Comical comics
Comical comics |
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Page 2 of 34  Cover, Film Fun (Amalgamated Press, 1924). Art/script for 'Harold Lloyd' by Bill Wahef ield. The historical origins of this change were to be found in the early Edwardian period (1901-11). Over a space of about ten years, the publishers of adult comics became aware that there might be a market among children, and so designed pull-out sections for them: these commonly featured strips about funny animals, clowns and so on, and kept text to a minimum. The supplements proved so popular that the next logical step was to launch proper comics. After all, children now had some spending power: the concept of pocket money had become established in the late 1800s (as children no longer went out to work), and if a title could be kept within the range of the 'Saturday penny' then there was a chance it could do well. In the process, comics' visual appeal was boosted: artwork became simpler, more attention was paid to making covers look eye-catching and more colour was introduced. Perhaps the best example of an adult comic that re-invented itself was Puck (Amalgamated Press, 1904). As one historian has written: 'Puck no i was "the first number of the first coloured comic paper" ... [But] Clearly the comic was not finding a market. Adults, for whom it was intended, did not like the bright colours. But children did. In no ii, Puck began a section for children ... Ten weeks later, the juvenile interest had spread throughout the whole comic ... the children's comic had been born.  Cover, The Dandy (DC Thomson, 1938). Art/script for Korby the Cat' by James Crichton. These were two of the most popular inter-war titles: by the time of the latter, the old-fashioned notion of having captions underneath the picture (a sop to those who complained that comics led to illiteracy) had been dropped. |