 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(April 2012) |
| Comics |
|---|
 |
| Comics studies |
| Methods |
| Media formats |
| Comics by country and culture |
| Community |
 Comicsportal |
In comics, decompression is a stylistic storytelling choice characterized by a strong emphasis on visuals or character interaction, which, in turn, usually leads to slower-moving plots. [1] [2]
The style is often used with widescreen comics.
Decompression developed a strong presence in mainstream American comic books in the 1990s and 2000s. [1] Traditionally, American comics first appeared as anthologies featuring multiple short stories per issue, usually with different characters, which continued for decades in the backup story pages. The done-in-one format prevailed for a long time eventually becoming seconded by open-ended multiple-subplots that characterized the 1970s and '80s in American comics.
Decompression is often claimed to be a result of the growing influence of manga on the international comics scene. Manga, traditionally less expensive per page than American comics due to higher circulation and black-and-white printing, extensively uses decompression as a storytelling style. This style of storytelling which was influenced by film storyboarding was first popularized in manga by cartoonist Osamu Tezuka with his 1947 manga Shin Takarajima (New Treasure Island). Tezuka's more "cinematic style" was so successful that it caught on with other cartoonists in Japan and eventually spread throughout the world with works such as Katsuhiro Otomo's epic Akira which was one of the first manga to become popular within the American comic book community.
A manga that uses this style successfully (and one of the first ones in the latest years) is Blame! , thought to have influenced American artists.
One of the first commercially successful American comics to use decompression as its dominant style was the first twelve issues of The Authority by Warren Ellis and Bryan Hitch. In the wake of that book's success, decompression was widely adopted across the American comics industry with varying degrees of success.
Many alternative American cartoonists make use of decompression, most notably those who are directly influenced by manga, like Bryan Lee O'Malley.
Some French comic books use decompression as a storytelling technique. Most notable are artists associated with the Franco-Japanese La nouvelle manga movement such as Frédéric Boilet (Yukiko's Spinach) and Vanyada (The Building Opposite).
Dave McKean's Cages is an example of the usage of decompression, with its extensive use of this style. Cages' storyline spans more than 500 pages but focuses on a relatively short stretch of time.
Decompressed stories have been the cause of considerable controversy and debate amongst the comics fandom. Many detractors accuse their writers of unnecessarily stretching out the page length of plots, thinning out the content per page in order to earn more sales and money for a limited amount of work. [1] Defenders of the style claim that decompressed stories are not stretched out, but rich in character development and mood rather than plot progression. Some see the phenomenon as driven by the increasing popularity of trade paperbacks, which typically collect an average of six comic book issues in a volume and thus provide a target length for stories to fit. [1]
In response to criticism of the widespread use of decompression in mainstream American comics, writers Warren Ellis, Dan Slott, and Brian Wood have each experimented with compressed storytelling. Ellis' series Fell , Global Frequency , and Planetary each adhere to the format of single issue stories, and Nextwave is told only in two issue arcs. Slott's stories in She-Hulk and Thing also maintain only one, two, or three issue story arcs, and his contribution to the 2005 edition of Amazing Fantasy #15 uses what he referred to as "hypercompressed" storytelling: 6 writers were given 8 pages each to premiere a new character, and Slott elected to tell four stories with his character, each one a mere two pages. Brian Wood's indie series Demo and Local are all single-issue comics, in some cases with no recurring characters from one issue to the next, creating a true self-contained short story experience.
A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and written narrative, usually, dialogue contained in word balloons emblematic of the comics art form.
Manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term manga is used in Japan to refer to both comics and cartooning. Outside of Japan, the word is typically used to refer to comics originally published in the country.
Comics is a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically takes the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicate dialogue, narration, sound effects, or other information. There is no consensus among theorists and historians on a definition of comics; some emphasize the combination of images and text, some sequentiality or other image relations, and others historical aspects such as mass reproduction or the use of recurring characters. Cartooning and other forms of illustration are the most common image-making means in comics; fumetti is a form that uses photographic images. Common forms include comic strips, editorial and gag cartoons, and comic books. Since the late 20th century, bound volumes such as graphic novels, comic albums, and tankōbon have become increasingly common, while online webcomics have proliferated in the 21st century.
Astro Boy, known in Japan by its original name Mighty Atom, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Osamu Tezuka. It was serialized in Kobunsha's Shōnen from 1952 to 1968. The 112 chapters were collected into 23 tankōbon volumes by Akita Shoten. Dark Horse Comics published an English translation in 2002. The story follows Astro Boy, an android young boy with human emotions who is created by Umataro Tenma after the recent death of his son Tobio. Eventually, Astro is sold to a robot circus run by Hamegg, but is saved from his servitude by Professor Ochanomizu. Astro becomes a surrogate son to Ochanomizu who creates a robotic family for Astro and helps him to live a normal life like an average human boy, while accompanying him on adventures.
Osamu Tezuka was a Japanese manga artist, cartoonist, and animator. Born in Osaka Prefecture, his prolific output, pioneering techniques, and innovative redefinitions of genres earned him such titles as "the Father of Manga", "the Godfather of Manga" and "the God of Manga". Additionally, he is often considered the Japanese equivalent to Walt Disney, who served as a major inspiration during Tezuka's formative years. Though this phrase praises the quality of his early manga works for children and animations, it also blurs the significant influence of his later, more literary, gekiga works.
Fujiko Fujio was a manga writing duo formed by Japanese manga artists Hiroshi Fujimoto and Motoo Abiko. Professional debut in 1951. Used the Fujiko Fujio name from 1953 until dissolution of the partnership in 1987, upon Fujimoto's illness. The pair was best known for their popular comedies, including Obake no Q-Tarō, Ninja Hattori-kun, Kaibutsu-kun, and Doraemon, the main character of which is officially recognized as a cultural icon of modern Japan. Some influences of most of their projects are the many works of acclaimed manga artist Osamu Tezuka and some cartoons and comic books—including the works of Hanna-Barbera.
Gekiga is a style of Japanese comics aimed at adult audiences and marked by a more cinematic art style and more mature themes. Gekiga was the predominant style of adult comics in Japan in the 1960s and 1970s. It is aesthetically defined by sharp angles, dark hatching, and gritty lines, and thematically by realism, social engagement, maturity, and masculinity.
Mitsuteru Yokoyama was a Japanese manga artist born in Suma Ward of Kobe City in Hyōgo Prefecture. His personal name was originally spelled Mitsuteru (光照), with the same pronunciation. His works include Tetsujin 28-go, Giant Robo, Kamen no Ninja Akakage, Babel II, Sally the Witch, Princess Comet, and adaptations of the Chinese classics Water Margin and Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
Nouvelle Manga is an artistic movement which gathers French and Japanese comic creators together. The expression was first used by Kiyoshi Kusumi, editor of the Japanese manga magazine Comickers, in referring to the work of French expatriate Frédéric Boilet, who lived in Japan for much of his career but has since returned to France in December 2008. Boilet adopted the term for himself and encouraged other artists to participate.
Mauricio Araújo de Sousa is a Brazilian cartoonist and businessman who has created over 200 characters for his popular series of children's comic books named "Turma da Mônica" or "Monica's Gang".
Alternative manga or underground manga is a Western term for Japanese comics that are published outside the more commercial manga market, or which have different art styles, themes, and narratives to those found in the more popular manga magazines. The term was taken from the similar alternative comics. The artistic center of alternative manga production was from the 1960s until the 1990s the manga magazine Garo, which is why in Japan, alternative manga are often called Garo-kei, even if they were not published in Garo.
Frédéric Boilet is a French cartoonist and a manga artist.
An original English-language manga or OEL manga is a comic book or graphic novel drawn in the style of manga and originally published in English. The term "international manga", as used by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, encompasses all foreign comics which draw inspiration from the "form of presentation and expression" found in Japanese manga. This may also apply to manga-inspired comics made in other languages.
Yoshihiro Tatsumi was a Japanese manga artist whose work was first published in his teens, and continued through the rest of his life. He is widely credited with starting the gekiga style of alternative manga in Japan, having allegedly coined the term in 1957. His work frequently illustrated the darker elements of life.
Crime comics is a genre of American comic books and format of crime fiction. The genre was originally popular in the late 1940s and early 1950s and is marked by a moralistic editorial tone and graphic depictions of violence and criminal activity. Crime comics began in 1942 with the publication of Crime Does Not Pay published by Lev Gleason Publications and edited by Charles Biro. As sales for superhero comic books declined in the years after World War II, other publishers began to emulate the popular format, content and subject matter of Crime Does Not Pay, leading to a deluge of crime-themed comics. Crime and horror comics, especially those published by EC Comics, came under official scrutiny in the late 1940s and early 1950s, leading to legislation in Canada and Great Britain, the creation in the United States of the Comics Magazine Association of America and the imposition of the Comics Code Authority in 1954. This code placed limits on the degree and kind of criminal activity that could be depicted in American comic books, effectively sounding the death knell for crime comics and their adult themes.
Kitazawa Yasuji, better known by the pen name Kitazawa Rakuten, was a Japanese manga artist and nihonga artist. He drew many editorial cartoons and comic strips during the years from the late Meiji era through the early Shōwa era. He is considered by many historians to be the founding father of modern manga because his work was an inspiration to many younger manga artists and animators.
Although, traditionally, female comics creators have long been a minority in the industry, they have made a notable impact since the very beginning, and more and more female artists are getting recognition along with the maturing of the medium. Women creators have worked in every genre, from superheroes to romance, westerns to war, crime to horror.
Comics has developed specialized terminology. Several attempts have been made to formalize and define the terminology of comics by authors such as Will Eisner, Scott McCloud, R. C. Harvey and Dylan Horrocks. Much of the terminology in English is under dispute, so this page will list and describe the most common terms used in comics.
He Done Her Wrong is a wordless novel written by American cartoonist Milt Gross and published in 1930. It was not as successful as some of Gross's earlier works, notably his book Nize Baby (1926) based on his newspaper comic strips. He Done Her Wrong has been reprinted in recent years and is now recognized as a comic parody of other similar wordless novels of the early 20th century, as well as an important precursor to the modern graphic novel.
Kan Takahama is a Japanese manga artist born in Amakusa, Kumamoto Prefecture. Debuting in 2001, she became known for her short stories published in the alternative magazine Garo, later collected and republished in her award-winning Kinderbook. Her unique style often depicts the darker sides of everyday life through simplistic character designs and illustrations that blend manga and Franco-Belgian comics. She is internationally known for the manga Nyx no Lantern, winner of the 24th Osamu Tezuka Cultural Award in 2020.
| Formats | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Techniques | |||||||||||
| Creators |
| ||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||
| Comics studies and narratology |
| ||||||||||
| By country |
| ||||||||||
| Lists |
| ||||||||||
| Collections and museums |
| ||||||||||
| Schools | |||||||||||
| Organizations |
| ||||||||||
