American Newspaper Comics

1. Definition and Defining Elements of Newspaper Comics

1.1. Definition

According to Wikipedia encyclopaedia,

"[...] a comic strip is a short strip or sequence of drawings, telling a story. Drawn by a cartoonist, they are published on a recurring basis (usually daily or weekly) in newspapers or on the Internet. They usually communicate to the reader via speech balloons. The term 'comic' derives from the fact that most strips were funny in the beginning. For this reason they are often also referred to as 'funnies'.".

Comics, however, need not be humorous by necessity. While many comics remain focused on humour, others involve politics, human interest, murder and suspense, or adventure.

Another word for comic is 'sequential art' , which I regard as the most appropriate term describing the genre, because it refers to comics as an art form on the one hand and gives you an idea of the nature and appearance of comics on the other. This takes me to the structure and appearance of newspaper comics.

1.2. Structure and Appearance

Most comics consist of more than one panel, which is a box or a frame that contains a given scene, but as the following strip shows, sequence can also be expressed in only one panel.

Here, one can imagine what happened before this scene, by just seeing one panel.

Almost all comics also contain some text, which appears in balloons or headlines.

While most daily newspaper comics are published six days a week in black and white, those on Sunday tend to be in colour.

1.2. The Characters

In fact, the characters are the most important ingredients of a successful feature, because everything else is exchangeable. There are often lots of artists who work on one strip and if any of them discontinues, there are others to replace him or her. Artists may even switch syndicates without anyone noticing, but Peanuts, for example, would not be the same without Charlie Brown or Snoopy.

The characters become your friends, because you identify with them. The typical loser who never manages to sit next to the little red-haired girl during the break might sympathize with Charlie Brown and the person being bullied at his or her workplace is very likely to feel affection for Dilbert.

According to Julie Davies, "[...] comic strips can only be effective if readers see their own lives reflected in the daily funnies."

The Funnies are also something steady, something you can rely on, because, once adapted, they are not likely to change. Brian Walker, son of the legendary creator of "Beetle Bailey" explains the comics' secret of success:

The funnies have endured primarily because comic characters have a universal, timeless appeal. Their daily appearances make them familiar to millions. Their triumphs make them heroic. Their struggles make them seem human. Cartoonists create friends for their readers. Pogo, Charlie Brown, Calvin and Hobbes, and Dilbert are part of a great cultural legacy that is being enriched further every day.

Recently a friend asked me whether there was a difference between caricatures and comics and if yes, what it was. In fact, caricatures and comics look remarkably alike and have the same roots, but if you look closer, you will see that caricatures hardly ever feature a recurring cast of characters and comics almost always do. This is because caricatures, or editorial cartoons as they are formally called, are drawn for the moment and often convey strong political or social criticism that would seem ridiculous if it was only against one particular person or political party.

2. What Comics need

2.1. The Cartoonists

In my opinion cartoonists embody two very different qualities. On the one hand, I see cartoonists as artists who complete the basic steps of work that have to be done for every single strip such as writing, editing, pencilling, inking, lettering and for most Sunday pages also colouring. However, as soon as the strip takes off, most cartoonists employ assistants, so-called ghost-artists, who perform one or more of these tasks. Charles Schulz who did all these things himself for over 50 years was an exception.

On the other hand, cartoonists are messengers who discuss their values and beliefs, more or less openly, in front of a vast readership. The following example shows that in history it has not always been easy for cartoonists to share their thoughts with the world.

In the 1950s a column in the "Denver Post" set off a heated debate about the role of cartoonists. Should cartoonists follow the unwritten "no comment" law, that is to say should social and political criticism and commentary be banned from the Funnies, or should artists be able to freely comment on important issues like war and peace, unemployment or pollution of the environment.

Al Capp was one of those strongly in favour of freedom of expression concerning comics:

"A cartoonist is a commentator. Every line he draws, every word he writes IS a comment on the world he knows. When newspaper editors ask a cartoonist to stop commenting, they ask him - in effect - to stop being a cartoonist."

Editor James Pope thought differently:

"They should think about human nature, about social foibles, about romance and adventure and laughter. I am hanged if I see why any of them want to bother with the contentious artificial area of political and economic ideas, or any controversial issues whatever."

I see a cartoonist as a messenger of his or her time, because, in fact, most comics do feature commentary relating to the zeitgeist of their era, even if it is only the space race or the lack of Christmas spirit.

2.2. The Syndicates

According to Brian Walker, "the birth of the comics was the result of three major developments in American newspaper publishing: Sunday editions, color printing and national syndication."

In journalism, syndication is the contracting for the publication of the same piece of work in several newspapers. Syndicates came into existence during the American Civil War, because at that time smaller newspapers did not have the money to employ their own journalists and artists. Moreover it was not easy to have access to national news.

However, it was made possible