COMICS

   This rubric covers the comic strip in daily and Sunday newspapers, European comic papers and the US-style comic book; it does not cover the GRAPHIC NOVEL per se, although clearly there is overlap between the two categories. Strip-cartoon stories use some interaction of text and picture, as opposed to the established "storybook" use of words plus illustrations of the words. Design, drawing style, caption and word-balloon continuity all serve to make the strip cartoon a medium with its own syntax and frame of reference, one which may have been best defined by Scott McCloud (1960-) - in his seminal Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art (graph 1993) - as "Juxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence, intended to convey information and/or to produce an aesthetic response in the viewer."Like the history of sf, the history of the comic strip is far more complex, and extends much further into the past, than had been assumed until recent decades, when researchers (see Further Reading list below) began properly to examine the record, and to establish a continuity between the graphic work of the 18th century and the comic papers and Sunday newspaper supplements which flourished so conspicuously in the USA a century later. Sf comic strips as such, however, were slow to develop. By the end of the 19th century, though the comic strip had achieved very considerable sophistication and was capable of treating very widely varied subject matter, there was virtually no sf presented in a credible manner, nor would there be for another 30 years. Prior to this, the emphasis on humour in the comic strips had relegated sf to the realms of fantasy, as in Our Office Boy's Fairy Tales (1895 The Funny Wonder), an anonymous UK series depicting a family on Mars facing totally impossible hardships and jubilations. More mature in its approach was Winsor MCCAY's fantasy Little Nemo in Slumberland (1st series 1905-11 New York Herald), which depicted the dream adventures of a young boy and an ever-increasing array of characters from the court of King Morpheus. McCay's manipulation of the size, shape and position of each panel, together with his use of perspective, gave added emphasis to the narrative and indicated how artistic technique could augment the text. (This attribute of the comic strip was sometimes itself used to create the fantasy element, as in Krazy Kat [1911-44] by George Herriman [1880-1944], where the scenic background, changing from panel to panel, created a surrealistically alien environment, or in Felix The Cat [1923 onwards] by Otto Messmer [1892-1983], where the eponymous feline gave substance to his imagination by treating the contents of his thought balloons as physical realities.) McCay's fantasies were perhaps topped only by the expressionist whimsy of his contemporary, Lyonel Feininger (1871-1956), in Wee Willy Winky's World and The Kin-Der Kids.In the 1920s, when economic depression brought about a change in public outlook, a demand was created for action-adventure strips, making publication of outright sf comic strips feasible. The transition came with BUCK ROGERS IN THE 25TH CENTURY (1929-67), an adult comic strip inspired by a novel in AMAZING STORIES; it spawned several rivals, among them BRICK BRADFORD (1933 onwards), FLASH GORDON (1934 onwards), Speed Spaulding (1939), adapted from Edwin BALMER's and Philip WYLIE's When Worlds Collide (1933) and illustrated by Marvin Bradley, and not forgetting Frank Godwin's CONNIE (1927-44), which in the mid-1930s abandoned its everyday terrestrial setting for outer-space intrigue. These all drew their plots extensively from the epics of classical literature, modernized by the inclusion of SPACESHIPS and ray-guns, and distanced from reality by being located in the far future or remote past.Similar innovations occurred in Europe following the reprintings there of the major US comic strips. High points were the appearances of: in France, Futuropolis (1937-8 Junior) and Electropolis (1939 Jean-Pierre), both written and illustrated by Rene Pellos; in Italy, Saturno Contro la Terra (1937-43), written by F. Pedrocchi and illustrated by G. Scolari; and, in the UK, GARTH (1943 onwards).The growth in the number of sf comic strips was, however, largely a reflection of the increased number of comic strips in general; they were now so popular in the USA that new methods of packaging them were being explored. Out of this experimentation developed the comic book. Initially comic books contained merely reprints of the newspaper strips-e.g., Buck Rogers in Famous Funnies (1934-55) and Flash Gordon and Brick Bradford in King Comics (1936-51)-but soon the available existing strips were used up, and comic books featuring original strips were the inevitable second stage. In the first issue of one of these new titles, Action Comics (1938 onwards; DC COMICS), SUPERMAN appeared. Featuring a larger-than-life figure, omnipotent (mostly) in the face of all adversity, Superman (1939 onwards) proved so popular that numerous imitation SUPERHEROES appeared, from Batman through CAPTAIN MARVEL to the many heroes featured by the modern MARVEL COMICS group, all being variations on the same basic theme.In many of these comic books a central sf story was backed up by strips from outside the genre, but some comics were entirely devoted to sf. The first sf comic book was Amazing Mystery Funnies (1938-40), which contained a pot-pourri of superhero and SPACE-OPERA strips, its artists including Bill Everett (1917-1973), Will Eisner (1917-) and Basil Wolverton (1909-1979). Hugo GERNSBACK briefly entered the field with Superworld Comics (1939). Buck Rogers (1940-43) and Flash Gordon (intermittently 1943-53) also appeared as titles. Most successful was Planet Comics (1940-54), a companion to PLANET STORIES, which featured Star Pirate by Murphy Anderson (1926-), Lost World by George Evans (1920-), Auro, Lord of Jupiter by Graham Ingels (1915-1991) and other memorable strips.In such a competitive market it was inevitable that publishers would turn to the sf PULP MAGAZINES for help. National Periodicals (DC Comics) offered Mort WEISINGER, then editor of THRILLING WONDER STORIES, an editorial post. Accepting it, he worked initially on Superman, using authors of the calibre of Alfred BESTER, Edmond HAMILTON, Henry KUTTNER and Manly Wade WELLMAN to help compete with the rival publication, Captain Marvel, scripted by Otto Binder (Eando BINDER). Well known artists from the sf magazines were also used. Alex SCHOMBURG appeared in Startling Comics (1940-51), Edd CARTIER in Shadow Comics (1940-50) and Red Dragon, 2nd series (1947-8), and Virgil FINLAY in Real Fact Comics (1946-9). Similarly, in the UK Serge Drigin, artist on SCOOPS and FANTASY, illustrated Space Police (1940 Everyday Novels and Comics).By the early 1950s numerous sf comic books were appearing, among them: Lars of Mars (1951) and Space Patrol (1952), both issued by ZIFF-DAVIS, publishers of AMAZING STORIES and FANTASTIC ADVENTURES; and Rocket to the Moon (1951) and An Earthman on Venus (1952), both published by Avon and featuring adaptations of, respectively, Otis Adelbert KLINE's Maza of the Moon (1930) and Ralph Milne FARLEY's The Radio Man (1924 Argosy All-Story Weekly; 1948; vt An Earthman on Venus 1950); and an anti-communist propaganda sf comic book, Is This Tomorrow? (1947). More durable were Mystery in Space (1951-66) and Strange Adventures (1950-73), both from DC, Harvey's Race for the Moon (1956) and Richard E. Hughes's Forbidden Worlds (1951-67), all of which managed some consistency, albeit of a distinctly juvenile nature. Distinguished artwork came from the likes of Sid Greene, Carmine Infantino, (1925-), Gil Kane (1926-), Jack KIRBY, Mike Sekowsky, Al Williamson (1931-) and sometime Buck Rogers illustrator Murphy Anderson (1926-). All the while, new sf comic strips were appearing in newspapers, two of the better titles being Beyond Mars (1951-3 New York Sunday News), scripted by Jack WILLIAMSON from his two novels Seetee Shock (1950) and Seetee Ship (1951), with illustrations by Lee Elias (1920-), and Twin Earths (1951-4), a counter-Earth story created and written by Oskar Lebeck illustrated by Alden McWilliams (1916-) - not to forget Sky Masters (1959-61), drawn by Kirby and written by Bob and Dick Wood, doing their best to second-guess a space programme that still lay 10 years in the future.The most important of this period, however, were the sf comic books published by EC COMICS. Appearing initially at the suggestion of Harry HARRISON, who had been working in comics as artist and scriptwriter since 1946, Weird Science (1950-53) and Weird Fantasy (1950-53) - which later merged to form Weird Science Fantasy (1953-5) before being finally renamed Incredible Science Fiction (1955-6) - published the most sophisticated sf stories yet to appear in the comic books, often featuring wry endings in the manner of Philip K. DICK. Illustrated by such well known sf artists as George Evans, Frank FRAZETTA, Roy G. KRENKEL, Bernard Krigstein (1919-1990), Al Williamson and Wallace WOOD, they often included adaptations of stories by popular sf authors, in particular Ray BRADBURY. With the imposition of the Comics Code in 1955, these and many other titles ceased, and comics then went through a period of restraint and unoriginality.A similar boom in sf comic books was taking place in Europe. Included in these titles were Super Science Thrills (1945), Tit-Bits Science Fiction Comics (1953) and The Jet Comic (1953), a companion to AUTHENTIC SCIENCE FICTION, which appeared in the UK, and Espace (1953-54) and L'An 2,000 (1953-4), in France. Also of interest was Tarzan Adventures (1953-9) which, under Michael MOORCOCK's editorship from 1957, published several sf comic strips, including James CAWTHORN's Peril Planet. It was in the weekly comic papers, however, that the best-drawn and -plotted sf comic strips were to appear. Foremost was DAN DARE (1950-67 Eagle). With its clean linework by Frank HAMPSON, this became the UK's most influential sf comic strip, inspiring several rivals - including JEFF HAWKE, Captain Condor (1952-5 Lion), at one time illustrated by Brian LEWIS (who also did many NEW WORLDS covers), and Jet-Ace Logan (1956-9 Comet; 1959-60 Tiger), written by Frank S. Pepper (1910-1988) and, later, by Moorcock (who also scripted Rick Random, Space Ace, drawn by Rowland [Ron] Turner (1922-) for Thriller Picture Library). Equally notable was Rocket (1956), an sf comic paper which featured US reprints and others, including Escape from Earth, Seabed Citadel and Captain Falcon; it ran to 32 issues. More successful was Boy's World (1963-4) which, prior to its merger with Eagle, published Wrath of the Gods, initially written by Moorcock and illustrated by Ron Embleton (1930-1988), then by John M. Burns (1938-), Ghost World, illustrated by Frank Bellamy (1917-1976), and The Angry Planet, an adaptation of Harry Harrison's Deathworld (1960) plotted by Harrison and scripted by Kenneth BULMER. Mention should also be made of TV Century 21 (1965-9), which published material based on Gerry ANDERSON's tv puppet shows STINGRAY, FIREBALL XL5, THUNDERBIRDS and CAPTAIN SCARLET AND THE MYSTERONS and on Terry NATION's horrors, the DALEKS. In 1977 the first truly UK sf comic arrived in the shape of 2,000 AD, starring the quasi-fascist supercop JUDGE DREDD.A turning point was the publication by MARVEL COMICS - which had published innumerable horror, fantasy and sf anthology titles throughout the 1950s and early 1960s - of The Fantastic Four (1961 onwards), whose success heralded a new wave of superhero comics, starring new characters and heroes (like Captain America and Sub-Mariner) resuscitated from Marvel productions of the period during and immediately after WWII. National Periodicals (DC Comics), publishers of Superman, was already in the process of expanding its superhero list, so DC and Marvel very soon became established as the "Big Two" in the field. Another trend was the growing number of adaptations of sf TELEVISION series, notably STAR TREK and DR WHO, which both appeared in a variety of publications. Innovations appeared in the "underground" comics, where sf supplied an ideal framework for scatological examinations of society's neuroses and phobias; original artistic styles were developed by Richard CORBEN, Vaughn BODE and others. Roger ELWOOD edited Starstream Comics (1976) in an attempt to introduce adaptations of work by Poul ANDERSON, Larry NIVEN, Robert SILVERBERG and others, but this venture apparently failed to attract any substantial readership. A similar fate befell a slightly earlier series, Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction (1975) ed Roy Thomas, which adapted stories by Moorcock, Bob SHAW, Stanley G. WEINBAUM and others. Published by the Marvel Comics group and with the byline "Stan Lee Presents" (Stan LEE), it ran for 6 issues in 1975. Several other sf comics appeared in the mid-1970s, notably Charlton Comics's Space 1999 Magazine (a companion to the Gerry Anderson tv series SPACE 1999), the apocalyptic colour comic Doomsday Plus 1 (recently reprinted, due to the popularity of artist John Byrne [1950- ], by Fantagraphics) and Marvel's Planet of the Apes magazine (based on the 1968 movie PLANET OF THE APES and its sequels), which was immensely popular in the UK in 1975. Mike Friedrich's titles Star Reach (1975-8) and Imagine (1976-8), which graduated in 1977 from underground comics to small-magazine format, had a heavy sf and fantasy bias. Friedrich's list of contributors reads like a who's who of comics experimenters and stars: Howard V. CHAYKIN, Michael T. Gilbert, Lee Marrs, P. Craig Russell (1950-) (well remembered for his work on Marvel's Killraven space opera - see below - which ran in Amazing Adventures 1975-6 and was republished as a graphic novella, 1983), Jim Starlin (1949-). . . the list is a long one. Mention should also be made of Marvel's 1977 adaptation of the 1968 film 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, done by Jack Kirby, who also had a 100pp novella, The Silver Surfer (graph 1977), co-authored with Stan LEE, published in that year.In the UK interest in Jeff Hawke had waned sufficiently for the London Daily Express, the national newspaper in which it had appeared, to discontinue the strip - although the Express's sister newspaper, the Scottish Daily Record, missed Jeff Hawke enough that it commissioned a new and exceptionally similar strip from Sidney Jordan: this was Lance McLane, which ran from 1976 until the mid-1980s. Earlier, in 1973, writer Richard O'Neill and artist John M. Burns had created a Philip Jose FARMER-style fantasy, Danielle (1973-4; brief revival in 1978; graph coll as Danielle 1984), for the London Evening News. In the USA Gil Kane and Ron GOULART embarked on a daily space-adventure strip, Star Hawks (1977-81), cleverly jumping in before the release, later that year, of the movie space opera STAR WARS.With the success of that film came a renewed interest in sf proper, rather than the fringe-sf of the superhero adventure. The 1970s had seen their fair share of interesting though often short-lived features, such as: Mike Kaluta's elegant adaptation of Edgar Rice BURROUGHS's Carson of Venus adventures in Korak (1972-4); Killraven (Amazing Adventures 1973-6) by Don MacGregor, initially drawn by Howard V. Chaykin and after 1975 by Russell, which was an attempt at a sequel to H.G. WELLS's THE WAR OF THE WORLDS (1898); Monark Starstalker by Chaykin; Deathlok; Star Hunters; Warlock and CAPTAIN MARVEL, both these latter by Jim Starlin; Guardians of the Galaxy (written by Steve Gerber); Starfire and The Eternals (inspired by the notions of Erich von DANIKEN) - as well as the many excellent stories published by James Warren in his black-and-white magazines Eerie (1965-83), Creepy (1965-83), 1984 (1978-80) and Comix International (1974-7). Baronet Books issued The Illustrated Roger Zelazny (graph 1978) by Gray MORROW and followed up with The Illustrated Harlan Ellison. HEAVY METAL - a US avatar of France's METAL HURLANT - opened many eyes to European comics stars such as Moebius (Jean GIRAUD), later creator of The Airtight Garage (graph coll trans 1987), and Philippe DRUILLET, with Lone Sloane (graph 1967) and Delirius (graph 1973). Star Wars and, to a lesser extent, LOGAN'S RUN (1976) began the deluge of late 1970s/early 1980s sf on film and tv. ALIEN, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, BLADE RUNNER, BUCK ROGERS IN THE 25TH CENTURY, OUTLAND, 2010 and UFO all had comics adaptations. Star Wars's own comic series ran for 10 years (1977-86); and, despite its having to change publishers several times, there has been a Star Trek comic book running continuously right through the 1970s and 1980s to today's Star Trek: The Next Generation. In the UK at this time it was the tv-related magazines that produced the best comic-strip sf. Countdown (later renamed TV Action 1970-74) ran a Dr Who strip and another based loosely on 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Look In had some excellent stories ranging from The TOMORROW PEOPLE through Buck Rogers in the 25th Century to The SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN .Smaller independent companies like First Comics brought us items such as: Mars (1984) by Marc Hempel (1957-) and Mark Wheatley (1954-), a tale of Earth science and colonists versus Martian Mother Nature; NEXUS (1981-91) by Mike Baron (1949-) and Steve Rude (1956-), possibly the ultimate mixture of HARD SF and superhero genres; AMERICAN FLAGG! (1983-8; 2nd series 1988-9), Chaykin's DYSTOPIAN masterpiece (there were 3 collections: Hard Times [graph 1984], Southern Comfort [graph 1986] and State of the Union [graph 1987]), followed by his two stylish Time (2) novellas, The Epiphany (graph 1986) and The Satisfaction of Black Mariah (graph 1987). First Comics also continued the comics adaptations of Michael Moorcock's Elric books after Pacific Comics had expired - Elric of Melnibone (1984), Sailor on the Seas of Fate (1985-6), Weird of the White Wolf (1986-7), The Vanishing Tower (1987-8) and Bane of the Black Sword (1988-9) - as well as initiating further Moorcock series: Hawkmoon (5 series, 1986-9) and Corum (1987-9). Marvel Comics brought out a glossy magazine in the Heavy Metal mould called Epic Illustrated (1980-86; rev 1992), and this led Marvel to set up in 1984 a separate imprint, Epic Comics, which has put out some excellent material: Starstruck (1985-6; graph exp vt Starstruck: The Expanding Universe 1990-91); also adapted as a stage play) by Elaine Lee and Mike Kaluta; Void Indigo (1984-5) by Steve Gerber, which dealt with a few too many TABOOS and was left unfinished; Alien Legion (1984-current); and Plastic Forks (1990), a Philip K. Dick-style adventure by Ted McKeever. Epic Comics is currently publishing McKeever's apocalyptic story Metropol (1991-current). Other items of interest include: Frank MILLER Inc.'s story Ronin (1983-4; graph coll 1987), a fascinating mixture in which post- HOLOCAUST techno-principality (New York) meets Samurai drama; and comics's answer to Fritz LANG's METROPOLIS (1926), MR X (1984-91) by Dean Motter and Paul Rivoche, issued by Canadian publisher Vortex and produced briefly by the LOVE AND ROCKETS creators Gilbert (1957-), Jaime (1959-) and Mario Hernandez, with a collection published as The Return of Mr X (graph coll 1985). The comic-book company Innovation has recently published several sf and fantasy adaptations based on work by (among others) Piers ANTHONY, Terry PRATCHETT, Anne Rice (1941-) and Gene WOLFE. JAPAN - home of martial-arts epics, GOJIRA and gargantuan ROBOTS - deserves special discussion. The robots usually have an initial manga (comic-strip) incarnation. The ancestor of them all is Osamu TEZUKA's Tetsuwan Atom (vt Astroboy). This diminutive hero's comic-strip adventures date back to 1952, and his tv cartoon show, first aired in 1963, marked the birth of tv animation in Japan. As well as robo-colossi such as Mazinger X and The Shogun Warriors, space operas like Space Cruiser Yamato and Galaxy Express 999 and the space piracy of by Masamune Shirow, the closely-guarded pseudonym of a Japanese writer/artist (1962-) Captain Harlock (all created by Reiji Matsumoto) were very popular in 1970s manga and on tv. More recently speculative manga have been given a chance to diversify a little as evidenced by Mai the Psychic Girl (trans graph coll 1990 UK); Rumiko Takahashi's Lum (1989-90), a sort of sf farce; the serene HARD SF of Yukinobu Hoshino's 2001 Nights (trans graph 1990);Appleseed (trans graph coll, vol 1 1990, vol 2 1991, vol 3 1992)by Masamune Shirow, the closely-guarded pseudonym of a Japanese writer/artist (1962-); and Katsuhiro OTOMO's phenomenally successful Akira (1982 onwards), filmed as AKIRA (1987), whose nearly 2000 pages are being published in colour in English by Epic Comics (1989 onwards).In the 1990s the "adult" cartoon strip has finally begun to find its way into bookshops and away from the "funnies" sections of the newspapers. Reading V for Vendetta (graph 1990) by Alan MOORE and artist David Lloyd (1950-) is not the simple, lowest-common-denominator entertainment that was once the norm for comic books; reading the Luther Arkwright trilogy (graph coll 1989) by Bryan Talbot (1952-) involves an understanding of the language of comics, especially in layout; reading Matthias Schultheiss's Bell's Theorem (graph in 3 vols 1989) really does hinge on an understanding of the eponym. Of course, there is no shortage of trashy adventure comics and fatuous newspaper strips, just like 50 years ago. The difference is that now there are intelligent comic strips, comic books and graphic novels as well.For a list of all comics and comics-related entries Introduction.

   JE/SW/SH/JC

   Further reading: The best studies of the comic strip before the end of the 19th century are, both by David Kunzle, The Early Comic Strip (1974) and The History of the Comic Strips: The 19th Century (1992), the first 2 vols of an extended and intensive overview; and The American Comic Book Catalogue: The Evolutionary Era, 1884-1939 (1990) by Denis Gifford (1927-), which lists nearly 500 separate titles and series, is an important aid. For later periods, see The Comics (1947; reissued 1990) by Coulton Waugh; The Penguin Book of Comics (1967; rev 1971; rev 1990) by George Perry and Alan Aldridge; A History of the Comic Strip (1968) by P. Couperie and Maurice Horn; The World Encyclopedia of Comics (1967) by Maurice Horn; The Adventurous Decade: Comic Strips in the Thirties (1976) by Ron GOULART; The World Encyclopedia of Comics (1976) ed M. Horn; Smithsonian Collection of Newspaper Comics (1977) ed Bill Blackbeard and Martin Williams; Smithsonian Book of Comic Book Comics (1979) ed Blackbeard; The International Book of Comics (1984) by Denis Gifford; Encyclopedia of Comic Characters (1987) by Denis Gifford;Comics: Ideology, Power and the Critics (1989) by Martin Barker; The Encyclopedia of Comic Books (1991) by Ron Goulart; Adult Comics: An Introduction (1993) by Roger Sabin; The Comic Book: The One Essential Guide for Comic Book Fans Everywhere (1994) by Paul Sassienie; the important annual bibliography The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide by Robert M. Overstreet.