Research Task: The History of Comics

Brief

Starting off the course, my first task is to research a selection of comics, find a story to those comics and then say my opinions and observations of the comic. Each comic has something unique to them, and by researching and observation I will create my own collection of ideas of how to approach comics in my own way with the influence of others.

The collection

• Charles M Schulz - ‘ Peanuts ’ newspaper comic strip (1950-2000)

• Stan Lee & Jack Kirby– superhero comics ‘The Fantastic Four ’ and ‘ Thor ’ (1960s)

• Hergé– ‘ The Adventures of Tintin ’ series of 22 books (1946-1976)

• Marjane Satrapi– ‘ Persepolis ’ (2000) and ‘ Embroideries ’ (2008) graphic novels

• Winsor McCay– ‘ Little Nemo In Slumberland’ newspaper comic strip (1905-1926)

The Comics

Starting off with Peanuts, created by Charles M Schulz, what once was a newspaper comics strip originally named Li'l Folks in 1947 was soon re-branded in the 1950's to 'Peanuts' and became more popular. 1

The comic was known for its collection of characters each varying in personalities making it easier for children to relate to a character or finding a friend in a character 2, aside from the characters that were charming and relatable in their little ways, Schulz also brought in topics relating to "controversies" in his stories that were relevant at that time, touching on topics such as race, war and more. 3

4 "Somebody must have had cold feet!" Peanuts Comic Strips by Charles Schulz, August 5, 1973

What I found with Schulz work is that the drawings itself are cartoon and slightly child-like, simple line work and no shading, which makes it much easier for you to pick out the actions and quirky narrative plays (in this instance the little bird perching on the thermometer). Some if not most comic strip of Schulz are black and white but he did develop coloured work that were pastel but vibrant.

The story is set in real time of their releases and set in a real environment, in schools, at home, in the street, at a friend's house, etc. Not like a outer space or another universe. The panel and pacing of the comic is simple, there's no overlapping panels which helps the simplicity of the story and all that adding to the slight humour and direction of the comic; this is a lovely slice of life children's comic with dialogue that feels natural and real.

The next comic to assess is the Fantastic Four, created by both Jack Kirby and Stan Lee the fantastic four series started in 1961 and like Peanuts eventually turned into an animated TV show which then boosted them into their own marvel movie. 5

The comics were made by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee but they each felt they came up with the idea initially,6 and it's up to speculation on who actually came up with the comic of unreal heroes in a realistic city 7. These comics showed a new light to heroes, showing heroes who having feelings of regret, sadness and fear as well as love and developing relationships- something that was rare in that time. 8

9 Fantastic Four Annual #3, By Stan Lee and Jack Kirby Art by: Jack Kirby, Mike Esposito, Stan Goldberg and Sam Rosen. July 1, 1965 10

Looking at this I could see a huge difference between Fantastic Four and Peanuts, the there's more realistic proportions than the other, proper proportionate faces and bodies whereas Peanuts had rounded shapes and slightly exaggerated proportions. There is a lots more colourful and bright colours through this comic, it's still flat with the colour similar to Peanuts; Fantastic Four hasn't got shading with a darker colour just black-ink shadows-- very Pop-Art like.

The genre is different with Fantastic Four being somewhat fantastical with characters with superpowers, only set in a "realistic" setting. What really drives the story is the narration and speech, compared to Peanuts which had action and dialogue; since there is a lot more information for the audience to take in whereas Peanuts was simple quick quirky reads. The paneling is more varied, some parts of the comic has a whole page dedicated to a single panel whereas other like this image has multiple panels.

Moving to another Stan Lee and Jack Kirby comic, Thor, this comic is about "Norse Mythology" God, Thor (as it says on the label). Thor is described as the "mightiest warrior of the ten realms" 11 and it's believed that along with the Fantastic Four titles, Thor is another originally title done by Jack Kirby that was on the charts as the greatest of its time 12; it done so well that it has made it's way to the cinemas with 4 movies, with one set to release in July 2022.

13 Thor #189-190 (1971) by John Buscema, Stan Lee

Similar to the Fantastic Four series, there still maintains a look of bright colours and paneling, however, the character itself is more fantastical as the other, with Thor being inspired by Mythology it seems he's more extravagant and out there than the realistic feeling of the fantastic four-- excluding the fact that they're superheroes, of course.

You can tell the characters are more extravagant but they narration, the way they speak and the character design of the them, they wear more fantastical clothing compared to the fantastic four were they wear skin-tight suits as armor.

Up next is Hergé's, The Adventures of Tintin. Tintin was created in 1929 by the Belgium cartoonist Hergé as a newspaper supplement and earned itself a TV series and some movie deals. The adventures of Tintin is about a young reporter and his dog and their infinite journeys where they encounter lots of weird and wonderful characters. 14

15 U/A, Hergé.

This comic takes place in our world and set in the time that it was released and shows an adventure of a young man and his dog. The comic consists of little to no narration and lots of dialogue with each panel showing and telling us what's happening. The proportions of the characters a human-like and each character is well-thought out, with the character design of Tintin himself, we can tell who he is by his silhouette with his flicked up hair.

The flat colours help bring out the charm of the comic, we can really be drawn to the colour- the the red plane in this image; the clean line work and the same line thickness creates a consistent and bold imagery-- unlike the two Stan lee comics that had varying line width with the shading, it makes it look busy and more poppy; whereas the Tintin adventures looks simple. Which in effect aims for their target audience of young children, they're able to focus on the story.

Next up on the list is, Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, This story tells of the daily life of an adorable, charming young girl in Tehran at the ages of 6 to 14 years old and described as the "years that saw the overthrow of the Shah’s regime, the triumph of the Islamic Revolution, and the devastating effects of war with Iraq." 16

17 Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood, Marjane Satrapi

The drawing in this book is more child-like and abstract (in comparison to the Stan Lee comics) and the lack of colour really draws the emotion and aim of the book, it's simple, black and white; it's really trying to push that political message that in their own world it's black and white, they're forced into political regimes and experiencing war, when a child doesn't care for it they don't know, they just want to play (like the last panel of this image).

This book being different not only for the style but the genre of the comic, it's a autobiography and political detailing true life through both narration and dialogue, the paneling is simple and not in your face since the imagery and words is what does the job.

The other book I have to access, done by the same author is Embroideries by Marjane Satrapi. Embroideries takes the similar turn of real life but topic is more adult-like, it takes a sneak peek into the sex and love lives of Iranian women, where a group of women talk about their stories of regret, secrets and tips. 18

19 Embroideries, Marjane Satrapi, 2003.

This book takes on an interesting stylistic approach, it's the same style as the other book she has created, however this time she's done a panel per page, with no border. I feel like this helps create the feel of an open discussion- it's more satirical than the other book but still keep that style of the other book.

This comic feels more real, it hasn't got a filter and along with the dialogue driven concept it really helps it stand out in this exercise; it's something I never even thought about considering as a comic book but is an approach that'll be interesting to take.

Lastly, there's Little Nemo in Slumberland, by Windsor McCay. Researching this, I realised was a little outdated with some of the artwork being slightly racist. However, I was interested in the detail of the work. Nemo in Slumberland ran from 1905 to 1911 as a comic strip, where Nemo has adventures in his dreams.20

21 Little Nemo - The Complete Comic Strips (1905 - 1914) by Windsor McCay

Unlike all that we've seen this one has to have the most unique colour and detail work, it uses real proportions and it has quite small writing for narration and dialogue and really big imagery taking on a fantastical approach to the story

There's a lot going on in each panel and has a lot of textures on the pages and there is so much going on you might miss something, which is why it takes on the approach of having narration underneath each panel; the panels don't overlap, it's simple and organised in a way that some panels (the most extravagant imagery) can be seen bigger.

Evaluation

This exercise has really taught me a lot about different styles of comics and how that can influence the reader base and how they read it. I know now that it's not always panels and realism but it can be so much more than that, it can be anything. Each comic had it's own meaning and style in every aspect, some may have looked the same (mainly being done by the same person) but they would have differences, like the topic or how they use narration, like the Thor and Fantastic Four comics, they may have looked similar but their stories and character's ways are entirely unique.

It has definitely prepared me for what's to come, I feel comfortable and less pressure to try and make a "Marvel" or "DC" comic (since they're so popular) when I should just be making what I want and how I want it. I feel like I'm open to experimenting to find what I like and this has helped open my eyes to different styles of graphic novels that I haven't seen before.

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Bibliography

1 Ray, Michael. "Peanuts". Encyclopedia Britannica, 5 Aug. 2021, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Peanuts. Accessed 6 June 2022.

2 Peanuts, About, U/A

https://www.peanuts.com/about-peanuts. Accessed 6 June 2022

3 C, Laux, 'Good Grief!: The beguiling philosophy of Peanuts, BBC Culture, 13 Nov. 2018

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20181112-good-grief-the-beguiling-philosophy-of-peanuts. Accessed 6 June 2022

4 Amazon.com, April 25, 2013

https://www.amazon.com/Peanuts-Comic-Strips-Charles-Schulz/dp/B00CIZBGX0. Accessed 6 June 2022

5 Sanderson, Peter and Eury, Michael. "Fantastic Four". Encyclopedia Britannica, 18 Oct. 2021, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Fantastic-Four. Accessed 6 June 2022.

6 K. Prengel Heavy 'Jack Kirby & Stan Lee: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know' 16 Mar. 2021 https://heavy.com/entertainment/marvel/2018/11/jack-kirby-stan-lee/ Accessed 6 June 2022

7 M Peters, Paste 'Three Ways Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s Fantastic Four Laid the Blueprint for Our Superhero-Centric World, 7 Aug. 2015. https://www.pastemagazine.com/comics/three-ways-stan-lee-and-jack-kirbys-fantastic-four/ Accessed 6 June 2022.

8 G. Marston, Games Radar 'Best Fantastic Four Stories of all Time', 24 Feb. 2022 https://www.gamesradar.com/uk/best-fantastic-four-stories/. Accessed 6 June 2022.

9 D. Mollo, Screenrant 'One of Stan Lee's First Movie Cameos Came Straight From the Comics'. 6 Aug. 2021. https://screenrant.com/stan-lee-jack-kirby-fantastic-four-wedding-cameo/ Accessed 6 June 2022

10 U/A, Marvel Fandom 'Fantastic Four Annual Vol 1 3', U/A. https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Fantastic_Four_Annual_Vol_1_3. Accessed 6 June 2022.

11 U/A, Marvel Fandom 'Thor Odinson (Earth-616)', U/A https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Thor_Odinson_(Earth-616) Accessed 6 June 2022.

12 J, Robertson. Screenrant 'Jack Kirby Created Thor Comics Years Before Stan Lee Did. 30 Oct 2021. https://screenrant.com/jack-kirby-thor-comics-before-stan-lee-marvel/#:~:text=In%20a%20March%201985%20interview,was%20forever%20enamored%20of%20legends. Accessed 6 June 2022

13 U/A, EarthMightiestBlog, U/A. https://earthsmightiestblog.com/thor-189-190/ Accessed 6 June 2022

14 U/A, Book Trust UK 'The Adventures of Tintin', U/A. https://www.booktrust.org.uk/book/t/the-adventures-of-tintin/ Accessed 6 June 2022

15 U/A, Comicsflix.org 'My Perfect Comic Issue 3', 13 Mar. 2018, https://comicsflix.org/2018/03/13/my-perfect-comic-issue-3-comicsflix/ Accessed 6 June 2022

16 Goodreads 'Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood' U/A https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9516.Persepolis Accessed 6 June 2022.

17 U/A, knopfdoubleday,'"The Veil" from Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis', U/A https://knopfdoubleday.com/2009/06/30/the-veil-from-marjane-satrapis-persepolis/ Accessed 6 June 2022

18 U/A, Goodreads 'Embroideries', U/A https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9526.Embroideries Accessed 6 June 2022

19 biremine, Tumblr, U/A, https://fi-lhakika.tumblr.com/page/4 Accessed 6 June 2022

20 U/A, Museum Of Dreams, U/A. https://www.museumofdreams.org/little-nemo-in-slumberland#:~:text=Little%20Nemo%20in%20Slumberland%20was,up%20at%20home%2C%20in%20bed. Accessed 6 June 2022

21 PDF, Google Images, U/A. https://d1vzi28wh99zvq.cloudfront.net/pdf_previews/112260-sample.pdf Accessed 6 June 2022.