Gerard Jones author of 'Men of Tomorrow Geeks Gangsters and the Birth of the Comic Book ' explains the origins of comic books the hardships they went through and where they are apt to go next.
By Randy Dotinga / July 19 2013
'Men of Tomorrow' is by Gerald Jones.
EnlargeIt's that time of year again. You know when every headline writer on earth breaks out the BAM POW and ZAP
Skip to next paragraph Recent posts Free Comic Book Day See 'The Avengers ' then read it for free ( video) Peter Parker death (gasp ) roils Spider Man fans. Why they're taking it hard. Home to Tintin and Smurfs Belgium looks to reinvigorate comic industry ' else if (google_ads.length 1) ad_unit '' document.getElementById( ad_unit ).innerHTML ad_unit google_adnum google_ads.length return var google_adnum 0 google_ad_client pub 6743622525202572 google_ad_output 'js' google_max_num_ads '1' google_feedback on google_ad_type text // google_adtest on google_image_size '230x105' google_skip '0' //Subscribe Today to the Monitor
Click Here for your FREE 30 DAYS ofThe Christian Science MonitorWeekly Digital Edition
Yup Comic Con International the world's biggest comic book and pop culture convention is being held this weekend in my fair city of San Diego.Visitors and reporters spend much of their time on the convention floor but there's more to Comic Con than booths posters and celebrities. Walk upstairs and you'll find dozens of serious minded seminars about topics like the history of comic books and the evolution of superheroes.
Can't make it to America's Finest City to hear about these hot if geeky topics Never fear. Gerard Jones the San Francisco based comic book historian artist and author of 2005's Men of Tomorrow Geeks Gangsters and the Birth of the Comic Book is in town and took questions about eight decades of comics.
Think you're well read Take our World Lit quiz
Q How did comic books first come into being
A They came out of the newspaper comic strips which were mostly humor along with things like Tarzan and Dick Tracy.
The first comic books were just reprints of the newspaper comics a way for people to read their favorite strips with continuity. But some publishers couldn't sell newspaper reprints and began to commission new material.
The artists were largely guys who were trying to make it as newspaper comic strip artists but hadn't made it. They tended to be young oddball and not quite as sophisticated and polished their work was seen as unfinished and not ready for prime time
For example Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster were consistently rejected when they were peddling their Superman idea to the newspaper syndicates. One syndicate said it was an immature piece of art.
Q Why did this kind of work become popular
A There was an audience that wanted this rougher more peculiar stuff that wasn't refined by art school and years of experience. And a lot of kids wanted that raw connection with the fantasies of the artists who weren't much older than them.
Most of the guys who created the stuff that lasted were in their late teens or early 20s. They could tap into the action and adventure that kids wanted but couldn't get enough of in the newspaper comic strips.
Q How were comic books groundbreaking in terms of reaching kids specifically
A Newspaper comic strips were sort of like broadcast TV You had to reach a broad audience. If a strip was only being read by 12 year old boys it wouldn't survive. They had to appeal to kids older kids and adults to some extent.
With comic books publishers discovered there was a big enough audience of just adolescents out there to support the industry. In a way comic books were the first business built almost entirely by purchases by kids and teenagers.
Q When did comic books begin to seem disreputable
A Early on. For the most part comics were frowned on by pretty much everyone. No one would even have linked them to movies or even early television as a respectable medium.
Next
{ 0 comments... Views All / Send Comment! }
Post a Comment