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

The first season of Smallville began airing on October 16, 2001, on The WB television network. Smallville recounts the early adventures of Kryptonian Clark Kent as he adjusts to life in the fictional town of Smallville, Kansas, during the years before he becomes Superman. The first season comprises 21 episodes and concluded its initial airing on May 21, 2002. The season's stories focus on Martha and Jonathan Kent's attempts to help their adopted son Clark cope with his alien origin and control his developing superhuman abilities. Clark must deal with the meteor-infected individuals that begin appearing in Smallville, his love for Lana Lang, and not being able to tell his two best friends, Pete Ross and Chloe Sullivan, about his alien nature. Clark also befriends Lex Luthor. "Villain of the week" storylines were predominant during the first season; physical effects, make-up effects, and computer-generated imagery became important components as well. The pilot broke The WB's viewership record for a debut series, and was nominated for various awards. Although the villain of the week storylines became a concern for producers, critical reception was generally favorable, and the series was noted as having a promising start.

More selected articles

Read more

edit

Anniversaries for May 9

1754: the publication of Join, or Die, American's first newspaper cartoon, is published in The Pennsylvania Gazette
1893: birth of William Moulton Marston, American comic book author, creator of Wonder Woman
1921: birth of Frank O'Neal, American cartoonist best known for the comic strip Short Ribs
1930: birth of José Ruy, Portuguese comic book writer
1931: birth of Dick Hodgins Jr, American cartoonist whose work included illustration, comic strips, and political cartoons
1947: birth of Barbara Slate, American artist, cartoonist, graphic novelist, comic book creator, and writer
1955: birth of Brian Bram, American underground comix artist known for his work on American Splendor
1958: birth of David Campiti, American publisher, co-founder of Innovation Publishing
1962: birth of Ty Templeton, Canadian comic book artist and writer
1991: first airing of The Simpsons episode "Three Men and a Comic Book" which introduced the character Comic Book Guy

More May anniversaries / All Anniversaries...

General images

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

Image 1Phoenix Fan Fusion's 2017 convention in Phoenix, Arizona (from Comic book convention)
Image 2Cover to 27 December 1884 edition of Ally Sloper's Half Holiday. (from British comics)
Image 3A page by Rodolphe Töpffer, whose work is considered influential in shaping the comics form. (from History of comics)
Image 4Chōjū-giga (12th century), traditionally attributed to a monk-artist Kakuyū (Toba Sōjo) (from History of manga)
Image 5Hokusai Manga (early 19th century) (from History of manga)
Image 6Comic-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 7
Comics artist Mœbius (2008), who achieved international renown through Métal Hurlant
(from Bande dessinée)
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 9Comic Con crowds in 2011 as seen from a helicopter (from San Diego Comic-Con)
Image 10A Fallout Cosplayer photographed at a Comic Con in a Fallout Themed area (from Comic book convention)
Image 11Image of bathers from the Hokusai manga (from History of manga)
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 San Diego Convention Center during Comic-Con in 2013 (from San Diego Comic-Con)
Image 14Japanese wood block illustration from 19th century (from History of manga)
Image 15Convention crowd outside of Golden Hall in 1982 (from San Diego Comic-Con)
Image 16Sequential depictions on Trajan's Column in Rome, Italy (from History of comics)
Image 17Close Hergé collaborator and magazine contributor Bob de Moor (from Bande dessinée)
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 the comic book Nietzsche, se créer liberté tries to express Friedrich Nietzsche's personality visually?
... that according to one source, The Embroidered Couch is "most likely China's earliest vernacular pornographic novel"?
... that Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany wore comic-book-accurate Scarlet Witch and Vision Halloween costumes in the WandaVision episode "All-New Halloween Spooktacular!"?
... that Steve Englehart wrote the Captain America comic book storyline "Secret Empire" as an allegory for the Watergate scandal?
... that although its publisher Dark Horse Comics is American, a significant proportion of artists involved with the comic book series The Witcher have been Polish?
... that a 1944 serial film was the first film appearance of Captain America and the first film appearance of any Marvel Comics character?
... 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 Kake has been described as "a sort of Johnny Appleseed ... spreading the seeds of liberated, mutually satisfying, ecstatically explicit gay sex"?

edit

Selected picture

Credit: Julian Tysoe

Dave Gibbons, artist and designer of the Watchmen comic book series.

More selected pictures

Read more

edit

More did you know...

...that Joye Hummel (pictured) wrote 70 of the early Wonder Woman comics but she was not included in official histories?

...that the abuses suffered by Ben Affleck and Shia LaBeouf in the webcomic Theater Hopper stemmed from the artist's dislike of the actors?

... that Darktown Comics, a series of racist caricatures, was a perennial bestseller for Currier and Ives and by 1884 represented a third of the company's production?

More did you know facts

edit

Selected quote

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

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.