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.
Comics have been presented within a wide number of publishing and typographical formats, from the very short panel cartoon to the lengthier 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 have 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.
|
