Comic Books

Key information:
Dating back to the 18th Century
comic books have been around
for a while, its antecedents date
back to the Middle Ages.

A comic book or comicbook, also

called comic magazine or simply
comic, is a publication that
consists of comic art in the form
of sequential juxtaposed panels
that represent individual scenes.

Panels are often accompanied by

brief descriptive prose and
written narrative, usually dialog English Civil War
contained in word balloons emblematic of the comics art form. Pamphlet '
[no title]'
1985-90
Although comics have some origins in 18th century Japan and 1830s Europe, comic books
were first popularized in the United States during the 1930s. The term comic book originated
from American comic books once being a compilation of comic strips of a humorous tone; however, this practice
has been manipulated so much over the years and now has a variety of genres for all tastes.
History of Comics

Comics have been in existence since the end of the 19th century, but it was after the depression that the popularity
of newspaper cartoons expanded into a major industry.
The precise era of the Golden Age is disputed, though most agree that it was born with the launch of Superman in
1938. Created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, Superman is possibly the most recognizable comic book character to
this day.
The success of Superman spawned a series of spin-offs and created a whole new genre of characters with secret
identities, superhuman powers and colorful outfits the superhero. Batman and Robin, Wonder Woman, Plastic
Man, Green Lantern and Flash were amongst those who followed.
The sales of comic books increased markedly during World War II. Captain America, a superhero whose entire
creation was based on aiding the countrys war effort.
http://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/feature/the-golden-age-of-comics/

Key features
Comic Books have dated back to the Middle Ages
Comics consist of comic art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent
individual scenes.
Comics were first popularized in the United States during 1930s
2 Key Artists

Katsuhiro Otomo
Key information
Katsuhiro Otomo is a Japanese Manga artist, screenwriter and film director. He is best known as the creator of
the manga Akira and its animated film adaptation. Echoing the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki,
Otomo opens Akira with the detonation of a mysterious bomb over Japan, triggering a Third World War.
Otomo started working on manga in the late 70's almost all manga was gekiga (dramatic pictures) or sports
manga nothing to do with science fiction which he loved. First manga created called domu was inspired by
gundams (Japanese robots) and the release of the star wars film.

http://www.paulgravett.com/articles/article/katsuhiro_otomo

Born in 1954, Otomo sought to evoke this volatile period he knew well in the future-world of Akira. I wanted
to revive a Japan like the one I grew up in, after the Second World War, with a government in difficulty, a
world being rebuilt, external political pressures, an uncertain future and a gang of kids left to fend for
themselves, who cheat boredom by racing on motorbikes. He also pays tribute to his childhood favourite
childhood manga by Mitsuteru Yokoyama, the giant robot classic Tetsujin 28 Go (1956-66)

http://www.paulgravett.com/articles/article/katsuhiro_otomo

Key features
Otomo is best Known for the creation of the manga Akira
His most famous work: Akira, took eight years to complete and culminated in 2000 pages of
artwork
Otomo wanted to revive a Japan like the one he grew up in, after the Second World War.
First Manga created called domu was inspired by gundams (Japanese robots) and the release of the
star wars film.

Katsuhiro Otomo
Akira Front Cover Katsuhiro Otomo
Akira Tetsuo on Throne
1988 Akira Manga
1982
2 Key Artists
Brian Bolland
Key information
While at art school, Bolland drew and self-published a couple of fanzines and sent work to underground
magazines. In 1972 he met Dave Gibbons who provided him with his first regular work: "Powerman". It was
Gibbons who introduced Bolland to 2000 AD. When another artist dropped out, Bolland was called in to
complete a Judge Dredd story in issue 41 and soon was established as a regular artist on the series. Bolland's
early work on Dredd was much influenced by Mike McMahon who was regarded as the senior artist on the
strip and would redraw characters or panels if he was not happy with them. Bolland's distinct abilities with
subtle facial expression, dramatic lighting and the dynamic composition of page layout soon began to emerge.
Bolland's memorable contributions included the introductions of Judge Death and Judge Anderson. In between
Dredd assignments Bolland drew horror strips for the "House of Hammer" anthology and stories for Doctor
Who Weekly.

http://comicbookdb.com/creator.php?ID=173

Len Wein brought Bolland to the US market as the artist on DC's Camelot 3000 12-issue limited series, with
Mike Barr (dealing with the return of King Arthur to save England from an alien invasion in the Year 3000),
and on the Batman graphic novel Batman: The Killing Joke, written by Alan Moore. However, Bolland is much
more famous as a cover artist; he has contributed covers in many cases to complete runs/arcs to some of
the more famous landmark comics of recent years. Examples of his work include the whole second and third
volumes of Grant Morrison's The Invisibles, a large run of Animal Man (covering the tenures of Morrison, Peter
Milligan, Tom Veitch and Jamie Delano), and assorted issues of Tank Girl, The Flash, Superman, Green Lantern,
Wonder Woman, Batman (esp. Batman: Gotham Knights), and many more.

http://comicbookdb.com/creator.php?ID=173

Key features
Bolland became part of the 'British invasion' era, in which American comic creators snapped up British
designers.
Bolland introduced 2 huge characters to the 2000 AD universe, Judge Death and Judge Anderson
He Met Dave Gibbons in 1972 who gave him his first actual job then got him to the gateway of 2000
AD.

Brian Bolland
Brian Bolland
Judge Dredd
The Joker
Judge Dredd the
The Killing Joke
Complete Brian Bolland
1988
2013
The Killing Joke.

The Joker is a character created in the

DC comics universe. His first
appearance was in April 25, 1940
from the first issue of the Batman
comic.
Over time the joker has changed
greatly but he initially appeared as a
remorseless serial killer, modelled
after a joker playing card with a
mirthless grin, who killed his victims
with joker venom, a toxin which left
their faces smiling grotesquely.
Brian Bolland was inspired and also
wanted to challenge the earlier made
Joker and change his story and look
completely. Brian Bollands later take Brian Bolland
on the joker stemmed from seeing the The Joker
The Killing Joke
film The Man Who Laughs, a silent film which stared a character with a grim carnival1988
freak like grin
called gwynplaine. this was a key link for Brian Bolland which would give him the
inspiration he needed for what his joker would look like.
The drawing is the point where the joker finds out that his body has gone through
this change and so has his life and begins to go insane and starts to uncontrollably
start laughing. The background Text of continuous HAHAHAs works and links
well with what the joker is going through at that point in time with the horrifying
smile and stare he is giving the reader.
The dark shades and shadows also give off an eerie feel from the image. The fact
that the Jokers name is never revealed also feels that there is still a lot more Gwynplaine Pamphlet
hidden to the joker than that has been revealed. 'The Man Who Laughed'
1928
Judge Dredd

Judge Dredd was Brian Bollands earlier

work which lead him to work on DC
comics. Joseph Dredd is the most famous
of the Street Judges that patrol Mega-City
One, charged to instantly convict,
sentence, and execute offenders. His
helmet obscures his face, except for his
mouth and jaw.

Huge influences for the design of Judge

Dredd was Don Siegels Dirty Harry
starring Clint Eastwood. The Dirty Harry-
style "tough cop" was perfect and fits
what Judge Dredds concept to its logical
extreme, imagining an ultra-violent law-
enforcement officer patrolling a future
New York City with the power to
administer instant justice.

Brian Bolland
Judge Dredd
Judge Dredd the
Complete Brian Bolland
2013

Judge Dredd is also heavily based on a strip Manning which

was reissued in Comix: A History of Comic Books in America
by Les Daniels. The story depicted a dirty cop who shoots
fleeing criminals in the back. Mannix was a few years earlier to
feature dirty cops than the Clint Eastwood films.

This piece was created using traditional tools which

impressively give off a digitally made look.

Book of Comix
Manning
Akira Chapter 1 Page 1

This is image was the first

page that was seen in
Otomos manga Akira. To
keep it brief a bomb explodes
in Tokyo wiping out the city
triggering a third world war.
There is clear links to the
unfortunate events of the
Hiroshima and Nagasaki
where an atomic bomb was
dropped. Since Otomo was
around when the bombs
dropped the Akira manga was
to pay homage to what had
happened and gives a reason
why it was made. The fact
that science fiction manga
wasnt a popular thing at that
time so it was something
different for people. Katsuhiro Otomo
Akira Chapter 1 Page 1
Akira
Mangas are known to not use colour so without the use of color, Otomo is challenged 1988
with finding ways to show differences in value, light, and texture using only black ink or white paper.
This particular drawing uses almost no areas of solid black, other than the sky and the detonation of the
bomb.

Manga usually follows the traditional style as found in Japan. Japanese Manga is to be read from the
right side to the left, opposite of traditional American books. Not only do you read the pages from right
to left, but you also read the panels and text from right to left.

.
Kaneda

Katsuhiro Otomo works

in black and white in his
comic series Akira,
which is widely seen to
be his masterwork. The
work has been
translated into many
languages, reprinted,
and adapted into an
animated film.
The man you see on the
bike is Kaneda, one of
the main characters of
Akira.

The bike you see is a

very iconic bike that
many American and Japanese comics and animations refrence the bike in their work Katsuhiro Otomo
Kaneda
somehow. The newer batman and robin comics use bikes similar to kanedas bike. In Akira
terms of Kaneda's bike in Akira, the initial inspiration was the lightcycles from Tron 1988

designed by Syd Mead. However, the design of the bikes in Tron are wide, so Otomo decided to halve
them and used that as an initial basis.