|
Comics is an art form using a series of static images in fixed sequence
A comic book (sometimes called funnies or funny paper, especially in British English) is a book or magazine in
the artistic medium known as comics. American comic books have become closely associated with the superhero
genre. Japanese comic books are called manga and Korean comic books are called manhwa.
Many early comic books were simply collections of comic strips. The commercial success of these collections
led to work being created specifically for the comic book form, which fostered such comic book specific
techniques as the splash page and the two-page spread.
Comics is an art form using a series of static images in fixed sequence. Written text is often incorporated
into the images. The two most common forms of comics are comic strips (as appear in newspapers) and comic
books (also popularly called manga when referring to Japanese comic books). Large volumes or collections of
comic books are often termed graphic novels.
The precise definition of comics remains a subject of debate, with some scholars insisting that their printed
nature is crucial to the definition, or that they should be defined by the interdependence of image and text.
Others define the medium in terms of its sequential nature. Artist Will Eisner has referred to comics as
sequential art. Artist Scott McCloud refined this definition in his 1993 work of comics theory, Understanding
Comics. According to McCloud, "[Comics are] juxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence,
intended to convey information and/or to produce an aesthetic response in the viewer." By this definition,
single panel illustrations (such as The Far Side, The Family Circus, or many political cartoons) are not comics,
but are instead cartoons.
The comic form has extended to new media as they have been developed, although in spirit they are the same.
These include web comics and sprite comics.
The term comics is typically not applied to animation, which uses technology to create the illusion of true
movement, rather than relying on being a sequence of static images.
Some may consider storyboards for films to be a form of comics.
When comics originated is a matter of debate. While many point to early illustrative-storytelling precedents
such as Egyptian hieroglyphics, European stained glass windows or the Bayeux Tapestry, there is increasing
agreement that recognizably modern comics begin with the Swiss artist and author Rodolphe To"pffer, who began
producing printed comic strips in the mid-1820s. R.F. Outcault's Hogan's Alley, which debuted in 1895, is widely
recognized as the first newspaper strip to feature regular characters, in particular the unnamed Yellow Kid.
The term "comics" originated in early 20th century comic strips, which were originally a venue for serial and
gag humor (i.e., the name came from comedy). Comic books developed, coming to prominence in the 1930s as
collections of previously printed newspaper comic strips, and carried the name forward. This use of a term
traditionally applied to subject matter instead being applied to a medium is sometimes confusing.
A radical break with the traditional comic genres occurred in the late 1960s with the advent of satirical,
psychedelic, and sexually explicit underground comics. Those set the precident for a subsequent (and ongoing)
international movement toward personal, artistically ambitious comics that are published without the involvement
of the "mainstream" comic book industry. These are loosely grouped under the labels "independent" or
"alternative" comics.
Read more about a comics trip here
External links
* The Grand Comics Database (http://www.comics.org/)
* Mozilla Skins (http://mozillako.hypermart.net/ieskin/)
* Software Gratis (http://softwaregratis.hypermart.net/)
* Don Markstein's Toonopedia (http://www.toonopedia.com/index.htm)
* The site for gay comic readers and creators (http://www.gays-directory.com/)
* Queer Comics Sites (http://www.queernation.com/links.html)
* Open Directory - Society (http://dmoz.org/Society/Gay,_Lesbian,_and_Bisexual/Arts_and_Entertainment/Comics/)
* The Cartoon Art Museum of San Francisco (http://www.cartoonart.org/) exhibits a wide variety of comic artwork
to the public, with historical and artistic commentary and analysis
|
