What is a comic? Stories in pictures. How to create a comic?

Graphic novels are intriguing, surprising and inspiring. Each screening of the comic book makes you think about morals and values. These are not just funny pictures created for entertainment. This is much more. It's time to figure out what a comic really is.

Meaning of the word

The word "comics" came in the Russian-language lexicon from the English comic, which in translation means funny. Many people want to find out what a comic is and where it comes from such a sonorous name. In common people, you can designate a comic graphic novel, where there is a share of comic and jokes. Visual art is successfully combined with stories and stories. Despite the funny behavior of the characters, the original pictures and sarcastic dialogues, comics are in completely different genres, ranging from detectives and thrillers, ending with stories of superheroes.

The stories in the pictures, as a rule, are filled with profound meaning and morality. To make all the information perceived by both children and adults, use pictures with inserts that display sounds and laughter (for example, BOOOM, HUH?!, POW! And HA-HA-HA). In other words, comics are stories in a cartoon.

History of comics

The first mention of graphic novels can be traced in Japanese culture. Then for fun, cartoon stories were created, which are called manga. Such comic books still exist and are popular worldwide. Japanese comics became the progenitors of traditional oriental cartoons - anime.

Later, closer to the XVI century, began to appear European variants of graphic novels. It was during this period that religious brochures began to spread in Barcelona and Valencia, which were called "alleluies". A more familiar kind of comics took shape at the end of the 18th century, when The San Francisco Examiner magazine first published funny comic books for children "The Bear and Tiger." The appearance of an unusual narrative of history blew up the public, and from this moment the great era of graphic novels began.

The essence of graphic novels

Painted stories are designed to interest the reader with his exciting story. Experience has proved that adventure stories and detectives are very popular, if there are even small images. As a rule, not everyone wants to read thick books. Comics are captured from the first second, completely immersing the reader in a fictional world or universe. Each graphic story has its own style of drawing and text.

Now there are thousands of comic books created both on motives of literary works, and on unique adventure stories. What is a comic really and in what its essence? Scientists and psychologists from the University of Waterloo have proved that comics are much easier for children and adults to perceive than books, films and articles. The main essence of graphic novels is the creation of an interesting story with the help of simple drawings and deep texts.

How to create a comic

The format of the comics is unique. Who has ever read a graphic novel sooner or later asks the question "How to create a comic book yourself?".

To do this, the advice of professional comic book experts will help:

1. What comic book is created without a script? That's right, no. Write a unique and interesting script - this is the first step to creating a graphic novel. It is necessary to prescribe history, character of heroes and dialogues. Do not abuse the descriptions, because they are comic books that reveal all the details. The emphasis should be on dialogue and dynamic plot. The basis for the script can become an already existing story or film. The main thing - remember that each story in pictures is unique.

2. In no case can not start drawing comics without storyboards. This is a secondary version of the graphic novel, or a draft. Here the first sketches are made. The stories in the pictures should be related to each other, so they use the storyboard. To do this, you need to write each "square" of the comic book, describe the actions of the characters and their replicas. In other words, you need to describe the future shots.

3. For those who want to learn how to create a comic, you need to turn to ready-made graphic novels for help. Attention should be paid to the style. If this is a story about superheroes, then all the pictures should be bright, and the dialogues immediately catch your eye. When choosing a story with adventures, you need to use warm sunny tones. Detective and thriller should cast a shadow and intrigue the reader, so blue, gray and black colors are used.

4. The attentive reader will notice that comics do not have the same frames. Sometimes a scene is placed on a third of the page, while the other 10 have a small format and fit on a small piece of paper. This style makes it much easier to read comics.

A special language of stories in pictures

A distinctive feature of comics in a special language. There are no texts that occupy 99% of the page. The main replicas of the characters consist of small phrases that describe a situation that the reader can not understand. The whole story is conveyed with the help of an obvious story, where heroes and their abilities are drawn in detail.

Since the comic books themselves came from Europe and the USA, all stories are written in English, but thanks to unique drawings, the story can be analyzed without words. This is the special language of comics.

DC vs Marvel

Two popular comic book publishers have been competing for over 50 years. Comicists around the world divided into two fronts. DC and Marvel comics are intensely discussed on the Internet, they are created by adventure films and sagas, and fans are flocking from different corners of the planet for the world comic comics festival. Consider a brief history of each publisher.

DC. The main character of the publishing house is Betman from Gotham City, the villain is Joker. There is since 1934, and the first screen version based on graphic novels was published in 1969. DC meets fans with comic books about Superman, Miracle Woman, John Hex and Green Lantern.

Marvel. The creator of the multiverse Marvel is Stan Lee. The publishing house is more popular than DC, thanks to such graphic novels as X-Men and Wolverine, Captain America and Iron Man, as well as The Fantastic Four, Thor, The Ant Man. The main feature of Marvel is that they pay tribute to Stan Lee, inviting the vigorous old man to shoot, and giving him a two-second retort. Unlike DC, this publishing house releases novels with deep meaning and morality, trying to show the two sides of the same coin (good and evil). All comics Marvel more serious and have a non-standard story. Founded in 1939, the first screen version was released in 1944 ("Captain America").

The most expensive comics

The yard is a long 21 century, and comics continue to create, publish and film. This current will always be popular and certainly will never go out. Despite this, real comic artists like to not only read graphic novels, but also to collect rare and limited editions. So which is the most expensive and valuable comic book in the world?

Action Comics 1938, the cost of which is $ 2 million. The original version of the comic strip with the image of Superman around the world remained no more than 9 pieces. 80 years ago we could buy Action Comics for no more than 10 cents. Also rare are the rare cartoons of Kurt Swan (author of stories about Batman since 1942). One of his work is estimated at 200,000 - 400,000 dollars.

Adventure comics

The story of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck is not just cartoons, on which whole generations have grown up. These are stories created based on comic books. The most interesting thing is that the first cartoons were created on the same principle as the graphic drawings: the storyboard, the story line and the verbal bubble with replicas were also used. The main feature of children's comics is an adventure genre. Comics of adventure talk about the main characters who face unforeseen situations and solve them throughout the entire comic.

How to read comics correctly

When the question "What is a comic book and how to read it" arises, then you need to pay attention to the structure of the graphic story. Classic comics is a small color magazine, consisting of 10-30 pages. Each sheet is divided into several parts-drawings, as a rule, no more than 10 pieces (the number of "frames" depends on the page format). You have to start reading from the very first square in the upper left corner. The order and arrangement of frames from left to right. Some comics are read along a serpentine chain. If any story consists of a series of comic books, it is recommended to read from the very first part to understand the fascinating story of the characters.

Comics are not just stories about superheroes. Every reader can find his favorite genre. All you need is to plunge into the multiverse, get to know all the characters and learn their character. This will help to discover a new and amazing world of graphic novels of the 20th and 21st centuries!