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Superman Family

Superman Family

Superman Family was a DC Comics comic book series which ran from 1974 to 1982 featuring primarily stories starring supporting characters in the Superman comics. The title was in part an amalgamation of the titles Superman's Girl Friend: Lois Lane and Superman's Pal: Jimmy Olsen. The characters' stories eventually moved away from typical fantasy stories that previous series used to more realistic crime and mystery stories in which Superman himself was rarely directly involved. Other featured series included:
- "Superboy" - The adventures of the Earth-One Superman as a teenaged super-hero.
- "The Private Life of Clark Kent" - The adventures of Clark Kent in which he used his powers and skills without becoming Superman.
- "Mr. and Mrs. Superman" - The adventures of the Earth-Two Superman and his wife, Lois.
- "Supergirl" - The adventures of Superman's cousin In 1982, the series cancelled to make room for a short lived Supergirl series Category:DC Comics titles

DC Comics

.]]DC Comics is one of the largest companies in comic book and related media publishing. Today a subsidiary of Time Warner, DC is responsible for such famous characters as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and their teammates in the Justice League. For decades, DC Comics has been one of the two largest American comic book companies (the other being Marvel Comics). Located in New York City for many years at 575 Lexington Avenue, DC Comics moved to 75 Rockefeller Plaza (which is still Time Warner corporate headquarters) and then to 666 Fifth Avenue. Relocating at 1325 Avenue of the Americas in 1992, DC took over several floors when it moved to 1700 Broadway in the mid-1990s. The initials "DC" are an abbreviation for Detective Comics, after one of the company's flagship titles.

History

The corporation was originally three companies: National Allied Publications (founded by Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson in 1934 to publish the first American comic book with all-original material rather than comic strip reprints); Detective Comics; and All-American Publications. The first two companies merged in the 1930s to become National Comics (later National Periodical Publications) and the third shared offices until it was bought by the merged company in 1945. At this time "DC" was simply an informal logo regularly used on the cover; the name National Periodical Publications remained the company's official name into the 1970s.

Golden Age (1930s and 1940s)

1945 This company was the first to publish original stories in comic book form in 1935 with its first title, New Fun Comics, and then was the first to feature superheroes beginning with Action Comics in 1938. It was the foremost exploiter of the new genre in the Golden Age of Comic Books, introducing such popular characters as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and the first superhero team, the Justice Society of America. When the superhero genre faded in the late 1940s, the company focused more on other genres, such as science fiction, westerns, humour and romance. They largely avoided the crime and horror trends of the time, and thus avoided taking the brunt of the backlash against crime and horror comics in the 1950s. A handful of the most popular superhero titles (most importantly Action Comics and Detective Comics, the two longest-running titles in comics history) continued publication.

Silver Age (Late 1950s through early 1970s)

In the mid-fifties, there came a renewed interest to explore superhero properties. Instead of creating new characters, editor Julius Schwartz decided to recreate popular older characters starting with the Flash. This heralded the beginning of what is commonly referred to as the "Silver Age" of comics. The character's civilian identity, costume, and origin were all changed for a more modern audience. The new series was so popular that it soon led to similar treatment for Green Lantern and a new series which featured a team-up of all of the company's popular characters entitled the Justice League of America. On the other hand, Mort Weisinger oversaw the Superman family of titles that established many of the elements of Superman's supporting characters and villains that still influence the character to this day. In 1967, Carmine Infantino became the artistic director of the company with the declining sales, in part with the growing competition of Marvel Comics being the primary challenge. He attempted to remedy the situation with new titles like The Secret Six and recruited major talents like Steve Ditko and rising new blood as in Neal Adams. However, the results had a mixed success at best. A major change happened in the late 1960s when many veteran creators petitioned DC management for health plans, pensions and similar considerations. DC responded by curtly firing most of the offending staff and replacing them with young people who had largely grown up with the Marvel influence in comics. This proved to be a mixed blessing: for while the new employees strove for sophisticated storytelling and characters, they had little experience in the industry and the relative lack of professionalism in their work hampered the product of the company. Neal Adams), the first issue of an acclaimed run that delved into social commentary in the genre.]] social commentary There were, however, bright lights, like Dennis O'Neil, who worked on Green Lantern and Batman. Nevertheless, the period was plagued by short-lived series that started out strong, but quickly petered out when the creators, not having strong financial reasons to stay, abandoned their creations. In addition, Jack Kirby defected from Marvel to create his most artistically ambitious creation, The Fourth World titles, in which Kirby attempted to create an original sophisticated sub imprint that could appeal to a loyal fan audience. However, conflicts with management who had little faith in the concept led to the venture's premature cancellation, although the characters and concepts would become integral to the DC Multiverse.

Late 1970s and 1980s

The company was acquired by Warner Communications (now Time Warner) in 1976. During this time, DC attempted to compete with Marvel by dramatically increasing its output, which they called the "DC Explosion", including series featuring new characters, such as Firestorm and Shade, the Changing Man and several non-superhero titles. This didn't last long, with many of these series being abruptly cancelled in what industry watchers dubbed "the DC Implosion". DC Implosion In the early 1980s, the new management of publisher Jenette Kahn, vice-president Paul Levitz, and managing editor Dick Giordano decided to address the problem of talent instability in their series. To that end, they began to offer more concrete financial rewards to their talents, such as royalties which gave a direct incentive to foster successful properties and to keep with them. In addition, the company created the publishing concept of the limited series that allowed more flexible arrangements for storylines that could be successful without the pressure of immediately following them up on an indefinite basis. These policy changes immediately paid off with the success of The New Teen Titans by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez, a superhero comic that earned significant sales with its artistic quality and the stability of the talent who kept with the title for years. In addition, the creative team took early advantage of the limited series option to create a spin off title, Tales of the New Teen Titans, to present the origins of their original characters without having to break the narrative flow of their main series or obliging them to double their work load with another ongoing title. This successful revitalization of a minor title led the editorship to look at doing the same to their entire line comics. The result was the limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths, which gave the company an opportunity to dismiss some of the "baggage" of its history, and revise major characters such as Superman and Wonder Woman. Yet DC did not abandon their history completely. In 1989, they began publication of the DC Archive Editions, a series created to collect their early, rare issues into a permanent hardback format. DC Archive Editions Meanwhile, British writer Alan Moore had re-energized the minor horror series Saga of the Swamp Thing, and his highly acclaimed work sparked a comic book equivalent of rock's British Invasion, in which numerous British talents, including Neil Gaiman and Grant Morrison, came to work for the company. The resulting influx of sophisticated horror and dark fantasy material led not only to DC abandoning the Comics Code for particular titles by those talents, but also to the later establishment in 1993 of the Vertigo imprint for mature readers. Acclaimed limited series such as The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller and Alan Moore's Watchmen, also drew attention to changes at DC. This new creative freedom and the attendant publicity allowed DC to seriously challenge the dominance of Marvel.

1990s

The comics industry experienced a brief boom in the early 1990s, thanks to a combination of speculative purchasing of the books as collectibles and several storylines which gained attention from the mainstream media. DC's extended storylines in which Superman was killed and Batman was crippled, resulted in dramatically increased sales, but the increases were as temporary as the substitutes, and sales dropped off as industry sales went into a major slump. DC's Piranha Press and other imprints in the 1990s were introduced to facilitate diversification and specialized marketing of its product line. They increased the use of nontraditional contractual arrangements, including creator-owned work and licensing material from other companies. They also increased publication of trade paperbacks, including both collections of serial comics and original graphic novels. The Vertigo line was aimed at an older and more literary audience, largely free of the "kid stuff" stigma its main superhero line still held. DC entered into a publishing agreement with Milestone Media, which gave the company a line of comics featuring a more culturally and racially diverse range of superhero characters; although the Milestone line ceased publication, it yielded the popular animated series Static Shock. Paradox Press was established to publish material that would be considered "mainstream" in the book trade - including the large-format Big Book of... series, and crime fiction such as Road to Perdition - but paradoxically remained a niche in the comics industry. DC purchased Wildstorm Comics from Jim Lee and maintained it as a separate imprint with its own style and audience. Likewise they added the Wildstorm imprint America's Best Comics, created by Alan Moore, including the titles Tom Strong and Promethea.

2000s

Comics sales stopped declining but remained weak in the early 2000s, as DC continued diversifying its publishing activities to reach new markets. In March 2003 DC Comics acquired publishing and merchandising rights to the long-running fantasy series Elfquest, which had previously been self-published by its creators Wendy and Richard Pini under the Warp Graphics banner. In 2004 it established the CMX line to reprint translated manga volumes (an already-booming market at the time), and temporarily acquired the North American publishing rights to graphic novels from European publishers 2000 AD and Humanoids. It also rebranded its titles for younger children with the mascot Johnny DC. Starting in 2004, DC's began laying groundwork for a "sequel" to Crisis on Infinite Earths, promising substantial changes to the DCU to come out of it. In 2005 they published several limited series establishing increasing conflicts between the heroes of the DCU, which are expected to come to a climax in the limited series Infinite Crisis. At the conclusion of that series in 2006, all of DC's ongoing series will skip to "one year later", showing the medium-term consequences of that crisis and continuing from there. In 2005 DC Comics launched an "All-Star" line, featuring some of DC's most famous characters, written and illustrated by popular creators. These series were intended to appeal to more casual readers, featuring familiar versions of the characters without tight continuity with the main line of books. All-Star Batman & Robin the Boy Wonder was launched in July 2005, with All-Star Superman begining in November 2005.

Logo history

November 2005 DC's first logo appeared on the March 1940 issues of their titles. The letters "DC" stood for Detective Comics, the name the company used at the time. The logo was small and did not have a background. It simply said, "A DC Publication". The November 1941 DC titles introduced an updated DC logo. This version was almost twice the size of the first one, and also was the first version with a white background. The name of Superman was added to "A DC Publication", effectively acknowledging both Superman (the company's flagship character) and Batman (star of Detective Comics). This logo was also the first version to occupy the top left corner of the cover, where the logo has usually resided ever since. In November 1949, the logo was modified, incorporating the company's current name (National Comics Publications) into the logo. This logo would also serve as the round body of Johnny DC, DC's mascot in the 1960s. In October 1970, the circular logo was briefly retired in favor of a simple "DC" in a rectangle with the name of the title, or the star of the book (i.e. many issues of Action Comics said "DC Superman"). An image of the lead character either appeared above or below the rectangle. For books that did not have a single star, such as House of Mystery or Justice League of America, the title and "DC" appeared in a stylized logo, such as a bat for House of Mystery. This use of characters as logos helped to establish the likenesses as trademarks, and was similar to Marvel's contemporaneous use of characters as part of their cover branding. DC's "100 Page Super-Spectacular" titles and later 100-page and "Giant" issues published from 1972 to 1974 featured a logo that was exclusive to these editions, the letters "DC" in a simple sans serif font, in a circle. (A variant had the letters in a square.) The July 1972 DC titles featured a new circular logo. The letters "DC" were rendered in a block-like font that would remain through later logo revisions until 2005. The title of the book usually appeared inside the circle, either above or below the letters. In December 1973, the logo was modified, adding the words "The Line of DC Super-Stars" and the star motif that would continue in later logos. This logo was placed in the top center of the cover from August 1975 to October 1976. When Jenette Kahn became DC's publisher in late 1976, she commissioned graphic designer Milton Glaser to design a new logo. Popularly referred to as the "DC bullet", the logo first appeared on the February 1977 DC titles. Although it varied in size and color and was at times cropped by the edges of the cover, or briefly rotated 45 degrees, it remained essentially unchanged for nearly three decades. On May 8, 2005, a new logo was unveiled, debuting on DC titles starting in June 2005 with DC Special: The Return of Donna Troy #1 and the rest of the titles the following week. In addition to comics, it was designed for DC properties in other media, such as Batman Begins, Smallville, Justice League Unlimited, collectibles, and other merchandise. The logo, which some have dubbed the "DC spin", was designed by Josh Beatman of Brainchild Studios.

Noteworthy creators


- Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster
- Bob Kane and Bill Finger
- William Moulton Marston
- Jack Kirby
- Julius Schwartz
- Gardner Fox
- Jerry Robinson
- Dick Sprang
- Wayne Boring
- Mort Weisinger
- Gil Kane
- John Broome
- Steve Ditko
- Carmine Infantino
- Joe Kubert
- Curt Swan
- Neal Adams
- Dennis O'Neil
- Dick Giordano
- Archie Goodwin
- Paul Levitz
- Keith Giffen
- Marv Wolfman
- George Pérez
- Doug Moench
- Alan Moore
- Frank Miller
- John Byrne
- Jerry Ordway
- Dan Jurgens
- Roger Stern
- Mike W. Barr
- Chuck Dixon
- Barbara Kesel
- Karl Kesel
- Neil Gaiman
- Grant Morrison
- Mark Waid
- Alex Ross
- James Robinson
- Devin Grayson
- Geoff Johns
- Jeph Loeb
- Greg Rucka
- Jim Lee
- Murphy Anderson
- Gail Simone

Imprints


- Current
  - All Star
  - America's Best Comics
  - CMX
  - DC Archive Editions
  - Johnny DC
  - Humanoids
  - Vertigo
  - Wildstorm
- Defunct
  - DC Focus
  - Helix
  - Impact
  - Milestone
  - Paradox Press
  - Piranha Press

See also


- DC Universe
- History of the DC Universe
- List of DC Comics publications
- List of DC Comics characters
- List of DC Comics movies

References


- [http://www.dccomics.com/ DC Comics official site]
- [http://www.comics-db.com/DC_Comics/index.html Big Comic Book DataBase: DC Comics]
- [http://braveandthebold.net/ Brave and the Bold]
- [http://www.silverbulletcomicbooks.com/features/106143682856239.htm Interview with DC publisher Paul Levitz]
- [http://collectedcomicslibrary.blogspot.com/ Collected Comics Library]
- Goulart, Ron, Ron Goulart's Great History of Comics Books (Contemporary Press, Chicago, 1986) ISBN 0809250454 Category:Comic book publishers (companies)
- Category:Time Warner subsidiaries ja:DCコミック simple:DC Comics

Comic book

A comic book is a magazine or book containing the sequential art in the form of a narrative. Comic books are often called comics for short. Although the term implies otherwise, the subject matter in comic books is not necessarily humorous, and in fact its dramatic seriousness varies widely. The term "comics" in this context does not refer to comic strips (such as Peanuts or Dilbert). In the last quarter of the 20th century, greater acceptance of the comics form among the general reading populace coincided with a greater usage of the term graphic novel, often meant to differentiate a book of comics with a spine from its stapled, pamphlet form, but the difference between the terms seems fuzzy at best as comics become more widespread in libraries, mainstream bookstores and other places. The earliest comic books were simply collections of comic strips that had originally been printed in newspapers. The commercial success of these collections led to work being created specifically for the comic-book form, which fostered specific conventions such as splash pages. Long-form comic books, generally with hardcover or trade-paper binding came to be known as graphic novels, but as noted above, the term's definition is especially fluid. Like jazz and a handful of other cultural artifacts, comic books are a rare indigenous American art form, [http://www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=36;t=004133] [http://www.disinfotainmenttoday.com/darenet/comicbook.htm] though prototypical examples of the form exist. American comic books have become closely associated with the superhero sub-genre. In the U.K., the term comic book is used to refer to American comic books by their readers and collectors, while the general populace would mainly consider a comic book a hardcover book collecting comics stories. The analogous term in the United Kingdom is a comic, short for comic paper or comic magazine.

The comic book in the United States

Since the invention of the comic book format in the 1930s, the United States has been the leading producer, with only the British comic (during the inter-war period through the 1970s) and Japanese manga as close competitors in terms of quantity of titles (although, Japan outweighs America currently in overall sales by a vast margin). The majority of all comic books in the U.S. are marketed at younger teenagers, though the market also produces work for general as well as more mature audiences. The history of the comic book in the United States is split into several ages or historical eras: The Platinum Age, The Golden Age, The Silver Age, The Bronze Age, and The Modern Age. The exact boundaries of these eras, the terms for which originated in fandom press, is a debatable point among comic book historians. The Golden Age is generally thought as lasting from 1938's introduction of Superman until the early 1950s, during which comic books enjoyed a surge of popularity, the archetype of the superhero was invented and defined, and many of comic books' most popular superheroes debuted. The Platinum Age refers to any material produced prior to this. While comics as an artform could arguably extend as far back as sequential cave paintings from thousands of years ago, comic books are dependent on printing, and the starting point for them in book form is generally considered to be the tabloid-sized The Funnies begun in 1929, or the more traditional sized Funnies on Parade from 1933. Both of these were simply reprints of newspaper strips. The Silver Age of Comic Books is generally considered to date from the first successful revival of the dormant superhero form — the debut of the Barry Allen Flash in Showcase #4 (Sept.-Oct. 1956) — and last through the early 1970s, during which time Marvel Comics revolutionized the medium with such naturalistic superheroes as the Fantastic Four and Spider-Man. The beginings of the Bronze and Modern ages are far more disputable. Indeed, some suggest that we are still in the Bronze Age. Starting points that have been suggested for the Bronze Age of comics are Conan #1 (Oct. 1970), Green Lantern/Green Arrow #76 (Apr. 1970) or Amazing Spider-Man #96 (May 1971) (the non-Comics Code issue). The start of the Modern Age has even more potential starting points, but is most likely the publication of Alan Moore's Watchmen in 1986. Notable events in the history of the American comic book include the psychiatrist Frederic Wertham's criticisms of the medium in his book Seduction of the Innocent, which saw the Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency investigate comic books. In response to this attention from government and the media, the U.S. comic book industry created the Comics Code Authority in 1954 and drafted the Comics Code, a move which saw the particularly targeted EC change its satirical comic book Mad from comic book to magazine format in order to circumvent the Code.

Underground comics

During the late 1960s and early 1970s, a surge of underground comics occurred. These comics were published and distributed independently of the established mainstream, and most reflected the youth counterculture and drug culture of the time. Many were notable for their uninhibited, irreverent style; their frankness in graphic sex, nudity, language and overt politics hadn't been seen in comics outside of their precursors, the pornographic and even more underground "Tijuana bibles". Underground comics were virtually never sold on newsstands but in such youth-oriented outlets as head shops and record stores, and by mail order. The underground-comics movement is often considered to have started with Zap Comix #1 (1968) by Canadian cartoonist Robert Crumb, a former Cleveland greeting-card artist living in San Francisco. Crumb later created the popular characters Fritz the Cat and Mr. Natural, and published Gilbert Shelton's The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers.

Independent and alternative comics

The rise of comic-book specialty stores in the late 1970s created a dedicated market for "independent" or "alternative comics"; two of the first were the anthology series Star Reach, published by comic-book writer Mike Friedrich from 1974-1979, and Harvey Pekar's American Splendor, published from the 1970s through the present day. Some independent comics continued in the tradition of underground comics, though were generally less overtly graphic, and others resembled the output of mainstream publishers in format and genre but were published by smaller artist-owned ventures or by a single artists. A few (notably RAW) were experimental attempts to bring comics closer to the world of fine art. The "small press" scene continued to grow and diversify. By the 1980s, several such independent publishers as Eclipse Comics, First Comics, and Fantagraphics were releasing a wide range of styles and formats from color superhero, detective and science fiction comic books to black-and-white magazine-format stories of Latin American magical realism. A number of small publishers in the 1990s changed the format and distribution of their comics to more closely resemble non-comics publishing. The "minicomics" form, an extremely informal version of self-publishing, arose in the 1980s and became increasingly popular among artists in the 1990s, despite reaching an even more limited audience than the small press.

Decline of serial comic-book format

In the early 2000s, sales of standard monthly comic books declined while graphic novels made increasing headway at retail bookstores. Along with the shift toward graphic novels among comics publishers, traditional book publishers such as Pantheon have released several dozen graphic novels, including works originally released by comics publishers with much less publicity.

The comic of Europe

Franco-Belgian comics

Franco-Belgian comics are comics written in Belgium and France. These two countries have a long tradition in comics and comic books, where they are called BDs (from Bande Dessinée) in French. Belgian comic books originally written in Dutch are influenced by the francophone "Franco-Belgian" comics, but have a different feel. La bande dessinée is derived from the original description of the artform as "drawn strips". It is not insignificant that the French term contains no indication of subject matter, unlike the American terms "comics" and "funnies," which imply an art form not to be taken seriously. Indeed, the distinction of comics as the "ninth art" is prevalent in Francophone scholarship on the form (le neuvième art), as is the concept of comics criticism and scholarship itself. Relative to the respective size of their countries, the innumerable authors in the region publish huge numbers of comic books. In North America, the more serious, Franco-Belgian comics are often seen as equivalent to graphic novels, for various reasons, but whether they are long or short, bound or in magazine format, in Europe there is no need for a more sophisticated term, as the art's name does not itself imply something frivolous. In France, most comics are published at the behest of the author, who will work within his self-appointed time frame, so a wait from six months to two years between installments is common. Most books are first published as a hard cover oversized book, usually 48 or 64 pages, with later re-releases in soft cover.

The British comic

Originally the same size as the comic book in the United States, although lacking the glossy cover, the British comic has adopted a magazine size, with The Beano and The Dandy the last to adopt this size in the 1980s. Although generally referred to as a comic, it can also be referred to as a comic magazine, and has also been known historically as a comic paper. Although Ally Sloper's Half Holiday (1884), the first comic published in Britain, was marketed at adults, publishers quickly targeted a younger market, which has led to most publications being for children and created an association in the public's mind of comics being somewhat juvenile. Popular titles within the United Kingdom have included The Beano, The Dandy, The Eagle, 2000 AD and Viz. Underground comics and "small press" titles have also been published within the United Kingdom, notably Oz and Escape Magazine. The content of Action, another title aimed at children and launched in the mid 1970s became the subject of discussion in the House of Commons, and although this was on a smaller scale to such similar investigations in the United States, it also led to a moderation of content published within comics, although such moderatiuon was never formalised to the extent of a creation of any code, and nor was it particularly lasting. The United Kingdom has also established a healthy market in the reprinting and repackaging of material, notably material originated within the United States. The lack of reliable supplies of American comic books led to a variety of black and white reprints, including Marvel's 1950s monster comics, Fawcett's Captain Marvel, and some other characters such as Sheena, Mandrake the Magician and the Phantom. Several reprint companies were involved in repackaging American material for the British market, notably the importer and distributor Thorpe & Porter. Marvel eventually established a UK office, with DC Comics and Dark Horse Comics also opening offices for periods in the the 1990s. The repackaging of European material has been less frequent, although the Tintin and Asterix serials have been succesfully translated and repackaged in soft cover books.

The comic annual

At Christmas time publishers will repackage and commision material for comic annuals, hardback A4 books. DC Thomson also repackage The Broons and Oor Wullie strips in softcover A4 books for the festive season.

Italian comics

In Italy, comics (known as fumetti) made their debut as humouristic strips at the end of the 19th century, and later evolved in adventure stories inspired to those coming from the U.S. After World War II, however, artists like Hugo Pratt and Guido Crepax imposed Italian comics to an international audience. "Author" comics contain often strong erotic contents. Best sellers remain popular comic books Diabolik or the Bonelli line, namely Tex Willer or Dylan Dog. Mainstream comics are usually published on the monthly basis, in a black and white digest size format, with about 100-132 pages of story. Collections of classic material for the most famous character, usually with over 200 pages, are also common. Author comics are published in the french BD format, with an example being Pratt's Corto Maltese. Italian cartoonists have and receive great influences from other countries including Belgium, France, Spain and Argentina. Italy is also famous for being one of the foremost producers of Walt Disney comic stories, particularly. Donald Duck's superhero alter ego, Paperinik, known in English as Superduck, was created in Italy.

Other European comics

Although Switzerland contributes less to the body of work, it is significant that many scholars point to a Francophone Swiss, Rodolphe Töpffer, as the true father of comics. This choice is still controversial, with critics feeling that Töppfer's work is perhaps somewhat unconnected to the genesis of the artform as it is now known in the region.

The graphic novel

The term graphic novel was first coined by Richard Kyle in 1964, mainly as an attempt to distinguish the newly translated works from Europe which were then being published from what Kyle saw as the more juvenile publications common in the United States. The term was popularised when Will Eisner used it on the cover of the paeprback edition of his work A Contract with God, and Other Tenement Stories (1978). This was a more mature work than many had come to expect from the comics medium, and the critical and commercial success of A Contract with God helped to establish the term "graphic novel" in common usage.

Regional categories


- American comic book
- Argentine comics
- British comics
- Indian comics
- Manga (Japanese comics)
- Manhua (Chinese comics)
- Manhwa (Korean comics)
- European comics
  - Franco-Belgian comics - Bande Dessinée, BD
  - Italian comics - Fumetti
- Brazilian comics - Histórias em Quadrinhos, HQ

Other Forms


- Tijuana bible (aka 8-pagers)
- Underground comics
- Alternative comics
- Adult comics
- Political and religious comics

Genres

Note: As with film and literature, genres are rarely pure and often blend. Frankenstein, for example, is a science fiction/horror novel; The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. is a Western/comedy TV series. Not all superhero comics are necessarily science fiction; Marvel Comics' Daredevil, for example, despite an initial science-fiction premise, may be more usefully classified as a crime drama.
- Action/adventure comics (of which superhero is a sub-genre)
- Adaptations of narratives in other media, often movies
- Anthromorphic/funny animal comics (see also furry)
- Autobiographical comics
- Crime comics
- Dramatic adventure comics
- Historical comics
- Horror comics
- Humor comics
- Journalistic comics
- Religious comics
- Romance comics
- Satiric comics
- Science-fiction comics
- War comics
- Western comics

Some particularly notable comic books


- 2000 AD (British)
- Acme Novelty Library (United States - Fantagraphics Books)
- Akira (Japanese)
- Asterix (French)
- Batman (United States - DC Comics)
- The Beano (British)
- The Dandy (British)
- Donald Duck (United States - Disney)
- Eightball (United States - Fantagraphics Books)
- The Fantastic Four (United States - Marvel Comics)
- The Incredible Hulk (United States - Marvel Comics)
- Lone Wolf and Cub (Japanese)
- Lucky Luke (Belgium - Dupuis and Dargaud)
- Monica's Gang (Turma da Mônica) (Brazilian)
- Mortadelo y Filemón (Spain)
- Mickey Mouse (United States-Disney)
- Raw (United States - Raw Books)
- The Smurfs (Belgium - Dupuis)
- The Amazing Spider-Man (United States - Marvel Comics)
- Sandman (United States - DC Vertigo Comics, 1988 World Fantasy Award (unique win for a comic-book series)
- Spike and Suzy (Belgian Flemish, originally called Suske en Wiske)
- Superman (United States - DC Comics)
- Tintin (Belgian - Casterman)
- Viz (British)
- Wonder Woman (United States - DC Comics)
- X-Men (United States - Marvel Comics)
- Zap Comix (United States-underground comix)

See also

Comics - the sequential art form in general


- Comic strip
- Graphic novel
- Webcomic
  - Sprite comic
- Storyboard
- Cartoon
  - Political cartoon

Comic book awards


- Eisner Awards
- Harvey Awards
- Ignatz Awards
- Kirby Awards
- Prix de la critique
- Angoulême International Comics Festival Prizes (aka Alph'arts) and the Grand Prix de la ville d'Angoulême
- Tezuka Awards
- Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Awards

Miscellaneous


- Cartoonist
- Comic book creator
- Comic book collecting
- Comic-Con International

Lists


- List of comic creators
- List of comic books
- List of comic book publishing companies
- List of comic and cartoon character pairs
- List of comic strips
- List of cartoonists
- List of comic and cartoon characters named after people
- Comic books in dialects

References

Inge, Thomas M., "Comics as culture" Journal of Popular Culture 12:631, 1979 (not online)

External links


- [http://www.cbgxtra.com/Default.aspx?tabid=695 Database of Comic Book Sales Figures]
- [http://www.heritagecomics.com/common/worth.php How To Figure Out How Much Your Comics Are Worth]
- [http://www.comicbookdb.com/ ComicBookDB.com]
- [http://www.comiccovers.com/ ComicCovers.com]
- [http://www.cbgxtra.com Comics Buyer's Guide]
- [http://www.comics-db.com/ The Big Comic Book Database]
- [http://www.comicbookgalaxy.com/ Comic Book Galaxy]
- [http://www.cbr.cc/ Comic Book Resources]
- [http://www.comics.org/ The Grand Comics Database]
- [http://www.crimeboss.com/history03-1.html The Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency]
- [http://www.gweeb.com/ Bronze Age 1970s Comic Book Cover Showcase]
- [http://www.toonopedia.com/index.htm Don Markstein's Toonopedia]
- [http://www.knightmare6.com/faq/ Fan Site: Comic Book FAQ]
- [http://www.boldcomicsstudio.com/main/ Bold Comic Studios - A site for the independant comic creator]
- [http://www.nostalgiazone.com/doc/zine/ Comics Fan Zine: articles on comics in pop culture] Nostalgia Zine
- [http://ichibancomics.blogspot.com First Edition Comic Reviews at Ichiban Comics] ja:漫画
- Category:Comics Category:MagazinesCategory:Entertainment

1974

1974 (MCMLXXIV) is a common year starting on Tuesday (click on link for calendar).

Events

January-February


- January 5 - Dungeons & Dragons officially released.
- January 6 - In response to the energy crisis, daylight saving time commences nearly four months early in the United States.
- January 30 - G. Gordon Liddy found guilty of Watergate charges
- February 1 - Fire in Joelman Bank Building in Sao Paulo, Brazil - 177 dead, 293 injured
- February 1 - The Joelma Fire kills 188 in São Paulo.
- February 3 - Prisoners riot in the Bathurst Jail Riots, destroying much of the jail.
- February 4 - Symbionese Liberation Army kidnaps Patricia Hearst, the 19 year old granddaughter of publisher William Randolph Hearst
- February 8 - After 84 days in space, the crew of the temporary American space station, Skylab, return to Earth.
- February 12 - US District Court Judge George Boldt rules that Native American tribes in Washington State are entitled to half of the legal salmon and steelhead catches, based on treaties signed by the tribes and the US government.
- February 13 - Nobel Prize winning writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn is expelled from the Soviet Union (he returns May 27 1994)
- February 17 - Soccer stampede in Cairo - 49 dead
- February 20 - Following a visit to his home from a woman wearing a strange pendant, Phillip K Dick begins to receive a series of visions which he refers to as 2-3-74, shorthand for February/March of 1974.
- February 23 - The Symbionese Liberation Army demand $4 million more to release kidnap victim Patty Hearst.
- February 27 - People magazine is published for the first time.
- February 28 - United Kingdom general election results in an almost dead-heat. Harold Wilson becomes Prime Minister again despite his Labour Party (UK) having received fewer votes than the Conservative Party (UK).
- February 28 - Ethiopian prime minister Tsehafi Aklilu Habte-Wold, who has held the position since 1961, is dismissed by Emperor Haile Selassie and replaced with Endelkachew Makonnen.

March


- March 1 - Watergate scandal: Seven are indicted for their role in the Watergate break-in and charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice.
- March 1 - Pierre Messmer finishes his first term as Prime Minister of France.
- March 3 - A Turkish Airlines DC-10 travelling from Paris to London crashes in a wood near Paris, killing all 346 aboard.
- March 8 - Charles de Gaulle Airport opens in Paris, France.
- March 10 - Ten miners die in a methane gas explosion at Golborne Colliery near Wigan, Lancashire.
- March 10 - Japanese World War Two soldier, second lieutenant Hiroo Onoda surrenders in the Philippines
- March 18 - Oil embargo crisis: Most OPEC nations end a five-month oil embargo against the United States, Europe and Japan.
- March 20 - Ian Balls fails in his attempt to kidnap Her Royal Highness Princess Anne and her husband Captain Mark Phillips in The Mall, outside Buckingham Palace, London.
- March 29 - Mariner 10 approaches Mercury.

April-May


- April 1 - the Local Government Act 1972 comes into effect in England and Wales, creating six new metropolitan counties and comprehensively redrawing the administrative map
- April 3 - The Super Outbreak, the largest series of tornadoes in history, hits 13 U.S. states and one Canadian province. By the time the last of 148 tornadoes hit early the following morning, 315 died and over 5,000 were injured.
- April 10 - In Israel, Golda Meir resigns as Prime Minister
- April 17 - Three members of the Symbionese Liberation Army die when their apartment catches fire during a shootuot with the LAPD
- April 25 - Coup in Portugal restores democracy (see Carnation Revolution)
- April 28 - Last Americans evacuated from Saigon
- May 4 - All female Japanese team summits Manaslu and become the first women to climb an 8,000 metre peak.
- May 9 - The United States House of Representatives Judiciary Committee opens formal and public impeachment hearings against President Richard M. Nixon
- May 17 - Los Angeles, California police raid Symbionese Liberation Army headquarters, killing six members, including Camilla Hall
- May 17 - Thirty-three people die in the Dublin and Monaghan Bombings in Ireland. Members of the UDR and UVF, allegedly assisted by British intelligence, are behind the blast.
- May 18 - Nuclear test: Under project Smiling Buddha, India successfully detonates its first nuclear weapon becoming the sixth nation to do so.
- May 18 - Completition of Warsaw radio mast. The Warsaw radio mast was the tallest construction ever built. It collapsed on August 8, 1991
- May 19 - In the second round of the presidential elections in France, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing wins from François Mitterrand, but by a close margin.

June


- June 1 - Flixborough disaster: An explosion at a chemical plant in Flixborough, UK kills 28 people
- June 6 - A new Instrument of Government is promulgated making Sweden a parliamentary monarchy
- June 15 - The Red Lion Square disorders
- June 16 - First Darwin beer-can boat regatta in Darwin, Australia - 63 crafts made of beer cans participate
- June 17 - A bomb explodes at the Houses of Parliament in London damaging Westminster Hall. The bomb had been planted by the Irish Republican Army
- June 24 - The UPC label is used for the first time to ring up purchases at a supermarket.
- June 29 - Isabel Peron becomes interim president of Argentina when Juan Peron falls seriously ill
- June 30 - Assassination of Alberta Williams King, mother of the late Martin Luther King, Jr., during a church service

July


- July 7 - West Germany defeats Netherlands 2-1 to win the Football World Cup 1974.
- July 14 - Christine Chubbuck, US television presenter for WXLT-TV, draws a revolver and shoots herself in the head during a live broadcast. She dies in a hospital 14 hours later.
- July 15 - Military coup overthrows President Makarios in Cyprus
- July 17- A bomb planted by the Irish Republican Army explodes in the White Tower at the Tower of London, killing one person and injuring 41. Another bomb explodes outside a government building in South London.
- July 20 - Turkish occupation of Cyprus: Forces from Turkey invade Cyprus after Greek Cypriots' attempt at enosis.
- July 22 - Ethiopian Prime Minister Endelkachew Makonnen is replaced with Mikael Imru.
- July 23 - Greek military government collapses
- July 24 - Watergate Scandal: The United States Supreme Court unanimously rules that President Richard Nixon did not have the authority to withhold subpoenaed White House tapes and they order him to surrender the tapes to the Watergate special prosecutor
- July 27-July 30 - Watergate Scandal: The House of Representatives Judiciary Committee adopts three articles of impeachment charging President Richard M. Nixon with obstruction of justice, failure to uphold laws, and refusal to produce material subpoenaed by the committee.

August-October


- August 3 - Former Scottish Works team Ferranti Thistle joins the Profesional Scottish Leagues and changes its name to Meadowbank Thistle Football Club.
- August 4 - Bomb explodes in Italicus Expressen train between Italy and West Germany. Italian neo-fascist terrorists take responsibility
- August 8 - Watergate scandal: US President Richard Nixon announces his resignation (effective August 9)
- August 9 - Richard Nixon becomes the first President of the United States to resign from office, an action taken to avoid being removed by impeachment in response to his role in the Watergate scandal. His Vice President, Gerald Ford, takes the oath of office and becomes the 38th president
- September 8 - Watergate Scandal: US President Gerald Ford pardons former President Richard Nixon for any crimes Nixon may have committed while in office.
- September 8 - TWA Flight 841 crashes into the Ionian sea, 18 minutes after take off from Athens, by a bomb exlosion in the cargo hold killing 88 people.
- September 13 - Japanese Red Army members seize the French Embassy in The Hague, Netherlands. They secure the release of member Yatuka Fumiya, $300.000 and a flight to Aden
- September 23 - Ceefax is started by the BBC - one of the first public service information systems
- October 5 - The Guildford Pub Bombings at The Horse and Groom and The Seven Stars kill 5 people, lead to the wrongful conviction and imprisonment of the Guildford Four the next year
- October 10 - the second United Kingdom general election of the year results in a narrow victory for Labour, still led by Harold Wilson.

November


- November 7 - Lord Lucan disappears
- November 7 - An IRA bomb explodes at the Kings Arms, Woolwich
- November 8 - In Salt Lake City, Utah, Carol DaRonch narrowly escapes abduction by serial killer Ted Bundy
- November 10 - Members of the Movement 2 June try to kidnap Günter von Drenkmann, the president of West Germany's Superior Court of Justice, at his home but he is fatally shot during the attempt
- November 14 - Ronald Defeo, Jr. murders his parents four siblings in what would later become known as "The Amityville Horror House"
- November 16 - Arecibo radio telescope sends an interstellar radio message towards M 13 great globular cluster
- November 17 - Irish President Childers dies suddenly of a heart attack in the Republic of Ireland in the middle of a public speech
- November 20 - The United States Department of Justice files its final anti-trust suit against AT&T. This suit later leads to the break up of AT&T and the Bell System.
- November 21 - In Birmingham, England, two pubs are bombed, killing 21 people (the Birmingham Six were later sentenced to life in prison for this)
- November 21 - George W. Bush is discharged from the US Air Force Reserve
- November 22 - The United Nations General Assembly grants the Palestine Liberation Organization observer status.
- November 24 - A skeleton from the hominid Australopithecus afarensis is discovered and named Lucy.
- November 27 - The Prevention of Terrorism Act is passed in the United Kingdom

December


- December 1 - A Boeing 727 carrying TWA Flight 514 crashes 25 miles (40 km) northwest of Dulles International Airport during bad weather, killing all 92 people on-board
- December 8 - Greek voters reject a proposal to restore the Greek monarchy.
- December 19 - Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh becomes the fifth President of Ireland, in a state inauguration in Dublin Castle
- December 23 - Former British ex-minister John Stonehouse, who faked his drowning in Florida, is arrested in Melbourne, Australia
- December 24-December 25 - Darwin, Australia almost completely destroyed by Cyclone Tracy

Unknown date


- The Milgram experiment first described by Yale University psychologist Stanley Milgram in his 1974 book Obedience to Authority; An Experimental View.
- Baltimore police strike
- Volkswagen's Golf automobile first enters production. VW will go on to sell 22 million Golfs, and the model is still very popular today.

Births

January-February


- January 2 - Tricia Helfer, Canadian actress and model
- January 11 - The Rosenkowitz sextuplets (Cape Town, South Africa), the first sextuplets known to survive their infancy.
- January 12 - Tor Arne Hetland, Norwegian cross-country skiier
- January 16 - Kate Moss, English model
- January 17 - Ladan and Laleh Bijani, Iranian conjoined twins (d. 2003)
- January 23 - Tiffani Thiessen, American actress
- January 27 - Chaminda Vaas, Sri Lankan cricketer
- January 28 - Tony Delk, American basketball player
- January 30 - Christian Bale, Welsh actor
- January 31 - Ian Huntley, English murderer
- February 7 - Steve Nash, Canadian basketball player
- February 8 - Seth Green, American actor
- February 11 - D'Angelo, American singer
- February 13 - Robbie Williams, English singer
- February 15 - Seattle Slew, American racehorse (d. 2002)
- February 15 - Ugueth Urbina, Venezuelan Major League Baseball player
- February 24 - Chad Hugo, American musician and producer (The Neptunes)

March-April


- March 1 - Mark-Paul Gosselaar, American actor
- March 5 - Jens Jeremies, German footballer
- March 7 - Alberto Rabagliati, Italian singer and actor
- March 11 - Bobby Abreu, Venezuelan Major League Baseball player
- March 11 - Russ Haas, American wrestler (d. 2001)
- March 20 - Paula Garces, Colombian actress
- March 20 - Andrzej Pilipiuk, Polish writer
- March 20 - Carsten Ramelow, German footballer
- March 22 - Marcus Camby, American basketball player
- March 24 - Alyson Hannigan, American actress
- March 25 - Lark Voorhies, American actress
- April 4 - Dave Mirra, American athlete
- April 9 - Jenna Jameson, American actress
- April 11 - Trot Nixon, baseball player
- April 14 - Da Brat, American rapper
- April 15 - Josh Todd, musician and singer (Buckcherry)
- April 17 - Victoria Beckham, English singer (Spice Girls)
- April 22 - Shavo Odadjian, Armenian-born bassist (System of a Down)
- April 28 - Penélope Cruz, Spanish actress
- April 28 - Richel Hersisia, Dutch boxer

May-July


- May 8 - Korey Stringer, American football player (d. 2001)
- May 17 - Andrea Corr, Irish singer (The Corrs)
- May 23 - Ken Jennings, American long-time winner on Jeopardy!
- May 23 - Jewel, American singer
- May 23 - Monica Naranjo, Spanish singer
- May 24 - Ruslana, Ukrainian singer
- May 26 - Lars Frölander, Swedish swimmer
- May 27 - Danny Wuerffel, American football player
- June 1 - Alanis Morissette, Canadian singer
- June 2 - Gata Kamsky, American chess player
- June 7 - Mahesh Bhupathi, Indian tennis player
- June 10 - James Spix, American author
- June 12 - Hideki Matsui, Japanese baseball player
- June 13 - Brande Roderick, American actress
- June 25 - Karisma Kapoor, Indian actress
- June 26 - Derek Jeter, baseball player
- July 2 - Matthew Reilly, Australian writer
- July 4 - La'Roi Glover, American football player
- July 19 - Preston Wilson, baseball player
- July 22 - Daddy Kev, American record producer
- July 23 - Maurice Greene, American athlete
- July 27 - Eason Chan, Hong Kong singer
- July 31 - Emilia Fox, English actress
- July 31 - Jonathan Ogden, American football player

August-October


- August 2 - Jeremy Castle, American singer and songwriter
- August 5 - Kajol Devgan, Indian actress
- August 9 - Matt Morris, baseball player
- August 15 - Natasha Henstridge, Canadian actress and model
- August 20 - Maxim Vengerov, Russian violinist
- August 23 - Ray Park, Scottish actor
- August 24 - Jennifer Lien, American actress
- August 27 - Jose Vidro, baseball player
- September 2 - Lisa Snowdon, English television presenter
- September 6 - Tim Henman, English tennis player
- September 10 - Ben Wallace, American basketball player
- September 14 - Hicham El Guerrouj, Moroccan athlete
- September 17 - Rasheed Wallace, American basketball player
- September 19 - Jimmy Fallon, American actor and comedian
- September 23 - Matt Hardy, American Professional Wrestler
- October 7 - Allison Munn, American actress
- October 10 - Dale Earnhardt, Jr., American race car driver
- October 11 - Terje Haakonsen, Norwegian snowboarder
- October 16 - Paul Kariya, Canadian hockey player
- October 21 - Lera Auerbach, Russian composer, pianist, and poet
- October 23 - Sander Westerveld, Dutch soccer player
- October 29 - Michael Vaughan, English cricketer

November-December


- November 1 - VVS Laxman, Indian cricketer
- November 4 - Louise Redknapp, English singer
- November 5 - Ryan Adams, American singer and songwriter
- November 5 - Jerry Stackhouse, American basketball player
- November 9 - Uncle Kracker, American singer
- November 11 - Leonardo DiCaprio, American actor
- November 11 - Bettina Goislard, French UN worker (d. 2003)
- November 22 - Ken Mondschein, American writer
- November 22 - David Pelletier, Canadian figure skater
- November 23 - Jamie Sharper, American football player
- November 27 - Zsófia Polgár, Hungarian-born chess player
- December 1 - Costinha, Portuguese footballer
- December 7 - Nicole Appleton, Canadian singer (All Saints)
- December 13 - Nicholas McCarthy, English-born guitarist (Franz Ferdinand (band))
- December 14 - Billy Koch, baseball player
- December 18 - Peter Boulware, American football player
- December 19 - Jake Plummer, American football player
- December 21 - Karrie Webb, Australian golfer
- December 24 - Ryan Seacrest, American television host
- December 29 - Jenny Barker, British radio presenter
- December 29 - Richie Sexson, baseball player

Unknown date


- Ziad Jarrah, Lebanese hijacker (d. 2001)

Deaths

January-July


- January 2 - Tex Ritter, American actor and singer (b. 1905)
- January 12 - Princess Patricia of Connaught (b. 1886)
- January 31 - Samuel Goldwyn, Polish-born film studio executive (b. 1879)
- February 11 - Anna Q Nilsson, Swedish actress (b. 1888)
- February 15 - Kurt Atterberg, Swedish composer (b. 1887)
- February 21 - Tim Horton, Canadian hockey player (b. 1930)
- February 23 - Harry Ruby, American composer and writer (b. 1895)
- March 1 - Bobby Timmons, American jazz pianist (b. 1935)
- March 5 - Sol Hurok, Russian-born impresario (b. 1888)
- March 6 - Ernest Becker, American cultural anthropologist
- March 9 - Earl Wilbur Sutherland Jr., American physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1915)
- March 20 - Chet Huntley, American television journalist (b. 1911)
- April 2 - Georges Pompidou, President of France (b. 1911)
- April 15 - Giovanni D'Anzi, Italian songwriter (b. 1906)
- April 19 - Ayub Khan, President of Pakistan (b. 1907)
- April 24 - Bud Abbott, American actor (b. 1897)
- May 24 - Duke Ellington, American jazz pianist and bandleader (b. 1899)
- June 9 - Miguel Angel Asturias, Guatemalan writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1890)
- June 10 - Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, Governor-General of Australia (b. 1900)
- June 22 - Darius Milhaud, French composer (b. 1892)
- June 28 - Frank Sutton, American actor (b. 1923)
- July 1 - Juan Domingo Perón, President of Argentina (b. 1895)
- July 9 - Earl Warren, Governor of California and Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court (b. 1891)
- July 11 - Pär Lagerkvist, Swedish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1891)
- July 13 - Patrick Blackett, English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1897)
- July 24 - James Chadwick, English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1891)

August-December


- August 6 - Gene Ammons, American jazz saxophonist (b. 1925)
- September 3 - Harry Partch, American composer (b. 1901)
- September 4 - Creighton Williams Abrams, American general (b. 1914)
- September 4 - Marcel Achard, French playwright and scriptwriter (b. 1899)
- September 14 - Warren Hull, American actor (b. 1903)
- October 6 - V.K. Krishna Menon, Indian freedom fighter and politician (b. 1897)
- October 24 - David Oistrakh, Ukrainian violinist (b. 1908)
- November 11 - Alfonso Leng, Chilean composer (b. 1894)
- November 13 - Vittorio De Sica, Italian film director (b. 1901)
- November 17 - Erskine Hamilton Childers, fourth President of Ireland (b. 1905)
- November 19 - George Brunies, American musician (b. 1902)
- November 21 - John B. Gambling, American radio talk-show host (b. 1897)
- November 21 - Frank Martin, Swiss composer (b. 1890)
- November 24 - Nick Drake, British musician (b. 1948)
- November 24 - Endelkachew Makonnen, Ethiopian politician (b. 1927)
- November 29 - Peng Dehuai, Chinese leader (b. 1898)
- December 2 - Max Weber, Swiss Federal Councilor (b. 1897)
- December 18 - Harry Hooper, baseball player (b. 1887)
- December 20 - André Jolivet, French composer (b. 1905)

Nobel Prizes


- Physics - Sir Martin Ryle, Antony Hewish
- Chemistry - Paul J. Flory
- Medicine - Albert Claude, Christian de Duve, George E. Palade
- Literature - Eyvind Johnson, Harry Martinson
- Peace - Séan MacBride, Eisaku Sato
- Economics - Gunnar Myrdal, Friedrich von Hayek

Fields Medalists


- Enrico Bombieri, David Mumford Category:1974

Templeton Prize


- Brother Roger als:1974 ko:1974년 ja:1974年 simple:1974 th:พ.ศ. 2517

1982

1982 (MCMLXXXII) is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar.

Events

January


- January 6 - William Bonin is conv