2. styles of comics. styles of comics .pdf · comic strips have changed a lot since their...

StylesofComicsAShortHistoryofComics Comicstripshavechangedalotsincetheirbeginningsinthetwentiethcentury.

Onedefinitionofacomicstripis,“Aseriesofadjacentdrawnimages,usuallyarrangedhorizontally,thataredesignedtobereadasanarrativeorachronologicalsequence.(…)Wordsmaybeintroducedwithinorneareachimage,ortheymaybedispensedwithaltogether.”ThisdefinitionfromtheEncyclopaediaBritannicacoversmanykindsofstorytellingbasedonaseriesofimages.

AccordingtotheMerriam-Websterdictionary,thetermcomicstripinthesenseof“agroupofcartoonsinnarrativesequence”wasfirstusedin1913.TheFrenchequivalentoftheword,bandedessinée(literally,“drawnstrip”)isolder.Itgoesbackto1833,whentheSwissartistRodolpheTöpffer,createdL’HiistoiredeM.Jabot(TheStoryofMr.Jabot).Still,somepeopleconsiderthatcomicstripsdatebacktotheBritishpainterWilliamHogarthandhisstorytoldinaseriesofsixpictures,AHarlot’sProgress(1731);toHokusai’ssketches;tooldEuropeanengravingsthatincludedspeechbubbles;tomedievalilluminations,oreventoprehistoriccavepaintings!

Comicstripsbegantotakeshapeaswenowknowtheminthelate-19thandearly-20thcenturiesintheUnitedStates,withaseriescalledTheYellowKid(1896).Itwasamischievous,irreverentartformpublishedinthenewspaper.

Comicstripsandcomicbooksdidn’treallycatchonuntilthe1930sand‘40s.Thatwaswhensuper-herocomicbooks,withSupermanasthemosticonicone,appearedinthetheUnitedStates;SpirouandTintinbecamethefigureheadsofFranco-Belgiancomics,andOsamuTezuka’sfirstmangaappearedinJapan.Atthattime,comicswereconsideredstrictlyforkids.

Withtheemergenceof1960sand‘70scounter-culture,comicsopeneduptoamoreadultreadership,andbrokewiththeconventionsofentertainmentforchildren.

Sincethen,comicstripshavebeenacquiringfargreaterculturallegitimacy.Embracingbothfictionandnon-fiction,whatissometimesknownas“theninthart,”nowcoverseverysubject,fromhistoryandauto-biographytoothernon-fictiongenres.Andthankstodigitaltechnologies,comicsasanartformarecontinuallyevolving.

WiththeBDnFapp,weareofferingyouawayoftakingholdofthismeansofexpressionandusingittowriteyourownstory!

Manycountrieshavedevelopedtheirownconventionsandstylesofcomics,dependingontheirculturaloutlook.Herearethemainones:

Franco-BelgianComicsF.Y.I.

TwodistinctivecharacteristicsofFranco-Belgiancomicsaretheirartisticvarietyandthecaretakeninmakingthebooksthemselves.Theyareusuallyhard-covereditionscalledalbums(whicharelargerthanU.S.comicbooks)withacompilationofstoriesindifferentgenres(forkids,SF,fantasy,detective,etc.)forallages.

TheBasicRules

by AdrienMartin

MajorWorksandCultClassics

Asterix,LargoWinch,Seuls,Sillage,Thorgal,Blueberry,LescarnetsdeCerise,EmileBravo,PicoBogueandmore

GraphicNovelsF.Y.I.

Havingappearedintheearly1970sintheUnitedStatesanddevelopedrapidlyinthe2000s,graphicnovelsallowedcomic-bookauthorsandartiststoshakeofftheconventionsofgenrethemesandofFranco-Belgianalbumsandtopresentmorepersonalnarratives.Withcompletefreedominthenumberofpages,anddrawings–ofteninblackandwhite–withamorespontaneousstyle,graphicnovelsofferamorehumanreadingexperience.Typicalfeaturesoftheirstyleincludeduo-toneprinting,rectangularframes,ahighertext/imageration(longcaptions),muchhigherpagecounts,andadrawingstylethatleanstowardscaricature.

MajorWorksandCultClassics

Persepolis,TheAraboftheFuture,Polina,Maus,MyFavoriteThingIsMonsters

Super-HeroComicsF.Y.I.

TheappearanceofSupermanin1938isoftenseenasthebirthofthesuper-herogenre.Twopublishinghousessoonledthepack,andtheystilldominatethemarkettothisday:DCComics,withBatmanandSuperman;andMarvel,whichcametoprominenceinthe1960s,thankstoSpidermanandtheAvengers.Nowadays,therearehundredsofsuper-heroespublishedbyarangeofdifferentpublishinghouses.

Superheroes’continuedsuccessisduetothefactthattheyhaveevolvedtostayabreastwiththetimes,andthattheiradventuresoftenreflectthemoresofanera.

TheBasicRules

by Raphaël Meyssan

MajorWorksandCultClassics

Batman,WonderWoman,HarleyQuinn,Spiderman,X-Men,TheWalkingDead;Hellboy,Bone

ComicStripsF.Y.I.

Comicstripswerebornalongtimeago,duringthenineteenthcentury.TheYellowKid,launchedin1890,isconsideredtobeoneoftheveryfirst.Historically,comicstripswerepublishedinnewspapersandmagazines,ofteninblackandwhite.Nowadays,theycanbefoundincolorandonline,wherethetheyarestillverypopular.

TheBasicRules

by Un Faux Graphiste : https://fr-fr.facebook.com/unfographiste/

MajorWorksandCultClassics

Snoopy,Garfield,CalvinandHobbes,Dilbert,Popeye,TheKatzenjammerKids

MangaF.Y.I.

Manga(thewordisthesameinthesingularandtheplural)defineJapanesecomics.TheycaughtonmassivelyafterWorldWarII.OsamuTezukaisseenasaprecursorofthemodern,dynamicmanga.Mangakas(mangaartists)usuallyworkinblackandwhite,andtheirstoriesarepre-publishedinperiodicalswithveryvariedthemes.Readershipishighlysegmentedbeforecomingoutaspaperbackbooks.Shônen,forexample,aremangaforboys;whileshôjoaremangaforgirls;andseinenaremorepsychologicallycomplexorformorematurereaders.

TheBasicRules

MajorWorksandCultClassics

OnePiece;Nausicaa,Akira,Ranma1⁄2,MyHeroAcademia,AstroBoy

WebtoonsF.Y.I.

Webtoonswereinventedinthe2000s,inSouthKorea.Nowadays,peopleallovertheworldcreatewebtoons,buttheKoreansarestilltheundisputedmastersofthegenre. Webtoons’mostdistinguishingcharacteristicisthelengthoftheirpages,whichhavebeenconceivedforscrollingdowntoreadonasmartphone.The“scrollinggraphicnovel”isaFrenchvariationonthetheme;youreaditbyscrollingfromlefttoright.

Webtoonsplayoffofthecodesofmangaandrevamptherulesandlimitsofcomic-bookpagecomposition.

TheBasicRules

by Adrien Martin

MajorWorksandCultClassics

Noblesse,TheGamer,Relife,Bouhland,TowerofGod,HoneyBlood