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 image-making means 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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Selected article

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic is a 2006 graphic memoir by the American cartoonist Alison Bechdel, author of the comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For. It chronicles the author's childhood and youth in rural Pennsylvania, United States, focusing on her complex relationship with her father. The book addresses themes of sexual orientation, gender roles, suicide, emotional abuse, dysfunctional family life, and the role of literature in understanding oneself and one's family.

Writing and illustrating Fun Home took seven years, in part because of Bechdel's laborious artistic process, which includes photographing herself in poses for each human figure. Fun Home has been the subject of numerous academic publications in areas such as biography studies and cultural studies as part of a larger turn towards serious academic investment in the study of comics/sequential art.

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Anniversaries for May 20

1899: birth of Everett M. "Busy" Arnold, American comics publisher best known for Quality Comics
1911: birth of Gardner Fox, American comic book writer, creator of Sandman and Flash
1936: birth of Malcolm Hancock, American comic strip creator known for Malfunction Junction^{[disambiguation needed]}
1942: birth of Gail Beckett, American comic colorist and letterer best known for work on Indiana Jones comics
1965: birth of Al Bigley], American comic artist best known for work with comic and toy merchandizing
1973: birth of Mike Norton, American comic book artist and writer, known for his work on Battlepug.

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

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 comic book creator Brandon Dayton chose medieval Russia as the setting for his minicomic Green Monk after watching Andrei Tarkovsky's film Andrei Rublev?
... that Kake has been described as "a sort of Johnny Appleseed ... spreading the seeds of liberated, mutually satisfying, ecstatically explicit gay sex"?
... that M. Night Shyamalan's Old is based on a Swiss graphic novel that the filmmaker received as a Father's Day gift?
... that the Franco-Belgian comic book Hans had its title changed in Poland due to lingering ill-feeling toward Germany?
... that the Buddhist themes of David Bowie's 1967 composition "Karma Man" were compared to the Marvel Comics character Doctor Strange?
... that according to one source, The Embroidered Couch is "most likely China's earliest vernacular pornographic novel"?
... that the USC Trojans team that won the 2022 NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship had been compared to the Marvel Comics' Avengers?

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Captain America, foreground, and Spiderman greeted many Pentagon-assigned servicemembers and their children on April 28 for the unveiling of a custom comic book for members of the armed services.

Credit: United States Department of Defense

Captain America is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 (cover-dated March 1941), from Marvel Comics' 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, and was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby.

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More did you know...

...that the film Green Lantern starring Ryan Reynolds has been in development since the 1990s and once included a comedic incarnation with Jack Black set to star?

...that Leland Myrick wrote the autobiographical graphic novel Missouri Boy, even though he considers himself "a very private person"?

...that Chilean cartoonist and plastic artist Fernando Krahn had to leave his country in order to escape from the 1973 coup d'état?

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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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This is a list of recognized content, updated weekly by JL-Bot (talk · contribs) (typically on Saturdays). There is no need to edit the list yourself. If an article is missing from the list, make sure it is tagged (e.g. {{WikiProject Comics}}) or categorized correctly and wait for the next update. See WP:RECOG for configuration options.