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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Sam & Max is a media franchise focusing on the fictional characters of Sam and Max, the Freelance Police. The characters, who occupy a universe that parodies American popular culture, were created by Steve Purcell in his youth, and later debuted in a 1987 comic book series. The characters are a pair of anthropomorphic, vigilante private investigators based in a dilapidated office block in New York City. Sam is a calculative six-foot dog wearing a suit and a fedora, while Max is a short and aggressive "hyperkinetic rabbity thing". The series has been very successful despite its relatively limited amount of media, and has gathered a significant fan base. However, the franchise did not gain more widespread recognition until after the 1993 release of LucasArts' Sam & Max Hit the Road, which cultivated interest in Purcell's original comics. Subsequent video games and the television series have also fared well with both critics and fans; critics consider the episodic video games to be the first successful application of the episodic distribution model.

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Anniversaries for June 6

1920: birth of Sandro Angiolini, Italian comics author known for Isabella
1922: birth of Maurice Maréchal, Belgian comics artist, best known for the series Prudence Petitpas
1926: birth of Tom K. Ryan, American cartoonist and creator of the comic strip Tumbleweeds
1927: birth of Peter Spier, Dutch-American illustrator and writer, creator of Sophie for Spirou
1932: launch of Napoleon and Uncle Elby, American newspaper comic strip created by Clifford McBride
1958: birth of Greg Adams, American comic book artist best known as an inker for Marvel comics
1959: first appearance of The Three Bears, British comic strip by Leo Baxendale which still appears in The Beano
1962: birth of Tom McCraw, American comic book artist, writer, and creator, best known as a colorist for DC Comics
1970: first issue of Cor!!, British comic book which ran until 1974
1977: death of Joe Musial, American cartoonist who drew The Katzenjammer Kids
1977: launch of Howard the Duck as a comic strip, by Steve Gerber and Gene Colan
1992: death of Martin Goodman, American comics publisher best known for Timely Comics
1997: death of Manny Stallman, American comics artist, known for his work during the Golden Age of Comics
2004: death of Kate Worley, American comic book writer known for Omaha the Cat Dancer
2012: death of Jean-René Le Moing, French artist, one of the co-creators of Pilote

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General images

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

Image 1During 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 2Close Hergé collaborator and magazine contributor Bob de Moor (from Bande dessinée)
Image 3Japanese wood block illustration from 19th century (from History of manga)
Image 4The San Diego Convention Center during Comic-Con in 2013 (from San Diego Comic-Con)
Image 5A Fallout Cosplayer photographed at a Comic Con in a Fallout Themed area (from Comic book convention)
Image 6Cover to 27 December 1884 edition of Ally Sloper's Half Holiday. (from British comics)
Image 7Convention crowd outside of Golden Hall in 1982 (from San Diego Comic-Con)
Image 8The French comic Les Pieds Nickelés (1954 book cover): an early 20th-century forerunner of the modern Franco-Belgian comic (from Bande dessinée)
Image 9Hokusai Manga (early 19th century) (from History of manga)
Image 10
Comics artist Mœbius (2008), who achieved international renown through Métal Hurlant
(from Bande dessinée)
Image 11Comic Con crowds in 2011 as seen from a helicopter (from San Diego Comic-Con)
Image 12A page by Rodolphe Töpffer, whose work is considered influential in shaping the comics form. (from History of comics)
Image 13Image of bathers from the Hokusai manga (from History of manga)
Image 14Comic-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 15Cover 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 16Phoenix Fan Fusion's 2017 convention in Phoenix, Arizona (from Comic book convention)
Image 17Chōjū-giga (12th century), traditionally attributed to a monk-artist Kakuyū (Toba Sōjo) (from History of manga)
Image 18Sequential depictions on Trajan's Column in Rome, Italy (from History of comics)

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

... that M. Night Shyamalan's Old is based on a Swiss graphic novel that the filmmaker received as a Father's Day gift?
... that Kake has been described as "a sort of Johnny Appleseed ... spreading the seeds of liberated, mutually satisfying, ecstatically explicit gay sex"?
... that while Marvel Comics originally designated the main reality depicted in the MCU multiverse as Earth-199999, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness established it as Earth-616?
... that Pinky & Pepper Forever is a graphic novel that follows two anthropomorphic dog girlfriends through hell?
... that the original release of Jason Shiga's comic Demon included a four-page issue, a sixty-page issue, and an issue in which all the panels were black?
... 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 Iván Arias's eccentric but successful 2021 La Paz mayoral campaign involved an action figure, comics, and chocolate kisses named and styled in his likeness?
... that the writer of Poison Ivy: Thorns felt the titular DC Comics character was "tailor made for [her] interests as a nature-loving, gay makeup enthusiast"?

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Credit: He.Who.Wanders

The Joker is a fictional character, a comic book supervillain published by DC Comics. He is the archenemy of Batman, having been directly responsible for numerous tragedies in Batman's life, including the paralysis of Barbara Gordon and the death of Jason Todd, the second Robin. Created by Jerry Robinson, Bill Finger and Bob Kane, the character first appeared in Batman #1 (Spring 1940).

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More did you know...

...that What A Guy!, a gag cartoon created in 1987, continued for eight years after writer Bill Hoest's death using a mix of his jokes and new gags written by his widow, Bunny Hoest?

...that Morning Funnies was a fruit-flavored breakfast cereal featuring comic strip characters including Dennis the Menace, Hägar the Horrible, and Funky Winkerbean on the box?

...that Andy Hartzell created his graphic novel Fox Bunny Funny without a single line of text?

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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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