Comic Strips and Their Vast Popularity!

Comic strips are almost as popular as comicanimal denizens of Pogo's Okeefenokee Swamp.
books in someCreator Walt
circles. So I would be remiss if I didn't compile anKelly, in a gutsy move, took on Joseph McCarthy
article about them. Strips have ended up in ain the
multitude of1950s, caricaturing him as a bobcat named
newspapers and other media all over the world.Simple J.
Most peopleMalarkey, a megalomaniac bent on taking over
who read the Sunday paper can't pass up thethe
comic section.characters' bird watching club and rooting out all
I know I sure can't.Comic strips are short stripsundesirables.Kelly also defended the medium
or pieces of sequential art,against possible government
telling a story. They are drawn by cartoonistsregulation in the McCarthy era. At a time when
and arecomic books
published on a recurring basis in newspapers,were coming under fire for supposed sexual,
magazines orviolent, and
on the Internet.Strips can be humorous likesubversive content, Kelly feared the same would
Beetle Bailey, Hi & Lois, orhappen to
Hagar the Horrible, with no continuous story butcomic strips. Going before the congressional
ends withsubcommittee,
a typical punch line. Or they can have a soaphe proceeded to charm the members with his
opera likedrawings and the
continuity (like Judge Parker or Little Orphanforce of his personality. Due to his actions, the
Annie) withcomic
serious story lines in serial form. They are,strip remained safe for creative satire.Comic
however,strips have also made quite a splash on the Net
nonetheless known as "comics" - though thesince
term "sequentialthe World Wide Web came into play in the
art", coined by cartoonist Will Eisner, is becoming1990s. This led to
increasingly popular.In America, the greatan explosion of amateur webcomics, comic strips
newspaper icons of the time, Josephcreated
Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst weresolely for Web sites. Webcomics differ from
continuouslypublished
warring with each other during the late 1800'scomic strips, in that anyone can start his own
and earlystrip and
1900's. This created a great popularity in comicpublish it on the Web. No longer is there any
strips andneed for a
"The Little Bears" was the first American comiccreator to meet the approval of a publisher or
withsyndicate.Currently there are hundreds of
recurring characters. Then the now famous,webcomics. Many of which
"Yellow Kids"are low quality and sporadically updated.
became the first color comic and was part ofHowever, a number
the firsthave endured, and the best ones rival their
Sunday comic section in 1897. This is where thenewspaper and
termmagazine counterparts in terms of quality and
"yellow journalism" supposedly formed its origin.quantity.
Mutt andMegatokyo, Penny Arcade, PvP, Sluggy
Jeff was the first daily comic strip appearing inFreelance, and User
1907.Comic strips not only provide us with theFriendly are considered to be among the best of
laugh each day orthe
week that we must have to start the day. Theywebcomics.The majority of traditional newspaper
also give acomic strips now have
political platform to some of the strip creators insome Internet presence. Syndicates often
whichprovide archives
they can pass on their social and politicalof recent strips on their websites.So the next
opinions.Comic strips have long held a distortedtime you sit down to the Sunday paper, take
mirror toparticular note of the funnies section. Keep your
contemporary society. They have long beenfavorite
used forcomic strips near and dear to your heart. And
political and social commentary, ranging from theremember the
staunchtrials and tribulations these strips have gone
conservative values of Little Orphan Annie to thethrough to
unabashedcontinue to provide you with everlasting
liberalism of Doonesbury.Pogo used animals toentertainment.Dave Gieber is the owner and
particularly devastating effect,editor of a website built
caricaturing many prominent politicians of the dayaround one of his childhood passions.
as