How Did the Comic Book Get Its Start?
Dave Gieber
The origins of the comic book are somewhat controversial and
perhaps the jury is still out. So lets go back to the cartoonish
broadsheets of the Middle Ages, which were parchment products,
created by anonymous woodcutters. As mass circulation of these
broadsheets became possible, they soon developed a market,
particularly at public executions, popular events for centuries
(ugh), which drew thousands of happy spectators. Many of these
spectators would invest in an artist's rendering of a hanging or
burning, and thus making a very lucky day for the broadsheet
seller.
The broadsheet evolved into higher-level content as humor was
introduced. Eventually, all types of broadsheets emerged, which
were eventually bound in collections, the prototype of the modern
magazine. Magazines formatted like the popular Punch, an elegant
British creation, became the primary focus of documentary
accounts of news and events, fiction and humor. One can see in
Punch, the sophisticated evolution of a comic style, particularly
in respect of the evolution of comics in Great Britain. Still and
all, from an historical standpoint, the comic strip stood in the
alley, waiting to be born. And then some say Great Britain's Ally
Sloper's "Half Alley" was the first comic book. This was a black
and white tabloid that had panels of cartoons mixed with a sliver
of news; circa 1884.
Now while all this was going on in Great Britain, this inching
towards the comic book, the United States had its own brand of
evolution. Instead of magazines, US newspapers took the lead in
creating the comic book industry. Newspapers, with their first
steps, took their single image gags and evolved them into
multi-paneled comic strips. It was during this period that
William Randolph Hearst scored a knockout with the Yellow Kid,
which was actually printed in yellow ink.
So where did the actual comic book begin? Some say it was with
reprints of Carl Schultz' Foxy Grandpa, from 1901 to 1905.
Although others say it was Great Britain's Ally Sloper's Half
Alley. In 1902, Hearst published the Katzenjammer Kids and Happy
Hooligan in books with cardboard covers. For a time, the Yellow
Kid himself was a top contender. But it depends how rigid you are
in your description of a comic book. These examples, for sure,
were predecessors to the modern comic book, which exploded in the
1930's.
The Whitman Publishing Company, in 1934, became one of the
pre-launchers for the modern comic book. They published forty
issues of Famous Comics, which was a black and white hardcover
reprint. The first regularly published comic in the more
recognizable modern format though, was Famous Funnies. It
featured such memorable characters as Joe Palooka, Buck Rogers
and Mutt and Jeff.
Superheroes as we know them today took a strong foothold in the
1930's. In 1938, Max C. Gaines, who was one of the comic industry
giants, brought "Superman" to Dell Comics publisher, Harry
Donenfield. Donenfield scored the comic coup of the century when
he published a story written by two teenagers, Jerry Siegel and
Joe Shuster- and so "Superman of Metropolis" (the title of their
short story they wrote in their own fanzine) was born. Superman
was to set a standard for comic book heroes that persist to this
day.
Dave Gieber, a former rocket engineer, has decided to take up
residency on the Internet. He is the owner and editor of several
websites, one of which was built around one of his childhood
passions;
www.comic-book-collection-made-easy.com. You can visit
here to keep up to date on the world of comic books and comic
book collecting. Feel free to sign up for my comic book ezine
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