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 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, and comic albums, 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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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.

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Anniversaries for June 25

1917: birth of William Woolfolk, American writer of comic books, novels, and television screenwriting
1928: birth of Peyo, Belgian comic author and artist, creator of The Smurfs
1928: birth of Alex Toth, influential American comic book artist
1953: birth of Jerry Bingham, American artist of comic books, commercial illustration, and design
1973: publication of the last part of Ayako, a manga trilogy by Osamu Tezuka
1973: last appearance of Mafalda, comic strip by Argentine creator Quino which ran since 1964
1979: debut of Latigo, American comic strip by Stan Lynde
1983: last publication of Wow!, a British comic which ran for just over a year
1983: first publication of Cliff Hanger, a British comic strip by Jack Edward Oliver in Buster
1986: birth of Rebecca Taylor, American comic book editor
1990: final issue of Akira, successful manga by Katsuhiro Otomo
1999: debut of Alice!, American webcomic by Michael McKay-Fleming

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General images

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

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

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

... that John Byrne retold the origin of Superman in the 1986 comic book limited series The Man of Steel, 48 years after the character was created?
... that a graphic novel for teens was among the 10 most challenged books in the United States in 2023?
... 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 Fabrizio Dori wants his comic book Il dio vagabondo to bring attention to an ancient Greek view of death?
... that a 1944 serial film was the first film appearance of Captain America and the first film appearance of any Marvel Comics character?
... 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 artist Barry Windsor-Smith wrote, drew, inked, and lettered every page of his graphic novel Monsters by himself?

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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 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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[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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