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Comic book

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Template:Usculture A comic book is a magazine or book containing sequential art in the form of a narrative. Comic books are often called comics for short. Although the term implies otherwise, the subject matter in comic books is not necessarily humorous, and in fact its dramatic seriousness varies widely. The term "comics" in this context does not refer to comic strips (such as Peanuts or Dilbert). In the last quarter of the 20th century, greater acceptance of the comics form among the general reading populace coincided with a greater usage of the term graphic novel, often meant to differentiate a book of comics with a spine from its stapled, pamphlet form, but the difference between the terms seems fuzzy at best as comics become more widespread in libraries, mainstream bookstores, and other places.

The earliest comic books were simply collections of comic strips that had originally been printed in newspapers. The commercial success of these collections led to work being created specifically for the comic-book form, which fostered specific conventions such as splash pages. Long-form comic books, generally with hardcover or trade-paper binding came to be known as graphic novels, but as noted above, the term's definition is especially fluid. Like jazz and a handful of other cultural artifacts, comic books are a rare indigenous American art form, [1] [2] though prototypical examples of the form exist.

American comic books have become closely associated with the superhero sub-genre. In the U.K., the term comic book is used to refer to American comic books by their readers and collectors, while the general populace would mainly consider a comic book a hardcover book collecting comics stories. The analogous term in the United Kingdom is a comic, short for comic paper or comic magazine.

The comic book in the United States of America

Main article: American comic book

Since the invention of the comic book format in the 1930s, the United States has been the leading producer, with only the British comic (during the inter-war period through the 1970s) and Japanese manga as close competitors in terms of quantity of titles (although, Japan outweighs America currently in overall sales by a vast margin). The majority of all comic books in the U.S. are marketed at younger teenagers, though the market also produces work for general as well as more mature audiences.

The history of the comic book in the United States is split into several ages or historical eras: The Platinum Age, The Golden Age, The Silver Age, The Bronze Age, and The Modern Age. The exact boundaries of these eras, the terms for which originated in fandom press, is a debatable point among comic book historians. The Golden Age is generally thought as lasting from 1938's introduction of Superman until the early 1950s, during which comic books enjoyed a surge of popularity, the archetype of the superhero was invented and defined, and many of comic books' most popular superheroes debuted. The Platinum Age refers to any material produced prior to this. While comics as an artform could arguably extend as far back as sequential cave paintings from thousands of years ago, comic books are dependent on printing, and the starting point for them in book form is generally considered to be the tabloid-sized The Funnies begun in 1929, or the more traditional sized Funnies on Parade from 1933. Both of these were simply reprints of newspaper strips.

The Silver Age of Comic Books is generally considered to date from the first successful revival of the dormant superhero form — the debut of the Barry Allen Flash in Showcase #4 (Sept.-Oct. 1956) — and last through the early 1970s, during which time Marvel Comics revolutionized the medium with such naturalistic superheroes as the Fantastic Four and Spider-Man. The beginings of the Bronze and Modern ages are far more disputable. Indeed, some suggest that we are still in the Bronze Age. Starting points that have been suggested for the Bronze Age of comics are Conan #1 (Oct. 1970), Green Lantern/Green Arrow #76 (Apr. 1970) or Amazing Spider-Man #96 (May 1971) (the non-Comics Code issue). The start of the Modern Age has even more potential starting points, but is most likely the publication of Alan Moore's Watchmen in 1986.

Notable events in the history of the American comic book include the psychiatrist Frederic Wertham's criticisms of the medium in his book Seduction of the Innocent, which saw the Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency investigate comic books. In response to this attention from government and the media, the U.S. comic book industry created the Comics Code Authority in 1954 and drafted the Comics Code, a move which saw the particularly targeted EC change its satirical comic book Mad from comic book to magazine format in order to circumvent the Code.

Underground comics

Main article: Underground comics

During the late 1960s and early 1970s, a surge of underground comics occurred. These comics were published and distributed independently of the established mainstream, and most reflected the youth counterculture and drug culture of the time. Many were notable for their uninhibited, irreverent style; their frankness in graphic sex, nudity, language and overt politics hadn't been seen in comics outside of their precursors, the pornographic and even more underground "Tijuana bibles". Underground comics were virtually never sold on newsstands but in such youth-oriented outlets as head shops and record stores, and by mail order.

The underground-comics movement is often considered to have started with Zap Comix #1 (1968) by cartoonist Robert Crumb, a former Cleveland greeting-card artist living in San Francisco. Crumb later created the popular characters Fritz the Cat and Mr. Natural, and published Gilbert Shelton's The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers.

Independent and alternative comics

Main article: Alternative comics

The rise of comic-book specialty stores in the late 1970s created a dedicated market for "independent" or "alternative comics"; two of the first were the anthology series Star Reach, published by comic-book writer Mike Friedrich from 1974-1979, and Harvey Pekar's American Splendor, published from the 1970s through the present day. Some independent comics continued in the tradition of underground comics, though were generally less overtly graphic, and others resembled the output of mainstream publishers in format and genre but were published by smaller artist-owned ventures or by a single artists. A few (notably RAW) were experimental attempts to bring comics closer to the world of fine art.

The "small press" scene continued to grow and diversify. By the 1980s, several such independent publishers as Eclipse Comics, First Comics, and Fantagraphics were releasing a wide range of styles and formats from color superhero, detective and science fiction comic books to black-and-white magazine-format stories of Latin American magical realism.

A number of small publishers in the 1990s changed the format and distribution of their comics to more closely resemble non-comics publishing. The "minicomics" form, an extremely informal version of self-publishing, arose in the 1980s and became increasingly popular among artists in the 1990s, despite reaching an even more limited audience than the small press.

Decline of serial comic-book format

In the early 2000s, sales of standard monthly comic books declined while graphic novels made increasing headway at retail bookstores. Along with the shift toward graphic novels among comics publishers, traditional book publishers such as Pantheon have released several dozen graphic novels, including works originally released by comics publishers with much less publicity.

The comics of Europe

Franco-Belgian comics

Main article: Franco-Belgian comics

Belgium and France are two countries that have a long tradition in comics and comic books, where they are called BDs (from Bande Dessinée) in French. Belgian comic books originally written in Dutch are influenced by the francophone "Franco-Belgian" comics, but have a different feel.

La bande dessinée is derived from the original description of the artform as "drawn strips". It is not insignificant that the French term contains no indication of subject matter, unlike the American terms "comics" and "funnies," which imply an art form not to be taken seriously. Indeed, the distinction of comics as the "ninth art" is prevalent in Francophone scholarship on the form (le neuvième art), as is the concept of comics criticism and scholarship itself. Relative to the respective size of their countries, the innumerable authors in the region publish huge numbers of comic books. In North America, the more serious Franco-Belgian comics are often seen as equivalent to graphic novels, for various reasons, but whether they are long or short, bound or in magazine format, in Europe there is no need for a more sophisticated term, as the art's name does not itself imply something frivolous.

In France, most comics are published at the behest of the author, who will work within his self-appointed time frame, so a wait from six months to two years between installments is common. Most books are first published as a hard cover oversized book, usually 48 or 64 pages, with later re-releases in soft cover.

The British comic

Main article: British comic

Originally the same size as the comic book in the United States, although lacking the glossy cover, the British comic has adopted a magazine size, with The Beano and The Dandy the last to adopt this size in the 1980s. Although generally referred to as a comic, it can also be referred to as a comic magazine, and has also been known historically as a comic paper. Some comics, such as Judge Dredd and other 2000 AD titles, have been published in a tabloid form known as a "programme", or "prog" for short.

Although Ally Sloper's Half Holiday (1884), the first comic published in Britain, was marketed at adults, publishers quickly targeted a younger market, which has led to most publications being for children and created an association in the public's mind of comics being somewhat juvenile.

Popular titles within the United Kingdom have included The Beano, The Dandy, The Eagle, 2000 AD and Viz. Underground comics and "small press" titles have also been published within the United Kingdom, notably Oz and Escape Magazine.

The content of Action, another title aimed at children and launched in the mid 1970s became the subject of discussion in the House of Commons, and although this was on a smaller scale to such similar investigations in the United States, it also led to a moderation of content published within comics, although such moderatiuon was never formalised to the extent of a creation of any code, and nor was it particularly lasting.

The United Kingdom has also established a healthy market in the reprinting and repackaging of material, notably material originated within the United States. The lack of reliable supplies of American comic books led to a variety of black and white reprints, including Marvel's 1950s monster comics, Fawcett's Captain Marvel, and some other characters such as Sheena, Mandrake the Magician and the Phantom. Several reprint companies were involved in repackaging American material for the British market, notably the importer and distributor Thorpe & Porter.

Marvel eventually established a UK office, with DC Comics and Dark Horse Comics also opening offices for periods in the 1990s. The repackaging of European material has been less frequent, although the Tintin and Asterix serials have been successfully translated and repackaged in soft cover books.

The comic annual

At Christmas time publishers will repackage and commission material for comic annuals, hardback A4 books. DC Thomson also repackage The Broons and Oor Wullie strips in softcover A4 books for the festive season.

Italian comics

Main article: Italian comics

In Italy, comics (known as fumetti) made their debut as humouristic strips at the end of the 19th century, and later evolved in adventure stories inspired to those coming from the U.S. After World War II, however, artists like Hugo Pratt and Guido Crepax imposed Italian comics to an international audience. "Author" comics contain often strong erotic contents. Best sellers remain popular comic books Diabolik or the Bonelli line, namely Tex Willer or Dylan Dog.

Mainstream comics are usually published on the monthly basis, in a black and white digest size format, with about 100-132 pages of story. Collections of classic material for the most famous character, usually with over 200 pages, are also common. Author comics are published in the French BD format, with an example being Pratt's Corto Maltese.

Italian cartoonists have and receive great influences from other countries including Belgium, France, Spain and Argentina. Italy is also famous for being one of the foremost producers of Walt Disney comic stories, particularly. Donald Duck's superhero alter ego, Paperinik, known in English as Superduck, was created in Italy.

Other European comics

Although Switzerland contributes less to the body of work, it is significant that many scholars point to a Francophone Swiss, Rodolphe Töpffer, as the true father of comics. This choice is still controversial, with critics feeling that Töppfer's work is perhaps somewhat unconnected to the genesis of the artform as it is now known in the region.

The graphic novel

Main article: Graphic novel

The term graphic novel was first coined by Richard Kyle in 1964, mainly as an attempt to distinguish the newly translated works from Europe which were then being published from what Kyle saw as the more juvenile publications common in the United States.

The term was popularized when Will Eisner used it on the cover of the paperback edition of his work A Contract with God, and Other Tenement Stories (1978). This was a more mature work than many had come to expect from the comics medium, and the critical and commercial success of A Contract with God helped to establish the term "graphic novel" in common usage.

Regional categories

Other forms

Genres

Note: As with film and literature, genres are rarely pure and often blend. Frankenstein, for example, is a science fiction/horror novel; The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. is a Western/comedy TV series. Not all superhero comics are necessarily science fiction; Marvel Comics' Daredevil, for example, despite an initial science-fiction premise, may be more usefully classified as a crime drama.

Some particularly notable comic books

See also

Comics - the sequential art form in general

Comic book awards

Miscellaneous

Lists

References

Inge, Thomas M., "Comics as culture" Journal of Popular Culture 12:631, 1979 (not online)

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