How Did The Comic Book Get It's Start?
By Dave Gieber, Fri Dec 9th

The origins of the comic book are somewhat controversial andperhaps the jury is still out. So lets go back to the cartoonishbroadsheets of the Middle Ages, which were parchment products,created by anonymous woodcutters. As mass circulation of thesebroadsheets became possible, they soon developed a market,particularly at public executions, popular events for centuries(ugh), which drew thousands of happy spectators. Many of thesespectators would invest in an artist's rendering of a hanging orburning, and thus making a very lucky day for the broadsheetseller.

The broadsheet evolved into higher-level content as humor wasintroduced. Eventually, all types of broadsheets emerged, whichwere eventually bound in collections, the prototype of themodern magazine. Magazines formatted like the popular Punch, anelegant British creation, became the primary focus ofdocumentary accounts of news and events, fiction and humor. Onecan see in Punch, the sophisticated evolution of a comic style,particularly in respect of the evolution of comics in GreatBritain. Still and all, from an historical standpoint, the comicstrip stood in the alley, waiting to be born. And then some sayGreat Britain's Ally Sloper's "Half Alley" was the first comicbook. This was a black and white tabloid that had panels ofcartoons mixed with a sliver of news; circa 1884.

Now while all this was going on in Great Britain, this inchingtowards the comic book, the United States had its own brand ofevolution. Instead of magazines, US newspapers took the lead increating the comic book industry. Newspapers, with their firststeps, took their single image gags and evolved them intomulti-paneled comic strips. It was during this period thatWilliam Randolph Hearst scored a knockout with the Yellow Kid,which was actually printed in yellow ink.

So

where did the actual comic book begin? Some say it was withreprints of Carl Schultz' Foxy Grandpa, from 1901 to 1905.Although others say it was Great Britain's Ally Sloper's HalfAlley. In 1902, Hearst published the Katzenjammer Kids and HappyHooligan in books with cardboard covers. For a time, the YellowKid himself was a top contender. But it depends how rigid youare in your description of a comic book. These examples, forsure, were predecessors to the modern comic book, which explodedin the 1930's.

The Whitman Publishing Company, in 1934, became one of thepre-launchers for the modern comic book. They published fortyissues of Famous Comics, which was a black and white hardcoverreprint. The first regularly published comic in the morerecognizable modern format though, was Famous Funnies. Itfeatured such memorable characters as Joe Palooka, Buck Rogersand Mutt and Jeff.

Superheroes as we know them today took a strong foothold in the1930's. In 1938, Max C. Gaines, who was one of the comicindustry giants, brought "Superman" to Dell Comics publisher,Harry Donenfield. Donenfield scored the comic coup of thecentury when he published a story written by two teenagers,Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster- and so "Superman of Metropolis"(the title of their short story they wrote in their own fanzine)was born. Superman was to set a standard for comic book heroesthat persist to this day.

About the author:Dave Gieber, a former rocket engineer, has decided to take upresidency on the Internet. He is the owner and editor of severalwebsites, one of which was built around one of his childhoodpassions; www.comic-book-collection-made-easy.com . You canvisit here to keep up to date on the world of comic books andcomic book collecting. Feel free to sign up for my comic bookezine atwww.comic-book-collection-made-easy.com/comic-book-ezine.html