Children's Comics

HISTORY OF CHILDRENS COMICS more...

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EARLIEST EXAMPLES

The earliest comic strips were Egyptian hieroglyphics and the Bayeux Tapestry. However, the earliest proper example was ‘Dr Syntax’ by Thomas Rowlandson in the 18th century – with simple line drawings to tell a story.

19TH CENTURY

In 1845, the Swiss artist Rudolph Topffler made comic strips to appeal to children and the masses. He introduced panel borers into his drawings. By the mid 19th century there was better distribution, better transport cheaper paper, better printing, more people in cities and increased literacy rates. Comics, therefore, were more economically viable. During the time, Penny Dreadfuls were released. These were cheap horror stories with gory drawings. They were very popular. The first naughty kid character was introduced in Judy magazine in 1867. His name was Ally Sloper; a working class skiver who was always trying to skive off from work. He is remembered notoriously for ‘Ally Sloper’s Half Holiday’. In 1874, ‘Funny Folks’ was launched; an 8 page supplement with humorous cartoons, this was followed by ‘Comic Cuts’ in 1890. It was released in colour and so the price doubled. Another coloured comic was ‘Chips’ with its recognisable ‘Pink’ paper. Towards the end of the century, 1896 to be precise, comics were mainly for children. This caused a big boom, and the cheap ½ penny comics were an instant success. They were referred to as ‘black comics’ during this era.

EARLY 20th CENTURY

In 1908, ‘Magnet’ was introduced. It involved the adventures of school children at school. The most famous character was Billy Bunter: a fat kid who ate loads of pies. In 1921 DC THOMPSON was launched – followed by the launch of the ‘Rover’ and ‘Wizard’ titles. These comics were characterised by far-fetched stories and larger than life characters. MARVEL COMICS was launched in 1929 in America, with the Belgian comic of Tin Tin also being introduced in the same year.

The 1930s (Golden Age)

There were a large number of titles in publication specifically aimed at children. They aimed to provide education and entertainment.

NURSERY MARKET: Tiny Tots, Chicks Own (0-4) PRIMARY SCHOOL: Rainbow, Playbox (4-7) JUNIORS: My favourite, Crackers (7 – 12)

The most significant event in comic book history occurred in 1938 with the publication of Jerry Siegel’s and Joe Shuster's Superman (by Action Comics #1). He was not the first costumed hero: The Phantom was!

THREE GROUND BREAKING COMICS WERE LAUNCHED BY DC THOMPSON:

Dandy 1937 Beano 1938 Magic 1939

A new style of comic drawing was introduced, with shockingly colourful visuals and speech balloons rather than picture and caption arrangement. They all stood out amongst other comic titles by their longevity, and the wealth of characters introduced. For example, Desperate Dan and Korky the Cat in the Dandy were popular characters. In all, these comics were an effective saturation of the children’s market.

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