7/22/2019 History of Comics (Report)
1/17
HISTORY OF COMICSTechnical Report
Ameer Hamza Khan
Hammad Aslam
Hammad Hassan
Zeeshan Nayyar
7/22/2019 History of Comics (Report)
2/17
1 | H I S T O R Y O F C O M I C S
TABLE OF CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1. INTRODUCTION...32. ELEMENTS OF COMICS.....43. EMERGENCE AND EVOLUTION...5
3.1. COMIC ART IN EGYPTIAN CIVILIZATION....53.2. COMIC ART IN GREEK CIVILIZATION...63.3. COMIC ART IN OLMEC CIVILIZATION.63.4. COMIC ART IN ROMAN CIVILIZATION73.5. COMIC ART IN THE EARLY EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION..7
4. ADVANCEMENTS84.1. THE PIONEER AGE ...84.2. THE PLATINUM AGE..94.3. THE GOLDEN AGE..104.4. THE ATOM AGE...104.5. THE SILVER AGE..114.6. THE BRONZE AGE...124.7. THE MODERN AGE.13
5. COMICS OTHER THAN COMIC BOOKS..146. COMICS IN PAKISTAN.157. REFERENCES..16
7/22/2019 History of Comics (Report)
3/17
2 | H I S T O R Y O F C O M I C S
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Comics have a concrete history and the forms and shapes, it has evolved in;clearly represents how flexible and diverse it is. The initial purpose of comics was
to spread awareness about religious and social issues to those who werent
educated and didnt know how to read and write. Different civilizations had
their distinct styles, interpretation of context, colour palettes, motives and values
which were clearly reflected through their figures.
Later, comics began to be recognized as an entirely different field of art and
new advancements were made in its form and style. These advancements
included a series of different eras which are discussed in this report.
Today, Comics are the biggest ingredient of the advertising industry. Comics are
anxiously looked forward to by millions of people everyday. They are printed in
daily newspapers, magazines, student blogs and forum, Social media
(Facebook, Twitter etc) and even TV. Its importance and vastness can be clearly
highlighted by the fact that the comics are now professionally taught in many
Arts institutions throughout the world.
7/22/2019 History of Comics (Report)
4/17
3 | H I S T O R Y O F C O M I C S
1. INTRODUCTIONComics are the visual mediumused to express ideas using images,
often combined with text or other
visual information. Comics
frequently take the form of
contrasted sequences of panels of
images. Often textual devices such
as speech balloons, captions, and
sound effects indicating dialogue,narration, or other information.
Comics are also called the ninth art, in which images are put in line in order to
create a story. Comics are not necessarily funny stories but to all uses of this
medium including those which are far from comic. The word Comics derives
from the Greek word meaning pertaining to comedy.
7/22/2019 History of Comics (Report)
5/17
4 | H I S T O R Y O F C O M I C S
2. ELEMENTS OF COMICSThe purpose of comics is definitely
to describe or tell something.Based on the purpose and all
objectives, the comics have two
key elements used to define them
as an art form:
Combination Of Both WordsAnd Images
Placement Of Images InSequential Order
The images that are usually laid out
within borders are known as
panels. Sometimes comics have
only one panel but in most cases
there are more; named as Comic
strips. The panel is the individual
frame; containing one single
drawing that depicts a single
moment. However, comic strips are
generally seen in newspapers; typically consisting of three to four panels.
Every comic has a text to rely on its story. Texts use ambiguity, symbolism and
literary techniques like, style, layout, theme, dialogues etc. The layout and the
style make every comic distinct.
There are different tools, representations or conventions used for representing
speech and thoughts of characters of comics. These
conventions are:
Speech Balloons or Bubbles Thought Balloons or Bubbles Scream Balloons or Bubbles Narrative Box Captions or words Underneath the Image
7/22/2019 History of Comics (Report)
6/17
5 | H I S T O R Y O F C O M I C S
3. EMERGENCE AND EVOLUTIONComics in form of Sequential art have existed for many centuries. The creationof a train of images, put one after the other; to create a story has a very vast
history. Comics started thousands of years ago and existed through several eras
and civilizations. They are as followed:
Egyptian Civilization
Greek Civilization
Olmec Civilization
Roman Civilization
Early European Civilization
3.1.Comic art in Egyptian CivilizationEgyptians used hieroglyphs which is a formal writing system that combined
graphic and alphabetic elements. Egyptians used hieroglyphs for religious
literature on papyrus and wood. History recognizes the first art piece of
sequential art (comics) which was the Books of the dead created about 3000
BC in ancient Egypt. Ancient Egyptians wanted their dead upon their leave to
the underworld to carry a book with them, a book with tips and advice on
how to manage their living
down there. They were full
of images that illustrated
the text and which were
mandatory. The images
were so important that
often the text was cut to fit
the space available under
them.
7/22/2019 History of Comics (Report)
7/17
6 | H I S T O R Y O F C O M I C S
3.2.Comic art in Greek CivilizationIn the ancient Greek architecture,
temples and public buildings
possessed the Frieze (Wall Painting).
The frieze was a wide section made of
marble on top of the walls (just
underneath the roof). Friezes were
created to both, decorate and
illustrate stories of history. Friezes have
survived in many ancient Greek and
later on Roman buildings; the Frieze on
the Acropolis of Athens being the
most famous. Arch of Galerius and
Rotunda is another example of comic art from Greek civilization. It contains
sculptured sequential arts on Arch. These sequential arts show the stories of
attacks, sacrifices and many more events of military campaign in the Greek era.
3.3.Comic art in Olmec CivilizationOlmec Civilization is the first
major Mexican civilization.
Sculptural art was the
specialty of the people of
Olmec era. The Olmec were
very talented artists and
sculptors who are today best
remembered for their
monumental stonework and
cave paintings. Their work had
sequence and story of historic
events. Many sequential
murals, Made by Olmec; have
been discovered in caves and ancient buildings of Mexico.
7/22/2019 History of Comics (Report)
8/17
7 | H I S T O R Y O F C O M I C S
3.4.Comic art in Roman CivilizationIn Rome, Trajan's Column is anearly surviving example of a
narratives told through the use
of sequential pictures. It is a
monument column raised in the
honour of the Roman emperor;
Trajan. A continuous frieze winds
up around the column from the
base to the top.
3.5.Comic art in Early European CivilizationRomanesque art refers to the art
of Europe from 11th to 13thcentury. It contains Sculptures,
Handicrafts, murals and small
Paintings etc. All these are mostly
sequential and explain stories,
events of early European history.
These are mostly found on ancient
buildings, churches, monuments
etc.
7/22/2019 History of Comics (Report)
9/17
8 | H I S T O R Y O F C O M I C S
4. ADVANCEMENTSAfter the evolution and start of comic art, the World history of comics could bedivides in many ages or eras. In these ages, the name Comic Artor Comics
originated which was earlier;Sequential Art. The comics that described history
and stories of past on walls of monuments and ancient buildings started coming
in form of books. In these books, the stories were different from those in the past.
Comics were being used for entertainment in these ages and they still are.
These ages included:
The Pioneer Age The Platinum Age The Golden Age The Atom Age The Silver Age The Bronze Age The Modern Age
4.1. The Pioneer Age (1500-1890 A.D)The pioneer age is the age in
which major events like wars and
battles were influenced by
widely circulated comic
representations of the players
and situations involved. They
followed a successful
propaganda campaign using
cartoons and comics. Art
collectors, comic fans and
historians were becoming active
and started reading comics
widely.
7/22/2019 History of Comics (Report)
10/17
9 | H I S T O R Y O F C O M I C S
4.2.The Platinum Age (1894-1938 A.D) - TheBeginning of Comic Books
It was in the Platinum Age that
modern comics initiated. The comics
started to come in paper and book
form. The stories of fictional or self-
made characters were used in
comics. The comics were being used
for entertainment purposes. The
Yellow Kid (1894)in Hogans Alleywasone of the first fictional characters to
be used repeatedly in the single panel
comic. This gave birth to further ideas
andc as a result; characters like Little
Nemo were created. Storytelling
through drawn characters grew fromsingle-panels into a series, or strip, to
depict more complicated plots.
Characters started to become
popular, motivating the sale of the
publications they appeared in, also
encouraging the creation of more
characters.
7/22/2019 History of Comics (Report)
11/17
10 | H I S T O R Y O F C O M I C S
4.3.The Golden Age (1938-1951 A.D) - Superheroesand Word War Comic Books
The classic literature was also told in a comic book format; such as The ThreeMusketeers, Ivanhoe and Robin Hood. They all had colorful costumes and
motive of war against crime
and criminals. These were the
patriotic days of World War II.
They fought separately and
sometimes, also banded
together as The Justice
Society of America, The All-
Winners Squad and The
Seven Soldiers of Victory.At
their height, superhero
comics were selling up to a
million copies per month. It
was a good time to be a
hero. Then the war ended,
and the heroes who had
kept the world safe for democracy found themselves without worthy enemies to
fight. The heroes stumbled doing the best they could, until about 1949, but their
days were clearly numbered.
4.4.The Atom Age (1952-1955 A.D)End of ComicBooks?
Fredric Wertham M.D wrote his book Seduction of Innocent (1954) whichappeared as the one of the darkest moments of the Comic Book History.
Welham wanted to blame all the industry for all forms of misbehaving and
criminal behavior in children. This book led to neighborhood book burning
gatherings which destroyed countless numbers of comic books. However, comic
books survived this period and a censorship authority was established in 1954;
7/22/2019 History of Comics (Report)
12/17
11 | H I S T O R Y O F C O M I C S
Comics Code Authority (CCA), a self-policing and censorship code for the
comic book industry. It wasnt a perfect system but it was sufficient for the
survival of comic books. After this entire struggle, the comic industry started to
become stable.
4.5.The Silver Age (1956-1970 A.D) Revival ofComic Industry
Comic Industry realized that
it was the right time to bring
back the superheroes of
yesteryear. This time they
planned not only to bringthem back to also to give
them a modern tint. They
reintroduced The Sultan of
Speed, The Vizier of
Velocity and The Flash.
After three more try-outs in
SHOWCASE, the Flash
graduated to his own
starring book, and the SilverAge of Comics was born.
Hawkman, Green Lantern,
and the Atom: All were
reborn. And then, inevitably,
subscribing to the theory that if one is good, more is better, they all met in the
pages of The Justice League of America, the greatest gathering of heroes. the
world had ever known. All these were assets of DC Comics Company but at their
competition; Marvel line of comics wasnt slow to pick up on this new trend.
Since their opponents had successful comic book, Marvel also needed one as
Superheroes of DC comics were powerful and without weaknesses. Marvel
introduced Superheroes with weaknesses and launched The Fantastic Four. The
Fantastic Four was a family. They fought along with each other and had no
secret identity. The Fantastic Four were a smash. Before long, Marvel introduced
such icons as Spider-Man, Thor, the Hulk, Iron Man, and the X-Men. Comics
7/22/2019 History of Comics (Report)
13/17
12 | H I S T O R Y O F C O M I C S
became trendy with the college crowd, and, by about 1964, comic collecting
became an increasingly organized hobby. The Silver Age was in full swing.
Batmania, a brief but intense national obsession ignited in 1966 with the
premiere of the Batman TV show. It helped to kick the Silver Age into high
gear. Superman starred in his own Broadway musical, and superhero cartoonsrocked the airwaves on Saturday mornings. It was a good time to be a comic
character, as publishers, licensors and merchandisers were finding out. Its not as
easy to precisely define the end of the Silver Age. For many, however, the Silver
Age ended in 1973, when Gwen Stacy, Spider-Mans girlfriend and long-time
love interest, was killed. Not a hoax, not a dream, not an imaginary story. For the
first time, death was real in comics. For the first time, no one was safe. Happily
ever after was no longer a guarantee. It was the end of innocence. It was the
end of the Silver Age.
4.6.The Bronze Age (1970-1985 A.D) Development of Comic Industry
The end of Silver Age didnt mean that
comics came to a crashing halt. The Bronze
Age retained many of the conventions of the
Silver Age, with traditional superhero titles
remaining the mainstay of the industry.However, a return of darker plot elements
and more socially relevant storylines (similar
to those found in the Golden Age of Comic
Books) featuring real-world issues, such as
drug use, alcoholism, and environmental
pollution, began to flourish during the period.
Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Captain
America, Thor and Batman; Dark Knight is
some of the renowned comics of Bronze
Age. The end of the Bronze Age is debated,
and some do not believe it ended at all. Like
the beginning, the exact date is uncertain, and not every single comic book
may be said to have exited the Bronze Age at exactly the same date. But one
commonly used ending point for the Bronze Age is the 1985-1986 time frames.
7/22/2019 History of Comics (Report)
14/17
13 | H I S T O R Y O F C O M I C S
4.7.The Modern Age (1986-Present)In this period, comic book
characters generally became
darker and more psychologically
complex, creators became better-
known and active in changing the
industry, independent comics
flourished, and larger publishing
houses became more
commercialized. An alternate
name for this period is the Dark Age
of Comic Books, due to the
popularity and artistic influence of
grim titles, such as Batman: The Dark
Knight Returns and Watchmen.
Fantasy, horror, and "sophisticated suspense is promoted through comics of the
modern age. Today, the comics industry is as diverse as its ever been. Readers
and collectors can find comics to fit any taste, including crime, horror, western,
romance and even superheroes. Major bookstores carry comic books now, and
their offshoots, the graphic novel. Even more importantly, comics and comic
characters are entering peoples everyday lives through the medium of big-budget movies, which are increasingly drawing inspiration and subject matter
from the four color page. In just the last few years, weve seen multi-million dollar
films focusing on the titles of such superstars as Spider-Man, The X-Men, Batman,
the Hulk, Daredevil and Elektra, Superman and Wonder Woman. In addition,
films such as The Road to Perdition, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, V for
Vendettaand From Hellare all based on comics and graphic novels. It wasnt
that long ago that any adult or middle aged person couldnt be seen reading a
comic book in public. Anyone seen was looked on as stupid and slow. Public
mockery was the price one often paid for indulging in these four-color fantasies.
Now, with film, TV, and the popular media making comics trendy, its cool to
be a geek. Comics have finally emerged in a new way and the fans of comics
are happier than ever before.
7/22/2019 History of Comics (Report)
15/17
14 | H I S T O R Y O F C O M I C S
5.COMICS OTHER THAN COMICBOOKS
Comics other than comic books nowadays are available in newspaper,monthly and weekly digests, magazines, social media etc. These comics have
objectives of raising political, social, motivational and educational issues. These
comics also have the motive of entertainment mostly. Nowadays, comics on
Facebook (a social media site) are very famous. These are known by the name
of Facebook memes.Comics can be molded in any way according the time
and it certainly has no boundaries of creativity and experimentation. This proves
that comics have progressed at the same pace as the world.
7/22/2019 History of Comics (Report)
16/17
15 | H I S T O R Y O F C O M I C S
6. COMICS IN PAKISTANThe scope of comics in Pakistanhas always been limited to the
political ones. But since the early
2000s, comics have been redefined
and many other forms have taken
birth in Pakistan. These forms raise
social, societal and many other
issues. Famous comics of Pakistan
include:
Commander safeguard Burkha Avenger Ool Jalool
Facebook Memes are also very famous in Pakistan.
7/22/2019 History of Comics (Report)
17/17
16 | H I S T O R Y O F C O M I C S
REFERENCES
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_comics http://www.randomhistory.com/1-50/033comic.html http://inventors.about.com/od/cstartinventions/a/comics.htm http://www.comic-art.com/history/history1.htm http://www.thecomicbooks.com/old/Platinum.html http://www.infoplease.com/spot/comicstimeline.html http://www.mania.com/history-comic-book-
superheroes_article_116423.html