Thursday, January 16, 2014

History Of Science Fiction Comic Book Authors

By Marissa Velazquez


The first sci-fi comic strip was a comedy called Mr Skygack from Mars by A. D. Condo, which appeared in the 1900s. The first sci-fi comic strip of a serious nature was Buck Rodgers in 1928, which was quickly followed by Flash Gordon, Brick Bradford, and Dan Dare from Britain. Since then Sci-fi comic books have spread throughout the world and there are many science fiction comic book authors creating more imaginative storylines making the genre incredibly popular to this day.

The superhero sub- genre of sci-fi comics began with the introduction of Superman by Planet Comics in the 1950s. EC comics created sci-fi comics to great success during the 1950s and plot-lines and concepts gradually became more and more sophisticated and clever. US comic book authors began to create sci-fi comics that were aimed at adults and adolescents, and in the late 60s, hippy underground became popular with adults.

The Japanese Manga comics originated in the 1950s and the first Manga sci-fi comic strip was Astro Boy by Osamu Tezuka. Since then Manga has become very popular all over the world. Not all Manga comics are sci-fi but the most well known, such as Ghost in the Shell and Akira are of the sci-fi genre.

Sci-fi graphic novels first appeared in the 60s and comic strips with a longer and more developed storyline. Graphic novels have the advantage of being able to portray specific concepts that would be difficult to put into words. Robots, time travel, virtual reality and mecha are popular concepts in sci-fi graphic novels. The graphic novel has become increasingly sophisticated in it's artistry and storylines and tend to be aimed more at adolescents and adults.

In America the majority of sci-fi comics tend to be in the superhero sub-genre. Marvel and DC comics have been extremely successful with their Superman, Spiderman, Thor, Avengers and Incredible Hulk superhero comics. The superhero comics contain many elements of sci-fi, although most of the storylines are set in the present day on earth.

The sci-fi Manga comics from Japan are usually set in the future or in some alternative reality. For example Akira, which provided inspiration for The Matrix films, and Ghost in the Shell, which is set in the future. Not all manga is of the sci-fi genre, but the most popular Manga comics outside of japan tend to be the sci-fi ones.

Many sci-fi comics and graphic novels depict the specific science fiction concepts that existed when they were written and capture the zeitgeist of the era. The older and classic sci-fi graphic novels were hand drawn and inked by an artist, whereas modern sci-fi comics often use computer generated images created using photoshop, corel paint, illustrator and paintbucket.

Science fiction is a very loose genre and there are many sub-genres. New concepts in sci-fi comics are being created all the time and there are certain science fiction comic book authors that have revolutionised the medium. This includes the graphic artist Warren Ellis who created the concept of the Cyberpunk with his Transmetropolitan series of comics. Also, Alan Moore enjoy a huge following around the world with his V for Vendetta graphic novel, which has a social commentary and is set is a dystopian future.




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