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 single 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 are 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.

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 as a plural when referring to works collectively (e.g. "Comics are popular reading material."). (Full article...)

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Maus, often published as Maus: A Survivor's Tale, is a graphic novel written and illustrated by American cartoonist Art Spiegelman, serialized from 1980 to 1991. It depicts Spiegelman interviewing his father about his experiences as a Polish Jew and Holocaust survivor. The work employs postmodern techniques and represents Jews as mice, Germans as cats, and Poles as pigs. Critics have classified Maus as memoir, biography, history, fiction, autobiography, or a mix of genres. In 1992, it became the first graphic novel to win a Pulitzer Prize.

In the frame-tale timeline in the narrative present that begins in 1978 in New York City, Spiegelman talks with his father, Vladek, about his Holocaust experiences, gathering material and information for the Maus project he is preparing. In the narrative past, Spiegelman depicts these experiences, from the years leading up to World War II to his parents' liberation from the Nazi concentration camps. Much of the story revolves around Spiegelman's troubled relationship with his father and the absence of his mother, who died by suicide when Spiegelman was 20. Her grief-stricken husband destroyed her written accounts of Auschwitz. The book uses a minimalist drawing style and displays innovation in its pacing, structure, and page layouts.

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Anniversaries for October 27

1930: birth of Leo Baxendale, British comics creator best known for The Bash Street Kids
1935: birth of Mauricio de Sousa, Brazilian comic strip creator best known for Monica's Gang
1943: birth of Les Daniels, American author and comic book historian
1948: birth of Bernie Wrightson, American comic book artist best known as creator of Swamp Thing
1954: birth of Jan Duursema, comics artist best known for her work on Star Wars comics
1990: last issue of Whizzer and Chips, British comic which ran since 1969
1992: birth of Evan Stanley, American comics artist and writer
2012: death of Bill White, American animator, and a comic book writer, penciller, and inker

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General images

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

Image 1Japanese wood block illustration from 19th century (from History of manga)
Image 2Todd Gloria with representatives of Comic-Con International 2026 during an announcement that the event is staying in San Diego through 2030. (from San Diego Comic-Con)
Image 3Chōjū-giga (12th century), traditionally attributed to a monk-artist Kakuyū (Toba Sōjo) (from History of manga)
Image 4Cover to 27 December 1884 edition of Ally Sloper's Half Holiday. (from British comics)
Image 5Illegal building wraps on and around Petco Park in during Comic-Con 2024. (from San Diego Comic-Con)
Image 6BD artist Mœbius (2008), who achieved international fame through Métal Hurlant (from Bande dessinée)
Image 7During 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 8Sequential depictions on Trajan's Column in Rome, Italy (from History of comics)
Image 9Convention crowd outside of Golden Hall in 1982 (from San Diego Comic-Con)
Image 10The San Diego Convention Center during Comic-Con in 2013 (from San Diego Comic-Con)
Image 11Image of bathers from the Hokusai manga (from History of manga)
Image 12A page by Rodolphe Töpffer, whose work is considered influential in shaping the comics form. (from History of comics)
Image 13Bryan Cranston & Aaron Paul at the 2013 Comic-Con International, with Cranston holding his realistic Walter White mask. (from San Diego Comic-Con)
Image 14Phoenix Fan Fusion's 2017 convention in Phoenix (from Comic book convention)
Image 15Cover 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 16Hokusai Manga (early 19th century) (from History of manga)
Image 17A Fallout Cosplayer photographed at a Comic Con in a Fallout Themed area (from Comic book convention)
Image 18Comic-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 19Gas Lamp Quarter signage in San Diego, California (from San Diego Comic-Con)
Image 20Comic Con crowds in 2011 as seen from a helicopter (from San Diego Comic-Con)
Image 21Close Hergé-collaborator and magazine contributor Bob de Moor (from Bande dessinée)
Image 22The French comic Les Pieds Nickelés (1954 book cover): an early 20th-century forerunner of the modern Franco-Belgian comic (from Bande dessinée)

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

... that Stephanie Williams wrote a fan comic about Monica Rambeau before writing for the character officially?
... that a 1948 U.S. Supreme Court decision helped to protect comic books from government regulation and censorship?
... that the author of the comic book Timeless Voyage was the leader of a UFO religion?
... that a popular Marvel villain appeared in the Transformers and Doctor Who franchises before joining the Marvel Universe?
... that pages of Lewis Hancox's graphic novel were displayed in The Cartoon Museum of London?
... that the 2003 graphic novel The Life Eaters, presenting an occult-driven, hypothetical Axis victory in World War II, has been discussed in the context of its portrayal of The Holocaust?
... that a rights dispute meant that two different actors played Quicksilver in two competing film franchises at the same time?
... 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: Emuzesto

Scott McCloud, whose work Understanding Comics identified the different styles of art used within comics.

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More did you know...

...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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Contrary to the rumors you have heard, I was not born in a manger. I was actually born on Krypton and sent here by my father, Jor-El, to save the planet Earth.

— Barack Obama, United States Senator from Illinois (2005-2008), 44th President of the United States (2009-), October 2008

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