Portal:Comics

Portal topics: Activities; Culture; Geography; Health; History; Mathematics; Nature; People; Philosophy; Religion; Society; Technology; Random portal

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...)

Show new selections below (purge)

edit

Selected article

Krazy Kat is a comic strip created by George Herriman that appeared in U.S. newspapers between 1913 and 1944. It was first published in William Randolph Hearst's New York Evening Journal. Set in a dreamlike portrayal of Herriman's vacation home of Coconino County, Arizona, Krazy Kat's mixture of surrealism, innocent playfulness, and poetic language have made it a favorite of comics aficionados and art critics for more than eighty years. The strip focuses on the relationship triangle between its title character, a carefree and innocent cat of indeterminate gender (referred to as both male and female), her antagonist Ignatz Mouse, and the protective police dog, Officer Bull Pupp. Krazy nurses an unrequited love for the mouse, but Ignatz despises her and constantly schemes to throw a brick at her head; for unknown reasons, Krazy takes this as a sign of affection. Officer Pupp, as Coconino County's administrator of law and order, makes it his unwavering mission to interfere with Ignatz's brick-tossing plans and lock the mouse in the county jail.

More selected articles

Read more

edit

Anniversaries for June 20

1934: birth of Rius, Mexican comics artists best known for starting the ... for Beginners comics series
1946: debut of André Franquin as artist of Spirou et Fantasio taking charge in the middle of the story Spirou et la maison préfabriquée
1950: birth of John E. Workman Jr., American editor, writer, artist, designer, colorist, and letterer
1964: first publication of Wham!, a British comic
1970: birth of Marc Andreyko, American comic book writer and screenwriter
1972: birth of Sal Regla, American comic book inker
1975: debut of Mummy's Boy, British comic strip by Norman Mansbridge which ran until 1987
1980: death of Jijé, influential Belgian comics artist and author, known for Spirou et Fantasio and Jerry Spring

More June anniversaries / All Anniversaries...

General images

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

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

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

... that comic book artist Barry Windsor-Smith wrote, drew, inked, and lettered every page of his graphic novel Monsters by himself?
... that Steve Englehart wrote the Captain America comic book storyline "Secret Empire" as an allegory for the Watergate scandal?
... that Kake has been described as "a sort of Johnny Appleseed ... spreading the seeds of liberated, mutually satisfying, ecstatically explicit gay sex"?
... 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"?
... that a graphic novel for teens was among the 10 most challenged books in the United States in 2023?
... that open depictions of sexual acts were a defining trait of early works of josei manga ('women's comics')?
... 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 John Romita Sr. has been credited with introducing romance comic themes to Spider-Man comic books?

edit

Selected picture

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.

More selected pictures

Read more

edit

More did you know...

...that Jeff Hawke, a science fiction comic strip, almost perfectly predicted the date of the first human moon landing more than ten years before?

...that Thrud the Barbarian, a comic character parodying Arnold Schwarzenegger's depiction of Conan the Barbarian, (pictured) has the intelligence of a garden snail?

...that E. Normus Johnson is a fictional advertising mascot depicted in comic art on Big Johnson T-shirts that use double entendres?

More did you know facts

edit

Selected quote

A couple of months after I published this story, it occurred to me that a Superman as a hero rather than as a villain might make a great comic strip character in the vein of Tarzan, only more super and sensational than that great character. Joe and I drew it up as a comic book.

— Jerry Siegel

More selected quotes

More from Wikiquote

edit

Topics

edit

Featured content

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.