Comic Book History, Fascinating!
by:
Comics Galore
The origins of the comic book are somewhat contentious and maybe the jury is still out on comic book history. So lets go back to the cartoonish broadsheets of the Middle Ages, which were parchment products, created by anonymous woodcutters. These could have been the really beginnings of the comic book.
As mass circulation of these broadsheets became possible, they before long developed a market, particularly at public executions, popular events for centuries (ugh), which histrion thousands of happy spectators. Many a of these spectators would-be invest in an artist's rendering of a hanging or burning, and thus fashioning a really lucky day for the ad seller.
The ad evolved into higher-level content as humor was introduced. Eventually, all types of broadsheets emerged, which were eventually bound in collections, the epitome of the modern magazine and thus the comic book. 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 book style, particularly in respect of the evolution of comics in Great Britain. Still and all, from an historical standpoint, the comic strip, and later the comic book, stood in the alley, waiting to be born. And then several say Great Britain's Ally Sloper's "Half Alley" was the 1st comic book. This was a black and white tabloid that had panels of cartoons mixed with a sliver of news; circa 1884.
Now patch 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 1st steps, took their single pictures gags and evolved them into multi-paneled comic strips. It was during this period that William Randolph Publisher scored a knockout with the Yellow Kid, which was really written
in yellow ink.
So wherever
did the actual comic book begin? Several say it was with reprints of Carl Schultz' Artful Grandpa, from 1901 to 1905. Tho'
others say it was Great Britain's Ally Sloper's Half Alley. In 1902, Publisher publicised the Katzenjammer Kids and Happy Aggressor 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 Business Company, in 1934, became one of the pre-launchers for the modern comic book. They publicised forty issues of Famed Comics, which was a black and white hardcover reprint. The 1st on a regular basis
publicised comic book in the much recognizable modern format though, was Famed Funnies. It featured such unforgettable
characters as Joe Palooka, Buck Rogers and Canis familiaris and Jeff.
Superheroes as we cognize them now took a strong foothold in the 1930's. In 1938, Max C. Gaines, who was one of the comic industry giants, brought "Superman" to Holler Comics publisher, Harry Donenfield.
Donenfield scored the comic coup of the century once
he publicised a story written by two teenagers, Boche 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.
Just about The Author:
Dave Gieber is the owner and editor of a website built about one of his childhood passions. Discover the basic essentials to comic book aggregation success with this free 5-day course: www.comic-book-collection-made-easy.com/5-day-course.html
