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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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Selected article

Calvin and Hobbes is a comic strip written and illustrated by Bill Watterson, following the humorous antics of Calvin, an imaginative six-year old boy, and Hobbes, his energetic and sardonic—albeit stuffed—tiger. The pair are named after John Calvin, a 16th century French Reformation theologian, and Thomas Hobbes, a 17th century English political philosopher. The strip was syndicated daily from November 18, 1985 to December 31, 1995. At its height, Calvin and Hobbes was carried by over 2,400 newspapers worldwide. To date, more than 30 million copies of the 18 Calvin and Hobbes books have been printed. The strip is vaguely set in the contemporary Midwestern United States, on the outskirts of suburbia, a location probably inspired by Watterson's home town of Chagrin Falls, Ohio. Calvin and Hobbes appear in most of the strips, while a small number focus on other supporting characters. The broad themes of the strip deal with Calvin's flights of fantasy, his friendship with Hobbes, his misadventures, his views on a diverse range of political and cultural issues and his relationships and interactions with his parents, classmates, educators, and other members of society. The dual nature of Hobbes is also a recurring motif. Calvin sees Hobbes one way (alive), while other characters see him as something else (a stuffed animal).

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Anniversaries for February 15

Unknown: birth of Joan Weis, American comic book writer
1887: birth of H. M. Bateman, British humorous artist and cartoonist noted for his "The Man Who..." series of cartoons
1907: birth of Nina Albright, American comic book artist who worked during the Golden Age of Comic Books
1913: birth of Willy Vandersteen, major Belgian comics artist and author best known for Spike and Suzy
1939: birth of William Van Horn, Canadian comics author best known for Disney comics like Donald Duck
1948: birth of Albert De Guzman, American comic book letterer
1948: birth of Art Spiegelman, Pulitzer Prize winning American comics author and artist, best known for his graphic novel Maus
1954: birth of Matt Groening, American comics creator, known for Life in Hell, better known as creator of the animation series The Simpsons
1963: birth of Marc Hansen, American cartoonist and creator of Ralph Snart, Weird Melvin and Doctor Gorpon
1965: debut of Wee Pals, ongoing American comic strip created by Morrie Turner
1966: birth of Jim Krueger, American comic book writer and filmmaker
1987: end of Walt Disney's Treasury of Classic Tales, American comic strip which started in the 1950s
1997: death of Jack Sparling, Canadian comics artist, best known for his work at DC Comics
2002: death of Vincenzo Monti, Italian comics artist, known for his work on Bonelli's Tex Willer
2002: end of Parallel, Japanese shōnen manga by Toshihiko Kobayashi
2005: death of Dudu Geva, Israeli comics artist best known for The Knight Zick
2017: death of Fabrizio Busticchi, Italian comics artist, known for his work at Bonelli publishing house

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General images

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

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

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

... that the 2003 graphic novel The Life Eaters, presenting an occult-driven, hypothetical Axis victory in World War II, has been discussed in the context of its portrayal of The Holocaust?
... that the writer of the 2022 comic book miniseries Poison Ivy, starring the eponymous Batman villain, described it as a "love story" that features "plant-based body horror"?
... that John Byrne retold the origin of Superman in the 1986 comic book limited series The Man of Steel, 48 years after the character was created?
... that Fabrizio Dori wants his comic book Il dio vagabondo to bring attention to an ancient Greek view of death?
... that comic book artist Barry Windsor-Smith wrote, drew, inked, and lettered every page of his graphic novel Monsters by himself?
... that John Romita Sr. has been credited with introducing romance comic themes to Spider-Man comic books?
... 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 circulation numbers for early comic books featuring Captain America remained close to a million copies per month, outstripping news magazines such as Time?

Selected picture

Credit: Comic: Zach Weiner

A panel from Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal, a webcomic by Zach Weiner first published in its current iteration in 2002. This daily comic features no recurring characters or storylines, and has no set format; some strips may be a single panel, while others may go on for ten panels or more. Recurring themes include atheism, God, superheroes, romance, dating, science, research, parenting and the meaning of life.

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More did you know...

...that publication of comics in Hungary largely stopped during World War II due to Nazi pressure?

... that the graphic novel Building Stories by Chris Ware was published as a box that contained fourteen printed objects, including cloth-bound books, newspapers, broadsheets, and flip books?

... that Harvey Kurtzman's Jungle Book (1959) was the first book-length work of original comics in the United States?

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Selected quote

Contrary to the rumors you have heard, I was not born in a manger. I was actually born on Krypton and sent here by my father, Jor-El, to save the planet Earth.

— Barack Obama, United States Senator from Illinois (2005-2008), 44th President of the United States (2009-), October 2008

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