Skip to main content

When comics became mainstream in the early 20th century, they were considered a main source of entertainment to the masses. Compared to today comics, the artistry was typically basic and in most cases black and white. As technology increased so did the comics. Later on colors such as yellow began to appear in strips. An example of this would be the comic called "The Yellow Kid". This comic, compared to today’s standard, was very basic. Typically the message or joke that was being made was printed on the child's shirt.

Next Came the first of what we today consider "modern comics". The "Funnies" published a multipage bound book that consisted completely of comic strips. This was the first installment of many issues of this comic. "The Funnies" paved the way to modern comics such as "Superman" and "Batman". What separated these comics from the old strips such as "The Yellow Kid" is that the development of colors and styles evolved over the decades.

Today comics have come strides from their roots. Issues upon issues now have come out for famous characters such as "Superman" and "Batman". The style of comics have developed from the "Funnies" and "The Yellow Kid" to a glorification of the super human. The idea of the super human always rising up over evil has inspired many generations of comic book readers. There are different types and styles of comics that have a completely different style of super heroes; but in mainstream America, superheroes are the dominant medium. Now one can argue that the world interprets superheroes through other mediums other than comic books. In the past few years, comics have been developed from the paperback to the silver screen. Movies have been developed by new studios who are the owners of the copy write properties. So since there have been so many developments for comic books in the last decade, what holds for the future of comic books in the future?

Comments

J Chambliss said…
The relationship between the origins of the modern comic and today's character is an important point to keep in mind as we discuss the evolution of superhero characters. Are they changing? If so, how?

Popular posts from this blog

Understanding Comics Ch. 1-2 & Comic Book Nation Ch.1

To begin with, I really do like the idea of reading a comic about comics. I think it's a great idea and it's very well executed. As I was reading the first two chapters, I was surprised at how many examples there were of art in recent (and ancient, in some cases) history that are variations of "sequential visual art" and thus the foundations of modern comics. I'd never even thought about it before and it was hard to believe how many different kinds there were. I also love all the discussion about how our human brains automatically interpret certain images in a specific way, how we see others constantly but we identify ourselves when we look at cartoons, and how inanimate objects automatically becomes extensions of our bodies. The pyramid of styles was very interesting too as a way to conceptualize and almost graph or "place" a specific art style in comics. In Comic Book Nation , I enjoyed reading about the evolution of early comics from "funnies...

MegaCon 2011 Mobile Blog Entry

Next up, the Crime Noir Panel hosted by The Rack Pack Comic Podcast . Jimmy Palmiotti, Frank Tieri, Darwyn Cook and Dave Johnson are the speakers. MegaCon has matured as the comic industry has grown in importance in popular culture. Orlando's native convention should be attracting this kind of top talents and now it seem to be doing it.

Truth, Justice, and the American Way!

Look- in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's... SUPERMAN!!! Look- in that room! It's a cat! It's a giant lump! It's me... BORED! I have never quite been able to assess why I dislike Superman so much. He's supposedly the purest, truest American superhero we have. America's very own mythology. And I like America well enough, some might even say I love it. So why do I dislike Superman so much. Maybe it's because he doesn't feel truly American to me. I mean, don't get me wrong- he's all about truth and justice and all. He's an immigrant of sorts, and he definitely falls into the whole perfect body image paradigm. But he's not flawed, and less face it, all Americans are flawed... most time really REALLY flawed. Iron Man's an alcoholic, Spider-Man's a brooding, angsty "I caused the death of my first, possibly true, love" young adult, and the X-men are all mutant 'freaks' (note these are all Marvel comics)....