Comic books

Terrific, a 1954 horror comic book

Comic books are a form of illustrated, sequential art. They tell stories in a scene-after-scene format, usually in chronological order. Comic books originated in the late 19th century as reprints of newspaper daily comic strips. In the 1930s, original stories were being written and drawn.

Comic books reached their heyday in the 1940s and 1950s. In the early 1950s however, a Senate subcommittee investigated the effects of comic book horror and crime stories on children. The comic book code was a result of this investigation. Comic book publishers were then expected to police the content.

Famous comic book characters include Superman and Batman, both of whom had their origins in comic books. Disney's Donald Duck was developed in comic books by writer and artist, Carl Barks. Old comic books are extremely valuable, depending on their condition and scarcity. Comic book collecting is a popular hobby around the world.

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