Everything about comics

Comics, as a unique art category, are deeply loved by people all over the world. People call comics the Esperanto without borders, and are praised as the "ninth art" by Western art critics. Comics art is called Raised to an unprecedented level. Turkey is one of the countries where modern comics started earlier. They also upgraded comics to belong to the same category of fine arts as other painting arts. Together with painting, sculpture, printmaking, photography, and architecture, they are called the six major categories of contemporary art. Comic art is a human The crystallization of wisdom, it embodies the essence of human civilization. It is these profound cultural accumulations that serve as nutrients that enable comics to exert strong artistic vitality.

Entering the 21st century, the development of Chinese comics is in the ascendant. A group of cartoonists who persistently pursue the art of comics are working hard to find a way to create comics under new historical conditions. Particularly worth mentioning is the "6th World Comics Convention" successfully held in Beijing in October 2004. In order to make the competition more international, famous foreign cartoonists and domestic accomplished cartoonists were specially invited to form a jury. The competition selection rules are formulated in accordance with international practices, with special emphasis on selecting comic works with artistic characteristics. This conference marks the beginning of the artisticization of Chinese comics in the 21st century. It also shows that Chinese comics are integrating into the forest of world comics. This conference opens a new chapter in the integration of Chinese comic art and world comic art.

[Edit this paragraph] Origin and development

The word "manga" originated in Japan. The first person who used the word "manga" was called Katsushika Hokusai. During the Tokugawa period, It dates back to the early Qing Dynasty in my country, more than three hundred years ago. "Hokusai" comics are the ancestors of comics.

In May 1925, "Literature Weekly" serialized Feng Zikai's paintings and marked them as comics. This was the earliest work called comics in China.

Western comics originated from the United Kingdom. In the 19th century, the French painter Daumier made the most outstanding achievements in the history of Western comics.

As a branch of painting art, comics have evolved into three forms today, namely satirical and humorous traditional comics, narrative multiple-frame or serial cartoon comics, and exploratory avant-garde comics.

We usually see satirical and humorous traditional comics.

Cartoons are comic strips compiled and drawn based on cartoon techniques and styles.

Pioneer comics - There is still no clear definition internationally. It generally refers to traditional comics with traditional humor, multiple narrative or comic strips, and exploratory avant-garde comics.

A fringe art form between comics and avant-garde art, or a new comics genre catalyzed by contemporary avant-garde art, emphasizing the exploration of values ??and aesthetic orientations, and challenging traditional comics "Subversive".

According to Shuo Ben, comics have marked their noble artistic lineage since the day they were born. According to historical records, some exaggerated and deformed characters appeared in paintings as early as the fifteenth century in Europe. It is documented that the famous Italian Renaissance painter Leonardo da Vinci and the British Industrial Revolution painter William Hogarth frequently appeared some exaggerated and deformed figures in their sketches and oil paintings, especially Hogarth's. His representative works include "The Sleeping Churchman", "Fashionable Marriage", "Character and Cartoon", etc., marking the formation of modern Western comics. Thomas Rowlandson is known as the "Father of Modern Comics". Although he was greatly influenced by Hogarth, he has more modern comic features in terms of character modeling and conception, which established the style of modern Western comics.

Perhaps due to the exaggerated deformation characteristics of comics and the metaphorical nature of pointing fingers and scolding Huaihuai, it became a bloody weapon in the struggle between sects in its infancy. With the rise of the bourgeoisie, it assumed the important task of fighting among political factions. With the continuous development of society, satirical cartoons can no longer meet people's spiritual needs, and cartoons have gradually expanded into diversification. Although cartoonists have continued to use their sharp brushes to criticize current ills since the 20th century, with the advent of a personalized society and as people pay more and more attention to their own lives and feelings, cartoons, once a tool for political struggle, have developed into Humorous paintings with humanistic characteristics are closer to the daily lives of ordinary people. At the same time, comics continue to derive comic art works of different styles and connotations, allowing comics to win greater space for development. It is in this sense that when we refer to modern cartoons, we are largely referring to more than just political satirical cartoons. From a historical perspective, it should be said that satirical cartoons are the originator of the development of contemporary cartoons.

In Europe in the 18th century, against the background of the British Industrial Revolution, a group of outstanding cartoonists established the golden age of modern British cartoons, and the great satirical cartoonist William Hogarth was born. In the second half of the 19th century, cartoon magazines were published in some major cities in Europe, and exchanges between cartoonists became increasingly frequent. They used satirical and humorous brushes to depict urban life and vent their inner emotions for citizens, which was deeply loved by people. The founding of the satirical magazine "Punch" in London, England, in 1841 set off a wave of criticism in Europe in the 19th century. This trend quickly swept the entire world, and China and Japan were also infected by this craze.

Because comics are influenced by Western humanitarian thought and humanistic and scientific spirit, they are people-oriented and pay attention to human nature.

In order to meet people's spiritual needs, various types of comics sprung up. During this period, humor comics, multi-frame comics, long comic strips, etc. appeared. The successful commercial operation of comics can be found in Japan and the United States in the 20th century. Comics have become the pillar industries of these two countries. They left Britain, the originator of comics, a unique force in the 19th century, far behind and ushered in a new era of modern comics.

[Edit this paragraph] Basic characteristics and attributes of comic art

As early as the Neolithic Age, humans used pictures to express their emotions, wishes and record life, so painting became Record the most basic means of human development. The characters drawn during this period have the original prototype of comics, but they do not have the function of comics. The so-called comics are the unique spiritual elements endowed by modern people.

What are comics? In the dictionary, we cannot find an exact explanation for what we know as comics. Different social backgrounds, political backgrounds and different nationalities give it different definitions, but one thing is basically the same: comics are the art of laughter. However, if we only understand comics as the art of laughter, it is obviously one-sided and superficial. In fact, this art of laughter covers all forms of beauty. Someone once compared comics to a collection and hybrid of painting, philosophy and literature. It has both painting characteristics and philosophical and literary concepts, and is a "marginal" art involving painting, philosophy and literature. Although this explanation is somewhat ironic, it reveals the basic characteristics of comic art. From this point alone, comics are different from other types of painting art. So how to correctly and fairly define modern comics? Throughout the history of comics, whether they are satirical cartoons on political themes or humorous cartoons on life themes, they all have the function of making people laugh, think deeply and enlighten. From this we conclude that most comics have three characteristics: making people laugh; provoking thought; and enlightening people's minds. These three characteristics are the basic characteristics of comics.

What are the properties of comics? Comics is a visual art and has the same uniqueness as other paintings. However, it is not completely equivalent to other paintings. The fundamental difference between it and other paintings is that it puts forward opinions and comments on things, and it also has the characteristics of humor. Therefore, irony and humor constitute the most basic attributes of comics. Comic art is the art of irony and humor, and it is also the art of reverse thinking.