Comic Books

Comics is a graphic medium in which a sequential narrative is formed by a succession of images. The name make reference to “comedy”, but it serves to a wide variety of themes. Comics can combine images and words, or only images to give the idea. Some comics include word balloons to introduce speech between the characters.

The idea of sequential narrative as we can see it now, is not new. There are different examples through out history. One good example is the Trajan's Column. It was built on 113 CE to commemorate the Dacian Wars. The surface of the Column have a frieze that rounds the tower in an spiral ascension, representing the different scenes of the wars, in a succession of images.

In 1732 the work of William Hogarth “A Rake's Progress” used a sequence of 8 images, reproduced as prints, that together create a narrative. With the industrial revolution and the development of printing techniques, the newspapers and magazines became more and more popular. They started to publish illustrations regarding politics and social issues. These illustrations became known as cartoons in the 1840s.

In the 19th century artists started to experiment with this medium. In the USA, Comics as a mass medium started with the newspapers comic strips in the early 20th century. First with Sunday Strips and then daily Strips. The strips started to be gathered in cheap booklets and reprint comic books. Then original comic books appeared including all genders of literacy.

Comics are considered as a “low art” in some art circles, but some consider it as the “Ninth Fine Art”. Their popularity is very important in many countries and it is respected as an art. The french and belgians give comics an important place as an art and call it the bandes dessinées, and regularly celebrate international comics event such as Angoulême International Comics Festival. The Japanese Manga is also very popular in its country and all over the world. They have also important comic events for different categories.