Comics 1.1 ENLL121 Intro to comics-1.pdf

ENLL 121 History of comics Piotrowska, C. 2020. Vanderbijlpark: North-West University. What are comic books?  Comic books are a kind of sequential art  The umbrella term “comics” is a general term for designating the phenomenon of juxtaposing images...

ENLL 121 History of comics Piotrowska, C. 2020. Vanderbijlpark: North-West University. What are comic books?  Comic books are a kind of sequential art  The umbrella term “comics” is a general term for designating the phenomenon of juxtaposing images in a sequence  Most comic books started out as collections of comic strips  Each tells a story by presenting carefully selected moments within panels.  “A comic book is a volume in which all aspects of the narrative are represented by pictorial and linguistic images encapsulated in a sequence of juxtaposed panels and pages” (Duncan & Smith, 2009:4). Comics, comic books, graphic novels  Comic strips are rigid, short, and come to readers as supplements to newspapers.  Comic book is longer, includes more panels/pages, has a creative layout, the composition of its narrative is complex, and readers generally form a fandom subculture.  We call them “comic” books because they started out as collections of comic strips.  The name just stuck…  Recently, writers have tried to rehabilitate the image of comic books by using a new term – graphic novels – to describe the more ambitious works in the art form.  This new label also allows for distance from the commercial connotations associated with comic books. (Duncan & Smith, 2009) Narrative art Before writing:  San rock paintings of trance-like experiences, visually representing an aspect of San mythology called the !gi  The Papunya paintings by Aboriginal painters in central Australia represent stories or “dreamings” Literate societies:  Early narrative art memorialised significant political events, eg. Egyptian palette of Narmer (3200 BC), or Greek kylix depicting events of The Odyssey (550 BC) (Petersen, 2010:2-20) Popular prints  Encouraged greater diversity and complexity in the way stories could be told with pictures  Asia: Chinese develop earliest printing press; Buddhist Diamond Sutra (dated 868 CE) is the earliest surviving woodblock print publication  Comical prints (toba-e) gain popularity in Edo period  Starting in 1814, Hokusai publishes Hokusai Manga (15 volumes) containing caricatures and single fleeting moments. The earliest graphic narratives in Japan grew out of these caricatures. (Petersen, 2010:21-35)  Europe: Medieval text illuminators  Printed broadsheets of the 15th C; fairly expensive (cost up to 1 shilling in England = a month’s wage for the middle-class) and not widely accessible  Woodblocks replaced with engravings since they are more durable. Allowed for cross-hatching and could be more detailed.  Caricatures emerge in Renaissance Italy (Da Vinci and Carracci brothers) Early history of Western Comic Books  William Hogarth produces a series of engravings in 1730 in Britain, the scenes of which were casually linked (but still no sequential narrative where actions flowed)  Victorian era comics  Yellow journalism – caricatures become popular in newspapers  Sunday supplement: colourful illustrations began appearing in the New York Herald as early as 1841  The Yellow Kid, an Irish “ragamuffin” (1896) – speech moved from clothes into bubbles  1933 collection of Famous Funnies History: American Comics  The Golden Age, 1938 – 1956  Superheroes and Archie  Superheroes diminish after WW2  Comic Code drafted in 1954  The Silver Age, 1956 – 1970  Revival of old Superheroes  Underground comix introduced  The Bronze Age, 1970 – 1985  Revision of comic code in 1971  Supernatural and horror titles flourish  The Modern Age, 1985 – present  The Dark Age of comics and the antihero (Duncan & Smith, 2009:20-84;  The British Invasion Petersen, 2010:133-171; Wolk, 2007:29-59)  Golden Age  First major superhero is Superman, 1938. Creates a new genre with Action Comics #1.  Captain America and Wonder Woman introduced in 1941, fighting against Nazis in WWII. Filled with anti-war propaganda.  Due to popular crime pulp stories, Detective Comics are a big hit. Eg. Dick Tracy and The Shadow. Batman is introduced in Detective Comics #27 as a crime fighter in 1939.  Superheroes diminish after WWII, and horror comics gain popularity  Often 3 or more different stories per comic (often unrelated characters)  Stories are text-heavy; captions and word balloons that filled half the panel  Due to poor printing standards comics published before 1960 often contained very simplistic art  Art was ‘flat’ and 2 dimensional, very little experimentation.  Very little attention to continuity  Comic panels had a typical grid layout, no splash pages or any ‘artistic’ elements  The art in most cases merely mirrored the text/dialogue.  For instance, the art would only be used to illustrate settings, characters, action sequences and who was speaking  Silver Age  Comic books featured a single story focussing on the title character(s)  Comics were made “fun”, contained no adult content (Comic Code)  Comics Code enforces censorship, leads to the creation of Underground Comix  Nudity and sex, drugs, gambling, anti-social behaviour  Questioned authority and religion & Criticised western values and society  The superhero makes a comeback with a new Flash in Showcase #41  Jack Kirby and Stan Lee join Marvel  Start creating more ordinary heroes who dealt with every day problems = Fantastic Four, Spider-man, X-men.  The Jack Kirby style had a major influence on comic art  Dynamic, capturing energy and motion, almost cinematic in style  Inspires “Marvel Style” of drawing comics that is still used today  Jim Steranko’s work on Nick Fury was some of the most creative of the time; considered ground-breaking and innovative  Text and image had synergy  More emphasis was placed on perspective and fine art/illustration practices  Changes to page/panel layout (splash pages, typographic design in titles, etc)  Better printing techniques also made the printing of finer details possible  Bronze Age  Stan Lee’s drug story in 1971 in Amazing Spider-man, published without the Comics Code approval stamp  Prompts relaxing of the Comics Code  Diversification of genre (Fantasy = Conan, Red Sonja, Elfquest; Sci-fi = Heavy Metal and 2000AD; Horror = Swamp Thing, Ghost Rider, and Tomb of Dracula )  Storylines become longer - 2 or more issues per story  Often grappled with social issues - drug abuse, racism, income inequality, political corruption, and environmental degradation  Just like comics and their readers matured during this era, so did the art styles, becoming increasingly realistic  Comic covers and pages incorporated various design elements in an attempt to make it more visually appealing  Artists from commercial fields, influenced by Barry Windsor Smith and Neal Adams (in turn influenced by Will Eisner) entered the comic book field and the styles became much more varied  Bernie Wrightson brings fine art perspective into comics (inspired by Frank Frazetta)  Opened field for commercial painters (Dave McKean, Alex Ross, Joseph Linsner) who become prominent in the late 80s  Comic books evolved to such an extent that they surpassed films visually, making many of them unfilmable Modern / Copper Age  Extreme diversification of comics  Independent comic book creators started publishing their own books  Comic books stories would often continue for months (2 to 12 or 24 issues)  Comic books took on a darker tone and characters often met with violent ends and death  Though comics were often violent, comic book characters also became much more humane and readers often sympathised with villains (The Killing Joke)  Creators start experimenting with literary theory, lead to critically acclaimed comics that win literary awards  Numerous artists began experimenting with various art styles (fully painted comic books, cubist comics, comics with no text, etc.)  Colourists, inkers, and letterers also became recognised as artists in their own right  Due to comics becoming widespread, there are also many bad comics  The early modern age revolved around artists, often to the detriment of the stories. Characterised by dynamic art, but with no substance ito themes.  Lazy artist would often draw a comic filled with splash pages  Hyperviolent and hypersexualised (esp. woman) South African comics Kwezi Zana International comics Sector Gofu Survivor’s Club Bitterkomix British comics 2000 AD Judge Dredd V for Vendetta European Comics Valerian The Adventures of Tin Tin Asterix Japanese manga Neon Genesis Evangelion Akira Attack on Titan Why should we study comic books?  Duncan and Smith (2009:13-17) list these reasons: 1) Originality of the art form: hybrid between literature and art 2) The New Literacy: reading and symbol decoding 3) Historical significance: before TV, comics were the dominant element in the culture of American youth 4) Potential of the Medium: you can do anything with it  Also, it would be irresponsible not to, since you’ll need to know how to analyse and critically engage with all kinds of texts  Gaining popularity due to films Genres  Superhero – most  Kid comics prominent  Kung-fu comics  Teen humour  Science-fiction comics  Romance  Sword-and-sorcery comics  Funny animals  Underground comix  Horror  War comics  Memoir  Promotional comics  Educational comics  Movie Comics  (includes adaptions of literary classics)  Crime and detective … and every other genre we comics have in film and fiction too  Jungle comics Collector’s market  Two types of collectors: those who collect comics recreationally, and those who collect comics for financial investments  Early comics were often seen as disposable, temporary entertainment. For this reason, Golden Age and Silver Age comics are difficult to find (even rarer in good condition)  Comic book collecting began around the 1960s, but only became widespread in the 1980s  Comic book publishers saw this as an opportunity to increase sales, which led to the speculator’s boom of the early 1990s  Variant covers, limited releases, gimmicks (glow-in-the dark, chrome, etc.)  A new speculators market has also arisen due to the influx of comic book movies  Comic book grading – professional body that grades the condition of a comic (scale of 1-10 from poor, fair (2.0), very good (4.0), fine (6.0), very fine (8.0), near mint (9.0), mint plus (9.8))  The grade of a comic influences its value Most expensive comics  Action comics #1, 1938 – First appearance of Superman  Estimated value of mint copy: $5.55 million  9.0 sold for $3,21m in August 2014  Detective comics #27, 1939 – First appearance of Batman  Mint copy worth $3.08m  8.0 sold for $1.07m in February 2010  Superman #1, 1939 – dedicated to Superman  Worth $1.37m  Marvel comics #1, 1939 – First appearance of Human Torch, Kazar, and Submariner  Worth $1.05m  All star comics #8, 1941 – First appearance of Wonder Woman  9.4 sold for $936k on 27 August 2017 References  Duncan, R. & Smith, M.J. 2009. The power of comics: history, form, and culture. New York: Continuum.  Petersen, R.S. 2011. Comics, manga, and graphic novels: a history of graphic narratives. Santa Barbara: Praeger.  Smolderen, T. 2014. The origins of comics. Translated by Beaty, B. & Nguyen, N. Jackson: University of Mississippi Press.  Wolk, D. 2007. Reading comics: how graphic novels work and what they mean. Philadelphia: Da Capo Press.