Illustrated stories hold super power to entertain
youngsters and adults
By BILL WIIST
Special to The Courier-Journal
Read any good books lately? How about any good comic books?
Some teachers and librarians might look down on comics — books that
use words and pictures to tell stories. But they actually have a long
and proud history — and even helped spark the American Revolution.
People have used pictures to tell stories for thousands of years.
Early humans drew on cave walls to record the tales of their hunts.
The ancient Egyptians used pictures as symbols in a written language
known as hieroglyphics. They even went a step further and combined
blocks of writing with groups of pictures to tell stories about their
pharaohs.
Of course, all these early ‘‘comic books’’ didn’t exist on
paper but on walls and sculptures. Paper wouldn’t be invented until
much later.
Comic books and comic strips are both called comics for short, and
they are very similar. Both use a series of drawings to relate a comic
incident, an adventure or a mystery.
THE FIRST COMIC BOOK
The first ‘‘booklet of comic strips’’ debuted in England in
the 1600s. It starred two characters you may have heard of: Punch and
Judy, the puppet show characters.
Later in America, Ben Franklin would combine, for the first time,
cartoons with word balloons, which showed the reader what the
characters were saying. He didn’t do this to simply entertain the
readers of his newspaper, the Gazette. He used these comics for a
political cause, to rally the 13 colonies to fight for freedom from
England.
Most of the early comic strips were designed to be funny. That’s why
they are called ‘‘comic’’ strips.
The comic strip section is the first part of the paper many people
read.
SEE YOU IN THE FUNNIES
The first full-color comic section appeared in the late 1800s in a
newspaper called the New York Journal. It was eight pages long. The
first comic book printed in America actually was a collection of comic
strips. In 1911, the Chicago American newspaper sold 45,000 copies of
their collection of Mutt and Jeff strips.
Almost all of the early comics had the word ‘‘funny’’
somewhere in their name: The Funnies, Famous Funnies, Funnies on
Parade, and so forth. Today you can still find books that reprint your
favorite cartoon strips such as Calvin and Hobbs, Dilbert and others.
It was not until the Great Depression that action strips and adventure
cartoons became popular. These strips featured such heroes as the
Phantom, Tarzan and Prince Valiant.
CAPES AND GREAT POWERS
Maybe when you think about comics,you picture superheroes with flying
capes and incredible powers. But such heroes really didn’t originate
in comics. Every culture has had its legends of extraordinary beings.
In the old American West, people told tall tales of Paul Bunyan and
Pecos Bill. These are predecessors to the modern superhero. Before
Batman and Superman were created, Americans thrilled to the adventures
of the Shadow and Doc Savage. In a way, Batman and Superman are the
comic book versions of these pulp fiction characters.
The term ‘‘pulp fiction,’’ by the way, came from the novels
produced on cheap newsprint or ‘‘pulp.’’ Comics were also
produced on the cheapest paper so they could be sold as inexpensively
as possible. Most pulp fiction novels sold for a dime during the
Depression.
Comic books became really popular in the United States during World
War II — especially superhero comics. They were more than just cheap
entertainment. They offered inspiration to a country at war.
Superman, created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, was shown
fighting the Nazis and taking on Hitler. Many star-spangled, patriotic
characters were published during that era. Characters such as the
Shield, Uncle Sam, and the most famous of all, Captain America.
NOT-SO-SUPER HEROES
Over the next couple of decades, superheroes
became stale. But in the 1960s, the superheros were revived, though in
a different form. They were refashioned into more human and even
somewhat flawed characters. They were people who had weaknesses and
could make mistakes.
Three men — Stan Lee, Jack Kirby (one of the creators of Captain
America), and Steve Ditko were given credit for this revolution.
Together these three created such enduring characters as the Fantastic
Four, Spider-Man and the Hulk. They also established Marvel Comics as
a rival to DC, which had dominated the comics publishing world with
its the Batman, Superman, and Justice League of America books.
Today you can choose from a variety of comics and publishing
companies. Do you like superheroes? Try the ‘‘Avengers’’ to
get your fill. Humor? Try ‘‘Archie’’ comics or ‘‘the
Tick.’’ Fantasy? Try ‘‘Elfquest,’’ ‘‘Thieves &
Kings,’’ or ‘‘Castle Waiting.’’ Sci-fi? Try the ‘‘Star
Trek’’ or ‘‘Star Wars’’ comics. Doug Adams of Comic Book
World, a specialty store in Louisville, recommends a lot of books for
middle-schoolers. Among Marvel Comics: The re-launching of the
‘‘Spider-Man’’ books. These books are starting over with
number one issues to make it easier for new people to start reading
them. He also recommends the Marvel Next line, which is producing a
number of books, aimed at younger audiences. Books such as
‘‘Spider-Girl’’ and ‘‘A-Next.’’ Among DC Comics:
Batman and Superman have books that tie in with their popular Warner
Brothers cartoons
Adams said comics are more respected today than ever. ‘‘They
are looked upon as a legitimate form of entertainment,’’ he says.
Better production, paper, and artistry have raised the quality of
comics and made them more desirable and accepted.