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 means of image-making 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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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.

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Anniversaries for August 5

1875: birth of Clare Briggs, early American comic strip author known for A. Piker Clerk
1924: first appearance of Little Orphan Annie, ongoing American comic strip created by Harold Gray
1946: start of Giles Family, British comic strip created by Carl Giles which ran until 1991
1953: birth of Steve Mitchell, comic book artist and inker
1957: debut of Andy Capp, long-running British comic strip by Reginald Smythe
1959: death of Frank Godwin, American comic strip creator best known for Connie and Rusty Riley
2002: death of Grass Green, American cartoonist notable for being the first black participant in both the 1960s fan art movement and the 1970s underground comics movement
2003: first publication of Ouran High School Host Club, Japanese manga created by Bisco Hatori

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General images

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

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

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

... that the robotic enemies in the video game The Incredible Hulk were influenced by Marvel Comics' objection to the Hulk killing humanoid characters?
... that Steve Englehart wrote the Captain America comic book storyline "Secret Empire" as an allegory for the Watergate scandal?
... that John Romita Sr. has been credited with introducing romance comic themes to Spider-Man comic books?
... 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 Kamome Shirahama, in addition to writing and illustrating her best-selling Witch Hat Atelier manga series, has created variant covers for DC Comics, Marvel Comics, and the Star Wars franchise?
... that Pinky & Pepper Forever is a graphic novel that follows two anthropomorphic dog girlfriends through hell?
... that comic book artist Barry Windsor-Smith wrote, drew, inked, and lettered every page of his graphic novel Monsters by himself?
... that open depictions of sexual acts were a defining trait of early works of josei manga ('women's comics')?

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San Diego Comic-Con International, also known as Comic-Con International: San Diego (as given on its website), and commonly known as Comic-Con or the San Diego Comic-Con or "SDCC", was founded as the Golden State Comic Book Convention and later the San Diego Comic Book Convention in 1970 by a group of San Diegans, which included Shel Dorf, Richard Alf, Ken Krueger and Mike Towry. It is traditionally a four-day event (Thursday through Sunday — though a three-hour preview night on Wednesday is open to professionals, exhibitors, and some guests pre-registered for all four days) held during the summer in San Diego, California, United States, at the San Diego Convention Center.

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More did you know...

...that the two-inch-tall people of The Teenie Weenies were a Chicago Tribune comic strip written by William Donahey for over 50 years?

...that the manhwa Recast was published not just in Korean, but also in German, French, and American English?

...that author Ted McKeever cited Planet of the Apes as inspiration for his futuristic comic book series Meta 4, saying that it changed his life?

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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.