Battle of Backbone Mountain

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Introduction

Comics is 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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Selected article

Batman Begins is a 2005 superhero film based on the fictional DC Comics character Batman, directed by Christopher Nolan. It stars Christian Bale as Batman along with Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes, Cillian Murphy, Gary Oldman, and Morgan Freeman. The film reboots the Batman film series, telling the origin story of the character from Bruce Wayne's initial fear of bats, the death of his parents, his journey to become Batman, and his fight against Ra's al Ghul's plot to destroy Gotham City. After a series of unsuccessful projects to resurrect Batman on screen following the 1997 critical failure of Batman & Robin, Nolan and David S. Goyer began to work on the film in early 2003 and aimed for a darker and more realistic tone, with humanity and realism being the basis of the film. The film opened on June 15, 2005, in the United States and Canada in 3,858 theaters. It grossed $48 million in its opening weekend, eventually grossing over $372 million worldwide. The film received a generally positive critical response. The film begins The Dark Knight trilogy; its story arc is continued in The Dark Knight (2008) and concluded in The Dark Knight Rises (2012).

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Anniversaries for April 24

1912: birth of George Wunder, American cartoonist best known for illustrating the Terry and the Pirates comic strip
1930: birth of Richard Donner, American film director and writer, known as director of Superman and writer of Action Comics
1930: birth of Howie Schneider, American cartoonist and children's book author, best-known for the comic strip Eek & Meek
1957: birth of John MacLeod, Canadian comics artist and creator, author of Dishman
1960: birth of Ralph Griffith, co-founder of Arrow Comics
1981: death of Howard Purcell, American comic book artist known as co-creator of Sargon the Sorcerer and Gay Ghost
2004: Nat Gertler organises the first 24-hour comics day

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General images

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

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

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

... that Arnie Roth debuted as a gay Marvel Comics character at a time when the publisher maintained a "No Gays in the Marvel Universe" policy?
... that until the 1970s, most shōjo manga (Japanese girls' comics) were written by men?
... that otomechikku, a subgenre of Japanese girls' comics focusing on stories about ordinary teenaged protagonists, has been compared to monogatari and the genre of Bildungsroman?
... that the first time The Witcher universe was portrayed outside the novels was in the 1993–1995 Polish comic book series of the same name?
... that a 1944 serial film was the first film appearance of Captain America and the first film appearance of any Marvel Comics character?
... that the robotic enemies in the video game The Incredible Hulk were influenced by Marvel Comics' objection to the Hulk killing humanoid characters?
... that Pinky & Pepper Forever is a graphic novel that follows two anthropomorphic dog girlfriends through hell?
... that the USC Trojans team that won the 2022 NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship had been compared to the Marvel Comics' Avengers?

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Credit: Richard Felton Outcault

The Yellow Kid was the name of a lead comic strip character that ran from 1895 to 1898 in Joseph Pulitzer's, New York World, and later William Randolph Hearst's, New York Journal. Created and drawn by Richard F. Outcault in a strip entitled Hogan's Alley, (and later under other names as well) it was one of the first Sunday supplement comic strips in an American newspaper, although its graphical layout had already been thoroughly established in political and other, purely-for-entertainment cartoons.

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More did you know...

...that 24-hour comics have become so popular that there's now a holiday for it on April 24?

...that Uri-On, created by Michael Netzer (pictured) in 1987, was the first Israeli superhero to be published in color?

...that T.H.E. Fox, drawn on a C64 KoalaPad and published on CompuServe, Q-Link and GEnie, is among the earliest online comics?

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Selected quote

Contrary to the rumors you have heard, I was not born in a manger. I was actually born on Krypton and sent here by my father, Jor-El, to save the planet Earth.

— Barack Obama, United States Senator from Illinois (2005-2008), 44th President of the United States (2009-), October 2008

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