons, etc.), first in Sunday strips and later in daily strips. The combination of words and pictures proved popular and quickly spread throughout the world.

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The Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy began after twelve editorial cartoons, most of which depicted the Islamic prophet Muhammad, were published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten on 30 September 2005. The newspaper announced that this publication was an attempt to contribute to the debate regarding criticism of Islam and self-censorship. Danish Muslim organizations, who objected to the depictions, responded by holding public protests attempting to raise awareness of Jyllands-Posten's publication. The controversy deepened when further examples of the cartoons were reprinted in newspapers in more than fifty other countries. This led to protests across the Muslim world, some of which escalated into violence with police firing on the crowds (resulting in more than 100 deaths, altogether), including setting fire to the Norwegian and Danish Embassies in Syria, storming European buildings, and desecrating the Danish, Norwegian and German flags in Gaza City. While a number of Muslim leaders called for protesters to remain peaceful, other Muslim leaders across the globe, including Mahmoud al-Zahar of Hamas, issued death threats. Various groups, primarily in the Western world, responded by endorsing the Danish policies, including "Buy Danish" campaigns and other displays of support for free speech in Denmark. Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen described the controversy as Denmark's worst international crisis since World War II.

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Selected picture

Credit: Fox Feature Syndicate

The Junior comic books were published by Fox Feature Syndicate. This is the cover of the last issue published in July 1948, likely drawn by Al Feldstein.

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In the news

2012

December 19: Japanese cartoonist Keiji Nakazawa, creator of Barefoot Gen, dies of lung cancer at 73.[1]
November 28: Underground cartoonist Spain dies in San Francisco at age 72.[2]
October 14: Marc Swayze, co-creator of Mary Marvel, dies at age 99.[3]
May 11: Tony DeZuniga, co-creator of Jonah Hex, dies at age 79.[4]
March 10: French master cartoonist, Jean Giraud, better known as Mœbius, dies of cancer at age 73.[5]
February 29: Sheldon Moldoff, veteran Golden Age artist, dies at age 91 of kidney failure. [6]
February 12: John Severin, veteran EC Comics artist, dies at age 90. [7]
February 6: Blaine, Canadian political cartoonist, dies at age 74.[8]

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Projects

You are invited to participate in WikiProject Comics, a WikiProject dedicated to developing and improving articles about comics.

Main projects: Arts • Comics • Entertainment • Visual arts

Sub-projects: Anime and manga • G.I. Joe • Transformers

Work groups: Batman • British comics (with WikiProject United Kingdom) • Canadian comics (with WikiProject Canada) • Comic book films (with WikiProject Film) • Comic strips • Comics creators • DC Comics • European comics (with WikiProject Europe) • Marvel Comics • Spider-Man • Superman • United States comics (with WikiProject United States) • Webcomics (with WikiProject Internet culture) • World comics

Related Projects: Animation • Biography • Film • Fictional characters • Media franchises • Music • Television • Video games

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Selected biography

Al Williamson (March 21, 1931 – June 12, 2010) was an American cartoonist, comic book artist and illustrator specializing in adventure, Western and science-fiction/fantasy. His most notable works include his science-fiction/heroic fantasy art for EC Comics in the 1950s, on titles including Weird Science and Weird Fantasy. In the 1960s, he gained recognition for continuing Raymond's illustrative tradition with his work on the Flash Gordon comic-book series, and was a seminal contributor to the Warren Publishing's black-and-white horror comics magazines Creepy and Eerie. Williamson spent most of the 1970s working on his own credited strip, another Raymond creation, Secret Agent X-9. The following decade, he became known for his work adapting Star Wars films to comic books and newspaper strips. From the mid-1980s to 2003, he was primarily active as an inker, mainly on Marvel Comics superhero titles starring such characters as Daredevil, Spider-Man, and Spider-Girl. He has won several industry awards, and six career-retrospective books about him have been published since 1998. Living in Pennsylvania with his wife Corina, Williamson retired in his seventies. Williamson was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2000.

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Anniversaries for June 17

1927: birth of Wally Wood, American comic book artist, major contributor to Mad and EC Comics
1948: birth of Chance Browne, American comic strip artist best known for continuing Hi and Lois
1980: birth of Jeph Jacques, American webcomic author best known for Questionable Content
2005: death of Sam Loeb, American comic book writer known for Superman/Batman #26

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Did you know...

...that the Super Friends had two sets of sidekicks: Wendy & Marvin, and then the Wonder Twins?
...that an IGN review of "The Rise of the Blue Beetle!" noted that some people would like "wormholes, single-cell organisms and evil intergalactic pirates ... mentioned in the same breath as Batman?"
...that Leland Myrick wrote the autobiographical graphic novel Missouri Boy, even though he considers himself "a very private person"?
...that the manwha Recast was published not just in Korean, but also in German, French, and American English?
... 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?

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A couple of months after I published this story, it occurred to me that a Superman as a hero rather than as a villain might make a great comic strip character in the vein of Tarzan, only more super and sensational than that great character. Joe and I drew it up as a comic book.

— Jerry Siegel

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