Comics (from the Greek , ''kōmikos'' "of or pertaining to comedy" from ''κῶμος - kōmos'' "revel, komos", via the Latin ''cōmicus'') denotes a hybrid medium having verbal side of its vocabulary tightly tied to its visual side in order to convey narrative or information only, the latter in case of non-fiction comics, seeking synergy by using both visual (non-verbal) and verbal side in interaction. Although some comics are picture-only, pantomime strips, such as ''The Little King'', the verbal side usually expand upon the pictures, but sometimes act in counterpoint.

The term derives from the mostly humorous early work in the medium, and came to apply to that form of the medium including those far from comic. The sequential nature of the pictures, and the predominance of pictures over words, distinguishes comics from picture books, although some in comics studies disagree and claim that in fact what differentiates comics from other forms on the continuum from word-only narratives, on one hand, to picture-only narratives, on the other, is social context.

Social context

Comics as a real mass medium started to emerge in the United States in the early 20th century with the newspaper comic strip, where its form began to be standardized (image-driven, speech balloons, etc.), first in Sunday strips and later in daily strips. The combination of words and pictures proved popular and quickly spread throughout the world.

Comic strips were soon gathered into cheap booklets and reprint comic books. Original comic books soon followed. Today, comics are found in newspapers, magazines, comic books, graphic novels and on the web. Historically, the form dealt with humorous subject matter, but its scope has expanded to encompass the full range of literary genres. Also see: Comic strip and cartoon. In some circles, comics are still seen as low art, though there are exceptions, such as ''Krazy Kat'' and ''Barnaby''. However, such an elitist "low art/high art" distinction doesn't exist in the French-speaking world (and, to some extent, continental Europe), where the ''bandes dessinées'' medium as a whole is commonly accepted as "the Ninth Art", is usually dedicated a non-negligible space in bookshops and libraries, and is regularly celebrated in international events such as the Angoulême International Comics Festival. Such distinctions also do not exist in the Japanese manga, the world's largest comics culture.

In the late 20th and early 21st century there has been a movement to rehabilitate the medium. Critical discussions of the form appeared as early as the 1920s, but serious studies were rare until the late 20th century.

Though practitioners may eschew formal traditions, they often use particular forms and conventions to convey narration and speech, or to evoke emotional or sensuous responses. Devices such as speech balloons and boxes are used to indicate dialogue and impart establishing information, while panels, layout, gutters and zip ribbons can help indicate the flow of the story. Comics use of text, ambiguity, symbolism, design, iconography, literary technique, mixed media and stylistic elements of art help build a subtext of meanings. Though comics are non-linear structures and can be hard to read sometimes, it is simply presented. However, it depends of the reader's "frame of mind" to read and understand the comic. Different conventions were developed around the globe, from the manga of Japan to the manhua of China and the manhwa of Korea, the comic books of the United States, and the larger hardcover albums in Europe.

History

Comics as an art form established itself in the late 19th and early 20th century, alongside the similar forms of film and animation. The three forms share certain conventions, most noticeably the mixing of words and pictures, and all three owe parts of their conventions to the technological leaps made through the industrial revolution. Though newspapers and magazines first established and popularized comics in the late 1890s, narrative illustration has existed for many centuries.

Early narratives in art

Early precursors of comic as they are known today include Trajan's Column and the work of William Hogarth. Rome's Trajan's Column, dedicated in 113 AD, is an early surviving example of a narrative told through sequential pictures, while Egyptian hieroglyphs, Greek friezes, medieval tapestries such as the Bayeux Tapestry and illustrated manuscripts also combine sequential images and words to tell a story. In medieval paintings, many sequential scenes of the same story (usually a Biblical one) appear simultaneously in the same painting ''(see illustration to left)''.

However, these works did not travel to the reader; it took the invention of modern printing techniques to bring the form to a wide audience and become a mass medium.

The 15th–18th centuries and printing advances

The invention of the printing press, allowing movable type, established a separation between images and words, the two requiring different methods in order to be reproduced. Early printed material concentrated on religious subjects, but through the 17th and 18th centuries they began to tackle aspects of political and social life, and also started to satirize and caricature. It was also during this period that the speech bubble was developed as a means of attributing dialogue.

William Hogarth is often identified in histories of the comics form. His work, ''A Rake's Progress'', was composed of a number of canvases, each reproduced as a print, and the eight prints together created a narrative. As printing techniques developed, due to the technological advances of the industrial revolution, magazines and newspapers were established. These publications utilized illustrations as a means of commenting on political and social issues, such illustrations becoming known as cartoons in the 1840s. Soon, artists were experimenting with establishing a sequence of images to create a narrative.

While surviving works of these periods such as Francis Barlow's ''A True Narrative of the Horrid Hellish Popish Plot'' (c.1682) as well as ''The Punishments of Lemuel Gulliver'' and ''A Rake's Progress'' by William Hogarth (1726), can be seen to establish a narrative over a number of images, it wasn't until the 19th century that the elements of such works began to crystallise into the comic strip.

The speech balloon also evolved during this period, from the medieval origins of the ''phylacter'', a label, usually in the form of a scroll, which identified a character either through naming them or using a short text to explain their purpose. Artists such as George Cruikshank helped codify such ''phylacters'' as ''balloons'' rather than ''scrolls'', though at this time they were still called ''labels''. They now represented narative, but for identification purposes rather than dialogue within the work, and artists soon discarded them in favour of running dialogue underneath the panels. Speech balloons weren't reintroduced to the form until Richard F. Outcault used them for dialogue.

The 19th century: a form established

right|thumb|A page by Rodolphe Töpffer, whose work is considered influential in shaping the comics form. Rodolphe Töpffer, a Francophone Swiss artist, is seen as the key figure of the early part of the 19th century. Though speech balloons fell from favour during the middle 19th century, Töpffer's sequentially illustrated stories, with text compartmentalized below images, were reprinted throughout Europe and the United States. The lack of copyright laws at the time allowed these pirated editions, and translated versions created a market on both continents for similar works.

In 1843 Töpffer formalised his thoughts on the ''picture story'' in his ''Essay on Physiognomics'': "To construct a picture-story does not mean you must set yourself up as a master craftsman, to draw out every potential from your material—often down to the dregs! It does not mean you just devise caricatures with a pencil naturally frivolous. Nor is it simply to dramatize a proverb or illustrate a pun. You must actually invent some kind of play, where the parts are arranged by plan and form a satisfactory whole. You do not merely pen a joke or put a refrain in couplets. You make a book: good or bad, sober or silly, crazy or sound in sense."

In 1845 the satirical drawings, which regularly appeared in newspapers and magazines, gained a name: cartoons. (In art, a cartoon is a pencil or charcol sketch to be overpainted.) The British magazine ''Punch'', launched in 1841, referred to its 'humorous pencilings' as cartoons in a satirical reference to the Parliament of the day, who were themselves organising an exhibition of cartoons, or preparatory drawings, at the time. This usage became common parlance, lasting to the present day. Similar magazines containing cartoons in continental Europe included ''Fliegende Blätter'' and ''Le Charivari'', while in the U.S. ''Judge'' and ''Puck'' were popular.

1865 saw the publication of ''Max and Moritz'' by Wilhelm Busch by a German newspaper. Busch refined the conventions of sequential art, and his work was a key influence within the form, Rudolph Dirks was inspired by the strip to create ''The Katzenjammer Kids'' in 1897. It is around this time that Manhua, the Chinese form of comics, started to formalize, a process that lasted up until 1927. The introduction of lithographic printing methods derived from the West was a critical step in expanding the form within China during the early 20th century. Like Europe and the United States, satirical drawings were appearing in newspapers and periodicals, initially based on works from those countries. One of the first magazines of satirical cartoons was based on the United Kingdom's ''Punch'', snappily re-branded as ''"The China Punch"''. The first piece drawn by a person of Chinese nationality was ''"The Situation in the Far East"'' from Tse Tsan-Tai, printed 1899 in Japan. By the 1920s, a market was established for palm-sized picture books like Lianhuanhua.

In 1884, ''Ally Sloper's Half Holiday'' was published, a magazine whose selling point was a strip featuring the titular character, and widely regarded as the first comic strip magazine to feature a recurring character. In 1890, two more comic magazines debuted to the British public, ''Comic Cuts'' and ''Illustrated Chips'', establishing the tradition of the British comic as an anthology periodical containing comic strips.

In the United States, R.F. Outcault's work in combining speech balloons and images on ''Hogan's Alley'' and The Yellow Kid has been credited as establishing the form and conventions of the comic strip, though academics have uncovered earlier works that combine speech bubbles and a multi image narrative. However, the popularity of Outcalt's work and the position of the strip in a newspaper retains credit as a driving force of the form.

The 20th century and the mass medium

The 1920s and 1930s saw further booms within the industry. In China, a market was established for palm-sized picture books like Lianhuanhua, while the market for comic anthologies in Britain had turned to targeting children through juvenile humor, with ''The Dandy'' and ''The Beano'' launched. In Belgium, Hergé created the ''Tintin'' newspaper strip for a comic supplement; this was successfully collected in a bound album and created a market for further such works. The same period in the United States had seen newspaper strips expand their subject matter beyond humour, with action, adventure and mystery strips launched. The collection of such material also began, with ''The Funnies'', a reprint collection of newspaper strips, published in tabloid size in 1929.

A market for such comic books soon followed, and by 1938 publishers were printing original material in the format. It was at this point that ''Action Comics#1'' launched, with ''Superman'' as the cover feature. The popularity of the character swiftly enshrined the superhero as the defining genre of American comics. The genre lost popularity in the 1950s but re-established its domination of the form from the 1960s until the late 20th century.

In Japan, a country with a long tradition for illustration and whose writing system evolved from pictures, comics were hugely popular. Referred to as manga, the Japanese form was established after World War II by Osamu Tezuka, who expanded the page count of a work to number in the hundreds, and who developed a filmic style, heavily influenced by the Disney animations of the time. The Japanese market expanded its range to cover works in many genres, from juvenile fantasy through romance to adult fantasies. Japanese manga is typically published in large anthologies, containing several hundred pages, and the stories told have long been used as sources for adaptation into animated film. In Japan, such films are referred to as anime, and many creators work in both forms simultaneously, leading to an intrinsic linking of the two forms.

During the latter half of the 20th century comics have become a very popular item for collectors and from the 1970s American comics publishers have actively encouraged collecting and shifted a large portion of comics publishing and production to appeal directly to the collector's community.

Writing in 1972, Sir Ernst Gombrich felt Töpffer had evolved a new pictorial language, that of an abbreviated art style, which allowed the audience to fill in gaps with their imagination.

The modern double use of the term ''comic'', as an adjective describing a genre, and a noun designating an entire medium, has been criticised as confusing and misleading. In the 1960s and 1970s, underground cartoonists used the spelling ''comix'' to distinguish their work from mainstream newspaper strips and juvenile comic books. Their work was written for an adult audience but was usually comedic, so the "comic" label was still appropriate. The term ''graphic novel'' was popularized in the late 1970s, having been coined at least two decades previous, to distance the material from this confusion.

In the 1980s, comics scholarship started to blossom in the U.S., and a resurgence in the popularity of comics was seen, with Alan Moore and Frank Miller producing notable superhero works and Bill Watterson's ''Calvin & Hobbes'' being syndicated.

In 2005, Robert Crumb's work was exhibited in galleries both sides of the Atlantic, and ''The Guardian'' newspaper devoted its tabloid supplement to a week long exploration of his work and idioms.

Forms

Comics have been presented within a wide number of publishing and typographical formats, from the very short panel cartoon to the more lengthy graphic novel. The cartoon, traditionally containing satirical or humorous content in the manner of those seen in ''The New Yorker'' or ''Private Eye'', originate from the mid nineteenth century. This form of comics is still popular, though the last few years has seen a reduction in the number of editorial cartoonists employed in the US media. There is dispute as to whether the cartoon is a form of comics, a precursor, or a related form—but some argue that since the cartoon combines words with image and constructs a narrative, it is a form of comic.

The comic strip is simply a sequence of cartoons that unite to tell a story. Originally, the term comic strip applied to any sequence of cartoons, no matter the venue of publication or length of the sequence, but now, mainly in the United States, the term refers to the strips published in newspapers as Sunday or daily strips. These strips are now typically humorous or satirical strips, such as ''Hägar the Horrible'' and ''Doonesbury'', but have often been action themed, educational or even biographical. In the United States the term "comics" is sometimes used to describe the page of a newspaper upon which comic strips are found, with the term "comic" quickly adopting through popular usage to refer to the form rather than the content. Said pages are also referred to as the "funny pages", and comics are hence sometimes called "the funnies". In the United Kingdom, the term comic strip still applies to longer stories that appear in comics, such as ''2000 AD'' or ''The Beano''.

Publication formats

Over time a number of formats have become closely associated with the form, from the comic book to the webcomic. The American comic book originated in the early part of the twentieth century, and grew from magazines that repackaged newspaper comic strips. Eventually, publishers commissioned original work, and the material developed from its humorous origins to encompass adventure stories, romance, war, and superheroes, with the latter genre dominating comic book publishing by the late twentieth century. Though called comic books, these publications are more like magazines, having soft covers printed on glossy paper, with interiors of newsprint or higher grade paper. In Europe, magazines were always a venue for original material in the form, and such comic magazines or comic books soon grew into anthologies that serialized a number of stories. In continental Europe a market soon established itself to support collections of these strips. All of these publications are generally referred to as "comics" for short, with typical American and British comic books or magazines running 32 pages, including advertisements and letter column. (These are sometimes known as 36-page books, counting the covers.) European comic magazines have wildly varying page numbers, currently ranging mostly between 52 and 120 pages, while European comic albums traditionally had between 32 and 62 pages.

In the United States, when a publisher collects previously serialized stories, such a collection is commonly referred to as either a trade paperback or as a graphic novel. These are books, typically squarebound and published with a card cover, containing no advertisements. They generally collect a single story, which has been broken into a number of chapters previously serialized in comic books, with the issues collectively known as a story arc. Such trade paperbacks can contain anywhere from four issues (for example, there is ''Kingdom Come'' by Mark Waid and Alex Ross) to as many as twenty (''The Death of Superman''). In continental Europe, especially Belgium and France, such collections are usually somewhat larger in size and published with a hardback cover, a format established by the ''Tintin series in the 1930s. These are referred to as comic albums''', a term that in the United States refers to anthology books. The United Kingdom has no great tradition of such collections, though during the 1980s Titan publishing launched a line collecting stories previously published in 2000 AD.

The graphic novel format is similar to typical book publishing, with works being published in both hardback and paperback editions. The term has proved a difficult one to fully define, and refers not only to fiction but also factual works, and is also used to describe collections of previously serialised works as well as original material. Some publishers distinguish between such material, using the term "original graphic novel" for work commissioned especially for the form.

Newspaper strips also get collected, both in Europe and in the United States. In the US, the selection of strips to be reprinted in books has often been somewhat haphazard, but there have been several recent efforts to produce complete collections of the more popular newspaper strips.

In the UK, it is traditional for the children's comics market to release comic annuals, which are hardback books containing strips, as well as text stories and puzzles and games. In the United States, the comic annual was a summer publication, typically an extended comic book, with storylines often linked across a publisher's line of comics. In Japan, comics are usually first serialized in manga magazines and latter compiled in tankōbon format. In South Africa, ''Supa Strikas'', a weekly comic book reaching more than a million readers worldwide, uses advertising embedded in each frame of the comic strip to generate revenue, rather than charging its readers.

Webcomics, also known as online comics and web comics, are comics that are available on the Internet. Many webcomics are exclusively published online, while some are published in print but maintain a web archive for either commercial or artistic reasons. With the Internet's easy access to an audience, webcomics run the gamut from traditional comic strips to graphic novels and beyond.

Webcomics are similar to self-published print comics in that almost anyone can create their own webcomic and publish it on the Web. Currently, there are thousands of webcomics available online, with some achieving popular, critical, or commercial success. ''The Perry Bible Fellowship'' is syndicated in print, while Brian Fies' ''Mom's Cancer'' won the inaugural Eisner Award for digital comics in 2005 and was subsequently collected and published in hardback.

The comics form can also be utilized to convey information in mixed media. For example, strips designed for educative or informative purposes, notably the instructions upon an airplane's safety card. These strips are generally referred to as instructional comics. The comics form is also utilized in the film and animation industry, through storyboarding. Storyboards are illustrations displayed in sequence for the purpose of visualizing an animated or live-action film. A storyboard is essentially a large comic of the film or some section of the film produced beforehand to help the directors and cinematographers visualize the scenes and find potential problems before they occur. Often storyboards include arrows or instructions that indicate movement.

Like many other media, comics can also be self-published. One typical format for self-publishers and aspiring professionals is the minicomic, typically small, often photocopied and stapled or with a handmade binding. These are a common inexpensive way for those who want to make their own comics on a very small budget, with mostly informal means of distribution. A number of cartoonists have started this way and gone on to more traditional types of publishing, while other more established artists continue to produce minicomics on the side.

Artistic medium

Defining comics

Scholars disagree on the definition of comics; some claim its printed format is crucial, some emphasize the interdependence of image and text, and others its sequential nature. The term as a reference to the medium has also been disputed.

thumb|100px|left|Will Eisner, who established the term sequential art and is considered to have popularized the graphic novel. In 1996, Will Eisner published ''Graphic Storytelling'', in which he defined comics as "the printed arrangement of art and balloons in sequence, particularly in comic books." Eisner's earlier, more influential definition from ''Comics and Sequential Art'' (1985) described the technique and structure of comics as ''sequential art'', "the arrangement of pictures or images and words to narrate a story or dramatize an idea."

In ''Understanding Comics'' (1993) Scott McCloud defined sequential art and comics as "juxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence, intended to convey information and/or to produce an aesthetic response in the viewer." this definition excludes single-panel illustrations such as ''The Far Side'', ''The Family Circus'' and most political cartoons from the category, classifying those as cartoons. By contrast, The Comics Journal's ''"100 Best Comics of the 20th Century"'', included the works of several single-panel cartoonists and a caricaturist, and academic study of comics has included political cartoons.

R. C. Harvey, in his essay ''Comedy at the Juncture of Word and Image'', offered a competing definition in reference to McCloud's: "... comics consist of pictorial narratives or expositions in which words (often lettered into the picture area within speech balloons) usually contribute to the meaning of the pictures and vice versa." This, however, ignores the existence of pantomime comics, such as Carl Anderson's ''Henry''.

Most agree that animation, which creates the optical illusion of movement within a static physical frame, is a separate form, though ''ImageTexT'', a peer-reviewed academic journal focusing on comics, accepts submissions relating to animation as well, and the third annual Conference on Comics at the University of Florida focused on comics and animation.

Art styles

right|thumb|Scott McCloud, whose work ''Understanding Comics'' identified the different styles of art used within comics. While almost all comics art is in some sense abbreviated, and also while every artist who has produced comics work brings their own individual approach to bear, some broader art styles have been identified. Comic strip artists Cliff Sterrett and Gus Arriola often used unusual, colorful backgrounds, sometimes veering into abstract art.

The basic styles have been identified as realistic and cartoony, with a huge middle ground for which R. Fiore has coined the phrase liberal. Fiore has also expressed distaste with the terms realistic and cartoony, preferring the terms literal and freestyle, respectively.

Scott McCloud has created The Big Triangle as a tool for thinking about comics art. He places the realistic representation in the bottom left corner, with iconic representation, or cartoony art, in the bottom right, and a third identifier, abstraction of image, at the apex of the triangle. This allows placement and grouping of artists by triangulation. The cartoony style uses comic effects and a variation of line widths for expression. Characters tend to have rounded, simplified anatomy. Noted exponents of this style are Carl Barks and Jeff Smith. The realistic style, also referred to as the adventure style is the one developed for use within the adventure strips of the 1930s. They required a less cartoony look, focusing more on realistic anatomy and shapes, and used the illustrations found in pulp magazines as a basis. This style became the basis of the superhero comic book style, since Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel originally worked ''Superman'' up for publication as an adventure strip.

McCloud also notes that in several traditions, there is a tendency to have the main characters drawn rather simplistic and cartoony, while the backgrounds and environment are depicted realistically. Thus, he argues, the reader easily identifies with the characters, (as they are similar to one's idea of self), whilst being immersed into a world, that's three-dimensional and textured. Good examples of this phenomenon include Herge's ''The Adventures of Tintin'' (in his "personal trademark" Ligne claire style), Will Eisner's ''Spirit'' and Osamu Tezuka's ''Buddha'', among many others.

Language

As noted above, two distinct definitions have been used to define comics as an art form: the combination of both word and image; and the placement of images in sequential order. Both definitions are lacking, in that the first excludes any sequence of wordless images; and the second excludes single panel cartoons such as editorial cartoons. The purpose of comics is certainly that of narration, and so that must be an important factor in defining the art form.

Comics, as sequential art, emphasise the pictorial representation of a narrative. This means comics are not an illustrated version of standard literature, and while some critics argue that they are a hybrid form of art and literature, others contend comics are a new and separate art; an integrated whole, of words and images both, where the pictures do not just depict the story, but are part of the telling. In comics, creators transmit expression through arrangement and juxtaposition of either pictures alone, or word(s) and picture(s), to build a narrative.

The narration of a comic is set out through the layout of the images, and while, as in films, there may be many people who work on one work, one vision of the narrative guides the work. Artists can use the layout of images on a page to convey passage of time, build suspense or highlight action.

For a fuller exploration of the language, see Comics vocabulary.

Comic creation

Comics artists usually sketch a drawing in pencil before going over the drawing in India ink, using either a dip pen or a brush. Artists may also use a lightbox to create the final image in ink. Some artists, Brian Bolland for example, use computer graphics, with the published work as the first physical appearance of the artwork. By many definitions (including McCloud's, above) the definition of comics extends to digital media such as webcomics and the mobile comic.

The nature of the comics work being created determines the number of people who work on its creation, with successful comic strips and comic books being produced through a studio system, in which an artist assembles a team of assistants to help create the work. However, works from independent companies, self-publishers or those of a more personal nature can be produced by a single creator.

Within the comic book industry of the United States, the studio system has come to be the main method of creation. Through its use by the industry, the roles have become heavily codified, and the managing of the studio has become the company's responsibility, with an editor discharging the management duties. The editor assembles a number of creators and oversees the work to publication.

Any number of people can assist in the creation of a comic book in this way, from a plotter, a breakdown artist, a penciller, an inker, a scripter, a letterer and a colorist, with some roles being performed by the same person.

In contrast, a comic strip tends to be the work of a sole creator, usually termed a cartoonist. However, it is not unusual for a cartoonist to employ the studio method, particularly when a strip become successful. Mort Walker employed a studio, while Bill Watterson eschewed the studio method, preferring to create the strip himself. Gag, political and editorial cartoonists tend to work alone as well, though a cartoonist may use assistants.

Tools

Artists use a variety of pencils, paper, typically Bristol board and a waterproof ink. When inking, many artists preferred to use a Winsor & Newton Series 7, #3 brush as the main tool, which could be used in conjunction with other brushes, dip pens, a fountain pen and/or a variety of technical pens or markers. Mechanical tints can be employed to add grey tone to an image. An artist might paint with acrylics, gouache, poster paints or watercolors. Color can also be achieved through crayons, pastels or colored pencils.

Eraser, rulers, templates, set squares and a T-square assist in creating lines and shapes. A drawing table provides an angled work surface with lamps sometimes attached to the table. A light box allows an artist to trace his pencil work when inking, allowing for a looser finish. Knives and scalpels fill a variety of needs, including cutting board or scraping off mistakes. A cutting mat aids paper trimming. Process white is a thick opaque white material for covering mistakes. Adhesives and tapes help composite an image from different sources.

Computer generated comics

Computers dramatically changed the industry, and today many cartoonists and illustrators create digital illustrations using computers, graphics tablets and scanners. Digital art has replaced traditional pen-and-ink drawings on an increasing number of comic books and strips. Historically, the first fully computer-generated comics were ''Shatter'' by Peter B. Gillis and Mike Saenz in 1985, and ''Batman: Digital Justice'' by Pepe Moreno in 1990.

Some illustrators do a pencil sketch, scan it and then use different software programs to execute the finished art, enlarging sections of the drawing for detailed close work. To create comic book covers, Jim McDermott transfers his drawings to his computer and then develops digital paintings simulating the appearance of acrylic or oil paintings. Dave McKean also has combined both traditional and digital methods. ''Lackadaisy'' creator Tracy Butler explained her method: :When doing linework, my preference is to go about it the old-fashioned way with a simple mechanical pencil and some sturdy paper. Once a page is fully pencilled, I scan it and begin working digitally on the cleanup, lighting and toning. For this, I generally rely on Adobe Photoshop, a trusty tablet and pen, and a lot of coffee.

In 1998, Pete Nash displayed fully digitized artwork on his ''Striker'' comic strip for ''The Sun''. Computers are now widely used for both coloring and lettering, forcing some comic book letterers to look elsewhere for work. ''Snuffy Smith'' cartoonist Fred Lasswell, a prolific inventor and early adopter of new technology, was one of the first cartoonists to email comic strips to King Features Syndicate and also pioneered the use of computer-generated lettering.

On the comic strip ''Blondie'', computer technology makes it possible for the writer Dean Young, the cartoonist John Marshall and the art assistant Frank Cummings to collaborate even though they live in three different states. Marshall's studio is in Binghamton, New York and Cummings lives in Birmingham, Alabama, while Young alternates between Vermont and Florida. To capture the finely polished inking details seen in ''Blondie'', Marshall works on a Wacom tablet linked to his Macintosh. First he draws a rough, sent to Young for review, and then it's back to the computer for the finished art, delivered electronically to King Features. Artist ''Sophy Khon'' from Up Up Down Down uses Manga Studio, which is just one of a number of software packages specifically aimed at creating web comics in a fast and easy manner.

In higher education

A growing number of universities around the world are recognizing the academic legitimacy of Comics studies, leading to a greater amount of comics courses being offered at the college level.

See also

Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum

Comics vocabulary

List of newspaper comic strips

Non-fiction comics

Footnotes

Bibliography

Fiore. R (2005). Santos, Derek (1998)

Williams, Jeff. "Comics: A tool of subversion?" Journal of Criminal Justice and Popular Culture, 2(6) (1994) 129-146

Further reading

David Carrier, ''The Aesthetics of Comics'', Penn State Press, 2002 ISBN 0-271-02188-8

Will Eisner ''Comics and Sequential Art'' Poorhouse Press 1985 ISBN 0-9614728-0-4

Will Eisner ''Graphic Storytelling'' Poorhouse Press 1995 ISBN 0-9614728-3-9

Gary Groth & R. Fiore ''The New Comics'' Berkley Books 1988 ISBN 0425113663

Maurice Horn ed. ''The World Encyclopedia of Comics'' Avon 1977 ISBN 0877543232

Scott McCloud ''Understanding Comics - the Invisible Art'' HarperCollins 1994 ISBN 0-613-02782-5

Roger Sabin ''Comics, Comix and Graphic Novels: a History of Comic Art'' Phaidon 1996 ISBN 0714839930

Coulton Waugh ''The Comics'' The Macmillan Company 1947 ISBN 0878054995

Richard O'Brien ''The Golden Age of Comics'', Ballantine Books, 1977. ISBN 0345255356

External links

Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum

Michigan State University Comic Art Collection

Comic Art Collection at the University of Missouri

Comic Book Database

Grand Comics Database

Comics Archives and Editorial Cartoons

Cartoon Art Museum of San Francisco

''Time'' Archives' Collection of Comics

GetSlabbed Collector Guide: Information on collecting comics

Historieta y Animación

Download Comics for Free

Dialy Fresh Comics Strips

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birth name	Douglas Richard TenNapel
birth date	November 14, 1967 (age 44)
birth place	Denair, Stanislaus County, California, United States
nationality	American
area	Writer and Artist
alias	Douglas TenNapelDouglas R. TenNapelDoug R. TenNapelDoug Richard TenNapel
notable works	''Earthworm Jim'', ''Catscratch'', ''The Neverhood'', ''Ratfist''
awards	Eisner Award Winner
spouse	Helga TenNapel (2011-present) }}

Douglas Richard "Doug" TenNapel (born 14 November 1967 in Denair, California, United States) is an American musician, animator, Eisner Award-winning artist, and author and writer. He is best known for creating Earthworm Jim, a character that spawned a famous video game, cartoon series, and toy line.

Early life

TenNapel was born and raised in the town of Denair, California. He got his primary education from Denair High School from 1980 to 1984. From 1984 to 1988 TenNapel studied at Point Loma Nazarene University on art specialty, finishing it with Bachelor's Degree.

Career

TenNapel began as an animator on ''Attack of the Killer Tomatoes: The Animated Series''. He soon began working in the video game industry on projects like 1993's ''Jurassic Park'' and ''Stimpy's Invention'' for the Sega Genesis and ''The Jungle Book'' for the SNES and Sega Genesis. In 1994, he created ''Earthworm Jim'', the character that would star in Shiny Entertainment's video game, toy line, and cartoon series. In 1996, working for Dreamworks, he created for ''The Neverhood'' for the PC. The sequel, entitled ''Skullmonkeys'', followed in 1998.

Work on TenNapel's first feature length live action film, ''Mothman'', began in the late 1990s, although as of 2002, the film was not finished. In television, TenNapel was the creator of the ''Project G.e.e.K.e.R.'' cartoon series for CBS, and was a consulting producer on the ABC series ''Push, Nevada'' with Ben Affleck.

As a graphic artist and cartoonist, TenNapel released his first comic book in 1998: GEAR, a surreal epic based on his real life cats, Simon, Waffle, Gordon and Mr. Black in a war against dogs and insects using giant robots as weapons. The cats from GEAR would eventually become the Nickelodeon series ''Catscratch''. His second graphic novel, ''Creature Tech'' (2002), became the focus of a bidding war between movie studios. 20th Century Fox and Regency Enterprises won the war and are developing the script for a live action motion picture based on the novel.

TenNapel did the cover art for several of Five Iron Frenzy's albums, including a sculpture for their live album, ''Proof That the Youth Are Revolting''. TenNapel has also created album covers and artwork for several Daniel Amos CDs, The 1999 tribute to the band, ''When Worlds Collide'', the Neverhood soundtrack ''Imaginarium: Songs from the Neverhood'' and others.

''Flink'', a graphic novel by TenNapel, was released in late 2007 through Image comics. ''Monster Zoo'', was released in early summer 2008. In June 2009 his graphic novel ''Power Up'' was released. In July 2010 his latest graphic novel, Ghostopolis will be released; it was optioned by Disney in Spring 2009 with Hugh Jackman attached to star and produce.

TenNapel is currently producing an episodic spoof of Japanese Super Sentai-style shows called ''Go Sukashi!'', in association with WestHavenBrook (whom he collaborated with on Sockbaby), Watanabe Entertainment and Dentsu, based on a character by Shoko Nakagawa (who appears in the films), and starring John Soares and Brooke Brodack; as well as an online superhero-genre-spoofing webcomic titled ''Ratfist.''

TenNapel is also the lead singer of an independent band called Truck and is currently working on a Cartoon Network original series called ''Phibian Mike'', and ''Cartoonstitute'' pilot called ''Geekdad''.

TenNapel is politically conservative and frequently writes articles for Andrew Breitbart's Big Hollywood.

Bibliography

Children's books

''The Strange Kid's Chronicles'' (a series of five children's books, published by Scholastic)

Graphic novels

''Gear'' (Fireman Press, 1999, ISBN 1-58240-680-4)

:"GEAR begins with four incompetent cats who are assigned to hijack a giant killer robot. The plans are made, the cats lay in wait, the robot comes and everything goes wrong. On the other side of town, two detectives find a body and a mystery unfolds. The cat's home town giant robot guardian is attacked by a gargantuan mechanical insect. The whole town is thrown into a panic as they wait for the heroic return of the bumbling cats sent to bring back a giant killer robot protecter. The backstory of a gear-shaped artifact called the Forbidden Mechanism is explored. The cat town is attacked by hordes of insect arimies while the elder contemplates the fate of their world."

:New Edition rereleased by Image Comics in 2007, ISBN 1-58240-680-4. This new edition had all new coloring, as well as a new creator commentary by TenNapel.

''Creature Tech'' (Top Shelf Productions, 2002, ISBN 1-891830-34-1)

:"Good battles evil, and the world hangs in the balance! Resurrected by the Shroud of Turin, the zombified Dr. Jameson intends to finish what he started 150 years ago - destroying the earth with a giant space eel. Standing in his way is Dr. Ong, a would-be pastor-turned-scientist who now works in a government research facility known as "Creature Tech." Aided by an unlikely cast of rednecks, symbiotic aliens, and a CIA-trained mantid, Dr. Ong embarks on a journey of faith, love, and self-discovery. All in a day's work at Creature Tech!"

:Top Shelf's fastest selling first printing; 5,000 copies sold out in 90 days. :20th Century Fox and Regency Enterprises picked up the feature film rights.

:New Edition rereleased by Image Comics in 2010, ISBN 1607062828.

''Tommysaurus Rex'' (Image Comics, 2004, ISBN 1-58240-395-3)

:"A tale about a boy and his T Rex! Ely is an everyboy trying to cope with the death of his dog Tommy. When he finds a live, 40-foot Tyrannosaurus Rex trapped in a cave behind his grandfather's house, Ely embarks on an adventure to tame this seemingly friendly giant, convince the town his new pet isn't a threat, and keep his dinosaur safe from the jealous town bully. With Tommysaurus Rex at his side, Ely discovers what it takes to be a man... and what it costs." It has been optioned by Universal Pictures.

''Earthboy Jacobus'' (Image Comics, 2005, ISBN 1-58240-492-5)

:"Chief Edwards retires from the Modesto Police Department a lonely man. On his way home, he hits a flying whale with his car, opening the beast's mouth to find a boy from a parallel universe named Jacobus. Chief discovers that a society of insect monsters want to kill this boy due to a mysterious virus that grows on his hand. He becomes a father figure to the boy and trains him how to survive insect monsters by becoming a great American ass-kicker."

''Iron West'' (Image Comics, 2006, ISBN 1-58240-630-8)

:"Preston Struck is an incompetent outlaw with a heart of fool's gold. He discovers an army of metal men bent on destroying central California. While Struck avoids any form of heroism, he gets a little help from a magical old shaman and his sidekick Sasquatch. Struck is going to need all the help he can get because he's deputized just as the mechanical men have taken over the railroad and are mutating the train into a giant demonic iron monster."

''Black Cherry'' (Image Comics, 2007, ISBN 1-58240-830-0)

:"Down-on-his-luck Mafioso, Eddie Paretti is so desperate for cash he's agreed to steal a dead body from his own mob boss! Things only get worse when he discovers the body isn't human! With few options and fewer people he can trust, Eddie calls on the man who raised him, Father McHugh. The priest tells Eddie that the body was stolen from his monastery by the Mafia. Father McHugh is accompanied by a beautiful woman Eddie swears looks just like a stripper he once fell in love with named Black Cherry."

''Flink'' (Image Comics, 2007, ISBN 1-58240-891-2)

:"A boy survives a plane crash and is rescued by a bigfoot named Flink. They form a close bond by learning about the lost of each other's family members."

''Monster Zoo'' (Image Comics, 2008, ISBN 1-58240-911-0)

:"Monster Zoo tells the story of a young boy who discovers his local zoo may be more frightening than he imagined!" :Monster Zoo was optioned by Sam Raimi & Josh Donen's Buckaroo Entertainment in March 2008 for Paramount Pictures.

''Power Up'' (Image Comics, 2009, ISBN 1-60706-093-0)

:"The comedic story of Hugh Randolph, a family man down on his luck. He works as a mindless drone at a local printer until he discovers a mysterious video game console that gives him the power to produce endless riches, manipulate his work day, and even cheat death!"

''Ghostopolis'' (GRAPHIX, 2010, ISBN 0-54521-027-5)

:"Imagine Garth Hale's surprise when he's accidentally zapped to the spirit world by Frank Gallows, a washed-out ghost wrangler. Suddenly Garth finds he has powers the ghosts don't have, and he's stuck in a world run by the evil ruler of Ghostopolis, who would use Garth's newfound abilities to rule the ghostly kingdom. When Garth meets Cecil, his grandfather's ghost, the two search for a way to get Garth back home, and nearly lose hope until Frank Gallows shows up to fix his mistake."

Other comic book work

TenNapel has also contributed to several other comic books, such as issue #5 of Bart Simpson's Treehouse of Horror, issue #3 of Scud: Tales from the Vending Machine (TenNapel also contributed cover art to the 24th and final issue of the main Scud: The Disposable Assassin series), the Fractured Fables anthology graphic novel, 9-11: September 11, 2001 (Artists Respond), and Flight Volume 2. Earlier in his career, TenNapel produced a short comic entitled ''They Called Him Evil'', published by Mockingbird Studios in 1991, which introduced the character Evil the Cat, who later became one of the central villains in the Earthworm Jim series.

On January 1, 2011 TenNapel began a webcomic called ''Ratfist''. The webcomic is semi-comical work featuring a 40 year old human protagonist with a pet rat and presumably rat-like powers that are not yet ascertainable in their entirety. The series ended on August 5, 2011, and tennapel has said that a graphic novel will be released sometime in december.

Another webcomic by Doug TenNapel is set to launch on September 19, 2011, titled ''Bigfoot for Hire''.

Video games

''Jurassic Park (Sega Genesis)'', (Blue Sky Software), 1993

''Ren & Stimpy: Stimpy's Invention'', (Blue Sky Software), 1993

''The Jungle Book'', (Virgin Interactive), 1994

''Earthworm Jim'', (Shiny Entertainment), 1994

''Earthworm Jim 2'', (Shiny Entertainment), 1995

''The Neverhood'', (Dreamworks Interactive), 1996

''Skullmonkeys'', (Dreamworks Interactive), 1998

''Boombots'', (Dreamworks Interactive), 1999

''Earthworm Jim 3D'', (VIS Entertainment), 1999

Discography

''When Worlds Collide'', 1999 Daniel Amos tribute album of various artists

''The News at When?'', album of Zebrahead

Filmography

''Attack of the Killer Tomatoes: The Animated Series'', cartoon

''Earthworm Jim'', cartoon

''Project G.e.e.K.e.R.'', cartoon

''Mothman''

''Koghead and Meatus'', animated short

''Push, Nevada'', consulting producer

''Sockbaby'', Director and Actor

''Catscratch'', cartoon

''Ape Escape'', animated shorts

''Random! Cartoons'', cartoon

''Phibian Mike'', cartoon

''MitchBot'', cartoon

''The Mammal Team'', cartoon

''Geekdad'', cartoon

Voices

Chipmunk 1, Chipmunk 2 - Random! Cartoons in the first episode short, Solomon Fix

Gerry - Camp Lazlo

MitchBot - MitchBot in season 1

Earthworm Jim - Earthworm Jim video game

Robot Bil - The Neverhood

Stinko - The Mammal Team

Fish 1, Fish 2 - What a Cartoon!

Personal life

TenNapel is married to his wife Angie (b. 1968), with whom he has 4 children. They are currently reside in Glendale, California.

Notes

References

External links

www.TenNapel.com

www.Sockbaby.com

A review of TenNapel's ''Gear'' at The Daily Cross Hatch, from March 4, 2007

Review of ''Black Cherry'', Silver Bullet Comic Books, August 29, 2007

''Go Sukashi!'' Official website

Ratfist

Category:Living people Category:American animators Category:American comics artists Category:American people of Dutch descent Category:Earthworm Jim (series) Category:Stop motion animators Category:Album-cover and concert-poster artists Category:Point Loma Nazarene University alumni Category:1967 births

fr:Douglas TenNapel ru:Тен-Нэйпел, Дуглас

name	Josh Blue
birth date	November 27, 1978
birth place	Cameroon
medium	Stand-Up, television, film
nationality	American
genre	Observational comedy, blue comedy
subject	Self-deprecation, physical disabilities, everyday life
spouse	Yuko Blue (?-present) 2 children
notable work	''Last Comic Standing'' – ''Last Comic Standing'' (winner), fourth season
website	http://www.joshblue.com }}

Josh Blue (born November 27, 1978) is an American comedian. He was voted the Last Comic Standing on NBC's reality show ''Last Comic Standing'' during its fourth season, which aired May–August 2006. Blue has cerebral palsy, and much of his self-deprecating humor is centered on this.

Early life

Blue was born in Cameroon, where his father, Walter Blue, a professor of Romance languages from Hamline University, was teaching in a mission. Blue grew up in Saint Paul, Minnesota and graduated from Como Park Senior High School in 1997. He began his career as a comedian while seeking a creative writing degree at The Evergreen State College.

Career

Blue got his start in comedy doing open mic sets while attending The Evergreen State College. Audiences reacted enthusiastically to his self-deprecating humor, and Blue started making a name for himself on the comedy circuit. In 2002, he won the prestigious Comedy Works New Talent Search contest. He has appeared several times on Comedy Central's ''Mind of Mencia''. Blue won $10,000 for finishing in first place at 2004 Las Vegas Comedy Festival's 2004 Royal Flush Comedy Competition.

He was the first comedian to do stand-up on the ''Ellen DeGeneres Show''. His other television credits include ''Live with Regis and Kelly'', ''Comics Unleashed'', plus numerous appearances on Fox, CBS, ABC, and MSNBC.

He appeared in the 2009 low budget horror film ''Feast 3: The Happy Finish''. Josh was voted the 13th best comedian by viewers in Comedy Central's Stand-up Comedy Showdown 2010.

Josh was voted the 11th best comedian by viewers in Comedy Central's Stand-up Comedy Showdown 2011.

Personal life

Blue currently resides in Denver, Colorado.

Outside of comedy, Blue is also known for his skills in soccer as he played a part in the 2004 U.S. Paralympic team. Blue has also created various sculptures and paintings, which he is currently selling. One particular piece he sells at an extremely high price, because, as he said on his appearance on the ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'', "I nearly died making it."

Blue has cerebral palsy and many of his jokes center on living with his disability, how he deals with it and how other people view him. Blue appeared on the Last Comic Standing to "make people aware of the fact that people with disabilities can make an impact." He coined the term "palsy punch" during his final set of the final round of the show, when he said that the palsy punch is effective in a fight because "first of all, they don't know where the punch is coming from, and second of all, neither do I." One of Blue's competitors said he has "an unreasonable amount of likability" while another of his competitors said "he is just a good guy". Blue also joked that signing an autograph takes 45 minutes, and that to write down his phone number he has to find a "big ol' stack of paper."

Blue recently appeared in Boulder band Rose Hill Drive's music video "The Psychoanalyst"

References

About.com Josh Blue wins "Last Comic Standing"

USA Paralympic bio (Accessed June 21, 2006)

Hicks, L. Wayne. "Just Joshin'". ''Denver Business Journal'', September 30 – October 5, 2005 issue. (Accessed June 21, 2006)

External links

Official website

Category:American comedians Category:American stand-up comedians Category:American people with disabilities Category:7-a-side footballers at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Category:The Evergreen State College alumni Category:Paralympic 7-a-side soccer players of the United States Category:People from Denver, Colorado Category:People from Saint Paul, Minnesota Category:People with cerebral palsy Category:1978 births Category:Living people

fr:Josh Blue nl:Josh Blue ja:ジョシュ・ブルー

name	Scott McCloud
birth name	Scott McLeod
birth date	June 10, 1960
birth place	Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
nationality	American
area	cartoonist, theorist
write	y
art	y
cartoonist	y
notable works	''Zot!''''Understanding Comics''''Reinventing Comics''''Making Comics'' ''Superman''
awards	Russ Manning Award, 198512-time nominee for Eisner, Harvey awards
website	http://www.ScottMcCloud.com
subcat	American }}

Scott McCloud (born Scott McLeod on June 10, 1960) is an American cartoonist and theorist on comics as a distinct literary and artistic medium.

Biography

McCloud was born in Boston, Massachusetts and spent most of his childhood in Lexington, Massachusetts. He obtained his Bachelor of Fine Arts in illustration from Syracuse University. McCloud created the light-hearted science fiction/superhero comic book series ''Zot!'' in 1984, in part as a reaction to the increasingly grim direction that superhero comics were taking in the 1980s.

His other print comics include ''Destroy!!'' (a deliberately over-the-top, over-sized single-issue comic book, intended as a parody of formulaic superhero fights), the graphic novel ''The New Adventures of Abraham Lincoln'' (done with a mixture of computer-generated and manually-drawn digital images), 12 issues writing DC Comics' ''Superman Adventures'', and the three-issue limited series ''Superman: Strength''.

He is best known as a comics theorist or as some say, the "Aristotle of comics", following the publication in 1993 of ''Understanding Comics'', a wide-ranging exploration of the definition, history, vocabulary, and methods of the medium of comics, itself in comics form. He followed in 2000 with ''Reinventing Comics'' (also in comics form), in which he outlined twelve "revolutions" that he argued would be keys to the growth and success of comics as a popular and creative medium. Finally, in 2006, he released ''Making Comics''. Following publication, he went on a tour with his family that included all 50 U.S. states and parts of Europe.

He was one of the earliest promoters of webcomics as a distinct variety of comics, and a vocal supporter of micropayments. He was also an adviser to BitPass, a company that provided an online micropayment system, which he helped launch with the publication of ''The Right Number'', an online graphic novella priced at US$0.25 for each chapter. McCloud maintains an active online presence on his web site where he publishes many of his ongoing experiments with comics produced specifically for the web. Among the techniques he explores is the "infinite canvas" permitted by a web browser, allowing panels to be spatially arranged in ways not possible in the finite, two-dimensional, paged format of a physical book.

His latest work is a comic book that formed the press release introducing Google's web browser, Google Chrome, which was published on September 1, 2008.

In 2009, McCloud was featured in ''The Cartoonist,'' a documentary film on the life and work of Jeff Smith, creator of ''Bone.''

Creator's Bill of Rights

McCloud was the principal author of the Creator's Bill of Rights, a 1988 document with the stated aim of protecting the rights of comic book creators and help aid against the exploitation of comic artists and writers by corporate work-for-hire practices. The group that adopted the Bill also included artists Kevin Eastman, Dave Sim, and Stephen R. Bissette. The Bill included twelve rights such as "The right to full ownership of what we fully create," and "The right to prompt payment of a fair and equitable share of profits derived from all of our creative work."

24-hour comic

In 1990, McCloud coined the idea of a 24-hour comic, a complete 24-page comic created by a single cartoonist in 24 consecutive hours. It was a mutual challenge with cartoonist Steve Bissette, intended to compel creative output with a minimum of self-restraining contemplation. Thousands of cartoonists have since taken up the challenge. One of the notables to take up this challenge include Kevin Eastman, co-creator of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Rick Veitch also took up this challenge and used it as a springboard for his popular comic Rarebit Fiends. Dave Sim used some of his work from this challenge in his comic. Neil Gaiman finished his story in the 24 hours and created "The Gaiman Variation". Gaiman's participation was later lampooned in "Ghastly's Ghastly Comic", calling him "Neil 'Eighteen Pages' Gaiman".

Bibliography

''Zot!''

* ''Zot!: Book One'' (Eclipse Books, 1991) ISBN 978-0913035047

* ''Zot!: Book Two (Issues 11-15 & 17-18)'' (Kitchen Sink Press, 1998) ISBN 978-0878164288

* ''Zot!: The Complete Black and White Collection: 1987-1991'' (Harper Paperbacks, 2008) ISBN 0061537276

''Understanding Comics''

*''Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art'' (1993, ISBN 0-613-02782-5)

*''Reinventing Comics: How Imagination and Technology Are Revolutionizing an Art Form'' (2000, ISBN 0-06-095350-0)

*''Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets of Comics, Manga and Graphic Novels'' (2006, ISBN 0-06-078094-0)

''The New Adventures of Abraham Lincoln'' (Image Comics, 1998) ISBN 978-1887279871

''24 Hour Comics'' (editor) (About Comics, 2004) ISBN 978-0971633841

Notes

References

McCloud profile on RAW's site

Scott McCloud French publications Bedetheque

External links

24 Hour Comics

Scott McCloud biography on Lambiek Comiclopedia

TED Talks: Scott McCloud on comics at TED in 2005

Scott McCloud's page on Comiclopedia

Interviews

"Interview with Scott McCloud, artist behind Google Chrome comic" ''New York Daily News'' (Sept. 7, 2008).

"Interview of McCloud by R.C. Harvey, excerpted from The Comics Journal #179" "The Comics Journal"

"Still Thinking: By Charles Hatfield" "The Comics Journal"

Category:1960 births Category:Living people Category:American webcomic authors Category:People from Boston, Massachusetts Category:Syracuse University alumni Category:Harvey Award winners for Best Writer

ca:Scott McCloud cs:Scott McCloud de:Scott McCloud es:Scott McCloud eo:Scott McCloud fr:Scott McCloud ko:스콧 맥클라우드 id:Scott McCloud it:Scott McCloud nl:Scott McCloud no:Scott McCloud pt:Scott McCloud fi:Scott McCloud sv:Scott McCloud

name	Bill Hicks
birth name	William Melvin Hicks
birth date	December 16, 1961
birth place	Valdosta, Georgia, U.S.
origin	Houston, Texas, U.S.
death date	February 26, 1994
death place	Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S.
medium	Stand-up, music, philosophy
nationality	American
active	1978—1994
genre	Observational comedy, dark comedy, political satire
subject	American culture, American politics, current events, pop culture, human sexuality, philosophy, religion, spirituality, recreational drug use, entheogens, conspiracy theories, consumerism
website	BillHicks.com. WebCitation archive.
footnotes	}}

William Melvin "Bill" Hicks (December 16, 1961 – February 26, 1994) was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, satirist, and musician. His material largely consisted of general discussions about society, religion, politics, philosophy, and personal issues. Hicks' material was often controversial and steeped in dark comedy. In both his stand-up performances and during interviews, he often criticized consumerism, superficiality, mediocrity, and banality within the media and popular culture, describing them as oppressive tools of the ruling class, meant to "keep people stupid and apathetic."

Hicks was just sixteen years old when started performing stand up comedy at the Comedy Workshop in Houston in 1978. During the 1980s he toured America extensively and performed a number of high profile television appearances. It was in the UK, however, where Hicks first amassed a significant fan base, packing large venues with his 1991 tour. Hicks died of pancreatic cancer in 1994 at the age of 32. In the years after his death, his work and legacy achieved acclaim in creative circles. In 2007 he was voted the sixth-greatest stand-up comic on the UK's Channel 4's 100 Greatest Stand-Ups, and appeared again in the updated 2010 list as the fourth-greatest comic.

Early life

Born in Valdosta, Georgia, Bill Hicks was the son of Jim and Mary (Reese) Hicks and had two elder siblings: brother Steve and sister Lynn. The family lived in Florida, Alabama, and New Jersey, before settling in Houston, Texas when Hicks was seven. He was raised in the Southern Baptist faith, where he first began performing as a comedian for other children at Sunday School.

Hicks was drawn to comedy at an early age, emulating Woody Allen and Richard Pryor, and writing routines with his friend Dwight Slade. Worried about his behavior, his parents took him to a psychoanalyst at age 17 but, according to Hicks, after one session the psychoanalyst informed him that "...it's them, not you."

Career

Change in comic style

Hicks graduated from high school and began touring in the early 1980s. After a few years of performing the same material, he felt that his act wasn't progressing. He wanted to push the boundaries of creativity as his idols Jimi Hendrix and Richard Pryor had done. At 21 years old, Hicks had never consumed alcohol, smoked cigarettes, or tried drugs. He began to experiment to see if intoxication was indeed the key to crossing the line. Although drinking and drugs helped Hicks to loosen his tongue, he eventually had to quit, realizing that it would interfere with his act, making it too controversial (and occasionally shambolic) for the public to handle.

Once Hicks gained some underground success in night clubs and universities, he quit drinking, realizing that it wasn't alcohol that made a comic genius but his ability to express a truth, even if it was an unpopular one. However, Hicks continued to smoke cigarettes. His nicotine addiction, love of smoking, and occasional attempts to quit became a recurring theme in his act throughout his later years.

California and New York

In January 1986, Hicks found himself broke, having spent all his money on a variety of substances. His career soon received another upturn, though, as he appeared on Rodney Dangerfield's ''Young Comedians Special'', in 1987. The same year, he moved to New York City, and, for the next 5 years, performed about 300 times a year. On the album ''Relentless'', he jokes that he quit using drugs because "once you've been taken aboard a UFO, it's kind of hard to top that", although in his performances, he continued to extol the virtues of LSD, marijuana, and psychedelic mushrooms. He fell back to chain-smoking, a theme that would figure heavily in his performances from then on.

In 1988, Hicks signed on with his first professional business manager, Jack Mondrus. Throughout 1989, Mondrus worked to convince many clubs to book Hicks, promising that the wild drug- and alcohol-induced behavior was behind him. Among the club managers hiring the newly sober Hicks was Colleen McGarr, who would become his girlfriend and fiancée in later years.

Hicks quit drinking in 1988, as stated in his 1990 album ''Dangerous'' on the first track, entitled "Modern Bummer".

In 1989 he released his first video, ''Sane Man''. It was reissued in 2006.

Early fame

In 1990, Hicks released his first album, ''Dangerous'', performed on the HBO special ''One Night Stand'', and performed at Montreal's ''Just for Laughs'' festival. He was also part of a group of American stand-up comedians performing in London's West End in November. Hicks was a huge hit in the UK and Ireland and continued touring there throughout 1991. That year, he returned to ''Just for Laughs'' and filmed his second video, ''Relentless''.

Hicks made a brief detour into musical recording with the ''Marble Head Johnson'' album in 1992. During the same year he toured the UK, where he recorded the ''Revelations'' video. for Channel 4 He closed the show with his soon-to become-famous philosophy regarding life, "It's Just a Ride". Also in that tour he recorded the stand-up performance released in its entirety on a double CD titled ''Salvation''. Hicks was voted "Hot Standup Comic" by ''Rolling Stone magazine''. He moved to Los Angeles in 1992.

Hicks and Tool

The progressive metal band Tool invited Hicks to open a number of concerts for it on their 1993 Lollapalooza appearances, where Hicks once famously asked the audience to look for a contact lens he'd lost. Thousands of people complied.

Tool dedicated its triple-platinum album ''Ænima'' (1996) to Hicks. The band intended to raise awareness about Hicks's material and ideas, because they felt that Tool and Hicks "were resonating similar concepts". In particular, ''Ænima''s final track, "Third Eye", is preceded by a clip of Hicks' performances, and both the lenticular casing of the Ænima album packaging as well as the chorus of the title track "Ænema" make reference to a sketch from Hicks' Arizona Bay philosophy, in which he contemplates the idea of Los Angeles falling into the Pacific Ocean. The closing track "Third Eye" contains samples from Hicks' ''Dangerous'' and ''Relentless''. An alternate version of the ''Ænima'' artwork shows a painting of Bill Hicks, calling him "Another Dead Hero," and mentions of Hicks are found both in the liner notes and on the record.

Controversy

Censorship and aftermath

Hicks constantly faced problems with censorship. In 1984, Hicks was invited to appear on ''Late Night with David Letterman'' for the first time. He had a joke that he used frequently in comedy clubs about how he caused a serious accident that left a classmate using a wheelchair. NBC had a policy that no handicapped jokes could be aired on the show, making his stand-up routine difficult to perform without mentioning words such as "wheelchair". Hicks was disappointed that the television audience didn't get to experience the uncensored Bill Hicks that people saw in clubs.

On October 1, 1993, Hicks was scheduled to appear on ''Late Show with David Letterman'', his 12th appearance on a Letterman late- night show, but his entire performance was removed from the broadcast — then the only occasion where a comedian's entire routine was cut after taping. Hicks' stand-up routine was removed from the show allegedly because Letterman and his producer were nervous about a religious joke ("if Jesus came back he might not want to see so many crosses"). Hicks said he believed it was due to a pro-life commercial aired during a commercial break. Both the show's producers and CBS denied responsibility. Hicks expressed his feelings of betrayal in a letter to John Lahr of ''The New Yorker''. Although Letterman later expressed regret at the way Hicks had been handled, Hicks did not appear on the show again. The full account of this incident was featured in a ''New Yorker'' profile by Lahr, which was later published as a chapter in Lahr's book, ''Light Fantastic''.

Hicks' mother, Mary, appeared on the January 30, 2009 episode of ''Late Show''. Letterman played the routine in its entirety. Letterman took full responsibility for the original censorship and apologized to Mrs. Hicks. Letterman also declared he did not know what he was thinking when he pulled the routine from the original show in 1993, saying, "It says more about me as a guy than it says about Bill because there was absolutely nothing wrong with that."

Denis Leary

For many years, Hicks was friends with fellow comedian Denis Leary. But in 1993 Hicks was angered by Leary's album ''No Cure for Cancer.'' Upon hearing the album, "Bill was furious. All these years, aside from the occasional jibe, he had pretty much shrugged off Leary's lifting. Comedians borrowed, stole stuff, and even bought bits from one another. Milton Berle and Robin Williams were famous for it. This was different. Leary had practically line for line taken huge chunks of Bill's act and ''recorded'' it."

The friendship ended abruptly as a result. At least three stand-up comedians have gone on the record stating they believe Leary stole Hicks's material as well as his persona and attitude. In an interview, when Hicks was asked why he had quit smoking, he answered, "I just wanted to see if Denis would, too." In another interview, Hicks said, "I have a scoop for you. I stole his [Leary's] act. I camouflaged it with punchlines, and, to really throw people off, I did it before he did."

The controversy surrounding plagiarism is also mentioned in ''American Scream: The Bill Hicks Story'', by Cynthia True:

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During a 2003 Comedy Central roast of Denis Leary, comedian Lenny Clarke, a friend of Leary's, said there was a carton of cigarettes backstage from Bill Hicks with the message, "Wish I had gotten these to you sooner." This joke was cut from the final broadcast.

In a 2008 interview, Leary said, "It wouldn't have been an issue, I think, if Bill had lived. It's just that people look at a tragedy and they look at that circumstance and they go, oh, this must be how we can explain this."

Comic style

Hicks's style was a play on his audience's emotions. He expressed anger, disgust, and apathy while addressing the audience in a casual and personal manner, which he likened to merely conversing with his friends. His material was less focused on the everyday banalities of life and placed greater emphasis on philosophical themes of existence. He would invite his audiences to challenge authority and the existential nature of "accepted truth." One such message, which he often used in his shows, was delivered in the style of a news report (in order to draw attention to the negative slant news organizations give to any story about drugs):

Another of Hicks's most famous quotes was delivered during a gig in Chicago in 1989 (later released as the bootleg ''I'm Sorry, Folks''). After a heckler repeatedly shouted "Free Bird", Hicks screamed that "''Hitler had the right idea, he was just an underachiever!''" Hicks followed this remark with a misanthropic tirade calling for unbiased genocide against the whole of humanity.

Much of Hicks's routine involved direct attacks on mainstream society, religion, politics, and consumerism. Asked in a BBC interview why he cannot do a routine that appeals "to everyone", he said that such an act was impossible. He responded by repeating a comment an audience member once made to him, "We don't come to comedy to think!", to which he replied, "Gee! Where do you go to think? I'll meet you there!" In the same interview, he also said: "My way is half-way between: this is a night-club, and these are adults."

Hicks often discussed conspiracy theories in his performances, most notably the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. He mocked the Warren Report and the official version of Lee Harvey Oswald as a "lone nut assassin." He also questioned the guilt of David Koresh and the Branch Davidian compound during the Waco Siege. Hicks would end some of his shows, especially those being recorded in front of larger audiences as albums, with a mock "assassination" of himself on stage, making gunshot sound effects into the microphone while falling to the ground.

Cancer diagnosis and death

Hicks wrote, "On June 16, 1993 I was diagnosed with having 'liver cancer that had spread from the pancreas.'” He started receiving weekly chemotherapy, while still touring and also recording his album, ''Arizona Bay'', with Kevin Booth. He was also working with comedian Fallon Woodland on a pilot episode of a new talk show, titled ''Counts of the Netherworld'' for Channel 4 at the time of his death. The budget and concept had been approved, and a pilot was filmed. The ''Counts of the Netherworld'' pilot was shown at the various Tenth Anniversary Tribute Night events around the world on February 26, 2004.

After being diagnosed with cancer, Hicks would often joke that any given performance would be his last. The public, however, was unaware of Hicks's condition. Only a few close friends and family members knew of his disease. Hicks performed the final show of his career at Caroline's in New York on January 6, 1994. He moved back to his parents' house in Little Rock, Arkansas, shortly thereafter. He called his friends to say goodbye, before he stopped speaking on February 14, and re-read J.R.R. Tolkien’s ''The Fellowship of the Ring''. He spent time with his parents, playing them the music he loved and showing them documentaries about his interests. He died of side effects of his cancer treatment in the presence of his parents at 11:20 p.m. on February 26, 1994. He was 32 years old. Hicks was buried in the family plot in Leakesville, Mississippi.

On February 7, 1994, Hicks authored a verse on his perspective, wishes, and thanks of his life, to be released after his death as his "last word", ending with the words: "I left in love, in laughter, and in truth and wherever truth, love and laughter abide, I am there in spirit."

Legacy

''Arizona Bay'' and ''Rant in E-Minor'' were released posthumously in 1997 on the Voices imprint of the Rykodisc label. ''Dangerous'' and ''Relentless'' were also re-released by Rykodisc on the same date.

In a 2005 poll to find The Comedian's Comedian, fellow comedians and comedy insiders voted Hicks #13 on their list of "The Top 20 Greatest Comedy Acts Ever". Likewise, in "Comedy Central Presents: 100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time" (2004), Hicks was ranked at #19. In March 2007, Channel 4 ran a poll, "The Top 100 Stand-Up Comedians of All Time", in which Hicks was voted #6. Channel 4 renewed this list in April 2010, which saw Hicks move up 2 places to #4.

Devotees of Hicks have incorporated his words, image, and attitude into their own creations. By means of audio sampling, fragments of Hicks' rants, diatribes, social criticisms, and philosophies have found their way into many musical works, such as the live version of Super Furry Animals' "Man Don't Give A Fuck". His influence on Tool is well-documented, he "appears" on the Fila Brazillia album ''Maim That Tune'' (1996) and on SPA's self titled album ''SPA'' (1997), which are both dedicated to Hicks; the British band Radiohead's second album ''The Bends'' (1995) is also dedicated to his memory. Singer/songwriter Tom Waits listed ''Rant in E-Minor'' as one of his 20 most cherished albums of all time.

Rappers Adil Omar and Vinnie Paz have also cited Hicks as an influence to their work; contemporary comedians David Cross and Russell Brand have stated that they were inspired by Hicks.

The British actor Chas Early portrayed Hicks in the one-man stage show ''Bill Hicks: Slight Return'', which premiered in 2004. The show was co-written by Chas Early and Richard Hurst, and imagined Hicks' view of the world 10 years after his death.

On February 25, 2004, British MP Stephen Pound tabled an early day motion titled "Anniversary of the Death of Bill Hicks" (EDM 678 of the 2003-04 session), the text of which reads: of inclusion with Lenny Bruce in any list of unflinching and painfully honest political philosophers.}}

Film and documentary

A documentary entitled ''American: The Bill Hicks Story'', based on interviews with his family and friends, premiered on March 12, 2010, at the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas.

Discography

References

Notes

Further reading

External links

Sacred Cow Productions

Bill Hicks Quotes

The subversive legacy of comic Bill Hicks, ''Salon.com''

Bill Hicks' releases on Rykodisc

Bill Hicks is Dead: Tribute and Biography, with related videos.

Rock ‘n’ Roll Comedians: Bill Hicks at Love-It-Loud.com

Dark Poet Unofficial Fan site

Category:1961 births Category:1994 deaths Category:American cannabis activists Category:American satirists Category:American social commentators Category:American stand-up comedians Category:Cancer deaths in Arkansas Category:Deaths from pancreatic cancer Category:Free speech activists Category:Former Baptists Category:People from Houston, Texas Category:People from Valdosta, Georgia Category:People self-identifying as alcoholics Category:Psychedelic drug advocates Category:Conspiracy theorists Category:Religious skeptics Category:Rykodisc artists Category:American agnostics

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