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 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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Ralph Bakshi, the director of Fritz the Cat

Fritz the Cat is a 1972 American animated film written and directed by Ralph Bakshi (pictured) as his feature film debut. Based on the comic strip of the same name by Robert Crumb, the film was the first animated feature film to receive an X rating in the United States. It focuses on Fritz (voiced by Skip Hinnant), an anthropomorphic feline in mid-1960s New York City who explores the ideals of hedonism and sociopolitical consciousness. The film is a satire focusing on American college life of the era, race relations, the free love movement, and left- and right-wing politics. Fritz the Cat was the most successful independent animated feature of all time, grossing over $100 million worldwide. The film had a troubled production history and controversial release. Creator Robert Crumb is known to have had disagreements with the filmmakers, claiming in interviews that his first wife signed over the film rights to the characters, and that he did not approve the production. Crumb was also critical of the film's approach to his material. Fritz the Cat was controversial for its rating and content, which viewers at the time found to be offensive.

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Anniversaries for August 2

Unknown year: birth of Julio Ferreira, comic book artist and inker
Unknown year: birth of Joshua Middleton, American comic book artist
1904: birth of Reg Parlett, British comics author known for his work in Buster
1916: birth of Betty Bentley, American comic book letterer
1942: birth of Dave Hunt, American comic book artist and fine art painter, best known as an inker
1961: birth of Luc Cromheecke, Belgian comics artist and writer best known for Tom Carbon and Roboboy
1964: birth of Danny Hellman, American comics writer and artist known for publishing Legal Action Comics
1969: birth of John Layman, American comics writer and letterer
1970: birth of Kevin Smith, American comic book writer best known for Clerks
2004: death of François Craenhals, Belgian comics artist and writer best known for Chevalier Ardent and Les 4 As

More August anniversaries / All Anniversaries...

General images

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

Image 1Cover 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 2Hokusai Manga (early 19th century) (from History of manga)
Image 3Chōjū-giga (12th century), traditionally attributed to a monk-artist Kakuyū (Toba Sōjo) (from History of manga)
Image 4A Fallout Cosplayer photographed at a Comic Con in a Fallout Themed area (from Comic book convention)
Image 5Sequential depictions on Trajan's Column in Rome, Italy (from History of comics)
Image 6Comic Con crowds in 2011 as seen from a helicopter (from San Diego Comic-Con)
Image 7Cover to 27 December 1884 edition of Ally Sloper's Half Holiday. (from British comics)
Image 8The San Diego Convention Center during Comic-Con in 2013 (from San Diego Comic-Con)
Image 9Phoenix Fan Fusion's 2017 convention in Phoenix (from Comic book convention)
Image 10Japanese wood block illustration from 19th century (from History of manga)
Image 11The French comic Les Pieds Nickelés (1954 book cover): an early 20th-century forerunner of the modern Franco-Belgian comic (from Bande dessinée)
Image 12Convention crowd outside of Golden Hall in 1982 (from San Diego Comic-Con)
Image 13BD artist Mœbius (2008), who achieved international fame through Métal Hurlant (from Bande dessinée)
Image 14A page by Rodolphe Töpffer, whose work is considered influential in shaping the comics form. (from History of comics)
Image 15Comic-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 16A statue of The Rose of Versailles. This is a statue of Oscar and André at the Takarazuka Grand Theater in Takarazuka, Hyōgo, which is the musical of the work. (from History of manga)
Image 17Image of bathers from the Hokusai manga (from History of manga)
Image 18Bryan Cranston & Aaron Paul at the 2013 Comic-Con International, with Cranston holding his realistic Walter White mask. (from San Diego Comic-Con)
Image 19Close Hergé-collaborator and magazine contributor Bob de Moor (from Bande dessinée)
Image 20During panels at comic book conventions, the audience is sometimes invited to line up and ask questions using a dedicated microphone. (from Comic book convention)

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

... that a rights dispute meant that two different actors played Quicksilver in two competing film franchises at the same time?
... that comic book artist Barry Windsor-Smith wrote, drew, inked, and lettered every page of his graphic novel Monsters by himself?
... 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"?
... that the 2003 series Trouble frequently appears on lists of the worst or most controversial Spider-Man storylines?
... that the Cook Opera House transitioned from opera to vaudeville to cinema before ending as a venue for strippers and dirty comics?
... that the comic book Nietzsche, se créer liberté tries to express Friedrich Nietzsche's personality visually?
... that the author of the comic book Timeless Voyage was the leader of a UFO religion?
... that Tina Leung dressed as her comic book alter ego when accepting an award for the House of Slay?

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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 Marvel Comics published a parody of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue featuring artwork of superheroes in bathing suits?

... that Shueisha, the publisher of Weekly Shōnen Jump, has produced a manga series in collaboration with Marvel Comics?

... that Wolfgang J. Fuchs, an early German comics scholar who co-wrote a 1971 standard work on the topic, translated Garfield and Mom's Cancer?

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A lot of the people who read comics think of comics as a culture—or as a subculture; something with its own private codes that mark its members as belonging, and everybody else as not belonging.

— Douglas Wolk, 2006

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