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 means of image-making 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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"A Death in the Family" is a 1988 storyline in the American comic book Batman, published by DC Comics. It was written by Jim Starlin and penciled by Jim Aparo, with cover art by Mike Mignola. Serialized in Batman #426–429 from August to November 1988, "A Death in the Family" is considered one of the most important Batman stories for featuring the death of his sidekick Robin at the hands of his archenemy, the Joker.

Jason Todd, the second character to assume the Robin persona, was introduced in 1983 to replace Dick Grayson, who was unavailable for use at the time. Jason became unpopular among readers after 1986, as writers began to characterize him as rebellious and impulsive. Editor Dennis O'Neil was considering having Jason revamped or written out of Batman when he recalled a 1982 Saturday Night Live sketch in which Eddie Murphy encouraged viewers to call the show if they wanted him to boil a lobster on air. Inspired to orchestrate a similar stunt, DC set up a 900 number voting system to allow fans to decide Jason's fate.

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Anniversaries for July 5

1921: birth of Bill Yates, American cartoonist and comic strip editor for King Features Syndicate
1933: birth of Shel Dorf, American comic book enthusiast and the founder of San Diego Comic-Con International
1945: birth of François Bourgeon, French comics author and artist best known for Les passagers du vent and the Cyann Saga
1958: birth of Bill Watterson, American author and artist of the popular comic strip Calvin and Hobbes
1968: birth of Ken Akamatsu, Japanese mangaka best known for Love Hina
1976: death of Frank Bellamy, British comics artist best known for his work in Eagle and on Dan Dare
1978: death of Paul Cuvelier, Belgian comics artist best known for Corentin
2004: debut of Brewster Rockit: Space Guy!, American comic strip by Tim Rickard
2011: death of Shinji Wada, Japanese manga artist, best known for the creation of the Sukeban Deka franchise

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General images

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

Image 1During 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 2Japanese wood block illustration from 19th century (from History of manga)
Image 3Sequential depictions on Trajan's Column in Rome, Italy (from History of comics)
Image 4Comic Con crowds in 2011 as seen from a helicopter (from San Diego Comic-Con)
Image 5Cover 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 6The San Diego Convention Center during Comic-Con in 2013 (from San Diego Comic-Con)
Image 7The French comic Les Pieds Nickelés (1954 book cover): an early 20th-century forerunner of the modern Franco-Belgian comic (from Bande dessinée)
Image 8A page by Rodolphe Töpffer, whose work is considered influential in shaping the comics form. (from History of comics)
Image 9A Fallout Cosplayer photographed at a Comic Con in a Fallout Themed area (from Comic book convention)
Image 10Phoenix Fan Fusion's 2017 convention in Phoenix, Arizona (from Comic book convention)
Image 11Close Hergé collaborator and magazine contributor Bob de Moor (from Bande dessinée)
Image 12Convention crowd outside of Golden Hall in 1982 (from San Diego Comic-Con)
Image 13Comics artist Mœbius (2008), who achieved international renown through Métal Hurlant (from Bande dessinée)
Image 14Comic-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 15Cover to 27 December 1884 edition of Ally Sloper's Half Holiday. (from British comics)
Image 16Hokusai Manga (early 19th century) (from History of manga)
Image 17Chōjū-giga (12th century), traditionally attributed to a monk-artist Kakuyū (Toba Sōjo) (from History of manga)
Image 18Image of bathers from the Hokusai manga (from History of manga)

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

... 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"?
... that The Steranko History of Comics has been described as the first piece of cultural analysis on American comic books?
... that comic book artist Barry Windsor-Smith wrote, drew, inked, and lettered every page of his graphic novel Monsters by himself?
... that the writer of Poison Ivy: Thorns felt the titular DC Comics character was "tailor made for [her] interests as a nature-loving, gay makeup enthusiast"?
... that the USC Trojans team that won the 2022 NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship had been compared to the Marvel Comics' Avengers?
... that until the 1970s, most shōjo manga (Japanese girls' comics) were written by men?
... that the Buddhist themes of David Bowie's 1967 composition "Karma Man" were compared to the Marvel Comics character Doctor Strange?
... that the original release of Jason Shiga's comic Demon included a four-page issue, a sixty-page issue, and an issue in which all the panels were black?

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A play with panels in Winsor McCay's Little Sammy Sneeze strip.

Credit: Winsor McCay

A panel is an individual frame, or single drawing, in the multiple-panel sequence of a comic strip or comic book. A panel consists of a single drawing depicting a frozen moment. Newspaper daily strips typically consist of either four panels (Doonesbury, For Better or For Worse) or three panels (Garfield, Dilbert), all of the same size. The horizontal newspaper strip can also employ only a single panel, as sometimes seen in Wiley Miller's Non Sequitur.

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More did you know...

...that the planned Marvel Comics superhero film, X-Men: First Class is intended to take place during the 1960s and will parallel the history of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X?

...that T-Mobile myTouch 4G spokesperson Carly Foulkes has been cast in the FX Network television series Powers?

...that 24-hour comics have become so popular that there's now a holiday for it on April 24?

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In the early days, I was writing scripts for virtually all the books, and it was very hard to keep all the artists busy; poor little frail me, doing story after story. So I'd be writing a story for Kirby, and Steve Ditko would walk in and say, 'Hey, I need some work now.' And I'd say, 'I can't give it to you now, Steve, I'm finishing Kirby's.' But we couldn't afford to keep Steve waiting, because time is money, so I'd have to say, 'Look Steve, I can't write a script for you now, but here's the plot for the next Spider-Man. Go home and draw anything you want, as long as it's something like this, and I'll put the copy in later.' So I was able to finish Jack's story. Steve in the meantime was drawing another story.....Okay, it started out as a lazy's man's device...but we realized this was absolutely the best way to do a comic.....Don't have the writer say, 'Panel one will be a long shot of Spider-Man walking down the street.' The artist may see it differently; maybe he feels it should be a shot of Spider-Man swinging on his web, or climbing upside-down on the ceiling or something.

— Stan Lee, 1975

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