The Platinum Age And Protocomic books The first

The Platinum Age And Proto-comic books

• The first comic books were actually not comic books that tell one story, as we know them today. They were, instead, a collection of individual newspaper comic strips compiled together. The idea was to collect the art into one simple easy-to-find place, like a book.

• One of the first types was The Adventures of Obadiah Oldbuck, printed in 1842.

The Yellow Kid • The first known proto-comic-book magazine in the U. S. was The Yellow Kid in Mc. Fadden's Flats, which was printed in 1897. It reprinted material from cartoonist Richard F. Outcault's newspaper comic strip Hogan's Alley, starring the Yellow Kid.

The Main Character • Mickey Dugan, better known as The Yellow Kid, was a bald, snaggle-toothed boy who wore an oversized yellow nightshirt and hung around in a slum alley typical of certain areas of squalor that existed in 1900’s New York City.

• The Yellow Kid's head was drawn shaved as if having been recently ridden of lice, a common sight among children in New York's ghettos at the time.

Word Balloons • The Yellow Kid comics set the stage for how most comics would make future comic art. • Outcault's word balloons in the Yellow Kid influenced the basic appearance and use of balloons in subsequent newspaper comic strips and comic books.

Word Balloons • Word balloons had been around for a long time, to include being used by Benjamin Franklin in the 1700’s and Mayans in the 600’s, but this new type of book, made them more common.

The Funnies • In 1929 The Funnies came out, was a newspaper insert. Historian Ron Goulart describes the 16 -page, four-color periodical as "more a Sunday comic section without the rest of the newspaper than a true comic book. But it did offer all original material and was sold on newsstands". The Funnies ran for 36 issues, published Saturdays through October 16, 1930.

• In 1933, Funnies on Parade, an 8 -page magazine, was given out for free to consumers who mailed in coupons clipped from Procter & Gamble soap and toiletries products. This proto-comic was so successful that cereal and soft drink companies started making their own.

The First True Comic Book • In 1933 the first 36 -page comic book was published: Famous Funnies: A Carnival of Comics. • Distribution took place through the Woolworth's department-store chain, though it remains unclear whether it was sold or given away; the cover displays no price. • A 68 -page giant version later was selling for 10¢, and proved a hit with readers during the cashstrapped Great Depression. • Famous Funnies would eventually run for 217 more issues.

• Finally, a comic book of all-original material, with no comic-strip reprints, debuted. • The publisher was National Allied Publications – which would evolve into DC Comics. • The comic: New Fun #1 (Feb. 1935). Doctor Occult — New Fun #6 – More Fun #33 The Spectre — More Fun 52– 101 Doctor Fate — More Fun 55– 98 Johnny Quick — More Fun 71– 107 Green Arrow — More Fun 73– 107 Aquaman — More Fun 73– 107 Superboy— More Fun 101– 107