Comic Books and Graphic novels

In this essay I am going to be discussing the history of comic books and graphic novels from

when they first came about up to this present day, showing some popular comic designers

such as Reg Smythe, Will Eisner, Stan Lee, Alan Moore and Art Spiegelman. The difference

between comic books and graphic novels is that a graphic novel is a type of comic book,

usually with much more lengthy and complex storyline to those of novels, having many

more pages and content than a comic book and often aimed at mature audiences (but not

always). Graphic novels are typically bound in longer and more durable formats than

familiar comic books, using the same materials and methods as printed books. A comic book

is a magazine made up of comics, narrative art work in the form of separate panels that

represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog (usually in word balloons). Some

famous artists have had their comic strips made into a movie and I will be explaining some

different types that have been made. I will also be showing what I like the most from comic

books and who is my biggest inspiration of the comic book world.

The first ever comic book appeared in the United States in 1933, reprinting the

earlier newspaper comic strips, these are of many of the story telling devices used in comics.

The term “comic book” began because of the first comic books reprinted humour comic

strips. Despite their name, comic books are not necessarily humorous in tone; modern

comic books tell stories in a variety of genres such as crime, comedy, sci-fi, horror,

adventure and many more entertaining genres. Cultural historians divide the career of the

comic book in the United States into several ages or historical eras:

Proto-comic books and the platinum age- when they first appeared to the public

Golden age- when comic books were popular

Silver age- Comics became more advanced

Bronze age-Comics were getting turned into movies

Modern age-comic books are starting to become as popular again as collector’s

items from the proto-comic and the platinum age.

The exact definition of graphic novel is debatable; the origins of the art form itself are open

to interpretation. Cave paintings have told stories, at the start of the middle ages artists

produced tapestries and manuscripts that told or helped to tell stories. William Blake was

the first western artist who interlocked lengthy writing with specific images. Marriage of

Heaven and Hell are one of several books William Blake created with pictures and storyline.

United States has a tradition of collecting comic strips in book form; these collections are a

longer form comic and are considered as a graphic novel. By modern standards they are a

modern form in the development of the graphic novel.

This is an example of what the front

page of a Beano comic book looks like also the centre pages, to show the graphic art inside

of the book which is used to create this form of comic strip. I think that the front page is eye

catching to the comic books main target audience which is children, the writing is bold and

stands out so you know the name of the comic book straight away. This image on the front

shows a hint to what will be inside of the comic book making children around the world

want the product even more because it shows the characters having fun and misbehaving

and children can relate to this. The comic strip itself is full of colour and great images to help

the children to understand and relate to the story. This image of the two page spread has

got Desperate Dan who is a comical and adventurous and helps the children to get lost in

their own imagination.

These are an example of graphic novels aimed at the older audience i.e. from teenagers to

adults. Starting with the left image “A Contract with God”. The front page is not as bright

and colourful as the comic book, it doesn’t give much of a hint or clue to what the story is

about. And inside the book will only have a few pictures and a lot of writing; this would not

attract the younger audience because it looks plain and boring. If I saw this graphic novel on

the shelf I would not pick it up and read it to see what it is about also because the title

doesn’t sound very interesting. The second image on the right is also a graphic novel; it is a

lot more colourful and bold. I think that the second graphic novel has more chance of being

read than the first one because it looks a lot more interesting.

Many comic books have given many people the inspiration to turn the comics or graphic novels into a movie and have came very popular. Many famous films have been created from comic books such as X-Men Origins: First Class, Wonder woman, The Avengers and many more great comic books. I think the most popular and have been out for quite a while now is Superman; everyone knows how he was found and what he does. The first Superman movie was released on 21st December 1978; it is an action, adventure also so sci-fi movie, it was directed by Richard Donner. The story line is an alien orphan is sent from his dying planet to earth, where he grows up to become his adoptive homes first and greatest super-hero. Some graphic novels have been turned into movies also such as Wake the dead, thirty days of night and the wanted were just few of the graphic novels that were inspired by directors. Nightmare before Christmas, on screen, Jack Skellington leaps with joy, singing with wonder at his discovery of Christmas Town. He seems so real, so alive, that we believe both and his fantastical world must somehow exist. Many comics and graphic novels are being turned into movies, I think they are doing this because they are slowly running out of ideas for movie entertainment and to show other people what they think of that comic or book and how they saw the storyline as a child or throughout their lives that might have impacted them to show it that way.

My two favourite comic books are the Dandy and the Beano both comic books are very popular and full of interesting stories. The Dandy is a long running children’s comic book published in the United Kingdom by D.C Thomson & co. LTD. The first issue was printed on the 4th December 1937 and it is the world’s third longest running comic, after Detective comics (dated March 1937) and Il Giornalino (dated 1st October 1924). From

August 2007until October 2010, it was rebranded as Dandy Xtreme. The Beano is a British children’s comic, published by D.C Thomson & Co and is arguably their most successful. The comic first appeared on 30th July 1938, and was published weekly. During the World War II, The Beano and The Dandy were published on alternating weeks because of the paper and ink rationing. Paper and ink supplies were fully restored shortly after the end of hostilities and weekly publication of The Beano and The Dandy resumed in 1949. The Beano is currently edited by Michael Stirling. In September 2009, the Beano’s 3,500th issue was published. I don’t really read graphic novels and wouldn’t know what the best on is so I cannot really comment on my favourite if I don’t read them.

My inspiration for comic strips is Andy Capp; this is from a local newspaper but is still a comic strip. I like this because the character is a local who just wants to enjoy life drinking alcohol, the individual panels on the comic strip are in black and white but still has a lot of humor packed into them. Andy Capp is a British comic strip created by cartoonist Reg Smythe (1917-1998), seen in The Daily Mirror and The Sunday Mirror newspapers since 5th August 1957. Originally a single panel cartoon, Smythe later expanded it to four panels. The strip is syndicated internationally by Creators Syndicate. The character is also licensed as the mascot for a line of snack foods (Andy Capp’s Fries) and a defunct chain of miniature golf courses in Brevard County, Florida.

In conclusion I think that Comic books and graphic novels have come a far distance from what they originally started from. They are constantly improving on the comic book and graphic novels, the comic books such as The Dandy and The Beano are getting more colourful and bold, they are also creating more fun and exciting stories. Graphic novels are also improving storylines to try and get more readers to buy their product. There are also graphic novels for children who are going into the teenager stage such as the Nightmare Before Christmas, the front of the cover will catch the attention of older children who want to improve their reading skills.