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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Roy of the Rovers is a British comic strip about the life and times of a fictional footballer and later manager named Roy Race, who played for Melchester Rovers. The strip first appeared in the Tiger in 1954, before giving its name to a weekly (and later monthly) comic, published by IPC and Fleetway from 1976 until 1995, in which it was the main feature.

The weekly strip ran until 1993, following Roy's playing career until its conclusion after he lost his left foot in a helicopter crash. When the monthly comic was launched later that year the focus switched to Roy's son Rocky, who also played for Melchester. This publication was short-lived, and folded after only 19 issues. The adventures of the Race family were subsequently featured in the monthly Match of the Day football magazine, in which father and son were reunited as manager and player respectively. These strips began in 1997 and continued until the magazine's closure in May 2001. In 2018, following the acquisition of the strip's rights by comic book publisher Rebellion, a brand new rebooted Roy of the Rovers story, following the adventures of a 16-year-old Roy in the present day, began publication as a series of original graphic novels and prose novels. A “Roy of the Rovers” newspaper strip, was also published in the Today and Daily Star newspapers in the late 1980s.

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Anniversaries for November 15

1904: birth of Ray Burnley, American comic book artist and inker
1907: first publication of Mutt and Jeff, popular American comic strip created by Bud Fisher
1915: birth of Martin Nodell, American comic book artist best known for cocreating Green Lantern
1926: birth of François Craenhals, Belgian comics artist and writer best known for Chevalier Ardent and Les 4 As
1948: birth of James Kemsley, Australian comics artist best known for Ginger Meggs
1949: birth of Giancarlo Berardi, Italian comics author best known for Ken Parker
1951: birth of Michael Gallagher, American writer known for his contributions to Marvel, Archie, and Mad
1953: birth of Michael Gustovich, American artist, creator of superhero team Justice Machine
1961: birth of Heidi MacDonald, American comic book writer and editor, known for running the comics industry news blog The Beat.
1967: birth of Ariel Olivetti, Argentine comics artist best known for his work at Marvel Comics
1969: birth of Lee Loughridge, American comics colorist
1973: birth of Liniers, Argentine cartoonist best known for Macanudo
1999: launch of Real Life, American webcomic by Greg Dean
2002: debut of Aishiteruze Baby, Japanese manga created by Yoko Maki
2002: first appearance of Nana, Japanese shōjo manga by Ai Yazawa

More November anniversaries / All Anniversaries...

General images

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

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

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

... that a popular Marvel villain appeared in the Transformers and Doctor Who franchises before joining the Marvel Universe?
... that a rights dispute meant that two different actors played Quicksilver in two competing film franchises at the same time?
... that a story in I Became the Main Role of a BL Drama was published as a script because there were not enough pages or time to include it as a full comic?
... that the Cook Opera House transitioned from opera to vaudeville to cinema before ending as a venue for strippers and dirty comics?
... that a teacher of medieval literature and comic books writes the blog Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle?
... that Maystorm, a character from Ultimate X-Men, was initially created for a variant cover for the comic X-Men?
... that Tina Leung dressed as her comic book alter ego when accepting an award for the House of Slay?
... that the comic book Nietzsche, se créer liberté tries to express Friedrich Nietzsche's personality visually?

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Credit: Jim Henderson

Midtown Comics is a New York City comic book retailer with three shops in Manhattan and an e-commerce website. The largest comic book store in the United States, the company opened its first store in the Times Square area in 1997. Its second was opened on Lexington Avenue in 2004, and is known as the Grand Central store for its proximity to Grand Central Terminal.

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More did you know...

...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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[t]he standards of comics include inventiveness, originality, and consistency. The best comics really are great artworks — great by the intrinsic standards of that art form.

— David Carrier

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