hi-res PDF - MSU History Department
Transcription
hi-res PDF - MSU History Department
COMICS, IN THE BEGINNING from prehistory to the golden age 1 RODOLPHE TÖPFFER the father of the comic book 2 Rodolphe Töpffer (January 31, 1799 June 8, 1846) Aspired to be a painter - became teachingdirector of boys prep school. Published a number of scholarly literary analyses 1832 - appointed as chair of Rhetoric and Belles-Lettres at the University of Geneva 3 4 5 6 Histoire de M. Vieux Bois (Les Amours de Mr. Vieux Bois or Monsieur Vieuxbois) Created 1827, first published 1837 Published in the United States as The Adventures of Obadiah Oldbuck - as a newspaper supplement (1842) 30 pages, each of which had between one and six illustrated panels & associated text 7 Töpffer published a total of 7 works: Histoire de M. Jabot (1831/1833) The adventures of a middle class dandy who attempts to enter contemporary Upper class. Monsieur Crépin (1837) The adventures of a father who employs a series of tutors for his children & falls prey to their eccentricities. Histoire de M. Vieux Bois (1827/1837) Monsieur Pencil -(1831/1849) An escalating series of events beginning with an artist losing his sketch to the blowing wind and almost resulting in a global war. Histoire d'Albert (1845) The adventures of an inexperienced young man in search of a career. After many attempts he ends up as a journalist in support of radical ideas. Histoire de Monsieur Cryptogame (1845) The story of a lepidopterist who goes to great lengths to replace his current lover with a more suitable one. Le Docteur Festus (1831/1846) A scientist wanders the world, offering assistance. He is blissfully unaware that disaster marks his path. 8 9 10 11 THE FOUNDATION OF THE MODERN COMIC BOOK the newspaper comic strip & the pulp magazine 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 THE BIRTH OF THE COMIC BOOK INDUSTRY the funnies, dell publishing, & eastern color printing 25 The Funnies (1929) - Dell Publishing (printed by Eastern Color Printing) 16 page tabloid-format collection of comic strips that came out regularly on Saturdays sold for 10¢ (later reduced to 5¢) contained original material - not reprints lasted on 36 issues 26 27 28 Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson (retired U.S. Army Major) forced to retire from the army - began writing pulp adventure and military stories. 1934 - founded National Allied Publications wanted to publish comics with original content was unaware of the failure of Dell Publishing’s Funnies 29 30 Detective Comics (1937) Wheeler-Nicholson was forced into partnership with Donenfeld & Liebowitz Detective Comics #1 was released by a newly formed company: Detective Comics Inc. By late 1937, Wheeler-Nicholson turned National Allied Publications over to Donenfeld to cover his debts In 1938, Wheeler-Nicholson sold his stake in Detective Comics Inc. Donenfeld 31 32 33 the birth of the SUPERHERO (oh yeah, and the golden age too) 34 june 1938 (cue dramatic music) 35 36 37 June, 1938 - Action Comics #1 Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster Published by Detective Comics Inc Siegel & Shuster were paid 10$/page for a 13 page story - $130 dollars in total. 38 39 40 Timely Comics Martin Goodman Published pulp magazines including All Star Adventure Fiction, Complete Western Book, Mystery Tales, Uncanny Stories, and Star Detective Contracted with a comic book packager called Funnies Inc. (to supply him with original material) Marvel Comics #1 (1939) 41 Contained several new superhero characters: Human Torch (an android), Angel (a costumed detective), and Namor the Sub-Mariner (mutant anti-hero) sold out its first print run of 80,000 copies 2nd print run sold approximately 800,000 copies. Based on the success, Goodman hired Joe Simon & Jack Kirby as an in-house staff. 42 43 44 45 46 47