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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Sir Osbert Lancaster CBE (4 August 1908 – 27 July 1986) was an English cartoonist, architectural historian, stage designer and author. He was known for his cartoons in the British press, and for his lifelong work to inform the general public about good buildings and architectural heritage.

The only child of a prosperous family, Lancaster was educated at Charterhouse School and Lincoln College, Oxford; at both he was an undistinguished scholar. From an early age he was determined to be a professional artist and designer, and studied at leading art colleges in Oxford and London. While working as a contributor to The Architectural Review in the mid-1930s, Lancaster published the first of a series of books on architecture, aiming to simultaneously amuse the general reader and demystify the subject. Several of the terms he coined as labels for architectural styles have gained common usage, including "Pont Street Dutch" and "Stockbroker's Tudor", and his books have continued to be regarded as important works of reference on the subject.

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Anniversaries for June 15

1915: birth of Hilda Terry, American cartoonist best known for the comic strip Teena
1927: birth of Hugo Pratt, Italian comics artist and author, famous for Corto Maltese
1927: birth of Ross Andru, American comic book artist best known as cocreator of Metal Men and Punisher
1940: birth of Michael Barrier, American comic book and animation historian, founder and editor of Funnyworld, the first magazine exclusively devoted to comics and animation
1941: birth of Neal Adams, American comic book artist known for his work on various superhero comics and his cover art
1945: birth of Don McGregor, American comics creator known for the early graphic novel Sabre
1955: birth of Brent Anderson, American comics artist known for his work on the comic book series Astro City
1958: last appearance of Polly and Her Pals, American comic strip by Cliff Sterrett
1974: last issue of Cor!!, British comic book which ran since 1970
1976: birth of Dustin Nguyen, American comics artist for DC Comics and Wildstorm
1999: death of John Glashan, Scottish comic strip creator best known for Genius
2001: debut of The Ravages of Time, Hong Kong manhua created by Chan Mou

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General images

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

Image 1Hokusai Manga (early 19th century) (from History of manga)
Image 2Sequential depictions on Trajan's Column in Rome, Italy (from History of comics)
Image 3Comic Con crowds in 2011 as seen from a helicopter (from San Diego Comic-Con)
Image 4A Fallout Cosplayer photographed at a Comic Con in a Fallout Themed area (from Comic book convention)
Image 5The French comic Les Pieds Nickelés (1954 book cover): an early 20th-century forerunner of the modern Franco-Belgian comic (from Bande dessinée)
Image 6Chōjū-giga (12th century), traditionally attributed to a monk-artist Kakuyū (Toba Sōjo) (from History of manga)
Image 7Comic-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 8Close Hergé collaborator and magazine contributor Bob de Moor (from Bande dessinée)
Image 9Japanese wood block illustration from 19th century (from History of manga)
Image 10Convention crowd outside of Golden Hall in 1982 (from San Diego Comic-Con)
Image 11The San Diego Convention Center during Comic-Con in 2013 (from San Diego Comic-Con)
Image 12
Comics artist Mœbius (2008), who achieved international renown through Métal Hurlant
(from Bande dessinée)
Image 13Image of bathers from the Hokusai manga (from History of manga)
Image 14Phoenix Fan Fusion's 2017 convention in Phoenix, Arizona (from Comic book convention)
Image 15During 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 16Cover to 27 December 1884 edition of Ally Sloper's Half Holiday. (from British comics)
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 circulation numbers for early comic books featuring Captain America remained close to a million copies per month, outstripping news magazines such as Time?
... that comic book artist Barry Windsor-Smith wrote, drew, inked, and lettered every page of his graphic novel Monsters by himself?
... that until the 1970s, most shōjo manga (Japanese girls' comics) were written by men?
... 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 although Blizzard's franchise Overwatch is centered around video games, its lore is mainly told through animated shorts, comics, and novels?
... that the first time The Witcher universe was portrayed outside the novels was in the 1993–1995 Polish comic book series of the same name?
... that Piecemeal, who appeared in The Incredible Hulk: The Pantheon Saga, was considered one of the strangest characters to appear in a Marvel video game?
... that Pinky & Pepper Forever is a graphic novel that follows two anthropomorphic dog girlfriends through hell?

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Credit: Emuzesto

Scott McCloud, whose work Understanding Comics identified the different styles of art used within comics.

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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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The comics medium is a very specialized area of the Arts, home to many rare and talented blooms and flowering imaginations and it breaks my heart to see so many of our best and brightest bowing down to the same market pressures which drive lowest-common-denominator blockbuster movies and television cop shows. Let's see if we can call time on this trend by demanding and creating big, wild comics which stretch our imaginations. Let's make living breathing, sprawling adventures filled with mind-blowing images of things unseen on Earth. Let's make artefacts that are not faux-games or movies but something other, something so rare and strange it might as well be a window into another universe because that's what it is.

— Grant Morrison

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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.