Comic books have been a staple of entertainment for children
in America, as well as other countries, for many years now. In fact, according
to Thomas Andrae, author of Carl Bark’s
and the Disney Comic Book (2006), “Before television, rock music, and video
games, comic books were the mainstay of entertainment in America” (p. 3). Indeed,
comic books were “a universal experience for children who grew up from the
Great Depression through the baby boom years” (Andrae, 2006, p. 3).
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That statement, however, is not meant to imply that comic
books have waned in popularity. If anything, they have become even more popular,
and for reasons surpassing mere entertainment value. As Andrea relates, “Comic
books, like other pop cultural ephemera, have become highly priced collector’s
items” (2006, p. 3). For example, according to CNBC (2014), a copy of the first
issue of Action Comics featuring
Superman sold for $3.2 million on EBay in August of 2014. On the other hand, comic
books today are prized for more than their sentimental and monetary value; they
are also celebrated as important works of art (Andrea, 2006).
Then again, regardless of their continued popularity, there
was a time when comic books did not exist, and the question that arises is,
exactly when and where did this form of creative expression originate?
The Origin of Comic Books
According to Wikipedia (2015), comic books had their origins
in the 1700’s in Japan and the 1800’s in Europe, and they were introduced into
the United States in the 1930s. Moreover, “The first modern comic book, titled Famous Funnies, was “released in the
United States in 1933,” though it was merely “a reprinting of earlier newspaper
comic strips” (para. 3).
Alternatively, according to The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin (2013),
Rudolphe Topffer, a Swiss artist, published the first book to combine cartoons
and text in 1837; and after being translated and published in several European
countries, the book came to the United States in 1842. The title of the
American version was The Adventures of
Obadiah Oldbuck, and the book contained 6 to 12 panels per page in a
40-page side-stitched booklet, measuring 8 ½ by 11 inches.
It’s interesting to note, however, that the thematic
elements of comic books, according to Random History (2015), can arguably be
traced back to tales of the mythological gods and superheroes of ancient Greece,
as well as figures in the Holy Bible.
For example, the modern comic-book hero Flash explicitly draws on the
iconography of the Greek god Hermes with his winged helmet and boots; and Samson’s
weakness in the Old Testament, a
haircut, echoes the vulnerabilities that afflict modern heroes, such as
Superman, who is weakened by kryptonite.
On the other hand, it’s possible that the origin of comic
books dates back even further. In fact, according to Random History (2015),
“The format of the modern day comic book perhaps can be traced to ancient
narrative sequences of cave paintings, but more likely to the medieval
broadsheet, which was a narrative strip carved into woodcuttings (Hayman and
Pratt 2005). As Random History explains, “Broadsheet authors would often create
cartoonish narratives of public executions and caricatures of public figures.
As the printing press allowed mass circulation of the broadsheets, they were
often gathered into collections, or what could be considered a prototype of the
modern magazine or newspaper and, by extension, the comic book.”
So, all of that said, perhaps one can conclude that comic
books originated, at least in a fashion, with humankind’s earliest artistic
renderings. Regardless of where and when they originated, however, comic books
have endured and will continue to endure for generations to come.
Sources:
Andrae, T. (2006) Carl
Barks and the Disney Comic Book: Unmasking the Myth of Modernity. Jackson,
Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi
CNBC (2014) The Most Valuable Comic Books. Retrieved from http://www.cnbc.com/id/101944524
The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin. (2015) Comic Book. Retrieved
from
Images:
Action Comics (2015) Google Images: www.technobuffalo.com
Famous Funnies (2015) Google Images: www.thecomicbooks.com
Flash Comic Book (2015) Google Images: wikipedia.org
Prehistoric Cave Painting (2015) Google Images: wurstwisdom.com
Several month's back our late COO, Andy, blogged about the decision to cut a character from the upcoming Wii U game Of Mages & Pages: Remnants of Iniquity.
