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Origin of the comic strips
Comic strips are universally loved but not many would know about their origins. Not even the hardcore fans. Though there is not much to go by, we did a little research to compile this article on the origins of the comic strip. The origin of book strip or even the cartoon strip is rather obscure. However, it is generally assumed that the original comic strip was Richard Outcault’s Yellow Kid in the New York World in 1895. The Yellow Kid is given the recognition not because it was the very first among cartoons or the funniest. In fact, there were many more humor illustrations making the rounds in 1989. However, Yellow Kid was differentiated because of regular appearance and distinct features. However, the seeds of book strips were seen way back in 1754, when Benjamin Franklin drew the first political cartoon which depicted a severed snake with different states of USA represented by the parts. The caption read “Join or Die.” The history of comic strip is deeply immersed in politics and censorship wars. We will skip that and focus on the history through publication of major cartoon strips. For the political history go to Blazedent. The Yellow Kid emphasized distinctive character, regularity of appearance but missed out on the word balloons and sequential panels which were to become standard practices in comics. These two features were established by Rudolph Dirks and Frederick Opper around the turn of the century. The industry grew most rapidly in USA. In fact, by 1908, 75 percent of newspapers carried cartoon strips in their Sunday edition. The first daily comic strip was Bud Fischer's Mutt and Jeff which was published in 1907 in San Francisco Chronicle. This is was the turning point in the history of comic strips. While a few years before, cartoon strips were seen as an anomaly, in a couple of more years they were to become a standard feature with a dedicated section. By this time, the genre of funny comic strip was also firmly established. The first paperback cartoon book strip was “The Funnies,” published in 1910. It was a monthly funny cartoon strip which was published in tabloid size. While funny strips prevailed till now, strips of different shade appeared around 1930. Violence, strong characters born to kill with remorse and heroes with negative shades entered the scene. In 1933, "Funnies on Parade" was published in the size that most comic books follow till date: 8" x 11". “Flash Gordon” appeared in 1934, “The Phantom” in 1936 and “The Superman” in 1938. DC comics had entered the arena and the era of superheroes had just begun too. “Batman” in 1939, again by DC comics brought the dark superhero into being. In the same year the other big player in the cartoon industry made its beginning. Guess who? Obviously, Marvel Comics. Their first and highly successful character was “Prince Namor.” This was the period when the comic book industry had completely evolved and matters after this period are better known. So we will leave that for another day. However, if you are feeling too lost in history of cartoons, here are characters that have a more definite history. You can meet Dido & Yappy here or the 3 fun loving youngsters here. |