Fun facts about comics!
30. 07. 2020
Until recently, comics were considered something that is read only by strange geeks in glasses without cool friends playing Dungeons and Dragons somewhere in the garage, much like the boys from Stranger Things. Today, however, the situation is different thanks to series of films such as The Avengers and the Justice League. But do you know when and how this genre originated? Learn with us some interesting stuff about comic we are sure you did not know! Plus we’ll tell you some extra fun facts about your favorites😊 Let’s do it!
Telling a story through pictures
When was the very first comic made? We probably won’t find the right answer to this question. In Europe, we consider the drawings of the Swiss illustrator Rodolphe Töpffer from 1825 to be the origin of comics. However, some historians see the beginning of this popular genre in the period between 15,000 and 13,000 BC, from which the famous murals in the French cave Lascaux come. If we do not want to look for the origin of the comic only on the walls of caves or pyramids, we can also go to Japan. In the 12th century, Chōjū-jinbutsu-giga began to appear here – animal caricatures of people in motion, drawn on ink.
Although we may feel that the comic did not begin to appear until the 20th century, when the first superheroes were born, it was already popular in the 19th century, when shorter humorous strips were published in various newspapers. According to the Americans, the comic was officially created on February 16, 1896, when Richard Outcalt’s The Yellow Kid strip was first published in New York World magazine.
The birth of superheroes
People got used to the presence of comics in newspapers, so it didn’t take long for the comics to start publishing on their own or in anthologies. The first was Action comics in the 1930s, which allowed people to read Superman for the first time in 1938, created by the duo of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The hero born on Kryptonite started the Golden Age of comics. A year later, Batman made his debut in Detective Comics. But Superman did not fight with inconveniences only in comics, because from the beginning of his “career” he had to face plagiarism – Fox Comics came up with its version of Superman in the form of Wonder Woman, Fawcett Comics again published Captain Marvel. There have been long lawsuits over copyright, and when Fawcett Captain Marvel eventually “returned” to DC, comics ceased to interest people for a time.
At the same time that Superman was born from DC Comics’ predecessor, Marvel’s predecessor Timely Comics published the story of Human-Torch and Namor the Sub-Mariner in Marvel Comics # 1. As this comic was a great success, Timely Comics came up with a new hero in 1941 – and it was none other than the kind-hearted Steve Rogers aka Captain America! This superhero is the creation of a creative duo, Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. You may have always associated the Captain with Stan Lee, but he didn’t join the team until the third installment. But thanks to him, the Captain uses his indestructible shield as a weapon!
Heroes of their time
During the war, people really needed a superhero beating the Nazis on the head, but then the war ended and everything was different. While the comics creators argued among themselves about the rights to the superpowers of their heroes, the comics themselves slowly fell into oblivion. They did not return to the scene until the 1960s. At this time, a comic underground movement led by Robert Crumb was formed, and they are active until today. As for the “old familiar” superheroes, they slowly began to move from magazine pages to other media. In 1960, for example, the first television series with Batman was made. This hero has seen several series and films during his 80-year existence, and we will definitely hear “I´m Batman” from him in the years to come. (You can read more about Batman here.)
Fun facts
- Stan Lee challenged himself of creating a hero whom the public would hate, but in the end they would fall in love with him. That hero is Tony Stark and he seems to have really succeeded 🙂
- The Hulk was originally supposed to be gray, but due to a printer malfunction, he acquired a green color.
- Journalist (Clark) Kent doesn’t just exist in DC comics. But while in DC he is a true Superman, in Marvel he is an ordinary journalist.
- Venom was originally supposed to be a pregnant woman who had joined an alien symbiote just before giving birth.
- Batman is Superman’s employer. Clark Kent works for the Daily Planet, which is owned by Bruce Wayne.
Katka
Social Media and Email Specialist, known as a big fan of superhero movies, especially Avengers, Deadpool and Batman.
