Effects of Reading Comic Books

In Understanding Comics, McCloud defines comics as, “Juxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence, intended to convey information and/or to produce an aesthetic response in the viewer” (McCloud, 1993, p. 9).

Introduction: As long as there have been civilizations, there have been stories, myths that are told to children. These stories are usually the basis of the cartoons characters except some which are from creator’s imagination. This story telling is a means of not only comforting and amusing a child, but of teaching the child the societal norms of their nation. These are memorized by children and remembered forever. Children idolize their favourite character, the character they have most in common with and are best able to identify with, and try to emulate that character’s

Political cartoons are an illustrative technique that political cartoonist use to display a message to the viewers about government, world affairs, and politics. In 1754, publishers of the Pennsylvania Gazette published the first political cartoon illustrated by Benjamin Franklin (West, par. 1). Benjamin Franklin used his first political cartoon, titled Join or Die, to gain support from the colonies for the Crown’s war against the French (West, par. 1). Since the 1700s, illustrators use political cartoons as a medium to display political messages to its viewers (West, par. 1). On March 10, 2015, publishers of the Columbia Daily Tribune published a political cartoon, illustrated by John Darkow, titled Hillary Has A Primary Opponent (Darkow,

Cartoons have been use for many years and its modern usage refers to a typically non-realistic or semi-realistic drawing or painting intended for satire, caricature, or mock different things. John Backderf, known as Derf, is a famous and recognized cartoonist “who works out of an unheated, attic studio in his Cleveland home, grew up in a rural, small town in Ohio and went to high school with serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer” (“Bio”). He drew a cartoon in 1995 in which he presents an implicit theory about how and why things evolve to be “cool”. This paper will elaborate on explaining what Derf’s theory actually is, an interpretation of the meaning presented in the cartoon, and a fad or style that follows Derf’s theory.

In the article, “Violent Media Is Good for Kids”, the author, Gerard Jones, begins by providing background information about himself. As a child, Jones was taught that violence was wrong, and as he grew up, he learned that violent comics and stories aided him to become an action movies and comic book writer. In his article, the author addresses why violent media are good for children. He points out that it helps them transform better socially, explore and conquer their feelings, and improves self-knowledge. Jones purpose is to inform readers about the positive use of violent media on children. The author uses rhetorical appeals of pathos and ethos, and stylistic techniques such as allusions and repetitions to create his argument.

During this time of great struggle and hardship, something was needed to calm tension and heartbreak for citizens of all the countries involved in World War One. Instead of focusing on the negative bloody photographs that were taken during battle, citizens needed something to inform them about the war, without the graphic images. Since comedy and information were needed, artists began to focus their attention towards political cartoons, thus becoming cartoonists. According to The Wall Street Journal: “Popularity of caricatures and cartoons surged during World War One. […] Caricatures and cartoons served as a release valve [that]

Why are comics not appreciated as much as the dry narratives of novels in the literary world? A comic is composed of symbols to express concepts shared by all people in their own social environment, and provide more tools than conventional art to truly show artistic intention.

Similarly, comics aren’t simply words and pictures put together without a specific mixture of the two. There is much chemistry that allows each comic strip to stand out from the next strip. McCloud shows many ways in which words and pictures can be used in comic, he says “The different ways in which words and pictures can combine in comics is virtually unlimited.” (741) He covers only a very short list of the different ways for combining words and pictures to create different styles in comics. A few examples given were word specific, picture specific, and duo specific combinations. Word specific combinations need the help of words because the illustration cannot stand on its own to tell the complete story. Picture specific combinations are illustrations that tell the complete action but have added words as an additional “soundtrack”, as McCloud calls it. The duo specific combinations show a strip of clear illustration and words that tell the same story with or without one another. This same idea is shown in the article “Great Presentations: Tips from Great Presenters”; Ken Krogue introduces the idea that a person should be able to know if they are comfortable with what they are about to speak about if they don’t use note cards. He rhetorically asks the readers, "Could I speak without notes? One way to measure how prepared and passionate you are is whether you need

Ever since we learned to read as children, we’ve been exposed to stories of superheroes saving the world. As we grow, these stories fill us with a sense of awe that we wish to recreate within ourselves, leading us to behave like these ever-present heroes. They also encourage and exemplify positive behavior among the people. For example, the generation that grew up with Wonder Woman, one of the first female superheroes, has lately been pushing for gender equality. As Scott Allison and George Goethals write in their article, “Most fairytales and children’s stories serve (...) [a] didactic purpose, showing kids the kinds of behaviors that are needed to succeed in life, to better society, and to overcome villainy” (Allison and Goethals, 1). It is essential to expose children to these exemplary role models as they are still developing their own set of ideals and

Over the years, comic books have reflected what was happening in the world around us. Hot topics and issues have taken place in these fantasy worlds. They have been used as propaganda. For example during the second world war, you could read about your favorite heroes fighting and eventually defeating Hitler and the nazis, therefore saving the world. During the cold war, they fought the soviets.

There is a long history of racism and prejudice aim towards Black people in comic books. In the years past, many comics’ authors have battled to improve the image of Blacks in comics by encouraging, non-stereotypical Black characters. They used techniques such as applying Black protagonists, and addressing racism head on. All of these methods are effective, and with the ideal environment have the chance to support non-stereotypical Image of Black people. Even so the mixing of black characters in in superhero comics has undergone countless obstacles and challenges.

Thesis Statement: Comic Books are not just enjoyable to read for most but have changed everyday life more than people realize.

To the general public, comic books are usually in the same category as video games. Most people think of comic books just as a silly child entertainment tool. Comic books have sky rocketed in popularity within the current decade mainly from the help of superhero movie adaptations. Even with their rise of popularity within the general public comic books are still considered a lesser form of reading. The casual reader will never put a comic book, no matter how famous, in the same league as To Kill a Mockingbird in literary complexity. Comic books carry a negative stigma with them. They first stared out as children’s tales, but have grown to have a complexity that even some scholars have trouble pinpointing. All of the controversy begs the question

Within the realm of cinema, superheroes have inspired a generation of devoted enthusiasts who strive to live their lives with adherence to the values of the venerable characters portrayed within cinema. Indeed, movies such as those within the Marvel or DC universe have created such a devout following, while also accruing tremendous popularity within the global spectrum. Furthermore, the characters depicted within these films represent a figure of high esteem, intelligence, and power in pursuit of preserving society from utter destruction. In determining the extent in which society is beneficially influenced by superhero cinema, one must assess the moral values exhibited throughout these films as well as the societal influence associated with

Since the times of the Persian Empires, propaganda has been an effective tool for forces of the State government, or other institutions trying to spread a political message, usually for militarily or humanitarian missions. In modern times, propaganda has taken a new face with the Internet, but during the 1940’s one of the most effective types of propaganda was the use of comic books. Currently comic books are used around the world to spread the message of peace, war, and even religion. For example, in Egypt a comic book is used to spread the word of Islam and what a true Muslim should act like in accordance to Allah. Catholic undertones are used in comic books to spread a message of Christianity to people in an interesting way, with bloody action. In Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Bosnian War, Superman was used to get out awareness of landmines to the people in affected areas. Comic Books are an effective form of propaganda because they are meant to be interesting, and the superheroes show people how they should be acting during times of strife. Throughout the history of comic books, they have been unifying and brought people together and light to certain messages for people from different countries, cultures, and ethnicities.