Comics

Comics, also known as comic strips, series of drawings, usually accompanied by captions or dialogue, telling a continuous story. The text, if any, is often conveyed by means of speech “balloons.” The first comics were explicitly humorous, but the term is now applied to anything presented in the comic-strip style. Although comics may actually have originated with the English social satirists Thomas Rowlandson and George Cruikshank, they grew in popularity in the late 19th and early 20th century. At first devoted purely to farce and slapstick, the comics soon moved into the adventure market and then into science fiction, illustrated classics, social satire, and serious social criticism. Comics have added words to the American language and influenced dress habits. In 1954 the industry responded to criticism of the violence and horror by issuing a code for conduct.