Comics
Comics is an artistic medium used to convey ideas and emotions through visual depictions, usually accompanied with written text for dialogue, narration, and onomatopoeia. Comics are usually drawn in cartoon form, and most commonly broken into several discrete panels which help direct the flow of how the panels should be viewed. Comics which feature dialogue frequently encapsulate it in speech balloons to help the reader identify who is speaking.
Contents
Personal
I have been enjoying comics ever since I learned to read. Around the age of six, my mother showed me a strip of Calvin and Hobbes and explained how Hobbes was only "alive" when Calvin was alone, and I became hooked on it, and around that time I also loved Peanuts and Garfield. As I got older, I started liking the weird humor of The Far Side. Around the age of 10, my older brother brought home some comic books, and that began a short-lived effort for he and I to buy all sorts of different comics. My favorite quickly became the X-Men, specifically, Wolverine. When I was around 12 or 13, a friend of mine showed me a graphic novel edition of The Hobbit, and I absolutely loved it. I remember telling him that I would probably read a lot more if more books were made in such a format. In my early 20s, I started reading a lot of webcomics, and, from 2009-2014, I even drew my own. I still love the comic medium, but there are few comics that I keep up with anymore.
Formats
Comics are created in all sorts of different formats including:
| Format | Description | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Comic book | Multi-paged comics with longer stories, usually serialized, written for children and teenagers. | X-Men, Batman |
| Comic strip | A multi-paneled comic, often serialized, and traditionally published in newspapers and magazines, and drawn for a wide audience. Usually humorous. | Calvin and Hobbes, Garfield, Peanuts |
| Editorial comics | Similar to gag comics in format, but with a political theme. Primarily uses satire. | Matt Bors, Big Fat Whale |
| Gag comics | Short, usually single-paneled humorous comics. | The Far Side |
| Graphic novel | A more extensive comic book usually targeted for more mature audiences. | The Sandman |
| Manga | Japanese comics. Not so much a format, but a cultural difference. Manga is more popular in Japan than comics are in the USA. | |
| Photo comics | Photographs are used instead of drawings. | |
| Webcomics | Comics made in a digital medium and disseminated through the World Wide Web. | Saturday Morning Breakfast Cartoons, xkcd |
Comics
This is a list of comics that are important to me. For all comics, see the category.
- 8-Bit Theater
- Calvin and Hobbes
- Dar: A Super Girly Top Secret Comic Diary
- Dork Tower
- The Far Side
- Fox Trot
- Garfield
- Garfield Minus Garfield
- Herman
- Life In Hell
- Magical Game Time
- A Modest Destiny
- Order of the Stick
- Peanuts
- The Perry Bible Fellowship
- Queen of Wands
- Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
- Scott Pilgrim
- X-Men
- xkcd
See Also
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