Zyngae
NFT
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 amongst 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; fumetti 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, while online webcomics have proliferated in the
21st century.
The history of comics has followed different paths
in different cultures. Scholars have posited a pre-history as far back
as the Lascaux cave paintings. By the mid-20th century, comics
flourished, particularly in the United States, western Europe
(especially France and Belgium), and Japan. The history of European
comics is often traced to Rodolphe Töpffer's cartoon strips of the
1830s, and became popular following the success in the 1930s of strips
and books such as The Adventures of Tintin. American comics emerged as
a mass medium in the early 20th century with the advent of newspaper
comic strips; magazine-style comic books followed in the 1930s, in
which the superhero genre became prominent after Superman appeared in
1938. Histories of Japanese comics and cartooning (manga) propose
origins as early as the 12th century. Modern comic strips emerged in
Japan in the early 20th century, and the output of comics magazines and
books rapidly expanded in the post-World War II era (1945–) with the
popularity of cartoonists such as Osamu Tezuka. Comics has had a
lowbrow reputation for much of its history, but towards the end of the
20th century began to find greater acceptance with the public and
academics.