Portal:Comics

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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 image-making means 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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The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared fictional universe that is centered on a series of superhero films, independently produced by Marvel Studios and based on characters that appear in publications by Marvel Comics. The franchise has expanded to include comic books, short films, and television series. The shared universe, much like the original Marvel Universe in comic books, was established by crossing over common plot elements, settings, cast, and characters. Clark Gregg has appeared the most in the franchise, portraying Phil Coulson, a character original to the MCU. The first film released in the MCU was Iron Man (2008), which began the first phase of films, culminating in Marvel's The Avengers (2012). "Phase Two" began with Iron Man 3 (2013), and concluded with Ant-Man (2015). The universe began to expand with the release of the first official tie-in comics in 2010, and saw further expansion with the Marvel One-Shots direct-to-video short films in 2011 and the television series Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. in the 2013–14 television season from Marvel Television. The MCU is currently in "Phase Four" and has multiple films and television projects in various stages of development. The franchise ranks as the highest-grossing film franchise both in the United States and worldwide, and has inspired other film studios with comic book character film rights to attempt to create similar shared universes.

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Anniversaries for May 19

1777: birth of Richard Newton, English caricaturist, miniaturist and book illustrator
1903: birth of Pete Costanza, American comics artist best known for Captain Marvel
1942: birth of Shirrel Rhoades, American writer, publisher, and filmmaker, known for being the executive vice president of Marvel Entertainment
1962: birth of Maitena Burundarena, Argentine comics artist best known for Mujeres Alteradas
1963: birth of Reggie Byers, American comics writer and artist best known for work on Robotech comics
1966: birth of Jodi Picoult, American comics writer known for Wonder Woman
1967: birth of Steve Lieber, American comic book illustrator known for his work on books such as Detective Comics and Hawkman
2008: death of Rory Root, American owner of the influential comic book store Comic Relief
2017: death of Rich Buckler, American comics artist and penciller, creator of the character Deathlok for Marvel Comics

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General images

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

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

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

... that comic book artist Barry Windsor-Smith wrote, drew, inked, and lettered every page of his graphic novel Monsters by himself?
... that the writer of Poison Ivy: Thorns felt the titular DC Comics character was "tailor made for [her] interests as a nature-loving, gay makeup enthusiast"?
... that Steve Englehart wrote the Captain America comic book storyline "Secret Empire" as an allegory for the Watergate scandal?
... that the Franco-Belgian comic book Hans had its title changed in Poland due to lingering ill-feeling toward Germany?
... that until the 1970s, most shōjo manga (Japanese girls' comics) were written by men?
... that comic book creator Brandon Dayton chose medieval Russia as the setting for his minicomic Green Monk after watching Andrei Tarkovsky's film Andrei Rublev?
... that a 1944 serial film was the first film appearance of Captain America and the first film appearance of any Marvel Comics character?
... that open depictions of sexual acts were a defining trait of early works of josei manga ('women's comics')?

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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 speech balloons (example pictured) are used in comic books and strips to allow the characters words and thoughts to be viewed by the reader?

...that A Commitment To Our Roots is the first charity devoted to helping comic book industry veterans in need?

...that between 1970 and 1984 the WE Seal of approval program aided in an estimated US$100,000 in restitution being made to collectors of comics and other memorabilia victimized by mail fraud?

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Selected quote

The comics medium is a very specialized area of the Arts, home to many rare and talented blooms and flowering imaginations and it breaks my heart to see so many of our best and brightest bowing down to the same market pressures which drive lowest-common-denominator blockbuster movies and television cop shows. Let's see if we can call time on this trend by demanding and creating big, wild comics which stretch our imaginations. Let's make living breathing, sprawling adventures filled with mind-blowing images of things unseen on Earth. Let's make artefacts that are not faux-games or movies but something other, something so rare and strange it might as well be a window into another universe because that's what it is.

— Grant Morrison

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This is a list of recognized content, updated weekly by JL-Bot (talk · contribs) (typically on Saturdays). There is no need to edit the list yourself. If an article is missing from the list, make sure it is tagged (e.g. {{WikiProject Comics}}) or categorized correctly and wait for the next update. See WP:RECOG for configuration options.