Is Comics a Cultural Medium or a Genre - Essay Example

Is Comics a Cultural Medium or a Genre? Introduction: The sequential pictures that come often in the form of books or narrow strips in newspapers and have provided amusement to the old and young for several decades are comics. Comics were reinvented in the 1930s as a replacement for the pulp-fiction genres for which the public were showing disinterest. They were meant purely to entertain and in that they did and the popularity of comics flourished. Animal and bird comic characters as well as super heroes were to catch the fancy of the people around the world and in particular the citizens of the United States of America. A plethora of comics in a myriad of genres ranging from the science fiction, jungle warfare, westerns, war funny animals, teen comics and superheroes were to flow out of publishers to be lapped up by the public for their amusement. Though comics have been a source of amusement for the people, they have also been a matter of serious study. This is because Comics occupy a significant place in the cultural arena of the twentieth century. History of Comics: The origins of Comics as a sequential art traced back to prehistoric man and the Palaeolithic cave paintings that run back in time by nearly twenty thousand years. From these Palaeolithic paintings the next source of comics is in the Egyptian hieroglyphs. Developments in the field of press and press technology were to provide the boost for the development of comics. The important precursors were Swiss Rudolph Topffer, German Wilhelm Bush, French Georges Colomb and Brazilian Angelo Agostini. Richard Fenton Outcalt was the first to introduce the familiar balloon in comics that provided the means of word expression to comic characters. This development took place in 1896 in the Yellow Kid. The foundation for the take-off of comics was set. In the early years of its life comics presented a humoristic approach, from where it derives its name. Many of the comic stories of the early days are still popular because of this aspect and comics of Little Nemo, Mutt & Jeff, Popeye and Krazy Kat still do the round. Other denominations of comic books also developed like Italian fumetti with smoke in place of the balloon, French bande dessine, Japanese manga and Portuguese historia em quadradinhos. The story themes centred on children and pet frolics and this can be seen in the more intellectual Calvin and Hobbes comic strip. The Stock Market crash of 1929 was to mark the start the boom of comics as people attempted to sink their worries in the entertainment and amusement that they provided. Three genres of comics in the form of science fiction (Alex Raymond’s Flash Gordon), detective stories (Chester Gould’s Dick Tracy) and jungle adventures (Edgar Rice Burroughs’s Tarzan) were to add an adult flavour to the otherwise predominantly children and pet frolic comics. This period was also to see the arrival of costumed characters in comic strips with Lee Falk’s Phantom. In other countries too there were developments in the comic characters, but went unnoticed as they mostly remained within the borders of those countries. The notable exception being the Herge’s Tintin created in a new clean line style in Belgium. The next development in the history of comics was the birth of the typically American comic in the form of super heroes with Siegel and Shuster’s Superman and there is a popular perspective that with Superman came the golden age of comics. Superman was the first perfect archetype and the perfect myth of the modern age. Superman has been the focus of lot of academic studies. The popularity of Superman and the super heroes that were to follow were to provide the false perspective that comics are nothing more than a genre consisting of super heroes and funny animals. During the period of the Second World War more than four hundred super heroes were created, a majority on the model of Superman, two of which stand out Bob Kane’s Batman and C.C. Beck’s Captain Marvel. Some of the super heroes like Jack Kirby and Captain America went to war and comics became a medium through which the morale of the people and soldiers were boosted. This period also saw the development of the magazine format in which even today comics are published. The 1950s was the period of the witch-hunt of comics with the publishing of the book The Seduction of the Innocent by Psychiatrist Frederic Wertham, wherein comics were accused of corrupting the youth. This led to the Comics Code that was destined to create limitations to what could appear in comics. This period also saw the creation of the humoristic magazine MAD that remains to this day. The thinking and intellectual age of comics came developed in the 1950s with Charles M. Schulz’s Peanuts. In Europe at the same time one of the best comics were to come out in the form of the French Asterix, which took a humoristic swipe at the people and culture of many of the different European countries, but was a result of great historic research. The sixties was the period of the revival of the superhero days with new superheroes, but with one glaring difference they had some kind of weakness or defect that negated their superpowers. It was also the period when adult comics became more popular. It was not that adult comics were not there earlier, they were, but there was an increase in the comparative popularity. The 1970s were to see the incredible use of colour, new make-up of page design in comics. In the present day world Comics have developed into a means to impart education and training. (Some History). Comics a Cultural Medium or a Genre: The term genre is of Latin origin but comes from the French word for kind or class as finds wide use in rhetoric, literary theory, media theory and linguistics. There are several definitions for genre. Dennis McQuail in 1987 provided this definition for genre “ The genre may be considered as a practical device for helping any mass medium to produce consistently and efficiently and to relate its production to the expectations of its customers. Since it is also a practical device for enabling individual media users to plan their choices, it can be considered as a mechanism for ordering the relations between the two main parties to mass communication”. Genres (Chandler, D., 2000). Scott Mcloud in 1993 extended the term sequential art and equated it to the medium of comics and defined comics as “juxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence intended to convey information and/and or to produce an aesthetic response in the viewer”. By this definition Scott Mcloud makes comics a medium and not a medium. The manner in which this is established lies in what the definition does not say. There is no listing of sub-genres of superheroes or funny animals. There is no mention of fantasy or science fiction, nor is there restriction in the age of the reader. There are no genres mentioned in the definition. There are no types of subject matter, or are there any styles of prose and poetry. There is no mention that paper and ink are an essential part of the medium of comics, or is there any mention of printing technology, for it is not. Today there are web comics and instructional material based on the comic medium that have neither seen paper and ink nor have they passed through any printing technology process. They have been prepared in a computer and have been distributed via the Internet. There is no mention of any kind of art material from canvas to paints and brushes, and this is because the definition does not rule out any tools. Neither is any material ruled out. The definition does not mention anything about the requirement of blank ink and flat coloured ink. The definition makes no mention of the need for exaggerated anatomy or for representational art of any form. There are no prescribed schools of art nor have any schools of art been excluded in the definition. The same applies for philosophies and movements. There are no restrictions on views and viewing. In the simple definition of comics, which calls for just juxtaposed pictorial and other images created in a deliberate sequential order with the purpose of providing information to bring about an aesthetic response in the viewer comics become a medium, without the several restrictions and divisions that are characteristic of a genre. (Mcloud, S.,1994). Comics are a cultural medium. The characters and the information conveyed are relevant to the culture of the land. Even in its origins this is true. The cave paintings provide an insight into the culture of those times. The same applies to the Hieroglyphs of Egypt. The super heroes of the American comics reflect the appreciation of strength that the American so love. Bravery and the capacity to perform super human feats are at the heart of the Americans. The teenager comics like Archie’s provide information on the life of teenagers at school or college and at home. Moving on to Europe with the more culturally conscious French and Italians comics have always been given a place as an art medium to give expression to the culture of their lands. Asterix from Belgium is a classic example of comics as a cultural medium. Though filled with humour the element of culture runs right through it and anyone that reads it gets a glimpse of the culture that existed in the lands, wherever Asterix goes and even to these times in Black Gold. Japanese mangas have been steeped in the culture dealing with everyday life in Japan or reflecting on the history of Japan. For this reason it is not easy for a reader with no understanding of Japanese culture to understand the many of the Japanese mangas because of references to Japanese culture. Comics occupy a significant place in the cultural picture of the twentieth century, not just by its own right as a medium or art form, but also with regard to the manner in which comics have provided the inspiration for other means of communication ranging from textbooks to interactive media. (Comics all over the world). Conclusion: Comics have been a part of the human race from the time of the cave dwellers and have passed down to the present times undergoing several developments that have seen their popularity rise. The difference in the definition of genre and comics make comics a medium and its cultural impact means that comics are a cultural medium and not a genre. Literary References Chandler, D. (2000). An Introduction to Genre Theory. Retrieved 12 September 2006, from Web site: http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/intgenre/intgenre1.html. Comics all over the world. Mcloud, S. (1994). Understanding Comics – the Invisible Art. HarperCollins. New York. Some History. Retrieved 12 September 2006, from Web site: http://www.geocities.com/soho/5537/hist.htm. Read More