Comics History

Comics have existed for ages and have developed extensively, especially over the last century. The history of Comics has had a boost after World War II as the popularity of Comics increased sharply. People had more leisure time and most important: more money to afford luxury products such as Comic Books. Although cartoons can be seen as luxury goods, it also had other functions in society over time. The fun part of reading Comic strips is likely to be seen as one of the most important features to their readers, nevertheless, most cartoons also have a message to share with their reader.

Comics need to be defined as the medium it is, as it has a deeper meaning than just the object, be it a Comic book or a Comic strip. A clear definition is that Comics can be regarded as juxtaposed pictorial and other im ages in deliberate sequence, intended to convey information and/or to produce an aesthetic response in the viewer. This response is crucial as this can form the popularity of a specific Comic and give information to the reader, which can be relaxing as well as informative in the sense of norms and values.

Many items can be considered a Comic when studying the history of cartoons. The prehistoric cave painting could be regarded as the primary Comic because it was meant to communicate although not all paintings formed a true story by subsequent pictures and language was not yet used. Later on the Egyptians developed hieroglyphs to count the harvest to register the amounts of tax paid and to organize their trades. The pictorial writing cannot be considered a Comic, seeing that either the language is missing or the pictures. The rebuses are though very much alike. Another seemingly hystorical Comic is the Bayeux Tapestry, an infamous seventy meters long tapestry that tells the story of the battle of Hastings. Narrative strips, usually in the form of woodcuts, became a popular medium for the expression of religious and political ideas during the Reformation (The Columbia Encyclopedia, 2003). The invention of the printing press contributed major to the world of reading, so too for Comic Books although only in a later stage. Another cause might be the huge metamorphosis Comics went through during the inter bellum and especially after the second world war. At first Comics were no longer accepted and even banned. However later on got their gratitude back and made the Comic industry flourish as Comics were very popular, again.

The Golden Age of Comic Books, from 1930 until 1951, was named this way as the Comic book was incredibly popular item during this era. The reason for this occurence could be the cheap price of the product during World War II, probably due to unequal quality of stories, art and print quality. The demand for Comics provided many unemployed with an occupation as well, although often at low wages and in sweatshop working conditions. Nevertheless, since Comic Books were primarily aimed at children, many adults still remember it now with warm feelings, as the hallmark of their youth. In the late 1940s and early 1950s most politicians and moral crusaders blamed Comic Books as a cause of crime, especially youth crime, moral deterioration, increased use of drug, and bad results at school. As a consequence of these concerns, schools and parent groups held public Comic book combustion, and some cities even decided to ban Comics. The industry of Comic Books decreased sharply as a result of the believe that Comics had a bad influence.

Comic Books has strongly stabilized its position as an artifact of nowadays culture; it can even be considered a mass media communication asset. Although Comics are mainly intended as leisure, very often they contain a message for the reader .

Comic Books are very popular by the youth, who see them as an ideal object for hours of fun. Typical fact is that, nowadays, more and more grown-ups like to read a Comic strip as well. This has been quite different during history, as Comics were seen as a bad influence that America brought along with the MacDonaldization of the world. Where the youth loved Comics, the parents and politicians opposed to it, which made it even more interesting for the youth to keep reading them. An own subculture of Comic Books was created by the youth, the underground Comics.

The view of the parents and politicians on American mass culture improve d over time as they learned to accept the culture. Also, it became obvious that America was by far the only producer of Comic Books, and therefore could no longer be associated with American culture as such. Comics today are created all over the world and for this reason are not part of the MacDonaldization. The production of Comic Books in the Westernized world (Asia, Europe and America) can be seen as a joint venture of the coherent cultures. European Comics are obviously not dominated by the Americans, but have an own identity and role in the world of Comics. Nowadays Comic Books are accepted in our cultural society and have even become the subject of academic empirical research.

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Author:: Sharon White
Keywords:: Comics, Comic, Books
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